(37) Missing Players
Applejack’s POV
Monday, After School
When the last bell for school let out, I cleared up every loose end I needed. I didn't want to leave anybody out to dry if I was going to slack off like I promised. Firstly, I had to speak with Granny. I needed her permission to excuse myself and Applebloom of any chores after school. I dreaded the thought of shrugging off work last minute like this and I was going over the whole spiel I had ready for. I told myself it was gonna be an uphill march and that I needed to lay out as many good points as there were to make a good case to her. I was even trying to reschedule how I could knock out the rest of my chores later today or bright and early tomorrow without coming off as lazy or rude. I was so sure that I had to make my side of things as perfect as I good.
However, when Granny asked what I was hoping for and I told her, she threw me the one curveball I was not expecting.
“Sounds good ta me!” Granny's smile was beaming right out of the gate. “Ya got some good timin', Applejack! Ah was just thinkin’ of a way ta get Bloom’s mind off’a thangs! She’s been mighty down since last week and some time with her sister oughta be just what that girl needs. Just as long as ya can promise ta be back in time ‘fore supper, ya hear?”
It took me a second to click my jaw back into place. “Uh. Y-Yeah! No worries there, Granny! Boy, Ah didn't know you'd be so alright with this. Ah'da thought what with me bein' so busy this week that we'd be too behind ta afford some time like this."
"Ah, psssh! No need ta fret 'bout that none." Granny waved my words off. "'Sides, you an' yer friends went and cleaned up the whole barn last weekend. After findin' all them extra bushels and a few parts ta spiffy up the tractor, Big Mac's been itchin' ta git them pieces together and put it ta work. He'll be happy ta take the extra payload. You just go get Applebloom an' enjoy the break."
"Guess Ah can't argue with that." I shared Granny's smile for a second. "Thank ya so much, Granny. Ah don' know what ta say!”
“Nothin' probably," Granny told me. "People never like hearin' folk talk durin' the movies. Not like they can hear each other much nowadays what with all them explosions and fancy speakers. Oh! Before ya get, d’y’all need some spendin’ money? Ah’m bringin’ the ladies over tonight for our first poker game in months and Ah can tell it’ll be a lucky night!”
“Nah, that’s, erm, alright Granny! Good luck with the game, I s’ppose,” I hustled my way outta the lunchroom and held my head higher than when I entered. It was a weird feeling. Everything I said in there was the truth. I didn't even need to bring up Story like we had agreed. I wanted to think I felt weird because I was being selfish about going, but I was more than happy to try cheering up Applebloom too. Maybe, even if I was being selfish in one way, Granny wasn't who I was being selfish towards?
I pulled myself away from those thoughts and focused on the next person; Applebloom. She was giving me the cold shoulder since I dragged her outta the barn yesterday. What's more, I was now using her as a way to get Story to talk to us again. Once I realized that, all the guilt and worry came right back full force, and I dreaded tracking AB down.
Along the way, I tried thinking of how to smooth things over with her. I don't regret pulling Applebloom off like I did. The girl needed to learn that listening in on people talking was wrong. But bringing up privacy or any other topic like that to Bloom was a slippery slope if I wanted to make amends with her. I almost started to imagine Applebloom trying to ignore me the moment I was her in line of sight.
“Applejack!" Applebloom shouted as I rounded the corner. She and her friends her hanging out around the main entrance and she jumped up and ran over with this look that matched the feeling I had in my stomach. "Ah am so sorry ‘bout yesterday! Ah didn’t mean ta eavesdrop on Ms. Cheerilee’s condition, honest! An’, if it helps, Ah made sure ta apologize ta her too right after her school was over. She seemed ta take it pretty well! Ah don't think she's holdin' a grudge on me err nothin'. She even let me sign her cast!”
I was stiff as a board when her friends followed after her and tried to follow up to tell me the whole interaction and that Ms. Cheerilee really did forgive them. A part of me wanted to tell her that the talk we were having about Ms. Cheerilee wasn't her condition, but then that might lead to explaining everything else. The only thing I ended up doing was putting a hand on her shoulder and trying to comfort her.
“It’s alright Applebloom,” I started, uneasy. “Ya must’a been mighty curious when ya heard Sunset’s side a’ the call.”
“Ah was,” she told me. “But it wasn’t mah thing ta know. Ah didn’t mean ta pry inta Ms. Cheerilee’s secret err nothin’. Ah shoulda trusted ya and walked away the first time, Applejack. Ah’m sorry.”
Please don’t say trust, I pleaded from my mind.
“Yeah, same goes for us,” her friend Scootaloo added. “Sweetie Belle and I were trying to ask Rarity and Rainbow Dash the same thing, but they wouldn’t tell us either. We thought you were all ignoring us.”
“I thought Rarity was literally ignoring me,” Sweetie went further. “She was on the phone all morning with the dumb spa and sounded like she only cared about them when I asked. Maybe she was just trying to have an excuse not to say anything.”
That made me focus up. “Now hold on. They wouldn’t do that. Rarity’s your sister, Sweetie. She wouldn’t go on pretendin’ ya don’t exist. There’s just a lotta storm swayin’ the trees right now. And Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash wouldn’t hide anythin’ from you unless it was outta her hands. You know that.”
Both of them nodded along, taking my words to heart as I turned to Applebloom. She started to tense up, expecting me to lay into her with a good talking to.
