Christmas at Ground Zero
One month later.
“Tia, you passed a perfectly good place to park.”
“It was a handicap spot.”
Luna petulantly stuck out her tongue, drawing a giggle from Sunset in the back seat. They may have spent the last fifteen minutes circling the crowded mall, but the principals were giving no shortage of entertainment. Celestia had even turned down her old-people music so they could bicker properly.
“This is so stupid,” Luna grumbled. “Why are we even here? No one does their Christmas shopping at the mall anymore.”
“We do,” Celestia said primly. “It’s tradition. See the lights, the big tree, the carolers. Christmas is a season, not a one-day marketplace of gifts.”
Luna yawned and groaned with the same breath. “We could just shop online. Quarter of the time, half the price, and you don’t need to put on pants.”
“I like the mall,” Sunset said, drawing a betrayed glare from Luna. “My friends and I had kind of a falling out last December, but we had a lot of fun before and after. I’m really looking forward to getting the whole Christmas experience this year.”
Luna twirled a finger in the air. “Whoop-dee-doo. Get ready for long lines, annoying kids, adults acting like annoying kids, and an endless loop of the same five frickin’ songs.”
“There are more than five.” Sunset looked away, smiling with a memory. “Applejack had some playing at her house. She even did ‘I Heard the Bells’ on her guitar, and it was so good it gave me goosebumps.”
Luna rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but society has declared those songs to be offensive. Get ready for a barrage of Santa Claus, reindeer, and consumerism.”
“Huh.” Sunset tilted her head. “Are you religious, Miss Luna?”
Luna’s hands twitched around her handheld game. “Don’t get me started.”
“Then we won’t,” Celestia announced in a tone that seized the conversation. “We are changing topics.”
“To what?” Sunset asked.
Celestia’s eyes remained on the road. “To your shopping. Sunset, I know you want to buy gifts for all your friends, and you probably want to do something for Luna and I too. I’m also aware that our delightful modern society tends to measure gifts by the price tag – specifically, the fifty-to-hundred dollar price tag. Now I know your allowance doesn’t exactly cover for this, so I would encourage you to maybe treat your friends to pizza and call it your gift. And please don’t shop for us two; we’d rather you save your money.”
“Space Hero 3 looks pretty sweet,” Luna noted.
“Luna, dear, Sunset and I are talking.”
“Thanks, Miss Celestia.” Sunset gave an embarrassed little wave. “You don’t need to worry. I’ve been working the last few Saturdays and got some money to burn.”
At both principals’ questioning looks, she chuckled and scratched the back of her head. “Um, yeah. Actually at Miss Chrysalis’ mansion, I, uh…”
“Right in here, young Sunset!” Katydid Chrysalis threw open the doors, revealing a room with a heavy iron stove and reams upon reams of printed paper. “This mansion is heated by incriminating tax documents. Just keep shoveling ‘em in the stove until five, then check out at the front desk for your money.”
Sunset picked up and scanned one of the papers. “Is this… legal?”
Chrysalis swatted it out of her hands. “If you don’t read them, yeah, sure.”
“I… help clean the place up.” Sunset felt her cheesy liar’s grin appear, and thanked her lucky stars the principals had returned their eyes to the road.
Still, Celestia frowned. “So having made a little money, your plan is to go spend it immediately.”
“Well, yeah.” Sunset paused a moment, then added, “I’m seventeen.”
Celestia’s frown tightened. “When I was seventeen, I…”
Luna snapped her game closed. “Tia, stop right there before you sound incredibly old.”
Celestia paused.
The children waited. Finally, Celestia sighed and turned the wheel. “Here’s a good spot.”
Celestia checked her watch as they entered the bustling mall. “Alright, guys. Shall we move as a group, or meet back up at the food court later?”
“I’ll split off,” Luna said. She gave Celestia a sly grin. “No offense, but tis the season for keeping secrets.”
Her sister chuckled in reply. “Of course, Lulu. We’ll see you around.”
Luna’s smile grew warm as she watched the other two depart. Celestia and Sunset were in the spirit of things – laughing, greeting other shoppers, and ogling the three-story Christmas tree that dominated the mall. Crowds weren’t Luna’s thing, but it was nice to see Tia having fun.
Luna propped herself on one of the food court’s chairs and flipped open her game console. “Tis the season, alright. For getting your shopping done last month, online.”
A heavy bag was in her arms, but Sunset’s steps were light as she ran, laughing to the store map. “One six-pack of party cannon ammunition, and that’s Pinkie’s gift in the bag! Thanks for using your ID, Miss Celestia.”
Celestia followed at a more sedate pace. “You’re welcome, but Sunset? I don’t know how I feel about her owning something with an age requirement to buy supplies for.”
“I use a gun.”
“That is different,” Celestia declared, catching up as Sunset scanned the list of stores. “It is a tool for the business.”
