Dusk's Seven
He must have gone over the reports at least a dozen times. An entire month had passed, and still Dusk found no leads as to the whereabouts of the missing Flash Sentry. According to the reports, given by his brother and sister-in-law, Flash had engaged King Sombra with the Royal Guard, but challenged the Umbrum directly. Though he fought valiantly, in the end it proved fruitless, and he had been slain by the shadow king. He was shocked to learn of this news when he heard his family, and friends in the Crystal Empire tell him this, but now......something didn't seem right about it. Among many of his other qualities, King Sombra was NOT someone who usually killed others, even in combat. He was too resourceful, and was interested more in enslaving others to use for his ambitions. It wasn't his style to kill other ponies, let alone one, if past interviews with the Crystal Ponies who had mostly received enough psychiatric help to overcome their ptsd from Sombra's reign, managed to tell some accounts of his time as 'Emperor'.
So why now, of all times, did he decide to kill a single soldier out of anypony else - especially the rulers of what he considered HIS empire?
Something didn't sit right about it, especially when considering no physical remains had been found at the scene of the battle. So is it possible that Flash may actually be alive? Aside from their previous encounters, they still didn't know how King Sombra fully worked. But they could tell he was not one to waste what he considered resources like slaves. And he surely would have no need to kill when his magic's strong enough to enthrall anypony it's used on. So what the hay was going on? Dusk's thoughts were cut when a sudden knock came to his door. He jolted in surprise, but quickly recomposed himself. "Come in!" He said aloud for the knocker to hear. And that one so happened to be Starlight Glimmer. "Hi, Dusk. I was wondering where you were, so I cam to check on you."
"Thank you, Starlight." Dusk said appreciatively, before returning to the notes on his desk. Since it was still school break, Dusk had decided to multi-task: going over the students previous work, and establish their grades (which recent events prevented him from doing so), and taking it upon himself to unravel the mystery of Flash Sentries disappearance. The student's pile was neatly stacked, but his notes were all over the place. "But i'm alright, really. Just...got caught up in all this work." Once Starlight got close enough, she saw exactly what kind of "work" Dusk had been performing. "Uh-huh. Does that include making a shrine or a bunch of "missing" posters?" She asked as she pointed to the gathered notes, and all the pictures of Flash Sentry. Dusk was startled when this was brought up, and he nervously chuckled. "N-no, no, nothing like that!" He stammered, reorganizing the "Sentry Files" as he nicknamed them, into a neat little pile before sliding the Student's final exams next to them. "I just thought I'd multi-task, and get all of the student's work finally graded, and investigate Flash Sentries disappearance at the same time. You know: mix my Head Stallion, and future Ruler of Equestria duties together in one mondo big combo! Right?" He asked in a tone more nervous, and exaggerated than he had intended.
Starlight sighed, as she knew that Dusk had been working himself into a frenzy again. He was Dusking once again, and since she was the only one there, it was up to her to snap him out of it. "Dusk, first of all, I want you to take a few deep breaths, and calm yourself so we can talk." Confused at first, because he only got a few hours of sleep because of this work he threw himself into, so he wasn't thinking fully, he still did as she said regardless. His eyes shut as he did so, and Starlight felt the desire to lighten the load a bit. So she sent some meditative calming charms into Dusk to help his endorphin levels kick in, and help him relax at just the right level. It was cheating, yes, but Dusk deserved the help with all the strain he was undergoing. After taking ten deep breaths for good measure, Dusk's eyes fluttered open, and he laughed pleasantly. "Hey, it worked! Why do I keep forgetting to do this when i'm stressing out all the time? Maybe I wouldn't go stir crazy afterwards. I should write a to-do list to remind me to-"
"Duuuuusk." Starlight said sternly, putting her hoof on a clipboard he already had out, and putting it on the table while giving him a firm but concerned stare. The stallion sighed and relented. "Okay, fine. Shouldn't be that hard to remember, anyway."
"Not with a bit of memory enhancing charms I mixed in, you won't." Starlight brightly smiled to herself before saying, "Now, wanna tell me what this is REALLY all about?"
Looking down at his Sentry Notes again, Dusk's ears lowered as he let out a dejected sigh. "Okay: i'm personally investigating the disappearance of Flash Sentry the day King Sombra invaded the Crystal Empire a second time. I know I already told you this, but he gave his live fighting Sombra, and was the only pony standing. In the end, his strength wasn't enough, and Sombra......." he struggled to say it, but he garnered the nerve to do so anyway, "ended his life." Now Starlight understood: Dusk was feeling guilty that somepony had actually died before he, and the other girls stopped Sombra. And she recalled him having been friends with the human counterpart of Flash Sentry in the mirror world Equestria. Not to mention his brief encounter with the Flash Sentry in question now, though it was only one time. Based on what the others said, he seemed like he had an..........interest in the rocker from the human world.
But what neither she, nor Dusk were aware of was someone eavesdropping on this conversation - a pony, concealed by the brush in front of the windows, left only a crack open. Just enough to listen in. And whoever they were, they were quite interested in what Dusk Shine was talking about. "I remember, Dusk." Starlight said sympathetically. "He really sounded like a true hero, giving his life to protect your family, and the Crystal Empire like that."
"But that's just it!" Dusk exclaimed, almost making Starlight jump from his reaction. "From what i've seen, and know of Sombra, he has no real need for ending the lives of others when he can just make himself some more slaves. So why was this the only exception?" Dusk asked his vice headmare rhetorically. "If anything, I would thing King Sombra would want to use someone with Flash's skill, and bravery as an asset to his forces. Wasting the life of a skilled warrior doesn't fit his M.O., Starlight. So, with Princess Celestia, Cadence, and Shining Armor's permission, i'm doing a little investigation to find out the full facts, and make sure Flash is alive." Both the mystery pony, and Starlight had to admire Dusk's devotion to this case. Both seemed to wonder something extremely similar, but of course, Starlight was the one to voice the question. "He really means that much, does he?" She inquired with a bit of a joking flirtation. Dusk, however, didn't quite pick up on her hint, and absent-mindedly said, "Well, of course. He gave everything he had to defend my brother, sister-in-law, AND my niece from anything King Sombra may have done. As far as i'm concerned, he's earned the right to be considered a friend, and when we find him, i'll tell him, myself."
The figures eyes widened in surprise, but didn't seem happy with that answer for some reason. Starlight, all the while, continued holding the eye of curiosity, and egged on even further. "Aaaand this doesn't have anything to do with your on-again off-again crush on the guy?" This managed to catch Dusk by surprise, and the figure held a hopeful expression. "WH-WHAT?! No, nononononono! Of course not!" Dusk frantically said shaking his head, and waving his hooves left and right. "I hardly even know him that well, anyway." he said, calming himself down. "Remember, it was the human Flash Sentry I got to know. And..... while I admit, he was a nice guy, and I really did admire him for his concern, and kindness. But it didn't really go any further than that. After Battle of the Bands, I thought it might.........but the moment was cut short, and then later I had to leave." he then sighed. "And to be honest, now that i'm a ruler, and soon to be King of Equestria, there's no way I could ever make it work. Sunset told me he realized it when they went to Summer Camp, so that makes it easier. And as I said, even though they are technically the same individual, human and pony Flash are different people. I haven't even spoken with him since I first went through the mirror, and came back. I doubt he even thinks of me as anything other than the Prince of Friendship."
He then gave Starlight a knowing glance. "And don't think I couldn't tell you were trying to tease me with potential romance, Star." A statement which made the unicorn chuckle nervously as she realized she had been figured out. "As much as the thought has crossed my mind, it would never work out between us, anyway. He lives in the Empire, and serves under my brother. I live in Ponyville, and eventually i'll return to Canterlot. I can't even begin to think of how we could make the kind of relationship you're teasing me about work." The pony outside seemed despondent, and downtrodden by such a statement. Their head lowered in sadness, ears included, and they heard all that they needed to hear. So they snuck away without drawing any kind of attention, while Starlight had something else to say. "Dusk, i've known you long enough to know that what you say is ridiculous."
Dusk almost seemed outraged. "Excuse me?"
"It's ridiculous! Just because you can't get together with one alternate version of someone, doesn't mean you can't with the other." She then leaned on Dusk's desk, and gave him an expression she normally does when she's trying to help her friend see reason. "You said that Sunset Shimmer told you in her last writing that Flash Sentry in her world was still conflicted in regards to how he feels about you, but thanks to her 'tough love' advice, he understood she was right and accepted it. Heck, I even paid a small visit back to the mirror world-" She notes the quick disapprovingly glare Dusk gives her at having been told this AFTER she'd done it, when he gave her no leave to do so, and chuckled nervously. "j-just for some sight-seeing, that's all! And I happened to go back to that shopping place everypo-....er, everyone goes to, and saw Sunset with that world's Flash. The two really look like they're patching things up slowly, but surely." She then smiled when she saw a hint of approval from Dusk, who was privately happy Sunset was apparently rekindling her friendship with Flash. He is a good person, and he cares alot for others, just like the Sunset of now. If those two rekindled their old relationship, it might make the cycle finish, and it would certainly be great because this time it would be genuine. Starlight, of course, quickly pulled him out of his thoughts as she said, "Which means you don't have to worry about Flash from the mirror world, anymore. No doubt he'll still see you as his friend, even with your counterpart running around, and that's good. This just means if you have any feelings for him that you haven't gotten over, you should at least try, and share them with this world's Flash." She giggled. "If that world can make nearly exact versions of everypony we know, then whose to say the same can't be for Flash? Once we get him back, try getting to know him, and see what he's really like. You never know: he might even like you the same way his counterpart did. Just go with your gut, and give it a try."