“Now, Applebloom, the reason Ah wanted ta find ya was. Erm...Do ya wanna go to the. M-Movies? Ah wanted ta invite ya.” I finally blurted out. It was a blindside to her. It was probably the last thing she expected her ‘chores first’ big sister to ask her. But after I repeated it and told her I had Granny’s permission; her friends did the rest and she was on board. No arguing necessary.
It felt so weird seeing my family not call me out on it. But, obviously they wouldn't question me. Why would they? I would do anything for them in a heartbeat and, in their eyes, I wouldn’t have some ulterior motive. It was a blessing to have a family that would be so good to me. Maybe I hadn’t lied persay, but I wasn’t being truthful. But even then, I had that backwards feeling a second time. That I wasn't in the wrong here. Maybe I was in the wrong for assuming Applebloom was just going to come with me, but if she said no it wasn't like I was about to force her. If she ultimately told me no, I would have respected that. At this point, I felt like I was trying to force myself to be guilty.
Applebloom grabbed her backpack and I tossed her the keys so she could wait in my truck when she was ready. I still had one more person to talk to. I saved her for last because I considered Granny and Bloom a warm-up. I wouldn’t need to lie or keep the truth from them if it came down to it. But this was where I had to back out of a deal I already made. And just like with Applebloom, the guilt reared its head again.
I made my way out of the building and towards the soccer field where we all agreed to meet. It was a slow walk and when I got in sight of the meeting spot, I noticed only two of the girls waiting for me. Sunset was pacing a little in front of the bleachers and Twilight was sitting down and petting Spike. After Sunset spotted me, she seemed to calm down for a few seconds and wave me down. I held up a hand, too awkward to wave back, and in that moment, I saw Sunset withdraw her hand. She muttered something to Twilight, and as I closed in, she shyly excused herself and told us she needed to walk Spike.
Twilight left us alone and Sunset stared at me with a tired glance. She knew.
“So, you’re leaving me too, huh?”
I didn't respond immediately and Sunset took the silence to nod solemnly. “Pinkie said she had a project come up that she had to take care of. She looks pretty cheered up considering how down she was earlier...You know what that's about?”
I gave out a few uncertain hums and Sunset took it as a queue to nod again. “Got it. Pinkie wouldn't tell me either. If you won’t tell me, then just...just go. Twilight and I will manage the fire tower fine without you guys. So, I guess there's no worry about that.” Her eyes trailed off.
“Sunset.” When I finally spoke, my throat sounded sore. “We can all tell yer upset. We're here for ya. You can tell us anythang.”
She snorted. "Here for me, huh? Funny. Because it looks like two of my friends are playing hooky with a liar instead of helping me find a way to solve this magic."
Liar? "What do you mean? What has Story lied about?"
She narrowed her eyes. "Uh-huh. So that is what this is about." I flinched, but she kept going. "You and Pinkie want to cheer up a kid who had a tantrum instead of helping your friends. And you say that you're hear for me?"
"Story's our friend too, Sunset." I frowned. "And just like with you, we've been tryin' ta reach out ta him. In the past twenty-four hours, the feller's learned that magic was real and then got told ta lie to the cops fer a reason you still ain't told us about yet."
"And what is there to tell about it?" Sunset threw up her hands. "They aren't able to do anything about it. The magic has everything set into motion and the only way it will end is how it ends in the game. That's why we're trying to figure out what's taking effect here! So, we can deal with the fallout when it's fixed! That's when the cops can help. Not any sooner! And if he just trusted me like I told him to, they might be in a spot to do that already! But no. He couldn't just settle with that"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...What?" She asked, standing up straight to face me.
"..."
"Look, say something or just go. I'm assuming that nothing I say at this point will convince you to stay. I get it."
"...What're you hidin'?"
She blinked. Then crossed her arms and glared. "I said go."
"Story mentioned unicorns before drivin' off." I did the opposite. "Now, Ah only heard the tail end a' yer argument, but none of it had ta do with Twilight's home. You told him about it. Didn't you?"
Sunset stood defiant. "It's like I told you, Applejack. He's a liar. He said he was going to help and that he wanted the truth, but that was a lie. I told him all of it and he left. And if I told him nothing, he would've left. He just wanted an excuse to run away."
"Sunset, you don't really believe that." I saw it in her eyes. "You told him something that you don't want the rest of us knowin'. It was either in that barn or in that message, but it was somethin'."
Sunset just looked angrier. "Don't do this. You guys are my friends. Why can't you just trust me?"
Trust. I shook my head. "Sunset, Ah do trust ya."
Sunset looked me in the eyes. "If you really trust me, then—" "But Ah trust Story too." I clarified. "And, sure, the fella floundered, but don't that remind ya of anybody?" She started looking away. "He never went inta this intendin' on bein' selfish. Ah don't think he had a plan at all. He took it all ta the chin and toppled like a rotten silo. He deserves a shot ta explain himself once he's calmed down. An' you know that if he's lyin', Ah'll be the first ta catch it."
Sunset just kept looking away, but her eyes were getting wider. She was starting to piece together that something was going to come of this. "Don't do this," she murmured. "Please don't do this. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, okay?"
"Ah'm not about ta abandon him, Sunset. And, whatever you and he were shoutin' about, Ah think y'all need ta try and put it ta rest. It doesn't do any of us good ta have in-fightin' when we need ta work together on this. Now, that said." I took a breath and my chest felt fine. Again, that guilty feeling was gone. And so was any idea that I should have felt guilty in the first place. "Ah'm gonna get goin'. Mah sister’s waitin’ for me at my truck and Ah gonna go help Pinkie. Ah'll talk later. Ah promise Ah will. And Ah'll be ready ta talk whenever you are.”
