Two years after the events in Dreamfall, time to see how life was going for the ponies and creatures of Blue Marble Equestria.
Two years after the events in Dreamfall, time to see how life was going for the ponies and creatures of Blue Marble Equestria, including the CMC and the Mane Six.
Note: This is not a true sequel to Iris Rising, just an extension from Dreamfall's storyline
Crowds of hooveball fans were still flocking into the half-full stadium, as there is still an hour before the game between the host and the team from Manehattan kicks off. Lightning Dust is not particularly interested in the sport. The only reason she was here is merely to accompany Nova supporting the visitors.
While waiting for Nova to return with corn dogs, Lighting Dust pondered deeply about something until she received an unexpected visitor. Spitfire looked surprised to see her there, or so thought Lightning Dust. Spitfire was wearing a Manehattan team jersey and cap and carrying corn dogs. That was good enough reason for Lightning Dust to think Nova is trying to play a prank on her although truthfully she did not know why.
“Ha, ha! Very funny!” she said dryly, eliciting a frown from Spitfire. “You almost fooled me for a second there.”
“‘Scuse me?”
“Listen,” Lightning Dust said. “This might be not a good time to say it. I actually wanted to wait until later after the game, but what the hay. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what you said to me before.”
Spitfire took her seat right next to Lightning Dust. “I’m totally lost. What’re we talking about here now?”
Lightning Dust looked at Spitfire fondly saying, “When you confessed your feelings to me, I honestly didn’t know how to react. I mean, I wasn’t even sure of how I feel about you. But after contemplating on how much time we’ve spent together, how close we’ve been since we first met, I now realize maybe…maybe you do hold a special place in my heart. You know what that means, right?”
She then held the dumbfounded Spitfire’s hooves gently while keeping a mild eye contact. “It means I have an answer now. It’s a yes. I do want to be your marefriend!”
Lightning Dust saw the blush on Spitfire's cheeks. “I know, I know you’re happy, but we shouldn’t rush things. The romance, I mean. Let’s take our relationship real slow and steady, okay? But if you like, you can consider we’re going on a casual date right now.”
“Hey, I know I’m hot, but I ain’t that hot,” Spitfire insisted.
“Nova,” Lightning Dust was irritated that the changeling seemed to be playing around, “I’m being serious here!”
“Lightning Dust?”
The voice sounded it is coming from behind her, so Lightning Dust looked back. Sure enough, it was Nova in the same attire as Spitfire and is bringing corn dogs with him. She looked again at the Pegasus before her. No mistake there. Absolutely shocked, Lightning Dust let go of Spitfire’s hooves.
“Nova! You mean you actually did saw her!?” Lightning Dust’s feelings was a cross between anger and embarrassment.
“I told you so, didn’t I?” Nova smirked.
Whenever she is upset, Lightning Dust should have done something stupid like launching her way out of there through roof’s opening. But of course, that goes against stadium rules.
Instead she just sagged in her seat, holding her head down in total disbelief. “Oh, Faust! I bucked up so bad! Why, Faust!? Why!? Why me!?”
Nova patted gently on Lightning Dust’s shoulder.
“There, there, Lightning Dust,” he tried to comfort her. “It’s not so bad. Look at the bright side. You two are finally talking to each other.
Just then changeling took notice of Spitfire’s Team Manehattan attire. “Oh, you’re a fan?”
“Contrary to popular belief,” Spitfire revealed, “I was born and raised there,”
“Me too!” Nova was definitely delighted to hear that.
Spitfire took her time to scrutinize Nova. She clearly has no idea what kind of creature he is. To add to her confusion, she is not even sure how the former Wonderbolt trainee managed to mistake her for the creature.
“So, why’d she think I was you?” Spitfire decided to ask.
“I’m a changeling,” Nova answered.
The term however did not ring a bell for her. “What’s that?”
Nova decided not to explain but instead show her. He shape-shifted into a complete-likeness of Spitfire.
Spitfire gasped at ‘herself’. But not from shock or surprise or fear. Instead it was flattery.
“I take it back,” she said. “I am way too hot.”
***
Fast forward to Nova and Lighting Dust’s date in Manehattan several months later…
The latter has never set hoof on Manehattan before. The venue where they are now, Longacre Square, is a major commercial district. Its briskness truly rivals the major downtown areas back in Canterlot, just like Diamond Tiara said of her past visits to the island city.
The now official couple moved through the crowded sidewalk together towards their destination not far ahead- the Cantermount Theaters.
Nova paid the tickets for two. He was not sure what the movie is about. From the poster he saw outside the hall, it appeared to be an action comedy film. But Lightning Dust insisted that they should watch this movie, so he agreed to keep her happy.
3…2…1…
The title sequence started rolling. The production company’s name, Laser Unicorns Inc. and its logo appeared on screen, followed soon by the title of the movie, KUNG FURRY.
The initial scenes consisted of the titular character’s introduction and some goofy action sequences. From that point onwards, the story started getting serious. Nova grimaced at the excessive amount of violence on screen, whereas Lightning Dust and the other audiences sat quietly in their seats while enjoying the movie.
Hayburgers is indisputably Lightning Dust’s favorite food. And there are no shortages of fast food chains serving their own variations of the burger in Longacre Square. But Lightning Dust chose to dine at a family-operated burger joint because this eatery offers an eating challenge whereby patrons can earn a free meal if they manage to finish the entire burger meal in thirty minutes.
Nova, whose appetite was ruined thanks to Kung Furry, had no idea what his marefriend is in for until the waiter came to serve the meal on their table. The burger includes six-pound wheat patties, with ten giant potato sticks and five slices of cheese. It has two buns, a few lettuce leaves, a couple slices of tomato and onion and mayonnaise. And there are two side dishes.
There was no way can Lightning Dust can finish all that, Nova thought.
But he was proven wrong. Whilst not the first pony to beat the challenge, Lightning Dust is the only mare to accomplish it so far. Also, she holds the record for gulping the meal down in the fastest time of twelve minutes. To the changeling, that was something new since he has never seen even once Lighting Dust display such a ferocious appetite.
After lunch, Nova and Lightning Dust did some sightseeing around Longacre Square. While it was nice to see new places and looking at fancy stuffs that she will never buy, truthfully Lightning Dust admitted it was not exactly fun for her. So Nova thought on it for a while. Suddenly he knew just the thing that will cheer up his marefriend. He took her to the amusement park located at the coast.
Like a little filly visiting the fair for the first time, Lightning Dust gasped in amazement at all the big rides around the park. It did not take more than a second for her to decide which ride she wanted to try out first. She chose the roller coaster.
At a top speed of fifty-five mph, the cars pulsed through the six-story vertical loop then into a massive double-inversion corkscrew. Lightning Dust threw her forelegs out wide, screaming with so much excitement as she smoothly gets flipped around so many times. Nova was also doing the same but terrified rather than enjoying the whole ride.
The cars swooped down into the shallow pool, causing a splashdown and it was not long before they pulled into the platform. Nova looked green and unsteady on his hooves. Lightning Dust on the other hand was calm when she stepped off the ride.
Apparently, the roller coaster is not enough for Lightning Dust. She looked around to see which ride she should try next. There was a ride that looks like a giant pendulum with a Dizzitron-like contraption attached at the end of its rod and then there is this other ride where visitors get ‘blasted’ up to the top of a two hundred feet tall tower in mere seconds. When she asked Nova for his opinion, the pegasus saw him on the nearby bench acting sickly. Instead of feeling sorry for her coltfriend, she shook her head in disdain.
After trying out all the thrill rides in the park all day, the adrenaline rush had completely worn Lightning Dust out. Nova requested that they try out the Ferris wheel before leaving the place. Lightning Dust agreed to Nova’s request. Even a thrill seeker like her should slow down once in a while.
The aptly-named Giant Wheel is the tallest wheel ever built in Equestria with a height of close to six hundred feet. When the gondola reached nearly the top of the ride, Nova pointed out to the window to show something to Lightning Dust. The pegasus marveled at the vibrantly-lit scenery stretching out for miles. Over the coast, the waters looked very enchanting by the reflections of the moon’s luminous glow and lights coming from the city and ocean liners.
Lightning Dust admitted that she had flown at altitude much higher than this before, but never at night and certainly never stop or at least slow down to admire the scenery below. She looked appreciatively at Nova who was now satisfied that he is able the show scenery he saw multiple times when he was little. In return, he received a long, tender kiss on the lips.
It was their first kiss, on their first date.
***
Lightning Dust was about to meet Nova’s parents for the first time. She felt rather nervous of what the changeling couple would think of her. But right now the pegasus is more crossed at her coltfriend for forcing her to wear a gown. Being a pony who never wore a dress all her life, she was not feeling comfortable in it. Nova himself is wearing a tuxedo with a bow tie.
Lightning Dust contemplated the reason they have to be in formal attire until the couple arrived at the front door of a lavish house. Through the windows, she could make out there is a gathering going on inside.
Lightning Dust gave Nova a puzzled look. “I thought we’re going to meet with your parents.”
“We are,” Nova said as he rang the doorbell. “I wasn’t sure how you’d react so I never told you about this part of my family.”
Is he fooling around!? Lightning Dust fumed. “Nova! If this is one of your bucking jokes-”
The door swung open then came out a unicorn couple. Lightning Dust suddenly found herself along with Nova under the tight wrap by the couple.
“I’m so glad you could make it, son!” Jet Set cried joyfully.
“Keep it together, dad,” Nova said, who looked a little uncomfortable in his parents’ sudden tight embrace. I’m not a foal anymore.”
The revelation shocked Lightning Dust. The heads of the Elite household are unicorns, not changelings as she had expected, and also they are rich, possibly millionaires.
Upper Crust kissed Nova on the forehead then snuggled his face.
“It seems like only yesterday we found you as hatchling,” she said nostalgically, “and look at you now, dating a mare, and a Pegasus at that! Tell us, what’s her name?”
Nervous, Lightning Dust tried to sound polite. “H-hi, my name’s Lighting Dust. Nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Elite.”
The Elites ushered their son and Lightning Dust to the door.
“Well then, Lightning Dust,” Jet Set said as he gestured at the hallway. “As the head of the family, we welcome you to our house.”
“Please make yourself at home!” Upper Crust said eagerly to Lightning Dust. “You are more than welcome!”
