Chapter 20: The Calm
Chapter 20: The Calm
"Umm, Scoots? Are you sure this is safe?" asked a white unicorn filly, making sure the helmet she wore didn't ruffle up her mane anymore than it already was.
"Please, I do this all the time," answered another filly, this one an orange pegasus with a similar helmet already strapped on. "Besides, it's not like we don't do dangerous things all the time anyway."
"Yeh but…" a pale-yellow earth pony filly stuttered, a southern drawl evident in her voice, "we've never done anythin' like this before," she said looking back at the object they had placed themselves in.
Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo had sure done some crazy things in the past. After all, they were willing to do whatever it took to earn their cutie marks, to no avail so far. But when Scoots said she had a great idea to get them finally, they were more than ecstatic about the prospect. If only Bloom and Sweetie knew that what she had in mind involved a clear day, helmets, and a cannon of all things, to which the earth pony and unicorn were placed in.
"You guys worry too much," Scoots waved off, putting the finishing touches on the massive contraption, all in the form of graffiti. "Once we get our cutie marks in midair acrobatics, you'll be thanking me to Cloudsdale and back."
"I always wanted my cutie mark involving something more…well, cutesy," Sweetie contemplated. "If it's going to be something doing things like this, I might want to just stay a blank flank."
"Hey," Scoots intervened, now on top of the cannon looking down at them both. "That's no way to start thinking now. We're so close! I can feel it! Now one second. Just have one more thing to do."
Looking back at the other end, Scoots spotted the fuse, still unlit. Well, that will soon change. Taking the match she had hidden under her tiny wing, she struck it along the surface of the cannon. Taking care not to catch her muzzle on the sparks, she lit the fuse, the small string already beginning to shorten. Without a second thought, she tossed the match aside and jumped into the cannon, wedging herself between her friends. It was a tight fit, so they all had to get real snug as a result.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Sweetie gulped.
"I'm telling you, this'll work out," Scoots assured. "Applebloom set up a safety trampoline around Sweet Apple Acres earlier today. It's not like we'll be landing on solid ground."
"Uuuhhh, I what?" Applebloom question with a very confused expression.
This caused Scootaloo to raise an eyebrow. "The trampoline, remember? I asked you if you could set one up earlier."
"No ya didn't," Applebloom responded. "Ah thought you was takin' care of that."
"What?! I know I asked you to set it up! I got the cannon, Sweetie got the helmets, and you got the trampoline! That was the deal!"
"Ya told me you'd handle it!" Applebloom shot back. "Ah didn't even know what it was for at the time!"
"Wait, girls," Sweetie stepped in, "if it's not there to catch us, then what is?"
That forced the three to stop bickering for a second, all the while hearing the sound of the few getting shorter and shorter.
Scootaloo was the first to break the silence. "GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!" she yelled as she tried prying herself from the tight confines.
The others soon followed suit, but it was too late. They were finally released from the hole, only with a deafening boom, they found not only their ears ringing, but their bodies feeling weightless as they soured through the air. All three screamed at the top of their lungs, the world below them soring by in seconds.
"I knew this was a bad idea!" Sweetie screamed.
"Why did ya convince us ta do this?!" Applebloom yelled as she began doing flips.
"I'm SORRY!" Scoots yelled, herself fairing no better
Not long after, Sweet Apple Acers was directly below them, and as expected, no trampoline in sight. Only fields of apple trees and solid ground, waiting for them to greet it.
"I don't want to die!" Scoots flailed, even trying as much as to flap her underdeveloped wings, to no avail.
"It was nice knowing both you!" Sweetie covered her eyes.
"What are ya saying!" Applebloom went wide-eyed.
Soon, all three of them had covered their eyes, now simply waiting for their eventual demise. What were they thinking doing this?! This was what they had to do to get their cutie marks?! They'd have rather died. Well, then again.
They waited for the ground to hit, their bodies tensing up. They tensed up even further when they felt something make contact with them. Although, it wasn't what they expected. It was very…soft. They opened their eyes, but their vision was still darkened, only a little bit of light reaching them.
