Saturday, October 3, 2015
Saturday, October 3, 2015
2015
Today's Horoscope (Virgo): Unexpected confrontations may lead to disastrous consequences.
Morning
Today, I'm going on an impromptu date with Twilight. We're also going into Zodiac together for the first time to train.
"So, what do you want to do today?" I ask Twilight. We're both dressed casually; neither of us want to wear anything we might get messed up when we're in Zodiac.
She shrugs. "Let's go see a movie and have lunch somewhere," she says.
"Sounds good," I say. "How about The Halfling? I've kinda been wanting to see that."
"Sure," Twilight says. "I really like the book that's based on."
With that decided, we head for the cinema.
Afternoon
The Halfling was four and a half hours long. Twilight and I each made two bathroom trips and three snack counter trips during the movie, and really didn't miss much.
"That...was as long and rambling as the book itself," Twilight says.
"I thought you said you like the book?"
"I do, but it's long and rambling," Twilight says. "But the effects and the action were good. The acting and set designs and...well, it was pretty good overall."
"Yeah." I stretch. "I'm ready for some lunch. Pizza?"
"Sounds good." Twilight checks the time. "Wow, seriously?"
It is the middle of the afternoon, but... "We can take our time eating. Cadance will understand, and it's not like time passes while we're in Zodiac."
"Right," Twilight says hesitantly. "Well...let's go to that one pizza buffet. I'm really hungry."
When isn't she?
We get to the pizza place, and I pay for two full buffets. Gotta love a pizza place that includes the pasta, salad, and drink in the buffet price, even if it adds four bucks to the whole thing. I make a small salad at the salad bar and drown it with ranch, then plate myself a helping of lasagna, then select four slices of pizza, fill my cup at the fountain, and scout us a table.
When Twilight joins me, she has lettuce spilling over the sides of her salad bowl, a pile of angel hair pasta and marinara sauce on her pasta plate, and at least seven slices of pizza on her pizza plate.
I stare at her. "Seriously?"
She blushes. "What?"
I shake my head. "You know, it amazes me that of all the girls living at the dorm, you're the bottomless pit."
She sticks her tongue out at me and digs into her pasta.
"Well, that movie gave me some new ideas about fighting," I say.
Twilight pauses in mid-inhale. "How much actual fighting do we have to do?" she asks. "I mean, don't our Personas just...?"
I pick a particularly skunky-looking piece of mushroom off a piece of pizza and flick it onto the corner of my tray. "You'll want to fight the Shadows yourself whenever you can," I say. "Using your Persona puts a strain on your body and mind. It gets easier over time, but still...every time you summon your Persona, it tires you out a little."
"Oh," Twilight says. She sprinkles red pepper on her salad and starts eating it. "I'm...honestly a little scared," she says.
I nod. "That's normal. This Zodiac stuff is scary. If it weren't for the fact that these Shadows are hunting and killing people...I wouldn't even be doing this." I take a bite of pizza.
"Well...you won't be doing it alone anymore," Twilight says with a smile.
I feel my cheeks heat up. "Thanks," I say.
Twilight frowns. "I guess I'd better start taking fencing lessons after school again," she says. "That'll really cut into my reading time..."
"So you'll read two less books a week," I say. "The extra exercise'll be good for you."
Twilight abruptly stops shoveling pizza into her face. "Are you calling me fat?"
"No, I'm saying you spend too much time cooped up inside reading. It isn't healthy."
Twilight frowns. "That's true," she admits, before going right back to eating.
We talk about inconsequential things while we eat. I finish what's on my tray and go back for seconds. As I'm headed to the pasta bar, I notice Snips and Snails, those two flunkies of Sunset Shimmer, in a corner both, their phones out. They're both snickering. Snips has a particularly malignant look in his beady eyes.
Neither of them is looking in my direction...but I see Snails looking over at Twilight. He swings his phone around...
I set my tray down and walk over to their table. I stand right in Snails' line of "fire". They look up at me.
Snips chuckles. "Well well well...if it isn't Ass Entry."
"Huhuh, yeah, good one, eh?" Snails says.
I grab Snails' phone.
He's been recording a video of Twilight.
I erase it and hand it back to him.
"HEY!" he shouts.
I hold out my hand to Snips. "Phone."
"Fuck off," Snips says.
I lean down and stare right into his beady eyes. "Let me explain something," I say. "If even one more video or picture of Twilight shows up on Canterbook, or anywhere else on the Internet...if you losers do anything to try to humiliate her...I will kill you. No cops, no Vice-Principal Luna or Principal Celestia. I will kill you. And your friend Sunset Shimmer won't be able to protect you from me. Got it?"
