Hello! This will be where I plan on putting the stuff I write.

If you have any feedback or stuff, when you quote please delete the story from the quote except for the part you're going to talk about because it's going to take up a lot of space

This is an unfinished sci-fi story that I was writing last year, about a group of teenagers sent on a long journey to Pluto.

A pulsing of sound woke Nova. She felt her own heartbeat thump in her chest. A voice yelled “Nova! Get up, you’ve overslept for ages!” Nova moaned “Yes, mom.” She pushed aside the curtain that hung beside her bed and lowered her feet. She pushed herself out of the wall-mounted pod that was her bed and hoped she wouldn’t fall over when she landed on the floor- but she didn’t land. No, she floated right outside her bed. She looked around. Was this some kind of prank? Questions overflowed out of her mind until a wave of memories hit her.

She was one of the chosen ones to be sent to Pluto, along with several others. Those people were Angela, Viola, Ace, Jax and Skyler. She sighed. Who did she call mom? She groaned and went to a small drawer and took out a hairbrush. She pulled it through her ice-blue hair several times. Then, she heard Viola’s voice. “Hurry up, turtle Nova! We’re having breakfast!” Nova grunted and got dressed.

The rest of the group was already waiting for Nova when she finally finished getting ready. Viola laughed “You called Angela mom, turtle Nova.” Nova blushed. Angela criticised “Viola? She just woke up. Don’t call her that. Not everyone is used to waking up early.” On the other side of the room, the boys Jax, Ace and Skyler were eating breakfast. Angela was halfway through a toasted cheese sandwich and Viola was already done eating. Nova got an omelette and started eating it. Just then, Jax let out a boisterous burst of laughter. He exclaimed “Listen everyone, I have a great joke! Listen- What do you call someone who wakes up super late? Turtle Nova!” The three boys laughed. Viola smirked. Angela scolded “Quit laughing, you four.” The laughter continued. Angela growled. Skyler laughed and said “You’re acting more and more like a mom, Angelamom!” This time, Nova hissed “One more offensive joke and you’ll have no lunch.” The laughter died down. Angela added “Stop spraying bread crumbs all over the place. If the AC filter is clogged then you’re cleaning it.”

Later that day, Nova was busy doing some research. Ace was doing the driving, and Viola was taking a nap. Jax pressed a screen on the wall. Loud rock music blasted out from speakers. Angela groaned “Please! Just please! Turn it down. We’re trying to work here!” Jax turned the volume down- but just one notch. Then, he started to sing along to the music. Viola groaned from the bedroom “Shush, whoever is playing that ANNOYING NOISE!!!!!” The volume increased. That went on until the song ended. The next tune began almost immediately. Nova launched herself at the audio controlling screen and switched it off.

Veronica's Tale (unfinished)
I started writing this in 2018
A fantasy vampire story set in modern times. If I refer to “psychic opal enchantress” it's for canonicity to another story I wrote.
I know I kind of just made up an excuse to remove every single “generic vampire weakness” and everyone is a bit of a mary sue but whatever.
Also if any of the names of stuff or characters happen to coincide with anything else it' just because I didn't know, for example someone told me that the name “hearthstone apartments” was used somewhere already but I was just too lazy to change it.

A pale-skinned little girl with long, straight black hair stood before her mother. She was wearing a deep purple dress, deep purple ankle boots and a long purple cape of the same color. Her eyes were purple as well. She shouted “But I don’t want to be a vampire!” Her mother frowned. She had the same pale skin, long straight black hair and purple eyes of her daughter. She wore a long-sleeved purple shift dress that had a silver fur collar. The little girl shouted “But mom, what’s the point of going around biting people?” Her mother sighed. “Veronica, I’ve been trying to teach you the same lesson every day since you learned to talk. If you’re born this way, you can’t randomly change your breed and turn human or into a dog or an eagle or something.” Veronica continued to rant “If you don’t let me change my type, I’ll pull out my eyebrows!” Her mother sighed “Veronica, there’s nothing I can do about that. I’m not some enchantress and even enchantresses can’t make that big of a change. Even bad fairies can’t do it. It’s always temporary. They turn a prince into a frog, then poof, the next day they’re back to normal again. They turn someone into a cat, then when you’re not looking, they’d go back to normal. I’ve asked all the enchantresses and fairies I know, and none of them can do anything permanent.” Veronica insisted “Then I’ll file off my fangs! Dye my hair! Go out into the sun and eat garlic! There’s no way I’m being a vampire!” Her mother sighed.
Many years later, Veronica was still keeping up her tirade. “I want to get tanned! I want to eat garlic! I want to look in mirrors properly!” Even her two older sisters, Elanora and Kiara, were getting annoyed. Kiara would ask “Why do you want to leave our family? We have quite a good life here, except for you ranting and raving on and on and on!” Elanora would add “Getting too tanned is bad for your skin. Humans believes that vampires disintegrate in sunlight and are less wary during daytime. If you just go out there and show everyone, we’re going to starve!” Then Veronica would turn her face away and sulkily stomp back to her room. This happened every day. Over the years, the three sisters had learned the skills of turning into bats, making people fall asleep and bite angles. They also learned to distinguish blood types, make clothes and do makeup. They learned all the necessary skills for a vampire to live. Then, it came the time when they were at the age that vampire-born vampires traditionally left to go on with their own lives, precisely the age 13. Kiara had left first, being the oldest. Next, Elanora left, taking a bag of beauty supplies with her. When it came to the time that Veronica was to leave, her mother warned her “I know that you are to be freed into the world. Whatever you do, don’t forget that you are a vampire and don’t forget to come back and visit me.” Veronica sighed “Fine!” She closed her two suitcases and picked up her bag which was full to the seams. Just before she left, she asked “Why do humans believe we vampires can’t eat garlic?” Veronica’s mother replied “Well, really long ago there was a vampire called Countess Lara, who had an allergy to garlic. One day, she went into public and accidentally ate a piece of garlic bread. She immediately got a serious reaction and fainted.” Veronica asked “Well, why do they say we can’t look at crosses?” Veronica’s mom replied “Well, they think the cross is too powerful for a so-called ‘half-dead spirit’ we’re considered as to look at. Well, honestly, the cross is two perpendicular lines in particular lengths. Also, we’re no longer half-dead spirits. We’re born like this. The half-dead type is different. It consists of vampire-dried people. They only bite people to regain their own blood. Seeing a cross to us has the same effect of seeing a triangle, a heart, a star shape, a square, a trapezoid, whatever.” Veronica giggled. She said “Well, bye!” She gave her mother a final hug then left. She looked at her watch. It was six in the evening. She was wearing a low-waisted knee length short-sleeved shift dress in purple, with a golden belt at her hips. She wore long purple high-heeled boots studded with gold studs, and her deep purple hair was straight down her back, held by a golden headband. She wore purple and gold bracelets that jangled as she moved. She also had deep purple lipstick. She went to a shop and bought a large sandwich. It was made of tomato bread, beetroot and sliced chicken. She finished it, then checked her phone. It was time to go to that apartment she had rented ahead of time. She found the street and the number, and pressed the doorbell. A woman in her thirties opened the door. She had plaited blonde hair, green eyes and a bright smile. She wore emerald green sweatpants and a white t-shirt behind a red checkered apron. She said “Welcome to Hearthstone Serviced Apartments. How can I help you?” Veronica replied “I booked an apartment. I’m Veronica Nightoak.” The woman said “Nice to meet you, Ms. Nightoak. I’m Glen, and I run the Hearthstone Serviced Apartments.” Saying that, Glen gave Veronica the key and showed her where she would be staying. Once Veronica had settled down, she looked at the apartment. It was fairly large, with white-painted walls. The living room had a sofa made of deep red velvet with a matching furry carpet. There was a large TV, an open kitchen and a dining table. Inside the bedroom, there stood a walnut armoire, ready to be filled with clothes. There was a soft, springy bed complete with a fluffy duvet. The bathroom was equally well-furnished. Veronica lay down on the bed and smiled. So this would be where she would be staying for the next month or more, depending on how her life was going. She was sitting there wondering what to do when she got a call. It was her mother.
“Hi mom?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
“What is it?”
“I’m just checking on you.”
“I’ve arrived at the apartment I booked.”
“Oh, anything else? Nobody’s suspecting your fangs?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Good.”
“Bye!”
“Bye!”
Veronica got up again. She re-packed her bag, and prepared to go look around the area. As she stepped out of her apartment, she spotted Glen coming. She was leading a girl Veronica’s age to an apartment. Glen stopped at the door next to Veronica’s. The girl had brunette hair dotted with many pastel-colored hair clips. Her eyes were a strange pale lavender with a pearly sheen. Her skin was golden brown. She wore a light lavender tunic top with black knee leggings and silver running shoes. On the back of each hand, there appeared to be a star-shaped birthmark. She also carried two suitcases and a full bag. Seeing Veronica, she said “Um… Hi, I’m Lucinda.” Veronica replied “I’m Veronica.” When Glen left, Lucinda looked in her bag. She pulled out a round ball made of cloudy lavender crystal, and looked through it. Sparkles of light glinted through it. She muttered to herself, and said “It looks like there will be some magical link between the two of us- and by magical, I mean MAGICAL. Like unicorns and fairies.” Veronica exclaimed “Wait, how did you see that in there?” Lucinda said “Well, I can tell you’re a vampire who isn’t admitting it. I see your teeth, but I don’t really care that you are. Well, I’m an enchantress, the psychic type, the opal type. Not to be confused by the so-called fancy enchantresses.” Veronica asked “Wait- actually?” Lucinda replied “You think I would be kidding?” Veronica said “Well, no. Actually, all my life I didn’t want to be a vampire, but mom told me there was no permanent way to change it.” Lucinda said “I’m pretty sure you know, but I’ve been told that all the vampire myths that we’re told are fake except the bat thing.” Veronica said “Well, most of the myths are fake. Vampires do bite people, except I haven’t bitten a person and do not plan on doing so. We can turn into bats. Also, we appear translucent in mirrors.” Lucinda smiled. “I think the magical link I predicted has already come true, we’re becoming friends via our magical ancestry. Also, when I was little, I didn’t want to be the usual fortune teller who tells boring stuff like whether people will get rich or if their relatives are alive and so on. I want to tell prophecies, ones that may or may not come true, ones that are about relationships. I still need to train my predicting though, I still only predict fairly short-term futures.” Veronica shrugged “Well, as they say, practice makes perfect, or as I say, practice makes even better.” Lucinda smiled. She said “I’m staying here for a month or more, depending on how it is.” Veronica said “Me too! You see, at a certain age, we get sent out to live on our own. It’s a tradition.” Lucinda said “It’s similar for opal enchantresses, but it’s our parents who decide a different age for each of us. Some of us end up never leaving.” Veronica said “Well, I suggest we look around the area. We haven’t seen much around here yet.” Lucinda agreed. After she put down her luggage, they left the apartments. They walked along the sidewalk. Suddenly, Lucinda’s index finger on her right hand twitched. She said “Watch out, something’s going to… ” Before she even finished speaking, a flowerpot fell from above, missing Veronica by a little bit. “… fall on you. Oops! I told you my predictions don’t go too far.” Veronica shrugged “At least it’s before it happened? Oh well, never mind.” Lucinda said “Predicting before things happen actually took some training. When I was really little, I used to predict things right after they happened. I was told they weren’t predictions, but then I was trained by my parents, and soon I improved to predict on the second it happened. Then, I kept training. Now, it’s kind of inconsistent.” Veronica said “Well, because I wasn’t willing to bite anyone, my sister Kiara made me bite my own finger until I said I would bite someone. Well, I did end up biting someone. Myself. Actually, did I mention that I have two sisters? Kiara is my older sister, while Elanora is between Kiara and me.” Lucinda said “Well, I have two sisters too, Sybylla and Ambrosine.” Veronica giggled “All of our sisters have rather long names, I see.” Lucinda said “Well, I heard that people believe purple eyes are so rare and impossible. Actually, I think you know too, that it depends on our magic type. For example, purple, dark blue, red and emerald green eyes are common in vampires, and most enchantresses have silver or gold tinted eyes, and their eye color can be different with the rest of their family.” As they walked along, they passed a park. They went into the park and sat down on a bench. Veronica asked “Do you like art?” Lucinda replied “Yes, especially painting. I also like origami.” Veronica was about to say something when she saw the silhouette of a tall woman in a high-collared long sleeveless black jacket, holding a small sack, a mostly covered lamp and a hand mirror. Veronica whispered “Quick, hide. I think I know who she is.” The two girls squatted into a bush just as the woman turned. She had a small but needle-sharp nose and piercing brown eyes. She opened the sack and took out a piece of garlic. With a deft movement of her hand, she removed three cloves of garlic. She put them on the floor and stomped on them. A strong scent as piercing as her eyes filtered out. The woman put a hand to her ear and listened carefully. Moments later, she cleaned her shoes on the grass and left. Seeing the woman leave, Veronica pushed aside the branches of the bush and clambered out. Lucinda followed. Veronica said “That’s the crazy woman who thinks she can catch vampires. If she saw me she would smother me in garlic and throw me into the trash.” Lucinda said “Well, now she’s gone, I guess we should leave the park. I’m worried she’ll come back.” Veronica said “Don’t worry, she usually only comes out to the park once. She probably won’t be coming back tonight.” They sat on a bench and talked about their lives. Lucinda went back to the apartment while Veronica stayed in the park, because she was used to a different schedule. She found a spot on some soft grass and sat there, admiring the moon. When it was midnight, she heard footsteps. She looked around warily when she saw it was just another vampire girl who was a little older than her. Seeing Veronica, she said “I assume you must have just been sent out of your family home, right? Believe me, last year I was just as confused about the world as you seem to be.” The girl sat down next to Veronica. She said “My name’s Leora. Hey, do you want me to lead you around town? I know some places with people who will actually willingly give you blood.” Veronica said “That would be nice to have someone to show me around the town, although about the people who will willingly give blood, my family thinks I have a very… specific taste so I might be better off looking by myself.” The moonlight illuminated Leora. She had a large cowlick of black hair obscuring most of her left eye. The tip of that hair was dyed neon pink with an ombre effect. The rest of her hair was in a short pixie cut, with the left side shaved into an undercut. Her amber-colored eyes were outlined by an angular edge of eyeliner which was edged in silver. She had a small, pointed nose sitting just above her mouth, which had rather thin lips. Her cheekbones and jawline were very angular. The rest of her body was lithe and graceful in shape. She had at least three velvet scrunchies on each wrist, in several different colors. On her right wrist, just under the mass of scrunchies, she wore five or six thin woven bracelets and charm bracelets that tinkled faintly when she moved her arm. On her left wrist, she had a shiny and rather small black watch that gleamed in the moonlight. She wore an oversized black t-shirt so large it could be a dress. It hung off one shoulder, revealing a neon pink strap underneath. The t-shirt was printed with a rose in a bell jar- reminiscent of a story Veronica had heard when she was little. Leora wore very pale blue denim shorts, in fact they wouldn’t have been visible when she was standing up due to how large the oversized t-shirt was. She wore black slip-on sneakers with neon pink soles. Leora said “Well, why don’t we get started with this ‘tour’ then? You know we aren’t supposed to be outside during sunrise unless we’ve found a way to disguise our fangs.” Veronica nodded and picked up her backpack. Leora said “Follow me!” For the rest of the night, Leora led Veronica through the town and pointed out many sights and locations. Veronica oohed and aahed at the beautiful marble sculptures that were placed in the plazas and squares, to the point where Leora began to giggle every time she made that noise. After pointing out everything in the walkable distance, they walked back to the park. Leora invited Veronica to sit in her favourite hidden spot in the park to wait for sunrise, which was a few hours away, but Veronica insisted she had to get back to the apartment. They promptly exchanged contacts and went their own ways. Next morning, Veronica was fast asleep in bed. When it was almost noon, she woke up. She prepared herself for the day and made herself some breakfast. After all that, she got dressed, not forgetting the little face mask to hide her fangs, although she could retract them, they could still be visible so she hid them with a little face mask. It was lilac and printed with cat whiskers. She said to herself “I’ll need to find myself a job to earn money.” She picked up her bag and locked the door behind her. Stepping out into the dazzling sunlight, she was glad that she had brought a sunhat- all of her kind got sunburnt really easily. She walked along the street, remembering Leora’s directions when she noticed a sign in front of a hair salon. It said “Recruiting floor sweepers- 2:00pm to 6:00pm afternoon part time on Mondays and Tuesdays. Paid 5000 per month.” Veronica entered and asked the extremely tall and skinny woman at the reception about it. She told her to wait for the boss to arrive. A few minutes later, Leora came in with a little mauve face mask on her face, following an even taller and skinnier woman. That woman looked quite like Leora. She had the same angular face shape, same amber-colored eyes, same thin lips, although covered neatly in dusky rose colored lipstick and emotionless, and the same pointed nose. She had black hair in an immaculately perfect bob cut. She had a very long neck and she wore a perfectly creaseless white blouse paired with an immaculately clean pair of tailored black twill palazzo pants. She wore kitten heel pumps in black patent leather. On her left wrist, she wore a small black watch that matched Leora’s. Her fingernails were glossy black. She asked the receptionist “Who is this girl here?” The receptionist replied “Oh, her name’s Veronica. She’s here for the floor sweeping job.” The tall woman turned to look at Veronica, and silently eyed her up and down for a few moments. Leora said “Mom, how about you recruit her? I know you’ve rejected several job applications already but I think she would do fine.” The tall woman studied Veronica for another few moments then turned to the receptionist. “You sure this girl can do it? Her arms are a bit skinny.” Veronica noticed that the woman was a vampire too, but she had perfectly retracted her fangs and they only looked like regular teeth. Clearly she had perfectly mastered the skill of retracting her fangs. The receptionist said “She looks fine to me… She came in and asked for the job.” Leora said “I’m pretty sure she’ll do fine.” The woman turned and looked at Leora with a disdainful look on her face, then turned to Veronica and said “Oh well then, I’ll hire you. You should call me Mrs. Maude.” Veronica meekly replied “Yes Mrs. Maude.” A brief smile appeared on Mrs. Maude’s face, as if to show that she liked the attitude of this new employee. Mrs. Maude continued “Starting today, you will need to work during the hours noted on the notice, if you take a day off you must work another day. Today is Monday.” Veronica replied “Yes Mrs. Maude.” She was starting to get a vision of how this Mrs. Maude was going to treat her. Later that day when Veronica’s work was over, she met up with Leora and Lucinda at the park. Leora said “Well Veronica, you’re a lucky one. My mom rejected five people in a row who tried to ask for the floor sweeping job.” Veronica asked “Not to be rude, but I was just wondering if your mom is mean to you on a daily basis.” Leora said “Oh yes, extremely. I don’t live with her but she treats everyone pretty much the same.”

Months after months passed. On a breezy summer evening, Veronica and Leora were strolling along the riverbank when something caught Veronica’s eye. A teardrop-shaped red shiny thing glinted in a patch of grass. Curious, she picked it up. It was a necklace. She was shocked when the necklace vibrated, but she held it in her hand and admired the shininess of the red teardrop- it could be glass or some gemstone. Then, she noticed something in the water in front of her. From the lapping waves, there rose a vampire woman, clothed in a long cream silk dress with a grey lace collar with three fabric roses and a slightly translucent grey overskirt, with dark rufous eyes and greyish blonde hair. And she wore a red droplet necklace. And she was completely dry.

Fully rising out of the river, the woman walked onto the shore. She said “My name is Phoebe. Well, you must be worthy of a bloodstone!” Confused, Veronica asked “Blood stone? What’s that? And how am I even worthy? Do you mean Leora? She’s a vampire too. Oh, and I’m Veronica.” Phoebe laughed. “No, sweetie. That’s not how it works. You noticed it, you’re the one who’s worthy of it. Put it on. Well, so you see, some rare ones in vampires are in fact magical. The ones to notice the bloodstone first is the magical one. We form a society known as the Bloodstones. Everyone has their own type of magic. It duplicates sometimes but everyone specializes in a particular type of magic.” Veronica asked “Then what’s your magic?” Phoebe said “Water. Hydrokinesis. I can move water. Hey, come along with me would you?” Veronica asked “How about Leora?” Leora smiled “Go on with your life, Veronica. You know you can find me when you need me.” She left. Phoebe said “Come with me.” They carried on walking. They talked about all manners of things.

Then they arrived at a shadowy old mansion with greyish walls, shuttered windows and Chinese-styled shingled roofs that were missing shingles. It was near the end of the town, where the buildings thinned out and there was barely anyone. Phoebe went down the garden lane and to the front door. There were two doors to this house, both in perfect working order. There was a chain dangling next to each door with a ball on the end of each one. She pulled both. Then, she proceeded to trace some of the patterns on the left door with her finger- a letter B. The left door opened and they stepped inside. They closed it behind them.

They went down a dimly lit corridor painted in dark grey with white detailing. At the end, there was a large circular panel on the floor next to a staircase. Phoebe stepped onto the panel, inviting Veronica to join her. There were two chains from the ceiling that held it. She unhooked the chains, and the panel, which was in reality a hydraulic platform that was an elevator, began to move downwards. When it was a certain level beneath the ground, the platform locked into the base of a glass cylinder. Then, the cylinder, which was an elevator, continued moving vertically downwards until it reached somewhere then stopped. The cylinder rose and the two stepped out into a room.

Before Veronica, there lay a vast underground hollow, warmly lit with yellow-toned wall lights, bustling with vampire people everywhere. Furniture of every sort laid everywhere, while the floors were part polished hardwood, part carpet. There were many floors and separate platforms connected with stairs and ladders of many sorts. There were also many little rooms here and there. She exclaimed “Is this the Bloodstone place?” Phoebe replied “Yes, this place we call The Nest. Secretly hidden beneath Eyrie Manor, us Bloodstones have long used this place as our headquarters. We usually meet every saturday evening here, which will happen in around half an hour since today is saturday. Why don’t I give you a tour?”

The following twenty minutes was full of meeting rooms, staircases, bookshelves, pantries, storage rooms and spare rooms. The bathroom itself was a work of wonder. A gleaming white marble place, golden mirror frames reflected light from gilded chandeliers while the sinks were the cleanest things Veronica had ever seen. After the full tour was finished, they went down the stairs and ladders to the bottom of the hollow, then through another staircase to a room at the very bottom of The Nest. In the room, there was a large round table, surrounded by many, many chairs. There were some people there already, who Phoebe introduced Veronica to. There was a pudgy lady named Jane who was a food taster and had soil moving powers, a young teenage girl like Veronica herself who was very skinny and was named Crystal who could make crystals, a man named Mahogany with a curly brown moustache and glasses who was a photographer and had nature powers, and an old woman with long hair named Josephine who painted for a living and had very specifically powers controlling the growth of toenails (she never used it). More people arrived one by one.

Among Us Fanfic (unfinished)

Roselle stood in front of the large computer screen, watching people walk to and fro in the long hallways. With a soft sigh, she turned and walked to the other end of the room, muttering to herself, the leaf hat on her head drooping over her smudged blue visor. How long had it been? The metallic floor echoed beneath her languorous footsteps.

“Pink! There you are!” a frantic, excited shout snapped through Roselle’s reverie. With a grumble, she replied “My name’s Roselle.” The person entered from the doorway. Clothed in dark green, the figure walked with a sense of pride. Roselle repeated “Fern, I told you to call me Roselle.” Fern countered “Well, excuse ME for trying to come up with a nickname!” Roselle smiled weakly before wilting back into her deflated, dejected self. The leaf hat bobbed up and down. Fern held Roselle’s shoulders and shook her. “Cheer up, Rosie!” Roselle turned to face the other way.

Suddenly, Fern held up a finger to her lips. She cautiously looked side to side and whispered “I’ll be back in a moment.” The pointed red horns on her head bounced up for a second as she got up. She dashed out into the hallway. There was a startled yelp and a dull thump.

With frantic footsteps, Fern ran back to security. Without stopping, she grabbed onto Roselle and jumped inside the vent. The metal lid slammed shut after them. They found themselves in a cavernous hollow with tunnels leading in different directions with whirring fans emitting a constant noise. Fern sat down on the ground. A series of red splatters were scattered over Fern’s legs. She pulled out a cloth and wiped off the stains, carefully removing every trace of the splatter. Finishing the process, she shoved the cloth back into its place in the storage compartment on the side of her oxygen pack.

Roselle helped close the compartment. It latched with a satisfying click. She asked “Who was it?” Fern replied “Brown. Look, I got his hat here.” She picked up a roll of toilet paper. Roselle emotionlessly replied “Yeah, he dresses like a poop and calls himself a poop.” Fern completely missed the emotionlessness in Roselle’s voice and added “Pretty soon he’s going to start smelling like a poop soon if nobody finds him!” She laughed. Roselle weakly laughed along.

Fern noticed “Why so depressed, Rosie?” Roselle groaned “I can’t do this, Fern. You’re so good at being an impostor. And here I am, useless. In your shadow. You notice everything first. You never get caught.” Fern started to speak but Roselle held up a hand. Fern sighed and looked at the wall of the vent. A valve was lit up in green, with the words “Air Flow” written beneath it. Seeing the signal, Fern reached up to her head and removed her helmet. She had golden sand-coloured skin and hazel-blonde shoulder-length hair, tied up in bunches, the ends of the hair spiky and dyed a dark green. She had a line of green face paint on each cheekbone, over some barely visible freckles. Her eyes were a vivid emerald. She suggested “Show me your face, Roselle. You’re crying, aren’t you.” Roselle responded by turning away.

Fern sighed. “Looks like I’ll have to do it for you!” She shifted the latches on the side of Roselle’s helmet and lifted it up. A cascade of long, silky hair in a greyish pink puce colour tumbled out and laid flat against Roselle’s back. Her skin was a pinkish cream colour, and her eyes were a turquoise blue. Her brows were scrunched in sadness. Fern complained “Oh please, cheer up. It’s no fun doing anything if you’re just going to be sad.” Suddenly, Roselle glared. Her aqua-tinted eyes flashed orange, then reverted back to turquoise before turning orange again. This time, they stayed orange. She accused “It’s all because of you, Green! Why do you have to overshadow me all the time? Now look at me!”

Fern reeled backwards in surprise. She stuttered for a second or two before she stated “There, there, Roselle. We don’t want angry Rosie. Just keep all the venting in the vents, okay?” Roselle’s eyes flashed to yellow for a second then turned dark grey. Fern piped up “Oops! Pun not intended.” Roselle’s eyes faded into pink as she laughed.

A wailing siren interrupted their conversation. Fern grabbed her helmet and ran to the closest vent, putting an ear to the scuffed silver grate. She scrunched her brow as she listened, then as she heard nothing, she slammed the helmet onto her head and leapt out. Roselle carefully tucked away her hair and gently lowered the helmet, pushing it shut with a faint click. She then followed after Fern.

The two burst into the cafeteria where a small crowd was gathered around a table. Lime, with a sunny-side-up egg sitting on her helmet, declared “I found Brown’s body in the hallway outside security.” Purple loudly yelled then accused “It’s you!” She pointed at Lime. “You self reported!” Lime stuttered “Wh… what? I was just leaving the engine!” Purple sighed then pointed at Red. “It’s you then!” Red countered “Well obviously not, I was in Medbay with Nora, Cynthia and Boris!” Lime asked “Who? I only know them by colour, not name!” Red grumbled “Black, Cyan and Blue.”

Purple pointed at Roselle. “You, Pink. I can see right through your disguise, sneaky imposter. ” Roselle sighed and stated “First of all, call me Roselle. Second of all, I was in security watching the cameras. You can ask Fern, she was behind me watching for imposters. None of us saw who it was though, they might’ve ran the other way to avoid passing the doorway.” Purple shrieked “Explain, Green, Fern, whatever. Explain yourself!” Fern calmly monotoned “I think it’s you, Violette. You know, with all the ‘accusing everyone’ thing, like don’t you guys just think she’s being suspicious?” Many heads nodded. Fern continued “Yeah, kinda sus, right? I mean, ever heard that song? ‘You’re a sneaky little impostor aren’t you? Aren’t you?’” Some of the group began giggling.

Purple slammed her hands onto the table. “How dare you! It must be you then!” Her loud tantrum was met with a simultaneous lifting of tablets. She raged “It’s not me, I tell you! It’s not! Why don’t you trust me?” She whipped out her tablet and poked at Fern’s picture with all her might. With a yelp, she recoiled as she trembled “Owwww… my hand, my hand!” Her other hand slipped as the tablet landed on her foot with a loud thump and the screen cracked. The rest of the crew burst into laughter as Violette grabbed her foot and hopped around. “Ow! My toes, my toes! My hand… owwwww!” She ran into a table and fell over.