Dusk thought the idea over for a long while. While he had doubts still, and hints of uncertainty, he also knew Starlight was usually right about these kind of things because she was always talking from the heart. And his own heart told him that somewhere deep inside was room for a certain stallion who might very well be the same as the one he knows. With that in mind, he said, "I'll consider what you say, Starlight. For now, let's focus on finding him before going any further than that." Starlight nodded in agreement as Dusk stamped a hoof on a sheet of paper.
"Dusk! Dusk!" Called out as he sailed into his brother's office, with parchment in hand. "Shining Armor just sent in a letter!" He exclaimed excitedly. "Do you know what today is?" Dusk was confused at first at this information, as he began doing the best he could to connect Spikes excitement with a letter from their older brother. However, once he recalled the mentioning of today, memory struck him hard, and he shared an excited look as the purple drake. "Do you mean........?!"
"Uh-huh!" Spike nodded as he unfurled the parchment to show an inscription, and the picture of a toy crown made of tin foil. "Today's the Challenge for Sibling Supreme!"
Dusk leaped out of his seat, and gracefully landed in front of the parchment as he happily laughed. "Is it really today?! This is awesome! I can't believe it!"
"Aaaaand I have no idea what's going on anymore." Starlight bluntly stated. "Why are the two of you getting so worked up over a toy crown?" Only a moment after she asked that, she received a sarcastic chuckle from Dusk as he put an arm around her shoulders. "Starlight, Starlight, Starlight. Dear, sweet, innocent Starlight. You know I love you, right? You're one of my best friends, of course: but as somepony who doesn't have siblings of her own, I don't think you can fully appreciate the novelty of this "toy crown"." He let her go, and explained, "This is not just some toy crown: it's the crown for Sibling Supreme."
"Sibling Supreme?" Starlight asked in complete confusion.
"Yeah." Spike said, as he trotted over to the unicorns. "It's a competition our mom and dad made for my brothers when they were kids." His expression lowered into a disappointed one. "Unfortunately, I was too young to be part of it because I was still a baby at the time." His expression then turned hopeful as he looked to Dusk. "Maybe this time can be different."
Dusk chuckled. "We'll talk to Shining about it, but personally, I don't think that's going to be an issue anymore." He then rubbed Spike on the head in a light noogie, before Spike giggled and brushed his hoof off. "It's not like you're a baby dragon anymore: in fact, I think you qualify as the "big little brother"." Spike and Dusk laughed together at that. "Shining's sure in for a big surprise when he sees me."
"Okay, hold on, time out!" Starlight exclaimed, literally crossing her hooves. "As the only one who doesn't have any idea on what this is about, would somepony PLEASE explain what this "sibling supreme" thing is about? It just sounds like a silly contest of some kind." The two brothers looked to each other, and Spike nodded his head to give Dusk permission to explain. He sheepishly said, "Well.....you're not a hundred percent wrong.", before he cleared his throat and explained everything. "Like Spike said before, when he was still an infant, and both Shining and me were kids, our parents wanted both of us to stay in a good relationship as siblings: so they created a little contest for us to take part in. All because when we were young, even though we did everything together, and loved each other very much, we competed over everything: even little things like kite-flying, and pottery of all things." Dusk chuckled remembering how Shining knocked Dusk's kite out of the air and it accidentally crashed through Spike, and when Shining tried making a pot, it flopped over like much. Both moments had no ill intent, and the two shared in the amusement. "To keep it friendly, and to ensure we had a healthy sibling relationship, mom and dad set up a chart, and gave each of us a gold star whenever we did something special: Sharing, getting good grades, even telling a really funny joke!" Once more, Dusk's memories flew back to each instance he noted, with the first including Shining sharing his apple slice with Spike, too, followed by a school term where Dusk aced a test while Shining did poorly, and lastly, when Shining told the family a funny joke Spike was too young to understand. "At the end of each week, we tallied each number of gold stars we both received." The memory of one of the times Dusk won the crown fondly flashed through his mind, with a disappointed Shining ashamed he lost, and Spike was adorably drawing his own gold stars, while Dusk practically fawned over the tin crown he had won. "The winner with the most stars earned the crown of the sibling supreme - and bragging rights, til next time!"
"Guess that explains your love of charts, aaaand so much else." Starlight snarked, pulling Dusk out of his memory stupor that left him in the same fawning pose as his younger self, and looking somewhat embarrassed when his tendencies were called out once again, but in a more humorous fashion.
"Now, it looks like the time's come to settle the sibling supreme score." Spike said, fondly touching the pick as he remembered how badly he wanted to be part of this game. He then realized there was more to the letter, and cleared his throat. "But that's not all, apparently." When Dusk looked at him inquisitively, Spike folded out the scroll, and read the whole message. "His letter reads: Dear Dusk, an important matter has come up over in Canterlot. However, seeing as how today is also the day of the Sibling Supreme competition, I figured "why not kill two birds with one stone?" Come to Canterlot Castle ASAP to both discuss the matters at hoof, and to finally decide who deserves the right to be called sibling supreme, once and for all."
The dragon, and the alicorn then gave each other a knowing smirk..........then shouted "RACE YOU!" before bolting out the door, leaving Starlight in a spinning cycle for a minute. By the time she recovered, Dusk was running down the hallways, nearly bumping into a marble statue while Spike merely soared through the air ahead of him thanks to his newly grown wings. Starlight, the poor dear, was left befuddled as to what she should do. So she simply shouted loud enough for Dusk to hear, "So, I guess i'll look after the school, and paperwork, then?", before heading back into the office perplexed.
All unaware of the night blue cloud of starry smoke trailing after the two brothers.
The brothers decided not to waste any time on train rides, and flew all the way to Canterlot. Even continuing their little race through flight to see who could get to the castle gates first. Spike ended up winging that, though Dusk briefly argued otherwise. Once they got tired of bickering, they ran and flew respectively inside. Narrowly avoiding hitting anything, or bumping into anypony, be they guards or servants. Soon enough, they reached the doors to the throne room where they knew Shining Armor would be, since there was need for discussion with Celestia if his letter was any indication. As expected, the purple alicorn and dragon saw their brother conversing with Princess Celestia and Luna before quickly noticing their arrival. However, Dusk slid across the ground as he halted in his tracks. A horrified gasp escaping his throat as he saw something so unbelievable, and incredible it almost left him speechless.
The Crown of the Sibling Supreme atop the brow of a smirking Captain Shining Armor.
"SERIOUSLY?!" Dusk exclaimed in complete aggravation at the sight. "You're already wearing the stupid thing?!"
The smirk never left Shining's mouth as he said, "Look, little bro, I know you've always held a grudge because I left home with this." He pointed a hoof at the perplexed alicorn, who shook his head to try and regain his composure. Try, being the definitive word. "Who, me? Holding a grudge? Pfft! That's stupid - and ridiculous - and totally an immature thing to say," he denied in a childish manner, before he spoke in a passive-aggressive tone saying, "Just because you won the last Sibling Supreme contest, and then left with the crown before I could even have a chance to win it back. Whose bothered by things like that, huh? Not me, that's who."
Shining chuckled, "Sure, Dusk." He then finally noticed Spike who was sitting, and observing the exchange. As the dragon hoped, his older brother was quite surprised to see him fo grown up. "Holy cow, Spike! Is that really you?!" Shining then smiled at the drake while circling around him to get a better look. "I guess those reports I read weren't exaggerating after all: you had quite the growth spurt, haven't you?"
Spike chuckled a little, before looking down at his hands.......and remembering the source of his new growth. "I guess so." Before taking on a shamed look on his face. "And all it took was being made into a Dark Revenant by that psychotic monster." When Shining saw this, he gave the dragon a sympathetic look, and a hoof to the shoulder. "Spike, don't blame yourself for what Sombra did to you...and what he made you do. Trust me when I say I know what it's like to be made into some despotic monster's puppet. Just be happy Dusk, and your friends saved you before anypony was seriously hurt - including you."
Spike smiled in gratitude at this, knowing his brother was right.
"While Shining Armor speaks true, that only brings us to the true matter for which you were summoned, Prince Dusk." Celestia said stepping forward. "With the return of King Sombra, Princess Luna and I felt that it was time we strengthened our defenses."
"I told her we could do it ourselves, but someponies can be a bit stubborn." Luna said in an annoyed tone, which earned her an equally annoyed glance from her sister, before she turned back to Shining Armor. "Which is why I called upon our old Captain of the Guard to oversee the measures, personally." The prince, puffing his chest out in his armor, beamed with pride before he stated, "I've taken the security here to a WHOLE new level: the only thing I need now is somepony to test it."
Dusk was surprised by this. "Wait: you want ME to break into the castle?! Seriously?!"
Shining nodded, used his magic to lift off the crown, and place it on Celestia's throne, and then made his challenge. "If you can sneak in, get past my defenses, AND steal the crown: you'll be Sibling Supreme forever!" he pointed with a confident smirk.
"BUT!" Shining exclaimed, snapping Dusk out of his fawning. "If you fail, then I keep the crown." The white unicorn was briefly surprised when Dusk rapidly said, "Deal!" while shaking his hoof, but took the gesture in gratitude. But then Dusk thought about something. "Hang on. How are we going to make this work? It won't really count if mom and dad aren't giving us any gold stars."
"I will represent their authority on the matter." Princess Celestia offered. "Thank you very much for doing this, Dusk Shine. This will certainly be of great help in showing us if there are any holes in our security." A statement which made Luna snort in a very unladylike fashion.
