The First Star of Twilight

by Arcanum -Phantasy

Ch.29 Manifest

When Stygian's sister practically dragged her and the grim-dressed boy out of the mansion with her, Lemon was sure that things would be interesting. After all, there was no way a Gifted's life could be boring. At the very least, whatever the older woman had in mind would've been more exciting than sitting in a dark room meditating. She would've gone with Sugar to help get Sour D&D supplies, but the stoic girl told her that this was something she needed to do alone. Reading the mood, she reluctantly agreed to let the two have their moment. Spending time with Petal was also out of the question and as fun as it would've been to watch her friends spar, she was sure that Sunny would've gotten on her case over her lack of progress.

As Meadowbrook drove her jeep further out of the city, Lemon nearly vibrated through the back seat in excitement. Stygian spent the whole trip moping in his seat, staring blankly out the window. His grim mood didn't phase her in the slightest as she waited to see just what kind of thrill Meadowbrook had in store for them.

Eventually, buildings and asphalt was replaced by open fields and backed dirt roads. A few farms moved in and out of view, including a massive apple orchard. Having never left Canterlot City, the rural scenes held her attention like a tourist in a foreign land, a little pang of disappointed settling into her that she couldn't watch them for more than a few seconds.

"So, Lemon, was it?" Meadowbrook cheerily asked from behind the wheel.

"Yup!" Lemon beamed.

"Nice name," she chuckled. "Not sure if fits a sweetie like you , though."

"My sis says my mom had a craving for lemon cake when she was pregnant with me," Lemon smiled, a somber hint passing over her excitement. "Said she loved the zest."

"I see," Meadowbrook nodded, looking back at the girl through the rearview mirror with an understanding glint in her eyes. "I take it they're...not around."

Lemond nodded.

"I thought so," she sighed. "I won't say anything else about it if you don't want to talk about it. Believe me when I say that we can relate to that."

"Wait, what?" Lemon balked, looking back and forth between the two siblings.

Sensing the question before it even had time to form, Stygian cut her off at the pass.

"Died in battle," he frowned, still staring out the window. "They tried to kill a Husk and were unprepared."

"Oh..." Lemon frowned. "Um...sorry."

"It is a sad reality of this life," he sighed. "It is rare for a Gifted to reach old age."

"A regular ray of sunshine," Meadowbrook snorted, then somberly added, "but he's right. The life you and your friends are in isn't a safe one. The most us older Gifted can do is try to make the odds a bit better for you all."

"And that's why you're taking us out somewhere?" Lemon asked, a bit of her pep coming back.

Meadowbrook nodded, taking a turn.

Peaking past the passenger seat in front of her, she saw that they were heading towards a large dark forest. Stygian noticed as well, a small eye-roll his only reaction before he continued to stare blankly out the window. Lemon was about to comment on that, only to freeze when a strange tingling feeling started to wash over her. It was similar to how she felt when she was at the mansion, but where that felt like heavy static, this felt more like a gentle rain. The feeling grew the closer they got to the forest. At the same time, a familiar sense of vertigo slowly filled her at the same rate. In response to it, a faint yellow glow surrounded her, the sensations easing to a more manageable level. The same thing happened to Stygian, a thick shadowy aura surrounding him like a vaporous inky cloak.

Meadowbrook peeked at them through her rearview mirror, her own aura absent as she gave them a playful smile.

When they drove past the tree line into the forest proper, Lemon's aura spiked in radiance. Stygian's aura faded away, the teen quickly adapting to the Aether in the air. Shaking her head to push away a sudden dizzy spell, a faint series of glows pulled her shaky attention back towards the trees they drove past. Green glowing vines snaked across the trees from the ground all the way towards the top of their trunks. Small flowers of various colors grew on the vines, each about the size of a quarter and glowing with a faint light. At the same time, a faint pink mist filled the air, giving the scene an ambiance straight from a child's picture book of fairytales.