"Are…are we dead?" Sweetie quivered.
"I mean…if we are, then being a ghost is very itchy," Scootaloo fidgeted.
"Guys, ah don't think we're dead," Applebloom pointed out. "It feels like…hay?"
Confused, the three fillies moved upward, finally poking their heads out. Sure enough, they were sticking right out of a pile of hay, all of it piled into a wagon. What really caught them off guard was the strange angle the wagon was leaning to. In fact, it almost looked as if it was about to dump them out with how it was positioned.
"Phew," they heard, somepony audibly sighing. "Are you three ok?"
They were confused as to where the voice was coming from at first but soon looked over the side of the wagon. Their little eyes widen. The wagon wasn't just tilting. It was floating. It was as if it was being held up by some kind of magic, and going by the cyan hue coating it, that was more than likely. What really caught them off guard was who appeared to be casting it, the culprit being a…grey furry thing standing on only two legs, his hand outstretched and glowing the same color as the wagon.
The jaws of all three fillies dropped, Sweetie being the first to act. "H-how are you doing that?!"
"Oh, right," Silver said, rubbing his head with his free hand in an embarrassing manner. "Forgot I'm not something that's normal here yet," he mumbled.
"Y-you're not a unicorn," Applebloom gaped. "So how ya doin' that magic thingy?"
"I'll explain that later," he started, gently setting the wagon down. "I'm wondering why three little ponies are flying through the sky all of a sudden. Two of you don't even have wings."
Scootaloo was the first to jump out, shaking the hay out of her feathers. "We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders," she stated with pride, putting her hoof to her chest. "We're on a mission to find each of our cutie marks."
"Uuhh," Silver mused. "A…cutie mark? You don't mean those tattoos all you guys have, do you?"
"A…tattoo?" Applebloom questioned, looking between each of her confused friends. "Mister, we don't know what a tattoo is."
"What I want to know is how you did that magic thing with your hands!" Scoots jumped. "You're not a unicorn. So…are you…uh, what is it. Telephonetic?"
"Uh, it's called telekinesis," Silver answered, unsure really how to handle the situation. "Sorry, but where are your parents? You'd think they'd be wondering where you three are."
Scootaloo just waved it off. "No need to worry mister spikey, our families are very lenient with what we do. They know we can take care of ourselves."
"Ahem," they all heard, the three fillies specifically tensing up at the sound.'
The whole group turned to the owners, Silver looking on passively while the fillies felt their little hearts sink and hit the ground. Standing before them was none other than Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, all three of them looking on in aggravation.
"I'm sorry, lenient was it, dear?" Rarity questioned.
"Applebloom," Applejack threatened.
"Uh…hiya sis," Applebloom nervously smiled.
"Umm, you guys all look really mad at somepony," Sweetie feigned.
The three adult ponies only hardened their glares at them, causing them to shrink back.
"I'm…not getting in the way of anything here, am I?" Silver moved back, not wanting to stand between the two groups.
"Not at all dear," Rarity stated in her normal posh voice, but still holding her glare on the three fillies. "But thank you for keeping these three out of danger," she said as she walked past him with. "If you ever need some formal attire from the boutique, don't be shy to ask me and I'll put it on the house."
"I don't think I…" he trailed off, seeing her just walk past him, Applejack and Rainbow Dash following suit.
"As for you Sweetie Belle," Rarity stated, "I think you're staying home to help me with my dresses for some time to come."
She punctuates this as she picks up her sister with her blue magic, making sure to take that ridiculous looking helmet off her as she carried her away.
"But Rarity!" Sweetie whined.
"You too Sugarcube," Applejack chided, picking Applebloom up by her tail. "Yer gonna be helpin' Granny 'round the kitchen till yer little hooves start chippin' away."
"But…it wasn't my idea…" Bloom whimpered.
"Don't you worry 'bout that, right Rainbow?" Applejack responded, directing her eyes over to Rainbow as she finished.
