Author's Notes. Hello everyone! It is time once again to delve into the story of "A Mending Soul." I would like to mention that we've made it past the final milestone in part 7, and are now descending the slippery slope to the conclusion. This chapter kick-starts that descent. That being the case, I've made sure that this chapter was as good as it could be. Unfortunately, I kind of overdid that, and the chapter ended up being 18,000 words or something like that, so I've split it up into multiple parts. This being one of them. Don't worry though, unlike "The Still Voice" chapter, I'm not going to post the subsequent components in a row, slowing down the development of the fellow characters not involved. I'll make sure to keep everything in rotation so we find out what is happening to everyone else in the parallel story arcs at the previously set pace. Well... That's not a promise in truth, as I haven't written anything on the Catalyst Corps and the Inquisitors for over a month now. But if I do make something, I'll be sure to post that in the following weeks at the appropriate time. Enough of that for now though. On to answering some reviews!
To The French MeeM: That is an excellent question! Thank you for asking! You see, though all time progresses in a somewhat linear pattern. (Note: It's not entirely straightforward, but events in time will occur in a linear pattern if nothing disrupts the space-time continuum.) However, the time patterns for all dimensions in the Earth Multiverse do NOT run in sync. For example: The Warriors dimension's time runs MUCH SLOWER than the Star Trek dimension's time, and so spending a couple years in the Warriors dimension will result in a couple hundred years worth of time passing in the Star Trek dimension. Sometimes the time passage in one dimension with respect to another will be so great that a dimension will end up living up its lifespan (usually 12,000 years, bar a couple exceptions) and restarting. Everything will be the same in the restarted universe, and so it will give Dimensional Travelers a chance to visit times they had previously missed. This gives the illusion of travelling "back in time", but in reality they're visiting a recycled clone of the universe that they had previously visited. In short, most Dimensional Travelers cannot traverse time like they do dimensions. Well, in truth, there actually ARE a couple Dimensional Travelers who do have the unique capability of freezing or reversing time in a dimension, but there are only a few of them.
To Vibrant Sound: I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not... But thanks! I was thinking of Anima when invented Try and Joran. (Actually not.) Either way though, thanks for the encouragement! (And especially your insight, I value that greatly.) I really do try to make sure I cover the entire spectrum of entertainment. You don't need explosions to make a good story!
To SuperVegito33: Thank you! I really, really appreciate your reviews, I hope you realize that.
To AntiVillain1: Totally! Unfortunately Wile E. and I had a falling out a couple years back. Something about me lying to him about how a coyote's top speed is actually 19 meters-a-second while a roadrunner's actual top speed is 9 meters-a-second. I don't know. He won't talk to me anymore.
To xCrysis-x: When a story makes you question your sanity, you know it's a good read! All joking aside though, I really appreciate your encouragement. I'll do my best to keep you entertained! (By the way, I'm really looking forward to seeing your writing. It's going to be excellent.)
To R4ptorCS: Arg! I always miss SOMETHING. Thanks for catching that. Please let me know if I missed anything in this chapter as well. Oh, and keep an eye out for the following chapter in two weeks. A friend of mine challenged me to write it in LaTeX, so I'm not too sure how I'm going to do in the spelling department. I'm fairly confident it'll be fine (spelling and structural mistakes rarely get by me) but I cannot be too sure. Again, thank you for constantly keeping an eye out for those mistakes and reporting them to me! Hmmmmm... Politicsmystery. I like that. It's like when Doxia coined the word "lolidunno."
To FocusedStream: Thanks! As I've stated previously, there is definitely more to a story than explosions!
Right, that's all for now. I hope you enjoy this chapter! Oh, one final word of advice: Make sure to read the "Time" components of the italicized location status reports at the beginning of each section in this chapter. There is a time jump, and you don't want to miss it.
Dimension: My Little Pony
Planet: Equestria Earth
Specific Location: Agrinian Mesa, the Stallion Empire
Time: Present (Six days after Lyric and Summer ventured into the Southern Jungle)
Franklin stretched out by the dying fire and yawned. By the look of the position of the moon outside and the formation of the stars, it was probably four in the morning. They had spent hours talking about past adventures, but it had all been worth it.
