Spring Surprises

by TheGJ90

Chapter 2 - Cleaning House

It didn’t take long for the girls to settle on a plan, which went like so: Sunset would be allowed to move into a Rainboom’s home for one week before switching to another one’s home (pending their families’ approval) while the rest of the girls handled the renovation efforts. Barring emergencies and the need to grab personal effects, Sunset would not be allowed near her house until the renovations were completed. After an intense game of rock-paper-scissors, which led to a dramatic one-on-one match between Applejack and Rainbow Dash that lasted a full five minutes, it was decided that Rainbow Dash would be the first to take in their homeless friend. She celebrated her victory by exclaiming with pride and mirth, even as Applejack rolled her eyes over her friend’s ego;

“Another awesome win for me!”

With that settled, the work that was labeled ‘Operation: Sunhouse’ by Twilight Sparkle began in earnest. For this first day, Sunset was helped by her friends as they packed up her things and took them out of the bedroom and streaming room. She had made it her business to hide her homelessness from the prying eagle eyes of her online fans. But, with money being consistently tight these days, she had to improvise by hanging large green screen curtains over the walls of her streaming room, which was only a little more spacious than a closet. The fact that she had managed to fit a halfway decent streaming PC, a desk, a monitor, a few choice video game consoles, and a decent chair into the closet was nothing short of impressive. This rough but functional setup, combined with carefully positioned lighting from two cheap lamps on the desk and a webcam with decent video quality, allowed her to use a free program on her computer that could make her greener than green room look like an entirely different place. A sunlit beach, a space station, a homely bedroom; she could pick any place available, as long as it kept up the illusion that all was well in her life. Sunset felt a deep sense of relief over not having to maintain that illusion anymore as she entered the room to take care of some personal business before the packing was done. As Applejack effortlessly carried the streaming PC with one magic-powered arm out of the room, Sunset walked over to one of the green screen-covered walls, particularly the one hanging over the wall to the left of the door. She then knelt down to grab the bottom of the green screen and lifted it up to reveal a compartment hidden behind it that had enough space to keep several large items tucked away within the wall itself. However, the one item that was present inside it was a wooden chest sealed tight with latches on the front and a combination lock between them. Sunset pulled the chest out of the compartment, the act of doing so getting the attention of her friends, who moved over to her as soon as their hands were free, curious as to what their friend had stashed in the room where many a Shimmer Code stream was held.

Sunset knew the combination to the lock by heart, so unlocking it was a simple matter. Once that was dealt with, she undid the two latches and removed the lock before lifting the chest's lid to reveal its contents. The girls reacted with several variations of ooohs and ahhhs, save for Rainbow Dash, who looked at what was inside with awe. She clearly did not expect to see this item again! That confident smirk of hers that ought to be trademarked was on full display as she commented;

"I was wondering where you had put that thing."

Inside the chest was a single book, the cover of which was marked with vivid artwork that depicted a large yellow sun, a permanent reminder of its significance in Sunset's life. This was one of her journals, the journal, the one that was given to her by Princess Celestia in Equestria so many moons ago! After she had run out of pages to write on and had the journal replaced with the one she uses to this day, she took extra care to keep this old one safe from thieves, for every word that was written on its pages was precious to her. She lifted the journal out from the chest, opened it up, and flipped through the pages as she explained in a tone laced with nostalgia;

"Even after getting that new journal from Princess Twilight, I could never part with this one! It holds too many memories for me to just toss it into a garbage can, you know?"

Applejack gave out an understanding laugh before responding;

"Ah get it, sugarcube. Ah may have extra hats back at the farm, and way too many of 'em to boot. But, this 'ere Stetson..."

She tilted her hat slightly upwards with her right thumb before finishing with a smile;

"It carries the memories Ah made with mah Ma' and Pa'. When Ah wear it, it's like they're with me everywhere Ah go."

Moved by her heartfelt words, Sunset stood back up, journal in hand, and turned to face Applejack. She gave her a look of warm understanding as she told her with the same level of honesty as the girl who bore the element;

"You wear the hat well, AJ. I'm sure your parents would be proud of you."

The rest of the girls were just as moved, with Rainbow Dash giving the farmhand an enthusiastic thumbs up, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie giving her a double-hug from both sides, Rarity trying to hold back her tears, and Sci-Twi expressing a supportive grin. It was at this moment that the student of every science under the sun made a sweet comment;

"Well then, I'm certainly adding Sunset's old journal, and Applejack's hat for that matter, to the Items to Keep Safe List that I have saved in my mind."

