Chapters Soon after, the blame was put on him, saying that all of this wouldn't have happened if he had used magic. Ironically it was magic that got her hurt in the first place. Charcoal was expelled from school and Cinnamon was taken to the hospital. He ran to his usual comfort spot, which was the palace garden, hidden from the rest of the ponies in sight. The guards never really mind it, since Charcoal always found a spot to seclude himself without disturbing anything else. And there he sat, covered in tears, grease, and blood. He had no idea what to do, where to go, how to face the others.
He laid there, curled up into a ball until he heard a commotion near the back of the garden. He peeked over the bushes to see Princess Celestia and a chancellor fretting over a machine that had gone haywire.
"All of our mechanics are busy with more important matters chancellor, there is nothing else we can do at this point" Princess Celestia said with a worried tone. "If we don't do anything now, this whole palace could go up in flames!" the chancellor panicked. Charcoal popped up from the bushes, which gave them quite a scare.
"I can fix that for you miss" he said with curiosity.
"You there! Learn how to address yourself properly to a Princess!" The chancellor hissed. Charcoal lowered his ears and leaned back into the bushes slightly.
"Do not worry about him young one" Princess Celestia said calmly "You are able to fix this machine?". He looked at her and gave her a nod. She called the guards and gave Charcoal a small set of tools. He sat before the machine, which looked bloated and ready to burst. A few of the components were a bit different than what Charcoal had been used to, but he quickly got into the swing of things. The machine gave out a roar before returning to normal.
The chancellor, as well as the princess herself was shocked. A Stallion of his age never had the ability to do something like that with such tenacity and motivation. Charcoal, who was now covered in oil and grease, gave a sigh of relief. He smiled at Princess Celestia, who commended him for his spontaneous act of volunteering. When Charcoal wiped away some of the grease from the back of his leg, he noticed a marking of two gears. Turns out that his devotion had given him his cutie mark, and Princess Celestia had given him a chance to work at the palace, as well as any other jobs that needed to be done in Canterlot.
Charcoal accepted right away, leaving everything he had behind and was given a new place to stay in another district of Canterlot. It has been 4 years and he still talks to Celestia with no formal sentiment, in which she didn't mind at all. But as he thinks back to what happened before the event, he can only wonder what happened to Cinnamon. It still haunts him, and he vowed never to use his magic again. 'Maybe this ticket is a chance for me to start over' he thought to himself. Clenching his ticket, he took his bags and boarded the train to Ponyville.
He sat on a booth near the back of a cart, facing the window and trying not to draw any attention towards him.
"Excuse me" said somepony, standing in front of his booth. Charcoal turned to see a purple mare, a unicorn, looking at him with a calm expression. "All the other booths are filled, I was wondering if I could sit here?" she asked. Charcoal nodded silently and turned back towards the window, looking at the scenery of hills, trees, and mountains.
"I haven't seen you around before, do you live in Canterlot?" Charcoal winces at the name and regrettably nods. The mare is a bit curious about his reaction "Is something wrong?" Charcoal looks at her, and shakes his head. "Well my name is Twilight sparkle, I live down in ponyville. What about you?"
"Name's Charcoal shift. I just moved, well going to move to ponyville via Celestia's orders" Twilight perked up a bit
"Celestia? You know Princes Celestia?" Charcoal started to become annoyed by her constant questioning.
"Yes, I knew her personally for a few years"
"Wow! I knew her since I was very little" she said "She let me attend a school in canterlot so I could learn magic more proficiently". Charcoal huffed again at the mentioning of Canterlot. Twilight noticed this.
"You... don't like Canterlot do you?" It was pretty apparent that he didn't. He didn't want to say anything in fear of arguing with another pony. "I'm... sorry. I didn't know that you disliked that place so much"
"It just holds a lot of terrible memories that I want to forget...” He finally spoke.
"What kind of memories?.." she reluctantly asked.
Charcoal looked at her for a bit, and decided to tell her his story as a colt. By the end, she was taken aback by all the things that happened to him, and the pain that he accidentally caused for another.
"Have you tried looking for her?" she blurted out.
"I was too afraid" he said "I always thought of the worst case scenario when it came to confronting her about the whole thing after being expelled from the school. In the end I always thought it would be best if she forgot about me."
Twilight paused for a bit "So the whole event that went on when I was young... you were a part of it?” She had no idea, she saw all the other ponies picking on and shunning a colt as he slumped out of the school. She could've done something, but was so hesitant at the time.
They talked a bit more until the train had finally arrived in Ponyville. As Twilight trotted out of the cart, she saw Charcoal carrying his bags on his back.
"You know you can use your magic instead of carrying all that weight" she said. Charcoal's relapse of his past made him snap
"I'm not using my magic!" he yelled. Twilight was a bit surprised by his remark, and Charcoal shuts his eye a bit before apologizing. "I'm not going to use my magic. I don't care what anypony says...” he says, trotting past Twilight and making his way into town. He makes it to the square, where there is a large abundance of ponies surrounding the area. He never thought that a small town like this would be so occupied. His thoughts were cut short as he is tackled by a pink blur.
"Oh wow, are you a new pony coming to ponyville? My name is Pinkie pie! We have to throw you a party!" Pinkie rambles on. Charcoal is still collecting his thoughts on what just happened to him and he quickly gets on his hooves. She bounces around him and still talks to him to what he thinks is rapid, incoherent gibberish.
"Geez, this pony is in one hell of a sugar rush..." he mumbled.
“That’s Pinkie pie for ya" Twilight said smiling.
"You know her?!" he said, a bit surprised.
"Of course" she said "She's one of the main friends that I spend time with." A white mare approached them and turned towards Pinkie
"Now now Pinkie, no need to be over energetic towards a new pony" Charcoal doesn't know why, but the accent of the mare's voice made him very uneasy. "My, you came from Canterlot? You look very different than most ponies that live up there darling" the mare said. He didn't know whether to take that as a compliment, or an insult.
"Rarity..." Twilight whispered to her "Canterlot is a very sensitive topic for him... Don't bring it up"
"Oh, Sorry darling" Rarity said, keeping herself poised "My name is Rarity, as you already know thanks to Twilight. Who might you be?”
Pinkie pie bounced next to Rarity "OH YEAH I forgot to ask that! So what is your name?” Charcoal looks at the two of them quite awkwardly
"It's... Charcoal."
"Charcoal..." Rarity says, inspecting his very being "Rough around the edges, yet with a heart of diamond. I like it"
Pinkie's eyes sparkle at the thought "Your heart is made of diamonds?!”
"Uh..." Charcoal has a hard time thinking of what to say.
"Ooook girls" Said Twilight, pushing Charcoal a bit forward "Let's leave him to explore the rest of the town"
Pinkie giggles "Ok! I'll give him the tour!" and drags him along for the ride. A few hours pass and Charcoal is run down by the long tour of Ponyville thanks to Pinkie. Twilight left halfway through, and Charcoal now has to look for his home that was given to him by Celestia. He finally finds his new home; about the same size as his old one, but refurbished and more organized. It was a simple one room, and kitchen house, with an obvious bathroom. It somewhat made him feel like home. He looks out the window, which gives a view of sugarcube corner and the path to Apple Acres further down. His first assignment is down there. Charcoal wonders if he could pull this off on his own.
The next day, Charcoal is finally settled into his new home. He opens the door and sees all the other ponies going about their business like last time. He's still getting used to all the cheeriness and optimistic attitude. It's pretty hard to take it all in when most of your life you've been taking in negativity. Charcoal grabbed his tools for the day and set out to Apple Acres. That is... if he can find it. He wanders about town for about a good hour or so, following twists and turns until he sat by a tree, sweating and tying up his hair in a ponytail to let cool air brush up against the back of his neck. A mare walks up to him and notices his confused expression.
"Well howdy there. Seems like you're new here to Ponyville" she said. Charcoal looks up, and his eyes narrowed in disbelief. A young mare stood before him, with olive yellow hair, smooth orange fur, and soft green eyes. She tilts her hat towards him as a greeting "Mah name's Applejack, what's yer's?” Charcoal was at a loss for words. The name alone echoed in his head for a good moment that seemed like an eternity. He could only mutter his name in sheer bashfulness.
"Charcoal? Oh! You must be the pony Pinkie Pie's been talkin about! You're the one that's gonna help me with the little machine problem?" She says with a smile.
"U-uh... y-yeah... I was trying to... um... find my way to Apple Acres..." Charcoal tried to talk, but he had no idea what was wrong.
"Ya got lost didn't you?" She said, laughing a bit. Charcoal couldn't help but blush in embarrassment. "Ah it's okay, I'd be glad to show you to sweet ol' Apple Acres" Applejack said, grabbing his hoof and pulling him along. Other ponies were looking at them, whispering to one another and giggling. Charcoal noticed this and pulled away from Applejack, remembering all the things that happened in Canterlot. She looked at him a bit confused
"You ok there sugarcube?” Charcoal got his head together and nodded
"Yeah... yeah I'm fine. I'll follow you". She trotted on ahead and walked down a short trail that led to Apple Acres.
Charcoal walks in with Applejack, but he has this odd feeling like he's being watched by somepony. "Here ya are Charky" she said "This oven here has been on the fritz for a while now". Charcoal was still stuck on being called that nickname.
"...Charky?" he said a bit off.
"You don't like that nickname?" she said, tilting her head a bit.
"O-oh, it's fine... really" he said, smiling nervously and sweating a bit. Big Mac and AppleBloom watch the two of them from the living room.
"You thinkin' what I’m thinkin'?" AppleBloom says with her hoof under her chin.
"Eyup" Big Mac says, nodding in his usual silent ways.
Charcoal inspected the oven. Oddly enough the only problem with the oven was the heating tubes in the back.
"Seems that the tubes used to heat up the oven are out. It's just a simple fix" Charcoal said, holding one of them on his hoof.
"Really? Well gosh, who would've thought" Applejack said. Charcoal chuckled a bit and looked at Applejack, trying to keep his cool
"Is there anything else that needs fixing?”
"Nah" She said, before thinking about something "Actually, there is somethin' that ah think you can help me with"
"What is it?" Charcoal said curiously.
Applejack led him out of the kitchen and back towards the barn. AppleBloom and Big Mac steadily follow them a few feet behind.
"You think that Charcoal fella took a liking to our sister Big Mac?" AppleBloom whispered. Big Mac gave a slight nod, but his expression was a bit serious. Though he is seen as a gentle, quiet stallion, Big Mac cares for his sisters, and seeing other stallions go after the eldest of the two mares is more of a common thing for him. He does what he can to ensure that who she pairs up with is the right one.
"Don't worry Big Mac" AppleBloom said "I'm sure he's a nice stallion".
The machine that Applejack showed was a bit worn out. "The Flim Flam Brothers tried to use this machine to run us out of Apple Acres" She said, a bit serious. Charcoal trotted around the machine a few times to examine it.
"What exactly does it do?" Charcoal asks.
"Well it makes apple cider" she says "The machine broke down when they used it against us, and it never worked since". He finds the hatch to the machine and opens it up. What he saw not only surprised him, but also made him facehoof in sheer disappointment.
"You got to be kidding...” Charcoal sighed, realizing what could've happened.
Applejack trots up and looks at all the gears and parts, but couldn't make heads or tails of it. "What's wrong Charky?" She said.
"These parts are all high tech, but they're not compatible with each other" Charcoal said. Applejack looked at him confused
"Pardon?”
"Simply put, it’s like trying to grow pears in an apple tree. It won't work" he said "But be glad that they didn't know that".
"Why's that?" she said, a bit worried.
"If they used the right parts, they would've actually run you out of Apple Acres and then some." She was a bit shaken by what he said. "Good thing for you they left this behind though. I could fix it and your family can use it".
Applejack was ecstatic to hear that he could fix it up. "It'll take a few days to fix since I need to order the parts" Charcoal said.
"Take all the time you need sugarcube!" she said, trotting off to tell the others the good news. He studied the pieces a bit more and scratched off the Flim Flam Brother's insignia on the side of the machine. AppleBloom trots in and sees Charcoal.
"Well howdy there Mr. Charcoal" she said.
"Oh, hi there AppleBloom." he said.
"I see you helpin' out my sister with this weird doo-hickey" she said.
"That I am." He smiled "Is there anything you need?”
"Ok let's cut the chit chat, I know you like mah sister".
The Unexpected Invitation
Charcoal's face began to flush up a bit. There was no hiding it; he had a huge crush on Applejack. It was hard to say why, but he was drawn towards the southern style mare. He tried to act clever.
"What gave it away?”
AppleBloom looks at him "Well I see you fawnin' over mah sister when she isn't lookin'. I also see my sister sittin' quite close to you while you were workin' on our oven." Charcoal didn't quite pay attention to what Applejack was doing while he worked. Then again, he barely pays attention to anything else while he works on some type of machinery. "If anything, ah think my sister likes you too."
Charcoal's ears perked up and his face is now a bright red. He could only hope that this was true, but one could only assume. "W-well one can only wait till the time comes..." Charcoal stutters.
"Yeah" AppleBloom giggles a bit "But ya best be careful, Big Mac is keepin' an eye on you". He almost forgot that they had a big brother, and knowing how big brothers are, he'll do what he can to protect his younger sisters. Even with all that said and done, Charcoal is still dumbfounded by what AppleBloom told him and left him in a trance for the rest of the day.
"Here you go sugarcube. I hope these little gadgets and gizmos will be enough to fix this here machine" she said. Charcoal looks at the parts and taps his chin with his hoof
"I hope so too, though I feel like something's off". Applejack leaned against him, cheek to cheek
"ah'm sure everythin' will turn out well". Charcoal blushed and his mind went blank.
After placing the parts in the machine, he sits there, covered in grease, sweat, and oil. He cleans off his hooves and leaves the barn, letting the oil set and the tightened pieces loosen up a bit fir the night. He knocks on the door and AppleBloom answers the door.
"Hey there Mr. Charcoal, you done with that machine?" she said.
He nods "Yeah, but I got to give it a test run tomorrow to make sure everything runs well."
"Well why not spend the night here?" she said with an excited smile.
"U-uh, w-well" he said a bit hesitantly.
"Well shoot, you at least gotta wash up. You're not going home all dirty like that are you?”
Charcoal normally goes home this way; it was a common thing for him. But he didn't mind taking AppleBloom up on her offer. He walks in with her and she announces it to the other Apple members.
"Mr. Charcoal is here to spend the night!”
"Well that's great" Applejack says. Big Mac stays silent, and Granny Apple is out cold as usual. AppleBloom leads Charcoal to the bathroom and hands him a fresh towel. With the door shut behind him, Charcoal looks at the bath tub. He feels an uncomfortable stir in his stomach and mixed thoughts go through his head as he begins to remove his vest.
Hidden Feelings and Harsh Realities
It's pretty obvious that all the ponies in Ponyville, heck, even in all of equestria don't usually wear kinds of clothes that cover themselves up unless it's for a special event or there's an extreme cold front setting in. Everypony finds it normal to "be in the buff" so to speak. It's a bit different for Charcoal. In some sense he finds security wearing his vest and makes him feel covered. His vest on the bathroom sink, he sits in the tub, soaked with water and scrubs out the grease that covers his fur. Suddenly, the door opens and Charcoal quickly submerges himself up to his nose in the water.