Franklin smiled. Most of his past memories were filled with pain and despair, but it was these little quiet moments that made everything better. Franklin's smile of happiness transformed into one of tired contentedness as he looked at Lyric and Summer, who were huddled together as if their life depended on it. Considering the fact they had spent a year in frozen north of the Stallion Empire, he was not surprised that lying together to conserve body heat had become nothing less than second nature.
Franklin's eyes began to droop as he, too, began to fall victim to the air of lethargy. But as he drifted off to sleep, he stared at Summer. She looked so familiar, somehow, as if he had seen her in the years past. Perhaps he had seen her as a child during his mercenary years? What kind of coincidence was that? Maybe in a dream? Impossible. Franklin would have stamped a hoof in annoyance, but he was too tired. He knew he knew her from somewhere, but it would just not come to him. And so he began his swift descent into sleep, struggling with his memory every step of the way.
As his eyes shut, he squinted at Summer one last time.
"Huh, that's weird," he murmured a second before passing out. "She has an infinity mark on her flank."
Dimension: My Little Pony
Planet: Equestria Earth
Specific Location: Ponyville
Time: Thirteen years ago (Ten years after the death of the Paradox)
For once, there was peace and quiet in Ponyville. Even before the arrival of Sunset Shadow, Ponyville had been a hub for disaster, ranging from rogue bearbugs to escaped Tartarus prisoners. Then a reincarnation of Joseph Torrus arrived, and things only got worse. Invading armies, vengeful Dimensional Travelers, and insane Dimensional Lords galore. Even after the death of the Paradox the situation in Ponyville and the rest of Equestria got worse. A xenophobic craze seized the land, with the masses crying out for the persecution of Dimensional Travelers and Lords. Riots and fire blazed through the country. But those were the things of yesteryear. Naught but a memory. Ten years had past since the fall of the mad Dimensional Lord Paradox, and now there was peace. Finally the average pony could safely say that they were bored. But, like always, the real question now was how long could one enjoy the peace before the world collapsed back into chaos?
The answer to such a question was the very last thing on the mind of Flaming Star and Twilight Sparkle. After all, it was the day before the tenth birthday of Summer Constellation. Turning ten was a major event, according to Twilight Sparkle, and so everything done in preparation for the advent of such a thing had to be borderline perfect, if not entirely meticulous all together. Meticulous. That was the perfect word for the orderliness of the Friendship Castle, where Flaming Star and Twilight were carefully sifting through orders and lists for the upcoming party.
"We need to find out what cake Summer likes WITHOUT her finding out what kind of cake we're making her," said Twilight, discussing her plans frantically with a cornered Flaming Star.
"There's a reason we have an official party pony, Twilight," said Flaming Star uncomfortably, looking for a venue for escape. "Pinkie Pie is more than capable of doing what you ask."
Twilight pulled a face. "I'm fully aware that Pinkie Pie can do that. But just imagine: She's been doing this for years! She's done Summer's birthday parties since her birth! Just for once I want to do something party-related for Summer without entirely leaning on her for once."
"That's like insisting on building a house by yourself without consulting an architect because he built all the other houses," replied Flaming Star.
Twilight frowned. "You know what I'm saying, Flaming Star."
The stallion rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got it. I'll see what I can do. Do you have the list of supplies? Rarity and Applejack will be here any minute to help you out with getting the party equipment and setting it up.
The purple alicorn nodded. "Indeed I do! I have a list here… And a list of that list here… And I also have a checklist for both lists here…"
Flaming Star nodded. "So you're being you, basically. That's good."
Twilight snorted. "Everything must… be… perfect!"
Flaming Star actually grinned. "You couldn't be more right, dear."
