Assault on the City of Science - magicians_AND_espers
Once upon a time, a cheerful race of fuzzy critters had lived on the moon. They were called the Nyx.
“Don't lose sight of her!”
Though none lived up there but themselves, they were content.
“What are you idiots doing?! Surround her!”
For you see, they held the very special, very magical role of creating the dreams of all the creatures on the planet below.
“She's too fast!”
Then one day a pony called Nightmare Moon arrived, and the contented life the Nyx had had until then had ended.
“She is the sister of our mistress, after all!”
She had always had the ability to enter dreams, but the source of all dreams?
“Ack! Don't let her get to the tunnels!”
That was a prize worth taking.
“Why not? If we cut off the exits - “
And so, Nightmare Moon enslaved the Nyx, twisting both their duty and their very forms – into creatures of fear and smoke.
“She can teleport, you dingus!”
From that day on, the Nyx were no more – now there was only the Nightmare Forces.
“How does she keep hiding when her hair glows in the dark?!”
Nightmare Moon was not in need of an army – she had created her own.
“You can't keep running forever, Princess!”
Now that Nightmare Moon had broken out from the moon she commanded? The Nightmare Forces were ready and willing to be her vanguard.
“Over here! She's over – agh!”
...or at least, they would be if they weren’t busy playing cat and mouse with Princess Celestia.
Horn smoking gently, Celestia winced as the smoke creature who had found her drifted down to the tunnel floor. It was unhurt, of course – Nightmare Moon had corrupted their forms far too much for that – but that meant it would get back up any moment. Charging up her horn, Celestia teleported up as high as the seal would let her, wings outstretched to arrest her fall. She wasn't as high as she would like, but any further from the surface and that would count as leaving the moon.
Some of the ex-Nyx down below had spotted her already, yelling to their comrades. Good. Celestia thought. In their rush to catch me, they've forgotten any idea they had about going to Earth. If I can keep the Nightmare Forces occupied up here, my little ponies will have the best chance at dealing with their mistress. Twilight was down there. And Cadance. And Philomena. Kibitz, Raven, Diamond Waves, Inkwell... Celestia remembered all the reasons that she had to stop that malevolent force of darkness.
You shouldn't have sent me to the moon, Nightmare. Celestia thought in the general direction of Earth, twisting down into an attention-grabbing dive. Up here, I can help.
But as she watched the Nightmare Forces rise up as an enormous wave of smoke, appearing to cover the entire horizon, another, weaker voice spoke up in her head.
Whoever is fighting her down there… please, hurry.
I'm not sure how long I can keep this up.
The sun was gone.
“Much better.” Nightmare Moon tossed her hair over one shoulder, where it continued to drift in a nonexistent breeze. “You had one thing right, girl – Eternal Night cannot coexist with that idiotic ball of fire.”
The sun was gone.
Twilight felt any courage she might have had drain out of her. Nightmare Moon was still talking, but she had to force herself to listen to the words. Her body just seemed to want to curl up and cry.
“Someone out there is trying to end my reign before it begins.” Nightmare Moon concluded, glancing up at the sky as though daring the sun to reappear. “I have no more time to be playing with small-fry. Shadowbolts!”
The sun was gone.
Nightmare Moon's clouds of smoke snapped to attention. Nightmare Moon made a 'come' motion with her hands, dissolving into her mist-form as she did so. The Shadowbolts, in kind, became smoke once more. The clouds spiralled around each other, mixing together at the midpoint between them. Soon, there was only one cloud in the clearing.
A smaller cloud split off from the main one, and turned into Nightmare Moon.
Then another cloud broke off, and also turned into Nightmare Moon.
Then a third Nightmare Moon formed.
Then a fourth.
And a fifth.
And a sixth.
What was left of the original cloud squeezed itself into a solid form, and there were seven Nightmare Moons in the clearing.
“Spread out.” One of the Nightmare Moons commanded the others. “The further we are apart, the easier it will be to find anyone who tries to end Eternal Night again. Go!”
The others nodded in unison, and sped out of the park, each in a different direction. They did not run, instead they each glided over the ground like the clouds they had just been. The Nightmare Mist also split itself, an equal portion following each departing sorceress. The lead Nightmare Moon turned to depart herself, then turned back. “Ah yes, I nearly forgot you. My little thorn...”
Kuroko clutched her nails tight. That Nightmare Moon was looking at the unconscious body of Misaka.
Sissy had lost. One foe had become many. The sun had gone from the sky. All of the rules were being broken tonight.
But if that woman thought that Kuroko was just going to stand by and let her do whatever she wanted to Sissy, then she was wrong.
<Saten.> The Judgement member muttered. <Do not let go of me.>
Saten started, getting Kuroko's meaning imminently. <But - >
Kuroko shot Saten a glace that expressed in no uncertain terms 'No buts'. She then turned her head back to Nightmare Moon, who was gathering another handful of Nightmare Mist. The monster-woman glanced over at Kuroko, the now-familiar mix of arrogance and amusement in her eyes.
The nail in Kuroko's hand vanished silently.
The dark smile on Nightmare Moon's face suddenly twisted, the smug grin replaced abruptly with a look of pain and shock. Her left hand shot up to her right shoulder, which suddenly had a familiar-looking piece of metal lodged in it.
Any guilty hope of crippling the woman was vanished as she glared at her arm, seemingly forcing it to turn insubstantial as she had done before. The Judgement member's nail fell to the ground with a -plop- as the solid it was embedded in became gas instead. Nightmare Moon reformed her arm, no evidence of her injury remaining.
But injuring her hadn't been the Teleporter's goal. While she had been fixing her arm, Nightmare Moon had been distracted for several seconds. Kuroko only needed two.
Determine her position in the first eleven dimensions. Then, determine her destination in the same space. Calculate the eleven-dimensional line connecting those two points in space, exploiting the curvature of extra-dimensional space. Through the miracle of Rote learning and the Academy City development program, Kuroko had gotten this mental process down to one second in execution.
One Mississippi. Kuroko was now kneeling next to Misaka, Saten's right hand still gripping her shoulder with the grasp of a frightened young girl.
Two Mississippi. The three Academy City girls were outside the park altogether.
Three Mississippi. The American girls could not longer see their Japanese counterparts.
Four Mississippi.
Five Mississippi.
At this point, the remaining girls cottoned onto the fact that they had just been ditched.
Nightmare Moon's arm became solid again, and she didn't even spare the girls a glance as she flew after the Judgement member, not wanting to let her prey escape.
The oppressive pressure in the park vanished as the Queen of Eternal Night made her exit, but the Humansville girls felt no better for it. It should have been early morning right now, but the sky was pitch black. The moon was nowhere to be seen, and the stars were being washed out by the lights of Academy City. The only sound was the electrical crackling of the lightning bolt Rainbow still clutched in one hand.
