Disclaimer:
Well there are strange things writ by the bronies who sit
at their computers for hours in dark
With faces quite pale they write many a tale
of ponies gone out for a lark
The alicorn Faust has seen queerer than most
But if mine she ever does see
Then I hope number one, that it's all in good fun
And second please do not sue me
What Might Have Been
Chapter 10: Tricks of The Light
The air was cool but not cold as evening descended on Ponyville, and as the moon crept over the eastern horizon it cast its light on a warm little gathering. Banners of every color were strung about between buildings and over the streets leading into the town square, where ponies of equally varied hues were mingling, laughing, and making merry. In pairs or small groups they congregated around the many snack tables, tried their hooves at party games like bobbing for apples or pin-the-tail-on-the-pony, danced happily to the soft but catchy music, or simply reveled in each others company. Yes, this was a fine party indeed.
After making her rounds to greet all the late arrivals, Pinkie Pie took a moment to step back and appreciate her work. Nearly the whole town had turned out to share in the festivities and no amount of creepy pasta weirdness would ruin this night. Of that the pink party mare was sure. There was however one itchy little thing that she just couldn't put her hoof on though.
The punch bowl was full and as yet unspiked (Pinkie had plans to rectify that latter in the evening), the cupcakes were immaculately frosted and delicious, the music was swinging, the whole joint was jumping, but still that little itch would not go away. It was vaguely like her Pinkie sense warning her of things to come, but also like that off kilter feeling that comes when you've forgotten something. Try as she might though, the answer to her unasked question just would not come.
Shaking off her little itch for the moment, Pinkie Pie set out to find her very best friends, most of whom had already arrived. Rainbow Dash had been one of the first ponies to show up of course, and Pinkie had quickly recruited her into helping put up the last of the banners. Then came Fluttershy and Rarity, who were quietly mingling amongst the crowd. Last to arrive had been Applejack, who had come straight form her farm pulling a cartload of fresh apples for the gathering.
A certain purple unicorn mare however, was nowhere to be found and Pinkie was starting to get worried. Not to mention that the itch was back and was quickly growing into a full fledged doozie. Concern and curiosity rising in equal measure, the pink party mare set off to find word of Twilight.
Fluttershy confessed that she hadn't seen the mage all day, and a quick flyover by Rainbow Dash confirmed that she wasn't present at the party at all. Rarity was starting to get worried, Twilight had promised to come to the party and being late for anything was not like her at all.
When the growing posse found Spike, who had arrived solo, things began to get serious. “Oh man... I knew I shouldn't have left her alone with that new spell of hers.” He lamented.
“Why Spike, you're beginning to worry us all” Chimed Rarity. “What do you mean you shouldn't have left her alone?”
“All this morning Twilight was working on some new spell that had something to do with all the creepy happenings going on around town. She seemed really excited about it before lunch, but to make a long story short, whatever it is she's doing must be really dangerous because she blew up our basement earlier today and nearly burnt down the whole library!”
This startling revelation drew gasps from the four other mares.
“I told her to take a break from all the spell-work for a bit but she said something about being in a groove and super close to a breakthrough, so I made her promise to be more careful before doing anything else. Twilight decided this meant moving all her experiments out to Applejack's farm. I've been so busy trying to clean up the tree that I haven't see her since she left.”
Now Pinkie was getting antsy. If Twilight had nearly burned down her own home earlier today she could be in real trouble, and with her pinkie sense only getting worse it was imperative they find her pronto.
“Guys, I've got a bad feeling in my Pinkie sense about this.” Warned the bubbly mare.
“I agree. We need to find Applejack and find out where Twilight went to do all her magic stuff!” Rainbow Dash chimed in.
“What's all this about me an' Twilight now?” As if summoned by fate, the orange farm mare came moseying out of the crowd. “Shoot Pinks, this is sure a great party! You've really outdone yourself.”
In an instant Pinkie Pie rushed up muzzle to muzzle with the farm mare and frantically filled her in on the situation. “Oh my gosh Applejack! There's no time to party! We've got to rescue Twilight from a giant rampaging mutated apple-tree monster that never should have sprung from the mind of equines!”
The farm mare was unmoved by the plea. “Say what now?” She deadpanned.
Rarity cut in to try and explain things a little better. “I think what our over-imaginative friend is trying to say, is that Twilight Sparkle has not shown up to the party and we are all starting to worry about her.”
Spike said that she was working on something dangerous.” Said Fluttershy softly.
“And last I knew she was heading to your farm.” The young dragon put in. “”Did you see on you way here?”
“I didn't, but if y'all are frettin' like this we better go check on her. Come on, I'll show you where she was set up.”
Quickly the five ponies and one dragon left the celebration and made their way to Applejack's orchard. They didn't meet any ponies on the way there as nearly the whole town had turned out to Pinkie's shindig. When they arrived at the front gate, Applejack lead then around the main fields towards the back, almost to Carrot Top's property. There she slowed.
