Sunday, January 3, 2016
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Today's Horoscope (Virgo): Your situation may seem hopeless, but don't despair—a fresh perspective may be all you need.
Morning
After Twilight cried herself to sleep, I texted Rainbow and Pinkie and called them upstairs. I told them about what happened with Shining Armor.
Twilight looks terrible this morning. She's not eating...
Rainbow and Pinkie are miserable too. Sonata is still in bed. Fluttershy took Spike for a walk in the park.
Cadance walks in. She looks awful too. Twilight looks up at her. "Is he—"
Cadance sighs. "He's...pretty mad," she says. "It's almost as bad as it was back when..." She looks at me.
Pinkie deflates. "This is awful," she says miserably.
Twilight lays her head on her arms.
Cadance sits down. "I just...don't know what to do," she says.
We hear the front doors open. Rarity storms in a few minutes later, Opalescence tucked in the crook of one arm, the morning newspaper in her other hand. Her father walks in behind her, burdened with suitcases, bags, and Opal's bed. As Rarity's dad trundles up the stairs with Rarity's luggage, Rarity slaps the paper down on the table, spreading it out so we can see the headline.
"Whoa," Rainbow says.
"After Pinkie Pie pulled the fire alarm, someone snuck into the kitchens and started an actual fire," Rarity says. She sighs. "Alas, all my birthday presents went up in smoke, but...at least nobody was hurt."
"Oh, Rarity..." Cadance says. "I'm so sorry..."
Rarity waves a hand. "I feel bad for everyone who took the time and effort to buy me a present that I never even got to open," she says.
"Eh, we'll all get you something new," Rainbow says. "No big."
"Yeah, we'll birthday you up all over again," Pinkie says.
"Don't trouble yourself on my account, dears. I won't say no to a heartfelt gift, of course, but the sentiment and the effort you've already put in are enough for me." Rarity looks away with a sigh. "After that...fiasco of a party, I don't deserve even that..."
"But who...who could've started the fire?" Cadance wonders.
"Eris," I say. "Has to be."
"Maybe..." Pinkie says. "I mean, she could've slipped past us when we all took off, doubled back and started the fire..."
Rarity's dad stumps back down the stairs. "Well...I'd better be off," he says. "Early tee time this morning and all."
"Thank you, Father," Rarity says. She hugs him.
Once he's gone, Rarity sits down and helps herself to some of the coffee on the table. She glances at Twilight. "What's wrong with Twilight?" she asks.
"Shining Armor is pissed at us," I say. "After we all disappeared...well, it took us a while to get back to the dorm, neither of us were answering our phones because we couldn't decide what excuse to use, and..." I shrug. "We tried to run a line on him about Twi's phone being off, he didn't buy it, and now he's...just really pissed."
Rarity frowns. "So...let me see if I understand. When we were all...dealing with that horrible business..." She taps her finger on the table. "After all that, you just...took off? You didn't think to double back and rendezvous with Nurse Cadance and Coach Shining Armor?" She frowns. "I mean, Twilight's dress wasn't that badly damaged..." She smirks. "Quite frankly, the both of you could've pretended you had a quick...ah...tête-à-tête in the restroom and nobody would have questioned it."
Twilight looks up, eyes wide. She stares at me.
Now that Rarity says it like that...
"Well now I feel stupid," I say.
Cadance shakes her head. "That wouldn't have worked," she says. "Shiny, Sonata, and Applejack all saw these three just...disappear from the table. Even if he'd bought that Flash snuck off to have sex with Twilight, it still wouldn't have explained everybody vanishing like that."
"Oh. Yes, I suppose that would be rather harder to explain," Rarity says sheepishly. She frowns. "I don't suppose being honest with him is likely to work either..."
Cadance shakes her head. "There's no way he'd believe us," she says.
"Yeah, Rarity," Rainbow says. "We tried to explain it to you, remember?"
"True..."
"Maybe..." Twilight says quietly. We all look at her. She looks up and around. "Maybe...we should try to tell him the truth," she says. "And not just him, but...but Applejack, and Sonata...and Fluttershy too, since she'll be attacked too when her birthday comes around."
"Yyyyeah...I don't see that going over well," Rainbow says.
