Wednesday, January 6, 2016

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Today's Horoscope (Virgo): Don't give up. Your situation isn't as hopeless as you think.

Early Morning

I couldn't sleep at all...

As soon as Twilight is up, I pull her into my room. "We have a problem."

"What's up?"

"I received a threat from Mephistopheles last night."

Twilight gasps. "What?"

"Mephistopheles sent me a video...and told me that if we expose Zodiac..."

"You're being blackmailed?" Twilight asks. "What...what's the video?"

I shake my head. "Nevermind. The important thing is, if we expose Zodiac, that video is going to Celestia and Luna, and...it's going to cause a lot of trouble."

"Flash...what's the video?" Twilight asks, crossing her arms.

I sigh. "It's...from that night when Cadance was drunk..."

Twilight's eyes widen. "You mean...that night...?" She covers her mouth with her hands.

"Yeah."

"Oh my GOD..."

"I can't risk that video getting out. I'd be kicked out of CHS, Cadance would be fired..."

"Yeah..." Twilight looks down. "So what do we do?"

"I don't know..."

"We...should talk to Cadance about this," Twilight says.

"Yeah..." I grab my phone.

We head downstairs and find Cadance already in the lounge, nursing a cup of coffee. She doesn't look like she's slept at all, and she's been crying...

She looks up at us, and she looks absolutely terrified.

"Mephistopheles?" I ask.

Cadance nods miserably. "You too, huh?"

"I couldn't sleep at all last night."

Cadance stares down into her coffee. "This...this is bad. Really bad."

Twilight sinks into a chair. "What are we going to do?" she asks.

I sigh. "We...we can't tell Coach about Zodiac now," I say. "If we do..."

"But if we don't..." Twilight shakes her head. "He'll never trust any of us ever again..." She starts to cry.

I can't stand to see Twilight cry...

Taking a deep breath, I head for the corridor connecting the dorm to the apartment.

"Flash?" Cadance asks in alarm. "What...?"

I head straight for the apartment. The door isn't locked; I walk right in.

I find Shining Armor in the kitchen with a cup of coffee. He frowns. "What is it?"

I call up the e-mail from Mephistopheles and lay my phone in front of him. "Don't open the video," I say. "You...really don't want to see it."

He stares at the message, blinking. "What?" He rubs at his eyes. "What the hell's this about?"

"You know about what happened to Pinkie Pie, with her family, right?"

Shining Armor frowns. "Yeah. Her dad's a real dick."

"This Mephistopheles is the one that sent her family that video of her at Halloween. The one that caused all that."

Shining Armor blinks. His brow furrows.

"Cadance and I both got this threat," I say. "The video is from...that night, back in October."

"That night...?" Shining Armor asks.

"The night before you two made up."

He frowns. It takes him a minute to get it. "Oh," he says. His eyes widen. "Oh."

"Look, Coach..." I take a deep breath. "What happened Saturday...where the girls and I disappeared to...we were going to tell you everything. But we can't now. If we do..." I tap my phone. "Cadance loses her job, I'll probably get expelled from CHS..."

Shining Armor grimaces. "I don't want that to happen," he says. "I just...don't like it when the people close to me keep secrets from me." He looks at the message again. "What the hell's this Zodiac thing?"

I take a minute to think of a way to explain it without risking everything. "It's...malware, hidden in Canterbook," I say. "Deep in Canterbook. Someone's using it to fuck with people's lives. The webcam hacks, Pinkie's family disowning her, THIS shit...all the secrets we've all been keeping from you...it's all connected. I can't say any more than that right now, and we can't...we can't show you proof of any of this." I take a deep breath. "You're...just going to have to trust me. And Cadance, and Twilight."

Shining Armor looks at me for a minute. I can't read his expression. He looks back down at my phone.

Before I can stop him, he hits play on the video. After about ten seconds, he pushes the phone away across the table. I quickly pick it up and stop the video.

He swallows heavily. "I believe you," he says. "Only a really sick person would blackmail you and Cadance like this." He looks up at me. "I want to help, but...if I get involved, this Mephistopheles person sends this video to the principal, right?"

"If you even ask questions," I say. "I can't even be sure talking to you right now is safe." I sigh. "But...I had to do something. Twilight's sitting in the lounge right now crying, Cadance didn't sleep a wink, I didn't sleep a wink...Twilight's heartbroken over the idea that you'll never trust her again."

