Ch.46 Where It All Started
It never occurred to Rarity until very recently just how much control one's perception had over time. Of course, this wasn't in a literal sense. A second lasted a second, a minute a minute, an hour an hour, and so on. It was in how time seemed to pass by obscenely fast when she was having a good time with someone, but then seemed to crawl painfully slowly when she was trapped in a trying situation. Lately, she found herself experiencing the latter far more than the former as she forced herself to function for a whole week of school. Every second seemed to last an hour as she sat through lecture after lecture, class after class, every second making her want to scream at how pointless this all was to her. How could she sit in class like nothing is wrong when some monster had her sister in its clutches.
In her dreams however, that was a completely different story. In a dream, time was completely linked to one's perceptions on a literal level. In the eight hours she spent asleep, she experienced two months worth of intense training at the hand of her new element. At first, she wondered how this kind of training could really benefit her beyond the massive headache she was forced to endure after her first session. It was all a dream after all. When she looked in the mirror after her second session however, she quickly saw the perks of her situation. Her body had developed a slim yet toned build, not anywhere near the kind of dimensions Rainbow or Applejack possessed, but enough to show the signs of a very rigorous exercise routine. And she was not the only one to make this sudden shift in form. While it was harder to notice with her more sporty friends, Fluttershy seemed to benefit the most out of this strange form of training as her frail physique shifted into one similar to Rarity's.
As each day passed, more changes made themselves known. Rarity found that her reflexes were a lot more keen then they were the day before. Her stamina was significantly higher as well, allowing her to keep up with Rainbow Dash's lowest records without getting winded in the slightest. A very pleasant set of changes considering the nature of the magic she wielded.
When she eventually asked Sacrifice how this was possible, she explained that it was all thanks to the element's own magic. Through their bond, the element had transferred her dream body's progress into her material body. She would be lying if she didn't think of finding a way to abuse this in some way, but Sacrifice killed that notion very quickly and savagely when she told her what effect that would have on her in the long run. The idea of a severally shortened maximum lifespan and painful death was more than enough to encourage her to do things the old fashion way.
Probably the worst thing about her current situation was the waiting. Every second of every day weighed heavily on her, the knowledge that her sister was at the mercy of some horrible monster constantly taking a toll on her. She could see the same kind of stress in Applejack and Rainbow Dash as well. The heavy atmosphere around her and her friends made the waking hours a suffocating slog, but that was not the only thing she saw as they days passed.
Slowly, the burnt bridges between Sunset's new friends and her old ones were rebuilding, each of them doing whatever they could to lift their spirits. Lightning helped Rainbow vent her nerves through sparing at the local community center after school. Bonbon introduced Applejack to meditation to help her focus her mind, something that apparently helped them focus their magic and bodies if what the candy maker said was true. As for Rarity, Octavia let herself become a shoulder to cry on when the pressure became too much for her to handle. It was thanks to her that she decided to try going through her old katas as a way to relax, something that Rarity was surprised she still remembered how to do considering how long it was since she practiced Karate.
The rest of her group found other ways to stay in contact or contribute wherever they could. Rarity was sure she had misheard Sunset one day when she said that Fluttershy and Vinyl spent most of their time after school together sparing. While she was aware that her friend was a martial artist, Fluttershy was always the passive self-sparing type that never actively tried to find excuses to use her skills. When she saw the two girls going at it one day after school, her jaw hit the floor so hard she was sure the gym staff were still trying to buff the dent out even now. According to Sunset, Derpy was working tirelessly to find even a hint of where this Great Evil took the CMC. From the second she woke up to the moment she went to sleep, her eyes were locked onto a computer screen. It even got to the point that Sunset had to force her girlfriend to eat something on more than one occasion. Lyra became the emotional motivator of the group, adding her energy to the room whenever spirits seemed at their lowest with her bright smile and contagious charm.
Rarity sighed as she stared up at her bedroom ceiling, mentally preparing herself for what was to come the second she drifted off to sleep. Who could've predicted that her life was going to become this complicated when she enrolled in Canterlot High. While most girls her age stressed about boys or test scores, she had to contend with world ending beings from the abyss. It would've been hilarious if the stakes weren't so dire for everyone involved. The thought that eleven teenage girls were the world's last line of defense against the magical evils of the world was pure insanity in its finest. But if that was the case, what did it say about her mental state when she believed that they could actually pull it off?
