Can You See Me Now

by Marezinger Z

Chapter 5

By the time Sugar Belle and the Pies made it back to Twilight's castle, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were already there and debriefing their encounter.

"Oh my!" Rarity noticed the beat down group make their way in, her gasp halting the conversation.

"Girls!" Twilight hurried over to them. "What happened?"

"Sis really packs a punch now." Limestone answered with an empty chuckle. "Who'd have thought, right?"

"This is bad, Twilight." Pinkie looked over her kin. "Marble is heading for the farm to confront our parents, please tell me you know something?"

"Barely." She looked back to Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow and Fluttershy were able to find out a bit from Zephyr, the pony we're dealing with is named..."

"Renaissance." Maud finished for her. "We got that much as well."

"Were you able to find out anything in town?" Sugar Belle asked.

"She's making as little contact as possible." Twilight informed. "We were able to piece together a description of her from what the ponies that interacted with her remember, but she isn't staying anywhere in Ponyville or Canterlot."

"Not even Celestia has heard the name before." Rarity added.

Pinkie wandered over to Fluttershy. "I guess you didn't have any luck with Zephyr."

"No." Fluttershy shook her head. "But, I'm starting to think there is more to this than just Renaissance's magic." She let out a pained sigh. "I don't think Renaissance is controlling them, everything Zephyr said... that was all him. I had no idea he was hiding that kind of pain."

"Fluttershy, we can't rule out some type of influence." Twilight tried to comfort her. "We still don't know exactly how Renaissance's magic functions."

"No, Twilight; Fluttershy is right." Pinkie frowned. "All that anger that was coming out of Marble was from things she's been keeping inside for who knows how long now."

"She feels like she was shoved aside and left behind." Limestone added.

"That's basically what Zephyr said." Rainbow Dash nodded.

"I think we've found our link as to why they were targeted." Rarity concluded. "I'm sure little Snips' story is much the same."

"So what now?" Limestone looked around the room. "Knowing all that doesn't give us the most important answer, how do we stop them?"

"I noticed something back there." Sugar Belle spoke up. "I don't know if it was coincidence or not, but that bizarre magical aura around Marble died down when Big Mac yelled at her. It's like it snapped her out of her anger."

"I saw that too." Pinkie tapped her temple. "Kind of like it goes up and down with her mood."

"Hey, something like that happened to Zephyr." Rainbow Dash recalled. "When he stopped acting all cocky and started talking about himself, that glow started to disappear."

"It's possible the magic is linked to their emotional state." Twilight's mind began to run through her vast knowledge of magic. "That would make sense based on what we can surmise about Renaissance's motives. The power of her enchantments increase along with the pony's level of emotional distress, and when used on pony's who are suffering from heavy amounts of repressed anger and upset... it would make them immensely powerful as they gave in to those emotions."

"So we have to calm her down to cut off her power?" Maud asked.

"We can't just fight them." Fluttershy noted. "Fighting will only make the situation worse. We need to talk to them, let them know that we hear them and want to be there for them."

Their discussion was interrupted as Applejack and her team made their entrance.

"Looks like we showed up late." Applejack removed her hat and wiped her brow.

"Thank goodness." Rarity sighed as Sweetie Belle ran to her. "I was getting worried."

"Were you able to do anything about Snips?" Twilight asked.

"Well, we stopped him from stomping a mudhole in the Buckball museum." Applejack shrugged. "But he wound up slipping through our hooves after that. Did y'all have any better luck?"

"We're starting to piece this all together." Rarity nodded. "I'll get you up to speed."

Spike flew into the room from the adjacent hallway. "Hey everypony, I've got some snacks whipped up."

"Thank you, Spike." Twilight motioned for everyone to follow. "Let's recharge and decide our next moves." With muddled spirits, her friends followed after for a much needed break.

---

Marble wiped her eyes as she sat in the empty campsite. Renaissance was nowhere to be found and she struggled with Big Mac's rejection of her feelings. As the sun began to wain, a shadow briefly blocked the light above her; she quickly looked up to see Zephyr descending with Snips on his back.