At the same time, a faint sweet smell filled the jeep's cabin.

Lemon couldn't quite place the smell, only that it sat somewhere in the middle of floral and gummy candy. Whatever it was, she felt her excitement simmer down into a calming joy. Stygian was similarly affected, with his irritation being replaced with drowsiness. The further in they drove, the stronger the scent became, adding strength to the oddly peaceful feeling it brought out of the two teens.

Wh...What's......going on? Head......feels......fuzzy. Am I.....drunk?

Her head turned bonelessly towards the window.

Blurry tree-like shapes with more glowing flowers passed by, the pink mist seeming much thicker than it was a few minutes ago. A tiny trickle of fear sparked in her, but the calming haze that held her gently pushed it away. She flinched slightly when she felt the haze spread to the rest of her body, a light tingle similar to pins and needles.

What's.......happening?

She gasped when the tingle was replaced by a soft vibrating warmth. It settled deep into her muscles, easing away knots and kinks that she didn't even know were there. It was as if she was getting a massage from the inside out, with every muscle in her body was being tended to all at the same time. Her eyelids drooped, a light drowsiness coming over her under the soothing embrace of the force the held her. She grimaced when a small sting settled in her gut, a pain that slowly crept up her body to her mouth. With a drunk sigh, she watched her breath come out as an oily black mist. She stared blankly at the odd substance, the toxic cloud roughly the size of a bowling ball as it floated in front of her. Before her relaxed mind could form a thought about it, the cloud started to fade away. In a matter of seconds, the cloud was nothing more than an uncomfortable memory.

What.....was......that?

"Good," a female voice huffed. "That junk was like, totally gumming things up."

"Huh?" she blinked, looking around, "Who sai-"

She froze, her surroundings completely different from what they were a second ago. The seat she was sitting in was the only thing that stayed the same, but now it was set on the floor in the middle of what looked like a giant metal wearhouse. Said floor was polished concrete with over a dozen different cords crisscrossing all across it in an intricate spiderweb. The cords were connected to hundreds of amps set into the walls, each in different sizes, shapes, and models. All of that took a backseat compared to the spectacle that stood twenty feet from her seat.

A giant stage sat at the heart of the wire web, a simple platform made of rusted and dented metal sheets and polls. On it stood a straight row of tall amps, a mic on a tall stand, and a lone figure that made her wonder if there was something funny in her breakfast this morning.

Smiling down at her from the stage was a near exact copy of herself. Her double wore a black tank-top, a pair of gray jeans with rips at the knees, and jean jacket with the sleeves ripped off. Tattered black leather open-fingered gloves covered her hands and she wore boots made of the same material. A yellow electric guitar was slung over her shoulder like a bat while an acid green pair of headphones hung loosely around her neck.

While all of these features were a bit shocking to her, her double's eyes held her attention the most. Staring down at her under the light of a golden feather hair clip were a pair of crimson feline eyes. The figure chuckled in the face of Lemon's confusion, showing a hint of fang as a result.

"Sup?" the double smirked, nodding to her in greeting.

"Uh.....Wha?" Lemon gaped, the haze gradually fading from her mind.

The double rolled her eyes, still smiling down at the girl.

"Hellooooooooo? Terra to Lemon? Do you, like, read me?"

Lemon shook off the rest of her fog, a deep scowl gracing her lips as she staggered out of her seat.

"Who are you?" she asked, giving the room a passing look, then pointed at her double and pressed, "Where are we? Why do you...look like me?"

The double looked up at the ceiling with a thoughtful frown. After humming her thoughts for a few seconds, she playfully met the girl's eyes and answered.

"In, like, order? You haven't given me a name yet soooooooo, nothing I can give you there. As for where we're at, I'd say we're right in the middle of your Aether network, but we could be a little to the left or right of that. And I look like you because I'm, like, a part of you. A new totally awesome part, but still a part of you."