Cynthia smirked. “It’s definitely her. Let’s eject her, people.” Violette, now spreadeagled facedown on the floor, groaned “It’s literally not me though. Ow! I think I may have sprained an ankle somewhere…” She groggily lifted herself up and immediately fell over in pain. “You know, forget that. I sprained both ankles.” She unsuccessfully tried to stand up again until Boris spoke. “Even if she IS the impostor, let’s get her to Medbay to run some tests. We never know, she might not be the imposter. Use your logic, people.” Cynthia argued “I say we eject her now. We’ve got enough evidence, what with her unnecessary accusing and shrieking, plus we all voted her off already. I’m pretty sure she IS the imposter, and even if she isn’t, COME ON! We don’t need someone ruining our good morale here. Let’s just eject her.” Fern sniggered “You sounded a bit like a lawyer there, Cynth. Anyway, I agree.”

It took nearly everyone to lift up Violette, who was shrieking and kicking harder than ever. Nora went to the door controls and pulled the lever hard. She then pressed a large flashing button. With a hiss and a squeak of hinges, the door opened, revealing an endless black void speckled with stars. Violette yelled “It’s not me! Trust me for once!” Roselle laughed. “Nope, goodbye Violette. We’ve had enough of you. Farewell.” Everyone pushed as hard as they could. Purple shrieked “TRUST ME, IT’S GREEEEEEEEEEEEE…” The signal cut off. Closing the doors, Nora sighed “Ahh, what a reprieve.”

The group headed to a screen. It showed Violette, floating away, punching away at nothing then shrinking back in pain. As she drifted off, the screen lit up with some text. “Violette was not the impostor. Two impostors left.” Lime gasped as she stepped backwards. Boris yelped. Cynthia dramatically fake-fainted onto the ground.

After the initial surprise and worry, everyone had calmed down a little. Roselle suggested “We should continue our tasks, everyone.” Everyone turned to look at one of the screens with a long list of tasks. The cafeteria emptied with everyone’s footsteps echoing faintly and gradually fading. Fern looked around carefully. Behind her tinted visor, piercing eagle eyes picked up every small movement. Roselle stayed very still. Then, with a sense of urgency, Fern whispered “Vent. Now.”

The lid swung shut. Moving a few steps away from the grate, Fern asked “Who’s our next target?” Roselle replied “I’m really not sure, Fern. On one hand, Cyan seems pretty logical about everything, but on the other hand I think she trusts us, so I think maybe not.” Fern glanced at the airflow indicator to make sure, then removed her helmet. She scratched at the back of her neck as she commented “You’ve been more proactive with things since our last conversation, Roselle. You know what? Let’s go to admin.”

In the corner of Admin, Fern stood in the shadows while Roselle waited in the vent. From behind the mirrored blue visor, Fern’s eyes gleamed with a hungry glint, an emerald-green flame in the darkness. From the doorway, Red entered, pulling out a card which reflected the dim light. He stood in front of the card machine and put in the card. “Beep, too fast.” The doors slid shut with a faint clang.

Red did not notice any movement. He was focused on the machine, his card moving back and forth over and over again. Fern held a jagged dagger behind her back. Slowly walking up to Red, she noted “Hey there Ross, having trouble?” Red mumbled “Yeah, whatever…” Fern walked around the side of the table. “Well, too bad, Ross.” She quipped coquettishly, gradually moving closer. Standing directly behind him, she softly intoned “Goodbye, Red.”

The sound of a heavy mass hitting the floor rang around the room, spreading through the hallways. The door flew open. Footsteps. Several figures entered just in time to see the vent slam shut. Everyone collectively reached for the “report” button. A split second before any actions reached their destination, the alarm went off. “Reactor meltdown in 20, 19, 18…” Nora yelped “Let’s go people, it’s an emergency!” The group ran off, leaving Boris there. The countdown shut off in a few seconds. Boris pressed report.

People surrounded the table. The crew of nine had become a crew of six. Beneath the emotionless facade of her helmet, Nora winced. Boris explained “I was going to storage from the cafeteria when I heard a sound coming from admin.” Lime monotoned “I was together with Boris.” Nora said “I was in electrical.” Fern added “Me and Roselle were in shields.” Boris asked “Cynthia, where were you?” Cynthia replied “Ehhh… I was in that room called Navigation.” Nora sighed and said “Cynthia, I think it’s you. Sorry but why did I trust you this whole time?” Boris grunted and argued “Well, what makes you say that!” Nora shook her head in disbelief. “She stuttered, Boris. She stuttered!”

The votes were four to two. Cynthia was ejected. The screen read “Cynthia was not the imposter. Two imposters left.” And that’s when Nora fell onto the ground. Roselle yelped in surprise. Immediately, Fern ordered “To medbay, everyone. Carry Nora.”

The double doors slid shut. Nora laid on a bed while Fern watched closely. She stated “Boris, check the airflow.” Boris pulled out his tablet and prodded at it for a few moments. He then replied “It’s working. Why?” Lime explained “We need to see her face, Boris.” Fern looked up at Lime. “That’s what I was going to say, Leah. Anyway, can anyone help me here?” Leah looked at Fern. “I can.” Fern calmly said “Make sure Nora doesn’t roll off the bed.” She then proceeded to locate the latches on Nora’s helmet and gently lifted it.

Nora’s hair was cut in a bob, jet black and glossy. However, her face seemed somewhat strange- Her skin was pasty white, draped over the gaunt skull of her head. It looked like she hadn’t eaten in days. Her forehead was deeply etched with worry lines. Roselle gasped. “What… what happened?”

Leah interjected “I’ll take over from here, Fern.” She carefully rotated Nora sideways. That’s when Nora’s eyes gradually opened. She tried to sit up and fell down. She asked “What’s going on?” Roselle stepped forwards and said “You fainted earlier. Have you eaten anything lately?” Tears trickled out of Nora’s eyes. “How am I supposed to eat anything when impostors are still around?” She made herself sit and continued “I’ve lost my appetite, people! Don’t you worry about anything?” Boris suggested “I can go to the cafeteria to get food.”

Days passed. The crew ran in and out of medbay between tasks to check on Nora, who was slowly regaining her appetite, despite still resembling a skeleton in appearance. Then, one day after the tasks had all been completed, Roselle went to check on Nora only to find an empty room. The bedsheets were neatly folded into a pile and the helmet that was on the floor beside the bed was gone. Roselle blinked in surprise, then ran off, nearly running into Fern. Fern asked “Where are you going?” Still running, Roselle replied “Nora isn’t in medbay, I’m trying to find her.”

The two emerged in the cafeteria when they noticed Nora standing by the window looking outside. Fern turned to face Roselle and quietly half-whispered “You walk past into the opposite end and into the hallway. I’ll do it.” Roselle nodded and walked through the cafeteria and into the hallway on the opposite end. Fern tiptoed behind Nora and pulled out her dagger, slicing straight across in a single motion.

It was only when the metallic tip poked out that she realized her mistake. The blade was stuck- and it was stuck fast. She put all her weight on it and heaved, but it simply wouldn’t budge. Roselle gasped and pulled out her tablet, prodding at the reactor with all her might. She was quivering with fright, back pressed against the wall, hoping that it would work. She secretly let out a sigh of relief as the alarm went off, directing everyone else away.

Fern finally managed to pull out the dagger. It sat in her hand, bent, crooked and useless. She set it on the ground and left with a sigh. Then, she noticed something out of the ordinary- in the midst of the heap of Nora’s remains, there lay a thin piece of metal, slightly curved, with a jagged tear down the middle. Broken chainlinks were scattered around the mess, stained and misshapen. Then it hit her. The reason the dagger got stuck was that Nora- the paranoid worrywart of a crewmate, the girl who starved herself until she fainted- she wore armour underneath her suit. That explained everything.

Behind the mirrored visor, she grinned. The imposters were going to win. Carefully listening for footsteps, she lifted up the soggy remains and threw it inside the vent.

MagentaPink wrote:

Among Us Fanfic (unfinished)

I was going to finish this then make a sequel where Roselle and Fern got ejected and end up being noticed by the Toppat space station and rescued, then from that point on just becomes a Henry Stickmin fanfic. However I kind of gave up on it

Ducktales fanfic (unfinished)

Lena looked in the mirror. As far as she knew, everything had become better since Magica- yes, she stopped calling her “Aunt Magica”- had become defeated. Thanks to the friendship bracelets, she was brought back to the real world. She stared at herself. Then, a horrible memory took over her. She exclaimed “For a feather’s sake! Can’t I forget it?” She pulled at her stripy sweater- it brought back all the terrible things that had happened to her. She gripped her head in frustration- yes, she wanted to get rid of that sweater. But what other clothes did she own?

In a huff of rage, she stuffed the mirror back into the badly-made alcove in the wall. Violet’s voice called “You done there, Lena?” Lena groaned in response. She continued to shove her old belongings into a bag. Having finished that, she took one last look at the little hollow that she used to live in, and turned her head. Her past was behind her- or was it? Violet seemed to notice Lena’s dilemma. She asked “Is something bothering you?” In choked tones, Lena groaned “Clearly. Can’t you tell?” Violet pondered, tapping her chin thoughtfully. Then, she asked “Is the problem about clothes? We could always go look for something…” Lena rolled her eyes for a moment. After a moment’s struggle, she admitted “Yes. But be warned, I don’t particularly enjoy shopping, so don’t think of bringing me on a shopping spree!” Violet agreed. “Well, why don’t we start at this shop?”

Unfortunately, the two had a very different aesthetic. Lena had to decline basically every option Violet suggested. Then, Violet pulled a dress from a rack. She asked “How about this?” Lena groaned as she dismissed the tutu-like amalgam of a pink tulle skirt and lace. Another five outfits were declined until a familiar voice rang out from behind her. “Beautiful day, isn’t it, Bretania?” Lena turned around. Putting on a cockney accent, she replied “Well, well. ‘ow do ye do, mah glorious friend Englabeth?” “I’m fine, my dearest darling.” “Englabeth, Englabeth. ‘ow are ye bruvahs gettin along?” The two girls burst out laughing. For it was no other than Lena’s best friend, Webby.

Violet asked “Do you still need my suggestions for clothes or would you two like to discuss it?” Lena gave an ambiguous “Mm-hmm.” Violet shrugged, and went to look at a different shelf. Webby asked “Hey, do you think this shirt looks nice?” Lena replied “I could give it a try.” She was walking to the changing room when something caught her eyes. Draped over the door of one of the closed cubicles, there was a dress- a very familiar dress. Made of draping black material, a purple stone sat in the center of the collar. She shuddered and fell to the floor, shaking.

At the other end of the shop, Violet and Webby were entirely unaware of what was happening. They looked at racks of clothes, discussing their lives. Unbeknownst to the two, Lena watched as the black dress was pulled into the cubicle. She started to back away as a rustling noise came from the closed cubicle. But before she could get away, the door flew open, revealing the imposing physique that was Magica. Lena stuttered “m… magic… Magica?” Magica sneered. She grabbed onto Lena’s arm and pulled her into the cubicle.

A strangled scream alerted Webby and Violet. Violet exclaimed “That sounds like Lena! What’s happening?” Webby was about to reply when a shrill cackle interrupted her. “Ha ha ha, I’ve finally got you, Lena!” Webby gasped “Magica.”

Magica grabbed Lena by the arms and shoved them behind her back. She threatened “Use your magic amulet. Now. Or face consequences.” Surprisingly, the other shoppers didn’t seem to notice the situation, nor did the workers. Lena countered “No. Go away, Magica.” Magica shrugged “I’ll do it the hard way then.” Grabbing Lena with a vice-like grip, she tugged her out of the shop. Violet and Webby followed silently behind.

Magica pushed Lena into an alley. Violet had to hold Webby back. Magica drawled “Why, my own shadow is so, so different! Anyway- listen. I’ll give you a month. On the 13th of October, you shall come here and become my shadow once more. If you do not, well, I will come and get you! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!” She dashed a flimsy special-effects smoke bomb against a wall and sauntered off.

When Magica was out of earshot, Webby and Violet entered the alley. Lena shuddered in a corner, doubled over, her eyes bloodshot. Lingering wisps of the smoke from the smoke bomb twirled and dissipated. Lena uttered “No… no… this can’t be! This can’t be! Please no… no! This can’t be!” Violet looked concerned. Lena rolled over until her face was inches from the ground, hair scrunched up, eyes squeezed shut. Cautiously, Webby asked “Lena?” The troubled girl looked up. She had a distinctly forlorn look in her eyes. Voice raspy, she groaned “Magica’s magic is coming back. Somehow.” Then, with a gasp, she swooned and fainted onto the slimy ground right there.

Darkness. Darkness. Blinding light. Darkness. A magenta-and-green haze pulsated before Lena’s eyes as she slowly blinked back into consciousness. She took in her surroundings. The dark blue walls, the mahogany scrollwork, the tall window. She was in McDuck Manor, no doubt. She was lying on a moderately dusty bed, and she noticed her clothes were in a neat pile next to her- she was dressed in a white nightdress that she recognized as Webby’s. It was too small for her.

The door opened. It was Mrs. Beakley, holding a mop in one hand and a moist towel in the other. Seeing Lena, she exclaimed “You’re awake!” Groggily, Lena asked “What happened?” Mrs. Beakley sighed “You’ve been unconscious for three days. Webby and Violet carried you all the way here. Well, also Mr. McDuck and the Sabrewing family have had some discussions. From now on, you will live here with us! Also you’re part of our family now.” Lena’s eyes widened in surprise. She wasn’t able to give any better response than that. Mrs. Beakley continued “Violet told me about the clothing dilemma you’ve had. Webby and I bought you some new clothes.” Lena asked “Do… do I need to pay you back for that or something? Thanks.” The briefest hint of a smile flickered across Mrs. Beakley’s face. “You don’t have to. You’re part of the family now.”

IDK what to call this story. It's kind of inspired by Barbie Spy Squad but there's also a bunch of other inspirations there for example the fountain was inspired by the ministry of magic fountain from Harry Potter. Some of it just honestly doesn't make sense but whatever. (unfinished)

“Aunt Esmeralda is coming tomorrow! She’s staying for a week!” Liana excitedly ran into a room, a ripped-open envelope fluttering in her hand. Estella looked up from her phone. She had been sitting on her beanbag chair. When she saw Liana running into her room, she was annoyed, but at the sound of Aunt Esmeralda’s name, she perked up. She shot out of the chair and exclaimed “Really?” Liana nodded. “Certainly.” Next morning, they got up at the break of dawn. Their parents were leaving on a week-long trip, so they had asked their aunt to come look after them. Their mom smiled “Already up? You must be really excited for my cousin.” Liana and Estella nodded frantically, then ran to the window, noses pushed against the panes. Their mom sighed and said “At least have breakfast first, you two.” Liana and Estella finally peeled their faces off the glass, leaving two oily face prints on the window. They gulped down their breakfast with tremendous speed, then brought chairs to the window side. An hour later, they still sat there, staring outside. Then, they heard the distant roaring of a motorcycle. Estella eagerly opened the door, and they ran out into the garden. A shiny mirrored silver motorcycle zoomed down the street. The motorcycle was decorated with patches of shiny mirrored emerald green. Behind the motorcycle, it pulled a trailer, which was also silver and green. The motorcycle stopped in front of their garden, and a lady stepped off. She removed the silver-and-green motorcycle helmet on her head. Auburn waves of hair tumbled out. She wore emerald green suede stiletto heeled ankle boots, with black fishnet tights, emerald green denim shorts, a cropped emerald green t-shirt and a black leather jacket. Her skin was rather tanned, and she was also wearing two bangles on her right hand. One was green, the other was gold. She wore green mirrored sunglasses. She removed her sunglasses. It showed that her eyes were also emerald green, and as brilliantly green as everything else she wore. She had long fake eyelashes stuck on. She wore green eyeshadow and green lipstick. Estella ran towards her. “Aunt Esmeralda!” Liana ran over as well. Their mom smiled “Well, bye girls! See you in a week! Remember, don’t break everything, don’t put yourselves in danger, and and have a good time with your aunt.” Saying that, she left with their dad. They waved bye, then Aunt Esmeralda said “I’m staying in the same room, right?” Estella nodded. “Just like last time and the time before.” Aunt Esmeralda went back to her motorcycle, and opened the trailer. She pulled out a large suitcase and two handbags. They pushed the motorcycle into the garage, then helped carry the suitcases up to the guest room. It was the attic room in the three-story house. Once Aunt Esmeralda had finished unpacking, they decided to make popcorn. They poured corn into a pot, then set it on a stove. Within a minute, the popping had started. They took turns to hold the lid down. When it was done, they poured it into a bowl. They set it on the table and ate it. Aunt Esmeralda said “Do you want to see something I drew?” She opened her sketchbook. There was an incredibly realistic drawing of her sunglasses done in color pencils. Liana exclaimed “Wow! That’s amazing!” Aunt Esmeralda flipped the page. There was a pencil drawing of a creature. It had a pig’s head, a giraffe’s neck, the body of a fish, the front legs of a horse, the back legs of a frog and a long snake tail. On its back protruded two feathered bird wings. Aunt Esmeralda said “I just decided to mix animal parts to see what monster I could get.” Then, they shared their funny experiences. After lunch, Aunt Esmeralda went to her room to do some of her work. The girls decided to do some drawings. The next day, in the morning, they went to see a movie. They had lunch, then Aunt Esmeralda retreated to her room again. A while later, their doorbell rang. Liana went to check. Through the peephole, she saw a lady with her hair in a purple bob. She wore large sunglasses, and she wore a dark grey suit jacket with a matching pencil skirt. She had ballerina flats. Liana asked through the door “Who is it?” The lady replied “I’m delivering a package to Esmeralda. She said she’s here temporarily?” Liana replied “Yes. Temporarily. Why can’t you put it in the mailbox?” She said “It’s urgent.” Saying that, she left it on the doorstep and walked off. Liana opened the door. On the doorstep, there was a package wrapped in brown paper, tied in purple-and-white swirled string. A note wrote “For Esmeralda”. Liana said “This lady with purple hair said it was for Aunt Esmeralda.” Estella said “Let’s bring it upstairs.” They went to Aunt Esmeralda’s room. Liana pushed the door open. The sight that lay ahead surprised them. Their aunt stood in front of a blank wall, a handheld projector in her left hand, and a beam of light was projecting an image on the wall. She was wearing her emerald green sunglasses. Some numbers and the words LADY GREEN- LADY ACCESS UNLOCKED were projected onto the wall. “Aunt Esmeralda?” Liana asked. She turned around. She exclaimed “I didn’t hear you! Knock before you enter next time. What is it?” Estella said “This person with purple hair said this package was for you.” Aunt Esmeralda picked up the package. She untied the string and ripped the paper. Inside, there was a note and a black box that seemed quite heavy. She said “Well, thanks!” Meanwhile, Liana was looking at the stuff Aunt Esmeralda had on her desk. Other than her handheld projector, she had a pair of binoculars, a selection of tools and some things they had no idea what they were. Many of them were labeled LADY Property. “This is cool!” She exclaimed. Aunt Esmeralda sighed “If you’ve seen all that stuff, you’re probably looking for an explanation. However, if I tell you, you will have to join it because of the rules. We require utmost privacy. Are you willing to hear?” Estella asked Liana “Should we?” Liana nodded. Estella said “Tell us, Aunt Esmeralda.” Aunt Esmeralda said “In that case, you should start calling me Lady Green. Don’t say it in public though until- well, you’ll see.” She went over to the room door and locked it, then she pushed a cushioned, wheeled panel against it. She said “That’s for soundproofing. Well, when that’s done, let me tell you. LADY, or Lady Association of Deciphering and- eh- Yogurt, is an association which the main purpose is to stop great crime secretly, investigate things and decipher codes. Well, that and taste-testing yogurts.” Estella asked “Why is the word yogurt in the association name though?” Aunt Esmeralda, now Lady Green, said “The founder knew that the acronym had to be LADY, but there were no related words starting with Y, so she thought of yogurt. It was also the perfect excuse to make a false face for outsiders. That’s why we have a yogurt taste-testing department. A false name we use is the Lady Association of Delicious Yogurts. I know it’s the worst name ever.” Estella giggled. Lady Green continued “You two will have to become LADY novices until your training is over and you will have the title Lady replacing Novice.” Liana asked “So we’ll be Novice Liana and Novice Estella?” Lady Green smiled. “Nice try Liana, but you are not to use your real name in your title. Why don’t you be Novice Vine? Well, actually just Vine until you are officially named Novice. This is because Liana means Vine.” Liana said “I like that name.” Estella added “I’ll be Star.” Lady Green nodded. “What are you waiting for? Let’s go!” She added “Don’t forget to call me Aunt Esmeralda outside the house.” Estella said “Yes Lady Green!” Lady Green packed up some things and put away the projector. Then, they went out of the house, remembering to lock the door. Aunt Esmeralda went to the garage and took out her motorcycle, which the trailer was removed from. From the storage on the side of the motorcycle, she took out her motorcycle helmet and two matching smaller ones. With a press of a button, the motorcycle extended to fit three. Estella and Liana picked up their bags, while Aunt Esmeralda put her rather full handbag into the storage. Estella and Liana put theirs in as well, then they climbed on. As they zoomed forwards, Aunt Esmeralda said “The entrance is a little secretive.” Soon, she drove into an alley. With a press of a button on the motorcycle, a garage opened. They drove in and parked the motorcycle. Aunt Esmeralda said “Wait here.” She went to a wall which had something that looked like an elevator door, in grey metal. Aunt Esmeralda lifted up a small flap next to the door, and said “Lady.” A red beam of light appeared, and moved until it hit her green sunglasses. The door opened. Aunt Esmeralda stepped in. She held the door open with her foot. She had decided to wear knee-length glossy fake leather boots last-minute. She said “Girls? Come in.” Estella and Liana went into the elevator. It went down. Then, the door on the other side opened. In front of them, they saw something that resembled an airport security. Aunt Esmeralda told Estella and Liana “You can call me Lady Green.” A middle-aged, plump woman who was sitting next to the security thing said “Newcomers, security check.” Lady Green gently pushed Estella and Liana towards the checkpoint. Estella and Liana went through it, and met Lady Green on the other end. Lady Green said “Star and Vine. This way.” Estella excitedly said “I’m called Star!” Liana smiled “I can’t wait either.” Lady Green led them down a hallway until they came to a door that was painted with a purple pattern. She told Estella and Liana to wait, and she went inside. A while later, Lady Green came out and said “Star, you come in first.” Estella went in. She saw the lady who had sent the package sitting at a desk. She exclaimed “It’s you?” Lady Green said “Meet Lady Lilac. She works for the management here.” Lady Lilac said “Star, is it? Welcome to LADY.” She got Estella to scan her fingerprints. Then, she gave her an ipad-like screen. “Select the sunglasses. They will be your entrance password and key to skip the security checks. They are also to confirm who you are.” Estella chose a pair of yellow sunglasses with a wire frame, in the aviator shape. They were the same shape as Lady Green’s. All the choices were mirrored sunglasses. Lady Lilac pressed some buttons on her desk. A faint rumbling sound came from below her desk, then from a small drawer, she took out the sunglasses. She said “Star, put them on.” Estella did as she was told. Lady Lilac announced “I officially proclaim you… Novice Star of LADY!” Lady Green smiled as she escorted Estella out of the room. Next, Liana went in and came out with metallic gold cat-eye sunglasses and a huge smile. Lady Green said “Well, let’s take you to see the main hall since we took a shortcut when we came here.” They walked along the corridor. They came out at a grand atrium, with a domed glass ceiling. A large fountain stood in the middle, with golden statues spouting water high up towards the ceiling. There was a statue of a mermaid holding a conch shell that sprayed water, a goat with its mouth open and an angel with water spraying wings. In the middle of those three, who formed a triangle on the bottom tier, there was a raised platform where the statue of a lady in a long coat, leggings and a ruffled crop top with wavy hair who wore sunglasses pointing a handheld projector towards the sky. Water spouted from the mermaid’s shell, the goat’s mouth, the angel’s wings and the lady’s projector. Lady Green said “That’s Founding Lady Opalescence, our founder.” Estella asked “Why the goat though?” Lady Green said “The goat represents our care towards animals and nature. The mermaid represents our imagination, and the angel represents our hope and will to stay positive.” Just then, over the PA system, somebody said “Novices Star, Vine and Dawn, please go to Training Hall 1 for your first training.” Lady Green said “See you later!” Estella and Liana waved bye then looked around for signage. Liana spotted a girl about their age, with her hair dyed greyish purple. She was busy looking at the signage, adjusting the purple sunglasses she had perched upon her forehead. Seeing Liana, she asked “Do you know where the new novices are supposed to go?” Liana said “I don’t know either except that it’s Training Hall 1. I don’t know where that is.” Estella came over. “Is that Novice Dawn?” The purple-haired girl said “Yes. Actually, my name is Roxanne. You can call me Roxy.” Estella said “I’m Novice Star and also Estella.” Liana said “I’m Liana, the other name is Novice Vine.” Roxy looked at the sign again. It seemed to point that Training Hall 1 was to the left. They followed the signage, until they found themselves in some sort of large room or hall with no windows. The walls were white with rounded corners. There were some lines on the wall and the floor, and they seemed like movable panels. All those panels had rounded corners. They were wondering what to do when a tall lady came in. She was as tall and skinny as a lamp-post, especially because she wore black high heel pumps with a pointed stiletto heel so sharp it looked like it would poke holes into any floor. Somehow though, the floor remained intact. She wore a tailored black pantsuit with slightly flared legs and a black t-shirt printed with a wolf in silver. Her hair was black, but obviously dyed because there were blonde roots showing. It was sleek and extremely straight, so straight it seemed wet but extremely even and neat. She wore black lipstick, and her skin was paler than milk. Her eyes were outlined with angular black eyeliner. On her right wrist was a black glossy bracelet. A pair of matte black framed sunglasses with silver mirrored lenses sat on her forehead, over her perfectly side-parted hair. Her fingernails were long and painted black. In her hand, she held a black clipboard with a stack of papers clipped perfectly on and a silver pen clasped onto the side. She stood in a ruler-straight posture, her bluish grey eyes scanning the room in an emotionless manner. She looked down for a moment to write down something, then approached the three girls. She asked “Are you Novice Star, Novice Vine and Novice Dawn?” They nodded. A smile crept onto her inky lips. She said “Well, then let’s get started!” She was clearly trying to sound energetic, although she herself looked rather bored. She introduced “I’m Lady Noir.” She shook their hands. Her hand felt clammy and cold. She walked over to a line on the floor and pulled a small remote control out of her pocket. Pressing a button, a structure rose out of the ground. It was a tunnel. She said “Girls, time to see how much talent you have in agility. Of course, it’s your first day, you haven’t done much, so I don’t expect too much…” She looked at them and gasped “Oh! Oh yes, I forgot something.” She pressed the remote again. The structure sank down, and three tall structures like three toilet cubicles rose up. She said “These are the changing rooms. Because of the nature of your first task, you will be given something to wear that is yours to keep. Of course, you get to choose how it looks like.” Saying that, she pressed a button on the remote. Three screens rose in front of the changing rooms, and they were on a page which they could personalize their garment. It was a black catsuit-leotard thing, made of stretchy material. Estella turned hers charcoal grey. There were some panels on the side that she turned yellow to match her sunglasses. She also added a yellow star symbol in the front. Some of the panels she turned black again and changed it to netted material. Liana added some lime green swirls around the right leg and left arm of it, and changed some panels to metallic gold. She kept the original fabric, except for a sheer piece on each arm. Roxy made hers dusky purple with black textured side panels. Lady Noir came up with a tape measure and measured each of them, then with a bit of rumbling, a box rose out of the ground, containing the three outfits. Complete with shoes and gloves. After they took it out, the box and the screens sank into the ground. They got changed. These outfits were fantastically comfortable with the soft, small seams and perfectly picked seam locations, as well as durable due to the fact that each seam was stitched four times. When they stepped out of the changing rooms, Lady Noir exclaimed “You three look fantastic!” Saying that, she took a camera and took some pictures. They took their things back out of the changing rooms, then Lady Noir sank them into the ground again, while the tunnel rose back. She said “Alright! One by one, you are to go into this tunnel and stand in the marked spot. The inside of the tunnel is laid in hexagonal panels. You are to touch the green ones and avoid the red ones. Do not even step on a red one. You can press them with your feet, they will go back to white once you press them while the red ones you touch will go black and become inactive. After thirty seconds, we’ll see how many you get and how many red ones you accidentally touched.” She added “Remember, it’s your first time at this. Okay, who’s first?” Liana raised her hand and jumped up and down. Lady Noir said “You are Novice…” Liana said “Vine.” She stepped into the tunnel. Lady Noir announced “Ready… go!” The panels began to change color. Liana jumped up and down, avoiding the red panels and hit all the green ones. The panels began to change faster. Liana jumped faster and faster as well, until the tip of her finger brushed onto a red one. It turned black. She paused for a moment, then jumped and continued. Afterwards, she missed some and touched some red ones, but she mostly got it right. When thirty seconds was over, Lady Noir clapped and said “Amazing for a first-day Novice, I must say.” Then, it was Estella’s turn. She excelled in it except for a few misses and stumbles near the end. Roxy was hesitant to step in. Liana cheered “You can do this, Roxy!” Lady Noir looked at her. “Please either call her Dawn or Novice Dawn. I’m not having real names spoken in my class!” Liana whispered “Sorry.” Then, she resumed her cheering. “Go Dawn! You can do this, Dawn!” Estella added “Sunrise is the dawn! Sunrise is the dawn! Go Dawn!” Roxy stepped towards the tunnel slowly. She cautiously put a foot into the tunnel, then another. Standing on the marked panel, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Ready, get set, go!” Her eyes snapped open as she leapt up to tap the first green panel. She ran lighting-speed, not missing a single panel, and not getting any red ones. Estella and Liana cheered her on. Roxy ran so fast she ran upside down then leapt down to hit a green one. Then, thirty seconds was over. She jumped out of the tunnel and landed. She got up, and walked back to where they were. Lady Noir went to the score screen on the side. She noted down the data row by row… when something caught her eye. She looked at the score screen to make sure she hadn’t read wrong. She blinked her eyes and brushed her face to move away stray hairs (there weren’t any). She looked again. Astounded, she looked at Roxy. She exclaimed “Novice Dawn? You set the new speed record in this thing! The new speed record in the whole center here! Well, I know that it’s your first try, but THIS. IS. IMPRESSIVE. You also didn’t touch a single red panel and caught all the green ones the second they appeared!” She added “Novices Star and Vine, you two are tied and excellent, although Novice Dawn is better.” Within a few minutes, the news of the new novice setting a speed record had spread through the entirety of LADY. People ran down from the building above and places linked to the complex to meet this young prodigy. Roxy blushed as red as a tomato, shyly whispering thanks to the women, girls and ladies who congratulated her. She raked her fingers through her shoulder-length dusky purple hair- she was surprised at just how many people came. Even the chef at the dining hall was there, still holding a dripping beater in her hand. A few minutes later, Lady Noir started getting people to leave. “Enough congratulating, she’s had enough congratulating.” She slowly made people leave. She said “Novice Dawn, in case you don’t know, the reason they found out was that the people who were analysing speed data suddenly saw this pop up so they ran down and informed everyone they could. Okay, anyway, next practice.” They practiced and trained over a wide selection of skills. Then, Lady Green came. She said “Nora. I’ll be taking these girls over to the equipment room, okay?” Lady Noir sighed “Green. I’ve told you several times to call my Lady Noir during my teaching hours, okay?” Lady Green said “Okay, Lady Noir. I’ll be taking these novices to the equipment room.” She led Estella, Liana and Roxy out. She told Roxy “I’m Lady Green. Estella and Liana are my nieces, so they might call me Aunt Esmeralda sometimes.” Soon, they arrived at this room. The door was closed. “Are you ready for this?” Lady Green asked. With a flourish, she pushed the door open. They gasped. In the middle of the room, there stood a round table with a glowing top that slowly changed color. Around the room, which was quite spacious, there were shelves and shelves of gadgets, tools and equipment. Lady Green said “You will each be given a belt. There will be some standardized equipment on it. Then, you will be able to choose other things you want.” Saying that, she pulled out some belts from a box. They matched their outfits. She said “Okay, now I’ll show you what these things are.” She pointed to some things already attached to the belt. She said “This thing right here with a button is the invisibility switch. It enables you to become invisible, but be warned, the effect only lasts for half an hour then you will need to press it again. Of course, if you don’t want to wait for it to wear off there is a button to undo the invisibility.” Next, she pointed at another thing that resembled a concealer powder compact. “This is a special mirror. It looks ordinary now, but when you turn this dial, the mirror changes shape and it acts like a periscope.” She turned the dial, which was beige-pink to imitate the cake of powder that would normally be there in a concealer compact. The mirror folded into a v-shape to reflect in a different direction. By turning the dial, she made the mirror face different directions. After she straightened it and closed it, she went to the next tool. “Of course, here are special walkie-talkies for contacting each other. Keep note that these use a special frequency that is harder to detect than regular walkie-talkie frequencies, and it does not notify you by sound. Instead, it vibrates and gets warmer.” After that, she put down the belt and said “Okay, now you can choose different things to put on yours.” She pointed at some shelves and said “You can choose from these shelves.” Estella went to a shelf. She saw a golden ring with two rotating circles on top. Lady Green said “This is a decoder. Each circle on top is marked with an alphabet, then you turn them to make sense of coded text. An additional function is that it has a laser pointer you can turn on.” Estella took a belt, and clipped the pocket which held the ring onto the belt. Liana went to another shelf. She picked up a pouch of ping-pong-ball-sized sparkly purple and blue things that were rather glossy. Lady Green said “These are glitter mist diffusers. If you are getting pursued by someone and need to lose them in an instant, take one of these and throw them against the ground. They will erupt into a cloud of glittery opaque purple-blue mist that lasts for a few seconds, which will let you escape.” Roxy picked up a pair of black gloves that had the fingers tipped with gradient purple. Lady Green said “These are projectile catchers. You will need additional training to learn to use them, but luckily, we have an expert- Lady Noir. These gloves have something installed in them- I won’t say what because it would take forever to explain to you- but they contain something that will be able to stop and catch whatever kind of projectile or anything that is thrown at you- including all manners of darts, pebbles, and even bullets if required. Of course, the faster moving something is, the harder it is to catch. If you find it hard to understand, I’ll have a demonstration right now.” From her pocket, Lady Green took out a walkie talkie that looked like the one they had on their belts. She pressed several buttons, then said “Lady Noir? Novice Dawn wants to see a demonstration of the projectile catcher.” A while later, Lady Noir came in through the doorway. Lady Green ushered everyone to a side of the room, then she went to a panel on the wall and pressed a combination of buttons. The shelves shifted and moved to reveal a circular space lit with bluish lights. Lady Noir pulled on her own pair of gloves. They were tipped in gradient blue. Lady Green took an eraser from a table, and said “I’m going to throw this eraser at Lady Noir. She will use the projectile catcher to catch it.” Lady Noir stood in a ready stance in the circular space. Lady Green stood at the opposite end of the circular space. She threw the eraser at Lady Noir. Lady Noir concentrated on her fingertips. In a split second, beams of electric blue light came out from her fingertips and speedily zigzagged their way towards the eraser, wrapped around it in mid-air and held it still. The eraser hovered, wrapped in a girth of sizzling blue light. Lady Noir clenched her hands into fists. The beams vanished and the eraser fell towards the floor, only to be frozen in spot by blue beams from her fingertips again. She clapped once. The eraser flew back towards Lady Green, who dodged it before it hit her. Lady Noir used the blue beams to stop the eraser to avoid it hitting anything, then pulled it back towards herself. She fisted her hands and the eraser fell. She peeled off the gloves. Lady Green said “That is possible when you are trained enough. For beginners though, you cannot manipulate the object mid-air. You will only be able to catch moving objects. If you choose these to add to your belt, you will need training.” Roxy said “I want to learn to use them.” She took the purple-tipped gloves and attached them to the belt. Estella looked at the shelves. She noticed something that looked like a grappling hook but it was smaller in size and it seemed to have suction cups in the prongs. Lady Green said “Ah, that’s our newest version of a classic! It’s a grappling hook but it is so strong it can hold up to ten obese people at once! It’s also smaller. The rope itself is designed so anyone can stop abruptly on it without injuring their arm, even at the maximum weight.” Estella smiled and attached it to her belt. Liana looked at a

