Broken Mirror

by GMBlackjack

XIX - Destiny's Defiler

>>Sometimes the most important details get glossed over. They scream importance, framed in special attention-drawing sigils, but the people around these things pay them little attention - if any at all. They dismiss the fine points as mundane, unimportant, weird, or perhaps just something they are not able to fully understand. They may feel the significance for a moment, but then it is gone and they don't mention it further.

Why do they do that?

Why is there such ignorance?

Perhaps they don't have a choice. They don't have insight, they can't see the entire picture, for they still think about these events in their own limited frame. They have a self-created view of limited existence. Maybe, if they could bring themselves to look at the full picture, to see beyond beginnings and endings...

Well, perhaps only then can the small details be appreciated by those involved with them. Or perhaps such details are doomed to be left collecting dust to the ire of certain individuals.

...I sense you are a little frustrated with me right now.<<

~~~

"Well what?" the Inspector pushed - both vocally and physically.

Zecora squirmed against the wall of her hut, knocking a few of her trinkets over. "Well, you see, all zebras have a hatred of-"

"She's trying to pull the blinds over our eyes," the Inspector interrupted, pocketing one of the little skulls absent-mindedly. "Somepony go get Twilight."

"I'll do it," Minuette said, galloping out, sighing as she did so.

"Now..." Applejack said, raising her hoof menacingly. "You can tell us now, or have Twilight rip it from you in about five minutes. Usually, she's careful about not tearing your consciousness to shreds but Ah'm pretty sure Ah could convince her otherwise, considerin'."

"She'll get it," the Inspector emphasized, "no matter what sort of enchantments or charms you have on you. So answer now - what were you offering in exchange for your life?"

"It has somethin' to do with that AN doesn't it?" Applejack asked.

Zecora shivered. "All I wanted was to live out my days in peace..."

Rainbow Dash glanced at her but said nothing.

Zecora took a breath. "It... His name was Anubis, a zebra loner I met at Zurduk. He was connected to the darkness within us in a way all other zebras weren't. He understood what we were, and why. By chance, I was selected to be one of the handful of zebras he would... need."

"For what?"

"To return Equestria to what it once was. He - we - were devoted to releasing the Nightmare Fuel from the Concretion and spread it back all over the land."

Applejack paled. "T-the earths won't survive another round of that..."

The Inspector nodded slowly. "So, let me get this straight Zecora. This Anubis and a small tribe of his zebra followers, yourself included, wanted to unleash the Nightmare Fuel on the world again?"

"Yes."

"Why in Tartarus!? Do you even read your history books? Have you looked around at the shadow jungle your kind live in? Horrid creatures of darkness that prey on zebras regularly and brutalize whatever they can find! That's because of the Nightmare Fuel! Why would you want to bring it back!?"

"I don't know. It didn't make any sense to me either once Starlight removed my corruption. We just... knew we had to do what he said the moment Anubis said so. It just felt... right."

"How did he plan to unleash it?"

"He told us that there was a magic artifact called the Tree of Harmony buried deep in the center of the Concretion, spending all its power to keep the Nightmare Fuel sealed where it is. He told us if we could destroy that Tree, we would unleash it in one act."

"He was crazy," Applejack said, "no way the Concretes would allow magic in their city."

"They can't destroy the Tree, it's too powerful."

"How'd he plan to destroy it then?"

"He said there was an artifact somewhere in Equestria - the Element of Magic - that had the power within it. We spent many years scouring the land for it. We never found it."

The Inspector raised an eyebrow. "Then why should we be concerned?"

"Because he told me, just before I set out for this place, that he had found another way. A way to drain magic from the Tree over time until it was gone. He said he had plans to give this to the Concretes, so they could destroy the Tree themselves. I... I've been sitting here in this time field, praying that I grow old and die before it is destroyed."

"Does Starlight know about this," Rainbow Dash asked, venomously.

"Some," Zecora said. "She... doesn't know anything beyond the Element of Magic plan. I've convinced her there's no real threat, and that she can stay here and not worry. She... was enraged about the journal."

"Understandable," the Inspector said. "We will have to bring the full story to her attention. We cannot let this stand."

Rainbow Dash's eye twitched. "Wait. Wait. You want to leave now!?"

"We must inform the princesses of the threat," the Inspector said. "Starlight will just have to accept that."

