Teddy Styles. Ace Vendetta. Lancerlot Governor Vanguard III. These three colts live three lives that no-one deserves. My Babylonians cannot allow them to stay the way that they are. I must show them another way; I must show them their destinies.
In Babylon legacy, Five guardians are destined to be the sworn defenders of our Babylon King, and our God. However, we currently have only two on our side. We require all five, so that our legacy may be revived, and the kingdom we are proud to call our home may be restored.
After discovering that the three other guardians may be three young Colts from the distant past, myself, Caxpe and Auxron were sent to retrieve them, and show them their destinies.
However, once we saw the way that they live, we believe that persuading them to change their lives may be as easy done as it is said. As best as it could be shown in this, their actions before the Babylon found them during the show, and during this story have been justified with their previous lives.
Coltonville. A quiet little town in the world currently known as Ponyworld. Being inhabited by most earth ponies, not much really happens magic wise, so the residents mostly focus on their special talents indicated as their Cutie Marks. Or, as the ponies call in this world, their Hip Marks.
Being given the week off from school, the main seven girls from the school took their time to do literally what ever they wanted. What's more, each one of them already knew what their six friends were getting up to, without even having to ask. This was because they knew each other too well.
For instance, Patch, the adopted tomboy spent the majority of her time at the Soccer field, practicing anything, from penalties to free kicks. Although she didn't mind playing alone, she did think it was more fun when she had a team, or even opponents to play with.
But she was just one of seven. They all had their own agendas to attend to, their own lives to live, their own goals to pursue.
That is, until tonight, when the girls were getting together at Starlight's house for their sleepover. Getting ready took a bit more time for some than for others.
"Where are those girls already?" The Pink Blonde filly asked herself as she paced about in her own living room. "It's already 7:00, they should be here by now. Or at least one of them."
"Don't worry, dearie." An older mare told the young girl. "You're little friends will be here soon, Starlight. I'm sure that they're just meeting up, so they can all arrive together at the same time."
"Yeah, maybe. Thanks mom." Starlight replied. Just then, the two of them heard the doorbell ring. This brought her hopes right up, and Starlight rushed right to the door. As she opened it, a smile exploded on her face, at the sight of her friends: Sweetheart, Melody, Bright-Eyes, Patch, Clover and Bon-Bon.
"Girls! Where've you all been?" Starlight queried.
"Sorry, Star. We got caught up with a blind pony, and we just had to help him. He looked like he was new to Coltonville." Another pink pony with a blue mane told her.
"Explains his outfit, really." A yellow pony with a burgundy purple mane added. How very naive she is.
"Oh. Well, it doesn't matter now, come right on in." Starlight told the six girls outside. The girls made their way inside, and proceeded to walk right on in, and into Starlight's home.
"Hello, girls." The mother mare gave them a warm smile, which the six of them returned, with their own kind comments.
"C'mon girls, let's head up to my room." Starlight said to the other ten year old's, which they followed.
"Okay, there're refreshments in your bedroom, Starlight. Any of you just ask if you need anything, but I want lights out by 10."
"We will, thanks mom. Bye." Starlight waved to her, before she waved back.
"So, girls, what do ya wanna do first?" Starlight asked her guests.
"Good question." The custard colored filly responded. "Kitchen raid, or hoof wrestling? Hmm..."
"Um, Patch?" The much more pale white pink-haired girl said to her. "I was thinking more of hair-do's and makeovers."
"I thought we could try baking. If you're mom's got the right ingredients, that is." The yellow pony told Starlight, in between bites of the spread.
"Tough choice, really." Starlight said. "Bright-Eyes, what do ya think?"
The girls turned to look at the only one sitting on Starlight's bed. The minty green ginger haired filly looked up from her book she was reading.
"It really doesn't matter to me." Bright-Eyes answered. "I'll be reasonably satisfied with whatever you girls want."
"What cha reading, by the way?" The Pink, blue haired girl from before asked, wondering why she wasn't deciding with them.
"It's called "Cornered", by a pony called Checkmate. It's new to me, so I wanna finish it as soon as possible. It's surprisingly riveting." Bright-Eyes answered.
"Oh right, I forgot: You're married to a library." Patch commented to the smarter girl.
"Anyway..." Bright-Eyes continued. "I don't even know if this is the library's or not. When I got to my room, it was just lying there on my bed with a stick-on bow attached, so I presume it was just a gift from some pony."
"Probably Lancer, if anyone." The last girl said to her. This one had a lavender coat color, and a fairly pink mane. "You know he really likes you, Bright-Eyes."
"Wishful thinking, Clover. But, I think that even with his family's money, someone like Lancer wouldn't be able to enter another pony's room without being noticed." Starlight responded. "Besides, that's kinda illegal."
"Yeah, I don't think anyone's seen Lancer near me or my home at any point today." Bright-Eyes agreed.
"Come to think of it, have any of you seen Lancer since... Uh..." Melody stopped herself, knowing that she didn't have an answer either.
"Yeah, when was the last time we've seen him?" Patch asked the other girls, getting no reply.
"He's... Uh... He's probably on a business trip, with his parents... or something like that. I'm sure he's fine." Bright-Eyes said in response.
"Either that, or he could be with Teddy and/or Ace, doing whatever they do." Clover suggested.
"Yeah? And what's that then?" Melody added.
"Hey, I didn't say I knew, just that they'd probably be together."
"So, you're saying that the three of them have been hanging out with each other for the whole week, and no-one's seen or heard about them?" Bon-Bon asked the girls.
"If we're all so curious, then why don't we just give them a call?" Sweetheart thought out loud. "I'll do it, if none of you want to."
"Okay fine, go right ahead." Starlight told her, pointing to her bedroom phone, next to her bed. Sweetheart began to walk over to her phone, and hesitated to pick it up.
"Y'know, this isn't exactly how I expected to start our End Of Break Sleepover, but if it makes you girls happy, then I suppose I'll go along." Starlight told them.
"The night's still young." Clover replied.
"Come on, Sweetheart, what's the hold up? Hurry up and call them." Patch said as she began to grow impatient. Sweetheart didn't answer, as she kept quiet without touching the phone yet.
"Oh, I think I got it." Melody told the girls, with a smile on her face.
"Got what?"
"I think that Sweetheart doesn't know Lancer or Ace's phone or house number, so she has to call Teddy. And, because she has feelings FOR Teddy, in addition to being right in front of us..." Melody trailed on as the girls began to catch on.
"Melody..." Sweetheart whispered.
"It's alright, Sweetheart." Patch said to her. "Just let me call him, and I'll pretend that I'm you." The other girls laughed at the idea.
"Whoa, She's doing it!" Melody told the other girls, as they turned to her, seeing that she was actually dialing the number she needed.
"This should be entertaining." Melody told the girls around her. Sweetheart put the phone up to her ear, and waited for the ringing to stop.
After a few seconds, the sound silenced and they heard a voice on the other side of the phone. Unfortunately for them, it didn't sound like him. It was angelic, feminine and graceful.
"Good evening, Sweetheart." Was the first thing that she said. This completely caught her and the other girls off guard.
"Oh, um, sorry, miss. I think I got the wrong number." Sweetheart replied to her, thinking that she might have just called her Sweetheart to be nice, and not by her actual name.
"Would you and your six friends happen to be looking for a young stallion? Preferably the one that you call 'Teddy'?" She continued.
"What?!" Sweetheart's heart skipped a beat. "But, how did you know-"
The other girls looked at each other, before looking back at Sweetheart.
"Well, unfortunately for you seven, he and the other two darlings you're looking for aren't available, and they won't be until the day after tomorrow. I apologize if this is inconvenient for you." The lady continued.
"Where are they? And who are you, by the way? And how do you know us and why we called?!" Sweetheart began to sweat more now than she would have if she was talking to Teddy instead.
"My name is Swan, the young stallion and his rich and athletic friends are safe, and we have our methods of knowing. That will be all you need to know for now, my little ducklings, but I'm afraid I must leave for now. Ta-ta, sweet pea."
Sweetheart was just about to hang up on those words, before she heard the mare say something else. Hearing this, she put the phone back up to her ear.
"Before we stop talking, would you kindly put miss Bright-Eyes on the line for me please dear." She requested.
"Oh, um... Okay." Sweetheart complied. "Hey, Bright-Eyes, it's for you... I guess."
Bright-Eyes walked up to the phone and took it.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Miss Eyes. That book you found on your bed."
"You mean 'Cornered'? What about it? Wait, is it yours?"
"Not as such, but would you like to speak with the author by any chance? Or more importantly, the pony who gave you it?" Swan asked.
"You know them?" Bright-Eyes asked the young mare.
"Indeed I do. Would you like a word, or would you prefer to carry on with this little slumber party of Starlight's? You could hang up at anytime you know."
After hearing these words, Bright-eyes practically slammed the phone down back in it's holder, and walked back to her friends.
"That. Was. Creepy." Sweetheart commented to her friends.
"That's a bit of an understatement, Sweetheart." Bright-Eyes said in reply.
"Who-How-Why-What-" Starlight tried to find the question she was looking for.
"Hold on. This Swan girl said that the three of them will be ready the day after tomorrow. Also she said that we had nothing to worry about. Something like that anyway." Bright-Eyes commented to the other girls in the same bedroom.
"What's your point?" Patch asked the baker, looking paranoid.
"My point is, why don't we just carry on with the sleepover now, and worry about the colts when the time comes, alright? Coz if we spend the whole night worrying about them, then how are we supposed to have any fun?" Bright-Eyes said, trying to keep the girls in good spirits.
"But what if they've been kidnapped?" Sweetheart asked in fear. "You know that Lancer's family is rich, so if anyone got their hooves on him, then his parent would need to pay big money for his safe return."
"Calm down." Melody replied to her. "Bright-Eyes's right; the more we worry, the less fun we're gonna have."
"You're... You're right." Starlight said to her friends. "I mean, if they're "ready" soon, then all we can do is sit and wait for them to be "done"."
"I guess you've got a point." Clover said. "So... Anyone wanna play charades?"
"So did they buy it?" A male pony asked the snow white mare on the phone.
"They did. So now, hopefully the new appearance of the three of them won't be a complete surprise to those young ladies." Swan replied to the stallion. She saw that a hoof was offered to her in a gentle manor. She took it and was pulled from her seat and into a form of dance.
The two of them stood on their hind legs and began to slow dance. The male appeared to be leading, as they moved about the room in the romantic movement.
"However, are you certain that these three prodigies are the right ones for our lord? You and the other Marks can't afford to be wrong about this, Illiux."
The blonde pony smiled warmly at her question. He span her around himself, before lowering her into a dip.
"Well, I suppose we'll find out soon enough. However, if the likes of Bergim and Tetran can be two of them, I fail to see why not these two as well." He got her up and disconnected his hooves from hers, as they both stood on all fours again.
"That was refreshing." Swan told him as she spread her bird-like wings. "Are you going back to them already?"
"I must." Illiux said, as he reached for his mask. He gently placed it back on his face, being careful as to not mess up his hair. "The young stallions are expecting me for their finishing touches. Plus, I believe that there is a certain unhealthy shop that I need to rectify."
"If you insist, sir. But you may have to be prepared for rescuing the goth pony. As I recall, he's already with Walker on his first assignment." Swan told him, which caused him to turn around.
"Oh? And what assignment might that be?" He queried.
"From what I understand, it involves around the idea of ridiculing the group's leader, miss Starlight Nova."
About 5 or 6 hours later, the girls were all exhausted from doing everything that they had planned for the night. The previous attempted call to the boys was almost completely out of their minds by now.
"Well, G'night girls." Starlight said, turning her bedside light light off, allowing the room to fall into darkness.
"Good night." "Sleep tight." "See you in the morning." "Night." The other six all shared their good nights and hit the hay.
Unwittingly to them, there was a common trend when you were an enemy of Babylon: once a problem becomes stable in your mind, then another one immediately follows.
"I believe this is it, then?" A middle-aged pony's voice said to someone next to him. Even if you weren't looking from the girl's POV's, you still wouldn't see where they were.
"Yes." A familiar voice responded, seemingly like he knew this place well. "Are you two ready then?"
"Yeah, baby! Let's get this party started!" Someone else said, right before the sound of someone covering his mouth emitted.
"H... Huh?" Patch said, waking up slightly when she heard the voices. After not seeing anything, she thought she made it up, and went back to sleep.
"Don't do that again, Havoc." The familiar voice quietly ordered him. "Now come on, let's get this done."
"Okey dokey loky, smokey artachoky schmoky coky droky slok-" The hyper-active voice went on, not catching on with the fact that the other two had stopped paying attention.
"Is this child able to hear us, perhaps?" The older voice asked, apparently looking over Patch.
"Yes, and she can see us too, even when we're in these forms." The young pony answered, making his way over to the dresser. "I guess it's in here. Havoc, get the key."
"-Ky soaky wooky looky trooky quoky noky-" He carried on, sounding like he was making his way over to the nightstand cupboard where Starlight slept.
Just then, the sound of drilling and sawing came from where he needed to be, and the other two ponies kept telling him the be quieter, worried that Patch would wake up again and their cover would be blown.
"Got it~" He playfully declared, apparently turning around to see them.
The other two voices sighed in relief.
"Now where's this shrine thingy? I can't wait to see this shipping~"
"It should be in the cupboard. Check the side walls on the interior." The familiar pony answered him, looking at the next target for their plan.
Without even remembering what she was doing or where she was a second ago, Starlight found herself in a cosmos space of some sort. Strangely, she found herself able to walk on outer space, including ascending and descending at any point, as if she was climbing up or down stairs.
"Where am I?" Starlight asked herself, seemingly having no concept of a dream. As this question pondered through her head, she began to notice that the more she walked through the galaxy, the bigger the stars appeared to be, and they actually started to look like actually stars.
What's more, these bigger stars looked a lot less like the burning gases in space that you were taught in physics class, and more like the five pointed shapes that children draw in sketch books.
"How did I get here? Am I still dreaming? If so, couldn't I have dreamt of my future wedding with Ace instead of this?" She asked herself, with a small chuckle.
"This is a little more serious than your hopes for your future, Starlight!" A voice called out to her from out of nowhere. Looking around again, there didn't appear to be any one there.
"Wow, I'm in outer space and now I can hear my own subconscious."
"I'm not your subconscious, and this is a special type of dream." The voice announced again. As Starlight was looking around for the source of it, she noticed a small glowing star shaped light approaching her. The light began to expand more and more, until a hoof took a step out of it, and onto the walkway that Starlight found herself on.
As the hoof moved forwards towards her, Starlight took a step backwards. She then saw that another hoof came out, following the first one. The yellow hooves had golden rings on the fetlocks, and more matching rings around her cannon bones.
After she poked her head through the gap in space, Starlight took a better look at her face. Her mane appeared to be long and flowing, and was a mixture of blue and pink. Her eyes were cerulean blue, and for some reason, her pupils were in the shape of stars as well.
This girl looked as though she was the same age, if not slightly older than her. What was noticeable though was the fact that this girl had a horn on top of her head.
"If your not my subconscious, then who are you, and what are you doing here?"
"My name is Star. You, your friends, and even your enemies are in very grave danger." Star replied. "Now you need to listen-"
As she tried to continue, Star began to fade away from her sight, before reappearing a second later.
"Are you okay?" Starlight asked.
"I'm fine. Now listen, I know we've only just met, but believe me: I'm your friend." Star answered, just before she almost disappeared a second later. She still reappeared though, so the conversation continued.
"Okay I believe you." Starlight told her new acquaintance, rushing over to help her from fading again. "But what do you want from me? And how are we in danger? Who are my enemies? What's going on?"
"Starlight, you can tell I don't have much time, so the more questions you ask-" Star almost disappeared again, before reforming for a forth time. "-Then the longer we're gonna be here. Now listen, Illiux is going to-"
That was the last thing that she said, before the light behind her closed entirely, pulling the mysterious girl with her.
Upon awakening the next morning, Starlight got up from her bed and stretched her fore legs above her head and let out a sigh. Last night really was one to remember: the pillow fights, the makeovers, the gossip, the occasional prank (mostly at Sweetheart's expense), Truth-or-dare, cookies, board games, pretty much everything anyone could imagine girls that age get up to.
Starlight rubbed her eyes, to get the sleep out of her, before scratching the back of her head, feeling how much her hair was scattered all over her head.
"Bed head, much?" She heard Melody's voice ask her from the side of her bed.
"Y-Yeah, I guess." Starlight yawned. As she turned her head to look at her friends, she heard the sound of something that sounded like paper rusting towards her.
"Well, if you really wanna go back to sleep..." Starlight heard Patch's voice inform her, as she held something right in front of her. "I'm sure one look at this little "Dreamboat" will send you right off." Patch finished with a laugh.
The other girls tried to hide their own laughter as Starlight looked at what was right in front of her. The eyes that she had just been clearing a second ago then widened in terror at what was being held right there. It was an A2 size poster of Ace. More specifically, it was HER poster of Ace.
There he was, the handsome jock from the school, teeth shining, the cocky look on his face, the soccer ball in his hoof, the image she knew all too well.
"Where did you find this?" Starlight whispered as her heart skipped a beat. Her answer came in the form of the girls pointing at her wardrobe. The secret cabinet door was opened, the one place that she kept a secret from everyone she knew, including her own parents.
"Why didn't you tell us you built a shrine to Ace?!" Patch laughed so hard that it could be considered dangerous to health.
"That's my shrine! No one but me is allowed to go in there! How did you get in there?!" Starlight demanded to know from her friends, almost bursting into tears as she spoke.
"Let's have another look..." Melody said as she rummaged through more of Starlight's property. "A pen he threw away, posters, a lock of his mane, his old jersey, and even a sweatband."
"This is comedy gold." Patch laughed at Starlight, who was now burying her head in between her pillows. "Oh, oh, hold on, it gets better! Starlight, these aren't lipstick marks on here, are they?" Looking at the poster, at Ace's handsome face, Patch felt the pink oval marks, noticing that most of them were around his mouth.
The whole room almost burst out into laughter at the misery and embarrassment of Starlight, as she was covering her face as much as possible.
Sweetheart walked over to Starlight's bed where she was, and began to start sorting her hairstyle out.
"It's okay, Starlight, I think it's really sweet. A little strange, but sweet." She told her, running a brush through her hair.
"But how did you girls find the key for my shrine?" Starlight asked the girl, lifting her head from the pillow and looking at them. "This is so embarrassing..." She added quietly.
"Well, call me an over thinker, but I don't think that putting the key for it right in plain sight inside of your table's top drawer is a smart place to hide it." Clover replied, holding the key in her hoof, and pointing at her makeup table.
"Okay, yeah, but I still- wait a moment." Starlight said, as Sweetheart finished with her mane. She walked over to the table and pulled back the drawer.
"It should have been..." She felt the top of the drawer, and looked in confusion as the tape that had held the key appeared to have been cut open, allowing the key to fall to the bottom of the drawer. Starlight then proceeded to pull the drawer out and stick her head inside of the table, so that she could get a better look at it.
"How's this happened?!" Starlight exclaimed as she saw that tape was broken by something sharp.
"Maybe it fell out, or something." Patch answered, taking the key from Clover Bloom and handing it back over to Starlight.
"Keys don't just fall out, and tape doesn't just break. Somehow, this has been cut open, but who and why?"
"We'll think about that later, okay?" Bon-Bon told the girls, walking into the room. "Starlight, your mom just called us from the Ice-cream shop. Firstly school's apparently been closed down for ANOTHER week."
4 of the girls cheered at the news that they'd just been told. The two who looked disappointed were Bright-Eyes, because of her desire to learn, and Starlight due her inability to see her role model for another week.
"But, she also said that she wants to see us down there, ASAP. No idea why, but apparently it's urgent."
"Well then, let's get going." Starlight told the girls.
"This better be good." Patch said, strolling towards the shop. "I got outta bed for this."
"Who knows?" Sweetheart said to the girls. "Maybe the colts will have something to do with it."
"Wait, you're hoping that Teddy might have something to do with the Ice-cream shop needing us urgently?" Bright-Eyes interjected.
"Well, for once, that might actually be a good thing, because at least then we know he's safe." Starlight answered.
"Hey, isn't that him over there with Ace and Lancer?" Clover said to the girls, grabbing all of their attention, causing them to look in the direction that she was now pointing in.
The seven of them saw the colts in the distance. The blue colt with the Mohawk and sunglasses, the athletic blonde pony and the rich colt with the Fleur-De-Lys.
"I think so." Starlight answered again. "Sorry mom, but I'll be right back. Hey boys!! What're yo-" She was then cut off as she saw something completely random right in front of her. It was a glass panel, about twice as tall as she was. The panel was yellow/gold and see-through, despite the fact that she could see herself and her friends right behind her. It was almost like a magical window.
"What the?" Starlight asked herself, as she took a step backwards. barely a second later, another panel sowed up, the same size and shape as the first one. then another one came, then another, then another. About seven lined up next to each other, leading to the side of the Ice-cream shop door.
"What are those things?" Bon-Bon asked, for some reason thinking that her friends would know the answer.
"Seriously, you're asking us that?" Patch answered her. Just then the door opened, and the panels began to glow brightly. A pony walked out of the door, and the panels started to shrink in size and float into the hooves of whoever just walked out.
The pony was way older than the girls were, had a dark yellow coat, and a blonde, parted, blown-dried mane, reaching from their forehead to their spine. They were also wearing a long sleeved white preppy shirt and aqua berry sweater.
The pony looked at the panels in their hoof, before something on his forehead lit up and caused them to disappear.
"You're a Unicorn!" Clover said to them, without thinking. Whoever they were, they looked down onto the filly that had just spoken.
"Yes, and you're a beautiful young lady. Have you ever been told that?" He was quick to reply. Clover blushed at the comment, and also at the fact that there was a handsome Unicorn speaking to her. Even the other girls couldn't take their eyes off of him.
"Pardon me, my dear." He said, as he walked up to Starlight. "I'm looking for a young lady, by the name of Star. My name is Illiux. Have you seen here recently?"
Starlight looked in shock at the name that he had just mentioned. Seeing her reaction, Illiux knew that she saw Star in the dream last night.
"I think you're talking to her now, Mr. Illiux." Sweetheart commented.
"Yes, perhaps I am." He lied. "Your mother is wondering where you and your beautiful friends are; she seems to want to you for your assistance."
"Oh, okay." Starlight said, still unsure about him. "Yeah, uh, we were just going in to see her."
"Oh, that should be quite a load off of her mind. Because, for a moment there, I thought you were going to disobey her, and walk over to see those boys."
The girls looked in surprise at his last comment, as a warm smile grew onto his face.
"I must bid you auf wiedersehen, ladies." Illiux said to them, before walking away. "But before I leave, a question I must propose to you: Which one of you is Sweetheart?"
"I am." Sweetheart raised her hoof, in answer to him.
"I see. I must say, fräulein, you're a lot more beautiful than Teddy described."
"Teddy!? You know Teddy?" Sweetheart asked.
"I'm a... friend, of his mother. But enough about that, I have a duty to fulfill. Now this will NOT be the last time you see me." Illiux finished, walking away from the shop.
"Wow, he was almost as strange as that Goose girl we spoke to last night." Melody scratched her head. "But, he's still kinda hot."
"I think her name was Swan." Bright-Eyes corrected.
"Gorgeous..." Bon-Bon whispered.
"I hope I see him again." Clover added.
"Come on girls, get a grip." Starlight told them, looking superior. "We're needed in there, now no more distractions."
The seven girls walked into the store, as they had thought Illiux was gone by now. However, once he noticed that they left, he changed his direction and walked towards the colts.
"Foolhardy and predictable." He said to himself, as the colts began to disappear in the same light that the panels did.
"WHAT?! SOMEONE'S TRYING TO BY OUT THE STORE?!" Starlight asked her mother, in the back room of the shop.
"Yes, I'm afraid so. And unless we somehow manage to meet their price before Thursday, then this place won't be ours anymore." She replied to the girls.
"Why didn't you just say no to the proposition?" Patch asked.
"I did, but then they reminded me that this shop is a publicly invested business, meaning that anyone who meets the price that this store is worth has all the legal procedures to purchase this property, and all of it's belongings."
"Uh..." Patch said.
"She said that she has no power to say no, and that she needs money, badly." Bright-Eyes explained. "What was the designated price, by the way?"
"80 000 Jangles." The motherly mare answered. There was a moment of silence, preferably from the fact that nopony had a reply to the answer.
"... Anyone else hoping that Lancer is feeling generous?" Clover finally spoke up.