Unicorn Story
This one is kind of cringey in places but whatever

On a beautiful grassy plain, there was a magical creature standing alone. It looked like a horse. It had a snowy mane and tail that was just as silky, and it was white all over. It had a big pink bow tied around her tail, and her hooves were the color of mother-of-pearl. She had eyes as blue as glaciers, and unlike any other horse, she had a twirly, whirly pearly white horn growing out of her forehead. She was a unicorn. Her name was Snowflake. She started to sing towards the sky, her voice better than the world’s best opera singer. Just then, another unicorn joined her. This unicorn was the color of chocolate all over, and her horn and hooves were glistening bronze. Her eyes were like dark chocolate, and she had her tail in a long braid which she swished. Her name was Choco. Snowflake and Choco sang towards the sky, as the sun slowly set, radiant beams of pink swirling through the sky. They finished their song just as the sun set completely, and they galloped off together. Snowflake said “Now that the sunset song is done, let’s go to dinner.” Choco nodded, and they ran off to the unicorn dining hall for dinner. They ate a lot of delicious food before going back to the place where they lived, Twilight Gardens. The unicorns who lived in Twilight Gardens lived together in pairs, and every evening, a pair was assigned to sing with the sunset. Inside their house, Snowflake was flipping over the pile of fluffy hay she used as a bed, while Choco rearranged the wood chip bed she loved the most. Within half an hour, they had fallen asleep on their comfy beds. Next morning, when the roosters crowed, all the unicorns woke up eagerly and went to breakfast. The tiniest unicorn, Flick was munching her food and crumbs were rocketing everywhere. Snowflake dodged a hurtling cornflake as she found two empty seats. From Flick’s mouth, there flew a half-chewed cashew, and milk spurted as a fountain. There were at least three empty seats either side from Flick. Just then, the chandelier on the ceiling rose upwards through the ceiling, and a blue siren replaced it. It rang and rang, and all the unicorns ran outside to see what had caused the emergency siren to ring loudly. On a raised platform, Queen Hoof was standing very straight. She had a rainbow mane and tail, and she was pink. Her eyes glimmered rainbow, and her horn was rainbow. Her hoofs were rainbow too, and she wore a necklace and a crown with rainbow jewels. She had rainbow wings. Beside her, there was her favourite maid, Peggy the alicorn. She was part unicorn and part pegasus, which meant she had wings and a horn, just like Queen Hoof. She was beige all over, including her eyes, her horn and her hoofs and basically everything, but she was very friendly and kind. Peggy took a small trumpet and tooted it. Queen Hoof said “Today, there has been a problem found. Princess Silverhorn, my own daughter, is missing.” Everybody gasped at this shocking news. Flick started to cry, her tears zooming and rocketing everywhere just like her breakfast. Queen Hoof continued “I will choose several unicorns to help me. Volunteers please glow your horns.” Several horns lit up in different colors. Those horns belonged to Phoebe, Lana, Snowflake, Choco and Princess Goldhorn. Phoebe and Lana were a sunset singing pair. Phoebe was orange, red and yellow all over, and glimmered like the sun. Lana was the color of evening, spangled with silver dots, like the night sky. Princess Goldhorn had the rainbow mane and tail of royalty, and her horn and fur and eyes were gold. She was very similar to her sister Princess Silverhorn, because where she was gold, Princess Silverhorn was silver, and that was the only visual difference. The princesses both had wings. So did Phoebe and Lana. Queen Hoof said “Well, okay. Phoebe and Lana, you two can watch from the sky during daytime and nighttime. Princess Goldhorn, you are in charge of the magical gold telescope. You will go to find your sister. Snowflake and Choco, accompany Princess Goldhorn. Five of you, come to the Crystal hall with me.” Together, they went to the Crystal hall. Queen Hoof gave a magical golden telescope to Princess Goldhorn, who quickly placed it on her horn so it held still, then it hovered slightly. Phoebe and Lana received maps. Queen Hoof then pointed her rainbow horn at Snowflake and Choco. On their backs, there sprouted wings. Queen Hoof said “Snowflake and Choco, you can use these wings to fly. It will come in useful.” Queen Hoof then gave each of them a magical flying bag that flew next to them, with things inside. The gold one for Princess Goldhorn, a red one for Phoebe, a blue one with silver polka dots for Lana, a white one for Snowflake and a brown one for Choco. They placed their gifts inside except for wings, then Queen Hoof said “Snowflake and Choco, you two get a roll of magic rainbow thread that can be any length you want, a horn-held mirror, and a free hotel staying card that can be reused.” Just then, Queen Hoof’s best friend Lady Aura came, and gave each of them a big pack of sugar cubes. She said “Food for you!” They giggled, and Queen Hoof told them to be careful. They set off. Princess Goldhorn used the magic telescope. She balanced it on her horn until it floated again, then it floated to her eye. She looked, and turned and turned again, then pointed them towards a direction. Phoebe looked at her map, and shuddered. She said “The place that this direction points is Nightmare Hollow.” They all gasped, but flew on. Snowflake said “We need to save Princess Silverhorn. We must go to Nightmare Hollow if she is there.” They fluttered their wings quickly as a looming castle came into view, and it seemed like the only way to save Princess Silverhorn was to go through it. Princess Goldhorn said “Actually, you can just call me Goldie, and you can call my sister Sylvie when you see her, because our royal name is too long.” The castle in front of them looked creepy and eerie. The gate creaked open noisily as they approached it. Inside, on a large stone, there sat an aged, charcoal-grey unicorn whose horn was so old the swirls were hardly visible. They all shivered in fear, except for Choco. Choco stepped forward and said “Hello, we would like to go through here, but since you look so sad, do you need help?” The aged unicorn raised her head slowly, her grey eyes sad. She said in a creaky voice like rubbing leather “Oh, young unicorns. I have been in this castle for so long, but it just feels empty, as if it is missing something. The rooms all have things inside, but it just seems like it is missing something.” Snowflake noted that the aged unicorn was very thin. She pulled the sugar cubes out of the bag, and offered some to the aged unicorn. The aged unicorn opened the package, and ate a few. She smiled slightly. The aged unicorn said “My name is Milda, and this castle is called Stonewall Castle. It used to be a cheerful place, but then as it became older, the happiness somehow disappeared and loneliness piled up in heaps and hills. Thank you for giving me food, and in return, I give you this.” She took out a brown sack, and put a hoof-full of something into each of their bags. They opened them to find some ordinary and magicless but beautiful jewelry and accessories. Milda smiled as she stood up from the rock, and started to sing a magical song. Her tarnished horn glowed, and as she sang, magic happened. Dusty old chandeliers shook off years of grey dust and gleamed. Dirty windows began to shimmer. The shabby stone walls repaired themselves. The vines outside grew green and lively, and colorful birds landed on the newly green vines and began to sing, every note as clear as a lake on a summer’s day. Goldie, Phoebe, Lana, Snowflake and Choco smiled as the once-shabby castle made a massive transformation. Water flowed into the dried fountains, as dried leaves flipped around and turned emerald. Most amazingly, Milda was no longer charcoal grey, and instead, she was silvery blue, and her white mane was dazzling. Her horn was now swirly again. She twirled as wings sprouted, and Lana gasped as she recognized who it was. “Mildred the Magnificent, are you?” She asked the legendarily amazing magic unicorn. Milda, or Mildred, fluttered her feathery wings as she used her magic to add some extra sparkle to their horns. Every time unicorns helped another unicorn or did something remarkable, their horns would become more sparkly, and they could do better magic. Mildred said “If you need help, just shout Mildred really loudly, and I will come and help you.” After they said bye, Goldie, Phoebe, Lana, Snowflake and Choco galloped away smiling, continuing on their amazing journey. Soon, they realized why their present was jewelry. In the middle of the path they were going, there was a very large gate with walls around it, with a guard, and the guard said “Whoever that needs to pass must pay by jewelry. No jewelry, no entry.” The guard wouldn’t budge if they wouldn’t give jewelry, so each of them picked something to give to the guard. Goldie gave a very thin ring coated in a nanometer thick layer of gold. Phoebe gave a teeny-tiny coral tiara. Lana gave a blue anklet with lapises and turquoises, that was mostly chainlinks. Snowflake gave a white opal edged in plain metal. Choco gave a silver charm. The guard smiled, nodded and let them through. Snowflake noticed that the guard put the jewelry into an envelope, and put it in a tiny postbox next to him. They flew on, and Lana read the map, announcing that they were getting closer. Just then, Choco felt something behind her ear. She took it out. It turned out to be one of the cornflakes that Flick had sprayed at her. She asked Phoebe “Where are we?” Phoebe said “We are currently in the Plain of Fertile Soil, and it is said that whatever object you put in the soil here, it will grow.” Choco dug a dent in the ground, and dropped the cornflake inside. She covered the top, and waited. Suddenly, a fragrant green leaf popped out of the ground, and within minutes, it had grown into a large tree, with cornflakes hanging down from the branches. None of them smelled like Flick’s chewed up food, they just smelled like cornflakes. They picked all the cornflakes and put them in their bags. When the cornflakes were all picked, the tree disappeared. They had lunch, and carried on fluttering, and they realized that the muddy, soft, fertile ground was being slowly replaced by barren rock as they flew towards Nightmare Hollow. Choco whinnied in surprise when she found a beautiful bronze-colored tree with silver leaves. Goldie said “It’s the tree of precious metals. We can’t really get anything from it because the golden bananas aren’t ripe yet, but I think that this tree marks the edge of Nightmare Hollow.” Lana nodded as she read her map. On the edge of Nightmare Hollow, on the dotted line, there was a tree motif with glitter stuck all over it. As they fluttered past the tree, a shivering gust of dusty wind blew past, and Phoebe sneezed. They stopped flying, and landed. Instead, they ran across the rocky land. A crumbly castle the color of charcoal came into view. The dark grey walls were dusty and lumpy. The windows were placed to look like strange eyes, and the door was a mouth with teeth that were actually the pointed stones from the top of a cave. All the towers were crooked, with missing bricks in some of them. Other than looking like a strange face and tarnished beyond repair, strange purple vines coiled around the crooked towers. Unusually though, one of the towers was tipped with something shimmering. As they approached this sinister castle, towering charcoal-grey gates came into view. The gates were made of extremely twisty, warped dark grey metal, and high up, jet stones were placed to resemble staring eyes. The tips of the gate twisted into needle-sharp spires that poked the sky. Phoebe hid behind Lana, shivering at the sight of the evil gate. Choco noticed two dark grey unicorns run towards them, wearing something that glinted eerily like the jet stone eyes on the gates. Lana whispered “Guards?” One of the strange unicorns ran in between them and the gate, and stopped. He wore a strange, metallic headpiece that was the same color as the gate and covered his horn in a sharp spike. He had jet stones in his hooves, and a chain-like net draped across his back over a piece of metal. His grey mane was tangled and loose. Now the other guard came. This guard was dressed exactly the same, but she had midnight blue eyes with curly eyelashes, unlike the stone grey eyes of the male guard. The male guard said “Why are you five way-too-colorful unicorns here?” He accented the word unicorn so that it stood out like a twig in a jug. He roared “Get away from the castle or else… ” He lowered his horn so that the point was pointed at Snowflake, who was in the middle of their little group. He roared like thunder. Phoebe, Lana, Snowflake, Choco and Goldie ran as fast as they could across the slippery rock, until they neared a small village. They hid behind a large rock. They watched the dull grey unicorns walk around the village going about their daily work. Choco looked at the castle again, and watched the guards. The guards stood there, and one of them slid of her headpiece. Choco gasped in shock as she realized that the horn was completely fake. She was just an ordinary horse pretending to be a unicorn! She watched as the other guard shook off his headpiece, and realized he was also a horse. Goldie whispered “The guards are horses?” The whole group was staring at the guards. After a while, the guards slipped their fake horns on and trotted back into the castle. Choco said “Strange guards. Why would they fake a horn if they don’t have one?” Just then, an old lady voice said behind them “Five cuties, what are you doing here? Can I help you in any way?” They turned around. An old unicorn was there. She was the exact same color as any of the nightmare unicorns, with an aged white mane, but instead of the mean looks they had on their faces, she had a kind smile. Her horn was definitely genuine, as it twisted exactly the way a horn should, and didn’t move around or slip around. It had slightly more glitter than the group of five, and this glitter shimmered the right way. The old unicorn said “My name is Charlotte, and in Nightmare Hollow, I own the shop Charcoal Outfits, and I sell grey drapes and capes and hats and mats and horseshoes, all brand new. The guards you saw are Ashley and Ernest. Their full names are Ashley Dust and Ernest Ember. They aren’t unicorns, they’re just horses that are being forced to fake unicorns by the Nightmare Queen, that nobody knows is a unicorn or a pegasus or a horse. I don’t really like how they have to fake that they are something they are not, but the Nightmare Queen just doesn’t think this is true and thinks only horned unicorns are the best and unhorned creatures like horses and pegasuses are terrible. Also, she wants the residents of Nightmare Hollow to be grey or wear grey. I can’t express my anger though, because Meanie Queenie is just too strict with too many guards that are one third unicorn, one third pegasus and one third horse.” She sighed. Lana, Phoebe, Snowflake, Choco and Goldie looked at her. Lana asked “Can we go to your shop? It might be a better place to talk.” Charlotte smiled, and said “Follow me!” They followed Charlotte past houses and onto bridges, not stopping once. Past cinder-block houses they went, as the unicorns did their daily work, and they saw a unicorn that was dipping horseshoes in grey paste, then sticking them to a wall. Suddenly, Charlotte stopped. She whispered “Keep quiet.” A grey veil-like layer floated from her horn onto the group. Seconds later, an eerily grey-cloaked glowing purple figure swept over their heads, cackling “Grey or go away! Grey or go away!” Once the creepy creature passed and flew away, Charlotte made the grey veil disappear. She said “That was the ghoul patrol. They catch anyone if they are not grey or not wearing grey. I tossed a greyness veil over you. Whatever is inside the greyness veil will look grey.” They carried on, cantering towards Charlotte’s shop. Soon, they reached a grey marble house two floors tall, and there were two doors on the house. One door was plain wood with a brass handle, while the other one was diagonally striped charcoal grey and pearl white, with a sign that said OPEN. On top of the stripy door, there was a carved white marble sign that said Charcoal Outfits. There was a window on both of the doors, a sanded bluish one on the wooden door, and a clear one with a curtain on the stripy door. Charlotte said “The wooden door goes to my home upstairs, and the stripy door is my shop.” Charlotte pushed open the shop door with her pearly hoof, and went in. The group followed her. Once they were inside, Charlotte gently pulled the door curtain closed, and closed the door. Inside the shop, it looked amazing after all the greyness. The walls were made of dark pine wood, the knots gleaming beautifully. Racks of drapes and capes and hats and mats were neatly lined up against a wall, while brand-new horseshoes were hung up on little wall-hooks. A pale pink chandelier cast a warm, pink glow over everything. Red couches were against the other wall, and the floor was lined with exotically colorful carpets that were cotton-candy soft. They plonked onto the couches, and Charlotte brought some drinks in. A blueberry soda for Lana, a peach-and-orange smoothie for Phoebe, a vanilla milkshake for Snowflake, iced chocolate for Choco, and sparkling apple juice for Goldie. Charlotte herself sipped honey water with ice cubes made of frozen honey. She changed the door sign from OPEN to CURRENTLY BUSY, PLEASE WAIT. As the group sipped their drinks, Charlotte said “Can I know your names?” Lana said “I am Lana, and this orange unicorn next to me is my sunset singing partner, Phoebe.” Snowflake said “I am Snowflake, and this brown unicorn next to me is Choco. We are sunset singing partners.” Goldie said “I am Goldie. Actually, I am Princess Goldhorn, but I just want other unicorns to call me Goldie when I am travelling, because I don’t want to get princess-only privileges my friends don’t get. Also, I just wanted to be treated as an ordinary unicorn instead of unicorn royalty.” Charlotte asked “So then, what brings you five to Nightmare Hollow?” Goldie answered “My sister Sylvie, or Princess Silverhorn, has been caught and taken to Nightmare Castle. We are trying to save her.” Charlotte looked at the wall clock, which the hands were unicorn legs, and the top of the clock had a horn. She said “It’s almost time for dinner, and just warning you, the Nightmare Royalty are the most active and dangerous at evening. It would be better to save poor Sylvie in the morning.” Just then, a BONG as loud as thunder sounded. Charlotte drew open one set of curtains and looked out of the window. The grey castle was in the view of the window, and they all watched as all the towers began to grow taller and taller until they nearly poked holes in the clouds, and an eerily green light spread from the tip of the tallest tower, sending green glowing ripples through the clouds. A very high window in the middle of the tall tower opened, and a booming voice cackled “Nightmare hour is here! Hwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” That window gleamed green, as two smaller windows above it opened, and gleamed red, so that it looked like a creepy red-eyed, green-mouthed face. There was another loud thunderclap, as the three windows banged shut. They looked at the quickly darkening sky, and the clock. Charlotte flipped the door sign to CLOSED, and said “It is Nightmare hour. All shops have to be closed by now.” They all went to the door after Charlotte put the cups into the washing chute, and Charlotte led them outside after putting the greyness veil over them, and into the other door, pulling off the greyness veil. They went up a flight of wooden stairs, until they came into a room. This was a living room, adorned with sofas and another pink chandelier. In fact, it was decorated in almost the same way as the shop. Charlotte explained what happened. “When there is the Nightmare hour announcement, the ghoul patrols search for non-greyness for a whole hour. The glowing window face is where the patrols come out, invisible at first, but becoming more and more visible as they come out. I know it is creepy, I used to be scared of it when I was little, but I got used to it. Tonight, maybe you could stay with me here, because there are no hotels in this area that I know about. Remember not to sleep too close to the window if you don’t want to get nightmares. Actually, about when unicorns start to go to sleep, the Night Mares come out flying, and around them, there are clouds of nightmares, which go into windows but bounce off walls.” She said “Come on, let’s go to the dining room, and I’ll make dinner.” The unicorns all fluttered their wings and followed Charlotte to the dining room, and they sat down on the seats while Charlotte went to cook. Moments later, they were munching down large helpings of delicious spaghetti, plateful after plateful. Charlotte said “This spaghetti is my own special recipe. It includes extract from roses and lavender, as well as lovely herbs from everywhere. Hey, I could give you each a herb pack. Sprinkle a bit onto any food, and it will taste like my homemade spaghetti.” She gave them each a pack of fragrant herbs, as she walked back to the kitchen. A few minutes later, they were all heaping second helpings of rose souffle into their plates. After dinner, they all helped wash the dishes. Lana used the magic from her horn to make a plate hover mid-air, while she used a large sponge to scrub it. Phoebe had her hoofs inside a tub of icy cold water, rinsing each plate one by one. Snowflake was in charge of squeezing soap on the dirty dishes, while Choco was in charge of turning the tap on and off to make sure the water flow was right. Goldie and Charlotte placed clean dishes on the drying rack. After they washed the dishes, Charlotte said “You guys go and clean yourself in the guest bathroom over there in the yellow door, and I’ll prepare something.” Snowflake, Choco, Phoebe, Lana and Goldie lined up, and cleaned themselves in pairs, so they could wash each other. Actually, Snowflake and Choco went with Goldie together. After they cleaned themselves in Charlotte’s five-unicorn-sized shower room with three large-size rain showers that pumped out water at exactly the right pressure and the right temperature, they came out to see Charlotte pulling the curtains shut. They sat down on a sofa, and Charlotte said “We’ll play a card game called Unicorn Dip, then it’s bedtime!” They all cheered, because they all loved to play Unicorn Dip. They spent the next half an hour playing this fantastic game, until the card stack had gone flat and a winner had to be decided. Goldie counted her cards, and she said “I have twenty five!” They all decided that Goldie was the winner, because the rest of them had less cards. They walked into the large guest bedroom, and they pulled their beds across the room until they were nearly at the wall, to avoid nightmares. Charlotte went to her own room. They fell asleep quickly, and none of them had any nightmares, but Goldie had a funny dream of watching a joke show. In the morning, nobody else was awake yet when Snowflake sat up and stretched. With a quiet trot, she went out of the room. In the living room, she looked at the clock. “Seven thirty!” She said. She quickly polished her white pearly horn, and eagerly pushed open a set of curtains. Outside, there was a scene that wasn’t nightmarish at all. Even though the castle was still in the distance, the towers had shortened back to their original size, and the face was nowhere in sight. Even though there weren’t any trees, there was the funny-sounding, energetic caw of crows from the distance. The slippery, barren black rock ground was carpeted in dew, and even though it seemed lonely, the scene was so serene, so calm, and not at all frightening. She quickly used her horn magic and conjured her camera out of the dust in the corner. She took a photo, then made it disappear in a sprinkle of sparkles. Her horn magic was rejuvenated and refreshed thanks to the peaceful sleep she just woke up from. She quickly cleaned her teeth, and sat on the sofa again. She got up again and threw open the other curtains, letting the morning sun shine into the living room. She randomly took a piece of paper and a pen, and sketched the view, then slowly added detail bit by bit. There was the sound of a groan and a creak from the bedroom. The sound of tiptoeing steps was heard, when Charlotte appeared in the doorway. She walked into the living room, and said “Ooh, it’s a nice morning, isn’t it, Snowflake? You’re up early this morning.” Snowflake replied “I can’t really believe this place looks so nice in the morning.” Charlotte said “That’s because the evil powers are at their lowest.” She went to a small window near the door, and opened it, and stuck a hoof outside. A moment later, she pulled in a deep purple bucket from outside. After a while of shuffling, she closed the window. She said “This is my dew collector! It sits in a box outside in the corner underneath a dew-catcher plant I grew. The dew-catcher plant collects a lot of dew during the night onto its spoon-like leaves, and when the leaves get heavy, they droop down, and water pours into the bucket. Also, above the bucket, I put a filter, and the filter is covered in two layers of greyness veil on the top and bottom. You’d be surprised how well greyness veils work in filtering. I once actually filtered salt out of seawater with a greyness veil! Also, to collect even more dew, I have several metal slides which are made of pipes cut lengthways, making two slides each pipe. Dew collects on these, and slide into the bucket.” She lifted up the bucket. It was full of crystal clear water that shimmered slightly. Charlotte said “Snowflake, could you help me split this water into three portions?” Snowflake nodded, and waited as Charlotte came back with three water jugs. One was made of glass that could possibly be crystal, one was made of white porcelain glazed with pastel colored rainbow stripes, and the third one was also porcelain, and it was white with ivory-beige swirls. Charlotte handed(or hoofed, unicorn-wise) Snowflake a ladle, and put a ruler in each jug. She said “Snowflake, could you split this water into equal parts?” Snowflake flipped the ladle into the air, and held it with a stream of horn magic. She dipped the ladle into the bucket, and put a ladleful of dew water into each jug. Very quickly, she finished splitting the dew. Charlotte used some of her own horn magic to put the rainbow jug in the refrigerator, the white one on the kitchen table, and poured the dew in the crystal jug into the hot-water pot, which began to steam. Snowflake went into the kitchen, and helped put the empty crystal jug into the glassware cabinet. Charlotte said “Snowflake, come here!” Snowflake danced her way to Charlotte, and Charlotte blew gently onto Snowflake’s horn. Several sparkles coiled themselves around Snowflake’s horn. Snowflake exclaimed “Thank you, Charlotte!” A single sparkle appeared, and stuck itself to the tip of Snowflake’s horn. She giggled at the tiny tingles that the new sparkles sent through her horn. Sitting on a sofa, they looked at the view. Just then, Phoebe and Lana trotted into the living room, already ready for the morning. Goldie came down next. Charlotte was about to start making breakfast when Lana asked “Where’s Choco? I didn’t see her in the room. I thought she was down here, but she isn’t!” All the unicorns gasped. Goldie was shocked, and her voice trembled as a golden tear slid down her cheek. “Let’s hope she wasn’t caught by the Nightmare Queen. I can’t bear to imagine that two of my best friends, one of them that is my sister, are caught by the Nightmare Queen.” Charlotte said “Don’t say that yet, Goldie! Let’s search for her.” They split up to search around the house. Just then, there was a knocking on the door. Charlotte hastily threw a greyness veil onto two hooks just behind the doorway, to make everything inside seem grey from the outside. She unlocked the door, and Choco galloped up the stairs, and nearly crashed a hole through the greyness veil. She plonked herself onto a sofa, and panted. After a few seconds, she finally stopped panting. She said “I probably sleepwalked last night. This morning, when I woke up, I found myself inside a round room with a ghoul patrol next to me, who was shouting ‘Grey or go away’, but it turned out that the ghosty guy was quite dumb, as there was a window, and by standing at a certain location, the light makes me appear grey, so I stood there, and the ghoul patrol blew at the window, which became bigger, and I flew all the way back here. It turned out I was in a tower.” Charlotte said “That’s a scary experience, but that seems like a big clue to finding Sylvie.” Snowflake said “I just don’t get why they captured Sylvie. Sylvie is silver, but dull silver is just grey.” Goldie reminded “Don’t forget her rainbow mane! Also, if she has a window, it might not be in a right position that she can do the same thing that Choco did.” Charlotte said “Let’s discuss this after breakfast, shall we?” She galloped into the kitchen, and a while later, came out with plates heaped with pancakes drizzled in pink-and-purple syrup and sprinkled with rainbow sprinkles. Charlotte said “This syrup is home-made with lilacs! The sprinkles are home-made in my own rainbow sprinkle machine!” They ate their breakfast, and Charlotte gave them each a glass of fizzy yogurt soda. After breakfast, they washed the dishes, and Choco was doing something with her bag. She took some of the rainbow thread she got from Queen Hoof, and snipped it to the right length. She tied one end of the string to a frame of twigs, and the other end to her own horn. She said “Charlotte, I need a very big place to turn around in circles to do something with this thread.” Charlotte smiled, and said “Follow me!” They all went to the rooftop of Charlotte’s house, where there was a very big tent made of greyness veil. Choco told everyone to stay outside of the tent, and she herself went in. She secured the thread on her horn, and began to twirl. The frame of twigs whooshed around the circle, twisting the thread, and because of its magic, the thread grew longer, and then the new segment caught onto a part on the frame, and then coiled around the original thread, making it thicker. She kept doing this, until the thread had become a very strong rope woven of thousands of threads. With a deft move of her horn, she cut off the loopy ends of the rope, and coiled it up. Choco cheered, and said “There! The endlessly long rainbow rope!” Snowflake said “Well, I think we really should get Sylvie. It’s morning, and the evil things are at the lowest.” Charlotte said “True. Let’s go, but first, let me give you each a greyness veil to use.” They packed their bags and threw the greyness veil over themselves. As they neared the castle, they saw that there were no guards around except for a young one who had fallen asleep inside the gate. They just flew over without a problem, Charlotte using her mechanical wings because she didn’t have real ones. They looked for the silver topped tower. It was shorter than before, but still very tall. Slowly spiraling up around the outside of the tower, they flew until they reached the top. Choco looked in through the window. Sylvie wasn’t in there. There wasn’t a ghoul patrol either. However, Sylvie’s silver tiara and several rainbow hairs were left there. Charlotte blew gently against the window, and surprisingly, it widened. Afraid it would close again, Choco used the rope to take out the tiara and the hairs stuck to it. Goldie put them into her bag, and asked quietly “Where could she be?” Charlotte said “Well, I expect she is in the Charcoal Hall, because the unicorns that get caught are sometimes moved there so the Nightmare Queen can watch over them.” Choco whispered “Do we have to go there?” Charlotte replied “I’m afraid we do, but the Nightmare Queen won’t know you’re not grey because you have a greyness veil.” All the unicorns pulled their greyness veils tighter. Charlotte led the way as they slowly flew downwards. Halfway, she told them not to smile too much or the Nightmare Queen would notice they were unusual. They flew through an open window into the castle. Almost all the guards were asleep, and the ones who weren’t didn’t notice anything different about the group and didn’t care. They went to the Charcoal Hall and stood outside. They heard a scratchy yet powerful voice say “Ah, the only princess of Equine Kingdom. Soon I will be the real queen!” Goldie carefully stuffed her own tiara deeper into her own bag, and whispered very quietly “She doesn’t know there are two princesses.” Just then, Ashley the guard came by, her unusually bright blue eyes looking ahead at the corridor. She spotted the group, and asked “Are you wanting to go in?” Before anyone could respond, Charlotte said “Of course, Ashley.” Ashley knocked a rhythm on the thick door, and pushed it open. She said “Your nightmarish majesty the Nightmare Queen, six unicorns are here.” In her grating, strong voice, the Nightmare Queen said “Let them in.” Keeping emotionless faces, the six unicorns stepped in. They introduced themselves. The Nightmare Queen had a lusciously thick, dark, mane and tail. Her body was all charcoal grey with little glints of sparkles, and her hoofs were like mother-of-pearl but darker. Her eyes were eerily purplish blue. She said “Look, I have captured the one and only princess of Equine Kingdom!” An iron-barred cage lowered down from the ceiling on four chains. The Nightmare Queen took a charcoal black staff from behind her throne, and pointed it at Sylvie who was banging on the cage bars noisily. She froze still, standing straight, face blank, and unusually grey. Her rainbow mane had faded into barely colored stripes, and instead of her tiara, she wore a roughly sculpted piece of charcoal that slightly resembled her own