Chapter 44. Minor Intermission
Lightning flashed across the night sky, a horrific beast glided through the woods. Almost formless, the black mass with haunting red eyes and a mouth stitched closed. It moved in jittery, twitchy jolts. As if it were being pulled by a guiding string. Hair in disarray, the very image of disheveled. It made a sound akin to bones cracking as its joints moved. A hitched breath earned a crackling head turn as its eyes searched for the source. A young girl hid in the underbrush, holding her mouth, desperately trying to hold back a panic attack. Whatever this creature was, it could end her with no effort.
Their eyes met.
A guttural voice invaded the young woman's head. “A vessel.”
Her heart dropped, feeling a cold blackness envelop her-
“Hey, Aria!” Sonata called as she ran up to the table. Aria looked up from her notebook, closing it before the shorter girl arrived.
“What is it, Sonata?” She asked in a deadpan tone. Her flow was interrupted, but Sonata couldn't have known. She had to remind herself to not snap at her. ‘You're not like that anymore.’
“Dagi said to find you. Sunset was gonna run tests on us today, remember?”
“I tried to forget.” She rolled her eyes. “She knows we don't have magic anymore.”
“Well, who knows? Maybe we just can't access it yet?” She asked with a hopeful smile.
Aria sighed. “Alright, alright. But you have to promise me.” She stood, facing Sonata fully. “If we're powerless, you have to be prepared for that possibility.”
Sonata frowned slightly. “But-”
“I know. ‘It's not fair’.” She frowned as well. “But we've done a lot of bad with our magic, this might just be karma at this point.” She shrugged.
“But-” She shifted, rubbing her arm nervously. “If that happens, what'll happen to the three of us?”
“We'll live our lives like regular people, I guess.” She shrugged before noticing her nervous habit. “But…we'll still be us. Magic brought us together, but we chose to stay together.” She offered, putting a hand on her shoulder, earning a soft smile from the girl. “Now let's go. You know how Adagio gets.”
With a nod, Sonata led the way to the lab. Passing by the several students who milled about the school, some avoided their gaze, others gave at least Sonata a wave.
Aria didn't bother with the ones who were too scared to approach her. Nothing she could say would change their opinion of her. To the ones who had the guts to speak to her, she had become a somewhat disinterested shoulder to lean on. She knew more than her fair share of rumors and actually put a stop to the highly incorrect ones. As uninterested as she appeared, she spoke up when someone needed backup. Some may say it was working off her guilt, but in Aria's mind, she just knew when a messed up situation needed to be stomped out.
Sonata opened the door and led Aria in, Sunset and Twilight looked up from their work.
“Hey, you found her!” Sunset said with a smile.
“Of course, I know all of Ari's hiding spots.”
“No you don't.” Aria said flatly.
“Well, since you're here, let's get started. Do they need the meters and stuff on them too?” She asked, looking down at the wires connected to her arms, one even on her neck.
“We should equip them as well. That way we can test with and without.” Twilight explained, picking up some more and approaching. Aria's scowl made her freeze. “I-If that's okay…” She said sheepishly.
“Shimmer, I know you're trying to help, but I'm already feeling like a lab rat.” She huffed.
“C'mon, Aria. We've come a long way in our magic research. I'd like to know if you still had any-”
“Is it because you want to help? Or is it because you know what happens to magical beings when their magic is stripped away from them?”
Twilight tilted her head, looking over to Sunset, who held a sad frown.
“Can it be both?”
“I already told you that I'm fine to live the rest of my life like this. Why raise our hopes?”
“I-”
“Aria.” Adagio crossed her arms. “Is it so wrong for someone to worry about us?”
“I don't want to be worried over!” She spat. “I'm not some fragile maiden who needs to be rescued.” She looked over at Twilight. “Magical beings have a much shorter lifespan if they lose their source of magic.” She offered. “In case she didn't tell you.”
Twilight frowned, stepping back. “I-I didn't know…”
“You had nothing to do with it.” Aria sighed. “I'm-” She took another deep breath, looking at Sonata with a frown.
“Please, Ari?” Sonata asked.
“Aria. If there's any way I can reverse it…I'll do it. I'm just-” Sunset said quietly.
“...” She scoffed, setting her stuff aside and unzipping her jacket. “Here. Let's get it over with.” She extended her arm out.
“Thank you.” Sunset said softly.
“I'm not doing this just so you can feel better about crippling us.” Aria said with a sigh, earning a flinch from Sunset. “I told you. You did what you had to do. I don't blame you. I can still be upset that we failed, but understand why you did it.”
Twilight attached the monitoring equipment and quickly returned to the machinery.
“I wish it didn't come to that.”
“We left you no choice.” Adagio said with a shrug.
“If we're just humans now, whatever. We're still us, right Aria?” Sonata asked.
Aria grumbled, but stepped up to the podium, soon joined by Sonata after she got the testing equipment on.