“There is so much for us to talk about,” Jet Set was just as eager as his wife. “We must know more about you before we can proceed to discuss your marriage with Nova.”
Wait, what!? Marriage!? “It’s a little too early, isn’t it!?” Lightning Dust said, shocked.
“Nonsense, dear,” Upper Crust dismissed Lightning Dust’s concern. “Please meet the rest of the family.”
When they reached the entrance to the living room, waiting inside was a dozen or more unicorns of varying ages, all eager to meet their long away from home adopted brother and their potential sister-in-law.
“What the b-!?” Lightning Dust definitely did not expect Nova to have so many siblings.
Featherweight happily galloped down the sidewalk. “Dad! Dad! Look!”
Lionel stopped from decorating the lawn with Nightmare Night-themed ornaments and looked up at his son. “What have you got there, son?”
The former blank flank showed the cutie mark on his flank. “See? I finally got a cutie mark!”
“Why, that’s great-” The father’s joy faded as soon as he saw Featherweight's cutie mark- a needle and a spool of thread. “Oh…”
Lionel found this hard to swallow. A few times he had imagined what kind of talent his son would develop but all of it were colt-oriented. Sewing is the last thing to come his mind. It must have been from all the time the foal spent with Diamond Tiara.
“Hah! What kinda talent is that!?”
Both father and son recognize that voice. On the sidewalk stood three fillies that make up the Cutie Mark Crusaders (CMC). In the past, the mischief resulting from the trio’s quest to find their cutie marks is a cause of great annoyance to many, including the neighborhood patrollers, Flim and Flam.
“Yeah, pipsqueak!?” Featherweight angrily responded to Scoot’s mocking. “At least I’m no longer a blank flank! Unlike you talentless three!”
“Still workin’ on it,” Apple Bloom mocked back at the colt. “And when we all do get our cutie marks, it’ll be way better than yours!”
“Yeah!” Scoot said. “Besides yours is so silly it’s only worthy for dumdum ponies.”
“All right, all right! That’s enough!” Lionel scolded the CMC. “Fillies of your age shouldn’t be trash talking!”
“Dumdum-” Before Scoot could finish, she abruptly received a smack at back of her head from an irritated Sweetie Belle.
Sweetie Belle stepped forth past her peers.
“We apologize,” she said to Lionel. “And we’re just about to leave.”
The remaining CMC wanted to protest but Sweetie Belle jostled them away from the house.
Satisfied, Tirek placed the diamond ring on the counter display case.
“I agree with your analysis,” he grinned widely. “This is definitely the right ring for her! Now about the price, can you…?”
Silver Spoon mused briefly before saying, “For you, I could…give you just above the wholesale price.”
“I’ll take it!” the centaur proclaimed happily.
As Silver Spoon processed the transaction, Featherweight came into the boutique.
“Oh, hi-” That was when Silver Spoon noticed Featherweight’s sad face. “What’s wrong, Featherweight?”
“It’s this,” Featherweight said, as he showed his cutie mark to her. “Is it wrong for a colt to know how to sew?”
Diamond Tiara appeared, carrying a box of Nightmare Night decorations which she planned to decorate the boutique’s exterior with later on.
“Did somepony teased you about it?” she asked the colt.
“Uh-huh,” Featherweight nodded.
“Ah, you reminded me of my childhood, Light Feather,” Tirek said, as he thought he could give the colt a word of wisdom or two. “When I was of your age, my peers called me a centaur-girl because of my interest in cooking. If you remember Nova the changeling, he himself was teased at school due to his shape-shifting ability. Some youngsters are so ignorant they tend to tease others without considering their feelings.”
“So what did you do, Mr. Tirek?” Featherweight asked.
Tirek said to the colt, “Ignore them. That’s my advice to you. For one day, when you grow older and wise enough to learn to convert that talent into skill, for sure at least some will appreciate you for it.”
“I’ll try.” Featherweight's mood was still down so he forced himself to smile. “After all, what right do they have in making fun of my talent when they themselves don’t have any? They don’t call themselves Cutie Mark Crusaders for nothing.”
Silver Spoon grimaced at the mention of the CMC. “The blank flanks? Really?”
“I don’t recommend you making enemies with anypony anyway,” Diamond Tiara advised Featherweight. “Either you ignore them or…”
“Or what?” Silver Spoon interjected. “Making friends with those three? Get real, Tiara. For all we know they might rub off their bad influences on Featherweight and it’s going to be the repeat of what happened three years ago.”
Silver Spoon clearly remembered the incident three years ago when Apple Bloom’s cousin from Manehattan, Bab Seeds joined the CMC. Together they hijacked a carriage in order to replicate a scene an MPD Blue episode and while being pursued by the Flim Flam brothers throughout Canterlot, they almost ran her over.
“It’s worth a shot,” Diamond Tiara said. “One of them is Rarity’s little sister, if I remember correctly.”
She had recalled Rarity mentioned of having a sister named Sweetie Belle back when they were competing for a place in Manehattan Fashion Week several years back.
“Yeah,” Featherweight confirmed.
Diamond Tiara mused at length.
Silver Spoon looked upon her foster sister quizzically. “What’re you thinking, Tiara?”
Rarity was sleeping soundly on the table until she awoke startled after Sweetie Belle gave a light pat on the back.
“Sweetie Belle?” she moaned, rubbing her eyes. “What time is it?”
She looked at the clock then at the unfinished costume on the sewing machine. “Oh, I’m so, so sorry, dear. Please give me a little more time. I promise I’ll finish it before tomorrow.”
Sweetie Belle saw the hard hat and tool box on the floor. Today Rarity was given a rare day off. No doubt last night in her haste she had neglected to put her stuffs in its proper place and went straight to work all night trying to finish Sweetie Belle’s Nightmare Night costume.
Ever since Rarity got involved in the Battle of the Royal Sisters, everything went downhill afterward for the family. Her behavior changed drastically, to the point of neglecting the Carrousel Boutique and Sweetie Belle. Currently, she worked as part of the Boy Builders’ crew to make ends meet for the sisters.
“You know what, sis?” Sweetie Belle said with obvious sympathy. “I’m really not up it anymore. It’s your day off. You should rest, not put up with my act.”
“Sweetie, I can manage it,” Rarity insisted.
It was then that they heard a knock on the door.
“Who could that be?” Rarity wondered before she went to open the door.
To Sweetie Belle’s surprise, it was Featherweight coming to visit her.
Apple Bloom and Scoot both were crossed at Sweetie Belle for violating the sacred rule of only club members are allowed into the treehouse. They were not interested at all to know what is inside the box Featherweight brought with him.
Sweetie Belle pleaded her friends to let Featherweight stay. “Please! Give him a chance. We’ve been working hard on this all day.”
At last, Nightmare Night came...
On the street, Apple Bloom, Scoot and Sweetie Belle appeared as Supermare, Wonder Pony and Mare-do-Well respectively.
“Ah take it all back,” Apple Bloom said. “Dis here are mighty fine costumes y’all made for us, Sweetie Belle.”
“Featherweight should’ve been here by now,” Sweetie Belle mentioned, then looked around for any sign of the colt.
“Maybe he decided to ditch us in the last minute,” Scoot said in derision. “After all, he has his own friends,”
Sweetie Belle could not be certain whether Scoot was right or Featherweight was simply late. The colt did promise to her that he will show up with his costume. But not wanting to be left behind, she trotted up to Apple Bloom and Scoot.
They began their trick-or-treating by visiting the nearest house to them, which turned out to be Gilda’s treehouse.
At the door, stood Gilda dressed up as an ancient Griffonstone warrior.
“We’re the Justice Crusaders, here to say,” the CMC made a hero group pose, “trick or treat!”
Gilda thought the costumes were interesting. Unlike the other foals who visited earlier, these three fillies were dressed as superheroes, not the usual supernatural entities and whatnots. Though she admitted she is not familiar with the characters from any comics she read before. Even so she decided to give each of them extra candies anyway.
Silver Spoon regarded the CMC with slight disdain.
“Give me one good reason why I should give you more,” she demanded.
Sweetie Belle spoke in a raspy voice, “Because I’m Mare-do-Well!”
Silver Spoon shrugged and gave what the CMCs wanted. The sooner they leave the boutique, the better. For her.
Despite her convincing performance, ‘Nightmare Moon’ failed to scare away the CMC. They simply brought up their bags to her and demanded candies. The Princess of the Night sagged her head in gloom. It looks like her antics are beginning to wear off.
It was now near midnight. The amount of candies the CMC accumulated for the night was so abundant they had to use a cart wagon to carry it around.
“Ah can’t believe we all got so much candies tonight!” Apple Bloom gleefully said.
“I know!” Sweetie Belle proclaimed. “These superhero costumes are the bomb!”
Suddenly something or someone whizzed past them. The next moment their bags of candies were all gone. The culprit is revealed as a colt on tricycle costuming as one of Mare-do-Well’s arch nemesis, Deathstroke.
“Secure the loot!” the colt instructed his cart wagon-riding gang, Bane and Scarecrow before passing the bags to them.
Sweetie Belle had no problem recognizing the masked colt’s voice. “What do you think you're doing, Featherweight!?”
“Being the bad guys,” Featherweight said casually. “What are superheroes without their nemesis causing trouble?”
“Whatever! Give us our candy back!” Scoot demanded.
“You’ll have to catch us first!” With that, Featherweight and his gang sped away.
The CMC looked amongst themselves and nodded.
Making a hero group pose, they proclaimed, “Justice Crusaders, awayyyyy!”
A chase through the trick-or-treaters-filled street ensued. The colts were actually just playing and not making any real effort to get away. They pedaled/kicked only hard enough so that the CMC can remain in pursuing them.
Later, the CMCs and Featherweight’s gang helped themselves on their shared loot of candies. Bane and Scarecrow had taken their masks off and are actually Snips and Snails respectively.
In the meantime, Rarity was having the restful sleep she deserved.
And what of Princess Luna? The next day, she just sagged in dejection, facing a corner in the throne chamber, drawing worry from Blueblood, Trixie and Princess Sunset Shimmer all morning.
Diamond Tiara looked on with concern from the desk at Fluttershy carefully securing the stray cat into the cage.
“Don’t worry,” Fluttershy assured her. “Thank Faust that you two got here in time. Another minute late and she would’ve choked to death.”