“I guess.” Sunset shrugged, her mind more on the shopping. “Let’s see… Rarity actually wrote out a list, so she’ll be easy. Most of it I can get at the Prim Hemline outlet. Rainbow said she wanted some Daring Do action figures for her room, so I’ll need to hit the toy store. I already got Pony Twilight to send me Equestrian books for Human Twilight. I can take care of both Flash and Soarin at Cold Topic, AJ might be tricky…”
“Wait, go back.” Celestia cut in. “Flash? Soarin?”
“Flash is still a friend. And...” Sunset gave a happy little smile and fidgeted with her hair. “Rainbow’s been bringing Soarin to our lunch table. He sat next to me last time. Said I was cool.”
“Really.” A statement, not a question, and a frosty one at that.
“Yeah,” Sunset said. Her eyes abruptly shot from dreamy to wild. “Ooh, they have a Gunkitty here! We’ve got to check it out!”
Celestia peered at the name. “That wasn’t here last time. A gun store in a mall?”
Sunset grinned. “I know, right? It’s really convenient how you can find everything here. We don’t have malls in Equestria.”
“Convenient.” Celestia deadpanned the word, but laughed and caved in with one look at Sunset’s face. “Alright, we’ll go window-shop. Looks like… third floor, South hallway.
Sunset talked giddily as they made their way to the elevator. “I’ve been reading AJ’s gun magazines. Gunkitty just put out a new line of multi-colored pistol grips, and one of them is red with yellow highlights. I need to see it in real life, but in the picture it really looked like a great match for me. They have the same for holsters and belts, too. How cool is that?”
Celestia smiled blankly. Those sounded to her like overpriced replacements for functional gear, but she let Sunset have her fun.
“They also have a purple like your slacks! Wait, no, matching colors is bad, um… white! A white holster would look good on you.”
“My holster is fine. A gun is a weapon, not a toy.” Celestia gave her a sidelong look. “I think we should make a trip to the shooting range to reinforce this.”
Sunset shrugged. “I’ve been shooting with AJ.”
“That is not the same,” Celestia declared. “We need to go over some safety and maintenance skills together. You are a very responsible young woman, but it would put me at ease to make sure you’re treating your pistol with the caution it deserves.”
“I haven’t blown my foot off yet.” With a chime, the elevator opened. The pair stepped inside, making their way to the back as the crowd followed them in.
“I know,” Celestia said. “I still worry about you. If I could go back I’d have you practice and train until you were at least eighteen, especially with the gunplay. Instead you just kind of stumbled in and picked things up on the way.”
Sunset popped a stick of gum in her mouth. “No faster way to learn. How old were you when you first shot someone?”
She chewed, turning the pink candy into a sticky mess. Yellow fingers tapped her hip to the tune of the cute reindeer song playing around the mall. Christmas music was still fresh and fun for Sunset, even though Miss Luna thought little of it.
The door chimed again as they reached the third floor. The crowd began piling out.
Still no answer from Celestia. Sunset thought she just hadn’t heard the question. She wouldn’t have even looked if not for the slight motion in the corner of her eye, where Celestia stood.
Her mentor was trembling. Coarse shivers twitched through arms and fingers gone pale, weirdly synchronized at three for every gasp of air rocking her chest.
Wide with shock, Sunset’s eyes moved up. Celestia’s looked back above a calm and patiently smiling face. Surreal, given the revolt below it. Only the whitened pallor and thick dots of sweat spoke honestly.
“Whoa. Are you okay?” Sunset reached over and gripped a chilly hand.
“Fine.” Celestia’s voice hissed as though the words were squeezed out forcibly. “Fine. I need to go to the bathroom, I’ll see you later.”
With straight, wooden legs, she began speedwalking through the crowd. Sunset kept pace. “Do you need some water? Or something to throw up in?”
“I just need to pee,” Celestia lied. “Go on ahead, I’ll catch up.”
“I’m staying with you.”
Celestia raised her hand behind and to the side, pushing Sunset open-palmed on the chest. “Don’t.”
Sunset flinched, and that was enough. Celestia vanished into the press of holiday bodies. Sunset stood on her tiptoes, catching sight of the green and purple hair. If she hurried she could catch up…
“Don’t.”
Sunset’s heels clapped back to the floor and stood still.
“Way to go, Sunset.” Jostled by the moving crowd, she retreated to the railing and leaned over.
The tree was there, bright and beautiful as ever. Fluttershy said watching it helped her deal with troubles, but Sunset had no idea how.
At least looking at the ornaments gave her body something to do while her mind pondered. Is Celestia sick? No, she was fine until right then. What were we even talking about? She was going all Mother Swan on me, abruptly deciding I’m too young for this or that. Gun safety, and…
“How old were you when you first shot someone?”
“I am such an idiot,” Sunset growled. She gave herself a mental kick, albeit a gentle one. How was she to know? Maybe it wasn’t that after all, and Celestia really was sick. That seemed more likely. Try as she might, Sunset couldn’t picture calm, wise Celestia shooting someone who didn’t deserve it. It wasn’t even about ‘deserve’ – she protected people from monsters, no matter whom. Like that vampire they busted last week who was stalking Aria. Or the demon Celestia wrestled down while Sunset drew the banishment rune.