"Let's ask Fluttershy first..." Applejack cautioned. "This is a bit much to process all at once. Nightmare Fuel coming back... That's... That's the worst thing possible."

"I just... Why?" Rainbow Dash blurted, looking at Zecora. "Why?"

"Because Anubis said so," Zecora answered.

"Not about that! Why- Why did you attack? Why did you take my wing?! You don't seem like... Why?"

"I was a different mare."

"Buck that!"

The Inspector put a hoof on Rainbow Dash. "She's right, Rainbow. It's the corruption. Like it makes the Concretes drained and narrow-minded, it makes the zebras aggressive and malevolent."

"How though!? They don't live on top of the Nightmare Fuel do they!?"

"We worship it," Zecora said. "To us, the malevolence is holy, above all else - a gift from our god. We know if we just left it alone, the corruption would fade over time. So we encourage it to thrive on purpose, infusing our jungles with the dark magics bestowed to us. There's a reason the jungles are filled with monsters. We... Cultivate them."

"That's... That's messed up," Rainbow Dash said.

"it's self-gratifying," the Inspector observed. "The corruption makes them like the corruption, so they give themselves more and more corruption, making them like it more and more..."

"We should be worried about this," Applejack said. "The Concretes are just one city. The entire southern jungle is filled with these... corrupted things."

"...Perhaps," the Inspector admitted. "It is curious that we don't think about the zebras much.."

"I still want to know," Rainbow Dash said. "Why? Why did you try to kill me that day, as your corrupted self?"

"You were annoying," Zecora deadpanned.

"...What?"

"You were annoying. That is the only thing I remember about you. You were just one of many dozens I attacked in that town. Most of the others just died. In the end, there really was no reason, I did it because I could. Like almost all zebras would have."

Rainbow Dash slunk back.

"Rainbow... You knew this," the Inspector said.

"It's different hearing it from her," Rainbow Dash gulped. "I... I need..." She shook her head. "We need to get out of here."

In that moment, Twilight teleported into the room, Fluttershy and Minuette flanking her. Minuette was biting her lip hard enough to draw blood.

The Inspector pointed at Zecora. Twilight didn't even need the gesture. She launched right into what she needed to do, placing a hoof on the zebra's forehead and digging into her mind. Zecora squirmed at the feeling, but it was painless.

Twilight stepped back a few seconds later. "Amplify was with them."

"What in tarnation does leading those violent earths have to do with destroying the Tree?" Applejack asked.

"Zecora doesn't know. I'm not sure it did anyway," Twilight said. "But he was there. His rise to power happened shortly after Zecora left... But that's not important right now. He's dead - gone with Neighagra Falls. What matters is that Zecora's right - Anubis is trying to bring back the Nightmare Fuel. I saw him, speaking with his religious fervor in her mind... He knew a lot of things there was no way for him to know."

"Such as?" Fluttershy asked.

"Mostly things about the Concretion. He knew about the Square-Circle Project long before we did."

Fluttershy's eyes widened. "That... That is impossible."

"Project Square Circle?" Minuette asked.

"A genetic engineering project of some kind," Twilight answered. "It was supposed to create 'different' Concretes. It's secret even to most Concretes."

"...Your source must be in deep."

"Yes, she is." Twilight shook her head. "She's also voiced suspicions to us that there is magic in the Concretion, though she has no proof."

"So... This is real? He's a real threat?" Applejack asked.

"Definitely," Twilight nodded. Then she frowned. "I just remembered - Pinkie and Rarity mentioned the Tree of Harmony and the Elements of Harmony before. They'll probably be able to tell us more." She moved to leave, but stopped herself, turning back to Zecora.

"You are a coward."

"Y-yes. I've learned to live with that," Zecora responded.

"You know, long ago the five of us agreed to kill you on sight."

"...I didn't know that."

Twilight frowned. "I was considering it, just now. But then I saw your mind. Your life. The horrors. You're absolutely pathetic, you know what? Not even worth our attention." She trotted out the door. "Come on girls, we have better things to do than waste our time on a mare who's waiting to die."

The door slammed shut. Zecora was left all alone in her hut. she sat still, staring blankly at the door.

She was alive.

She let herself laugh - a laugh of a lunatic. she curled her front legs around her lower knees and started rocking back and forth.

Alive.

Alive.

Alive.

What did that even mean?

~~~

Starlight left her home, walking out into the false sunlight of her little secret. She could hear ponies talking, the buzz of bugs in the breeze, and the rustle of leaves. The wind was fake of course, but it was still soothing. She was overcome with a feeling of everything being... perfect.

