Chapter 9: The Chase
Finally, some excitement added to the story in the form of a chase scene.
This was pretty tricky to write up, as it isn't really a whole lot of action, just evasion and some conflict.
Again, I'd like to thank everyone who has read and reviewed this story so far, I greatly appreciate it.
I do not own anything other than my OCs.
It was around one-thirty in the afternoon when everyone got to the mall. Alex and Applejack changed vehicles to Alex's car so he could go pick up Pinkie Pie and Pete at Pete's house. Ryan drove Rainbow Dash there, and Carl drove Twilight and Rarity in his car. Once again, they cast the spell so everybody who was not one of the elements saw them as humans. Except Louis, who they didn't want to freak out initially, so they made sure he only saw the mane six, or five in this case as Fluttershy wasn't present, as human girls. They wanted to "test the water" with Louis first to see if he was a brony, and to do that they needed to tell him the girl's real names without saying that they were from the cartoon. If he wasn't a brony, he wouldn't get it and just think the names were odd and wonder why they lied about their true names. But if he did know where the names were from, he'd most likely say something.
Or not, it was all relative on if he was the kind of person who didn't give a fuck what other people thought or if he wasn't.
All nine of the Elements sat, waiting for the arrival of Louis to the mall. In order to make room for everyone to sit together, they had to bring two tables together.
"So how long until he gets here?" Alex asked.
"I'm not sure man, be patient." Carl said before he too began to let his impatience somewhat of a hold on him. He looked at his watch to see how long it had been.
"Ugh I'm sooooo bored." Rainbow Dash complained as she pressed her chin into the table, using her forelegs to press down in her head. Ryan nudged her and she peeked over at him without lifting her head, "What?" she asked in a way that came out mumbled because of her chin being pressed against the table.
"Do you want to have a quick little competition while we wait?"
Rainbow Dash perked up and looked at Ryan with a competitive smirk, "So, you're finally feeling up to the challenge, eh?"
"Yep, but this isn't a race."
"A challenge is a challenge, I don't care what it is; I'm in." she said with a big grin as she pounded her chest proudly.
"All right, see these napkins here?" Ryan asked, pulling a napkin out of the dispenser.
"Yeah."
"What I want for us to do is to crumple these up, and try to toss them into the waste can over there." He said as he pointed to a black trash can behind him. Rainbow Dash nodded and leaned closer to Ryan.
"You're so on." With that, she spat into her hoof and stuck it out to Ryan. Ryan, in turn, spat onto his palm and shook her hoof in a way that her saliva-covered hoof met Ryan's saliva-covered hand. As they drew back and began to crumple up the napkins, Rainbow Dash doing quite well for not having hands, she giggled, "I thought you got grossed out by spit Ryan."
"I told you yesterday, when it's your spit I don't care." Ryan laughed, "Besides, it's not like I didn't have your tongue in my mouth the entire day."
Everyone at the table heard this and stopped what they were doing to turn and look at Ryan and Rainbow Dash, who were busy crumpling their napkins. When they both finished getting some napkins crumpled up, ready for tossing, they looked up and saw everyone staring at them in shock, except of course Applejack, who already knew about their relationship.
Ryan was blushing while trying to hide his embarrassment, but Rainbow Dash just laughed at this and put her foreleg around Ryan's shoulder to stand up for their love.
"Yep, you heard correctly, Ryan and I are dating and if you have a problem with that, well, let's just say you'll have a hard time walking tomorrow after I get through with you."
Ryan gave Rainbow Dash a "thank you" smile and kissed her cheek, making her blush. Alex, who didn't know about this until now, suddenly broke out into a huge grin and held his hand out for Ryan to hi-five. Ryan high fived him and then Alex put his hand out for Rainbow Dash to hi-five as well, both Ryan and Rainbow Dash were confused about his apparent excitement over the news.
"Congrats you two." He laughed, "you two make a great couple."
"Um…thanks Alex." Ryan said, giving his friend a small smile.
"So you and Rainbow Dash are really dating?" Carl asked with a bit of a shaky voice. Ryan nodded as he recovered some confidence and was now not ashamed to profess his feelings in front of the others.
"Hell yeah we are, do you have a problem with that Carl, because Rainbow Dash here said…."
"No! No, I don't have a problem." Carl said nervously, holding his hand out for mercy, "I'm just surprised how fast your relationship started, as well as Alex's."
"Alex?" Ryan and Rainbow Dash both said in unison as they looked over to see Alex put his arm around Applejack who, in turn, kissed him on the cheek.
"That's right y'all, we love each other." Applejack said as she leaned her head on Alex's shoulder and closed her eyes.
