> Here Comes a New Challenger! > by Chrome Masquerade > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Pros and Cons > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was early morning and I was in high spirits. After all this time, I'd get to go to BronyCon! And my cousin Annabelle was going to take me along, since she was going too! Upon one condition. I had to cosplay as her favourite EqG character: Rainbow Dash. My response? "Done and done!" I had dyed my hair various hues, put on a black tank-top (because I lacked any of any other colours), painted my skin a vibrant cyan, put a skirt on over a pair of black shorts... by a quirk of my body, waxing wasn't even a necessity, as my legs produced little to no hair. You... probably didn't need to know that. Moving on! When the two of us entered, we saw what you'd see at just about any convention. Stalls selling merch, stalls selling various kindds of food, and of course, THOUSANDS of people! Now, I napped on the way, because social interaction tends to wear me out without proper preparation. So I was golden, for the moment. However, Annabelle was quickly lost in the crowd and I was left to my own devices. Sighing deeply, i thought aloud, "Well, there's one in every family.. Three in mine..." With that, i started to wander around myself. Soon enough, I found a stall with someone dressed as The Merchant from Resident Evil 4. But instead of having wares in his trenchcoat, he stood behind a table, like any other vendor here.. Before him was an assortment of MLP merch. But what caught my eye was a blue jacket and a prismatic wig. It felt like they were calling out to me, luring me in. Something told me that if I acted mnow, it would be my lucky day. But if I hesoitated, someone else would take it. Now, my dye job wasn't exactly top-tier, and would wash out with the next shower.It was also expensive AF to get dye of that many colours. I stepped up to the table. "Hey! Let me guess: you're cosplaying as The Merchant from RE4, aren't you?" In a point for point reproduction of the voice, he said, "Yeah... somethin' like 'at. Whattaya buyin'?"(1) "How much for that jacket and wig combo?" He named a price. "In fact, I can tell 'at it was meant fer ya. I'll even gives ya a discount jes fer 'at." Right there I should've wised up. Alas, hindsight is 20/20. I bought it. "An awesome choice, stranger!"(1) I walked away with my prize to one of the public washrooms. Once inside, i rinsed my hair of the dye and put the wig on. Then, (after washing my hands because I was a clean person, if not neat) came the jacket. Striking a pose, I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked more or less akin to the multihued humanized mare. With a few differences, naturally. Suddenly, I felt the jacket ripple with an unseen, unfelt wind. The wig jiggled similarly. Suddenly, the wig stopped moving. When I tried to remove it, It wouldn't come off! Worse, tugging at it only made my scalp hurt! But that wasn't the strangest thing. Next, the blue body paint that I had used flaked off all at once, replaced by pure blue skin, much more slowly. Thoughts began to race through my mind about racing, sports, generally being macho while not looking it. I shook my head, trying to clear those thoughts from my mind. "No! N-n-n-no! I hate those things!" Or did I? I suddenly couldn't tell where my thoughts ended and the person I was now becoming's thoughts began! As the blueness of m skin spread, parts of me began to change swiftly. My squared jaw rounded out, i shrank in size by a good foot or so, my features became younger in general, my modest manhood was replaced with a set of more feminine equipment. My miniscule moobs swelled to a more healthy size, but they were only barely breasts.(2) The muscles that i'd built up over the years didn't shrink, as you might imagine. No, they became more tightly corded. Apparently, Rainbow Daash has a fair bit of muscle, but doesn't look it. Then my clothes started to change. My black tank top changed to white and a lightning bolt arrpeared upon it.My boots turned a blue and white colour and hiked up along my legs. My skirt changed colour as well, going for a more tie-dyed look. Oddly enough, a pair of wings briefly appeared in two slips of my jacket, before folding into some unseen space. For a moment, my hearing became heightened, but then the tounds went back to normal. A tail snaked through the back of my shorts, but withdrew quickly. "Ooookaa- eep!" i said in a voice not my own. It was getting harder and harder to hold coherent thoughts. A voice in my mind said, "Sorry, but there needs to be a replacement." Suddenly, there was a pain in the back of my head and I blacked out. ------------------------ "Dashie! Wake up! Come on!" Huh? What was that? I thought that I heard- "Oh, please wake up, Dash! I can't lose you too!" I defonitely heard that! "DASH! WAKE