tiara, without the detail or the fine curves. The Nightmare Queen pointed her staff again. A beam of eerily purplish blue light shone from the roughly cut jet stone set on top, and landed on the top of Sylvie’s charcoal tiara, which lit up a jet stone set deeply within, only a shred showing through a hole. With her charcoal tiara glowing, Sylvie hovered up slightly. With another point of the staff, the cage door unlatched and swung open. The Nightmare Queen changed her hold on the staff, and pointed it at Sylvie again, slowly moving the staff smoothly. Floating, she slid out of the cage as if she was a sculpture sliding on the smoothest ice or glass suspended off the ground. Following the tip of the Nightmare Queen’s staff, she slid across the room until she was right next to the dark throne. The Queen shifted her hold on the staff again. Sylvie, still as still as a statue, still blank-faced, still hovering, still grey, was starting to rise higher very slowly. The Queen cackled as Sylvie reached a certain height and stopped. She asked “Do you feel like watching me flip her around in circles?” Goldie shook her head. Choco and Snowflake shook their heads. Phoebe and Lana shook their heads. Charlotte just stayed still. The Queen said “Well, I don’t really care if you don’t feel like it, because I feel like it.” Saying that, she poked the pointy end of her staff into the center hole in one of the engraved dark grey stone circles that were on the throne pedestal. This one was carved with swirls and twirls, with emeralds and green stones set in the centers of each swirl. The green jewels lit up, the green beams of light shining outward, then slowly moving until they all hit the staff. A swirl of green twirled around the long stick until it reached the top, which lit up the jet stone in emerald green. In fact, it was more like an emerald than a jet stone. A single beam of green light flew up from the top of the jewel to the ceiling. A faint humming sound echoed across the room, then it stopped. The single beam of light split into a multitude of green streaks, that slowly bloomed outwards like a blooming flower. They slowed down and stopped. Suddenly, all of the beams gathered back into one, and pointed itself at the jet stone in Sylvie’s charcoal tiara. Still frozen in position, she spun and twirled like a jointless puppet with strangely positioned strings. She cartwheeled, whirled and twirled for a while until the Queen was getting bored. The Nightmare Queen plucked her staff from the green-jeweled circle and placed it in the purplish blue one. The green lights dimmed into darkness, and the light on the charcoal tiara turned back to purple. It seemed like it was stuck onto Sylvie’s head, as it never moved its position, even when she was upside down. Sylvie slid back into the cage. The door slammed shut, as she began to move again. The Queen walked up to Sylvie, and asked “Tell me, princess, are you the only royal princess of Equine Kingdom?” With tears in her eyes, Sylvie said “Yes, and if you don’t let me go, Queen Hoof will be really sad.” She was really doing a good job at acting and probably would have gotten an award if she was at an acting competition. The Nightmare Queen giggled and said “Well, well, my sweet little silver princess, why would I let you go!” Saying that, she took out a grey glass perfume bottle fitted with a black atomizer and filled with brown liquid that had murky green swirls in it. She squeezed the bulb several times, the liquid spraying towards Sylvie. Sylvie wrinkled up her little nose. The Queen held a handkerchief over her own nose, and said “This stinks, but the smell will stay on you as long as the tiara is on. Don’t even try to take it off. It is stuck firmly there.” The disgusting smell of rotten fish filled the room. Charlotte moved a few steps back, wrinkling her nose. Snowflake, Choco, Phoebe, Lana and Goldie put a hoof over their noses. Charlotte stepped forward again, and said “Your nightmarish majesty the Nightmare Queen, we have to go now. Thank you for allowing us to enter and see the valuable princess of Equine Kingdom.” They went out. Ashley stood there, a lacy handkerchief over her nose. She said “That smelled. What happened?” Charlotte replied “Well, the Queen sprayed the princess of Equine Kingdom with some stinky thing.” Ashley replied “Well, she does that all the time. Luckily, I have this!” She reached under part of her guard’s uniform and pulled out a giant stack of handkerchiefs. She said “I always lose the handkerchiefs so I have spares.” She put the handkerchiefs away again. Choco said “Keep those with you. The Nightmare Queen said that the smell will stay as long as the charcoal tiara is on the princess’s head.” Ashley replied “Ugh. Disgusting. By the way, yesterday evening, five colorful unicorns came here. Any sign of them around?” Charlotte shook her head. “They were probably scared away by the ghoul patrol.” She said. Ashley said “Well, okay. I have to do the hallway patrol, so I have to go now.” She walked away announcing “Ashley Dust as hallway patrol!” Charlotte waited for another guard to open the main doors, and they went out and through the gate. Back at Charlotte’s house, Charlotte brought out a large heavy wooden chest with brightly polished bronze hinges. She set it down with a solid THUMP, and said “Do any of you have a plan to free Sylvie?” Goldie said “We’ll need one or two of us to get the Queen out of the throne room. I will be one of the unicorns to go in, and maybe I will tell the Queen that I will watch to make sure nobody takes the princess or does anything bad to it, then while the Queen is away, I will free Sylvie.” Charlotte said “I have a few sets of royal worker uniforms of different jobs, so that is how we can tell the Queen to go. You can say that one of the scholars in the town has a speech prepared for her. The queen usually listens to speeches in the speech room which is all the way at the other end of the corridor, because it has better acoustics, and she usually keeps her magic staff in the throne room especially when there is a captive princess so the magic stays strong. Luckily, she has so many guards she can’t even remember their names and how they look. She usually demands privacy in the throne room, so there are no security cameras or throne guards inside there.” Snowflake asked “Can we see the outfits?” Charlotte heaved the heavy lid of the chest open. She lifted out a net of painted chainlinks set with shiny jet stones and a horn headdress. She reached in again, and pulled out a hoof cover with more jet stones. She said “Guard outfit. You’ve seen this one already.” She pulled out several more guard outfits, and piled them in a pile. She then pulled out a few starched black aprons with a row of white bows along the curved bottom edge. Throwing a pile of black lace caps on top of the aprons, she said “Maidservant outfits. The maids in this castle are always called to watch over stuff while the Queen is away.” She pulled out some dusty leather hoof covers, a short brown cape, a satchel bag and a grey cotton hat. She said “The messenger. Messengers bring news from the town to the Queen and news from the Queen to the town.” She then pulled out a few white cotton aprons and chef hats. She giggled “Well, the chef outfit but chefs just stay in the kitchen and cook so there’s no point in being one.” She pulled out towel headbands and some leather straps as well as leather hoof covers and ropes. She said “These are things the delivery staff will need to use and wear. The ropes and straps are to tie to the cart.” She pushed the clothes aside, and ran to the safe where she took out a diamond case containing a bronze key with a five number combination lock. Twirling the numbers to the password with expert technique, she pressed a button on the side. The lid swung open. With a pick of the edge of her hoof, she removed the key from the case. This key had a really small tip, but it was really long. She pressed the bottom of the inside of the chest, right on a dented knothole. The bottom turned slightly, to reveal the side of the board it was. There was a tiny bronze keyhole, and she stuck the key in and turned it. Just as she pulled the key out, the whole board rose out of the box on the rails on the side, and slid into the lid. It was a false bottom! Inside the secret compartment, Charlotte fished out a thin misty veil, and it was mint green and sheer. She said “Watch this.” She threw the veil over herself and disappeared. They all looked around the house for her, until they saw a minty green haze appear where Charlotte had been, and suddenly there she was, holding the veil. She said “The veil of invisibility.” She pushed a few greyness veils aside in the chest, and pulled out another veil that was the same as the invisibility one, except it glowed a pale pink. She said “This one is also an invisibility veil.” She pulled out a series of different colored veils that were all the same type. Snowflake joked “Is that the veil compartment?” Charlotte giggled “No!” She pulled out a few magic wands and a stack of hats. She said “It’s the magic transformation compartment.” She threw a hat on her head, and she suddenly turned into a cat. She pulled the hat off, and turned back into a unicorn. Just then, they heard a knock-knock on the door. Quickly stuffing the things into the chest and hanging a greyness veil over the doorway, she opened the door. There was a royal guard there. The guard said “The queen wants us to check all the shops and if the five colorful unicorns are in there.” Charlotte motioned for Snowflake to come. She threw on a greyness veil and went out. Charlotte said “Wait a moment, I’ll check. How about I ask my assistant here to uncover the displays first?” The guard said “Okay. I’ll check Greyhoof horseshoe shop first then come back.” She went to the shop where they had saw someone dip horseshoes in grey paste. Charlotte whispered to Snowflake “Quick, go in and press the grey button under the counter. The button is edged in pink.” Snowflake ran into the shop and pressed the button. Suddenly, all the racks of clothes turned around, showing the other side which had been set into the wall. All of those were grey clothes and things. The walls turned grey, and so did everything else. The only non-grey thing left was the pink circle around the button and some details on some of the clothes. She came out and Charlotte checked. She said “Good job. Now just stand here and wait.” A moment later, the guard came back. She said “Let me check your shop now.” Charlotte threw open the door. The guard checked inside every piece of clothing and said “Well, your shop doesn’t have any rainbow unicorns in there so it’s fine. Bye and have a grey day!” The guard left back to the castle. Charlotte went back inside her shop and pressed the button. The shop turned back to its original color. Charlotte went back inside the house and said “Guys, the guards are after you. They want to find you.” Choco asked “Well, let’s keep looking at costumes and stuff.” Charlotte said “Well, I think that’s all we need right now so let’s pick.” Goldie said “I think I should be a maid because maids watch over stuff while the Queen is away.” She chose an apron and a lace cap. Charlotte said “I suggest you wear the uniform over the greyness veil because the uniforms are not all grey, but now try the size first.” Goldie laid the apron over herself and tied a knot. Then, she pulled on the lace cap. She looked like a maid, but the problem was that the Queen probably would know she was the same unicorn that visited earlier. Charlotte saw that, and said “I’ll fix it right away.” She came back with a box of makeup, mostly in grey and beige tones. She carefully used the white to highlight her nose and the brown to darken the sides of her face. With another sweep of powder, her forehead seemed more prominent. As a finishing touch, Goldie added a little curl to her forelock by herself. Looking in the mirror, she marveled at Charlotte’s skill. Her face was just as natural it had been, but it seemed thinner with more pronounced features. Anyone who knew her would still recognize her, but if that other person was a little more than an acquaintance or just newly met, she would look like a whole new unicorn. Goldie twirled a bit, then removed the apron and threw on the greyness veil. Tying the apron on again, she skipped to the mirror to adjust the angle of the lace cap. Charlotte said “One more thing.” She ran to her room and shuffled through things before coming out with a sheet of sticky gems. Sticking a black gem on each of Goldie’s hooves, they looked like they were set with shimmery jet stones just like some of the castle workers. Charlotte said “Peel these jewels off when you have freed Sylvie and led her back here. That will be the signal for me to let the Nightmare Queen back into the throne room. Also, if you need to tell me something, whisper it into the jewels. I will receive it. Don’t worry that the Queen will hear it, because the jewels do not make sounds. If I need to tell you something, I will do the same.” Charlotte picked four jewels and stuck them on her own hooves. With a point of her horn at each of her jewels and Goldie’s jewels, she muttered a unicorn spell and the gems sent a tingly burst of magic up every leg with a jewel. Lana asked “Does she need to bring two invisible veils for her and Sylvie as well as their tiaras?” Charlotte said “Oops!” Tucking two invisible veils underneath Goldie’s apron, she said “Put your bag in there too.” Goldie placed her bag under her apron. Somehow, no matter how many things she put inside, the apron didn’t bulge. Lana said “I can be a messenger. I will tell the Queen that a scholar has come with a speech.” Taking her box of makeup, Charlotte brushed two strokes of pale grey on top of Lana’s forehead, making it rounder. Lana turned to let Charlotte highlight her chin. Lana tried on the hat. Then, she tied the cape around her shoulders and draped the bag over it. Lacing the hoof covers, she looked at herself in the mirror. She checked the fit, and put on the greyness veil. Snowflake said “I’ll be the guard that escorts the Queen into the speech room.” Charlotte brushed two strokes of grey under Snowflake’s chin. Throwing the greyness veil over herself, she picked up the chainlink net. It was lighter than she had expected. Throwing it on her back, she carefully hooked the buckle. She slipped on the horn headdress. The horn shape was hollow. Charlotte said “I will be the scholar.” She went into her room, and came out in a white silk drape with a black collar and embroidered with grey threads. She carefully coiled her mane into curlers. She said “Choco and Phoebe, you can wait outside under invisible veils. Keep in mind that if you have an invisible veil on, you will see anyone wearing an invisible veil. They will seem translucent and glowing the color of their veil.” They fixed their outfits and rearranged their manes and tails for a while. Charlotte finished curling her mane and tail, and she had painted freckles on her face. After she did that, she put a deep reddish brown hood over her mane and tied a knot under her chin. Stuffing her bag under her drape, she looked in the mirror. They all took their bags and set off. Charlotte waited outside with Choco and Phoebe. Even though Choco and Phoebe were invisible, Charlotte had this funny talent of being able to sense where they were. Lana ran in, Goldie and Snowflake following behind. Just as they stopped outside the throne room, Goldie felt the jewels on her hooves vibrate slightly. In her mind, she heard Charlotte say “Remember, you need the Queen’s staff to free Sylvie.” Goldie whispered through the jewel “Okay.” Lana knocked on the door and said “Your nightmarish majesty the Nightmare Queen, I am a messenger, can I enter? A guard and a maid are here as well.” They heard the Nightmare Queen reply “Enter, three of you.” Lana pushed open the door, and the three of them walked in. The Queen asked “Why have you come? What message do you bring?” Lana replied “Your nightmarish majesty the Nightmare Queen, a scholar from the town has prepared a speech for you.” The Queen said “Messenger, get the scholar to the speech chamber.” Snowflake asked “Your nightmarish majesty, may I escort you to the speech chamber?” The Queen looked kind of uncertain. Goldie added “Your nightmarish majesty the Nightmare Queen with all your majestic presence, I shall watch over the throne room and your magical possessions while you are away. I know that there is the princess in here, I will watch over her and her cage as well.” The Nightmare Queen replied “If that is the case, then I allow you to watch over the throne room. Watch that princess!” Saying that, she trotted out, her hooves making a clattering din on the floor. Snowflake accompanied the Queen to the speech chamber and stood guard outside the door. Just then, Lana led the barely recognizable Charlotte to the speech chamber. Pulling the door to the throne room shut, Goldie walked over to next to the throne. She looked up. Hanging lower than the rest of the cages on the ceiling, a cage dangled on chains. Goldie called up “Sylvie! You there?” Peeking out from between the bars, Sylvie said “Who is it?” Goldie replied “It’s me, Goldie. You don’t recognize your own sister?” Sylvie replied “You’re not grey.” Goldie laughed “Oh!” She lifted off the greyness veil. Seeing it really was Goldie, Sylvie said “Free me please.” Goldie took the staff from the stand. The moment she held it in her hoof, she felt its majestic power. Strong magic was definitely inside that staff. Pointing it at the cage, she waved the staff a bit. Sylvie said “Point it and imagine the cage lowering.” Goldie did that. Rattling on its chains, the cage lowered down to the floor. Goldie said “Before I unlock your cage, please prove that you really are Sylvie, instead of someone random pretending to be the princess.” Sylvie said “I know that you are my sister, Goldie. Princess Goldhorn if you prefer. Please let your own sister, Sylvie, Princess Silverhorn out of this cage. Our mom Queen Hoof is called mom hoof only by us.” Goldie held tighter onto the staff and pointed it at the cage latch. It unlocked. However, the moment it unlocked, the terrible smell of rotten fish filled the room. Sylvie said “I know it stinks.” Goldie went over. Sylvie stepped out of the cage, but automatically, the staff froze Sylvie in place. Sylvie said “I can’t move!” Goldie said “I didn’t do that. The staff did.” Goldie went over and carefully tried to remove the charcoal tiara. Sylvie exclaimed “It won’t come off!” Holding the staff, Goldie pointed it at the tiara jewel and said “Unfreeze the princess.” Sylvie gasped relief as she walked around. Goldie tried to take off the tiara again, but it was only stuck tighter. Goldie asked “How do I take it off?” Sylvie said “I don’t know. I know that I am still not able to step out of the throne room if I have this tiara, but the staff controls the tiara.” Goldie held the staff and carefully touched the staff jewel to the tiara jewel. With a giant blast, they both slid across the floor. The tiara sat in between them, holding a few strands of Sylvie’s hair. Goldie carefully put it onto the cage so it sat there. Sylvie, however, was still dull grey. Goldie asked “Why are you still grey?” Sylvie replied weakly “I… need… my… tiara… on… me… now. It… is… in… the… tower.” She was sitting there, as floppy as a piece of bread soaked in water, as weak as a piece of torn paper. Goldie fished it out of her bag and said “I got it already!” Sylvie said even more weakly “Get… it… on… me… quick.” Goldie ran over and placed it firmly where it should go. Sylvie sat there, growing her color. Her greyness began to shimmer as it became silver. With a stroke of Goldie’s hand, Sylvie shimmered brighter as her mane and tail grew its rainbow stripes. She used the staff to raise the cage back up. She pointed at the cage with the staff then at the throne. Doing that, she placed the staff back into the stand. Goldie pulled out the two invisible veils. Sylvie asked “What’s that?” Goldie said “They’re invisible veils.” Sylvie said “They don’t look very invisible.” Goldie said “Of course it’s not invisible now!” Sylvie took one and examined it. Goldie said “You just put it over yourself.” Sylvie said “Okay then.” Throwing the veil over herself, she disappeared from view. Goldie put on the other one. The moment she put it on, she saw Sylvie. She looked transparent. Goldie said “One more thing.” She went to the staff and cast a little spell on the throne. Sticking it back into the stand and turning it the right direction, she went to the doorway. Sylvie asked “Will the guards see us?” Goldie said “No.” They went through the door and outside. They met up with Choco and Phoebe, who greeted Sylvie gladly. Goldie remembered something. She peeled off the sticky gems and stuck them back to back. Sylvie asked “What are you doing?” Goldie said “Letting Charlotte know that I freed you.” Sylvie asked “Charlotte? Who’s that?” Choco explained “We met a grey unicorn. She isn’t mean like the rest, but she is actually quite friendly and helped us a lot. These invisible veils are hers, and so are the greyness veils.” Sylvie asked “Greyness veils?” Goldie said “The grey one I was wearing earlier.” Sylvie replied “Oh! So that’s what it was.” Just then, they saw Snowflake accompany the Queen back to the throne room. Goldie whispered “Watch this, it’s going to be funny.” The Nightmare Queen sat on the throne. She picked up her staff and inspected the gems. The tiara jewel on the cage gleamed gold as the cage glided silently across the ceiling on its chains. It slowly turned sideways, and with a thump, landed entrance-downwards onto the Queen. With a bang, the cage door swung shut and it turned until it was in the original direction. The tiara landed inside the cage as the Queen tried to work free the staff that was caught between the door and the cage. She shouted “Whose work is this?” The cage moved until it was directly over the throne, teasing the Queen. She was almost on the throne yet the cage stopped her from sitting in it. With a clang, her own crown fell off and fell between the cage bars down onto her throne. Goldie giggled at the sight. The Queen banged on the cage bars and shouted “Workers! Free me!” Snowflake, who was out of sight, threw on her own invisible veil. Ashley and Ernest ran to the throne room. Just then, Charlotte, under her invisible veil, walked out of the corridor. Seeing the state that the Queen was in, a giggly look crossed her face. Ashley walked outside the castle unnoticed by anyone as Ernest tried to get up to unlock the cage, but the cage was so high up. Picking up the crown, Ernest said “Queen, may I use your crown to free you?” The Queen moaned “Do anything you can. Free me!” Ernest placed the crown on his head and closed his eyes, concentrating. A single beam of light hit the cage and lowered it. However, the door wouldn’t open at all. Ernest pulled off the crown and said “I can’t seem to open it.” Suddenly, a bunch of guards ran past the throne room door and outside the castle where Ashley was standing. They all had non-grey eyes. The Queen moaned from the cage “Let me out!” However, all of the color-eyed guards had run outside and none of them were paying any attention to the Queen. A female guard, the one with pink eyes who was the tallest stood in front of the rest as remarkable changes happened. Her frizzy grey mane gradually turned pink and lost its frizziness, smoothening and twirling as the pink spread, until every single strand had a smooth wave on it. Next, from her hoofs, each leg sent a spiraling wave of pink up. Within moments, she had turned completely pink. She threw off her horn headdress to reveal a long, pointed horn with the twistiest swirl, but it had less glitter than ordinary unicorns. Little by little, the unicorns transformed. Ashley was still grey, but her mane had turned into the most beautiful blue there had been, like the blue of the sky before it was completely dark, and spangled with sparkles. A gradient of sparkles started at the bottom of her hoofs, where it was completely silver, up to her grey body. Even though she didn’t have a horn, she looked magical and beautiful. From her back there extended the longest, smoothest silver-spangled blue-and-grey feather wings anyone had ever seen. The jet stones on her guard’s uniform had turned to sapphires. Soaring over everyone, she landed in front of Charlotte and the little group. Like Charlotte, she could also sense where invisible unicorns where. Sylvie took off her own tiara and polished it. A single blob of darkness fell off from it. The remaining darkness vanished. It was an amazing sight as a great multitude of rainbow unicorns, horses and pegasuses ran around cheering. Putting away her own tiara into her bag, Sylvie said “I can’t believe I am freed.” Ashley twirled and said “It’s amazing. There’s been a long time since I last saw so many colorful equine creatures celebrating together. The reason that we’ve been guards is that the Nightmare Queen had captured us with spells so we would listen to her and blindly follow all her instructions. In her spell she said that if the Queen is helplessly trapped and barely freeable then the spell would be broken. She didn’t believe that would happen, so she decided on that. Not all the guards are captured by spells. Some actually come and ask to be hired, like Ernest.” She said “I can’t believe it!” After gasping and looking around, she said “I’ve never noticed those things before.” They all took off their invisible veils, as a rare ray of sunlight peeked through the clouds. Standing on a makeshift podium, the pink unicorn with the wavy mane said “As we are no longer royal guards, we don’t need our guard’s uniform.” With a loud crashing sound, the previous guards all let their jeweled nets of chains fall onto the floor. Some unicorns, horses and pegasuses peeled off the jewels and put them in their mane or in their pockets or somewhere. Ashley finished peeling off the sapphires and put them in some sort of bag she had. She said “That pink unicorn there is Rosa. She was the leader guard of the transformed creatures, or the Varicolored, as we were called.” Charlotte smiled as Goldie and Sylvie stepped onto the podium with their tiaras. Together, they announced “Equine Kingdom will gladly have you all live there again.” Rosa went to the gates, and shouted “Be free!” With a hard push, the gates swung open as the crowds rushed outside. Back inside the castle, the remaining guards that were not Varicolored took turns freeing the Queen. However, no matter what they tried, nothing worked. Not even using the magic-controlled charcoal tiara. Ashley fixed her fur and said “Luckily this happened or we would be trapped forever.” Another wail of the Queen came from inside the castle. Charlotte said “Let’s go to my house again.” They went together to Charlotte’s house. They also received extra sparkles for their horns but Ashley couldn’t because she was a pegasus. Just then, Rosa went went over. Charlotte asked “Why are you here?” Rosa said “I just wanted to meet my friend Ashley.” On the way to Charlotte’s house, they giggled and chatted. Just then, Charlotte threw a greyness veil over the group again. Seconds later, a Ghoul Patrol flew by chanting “Grey or go away!” It seemed dejected and its speech was despondent. Charlotte said “Oh, why are you so sad?” The ghoul patrol flew down and in its monotonous voice, it said “The queen is trapped.” Floating up again, it continued chanting its old chant of “Grey or go away!” Charlotte tugged the greyness veil off the group. Ashley and Rosa asked “What is that?” Charlotte said “A greyness veil. It makes anyone inside it seem grey.” Ashley gasped in realization “Oh, so that’s why you guys were grey.” Back at Charlotte’s house, they put the clothes back into Charlotte’s box and washed their faces, removing the makeup. Snowflake said “We must do something about the Queen though. We can’t just leave her in a cage forever, as that would be just as cruel as what she did.” Sylvie said “Serves her right for shutting the princess in a cage.” Goldie said “Well, we could trap her somewhere else.” Choco exclaimed “That’s right! Milda!” Charlotte asked “Milda? Who is that?” Choco whispered “Mildred the Magnificent.” Ashley, Sylvie, Rosa and Charlotte gasped. Choco said “What are you guys waiting for? Let’s go!” Taking their bags and greyness veils, they headed to the castle gate. Snowflake shouted “Mildred! Mildred!” Goldie picked up the magic telescope and looked, but Milda wasn’t anywhere. Choco said “We need to shout together.” They shouted “Mildred!” Goldie checked the telescope and said “She’s coming.” Out of the sky came a flutter of wings, and the magnificent Mildred flew down. She sparkled pearly sky blue, and her white mane swished. She asked “Why did you call me to come here?” Snowflake said “We managed to trap the Nightmare Queen in a cage over her throne and we trapped her staff so she can’t use it but we can’t just leave her there.” Mildred replied “Oh! Good job girls. You have kind hearts. Follow me!” They went through the gate and to the throne room. Nobody noticed them as all the guards were still arguing about how to open the cage and trying out all of their ideas. The Nightmare Queen was sitting in the cage, whining and moaning about being trapped. She was looking down at the guards. Some of them had resorted to trying to break the cage bars using swords and saws, but none of them could break a single bar. One guard had even started to bite it with her teeth. None of their efforts were working though. Mildred glanced at the little group and motioned for them to go behind her. With a stare and a swish of her mane, she suddenly silenced the room. All the guards were moving in super slow motion and very quiet. The queen moaned again, but actually, the guards had stopped moving at all and had froze still. A beam of white light shot out of Mildred’s horn and it parted the crowd of guards in half. They all slid sideways until there was a wide lane in the middle. Motioning for the group to stay outside, Mildred walked forwards looking more powerful and majestic than anyone else at the moment. Her white mane fluttered in all directions like there was a breeze. A determined stare was set on her face. She stopped right in front of the Queen and planted every hoof firmly on the ground. The Nightmare Queen stared back at her. In her voice, scary and loud, she asked “What are you doing here?” Mildred replied “Why did you trap Princess Silverhorn? Why did you turn so many innocent good unicorns and horses into your guards that are meant to keep their own kind away? Why did you trap Choco? Huh? Huh? Huh?” The Nightmare Queen replied nonchalantly “That’s what I do, Mildew.” Mildred was angry. “Mildew? Mildew? I am Mildred. Tell me why you trapped Princess Silverhorn.” The Nightmare Queen said “Well, um… ” Mildred interrupted “No lying.” The Nightmare Queen blushed purple, and said “I wanted to rule over the Equine Kingdom like my ancestors of a million years ago.” Mildred replied “I will test if that is the truth, Nightmare.” The Queen said “I want to rule over the entire Equine Kingdom just like my ancient ancestors.” A green light lit up on the tip of Mildred’s horn. She said “That is the truth. However, you cannot become the ruler by stealing the royal heir. There is always someone to take their place if they are taken anyway. By the way, there are two princesses, born to rule together by kindness.” The Nightmare Queen looked seriously embarrassed. Sending a spiral of magic around the cage, Mildred said “If you finally realize you are wrong, the cage will release you.” Turning to the guards, she said “Go outside the room, guards.” The guards galloped into the corridors, glad to be free from the spell that froze them still. Once the guards were outside, the Nightmare Queen said “What are you doing Mildred? Let me out!” Mildred said “You still don’t know you’re wrong. If you know, then the cage will open.” The Nightmare Queen sighed and exclaimed “I know I’m wrong. Okay, let me out.” The cage door swung open, and the Nightmare Queen weakly climbed out, sad about the lost guards. She carefully put away the charcoal tiara and slipped her own crown back on her head. She took her staff and sent the cage back to the ceiling, closing the door. She plonked onto the throne sad, as she polished the jewels on her staff. Just then, a crowd of Ghoul Patrols swarmed in and circled around Mildred chanting “Grey or go away! Grey or go away!” The sadness had left their voices and they meanly closed in on her. Mildred swished her mane, sending them towards the walls, but they came back and circled her again. The Nightmare Queen said “Patrols, free her. She has freed me.” The Ghoul Patrols slowly floated away. Mildred serenely said “You have seeds of kindness in your heart, Nightmare Queen, but you just need to let them bloom. Be kind and help the people of your area. That is the true meaning of kindness, not being mean to people.” The Nightmare Queen let out a rare, dreamy smile, showing that she was thinking of kindness and calm. Mildred blew a silvery mist from her nose that filled the room. She said “Be good, Nightmare Queen, be good.” The Nightmare Queen smiled again, laughed and announced “I now cancel the rule of grey! You don’t have to be grey anymore!” A royal maid noted down the announcement, and within moments, it was broadcasted through Nightmare Hollow. A cheer came from the village, as unicorns of all shapes and sizes rushed out of their houses, adorned in rainbows and sparkling like the sunlight. The heavy clouds broke and cast a golden glow of sunlight on anywhere that hadn’t seen the light since years ago. The Nightmare Queen announced “This place will no longer be called Nightmare Hollow but it will be called Kindness Hollow!” This announcement was also broadcasted into the village. She announced again “Everyone in Kindness Hollow, all my guards, all the inhabitants and guests, and the VIPs Snowflake, Choco, Phoebe, Lana, Princess Goldhorn, Princess Silverhorn and Charlotte, come to my palace ballroom for lunch!”
The End