With that goodbye, I left feeling more confident. A part of me hoped that we would at least have an understanding, but all it did was remind me exactly why I took a walk at lunch in the first place. And Sunset made no attempt to stop me just as she didn't before. When I made it back to my truck, Applebloom was inside playing on her phone. I gave her a nod, tossed my bag in the back seat, apologized for the wait, and we took off.
The first couple of minutes were pretty stiff. Even if my head was clear, I couldn't just shake off talking to Sunset easily. Applebloom must have picked up on it too and when I saw her squirm a bit in her seat, I started to fill her in on what the real plan was. How Story still was freaked out about the magic and Pinkie was going to join in and help make this a day for all of us to just recover. Applebloom looked understanding and said that she would like that a lot too. I then asked if she wanted to talk about it and from there, I gladly gave her my ear for the whole car ride.
Like Granny told me, Applebloom and her friends had it rough the last couple of days. Sure there was homework and quizzes on top of chores and slight misfortunes that she just wanted to vent about, but when she alluded to some problems they had with one of the other students I at once recognized the pattern.
“Lemme guess. Tiara an’ Silver up to their usual nonsense?” I gave her a short look while we hit a red light.
“Jus’ Silver Spoon,” Applebloom sighed. “Diamond Tiara’s had some silly sniffle since the week before and her dad’s practically coddlin’ her or so we keep hearin’. Ah know it ain't right ta say it, but mah freinds and Ah were sorta lookin' forward ta the quiet. We don't mean ta say that Tiara deserves bein' sick err anythin', but we can only take so much before we're gettin' detention waved at us fer snappin' back. But instead of lettin' ourselves calm down, it feels like Silver’s puttin’ double the effort to get under our skin and make up fer lost time!”
I gave out a sad chuckle and started forward when the green light came. “Maybe we ain’t the only ones who need a pick-me-up. Silver Spoon might be worried about her friend being out sick for so long, is all.”
Applebloom grumbled for a bit. “Yeah, Ah guess. If Sweetie or Scootaloo were sick fer two weeks, Ah’d be worried too. But Ah still wouldn’t take it out on everybody else.”
“Come on now, you know better than to let some mean words get the better of ya.”
“Oh, that ain’t all that Silver’s been doin’!” Bloom sat up while I pulled us into the mall’s parking lot. “Just this mornin', she nearly got thrown into the office fer screamin’ at the whole class! She was accusin’ everyone in math about stealin’ her calculator.”
“Was it just in her backpack err somethin’?”
“Nah, it really was missin’, Ah’ll believe her on that. She’s one a’ the most organized students in the class. Ah wouldn’t think she forgot it. My guess is maybe she went to bring Tiara her homework last weekend and Tiara held onto it by accident.”
“Well, at least you’re taken the high ground and thinkin’ it’s a simple mistake. Not much anyone can do ‘bout it but share a calculator 'til she gets it back.” After I found an easy spot towards the back of the lot and we got out and started our long march.
Bloom gave me a bored look. “How’s come ya always gotta park this far? There's thirty better spots in this row alone.”
“Oh please, the west field's gotta be four times this length, easy. If we’re gonna be sittin’ down fer two hours straight watchin’ somethin’, we can at least get our steps in first.”
She only giggled at me. “You know, the whole point a' slackin’ off is ta not put effort inta thangs.”
“Well, maybe Ah ain’t tryin’ ta slack off, ya ever consider that?” I smirked at her as we entered the mall.
“Mm-hmm. Whatever ya say, AJ,” Applebloom hummed. She and I both knew that, in a small, partially correct way, I did want to slack off. Polish a stone, it’s still a stone, after all.
“Okay, okay, you’ve made yer point. Let’s just hurry up and get to this slackin’ part.”
“Y’know, yer missin’ the point a’ slackin’.”
“Can’t miss it if Ah ain’t aimin’.”
We entered the mall with a goal to track down Pinkie and the others. The mall’s theatre wasn’t far from the main entrance, and we got in earlier than I thought it'd take so we weren't in any hurry. Although, Applebloom just paused a few steps from the doors and stared with me as a small army of folks moved in a frenzy. We weren't scared of crowds, but it wasn't familiar for us to see so many folks. Especially when indoors. But seeing dozens of, if not over a hundred, people moving about made me feel out of depth.
"Are malls usually this busy on Mondays?" Applebloom looked up at me. She had never gone to the mall right after classes were out.
"Dunno," I muttered. Unfortunately for her, I wasn't sure if I had either. "Stick close. Last thing we need is ta get lost in the stampede."
A part of me wanted to guess that this was part of the game. Our characters did bring a bunch of supplies to the village. Then again, those supplies only helped a provision store and the Griffonbound Vendors. A mall seems a little big to match two stores. And how would that effect a food court or movie theatre?
There's also the problem that Leanne’s not really Leanne. I chewed at the inside of my cheek. I, or rather Platick, stopped that. What’ll that do to this place? I didn't even know if there was ever a real Leanne. For all I know, the doppelganger might've come to Phandalin as Leanne. If that's the truth, is Griffonbound Vendors gonna be out of business? Does that mean some shop's gonna be doomed to go under?