"But you've only known each other for a day, how can you know that you're in love?" Carl asked.
"You weren't there last night when we talked at the park." Alex muttered with a smile, "I swear we communicated in that short time better than most people who are married ever do."
"But…I don't get it. Relationships never start that quick. Even when we were here yesterday you two were making out twenty minutes after arriving."
"Maybe it's because we connected better than most people here on Earth normally do, call it an honest case of love at first sight rather than the "love at first sight" that soon-to-be brides lie about to make themselves feel better before a wedding."
"Ya, not ta mention we ain't afraid to show our feelings fer each other." Applejack added, "Ah think that's why people in yer world don't act like we did yesterday, Carl. We ain't inta holdin' back none."
"That's true," Ryan said, "besides, Carl, you know that I've loved Rainbow Dash when I thought that she was just a fictional character, and Alex felt the same about Applejack. So it's not like we suddenly had these feelings as soon as we met them, it was because of the love we developed for them when watching the show."
Now it was time for the girls to speak up.
"And I liked Ryan so fast because he wasn't like other guys, and I got that within the first few minutes of meeting him. He isn't overly cocky, which is a bit of a weakness for him no doubt, but most stallions act so macho all of the time, that it was nice to meet an emotional, caring person that I can have a mutual respect for."
"Ah hear ya sugarcube." Applejack piped in with a smile, "after talkin' with Alex yesterday when he still thought I was human, ah knew he was a great guy. Not ta mention that he talked on and on about honesty and hard work and how much he values both. Naturally, ah felt a connection with him right then and there."
Carl sighed and rubbed his head. He had gotten over pretending to think it was weird for them to have these feelings, but we as still in disbelief about how fast their relationship was progressing. They only were together for a little while and they managed to accomplish a closeness that no other couple that he had ever seen in his life could match. Married couples of twenty plus years would envy the love that both partners in those relationships shared for each other.
Another strange thing was that both Alex and Ryan looked different, especially in their eyes. It was like ever since they were with their partners, they became happier and, strangely, more innocent in their attitude towards the world around them. Ryan seemed more confident, and Alex seemed more, well…vibrant. It was truly strange.
Meanwhile, Pete just listened to what they were talking about but didn't contribute anything. He was too busy worrying about saying something stupid. Honestly, the only person, rather pony, he felt comfortable around to actually be himself, was Pinkie Pie, simply because she was as random as he used to be.
As Ryan and Rainbow Dash gave each other an Eskimo kiss, Pinkie Pie smiled.
"Awwww that's so cute! You make such a great couple. And so do you Alex and AJ! Hey, maybe I should plan a party for you guys! Like a "happy trails for the new couples" shindig! Oh that would be so fun; I could make cake, cookies, and get some ice cream. I could get chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and cotton candy to match you Rainbow Dash!" she said, nearly bouncing in her seat. Pete chuckled a bit, forgetting his insecurities for a moment as Pinkie Pie's little display of joy reminded him why she was his favorite character on the show.
"Guys, don't forget, we're here to talk with Louis about his role in our group, not gossip about relationships." Carl muttered.
"I wish he would arrive soon, my hooves are starting to shake from my anxiety." Rarity said, looking down at her hooves with a blush on her face. "Oh I hope he likes me. How do I look? Did I overdo it?"
"You're fine Rarity; he's going to love you." Carl said in an attempt to calm her down.
"And look who finally arrived." Twilight whispered as everyone looked towards the entrance of the mall to see Louis walking in, now wearing a light-blue UNC t-shit and white and blue pair of shorts.
He was like a Gad-damned walking advertisement for the University.
As Louis saw the girls, his face lit up for a split second before he saw Carl, Alex and the other guys at the table. His expression fell and became calm and serious, with a hint of disappointment.
"That disappointed expression he has right now, in his face," Alex said, pointing to Louis with a small smile, "that's the look of Louis realizing that he's in the friend zone when he thought he was going to get laid."
Carl nodded and laughed at this statement by the oh-so-wise Alex Franco.
Louis walked over to the table and put his smile back on. He looked at Twilight and Rarity and nodded with a romantic look on his face, "What's up ladies?"
Rarity and Twilight smiled.
"Hello Louis." Twilight said flirtatiously with a small blush. And though Carl didn't want to admit it, watching her act so flustered by Louis' presence and "ladies man" attitude made him somewhat jealous.
Scratch that, he was seething on the inside from envy.
"Hi Louis, I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you I was bringing some friends." Rarity said, gesturing to the others.
"Some?" he said with a laugh, "God, some of the classes at St. Mary's have fewer people than this."