Snips gulps and hands me his phone. I look through it, find several photos of Twilight, and delete them.
"I think you two have someplace else to be," I say.
"But we weren't finished eating, eh?" Snails says.
I glare at him. "I think you are."
I walk back over to the buffet and finish loading food onto my tray, then stalk over to the table. Twilight's looking at me with concern. "What just happened?" she asks. Her eyes follow the two boys skulking out of the restaurant.
"I caught them in the act," I say. "They were taking pictures and videos of you."
Twilight pales.
"It's taken care of. I deleted that crap off their phones and told them exactly what I'd do to them if they pulled anything like that again."
Twilight sighs. "Flash..."
"No, Twilight. I'm sick of this shit. I will not let this keep happening to you. To us."
The Twilight Sparkle Social Link of the Magician Arcana has reached rank 6!
Your power to create Personas of the Magician Arcana has grown!
Twilight looks down at her almost-empty plate. She sighs again.
"There's some tasty-looking dessert pizzas up there," I say. "Wouldn't wanna miss out on that, right?"
Twilight smiles. "Yeah, that'd be a shame." She gets up and walks back to the buffet. I'm halfway through some fettucini alfredo when she comes back with a slice of chocolate chip cookie pizza, a slice of apple pizza, and three cinnamon rolls.
I shake my head and snort.
After we finish eating, I text Cadance to let her know we're on our way to the park. She replies with the meet-up place.
Canterlot has a very large public park, which is enclosed by a beautiful Neighponese-style covered walkway. At the south end of the park, there's a large activity center...sort of an indoor pavilion, with a counter that has city maps, tourism guides, and information on area merchants, as well as a huge bulletin board for advertisements, lost pet flyers, and so forth. There's a pond at the center of the park bordered by smooth, round stones. Benches sit around the pond; several ducks are loitering near the benches. I suppose people must feed them from here.
Cadance is waiting on one of these benches, a large, long sports bag and two backpacks at her feet. We walk up to her. She smiles at us. "Did you two have a good time today?"
"More or less," I say. "We were enjoying ourselves until we ran into Sunset Shimmer's little dickwad friends at the pizza place."
"They were taking pictures and video of me again," Twilight says. "Flash caught them."
Cadance gasps. "So...it really was them?!"
"Yeah," I say. "Don't worry...those two won't be a problem again."
Cadance eyes me warily. "What did you do?" she asks.
"I told them what I'd do to them if I caught them pulling this shit again," I say.
"Which is?"
Damn. "I...threatened to kill them, actually," I admit.
Twilight gasps, hands flying to her face.
Cadance frowns. "Don't make threats like that, Flash. I can understand why you did it, and...hopefully it'll put a stop to this, but you don't need the kind of trouble that could bring."
I sigh. "I know. I was just...really pissed."
Cadance sighs. "So what was Twilight doing that they thought was so funny?"
Twilight blushes.
I chuckle. "Oh, nothing much. She was just trying to put a pizza buffet out of business." I look at Twilight. "Seriously, where do you put it all?"
Twilight rubs the back of her head. "I, uhh...have a fast metabolism?"
"Or a tapeworm," Cadance mutters. "Honestly..."
I look around. "So, uhh...are we doing the Zodiac thing here?" I ask. The park is surprisingly empty for a Saturday afternoon. I hear some kids laughing and playing over in the playground area on the east side, and I can see a couple of people walking around a short distance away.
Cadance nods. "I've never gone into Zodiac from the park before, and the border walk and activity center should have Shadows. If not, we'll try from someplace else." She looks directly at Twilight. "Now, Twilight...there's something very important I need to tell you before you go in."
Twilight gives Cadance the look of intense concentration I can only imagine she gives her teachers. "Yes?"
"When we go in..." Cadance takes a deep breath. "Do you remember...those text messages floating around in there?"
Twilight shudders. "Yeah..."
"Do your best to ignore them," Cadance says. "They'll just upset and distract you, and you can't afford that kind of distraction once the Shadows come."
Twilight nods. "I-I'll do my best."
"Good." Cadance looks around. "Alright. Let's do this." We all pull our phones out and open Canterbook. The Zodiac app is glaring at us from the entry screen. "Ready? One...two...NOW!"
Zodiac
I coulda kicked his ass!
You couldn't kick a dead pig's ass. Lie low. I'll deal with Flash Sentry.
"The hell you will, bitch," I mutter.
Twilight's eyes widen. "That's...Sunset Shimmer, isn't it?"
"Yeah."
Suddenly, all the glowing texts floating around shift, blur, and disappear in pixellated bursts. Without them, the park is a stark red-and-black wasteland with a cold red sun frozen in the sky.
