The NLAC Has To Deal With What?!

by Odeinoichus

The Shadowbolts And Wondercolts Are What?!

Chapter 11

Lemon Zest sighed as she led her group up to the home of CHS student Rarity. The Wondercolts member had the largest place for a meeting such as this within a convenient enough distance from where the Crystal Prep Shadowbolts lived.

Having an out-of-home business at such a young age was a surprise to everybody. Either Rarity’s parents were exceptionally rich or the girl really had a talent that was going places. Most high school students did not live by themselves.

Sunny Flare wanted to talk shop with this Rarity to find out how she did it, but that would have to wait.

“We wanted to speak with Twilight and her new friends,” Sour Sweet said. “We just didn’t expect you to nearly blab that we’ve been keeping tabs on her since the Friendship Games!” she added, glaring at Lemon.

“I wanted to talk to somebody, and she was the only number I had - outside of you guys - that I felt worth chatting with after the party,” Lemon defended. For once the girl wasn’t wearing headphones. She’d left them at home and felt practically naked without them, but she already got the riot act from Sugarcoat and Sunny Flare and didn’t feel like being lectured any more today.

“Understandable I suppose.” Sugarcoat unfolded her arms from across her chest, and pointed her right index finger at Lemon. “You aren’t ordinarily so talkative after a party night. Or introspective. Obviously this can all be blamed on your near concussion due to stage diving.”

“They really had a stage there?” Indigo asked excitedly.

Lemon sighed, but nodded. “Yeah. I don’t know what Scribe told you, Sug, but I didn’t hurt myself stage diving.” She shot her friend an indignant look. “I’ve been around loads of concerts worse than that and I know how to properly stage dive.

“I got it because your cousin conveniently forgot to let me know he could handle it when that Fluttershy girl – you know, the one with the hair long enough to house several furry animals if she wanted - walked in. I was trying to prevent him from seeing it and acting like he did in front of Aria.”

“A commendable attempt, dearie, but really you shouldn’t jump to conclusions so rapidly.” Sunny shot Lemon a forgiving smile as she arrived at the front door first. Reaching up, she pressed the doorbell.

“One moment please, darlings!” a cultured voice called from inside.

“I can get that if you’re all too busy interrogating Pinkie!” a happy voice cried out.

“No, Sonata, wait!” a third voice exclaimed.

The door swung open and a girl with arctic blue skin stood smiling from ear to ear. She had an impressive-looking light arctic blue head of hair with a moderate Persian blue stripe running through the long ponytail she sported.

She was dressed in a tasteful outfit, but she’d obviously had a hard time of it last night because her eyes were bloodshot and bags were noticeable underneath them. She looked like she’d been crying.

“Hi!” the girl greeted them with a smile so wide it gave the appearance of a shark. “I’m Sonata, Pinkie’s girlfriend. I just love saying that. I hope you won’t react as badly as the other stupid Rainbooms did, though. Come on in, we were just bearing our souls loudly and distressingly. It was a totes feel-good family moment. Not!” She spun around and marched back into the house.

Sour Sweet grinned. “Wow, I like her.” She turned to her friends. “Do you think I should be worried about losing my spot as the designated mood change girl?” Her question was accompanied with nervous darting eyes as she glanced from face to face.

Sunny Flare sighed and brushed past her through the door. “If this is a bad time, dearies, we could come back later,” she told the assembled group of girls from CHS, who looked as if they’d just come charging out of one of the side rooms.

“No. That won’t be necessary,” the orange-skinned leader of the group said with a hesitant smile. “We were just finished.”

“Yay!” Sonata clapped her hands. “No more sucky judgmental looks from you mystically empowered saviors of the world.” She folded her arms over her chest and shot glares at everyone who wasn’t Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie flinched slightly. “Definitely needed to talk to Zecora before coming here,” she muttered to herself.

“Sonata, darling, you mustn’t discuss such things in mixed company,” Rarity chastised.

Sonata blinked and turned to look at the Crystal Prep girls. “Aren’t they magical too?” she asked innocently.

“I wish!” Indigo Zap blurted. “What? It’d be awesome if I could sprout wings and fly on occasion, do you have any idea how much faster I’d be able to go?” she demanded of the group after the odd looks they shot her.