"Which, of course, there aren't." Shining began to boast while going into full detail on his security measures. "I've designed a multi-tiered, triple backed up line of defense. The kind that would make any O&O player shake their heads in confusion trying to breach. The castle is protected by the anti-magical elements of the remains of Queen Chrysalis' throne. Thanks to Starswirl's help, the castle is now covered in that same aura of anti-magical defense: which means you can't use any type of magical spell to get in. You can't fly in, either: giant fans with turbo winds strong as a tornado keep any creature from trying to get in from the air. Plus, the Royal Guard's sealed off all the entrances to the underground tunnels below the castle. So there's no way in from underneath. And even if you could get in, which you can't, i've doubled the number of guards, and recruits for the castle. Soldiers are posted at every hallway, and doorway in the castle, keeping an eye out for any suspicious activity. The only way to even get inside is with a special magical lock talisman infused to all of the badges worn by all of the guards so that only they can get inside. Even if you brought an army, the throne room is still the safest place in the castle. I rigged a floor trap to activate at the slightest touch." To demonstrate, Shining led his brothers to the throne altar, and pushed down on one single spot - a trap door swung downwards in mere moments before Shining removed his hoof, and it closed back up. "But say you get past the floor: still no luck, because i went and added natures alarm system."
As if on Cue, flocks of pink, somewhat ugly in appearance, began popping their heads out from behind the pillar ledges they had been roosting in. All of them began honking so horribly loud, it was like listening to a bagpipe being pummeled. "Flocks of Geese?" Spike questioned, sharing the same lack of understanding as Dusk, while Shining just leaned on the chairs arm with the same air of overconfidence he'd been having since he began this tutorial. "So loud you can hear their cries all the way from Ponyville." However, a goose had snuck up around the crown, and snapped angrily at Shining, making him back off, admittedly while feeling a little startled by them. "Plus they bite." he simply said, pointing out the obvious. This was quite the challenge set up by Shining Armor, Dusk had to admit.
And it got him calculating, and pondering all the way back to Ponyville, and his castle until he explained the whole situation to his friends. With Spike's help, of course. "So that's what we're up against." The prince said to his six perplexed mare friends. Applejack was the first to voice this when she said, "Ah gotta admit, Dusk, that sounds like a barrel and a half of obstacles, and a bushel and a pair of impenetrability."
"And all of this is just to win some......silly foalhood competition?" Rarity questioned.
"It's more than that!" Dusk exclaimed, getting defensive for a moment due to how serious he was taking his rivalry. But he quickly realized after a moment that, of course, Rarity was right. "Okay," he sighed, "it IS that. But it's also to help protect Canterlot, too." He said in a tone that sounded like he was making an excuse, as he pulled out a scale model of Canterlot. "Sooo it's not........completely childish, and selfish?" He said somewhat pitifully. But the girls understood how important this was to him as a whole, and were supportive.
"If it really means that much to you, Dusk, then count us in." Fluttershy happily said.
"I was already in!" Pinke exclaimed. "Come on: who doesn't wanna hang with geese!"
"Of course we'll help, but how?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Shining's come up with some pretty impressive security." Spike complimented while leaning on the map via his forearms/legs crossed. "But he'll NEVER be able to guess my Dusk-bro's plan." He then mumbled, "Even if said bro forgot to even mention including me in the competition.", but quietly enough that he thought noone could hear him. Unbeknownst to him, Dusk DID hear him, and felt miserable for letting his stupid rivalry get in the way of his promise. But he knew they had more important things to deal with right now. So with bright confidence, he perked up proudly, and said, "We each play to our strengths, and overcome every obstacle by working with what we know best. Pinkie Pie: you'll be the party pony distraction. Applejack: you'll break open the sealed entrances to the underground tunnels. Rainbow Dash: you'll use your speed to swipe one of the guard's badges for access to the castle. Rarity: you design guard uniform disguises for all of us to make sure we can infiltrate the castle. And Fluttershy: you'll disable the alarm system by pacifying the Geese. As long as we stick to the plan, and work in perfect formation, then this break-in will be a success!"
Dusk had garnered everyone's highest confidence that they could succeed - but then Spike spat out a scroll from his magical fire that noone was expecting. When the dragon opened it, he was confused by who sent it. "It's..from Shining Armor." He then took his seat, and began reading through the letter while all the others waited in anticipation. However, dread began filling their minds and hearts as they saw Spike's expression shift from confused to horrified. "Oh, no! Dusk! He guessed your whole plan!" Dusks wings flared in surprise, and he took the letter in his aura after Spike handed it off, before reading it partially aloud himself. "Dear, Dusky, I hope you're not just planing on...." he started muttering every word in the letter to himself quietly. Growing more, and more frantic with every passing moment. Until finally, a look of shock, and frustration appeared on his face as he ripped the letter appart in a hilariously childish manner as he made little grumbling, angry noises. When asked what's wrong, he slightly raised his voice, and in an aggravated tone said, "It's Shining! Somehow he's onto my entire plan! The party trick, speedy pick-pocket, disguises - ALL of it!" He then groaned loudly. "How?! How the hay did that jerk figure it all out?! Am I really that predictable with my planning?! This is just so stupid!" He shouted, then proceeded to hit his head against the map five times repeating the word 'stupid' each, and every time.
He then winced from the headache he unwittingly gave himself. "Okay, that one's on me." He then took a deep breath to calm himself, though he was still concerned. "But now I have no idea how to make this work."
"Dusk Shine, darling." Rarity suddenly spoke up. "Don't you see? Nopony knows you better than your own brother. Especially one who is Captain of his own Kingdom's military guard, and former captain of the Royal Canterlot Guard. He's a viable strategist who is now using his intellect against an opponent he knows all too well. That is why no matter what plan you concoct, or scheme you make, or plan you devise, it won't matter: because he will consider all the possibilities, and in the end, he will win!" She then got out of her seat, and began approaching Prince Dusk. "This is a contest of strategy. And Shining Armor will be working as hard as possible to consider everything you may plan to do." Dusk didn't really understand where Rarity was going with this while he just slumped in his throne. "So....you're saying I should just give up?"
"Nonsense!" She exclaimed. "I am simply saying your brother WILL win so long as he knows you are the one creating the strategy to defeat him. No matter what you try, no matter what you do, it will always be something he will expect! And so long as he knows what to expect, he will always win! Unless.........." She gave a knowing look to everyone in the room, who were now edging forward in anticipation as to what Rarity had in mind. "When the perfect chance comes along, you do something he CAN'T expect! Then you'll win." She smiled, pointing to Dusk confidently.
"You've been practicing for that kind of speech, haven't you?" Spike asked dryly.
"Mm, a little, yes." Rarity admitted. "But I feel like I rushed it a little. Did I rush it?"
AJ and Fluttershy said that she didn't, but Pinkie admitted she thought it was a bit fast. But Rarity continued on, regardless.
"To make this work, we have to do the opposite of what Shining Armor expects: which is why Dusk shall not be the one to devise the plan." She paused for brief suspense. "I WILL!" She loudly proclaimed, making everyone's jaws drop in surprise, and maybe possibly shock. All except Applejack, who simply said, "That's.......definitely unexpected."
"How is YOU masterminding the break-in any different from how Dusk Shine was going to do it?" Rainbow Dash asked Rarity.
"Because, Darling, the genius of my plan is that we won't simply be following a single formulaic plan: we will each devise our own unique ways of infiltrating the castle! For example!" She then shared a memory spell that pretty much could be summarized as a black-and-white film noir. One where the scene took place in a seedy pub that Shadow Spade, and her fellow detective, Dr. Spectrum busted into, looking for an informant. All the customers fled in terror, leaving only the detectives, and the barkeep, who when asked, claimed all the underground entrances of Canterlot were sealed off, and there was no way in. They were about to perform the "Good cop/Bad cop" routine when Pinkie Pie suddenly hopped onto the scene as a tiny little mini-pony, surprising even the ponies in Rarities fantasy scene.
"Oooh, ooh! I know what I can do!" She exclaimed, before grabbing the edge of the literary screen, and depicting her traveling through the solar system by hopping on planets. Even making a large planet with rings laugh from how ticklish he was. "You guys will need a look-out! Somepony who can keep an eye on things from high in the sky! I can be that lookout!" The ponies considered it, and gave Fluttershy AND Spike the opportunity to come upon the same idea, with the former first saying, "Then I guess the opposite of what i'd be expected to do is-" She gasped, and began to shake. "Sneak in through tight, dark, scary air ducts!"
"And I could help her." Spike interjected. "I always wanted to be a super spy, so maybe this could count?" He asked, before falling into an imaginary scenario where he, and Fluttershy were expertly traveling the ventilation system, until they both came upon the Throne Room. For some reason, the room had laser sensors moving around instead of those fugly geese being on patrol. Either way, it ended with the duo performing sick, awesome superspy moves that got them past the lasers, to the throne, and obtaining the crown. However, his wild imagination was interrupted by the clearing of someponies throat. "Uh, no offense, Spike." Rainbow said, trying not to sound insensitive. "But you're not really the baby dragon you used to be. How are you gonna fit in the vents with Fluttershy? You might not even fit."
"Actually, the air ducts ARE big enough for me." Spike said with confidence. "Thankfully, i'm only around the same physical size as Shining Armor. And thanks to dragon bones being hollow, but still harder than steel, my weight won't be an issue. I'm also alot more nimble, and slippery as a teenage drake. This job's perfect for me!"
