Chapter Fifteen: Casting Shade
Fillydelphia Train station - 6:02 PM
Haunting. Sometimes it was all she could think about when she looked at Meadow. The laugh. The flicker of violet in her eyes.
The knowing smile.
Tempest shuddered seeing it clear as day, the memory still fresh in her mind. If she could have caught Meadow alone for a while, grilled her with a bunch of questions—or if she could’ve appealed to Maelstrom to let her go… Unfortunately nothing like that had been an option. They had been keeping up a frantic pace, leaving the rest of the day a blur.
Was that Maelstrom’s intent?
After Meadow gave that disturbing chuckle, Flim and Flam’s ponies had needed constant supervision. That, and Flam’s horn had been a mess. Tempest had to rack her brains to recall and then perform a medical mending spell, but the experience had left her feeling rather weak in the knees. Not because the power drain had been so much, but because she still couldn’t stand the sight of blood.
That being said, the twins were far more cooperative after Tempest had completed the spell and finished her fabrication of a pain numbing amulet. She wasn’t sure it would work, having never tried to make one before, so she was greatly relieved when it was apparent that Flam had been given a respite from the pain.
She figured it would only be a matter of time before the twins found a way to reverse engineer the thing, and then basically put the analgesic medication market out of business; no more OxyColtin.
But then, after taking care of Flam, they suddenly found they had the unforeseen responsibility of training all of the new recruits to their cause. Instead of addressing her anxieties about Meadow’s new occupant, Tempest had been busy demonstrating techniques and setting up systems, massaging the process until she got everypony up to speed.
She had never had such an attentive group to teach before… though their semi-vacant looks had been somewhat disturbing.
Once they had finally been able to take their leave, Meadow had been insistent on Tempest crafting a teleportation amulet for her. She had been emphatic on how it would allow her to contribute better to the mission. Never mind the fact that an amulet capable of teleportation was fraught with risks. An unknowing pony could maim or kill themself if they weren’t careful, as teleportation of any sort was foolish without safety training,
The thing was, that was of no concern to Meadow. She seemed to pick up teleportation like a prodigy, and demonstrated the ability within minutes. Already she was teleporting with precision and finesse.
“I think he’s following us.”
Startled out of her musings, Tempest gave Meadow a quizzical look. The mare was looking straight ahead as if she’d said nothing at all, her two amulets bouncing against her neck.
Once again, Tempest was struck by Meadow’s cool confidence.
No. Not Meadow. Maelstrom. And this should not be allowed to stand. Maybe I can deliver her to the Elements of Harmony. “Sorry, don’t mean to be a bother. Just need you to purge my friend of an ancient monstrosity so she can return to her innocent, carefree self! What does the friendship rainbow cannon charge per hour of use?”
“Following us? How can you tell? We are literally in a crowd of a couple hundred ponies.” Tempest fought down the temptation to look behind her, instead focusing on the ticket kiosks directly ahead.
In less than an hour, they would be boarding a passenger train to make a two-day journey, clear to the other side of Equestria to the city of Vanhoover. There, they would melt into the background for a while, creating a device that would hopefully draw Princess Luna away from Celestia’s side. Only by drawing Luna away could Tempest confidently face the Solar Monarch again without fear of interference. Not if Luna were still being mind controlled by her sister.
The Fillydelphia Train Station was a monolithic structure, standing proudly as a monument to earth pony ingenuity from three hundred years ago. The elongated space was lit by tall windows, stretched thin and reaching towards the arched ceiling as if Discord himself had grabbed the dome and had tried pulling it away from the floor, deforming everything in between. The windows themselves were paned in a rather outdated manner, the building a combination of old and new. The cracked walls proudly displayed their age, despite the efforts of new layers of paint and advertisements trying to cover their shame.
The space echoed with hundreds of hoof falls, reverberating around the arched ceiling, only to succumb every few minutes to a deeper rumble through the floor as a train trundled past.
Unable to contain her curiosity any longer, Tempest hit upon a ploy to allow her to look for the pony Meadow mentioned. Tempest stopped, turning a forehoof over as if examining her frog for an embedded pebble. She activated her horn, casting a small light-reflection spell so she could turn the surface into a virtual mirror. “Which pony is it? Oof!”
Tempest stumbled forward as she absorbed an impact from behind. Her ears folded back as she caught one or two muttered curses about tourists and not ‘knowing how to walk in a straight line.’ Tempest murmured an apology to the disgruntled mare as the traveller pushed past her in a huff. Meadow pulled Tempest to the side with a hoof, yanking down on her jacket.