It was Applejack, and she trots in like it was a normal thing. "Well hey there Charky, I'm here to take yer vest to get it washed" she said. Charcoal his blushing face in the tub as he looked at her. She giggled a bit as she took his vest "Now yer makin' it look like I walked in on you doin' somethin' bad". He looked back at the water and blew a few bubbles. She turned towards the door and began to trot off.
"Wait Apple--" Charcoal said before cutting himself off.
She turned "What is it Charky?” She had this vague, anticipating expression, as if she expected him to say something.
"N-nothing. Thank you for washing my vest for me...” He looked away, giving a quick glance before submerging himself in the water again.
"Oh... well yer welcome sugarcube" she said hesitantly, trotting out of the room. AppleBloom stood outside and looked at her, catching her by surprise.
"What in tarnation-- AppleBloom! Don't scare me like that!" Applejack jumped. AppleBloom gave a wide grin and trotted around Applejack in a circle.
"Ya'll were tryin' to take a peek at Mr. Charcoal in the nude weren't you?" she smirked.
"AppleBloom, all ponies are nude" Applejack said with a sigh.
"But you were tryin' to see him without his vest, peekin' at all his chest muscles an' all" she pestered. Applejack pictured it in her head and gave a small blush
"N-now don't be talkin' all this nonsense AppleBloom, I was just goin' in to get his vest so I can wash it" she said with upmost poise.
AppleBloom knew that was a straight up lie. The fact that Applejack would be remotely poised is what gave it away. So throughout the next day, AppleBloom followed her around, asking random questions about Charcoal and other things that she caught on to when she was with him. Applejack constantly dodged the questions and used excuses like: "I need to finish buckin' the apples" or "Big Mac needs my help" or even "Can't you see I'm workin'?” Soon after she gave up, and decided to see Charcoal in the barn. He turns to see her trot up to him with her mouth agape at the machine.
"Hey there AppleBloom. Came to see how the machine came along?" Charcoal said, being a little boastful at the newly repaired apple cider machine.
"It's amazin'. Can you turn it on? Pretty please?" she begged.
"I was just about to" he said, turning on the power to the machine. He had left the hatch open to examine the inside while the machine started up. It shook a bit and then began to run. However a piece from the machine shook violently and began to come out of place. Charcoal caught on and quickly turned towards AppleBloom
"Get out of here! This place is dangerous!" he yelled. AppleBloom looked at him with confusion and didn't understand. Suddenly, the loose part shot out from the machine and flew in her direction.
A red hoof quickly catches the part, just inches from AppleBlooms' frightened face, shielding her from sudden concussion. Charcoal gave a sigh of relief but was struck with sheer intimidation as Big Mac gave him a glare that AppleBloom never saw him do in her entire life.
"I think it's best you be leavin' Apple Acres" he said in a gruff tone. Charcoal wanted to say something, but the fact that there was no changing Big Mac's demands, he quietly gathered his tools and left the barn. AppleBloom was still collecting her thoughts on the entire event that ensued and suddenly snapped at Big Mac.
"Now what you go and do that for Big Mac?" she snapped.
"I knew that stallion was no good, and it seems I was right" he said, placing the mechanical part on the floor.
"He was trying to warn me! And I wanted to look at what he was doin'!" her tone raised a bit.
"Now don't raise your voice. My decision is final. I don't want that Charcoal feller back in this farm ya hear?" Big Mac stomped a hoof and left the barn. AppleBloom sat there, frustrated and looking at the machine, which has finally quieted down. Applejack just left her house with two glasses of iced tea, trotting her way to the barn. She passed Big Mac, who looked a bit irritated, but continued on regardless.
She sees AppleBloom sitting in front of the machine. Her face is flushed and tears well up in her eyes. Applejack tries so speak between her teeth as she's holding the tray
"What's wrong lil' sis?” She didn't bother to turn, but only muttered her response
"Mr. Charcoal isn't coming back...”
"Pardon?" Applejack says, still holding the tray in her mouth.
"Big Mac kicked Mr. Charcoal out of Apple Acres!" she yelled. Applejack suddenly dropped the tray, causing the two glasses of iced tea to shatter
"Are you kiddin' me? What in the hay happened?!” AppleBloom explained the entire story, at least what she could remember, to Applejack. It was very weird how Big Mac would do such a thing out of the blue.
It was evening, and the Apple Family sat together in the dining room for dinner. It was awfully quiet, and atmosphere was a bit tense surrounding Big Mac and his two sisters. AppleBloom didn't even bat an eye at Big Mac, and Applejack was curious about how the whole thing went down. Suddenly it got the best of her and she put her hooves on the table.
"Alright, I've had enough. Big Mac, what in tarnation happened between you and Charky earlier today?" she said with a stern tone.
"That Charcoal feller nearly hurt your sister, having her in a dangerous situation like that" he said. As irritated as he was earlier, she was oddly calm at the table.
"I just wanted to see Mr. Charcoal work on that machine! Was that so hard to do?!" AppleBloom cut in "I love you Big Mac, but you just have to stop babyin' us all the time!"
Applejack was silent, but she couldn't agree more to what her sister was saying. "I have no clue why you did that. I really liked that stallion" she said, barely holding back a blush.
"Well now you're gonna have to get used to not likin' him, cause he's not comin' back here" Big Mac said. There was no getting through to him. In a fit of rage, AppleBloom finally broke down and ran out of the house.
"AppleBloom!" Applejack cried out, but she kept on running, heading past the hills until she was out of sight. Applejack made her way to the door, getting ready to chase after her.
"Don't go worryin' about AppleBloom" Big Mac said, still eating his dinner "She'll be back". Applejack couldn't believe her brother's words. She glared at him with a look of disgust and spat out
"What kind of brother are you?" before running out of the house.
She followed the path AppleBloom took until she lost sight of her. Overhead she saw the path that split into three directions: one that led to Fluttershy's house, one that led to Ponyville, and the last one which led to Everfree Forest. At this hour, she became deathly afraid of what may happen to AppleBloom if she strayed into the forest. She needed help, and she knew just who to go to. Applejack ran down the path to Ponyville and found to oddly-colored house that was different than the others, which were usually bright. She knocked on the door and it opened, Charcoal peeking out from the door.
"Applejack? What are you doing he--" he was cut off as she grabbed him by the hoof and pulled him along.
"No time Charky! I need your help! AppleBloom ran off and I fear that she went into Everfree forest!" she said worryingly. Charcoal had a very bad feeling about this, and if she isn't found soon, it could lead to disastrous results...
They ran back down to the path, and Charcoal forced them to stop. Applejack quickly turned around in a hurry "What are we stoppin' here for Charky? We have to get going!"
"Now hold on a minute" Charcoal said "I know you're worried sick about your sister, but we need all the help we could get. Everfree Forest is dangerous, who knows what could happen?" Applejack thought about it for a brief moment, her anxious expression still glued to her face. ”I'll go on ahead towards the forest. I'm sure Fluttershy lives close by. I heard that she knows more about that place more than any other pony."
A sudden realization hit her "Gosh, you're right Charky! But... will you be ok?" she looked at him with concern.
"Me?" he scoffs "I'll be perfectly fine. Now hurry up and get Fluttershy so we can save your sister".
Applejack left with haste towards Fluttershy's house as Charcoal took the only past that led to the forest. Contrary to what he had told Applejack, he was actually scared shitless about going in there alone. The trees hung high over his head and an ominous air lingered in between its branches. But he had to do it. For her, her sister, and to clear up any bad tidings between him and Big Mac.
"Ok Charcoal, you can do this" he said to himself, hearing the sounds of the various creatures that inhabit the dark, intimidating forest. Charcoal trots in cautiously, looking around and his ears and the hairs of his back standing on edge. Barely any light shone through the thick leaves from the trees above, so he used what little experience in magic he had to at least make his horn glow in the dark. It wasn't much, but it was at least enough to see in front of him.
Applejack rushed down towards Fluttershy's house. She could see her tending to the animals at this late hour. "Fluttershy!" she cried out. Fluttershy jumped a bit at the sudden call and sifted around
"W-who's there?” She turns to see Applejack in a panic. "Oh... hi Applejack. My, you seem petrified. What's the matter?" she said in her calm quiet voice.
"I think AppleBloom went into the forest! Charky went on ahead to look for her and I need yer help!" she quickly said without stammering.
"Oh no. Well it's a good thing you asked me, let me grab a few thing's and we'll be on our way" Fluttershy said, hovering to her house. Applejack stood near the entrance for a few minutes until Fluttershy reappeared with two flashlights and a small saddlebag. She hands one to Applejack and they quickly went into Everfree Forest.
Charcoal had already roamed the forest for about thirty minutes and his nerves were just about shot. Paranoia just about set in when he thought he saw creepy, deformed faces on the trees. He was about to go apeshit until he heard a soft cry close to where he was. He quickly gallops in that direction and sees AppleBloom! It seems that a small tree had gave weigh and fell on her leg. She struggles to break free but she isn't strong enough. She sees Charcoal and her face immediately brightens.
"Mr. Charcoal! You came to save me!" her happiness quickly changed to confusion "How did you know I was down here?”
"I kinda got the gist of what happened when your sister knocked on my door" he said "Now let's try and get you out of here". He gave a forceful push towards the log, but he could barely move it. With a log that big, it seemed it would be nearly impossible to get it off of AppleBloom by himself.
Suddenly, AppleBloom screamed. Charcoal's ears perked up as he quickly turned to see why she was screaming. A set of eyes that had a mixture of sea green and light blue to it peered out at them. More of those eyes began to appear around them, followed by a light hissing sound. Charcoal panicked and used all of his strength to push the log again. It was slowly moving, but it wasn't enough to break AppleBloom free. Just then, a grunt was heard, and the log was easily pushed aside like it was nothing. Charcoal turned to see Big Mac, who was watching the log barreling down the hill behind them.
"You ok AppleBloom?" he said, trying to help up the haplessly scared filly.
"I'm fine" she said a bit coldly, trying to stand but her back leg gave out from the constant pressure that the log had placed on it. Big Mac quickly picked her up and motioned Charcoal to follow him out of the woods.
Applejack and Fluttershy was deep into the forest, still searching for AppleBloom. Fluttershy had her wings tucked in fear. Though she knew plenty about this place, she's still the shy and frightened pony everyone else knows and loves.
"A-are you sure we're c-close to finding AppleB-bloom?" she said, shivering a bit.
"I know we're close. She couldn't have gone too far" Applejack said, passing the light around the area in front of her. The flashlight began to flicker, before dimming and completely shutting off. Fluttershy made a quiet squeal and looked at the flashlight
"I-it seems I forgot to replace the batteries...”
”Aw shoot. How can we look for her now?" Applejack shook the flashlight in hope of it working again. Fluttershy gasped as sounds of hissing could be heard close by. Those same eyes peered at the two mares and surrounded them.
"Looks like we have ourselves some company" Applejack said, standing to attention and keeping her eyes on her surroundings. Fluttershy went full on panic mode.
Applejack could hear sounds of galloping hooves not far off from where they were, and it sounds like they were getting closer. She quickly turned around and prepped herself. When the sound was at its loudest, she threw a fierce buck in that direction and felt the impact, sending whatever she hit a good distance away.
"Ha! Take that you little varmit!" she smirked. She turned to see Big Mac with AppleBloom towed over his shoulder. "Big Mac? What are you doin' here?" she said a bit confused.
"I was lookin' fer AppleBloom, when I saw that Charcoal feller helpin' her out of a fallen log" he said.
"Well where is he now?" Big Mac couldn't help but give a sly grin to tell her who she exactly bucked back into the forest. "Oh Celestia! That's who I hit?!" her face flushed with embarrassment as Charcoal slowly stumbled back with the rest of the group. A clear hoof print was visible on his right cheek.
"Can we get out of here now before these eyeballs stare at us some more" Charcoal slurred, trying to keep his balance.
The group makes it out of the forest, and gives a sigh of relief. The eyes that have been staring at them had disappeared.
"I'm glad you were able to find AppleBloom" Fluttershy smiles.
"I'm glad too. It's all thanks to Charky with his quick thinkin'. Er... sorry about hittin' you" Applejack says blushingly. Charcoal gently rubs his hoof against the mark she left on his face. Big Mac looks at him and nods
"Maybe AppleBloom was right about you. Thanks for savin' mah sister."
"You were the one that got her out of that log" Charcoal said with a monotonic voice. Sure, he was flattered, but the pain still lingered on his face and he felt a bit disoriented.
Big Mac went on ahead towards the farm and Fluttershy went back home. Applejack walked Charcoal back to his house. She wasn't sure if he would collapse before he could even get back to Ponyville.
"Thanks again for savin' my sister Charky" she said with a mildly sweet tone.
"No problem" he said "I wonder where I left my ice pack though...” he trailed off. Applejack giggled and kissed him on the cheek. Aside from the pain, he felt happy, and flustered.
"I really like you Charky" she said "It's funny really. I've never fallen for any stallion this much before" Applejack began to fluster.
Charcoal couldn't help but smirk. "I already know" he said, chuckling.
Applejack's face turned red and her ears perked "H-how did you know?”
"Your sister told me. Apparently she saw the signs more clearly than I did."
Applejack stomped a hoof down and felt a bit bashful. "Oh horse apples! When I get my hoof on that sis of mine...” she grunted. Charcoal smiled and leaned in closer for a kiss. Her eyes widened in surprise and her face turned redder than an apple could ever go. He calmly pulled back and gave a sheepish smile
"I really like you too Applejay."
She was downright confused, and noticed the sudden nickname. "A-applejay...?" she said in surprise. Charcoal gave the same face she gave him when he said the same thing about his nickname.
"You... don't like the nickname?" he said jokingly.
Applejack chuckled and nuzzled up to him "I love it".
The next day Charcoal had returned to the farm. He saw AppleBloom with a bandage over her injured leg. They said she'll be fine in about a week or two. She greets the stallion with a smile and a brief hug.
"Mr. Charcoal! Thank you for saving me last night" she beamed.
"I don't think saved was the right word...” he trailed off.
”Aw shoot you don't have to be so modest about it. Applejack and Big Mac are waitin' for you inside!"
AppleBloom turns and slowly follows Charcoal inside the house. A sweet scent fills the air with the usual musk of apples that normally looms in their home.
"Well howdy there sugarcube" Applejack said, more cheerful after last night's event. Big Mac nods, placing what was the source of the smell on the table. It was an apple pie (obviously) and it's hot from the oven. Applejack trots up to Charcoal and checks the bump on his cheek. The mark is gone but you can clearly see the lump left behind.
"It's ok" he waves "I've suffered worse". Big Mac still has the wide grin on his face. To him it was satisfying, but Charcoal stood quiet to avoid any scuffles between the two of them. Big Mac looks at him
"Take good care of my sister ya hear?” It's as though they already knew without Applejack and Charcoal saying anything to one another about it. But he was fine with it. They had a long conversation and joked around back and forth throughout the day. Charcoal managed to completely fix the machine, which led to wonderful results for the apple family.