Dusk chuckled. "Well, it looks like everyone knows what they want to do in the plan. So what can I do to help out?"
"That's just it, Dusk." Rarity said with a hint of slyness in her tone, which gave the stallion mixed feelings. "You're the one obstacle Shining Armor will be expecting out of everything else. Thus, to ensure we do something he can't and won't expect," pause for dramatic effect, "YOU, Dusk Shine, shall do absolutely NOTHING!" Rarity exclaimed, making everypony gasp in shock, including the prince. "Y-...you're not serious!" he stammered.
"Deadly serious, Darling, if we are going to pull off this heist successfully, and ensure you win the crown, earn your title as Sibling Supreme, AND impress Celestia and Luna all at the same time!" Rarity exclaimed with flare as she brushed her mane in a dramatic flow.
"But....." Dusk began, sounding greatly disappointed. "But I want to help! I can't just sit on my flank doing nothing while my friends are engaging in something so important!" Seeing how upset he was becoming, Spike put a hand on his shoulder, and made a suggestion. "Maybe you don't have to. You're still doing the Flash Sentry investigation, right?" When Dusk nodded, Spike said, "Well, that's what you could do in the meantime. I know that means just as much to you as this, so it works out for everypony. While we carry out the plan, you can carry on your side project while waiting for us." He gave an optimistic smile to his brother. "It's better than actually doing nothing, right?"
Dusk thought it over for a minute, before he reluctantly sighed, and smiled. "Alright. If this is my best shot at getting the crown, i'll stick to it. I just hope things turn out alright."
"Trust me, Darling: before the day is over, your brother will be on his knees, sulking after you get that crown."
Speaking of Shining Armor, as the plan was being carried out, he had all of his increased guard forces out on full patrol. No mare, or stallion was unaccounted for, and the courtyard to the castle had been filled to the brim with them. And none who had wings actually tried to fly for perimeter scans: with the superfans, no flier would DARE risk flying near the Princesses castle. Even so, the Crystal Prince, and Senior Captain of the Royal Guard was weary. He knew fully well his brother was getting ready to pull off some kind of distraction so that his mare friends could carry out whatever plan he had in mind. And he was prepared for anything Dusk Shine would throw at him.
But he was NOT prepared for a certain farmmare to appear, suddenly, with a self-made stage, wearing a bizarre costume that was lime/pear colored, while holding a guitar. "Applejack?" He questioned in perplexity as his guards made their way around her. He himself came down to figure out what this was all about. "What are you doing, Applejack?"
"Applejack?" the mare laughed, while using the most exaggerated western accent she could muster. "Why mah name's Applecore! And i'm here to sing y'all a couple'a songs t' pass th' time! Any a y'all know this one? An' a one, an' a two, an a'-" She then began playing a farm aka apple themed song for the guards. Which actually managed to attract more guards as time went on. So far AJ's part in the plan was going perfectly well.
Meanwhile, outside of the city, Fluttershy and Spike were both dressed up in stealth costumes the former had once used during the Alicorn Amulet incident a few years ago. They were inside their hot air balloon with Pinkie Pie, as Rainbow Dash got them into the air, and set them up for their venture across the superfan territory. "The Wonderbolts did a flyby," she said, looking over the castle's aerial viewpoint blueprints, before showing them a single spot. "And the only way past those giant fans, and into the castle is here. But there's no room for mistakes!"
"Just like space travel!" Pinkie Pie proclaimed, with her voice being muffled by the fish bowl worn over her head, which she had a miniature version of that she popped on Gummy. As expected, this garnered some....confusion from her passengers. "But Pinkie, we aren't GOING into space........are we?" Fluttershy said, which only made Pinkie pie giggle, before she said, "Of course not, silly! I'm dropping the two of you off at the castle: then I'M going into space!" And that's just what she did. As the sun rose into the sky, she directed the balloon towards the castle, so her friends could reach their destination, then SHE could go to hers.
Little did she know that her plans would end up being blown in the wind.
All the while, Dusk had done as Spike suggested, and while waiting on his friends, teleported his Files and Notes so that he could continue deducing the fate of Flash Sentry. He continued writing down his theories, and ideas as he trotted into the castle courtyard - paying no attention to where he was going, and bumping into a suspicious older brother, who caused him to drop all of his notes, and files. "Oh, come on! Those were completely organized!" He complained, looking at the mess, before he noticed Shining Armor's hooves, and realized who he had bumped into. "Figures." He sighed. "Normally I don't pun, but I wasn't expecting to bump into you until after our contest is over, big bro."
"Uh-huh." Shining said skeptically, pointing a hoof at his younger brother as he accused, "You're up to something."
"Uh, yeah, actually." Dusk said, trying to sound annoyed as he gathered his notes, and files. "Finding a semi-peaceful place where I can finish my ACTUAL work. I might be doing a favor for Celestia, and trying to beat you, but there are still more important things i'm trying to deal with right now!" he exclaimed, which actually got Shining concerned. But then he saw the picture of a yellow and blue pegasus in guard attire, and it clicked into place. "So it's true." He said, now in a less accusational tone. "You've really been looking into the incident with Flash? Bro, I know what happened to him must have been......personal, given your experience in that other world you told me and Cadence about, but....." Shining hesitated, knowing he could be stepping on a bear trap by saying what he was about to say. But if nopony else had said it, yet, then he will. "Flash is gone, Dusk. There were witnesses that saw Sombra destroy him. I saw from one of the windows of the castle, myself. I'm sorry, Dusk, but there's no way he could have survived that fight."
"I'm sorry, Shining." Dusk sighed. "I know I look like i'm wasting my time on something fruitless, but......even though he isn't the exact same Flash Sentry I knew, I owe him for doing his best to defend you, my sister and niece to find out what really happened." Shining raised an eyebrow at that. "What makes you so sure something else happened?" Dusk looked through his info again, having it committed to memory, but skimming through out of habit. "King Sombra may have been a ruthless dictator, but he's not somepony who wastes resources. To him: ponies, and any living thing he can enslave are resources. The only ones he had any gain from destroying were the rulers of Equestria and the Empire. He destroyed Princess Amore long ago, but any insurrection against him, he easily cowed and broke with his dark magic. He was greedy, selfish....and resourceful. Flash showed an impressive amount of skill when they fought, right?" Dusk asked, earning a nod from his brother. "Then why would he just destroy a warrior with the kind of skills Flash demonstrated? He should have added him to his army as he did to the whole empire. He had nothing to gain from ending his life. Which is why.....which is why i'm afraid he faked Flashes death for some other reason we don't know."
"Doesn't really matter, though, now that he's finally gone for good." Shining said. "So even if what you said is true, he can't do anything to Flash if he IS alive." Then Dusk gave him a more serious look. "Don't you remember what I told you, bro?" he asked, earning a questioning glance from his older brother, which made him let out a sigh in quiet frustration. "Sombra admitted that he had recently made contact with Tirek."
Shining's eyes widened a bit. "Tirek?" he parroted. Suddenly, he began to wonder about something, himself. "You don't think he brought Sombra back, do you?"
"Based on the new powers i've seen him use, it wouldn't surprise me if he found a way. I even made a theory based on that idea." Dusk admitted, making Shining roll his eyes a little because he had the feeling his egghead bro would say that. "Which is actually what i've been getting to: if Tirek somehow brought Sombra back, do you think he told Sombra to capture a special pony for some reason? And when he saw what Flash did during their fight, he used his magic to make it look like he destroyed him, to hide him actually sending him to wherever Tirek's hiding now?"
Shining rubbed his chin in thought. And this new info, and theory actually made sense to him. "If it is true, and those two were in cahoots, then maybe it's possible. But what does Tirek want with a pony? What would he need him for?" Dusk gave another sigh - this time of disappointment. "I wish I knew, BBBFF." He said sadly. "But until we find where Tirek is, we won't know for sure. I only hope i'm right about this, and Flash IS alright: and whatever Tirek is doing to him, he can endure long enough for us to help him." He then felt his brother's hoof on his shoulder, and saw a reassuring smile on Shining's muzzle. "Don't worry too much, bro. Flash was one of our top cadets, and was proving worthy to make first lieutenant before Sombra invaded - and he fought tooth and hoof to hold that psychopath off. Whatever Tirek is using him for, he'll stand up to it. He's too tough, and too stubborn to give up."
Dusk's expression suddenly turned hopeful. "So, you believe me and what I said?" Though he would have said no as politely as possible, now Shining felt a sense of confidence in himself, now. "I might have some doubts, still: but if there's one pony i'll never doubt again, it's you, bro." Dusk giggled, and the two hugged each other with warm smiles. When they parted, however, Shining's skeptical glare suddenly returned. "But don't think that you can use this as a distraction to catch me off guard, Shiny. I'm still on to you."
"W-Whaaaaaat?" Dusk exclaimed comically, now feeling a little nervous. "No, don't be ridiculous! I was serious about what I said before: I just wanna relax as I do my research. That's all!"
"Riiiiight." Shining said, not believing his brother completely as he backed away - jolting back wide-eyed at Dusk's direction, before finally leaving with that suspicious expression as he went to carry out his duties. As his brother left, Dusk wiped his brow of sweat, and chuckled. "I wasn't totally lying, but...........hey, sometimes you gotta know when to retract the truth." He ten giggled like a foal as he rubbed his hooves together. "Maybe Rarities plan WILL work!"