UP!" "Owww..." I said, finally awakening. "Oh, thank goodness!" the first voice said, relieved. "How do you feel?" "Like I got hit by a truck. Then went on a bender. Ugh..." I groaned "Where am I?" "The emergency. Tat bit about getting hit by a truck? Yyyeahhh..." the third voice said. The second put in, "We thought we'd lost you! You saved that kid, but took the hit yourself." A fleeting pain went through my head, after which I opened my eyes. "Mom? Dad? Cousin Rose?" "Thank goodness! She remembers!" Mom said. "How bad?" I asked. A new voice answered, "Several broken bones, probably a concussion, one stab wound -which you're lucky didn't kill you- and..." "Great. Well, nothing for it." I said. "Well, let's just say that you'd be in here for a fair while, miss Dash. However, your wounds have healed miraculously quickly. Fractures have been reduced to bruises, that concussion has been reduced to a migraine, that stab wound will leave a serious scar, but nothing more. You're very lucky." This was my introduction into this world. This was how this story begins. Where things will go from here, well... only time will tell. > Chapter 1: Friendship? Again?! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well, things have more or less gone back to normal. Or at least as normal as Canterlot High ever gets. I'd been given a clean bill of health a few days ago, and I was going back to classes Only to find that during the time I was gone, some queen wanna-bee had prety much appointed herself as vice vice principal. Sunshat Simmer, or something like that(1). If there's anything I hate, it's high-and-mighty self-righteous jerks(2). I pretty much ignored her and went back to my studies and sports career. In my.quote unquote 'off hours', I mostly hung out with my friends, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie.(3) We hung out together on the weekends, or got togeter at Sugarcube Corner on Wednesdays. All was mostly hunky-dory until what's-her-name (Sunhat Summer? Yeah, I never bothered to memorize the names of people like her. Waste of mind space.) screwed it up and the five of us began to drift apart. Seemingly before you could say, "I just don't know what went wrong", we were going our separate ways. It all happened so fast! At least Scootaloo, Rainbow Rose and my folks were there for me. They provided me a conduit for my emotions. Scootaloo lifted my spirits with her cheering, my parents cheered me on at every opportunity, Rose was being a total bro about the whole thing. Then, this new girl came to town. Twilight, I believe. She was the one who was bringing us back together. Naturally, I challenged her to a friendly match. I won, of course, but she wasn't bad for a first timer, so i gave her the benefit of the doubt. So she brought us ll to a private booth in Sugarcube Corner and we chatted. Turns out she's some magical horse-girl fro a different dimension through a portal in the school's statue, which is of a horse! Wrap your mind around that! So sTurns out that Sunshot Sommers was also a thief and had stolen an artifact from the world thhat she and Twilight came from. Right then, I was on board with whatever Twiggles had planned. So, some quick planning later, we had what would attract everyone's attention and get them on board. A catchy crunk-pop song. The next day, after morning classes, we brought a boom-boc into the caf and I don't care who you are, this somg will get you movin' and groovin' before you can say, "play that funky music"! So with that one song, we got everyone in there on board with Twilight getting the win. Buuuuut then things went sour. After the first afternoon class, there was an announcement that someone had messed the caf up. For the record, my reaction was "Gee. I wonder who it could have been." Well, either way, Twilight decided that it was up to her to clean up. Let it be noted that that girl has a serious guilt complex. Naturally, the girls and I helped her out, and the Fall Formal was back on schedule. Yay us! Twilight was declared the winner, but Shimmy-Sham's a bit of a sore loser. She threatened to destroy the statue tat contained Twilight's way home. She demanded the artifact, but Twilight gave the flattest refusal I've ever heard. She said that her home would survive without her, and that if this was the way that things were to be, she'd rather be stuck here. SS revealed that she didn't really want to deatroy that anyway. That was just an empty threat. But then it hit me just as she tackled Twilight. She's just mad. This is a rebellion. A full-on -down to the leather jacket- rebellion! And with that thought... I kind of felt a shred of pity fir her, as much as it hurts to say.. So SS took the crown and when she put it on, it sort of... I duno... corrupted her magic, in turn turning her into a demon of sorts. But just as she hypnotized the students and was gloating, a rock hit