He closed his eyes. Perfect. Yes, it needed to be. Summer needed this. Ever since Summer had been born the little family had been beleaguered with misfortune. The first blow came the moment she was born. The foal was born a Pegasus, and the genetic tests confirmed the correlated conclusion: She was not magical. Despite being born of the most powerful pony mage since Starswirl the Bearded, she had not a single magical bone in her body. The second blow came relatively early as well. The doctors and nurses had become worried after a couple days of Summer's birth when they noticed that her eyes didn't follow the correct patterns, and she wouldn't look at anypony properly when being fed. Doxia (before he left for good) ran organic diagnostics on the baby and returned with life-changing news: the foal was blind. There was no brain-or-eye-related damage, the proper wiring was simply missing altogether, having never been developed thanks to a genetic deficiency. Such an issue couldn't be easily fixed, since there was no damage to repair. Simply "making" sight using organic molecular constitution was nigh impossible. Then, a year later, more bad news came. Coren Baudelaire, a travelling Dimensional Traveler with a Designated Healer designation, ran a Dimensional-Traveler-aptitude test on the little pony. His report stated that her Dimensional-Traveler abilities were astonishingly low, even for a half-Dimensional Traveler. In addition to that, her abilities were waning slowly. She would have nothing by the age of fifteen. Summer was not only surprisingly normal despite the incredible power of her parents, but she was also disabled.
But despite this, Summer was an incredible pony. Her disposition was sweet and accepting, and she was perfectly happy with who she was, despite the baseless guilt and shame her parents felt in the depths of their hearts. Summer received plenty of flak for being so normal, not only from peers but also the press, but she was content, and she loved her parents regardless. And so Twilight and Flaming Star were determined to show how much they loved her as well.
Flaming Star started slightly when he realized he had zoned out. He shrugged and glanced at Twilight. "Oh yeah… Ummmmm… I hope you have a list of the ponies who RSPV'd in that pile of paper as well."
Twilight nodded slowly as her eyes tore through the stack, looking for that particular one. "Ummmmmm… Ah! Here it is!"
Flaming Star nodded again, a little slower this time. "Right…" He glanced around, almost surreptitiously, before turning to Twilight. "Hey, can I ask you a favor?"
"Yeah, sure, anything dear," replied Twilight, a little distractedly, as she double-checked the RSPV list.
"Thanks. Can we add one more name to the list?"
Twilight looked up, a little excitedly. "Another? Is Doxia or Mattimeo coming?"
Flaming Star shook his head sadly. "No. Both refused. I don't think either are ever coming back to this dimension. Damn Equestria. Their populace is stupid beyond belief. Those two beings could have provided us an eternity of protection from the Stallion Empire and Griffonstone. Anyways, no… I want you to add a pony named Franklin Montgomery."
Twilight blinked, and then raised an eyebrow. "I remember him. A former Dimensional Traveler, right? Why? Doesn't he have a wife in the Crystal Empire? Sapphire Anemone! Yeah, that's it."
Flaming Star bowed his head. "Well… You see… Sapphire Anemone and Franklin were going to have a child, but there was a miscarriage. That's when they found out Sapphire was barren, incapable of giving birth. And then… Well… You see… Well, Sapphire hung herself. Since she couldn't have children, she didn't consider herself worthy of Franklin's love."
Twilight's jaw went slack, and her eyes filled with pain. "By Celestia… That's terrible," she whispered, her throat tight.
Flaming Star shook his head, his muzzle set in a grim line. "Yes. I want to keep an eye on Franklin. He lost his sister Miranda Montgomery just over a decade ago… And now he's lost his wife. His entire family is dead and his only friends have either been killed by demons or considered missing by the Traveler's Database for a half a dozen years. He has nothing, and we all know what happens to beings that lose everything. I want to make sure he doesn't cross himself off. I still consider him a friend and I want to keep him alive if at all possible."
Twilight found herself silently crying. She quickly wiped the tears off with a hoof. Then she nodded. "Of course. I'll get Cadance to hand in the invitation herself. He's an official citizen of the Crystal Empire, so I'll make sure she makes sure he doesn't refuse."
Flaming Star nodded. "Perfect. I'm going to find Summer and glean her favorite cake flavor is."
Flaming Star turned tail and began to walk out of the castle. Just as he reached the double doors they swung inward and Applejack and Rarity trotted in.
"Ah, there you are darling," said Rarity with a winning smile. "Twilight is here, I presume?"
Flaming Star nodded. "Yeah. She's in the central chamber with the list of equipment. Try to keep her from making a checklist of the checklist of the lists while you're at it."
Applejack winked. "Yer betcha. We'll start right away."
