Equestrylvania

by Brony_Fife

Original Sin, Part III

Chapter 3~ Rising

---

The Golden Oaks Library stands as a tree half-dead. The back entrance is completely gone, with much of the interior bloated and damp from the one or two days of rain. As she tucks in her wings and descends through the hole in the back wall, Rainbow Dash sees Twilight Sparkle pacing forlornly amongst her ruined books.

It’s a depressing spectacle: Twilight trotting among the corpses of her cherished collection, a look of vulnerability in her eyes. Many of the books were destroyed in Dirt Nap’s attack, simply incinerated completely. The rest were wrecked by the rain.

Twilight’s movements are slow, mechanical. Destroyed books are lifted by a magenta glow that deposits them into boxes marked “Unsalvageable.” Nearby, Twilight’s nighttime assistant Owlowiscious stands on his perch, observing his mistress with a keen interest.

“Hey,” says Rainbow Dash as she lands gently beside her friend.

Twilight looks over another book, almost not even paying attention to Rainbow Dash. She sighs as she drops it into the “Unsalvageable” box. “Did you and Shatterstorm find out anything?” she asks, her back still turned.

“Well, she’s not talking,” Rainbow Dash replies as she steps over some books. “Not about Dracula or his plans. Not even about that book you’re still missing. Her whole attitude’s changed, too. Really meek. Like, worse-than-Fluttershy meek.”

Twilight stops, then turns to look Rainbow Dash in the eye. “So you’re saying…” She begins to pace the room, her “dead” books no longer on her mind. Owlowiscious’s head turns as she walks a circle around his perch. “So you’re saying this Actrise character. No information. Not acting herself.” She taps a hoof to the floor suddenly in realization. “Of course.”

She stops and looks at Rainbow Dash in the eye. “That isn’t Actrise.”

Rainbow Dash cocks her head. “Not her? So… What does that mean?”

Twilight summons the bestiary Aeon had given her and opens it, flipping the pages until she finds the section on witches and other magic-users. “This bestiary claims that witches are capable of several forms of black magic. What we’re looking at is either something like hypnotic suggestion or physical possession or…”

“Shatterstorm thinks she’s working with Dracula’s minions,” Rainbow Dash interrupts. “Like, willingly. Or at least, she was at first.”

Twilight stops and looks up at Rainbow Dash. “…Continue.”

“Basically, if you’re right, and Shatterstorm’s right, then this chick’s a henchmare,” Rainbow Dash shrugs. “And one of the rules of being a bad guy is you never divulge too much info to your henchponies. Whatever her connection to Dracula is, I don’t think she really knows anything. It was a good try, but… she’s pretty much a dead end.”

A pause. Twilight considers Rainbow Dash’s theory, feeling the weight of its depth. When she connects the dots, Twilight feels a groan crawling up her throat and silences it with a facehoof. “Great,” she mutters. “That means I’ve completely lost that book.”

“What is it with you and that book, anyway?”

Twilight paces again. “It was the personal journal of Starswirl the Bearded himself. I received it the same night I received that letter from Shining Armor.” She stops. Blinks, as if in thought. “Almost at the same time, in fact. Never got to read it before… well, everything else that’s happened.”

“Aw, come on, Twi,” Rainbow Dash says, giving Twilight a playful punch to the shoulder. “It’s not like that was the only copy.” A pause. Rainbow Dash frowns. “…That was the only copy, wasn’t it?”

Twilight nods. “Celestia kept it in her possession for generations.”

Rainbow Dash raises an eyebrow. “If she had it in her possession for generations, then why didn’t she make a copy of it?”

Twilight looks at Rainbow Dash. “That’s a good question.” She begins to pace the room once more, stepping carefully over ruined books. “I surmise it might be due to the fact that since Starswirl dabbled in many different delicate, potentially harmful spells, it was a better idea to keep the only copy of his journal hidden instead of making it easier for enemies of the Crown to distribute such a potentially dangerous text.” She stops and shrugs. “Not that it matters now. Either way, it’s been stolen.”

Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes as she drifts into the air, largely ignoring Twilight’s explanation. “Still say she should have made copies,” she says, folding her forelegs behind her head.

Twilight shakes her head. “It certainly wouldn’t have put us where we are right now,” she sighs. “But that doesn’t matter right now. I’m sure the ward on the journal should protect it from their evil.”

Rainbow Dash raises an eyebrow. “It has a ward?”

Twilight shrugs. “Another safety precaution. You know, in case it falls into the wrong hooves.

“Anyway, Spike will be back here shortly with the ingredients I needed for the compasses, so for now we…” Her voice trails off. Her eyes scan around Rainbow Dash, then around the room. “Where’s Shatterstorm right now, anyway? I thought I sent both of you…”

Rainbow Dash looks around. “Uh… he… shoulda… been here before me, actually,” she says. “Dunno what’s holding him up.”

---

“Hey Shatterstorm! Hey Shatterstorm! Hey Shatterstorm! Hey Shatterstorm! Hey Shatterstorm! Hey Shatterstorm! Hey Shatterstorm! Hey Shatterstorm! Hey Shatterstorm! Hey Shatterstorm!”

The pink thing simply won’t leave. Shatterstorm cannot hide from her squeaky voice and high-octane energy, no matter how much he tries, no matter how much he wants to simply shrink and disappear. How she managed to jump high enough to tackle him as he flew is certainly a mystery for the ages. He releases a defeated grunt as he slowly trots back to the Library, Pinkie Pie bouncing all about him like a one-mare stunt show.

A sudden weight lands on his back as a frizzy pink mane and a pair of darling baby blue eyes pop into his vision. “Hey Shatterstorm! Hey!” she chirps. “Why you so sad, Shatterstorm?”

It’s the blue eyes that get Shatterstorm. They aren’t the same color as his, but they have the same feel. Exactly the same. They’re tender and caring, her eyes. Eyes that hug you when she sees you. You can look into them and believe everything’s going to be OK.

Just like his.

A long frown—well, longer than usual—stretches at the ends of his mouth as he sighs through his nostrils, his descending eyelids shutting out both Pinkie’s eyes and the painful void Tiger Cross left behind.

“Aw, turn that frownie upside-downie!” Pinkie jumps off him, landing on one foreleg and twirling about before resuming walking on all fours. Despite her infectious energy and merry attitude, Shatterstorm’s disposition remains cheerless.

He sighs. “Look, Pinkie, it’s… been a long and almost-thoroughly disappointing morning for me, so—”

At this, Pinkie turns and faces him. Her girlish grin becomes a simple line before crumpling into a frown. “So?” she says, her eyebrows slanting downward. “You’re so busy being a mopey-dopey pants that you can’t see how it’s been a long and thoroughly disappointing morning for everypony!”

“—Uh—”

“I mean, it’s been a long and very disappointing past twelve days for most of us!”

“—W-Well, er—”

“And here you are, thinking you’re the only one who’s sad!”

Her unexpected criticism of his behavior catches Shatterstorm off-guard. It’s like he’d been walking around with a bag over his head, only to have it rudely jerked away. Suddenly, he is able to hear the construction work going on. He sees ponies who have lost a lot these past few days. He sees and hears the ponies rebuilding, pulling themselves together—pulling each other together—and realizes how selfish it is to shrink the world down to just himself and his own problems.

“Well… You got me there.” The words exhale his self-centered depression. He smiles a little, welcoming a breath of fresh air.

Pinkie smiles again, and puts a foreleg around his neck, pulling him close. She doesn’t notice the way his body tenses. “See? You just gotta look at the big picture! Life’s too short to get all hung up on bungles and bumbles!” She pauses, a look of mystification floating through her eyes. “Bungles and Bumbles,” she whispers. “That’s like the best name for a rock band, ever.”

“Well, I wouldn’t call them bungles or bum… bles…” A long pause. “…What?”

Pinkie Pie resumes bouncing along the path to the library. Her hooves leave the ground with a cheerful twinkling noise. “Well, OK, maybe Bumbles and Bungles instead.” She laughs. “And they’d sing the greatest song in the world!”