"What if we have proof?" Pinkie asks.
We all look at her.
Pinkie looks around at us. "We all have smartphones, right? I mean...the cameras don't stop working just because we're in icky monster world, right?"
Cadance's eyes widen. "Cameras..."
Twilight blinks. "Cameras."
Rarity looks around at all of us. "Have none of you ever thought of collecting evidence that all this is real?"
We all have smartphones that can take pictures and record video...
...why haven't we been documenting Zodiac?
Rarity frowns. "You're not a very well organized team, are you?"
"I guess...we're really not," Twilight says.
"Hey, lay off, Rarity!" Rainbow says. "We're doin' the best we can, alright?"
"Evidently we're not," Cadance says. She sighs. "I should've thought of using my phone to record what I saw in Zodiac months ago...even before Flash came."
Twilight looks up. "Rarity," she says seriously, "you're joining us, right? You'll fight alongside us in Zodiac from now on?"
Rarity grimaces. "About that." She toys with a napkin. "I must admit that this...power is...invigorating..." She looks around at all of us. "But...two of you actually died yesterday."
"More people have died in Zodiac than you think," Cadance says. "Before Flash came along, it was just me. I...I don't have the power to fight. I can scan, I can even escape Zodiac or hide victims from the Shadows, but...if I can't reach them in time to protect them, or...or if I can't open an escape route..." She bows her head. "Last year...Pisces, Taurus, and Gemini all killed their victims."
"What about Aries, Cancer, and Leo?" Twilight asks.
Cadance shakes her head. "I was able to rescue the victims for Aries and Cancer. Leo..." She frowns. "Leo never appeared. I kept waiting for Leo to show, but...it never did. I honestly thought it was all over at that point...and then Virgo came after Flash."
"And Aquarius?" Rarity asks.
"I was Aquarius' target last year," Cadance says. "My birthday is Valentine's Day."
"Oh, yes, of course," Rarity says. She sighs. "Alright, so...the very real possibility of death is a very good reason for me to decline," she says. She looks around at us. "At the same time...you all came to my rescue, and I can't simply ignore that. After all, you are my dear friends, even if...even if I'm not as close to any of you as I guess I should be..."
Rainbow frowns. "Doesn't she kinda like, not have a choice?" she asks. "I mean, isn't that how Zodiac works? Once you're in once, you get dragged in every single time?"
"That...is how it works, yes," Cadance says. "Or rather...if you have a Persona, you're pulled in whether you want to or not."
Rarity blinks. "I see," she says. "Well then..." She clears her throat. "I guess it's settled. I'll be joining your little team of heroes." She frowns. "But really, we simply must become more organized, and..." She takes a sip of her coffee, grimaces, and sets it aside. "You'll need to tell me everything."
The Zodiac Investigation Team Social Link of the Fool Arcana has reached rank 5!
Your power to create Personas of the Fool Arcana has grown!
We spend the rest of the morning telling Rarity everything we know about Zodiac, including our suspicions about Sunset Shimmer's involvement. We toss around theories about Eris; Rainbow Dash thinks Pinkie's insane for ever suspecting Fluttershy, but I can see from the way Twilight's temples are twitching that she's starting to have her own doubts.
Once Rarity is up to speed, Rainbow Dash asks, "So Twilight...how'd you get a new Persona? I thought only Flash could do that."
Twilight shakes her head. "I don't know," she says. "And I don't think I have a new Persona. I mean..."
"It's still Athena," Cadance says. "It's just...Twilight's Persona has become more powerful and undergone a change in form. I can't explain it."
"Will that happen to the rest of us?" Pinkie wonders.
"Who knows?"
Daytime
By the time we're done discussing Zodiac stuff, it's almost lunchtime. Fluttershy returns with Spike, and Sonata comes downstairs. Pinkie and Cadance make lunch for everyone, then we all break to do our own things—Rarity goes upstairs to unpack, Rainbow goes upstairs to practice her guitar, Pinkie leaves for Sugar Cube Corner, and Twilight and I go over to the apartment with Cadance to try to talk to Shining Armor.
Shining Armor glares at us as we sit down across from him. "So are you ready to tell me the truth?" he asks.