Tourmaline- A Steven Universe Fanfic
I've shared this in a project before but nobody really saw it

The sunlight slowly bled across the horizon. Golden streams of light trickled across the midnight blue sea and the mauve sky, painting streaks of pink and orange. Morning was dawning across Beach City. Steven awoke to find that Pearl was staring at him- usual, very usual. He got ready for the day when he noticed that Garnet was missing. He asked “Amethyst, have you seen Garnet?” Amethyst shrugged. “She’s left a few hours ago with your dad who needs to go to the car wash early because someone needs a whole bus washed by 12 noon. She predicted something.” Pearl said “We should see what she’s been doing. She doesn’t usually go do things without us.” Amethyst groaned and said “Sure, why not.”

They walked around until they noticed Garnet’s purple-and-red figure huddled over something on the top of a cliff. Pearl said “Let’s go to the nearest warp to get there.” When they got to the cliff, they noticed something was off. There was a circular incision in the ground that wasn’t there before. Garnet said “Some gem will be emerging here, although I do not know why.” Suddenly, the circular patch of ground began to vibrate until a cylindrical piece of soil from where the circular cut was popped out, narrowly missing Pearl’s face, albeit getting soil all over her hair. She groaned and began to try to shake it out. Amethyst said “Oh chill there pearly-whirly, you’ll be fine. It’s just a teensy tad bit of soil!”

“Umm… Hi?” A crisp, melodic voice rang out from behind them. Standing next to the perfectly round hole, there stood a lithe, slender gem. She had pale pink skin. Her long flowing hair was gradient rose pink and chartreuse green, which matched her unfaceted oval forehead gem which was also gradient pink and green. She wore a light chartreuse green sleeveless top with a matching chartreuse green wrap skirt and knee leggings. She wore pink ballerina slippers. One of her eyes were green, the other was pink. She said “I have no idea what happened.” Amethyst, being the closest, said “You’ve just been formed out of the soil, for some random reason!” The gem shyly giggled and may have blushed (although nobody knew if she did because her skin was pink).

A ton of explanations and introductions later, they found that this gem was a tourmaline. From her behaviour, they guessed that she might be some kind of dancer. Pearl was still trying to get the soil out of her hair when Tourmaline said “I’ve thought about it for a while now. I think I might stay with you.”

Greg was rather confused but ready to accept Tourmaline into their house. Bismuth was fine with another gem as well, but Lapis was frustrated. Why? Well, she met another tourmaline before, and that tourmaline had been kind of rude to her. Also, Peridot was a little annoyed.

Later that afternoon, they realized that Tourmaline was missing. Peridot announced in her nasally voice “According to my VERY PRECISE calculations Tourmaline should be on the beach next to the rotten tree trunk.” Lapis piped in. “And by very precise calculations, you mean that you’ve used a pair of binoculars and randomly waved it around until you spotted something pink and green.” Peridot jumped up and down in a huff of rage until Garnet took off her glasses to stare at her.

Pearl said “I’ll go find her.” Steven said “I’ll come too.” They walked to the rotten tree trunk on the beach where they found Tourmaline. She was staring at the sea forlornly and she seemed very absent. Steven called “Hey Tourmaline?” Jerked out of her torpor suddenly, within barely half a second, Tourmaline squatted slightly, moved one foot backwards, put her left hand in front and in her right hand, she held a glimmering pink-and-green gradient translucent long scimitar with a fabric tail of gradient pink and green fabric (in that iconic Mulan pose- I know you know it, don’t deny it). However, seeing that it was only Pearl and Steven, the severe expression upon her delicate, dainty features softened and the scimitar dissipated into a puff of sparkles. With some applause, Pearl said “You summoned your gem weapon on your first day? That’s a new record for everyone I know!” Tourmaline maybe-blushed and said “Aww, thanks. I’ve just been practicing.” She gestured at the moss-covered tree stump, which was now also covered with a messy barrage of slash marks. Pearl said “Since you would like to practice, how would you like it if we practiced in the Sky Arena?” Confused, Tourmaline asked “Where?” Pearl said “You’ll see. Why don’t you follow me?”

A while later, in the Sky Arena, Tourmaline managed to keep five holo-pearls away from herself at once while Pearl clapped her hands with an encouraging smile, although she also looked a teeny bit jealous. After all five of the holo-pearls were poofed in a single swing, Tourmaline sat down in the middle of the floor and smiled. Pearl said “Well done! I think that’s enough practice for a day.” Tourmaline agreed so the two of them went to the warp pad.

In the beach house, Tourmaline was busy asking Garnet about a multitude of things once she had figured out she had future vision, which she answered one by one and tilted her visor this way and that. Although Garnet generally kept to her regular emotionless face, all these questions piling on her began to scratch through her deadpan facade. She rubbed her temples and said “I think my future vision is tired, Tourmaline.” Tourmaline argued “But it’s just been a hundred and thirty questions! Could you do a few more?” With a groan, Garnet replied “Sure.” However, by ‘a few’, Tourmaline meant several hundred, so this caused a bit of a situation. This went on to the point where Garnet got up and went to sit somewhere else. Within a few moments, everyone realized Garnet was suddenly entirely silent and scrunching her brows in concentration. A shuddery glow emanated from her hands… and suddenly she unfused. Sapphire continued to sit there rubbing her temples with her teeth clenched, while Ruby muttered something about crazy and wrong predictions and paced all over the place. Sapphire said to Ruby “It’s just one of several thousands of possibilities, and it might just be the most unlikely one. Nobody said that it’s 100% guaranteed to happen.” With that, Ruby went to the door in the back of the house and went into her own room. Seeing Sapphire, Amethyst suggested “Why don’t you try not to predict stuff tonight? Like temporarily focus on the present or something.” Sapphire slowly nodded and went to her own room. A brief glimpse from the doorway showed a dim but glowing hollow with crystalline blue icicles that served as lights.

Later that night, Tourmaline sat on the sofa doodling on some paper because she didn’t have a room. Steven was in his bed, sleeping. Minutes ticked by, and the pile of drawings on the sofa grew taller and taller. The night sky outside was perfectly clear, showing a great multitude of glistening stars and a pearly-white moon. Waves sloshed across the sandy shore, bringing seashells and seaweed onto the yellow-brown grains. But something felt wrong.

Steven woke up with a start. His shirt had bunched up on one side of his body from his sleep. As he tried to fix it without moving, he suddenly noticed a pink-and-green translucent blade poised next to his gem, which was showing because of his bunched-up shirt. He quietly yelped and looked at the figure who stood beside him. A tall, slender shadow illuminated by the moonlight was there. He quietly scolded “Tourmaline? What are you doing?” With the sudden realization that Steven was awake, the glistening knife retracted backwards. She stuttered “Eh… eh… well, you see, there was a cockroach walking across your gem…” Not believing a single word, Steven scolded again “Tourmaline?” The tall gem once again lunged at the glistening rosy-tinted diamond set in flesh. Steven quickly summoned his shield and blocked it. As if in slow motion, the gradient scimitar slipped from Tourmaline’s grip and bounced on the glossy pink material. The shining blade flipped around midair and flew towards the pink-and-green existence. The tip of the blade pierced through the tall gem which began to glow with a shuddering light. A loud explosion noise echoed through the house as the pinkish-green glow erupted into dusty clouds. There was a faint tinkle as the gem fell onto the hardwood floorboards. Steven quickly bubbled it, saying “Sorry about that.” before sending it to the temple.

The temple door began to glow and Ruby’s gem lit up. The door opened and Ruby ran out, straight towards Steven. She asked “What happened? Tourmaline’s gem just appeared in the temple! I was counting bubbles when it just suddenly appeared!” Steven sighed and explained it all. Ruby grunted and said “I KNEW that the prediction was true! Sapphire just kept denying it…” She stomped her foot, revealing a charred footprint on the floor. She angrily marched towards the sofa, leaving a trail of footprints. She moaned. Steven said “It’s okay, we’ll figure it out tomorrow, but let’s look through her doodles.” They leafed through the many pages until they found something interesting- a drawing of Spinel being majestic. Ruby muttered “Hmm, never seen Spinel as majestic before…” Just then, the door lit up. Blue sparkles flickered across it before it opened into Sapphire’s icicle cave. She picked up her skirts and stepped out. Seeing Ruby, a lilac blush momentarily flickered across her cheeks before it faded again. She said “Sorry about last night, Ruby.” Ruby turned around and shouted “Well, you denied the whole possibility!” Soon, there was a one-way argument going on. As in Ruby was doing all the yelling and Sapphire just stood there with a deadpan expression. A few minutes later, the sound of a key was heard in the main door of the house, which opened. Greg stepped in, his hair all over the place. He sleepily groaned “Can you guys quiet down? I can hear you from the van.” Ruby momentarily stopped talking. But once the door closed, the argument resumed. Suddenly, Sapphire quietly said “It was a ruse.” Ruby stopped in her tracks, and clearly missing what Sapphire said, she asked “What did you say?” Sapphire said “It was a ruse. Remember last night when Tourmaline asked us questions? She was doing that to trouble us so I would ‘turn off’ my future vision and so that we would unfuse because she thinks we are a threat.” Ruby gasped and hugged Sapphire so suddenly that she stumbled. A trembling glow appeared and enveloped the two of them, and Garnet existed again. She appeared sitting on the floor, a rare smile on her usually emotionless face. Then, her expression reverted to its usual poker face as she stood up. She said “Once the other gems come, we’re visiting Spinel.” They sat and waited and waited for the sun to rise.

When the other gems heard what had happened, they were determined to figure out what was going on. Pearl was extremely annoyed that she didn’t manage to stop the situation herself. They headed to the warp pad, Pearl still annoyingly muttering angry phrases. The warp pad lit up and shimmered as everyone on it vanished…

At the same time, the warp on Homeworld in what used to be Pink’s room lit up. It was then that Steven spotted Spinel. The stretchy gem had a gleeful smile on her face, which no longer had the tear streaks. One of her arms were extended to a really long length. Pink Pearl held the other end of the arm and Blue and Yellow Pearl were playing jump rope with Spinel’s arm. Seeing the Crystal Gems, Spinel shrank her arm in an instant, causing the three pearls to simultaneously faceplant onto the floor. As they struggled to get up, Spinel ran towards Steven. She asked “What are you here for? Parties?” Steven’s face showed a sad smile then it wilted into a serious face. He told her about Tourmaline and what happened. Suddenly, Spinel’s smile flooped upside-down. Then suddenly, she began to cry. Big, wet tears rolled down her face, painting on new tear streaks. She groaned “How could I have forgotten!” She proceeded to scrunch her hands into her hair.

After a few moments, Spinel had finally stopped crying, and she began to explain. “So remember before when I came to earth with the injector? Yeah, so back then I didn’t understand stuff and didn’t want you to exist, so I decided to destroy the life on earth. However, I was worried that I would fail. So before I left, I decided to create a gem as well, knowing that the particular section of that cliff would not be tainted by the poison, so I took some of the old gem-creating stuff, put my own precise orders into that and buried it into the top of that cliff. I was going to make it so if I failed to get rid of you then that gem would come out and do it. That was why Tourmaline tried to take out your gem.” Tears flowed anew. Then, Spinel half-sobbed and said “I can reprogram her gem if you want. This will be permanent, unlike the rejuvenator.” With a grimace, Pearl took Tourmaline’s gradient gem out of her own gem. It was in four bubbles, one on top of another. Spinel wiped away her tears and stood up. She took the gem and went to a wall, where a large console was. Spinel sobbed “I don’t know if you’ll ever forgive me for this, but I’m really sorry.” With a hard push, she popped all four bubbles and placed the gem into a small clasp on the console. The whole console began to glow. Spinel pushed some dials and moved some knobs. Then she said “Steven, come here and look at this.” Spinel brushed her hand across one of the floating panels until it showed a list of traits. Spinel removed the one that had been programmed to try and destroy Steven, and instead replaced it with elegance- despite the elegance already taking up most of the list. Then she said “I’ll need some of the gem creating liquid.” Pink Pearl nodded understandingly and produced a little bottle from her gem, which Spinel poured into a hole in the console. A lid closed over Tourmaline’s gem as the whole set of panels vibrated. A chiming noise was heard as the lid opened once again. Spinel said “This should be fine. You just need to wait for her to reform.” The Crystal Gems took Tourmaline’s gem and stepped on the warp pad. Spinel found a small bit of tissue and wiped away the tear stains on her face.

Back at the temple, Bismuth was standing at the gem door. She gestured at the door, which opened to a forge- Bismuth’s new workplace. She grabbed a handful of ores and put them under a stream of lava, then got to work. She hammered and hammered at it, not knowing what she should make when the warp pad lit up. It was then that Bismuth realized she forgot to close the door, but she shrugged. It didn’t matter.

Seeing Bismuth, Garnet said “Spinel’s fixed Tourmaline’s gem.” Seeing her confused face, she told her about everything that had happened. Bismuth said “Well, why don’t we make her a welcome back gift?” Saying that, she morphed her hand into a hammer and continued banging on the molten metal. Something began to take shape, making the glowing red rectangle into a little loop. The little loop became thinner and rounder. A while later, Bismuth morphed her hand into a little pointed tool and began to poke patterns into the metal piece. After a while, she placed the piece into a tub of water. Then, she presented what she had made- a floral patterned filigree silver bracelet. Pearl smiled in approval. Amethyst moaned “There’s still like a whole day today. Quit yabbering about like a bunch of corrupted pebbles!” Garnet said “I suggest we try and teach Peridot how to walk properly.” Pearl added “Peridot still walks as though she has limb enhancers, causing her to be quite clumsy at times because her natural feet are not some weird metal attachment.”

So, for the rest of the day, the gems coached Peridot on how to walk properly while she grunted in frustration. Lapis tried to help by using water to control her feet to walk right, but she started complaining about wet feet. They tried method after method, until Amethyst’s method proved to be useful- dog poop. She had found a pile of the disgusting stuff nearby, so she laid it out in the outline of a proper walking pattern. Peridot had to avoid stepping in the nasty droppings, so her feet fell into the right place at last. However, Pearl was very grumpy at the mess caused by Peridot’s feet. At least they weren’t indoors…

Days after days passed, and still Tourmaline’s gem had no sign of doing anything. Deep inside Tourmaline’s gem though, changes were happening. The pink-and-green gem’s consciousness sat in the center of the minerals that made in her gem, carefully repairing her energy bit by bit. It was hard work, but she knew that if she was to reform properly she had to connect the parts of energy exactly. She had felt the changes- a voice had told her exactly what changes were being made, and something in her made sure she would listen to these changes. Was she plugged into a trait-changer console? Probably. The voice sounded robotic with a twinge of Steven’s voice, so gem creating liquid was probably involved, precisely what used to be Pink Diamond’s supply of the liquid. There was still a huge towering tank of it kept for future uses, even though the rebellious leader herself no longer existed. She had no physical form at this point, but she had some kind of telekinesis that could move parts of energy so she could arrange it properly. She enjoyed the soft glow inside her gem, but she knew she had to finish arranging the energy parts properly in order to reform. Something told her exactly how to put it together. As she slotted the last two pieces into the abstract lump that was going to be her consciousness, she felt the glow become brighter.

In the living room of the beach house, Steven sat staring at Tourmaline’s gem which laid on a towel on the floor. He was still waiting when suddenly, veins of light began to trickle out of underneath the gem. The light swirled around the gradient stone and completely enveloped it as it rose upwards. It sprouted limbs and shimmered a bit as it grew into a glowing shape of Tourmaline. Then, some colors began to appear. A pink skirt, a green top and lighter greenish yellow leggings. The rest of the colors began to appear. Then, Tourmaline appeared and floated to the floor. She wore green ballerina flats with an ankle strap now. The rest of her clothes remained similar, except for one thing- her green top now bore the star symbol of the Crystal Gems. It was in a yellowish green color, only subtly showing on the green material. Seeing Steven, she exclaimed “I am so sorry about what I’ve done! Luckily Spinel reprogrammed me. I’ve never actually met her but I do know what she looks like.” She stretched her arms and leapt upwards, letting her feet do three scissor kicks before she landed again. She said “I’ve decided to join the Crystal Gems.”

Bismuth gave her the bracelet which Tourmaline stored in her gem, much to Pearl’s surprise because up to that point she had thought only pearls could store things in their gems, but Tourmaline did it, so that could prove to be useful. What followed was a series of welcome backs and hugs, but Tourmaline felt like she was ready- ready for anything that was to come.

—————————————————————————————————————————-

Tourmaline, a tall slender gem with long straight gradient pink and green hair, a gradient pink and green forehead gem, pink skin, one pink eye and one green eye, a vest top bearing the star of the Crystal Gems, a pink wrap skirt, chartreuse leggings and green ballerina flats with ankle straps walked along the beach. To be fair, more of danced along the beach. She had a light skip beneath her toes and she put in a little twirl every few steps.

She liked the feeling of the wind in her hair as she hopped along the coastline. Of course, she knew where she was going- she wasn’t going to dance into the water anytime soon, but she kept fairly close to the edge of the water. It was then that she noticed an anomaly- there was some big pink thing in the sky. She ran back to the beach house and notified everyone. By then, that thing was close enough to see that it was a Roaming Eye ship- except it was pink rather than red, and it didn’t have the weird lens thing on it. Meaning that it wasn’t here to scan anything. Pearl sighed in relief- they didn’t need to hide from it. With a puff of dust, the bottom of the ship reached the top of the cliff- but the top part of the ship was still in the sky, stretching it out rather than breaking in two. Then, the top joined the bottom in a slinky-like motion. Everyone looked kind of confused as ships usually didn’t stretch. Then, the top of the ship bent sideways and the end went on top of it, like a slinky. It flipped once more until it was the right way up, then the door opened. From a distance, they saw a familiar silhouette moving in a familiar way. Spinel was here! The gems dissipated their weapons and ran to where the stretchy pink gem was. Spinel exclaimed “Hello friends! Hey, WHO’s this new friend?” She extended her arm and wrapped it around Tourmaline’s shoulders. Tourmaline replied “I’m Tourmaline.” With a gasp, Spinel exclaimed “Oh wow, it’s you! Just look at you- prettier than I ever imagined you would be! Only thing is that you aren’t stretchy, but that’s normal since you’re not a spinel. Well! Let’s liven things up, shall we!” With an eager smile, Tourmaline made her hands into a reversed heart shape and said “Yes my Spinel.” Spinel giggled “Oh, you don’t need to do that! It’s cute but we’re honestly equal here. No need for such formalities.” Then, turning to Steven, she said “Guess what? I got my own ship! And it strrrreeeeeeeeeeeettttches! You can even work it like a slinky!” The pink gem giggled and laughed as she extended her arms to hug everyone. Then, she began to sing. “Today, right here, right now, I’m excited! Just like everyone here. Yes I know that I am here and you are here, you know that it’s great to have friends, you are so amazing to be with!” She started bouncing along to her own singing. Tourmaline started joining in the bouncing, and soon everyone was bouncing.