---

With that, the girls took a moment away from clearing out Sunset's things to let her read to them a few entries from her journal. The highlights included the time when she had accidentally left large scorch marks all over several parts of the royal throne room when practicing fire magic, an incident involving Sunset, one of Princess Celestia's custom-made cakes, and the wrath of gravity, her moment of triumph against an arrogant rich stallion in a competitive magical duel, and the time when poor Sunset felt the sting of one of Celestia's pranks. Rainbow Dash laughed her rear off over the last one while wishing in her head that the Principal was as cool as her pony counterpart. The other girls made sure to contain their laughter (save for a mirth-stricken Pinkie Pie) while giving their friend their support as she used a bit of laughter of her own to hide her internal embarrassment. After she was finished telling stories from her Equestrian past, the girls went back to scouring the house for more of her personal items. Sunset guided them over to a heavily boarded up cement wall in front of the washer and dryer. Once the girls were grouped together in front of the wall, she explained to them thusly;

"I've been living in this dump for quite a while and I never really got around to busting through this wall to see what's on the other side. I guess now is as good a time as any."

She gave Applejack an expectant smirk and wink before adding;

"Whenever you're ready, AJ."

Applejack chuckled with excitement as she cracked her knuckles while almost strutting towards the wall, savoring the fun to come. After taking the time to crack her neck, she took her geode, which she wore every chance she could get like the other girls were wont to do, into her right hand. She then shut her eyes and silently called upon her Earth Pony magic, which flowed through her like a fierce stream in her being. Her pony ears glowed into existence along with her pony tail hair extension as her eyes shot open like a bolt of lightning. No change of wardrobe this time around, since she saw no need to bring out her full strength just to knock down a wall. Without a single shred of hesitation, the cowgirl released the geode from her grip, placed both hands on the boarded up wall and proudly declared with the biggest ear-to-ear grin on her face;

"Apple..."

She finished her personal battle-cry with thunderous gusto as she shoved the wall forward with the raw magical strength of Celestia knows how many people;

"JAAAAACK!"

By the time she stopped to stand at the other side of the sizeable hole she had made with her bare magic-powered hands, she had caused the now broken chunk of the wall to tilt and, with a mighty crash that made the girls wince, slide down the fleet of stairs that were apparently built beyond it before crashing again at the bottom. The girls gave her a resounding applause as she turned around to face them and wiped her hands clean with smug satisfaction all over her face.

After taking the time to safely move the broken chunk out of the stairway, Applejack led the girls down the stairs, with a nervous Fluttershy holding onto Rainbow's shoulder for emotional support. Rarity was the one who asked what they were all thinking as they traveled downward;

"Why in the world would this abode's previous tenets go out of their way to seal off the entrance to the basement?"

She made it a point to visually inspect the walls on either side of the stairway before adding;

"Oh, I can only hope it was not to hold back a..."

She held back the urge to gag in disgust before finishing in indignation;

"Cockroach infestation!"

Sunset shook her head in disagreement;

"If it were cockroaches, they would have been all over the house when I had first arrived here. But, other than the occasional rat and spider, I didn't see a single pest back then or since."

Hearing that gave Twilight a rather unpleasant thought, one that drove her to ask when the pack was halfway down into the depths;

"Sunset, who did you say used to own this property again?"

"An old religious family...", said Sunset, who couldn't help but feel a twinge of nervousness over what her intelligent friend was getting at. Sadly, Twilight's response did not help matters much, for she replied with fear in her shaky voice;

"Oh dear... based on what I've read about how certain folks handle religious matters, I can only hope that they were not of the..."

She gulped audibly before finishing;

"Zealous variety."

Having heard enough of all this nonsense, Rarity visibly pointed her left index to the ceiling and chimed in with a raised chin and dignified expression;

"Now, dears, let us not allow our fears to replace sound judgement."

Two certain wounds in Rarity's heart stung for a moment. While she did notice this happening, they did not stop her from speaking her mind;

"I, for one, am quite certain that a perfectly reasonable explanation can be found, one that no doubt does not involve religious zealotry."

Fluttershy, with a horrified shiver, noted softly;

"Oh, I hope there aren't any poor critters trapped down here..."

Rainbow Dash turned her head to give her animal loving friend a quick encouraging smile that eased her tension a little before chiming in excitedly;

"I'll bet it's some kind of magical monster that got trapped in here and we gotta kick its butt!"

She cracked her neck in anticipation of an awesome fight, while Fluttershy whimpered at the thought of that being a thing as she lowered her head to hide behind Rainbow's back while proceeding onward. Sunset's face couldn't help but express a grimace of her own before announcing seriously;

"Trust me, Dash: if it was a magical monster, it would not have been down here for long..."