"You're.....What?" she sputtered, head spinning . "I don't get this. Is this, like, some Gifted thing that no one told me about?"

"Yup," her double chuckled, sitting down on the edge of the stage. "Not their fault, really. Stygian's big sis just happened to have a gift that made you chill the heck out."

"What are you talking about?" Lemon frowned, weariness creeping into her features.

The double let out an amused snort.

"You tried the whole meditation thing, right?"

She nodded.

"Well, you were too wound-up to get very far with it. You needed to, like, chill out royally to get us to connect properly."

"Not my fault meditation was so damn boring," she huffed, looking away crossing her arms.

The double let out a full laugh at that, almost falling over or dropping her guitar from the force of her mirth.

"Dude, you need to find some real chill," the double chuckled, wiping some tears out of her eyes with her free hand.

"Hey! I'm plenty chill!" Lemon cried, a crooked smirk gracing her lips as she pointed at her double.

"Well, anyway," the double smirked. "Now that we're here, lets get some work done."

"Fine," Lemon snorted. "Where do we start?"

"Well," the double huffed, a small frown gracing her lips for the first time. "A name would be a pretty damn good place to start."

***

Stygian's eye twitched, frustration creeping past his sister's aetheric haze. Laying completely limp against his left side was Lemon, the girl dead to the world and snoring like a lawnmower. The smile his sister aimed at him from her rearview mirror was met by a glare of barely contained venom. A disgusted grimace slid onto his face the second he felt warm drool build-up on his shoulder.

"Meadow, I swear that when this is over, I am going to right a book," he seethed. "A long book. For the horror section."

"Love you too, sugar," she winked.

"Scathex," he bitterly whispered.

"Not gonna happen," the demon flatly stated, his voice echoing from the back of the boy's mind. "I may be a bit stupid, but I'm not that stupid."

Stygian sighed, not too surprised, but figured that it was at least worth a shot.

"What are you planning?" he frowned.

"Hm? What do you mean?" she asked, taking a turn further into the hazy forest.

"Don't give me that," he growled. "I can understand why you want to bring Lemon here, but why did you drag me into this? I can already call upon my gift and do not require any special training to utilize it. So, I will ask again; what are you planning?"

For one long moment, the woman didn't answer. Stygian met her silence with a frown and raised brow. Be it pride or an attempt to find the words needed to hide intent, both of them refused to break the silence for a long while. Eventually, Meadowbrook flashed him an impish smirk through the rearview mirror when she gave her answer.

"If I really was planning something, do you really think I'd tell you what it is?"

He glared suspiciously at her reflected gaze, then slumped into his seat with a defeated sigh.

Meadowbrook just giggled at that, then shifted her full attention back towards the road.

Stygian tried to let his sister's aura ease him, but Lemon's snoring and sleep-talk kept him from doing even that much. Keeping his frustration on a very tight leash, he gently moved the girl off of his side and propped her up against the door on her side. A puff of dark Aether eliminated the drool on his shoulder as he went back to staring out of the window.

As he watched the trees pass by in the mist, his thoughts drifted towards the coming hunt. While he was confident in his and his friends' abilities, the new additions to his party were a different story. Indigo was struggling with Mithril and had no combat experience outside of a kickboxing ring. Lemon's gift was powerful, but wasn't properly manifested and the girl lacked any proper training. Twilight was a complete liability, lacking any real combat experience or proper training in any form that would be useful in a hunt. If she wasn't Belfry's target or tied to Petal, he wouldn't have seen any point to get her involved in the first place. As for Petal herself, he couldn't deny that having a Wraith on their side would give them a bit of a tactical advantage, but he could not ignore the risk getting too close to her posed. Odd Miasmic aura or not, she was still a Wraith and that meant that she was still a potential enemy. Dagon bonding with Sugar made him a little more willing to see her as an asset in the coming battle, in spite of her complete lack of tactical ability.