Smiling wistfully, Rarity trotted by Flaming Star. "Just imagine… Summer turning ten! I remember when Sweetie Belle turned ten. It was almost as amazing as when she got her cutie mark…"
The door closed behind Flaming Star, muffling Applejack's cordial response. The yellow stallion blinked in the sunlight as he rubbed the nape of his neck. "Where would Summer be…"
He smiled. The CMC clubhouse. Ever since she had inexplicably gotten her infinity-sign cutie mark on her fifth birthday, she had been drawn to the CMC. Their cutie marks designated them as ponies devoted to helping foals understand their flank marks, and so Summer had them incessantly helping them searching down hers, as, even at the age of ten, she had not yet found her own. Just one more misfortune that Summer had to overcome. Fortunately, despite their ages and commitments, the CMC always made time for her
All ponified Dimensional Travelers had some form of infinity sign upon their flanks, but that was because they had transformed into ponies, and their transformation process had determined an infinity mark the best way to mark their abilities. They had no "special gifts" to be represented as a picture, per se. Summer, on the other hand, was genetically a half MLP pony, and so she had to consider the important question: When time came for her to receive a marking upon her flank, would it be an infinity sign as well? Starlight Amber, a couple years back, had pondered that same question until she had received her infinity marking, but that rowdy pony really couldn't care less either way.
Flaming Star frowned subconsciously as that particular foal popped into his head. She was daughter of two of the most acquiescent and submissive ponies in Equestria, and yet she was viscous and hardy, willing to beat the tobacco juice out of a pony without a second thought. Fortunately for everypony, she was just kind and somewhat protective when she was around friends.
At this point the CMC clubhouse came into view. Flaming Star smiled a little as, sure enough, he spotted Summer, the CMC, and Starlight in the little house, which had been so much over the last decade. Flaming Star's smile died a little as he noticed someone that was missing: Doxia. He had been by the CMC's side through thick and thin for a long time, and now he was gone. Like everyone else. Gone.
Flaming Star shook off the all-consuming emotion of loss and put on a smile again. In a moment Sweetie Belle spotted Flaming Star, she whispered something to Summer. Her vibrant violet eyes lit up with joy.
"Daddy!" she cried.
Smiling, Flaming Star called back. "Summer!"
Chestnut mane swirling in the wind, the little yellow Pegasus rushed from the interior of the little clubhouse, taking the leap from the raised porch to the grassy earth below (little wings fluttering weakly all the way). She landed, and stumbled, but quickly corrected herself, dashing the remaining distance to lunge straight into her father's arms, where she hugged him tightly, nuzzling his cheek.
He hugged her back for a moment before letting go and turning to smile at the rest of the group. Starlight jumped from the porch to land where Summer had been not two seconds ago. The thirteen-year-old light-brown Pegasus caught Flaming Star's amiable look and smiled, nodding her head. Her lips formed a sweet and innocent grin, but her eyes blazed with unholy fire.
The teenage CMC poked their heads out of their little clubhouse and waved vigorously to Flaming Star.
"What brings you here, Flaming Star?" asked Starlight, her voice guarded.
Flaming Star winked, doing his best to not feel threatened. "I'm just here to check up on you all. Especially Summer… After all, what's tomorrow?"
"My birthday!" exclaimed Summer, giving a little leap of joy. At the apex of her jump, her wings fluttered weakly, prolonging her air-time marginally.
Smiling, Flaming Star winked again. "That's right. How's your 'cutie-mark-crusading' going?"
Summer cocked her head to one side, her face the picture of seriousness. "Hmmmm... Not so good so far. Not sure what I'm supposed to be lookin' for. We're workin' on it."
Flaming Star grinned. "I look forward to seeing what you come up with! Sooooooo… Ummmm… Let's say, hypothetically, some random pony wanted to make you a cake. What would you say, hypothetically, if they, hypothetically, asked you what your favorite flavor of cake is? Hypothetically."
Summer rubbed her chin thoughtfully, her blank eyes staring emptily into the distance. "Oh! Um… I would sayyyyy… Vanilla with chocolate frosting!"
Flaming Star repeated the order quietly to himself. Then he blinked. "That's my favorite type of cake."
Summer smiled sweetly. "I know you've been feeling down with whatever happened to Mr. Franklin, daddy. You need the cake more than me."
