• Published 6th Dec 2011
  • 6,062 Views, 80 Comments

Lord Phantom - GlassAlicorn



Random disasters are going on without relief, and something is very wrong with Twilight...

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Prepare for Trouble

Chapter 2: Prepare for Trouble.

“Twilight, wake up!”

No response.

“Honestly... You really need to wake up!”

Still no response.

Spike glared daggers at the Unicorn, who seemed very content to ignore him and sleep. Spike was still amazed that he woke up before her, which rarely, if ever, happened. Was she sick? Dying? Depressed? He had absolutely no idea. All he knew was she needed to wake up, because her sleeping this long was honestly scaring him.

Spike then caught a gray glimpse in the corner of his eye, and promptly ran outside to greet the male Unicorn in question. His coat was obviously gray, whereas his mane and tail were black. His eyes were chocolate brown, and held a 'brainy' gaze. His Cutie Mark was a red book, apparently a dictionary, along with a yellow wand.

“Webster, I need your help!” Spike cried out of the blue, making Webster raise his eyebrow with a skeptical expression. “Oh?” he inquired, said skepticism evident in his voice, “Might I inquire about this piece of work to be done which you seem mentally and physically unable of carrying out by yourself?”

It took Spike awhile to process that, “Uh... Twilight won't wake up.”

“And you are requesting my assistance for something this trivial...why?”

“I dunno. Maybe you could scare her awake with your big vocabulary!”

Webster's response was a harsh glare.

“...Please help?”

Webster wordlessly walked into the library and subsequently, Twilight's room, seeing really no other option, as he was sure Spike would keep bugging him about it. He noticed an open book on a table and walked to it curiously. After a brief glance, he found out it was some kind of study book. His horn glowed for a moment and he placed a bookmark in the page, then he promptly slammed the book closed.

Well, that woke Twilight up, as she shot out of bed and tackled a now very disgruntled Webster.

“Will you remove yourself from this current position?!” Webster cried rather angrily. Twilight blinked, until she realized he was basically saying 'Get off' and did so quickly. “Webster?” she inquired, looking very shocked, “What are you doing here?!”

“Perhaps I should request that you direct that query towards Spike.”

After taking a brief moment to translate that, Twilight then looked at Spike. “What?” he inquired, crossing his arms, “You wouldn't wake up, and I didn't feel trying that book method, and Webster just happened to be walking by and...” he noticed both ponies glaring at him, “Uh...I just remembered I was going to go help Rarity find gemstones. See ya!” With that, he made a beeline for the door and left the house.

“What a peculiar specimen,” Webster commented dryly, still looking ticked, “Which reminds me, I was going to see if I could locate a certain book...” Twilight sighed, knowing that meant he was going to be there longer. “What kind of book?” she asked.

“Why, a dictionary of course!”

“...Why did I even ask...?”

“For the reason that, your intellect is not as lofty as my own.”

Webster grinned smugly as Twilight glared daggers at him, then he walked off to look for the dictionary. Twilight didn't bother him, because the sooner he found the book, the sooner he'd leave, and the sooner he left, the sooner she wouldn't feel like she was going to scream. And that was a future worth waiting for.

As Webster seemed perfectly content to ignore the world around him, he failed to notice the ladder he was on wasn't exactly stable. Twilight noticed, and opened her mouth to say something, but by then Webster realized it was wobbling, before it literally collapsed under his weight and he hit the ground with a painful thud, some books following and braining him. Although, Twilight wasn't sure what surprised her more: What had happened, or Webster's immediate response.

“...That hurt.”

She hadn't thought it was possible, but he had spoken normally. Completely. No fancy sentence structure or abuse of a dictionary and a thesaurus.

“You okay?” Twilight managed as she ran over to help him, fighting the voice within her that was screaming at her to not do so. He got up, rubbed his head briefly, then gave her a glare that made her back away. “Do not accept as true or real for a brief interval of time that I have confidence in you actually caring about me.” he said bluntly, his horn glowing as he placed the book he needed in a saddlebag.

“Wait...what? But I...”

Webster left in a huff, not bothering to respond.

“...Never mind...”