Dear Princess Celestia,
You were right after all about moving to Ponyville being a good thing for me. It really changed my perspective that not all ponies act the same way. In just a few days I managed to make a bunch of friends. I even found love... But that's beside the point. I've decided to stay here in Ponyville and continue my work as a mechanical handipony for everypony here in Ponyville. I have to thank you for helping me discover who I could be, and all the friends that would support me. I wonder what other adventures lie in wait for me?
Sincerely,
Charcoal Shift
[[ End of the 1st arc ]]
Shadow Blast had been working at the Spa for quite a few years. What's even more amazing is how she keeps it. Being chewed out by the boss for constant tardiness isn't always appealing, but being a renound hair stylist thanks to her parents has made her well known around Ponyville. She sees it more as a hobby than a natural talent that being said is why her tail is always seen braided. Her dark grey hair, stripped with mint green, and soft, purple fur with an even lighter tone covering the hooves and legs. She has scissors as a cutie mark for obvious reasons, and she is now currently wandering about the Spa looking for anyone that needs assistance.
"This is no time to be slacking off you!" her extremely flamboyant boss yells. For a hetero stallion, it's a surprise that no-one passes him off as a colt fondler.
With that being said, Shadow Blast takes the opportunity to take a break and go on a brisk walk outside to stretch her wings (and avoid any more yelling from captain neckerchief inside). Taking a breath of fresh air, she sees all the other ponies trotting around. It's a typical thing for Shadow Blast: scope out a random pony, look at their hair, and judge whether or not that pony needs a stylist to fix the atrocity. Weird? Maybe, but to her it's a common thing to kill time, and have the boss out of her hair for an hour or so. She then spots her next customer, or in her case, another excuse. She trots up to the dark grey pony and looks at his black and neon green hair.
"My goodness!" she exclaims "Do you even wash that hair of yours?!” The dark stallion, which turns out to be Charcoal, stops and looks at her confused.
".....what?"
Shadow Blast grabs his hoof and drags him into the Spa, in which he struggles to break away from.
"What's wrong with you? Stop squirming." she says, glaring at Charcoal.
"I am NOT going to a Spa!" he yells, causing a mild scene in front of other ponies. Shadow Blast smiles sarcastically and turns to the crowd
"Don't worry. We have nervous ponies like him all the time". Other mares giggle as Charcoal's face turns a bright red with embarrassment. The purple pegasus finally gets him inside and sits him on the rotating chair. She spun him around and stopped him, making him face away from her and began to clean out his hair. The dark grey stallion pouting the entire time he's left with no choice but to sit there and cringe at every knot that she pulls from his hair.
"Man, you really haven't done a thing have you? Just let it grow and grow...” she pulls out a white string "Is this.... dental floss?”
"How the heck should I know?" Charcoal spat.
About an hour had passed and she was finally done with his hair. All that was left was to trim it a bit. Charcoal did a complete 180 on the chair and looked at her with a stern expression.
"No pony is cutting my hair" he growls.
"Don't get snippy with me" she says with a sassy tone, holding a pair of scissors and chuckling at the little pun. Rarity walks in and notices Shadow Blast working her usual "Magic".
"Hello there darling!" the purple maned unicorn said with glee "I'm here for a little touch up with my hair. You're the only pony that can do it the right way" she trails off, looking at Charcoal "Oh my, it's quite a surprise to see a stallion such as yourself here."
"Well I--"
"He came here because his hair is an absolute mess. And I brought him in to fix that." Shadow Blast cut him off.
"I must agree with her Charcoal. Your hair is an utter disaster". This oddly made him feel a bit self-conscious and made him fluster with sheer bashfulness and disappointment. Rarity sits next to Shadow Blast as she cuts off the split ends of Charcoal's hair. They have a short conversation about which stallions in Ponyville are "closet-colts" and talk about the latest fashion trends for the Grand Galloping Gala in four months. Charcoal groans in agony as he listens to every word, from the dresses to Filthy Rich being more "filthy" than the other ponies make him out to be in the orientation department. Suddenly a pink pony bursts into the Spa, bouncing about. Shadow Blast looks up and blushes a bit, snipping a bit of hair off of Charcoal by accident. Rarity and Shadow Blast gasps as they look at the back of his hair, now lop-sided on the bottom. He turns his head and wonders why the two mares have such horrified expressions.
"What's going on?”
"Oh nothing! Now stop moving!" Shadow Blast says, quickly shifting his head back into position and fixing the little dilemma.
Rarity looks at her and whispers "How did that happen?”
"I-I don't know" she says, panicking a bit "I just saw that pink pony, and then I just spaced out." Rarity looks ahead and sees that the pink pony is obviously none other than Pinkie Pie. Shadow Blast his having a hard time splitting her focus between the party mare and Charcoal's bad hair day, to which he is completely unaware. She takes one final look and smiles nervously
"Done! And you look better than before!” Charcoal gets up and turns around, eyeing her cautiously. The Pinkie trots up and giggles a bit.
"Hey there ladies" she smiles.
"Hello there Pinkie" Rarity says, waving a hoof.
"H-hi...” Shadow stammers. Pinkie turns to look at Charcoal, and suddenly bursts into a fit of laughter. What used to be a medium lengthed ponytail is now nothing more than a small stub held together by a scrunchie.
"What? Why is she laughing?" he says. Applejack walks in and chuckles a bit.
"Well now Charky, ah like the new hair style you gave yerself." she smiles. His eyes narrowed, quickly feeling the back of his head. He then glares at Shadow, who shrugs and sheepishly smiles.
"Sorry..." she says, holding back a chuckle. He storms off, leaving the other four at the Spa.
"Ah don't see why he's so stubborn. Looks good on him" Applejack smiles.
"It seems Shadow lost her focus looking at Pinkie bouncing around." Rarity giggles.
"Everypony smiles when I'm out and about! I guarantee it!" Pinkie smiles from ear to ear. Shadow looked at her wide-eyed with a grin, blushing a bit. She never felt like this before. With a passing thought rushing through her head, Shadow just had to try and get to know her better.
A few days had passed and Shadow could not get the pink pony out of her head. She had already tried several ways to get her attention, but failed miserably. She tried showing off, setting up a fake party (which led to several ponies being angry about it being fake), and even hanging out at Sugarcube corner more often than she usually does. A bit oppressed by her unsuccessful attempts, Shadow sits below a tree and buries her head under her hooves. Fluttershy is trotting along at the square and sees her sulking, and decides to talk to her.
"What's wrong Shadow Blast? You seem a little more depressed than usual" Fluttershy says in her calm, quiet toned voice.
"Oh ha ha" Shadow sighs "I'm just in a bit of a slump. I can't get a certain pony to notice me."
"Oh, well I don't know much about getting a stallion's attention" she says bashfully.
Shadow looks at her a bit flustered and nervous "I-It's not a stallion...” Fluttershy thinks about it for a moment, and then gasps lightly
"You like a mare? Is that even possible?"
"Shh, not so loud" Shadow whispers "I don't want anyone to find out". It's not common that ponies of the same gender are spotted as a couple. Though it isn't frowned upon by most of the ponies, it isn't generally accepted either, and Shadow is having a hard time wondering how the others would react. Fluttershy is still a bit taken back by what she said, not because of her liking mares, but for the fact that she never expected her to swing in that direction at all.
"I always see you talking to stallions at the Spa. I thought you'd be talking to one of them at least" she said.
"Those guys?" Shadow scoffed "Most of them are actually 'in the closet' so to speak. I doubt I’d be into any of them".
Fluttershy wasn't surprised as much as she thought, considering the Spa is mostly used by mares. She looks at Shadow and gets back to the topic at hand. "So who's the mare that you're trying to get to notice you?" she asks.
".....Pi... ie...." Shadow mumbled. She was shyer than Fluttershy when she first met Twilight.
"Can you speak louder please?" Fluttershy said, leaning closer.
"...Pinkie...Pie...” Shadow muttered before covering her face and spreading her wings in embarrassment. The yellow mare covered her mouth in shock
"Oh my... I never knew...”
"I didn't either, until I saw her." The bashful mare said, still having her face covered. Fluttershy sits next to Shadow and places a hoof on her shoulder. Shadow looks up at the smiling mare and calms down a bit.
"I may not be able to help you with this sort of thing, but I think I know who can help." Fluttershy says. Just as she finished, a blur is seen from the sky and is heading towards them at blinding speed. They panic as they start to bolt in the other direction, but the comet-like object collided with them, knocking them flat on their flanks. Shadow scratches her head and sees Rainbow Dash on the ground on top of Fluttershy.
"Ow... That's smarts... I really have to pay attention to where I'm going." The Rainbow maned mare groaned "That's the last time I show off in front of a crowd..... Who am I kidding? I'll always do that!” Fluttershy gets up from the dramatic collision and stretches her wings back into place
"Rainbow Dash, just who I needed to see."
"Well hi Flutters, I guess I show up unexpectedly when I'm needed most" she chuckles. Shadow looks at her with a blank yet annoyed face. "Oh hi Shadow! Didn't mean to bump into you like that." she gives a grin from ear to ear.
"Wow! I mean, I knew you were a filly fooler, but I never knew you were into Pinkie Pie?!" she said. Rainbow couldn't stop smiling. Two of her own friends were going to hook up, and this was a chance that she did not want to miss, let alone take advantage of. "I thought you were gonna go after Lyra, or Carrot Top, or even Derpy!” Shadow stopped her right there
"What?! Derpy is stalking me! Sure I see her as a friend, but it's kinda creepy when she follows me from a distance with those eyes..." Shadow shudders, looking behind her. Lo and behold, Derpy is looking at her from behind a wagon. Rainbow laughs
"Well it was just a thought. So what is it that you need me for?"
Shadow looks at both of them with concern and lowers her head. "I want to get her attention if anything. I've tried everything, but she doesn't even take a glance at me. It's like I'm invisible."
"Have you tried throwing a party?" Rainbow asked.
"Of course! It wasn't big, and I ended up pissing off all the ponies there because it wasn't even a real party...” The blue pegasus looks at her and pouts a bit
"Well if you really want her attention, the party has to be big, and not fake for that matter."
"But she doesn't throw parties for no reason...” Fluttershy said. Though it's not entirely true. Pinkie has been known to throw parties to ponies even if they moved one house over from where they lived. The "House Warming One Door Over Party", as cheesy as it sounds, it was still a party. Shadow thinks for a bit and realizes that Charcoal, in whom she met only recently was never given a party since he moved here. She clued the other two in and they both found it weird too.
"Well there's your answer!" Rainbow said in delight "We just have to go find Charcoal and fill him in on the details". Shadow again lowered her head
"Oh... But I think he's still sore about what happened the other day...” Shadow said. Thinking about it for a second made her chuckle a bit.
"I'm sure he can't be mad at you forever." Fluttershy said.
"Yeah, what did you do to him anyway?" Rainbow cut in. Shadow looks at the both of them and trots ahead
"I think it'd be best if you saw for yourself."
Shadow and the others trotted their way down the dirt path to Apple Acres. Fluttershy told the other two that he usually hangs out there with Applejack during his free time. They see the orange mare leaning against the dark stallion under a large tree when they arrive.
Rainbow Dash raises a brow and smirks "Well well, what have we here?”
Applejack sits up and smiles "Well howdy sugarcubes."
"Don't change the subject on me girl. I saw how close you were to Charcoal" Rainbow Dash grins. She blushes and tips her hat forward
"Yeah. Me and Charky are together"
Shadow chuckles at the nickname "I didn't know you go for southern style mares... Charky" Charcoal eyes the purple pegasus and gives her a bit of a sour look.
Shadow gives a cheeky smile and Fluttershy tries to break the tension. "We need your help with something Charcoal" the quiet pony mutters.
"Let me guess. It has to do with Pinkie Pie right?" he says blankly. The trio looks at him in surprise "How do you know?” He points to the nub of hair on the back of his neck
"I think it's pretty obvious". Upon seeing the disaster, Rainbow Dash falls over laughing her mane off. Shadow puts a hoof over her face and sighs
"Ok, ok. We all get the situation now. Charcoal, we need you to talk to Pinkie. You're the only pony that hasn't gotten a party from her yet."
"And you want me to help set it in a way that'll get her to at least notice you right?" he said. Shadow nods and Charcoal thinks it over.
He trots down Ponyville Square and spots Pinkie. 'Ok, so I just act a bit hurt that she never threw me a party' he thought 'Sounds simple enough'. Looking around, it'd be pretty obvious to spot a pink pony with cotton candy hair among a crowd of ponies. However, it was very crowded and with everypony trotting about, he could barely keep his focus on one. He wades his way through the crowd until he accidentally bumps into somepony. A white mare with goggles stumbles back a bit and shades her head.
"Whoa, sorry! I didn't know where I was going!" she said. The blue maned mare stood quiet for a bit and took off her goggles, wincing her eyes at him. "Charcoal? Charcoal is that you?" she says. He tilts his head wondering how she knew his name, until it hit him.
"Vinyl? What?! Wow, you changed!" he said in shock. Vinyl laughed and smiled
"Yeah! And it looks like I won the bet too!” Charcoal cringed, remembering the bet several years ago when he was working for Celestia. They made a bet on who would leave their hair growing without cutting it. Thanks to Shadow, he lost the bet. He handed her 20 bits and Vinyl placed it in her saddlebag. "So what brings you to Ponyville?" Vinyl said with a bit of excitement.
"A lot of things really, but right now I'm looking for Pinkie. Have you seen her?”
"Pinkie just took off to Sugarcube corner" Vinyl said.
"Ok, cause I have to set up some party that she forgot to do for me, I don't really know all about the details" Charcoal shrugged. The DJ pony laughed and hugged him
"I really missed you. I'll be sure to talk to Pinkie about it. I'm always at her parties anyway!"
"Good to know" Charcoal smiled. He left the Square and decided to trot around Ponyville to become more familiar to the places he hasn't been to yet. He turns into a path that cuts off just before hitting the Library and sees a large building labeled "Carousel Boutique". Rarity is seen outside and waves at him.
"Hello there darling! I hardly see you around. What brings you around this part of Ponyville?" she smiles.
"Just walking around Ponyville. I got to know the places I have to work right?" he said with a half-hearted smile.
"Oh indeed" Rarity says, taking a look at his tattered vest and gasping "What is that abomination of a cloth you have around you?” Charcoal looks down and back at her with a confused look
"It's my vest..."
"You can't simply be working with such a worn down vest! Come into my shop! I'll have you fitted with a new one in no time!" she says, grabbing his hoof and dragging him inside.
Charcoal sat on the floor and just stared as his vest was ripped from his chest and thrown onto a table. He tried to cover himself, still a bit self-conscious as Rarity worked in her workshop of fashionable horrors..... as Charcoal describes. Wiping a bit of the sweat from her forehead, she turns and shows him his vest, which looks brand new and has sleek silver lines going along the sides.
"Wow... uh..." Charcoal was speechless.
Rarity giggles "I am the most generous pony in Ponyville. Though I am a bit curious" Rarity hesitates as Charcoal looks at her with a bit of confusion. "Why are you so cross with your memories from Canterlot?”