As her eyes started to drift shut, a voice she never thought she would hear again made her sit upright.
"Rarity! Can you hear me?!"
"S-Sweetie Belle?" she stammered, eyes wide as she frantically looked around the room. "Is that really you?"
"Yes!" Sweetie said, her voice echoing off of the walls. "Please help me!
"I will Sweetie," Rarity said, her voice choked behind relieved tears. "J-Just tell me where you are."
"I don't know!" she cried, pure panic lacing her tone. "PLEASE! I'M SO SCARED! I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE! I WANT TO COME HOME, BUT SHE WON'T LET ME!"
"S-Sweetie, please calm down," Rarity said, attempting to sound calm in spite of her trembling tone. "Do you see anything around you? Anything that could give me an idea of where you are?"
"I-I'll try," she sniffled.
A few seconds of silence passed, but it may as well've been several years before the young girl's voice was heard again.
"I-I think I see a stream," she stammered.
"A stream?" Rarity asked, getting out of bed and changing out of her pajamas.
"Yeah, but it's hard to see under the bridge."
"A bridge?"
"Y-Yeah."
"That's good Sweetie!" she beamed as she pulled on a shirt. "Tell me about the bridge! Do you see any signs or anything that could help me narrow down where you are?"
"I-I'll try!" she whimpered.
Another moment of silence passed through the room. Meanwhile, Rarity frantically threw on whatever she had available at the time, not once caring if what she wore matched or any other trivial matter. If it was clean, it would due. No sooner had she locked her belt around her waste did Sweetie's voice break the silence.
"I see a sign!" Sweetie cheered. "It says Canter Creek Bridge!"
Rarity froze, all the blood draining away from her face and freezing in her chest. Of all the places the monster could've taken her sister, it had to be that infernal suicide bridge. The very same bridge that Sunset admitted to nearly throwing herself off of not too long ago.
She took a shuddering breath and said, "Thank you Sweetie. I will be there as soon as I can. Please, stay safe until then."
"P-Please hurry," Sweetie whimpered. "I-I'm scared of what the monster will do."
"Of course," she smiled. "I love you Sweetie."
"M-Me too sis," she sniffled.
Rarity grabbed her phone off of her nightstand and started sifting through her contacts. After a moment of searching, she tapped a contact and brought the phone to her ear as she walked out of her room. On the second ring Sunset's groggy voice came in on the line.
"Rarity? What's-"
"Sweetie and her friends are at the Canter Creek Bridge," she said flatly an unstable cocktail of emotions whirling through her heart as she made her way towards the front door.
"Canter Creek Bridge? Are you sure?" Sunset asked, the sounds of her getting out of bed coming over the line.
"Yes," she said, plucking her car keys off of a holder hook by the door. "Sweetie told me herself."
"What?" Sunset sputtered. "How?"
"I'm not sure," she admitted, the cold night air cutting into her like a razor as she stepped out of the house. "But I'm not going to let her pleas fall of deft ears."
"Right," Sunset sighed. "Derpy and I will get in touch with everyone else and meet you there. Don't try to do this by yourself. We have no idea what we're dealing with."
"I promise darling," she smiled, getting into her car and closing the door. "Please hurry."
As she put her key into the ignition she never noticed the shadow of a small girl standing near the parked vehicle, a wide twisted grin spread across her face as she faded back into the darkness. Everything was going just as her mother planned. Sweetie could only hope her fake sister tasted just as good as she looked.
***
"This is a trap," Octavia said flatly, her eyes staring out into the near empty streets from her backseat in Rose Luck's SUV.
"You think so too, huh?" Lightning sighed from her seat one row ahead of her.
"This is so stupid," Vinyl growled, her elbow taping her sister's arm as she crossed her arms. "We still don't know anything about this thing and we're just gonna walk right into it's den?"
"We don't really have much of a choice," Bonbon sighed, putting a comforting hand on the DJ's shoulder. "If we don't go, Rarity would probably try to save her all by herself. At least like this we can watch each other's backs if things get nasty. I don't know if we're ready for this, but-"
"We are," Lyra said, cutting off her friend from her place at Lightning's left.
"How do you know?" Octavia asked, blinking in shock at her friend's show of confidence.
