The Harmony Games

by Antares

Chapter 12: Sleepover

She ran. Away from the scene as fast as was humanly possible. She didn’t know where she was running, but she had to run.

“Of course those imbeciles couldn’t do a single thing right,” she thought darkly. A string of colourful curses were spat out as she ran. “Nothing ever works.”

One piece of luck she was almost thankful for was that none of the guards challenged her as she sprinted through the city streets. Not even the guards at the city wall gave her more than a curious glance as she bolted through the great oak doors to the lands beyond. But even here she did not stop.

“It’s only a matter of time now. They’ll know. And they’ll come after me.”

And so, as the sun suddenly dropped low in the sky and storm clouds rolled in, the Great and Powerful Trixie ran as fast as she could away from the capitol.

Into the Everfree Forest.

---

The rain had kicked in before Twilight had managed to lead the group home, resulting in a panicked dash through the streets. At least, panicked for most people. “Yay, yay, slumber party! Yay, yay, slumber party!”

“Girls, would you stop that!” Rarity said to the three younger girls ahead of her, just enough edge in her voice to make it a threat rather than a request. Her hair was drenched, her clothes soaked and her makeup temporarily ruined.

“It’s not us!” Sweetie Belle said indignantly. Ahead of her, Pinkie Pie was bouncing along, her body apparently untouched by the rain around them.

“Yay, yay, slumber party!” Rarity’s glare was deadly, almost palpable to everyone by Pinkie, who remained as bouncy as before.

“It’s just around here,” Twilight called out as they came towards her house. She flicked her horn, throwing the door open to let everyone rush inside. The mostly drenched group entered and immediately began drying and complaining, but one by one their surroundings caught their eyes and they stopped and stared. Twilight, being the owner, failed to be amazed, moving further towards her kitchen.

“I think I may have some spare clothes and blankets in the back and…”

“That’s a hellofa’ lot ‘a books!” Applebloom exclaimed.

“Applebloom, watch ya’ language!” Applejack reprimanded.

“What? Everyone’s thinkin’ it!” It was true, although Applejack was rued to admit it. Twilight rubbed her head in embarrassment.

“It’s not that many,” she murmured mildly. “The Canterlot archives have more.”

“Not many more!” Rarity said. “And not all belonging to one person!”

“I…guess I just like to read…”

“That’s silly!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, attracting everyone’s attention. “I mean seriously who enjoys rea…”

“Is that the ‘Daring Do’ series?” Fluttershy interrupted excitedly, running over to one of the nearer bookshelves. “There are volumes here I’ve never even seen before!” She reached out excitedly, but quickly reverted to her familiar, timid self. “Umm, is it ok if I…”

“Of course!” Twilight said, visibly happier for someone taking an interest in her books. “Of course you can read them! I have some connections with the author so I’ve been able to get a few limited editions, unedited copies, unseen books…” Fluttershy squeaked in delight and reached for the book again, but stopped short upon seeing her soaking wet hand.

“Umm, I might just clean up first, if that’s ok.” Twilight looked at her, then at everyone, apparently only just realizing how wet everyone was near her precious books.

“Showers’ontherightsecondbathroomontheleftspareclothesandtowelsintheclosetnowgoquicklyQUICKLY!!!” Everyone was shoved, pulled or telekinetically thrown out of the library room through the only small door, crushing against each other on the way through. Twilight slammed the door behind them, panting heavily from her sudden panic. On the other side there was much groaning from the mass pile of bodies on the other side which slowly began to dismantle into recognizable shapes. At the bottom Rainbow Dash looked over at Fluttershy with strange confusion on her face.

“Since when do you like reading?”

“I always have. I keep my books stashed under my bed.”

“Hmph.” She puzzled for a few seconds while Pinkie Pie shifted painfully on her back. “So what’s so good about this ‘Daring Do’ book anyway?”

“Oh, I just really like the main character,” Fluttershy said with a wide, knowing grin before moving off towards the bathroom. Rainbow Dash however, looked distinctly more confused and unsure, leaving herself lying in the middle of the corridor for far too long.

---

“I must say, this is terribly unbefitting of a lady.”