When his mind drifted towards the spirit, a brief argument crept forth from the back of his mind. An irate frown graced his lips as he ran through the event in question.

***

"What do you mean?" Stygian demanded, fury barely contained behind his sharp glare.

Dagon sighed, the guest room lent to the boy by the manor's mistress empty beyond the bare necessities. Said spirit sat on the bed, staring up at the boy with a stern frown.

"Exactly what I said," Dagon snorted. "All of the pieces that need to be on the board are already there. Involving any other parties will destroy everything."

"Lightning told me her group have already killed a Wraith," he seethed. "They are more than capable of helping us end this."

"Would any of them be willing to work with a Wraith?" the spirit demanded, genuine anger creeping into his tone.

Stygian opened his mouth to respond, but froze at the last second.

A small glint of victory flashed through the spirit's eyes, a fact that only added to the anger searing through Stygian's heart.

"I am sure that I can work things out with them," he growled.

"No," Dagon growled, a faint clear aura flickering across his form. "I have run through the numbers and seen all of the possible timelines. If we get them involved, not only will they be unwilling to work with us, they will kill Petal. For everything to work out in our favor that, cannot, happen."

"I fail to see how Petal's death would change things in the long run," Stygian growled. "She may be an unusual case, but she is still a Wraith. If anything, losing her would benefit us in the long run."

"Do not push me Stygian," Dagon warned, the flickering aura surrounding him becoming more pronounced. "I have been waiting over a thousand years for this chance. I will not let you, or anyone else, ruin this opportunity."

"And I am not going to let my friends run headfirst into a meat grinder because you want to protect a Wraith!" Stygian howled.

As he said that, he pulled his phone out of his pocket. Before he could do anything with it, a force froze him in place. The very air trembled as that same force filled the room, the walls distorting in a way similar to melting wax. The furniture crumbled away, turning to dust before fading away into steam as their very molecules fell away from each other At the heart of the room, taking the small spirit's place was now a titanic being of pure power.

In shape, he still retained his draconic form, but instead of scale and blood, Dagon how had a body made or constantly shifting blue and purple light. His wings were spread wide, the membranes covered with constantly shifting equations too complex for even the most brilliant of minds to follow. The massive dragon's eyes where a pair of silver glowing lights, their gaze piercing in a way too exact or calculating for any mere mortal to hope to copy. Everything warped around the draconic being, the air itself seemingly ripping itself apart on contact with his body.

Without moving his lips, Dagon spoke with a voice that hit Stygian with the force of a meteor and shook every atom in his body.

"YOU DARE TO DOUBT MY SIGHT?! SUCH ARROGANCE!!! I HAVE SEEN THE PATH YOU WISH TO CRAFT!!! I HAVE SEEN THE DISASTERS YOUR ACTIONS WILL BRING FORTH!!! I HAVE SPENT CENTURIES PLANNING FOR THIS AND I WILL NOT LET SOME STUBBORN WELP LET IT ALL GO TO WASTE OUT OF FEAR!!!"

Staring up at the towering cosmic goliath, fear and anger spiraled within him just as much as the pure matter swirling around them both. Under the spirit's gaze, he knew that Dagon knew how much he hated this, he knew how much the teen hated him, he knew how much he cared about Sunny and Sour. Most importantly, he knew how terrified the boy was of losing them.

With a defeated sigh, the boy slumped in the spirit's telekinetic grip and nodded.

In a literal blink, the room returned to its original form, the frowning spirit now back in his smaller organic form.

Stygian stumbled a bit when Dagon dropped his hold on him, head held low as he pocketed his phone. The faint flapping of wings pulled the boy's gaze away from the ground, the source of his frustrations hovering in front of him. His ire dimmed when he saw the regret and exhaustion on the spirit's face.

