Piece by Piece

by Eltirions

Chapter 25: Pay-Off 5

12 December 1008

The tour of the Spear Point Tower concluded soon after, as the majority of the tower’s rooms were not interesting to visit, though the view from the top of the tower was nonetheless ’Magnificent!’, as Rarity had put it. Rainbow, for her part, was used to such heights and sights, and so wasn’t anywhere close to Rarity’s level of impressedness.

Now, they were at the Rainburg. They’d swapped in the excitable Cloud Gem for a more sombre guide, an earth pony stallion by the name of Snow Shield who’s actual job was drill sergeant.

‘’And over here,’’ he explained as they walked through a hallway, ‘’are the offices of officers who are stationed here. A few are kept free for visiting brass, but most are occupied by people who are stationed here for a longer time.’’

‘’Interesting,’’ Rarity remarked, and Rainbow had no idea if she meant it.

Then again, lately it seemed Rainbow didn’t know a lot of things about Rarity. With any luck, their date tonight would remedy the worst of that. At least, that was Rainbow’s intention.

Right now, however, the only conclusion Rainbow could draw was that none of them (that being Flurry, Rarity and herself) found this tour interesting. At least, she and Flurry didn’t find it interesting, and she was willing to bet money Rarity did too, but was just too polite to say it.

But Rainbow didn’t care about that. So, she walked over to Rarity. ‘’Hey, Rares,’’ she whispered. ‘’Wanna get out and grab some lunch.’’

Rarity nodded almost imperceptibly. ‘’How?’’

That, admittedly, was a bit of a problem. ‘’Dunno,’’ Rainbow admitted. ‘’You got any ideas?”

Rarity shook her head. ‘’Let me think on it, darling.’’

‘’Sure thing.’’

Rainbow fell back again, and did her best to not appear disinterested. If anyone would pick up on that, it’d be a drill sergeant.

Finally, Rarity made her move. ‘’Excuse me, sir. Thank you for your wonderful explanation, but I’m afraid our time is up. We’ve an appointment at the Spa after lunch.’’

The Spa. Of course. Probably still better than this.

To his credit, Snow Shield just nodded once. ‘’Of course, ma’am. I hope you found it informative.’’

‘’Certainly,’’ Rarity lied, because if Rainbow Dash, Commander of the Crystal Shadowbolts, didn’t find anything military-related interesting, Rarity sure as Tartarus didn’t find it interesting. ‘’I’ll see if we can’t continue this tour another day. But for now, thank you for your time.’’

‘’Yeah, thanks for the tour,’’ Rainbow added with as much fake sincerity as she could muster.

‘’I liked it, mister!’’ Flurry said enthusiastically. ‘’You talk very nicely!’’

Snow Shield, from the flash of surprise and incredulity on his face, hadn’t expected that, but he forced his face back into a slight smile, and then saluted. ‘’Happy to hear it, Princess, ma’am, sir. Shall I take you back to the exit?’’

‘’Please.’’

Once they were out of the Rainburg and back in their car, Rarity instructed the driver to head for a place where they could have lunch, being less picky than Rainbow had expected her to be.

So, the driver drove them to an idyllic restaurant on the fourth level of the city. ‘’I come here often with my family,’’ she explained. ‘’My kids love it.’’

‘’What do they serve here?” Rainbow asked, interested.

‘’Traditional pegasus food, mainly,’’ the mare replied. ‘’They catch fish locally, or import it from elsewhere. There’s a variety of dishes without fish as well, of course, but it’s their main attraction.’’

Now that is delicious.

‘’Sounds good,’’ Rainbow remarked.

‘’Fish.’’ Rarity’s doubt was clear.

‘’Fish,’’ Rainbow confirmed. ‘’Trust me, it’s great. You’re gonna love it.’’ Fish for lunch was not something she usually did, but surely it’d be nice for once?

Rarity, after eating it, proclaimed it an ‘acquired taste’, but with a tone that said she wouldn’t mind acquiring said taste. Flurry, meanwhile, loved it; Rainbow blamed her pegasus heritage. As for herself; it wasn’t the tastiest fish she’d ever eaten, that honour went to a restaurant in Coltfoalnia she’d visited once, but it was still very good.

