Crossing Anthology Two

Halie awoke from her nap, still feeling on edge like before. There were no dreams, just voids of darkness that filled her thoughts, her conscience and sub-conscience. Halie sat up slowly and put on her shoes, then her sweater. Halie stood up and looked over at Twilight’s bed; there she saw Twilight lying with Spike wrapped in her embrace. Twilight was awake, Spike slept, Twilight had him encased in her fore-legs and back-legs, kissing his forehead with watery eyes. She patted his head, Spike’s sleeping body responded by cuddling Twilight closer, nuzzling his face into her neck. Halie looked at the heartrending scene and smiled, Halie felt a tear forming in her right eye and rubbed it. Halie whispered to Twilight;

“Thank you…”

Twilight did not notice; she just kept holding Spike, gently rocking him. Halie walked down stairs and gave the two their privacy. A thought ran through Halie’s mind, Spike was not just an ordinary library assistant, he was Twilight’s son, as close to a son as possible. To Spike, Twilight was a mother, a mother he could hold and cry with when the going gets tough, and when the world shatters around him. Halie exited Twilight’s library.

Upon stepping outside, she noticed it was night time, meaning Pinkie Pie’s “cheer-up” party was ready to commence. Halie was skeptical to believe that anything could cheer her up at this point, with what all has happened today. Halie did not want to be rude and just not attend, plus Jonah, Cole and Mina were invited too; she pulled out her invitation from earlier and read, a tiny layer of cake frosting residue was mushed inside of it. Halie traveled down the gravel road to Sugar Cube Corner, where the invitation said the party would be. She approached the building; the lights were on and could be seen through the windows. Halie took a moment to admire the bakery’s format, taking in its gingerbread house like structure, finally she walked in.

The party was surprisingly lively, after three days of being there, Halie finally got to see more ponies. There were big ponies, small ponies, mares and stallions, fillies and colts; all having a riveting time The worries from before had appeared to be lifted, and Pinkie’s party was so far a success. But in hindsight, the reality was still among them, and they were still unaware of what happened in Fillydelphia. Halie figured that it be best to perhaps not tell anyone else, seeing how torn apart Twilight was, she feared that telling anyone else would only create chaotic fear, and ruin the party that Pinkie worked so hard to put together. Halie maneuvered her way through the crowds of dancing ponies looking for Jonah and Cole. The music was lively and loud, a sign was posted in front of a small makeshift stage in the far side of the bakery lobby, the sign said; “PLEASE ENJOY THAT FRESH BEATS AND WUBS! BLASTED TO YOU BY DJPON-3 AND HER NEW PARTNER, SHADE!" Halie disregarded the loud volume and kept searching. Suddenly, a loud, cheering voice traveled its way to Halie;

“Hey there, girlfriend!”

Halie turned to see it was Pinkie Pie, Halie spoke above the ear busting music;

“Pinkie! Where are Jonah and Cole?”

“They aren’t here yet! But isn’t this party great?”

Pinkie jumped repeatedly, Halie responded;

“Yeah! You’ve really got everyone in town fired up, I’ve never seen this many ponies in one place until now!”

Pinkie shook with excitement and said;

“Great! I wish my friend Rarity would have come. I really wish she could just come back from her vacation, it’s been weeks now! I guess a party is still a party, even with only thirty-seven ponies.”

“You counted everyone…?”

“Yep! Well I gotta go, there’s a slice of cake right behind you with my name written on it! Have fun, Halie!”

Pinkie bounced past Halie to land herself face first into a small slice of cake set on a bar. Halie walked back to the front door of the bakery to wait for Jonah and Cole, sometime past and eventually they arrived. Jonah’s foot was dressed with a white cotton cloth to better protect his shell wound; Cole’s face was rattled with tiny cuts from shattering ice. Halie sprung from her seat to the boys, she said to them;

“Jonah! Cole! What took you two so long, and what happened to you both, you’re hurt!”

Halie placed her hand on Cole’s cheek and observed his cuts, they were rubbed with a chemical to relieve pain and fight any infection. Cole responded;

“We found the serial killer in one of the classrooms, got into a fight with him, and then he flew away! We couldn’t catch him! I got a bunch of ice blown into my face; Jonah was shot in the foot! Hang on, can we step outside?”

“Yeah.”