“Yeah, she just got sick.” Sunset said it. Hoped it. Wanted to believe, and so did. She pushed herself from the railing and walked to the Gunkitty, idly fingering one of the jacket’s holes.
Her Christmas spirit was more-or-less capsized, but Sunset did smile as the shop came into sight. A gun store for the fashion-conscious, Gunkitty fell exactly within her realm of interest. She definitely lacked the money for its fashionably-high prices… but hey, maybe she’d find something for Applejack.
Most stores had a bell above their door. This one activated a cheerful ‘Meow!’ as she stepped inside.
A surly, decidedly unwelcoming voice greeted her. “Hello, and welcome to Gunkitty.”
“You’re supposed to do that, ‘Meow, meow!’ thing.”
“Can it, Skittlehead!”
Sunset passed the accessory rack to find a cat ear-wearing Limestone Pie behind the counter, snapped from annoyance to anger by Rainbow Dash on the other side.
“Shouldn’t you be nicer to customers?” Rainbow snarked.
“You’re not a customer. You’re just here to drool over the guns.”
“Yeah, whatever.” Rainbow had already lost track of the conversation. “Oh, sweet, I use this shotgun in Left for Undead! Hey Sunset, you should get this for your monster hunting.”
“It’s Christmas season, Rainbow.” Sunset eyed the three-digit price tag and shook her head.
Rainbow moved on to ogle the revolvers. “Even better. Ask your mom for it.”
Not really feeling up to a debate, Sunset moved on to Limestone. “You work here now?”
The Pie sister shrugged with one shoulder. “Yeah. The corner mart cut its hours.”
“Rough.”
“Whatever. You here to buy something, or slobber on the glass?”
“Let me look around.” Sunset turned to the maintenance aisle to find two more familiar faces walking towards her.
“Applejack!” Sunset gave both a friendly and self-interested smile. Talking shop might net her some Christmas clues. “And… Trixie?”
Trixie walked past her, boxes in hand and nose in the air. “Trixie needs some glitter guns for her next show.”
“They sell glitter guns?” Sunset asked.
“Because capitalism.” Limestone walked over to the register, giving a hopeful glance Applejack’s way. “You buying anything?”
“Sorry, sugar.” Applejack held up her hands. “Puttin’ cat ears on a can of gun oil don’t make it worth ten bucks more.”
Limestone gave a rare smile. “Heh. You should see our technicolor pistol grips. It’s like, double price for a brand name and color for the idiots who want red or yellow or something.”
Quietly miffed, Sunset asked, “Should you really be trash-talking your own store?”
“Eh.” Limestone accepted Trixie’s card and swiped it through the machine. “This job sucks, anyway. Besides, there’s no way a mall gun store is going to make it in the long ru…”
A whine like shrieking speakers filled Sunset’s ears. Limestone flinched along with her, then cried out and jerked her head violently to the side. Purple smoke billowed from Limestone’s eyes and she slumped on the counter, though somehow rose upwards...
No, Sunset was falling. She saw, rather than felt, her arms topple ragdoll-like to the pink carpet. Except the carpet wasn’t pink anymore; it and the world had turned purple and smokey.
Sunset wobbled her head drunkenly, trying to clear her vision. She briefly saw Rainbow twitch with her hands on her face, the same smoke leaking out through her fingers. Then Sunset’s own haze intensified, stealing the world. No sound, no touch, and now her sight faded from purple to black. Only her breaths and heartbeat could be sensed, and even those dimmed with every instant passed.
She couldn’t think. Couldn’t feel. Her mind… she saw it as a tiny candle in the smoke. She felt a warm breeze, saw the candle flicker, and
“No.”
Her breathing. Her heartbeat. The only two sensations that remained, and Sunset clutched them for dear life. Changed them. Made her heart beat faster, her breaths come quicker. Bringing cooling air against the smoke. The breeze in her mind did not kill the candle, but drove back the inky purple.
She heard a groan. Realized it was hers.
The smoke fought back. It rebuffed the breeze, and strangled the light. The candle died in a puff, leaving Sunset in darkness. The breathing, even her heartbeat. Gone.
Something replaced them, though. One thing. The feeling of her right hand’s fingers against another’s. In mind’s eye, she saw them: smaller than her own, and possessed of a cyan hue.
Another feeling appeared on Sunset’s left: her other hand gripping a rough, peach-colored one. And in front of her, gleaming from the darkness, a peach and cyan hand met.
The images glowed.
And EVERYTHING returned. The silent store became a whirlwind to her once-deaf ears, sight shined brilliantly into her eyes, and Sunset gasped and spasmed along with her two close friends. Rainbow shook so wildly that her wings flapped on their own, carrying her up to sprawl awkwardly on the counter.
“What in the Sam Hell just happened!?” Applejack was already on her feet. Her flowing blonde tail twitched around her leg, and she swatted it back. “Well I know that’s what happened, but what about the other thing?”