“It's cold.”
Twilight had only known Fluttershy for a short time, but she had gotten the impression that her usual quietness was because she was nervous about talking to others. The soft tones that she had just used sounded instead like she wanted someone to talk over her, contradict her, make what she said not true.
“Yeah.” Rainbow Dash's voice was unusually sombre. “Yeah it is.”
Fluttershy's gaze fell to her feet. Confirmation had been the last thing she wanted.
Right now, the chill of night should have been alleviated by the warmth of day. Rays of sunlight should have been casting their golden glow over all the world, as they had since the Earth's formation. The fact that they weren't, when the girls knew that they should, made the world seem distorted.
Broken.
Applejack suddenly spoke up. “Magic can fix this, righ'?”
Rarity glanced at Twilight, who was still staring at the sky. “I… I think so. I mean, that sounds like a spell someone would have made?” Absently, she began chewing on perfectly manicured, purple-coloured nails.
Applejack inhaled. “So we get some other cabal to dig a spell outa their closet, and -”
“Not that simple.” Rainbow folded her hands. “Didja see how easy she took out the sun? We put it back, and she'll just take it away again.”
Applejack frowned angrily. “So what do we do?”
“I'll take her out.”
The other five girls turned their heads to stare at Twilight's declaration.
Rainbow blinked a few times. “You mean we'll take her out.”
“No, I mean I will.” Twilight glared at Rainbow. Heat was forming in her chest, as if to fight off the cold of the unnatural night. It seemed to be washing away her fear, and her hesitation. And her politeness. “I'm the only one here who stands a chance, now.”
Rainbow's eyes hardened. “Say that again?”
“You were useless in that last battle.” Twilight poked Rainbow in the chest.
“So were you!” Rainbow growled back.
Pinkie's eyes were tracking back and forth between Rainbow and Twilight like she was watching a tennis match. “Like, even if that's true Twilight, she kinda went zing!” She made an explosive gesture. “Surprise! There's lots of me now!”
“I'll have to take them all out.” Twilight started striding forwards, in the direction one of the Nightmare Moons had departed in.
She found her path blocked by Applejack. “No, this is stupid. You are being stupid.” She said. “Ya can't take her by yourself, and you'll just get hurt trying.”
“I didn't ask you to come along.” Twilight glared. “What have you done to help?”
“Ah saved your life.” Applejack said, firmly.
Twilight opened her mouth, then closed it. “Thanks.” She pushed past Applejack, sounding anything but grateful. “I won’t need you to do that again.”
“Well, phooey to you too!” Rainbow spat. Her wings extended out, and she floated up off the ground. “I bet I don't need your help either!”
Applejack spun around. “Rainbow, don't -”
Rainbow zoomed out of the park, heedless of Applejack's cry. Twilight rolled her eyes, and strolled out of the park.
Applejack gnashed her teeth, turning back to the others. “Those idiots are gonna – Rarity?!”
The girl in question was walking – not hastily, firmly – in the direction one of the other Nightmare Moons had gone. “Don't mind me, girls.” She called back. “Just following up on a hunch of mine.”
“Ooh, are we all splitting up? I'll take this one!” Pinkie bounced after another unclaimed foe.
“Gah!” Applejack tried to contain her frustration in her throat, only partially succeeding. She looked at the only other person left.
Fluttershy had at some point dropped to her knees. She was wringing her hands together, and though her hair had fallen such that it obscured her face, Applejack was sure that Fluttershy's eyes were aimed well away from meeting her own.
Applejack bit her lower lip. She looked around the park, to the hole in the ground they had emerged from, then back to Fluttershy, who curled even more into herself when she did so.
Applejack grunted angrily, then stomped out of the park.
Through the artificially-lit streets of Academy City, a blur passed through the air so fast it left a rainbow-coloured afterimage. At street corners, the blur pulled impossibly sharp turns so as to follow the road exactly. A careful observer, however, would note that the blur did not seem to be heading in any particular direction – it turned random directions at intersections, frequently travelling in circles.
Eventually the blur slowed to a stop, hovering in the air above a highway, and Rainbow Dash finally admitted to herself that she had no idea where she was going.
It was supposed to be simple! Moony (Geddit? 'Cause it rhymes with Loony?) had gone this way, so she went after her. Meet up, be awesome, rub it in Twilight's face, and go home with the day saved.
Only Nightmare Moon must have turned off somewhere and now Rainbow was lost in Academy City again. She glared at the lightning bolt still clutched in her right hand. And carrying this around was just awkward and in the way!
Grumbling, she took a tiny glass jar out of an equally tiny skirt pocket. In blatant defiance of all sense, she stuffed the lightning bolt into that glass jar as though it was cotton. Screwing the lid on and stuffing the jar back into her skirt now meant she had both hands free again, but she still didn't know where her foe had gone. All these skyscrapers were blocking her line-of-sight, if she could just see -
Rainbow's eyes slowly closed as she smacked herself in the head. With an abrupt -zoom-, she climbed halfway to the cloud layer in the space of a few seconds. Having regained her preferred bird's-eye view, Rainbow scanned the city below her. It was night, sure, but Academy City was lit up so brightly that even the laid-back weather mage felt like complaining about light pollution.
Movement caught her eye. A wide smirk, full of far too much cocky attitude, plastered itself across her face as she dived down toward what she had seen. The closer she got, the more detail she could make out, so while she was tempted to just charge straight in, she paused, just close enough to make out basic details, to see what was happening.
On one side was Nightmare Moon, or one of them at any rate. She was waving her arms as though holding invisible whips, directing her Nightmare Mist into thin slashing attacks. Her target…
Rainbow squinted, then whistled. Cool, robots.
Each one looked like a human in heavy armour, but instead of normal helmets they had what looked like oil drums mounted on their shoulders. They were armed with what seemed to be oversized grenade launchers, with the exception of two such robots at the back of the group; they were manning hoses attached to a truck similar in appearance to a fire engine.
As Rainbow watched, Nightmare Moon swung her arm and cleaved one of the drum-head robots vertically in half. Liquid sprayed from the sliced metal as the force of the blow set both pieces flying apart. Both pieces fell to the ground with sharp, metallic -clang-s.
She didn't even get halfway though another attack before Rainbow's foot struck the back of her head.
Her body flew with the force of the kick, hitting the ground with a wet -crack-. Rainbow smirked for a moment, but her eyes widened in surprise when she realised that instead of blood, mist had erupted from Nightmare Moon's body. Dissolving like snow, the body lying in a depression in the asphalt melted into particles of mist once again.
Rainbow crossed her arms in front of her chest in time to somewhat block the retaliatory surge of Nightmare Mist. Rainbow let the mist push her back into the sky, letting the attack spend its energy uselessly. Looking down, she saw Nightmare Moon reform in the same spot she'd kicked her out of. Rainbow grinned ferociously down at her.