“Now’s not the time!” Meadow hissed. “I know you’re curious, but you have to be a little more clever than that!”
“It was clever,” Tempest carped. She knew it sounded foalish, but she didn’t care. “Not all of us have an ancient eldritch abomination whispering advice into our ears.”
Meadow rolled her eyes. “C’mon.” She started forward again, trotting ahead until Tempest had caught up next to her again. Meadow was frowning, reading some of the signage above the looming kiosks before she turned her head, looking up at Tempest with glimmering yellow eyes. “You don’t have to bring up Maelstrom every time I say something intelligent, y’know. I’m an educated mare, and I have some pretty good ideas myself. How do you think that makes me feel for you to pin all of my good ideas on Maelstrom?”
“I dunno. How do you feel?”
Meadow pressed her lips together. Tempest decided to continue that line of thought. “Which ideas are the ones you didn’t think of? I’ll only complain about those ones.”
“Ugh. For crying out loud,” Meadow groused, stomping a hoof and whirling on her. “I am my own mare, Tempest! Always was, always will be. You made a big deal out of my eyes flickering violet, but if you’d check in a mirror, your eyes do the same exact thing whenever you access the powers of that amulet yourself!”
Tempest grimaced. She had already heard Meadow/Maelstrom’s reasoning ad nauseum when she had tried to push her for details on the way to the train station. Meadow continued to claim that she was in full control of herself. She emphasized that the only difference now was that she had certain… premonitions. Given what had happened thus far, Tempest didn’t trust that assessment at all. Meadow had been far too cold and calculating to be the bubbly mare that talked her way into friendship with Tempest while they were en route from Gryphus.
“...Right.” She wasn’t sure what else she could answer, for now.
At least amulet fabrication was no longer an issue. Meadow’s impact had left Flim and Flam highly motivated. Hopefully they would wait the two weeks Meadow had requested. She had informed them that Tempest would need sufficient time to make a “class one” amulet, a device powerful enough to fully restore his horn. Allowing pony doctors to meddle with the injury beforehand would run the risk of making that damage permanent.
It was all a lie, of course.
Amulets were not capable of the multi-layered complexity that such a healing spell would likely entail, but Flim and Flam didn’t have to know that. Tempest hoped they would wait the whole two weeks before taking Flam to the local hospital. Besides, they had a massive quota to fill.
Tempest was brought back to the present as she got bumped again, this time by Meadow as she leaned up to whisper in her ear. “He’s getting closer.” Tempest stiffened, her eyes darting side to side. She hated all of this cloak and dagger stuff. “But no worries! He can’t try anything out here, there’s hundreds of ponies around. Let’s just buy the darn tickets, and then we can lead him somewhere private before we board, eh? All quiet like.”
Nodding her agreement, Tempest looked at all of the confusing options on the kiosk display, a vertical panel with a black glass screen. What, was she just supposed to touch the glass surface? Where were the switches or buttons? Would magic work on it?
Tempest’s thoughts were interrupted by a pair of icy blue eyes staring back at her.
Eyes widening in surprise, Tempest blinked. As quick as that, the unicorn’s eyes were elsewhere, as if he hadn’t been looking right at her half a second ago. Tempest swallowed, her mouth feeling dry.
That must be him. Doesn’t look very much like a special agent, though. His mane is too fancy.
Tempest switched her focus to Meadow, who was busy pursing her lips as she tapped a selection displayed on the screen. “Um, Meadow?”
“I know,” came the curt reply. “Saw it.” She continued scanning through the choices, pressing highlighted areas on the screen until two choices were displayed: Premium Fare and Premium Plus. Meadow’s hoof hit the Plus selection.
Tempest’s eyebrows headed north. “Uh. That’s kind of spendy Meadow.”
“Spendy, schmendy.” Meadow waved a hoof. “If bits ever become an issue, you can just display your amulet to a bank teller pony. I’m sure they’d be glad to help.”
Tempest ignored that. “For the last time, this isn’t an actual amulet.”
Meadow punched the purchase option, her grinning face lit by the glow of the screen. “Close enough. In fact, I’ve thought of a name for it. I’m going to dub it the Amulet of Shades. You know, because it tends to cast a shadow on a recipient’s mind… Makes them susceptible to other influences and whatnot.”
“That’s… that doesn’t make me feel any better about all of this.” Tempest looked up to check on the unicorn. “So how do we lose our tail?”