To fend off the tears that began to bead at the edges of his eyes, Flaming Star bit his bottom lip and looked away. He had not the slightest idea how Summer knew who Franklin Montgomery was, or how she knew that particular being was having incredible troubles, but she was completely right.
Still smiling, the blind foal hugged Flaming Star to herself again. "I love you daddy."
Chuckling breathlessly, Flaming Star hugged her back. "I do too. I'll remember what you ordered."
He let Summer go and nodded to Starlight. "I'll leave you kids to whatever you were doing."
Starlight saluted stiffly, in perfect military form. Flaming Star frowned and turned away. Where had she learned to do that? Most Canterlot guards didn't have that good of form.
Flaming Star cantered away, sifting through the list of things he had to do before the birthday was ready to be launched. Flaming Star bobbed his head slightly when he remembered. That's right. He needed to drop by Sunset Shadow's place to make sure they were coming. That family had a lot on their plate as well, with both their daughter Starlight and their adopted son Desmond being belligerent and rebellious.
In a couple minutes he was at the doorstep of Sunset Shadow and Fluttershy's cottage. Raising a hoof, Flaming Star rapped smartly at the door. There was a pause, and then the mahogany barrier swung open, having been opened by Angel the rabbit, who looked up, almost irritably, at Flaming Star.
Flaming Star raised an eyebrow. "Hey there, Angel. Is anypony home?"
Angel nodded promptly and slammed the door shut. There was a minute of silence at the door as Flaming Star's hypersensitive ears followed Angel as he got Sunset Shadow. There was another pause, and then the door swung open again. Sunset Shadow smiled tiredly at Flaming Star, who nodded back.
"Joseph, you look tired constantly. I don't think there has been a time since the death of the Paradox that I haven't seen you in some form of an exhausted state."
"Don't call me Joseph, Firstborn. But you're right. I have been feeling very tired lately…"
There was an awkward pause. Flaming Star looked around, almost as if he was looking for some physical object to assist him in bolstering the conversation. Then he shrugged.
"It's your kids, isn't it?"
Sunset Shadow looked away. "Is it that obvious?"
Flaming Star smiled a little, his tough heart softening for a moment. He trotted through the doorway and put a hoof on Joseph's shoulder. "You know, when Twilight and I were newlywed I would spend hours complaining about how perfect your marriage was. Twily and I weren't married at the most… Opportune moment, to say the least. There were a lot of tribulations, and we almost divorced more times than you can count. But as the Kytax once said: 'Truth is forged in fire.' Now look at Twilight and me. It's been over ten years and I still can't say I'm not head-over-heels in love with that alicorn. Times may still be tough, but that's what life is, isn't it? Don't worry. Right now may be, but this will yielded fruit that is all the sweeter."
Sunset Shadow tried to smile back, but just ended up sighing. "I just found out where all my backup-account bits were going."
Flaming Star cocked his head to one side. "Didn't we figure out that Angel was using those for expensive manicures and pedicures?"
Sunset Shadow dragged a hoof across his features. "Turns out he was taking the heat for someone… That someone is Starlight."
Flaming Star said nothing, prompting Sunset Shadow to continue. "She… Starlight has been training to kill. I've traced the money. They've gone through dozens accounts, half of them real, half of them fake. Over a dozen fake electronic trails have been left, but I found out where it's all going. Firearm instructors. Hoof-to-hoof combat teachers. Military vehicle instructors. Combat strategy professors. This has been going on for three damn years, Flaming Star. Three years and I didn't find out until yesterday."
Flaming Star's jaw hit the floor, to borrow the colloquialism. "She started this when she was ten? We traced those accounts for a year, and every trail we found was rock solid. How did a foal figure out how to erase a cybertrail?"
Sunset Shadow shrugged. "I don't know. The only reason I found out was Doxia. I lost some more money to a ghost account a week ago, and I got fed up with paying cybersecurity to track the transaction. They never came back with anything anyway. And so I called in a favor with Doxia. It took him two minutes, but when he called back with the results and the actual culprit he said that he rarely saw such excellent deception."
