The Presence

by Lunar Specter

Morning

At first, there was nothing. No sound, no light, no scent, no taste, no touch. Not even any thought, she was just… there…lost in an everlasting void.

And then, she emerged from the void. She could feel softness below and above her. A soft, rhythmic sound, comforting in a special way she couldn’t quite place, could be heard. There was a warmth around her and she could sense a light beyond her closed eyelids, they opened lethargically.

Old wood, aged but still very much strong and stable created the ceiling and much of the walls of which she could see. On the wall directly above her head there was décor with a familiar motif…she knew instantly where she was. But how did she get here?

She remembered waking and washing her hair. Then there was a knocking, and Spike, and…

She sat up in a flash, and not long afterward, a familiar orange pony was by her side. “Easy there, Sugarcube!”

She looked up and saw the concern in the pony’s eyes. “Applejack? Wha…how did I get here?”

“Spike brought ya ‘ere.” Applejack motioned to a form bundled up in blankets in a bed on the far side of the room, a scaly purple arm sticking out of the bundle the only hint as to who the form was. “Poor thing was scared outta his mind and wasn’t makin’ much sense, kept sayin’ somethin’ about Twi and a spell ‘fore he just collapsed from exhaustion. Rarity, what happened?”

“I’m…not sure what exactly happened, dear. Twilight…she destroyed part of my house and ruined my designs…she even attacked me!” Rarity exclaimed.

“Whoa, whoa! Our Twi attacked ya?! Is she the one who hurt Spike?!”

“Hurt Spike?” Rarity pulled herself out of bed and quickly made it over to where Spike was asleep. She pulled back the covers and gasped at what she saw. Beneath the covers was peacefully sleeping dragon…with a large, discolored bandage covering most of his tiny chest.

“She hurt Spike? How could she hurt Spike?” Rarity muttered under her breathe, she found what she was seeing difficult to believe. Her eyes began to tear up, for more than one reason.

An orange hoof found its way around her shoulders, gently pulling her into a comforting hug. She realized that Applejack must have been behind her the entire time. “Ah’m not sure, Sugarube. Ah find it hard ta believe that Twi would ever hurt any of us, ‘spcially on purpose. We’ll figure this out though. Fluttershy is downstairs right now and Rainbow is headed in town t’get Pinkie, with the five of us t’gether nothing can stop us.”

A smile grew on Rarity’s face and she sniffled. “Yes, I suppose you’re right.”

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Pinkie Pie was always awake at the break of dawn, be it to get an early start on the day’s baking for Sugarcube Corner or she couldn’t sleep because she had a party to plan. This morning in particular, it was the former.

Hopping across the kitchen in her usual fashion, she laid a pan of freshly baked vanilla cupcakes on the counter. They looked great (as usual) but lacked the icing that made the whole display.

Hmmm…I could put blue icing on them, but I did that with the last batch. It would be boring to do it again. A lime green would look yummy, oooooo or maybe a yellow! Oh! Oh! I know! I could put pink icing on them! Pink is always a great choice! For everything! For cupcakes, cakes, cookies, curtains, cats…

The sound of the bell on the front door ringing brought Pinkie out of her thoughts.

“Someone’s sure is here early! Maybe they’re like me and like sweets in the morning!” She hopped out of the kitchen into the main store.

“Welcome to Sugarcube Corn-Oh! Hey Twilight! What’re you doing here so early?” Pinkie greeted upon seeing the customer was a familiar lavender unicorn.

“Hello Pinkie Pie, I am here for you actually.” Twilight said, expressionless.

“Cool! What’s up? Do we have another adventure to go? Or-” Pinkie gasped. “Do you want to throw a party?!”

“No, Pinkie. Neither. I am here to ask you where the Element of Laughter is.” Twilight stated.

“Oh! Well, why are you asking me? You know where they are too, silly!”

“Just answer the question.” Twilight growled, her patience starting to grow sparse.

“What question? You didn’t actually ask me a question Twilight.” Pinkie giggled.

There was a flash of magenta light and Twilight was snarling in Pinkie’s face. “I am not playing these games with you, just answer me. Where is the Element of Laughter?”

Pinkie cocked her head, something was not right. “Twilight, are you okay?”

Twilight took a step back and pointed her horn at Pinkie. “GAH! THAT’S IT!” Her horn began to glow and she launched a bright magenta bolt at her.

When she looked up, Pinkie was no longer in front of her and there was a burn mark where she once was. A dark, satisfied grin grew on her face.

“That was a close one! You almost got me!”

The cheerful voice came from behind her.

She whirled around and to her disbelief saw Pinkie Pie, unharmed and smiling. “How did you…nevermind.”

She launched another bolt at Pinkie.

Again, Pinkie just carelessly hopped out of the way.

“Would you stay still!” Twilight growled, now furious.

“Okay.” Pinkie plopped down where she stood, giving Twilight an innocent smile.

The evil smile on Twilight’s face grew even larger and she charged up another magic bolt. This bolt grew brighter and more powerful than the previous ones, this one wasn’t going to miss and nothing could survive it. As she released the bolt, neither she nor Pinkie noticed as a new sound filled the room.

The sound of glass shattering.

There was a rainbow blur as Pinkie was tackled out of the bolt’s path just in the nick of time.

Sugarcube Corner rocked from the force as the bolt blasted a hole through the wall Pinkie once stood in front of, the force was enough to briefly disorient the caster.

Pinkie looked up to see that she was tackled by non-other than Rainbow Dash. She didn’t get a chance to say anything to her friend as Rainbow was quick to recover and jumped up and sped across the room toward Pinkie’s attacker.

Using the attacker’s disorientation to her advantage, Rainbow tackled her, pinning her to the ground. Up until now, she had failed to get a good look at the attacker.

Pinkie saw Rainbow’s surprised reaction, she didn’t blame her. Pinkie, herself, was trying to understand what was happening.

She looked at where she once stood. There was a gaping hole in the wall, revealing one of the streets of the still half-asleep Ponyville. There were burn marks along the edges of the hole and on the ground where she was. Anything that was in the path of that bolt was now gone. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks. Twilight had tried to kill her.

Her friend Twilight Sparkle had tried to kill her.

With a poof, Pinkie’s hair lost all of its puffiness.

Pinkie was so lost in her thoughts, she hadn’t noticed that Rainbow was now racing towards her. Without stopping, Rainbow effortlessly picked Pinkie Pie up in her forelegs and rocketed off through the hole Twilight had created and into the sky above Ponyville.

If they would have looked behind them, they would have seen a bolt of magic narrowly missing them.

And a set of dark purple eyes following them as they streaked across the sky.

Comments

[Lunar Specter]

Hey guys! I'm sorry the other chapters were so short, this one is a tad longer and is about the length my chapters normally are. I'm new to writing MLP fanfics so let me know if you feel I didn't portray any characters correctly and how to get them right.

Also, constructive criticism is always welcome.

[EngageBook]

I think this is a good idea and can't wait for the next chapters. A short chapter is better than no chapter.

[LuckyPen296]

Please write more!! It's getting interesting!

[audball24]

Update plz!!!