Instantly she was suspicious. Perfect days just asked for somepony to come along and ruin them.

"Hi Starlight!" Pinkie yelled.

Starlight turned to her left, seeing Rarity and Pinkie walk up to her. "Ah, nice to see you two!"

"Yes well..." Rarity looked around nervously. "...Can we talk here?"

Starlight rolled her eyes. "Relax Rarity, I know we have a secret, but you don't have to be paranoid about it. What do you want to know?"

"Wanted to know if you were doing any active tests yet," Rarity asked.

"My Pinkie sense has been going off all day," Pinkie said. "I don't know why! None of the patterns are familiar!"

"You felt that? Impressive," Starlight adjusted her glasses. "Yes, actually, we have begun tests. We isolated your magic signature and began small-scale exposure to magic. No major results - besides, I suppose, the long-range reaction you had, but we already knew that was possible."

"Oh, okay, I was getting worried," Pinkie giggled. "I even got a doozy on the way here!"

Starlight raised an eyebrow. "...Testing was stopped half an hour ago."

"It's not like we should expect it to make sense, Starlight dear," Rarity said. "We should not assume anything is impossible."

"I'm aware."

"So what have you found out?" Pinkie wondered.

"Well, you actually have two different magics within you that are so closely intertwined I don't think I could separate them if I tried. One is just an extremely high level of earth pony magic."

"Connection to the earth?" Rarity asked.

"No, well, yes. Er... it's complicated." Starlight thought for a minute. "Earth ponies are normally connected to the world, the ground they stand on, substance. Usually, this manifests as enhanced strength, durability, and subtle manipulation of soil and rocks. What Pinkie has is this 'connection' to substance turned up to eleven. She transcends the normal boundaries of earth pony magic, moving from things like rocks and plants to the laws of physics themselves. To her, things like gravity, elasticity, space, distance - they are mere suggestions. Pinkie, if you were fully in tune with your powers and applied yourself, I'm not sure there'd be any such thing as an impossible feat for you."

Pinkie and Rarity stared at her, slackjawed.

"Well, there may be a limit, we're not done testing, but if there is a limit to your power it's really high up there."

"That's so cool! I can do literally anything!" Pinkie whooped.

'Well, you could. Your magic was damaged by your short time in the Concretion and your exposure to the Nightmare Fuel. I'm looking into restoring what was lost, but that could be dangerous. Still, though, your power is far beyond what you even know, or have tried." She looked into Pinkie's somehow still innocent eyes. "You could make a portal home yourself, I am sure."

Rarity gasped. "You mean..."

"The power was within me all along!" Pinkie said, raising her hoof. "Portal, go!"

The air in front of her hoof exploded in confetti, but there was no portal.

"Well, pure belief isn't the answer," Starlight observed. "I think you'll just have to practice a large amount."

"Starlight, you mentioned a... second magic?" Rarity asked.

"Right... That's the one we don't understand. We detect a second signature, tied to reality like the first magic, but differently. it acts without stimuli and with a very confusing pattern. It surged at seemingly random times - when we made a breakthrough on our theory, when I stubbed my hoof, when that house caught fire yesterday. It just seems to like things that happen - as fi it was connected to them in some way. I have no idea what it actually does."

"Weeeeeeird," Pinkie said. "Is it my Pinkie Sense?"

"Maybe? We really don't have data on it, we can't seem to make it reveal itself at all, as if it knows we're watching it. You know the worst part?"

"What?"

"I've seen it before. In myself."

Rarity blinked. "Really? I mean, you're a powerful unicorn, but nothing all that, you know, unusual."

"That's the part of my magic I understand, Rarity. I'm talking about another part - a part that surges at different times than Pinkie's. While hers is related to events happening, mine seems more keyed to when things seem like they should happen - and don't. It's just... I just don't know, it doesn't make sense. I thought I was unique, and then I found that this unusual secondary magic exists in another mare. It's something I really want to figure out."

"Well... We wish you luck with that," Rarity said.

"Yeah!" Pinkie added. "I'm still like 'ohmygosh we actually understand some stuff about me now and it's awesome'!"

"I sure hope so. Try experimenting, see what you can do." She looked up, getting that 'perfect day' feeling again. "Oh, hello Twilight!"

Twilight had her goggles on, obscuring her eyes. Fluttershy and Minuette were at her side; Applejack, the Inspector, and Rainbow Dash were further back. Twilight glanced at Fluttershy. "Hello Starlight. Pinkie, Rarity! We were wondering if you could tell us about the Tree of Harmony. We got to talking about it and realized we never knew that much about it."