"If your talking about that colt from the rich family, then I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you girls again, by telling you that they're away on an apparent business trip, and they won't be back until tomorrow."
"Hold on, That's what Swan told us last night." Sweetheart reminded the girls.
"Who told you what last night?" Starlight's mother asked the girls.
"We tried to speak with some of the colts from school last night, but this Swan girl spoke to us, instead of them, and she said that the boys would be "ready" tomorrow." Sweetheart answered.
"Yeah, but we don't know for sure if where he is has anything to do with Swan."
"Anyway, who is trying to buy out the shop? What do they want from it?" Bon-Bon asked.
"He's a very wealthy young stallion by the name of Illiux." As she finished this sentence, the girls hearts skipped a beat. Knowing that they had just spoken with the same stallion who was now looking at ruining the lives of Starlight's family, it was hard for any of them to say a thing.
"This is a joke, right?" Starlight muttered to herself.
"From what I could tell, he was planning to buy out the shop, renovate it, and transform it into a state-of-the-art health club."
"Why would he want to do that?" Melody asked. "Furthermore, where did this idea come from? Turning an Ice-cream shop into a expanded workout club? What's wrong with Shapes?"
"I'm not sure, but we can't let him do this." Bright-Eyes replied. "This place is far too important to let it be taken from us."
"You can't stop him..." Patch could have sworn that she heard a voice tell her. She looked around for a second, only to realize that no one was there. Although, this voice sounded pretty familiar, like she heard it one other time a long time ago.
"Did you girls just hear something?" She asked her friends, at the risk of sounding paranoid.
"No, why?" Sweetheart asked in reply.
"It's already done..." The voice told her again. The voice wasn't necessarily deep, but was fairly booming. Every word that it said sounded as though it had a faint echo after it, making the voice seem illusionary.
Patch took another look around the shop, looking for whoever it was talking to her. The other girls caught on to her, and looked at each other in confusion.
"Patch, if you've finished over there, can you focus on this please?" Clover asked her friend, causing her to turn around.
"So, any thoughts on this Illiux guy?" Melody started the conversation between herself and her friends, as they walked back to Coltonville square.
"He's a rich jerk?" Patch said, without having to waste a second, "But a hot one..." She added quietly.
"Where did he come from?" Bright-Eyes added to the conversation.
"Does he have Teddy?" Sweetheart worried to herself.
"Why does he think Coltonville needs a second gym?" Clover asked the girls.
"If we keep asking questions to each other, then we'll just end up going nowhere." Starlight announced to the girls around her, stopping them all into a circle.
"Yeah, but it's not like there's a lot we can do right now." Bon-Bon said back to her.
"That's not true! We can still find a way to raise all the money we need before 4 days; we already did it once, so we can do it again."
"Yeah, but last time we only needed 200 jangles to buy a teaset, and really we only pulled that off because Lancer helped us at the last second." Melody reminded her. "This time, we need 400 times that amount to save a shop, and Lancer can't help us even if he wanted to. There's no way we can do this by ourselves."
"Maybe not, but who says it needs to be by ourselves?" Starlight replied. "We'll get everyone that we can to help: friends, family, public, fans, anyone that we know who can lend a jangle or two. We'll try everything we can, from bakes sales to concerts, and everything in-between to save what we love."
The girls smiled at the motivational speech that they were now being given.
"The school... I don't know what's happened to miss Hackney, but now, more than ever, I'm determined to find out, because students are not just allowed off school for no reason, and therefore we will not accept it this way. Whatever happened, it can't be better than what's happening here, and so we can't let it happen."
The others started to become more determined by what was being said.
"And I know that we may not be their closest friends in the world, but Teddy, Ace and Lancer need our help, and one day we may need theirs in return. We are not about to give up on them, the same way that they wouldn't, even on us, or themselves. Whatever this 'Illiux' and 'Swan' are planning to do with them, and the shop, we can't fail at this point in life."
Starlight walked closer into the middle of the circle and extended her hoof.
"Now who's with me?" She rhetorically asked them, knowing that they would all join her. The seven of them all had their hooves touching together.
Without warning, a bright light showed up in the sky above them. The seven girls broke the connection and looked above to where the light was, and the light began to illuminate brighter.
Eventually the light revealed itself to be some sort of star shower descending over the sky. Although appearing as a bit random at first, the girls took it upon themselves to take a closer look at the shower out of nowhere.
"Um, I don't think that's normal." Bright-Eyes told her friends, as if it wasn't obvious. The stars in the sky actually began to approach the girl's direction, towards where they were standing.
Noticing this, the ponies instincts would have told them to evacuate the area. Six of them did, trusting their common sense and running away. All of them, except for Starlight herself, who surprisingly felt as if the falling stars were calling out to her.
"Starlight, what are you doing?!" Patch yelled to her friend. She got no response, almost as if she could hear her friend.
"We need to get out of here! NOW!" Melody called to the same filly. Still no reply.
The only thing that Starlight could do right now was stare directly into what the other girls thought was her approaching doom. What the girls found strangest of all though, was the fact that Starlight looked as though she knew exactly what was going to happen the second those stars made contact.
Inevitably, the falling comets were low enough to hit the girls below. However, right before the stars above could impact the surface beneath, they all appeared to stop midair. Without any warning, the apparent impending death right in front of the girls just halted.
That was, until, the stars had a glowing light right in the center of them. The bright lights, now extending the reach from the stars above, began to envelop the seven girls.
Before any of them could say anything about what was happening, the illumination swallowed them all, blinding everything around them.
As you would probably expect from the protagonist, Starlight was the first of her friends to wake up from the unconscious state that she and her friends were now in.
"Urgh... Where... am...?" She asked herself, before looking around to find herself in a similar, if not identical cosmos as from last night's dream. The space, coloring, and even strange stars in the distance were all back, replicating the scene from the previous encounter.
However, Starlight then noticed one more additional detail this time, that she really didn't know how to feel about. Her friends, like herself, were all sealed within some star shaped barriers. Each one of the seven were kept separate from each other, preventing any kind of communication. What was even more worrying to her though, was the fact that she saw that all of her friends were still unconscious.
"Melody! Bon-Bon! Clover!" Starlight called out to the other girls in the stars around her. "Anyone!"
The girls around her still didn't move from their current lying/sitting positions, each of them staying entirely unconscious. Nothing that she said could get through to them, so Starlight tried a different tactic: banging on the star that she was trapped within.
However, this also proved to be a useless endeavor, as each of her attacks just bounced right off of the walls.
"Y'know, for something made of burning gas, these stars are pretty solid." Starlight told herself, trying to light up her own mood.
"That's the whole point of barriers, Starlight; they're not supposed to be broken." A voice told her. Starlight turned around to see a familiar sight: The same light in the space from her dream last night. The same girl walked through it, carefully strolling towards Starlight and her friends.
"Star? Is that you?" She asked the approaching girl.
"Does Teddy smell like a dumpster?" The girl replied, to which Starlight giggled. Star made her way over to where she was, and her horn lit up. In a second, Starlight's barrier vanished, and she was able to stand on the invisible floor once again.
"What are you doing here? What are WE doing here?" Starlight followed up her previous question.
"I brought you and the girls here to answer the questions that the writer got bored of repeating." Star told her in reply. "But if I want to tell all of you at the same time, I'll have to release your friends from the barrier's they're in, and risk the likes of Illiux finding me. I'll fill you and your friends in one by one, so that they're clear as well."
"Okay, so first question: What's happening with the school and Miss Hackney?"
"This might take a while to explain, and there'll be a lot of information to take in, so listen carefully. All of the events up to now all have one common denominator: Lancer."
"Lancer? As in the rich colt, goes to our school, nicest colt we know, Lancer? But he'd never hurt a fly."
"Maybe not the colt that you and your friends know, but there's been a few changes in his life. Now listen, this part is important: In your world, there's five different types of magic that inhabit all life. Without these kinds of magic, you and your friends wouldn't have a world to call home."
"What kind of magic are these?"
"Well, firstly, just so we're on the same page, this isn't the sort of magic that let's you pull a rabbit out of a hat. The first kind of magic is already within you and the other girls, Starlight. It's what is called Neutral Magic, and everypony in the world, except from Pegasi, Unicorns and Alicorns have it."
"Wait, so you're saying that me and my friends are already magical? This I gotta see." Starlight looked at the ground behind her, in excitement.
"You'll see it yourself soon enough. The problem is, even I don't know how or when this power will show itself to you. In fact, as far as I know, only one pony does know how to use this, and he's fighting against us."
"Oh."
"Now then second kind of magic isn't as nice as it sounds: it's called Rainbow magic. This kind is the specialty of Pegasi and Alicorns, like myself." Star told her, showing her wings and lighting her horn up.
"Okay, so what does this one do? And what does this have to do with Lancer?"
"Easy, but it has nothing to do with him. You see, this magic is what gives all of the ponies here the motivation to live life, and feel great about themselves. It already spreads in the sky, and eventually finds it way into everypony in existence. It's the more... optimistic magic."
"Explains a lot really." Starlight said as she thought about what Star just said.
"Next up we have Mystical magic. I really don't think you or anyone you know will come across this one so easily."
"Why's that?" Starlight asked again. "If it makes my world a whole, then shouldn't I come across it often?"
"I thought that your friend Melody demonstrated that you shouldn't jump to conclusions. This magic is rare because it only exists in rare creatures, like Manticores and Dragoniquises. This magic isn't one to take lightly, because I don't know what it's limits are. Each species that has it can do their own thing. Summon storms, cut through metal, mass hysteria, you name it."
""Manitcore"? "Dragoniquis"? Are you sure you didn't make this up?" Starlight asked her, clearly still skeptical.
"Is Bright-Eyes an egghead?" Star replied sarcastically.
"Carry on."
"Next, we have a more... unpleasant sounding kind of magic. Brace yourself for this kind: Ghost."
"...Seriously?" Starlight asked, looking concerned at the potential that this magic could cause.
"Yuppers. Ghost magic is one of the more difficult magic's to learn, but in return, it's even more difficult to beat. They can do pretty much anything that you think a ghost can: Walk through walls, disappear, fly, be much more unique than the other guy." Star then broke into a song and little dance. "And it was then that he knew what he had to do, he had to stop all the ghosts that are coming through, he's here to fight for me and-"
Star stopped when she saw Starlight staring at her in confusion.
"Okay, okay I'll stop now. But in all seriousness, Ghost magic allows certain ponies, mostly Unicorns to take on powers to float, vanish, possess things, and even yell a wail that can shatter glass. However, not a lot of ponies can be gifted with this kind of magic. In fact, back where I come from, Some ponies argue whether or not this kind of magic actually exists or not."
"But it does, right?"
"Of course it does. Finally, you might find this one the most difficult to overcome."
"Come on, I can take anything." Starlight told her, looking confident.
"I really don't think you can." Star answered.
"Bring it on, we'll take down any-"
"Dragon." Star bluntly said.
Starlight's heart skipped a beat. Her intense fear of the scaled animals was kept a secret from everyone she knew. However, knowing now that she had no choice but to face them eventually, Starlight was beginning to doubt her own abilities.
"Did... You... Just... Say... Dragons...?" Starlight asked in fear.
"Yes... I... Did..." Star replied, mocking her, clearly not taking this as seriously as she should.
"That's not funny."
"Anyway, like it or not, you and the others will have to take them on sooner or later. Now that that's out of the way, Let's move on to the colts of Babylon, and your former classmates."
"You... Ahem." Starlight cleared her throat. "You mean Teddy, Ace and Lancer, don't you?"
"Those are their official birth names?" Star asked with a cadence of surprise.
"What do you mean? Those are their ONLY names, right?"
"Not exactly. You remember before, when I said "Where I come from"?"
"I think so. Wait are you from another time? Or another dimension?! Are you from the future?!" Starlight asked, getting excited.
"If you pipe down, I'll tell ya." Star told her, causing her to calm down. "Thank you. Now, then I'm from a different timezone, like you said. Where I'm from, Almost every pony has been split up into different factions of society."
"Okay."
"Now the leaders, one of which is my-"
"Hold on a second! What factions are these? What society? Where are you from? How are you from a different timezone? Who's every pony? Who isn't every pony? How did you get here? What's this have to do with Coltonville? You didn't answer my questions from before."
"Listen. The factions that my home is split up into all have leaders, one of which is my brother. My brother is the one who's controlling Lancer."
"He's being controlled!?"
"Yes, and unless you and your friends can revert him back into being the boy that you once knew, then I'm afraid that Coltonville won't ever be the same again. You see, my brother promised to give him everything that he wants: His dream life, a respecting family, a secure career, Bright-Eyes for his wife, everything."
"I think I understand. So you're saying we need to convince him that your bro is lying to him."
"That might be easier said than done. The problem is, I don't really think that he is lying to him about his promises, because he could actually potentially fulfill his end of the bargain. After all, he's already started."
"How so?" Starlight questioned in curiosity.
"You don't think there's a connection between your school and shop being in danger, and the three of them disappearing? Lancer is trying to own this town."
"What!? Why?!" Starlight yelled.
"To live his lifelong dream: He wants to be the governor of Ponyworld. With the help of my brother and his entourage, that may be a very real possibility."
"So this Illiux guy isn't the one who's trying to own the store, but Lancer is?"
"Erm... Yes and no. You see, Lightning Talisman, AKA Illiux Lure, has had a long history of business with Lancer's parents in his life. Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked, so let's moved on."
"Alright. What about the other two?" Starlight asked the alicorn.
"Who'd you wanna know first? The colt you hate with a passion, or your future husband?"
Starlight giggled at the second one. "I think I'm gonna pick the second one."
"Okay, so Teddy is under the con-"
"WHAT!?! NO!! I MEANT ACE!!" Starlight practically roared.
"I know, I'm just kidding. Ace is... different, as well." Star laughed. 'The nicest way I can tell her.' She thought.
"Different how?" Starlight asked her.
"Well, he's, uh... Bigger. And, um, he's gotten a lot stronger now. Plus, he changed his... um, hair. He's taken a small change in fashion now, and he's a lot more... different." Star smiled awkwardly.
"Okay..." Starlight looked confused. "So, is he helping your brother as well?"
"Technically yes, but not as much as Lancer. He's under the control of a Dragon."
"Oh." Starlight said again, recalling her fear. "Why does he want him? He doesn't want to eat him, does he?!" She gasped.
"I think their relationship is less about what Auxron wants with Ace, and more about what Ace wants from him. Similar to Lancer, Ace was promised to get what he wants with life. Unfortunately, his dream involves everypony bowing to him. So, you can imagine how ecstatic he was when he heard the he could have dragons instead of ponies at his beck and call."
"I think I get it. Well, if it's for him, I don't care if those things rip me in half." Starlight said, finding new-found bravery.
"Um... Touching." Star replied to her comment.
"What about the idiot?" Starlight turned her attention back to the other girl in front of her.
"Out of the three of the boys, Teddy's got the strongest reason to help those guys that I'm trying to stop." Star informed the filly.
"Really? Why?"
"Starlight, I may be an Alicorn from another timeline, but I don't know everything."
"Oh, okay. Maybe then, I won't have to feel as bad, when I stop him myself."
"Not quite what I meant, but if that makes you happy..."
"Continue." Starlight instructed.
"From what I do know, Teddy is helping the most...self-confident pony in Babylon."
"Babylon?" Starlight asked.
"My home. Well, my old home, but I can't continue to help the ponies there."
"So that's where they are now?"
"I don't know, they could be there, or they could be on their way back over here now. In fact, they could already be here, as far as I know."
"Wait, so this Babylon could have already sent the three of them over here, and we're wasting our time in this outer space thing?"
"Maybe, maybe not. Anyway, the pony that your old enemy is helping is the second most dangerous pony in all of Babylon."
"Who's the first?"
"My brother, of course. As far as I know, anyway."
As the two of them were talking, A sudden disturbance came between them and shook the entire space, knocking the girls off of their hooves.
"What was that!?" Starlight cried out.
"The Babylon! They've found me!" As she was answered, another shock wave attacked them.
"What do we do?!" Starlight asked, ready to panic.
"There's no alternative, I'll have to tell your friends later, but for now, you'll have to-" Star was cut off, when a bright light broke through the cosmos, similar to the one that Star first came out of. This caught the attention of the girls, as they turned to see the 8 filly's.
The gap opened even further, and soon enough, a figure could be seen walking right out of it. Whoever it was, they were clearly taller and older than the girls, and they had clothing on.
Their clothes were mainly themed around sports, hence the red and white Letterman jacket they had on, over their yellow tank top. They also had matching white tracksuit pants on, and red and yellow trainers.
Whoever the being was, they weren't a pony. In fact, they had a more masculine appeal to them, and they stood on two legs.
"Hey, Starlight, how have you been?" He said. He made his way over to the girls on the other side, and four more figures even appeared to become visible from the gap behind him.
"Virtuoso. I thought with a brain like yours, it'd take you years to get here." Star told him, standing in front of Starlight.
"You calling me an idiot? I just got to your little excuse of a hideout, and I'M the idiot?" This guy asked. As he got closer and closer to them, it was clear that he was more than just something other than a pony, he was Starlight's biggest fear: a dragon.
This dragon had yellow scales spreading from anywhere visible on his body, including what little Starlight could make of his face, underneath his jacket hood. What was eye-catching, though, was the fact that his scale color was very familiar to Starlight.
"How did you and your little lizard colony find me?" Star asked the hooded sporty dragon.
"Ha ha ha." He laughed at her, as he stopped walking. "If you really gotta know, it was her fault." He pointed at Starlight.
"Me?" She asked this guy, backing up a little.
"Heck yeah, baby. When master Illiux asked you if you've seen Star, the look on your face told him the answer he was looking for. Then, all we needed to do was get mistress Xandra and the Ingenium faction to help me and my new friends get in here."
"So this is my fault?" Starlight asked, feeling guilty.
"Hey, good for you; you're beginning to catch up." He replied with a laugh. "But anyway, Star you know why I'm here, so just give it to me."
Star then reached into her golden ring on her leg. As her hoof made contact, the ring began to light up slightly, and Star was then able to pull out something that she had apparently been keeping in there.
It was a gem. The gem was as small as her hoof, misty white and had what looked like a topaz core right in the middle of it. The little jewel also had small yellow spikes descending from the edge of the tip.
"You want it?" She asked, showing him the gem.
"Yes I do." Virtuoso replied, with a smug smile on his face.
"Then... Go fetch it!" She shouted, before doing something unpredictable. She handed the gem over to Starlight and pushed her right out of the way.
Star then lit her horn up again, and fired something directly at Starlight directly. As it made contact with her body and the gem, starlight's entire figure then lit up.
"No!" The dragon shouted, as he ran for his life over to her, seemingly so he could catch the gem that he was clearly after. He managed to get very very close to her, almost enough so that he could rip her face off with one swipe of his claws.
Fortunately for her, the light surrounding her then worked its magic in the nick of time. She began to light up brighter before, teleporting away from the cosmos that she was in.
"Starlight? STARLIGHT!" A voice called out to the young lady , as the filly very slowly began to open her eyes once again.
"Where am I?" Starlight asked, rubbing her head. She felt the touch of several hooves helping her back up from whatever she was lying on.
"Well, for the last 40 minutes, you've been knocked out cold." Sweetheart told her. "When that star shower came out of nowhere and attacked us, You were the only one that actually got affected by it. So when you went under, we knew that we needed to get you home as soon as possible."
"Thanks girls." Starlight said as she got up from here bed, before a thought appeared into her head. "Say, uh, this might sound a little weird, but..."
""But..."?" Melody quoted.
"What... happened to YOU when I was out? Did you see, hear or feel anything?"
"Well, come to think of it, I think I saw someone in this really strange space thing." Bright-Eyes replied.
"Yeah, there was a girl with a blue and pink mane, wasn't there?" Patch asked the other girls.
"I think so. She didn't look at us though." Clover added.
"We saw her for about five seconds, before she disappeared and we got our vision back." Bon-Bon continued.
"Wasn't she talking to some pony in front of her? Although we didn't see their face." Sweetheart said.
"Okay. Did any of you hear what she said?" Starlight asked as well.
"Starlight, we didn't even hear her name, so how could we hear anything else?" Patch asked in response.
"Heh. Fair enough, then." She smiled.
"Hey, what's that?" Clover asked, pointing to the bedroom window. The seven girls looked at the window, noticing that there was some sort of black mist covering the outside.
"I don't know. Maybe something outside's making smoke?" Starlight suggested, walking up to it. She began to open the window, right before the mist creeped through the window and wrapped itself around her hoof.
"Ahh!" She exclaimed, moving her hoof back immediately. As the mist let go, it found its way around the window. Withing seconds, the window opened itself.
"What is that?!" Bon-Bon asked, backing up with the other girls. Whatever it was, the mist was pouring itself onto the floor in one spot.
"I think I know..." Starlight answered, coming to a realization.
"Well, you gonna let us know as well?" Melody asked.
"It's a ghost." Starlight calmly said. As she let the other girls know, they all looked at each other, then back to her.
"A ghost? Are you sure about that?" Sweetheart questioned her, looking back at the mist before them. They all noticed that the mist was starting to gather up in one spot, and built its way up to create a form.
"Trust me, and you'll see." She said, waiting for it be complete. The other girls carefully backed off from the so-called spirit, whereas Starlight stayed immobile. At first thinking that it was just paralysis out of fear, she refused to back off.
In fact, the young lady actually started to walk towards the the scary looking black air.
"You... You're not scared of me?" A very soft and gentle voice asked her. The voice was apparently coming from the mist that the other girls didn't want to go near.
"I don't think I need to be." Starlight responded to the mysterious being. Eventually, the mist reached the top of the pony form that it was building, and it vanished.
The figure appeared to be a little girl, around the age of six. She had a peachy white coat color to her, and the front of her mane was a neatly coiled up spiral shape, with light flicks at the back. It was mostly a light purple, with hints of minty green in some parts, a bit like ice-cream.
Her outfit consists of a Gothic black dress, fit perfectly to her size. It was plain and black, but really stood out, especially because of her colors. She also wore some black eyeliner, and her hooves were painted black as well.
Her eyelids then opened, showing off her pretty emerald green eyes. She looked so innocent.
"But what about what miss Star told you?" The little girl asked the older one. Starlight gasped at what the kid just asked her.
"How do you know what she said?"
"I didn't. It just came to me that she would have told you about why I'm here right now."
"Wait, so..." Patch piped up, moving towards the girl. "You're actually a ghost?"
"Yes, but not like Squire, miss Patch." The foal answered her, surprising Patch.
"How do you know my name? Who are you?" Patch demanded to know.
"My name is Kindred Spirit. Guardey- I mean, Lancer told me about you and your friends, miss Patch." The little girl said, in her angelic voice.
"Lancer?! You know him?! Where is he?!" Bright-Eyes asked, running up to her.
"Yes I do, miss Eyes. I don't want you to worry about him; he's not in any physical pain." Spirit told the smart girl.
"Oh, well that's kind of a relief. You don't have to call me 'Miss', by the way." Bright-Eyes said.
"Okay. But Lancer won't be ready for a while, after my master is done with him."
"What do you mean "Done with him"?" Clover asked the newly arrived young lady.
"He's just helping up with a few things in his life and body. But I don't think he has to; he's already fine as he is. He's just so handsome, calm, stylish, nice, rich, helpful, young, talented, stylish, smart, strong and caring." Kindred said, as she went into a sort of daydream.
"You said stylish twice." Bon-Bon corrected her.
"Somebody's got a boyfriend~" Patch whispered, thinking that he little girl couldn't hear her. How very wrong she was.
Kindred slowly walked up to her, and raised her front hoof. As she did, the whole hoof turned back into that black mist from before. It crawled its way around the back of her head.
Suddenly, it turned solid, and Patch felt it pull her head down quickly, specifically so it reached Kindred's height level.
"One day, I hope so." She calmly said to the tomboy, releasing her ghostly grip.
"How did you do that?" She asked the phantom.
"It's a type of magic, called Ghost magic. Not a lot of ponies can learn it, but in return-"
"It's even more difficult to beat?" Starlight cut her off.
"Oh, so you DID speak to her?" Kindred asked the girl, to which Starlight nodded. "I guess that she also told you that I have to get that gem she gave you as well."
"Uh, no, that didn't come up." Starlight took a step back.
"Really? Well, now you know, so please just hand it over." Kindred extended her hoof, waiting for her to give it, Starlight got the gem into her hoof, and held it there for a few seconds.
"Starlight wait!" Bright-Eyes said, as she got in between the two girls. "Before she gives it to you, tell us exactly what's happening with the colts."