Louis took the only vacant seat, which was purposely right across from Rarity. Carl had it like this so they could talk about him being the element and her partner. But to Rarity, it just gave her another chance to gaze into his eyes.
"So what's up, why did you call me down here? Did you want an interview or did you just want to bask in my glory?" Louis said as he shot an arrogant and loving look at Rarity, who seemed to melt a bit at the gesture.
"We needed to talk to you about something important." Carl muttered, leaning in to look at Louis sternly.
"Okay, I'm listening. What did you want to talk about?" he asked with a lack of interest in talking to a guy rather than the two beautiful girls that went up to him at the park to ask him to lunch.
"You don't know it yet but you are one of six people who have been chosen to fight a great evil that is residing here in Wilmont."
Louis gave Carl a confused look, "So this is some sort of religious cult bullshit? Because, in case you didn't read the newspaper article close enough, I go to St. Mary's Catholic Academy, so I'm all set with my faith."
"No, this isn't a religious meeting." Carl muttered, "This is something more serious than that."
"More serious than God?" Louis asked and Carl shrugged.
"At the moment it's more important than preaching about him."
Louis turned to give a blank look at both Twilight and Rarity. "Why the hell did you two tell me to meet you here?"
"Look, we aren't who you think we are Louis. Our names aren't Tara and Raquel."
Louis gaped, "Then what are they?"
"I'm Twilight Sparkle and this is Rarity."
Carl bit his lip and closed his eyes in anticipation, waiting for Louis to respond since his response would show if he was, in fact, a brony like the rest of the elements, or just some random person who was chosen by chance. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Louis burst out into laughter.
Everyone just stared at him, even some people who were at other tables that heard his bellowing looked over in disgust at his crude behavior. As he calmed himself down, he pointed at Twilight, "So you're Twilight? And you're Rarity?" he said, pointing at the two girls, who both nodded.
He grinned, "That's so cute. Role-playing as characters from My Little Pony?"
"Yep! And I'm Pinkie Pie, and here is Applejack and Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie shouted excitedly, causing some people nearby to look over at them like they were a group of mental patients.
Louis shook his head, still laughing, "Funny. Oh, this is too hilarious."
"So you are a brony?" Alex asked and Louis sighed before turning to Alex with a cocky smile.
"Okay, fine, you caught me. The big, badass soccer superstar is a closet brony. Do you know how many shits I give about a couple of role players and punks I don't know finding out about it?" Louis held his hand up his hand to show a "zero" shape with his thumb and middle finger.
"Yeah you don't care, that's why you're in the brony closet." Ryan muttered sarcastically, not looking up at Louis as he said it.
"Louis, please listen to us." Rarity said with a pleading look, "Nopony here is trying to mock you for being a brony; we just need your help because you're Earth's Element of Generosity."
Louis was about to laugh when he got caught staring into Rarity's expressive eyes that were beautiful to Louis, who saw them as very elegant human eyes.
"Louis! Look at me." Twilight said, making the boy turn to her and stare. Twilight put her hooves onto his shoulder and looked him square in the eye, "You have to believe us, we are really the Elements of Harmony and we all need your help."
Louis then pointed to the guys at the table, first at Carl, then sweeping his pointed finger at them all until they landed on Pete, who flinched as he saw Louis' finger directed at him. "And who the hell are they?"
"They're the other elements of Earth. You are the last one that we need before we have all six. So please, don't disregard us as some kids pulling a prank on you."
Carl tapped Louis on the shoulder, making him turn around.
"Louis, Discord is here in Wilmont and we need you to help us defeat him before he brings this town into a deeper hell than it is right now."
"Carl." Twilight muttered. Carl looked up at her.
"What is it Twi?"
She pointed her hoof timidly towards the entrance, as if she didn't want the person who she was pointing to see her do it. "We might have a little problem."
Carl looked over his shoulder to see about twelve men in black suits walking towards them.
"Don't look at them, they'll see you.'" Twilight muttered, grabbing Carl and turning him back to face her.
"Who the hell are they?" he asked.
"I don't know about most of them, but that one in the front is one of Discord's henchmen. Trust me; I can see him for who he really is. He's a unicorn in disguise as a human."
"Does that mean he can see you guys too?" Ryan asked nervously.
"Let's not say ta find out." Applejack said.
"Okay everybody, get up and calmly start walking further into the mall." Carl said. They began to stand up, trying to act as relaxed and calm as possible, which was more difficult than it sounded. Ryan and Rainbow Dash both tossed their crumpled napkins at the trashcan, and, of course Ryan missed his shot and Rainbow Dash sunk hers.