Twilight takes a deep breath. "We...do want to tell you what really happened yesterday," she says. "The problem is...you won't believe it. Not yet."
"There's...things I haven't told you," Cadance says. "I know you know I've been keeping secrets from you." She sighs. "These two...are in on it. All of it."
Shining Armor's scowl deepens. "So you're telling them things you won't tell me?"
"It's more complicated than that," Cadance says.
"Look, Coach...the thing is, until we have proof, we can't tell you what's going on," I say. "But we've...we've decided you do need to know what's going on. We just...need to get the proof first."
"Proof of what?" Shining Armor asks.
We all look at each other. Cadance takes a deep breath.
"Proof of the danger everyone at Canterlot High is in," she says.
Shining Armor sits forward. "Danger?" He frowns. "Does this have anything to do with that hall burning down after we all left?"
"Part of it, yes," Twilight says. "We...actually didn't even know about the fire until this morning." She rubs her arm. "Look, Shining Armor...I know you're upset with all of us, and none of us want to keep secrets from you, but...there's some really weird, really bad stuff happening that most people don't know about. Will you...will you please just trust us?"
Shining Armor sighs. "I can't trust you until you're honest with me," he says. "But...if there's really something happening...if this isn't just all of you running around being..." He shakes his head. "Whatever..."
"We're going to prove it to you," Twilight says. "I promise. Just...be patient, okay?"
Cadance checks the time. "We need to head back over to the dorm," she says. "Applejack should be getting back any minute now, and her little sister's moving in today."
Cadance, Twilight, and I head back to the dorm. Twilight sniffles and leans into me. I wrap my arm around her and hold her close.
As we pass back through the lounge, we see Sonata watching TV. She waves at us.
You'll have to explain that little disappearing trick to me.
"Uhh...yeah. We will. Just...not right now, okay?"
Sonata shrugs.
No worries. I'd just like to know how you did it. Might come in handy someday.
We hear a loud bang outside which startles us all. We exchange glances, then Cadance, Twilight, and I rush to the door.
As soon as we open the door, we hear Applejack yelling.
"Consarnit, Big Mac! Ah done TOLDJA this was gonna happen! Ain't you got half a brain in that head?"
"Hey!"
"Come on, Applejack...at least it got us here, right?"
"You stay outta this, Apple Bloom! Go on...git inside..."
Apple Bloom walks up the front walk, casting odd glances back over her shoulder. Outside, we can hear Applejack berating her brother. "What's going on?" Twilight asks as Apple Bloom reaches the door.
Apple Bloom sighs. "Our old truck jes' blew its muffler. An' Ah mean really blew it. It went shootin' off down th' street like a bottle rocket."
"Yikes."
"Yeah..." Apple Bloom sighs. "That ain't all. Thing's spewin' smoke, suspension's gone, Big Mac can barely even steer it..." She shakes her head. "It's a total piece of sh—"
"Hey y'all," Applejack says, walking up behind Apple Bloom with two suitcases in one hand and a milk crate balanced on her shoulder. "Y'all hear about that crazy fire at th' party hall? Sounds like we all got outta there just in time."
"Applejack, is your brother having car troubles?" Cadance asks calmly.
Applejack rolls her eyes. "Don't even go there. Ah jes' called a wrecker. Don't reckon Big Mac can bunk with you an' Coach a night? Ain't no way we can afford a cab ride back t' Sweet Apple Acres right now."
"Sure, it's no problem," Cadance says. "I'll just go tell Shining Armor, then show Big Macintosh inside...Flash, Twilight, can you help Apple Bloom get settled in?"
"Sure, no problem."
I help Applejack carry all their things upstairs, and Twilight leads Apple Bloom to her old room. While Applejack gets settled back in, Twilight and I help Apple Bloom unpack and give her a rundown of the house rules, the chore schedules, and such. We also spend a little time getting to know her better; we learn that she's in the seventh grade, that this semester will be the first time she's ever actually gone to school, and that Rarity's sister Sweetie Belle is one of her two best friends.
Nobody's really in the mood to do much this afternoon, so we all sit around until dinnertime.
Evening
Tomorrow is the first day of the new semester...
With everything that's happened this weekend, and with school starting again tomorrow, I decide to go to bed early.