“Oh, by the way, Diamond Tiara,” the pegasus said as she turned towards the desk. “Did you say you found her nearby your place?”
“Yes. Why?”
Fluttershy sat in her chair and took an uncut ruby stone out from the pocket of her coat. She placed the red gemstone on the desk for the Earth ponies to see.
“This is what I found deeply embedded in her throat,” Fluttershy revealed to them. “Don’t supposed this belonged to you?”
Silver Spoon was fascinated by the ruby’s perfect color and purity.
She snapped out of it then replied, “Nope. We don’t sell uncut gems.”
“So what happens to her now?” Diamond Tiara asked Fluttershy.
Notably tired after its surgery, the stray cat dozed in its cage. It is extremely skinny and looked weak and unhealthy. The cat was probably so desperate for food it would have tried to eat anything it encountered. That could explain why there is a ruby stuck in its throat. But where did the gem come from, no one really knows.
“We’ll do our best to nurse her back to good health. After that, we usually set them free but given her condition, I think she’ll get to stay here until...” Fluttershy paused for a brief moment then looked hopefully at Diamond Tiara. “Say, Diamond Tiara? Have you ever considered adopting an animal companion?”
Featherweight let the purring cat happily rubbed itself against his and Diamond Tiara’s legs alternately. Within only a few weeks, it has made a remarkable recovery thanks to Fluttershy’s effort and is now part of the household at the boutique.
“So what do you want to call her?” Featherweight asked.
Diamond Tiara lifted the cat up to her face, thinking. She noticed how vivid the cat’s pinkish eyes are. From her knowledge courtesy of Silver Spoon, ruby stone’s color comes in variable shades of red or pink. She glanced at Silver Spoon who is studying the ruby stone (the one that the cat tried to eat) at the work desk. With a smile, she declared the cat’s name will be Ruby.
Before Ruby is allowed to roam the boutique, Diamond Tiara first wanted to give the cat a bath. After checking tubbed water’s temperature and diluting it with cat shampoo, Diamond Tiara placed Ruby into the water, very slowly so as not to shock it. Unfortunately, the cat freaked out immediately after the tip of its hind paws touched the water surface. It frantically jumped out of the tub to all over the bathroom, knocking everything over.
After Ruby was given its bath...finally, Diamond Tiara attempted to blow-dry its wets fur. But the loud sound emitted by the hairdryer scared the cat so much it skittered off to hide under the bed. It would not come out until Diamond Tiara switched off the dryer.
It turned out Ruby has quite a scary appetite. In almost no time the bowl of cat food was licked clean. However, one meal did not seem enough. It yowled to demand more food from Diamond Tiara.
Post-meal, Ruby did its business in the litter box. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were both surprised at the amount of feces filling up the box. Unable to stand the stench any longer, the latter quickly went to fetch a face mask and a scoop.
Spanning several days, Ruby did typical cat stuffs- chasing the ball of yarn around until it gets itself entangled in the yarns, sleeping on the roof on its back during the day, kneading on anything soft, spitting out hairballs, climbing up the trees and later did not know how to come back down and the list goes on.
Then one day, Featherweight and Silver Spoon found Ruby sound asleep inside in an empty jar. In order to fit itself inside the jar, it flexibly twisted its head, body and limbs into an awkward position. Featherweight could not stand it any longer at such an adorable sight. He took out a camera to take Ruby’s picture which he planned to show to the CMC later.
“Spoony,” Diamond Tiara urgently called, coming down the stairs, “have you seen my sketches?”
Silver Spoon looked away from the Gothic-themed formal gown she had put on a pony mannequin “Nope.”
When she saw how stressful Diamond Tiara looked, Silver Spoon decided help her look for the sketchbook. They found it in the end. But unfortunately the pages were in the middle of getting ripped apart by Ruby. Diamond Tiara tried to hold herself from getting angry.
“Shush, Diamond Tiara”, she said to herself. “Calm yourself. It’s typical cat behavior after all.
The next day, Ruby did it again, but much worse. Its new handiwork was looked upon by Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon with great dismay. The two stood there for a minute or two, gaping wide, one eye twitching hard. The cat calmly licked itself next to the expensive Gothic gown whose bottom half of the skirt was riddled with tears and holes.
***
“It’s beautiful, Spoony,” Diamond Tiara commented on Silver Spoon’s craftsmanship.
The ruby stone had been cut into an oval-shape and mounted on a sunflower-shaped bezel. The ruby stone was also given some polish. As a result, it now sports a much richer color than before, which is best described as bloody-red.
“And very valuable,” Silver Spoon said enthusiastically. “Did you know that gemstones of the same quality mostly form in crystals way smaller than this one?”
She showed to Diamond Tiara a page in her guidebook. A ring with a similar ruby is shown, but the bloody-red gem is obviously smaller in size and so also its weight.
“This ring was sold at an auction in Manehattan for a staggering 9 million Bits,” Silver Spoon revealed. “Can you imagine the price this rarity will fetch if we try to auction it?”
The front entrance opened. Ruby came in, followed by a female Earth pony whose smugness and angular facial structure is easily recognized by Diamond Tiara. It is Prim Hemline- top fashion critic, loyal judge for Manehattan’s Fashion Week and chairpony of the Manehattan Fashion Institute.
“Oh? So we meet again, Miss Diamond Dazzle Tiara.” When Hemline spoke, her scornful and harsh attitude really shows.
“I never expected to see you here, of all places, Miss Hemline,” Diamond Tiara said nervously.
“Neither do I. I was on my way to visit an old relative when a certain kitty cat kept on pestering me as if it wanted me to come here.” Hemline looked around at the boutique in disdain. “I thought I would find something in this boutique, something that would bedazzle my mind. But it seems I was mistaken.”
She moved around the store while looking over at the displayed clothes made by Diamond Tiara.
“Typical, dreadful, deplorable,” every comment was negative.
Hemline looked back at Diamond Tiara with scorn. “Urgh, I expected you made at least a bit of Improvement by now.”
Silver Spoon decided to say something for the mortified Diamond Tiara. “Hey! This is our store, not your fashion show!”
“I judge as I please,” Hemline maintained.
It was then that her gaze fell upon the box in which the dress ruined by Ruby is inside.
“What is this?” she asked curiously though not exactly impressed.
Diamond Tiara bolted forward to prevent Hemline taking a good look at it. “No, that’s a mistake!”
But it was already too late. The dress had already been picked up by Hemline.
“This is a masterpiece!” she proclaimed, unexpectedly.
“Say what now!?” Diamond Tiara uttered in disbelief.
“So daring! So bold! It completely brings out the sultriness out of a mare.” Hemline’s impression was definitely positive. “I can see that you designed this gown with the attention of getting the wearer eye-groped even by the least hormonally-challenged of stallions and clearly, you have succeeded! I simply must have this work of art featured at my next show. What’s more, I even know a customer who will love to wear this.”
Diamond Tiara’s jaw hung agape.
I’ve worked hard to make dresses with meaning and significance in their designs! her mind screamed. How could a pony as strict as Hemline have mistaken Ruby’s handiwork as art!?
“Close your mouth, dear,” Hemline chided her, quite offended by the latter’s facial expression.
Who cares if the skirt’s ’design’ is accidental, Silver Spoon thought excitedly. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for Diamond Tiara!
The younger Earth pony stepped forth in between Hemline and the stunned Diamond Tiara with an exhibition of courteous and servile demeanor. “Please excuse her, Miss Hemline. She’s just too happy to hear your offer. And she accepts it by the way.”
Then she ushered Hemline to a cushioned seat. “Please have a seat. Can I interest in a cup of tea? Herbal? Jasmine? Red Rose?”
Meanwhile, Ruby dozed on the display case counter.
***
Several months later...
The fashion show drew to a close. Hemline introduced to Diamond Tiara the customer that was said to be very interested in the Gothic formal gown. That customer turned out to be Queen Chrysalis. The queen of the changelings had just finished her diplomatic mission in Canterlot but decided to stop over at Manehattan Fashion Week at Hemline’s invitation before returning home.
Meanwhile in the same city at the same time, the ruby pendant crafted by Silver Spoon was being auctioned off as a necklace, now dubbed as the Sunshine Ruby.
“Sold to the gentlecolt on my right for 30 million Bits!” the auctioneer declared.
The successful bidders are revealed as the Elites.
“Ooooh, our future daughter-in-law will be so pleased,” Jet Set said as he rubbed his hooves with glee.
“Indeed,” Upper Crust giggled.
***
In order to get to the care center’s supply store, Silver Spoon had to take the walkway where she would pass a den for the animals taken under center’s care. Inside the wide, spacious den, recreational equipment was provided for entertainment and shelters for them to rest.
You all are so lucky, Silver Spoon thought, stopping to watch the animals playing around the den. If weren’t for Fluttershy, you wouldn’t have make it.
These animals are permanent residence at the center because they are either handicapped or maimed in some ways. For example, there was a cat that has to hop around like a rabbit because its front legs are missing. There was also a blind dog that does not move around much. At least it has the company of loyal fellow companion whose spinal birth defects left it hunchbacked and deformed. For that reason alone, these animals never get adopted at all.
From what Fluttershy had told her, some of the animals were found abandoned at young age, most likely due to their disabilities. Such thought hurt Silver Spoon deeply. What those pet owners did was irresponsible and horrible.
Later on, Silver Spoon returned to the lounge area with supplies she bought from the care center’s store.
“You know what?” she suggested to Diamond Tiara. “We should consider changing her name to Fortune or maybe, Lucky?”
“No, I think her current name’s fine. She thinks so too.” Diamond Tiara said snuggled Ruby to her face. “Aren’t you adorable little kitty?”
She felt nature’s call coming on all of a sudden.
“Oh, Spoony. Please hold her a minute,” she said before passing Ruby to Silver Spoon.“I need to go the toilet.”
After exiting the toilet, Diamond Tiara passed by the same row of offices on the way back to the lounge area.
“We’re completely in the red because of the number of animals we keep taking into our charge.”
Diamond Tiara froze in her tracks. She looked back at the one of the office from where the pressing voice originated. The voice belonged to Mane Goodall, Fluttershy’s assistant.
Although Diamond Tiara knew it is wrong to eavesdrop on other ponies’ conversation, she brought her ears to the door due to the matter concerning the welfare of the sheltered animals sounded very serious.
