When The Wall Breaks Down, chapter 5: I’m Coming Home

Arpeggio. Arpeggio Glimmer. That was her name. It was the name her friend had given her. She hated it. Even so, she would have no other name.

She didn’t know why she hated it, Arpeggio was a nice name. Maybe it was because her friend had given it to her? That seemed likely. The girl irritated Arpeggio to no end.

Still, she was nice to Arpeggio, which was more than could be said for the rest of Canterlot. Even now, as she walked through the street, she received a number of hateful stares. She could change her name, she could change her hair, but she couldn’t change what she’d done. Her finger tentatively rose to her throat and traced a circle at it’s base. She missed the gem that used to hang there. But, things happened, and she had replaced her gem with a sword. That sword, a claymore, now hung loosely from her back by two straps, bouncing against her butt with every step.

Five years. Five years had passed and the city still hadn’t forgiven her. She supposed that was alright, since she hadn’t done so herself. She didn’t know what had brought on the heart crushing guilt, but she suspected harmony magic was to blame. Again, that was okay, because it had made a better woman of her.

A police officer stepped in front of her. He was bigger than she was. That was unusual, as she was a rather tall woman. “Were ya headin, ma’am?”

“To see Representative Shimmer.” Arpeggio replied calmly. She was used to the police giving her a hard time.

“Not with that sword, you’re not. Hand it over.” he ordered, holding out his left hand.

“Well, alright, but I assure you, it’s just a decorative piece. I picked it up in Scotland.” she said, and swung the sword around for him. “Go ahead, give it a tug. It doesn’t even have a blade.”

The officer did, and raised an eyebrow at her. “Why would you have this?”

“For the same reason a girl buys Versace. It’s pretty, and they want it. I’ve been lugging that around for three years, so you’re hardly the first one to ask about it.”

“Whatever.” The sword was thrust back into her hands, and the officer went on his way. With a sigh, Arpeggio slung her weapon onto her shoulder. Yes, weapon. In truth, it was not a decorative piece, but a fully functional, 1060 carbon steel blade. The reason the cop had not been able to draw the blade, was because the Princess herself had enchanted it. Only Arpeggio could draw the sword.

Most would not realize that Arpeggio was the powerhouse of the three sisters. They would assume that Arianna was the strongest, and that she was the wisest and most resourceful. But in truth, Arianna was the most resourceful, Elegy the wisest, and Arpeggio the strongest. Now, Arpeggio was pretty clever, but she lacked the knowledge and tenacity of Arianna. That was why she was partnered with… Gilda.

She had lost Gilda in Japan. The tunnel had caved in, and they were separated. Her friend was dead, and she was to blame. She should have seen the tripwire, and avoided it. But she hadn’t seen it. She couldn’t avoid it. No matter, she was a strong woman. She’d lost loved ones before, and she’d always kept her chin up, for the sake of the others.

A rock suddenly impacted the side of her head, causing a bit of blood to trickle down her cheek. She paid it no mind. Two more rocks soared by her face, and she heard a couple hit the wall behind her. So it was going to be a stoning? She hadn’t been stoned since Salem. “Hey Witch! Get the fuck out of Canterlot!” Arpeggio had to smile at the statement. She un-shouldered the sword, and held it in a way that allowed her to hold the sheath’s straps, as well as the sword hilt, and deflected another rock. More came sailing at her, and as she blocked them all, it crossed her mind that a shield would have been far superior. But, alas, she had been intent on using all of her savage strength in every swing, so the shield had been vetoed. After a moment, they ran out of rocks, and started throwing insults at her. Her hair, her scar, her height; they commented on it all.

She decided to say something. “Petty insults? This is not High School, you are all adults. And I will have you know, this hairstyle is quite popular in Prague right now.” This seemed to silence them for a bit, and many of them went back to their daily routines, save for one woman.

“Hello, Ada- I mean, Arpeggio. Sorry, I never really got used to the new name.” God, her accent still intoxicated Arpeggio with every word.

“It is quite all right Miss Melody. It’s good to see you again.” She replied to the grey-skinned cellist. Former cellist, she corrected herself. Octavia Melody was a former cellist. She jogged over and hugged her friend. “I have missed you.”

“Vinyl said she saw you in Russia a few months ago.” she said, and adjusted her sling. Arpeggio was reminded painfully of how she could not protect Octavia from the gunner. “Why didn’t you speak to her?”