Sunset Shadow slumped to the floor, covering his face. "I know Starlight had become feisty and cold… But I never knew she was training. Take a look at this…"
Sunset Shadow tossed a pack of paper over to Flaming Star, who levitated the first hundred in front of his face. The pack consisted of printed reports from various institutions of war and combat. The first report was a list of weapons that a certain student had been declared as "proficient." That list went on for a fifty pages. The next was a paper declaring that a certain student achieved proficient skills in Judo and Karate. The paper after that reported a street-brawling-training schedule. And the paper after that was the hours logged in driving a T110E5 and a T62A. There were many, many more papers after this, but this was all Flaming Star needed to see.
"So this is where Starlight was all those hours after school when Desmond insisted she was 'playing' with him. Looks like Angel isn't the only one who covered for her." Flaming Star looked over the stack of paper.
Sunset Shadow sighed. "I guess so. What… What am I supposed to do? She's been stealing from me, but that's not the worst of it… She's been lying to me, Firstborn. I trusted her, and this is what she does with this trust. In addition to that she's sucked Desmond and Angel into this. And for what? So she can become the most skilled assassin this universe has ever seen? Flaming Star, not even a Dimensional Traveler has received this much training."
Flaming Star nodded. Dimensional Travelers were basically super-powered rabble, humans taken from broken homes or destroyed universes to protect others to prevent them from losing the same. Yes, that was the perfect word: rabble… Especially compared to what Starlight had been doing.
Thinking carefully, Flaming Star replied slowly. "I think the biggest question is why? She lives in Equestria. This country has the world's lowest crime-rate and highest contentment ratings. There hasn't been a war since the Equus-Irrum War, and that was a decade ago. And so that leads to my biggest question: What are YOU going to do about this?"
Sunset Shadow shook his head dumbly. "I don't know. I haven't even told Fluttershy about this. I don't know if I want to, either. I don't think she would understand. I can't let Starlight keep on doing what she is doing, but I have no idea how to stop her. I have no powers anymore, and something tells me that wouldn't change anything even if I had. Firstborn, do YOU have any ideas of what to do?"
Flaming Star grimaced. He couldn't help but feel a little thankful for his little Summer, who was so kind and innocent. "Just ask her straight out. Let her know the gig is up and ask her why. Make a decision after that. She clearly is doing all of this because she's afraid you'll condemn her actions."
"I DO condemn her actions! Fluttershy and I are pacifists!"
"Exactly. You rely on others to protect what you love. I bet you an apple to an acorn that she's tired of that. Ask her and see what happens. Remember: You're the father, and whatever happens Starlight is good at heart. She'll respect whatever punishment she receives. I know that for a fact."
Sunset Shadow stared off blankly into nothing as he thought about what Flaming Star had just said. Then he nodded. "You're right. You're absolutely right. Okay. I'm okay now. I'm sorry for dominating the conversation. Surely you came here for something besides asking about my wellbeing."
Shrugging, Flaming Star replied, "Not really. I just wanted to make sure you were still find with your family coming to the party. I know that Desmond is in Manehattan, but I wanted to know if you, Fluttershy, and Starlight were still going."
Sunset Shadow nodded as he got back to all fours and collected all the papers documenting the lies of Starlight. "That's right… The birthday… Of course! I… I'm sorry for being so distracted, but as you can see we're going through a lot right now. I'll put off addressing Starlight's issues until after the party."
Flaming Star smiled again, feeling glad that he had helped his old friend. "Right. I'll see you…"
The yellow alicorn was interrupted by a rainbow-colored lightning bolt from above. It was Rainbow Dash, dressed in full Wonderbolt regalia.
Flaming Star blinked in surprise. Raising an eyebrow he said, "Rainbow Dash. Good to see you."
Rainbow Dash grinned sheepishly. She absent-mindedly felt about her face until her hoof located her goggles. She lifted them from her eyes. "Yeah… Heh, sorry about that. I've actually just come from Canterlot. I was practicing with the Wonderbolts at the castle for Celestia. You know the Equestria Games are coming up in a month, right?"
"That's right. Baltimare is hosting them this year, right?"
Rainbow nodded distractedly. "Yeah… Yeah. Oh! That's right! I've come all the way from Canterlot with a special letter from Celestia and Luna!"