"Got it." She whispered smugly at Ryan before sticking her tongue out at him. Ryan rolled his eyes before picking up the napkin and throwing it out. It may have been an emergency situation, but Rainbow Dash wouldn't let that get in her way of finishing a competition.
They threw out the rest of the napkins, food and everything else at the table and headed off, the group of men following only about thirty feet behind them.
"May I ask what's going on?" Louis asked, somewhat annoyed at the situation.
"We're being followed." Alex whispered.
"That's just fantastic." Louis muttered.
"Now what do we do?" Twilight asked Carl.
"We split up and go in separate directions. We'll meet back at the cars as soon as possible, Alex and I will need to find a way to get outside and to the cars. But right now our main priority should be to evade these fuckers." Carl said before turning to the others. "Listen to me and don't look back at them, otherwise they'll know that we know about them following us. Everyone evade them by any means possible and get out to the cars. We'll meet up at my house, understand everyone and everypony?"
Everyone nodded, except for Louis who shook his head, "I still have no fucking idea what's going on."
"Just go with Rarity, okay superstar soccer man?" Carl muttered in a condescending way before Louis shot him an angry glare. Regardless, he nodded as he didn't want to argue any more with this kid that clearly belonged in an asylum.
"So get out of the mall and meet back at my house, break."
And the group split up into four groups of two, each group representing an element.
Carl and Twilight began to walk relatively quickly, but not so fast that they drew attention to themselves as they maneuvered through the mass of people.
"Twilight, can you tell me if those guys in suits split up without turning around to check?"
Twilight nodded and closed her eyes, her horn glowed. After the glow went away, she opened her eyes and looked back up at Carl with worry.
"It looks like two men are following each group, except us."
"How many are following us?"
"Four."
"Shit." Carl hissed in aggravation before looking down at Twilight, "Twilight, can we split up and meet back at the table in the food court ten minutes?"
She nodded, "Yeah, I remember where it is, and I could probably lose two people."
Carl nodded, "Okay, and, only use your magic if absolutely necessary."
She nodded and once they reached a "fork" in the mall, they split up, Twilight went down the right-hand side and Carl went down the left.
Brett and the three other men who were following split up into two groups of two. Brett and one other man went after Twilight, while the other two went after Carl.
Carl frantically began to search for a good store to hide in. Someplace big enough to find a place to hide until the men went away. Soon, he came up on a very large video and gaming store that had the windows that surrounded its entrance covered in movie posters as well as posters promoting the new Call of Duty game that was going to come out soon. Without hesitation, he walked in, the two other men right on his heels.
Now, what he forgot was that this store was so big that it actually was on the other side of the fork as well, so as Twilight was trotting, trying to remain inconspicuous, she saw the video and gaming store that Carl had gone into. Because of how big it was and thinking that losing her pursuers would be easy in it, she went in, unintentionally ruining the plan to "split up".
Ryan and Rainbow Dash
Ryan and Rainbow Dash had two men following them at this point. They were walking down a very wide section of the mall that ended in a very large sport's store. That had some mannequins in the front that wore the newest sports gear, like Under Armor and football pads, as well as gear that promoted different teams in New York, such as the Bills, Giants, Sabers, and Yankees.
"Let's hide in there." Rainbow Dash whispered to Ryan.
"The Sport's store?" Ryan asked and Rainbow Dash nodded. "That's ironic." Ryan muttered, thinking about Rainbow Dash's athleticism. Regardless, they both went in. They kept walking through the store until they found the fitting rooms. He looked over his shoulder quickly to see that the two men seemed to have lost sight of them for the time being due to the clothes and other obstacles that they put in-between them and the men.
Ryan tapped her on the shoulder. "Quick; in there."
They both ran over to an open fitting room and, thankfully without anyone noticing, slipped in and shut the door. Once inside, Ryan locked the door and they both got back against the mirror on the wall that people looked into when trying clothes on, and began to breathe heavily.
"What do we do now?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"We wait, Dashie." Ryan said with a sigh as he kissed her forehead to comfort her and she nuzzled him in return.
Like Rainbow Dash had said, it was a mutual relationship.
Louis and Rarity
Rarity and Louis were currently being followed by two other men. Though Rarity was getting nervous, she knew that she had to stay strong and calm for the befuddled Louis as she dragged him into a clothing department store.
Inside, there were clothes everywhere. Clothes that lined the walls, clothes that hung on rows of hangars, and clothes on display on the plastic bodies of mannequins.
"Oh my, so many clothes, this place is magical!" Rarity thought as she felt like she was in her own personal heaven. She soon shook that thought away and returned to her focus of finding a place to hide.
"Louis, do you know anywhere that we can hide?" she whispered.