There was a flash in the corner of Tempest’s eye. A sting, followed by a swift wave of numbness, shot up Tempest’s left flank. Trying to activate her horn, her body betrayed her, slumping to the side as her legs gave way. A buzz flooded her ears, but she could still make out what must’ve been the unicorn’s voice, rather high and pinched in quality.
“Nothing to see here, folks—just special agent business.” If she could turn her head to look, Tempest imagined he was flashing some sort of badge at this point. “Please continue going about your business.”
Hearing his hoofsteps approach, Tempest fought with everything she could to activate her horn— or at least stay awake.
The hoofsteps came to a stop by her head.
“Good evening Meadow Lark… and to you as well, Ms. Calypso. Or should I say: Tempest?” He chuckled.The buzzing sound in Tempest’s hearing peaked, making her brain reel into a dense fog.
“You don’t know how glad I am to find you…”
* * *
Warehouse District, Fillydelphia 7:11 PM
Bitter.
Pungent.
Some…chemical pierced her sinuses with fire. It knifed its way into her mind and dragged her to the surface of consciousness.
Tempest gasped and drew her head back. The movement wrenched her stiff neck, but she didn’t care. Anything to get away from the olfactory assault. She cracked her eyes open to take in her surroundings. The unicorn from before was levitating some kind of smelling salts in front of her. His cheeky smile made Tempest want to pull a Meadow and kick him in the horn.
A single source of light dangled from somewhere overhead, the glow casting his eyes into shadow and obscuring the rest of the room in darkness. As she waited for her eyes to adjust, Tempest began to pick out further details of the room as the seconds passed. It looked like some kind of abandoned storage facility or warehouse.
Again…
Typical. Waking up in a cliché location while a smarmy, egomaniacal nub-head is sitting there trying to look all tough...
She checked her horn. Magic dampening ring?
Of course. What about Meadow?
Tempest’s head twisted to the side quickly, reminding her of the neck muscle she just strained. Meadow was sitting in what must be an uncomfortable position on a stool, her four hooves restrained by hoof cuffs interconnected by cords tied together exactly beneath her seat. She didn’t seem to be in pain, though. Instead, she looked bored, and was rocking herself back and forth on the stool with a creaking sound.
“For the last time,” the stallion muttered. “Stop wiggling or I’ll freeze your flank to the floor.”
Meadow paused to blow him a raspberry. “You probably couldn’t freeze ice cream in Yakyakistan, you big phony. You probably spend more time on your mane than your magic.”
“Meadow,” Tempest tried to continue, but her throat decided now would be a good time to cough for a bit.
“Tempest, you’re up! Finally! Now we can blow this popsicle stand!”
Tempest sat up a little straighter, giving Meadow a flat look. “Meadow, please don’t agitate the nice officer with the fancy mane.”
“There aren’t any nice officers haunting this room, Tempy. I do see a spook, though. Do you think that—”
“ —Now that you are awake—” the unicorn cut across her. “I have a few questions.”
“Questions, eh?” Tempest replied. “So do I. Why aren’t we in a police station? Why do you have us tied up in what looks like an abandoned warehouse?”
Narcisse pressed a forehoof under her chin, snapping her mouth shut with a click. He sneered as he pushed her head up and back against the back of her chair, breathing in her face. “Because bad things can happen in abandoned warehouses.” He grinned and licked his lips. “I’m Narcisse. 2nd in line to inherit the Pavo Clan Estate. But by night, I am a special operative for The Agents of Moonlight.”
Tempest’s eyes widened. The Agents of Moonlight? The same organization that Mavis Morel founded all those years ago? “If you are a special agent of the crown, why are you telling us? Isn’t that like, top secret?”
Narcisse smirked. “Of course! You’ve caught me in a talkative mood, which is better for you. But not to worry. By the time we are done here, you won’t remember much of anything but a few shadows.”
“Huh, whaddaya know, Temp?” Meadow chipped in. “You’re not the only pony around here that can cast some shade!”
The smile on Narcisse’s face melted as his eyes travelled to the Eye still hanging around Tempest’s neck. “Yes, the odd little medallion you are wearing… Quite the little charm, even able to resist my magic when I attempted to take it off. I thought about taking your head, but then we wouldn’t be having this nice chat…” His icy blue eyes gazed at the Eye for a few more seconds before he looked back up into Tempest’s face again, his smirk returning.