“It was right around here were I left Twi to her work. TWILIGHT! YOU HERE SUGARCUBE?!” She called.
There was no response.
Immediately Rainbow looped around to gain altitude and scanned the surrounding area. Her keen eyes quickly spotted what was out of place.
“Wow! Guys over here! I think I found something.”
Rushing past a few trees and around a small embankment they found it, though what it was exactly was a rather difficult question to answer.
Magic hung so strongly in the air it could be smelt, like the electric smell of ozone mixed with burnt oranges. Etched deeply into the soft earth of the farm was a glittering and sparking runic circle, its lines and symbols glowing steadily. This was not the most remarkable feature of the scene though.
Hovering above the circle, bound to it with what looked like ethereal ribbons of runes, was a swirling cloud of dancing vapor; it wreathed and pulsed and stretched as though it were alive. Its color was something difficult to name and would be best described and having none at all. It was not white, nor was it black nor any shade of gray. I shone with a light of many colors but was never any one in particular and it wasn't exactly rainbow either.
Around the circle, wispy glowing runes floated in a lazy imitation of orbit. As tangible as smoke, they seemed to drift in and out of existence as much as drift through the air. A few meters away from this enigma of the senses was a hay bale, upon which a bottle of ink, some quills and an open notebook rested. Beside the bale were Twilight's saddle bags, but of the mare herself there was no sign.
Somewhere deep in the Everfree Forest the sun shown down with a sinister intensity. Its golden rays focused and converged, igniting fire form nothingness and twisting to become solid. In a flash she was there, the sun's daughter and empress, the queen of fire, Solar Flare, and she was not pleased.
“Damn that little purple witch! Damn her and her little friends too!” She seethed, pacing back and forth in the little abandoned clearing she had manifested in. “How dare she assault me so. How dare she have the hubris to oppose the Living Sun. What can she possibly hope to accomplish is this blasted forest? Does she seriously think she can defeat me? ME? The Mother of Fire, The Empress of Light, THE BLOODY SUN HERSELF!?!?!”
Panting in rage the alicorn of the day tried to reign in her temper. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and looked sightlessly down at her hooves in an attempt to calm herself. The technique worked, at least until she opened her eyes again and actually saw her hooves, and her legs, and the whole rest of her body.
“AND WHY IN TIREK'S BLACK NAME AM I PINK!?!?!”
An indeterminate amount of time later, after a great many birds, beasts, and other critters had been scared from their homes, and a few rather large chunks of ground and trees had been scorched to glass or ash, Solar Flare was finally able to cool her temper and think. Perhaps she was over thinking this. That purple mare worried her sure, but was it really worth going to such trouble to eliminate her for good?
In warfare it was foolish to expend a disproportionate amount of resources on minor objectives. Better to do only what was necessary to achieve victory and be satisfied with that, then to obsess over the details and lose sight of the bigger picture. Maybe her personal intervention in the violet mares existence was not required. She had after all, wandered into one of the most dangerous and untamed regions of Equestria with what could only be minimal supplies. It was almost as though the girl was doing Solar Flare's job for her.
So why wasn't she dead yet? And perhaps more importantly, why had she plunged without hesitation into this forest in the first place?
These questions ate at the solar mare for she did not have ready answers to them. Luckily though, the first problem could be easily addressed. Rather than trying to personally put a stop to that little purple witch, all Solar Flare really had to do was nudge her in the wrong direction in this trackless wilderness then let nature take its course, so to speak.
Delegation is after all, the mark of effective leadership. She thought to herself with a dark chuckle, and so she began to cast her spell. This was not a focused working of destructive magic or force of possession, but a subtle enchantment of her sun and its light.
Infused with her malevolent will, the streaming golden rays grew thick and warm, and day in the Everfree slipped from bright and fresh into something softer and more heady. The dappled ribbons of sun dancing through the trees grew hazy and rhythmic and the air grew codling and close. All throughout the forest, the trees and daylight took on a fey cast, enchanted and strange.
With the light of the Everfree forest now allied against her foes, Solar Flare took wing. This was one spell she felt comfortable leaving to its work, for time was now on her side. Now she could turn her attention toward finding first what the purple unicorn and her little band were after.
The significance was not lost on The Mare in the Sun that Luna had not brought the Elements of Harmony with her to their duel. Both alicorns knew that the power of the six sacred gems could be a deciding factor in their battle, so why had Luna not come armed with them?
The only reasonable answer Solar Flare could come up with was that Luna had lost either the Elements of Harmony or her connection to them some time in the intervening millennium. That meant that the single most powerful magic known to ponydom was unaccounted for and quite possible at large. In her plans of conquest she had no room or desire for things as important as the Elements to be up in the air.