"I'm not allowed to tell you, now please give it here."
"Not until we know." Melody told the little girl.
"I need that gem, then you can have those boys back."
"What's happening to them, kid?!" Patch was getting annoyed.
"They're just being experimented on. Are you happy now?"
"What?! No! That's just made us feel even worse!"
"You asked for an answer, what more do you want? My master didn't tell me anything else."
"You've told them enough already, young one." Somepony else with a deep voice said, clearly standing at Starlight's doorway. The eight girls looked to see a covered up pony standing right there, in front of them.
He was firstly wearing pitch black shads, insinuating that he was blind. He had a large white fedora hat on, covering the majority of his head and hair. In addition, he had a white scarf folded right around his mouth, nose and muzzle, hiding his entire face. Also, he had a white suit with black buttons on it, with a white tie underneath, on top of a black shirt. On top of that he had a pair of black trousers on, obviously leaving a hole for his tail. Finally he was wearing a pair of black and white loafer shoes on his back hooves and gloves on his front hooves..
"What now? Who are you?" Starlight asked the stranger. "And how did you get in here?"
"Hey, that's the blind pony from yesterday. How'd he get up here?" Sweetheart told her friend.
"Mr. Walker?" Kindred asked him. It was clear to the girls that the two of them knew each other.
"Who's that?" Melody asked the little girl.
"Sir, what are you doing here?" Kindred asked again, ignoring Melody's question.
"Wait a second, "Sir"? Are you her master? You're the one controlling Lancer?" Bright-Eyes followed up.
"Yes and no. I do outrank Kindred greatly, making me her superior, but I am not her master. You must be thinking of Phoxjes; He is my master as well as hers."
"So who are you? And how did you get here?" Starlight repeated herself.
"My name is Walker, and I am a ghost pony, like young Kindred. I am here to tell miss Spirit that Mr. Lancer is waiting for you right now." Kindred's eyes widened at the news.
"Guardy? Wants me?!" Her soft voice somehow found a way to get even softer.
"Yes. He said that when you didn't show up at his mansion, he began to get worried, so he sent me to find you."
"Oh yeah, I forgot all about that. Can we go there now?" Kindred asked as she touched the blind stallion.
"Hold on, then we're going with you!" Bright-Eyes told the pair, with a determined look in her eyes.
"As foolhardy as it is brave..." Walker started.
"Bright-Eyes." Kindred said for him.
"...Bright-Eyes, but I'm afraid I can't do that. My master would be most displeased." Walker continued, taking the little girl under his hoof.
"If we see him, or his friends Virt or Ursa-" Kindred began, before Walker cleared his throat.
"Oh, sorry, if we see Ace or Teddy, we'll let them know you're looking for them, okay?"
The girls didn't even get a chance to reply, before the pair turned back into the black mist from before. Soon, they looked like they were made entirely of gas, and they started to seep through the floor, into nothingness.
"Well... That happened." Bon-Bon stated the obvious.
"So the boys are back here?" Starlight asked herself out loud, putting a hoof on her chin.
"I guess so. One way to find out: Let's try calling them again." Sweetheart suggested.
"Good idea." Starlight said, as the other girls seemed to agree. Sweetheart picked up the phone and dialed in the number of what she hoped to be her future husband.
"Cross your hooves, girls." Clover said to them.
"Never thought that hearing Teddy's voice would be so relieving." Patch added. Suddenly, the phone was answered.
"Sweetheart! What's up?" Someone's voice said to her, to which the other girls heard.
"H-how did you know is was me?" Sweetheart asked the boy.
"Because I have eyes. Turn around." He instructed. She obeyed, and almost dropped the phone she was speaking into. She had her gaze fixed on the window, and more importantly, who was on the other side of it.
"What... How... Why..." Sweetheart was lost for words, as she hung up the phone. She then made her way over to the window, and spoke to him. It was Teddy.
"How's your day going?" He calmly asked her, literally just levitating above the ground, so he could speak with the girls.
There was something flapping on his back, which was obviously the reason why he was up this high. It was clear that he was more than just different like they initially thought.
"What... What happened to you?" Sweetheart asked the boy right in front of her. She had a fairly long list of things to expect, given the activities over the last two days. However, that list did not include the possibility of one of her "friends" being turned into a new race of the same species.
He was literally just flying there, with his newly formed wings flapping constantly enough for him to be above the ground, and up to their height in the upstairs room.
Most of the group were shocked by this new body part he had suddenly obtained. But for one of them, ideally a tomboy named Patch, while this was a surprise for her, something looked familiar about his levitation limbs.
His wings were almost in the same style of Brightglow and her friends, with the only difference being his new wings had a key feature about them; they both had a sapphire crystal in the middle of them each, that both touched his wing wrist. This prevented his wings from doing complete flaps like theirs did.
Not only that, but he was also wearing a new outfit to go with his feathered feature.
Noticeably, the first piece of the outfit was a black leather jacket that he was wearing over his barrel and front legs, that seemed provide holes in the back for his wings to stick out of. Second was his new pants that he had on. They were an umber shade of brown, carried a leather belt around them and reached down to his fetlocks. Speaking of which, he could also be seen wearing a pair of black, white and blue trainers on his hind leg hooves. Lastly, his signature sunglasses were a lot more different then they were before, in a way that made them look bigger, equipped, stylized and even metal.
"We haven't seen or talked to each other in almost a few- I mean, full week, and THAT'S the first thing you say to me?" Teddy asked the pale white girl in front of him. "No "Hi"? No "Hello"? No "How are you"?"
The other six girls walked over to the window that he was, saw the differences that he apparently underwent, gasped, and let the two of them continue.
"You've got wings. You're flying!" She exclaimed.
"You've got legs. You're standing!" He sarcastically retaliated.
"Who did this to you? And what's with your outfit?"
"I can't tell you that."
"Why not?" Starlight piped up, walking up to him outside. "If this is what you look like from now on, then I think we're gonna need to know what happened to you."
"Hey Starlight..." Teddy began, before his eyes and mane lit up a dark brown shade, along with his whole body glowing dark purple, as he looked directly into her eyes. "I don't actually care what YOU think." He finished, gritting his teeth.
"Whoa, calm down." Starlight said, backing up a bit.
"Hmph." Teddy grunted, as he closed his eyes, and they turned back to normal. "What I CAN tell you though, is that I owe everything to my master. After he saved my life, I promised to do anything that he wants me to."
"Master? Why do YOU of all ponies have a master?" Patch asked the Pegasus in front of her.
"If you really want to know, then why don't you call Swan again? I'm sure that she can tell you everything that you don't need to know again. In fact, didn't you have a wonderful talk with her last night, when you forced her to call my number?" Teddy mocked them, as he pointed at Sweetheart, to which she blushed at.
"B-But how did you know that?!" Starlight asked him.
"Ha ha ha. A guy like me knows these kind of things. That, and Illiux told me. Granted, Swan had to tell him first, but I got the memo eventually. Oh, and that reminds me, Starlight." Teddy said, as he flew forwards a little, and into the room. He then went up to her, and folded his wings inwards, dropping himself onto the ground.
"Reminds you of what?" Starlight asked, looking at him in an annoyed way.
"My master told me that you have something that doesn't belong to you. Ideally, a little gem that some girl gave to you when you got hit by her own star shower. Where is it?" He asked Starlight, knowing full well that she knew what he was talking about.
"That's none of your business where it is." She said back to him.
"None of my business, eh? Starlight, there're more differences between you and me than anyone can count; your friends and family will stay loyal to you, keeping you and themselves happy, whereas I've only counted on myself for my whole life."
Just then, his eyes and body began to glow again, catching their attention. His smile only grew more evil, until it stopped.
"But unlike you, I can afford to have my life turned around. In fact, that's exactly what I want and need the most right now. All it would take is to show my master and my friends that I'm not the space-wasting failure you are."
"..." Starlight didn't reply to him, instead just looking mad.
"Now I'll ask again: Where is it?" Teddy repeated himself.
"I'm not telling you." She replied to him, right before he sighed.
"Okay then. You're little shop is in a little trouble, isn't it? You've got limited time before Illiux buys out the rights to it, if I'm not mistaken? So if I were you, I'd ignore what some stranger girl told you, and keep to what you know."
"So this Illiux guy is involved with you as well, then?" Starlight asked the colt.
"Involved?" Teddy asked, as he sprout his wings again. "These were his idea. He's more involved with this then I am."
"He turned you into Pegasus?" She asked.
"Is asking questions all you can do, you twit?" Teddy asked in response. Although none of them admitted it themselves, they all thought that he was acting a lot more aggressive than he usually does.
"What are you even doing here, Teddy?!" Patch asked, walking up to him.
"My master sent me here to get the gem that twit's new friend stole from us." He pointed at Starlight, indicating that was his name for her now.
"Well, looks like she doesn't have it, so get lost, birdie." Patch snarled at him.
"Call me that again..." Teddy's coat lit up purple again, and he sprout his wings even further. "And I'll make sure that those friends of yours from your old orphanage will end up living on the street, Patch!" He finished, the aggressiveness returning.
"Hey, leave my orphanage out of this! Besides, you don't even know who my friends were back then."
"Stylist, Party and Charmer? And Rosy, of course." Teddy said to her, as she looked at him in shock.
"Where did you get those names from?!" Patch backed up a little. The girls all looked at Teddy, as he smiled an evil smile.
"My master told me that as well. In fact, based of what I've seen and heard from them, I wouldn't be surprised if he found them by now."
Patch became slightly worried at what he was saying, fearing for her old friends.
"Anyway, if you don't like what he did to me, just wait until you see what happened to Ace and Lancer. Those two have been through way more changes than I have with their masters."
"Ace and Lancer? So they're in on this thing too?" Clover asked the boy.
"Teddy, I don't know who these master of yours are, but you guys picked the wrong side to join." Starlight told him.
"I couldn't disagree more; I chose the perfect side to join. But if you wanna settle this properly, then get that gem and meet me and my new buddies at the schoolyard in less than 40 minutes." He ordered.
"'New buddies'?"
"Yeah, the other Greasers." He answered.
"What Greasers?"
"The ones that hang out at the quarry."
"What quarry?"
"Look, just stop asking questions and get to the school; you'll see them when you get there."
"Why should we?" Melody asked him, trying to show him up.
"Because if you do then you'll see what's really been going on."
"And if we don't?" Bon-Bon questioned him. Before he answered, he reached into his pants pocket, and pulled out a little stick, looking like a toothpick.
"Well, you don't have to, but I would suggest you do..." He warned them, as he pulled his hoof to his mouth, and now the stick thing was hanging out of his maw. "...There might be a little barbieque goin' on over there later, and we wouldn't want you to miss out."
When he said this, the girls could clearly see what he had in his mouth, and what he was foreshadowing. It wasn't actually a toothpick.
It was a match.
"Y-You mean... You're gonna..." Sweetheart tried to get out, thinking of what could happen.
"Get to the school in less than 39 minutes, or the building goes up in flames. Got it?" He didn't give them a chance to answer.
Teddy made his way back over to the window, and made a jump for it. The girls looked on at him, noticing that he was now away from them, flying off into the distance.
He ascended for a second, before heading off in the daily school bus route, for the school.
'Mom.' He thought. 'Just wait for me a little bit longer.'
Meanwhile...
"Well, that went rad." Melody said to the girls, before turning to Starlight. "So are you gonna go?"
"I don't think I have much choice, girls." Starlight answered as she walked towards her bedroom door. "If he knows where the others are, and what happened to them, then I'm just going to have to do what he says. Besides, right now, anything could be our best bet."
Starlight was about to open the door, until she felt a hoof on her shoulder. She turned around to see Sweetheart with her hoof on her.
"Then you're not going alone." Sweetheart told her.
"Well, we're here." Clover said, as the seven of them arrived at the school that Starlight loved so much. They took a closer look at the building, and they could already tell that it was much better-looking from the outside.
Most of the windows had graffiti on the inside of them, ranging from modern art to what one could label as poetry. The majority of the walls had cracks around them, and the front doors looked charcoal black, as if a fire had been set to them. Even the roof seemed to be included in the damage, as it looked like a bomb had been dropped on it.
"The school! Who did this?!" Starlight screamed, as she looked upon the building.
"Oh, right, because your friends gonna know de answer to dat, Runt." A deep-voiced Jamaican stallion told her, from the door frame of the school. Without even looking at who it was, Starlight walked right up to him, as if she wanted to take him on.
As she got up to where he was, she looked up and started to argue with him. However, the second she met his eyes, the adrenaline drained from her body, and she started to immediately regret trying to stand up.
He was medium brown colored coated, a pitch black pompadour mane, and dark brown eyes. He was also wearing a black leather jacket, over a red tank top, as well as semi dark jeans. In addition, he had light brown trainers on his hind hooves. Clearly at least 9 or 10 (physical) years older than the girls were, he had the word "intimidating" all over him.
Whoever he was, he was currently leaning against the door to the school.
"Someding you want say to me, liddle girl?" He asked the obviously scared girl in front of him, chewing gum in his mouth.
"Go on Den, I'm listening." He said to her, getting off the door and standing up straight. "You want know where mi boy Deddy is? Or what happened to Hackney?" The stallion asked her.
"Well, y-yeah. Where is he? H-h-h-h-he told us to meet us here, a-a-a-and he-" She stuttered out eventually, right before he walked past here, down the stairs and round the back of the ledge of the school.
He then reached down to grab something that he was keeping down there, and lift it into his hoof. The girls eyes widened when they saw what it was: A sledgehammer. It was a big one as well, so much so that the head of it was almost the same size as his own head.
Even more terrifying for her was the fact that he was now walking up to her up the four stairs again. However, her fear was quelled when he went past her, and up to the doors that appeared to be locked. He then lifted the sledgehammer up so that the equipment was above his head, and that the handle was facing the door.
The stallion then proceeded to ram his tool into the door, damaging it severely and waking up several neighbors in the process. He hit it again in the same spot, and the door was opening slightly. After that, he lightly pushed the door open and it stayed in position when it opened.
"Come on in, and brace 'self, Patch. Deddy is wait for you and your friends in the playground. Got it?"
"Okay?" Patch said, after taking in a deep breath, and prepared herself for the worst.
The 8 ponies made their way into the opposite side of the school, and he kicked the doors wide open to the playground.
Whereas this Jamaican guy looked happy at what he saw, the girls, once again, looked mortified at the sight of the playground being absolutely vandalized. The swings were burnt off the pole, the monkey bars all broken in pieces, the seesaw snapped in two, it all looked like a war zone.
"What's happening, mi boys?" He asked out load, to all the other boys here in leather jackets. They all looked at him and replied in their own ways.
"Hey, brother!" Teddy shouted to the stallion. The girls looked down to see him walking up to them, still wearing the same attire as before.
"Ursa, mi boy. What's up wid cho?" He asked the boy. They seemed to be close friends.
"Not much, Stonefort. I see you've brought my prey to my cave for me." Teddy replied as he looked at the girls. Starlight looked back at him in the eyes, similar to the time they did during the episode "Happy Birthday Sweetheart". Only this time, Teddy was smiling. "Anyway, you better get back to miss Hackney, while I get what our master promised me."
"Miss Hackney?!" Starlight exclaimed, her face turning from one of anger to one of worry. Stonefort walked back into the school, closing the doors behind him. "What did you do to her, Teddy?!"
"Nothing. Ace and Lancer are taking care of that old cow, while I get you all to myself." Teddy responded as he took a few steps back and down the stairs, before turning around and looking back at the girls.
"Are Ace and Lancer are here as well?" Clover asked.
"I've received more power than anyone could ever dream of." Teddy ignored her question.
Patch felt someone push her from behind, wanting her to go down the stairs up to him. She turned around to see a lighter brown pony in a leather jacket. She took the hint and walked down the steps. The other girls were about to follow her, but the biker pony blocked their way.
"Just you and me now, tough girl. Your friends aren't interrupting this time. But just to make sure of that, watch this!" Teddy shouted, as he reached into his jacket and pulled out one of those yellow glass panels that Illiux used the first time that the girls met him, and held it up high. "Babylon Mummu, God of Purity!"
"Say what?" Patch took a step back, as a purple barrier surrounded Teddy, and expanded rapidly until it fazed right through her. The barrier was purple, and had a symbol on the ground of it. It looked like a purple curve connecting from one side of the barrier to another, inside of a big V forming on top of the curve, touching another part of the barrier.
"What's going on, Teddy?!" Patch asked, as she tried to exit the barrier and get to her friends, only to realize that she couldn't leave the force-field.
"What's going on is that you're going down!" Teddy responded, as he sprouted his wings out, and flew over to the far side of the barrier, ready to face her. "But if you really wanna know, then you and I are gonna fight, right here, right now."
"Fight?! You?! No way!" Patch then exclaimed as she got up. "Not only am I not gonna risk my life in a one on one with you, but I've got a shop, a teacher and a girl to save! So why don't you get out of my way, before I have you and your friends reported to the police?"
"Sorry, Runt; you're not going anywhere until we're done! So get psyched up and get ready to die!" Teddy snarled back at her, with a smile on his face. Before anyone said anything else, the same ominous glow in his eyes reappeared for all to see.
"So what are you gonna do?" Starlight shouted to Patch, still being held back by the older pony next to her.
"Not a lot she can do now, kid." The pony in leather answered for her. He had a Fillypelphian accent with him. "Now that she's in that marked barrier, there's no way out until someone loses."
"Brake's right, dork. There's no escaping me, especially because now you have no idea what you're up against." Teddy aggressively said to her. Sweetheart looked directly at him.
"Alright then, I've really got no choice. Brace yourself Teddy." Patch said, walking up to him.
"In this corner!" Another pony shouted into a microphone. The ponies all looked on to the roof to see someone up there, with speakers and a microphone stand with him. The pony was bright gold, and had a pitch black spiky mane, matching his goatee. He was wearing a black and white stripped jersey, similar to one that a referee would wear in a match.
"We have our newest recruit, the youngest member of our Greaser faction of Babylon, one of Coltonville's three proteges, our enforced victim, Caxpe's motivation ponified, and the one who made all of this possible!" He finished, waving his hoof all over the playground, to which every other "greaser" cheered at, seeing what they did, clearly taking glee in the damage.
"I give you Ursa!" They pointed at Teddy, the cheering intensified and Teddy stood up and took a bow, taking in the glory.
"Thanks a bunch, Lucky!" He shouted back to him.
"Ursa?" The girls whispered and looked at each other.
"And in the other corner!" Lucky said, the crowd now booing instead. "Some girl I forgot the name of."
"Warm welcome." Melody said to her friends.
"We've waited an entire month for Ursa to rip the girl he told us about apart, and now, without further ado..."
The pair of opponents met eyes in a split screen shot. Determination filled their eyes and their hearts, knowing that the next word could very well mean that only one of them can leave alive.
"BEGIN!!"
Within a millisecond of this "Lucky" guy saying that one word, Teddy's wings deployed, and he flew off to his left. Before a second later, Patch tried to regain her sight of him, but failed when she saw that he was gone.
She backed up a step, but was quickly knocked to the ground by what felt like a pair of hooves kicking her. She sat up and turned round to see Teddy was levitating with his wings, and his back legs facing her. He flew back to his hooves on the ground.
"Get up, before I make you dork." He said to her, with a smile on his face, his body glowing purple and his eyes brown again.
Patch jumped onto her hooves, but stepped back instead of approached.
"Teddy, no matter how much the voice in my head is telling me to, I'm not going to fight you." She repeated to him.
"You say that now, but neither one of us can leave this barrier until the fight is officially over. And because these are Babylon rules that we're following, the fight can never be officially over until you hit me back." Teddy explained to her.
"So I'm trapped here?!" She exclaimed. He didn't speak to answer her, and just let his evil smile do the talking.
"'Ey, this ain't no school dance; rush into 'em!" One of the Greasers shouted from the sidelines.
Teddy heard this and looked straight at her in the eyes. He then flew back over to her with his new-found speed, then reappeared in front of her, floating and with his front legs crossed.
"Ahh!" Patch jumped, but quickly turned her fighting spirit back on, which was noticeable from the way she tried to hit him with her hoof. However, this failed when Teddy caught the hoof with his own without even having to try.
She tried again to attack like this, but he once again blocked her with his other leg. Even worse than that, Teddy then lifted her up with his own hooves, into the air that he was in. Even more worse than that, he was even able to smash his own face into hers, causing her to scream in agony.
"Throw her to the mash!" Another pony yelled to him, edging him on.
"Break her in half, then we'll go fix those bikes!" The Filadelphian pony shouted to him.
"Kick her teeth in!" Stonefort shouted as well.
Teddy then dropped her onto the ground, and left her lying there for a second or two. Patch tried to stand up after that, struggling to her hooves. Teddy found this amusing in his own way, a growing smile creeping on his face, making his way over to her.
"No no, please, don't get up." He laughed, kicking her back down onto the floor. She fell down again, holding her fore legs at her stomach at the spot he just hit.
"Teddy..." Patch wheezed out, looking up at him. "I don't know... What those guys did... But this isn't you..."
"Spare me this whole "Your being mind controlled!" garbage, runt. If you have to know, I chose to do this, not because I was forced, but because of what my master did and what this means to me."
"What... do you... mean..." Patch got to her knee.
"That doesn't matter to you. The only thing you need to be worried about is Stonefort." Teddy answered, walking away from her, and turned to look at the girls on the other side of the barrier he made. "As for you guys, you better get yourselves ready for the other ponies that are coming your way."
"'Other ponies'? There's more of them?" Starlight asked, walking closer to the barrier.
"Yeah, and all 6 of them are mad at you girls." Teddy explained to her. The others saw that Patch was starting to quietly stand up, seemingly without his notice.
"Us?" Starlight asked him stalling for time, so Patch could get the upper hand. "Why us? What have we ever done to them?"
"You got me." Teddy shrugged, still looking at her. "Apparently, they all have a bone to pick with you for personal reasons. I mean, I have no idea who wants to deal with you, Starlight."
"Why would anypony be mad at me? What would they want with me?"
"I'll give you 50 jangles if you don't ask another question for the rest of the day." Teddy replied with a smug grin on his face, ignoring the question.
"Fine, just answer it."
"I already said, I don't know wha- ah!" Teddy cut himself off when he felt Patch grab onto him. She was holding on to his back, stopping him from doing almost anything.
"There, I got you!" Patch said, clearly still weak from the previous attacks.
Teddy still struggled to get her off of him, trying to throw her back and forth. This proved to be of no avail, so he tried a new tactic. Emphasis on new, seeing as how the girls will have never seen this new move before.
The crystals in his wings began to light up, absorbing illumination all around them.
"Guess again!" Teddy said to her, as his wings expanded suddenly on their own. Then, out of them, a rainbow exploded horizontally. All seven different colors shot in a full 360 degree angle, sending Patch flying up into the sky.
While the girls all looked in fear and shock at the sight of what Teddy just did with his new power, all of the greasers roared in cheer at it. It was like nothing they had ever seen before, a pony shooting out a rainbow like that.
"Patch!!" The girls all shouted in unison, thinking that she could hear them. Barely a few seconds later, the tomboy crashed into the ground, making a crack in the ground, and a vibration in the area.
"Well..." Teddy said, sounding like he was out of breath. "There goes... *pant* The battle..."
He wasn't wrong. The other Greaser ponies were still cheering at what he just did, and some were even chanting his new name that they had given him.
"Ursa! Ursa! Ursa!" The colts/stallions yelled into the night, raising their hooves up and down as they did.
"Patch, are you okay?!" Sweetheart cried out, tears in her eyes from the fear that her friend might be seriously hurt. Or much worse than that, even... expiring.
"She don't look okay da mi." The Jamaican pony answered for them, walking up to the battle field. "Den again, you're de one who want be a nurse, Sweedeart, so you dell me."
Suddenly, their attention got transferred from him to the barrier, as it became brighter and a lot smaller. In fact, the barrier they were both stood in actually became so small that it over-passed Teddy, and started shrinking more around the unconscious Patch.
"Call it off, Ursa. I still need de girl for de princess." He said to Teddy, to which he nodded.
"INVERT!" Teddy shouted, and walked towards the older pony. The barrier disappeared entirely, and it looked like Patch was still not moving. However, now the girls could get to her and check her condition. Naturally, they did just that, rushing over to see her.
Luckily, she was still breathing, and nothing was bleeding. Starlight held her head in her front hooves, and leaned herself forwards.
"Patch, speak to me!" Starlight cried, looking over her injured friend. "Say something, please."