The guards that were still protecting them ensured nobody got close enough to interrupt their lunch without cause, but before it arrived they allowed people through to ask questions, most of which were directed at Rarity or Flurry. Rainbow was just a little jealous.

‘’I enjoyed that,’’ Rainbow said as they walked back to the car.

‘’So did I,’’ Rarity said. ‘’I have to admit, I thought more people would come to us.’’

‘’The guards kept them away,’’ Rainbow reminded her.

‘’True,’’ Rarity agreed, ‘’but still.’’ She glanced down. ‘’Did you enjoy it, Flurry?’’

‘’Yeah!’’ the filly replied. ‘’The food was very nice! Can we go eat here again?’’

‘’I don’t know about that,’’ Rarity answered, ‘’but we can have fish more often, if you want.’’

‘’Yay!’’

‘’To the Spa please, darling,’’ Rarity requested once they were all seated in the car again.

‘’As you wish, ma’am.’’

The Rainbow Falls Golden Spa happened to be on the fifth level, so up they went again. Rainbow tapped out of the proceedings, choosing to simply think and not say anything until they got into the pool. Bath. Jacuzzi. Whatever.

‘’Rainbow?’’

‘’Hm?’’

‘’You’ve been oddly silent, darling,’’ Rarity remarked with a faint tone of concern. ‘’I know you’re not the biggest fan of these things, but…’’

‘’Oh, it’s alright,’’ Rainbow said. ‘’I was just thinking about… things.’’

Rarity nodded. ‘’As you say. And how do you find it, Flurry?’’

‘’It’s nice,’’ Flurry answered. ‘’Everything feels soft and warm.’’

‘’That is the intention.’’

Rainbow, for the first time in a while, allowed herself to relax fully. Here, there was no stress, no issues that needed to be dealt with. Just Flurry and Rarity, talking amicably.

Let’s just rest…

|-x-X-x-|

12 December 1008

The crystal doors closed, and Sweetie let out a breath.

‘’That shouldn’t have worked,’’ Scootaloo summarised what all four of them were probably thinking. At the very least, Sweetie was thinking along those lines.

‘’Well.’’ Twinkle cleared his throat. ‘’That was unexpected.’’

Sweetie looked down the hallway. There didn’t appear to be anything different from how the place had looked when last she visited, before the war. No Lunarist iconography hanging from the walls, no damage from the war, nothing.

Still, there was something off. A feeling of unease.

‘’Was the place always this creepy?’’ Applebloom asked no one in particular. ‘’Ah feel like Ah’ve walked into the damn Everfree.’’

Sweetie and Scootaloo shared a look; that Scootaloo shared Applebloom’s concerns was evident.

The sound of a gun being pulled out suddenly echoed down the hallway.‘’Shall we see if there’s anyone home?” Twinkle asked idly, holding the hoofgun in his left forehoof.

Scootaloo stared at him. ‘’Why do you have a gun?’’

Twinkle gave Scootaloo one of the most deadpan looks Sweetie had ever had the pleasure of witnessing. ‘’I’m an agent of the IIS,’’ he said with a tone that made it sound like he was explaining something to a small child. ‘’In case anyone gets any ideas, I need to be able to defend myself.’’

‘’Let’s just get going,’’ Sweetie cut off any argument that might have formed otherwise. ‘’I don’t want to stay here any longer than necessary.’’

‘’Agreed.’’

‘’Fine.’’

Sweetie cleared her throat, then shouted down the hallway: ‘’Hello? Spike? Twilight? Anyone home?”

They waited, but no reply came. In fact, the entire castle felt oddly silent.

‘’Creepy,’’ Scootaloo muttered.

‘’Ya can say that again,’’ Applebloom added.

The light inside was dim, as if someone had put a curtain up around the lamps, but nothing Sweetie could see appeared to be obscuring them. This, logically, did not help ease their feeling of discomfort as they made their way down the hallway.