“If this continues, we won’t have enough budgets to pay wages or buy new supplies,” Goodall warned Fluttershy.
“Then what do you suggests?”
“We need to drastically undercut our expenses,” Goodall said grimly. “And, we may have to choose between the animals at the den or the sick ones.”
The latter suggestion really upset Fluttershy. “No! We can’t! They won’t stand a chance the minute they’re out there!”
“What about Angel and the others?” Goodall pressed. “They’ll die without their medications,”,
Though truthfully she did not like it either, but reality has to be faced as the care center is not a highly profitable venture.
A moment of silence passed before the gloomy Fluttershy spoke, “Let me think about it.”
Oh, Fluttershy. So that’s why you’re so desperate on finding new adopters, Diamond Tiara thought and backed away from the door.
She is notably sympathetic to Fluttershy. Experiencing financial problems is something that she can relate herself to. However, in Fluttershy’s case, there is more at stake.
Later, as soon as Fluttershy saw Diamond Tiara with Ruby at the door, she put up a convincing smile that gave no impression of the trouble she is experiencing.
***
One week later...
Fluttershy stressed out over all the paperwork on her desk. Food supplies need to be ordered, some of the equipment had their repairs stalled for months and the most urgent of all, medical supplies to treat lifelong chronic diseases (diabetes, renal failures, leukemia to name a few). All of these need money. Even with public donations taken into account, the remaining funds are still not enough to offset the debt.
She considered her options. Aside from more donation/adoption drives, she could also try applying for a loan. That is when Goodall urgently came into the office without knocking the door and passed a set of papers to Fluttershy.
“What’s this?” Fluttershy asked, looking over at the papers.
“Bank statements,” Goodall explained. “Just updated this morning. Somepony had donated quite a hefty amount to the center about two days ago.”
Fluttershy could not believe her eyes at the amount deposited to the care center’s account. “Do we know who it is?”
Goodall shook her head. “No. It’s done through the bank counter.”
Today, there are no scheduled appointments. Apart from a few ponies siting in the lounge with their pets, the area is pretty much empty. It looked to Fluttershy that Goodall can handle everything at the center on her own for the rest of the day. Thus, she decided to take a half-day leave to find Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.
By nature, donations are never questioned. But the amount this time is unusually high for a non-corporate contribution. Fluttershy had a hunch on who that anonymous donator might be. She had heard through Rarity how a necklace called the Sunshine Ruby was sold for a record 30 million Bits at an auction in Manehattan just one month prior. And the gemstone she had extracted from Ruby’s throat. What if they are all connected?
Fluttershy had reached the front door when Diamond Tiara unexpectedly came in.
“Diamond Tiara, I was just-” She then saw how distressed the Earth pony looked. “What’s wrong?”
“Ruby’s missing,” the latter revealed “I thought she might be here.”
“Oh Faust...” That was all Fluttershy could say in her dismay.
Ruby just sat on the roof, its eyes staring down at its oblivious owners putting up fliers about their missing pet cat. Oddly enough, it was unconcerned at how worried sick Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are in spite of the good treatment it received from them. It remained there for a while before heading down the other side of the roof to avoid getting spotted.
There is a full moon tonight but it was partially obscured by clouds. Over at the cemetery, Ruby navigated through the eerie shadows cast by the headstones towards two particular graves, where a husband and wife were buried alongside each other many, many years earlier.
It came there for a reason. Its discovery by Diamond Tiara, the ruby stone, Prim Hemline, everything was premeditated beforehand, because in truth, Ruby is no ordinary. All this time, it had fooled everypony into thinking that it is just another typical cat. Now that it had done its work, it was time for Ruby to return from where it materialized.
Before its masters’ resting place, Ruby slowly dissolved from head to bottom. What remains of it is a mass of floating dusts that went to settle on the graves’ soil. As this is happening, the clouds began to clear away. The names of Silver Spoon’s parents on the headstones could now be clearly seen in the pale moonlight.
Today, the dream project conceptualized by Silver Spoon’s parents so many years ago has finally come to fruition. The recently completed Canterlot Central Terminal would act as the hub for the new passenger light rail system serving the whole capital and its surrounding urban areas.
All this was made possible by the efforts of several parties. The trains were designed and built by the Flim Flam brothers, both of whom are happy to see their engineering skills put to use in other areas. The Boy Builders constructed the terminal and the rail lines. In these two years, business has been brisk, allowing them to add Rarity along with Jack Hammer and Rivet to their crew. And finally financial assistance was provided by the Canterlot Royal Castle, and a ‘mysterious benefactor’, as mentioned by Princess Luna in her speech.
“All of this could not have come to fruition if it were not for the contribution of a benefactor, who chose to remain anonymous therefore I cannot say who. Nonetheless, we here today shall say our sincerest thanks for the pony’s generosity...”
In the crowds, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were among the attendees listening to the speech.
“They will be so proud of you, Spoony,” Diamond Tiara whispered.
Silver Spoon nodded to acknowledge her foster sister’s words. She has no doubt her parents would be happy to know that their efforts were not in vain. Yet it would have been much better for her if they were still alive to witness this.
Luna cut the ceremonial ribbon and thus Canterlot Central was declared open for operation. The Flim Flam brothers, the Boy Builders crew, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon and everypony else attending the opening ceremony gave their applause.
At the Canterlot Royal Castle, Flash Sentry came in urgently into the office.
“It looks like the prisoners have banded together,” he reported to his captain. “They now call themselves the ‘Criminal Syndicate of Equestria’. As soon as they broke out, they went straight to rob several banks and jewelry stores along the way. The guards, police who tried to stop them, all were incapacitated.”
“Chaos, that I shall not stand!” Discord furiously proclaimed. “Do we know they’re heading now!?”
“Eyewitness accounts point to Canterlot Central,” the officer replied.
Discord’s face fell.
Multiple pellets rolled on the floor under the unsuspecting crowds. Seconds later, thick smoke emitted by the pellets engulfed the terminal, causing everypony to panic.
Luna emerged from smoke to face the troublemakers responsible.
“Which mooncalves are so daring enough to cause trouble on this fine day before me!?” shouted the enraged princess.
Before her is the Criminal Syndicate of Equestria (CSE), commanded by Applejack’s cousin and mob boss, Braeburn. The rest of the members are the Terrible Cake Twins, Baby the unicorn and Doll the pegasus, whose real names are actually Pumpkin and Pound Cake respectively; Mane-iac Mayhem, the maniacal villainess with the ability to manipulate her tendrils-like mane; and lastly, the leather-suit clad Rough Diamond, responsible for a number of jewel heists in Manehattan but then fumbled when she moved to Canterlot.
“Do you really think you can get away with a mere smokescreen!?” Luna sneered at them.
The princess realized it too late. She suddenly became dizzy and disoriented. At that point, the smoke had mostly cleared. Luna collapsed to the floor along with the other victims.
“Let’s get a move on now, y’all!” Braeburn commanded his underlings.
The CSE cantered past the fainted Princess Luna with their bags of loot except for Mane-iac who uses her animated, iron-strong tendrils to move around.
“So much for the great and powerful Princess of the Night!” Mane-iac gloated.
As they make their way to the terminal’s concourse, Flim and Flam are revealed as being fine and were safely away from the smoke by hiding around the corner of the wall.
“Brother, looks like our ol’ ‘pals’ are back looking for a ride out of town on a rail,” Flim said.
“Then let’s give it to ‘em, shall we?” Flam responded.
Flim could not agree more.
Doll removed the unconscious driver from the driver seat allowing his twin sister to take over the controls.
Outside, Mane-iac and Rough Diamond have just finished loading the last bags onto the train. The train horn signaled shortly after. They boarded the train before it started to depart from the platform.
As Braeburn hopped onto the moving train, somepony called out to him. He looked out to check if he had heard the voice wrong. There far behind the last car, Applejack galloped to catch up to him.
“Why cousin Applejack,” Braeburn said sarcastically, “always a pleasure to see ya.”
“Darn you, cuz!” Applejack yelled. “That bank ye bandits just robbed holds all mah family’s life savings!”
“Then, ah’ll be sure to send y’all somethin’ for Hearth’s Warming. Unless of course, if ah forget or too busy runnin’ some errands.” Braeburn waved a goodbye then moved back into the car.
The train gained more speed, resulting in the rear car trailing further ahead of Applejack.
“Aw naw! Ya ain’t gettin’ away dat easy!” The country Earth pony was not the type that quits so easily.
She worked her strong legs even harder. She caught up alongside the rear car at last but barely made it through the door before the train reached its full speed.
Flim and Flam, wielding an electric orb gun and an air-powered net cannon respectively, arrived too late. The train had already left the terminal.
“To the Super Speedy Chaser 6000!” they proclaimed in unison.
Unfortunately for Applejack, however strong she is, she is still no match for CSE due to their advantage in numbers.
“Robbing ye own family, dat’s too low even for de lowliest lowlife in de Apples!” she shouted, struggling futilely to free herself from the tight grasp of Mane-iac’s tendril.
Braeburn had gotten tired of hearing his cousin’s shouting.
“Throw her overboard,” he commanded Mane-iac who complied with glee.
Applejack cursed them repeatedly until with one hard swing, she was hurled out through the open door.
At the same time, Braeburn noticed a vehicle pulling alongside the car. He popped his head out to check.
“De hay!?” the stallion exclaimed in dismay. “It’s dem unicorns again!”
How could the mob boss not recognize the Super Speedy Chaser and the brothers who ruined what would have been his greatest bank heist so many years ago.
Flam drove the Super Speedy Chaser 6000 to keep up with the opened door so that Flim could board the train.
But what happened to Applejack? She is at the rear seat with Flim after the latter caught her fall. For a short moment in the critical time, from the way they hold close and gaze one another, it looks as if a special bond had begun to form between the two.
At the thought of her family’s money, Applejack snapped out of it. She brushed Flim aside, then without hesitation, made a daring leap back onto the fast moving train.
Back on the train again, Applejack did not hesitate to kick her cousin out through the door in retaliation to his treachery.
Flam ducked his head as Braeburn hurtled over the Super Speedy Chaser 6000 into a water-filled drain. He looked back for a while before keeping his eyes straight ahead.