her stolen headgear and it clattered to the ground, with Twilight swiftly picking it up and putting it on. She gave this big speech about the Elements of Harmony and Friendship and such. It was kind of twee, not gonna lie, but then -speaking for myself, at least,- felt a haze of energy form and we rose into the air. Again, speaking for myself, it felt like any impurity was cleansed from me. Dirt scattered. even the largest of my remaining scars vanished, just like that. And then... it happened. (4) Horse-y features started appeaing on us, like tails and ears. Then a coat of fuzz began appearing all over. it felt really weird, let me tell ya! Then our feet kinda fused into hooves, out faces pushing out somewhat. Fluttershy and I grew wings, while Rarity grew a horn and Twilight got both. By the end, we were kinda half horse -or, pony, I guess- and half human. (4.1) I felt incredibly powerful. Like the skies were calling out to me, saying that they were at my beck and call. However, i put that thught on the back burner, as we had more important things to deal with. One buiildup and release of energy and before you could say "Taste the rainbow, motherbucker!" more than once, there was Sunny, on her hands and knees and in tears. She profusely apologized for what she'd done, how she treated everyone. Being as forgiving as she was, Twilight forgave her. But upon Twilight's touching her, she suddenly gained her pony appendages, though not to the same extent as us. Surprisingly, though, she got back to her knees, put her right hand over her heart, and -I kid you not!- pledged fealty to Twilight and what she stood for! Well, needless to say, we were all stunned. Nobody had expected that to happen! But Twilight recovered and accepted SS's pledge, saying that she could stay here and learn the way of Harmony. On one condition. She had o go see their version of Principal Celestia in the near future. You could see reluctance on Shimmy's face, but that passed quickly and she accepted. And then, prom went on about as usual. Twilight found that when she was in this form, she passed on Harmonic magic to whoever she touched. Needless to say, there were several who were eager/curious. Some received the 'blessing', but otherwise, things went on as they usually would. There was fun, dancing, food and a good time was had by all. It was hard to say goodbye to the friend who had brought the five of us together again, but she had to go home. She left her newest subject in our capable hands and left, with us telling her to come back soon. Getting a determined look on her face, SS went through just after Twilight, only to come back about five minutes later, a big smile on her face. What occurred on that side isn't for me to say. She didn't tell. We didn't ask. Some things are best kept a secret. > Chapter 2: Aftermath > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the days after the She-Demon incident, as some called it, Sunset was avoided by most. Not that any of us -including her- could blame them, really. All the same, we often found Sunset in tears and had to comfort her. Being the loyal friend that I am, i had to constantly repress the urge to do something drastic. Sunset kept saying that she deserved whatever she got. Seriously, now she had even more of a guilt complex than Twiggles did. We eventually helped her to get out of that slump, but it was an uphill battle, I tell ya. We thought that maybe finding a new outlet for all of that pent up frustration might help. So we started up an amateur band: The Rainbooms! (Catchy, eh?) We each had practice with one instrument or another, so we figured, 'why not put that training to good use?'. So, while I played Electric Guitar, Pinkie played the drums, Applejack (the old fashioned gal that she was) played bass, Rarity managed to get herself a keytar, and Fluttershy managed to find a tambourine. Flutters was reluctant at first, but since it was for the good of our newest friend, she steeled herself and agreed. Heck, we even managed to get Flash in on it The kicker was that when we got too into it, we'd assume our anthro forms. And when one of us got into it, the rest could hardly help but join in! It was that first time that Sunset managed to achieve her full anthro form We each decided on a song that would be our signature. Applejack decided on Cotton Eye Joe (she even got Fluttershy to sing one part of it!