Revelatory Filly Skydance

by Gabriel LaVedier

Act Two: The Calla Saga

Dramatis Personae
Scootaloo as Skydance
Sweetie Belle as Daisy Dreams
Applebloom as Country Roads
Diamond Tiara as Candy Stripes
Silver Spoon as Judgmental
Twist as Time Tokens
Rainbow Dash as Ace Pinnacle
Zecora as The Violet Witch

The curtain rose on the stage which was set up for the dorm again. Country Roads was at her mirror, wiping at her face with a moist cloth, cleaning up the slight grime of an ordinary day and looking deeply into her own features. She could only smile at herself. Natural beauty indeed. She looked good enough and that was fine.

From the side emerged Skydance and Daisy Dreams, Daisy Dreams leaning against Skydance as though she was exhausted. “Guess who won? Don’t even ask me how, I don’t think even I believe it.”

“Oh my gosh! Amazin‘! And now she’s back fer good, right?”

“Nope. We’re not staying. We’re getting out of here.”

“Wait, you were serious about that? You really want to leave the Academy? I thought you just meant you were going to stop dueling because you didn’t want to fight anymore.”

“Well, I was but, you know… We really need to get out of here. This place is crazy and it’s not going to get any less crazy no matter how long we wait. Let’s just head for the front, and walk out. You can call your parents and they’ll take us back home. Country, you wanna come too?”

“Ah… Ah cain’t go.” Country Roads looked into the mirror, running her hooves over her face. “Ah still feel like ah have to be here, there’s somethin’ fer me to do here. Ah wish y'all luck, though, Skydance. y'all’ve been good to me.”

Skydance nodded to Country Roads, then turned to face Daisy Dreams. “Come on. Let’s get out and never look back.” From under the prop bed she dug out two helmets, and a wooden scooter. She quickly tossed one helmet over to her compatriot and slid on her own.

“I… I don’t know…” Despite the clear doubt, Daisy Dreams put on her helmet, and mounted the scooter behind Skydance.

With a buzz from Skydance’s wings, they were off, the entire dorm set moving off stage while the backdrop cycled through scenes of hallways and exterior shots, moving faster and faster until they screeched to a halt before a set of massive, painted gates, looking well-sealed and, apparently, made of wood and iron.

“Hey! Open up! Let us out of here!” Nothing moved, and no voice responded to Skydance’s call. “I said, let us out! We, uh… We’ve got a pass to go off campus!” Still nothing. “You can’t just keep us here! I demand, um… I demand to speak to… Someone! Someone official! Let me talk to my caretakers! Let me out!”

“Skydance…” Daisy Dreams gently tapped Skydance on the shoulder. “I’ve never seen the gates open. I don’t think anyone has. No one ever leaves. We just stay in the dorms and get taken care of. I just… I don’t know how, but I know we can’t leave here. We’ve never been able to leave. Think about it, have you talked to anyone outside since you got here? How did you even get here?”

“I was… I was living with a foster family, after I left Cloudsdale. And then some things happened. And then I was living here. I knew Country Roads from the town I lived in with my foster parents.”

“But how did you GET here?”

Skydance was quiet for a while, looking up at the huge backdrop. “What is this place? What happened? Are we… Are we dead?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so. I just know that I can’t even remember what I was doing before this. All I remember is walking around the campus, wondering what was going on. Then the Student Council made me the Lily Friend and I started figuring things out about this place. But I still don’t know enough.”

Skydance looked at the gate once more and reached out a hoof, almost touching the backdrop. “This is weird. We need to do SOMETHING. We can’t just stay here. Somehow, I don’t think the Student Council is gonna be too happy about getting beaten.”

“Stop accepting the challenges. You have me, and you don’t want me to go back. So just don’t say anything the next time they challenge you to a duel. That way, they can get as mad as they want, but they can’t really do anything about it. It’s perfect.”

“I guess that would work. I just… I wish I knew what was happening.” Skydance mounted the scooter again, and looked up at the huge gate. After feeling Daisy Dreams re-mount the vehicle, she buzzed her wings and zipped off the stage.