"Oh," Rarity said, pursing her lips. "It's the guardian spirit of Equis, a crystal Tree of unknown origin that watches over everypony, promoting harmony and magic. Ours is in the Everfree Forest, and was the source of our Elements of harmony, and Twilight's castle." She pointed at the crystal castle a short ways off. "It's the reason most of us are where we are."

Starlight furrowed her brow, contemplating something deeply. Twilight nodded, continuing on. "And what are the Elements' relation to the Tree?"

Rarity blinked. "Well, Celestia and Luna extracted them from the Tree of Harmony to defeat Discord, and they were later used to banish Luna to the Moon..." Twilight's face contorted slightly at this piece of information. "We had to return them to the Tree in our time because it was weak without them. I'm sorry, is something wrong? What is this about?"

Fluttershy turned to Starlight. "We talked to Zecora."

"...Bootstrap," Starlight swore.

"She didn't tell you everything," Twilight said. "She left out a lot of incriminating information. Mainly, the fact that Anubis had a plan to release the Nightmare Fuel that didn't need the Element of Magic. He found another way, Starlight. Zecora was just hoping she'd grow old and die here, never having to worry about the consequences of her past."

Rarity blinked. "I'm sorry, what!?"

"We discovered a zebra plot to unleash the Nightmare Fuel on the whole of Equestria," Applejack explained. "And we're gonna stop it."

"No, you're not," Starlight said. "You can't leave."

"Did you not hear her!?" Rainbow Dash yelled. "Nightmare Fuel! Equestria! An ancient evil bent on darkness and corruption! How can you just stand by?"

"Because my loyalty is here," Starlight said. "I'm not going to waste my time saving a world that doesn't deserve it! I'm not going to risk my life and the lives of the ponies here just to save a bunch of horrid, misguided, corrupted accas!"

"There are thousands of ponies in my Society," Fluttershy said. "They are all decent ponies. There are thousands more who silently think things are wrong. Are they the horrid, misguided, corrupted accas you want to damn?"

"And do you really think this place is safe from the Nightmare Fuel?" the Inspector asked.

"I'm working on a possible alternative. A way to make everypony here safe forever."

"What!?" Rainbow Dash spat.

Starlight glanced at Pinkie. She nodded, expression confused. "...I've been experimenting with Pinkie's magic in an attempt to connect to the Otherworld. I can move everyone here to there."

There were collective gasps from the six ponies who didn't know about this.

"Oh, so you'd let them go home but not us!?" Rainbow Dash shouted, livid.

"You know it's different!" Starlight retorted. "It's safe there!"

"You'd just leave everyone in this world behind, wouldn't you? Leave everypony to rot!"

"It's already rotting and there's not a damn thing any of us can do to stop it!" Starlight screamed. "You tried! You all tried! And you failed miserably!"

"We brought attention to it," Fluttershy said. "We started a stone rolling."

"A stone heading towards an uphill slope!"

"It's better than running away when there's something you can do!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

"What are you going to do? You're exiles! You've been cast out! Who'll listen to you? And even if you get the princesses on board and invested, what can you do? The Tree is in the Concretion. How are you going to get in? How are you going to find their best kept secret? How are you going to save it?!"

"Shut the buck up!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "We don't need a plan to know it has to be done, bucker! The world may suck, and maybe we can't make it better, but we can keep it from getting worse!"

"You'll die!"

"So be it!"

"You stubborn litte..."

"No, you're stubborn, runter!"

Starlight's expression glazed over, a dark look overcoming her eyes. "What did you just-"

"STOP IT!" Rarity yelled. "Stop this fighting! We're friends! We've shared a lot of moments together! We've lived together for months! Please - just stop it!"

A spark appeared in Starlight's dark eyes. "...Good idea."

Everything stopped dead in its tracks - the wind stopped blowing, leaves stopped rustling, and hearts stopped beating. Everything froze.

"I'm... sorry," Starlight said, walking up to the frozen Fluttershy. "I can't... I can't do this."

"Why not?"

Starlight whirled around. There stood a decidedly not frozen Pinkie Pie, munching on a cupcake. Starlight blinked. "How are you..."

"I took the spell as a suggestion."

"...Of course," she sighed. "I don't know Pinkie. I can't let them leave. They'll probably have to mention where they got the information and that means revealing this place... And that's the last thing that I want to happen. But..."