Twilight rolled her eyes and then went to clean up the mess, levitating the books into place. She looked at the broken ladder briefly, rather annoyed. “...That went well...” she groaned, putting the last book where it belonged. After that was done, she noticed what time it was -and nearly panicked as a result. She had managed to sleep until the afternoon, almost late afternoon. She let out a frustrated sigh, then shrugged it off. She had things to do.

“Um, excuse me Twilight, but... I was wondering...if maybe...you could help me...”

Twilight turned around to face the owner of the voice, seeing Fluttershy. “Sure, what is it?” she asked, trying to smile. Fluttershy simply stared for a moment. “Um...you probably should...see it...first...but you don't have to if...you don't want to...” she replied shyly.

“Okay, show me what it is...”

Fluttershy responded with the faintest of smiles and walked out, Twilight following.

Somewhere else...

Two Pegasi were flying around some lovely white clouds, attempting to build something with them. Whatever it was couldn't be said for sure, but I believe it was a castle. Or rather, a fluffy abomination that tried in vain to believe it was a castle, even though it looked nothing like a castle. This was likely the doing of the younger, red-coated Pegasus, as she wasn't exactly practicing care or patience. Or even logical building structure. Perhaps the simple flame that was her Cutie Mark fit her personality, and not her talent, or lack thereof.

“Fire Sky, just wait...” the older, silver-coated Pegasus sighed, blue eyes showing a thinning patience. His dark gray and yellow mane flowed gently thanks to the wind as he flew up to his sister. His Cutie Mark was what appeared to be a lightning bolt, mostly silver with a streak of gold, in a dark gray cloud-like circle.

“Aw Silver Bolt, you're no fun!” Fire Sky whined, trying to force a small cloud to fit into her monstrosity, er, masterpiece. The cloud didn't want to cooperate, and promptly launched her into another cloud, as if it were a catapult. Her white and bright blue mane concealed her face after that, whereas her tail was continuously twitching as she laid on the cloud. “...You really need to be more careful,” Silver groaned, “Just take it easy and maybe-”

Silver never got to finish his sentence, as a loud yell echoed through his and Fire Sky's ears.

“MOVE OUT OF THE WAY! I'M COMING THROUGH!!”

Rainbow Dash's warning came too late, as by the time she said it, she had already zoomed right through the cloud thing from the underworld, destroying it, and knocked both Silver and Fire Sky off-balance, which caused them to slam unceremoniously into a pond below (oddly, the same pond Twilight and Emerald had crashed into the previous day). “...That did not just happen...” Fire Sky groaned. “I believe it did...” Silver assured.

“Uh, oops?” Rainbow muttered as she realized what had just happened, then she shrugged it off, “Eh, oh well.” With that, she continued flying as fast as she possibly could, practicing various tricks as she did so. A large, daredevil grin crept upon her features, and she started flying downward, gaining powerful momentum. She was getting closer and closer to the ground, preparing to fly upward any second and hopefully perform her desired action.

Just a little more...

Almost...

Rainbow let out a scream as some unforeseen force used her momentum against her and sent her flying right into a windmill, taking out a couple of vital beams, causing it to lose its stability. However, Rainbow was far too dazed to realize the windmill was falling apart and that she would be buried in its debris if she didn't get out of there fast enough. As she started to regain her senses, a cloaked figure suddenly grabbed her and pulled her out, the windmill collapsing immediately after.

Rainbow blinked in confusion, then noticed the pony that had saved her. “Uh, thanks Shadow...” she muttered, still unable to comprehend what had just happened. The odd Unicorn only opted to stare at her. “Attacking windmills is foolish,” Shadow said bluntly, “Do not try it.”

“But I wasn't attacking...!”

Shadow disappeared in a puff of smoke.

“...it... Fine! I didn't want to talk to you anyway!”

Rolling her eyes, Rainbow took to the skies and left the area, promptly smashing into the mail pony, Ditzy Doo, who had seemingly come out of nowhere, causing them both to crash into some crates that were lying near a house, effectively destroying them, which would very likely frustrate the pony that was using them when he or she discovered their untimely demise.