The lights fell and the background changed, as evidenced by the sound of flapping fabric and a slight thud. The lights came back up to find Skydance and Country Roads walking in front of the main school building, occasionally passing indistinct background ponies. “So you really don’t remember actually arriving here?”

“Naw. Ah jes recall hearin’ that ah got in. Then the next thing ah knows, ah’m settin’ up in the room thinkin’ ah’m so lucky to be here. It IS powerful strange that we don’t remember ever comin’ in or anythin’ else.”

Skydance stopped to look up at the backdrop of the school. “I mean… The place is nice. Big, fancy, lots of history… Or… Wait… It… Doesn’t have any history… How do we know about this place?”

“What do ya mean? This is Horsetari Academy, the most famous of all private academies in all of Equestria.”

“Yea… But why? How old is it? Who’s come out of here that’s famous? What’s the… Soccer team? The Rugby team? The school fight song?”

“Ah… Ah…” Country Roads looked up at the painted school, suddenly shivering. “Ah don’t know nothing’ ‘bout this school ‘cept what it’s called. Ah never cared before…”

“And that never bothered either of us because we didn’t need the details. All the little things made just enough sense. But thinking exactly about it makes us remember, we don’t remember.”

After a moment of looking up at the backdrop, Candy Stripes walked stiffly in from the side. Her face was blank and slack, eyes just focused on Skydance. “You have the Lily Friend. She is property of the Student Council. You will submit to defeat and return her.”

“First of all, she’s not a thing! You ponies are creepy! Stop talking about her like she’s just a piece of furniture. And secondly, oh, you’ve got a lot of nerve. Like I’ll lose to you again. Not happening. But I’m not going to agree with that attitude. Not like I would. I’m not going to make her think she’s an object to be fought over.”

“It is not your decision. You have the Lily Friend. You drew the Sword of Celestia. You fought. Enough to lose and win again. Return to the field to fight. It is your duty. You must obey the will of the Council.”

“So… Are you going to force me up there?”

Candy Stripes looked blankly at Skydance for a moment. “No. We do not have the ability.”

“Then, I’ve got class in a bit. Later.” Skydance and Country Roads both walked away off stage, leaving behind Candy Stripes to be dropped into darkness.

The lights came up on Country Roads in front of her mirror, brushing her long, red hair. She casually glanced at a clock on the wall, then over to a set of saddlebags. “Still got time to get to class. Gotta keep mah hair lookin’ purty.”

The bow on the dressing table came up and down again, held by violet tendrils. It settled down atop her head and adjusted itself to a perfect position. All around, an airy voice said, “Now out the door! And you will see,/ Nothing impresses like responsibility.”

Country Roads looked into the mirror hard, staring at her bow while her hooves felt at her hair. Nothing remained in her hair save the bow. She had seen that. It had happened. But she very quickly stood up and slipped on her saddlebags. Before rushing off the stage, she looked to the mirror again. “Th-thank y’all kindly! Ah… Ah didn’t… Ah sorry fer wastin’ time.”

The lights went back down, but came up again very quickly, revealing three desks facing towards a backdrop of a classroom. On the far right sat Country Roads, who kept adjusting the bow in her hair; in the middle was Skydance; and taking a seat at the left side was Time Tokens.

While a sonorous male voice droned on in the background on some esoteric subject, Time Tokens turned towards Skydance and leaned in slightly. “Your refuthal to acthept the duel will not help you. You will be made to fight. The Lily Friend ith part of thomething much bigger than you can imagine. Give in to your role and lothe to someone in the Thudent Counthil tho that the dethtined action can go on.”

Skydance slowly turned her head to the side, an incredulous look on her features. “Seriously? In the middle of class? I don’t even like class or pay attention that much. But even I know that it’s stupid to interrupt the teacher. Why are you even sitting here? You’ve never sat back here before.”

“I cannot be punithed by the teacher. And he will not even notith uth. Thith ith a matter for the Thudent Counthil. That keepth uth out of hith notith. Now, go to the dueling field. Bring the Lily Friend. Fight uth ath you are dethtined to.”