(1)) Rarity decided on Glamorous. Fluttershy, well, she chose ot to sing anything, due to her fear of crowds. Pinkie Pie went with a different style of song. But it drew crowds whenever we had a jam sesh! Believe you me! As for me, well... I was deciding on it when I went to the music store looking for a new instrument. As luck would have it (bad luck, that is,) Trixie was there for the same reason and had decided that she wanted to snag the same instrument that I was going for! Needless to say, this couldn't stand! So, we each grabbed a random E-Guitar, plugged them into the test amps that were around to test the instruments, and had an impromptu shred-off. Naturally, I was getting way into it and the magic activated, shifting me to my pony form and changing the guitar as well. So, looking at the reforged instrument, I said, "I'll take it!" Trixie started boasting about how she had won and would always win, but i just walked past her, saying, "Doubt it." When Trixie saw the price tag, she nearly had a conniption. she shouted "You'll pay for this, Rainbow Dahe!" Pinkie backed up and said, "No, silly. You want it, you get to pay for it!" That day I learned that winning doesn't always get you what you need. But I have to say, I sure felt like I won after that. > Chapter 3: Guitar Heroine > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- We were in Sugarcube corner at one point, discussing our plans for our next performance, or at least our next party. Suddenly, a trio of girls strutted in, singing a literally hypnotic melody. Something about our magic rendered theirs ineffective on the six of us. The crowd of other schoolgoers in the place weren't so lucky. Green smoke started to fill the area as the song went on. I looked to the other girls and took my guitar in hand. Fluttershy, Applejack and Rarity raised their instruments, Fluttershy following shortly thereafter. Pinkie wasn't able to bring her drums in, but substituted with the table we were seated at. We started playing a counter-melody, snapping the crowd out of the spell, even sending some of the closer ones into Hybrid form.(1) The three instigators were beaten back by the power of our music and quickly left the area.(2) Obliging the crowd, we continued entertaining them for some time. We'd agreed that the very next day we'd inform the principals of this. However... that didn't go as planned... -------------------------------------- When we piled into the principals' office, the six of us started to explain the case, but Principal Celestia held up a hand. She said, "Yes, yes. we know about the battle of the bands and think it's an excellent idea." Not only were they resolute in their decision to do it, but things were already scheduled. We had no chance to help them. As we left, we noticed that their eyes were entirely shades of green. --------------------------------------- So what if we couldn't convince them otherwise? We just had to win. Easy enough, right? Mmmmaybe not. The competition would be stiff. We needed Twilight with us. Sunset wrote into the book she had and in short order we had our seventh member with us. Twilight wasn't much for instruments, but she made a great singer. Being naturally Equestrian made channelling the magic much easier while in her proximity. After some practice, we were ready for the contest. We had to be. As the contest went on, there were more skileed musicians and singers. Muffins' group and Snips and Snails were no problem, but Trixie's group and ESPECIALLY Flash's group were hard to get past. We had to pull out all the stops and put our souls into it along with our signature songs. It was no easy feat, let me tell ya! Eventually we came to the finals and the Dazzlings (as they'd dubbed themselves) strode onto the stage, casting their magics over the audience like a blanket. They stood no chance and were mesmerized immediately. Then we'd made a dramatic entrance (with Vinyl providing speaker power), belting our newest tune. When they'd manifested their siren avatars, we had to play even harder. Sunset joined in and threw off her signature jacket; we knew that it was time to kick it up SEVERAL notches, switching to a different song entirely.(3) As the timer hit about 3:20 on that, Vinyl sent the energy into the ground, manifesting a giant Alicorn as our Avatar. Needless to say, we slammed their Avatars back, shattering the red stones in the pendants that they were wearing. As the Dazzlings' voices cracked, their energy faded and we knew that it ws time for us to relax. In the aftermath, the former sirens revealed that they were being controlled by the pendants they were wearing and for the last few yesrs their memories were a blank. When we'd shattered those magical stones, we'd freed them of that influence. We offered the olive branch, but they declined, rightfully stating that they'd likely become persona non grata(4). They just packed up and left for different lands. It was even harder saying goodbye to Twilight this time, but she said that she'd visit now and again, since she'd laid a spell on the Mirror back home to let it open every New Moon instead of every 30. She even invited us to come along at some point. If you said that things went back to normal after that, you'd be mostly right. But with Sunset fully in on our fun, things just got 20% cooler yet! The question was: What would happen next?