Saturday, November 21, 2015

Birthday Horoscope (Sagittarius): You are going to die today.

Early Morning

I have to be at the tennis courts by nine for practice. The rest of the dorm is planning to head over at about eleven.

I head downstairs for breakfast as soon as I'm dressed and have my gear together. Everybody is already at the table except Fluttershy. "Where's Fluttershy?" I ask.

"She had to work at the animal shelter today," Pinkie says. "Some big emergency down there or something."

"That's a shame," I say. "Hey, happy birthday, Rainbow!"

"Thanks!" Rainbow's playing with her phone as Applejack and Pinkie start serving breakfast. Suddenly, she lets out a strangled yelp, dropping her phone. "What the FUCK?!"

"What's wrong, Rainbow Dash?" Pinkie asks.

"I checked my birthday horoscope," Rainbow says. Her face is pale. "It says...it says I'm gonna die today."

Rarity shakes her head. "Oh, puh-lease, darling," she says. "You simply can't put any stock in those silly horoscopes!"

"You check yours every single day," Applejack points out.

"Well, yes, but..." Rarity frowns.

"What kinda sick joke is this?" Rainbow cries. Twilight picks up Rainbow's phone, looks at it, and goes pale.

"I...wouldn't worry about it," she says soothingly. "Horoscopes are silly, don't you think?"

"Y-yeah..."

"Don't let it getcha down, sugarcube," Applejack says, sliding a heavily-loaded plate in front of Rainbow. "It's yer birthday! Don't sweat th' little stuff...jes' worry about havin' a great day!"

"You're right," Rainbow says. "Thanks."

"Happy birthday, Rainbow Dash," Twilight says. We all echo her.

Rainbow smiles. "Heh. Thanks, guys." She sighs, looking at her phone. "Yeah, it's just a stupid Canterbook app. I don't know why I even bothered to look..."

After breakfast, Twilight announces she needs to walk Spike, and asks me to join her. Pinkie offers to join us.

Once we're outside the dorm, Twilight asks, "So what's the plan?"

I shrug. "It depends on when Sagittarius attacks," I say. "Keeping Rainbow Dash from ever being alone won't work...we found that out with Pinkie."

"Yeah, but we shouldn't let Dashie be alone like, at all today," Pinkie says. "We gotta be right there when the icky monster attacks."

"And what about that other Persona user?" Twilight asks.

I frown. "If she shows up again, it'll be a problem," I say. "But...some of my new Personas should be good against her." I scroll through my Persona app, which displays helpful information about the Personas at my disposal. "Using Chiron against her put me at a huge disadvantage, but..."

Twilight looks over my shoulder. "Wow," she says. "Mine doesn't do that!"

"Probably because you don't have like, a bajillion Personas," Pinkie points out.

Twilight takes my phone from me and starts scrolling, but immediately the Persona app crashes. "Hey, what—?"

I take my phone back and relaunch the Persona app. It takes a moment for it to load. "This stuff's in my head," I point out. "I don't understand much about all this stuff, but that part, at least, I know."

"Oh, right," Twilight says. She frowns. "A phone app that can scan your mind...I don't think I like the sound of that."

"Eww! SPIKE! Stop humping my leg!" Pinkie suddenly yells. "At least buy me a drink first!"

Twilight and I turn and stare at Pinkie. Spike lets out a happy bark and wags his tail. It might just be my imagination, but he looks exceptionally pleased with himself...

I shake my head. "I gotta get going," I say. "Warn Cadance. We need to be ready...the attack could happen at any time today."

The girls nod. I run back to the dorm, grab my gear, and jog to the school.

Daytime

By half past eleven, we're ready to start the matches. I look out into the stands and see Twilight and Pinkie seated to either side of Rainbow Dash. Rarity and Applejack are also in the stands. I don't see Cadance...

She rushes up to the group, carrying a big plastic bag, and starts passing out drinks to the girls. She takes a seat, notices me looking at the stands, and waves.

I'm in a doubles match right off the bat. I adjust my new gloves and get ready to play...

Despite how tense I am, I manage to do a lot better today. I have two singles sets and one doubles set, and win (or help win) all of them.

It's four in the afternoon when the matches end. I head for the lockers, shower, and change. I'm looking forward to Rainbow Dash's birthday party, but I'm also nervous about...

Zodiac

...that.

Elsewhere...