The more the tyrant sun goddess thought on the matter the more she became sure that she needed to rectify this. There was a disturbing possibility that somehow that crazy purple prophet knew something about the Elements, and though she had no evidence to support this, neither could she rule it out. Perhaps the mad mare and the Elements of Harmony really were unrelated, but there were simply too many coincidences to rule that out.
Regardless of the girls intentions, there were two things Solar Flare intended to do before her assault on Canterlot; find out what the violet mare was doing in the forest with five other ponies, and find a lead on the Elements of Harmony. In the pit of her stomach, the mare in the sun had a feeling that both these quests would lead her to the same place.
While wondering through the Everfree Forest at what should have been midnight but was in fact broad daylight, Applejack found himself to be quite lost. Not the I-don't-know-where-I-am-or-how-to-get-home kind of lost (though he was lost in this way as well) but the kind of lost he would be were an arcanics professor to explain to him Starswirl's law of thaumaturgical uncertainty. In short, he had absolutely no idea what was going on.
This is not to say that Applejack had been unobservant or obtuse, far from it. In fact Applejack was beginning to think he was the only one to have given any serious though to what Twilight Sparkle was telling them all this time. It started with her explanation of this whole Solar Flare business and had just gone downhill from there. Sure her intentions seemed good at first glance, but there were so many subtle inconsistencies when you though about what she said a little harder.
Take for example their little pow-wow back at Elusive's house. There, Twilight had admitted that she was “lost and very far from home” but less than an hour ago before the cliff collapsed, she said she was originally from Canterlot, not very far at all. And her behavior guiding them all through the forest was anything but lost, if anything it bespoke a familiarity only born of past experience.
There was also the bit where she claimed that all this had happened before, with some goddess of darkness trying to bring about eternal night. Never mind that the only pony Applejack knew of with the power to bring the night was his beloved Princess Luna. If such a thing really had happened in the past, why had he never even heard of it? Wouldn’t a bout of eternal night make just as much of a commotion as this whole eternal day business, which is to say everyone everywhere noticing it?
Further, if this so called 'Nightmare Moon' lady was defeated by the Elements of Harmony, why were they looking for these artifacts in the middle of the Everfree Forest? Wouldn't a power great enough to overcome a goddess be be kept in a more auspicious place? One with say, guards and actual buildings and ponies who had a plan for what to do if another angry deity ever showed up?
Though this Twilight Sparkle seemed to have the best of intentions, none of what she said was adding up. Perhaps even more disturbing was the fact that none of his companions seemed to be as disturbed by any of this as he was. He couldn't be the only one to have noticed this, could he? Surely one of the others, Elusive or Butterscotch maybe, must be having the same doubts. It was time he found out.
Since Elusive's fall, their pace had been slowed considerably, and the two injured unicorns could only move at a careful limp. With Twilight being the only one who knew where they were going, she had taken up the lead position in their little troop with Rainbow Blitz, impatient as always, right beside her helping her on. This was good, as it allowed Applejack to sidle up to the alabaster tailor and speak unnoticed.
Slowing to match the pace of the injured colt, the orange farmer leaned in close and with a nod of invitation accepted some of Elusive's weight.
“Thank you Applejack.” Sighed the unicorn. “I'm all for saving the world, but I must say I never thought it would mean a broken leg and cracked ribs.”
“S'all right E.” replied the farmer. “Actually I've been thinking about that whole 'saving the world' thing. I kinda wanted to discuss it with you” He said with an ominous darkness to his voice
“I take it from your tone you don't have as positive an opinion of it as when we started.”
“Oh, mah opinion of saving the world in general hasn't changed much, its my view of our guide that's been buggin' me.”
“You mean Twilight? Why whatever can you mean Applejack? From the moment we met her she's shown nothing but a willingness to help us all.”
“Ah think you know exactly what I mean. She seems like she wants to help, but it's all the rest of it that doesn't sit right with me. Neither you nor Ah have ever seen her around Ponyville, but some how she knows her way around the Everfree forest better than Butterscotch? She conveniently shows up at exactly the same time as the crazy mare we're all trying to stop and is coincidentally the only one to know what's goin' on? You can't tell me you haven't noticed the exact same things!” Applejack quietly urged.
At this, the alabaster colt grew thoughtful. He had indeed been suspicious of Twilight Sparkle, and it could be said that he still was. There were just too many holes in her story and little details that didn't add up, details that did not escape the keen notice of a journeyman tailor such as himself. Had Elusive been asked an hour ago his opinion of the purple mare's story, his doubts may well have grown into full fledged dissension But after Twilight had used her magic to save his life, his skepticism had been replace by faith.
“You're right Applejack, I have noticed, and when I really think about it, I can't escape the conclusion that there is something terribly wrong with this whole situation. It's deeply unnerving. But there's something else I should tell you.”