She couldn't help but recall what she, as a filly, had read about the many dangerous creatures that made Equestria their home: Timberwolves, Chimeras, Ursa Minors, and so many more. Sunset internally thanked Celestia, Luna, and harmony itself for giving Fluttershy the ability to communicate with animals as they continued downward.

Without further ado, the girls had made their way to the end of the stairway, where a single wooden door awaited them. It was locked tight, which would have deterred most people. Applejack, thankfully, was not like most people. This time, however, she only needed to use a much smaller portion of her magic to push the door open than what she had to muster against the wall earlier. Her pony ears and ponytail didn't even show up this time! The girls walked through the now opened doorway before them one at a time, the room they walked into being quite different from what they had feared. It was a large and remarkably barren room, save for a single round wooden table that held a large black chest on it that stood in stark contrast to the grey walls surrounding it. Resting in front of the chest was a small brown notebook. The only source of light that illuminated the room was a single light bulb that hung directly above the table from the ceiling. What was striking about the chest to the girls was that the fact that it was almost completely wrapped in silver duck tape and that was on top of it being locked tight via a rusted gold padlock, its key being missing from the scene. Each of the girls expressed some variation of bewilderment and, in the specific case of Rainbow Dash, excitement. She was the first one to give her thoughts on the matter with anticipation in her grin;

"Oh yeah! I'll bet there's some cool treasure in that chest!"

She then expressed a sudden gasp before exclaiming with even more excitement in her slightly cracked voice;

"Just like in the Daring Do books! Awesome!

She shot her right fist to the sky in celebration, though the others were too focused on the matter at hand to notice this. They all surrounded the table that held their apparent prizes (after Twilight carefully examined the room for traps). It was Sunset who decided to take the notebook into her hands to take a closer look. The cover showed no title, name, or anything else that would have clued her in as to its purpose or owner. After a moments pause, she flipped open the book to inspect its pages. The other girls crowded around her to see what she could find, but initially, the results were not ideal. The pages Sunset had flipped to were blank! But, she was determined to give the book a full once-over, so she pressed on. It was good thing she did too, otherwise she would have missed the one page that had an entry scribbled on it near the end of the book. It was written in plain English, so translation was a non-issue. With a breath, Sunset read the entry aloud.

---

To whoever is reading this, I give you this warning: leave the chest locked and sealed! DO NOT OPEN IT FOR ANY REASON!

The horror that rests inside of it drove my two friends to madness before destroying them utterly, it was all I could do to seal it away within the chest. I do not understand how this had happened; no other object was able to contain this wickedness. Still, I am not one to shy away from a gift from my god.

Please, I beg you: find a safe place where you can hide the chest from the curious and the foolish alike. Bury it if you have to! The terror it contains must never be unleashed upon the world again, or it will consume you from the inside out as it did to my friends.

I wish I could have saved them...

As for me, I need to get away from this house. Too many memories. Perhaps the city will make for a suitable buyer? May my god show you mercy and goodwill.

---

Now, they all had a good reason to be afraid, and it was wrapped in duck tape! Rarity, Twilight, and Sunset took several steps back away from the table while Fluttershy yelped in terror as she hid behind her long hair and Rainbow Dash, who was eying the chest with a ton of ideas bouncing around in her head, each one more foolish than the last. Applejack clenched her fists while glaring at the chest, the page's words having made alarm bells in her mind ring like the bell at her farm. Pinkie Pie, however, decided to take a direct course of action that involved walking right up to the chest and laughing at it as if it were the most hilarious joke of all time. Only Pinkie would laugh at a container that apparently held some kind of destructive force within itself. Sunset, however, was not in a laughing mood;

"Careful, Pinkie!", she exclaimed in worry while firmly grabbing her left shoulder to get her attention;

"For all we know, that could be an artifact from Equestria!"

She gave the chest a glare filled with fear of the terrible possibilities that could be contained inside of it before adding with a nervous laugh and one terribly fake smile;

"A really dangerous artifact at that..."

Sci-Twi took that moment to chime in while gazing at the box with a combination of scientific curiosity and understandable dread;

"I would bring in my newest invention to investigate this more closely, but it still has several severe bugs for me to fix first."

Rainbow Dash did a quick shrug as she suggested;

"Eh, we can just take this bad boy to your house."

Rarity belted out a most dramatic gasp aimed squarely at Rainbow;

"Really, Rainbow Dash, I do not think it wise to let that chest be in anyone's abode, especially with that..."

