The Harmony Games

by Antares

Chapter 13: Secrets

As was traditional, the second day of the Harmony games was a day of rest and celebration. Many of the shopkeepers, both local and from the surrounding towns, used this as a chance to sell their wares to the influx of spectators. This trend was so widespread that it had become a celebration in itself, with many shops resorting to sideshow gimmicks to try and outdo each other. For an entrepreneur like Rarity, it was an experience she could not resist.

“Oh it’s such a wondrous day today,” the purple haired fashionista said, bubbly happy. She’d found a new, completely unused beauty kit in one of Twilight’s cupboards and had been able to complete her morning routine uninterrupted. Sleep for the others had been far too short, and few managed more than a disgruntled muttering. “Oh, quit being such wet blankets, all of you. The sales that happen today are to die for. Now..” her gaze fell squarely on Applejack and Rainbow Dash , and an almost evil grin crossed her lips. “Who wants to go shopping?” Both suddenly became very awake.

“Shopping?!”

“Umm…”

“Well…”

“That’s mighty fine of you sugarcube, but…”

“We can’t…”

“Cause we’re…umm…”

“Training!”

“Yeah, that’s it. Lot an’ lots a trainin’ to do!”

“Yeah. Gotta fly!” Before Rarity could question them further both girls were out the front door, leaving nothing but a rainbow streak and smell of apples to mark their passing.

“Oh. That’s fine. I guess it will just be the four of us then,” Rarity said, turning to Twilight. Twilight was avidly flicking through one of the books she’d found last night. She didn’t even raise her eyes from the page to reply to Rarity.

“Can’t. If I’m to convince Princess Celestia to take precautions for this upcoming disaster, I have to first understand what the disaster is and how to prevent it. Last night gave me a real breakthrough in how to do that. I’ve been looking in all the wrong places, so now I should be able to….” Rarity zoned out, and with slightly less bubble looked over to Pinkie Pie. However, the place that the hyperactive girl had been occupying was mysteriously empty. Rarity sighed.

“Looks like I’m shopping alone then,” she said glumly, her previously happy face now replaced by a sad alternative.

“Umm,” the last person left in the room, who till now had sat shyly in the corner, hidden behind her hair. “I’d love to go shopping, if you still want someone to go with…” Rarity’s face lit up with the overstated brilliance of Hearth Warming holiday lights.

“Oh we are going to have so much fun dear. We can go dress shopping, and get manicures. Oh I’ve heard of a really good spa that just opened up on main street. This is going to be a marvellous day.” Rarity unceremoniously grabbed Fluttershy, rushing her out of the door before the shy Sky could even muster an ‘oh my’.

---

“I kept asking myself, why now? What is so important now to cause a prediction of disaster of cataclysmic proportions. Then it came to me; the games. The apocalypse has to be linked to the Harmony Games. So all I have to do is pull all the books on the history of the game and…”

“Twilight, who are you talking to?”

"Huh...?" Twilight said, her train of thought interrupted by Spike, who in turn was watching her warily. "No one. Why on earth would you think I was talking to someone?"

"I don't know, some vain hope that you haven't gone completely crazy." Twilight laughed, much more merrily than Spike was used to. Either her personality was getting better or worse.

"Don't worry Spike, I'm just so close now. I can feel it."

"Sure you are..." Spike settled himself in for a day of book carting. "Where do you want to start then?"

"Actually, I already have everything I need Spike," Twilight said, gesturing to the pile of books next to her. "You can have the day off."

"Are you sure," Spike said skeptically. Twilight saw the look, and gave him a reassuring smile in return.

"Really Spike, it's fine. I just need some peace and quiet to work through these."

"OK." Spike moved for the door, warily picking up his favorite possession before leaving. How was he to be sure if the house would even be here on his return.

Once she heard the door click behind him, Twilight gave a contented sigh. "Peace and quie..."

"Oooooh, what's this?!"

"GAH!!!!"

---

The stone made a tremendously satisfying splash as the rock hit the water. “Beat that,” Applejack said, rightly proud of her efforts.

“We’re skipping rocks, AJ,” Rainbow Dash said, her face obviously shocked by the display of strength. “Not splashing them.”

“That ain’t what you said before.”

