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In Shadows we Unite1,389 words
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Threads that mingle1,946 words

Threads that mingle

The dungeons were quite robust to say the least – students weren’t sure if they were decorative or if the rumors about some weird practices being performed down there were true. Either way, it was not a good idea to linger about.

Trixie decided to follow the pony she saw earlier – the mare took her sweet time to cuss and rid herself of the sweets stuck to her coat and mane. Unaware of being followed, she then sped along the corridors, probably knowing where she was going. The blue mare duck around each corner, trying to be as silent as possible without the other noticing. It took a while, but soon an exit emerged behind a fake wall in a totally random place. So yes, without the knowledge of this complex, Trixie would be stuck here for a very long time. Which was all probably already part of the test!

Proud of herself, the blue pony went up the stairs uncovered by the hidden passage, finding herself again in the school corridors. The décor was as creepy as always – rows of armor pieces, not all of pony origin, were stationed along the walls. Between those there was a magnificent red rug, framed with golden threads that formed words in a language that none of the students could decipher.

The ceiling was way above Trixie’s head, made of solid stone, carved out of the mountain itself. A couple of gargoyles or dragons here and there cast their gloomy, dead gazes on everybody below – there were rumors going about that from time to time, these beasts would come alive and serve one of the headmasters as their evil messengers. Trixie didn’t believe such things, but here, in Ragnarok Academy, impossible was nothing, and the unsuspected was experienced each day.

Just as she thought that, the mare saw Lavender Gust approach from the opposite direction – as always, she was flanked by two colts, rather handsome ones too. Their eyes were all over her, especially in the back area, but the mare didn’t seem to pay attention to that. Her perfumes hit Trixie’s nose faster than the words the obnoxious pony spoke:

“Hiya, Trix! Did you make it? I heard there was quite some commotion at the auditions; some bomb exploded or something!” She giggled, winking. “I bet that wasn’t you at all.”

“Whatever. I’m afraid I don’t have time to chat,” cut Trixie, swiping her magnificent cloak almost in Lavender’s face. Her current lovercolts gave the mare a stern look which she ignored, carrying on her way.

“Trix, wait up! Wait up, I have something to tell you!”

“Oh yeah? Listen, I don’t have time to listen about your exploits, okay? Keep your bed to yourself,” hissed the blue mare, picking up the pace.

Lavender was smiling ear to ear, matching her speed without a problem.

“No, it’s not about that! Although you are missing on quite a wild story. Ain’t that right, boys?” Gust blew a kiss to her companions, who immediately gave her some dirty looks, complemented by smirks and growls. “Chester here has the most magnificent-”

“Enough!” shouted Trixie, trotting now, trying to hide her red face behind the starry cloak. She knew her ‘friend’ all too well, and had to listen through some of her love stories while in prison escape classes – thankfully, that is the reason she aced them all in one go.

“Okay, okay, fine, hihi” laughed Lavender, jumping at Trixie’s side like a hyper-active ball. “Then about that thing. You know when the auditions are, don’t you?”

“Of course not, dimwit. Nopony knows – it’s the same story as with all the other tests.”

“Oh really? Well, huh, that’s strange. I do know a certain beautiful, attractive, flexible mare that might just know where and when the tests will take place. And it ain’t no joke!”

Trixie stopped, causing one of the lovercolts to bump into her flank. He had little time to recover, as the startled mare magician begun bucking him straight in the muzzle, back, flank – wherever she could hit.

“What did you say?” asked Trixie, panting and eyeing the stallion who wanted to return to Lavender’s side, but knew better not to approach the aggravated blue devil.

“That I know a certain beautiful, attractive-”

“Cut to the chase, will you? Where is it? When? Tell me now!”

“Hihi, I’d love to! And I will! Tag, you’re it!” squealed Lavender, dashing away down the corridor.

Trixie sighed. That dumb plot was a real pain in the royal spot. Yet, with her booty being as hyped as herself, she did get her hooves on many articles, secrets or objects that nopony else would even dream about. The blue pony felt stupid about, yet again, playing Lavender’s games. She would get even someday.

* * *

Students were lazily walking the corridors, chilling out after the last lesson sessions were over. There was a possibility of a pop quiz appearing out of nowhere, but there was little one could do about it except for worrying. Those that did swiftly turned to the paranoia side of evil, seeing ghosts and enemies around every corner. One such student, a gray colt by the name of Decepticus, stalked an empty corridor that led to his dormitory. The pony crept behind the armor pieces, each time taking a minute or so to look around, check for any telltale signs of somepony following him or a concealed pop-quiz spell.

The reason he so much hated those was that in general he was a lousy student. History, Geometry, Biology – all the things which weren’t even remotely connected to his special talent he tended to fail. And those were just the basics, upon which more advanced subjects would be built in later years. Decepticus personally loved Acting classes, Literature, Gymnastics… He had a pretty good instinct when it came to stealth. He was almost top of his class in Acting, capable of flawlessly playing many inconspicuous background characters; in Literature, he was a pretty well-spoken stallion, impressing the teachers into beating him with a bat for being too smart on them; Gymnastics were where Pegasus shined either way, but for an air-dweller Decepticus showed great promise in future Stealth classes – he moved silently, was very flexible and preferred to use his hooves instead of wings, for concealment’s sake.