“I don’t deserve to.”

“That’s bullshit, and you bloody know it. That really hurt her feelings, Arpeggio. She was your friend, too.”

Arpeggio grit her teeth behind her closed lips. “I promised her I would protect you.”

“I’m alive.”

“You’re crippled.”

“I manage to survive.”

“The cello…”

“I learned the harp.” Arpeggio opened her mouth to counter, but was cut off. “One more word, and you’ll be reminded of how much strength it took to lug that cello around.”

“Right. I’m on my way to Sunset’s place, want to come?”

“Only if you’ll have dinner with me.” The Musician countered, eliciting a smile from the ex-singer.

Only one problem: “I don’t have a dress.”

“You can borrow one of mine.”

~(A)~

Arpeggio and Octavia strolled in through the main door of the estate, as casually as one would enter a shopping mall. They were always welcome, as Octavia was a member of the Earthling-Equestrian Immigration Bureau. As for Arpeggio, the reason should be obvious.

The sound of girlish laughter came from upstairs, so the two women cautiously went up to investigate. What they found was… surprising.

Twilight, transformed into a human, next to Sunset Shimmer, with a controller each, were giggling and playing video games together. In the study. In their underwear.

“Hello, ladies.” a familiar voice said, followed by two clicks, and barrels pressed into the back of their heads.

Arpeggio replied first. “Hello, Heath, how’ve you… BEEN!” Arpeggio grunted the last word as she swung her claymore at the red haired man, using the same grip as before, to keep the sheath on. The man dropped down, like he was dodging bullets, and with a back flip, his foot came up and nearly impacted Arpeggio’s chin. She was too fast for him, though, and backstepped to dodge. So, it was a fight he wanted? He would get one.

Arpeggio swung again, succeeding in hitting him, and sent him flying down the stairs. More accurately, he went over the stairs. He didn’t hit any of them on the way down. Landing on his feet, he raised both of his SR22 handguns to her. Interestingly enough, he had bayonets on them. No matter. He was too late, as she leapt down after him, sword raised, and let loose a brutal war cry. Her broken voice made it sound all the more furious. Heath dodged the still sheathed sword as it crashed into the floor where he was standing a moment before. The ex-singer recovered quickly, using the rebounding force to swing the sword into an upward cut, missing by only a centimeter as Heath danced to the side.

“I’ve been pretty good, Peggy. Man, you’ve gotten better.” Heath replied, and dashed forward, slashing with his pistols’ bayonets. He didn’t reach her, as Arpeggio swung her weapon in a masterful upward slash, catapulting the man several feet in the air. Before he hit the ground, she stepped forward and, using a two handed grip, slammed her claymore into his stomach with an artistic spinning slash. He was sent tumbling across the floor, into Sunset’s coffee table. It collapsed under the impact, and Heath groaned from the pain.

“Hey, That was a nice table!” the aforementioned Representative said from above(Thankfully now clad in a bathrobe), watching with an amused smirk. “Take it outside.”

“With pleasure!” With Arpeggio distracted, Heath seized his window and tackled her through the open front door. They both rolled out of the grapple, coming into their respective fighting stances. Since Heath was primarily a gunfighter, he stood with both pistols pointed at the siren, and his legs were tensed incase he needed to dash to either side. Arpeggio, on the other hand, stood with her blade pointed away from Heath, and her legs tensed, ready to sprint forward and deliver a savage upward slash.

Instead of using these weapons, they dropped them, and took their own hand-to-hand stances. Heath stood with both his hands open, and angled sideways, ready to deflect any incoming punches. His strikes would be pressure point oriented, aiming to disable the opponent quickly.

Arpeggio stood with he fist raised, ready to block oncoming attacks outright, and brutally pummel the opponent with her strikes. Once the opponent was disoriented, she would bring them into a grapple, and finish him quickly, likely resulting in a fatality. It would be a flawless victory. Of course, being the powerhouse, she made the first move, leaping forward with a fist raised. She brought it forward in a mild punch, knowing that Heath would deflect it, which he did.

Heath retaliated by bringing his two middle knuckles into a small area between the right side of her neck and her clavicle, sending a rush of pain through her right arm. She took it though, and slammed her right fist into Heath’s left temple in a wicked backhand.