Nightmare Moon stared back with a cold expression. With her left hand she made a grasping motion, and the loose Nightmare Mist that Rainbow thought she had harmlessly deflected suddenly moved back in. It formed into a solid block behind and above Rainbow so that she was now surrounded. In the span of a heartbeat the mist had grabbed her like a giant fist and shoved her down into the asphalt.
Even mixed in with the sound of the road surface crunching under the her-shaped hammer, Rainbow was sure she heard the sound of her bones cracking. Her precious wings were being crushed against her back, the plastic groaning in a way that alarmed Rainbow even more than her probably-broken bones.
“You?!”
Rainbow managed to tilt her head up enough to see Nightmare Moon glaring down at her. Her expression reminded Rainbow of the Apple family whenever they talked about the weeds in their orchard.
“Are you really that eager to die, girl?!” Nightmare Moon lifted one of her mist-whips up above her head, ready to bring her arm down like a guillotine.
Still pinned in the Nightmare Mist's grasp, Rainbow gritted her teeth, clenching her eyes shut.
-BOOM-
Rainbow's eyes flew open immediently, but she still missed whatever caused Nightmare Moon to move. Regardless, Rainbow spotted her flying uncontrolled through the air, slamming into a building on the side of the road.
“Does idiot woman think adults will just stand and let child get hurt?!”
Rainbow blinked at the surprisingly familiar voice. She couldn't remember her name, but… “Anti-Skill lady?”
The voice had come from one of the things that Rainbow had thought were robots. A different one, one of the pair holding hoses, pointed its nozzle at her and opened the valve. A thick dark powder erupted from the hose, covering her.
Dully, Rainbow realised that the firm grip of the Nightmare Mist had been reduced to the weight of the powder. It seemed that whatever it was, it absorbed water. She stood up but immediently regretted it. The pain shooting through her chest was far worse than it had been after she had been slammed into a tree earlier tonight. She staggered to one side, clutching her right arm.
Two of the maybe-robots charged Nightmare Moon, opening up with a pair of deafening -BOOM- noises from their weapons. Rainbow couldn't see what came out of the barrel due to the speed of the attack and the poor lighting, but large chunks of the concrete Nightmare Moon was still pressed against vanished abruptly, along with the sorceress. The concrete seemed to have been blown away so fast that Rainbow couldn't see it. The two hose-wielding maybe-robots sprayed their powder until it thickly covered the area.
Rainbow turned to the mass of metal that the Anti-Skill lady's voice had come out of. One of her wings managed to twitch feebly. “You guys don't mess around, huh?” She rasped out.
The drum-shaped head turned to face Rainbow Dash. Then hands were grasping the back of her head as something was forcefully held over her nose and mouth…
No-one who knew her would say Fluttershy was a fighter. No-one seeing her now would say any different. Her eyes were wet with tears. Her arms were held timidly in front of her chest. Her entire posture screamed out 'Please don't hurt me!'
Unlike the others, Fluttershy hadn't moved from her spot in the park. She couldn't – if she tried, she was sure that she would just dive back down the hole to Humansville and hide under her covers, hoping desperately for someone much braver than her to save the day.
“Meow~”
Fluttershy started slightly. Something small and furry was rubbing against her leg. With a startled look, Fluttershy identified it as a cat. “Oh! Um, where did you…”
“Bark bark!” “Tweet!”
Dogs, birds and other small animals were approaching her out of the mouths of alleyways, out of the sky… Fluttershy was being swarmed by the stray animals of Academy City. A knot of tension escaped her lips as a giggle at the familiar sensation of being enveloped in fur and feathers.
“I'm all right… really, I am!” Fluttershy reassured the assembled animals. “I'm just -” She paused as one Calico kitten, barely any larger than her hand, looked up into her eyes as if to say Really really?
“Really!” Fluttershy insisted. The cat continued to look up at her. One ear twitched.
Fluttershy managed to maintain eye contact for another few seconds before slumping down, her eyes shifting down and right. “No, not really.”
Twilight had been angry that none of them could help against Nightmare Moon, but… what exactly had Twilight expected Fluttershy to do? She wasn't a mild-mannered clerk wearing spandex underneath. She didn't have a mysterious past as a mercenary fighting overseas. She was exactly what she looked like: a young girl shivering with fear in the unnatural cold of the too-long night. She barely knew enough magic to be called a magician, what could she do against someone like Nightmare Moon? Someone who was so scary, the magicians of a thousand years later panicked upon hearing that she was returning?
Among the various animal noises, the sound of human, if foreign, language suddenly sounded. Fluttershy's head snapped up in surprise.
There was a girl standing in the mouth of the same ally many of Fluttershy's new friends had emerged from. She had silver hair, and was wearing a white nun's habit with gold trim. Seeing Fluttershy's eyes meet her own, the girl called out to her again in what sounded like the same language as before.
“I'm sorry.” For some reason, the thought of dealing with a member of her own species caused Fluttershy to curl into herself even more than the thought of facing Nightmare Moon. “I… I don't understand what you're saying.”
The girl frowned. “Do you know who I am?” She said, this time in English. There was a slight British twang behind her words. The serious tone of her voice was offset by the childish voice it was spoken with – the girl sounded like she was ten, though she looked slightly older than that.
“S-should I?” Fluttershy felt like she'd failed some secret test. The animals around her had slowly stopped nuzzling her so much, staring at the newcomer to the scene.
In contrast, the girl seemed to relax slightly. Only slightly, though. She started to walk forwards, and Fluttershy could see that she held a piece of table-cloth, folded several times to that it formed a distinct wedge. The way the girl was holding it, one would think she was holding a knife instead. "You are using the tale of Sleeping Beauty." She said. "Specifically, the blessings of the seven good faeries. That's why the animals feel safe around you: they can feel the blessings of the fey."
Fluttershy's mouth fell open. She blinked stupidly at the complete stranger who had started dictating her own magic back to her like it was written on her face.
“What is a magician doing in Academy City?” The other girl asked.
“I – this is Academy City?!” Fluttershy's back went completely straight. The animals around her scampered away at the cry, but Fluttershy was so worried she almost didn't notice. This was the centre of the Science Side, the natural enemies of the Magic Side! She was a rabbit sitting in a den of foxes! Even… even if the whole thing with Nightmare Moon was fixed, Fluttershy would be in big trouble just for being here!
“You didn't know?” The girl put her hands on her hips. Her head was tilted to the side, her eyes focusing tightly on Fluttershy's face.
“No!” Fluttershy burst out, then clapped her hands over her mouth, suddenly realising how loud she was being. “We...” She paused, the ingrained habit of 'not talking with strangers about magic' insisting that she stop talking.
Then again, this girl already knew so much...