"Starlight..." Patch weakly croaked out, before closing her eyes again.
"Patch!!" Starlight yelled, tears in her eyes as well.
"She's not dying, she's just unconscious." Teddy's voice drew close to the girls, clearly symbolizing that he was walking up to them. "It's actually disappointing. I thought she could have lasted a lot longer than that." Teddy came to a halt.
"Teddy... You monster!" Starlight snapped at him, looking behind her at him.
"Ugh... Here we go again." Teddy muttered to himself, rolling his eyes, before turning around himself. "Alright guys, party's over. I'll see you later at the train yard."
With that comment, the greasers all jumped down from wherever it was that they were sitting, leaning, hanging or swinging on, and made their way out of the school.
"How could you do something like this? This is too low, even by your standards." Starlight started to walk up to him, looking as though she was gonna smack him in the face.
However, she stopped herself when he pulled his new sunglasses down from his head over his eyes. One side of the eye wear turned blindingly white, while the other became pitch black.
"Check this out!" Teddy called to her as he removed his hoof from the glasses, and suddenly two lasers intertwined with each other, both coming from one side of them each. The white side shot a white laser, and the black shot out a black one. They both danced around each other and were aiming for Starlight.
"Whoa!" Starlight shouted, dodging out of the way, causing the lasers to destroy the monkey bars in the background behind her. She looked back at him, and the laser stopped when he put his hoof back on them and tilted them up again.
"That was another question you just asked. You owe me 50 jangles, Starlight." Teddy smugly said.
"Teddy, be serious, can't you see that those grease balls are just using you for something!? Look at what they just made you do! You'd never do that to anyone you know." Starlight pointed at Patch.
Suddenly, Teddy's face turned from one of sarcasm to sadness.
"You want me to be serious? Fine."
Teddy flew over to the other side of the playground, in front of the school's back doors.
"It all started when I was born." Teddy begun.
"What started?" Starlight asked, as the other girls walked up to her, Sweetheart and Melody carrying Patch on their shoulders. They were all giving Teddy an angry look.
"If you shut up, I'll tell you. Now, when I was born, my family was all there. My dad, my big sis Dolly, and of course, my mom."
"What does this have to do with that?" Clover asked. Teddy didn't answer, but instead lowered his sunglasses to his eyes again, where they lit up again.
"Okay, I'll be quiet!" Clover saved herself, allowing him to continue and put them back on his head.
"Unfortunately, what you girls don't know is that not all of us made it out of there alive." The six of them had their faces change from anger to confusion. "My mom... Died... In childbirth."
The girls, specifically Sweetheart, looked mortified at what he just told them. Judging by the expression on his face, it was hard to believe that he was lying about something like this.
"That's right, she's gone." He continued, reaching into his jacket's inner pocket, and pulling something out. "And all I have left of her, is THIS!"
He pulled out a stuffed teddy bear. What five of the currently conscious girls didn't know, is that the toy he was currently wielding was something that he held dear. Sweetheart, however, knew exactly what that thing was all about.
"Before she died and while she was pregnant with me, my mom made me this. She wanted me to keep it during my foalhood. Which I did, seeing as how it's the only thing that I have of her."
The girls looked at each other, then back to him.
"But wait, it gets worse. Enter problem number two: my dad."
"He didn't die as well, did he?" Sweetheart asked, holding back tears.
"No, worse than that: he's still alive. But because he saw his own wife's life end right before his eyes, without even getting the chance to say goodbye to her, he never got over it. So, he did the only natural thing that anyone would do to find comfort: drink."
Again, the girls faces looked more and more distraught, especially because they could see where this was going.
"Teddy..." Sweetheart whimpered, the need to cry becoming more demanding.
"Now what you may not know, is that Alcohol eventually leads to violence. Violence that's inflicted by him at me and Dolly."
At this point, the urge to cry was too strong to resist, and so Sweetheart just let herself at it. Tears streamed down from her eyes, to her cheeks, to her chin, and down onto the floor.
"I'm not even done with my story yet. Dolly is 7 years older than I am, so she's at the "Rebel against my parents" teenage point of life. Meaning that she goes against literally anything that he tells her, making him more angry, leading to more violence and beating to me, and so on and so forth."
"Teddy... Is that why you act the way you do?" Starlight asked him, trying to muster the courage to walk closer to him. "You try to give other ponies the misery that you live with?"
"Yeah, I guess it is. Ponies like me don't just pick on others because it's fun, you know. We have to have a good reason to do what we do. Mine is that this is an outlet for me. My dad has always told me that I'm a failure, and that I'll never amount to anything that I try. That's the reason why I'm also a "Show-off", as you girls call me; so I can prove him wrong."
"T...Teddy..." Sweetheart whimpered again.
"Save it Sweetheart; I'm still not done. My life has only been made worse by some certain ponies, treating me like the bad guy that everyone thinks I am."
"Oh... Well, why didn't you say? Take out your anger and fear on them." Melody said to him.
"I already am. In fact, that's just what I'm gonna continue to do for a while now."
"Um... Melody? I think those ponies he's talking about are the seven of us." Bright-Eyes responded to her.
"Hey, know-it-all! I get that what I'm about to say might be a little difficult for you to understand, but you're wrong." Teddy responded to her. "It's not the seven of you; it's the eight of you. That stuck-up cow Hackney is also to blame for my miserable life. Whenever I get in trouble at school, to the point when she calls my dad."
"Oh no." Starlight said, having an idea about where this was going.
"Usually, the punishment he gives me depends on the time of day she calls him. If it's too early in the day, then he just locks the door before I get back from school, stopping me from getting in. If it's anytime near the end of school, then he waits for me to get in, before the beating comes."
"He locks you out of your own house!?" Sweetheart exclaimed. "That's horrible! Where do you go?"
"Normally, I go to visit my mom's grave. But, there was a slight change of plan last Friday."
"Last Friday? Why, what happened last-" Starlight cut herself off, her heart skipping a beat as she remembered. "Miss Hackney gave you a detention after-school. She called your dad, didn't she?"
"Teddy!" His much despised teacher called out to the only student remaining in the class, getting his attention.
"What?" He replied, knowing what she was about to say.
"What have you done to my schedule?" Miss Hackney asked him, looking as disappointed in him as ever.
"I tried to get them ba-"
'Don't bother, man. She won't believe you; she'll think your blaming someone else as an excuse.' His conscious told him.
"I... I felt like it." He reluctantly replied, knowing that he was lying. 'I'll get back at Patch later.'
Miss Hackey sighed at him. "Well, you know what that means, Teddy."
'Not again...' He thought, cringing at the thought of getting home tonight. He saw his teacher reach for the phone on the wall.
Meanwhile back at the broken-home residence...
"Argh!!" An badly-shaped stallion shouted, trying to get up of the couch. "Out of beer! Where's that stupid boy?! The useless little accident should've been here by now!"
Eventually he rolled of the furniture and headed for the fridge, when he heard the phone ringing. Grunting, he made his way over to it.
"What?!" He said impatiently.
"Hello. Is that Mr. Styles?" She asked.
"Urgh..." He groaned, rubbing his head. "Yeah. What'd you want? Make it quick."
"Well sir, I have no pleasure in telling you about having to report your son's unacceptable behavior." Hackney continued, hearing a grunt from the other end of the line.
"Then don't bother, grandma." He said, slamming the phone down.
The teacher stared at the phone wondering what was going through the father's mind.
"Now you've done it." Teddy spoke up, a cocky smile growing on his face. Hackney hung up the phone as well.
"Well, never-the-less, it's been an hour now. That'll be all." She said, sitting back down.
Reluctantly, he stood up and headed out the door. As he made his way to the front door of the building, his built-up anger got the better of him.
"Grrrrrraah!" He shouted, kicking over a trash can. "I hate this stupid school! I hope this place burns to the ground!.. With Hackney inside it!"
He kicked the doors open and left the school, walking across the yard. As he walked by the field, Patch and the rest of the after-school group saw him, and she held the soccer ball.
"Uh-oh, look out. Big man's on his walk." She said, mocking him as he walked by. He heard her, and saw the perfect opportunity.
Quickly, he walked over to the ball bucket and pushed it over, spilling them all everywhere.
"HEY!" Patch and several others of the shouted at him, as he laughed and ran off. Soon he was out of sight, heading for the trees.
Meanwhile, miss Hackney was observing this little feud between him and them.
"I do wonder what it is that troubles that boy." She said to herself, getting back to her work.
Suddenly, she felt a great pain in her head, as she felt something thwack her on the back of it.
"OW!!" She exclaimed, rubbing her head and looking over to see what, or rather who, just did that.
"Maybe it's down to having a bias teacher who looks down on him and expects him to fail." Someone standing next to her said.
"Ow. "Bias"? I'm not at all bias. I'm as fair as I can possibly be." She replied, getting a better look at the stallion.
"Yeah, to the girls." Brake said, holding his socket wrench over his shoulder. She still had absolutely no idea about who this guy was. "And to the rich boy. But with him and the golden boy, you couldn't care any less, could you?"
"That's not true at all! Who are you, and what're you doing in my school?"
Before she got an answer, his horn lit up and she was levitated into the air. He held her with his magic in a collar grab style, before pointing his tool to her face.
"I'm Pedal, and I'm here to relieve and evict you." He said, turning her around to face the classroom again.
"Excus-" She was cut off at the feeling of being dropped from his magic and falling back into her seat.
"Don't even bother trying to get away from here by yourself, Hackney." Someone else said, appearing right in front of her. He had his hood up, so his eyes weren't recognizable. But little did she know, these two had met almost every day for a few years.
"What do want with me?" She asked, somewhat worried for her own well-being.
"From you, we want the school. From Coltonville, we want payback." He said gritting through his teeth, sounding serious, despite his pink coating.
""Payback"? Now why on earth would you want payback on a whole town? Coltonville is a happy place." She argued to the pony.
"Happy when you've got a reason to be." He said to her, sounding serious. "But let me let you in on a little secret: to ponies like us, Coltonville isn't a good neighborhood to grow up in. Life isn't here to have a good time, it's here to test your will to survive."
Hackney now looked more puzzled at him.
"Now don't get me wrong..." He continued. "There's nothing wrong with having a bit of fun, regardless of if anyone's getting hurt or not. But, when it comes down to it, there'll be moments when you don't want to live anymore. And when those times come, someone's got to get hurt. Everyone gets hurt, innocent or not."
"That's not true at all." Hackney argued to the "stranger", before he took off his hood.
"How would you know?"
"Primrose!?!" Hackney exclaimed at the sight of seeing her former student all grown up right in front of her. "Pretty Primrose!?!"
"Yeah, it's me. You miss me, Grandma?"
"Dear me, Pretty." She gasped, almost completely lost for words. "It's been years since-"
He did a sidestep to show his flank to her, and unzipped his pants hole to reveal his flank and Cutie Mark to her.
"Since you thought this was funny? Since you just gave up on everything that you lied to me about, and went with the flow that the rest of those losers had!?"
"Pretty, it was not like that! I had only-"
"Gel, get her bagged, now!" The feminine looking pony demanded, as the teacher was turned around magically and came face to face with a green pony.
"I'm so sorry about this." Hair Gel nervously pleaded, placing a sponge bag over her head, right before Brake delivered a particularly hard hit to the head with his wrench.
Getting back to Teddy...
While the little episode with Hackney and the three Greasers was happening back there, he found his way home. He tried to open the door, but quickly discovered that it had been locked from the inside.
'Yep. Knew that was gonna happen.' He thought to himself, about to initiate plan B. After turning around, he walked away from the residence and headed for his mom's resting place.
"Hey baby bear!" He heard a mare's voice shout out to him. Teddy knew exactly who this was, so he looked up and behind him and saw his sister from her window.
"Looks like you're stuck out there! Must suck to be you!" Dolly taunted him.
"Yeah, I'm out here with the freedom! Have fun with dad all day, with his delightful body odor and wondrous acts of violence! See how many whacks it takes for him to make you cry this time; maybe you'll get past two!" He shouted back.
Recalling her memories, Dolly picked up an empty soda can, and threw it at her younger sibling.
"Better stuck in here, than wandering out there with no friends!" She yelled.
Hearing this, he pulled out his slingshot and fired a rock back up at her.
"Yeah, I've got friends as well, Doll! Difference is, mine don't just use me for a laugh!"
"At least my friends actually notice me!"
"You're just mad because you can't hold down a boyfriend for more than a day!" He retaliated, before heading for the cemetery.
"Right, whatever! Go have fun playing with your hair!" She finished, closing her window.
As he made his way over, he thought on his relationship with his sister, and how much it had descended ever since day one, and how much they hated each other.
'Stupid Dolly. Thinks she owns the world. I'll show her soon enough.'
By the point of being able to see where the graveyard was, he noticed some stallions with tools standing by the gates. But more importantly, he saw the 'No Entry' sign in front of them.
"Aw man. That's the only entrance and exit; now what'm I gonna do?" He asked himself, clearly disappointed. Upon turning around, he came across more problems.
Patch, and an understandably irritated group of ponies were approaching his direction. Luckily for him, he hadn't been seen yet, but he saw that he didn't have much time before they found him.
"Ohhhh, this ain't good." Teddy muttered to himself, as he took a few steps backwards.
"So, we were both there, but the last time we saw him, Ace made eyes at ME, not Melody." A filly said behind him. His heart sank at the sound of her. He took a 180 turn and saw Starlight and her friends walking towards him as well.
So by this point he was trapped in every direction; he couldn't go forwards because of the working ponies, going right wasn't a ideal move because of Patch and her friends, turning back wouldn't work because of Dolly and daddy, and to the left was a bad idea because of Starlight and HER friends.
If ever he needed a miracle, it would be now.
...
And what a miracle he got. In the form of a dark cloth engulfing him, and knocking him unconscious. Obviously he was startled when it happened, but his energy quickly drained like chloroform.
What was even better/ worse (depending on your perspective) about this was that nobody else in the area could see or hear this transaction take place. It was as if he had just disappeared.
"Maybe he's finally decided to give you a chance." Sweetheart said, in reply to Starlight's comment.
"Ohhh, I hope so<3" Starlight responded. "Maybe one day he''ll straight up ask me, and when he does I'll- Oh, hey Patch." The protagonist greeted the tomboy, not taking in anything about Teddy's sudden disappearance.
"Huh? Oh, hey Starlight. Hi Sweetheart." Patch said.
Skipping to 24 hours later, Teddy was slowly regaining consciousness.
"Urg..." He groaned, rubbing his head. Before he tried to open his eyes, he could hear faint voices conversing nearby.
"T...Que... Se... to 19... Ce."
"N...ds b... Ady... Thursd..."
"P...za... Rgers... Pie..."
Not taking the time to question who was speaking, he tried his best to get the blood pumping enough to move. Given a minute, he found the strength to sit up from whatever he was lying on.
Just then, he heard a few bangs on the wall and covered his ears.
"De boy's aweek." The Jamaican demolitionist notified the others, as Teddy's eyes slowly opened. It took a while for his eyes to adjust to the light, but he saw his surrounding environment. It looked like the interior of a trailer. Probably because it was a trailer.
The pony before him looked over him, taking notice of his body condition.
"How ya feelin'?" He asked quietly. To Teddy, he looked so scary, like he wanted to maim him.
"Um... F-fine?" He answered, looking him over. "Who are you? And where are we?"
Before Stonefort got a chance to answer, the others walked into the trailer and looked strangely happy at the sight of Teddy alive.
"Hey, buddy boy." Brake greeted.
"What's buzzin', cousin?" Advanced asked him.
"Yo." Hacker said.
Teddy caught on to the fact that these guys were speaking to him as if they met him before. As far as he knew, none of these guys were familiar.
"You feelin' good?" 30 asked him. Teddy flinched at the sight of him, even without his fangs or antennae strands out. "I know, I'm gorgeous, you don't have to announce it. Look, we know you're gonna have a lot of questions for us, but stay calm, we'll explain everything."
"Who are you guys?" The colt asked again, as they all looked at each other.
"Where do we even begin?" Advanced rhetorically asked.
"From the beginning." Brake replied anyway. "Look man, long story short, we hate Starlight and her friends as well, the same way you do."
"What're you talking about? You guys don't know anything about me." Teddy retaliated, seemingly hostile to them, despite not knowing who they were.
"Your name's Teddy Styles, your sister's named Dolly and your dad and mom are called Stringent and Softfelt, the latter of which you named your little teddy bear after." Brake told him, making him go wide-eyed at the comment.
"H-How do you know that?!" Teddy asked the Fillydelphian Unicorn, before his brother spoke up next.
"You're from a broken home, with a drunk dad and useless sister. You're viewed as the bully at your school, reflected by the image of the tough guy that cha wanna be. You're friends with Ace and Lancer, but you know that they could turn their backs on you at any given time, mostly so that they can impress the girls they're after." Advanced told him, giving him more of a shock.
"Your momma died in childbirth, and what you really want more than anything is to see her again. Daddy never got over it and turned to drinking. You and sissy suffered the consequences for it, but you both know that you don't deserve it." Hacker added, getting the foal's attention.
"You sleep with your teddy bear close to you, partly to sooth over the pain and the anger you get from your life, partly to keep you feeling good at sad times, and partly to remind you that your mom is always with you, no matter what. You wear sunglasses because your dad gave them to ya on your eighth birthday; the only one he remembered that day's importance as something other than the day his wife died." Pretty followed up.
"You blame yourself dat your momma passed away, mostly coz your poppa told you so, but you got to see it's not cha fault. She died coz of natural causes, not coz of you." Stonefort finished with proving him wrong.
"That enough facts for ya, or should we elaborate a little more?" Advanced asked him.
By this point, Teddy didn't even reply. Instead, he just looked down in shame, thinking about everything that those guys had just said about him. Clearly they had been keeping a close eye on him for a while.
"Y-yeah, well... What'd guys want with me?" He asked, feeling guilty about the last comments.
"Well for a start, we want you to stop feeling sorry for yourself, and start telling yourself that it's not your fault. Nothing that's happened is your fault." Hacker answered.
"What are you talking about; of course it is." He quietly replied, feeling his army of tears fight their way up to his eyes.
"No, it ain't!" Brake argued. "Look, you only feel that way because it's what you've been made to believe, both by those girls and your own family. But it's not true; you don't HAVE to be what society labels you as."
"Brake's right, Teddy. Believe me, we've all been there as well: having nearly all of Coltonville opposing you for something that ain't your fault. The Babylon saved us then, just like it will you now." Lucky followed up, handing him his sunglasses.
Teddy saw them, and took them into his own hoof.
""Babylon"?" He asked.
"Yeah, it's where we are right now."
"Alright... So, what's this Babylon got to do with me? And what do you guys want?"
"Just what we said: to get back at Coltonville, after the way we've been treated." Primrose said. "After what miss Hackney did to me the day I dropped out of school, I was glad the Babylon got to me."
"You were in miss Hackney's class, too? What'd you make of her?" Teddy asked him.
"Firstly... Look at me." He replied, standing on his hind legs so he could see his body better.
"Y-yeah, I noticed, you're, uh..."
"I'm freaking pink! All over, and have been ever since birth; my parents were expecting a girl. And look at this; it's insult to injury!" Pretty then stood back on three legs, using the forth to unzip his side zip, opening it to reveal his Cutie Mark.
"Oh... I see..." Teddy said, trying to look serious and concerning, while at the same time, holding back tempting laughter.
"Yeah, even Clover's flower doesn't look this stupid." He said, zipping it back up.
"Clover? You guys know her, too?"
"We said already, didn't we?" Advanced answered for him. "We can't stand the likes of Starlight and team harmony either."
"But we have our own reasons for that, though; don't you worry about that." Brake added.
"Where I was." Pretty continued. "I was being teased, everyday, by the other ponies in the school about the way I looked, but Hackney always told them to stop it and to leave me alone."
"But you said she-"
"I'm getting to that, alright!? One day, when she was teaching us about the importance having our Destiny Signa- I mean, Cutie Mar- No, what'd they used to call them?"
"Hip Marks." Left spoke up.
"Yeah, having a Hip Mark. I hadn't gotten mine yet, until that particular lesson, when the whole class was poking fun at me, saying that mine was gonna be just as girly as I looked. Then, it arrived, and when I saw it, everyone laughed at me."
"So you're Hip Mark is a flower? That sucks."
"You're darn right it sucks. I was feeling so..."
"... Everything." Lucky finished for him. "I was there at the time, too."
"I wanted to just lash out at every single laughing person in the room, feel them bruising and bleeding from my kicks, their air getting cut off from between my hooves, their flesh piercing from my horn, knowing how justified it was." Pretty added.
"But miss Hackney...?"
"Everyone besides me and him were laughing at him." Lucky continued.
"... So?" Teddy questioned again.
Pretty just looked even more angry by the question.
"No no no." Lucky said, stroking his beard and clearing his throat. "EVERYONE besides me and him were laughing at him."
"Oh..." Teddy said, now clear on the story. "Wait, so, miss Hackney..."
"Ended up bleeding within an inch of her life by the end of the class." Lucky finished.
"But that's enough story time, this is about you, kid." Advanced carried on the conversation.
"... Right... Me."
"Yup. Reason why we got you down 'ere is coz we know what it's like to be painted as the baddy, when really all ya want is mama's love. And we, unlike Starswirlette and the brats, want to get cha outta the loop."
"I know, but..."
"If it helps, kiddo..." Brake added on, combing his mane back slightly. "Your dad's already in rehab, and your sister's right next door."
This got his attention again.
"They're here too?"
"Yeah, we persuaded them the same way we did you."
"But... You knocked me out and brought me here when I was unconscious."
"Thank you Ted, that was the joke." Left said, looking somewhat disappointed, as his face turned into that of an old mans.
"So you see, we got cha back, man." Hacker said, before the whole gang moved in unison, as they moved their sleeves down their legs to reveal their Brand Marks.
"And we got each others as well, y'know? We're like a big family of our own."
"And we've always got room for someone like you, lil' buddy."
Stonefort put his sleeve back and offered his hoof to him.
"What cha say?"
Ursa didn't know WHAT to say. Here he was, in a trailer with a handful of strangers, given the opportunity to have his life do a complete 180, depending on how much he trusted that what they were saying was true.
"I..."
So many things were going through his mind. His mom, his abusive family, his bear, these new ponies, Starlight and her friends (Mostly Sweetheart), Coltonville, etc. So much to consider.
"I..." He stuttered, starting to tear up, looking his teddy in the eyes. "I don't know!"
"We only wanna help ya." The pink stallion said. "We know how it feels to be out-casted. It's not nice; no one deserves that. But that's just how society works."
"..." He began to cry, letting the tears fall on his valuable toy.
"Think about your life." The brown unicorn told him. "All the times you've been hated and abused. Every name you've been called, all the moments you wished you could change, those times you had to run away to your cousins farm just to escape it for a day. Do you really wanna keep living like that?"
"..."
"C'mon, I ran away from home too. You know what the difference is between me and you doin' it? I didn't go back." The red Pegasus told the colt. "Now there's, um... Someone, living there at my old home. I know you hate her, too."
"..."
"Dis is it, mon. Yo' big chance; the moment you've been waitin' for your 'hole life."
"... Okay." He said, looking them in the face. "I'll do it! Where do I sign up?"
The ponies smiled at his answer, and the flashback began to fade.
"Well, in all fairness Teddy, during your detention, when she had to step out of the classroom, you did rearrange her planning schedule for next term." Bright-Eyes reminded him.
"Hey, that wasn't my fault! Patch kicked her soccer ball at the window, and the schedule pieces fell off. I thought I put them back in the right order, but clearly not." Teddy retaliated.
"Then why didn't you just explain that to her?" Bon-Bon asked the new Greaser.
"Oh, right(!) As if SHE was gonna believe ME(!) Anyway, back to the story. Last Friday, I got locked out, and while I was on my way to the graveyard, some ponies were working on fixing the statues at the front gate, blocking anyone from entering. And I knew full well that I couldn't just stay in the middle of town, in case any of you girls came along. In fact, you were all approaching my direction at the time."
"So you were trapped." Starlight said to him.
"That's right. I had literally nowhere to go, so I needed a miracle. And wouldn't you know it, I got one, straight from the heavens. I mean, you know, if the heavens were underground, because that's where those guys are from."
"Those grease monkeys took you in?" Melody asked him.
"Those "Grease monkeys" are my family now!" Teddy snapped back at her. "Thanks to them, and my master, I have a place to call home, and a life worth living. In fact, the reason why I'm over here now is because this mirrors my life almost perfectly: Me, against all of you. Before my master and the other greasers came along, there was no one in the world I could depend on besides myself. And if anyone said otherwise, then they'd be lying."