"The duumvirate themselves, hmmm?" murmured Flaming Star, taking the gold-encrusted letter proffered by Rainbow. "Wouldn't sending this via Spike have been faster?"
Rainbow pulled a face at the insinuation that something was faster than her. "I gueeesssssss… Except that Celestia didn't trust the magic gateway."
Flaming Star's raised eyebrow raised itself a tab bit further. "The magic gateway between Canterlot Castle and Spike has always been secure…"
He said no more on this, instead deciding to inspect the letter. It was addressed to Sunset Shadow front and foremost (as he was still considered one of the most revolutionary "ponies" of the century), followed by Flaming Star and the Mane 6. And across the whole back of the letter were the words "URGENT" printed in massive, bold red letters. He showed this to Sunset Shadow, who grimaced.
"Duty calls. I'll get Fluttershy. She's tending to the parrots. Meet you two at the Friendship Castle."
Flaming Star motioned for Rainbow Dash to follow him, and the two blasted off toward the castle before Sunset Shadow even had a chance to turn to close the door.
In less than an hour the entire gang was assembled. Sunset Shadow, Flaming Star, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. They plopped themselves down in the grand chairs situated in the center of the Central Chamber (which was currently set in a perpetual state of party, as Pinkie Pie had just begun to work her magic with party preparations).
"Can't this wait until AFTER the party?" Twilight said, almost whining. It was not like her to shirk her duties to Celestia, but this party was for her daughter after all.
"We'll find out in a moment," said Rainbow Dash. She took the letter and tore it open. Inside was a short paragraph. It read:
"There has been a threat made against Ponyville and the resident Dimensional Travelers. Get them and their families to Canterlot as soon as possible. A train has been scheduled to leave for Canterlot at midnight. Be on it."
An audible groan escaped the lips of everyone present.
"Why does this ALWAYS happen?" sighed Rarity, dramatically.
Applejack set his jaw in a grim line. "Darn. I was lookin' forward to some peace an' quiet. Right, folks. What Dimensional Travelers live here?"
Flaming Star rubbed the back of his head. "Me. Sunset Shadow too if you want to count him. Nightshade lives here too, but he is in Los Pegasus, so I guess he's safe."
Fluttershy let out a small breath of relief. "Oh. So there's not too many ponies to worry about. That's good."
Flaming Star pulled a face. "I honestly don't see why this is urgent. I can protect my own."
He lifted a hoof and willed a ball of plasma about it. It crackled and frothed with energy.
Twilight bobbed her head. "That's right! We can't let whatever thugs these are cause a panic just because they 'issued a threat' to us and the town."
"Don't be too eager to stand and fight," interjected Sunset Shadow. "I am guessing we're dealing with terrorists. Flaming Star, we've dealt with terrorists plenty of times. What is a common issue with them?"
Flaming Star thought about it for a moment. Then he glowered. "Collateral damage. A lot of it."
Sunset Shadow nodded sagely. "There you go. If they're going to try to get to us, they're going to try and hurt as many ponies as possible. Let's say we decided to stay, and these terrorists came at us in the black of night. Naturally there would be a fight, and a lot of explosions, but 9/10 we would win. After all we have the Princess of Friendship, the most powerful mage on this planet, and the Firstborn, the most powerful Dimensional Traveler in the Multiverse. But as the dust cleared we found out somepony like Lyra or Derpy had been hurt or, worse, killed. Would this battle ever be considered a victory by us? Never."
"Also Doxia would probably come back long enough to destroy the entire dimension if Derpy was killed," muttered Rainbow Dash. Sunset Shadow chose to ignore that statement.
Flaming Star looked at Twilight worriedly. She smiled softly. "I think this is up to you, dear."
Closing his eyes, there was at least five minutes of total silence as his super-computer brain rain diagnostics on the potential scene Susnet Shadow had painted. Then he straightened up. "You're 100% right, Sunset Shadow. We'll take that train."
Sunset Shadow closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief, absent-mindedly running his hoof through Fluttershy's soft mane. "Thank Kytax. Right. We'll come with you. We many no longer be Dimensional Travelers, but only about 24 of us know about the day the Kytax took my powers. It'll be safer this way."