“There was a hole in the ground. I think it was maybe possibly a portal, although now that I think about it I'm not really the sort of person to ask - ”
The girl frowned. “I thought as much. Where from?”
“Um.” Fluttershy blinked. Where was what from? The portal? “America?”
“America?" The girl seemed confused by the answer. "Only that far? Well, it was called the new world…” She shook her head. “No, anywhere that circle leads to should be far stranger than that...”
“...huh?” 'Only that far'? Why would this girl think it lead somewhere else?
The girl stared off into space, her eyes clouded over with thought. Seconds went by in silence. The Calico kitten that had stared down Fluttershy earlier moved over to sniff at the hem of the girl's habit.
“Um.” Fluttershy tried her best to find her manners around the lump of nervousness in her throat. “I'm Fluttershy.”
“Hm?" The other girl blinked back down at Fluttershy, as if just remembering she was there. "Oh, how rude of me! I'm Index.”
Fluttershy swallowed, looking the other girl up and down. Realisticly, there was no reason for Fluttershy to be so worried. The girl looked younger than Fluttershy, and was definitely smaller.
The trouble was, Index had an air of confidence and seriousness about her, so Fluttershy just didn't feel comfortable around her.
“Now, the one who's interfering with the sun…” Index said, causing Fluttershy to flinch backward. “She came from that Faerie Ring, didn't she?”
“F-faerie ring?”
“The hole in the ground over there.”
“O-oh. Yes, s-she did…” How did she know that?
“Hmm. Yes, that makes sense.” Index muttered. “Is the theme of the legend influencing its destination? Although, snuffing the sun out like a candle seems to be going far beyond mere 'misfortune'…”
Index rubbed her chin with her hand, drawing Fluttershy's attention back to the linen she was still holding.
“Um...” Fluttershy glanced down at the fabric that Index was still holding out, as though she was going to stab someone with it. “...why are you holding that linen like that?”
“Well,” Index said, shooting Fluttershy a look as though it should be obvious. “In case I have to stab you, of course.”
Fluttershy was a timid young pegasus. She loved her animals, and they loved her back, thanks to her Special Talent. She was very grateful to Rainbow Dash for being her friend.
________ was a timid young _______. She loved her animals, and they loved her back, thanks to her _____________. She was very grateful to ____________ for being her friend.
Fluttershy was a timid young magician. She loved her animals, and they loved her back, thanks to her 'friend to all animals' spell. She was very grateful to Rainbow Dash for being her friend.
Long ago, Pinkie Pie had promised herself that she would never run anywhere. Hopping, skipping and bouncing were all much more fun. Some people felt she was just being silly. That was okay, just as long as they thought that with a smile. Pinkie wanted everyone to laugh and smile.
Sometimes, however, Pinkie wished she had a Pinkie of her own to make her laugh and smile, in the times when she really didn't feel like it. Like, say, on a night when her Pinkie Sense wouldn't stop warning her about the bad things that were coming.
Granny Pie had always said to laugh at what you were afraid of.
But Granny Pie had also told her not to laugh at other people's pain.
So, when another little shake passed though her elbow, she started humming an upbeat, cheery tune to herself slightly louder than really necessary.
Nightmare Moon was floating above the top of a skyscraper, slowly turning in place. Pinkie would never have spotted her if not for the huge mass of Nightmare Mist spreading out like an umbrella over the edge of the building. The building was locked, so it was a good thing Pinkie had brought her suction cups. You know. In case of a suction emergency.
Nightmare Moon was watching as Pinkie pulled herself up and over the edge of the roof. The ancient sorceress's face was empty in a way that didn't really seem to be emotionless – rather, she gave off the impression that she simply hadn’t decided yet how she was going to react. Pinkie took the opportunity to stand up, dust herself off, and give a big smile. (Not forced at all. Really. Not even a little bit.)
“Hello!” She waved enthusiasticly to Nightmare Moon.
Nightmare Moon looked Pinkie up and down. Her face still retained that undecided blankness.
“So,” Pinkie bounced on the balls of her feet. “do you like parties?”
Nightmare Moon continued to stare impassively.
Pinkie held a fist up to her mouth and turned her head to the side. “Target is resistant to parties. Abort, abort, abort.”
Nightmare Moon raised an arm.
Before she could do anything with it however, Pinkie's left knee suddenly folded underneath her. The pink haired teen flopped to the ground with an undignified -ack!-.
For a moment, Nightmare Moon and Pinkie Pie both held still. A silence (not quite awkward, not quite empty) stretched across the rooftop.
“Ah-ha!” Pinkie cried, springing back to her feet like… well, a spring. Her smile seemed much more real than a second ago. “My left knee just gave out! You know what that means?”
Nightmare Moon's face had still not changed expression.
“I'm about to make a new friend!” Pinkie cried with delight, closing her eyes and smiling all the wider.
Nightmare Moon finally broke her silence when she let out a slight sigh.
Pinkie's smile turned down at the edges. “What, you don't believe me?”
“No, I do.” Nightmare Moon said. “Death has never refused the company of another.”
“Yay! …wait, what?”
Pinkie Pie was an earth pony who had devoted her entire life to spreading happiness and cheer wherever she could. She couldn't stand the thought of not being friends with someone.
__________ was _____________ who had devoted her entire life to spreading happiness and cheer wherever she could. She couldn't stand the thought of not being friends with someone.
Pinkie Pie was a Gemstone who had devoted her entire life to spreading happiness and cheer wherever she could. She couldn't stand the thought of not being friends with someone.
The sound of thick boots sinking into soft, spongy soil proceeded Applejack as she strode angrily into the depths of the park. The pocket of nature was small enough to walk through in five minutes; but the unnatural darkness of the sky, coupled with the lack of street-lamps, made it seem like it continued forever.
Applejack knew that Nightmare Moon had passed this way for one very simple reason. Normal people passing through the undergrowth of a forest, even one as small and well-maintained as this one, would leave traces as they disturbed leaf litter and stepped on or over small plants.
One might think that, as she floated above the ground, Nightmare Moon would not leave such traces. Such an assumption would fail to account for Nightmare Moon's apparent hatred of trees.
So, Applejack thought to herself, climbing over the splintered stub of a freshly-destroyed tree, what'cha gonna do, missy?
She didn't have long to think. It didn't even take half a minute to find Nightmare Moon, even concealed in the dark of the treeline. She was facing away from Applejack as she walked in, but with her boots noisily crunching leaf-litter underfoot there was no way she didn't know Applejack was there.
Accordingly, Applejack didn't bother trying to hide. “Did th' trees do somethin' to offend ya somehow? I kinda feel like this is more than a mite over tha top.”
Nightmare Moon turned her head slightly, one eye staring over at Applejack. “Speak not of matters of which you are ignorant. You have interrupted your queen when she is busy. Are you not afraid?”