"So that's what you meant by they saved your life..." Bon-Bon added.
"You wanted me to be serious, this is the reply you get. I'm willing to do anything for them, if it means having a home and a family, and I... WE won't let anyone get in the way of my dream of seeing my mom again. And if anyone tries, they're going to down as well!"
"Teddy." Starlight began, walking up to him. "I think I understand now. You're right; you don't deserve to live that life. Nobody does. And I get that there's nothing we can do to save you, or even help you."
"Stop moving now!" He snarled at her, readying the new weapon on his face to fire once again. However, she complied willingly.
"I realize that there isn't a lot of options left for you in life, and teaming up with those hoodlums seems like the only way. But... It's not necessary. Life doesn't have to be this way. We don't really HAVE to be enemies; we can start over, treat you like our friend. You can speak with us calmly, come into the ice-cream shop, talk to us about anything, live a normal life. In fact, I'll even see if I can get my mom to give you a job in the hair salon. If you accept..."
Starlight made herself be quiet when she saw him deactivate his sunglasses.
"As much as I want to, I can't accept that offer." Teddy, walked up to her, and showed her his front hoof. There, where his Pastern bones met, was a symbol. Unknown to the girls, this was Caxpe's Mark of Babylon.
"I already pledged my loyalty to the Babylon, and master Caxpe. If I turned my back on them, I... I don't want to know what'll happen to me. But I don't want to find out. Besides, I don't exactly have a home in Coltonville anymore; Stonefort's letting me crash at his trailer, until I get a place to call my own. My dad is in rehab now, and he'll be in there until he gives up alcohol. The Babylon gave me food, shelter, friends, credit, identity, power, and even Rainbow magic."
"One of the five types of magic that makes up this world?" Starlight asked.
"That's the one. All I need now is that gem, and I'll finally have the life I deserve." Teddy's body then lit up in that same purple shade as before. "I'm sorry, but I can't stay any longer. The guys are expecting me now." He told her, preparing to fly away again.
"Okay... Until next time."
"...Yeah. Tell Patch that Stone's not done with her yet when she wakes up for me. And if she ever wants a rematch..."
"I will." Starlight answered, walking back to the girls herself.
"See ya." Teddy called, flying into the distance, a few wing feathers dropping off him, one landing on her head.
"Goodbye..." Starlight and the girls walked back into the school, before Starlight closed the door behind them, holding the blue feather, looking in the direction which he flew off into, and added "Ursa."
There's a difference between hearing and listening.
"So his life sucks?" Patch asked the girls, after being given the briefing of Teddy's story once she had woken up from the unconscious state that he left her in.
"Yeah, pretty much." Melody replied. "So now, he's helping that Illiux guy with buying out the Ice-cream shop, and who knows what else."
"Either way, girls." Sweetheart started. "As much as I don't want to say 'I told you so' about him not being a bad pony, but..."
The other girls gave her the 'Now is not the time' look.
"Okay, sorry." She stopped herself.
"Well, what are we gonna do now?" Patch asked, still in the bed at Starlight's house. "I mean, this Stonefort guy said he has a bone to pick with me, so I guess I'm gonna see him again soon, but what about you girls?"
"I don't know, Patch." Starlight answered, not bringing much optimism to the conversation. "We don't know who wants to come after us, and you've not even met that Stone guy until last night."
"So... No ideas?" Bright-Eyes added.
"You're the smart one, Bright-Eyes; you think of something." Patch said to the mint colored girl.
"Um, girls? I think I have an i-" Clover started, before she was interrupted by someone else.
"I think I have a few ideas." Someone said from out of nowhere. The girls looked around for a bit, then drew their attention to the sudden bright light at the door.
"Those ghost ponies again?!" Patch said, ready to fight, before grunting in pain and remembering the position that she was in.
"No, it's not them." Starlight answered Patch again. She knew exactly who it was that had arrived. "Hello again, Star."
"Star?" The other six girls said in unison, looking at each other, then back to the light.
There was clearly someone walking towards them from the light, and she stepped into the bedroom.
"Hi." The Alicorn girl said quickly, with a open smile on her face.
The other six girls looked in amazement and curiosity at the sight of pony that not only had wings, a horn, but strange clothes on as well. She still had her cape on that Starlight noticed the first two times that they met.
"Starlight? Please tell me this one's one our side." Melody said, unsure about the new girl.
"It's okay, she's a friend to us." Starlight replied, looking back at her supposed friend, knowing her other friends would still be skeptical about her.
"She's right, I'm not like those guys. Well, I mean, I am, but not in the same way as they are." Star tried to explain.
"Well, are you or not?" Bon-Bon asked the slightly older girl.
"I'm a rebel from Babylon." Star answered, leaving the girls with an unclear answer.
"A rebel from what?" Sweetheart asked.
"Babylon. It's my old home, and it's also where your... Acquaintances, are being kept."
"Acquaintances? You mean the colts?" Starlight kept the questions going.
"Yeah them. Anyway, me and some other ponies call ourselves the Rebel Faction of Babylon, because we don't agree with most of what they say or do. So, I'm like those guys because I'm from Babylon, but I don't think that what they do is right."
"Okay, I think I get it." Patch piped up.
"Those boys, on the other hoof, are completely on board with the Babylon, and they'll do anything that their new masters tell them to. That's how your school became what it is now."
"So, it's this Babylon's fault that the school is destroyed?" Patch also asked.
"But... Didn't we already know that?" Clover asked, being ignored once again.
"Yes, and it's really because of Ursa. His master told him that if he agreed to join Babylon, then he and some of his new friends could have their way with the school that he hates so much."
"And he actually agreed? That's low, even for him."
"Well, hold on girls." Sweetheart said, getting their attention. "Remember that Teddy told us his story last night. He probably agreed to it as a way of letting out the anger and fear that he keeps bottled up."
"So he lets out his anger and fear, by doing something that makes more ponies angry and scared?" Clover asked, hoping someone would listen to her this time.
"I guess you're right, Sweetheart." Bright-Eyes said, completely ignoring Clover. "But, it still doesn't give him an excuse to destroy the whole school, on the inside and out."
"Anyway, just remember that this Babylon is also holding Ace and Lancer, as well as him." Starlight reminded the girls.
"Yeah, if they had the choice to join this Babylon, then why did they? What's their excuse?" Patch asked the Alicorn.
"I'm not really sure, but honestly? I don't think that should be your priority right now, Patch. Remember, Stonefort still wants to take you down." Star answered the tomboy.
"Okay then, what's HIS excuse? Why is he after me?"
"He's not." Star said, causing the girls to raise an eyebrow. "As far as I know, you're just bait for him to draw out his REAL targets."
"Real targets? Who are they?" Clover asked, but got no reply.
"Hey, I'm nobody's bait! Tell this Stonefort guy to deal with his real target himself!"
"Wait a moment, girls. Star, who are these real targets of his?" Bright-Eyes asked the girl.
"Good question, Bright-Eyes." Star replied, causing Clover to open her mouth in shock, feeling rejected from the group. "He's really after Rosy and her parents."
"The Princess?! Why?!" Starlight asked, knowing how serious this was about to get, now that the royal family has been involved.
"Apparently, he has some personal history with them, that he wants to finish himself." Star responded. "But, I do know that he was the reason why Princess Rosy was separated from her family, and had to grow up in that orphanage."
"WHAT?!" Patch practically screamed, jumping right out of the bed and onto the floor, with the other girls. However, as she jumped out, she accidentally hit Clover in the side, knocking her over. More so, she didn't even apologize, or even notice that she did it.
"Patch, you're still hurt, aren't you?" Sweetheart asked, worried for her friend.
"I'm fine, but this guy won't be when I'm done with him." Patch said, sternly.
"You can't be serious, can you?" Bon-Bon asked. "You can't fight while you're like this, Patch; you'll get yourself killed."
"That's a risk I'm willing to take." Patch replied, still standing tall.
"Even so, you don't know where he is right now." Star told her. "So if you try to find him now, then there's a 9/10 chance that the only way'll you'll meet is if he takes you by surprise."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Patch said, sitting down.
"But girls, I have an idea of how to find-"
"Wait, I know!" Patch said, interrupting Clover.
"What?" Starlight asked.
"If he tried to take me by surprise, then I guess we're just gonna haft to take him by surprise as well."
"What do you mean by that?"
"It's simple. We wait until he comes at me, and then-"
Patch stopped herself when she saw a similar black haze from last time.
"Then...?" starlight asked, wanting her to continue.
"I'll tell you later. We've got company." Patch pointed over to the black gas behind Star and Starlight.
"It's a ghost pony again, isn't it?" Bright-Eyes asked the older filly.
"It's Walker." Starlight answered, backing away from the stallion who was now forming into the room.
"Indeed it is, Star." Walker's voice said her, becoming more and more clear to the girls as he started to materialize. He was still wearing the white and black suit from the last time they met, and still had the mouth scarf and sunglasses.
"Why did it have to be you?" Star asked, trying to conceal her voice.
"It's been far too long, hasn't it? How's your leg these days?" He asked her in a genuine manor.
"It's gotten better, which is more than I can say for your eyesight." Star replied, with a smug look on her face. The other seven girls, however, looked like she had taken it too far.
Suddenly, without warning, Walker disappeared from there, and reappeared right in front of Star. She saw this and tried to used her magic by lighting up her horn, but he somehow managed to grab it and hold her face upwards, prevent her from doing anything.
"You DARE to mock ME?!" He aggressively asked as he grabbed her whole body, and threw her to the other end of the bedroom, slamming her into the wall.
"Star!" The seven girls called in unison, before she got back on her hooves. Walker could tell that she was hurt, before the sound of her magic caught his attention.
Within a second, she fired something out of her horn that looked light a ray of stars, and it was aiming directly at him. Despite being a ghost, this kind of magic actually looked as though it did some damage to him.
He was about to hit the wall, but instead phased right through it, heading outside. However, he then reappeared through the floorboards, standing on the floor again, adjusting his hat.
"What are you doing here now, Walker?" Star asked the ghost, standing up and facing the much older stallion.
"Three reasons, truthfully. Firstly, I want a girl named Patch to know that Stonefort has a message for her." He answered, reaching behind him to get his cane.
"I'm right here." Patch called to him, causing him to look around the room.
"Yes, well, I can't really see where 'right here' is." He replied, still searching for her. "Anyway, the second reason is that Phoxjes wants to know why you're here, Star."
"Phoxjes? Who's Phoxjes?" Melody asked the Babylonians.
"My brother/My master." Star and Walker both answered at the same time.
"Brother? Master? Will someone explain clearly?" Patch asked, starting to get frustrated at the pair of them.
"Simple. This little traitor is from the same home that I am, but she abandoned her position as one of our own, and is trying to deceive you six girls into joining her little rebellion." Walker explained.
"I'm not deceiving anyone! I'm trying to convince them into doing the right thing, thank you very much. And, I get that you're blind, but for your information, there's seven girls here, other than me." Star retaliated.
"You can count, can't you?" Walker asked, catching on to the fact that they didn't realize that one was actually missing.
"Clover?" Starlight asked, sounding as if she just saw her friend walking through the door or something.
"Where is she?" Sweetheart asked as well, looking around the room along with the other girls, searching for the dancer.
"She can't be missing. She was just here, wasn't she?" Melody added on.
"Yeah, I heard her voice before." Starlight answered.
"That's the problem. You HEARD her, but you didn't LISTEN to her, did you?" Walker asked the girls, with a smug smile on his face, hidden underneath the face scarf.
"What do you mean?" Star asked the Earth pony, with a tone as if he had something to do with it.
"Being blind for my whole life, I've had to learn to trust my other four senses to survive, and that's taught me the difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is when you know that a sound is being made, whereas listening means that you actually understand what the sound is, and what it means."
"Okay. Now, in English?" Patch responded.
"I mean, your friend- Clover, was it?- Was trying to speak, and get her ideas heard, but none of you were paying any attention to her, and she decided to leave the room."
"Wait, how could you have known that she left? You're blind, aren't you?" Bon-Bon asked him.
"Yes, but I'm also a ghost, along with one of your own. Speaking of which, I just remembered the third reason why I'm here. I'm afraid that, like your school, the roller rink as well as the soccer field, are out of bounds to you."
"What? Why?" Starlight asked him, realizing that things were going from bad to worse with every word that was coming out of his wrapped up mouth.
"Again, simple. The school, as you all should know by now, has been taken over by Ursa and his new greaser friends. The roller rink has been bought by a wealthy young colt named En Garde Apparition, and the soccer field is now home to Virtuoso, and his new colony."
"Who?!" Patch asked, not finding any recognition in the names that he mentioned.
"I'd love to explain, but I'm afraid that you've wasted enough of my time right now." Walker said, disappearing second by second.
"Star, you wanna clear up?" Starlight asked, looking back at the Alicorn. "And could you make it quick? I've gotta go find Clover before that Walker guy does."
"I'll try. The Babylon is trying to take over your home, and recruit you all. Is that quick enough for you?" Star answered her.
"Starlight, I'm gonna go find this Stone guy." Patch piped up. "If he wants a fight, then I'm gonna give him one. Let me know what happens when you find Clover, okay?"
Before she could answer, Patch was out the door, on her way to who knows where.
"Patch, I want to come with you." Sweetheart stopped her, walking towards the door as well. "If Stonefort is friends with Teddy, then maybe I can talk some sense into him."
"Okay, then let's get going." Patch responded, walking out the room with her.
"Girls, wait! You don't know where-" Starlight began, before Star cut her off.
"Starlight, let them go. Have faith in them, and they will prevail." She then turned to look at Bright-Eyes and Bon-Bon. "You two should go down to the roller rink."
"Why?" Bon-Bon asked. "That Walker guy said that it was taken over by someone called En Garde Apparition."
"En Garde means On Guard, which normally means to fight with a weapon, specifically a sword." Bright-Eyes answered, thinking about it. "Or more possibly, a Lance."
"You mean..."
"Uh-hu. Think about it: Lancer, a wealthy young colt, being held by this Babylon, bought out the whole roller rink, a place that's clearly important to him. Plus, This pony's second name was Apparition, which means a ghost, or a ghostlike image. If Walker, or even any of these "Ghosts" have any relevance in this at all, the clue's right there in the name. And, if Teddy changed his name to Ursa, which is Latin for bear, by the way, then there's no reason why Lancer wouldn't change his as well."
"See, this is why you're a good friend." Bon-Bon said to her, making their way out of the room.
"Melody, what about you?" Starlight asked, turning to the last girl in the room.
"Well, if Bright-Eyes is right, and Lancer really is there, then I guess that this Virtuoso guy must be something relating to Ace, and his new little friends have taken over the soccer field. And, if anyone of us is gonna get through to Ace, then it's probably me."
"Oh yeah, about that..." Star interrupted. "Maybe I should go with you, Melody. There's something about Ace that you may want to know."
"What?" Melody questioned.
"I... can't tell you in front of Starlight, so I'll tell you on the way over." Star answered as she teleported over to the musician.
"O...kay..." Melody hesitated to say, as she took the hoof of the Alicorn, before they disappeared a second later.
"Okay, they're on their way to help, now I gotta do the same for them. Clover, here I come."
"So... Any idea where we're actually going?" Sweetheart asked Patch, after they were walking around Coltonville for about 10 minutes.
"No, but I'm not turning back yet. Not unless we hear something about Starlight's house going up in flames, or that miss Hackney is being held for ransom." Patch answered, still looking determined as ever to achieve her goals.
"I'm just saying that it might be better for us if we had a plan finding them before we do anything else."
"Oh, that's a fantastic idea(!) Let's sit around here in the middle of nowhere, and wait for the first Babylon guy that sees us to come out and attack us like the sitting ducks we are(!) And while we're at it, why don't we just paint a big target on our foreheads(?)"
"I'm sorry, Patch..." Sweetheart said, backing up a few inches. Patch saw how upset she was with her sarcasm, and sighed.
"Don't be, I'm the one who should apologize; you're only trying to help."
"It's fine. You're just worried about princess Rosy, aren't you?"
"Yeah. I mean, these Babylon guys have already take over the school, and most likely the soccer field and the roller rink. If they get to Rosy and her family as well, then we're doomed."
"I know what you mean. But really, what I wanna know is the reason why Ace and Lancer are helping these guys. They know that what they're doing is bad, but even THEY aren't this cruel, Lancer especially."
"I guess we're just gonna have to rely on Melody and Bright-Eyes to have a little heart-to-heart with them." Sweetheart joked, getting a laugh from her friend.
"Yeah, but if all else fails, then my hooves are at the ready."
"Patch, you can't just go at them head on. I mean, you already tried that against..." Sweetheart stopped herself, and looked sad at her next word she said. "Teddy."
"You're still sad about his little story, aren't you?" Patch asked, not getting an answer. "Look, don't worry about that, it's his problem. If it makes you feel better, to me, he's still the annoying little showoff that he's always been."
Sweetheart giggled.
"That really doesn't make me feel better, but thanks anyway." She replied, tears reforming in her eyes.
Patch smiled at her awkwardly, until she looked behind her and changed her expression to one of fear.
"Teddy..."
Sweetheart was understandably confused about that word, until she turned around and saw the "Greaser" from last night.
"You're back on your hooves already?" Teddy asked the girls, as he walked up to the girls, alongside of two other ponies. One of which was the Jamaican pony with the sledgehammer.
The one on his left, however was a new one. He had a leather jacket on two, similar to Teddy's, and he appeared much shorter than him, yet his legs were normal sized, and they were pointing downwards to touch his body, like a spider's. He had a gold/dark green mane, which was styled into a modern quiff. His light blue eyes were clear to the girls, more so than the dark green/dark yellow coating. Strangely, he had a pair of antennas on his head.
The girls waited until they were about 5 feet away from them, before they replied.
"What do you want?" Patch asked, stepping in front of Sweetheart to protect her.
"Alright, just ignore my question then." Teddy replied, looking as smug as ever. "I'm here because Stone's got some unfinished with you, Patch."
"Who's Stone?" Sweetheart asked asked him, at the risk of getting hurt.
He didn't say anything, and instead took a step back, as the other two took one forwards each.
"Me." The Jamaican pony answered, leaning on his sledgehammer that he still kept.
"So you're the guy that's got a bone to pick with me? What I have I ever done to you?" Patch asked him, starting to walk up to him.
"Walker told ya, girl. You're nothin' but bait for me, so I can drag out da princess."
When he said this, similar to Teddy from before, his brown eyes and black mane glowed the same brown color, and his coat glowed dark purple.
"Patch..." Sweetheart started to walk up to her, before the new pony approached her quickly, stood up and surprised her by showing off the fact why he was so short.
When he stood up, he appeared to have more than just 4 legs. He had 6 legs on each side, and that wasn't his whole body. In fact, that looked as though it was just half of his body, for a total of about 30 legs.
"Stay out of his frickin' way, Sweetheart, before I rip off ya head!" The long-legged pony screeched at her, sounding croaky and rough, and showing off his two fangs, in addition to a couple of hair stands popping upwards and his eyes expanding, even forming a crossing pattern like a fly's.
"Whoa..." Sweetheart whimpered as she wanted to run from there, but knew better than to abandon her friend.
Before she could respond in any other way to the freakshow before her, his fangs retreated back inside his mouth, his antennae-like hair formed back to the rest of the do, and his eyes turned normal again.
"Nah, I'm just messin' kid. How ya doin'?" He said, suddenly turning playful and lightly slapping her on the foreleg, before pulling up his own legs to act like an armrest.
"This is 30, the Equine Centipede." Teddy's (new) voice told her, coming from right behind. She turned around, judging that he was most likely safer to talk to than 30. She looked back at him, and he quickly lit up the same purple and brown colors that Teddy had done a few times.
"Teddy, what are you doing here?" She asked, still afraid of what he could do to her.
"Sweetheart, we both know from long experience that you're the only one of your friends who trusts me, so I can promise you that you will not be hurt for the whole time that we're here tonight. I care too much about you to hurt you." Teddy responded, looking at her warmly.
"Okay... That makes me feel better." She smiled.
"But..." He continued, causing her to look worried again.
"But what?"
"You remember Swan, right? Well, she wants a little word with you herself. Starswirl knows why, but apparently it's personal." Teddy finished, spreading his wing. "I'm sorry, but I've got to fly, and get Rosy's attention."
"Are you sure this is a good idea, Bright-Eyes?" Bon-Bon asked her much smarter friend, as they walked towards the roller rink.
"Not really, but it's our best bet." She replied, stopping at the doors of the rink. "I know that what happened to Patch could very well happen to us as well, but at least we could see what's happened to him."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Bon-Bon replied.
"Well... Let's get this over with." Bright-Eyes said, grabbing the door with he hoof, waiting for Bon-Bon to do the same.
They both shot each other a reassuring look, before opening the door at the same time.
"And so, even when it would seem as though you've been singled out by the opponent, there's always a way to..." Somepony was quoting out of a book in the distance of the building, before their attention was turned the sound of the doors opening.
The pony was a sort of brown-barley color, with a brown and white mane. He was wearing a white long sleeve polo shirt and a black and white tie with a pin to keep it from hanging low, behind of his black waistcoat. He also wore a pair of black glasses on his face.
"Ah, we have a couple of guests with us tonight." He said, getting up from the chair he was sitting in. As he walked over to them, it was clear that there was another pony there with him, sitting on the floor and listening to what he was saying.
"Um, hi there." Bright-Eyes waved to the approaching stallion. "We were just-"
"Looking for your friend Lancer, or trying to find a pony named En Garde Apparition?" He finished for her, stopping in front of them.
"Yeah. How'd you know?" Bon-Bon questioned the stallion, not trusting anything.
"I know quite a lot about... Well, everything. I know that Star and her new friend sent you here to find out what you could. It's not uncommon to send in your pawns first, so that the likes of the castle and bishop can move more freely."
"Um... Pardon?" Bright-Eyes said to him, hoping he could simplify for her.
"Did it not occur to you that maybe Star just sent the two of you off on the easiest job because she doesn't think you're capable of defending yourselves against something more dangerous?"
"No, of course not. I know we've only just met, but she- wait, how did you know that?"
"Hmm hm hm hm." This stallion laughed, before his horn lit up, and the pony on the floor got up and made their way over to the three of them.
"What?"
""How did you know that" indeed. Similar to Star, I'm originated from Babylon. But unlike her, I intend to make a name for myself by helping other ponies in the public. Because of this, I am well respected by founders and other high authority ponies, such as a young colt that you both know too well."
The pony behind him was now right next to him, still looking down to the floor and not letting the girls see his face.
"Once I was able to become on such great terms with them, I was practically another family and they had no problem allowing me to speak casually with theirs. And so, you can speculate..." He put his hoof around the younger pony's shoulder. "This young stallion is."
"Lancer...?" Bright-Eyes said, sounding distraught as she knew that it was him.
"... Bright-Eyes..." He said, barely moving. A few seconds later, he slowly tilted his head up and looked at her in the eyes.
It was him, but you wouldn't be able to tell if you didn't already know. His mane was dyed to have black ends at all of his edges. Also, he was sporting black eyeliner, lipstick, hoof polish and diamond earrings.
It combined with his new outfit, which was made up of his black long-sleeve shirt, black Velcro pants, black Gothic boots and silver chain necklace.
"... You don't know how happy I am to see you two."
"What happened to you, Lancer?" Bright-Eyes asked, moving her hoof to her mouth in shock.
"My name's..." He started, before looking down again. "... En Guarde..."
"Why..." She tried to take a step forwards, before the older pony put his leg in her way to stop her. "Hey, let me through. Who are you?"
"My name is not important right now." The stallion replied.
Bright-Eyes looked puzzled by his answer.
"Why not?" Bright-Eyes asked, before continuing. "Actually, it doesn't matter. Whoever you are, What happened to Lancer? He looks like a goth."
"I.....am." Lancer replied behind the pony. He still sounded like he was unsure about everything that he said, emphasized by the now depressed accent he was speaking with.
"Not much of a yeasayer, are you boy?" The stranger asked the younger colt, before walking away and giving the two some room.
"Lancer, you can't really be... THIS, can you?" She walked up to him, trying to put her hoof on his chin, right before phasing through it. "What in the..."
"I said I am." He responded, moving away from her hoof.
"Lancer, look at me."
He slowly tilted his head up once again, his eyes beginning to meet hers. When they met on eye level, he saw her warm smile trying to sooth him.