Here Elusive paused mulling over his words. It was hard enough to describe what he was feeling to himself, let alone put it into words.
“Well?” Prompted the farmer.
“It's...” He tried to start but failed. The unicorn sighed and tried again. “The source of a unicorn's magic comes from their soul. That special place within ponies that that marks them as thinking, feeling, living beings, and using our minds and horns we project that vital essence out into the world.
“When Twilight Sparkle used her magic to heal me, she filled me with that same power, the essence of her own soul. I assure you there is no invasion so penetrating or complete, and I couldn't have stopped her even if I had the presence of mind to try.”
Elusive began to talk faster in words more hushed, his jumbled stream of thoughts on the matter almost getting ahead of his words. “Her power is incredible, Applejack. Looking at it was like looking at the whole of the ocean, endlessly vast, unfathomably deep. It would have been terrifying but for one saving grace. All her power, all her heart and soul; it was all filled with pure and abiding love.
“In that moment she looked into the core of my being and I into her. She could have unmade everything I am and it should have been terrifying, but it wasn't. I could feel her goodwill and her desire to help us.” Elusive finally caught his breath.
“I can't explain it any better than that I'm afraid, and believe me when I say that little else has occupied my thoughts since. So regardless of anything she's said or that's happened, I can't help but trust her.”
Hearing all this put a sour look on Applejack's face. He wasn't comfortable with all that mystic mumbo jumbo, and it did little to quell his doubts about the purple mare.
“I know that's not the answer you were hoping for. I do think that she is hiding something from us, but I just can't hold that against her.”
With a grunt the orange farmer accepted his friends words, but rather than put his unease to rest, they only deepened it. Being an earth pony, he couldn't speak to the whole 'looking into the soul' thing, but Elusive's faith in the mare coupled with his admission that he had noticed something off, all reeked of cognitive dissonance to Applejack. It made him itchy to find out the truth.
The apple farmer's decent into brooding did not go unnoticed by Elusive however. With a nudge he tried to rouse his new friend. “If this is still bothering you so much, I think you should ask her about it, politely of course. We're all risking our lives together on this little quest of ours, so we owe it to ourselves and to her to clear the air.”
Applejack looked and saw the encouraging smile Elusive was giving him. “Ah reckon you're right.” he said with a sigh. “If you don't mind, I'll think I'll catch on up to her and we can get it all worked out. Can you get on alright on your own?”
“Please Applejack, I may be wounded but I'm not yet incapacitated.” The unicorn colt replied with mock haughtiness. Elusive held his nose in the air for the briefest of moments before both ponies shared a good little chuckle.
“Alright, I'll ask her.” Applejack stated, before he eased Elusive back to taking all his own wight. Then with a nod, the farm colt picked up his pace from a slow amble to a brisk trot, trying to catch up to Twilight Sparkle and the others. Walking with the alabaster colt had caused them both to fall somewhat behind. Though they weren't at risk of becoming separated, it would probably be a good idea to regroup and have a short rest. The perfect time for a conversation with Twilight. He just had to catch up to her first.
Looking back on it, he should have called out to her, that would've been the normal thing to do. Just raise his voice and say her name, but he didn't. The thought simply never occurred to him. Instead he was intent on catching up to Twilight all on his own, then he could talk to her like he had been talking to Elusive. Yeah, that made sense.
He also should have picked up his pace. Even with the violet mare limping and in a splint, he wasn't gaining any ground on her. This didn't seem to bother him though.
In fact, the orange colt was having difficulty being bothered by anything at all really. The sky was blue and clear of any clouds, the sun was warm and bright, and a gentle breeze rippled the leaves of the forest and made shadows dance across his face. It was such a beautiful day, and now that he though about it, it was also the perfect time for a nap.
Applejack usually didn't take naps. With a farm to manage he was usually a very busy pony and didn't have time to sleep during the day. But he had been awake for so long now and hard at work for most of that time, perhaps he deserved some rest.
Yes, whispered the wind through the leaves, a nap would be perfect. Just lay down in the grass to sleep and enjoy the warm sunlight.
Deep down a part of himself rebelled at this notion. There was no time to rest, there were ponies depending on him, the world was in danger, his friends needed him!
He just couldn't place who those friends were, and the world obviously wasn't in danger; look at what a lovely day it was.
Shh, cooed the dappled light, just relax and sleep. Lay down, that's it. Now close your eyes...
Something heavy and solid kicked Applejack in the ribs and his eyes snapped open. When he looked up from his bed of grass he saw a white unicorn pony who had just walked right into him. The pony looked familiar, like he was supposed to know this pale stallion, but it was so hard to think. The warm air pressed down on his eyelids and dissolved his thoughts into haze.
Then he was gone, the unicorn colt just wandered off as suddenly as he had appeared. Good though Applejack. Now I can get back to my nap.