"I understand where you are coming from, Stygian," he sighed, a small smile creeping onto his muzzle as he added, "You may not see it, but you have a very kind and noble heart. You are willing to do whatever it takes to protect the people you care about, a sentiment that I can relate to in more ways than you will ever know. It is from there that I can offer you one piece of advice."

"And that is?" he frowned.

"The world is not quite as black and white as you believe," the spirit intoned, his smile regaining its familiar knowing glint. "And it is much larger as well. You would be surprised how large your world will become when you let them in."

Stygian stared at the spirit in confusion earning a small chuckle out of him.

"Now," he merrily continued. "I believe there is an apple pie in the kitchen calling my name."

Stygian watched the small dragon lazily drift towards the door, licking his chops and rubbing his hands together as he telekinetically opened the door. Long after the spirit closed the door behind himself, Stygian continued to stare at the door, his mind struggling to make sense of the riddle he left behind.

***

Stygian let out a frustrated sigh, his faint reflection glaring back at him in the window. Before his brooding could get any darker, a loud yawn from Lemon pulled him back. Looking at the girl in question, he watched her stretch as much as the car would allow from his peripherals. The girl groggily took in her surroundings, her red eyes blinking in mild confusion while her mind booted up.

Wait, red eyes?

Tuning to face her fully, his confusion spiked when his eyes met hers.

It was only for a second, but he was sure that her eyes were not only their usual shade of yellow, but looked almost cat-like in nature. Lemon gave him a worried frown, leaning back from the sharp intensity of his gaze.

"Uh, are you okay dude?" she asked.

"Yes," he slowly replied, eyes still searching for any other anomalies in the girl's features. "Though, I feel I should be the one to ask you that same question."

"Wha- huh?" she blinked.

"Do you feel....different?" he pressed, his intensity shifting to something a bit more like worry.

"Not...really?" she uneasily stated. "Like, I feel really, really, really well-rested and stuff, but that's about it."

"I see," he nodded, his usual disinterest settling into his features.

Seeing little reason to continue the conversation, he settled more comfortably into his seat and went back to staring out his window. Lemon gave him a confused frown for a few seconds, then shrugged before she did the same. Meadow gave the exchange a few passing glances from the rearview mirror, a small hopeful smile gracing her lips before she gave the road her full attention.

"Glad you liked your nap, sugar," Meadow giggled. "Should make things a little easier for you now."

"Wha?" she blinked.

Instead of elaborating, Meadow slowly parked the car. Flashing her a knowing smile, the older woman undid her seatbelt the second she cut the gas. Curious, Lemon watched her as the trio got out of the car. A sudden and brief dizzy spell hit her the second she left the car, the odd mist hitting her full force. After shaking off its effects, Lemon watched as Meadow and Stygian walked further into the forest.

"So, what is this place?" Lemon awkwardly asked, quickly moving up to Meadow's left side. "Why is it all..."

"Trippy?" Meadow offered.

She nodded, still nervously looking around.

Meadow's stared forward with a distant gleam, a matching smile gracing her lips as she walked.

"Fifty years ago, I was playing in this forest with our mother and father. Back then, this forest didn't have a name or any interesting quirks that made it any different from any other forest. That is, until the day a wolf tried to make a meal out of me."

"Wait, what?!" Lemon gaped looking around frantically. "There are wolves here?!"

"Yes, but they don't come this far into the woods," Meadow giggled. "I made sure of that."

"Cool," she sighed.

"As I was saying," Meadow continued. "A wolf cornered me deep in the woods, too far in for my family to reach me in time. Before the wolf could eat me, my gift awakened."

A second after she said that, she moved through a thick wall of trees and tall shrubs. Following her, Lemon hissed and covered her face when the early morning sun hit her head on. Stumbling forward, she slowly opened her eyes to get them used to the sudden change. At the same time, the gentle smell of grass and wild flowers softly washed over her. What she saw when her eyes adjusted made them widen and her jaw drop.