“Yeah. It is pretty awesome,” Rainbow Dash agreed. “It’s just, Sonata doesn’t know you know about magic and we need to explain to her that not everybody knows about that sort of thing.”

“Well duh!” Sonata rolled her eyes. “I’ve been here long enough to know that. Aria almost got burned at the stake once because some local jerks didn’t react to her singing the way we thought they would. It was a totally nasty thing. Had to lay low for a decade until the witch trials ended.”

“Ok.” Pinkie giggled nervously. “This is fun. Who says this isn’t fun. Does anybody want some food? Or a drink? Or like a Double-Mocha Latte from somewhere really, really far away?”

Twilight sighed. “Maybe this kind of confrontation thing was a bad idea.”

Sunset patted her arm reassuringly. “No. Our two groups should have gotten together a long time ago, but with everything at school and then all this recent drama coming into our lives...?”

Sonata frowned slightly. “What you mean the Nammmmst…”

Pinkie suddenly stood next to the strange girl with a hand covering her mouth, her eyes darting around even more nervously than before. “Ix-Nay on the Arty-Pay Ature-Nay, Sonata,” she told her friend.

“Yes. They are unaware of that particular thing and have no need to be made aware of it,” Rarity stated coolly.

Lemon’s eyes darted nervously over her friends confused faces and offered a pleasant laugh. “Right. This meeting is only to discuss Twilight’s paranoia problems about what I let slip in the text message I sent her.”

“Speaking of which.” Twilight marched over to the Shadowbolts and wagged a finger in their general direction. “I am extremely concerned that you chose to spy on me. Skulking about Canterlot High just to make sure I wouldn’t turn into that monster again and come after you was really not necessary. I can assure you that I am done with turning into a megalomaniacal she-demon thing.”

“We were not spying on you for fear of a return of your Midnight Sparkle persona,” Sugarcoat stated bluntly.

“Does she ever not state anything bluntly?” Pinkie asked of nobody in particular.

“Yeah!” Sour Sweet spoke up ignoring the question from Pinkie. She marched up to Twilight getting into her personal space and glared at her. “We don’t need to keep an eye on you because of that! What? Do you think we’re that afraid of some weirdly magical super chicks and the totally unnatural powers they possess?”

Sunny grabbed Sour by the arm and pulled her back. “Maybe we should all sit down with some tea, or something a little stronger, and discuss this calmly and rationally,” she suggested.

“I quite agree.” Rarity turned and indicated the entrance to her kitchen and dining area where a large table had been set up. “Please, sit down.”

The group quickly moved to take seats around the table, which did unfortunately make it a little cramped. However, it wasn’t too terrible.

“Ewwwww!” Pinkie rubbed her hand off on her skirt. “Sonata!”

“What?” Sonata shot her a playful wink. “Don’t you like being licked? You look like a giant lollipop half the time.”

“Can we please try and focus?” Rarity snapped.

“I can be just as focused as any of you!” Sonata shot back irritated by the tone in Rarity’s voice. “It isn’t my fault you haven’t learned how to go with the flow yet. If you swam a bit more and spent less time fretting over silly dresses you’d be perfectly attuned to the flow of the great cosmic ocean.”

Everyone stared at Sonata with equal parts confusion and amazement.

“What? Just because I’m a little ditzy doesn’t mean I can’t be deep too,” she pointed out. “I’m like over a thousand years old, remember!” She stuck her tongue out at the other Rainbooms and snuggled closer to her girlfriend so she could rest her head on Pinkie’s shoulder.

“Over a thousand years old?” Lemon repeated for her group.

“We can deal with that little bombshell later,” Twilight insisted. “I must admit I’m kind of curious myself. But right now we have the little matter of why you’ve been spying on me.” Leaning back she glared at each of the Crystal Prep girls expectantly.

“Tea?” Fluttershy held up the teapot for everybody to see. The ordinarily timid girl had gotten better about large crowds the past several weeks, but she was still nervous when her friends were arguing. And before the Shadowbolts had arrived, things had been getting extremely heated.