“Umm, hello? Still in class. And I told your creepy little friend that I’m not going to treat Daisy like a thing. So just… Get over yourselves. And quit talking to me. Leave me alone.” Saying that, she took a pencil into her mouth and started to imitate taking notes as the voice went on.

“Pssst… What’s she sayin’? Alls ah can hear is hissin’ and spittin’.”

“Not important. More stupid Student Council stuff. Just keep on ignoring her.” Skydance spoke softly around the pencil, looking straight ahead and not even bothering to noticed that Time Tokens was staring at her with the same vacant expression Candy Stripes had given her.

The lights went down, some shining of telekinesis visible in the darkness while hooves moved on the stage. The lights came up again to show Skydance in a line behind Country Roads, with trays placed on a counter. Behind them in the queue came Judgmental. Skydance turned her head and glared. “Really? While I’m eating? Seriously? This is quickly going from creepy to just sad. Leave me alone. You’re just wasting your time.”

“You will be convinced in one manner or another. There’s no escaping this. It is now your destiny. You interfered where you did not belong. And now you need to see it through to the end. You shouldn’t have interfered. Now do your duty and fight us for the Lily Friend.”

“Yer askin’ fer a good ol’ fashioned farmland whoopin’ is what yer doin’!” Country Roads rather angrily turned on Judgmental, glaring past Skydance at the blank-looking filly. “y'all leave Sky an’ Daisy alone or ah’ll whup yer flank so bad you’ll be a Blank Flank again! Ah ain’t even kiddin’. Y'all Student Council ponies is jes gettin’ on mah nerves and ah’ve had enough!”

Judgmental looked on, her face unchanging. “You are not part of this. You have no business speaking to members of the Student Council. Do not speak to us any longer. And you, holder of the Lily Friend. Come to the field. Fight. Fulfill your destiny.” With that, she trotted out of line and offstage.

“This is just going to get more and more annoying. At least they’re running out of members. Unless they start repeating themselves.” Responding to a cue, Skydance and Country Roads slid down the counter with their trays.

The lights came down, and a spot went up, highlighting Daisy Dreams at the front of the stage while the back was cleared. “I should understand this more than I do. I’m the center of all this. But I understand even less than Skydance does. How did I get here? Where did I come from? Who am I really? Why me?”

“It was never just about you. That was the most important part of all this.” Another spotlight came up, highlighting Ace Pinnacle. “Did you really think that a foretold event could be put off by a stranger coming in? Not much of a prophecy if it just takes one bystander to mess it up. So you know what that means.”

“But you were always fighting over me. Passing me back and forth, making me help everyone move towards their goal. If I’m not important then why did you do that?”

“We had to wait.”

“Wait for what?”

“For this very moment…” A blue mist engulfed the scene, the spotlights filtered in blue before the cut out with the loud thunk of the power suddenly cutting off.

A spotlight came back on, illuminating a bunk bed, while Skydance entered from the right and shook her head before throwing herself into the bottom bunk. “Today is going to go down in history as the worst one ever. Student Council stupidity, I got a D on my last test, and lunch was terrible. I didn’t think you could burn salad. Sorry I’m late. I took the long way back. Country was keeping you company, right?” She lifted her head and looked across into the darkness.

Another spotlight popped on, illuminating the area Skydance was looking at. Country Roads was laying on the floor, looking out cold. Surrounding her was a swirling mass of violet energy, which leaped up and vanished once it had been observed.

“Country!” Skydance rose up and ran over to her friend, gently nudging at her. She looked unhurt, just stunned. She groaned softly but didn’t do much else. Beside her on the ground was a note, written in blue ink on crisp, white paper. A close-up was presented over the stage as Skydance read it aloud. “Destiny is destiny. The pieces are in place and they will not be prevented from meeting their final fate. Come to the dueling field to face what you have been running from. It ends today. You would not dare disappoint your idol. Or the Lily Friend. Do not disobey.”

“No… Daisy…” Skydance looked offstage, and then quickly dove under her bed to pull out her scooter. Before she could take off, Country Road’s body was lifted up by violet tendrils and placed against her back.