He only looked at her quietly and took his vest. "Thanks for patching up my vest..." The sullen stallion said, walking out. Rarity looked concerned as Charcoal left the shop in a hurry. Pinkie suddenly crashed into him and gasped
"Charky! I'm so sorry! I forgot to throw you a welcome party!"
“I am offended" he said sarcastically "Not throwing me a party. I am hurt."
"Don't worry! We’ll throw one right away!" the party pony jumped up and bounced about before disappearing in a pink blur. She was gone before he could blink; setting up everything for the party, though Charcoal himself had other plans....
Shadow went back to her house with Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy stayed behind, because she had to return home to feed her animals.
"So Shaderz, what's the plan to get Pinkie to notice you?" she said.
"I don't know" Shadow lowered her head "I had a hard time getting her to notice me before. How will it work if we're surrounded by a crowd of ponies?”
Rainbow Dash sat down and placed a hoof on her chin, thinking for a bit. There was a brief awkward silence between the two ponies as Shadow stared at the Rainbow pony, who was very deep in thought. "I got it!--" she spoke, getting cut off by a loud knock on the door. Shadow trotted forward and opened it, seeing Charcoal struggling to keep himself up with the thin wooden boards that were casually nailed to the large tree.
"A little help here? How do you even get up here without falling off these dang things?" he grunted.
"You just gotta know where to climb" she chuckled, pulling him up.
Rainbow Dash glared at him and huffed "I just had a sweet idea! Now I forgot because of you!”
Charcoal gave her a bit of a confused look and trotted in "The party is being set up as we speak. Vinyl got a hold of Pinkie for me so everything should fall into place.
Rainbow Dash looks at him a bit oddly "How do you know Vinyl? She's always out and about, and other ponies rarely see her!"
"Details Rainbow, anyway, with that being said, we should start getting ideas for our next plan". Rainbow gave him the same glare and rolled her eyes. Pinkie is bouncing around Sugarcube Corner, placing streamers and balloons while Vinyl is setting up her sound board and other equipment.
"Oh gosh! I can't believe I missed throwing a party for Charcoal!" Pinkie said, placing drapes across the tables "I'm such a silly pony"
"Don't worry about it P." Vinyl chuckles "We all forget things sometimes. Besides, Charcoal isn't a big fan of parties, but I'm sure he'll like it even if it's late"
The pink pony dropped the bag of confetti to the floor, spewing a bit around her. "He doesn't like parties?!" she gasped.
Vinyl was a bit taken back by her sudden surprise "He's not very social. Well, he 'wasn't' social, until he came here. Glad to see things change for him"
"So you know Charcoal?" Pinkie said, looking at Vinyl in awe.
Charcoal and Rainbow nods while Shadow is furiously shaking her head.
"No! I am not doing that!" Shadow yells, flailing her hooves to the floor.
"Come on, is it really that bad to sing in front of other ponies?" Charcoal snickered.
"It'll be for Pinkie! Everyone will know and it will be embarrassing!"
Rainbow Dash waves her hoof and laughs "Ok, ok. How about we just have Vinyl dedicate a song to Pinkie and say it was from an anonymous pony?"
"How will that work? Doesn't she want to be noticed, not hidden even further from her love interest?" Charcoal said sarcastically.
"Let me finish you cog fixin' idiot!" Rainbow Dash growls. The two start to bicker and Shadow facehoofs in disappointment.
"Wow, you sure know how to set things up quickly" Vinyl looks around.
"It's what I do! I'm the perky party perfectionist!" Pinkie giggles. About an hour has passed, and all the invites are sent out. Pinkie sits outside, looking at the clouds above. Vinyl sees the party pony spacing out. This was a first for her, seeing her doing something other than bouncing, baking, or partying.
"Something on your mind Pinkie?" Vinyl said, placing a hoof on her shoulder.
"All the parties, the fun, the excitement. It's great and all..." she smiles, but then looks down, a bit saddened "But it's not as great when you don't have that special somepony to share it with".
"I know how you feel" Vinyl said, looking up "I guess all we can do is wait, right?”
"All right, all right. We'll just stick with the first plan" Rainbow said, sighing after hours of debating and arguing.
"Just dedicate a song, I’ll tell Vinyl, and you tell Pinkie you did that when it's done ok?" Charcoal huffs. Shadow nods and flaps her wings in excitement.
"I hope this works!" The purple pegasus said in glee.
"I hope so too, otherwise this plan was for nothing, and I'll be assed out of a quiet day with Applejack" Charcoal pouts.
"Don't get your tail in a knot" Rainbow slaps his shoulder "She'll be going anyways. It'll be better than sitting on the porch, or under a tree, staring at random things".
"Hey I don't--" Charcoal shuts himself up, realizing that he does do those things with Applejack and hides his face in embarrassment. Shadow is too busy daydreaming about the results of their plan while the hour at hand creeps ever closer.
Night had finally arrived, and ponies all around town gathered at Sugarcube Corner. A large crowd surrounds the door, and flashing lights of various colors can be seen emanating from the windows. The bass inside is so loud, coming close to the building will cause your entire being to vibrate. It's tough to say for sure, but this was the biggest and loudest party Charcoal has ever come across. He stands behind the large crowd with Shadow and wonders how he and the nervous pony can get through. Loud yelling can be heard, and a few of the ponies cower a bit in fear. Moving in closer, they see an extremely buff, white pegasus with tiny wings holding a clip board. Charcoal and Shadow look at each other in confusion.
"Aren't all the ponies invited to any party Pinkie throws?" he asks
"Yeah, it's a very common thing" Shadow said, taking another glance at the pegasus
"Then why is he posing as a bouncer?"
"I don't know, why are you asking me? I'm just as confused as you are!"
They trot up and the over buffed stallion stops them. He looks at them square in the eyes.
"NAME" he shouts in a rather intimidating voice.
"U-uh, Charcoal" he stutters a bit, being sized up by the bouncer
"Ah, you must be the VIP. Right this way..." the bouncer looks at Shadow and stops her "AND WHO ARE YOU?!"
Charcoal steps back "She's with me."
"Oh, very well then." the bouncer said in a very calm manner.
Shadow staggers next to Charcoal as they make their way in, the bass overtaking the entire room. She tries to talk, but her voice becomes inaudible to the music. They then see Vinyl, who is waving her hoof from the soundboard that is behind the register. They trot up to her, to which she embraces Charcoal with a hug.
"Charcoal! Glad you could make it!" Vinyl yells "How do you like the party?! Pretty awesome huh?!"
"It's fine I guess?! Isn't this a little too much?!" Charcoal looks around, seeing a few ponies enjoying the party a bit too much.
"Don't worry about it! Just enjoy it!" Vinyl looks at the bashful pegasus "So is this the mare that wants to go out with Pinkie?!"
Shadow's ears perk up and gets close "Not so loud! I don't want anypony finding out!"
"Lighten up girl, you can scream out your deepest secret and no one would hear it! Like that one time Charcoal...." Vinyl's voice was drowned out by the music. Charcoal's face turned a deep red. Vinyl started to laugh, leaving Shadow to wonder what she said about Charcoal.
"Hey! I've been meaning to ask!" Shadow steps in "How do you two know each other so well?!"
"Oh that's simple!" Vinyl smiles "He and I are--"
A pink blur appears before them and greets them with a childish laughter.
"Hey there Mr. VIP! Welcome to the party!" said Pinkie
Charcoal looks at her for a bit and scratches his head "Isn't this a little over the top?! You didn't have to do this!"
"Nonsense! I always throw parties like this for everypony!" she giggles
"So what's with the bouncer?!" Shadow looks at her a bit curious
"Oh him?! He always volunteers to do that just to scare the other ponies! Most of them know he does it for fun, but the rest are afraid of him! We get a kick out of it every now and then!" Charcoal and Shadow wonders if that sort of humor is good for anypony at all. Pinkie bounces away to attend to the buffet, which is quickly dwindling down to nothing but cupcake crumbs. Charcoal turns to Vinyl and whispers the plan, to which she nods and grins from ear to ear. Shadow turns and trots to the other end of the room with Charcoal.
"You think this is going to work?!" Shadow looks at him with a bit of concern
"Don't worry about a thing! Nothing could possibly go wrong!" Charcoal smiles. They turn to see Applejack and Rainbow Dash at the entrance. He waves and gets them to come over and greets Applejack with a hug. The music starts to die down, and the voices of the other ponies can finally be heard.
"Hi there Charky! How are you likin' the party?" The cowmare smiles
"It's gonna take some getting used to" He smiles sheepishly
"It better be soon, cause Pinkie does this at least once a week!" Rainbow Dash grins
"Once a week?!" he cringes. Charcoal already has a hard time adjusting to this party, but going to one every week? It would drive anypony mad!
"I'm just kidding, it doesn't happen that often" Rainbow Dash laughs at Charcoal's shocked expression. The music dies down and Vinyl turns on the intercom that's near her soundboard.
"Alright all you party ponies! This next song is dedicated to the pink party hostess, from an anonymous pony!" she says, pointing in Pinkie's direction
"Huh?" Pinkie looks back, placing the tray of freshly baked cupcakes on the buffet table. The song isn't as hype as it was before. It's more of a melodic and sensual type of music. It's accompanied by singing, which describes appreciation and a deep expression of attraction and infatuation. The crowd is touched by the song, and Pinkie starts to blush and smiles bashfully, covering her face. Charcoal, Shadow, and Rainbow Dash look at each other and nod. It went off without a hitch! Applejack is a bit curious as to what they were smiling about. Shadow was giddier than the other two.
"Now what's all this about?" Applejack looks at the three of them
"You'll see soon enough!" Rainbow Dash grins. Pinkie trots up to them and is seen with the kindest and warmest smile that can only be compared to Fluttershy. Shadow's face turns a deep red and Rainbow Dash still has that sly grin across her face.
"That is the sweetest thing anypony has done for me!" Pinkie says, trying to hold back a tear. Shadow's heart began to race. This was the perfect moment to seal the deal, to tell her long time (or rather very recent) crush how she felt in one swift gesture. She leans in and closes her eyes, puckering her lips to expect the feeling of cotton candy lips on hers. Pinkie leans forward and Rainbow Dash and Applejack are shocked by what they saw....
She had kissed Charcoal
Shadow opens her eyes and sees the two in a lip lock. Charcoal has no idea what is going on. Rainbow Dash has her mouth agape, and Applejack tips her hat back, flustered and filled with jealousy.
"Now what in tarnation was that fer?!" Applejack said a bit agitated
"I gave Charcoal a little peck on the lips" Pinkie said, concerned about Applejack's heightened defensiveness "I figured that was from him since I threw the party for him"
"It wasn't me..." Charcoal was a bit heated by the kiss. He swore he could taste enough sugar on those lips to give you diabetic shock.
"Oh my! I thought it was!" Pinkie gasped "But... why are you so angry Applejack?"
"Cause ya kissed mah coltfriend outta nowhere!" she stomped a hoof. Pinkie covered her mouth in surprise. Everypony but her knew, and she threw the whole party out of whack, drawing attention to them. Meanwhile, Shadow is next to them, her world shattered like glass, cutting away at her heart. Rainbow Dash saw her with the corner of her eye and trotted towards her while the other three try to patch things up from the misunderstanding.
"Don't give up yet...” The rainbow mare said softly "Pinkie is always left alone to clean up the mess when the party is over. I forgot to mention this, it may be your only chance to tell her one on one"
"Y-you think so...?" hope began to twinkle in Shadow's eyes again. She turns to see Pinkie bowing her head profusely, apologizing to Applejack and Charcoal. She could clearly see Applejack glaring at Charcoal, giving him the 'was her kiss better than mine?' face. All he could do was shake his head left and right with such vigor to make a pony's neck snap. All the while, Vinyl is still at the soundboard, cranking the music up and laughing to herself.
"This is going to be a loooong night~"
The party went on until Celestia raised the sun. Some of the ponies ended up trotting home tipsy due to some random idiot spiking the punch bowl. Vinyl already packed her gear and was on her way out.
"That was another great party Pinkie" she said with a grin "Those ponies went crazy!"
"That's because somepony put vodka in the punch" the pink pony huffed "Now I have to clean up the place since most of them trashed all the decorations. I mean, I may be 'Party Pinkie Extraordinaire', but even I won't hang off the ceiling like Derpy...”
"Who knew she'd go nuts after drinking a half a cup of spiked punch?" Vinyl scratched her chin. She hugged Pinkie and turned towards her equipment.
"Well, I gotta go. I have to prepare for a rave in Fillydelphia. Won't be back 'till next week, but I'm gonna stop by and see Charcoal before I go ok?" the DJ pony smirked
"Ok! See you later!" Pinkie giggled.
Once Vinyl was out of sight, Pinkie's smile began to fade. She trotted inside where a large mess was spread about in the room. Tables were flipped, punch was all over the floor where the buffet stood, and all of the streamers were torn and scattered about. The only thing that was clean and empty was the trash cans, which stood at the back of the room. Every move she made crushed a paper cup from under her hooves. She gave a sigh, hauling the trash cans to the center of the room and started to pick up all of the shredded decorations from the floor. A paper cup suddenly taps the back of her head. The saddened pony turns to see a silhouette in front of the door.
"Let me help you out" said the silhouette, revealing to be Shadow as she trotted in.
"Oh... Hi Shady, you don't have to--" Pinkie was shushed by the purple pony as she began to pick up cups and tossing them in the trash can,
Even if she said that she didn't want any help, Pinkie couldn't deny that she did want it, not just for the fact that it would be much easier, but she would enjoy the company of another pony too. Time after time she would be the one to clean up the mess after throwing such big parties. After all, 'I do love to throw parties for everypony!' she would say to herself, but it dwindled down to nothing more than a compulsive habit, and it finally caught up with her. Being the element of laughter isn't easy if you don't have anyone to laugh with. Shadow looks at Pinkie, who was in her own world, trailing off from picking up the food crumbs and streamers.
"So uh, that was a great party Pinkie" she said, breaking the lost pony from her trance
"O-oh yeah! It was a riot. Literally..." her voice began to go to a whisper
"Do you always do this on your own?" Shadow asked, concerned about her obvious crush
"Do what?"
"Cleaning up the after party"
"Oh that. Well, yeah I guess" Pinkie chuckles lightly "Somepony has to do it or Mrs. Cake would throw a fit!"
They both laugh at the thought of that and look at each other briefly in the eyes.
"Pinkie I--"
"I already know" Pinkie smiled softly
"W-what?"
Pinkie trots up to her and hugs Shadow tightly. At this point, Shadow's plethora of emotions began spilling out, from relief, to fear, to anticipation.
"How do you know?" she told Pinkie, her face shaded a bright red
"I noticed how crushed your expression was after I uh...” Pinkie's voice trails off, her face becoming flushed with embarrassment.
"I didn't expect you to be..."
"A filly fooler?" Pinkie blurted out "Everypony doesn't expect me to be all sorts of things! But I always surprise them in the end."
"I-I'm a little nervous... what if the other ponies don't..."
"Do Applejack and the others know?"
"All but Twilight..."
"Then that's all we need to worry about~!"
Shadow smiled and hugs Pinkie back after a while of being held in her embrace. Her reassurance made her feel more comfortable about the situation at hand and gave a sigh of relief. Pinkie looks around and giggles
"We should probably finish cleaning up...”