Cadance looks around. "What...just happened?" She taps her phone. "Persona!"
Aphrodite appears. Twilight stares, her face flaming. "Uhh...Cadance?"
//Yes, Twilight?//
"Your Persona is...really, really naked..."
//I know. Now shush. I'm scanning.//
"You know, I really love the fact that both of you have hot Greek goddesses for your Personas," I say.
Twilight pokes me in the shoulder. "Perv."
"What? It's true. Your Persona is almost as sexy as you are."
Twilight blushes furiously and makes a strange squeaking noise.
//Are you two done flirting?//
"Sorry. So what's going on?"
//I'm not sure. I can't explain why all the texts suddenly—//
Did you see them going into that nerd movie?
That girl is such a pig! How does she eat all that and not get fat?
What's so special about that guy?
How does Twilight rate such a cute boyfriend?
//—nevermind.//
Twilight's eyes dart around rapidly, looking at the floating texts. "Is...it is always like this?"
"Usually it's worse," I say. "Ignore it."
//Hmm. I'm not sensing very many Shadows, and they're all fairly weak. Most of them are in the walkway.//
We put on our supply backpacks; I open up the tote bag Cadance brought with her and pull out our weapons. I hand Twilight her rapier; she steps back and takes a few practice thrusts. She nods to me. "Let's go."
"So, the activity center or the walkway?" I ask.
Twilight frowns. "The walkway might be a little narrow to fight in, don't you think? Also, we don't want to wreck it..."
//Fighting in Zodiac doesn't affect the normal world,// Cadance says. //It's like everything in reality is frozen. Or more like...we're inside a reflection of reality.//
"Oh," Twilight says.
//In any case, the only Shadows I'm detecting are in the walkway.//
"Well, that settles that," I say. Twilight and I head for the west gate. The ricepaper doors slide open, as though expecting us.
Once we enter the walkway, the door slides closed behind us. "Stay alert," I say.
"Right."
Two blob Shadows appear. "These are mostly harmless," I say. "Try summoning your Persona."
Twilight nods and pulls out her phone. "Athena!"
Athena appears; the tip of her spear glows white, and a bolt of lightning strikes the nearest Shadow.
Zio
It explodes in a shower of black motes. The second Shadow shuffles warily away; Twilight lunges forward and skewers it with her rapier.
Slash Attack
It melts into the floor.
As Athena disappears, I look at Twilight. "Are you okay?" I ask.
Twilight nods. "I have a little headache, but I'm fine."
For the next half hour, we patrol the walkway, only occasionally encountering weak blob Shadows. I let Twilight do most of the fighting, taking over only when she obviously needs to rest. "This...isn't so bad..." Twilight pants, leaning against the wall as she catches her breath after taking out three Shadows in quick succession.
I frown. "These are the small fry. I've run into tougher ones than this..."
A few more blob Shadows appear, and I take them out using Jack Frost. Once Twilight recovers, we spend another fifteen minutes hunting Shadows.
Twilight looks tired. "We should probably leave," I say.
Twilight nods and pulls out her phone. I shake my head. "We can't leave Zodiac until we're in the open," I say. "Come on, we're closest to the north gate."
We're about to round the corner onto the north side of the walkway when...
//I'm detecting four VERY powerful Shadows! Two of them are coming up behind you and two of them are closing in from ahead of you! You're surrounded!//
Twilight turns to look behind us...and screams. "LOOK OUT!"
Zan-ei
I suddenly feel a white-hot pain in my back. It passes out through my side, and I feel dizzy and light-headed. I try to turn, but slump against the wall.
"PERSONA!"
Athena appears. She gazes upon me with compassion.
Dia
Her owl companion leaves his perch and flitters about my head, shedding pale green light. I feel my pain ease. Taking a deep breath, I stand up straight and ready my axe.
It doesn't take long to figure out what just happened as I gaze upon our new enemies.
The four Shadows surrounding us are samurai in bronze armor. The dark masks covering their faces bear the Roman numeral 'XI'. Their swords are drawn and ready, and they are watching us dispassionately.
"Cadance?"
//I'm scanning now, but something's interfering...give me a minute to punch through...//
I summon Jack Frost, who unleashes his frosty breath at the nearest samurai.
Bufu
It swings its sword, and the ice blast is reflected back at Jack Frost. He makes a disappointed sound and vanishes.
"Let me try," Twilight says. "Persona!"
Athena reappears, pointing her spear at the same samurai.
Zio
A bolt of lightning strikes forth...
...and is sent flying right back at Athena. Twilight staggers, letting out a whimper of pain.
"Twilight! Are you okay?"