“Well it’s what I’m saying now.” Using the riverbed as an excuse to avoid Applejack’s piercing eye contact, Rainbow Dash searched for a proper stone. “Skipping requires skill, and finesse.” With a practiced flick of her wrist she sent the stone skipping across the water. “You have to put a last little flick on the end, to give it just the right spin and speed.”

“Yeah yeah,” the cowgirl drawled. “Ah know how to skip ah stone.” She could almost see the Sky’s ego inflating as she talked. Applejack did however still take note of what was being said. She picked up another stone, drew back her whole body and pitched it across the water, still giving it the last flick Rainbow had mentioned. The stone bounced once, ricocheting wildly before hitting the opposite bank, shattering the first rock it encountered. Rainbow Dash looked suitably stunned.

“How the hell do you do that?” Applejack couldn’t resist giving Rainbow Dash a taste of her own ego.

“Whenever you throw it sugar, y’all only use ya’ scarecrow arms there. Ya gotta put your whole body behind it.” She demonstrated by throwing a punch into the ground, hard enough to make a suitable indentation. “See, same logic applies here.”

“Yeah, well not all of us have that much weight to throw around.” Rather than be offended, Applejack laughed it off.

“You startin’ to sound like Applebloom now,” she said, rolling her eyes. “She’s always comparin’ me ta Big Mac.”

“Are you kidding?! That’s a huge compliment.”

“If you say so.” Applejack casually picked up another stone and tossed it across the lake. “Ah wonder what the others are up to.”

“Meh, probably something stupidly boring.”

---

“Oh isn’t this lovely, my dear,” Rarity said, twirling round in her new ensemble. Fluttershy oohed and clapped on cue. With each new outfit Rarity found, she looked more and more stunning. Fluttershy wished she could prance around in something so stunning. But then, there were those...

"It looks wonderful." Fluttershy self consciously wrapped her arms around herself, but kept her normal smile shining.

"You've said that about every dress so far."

"Well it true!"

"Ooh, you're too kind dear."Now," Rarity sifted through one of the racks of clothes on the side, looking for her next piece.

"Are you sure we shouldn't be doing any training today?" Fluttershy said. "I mean, the finals are tomorow, and the others are really strong. I don't really mind if I don't win, or don't fight at all really, but you..."

"Hush darling, everything will be fine," Rarity assured her. "Everything will be fine. From what I say of how you handled that Drake ruffian you're in no trouble." Fluttershy mumbled something about it being unintentional. "As for me," Rarity played with a new bracelet on her wrist; a silver piece studded with multiple different precious stones and strange materials. "I've got a little surprise of my ready. Now," Rarity grin was almost scary as she picked out one of the skimpier outfits on show. "Let's see how you look in one of these." Fluttershy went bright red, and began spluttering excuses."

"Nono, that's ok."

"I insist."

"Rarity I...I really couldn't..."

"Oh but dear, you would look marvellous, I just know it.

"You...you really think so." Fluttershy's blush got even deeper.

"Oh certainly. You would look fantastic, if you'd just wear something a little less," she pinched at her dress as she looked for the right word. "...baggy."

"But, but I really couldn't. You see I..." Fluttershy trailed off, once again rubbing her arms. Rarity was currently out of the loop, looked at her in confusion.

"Come now dear, nothing could spoil that pretty face. You just need a little confidence and...oh my." Rarity had yanked earnestly on one of Fluttershy's sleeves, tearing the fabric to reveal what lay beneath. Fluttershy reacted quickly, covering it up, but not before Rarity had seen more than enough. Fluttershy went very, very quiet under Rarity's unblinking gaze. Rarity, however, was quick on the recovery, her normal smile returning. Her next step would be crucial.

"Oh that's nothing dear. If anything, those are just a compliment to the rest of you. A uniqueness, you might say. Now, we just need to find the right piece..." Rarity dived back into the clothes, her keen eyes looking for the perfect dress. Fluttershy was first shocked at Rarity's apparent dismissal and even acceptance of 'it', and allowed herself to be pampered and tutted over.

---

"Fine Pinkie, you can help me study," Twilgiht said, once her heart started again. Pinkie Pie wagged her rear like a dog, smiling as wakily as ever.

"Yay, study party!" she said, bounding over to pick out a book. Twilight struggled not to roll her eyes. She supposed it wasn't a terrible feat to be able to make a party out of anything, but Twilight suspected that Pinkie hadn't done too much study, judging by how she was handling some of the aged books. She herself settled down to read through one of the books on the games history again.