“But we’ll get to the artifact in a moment. First, I need motives. I need to find out what you’re trying to do, and why—” Narcisse went on, leering back over at Tempest, “and the Fillydelphia police are probably a little too polite. You two are here because the police want answers. You’re here because the Princesses need answers.” He sat back, his smile growing wider.
“As for me? I’m here because I will be the sole pony with the information. And information is the best kind of currency to buy power. I hope you two are in a resisting mood… I don’t like being gentle.” At that, he rubbed his hooves together. “So, shall we get started?”
Narcisse’s horn glimmered. The edges of Tempest’s vision dimmed as the veins in her head throbbed. It felt like something was crushing her skull. A sudden compulsion raced through her, reminding her of the geas Celestia put on her all those years ago.
“Fight it, Tempy!” Meadow pleaded. “Fight it!”
“What do you know about the attack at the Manehatten Library? More specifically, Tempest, how were you involved?”
Tempest’s lips quivered as she struggled to clamp them shut. “Mmm-I was only trying to read up onnn—” Tempest slammed her head into the back of the chair, desperately trying to shake herself loose from whatever force was compelling her voice to speak. The pain worked, her eyes watering just a bit as she sat taller, glaring at the unicorn before her.
“Oh, well done!” He clapped his hooves together slowly. “Truly outstanding. I love a spirited mare… All the better when I break you.”
“Break her? Don’t make me laugh!” Meadow cut in from the stool, tottering dangerously on two legs as she leaned forward. “You don’t know what you are fooling with, Mr. Nerf-cisse. You’ll get some answers soon enough, but not the kind you’d expect.”
Narcisse frowned, turning to lean down into Meadow’s upturned face. “Let me give you an idea of what you can expect.” Narcisse’s left hoof flashed out. Meadow toppled to the floor with a crash, stool still attached and a red patch on her cheek. His horn flashed, and in an instant, a layer of ice fused her fur coat with the concrete. “I warned you. Now be quiet, or I’ll find less friendly ways of dealing with your input.”
Meadow lifted her head, the one part of her that hadn’t been frozen to the floor, and glared at Tempest. “Hey, Temp? Why don’t you give this nice agent some helpful information. I think it’s time you cast some shade.”
Tempest wasn’t sure what the fallout would be, but with the way things were going, it was more important that they make their escape—better if they could put this rather dangerous agent off of their trail for good. .
And hey, this stallion was the type of pony who might just deserve the shade treatment. Only problem was she didn’t know what the fallout would be.
But first, the magic damping ring had to go. Tempest was still in restraints, but Narcisse would never expect a teleporting earth pony. Good thing he must’ve thought what Meadow had on was simply jewelry. Tempest’s eyes darted to her horn and then back at Meadow.
“I think I might have to do that. There’s quite a bit to get off my mind.”
“That, you do, Tempest. That you do.”
Narcisse eyebrows furrowed, and he backed away from between the two. “Whatever you two are planning, I’m putting an end to it right now.” His horn flashed, and a pale blue bubble took form around Meadow.
“Oh, look! I’m in a soap bubble!”
Gritting his teeth, his horn flashed again. Now, the bubble was opaque, and Meadow’s quips couldn’t be heard at all.
“Now then. I don’t know what that mud pony thought she could do, but I don’t trust either of you. Now that she is out of the picture, shall we resume?”
Narcisse stalked closer to Tempest, his cold blue eyes unblinking in their intensity. His horn began to brighten again.
With a pop, Meadow’s pale blue tummy flashed in front of Tempest’s face. She had judged the location just right—bless her heart—standing her hind hooves on Tempest’s chair while her forehooves wrapped around the ring on her horn. Score one for teleportation versus hoof cuffs.
With a sharp tug, Meadow yanked the ring free. The action abraded the dorsal side of Tempest’s horn, leaving her with a burning sensation. Narcisse thanked Meadow’s heroic action with another slap, this one powered with magic. Meadow’s body sailed ten meters before ragdolling across the concrete floor, sliding to a stop. Blood seeped from a wound on her head, just in front of an ear.
Feeling her anger surge, Tempest flared her horn.
* * *
Narcisse withdrew a few steps. There was murder in the yellow unicorn’s eyes. Not wanting to resort to deadly force yet, Narcisse triggered his most powerful shield. Tempest’s horn flashed as well, but instead of any act of aggression, her hoof cuffs simply dropped off with a click before sliding over the side and attaching themselves to the magic damping ring.