Applejack glanced down at the splintered remains of shattered tree trunks strewn at Nightmare Moon's feet. Half of them seemed to have been arranged in some kind of pattern – they looked vaguely like faces. She'd only met the girl today, but Applejack was willing to bet that Twilight would know just what Nightmare Moon was up to.
But Twilight had stormed off on her own, so Applejack was limited to guessing 'magic'.
“Ah wanna know somethin'.” Applejack found that it was a lot easier to keep her voice steady if she thought about the trees being destroyed as petty vandalism, and not as practise for doing the same to people. “Ya said that you wanna rule everythin', righ'?”
Nightmare Moon turned around bodily, giving Applejack her full attention. “It seems that one of you can listen after all.”
“Yeah, that's the bit that don't make sense.” Applejack tried to look around the tiny man-made forest without seeming like she was avoiding looking at Nightmare Moon. The trees weren't packed together too tightly – there was something like five yards between any two trees. (But this was Japan, so it was actually about four and a half metres). Trees weren't all there were – tiny irrigation sprinklers could be barely glimpsed in the dark, and rocks ranging from pebbles to small boulders were scattered randomly around. The glimmer of an idea started forming in the back of her mind. “Ya want this 'Eternal Night' thing, and ya want to be queen.”
“Of course.” Nightmare Moon replied easily. Her features smoothed over into a softer version of her usual haughty grin. “Is it not fitting for the princess of night to become the queen of darkness everlasting?”
“Not if ya want any subjects, it ain't.” Applejack snapped.
Any softness in Nightmare Moon's face vanished along with her grin.
“Ah admit, ah ain't the best at all that fancy history stuff. But I'm pretty sure that even a thousand years ago, people weren’t this stupid.”
To the world of magic, the sun was often considered a god, or a divine blessing on the same level. Its holy power kept the world warm and lit. In many religions, the sun going out was a sign of the end of the world. To absolutely no one was the sun going away forever considered a good thing.
To the world of science, it was arguably even worse. Every single model of Earth held the fundamental assumption of the presence of Sol. Even assuming that the gravitational mass of the Sun somehow remained, that was approximately 7.32 quintillion joules of energy not reaching the Earth every minute. It was probably easier to imagine that there was an impossibly powerful freeze ray pointed at Earth, and that Nightmare Moon was squeezing the trigger for all it was worth.
The corner of Nightmare Moon's mouth began to twitch. Then, to Applejack's stark amazement, Nightmare Moon's mouth curled into a smile.
“Ha… ha ha...”
Nightmare Moon was laughing.
“Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
As quickly as it had come, Nightmare Moon's laughter halted, and anger filled her eyes. “Who is this, that you would insult me so?”
“Ah'm Applejack.” Applejack should have been frightened. She knew that. But she had promised to wake her little sister up, and to be there so they could see the sun rise together. And Applejack wasn't the kind of person who would ever break a promise. Especially not to her little sister. “I work at mah granny's apple farm, and ah'm going back there after ah'm finished here.”
“A serf.” Nightmare Moon spat. “A serf stands before me, calling me a fool.”
“Ya call me that again, an' ah'll be washing out your mouth with somethin' mighty stronger than soap.” Applejack bent down. There was a rock sitting at her feet about the size of a football. Her ever-present hat had made it through the weird hole in the ground okay, so Applejack took it off and retrieved her prized lasso from where it had been placed inside. Keeping her eyes on Nightmare Moon, Applejack quickly and deftly tied the non-lasso end of the rope around the rock. Standing back up, Applejack now had a length of rope with a large rock firmly tied to one end.
“You insult me again.”
Nightmare Mist was seeping out of the tree remains, abandoning whatever task they had had. It formed a backdrop behind its master, as if to mock Applejack and her improvised weapon. “You behave as if that will do more than annoy me. This, added to you implying my ignorance as to the effects of Eternal Night?”
Applejack's firm grip on her rope went slack in shock. “Ya… ya can't mean…”
“Of course I know what Eternal Night will do. I am the queen of night, you think I know nothing about my own domain?” Nightmare Moon's smile was wide. Wide enough to show Applejack once again that her teeth were pointed. “But you needn't worry.”
The Nightmare Mist spread out, encircling Applejack.
“After all, the most important person in the world will be perfectly safe.”
Applejack was a stereotypical earth pony. A hard worker, steadfast companion, and a skilled farmer. Her family was more important to her than anything in the world.
__________ was a stereotypical ___________. A hard worker, steadfast companion, and a skilled farmer. Her family was more important to her than anything in the world.
Applejack was a stereotypical southern farmgirl. A hard worker, steadfast companion, and a skilled farmer. Her family was more important to her than anything in the world.
Uiharu Kazari lived alone. She had had a roommate at one point, but circumstances had changed, and now she lived by herself in a two-person apartment. It wasn't so bad, most of the time. She had Saten at school and Kuroko at work. Of course, most of the time she wasn't sleeping off a bad head cold.
Also, most of the time she wasn't being woken up by Kuroko kicking her out of bed.
With an undignified -thud-, Uiharu fell to the floor. Her eyes shot open, pain driving the fog out of her eyes.
<Wake up.> Kuroko told her flatly, jumping down off the same bed she'd just kicked Uiharu off.
Uiharu blinked stupidly, her eyes misting over with tears. <Owww… That hurt…>
<You weren't answering your phone.> A vein was visibly throbbing in Kuroko's head as she loomed over Uiharu. Slightly intimidated by how furious her Judgement partner looked, Uiharu picked herself off the floor. And then she blinked again, this time in surprise.
<Saten?>
<Hey, Uiharu.> Saten waved from where she was standing by the door of her room. The door was still closed, not that that would have stopped Kuroko from getting in. Saten looked… actually kind of worried. Or was that fear in her eyes?
Uiharu looked back at Kuroko. <What's going on?>
Kuroko jerked her head at the second bed in the room.
Uiharu looked, and let out a little shriek. <M-misaka!>
Misaka Mikoto was lying on the top bunk of the bunk bed. Her head was wrapped in bandages, through which small amounts of blood were seeping through. Her eyes were closed, her breathing steady. Uiharu's first-aid training had nothing but indicators that Misaka would be okay.
But that wasn't okay, because even if she was alright, she was lying on a bed showing signs of violence and of a battle lost. Uiharu felt like the floor was tilting under her, and she staggered backwards slightly. Misaka was the third-ranked esper in Academy City. As espers didn't exist outside said city, it wasn't at all an exaggeration to say that there were only two espers in the entire world stronger than her.