Berry Bubble and Butterscotch together made up the middle of the marching order. Ever since their brush with certain doom back in the gully, the quiet yellow colt had been even quieter than usual and Berry had taken it upon himself to cheer up his new friend. Of course Berry knew that Butterscotch and the others were his friends. They were all going on an adventure together after all, so that had to make them all friends. Well, at least he hoped so.
Since moving to Ponyville, Berry had made it his goal to know and become friends with everypony in town, and at present his mission was nearly complete. There were only a hoof full of ponies unfamiliar to the pink colt, and Butterscotch was one of them.
The shy pegasus only rarely attended his parties, and usually didn't stay very long when he did. Nor had Berry had the opportunity to have many conversations with him. Butterscotch's quiet nature and easily frightened demeanor did not lend themselves to getting along well with the spontaneous and enthusiastic Berry Bubble.
To say that this bothered the pink colt would have been true, though not quite stating it right. Really, it put a dull ache in his chest that tended to cool his optimism. He wanted Butterscotch to like him, and it stung that his attempts at socializing had been failures in the past.
Now however, they had just barely pulled through a truly life threatening ordeal, and the strange intimacy of a shared realization of mortality was still thick between them. Berry would not let this opportunity go to wast, could not let it go to waste because in truth, he was just as scared on the inside as Butterscotch seemed to be on the outside.
And truth to tell, he really needed a friend.
There was still the issue of how to break the ice with the the yellow colt. Though berry was rarely at a loss for things to talk about, he didn't want to mess up this opportunity. Looking around for anything of interest, It occurred to the pink stallion that the simplest solution might just be the best.
“You know, with the world in danger I always though it'd be all windy and stormy” he observed.
Butterscotch looked briefly at Berry Bubble but said nothing. Continuing undaunted for the moment, the talketive pony gestured around with his hoof. “We all may be risking a grisly death but at least the weather's nice.”
With a cringe the shy pegasus returned his eyes to the road. “Oh, um... yeah, I guess.” He mumbled, glancing skyward as he finished.
It really was a beautiful day, but the pall of dread was still strong in Butterscotch and an awkward silence slowly began to develop between him and the pink stallion.
His attempt at conversation having failed, Berry's mind raced with way to fill the growing stillness. “So uh, you live near this forest right? Do you come here often?” He inquired.
“No, not really.”
“That's good, what with this place being filled with dangerous creatures and all, right?”
“Mm hm.” Butterscotch responded without taking his eyes off his hooves.
Again the conversation ended before it could really begin, and Berry's discomfort grew as a result. A somber mood had taken hold of their fellowship, for it had become abundantly clear just how high the stakes of their quest really were. They were all risking their lives to save the world, and it was terribly frightening.
Berry was having trouble escaping this fear. His quick mind and active imagination were ceaseless in their contemplation of all manner of nasty ways their mission could end, or the consequences should they fail. His thoughts filled him with cold dread and try as he might, he could not turn his mind to happier things.
That's why he was so desperate to hit it off with the yellow pegasus. He needed to get out of his own head and get all those worries off his chest. He needed somepony to confide in who could reassure him it was all going to be ok. He needed somepony to help him smile.
For his own part, Butterscotch was just about the most afraid he had ever been in his life. Though fear was something the timid colt was well antiquated with, he was currently without any of his usual coping methods. Out here in the Everfree, there was no safe bed to hide under, no doors to lock, no easy escape. He had to keep going to help Twilight and the others, though what use they could have for a coward like him, Butterscotch couldn't guess.
The other ponies he was traveling with were nice enough, but the yellow colt still couldn't seem to open up with them. He had very nearly died a few minutes ago and it left him feeling cold, empty, and afraid. As much as he needed some comfort, Butterscotch was barley putting one hoof in front of the other. He didn't have any courage left over for an attempt at socializing.
When Berry Bubble tried making small talk with him though, Butterscotch felt like he was railing against a glass prison. He didn't want Berry to stop, but he couldn't keep the conversion going no matter how bad he wanted to. Reaching out just wasn't something he knew how to do.
Still, Berry kept trying to get the yellow pegasus to open up. “So what are you going to name him?” he asked.
Butterscotch perked up. “Um, what?”
Berry nodded toward the pint sized predator glaring over the top edges of the pegasus's wings, daring the world to assault his feathery fortress of solitude.
“Your new friend, what are you going to name him?”
Butterscotch looked over at his smiling companion. “Well, I haven't really thought about it yet. I've never had a manticore as a pet before, so I don't even know what kinds of names would fit.”
“Well what kind of pets have you had before?”
Just like that Butterscotch found himself on firm footing. He could go on for hours about all the animals he knew, and now it seemed he finally had a pony who would listen.