"Because we need to be," Sunset cut in, her tone resolved as she stared out into the dark streets from her seat in the front passenger seat. "We've been training for... a long ass time in our dreams for this and now its time to show what we've got. I don't know about all of you, but I'm not gonna stop until those three kids are home safe and sound."
"Took the words out of my mouth dragon girl," Lyra chuckled. "What do you all think?"
"That this is probably the stupidest thing I've ever done," Vinyl sighed, then grinned as she added, "About damn time I found something like that around here!"
"Someone needs to make sure my dear sister doesn't blow up a building," Octavia chuckled. "Where she goes, I go."
"Do you even need to ask?" Lightning smirked, slamming her fist into her open palm. "Just tell me who to deck!"
Sunset chuckled at that and turned her head towards her girlfriend. At the same time, her girlfriend gave her a small smile from behind the wheel. She would be lying if she said she wasn't a bit nervous about what was going to happen, but there was no way in hell she was going to let Sunset wander into danger like that. All of her training had led up to this moment and she'd eat her own false eye before she'd let all of it go to waste. She was going to make sure that everyone came back from this safe, even if she had to be the one to take their places.
A cold chill shot down her spine when a familiar towering structure came into view. A similar reaction ran through everyone in the vehicle as she pulled into the bridge's parking lot. Sunset's eyes were locked onto the structure as Derpy parked. Just like every other time she saw it, her mind flashed back to that night so many weeks ago. She shivered as the cold from that night came back to her and the memories of just how empty she was that night, how hopeless the world felt as she prepared to jump.
The sound of Derpy pulling the key out of the ignition snapped her out of her dark memories. With a determined frown she let herself out of the car. The rest of her group did the same a few seconds later and made their way towards the bridge. As they walked, they noticed four figures standing in front of the stairs that led up towards the bridge's pedestrian platform. A relieved sigh slipped past Sunset's lips as she recognized them as the rest of her group.
"You waited," Sunset said as she approached Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow, and Fluttershy.
They nodded.
"I did promise didn't eye?" Rarity smirked.
"Had ta' hold Dash back a few times," Applejack frowned, glaring at her friend.
"I just want Scoots back," Rainbow grumbled. "Kid's been through enough already."
"We all want them back," Fluttershy said, placing a gentle hand on Rainbow's shoulder. "But we have to do this together."
"I know," she sighed.
"Well, now we're here," Sunset sighed glaring up at the bridge. "Let's do this."
Everyone nodded and as one, they made their way up the stairs. The second they set foot on the pedestrian platform, they all felt a sudden shift in atmosphere. The air felt cold and oily, like something was infecting it with a toxic haze. A deathly silence surrounded them as they slowly walked further onto the platform, even their footsteps on the metal floor muted as they moved. Fleeting movements in the dark corners of their vision caught their attention at random moments. They could feel eyes tracking them from the shadows as they carefully scanned their surroundings.
"Stay close everyone," Sunset whispered, her hands tingling as her magic reacted to the rancid energy that surrounded them.
They all nodded and continued to scan their surroundings. A cold chill slid down their spines as a cold feminine chuckle echoed off of everything. A dark mass slithered around them in the shadows, the laughter seeming to trail behind it like the slime of a snail as it moved.
"Well, well, well," the voice snickered. "What do we have here? Eleven little lambs that have come to their slaughter? How sweet. Welcome my dears, to the last night of your lives. Bask in the cold chill, for it will be the last time you will feel it."
"Who are you?" Sunset growled, her blood boiling as the dark energy around her continued to grow. "Show yourself!"
"Such fire," the voice purred. "Amazing what a difference a couple of weeks can make. It will make breaking you all the more pleasurable."
"ANSWER ME!!!" Sunset roared.
The voice laughed harder at that and said, "Very well."
At that moment, the black mass slithered out of the shadows into the center of the platform. The girls watched with wide eyes as the mass bubbled and hissed like heated oil. Slowly, the mass rose and shifted into a vaguely human shape before assuming the hourglass shape of a woman. It looked like it was wearing a flowing black dress, but there was no separation from the creature's skin and what passed as clothing. Her face was absent with a blank layer of black "skin" in its place with long wriggling black tendrils taking the place of hair on her head.