Flim had made it safely into the car the same way Applejack did. After he joined the Earth pony, Mane-iac and Rough Diamond stood in their way to the driver’s compartment.
Flim used his bolas on Rough Diamond, whereupon the latter tripped after her legs gets entangled by the projectile’s cord.
“Ha! Looks like it’s two against-” Before Applejack could finish, Mane-iac’s tendril thrusted Flim into the another car.
Flim reeled against the passenger seat after the hit. After Applejack came into the car, she dragged him with her towards the door to the next car, because right behind them, Mane-iac was giving chase. In the villainess’ blind attempt to pummel the pair, her tendrils wrecked the car’s interior by accident.
One of Mane-iac’s tendrils caught Flim and had him pinned down on the floor. Applejack turned back to help, but Rough Diamond, who had freed herself earlier by chewing the rope around her legs, slammed her down to the floor.
While the two mares wrestle each other on the floor, Flim was left solely at maniacal villainess’ mercy. The unicorn is not without resources however. He managed to take out his electric orb gun from his holster when Mane-iac’s other tendrils were about to smother him. The gun’s electrical beams incapacitated the villainess instantly.
Rough Diamond got quite a beating by Applejack. Her speed and agility is useless in tight spaces against the latter’s sheer strength. She held her hooves up to signal her surrender, but unfortunately for her, the country Earth pony was not yet satisfied. With one swift final blow, Applejack knocked Rough Diamond out cold.
Having dealt with their respective opponents, Flim and Applejack banded together to take out the Terrible Cake Twins and stop this train.
Flam maintained his Super Speedy Chaser’s speed to match it with the train. From the train’s windows, he could see his brother moving through the cars with Applejack.
Applejack smashed open the locked door to the driver’s compartment. “De jig is up!”
She looked to her side and there was Baby halfway crawling out through the broken side window.
“So long suckers! Good luck on stopping this train!” Baby laughed mockingly at her before disappearing to the roof.
“Runaway train!” Applejack screamed in panic once she realized the service break was destroyed.
“Calm down, little missy,” Flim said, rushing past the panicked the Earth pony to one of the control consoles.
He looked underneath it, his hooves reaching for something, and finally found it. At the press of the button, the engine powered off, the wheels locked. The train skidded on the tracks to a full stop almost immediately.
Applejack felt relieved but could not help asking, “Golly. How did ya do dat?”
“Driver’s emergency brake is standard issue on every train my brother and I designed,” Flim explained to her.
“The twins!” Applejack shouted, suddenly remembering the escaped last two criminals.
She quickly looked out through the broken side window. Doll had already taken off in the distance, carrying his sister with him.
But their escape was short-lived. Flam arrived then pulled over the Super Speedy Chaser next to the front car. He fired his cannon at the twins whereupon they got caught in the net and both crashed to the ground immediately.
Flim and Flam relished their latest accomplishment as Flash Sentry’s subordinates took the CSE into custody.
Discord approached the brothers and gave them a congratulatory pat.
“As always,” he said, “I knew I can always count on you two.”
After the captain left to take the criminals away, Applejack decided to thank the brothers, albeit reluctantly due to the fallout between them and her family in the past. “H-hey, thanks. Mah family would’ve gone broke... and… and ah might’ve wound up in the hospital with five broken ribs and a dislodged jaw…if it weren’t for you two.”
“Your welcome,” Flim responded. Whoa, never thought I’d get thanked by an Apple.
“But back there,” Applejack wanted to be sure, “nothin’ personal, right?”
“Right,” Flim agreed.
Their gaze met and there was an awkward silence between the two.
“Yer breath stinks, by de way,” Applejack said all of a sudden.
“And I could see a birthmark on your neck,” Flim stated.
Applejack responded by giving Flim a playful punch on the shoulder. If Applejack was truly offended, Flim would have gotten a broken rib, or two. Then, another awkward silence.
This solicited suspicion from Flam. He popped his head in between them.
“So, what’s going on, hmmm?” he asked while eying at his brother and Applejack alternately.
Spitfire is really pissed right now. “You went AWOL for like, what? Two years? Then there’re rumors about you, messing with Dark Magic and later nosedived into Ghastly Gorge, while galloping away from an angry mob for stealing candies from a bunch of foals on Nightmare Night!”
Rainbow Dash felt mortified by the Wonderbolt captain's harsh words. “That last part was a bit exaggerate-”
“Did I say you can interrupt me!?” Spitfire scolded.
“N-no…Ma’am,” Rainbow Dash said weakly, her gaze down on the floor.
Spitfire contemplated whether Rainbow Dash should be allowed another chance in the academy. For her, discipline counts as much as talent and skills. At that point, another pegasus came into her thought. She had been willing to give, or more accurately, at least considered giving Lightning Dust a second chance. Maybe she should not be biased against Rainbow Dash.
Looking over at the pegasus before her, there was a look of hopefulness on Rainbow Dash’s face. Spitfire knows very well that like Lightning Dust, Rainbow Dash’s life was built around the Wonderbolts. With that, a decision was reached.
“I can’t let you get back into the first team just like that. But…” She opened a drawer to her desk and pulled out a few sheets of paper. “This is an application for the Wonderbolts Reserve Unit. You’ll have to start over from the very bottom. That is the best I can offer you.”
That was not exactly what Rainbow Dash wanted yet she took the papers anyway.
“Fill it out,” Spitfire told her, “take a short physical, pass a written test, then you’re good to go.”
“Thank you, Ma'am,” Rainbow Dash said.
Several months later...
“Unlike last time, this is not a derby!” Gilda began briefing the reserve cadets on the upcoming drill on the air obstacle course. “The stormy weather setting will challenge your precision and ability to adapt in different weather environments as a team! Remember! There is no ‘I’ in team! Nopony gets left behind!
“Before we begin, there are rules you need follow. So listen carefully. One, deliberate obstruction of the other teams is forbidden. Two, if your partner fails to recover from a spinout, it’s your responsibility to help him or her out…”
While Gilda laid out the next rules, Rainbow Dash tactfully whispered to her partner, Wildflower, “Don’t worry. With me by your side, we’re gonna make this look easy peasy.”
One week before Hearth’s Warming Eve…
In the horizon, strong winds and build-up of stormy clouds are clear indications that the blizzard’s arrival is imminent. Probably in a few hours’ time it will hit the Wonderbolts Academy.
“Say whaaaaat?” Rainbow Dash moaned.
Not just her, all the Wonderbolts who had gathered in the mess hall expressed their disappointment when Spitfire announced that they need to delay their trip back home for Hearth’s Warming.
“I know you all are eager to go back to your friends and family,” the captain said understandably. “But the weather service had issued a blizzard warning for a 250-mile swath of this region, meaning heavy, blowing snow and potential whiteout conditions. For safety reasons, all of you are to remain grounded here until further notice.”
After that, she instructed her two officers, Gilda and Soarin to make sure everypony is accounted for.
Later in the barracks, Rainbow Dash flopped onto her bed in frustration.
“Can’t believe this!” she complained. “Over the last minute! And I promised Scoot I’ll be back early to help her decorate her home!”
“Relax, Rainbow Dash,” Wildflower said calmly from her bed. “It’s only for a few days.”
That’s what I’m hoping for, Rainbow Dash thought, but still this is weather production we’re talking about. “What if they’re wrong?”
“At least it can’t be any worse than the storm two years ago,” Wildflower remarked.
“How bad was it?” Rainbow Dash was curious.
“You didn’t know?” Wildflower asked in surprise.
Rainbow Dash just shrugged. How could she tell Wildflower that while under the influence of Dark Magic, she spent a whole year deep in the caverns somewhere in the Ghastly Gorge helping Twilight Sparkle in her crazy experiments on Quarray eels in the quest to overthrow Princess Celestia?
Seeing that Rainbow Dash just kept quiet, Wildflower explained to her, “It was one of the largest snow storms in the history of Equestria! Actually not just Equestria. It swept from Frozen North all the way to the South within days and lasted for weeks.”
“There were rumors in its wake,” she added. “I heard Gilda braved the superstorm during a short stint with the royal guards.”
Rainbow Dash felt doubtful about that. “You sure about this?”
“Gilda wasn’t inclined to talk about it so I never asked again,” Wildflower replied. “But imagine if she did make it through the storm, maybe…we can too, since this one is localized.”
“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash said with a smug. “We did ace that obstacle course, didn’t we?”
Suddenly she looked thoughtful. And so did Wildflower.
Gilda repeatedly called Rainbow Dash and Wildflower’s name, rapping the door but no one answered.
“Here!” Rainbow Dash came in from the end of corridor. “Sorry. I had to go to the bathroom.”
“Where is Wildflower?” Gilda asked sternly.
“She was in the room when I left.” Rainbow Dash tried the door but it was locked. “Huh...”
Gilda had no choice but to get the spare keys. When she came back and unlocked the door, they find no one in the room. Rainbow Dash went to check Wildflower’s bed.
“Uh, I think she packed her things and left just now,” she said.
Gilda shook her head in dismay. “Oh Faust, no...”
Spitfire tried to stop Gilda from going on a suicidal search for Wildflower.
“It’s too risky,” she sternly warned the griffon.
“Someone has to do it,” Gilda insisted, after getting her winter coat and flare stick from the locker. “Given her top speed, she won’t make it through halfway.”
Wildflower was experiencing trouble in maintaining her flight through the strong snowy wind. She began to regret her decision of comparing herself to the experienced and much stronger Gilda. Unlike the simulated weather in the obstacle trainings, this blizzard was way more severe and her visibility is totally restricted.
Deciding that facing Spitfire’s fury is a saner option than risk getting frozen to death, she tried to turn back. But then a gust tossed her aside in a spin-out. The high winds made it difficult for her to recover. The ground and the sky looking almost the same during the spin worsened her predicament.
It seemed that the pegasus is fated to fall to her death, that is until Gilda appeared. But it was a little too late. By the time she caught Wildflower, they were about to hit a treetop. Gilda twisted around so that Wildflower is facing away from the tree and it was the griffon who ended up bearing the brunt of the crash onto the branches.
Back at the academy, Spitfire and Soarin scanned the snowy plains with their binoculars from the rooftop.
The latter spotted a dim reddish glow, hardly visible through the heavy blowing snow.