“That was a mistake,” Tempest snarled. “You can attack me, Mr. Narcisse, but you do not get to harm Meadow.”
Though Narcisse didn’t reply, he traced Tempest as she side-stepped over to where the downed earth pony lay. She must be pretty sure of herself if she felt it was safe to check on her friend while under threat of attack.
He’d have to disabuse her of that notion. Still… her horn was glowing.
“Well, Tempest?” Narcisse broke the tense silence. “What are you waiting for, the second coming of Tirek?” Now that the ring was off, Narcisse was anxious to get his measure of what this mare could do. He wanted to see her magic, get a flavor for her strengths and weaknesses. And he still needed to learn her motives. If it took a little adrenaline rush to get the intel he was after, all the better. He crept a little closer, his ears twitching with anticipation.
The unicorn continued to ignore him. She came up alongside Meadow Lark, nudging the pony with a hoof. “Meadow. You okay?” Narcisse’s eyes narrowed as he listened intently. How did that earth pony pull off her teleport, anyway?
That intel’s going to be especially useful.
“Ugh…” The earth pony’s voice trailed off before she sat up and placed a hoof on her bleeding head. Her entire side was stripped bare of a good deal of her fur coat, damage caused by teleporting while being frozen to concrete, he supposed.
“What happened?” Meadow’s eyes darted to Narcisse. He inclined his head pleasantly in response. “Ugh, why’s he still here?” She sank back down to the concrete floor, rubbing at the wound while waving the other hoof vaguely. “Go… drain his brain or something—and why is this floor so damn cold?”
Narcisse frowned at that. Drain his brain…? The earlier reports of the librarian and the custodians at the Convention Center came to mind.
“I had to make sure you were all right,” Tempest mumbled. “Needed to know how I should measure my response.”
A tranquilizer dart struck Meadow in the flank, and after a moment her eyes went unfocused again. Narcisse frowned. He had released two, but the one bound for the unicorn had bounced harmlessly away. Turned out that Tempest was using a shield of some sort, it just hadn’t been visible until the dart made contact. Or it hadn’t been an active effect until the strike. Either way, the magic was subtle. And skilled.
“I’m right here, you know.” Narcisse growled, using a sliver of his magic to reholster the tranquilizer gun. “And since your shield is good against darts, let’s raise the stakes. If I win, you talk. If you lose, I pummel you until you plead for me to let you talk. Hopefully your friend isn’t caught in the crossfire.
Tempest glared back at him coldly. “You’re quite the monster, aren’t you?”
Narcisse inclined his head. “You would know.” He widened his stance, lowering his horn to point right at her. “Let’s do this.”
In a blink, Tempest teleported directly behind him.
“Too obvious,” he muttered, before copying the maneuver. Two could play at that game. Before Tempest could spin around, Narcisse’s horn shot out a blue beam , freezing Tempest’s hooves to the floor. With a flick of his head he directed a pallet of boxes from a shadowy corner of the room towards her position.
Let’s see if your shield stops something bigger than a tranq dart… He smiled grimly. A lot bigger.
Tempest grunted as she tried to whirl around to face him. Ice crackled as she finally freed her hooves from the ice, but not before the pallet he had hurled smashed against her shield. The boxes and their mechanical contents thundered across the floor with a roar of splintering wood and clattering metal. Tempest’s shield flashed a brilliant pale green upon impact, but the energy held. After another second, Tempest’s bubble disappeared from view.
Narcisse’s mind analyzed his field test as he looked to reacquire the mare. Two things had impressed him. First, she had been able to free her hooves from the ice. That would only be possible if she were a powerful earth pony or if her shield had somehow reduced his magical effect. The second thing that caught his attention was the fact that Tempest had been taken by surprise, if her eyes widening in fright just before impact. The mare was most likely not an experienced duelist. Her shield probably held due to a combination of actual talent and dumb luck.
Not spotting the mare with his eyes, Narcisse reached out with his magic. He found her skulking in the shadows in the alcove where he drew the pallet from.
“So your shield can take a hit,” Narcisse taunted. “I read the police reports of your predicted thaumic abilities, so tell me: what else can you do?” Instead of waiting for a response, Narcisse planned his attack. In his mind, he drew a series of interconnected teleports with a preloaded trigger for a magical attack at each jumping point, all aimed at his target. Disorienting for most unicorns, but not him. Turning directly to face her, he fired off a spell that imprinted a homing rune on her shield’s surface, doing the complex spellwork of matching the two magic frequencies in his mind. Once the symbol took root, he rapidly blinked away.