“Yes please. Thank you, dearie,” Sunny Flare held up her cup and offered a polite smile.

Fluttershy went around and poured tea for everybody and then quietly sat down.

“Isn’t it a little hot for this?” Sugarcoat wondered.

“Oh I know, but it can be quite calming,” Rarity insisted. “And we’ve all had the most stress-inducing morning.”

Sour Sweet proceeded to gulp her tea down so fast it made Fluttershy cringe. “What? I need more caffeine, somebody sprang this little meet and greet before I had my three cups of morning coffee!” She shot Lemon a pointed glare.

“I offered to swing by the coffee place before we got here,” Indigo reminded.

“That watered down swill they serve is not my idea of coffee!” Sour retorted. “But I do appreciate the gesture,” she added in a remarkably civil tone.

“Alright then.” Sunset paused to gather her thoughts. “A lot has happened this morning. So why don’t we start by addressing Twilight’s concern. Why exactly have you been spying on her?” Her tone was more defensive than usual; it was her girlfriend being spied on, after all.

Sunny Flare sighed. “We hadn’t meant for her to find out about it honestly, but I suppose it’s only natural she’d be concerned. She didn’t really know us all too well.”

“She barely knew me at all,” Lemon chimed in. “Kinda forgot I had her contact info though when we were helping…Oh right, that’s not important.” Lemon chuckled briefly and twitched a little in her seat. She really needed some calming music right about then.

“Actually how did you get that?” Twilight interrupted. “It hadn’t occurred to me until after the fact, but I never provided my number to any of you.”

Sugarcoat stared dispassionately at Twilight. “I hacked your phone’s contact information after the Friendship Games. We provided it to Lemon Zest as she was the least likeliest member to upset you due to our part in the games. It was in case we ever chose to seek you out. To… ‘hang’ as they say.”

“You five seem awfully close for students who act like they care nothing about genuine friendship.” Sunset eyed the girls suspiciously.

“We are totally tight,” Sour Sweet stated.

“Yeah, Twilight didn’t know anything about this, but we’ve known each other since we were kids,” Indigo said, deciding to join the conversation. “But after we started going to Crystal Prep… Well.”

“Our social circle was kept hidden as it did not seem to be what Dean Cinch preferred out of her students.” Sugarcoat took a sip of tea and leaned back with a contented sigh. “Quite a good blend.”

“Oh. Um. Thank you.” Fluttershy shifted nervously in her seat. “Rarity usually keeps her own blend here, but after I heard, well I thought one of Tree Hugger’s special blends would be better suited for calming the Chakras.”

“And a wonderful blend it is, darling,” Rarity reached over and squeezed Fluttershy’s hand in gratitude and to help offer moral support.

Sour giggled briefly. “It really is good,” she said.

Indigo eyed her, concerned. “When you say special blend…?”

“It’s completely organic!” Fluttershy insisted. “I know Tree Hugger has a… a reputation, but she’s not like that. Honest!”

Sour slumped suddenly and growled. “Yeah! Reputations are the worst. I know how that is.”

“Oh dear, I hope that isn’t reacting too badly with her medication,” Sunny commented as she reached over and checked Sour’s temperature.

Sour batted her hand away. “I’m perfectly fine, Sunny! But maybe I shouldn’t have drank it so fast,” she said while a bubbly little smile spread across her lips.

“She takes medication?” Fluttershy asked. “For what?”

“’M Bipolar,” Sour Sweet explained. “Really bad Bipolar too, my mood swings are legendary on campus. One time I tried to gouge Fleur De Lis’ eyes out because she bumped into me. It was awful! I didn’t mean to, really, it’s just…Nobody ever understands me!” Sour sobbed and rubbed at her eyes, angrily wiping away the few tears that had started falling.

“There, there,” Sunny patted her friend. Turning to Fluttershy, she offered a bright smile. “Please get me some of that tea later.”

Fluttershy frowned in confusion.

“Sour Sweet doesn’t get very many venting sessions out of her system. I think that tea, whatever it was, is actually helping her quite a bit.” Sugarcoat stated, preventing Fluttershy from voicing any questions. “Sunny just wants to have some on hand to help her friend out.”