"Y-yes," Twilight says. "That...that hurt...but I'm alright..."
"CHIRON!"
Chiron appears and charges in, swinging his blazing axe.
Cleave
The samurai Shadow dodges, then swings its sword.
Blade of Fury
A pressure wave slams into me and Twilight; we're both driven back toward the two samurai behind us. I turn around just in time to parry a strike with my axe; Twilight takes a slash to the shoulder and cries out.
Agi
Chiron lobs a fireball at the samurai that attacked Twilight, but a swing of its sword sends the attack right back at Chiron. I feel it hit; it feels like my stomach is on fire. I ignore the pain and charge, swinging my axe.
Slash Attack
Evade Slash
The samurai slides out of my way.
Now Twilight is trapped on all sides, and I'm stuck behind two Shadows I can't seem to hurt.
"Flash!" Twilight cries, looking around fearfully.
//It looks like elemental magic won't work against these!// Cadance says. //Also, even if you can hit them with your weapons, it won't do much damage...you'll need to find some other way!//
Some other way...but what?
Single Shot
Chiron fires off an arrow at the nearest samurai. It impacts the back of its armor, but the Shadow doesn't even seem to feel it. They're all staring down Twilight. It's only a matter of time...
I have to save her...
I need a way to save her!
The Persona app on my phone begins to flash; a new card appears: the Devil Arcana. I slam my hand down on the screen and scream the name that's burning through my brain like a fever:
"YEE NAALDLOOSHII!"
The card image on my phone shatters into shards of blue light. A dark form bursts forth; it starts off as a twisted, dark-skinned man-shape, before becoming something that looks more like a malformed coyote with abnormally large paws, standing on its hind legs. It wears a ragged buckskin loincloth and tattered shreds of a buckskin vest; a long lock of matted fur trails down from its left ear, woven with a number of colorful beads. In its right paw, it holds a small, crude flint knife. It snarls, baring fangs dripping with toxic saliva.
I am the dark one...known to my people as the Skinwalker. The curse of the trickster is upon me...if you wish it, I will walk beside you and share my cursed power...
Yee Naaldlooshii lets out a piercing howl, throwing its paws up in supplication to a phantom moon.
Mamudo
Bubbling coils of blackness rise up from the ground, ensnaring the four samurai. In the blink of an eye, they cease to exist. Yee Naaldlooshii turns its fevered yellow gaze upon me, growling before fading from view.
Twilight looks at me shakily. "What...what just happened...?"
"A new Persona," I say. "One that...apparently can destroy Shadows without even touching them..." I shudder. "That kind of gave me the creeps. Are you alright?"
"Yes..." Twilight looks pale. "Let's...let's get out of here."
Evening
Cadance patches up our wounds, which were thankfully minor, and we return to the dorm, stopping just long enough to pick up a few buckets of fried chicken and a buttload of sides and biscuits to feed the dorm.
As we're driving home, we discuss what happened in Zodiac.
"Those Shadows...I don't think that was a random attack," I say. "Remember how all the texts suddenly disappeared right after we went into Zodiac? I think whoever is trying to kill us had something to do with that. And those samurai."
Twilight shudders. "Maybe...maybe we should stay out of Zodiac."
I shake my head. "We need to get stronger," I say. "We need to be able to protect our friends. Or anyone else that the Shadows go after." I take Twilight's hand and squeeze it. "I know you're scared. I'm scared too. Today...I was afraid I was going to lose you. But I also saw you fight. I think...with a little more training..."
"Flash is right, Twilight," Cadance says. "There are still ten more Zodiac Shadows, and Flash can't handle them all by himself. We need you. I see that now."
Twilight sighs. "O-okay...I'll keep training." She leans against me; she's trembling. "I just...I just hope..."
"Yeah..."
After dinner, I practice guitar with Rainbow Dash, then watch television with her, Pinkie, and Applejack. Twilight goes to bed early. It's almost midnight when I finally go to bed.
Cadance is standing outside my bedroom door. She looks concerned. "Flash...be careful." She wraps her arms around herself. "I...after those texts we saw today, and what you told me about those two boys...I believe everything I've heard about Sunset Shimmer. Just...be careful, okay?"
"After what we just went through today? Sunset Shimmer is nothing," I say. "She's just a petty, bullying little bitch. If I can handle a bunch of badass Shadow samurai, I can deal with a girl with a bug up her butt."
"I hope so," Cadance says. "Just...don't do anything that'll get you expelled or worse, okay?"
"I won't," I say.
Still, as Cadance returns to her room and I start getting ready for bed, a stray thought occurs to me:
Why did the texts in Zodiac suddenly disappear when Sunset Shimmer was texting her goons?