“Ah, quit yer whinin’. Twilight’s been kind enough to loan us stuff since our clothes got all wet.”

“But this colour, this cut, it so…so…” The over sized nightshirt was the sickliest shade of green imaginable. If she had of had any other choice, Rarity would have taken it. Her own luggage, filled with her beautiful and fashionable clothes, had unfortunately been left at the arena. Heck, she would have gone nude if it wasn't for her sense of dignity. But it was such a disgusting shade of green. At least no one with any fashion sense was here to judge her. She didn't think her reputation could take such an indignity.

“It could be worse,” Applejack said, a grin biting at the edges of her lips. “Y’all could be wearing that transcendent monstrosity from before.” Rarity gave her a piercing glare, and left with a dignified huff. Applejack, unable to hold it in, collapsed to the bathroom floor, clutching her sides and hollering in laughter.

Out in the main room, Rainbow Dash and Twilight were moving some spare mattresses out of the attic (another room over packed with books) to the floor. Fluttershy had initially been helping, but after she’d dropped a third mattress on Dash’s head while staring longingly over at the bookshelves she’d been confined to the floor, where she sat happily curled up with one of the novels. Pinkie Pie was being less than helpful, bouncing on each piece of bedding as it came out. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were both wearing lavender tracksuits which looked like they should be burned by the fashion police. Pinkie Pie was wearing a pink nightie almost as bad as Rarity’s own, which flew up far too high for decency with her constant bouncing. Not that Pinkie Pie seemed to care. For what it mattered, Spike had been sent out to one of the spare rooms to help the younger girls get ready the moment Twilight saw what Pinkie was wearing. Fluttershy had somehow managed to find some yellow pyjamas that actually matched her usual attire, and looked the best of the bunch by far. Twilight still had her battle dress on.

“Ya see?” Applejack said, stepping out from behind her. She had managed to find an oversized flannel shirt and miscoloured slacks, and had stubbonly retained her hat. “Everyone looks just as silly. There’s nothin’ ta be ashamed of.”

“Easy for you to say,” Rarity muttered spitefully. “You’re used to looking terrible.”

“What’s that?”

“Nothing!”

---

“Party! Party! Party!”

“Pinkie Pie, would you stop that,” Twilight said irritably as she chased Pinkie round the room, redirecting her away from her precious bookshelves. Pinkie Pie’s jumping lost some of its altitude, but not much, and she continued her joyous rampage around the room.The others watched from the ring of matrasses in the centre of the room with mild amusement and concern.

"Why don't you try to swat her down again?" Rainbow Dash said. "That worked really well last time!" Twilight gave her a sideways glare, unfortunately losing sight of where she was going and tripped over a pile of books, faceplanting spectacularly. Rainbow Dash began laughing so hard she faceplanted herself.

"Maybe you should try playing a game?" Rarity suggested as she looked through a couple of Twilight's drawers for some hair curlers. Pinkie Pie, hiding on top of the shelves, plopped down next to her with physics defying ease.

"Ohoh, games a fun. What game?"

"How about Trivia?" Twilight suggested

"Or a pillow fight?" Rainbow Dash suggested. Rarity gave her a look of exasperation.

"A pillow fight? Really? Could you come up with anything more childish and OWCH!" Her righteous speech was interrupted by Applejack slamming her from behind with a pillow. "What was that for?"

"Oh ahm sorry, how 'terrible' of me," Applejack said with a childish grin, before continuing her assault.

"Oh, it is on now!" Rarity grabbed the nearest fluffy weapon. Everyone else took shelter quickly.

"Umm...what about Twenty Questions," Fluttershy suggested to the other hiding parties as pillows flew overhead.

"Yeah, that sounds good." Eveyone not currently swinging pillows agreed.

"Oh, oh, oh, I've got a good one," Pinkie Pie said. "When was the first time you..."

---

"Ok." Rarity pondered for a few seconds once everyone had calmed down and Pinkie had been silenced. A question that wasn't silly, wasn't shallow, and certainly wasn't so terribly inappropriate. Then it came to her. "What is your wish?"

"Wish?" Twilight asked, earning her a stunned look from everyone else.