“Oh, Ah think Ah see 'em.” Applebloom announced as she pointed ahead. At the end of her finger, still a small walk away beyond the crowds, was Pinkie and Story. As well as a boy about Bloom’s age staring hard at a phone or something the same size as one. They were hanging around a bench outside the theatre with movie posters set up along the walls to show off to folks passing by. Story’s little brother was the only one sitting down, completely ignoring the conversation Pinkie was leading with Story.
Even from here, I could tell that Pinkie had just about regained her zany self as whatever she was saying was as energetic as her body language. We started to move, slowly shifting our way through the crowds, and eventually we could hear her.
“—about the scene where the man on the dogsled started smashing through everyone’s yards and then crashed through that birthday party and flicked the birthday cake into the air riiiiiight before his dogs stampeded through the yard while the kids were screaming?! All while the hot air balloon finally falls out of the sky and lands in the swimming pool to splash everybody with a huge wave that ruined the cake but still gave all of them an amazing bouncy castle to make up for it?!” Pinkie didn’t even waste time breathing as she was staring tensely at Story, who was taking a second to register whatever they were talking about.
And after a couple seconds, I could almost see the lightbulb sprouting out of his head. “Ohh! You're talking about the final chase scene where all the racers start closing in on the finish line! I mean, effects are effects." Story shrugged dismissively. "The whole thing was ruined when the scene ended with that stupid turtle-beat-rabbit metaphor from Mountain Biker beating them all. It was such a cop-out.” Story shrugged. “To start, Mountain Biker barely had any screen time. You don't know a thing about that character, and it's played for laughs that he gets the cash prize. Meanwhile, we have two main characters that need that cash prize for real reasons. And then you wanna bring up the dogs? How is Bob's Led supposed to flip a cake into the air before his dogs reach it? There are four dogs in front of him. Do you know how long that canoe paddle needs to be to reach past four dogs and then flip a cake into the air? And if that wasn’t enough, the dogs aren’t rhinos! They can’t just stampede through six sets of fences!”
“Upupup! Five sets of fences,” Pinkie corrected as she held out five fingers for emphasis. “One of them was already smashed by The Unicycler. And I'm pretty sure that those canoe paddles had special powers. How else do you explain Captain Canoe rowing through the canals of Venice and turning on a dime without hitting the walls even once? I think we both know it wasn't the Captain. He was never good enough to pilot that canoe!"
"Pfft! Obviously, it wasn't the captain," Story scoffed. "The Captain always goes down with his canoe," he and Pinkie said in perfect unison. "Thank you. And I'll admit that scene was funny. But you wanna bring up The Unicycler? Everything about him describes everything I hate about that movie. And I don’t care who you are, nobody can build up the kind of momentum needed to charge a unicycle through an oak fence.”
“To be fair, he only made it through the one fence,” Pinkie settled with a laugh. Then she shook her head. “But come on, it wouldn’t have been as hilarious if the dogs jumped over it! And the kids’ screaming wouldn’t have seemed that believable! And you know that must’ve been a really fun scene to make!”
“Their screams were supposed to be scared, not excited.”
“Why? I’d be excited if I got to scream in a movie!”
“Would you? Are ya sure? You’d be happy if a man on a dogsled and two women in a hot air balloon crashed your birthday party?”
“Are you kidding?! That would make my birthday party the best day ever! I would’ve been so surprised, I woulda made a face like Woah-ohhh~! Or no-no-no, wait! Maybe something like Ahhh-WoooOoOooOoh! Oh! No, hold on! It would actually sound like EEE—”
Pinkie’s screams went quiet as Story, thankfully, put a hand over Pinkie’s mouth as her muffled scream and rubbery flailing arms was now at a noise that would only attract the attention of everybody in eyesight rather than earshot.
Story gave her a flat look. “...Negative three. Out of ten. Movie.”
“How's a negative three even work for a rating?”
By this point, Applebloom and I were close enough to be part of the conversation ourselves. The only reason we were able to hear them from so far out was the lack of other people in the mall drowning them out.
“Oh, hey Applejack,” Story said, putting on a new expression to hide his frustration. “We’re talking about the movie Last One There. I like giving negative numbers out of ten for movies when there in that 'so bad it's good' kind of spot.”
Pinkie pulled Story's hand away. "I've heard of that before. But come on, it's at least a negative six out of ten!"
Story stared back at her. “Then you admit it's a terrible movie!”
Pinkie just smiled. “Well, doi! I never said it wasn't! I just really like laughing at it! You should see my older sister Maud when she watches it with me. It's her favorite terrible movie!"
Story shook his head. "Sorry, I don't think it's that terrible."
“Uh, guys?” I waved my hand, catching both of them before they could forget where they were. “Don’t we got a movie of our own ta catch? I know Ah got here quick, but we should probably decide on one soon.”
“No worries about that,” Pinkie chirped. “A bunch a' movies don’t start for at least thirty minutes! We even have time to candy up!”
Story nodded along before glancing over his shoulder at his brother who was still playing with some handheld game. “Button? Hey, pause it.”
“Huh?” Button looked up, kind of bringing his handheld game up so it could stay in his peripheral until he finally noticed us. “Oh, hello.” And he went right back to his game.
For a couple of seconds. Then he gasped, paused it again, and glared straight at me. “Wait a second. You.”
“Uh...yeah, me? Hi?” I looked back at Story. I do something wrong?
“Ignore that,” Story told me with a cringe. “I think he got the, erm, wrong impression. You know?” He wore this guilty look as he said that.