"What? No, look "Rarity" I don't…"
"There's no time for this." She groaned before she shoved Louis into one of the circular, rotating clothes hangers. Once inside, they were hidden from sight behind the wall of clothes that hung around them, mostly dresses.
Rarity got down and stared at Louis straight in the eyes, "Louis, I am about this close to losing it and you aren't helping one bit, so I want you to calm down and tell me that you'll do what I say, when I say if because that might become necessary if we want to elude the people chasing us."
"Yeah, okay." Louis nodded in fear. He was still skeptical, but he wasn't about to see what this girl would be like when she was freaked out.
Pete and Pinkie
"Why are they following us?" Pinkie whispered to Pete as they hid in one of the dressing rooms at the clothing department store, unaware that Rarity had just taken Louis to hide in there as well.
"I don't know, probably because of Discord." Pete muttered.
"Oh I don't have a good feeling about this." Pinkie said, shaking a bit in fear. Pinkie then got onto her knees and peered out from under the door, as there was about a foot space in-between the door and the carpeted ground.
"Do you see anything?" Pete asked.
"Oh my gosh!" Pinkie gasped.
"What is it?" Pete asked with worry.
"There's a guy with really weird hair over there."
"What?" Pete asked with some anger at her clear lack of seriousness for the situation.
"It's all spiky and green. I didn't think humans could have green hair." she said, looking back at Pete.
"We can't it probably was dyed or something, Pinkie come on we don't have time for this."
Pinkie nodded, "Right, I'll tell you if those meanies show up again." She said with a big grin before peeking back out into the store. Pete smacked his head with his hand.
"Geez, is everything in life a game to her?"
Alex and Applejack
Alex and Applejack were looking for places to hide when Alex decided to take a rise and look behind him to see if they were still being followed. This was a big mistake, because as soon as they two men saw him look at them, they began to run towards the two.
"Shit! AJ run!" Alex shouted as both he and Applejack began to sprint away. The mall was pretty packed, so naturally, the two fleeing elements of honesty had to push and shove their way through everyone.
"Get out of the way!" shouted one of the men as he tried to catch up to the two. "Somebody stop those two!"
Alex and Applejack were starting to put a nice distance between them and the other two men when suddenly a bystander who was just coming out of a shoe store heard the men calling for them. Thinking that Alex and Applejack were shoplifters, he ran up and grabbed Applejack's foreleg, or arm to him, and stopped her.
"Hold on, there little missy."
"Let go of me ya varmint!" Applejack shouted before she managed to pull her leg out of the man's grasp before she pushed the man into a nearby fountain out of frustration.
Alex just noticed that Applejack wasn't running with him anymore and turned around to see what had happened. He ran back to help her when the two suited men finally caught up to her and grabbed her arms. As she fought against them, Alex sprinted in a b-line at one of the men that was pulling out a gun and pointing it at Applejack.
"Hey, let go of her you motherfuckers!" Alex shouted right before he tackled one of the men into the same fountain that the other bystander who tried to stop Applejack was in, shaking off the shove that Applejack had given him. As Alex and the man wrestled in the water, Applejack socked the other man with her hoof so hard that she broke his nose and knocked him out cold onto the tiled, mall floor right in front of dozens of shocked bystanders.
Meanwhile, in the water Alex and the other man struggled. Alex could feel himself swallowing some water as he fought with the man. A few seconds later Applejack tackled the man into the water and began to pummel him with her hooves, which gave Alex his freedom. He tiredly swam to the ledge to get his bearings, blood and water dripping from his nose and mouth into the fountain-water. His chest hurt from gagging up the water that had snuck its way into his lungs and now needed to escape.
All in all, he felt as if a train had hit him head on, but when he looked back to the brawl between his marefriend and the last, conscious man, he saw them rolling around in the water, throwing punches at one another. His eyes widened in horror when he saw Applejack get pinned underwater by the man, who kept pushing her down in an attempt to drown her. She kept kicking as she held her breath, face clearly turning read under the water.
"Hey…" Alex spat, finally coming to and getting his strength back when he shouted with pure rage at the man who was trying to kill the one he loved, "Let her go!"
In a flash, the man was lifted off of Applejack by some magical force, which was an orange aura that Alex was controlling. His hands and arms also shone a similar orange aura that matched the aura around the man. Alex's eyes went wide when he saw what he was doing.
"Whoa." Alex muttered as he held the man up. Applejack, after finally getting some fresh air, saw the man levitating above the fountain in the orange light. Grinning, she used this opportunity to turn around and buck the man in the waist, sending him flying onto the mall floor in front of several shoppers that jumped back in fright. She waded over to the edge of the fountain to see the man knocked out, and people staring at them with wide eyes, either whispering to one another or using their cell-phones to record what had just happened.