Sunset took a deep breath. ‘Come on…please.’ She hit a button. “Alright, try to sync with this note and we'll run your voices through a scale.” She explained as a musical note played, all three easily following along with the scale.
Several beeps and sounds came from Twilight's console.
“Now, could you hold this note for a little longer?” Sunset asked. Easily, the songstresses held the note.
The faintest red glimmer glowed from the spot where their gems once sat. The red soon faded as they paused to take a breath.
“Okay. Hold on a second.” Sunset said.
“We're picking up something.” Twilight spoke up. “It's faint, but there's a signature.”
The sirens looked between one another in surprise.
“Something isn't connecting though.” She squinted, looking over the readings again. “It's similar to when Rarity and Rainbow Dash tried to use their magic in unison.” She explained. “Their skill sets don't lend well to each other so they have to actively try to make their magic work together…” She looked up. “While your voices are in harmony, your magic isn't. If that makes sense.”
Adagio looked over at Aria. “Think it's because she didn't think it'd work?”
“It's a possibility, but what this means is that you three still have magic, even if you may need to relearn how to use it.”
Aria sighed. “Dammit.”
“What's wrong, Aria? This is good news!” Sonata said.
“I was…I was ready to have lost it all.” She sank to sit on the floor.
Sonata knelt beside her, hugging her tightly. Adagio knelt down as well, putting her arm around her. “We're back at square one, but this time we can learn how to use them more effectively.”
Aria sniffled, but nodded.
Sunset smiled watching the scene, a sudden tiredness washed over her. She caught herself on the table she stood in front of. The weight of her actions against the trio seemed to really affect her. Twilight moved to check on her. “Sunset? You okay?”
“I'm…just relieved.” She chuckled, meeting Aria's eyes. No words were spoken, but they both came to an understanding.
They ran a few more tests and packed up after an hour or so. Aria held the spot on her throat where her gem used to sit. “I still feel it…did it just need to be jump started?”
“It's a possibility.” Adagio shrugged. The dazzling all froze in place simultaneously. Eyes widening, they all looked toward the window facing the city.
“You felt that…right?” Sonata asked.
“Felt what?” Sunset asked.
“There's another source somewhere.” Adagio said.
“It's not far away…but it's in that direction.” Aria said.
“You've got to be kidding me…” Sunset slumped down to the floor, eye twitching.
“Welp. Now you have to convince that one to do your little tests.” Aria said with a smirk.
Sunset groaned, pulling her phone to her ear. “Pinkie? Call a code four, please.”
“You got it!” Was heard on the other side before she hung up.
“Code four?” Adagio asked, lifting an eyebrow.
“It's one of our emergency plan numbers. Four is ‘unknown magical development’. A bit vague, but on purpose.” Twilight adjusted her glasses before kneeling to help Sunset to her feet.
The door blew open and a gust of wind flew past the sirens, the speedster stood in front of Sunset, putting herself between her and the trio. “What's going on?” Rainbow asked, eying them warily.
“It's not them.” Sunset assured her, the athlete's tension seemed to fade at that.
“Sorry.” She shrugged.
“It's understandable.” Aria offered. “You made good time when your girl coulda been in danger.”
After a few minutes the other girls joined them in the lab. Pinkie bouncing between the dazzlings and the rainbooms.
“So what's this code four, darling?” Rarity asked, several sewing accessories adorned her wrist and the apron she wore, stylish as it was, was definitely not something she'd wear while out and about.
Applejack was messy herself, not disheveled, but she wasn't at her usual manner of appearance. Looked as if she came straight from the farm.
Fluttershy…actually had a bird sitting on her shoulder. She didn't seem to notice or mind its presence. It was probably from the shelter.
Rainbow's soccer uniform gave away that she was in practice, though the teachers were aware of the magic here. Sunset's warnings weren't ignored anymore.
“Well, let's start with the good news.” She clapped her hands together. “The Dazzlings still have access to their magic. They just need to relearn how to use it.”
“Oh, that's wonderful news, darlings. I'm so glad for you.” Rarity said cheerfully. Fluttershy and Pinkie agreed with nods.
“Hang on, Y'all promise we aint gonna have issues later on down the road, right?”
“I don't wanna lose my voice again.” Sonata said with a frown.
“Do we have to do scouts honor or something?” Aria asked, Adagio elbowed her gently.
“We're done with the antagonist stuff. You've already bested us, no reason to risk losing it all again.” She huffed.
“Well, so long as Y'all don't cause trouble, I'm mighty happy to know we didn't take somethin’ so important to ya.” She frowned. “That was eatin’ away at me somethin’ fierce.”
“Yeah. We all felt guilty when you showed up and weren't able to talk.” Dash spoke up. “We wanted to stop you, but not…y'know?”
Aria looked between the group then to Sunset. “Why didn't you idiots tell us this before now?!” She huffed.