“Keep her safe as you battle today,/ And never forget to trot your own way.” A voice echoed around the room, and the violet tendrils slowly stroked Country Road’s mane.

“What’s happening? Please! Can you help me? Tell me what to do!” Skydance tried to look back, but found herself unable to do so with Country Roads balanced precariously against her.

“A lesson hard which you must learn,/ Only to yourself should you turn. In times of trouble and to-do/ No one knows your heart like you.” The violet tendrils placed helmets on both fillies and again stroked the mane of Country Roads. “Never fear the path you choose./ Walk it proudly and you will not lose.”

With a quick nod, Skydance buzzed her wings and zipped offstage, the lights dropping as she did. There was a slight bit of motion as the beds moved offstage, and the backdrop was replaced. When the lights came up, Skydance and a shakily-standing Country Roads were standing before the great rose gate to the dueling field. “What happened in there? What was with all that… purple stuff and the weird voice?”

“Ah… Ah don’t really know. Fer a while ah’ve been getting’ help and advice from a rhymin’ voice and all those purple thingies. Then today when ah was in the room talkin’ to Daisy, this big blue thing burst in. Alls ah saw was her get grabbed and a big bolt of blue come at me. Then the purple stuff came an’ protected me. But ah still fainted.”

“Well, whatever it is, it told me to take care of you. So I’ll do it. Come on, you get to watch me kick flank. Time to teach those Student Council weirdoes a lesson.” With that, Skydance marched to the gate and let it see her necklace, starting the familiar special effects sequence with the opening of the gate and climbing of the stairs. The only difference was Country Roads following her up the winding staircase.

At the top of the stairs, the sky seemed strangely dark, far more overcast and threatening than it had been on the ground. The field itself seemed different, the stones rougher and less evenly-set. And on the field, the entire Student Council, holding Daisy Dreams.

“I can’t believe you did this! I don’t care what kind of weird school this is, and I don’t care how mysterious it is! You can’t just kidnap somepony and get away with it. And if nopony else comes after you, I will. You want me to beat you, I’ll beat you.”

Ace Pinnacle nudged Daisy Dreams over, sending her trotting over to press in against Skydance. “We will make this as appropriate as possible. Draw the Sword of Celestia as is your right. Fight until your muscles ache and your eyes fail. Fight as long as you think you can stand. And fall, in the end. Fulfill the destiny set out for you.”

“I was so scared. They came for me and just brought me here. I don’t even remember how. It was all just a blur.” Daisy Dreams rubbed her head against Skydance, wiping her tears away on her uniform and shivering.

“Don’t worry. They’re not getting what they want.” Skydance kissed Daisy Dreams on the head and then shouted over at the Student Council. “Why would you do this? If you could have kidnapped her anyway why did you keep bothering me to come fight you? If you wanted her so badly, why all this stuff?”

“You didn’t really think you were an accident, did you?” Candy Stripes stepped forward, drawing a sword as Ace Pinnacle continued to speak. “There’s no accidents involved in destiny. Everything was in place the moment you got that necklace. Why do you think it worked?”

Skydance looked down at the stage, then back up at the Student Council. “Fine. I’ll play your mind games.” She leaned down and took hold of the sword handle which appeared with a flash. “Sword of Celestia! Grant me the power to bring Cutie mark Location!“ The sword was drawn with a flourish, spotlights glowing brighter, the environment looking less gloomy. In that moment, Daisy Dreams pinned a large, bone-white calla lily to Skydance’s chest. “Focus… Focus on one thing. And I can win.”

“I love pony tales…” Ace Pinnacle spoke as Candy Stripes lunged, clashing sword-to-sword with Skydance. “I love them, but I stopped believing in them a long time ago.”

The fight was uneven from the start. Skydance was still full of righteous fury and was fresh from consoling Daisy Dreams. Savage twists of her body and flicks of her neck knocked back Candy Stripe’s sword. And she barely even reacted. “I never wanted to fight. Fighting is beneath me.” Her mouth moved as pre-recorded lines played. “But I needed the power I was promised. I needed to have more than a cutie mark. I needed something… Something I could never name.