"Of course!" Rainbow retorted. "What kind of pony do you take me for?"
She passed her friends by, flying herself right over to the last remaining crusader. She kept herself afloat as she crossed her hooves, the evident look of disappointment on her face. The look caused Scootaloo to flinch, but also look away from her hero. Scoots never liked it when Rainbow got like this. It was one thing for her to be mad, it was an entirely different situation for disappointment.
This didn't go unnoticed by Rainbow, and Scoots knew it. She could almost sense Rainbow leaning down to her. What she couldn't see was Rainbow looking back and forth, making sure nopony was listening in too closely.
Scoots then heard her speak. "Good job squirt," Rainbow whispered, putting her hoof out. "You're just about 20 percent cooler for that one."
Scootaloo perked up at this, completely not expecting the words she heard. She looked back to her idol, her eyes near sparkling at the compliment, Rainbow giving her a toothy grin at the sight. Scoots looked to Rainbow's hoof, seeing it outstretched to her. The filly looked back to the older pony as if she was asking if it was ok, to which Rainbow just nodded.
Scootaloo grinned widely at the action. She took her small hoof and bumped it to the larger one. She couldn't help but feel giddy at the prospect of what was happening, and Rainbow couldn't help but silently chuckle at the filly's antics.
"Rainbow Dash," Applejack threatened.
Rainbow instantly perked up at the mention of her name. "Oh! Ummmm…I was just…making sure she knew the kind of punishment she'd be getting! Yeah!"
She leaned back into Scootaloo. "Sorry about this squirt."
"Sorry about whAAAATTT?!" Scoots shrieked as Rainbow suddenly picked her up by the tail. She fluttered her little wings in protest, but it did little to nothing to hinder the older pegasus. Rainbow just started flying her over with the rest, several resisting grunts from the fillies very audible.
This just left Silver to his own accord. "Why is it that I feel like I'm the third wheel in everything?" he mumbled, following the group close behind.
If one were to ask what the pride of Ponyville was, it'd be Sweet Apple Acres. For as long as the Apple family lived within its rolling green hills, the expansive fields of apple trees only grew more and more. At the center of it all stood a small two-story house, a small wooden cottage in the woods, if you will. Right beside that, stood a large red barn, the rooster-shaped weather vein sitting peacefully in the gentle summer winds.
Right within the open double doors of the barn sat a long table lined by rustic styled benches. On the table neatly sat various tasty treats and hors d'oeuvres, or…previously neatly. At this point, many of the apples and pies that sat peacefully were now picked apart. Apple cores were thrown about on the ground with several crumbs scattered across the wood surface.
An audible burp radiated in the area, a certain cowpony picking at her teeth with a toothpick.
"Applejack!" exclaimed Rarity. "Must you be so repugnant?!"
"Ay don't know what yer talkin' bout Rares." She tosses the toothpick somewhere behind her. "That's simply a good ol' Apple family hospitality to a lick slicken meal."
From across the table, they heard Rainbow Dash laugh. "You think that's so good Applejack? You haven't heard nothing."
She lightly pounded on her chest, a burning compulsion making its way up before she let out a loud belch of her own, much louder than Applejack's.
"Beat that, cowpony," she taunted, a smug look plastered on her face.
"Ya should know better than that RD," Applejack taunted back, a similar look on her.
"No! No! I'm not sitting in the middle of this!" Rarity scoffed in disgust, getting up from the table and stomping off, her hooves on her ears.
"Awwwwww!" Pinkie loudly sighed. "Don't be like that Rarity! You don't have to decide who to root for! I can do that for you! One apple pie on Rainbow Dash!" she yelled as she slammed a pie on the table in front of them, it seeming to appear from nowhere.
"Pinkie Pie…?" Fluttershy questioned. "Where did…?"
