Paper Girl

by leeroy_gIBZ

Epilogue

Canterlot City looked quite sad now, like a little piece of magic had been cut out of it one night while it slept beneath a stormcloud blanket. Under a perpetual fog of grim anxiety, the citizens walked with heads hung low and heels bent to break into a life-or-death sprint at any given second. The murders had shocked the populace, drained all the colour from their facades, left them cautious and weary. Although only a year had passed since the deaths of one Rarity Belle and Shamrock Kicks, most people look as if five had passed - five stressful years, necks crooked from constantly glancing over shoulders and behind corners, eyes bagged from sleepless nights and uncertain mournings. The myth that the magical city was one of joy and eternal G-rated Saturday mornings was dead and, with it, the trumpets of war had been sounded inaudibly.

Although the human world had no idea, it wasn’t their Rarity had been shot to bits one chill suburban afternoon and left, in a pool of her own steaming blood, for her supposed parents to encounter that evening. Rather, the once Formula One driver and now convict Lightning Dust had killed a rather important emissary; an Element of Harmony; a friend. And, power being what it was - that being more addictive that crack-laced heroin and more tempting to misuse than a whole bag of the narcotic stuff - it had gone to the new Princess’s head.

Spies wandered the grey streets of Canterlot, noting and document and recording and, most of all, preparing. Sunset Shimmer, now a relatively successful solo act, might have once had the idea to invade her homeland with an army of zombified teenagers - Twilight Sparkle, now a dictator who made King Sombra look like Ghandi, planned to invade the woman’s new home with an army of crack troops and magically-enhanced artillery. Across the portal, in a world crumbling from the destruction of its balanced harmony and one of its bearers thereof, millions awaited deployment.

But nobody on the other side knew that. Not even the General’s own counterpart, one Captain Shining Armor. He was oblivious, to that at least. Otherwise, had become fairly sharp - and fairly distinguished to boot. For his service in solving the Case of the Grand Theft Auto Killer; recovering the culprit’s remains and putting her own murderer behind bars; he had been promoted to commissioner of his city’s force and now enjoyed success equivalent to, and a bigger house than, that of his father’s. Not that he saw her much these days, both were so busy, but he would also insist that his wife was beautiful.

Said wife, still Cadance, was busy namely because she had taken on some rather serious reforms. Intent on stopping any more miscreants before such mayhem could happen again, ensuring that all her students could for once complete a year in which they all graduated alive and uninjured, she enforced some rather serious policy changes to the school she principaled - in the past year, Crystal Prep Academy’s growing spirit of camaraderie and cheer had been stamped out. Anything that would put the students at risk - anything that would enable another Rarity Belle - was prohibited. Dating, partying, even bunking classes; all were threatened with suspension, and followed through with expulsion.

How fortunate it was then that her own sister-in-law, one Twilight Sparkle, had graduated in the terms before such Cinch-like dictates were reinforced. Never having felt properly comfortable in the Rainbooms band she had left it soon afterwards - like Fluttershy had for Brazil’s rainforests and Sunset had for her own wanderlust - and Twilight had accompanied her girlfriend, one Sunny Flare, to the prestigious Everton University. There the two did fantastically, each knocking out an entire degree in eight months. First Sunny invented holographic clothing, Twilight a handheld lie detector. Then it was a hangover pill.

The other Shadowbolts, save for Sour Sweet who had at most a bit part in this story and thus shan’t be discussed, also did rather well for themselves. After at last attaining the autograph of one Billy Club, PI, Indigo Zap went on to have a particularly distinguished career - performing well enough to make herself famous not once but three whole times; an extra face on the front page news for each of her incapacitated siblings. Whether it was BMX, pro wrestling, or soccer, she excelled and managed, quite single handedly, to bring her family name back into good standing.

Sugarcoat, meanwhile, wrote a movie and called it Crystal Apocalypse [link] that was based on some quite odd coma dreams she’d had while stuffed in the stolen police car. Although it bombed, it remained a staunch cult classic and kicked off her career as a talk show host. There, on the ingeniously-named Sugarcoat Show, she gave mediocre advice to fantastic reception, being renowned for her blunt no-nonsense attitude and deadpan sense of humor. One time, she even managed to score an interview with self-proclaimed party rocker extraordinaire, and her old schoolmate, Lemon Zest.