THE ENDDDDDDDDDDDDD

MLP Equestria Girls Fanfic- The Sirens of Hypnotism

I've also shared this one before in a project but not many people saw it
The timeline doesn't even make sense because for some reason human world Twilight appears in this story even though they technically shouldn't have met yet.

Ever since the Sirens were defeated, CHS was in a quiet state. The Rainbooms were missing Twilight greatly, although Sunset constantly wrote to her about recent updates in their life. In the school, although the Sirens no longer could sing to enchant, they would still make many snarky comments at whoever crossed their path. Adagio Dazzle, the Sirens’s leader, was spotted wearing several new studded purple bangles that Trixie was quite envious of. Everything in the school had pretty much gone back to what it was before.

The Sirens lived in a house near the school. Right after school, Sonata was trying to see how many tacos she could fit in the microwave to heat up while the other two sighed and watched. Aria left to her room with the world’s biggest scowl on her face. Although it was Monday, Sonata was insisting on all three of them having the twenty-one tacos she had just heated up. She did not want to wait for Taco Tuesday. A while later, Aria returned, wearing a necklace she had made from the shattered shards of her red jewel. Seeing that, Adagio grinned. Maybe she could make some use of the pieces!

Early next morning, Pinkie was screaming in people’s ears. They had decided to have a sleepover at her place, and she wanted to wake everyone up all at once. Rainbow Dash yawned and said “I need more sleep. And this room needs to be like 20% cooler.” Saying that, she mushed her head into a pillow and began to snore almost immediately. Rarity was on a rant. “A girl ought to have her beauty sleep! You want me to get dark circles? They are absolutely nightmare material to anybody who focuses on fashion!” In her sleep, Applejack muttered “Apple juice and apple sauce. This is a house-wide shouting match!”

In the school, the Sirens were busy already. Adagio pressed a shard of the red jewel into glue then into one of her purple bracelets. Aria and Sonata followed, and soon the bracelets each had a shard in them. Adagio put them back on and pressed one of the bracelet’s studs. An almost identical duplicate appeared in her hand, while the one on her wrist turned from purple to white. She sneered and said “We will gain power and take over the school again. Just you wait, CHS, just you wait!”

Twilight walked into the school, her face buried in a book, followed by Sunset, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy. Rarity was walking at the back of the group. She wore a lilac top with long, trailing sleeves that were so long in the back they reached her knees but were short in the front, revealing her colorful bangles that were in pink and blue. Behind a pillar, Adagio watched as they walked. When Rarity walked past, she stepped out from her hiding place. She lifted Rarity’s chin with a finger, and said “How do you do, darling Rari-pear?” Rarity angrily replied “Go away, Adagio. I know you’re up to something.” Adagio smirked. “Or are we?” She replied, lifting Rarity’s chin even higher and stepping on her toes. Rarity responded with a yelp of pain, windmilling her arms around, her bangles hitting each other and producing a din of clicking sounds. In that brief moment of chaos, Adagio discreetly slipped the duplicate purple bracelet onto Rarity’s right wrist. Having done that, she lifted her foot off Rarity’s toes, lowered her finger from Rarity’s chin and strutted off. Rarity said to the little group “I told you they were up to no good.” Twilight closed her book, adjusted her glasses and said “She seems more arrogant than always. I’ll have to find a scientific explanation to this.” Applejack face-palmed.

That’s when Rarity’s eyes went blank. She staggered backwards, wobbling her arms. Her bangles clanged. Sunset raced over and grabbed Rarity before she fell onto anything. Suddenly, Rarity’s eyes came back- and they were small and demeaning- with a faint glint of green and red. She dusted herself off, then stared steely-eyed at Sunset and snapped “I don’t need your help, crown-stealing fire demon.” Sunset and the little group gasped. Rarity said “I’ve got more important things to do.” Saying that, she sashayed off. Sunset said “I think the Sirens are up to something.” From inside her bag, she pulled out the notebook she used to write to the pony Twilight, and began to write.

Adagio returned to the Sirens, her face triumphant. She said “With these bracelets, we can successfully control those stinky Rain-poops. We have so many shattered shards we can probably give those affected replacement bracelets after a while, then we can control the whole school!” Sonata guffawed and fell over, which resulted in a slap from Aria. Sonata got up and asked “Adagio, when did you become an expert in hypnotism?” Adagio snickered. “Every since I was a baby, Sonata!” Just then, Rarity walked over. Aria watched. Did it work? Seeing the Sirens, Rarity said “Hi girls! Got any cool plans?” Adagio smiled. She said “Get the Rainbooms in trouble.” Rarity giggled. “What a fantastic idea!” She said. In her fanciest voice, Aria said “You will always be amazing, the bedazzling, jeweled Rarity.” Rarity giggled, and skipped off to cause trouble.

Rarity was certainly good at causing trouble. In art class, she knocked over the paint and blamed it on Pinkie. In science class, she made Fluttershy break glassware by tripping her. Then, recess came. Rarity ran straight to the Sirens. Seeing that, Rainbow Dash said “Those sirens, they are really up to something. Why would Rarity- our beloved Rarity- do this to us? I’m sure even if she was offered the most valuable fabric or the prettiest dress in the world, she still wouldn’t do this!” Twilight was busy with calculations. She had several pencils perched behind both ears, and she scribbled away. She said “It must have to do with the Sirens’ red jewels. But how? I thought those jewels were shattered!” Saying that, she returned to scribbling in her notebook. Sunset was looking in her journal, waiting for the pony Twilight to reply.

After a while, she looked up. She said “Pony Twilight says it has to do with the red jewels. She said that sometimes if old magical amulets are broken, some power may still stay in the shards. The shards will not produce as strong a power as the original object, but they still have use.” Fluttershy whispered “It might be the bracelet. In class, I was counting Rarity’s bracelets. She had one extra than last night. This one is purple and studded.” Sunset turned the journal around to show the other girls. There was a detailed diagram pony Twilight had drawn that showed how magic is gradually lost as magical talismans break down. Before they could talk more, the bell rang.

It was music class, and when they got there, they found Rarity in the room already, deep in conversation with Sonata. Applejack was meant to learn the flute that day. The music teacher told her to blow into the flute. She blew- and a great mass of ink flew out. Rarity had placed ink inside the flute. Applejack was mortified. She dropped the flute and asked “Is that what’s supposed to happen when you huff a gallon’s worth of air into this flutey-tooty?” The music teacher sighed and Rarity giggled.

It was lunchtime. Sonata was carrying a mountain of tacos on her plate, because it was taco tuesday. Twilight was eyeing the taco filling suspiciously, as if a monster would come crawling out. The truth was that the taco filling didn’t taste good unless a lot of condiments were added into it. Pinkie didn’t even bother with the taco filling. Instead, she layered three taco shells on top of each other, putting yogurt between each layer. Then, she drenched the entire concoction in ketchup- before attempting to shove the entire thing into her mouth.

However, Rarity was not taking part in this lunchtime business. She held her lunch in her left hand- a taco shell filled with salad- and in her right hand, she held Twilight’s favourite sparkly purple gel pen. She crept into the principals’ empty office, then in her best imitation of Twilight’s handwriting, she wrote on every sheet of Principal Celestia’s notepad- “Rarity is a disaster.” She giggled to herself “Nobody’s going to think I wrote this!” She munched at her lunch and walked out with a smug smile on her face. After putting Twilight’s pen back on her desk so nobody would suspect anything, she picked up Rainbow Dash’s shoes. Because they had PE next and it was swimming class, Rainbow Dash had already changed into flip-flops and left her shoes under her desk. Rarity took this as a great chance to get her into trouble. She ran outside and coated the shoes in mud before going back inside to stamp muddy prints all over the hallway floor. Because everyone was in the cafeteria, the hallways were deserted, so nobody knew what she was doing.

PE went by in a flash. This time, Rarity attempted no more pranks, but instead she spent a lot of time talking her mouth off with Aria. At the end of class, in the changing room, Twilight paced back and forth, her hair scrambled and wet, but she made no effort to get changed. Instead, she had her notebook in her hands again and she was writing page after page of equations. Rarity was at the sink, reapplying lipstick. After a few minutes, Applejack was concerned Twilight wouldn’t get to class on time. She shouted “Twilight! You’ve got to get changed!” Twilight sighed and put down her notebook. While Twilight was occupied with finding her clothes, Rarity once again took the chance- and wrote “Rarity is a disaster” into Twilight’s notebook- using Twilight’s spare glittery purple pen. She crossed it out and wrote it again just underneath. She capped the pen and walked off.

The girls were about to go to class when Principal Luna called on the PA that she wanted to see all of them including Sunset at the office- all except Rarity. In a singsong voice, Rarity taunted “You’re all in trouble girls!” Sonata and Aria joined in the taunting. The girls carried their belongings and headed to the office.

In the office, Principal Luna sat at her desk. She looked at the girls and asked “Who’s been causing trouble?” The girls looked at each other. Then, Twilight spoke. “We suspect it’s the Dazzlings. This morning, Adagio stepped on Rarity’s toes, then right after that, she kind of went on their side and started to try to get us into trouble.” Fluttershy whispered “Umm… in science class she deliberately tripped me with her foot so I would break the beaker I was holding. I was cut by the glass.” She showed Principal Luna the bandage on the back of her hand. Principal Luna exclaimed “Rarity? Why, it couldn’t be her! Maybe you tripped?” Saying that, from the desk, she picked up a notepad- covered in purple glitter gel pen words saying “Rarity is a disaster.” She said “Twilight, are you sure this is not your work? Rarity is not one to call herself a disaster, from what I know. Also, this is written in your favourite pen, is it not? It looks quite like your handwriting as well.”

Rainbow Dash said “It’s not her fault. She was with us all day! All recess and lunch. Also, she was scribbling in her notebook figuring out why Rarity was acting like this!” Principal Luna asked “Is it you then? I saw your muddy footprints all over the entrance hallway.” Rainbow Dash exclaimed “My footprints! I haven’t been in the mud at all today, and I’ve seen those prints. They don’t even line up to a walking path or running path. They aren’t even the slight bit smeared as well. I ran in this morning! How could they be not smeared?” Principal Luna asked “Twilight? Can I see the notebook?” Twilight handed it to Principal Luna. She flipped through the pages- and stopped on the page where Rarity had written “Rarity is a disaster.” Principal Luna turned it around and showed the girls. “Looks like she’s been practicing as well!” Twilight said “I did not write that. Honest.” Applejack said “I’ve seen Rarity talking extremely happily to the Sirens today! Have they ever said a nice word to anyone except between themselves?” Principal Luna said “How do I know you’re not making this up to frame her?” Applejack exclaimed “I’ve never said anything dishonest!”

Suddenly, Pinkie went serious. Her curly hair went straight. In an extremely somber voice, she said “Check the CCTV.” Suddenly, she smiled and giggled. Her hair puffed up again. She exclaimed “Or we could launch a party cannon at her and see if she confesses!” Principal smiled a bit, and said “No party cannons, Pinkie. However, we can check the CCTV. You’re right.” She turned on the computer and began to click. Then, footage began to show up. There was a video of Rarity kicking over Pinkie’s paint, a video of her making Fluttershy trip over, a video of her filling the flute with ink, a video of her scribbling in the notepad and a video of her running outside with Rainbow Dash’s shoes in her hands and coming back in with them caked in mud then pressing them on the floor. Fluttershy gasped quietly.

After watching all the videos, they were sure it was the sirens that were responsible for putting Rarity on their side. The only problem was that the video of Adagio putting the bracelet on Rarity was blurry due to the fact that someone had squeezed their squishy sports bottle too hard and got water on the ceiling, splashing the camera. Principal Luna said “Me and Principal Celestia will try to work this out. However, I heard you are quite experienced in this magic stuff already, so I will allow you to help fix this- as long as you focus on your studies equally as much.”

The girls arrived late to Design class with a note from Principal Luna saying that she may have caused the lateness. Rarity was there already. They were supposed to design and create a fashion collection inspired by a fruit- and Rarity was already half done with the sewing, even though it was the second lesson of starting to make the outfits. Seeing the girls, Rarity said “In trouble girls? Luckily I’m not!” Just then, Sunset’s journal glowed. She opened it to find a message from pony Twilight that said that their best try was to remove the bracelet. At the other end of the room, Aria was busy sewing a button onto a skirt.

Overhearing the conversation, she quickly told Adagio who made two duplicate bracelets. Two of her own bracelets went white. Aria held the duplicate bracelets and went over to the girls. She asked Fluttershy how her project was going. Fluttershy looked at Aria, shrugged and went back to sketching her designs. Aria tapped Fluttershy and asked the same thing. Fluttershy ignored. After five more times of the same question, Fluttershy turned around and looked at Aria. She was angry but she tried not to let it show. She placed her hand on Aria’s shoulder and said quietly “I’m trying to concentrate.”

On cue, outside the room, Sonata let loose a bee into the room. The room erupted in chaos. Using this chance, Aria put a bracelet on Fluttershy and a bracelet on Twilight before returning to her seat. Fluttershy quickly opened the window closest to the bee and went back to her seat when she staggered and blinked several times. She flicked her arms and wobbled. Her eyes went blank then reappeared. Suddenly, she stood on her chair and began to call something at the open window. Moments later, many squirrels swarmed in from the opening holding acorns and pelting them at the students’ heads. The teacher yelled for everyone to calm down, but the squirrels were causing a mess. In the midst of the pandemonium, Fluttershy, Rarity, Twilight and the sirens stood, unaffected and smug. Only ten minutes later did Fluttershy tell the squirrels to leave.

Next morning, Twilight was at school early and was already in the science lab. The first lesson was science. In the lab, Twilight burnt sulfur and mixed chemicals together. After a while, she had a slimy clear gel- which she spread on the teacher’s chair. Then, she coated that with oil and spread something else on top. Having done that, she removed the stained blue rubber gloves on her hands and the splattered goggles on her face. She hung the lab coat she was wearing back onto a rack- then she left the science lab pretending nothing had happened.

At the start of science class, the teacher sat onto the chair. Suddenly, from the chair, there came a peculiar sound of foam rising, then the teacher found herself stuck to the chair with a large rubbery mound of foam accumulating on her backside- and she did not like that. She shouted at the class. Nobody owned up, so she took a pair of scissors, cut the foam off, and went to the principal’s office. Everyone in the class was amused by the fact that the teacher was walking around with a mound of yellow, rubbery foam on her rear end.

After a while, the teacher returned to the room to find that the foam on the chair had risen like a squishy yellow column to the ceiling. In the back of the room, Twilight and Sonata giggled as Twilight described the process of creating this instant foam to Sonata. The whole class was so noisy, the sound reached the roof. The teacher shouted “It’s not April Fools!” but nobody cared. The teacher had no idea who would do something this mean. The sirens smiled. Even though they had no more pendants to absorb any negative energy, they still loved to watch a good prank. Even without their pendants, they found themselves absorbing some of the power. It was then that Adagio found that some of her singing skills had come back, although nowhere as good as before. She whispered “Our power is slowly returning.” She looked inside her bracelets. Every gem shard was glowing and pulsing with red light.

During recess that day, Sunset, Applejack, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash gathered together. They were all concerned. Sunset said “Let’s try to make sure the sirens and the girls don’t put purple bracelets on us.” Just then, Twilight came over. Her normally neat hair was askew and her clothes were splattered. She looked at the girls and said “Discussing how to stop this? Nothing will work, so give up!” Rainbow Dash grabbed the bracelet on Twilight’s wrist and pulled. However, something was holding it there- and it seemed to have no intention of coming off. She said “Listen, Twilight. What you did today in science…” She paused. When she had said the word science, the bracelet had vibrated. She held the bracelet, looked into Twilight’s eyes and said firmly “Science.” With a dull click, the bracelet vanished. Twilight blinked a few times and exclaimed “What was I up to this morning? I felt like I was being controlled. Something was oppressing my good side so I ended up just being naughty! I should help the science teacher undo the foaming rubber.” Saying that, she ran off to the science teachers’ office to find the teacher.

Adagio was celebrating with Rarity and Fluttershy when one of her bracelets went from white back to purple. She muttered “Twilight’s been freed.” She felt that bracelet that had just changed color- it was icy cold. She shouted “I’ll get you Twilight!” On Rarity’s face, a sneaky smile appeared. From her bag, she pulled out a bolt of fabric. She rolled it across the hallway, the fabric unfurling as she did so. Then, Rainbow Dash ran past. Rarity pulled.

“Ow!!!!!!!!!” That was the response Rainbow Dash gave when she tripped. “That’s the eighth time I twisted my left ankle!” Rarity giggled. Sonata walked over, carrying one of Adagio’s duplicate bracelets. Rainbow Dash moved across the floor on her hands and knees- towards Rarity. She grabbed Rarity’s purple bracelet- the same time as Sonata put the duplicate bracelet on Rainbow Dash. Before the bracelet took effect, Rainbow Dash looked into Rarity’s eyes and said “Fashion.” Rarity blinked and gasped. Quickly realizing what was happening, Rarity grabbed Rainbow Dash’s bracelet and said “Sports.” The bracelet vanished. Before the sirens could put more bracelets on them, Rarity took the fabric she had thrown earlier, wrapped it around Rainbow Dash’s injured ankle and left together. Seeing that, Fluttershy groaned quietly “Who’s got a better plan?” Adagio looked at the bracelets on her wrist and sighed.

For the rest of the day, there was no more trouble, except Fluttershy and the sirens were always scheming in the corner and stopping anyone from removing Fluttershy’s bracelet. Aria laughed at Rainbow Dash, who was limping around with a lump of bandages on her left foot. Pinkie was so busy with thinking of plans to stop the sirens that she couldn’t even pay attention in class- not that she normally did anyway.

Next morning at school, Fluttershy stood near the entrance. On her wrist, there was no sign of the purple bracelet, but that mean grin remained on her face. What was it? Then, it became clear as she flicked her hair. She had a new hairclip, exactly the same color as the purple bracelet- and it was faintly glowing.

The girls tried and tried to free Fluttershy, but they did not know what was keeping her under the sirens’ influence. Sunset said “Well, remember the pony Twilight wrote that the magic of talismans can be bestowed upon other objects? Maybe they used something else instead of a bracelet.” Rainbow Dash walked over on a pair of crutches. Fluttershy had tripped her twice more so she would land on the injured foot again. She grumbled “We’d better fix this fast because this is honestly really bad for my legs if she’s going to trip me over every day. I’ve twisted this ankle ten times now. Not to mention my right foot is starting to hurt as well. I’ve twisted that ankle five times.” Just then, Fluttershy walked past with a grin. She kicked one of Rainbow Dash’s crutches, and she nearly fell again, but luckily Sunset grabbed her arm before she fell.

Twilight came over and said “Have you noticed? There are a lot of people arguing today.” Just then, the sirens walked past, softly humming. Their bracelets glowed red and a greenish aura wafted around them. Once they were out of earshot, Sunset exclaimed “They’re up to the same old tricks again! Their voices have improved too!” She pulled out the journal and wrote to pony Twilight. However, the only response she got was “Sorry, Twilight’s been really busy lately and will not be available until next month.” and it was clearly Spike’s handwriting. Sunset groaned. She said “Pony Twilight’s so busy that Spike wrote this. He said pony Twilight will not be available until next month.” Twilight said “Well, I could see whether the people at Crystal Prep want to help, but I’m guessing not a lot of people will.”

By recess, the whole school had erupted in argument. No corner was unfilled with sounds of people shouting at each other. That was except for Twilight, Sunset, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, Applejack and Rarity. That was when Rarity came up with an idea- an idea so brilliant she could barely stop smiling. She said “Why don’t I just pretend to be influenced by Adagio’s magic?” Saying that, from her bag, she took out a grey studded bracelet from her bag. She said “With two strokes of paint, this will exactly resemble Adagio’s bracelet!” Saying that, she went to the art room.

At lunchtime, people were running and arguing everywhere. Rarity was wearing the fake purple bracelet. She was a great actor, and her performance of the magic-influenced Rarity was very convincing. She went over to Fluttershy and said “Flutter-shy-shy! Planning any good pranks?” At first, Fluttershy looked skeptically at Rarity, but seeing the bracelet, she said “Why don’t we put glue on the art room floor? By the end of the lesson, everyone’s feet will be stuck solid!” Rarity giggled, then said “Great! Well, but your hair’s kind of messy. Let me fix it for you.” Saying that, Rarity ran her hand through Fluttershy’s hair and began to braid it. Fluttershy smiled. Then, halfway through braiding, Rarity held the purple hairclip and said “Animals and nature.” Within a second, the hair clip dissolved into nothing. Fluttershy gasped and asked “What happened?” Rarity said “I made a fake bracelet. I know we need to get together and not to get influenced by the sirens’ magic. They have gained power, and we have to stop them.”

After school, the girls came together again. Twilight said “I’ve called the Crystal Prep girls. Sour Sweet and Sugarcoat both agreed to help but nobody else did. They’re coming in an hour.” Sunset was about to say something when the journal started to glow. Surprised, she opened it to find a short message from Twilight. It said “I’m really busy, Sunset. However, I sent Ember to give you a package. She’s a blue dragon and maybe a dog in your world. Find a note attached on there, I’ve got no time to write the better definition. Meet her at the mirror statue. ”

Sunset said “Twilight sent Ember the dragon to give us a package.” Saying that, she ran outside. The surface of the mirror rippled before a dog fell out. It was a King Charles Spaniel that was blue like the sea on a sunny day. Her ears were covered in yellow-blonde fur. Her eyes seemed to be wearing very heavy eyeliner. Tied on her back, there was a package. Seeing her own reflection in the mirror, she leapt up and yelled “Aah! I’m a dog! I’m a dog! Aah!” Sunset said “Are you Ember?” The blue dog turned around and said “Yes. You must be Sunset?” Sunset smiled and said “Yes. So Twilight sent a package, right?” Ember reached her paws backwards to untie the package from her back, but found that her dog legs were shorter than her dragon arms, so she couldn’t really reach the knot. Sunset helped untie it. Ember said “Okay bye Sunset I have to go!” Saying that, she attempted to stand on two puppy legs, but failing that, she ran four-legged into the mirror.

Twilight tore open the package. Inside, there was a thick book bound in iridescent green and silver fabric-wrapped leather. It was titled The History of the Sirens. From inside the book, a note fell out. The note said “Dear Sunset and everyone else, here is a book from my library. I found it a while ago. Chapters 5 to 17 are especially useful in your case. Also, remember that the sirens will only lose their power if they no longer have the gems or the shards. If they keep the shards, they will still have power.”

The main door opened. Sour Sweet and Sugarcoat came in. Sugarcoat said “Well, you’ve told us what’s wrong. How can we help?” Sunset said “Well, we need to stop the sirens from causing disharmony. Just in case you didn’t know, by sirens, we mean singing creatures from the parallel world. Not fire alarms.” Sour Sweet said “If it’s not fire alarms, I’m leaving. I thought we just had to smash a few fire alarms into pieces. That sounded fun. Not defeating magical singing creatures.” Sugarcoat added “We have no experience dealing with this magic stuff. Let Twilight deal with it, she’s so obsessed with it.” Saying that, the two girls left. Twilight sighed and said “Well, at least we have this book.” Rainbow Dash said “Maybe we could have a sleepover at my house? We can discuss it at night. It’s thursday and tomorrow is a school day, so we could try and wake each other.”

Later that day at Rainbow Dash’s house, Twilight was busy scribbling calculations and notes all over her notebook. Fluttershy paced back and forth while Sunset leafed through the journal to see if any of her old conversations with pony Twilight were useful. Rarity was reading the book pony Twilight had sent. Rainbow Dash and Applejack discussed everything that had happened so far. Pinkie tried to cheer everyone up with berry smoothies.

Then, it was dinnertime. They discussed their findings but didn’t have any useful results- until Rarity realized the key was in the piece of carrot she was about to cut. She exclaimed “I think I’ve got it! In the book, it says that if the sirens get enough power, the gems will piece back together. That currently seems inevitable now that they’re able to sing already. However,” she showed them the two slices of carrot on her plate. She cut one into bits. She said “It may be hard to get the gem as shards,” she pushed the cut-up carrot around with her fork “but as a whole, we can just take the whole thing!” Using her fork, she picked up the whole slice of carrot with a flourish. Pinkie said “I would have made that analogy using cupcakes.” Sunset sighed. “So you’re planning to yank the jewel off the necklace while they’re still wearing it?” Rarity said “Yup! Well, with the help of some fabric of course, and Fluttershy’s animals. It would be easier if Dashie’s feet weren’t injured, but we can make use of Pinkie’s party cannon. Applejack, your apples would be perfect for this! Sunset and Twi, you two can work out the logistics. You’ll be really key in this plan. We’ll also need to perform a song. Dance Magic would be perfect if we could get the Crystal Prep girls to cooperate, but otherwise we can perform Friendship Through the Ages or I’m On A Yacht.”

It was almost bedtime, but Rarity was still explaining her intricately detailed plan. She did not want to miss out any minor details just in case they were necessary. Sunset was at the computer, printing out posters while Pinkie decorated them as they came out of the printer. Rainbow Dash was rubbing her sore feet. Twilight read through the book about sirens. Applejack called her older brother to ask him about apples, while Fluttershy drew out a detailed plan for the animals. After Rarity had gone through her plan the fifth time without making a mistake, Twilight said “Okay everyone, it’s time to sleep. I’ll set enough alarm clocks to wake all of us.”

Next morning, they all woke up to the sound of ten alarm clocks ringing in unison. They got ready for the morning, and had breakfast together. When they neared the school, Rarity told them to stop talking about the plan in case the sirens heard. The whole scheme was going to be brilliant- as long as the sirens didn’t hear them talking about it. When they got into the school, Sunset started handing out flyers while Pinkie put up posters. The flyers said that there was going to be a musical showcase that night featuring the Cutie Crusaders, the Rainbooms and the Crystal Prep girls. Overnight, Twilight had notified the Crystal Prep girls- and this time, they had all agreed to perform Dance Magic onstage! The Crystal Rainbooms were coming back together! At the sound of a musical showcase, the sirens smiled. They did not have time to make this showcase into a Battle of the Bands, but maybe they could squeeze themselves into the performing schedule and perform!

Aria went up to Sunset and asked. Sunset secretly signaled to Twilight, and agreed to let the sirens perform at the showcase. Twilight came over and asked “Aria, you sure? I thought you three can’t sing well anymore!” Aria said “Well, you’re wrong and we’re going to be fantastic!” Saying that, she flicked her long purple pigtails and walked off. Twilight smiled and winked at Sunset. Rainbow Dash hopped around on her crutches, telling everyone about the showcase if anyone had missed the posters. The sirens were in their favourite corner, quietly humming a song of success, gathering power. They did not get much power because everyone was being so positive- just from pure happiness that they could listen to the Rainbooms perform- but it was enough power to cause some difference.

Suddenly, all of Adagio’s bracelets flashed red and the shards unstuck from them. From windows and doors, all of the other shards flew in, all the way from the sirens’ house. With a flash of red light, the sirens’ gems fused whole again! Adagio laughed and Aria cackled. Sonata guffawed and rolled on the floor. From their pockets, they took out the bit of black ribbon the gems used to hang on, and the gems linked themselves exactly where they used to belong. The sirens fastened on the necklaces and laughed. Sunset picked up her journal to write to the pony Twilight, no matter whether she was busy or not. Pony Twilight just had to know about this plan! Sunset had already found that the sirens couldn’t read the journal. Once, Adagio had snatched the journal from her and tried to read from it, but to her, all the pages were either blank or scribbled on.

The classes that day passed like a whirlwind. Not even math class could dampen the students’ collective excitement. As a result, the sirens couldn’t capture a lot of magic. However, they were still anticipating the great amount of power they would surely get from the music showcase. Just then, Sunset looked at her journal. A new message had appeared- and it was exciting news. Pony Twilight had just finished solving all the friendship problems that the ponies of ponyville had been asking her to fix! It turned out that she did not have a month’s worth of work to do, but it was the same pony mailing her over and over again! As a result, she was coming to help the girls- and possibly to perform together.