As she'd suspected, after only the first few minutes Pinkie Pie had grown bored of her 'study party'. Instead of reading the books, she began stacking them in precarious piles or making stable, powerful forts. Twilight knew from her younger escapades that these forts were both durable and hours of fun for a normal person. However, this occupied Pinkie for only a few minutes, and once they lost their entertainment value the pink haired girl began nagging her lavender counterpart.

"Whachya reading? Watchya reading? Wachya reading?"

“It's a history book around the time of the beginning of the Harmony Games, a thousand years ago. It says the Harmony Games started after the Knowledge Riots, as a way of maintaining peace between the three clans.” Twilight shivered involuntarily. The Knowledge Riots were a dark time in Equestria’s history, where tension between tribes over inequities in the society were brought to a head with the destruction of most of Equestria’s educational centres, leading to the loss of many essential historical documents. It had taken decades for the country to recover, and even then the history of the country more than a thousand years prior was little more than folklore. What was known was mostly constructed by Princess Celestia herself, but this had led to conspiracies of the Princess rewriting history herself. Although most saw these conspiracies as nonsense many portions of history remained hazy and conflicting, the only explanation being discrepancies in the princess' memories.

"Hehe, look at this one," Pinkie giggled. She'd apparently wandered off in the middle of Twilight's answer to her question, and had started flicking through one of the older tomes. Twilight rolled her eyes, leaving her book to amble over. The book was on the history of Equestria during the knowledge riots. This copy looked like an original, and would have been incredibly valuable was most of the writing not completely covered in ink scribblings and random words.

Graffiti.

Twilight went livid, magic sparing along her fingers as her face went deathly pale. "Did you do this?" she asked Pinkie in an almost demonic whisper.

"Nope," Pinkie replied, completely unfazed by Twilight's change in demur. "It was already like that when I opened it." Twilight's aura of fury lessened severely. If Pinkie hadn't done it, then graffiti or not it probably dated back to the correct time period. Twilight skimmed over some of the writings, suddenly becoming enthralled as she noticed quotes from the prophecy she'd found. The same dates, times, and end of the world predictions. By complete chance, Pinkie had stumbled upon exactly what she needed. Lightly shoving Pinkie Pie out of the way, she began flipping through, looking for any reference to the cause of the disaster.

With the skills of a practiced researcher she found the spot quickly. On one of the final pages, scrawled in giant letters, accompanied by a shadowy sketch of a woman with flowing hair and evil armor, was the warning.

Beware the return of Nightmare Moon

Twilight almost slammed the book shut in disgust. Another dead end.

"What did it say, what did it say?!" Pinkie asked, bubbling with eagerness.

"Nothing of importance." Twilight said. "Some lunatic thought this was a warning for 'Nightmare Moon', of all things."

“Nightmare Moon?! The Princess of Darkness, who hunts little boys and girls in the night, constantly hungering for human flesh!” Pinkie Pie squealed, shivering from head to toe.

“Don’t be ridiculous, there’s no such thing as Nightmare Moon.”

“Oh yes there is! I’ve felt her, on nights with the full moon you can feel her malice as she’s waiting to creep up on you and take a bite out of you!”

“Pinkie Pie, Nightmare Moon is nothing more than a old wives tale used to scare children into behaving. I did a study on the legend ages ago.” The study had been the first one Princess Celestia had given her upon taking her on as her personal protégé, and was still one of her favourites. It was amazing how the legends of Nightmare Moon had sprung up from nothing, in multiple areas of Equestria, almost a thousand years ago.

Exactly the same time as the riots, and the games.

It was an interesting coincidence, Twilight thought, but a coincidence none the less. The writer was obviously crazy, and his words should give no credit to such flights of fancy. Twilight tried to put the thought out of her mind, but it kept nagging at her, sending chills down her spine.
Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie was still shaking a bit from the mention of Nightmare Moon. She moved over to the curtains, intent upon letting sunlight into the gloomy atmosphere. Twilight was so distracted she didn’t notice what Pinkie was doing until too late.

“Pinkie don’t! These books are very old and very photo…” The curtains were thrown open, and pure, bright light fell upon the books. Immediately, the text began to fade and the paper wither. “…sensitive.” Twilight slumped in her chair, staring glumly at the ruined books while Pinkie Pie looked guiltily at the floor. It took a good few seconds before either of them noticed that some of the books had not only dried out, but had also spontaneously combusted.”