"Buuuut they are making sense."

"Yeah. They are." She frowned. "I spent most of my life not thinking about the outside world in any serious manner. It was a place of danger I needn't have concerned myself with. Unimportant. And they are crazy. They're doomed to destroy themselves or just continue on the doomed path they are already on. Things out there will only get worse - never better. Why delay the inevitable?"

"Because... life is beautiful?"

Starlight's ears perked up. She was only mildly surprised to see that Twilight had broken herself free from the spell. "Is it Twilight? Is it really?"

"Look around-"

"Out there, Twilight. Purges. Death. Racism. Almost nopony is happy. Those that are have it ruined by fear. And-"

"You... haven't been out in so, so long. We were happy out there. Our lives were constantly in danger and we lived with peril - but we were happy."

"I was happy out there as well! At times!" Pinkie offered.

"See? She found happiness." Twilight paused. "I don't pretend to be an expert on... well, anything, or even to have any idea what happened to you, Starlight. But... Rainbow was right. At the very least, we've got to keep it from getting worse. Delay the 'inevitable' so there can be more life. Ponies we care about are out there, living their lives as best they can."

Starlight was silent.

"Starlight, let my ponies go. We can't stay here anymore. You could even come with us, see the world and experience it for yourself." She extended a hoof. "What do you say?"

Starlight looked at Twilight, expression unreadable. She slowly lifted her hoof up to Twilight's. It hung in the air for a moment.

Pinkie whimpered.

"No," Starlight said, retracting the hoof quickly.

"N-no?" Twilight stammered, flabbergasted. "B-but-"

"I SAID NO!" Starlight screamed, lighting her horn and firing a beam of magic into Twilight's chest, sending the alicorn flying. "This is the life I carved out and I'm not about to leave it!"

"We are!" Twilight yelled, firing her own laser back - only to find it traveling back through time towards her, tossing her even further away in the paused world. Starlight accelerated her own timestream, firing off twenty bolts of energy in the time it normally took to cast one. Twilight closed her eyes, preparing for impact - an impact that never came.

Pinkie was holding a mirror shield that had reflected all the attacks back at Starlight. "Pinkie and Twilight versus Starlight - go!" Pinkie announced, the joking tone in her voice strained.

In Starlight's accelerated state, she had no trouble dodging the lasers, and shot twenty more - this time in a pattern that surrounded Twilight. Twilight flew into the air to dodge. She shot a dispel towards Starlight, ending her accelerated speed.

Starlight growled. "You..."

"Learn fast." Twilight cast the acceleration spell on herself, bombarding Starlight with crystallization beams that she blocked with magic shields. Pinkie leaped in, bapping Starlight across the head with a squeaky hammer. Starlight stumbled over to the side, where Twilight's magic-enhanced hoof was waiting, sending the unicorn flying into a tree.

Starlight teleported into the sky, accelerating herself again and casting slowing spells on Twilight and Pinkie - which were resisted by Twilight and had absolutely no effect on Pinkie.

"I hate magic resistance," Starlight muttered.

Pinkie shook her head. "Look, Starlight, you can't win-"

"Oh. Yes. I. Can." Starlight pressed her hooves together. "My power is surging."

"...What?" Twilight said.

"TWILIGHT LOOK OU-" Pinkie began, but was too late. The earth beneath Twilight opened up and swallowed her. It then erupted, spewing the alicorn out with dozens of earth chunks. Starlight slammed her into the ground again with her hooves, uprooting a fair amount of grass with the impact. Twilight roared, teleporting away and surrounding Starlight in a bubble.

Starlight blew up the bubble, driving herself into the air, smashing Twilight downwards again. Pinkie caught Twilight, setting her down gently. She then pulled out a flamethrower, filling the sky with pink flames.

Starlight teleported behind Pinkie - mane singed, but otherwise unharmed. She pulled Pinkie away, throwing her over her shoulder. She then leaped towards Twilight, only to get a magical blast to the face. Twilight flew into the air, readying a larger spell.

Pinkie appeared again, swinging a diamond-tipped hammer at Starlight from behind. Starlight melted the hammer with a thought and tossed Pinkie away again, the pink pony landing painfully on her back.

Twilight unleashed her devastating ship-destroying spell - vaporizing the ground around Starlight. The unicorn herself used her magic shielding to protect herself. With a charred mane, sparkling horn, and angry face Starlight flew into the air. She crashed into Twilight horn-first. Twilight screamed as the bony spire impaled her chest, cracking ribs. The two fell to the ground.