Shining Armor pales. "Oh God..." He shakes his head. "I...I was just so worried," he says. "I don't know...I didn't know where she was, and she wasn't answering her phone..."

"As long as Twilight's with me, she's safe," I say. "I can promise you that. I won't let anything happen to her."

"You can't promise that," he says. "You can't promise you can protect her." He points at my phone. "Not from this."

I sigh. "You're right," I admit. "And that scares the hell out of me."

Cadance and Twilight burst in. "Flash, what—?"

"It's okay," Shining Armor says. "Whatever it is you guys aren't telling me...it's okay. Just...just be careful, alright?"

I look at the girls. "I told him about the blackmail threat," I say. "I told him it's from the same person that messed with Pinkie's life."

"Whoever this Mephistopheles is...you guys are trying to find out, right?" Shining Armor asks.

"Yeah," Cadance says.

Shining Armor nods. "Be careful. I don't want..." He swallows. "I don't want any of you getting hurt." He takes a deep breath. "I won't get involved. The less I know, the better, apparently. But..." He looks at us. "Don't try to lie to me again, okay?"

"We won't," Twilight says. She rushes forward and hugs her brother. "I'm sorry, Shining Armor."

Morning

I'm exhausted...

I keep dozing off in class...

After School

After classes, I down two sodas before heading to tennis practice. Regionals are this Saturday...

I can't concentrate today. Halfway through practice, Coco asks the coach to put me on the sidelines.

"Get it together, Sentry," Coach says.

"Sorry, Coach. I had a rough night."

"Well...show up to practice looking this sloppy Friday and you're out on Saturday, got it?"

"Yes ma'am."

She frowns. "You look like hell. Get changed and go home."

"Thanks..."

Evening

When I get back to the dorm, I discover I have mail. It's the prize from the Lucky Santa!

I have homework, but I'm too tired to concentrate...I decide to have a nap before dinner.

After dinner, Cadance calls everyone involved in Zodiac over to the apartment. "I know we said we'd go to Zodiac today," she says, "but we're going to have to put it off."

Rainbow frowns. "Yeah, you and Flash look like hell," she says.

"Neither of us slept last night," I say.

"Also, we...we've patched things up with Shining Armor," Cadance says, "but we can't...we can't collect evidence about Zodiac."

"Whyever not?" Rarity asks.

Cadance and I look at each other. Neither of us want to say anything...

"Mephistopheles is blackmailing Flash and Cadance," Twilight says. "Remember when our webcams were hacked?" The girls nod. "Well...Mephistopheles has a video that..." She grimaces. "Could cause a lot of trouble."

"What kind of video?" Pinkie asks quietly.

"The kind we're not talking about," Cadance says.

"No, they need to know this," Twilight says. "I'm sorry, Cadance. I'm sorry, Flash." She takes a deep breath. "Back in October, Cadance...did something really stupid. With Flash. It was after my brother hit Flash...while Cadance and my brother were fighting."

"Something stupid?" Rainbow asks. "What, did she f—"

Rarity covers Rainbow's mouth. She frowns at Cadance. "Say no more," she says. "I believe...I believe we get the picture." She looks at Twilight. "I take it this is not news to you."

Twilight sighs. "I knew...the day after it happened," she says. "I was upset, but...not surprised."

Cadance looks away, head bowed. I can't look anyone in the eye...

"Anyway," Twilight continues, "Mephistopheles is using that as blackmail material. If we try to expose Zodiac, that video is going to Principal Celestia."

The girls gasp.

"That's just dirty," Rainbow says.

I look around. "This doesn't change anything," I say. "We're going to keep training in Zodiac. We're going to keep fighting the Shadows. We're going to find out who Eris is...and who this Mephistopheles is. And then we'll put an end to all of this."

Everyone nods. "Right!" Rainbow says.

"This Mephistupid person's gotta pay!" Pinkie agrees.

"I'm still with you, of course," Rarity says.

"But for today...Flash and Cadance need to rest, so...we're not going to Zodiac," Twilight says.

"Yeah, you guys go get some shut-eye," Rainbow agrees. "We'll be ready whenever you are."

After that, I head back to my room. I'm getting ready for bed when Twilight walks in, carrying her pajamas. "I'm staying here with you tonight," she says. She quickly changes into her pajamas. I'm too exhausted to even enjoy the sight of her mostly-nude body...

Too exhausted and too ashamed.

Without a word, we both crawl into bed, Twilight spooning against my back.