“Would you have believed us? Or thought we were just pitying you?” Sunset crossed her arms.
“Okay. Good point.” Aria stepped back. “But I think I needed to hear that.”
“You've been holding a lot in, Ari.” Sonata said. “You were, like, really mad and then really sad. ‘Being mad isn't gonna change anything.’ And then you'd sulk for days.”
“...Thank you, Sonata.” She said behind gritted teeth. “Change the topic.”
“For Aria's sake.” Sunset turned to face her friends. “They could also sense a surge of magic that our instruments couldn't.”
“A new enemy?” Dash asked.
“Hopefully not. It was pretty strong for our powers to notice.” Adagio said. “Keep in mind, we just regained access to our magic.”
“Well did it feel…nasty?” Pinkie asked
“It felt…hot?” Adagio asked.
“Hot?” Aria asked, lifting an eyebrow. “I didn't feel any heat. It was like…static-y.”
“I felt a warmth, but it wasn't exactly ‘hot’.” Sonata explained. “Like changing into clothes fresh out of the dryer kinda warm.”
“Three different sources?” Adagio asked.
“Got a code for this?” Aria asked, looking at Twilight.
“I'd say it still falls under four.” Twilight said, adjusting her glasses.
“Okay. Well, we should keep an eye out in our respective areas…” Sunset said.
“We'll do some scouting of our own.” Adagio said.
“Wait, wouldn't it be dangerous if you couldn't defend yourselves?” Fluttershy asked.
“I appreciate the concern, sweetie.” She gave the shy girl a sly smirk. “But if the source can notice our magic, there's no way they wouldn't find you.”
Fluttershy shrank at the attention, hiding behind her hair.
“Yer willin’ to make yourself a target? Why risk yourselves?” Applejack asked.
“What do we have to lose? This isn't our world and you'd have a better chance with whatever information we could find.” Aria shrugged.
“You have a lot to lose! Your lives for one, what if these guys are hostile? Shy is right, you could get hurt.” Rainbow said with a frown.
“As much as I agree, I don't think we have much of a say, do we?” Twilight asked with a frown of her own.
“We've done a lot of bad in our lives.” Sonata said with a nod. “If we're gonna learn our magic the right way, we've got a lot to make up for. You should take our offer to help before we do it anyway.” She shrugged.
“Just…be careful and call us at the first sign of danger, please?” Sunset offered.
“We'll think about it.” Aria smirked before turning to face the door. “Now then we have work to do.”
They pushed past the doors and headed down the hall.
“So, got any grand scheme Dagi?” Aria asked.
“Well, we could try to absorb these sources and-”
“I…thought we were going to help them…” Sonata said, frowning. Her cheerful expression fell away ententirely.
Adagio sighed. “Okay, okay. We'll hold off on getting them back.”
“That pride of yours is gonna get us killed.” Aria teased.
“You're one to talk. You should apologize for being so mean! They went out of their way to help us and you gave them so much attitude for no reason!” Sonata huffed. “I'm very disappointed in you.”
“Uh oh. Someone's sleeping on the couch tonight.” Adagio smirked.
“Wha-hey! I'm sorry I'm still not over almost dying.” Aria grumbled.
“Dagi, you're on the couch too. How could you make plans to betray them almost immediately after making them accept our help? That's so not okay.”
“What? Oh come on, ‘Nata, Aria asked. She prompted it.”
“Are you throwing me under the bus?!”
“Getting on Sonata's bad side is not on my to-do list.”
The shortest Dazzling walked ahead of them, arms crossed.
Indigo yawned with a stretch, she was exhausted for some reason. Workouts typically didn't wear her out this badly. “I must really be falling off…” She mused to herself as she moved to the mirror in the locker room, examining herself. She didn't look like she was losing definition…and it didn't appear as if she were gaining weight.
With a shrug she finished changing and left the gym. She walked down the sidewalk, idly checking her phone. Things had calmed down since she had that standoff with her mom. Dr. Waller was impressed with her fortitude, and was happy to hear all about it.
She looked up, seeing the sun setting as the street lamps started to come on. She approached a crosswalk, reaching to press the button with her thumb, she recoiled from a sudden jolt. “Ow!” She shook her hand, it stung, sure, but no real pain. Horns honking caught her attention and she noticed how no one in the intersection knew what to do. She looked up, the lights were blinking as if they were just reset.
‘Oh…shit, was that me?’ She asked.
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So the Bolts are gonna pick up some magic, eh?
11831723
So it seems. If you're interested in the initial ideas and you can kinda get a grasp on what the plans I'm working off of are, you can check the Alicorn Amulet stories I wrote a while back, I'm sorta reworking them. :D
Thanks for reading!
11831736
Ohhhh very happy to hear that! I'm all in for it
11831835
Yeah! It was a cool premise, I just felt like I rushed a lot. Now with the dynamics of Lightning Dust and Indigo's teams more defined we can actually understand their points of view better.