Later that day, the others gathered at Sugarcube Corner. Rainbow Dash was explaining what had happened at the party to Fluttershy.
"Oh dear... I feel bad for Shadow" she said
"Hopefully she took my advice" Rainbow Dash said, eating a cupcake.
Applejack, still irritated about last night, sat next to Charcoal. Apparently by his expression, he got an earful and was left to dry back at home. Rarity and Twilight sat next to each other, talking about some blatant gossip on fashion and other things. Vinyl met up with them and smiled.
"Hey everypony!"
"Hey Vinyl!" Rainbow Dash bro hoofed with Vinyl. She turned to Charcoal and chuckled
"Hey Charcoal, I don't get a hello?"
Charcoal was too afraid to speak, feeling the glare from Applejack's eyes. Vinyl saw that and laughed.
"Trouble in paradise I see? Don't you worry AJ, I'm not gonna steal him away"
"And how do I know if y'all ain't lyin'?" The cowpony raised a brow
"Well because he and I are cousins"
Everypony's jaw dropped,
"What?!" Rainbow Dash gasped, shaking Charcoal "And you didn't tell me this?!"
"You-- didn't-- ask--" he was swaying back and forth, Rainbow letting go so he could shake it off
"Yes I did! You never answered me!"
"Well now you know. It's no big deal really." Vinyl grins.
Rainbow Dash trots up to her and explains down to every last detail why it is a 'big deal'.
"Hi everypony!" Pinkie said with a wide smile. Applejack snatches a cupcake and scarfs it down. It'll be some time before the heat dies down between the two, and the others just laugh it off. They gather around in a circle and Pinkie tells them the news.
"I'm sure most of you know about Shadow having a crush on me" Most of them nod, Twilight looking at her confused.
"Well, she and I are now a couple!" she says with glee, clapping her hooves. Everypony smiles and congratulates her, Twilight spitting out her cupcake in shock.
"Pinkie, I didn't know you went that way?" Twilight said in surprise
"What's wrong? Lost your chance at Shadow?" Rainbow teased
"I don't like her!"
"W-what's wrong with me Twilight?" Shadow pouted, breaking face and suddenly laughing at Twilight's expression.
"N-nothing’s wrong with you! You're very pretty- I mean- I just don't- augh!" she hides her face in her hooves, everypony laughing.
"Well congratulations you two..." Fluttershy murmured
"Careful Shadow! You got yourself a live one!" Rainbow grinned. She was the happiest of the group to see them together. She knew Pinkie deserved it. Everypony was at the train station seeing Vinyl off as the train left to Fillydelphia. Pinkie sat next to Shadow as they saw the train slowly disappear into the horizon.
"I'm glad it turned out better than I had hoped" Shadow sighed
"Better?" Pinkie tilted her head
"Honestly, I figured it would end in total disaster..." she paused for a second "Well... it did... but I still managed to be with you."
"That's what matters"
"Yeah, it really does"
Shadow leans in for a kiss, only to be cut off by some yelling.
"Hey lovebirds! Let's go! We're all gonna hang out at Twilight's place! You coming or what?!" Rainbow yelled, even though she was obviously close by. Pinkie looked at Shadow and kissed her on the cheek.
"Come on Shady, I bet we're gonna have lots of fun!"
[[ End of the 2nd arc ]]
Several weeks passed since the party at Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie and Shadow were happy together as a couple and the ponies that knew about it didn't mind at all. It was spread about as a rumor, but most of them brushed it off as what it was supposedly set out to be, a rumor. Charcoal and Applejack spent more time together and got a bit closer. Buckin' apples, spending time with Applebloom and Big Mac, sharing some past experiences. But as time passed, Applejack started to notice something about Charcoal. She trots up to him one morning as they were bucking apples.
"Hey Charky?" she looks at him a bit curiously
"What is it Applejay?" he turns, moving the woven basket filled with freshly bucked apples away from the tree.
"Now ah noticed that you are a unicorn an' all, but ah never saw you use your magic"
Charcoal's face started to turn sour. "I'm fine bucking the apples without it."
"Well ah figured you'd use yer magic. It'd make things a lot easier for yo--"
"I said I'm fine without my magic." He said with a stern tone, turning and moving ahead to take care of the next tree.
"Now Charky, why won't you use your magic? It's pretty simple to use ah figured." she gave him a sincere smile. Charcoal didn't even look in her direction.
"I detest using magic. I'm not going to use it, even if you tell me to."
"I'm just wonderin' is all. Ya don't have to get moody with me."
"And you don't have to get into my personal business!" he snapped
"I'm your marefriend darn it! I care about you and you know ah want to make the both of us happy!"
"Well I can't make anyone happy if my magic hurt somepony before!" Charcoal kicks the tree with all his might, cracking the bark and having all the apples fall into the empty basket at once. Applejack lowered her head as he trots off back to her house. She didn't know that he had hurt somepony before. In fact, he didn't say much about his past that didn't involve Celestia in any way. However, hiding from who he really is isn't good for him, and she thinks having him use his magic would help.
Later that evening, Applejack confronts him on the porch of her house and sees him irritated from the argument earlier in the day. She sits next to him and leans on his shoulder gently.
"Ah know you never told me about yer past, and I know it's somethin' you don't want to talk about. But what happened between you and some other pony back then doesn't have to stop you from bein' who ya really are Charky." Applejack says in a gentle tone.
"I made a promise. I don't want to use my magic again. I don't want to hurt anypony...”
"And ya won't. You don't think yer doin' this alone are ya?" She leans closer to him "Ya got friends here who are sure as apples ready to help yew. And you got me too." Charcoal gives a weak smile. He was nervous about learning magic all over again, but he knew he could trust Applejack. After all, she is the element of honesty.
"Ok, I'll start using my magic again." he finally caved in "But who's gonna help me?"
"Ah already got ya covered sugarcube." she smiles "Ah already talked to Twilight about it before hand, and she said she'd be glad to help you!"
Charcoal gave her a weird look. She had planned this long before she had the conversation with him, that sneaky mare.
"Well hello there darling." Rarity speaks casually, Charcoal still giving her that distant response after the whole pestering she gave him about Canterlot the other day at the Boutique. Her smile slowly goes away and she nods.
"I'm sorry about the other day. It just quite curious to find a pony with such distaste for such a high class community." she gently whips her hair back into place, letting her curls bounce a bit.
"It's not as high class as you think. But that's just me."
"I understand darling, no need to tell me anymore. So where are you headed to?"
"Twilight's place. I need to brush up on my magic. Got a little too rusty for my own good."
"But magic is second nature to a Unicorn! How could you--" Charcoal shot a glare at her. Rarity covers her mouth and quiets down.
"Is there anything I really need to use magic? Like books? Items? Potions?" he asks
"In terms of books, I'm sure Twilight would help you. You don't really need anything else." she scratches her chin. The dark unicorn nods as he trots on ahead to Twilight's. The white mare waving goodbye as he trots further away. Charcoal finally arrives, staring down the giant tree that is surprisingly used as a home. He knocks on the door and waits, hearing some shuffling noises and muffled voices on the other end. It opens, Spike greeting him and letting him inside.
"Hey Charcoal, it's great to see you." said the childish dragon
"Hey Spike. Is uh, Twilight here?"
"Up here! I'm just grabbing some books that we're gonna use!" Twilight is on top of a ladder, with a book in between her teeth and few others levitating around her glowing horn. She hops down and trots towards him with enthusiasm.
"This is going to be so exciting! I finally get to mentor somepony, just like Princess Celestia mentored me when I was a young filly! Well, she's still teaching me a lot of things, but this is so--"
"Twilight!" he shouted "Off topic here."
She gave a bashful smile "Oops, sorry!" Twilight sets the books down and sits in front of him.
"I need to ask you a few questions before we get started so I know what we're dealing with here." her face began to turn serious
"OK. Shoot."
"How long ago have you stopped using your magic?"
"Uhm... five years? Six? Hard to say, but I know it was longer than four."
"Hm... do you remember the basics of using magic?"
"No. Completely skipped that course since I couldn't use magic well from the get go." Twilight's face started to become disheartened.
"Have you ever tried to... force... your magic when you realized that you couldn't control it?"
"Once, but you clearly know what happened when I explained it to you on the train...”
She closed her eyes and scratched her head. This was tougher than she thought. She opened her eyes again and grabbed a book that lay next to her. It was titled "Unicorn Biology 101". She skimmed through some of the pages and stopped towards the middle of the book. Her expression then changed from concerned, to anxious.
"So you never used your magic since then...?" she muttered.
"No, I haven't."
"This is bad." She skimmed through the book, but at a slow enough pace that she could glance at the words.
"I need to see how much magic has built up in your body." she places her horn against his and begins to focus some magic at the tip. Her horn glowed purple, shifting along to his which began to glow a faint green. He looks up and suddenly winces, as his horn emits static, sending a burst of magic into Twilight's horn. It made a loud pop and she flies across the room, landing on top of some books that lie scattered about. Spike ran into the room, wondering what all the commotion was about.
"Sweet Celestia!" she cried out "How are you still alive?!"
"What?.." Charcoal was a bit nervous at how she responded.
"Charcoal, there is so much magic in your system, that letting it out in one burst would crater half of Ponyville!"
"And that's a big deal...?" Charcoal trailed off, ignorant about the situation at hand.
Twilight facehoofs "Charcoal... With that much magic in your system, you wouldn't be able to stand. In fact, all that pent up magic would leave you comatose at the hospital right now!"
"How can we fix this?"
"Well obviously you're going to have to use your magic, but it has to be in small, controllable bursts. You're gonna have to stay here until you get that under control, otherwise who knows what might happen?" she said looking at the spaced out stallion. She made it clear. Until he can control his magic, he was not allowed to leave at all.
It's been two days and Twilight has been monitoring Charcoal's magic. He's been carefully letting it out slowly with occasional bursts that gave Twilight a small scare. He holds his head after using his magic every time, and Twilight examines him a bit.
"Your body, especially your horn, is not used to channeling this much magic at once. You'll get used to it soon. Try to let it go in small intervals." She smiles, trotting upstairs "I think it's time I teach you a basic spell. I'm going upstairs and check to see if there are any good ones you can learn."
"Yeah, as if these things don't give me enough headaches...” he groans. Twilight disappears into her room, Spike walking in from the kitchen with two cups of hot cocoa.
"Twilight running you ragged?" he said, handing Charcoal one of the cups.
"I haven't got some air for the past 48 hours!" Charcoal complains
"Well when Twilight goes upstairs, she usually trails off and stays up there for a few hours. You can probably leave now and she won't notice at all." Spike takes a sip of cocoa. Charcoal gives a sly grin, and books it to the door, leaving no trace, or cocoa... behind.
He trots down ponyville square and goes to a quick fast food restaurant, getting a large hayburger and some daffodil fries with a large cup of root beer. He sighs heavily and sits under a tree, where he proceeds to eat like there's no tomorrow. Charcoal is then greeted by Rarity and Fluttershy, who look a bit horrified at the way he is eating.
"Charcoal! Please, eat like a gentlecolt while there are ladies present!" the fashion mare gasps
"I've never seen somepony eat so... um... savagely." Fluttershy whispers. Charcoal takes a big gulp of root beer and looks at the two of them
"Hey, I've been locked up Twilight's place for two days with nothing to eat but leftover scraps she has in her barely stocked fridge! I don't know how she can study and read all of them books, barely eating within a twenty-four hour period." he twitches.
"Oh my, I didn't know she was that kind of pony" Rarity covers her mouth with her hoof "She has you on a leash huh?"
"It's not like that!" he snaps "She's holding me hostage because my magic could possibly crater half of Ponyville!"
"I agree with Twilight darling, how are you able to stand?" Rarity looks concerned at Charcoal.
"How should I know? She just told me that and locked me up for two days!" he shrugged
"Uh... um...” Fluttershy is suddenly cut off
"Charcoal, don't you know anything about unicorn magic?"
"No, Twilight had to give me a brief lesson the other day. Heck, she gave me that book to read for the night!"
"Um... excuse me..."
"Well of course darling! You must know how it works. I am surprised that all those years of magic in your body didn't..."
"Kill me? Yeah, I'm still wrapping my head around the whole thing."
"Excuse me!" Fluttershy interrupts with a whispering shout. They look at her, and she lowers her head.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand...." Her face becomes flustered, Charcoal facehoofs as Rarity places her hoof on the bashful pegasus' shoulder.
"Charcoal, go back to Twilight's house. I bet she's worried sick about you." Rarity said, Fluttershy nodding in agreement. Based on what Spike had said, he highly doubts that. Rarity trots off with Fluttershy, and Charcoal goes back to the library. It was no surprise that he opens the door to Spike sitting on a beanbag chair, writing in what seems to be a journal.
"Told ya." he chuckles, closing his book and placing it on a small table that was next to him.
"How long was I gone?" Charcoal looks at him, tilting his head
"An hour and a half. She never left the room."
"Really?" he never thought she'd be this into her studies. Twilight came out of her room with a small book. It was thin and hardback, with the title "Past Memorabilia: Basic memory spells". Charcoal and Spike look at each other and look back at Twilight with a blank stare.
"What? It was the most basic spell that you could easily learn." she said sheepishly. He didn't know what was worse; Twilight giving him a foal's spell book, or the fact that she took over an hour to find one. He takes the book and skips the "Motivation speech" that is used to give young foals the self-confidence. He eyes Twilight with a short glare over the edge of the book and continues reading.
"Da da.... focus magic.... da da channel energy.... cerebral cortex... huh..?" Charcoal reads the last sentence again. "How can a foal read at this level?! I'm having a hard time reading this alone!"
"You just need to focus your magic and have it flow across your mind. Kind of like a boost to help you remember something." Twilight said. Charcoal understood the semi-dumbed down instructions and closed his eyes. His horn glowed a light green and he tried to remember something from his past. It was fuzzy, with a lot of repressing over the past few years, remembering was the last thing to come to his mind.
"Ugh, I can't do it." he whines
"Yes you can, try harder." Twilight says with a stern tone. He shuts his eyes and forces himself to think back to when he was in Canterlot. He could hear voices. They were faint, and he could see colors slowly taking the shape of objects. The voiced seem to be... panicking? Some splotches of color were moving about back and forth, a large patch of red on the floor he's standing on. He only hears a voice saying 'What have you done?', before the glow on his horn goes out with a popping sound, like a firecracker, and lands on his butt. Twilight looks at him with anticipation and has a notebook and a quill ready to write.
"So what did you see in your head?"
"I... I don't know. All I saw were colors and... and I heard a voice."
"What did the voice say?" she leans closer, Charcoal backing off, a bit uncomfortable
"I can't remember...” he lied. He wasn't ready to tell her what he saw just yet.
She allowed him to leave for the day but expected him back at the Library in the morning. She also told him to refrain from using any magic, even using the memory spell until then. Charcoal was still stuck on what he saw when he was using that spell, though it left him with a nasty headache afterwards. He didn't feel like seeing anypony for the rest of the day and trots back home. Twilight turns toward the bookshelves and has a distant look on her face. Spike walks up to her and lightly shakes her.