Starlight stood up, blood dripping down her horn, over her face, and into her eyes. Twilight managed to crane her neck to look up at Starlight. Her goggles had fallen off her face, revealing her own sad eyes. "Okay... So maybe you can win... You have the power..." She coughed, some blood coming up from deep inside her. "But you will have to kill me to do it. I didn't think anyone could - I seemed to be really lucky. But..." She coughed again, the noise saying all that needed to be said.

Starlight twitched, creating a gigantic stake made of her magic, angling it right at Twilight's face. Twilight stared up at it, unblinking. She didn't even try to stop it. The stake shook, moving in. Starlight shivered and closed her eyes tightly. She grunted in pain.

Then the stake vanished. Her horn stopped glowing and she started crying. "I... can't do it... I'm weak... You... You... Why..."

"You aren't weak," Twilight said, letting out a sigh of relief and healing herself with a quick spell. She brought Starlight into a hug. "You're a very, very strong mare."

Pinkie put the sword she'd had less than an inch from Starlight's neck away. Then she joined in on the hug.

The world slowly began to return to normal speed.

"...What the buck happened?" Minuette asked.

Twilight looked at her, smiling as she put her goggles back on her forehead. "We... resolved our differences."

~~~

"Since I can't stop you, I'm going to help you," Starlight said, leading the mares into her house. "I'm coming with."

"What!?" Rainbow Dash yelled.

Starlight rolled her eyes, leading them to the elevator. "You could use me. And I want to do my best to protect this place - so I'll watch you and what you say, protecting what I can. and I think I have something that can get you into Canterlot."

Pinkie gasped. "No... You don't mean..."

"I might."

"This is a really tight squeeze..." Applejack said, stuffing herself into the elevator. It began to descend.

"It's maximum occupancy is six," Starlight said.

"That's reassuring."

The elevator came to the bottom, and Minuette yelped in fear first. "T-Technology!?"

Applejack shivered. "This is... Well, it's not a surprise, but still..."

Rainbow Dash threw her hooves wide. "The buck? Are you like some kind of Concrete unicorn!?"

"Dash, calm," Twilight said. "She's helping us."

"But-"

"Calm down," Rarity said. "There's nothing evil down here."

Foci walked past them. "Hi."

"...Was that a Concrete?" Twilight said, looking pensive for the first time.

"Yes," Starlight said. "He's had his violence removed though. Dedicated only to 'progress' now."

Twilight nodded - she understood this. "Oh. Right."

Fluttershy nodded. "I've seen others like him before."

"Created them, you mean?" Starlight asked.

Twilight drooped. "...Yes."

"As much as I've learned from Foci, I still doubt if 'releasing' him from the darkness was the right choice... So I know what it's like. Regardless, here's my offer of aid." She gestured towards the center of the lab. "The Starshell."

"...How is a big Concrete drone going to help us?" the Inspector asked.

"We're going to ride it," Starlight said.

"Ohmygosh it is ready!" Pinkie cheered.

"Yes. Yes it is."

"I'm still not sure this is a good idea..." Rainbow Dash said. "It's technology."

"Rainbow..." Starlight said. "Look at me. You know me. Am I an evil, Concrete mastermind? Am I corrupted beyond measure by my tinkering? Has technology ruined me?"

"You are pretty organized, and that's freaky."

Starlight rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Rainbow Dash."

"...I suppose not."

"Then maybe, just maybe, trust me on this one, okay?"

Rainbow Dash sighed. She looked at Starlight and forced a smile. "Okay."

"Good. All aboard!"

The Inspector blinked. "How are we all going to fit in that thing? It's bigger than normal, yes, but it can't fit all nine of us! I don't even see a hatch!"

"Foci, answer her question," Starlight said playfully.

Foci pressed a button. A cylindrical rod shot out of the side of the Starshell, bathing the nine mares with pink-blue light, making all of them vanish.

Foci turned to the computer screen, pressing some buttons in rapid succession. The Starshell roared to life, the circuitry brimming with a stripey blue-pink color pattern. It floated into the air...

Comments

[Cutie Honey]

Well, they're definitely "in it" now.

[Keywii_Cookies55]

Look, intro guy, I get it, nobody commented on your cameo in the last chapter, that doesn't mean we didn't notice. Not everything has to revolve around you, XD

[My name is R]

It just seems to like things that happen - as fi it was connected to them in some way.
if