“It was always about something more. But nothing I ever did was enough. The Lily Friend was supposed to give me all I ever desired. But each time I got what I wanted, through her, I was never satisfied. And when I lost… I could never believe I could lose to anyone. I knew what I needed! Something. Some… Thing…”

The sword flew from between Candy Stripe’s teeth after a powerful flick from Skydance, her next motion cleanly severing the calla lily from her shirt, bells exploding into jubilant clanging as it hit the ground. “Now, we’re leaving…”

As Skydance and Daisy Dreams started walking away, Time Tokens stepped forward, sword drawn and calla pinned. “No. You fail to appreciate what this is…” Ace Pinnacle spoke as Time Tokens charged, meeting Skydance sword to sword. “This is the confrontation to retrieve what is rightfully the property of the Student Council. A battle of real meaning.”

“She! Is not! Property!” Skydance slammed her sword viciously against Time Tokens’, throwing her weight into the attack.

“The’s not property to me. The’s a pathage.” Time Tokens struck with mechanical precision, moving her body in simple chains, turning and deflecting the vicious blows thrown her way. “The’s the thecret to reaching my dreamth. I’m tho alone, even in the Thudent Counthil. With the Lily Friend, I have a friend who can’t leave. And if I’m not alone, maybe I can move on to what I want motht.”

Skydance was not moved by Time Tokens’ speech. She used the mechanical precision of the strikes against their deliverer, sword held out and steady while a blow was made, hitting the sword down and at an angle, slapping the sharp blade against the calla’s curled petal and spike, slicing them from the rest of the flower, resulting in a new ringing of bells. “Let us go you monster!”

“’Monster’? You’re very ungrateful to your heroine. I saved your life. At least appreciate that and do what you’re told. You only have to lose and it’s all over.” Ace Pinnacle looked impassively upon the scene of Time Tokens slowly moving away from the main site of battle, Judgmental trotting up to face Skydance.

“Never! I’ll do anything to keep her free.” Skydance warily circled Judgmental, who did not seem very inclined to attack. She simply trotted along, slowly eyeing her opponent. It was a tense standoff, both moving in and out of the circle, Skydance not wanting to rush a strike, and Judgmental simply being inscrutable.

“I never wanted to do any of this.” A quick slice glanced off of Skydance’s sword, and another made the metal ring as it quickly cut in from another angle. “I only wanted one thing in all the world. One thing I couldn’t have. There’s never been anything I couldn’t have before. But then they promised me that if I fought, I could have it.” The strikes rained down, fast and brutal, the dainty-looking filly twisting her head and stabbing her body forward with an almost murderous abandon, not seeming to care much if her sword was aimed at the calla lily. “But it was all a lie. I didn’t get what I wanted. No matter how much I won, I was defeated just as quickly.

“Victory meant nothing, defeat meant less. All I wanted were eyes on me, and she never even saw me there. Never got jealous when I held the Lily Friend, never stopped to make me feel better when I lost her. Didn’t have the emotions to curse me or comfort me. And even so, I would still do anything for what I wanted most. And if this is what it takes I’ll do it.”

Skydance was on the defensive. Her sword rang and flashed, deflecting the almost-undirected blows and attempting to turn them away from her face. She couldn’t get a good thrust or swing of her own in, the rain of strikes was like a deluge. “Hey! Watch it! You’re not even trying to hit this stupid flower!”

“I. Don’t. CARE!” The following attacks were harsh and staggered, aiming for practically everything except the target. “This whole thing is meaningless. It doesn’t matter. I just did what I was told and got nothing. Maybe if I finish this whole thing off, I won’t have to keep doing this.”

There was a motion from the Student Council, Candy Stripes slowly coming forward and shaking her head, as though coming out of a long, foggy sleep. “Judgmental… Do you mean you… I thought you wanted her so bad because she was your destiny.”