Deep down, a small part of him was telling him to smile back. But, just as his mouth was about to make the slightest movement, he looked as though he was in pain, and stared straight ahead.
His eyes and mane glowed black, similar to how Teddy's glowed brown, and his coat glowed in a dark red.
"Are you okay?" Bright-Eyes asked the now goth pony, before he turned away from her, just as the glowing stopped.
"I can't answer that. I'm hurt everywhere. On the inside." He answered, walking away slowly. "Master Phoxjes told me that general happiness is a lie."
""Master"?" Bright-Eyes said, thinking about that word. "But, Teddy said your master's name was Caxpe."
"I mean, Caxpe IS my superior, but Phoxjes is my faction's leader, as a goth." Lancer responded, still looking sad.
Suddenly, a new feature on his body that she hadn't noticed before began to light up: a horn. There was a horn on the top of his head, sticking out of his mane and standing tall.
"Phoxjes?!" Bright-Eyes and Bon-Bon suddenly remembered that name, and where they hard it before.
"From your shocked gasping, I take it that you've just realized that my master is Star's older brother, and Walker's master too." Lancer aid to the girls.
"But...Why?" Bright-Eyes asked him, getting closer. "Why would you help him? From what Star said-"
Bright-Eyes stopped herself mid-sentence when he just disappeared from the spot in a quick flash of light. Looking around, he didn't appear to be anywhere, until the same flash of light appeared again right next to her.
"Ah!" She jumped, before he moved his whole head closer to hers.
Then, came the most creepy rendition of all: his head actually moved right through hers, and his snout was now sticking out of the other end. Due to shock, she found herself in a state of complete stillness, and her ears were perked right up. This was perfect for him, as he could whisper something to her.
"Bright-Eyes, I'm a Ghost pony." He told her, before moving out.
"What do you mean, Ace isn't a pony anymore!?" Melody asked the Alicorn walking alongside her. "What else can he be, a dinosaur?"
"You're not too far off, actually." Star replied, not wanting to go where she was heading. From past experience, it was clear that she knew what was in store for her, and she wasn't looking forwards to it.
"Well, whatever he is now, I'm sure I can persuade him to stop whatever he's got planned." Melody tried to reassure her new friend.
'I don't think that's as easy as you think it is, Melody.' Star thought, walking slower and slower with each step.
"What's the problem? It's right over there." Melody said, pointing over to the field.
"I know that, I just don't think that walking right into it is the best idea right now." Star responded, knowing what was coming their way.
"Come on, it can't be tha-" Melody was cut off when Star piled on top of her, and lit up her horn, creating a star shaped shield around them both.
This was in the nick of time too, as a giant stream of fire was shot straight at the girls, heading from Melody's direction.
"WHAT WAS THAT!?!" She screamed, as something circled them, flying about. It looked like a 10ft. high monster of some kind, with wings where it's arms would be, no feet and a large tail.
"It's a dragon." Star said in response, before deactivating the shield and taking Melody's hoof. "Come on, let's get to safety."
"Wait!" Melody shouted, as she was dragged with her. "What's a dragon doing here?!"
"That's what I was just saying. Ace is-" Star was cut of at the sound of something landing right in front of her towering over them both. She looked up to see them giant, and saw another dragon, this one with light cyan arms and legs, and over-sized scales hanging out over his whole body.
When Star saw him, she shot another star ray out of her horn, and he covered himself where he was hit. After he was covering his eyes, the pair thought that they could get past them.
However, he hadn't let his guard down yet, as he grabbed onto Star with his tail and threw her away from him, in the opposite direction they were heading for.
"Star, you okay?!" Melody shouted to her, trying to run across to where her new friend was.
Before she could even start running, she felt something biting her tail. But it didn't feel like it was trying to rip it off, rather the felt like it was just trying to take her with him.
"Ahhhhh!!" She screamed, being carried upside down into the soccer field by the dragon. "STAR! STAR, HELP!"
"Hold on, Melody!" Star shouted, trying to run back to the musician. however, she was stopped in her tracks when the high flying dragon from before slammed down on top of her, stopping her from going anywhere.
"Ohhh...Clover where are you?" Starlight asked nobody, looking high and low for her friend. She had already looked everywhere that she would be: her house, the Coltonville ballroom, the dance studio, even the Ice-cream shop. There wasn't a trace of her anywhere.
Hope was quickly being replaced by the idea of something awful happening to her. Instinctly, she tried out her next best idea.
"CLOVER!!" She yelled into the air, hoping the friend would hear the beacon.
"You couldn't have gotten far..." Starlight whimpered, her eyes not missing so much as an inch of the whole town.
Then, as she was staring upwards, in the hopes that an idea would come to mind, she noticed that a figure had started to ascend into the sky in the near distance.
They had wings flapping on their body, and a faint shine of moonlight reflecting off of his eyes, indicating that he was wearing glasses of some kind.
"Is that Teddy?" Starlight asked herself, running up to the flying figure. As she cantered after it, despite being on the ground and the figure in the air, she noticed that it was starting to fly away from her.
"No you don't!" Starlight shouted, running faster, before crashing into someone as she turned the corner, knocking them both onto the ground.
"Oh sorry." Starlight said rubbing her head.
"It's fine." A very familiar voice told her, getting back up. "At least you noticed this time."
"Clover!!" Starlight shouted, jumping to her hooves in a fusion of shock and relief. "There you are! We were worried sick about you."
"Really?" Clover said, with the tiniest hint of sarcasm in her voice. Starlight didn't reply, and instead wrapped her legs around her friend in a comforting hug.
What Starlight didn't notice was that Clover wasn't really hugging back, but instead lifted her hooves in uncertainty.
"Listen, I'm really sorry that we ignored you before." Starlight said to her, before Clover looked down to the ground.
"Again..." She muttered, hoping that Starlight wouldn't hear her.
"Huh?" Starlight said, wanting Clover to repeat herself.
"Nothing. Where are the other girls?" Clover asked, looking around herself and Starlight.
"Star and Melody are at the soccer field, looking for Ace, and anyone from this Babylon place that Star's from. Bright-Eyes had a theory that Lancer's taken over the roller rink, so she and Bon-Bon are testing that idea out now. Meanwhile Sweetheart went with Patch to settle the score with this Stone guy that wants her, and the princess."
"Oh... I see." Clover responded. "Maybe he has something to do with Teddy. In fact, he could be one of those leather jacket ponies from the school."
"That reminds me, Clover. There was another flying pony above here a few seconds ago. Do you know anything about that? Or rather, them?"
"Yes... I do. But they made me promise to keep it a secret."
"Okay. Well, that doesn't matter right now. C'mon, let's go back to the house." Starlight started to walk back to her house, before turning around after 5 steps. She didn't hear Clover's hooves trotting, and got concerned again.
"Um... You go ahead. I'll be with you later." Clover said, before taking a few steps backwards. As she was walking, being Clover, she tripped over a branch nearby and nearly fell into the mud.
"Are you okay?" Starlight asked in actual concern. Clover didn't answer, and instead just picked herself up and continued walking away. "Glad to hear it..."
Starlight just kept walking back to her home, her friends being the only thing on her mind.
"What even happened?" Starlight asked herself, her hoof on the doorknob of her own home. "Everything is just turning from bad to worse. It's all just happening so quick."
Just then, everything was rushing through her mind about the recent events: phoning Swan, the shrine to Ace, school closing, the Ice-cream shop, meeting Illiux, buying out the shop, the meteor shower, her friends in the spheres, meeting Star, everything Star told her, the gem, the dragon that interrupted them, Teddy's new wings, the school, the sledgehammer pony, Teddy vs Patch, Teddy's backstory and everything that he's been through, the ghosts, Walker's warning, Clover disappearing, the roller rink and the soccer field, and now the flying pony from earlier.
After a deep sigh, she slowly opened the door.
"I wonder where the other girls are right now."
Them, as if on cue, some friends called out to her from right behind her.
"Starlight!!" Her friend's voices shouted, running up to Starlight. She turned around and saw Sweetheart, Bon-Bon and Star on her way over to her.
"Girls, what happened?!" Starlight asked, as she closed the door and looked at the girls. The four of them caught up with each other.
"Patch found that Stone guy. Turns out it was that pony with the sledgehammer from the school, and the two of them are still at the back of the school now." Sweetheart explained, catching her breath.
"We found Lancer." Bon-Bon told the girls. "Bright-Eyes was right, he was at the roller rink, and there was another pony with him. She's still in there with those two, but I got kicked out."
"Melody's been abducted inside of the soccer field. I can't get in there with just my magic alone. Those guys there said that he'll let me in if I took you girls with me." Star finished.
"Well then we gotta save her! Come on!" Starlight announced, running towards the place that Star just came from.
The other three girls followed her, cantering to save their artist friend.
"Starlight, what happened to Clover?" Star asked, flying above the girls.
"I'll tell you later!" Starlight replied, running faster to the soccer field.
The girls arrived as quickly at the soccer field as they could, massively worried about the danger that their musician friend could potentially be in at the moment.
"C'mon girls! Pick up the pace!" Starlight practically yelled to her other friends behind her.
"Starlight, we can't just go at them head on!" Star told her, flying ahead to try and speak with her.
'Please be okay, Melody.' Starlight thought, as the sight of the field was now within her. She then turned around to see the others. "It's right there girls! Come on!"
Unfortunately, because she was turned round, she didn't see what was flying towards her right now.
"Starlight!!" The others all screamed, right before Star fired a beam at her from her horn.
When the beam touched her, she had instantly teleported to the side, just in time as a large winged beast flew past her, right into the direction that she was standing.
"Whoa!" Starlight screamed, realizing that her whole body could have just been sliced in half from whatever that thing was. "What was that thing?!"
"It's a dragon." Star answered, as she flew over to where she had just reappeared, protecting her with the same magical barrier as before.
The dragon was the same one that Star ran into before, and it clearly hadn't forgotten. Once it stopped when it missed, it performed some kind of upwards spiral, and looked back down at the pair of girls.
"A... A... Dr... Drag..." Starlight was clearly too petrified to get the word out of her mouth, seeing that her worse fear was alive and breathing right in front of her.
"That thing's a real dragon?!" Bon-Bon asked the Alicorn girl, looking up at the cold-blooded animal.
"This is really truly honestly scary..." Sweetheart whimpered, backing up from the scaled beast.
"Is that why you didn't want Melody to go alone? Because these things took over the field?!" Starlight asked the Babylonian.
"Yes, but I'm afraid that they still got her. And if we don't go in there, then there's no way of getting your friend back." Star replied, walking towards the field.
"Whoa whoa, wait a second! Are you crazy!? I'm not going into a field full of... THOSE!"
"Yeah, I think we'll just wait out here, and, uh... Cheer you on!" Bon-Bon added, standing next to Starlight.
"If... If you need anything... We'll be right here... For you..." Sweetheart backed them, joining the cowardly support.
Star sighed, before sarcastically smiling at them.
"So, if I need anything, then you three will be outside for me. Is that what you're all saying?" She asked the girls, to which they all nodded. "Okay; that's all I needed to hear."
Just then, Star's horn lit up again, and the girls were all teleported away somewhere.
When they reappeared, they were on the other side of the entrance, where the main soccer playing field actually was. The three looked around for a second, as they realized what just happened, right before Star opened the door to the inside of the small building.
"Okay, so if I need anything, I'll let you girls know, okay?" Star rhetorically asked, before slamming the door shut.
"Wait!" Starlight screamed, as she made a run for the door, and the filly on the other side. "This isn't what we meant; let us in!"
"S... Starlight?" Bon-Bon said to her friend, as she hesitantly turned round, afraid of whatever the snarling sound behind her was coming from.
When she managed to work up the courage after ten seconds, her face was met with another one of her most feared beast.
Starlight was speechless, looking directly into the narrow eyes of the sapphire colored dragon in front of her. Literally nothing could be heard, except for the heavy breathing of the winged reptiles.
Eventually, it deployed its wings and flew up a little, and soared away, for the girls to look behind it and see what was waiting for them.
While her confidence was nowhere near fully restored, she did have the guts to see what was over there at the far side of the field. When she had a glimpse of what, or rather WHO, was over there, her fears turned into nostalgia at the sight of the particular dragon.
"Starlight!" It called out to her, still slouching in the throne that it had with him. "Wondered if you were actually coming here or not! I thought you stopped caring for a moment!"
It was the same dragon from the strange space area that Star took her when she was explaining everything that had happened: from the sporty clothing to the aggressive, yet familiar voice. He had the same golden/yellow scales, and his jacket hood was still up.
"You again!" Starlight shouted to it, as she ran towards the young dragon, stopping halfway on the field. "Who are you?!"
"Oh, now I'm just insulted!" He said to her, as he looked to the sky behind her on her left. Wanting to know what he was suddenly staring at, she turned her head to see something flying towards her and the other two at a rapid speed.
"What the...?" She pondered, just as the thing arrived close enough to give her a good view of who it was: Teddy.
This time, not just him. Patch was with him, and he threw her towards the ground where the girls were standing.
"Catch!" He yelled, zooming past them.
As Patch fell towards the floor, she was caught in a black mist, which slowly lowered her to the ground.
"Patch!" The three girls called, helping her down.
Before they could do anything else, they all saw the black mist that caught her now crawling towards them all.
"Oh, not again!" Starlight said, trying to back away from the air.
This was unmistakably another Ghost pony. They all braced themselves for whatever might be coming their way, but felt somewhat relieved when they saw the head of another friend pop out of it.
"Bright-Eyes!" The four girls called, helping her stand mobile. "Are you okay? You look dizzy."
"I-I'm fine." Bright-Eyes said, as the mist flew away from the girls, onto the opposite side of the field where Teddy was flying. After he reached a good distance away, he pulled a U-turn and was now flying back towards where the dragon was standing.
A few seconds after dropping Patch, he made his wings stay still, and he landed on the ground himself, skidding to a stop next to the hooded drake.
So when the girls looked now, there was Teddy standing on the left in his new Greaser clothing, and now the black mist on the right, which was now beginning to evaporate and reveal the pony as he walked towards the pair.
"Wait... Is that... Lancer!?" Sweetheart asked, not getting an answer from that miserable face.
Instead he only looked at her, and looked even more depressed, signifying that he either had an answer that he didn't want to give, or he didn't have and answer but wish that he did.
"Y-yeah, it's him..." Bright-Eyes answered for him, as she tried to point a hoof at the dragon. "But who's..."
With Teddy and Lancer on the sides, they both started to walk closer to the girls.. This allowed the girls to notice that the third figure was also walking towards them, a smile plastered onto that scaled face of his.
Knowing that these two were here in front of them, and by the colors and outfit of the dragon, it didn't take a brain surgeon to figure out who the last one was.
"... No..." Starlight quietly said, her heart skipping a beat, and her pupils shrinking.
"It... It's not true..." Sweetheart whimpered, realizing the same thing as them.
"No way." Patch exclaimed, looking at his body.
"Im... Possible." Bright-Eyes stated.
"Believe what you want..." He said to them, moving his claw up to his hood, and pulling it down, revealing his face to the girls. "It won't change a thing."
"ACE!" The girls all cried in unison, none of them wanting to believe what they were seeing was true.
""Ace"? Please. Name's Virt. Got it memorized?" The jock asked the girls, pointing his claw at his head.
"What are you doing here!?!" Star asked whoever it was right in front her, as the current camera angle couldn't clear identify his or her face yet. Instead, it was just looking at her, next to this pony's legs.
"I understand that you are currently endeavoring to have these seven young ladies join your rebellion against all I have fought and risked my life for. Is this true?" He asked the young filly, not allowing her out of his sight. He had a deep voice, indicating that he was much older than the filly.
"Yeah... Once they're... On my side... You'll be beaten... Phoxjes." Star managed to get out, still out of breath from whatever it was that Phoxjes did to her.
"You assume that simply manipulating seven young mares that you shall reign superior over my Babylon?" He asked, the black and red mask on his face still having its gaze fixed on her.
"It's like... What... Walker told you... One of them... Might be..." Star tried to get out before her brother stopped her.
"I am aware. One of those young mares may very well be the one that shall harness the ability of Neutral Magic." Phoxjes said, withdrawing his sword into its hold. "However, young sibling, we are not entirely certain if she is. For all that is certain, it may be another pony of the far side of this world. If this is truly how it stands, then you and I will have both wasted our time attempting to assist these mares."
Star had no answer for this, and instead readied her wings.
"Even so, this is the reason why I have sent Walker after her: to determine whether she truly is or not. Additionally, if this young mare IS the one, than I have sent En Gaurde to convince them all to do what is right."
"If they want to do what's right..." Star began, catching her breath. "Then they'll join me and stop you... from destroying Equestria."
"You are wrong. We are saving Babylon, at the cost of revolutionizing Equestria."
"By destroying it?" Star responded.
"Very well then Star." Phoxjes turned away from her and faced the other exit from the reception that they were standing in. "Persuade them as much as you desire, but in the end, fate shall allow these fillies to decide what their destinies are. Once their time arrives, they will eventually do what their hearts are telling them is right, and they shall all lead their lives from there."
Before Star said anything, Phoxjes was already outside of the building, making his way to wherever he needed to go.
"Nice to see you again too..." Star said, before turning back to where the girls were. She saw what was happening outside as she opened the door, and her heart sank at the sight of all three of the colts being there.
"Ace... What have you..." Starlight tried to get the words out of her mouth.
"I'm guessing your first question is what have I got no fur, and suddenly my teeth are sharp?" He asked the girls, towering over them at height a 6.5ft.
Even his voice had changed for the worst. He sounded more grunted and rough in the throat, as opposed to his usual athletic voice that the girls were used to.
"What did you do to yourself?" Patch questioned with her mouth agape.
"Simple: I corrected my life." Ace/Virt answered, looking at his claw. "Really, it's thanks to my master that I look like this, but after what he did for me, I don't think that it's so much of a bad thing."
"You look like a monster!" Bon-Bon exclaimed. "Who did this to you?!"
"I just told you, porky." Ace said to her, causing Teddy to snicker. "My master had me do this. I didn't want to at first either, but when I saw the many perks of this new body, how could I say no?"
"But... But, this isn't you!" Starlight took a step forwards to him, anxious about what he could do to her. "You're not one of those! You're a pony, Ace!"
"Maybe I was, but now I'm only a pony at heart, and there's nothing that you can do to change that! Not even Melody can convince me to go back to that body now!" Ace told the girls, as the three boys took a few steps closer to them.
"Yeah, where is Melody?" Starlight asked looking around for her. The boys stopped walking when she asked this, and Ace looked above him.
Putting his finger and thumb in his mouth, he whistled to the air as the same winged dragon from outside flew overhead and down to where he was.
"Melody!!" The girls all shouted, seeing their friend in the claws of the dragon's feet. She was hanging there unconscious with her forelegs in the claws of him.
"Ace, what did you do to her!?" Patch shouted, running towards the dragon with anger in her eyes.
Before she made contact with him, he lowered his body and grabbed her leg. Then, without even having to try, he lifted her up to his face, and blew some kind of smoke out of his nose at her.
"My name is Virtuoso."
Patch coughed for a second, before Ace threw her body upwards and slightly behind him. Before she hit the floor behind him, he grabbed her back leg and left her hanging upside down for a moment.
Then he put one leg forwards, twisted his body around, and threw her with a incredibly strong amount of force, sending her flying to outside the field.
"PATCH!!" The girls all shouted, as they heard the tomboy's scream as she was in the air.
"Typical." Ace said. "She asked a question and didn't stick around for an answer. So rude."
"How did you..." Sweetheart started to ask.
"Dragon strength. Part of the new features of this body." He hit his chest.
"You want this girl?" Skytop asked Ace, still hovering above him without even having to flap his wings to stay airborne.
"Yeah, thanks Cielo." Ace told the dragon above, holding out his arms to catch Melody as he dropped her.
""Cielo"? I thought you said his name was Skytop." Bright-Eyes said.
"It is, but Cielo's his native language's born name, before becoming a dragon. He's Hispanic, so his current name is Skytop Terror, and mine is Virtuoso Goal." Ace explained, putting Melody down gently.
"Virtuoso Goal?" Starlight asked, taking in what he had just said.
"Yes?" He replied, sounding as if she wanted to asked him a question.
"No, I just meant it like-"
"We know what you meant." Teddy stopped her, beginning to fly. "Although, I still think that his boss should've gone with my name for him: Drake Dyslextic."
Ace lightly hit Teddy in the side, which actually knocked him back a few feet, due to his new-found strength.
"Teddy! Dyslexia is NOT a joke!" Starlight shouted at him, to which he smiled evilly at her.
"Who's joking?" He laughed, flying behind Ace.
He looked down and sighed, before looking back at the girls.
"Ace... He IS kidding... Right?" Bright-Eyes asked the dragon, looking confused at what was being said.
"No... No, he's not." Ace whined to the girls.
"You're... Dyslexic?"
"Since when?" Starlight asked him, looking sad at the news.
"Since always. That's why I never even try doing anything in school other than sports: because I can't. I joined Babylon because they gave me their word that they could somehow cure it. Eventually."
"Seriously?" Starlight asked him, showing the compassion on her face. "Why did you never tell anyone?"
Just then, the doors opened behind the girls, and they looked to see Patch and Star running through it, and over to the girls.
"I did tell someone." Ace looked smug and happy again, staring back at Starlight. "Just not you."
"Ace we could of helped you! We would have been there for you if you ever needed someone!"
"I never needed anyone!" Ace yelled, before his face changed to fear immensely, as if he just remembered something significant.
"Are you okay?" Starlight asked him, tilting her head.
"What's... happened?" Patch asked, wanting to get caught up with them.
"I... I'm fine." He said, shaking his head. "I've lived with dyslexia all my life, baby."
"Dys...lexia?"
"It's a disability that 1/10 ponies are born with, and it means that they have trouble reading and writing. We've all just found out that Ace was born with it." Bright-Eyes informed, getting all her breath back now.
"No kidding?" Star asked, having a lot more breath left in her than Patch did.
"Yep, and I already made it this far, I can make it another century."
"Century?"
"Dragons live for hundreds of years, Starlight." Bright-Eyes informed, getting all her breath back now.
"SOME dragons live for hundreds of years, Know-it-all; others can live for thousands, and some don't even make it to fifty." Ace responded.
"He calls HER a Know-it-all." Patch quietly whispered over to Bon-Bon, who snickered a little.
However, when she said this, he looked down over to her, with a look of insult on his face. Slowly, he began to make his way over to her.
"Um, Ac-" Starlight began, before Ace used his new tail to wrap around her body quickly, pick her up, and put her down to the side.
Then, despite Patch backing up slowly, he grabbed her by her chest with his claws, and brought her up to his face for a second time.
"...Say that again." Ace said to her, seeing her look amazed that he could hear her from all the way over there.
Then, it became somewhat more understandable why, as the things were his ears were supposed to be had been replaced with something similar to what Spike had.
"I..."
"If you wanna say something, say it to my face." Ace didn't let her finish, as he let go of her right then.
"Ace, can't you see what those Babylon guys are doing to you and our friends?" Starlight asked him, walking over to him.
"First of all, Starlight, we're not YOUR friends." Teddy said to her flying over to the group.
"Second, it's not "Babylon guys", it's Babylonians." Lancer added on, teleporting over there as well.
"Thirdly, they're not doing anything TO us; they're doing everything FOR us." Ace continued. "And lastly, my name is Virtuoso."
"You're wrong!" Starlight snapped at them, silencing the three.
There was a moment of nothing for a while, before Starlight looked up to face Ace again.
"These 'Babylonians' aren't helping you guys! They're forcing you to be criminals; to be something that you're not, and making you think that what you're doing is right!" She told them.
"What we're doing IS right, Starlight!" Ace replied.
"No, it's not! And we're going to show them and get our friends back!"
"You tried to get Clover back when she ditched you-" Ace said, as he now had his eyes and hair light up red, and body light up white, similar to how Teddy and Lancer did in their colors. "-And you failed then too, because she didn't feel welcome with you and your ignorance!"
"How did you know about that, Ace?" She asked him, not liking this conversation at all.
"Easy." He said, as he extended his arm and the lights on him faded. Just then, some kind of little green animal, that looked like an overgrown chameleon jumped onto his arm. "Gelhul told me."
"That lizard saw what me and Clover said?"
"For your information, this dragon is one of my best friends, after what he did for me." Ace answered, to which the thing slithered its tongue out.
It then jumped down from his arm, and changed its color to camouflage into the field, like a normal chameleon.