Laying before her was a massive clearing, easily twice the size of the largest football stadiums. Flowers of every size, type, and color filled it. The taller flowers stood at the outer perimeter as natural walls while the smaller types made up the bulk of the field's interior. A six-foot wide grass trail stood before them that cut through the field to a large hundred foot wide disk of grass at the clearing's center.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Meadow giggled, gently closing Lemon's mouth.

Lemon nodded, still too stunned to speak.

Staring into the heart of the field, Meadow continued her story.

"When my gift awakened, my Aether merged with the ground and changed the very nature of the forest itself. Now, this area holds the same power that I wield and will continue to do so long after I leave this world. Such is the case for those who manifest projection gifts."

"Huh?" Lemon blinked, finally managing to tare her gaze away from the field.

Chuckling to herself, Meadow casually started walking down the grassy path, both of her charges not far behind.

"While the natures may differ," she continued. "Gifts always fall into three main types. These are called projection, artifact, and guardian."

She gave Lemon a probing glance, satisfied when the girl gave her an nod in understanding before continuing.

"Projection types, like the one I have, are gifts that allow us to affect a specific part of the world with our Aether. This can be something as simple as controlling a force of nature like an element or gravity or it can manifest as a physical enhancement such as increased speed or strength. Regardless of its nature, a projection gift will leave a lasting impression on the Gifted's environment when it awakens."

Lemon took that in with a nod, then panic when she remembered how her own awakening went.

"Wait, does that mean my club room is some kind of boom box now or something?!" She cried, staring up at the woman in worry.

Meadow giggled and shook her head.

"I don't think that's going to be a problem, sugar. Not with your gift."

"That's good," she sighed, then gave her a confused frown. "Wait, wha?"

Meadow's smile gained a playful knowing edge as she continued her lecture.

"Artifact gifts are pretty self-explanatory. Gifted with these types of gifts are able to use their Aether to create and power one or more items with a wide variety of abilities. These gifts are special in that, if their creator were to die, the artifact will continue to exist and used so long as the person in question has enough Aether to do so. Of course, if such an artifact were to be damaged or destroyed, it would be very difficult for it to reassemble itself. It isn't impossible, but it is very time consuming and requires a lot of Aether."

"So, that's how Sunny and Sour can use their artifacts, even though they're not Gifted?" Lemon asked.

Meadow nodded and continued.

"Guardians are also self-explanatory, but are also rather complicated."

"Understatement of the millennium," Stygian huffed, earning a small cackle from his shadow.

Sparing her brother a sympathetic glance, Meadow continued.

"Gifted with this type of gift manifest their Aether as living being. Some are able to call upon multiple guardians, but most don't have more than two. Much like people, guardians come in a variety of forms, personalities, and abilities that are completely unique from each other. Some guardians may have similar abilities, but there will always be one or more aspects that make them drastically different from each other."

"So, its like a summon from a video game?" Lemon offered.

"More like a tick stuck in a place you cannot reach," Stygian huffed.

"So you do love me!" Stygian's shadow cried, a smirk audible in its tone.

The teen glared at it, but refused to fall for the demon's goading.

Meadow shook her head at the exchange with a rueful smile.

"As you can see, guardians are complete beings with personalities, thoughts, and desires independent of their human partners."

"We are also fiercely loyal to our humans," Scathex added, his tone serious for the first time to Lemon. "Gloomy here and I may grind each other's gears every now and then, but I'm going to do whatever it takes to keep him breathing."

"Only because if I die, you will as well," Stygian frowned, glaring at his shadow.

"That's true," he allowed. "But even if it wasn't, I doubt I could find anyone more fun to mess with than you."

An irate sigh was the only response Stygian was willing to give, earning a light chuckle out of the girls.

"So," Lemon mused, "If I'm not a projection type and I don't have a magical buddy, does that mean I'm an artifact type?"

"Exactly," Meadow nodded.

At that exact moment, the trio made it to the center of the field.