Appearing with his attack pre-loaded, he fired a disruptive energy beam from her three o’clock before blinking away again. Repeating the maneuver, he popped in behind her and released his second preloaded trigger, this time a cone of ice.
Smiling, he blinked away again. By now, her shield should be getting hard to maintain. If she stays put, the strain will only increase. If she teleports, she will have to divide her focus, but then the trap will be sprung. A unicorn with no dueling experience had absolutely no business facing him.
When he reappeared for his third attack, Tempest had teleported to the other side of the warehouse.
Bingo.
The rune on her shield flared to life, pulling his horn toward her new position. Teleportation by its nature is disorienting, but now that the rune was active, there was nowhere she could go that he could not follow, able to reorient and fire on her position before she would be able to return fire.
He brought up his next attack, a lance of force sharpened to a single point, a spell he affectionately called his shield killer. The energy struck home with a blinding flash, but he was already blinking away again, his smile growing.
As each attack found its mark, each hit successfully reinforcing the energy of the previous, it was only a matter of time. His heart raced with adrenaline as he continued his onslaught, preparing his next attack. He didn’t know which strike would finally collapse her shield, but he hoped she would survive the event. If worse came to worse and she didn’t survive, well—at least he could just plead self-defense.
Tempest had teleported again, but the rune redirected Narcisse again. He released a hellstorm of fire at her, before blinking away again and letting loose another lance of force, this one directly towards her face.
The tramp had been smiling. Fine! I’ll give her something stronger to chew on!
Narcisse appeared yet again, his breathing now becoming more rapid. He stared her down, gathering more power. If she wanted him to be a little more rough, he could oblige. He directed a blast of intensified energy, magnitudes greater than the beams he had fired before. Her shield would have little chance of holding at this point, but he didn’t care. The scintillating energy made contact.
In a blink, the shield around her changed, taking the hit and then morphing into something that spiraled and coalesced, pulsing behind her in a glowing sphere. His mouth fell open as she released the energy, the blast arcing towards him in a wall of flame.
There was no dodging a wall of pure energy. Narcisse cast a hastened teleport, blinking away just as the flame was about to make contact. He landed in a heap, back to the far side of the warehouse. His nerves jangled with fire as pain sliced through his body from the hastened spell he had been forced to cast. Teleportation should never be rushed. Climbing to his feet, he grimaced. There was no way he would show weakness now, and that attack must’ve sapped her strength.
Narcisse wheeled around, noting that with his new position, the earth pony was now safely behind Tempest.
Was she just waiting to line up her shot? What was that spell she used? That was cutting it close.
Narcisse tried to slow his breathing as he analyzed the situation. He smiled as he tried to ignore his protesting lungs. No shield. She had nothing left. He glanced at the wall behind her, its surface scorched black from whatever spell that was. The windows had been blown out, and he could still hear the sound of glass breaking outside.
“You’re making quite the scene, Tempest.” Narcisse called, watching her as she slipped over to the side, partially concealing herself in the shadow of an overhang. He wiped the sweat from his brow. “After that ruckus, I’m sure we’ll have company soon. Why don’t you come quietly before anypony gets hurt?” He glanced meaningfully at Meadow before taking a gamble and aiming his horn at the downed pony.
“You keep making these threats, Narcisse.” Her tone sounded oddly flat. “But I haven’t found much to be concerned about yet.”
Narcisse tried not to snarl, but this little unicorn had just pushed a button. “Is that so?” It’s time to plead self-defense. “Okay, then. See if you can stop this one.”
With that, his horn flared to life, but before he could release the spell the unicorn vanished. She didn’t blink away—more like she melded into the shadows behind her. There was only one pony that he knew of that could meld into shadows like that.
A hoof clocked his horn.
Pain knifed its way into his frontal lobe. Narcisse crashed onto his side, his barrel thudding to the concrete as a whoosh of air left his lungs. Leaving the concrete smeared with his sweat, he scrabbled to his hooves again, shaking his head to clear it. Gritting his teeth, his shield reactivated again. Maybe now was a good time for backup?
Seriously. What is with this mare? And how in Equestria did she get into my shield? The shadow—she melded into one... did she spring up out of the one I had been casting? What—
“That was a nice salvo you had.” Tempest grinned. “Too bad my last dueling opponent was Celestia.” Her horn ignited, this time drawing out some flickering arcs of violet light from the eye-shaped pendant hanging from her neck. “And besides that… my Mom was a pretty good teacher.”