"You know, the Wish," Rainbow Dash said, with just a hint of condescendence. "The request that Celestia will grant, no matter what it is, to the winner of the Harmony Games. The reason you're competing."

"Oh, right." Twilight had completely forgotten about there being a goal to this contest, since Celestia had made it compulsory for her. A wish like that could be life changing; she remembered from her history studies that some of these wished had changed the course of history in the last thousand years. But what could she do with such a powerful...THAT'S IT! Like a cricket jumping, Twilight bounced up from her sitting position. "It doesn't matter if she believes me. If I win, I can make her take precautions for the apocalypse anyway! I can make her listen!" With no more explanation, Twilight raced out of the room, looking for some of her spare books.

"Was that random," Rainbow asked in the wake of her sudden exit, "or is it just me?"

"She'll be fine," Applejack said, grinning after the unusual Transcendent. "Ahm sure she'll explain what she's up to after she calms down. Now, who's next?"

"Why don't you go?" Rarity said. Applejack's smile froze for a second, slowly slipping down. "Uh...not if you don't want to."

"No no. Might as well get it off mah chest." Applejack took a deep breath, recomposing her smile weakly. "Mah family own an apple farm out in Appleoosa, one of the frontier settlements out west. It's a family tradition, ya might say. It's what we do, an' it's what we love. But over the past couple of years the property's been havin' some bad luck. Crops failin' cider stocks going bad, barns burnin' down in the night..." Applejack took in another breath to compose herself as a wave of bad memories rushed to the forefront of her mind. "Four years ago, mah brother entered these games to try and win us some help. He did pretty well too, came in second..."

"Hold on," Rainbow Dash cut in. "Your brother was Big Macintosh? The Red Mountain?" Applejack gave her a solemn nod, at which Rainbow Dash began literally hovering with excitement. "Oh that's so cool! Your brother rolled through everyone in the qualifier, and in the final he was destroying mountains and..."

"aHEM," Rarity said, as politely as she could while still sounding relative threatening. Rainbow Dash, very slowly, realized the serious atmosphere of the conversation again, and slowly returned to earth.

"Oh, sorry."

"It's cool. Even though he came in second, we still got a lot of attention for the farm, which helped a lot. But during the last fight, Macintosh got seriously injured. Something the doctors couldn't fix easily. It stopped him doing a lot of the heavy liftin' around the farm, and eventually the help stopped comin'. Now the farm's in real trouble, so me an' Applebloom came here to try an' win, to get Princess Celestia to help out our farm. To tell y'all the truth, mah brother didn't even want me to try. Kept tellin' me it wasn't worth it. But...yeah, ah ignored him, an' here ah am." The room was entirely silent; not even Pinkie Pie made a noise. Applejack shifted uncomfortably under the unrelenting stares. "Geez, y'all are makin' it seem like I won the county fair an' turned it down or somethin'. Come on, who's up next? Fluttershy?"

"Oh, well, um..."

"Me and Fluttershy are working towards becoming part of the greatest flying team in Equestria," Rainbow Dash cut in, grabbing her friend by the shoulder. "The Wonderbolts!"

"Umm, Dashie..."

"We were planning to just wow them with our spectacular flying skills, but apparently they only accept members when someone drops out, and right now all the members are really young."

"Dashie."

"So we figured this way, if one of us wins we can just wish for all of us to become members, and they won't be able to turn it down because, you know, it's an order from Princess Celestia! So one we do that we can..."

"DASH!" Rainbow Dash finally acknowledged Fluttershy, her eyes far away and alight with life. Fluttershy felt her stomach lurch, wishing she didn't have to extinguish that. But she'd been putting this off for too long already. "Can I talk with you? Privately?"

"Flutts, it's twenty questions," Rainbow said, oblivious to her friend's obvious discomfort. "There can't be anything worth hiding. What is it?" Fluttershy gulped, fiddled with her borrowed clothes, took a deep breath, and muttered something incomprehensible. "What was that?"

"I don't want to join the Wonderbolts!"

The silence was heavy. Rainbow's smile slowly slipped down to an emotionless husk. Then, silently, she stood up and walked towards the door. "Rainbow, Rainbow wait!"