“Our powers… they protected us.” Sunset reached up and scratched her pony ear as it shrunk back into her head.
Rainbow leaped from the counter just in time to get one flap of her wings before they vanished. “Yeah, but from what?”
“Shadow magic.”
A crash shook the air as Limestone slammed open the display counter. She picked up a showcase shotgun, made a face, and dropped it on the floor.
Applejack knelt over Trixie – unconscious, with thin wisps of smoke creeping from her closed eyes. “Still breathin’. C’mon, Trixie, get yerself up.”
“Yikes.” Rainbow pointed to the glass storefront facing the rest of the mall. Even from here, dozens of slumped, smoking shoppers could be seen. “Hang on, I’ll go see if the other floors are affected.”
Limestone snorted up through her nose loud enough to make it a gavel. “You don’t go anywhere, losers. You have no idea what you’re messing with. Shadow magic is illusion magic, it’s–”
“A form of magic specializing in concealment, deception, and mental manipulation.”
Limestone blinked. Sunset smiled, and took just the teensiest satisfaction in proceeding with the correction. “Shadow magic is sometimes referred to as ‘illusion magic,’ though this confuses the two. While the illusion school creates images and sounds, shadow magic more-or-less mimics the effect by tricking the subject. Effectively, everyone’s been ‘tricked’ into thinking they’re asleep.”
“No one likes a know-it-all.” Limestone’s sneer failed to hide her glower.
“Knowing is half the battle,” Sunset replied.
“Speaking of which, what about you?” Rainbow jammed a finger towards Limestone. “We’re all protected by our pony powers, but why aren’t you affected? Are you the wizard?”
“No, I felt what was happening and shot myself with adrenaline.” Limestone rolled her eyes and pitched a used injection pen into the trash.
Sunset pursed her lips. “That was dangerous. You could have given yourself a heart attack.”
“Or I could have passed out and counted on someone else to save the day.” Limestone picked up another shotgun, eyed it, groaned, and tossed it down. “No thanks.”
“Fair point.” Sunset tried the other gun case, but it was locked. “At least we’re armed.”
Limestone gave a humorless laugh. “Ha ha, maybe. Most of these are display pieces that couldn’t shoot if you begged them to. Couple that with the fact that we don’t carry much standard ammo…”
“Seriously?” Sunset grumbled. “You’re a gun store.”
“No, we’re a gun fashion store.” Limestone began walking towards the back aisles. “Let’s go through the stock. There’s got to be something we can use.”
A brief search proved her right, albeit not by much. “Let’s see…” Sunset eyed the handfuls they found. “Someone has to go out with a cat-eared pepper spray bottle. Aside from that we basically have enough for one revolver, one handgun, and one shotgun.”
“Ah yes, the shotgun.” Limestone groaned. “Favored weapon of limp-dicked posers everywhere.”
No sooner did they bring their findings to the group than Rainbow snatched up the long arm. “Ooh-ooh! Dibs on the shotgun.”
“Y’all know how to use that, Rainbow?” Applejack asked, stepping in from the outside.
“Hell, yeah!” Rainbow began slamming in shells while Limestone glowered at Applejack.
“What did I say about staying inside?”
“Sorry, sugar, Ah ain’t one fer sittin’ around like a city dog.” AJ shrugged without apology. “We don’t have a clue what’s going on, ‘n playin’ duck ‘n cover won’t do the trick.”
“What did you see?” Sunset gave Limestone her choice of the revolver and handgun, then pocketed the latter.
Applejack pointed one hand up and the other down. “Same thing, all over the mall. There’s a big ol’ crowd by the Christmas tree just layin’ down next to their bags…” She shivered. “This ain’t cool. We gotta do something, and we can’t use the rainbow blast with just the three of us.”
“So we’ll find whoever did this and handle things the old fashioned way.” Rainbow grinned and cocked the shotgun, ejecting a shell from its side.
The other three stared.
“Uh… Rainbow?” Sunset gave a weak grin, embarrassed for both their sake. “You just ejected an unused slug.”
“Oh.”
Another moment of silence passed. Rainbow shook her head and glared to the door. “Alright guys, enough wasting time.” Her hands moved automatically, cocking the shotgun again. “Wait… oops.”
Sunset and Limestone groaned. Applejack held out her hand. “Gimme that.”
“Whatever.” Limestone strode past them as the red-faced Rainbow surrendered her arm. “If you’re close enough to hit with a shotgun, you’re probably dead anyway.”
Applejack’s head snapped over to her. “Hey, Ah can hit at five hundred feet with mah’n, easy.”
“Is that normal feet, or redneck feet?”
Limestone went on, ignoring the green-eyed glare. “Anyway, I hate to say it, but you idiots’ magic might come in handy. Keep tight, and remember where we are. Anyone who shoots a civilian gets what’s coming to her.”
“Agreed,” Sunset said. Applejack nodded, and the disarmed Rainbow shrugged.