“Friend?” Applejack finally decided to speak up. “Ah can’t believe you call her a friend.”

“Friendship is not simply what you and your group possess, you know,” Sugarcoat stated.

“It comes in all sizes.” Indigo shot forward and glared at Applejack. “We grew up together and got along just fine. We just…” She trailed off with a sigh.

“Lost sight of it while we competed for Crystal Prep,” Lemon finished for her friend.

“It doesn’t have that reputation Dean Cinch is so keen on for nothing, you know,” Sugarcoat reminded.

“That sounds horrible!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Hiding friendships. Having to deal with backstabbers and blackmail from your own Principal! Why do you still go there?”

“It’s our school.” Sunny eyed her friends with a brief smile. “It may not be perfect, but we like it.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Rarity said cautiously, not wanting to say something that might unintentionally result in disaster.

“Yes, but it still doesn’t help explain why you’ve been spying on Twilight.” Sunset shot the group a concerned look.

“Of course you wouldn’t understand!” Sour blurted. “You’ve always had friendship and been totally open with your feelings and probably never had to keep a secret from a horrible mean jerk who insists Friendship isn’t important at all!”

Sunset flinched briefly at Sour’s accusations.

“Our group of friends does not stop with us,” Sunny chose to explain. “There is one other. A slightly younger relative of Sugarcoat’s who is very close to us. He comes from an equally damaged family home. When his parents separated we all agreed to take charge of him, in a way.”

“And we look out for our own,” Indigo stated. “You were a Shadowbolt, Twilight; not as long as the rest of us, but still a Shadowbolt. We take care of each other: always have, and always will. And screw what Abacus Cinch thinks!” Indigo slammed her empty tea cup onto the table. Fortunately she didn’t damage it, but her enthusiasm and passion did not go unnoticed.

“Wait!” Applejack blinked in disbelief. “Ya mean ta tell us that ya were spyin’ on Twilight because ya actually cared about her?”

Sunny nodded in agreement. “Precisely right, dearie. Twilight was foisted upon us through the actions of Dean Cinch. Her blackmail scheme was an attempt to ensure another easy victory. However…”

“We all felt really super guilty about what happened at the end of the Friendship Games,” Sour let slip. “We didn’t mean to egg you on in a musical number and totally make you think you had to do something that resulted in your total crazy twisted persona coming to the forefront and hurting you emotionally like that!”

“It was a pretty good number though,” Lemon spoke up.

Everyone stared at her.

“Oh come on!” she blurted. “The tunes were great, the vocals in harmony with everybody and the chorus was totally catchy.Unleash the magic, unleash the magic…

"Tell me you didn’t feel it when we were singing?”

Twilight flinched briefly at the reminder of what happened.

Sunset hugged her in turn to take away some of the pain. She was going to support her girlfriend in whatever fate threw their way.

“Sounds pretty good,” Sonata spoke up. “Think I could hear it all the way? I totes know a thing or two about villain songs.”

“Oddly-appropriate musical numbers aside,” Rarity interjected, “you have been spying on Twilight Sparkle because you were guilty and concerned for her well-being. If I’m understanding this correctly.”

“Totally,” Indigo agreed.

“Shadowbolts take care of their own,” Sugarcoat stated.

“That’s so beautiful!” Pinkie exclaimed, breaking into heartfelt tears.

“Ummmm. But, why not talk to us about it?” Fluttershy wondered.

“We didn’t know anything about you!” Sour snapped. “Except that you had freaky magical powers somehow.”

“Yes, it required a bit of time to get used to,” Sunny added.

“Fortunately, my cousin is very thorough in his investigative abilities.” Sugarcoat smiled proudly. “We know everything about Equestria. Or at least, everything he could fit into the report he presented to each of us. I’m actually surprised one of the Sirens is dating one of you; that’s new.”

Sonata’s eyes widened. “You know what I am?”

“You have an entire section of the report dedicated to you, Sonata Dusk.” Sunny Flare waved off the question with a disinterested look. “And Lemon should have realized who you were when she introduced us to your sister Aria Blaze.”