Oh. I see. Button here probably saw Story coming home steamed as a sauna yesterday. He’s probably mad at us. There’s a good brother.
“But Story,” Button whined. “Dag bevats mun Ektums unn lon aerasz iet—Wahh!”
Story let out a breath as he nonchalantly pushed Button’s beanie over his eyes and held it there with a huff. “Ignore that too. He’s been talking gibberish way too many times today. It’s a dumb language from one of his games.”
I blew out a raspberry and stayed in better spirits. “Ah don’t know any a’ what he even said, so no water off my back.”
“Oh! Got it!” Pinkie held up her phone at me so I could see some weird app on it while Story tensed up. “‘Are these two she-devils not the girls who.’ Wow, if people like the game enough to make a whole language, it’s gotta be fun!”
Story eased up and shook his head. “Please stop looking up translators. You’ll just encour—Argh!" Story released Button’s head and clutched his own, giving out a hiss of pain as his eyes were clamped shut. "Ow—Owwww!”
Quickly, Pinkie and Button were right beside him with me walking up beside them. It looked like the same headache from school was still there. “Y’alright Story? Do ya need ta sit down fer a spell?”
“He had one of these when he went to pick me up,” Button told us. “He had to pull over.”
“That. That sounds really bad,” Applebloom glanced at Story again. “Is it a good idea ta be watchin’ a movie with headaches like those?”
“He had two others at school,” I told him. “What does this make, four? Story, are ya sure yer alright?”
“I’m—I’m good. Good, yeah, good.” Story took a deep breath and shook his head. “They’re not...They don’t last. Long. Besides, it's not like the halluci— I mean. I’m fine now.”
“Maybe I should ask Mom what she thinks.” Button Mash pulled out his phone and then looked at me and Pinkie. “She’s a neurosurgeon. She would probably know what this is, right?”
"Button, it's fine. I’m good now.” Story shook his head one last time, standing up straight. “See? Nothing to worry about. Besides, it’s Mom’s day off. I don’t wanna bother her. Just leave it, alright?”
Pinkie and I shared a look. Yep. We’re both thinking the same thing. Magic.
He walked backwards a bit until he was right between two movie posters which he gestured to. “Besides, let’s focus on the movie, yeah? They got two movies about to start in the next thirty-ish minutes. Which means either Power Ponies: Midnight Pendant or Round Ticket Train. Or, we try waiting out an hour to watch Stormy with a Side of Pudding. And I already know which movie Pink—”
“Oh! Oh!” Pinkie started jumping so she could raise her hand higher. It was an act, but one she did good at keeping. “Stormy with a Side of Pudding! Please-please-pleeeease! Rumor has it they used actual pudding for the sets! Even for coating the buildings!”
“I heard it too,” Story admitted with a chuckle. “Forums say they couldn’t hire set designers who were lactose intolerant.”
He was hamming it up on the positivity, but I figured it was best to let him. “I dunno. Sounds a little bonkers if ya ask me.”
“It’s supposed to be such a good movie though!” Pinkie promised us. To which Story stood behind her and gave us a so-so motion with his hand.
“Hold on.” Button glanced around, spotting one movie poster that was mostly in darker colors. “Oh. There! What about Howling Hunter?!”
“Woah, Ah heard a’ that!” Suddenly, Applebloom’s face lit up. “That’s the one where the killer trains howler monkeys ta latch onta her prey an’ scream so loud, they go deaf!”
“Wait, what?” I blinked.
“Uh-huh!” Button nodded like crazy. “And everyone on the internet says she does that so that the victims can’t—Hear the Howling Hunter!” They said at the exact same time.
“We are not watching The Howling Hunter,” Story enforced.
“Why not?!” Applebloom gripped. “It’s playing at the same time as that puddin’ movie!”
“Yeah! We can wait!”
“Well in that case, Applebloom can wait a few more years,” I told Button, looking at Bloom. “Granny would be howlin’ louder than them monkeys if she heard you watched somethin’ like that. Not ta mention, it’s rated fer adults.”
“Story, you can get us in there though, can’t you? They know you! Please? Come on, please?!” He begged.
“Not. Happening.” He said it slower, so they’d hear us better. “Forget our ears, Mom’ll have our brains on her operating table if she hears I let you see that movie.”
“We won’t tell,” Applebloom promised us. To which Button nodded frantically.
“Uh-uh. Ah ain’t about ta lie ta Granny. An’ neither are you, missy.” Then I thought about the other titles a bit more before I remembered something I had checked before coming here. “Hey Story? What about that middle one ya mentioned? The train one? Ah heard it’s pretty good.”
“Right.” Story nodded at me, his interest fighting off his fatigue. "Round Ticket Train is an action/mystery kinda movie starring Chestnut Magnifico and Emerald Mask. An inventor creates a train that can go ‘round the world in two days without stopping. But for some reason, a few passengers are looking to steal the blueprints and make sure this train never reaches its destination. But when everyone's a passenger, who's here to see the train stopped and who's just along for ride? And more importantly, who steps off first?”
I gave him a comical look. “Made that summary up yerself, didn’t ya?”
Story took a second to realize that and sunk a bit. “Force of habit, I guess.”
“A tagline for your blog, right?” Pinkie asked quickly.
“Yeah, actu—I mean. Urgh. You did that on purpose,” Story groaned with a sour look while Pinkie just chortled at him.
“You gotta blog?” I smirked.