"We'll be goin' too iffin' you excuse us!" exclaimed Applejack stoutly. "Ain't even a question! No way our Princess and the Firstborn are gonna bolt without us bein' by their sides every step of the way!"
"Oh, but of course, darling! Not even a question!" added Rarity with a warm smile.
Rainbow Dash grinned. "Count us all in! No way are some dumb terrorists going to get our Dimensional Travelers!"
Suddenly Twilight groaned out loud. The group turned to see what the matter was. She was facehooving. "Now we're going to have to move all the supplies!"
Flaming Star grinned as he opened up his Traveler's Database to check the local time. "We have a six hours! Let's hop to it!"
"You do that. I'll explain to the children what is happening," said Sunset Shadow.
"I'll do that too," added Fluttershy quietly.
The two left side-by-side, heading in the direction of the CMC clubhouse.
…
The following five hours went by in a blur. A blur that was full of comradery, but was also dampened by the overhanging threat that had forced them to move the supplies in the first place. But soon enough everything was ready, and Pinkie Pie was putting the last touches on the cake; a monster-sized monument of chocolate icing and vanilla filling.
"We're going to have quite the trouble to move that," commented Rarity, looking over Pinkie Pie's shoulder as she used a small spatula to hide the seams that revealed the joining locations of the stacked cakes.
"Ssssshhhhhh!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie. "This is a VERY delicate process my dear Rarity! If I don't get this right then the very fabric of reality will come apart! Also Summer will be sad. But I'm pretty sure the two are synonymous."
Suddenly Pinkie Pie stopped. "Wait a second… Summer can't see any of this. Am I… Am I doing this for nothing? Wait another second! The Cutie Mark Crusaders… They finally got their cutie marks! Is that whack or what?"
At this moment Flaming Star trotted in with Summer in tow. She held onto his hoof delicately, letting her father guide her around the remaining streamers and balloon stacks. She smiled. "Oh! The cake is so beautiful! Thank you Pinkie Pie!"
Pinkie Pie cracked the world's largest grin. "Thank you sweetie! Waaaiiitttt… How can you tell?"
Summer planted a kiss on Pinkie Pie's cheek. "Because I can smell it, silly! And it smells beautiful!"
Pinkie winked. "Right back 'atcha kid! Wait..."
Rolling her eyes, Rarity used her magic to levitate the care with the greatest of care. "Alright, Pinkie Pie. I do believe it's time to get this to the train. It'll be leaving in an hour and this little bundle of joy needs her beauty sleep!"
Summer turned her head in the general direction of Rarity and gave the mare a smile that rivaled Pinkie Pie's. Rarity did her best to prevent her heart form melting as she and Pinkie Pie left the Friendship Castle for the Ponyville train station.
The moment they left Summer let out a humongous yawn. "I'm tired daddy."
Flaming Star led Summer to himself and got down to his knees, letting the little foal clamber on his back. She snuggled into his coat and closed her eyes. Flaming Star's smiled as joy and peace ran rampant through his soul at the sight of his daughter. But then his eyes hardened. Someone was threatening his child. They would die slowly.
Author's Notes. That's all for now! I hope you enjoyed the read! Oh, now I would like to mention that at some point you all must have noticed some mention to the "xenophobic craze" that swept Equestria after the death of the Paradox. Though I'm sure most of you know what that entails, do not feel worried or confused. Season 3 will discuss this event in detail.
I will admit I had a load of fun writing this (hence it reaching 18,000 words and being split up into multiple chapters). Its always nice to return to the Mane 6 once and a while, and this gave me a chance to elaborate upon the relationship Flaming Star and Twilight shared with Summer before her amnesia took that all away. Do not mourn though... Franklin noticed that she has the infinity mark... Will that lead to something?
Anyways, what did you think of the chapter? Did you enjoy it? Let me know! Now at this point, I would usually bribe you with some kind of super-awesome (and invisible) merchandise, but this time I have something different to say. I did this once before a while back, and it was very enlightening. This time I have a question to ask, and it would mean the world to me if at least some of you took the time to answer it via review or PM. Here it is: According to you, what makes the perfect villain? The term "perfect" is entirely up to interpretation, but I want to know what you believe makes up the ultimate archenemy. Please let me know! And thank you! See you all later.