“Ma’am! I see them!” he announced after deducing the glow was from a flare stick.
Gilda dropped her flare stick upon the arrival of Spitfire and Soarin.
“We crashed into a tree,” Gilda notified them.
The griffon motioned at the unconscious Wildflower whom she carried on her back. “She was knocked on the head but I think it’s not that serious.”
Gilda crouched down to pass Wildflower to Soarin. As she did so, she winced and let out a pained groan.
From that reaction, Spitfire knew immediately that the griffon was also injured. She came closer to take a better look at Gilda. There in the underside of the belly, a twig was protruding from the wound. Spitfire could only guess how deep it is embedded inside her.
“Can you still move?” she asked Gilda.
“I think so… Yeah.” Though her response did not sound convincing, Gilda was not ready to give up.
The academy is still farther ahead. But she has already gotten so far after walking for miles with the wound.
She rose and moved forward with Spitfire by her side. It was not long before her eyes became dazed.
“No, no, Gilda!” Spitfire said alarmingly when she saw Gilda started tottering. “Get hold of yourself!”
After Gilda dropped writhing on the snow, Spitfire urgently called out to Soarin up ahead to get help.
Soarin burst in through the door and after Fleetfoot took Wildflower off his hooves, he called out to the other Wonderbolts. “Everypony! We need volunteers!”
“Where’s Spitfire?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Gilda passed out,” Soarin informed her. “If we don’t help move her fast, she’ll bleed to death.”
Rainbow Dash did not actually like Gilda. But it was not like before where some disgruntled Wonderbolts thought a griffon did not belong to the Wonderbolts. Her reason was a personal one. Any friend to that boastful Lightning Dust is an enemy to her. That is why when Rainbow Dash found out Gilda is the reserve unit’s instructor, she felt low.
At that thought, she remembered the words uttered by the griffon during one of the trainings- nopony gets left behind.
Her perspective quickly changed. Gilda is a Wonderbolt and she risked her life to get another Wonderbolt back from trouble. The Wonderbolts stick together as one team.
“I know a faster way!” Rainbow Dash declared. “Somepony get me a mattress and some ropes.”
She rushed to flip the lounge’s table upside down.
“What’re you doing?” Soarin asked, puzzled by her actions.
“Improvise!” Rainbow Dash replied.
To get Gilda here fast, she would use the method she taught the CMC for cheap fun when they did not have a sled on winter.
Rainbow Dash and Soarin pulled over their improvised sled, made up of an upturned table with the mattress attached with ropes at the bottom, right before where Spitfire. Without wasting time, they along with Rapidfire assisted Spitfire in carrying Gilda to the sled.
Rainbow Dash was taken by surprise of how the griffon weighs a ton.
How’s that she could fly??? she thought.
Care was given so they do not worsen the wound while securing Gilda on the sled. Using all their available strength, Rainbow Dash and Soarin pulled the sled with Spitfire and Rapidfire pushing from behind.
They pressed forward against the ever increasing tense weather. Along the way, they went so fast the sled almost veered off course dangerously. But Spitfire and Rapidfire’s reactions were quick enough to rectify it.
Spitfire cast a quick glance on Gilda moaning and writhing in discomfort of the ride. “Hold on, Gilda!”
Up ahead, the plateau where the academy stood came into their view. But soon it started to fade as the snowfall gets heavier by every minute. They have to be quick, for a whiteout could occur at any time.
“Move faster!” Spitfire barked.
As they picked up their paces, a gust of wind blew off the ground snow. A white cloud wave washed the over area where they are at…
***
Gilda was experiencing possibly the worst Hearth Warming’s Eve ever. She still felt weak after the six-inch sharp twig was removed through surgery. She did not get break very often in a year and Hearth Warming holiday is one of those rare times where she gets to spend time with her friends in Canterlot. But this year it looks like she will be spending the holidays in the academy’s hospital wing. Bummer...
She lay on the bed, sadly looking at her bracelet. It was given to her as a birthday gift long ago by Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. How she was so looking forward to Hearth Warming’s Eve dinner at their place tonight. Yet she did not regret her action. She did what she had to do as a responsible officer.
But soon her sadness turned to smile. At the door, her friends unexpectedly showed up. All five of them- Princess Sunset Shimmer, Trixie, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon and Lightning Dust, have come all the way from Canterlot to bring gift baskets and treats for Gilda so she will not miss out the celebration.
Spitfire slammed her hoof on the table to express her anger at the fully recovered Wildflower.
“I’ve made this clear so many times!” she barked angrily. “Discipline counts as much as skills! Your utter disregard for command and your own safety put everypony in this academy at risk, you know that!? Two lives could’ve been lost!”
“Ma’am,” Rainbow Dash decided to speak for Wildflower, “it’s not entirely her fault.”
Wildflower looked at her friend in surprise. “Rainbow Dash?”
“Right before she left, I did kinda encouraged her, incidentally,” Rainbow Dash admitted...sort of. “So, if you want to punish Wildflower, you should punish me as well.”
Hearing that, Spitfire hoofed her face in disbelief. “Urgh! Fine!”
She pointed towards the mops and buckets at a corner. “See that over there? I want you two have all the toilets around the academy sparkly clean by the end of the day. Only then you can leave for your holidays. Oh, and don’t think that’s that. When you get back after New Year, more will be waiting. Now, dismiss!!!”
“Yes, ma’am!” They took their respective cleaning tools then sulkily left through the door.
After they close the door behind them, Spitfire started grumbling to herself. “Never for once in my career’s history where I have to stay back on Hearth Warming’s Eve merely to oversee the cadet’s discipline.”
The two pegasus decided to start with the office block’s bathroom. Rainbow Dash almost reached for the knob when it turned by itself. After the door opened, she found herself standing face-to-face with Lighting Dust. Clearly they did not expect to see each other again.
It was no longer secret to anypony that it was Rainbow Dash who had spread exaggerated rumors about the tornado incident in order to further discredit Lightning Dust’s reputation. She would not be surprised if the former Wonderbolt wants to berate her for that, like right here, right now.
“I heard what you did,” Lighting Dust said earnestly, ultimately dashing the blue pegasus’ expectation. “Thanks.”
She gave Rainbow Dash a gentle pat on the back then moved past her without looking.
Rainbow Dash was taken aback by her reaction. Maybe Lightning Dust still hates her but decided not to pick a fight because it is the holidays or maybe she did move on like Spitfire said. Either way, she was being gracious.
“Wildflower,” Rainbow Dash said, “when we’re done, we need to see Gilda.”
Wildflower nodded her agreement although she did not know exactly what Rainbow Dash has in her mind.
Without saying another word, they both entered the bathroom to get their work started.
Fruit bats swarmed away from the apple tree at the sign of light, which came from Apple Stars’ lantern. Her baton-armed companion is Golden Harvest. Together, the two co-owns the orchard.
“Darn fruit bats again!” Apple Stars complained.
“No,” Golden Harvest insisted. “What I saw was no fruit bat.”
They continued searching through the darkness. Apple Stars signaled Golden Harvest to stop. She focused on the crunching sounds coming from one of the apple trees. Somepony was feasting on their hard-grown apples without permission.
“Looks like you’re right,” Apple Starts whispered to Golden Harvest. “We do have trespassers.”
They moved cautiously towards to the source of the sound. As they got closer, they could barely make out two pony figures huddled under the tree. Golden Harvest was poised to strike as Apple Stars shone her lantern at the figures. What they saw in the light almost made their souls jump out of their skin. What at first appeared to be hideous mud creatures are actually two scruffy mares, their skinny, dirtied bodies quivering from the night cold and starvation. They just kept on eating, ignoring the fruits’ owners.
Three months later...
The doctor showed Prince Umbra, Princess Luna and Twinkleshine into the ward. On the beds sat Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon. Twinkleshine almost cried when she saw them at their current condition. Her two friends, whom she had given up hope of seeing alive again, looked almost unrecognizable.
The Appleloosans have done all they could to nurse Lyra and Bon Bon back to health, physically and psychologically. Still, both mares looked underweight. Their mane has a greasy appearance, their colors have turned pale, and their faces are all wrinkly, resulting in them looking much older than their actual age. Despite Lyra and Bon Bon are supposed to be good friends with Twinkleshine, they showed no reaction to her presence.
***
Celestia was back to her former unicorn self as abdications meant she has to renounce her Alicorn powers as well. Being a librarian however is not so bad. The tranquility offered by her current workplace is a far cry from the hectic and stressful environment when she was the Princess of the Sunlight.
Her daily routines include keeping tracks of the books coming in and out of the library, update the inventory and membership records periodically and making sure visitors adhere to the library etiquette. And when the day is not too busy, she can keep up with her readings, something she never had much time for before. She used to be a bookworm back when she was younger. A trait she shared with Luna, Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer.
Today seemed to be another typical work day for the former princess. The library was filled with visitors as usual. She had just finished arranging the books on the shelves when she received a surprise visit by the current Princess of the Sunlight.
“Princess Sunset Shimmer, what brings you here?” Celestia greeted after bowing her head.
“We need to talk,” Sunset Shimmer told her, “in private.”
After Celestia led the princess into her office, the latter started explaining the situation in Appleloosa.
“From what I’ve heard, they were so traumatized from spending so much time in isolation they developed problems in interacting with ponies around them.”
“Why was I told of this only now?” Celestia asked, notably upset.
Even Luna who had visited her often, the most recent last week, did not mention to her about this.
Sunset Shimmer decided to be truthful. “Because Princess Luna advised you against coming to see them. Celestia, Lyra and Sweetie Drops lashed out at her at the mention of you. There’s no telling what they’ll do if they actually see you.”
“Then what?” Celestia said. “I should hide myself from them forever? Is that it?”
“I know how much you want to make it up to them,” the Alicorn Princess said understandably. “But please. Don’t do anything rash. Just wait at least until they make a full mental recovery. When that time arrives, be assured that Princess Luna and I will be at your side to give our full support.”
Celestia thought on it for second and finally agreed. Another time then.
For now, she should pray that the damaged done to the two mares are not too severe as it did to Derpy. Afterwards, Celesta and Sunset Shimmer hugged each other before parting ways.