“Hey!” Lemon grew defensive at the slight. “I didn’t read the entire report, just the important stuff.” Lemon shot Indigo a knowing look. “At least I read it though.”

“Do we have to bring that up again now?” Indigo demanded in frustration.

“No we do not,” Sugarcoat stated.

“Someone at CHS informed all of you?” Rarity asked. “That seems rather underhanded.”

“And a bit unethical,” Sunset added. Her gaze shifted from Twilight to the Crystal Prep students, full of suspicion and mistrust.

“Yeah.” Applejack narrowed her eyes and glared at the other group. “Ya coulda just asked ya know.”

“It is not the Crystal Prep way to ‘ask’,” Sunny Flare explained. “We are getting better with rekindling Friendship, but we haven’t become that far removed from our habits yet.”

“And old habits die hard,” Sugarcoat added.

“Besides, would you have honestly told us about the Pony Princess and all of the weirdness related to Equestria and that portal you have on campus to the other dimension?” Indigo demanded confrontationally.

“We might have!” Rainbow Dash argued.

“Sure you would.” Indigo rolled her eyes at the Wondercolt jock.

“Hey! We’re not dishonestly sneaking behind our friend’s back or anything like that under the guise of caring what happens to her!” Rainbow snapped back.

Indigo got out of her chair. “You take that back!”

“Indigo, we are sneaking behind our friend’s back,” Sugarcoat reminded.

“It ain’t dishonest though!” Indigo whirled angrily to face Sugarcoat. “Twilight never met Scarlet Scribe so how would she know he’s our in at Canterlot High?”

Sour groaned and slapped her face hard.

Lemon flinched.

Sugarcoat’s eyebrow arched poignantly.

Sunny Flare sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

“You revealed the secret!” Pinkie accused. “That’s being a bad friend!”

“Totes,” Sonata agreed with a nod.

“Shit,” Indigo cursed.

“Wait, I’m confused.” Rarity glanced at the group. “Who is Scarlet Scribe? And why is he spying on Twilight for you?”

“Must be that secret cousin they mentioned,” Applejack stated.

Sugarcoat nodded. “Scarlet Scribe is my cousin. He’s the black sheep of the family…Mostly because he couldn’t cut it with his grades to attend Crystal Preparatory Academy. So he was forced to apply to CHS, and once Twilight changed schools to join you there we decided to put him to some use.”

Sugarcoat finished her cup of tea and sighed. “It was not exactly ethical on our behalf, but we wanted to make sure that you were settling in alright with your new friends. You have to remember Crystal Prep and Canterlot High haven’t traditionally gotten along very well.”

“That’s the understatement of the year,” Rainbow grumbled.

“So for whatever reason you were worried for me.” Twilight adjusted her glasses briefly. “I don’t know whether to be touched or concerned.”

Sour Sweet laughed. “Hey. It isn’t like we did anything illegal. Just shady and all that.”

“It was done with the best intentions, dearie,” Sunny added with a friendly smile.

Lemon agreed with a brief nod. “Totally. Besides, I noticed you seemed to be having problems last night. Well, late afternoon anyway, when I saw you leaving CHS while I was casing the place for the party Scribe was taking me to.”

“You and Scarlet Scribe attended one of Sweetie’s parties?” Rarity exclaimed in surprise.

Lemon chuckled briefly and indicated her face. “It’s how I got the welt.”

“Ah. I see. I was wondering, but of course a lady never asks such delicate questions.” Rarity sipped a bit at her tea and frowned secretly behind her cup.

“Does anybody else at Crystal Prep know about everything?” Sunset asked, nervously fiddling with her skirt.

Sugarcoat shook her head. “All copies of the report were meant to be destroyed after reading.”

“I shredded mine,” Sunny noted.

“Turned mine into an origami circus,” Sour said with a giggle.

“Tossed mine in the incinerator,” Lemon admitted.

“Er…” Indigo let out a nervous laugh. “I think I shoved mine into the back of my locker in the garage at home.”

“Naturally; as you did not read it, you would not have remembered to destroy it.” Sugarcoat nodded briefly.

“Come on, you saw how thick that thing was!” Indigo shouted in her defense. “And we already discussed this at school during the past week,” she reminded. “I could check for it and give it to you guys…So you can make sure nobody else reads it,” she offered.