"Can I not get in on this, please?" Twilight groaned, taking her mind out of the book she was holding. It's been some time since she finally woke up in the Ponyville hospital. Now she knew how Rainbow felt those last few times she visited Sonic's world. The thing is, she felt kind of embarrassed, mainly at how her incursion turned out. It was just…she didn't even know how to say it. She thought her magical abilities would be more than enough to take on that Chaos creature. She never felt so overpowered before then. She had to admit, she doubted some of the power those Chaos Emeralds had, but now—
"A dinner table is meant for eating Twi!" Rainbow exclaimed, not taking her eyes off Applejack. "Not for reading some silly book!"
Twilight looked at her with a wrinkled nose. "It's documentation on space-time! You know, the thing you've been doing for past few weeks! And last I checked, it also wasn't for hosting belching competitions!"
"TWO PIES ON RAINBOW DASH!" Pinkie shouted again.
"I…thought we ate all the pies already…" Flutters muttered again.
"Can we get in on this action?" said a voice at the end of the table. The group wondered their eyes to see the CMC propped up on the table, Scootaloo at the forefront with wide, innocent grin. She tried to make her grin only grow wider, only finding it hard when under the still irritated glares of everypony. She only kept giving them the toothy grin, all while Sweetie and Applebloom gave their own in support.
They were about to speak up, only for three dirt brooms to float into their view. They fell back slightly at them, now seeing they were coated in a lovely light blue magic.
Sweetie immediately turned to the culprit, her own glare tightening as she stared down her sister. Unlike her, however, Rarity only looked at the three with a gleeful smile. She just picked the three up with her magic before placing them down with brooms in hooves.
"Now now, chop chop," Rarity piped. "This dusty old barn won't clean itself."
"Dusty?" Applejack questioned.
"Only a smidgen dear."
"But Rarity," Sweetie whined. "We want some pie too."
"You and your friends should've thought of that before you shot yourselves over half of Ponyville," Rarity scolded.
"Aww come one," Scootaloo begged. "It was only over Sweet Apple Acres."
"And that makes it better?!"
"I think it was pretty sweet," Rainbow butted in.
"Of course you would, dearie," Rarity said in a sarcastic tone. She quickly just brushed the CMC further into the barn with her magic, silently sending them to work. This elicited groans from all three of the fillies, each one dragging their brooms to different corners of the room.
"Don't you think the whole barn is a bit harsh?" somepony questioned to her.
Following the voice, she looked to Silver and Blaze, who had been sitting away from the rest of the group on their own, but both of them with their own plates and slices of pie.
Rarity just sighed and sat herself at their smaller, but cozier table. "I'm sorry for assuming dears, but you can't tell me what they did wasn't completely irresponsible. They shot themselves out of a cannon just to land in the middle of an apple orchard! By the by, thank you again, Silver. I'd like to think we all owe you a debt."
"I just did what anyone would've done, heh," he nervously laughed.
"At least they seem energetic," Blaze joked. "You'd think they all learned from Rainbow Dash."
The three looked back to the bigger table, seeing Rainbow and Applejack continuing on with their little…competition, for lack of a better word. Twilight was just trying to block out the repulsive noise with her book, while Pinkie seemed to have amassed quite the gathering of apple pies from who knows where, all to Fluttershy's great confusion.
"Believe me, that's the last thing I want, especially for little Sweetie Belle. She's too innocent for her to be influencing her. Although, I suppose Scootaloo also has a part in that sadly."
"Speaking of which," Blaze inquired, "I picked up on a couple of things listening in. It's not hard to see that Sweetie is your sister. You two fit each other quite well. And just going off the accents, I'd have to guess that the named Applebloom is Applejack's sister."
"Fits like a dress darling."
"Well then, that would only leave Scootaloo," Blaze stated. "Is she Rainbow Dash's sister? Aside from looks, they resemble each other fairly well."
"Oh no," Rarity responded. "I assure you they aren't related. Although, it wouldn't at all surprise me to find out they're secretly siblings in some way," she sighed.
"Well you guys are all here, but where's her family at?" Silver asked, a bite of apple pie in his mouth as he questioned her.
"I'm…huh…" Rarity stopped. "I'm…not too sure in truth darling. I personally haven't met them. But don't fret. It's not like she doesn't have a home. I'm certain they just don't get out of much as the rest of us."