“I only wanted her so you would see me.” Even while speaking, Judgmental never turned around, or stopped attacking. Her moves were getting more erratic. Not enough that they could be countered; on the contrary, anything but dedicated defense would be suicidal. She was making almost a hailstorm of metal.

“I hated her so much.” Candy Stripes walked onto the field, looking slightly stiff and jerky. “Every time I saw her with you, I wanted to get her. For myself and my dreams. But to take her away from you. She didn’t deserve to be near you.”

With a huge toss of her head, Judgmental released the sword, sending it clattering onto the ground offstage. Still stiff and jerky, she turned away from Skydance and looked to Candy Stripes. “I never thought you felt… GNKH!”

Suddenly, both Candy Stripes and Judgmental flopped to the ground, bodies contorting as blue crackles of energy appeared over them. While they writhed, blue tendrils lifted Ace Pinnacle up like a marionette, and placed a sword between her teeth. “No offense, kid. I don’t really have a lot of options here.”

“What is that?” A figure appeared behind Ace Pinnacle, a deep, dark shadow with a stallion’s silhouette. But from it radiated an aura of deep blue. “Is this… What’s making all this weird stuff happen? What is it? Hey! Show yourself! Tell me what’s going on!”

“Yea, not really gonna get an answer there. He’s a little… Upset. He doesn’t like to lose. And hates losing control. Why do you think I’ve gotta be hauled up? But I’ve got all my fighting skill intact and I can’t stop myself from using them. Hope you’re still sharp, because he…” The blue tendrils vanished as Ace Pinnacle’s body shuddered, expression growing slack and distant. With a lunge, she threw herself at Skydance.

Skydance met the lunge with her sword, attempting to deflect the strike. But her filly body was no match for the force of a leaping mare, especially one driven on my some unknown force. She was the one pushed back, and rather savagely at that, sent rolling along the ground. “Ugh! Come on! Snap out of this and let us out of here! You know something’s going on.”

The rainbow-maned mare slashed and hacked with strength, speed and skill, pushing her younger and smaller opponent back with an almost murderous energy. “It’s not up to me anymore. I’m pretty strong, because you think I am. Must be hard to fight your perfect protector.”

Skydance didn’t answer for a bit, too focused on deflecting the hammering blows that were almost literally leading her around. She had very little control over her direction, and could only look for the slightest break in the waving metal threat. “What do you mean? I’m not… I’m not doing any of this! If I was I’d be out of her already.”

“It doesn’t work like that…” Blue energy crackled around Ace Pinnacle’s body and her motions were interrupted. Skydance tried to take advantage of it but she recovered and went back on the attack. “You need to remember now. Remember the last time we met. Remember the day I saved you and turned into your protector. Because I AH!” The energy crackled again, but the attack went on. “I don’t think you can win this time.”

Skydance focused hard, while also blocking the coming blows. A wisp of smoke covered the front of the stage, and onto that was projected the prepared flashback. All that was seen was Skydance, looking on as Ace Pinnacle was praised and cheered by ponies in the clouds.

“Gotta work hard if I’m going to be as good as she is…” The flashback-Skydance placed goggles over her eyes and flapped her wings, tossing herself off of the cloud she was on and zipping around in the air. She did a few elementary loops and spins, gradually increasing her speed and the intricacy of her tricks as she went on.

In the middle of her routine, rushing by the clouds and whipping around in mad patterns, she miscalculated her position and hit a cloud with a wing, a shriek emerging as the appendage was injured. With one wing out, she could only flutter her remaining wing uselessly while she plummeted from the sky.

The shriek reached Ace Pinnacle after a short bit of time, barely heard amongst the congratulations. By the time she looked, Skydance was already far below and falling further. Without hesitation she was up and flying, zooming down through the air towards the tumbling form of the small filly, with a few other, slower pegasi in her wake.

A tense series of cuts showed on the flashback mist. Various shots of Skydance’s terrified face cut with images of a determined Ace Pinnacle rushing down at a sharp angle trying to intercept Skydance. A shadow-puppet-like version of the scene showed the perfection of the hypotenuse made by the speeding mare to intercept the tumbling filly. All the rest, in fact, was only in stark black and white shadow versions.