"Later, Zac~"
"Ace, where do you know these dragons from?" Bright-Eyes asked him, wanting to know more about their relationship.
Ace didn't answer, and pulled something out of his sport's jacket from the inside. When she saw what it was, Starlight's pupils shrank and her heart skipped a beat.
"This little gem should be a suitable answer, Know-it-all." He told her. It was a gem, similar to the one that Star entrusted Starlight to guard, with minor differences. For example, this one had a faint red aura inside of it, rather than the faint yellow inside of Starlight's.
"Where..." Star tried to ask him, thinking of answers to her own question.
"My master gave it to me, after getting it back from some girl called, um..." Ace thought for a minute, showing his dyslexia. "I think it was Sweetie something, but I don't care."
"Who IS your master, Ace?" Bon-Bon asked him.
"It's the leader of the Babylon factor that he's now in: the Dragon's Section. But which one?" Star piped up.
"If you have to know, I'm in Auxron's sector, and I plan to stay there forever. Who are you, anyway? I recognize you from the alter space thingy from a while back, but that's about it." Ace added on, looking at the Alicorn.
"If YOU have to know, I'm a faction leader as well, Virtuoso." She answered.
"What?! No you're not!" Teddy responded.
"We'd know about it." Lancer agreed.
"My name is Staria Sparrow. I am the faction leader of the Rebel sector of Babylon, and I'm the sister of Phoxjes Gibel Gerra Rome."
"You!?! The 10th faction leader!?!" Teddy asked first, looking over the girl.
"How can someone like you be my master's sister?" Lancer calmly asked her, still keeping in the surprise of the news.
"This completely changes everything, boys!" Ace said to them, thinking of something else to go with. "We gotta tell Checkmate and Swan about this!"
"Checkmate?!" Bright-Eyes exclaimed.
"Swan?!" Sweetheart joined her.
"Well, been really fun catching up girls, but we got a bit of guy stuff to talk about: sports, cars, girls, Babylon, all that stereotypical stuff." Ace ignored them, as he snapped his claws, causing two different shadows to come down from over head.
Suddenly, there were two dragons on either side of him, one of which was a deep blue looking snake that probably belonged in the water, stretching to a size of about 30ft.
The other one was the same over scaled dragon from outside, that clearly still remembered their faces, as it cracked its knuckled when it spotted them.
"Gary, Cameron, would you care to show these young ladies off the field?" Ace asked them, before the two of them got ready to throw them out by force. "If not... Then do it anyway, I don't care." He laughed.
"Ace wait, you can't do this to us!" Starlight yelled up to him. "You still need our help!"
"Ha! I don't need help from you, Starlight." Ace responded back to her, as he looked up and lifted his arms up. "I have these guys!"
The dragons all roared in support at what he said, all of them clearly hearing him.
"But more importantly, I have the other Babylonians with me as well. And as long as I stay by their side, and do everything that master Auxron orders me, then my dyslexia will be a thing of the past..."
Just then, his hair and eyes lit up red again, and his body glowed white once more. As this happened to him, Starlight and the girls all took a step back from him, afraid of whatever he may do next.
"And I'll have the life I deserve." He finished off, quoting the same thing that Teddy said at the school.
"Ace..." Starlight began, before the dragons both gathered the girls up, and threw them all out of the soccer field. As they were flying, Ace's lights faded away, and he looked at the dragons.
"You two don't think that's a bit overkill?" He asked them both, as they looked at each other, then back to him. "Yeah, me neither."
"Hey, you shouldn't have had them thrown out like that yet, I wasn't recording it." Teddy pretended to whine to him.
"Oh you poor thing." Ace responded. "Next time, I'll give you a heads up, so you and the other grease balls can watch it over and over. That is, if you or they actually have working cameras in those trailers you call home."
"Better living in a static home like mine, rather than where you live, Virt." Teddy talked back. "Remind me again, was it called a cave or a den? Same difference, but call it what you want; it's still a musky opening in a rock."
Ace/Virtuoso looked over to Teddy/Ursa, glaring at him with his lizard eyes.
"In all honesty, I'm surprised that you hadn't already gone away to live under a rock, after what daddy does to you on a daily basis." The dragon commented to the greaser.
"What I've gone through has nothing to do with you, All-Star." The greaser commented to the dragon.
When he said this, Ace's smile faded, and was quickly replaced with a snarl.
"Oh, my bad(!)" Teddy continued. "I forgot, All-Star is the important one, and YOU'RE just the bench-warmer, right?"
"Leave him out of this, alright?!" Ace snapped at him. "What about you-" "Dyslexic wannabe." "-Momma's boy?"
When Teddy added that last part in between what he was saying, and Ace adding that last part, the two found that their rage intensified. Their lights lit up in their eyes, hair/spines and bodies again, and they both slammed their heads against each other, gritting their teeth.
"WHAT'D YOU CALL ME?!?!" They snapped at each other, before they felt some kind of force split them apart.
"Stop. Now." Lancer ordered them, using his magic to keep them from ripping each other apart. "Both of you."
His eyes, mane and body then lit up as well, still in black and red. The two got off each other, and walked away, their lights fading.
"It benefits us not to fight amongst each other, while those we antagonize continue swarming to rebel." He added.
"You got that from one of Phoxjes's cheesy poems, didn't ya?" Teddy asked.
"No." The goth replied, leaving them in silence for a few seconds. "It was from Reverend."
"Yeah, Ursa." Ace mockingly agreed. "It was Reverend. Jeez, you're such a nimrod."
"Sure, I'm the nimrod(!) That's why you're the one that got sent away to the little campsite, right(?)"
"If they're still alive, then I WILL find them. You just watch."
"If I'm not going to be of any service to either of you, then I'll just head on out to see the girls again." Lancer said to them both as he vanished, using some kind of new ghost magic.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" The girls all screamed, falling to the ground outside the field. They all thought that the impact was going to break every bone in their bodies, and the surface below would be left with a large crack from the landing.
That is, until Star remembered that she had a horn on top of her head, that contained magic beyond these girls imagination. Including the ability to make a magic net underneath her. Which is exactly what she did, to save the girls.
The other six girls screamed again, when the landed on the magical net to safety. Once they had all stopped bouncing, Star gently levitated them down to the ground.
"Thanks, Star." Starlight said, looking miserable at herself from what just said.
"You're really truly honestly upset about Ace, aren't you?" Sweetheart asked her, similar to the way she did in the episode Just For Kicks.
"Yeah... But, if that's the life that he wants, then I can't do anything to change that."
"I know... But, I can relate to you on how you feel, because... You know..."
"Teddy, I know." Starlight turned to her. "How'd you think Bright-Eyes feels? I mean, Lancer's..."
"A goth." Bright-Eyes joined them, walking over to them.
"Bright-Eyes." Starlight said, seeing their smart friend.
"Lancer's a goth now, because his master, in his own words, "Opened my eyes to the way of the world."" She quoted him.
"Who's his master, again?" Patch asked the girls, as they turned to Star.
"My brother, Phoxjes." Star answered.
Before she got the chance to say anything else, they all heard the moaning of someone close by. So close, in fact, she sounded as though she was right there with them.
But with six out of seven of the protagonists being right there, and Star trying to explain who Phoxjes is, that only left...
"MELODY!!" They all shouted, rushing over to help the awakening girl to he hooves.
"Are you okay?!" Bon-Bon asked her, before she was even up.
"Does she LOOK okay to you?" Patch sarcastically asked, as Melody was now standing. But barely.
"How are you feeling?" Starlight asked her, getting a moan in response. When Melody tried again, her words were more clear to them.
"They took them..." She whimpered, tears dropping from her eyes.
"Ace has your sisters?!" Starlight asked Melody, sitting in the musician's bedroom. "How do you know?!"
"I saw them there." Melody answered, blanket over her body, tea in her hooves, sadness in her voice. "Ring-a-ding and Ting-a-ling were sitting there in the stands, before Ace came over to me."
"Any idea what he wants with them?" Patch questioned.
"No, but I have to get them back, and soon." Melody replied, sipping her tea in her shaking hooves.
"But how?" Bright-Eyes asked her. "Ace has got dragons scattered all across the field, and they're not gonna let any of us anywhere near him, or your sisters."
"True, but Ace doesn't realize something." Star told the girls.
"What's that?"
"The dragons in there? I know them just as well as he does, because they come from the same place I do." She answered.
"Hey, quick question, why's he called Virtuoso now? Also, what's Virtuoso mean?" Patch asked.
"When ponies or dragons join Babylon, they have the option to change their names, as part of starting their new lives as Babylonians. It's really part of a tradition, in a way, although they don't necessarily have to." Star answered the first question.
"Virtuoso means someone who excels in musical technique or execution." Bright-Eyes answered the second.
"Okay... Wait, but then why would they change Ace's name to that? He has nothing to do with music, apart from his feelings for Melody." Bon-Bon announced, looking at Melody, who seemed even sadder than before.
""Well... About that..." Melody muttered, before another pony's voice stopped her.
"Virtuoso: noun. A being with exceptional knowledge or skill in a specific area." The voice said, correcting Bright-Eyes.
"Yeah, that makes more sense. Thanks." Bon-Bon said to him.
"You're most welcome." He said to them.
The girls turned to see who was now in the bedroom, four of them having no idea who he was.
"So, is this another friend of yours, Star?" Patch queried. "Or do I gotta smash his face into pieces?!"
"You again?" Bright-Eyes, Bon-Bon and Star all said together.
"Who's he?" Melody asked. "And how did he get into my house?"
"My apologies, but I can't give you my name as of right now. To answer you other question, I got in here because Walker helped me in." He informed the girls, before something appeared right behind him.
As the girls tried to get around him, the thing stepped out of the wall, and placed its hooves onto the floor.
"Hello again, girls." Walker said to them, walking stick still in hooves, and his face still covered up.
"You too?!" Patch said to him, starting to get tired of seeing the same pony.
"What do you want now, Walker?" Starlight asked him, walking up to him.
"That may not even be of your concern, young lady." He told her, somehow knowing who he was talking to. "But, all you need to know, is that your former friend Virtuoso, or as you used to call him, "Ace", is trying to have Ring-a-ding and Ting-a-Jing go through the same transformation that he did, to turn them into those same scaled beasts that you saw him as."
Nobody said a thing for a whole 15 seconds after Walker told them this. It was quieter than a graveyard at midnight at the moment, with the majority of the ponies not even trying to compare what they're currently feeling to how Melody is.
"...What...Did...You..." Melody tried her hardest to spit out, terror overcoming her entirely. Suddenly, her breathing started to become more and more difficult, as she had to place her hoof on her chest to prevent collapsing.
"I believe that your comment may have been a little to advanced for her young mind, Mr. Soul." The other one said to him, turning to look at the musician.
"Ring...Ting..." Melody's face began to turn pale, thinking about what could be happening to them right now.
"If you are struggling to understand, then allow me to narrow this down, miss Lyric..." The much smarter pony said to her, causing her to look back at him after being referred to by her second name. "Your juvenile siblings, who are currently in the custody of Mr. Auxron, Virtuoso, and other members of the second dragon faction of Babylon, are right this minute being transferred from their equine case to their contemporary ophidian, and you adolescents are absent to bar the process."
This is really what did it. Melody couldn't take anymore, and she passed out where she lay on the bed.
"Melody!" The girls called to her, getting no answer.
"Ironic." He continued to speak with them. "For a girl who tends to use the adjective "rad" a majority of the time, she certainly can't take much until she collapses, can she?"
"Why are you doing this?!" Bright-Eyes demanded to know, squaring up to him. "We've never done anything to you!"
"Incorrect again, Bright-Eyes." He replied, adjusting his glasses. "You THINK that you and your friends are innocent, but you are far from correct. As I'm sure that Ursa has already told you, we each have our own reasons for going after you six."
""Six"?" Bright-Eyes quoted, unclear. "Don't you mean seven?"
"Give it time, and my wording will become clear to you, young lady."
The girls looked at each other.
"Anyway, you had better be concerned for yourself, Bright-Eyes, because MY target happens to be you."
"What did I do?!" She exclaimed in shock.
"In life, I've learnt that support can expand from being a minor choice of encouraging words, to become a large quality of a threat, and yours is one that I need out of the way."
"Wait, so just because I support something, I'm a bad guy?!"
"Of course not; that would be preposterous." He said.
Now the girls were just lost.
"What?!" They asked.
"I would explain..." He continued, before adjusting his glasses "But I've been here for long enough, and I believe that I have already gotten what I came here for."
"Wait, what?" Patch asked him, looking at her friends in confusion. "But, you haven't really done anything."
"That is what you think, Patch. I'll see you all again."
With that, his horn lit up, and he disappeared from the room in a matter of milliseconds.
"By now, I'm sure no introductions are needed." The blind pony stepped forwards, a few seconds later.
"What do you want with us, Walker?" Starlight asked him.
"You have to ask? I would've thought that my master's sister would have told you by now."
The six girls looked over to Star, who looked confused by what he just responded with.
"The five magics that keep this world in balance?" He questioned them.
"What are you talking about?" Bon-Bon asked him next.
"So you haven't told them?" Walker queried Star, not having any idea where about in the room that she was.
"Told us what?" Sweetheart questioned, looking over at Star.
"You see, there are five different magics that keep this world alive. They consist of-"
"Neutral, Rainbow, Ghost, Dragon and Mythical?" Starlight cut him off.
"So you HAVE told them?" Walker asked.
"Just her." Star responded.
"I see. Favoritism much?" He asked, smiling under his mouth scarf.
"I tried to tell them all separately, before Ace cut me off when I was speaking to Starlight."
"And it was later that you tried to tell them all at the same time, when your friend miss Bloom abandoned you because she felt like you didn't need her, right?"
"Hey! That's not what happened and you know it!" Starlight told him. "Besides, how would you know? You weren't there."
"By this point, you girls should probably realize that the answer to 'How do you know?' is usually 'I'm a ghost', so it shouldn't take a lobotomy doctor to figure out the answer to your question."
"You're a ghost as well?"
"Worse than that, Starlight." Star said to her. "He's Walker Soul: head of the ghost ponies, and S.I.C. of the Goth faction of Babylon."
"That is correct, child. Now then, I'm here to claim something that you have. The Neutral Gem, Starlight. Where is it?" He demanded to know.
"I'm not telling you." Starlight firmly said, as he tilted his head slightly, and looked at the bed, causing Starlight to worry for a second.
"It's under the bed." He said, using a tone as if he was giving an answer to them, as opposed to asking the question.
"But, how-" Starlight began, before remembering the answer. "Don't tell me... Ghost?"
"Partially; the same way that I found the key to the door, containing your little shrine to Ace." When he said this, her eyes widened.
"That was you as well?" She asked, gaining a small nod in response.
"Being blind for my life, I've learnt how to detect people and objects by their emanation, rather than how they look. Hence my name: Walker SOUL."
"Got it..." Starlight said, ready to pounce him, when he made his move, although relying more on Star to help, due to her having magic and all.
However, she and the other girls got curious when he didn't move towards the bed. In fact he didn't move at all.
"Well?" Patch asked impatiently. "Are you gonna make a move or just stand there?"
"Patience, child." He answered, just toying with them. "I'm a pony of wits, not of brute force. I need to think my options over, before making a move."
"Grr..." Starlight grunted, still unsure of what he was going to do next.
"Let's see here... This way's a good place to strike..." He said, looking to his left. "But, there's always here..." He followed up, looking on the right.
"Leave, Walker!" Starlight demanded, shooing him from her room.
"Very well then, We'll leave now." He said, getting his cane out, and heading for the door.
'"We'll"?' The girls thought on his quote, looking around the room. They only just noticed the pink mist from the room, before getting a conclusion and turning towards the bed.
"Stop her!!" Starlight yelled, as the girls tried to get under the bed, to catch the suspect.
"Come along, Kindred~" Walker said, as if instructing a dog for a walk. Suddenly, the six-year-old looking girl popped out from directly through the bed, and joined his side.
"Coming, Mr. Walk- Ooof!" She grunted, after being tackled by someone behind her.
"Gimme that!" Patch demanded, trying to get the gem out of her hooves.
"No! It's not yours!" Kindred Silence responded, soundly like she was about to cry, like any six-year-old would after having something taken off them.
"Not yours either, squirt!" Starlight responded to her, taking the gem from her. "Got it!"
Unfortunately, she really didn't got it, when she felt something go through her that made her feel worse than anything she had ever internally felt before. Even more sickening was what it actually was. Walker. He was going right through her, as a ghost, and came out of her chest, holding the gem.
"Could've fooled me." He said, popping out off her completely, and dropping his hooves back on the floor.
Before he could make his way to the exit, the feeling of someone climbing onto his back stopped him, and knocked him down.
It was Sweetheart, grabbing onto him and pulling him down. They both fell on the floor, and he dropped the gem, which Bright-Eyes picked up.
"Give it back!" Kindred said to her, grabbing onto her mane and yanking down hard.
"Oww!!" She yelped, dropping to the floor and trying to get the younger girl off of her hair. "Get off me!"
"Gimme the gem!" Kindred yelped back, pulling harder. It seemed as though the girl had some kind of personal grudge against Bright-Eyes about something as well. Then again, when the person you like likes someone else, that's to be expected.
"Ow! Here!" Bright-Eyes shouted, as she threw the gem over to Bon-Bon.
It landed in front of her, and she tried to pick it up. But when she brought it up to eye level, it was immediately shot out of her hoof by the feeling of a stick being thrown her way.
"Whoa!" She exclaimed, as the gem slammed into the wall along with the stick, which turned out to be Walker's cane, courtesy of him throwing it at her.
Bon-Bon then jumped over to it and tried to get it again, until she saw somepony else dive for it as well.
"Mine!" Kindred yelled, as she lunged for it, causing the two to begin leg wrestling for it. The pair now stood on their hind legs, and pulling it back and forth.
"The gem... Belongs... With Starlight!" Bon-Bon told the filly in between pulls.
"It's... Mine! So... I can... Give it to... Guardy!" Kindred responded in her annoying, soft, high-pitched voice.
Just then, Kindred felt some one grab around her waist and pull her away from the gem.
"Why not go down to the Watch Store?!" Patch sarcastically asked her, trying to yank her off. "I'm sure your boyfriend will love it just as much!"
As they were arguing and struggling, the other girls rushed over to help. However, they were quickly stopped when the presence of something grabbing each of their tails, and throwing them back in to the wall behind them.
"A commendable effort girls, but I'm afraid that in the end, righteousness ALWAYS prevails." Walker said, as he now had one of his legs in the wall, using some kind of Ghost magic, which apparently kept the girls where they were.
Even worse was that now his other leg started to disappear as well, and then reappear moments later where the other girls were, and he knocked the gem upwards, causing the three girls to fall backwards.
Being on top of Patch gave Kindred the advantage, as she then jumped up to grab the gem while it was still airborne. That was, until Patch grabbed her hind leg and pulled her towards herself, which resulted in Spirit knocking the gem to land on top of Bon-Bon.
She then picked it up, and saw that Walker's hoof was now heading for her again. Seeing this made her hold the Neutral Gem close to her, instinctively trying to protect it.
Just as he was about to grab it, something happened that none of the girls expected: Bon-Bon actually started to glow.
Her mane, her eyes, and her whole body started to glow brightly. It was similar to how Teddy, Ace and Lancer did when they girls saw them earlier, but this time the colors that she emitted were her own: her mane and eyes glowed light purple, and her body glowed bright yellow.
Then, the light charged from her right into the gem she was right now treasuring.
"What?" Walker exclaimed in a surprised tone, despite not seeing what was happening, but instead feeling the "soul" of the Gem instead. This appeared to be telling him exactly what was going on.
"But she's not a-!" Kindred yelled as well, gasping at the sight.
"Wh-What's happening to m-" Bon-Bon tried to ask, before the light expanded from the Gem and charged into Walker's body next to her.
The light seemed to be some kind of an attack, confirming that what the young baker was holding was much more than a fancy piece of jewellery.
The split second before the beam made contact with him, the elder pony reached out his hoof, in a motion for it to stop. Surprisingly, this actually worked, and he caught the beam in it, holding it in place until it all gathered into a sphere.
It wasn't a perfect counter, however, as he seemed to be knocked back a foot or two. Nevertheless, he came to no harm.
This new attack of hers was quickly followed up when Bon-Bon looked over to her friends, and the Gem fired at whatever he was doing to hold them there.
Once again, despite this being done without her acknowledgement or intention, it complied to what she wanted to do, and the impact of this next shot worked better than the first, as the force that was holding them forced itself off them.
The six girls dropped to the floor and looked on in surprise of what was happening.
"Bon-Bon, how are you doing that!?" Starlight asked her.
"I really don't know!" Bon-Bon replied, as the gem lit up again.
'I might.' Walker thought to himself, as he placed his front hooves down. 'But I thought that would be impossible for someone like her.'
Without giving him the chance to continue his inner monologue, the Gem then fired back at him again.
This time, his whole body was the target, but he was still ready for what was coming.
His torso opened like a blooming flower, forming a large hold for the beam to pass through.
"Hmm..." Walker grunted, as he repaired his own body with the same magic that split it apart.
"Do it again, Bon-Bon!" Patch yelled to her, wanting to see the power again.
"Patch, I don't know how to sto-" Bon-Bon was cut of, yet again, by the gem firing another ray of its light. Difference this time was, the Gem had a new target.
"Mr. Walker!" Kindred exclaimed as she realised what was about to happen. Before she could lift dodge, she saw that the light was coming her way, and she naturally screamed in fear from the agonizing impact she was about to receive.
As the same light expanded from the magic rock, something changed about it, besides having a new victim.
Instead of firing straight at the phantom before them, the light burst out all around, getting in the eyes of everyone in the room.
"Ouch!" Bon Bon yelped when the light struck them, implying that something else struck her too.
When the light began to fade, everyone saw what had caused this change in reaction. Their hearts skipped a beat and their eyes widened when they saw him, accompanied by the sound of seven girls gasping.
"Lancer/ En Guarde!" They all shouted, as he fell from his hind legs to his knees, with his fore legs dropping to resting on top of them.
The gothic young stallion had his back legs stretched out away from each other in a crouching position, with what looked like some kind of weapon in his front hooves.
A long baby blue spear kind of weapon, looking like it was just swung.
"Are you alright, Bon Bon?" He asked the filly, clearly weakened by the hit.
The filly in question, still unsure what to make of the current situation, couldn't form an answer to his simple question. He hoof was still shaking a little and hurt from the unseen attack, probably brought on by the lance he was wielding, but she wasn't even concerned with that right now.
The colt offered a hoof to help her up, looking unsure if she would accept it or not.
The answer was yes, as she placed her own hoof on his, to which he lifted up so she could stand back on all of them.
"Lancer..." She began as they let go of each other.
"..." He didn't reply to his name being called.
"You protected them..." Starlight stated as she walked over to them slowly.
"Of course I did..." He responded, before looking behind himself at Kindred and Walker. "You two had better go now; you-know-who's waiting for you."
"But we can't just leave you here, Guardy!" Kindred said to him.
""Guardy"?" Patch quotes in a low audio.
"I'll be fine. They wouldn't hurt me if they tried." Lancer said, now standing on all fours again, turning around to face the girls. His eyes still rolled back to focus on them. "Now get going."
"B... But, Guardy..." Kindred stuttered, the fear in her voice out on display.
"Kindred, knowing that the ponies I care about is safe is what keeps me going." He said to her, returning his eyes back to the girls around his age.
"He's right, my child." Walker agreed. "If Phoxjes wants us, then we need to get back."
"... Okay." She reluctantly agreed.
The pair of spooks took each other's hooves as they began to fade away from the room.
"Hey, wait!" Patch demanded as he began to run towards them.
She didn't get very far, as the same lance that the colt held pointed to wall adjacent to him, blocking her from advancing.
"Lancer, let me-"
"Don't try it, Patch." He interrupted her. "I don't want to force anyone to do something they'll regret anymore than you do."
Heading to his words, the group of fillies looked on as the blast mist that had just returned started to disappear entirely.
When they fully vanished, the Gem she held lit up once again, and fired its way towards Lancer. But this time, he was prepared for the impact. His horn lit up in its violet aura, and something else came into view.
It turned out to be some sort of black hole, no doubt a magic given to him from the Babylon. The light was quickly sucked into it, and they both disappeared a moment later.
"Put it down, Bon Bon!" Lancer ordered her.
Not wanting to hurt someone that she actually cared about as a friend, she obliged to what he said, and dropped it onto the floor, causing the glowing to fade.
An uncomfortable silence crept over them, as he looked over the room at the girls, and they all looked at him.