“Hi Rainbow Dash!” Ditzy cried happily, seemingly oblivious to them crashing, “I have a letter for you!” With that, she pulled an envelope out of her saddlebag and handed it to the now very disgruntled Pegasus. Rainbow sighed and opened the envelope, reading the letter:

To Cloud Blast,

It has come to my attention that your special talent is not only bothersome but extremely dangerous! I ask that you either take your explosive business elsewhere or stop it altogether at once! If you do not do either of these things I will be forced to take action! Do you understand?!

Sincerely, the Mayor of Ponyville.

Rainbow then looked up from the letter and at Ditzy, giving her an 'Are you kidding me?' expression. “Sorry to burst your bubble...” she started slowly, and Ditzy promptly looked at her Cutie Mark in fear any of the bubbles burst, “But this is a letter to Cloud Blast, not me.” Ditzy's jaw dropped in surprise at her mistake. “B-but the envelope, it...!” she breathed, then she looked determined, “There must be an envelope addressed to Cloudy! That's sure to have the letter that you were supposed to get!” With that, the determined mare dug through her saddlebags, finding an envelope addressed to Cloud, handing it to Rainbow. Sure enough, it was the correct letter. Satisfied that all was right with the world, Ditzy flew off. She and Rainbow failed to see a Unicorn watching them with an amused look.

Rainbow looked at the letter and read it carefully, a look of skepticism in her eyes. When she was done, she put it back in the envelope and gripped it ever so lightly in her mouth. She contemplated flying back to her home, but then decided it would probably be safer to walk to it. As she started to trot through the streets, she ended up colliding with Emerald, who was asleep and on roller skates for some reason.

Crash!

“Oh, hi Rainbow Dash!” Emerald declared cheerily, “Good to see you! Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to be going home!” With that, she got up and took a couple gulps of her coffee, and then trotted off, oblivious to what had happened, the fact that she was on roller skates, and also that she was going in the wrong direction to get home.

“...Weirdo.” Rainbow stated plainly, rubbing her head. She scanned the area carefully for anymore potential disasters, and when she saw none, she made a mad dash for her home. Fortunately, she didn't run into anything problematic on her way there, a reality that relieved her to no end.

“Tch, nothing's gonna stop Rainbow Dash!” she declared haughtily, spreading her wings and flying up towards her home...

...only to smash into some kind of barrier and fall right back down.

“What gives?!” Rainbow cried indignantly, glaring up at the house, “You tryin' to keep me out?!” she flew upward and smashed into the invisible barrier again, “You are, aren't ya?!” she tried and failed again to get inside, “I won't let you beat me!” Needless to say, she kept trying and trying and trying and...you get the point.

After ten solid minutes, Rainbow was on the ground again, sitting on her haunches while rubbing her sore muzzle. Her whole body ached all over, and she could find no way through the barrier, or even a way around it. Whoever put it there was very thorough, and took great care to make sure it was Rainbow-proof. Nothing could get in, and there was a high chance nothing could get out as well.

The blue mare finally walked away from her home, ego effectively bruised. But she had much more pressing matters on her mind. Where would she sleep? She didn't have much money with her, if she had any at all, and the nights were getting colder. And what about Tank? He was probably worried sick about her, and he likely couldn't leave the house. And would he be alright without her?

She was sure that she was probably attracting some stares, but she didn't care as much as she normally would. If this was some sort of prank, it went too far. The culprit may as well have just left her with nothing. Because that's how she felt.

Meanwhile...

Ponies on a single tree branch.

This didn't happen everyday.

Mostly because rarely was a group of ponies stupid enough to try it.

Twilight and Fluttershy stared at the three ponies in question, disbelief and confusion evident. The three ponies standing on the poor branch were Cloud, a Unicorn mare, and a Pegasus colt. The Unicorn's coat was light blue, her mane and tail were dark blue, and her eyes were icy blue. Her Cutie Mark was a writing quill. The Pegasus' coat was a fiery red, his mane and tail were gray, and his eyes were dark blue. He had no Cutie Mark whatsoever. Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by the Unicorn, who shouted:

“Prepare for trouble from the skies!”