Shatterstorm walks alongside the little pink sugar buzz. “Out of curiosity—and my better judgment—which song would that happen to be?”

Pinkie Pie hums a few bars before Shatterstorm recognizes the tune and rolls his eyes. “‘This’? That old number that got Sapphire Shores famous? Please.”

Pinkie Pie shrugs. “’This’ is the greatest and best song in the world!”

“‘This’ is not the greatest song in the world,” Shatterstorm scoffs. “‘This’ is just a tribute.”

Pinkie’s bouncing trot slows down. “A tribute to greatness!” she chirps. “It’s a song that’s aaaaaaall about believing in yourself, and confidence, and cherries on top, and maybe something about mashed potatoes, but I think they’re a metaphor, which is really silly because the only thing I can associate with mashed potatoes is clouds except that clouds don’t taste nearly as yucky except when the potatoes have ketchup but I like to use maple syrup instead because maple syrup and mashed potatoes both start with MMM-MMM!”

She looks at Shatterstorm once she acknowledges his lack of response. He looks directly ahead, his hard eyes scrutinizing with an intense focus. Pinkie follows his gaze and notices somepony standing at the front of the library, looking in through one of the windows.

She turns her head the moment she realizes she’s being watched.

---

There’s muted shouts outside that draw both mares’ attention. Rainbow Dash thinks to fly out the hole in the wall to investigate, but before she can act, the front door slams open and in walks Shatterstorm. He shoves a mare inside the Library, and she lands face-first onto the ground. Twilight immediately recognizes her: the creamy coat, the rosy mane…

“Roseluck?” Twilight asks incredulously.

“Found her right outside, peeking in through a window,” says Shatterstorm. From behind him bounces Pinkie Pie, who lands on his back—much to his annoyance.

“Don’t treat Rosie like that, Stormdrain!” she chirps.

Rainbow Dash chuckles as Shatterstorm glowers. “Stormdrain?”

“Yup, that’s his new nickname,” Pinkie Pie says as she leap-frogs off Shatterstorm’s back. She lands in front of Roseluck and helps her up. As she does so, Pinkie shoots a withering look to Shatterstorm. “I call him that because he’s such a sourpuss.”

Shatterstorm snorts. “Have we nearly forgotten this little pervert we caught lurking outside Miss Sparkle’s window?” he growls in frustration.

Roseluck says nothing but looks aside at Shatterstorm with a scowl and squinting eyes, accepting his distrust and meeting it with some of her own. The tension in the air feels like piano wires just about to snap.

Before the situation can spiral further out of control, Twilight interrupts. “Rose, what’s the meaning of this?”

Again, Roseluck says nothing. Pinkie Pie cocks her head in confusion at Rose’s reluctance to speak. “What’s wrong, Rosie?” she asks.

“What were you doing looking through her window?” Shatterstorm demands as he takes a step forward.

Rainbow Dash hovers around Roseluck. “Are you a spy?” she asks, invading Rose’s personal space.

Her eyes go from pony to pony before settling on Twilight. Finally, Rose speaks. “I wanted to speak to Twilight.

“…Alone.”

The sound of her voice—a hoarse, dry monotone—causes Shatterstorm, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash to recoil. She sounds like a mare about to die.

A pause. Twilight sighs and nods. “Don’t worry about me, everypony, I’ll be fine.”

The other three ponies exit the Library with looks of unease. Before he closes the door behind him, Shatterstorm shoots one last accusing glare Rose’s way as a warning. I’m watching you.

Rose catches his glare and returns it with a mock-kiss. The door is closed.

“You could have just used the door, Rose,” Twilight says. “You could have avoided that whole confrontation. What is wrong with you?”

Rose paces a bit before mumbling something Twilight can’t hear. She looks out the window to see if anypony is eavesdropping. When she’s sure the coast is clear, Rose returns her attention to Twilight.