"Hey, girl." He touched down, his passenger jumping from his back. "You okay?" He asked, noticing her damp eyes.

"Big Mac doesn't want me." She shook her head longingly. "My sisters showed up too and made it even more complicated."

"Ooh." Snips hissed.

Zephyr sat beside her and laid his hoof to her leg. "Hey, I know how you feel, my sis showed up too."

"Applejack was with her sister and her friends." Snips added. "I think they're teaming up to try and shut us down."

"That figures." Zephyr shrugged with a laugh. "They always stick together."

Marble looked around the campsite. "Where is Renaissance?"

"She isn't here?" Zephyr checked the area. "Don't know then... I wound up meeting with Snips and headed back here." He jostled her leg. "But hey, it's like she said, we've got each other now. If they want to team up, then so should we."

"Yeah, that's a great idea." Snips said excitedly. "We aren't going to get anywhere as long as they keep trying to keep us down."

"Okay." Marble nodded with a sniffle. "Will you guys help me then?"

"Of course, babe." Zephyr smiled. "What do you want us to do?"

"I want you to come home with me." She said firmly.

Zephyr laughed nervously. "Uh... okay; moving a little fast but that's..."

"Not for that!" Marble eyed him sternly. "My 'home' is where all of this started. I need to go there and finally tell my parents how I feel... I want to be free of that farm." Her eyes began to glow.

"We can do that." Snips said surely. "And if they show up again, we can face them together." He held his hoof out, his own eyes firing up. "They won't beat us again."

"Yeah." Zephyr laid his hoof atop Snips', eyes sharing the same burning light. "Just like all that friendship stuff they're always going on about."

"Thanks, guys." Marble set her own on theirs.

As they celebrated their comradery, Renaissance watched them from a hefty distance. She smiled to herself as the sounds of their excitement wafted over to her position. "Well done." She muttered. "Your journeys are almost complete and soon your lives will be forever changed... your rebirths will be spectacular."

---

Twilight's friends tried to rest and recuperate but little of either was had. Their minds and hearts were heavy with the weight of this conflict between family and friends that had come on so suddenly and struck deep chords in them all. Twilight, while not having as personal a stake as some, was instead consumed with thought of the mastermind behind all of this; the mysterious Renaissance who's motives were the greatest unknown in this situation. She meandered the halls of her castle, only stopping at the sounds of voices coming from the great room. Poking her head in, she saw Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy sitting before the fireplace.

"Girls?" Twilight gently called.

"Oh, Twilight." Fluttershy smiled, although Twilight could see it was forced. "Not sleeping either?"

"Not really." Twilight joined them. "How are you two holding up?"

"Like ice cream in the sun." Pinkie said half jokingly. "I can't stop thinking about how Marble must be feeling right now."

You two are getting hit by this the hardest, huh?" Twilight guessed.

"I've gotten used to going against monsters and villains." Fluttershy said with a sigh. "But this is our family... I don't want to fight Zephyr."

"I know." Twilight nodded. "None of us are looking forward to this, but if we don't stop them there is no telling what kind of damage they'll cause."

"It isn't just that, Twilight." Pinkie shook her head. "I can't be mad at Marble for what she's doing, not after finding out how she's felt all this time. This wouldn't be happening at all if we had been there for her when she needed us."

"You didn't know, Pinkie." Twilight tried to console her.

"That's the point... I should have known." Pinkie looked at her with teary eyes. "How could I not know what my own sister was going through?" She took a deep sniff to stay her runny nose. "She was right, our lives got so full that we grew more apart than we realized and we left her behind. I'm not going to forgive myself for that."

"I'm just as guilty." Fluttershy said shallowly. "Zephyr has always struggled socially, I thought we had helped him work through his flaky tendencies before; but that was just a bandage we wrapped around a wound that went so much deeper than we could have even imagined. I didn't bother to look deeper, I thought it was just Zephyr being Zephyr."

Twilight let out a hard breath. "I know you'll be able to get through to them." She said confidently. "And I'm going to make sure Renaissance answers for what she's done."