The group stepped outside. Despite Limestone’s warning to stay low, they all looked over the railing and shuddered at the sight beneath. Applejack’s description hadn’t done it justice – the entirety of the holiday crowd carpeted the ground in forced slumber. Smoke from all their eyes had spread across the mall, casting the whole scene in a purple tinge. Where once the endless bustle echoed between the walls, now Sunset heard only the same reindeer song from before. It played eerily through the silent mall, and Sunset decided she did not like it after all.
“Shee-yit.” Applejack let a rare curse pass her lips. “This is way creepier than that time Sunset possessed the school.”
Sunset winced. “Thanks for bringing that up.”
“Aw, sorry ‘bout that. Ah don’t got much filter right now.”
“Simple to deal with, at least.” Limestone chewed a nail, looking to the ground floor with narrowed eyes. “This is weird. If the shadow magic’s strong enough to affect all these people, why knock them out? It’d be just as easy to make them panic or riot and cause some real damage.”
“Easier, actually.” Sunset raised a finger, unconsciously mimicking Celestia’s habit. “Shadow magic plays on perception and emotion. It’s much easier for it to turn one particular feeling to the max than suffocate everything.”
Limestone’s retort got interrupted by a cyan hand grabbing both their shirts, accompanied by Rainbow’s hiss. “Get down!”
Limestone dropped in an instant, seemingly faster than gravity could allow. One blink later, the rest of them joined her below the railing wall.
“Down there,” Rainbow whispered. “Something big.”
Quietly, the group rose to a crouched stand, just high enough to peer over the handrail. Below them, a single figure walked brazenly down the main hall between the entrance and the Christmas tree.
It was eight feet tall – nine, including the crown. Steel-black armor coated the being from neck to toe, marked with jagged, jutting crystals and a deep red cape. The spiny black and red crown formed a helmet on its head, hiding all but the smoking, glowing green eyes.
And there was a sword – deep grey, with glowing blue runes. The giant gripped it tight as it came to stand above the first shopper, halfway to the tree. In two swift moves the blade rose, point down, and skewered the body.
Applejack and Rainbow recoiled immediately, ducking back down with shocked swears. Sunset released an unsteady breath, but held firm. She watched with grim curiosity as the poor shopper’s blood ran up the sword, then the arm, and fell into the armor’s joints. The green eyes seemed to glow brighter for a second before resuming their normal hue.
Those eyes…
A storybook memory hovered on the edge of Sunset’s brain, but Limestone spoke first. “A lich.”
Then, with feeling, “Fuck.”
With silent efficiency, the being turned and strode to the next fallen shopper. Limestone ducked, and yanked Sunset down with her. “Okay, quick primer for the rookie. You basically need to take liches apart to kill them. Even that only drops them for like five years, but who cares, it’s not like we can stop him now anyway. I’ll call for backup, you losers run.”
“Oh, like hell,” Rainbow snarled. “We gotta save those people. If we have to take him apart, we’ll take him apart.”
Applejack nodded, and pointed to the mall center. “Y’all saw that big crowd by the tree. There’s gon’ be hell to pay when he reaches it.”
Limestone spat on the ground. “Yeah? What are you gonna do about it, Tex? We got like one minute before he reaches them. Stairs or elevator will be too late, and then we got to worry about not getting murdered ourselves.”
She spat again, an inch from Sunset’s foot. “Look kids, you think you’re heroes, but you’re not. Monster fighting is a clinical, strategic job where one wrong step barbecues you. Move too soon, and bam. Dead.”
“Well if we don’t move soon there’s going to be four hundred ‘bam, deads.’” Sunset hissed. “And that’s just around the–”
“Could y’all let me aim in peace?”
They looked over to see Applejack leaning over the rail. The shotgun was braced into the nook of her shoulder, and her gaze peered out over the iron sights.
Limestone gave an amused snort. “Oh, lookey here. Calamity Jane thinks this is a movie.”
“Ah got solid shot in here,” Applejack said, more into the gun than the air. “It can go the distance.”
“A dropped rock can ‘go the distance,’” Limestone sneered. “That thing is halfway down the mall. You couldn’t hit your hillbilly barn at that range, let alone a moving target.”
Applejack sniffed. “Maybe y’all stop distractin’ me, huh?”
Limestone threw out her arms, rising to the fight. “What does it matter? You’re a mile away. You’re gonna miss it. Dumbass cowgirl thinks she can–”
*THOOM*
Noise like a hammer on a frying pan shattered the air after the shot. They all saw the flash as the slug met the lich’s chest, knocking it flat on its ass.
Limestone’s jaw snapped shut beneath pink-tinged cheeks.
The lich’s breastplate was undamaged. Applejack muttered a curse and cocked the shotgun. This time she aimed high, striking the shoulder. The shot knocked off its target’s balance, stumbling the lich as it tried to rise.
“Yeah! Yeah! Eat a bag of dicks, dust-for-brains!”