Not once has the pony thought about just flying high, near the ceiling, that way avoiding the majority of threats that tended to haunt him on the ground – bullies, pop quizzes or teachers that had a bad day. Still, those gargoyles, manticores and dragons, sitting on top of their pillars… Decepticus wasn’t going to put the rumors to the test.

The colt was ready to dart to the next piece of cover, firing up his wings for a really low profile dash (one that makes his stomach bruised sometimes), when at the far end of the corridor he heard a laugh. On instincts, he collapsed his wings and huddled behind the suit of armor, his eyes seeking the source of the noise.

It was a golden-coated mare, one that went by the name of Lavender Gust. She was probably the most attractive and ‘loose’ mare in the whole academy. Decepticus dreamed of being with her, just like almost everypony else had, but the implications of even trying to get near her were over the pony’s head. He had no will to fight for such a prize with other interested bachelors.

Right behind Lavender was another mare – her cape was flapping wildly as she chased Gust down the corridor. Gosh, she looked really pissed off.

“Oh, Decepticus!” shouted the golden mare, stopping dead in her tracks.

The colt managed to yelp just before Trixie tackled her ‘friend’, tumbling a few feet forwards and landing on top of her.

“Oh, hihi, you got me! I surrender, I surrender!” laughed Lavender, her voice broken by Trixie shaking her head and shoulders violently.

“Tell me! Tell me now! Where are the preliminary tests, huh?! When!?”

“Oh, that’s all you want to know? Because, you know, Long Horn told me that he would really like for you to-”

“Stop stalling!” growled Trixie, squinting at the golden pony. Their muzzles were really close together – eyes full of aggression and anger versus a cheerful and playful gaze.

“Oh, I’m not doing anything! Hey, Decepticus!” Lavender turned her head to the side, looking at something behind Trixie. Nah, she would not fall for that old trick.

“Wanna see something neat?” The seductive pony raised an eyebrow.

“You’re wasting your time, there is nopony else here but- MHHHhhh~!”

Unexpectedly, the mare kissed Trixie. It wasn’t a regular kiss at all. Normal kisses go on the cheek. And don’t include…

“BLEEEH! Ptff, ptff!” Trixie jumped away, spitting wildly, her face burning with embarrassment and anger.

“Hihihi, Trix! I didn’t know you kissed that well. I’ll go and tell Long Horn about it! The light is green, the light is green!...” shouted Lavender, again fleeing down the corridor.

“Pttfff! What?! Lavender, you get back here this instant!”

* * *

Decepticus lay motionless behind the armor piece for some time after the spitting and cussing Trixie left the scene. How did Lavender know he was here? And what gives with that… K-Kiss? That was for him? Was it a message?

The colt shook his head, focusing on something more important that reared its ugly head. The crazy blue mare. She was talking about some kind of tests. It was still quite some time till the finals, and even if she meant some kind of random test, she added the word ‘preliminary’ before it. Could she mean the Elite Six? Did she pass the casting then?

This was not good. Decepticus applied as well – he faced Nightmare Moon as the very first student, having camped outside her room from the moment the announcement was made. Using his acting skills, he managed to shoo away any who tried to approach with a voice thrown in the vicinity of the door, mimicking sounds of torture and pain coming from the room. When the doors finally opened, he darted inside before anypony could lift a hoof. Or hand. Or something else.

The audition itself wasn’t as scary as one would suspect – Nightmare Moon was royalty after all, and despite being bored, she was very professional. She noticed the application was filled out correctly, and somehow his low posture and eyes darting around for any signs of danger entertained the headmistress.

“Yes, you show some promise. Trust no one, believe in nothing. Your allies now may be the enemies of tomorrow – even your siblings,” hissed the regal mare. “You will show yourself tomorrow at the preliminary tests. According to school ruler, I will not tell you where or when it will be. Try and not show up, though, and I will make you pay for wasting my time.”

Like most other students, he was cast to the dungeons and had to find his way out. Which was easy, considering that the colt made it a point to remember the layout of the whole academy, including secret passages and places that might be dangerous.

All things considered now, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to participate in this whole Elite Six gig. He didn’t have much of a choice now, but he should have thought it through. Lots of ponies and other things will be there to compete. Lots of them had ambitions. And Decepticus had only one life.

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the-pieman

the-pieman #1 · Jul 31st, 2012 · · ·

1003291 Yeah, but also, the reason he was defeated the second time was because he let his guard down thinking the elements would have no effect (like the first time the mane six tried) and when it turned out that it DID work, it was too late to get away. If Discord had a bit more foresight, he'd be REALLY hard to beat.

But yeah, just saying that unless you seriously nerfed Discord in this universe, he'd be fine on his own, he just lacks a bit of strategy. I'd be MORE than willing to help Discord, because aside from being an awesome antagonist, chaos IS a wonderful thing. He's just making things abnormal, and abnormality is a GOOD thing, if everyone thought and did the exact same things, we'd have NEVER invented anything. It's the weird people who come up with ideas to improve. Thank you chaos, you gave us the wheel.