“All sorts really. Right now I'm taking care of 21 bunnies, 12 chickens, 5 cats, 3 dogs, a small flock of songbirds, a family of river otters, a barn owl, a peregrine falcon, 2 frogs, 4 ducks, 7 bumble bees, and one giant Galapagos saddle-back tortoise.”
“Wow, that a lot of critters. I just have one pet alligator named Gummy. I named him Gummy because he's got no teeth.” He said with a slowly growing smile.
“I've never taken care of an alligator before. What kinds of things does he like?”
“Oh, well he really likes taking bubble baths with me, and playing with balloons, and he's a really good dancer. Like this one time I tried to teach him to play pin-the-tail-on-the-pony...”
With that the pink colt was off. As his story unwound, his shy new friend seemed to grow more and more at ease. Soon, they were both happily chatting back and forth. Suddenly the forest around Berry Bubble and Butterscotch didn't seem so menacing; their plight not quite so dire.
Berry had found his diversion and more than that, he had found a willing heart to share his worries with. Butterscotch had found a companion who could leap the gap of his shyness and in whose presence he finally felt comfortable.
A tender warmth suffused them and their conversation slowed to an already familiar and not at all uncomfortable silence. Indeed, both stallions felt content for the moment to simply bask in each others' company. Closing their eyes with a contented smile, they did just that and for a while the world was perfect.
When they opened their eyes though, each was entirely alone. The trees were trackless and unfamiliar; the path was gone from beneath their hooves, and not a single sign of another pony could be found for as far as the eye could see.
Every third step hurt, and for a creature with four hooves like Twilight Sparkle, that meant walking was extremely uncomfortable. Her stunt in the canyon a few minutes ago was not helping things either. Her crash and tumble into Rainbow Blitz would have been stunningly painful had she not been hopped up on adrenalin at the time.
Now though, her wounds were reminding her with a vengeance that she ought to be taking it easy. It was nearly all she could do to keep up her march and hold back tears of hurt. In fact, were it not for the pleasant distraction from the pain that Rainbow Blitz and the rest of her friends provided, she might have already given in.
“Oh man, you should have seen it! Elusive let off this crazy magic spell that, I admit, had me a little disoriented there for a second, but then Berry and Applejack kicked these trees down right in front of the path and we were like 'It'll never get us now' but the monster was all like 'Naw son, I can breath fire!' and then we were like 'Oh snap!' but I was all 'Chill guys, I got this!”
Despite the dangerous forest, the angry goddess out to kill them, her fractured ribs and her gimp leg, Twilight still couldn't keep a smile off her face. Rainbow Dash always was a sucker for action, and it seemed that Blitz was no different. Just give the prismatic pegasus a shot of adrenalin and she (or he, in this case) could go on for hours. The familiarity of it all filled Twilight with a warmth that cut through both gloom and pain.
“And I was just about to do it too. I mean launch myself into a climatic battle with a huge monster that would have been waaaayyy awesome in like a movie or something but probably would've sucked in real life and then BAM! You just appeared out of nowhere and tackled me right out of the air and the monster went sailing over our heads and SMASH! Right on the burning trees.”
Twilight chuckled and rolled her eyes. “I know Rainbow, I was there.”
“Where did you even get that big blue wad anyway? I looked like you pulled it right out of the sky.”
Now it was Twilight's turn to have a little fun. With a sly look she lit her horn and used a little illusion magic to make her eyes faintly glow a mysterious purple. “Come on now Blitz, you know a magician never reveals her secrets!”
“WHAT!! What do you mean you can't tell me your secrets?!? You're not a magician!”
“Of course I'm a magician! I graduated valedictorian from Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, so I think that if anypony could call themselves a magician it would be me.” She said with a playfull smile
“Pfsish! That doesn't make you a magician, that just makes you an egghead. Besides I've never even heard of this 'Celestia's School for Unicorns' so it can't be nearly as awesome as the Cloudsdale Weather Academy. Which I passed with Flying colors, I might add!” Said the chromatic colt while puffing out his chest, and giving his mane a meaningful toss.
The violet mage didn't even notice her slip up as she went on. “Oh, you mean that jock school that lets anypony in just so long as they can play hoofball?” She playfully jeered while giving the rainbow colt a saucy bump with her flank.
“I'll have you know I was an excellent hoofball player. I still am as a matter of fact. It comes with being the fastest colt in Equestria!”
“The fastest colt in Equestria huh?” Twilight repeated with a sly smile. “I can't imagine you got many dates with that kind of reputation.” She snickered.
Blitz got an arch look in his eye before he stretched out a wing and used it to pull the purple mare in close to him. She squeaked in surprise at the sudden intimate contact, but for reasons she could not explain she welcomed it all the same.
In a sensually deep voice the stallion cooed to her. “I may be fast on the field, but it will never be said that Rainbow Blitz doesn't know how to please a mare.” He gently nipped her ear, sending a shiver of delight down her spine. “Maybe if you're lucky I'll give you a little demonstration.”