Blaze nodded in slight amusement. "Well no matter who she belongs to, it's not hard to see she's been influenced by Rainbow Dash in many ways."
"That reminds me," Rarity inquired, "I remember you telling us that you were influenced by Sonic himself when we first met. Pray tell, what happened between you two. Is it just a friendship or…is it something more?"
In that instant, both Blaze and Silver nearly dropped their platters, a light blush gracing Blaze's face while Silver just groaned and did his best to not look at either of them.
"T-that's…n-no it was nothing like that," Blaze stated firmly, doing her best to regain her composure. "Maybe a slight admiration," she cleared her throat, "but nothing more."
She couldn't help but peer over at Silver just across from her, the grey-haired hedgehog not looking at either of them. However, it wasn't hard to notice the blush across his cheek. That, and if her feline ears weren't deceiving her, she caught on to what sounded like him letting out a quiet aggravating groan.
Seconds later, the hedgehog turned right around, his eyes closed in annoyance as he spoke up. "Speaking of Sonic," he said in a tone as if he was trying to change the subject, "I'm still wracking my brain to figure who this Zayn guy is. You've never heard of him, have you Blaze?"
Blaze, her normal serious composure returned, responded. "No, I haven't. The thing is, it's what he said to Rainbow Dash that has me more confused than anything."
She sets down her plate. "He said that Sonic—no, anyone from that world wouldn't remember who he was. Just what does he mean by that, and if it's true, what does he want out of all this."
"If I may dear," Rarity stepped in, "he didn't quite sound like he was…all up there, forgive the choice of words. Does even he know what he's looking for?"
"I'll admit," Silver spoke up, "he did sound pretty out there, but no. Crazy or not, he definitely knew what he was doing, and he was doing it all with a purpose, but for what? Plus, I don't if either of you caught on to it, but you saw it, right? Chaos control…"
"Yes, we saw it too," Blaze puzzled, crossing her arms.
"That's what you've always done with your emerald, correct?" Rarity wondered. "But if this ruffian can use it too, then what does that mean?"
"I'm not sure," Silver conceded. "There's only one other hedgehog I know that can use some form of chaos control without an emerald. I doubt it has anything to do with him though. This is something else, and I think there's something else going on here that we're just seeing."
He leans back in his wooden chair, scrunching up his face in deep thought. He sighs. "Man, this is just so confusing. What I wouldn't give for him to be able to help out with this…"
"You mean the other hedgehog dear?" Rarity raised an eyebrow. "This isn't Sonic we're speaking of is it?"
"No, this guy is a bit…a lot different than Sonic," Silver corrected. "His name is Sh—"
Silver instantly jumped, a jolt shooting through his body as he threw himself from the chair, surprising everyone in the barn with his antics.
"Silver?!" Blaze jumped up as well, already knowing where this was going.
"What's wrong?" Twilight hastily questioned.
Without a response, he pulled out his blue Sol Emerald, the shimmering gem flashing in his hand, all the worst signals being sent through his body.
"It's happening again!" he shouted.
"Huh?! What is?!" Rainbow flew over.
"The Time Gate is reacting with my Sol Emerald," he stated, nervous sweat falling down his brow. "That means another timeline is being tampered with!"
Audible gasps were heard throughout the room, the only ones not reacting to the new information properly being the three little fillies that stopped cleaning to see what the problem was.
"A time…line?" Scootaloo questioned, not quite sure what was going on with their strange visitors.
"Applejack?" Applebloom looked to her old sister, confused as to the look of worry on her face.
Her sister instantly just scrambled up to her, gently shooing the three away. "Nothin' at all Bloom," she said hastily. "The barn looks mighty fine girls. I think the house needs touchin' up too. Yawl should head on over an' get a head start."
"But why? We wanna see what yall are doing."
"Yeah," Sweetie protested, being shoved out with the other two. "And what's with that pretty gem?"
