- II -

"I like the Walrus best," said Alice: "because you see he was a LITTLE sorry for the poor oysters."

Even at the dead of the night, people still roamed the streets of the City. The crowd varied from travelers, shopkeepers, bystanders and more. It was loud, like a buzzing hive while music played through the many bars and establishments.

This didn’t stop Vinyl from going to her destination, or fail to notice the one trailing her from behind. She attempted to lose him, but failed to do so due to the latter being unpredictable in many ways.

Vinyl knew he wasn’t going to stop, so she halted and waited for the boy to come to her.

The boy who was instructed by Rainbow Dash to follow her walked up to her with a big smile, however Vinyl wasn’t happy to see the person before her.

“Treble, why are you following me and who sent you?” Vinyl asked impatiently while her arms were crossed.

“Who else but Dash? Plus she told me I could be in front the next time we go jumping around every roof like dumbasses.” Treble smiled.

“Figures,” Vinyl sighed while performing a facepalm, “Look, just leave me alone. I’m just heading to Mise’s place for a drink, that’s all.”

“Are you sure? Because the last time you said such thing was when we were on top of the wall,” Treble explained, “And instead of going to his place, you went to a Peacekeeper stronghold and started havoc again.”

“No, I’m going to Mise’s place for real this time.” Vinyl groaned, “Just… stop bothering me and go back to Dash or something.”

“I mean, I could buy you a drink before I go?”

“…No.”

Vinyl departed without another word and left Treble standing in the middle of the crowd. Treble adjusted his sunglasses and continued following her, much to Vinyl’s annoyance.

“We used to date, you know.” Treble whispered to himself.

At an underground laboratory of the Palace, President Celestia paced around tirelessly as light coming from a large screen radiated on her. Several scientists and military personnel including Evelyn stood by and watched the screen.

The screen showed several surveillance cameras focusing on the alley that had the mist, which was now materializing into a portal of some sort. An electric fence was erected around it and multiple peacekeepers had their guns pointed at it.

Most of them had confused looks on what they were watching, others including Celestia had uneasy looks. Evelyn looked on to Celestia and grew worried for her, oblivious of the impending danger coming ahead.

“Status report.” Celestia commanded.

“Unidentified anomaly is thirty four percent complete, Madam.” one of the scientist replied.

“How long do we have?”

“Approximately forty two more hours, Madam,” the scientist replied, “However, it seems like it is getting bigger every second. The transmitter is showing that the magic is getting stronger.”

Celestia covered her mouth with her hand. Her anxious look turned into fear while Evelyn looked on as the latter approached Celestia.

“Please continue on surveying the portal and keep it contained,” Celestia commanded, “If it gets breached, do what it takes to contain the danger and evacuate the surrounding areas.”

Everyone excluding Evelyn nodded as they went on with their work. The military personnel left the room, leaving their superior Evelyn in the room.

“Is there anything that I could do to help, Madam?” Evelyn asked.

“Evelyn, I want you to station yourself and your team near the site,” Celestia instructed, “We need all man-power to stop my sister.”

Sister? Evelyn raised a brow and grew confused at this. Nonetheless, she nodded and left the room, but still wondered by what Celestia meant by “Sister”.

Vinyl was still walking on the streets and soon descended some stairs by the side. She came across a door and knocked on it four times, prompting it to open.

She soon found herself in a pub. It wasn’t very modern; it kept the traditional look that was from Ireland. The place wasn’t crowded, but Vinyl could still hear the loud and boisterous murmurs coming from one of the tables. The other tables had a good number of people in it, with one having a group of men with the same type of clothing of red and green, almost like a uniform of some sort.

Vinyl walked across to the bartender, walking pass a couple of men playing darts and a guy flirting with one of the waitresses. A couple of people were eyeing her, but she didn’t mind. She was more worried about Treble following her, who she thought wasn’t far behind.

Behind the bar was a ginger haired man with a mustache that nearly reached both of his ears and had white skin. His hair was slicked back and wore a steampunk style uniform. His left arm was covered by belts with pouches that carried bullets and his right arm was reinforced bionic arm.

The man smiled as he leaned on the bar. Vinyl sat near him and raised a finger, prompting the man to get glass and pour a drink from his ale. He then slid the drink to Vinyl, which the latter instantly grabbed and drink.

“What’s good, Mise?” Vinyl asked the man.

“Nothing much, there was a bar fight earlier.” Mise replied.

“Was it rowdy?”

“Fist fight, nothing special.”

After that, the two remained silent, with Mise having suspicions towards Vinyl. Mise leaned once more to Vinyl with a smirk.

“You got in trouble again, didn’t you?” Mise asked.