---

After a relatively restless night, everyone struggled to fully awake the next morning. Applejack and Spike saw to breakfast, making something hearty to refuel their friends. Twilight worked her way to the front door after a stream of heavy knocks, opening up to find Big Mac with an envelope in his mouth.

"Big Mac, what is that?" Twilight asked as she levitated it from his mouth.

"It was on your doorstep." Big Mac detailed as he came in. "Are Sugar Belle and my sisters ok?"

"Yes, every pony is in the dining room." As Big Mac headed off, she opened the envelope and removed a letter. Her eyes widened as she read, finding the name 'Renaissance' penned at the end. "Girls!" She began running back through the castle; her startled friends stopped eating as she galloped in.

"What's the matter, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.

"This is from Renaissance." She held the letter out before them.

"What?" Rainbow Dash stood from the table. "What's it say?"

"She knows I'm looking for her." Twilight explained. "She wants me to come alone to the Everfree Forest."

"Like hay you are." Applejack shook her head.

"It's clearly a trap." Rarity added.

"Maybe, but I'll have to chance it." Twilight said surely. "You've got to go after Marble and the others. This says they're headed for the Pie farm."

"All three of them?" Limestone asked in shock. "We're having a hard enough time just dealing with Marble."

"What do we do?" Applebloom looked around the room.

"We stick to our plan." Twilight said surely. "Just remember, the more you fight them the more powerful and unstable their magic enchantments will become."

"Leave it to us." Pinkie Pie nodded soundly.

"We'll leave Marble to you then." Sugar Belle laid her hoof to Pinkie. "If it's true that distress flares their magic, then Big Mac and I being there won't help you. You three are her sisters, if any pony is going to reach her it's you."

"We will." Maud vowed.

"Sweetie Belle." Rarity went to her sister. "You, Applebloom and Scootaloo should remain as well. With all three of them there, this could become dangerous and you've more than done your part."

"Forget it." Sweetie Belle fervently declined. "We have to be there to help Snips."

"Yeah, and we're going to bring backup this time." Scootaloo added as the three girls headed out.

"We'll meet you there!" Applebloom called back.

"Wait a minute now!" Applejack called after them but they had already vanished.

"They'll be okay." Rainbow Dash assured. "Those girls can handle themselves. We need to get moving."

"Big Mac and I will watch the castle until you get back." Sugar Belle promised. "Good luck."

"Thank you." Twilight nodded as she headed for the door.

"Twilight." Applejack halted her. "Y'all be careful now, don't let that snake get the drop on you."

"I won't." She smiled confidently.

The eight of them scattered from the castle; Twilight heading to the forest while the Pie sisters led the others back to their home for what they all knew would be an emotional confrontation.

Comments

[LoverofPoniesandDragons]

I made this account just now just so I could give this story the support it needs. I love this. I do feel like these three ponies deserve better and they are some of my favorites in the series. I hope it will have a happy ending especially since Marble's problems hit me the hardest. I also hope the Crusaders' "backup" is Snails. But I'm sure whatever you choose I will like. I know you're a good writer since I also read "All That We Are"

[Marezinger Z]

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Thanks, I really appreciate that. I'm a little bummed this story isn't garnering a lot of attention because I had been wanting to write this one for a while and felt it was something fairly unique. But as long as even a few people are enjoying it, I'm perfectly happy.

[LoverofPoniesandDragons]

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It seems Marble is the angriest of the three. Probably because the poor girl rarely said any words at all for so long.

[Marezinger Z]

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This story evolved from ideas I had based around Marble; influenced by that one scene in the holiday special where she looked heartbroken to see Big Mac and Sugar Belle together. That one little second got me thinking about her and about how underdeveloped she was out of all the Pie sisters. Breaking her down and looking at her more closely, I began to explore how a pony like her might feel given her life circumstances, the lives of her sisters and her literal lack of voice. She isn't the sole focus, but she was definitely the foundation for this story. Like with my Zecora story, I enjoy focusing on ponies that don't get much time or plot in the show because it allows me to weave my own lore for them while respecting canon events.

[LoverofPoniesandDragons]

Just so you don't lose hope, I'm still excitedly awaiting your next chapter :)

[Marezinger Z]

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It's in the works. 👍