“Yeah. Yeah,” he admitted bashfully. “I try to keep it quiet, but I let it slip to Pinkie while we were waiting.”
“He won’t tell me what it’s called.” Pinkie mockingly pouted. “So, I’ve been asking him what he rated a bunch of movies so I can track it down.”
Story straightened up. “Wait, that’s why you kept—You weasel.” He gave her a look while Pinkie stuck out her tongue. “That is...Admittedly clever.”
“Thanks!”
“Ah’ll keep it hushed,” I told him, earning a boost in attitude from the fella. Then I glanced over at the Round Ticket Train poster. Thirteen and up. Yeah, Applebloom’s old enough. “Ah’m for it. Bloom?”
“Yeah, Ah s’ppose,” she settled. “Ah’d still rather see Howlin’ Hunter, though.”
“No Howlin’ Hunter,” I told her.
“Awww. Fine, Ticket Train works,” Button relented.
“Okay, I’m on board too,” Pinkie joked with a snort. “But Story, if you ever go see Side of Pudding, you gotta let me come!”
“Deal,” Story nodded. “Besides, with all of us here, I’m gonna need to watch a bunch of movies to restock my points.”
That’s when Button looked over in awe. “Wait. You mean it?”
“Yep.” Story nodded. “I’m upgrading us all to deluxe seats. My treat.”
“Woah now.” I frowned. “Don’t them deluxe seats cost double, err somethin’? We can’t ask ya ta do that.”
“It’s not double for me,” he clarified. Then he pulled this purple and black movie card out of his pocket. Some sort of membership card. “I can cover it with points. Blog aside, I‘m kind of a movie buff.”
“Yes!” Button started running in. “I’m getting one of every candy!”
“Not if I do first!” Pinkie took off, catching up to Button as they both ran into the theatre and at the concession stand.
“What, hey, no!” Story stuffed the card back in his pocket and walked after them with a drained expression. “I don’t have that many points! Guys!”
I watched them all running off with an amused look. “Ya know, compared ta this mornin’? Ah think this was the right idea.”
“Yeah, it sounds like it.” Applebloom and I went through the door next, watching as Story started giving out a spending limit. Only for Pinkie to get out her own money and announce she was paying for snacks. At that moment, Story joined with the other two and ordered all sorts of stuff; Pinkie’s excitement getting infectious on him and Button. "Does his family know about the magic too? Or just him?"
“Just him. Let's try and keep it that way for now. Besides, we got other problems. We gotta get our own feed 'fore those three drain the food stand dry.”
Rainbow Dash’s POV
City Hall
1 Hour Later
The heavy doors closed behind us with a dull boom when we were near the bottom of the outside steps. I was crumpling a useless piece of paper into a nearby trashcan.
“That was a waste of time. That lady wouldn’t call the mayor once! She even gave up saying anything and pretended we weren’t there!”
“Well. it wasn’t completely bad,” Fluttershy walked up beside me. “She let us talk to somebody in the end. And he was very polite.”
“Please! Like that guy’s gonna do anything.” I glanced at her with a frown. There was no one around us so I didn’t have to care about what I said. “That secretary used him to get rid of us.”
“True. But, um, he said that he would at least check in on the mayor.”
“And what does that do?” I argued back. “He works there everyday. Either he already knows something’s up and won’t tell us, or he’s in the dark too and can’t do anything about it.”
Fluttershy went silent for a while, trying to think of an answer, but nothing was coming up. Instead, she just slumped more and looked more upset than I felt. Seeing that made me rethink my words. “Err. Look, whatever. Twilight tried the website. We tried showing up. It’s a dead end. We can still try one of the other things we found yesterday.”
Fluttershy nodded, trying to match my hope. “Okay.”
I nodded along, more for my own sake, and sighed before glancing around. “Alright. Next problem. What’s happened to Rarity?”
We glanced over at one of the only cars in the lot. Usually, City Hall would be packed with cars, but it was barren today. We had an easy time finding Rarity leaned against the hood of her car and biting her nails. She was completely lost in thought with her phone in the other hand hanging beside her. Seeing that, we shared a look and jogged over.
When we all went inside together, Rarity was talking circles around that secretary. Rarity might have gotten her to let us at the mayor too, but that was when she got another call, and all the momentum went out the door with her. We tried waiting for her, but it was nearly a half hour before we got passed off to somebody else.
We knew that her phone call was about the spa again. All day, she’s been calling and being called by someone at the spa. We thought it was about her cancelling an appointment at first. When we asked, she instead told us someone was going through a tough time and looking for advice. None of us had any problem letting her step away for calls after hearing that.
Once we were within speaking distance to Rarity, I called out. “Hey, Rarity? Everything cool?”
She bounced off her car’s hood in a jolt, spotting us trudging over. Then she looked at her phone’s clock and curdled. “I completely lost track of time! Girls, I am so—” “Save it,” I told her with a hand held up to stop her.
“You didn’t miss anything. The lady saw a guy walk inside a little after you left and pawned us off to him. Apparently, he was a vice mayor, which, I didn’t even know was a thing. Then, he covered for the mayor too. It was all a bust.”
Rarity didn’t lighten up. “Still, I might’ve been able to talk us into the mayor’s office next. I should’ve come back in immediately.”
Fluttershy shook her head. “It’s alright Rarity. You didn’t do anything wrong. What about Ms. Aroma? How is she doing?”