"Hey Twilight, you ok?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine Spike."
"Well you seem a little off since Charcoal came here."
Twilight scratches the back of her head and looks away "When I checked how much magic was in his system a few days ago, I saw part of his past when his magic blew up in my face."
"Really? What did you see?" Spike was curious, his eyes wide with curiosity
"Uh... I'll tell you when you're older."
"Ohhh, you always tell me that!" he groans. Twilight knew it was for the better. All the blood she saw made her queasy. Spike puffed his cheeks and suddenly burped, a letter forming from the emerald flames he spat out.
"A letter?" Twilight turned and grabbed the letter with her magic, straightening it and reading it aloud:
Dear Twilight,
I need you to gather the other five and meet me at the Ponyville square in twenty minutes. I have very urgent and important news to tell you. I fear we may need the elements of harmony for this.
Sincerely,
Princess Celestia
Twilight's eyes went agape with anxiety. She packed her saddlebag and rushed out the door without telling Spike anything. Luckily Fluttershy and Rarity were hanging out at the Square. She ran up to them and started babbling nonsense.
"Twilight dear, please speak clearly." Rarity tilted her head, flipping her hair back into place.
"Princess Celestia needs us to gather at the square. Can you two get Pinkie and Rainbow Dash?"
"Why does she want us to meet at the square..?" Fluttershy asks
"I have no clue, she just told us to meet here."
"Well I'll get Pinkie Pie then, and Fluttershy can get Rainbow Dash. Is that alright darling?" Fluttershy nods at Rarity "We'll see you later ok?" They gallop off and Twilight trots ahead to Apple Acres. She sees Applejack doing her usual apple bucking when she arrives.
"Well howdy there Twilight" Applejack bucks a tree, an apple hitting Twilight in the head.
"Ow! Hi Applejack. Princess Celestia needs us to be at the square in ten minutes. It's important!"
"Well sure thing sugarcube!" she stops and follows Twilight down the dirt road back into Ponyville.
"So Twi" she looked at the purple unicorn
"What is it Applejack?"
"Where's Charky? I haven't seen him in days. Ah'm a bit worried."
Twilight smiled sheepishly and looked straight ahead as her and Applejack walked down the dirt path back towards Ponyville. She already expected the others to already be there by the time they arrived at the square.
"Oh, well Charcoal had to stay at my place for a few days." Applejack's face grew suspicious
"Well why would Charky stay at yer place if he could come to Apple Acres?" Applejack still had her sight on Twilight, who facehoofed at the misunderstanding. She explained the situation at hand and the orange mare's eyes widened.
"Now who would've thought that sendin' Charky to ya would be a good thing after all?"
"Yeah, I actually sent him home today. Still, I'm a bit shocked that he held on to so much magic and he didn't even know...”
"We can always talk about it later with Charky sugarcube, but right now we need to hurry and meet the others." she gallops ahead, having Twilight to rush behind her. They finally arrive at the square and see a large chariot parked at the center of the square. Six elite Canterlot guards surround the chariot and Princess Celestia stand before the other four elements of harmony. The Princess looks at them with a smile and formally greets them.
"Hello Twilight Sparkle, Applejack. I'm glad all of you could make it." Celestia was calm and collective, but her face was still serious, despite her smile masking her current emotion.
"Hello Princess Celestia. Why did you want us to meet here? Doesn’t that seem a bit... informal?" Twilight tilted her head curiously.
"I know that this meeting is different than what you are usually used to, but it is very important that I spoke to the six of you right away."
"Now what could be the problem Princess Celestia?" Applejack tilted her hat back and the rest of the ponies gathered together so Celestia wouldn't have to yell.
"It seems that Discord has freed himself from his stone imprisonment again and is planning on taking control of Ponyville."
"Him again? That's easy, we'll just use the Elements of Harmony and put him right back him his place!" Rainbow Dash grinned, fanning her wings out with pride.
"That's the problem Rainbow Dash. He has taken a different approach, and he's acting differently that he normally does."
"One can't simply take a different route to find the same result? Or does one have to continue running the same rut until they perish?" An ominous voice said from a distance. Celestia turns around, seeing the chariot destroyed and the six guards brutalized and mangled across the Ponyville square. The other six ponies were on guard, but the scene they saw before them left them all intimidated greatly. This was a new one, even for Discord. No one would expect him to go violent, even if he was the Deity of Chaos.
"Now I know what you're thinking." Discord paused, calmly walking towards the Princess and her subjects "Discord, resorting to violence after all these years? Please, in a world of ponies where love and toleration is abundant, you would assume that the opposite would rule in a different city, or even a different country. After all, Peace and Chaos must go hand in hand if natural balance could exist."
"Where are you getting at Discord?" Twilight built the nerve to ask, her legs still trembling with fear.
"It's quite simple really. I personally think that this whole 'love and tolerate one another has gone on for too long, and I think a small reign of Chaos should balance everything out. Say... 500 years?"
"We'll stop you before that even happens!" Celestia steps forth, her wings spread about, and her horn pointed in his direction.
"Now now Celestia, you know better than to point that thing at anypony. You could poke an eye out." he grins and touches the tip of her horn, and teleports behind her, standing before the others. "Where I rule, magic has no significant effect towards me. I proclaimed it, therefore it shall be. As for the six of you who've thwarted my plans the last time, I shall deal with you accordingly."
The pupils of Discord's eyes begin to pulsate into various colors, giving a hypnotic stare towards Twilight and the others. Averting his gaze was futile, as all of them were caught by his stare. Celestia tries to stop him, but is held still by an invisible force created by his own hand.
"Easy now my dear princess. The act has only just begun!"
"W-what are you doing to my subjects Discord?" she chokes between her words
"I'm only erasing their memories of you, and their place in the elements of harmony. Is that so wrong?" he grins evilly. Discord snaps his finger, in which the other ponies awaken from their trance, looking around in confusion.
"Twilight!" Celestia cries out to her, hoping that she would answer just like she always would.
"Huh? Who are you? I don't know you." Twilight looks around at the others "And I don't know any of you ponies. I need to get back to my studies." she trots off to the train station.
"Oops, it seems like I erased more than I should have" Discord chuckles as the other ponies separate and head back to their homes.
"You're a monster..." Celestia growls, trying to break free.
"Well you made everypony to believe that I was a monster. I'm just trying to live up to my role with a little more gusto." he lifts her a bit into the air and ponders for a moment "Now what should I do with you?.." Celestia was at the mercy of Discord and his new title of power. With the guards dead and the Elements of Harmony now scattered, there was basically no hope in restoring order to Ponyville.
A few days had passed. Charcoal had made his usual rounds, and everything was the same, but something felt different for him. He doesn't know if it was the atmosphere, or just the vibe he was getting, but he knew something was off. He hasn't seen Applejack or the others, and he was surprised that Twilight didn't pester him to come back to the Library for further studies. He looks up at the sky and realizes that it's about to rain, which was odd considering the fact that he hasn't seen any pegasi shape the clouds since yesterday afternoon. He finds Shadow, who was spacing out underneath a tree next to Sugarcube Corner.
"Hey Shadow Blast, you alright?" Charcoal trots up to her seeing her worried expression up close.
"I don't get it... I just don't get it..." she mumbles to herself
"What's wrong?" he sits next to her, taking out a snack from his saddlebag that he had saved from earlier and broke off a piece to give to her.
"It's Pinkie! It's like she completely forgot about me...”
"How? Pinkie never forgets about anything. At least... what I can recall anyway."
"It happened with Rainbow Dash, and even Rarity too! I tried talking to them, but they said they never seen me in their life." This was getting stranger and stranger. Charcoal started to worry too, since he feared this could be the same when he approached them too. The sky grew dark and a loud crackling sound is heard. It began to rain, but it didn't feel cool or pleasing at all. The rain was a murky brown and the air had a hint of... Chocolate? Shadow had a distinct feeling of deja vu.
"Chocolate rain? What the heck did they put in these clouds?" Charcoal's brow furrowed, trying to cover his mane with the saddlebag so it wouldn't get all sticky.
"This... happened before." she looked around, but there was no pony in sight.
"I'm glad that somepony recognizes my work." Discord appears before the two of them "It's good to be known among the pony community."
"What are you doing here? Last time I remember, news spread about that you got turned back into stone!"
"Well as you can clearly see, I am here now. Free from stone and able to freely rule Equestria with chaos." he laughs
"Well it's pretty apparent that the Elements of Harmony are going to stop you like they did last time."
"Oh? And who was it that said that a certain somepony forgot who they were? How can they be the elements if they never remembered becoming one?"
"You... bastard!"
"Oh contraire, I'll give you two ponies a chance to redeem what the others have lost. But I won't go easy on any of you."
"Don't trust me? I 'Pinkie Promise' that I won't string you along."
"Don't you dare say that! You have no right to Pinkie Promise!" the pegasus snapped
"I can assure you that even though I am the deity of chaos, I play fair if need be."
"There's the trick behind it." Charcoal pointed out "'Need be' is a very vague statement. Who knows if this doesn't count as one of them?"
"A clever one aren't you. Ok fine. I'll give you three days to look for the six elements and bring them here. If you don't, then you're at the mercy of anything that I might do to either of you."
"You're on!" Shadow responded without hesitation. Charcoal didn't even get a chance to put a word in before Discord's face lit up with glee.
"Great! Then I'll start you off with a riddle." he clears his throat and takes a deep breath
"If it's the ponies that you seek, back in time you both must greet. From where you met with formal introduction, if you fail to see will lead to destruction." he puts on some sunglasses and takes a step back. "And with that I'll leave you to your search. Good luck you two!" Discord vanishes within a veil of smoke.
Shadow sighs and turns towards the dark colored stallion. He looks around, his hoof on his chin and figures out the next plan.
"Alright smart one, what do we do now?" she grunted, having no clue about the riddle.
"Hey, if I would've had a word in edge-wise we wouldn't be in this mess!"
"Well excuse me for being impulsive!" she turns and huffs. Charcoal thinks hard about what Discord had told them both.
"Back in time you both must greet.... where you met with formal introduction..."
"I got it! We go back in time and... wait..." Shadow trails off at her own logic
"It wouldn't work. Time travel spells are too much for me, and even then, we wouldn't have enough time to find them all before it wears off."
"Then what do we do? If we don't figure this out soon, everything will fall apart!" Charcoal couldn't help but realize that and he shuddered at the worst possible outcome. Just then Applebloom comes rushing in from the path that leads to Apple Acres
"Mr. Charcoal! Mr. Charcoal!" she panted as she stumbled a bit before the two of them "Somethin's wrong with mah sister!"
"Well we found one of them." Shadow says blankly
"What happened Applebloom?" Charcoal says after giving an irritated look to Shadow
"She's not herself. Ah mean, when I bring up you or her other friends, she says that she don't know any of ya'll. Even mah brother is confused!"
"Well there goes the memory wipe from Discord, but what is she doing at Apple Acres and how does that deal with the riddle?" Shadow looks at Charcoal. Applebloom looks at the other two and beams brightly
"Ya'll doin' riddles? Ah like riddles!" Charcoal nods and turns to Shadow
"Well we need all the help we can get right?" he explains what happened and tells her the riddle. She ponders it for a second and comes up with an idea.
"Didn't you meet mah sister and mah family at Apple Acres?" she tilts her head. Charcoal facehoofs and Shadow's eyes widen. It was in plain view and they didn't see it from the beginning. The only problem now was how to change them back, and that was obviously not placed in the riddle.
"We need to find out how we can bring them back to normal." Charcoal looked determined. Shadow was still lost on what he had finally figured out.
"Uh... fill me in first on the riddle?"
"Oh... right. Well everypony is at the place where I apparently met them for the first time."
"Like just trotting up and saying 'hi, I’m so and so'?"
"No, too spontaneous, and it'll have us run in circles. More of a formal greeting and getting to know one another better kind of meeting." Shadow nodded and started heading towards Apple Acres
"So we just go and find them, and turn them back to normal right? Sounds easy."
"Now hold on miss impulsive. There's a trick to it." Shadow grunts and turns around with an annoyed face.
"What is this trick? If anything, it's out in plain view!"
"There are two of us, so he may have split the job to where we have to look for where WE have met them."
"In other words..?"
"Three of them are at a place where I have met them, while the other three are where you have met them." It was pretty clear at this point, and finally realizing it may have cut the time shorter than it should have if they went together. Applebloom looks at the two of them and jumps up and down.
"Can ah join ya'll too?!" she smiles. They look at each other and start to worry a bit.
"It's going to be very dangerous. Who knows what Discord is going to pull on us?" Charcoal looks at her with a concerned expression, but it doesn't faze her one bit.
"And? Ah helped yew two out in solving the riddle." she huffed. She's got a point, and regardless she'll be following them back to Apple Acres to get Applejack's memories back into check.
"I dunno..." Shadow didn't really know how to respond. Charcoal sighed and trotted forward
"Does it look like we have a choice? Now come on, we already wasted enough time with this fiasco." the two mares followed him down the dirt path, leaving Ponyville and heading towards the farm. During the trip there Charcoal could feel an empty sensation well up inside. A mix of anticipation, and fear. He knew that once he'd arrive to get Applejack, she would have no recollection of him, who he was, and what she meant to him. Applebloom could see it in his expression as he gave a deep sigh, and his pace began to slow down. She trotted next to him and nudged him a bit.
"Don't worry, ah'm sure mah sister will remember yew. We just gotta try." her optimism didn't really help him in the slightest, but he smiled weakly to show his appreciation for her efforts to cheer him up a bit.
"Ah'm tellin' ya Big Mac, Ah have no idea about this harmony mumbo jumbo that yer talkin' about." she stomps a hoof, very agitated. Looks like the argument was going on long before Applebloom met up with Charcoal and Shadow.
"Applejack, ya got to come to yer senses here. Discord has come back and ah'm sure he's the one that did this to you!" He turns and sees Charcoal "Charcoal, go on and tell her all the crazy things that's been happenin' here!" Sadly enough, he was at a loss for words. Charcoal looks at Applejack, who gives him the strangest look she's ever given.
"You look familiar...” she narrows her eyes and suddenly her temper comes back "Oh no, yer with Big Mac on this one aren't cha? Ah told you, I have no idea about these elements of harmony, or anything about this Discord character ya hear?"
"Applejack just let me explain!" he's suddenly cut off
"I don't want any explanation! Just leave me alone!" she gallops off into the orchards. Big Mac watches her disappear into the forest of trees and turns towards Charcoal, who was crushed by her sudden outburst.
"Now don't just stand there, go after her!" he grunted. Charcoal snaps into attention and chases her without giving a second thought.
"Applejack! Wait!" he calls out, but her speed doesn't slow down a bit.
"Ah said I don't wanna hear any of that stuff!" she yelled
"Come on! Wait up! I can't keep this up forever!"
"Then ya might as well go back without me!"
"Doesn't your memories mean anything to you?!" He begins to close the gap between him and Applejack. She then makes an abrupt stop, which catches Charcoal off guard, and she bucks him. He is launched several feet back and is smacked against the thick tree behind him.