She shuddered audibly and visibly before finishing while pointing fiercely at the box;

"Murderous force of mystery contained within! I am quite amazed that it was sealed off at all, with duck tape no less!"

This detail caused Sunset's mind to flare up, allowing a realistic possibility to rise to the surface;

"Perhaps it's the chest that's the artifact...", she explained with a little more calmness in her being.

Sci-Twi nodded her head in agreement while uttering;

"A distinct possibility, Sunset. Which would leave me to suspect that the mystery that's sealed away is..."

Every Rainboom present had the same thought and groaned over how likely it was for it to be true. With resignation, they all declared in unison;

"Wild magic."

Rainbow Dash, being who she was, was the first to complain, and loudly at that;

"Seriously?! Every time we think we've kicked wild magic's butt for good, some more of it shows up!"

Applejack facepalmed with an annoyed grimace as she delivered her own complaint;

"Ah hear ya, RD. Ah mean, remember what happened with Vignette and Equestria Land?"

Rarity gave her a gentle smile that could soothe a breaking heart;

"It is not something one can easily forget, darling."

Sunset could feel her guilt over having brought magic into the world rising to the surface like lava in a volcano.

"Don't even get me started on Principal Celestia's little garden of horrors!", noted Sci-Twi as she hugged herself with a shudder.

After recovering, she came up with an idea that she expressed to the group while holding her chin in thought;

"Well, we don't know for sure if it is wild magic. Going by Sunset's earlier explanation of the house's origin, this item here may actually predate the Fall Formal Incident. So, it is likely that the chest is an Equestrian artifact and that the violent energy described on the page is a part of it."

Sunset's guilt was quickly replaced with relief upon hearing her friend's words. She wanted to hug her right then and there! But, there was still the matter of what to do with the chest.

"Um... I don't want that thing anywhere near animals or people, thank you...", said Fluttershy in a frightened whisper that the trained ears of her friends had caught with ease. She couldn't even bring herself to look at the blasted thing out of fear of it bursting open on sight!

"Flutters is right, ya'll!", exclaimed a worried and determined Applejack as she cracked her knuckles and neck;

"Ah would have smashed the dern thing by now, but Ah don't want that pestilence it's holdin' back to come out and zap us all into the Eternal Hills and who knows how many other folks!"

"It's okay, sillies!", exclaimed the ever-energetic Pinkie Pie;

"As long as the mysterious evil person-zapping thingy is in this chest, it won't hurt anyone!"

Before anyone could make a further remark, she grabbed the chest with hands, picked it up, and handed it over to a surprised Sci-Twi before declaring with her unique brand of happiness set to maximum joy on her face;

"If anyone can figure this out, it's you!"

The bookworm's tension and trepidation began to melt away as she locked eyes with her bubbly friend. Pinkie Pie had that effect on people. Sci-Twi carefully took the chest into her hands and promptly declared with a tiny smile;

"I'll make sure to actively avoid opening this thing during my research on the matter."

Rarity took a moment to steady her nerves with a breath or two before replying to her friend in her usual dignified manner;

"Well, I still do not approve of letting that thing be in someone else's house, let along yours, dear. But, if you are going to do this, it would behoove me to support you. Just..."

She walked over to her and gently placed her right hand on her left shoulder while giving her a look of pure concern as she finished;

"Be careful, darling. Losing you would hurt us all most terribly."

The others were quick to offer Sci-Twi their support, with Sunset promising to help her research efforts directly as well as provide protection if things go south. Even so, Applejack could not help but stare daggers at the chest as the girls walked back up the stairs. She had made it her business to walk behind her to keep an eye on their new package.

"Mah gut's tellin' me that leavin' that there chest alone is a bad idea.", she thought to herself, her fists clenched and ready to fly at a moment's notice;

"And like mah Granny Smith always says; When an Apple's gut is talkin'..."

Two old wounds, one fresher than the other, flared up in the farmhand's heart as she finished her thought with a hint of frustration;

"They better be listenin'..."

Author's Note:

So, the girls have found two little somethings in Sunset's house: one is awesome while the other is anything but!

What exactly is in the chest? Thankfully, this is Post-Friendship Games Sci-Twi that's investigating this mystery!

I hope you all appreciate the inclusion of Sunset's old journal. It kinda got dropped in favor of the new one in the series (understandable, given the thing ran out of paper!), so I wanted to show it some love.

As for the next chapter, expect one of those blasts from the past that I mentioned in the description and oh nelly, it is a doozy!