Every instinct they had told them to run, that the thing in front of them was dangerous. They fought against that instinct as they stood their ground. The creature turned its head towards them and though it lacked a face, they could feel a mocking smile aimed at them.
"To answer your question, I am Lily Bouquet, though most know me as Lily of the Velvet Tongue. Now, are you ready to-"
"Where's Scoots?" Rainbow demanded, taking a step towards Lily.
"What have you done with Sweetie you demon!?" Rarity snarled, taking a stand next to Rainbow.
"Ah swear," Applejack growled, joining her friends. "If ya'll hurt one hair on their heads Ah'll-"
She never got a chance to finish her threat.
A split second before she could add to her threat, Lily appeared a foot in front of the trio. Her arms were out wide with fingers curved into claws in a threatening manor as she towered a full foot over the apple farmer. A fang-lined mouth appeared on her "face" as she snarled, "YOU DARE THINK I WOULD HURT MY OWN CHILDREN?! FINISH THAT THREAT YOU WORTHLESS COW! I DARE YOU! I SWEAR I WILL PAINT MY BRIDGE WITH YOUR BLOOD AND FEED YOUR GUTS TO THE STRAYS THAT PASS BY!"
Before the terrified teen could say anything, a yellow hand flew past her head from behind her and sunk its fingertips into Lily's neck. Shaken out of her shock, Applejack looked over her shoulder and spotted a very angry Fluttershy glaring hatefully at the monster she stabbed her nails into. Lily looked down at the girl that dared to strike her and her makeshift mouth twisted itself into a hideous smile.
"Dear Fluttershy, striking at shadows now, are we? Though I suppose it's an improvement over cowering from them."
As she said that, the Wraith melted back into the ground and vanished from sight. Everyone frantically looked around for her, none of them eager to have the Wraith sneak up on them. It was with that in mind that each of them one by one Ponyed-up. Sunset was about to do the same, but before she could say the chant to undo her seal, a maelstrom of dark energy swirled around her. Yelps of fear came from the rest of her party as a similar fate befell them.
"Oh how I've waited for this moment," Lily purred, her voice coming from everywhere again as everything became consumed by shadow. "Your despair will be the like the finest wine, the heartiest of feasts. Rejoice, for you shall feed myself and my children for a good long while. But first, you must be properly prepared. After all, only the ripest of fruits taste the sweetest. Come into my world Sunset. All of you. Come and know true despair."
With that, the storm of darkness dissipated and eleven young girls vanished. As silence once again made itself known on the bridge a single truth did so as well. The time for war has begun.
And so it begins.
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Fluttershy is going to completely wreck this wraith.
Power and conditioning is great, that dream trick is some excellent mojo, but they're still green. They really should have called Hearth's Warming back from Equestria.
Ma'am, I know this mood through another pinkette from a different universe. Please don't provoke her; she already wants your blood.
Lily has absolutely no idea just who she's pissed off, and just what she's in for, does she?
Especially since there's still one Bearer/wild card unaccounted for, and who hasn't come into play yet.
A certain new Gapwalker that we all know and love.
To say nothing of the fact that a certain ArchWraith doesn't know about Sunny's rather... ehm... fiery secret.
Yet.
Oh, yeah.
Lily, you is about to get wrecked!
10204848 Yeah, she is.
(Although I imagine that they'll all get their licks in before this is over.)
10204866 Well put.
Waiting already for Pinkie to pull the Big Damn Heroes trope
Call me far too genre savvy, but...
Good, I'm not the only one who thinks so.
Time to murder a demon
Ohhhhhhhhh está genial sigue no dejes en suspenso XD
10210535 Very nice.
burnt
Lily your no mother just a disease. Sooo...
Looks like I'll run out of chapters before this ark is done. So I think I'll come back to it later. Leaving a story hanging with one of the villains mind controlling children leaves me in a bad mood.
My preferred method for dealing with Lily:
Step 1 seal her off in her pocket dimension.
Step 2 Remove any hostages.
Step 3 Generate a small star(10 meter radius) in said pocket dimension, element holy/light.
Step 4 Have star go super nova.
Let them blow up that bridge by the end.
10370189
A good plan the explosion is small but a good start.
10205758
By definition you can't murder a Demon.
Murder :
noun
the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another.
"the stabbing murder of an off-Broadway producer"
If it isn't human then it isn't murder.