Rainbow yanked the cheering Limestone back from the railing. “Super-cool, but what now?”
“We run like little bitches,” Limestone admitted with what passed for good cheer from her. She snickered as a third blast shook the floor. “But I’m thinking we can kite the bastard, get him away from other people long enough for some backup to–”
“YAIE!”
Applejack jerked back with a cry. The shotgun fell as she curled down on herself, trembling and sobbing.
“Applebloom!” The hand that held the weapon slammed over her eyes. “Oh mah God, Ah hit Applebloom!”
“For real?” Rainbow was on her feet, looking between Applejack and the lich in a panic. “Crap, he’s coming fast.”
“No, not for real.” Limestone bent and roughly pulled Applejack’s hands away from her face, revealing green glowing eyes behind. She roughly shook the country girl’s shoulder. “It’s a nightmare, Applejack. Get it together. It’s a spell, a trick!”
Purple smoke hit the four like a wave, arching over the rails to wash down on them. The lich rode it, flying into their midst before a single gun could be raised. Sunset dodged backwards from its sword, stumbling and falling from the effort. A plated fist backhanded Rainbow Dash, sending her careening across the floor.
The hand reached forward and snatched their last member up by the throat.
“Limestone!” Sunset raised her pistol, but by luck or design the held girl was in the way.
She stood as quickly as she could, knees knocking. Instinct bid her flee, courage bid her fight. But how? Her pistol seemed puny against the armored giant. But she couldn’t just abandon the others, and Limestone was turning purple…
Despair squeaked out as a desperate sob. “Oh, sweet Celestia, let her go.”
It startled. The grim green eyes blinked at her.
And it obeyed, to Sunset’s surprise. Limestone fell to the ground, sputtering and clutching her throat. The lich stepped over her without a thought, gaze fixed on Sunset.
She saw its pupils, glaring hot and red through the green glow. Magic or fear held her still, though with a burst of will she raised her pistol.
A voice came from within the crowned helm, cold and echoed like a frozen mine. “Where is she?”
“Bite me!” Three quick rounds snapped into the lich’s armor. The still-coughing Limestone twirled on the floor and slammed a kick into its plate mail shin.
Neither slowed it. Limestone bounced off with a cry, clutching her leg. A dismissive gauntlet waved down on her, turning her eyes green and face shocked.
Sunset gulped and aimed for the head. Her shaking hands delivered two shots high, then one more down into
Celestia.
“No!” Sunset took one step forward, and resisted the urge to dash the distance. Her mentor was screaming, crying from the horrible burns, with a cackling demon looming above.
The step forward turned to a panicked step back. Sunset knew the demon. Knew it well.
It was her.
“Oh, no.” She shut her eyes. “No. No, no…”
No.
This wasn’t real. But it was real. It felt so real; every instinct she possessed said it was real. It had to be.
It’s not.
Shadow magic. A trick. Sunset’s heart was fooled, but her brain knew better.
She opened her eyes, and saw her demon-self. Felt her stomach lurch and eyes water.
A trick. Nothing more. She forced herself to look past the nightmare. Focus on what she knew to be true. The mall. The lich. The visions still moved, laughed, and screamed, but now Sunset saw through them. They were no more real than the monsters in Miss Luna’s games, and the proof seized her collar and lifted her to the air.
Sunset grinned fiercely, proud in her little triumph, and kneed the armored crotch for all she was worth. Definitely more painful to her than the lich, but defiance was all she had left.
The voice spoke again – still hollow, but loud and angry. “You said her name.”
Rainbow’s raspy voice ground out around a cough as she feebly pushed herself from the floor. “Yeah! Celestia’s her mom, and if Sunset doesn’t kick your ass, she will!”
“Rainbow, shut up!” Sunset snapped, ultimately in vain. The lich’s eyes flashed without even a waved hand, and Rainbow’s glowed bright green. She folded up on herself with a quiet whimper.
A dark chuckle echoed within the armor. Sunset clutched her hands, realizing they were empty. She had dropped her pistol during the nightmare.
“So. Celestia bred herself a teenager.”
“…Within the last five years.” The lich shook its head, letting the moment of bemusement pass. “Where is she?”
Sunset hissed. “You want to see her? Watch a mirror, ‘cause she’ll be kicking your ass before you know it.”
She abruptly rocked, trying to twist out of its grip. No luck – the gauntlet only pulled her closer, and the other reached up and grabbed her face. Smoke billowed from its palm into Sunset’s head.
She braced, but the pinpoint hurricane of magic was too much. Dimly, Sunset felt herself be folded over a shoulder, and heard a soulless voice say, “Be still.” Then the purple smoke blotted them out, and she knew no more.
The texts flew hot and fast between the sisters. “Tia, I want it established for the record that you were the one who said we couldn’t bring our concealed carries.”
“It’s Christmas, Lulu.”
“Yeah, and Old King Cole is back. How are you still awake?”
Celestia swished a little bathroom faucet water and spat before responding. “It’s hard to go to sleep while you’re throwing up. You?