"Ah cherish my memories very dearly because it's all ah got besides mah family and this here farm!" she turns around to see the battered stallion, a bit of blood dripping from his forehead and mouth. She trots closer to check on him and see's the hoof print she left on the side of his face.
"Gosh... Ah hope I didn't hurt him too bad...” Applejack takes a closer look and her eyes widen as she suddenly remembers the events that took place with Applebloom in Everfree Forest. Tears began to fall from her eyes as she begins to remember everything again. She then looks at Charcoal again, who was unconscious and still bleeding.
"Oh sweet Celestia, Charcoal! Are you alright sugarcube?!" there was no response from him. He was out cold and this made her feel even worse for hitting him.
"Come on Charky, we got to get yew back to the farm." She tries to pick him up and manages to hoist him over her back. She makes a break for her house, hearing a dark laughter as she does so. The sky above her becomes dark and the trees beside her look as if they are rotting at the base of the trunk. The rotting areas then gave weigh with a snap and begin to fall towards her. She tries shifting her weight with Charcoal on her back to avoid the falling trees, but she is grazed by the branches that constantly try to whip at her legs. Applejack holds in small cries of pain as the trees fall over and try to impede her chances of escape. As she tries to clear a jump over a decomposing tree ahead of her, her hind leg nicked the edge of the bark, which shifted all of the combined weight of her and Charcoal to the front, causing her to topple forward and sprain her front-left leg. She tries to get up, as she is so close to getting back to the farm, but the sudden pain from her leg wouldn't let her get up. The dark laughter can be heard again from a distance, as she is now stuck at the mercy of the falling trees and Charcoal lying unconscious beside her.
Shadow, Applebloom, and Big Mac are waiting in front of the porch, hoping that Charcoal could snap Applejack back to her senses. Applebloom starts to get worried.
"Are you sure they're gonna be alright?" she pouts a bit
"Charcoal's a strong one. Maybe not strong enough to take a shot from mah sister... but still." Big Mac hides a small grin from his face. "What are the odds of that happenin'?"
"I don't know. I think I should go in and see if they're ok...” Shadow paces back and forth in front of the barn, worrying about how to deal with Pinkie when that situation comes up. A dark cloud passes over the orchard towards the barn followed by a menacing laughter. A heavy fog leaks out of the orchard, and the apple trees start to rot from the inside out and topple over.
"This is bad...” Shadow said. Applebloom quickly ran into the orchard, with the purple pegasus following suit.
"Come on Applebloom! It was bad enough with what was happening earlier, but this is downright dangerous! You have to go back!"
"No! Mr. Charcoal and mah sister are trapped in here! Ah can feel it!"
"Applebloom! Now's not the time to argue!" Several trees fall behind Shadow, blocking their exit path. Shadow sighs and Applebloom smiles at her, as her reason to go back has been blocked off.
"Now yew have no choice but to take me along!" she smirked as she trotted ahead.
"Applejack!" she cries out. Shadow follows her and sees Applejack and Charcoal lying on the ground.
"Applebloom?! What in tarnation are ya doin' here? It's dangerous bein' out here!"
"We came here lookin' fer you sis. We got mighty worried when Mr. Charcoal didn't come back after a while." Applejack turned towards Charcoal, who was still out cold from the brunt kick he took to the face. She tilted her hat forward and looked away.
"That was uh... my fault." she said
"We'll deal with him later We need to get you two out of here before things get worse!" Shadow said in a hurry. Applejack tries to stand again, but the sprain on her leg kept her from standing straight.
"Darn tree nearly broke my leg in two." Applejack grunted. "How are we gonna carry Charky back to the house? Looks like the path ya'll took is blocked off now."
"I think we can make it out through here." Shadow points to a small clearing that wasn't closed off by the falling trees. As they look up, the dark clouds that had enveloped the orchard had disappeared, and the trees that were still standing grew healthy again. After a while of wandering through the orchard, they made it back to the house, to which they were greeted by a worried Big Mac. He noticed Charcoal was lying across Shadow's back and wondered what happened. Applejack looks at him a bit saddened.
"I bucked him in the face when ah was not myself." she said. Big Mac expected this somehow, but he didn't know that she would hit him that hard. Applebloom guided Shadow to the guest room inside and Applejack is on the porch with her brother, tending to her sprain.
"That Discord has gone too far! We have to find the rest of mah friends and stop him!"
"Now ah know yer the element of honesty an all, but that sprain has to be treated first"
"Ah know, ah know. Ah'm more worried about Charky though..." She looks at the door to her home, and Shadow walks out with a relieved look on her face.
"He'll be fine, but I got to get going and find the others! We have only three days to find them and bring them to Ponyville square."
"Ah see. Well when Charky comes to, Ah'll go with him to get Rarity and Twi."
"Then that leaves me with Fluttershy, Rainbow, and.... Pinkie." She sighs and slowly trots along.
"Get back! You need to pay just like everypony else!" Pinkie swats a broom at the other ponies trying to hop over the counter. Shadow rushes over and helps by jabbing them with the mop that was lying next to her. Moments pass and the horde of thieving ponies leave, giving the two mares a chance to rest.
"Wow wee, thanks for the help stranger! I thought those crazy ponies would never leave!" Pinkie hugs Shadow and quickly turns back to her post to check for more intruders.
"Yeah... no problem." Shadow is a bit down by the reality of it all. Pinkie looks at her with a worried look.
"What seems to be the problem stranger? Are you hungry? Fighting off those thieves does work up an appetite. Do you want me to grab you a cupcake?" she begins to ramble. Shadow goes into a trance looking at Pinkie as she spouts about cupcakes and working at Sugarcube Corner. She forgets about the problem at hand, the memory loss, all the series of events that led up to this point. She sheds a small tear, and Pinkie stops her rambling and tilts her head.
"Are you ok stranger? I didn't do anything bad did I?" There was a brief silence before Shadow leans in and kisses Pinkie. She can feel the soft texture of her lips, kind of like marshmallows with the sugary taste of cotton candy. Shadow could only shudder as she broke from the kiss. There was a brief silence as Pinkie's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Shadow took a step back and lowered her ears.
"Pinkie?..." she sighs "I knew it wouldn't work...” suddenly she was greeted by a warm and loving hug, making her face turn a bright red.
"Shady? Shady is that you? All I could remember was facing Discord and then everything going black afterwards!" There was a sudden laughter echoing across the room. Pinkie looks around and Shadow grunts in anger.
"Ugh, he's at it again! Be careful Pinkie!" she yells
"What?" the broken down restaurant begins to shake violently, toppling them to the ground. The ceiling above them collapses, blocking the exit and revealing the sky above.
Charcoal finally wakes up from his brief, comatose nap. Applejack is sitting beside the bed and lays her head next to him.
"Ah'm so glad yer ok sugarcube! Ah'm so sorry for hittin' you like that." Charcoal leans up and looks around. He's in her bed and the sky outside is awfully dark.
"How long have I been out?"
"Couple a hours. Shadow went on ahead to search for the other ponies."
"Oh man... we're wasting time..!" he tries to get out of bed, but stumbles and falls to the floor. The sudden shot to the head really took more out of him than he thought. Applejack helps him up, trying to keep her own balance due to the sprain. He looks at the bandage on her leg.
"What happened to you? How did you hurt your ankle?"
"Ah tried to hop over a log that fell in the orchard. Nicked the end of it and nearly fell over with yew on mah back." Charcoal studies himself and slowly trots to the door.
"I'm going to go and get the others. You stay here and let that leg heal."
"Oh no yer not. Yer hurt yourself, and ya need all the help yew can get." Figures that Applebloom got her stubborn attitude from her sister. They both leave the room and head out to Rarity's Boutique in Ponyville. Charcoal stares straight ahead as he trots, still fighting to keep himself stable. His sense of balance has yet to recover from earlier in the day. Applejack takes quick glances at him, and then back ahead.
"Ah'm sorry hun... Ya know ah never meant to hurt yew...” she lowers her head. Charcoal stops and faces her. He kisses her gently and her face turns a gentle shade of red.
"Applejay, it's alright. I'll be fine so there's no need to worry. Besides, there are more pressing matters to deal with." Charcoal smiles and trots on. Applejack nods and tilts her hat back, following him towards the next destination. It wasn't surprising that Rarity's Boutique would be run down thanks to Discord's shenanigans, but it was quite odd that her lights were still on. Applejack and Charcoal looked at one another and were a bit worried about what they might find. They opened the door and were horrified at what they saw...
Pinkie is running in circles and has no clue how to escape. Shadow is staring at the sky from the giant hole that is in the ceiling. In her mind she can obviously see the way out, but she has a bit of an issue that she never had a chance to deal with. Pinkie turns towards her and shakes her.
"Come on Shady! We have to find a way out!" Shadow comes to her senses and looks around the room real quick. There are several windows that can be used for escaping. Oddly enough, the glass hasn't shattered despite prior events. She begins to charge towards the window in hopes of breaking them.
"No wait!" Pinkie cried out. Shadow slammed against the window and bounced right back onto the floor on her flank. She stumbles up and grits her teeth.
"What the hay was that?!" Shadow grunts.
"Sorry, I forgot to tell you. We put safety glass on these windows because there are foals around here that throw rocks at them." Shadow sighs and looks around again. The front exit was obviously blocked, and there was no way of getting out through the back.
"Hey Pinkie, isn't there a window in your room?"
"Well... yeah, where are you getting at?" She pulls Pinkie up the stairs and opens the door to her room. There is a gaping hole where her bed used to be and the rest of the floor is barely standing with the support beam below it. The glass on the window has already been shattered, and the hinges are broken. Shadow tries to open the window, but it's stuck in place. Pinkie then pushes her out of the way and bucks the bottom half of the window, sending it spiraling out of the room.
"There we go! Problem solved!" Pinkie has that cheeky smile across her face and hops out the window, disregarding any safety precautions. Shadow follows up and jumps out the window as well, only to crash into the bushes below. She peeks out and looks at Pinkie, who is staring at her with a mixture of seriousness and anticipation.
"What are we gonna do Shady? Everything is going all crazy and I don't know where the other ponies are at." She frowns and Shadow gets up and places a hoof on her shoulder.
"We can fix this, and we'll find the others." Shadow smiled, bringing the cheer back into Pinkie's face. As they trotted along, Shadow had filled her in on the situation between Discord, Charcoal, and herself.
"So who are we going to find next?" Pinkie looked straight ahead, planning out schemes in her head.
"Charcoal is going after Rarity and Twilight since we'd be powerless to their magic. So that leaves us with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash." Shadow said half-heartedly. It wouldn't be a big deal getting Fluttershy back to normal, but with Rainbow's arrogance it'll be much harder to coax her back to her usual self.
Applejack and Charcoal took a step back at what they saw. Sweetie Belle was huddled in a corner, frightened by Rarity, who was hoarding what seem to be several giant rocks. She prances around them as if they were trophies and has a wide grin stretching from ear to ear. Applejack turns to Charcoal, feeling a bit weirded out by it.
"Has Rarity lost her marbles?" Applejack said, worried about Rarity.
"Probably a repercussion. More likely a side effect from the memory wipe, though not all of you were affected by it." Charcoal starts to trot forward to assess the situation a bit more. He suddenly gets Rarity's full attention and she quickly trots up to him and examines him thoroughly.
"My my, what have we here? Such a handsome stallion and well dressed too! Tell me darling, do you hail from Canterlot?" Charcoal refuses to answer, and Applejack steps up, a bit uneasy considering the face that Rarity is trying to steal her stallion.
"Now look here missy, Charky's with me and he ain't gonna fall for some uppity mare." She grits her teeth, Rarity looking at her and scoffs.
"Quite the contrary little farm mare. I can't see him going out with some mare that is so uncouth like yourself."
"Little farm mare? Ah have every mind to buck you upside the head if ya keep talkin' like that." If this keeps up Charcoal might not be able to use the memory spell on Rarity after all; which was good for him considering the fact that he didn't want the chronic headache that followed. The two mares continued bickering, and Charcoal went up to Sweetie Belle. She was still frightened a bit and he sat next to her.
"What's got you so shaken Sweetie Belle?" She looks at him and calms down a bit.
"I have no idea what happened to my sister! When she left, she said that she had important business to attend to. After she left, she came back an hour later and it's as if she never knew me." Rarity must've taken the brunt of the spell. She's been wiped so clean of her memory that it goes as far back to where Sweetie Belle wasn't born yet.
"I'm sure we'll snap Rarity back to normal... one way or another." Charcoal sweats a bit. It's either let Applejack buck Rarity, or use the spell. More likely it'll be the latter of the choices he had in his head to turn her back as he sees the argument between the two mares escalate.
"You fiend! How dare you call my fashion trends dull and frou frou like?! You lack taste, as your farm mare attire has long since been expired decades ago!"
"What! Ah'm a hard workin' mare that needs none of that fashion gunk to get the stallions to look my way!" Charcoal gets a bit jealous by that remark.
"Hmph, that poor stallion is so blind as to fall for such an ill-mannered country mare!"
"What?!" Applejack turns a bucks Rarity. With a loud bang, she flies across the room and flips over the rocks that she so delicately placed in the center. Both Sweetie Belle and Charcoal cringe and trot up to check on Rarity. He looks up at Applejack, who tilts her hat up and pouts.
"Don't get mad at me, she had what was comin' to her."
Pinkie Pie and Shadow Blast are on their way to Fluttershy's home. Trotting down the path however, most of the animals that she cares for are all loose on the fields. The same dark clouds that swirled above Sugarcube Corner now hover over Fluttershy's house. The two mares galloped as fast as they could, seeing all of the cages smashed, the chicken coop in pieces, and the animals becoming more scattered as they get closer to the house. Angel was spotted at the door, frantically trying to get in, nails protruding from the wooden frame as if it had been barred from the inside.
"Angel! What's wrong?" Pinkie looks at him with worry. The white bunny motions with signs, saying that Fluttershy went crazy and that she has several animals tied up inside the house. Shadow bangs on the door and calls out to Fluttershy.
"Hey! Fluttershy! We're here to help you! open up!" There was no response, only a light sound of psychotic laughter can be heard. Pinkie's face gets serious as she positions herself.
"Don't worry, I got this!" she gallops and rams into the window, flying inside. Shadow climbs in and gasps at what she found inside the yellow pegasus' house.
Unconscious animals were bound against chains and metallic tables. The room was only dimly lit, and the walls covered in tiny droplets of blood. Fluttershy was in the corner, her hair messy and her yellow coat a bit discolored. She giggled as she turned towards them and had an evil grin across her face with bags under her eyes that ruined the pretty face she once had.
"The animals were naughty, oh so naughty. I had to teach them a lesson." she turns towards a small squirrel who regains consciousness "A gentle skinning would put them in the right direction." she grins.
"Fluttershy have you lost your mind?!" Shadow begins to flip as Fluttershy grabs a knife from the floor. "Pinkie we have to do something!" she turns to Pinkie, who looks down, her face turned from sweet to unbelievably sour. Fluttershy walks up to the squirrel, and gently runs the tip of the blade along its cheek.
"Don't worry little one. Your lesson will soon be learned." The squirrel struggles in a panic as it flails about in chains. Out of nowhere, Pinkie tackles Fluttershy, sending her across the room near a vacant metallic table. As Pinkie trots towards the once gentle pegasus, her hair begins to straighten out and a wicked grin stretches on her face from ear to ear.