Her band, Heavy Metal Ümlat - which she insisted had been spelled like that, that being incorrectly, on purpose - had done fairly well. In fact, it was world famous and ranked itself among such greats as Motörhead, Iron Maiden, and Black Sabbath, as one of the most influential metal bands of all time; despite, or perhaps because of, being a girl-band whose keyboardist claimed to be from another dimension and who regularly found herself appearing in scandals the likes of which even Italian politicians might think twice about initiating. Why, just last week alone, Rarity Belle - the Other one - had managed to crash her speedboat. Into the penthouse floor. From a helicopter!

But that was last week; this week and this morning, the self-proclaimed fashionista extraordinaire puffed her second cigarette of the day, spitting a nimbus of menthol smoke into the funk of her hotel room. Beside her, her girlfriend and regular partner in crime, Lyra Heartstrings moaned an eye open to stare at her lover.

“Why’d you stop, Rares?” she mumbled, lifting her face up off the pillow and pulling the covers back over her naked body.

Rarity paused for a minute. She sighed, brushing a fringe of amethyst hair out of her face as to better enjoy the dawn seascape roiling some hundred storeys below, the grey-pink waves nearly lapping sand and salt spray at the hotel’s foundations while the storm raged hail and heartache against the windows above. For a few seconds, she remembered the last time she’d awoken in this particular penthouse suite. Most of it, she recalled fondly – the preceding afternoon, not so much at all. Pulling herself up a bit, Lyra accidentally ran a hand over the lace of scars running down her girlfriend and bandmate’s forearm. That called for a shiver in response – and not a sexual one either.

“Did I do something wrong, my little pony?” the harpist asked, glancing nervously at the way her partner coolly stared and smoked.

“No, not at all,” Rarity eventually replied as the rains began to thunder down and blot out the scarlet skies, “Darling, you’re perfect.”

Quickly, she grinned. Faster, it faded to a frown. “Then what’s wrong?” Lyra repeated, turning fully to face her, drawing her into a hug. “I mean, you can tell me. Nobody will know.”

“Fret not, my dearest. I’m just really not a morning person. And, who would be, given that just night we… ah,” she paused for a few seconds as the haze of memories clarified through her hangover, “eighteen bottles of champagne, was it? I’m a little tired, that’s all.”

That and she still couldn’t get the smell of their blood out of her nose. She killed more since then, but had done a great deal of a better job hiding the bodies. Still, best to lay low with Commissioner Armor on the warpath again, catching “spies” right and left.

But lied to for the umpteenth time and being more aware of the wars fought in alternate dimensions that the deception – that being not at all – Lyra merely sighed relief. After releasing her lover with a kiss, she sprung out of bed to meet the day and to prepare for the evening’s concert. While she did that – fumbling on some suitably punk apparel over her lingerie – Rarity sighed.

The sociopath sniffed back a tear. “Sometimes…” she whispered, quite enough to be muffled out under the commotion outside.

Sometimes, she wished that she was normal.

But that will never happen.

Author's Note:

And there we go. The story is done. Thanks for sticking around, mates. With luck and patience, this all shall hopefully be converted into original fiction and published one of these days. Until then, I've been Leroy and this has been Paper Girl.

Comments

[Blood Rarity]

[fanreader999999]

The sociopath sniffed back a tear. “Sometimes…” she whispered, quite enough to be muffled out under the commotion outside.

Sometimes, she wished that she was normal.

Lol.

[TigerCat111]

Well done, and Bravo.

[Leondude]

Sugarcoat, meanwhile, wrote a movie and called it Crystal Apocalypse that was based on some quite odd coma dreams she’d had while stuffed in the stolen police car. Although it bombed, it remained a staunch cult classic and kicked off her career as a talk show host.

I'm guessing it's this one:

TCrystal Apocalypse: Redux

• Equestria Girls
• Dark
• Adventure
• Thriller

The world has ended, and left a deadly wasteland behind. Sugarcoat and Sonata attempt to survive it and defeat an army of deranged raiders.

• Violence
• Gore
• Death
• Human
• Alt. Universe
• OC
• Other
• Dazzlings
• Rarity (EqG)
• Shadowbolts (EqG)

leeroy_gIBZ · 12k words  ·  11  7 · 411 views

Makes sense since James Cameron based the Terminator films of a dream he had involving a robot skeleton. Hopefully, I didn't accidentally spoil anything for Crystal Apocalypse.

[leeroy_gIBZ]

9992285
Nothing was spoiled; I'm glad somebody got the reference.

[Leondude]

10877964
Because "spaz" is short for "spastic", which is a slur against disabled people.

[Orphan]

10878024
Oh. I was called a spaz because of the way my hand—now arm—muscles would seize and throw whatever I might be holding across the room. Or halfway through the wall

[PaulAsaran]

You can has review!