Umbra waved goodbye to Luna on the departing train. The train will take the Equestrians over the border for a stopover in Ponyville before proceeding to Canterlot. Completed almost a year ago, the railways were meant to facilitate shipment of much needed goods to Ponyville from Canterlot and Appleloosa. And hopefully one day, may it help drive tourism to Ponyville once the town is fully rebuilt to what it once was.
Lyra and Bon Bon have been very quiet along the journey. The former gazed distantly out at the window. The latter just sat still, her eyes did not seem to focus on anything.
Maybe a conversation might help them to get back to their former selves, Twinkleshine thought, concerned on her friends’ abnormal behavior. “Hey, Lyra. Have anypony mentioned to you the story about Lord Watterson and Miss Dash?”
“I don’t care about all those stuffs, Twinkleshine,” Lyra replied indifferently without moving away her gaze.
“O-oh, sorry,” Twinkleshine apologized.
She tried not to take Lyra’s response to heart. The important thing now is to give her friend the psychological support in leading a normal life.
“Twinkleshine?” It is the first time Bon Bon spoke, or rather spoken to Twinkleshine.
“Y-yes?”
“Do they have sweets on this train?” the Earth pony suddenly looked uneasy in her seat. “I’ve asked the nurses but they won’t give me any.”
“No. But I have some. Please wait a second.” Twinkleshine took out a few sweets from her bag then offered it to Bon Bon.
Nova’s parents arrived a few days ago from a business trip in Ponyville. So they decided to stop over for a visit. Nova and Jet Set were at someplace else doing male stuffs, while Lightning Dust had to accompany Upper Crust. Tired from the clothes shopping, they stopped for a drink at Mulia’s Kitchen.
“Part of it had to do with his experience as he got a little older,” Upper Crust was saying on Nova's childhood. “He always came back home crying because the other students teased him about his appearance. He never thought he was any different from than any of the ponies until they told him he was.”
Lightning Dust always wondered why Nova never talked to her about his past.
“But on how’d he ended up moving to Canterlot?” she asked, eager to know more.
“One day, we found his bedroom empty and a letter saying he wants to find his self,” Upper Crust revealed. “Funny thing was we took it as meaning he wants to go to his own kind in the Changeling Kingdom so we scrambled to the ports to look for him. We didn’t know. At the time the Changeling Queen was visiting Equestria. He must’ve hopped on a freight train to Canterlot in order to meet her. Now we’re not sure what the queen said to him or how he ended up in the royal army. You’ll have to ask your superior. The dragon, I think?”
“A draconequss,” Lightning Dust corrected her.
“Oh, right,” Upper Crust acknowledged.
“You’re not…disappointed about him being in the army?” Lightning Dust was sure parent coming from a rich family would have preferred to see their children involved in professional work.
“Well, it’s really hard to say,” Upper Crust admitted, her feelings were definitely mixed. “It’s comforting to know he has finally found acceptance for what he is. But we never stopped hoping that one day he will return to Manehattan to help with the family business.”
Over at the next table, their conversation was incidentally heard by Minuette and Amethyst Star. They do not know Nova personally, just heard about him through Twinkleshine. His story has some reminiscence with Lyra’s situation. They along with Lyra, Twinkleshine and Bon Bon used to be a group of close friends, just like how the Element Bearers and the Mane Six are. That friendship however broke apart when Minuette and Amethyst Star found out about Lyra’s interest in Star Swirl’s human fairy tales.
They were disgusted by her eccentricity, and felt she was different because of it. Lyra resisted but never quarreled back. And so their advice turned to mocking and ridicule. That rings true to Twinkleshine as well. While the latter was still willing to talk to them albeit bitterly, Lyra in the other hand sort of drifted away. Eventually the two stopped caring about her. It only took the news of Lyra’s presumed death to shake them from their apathy.
Now that to great their relief Lyra and Bon Bon turned out to be still alive, all that is left is now to figure out how to make it up to her.
“Pinkie Pie, are you free later?” Minuette asked the waitress who came to take away empty glasses from their table.
“Yup, I had an afternoon shift today,” the Earth pony said cheerfully. “Why?”
Pinkie Pie revealed she has a secret basement under her house where she keeps various party supplies and detailed files on almost everypony in Canterlot on the kinds of parties they like. She called it her ‘Party Cave’.
“I think I have a file on Lyra somewhere…” she said while rummaging through the drawer.
“Ah hah! Found it!” She took out the file then showed it to Minuette.
“Now we need get it done before-” Minuette realized she neglected one little detail. “Amethyst, what time is the train supposed to arrive?”
Amethyst Star was not sure either. “Err… To…morrow?”
“Yeah, but what time?” Minuette repeated her question.
“I don’t know!” Amethyst Star confessed.
Minuette sighed. “There’s one pony we can ask.”
“Who?” Pinkie Pie and Amethyst Star asked in unison.
“Trixie,” Minuette answered.
“Not her!” Pinkie Pie gasped at the mention of her ‘rival’.
Actually there is no competition of any sort between Trixie and Pinkie Pie. It is just Pinkie Pie being…Pinkie Pie?
“A welcome back party?” Trixie felt a little appalled after hearing Minuette’s explanation. “Do you even know what condition Lyra and Sweetie Drops are currently in right now? What makes you think someone who’d barely recovered from trauma would be up for a party?”
Minuette and Amethyst Star suddenly felt themselves stupid.
“I feel your intention is good. But you have to think it through. Whatever it is that you’re going to do, make it subtle. Just enough to show that you care as a friend,” Trixie advised them.
“But what?” Minuette wondered.
Trixie noticed the file Pinkie Pie was holding. “I’m sure Pinkie Pie can help you with that.”
“What do we know about Lyra, besides…you know, that?” Minuette asked Amethyst Star and Pinkie Pie.
Pinkie read aloud Lyra’s file, “She loves and I emphasized on the word, love, party games, skating, parfait, orchestral music, fashions, Nightmare Night. Side note, if a party is held at her place, make sure to clean it up thoroughly afterward because she is a real neat freak.”
“Her house,” Minuette realized.
With that, Trixie wished the three ponies the best of luck with full sincerity before returning to the castle.
The train from Ponyville had finally arrived at Canterlot Central. Luna was greeted by Discord and Trixie. Bon Bon was having an emotional reunion with her parents. And Twinkleshine was given permission to accompany Lyra after she offered the latter to stay at her house.
“Can we stop by my house first?” Lyra asked. “I want to check out its condition.”
“You need rest,” Twinkleshine insisted.
But then Trixie came up to them with cryptic smile. “Actually, Lyra’s right. She should go check out her house.”
The last visitors to come here were Dash and Sunset Shimmer. At that time the entire house was dusty, moldy and home to spiders. Twinkleshine had planned to help Lyra clean this house before her friend moves in but right now it appeared that someone had done that already. Everything was sparkly clean. Not even a speck of dust was missed. Fragrant smell still hung in the air and the floor had yet to fully dry. Whoever cleaned the place must have taken all night to do it.
Shortly, Twinkleshine and Lyra unexpectedly found Minuette and Amethyst Star sleeping at the kitchen table. Both of them looked so exhausted. Placed at the corner are cleaning tools and detergents. Twinkleshine had no doubt that it was the work of these two, the same inconsiderate ponies who used to make fun of Lyra and her a lot in the past.
Lyra gently patted on Amethyst Star’s back, prompting the latter to wake up with a start.
“Aargh! I’m up! I’m up!”
Her voice caused Minuette to wake up from her sleep as well.
“Amethyst, what time is it?” she moaned, still half asleep.
After she rubbed her eyes, Minuette becomes fully awake. “L-Lyra!?”
Amethyst Star turned around. Like Minuette, she was very shocked to see Lyra’s appearance.
“Yeah.” That was all Lyra could say.
Tears streamed down from Minuette and Amethyst Star’s eyes, having realized their banishment on the moon was nothing compared to Lyra’s ordeal. They knelt before Lyra.
“We’re sorry! We’re sorry!” Amethyst Star sobbed. “For all the mean things we said to you before!”
Minuette was just as emotional. “When we heard you might’ve died… We don’t know why…it has to take that to make us realize…”
“Girls, please…” Lyra tried to get them to stand up, but they will not budge.
So she went on her knees as well, bringing Minuette and Amethyst Star close to her. “Girls, everything’s been forgotten. So please. Stop crying.”
Even with Lyra comforting them, they kept on crying. Twinkleshine just stood there, not saying a word.
So they do care about Lyra after all, she thought, just as a heart-warming feeling was flowing inside her.
***
“I’m glad you could make it,” Minuette greeted Bon Bon who had just arrived at Lyra’s house.
“Thanks for inviting me,” the Earth pony smiled.
Bon Bon still looked the same as she did last week but at least her condition was improving.
Minuette led her to the backyard where Pinkie Pie was serving barbequed foods on the long table.
“Oh, you are…?” Bon Bon was asking to know the Earth pony's name.
“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie!” the latter introduced herself, with a wide cheerful smile. “Your best party planner in Equestria and the only one you’ll ever need! If you ever require my service, you’ll find me working at Mulia’s Kitchen.”
Abruptly she leaned close to Bon Bon, with a serious look on her and whispered, “Don’t tell Trixie. She’s jealous of me. And don’t tell Twinkleshine too, because she works under Trixie.”
“Err… Okay.” What a weird pony, Bon Bon thought.
Now that the foods are all served, everypony took their respective seats.
They all bow their heads, eyes closed, then on Lyra’s behalf, Twinkleshine recited the dinner prayer.
“In a world where so many are hungry, may we eat this food with humble hearts;
“In a world where so many are lonely, may we share this friendship with joyful hearts.
Sunset Shimmer came under the gentle wrap of Celestia’s alicorn wings. As they relished at their reconciliation, Celestia was about to say something that will ruin the touching moment.
“Sunset Shimmer, remember the time I transported you to Fillydelphia for no reason?”
Sunset Shimmer looked up at the princess alarmed. “Yeah…?”
“While I did so, I took away your gonads,” Celestia confessed, with a heavy sense of guilt.
Sunset Shimmer awoke with a start. Sitting up on her bed, she looked around her room then let out a sigh of relief.
Oh, it’s just a bad dream, she thought. Thanks Faust.
After seeing the time on the clock showed five in the morning, she rushed out of bed to begin her work as the Princess of the Sunlight.
In the terraced garden afterwards, Sunset Shimmer worked to bring daylight into the night sky.