“I did not!” Vinyl replied.

“Oh really, lad? Because everytime you come in here and ask the same exact thing, you’re always back from trouble.” Mise chuckled.

“Shut up, It’s been a rough day.”

Vinyl took another sip of her drink while Mise continued to look on.

“You know, you could just join the Peacekeepers,” Mise suggested while wiping one of his glasses, “It’s worth a shot if you crave the action and adrenaline rush so much.”

“I do crave such adrenaline rush,” Vinyl complained, “But what’s the fun in being in armor and listening to orders? You have to take orders from a bossy weirdo that is the total opposite of the meaning of fun.”

“If you look at it, you wouldn’t even last a day. They’d probably kick you out in an instant.”

“Exactly.”

The two were soon interrupted when a hooded male sat beside Vinyl. The boy had blue and black hood and a black scarf that covered his mouth. The only noticeable features were his dark blue skin and silver hair that a light blue highlight. Behind his back were black quiver and a modified compound bow.

“Water.” he said.

Mise went to his ale and poured one of his best drinks into a glass. He slid it to the newcomer and smirked at him.

“On the house,” Mise said, “Now tell me lad, what’s your business?”

“…I’m looking for the Empress of Tomorrow. I heard you were an associate. ”

Vinyl raised a brow as she remembered such name. The Empress is one of the brilliant minds that have invented the weapons that every soul that could fight. Although having heard of her name, Vinyl has yet to see the Empress in person.

“Why ask?” Mise asked.

“I heard that she’s a professional when it comes to upgrading and repairing weapons,” the hooded male said, “My bow needs to be… updated.”

“Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but, she’s in Tokyo Dome… where her main station is at,” Mise explained while rubbing the back of his head, “Plus, I’m not really one of hers anymore… I resigned to start my own business here… business being a pub and a weapon shop.”

“Then can you take a look at my bow?”

“Right now? No can do,” Mise declined, “I’ll meet you in the morning, yeah? I got a business to take care of as you can see.”

The hooded boy nodded and proceeded to leave without a word. He stopped momentarily and somewhat glared at a table which contained the men with red and green clothing. He continued walking once more and was clenching his fist. As he headed for the door, he passed by another boy with black hair and gray skin. He had a black coat that had chains around it and covered most of his top, bandages that covered his hands, khaki pants, and black boots. Behind him was a rectangular Zweihander that Vinyl presumed was his weapon.

The boy had a smirk on his face and proceeded to sit where the hooded boy sat.

“…Who the hell are you supposed to be?” Vinyl chuckled.

The boy simply smiled and placed his hand on one of his eyes as he prepared to speak.

“I was the first born child of my mother White Star, and my father Sound Barrier. From the moment I was born, I was destined for greatness. My first cry shook the heavens themselves and then I was approached by the masters of awesomeness. When I was-“

“The young lady asked for your name, not a filibuster.” Mise groaned.

“Fine, I shall make this quick; my name is Zero Gravity,” The boy known as Zero introduced, “A vagabond traveler who’s searching for a worthy opponent!”

While Mise entertained the newcomer, Vinyl became bored and decided to leave. She went ahead and headed towards the exit, where she met Treble who just arrived at the place. Thankfully, the boy stayed at the bar for a drink and followed Vinyl no longer.

Vinyl found herself outside of the bar with a crowd of people. Even at the dead of night, the streets were still flooded with restless souls. She felt uneasy with all the people around her, and decided to head to a nearby alley. With a set of boxes and a couple of scaffolding, she easily reached the rooftops.

From there, she could see the moon and its shattered pieces hovering around it. She did not know what exactly happened during the time the moon broke, and only saw it shatter from the ground a few years back. Nonetheless, it didn’t seem to affect the course of the world. The moon shined normally like it was still intact.

Vinyl stretched her arms and legs as she prepared for another run. She looked around her area and saw a few tall buildings, one of which she noticed was new in the distance. It was a newly erected Peacekeeper Surveillance towers that was seemingly pointing its spotlight at something on the ground, which Vinyl couldn’t see. She felt an urge to see what it was due to her curiosity, but decided not to do so, knowing that Rainbow Dash would boot her out of the guild if she did something reckless and stupid again.

Instead of running aimlessly, she sat on the edge of the building instead. Her mind drifted into nothingness, after which she remembered a scene in the past; the awakening.

Author's Note

- LOG 002 -
Magic existed in the world prior to the incident concerning Sunset Shimmer. It was kept in secrecy until it was introduced in that certain incident. The first known discovery was founded by the wizard Star Swirl the Bearded during ancient times. From generation to generation, it was kept from public by wizards to scientists.

Flashback chapter is next. ORIGIN STORY TIME.