The sound slowly muted as the scene went on, Ace Pinnacle’s silhouette seeming to elongate as her speed increased. Her wings were a blur as she went all out to reach her target in time. She reached the falling Skydance and took her into her hooves. With that accomplished she turned around quickly, attempting to backtrack herself to cancel all of her momentum. Her angle was far sharper than she wanted, and the ground was approaching.

Unable to slow down as she wanted, her kicked out with all four of her legs, shoving Skydance away from her towards the approaching, slower pegasi. In doing so, she greatly lowered Skydance’s velocity, giving the others a chance to reach her. But it was too late for her. The silhouette of Ace Pinnacle continued to flap and try to slow before striking the top of a tree, and vanishing into the shadow of a forest.

The smoke wisp dissipated, leaving Skydance looking stunned, and Ace Pinnacle standing still before her, blue energy bleeding off of her, pulling towards Skydance with almost desperate motions. “You… you…. I was right, wasn’t I? We’re dead. We’re here because we’re dead….”

“Nah, you’re not. I mean, I am. I’m just what’s left on your mind. Cooler than I probably was, but here for you. I can be awesome, because you need a big icon. You always did. You even forgot I was gone because you needed me not to be. But, you remember now.”

Tears seeped from Skydance’s eyes, and the sword of Celestia fell from her mouth. “How can you be here? You’re dead! You saved me and you died! Why are you here?”

“It wasn’t my idea. Wasn’t even really yours. It’s all thanks to why you’re here. Did you ever wonder why there are so many Blank Flanks here? And why the ones that aren’t walk around looking completely lost, completely out of their minds and useless at trying to tell anyone anything? Why the teachers are shadows and the only adults with any substance are big names like me? It’s not a coincidence. It’s because this is… this is the most confusing place you’ll ever be.”

Skydance slowly approached Ace Pinnacle, whose body was still unmoving, with the blue mist flailing wildly in all directions. “Where is it?”

Ace Pinnacle started to tremble, her eyes rather wide open. With a sudden cry her mouth shot open and blue mist fired out of it, pouring out and curling around on the ground. It quickly floated up into the air, slowly coalescing into the shape of a heavy unicorn stallion. His coat was pure white, while his mane and tail were made of blonde hair trailing blue streamers. On his body were plates of blue armor very reminiscent of Nightmare Moon. “Where you are…” He spoke with an exaggeratedly-cultured voice, heavy on the reverb. “Is where I want you.”

Skydance slowly staggered backwards, towards Daisy Dreams and Country Roads, who were huddling together. She watched as Ace Pinnacle fell to the ground, slowly writing as the blue miasma left her. “W-who are you? How did you make her alive? How did you do any of this?”

“Who am I? Impudent little peasant!” The swirling blue mist rushed towards Skydance for a split second, before it pulled back, and the large stallion looked thoughtful. “But I suppose it is inevitable. Though I am gloriously omnipresent, I do not announce that you know me. But you do….” From all around there came a rush of wind and noise. Flyers from famous fashion boutiques and lines, posters from the most heavily-advertised movie hits, snippets of the most popular music, static-filled scenes of the most popular television shows. Every last drop of young pony culture swirled around the scene. “I’m your very best friend, in your face and in your head, every second of your day.”

All three fillies backed away from the barrage of media madness, recognizing every single thing presented. They were blared at fillies like them all day every day. The very picture of what they were expected to do. “But how did you..? She’s still dead….”

The figured laughed cruelly, shaking his huge head. “Princess Celestia tells you to brush your teeth. The Wonderbolts tell you to try your best and never give up. Rugby players sell you horseshoes. Models pitch you fruit juice. The famous and glamorous are everywhere, living and dead, to make you do exactly what I want you to do. How hard is it to resurrect some local yokel heroine to pitch my vision exactly as I wanted it? All I needed was your memory of how she was and the rest was up to me.”

“’M not… ‘m not just your stupid puppet…” Ace Pinnacle trembled on the ground, rising up on trembling legs with a loud groan. “She thought I was alive. Hay, she thought I was you. I’m still here. You don’t own me anymore. You never should have brought me into this place. Now I’m gonna be a thorn in your side.”