The three friends stood outside Sugar Cube Corner, sitting on the steps which led to the front door. Jonah asked Halie;

“Are you okay? And where is Mina?”

“I’m okay Jonah, just a little worried. I told Twilight about what happened and she lost it right on the spot. I don’t think we should tell anyone else about what has happened. Also Mina and I aren’t on speaking terms for the time being…”

Cole immediately asked;

“What did she say…?”

“She made fun of you, I stood up and told her to shut her mouth, and she made fun of us dating…”

Cole was the least bit surprised, he told Halie;

“Well, get used to it Halie, you’ll be getting a lot of it.”

Cole directed his attention to Jonah;

“I still wish she could have just stayed on Mobius, I’m sorry Jonah, but we don’t need her.”

Jonah was unsure of what to say, he only looked down nonchalantly. Halie backed up Cole, saying;

“Jonah, why do you go out with her? What connection do you two hold?”

Jonah finally spoke;

“She helped me get over something a very long time ago, and had she not done it, I would have never met you or Cole…”

Cole was confused; he thought he met Jonah before Mina did. He asked;

“What? But you met me first, I remember you two introducing each other to yourselves in seventh grade.”

Jonah thought deeply, and began telling Cole a tale from his childhood;

“When I was six years old, in 2002 when I still lived in Chapmanville, my mom and my dad left the country again after havin’ only spent a week at home, already after two years of bein’ gone in some other country. During those two years between when I was four and six, I never saw my brother, Seth and I were separated by force for a reason, and I have yet to figure out. Anyways, after my folks left in 2002, I was heartbroken; I was cryin’ to myself out in the streets, that’s when Mina found me. Somehow Mina found a way to travel back in time, and when she found me, she comforted me and got me more motivated to run away from home with my brother. Mina also gave me somethin’ that ended up helpin’ us beat King Zoxus back in 2012; I kept it hidden for ten years, hopin’ I would see that kind girl again.”

Cole was surprised to hear that Jonah and Mina’s history was as far back as it was. Cole did once hear Jonah mention that she “began” his journey, but he only thought he was being metaphorical. Jonah continued;

“Had she not come to me back then, I might’ve not left West Virginia, and I never would have met you or Halie here.”

Halie looked at Jonah with sorrowed eyes, feeling moved by his past. Cole remained silent for a moment, he finally spoke;

“Jonah, I’m sorry. We shouldn’t put you in such a difficult position with Mina just because of how we feel. I guess Halie and I just gotta ignore her.”

Jonah responded sternly;

“No, don’t be sorry. There’s no reason for Mina to be so rude to y’all, I’ll talk to her later.”

Cole smiled, and said;

“Thanks, Jonah.”

In the following hours, the three friends enjoyed themselves, partying, playing, dancing, and even singing to DJpon-3’s world renowned beats. It was as if what happened earlier that day was only a nightmare and world was at a state of peace and carefree joyfulness. Jonah met with Rainbow Dash who also happened to be at the party, Jonah greeted her;

“Hey Rainbow!”

Rainbow Dash directed her attention towards Jonah;

“Hey there, Jonah! How’ve you and Cole been since I last saw ya? What happened to your foot there?”

“It was an accident… and we’ve been doing well. How about you?”

“I just got accepted into the Wonderbolt academy! Finally, after all these long years, I’m finally good enough to fly with Equestria’s best air patrol!”

“That’s awesome, congrats!”

Jonah activated his power and levitated a foot above the floor, he said to Rainbow sarcastically;

“Maybe I could get in on that, haha.”

Rainbow, oblivious to Jonah’s sarcasm, smirked and challenged him;

“You think you got what it takes to take me on? I’m the best flyer in Ponyville, Cloudsdale, and every other place around these parts!”

Jonah was caught off guard; he didn’t think Rainbow would take him so seriously. He could tell she was enjoying this so he accepted this challenge;

“Very well, Rainbow, let’s go have a race.”

Rainbow Dash and Jonah stepped outside. Jonah knew he would probably lose this race, he had only gained the power of flight one year ago, Rainbow however has been a Pegasus her whole life. As they descended from the stairs, Jonah saw Mina approaching in the distance. He called out to her;

“Hey Mina!”

“Hey Jonah, listen I need to talk to you about something.”

Rainbow was already sitting on a small cloud above Ponyville, tapping her hoof impatiently. Jonah said to Mina;

“Sorry, Mina. Could it wait ‘till later? I got something to do.”