Slam.

"Rainbow Dash!"

Slam.

Rarity had been silent since Applejack's story, staring solemnly into her lap. "I...i think I'm going to go lie down, she said quietly.

"You can lie down here, can't ya'?" Applejack said, but Rarity didn't seem to hear her. Applejack's expression became concerned. "You OK Rari..."

Slam.

Applejack sighed. "Well that was strange, don't ya think Pinkie?" She looked around for the hyperactive pink girl, but she had appeared to have disappeared as well. Suddenly Twilight burst in, carrying a huge pile of books from one of the back rooms.

"Sorry everyone, I just really needed to find..." she petered off as she saw no one but Applejack left in the main room. "Did...did I do something wrong?"

---

“Rainbow,” Fluttershy called out into the night once she was out of earshot of the house. “Rainbow!” She wandered out into the rain, staring up into the sky. She knew Rainbow Dash; it would be there somewhere. Somewhere…There it was! A small hole in the storm cloud overhead, just large enough for a person to crawl through, letting a single moonbeam shine through into Canterlot. Fluttershy gently stretched out her wings, then quickly propelled herself up before they got too wet from the rain.

It was a magnificently odd feeling, passing through the cloud. The rain suddenly stopped, yet along her wingtips where her wings outstretched the width of the hole she felt the chilling cold of the raincloud. As she broke through the clouds, it was like stepping into a whole new world. The dreary storm was gone, replaced with a sea of white ignited by the light of the moon. Fluttershy looked up to the sky and, as always, her heart skipped a beat. Without the interference from the cities below, the stars shone out like a collection of precious jewels. Just looking at it, even for a second, always managed to make Fluttershy smile. That was why she came up here.

Dash rarely saw the sky. Even now, lying on her back in a makeshift cloud bed, her eyes barely focused on the sky. She came up here for the freedom. Up this high no one was could see her. No one could criticise her or tell her what to do, tell her what she wanted was impossible or stupid. Here, it didn't matter what people thought.

There also weren't any flight speed limits.

But tonight, Rainbow Dash didn't feel much like flying. She heard Fluttershy land on the cloud, but didn't turn. She just waited till her friend was almost standing next to her before beginning to speak.

“I’m a terrible person.”

“Dashie, don’t even say that!”

“It’s true. I’m a selfish, arrogant, thoughtless person.” Dash barely moved as she spoke, a bad sign even at the best of times. “If it doesn't interest me, I barely notice it. I zone out what I don’t want to see, or I join in. If it had of been anyone else, I would have egged her on!” It wasn't hard to see where this conversation was shifting. Gilda.

“Dashie, you know that isn't true. And you’re not a terrible person!” Fluttershy knelt down and tried hugging Dash, but the multicoloured Sky pulled away.

“At the very least I’m a terrible friend. Think about it! You've been trying to tell me you didn't want to come for weeks. It was me who dragged you all the way here, when you didn't even want to. I was the one that brought you near…her. If I was even a half decent friend, I’d have never let you get hurt at all. You’d be better off if you never met me and…”

“Never say that!” Fluttershy moved around Dash’s front, holding her head straight so she couldn't break eye contact with her. Her gaze was powerful, so disapproving it was almost threatening. “Dash, there are so many things you've shown me, so many times you've saved me from the world and from myself.” Fluttershy wrapped her arms around her, a little harder than was necessary. “I’d never want a life without you.”

Dash stayed limp in her arms for a few seconds, mind still taking in all of Fluttershy’s words. The first thing she noticed outside her mind was the feeling of Fluttershy’s body moving sparotically, like hiccups. Was…was she crying?

“Hey, come on sport!” she said, pulling Fluttershy away from her for a moment. She was sobbing slightly, but trying her best to hold it back. “Don’t cry because of me now!” This time Rainbow Dash pulled her in, hugging her back. “So you really don’t hate me for all this?”

“Hate you?!” Fluttershy half giggled through her sobs, coming out more like a cough. “How could I ever hate you? You’re my big strong protector after all!” Rainbow snorted at that.