"CANTERLOT! WE HAVE A PROBLEM! AAAAAAAAH!" Screamed Pinkie Pie as she, and gummy began sailing, and swooshing through the air. A rather large, noticeable tear had been seen on the side of the balloon, and it clearly was the reason for the travel vehicles wild turbulence. And all the while, Applecore aka Applejack had managed to keep the whole guard - or at least a large chunk of them focused on her all this time. Still waiting for her opening as she continued her musical routine. "Ah know that one's a crowd fav'rite. What say we play it one more time? And a one, and a two, and a—
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Pinkie screamed as she flew past, getting the guards attention. Though she was surprised, she was used to Pinkie's antics. So she shrugged, said to herself, "So long as it's a distraction.", and activated a secret little compartment holding a mini-plunger, attached to a rope. While nopony was looking, she fired the plunger, and snagged one of the guards badges. She made sure to hide the badge in her hat as she continued her role in the plan. And thanks to Dusk, Pinkie and Gummy managed to have a 'safe' crash landing, and both were unharmed. Though he wasn't sure the same could be said for the passengers Pinkie had with her an hour ago. Something he asked about as soon as she got her head straightened. "Pinkie?! What happened up there?! Where are Fluttershy and Spike?! Did they make it into the castle?!" The frantic worry in his voice was evident, so Pinkie kept her answer as straightforward. "They jumped out right before the balloon went," Then she blew a raspberry of the balloon crashing, mixed with disappointment. Her "helmet" filling up with her own spittle. "But that's all I could see without being in space, where I didn't get to go!" She whined more to herself than to Dusk. However, the alicorn was taking this as a bad omen.
"This is starting to look serious." He thought aloud. "I just hope Rarity, and Rainbow Dash are having better luck."
Unfortunately, both Rainbow Dash, and Rarity (wearing her Shadow Spade outfit unsurprisingly) hit a snag when they reached the pub in question. "What's this! CLOSED?!" Rarity exclaimed in outrage, and horror. She had been so looking forward to shaking down informants, but now that was never going to happen. However, it was then a brown furred stallion in a tux who was walking by spoke to the mares. "Oh, the seedy juice joint is always closed around this time."
She zoomed up to the stallion, and began shaking him while asking, "Then how are we meant to shake down ne'er-do-wells for information?!"
"What sort of information do you need?" He asked politely, despite Rarities rough treatment of him.
"Um, the location to a secret entrance to the passages under Canterlot Castle?" Rainbow Dash inquired.
"You mean that one?" The stallion asked, pointing a hoof to a walled up doorway being guarded by a mare and stallion in uniform. Once they saw this, Rarity recomposed herself after realizing how ridiculous she had acted. She chuckled nervously as she fixed the stallion's messed up tie, saying, "Yes, Thank you. That will do nicely." She then let him go on his way, and snuck to a pile of bushes to stay out of the guards sight. "Well, I wouldn't say completely according to plan, but we found what we were looking for." Rarity said. "Now the question is how do we deal with the guards?" She asked Rainbow Dash. "No problem!" Rainbow Dash declared as she put her hooves together. "Give me five minutes alone with the guard and I'll get 'em to let us in!"
No sooner had she said that, however, had Princess Luna arrived with one lone guard. Seeing the other two leave meant she must have had them relieved of duty for this unknown guard. At first, Rainbow thought this made things easier. But when the pony stepped forward, and saluted a departing Luna, she immediately regretted everything. The guard turned out to be a pegasus stallion with a recognizable and unmistakable coat of a pale, grayish green. He had grayish purple eyes, a blonde mane and tail, and a cutie mark depicting an orange feather and two green flourishes.
Rainbow Dash gasped in shock! "Zephyr Breeze?! What's he doing here?!"
"Guarding, obviously." Rarity explained. Suddenly, a light bulb turned on over her head as an epiphany hit her. "Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho, darling, this couldn't be more perfect!" she said maliciously, before trying to sound sympathetic to her friend for what she was about to tell her. "Now, I know you two have a bit of a history. But believe it or not that's actually going to play into our hooves." She looked at Rainbow with an unusual big smile on her face.
The brash speedster commented. "What are you talking about, Rarity? He's the most annoying pony in Equestria, and he's totally obsessed with me, and we have to come up with a way to distract—" Then it hit her! "Oh no! No way! I am not dressing up for him! Why can't you do it?!"
"You said it yourself, he's obsessed with you, darling," Rarity snickered while trying to keep it from escalating. "So pour on the charm and distract him long enough to get that entrance opened up for us. I assure you, I will make it up to you." The pegasus mare groaned. "You'd better mean it, Rarity! And if you ever tell anypony about this, I'm gonna literally drag you through the mud!"
The same starry mist from before, who had been following the mares, and Dusk around left soon afterwards.
"Uuuuuugh" The tomboy mare groaned in annoyance. Rainbow was eventually dressed into the most lavish (and embarrassing in her opinion) outfit that Rarity could sew on short notice. She also had her mane and tail pulled back to look more feminine. "Reminds me of the times I had to dress up nice for family photos," She thought to herself. "I'll never understand why my parents kept making me do it. Mom especially, those sweaters were so itchy!"
The fashionista promptly shoved her rainbow maned friend forward. "Go on, Rainbow. He's all yours. I'll be waiting for you once you can get him to open up the entrance." It naturally didn't take long for Zephyr Breeze to lay eyes on Rainbow Dash. And when he did he could barely contain his excitement! "Rainbow! My my, how funny to see you here! Especially in such a..." He snickered. "Ridiculous outfit!"
Rainbow sighed and groaned as she forced herself to sound nice. "Well... I knew you'd like it. And I kind of feel bad for how things were the last time we met."
"Yeah, I wasn't exactly the model of a model major stallion, was I?" Zephyr Breeze chuckled. "But that's okay, it's all water under the bridge now. Bet you want to know what I'm doing here? And before you ask, no, it's not just 'cause the ladies love a stallion in armor!"
"Then, why are you?" Rainbow Dash questioned while trying not to sound annoyed or bothered.
Zephyr's confident persona seemed to falter slightly as he answered with somewhat quivering lips. "W-well... the mane styling business has been kind of slow lately, this is a bit of a dry season. Since I can't live with Mom and Dad anymore I needed some way to pay the bills so I wouldn't lose the nice little cottage I bought for myself. And by a stroke of luck, Princess Luna herself agreed to let me serve in the royal guard. She even winked at me when she told me I could join, though I'm not quite sure why."
The pegasus mare swallowed hard. "Oh, that's... great, I think," She then nervously questioned. "Uh, I know you're probably not supposed to but do you think you could maybe open up that sealed off entrance over there? My friends needs to get inside for... interior decorating."
Zephyr put a hoof to his chin while his eyes darted all around, looking to see if anypony else was around. "Well, I'm part of the castle team now. And I totally rock the look even if the gold kinda clashes with my aura if you know what I'm saying," Then he commented. "If I let your friend in, do you think you can talk to the sarge about maybe redesigning the outfits? I'm going to have the worst case of helmet hair when this is over!"
"Sure," Rainbow commented. "But uh... we'll need to make it look convincing." Zephyr Breeze grinned. "Oh, Rainbow, I thought you'd never ask. I can most definitely work with that. Now just play along," He not so secretly shoved Rainbow so that it would look like she was falling. "Whoa! We got ourselves a swooner right here! Rainbow, I know we haven't seen each other in a long time but I'm glad you're finally being honest with your feelings for me!" He appeared to blindly trot around while declaring. "The truth is such a gift. Like, I had to follow my bliss to see guarding is my calling. Like, look at me go. I'm gonna walk over here, and I go whoo!"
The "act" worked like a charm, the guards assumed Zephyr was just being his old flirty self that they had been advised to ignore. As a result none of them noticed when the opening to the underground tunnels he was supposed to be guarding suddenly became big enough for two fully grown ponies to fit through. But the "act" was soon over by Rainbow just whispered. "Now it's my turn to return the favor." She swished her tail, knocking Zephyr to the ground and leaving him momentarily stunned.
"Yeah, whatever," Zephyr muttered in a defeated tone. "Can't blame a stallion for trying."
Thanks to his sharper-than-razor claws, Spike was easily able to cut a hole into the stain-glass window resting high above the twin thrones. He let Fluttershy climb over him to get a better look inside, since his size somewhat kept her restricted. But both of them managed to spot their objective: the tinfoil Sibling Supreme Crown. Just lying on Celestia's throne, alone with noone to watch it. The pair noted that the geese were all resting, and might stay that way as long as they were careful. "We'll have to glide our way in." Spike instructed. "No flapping. Back up so that I can go first."
"Okay." She said timidly while getting off the dragons back. "This is so intense!" She said in a low voice. "I only hope I can keep calm a little longer!"
"Don't worry, Fluttershy. Once we get the crown, you won't have to feel so stressed anymore." Spike kindly assured her, before sliding into the room like a gecko, much to his surprise, and then pushing himself off of the wall into a glide. Fluttershy soon followed suit, and the two were spinning circles around the throne. A few more spins, and they would reach the throne, and the crown.
But neither of them expected the surprise goose lying beside it.
That waking goose's sudden appearance made Spike hesitate, and caused his friend to bump into him. The sound of their impact grunt waking all the other geese. As soon as they were on the platform, the geese began honking like mad while converging on the intruders. Spike, in a panic, asked Fluttershy, "Can't you calm them down, and make them be quiet?"
"I can't charm them! Shining Armor would have been expecting that! Isn't that why we glided in here?" She asked back.