“I had another vision,” she croaks, ignoring Twilight’s question completely. Rose recounts it all: the blood red ponies, the screams, their attempts at killing one another. The mirror. The shattering. The graveyard of glass shards. The Castle.

Twilight scratches her chin. “Your last vision came true,” she says. “I didn’t prepare for it then…”

Rose shrugs as she looks at Owlowiscious, who cocks his head inquisitively. Rose does likewise. “Well,” she says, “I’m not sure what it means. Just like last time, really. How do you defend against a threat this vague?”

“But your vision this time sounds like it was more intense,” Twilight says. “You said it had something to do with mirrors…”

Rose breaks away from her staring contest with Owlowiscious. “So what do you intend to do? Just break all the mirrors in Ponyville? I’m sure that would work.”

“We might have to,” Twilight says.

Rose breathes a slow sigh like a plume of cigarette smoke. “Do you have some kind of seek-and-destroy spell that can wipe out every mirror—heck, maybe even every reflective surface?”

Twilight pauses to think, stroking her chin in thought. Rose has a point. Unless she can somehow destroy every reflective surface, whatever would cause the calamity in Rose’s vision will go unabated. But in relation to everything else going on—the reconstruction work, the assembly of the trackers, Aeon’s upcoming tell-all—this seems almost like a distraction.

No rest for the wicked, Twilight supposes. But how to approach this problem…?

“What if we were able to get this message out?” Twilight asks. “If this involves as many ponies as you saw, then that likely means it’s going to affect Ponyville at large.”

Rose rolls her eyes and sighs. “Twi. Babe. Listen.” Nonchalantly, she drapes a foreleg over Twi’s withers. “I was declared mentally unstable three days ago. I’m actually not even supposed to be out of the mental ward right now.” Twilight’s eyes widen at this blasé delivery of life-changing events. Rose’s eyes—twitchy and bloodshot—flick to Twilight suddenly. “And you? Remember the last time you tried to warn Ponyville of impending doom?”

Twilight scoffs, pushing Roseluck off. “W-What’s your point?”

Rose’s entire demeanor changes almost instantly. Her eyes suddenly sharpen. Her voice goes from the icy monotone into a growl, growing in pitch and volume with every word. “My point is, do you really think anypony’s going to listen? Gonna believe you? Gonna believe us?”

Her legs move her forward with an uneven, uncalculated stride that makes her every movement seem spidery. Twilight takes a step or two back. “Nopony’s going to listen to a madmare and a librarian,” Rose nearly shouts, “especially not when the instructions are BREAK ALL THE MIRRORS!!!” In frustration, Rose shoulders a stack of books over.

Twilight’s horn glows almost reflexively as she adopts a more-aggressive stance. Rose’s scowl worsens. “That how it’s gonna be, Twilight? Threaten me?”

“Get out, Roseluck!” Twilight warns, her voice cracking at out. “Go home.”

A pause. A soft look settles over Rose, as if finally realizing she’d just snapped at the only pony she trusts. She nods, slowly. As she walks to the door, Rose mumbles again before sighing. She places a hoof on the doorknob, but stops and turns her head to see that Twilight hasn’t relaxed yet.

“…Be careful out there,” she says quietly, her voice crackling as if coming over an old radio. Rose stands there a moment, as if waiting for Twilight to reply. When she receives none, she opens the door and leaves.

Outside, two nurses—apparently brought by Rainbow Dash and Shatterstorm—are waiting. Twilight looks out the window to see Rose being led away. Back home.

With all the other crazies.

She breathes a heavy sigh, watching how worried Pinkie Pie seems over her friend. She can’t imagine the grief Roseluck’s unintentionally putting on Daisy and Lily. All because the Castle sees fit to bully her with nearly-incomprehensible visions. Maybe it's that they both share the same vein of “precise target” victimhood, but Twilight feels she might have something of a twisted soul-sister in Rose…

Twilight notices her slight reflection in the window. She pulls the curtain around it closed.

---

The bushes rustle slightly. Must be the wind. Or at least, Fluttershy believes so until she hears whispers.