Where’s Spike?

‘’Hello?’’

Still no reply. This was downright concerning.

‘’Library?’’ Applebloom suggested eventually.

‘’Sure,’’ Sweetie quickly agreed, and they made their way to the library.

They entered the library. It seemed, for lack of a better word, disorganised. Books were strewn everywhere with no logic to them. It was definitely not like Twilight. Something was wrong here.

‘’Look at this.’’ Scootaloo gestured at the room with her wing. ‘’It looks like a tornado, or something, swept through it.’’

Twinkle had pocketed his hoofgun and was looking over one of the tables. ‘’These books are about soul magic…’’ he thought out loud. ‘’Just what is happening here?’’

Sweetie didn’t know, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

‘’Oh, hello girls!’’

That was Twilight’s voice, but it sounded strained, like she had to try to be sincere.

Sweetie turned around.

Twilight looked… different. Ruffled, for one, like she hadn’t combed her mane in weeks. And… there was something off about her. Just like there was something off with the entire castle, but it seemed to be even worse with Twilight. It almost looked like she didn’t fully belong in this world.

‘’Uhh… hi Twilight,’’ Sweetie greeted, trying to hide her surprise and nervousness. Scootaloo and Applebloom followed with similar greetings, while Twinkle remained silent.

‘’It’s nice to see you again,’’ Twilight said, before her eyes flicked over to Twinkle. ‘’And who’s this?’’

‘’I’m Twinkle Flower, ma’am.’’

Twilight nodded. ‘’Nice to meet you, Twinkle Flower.’’

Doesn’t she see the uniform?

‘’How are you doing, Twilight?’’ Sweetie asked. ‘’I can’t imagine being locked in here is nice.’’

‘’Oh, I’m doing just fine,’’ Twilight replied. ‘’Really. It’s actually been wonderful. Nothing to distract me from my reading.’’

Applebloom frowned. ‘’Don’t ya miss yer friends?”

Twilight’s smile morphed into a scowl. ‘’No. They’re all traitors.’’

What.

‘’Hey now! Mah sister ain’t no traitor!’’ Applebloom snapped.

Twilight fixed her with a look. ‘’Is she fighting against the Nightmare’s soldiers? Is she refusing to sell them food, to allow them on the Apples’ land?’’

‘’No, but-’’

‘’Just like I thought,’’ Twilight cut Applebloom off. ‘’She’s laid down and surrendered. And don’t get me started on Rarity and Rainbow Dash.’’ She spat on the floor. ‘’Those are the worst of them all. Cursed collaborators,’’ she muttered, glaring at the floor.

Sweetie took a step back, away from Twilight. Clearly, the alicorn was unhinged. ‘’Twilight,’’ she began.

Twilight looked up, and Sweetie finally spotted the manic glint in her eyes.

Oh fuck.

‘’Ah, but I can’t let you go out and let people know I said that, now can I?’’ The alicorn’s horn began to glow dark purple. ‘’Don’t resist, it’ll just make things worse.’’

Before Sweetie could reply to that, she heard a voice in her head. You will listen to Twilight Sparkle.

I will listen to Twilight Sparkle.

Sweetie turned around and began to walk away.

You will listen to Twilight Sparkle.

‘’No!’’

You will listen to Twilight Sparkle.

There was a bang- a gunshot. A scream of rage.

You will listen to Twilight Sparkle.

The world exploded in light.

You will listen to Twi-

Everything went black.

Author's Note:

For once the chapter isn't a month after the previous one :p.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays, everyone! I've got a few things coming up later today and tomorrow too, keep an eye out for those!

Comments

[almazai_vajra]

You will listen to Twilight Sparkle

[Eltirions]

11094742

[Martydi]

Now that's a cliffhanger and a half.

Also holy fuck, Twilight went off the deep end hard.

[Eltirions]

11095000
Yes. PbP Twilight is quite the character.

[The Great Scribbly One]

To paraphrase James Frazer: "She was stuck in there so long she had gone quite mad. Did ye hear what I said, Sweetie Belle? Mad. MAD! MAD!"