"Eh....okay, you got me there." Spike said, basically admitting that the thought never crossed his mind. And the approaching geese made them back up further onto the platform. Just as Spike was about to put on a dragonian intimidation display to make them submit, and be quiet, his and Fluttershy's feet touched the trap door. And with a gulp of wide-eyed realization, they both fell into the pit beneath the throne room. The doors shut, and the geese were left honking wildly.....and most annoyingly, to Luna's displeasure.
"Sister! Another false alarm from Shining Armor's geese! Still think it was a good idea to set them up instead of getting that laser security system?" And as she left the throne room she muttered under her breath. "Cheapskate."
Outside, Dusk watched anxiously as Princess Celestia spoke with his brother about something, and the two began heading inside. This was making him even more worried about how things were progressing. And even more worried for his friends. "We should have heard back from them by now! Where could they be?!" He was becoming an emotional wreck. "Something must have seriously gone wrong!"
"More like several somethings, if you ask me." Pinkie said, while trying to blow up the ruined hot-air balloon as though it were a regular balloon."And don't look now, but I think Apple Chord's just about run out of songs to play."
The young alicorn gulped as he saw the guards starting to leave the concert while a nervous Applejack struggled to think of anything to sing. "This isn't good! No lookout, no distraction, and now no word from any of the ponies inside! I'm starting to think this whole operation might just be a giant flop!"
The starry mist continued its visual, even as it slunk into the shadows unobserved.
While Shining struggled to control his geese in the throne room, down in the pit, it wasn't long before Fluttershy started to hyperventilate as she and Spike remained trapped underneath the trap door with seemingly no way out. Her hooves scraped against the stone walls as she tried to force her way out, all while muttering "Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no!", over and over. All the while, Spike curled up into himself so that he could conserve space, and not squish his smaller, pegasus friend. Now, of course, he decided to talk to the panicking mare. "What's wrong, Fluttershy?" Spike questioned the pegasus. "I thought you were just pretending to be scared, like how you're so good at acting."
"Maybe I was at first, because I didn't think something like this would ever happen," Fluttershy explained in a desperate tone of voice. "But now, when I'm stuck here like this, all I can think about is the time I got trapped in the Castle of the Two Sisters with Rarity. I was separated from Angel for a long time, and at one point I even got separated from Rarity. Now whenever I'm in a tiny room, it's all I can think about! I was so worried that they felt alone and forgotten! I felt that way too!"
Spike looked down at the ground and gave a longing sigh. "I know what that feels like. To feel like you've been left out." This made Fluttershy stop her actions, and look back on the young drake. "What do you mean?" She asked, now curious about mindset Spike had right now. Taking a deep breath, and exhale, he explained, "Even when I was young, I was always excited to be a part of Dusk and Shining Armor's rivalry, like I was their little brother. It made me feel good because....it made me feel like I was really part of their family." He then frowned. "But they never really thought of me that way. And they still don't think of me that way."
"Spike, how could you say something like that?" Fluttershy exclaimed. "I'm sure they didn't mean to make you feel like that. But I know for certain that Dusk loves you very much. He's always shown how much he cares about you, and he DOES consider you his brother. I'm sure Shining Armor feels the same way, too. He just never had the time to express it before."
This made Spike grunt with light irritation as he took a seating stance. "Except it took Dusk years to finally call me his brother. And even though he hatched me, he felt like both a dad AND a brother, but more of the latter. Yet when I was officially put under his charge, I didn't always get the right kind of respect." Some smoke escaped his nostrils as he snorted. "Even since before we moved to Ponyville, I was nothing more than the "Number One Assistant", and that's it. And ever since I was in diapers I can remember wanting to be part of those Sibling Supreme contests between Dusk and Shining Armor. The best I could hope for was Shining teaching me how to play Ogres & Oubliettes in his spare time, and teaching me tricks to baffle Dusk. But by the time I was old enough to play, Shining was gone, and I rarely got to see him due to his royal guard duties, then later his captain duties. Now he's co-ruler of an Empire, and Dusk Shine is being groomed to succeed the two prime rulers of Equestria." The next and last sound he made was one of a sad sigh as he lay back down. "I know they have their responsibilities: Shining with his family, and Dusk with his training to be Supreme Leader.......but I wish Shining could visit more often, and Dusk would take me more seriously."
Fluttershy draped a wing over Spike. "Sounds complicated to me, but I'm sure if you talked to them about this they would understand. You want to be part of their family, no matter what that may be. They both hold a special place for you in their hearts. But sibling dynamics are hard. Trust me."
"Right: Zephyr Breeze." Spike chuckled, making Fluttershy giggle. "Yeah, it's easy to see why he isn't the older sibling."
Fluttershy smiled. "And I think he could learn a lot from you about what it means to be family and growing up. Even if he's getting better now, he still seems to get wrapped up in his own flaws."
Just then there came a rumbling sound and one of the walls suddenly parted! On the other side stood an unaware Rarity and Rainbow Dash. "Look, I am sick of being lost in these slimy corridors, too! But you shouldn't pull every lever you come across!" Rarity scolded Rainbow Dash. "Half of them are traps!"
"Yeah, and the other half might open a secret passage to the castle!" Rainbow protested!
"IT'S NOT WORTH THE RISK!" Rarity shouted in sheer frustration.
"Ahem." Spike coughed into his front paw, getting the mare's attention. "Are we interrupting anything?"
"Fluttershy! Spikey-Wikey!" Rarity exclaimed as the two left the pit, and entered the corridor. "However did you two end up in that dirty hovel?"
"Trap door." Fluttershy said.
"Trap door?" Rainbow asked.
"Trap door." Spike answered. "Look, as eager as I was to try out this whole thing, I don't think your plan is working, Rarity. Not trying to be rude, or insult you, obviously, but anyone can see the whole thing's not working out for any of us.." The fashionista surprisingly agreed. "Indeed it isn't. It was too disorganized to truly be effective. Let's return to the outside, regroup and reevaluate." Suddenly a mouse passed on by, and made Rarity shriek in disgust. Much to the annoyance of her friends.
At this point in time, Dusk Shine was at his wits end. Then he heard a sound from the metal grates beside him, and saw the familiar sight of his brother. "Spike? What are you doing in there?" He asked, as Spike, and the other mares crawled out of the air duct, and back onto solid grassland. "Just taking the scenic route back." Dusk then groaned in exasperation, as he realized that if his inside mares and drake were back, it meant they failed. "This is just great! Fantastic! If even this plan couldn't work, then how could anything else work out?!"
"Well in my defense, darling, the plan was well thought out," Rarity commented as she trotted out, shedding her Shadow Spade outfit. "But we really should've rehearsed and ironed out all the flaws. It was too unexpected and too improvised."
"Then maybe we should go back to the original plan?" Spike suggested. "You know, the classic Dusk way?" This made the ponies do a double take, and Dusk said, "But Spike, that's what my brother will be expecting! You're suggesting I do exactly what Shining Armor expects me to do? Or, in other words, the "predictable way"?"
"So, add a little bit of a twist to it," Spike encouraged. "Add in some elements that he can't expect or won't expect. You can salvage what's left of Rarity's plan and work it into your own plan. It may not be a surprise, but you have a pretty good record for planning things." After thinking it over for a moment, Dusk gave a nod. "Then I guess it's worth a shot. Thanks, Spike."
"Hey, that's what brothers are for!" Spike happily exclaimed, but was dismayed when he was seemingly ignored, now that Dusk seemed to have a surefire way of winning this little game. "Okay, you all know what to do! But before you all rush off, let's discuss a few last minute changes we'll be making. And remember, we must lure Shining Armor and the princesses away!"
"No worries, Dusk!" Rainbow Dash firmly declared! "Now that you're planning this, victory is practically guaranteed! I've got a good feeling about this!"
Dusk Shine's original plan was soon set into motion. While the Guards watching over the main courtyard were on duty, Pinkie repaired the hot air balloon, and set it to explode into a massive birthday-themed party area. Presents, treats, and a large cake made the appeal, and the guards happily 'investigated' the scene while they enjoyed themselves. All completely unaware of the pink mare, spinning around in a pinata disguise with a devious smile on her face. One kick to a giant gift box allowed that particular side to fall, and allow Rarity to slip past the guards, while donning her own set of armor, and wearing the special badge to get inside. "At least one part of our expected plan worked unexpectedly."
Rarity was now inside, and at the same time, Rainbow Dash was holding her forelegs beneath Fluttershy's as she maneuvered herself, and herself past the giant fans, and slipped past them to the castle. Meanwhile, the same entryway Rarity had opened up was now being re-walled by a construction worker, while Zephyr was basically getting the boot. A superior officer mare stripped him of ALL his attire. "To be fair, it was never made specifically clear to me what "guarding" actually means, so this is on you." And with that, he strutted away to go back home. The guard rolling her eyes as she oversaw the refortification.
Unknown to them, Dusk and Applejack were standing beside a group of boulders, already having gone over the farmmare's part of the plan. "Ah may be strong, Dusk, but.....I don't think even I can buck my way through a solid rock."
"Which is why I've brought in an expert," Dusk said with a wink. "I'm sure you'll recognize her."
The expert turned out to be Maud Pie. She spoke not a word as she examined the rock, and then used some chalk to draw a white x where the rock was weakest. Applejack had no trouble bucking her way through the designated spot, and the rock crumbled to gravel. Meanwhile, Rarity arrived to the Throne Room, and approached the guard at the door. "Next shift." She spoke in a deeper, gravely voice. "You're on break."
The guard breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness. My hooves were getting sore standing around here. He needs to start scheduling work breaks more often." The guard looked to both sides, and nervously muttered, "D-don't tell him I said that, please." Rarity winked. "Your secret's safe with me. Now go on, go enjoy yourself!"