The man reeled away from the strike, managing to recover in time to block one of Arpeggios roundhouses. He wrapped his arms around her leg, and barely managed to throw her off her feet, sending her tumbling onto the grass. While he retreated a few feet, she recovered by swinging her legs around behind her like a break dancer, and coming into a stance reminiscent of a sprinter at the starting line. With a grunt, she tensed her legs, and rushed forward, closing the twelve foot gap in mere seconds. Heath didn’t have time to respond, and was caught in Arpeggio’s tackle. There wasn’t much he could do being in the woman’s grip, so he took the powerful tackle, and let her slam him into the Estate’s wall, with the intent to counter with a strike to her waist, but he didn’t get the chance.

Heath impacted the wall, and Arpeggio immediately jumped back, and tackled again, using her forearms as battering rams, and smashed into his stomach. Then, she grabbed his collar, and threw him into a prone position, then sat side-saddle on his back. “Who’s your Momma?” she asked haughtily, putting all her weight on him.

“Not you! AGH!!!” He grunted as Arpeggio leaned sideways and put her elbow against the back of his neck. “Okay! Okay, You’re my Momma!”

“That’s a good boy. Well, looks like you’ve gotten better yourself.” she said, and stood up, releasing her newly appointed ‘son.’

“Geez Arpeggio, you could try not to break so many ribs next time.” he said, as he clutched his chest in pain. “Your majesty, if you would please?”

Arpeggio turned to see a humanized Twilight jogging forward, wearing an orange bathrobe with an ‘S’ embroidered onto it’s left chest.

As she held out her right hand, the princess’s familiar violet aura surrounded Heath’s chest, and he grimaced as all his ribs worked themselves back into please, and the fractures healed. See, the secret to Twilight still being able to perform magic was that she moved her horn into her arm when she transformed, so she still had an outlet for her magic. Theoretically, she could use her fingernails, as they were made of the same thing, a rigid keratin construct meant for offense and defense. But, the princess wasn’t willing to risk permanent humanity on the Professor’s crazy hunch.

She was shocked to see Twilight walk right past Heath, and head straight for the mortal siren. “Arpeggio.”

“Y-yes, Your Majesty?”

“You have a message from Arianna. It’s urgent.” the Alicorn said, and held out a small violet tinged orb. It was normally clear, unless one of her sisters were contacting her.

“Sis! You there Arpeggio?” Arianna’s voice flooded from the little device, giving Arpeggio some relief that at least one of the other two were safe.

“Yes, my sister, what is it?”

“A couple of things. First, why did you abandon Gilda?” Something was wrong. The violet siren sounded out of breath, like she had been sprinting for a while.

“Gilda is dead. I watched the cave in crush her.” Her face twisted in a grimace, as there was no way Arianna could see her, since these devices only transmitted audio. “How do you know she’s not with me?”

“Because she’s here!” Arpeggio’s eyes narrowed.

“Hey Arpeggio!” the familiar voice sent a chill down her spine.

“Gilda.” she said calmly. “I’m tired of telling you not to watch that tape.”

“Really?! We’re doing this now?!”

“Say it. I have to know it’s you.”

“Fine. I don’t give a damn what you say, I’ll masturbate to Sunset and Twilight eating out if I want!” she said, earning a smile from the siren. First, because that phrase was hilarious. And second, because it reassured her that her friend was alive. The phrase, it should be known, is a way to ensure that neither were falsifications of one another. It was a crude method, but one that worked. Arpeggio risked a glance at Twilight, who had now been joined with Sunset and Coco.

Twilight’s skin had turned bright red, and her eyes were wide with shock. Coco had the same expression, however, she had her mouth covered. Sunset, being Sunset, just smirked at them.

“A-Arpeggio, do you really have us on tape?” Wait, seriously? Arpeggio had just taken a shot in the dark but… she grinned even wider.

“No princess, it’s just a way of identifying each other.”

Octavia slowly made her way around the building, carrying with her Arpeggio’s sword. Having only one good arm, she couldn’t very well gather the pistols as well.

Suddenly, another voice came over the transmitter, one that was a point of authority for Arpeggio. “Twilight, are you there?”

“Yes, Fluttershy, what is it?” Arpeggio had a very bad feeling about this… they were going to get bad news…

“We found him.”

Her intuition sucked.

Like, it really, really, really sucked.

Author's Note

Sorry this took so long to get up, but it's here now, unfortunately, updates on this will be pretty slow, as I'm working on other stuff. Hope you like this chapter.