Alex was still standing in shock as the orange aura around his hands disappeared.
But he got another shock when he suddenly felt Applejack throw her forelegs around him in a tight, and by tight I mean very tight, hug.
"Alex, yer okay. Thank ya fer savin' me."
"Thanks for saving me AJ." Alex said with a relieved smile as he finally noticed everyone staring at them in astonishment.
"Maybe we should get the car now."
"Yea, that sounds like a good plan." Applejack said with a chuckle as she coughed a little bit more water up. Alex hugged her and they both headed off towards the exit.
Carl
Carl was still in the video and gaming store, looking for someplace to hide from his two pursuers. So far he had done a good job not making it clear that he knew he was being followed. Eventually, he succeeded in evading his pursuers by hiding behind a cardboard cutout of an alien character from the new sci-fi movie that was being released onto DVD that week. He watched as the men who were looking for him got frustrated and ran out of sight to look somewhere else. He gave a sigh of relief and was about to relax when he heard Twilight scream nearby.
"Hey! Let go of me! Help!" she shouted, trying to use her magic, but for some reason it was not working.
"Shut up." He heard one of the men say. Carl quickly stood up and walked over to where he heard the voices coming from. He saw Twilight being lifted into the air by a man that Carl didn't know at that moment, but would eventually know all too well. This man was Brett. He and the other three men surrounded Twilight with looks on their faces.
"I think you're all alone on this one Twilight." Brett said as he pulled out a gun, as did the rest of the men so that the people at the store would be too scared to help her. But only that, but Brett cast a spell to make other people in the store carry on with their shopping, oblivious to what was happening.
But that didn't stop Carl from doing something. He stood up and walked closer to the group of men and Twilight and shouted, "Hey!"
They turned to look at Carl, and upon seeing the teenager's face, Brett grinned.
"It looks like the fun's just about to start." He muttered. He put Twilight down so the other men could watch her. He began to walk over to Carl. "So you're one of the elements of Harmony for Earth?" Carl nodded and Brett let out an arrogant chuckle.
"You seriously think that you six humans and your little pony friends can defeat Discord?"
"They beat him last time, so yes, I know we can." Carl spat.
"Do you?" Brett asked with fake pondering.
"Yes. Now let her go before I make you."
"I would, kid, but we have direct orders from Discord himself to take you to him….and kill them." He said; gesturing to Twilight, whose eyes suddenly lit up in pure fear. "You see, he knows that he cannot corrupt them due to their purity, so they must die. You and your little human friends, on the other hand, have been corrupted already and I just need to take you in so, please cooperate and I promise that Twilight's death will be quick and painless."
"You won't touch her." Carl spat with a seething anger. "I'll kill you before you get the chance."
Brett smiled and nodded, "I think you underestimate my power kid. For you see, like your little pony friend here, I am not a weak little human."
Carl bit his lip as he watched Brett close his eyes and his forehead begin to glow a dark black color, "as you can see…" he slowly transformed into Obscure Darkness right before Carl's eyes. "…I am a unicorn. My name is Obscure Darkness, and if you don't surrender now, you'll learn to fear my name."
Carl didn't know what to do; he knew that he couldn't take a unicorn with his magic. After all, he wasn't experienced with his own skills and Obscure was. He noticed that no one seemed frightened that a cartoon unicorn was currently in the store.
"And as you can see, I, like your friend Twilight Sparkle, can pick and choose who I show my true form to." He said with a grin. "But it's not like that was even necessary, after all I cast spell earlier to make everyone in this place oblivious to our little quarrel."
The two looked at each other intensely as Twilight continued to try to use her magic, which still wasn't working.
"Oh and Twilight, I'm sorry but, I'm currently blocking your magic with my own. I guess you'll have to fight me the old-fashioned way without using magic." Obscure said, leaning closer to Carl.
"Then how about wings?" said a familiar, raspy female voice.
Obscure was suddenly tackled to the ground by a blur of cyan and rainbow. He flew into the wall before slowly sliding down and hitting the floor face-first. He groaned as he rolled over, blood dripping down his muzzle.
Apparently, his magic to conceal what he was doing to Twilight didn't work on Rainbow Dash, because she was now hovering over him and stuck her tongue out and mocked the downed unicorn. "Na-na-na-na."