“Thorn, you say? Well, that can be arranged.” The blue mist snaked out towards Ace Pinnacle, who, for the briefest of seconds, could be seen with cuffs around her forehocks. The mist split off into individual strands which quickly turned itself into vines made of rose stems. As they wrapped around the trembling mare’s forehocks, she was dropped into darkness, the only light reaching her being indirect illumination from the side of the stage with the three fillies and the stallion.

“Hey! What is this?” Ace Pinnacle rose slowly, body twisting and spasming in the grip of the twining rose stems. They wrapped down her arms in the indistinct light, tightly wrapping her body and restricting her movement.

“You know, even when this time is not under my control, it still is. I’ve already put certain ideas in everypony’s heads. And after that, it just takes a little nudge…” Bright lights started to glow in the air, slowly resolving themselves into swords. And along with them, soft whispers that echoed out among the audience.

“I heard she was hanging around that Skydance again.”

“Isn’t it weird she’s with all the fillies all the time?”

“How did she get to be president of that council? She’s not a student. She’s not even a teacher.”

“What does she do around here anyway?”

“Did you ever notice her mane? Totally fake. Dye-job all the way.”

“I heard she got caught with something. I don’t know what but they hushed it up quick.”

“There was some kind of controversy with her private stuff.”

“She wasn’t even supposed to be around fillies, I think. I heard it from my cousin.”

“It’s just creepy. Totally creepy.”

“Isn’t it always the way? Rumors they just… cut deeply.” One of the swords flew in towards the struggling Pegasus and impacted with a responding grunt, the scene now shrouded in darkness, sparing gruesome details, and the sensibilities of the special effects team. “And they come unbidden. Because, isn’t it what all the stories say? The songs, the movies, the shows. Rumors. Gossip. Chattering behind backs is normal. Destroying someone…” Several swords flew into the darkness, more pained grunts announcing their impact. “That’s normal. Innuendo, well, it strikes right to the heart.” Another sword flew in, a sharper grunt issued in response. “And the Thousand Swords of Malice, they’ll teach you to try and stand up to me…”

“A-ace! Ace?” Skydance stepped forward a small distance, eyes wide and wavering.

At first the darkness was silent. Then it erupted with a fear-filled voice. “RUN!”

The three fillies followed the instruction immediately, turning towards the stairs. “Oh no, you three are not escaping me. We are not finished here!” The blue tendrils whipped out, intent on grabbing the three fillies.

A wave of violet energy sprang forth, stopping the blue tendrils from reaching the fillies. And then a violet figure shaped like a mare appeared between the stallion and the three rushing off the stage. “Use all the power you know how/ But you are not touching those fillies now.”

“Get out of here you relic! You ancient and useless wretch! Nopony needs you any longer! You’re old news and have been for ages. I’m the new wonder. And you can only dream of days when you were anything but a history lesson.” The blue tendrils lashed out again, striking at the violet figure.

The violet shape melted back into haze and followed the fillies off the stage. “You do not rule all you think. Frankly, monster… You stink!”

A special effect projection onto mist showed the three fleeting fillies being led into the Untrotted Forest by the cloud of violet. The stallion watched the retreating three with a snort and turned towards the dark, which contained Ace Pinnacle. “Tongues never stop, rebellious fool. And, my unwilling pawn, you’ll see just how much rumors can hurt…”

With that statement, the lights fell and the curtain dropped.

Intermission

Comments

[Kagitaar]

Okay, that's everything read now, just waiting for more.

[Gabriel LaVedier]

122114
What's your take on this? I'd really like to know how you like it so far.

[Traveler7]

I like it. A Revolutionary Girl Utena/MLP crossover, as stage play? Full points.

[Gabriel LaVedier]

167769

Thank you very kindly. Now I just need to get back to it.

[Azure Sandora]

I never thought I would say this. It seems almost degrading for someone such as I to state such a statement, but you have left this unit with no choice...

MOAR!!!!!!!