“I dunno, I think getting mind-controlled once taught my brain to scream ‘NOPE’ at stuff like this. Remind me to thank the Dazzlings later.”
“Really?”
“Haha, no. Anyway, I’ve already texted the others. Wanna lay low til they get here?”
Celestia’s jaw tightened. “Sombra wants souls. You saw what he did last time with a hundred, and how many are here now?”
“Fine, fine. There’s a sporting goods store right next to me, and one of those stupid Gunkitties up by you. We’re either going to save the day and look damn good doing it, or die like assholes.”
“Typical Saturday.” Celestia smiled grimly with the words. She pocketed the phone and quietly slipped from the restroom to the smoke-hazed mall.
Stats
Page generated in 0.034 seconds
Total duration
1,097 users online
1,547,012 hits today, 1,822,946 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Coincidence, that's the exact same reason I'm job hunting now.
Another pet peeve of mine. Thankfully movies haven't been doing this as much as they used to.
Wonder how she did that anyway. My pump-action won't let me pump it if I haven't fired yet, unless I pull a lever. I'll just assume all shotguns aren't made equal. Not like I've shot them all.
Happy to see Limestone put in her place by AJ's perfect shot. I respect her experience but man is she rude. Experience doesn't give you that right. Even if most people are Rainbow Dash in terms of gun experience.
Sombra as a lich? Works for me.
Wait...There was no round/shell in the barrel. How could she eject an unused shell/round when her cocking should've chamber the round/shell into the barrel first?
If it comes already loaded then that is just dangerous...
Or did I miss the part where she cocked the gun after loading it?
Or the shotgun is somehow automaticly load/cock and I don't know about it,
Here comes SOMBRA.
I love Dashie trying to be cool with the shotgun and failing utterly. She's the sort who would accidentally shoot her own toes off with a weapon she thought was unloaded, isn't she?
Looking forward to Sombra as a dyed in the wool villain!
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
So, Earth-Chrysalis is a female Mr.Burns?
Why can't they kill Sombra, or put him safely under concrete? Does he has a phylacterie hidden somewhere ?
I feel there's a joke here to be made about his phylactery being horribly obvious at Crystal Prep somewhere.
I CANNOT EXPRESS MY EXCITEMENT
Sombra as a lich? I swear I have read a few equestrian stories about him being a lich.
Oh well. Honestly, I liked Applejack in this one. Showed her as a badass, but with a fear of hurting her family. Nice.
Kudos to you!
Limestone totally has the hots for AJ now, real shot through the heart.
Chrysalis is a eco-friendly bad guy? I like it!
Yeah, people arguing can be better than TV sometimes.
You're cynical. I may not care for Christmas Carols either, but even I can't bring myself to be cynical on Christmas.
OK then.
OK then.
This made me laugh too damn hard.
HAH!
What's wrong with Soarin'?
Agreed.
Ya shouldn't have said that.
Right.
The fuck?
Merde.
Thanks, G.I Joe.
I admit, not much of a fan of shotguns, only rally good at close range, where you'd be better off not being. Gimme a sniper rifle any day, that I can actually more or less shoot and hit something with.
See?
Oh boy...
I noticed, yes.
'Ello, Sombra.
That tends to be the reaction to lichs as a whole, yes.
You were saying?
Eh?
Who?
She says as they've spent the last fifteen minutes struggling to find any parking space at all, due to the sheer amount of everybody doing their Christmas shopping at the mall.
I keep hoping Sunset remembers Chrysalis had no trouble using magic, and unleashes pure Equestrian battlewizard hell on something.
Maybe next time.
Mhm, between preventing mall massacres and criticising the consumerist nature of first-world-Christmas I'd actually love to hear some more on SunsetxSoarin; sign me up for unconventional-but-absolutely-plausible-in-a-high-school-scenario ships!
Wonderful chapter
I just want to take a moment to say, I like that you addressed gun safety in this chapter. As a professional armorer, i feel it adds greatly to the realism of the story ^_^
7457953 She could've combat-loaded it (slotting a shell directly into the chamber), although the action would have to have already been to the rear for that.
7457837 For some models (Notably the Mossberg M500, which I have the most experience with), it's a button, not a lever. Being right next to the trigger guard, she could've squeezed it by accident.
SHOOT HIM IN THE FACE! DO IT!!!!!!!
7458305 I ship it
Someone just made a will save.
I'm glad you made Chrysalis the goofy villain, Sombra seems a better fit for scary. Though Sunset has to be more careful about bringing up old traumas with Principal Celestia. Well, Sunset is in such awe of her its understandable she thinks her new mom is kind of perfect, but... yeah, both sisters probably have plenty of old wounds. Mom not being happy about Sunset seeing boys sounds like another fun moment. Bad enough meeting your girlfriend's parents, worse if they're the school principal (and heavily armed most of the time).