She looks up from her spot on the grassy ground. At first, Fluttershy’s unsure of what she just heard. It could have been just a whisper of wind sneaking through the sound of Ponyville’s reconstruction. But the looks on the faces of her animal friends imply they hear the whispers, too.

Fluttershy pauses, waiting. There it is again, the whispering. It sounds like somepony talking. Then more whispers join it.

She wets her tongue, not realizing that her throat has become dry until she does so. Her animal friends have taken to standing up, all looking in the direction of the bushes, their picnic forgotten. Mr. Bear begins to growl.

“Hello?” Fluttershy asks, putting her tea down. “Is somepony there?”

The whispers stop. For a few seconds, only the faraway sounds of hammers clinking and directions being shouted. Fluttershy repeats her question before taking a step forward. Mr. Bear puts himself between Fluttershy and the bushes.

“Great,” a female voice says at a perceptible volume. “Thanks a lot, Chloe.”

“What’d I do?” asks another voice, this one smaller, squeakier.

Another voice, this one feminine but aggressive and croaky. “The fact that you’re louder than a chainsaw when you’re whispering?”

Fluttershy looks from Angel—who stands by her side, looking ahead at the bushes suspiciously—to Mr. Bear. Her eyes then go back to the bushes, which rustle again before three bizarre creatures Fluttershy has never seen before come out from them.

They’re all bipedal creatures, all walking on two feet while standing at least five feet tall. One of them wears what looks like a stereotypical witch’s outfit, complete with the wide-brimmed, conical hat. Another one of them is taller, lankier, and wearing a rust-red robe. The last one is shorter than the other two, wearing a plain, purple one-piece dress, and like the witch, has long brown hair.

The tall one in the robe floats in the air, ghostlike. Now that she’s closer, Fluttershy notices her eyes are just cold white dots behind a milky film. Fluttershy takes a step back as Mr. Bear growls at the ghost-girl. She sticks a hand out. “Easy there, Gentle Ben,” she says in her croaky voice. “Believe it or not, we aren't here to kill you.”

“H-How did you get past the forcefield?” Fluttershy asks, trying to hide how deeply terrified she is. Her eyes dart about, hoping against hope that any authority figure is nearby.

The witch holds a hand up to her mouth as she laughs. “Hey, listen to this little chicken-shit!” she says. “She sounds like she’s gonna piss herself.” Fluttershy cowers at the utter cruelty of the witch’s words.

The one in the purple dress frowns at the witch. “Bella,” she says, “don’t be mean!” Her voice is the squeaky one from before. Chloe. She turns to Fluttershy. “Don’t listen to Bella, little one; she’s just being a bump.”

Bella rolls her eyes and scoffs. “But lookit her, Chloe! I’m afraid I might kill her just by looking at her.”

Chloe purses her lips. “You’re scaring her!” she chides.

Fluttershy suddenly interrupts. “Um, I don’t mean to sound rude or anything, but… could you answer my question, please?”

The robed one smirks, then moves her hand forward. It stops against the still air as if it’s solid, causing a white glow to press against her hand. She moves her hand around, as if stroking glass. “We can’t actually pass this little barrier you got here,” she says. “It only stops just a bit before your house.”

Fluttershy flicks her eyes to her cottage not even a hundred feet away. The idea that these three might have been sitting there watching her sleep welds a healthy dose of terror to her already-full list of unpleasant things she’s been put through. She clicks her tongue uneasily as her critter friends glare the three witches down.

“What do you w-want?” Fluttershy asks, trying her hardest to put her fear in the back of her mind. She almost feels angry at herself—she’s safely on the other side of the barrier. They can’t hurt her. But she still mewls like a whimpering little kitten.

Chloe squeals as she claps her hands together. “She. Is so. Precious,” she squeaks. “I want herrrr, she’s so prettyyyyy~!”

Bella facepalms. “We had this discussion like five seconds ago, Chloe,” she says. “You’re terrible at keeping pets. Remember all those familiars?”

Chloe puts her hands on her hips defensively. “There’s a difference between a familiar and a pet!”