Uiharu, shaking slightly, turned her head to her partner. <W-was it - ?>
Kuroko shook her head. <Her head hit the ground hard, but I don't think she has a concussion.>
<N-no, I mean...> Uiharu bit her lip. <Who…?>
<Some idiot who thought they were being clever.> Kuroko opened Uiharu's chest of drawers, retrieving a portable game console which she tossed to her partner. <She's not our biggest problem right now.>
Uiharu fumbled the catch, but caught the device before she could drop it. Someone who had K.O.'d Misaka wasn't the biggest problem? Kuroko had said that? Bringing the object up to her face, her eyes grew even wider. It was the heavily hacked console she used when her Judgement duties required her to be out in the field, rather than safe in her office.
Kuroko jabbed a thumb at the front door. <We don't have time for you to get to to the 177th branch, so you'll have to make do with that. I need you to find - >
<Wait wait wait!>
Uiharu and Kuroko both turned to Saten, both having forgotten she was there in the heat of the moment.
<You're not seriously going back out after her, are you?> Saten blurted out.
Kuroko crossed her arms. <I am a member of Judgement. It is my job to keep the peace - >
<This is well beyond just 'keeping the peace'!> Saten insisted.
Uiharu wished the two of them would fill her in on what exactly was going on. It was still dark out, why was anyone even awake?
...hang on. According to the time on her gaming console, the sun should have risen by now. Uiharu glanced around her room. The same time was displayed on her bedside clock and her watch.
<What's going on?> She wondered out loud, worry creeping into her tone.
Kuroko glared at Saten. <I need you to find a woman for me. She's wearing purple plate armour - >
<What are you even going to - >
<SHUT UP!>
Saten stared at Kuroko, fully taken aback by the outburst. For her part, the twin-tailed teleporter huffed and puffed, cheeks flushed, and Saten began to comprehend just how angry Kuroko was. Uiharu looked on, confused and scared at the high tension her friends seemed to be under.
Then a weak voice spoke into the silence from the other bed. <Do you really have to be so loud?>
All hostility vanished instantly from Kuroko's posture, as the furious Judgement Officer melted into a fretting schoolgirl. <Sissy! Oh my goodness I was so worried – quick, let me give you a full-body inspection.> Kuroko strode over, stood on the bottom bunk so she could see the top one, and lifted up Misaka's shirt.
-ZAP-!
Kuroko fell to the ground, twitching. Misaka examined her hand, sparks jumping between her fingers. <Well, my Ability seems to be working the same…>
<Ah! You shouldn't be moving yet, Misaka!> Uiharu objected as Misaka started to sit up.
The Electromaster waved her concerns off. <I'm fine. If I was really hurt, Kuroko would have brought me to a hospital.>
Kuroko's body gave another twitch.
<Anyway, I can't really call myself the #3 if I let stuff like this go, so I'm going to go crush the one responsible, okay?> Misaka dropped down from the bed and started stretching.
<No, it's not okay!> Uiharu objected again, watching Misaka gingerly touch her bandaged head.
<Misaka…> Saten said, and then stopped. <Do you… have a plan?>
Misaka blinked as she unwrapped the cloth from around her head. <I'd have to be an idiot to go back without one, so yeah.>
<Then...> Saten's eyes lit up. <Then tell me what I can do!>
<Not this time.> Misaka ruthlessly shot down. <You stay here with Uiharu. I don't have time to keep you safe tonight.>
The light in Saten's eyes went out.
Meanwhile, Kuroko was shakily pushing herself off the ground. <Sissy, wait - !>
<Better hurry if you want to keep up, Kuroko!> Misaka told her firmly, opening and striding out the door. Kuroko growled, then vanished from her position on the floor.
Uiharu glanced at Saten. The junior high girl was still frozen in place. Her eyes hadn't moved, as though Misaka would come back and change her mind if she just kept staring.
The remaining Judgement officer bit her lip, but sat down and slid out the portable console's tiny keyboard.
As she started up the various programs she would need tonight, she saw Saten's shoulders slowly slump down, her head tilting until her chin nearly rested on her chest.
<But I want to help...>
Nightmare Moon frowned.
She was floating, high over one of the strange roads that criss-crossed this also-strange city.
Chasing after the impudent girl with the nails had proved impossible. Her ability to ignore all physical barriers had allowed her to avoid her pursuer, despite the fact that she was carrying two others.
Nightmare Moon was not ignorant of teleportation – though she wouldn't know that word for it – but the girl hadn't given off the all-important trail of Mana that Nightmare Moon would have normally tracked. A Gemstone, then. Bah.
More annoying than the Mana that she couldn't sense, however, was the Mana that she could. All across this city of stone-stuff and glass were indications that the other hers were fighting unknown assailants.
No grace in defeat. Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes. As long as Eternal Night continued, it didn't matter what they did. Even if they actually succeeded in destroying some of her, anything other than her victory was impossible.
Speaking of Mana flares… the girl from earlier was approaching her, working an enchantment of some kind. Not the girl who had, however briefly, fought Nightmare Moon to a standstill. Instead, it was the girl who had blasted that girl when Nightmare Moon had entrapped the first in waking dreams. One of the girls from her sister's village.
“Nightmare Moon!” The girl yelled out a challenge. “I'm here to put an end to your schemes!”
“My.” Nightmare Moon purred, staring down at the magician more than a thousand years her junior. “Such a bold claim you make…”
“My name is Twilight Sparkle!” The girl halted her advance, standing next to one of the metal carriages that seemed to be quite popular in this time. “I am the student of Princess Celestia!”
Oh? Now that was interesting.
Very interesting.
Nightmare Moon chuckled. “You mean the sister of mine who could not even slow me down? And you think a mere student of hers can defeat me? Where does this strange belief originate from?”
Twilight glared up at her. “Necessity.”
Desperation, in other words.
Nightmare Moon glanced up and down the road. “Your companions seem to have left you.”
Twilight's body shifted uneasily. “They would have been no help.”
“Oh, I wouldn't say that.” Nightmare Mist swirled around her in thin clouds. “They would have made your failures look better by comparison.”
Twilight clenched her teeth. Recall the legend of Galatea. Call on the power of Aphrodite and Hephaestus. She raised a fist in front of herself, gathering Mana within… then she suddenly swung it into the car next to her.
“Come to life.”
The roar of an engine suddenly filled what was supposed to be early morning. The headlights of the car flicked on with with the engine. Twilight stepped to one side as the car's rear wheels screeched, literally burning rubber as the car surged forwards with all haste.
Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow. Unless the carriage could fly, animating it was a complete waste of time when she remained out of its reach.
Twilight knew this perfectly well. She also knew that, even if cars could fly, that a barrier of Nightmare Mist would just spring up to protect her.
But. What if she went to the car instead?
Twilight pointed a finger at the speeding vehicle. “Want it need it.”
Nightmare Moon eyes, tracking the car, suddenly went from nonchalant to very interested.
Twilight looked away, screwing her eyes shut. If this worked, she didn't want to see. Come on. She mentally begged. You know you want it. Just go down at get it...