“I think you’ve already got a few of those already,” she said, running her finger up Fluttershy’s arm. Fluttershy immediately pushed the hand away, giving Dash a serious glare that only made Rainbow Dash laugh even harder. Fluttershy tried to maintain her serious face, but she couldn’t keep it up; she was too happy to see her friend back to normal.

They lay up on the clouds for a while longer, simply staring up into the sky. “It does look quite beautiful from here,” Dash said, “doesn’t it.”

“I guess,” Fluttershy said nonchelauntly. Rainbow Dash rolled over to give her a queer look. Fluttershy kept her best innocent face up as she looked back. “You know what would make it better?”

“What?”

“A rainbow.” Fluttershy grinned, Rainbow Dash quickly following.

“That could be arranged.”

---

Rarity had thought of retreating outside, but upon seeing the storm raging through Canterlot she thought better of it. Instead, she found a room at the back of the house, one that looked like it may have been forgotten entirely. It was a spare bedroom of some kind, done up in a bright pink with castle and knight motifs across the walls and a four poster bed pride of place in the centre of the room. There was a thick layer of dust across everything, signalling the room was definitely not Twilight's. At least, not currently. And even though Rarity hated the dust, at least it was likely no one would disturb her here. Rarity sat down on the bed, a cloud of dust jumping up from the duvet, and prepared to mope. Through the airborne particles, she thought she saw a face, rushing towards her.

"Hiya!"

"EEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!" Rarity flailed her arms wildly as Pinkie burst through the dust towards her, shocking her off the bed. She hit the floor with a loud thump, the sound hard enough to make Pinkie gasp.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to shock you Rarity."

"It's fine, Pinkie. No harm done." Although her words were casual enough, her voice betrayed a depressed note which Pinkie apparently ignored.

"Oh that's good! I just wanted to make sure you were OK, since you bolted out and all. I haven't seen anyone run away that quickly since..." The rest of Pinkie's story, told at a very quick pace with many corrections and strange references along the way, completely floated over Rarity's head until she finally decided to voice her thought out loud.

“Pinkie Pie, what does it mean to be shallow?" Pinkie didn't lose a beat from her previous sentence, something about some cake shop and a oven explosion.

"Shallow? Ummm...Shallow means really thin. Like when you have a pizza base, but you don't want a lot of fatty dough. Or when you have really really sweet frosting for a cake, and you don't want to overpower the rest of the cake. Oror..."

"Do...do you think I'm shallow?" Pinkie Pie paused mid breath, looking at Rarity curiously. But she only paused for a second before her mouth took off at a million miles an hour again.

"Well of course! You're really skinny! I bet you always have your icing really shallow. Me, I can't stand skimping of flavour at all so I always end up with..."

"Pinkie Pie, that's not what I meant." The look on Rarity's face made Pinkie pause again. She looked really sad, and just looking at it began to make her sad. This was what she'd been trying to avoid. Overthinking. Whenever someone thought about something too much, they ended up getting mopey and sad. Pinkie hated being sad; the only thing she hated more was other people being sad. The problem was thinking about how to stop people thinking required thought, and once she tried thinking about it she ended up...

Consciously, Pinkie Pie stopped herself thinking and just said the first thing that came to mind.

"Do you think you're shallow."

"I...I don't know..."

"Why?"

"Well..." Rarity sighed audibly. "Do you know what my wish was? What I want if I manage to beat Princess Celestia?"

"Nope." Pinkie Pie laid down on the bed, giving Rarity her full attention.

"I just wanted an invite to the Royal Castle, and a chance to meet Prince Blueblood, Celestia's nephew." Rarity chuckled, but she looked more downcast than ever. "Applejack wants to save her farm, Twilight wants to save the world, Rainbow Dash wants to fulfill her dream and all I want is a stupid party invitation."

"So?" Rarity's head jerked up, surprised by the bluntness of Pinkie's response.

"So? So?! Aren't I a terrible person for wanting something so petty?!"

"Is it what you want to do?"

"Well yes, but..."

"Then it's not petty at all, it's just your dream. No one can tell you your dream is petty, no matter what it is."

"But..."