The robed one picks at her ear. “Right, sure,” she mumbles. “Remember that white unicorn Mother Actrise had working for her? I think you terrified it just by suggesting that same idea.”

Chloe jumps in place like a child barely able to contain her excitement. “But she was pretty too, Allie! How come I can’t have the pretty ponies?”

Fluttershy winces at the mention of Actrise’s name. They claim she’s their Mother…

Bella continues. “Because you’re totally irresponsible when it comes to animals. We take this little chicken-shit home and you’ll forget to feed her in a week.” She cocks her head to Allie. “And Allie and I ain’t gonna take care of this thing for you.”

There’s a degree of humiliation and degradation in being referred to as a dumb animal. Fluttershy never treats her animals this way. Her fear of these three clowns suddenly suspends as her mouth bends into an unimpressed frown accompanied by an offended grunt and a furrowed brow.

“But what’s wrong with wanting a cute pony?” Chloe argues. “And so what if I wanna starve it just to see how long it takes to die? That’s the fun part!”

Fluttershy’s face contorts with the thought of how many others Chloe had “taken in.” Right back up to scary with as few as two sentences.

Allie laughs. “Like that one dinosaur thing? I forget its name.” She shrugs. “Gurgle, or something. Shit, that thing’s been suffering forever.”

Bella joins in Allie’s laugh. “It’s fun trying out new spells on him, though.”

Mr. Bear roars, getting everyone’s attention. Fluttershy looks from him to these three contemptible creatures before her now. “I agree with Mr. Bear,” she says evenly. “I’m getting a little impatient myself. Why are you three here?”

Bella sneers at Fluttershy. “Aw, wookit da wittle pony! Suddenly got a backbone, chicken-shit?”

Her patience with Bella’s mean-spirited humor at its end, Fluttershy gives her The Stare. The moment her eyes turn to ice, Bella recoils. Fluttershy’s wings stand up instinctively, making her seem larger and more threatening. “If you have no business here, then you should leave,” Fluttershy warns.

The three witches look at each other, then slowly back to Fluttershy. Their faces become less clownish. Fluttershy gets the impression that if it weren’t for the barrier, these three wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. Bella squats down until she’s at eye-level with Fluttershy, entering a staring contest with her own set of stony eyes and a thin frown.

“Who you think you are, chicken-shit?” Bella asks through clenched teeth. “You know who you’re talkin’ to? If it weren’t for this little barrier—” (she knocks on it, causing a rippling of white)“—and your animal buddies—” (she jerks her head to Mr. Bear, who snorts) “—there wouldn’t be enough left of you to leave a stain on the dirt.”

Fluttershy holds up the Cross she wears on her neck so suddenly, the very sight of it sends Bella into a squealing near-panic. Fluttershy laughs. “You’re all just a bunch of cowards and bullies,” she says dismissively before she and her animal friends turn to leave.

As Fluttershy makes her way back to her cottage, Allie pipes up. “What if we told you we have something that might be important to you?”

Perhaps it’s the way Allie says it, but it stops Fluttershy cold in her tracks. Her face expressionless, Fluttershy’s breathing becomes shallower. Angel looks to Fluttershy with worry. Against her better judgment, Fluttershy turns around to once again face those three fiends.

Chloe holds it out like it’s a prize. The smiles these three sinister sisters share ooze a much-more-open sense of hostility than before. Fluttershy holds a gasp.

There, clenched in Chloe’s fingers, is Princess Cadance’s crown.

Comments

[Clocklike]

“‘This’ is not the greatest song in the world,” Shatterstorm scoffs. “‘This’ is just a tribute.”

SUBTLE

Fluttershy laughs. “You’re all just a bunch of cowards and bullies,” she says dismissively before she and her animal friends turn to leave.

Kind of OOC. Or just character development.

[wlam]

Pinkie Pie shrugs. “’This’ is the greatest and best song in the world!”

“‘This’ is not the greatest song in the world,” Shatterstorm scoffs. “‘This’ is just a tribute.”

You should feel ashamed for that one.