"Lancer..." Starlight repeated as she analysed the young Goth.
"Hello, Starlight." He began.
"What... Happened to you?"
"It's a long story. I... I missed you all."
"Missed us?" Sweetheart quoted after him. "T-thanks, but it hasn't been that long, has it?"
"Maybe not to you..."
"Lancer, that was a really noble thing you just did for that girl just then." Starlight told him.
"Maybe, but they would have done the same for me." He responded, putting his leg down to the floor again. "And you would have done the same for your friends, right?"
"Of course we would." Bon-Bon followed up. "I swear, I didn't mean to attack you like that!"
"It's okay, Bon-Bon. I'm sorry I had to attack you, too." He responded, holding the lance back into view.
The weapon in question began to fade in the same black mist that the two phantoms from before used.
"But I couldn't let you hurt them like that. I know it wasn't your fault or what you were trying to do, but something like that won't matter to them."
"Psh, who cares what those two think?" Melody interjected. "If that want to pick a fight with us, we'll be ready and waiting for them and-"
"They're not who I'm talking about." Lancer stopped her. "There's someone much worse than them."
"Oh yeah? Who?"
"I can't tell you. Not yet, anyway."
"That doesn't matter!" Sweetheart exclaimed. "Lancer, those ponies are trying to ruin Coltonville!"
"Not exactly..." He muttered.
"Come again?"
"Walker and Kindred have no interest in this town or what happens to it."
"W-what?" Starlight pondered.
"So then what are they doing here?"
"Apparently, it's on a need-to-know basis, and right now they think we don't need to know."
"But this is important! You saw what they did, they're trying to get this Gem for themselves!"
"No they're not." He bluntly replied.
"Yes they are! You saw them-" The girls' leader argued, before she was cut off
"I am."
An air of silence waved over the group at the answer he gave.
"YOU are?!" Starlight exclaimed, looking puzzled.
The young stallion gave her an affirmative and saddening nod to answer her question.
"But you can't be!"
"I can, and I am. I know it's hard to believe, let alone accept, but it's the reality of what's happening."
The girls looked over at each other once again, checking out each others reactions.
Whether their "friend" here was telling them the truth and he really was one of the factors behind all the trouble they were in now, or if he was just covering up for what the others have done so far remained to be seen.
"Alright, let's go with what you're saying." Patch suggested. "Let's say you're the one causing all the trouble for us."
"Well, I didn't say that-"
"Why are you doing it? What did we do to you?"
"It's not as simple as that, Patch. It's not like that time with the lemonade stands when Teddy and Ace talked me into doing it. This is a lot more serious."
"I'll say it is!" Bright-Eyes interjected, walking up to the colt she knew better than the rest of them.
"Bright-Eyes..." He murmured as she got closer.
"Patch raises a good point, Lancer; even if something like this IS your fault, there has to be a phenomenally good reason for it."
"There is. In fact, there's a few reasons behind why I joined them." he replied, lifting his front right hoof to draw attention to the symbol imprinted on it.
"So, what is it?"
"I already said, he told me I can't tell you right now."
""He" who?" Sweetheart questioned.
"My leader."
"Yeah, we guessed that much, genius." Patch retorted. "Give us a name."
"... Phoxjes."
""Phoxjes"?"
Once again, he nodded, looking more nervous than guilty as he did.
"Okay, what does Foxy want with us?"
"As far as I know, nothing really, but it's not my business."
"Figures. You came here and gave us more questions than answers."
"What about Teddy and Ace?" Their leader asked now. "What do they want with the school?"
"Or my sisters!?" The miniature melodious mare snapped.
"I can't vouch for what they or their friends have done or for their reasons, but I also can't interfere. Even with Walker, I can't help him take on Bon-Bon when that time comes. All I can do is hope for the best for you all."
"Me?" The yellow girl asked. "Why me?"
The Goth pointed at the Gem.
"Because of that. Because you were able to use that against him, he's definitely going to keep an eye on you... Or, more literally, have me do it for him."
"So what's your point, rich boy?" Melody asked him, barely recovered from whatever it was that Ace and/or his dragons did to her the previous afternoon.
"My point is, now that the Greasers and the Dragons have marked their territory, you guys are gonna have the whole town to watch, if you want to stay up to date with everything in the upcoming days."
Giving a confident glare to him, the group readied themselves for the thoughts of what might be coming their way.
"I know it sounds easy on paper, but it's gonna be a lot of work to keep up with all of us in town, as well as the others you'll have."
"What others?"
"Didn't I tell you? Each of the Babylon facti-"
The boy cut himself off when something he had around his neck and inside his short began to glow, similar to how the magical stone on the ground did.
"Hey, that looks like..." Bon Bon started, picking said Gem up again.
"It's time for me to go. I'm sorry; I wish I could say more, but I have to get back to the mansion now." Lancer finished, as he started to fade away, similar to how Walker and Kindred did before.
"Hold on a minute! You didn't tell us who the "others" are!! Or what about Clover! Is she safe!?" Starlight exclaimed.
Before answering and/or fading, the boy turned his head slightly to the side of the room.
"Yes, she is."
"Where is she? Do you know that?!"
"If ever you can't find her, she'll most likely be at her safest place. Good luck."
That was the last thing that Lancer said before vanishing completely.
"Glad that's over." Sweetheart told the girls, slightly relieved that her rival wasn't as brutal as the likes of Stonefort and Walker.
"It was definitely strange." Someone's voice acknowledged with the girls from the bedroom door. When the question was asked, all seven of them turned to see their friend arriving to see them.
"CLOVER!!" They all exclaimed in unison. The six girls rushed over to hug their favorite dancer.
"Hey girls." She said, with a somewhat forced smile on her face, her eyes darting back to the door behind her. They pulled away to look at her face.
"Clover, we're so sorry if we hurt your feelings. Where have you been all this time?" Bright-Eyes asked, seriously concerned for her.
"You didn't hurt my feelings, as much as you made me feel unneeded. But that's in the past, now." Clover replied.
"So where have you been staying since then?" Patch asked next, reminding her of the follow-up question.
"I've just been staying with Meadowlark." Clover answered, a hint of guilt in her voice as she did.
"Your sister?" Starlight questioned. "I thought she and Cheval were still on their world tour."
"They were, but there was a change of plan, and they had to come back to Coltonville, and they ran into me."
"Did you tell them what had happened? About the Babylon, the shop, the princess, anything else that's happening?"
"Um... Not exactly." She reluctantly said.
"What? Why?"
"I... Well, I guess I didn't need to." The young ballerina replied, looking back in a way that would make her look ashamed of something.
After the Q&A session with their new Alicorn friend taking place in the bedroom back at the house, a lone filly found herself walking down the streets of the otherwise quiet town.
"Am I really just not important?" Clover asked herself, trotting through the town by her isolation.
It was evening, approaching night time. The roads and sidewalks were lit well enough to see, but that was not a scenery that would last, and she knew it.
But that was not her concern currently; she had something else on her mind.
"I know I haven't been completely helpful all the time, but still, it's not like the girls to just exclude me like that." She continued her self-monologue.
The few ponies that passed her by, although not looking like it, seemed to have no interest in her. At least she could assume she was safe.
But given what had happened a while back, there was no telling what was behind each corner, especially where Babylon was concerned.
"Coltonville's never had a crisis like this. A real invasion, ponies lustful for revenge and wanting to take it out on us. But because of that, do my friends just think I'm not going to be a support at all?"
"It's not mentally healthy to think like that."
"I guess not, but I can't help it." Clover responded, still looking down. as she walked. "I know the girls all want to say their ideas, but it shouldn't have to be- wait, who said that!?"
The filly snapped behind her, looking at who had just addressed her.
If she was expecting a Babylonian, she would have been scared, especially if it was one of those Greasers from the previous night.
But, for once, luck was on her side.
The sight of the beautiful young adult mare walking towards her was welcome beyond words.
"M-Meadow-" Clover began but failed to end.
"Hello, little sister." The taller mare greeted her. "Are you okay? What are you doing out here by yourself?"
Her sister. Her older, talented, more popular and overall better-than-her sister, stopped walking and stood right in front of her.
"Meadowlark, I..."
Clover found herself at a loss for words. But alas, she tried to form them together in a cohesive way.
"I... I was just... I'm, uh... W-what are you doing here?"
Her sibling simply gave a light chuckle at her blabbering response.
"I was on my way home, and I saw you out here." The older mare answered, moving closer to face her family. "What about you?"
"Oh, I..." She tried to think of something. While her options were obvious, the one to choose was not. Tell her the truth, or make something up and hope she didn't catch on?
Meanwhile, Meadowlark just stared at her longingly.
"I was, um..."
"Clover, you don't need to feel ashamed." The mare informed her. "I won't tell anyone, if you don't want me to."
"Well, that might not be your choice." She finally answered. "I mean, if mom and dad found out about what's been happening..."
"They won't be shocked, I'm certain." She responded. "Especially if they've seen this before."
"It's not just another misunderstanding or a small problem, Meadowlark! It's hard to explain, but there's this Babylon thing that has these guys from years agao that hate this town and now they're back to try and take back what they think is theirs by attacking and harmin-"
"Clover, Clover, Clover!" Her sister stopped her, gently placing her hoof on her sibling's shoulder. "Calm down; I believe you."
"I know you do, but there's not a- wait." The filly stopped herself, looking confused, yet relieved. "Did... Did you just say..."
"I believe you. Trust me, I do."
"Oh..." Clover stated, looking down in an way that she couldn't describe if she wanted to. "But... You haven't even heard the full story."
"There's no need." The taller pony replied, taking her hoof off her. "I can't explain why right now, but you don't need to worry about it. Babylon won't be a problem for you, the same way it wasn't for me."
"For... For you!?" The feeling of fear suddenly returned to the young mare. "You've met the Babylon before!?"
"You could say that." Upon answering, she turned her head away, seemingly in regret. "Some of them more than others, I'll admit."
"R-really? Like who?" She asked.
"Hmhmhm..." She chuckled quietly. "Well, I remember this one pony that I had some certain negative history with, named Lucky."
"Lucky?" She quoted. "I've heard that name somewhere before..."
"Have you? Yellow coat, black hair and beard, maybe wore leather?"
"That's it! It was the pony that started off the fight between Teddy and Patch at the school! Wait, you've met him?"
"Sadly, yes, but you don't need to worry about that. And if you do what I did, then you won't have to worry about any of Babylon giving you trouble."
"What do I have to do?" She cautiously asked, concerned for what might be coming.
"Clover!!" Someone had called out to her from the distance.
Someone they both knew.
"If you want me to answer that..." Her sister began to answer, before her eyes shut, and her hoof was moved to feel her heart.
Clover's eyes widened in awe when she saw what she saw.
"You'll have to become what you were meant to be."
"What do you mean, you didn't need to?" Patch asked her, suspicious of her previously given answer.
"I mean I didn't need to tell her." The dance fanatic answered again. "There's not a lot else to say apart from that."
"But wouldn't it be better if everyone we knew was aware of what's happening?" Starlight suggested.
"True, but we don't want to cause a panic."
"I guess..."
"Plus, those Babylonians are mad at us, not them. I don't want to risk them getting hurt for something that's our fault."
"But Clover, it's NOT our fault!" Bright-Eyes said to her.
"We don't know that for sure, Bright-Eyes." She replied. "I mean, it's not like those Grease guys just destroyed the school or the dragons took over the soccer field because they felt like it."
"So what are you saying, that we should just let them do what they want to the town?"
"No, I'm saying we should only let the ponies that we actually think can help us know about the Babylon and all."
"Like who? The police?"
"Maybe. It's better than trying to take them on ourselves, isn't it?"
"Oh, dear me." Walker said, rubbing his head, walking into the mansion that he and the other Ghosts of Babylon called their sanctuary.
It looked exactly as you'd expect: a old, abandoned, white mansion, with arcs leading to the outside on the ground, as well as leading to the balcony on the floor above, followed by a broken fence made of the same stone material as the balcony. Naturally, there were a few statues out in the front, right on the edge of the brick path that the two were currently treading on. Even the path was so old and wilted that grass had grown in between the bricks, and was half the size of Kindred. The steps leading up to the front door had practically broken from age, with gaps forming everywhere around them. Additionally, there were two extra buildings connected to the mansion's property. Then one on the left was some kind of shed, with gardening tools and equipment, barely visible from the darkened windows, and 8 padlocks on the door handle, seemingly rusted from age. The one on the right was a small greenhouse, containing nothing but dead plants and smashed pots through the shattered glass. Even the sky above the mansion never seemed to move at all, so that the grey and black clouds hanging above stayed there forever.
Because of all of this, the Babylon ghosts resided here, as their sanctuary. Them, and the crows resting on the rooftops.
"My head is in severe agony. I was afraid that things may turn out like this. What about you, Spirit?"
"... Guardy." Kindred whispered, through her sniffles and tears. Her mascara was carried with them, creating two black lines streaming down her face.
"I understand that you are worried about him, but remember, En Guarde was once their friend, so they would never risk intentionally hurting him." Walker reassured her, as the pair walked up the broken stairs.
He moved his hoof from his damaged ribcage, and put in through the door, passing right through it and inside of the mansion. He began to make his way through the corridor. Kindred did the same, and walked towards the sitting room on the right. Just as Walker was about to put his hoof on the door to same kind of personal room, Kindred caught his attention.
"Mr. Walker!" She yelled, in a rather irritating high pitched voice. He even cringed when she said it, but this time he didn't have to hide it, because she wasn't here to be offended.
Not wanting her to do it again, he quickly put his hoof back on the ground, right before all four of them started to sink into the ground, followed by his body, tail, neck and face, until they were all gone.
Being a ghost, she could detect his presence when inside of a wall/floor, or possessing an object, or even a person. Therefore, she could sense that he was approaching her direction, and she went back into the room.
A second later, he showed his head from the floorboards and stood on the ground again.
"What's the matter Kin-" Walker started to ask, before he turned around, showing off a camera effect of seeing someone else sitting in a chair behind him.
"Hey kid. Hey old-timer. Where's the newbie?" Another goth asked them, sitting properly on the old chair. Although old, the chair still held firm. It was white, with green ivy vines on it, matching with the pink flowers on the end. It looked like something that you'd see in your grandma's living room.
The pony was relatively young, but not as much as Kindred or Lancer, looking more like a teen. He had a red coat with a dim yellow flat side-combed mane. He was wearing a black hoodie with black jeans, and sported black eyeliner on his eyes.
"Still at the child's quarters. Miss Prima should be with them soon as soon as he leaves." Walker replied, before a question came to mind. "Self, how did you get in here?"
"That crazy ghost let me in, Walker. Phoxjes sent me here; he wanted to know what happened at the girls house or something, but... Whatever."
"I see..." Walker responded, before taking a few steps to the side, and taking off his facial wear. He hung his hat, face scarf, cane and sunglasses on the coat hanger in the corner, and moved back to where he was.
The camera angle was never showing his full real face, and instead just stayed focused on his body clothing, and when he stood still, the camera only looked at the back of his head. His black hair was still held up to be slicked and spikey at the ends.
"Un- ah!" He grunted, silently. "Unfortunately, it was not- uff- not as we hoped for. One of the chil- ah!" Walker tried to get out, despite the damage still aching in his body.
"You look and sound injured, man. You should take it easy, or something." Self stated, before standing up.
"I will... Be fine." Walker said, as if he didn't know what he was saying. "My condition aside, in terms of the magic being used by one of those children, what I suspected is, unfortunately, true."
"So one of those kids can do magic tricks?" He asked, still unimpressed. "Great, just what the world needed: another stuck-up showoff."
"Yes, well, this particular stuck-up showoff can be dangerous to us if she can continue to use the gem."
"So, she might wanna put up a fight against us?" He asked, now somewhat interested. "Heh. Let her come at us, then we can maim her. That'll be fun."
"As Phoxjes has told you many times Self-Deserted, you can't just maim everything in life and solve your problems like that."
"Oh... Well then, in that case, she's all yours. You know anything 'bout this kid?"
"I wouldn't have returned if I didn't." Walker answered.
"That's not creepy(!) What's the name?"
"Another pony named Bon-Bon." The blind pony responded. "Or, as per the name that she will be given, if she sees the light, Savory Trend."
""Bon-Bon"? Isn't there some girl called that in Equestria too?"
"It's a long story..." Walker said, looking outside of the window. "I just don't understand how, or even why, she was able to possess the power of that relic."
As he was pondering this, Self turned to the other ghost currently in the room, after hearing her sniffles. She still looked miserable. Even more than usual, bearing in mind that they were all goths.
"What's wrong with you? Besides everything?" He asked the little girl. In comparison of the two, he was probably 3X her physical age, and possibly her chronological age as well.
"I.. It is, s-sir." She tried to hold back her tears. "It's just... En Guarde..."
"The new guy? What about him?"
"He's... He's still there!!" She weeped, burying her face into his hoodie. "I don't wanna lose him!"
"Yeah, I get it." He said. "He's new and probably gonna get himself in hot water pretty quickly, only to en-"
"It's not that!" She continued to sob. "I can't lose him to her!"
Surprised, it took Self a second to understand what she meant.
"You like him in that way?" He asked. She answered by sobbing harder.
"It would appear so, and right now, she is concerned that because he is still with the girl that he, supposedly, still has feelings for, she will return the feelings for him, before Kindred can have him return the feelings." Walker answered for her.
"...Right. Well, I don't really care about what happens with you two, just try not to-" He started, before something literally popped out right next to him.
"KINDY'S IN LOVE WITH GUARDY!?! NO WAY!!" The new pony shrieked. Judging from the fact that half his body was coming out from the inside of a tea table, it was fair to assume that he was another ghost.
Like the others, he was dressed as a goth, made clear by his pitch black skull T-shirt, ripped black jeans, eyeliner and skull hoof rings. His coat was a light shade of grey, his mane was black, and it looked like he just dipped his hoof in a tub of hair gel, and went crazy with it.
When he popped out of the table to shout what he had just learnt, Kindred held back a scream, whereas the teenager just looked annoyed, not by the scare, but by being interrupted.
"That's NOT your business, Havoc!" Kindred snapped at the hyperactive ghost, in a tone which she was trying to defend him.
"That's so-o-o-o-o-o cute!" He continued to annoy her. "~Kindy and Guardy, kissing in a grave~ ~Lifted in the hooves, of her handsome knave~"
Kindred blushed harder and cried less at what he was saying to her.
"Shut your mouth, Decay." Self told him, causing the hyper pony to be quiet.
"Heh heh. Sorry, boss. But I just think it's adorable that this kid found love already." Turmoil said, as he held her in his hoof. "Just think about it: the two of them, going out and getting on each other's nerves, going on expensive dates, popping the question and waiting awkwardly as she can't say anything, getting married at an expensive wedding, having kids and growing a dysfunctional family, moaning about how annoying those kids are, having to take them to school every morning, filling out reports about bullying, having to go see the teachers about fighting, not fitting in with the rest of the kids, inevitable expulsion, trying hard to find them another school that'll take them, watching them going through changes, arguing about everything, getting into fights with each other, threatening to leave each other, leaving each other, dealing with teenagers, arguing about who your kids can and can't date, watching them move out and live somewhere else, never seeing your family again, and all the other wondrous horrible things that come after love."
The other three ponies were just looking at him, mulling over all of the bad details he just listed, and the way that he said them, as if they were something to get excited about.
"I love Guardy, Decay." Kindred told him as she broke free from his grasp. "And there's nothing that you, Mr. Walker, Mr. Deserted, master Phoxjes or Sea Buried can do to change that!"
The birds cried out to each other, as the wings and feet danced in the lake, knowing that their sanctuary was here. The lake which they resided in spread for what looked like a mile.
Even so, it was more like a pond than a lake. A waterfall on the right, a stone statue of a wings-spread swan on the left, and a whole flock of the birds right there in the center.
At the brim of the water body, stood a former school bully, looking across to adore their freedom. That's where this pretty place got its name from: Free Lake.
Teddy admired the birds, dancing in their flock, the leader in the middle of the rings. Despite his attitude and his fashion sense, he liked this place. Partially because of the show that the swans put on for any visitors, also because of the idea of freedom for everyone, but mostly because of one certain swan that he looked to see.
As if on cue, he heard the sound of rock stairs being climbed behind him. Knowing that this lake's owner was usually the only visitor other than himself, he grew a smile and turned around to see her.
"Greetings, Ursa." The pitch white mare greeted him, a warm smile on her angelic face.
"H-Hi, Swan, heh heh." He weakly got out. For "Whatever" reason, he seemed to be getting flustered at the sight of the prim and proper mare.
"I take it that you're enjoying the show, as usual?" She asked him, sitting next to him at the brim of the water.
"Yeah, until you came along." He responded, causing her to look at him in confusion. He looked back at her, and continued. "Now, I'm loving the show."
"You flatter me, Ursa." She said with a smile. "As you arrived, did you bring...?"
"Yeah, I got it right here." Ursa answered before she finished, picking up what looked like a heavy brown bag. The label said "Swan Food."
"I knew that you would. You'd do anything for me wouldn't you?" She rhetorically asked him, getting a smile and a blush in reply.
"So, uh, want me to feed the swans, then?"
"If you wouldn't mind."
"Okay, open up then." He said to her, getting a chuckle out of her. He laughed a little as well, before expanding his wings to fly above the lake.
'I've heard that one before, several thousands of times.' Swan thought, before looking at him in the air. 'Still, I want him to be happy, no matter what it would take.'
He tore to bag open at the top, flew a lap around the lake, dropping a majority of the food in for them.
'But...' She sighed, still keeping her thoughts in her head. 'He can't be happy, as long as that young lady Sweetheart is working against him. He trusts her, and she still has feelings for him. I have to stop her, before she can manipulate him into leaving Babylon.'
He then landed on the brink again, and dropped the bag off.
"S...So... How'd I do?" He asked, out of breath from carrying the heavy bag, and still getting used to flying.
She still smiled warmly at him.
'No matter what it would take...' She repeated in her head, before showing him her gratitude. It always helps when you know who the person that likes you is.
Her glossy orange lips pursed together gently, and moved to his forehead, making soft contact, before releasing.
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Teddy just froze for a second after the kiss, not even breathing. Then, barely a moment later, he collapsed from happiness and exhaustion.
Swan merely laughed at this, and gently lifted him up to place him on the nearby bench to rest.
'Never washing this head. EVER.' He thought to himself, practically passing out on the bench.
Swan looked back at him and smiled, before stepping down the natural flat rock stairs to the exit of the lake.
'Poor thing. He'd give anything to see his departed mother.' She thought, looking up at the sky. 'That's something that only we can provide.'
She left the resort for the birds, and faced the handsome stallion waiting for her.
"Why, miss Lady." Illiux pretended to be surprised. "I had no idea that your heart was THIS easy to win over."
"I wouldn't think so either, sir." Swan replied, blushing that he knows what she just did to him. "It will take more for him to win me over. Although, he has already suffered through life as it is."
"Indeed." Illiux agreed. "I can entirely relate to not having a mother to stand by you. I only hope we can persuade him to stay, even after he gets what he desires."
"Has miss Starlight's little shop been bought yet, master?" She asked in a polite manner, as usual.
"They have until Wednesday, dear." Illiux answered her.
"Oh, how unfortunate for them. Where, pray tell, are they supposed to get the money from?"
"They're not, of course. The plan was to make sure that the young ladies are so busy getting caught up in everything involving the colts that they focus more on that, rather than what I'm trying to do."
"I see. And, what of miss Prima?" Swan questioned him, as the two began to walk away.
"That is not my concern. She is designated to join the Skylords, and therefore it is Calsuricxs's responsibility to persuade her for her greater destiny. Him, and his S.I.C., Rockerfella."
"Excuse me?" She questioned, to which Illiux looked puzzled. "Calsuricxs and responsibility in the same sentence? Something I'm missing?"
Illiux chuckled, before turning back to her.
"Humor aside, Swan, I require you to go to that Coltonville again tomorrow."
"Oh? Something regarding that young Lady, Sweetheart?"
"I believe you mean Softer Soul, and yes, it is."
"Excellent. It is about time to reveal why I care so much about that young stallion." Swan said, looking back for Teddy.
"The same way that he cares for you?" Illiux asked, still looking as polite as ever. She looked at him, slightly annoyed at the question. after a few seconds, the two began sharing a laugh.
"Sir, I don't toy with his feelings for me. And neither should you."
"Very true, dearest." He replied, as they continued to walk out of the park, easily mistaken for a happy couple.