The guard obeyed, trotting away with a smile on his face. And once he was out of sight, Rarity used the badge to open the door and let her friends through. Fluttershy charmed the geese with the greatest of ease. "Not a word, my fine feathered friends," She whispered to them. "Keep quiet and we'll all get what we want. The crown for my friend, and a feather massage for all of you. How's that sound?" The geese agreed and any desire they might have had to honk faded away.
Rainbow Dash came swooping in a moment later. "I've got the Wonderbolts flying circles around the fans. Shining Armor and the princesses are still trying to figure out how to get them free," She giggled. "I could've told you those fans were a bad idea." Spike then pointed out. "All that's left is to get to the throne room. And if I'm right, the secret lever that leads to the hallway entrance is... here!" He flew up and pulled down on a lever, causing one of the walls to slide back and open up with an audible click.
"I can't believe this actually worked! I was so sure it wouldn't!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as the rag tag group of seven reached the throne room, the Sibling Supreme crown still resting where it had been since Shining Armor had proposed the challenge. Spike grinned. "Well it just goes to show you that sometimes the most unexpected plan is the plan that you expect. When you expect the unexpected, you lose sight of the expected."
Dusk happily nodded. "Couldn't have put it better myself!" Then he rubbed her hooves together! "At long last, the crown is mine again, as it should've been all those years ago! All I have to do now is fly over and take the crown, and I'll be Sibling Supreme forever!"
"Not exactly." Came the familiar voice of Shining Armor from behind the thrones, as he and Celestia stepped forward. "But A for the effort, at least." He said, before making a cocky, victorious smirk that made Dusk growl, and glare. "Oh, come on! I was right there!" He protested angrily. "You just couldn't let me get the crown for at least ten seconds?!" Shining simply laughed as he approached his younger brother. "Gotta admit, it was unexpected for you to do everything exactly how I thought you would. But you should know by now there's no way to beat the true Sibling Supreme!"
"How did you even find out about my plan? Who tipped you off? And how did you outwit the elements I added in at the last minute?" Dusk complained further, all while Shining Armor grinned. "Why would I tell you? What matters is that you failed, which means the Sibling Supreme crown stays with me. Better luck next time, little bro." Princess Celestia then commented. "I'm sorry, Dusk. But Shining Armor is right: you lost. And it looks as though Shining has truly won the crown."
After hearing her say that, the aged up drake that was Spike suddenly began to laugh triumphantly as he got all attention drawn to him. Once he was finished, he said, "With all due respect, majesty? That's the thing about looks." He then pulled the Sibling Supreme Crown from behind his head, spun it around on his index claw like a top hat, and then donned it himself. "Sometimes they can be very deceiving.", he grinned.
All in the room made a simultaneous, audible gasp in surprise of this unexpected twist. Yet none were more surprised than the Shining brothers, who gawked at the once baby dragon now looking strangely majestic with that toy crown on his head. "Spike?!" Dusk exclaimed. "This isn't possible!" But then suddenly, a thought came to his mind, and he glared spitefully at the dragon. "It was you!"
"Uh, what was me, Dusky?" Spike said in a playfully condescending tone. "You'll have to be more specific than that."
"Don't you sass me!" Dusk exclaimed. "YOU told Shining Armor what we were doing, didn't you?!" But he quickly re-evaluated his thoughts. "No: you told him about my original plan before we even made our move back at the castle, didn't you?" Spike chuckled almost deviously as he raised a paw. "Guilty as charged." The dragon boasted. "But as you can clearly see, I wasn't really on his side either. This WAS mostly just a game, after all: and I played you both like fine fiddles, and you never suspected it."
"I thought there was something suspicious about you sending that note," Shining Armor realized. "But how in Equestria did you manage to pull this off?! My system was supposed to be undefeatable!" The dragon chuckled again as his grin grew wider. "I hope you two don't think you're the only ones with a sibling rivalry. I had an inside pony's help. And not just anypony, but my favorite dragon sitter." At that Princess Celestia seemed to break out into a cold sweat. "You don't mean..." But she needn't have asked, for all swung back around to the thrones and saw Princess Luna perched atop her own throne, ominously stroking one of the guard geese.
"Oh no, your eyes do not deceive, sister," Luna commented in a somber tone. "You and your captain have been outfoxed, and by your youngest sibling, no less." She looked down to Spike and told him. "Go ahead: reveal the truth of how we pulled it off."
Spike nodded. "With pleasure," And he cleared his throat. "It wasn't hard to notice there were some disagreements over castle security. When Princess Luna said and I quote 'I said we could do it ourselves, but some ponies are a bit more stubborn.', that was an obvious tip off. So my dragon sitter and I worked out a deal: we'd give you all the wake up call you deserved about interior threats, and in return share in the recognition we equally deserve. All Luna had to do was put Zephyr in charge of the catacombs, and help keep Celestia out of the castle hallways." Then he grinned as he recalled his own part in the scheme, including deflating the balloon, and intentionally triggering the trap door. "As for myself, I already tipped off Shining Armor so Twilight would scrap her original plan. And when Rarity set her own plan into motion, I just had to do my part and make sure we stuck to Twilight's plan so we'd all get to the throne room at the same time. I knew Shining Armor would let it play out until the last possible second. Then, while everyone was distracted by his gloating, all Luna had to do was float the crown over to me."
Princess Celestia was the first to speak up after the revelation. She seemed to trying hard to hide her shame as she spoke in a noticeably forced tone of voice. "I, uh, apologize, for not listening to your concerns early, sister. It seems that we'll need to make adjustments to account for threats inside the castle as well as out. If you agree?"
Princess Luna replied in an equally forced tone of voice. "Only if you think it's worth discussing, sister. They're your guards after all."
"Well, maybe some of your guards would be interested," Celestia commented to her sister. "I know they're not used to daytime assignments, but they've gotta learn how to adjust."
Luna just replied while walking out of the throne room. "I'll talk it over with them and see what they think. No promises, though."
Once the princesses had left the throne room, Dusk questioned. "Spike, why would you go to such extremes? Does the Sibling Supreme crown really mean that much to you?"Spike nodded slowly and reluctantly. "I know I'm already your little brother, and technically your son, but sometimes it feels like neither you, or Shining think of me in the same light. At least not as completely as you do each other." He held the crown in his claws. "I wanted so badly to be part of your little rivalry: to feel like I truly belonged with both of you and with your parents. But I was too little to compete." He sighed again, looking despondent. "The fact i'm a dragon made it all too obvious that even though you raised me......i'll never fully be part of our family."
Dusk smiled. "Now that's impossible, Spike, since you ARE family." This made Spike look back at Dusk. "You've grown up, and you're more than capable of participating in things like the Sibling Supreme contest. After all, it doesn't matter what you are. You'll still always have a special place in my heart as my awesome little bro. You changed my life in ways I could never imagine, and I can't imagine what my life would be like if I never met you. That's something I NEVER want to think about." Shining Armor nodded. "Whether you're my nephew or the little brother I always had but never knew, you're still the same Spike the Brave and Glorious who taught me lessons I'll never forget." Spike smiled. "Congratulations, Spike."
But for some reason, Rainbow Dash asked. "So, if Twilight and Shining Armor failed, who gets the crown?" Which earned her a smack upside the head by Applejack. "Weren't y'all payin attention, Rainbow? Or did it just fly over yer head." Rainbow just gave a confused shrug to show she had no answer. "I guess?"
"Well, in that case, let me make things official." Shining Armor said, clearing his throat. "For proving himself in more ways than any of us could imagine, the TRUE Sibling Supreme is, of course........Spike." He and Dusk then grouped around the young drake, and held him in an embrace. "The little brother we've always had."
The rest of the ponies could only comment with a collective. "Awww..." before joining the hug.
"Nothing could possibly ruin this for us!" Pinkie Pie proclaimed.
Suddenly, the doors to the throne room were practically slammed open. "Captain Armor!" Shouted a guard pegasus who was flying into the throne room. Seeing the group hug, the guard cleared his throat, and said, "Apologies for interrupting, but something urgent has just happened." Thus made Shining give his brothers a confused glance, before he asked the guard. "What exactly is wrong, soldier?"
"Well, um........it's...better if you see for yourself." He then looked to the others who he knew by their reputation. "I think all of you should come, and see." While not quite understanding what was happening, the gang ran and flew after the guard, who brought them to front gate of canterlot. There, they were met with a very shocking sight: a pegasus stallion in royal guard armor, covered in bruises, and lacerations was lying on the dirt road as doctors examined him. "It can't be!" Shining exclaimed quietly. The guard from before came up to Shining, and said, "The guards at the gate saw him approaching less than half an hour ago, sir. Once the gate was opened, and he came in, he fell unconscious. Doctors say he should be alright. They have to take him to a hospital to give him a better examination, but given who this is, I thought it best to inform you right away."
"Oh, dear." Rarity said quietly. "Just when I thought we were done with unexpected things."
Yet none were taking this as deeply as Dusk was. His eyes were saucers, his mouth wide open, and a look of greater surprise, relief, and confusion filled his face as he looked upon the stallion that lay before him. Long had he suspected, and he had spent many weeks investigating: but not he knew that he was right all along.
"Flash is.....alive!"
Unaware to them, the smokey mist of starry night continued watching them. And everything it saw, the Heartstone of Apophis saw, in turn. And it projected all that the cloud was watching to Tirek, as he held his hands together on his massive throne. A wicked smile stretched across his face as the scene of medics taking Flash Sentry's broken body was displayed.