“Yeah, sure…”

Jonah proceeded to fly up to where Rainbow was in the sky. Mina walked into Sugar Cube Corner.

Rainbow Dash and Jonah were lined up evenly in the night sky of Ponyville, ready to take off as fast as possible. Rainbow instructed;

“Alright, see that big collection of clouds over there?”

Jonah tightened his eyes to make out the large abundance of clouds Rainbow Dash was referring to; it appeared to be a city made of clouds and sky matter. Jonah responded;

“I see it! Is it some floating town? Or something?”

“That’s Cloudsdale, the home of the Pegasi race. We’re gonna race to its entrance, and back. Got it?”

“Got it!”

Rainbow focused on her target, her adrenaline built, ready to explode with ferocious velocities of speed. Jonah was prepared; he knew he would most likely lose, but wanted everyone to have as much fun as possible. Rainbow began the countdown;

“3! 2! 1! G-!”

Something interrupted them, it was screams terrified panic, Jonah and Rainbow looked down. Underneath his feet, Jonah could see everyone running out of Sugar Cube Corner, frightened and scared out of their minds. All the ponies ran fast, mothers and fathers carried their children on their backs and returned to their homes; doors were locked and sealed from society. Jonah and Rainbow Dash floated down and ran into the ruined party. Jonah saw Pinkie Pie on the floor, crying over a towering cake that had been knocked into the floor by the crowds’ panic. Halie was slouched over a table that was pushed out of alignment, Cole was yelling in Mina’s face;

“What hell is your problem!? You ruined the whole meaning of this party!”

“Hey I thought they’d be aware, usually back on Earth when this shit happens every one hears about it!”

“I don’t give a damn! You shouldn’t have said that! You ruined everything!”

Mina was silent; she looked from Cole to Jonah. Mina said to Jonah;

“Jonah, shouldn’t we have just told them? They were gonna find out anyway! If anything this whole party is pretty much a giant middle finger to them!”

Jonah did not respond. On one hand he felt that he should support Mina, on the other he felt that she was wrong to tell the ponies what happened at such an inconvenient time. Jonah could not speak. Mina said to him;

“Jonah! Answer me!”

Jonah didn’t do anything, Mina spoke again;

“Don’t you support me? Don’t you think it’s more convenient for me to just tell them? Look at me damn you!”

Jonah looked into Mina’s eyes briefly; they were desperate for someone to listen and to support and encourage. Jonah remained silent, unable to speak. Mina sighed heavily, she gave up;

“You know what? If you all think I’m so fucking worthless, and so much of a fucking inconvenience to you… then I’m leaving…”

Jonah went from confusion to fear for her, Cole’s expression changed from anger to surprise. Halie stood up, alerted. Mina stormed out of Sugar Cube Corner; she slammed the door behind her, creating a loud “BANG” noise making Halie cringe a little, Halie felt lightheaded and had no choice but to sit down. Jonah looked up at Cole with tears beginning to form in his eyes. Cole could only make out;

“I’m… I…”

“No… Cole… This was my fault; I should have said something… You were right before, I need to be less hesitant… What happened today was clearly a sign, and I screwed up!”

“Jonah no! I yelled at her, I shouldn’t have, I put you in a shitty position…”

Jonah glanced at Halie’s distress, then back to Cole;

“Cole, don’t worry, we’ll find Mina… Go to Halie, she doesn’t look good.”

Cole nodded silently and walked over to Halie, kneeling and hugging her close. Jonah gave his attention to Pinkie Pie as she sobbed in front of her destroyed cake; Rainbow was resting a hoof on her shoulder to comfort her. Jonah walked over to Pinkie and kneeled down before her, rubbing his fingers into the cake, and smearing the frosting on her cheeks to resemble war paint, like how he first saw her that morning. Jonah put some on himself as he silently cried, and smiled a little. Pinkie smiled and reached out to hug Jonah, he held Pinkie back.

All that work to raise everyone’s spirits, and then to have it crash down upon them, and to make the ponies feel even more threatened than before. From this point on, missions will be more difficult to pursue, the reputation of Luna’s elite team has fallen before it has hardly even started. Their first mission was horrible failure, and they’ve just lost one of their teammates. The odds are not in the teams favor at this point in time, they must make a sharp turn around.