Shaking his head again to clear it, Narcisse growled as he struggled to intensify his shield. The flickering violet light from the pendant passed right through it, cascading towards his face. The last thing he noticed was Tempest’s eyes, now staring at him in a mismatch of green and violet.
There was suddenly a deep, foreboding presence in his mind.
* * *
Cipher Street -- 7:17 PM
What an amazing day!
Headstrong couldn’t stop smiling. Usually, when he returned home after a semi-honest day’s work, he would just feel like laying around and doing nothing. That was typical life: get kicked around by more important ponies, run around to do their bidding, then go home and find something entertaining. Entertaining usually meant hanging around with his buddies, but occasionally his old mare would yell at him to come home and pay attention to his little colt and filly.
Sometimes he’d listen.
But now?
Now he was fulfilled. Now his life had greater meaning. He was no longer a two-bit run amuck stallion scraping by. What could bits matter when there were amulets? After that blessed yellow unicorn had touched his mind—touched him in a way that was so profound? He felt so complete! His purpose had been found, and now all was bliss.
It was magnificent, to feel like you were finally in control of everything. To be sure; to know. The power and knowledge that he possessed were unmatched! Before, he was a Fillydelphia nopony… But now? He had punched his ticket. Found his life’s work. And what he was doing today was going to eventually revolutionize all of Equestria.
At three o’clock, Flim and Flam hosted a pair of executives from a courier company for a demonstration. The two listened with polite disinterest.
At least they did until they saw the actual results. Headstrong smiled as he thought of their incredulous expressions as they tried, again and again, to disprove what was right in front of their faces. With each test, the execs gradually went from disbelief to joy, watching as the test subjects continued running faster and longer than anypony could have imagined. By the end of the meeting, several contracts were signed.
Secret contracts, of course. They couldn’t have their competition figure out what was going on. Not until all of the competition was driven straight out of business. There would be only one courier company to serve all of Equestria, and ponies wouldn’t care how they did it—only that they could deliver goods on the cheap.
A few hours later, the owner for the Fillydelphia Flyers Hoofball team was there. The Flyers had been at the bottom of the standings for the past three years. Made it hard to be a fan of those ponies sometimes. Well, that was sure to change! Look out, Manehattan Maulers! Move over, Baltimare Bruisers! Every other team in the division will have to contend with a new champion, and Headstrong would soon be wearing his Flyers colors proudly.
And this was just the beginning! Amulets were going to do all sorts of things, but he couldn’t tell anyone yet. Not yet. He grinned as he listened to the bits jingling in his saddlebags. He was going to go straight home and kiss his mare. No, scratch that! He was going to go buy a beautiful bouquet of flowers, get a bottle of some vintage wine, and sweep her right off her hooves! He would even put his little colt and filly to bed early.
His mare…
Headstrong brought a hoof to his chin and hummed. Sometimes, she seemed so dissatisfied with her job as a secondary teacher. Other days, she came home happy because something good had happened. But on the whole? Dahlia Glow just seemed rather worn down due to the behavior of some of her little fillies and colts. If only she could feel as inspired as he did! If only she could taste of his surety, his dedication!
But wait… She could!
He knew she could. This feeling he had inside, this gift given by the yellow mare? All he had to do was meet horns with her, and push that magical feeling forward.
What about her students?
What if they were down, or came from a broken home, or maybe just needed a little more focus? Dahlia could do the same for them! Think of it—all those fourth graders causing trouble? Struggling to figure out who they were as ponies? Suddenly they would no longer wonder! They could be sure as well, and they would be wholly dedicated to their work!
It was perfect. Dahlia Glow would be a teacher beyond compare. Her students would be unparalleled in their achievements. And soon he would be famous: Headstrong—maker of amulets. Harbinger of a new age.
It was only just beginning.
Oof.
I guess the story is kind of going into a pathogen vector angle, eh? More things are in motion. What will be the fallout of Headstrong's intention? Of Narcisse's infiltration? Time to turn up the heat.
Also time to thank my pre-readers: primarily for Seriff Pilcrow's input, but also for Javarod's and LuckyShadowWolf's input. Oh, and can't forget Frozen Light's input too. 
Until next chapter, gang! To be continued!
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HMMM a new CHAPTER!??!?
Yasss!!!!