"And even if you think its a shallow dream, you can't be a shallow person if you're worrying about it, now can you?" Rarity stared at Pinkie silently, her mind running catch up. Then she began to smile, the smile evolving into a chuckle, which in turn became a laugh so hard it brought tears to her eyes. Pinkie Pie smile widened as her 'plan' worked.

"Pinkie Pie, how can you be so silly one second, then so wise the next?"

"What are you talking about? I'm not wise! I just like making people smile!" The pink girl began bouncing away, Rarity watching her. Just as she reached the door, Rarity thought of something.

"Pinkie, I never heard what your wish was." Pinkie froze for a second, Rarity unable to see her face. When she turned around, her smile was slightly different, slightly off. But she covered this up with a bounce and a tremendous arm movement.

"I just want a cake so big I can dive into it an eat it from the inside out!" Pinkie Pie blew her cheeks out and spread her arms wide to represent the sheer volume of this imaginary cake. Rarity took one look at the face and tumbled off the bed, laughing manically. Pinkie watched her for an instant before quickly exiting. As she did, her smile faltered entirely, just for a second. "Yup, that's all I want."

But the words barely managed to fool even herself.

---

“I feel like we should be doing something more meaningful right now.”

“This is meaningful. Now spread ‘em.”

Back in the house, Twilight and Applejack had been left alone and, like all people, their mind gravitated towards one thing when left alone with another person.

“That’s not how this works Applejack.”

“Fine missy, how do you think this should go?”

“Well…I…”

“I thought ya’ said ya’d done this before!”

“I have! Just…not that often. I’ve only done it with my brother and Spike, once he got a bit older. Oh, and Princess Celestia once.

“Really? This seems a bit undignified for the Princess. It’s so common an’ rustic an'...”

“Oh let’s just get on with it already!” Twilight pondered for a few seconds. “…got any fives?”

“Go fish.”

---

“Stupid dogs, stupid contest, stupid Twilight!” Trixie muttered as she fought her way through the forest. She was forcing herself a slim but determined path, marked by some magic scarring and a multitude of curses. The forest didn’t appear to like this, and not for the first time that night Trixie felt brambles she hadn't seen rake across her bare shins, making her scream out in pain. Not to mention it was raining, water matting he white hair and ruining her cape. She missed her hat. Every moment she thought about turning back.

But she didn’t dare.

“Trixie thinks the world hates her,” she said to herself, gripping her shin. Quickly, she jumped to her feet and screamed at the sky. “You hear that world?! Trixie knows you hate her! What are you going to do about it?! Strike me! Strike me down!!!” Her arms dropped, and her voice became a dark whisper. “No one would notice anyway…”

She struggled on further into the woods, till she thought she noticed a light up ahead. She shook her head; she was imagining things. But there the light remained, and wearily she trudged towards it, till she broke out into a small clearing. There was a tent by the far treeline and in the centre of the clearing, under a protective tarp, was a small cooking fire with soup simmering atop it. The Great and Powerful Trixie felt her great and powerful stomach rumble. She hadn’t eaten since before breakfast. Without thinking, she began slowly shambling, then sprinting, towards the unguarded food. She looked in, smelling the beautiful aroma wafting out of the pot, and began greedily looking around for something to spoon the soup into. She found a bowl next to the campfire, picking it up with a metallic clang.

“Whose there!” a voice called out from somewhere just beyond the tree line. Trixie almost jumped out of her skin and nearly fell forward into the fire. She could hear the sound of someone moving through the foaliage towards her. As quickly as she’d entered the clearing, she dashed to the nearest cover, just as someone entered. “Show yourself now, I’m warning you!” the voice said, loud and angry. Trixie did quite the opposite, hiding behind the nearest tree she could find. She didn’t look out, fearful that she would be spotted. She’d hoped…no, she’d been sure there’d be no one else in the Everfree, especially so close to the summer solstice. Well of course the moment she saw the campsite she should have deduced there was someone out here. But that failed to answer her dying question. Who was this? “You’ve got five seconds twerp, I’m ordering you!”

“No one orders the Great and Powerful Trixie what to do!” she yelled back. It was a reflex action, one she instantly regretted. Before the words had finished leaving her lips this new adversary was upon her, grabbing her by the throat and hoisting her up high.