"Adult pony business," Applejack affirmed, pushing the right outside. "Now, out." With that, she pulled out her lasso and flung it around the handle to the barn door, pulling right over and slamming it shut in their faces. She pulled the lasso back off the handle and swung it over to a nearby hook, the rope hooking neatly on it as she made her way back to the group.
"Alright," she stated. "Now in Celestia's name is happenin' now?"
"I'm not sure," the hedgehog responded. "This emerald is linked to the ones back at the shrine, so it would let me know when something was changing in the flow of time. Whatever it's sensing, I can't help but think Zayn is right at the center of it all."
Rainbow's face hardened at the mention of his name. Zayn. This guy just left her with more questions than answers upon their first meeting. Not only that, but he was nothing like what they've faced before. If only she could've pointed him out to Sonic when he was in the super thingy he used against Chaos. She may not have completely suppressed her pride for the blue blur, but…she couldn't help but have a strong sense of admiration for him since what he did for her, which was rare for her. But, that only made her drive to protect his home stronger than it was before.
This look didn't go unnoticed by Twilight. "You alright Rainbow?"
"Yeah," her friend responded immediately. "But I can't say I'm not looking forward to a little payback against this guy."
"This isn't anything like what you had against Sonic before, is it?" the purple unicorn questioned, a bit worried more than anything, as they didn't need a repeat of any of that.
"Not at all Twi," she answered genuinely. "Yeah, this guy made pony feathers out of me, but right now, saving Sonic's world is my top priority. Besides, if I save it, he loses anyway, right?"
"Sorry to cut this short, but we need to be going," Silver rushed them, him and Blaze already getting into position. "We need to see exactly what may change due to the disturbances."
"Got it!" Rainbow flew over. "Come on slowpokes! The pinhead isn't gonna save himself!"
No one argued to that point, Twilight partially just dropping her original concern for the time being and joined the others in the circle, just focused on getting to Sol as quick as possible.
"Blaze," Silver called.
"On it," she responded, already going through the hand motions and placing her feet together. "Scepter of the ancients, relic of space and time, let us bridge the worlds once again. Let us return home!"
The blue flames were already beginning to engulf the group, although, to everyone's surprise, the hay at its base was untouched. Applejack was personally thankful for this, as she didn't need to deal with the family barn being burned to the ground.
With the flames surrounding them, Silver raised his Sol Emerald high. "Chaos control!" he shouted, the gem shining brightly as the light obscured them all from the world.
Seconds later, the flames vanished, the light from the emerald dimmed in an instant as they all warped away. This left the barn completely silent; leftover food just left to whatever would claim it while they were gone. The only thing that went untouched by any of them being the two pies Pinkie had pulled out for the 'competition.'
Both of them were perfect targets for any vermin that may have been around, as nopony could really stop them if any tried. Well…one may think that.
"Hmm," inquired a soft, cool voice, both pies suddenly growing toothy mouths. "Chaos control is it?" said both pies simultaneously.
In a strange display, the crust and innards of the of the apple pies flew out of their tins. The pieces all quickly spiraled and formed one singular mass. The mass rapidly elongated, growing arms, legs and even a head until it all formed a single but disfigured body. The new figure had a snake-like body covered in fur with a scaly tail. All of its limbs resembled different animals; its legs being that of a lizard and a pony hoof and its arms being that of a talon and a lion's paw. Its head was that of a goat, only with two very different horns, one of an actual goat an the other of a deer. It had a mischievous grin accompanied by beady yellow and red eyes.
"It already sounds delicious," it mused. "Oh, how I wish I were able to be a part of it. Well, I may have to request to…umm, borrow a certain something when our little friends return. After all, what harm could it do?"
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"He said that Sonic—no, anyone from that world wouldn't remember who he was."
...It's Mephiles, isn't it? I've been pretty suspicious about it for a while...
9554568
That's a very good guess. But, as much as I love Mephiles as a character, it is not him. As I've said in the past, Zayn is not a past villain directly, but is somehow related to one.
I love the dynamic between them at the table. Pretty nice!