All Twilight knew was the sound of the car's engine, and of its tyres squealing as it raced down the road. Then…
-Crunch-
Twilight peeled open an eye, hope filling her chest…
Then she processed what she was seeing, and her shoulders slumped.
“You actually thought you had me for a moment there, didn't you?”
Nightmare Mist twinkled in the dim luminescence of the streetlights.
It floated in front of the car, where it had formed a barrier that the car had smashed itself into.
Nightmare Moon flicked her fingers, and her mist wrapped around the car, flinging it up and through the air. It collided with the side of a building, and the sound of metal crumpling and concrete breaking rang out. Nightmare Moon did not so much as turn to look at the destruction she had casually wrought, even as the car fell noisily down to the ground.
“I am queen over all that is night.” Nightmare Moon loomed tall in the air, staring down Twilight. “To me, the mind is a secret that is revealed with every passing dream.”
“You have as much hope of controlling me as you do lifting a mountain.”
Twilight's breath hitched in her throat.
“Now then…” Nightmare Moon's eyes bored into Twilight's. “Shields. Lances of magic. Breathing life into the inanimate. Controlling the attention of others. These are all spells that are used for combat. So why would a student of my sister know them?”
Rainbow's magic was designed for altering the weather. Rarity's, for the creation of clothing. Even what little magic Fluttershy had was intended solely for calming animals. Any combat potential they may have had was unintentional.
Twilight was the only one of the group who knew spells designed for battle.
The building Nightmare Moon had flung a car into let out a -crack-, as a sizable chunk of wall broke off and fell down to street level with a deep -thud-.
Nightmare Moon's intense gaze vanished, replaced with her arrogant smirk. “Well, it doesn't matter.” She held out her hand, and Nightmare Mist pulled itself into a ball, floating above her palm. “I will end your life either way.”
Twilight inhaled sharply, steeling herself for Nightmare Moon's counterattack. Mana pooled under her fingertips, waiting to be used at the slightest twitch.
She didn't really have a plan B. If Want It Need It couldn't get her to drop her Nightmare Mist, she didn't know how she could do more than inconvenience Nightmare Moon. But she had to defeat her. There was no one else who could –
<Hey!>
The unexpected shout startled Twilight, and caused the corner of Nightmare Moon's mouth to twitch.
<Are you girls crazy?! People live in these dorms! Aw man, aw man! I don't know how, but I just know that I'm gonna be held responsible for this! Go have your fight somewhere else, you crazy esper girls!>
A human head, covered in spiky black hair, poked out from the destroyed wall.
Twilight Sparkle was a unicorn, and had just come to Ponyville from Canterlot. She had vast magical talent, and was the personal student of Princess Celestia.
______ _______ was a _______, and had just come to _______ from _______. She had vast magical talent, and was the personal _______ of _______ _______.
Twilight Sparkle was a magician, and had just come to Humansville from elsewhere. She had vast magical talent, and was the personal project of Princess Celestia.
Of the girls who had been present when Nightmare Moon had first entered Academy City, half of them had felt pretty useless. Saten, Fluttershy and Applejack all lacked any sort of ability that would let them influence the short and nasty fight that had occurred in that park.
In contrast, and perhaps counterintuitively, Rarity felt even worse. She actually was a proper Magician, unlike Fluttershy who only knew one spell, or Applejack who didn't know any, or Saten who never could learn any.
That, in part, was why she had so readily decided to face Nightmare Moon on her own. Well, that, and one thing she had noticed that she was sure no-one else had.
She always did pride herself on her eye for detail.
Anyhow, she had now found what she was looking for. Luckily, Nightmare Moon had just followed the road, moving in the same direction as she had exited the park from. Heading in the same direction had naturally brought Rarity to the same bridge as Nightmare Moon.
Said woman was standing atop the steel support beams that held the concrete road suspended over water. Rarity was beginning to suspect that magicians who flew naturally gravitated to high places – goodness knows Rainbow Dash did it often enough.
Still. Mustn't forget her manners. Rarity stopped before Nightmare Moon, performing her best curtsey.
Nightmare Moon paid no heed. Indeed, she might not have even know she was there. Her eyes were closed, her face deep in concentration.
Rarity waited for Nightmare Moon to acknowledge her existence. When a minute had passed, she coughed as politely as she could. Still, Nightmare Moon ignored her.
Well, if she had to take the initiative…
“That was a rather cruel trick you played.”
Nightmare Moon turned her body to face Rarity, and opened her eyes to stare down at her. Rarity waited for her to say something, but Nightmare Moon just stared unnervingly into her eyes.
“In the park, I mean.” Rarity clarified. “When you made it look like you had made copies of yourself.”
“You think that was a trick?” Nightmare Moon finally spoke. Faint undertones of disbelief could be heard in her voice.
Rarity started twirling one of her purple curls around her fingers. “Of course. It was rather obvious, actually. You see, I have a professional interest in clothing, magical or not.”
Magic was a discipline in which symbolism held ultimate power. Clothing, worn by all humankind since Adam and Eve, was one of the easiest and most powerful symbols you could exploit. It also held a surprising subtlety and complexity to it, which only an expert could be expected to notice.
“Which means,” Rarity continued. “that I noticed the stitching in that gown of yours right away.”
Nightmare Moon glanced down at herself. It was true that, under her armour, she was wearing a long black dress; but it had been made by a skilled craftsman. She could barely see the stitching in her outfit, and she was the one wearing it.
“You see, darling, your dress is exactly the same as the one worn by the first Nightmare Moon. The one who chased us here through that dreadful hole in the ground.”
“Is that really so noteworthy?” Nightmare Moon said.
“Well, yes.” Rarity replied. “Considering that that wasn't the case for any of the other 'copies', I'd say that was quite important.”
Silence, banished briefly by the exchange, returned. Nightmare Moon's eyes hardened.
“Those summons of yours don't have a form beyond what you given them… so all you did was give them your own form. A little pizzazz to impress and dazzle, and the trick is complete.”
Only one 'Nightmare Moon' had had the same dress of the original, because only one of them was the original. The rest were merely Shadowbolts, taking the rough shape of their creator. By dividing the Nightmare Mist between them, the illusion was complete – everyone had been fooled into thinking Nightmare Moon could clone herself.
Everyone, that was, except Rarity.
Nightmare Moon inhaled, and exhaled loudly. “I meant what I said in the park.”
“Hm?” Rarity cocked her head to the side.
“I really don't have time to waste with small-fry.” Nightmare Moon smirked once again, crossing her arms across her chest. Behind her, Nightmare Mist gathered. “So I'll make this quick.”
“How kind of you.” Rarity straightened up, arms extended either side of her. Both could feel Mana flowing through the body of the other. “But, I would like to make something quite clear.”
“Oh?” A hint of interest could be heard in the otherwise uncaring voice of Nightmare Moon.