“I don’t know why you’re snooping around,” the newcomer growled, “but it would be smart for you to leave now.” Held in her grip, Trixie was able to get a proper look at her assailant, and realized she recognized her. The white haired behemoth in the flight jacket was one of the other competitors, Julia or Giles or something. Or had been; she’d lost her match as well. Trixie hadn’t seen the match, but she’d heard talk from some of the spectators.

“Make Trixie,” Trixie said, her usual confident sneer returning. “From what Trixie hears, Trixie doubts you can even touch her.” Gilda’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, then down in fury. Without warning, her fist hammered into Trixie’s nose. Trixie yelled in shock and pain; she wasn’t used to people actually hitting her, but both of Gilda’s hands wrapped around her throat, cutting her off.

“You think you can mock me too, show girl,” Gilda growled, her grip tightening. “Everyone thinks they’re better than me. Well trust me missie, you aren’t one of them. I saw your match, I know your tricks. You’re nothing!” Trixie’s face was going red, partly from her own rage and partly from Gilda chocking her. Her finger fumbled with her horn, trying to unholster it. Gilda barely noticed, continuing her rant while gripping Trixie ever tighter. Finally, as her vision began to fade, Trixie managed to get her horn free, firing a magic bolt point blank into Gilda’s chest. Trixie’s magic wasn’t the strongest, but at such a dangerous range even this still sent Gilda reeling, dropping the hapless Trixie who greedily gasped for breath.

“Don ‘t…under…estimate…the Great…and Powerful Trixie,” she said between breaths, finally standing up tall and proud. Her pride quickly deflated as she saw Gilda also get to her feet, her face like thunder.

“You’re gonna pay for that,” the Sky snarled, her wings flaring out. Trixie readied her horn, preparing to fight but really looking for any chance to run. No such opportunity presented itself before, with a roar of fury, Gilda took off and charged her down.

Suddenly, the raging Gilda froze mid flight, the colour draining from her body. Not like when you go pale from sickness or fear; the different colours literally drained out of her body, leaving only shades of grey and black. Trixie felt herself stop as well, her skin becoming icy cold. Her raised horn, the only part of herself she could see, was turning an undesirable shade of grey before her eyes. She tried to call out, tried to scream, but she couldn’t move.

Then, the darkness began to creep in all around them, coming out from the crevices in the forest. With their initial appearance Trixie’s entire body tightened, but as it approached her fear became less and less. In fact, all the worries and fear that had been plaguing her all day just seemed to slip away. It felt…good.

As the darkness finally reached the two girls, out of it stepped a monster that could only exist in nightmares. Trixie didn’t care. It spoke with a voice so calming and serene she felt like she never wanted to leave.

“Now now girls, there’s no need to fight amongst yourselves. Come with me, and in a few days everything will be glorious. Oh, so glorious.”

Author's Note:

Longest chapter yet. And we're almost back to the action, I promise.
Critique question: Should I have put both Rarity and Rainbow's emotional scenes in the one chapter, or tried something else?

Comments

[Aggrax]

Noticed a slight mistake early on.

“It’s not us!” Sweetie Pie said indignantly.

Sweetie Belle has joined the Pie collective

[Antares]

2098440
Well...that's a weird mistake. Thanks

[The Storyteller world]

at first I thought they were doing it but the it said ''got any fives'' then i lolololed

[DstroyA]

I finally cracked down to read this story (been on my read later for awhile) and I can honestly say that it's one of the best stories I've read in a long time. I already await the next chapter, and another chance to point out your godly attributes in the comment section. Keep writing, and I'll be reading.
Silent support from the shadows
~DstroyA~

[Antares]

2108404 Correction. Chuck norris is the pinkie pie of reality
2125280 Go double entandra!
2135569 I'm honoured you think so highly of this. I will work to keep it up to such a good standard.

[Prince Leviathan]

Rainbow and Flutters scene was so cute!
Loving this story.

I'm interested in what Pinkie's wish is.
There's something to that, I want to see how it goes.

And it seems that someone's back. This has gotten even more interesting.