At lunchtime, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were in the school auditorium, pushing the party cannon in between aisles of seats. Rainbow Dash was hopping on her crutches, shouting directions to Pinkie who was pushing the gigantic pink contraption from behind. They pushed the unwieldy device behind the sirens’ usual seats, where they always sat, no matter the occasion. That seat was near some curtains which hid the storage area used for stage props, so Pinkie and Rainbow Dash hid the burdensome fuchsia apparatus behind those curtains. Pinkie pointed the tip of the party cannon so it pointed directly at where the sirens would be. Rainbow Dash carefully put a thick piece of black velvet into the base of the party cannon and poured plushies and teddy bears on top of that. Rarity had sewn those teddy bears, and they were complementary gifts to anyone in the audience that could catch them when they came out of the party cannon.

Meanwhile, the sirens were busy at work. In the cafeteria, they sat together and sang. Streams of green energy trickled from between the students and floated towards them. The green energy wasn’t very strong at the moment though, so Aria raised her voice slightly and continued to sing.

Meanwhile, Applejack was helping her grandma put apple pies onto plates at the serving counter. As people walked by, she called “Apple pies for a good cause! Donate to the community service program that has helped set up tonight’s show! All proceeds go to helping homeless people find homes!” People from the community service club smiled as people bought pies. Along with each pie, Applejack placed a leaflet on the dish. The leaflet advertised the performance that night. It also mentioned the free teddy bears. People were smiling and laughing. The whole mood was so positive that the green glow slowed to a mere trickle, but Adagio decided that it was enough for them.

In a corner, Fluttershy was busy, training three velvety black cats. Those three were the most obedient in the shelter, and Fluttershy normally would be able to teach them tricks without much effort. This time, Fluttershy held a piece of string with a piece of red cardboard taped onto the front. She tied it on her wrist. From her pocket, she took out a pet whistle and blew. The cats immediately leaped silently onto the piece of cardboard and yanked it off. In this process, Fluttershy tried to make sure the sirens wouldn’t see her training the cats by messing up her own hair. Whenever her hair was messy, it covered a lot more breadth and took up a lot more space. That way, she could use her own hair as a kind of curtain! She smiled and took the cardboard from the cat.

In the science lab, Twilight was mixing some rubber ball mix. She shaped it into lumps and left it to set. Rarity was sitting at the back of the room, sewing loops of elastic bands. When the rubber ball lumps had set enough, Twilight gave them to Rarity who attached a loop of elastic to each lump. When that was done, Rarity and Twilight brought all that to Fluttershy who fit the bouncy rubber lumps to the cats’ paws.

By the end of the day, the girls had finished their preparation. Rarity was putting finishing touches on the beautiful outfits she had made for the performance. For Pinkie, there were loose pink pants gathered at the ankle with a gradient that was dark pink at the bottom and light pink at the top, a white crop top with “Pink’s the color” printed on in metallic pink, glittery pink slip on shoes and a pink velvet scrunchie.

Rainbow Dash had leggings that flared outwards starting below the knee until the ankle, creating a fishtail effect. These leggings were made of metallic blue sports fabric. There was a blue fabric headband made of the same material, paired with a white tunic top with a metallic rainbow printed on it. This was paired with glittery blue running shoes.

For Fluttershy, there was an oversized white t-shirt tied into a knot on the right side, printed with a butterfly in metallic rose gold. She had a sequined skirt that was longer on the left and shorter on the right, edged in a ruffle. She had a pink-and-gold glittery striped cuff bracelet for each wrist. For shoes, there were glittery rose gold wedge platforms.

For Twilight, there was a swirling, sparkly sheer chiffon skirt in fuchsia over white knee leggings. This was completed with a white halter top printed with a metallic fuchsia six-pointed star in the middle and glittery fuchsia ballerina flats. All this was made to match Twilight’s glasses, the fuchsia-tinted pair she wore for performing.

For Applejack, there were knee-high red sequined heeled boots, red denim shorts and a cropped white t-shirt with a metallic red apple. There was also a metallic red ribbon to tie onto her hat.

For Sunset, there was a white fitted top with voluminous ruffled sleeves printed with a metallic orange-gold sun. There was a sequined orange pencil skirt edged with a large ruffle. There were glittery orange block-heel platform heels.

For the Pony Twilight, there was a dress which the bodice was white with a six-pointed star, and the skirt of the dress was fuchsia with a layer of lilac lace and two petal-like pieces of white fabric on top. There were sparkly fuchsia knee-high boots.

For Rarity herself, there was a white v-necked sleeveless top printed with three metallic electric-blue diamonds. She wore a shimmery purple skirt that was short in the front and trailed behind her in the back. She wore a black choker necklace. She wore bedazzling glittery purple stiletto heels entirely coated in purple rhinestones with a light blue edge around the base. She had a black bracelet on each wrist. On the back of the inside of her skirt, there were three blue diamonds printed there.

Then there were the outfits for the Crystal Prep girls. For Sour Sweet, there was a white fitted top with a series of gigantic voluminous ruffles on one shoulder. The top itself was printed with two metallic pink cherries. There were metallic pink knee leggings. On either side of the leggings, there was a shimmery long pink chiffon side-drape. There were glittery pink slip-on shoes with two glittery green leaves in the front.

For Sugarcoat, there was a white cropped t-shirt printed with the text “Why do I care?” in metallic pale blue. There were very pale blue denim shorts paired with pale blue and white platform sneakers. There were knee-high white socks with a sparkly blue edge at the top.

For Lemon Zest, there was an oversized white t-shirt with a metallic lime green lime cut in half printed on it. There were dark green sweatpants with a sparkly yellow line down each side. There was a glittery lime green cap with a lemon on the front of it. There were glittery lime green sneakers. All this was completed with a dazzling golden necklace of intertwined thin jewelry chains, resulting in a golden rope-like chain necklace the thickness of a thumb.

For Sunny Flare, there were glittery silver heeled ankle boots. There were black leggings with gold detailing. There was a cropped white t-shirt with text “Sunbeam in the dark” in metallic gold. There was a bomber jacket entirely made of gold sequin fabric. There was a black cap with a glittery gold front.

Rarity presented the series of mannequins with a big smile on her face. She knew that these designs were going to be perfect for the performance. There was a theme linking all of these outfits together too. They all had a white top printed with something metallic and there was something glittery.

Just then, the door to the design room opened. Sour Sweet, Sugarcoat, Lemon Zest and Sunny Flare stepped in. Seeing the array of spectacular outfits, Sour Sweet and Sunny Flare gasped. Lemon Zest went over to the outfit that was for her immediately and began to fondle the fabric. Sugarcoat put a hand over her eyes. She said “There’s something about mannequins that creeps me out. One or two is fine, but twelve of them in a row? That’s creepy to me.” Fluttershy went over to Sugarcoat and said “It’s okay. We all have our fears and sometimes we’re scared to face them. Why don’t we go outside so you won’t have to look at the mannequins?” Sugarcoat smiled.

Back inside the room, Rarity began to take the clothes off the mannequins and handed them to each person so they could get changed. After she finished, she put the mannequins back into a closet and said “Sugarcoat? Fluttershy? You two can come in now!” Sugarcoat peeped through the gap in the door, and seeing that the mannequins were gone, she stepped in, followed by Fluttershy. Rarity gave them their outfits and they all went to get changed.

When all the girls were ready, they went outside to the portal statue. The surface of the mirror rippled, and a moment later, pony Twilight fell out. She wobbled a bit then stood up. On her head, she wore a crown- but not the same crown from before. This one was different in shape. Seeing the Crystal Prep girls, she said “So… These are the girls from Crystal Prep that you wrote to me about, Sunset?” Sunset quickly introduced everyone from Crystal Prep to pony Twilight. However, Twilight found it quite awkward that there was someone who was almost exactly the same as her and was worried that people would get them confused.

Pony Twilight said “Well, maybe instead of Twilight and Twilight, call me Princess Twilight? I am a princess in that other world.” Twilight said “Sure.” Rarity handed Princess Twilight the outfit she had made. Seeing the glittering creation, she exclaimed “That’s beautiful! If the Rarity back in Equestria saw this, she would love it!” Saying that, she took the dress and headed to the changing room. When Princess Twilight came out in the dazzling dress, she said “I suppose I’ll need to learn the choreography, right?” Pinkie offered “I’ll you teach you all the dance moves and the song! It’s easy!” She grabbed Princess Twilight’s hand and dragged her towards the school building.

Later that evening, a huge crowd gathered in the auditorium. In the last row, the two Twilights were busy discussing the technicalities of the dance. They had asked Derpy to help out with the special effects, and she had gladly agreed. She was especially happy because she was usually made fun of or ignored due to the fact that she was naturally wall-eyed. Then, the sirens came in, dressed in long, black cloaks that covered their clothes. If anyone asked why, they said it was because they had costumes. Sunset was secretly happy that the performance was in the auditorium instead of the outdoor amphitheater, because that meant it was harder for the sirens’ voices to reach all the way to the rest of the city.

The lights began to dim. The audience’s voices became a blank silence. However, the lights did not turn off all the way, but stayed on at a dim light. Voices started from the audience again, talking about whether there was some kind of technical error. Suddenly, with the deep boom of a bass, the lights shut off. Everyone turned to face the stage. Thumping drums and bass filled the blackness of the opening curtains, when suddenly a single dim spotlight appeared. It shone on nothing, but it probed around until it hit Apple Bloom then stopped, illuminating her. Holding a microphone, she shuffled left and right to the beat. She wore a knee-length dress that did not have a defined waistline. It was made entirely of sequined red fabric. She had also replaced the bow in her hair with a bow of red sequined material. Then, another spotlight switched on and probed around. The thumping of the bass became louder. It illuminated Sweetie Belle. She had a pale lilac-pink sequined bow in her hair and wore a dress in the same style as Apple Bloom’s and in the lilac-pink sequined material. She swished her hips from side to side. The thumping increased in volume. A third spotlight appeared and probed all over the place before stopping on Scootaloo. She wore a magenta sequined dress of the same style. Due to her hairstyle, she couldn’t put a bow on it but she had a wide fabric headband in sequined magenta.

All three girls had their eyes closed and they all held microphones. The drum and bass thumping became quieter. Then all at once, they looked up and lifted the microphones up and began to sing.
“We are the Cutie Crusaders
We live to be
The Cutie Crusaders
We like to sing
We like to dance
And we all like lemon tea!”
The audience laughed at the silly lyrics. The thumping bass and drum became louder again, along with more drumming alongside. The whole stage lit up as the Cutie Crusaders started to dance around along to the music. Then, Apple Bloom did a cartwheel. The audience laughed because by doing that, she accidentally revealed her underwear. Then, Sweetie Belle jumped onto a raised platform and twirled once to the left and once to the right, stumbling in between. Scootaloo began to leap up and down like a frog being chased. Then she ran to the front of the stage, turned her back to the audience, put both hands on her head and began to shake her butt while the audience laughed and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle gawked. Then, the music became quieter and they went back to their positions, picked up their microphones and began to sing.
“Jelly beans and olives
Great snacks to go with tea
Especially lemon tea of course
And look that dog just peed
We are the Cutie Crusaders
We live to be
The Cutie Crusaders
We like to sing
We like to dance
And we all like lemon tea!”
Then, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo put down their microphones and danced while Apple Bloom attempted to rap, but it came out a little weird.
“Bananas, bananas
What do you do
Swing on the tree all day
That’s what you do!
Jelly beans and olives
Put them in your tea
Oh well I guess that’s it
And drink your lemon tea!”
There was a musical interlude as they picked up their microphones and danced back to their spots. They raised their voices and began to sing again.
“We are the Cutie Crusaders
We live to be
The Cutie Crusaders
We like to sing
We like to dance
And we all like lemon tea!”
The music stopped. The audience burst with raucous laughter and boisterous applause. Everyone cheered at the top of their voices as the three girls bowed again and again.

From the back of the audience, the sirens walked forwards through the crowds in the aisle. They turned and went to the backstage door, holding their black cloaks together the whole time.

The announcer’s voice said “That was the Cutie Crusaders’ performance! Now get ready for the performance of the Dazzlings!” The curtains closed and the Cutie Crusaders left the stage. The applause finally died down into a few final claps.

The curtain slid open. The Dazzlings stood in the middle of the stage. They all had elaborate, delicate butterfly wings made of translucent crushed lace. Sonata’s were turquoise, Aria’s were lilac and Adagio’s were purple. They wore identical knee-length fitted dresses with a flared godet hem, in the same color as the wings. The dresses had sashes of a darker shade of the same color. They wore headband microphones.

They stood still in the lacy pale light, absolutely still, like the calm before the storm. Then, the faint whistling sound of wind began. Backstage, Derpy switched on a fan on cue. The wind blew at the Sirens, making their hair and dresses flutter as the gauzy butterfly wings trembled. The wind increased slightly, and flying leaves were projected onto the backdrop. Then, two dry ice machines, one on either side of the stage, were turned on. On a single piano note, the fans stopped. They began to sing.
“Oh, oh, don’t you see,
The magic is coming
The magic is coming
The past, the present
Is history
The past, the present
Is history

Oh, oh, why don’t you see
The wind is changing once again
And oh…
Don’t you wish to hear us once more

Our powers
Once small
Have grown
To be
Much bigger
Like the trees
From winter
To spring

Why don’t you see (why don’t you see)
The mystery (the mystery)
Will return… oh…

Our magic
Once strong
Were lost
Before
But grown
Once more
Again
Again

Our magic
Once strong
Were lost
Before
But grown
Once more
Again
Again

And ah…
Don’t you see (don’t you see)
The mystery (the mystery)
Has come

And ah…
Don’t you see
Our powers
Have returned

Our power
Will grow
Much more
And more
Our song
Our song
Will flow
Will flow

Our song
Our song
Wil flow
Will flow
Through the days

And oh…
Don’t you see (don’t you see)
The magic (the magic)
Has come

And oh…
Don’t you see (don’t you see)
Our magic (our magic)
Our magic (our magic)
Has returned!!!”

As the Sirens sang, their voices resonated through the entire auditorium. Trickles of green smoke flew between the aisles and towards the stage. The green mist swirled and frothed before flying towards their necklaces. Halfway through the song, the butterfly wings crumbled into dust behind their backs as the bat-like wings of the sirens emerged. They hovered upwards onstage while still singing, surrounded by rising swirls of green mist. Throughout the entire song, the audience was silent. Their eyes were rather blank, due to the fact the sirens were singing. However, in the back where the Crystal Rainbooms sat in costume, Rarity was grinning. She whispered “My plan is working, don’t worry!” Then, after a while, Vinyl Scratch left the DJ booth. She headed to the side of the stage and lifted a piece of paper that said “Sirens, there’s still a performance after yours! Don’t hog the stage!” Adagio sighed and flapped her purple wings, going back to the audience. Sonata and Aria followed, going back to their regular seats. The green mist faded. The Crystal Rainbooms and Princess Twilight made their way to the stage, where the curtains were already closed. Behind the shut curtains, Derpy was busy trying to change the backdrops, but she was having a bit of trouble moving the heavy fabric. She wasn’t affected by the Sirens’ singing because she was too absorbed in the lighting and also, the Sirens wouldn’t want to stop the special effects manager from working, would they? They wouldn’t like a show with no spotlights, no dry ice smoke, no color lights and no music.

Seeing that Derpy was having trouble with the backdrop, Applejack went over and helped to pull the switch. With a clunk, the Sirens’ backdrop rose up into the flies and another backdrop fell. While this was happening, Pinkie helped everyone with the microphones. When everyone was ready, Rainbow Dash signaled Derpy from the chair she was sitting on- her ankle was still badly twisted. The Crystal Prep girls checked everyone’s hair to make sure it wasn’t messy. When they were ready, Derpy pressed a button. The curtain opened.

Sunset picked up a microphone and began to sing. After the first line, both Twilights picked up microphones and joined in the singing. The Crystal Prep girls danced at the front of the stage. Then, as the chorus came on, Derpy switched on the boom mikes which loomed over the sides of the stage. Sunset, Twilight and Princess Twilight put down their microphones and joined in singing the chorus.

“Dance magic, once you have it, let your body move, step into the music
‘Cause it’s dance magic and it’s electric, let your body move to the music!” The Crystal Rainbooms sang this song as the audience clapped to the beat. The Rainbooms played their instruments along with the more electronic-sounding backing track, while the Crystal Prep girls danced.

Then, Pinkie started her rap section. On cue, Derpy switched the lights to pink. Pinkie stunned the audience with her amazing performance, complete with constant confetti.

Near the end of the song, the girls went into a circle around Rainbow Dash, who was sitting in the chair. Together, they sang the ending of the song. On the last note, the party cannon launched a shower of brightly colored teddy bears over the audience. Everyone raised their arms up to catch them. However, as the last teddy bears flew out of the pink contraption, the piece of black velvet flew out and landed on the sirens’ heads- exactly as Rarity had planned. Not wasting a second, the three cats Fluttershy trained leapt from the back and each cat grabbed a red glowing pendant and detached them from the necklaces. Suddenly, there was a crackling noise of microphone static and the lights all shut off followed by the rest of the electricity, leaving only the faint greenish glow of the exit sign. Rarity gasped. This was not what she expected to happen. The cats held the red gems which were still glowing and ran off.

Pulling the heavy fabric off her face, Sonata groaned “What just happened?” Adagio yelped “Someone stole the gems!” She turned her head around to see who had done it, and spotted three velvety cats, each carrying a gem, running away faster than any human could chase. Aria gasped. She tried to run after the feline thieves but failed to chase them. The gems glowed red. The three cats seemed to be struggling to hold onto the gems. With a jerk, the gems flew out of the cats’ mouths one by one, ricocheting everywhere, each one propelled by its own beam of red light. The gems rocketed all over the place until they crashed together. Now bound together by circling beams of red light, the three gems bounced all over the place until they crashed into the stage backdrop- breaking a hole into it in the process- before bouncing the other way and crashing into no other than Rarity. Caught square in the chest by the airborne jewels, she flew backwards into mid-air, screaming wildly. The gems pulsed with red light, each wave stronger than the last. It undid her elaborate hairstyle and whipped it into a messy lump. The waves of light pulsed stronger until the three gems broke apart. They circled around Rarity, accelerating as they went, until one crashed into Rarity’s black ribbon bracelet on her right hand, one into her left and one into her forehead. The gem that hit her forehead rebounded off with the sound of a guitar string snapping. It hovered mid-air for a moment before slowly flying towards her black choker necklace. The moment the ribbon and the gem met, a wave of red light crashed outwards, messing up anything it made contact with. Rarity was surrounded by a glowing ball of red light in the middle of the auditorium mid-air. The ball of light crashed through the ceiling, splintering the pipes and wires, leaving a gaping hole that showed the sky.

The ball of light pulsed and flashed. Rarity’s shadow appeared and disappeared within it. Pinkie gasped and clutched Applejack’s arm. Applejack grabbed Sour Sweet’s arm. Sour Sweet was too frightened to worry of her own dignity, and grabbed Sunset’s arm. Sunset grabbed Twilight’s arm, Twilight grabbed Princess Twilight’s arm, Princess Twilight grabbed Sunny Flare’s arm and Sunny Flare grabbed Rainbow Dash’s arm, nearly knocking her over in the process. To stop herself from toppling over, Rainbow Dash grabbed Lemon Zest’s leg. This carried on until everyone was clumped together into a clump on one side of the stage. In the audience, a similar situation was happening. People were grabbing at each other and backing away from the glowing red ball. However, in the back, the sirens sat there, confused. Even Adagio had no idea that this would happen when their jewels were plucked off. Sonata was shrugging while doodling in a notebook, which had a drawing of a derp-faced taco in it. She traced over the lines of that drawing over and over again, pressing harder and harder, until pretty much the entire notebook was indented with the same drawing and several pages behind the drawing had little bits of ink going through. Seeing that, Aria groaned and said “And that’s how to ruin a perfectly good notebook.”

With a sudden crackle from the microphones accompanying all the action, the glowing red ball burst open. Rarity appeared- but she no longer looked the same as when she first got wrapped into the light. Her eyelashes had extended outwards to the extent that they no longer looked nice. Instead, it made her look like there were spider legs crawling out of her eyes. Her irises had shrunk to two beady dots in her enormous eye-whites. Not only that, but her irises had become bright cyan blue surrounded with a ring of red. On her face, there was what seemed to be a deep navy blue eye-mask, similar to the red one Sunset had when she turned into Daydream Shimmer. Rarity had grown pony ears, only they were bigger and pointier. Also, those ears wore glowing bright blue hoop earrings. Her glossy purple hair was now tied into a massive bow bun that towered vertically over the rest of her head and was about the same size as well. Just above her geode necklace, now attached to the black choker necklace, there was one of the sirens’ gems. On each of her black bracelets, there was also a gem attached. Her top and skirt had transformed. Now, she wore a v-necked sleeveless navy blue dress. The dress was hemmed way above her knee in a pencil skirt shape, with two-and-a-half rows of metallic blue diamond prints adorning the base. The waist of the dress was emphasized with a bright blue sash. Around her dress, there was a lengthy overskirt that wrapped around the back but exposed the front. It was long and trailing in the back, like Rarity’s original skirt, but it had become even longer. It was still purple on the outside, the same color as her hair, and the three metallic blue diamonds which were the cutie mark of her pony counterpart were still there, but now the inside of the skirt was blood red. On the outside of the overskirt, on either side of her hips, the three blue diamonds were printed in metallic blue. Now, instead of her original rhinestone-studded high heels, she wore purple knee socks with an asymmetrical top that had a horizontal slit on one side, together with glowing bright blue ballerina flats. This was very similar, and in fact, nearly the same, with what Twilight wore on her feet when she became Midnight Sparkle. On her back, there now was a pair of veiny-looking siren wings. The branch-like, veiny parts were red like the inside of the overskirt, while the webbing was bright blue.

Rarity flew upwards as she cackled. Prying herself from the lump of people, Twilight asked “Rarity?” The Rarity-siren looked downwards from her position and said “It’s Twily, isn’t it? Well, I must say, Rarity is an EXTREMELY outdated name starting from this second. My name is Crescendo Shatter!” From the air, Crescendo Shatter sneered at the clump down below. She vocalized a long note. Everyone looked up as red light radiated from all three gems. Crescendo Shatter lifted her arms up and brought them down with a sweeping motion, crossing them over close to where her hips were. The red waves of light and sound crashed downwards, breaking off the remainder of the ceiling and several of the back rows of the audience. The Sirens ran forward and down the aisles to avoid falling.

Halfway down the aisle, when they deemed it safe enough to stop running, they turned around and started to back away from Crescendo Shatter. Sonata was backing off faster than Aria and Adagio. She kept backing away until she crashed into Rainbow Dash’s legs. Rainbow Dash was now sitting on the edge of the stage, her legs hanging off the side. Sonata turned her head around and asked “Were we THAT scary before?” Rainbow Dash said “Almost but not quite.” Distressed, Sonata grabbed Rainbow Dash’s good leg and shook it up and down. She yelped and asked “But isn’t that the same as saying same-same but different? It doesn’t mean anything!” Rainbow Dash peeled Sonata’s fingers off of her leg and replied “Not quite but maybe.” Sonata cried “That just means the same thing!” Rainbow Dash groaned. Sonata continued “We actually need you to help stop Crescendo Shatter! I know your left leg is injured. But can you just help everyone?” Rainbow Dash said “NOW you’re asking us for help. If you hadn’t decided to piece the jewels back together then this would have never happened! Well, we’ll TRY to turn her back into Rarity but in the meantime can you stop causing trouble?” Before Sonata could reply, Adagio came over. She arrogantly rested one elbow on the edge of the stage and sneered. She asked Sonata “Asking the Rainbooms for help? We’re going to let them sort it out themselves! We aren’t responsible for this!” Rainbow Dash replied angrily “Actually, you are.” Before anyone could continue talking, Crescendo Shatter casted another wave of red light and sound downwards towards the audience. Stuttering, Adagio said “Actually, I take that back. Rainbooms, can you help us?” She grabbed Rainbow Dash’s leg and shook it, like Sonata had done just moments ago. Aria was beyond afraid. She was curled up in a ball on the floor- or at least until Adagio grabbed her shoulders and tugged at her until she stood up. Pony Twilight stood, unfazed by the apparent monster casting beams of sound and light all over the place. She raised one arm upwards and said “We’re going to do this together. Rainbooms, Crystal Prep and the Dazzlings. We can’t have friendship without generosity, can we?” The Rainbooms smiled while the Crystal Prep girls and the Dazzlings looked at each other, confused. Sunset and Princess Twilight gave a quick explanation. They huddled together and discussed a plan. It was a rushed one, but at least they had something to follow. Pinkie yelled “Light them up, ladies!” The Rainbooms came together. Princess Twilight looked at them proudly as their geode necklaces glowed and they flew upwards. Their clothes transformed into those that had appeared when they had used the geodes to defeat Gloriosa. However, before they could do anything, Crescendo Shatter raised her voice and began to sing. She was singing the song she wrote, Life is a Runway, but the lyrics were all changed. She no longer sang of confidence and showing your true personality.
“Life is a runway,
Listen here’s my voice that’s singing loud
I tell you life is a runway
And I’m gonna turn your life inside out

With all the light!
With all the light!

Life is a runway
When you see it my way
I’m gonna take you and make you beautiful
Fashion is just the start
Until I control your heart
My power’s not superficial
It’s irrefutable

Oh oh, oh wo oh
Oh oh, oh wo oh
Oh oh, oh wo oh
Life is a runway

You will be the one I want you to be
Stripped of all your love and accessories
Don’t be scared to come close so I can control
If you come closer then you’ll make me smile

You will be the one I want you to be
Stripped of all your love and accessories
Don’t be scared to come close so I can control
If you come closer then you’ll make me smile

Life is a runway
I’ll show you who’s in control now
I tell you life is a runway
And I’m gonna turn your life inside out

With all the light
With all the light
With all the light
With all the light
And I am strong!”

Throughout the course of the whole song, waves of red light burst from her three red gems while streams of sparkling turquoise aura floated up towards her. She laughed and absorbed all the energy. The only people not affected by her singing were the sirens, the Rainbooms, Princess Twilight and the Crystal Prep girls. While Crescendo Shatter’s back was turned, the Rainbooms didn’t waste a second. Glowing with magic, they flew upwards. Twilight repeatedly cast beams of magic towards Crescendo, who dodged them. The Crystal Prep girls saw that they seemed to be having some trouble with it, so Lemon Zest removed her rope-like necklace of wound-together chains. She swung the weighty necklace around her head. With a whoop, she threw it at Crescendo Shatter. It hit her foot then fell downwards. Crescendo lifted her foot and inspected it. She put it down again and continued to blast light and sound everywhere. Lemon Zest sighed and groaned “At least I tried… ”

Princess Twilight watched Crescendo with an angry face. Some magenta and lilac sparkles twirled around her just before a pair of magnificent lilac wings sprouted from her back and she flew upwards, hair fluttering. Seeing that, Crescendo Shatter started to sing and red magic balled up in her hands. Moments later, she cast the glowing red clump at Princess Twilight. Unexpectedly, instead of being hit by the magic, from the center of Princess Twilight’s forehead, there grew a magenta beam that pushed against Crescendo’s, causing the speakers to make static. Pony Twilight pushed her magenta magic at Crescendo. The Rainbooms flew up to her and joined her in the magic. Suddenly, a glowing projection of a gigantic pony version of Princess Twilight erupted out of Princess Twilight’s forehead, wrapping around them. The glowing purple alicorn flapped its wings, carrying the Rainbooms, the sirens, the Crystal Prep girls and Princess Twilight through the broken top of the auditorium. Crescendo Shatter chased after the gigantic glowing being until they were outside. Crescendo Shatter and the gigantic Pony Twilight kept throwing glowing beams at each other. However, inside the giant projection, Princess Twilight was getting frustrated. The magic of three siren gems were just too strong. Seeing the situation, the Rainbooms joined her at the giant alicorn’s horn, pushing all of their magic at Crescendo. Near the foot of the alicorn, the sirens were thinking of a good plan when Adagio said “We have to sing.” Aria shuddered and asked “Don’t you think our horrible singing will ruin it even more?” Adagio grunted and replied “We have to have confidence in ourselves.” Then, she started to sing. Although it was entirely off-key, Adagio continued projecting her voice outwards. Seeing what she was doing, Aria and Sonata joined her. Suddenly, their off-key voices snapped into the right key as they were carried by the magic to the alicorn’s horn. Their singing contained no words, just notes. The glowing light coming from the projection’s horn increased. In another foot of the giant alicorn, the Crystal Prep girls were pacing back and forth. Sugarcoat groaned “I think we’re weighing down the magic. Should we ask them to drop us off somewhere?” Sunny Flare disagreed. “She has enough to concentrate on. If she needs to focus her magic all the way here to drop us off, it’s a waste.” The Crystal Prep girls paced around inside the alicorn’s foot until Sour Sweet had an idea. She yelled “Noisy fire alarms!” It took a few moments, but suddenly Pinkie, Sunset and Applejack realized that Sour Sweet was referencing to something that had happened earlier that day. With a surge of memory, the beam of magic intensified. Lemon Zest yelled “You can do it girls!” Within a moment, the Crystal Prep girls all began to yell words of encouragement towards the girls. Suddenly, a sparkling beam of magic wrapped around them and lifted them upwards to the horn. They looked at each other in surprise. The magic swirled around everyone. Then, as the rainbow-colored light shone so bright it was almost white, Princess Twilight shouted “The Elements of Harmony are just incomplete without Generosity!” The swirling magic turned into a blinding flash and the only thing visible was Crescendo Shatter’s dark silhouette, falling downwards towards the ground. The magic continuously flashed until it shone in a haze of colorless light, rendering everything in a grey-and-white monochrome with no shadows. This glow slowly faded inwards to a single point on the ground. With a final flash, the glow disappeared. Where the final point of light had faded, there was Rarity- regular Rarity, without any veiny siren wings or spider-like mascara, half-kneeling, half-squatting, the trailing back of her skirt ripped and faded, her hair disheveled and her makeup all but smudged over her pale visage. However, on her face, there beamed a look of true relief as she slowly stood up, teary-eyed, as she apologized again and again, sobbing and shuddering. It was then that she realized she carried the three red gems in her arms. She screamed and dropped them, running towards the two Twilights, who were busy discussing something. However, before she got there, she fell to the ground on her knees and burst into an inconsolable fountain of tears. Pinkie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Sunset, Twilight and Princess Twilight ran towards her while Rainbow Dash hopped on her crutches. A few moments later, the Sirens found themselves apologizing to the crowds, then going over to apologize to Rarity.