A strange heat was building in Twilight's chest (and in other places) that the warm daylight air was doing nothing to abate. Feelings that were more than her friendship with the rainbow pegasus were welling up in her from absolutely nowhere, but that didn't seem to matter.
Coyly she pushed herself out from under Blitz's wing and pranced ahead of him, swishing her tail provocatively. Her wounded leg completely forgotten, she turned and gazed at the chromatic colt with smoldering lust.
“I don't know Blitz. I'm not any floozie cheerleader, I'm a real catch; and if you want some of this.” She wiggled her rump in the air. “You're going to have to catch me!” Giggling like a schoofilly she tore off into the woods without a look back and was followed moments later by Rainbow Blitz.
What she was doing felt so free, so spontaneous, so wrong and right at the same time. She didn't care where she ran so long as that sexy stallion caught up to her soon. She had plans for him. Oh did she have-
Her hoof caught on a root and she went sprawling into the ground. Tumbling and rolling before coming to a halt.
The pain was back.
Oh how the pain was back. Her leg throbbed in agony with every heartbeat and her chest heaved for air. With every breath she was gutted by the excruciation of her cracked ribs. The bruises all along her body screamed at the abuse suffered from her fall and for a time all thoughts were bleached from her mind.
Slowly she began to come back to herself. She didn't dare to open her eyes just yet but she did become aware that she had been whimpering in pain. She got her voice under control first.
“Rainbow, I'm hurt.” She begged. “Rainbow?” Twilight managed to open her eyes and look around. Rainbow Blitz was nowhere to be seen.
The wounded unicorn screwed her eyes back shut for the moment and tentatively tried to stand. I hurt badly but she managed it. After a moment to catch her breath she looked around again.
She was alone, far from the path, and in a part of the Everfree forest she did not recognize. In an instant the events that had brought her here came rushing back, and a whole new pain stabbed into her chest. Shame, confusion, and anger boiled up in her, and tears of embarrassment began to build in her eyes.
Manny Roar
break. A brake is what you use to stop a car(or other vehicle) from moving. You really don't want to take those from anywhere.
from (I tend to mistype from/form all the time ) Also, there's no need for three exclamation points, one will do. Same with the question marks as well as the '?!' Multiples are not needed, one will do just fine, it makes it look like you're trying to hard when you put !!! or ?!?!?!?
The word you want here is 'and' rather than but.
stay
These are all simple fixes that having either a prereader/proofreader can fix or you reading it over yourself (best bet if you're doing it is to put the chapter aside from a couple hours, do some other stuff and come back and look at it with fresh eyes, trying to proofread something you've just written tends not to work so well and you miss stuff).
But this is looking interesting nonetheless and I can't wait to see what happens.
Ah. Poppies will make her sleep.
This is some good spellwork and I wonder what's going to shake them all out of it. Twilight and Elusive are both in pain so I imagine they're going to be shaking this off quicker...
I've always liked "Invictus Sol" better.
YES! I love the whole "Evil Celestia/Corrupted/Cursed Arc" (seeing as I wrote one myself >.>) so awesome job! I hope you have better grammar and writing then me
“Dam that little purple witch! Dam her
Is this supposed to be some kind of pony pun, or just a misspelling?
Can't wait for dusk shine to get in on the action.
I kinda want to see more TwiBlitz. That or some hilarious bizzaro-"Secret Love Life of Twilight Sparkle" scenario.
"What do you mean all the other Elements went off to the alternate universe to hit on my parallel self?"
Manticore: Maxi
That opening would make my father proud. The cremation of Brony Mcgee.
Other than that, things are interesting in the story and stuff is going down. I like the interaction of a Twilight who has had time to grow with her friends who haven't.
It's interesting that while Nightmare Moon's trials attacked them from without, Solar Flare's attacked them from within.
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Thank you so much for catching those. As you guessed the only pre-reader I have at the moment is myself, and after a cirtain piont all the wrods starttoruntogether.
I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out though!
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It's not really a pony pun, though if can't seem to see the misspelling in it that you are indicating. I was going for the witch like the wicked witch of the west.
If that's not what you were pointing out please feel free to clarify it for me. I've been staring at your post and scratching my head for a good 15mins wondering what's wrong and I still can seem to find it.
Thanks for the input just the same though!
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Yeah, I got real inspiration for this kind of spell from all those Legend of Zelda games where you have to trek through an unending forest full of level-zones that are all identical and the only way to get out is to walk in the right combination of directions and distances.
Those old gameboy games... Ah good times!
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That's pretty good but I couldn't resist the pun "Solar Flare the solar mare".
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I'll be the first to admit my grammar skills are inversely proportionate to how long I've stayed up writing and how much I've ad to drink while doing it.
So long story short they're usually pretty shitty!