“She...She’s absolutely terrified that something has gone wrong,” she told us while she began unlocking her phone. Then she looked up at me. “Fruity Aroma is the assistant manager for the spa Fluttershy and I frequent. Our friends, Aloe and Lotus, along with Lotus’s mother Cherry Blossom, haven’t been heard from since Friday.”
“Haven’t been— they’re missing?!”
Rarity finished tapping something on her phone and passed it to me. I took one look and recognized what kind of website it was. It was a Missing Persons website. And the three most recent results read Lotus Blossom, Aloe Vera, and Cherry Blossom. They were all added today.
I stared back in horror as Rarity looked at the phone, defeated. “Wait a second, this is what you’ve been talking on the phone about all day?! Rarity, why didn’t you tell us?!”
“We weren’t sure they were missing,” she told us. “I only learned this morning that all of this was happening in the first place when Ms. Aroma called to say that my appointment for today was canceled. I meant to cancel it after school regardless so we could investigate, but when she told me that Ms. Blossom and the girls hadn’t shown up today, I thought I was paranoid. And, besides, I did tell someone. I told Sunset.”
“You told her?” Fluttershy frowned. “But, I don’t think any of us knew.”
“She said she didn’t want anyone finding out until we were sure. And she asked me not to tell anyone until then. I felt guilty about it, but we did still have school after all. It’s not as if we could’ve abandoned our classes and started searching there and then. So I agreed. Shortly thereafter, Ms. Aroma told me she was certain they were missing, so I was waiting to hear what she had to say about the whole ordeal. That was why I stepped out here.”
“Well, now that you know, we can start looking for them, right? We need to call Sunset and the others too. Maybe try and get a hold of Pinkie while we’re at it.”
Rarity’s expression just got worse. “What?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”
“I got off the phone with Sunset a few minutes before you came out here. When I told her that they really were missing, she seemed heartbroken like us at first. But when I told her that I wanted to go help find them, she. She told me not to.”
I felt a part of my brain cramp in on itself. “Say what?”
Rarity gently put her phone away. “She told me that we have to ignore it. She thinks that Lotus, Aloe, and Ms. Blossom are related to the mother and twins who were kidnapped in the game. And I agreed. There’s no reason they would suddenly be missing like this otherwise. But then she said there is nothing that can be done about it and that the Dunamancy has done its work. Sunset believes it’s pointless to try looking for them.”
“The twins,” Fluttershy said with a gasp. “Everybody mistakes Aloe and Lotus for twins.” Then Fluttershy thought about it for a second. “Maybe Sunset didn’t mean it like that? She could have meant that the police might find them?”
“No, Darling. That isn’t what she meant.” Rarity narrowed her eyes at the ground. “I asked her that exactly. She said nobody will find them. Not us, the police, or their families. The only way they’ll turn up is saving them with the game.”
I stared back at her, a chill going down my spine. “So that’s just it? She thinks you should give up on your friends? Because she thinks we can’t help them?!”
“Now hold on a moment. It's not quite...she explained to me a few—" Rarity tried making up an excuse, but she died only a few words in. Eventually, she nodded and confirmed it. “Yes. That was the gist of it. I tried asking what would happen, but she didn’t have an explanation. Sunset seems to have this idea that they’ve been whisked off to some impossible space that none of us have any hope of reaching. And she was just so sure that something terrible would happen if I attempted to go anyway.”
“Hold on. Would? Or might?”
Rarity paused for a second. “She went back and forth on that detail. At this point, I don’t think she knows for a fact. She is just worried about us and very much against the idea.”
“And, are you against it?” Fluttershy asked, sitting on the car hood beside Rarity, ushering her to sit back down with her.
“No. I’m not.” Rarity furrowed her brow. “I told her I couldn’t ignore this. And then, that’s when I realized how distraught Sunset sounded over the phone. Like she had been since yesterday. But whenever we try asking what’s got her so out of sorts, she keeps closing herself off about it and refuses to explain why.”
I folded my arms and let Fluttershy calm Rarity down. Why is Sunset acting like this all of a sudden? We’re all here for her, but she keeps pushing us away. Even with Pinkie. She was all cheered up and Sunset was suspicious about it. And now, we can’t go and help someone else? None of this sounds right.
I let out a low growl and focused on Rarity. “Rarity? Forget about Sunset for a second. Forget about this stupid magic too. These are your friends for crying out loud! And we know for a fact that they’re missing. Act like none of this other stuff is going on. What do you wanna do?”
Rarity looked up at me and after a few seconds she let out a heavy sigh. “I want to find my friends.”
“Awesome. Then we do that.”
Rarity tensed up. “Just like that? Darling, we don’t know what’ll happen if we do. Sunset said that we can only handle what comes after we—”
“Sunset said that she doesn’t know how this magic works! None of us do! But we’ve been spending yesterday and today going around trying to find what changes what! Now that we have a lead and its friends of ours who are in trouble, Sunset says we shouldn’t look?! She’s the one that said we can’t change fate or whatever directly! But we haven’t tried to do anything that proves that! So, let’s try!”
“Rainbow Dash.” Rarity stood up again. “I would love nothing more. But we only know as much about this magic as we do because of Sunset. If we’re saying everything Sunset knows is wrong, we have nothing to go off of.”
“And, what, we have something right now?! We’re sitting in an empty parking lot doing nothing!” I looked between them, determined. “If I found out you guys, or any of my friends went missing for days, nothing Sunset says would ever stop me. I would be out there doing everything to find you guys. If I sat around doing nothing, I'd feel like I’m letting you down. Rarity, you can either keep doing nothing and never find them or try everything and make sure.”