“I must admit to a bit of curiosity at this report,” Twilight said.

“Well. Since it’s about us. Maybe we could take a peek,” Fluttershy suggested.

Indigo nodded. “Sure. No problem. I’ll just dig it out when I get home and drop it off back here later.” She smiled briefly at the Wondercolts and leaned back in her seat with a relieved expression.

“Great!” Sonata clapped her hands together suddenly, startling everyone who’d partially forgotten she was there. “So, now what do we do? More arguing, more long words and junk or… ooooo… we can all go out for lunch right?”

“Sonata, we already ate lunch,” Pinkie reminded.

Sonata pouted slightly. “I know, but I’m bored.”

“Twilight hasn’t explained why she looks so beat,” Sugarcoat pointed out.

“There’s nothing to explain. It’s just the stress of how close we are to exams,” Twilight stated.

“Twilight. You don’t get stressed out at exams,” Sugarcoat reminded.

“How would you know?” Twilight snapped. “We never talked before the Friendship Games.”

“Yes, but as one of the smartest students at Crystal Prep I make it my business to know everyone’s personal weaknesses during exam time. It helps to better prepare for study groups. You do not stress out this badly over exams; your organizational acumen ensures that you always know what to expect.” Sugarcoat leaned in closer and studied Twilight carefully.

“Honestly, it’s nothing I can’t handle girls,” Twilight argued.

“Are ya sure, Twilight?” Applejack eyed her friend suspiciously. “Ya sound a little tense.”

“Who’s tense?” Twilight laughed briefly. “Not me, nope, no tenseness here at all.”

Before anybody else could press the issue Pinkie’s phone went off, startling everyone from their thoughts.

“What on Earth?” Applejack turned to eye her friend in confusion.

“Who is that?” Sunset asked.

Pinkie shrugged. “Don’t know.” Pinkie pulled out her phone. “You’ve reached Pinkie’s Party Hotline… No way!” Pinkie leapt to her feet. “Sweetie Belle! What’s wrong?”

Rarity gasped. “Oh my, is my sister alright?”

“You need what?” Pinkie gasped. “Are you sure? That many? And Dinky can’t…? Ok, trust your good friend Pinkie Pie, I’m on the case!” Pinkie hung up and sprang to her feet. “Sorry, girls, no time to waste. It’s an NLAC emergency. Sweetie needs three dozen students who’ve been to our parties in the past to stage a phony photo shoot for Scarlet Scribe. Sonata… I’ll need your help,” she told her girlfriend.

Sonata stood at attention and offered a quick salute. “Sonata Dusk reporting for duty!”

“But there aren’t supposed to be any photos taken at the NLAC meetings,” Sunset reminded.

“Goodness, this sounds serious. I’d better come too,” Rarity declared.

Lemon blinked at the sudden frantic activity of the Wondercolts rushing about.

Sugarcoat suddenly caused everyone to stop moving when she unleashed a very painful screeching whistle. Everybody turned to see a very disturbing sight. Sugarcoat’s eyes had narrowed slightly and her lips pursed tightly. “What exactly does my cousin have to do with this emergency? And why is it so important that you start dashing around like headless chickens?”

Sonata shrugged. “No idea, but it’s important enough to Pinkie. And it’s about that sweet little naturist club they’ve got, with the awesome arcade and all the cool activities. I can’t wait to find out what’s going on: sounds way more exciting than what you were all talking about.” Skipping out of the kitchen, Sonata went to get ready for the trip.

Lemon felt four sets of eyes on her and slowly turned with a nervous half-smile aimed at her friends.

“Oh dear,” Rarity stated for the Wondercolts.

“Naturist club.” Sugarcoat quirked her brow in lieu of a question.

Sour Sweet trembled with delight and burst into sudden sharp laughter. “Scarlet Scribe had to crash a naturist party. And you… Oh my God my sides!” Sour tumbled out of her seat and clutched at her sides as she broke down into hysterics.

Sunny looked positively livid as she slowly climbed to her feet. “Sour Sweet, this is no time to laugh.”