“I deduced the others were fakes because I noticed that you were real. Did you really think I approached you just to die?” Rarity's voice had lost the polite respect she had been speaking with until now, and had taken on a coy tone.
“Incidentally,” Rarity's mouth formed into a smirk of her own. “Thank you for crossing your arms, dear.”
“What?” Nightmare Moon's smirk turned to a frown. She tried to uncross her arms, but her sleeves were unexpectedly tight, and stuck to her torso.
“It's a bit of a rush job.” Rarity didn't sound apologetic at all. “But any idiot can tell that I've just turned your dress into a straitjacket.”
Most magicians had a gimmick. Rarity was quite proud that her gimmick had a gimmick. Her magic revolved around clothing, that is true. But Rarity had mixed in a spell from outside her chosen field.
One that let her work her magic at range.
Nightmare Moon let out an unladylike grunt, her arms straining against the cloth binding them.
“Don't bother, dear.” Rarity began to walk forward. “It's your own magic powering that dress, so it's your own magic holding you in place. What musculature you have cannot overpower your own mystical might.”
Magic was based on symbolism. A straitjacket was an item used on madmen, to prevent them hurting themselves or others. And with Nightmare Moon's magic involuntarily flowing through it, that was exactly what it was going to do. Nightmare Moon's offensive abilities were sealed.
“Why else would I seek out the real you, unless I had a way to - “
-Rip-
Rarity's speech and stride both halted immediently.
-Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip-
Nightmare Moon held up both her arms. Her sleeves had long gashes down the sides where the stitching holding them tight to the torso of the dress had been broken.
“I really liked this dress.”
Rarity took a step back. “But… but!”
“Now, girl.” Nightmare Moon's fangs were on full display again. “Where did you get this idea that my dress was magical?”
What?
But… her armour was just plain plate armour. It might help her cast knight spells, but Rarity hadn't seen her cast a single one of those. Her hair was a product of her magic, not a focus. That had left the dress as the only magical item Nightmare Moon could be using.
Magic was based on symbolism. This was the most fundamental basis of magic – Idol Theory. It allowed a magician to use the power of an entity by possessing an image of that entity. Casting the world into darkness would require great power, which would require a grand symbol to access that power.
Unless…
A thought passed through Rarity's head. It was impossible. Completely unthinkable. But if she wasn't using the strength of another, then that could only mean...
“No...” Rarity whispered. “Don't tell me… you reached that ridiculous level of power all on your own?”
“Of course I did.” Nightmare Moon said. “I wouldn't have any right to call myself queen, otherwise.”
Rarity's feet move backwards another step.
“You have greatly aggravated me, girl.” Nightmare Mist spread out to cover both ends of the bridge, cutting off Rarity's escape.
“Die.”
Rarity was a unicorn who loved fashion so much she opened her own boutique. She was especially skilled at using her magic to sew the clothes together.
______ was a ________ who loved fashion so much she ___________________________. She was especially skilled at ______ her magic ___________ clothes _________.
Rarity was a magician who loved fashion so much she based her magic around it. She was especially skilled at infusing her magic into the clothes she made.
Rainbow Dash struggled as oversized metal arms wrapped around her chest and face.
Fluttershy backed away from the nun with a cloth-knife.
Pinkie Pie was in a laughing mood, but her opponent was deadly serious.
Applejack found herself facing down the ancient, world-ending threat alone.
Misaka was out for blood.
Twilight and Nightmare Moon stared incredulously as a Japanese youth yelled down at them angrily, completely in the dark as to who he was shouting at.
Rarity was beginning to grasp just how in over her head she was.
The Sun had been missing for fifteen minutes.
There was no time to lose.
The cold grew stronger with each second.
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I might be wrong, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the reason Index is threatening Fluttershy with a tablecloth is because of the religious significance of linen and ergo it must have some effect against certain magics. I mean, her Nun's habit, her 'Walking Church,' is made of linen as well. Like I said, could be wrong, but it seems like something she would think up. Good chapter by the way. I'm hoping your next one will be added sooner, otherwise I'm going to fall off the edge of my seat from suspense and anticipation!
The fact that this story is de-ponifying the MLP cast really bugs me.
7358221
They're not going to stay that way, obviously. The overarching plan is to switch the main setting between the Certain World and the Friendly World every arc - the first one is just in the other world so the bronies (whom I'm expecting to be most of my audience) get introduced to the Raildex setting/cast.
7359028
I can only comment on what's been written. It's been some time since the story was first published, and I still don't understand what's going on, just the characters are becoming more and more humanized (not just body, but memories and personality too) with no indication it will be reversed.
7359060
Saten reverted from being Satin as soon as she came home.
7359204
Ah, so that point was made. I stand corrected then.
I see that I'm the only person who decided to take a guess on the reason index was going to use a table cloth as a weapon. Was my guess even close, or are you waiting to see if anyone else is going to try?
7433199
You got the crux of the matter right - it's the fabric that matters. Index will explain more thoroughly in the next chapter, which is currently about 7,000 words long and I've only just started Rainbow's segment...
Hey! Its Sphinx! And Touma! YAY!!!
ooh! Are the Nyx from the comics? Or original? Cool, either way!
Nightmare Moon is a great, awesome threat!
And wow, Twilight's Spells, even Want it, Need it, are Combat Spells! Makes sense!
Typos:
barley > barely
chest of draws > chest of drawers
sow the clothes > sew the clothes
9449169
The Nyx come from the Nightmare Rarity arc, which is one of the better arcs of the comics. I highly recommend it, though you do have to think a little creatively to work around it's suggestion that the Nyx gave her the ability to enter dreams when the Chapter Books say that she's always had that (the explanation I used here is that the Nyx expanded that ability).
Loving how Pinkie Pie's prediction pays off in the end!
Index being awesomely threatening!
And awww, Sphinx!
----
Typo:
I not really > I'm not really
then that > than that
it's destination > its destination
Reading through this again, and noting how Rainbow Dash and Misaka are so similar! Lightning / Weather user, Pegasus, "Ignores injuries to go fight..."
And most of the ponies are paired with a human... Touma and Twilight, Rarity and Kuroko... Ah. Applejack and Pinkie Pie are sorta the outliers, but only now do I see that their counterparts might be Saten and Uiharu, respectively... Saten and Applejack are the Straight Men, and Uiharu and Pinkie Pie are the sorta wacky ones... Rumor-finder and Party Pony, respectively...
Ehh. The parallels aren't that clear, and maybe that's just wishful thinking...
----
Typo:
weeds in their orchid. > weeds in their orchard.
10730672
Thanks again for spotting that - and sorry again for taking so long to correct it.
I did have ideas for parallels, but they'll be more important when I eventually get around to CHAOS_fall then here. Touma <-> Spike, Twilight <-> Index, Misaka <-> Rainbow... I'd need to check my notes for what the other ones were though.