"Aaaanndddd I hope some lacrosse action is all right!" Ryan's voice came out of nowhere as he jumped out from behind a section of DVDs with a black lacrosse stick, which he used to smash one of the men on the head before hitting the other in the side of the face. The last one was head-butted by a very powerful and adrenaline-fueled Rainbow Dash. As the four men rolled around the floor in pain, Carl, Twilight, Ryan and Rainbow Dash wasted no time in getting the hell out of the store. As they did, the people in the store began to notice what was going on as the spell wore off. They walked over to help the men out, including Obscure. Once he got his bearings he pointed to the exit, "Don't let them get away!"
"Holy shit man, where did you come from?" Carl gasped as they ran towards the exit.
"Sport's store, wasn't the lacrosse stick a giveaway?" Ryan asked with a smile, "we hid in the fitting room until their backs were turned. I tackled one and Dashie, here, got the other."
"Then we were leaving when we heard that jerk Obscure Darkness ranting like an idiot who thinks that he's some sort of egghead."
"Thanks you two, you saved our flanks." Twilight said with a smile before looking up at Carl, "and thanks for standing up for me."
Carl smiled briefly before returning his focus to running.
Pete and Pinkie Pie
Pete and Pinkie Pie ever so slowly made their way out of the fitting room once they felt that the coast was clear. As soon as they opened the door to leave the fitting room, however, they saw a store employee standing right outside with her arms crossed and an un-amused look on her face.
"And what were you two doing there?" she asked.
"N-nothing." Pete said nervously.
"Don't you dare lie to me kid. A girl and a boy come out of the same dressing room of a Macy's, and you think I'll believe nothing happened? What kind of fool do you take me for? You know this isn't a nightclub, you can't just fool around wherever you want; there are rules here that must be followed."
"I…we didn't…." Pete started, but the woman cut him off.
"Don't try to talk your way out of this kid, just leave."
"Yes ma'am. Sorry ma'am." Pete muttered apologetically, even though he had nothing to apologize about, as he and Pinkie walked off.
"What was that weird lady talking about?" Pinkie Pie asked Pete with a raised eyebrow, and Pete shook his head.
"You don't want to know."
That's when they bumped into someone, causing them to both jump back in fright, only to realize that the people that they had bumped into was only Rarity and Louis, who were climbing out of their hiding spot after their pursuers had left the store.
"Louis? Rarity? What are you doing?" Pinkie asked as Pete was still trying to catch his breath from the shock of running into them.
"What do you think, we were hiding." Louis snarled before getting up, "Come on; let's get out of here before those assholes come back."
And on that note, all four friends ran out of the store and towards the entrance of the mall.
Alex
Alex and Applejack were already in Alex's car, ready to pick Pete and Pinkie Pie up as soon as they got outside. Finally, the door to the mall burst open and Rarity, Pinkie, Pete and Louis all spilled out.
"There they are." Alex muttered to himself as the back too to his car opened and Pete and Pinkie literally jumped into the backseat. "You guys okay?"
"Yeah, let's just get the hay out of here!" Pinkie shouted, her eyes bulging and her mouth opening to a size that only a cartoon character could.
Alex nodded and drove off to Carl's house.
Louis and Rarity, meanwhile, made their way to Louis' piece of shit sedan. As soon as Rarity saw it, she recoiled, "Egad Louis! Is this what you go around in?"
"Yes it is, sorry it isn't a limousine Madame. Now get in I'm on my last nerve." Louis muttered with a mix of sarcasm and anger as he opened the door for Rarity. She delicately, almost nervously, got into the car as Louis slammed the door. He then got into his side, started the car, and sped off.
As they left, Ryan, Carl, Twilight and Rainbow Dash all sprinted to Carl and Ryan's cars.
"Remember, meet back at my house!" Carl shouted.
"Got it, come on Dashie!" Ryan and Rainbow Dash got into the black SUV while Carl and Twilight got into his sedan. Both care sped off to Carl's house, not noticing as four to six of the suited men, including Obscure, who was now Brett, ran out of the mall, missing them, so Carl's sedan wasn't identified as his and he, therefore, was still safe as far as his car goes.
Bret grimaced and stomped at the ground with pure anger.
Meanwhile at the Park
As the sun hung high in the sky, James and Fluttershy walked down the hiking trail behind Wilmont Park. Well, scratch that, James walked and Fluttershy flew alongside him. The trails were almost never in use, so it was relatively safe for Fluttershy to be in her real form. But whenever a stray hiker or jogger was coming up on them, Fluttershy would quickly hide inside of or beside a tree, and James would lean against it as if he had just run and was taking a break so no one would wonder why he was just standing in place. Once the hiker or jogger passed, James would coax Fluttershy out of hiding and they both continued on. He was definitely feeling better about everything regarding Caroline, but he still talked very little. After all, even hiking with the nicest pony ever couldn't completely make him forget the pain he felt for losing his cousin.