Indigo frowned in utter confusion. “Uh… What’s a naturist club?” she asked dumbly.

Sour Sweet just kept right on laughing and now seemed to be mocking Indigo on top of her absent male friend.

“We are coming too,” Sugarcoat declared for her group. “Lemon; you, my cousin and I will be having words once we get to CHS.”

Lemon whimpered. “I really miss my headphones right about now.”

“Wow! I never knew there was so much excitement around you Rainbooms,” Sonata said as she rejoined them. “This is more entertaining than that show about the giant mecha pilots fighting the Godzilla rejects.”

---

Scribe sped along the path leading away from Sweet Apple Acres, Scootaloo following him. He’d left his shirt off to avoid any further discomfort from the oppressive heat. The best part about being a guy who may or may not be inclined to joining this naturist student group: he didn’t need to always be covered up.

He probably should have worn shorts though. Scribe glanced briefly at Scootaloo who was currently following him to make sure he didn’t do something stupid. Rolling his eyes at that he shook his head.

“They know you on sight at the Rich Estate,” he pointed out.

“That’s why I’m not going all the way up to the door,” Scootaloo pointed out in return. “I can’t believe we’re even doing this,” she added after a beat.

Scribe sighed. “You and me both, Scootaloo, but I don’t see how else we could get in the school. And my needing to get something to do some work for the paper is a perfectly legitimate excuse for borrowing it. And best of all it’s not even a lie, technically.”

Scootaloo laughed at that last part, but quickly stopped herself. She glanced ahead for a moment or two before she shot him a brief glare. “I’m kind of jealous though, I wish we could go around topless.”

Scribe chuckled briefly. “That would definitely draw some unwanted attention.”

“It’s sooooo hot!” Scootaloo complained. “Even with the lightest material stuff I’ve got, this heat is a killer”

Scribe frowned briefly. “Talking and cycling at the same time tires you out faster in this heat.” He paused to wipe his brow and signal a turn as they reached the road proper. “But I agree, statistically this is the worst heat wave to strike Canterlot for the past hundred years.”

Scootaloo bit her bottom lip briefly as a thought struck her. “You don’t think it might be related to something magical?”

Scribe shook his head. “Unless Equestria sent some kind of fire demon to this dimension to banish it, I highly doubt it. Global warming is a real problem.”

Scootaloo nodded and together they continued their journey in silence. That is, until Scarlet Scribe felt a sudden chill run down his bare back as though someone had just walked over his grave.

Scootaloo noticed his sudden strange expression. “What’s wrong?” she wondered.

Scribe shrugged nervously. “I have no idea, but I just got a really bad feeling for some reason. Like somebody was talking about me or about something important concerning me to a member of my family.” Scribe shuddered once again. “I have a really bad feeling about this.”

“Stop scaring me; we’re almost at the Rich place anyway. You sure Diamond is out of town?”

“Yes, she’s visiting her grandmother.” Scribe sighed. “So on Monday she’ll probably be in a really bad mood.”

Scootaloo shook her head, but chose not to address her concerns at that little bit of information. The two finished their journey in silence, a singular goal in mind. Looming in the distance was the Rich estate.

But for Scribe, his mind was a million miles away as he couldn’t shake the feeling that something extremely important had just happened. And not in a good way.

Comments

[Dlaf rferg]

Oh sweet damn!

Tactical [cousinrage.exe] inbound!

[badninja]

Well this is going to end well, why do I think this will end in a pyric victory for the club?

[Thepervertedeye]

things are starting to heat up

[RowanSkie]

Huh, well, looks like we got Shadowbolts to get their results and now they're going to be part of the club...hopefully.

Also, Sonata.

[Foxhelm]

“I have a really bad feeling about this.”

The force is strong with this one.

[raven618]

(In the voice of the announcer for DBZ what ever narrator you want) And so, the Shadowboltz and the Rainbooms have finally met and are preparing to meet up with the CMC to put their plan into action. What is it that has Scribe so worried? What will Sugercoat do now that she knows just what her little cousin went through? And what is happening with Diamond Tiara? The answers to these and other burning question will (probably) be answered on the next chapter of The NLAC Has to Deal With What?