That's what editing is for! SALUDE!
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http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/soon-meme.jpg
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Ok confession time. I may or may not have rigged this chapter to show off my favorite ships within the mane six.
I regret nothing!
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I like it!
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OMG you got the reference! That's totally one of my favorite poems of all time! I first heard it when I was young around the campfire in boy scouts and I've loved it ever since. I'm so glad you caught it!
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To be honest I never really looked at it that way but I really like that interpretation. In the next few chapters it should become apparent how the meaning of the trials has changed in my version. Thanks for the incite!
Also(and I totally wanted to mention this earlier) while at first I thought it was odd to have a disclaimer before each chapter, being that it's obvious you don't own MLP:FiM, what you do with each of them is amusing. Loving the Cremation of Sam McGee style one.
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The only misspelling I see is 'Dam'. Since I doubt she's talking about something that beavers build it should be spelled 'damn'.
2646048 Another definition of "dam" is "female parent of an animal", which would be weird, but not completely outside the realm of possibility, to do as a "pony pun" type of swear word.
2645790 BBkat is correct; I'm thinking of "dam" which is presumably a misspelling of "damn".
2645811 Lol... First, that's a rhyme and not a pun.
Second....
That rhyme totally makes the name worth it
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Oh. Well that makes lots more sense. I totally spaced on that one I guess.
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Thank you! Though I seem to have gotten myself into a bit of a bind with the disclaimer as I now need to find a steady stream of classic poetry to keep it up. Not that I'm complaining, it's not a bad problem to have really!
1:34AM ...time well spent and stop with the shipping hints (dont stop your feeding my shipping habit...just one more ship man...i cant quit any time )
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.. -. -.. . . -.. / .. / .- -- / ... .. .-.
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It's my guilty pleasure. Also probably my favorite type of fic to read, just remember, the first one's always free.
2652695 i donno i used THIS
This...This...Well, here: imageshack.us/a/img33/5764/likethischapter.jpg This is great! I love the way the story is the same but different (very creative) I think I have an idea on what exactly is going on, and HOW exactly the trails differ, but I won't be all spoliery, and I'm probably wrong anyway So way awesome, keep it up!
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Thanks for spotting that! I have to admit that if I were a superhero, homophones would be my kryptonite. I'm glad you like the story so far though!
Interesting, I wonder if they're gonna mail canon-Celestia and if she'll go nigh berserk with worry over Twilight and storm into the alt-dimension that Twilight is in. It'd be an interesting confrontation.
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To be perfectly honest, I haven't thought that far ahead. Its a really cool idea though, and it would make for an interesting standoff.
2645869 Well, it was a neat interpretation, I suppose, but in retrospect I was only thinking about the current trial, as it would take some awfully fast talking to argue that the cliff collapse and flaming-manticore attack were "attacks from within".
The thing I think most interesting about the difference between how Nightmare Moon and Solar Flare operate is that except for the collapsing cliff, Nightmare seemed more determined to drive them off or scare them away rather than hurt them; Flare obviously means to outright kill them.
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...Ok...
I'm not really sure if you're trying to bash me or not.
and
there was one other but I can't remember what it was.
As for the story, I don't like it,
I love it!
Please continue this wonderful story.
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Thanks for pointing those out, It really helps me improve my story. Also I'm glad you like it! I should have another update out as soon as I get back from my vacation.
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Hmmm... It seems you have found a continuity flaw that I was unaware of until now. I'll have to do some rewriting to fix that and that may take some time. However, I have been trying to keep things like that in check so hopefully that is the only hole you find. I hope this one flaw doesn't throw you off the story though.
You know, I really hope Dusk gets his act together and comes to fix things sooner rather than later, or his eventual meeting with Twi is going to be still more awkward than needed. "Wait, Luna actually prepared you for this? And I done stole the friends you were supposed to make? Well don't I just feel silly."
3600222
Oh, come on. You just need to have faith in Twi's stony stoicism in the face of incomprehensible peril....
... ...
Or in freak outs, freak outs might be a safer bet!
But in all honesty I do have a plan for their eventual meeting and I guarantee it wont be what you expect. I do hope you like it once I get it out!
*It, and again in the next sentence too.
So she did get caught in the Poison Joke. Awesome.
*from
I had to read this three times to make it make sense.
You'd like to think that, wouldn't you? If only I could remember the title, there's a book by Roger Zelazny that covers exactly that kind of plot.
*kinda (or you could flaunt precedence and have Applejack speak in correct grammar), and missing punctuation
*from
*his
*Applejack
*waste. Twice.
*We
Unless his eyes are suddenly filled with divinely mandated boats, I think you meant *arch
Missing punctuation.
*from. Again.
I'm still reading this, but i have to stop and say one thing, You write the best disclaimers i have ever seen. I want to read every chapter, simply to see how many different ways you say it.