Cloud then shouted, “From beyond the stars, a nasty surprise!”

“An evil as old as the galaxy...”

“Sent here to fulfill our destiny!”

The Pegasus jumped up briefly, “Plus, there's me!”

“To denounce the evils of truth and love!” the Unicorn cried.

“To extend our reach to the stars above!” Cloud shouted.

“Chaos Blender!”

“And Cloud Blast!”

“And Rocket Flash are the names!” the colt added.

“Anywhere there's peace in the universe...” Chaos started.

“Team Rocket...” Cloud continued.

“...will be there...” Rocket added.

“To make everything...worse!” all three yelled in triumph.

Crack!

The three ponies turned their attention to the branch, which had snapped under their weight and proceeded to make an appointment with the ground below. Rocket promptly flapped his wings and hovered, while Cloud and Chaos, not having such a luxury, ended up joining the branch on its ill-timed appointment, screaming the entire trip. Rocket snickered at the incident, then another branch broke and hit him smack on the head, dazing him enough to make him stop hovering and crash onto Cloud.

“Are they going to be okay?” Fluttershy asked softly, looking at the three worriedly. “Unfortunately, yes.” Twilight said irritably, nudging her friend along, wanting to get away from them as quickly as possible. Fluttershy didn't protest, but she did look back at the three as Twilight pushed her forward.

“I can't feel my brain anymore...” Chaos groaned, rubbing her head. “Your brain?” Rocket questioned, “W-what about mine?!” He clutched his head and winced, feeling a pretty big bump forming. “I don't think we really thought that one through...” Cloud stated painfully, a letter landing on his face, “Huh? What's that?”

“Hey, it's addressed to you!” Chaos cried cheerily, getting up. “What does it say?” Cloud sat up and looked at it, then began to read, “To Cloud Blast...”

Later...

“So what was the problem, anyway?” Twilight asked as they approached Fluttershy's home. “Well, um...” Fluttershy started, right as an enraged chicken lunged at her and randomly tried to peck her brains out, “No, stop that!” The chicken, having no desire to stop, moved from her head and tried to peck at her eye, but she moved out of the way. Twilight watched this with a freaked out expression, as Fluttershy decided to stare at the chicken and force her back into the chicken coop.

“...That's the problem?” Twilight finally managed after a few moments of complete silence. Fluttershy nodded in response. “I don't know why...” she stated softly, “But all my animals started getting...mean...”

“What do you need me for?”

“I was wondering if you could...make them act nice again somehow...I've tried everything I could, and nothing worked...”

“Well, I don't know if it'll work, but I can try...”

“Oh, would you? That would make me feel better...”

Twilight smiled weakly, then walked over to the chicken coop, peeking her head into it. The chickens all turned their heads and stared at her, looking slightly intimidated. “Um...hi.” Twilight said simply, her horn glowing. She closed her eyes and focused on what she wanted to achieve, a sharp pain going through her head as she did so. She winced and lost her focus for a second, but promptly recovered, a dull pain continuing to affect her as she sent a wave of energy throughout the small area.

“Oh, I think it's working!” Fluttershy shouted as best she could, risking a look at the chickens. Instead of looking like they wanted to go into berserker mode at the sight of her, they just looked happy. Twilight stopped once she noticed, feeling tired. The chickens remained content, showing it had indeed worked. Twilight closed her eyes shut, her head pounding. Fluttershy gave her a concerned glance. “It's nothing...” she informed her after opening her eyes and seeing the expression, “I'm just fine.” She then walked off to perform the same procedure on the other animals, Fluttershy following.

Later that night, at Sweet Apple Acres...

The purple Unicorn let out a chuckle as her horn glowed, slowly sucking the life out of an unfortunate apple tree with no difficulty whatsoever. After all, why would she of all ponies have trouble with something like this? That little 'headache' earlier was just for show. She was a lot more powerful than that!

Her ears perked up as she felt another presence, after the tree had completely withered. She looked around, seeing no one, but still sensing the strange presence. After a few seconds, she decided investigating it wasn't worth the risk of getting caught and left the farm quietly but swiftly.

After all, no one had to know it was her, right?