The next day, in Equestria, Princess Celestia noticed a package at the foot of the magic mirror. It seemed to have fallen out from the mirror. Inside the scuffed brown paper, there lay the three siren’s gems along with a note of warning. Princess Celestia called the Dangerous Artifacts Team, who arrived with bags of tools, and at the sight of the gems, took out some anti-dark-magic wearable equipment (in a very bright shade of chartreuse) and a series of instruments in order to properly take care of these very dangerous jewels.

In the human world, Princess Twilight, Twilight, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack and Sunset sat in a cafe, discussing what had happened the day before. Applejack noted “I wonder why the Crystal Prep girls didn’t get affected by the magic.” Sunset shrugged and said “Well, I guess they didn’t have much friendship in them to begin with… Even if they WERE affected, there wouldn’t be much of a difference.” Everyone agreed. Taking advantage of this moment, Pinkie opened the sound effect app on her phone and pressed something. “Ba-dum tzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!!!” “Dun dun dunnnnnnnn!!!!!!!” “Werp werp werpppppppp!!!!!!!!”

nice

GabrielContreras509a wrote:

nice

Thanks

SWC Fan-Fi Cabin
Nov 10 2021

“Pilot's Log. Sylviana speaking. Third week in the Gobi Desert. Resources replenished yesterday.”
Two figures walked through the rough grey sand that flew around and formed a misty veil that clouded everything in sight. The figures were somewhat humanoid, but much larger. Between the grey sky and the muted taupe hue of the ground, the surroundings blended into a smoky swirl with no sense of direction at all.

Sylviana pushed on forwards, the sandy wind scratching furrows into the partially mirrored outer coating of the domed glass visor that loomed over her head. Flakes of metallic blue paint were scattered in the sand after her before being blown away to scatter far away beyond anywhere imaginable. She took a step forwards within the cockpit. A hydraulic limb multiple times the size exactly replicated her motion.

Looking backwards at her assistant Erin who had her own robotic mecha that was painted in orange, Sylviana sighed and said “How much longer?” Erin pulled up a holographic screen. “Five kilometers.” Sylviana furrowed her brow. “Whoever thought that crossing a desert using robotic mecha was a good idea is stupid.”

Sylviana pulled up her own holographic screen. A segment on the side read “Objective: Locate the Mogao Grottoes and survey the situation.” Exasperatedly swiping away the screen, she resumed looking into the distance, walking towards seemingly nowhere. The sandstorm surrounding them was enough to greatly impede their progress forwards, every grain of the sand joining together into a strong wave that threatened to erode the precise mechanical joints into oblivion.

After what seemed like an eternity, the winds died down. The dusty particles around the two settled into the rest of the sandy ground. In the sudden beam of sunlight that had emerged, the two figures stood out from their grey landscape- from the distance, they resembled two brightly coloured smudges against the horizon- one blue, one orange.

In the far distance, a pleasant sight began to appear as the sand subsided- far away was a cliff-like wall, with a multitude of rectangular holes puncturing its beige surface. “The grottoes…” Erin said quietly. Around the grottoes, there was a rare glimpse of green- an oasis. The two girls picked up their speed as they continued to walk forwards. At the same time, Erin had already began to note down everything she saw- the sparse vegetation, the grey colour of the sand, the gradually clearing sky and the ground beneath them.

An almost dried out river greeted them when they reached their destination. There was a single wooden bridge. “I think the bridge won't hold the weight of our mecha…” Sylviana said. She pressed a button within the cockpit. The gas-like substance that was used to track her leg movements gradually dissipated away. She felt the temperature rise as the glass visor opened, extending a ladder down to the ground for her to exit.

The two girls stood beside the several meter tall robotic apparatus they had travelled in. The painted metal was now dented and scratched all over, starkly contrasting with the pristine condition of the girls' clothing- skintight bodysuits in a metallic material, the same colour as their mecha, with knee and elbow pads in a similar colour. Sylviana's were purple, Erin's were yellow.

As Sylviana's blue-streaked silver hair ruffled in the wind, she uttered a sentence. “Whoever thought that crossing a desert using robotic mecha was a good idea is stupid.”

woah, that's a lot of typing

C4Firth wrote:

woah, that's a lot of typing

I know lol

i was dead by seeing this, btw i can give you a tip, if you use windows, try using voice to text by pressing win + H ( i am not sure for mac and chromebook ) ( sorry i dint read any thing, i got shock after seeing this big, i left hope to read it XD )

Good writing!

Translated Song Lyrics: Miku by Anamanaguchi

Original Lyrics:
Miku, Miku, you can call me Miku
Blue hair, blue tie, hiding in your Wi-Fi
Open secrets, anyone can find me
Hear your music running through my mind
I'm thinking Miku, Miku (ooh-whee-ooh)
I'm thinking Miku, Miku (ooh-whee-ooh)
I'm thinking Miku, Miku (ooh-whee-ooh)
I'm thinking Miku, Miku (ooh-whee-ooh)
I'm on top of the world because of you
All I wanted to do is follow you
I'll keep singing along to all of you
I'll keep singing along
I'm thinking Miku, Miku (ooh-whee-ooh)
I'm thinking Miku, Miku (ooh-whee-ooh)
I'm thinking Miku, Miku (ooh-whee-ooh)
I'm thinking Miku, Miku (ooh-whee-ooh)
Miku, Miku, what's it like to be you?
Twenty, twenty, looking in the rear view
Play me, break me, make me feel like Superman
You can do anything you want
I'm on top of the world because of you
All I wanted to do is follow you
I'll keep singing along to all of you
I'll keep singing along
I'm on top of the world because of you
I do nothing that they could never do
I'll keep playing along with all of you
I'll keep playing along
I'm thinking Miku, Miku (ooh-whee-ooh)
I'm thinking Miku, Miku (ooh-whee-ooh)
I'm thinking Miku, Miku (ooh-whee-ooh)
I'm thinking Miku, Miku (ooh-whee-ooh)
Where were we walking together? I will see you in the end
I'll take you where you've never been and bring you back again
Listen to me with your eyes, I'm watching you from in the sky
If you forget I'll fade away, I'm asking you to let me stay
So bathe me in your magic light and keep it on in darkest night
I need you here to keep me strong to live my life and sing along
I'm waiting with you wide awake like your expensive poison snake
You found me here inside a dream, walk through the fire, straight to me

Translated Lyrics:
You can call them Miku, Miku.
Hidden blue hair, blue lace on the Wii.
I know the secret I found.
It says your heart in your heart
Micah Micah (o)
Micah Micah (o)
Micah Micah (o)
Micah Micah (o)
Thank you on this planet.
I want to go back!
Sing to everyone
Always read together
Micah Micah (o)
Micah Micah (o)
Micah Micah (o)
Micah Micah (o)
What is Mick doing?
Especially if you look back
Play with me and destroy me like Superman.
You can do what you want.
Thank you on this planet.
I want to go back!
Sing to everyone
Always read together
Thank you on this planet.
I do not have
I always play with you
I'm ready
Micah Micah (o)
Micah Micah (o)
Micah Micah (o)
Micah Micah (o)
Where we got
Returning to places you didn't know before.
My words are in heaven
Forgetting, destroying, accepting
He hides his magic in the darkness of the night.
I want to live and read aloud
I'm as quiet as your dog.
I had a dream and got out of the fire

Story (this makes no sense lol)
The serene landscape glimmered under the artificial white lights. Far away, the lights of the stars appeared distant. Micah gazed upwards through the enormous transparent dome that sheltered the sparsely populated city- it used to be full of people, full of life. Then many left, while a few stayed. With the small population of their city, the dome fell into a state of disrepair. What once sheltered their civilisation from the harsh vacuum of space was compromised by the multitude of holes that had formed from neglect. Many of the mechanics and engineers had left this planet, meaning the people who were left were far too few to even attempt any kind of maintenance.

Micah wore a close-fitting suit made from a shiny white material with a slightly holographic coating on the surface. She knew it was absolutely necessary for her to have it, but she longed for a day when she did not need to hide her blue hair underneath that helmet anymore. In the calm solitude that came with the night, she leaned against a wall and began to sing. She longed to return to Earth, the place she once called home. Who knew that their attempt at terraforming would end in such a way?

A vibrating sensation in the ground interrupted her reverie. It must've originated from a loud noise, only noises didn't travel in vacuums so Micah was left imagining what could have caused it. She grumpily left the spot she had been standing, and walked around to find the source of the interruption. She noticed some movement in the distance and ran forwards to see what it was.

A group of three people stood by a hole in the dome that was close to the ground. As Micah approached, her intercom earpieces activated. “If we're going to have to stay here forever, let's just smash off another piece of this dome. We ain't fixing it anytime soon.” someone said. Another voice added “If we cause enough damage to this stoopid dome maybe the people back on Earth will notice and send a ship to pick us up.” Micah approached the group. “What are you doing?” One of the people in the group turned around. “Oh hello, we're just hoping we can do something to attract the attention of the people back on earth so they send a ship to evacuate us from this place. I mean, if we break enough of this dome then they'll notice, right? Nice to meet you. We're Operation Superman. My name is Rica, this is my brother Leo and that's my friend Lucy.”

Micah looked at the group. “Why Superman?” She asked. “Oh, it's just because we're using our strength to rescue y'all. Like how Superman uses his super strength to rescue people.” Lucy replied. To prove a point, Leo picked up a large, jagged rock and hurled it at the dome. A hexagonal segment broke off with a powerful vibration- the same kind that Micah had felt earlier. Micah replied “I think it's not going to be much help. Seeing as how far away Earth is from here, a few extra missing segments from the dome won't be a visible difference from there. Remember the communication tower? Maybe we can contact them with those instead.”

About a month later, everyone on that remote planet was notified about a ship that was sent there to bring everyone back. People were overjoyed. Micah was in charge of the name list, and made sure that everyone was on board.

Back on Earth, safe and sound. Micah sat on the soft sofa, her hair resting gently against her shoulders. She smiled as she removed the blue lace cover from the bottom shelf of the coffee table- beneath it was a variety of gaming consoles. She picked out a box that said “Project Diva”.

She was as good at the game as she was three years ago, before she had been chosen to be part of the crew to go to a faraway planet.

The End (lol this story is the most confusing jumbled thing ever lol)


I kind of based the characters around vocaloids lol
In case you didn't realise:
Micah is Miku
Rica is Rin
Leo is Len
Lucy is Luka

Of course Micah had to play Project Diva at the end, the entire story was literally based on a very translated version of a vocaloid song lol

Some random play that I wrote a while back.

The girl who changed it all

Act 1, Scene 1

The dorms (morning)
Icy: (sitting on a bed, staring off into the distance) I don’t remember.

Ellie: (tidying up a shelf) Remember what? Icy, you’ve got to speak clearly.

Icy: Ellie! You get what I mean.

Ellie: What?

Icy: What happened before, Ellie. Before we came here.

Ellie: Can’t assume what you don’t know!

Icy: Then do YOU remember anything?

Ellie: Obviously not, duh. And don’t ask about Isaac, he doesn’t either.

Icy: Speaking of Isaac, where IS he?

Ellie: The bathroom. You gotta be kidding me, Icy. Where else would he be?

Icy: *groans* Seriously. We’re lucky that we’re not like that BANANAHEAD Misty. All she does is tell on us every second every day.

Ellie: Come on, you know Ms. Mallow is great. I mean, although none of us remember what exactly happened to us before, at least she gives us a place to live and sufficient food. I doubt anyone else would provide that to us.

Mallow (over intercom): I3, L3, I6, M3. Please meet me at the central chamber, I have some news for you.

Act 1, Scene 2

The Hub, Central chamber (morning)

Mallow: (standing on a raised platform) Good morning, my friends. I hope you’ve had a great night’s sleep, I have an announcement for you. I have formulated a training plan for you all.

Icy: (standing just in front of the platform, listening attentively) Training for what?

Misty: (standing next to Icy) Shush, I3. She’s getting to that. (raises hand) Ms. Mallow, I3 just interrupted!

Mallow: (waves hand dismissively) We’ll deal with that later. For now, let me continue.

Misty: (bows slightly) Of course, Ms. Mallow. Anything for you!

Mallow: (Suddenly eloquent) Listen carefully now. I will not be repeating myself. Now, I am hoping to have some assistants. I think you four would be perfect. You see, the world is changing. And we have to change right along with it. Everything is corrupt. And we must stop it. I knew you were the right people when I rescued you from that accident. The terrible accident that made you all lose your memories. It was a pity really, you would’ve been such great people, such great entrepreneurs. And now, I am here to fulfill your dreams.

Icy: (Leans forwards) But how do you KNOW our dreams?

Misty: Nuh-uh, I3. Not the time for interrupting. Ms. Mallow, if you want I can help you deal with this interrupter. Shall I do it now?

Mallow: No thanks, M3.

Misty: Happy to be of help!

Mallow: Listen you all, we can change the world. Change the world once and for all. There will be no more corruption, only us. We are a force of change. And that is why I will need to train you.

Misty: (steps forwards) Can’t you fire I3? She’s being annoying.

Mallow: Not now, M3.



Act 1 Scene 3

The hallway (morning)

Icy: (walking) Listen, Misty. I still don’t get why you had to tell on me earlier.

Misty: (walking) Well, well. I guess you’ll have to stop interrupting!

Isaac: (catches up from behind) Hey! Hey!

Icy: Isaac?

Isaac: Ms. Mallow wants to speak to you.

Icy: (widens eyes in surprise) Okay? See you later. (hurries off in opposite direction)


Act 1 Scene 4.1

Mallow Embermark’s office (morning)

Mallow: (Sitting on a chair, holding a cup of tea) I3, I3. Come on in.

Icy: (Timidly steps through the doorway) Yes?

Mallow: That was VERY disrespectful of you to interrupt me this morning, I must say. (leans forwards)

Icy: (slowly leans backwards in shock) So then, what?

Mallow: I’m afraid you’re going to have a punishment. (stands up)

Icy: (gradually backs away)Uhh… uhh…

Mallow: (grabs Icy by the shoulders) You are to tidy and sort this box of books and documents. If I find a mistake… well, then you’ll get more punishment. Is that clear?

Icy: Yes, Ms. Mallow.

Mallow: (lets go of Icy’s shoulders) Very well then, I3. Pick up this box and leave.

Icy: (picks up box and walks off)

Mallow: That girl. Gotta teach her a lesson. (picks up hand mirror) Hello there, old friend. We’re both beautiful today.



Act 1 Scene 4.2

The common room (late morning)

Icy: (On her knees, sorting through the box) Document, document, notebook. Novel, textbook, document. Ooh, diary? (takes out diary)

(Looks left, looks right)Seems empty to me! Let’s look through this.

Recorded voice: January 1. Dear diary, today is the first day that I start using this diary. I will write updates on my life and my habits.

(blackout)

(lights on)

Recorded voice: March 5. Dear diary, I found the perfect people. Today is the day. Of course, I’ll need to stage a little “accident” for them. That won’t be hard, the only problem is that they’ll need to have their memories wiped.

(blackout)

(lights on)

Recorded voice: April 20. Dear diary, managed to clear their memories. Hopefully I’ll be able to start training them.

(blackout)

(lights on)

Recorded voice: April 25. Dear diary, I had a really bad day in the toilet, you probably don’t want to know.

(blackout)

(lights on)

Recorded voice: May 1st. Dear diary, I know I’m going to take over the world. Why, all the countries are singing out to me in unison! I’ll just need the Blue Locket of Eternity. It contains a powerful magical dust capable of whatever you dream of.

(blackout)

(lights on)

Recorded voice: May 5. Dear diary, the four cadets I3, M3, L3 and I6 are ready. Maybe next week I’ll start training them to help me reach my goal.

(blackout)

Icy: Oh no.

(lights on)

Icy: I’ve been living a lie.



*Act 1 over*


Act 2 Scene 1

Mallow Embermark’s office (almost noon)


Icy: I’m done arranging the books!

Mallow: Thank you, I3. (takes box) Oh, that’s where my diary went. You didn’t read it, did you?

Icy: Why would I read something as private as a diary?

Mallow: Good. You didn’t read it. Anyway, meet up with the other three, they’re busy in the workshop room.


Act 2 Scene 2

The dorms (evening)

Ellie: Well that was an eventful day, I must say.

Icy: Yes, yes.

Ellie: You look thoughtful.

Icy: Well, uh…

Ellie: What?

Icy: I got something to tell you in private.

Ellie: Okay?

Icy: (grabs Ellie by the hand and pulls her to the side) We’ve been living a lie, Ellie.

Ellie: What do you mean?

Icy: Ms. Mallow brainwashed us.

Ellie: You gotta be kidding me.

Icy: No, for real. Today, I found her diary while I was tidying up her documents.

Ellie: Don’t tell me you read it.

Icy: Well, I did. Make sure Misty doesn’t hear of this.

Ellie: Uhh, I’ll try. But why?

Icy: Ms. Mallow wants to take the entire world for herself.

Ellie: Are you kidding me?

Icy: Nope. There’s a specific object that she’s looking for, containing magic dust that apparently makes her be able to do whatever she dreams of.

Ellie: No way!

Icy: It’s the Blue Locket of Eternity.

Ellie: Are you joking?

Icy: No. Just believe me.

Ellie: You trying to start a new religion or something?

Icy: No! Honestly, just believe me.

Ellie: Fine, now what?

Icy: We’ve got to get to that locket and destroy it before Ms. Mallow gets it.

Ellie: Should we tell Isaac?

Icy: But then Misty might hear and she’ll tell and… well, there’ll be terrible consequences.

Ellie: Okay we’ll wait for the time.

(blackout)


Act 2 scene 3

Secret lair somewhere (in the middle of the night)

(continue blackout)

Mallow: It’s time, Silver and Iris.

(windows computer turning on sound effect)

(lights turn on)

Silver: Hello, Mallow. How can I be of assistance?

Iris: Hi. How can I help you?

Mallow: You’re both here. Excellent. Tomorrow we train the four.


Act 2 Scene 4

The Hub (morning)

Mallow: Good morning all, allow me to introduce Silver and Iris. They will be assisting in your training.

Silver: I am Silver.

Iris: I’m Iris, how are you?

Mallow: Here I have set up some equipment. (gestures towards some chairs)

Iris: I’d love to see you try getting over this first obstacle.

(blackout)

Recorded voice: 10 minutes later.

(lights on)

Mallow: Perfect work. I6, maybe try to jump higher.


Act 2 Scene 5

The dorms (night)

Ellis: So you said…

Icy: I got Isaac to join us.

Ellis: Okay?

Isaac: Can I come in?

Icy: Yes.

Isaac: So whatcha plotting? Got any ideas?

Ellis: Well, I managed to get hold of this laptop here. So let’s search.

(three people stare at the screen intensely as Ellis and Icy take turns typing things in)

Icy: I think I’ve got it.

Isaac: What?

Ellie: Where is it?

Icy: Well, here it says that the Blue Locket of Eternity is hidden…

Isaac: Where? Where?

Icy: Behind the giant chair statue in Hibiscus Gardens.

Ellie: What?

(blackout)



Act 2 Scene 6

The Hub (Afternoon)

Mallow: Good afternoon.

Iris: I’m pretty sure I heard some noise at the dorms last night. Were you talking past bedtime?

Ellie: Well…

Mallow: You didn’t bother me much, since my bedroom is far from there. It’s just that Iris was going to get my notebooks for me and heard some muttering in there.

Iris: Honestly, if you were to talk, talk louder. I had no idea what you were talking about there! I’m pretty sure you don’t have any secrets to keep from me, Mallow or Silver, so go on, shout it out if you want to talk to us. You need to learn that we can’t interpret mumbling.

Silver: Two weeks later. (giggles)

Act 2 Scene 7

The Hub (noon)

(blackout)

(lights on)

Mallow: All four of you have done quite some training in the last two weeks. So, I will be assigning you for specific work. L3 and I6 will be in a group, while M3 and I3 will be in a group.

Icy: Uhh… okay.

Mallow: M3 and I3, I would like you to help me retrieve a box from Bathilda’s Bathtub Products. I ordered some stuff there a few weeks ago and I’m busy so you two can go get it for me.

Misty and Icy: Yes.

Mallow: I6 and L3, I would like you to look for a very specific package wrapped in green paper hidden by the fountain at Hibiscus Gardens.

Isaac and Ellie: Yes.

Mallow: Now go!

Misty, Icy, Ellie, Isaac: Yes Ms. Mallow.


Act 2 Scene 8

Bathilda’s Bathtub Products (afternoon)

Misty: Hey, anybody there?

Employee: What do you need?

Icy: So we’re here to pick up a package please, here’s the bit of paper that says what it is.

Employee: Okay… Wait for a moment.


Act 2 Scene 9

Hibiscus Gardens (afternoon)

Ellie: Isaac, I think this is our chance.

Isaac: But what about Icy?

Ellie: We’ll find the entrance in then we’ll tell her.

Isaac: Sure, let’s find the package first.

Ellie: It’s probably not that hard to find, since it’s green and it’s near the fountain so it’s probably in the bushes around the fountain.

Isaac: Let’s go!

Ellie: (walking) Hey, I think I see it.(picks it up) Yup this is it.

Recorded voice: Get package to The Hub in 1000, 999, 998, 997, 996…

Isaac: Aah let’s go!

Ellie: I’ll get it back, you look for the entrance!

Recorded voice: 987, 986, 985, 984, 983, 982…

Isaac: Better hurry!
(the two run off in different directions)


Act 2 Scene 10

The hub (night)

Icy: Did you two get to take a look at the chair sculpture?

Isaac: Well I did.

Ellie: I had to run back.

Isaac: It’s directly behind the chair statue, it’s a trapdoor in the ground.

Icy: Why do I have a feeling that Ms. Mallow could be getting there already in any minute?

Ellie: I don’t know, but I think you’d better go check.

Icy: (gets up) Okay.


Act 2 Scene 11

The hallway (night)

Icy: (tiptoes forwards)

Iris: (walks around corner) Well, well. What are you doing here at this time of the night?

Icy: Uhh… looking for something?

Iris: Well, you better go back to bed. I would notify Ms. Embermark,

Icy: Who?

Iris: Ms. Embermark. Ms. Mallow Embermark.

Icy: Oh…

Iris: I would notify her, but she’s out on an errand.

Icy: Out on an errand?

Iris: Yes, so you should get back to bed. (walks away)

Icy: Oh no…


*Act 2 over*


Act 3 Scene 1

Hibiscus Gardens (night)

Icy: I can’t believe it. How was there a trapdoor here the whole time? (pulls open trapdoor and climbs in)


Act 3 Scene 2

Inside the trapdoor (night)

Icy: (walks along) I have no idea if it’s even here.

Mallow (offstage): Why can’t I find it?

Icy: (eyes widen in surprise)


Act 3 Scene 3

Inside the trapdoor (night)

Icy: (stumbles into a side corridor to find a pedestal with the locket sitting on it) What? (reaches towards the locket)

Mallow: (walks onstage) You.

Icy: What?

Mallow: How did you find out?

Icy: Well…

Mallow: So you DID read my diary, didn’t you?

Icy: (deep breath, steps forwards) Listen, Ms. Mallow. I know all about your plan to take over the world. I simply won’t allow it.

Mallow: How could you… you…

Icy: Hmm, yes. I gotta do something. (reaches towards locket and grasps it in her hand)

Mallow: No you don’t! (lunges at locket)

(blackout)

Icy: Not… giving…

Mallow: Haaaaiyaaaaah! Ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya ya

Icy: Nope nope nope nope nope

Mallow: Grrrrrrrr

Icy: Hissssss

Mallow: I just won’t allow it! You are mine, you will never be free!

Icy: Yet here I am!

Mallow: Just give me that locket!

Icy: No.

Mallow: Impossible…

(lights on)

Mallow: Nooooooo! (locket is open)

Icy: What?

Mallow: The magic dust is scattered! Now I won’t be able to use it!

Icy: Good for you! Now I gotta go…

Mallow: I, Mallow Embermark, command you, Cadet I3, to stop right there and come back here!

Icy: I am no longer Cadet I3, Mallow. I am Icy. I can’t stand being under your control anymore. (takes locket from Mallow, closes it and puts it on) Now tell me. Why did you decide to do all this?

Mallow: Heh, heh. You think I would tell you?

Isaac and Ellie: (burst in) Ms. Mallow, give back the locket.

Icy: It’s fine, I have it. It’s empty though, the magic dust spilled out.

Mallow: No! (tries to pick up the dust from the floor, is unsuccessful)

Icy: Isaac, Ellie? We gotta make her tell the truth.

Mallow: How did you even find out?

Silver and Iris: (enter) Hello, Mallow. How can we help you?

Misty: (Steps out from behind Silver and Iris) Ms Mallow? What happened? I noticed that I6, I3 and L3 were all missing and you were apparently out on an errand, so I got Silver and Iris to come find you four. Do you need help? What’s happening? What can I do to make you feel better?

Mallow: Oh, my dear M3. You see, there’s something I need. Yet I3- that terrible traitor I3 decided to take it from me. The Blue Locket of Eternity was what I wanted, but she took it from me and now all the magic dust it contains is scattered across the floor. I will never be able to draw energy from it to achieve my goal now!

Silver and Iris: Ms. Mallow Embermark, if what you say is true, then it means that we no longer have a purpose and thus will shut down. (the two go stiff and slump forwards)

Mallow: Noooooooo! No… The two of you were so nice to me…

Icy: You know what, I feel kind of sorry for you. I mean, VILLAIN SYMPATHIZER (stares through the fourth wall for a few seconds) but I know you need someone to understand you. It seems like you’ve lost all you wanted- the magic dust, and the companionship of your AI robots. I don’t suppose you could…

Mallow: Please forgive me. I beg you. Your words were very emotional, and I just feel like… uh… I need… I need… uh… someone…

Ellie: You need a friend. You’re lonely.

Mallow: Aah! How did you know? No, I can’t say that. I can’t! I just can’t!

Isaac: Let me guess. You don’t want to be lonely, so you want to take over the entire world to listen to your every command and take care of your every whim. Let me tell you, that’s not going to work.

Icy: Mallow, listen. Will you promise to never take over the world again? If you do, we can help you fit back into society properly. How about you just give us back our memories?

Mallow: I hate to say this, but thank you.

THE END