In the blink of an eye, Meadow had made it to one end of the grassy ring, a now familiar pink mist gently swirling in an upward facing palm. Lemon gave Stygian a questioning look only to see the boy give his sister an exasperated sigh before taking a seat on another side of the ring.

"I can sense that you're already pretty close to manifesting your artifact," Meadow smirked, pulling Lemon's attention back to her. "I can also tell you're not the meditating type. So, I want you to come at me with everything you have."

"B-But-" Lemon sputtered, her mind instantly jumping to what happened to Petal.

"Don't worry, sugar," Meadow cut in, still smiling. "I'm a lot tougher than I look. Just let it loose."

"It's true," Stygian smirked. "Big sis once took on four Archwraiths all on her own. The most she got from that was a few scratches."

That settled Lemon's nerves a bit, but she still wasn't sure if this was a good idea. Turning to face Meadow, she nervously started to call upon her Aether. As her yellow aura started to flicker into existence, she once again asked if they really needed to do this. Meadow gave her an encouraging nod, forcing a nervous gulp out of the teen rocker.

"Alright," she whispered, taking a shaky breath. "I guess we're gonna do this."

Comments

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

Well, after briefly seeing Pinkie and Tattle in an earlier chapter, I'll admit that I've been wondering if, or when, they and the rest of the CHS gang were going to be putting a further, more involved appearance in this story, but THIS bit:

"What do you mean?" Stygian demanded, fury barely contained behind his sharp glare.

Dagon sighed, the guest room lent to the boy by the manor's mistress empty beyond the bare necessities. Said spirit sat on the bed, staring up at the boy with a stern frown.

"Exactly what I said," Dagon snorted. "All of the pieces that need to be on the board are already there. Involving any other parties will destroy everything."

"Lightning told me her group have already killed a Wraith," he seethed. "They are more than capable of helping us end this."

"Would any of them be willing to work with a Wraith?" the spirit demanded, genuine anger creeping into his tone.

Stygian opened his mouth to respond, but froze at the last second.

A small glint of victory flashed through the spirit's eyes, a fact that only added to the anger searing through Stygian's heart.

"I am sure that I can work things out with them," he growled.

"No," Dagon growled, a faint clear aura flickering across his form. "I have run through the numbers and seen all of the possible timelines. If we get them involved, not only will they be unwilling to work with us, they will kill Petal. For everything to work out in our favor that, cannot, happen."

pretty much answered my question.

Because while I very much understand Stygian's point about them likely being able to help take down Belfry, Dagon ALSO made some very good and valid points on his end.

Sunset and Crew, after all that mess that Lily put them through (which, as we all know from The Gaps in F r i e n d s h i p, also caused the CMCs to become members of the Night Tribe (which I find absolutely adorable, btw!)), have absolutely NO trust in Wraiths and would absolutely try to kill Petal.
(Something that definitely would NOT endear them to a certain bespectacled genius, I'm thinking.)

So yeah, them NOT getting involved, while sad, is VERY understandable.

I just hope that they don't get wind of it in some other way THAN Stygian, though.
Methinks that would NOT end well, either.

Anyway, great chapter, as usual, hun, and I'm very much looking forward to the next one!

[PearlyDoesStuff]

11704822
Believe me, they'll probably catch on eventually.
Can't hide something so big as Belfry from the Gang of 14 so easily, and yeah Twiggles is gonna have some explaining to do.

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

11705277 Oh, I have no doubt of that.
Mainly because of the reasons you mentioned.

In all honesty, though, I was really surprised when Pinkie and Tattle DIDN'T pick up on Petal's presence in Sugarcube Cafe when she was there with Twilight and... Sour, I think it was?
Because SHE sure picked up on what THEY were when they were there.

And yes. Yes, she will.

But I also have the feeling that she's going to shock them with how protective she... and by extension the REST of the Shadowbolt 5... ARE of Petal.
Time...and the Author... will tell, though, I guess.