Blueblood brought more piles of paperwork onto Sunset Shimmer’s desk. After she took the paper from the top of the pile, the princess noticed something is amiss with the report. She took out another report from a different pile and compared them.
“Sir, these numbers don’t add up,” Sunset Shimmer notified Blueblood.
The chancellor looked at the two papers and surprise came over him.
“Why, you’re right,” he acknowledged. “I’ll look through the archives to find the source of this discrepancy.”
The audience hall was not as packed as usual. And all the problems and concerns highlighted to her were easy to dealt with. The proceeding went smoothly, much to Sunset Shimmer’s great relief. Without Princess Luna helping her, it would have been a nightmarish morning.
“I’ll have somepony come over your village to assess the road damages by tomorrow,” she told Candy Mane.
The Earth pony bowed her head. “Thank you, princess.”
Before she went out to Canterlot, Sunset Shimmer decided to check up on Princess Luna who had come down with a bad case of flu. Along the way to Princess Luna’s bedroom, Sunset Shimmer exchanged greetings with Trixie, Twinkleshine and Flash Sentry in the hallways.
When Sunset Shimmer arrived at the library, it was already closed. She checked the time again.
Celestia may have decided to take an early lunch break, Sunset Shimmer guessed.
Fortunately for the Alicorn Princess, she came across Lionel who informed that he saw Celestia at Mulia’s Kitchen.
“Hello, Celestia-” It was then that she noticed the purple dragon on the opposite side of the table whom she had missed earlier due to his midget size. “Spike?”
Sunset Shimmer glanced at the single empty seat and asked, “Is Twilight Sparkle here too?”
“Yup. She went to the bathroom just now,” the dragon replied.
“You know what,” Sunset Shimmer said, having decided against interrupting the family, “maybe another time. Please excuse me.”
She turned around to leave.
“Princess, wait!” Celestia stopped the Alicorn Princess in her tracks. “You never came to see to me without a reason. And it seems to me you’re upset about something. Please sit down and tell me what troubles you.”
No wanting to get involved in female-to-female talk, Spike said, “Welp, I need to go to the bathroom,” and got off from his chair.
Pinkie Pie sneaked the busted microwave oven out of the restaurant’s back door to the back alley where Doc Sparkle (that is what Twilight Sparkle calls herself now) was waiting for her.
“Gee, I don’t know about this, Twilight,” she anxiously said. “If Mulia catches me, she’ll think I was stealing.”
“This’ll take only a few seconds,” Sparkle said firmly. “Think about it, Pinkie. It’ll be a win-win situation. If I can get this microwave fixed with magic, then I get prove my theory is correct, your employer doesn’t have to spend a single Bit for the repair and your chances of being promoted remains unaffected.”
The notion of a guarantee promotion to apprentice chef made Pinkie Pie happy. “Oh, in that case, okie dokie!”
She put the microwave down and stepped back while Sparkle charged up her horn.
“Twilight,” the Earth pony’s grin had faded once she realized something amiss in her friend’s words, “you said ‘if’. So, what if it doesn’t work?”
By then, Sparkle had already cast her spell. Her aura momentarily suffused the oven. Then, nothing happened.
Pinkie Pie regarded the oven curiously. “Did it work?”
Suddenly, the microwave oven started to vibrate, so hard that it moved around in circles on its own.
Pinkie Pie, who found this amusing, whooped and clapped her hooves with glee.
“It looks like it’s dancing!” she laughed.
“Honey,” Mulia Mule interrupted her husband who is adding the final touches to the cuisine, “where did you put the microwave that we’re supposed to get fix?”
“Isn’t it in your office?” Tirek asked her back.
“Well, it’s not there now,” Mulia told the centaur.
“I’ve already come clean on what I did to you,” Celestia stated truthfully. “I swear to Faust. I never took more than a kidney. Even so, the energy wave from the Elements of Harmony managed to reverse the effect.”
Sunset Shimmer felt really embarrassed now. “I’m sorry, Celestia. I don’t know why I took that dream too seriously.”
“You’re still doubtful, I can see,” Celestia said, noting . “Perhaps, you could take an examination just to be sure.”
The Alicorn Princess thought on it for a second but could neither say a yes or no. As a mare, the question of her fertility is a highly sensitive issue.
“I…I think it’s better for me to leave now,” she said. “I really didn’t mean to interrupt you family.”
“Speaking of which,” Celestia’s eyebrows furrowed, looking around for Sparkle, “why isn’t she back yet?”
A loud boom jolted them and the rest of the guests in their seats.
The explosion had completely destroyed the oven. But it left more than burnt scraps in its wake- an amorphous mass of pale pinkish glow floating in midair.
“Whoa!” Both ponies were awed by the phenomenon.
Out of curiosity, Sparkle reached out to the glow, refrained from touching it once she heard Sunset Shimmer yelling to her not to. She looked back over her shoulder to see the Princess of the Sunlight with her foster mother and Pinkie Pie’s employers at the back door.
“Look!” the unicorn proclaimed excitedly. “Star Swirl was right all along!”
Unbeknownst to Sparkle, the glow elongated, as if it is attracted to her.
“Twilight, look out!” Sunset Shimmer tried to warn her but by the time Sparkle realized what was going on, the glow had crept all over her like tree vines.
Though she became increasingly alarmed as the glow was getting brighter and brighter as though it is about to explode. “Uh, but I think it’s doing something.”
“Wow! You’re glowing!” the naive Pinkie Pie was unaware of the impending danger the glow is about to bring upon her friend.
Celestia and Sunset Shimmer raced to save Sparkle from whatever is happening. The latter got to her first just a blinding flash occurred. Once it was over, both Sunset Shimmer and Sparkle had disappeared without a trace.
“Uh… That... That didn’t go so well, did it?” Only now Pinkie Pie realized how bad the situation actually is.
“Pinkamena Diane Pie,” Tirek demanded, “explain to me what really just happened!”
The Earth pony gulped before she nervously faced her furious employer.
Meanwhile, Celestia dropped to her knees, fearing that she might have lost her adopted daughter forever. “No…”
***
In another alternate Equestria, somewhere across the multiverse...
Despite far apart through space-time, this universe’s Golden Oak Library is a hundred percent identical to Sparkle’s home before it got imploded by mistake in a crazy experiment gone terribly wrong. Then again, that is true for numerous Golden Oak Libraries existing in other pony-inhabited universes as well.
Stood before this universe’s Twilight Sparkle and the Regal Sisters was another, more matured version of Twilight Sparkle, claiming to be the princess from a future timeline, which must to be true considering the fact that she is an Alicorn Princess.
Princess Twilight said, “I am Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship from your future. You have to listen to what I’m about to say very carefully, for the fate of Equestria depends on it!”
“Oh, no,” her younger self gasped. “What‘s the emergency?”
“For the good of Equestria, you must-,” the Princess of Friendship was unexpectedly interrupted by the appearance of Sunset Shimmer and Sparkle both whom smashed through the ceiling in a freefall, crashing on top of Princess Luna, “WHAT THE HAY!?”
Under heavy crush of the newcomers and wooden debris, the Princess of the Night of this universe was able to speak a few words before blacking out. “Sister, tell our enemies we surrender…”
When Sunset Shimmer finally came to her senses, she was stunned not only because she had just crushed Princess Luna but also at the presence of Princess Celestia and two more Twilight Sparkles, one of which is an Alicorn Princess.
“Sunset Shimmer!?” Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight were both shocked as they mistook the Blue Marble’s Sunset Shimmer as the Sunset Shimmer they know.
“But how!?” Princess Twilight continued. “I thought you’re supposed to be still at Canterlot High!”
Of course Sunset Shimmer was not familiar with the term. “Canterlot…High?” Oh, Faust. What crazy world did I end up in?
“Princess Celestia, who is that pony?” Twilight Sparkle demanded an explanation.
Princess Celestia was reluctant to answer at first for she never planned on telling the young unicorn about the student whom she had fallen out with.
“Sunset Shimmer,” she said at last, “a former personal student of mine.”
The revelation shocked Twilight Sparkle greatly. “You had another personal student before and you didn’t even bother mentioning her to me!?”
When Princess Twilight took a better look at Sunset Shimmer, she saw how starkly different her appearance is than the unicorn that tried to steal. After scrutinizing Sunset Shimmer’s companion, she came to realization that this Sunset Shimmer is a completely different pony, not the one she had left back at the human world (Equestria Girls universe).
“No, you’re not our Sunset Shimmer,” she deduced correctly. “You’re from an alternate world.”
“Without using the Crystal Mirror?” Princess Celestia blurted. “But how?”
It surprised her greatly, because time traveling spell is one thing, crossing dimensions is a completely different matter At least, according to this universe’s logic.
“Crystal Mirror!? Alternate world!?” Twilight Sparkle was now feeling angrier and angrier at her mentor. “How much are you not telling me, princess!?”
“Not now, Twilight!” Princess Celestia scolded the unicorn.
“No, you listen to me!” Twilight Sparkle shouted back. “You promised to me that there’ll be no more secrets between us! After everything I’ve been through to get the Elements of Harmony for you, I deserve to know!”
“Hey! That’s no way to talk to Princess Celestia!” Even as the Princess of Friendship tried to defend her mentor against her past self, the three fell into kind of a messy argument.
“Tell me, was she your most favorite pupil!?” Twilight Sparkle demanded. “Or was I just another replacement!?”
“Twilight, please!” Princess Celestia sternly said. “I didn’t tell you before only because it did not concern your studies.”
“Listen to her, Twilight,” Princess Twilight decided to intervene. “I know how you feel-”
“Hey!” Twilight Sparkle interjected. “You leave yourself of out of this, okay!? This is only between me and her!”
“Was I really this rude before!?” the older Twilight wondered aloud. “Look, Twilight. It’s really important that you learn not to take everything to heart or you’ll never be…”
As they argued nonstop, they all seemed to forget about the Princess of Friendship’s reason to be here in the first place, and Princess Luna who is still unconscious on the floor.
“Can you get us out of here now?” the Princess of the Sunlight asked her Twilight Sparkle.
“Err, maybe?” Sparkle said. “Give me time to figure this out.”
“You better hurry,” Sunset Shimmer sighed. “I am not getting myself involved in this paradox.”
Slowly, they backed away from the arguing ponies towards the exit.