"Now the board is set." He thought aloud. "It is time to put the remaining pieces into place. Soon, we will take what belongs to us, and our enemies will be destroyed." He chuckled. "Soon, my master. Very soon." he said, before his thoughts turned back to the past, after helping recover the Bewitching Bell, and then making his way to the restored Mountain of Midnight. To the moments that happened following his arrival to the domain he now resides in. And what happened before his compatriots were made a part of his plan.
He remembered it all very well............
Previously, on the day after the Bewitching Bell is recovered........
Just before his colleagues returned to the Swamp Lair, Tirek and his Dark Acolytes had entered the now surfaced midnight mountain after landing his carriage at its entrance, and dissipating it away. His usually fiery orb of magic turned into a poisonous purple orb of magic, and two shadowbolts had appeared out of thin air, by the power of Darkness. Upon seeing their masters, the beasts opened the doors to the mountainous fortress that was to been The Legion of Doom's TRUE lair, once the false Grogar had been dealt with. Seeing the gothic theme of the interior brought a smile to Tirek's face. If there was anything to say about his namesake, it's that his taste in decor was one the present day Tirek had in common. Once inside, Dismay crossed her leg over her chest, and bowed to her master. "Is there anything else you require, master?"
"Yes, indeed." Tirek said. "Rejoin our allies. And before you reach the lair, assume my form to keep the old goats suspicions down. Ensure the others are aware of what I ordered, as well as my status." Dismay smiled, and said, "Of course, my lord, as you wish." They then looked up to him, and honestly stated. "It truly is good to have you back, master. You have been missed greatly....in more ways than one." They then opened their wings, galloped out the door, and took to the air. The doors closed as soon as they left, leaving the dark trinity inside, alone. But as they began going inside the castle's interior to explore, King Sombra emerged out of a flare of black smoke, and materialized by Tirek's left side, leaving Night Terror and Erebus to his right. Tirek didn't even turn to look at the unicorn to address him. "So, Sombra: you decided to join team darkness, did you?"
"If by that, you mean get away from that menagerie of morons, and idiots, then yes." Sombra answered pompously. "If I had to listen to another word of that annoying brats cutesy attitude, I think I would have crystalized her, or turned her into a toadstool - cliche'd as that would be."
"Be patient, my old friend." Tirek said, passing down a corridor, as they approached a large pair of doors with a demonic face that had two wolves jutting out of the side of its head. "Once the alliance serves its purpose, perhaps i'll consider letting you.....improve the little retch into something more useful. But for now, leave it alone. After all, you'll be far too busy with your future work to be concerned with her."
"Which reminds me: what is it we are doing right now?" Sombra wondered, as he eyed the imposing knob on the doors. "Are we getting this place ready for our plans?"
"Shortly." Tirek said curtly, grasping the handle in both hands. "First, we must pay our respects to the one that truly began the era of Darkness in Equestria." And with that, he pulled on the knob that split down the middle, and the door swung wide open. The room was a large, empty hall with torches that illuminated as they passed by - courtesy of Tirek's magic. The entire room, much like the rest of the mountain fortress, was like something out of Bray Stoker's Dracula with its gothic aesthetic. Night Terror, and Erebus found it appealing. And even though he prefered his natural, dark crystal aesthetic, Sombra found some intrigue in their surroundings. Then they came across a staircase that lead to a pair of scarlet drapes, old and worn by time. With the flick of a wrist, Tirek furled the curtains, and revealed the massive portrait behind that stood behind it.
That of a dark centaur whose very aura radiated with evil, even in the form of a simple, aged portrait.
"So the demon couldn't get in after all." Tirek said in a low voice. "Then what they was true." His face then turned into a gratified smile, and with an arm crossed over his chest, he knelt before the portrait for a few moments. None of his allies knew what to make of this behavior, or rather, why their leader was seemingly honoring the figure in the portrait. But once he stood up, Night Terror grew curious enough to ask, "Who is that?"
A question Tirek was more than happy to answer in narration form.
"That is the original ruler of this world, before the founders of Equestria, and before the cataclysm of the first age came to pass: Lord Tirac. One of the rulers of the great nations of Equus who single-handedly vanquished the Outer God, Apophis, when he emerged in a weaker version of his Corrupt Bahamut form, and then devoured his soul to become a God in mortal flesh. But there was more to it than merely consuming a weakened soul: the centaur, and the Outer God made a pact that would not only give my ancestor power beyond imagining, but allow the great light slayer to live on within Tirac's own soul. Through their union, they created the great Heartstone - the source of their immortality, and a conduit by which they can use the essence of Anarchy, and Darkness. More, they forged the Dark Crucible, which gave them the power to transform the land into their corrupt, and twisted view of perfection. A dark world made in their image. Ponies of old called it "The Rainbow of Darkness", regarding the power stored within that artifact, which is rivaled only by the Bewitching Bell. Emperor Grogar may have been the father of monsters in the twilight of the Third, and the dawning of the Fourth Age........but Tirac was the Elder God of Monsters. With the power of Darkness, and the wisdom of Apophis guiding him, this figure was once the most powerful ruler in all the world. And this mountain, despite its changed appearance, was one of five dominions, and castles that kept his influence in the world strong, and unyielding."
Completely drawn into the story, Sombra now asked, "What happened to him?" This earned him a brief pause from Tirek, before he finished the tale.
"Fate finally caught up with the Supreme Dark Lord. It had been prophesied that a Pony who embodies the three races. and wields the power of the Light, a Dragon who wields all of the very elements, and a being from another world entirely would join together with the last free ponies in the land, and end the Dark One's reign forever. When the day came, on the day when our sun would align with a pair of wandering suns of different sizes, to form a Great Conjunction, and he planned to use its power to bring forth "The Eternal Night", he was confronted with the very beings of whom the prophecy spoke. The power of the conjunction fueled the Heartstone, and gave him a form befitting an Outer God of Anarchy and Darkness as he merged with The Dark Crucible. But.......just as it seemed victory was in his grasp, the Alicorn stallion, the human girl, and the black dragon, united the powers of Harmony and Light with the strength of the Element of Creation, referred to as "The Aurathon", to destroy his powers, and undo the very empire he had created, transforming this mountain castle into a desolate ruin. But even though the ponies had their victory, it was not whole. For Tirac had survived the power of what they called "The Rainbow of Light", and endured. The price, however, was truly great, for his power had become a mere fickle drop of what he once was. Yet he did not succumb to defeat. As he dragged his bloodied, broken body through the land, he found a portal which lead to an entire realm where Darkness rules. There, his life was preserved, though his own might was now gone. He had been made into a shell of his glorious self: this mighty god among mortals, who was the Master of Anarchy, and Darkness, and the greatest ruler who ever lived. Even so, he kept his mighty crystals, which were the greatest source of his power before The Dark Crucible came to be. With them, he spent his dying days in that realm, searching through time, and space itself to find a successor to carry on his malignant legacy. And that, of course, was me!"
Now the three truly understood Lord Tirek's motivations, and felt a sense of great admiration for this dark figure, who was once the TRUE pinnacle of power that no villain alive has ever measured up to. Not even Grogar himself could compare to this living god. And now, here stood one who had somehow met him, and became the heir of his legacy. But Tirek wasn't finished yet, as anger, and hatred began to rise in his voice. "Because of my brother, the memory of my mission - of my very heritage - had been denied me for over eight thousand years. But now, I remember all that there ever was to know! I am Lord Tirek: descendant of Lord Tirac, and follower of Apophis, both of whom now live on in me through the very same pact they made to each other all those generations ago! And now that I have regained all that I have lost, I will finish my ancestors work, and destroy the world of Harmony and Light! Eradicate the influence of Lignum Harmonia, and the champions of Laurana......and pity the fools who would DARE STAND UP TO ME!" Now the picture was clear to them all: this was not simply about revenge. This was about waging, and winning a war eons in the making against the forces of Light. And Tirek himself was chosen to lead the forces of Darkness in that war.
And now, there may be a chance he will win.
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So then, this takes place AFTER Frenemies?
Obviously yes. Didn't I make that clear enough in the story?
Ok. Sorry. I just wasn't completely sure, at least considering that Twilight's Seven takes place before Frenemies in the MLP: FiM series.
By the way, when Spike was talking to Fluttershy alone, I noticed that it was Twilight's and Shining Armor's instead of Dusk's and Shining Armor's. Also, how do you add something from a story chapter into a comment?
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It's fine, then.
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I saw, and fixed it now. So Thank you for bringing it to my attention. Now aside from wording, and editing mistakes, what did you think of the chapter itself? I don't write these just to be corrected on mistakes - at least no on purpose.^^;
I believe that the chapter was truly excellent, just like all of the other stories and chapters regarding the Harmoniaverse!!! I don't blame you for taking so long to write. In fact, I was worried you had COVID-19 for a while! Either way, keep up the good work, and hope to see more chapters soon!
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Believe me: even if I had Swine Flu again, it wouldn't stop me from writing or drawing. Only a lack of inspiration, and creativity are what keeps me from working on this. Thankfully, I know now what I need to either drink or eat to get the drive I need to work on my stuff. Either way, glad you still like it.:)
By the way, I asked how you put something from a chapter into a comment (with those words in gray boxes), and I haven't gotten an answer yet.
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Sorry I forgot about that. But are you asking me how to copy, and paste words into a comment entry?
Yes, of course. I'm sure you've seen comments with words from a chapter inside grey boxes. That's what I'm talking about.
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I'm not really sure that I do, to be honest.
Okay, just had to be sure. Thanks anyway.
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Sure, no problem.^^;