Unfortunately, I'm busy right now writing a chapter on my story and I don't want to lose my train of thought
I'll come back whenever I'm done.
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Noice... having said that, you're first commenter anyway, so... I have warm feelings. (no homo) 😬
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)
Loving this comment on so many levels. More questions answered very soon. As far as the shipping goes, if you'll notice, I have those elements in as little side plots, more or less for the humor, not the romance. They are not central to the story, but one particular element will become meaningful far later, so there is some point to it. Hope you tolerate those daliances for what they are, humor, not pivotal to the story (for the most part
Well this was a glorious chapter. I'm a little surprised at the lack of impact Maelstrom's control of Meadow had. But the duel (if you can even call it that) between Tempest and Narcisse was amazing. The line about her last dueling partner being Celestia was gold. I cannot wait to see Narcisse start trying to work through that comment.
ROLL CREDITS!!!!!
Finally, I'm done writing that chapter, and I really need a break. I spent the last 12 hours writing the chapter and got to 6200 words. My back is now sore from sitting up.
At last, I can finally read the new chapter!
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This for your story "Reborn?" Wow, good on ya, cranking that out.
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Yeah, that story, oddly when I went into the chapter, I had a few basic ideas and didn't really want to write anything but didn't have anything better to do. As I kept writing I kept coming up with new ideas. Which eventual lead me to keep thinking of other ideas and it just kept expanding. I was planning on having each chapter around 2k words but I guess there will just be a 6k word chapter sticking out.
Anyways I need to go in, proofread and edit it later. What I really mean by that is to toss it all into a google doc and use the spell-check tool because after writing the chapter, I'm jus a little too lazy to read through it again.
Anyways this new chapter was great, but still leaves me wanted to know Celestia and Luna's reaction when they figure things out. I can just imagine it would be priceless. As in, if you could take a picture of it, you could name the price for more money than there is in the world and people would think it's reasonable.
Ps: Meadow is one of the best OC's I've seen in stories. Usually, when I think bubbly and cheerful, I think Pinkie Pie and if you ask me, I'm a little tired of Pinkie Pie at the moment. But Meadow is a character which when paired with someone like Tempest makes for quite the story.
I'm going to go take a nap now. My back is sore and I could really use a break. Have a good day!
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nice. Two credits for those.
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That comment is half-done. I will be adding to it as I finish the chapter.
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I'll jump on it as soon as you are satisfied you got 'em (thanks!)
a mouse who thought he was a lion attacking what he thought a mouse but was in fact the real lion
Title drop -- I saw that
Hmm, even worse than I though about Meadow, I suspect most likely she's entirely Maelstrom at this point with all the deflections -- because I figure that she would have reassurances for Tempest rather than just consolations.
I guess Tempest cheated with Narciss. To be fair all is "fair" in combat, but earnestly it was most definitely not her own powers she won the "duel" with. While breaking out of ice is funny because she probably has that kind of manual strength anyway considering the heritage and size of herself, it's not out of the question if she was taking a draught of Maelstrom's power to get by. She's shown to be decently accomplished by herself, but I wonder if she's gaining an addiction or dependence on it. This might've just been one of those casual sips again, but eventually... The pony takes a drink, the drink takes a drink, the drink takes a drink of the pony
Heh, pathogenic, quite timely if I do say so myself
Though it's a tried and tested trope, it checks out 
Some more interesting, explicit limitations on magic and amulets in here, hope it doesn't cause a mcguffin down the road; but neat.
Is it really being implied that the dark magic is also something of what Sombra can do which means it came from "Malestrom" as well, and that the entire circumstance itself is that when they fought Sombra, he infected Luna to go insane? And that quite possibly all or most major events and occurrences are caused by him in some way? It would be very convenient later in the series to have Cerberus run away from his post.
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gives me great pause 
Well, I suppose, but your
These pictures are a very fun depiction of events; very spicy additions to set the tone even more.
I shouldn't have done this, but I did cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/205730895087403008/747303590787285022/unknown.png
Really though, this is great. Earnestly I'm very glad Narciss lost, he needed to be taken down a peg; really Tempest did a good services to Equestria
The Meadow footer, ah, RIP Meadow for now; or at least what I suspect. Very accurate of the unknown and known worst possibility.
Oh, right, forgot to do this yesterday: have a review!
This duel was pretty awesome. I want to make an observation, it appears that Tempest actually relied solely on her own skill and prowess to defeat Narcisse, only tapping into Maelstrom’s power to infiltrate his mind at the end.