Cool to see some other Rainbooms join Sunset in fighting, even if they can't do much (and Rainbow Dash with a gun sounds like a really bad idea). Considering how much Limestone knows, I'm surprised she didn't show up on more monster hunts before. Unusual to hear her mock Applejack as a hick, since back in Equestria both their families are old-time farmers. Of course I know the difference s that the human Pies live in suburbia, but just still strange to read.
Oh boy, time for Celestia and Luna to strike back. Though who knew invoking Celestia's name so often would get a reaction like that?
7381047
Will you explain how magic works in Human Equestria? Besides the bit about Sombra´s shadow magic or Zecora´s talents, we don´t know much. Is it an innate talent, or can be learned? And at what cost?
Besides, if there are magical resources around, why haven´t the Sirens tried to restore their Amulets somehow?
7460275
-Different rules for different magics. While Sunset has a lot of book knowledge on the subject, she grew up using her horn for it and hasn't learned any way else. She also didn't know Human-land even had magic until very recently, so she hasn't spent much time studying its ways.
-The sirens have no knowledge of how to potentially restore their power, no allies to help them do so, and no idea where to start looking. They're also now three unpowered teenagers with a desperate lack of practical skills, so any attempt to seize new magic is very likely to make their precarious livelihood even worse. Couple that with the fact that they're not exactly studious researchers and we've got a threat that was safely contained eight months before the fic started.
For those of us who have mobility issues, a shotgun is a great tool of defense. Granted in real life I don't have to worry about undead, monsters, or aliens, Just idiots trying to break into my house. I would probably pick a high powered sniper rifle if I had to go up against anything nasty. Shooting from far away and under cover sounds smart to me.
Huh. I'm not sure how to feel about party cannon rounds being commercially available in this world.
As for Sombra, I appreciate serious treatments of him. There's enough King Sombrero prancing about the site as it is; he offers a lot of villainous potential for anyone who actually wants to use it. Definitely looking forward to seeing what else you do with him. (Also to seeing how Limestone acts around AJ in the future, assuming they survive.)
Heh, I love how you made fun of Hollywood gun tropes. I wonder if Dash would've attempted to aim the shotgun from the hip if she'd been allowed to get that far.
And it was awesome to see AJ getting in on the monster fighting action.
Doesn't a shotgun have spread? I don't know much about guns, but unless you're firing slugs I'm pretty sure a shotgun has spread.
7465249
Yes. And,
7465249 Shotguns fire pellets -or- bullets. AJ mentioned she had solid shot, which means a single bullet.
You aren't wrong, but it was stated specifically that she isn't using spreading shot.
7465921
7466821 I'm going to be completely honest, I missed that bit so I look kinda stupid. I apologize for that.
7467476
No worries, it's super easy to miss little details in a wall of text.
I'm always happy to clarify things.
7468632 I think I may have read it as, I've got a solid shot, like she was saying she was a good shooter. Idk.
7469319 That happens when you're skimming, even slightly.
I do it alot, so I am familiar with that situation. No worries.
Even though I hate PONY.MOV and anything similar to it... I kinda want to see a PONY.MOV King Sombra.
...is SMILE HD similar to PONY.MOV? Not to me. SMILE HD has some style despite the brutal deaths and PONY.MOV aims to trigger me with no break.
Shotguns are cool and Piemations & fimflamphilosophy is the superior pony parodies, honestly.
AJ is officially Micheal Bolton. ♫ I can go the distance ♫
Haven't read all of this yet, but as of the end of the Chrysalis arc... I think I might want to try and draw the Hunters. As ponies because my human-drawing skills wouldn't do it justice. Probably covered in changeling innards, as is only proper.
Because frankly, this is cheesy-awesomesauce glorious. I wonder why I didn't read this earlier.
*dives to reading the rest of it so far*
7458899
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/de/14/00/de1400ded9f8837c3075454165724137.jpg
7478223
Glad you're liking it so far. If you do decide to make delicious fanart, please send me a link.
7458016
Nah, she isn't that kinda special. What would happen is that she would take it out, remove the ammo clip/mag, flip it around, point it at people while saying 'Bang! Bang! Bang!' Last one being her squeezing the trigger and accidently shooting someone in the chest cause she forgot to check that there wasn't one loaded in already.
I waited all the way until I came home from college for Christmas break to read this set of chapters! A good reward for a lot of work!
Discounting shotguns... might as well discount the Lich as well with how much of a fool Limestone is.
>snarky Limestone being a darling
>guns
>fightin' AJ
>Lich stuff
>SOMBRA
ily no hetero
This story feals like Buffy meets Scooby Doo and I could not be happier about it
Luna is best pony, even when she isn't one.
Best quote ever.
"Because Captialism"
S O M B R A
I knew instantly who this was. 😀😀
So a Lich King Sombra basically. Complete with the Michael McConnohie voice in my head.
Check out Luna here, complaining about not shopping online while demonstrating that she really needs to get off the internet and go outside. And what was that about adults acting like annoying kids?
What I'm saying is that this is some solid satire. Shut up and enjoy things, Luna.
A fair point