“FIRE!!!!!”

---

Having finished their shopping for the day, Fluttershy and Rarity walking back to the house along Main Street. Fluttershy still wasn’t wearing her new outfit, but she seemed very proud of it, holding the bag close to her chest. It wasn’t quite the outright success Rarity had been hoping for, but it was certainly an improvement, and for that she was proud.

As they walked down, surrounded by well-dressed and affluent of Canterlot society, something caught Rarity’s eye. Off to the side, in one of the alcoves that lined the street, sat a dishevelled looking man. He looked terribly out of place, sitting in the shadow of the city in denim shirt and pants. Although a small cap sat in front of him, no one appeared to be taking any notice. They probably just hadn’t noticed him at all, Rarity thought, but the thought didn’t make her any happier.

Fluttershy was still too focused upon her new outfit, held lovingly in her hands, to notice anything was wrong as they walked along until Rarity took out a piece of paper and began scribbling something on it. Before she could frame a question, Rarity blurted out “I think I forgot something back at the shop. DO you mind waiting here for a minute?”

“I could come with you and help…”

“No no, that’s quite alright dear,” Rarity said, far too quickly. “Just stay here and enjoy yourself. I’ll be fine!” Before Fluttershy could say anything else, Rarity went sprinting back in the direction they’d come. As she passed the beggar something ‘accidentally’ fell from her hand, with great precision, into his hat. The beggar jolted back in surprise as the package made a loud clinking noise on the pavement. He looked in surprise for the origin of this piece, quickly spotting Rarity.

“Miss,” he called out huskily, “I think you dropped…”

“No I didn’t!” she called back, and kept running in the most graceful manner possible. The man look after her curiously, then sat down to examine the small purse she’d dropped. It was full of coins, at least double what he’d usually make off the street, but also contained a small note.

Denim on denim is a crime against fashion! Please buy some new clothes.

“Crazy Transcendent,” he muttered, but when Rarity came back around he was still grinning widely at her. As was Fluttershy, although she refrained from acknowledging it. As they kept walking, Rarity continued gossiping as if nothing had happened, laughing at her own stupidity for leaving her favourite ring at the shop and luck at retrieving it.

---

A few minutes later, what was once a book filled apartment sat in a pile of ashes that the two girls stood beside, dumbstruck. A few people had gathered around to watch, and a rather late fire truck sounded off in the distance. Twilight’s jaw lay open like a Venus flytrap awaiting prey, and Pinkie Pie looked confused.

"Well that went up like a housefire," Pinkie finally said, managing a weak grin. "Get it, cause it was a housefire and i..." Without a response, Pinkie Pie's face fell. In fact her entire body slumped, from her knees up to her hair. "I'll just...go now...I guess..."

"This is ok," Twilight said, desperately trying to stop herself from nibbling on her hand. "I can fix this. I can fix this!"

"Really?!" Pinkie said, her normal peppiness returning in a visible rush. Twilight pulled out her horn and began a complicated set of symbols in the air.

"I live with a fire breathing assistant. Of course I have an emergency plan for this. Just a simple time spell and..." The ashes of the house began swirling together as books, walls, beds and other gathered pieces began forming together out of nothing. Finally, the house was recreated again, as if it had never been destroyed. Twilight body crumpled slightly from exhaustion, but she smiled at her work. "There. Done."

"Wow!" Pinkie Pie said. "That was amazing! Do it again, do it again!"

"I can't Pinkie," Twilight said as she walked towards the door. "Time magic is very powerful, very delicate and very dangerous. Each time you use it, there's always the chance you could create a paradox, or a discrepancy in the time line or..."

"...Pinkie, don't! Those books are very old and..." Twilight stopped, staring into the room. Twilight inside the room also stopped mid warning, and stared at the two newcomers at the door. Pinkie Pie stared too, but she stared at her own twin, poised to throw the curtains open.

"Oh dear,' both Twilights said in unison. Neither one noticed the book on the table spontaneously ignite again.

Author's Note:

Finished this far too early in the morning for my taste...

Comments

[Pyro The Reader]

Oh dear.

[RainLight]

A very nice story but there are some spelling and grammar mistakes. They do not ruin the story but are noticable