He was so quiet, in fact, that Fluttershy often had to be the one to initiate the conversation.
"So James, are you feeling better?"
James didn't respond immediately. He seemed to think over the question for a second before slowly nodding, "Yeah, I think so, a little."
"Do you want to talk about it anymore or not?"
"No, let's just keep walking."
Fluttershy knew that he was holding back so she flew in front of him and stopped him by hovering in front of his face.
"Please tell me James, it'll make you feel better."
"Fluttershy I told you I don't want to talk about it."
James gently pushed his way past and began to walk off when he felt something slam him into a tree. Not real hard, but enough to make sure he stayed put. He looked up and saw Fluttershy flapping directly in his face, her eyes directly in line of his own. "James, tell me."
"Fluttershy I…"
And that's when she used the "stare". James couldn't talk, he was frozen. It was not how he imagined it in the show, it was even MORE powerful than that. Her eyes bore into James' very soul, invaded his mind and body and made him feel as if she was in complete control of him. But her eyes weren't vicious; they still had the very kind and caring look that she always had. But they also had a desperate, pleading look about them as well, as if she really wanted James to open up.
"Tell me." She muttered again.
"Okay! I'll tell you!" James said, tears starting to form in his eyes as most of his stoic act broke down and he began to cry without sobbing. Just the image of tears rolling down his cheeks was enough to make Fluttershy feel bad about using her stare on Carl.
"Oh my, James, I'm sorry I didn't know…if you don't want to talk about it that much I won't…" She started but James held his hand out to silence her.
"You deserve to know." Carl muttered as he wiped some tears away, "My parents always degrade me, I've told you that already. And you know about Caroline being the light of my life." James wiped another tear away after that, "but what you don't know is how hard it is. To know that such a sweet girl, a girl who is caring and kind, never got a reward for being the great girl that she was. No, of course not; she got cancer, she got fucking cancer and now she's dead because of it. A girl that never did anything bad in her life gets punished while other evil fucks that are on this planet continue to live healthy, happy lives. I just don't get it. "
James sighed and picked up a rock. He hurled it to the other side of the trail with a depressed look on his face.
"And people wonder why I'm so cynical." James muttered as he looked over at Fluttershy, "why I'm agnostic. If God existed, why would he sit there and let Caroline of all people get sick? Why give her so much false hope before we left, and then rip it away shortly after as if he wanted to prank her. In this world, kindness is a crime of nature, a crime that isn't punished by some law created by man or commandment given by God; in fact it's supposed to be met with reward. But kindness is punished. You get taken advantage of, you have bad things happen to you, and you suffer through life. And to make matters worse, I wasn't there for her, Fluttershy; I wasn't there when she died. I wasn't kind, I wasn't. And how can I be the element of kindness if I can't even be there when my cousin needed me. Why did I leave for dinner, why couldn't I have stayed?"
At this, James buried his head in his knees as he sat against the tree, his hands pressing down on the top of his head in an attempt to make himself forget the pain.
"James you are kind." Fluttershy whispered into James' ear, making him blush. "You're kinder than most ponies that I've met. And it's not like you wanted to leave, you had to. Besides, you didn't think she would die last night after you left. It wasn't your fault."
"Thank you Fluttershy." James said with a sniffle.
"You're welcome," Fluttershy said with a smile as she pulled away from James, "I hope that made you feel a little better."
He nodded with a sigh, "Fluttershy, you're treating me too well. You…you're more than a friend to me…you care about me so much, you…you were there for me last night when I needed you."
"Well, it seemed only right since you were there for Caroline when she needed you." Fluttershy said.
James turned and hugged Fluttershy, "You're the best friend that I've ever had." He whispered.
Fluttershy let out a small "eep" in embarrassment before sighing, "And you're one of the best friends a pony could ask for."
James sat back against the tree, tears welling up in his eyes again and he cried more. Once again, Fluttershy was there to comfort him.
But no matter how effective she was in making James feel better, she couldn't cure his broken heart.
But she was still there for him in his time of need, and that was what he needed right then, someone to comfort him, someone to care about him.
Someone to love him.
Hope that chapter went well.
Now with finals and papers coming up, I am not sure how often I will be able to upload chapters. However, once summer vacation if here in a few weeks, I'll have ample time to write this as well as work on some screenplays (and catch up on MLP, I am 9 episodes behind so I've got some work to do).
Anyway, thanks for reading and please let me know what you think of the story so far.
Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go tell Rainbow Dash to stop doing her sonic rainboom over California during a meteor shower. She'll keep freaking people out.
Go Giants! Go Rainbow Dash!