Rarity stared back, going over the words. Sunset was our friend and obviously whatever happened yesterday hit her pretty hard. And we needed to help her too. But right now, there’s three people who haven't been seen for days. If she doesn’t want to help, she can wait.
Finally, Rarity took a slow breath, trading her phone for her car keys. “We helped Ms. Cheerilee when we discovered her leg was broken. Nothing bad happened there. In fact, we were able to help her not long after. And nothing went wrong. Why is this suddenly any different?” Rarity unlocked the car. “Girls? Get in and hold on. I don’t care what this horrid fate magic is trying to do. But I refuse to sit idly by any longer while it rampages all over the place making catastrophes around the people we know. We find them, no matter how long it takes.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.023 seconds
Total duration
648 users online
985,688 hits today, 2,244,100 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.®
Huzzah what a pleasant surprise
.... HOLYSHITIT'SALIVE!!!
Interesting turn of events! We see the outing start, as well as how the magic is affecting Story, and we see a bit more of this world. Rather odd choice for the girls to split up, but then again, Sunset isn't exactly helping with her uncertainty. I've said it before, I'll say it again: they're dealing with magic they have never seen before, and they don't know how it works. So if they're about to f*ck around, I'm just bracing for them to find out in a bad way.
Glad to have you back!
Glad to see you again and Glad to have this story back it was such a nice surprise to see it again i will have to reread it but it will be worth it
Very glad to see you return to this. Well done.:D
11804394
11804399
11804654
11804737
11804883
Thank you all for sticking around this long! It means a lot to see all your comments right away. Like I mentioned in the Author's Notes, I have the next few chapters already written. I have some edits and I might redo a few lines in spaces, but they're ready to go. So I'm at least gonna have a solid schedule through February. I wanna space them out so that there's gonna be something ready, hopefully. Sorry for the wait between them.
11751009
I did want to respond to what you said (which, btw, thank you for always taking the time to write and analyze). I think I mentioned at one point, but I rolled randomly what each character's class would be and then I picked what race and subclass that I thought each of the girls would choose. With some it was easy, like Fluttershy picking everything about animals, whereas Rainbow's reason was to literally pick the first race in the list [Dwarf] to get it over with. It's the personalities where I got to go nuts.
Glemerr and Ricven: I definitely think some part of my brain leaked in Grog & Scanlan from Critical Role but with two larger differences: Glemerr's not as bloodthirsty as Grog and Ricven thinks he is, but definitely isn't, the horny bard that Scanlan is. Instead, Glemerr replaces that bloodlust for being a people-pleaser who is overly trusting and Ricven is someone who acts like a conman and crook but without really doing any 'crimes' persay.
Platick: Since his story was hidden until recently, I'll keep out the reasoning for why. But he's definitely not Vax or Percy from CR. Vax still cares about people in his life, even if he may hide it, and Percy starts out hungry for revenge and willing to get his hands dirty for it. Platick doesn't fit either mold. The best comparison I can make is to imagine Nathan Drake from Uncharted but take the jokes out of his sarcasm and make him jaded. You get a sarcastic jerk who seeks answers, but still doesn't want to see good people screwed over.
Vareén: Mysterious is word of the day with this one. And even when her story gets revealed, something tells me that won't change. Not much to say past that. Something I can say, however, is that at one point you asked if Vareén=Raven. That was definitely where the idea originated from. It's since become based off of Raven and one other character that I can't say.
Stostine: This one I have the most fun writing for. That might be kind of messed up, considering I also think Stostine to be the easiest punching bag of the group, but it is. But, if I've mentioned what/who she's based off of, I can't remember anymore. In terms of fiction, that is. Story-wise, I know exactly how to answer that but cannot say it.
Thorn Wielder: If Stostine's a punching bag, Thorn Wielder's a heavyweight boxer. I've had times where I think Thorn's too powerful or has too many cool moments in combat, so I've tried creating combats where she's at a disadvantage and shows she isn't that powerful. Then the dice always go in her favor, and she becomes even 'cooler.' The luck on this character scares me. As for where she originated from, one of my first characters was also a Thorn Wielder, so that's where the vine mystery comes in. The rest was literally just Fluttershy is A, B, C, and acts like D. Let's have Thorn Wielder be W, X, Y, and act like Z but keep the same interests and dislikes.
Ravathyra: In a What If scenario of Rainbow heeding Sunset's warnings, you're right. Rava would not be the same. Rainbow would see Rava the Surly Paladin, and probably make up a story that fits something like that. Rava would not be the cheerful, somewhat motherly, figure of the group. Rainbow would also not force herself to use a Scottish accent. What's funny is that Rava is based off another livestream D&D show Dice, Camera, Action. It was a perky human (mostly) paladin called Evelyn.
And I'm rambling now. My bad! Still, I figured I'd pay you back for all the comments I never had the chance to reply to. Thanks for reading!
11805159
Thanks for the reply! It's nice seeing how each character came about, and I like the bits of explanation you gave! Riven really is akin to a snake oil salesman, isn't he?
I look forward to seeing what else we learn about these characters!
I am so glad to see this updated. I hadn't even realized it had taken so long, last year kinda sucked.
Happy to announce my adventurers league is now playing this campaign so I have a point of reference.
Been so long I think I need to go back and review what sunset said specifically.
Looking forward to the next one!