"P-Pinkie...?" Shadow stammers. She's stricken with fear as the atmosphere in the room grew as cold as ice.
"You think you've gone mad Fluttershy?" The pink pony growls in a low tone "Then I feel bad for you, for you have yet to taste the true insanity Tartarus has to offer..."
Several moments had passed since Applejack had bucked Rarity across the face. Charcoal still sat next to Sweetie Belle, and Applejack stood hunched over next to Rarity.
"Is my sister gonna be alright?" Sweetie Belle looks at Charcoal, who wonders the same thing himself. He looks at Applejack, waiting for a response to the same question, but she just shrugs and keeps her eyes back on Rarity.
"Yew can stop faking it now." she says bluntly. Rarity twitches and opens one eye.
"W-Where am I?" The dazed mare leans up and looks around "And why is my vision so blurry?" When Charcoal and Sweetie Belle take a good look at the fashion pony, their faces cringe in shock and pain. Rarity looks at the two of them in surprise.
"What is it? Is there something on my face?" She turns towards Applejack, who holds up a mirror. Rarity takes a good look at her reflection and sees a black spot on her right eye that has swelled up. She gasped loudly and pats her face all over repeatedly.
"My face! What happened to my beautiful face?!" she cries
"Well yew wouldn't shut up... so..." Applejack trails off. Rarity turns towards her with the most evil glare no pony has ever given before.
"How dare you! In all my days that we've been friends, how could you do this to me?!"
"Now now, nothin' a little bit of yer makeup can't fix." The farm pony waves a hoof
"Makeup?! The swelling will take weeks to go down!" The two get into an argument once again, leaving the other two to facehoof to all the angst and incessant bickering.
Pinkie trots ever closer to the mentally broken Fluttershy with sudden blood lust. Shadow is frozen in fear, watching as the yellow mare backs up onto the table and her face changing from psychotic madness, to terror and complete paranoia. Pinkie grabs Fluttershy suddenly and ties her down to the table. She then looks around and grabs a butcher knife from the floor.
"Now... which part of you should I use for my cupcakes?" Pinkie passes her tongue along the edge of the knife.
"Please... Please no...!" Fluttershy pleads for her life, her face now riddled with tears. Shadow tried to say something, but she felt like she had a knot in her throat. Like something was suffocating her with all the tension in the air. Pinkie passes the knife along the pegasus' fur, forcing her to feel the tingling sensation.
"There's nothing we can do to fix you... It's a shame" Pinkie's voice turned monotonic "But at least you'll be in everyone's hearts..... and stomachs...” she lifts the butcher knife into the air and prepares to swing down. Shadow musters up the nerve to move.
"No Pinkie!" The knife comes down and cleaves at the table. Fluttershy passes out from shock and Shadow stands there in surprise. The knife is stuck on the table, right next to Fluttershy's body. Pinkie gently smiles and her hair slowly starts to poof back.
"You though I was gonna kill her weren't you?" Pinkie said, turning to Shadow. She couldn't lie, she thought Pinkie was actually gonna go through with it. Shadow and Pinkie had freed all the animals from the chains and tried to clean up the area the best they could. They removed all of the bonding equipment and wiped all the blood from the walls. They didn't know who the blood belonged to due to the lack of bodies they couldn't find, so they didn't put too much thought into it. Once Fluttershy came to, she was lying on the couch.
"Wha... Where am I?" her eyes opened up and she gave a little shriek "Where are the animals?! Are they ok? Oh dear... I had the most horrible nightmare..."
"Fluttershy everything's A-ok here! We stopped by to see if you were alright and fill you in on what's happening." Pinkie points outside to all the chaos that has been rampaging for the past 36 hours.
"Oh my, then we best get going! We have a lot to do!" Fluttershy jumps up, but wobbles a bit, still recovering from her recent endeavor. As she walks out, Pinkie stops at the door and looks at Shadow.
"H-how?" was all that Shadow said to the party pony.
"When you've been alone for as long as I have... you learn to control the insanity inside." Pinkie smiles "Don't worry about it though Shady. I won't let it happen again."
"Again...?" Pinkie walks out and catches up with Fluttershy.
Applejack and Charcoal sits outside while Rarity covers up the "blemish" she has on her face. Charcoal ponders the next move and figures out where Twilight could be.
"Hey Applejack, has Twilight lived in the Library for very long?" he stares straight ahead.
"Nah. Ah mean, she's lived there fer a couple a years, but before that she lived in Canterlot with her family." Charcoal lets out a deep sigh. He's forced to return to a place he loathes, and the handypony isn't thrilled at all. Applejack leans on him and nuzzles under his chin.
"It's okay Charky. Ah'm gonna be there with you."
"No, you won't" Charcoal looked down, closing his eyes. "We need all six of you at the square before the three days are up. Who knows what can happen? We nearly escaped the orchard thanks to Discord interfering." The country mare silently nods. Charcoal stands up and turns towards her.
"I'll be back as quick as I can. And don't worry, I'll be okay." he smiles. Applejack kisses him and wraps her hooves around his shoulders. Charcoal's face flushed as she pulled away and covered her blushing face with her hat. He gallops off to the train station and Rarity opens the door, her face covered in obvious white makeup.
"Where is Charcoal going?" Applejack stands and begins to trot forward.
"Ta get Twilight. We have to get to Ponyville square."
"Why?" Rarity pouts.
"Must ya question everything?"
Pinkie, Shadow, and Fluttershy plan their strategy on turning Rainbow Dash back to normal. The only problem is finding her, since she tends to wander around a lot.
"How can we get to Rainbow Dash? I don't see her resting in her usual cloud." Pinkie pulls out binoculars from who knows where and looks around.
"Maybe she's at Cloudsdale... Um... That is if she's even there." Fluttershy hides her face with her locks of pink hair.
"We need to get her down here." Shadow mulls it over and gets an idea "And I think I know just how to do it!" The purple pegasus motions Fluttershy over and whispers something in her ear. She flies off to Cloudsdale, leaving Pinkie to look at Shadow in confusion.
"Where is she going? Aren't we supposed to look for Rainbow Dash?"
"That's exactly what she's doing." Shadow replied with a smirk. It wasn't even moments later that a colorful bolt shot down from the clouds, landing in front of the two mares.
"All right, which one of you two dunder heads said I was an incompetent flier?" Rainbow Dash snarled.
"I didn't say that. All I said was that you couldn't complete a simple feat cause you might get a boo boo." Shadow cocked her head up high, looking down on the infuriated mare.
"But Shady, you didn't say any--"
"Shush." Shadow quickly turned in Pinkies direction, motioning her to keep quiet.
"I can pull off any challenge you throw at me!" Rainbow stomped a hoof.
"Alright." Shadow points to a boulder, several feet away from where they stand "You see that. I want you to fly at it at full speed, and then dodge it right before crashing into it." Rainbow turns and looks at the said boulder. She smiles and is determined to prove Shadow that she can do it.
"You're on!" The sky blue pegasus turns and positions herself.
There was a brief silence as Shadow and Pinkie looked at Rainbow just before she took off. She began to pick up speed, getting ever closer to the stony post. Just as she's about to make the hairpin turn,
Shadow cries out "Hey is that the Wonderbolts over there?!"
"Where?!" Rainbow quickly moves her head sideways, ignoring the turn and colliding with the boulder with such force that it split in two. Pinkie couldn't help but cringe in pain as she now sees her best friend knocked out cold by her own folly.
"Shady, how could you do that?!" Pinkie yelled. She turns back to Rainbow, who seems to look dead, a slight trickle of blood leaking from her mouth.
"She'll be fine." Shadow said, trotting over. Fluttershy finally arrives from Cloudsdale holding a medical kit. Pinkie looks at her and panics.
"Fluttershy! Rainbow flew... and then Shady... and then BOOM! and and..."
"Calm down Pinkie. I knew about all of this." Fluttershy said calmly. Shadow stands next to Rainbow and pokes her side.
"Come on you blue bomber, you're gonna be fine." Rainbow leans up and groans, holding her head.
"Oh man... I got a wicked headache..." She pats her mouth and looks at the red stain on her hoof "Am I bleeding?" Fluttershy tends to her wounds and Shadow looks up at the sky.
"I knew she was a hard head." she giggles. Shadow then turns to Rainbow "We have a lot of catching up to do. Can you walk?" Rainbow Dash nods. They group together, making their way to Ponyville square to meet up with the rest of the gang.
Memories of a dying light
Charcoal sits on a bench at the train station, waiting for the train to arrive. He's anxious about going back to a place he once loathed. Cobblestone streets filled with upper class ponies who scoff at the lower class and the uncouth. Even to this day Charcoal is disgusted at the thought of it all. Killing some time, he decides to try the memory spell once more. He cringes and focuses all of his magic to his horn as it begins to glow. He can see a small group of ponies near a building, one of which seems vaguely familiar. As Charcoal unconsciously approach them, two unicorns break off and confront him in a hostile manner.
"Get out of here! She doesn't want to see you!" one of the unicorns yells.
"Like it would matter, she doesn't even remember him!" the other responded, laughing menacingly. The vision starts to fade as Charcoal is greeted with the sound of the train, and a massive headache.
"Looks like I can't escape the truth after all..." he said with a sorrowful tone. Charcoal boards the train and sets off to Canterlot to find Twilight. Shadow and the others wait in Ponyville square, anticipating the supposed inevitable, prophesized by Discord. Dark clouds loomed over the town, and the buildings that were once filled with life are now barren and deserted.
"How much time do we have left?" Fluttershy whimpered.
"Less than ten hours...” Rarity sighed. Everypony seemed discouraged, but Applejack stood strong.
"Ah'm sure Charky will be back with Twilight! Ah just know it!" she stomped a hoof to the floor and looked up towards the direction of Canterlot, which was miles away.
"Are you so sure about that? For where the past looms, reckless decisions are made." a sly voice chuckled from a distance. A part of the dark clouds broke off and began to form a body, which revealed to be Discord. "I left the coup de grace back at Canterlot. One that is sure to leave our hero in disarray."
"Don't you be playing around with my Charcoal like that!" Applejack grits her teeth.
"Now now, what I set up for him will only influence the decision he'll make in the next couple of hours. In the end he'll be your downfall." Discord grins "But don't you worry, once Charcoal realizes what he has done, I'll be sure you all get to watch him die as he takes his own life." Everypony gasps.
"No! He won't! He's not going to do that!" Applejack tries to hold back her tears.
"My dear country pony, you fail to see how broken down he is." Discord turns towards Rarity "You should know this, Ms. Fashionista. Though magic buildup usually wears down the user's physical state, it seems that the magic young Charcoal has built up is deteriorating his mind instead."
"That's not possible! If that's the case--" Rarity is cut off by Discord
"He is nothing more than a ticking time bomb."
The train arrives to Canterlot with a loud hiss. Charcoal takes a step out and recollects his bearings as the city he once lived in stands before him. As the dark unicorn trots by, the citizens pass by him as if he were invisible. Nothing's changed at all, which was quite odd considering all of the weird events that went on in Ponyville. Charcoal looks around for leads of where Twilight might be. Schools, Libraries, Workshops, the magical mare couldn't be found anywhere.
"Where could she be?" Charcoal said to himself. Suddenly, two unicorns notice him and trot in his direction.
"Well well, if it isn't the middle class wash up." the cocky blue stallion grins as a golden yellow mare giggles beside him.
"Having trouble with your 'magic issues' again?" she waves her hoof sarcastically, flipping her hair.
"That's none of your business, and I have more important matters to deal with than to argue with the likes of you." Charcoal grunted, trotting ahead.
"Please, I bet what you have to do is so easy I could do it with one hoof tied behind my back." The stallion boasted.
"I hear he's dating that common country mare." she whispers. The stallion laughs.
"Figures! She'd be the only one to stoop as low as to go with a reject like him!" Charcoal stops cold and turns towards them, giving them a burning glare that can melt through diamonds. Charcoal steps forward slowly, his horn glowing without him noticing.
"You try and gather the elements of harmony in under 72 hours, all while avoiding danger from the god of chaos himself, and coping with a magic deficiency that would've already killed you!" his body is now covered in a green aura, and the mare faints from surprise. The dark stallion cringes as a pulsating headache hits him, and his magic begins to lose control.
"Y-you're a freak! Get away!" The blue stallion backs away and cowers in fear. Charcoal grips his head in pain as the magic begins to form into a ball around his horn. He is then forced to the floor with a blue aura covering him.
"That's enough Charcoal. You know the rules of equestria better than anypony." Boomed a loud voice. He looks up and sees the princess of the moon herself standing before him.
"We have to discuss something with you." she booms again before teleporting the both of them to the front of the castle. Charcoal is still cringing in pain and refuses to sit up.
"What is it that you need? I desperately have to find twilight."
"Twilight? Has she disappeared? Regardless, I must discuss with you something more important than that I'm afraid." she sighs. What could possibly be more important than finding the element of magic to save Equestira? Charcoal follows Princess Luna inside the castle. There were no guards in sight, and the atmosphere seemed cold and morbid. Luna trots into the throne room and turns to Charcoal.
"My sister has been acting different, and this worries us so." She points to the throne, to which the princess of the sun sits upon. The colors of her mane have dimmed and her eyes are distant. "Has something happened during her trip to Ponyville?" Charcoal looks at Luna with concern and nods silently.
"Too much has happened in fact. Discord is back, and he's more violent that he usually is." he trots up to Celestia and gets a closer look. She's obviously still alive, but she isn't moving at all.
"Celestia. Celestia are you ok?"
"Six hours.... twenty seven minutes...." she responds quietly "The clock is ticking...." Charcoal took a step back and stood quiet. She was telling the time he had left to find Twilight. He quickly turned and started to leave the throne room.
"Where are you going? What about our sister?" Luna looks on, Charcoal stopping at the door.
"Keep an eye on her. I need to find Twilight so we can get everything back the way it was." he pauses for a bit. "....Where can I find her? I've searched everywhere...”
"There is a house.... Near the entrance of Canterlot... find her there." Celestia groans.
Princess Luna looks at her sister with dismay. She had never seen the esteemed solar princess to be so out of it, her eyes cold and distant, almost as if... 'No... it couldn't be' Luna thought to herself 'it would be impossible...’ The midnight alicorn did a double take as she saw her sister's mane and fur blend with a light shade of grey. She started to panic and call the royal guards, not knowing what to do. Celestia slumped over, losing all hope with the inner conflict that resides within her. Discord is winning the fight through violent means, and all motivation has been sapped from her.
Meanwhile, Charcoal searches around the houses near the entrance of Canterlot. He thought it would've been easy to find her around here since he used to live here, but clearly he was wrong. As he gallops along he bumps into a white mare with lavender and white hair.
"Ugh... Sorry about that." Charcoal grunts as he gets up.
"Oh, no worries. If you ask me, this is the only thrilling thing that has happened in a while." She giggles lightly. Charcoal narrows his eyes as he takes a clearer look at the unicorn. His face scrunches as he realizes that it was Twilight Velvet. Charcoal's mother used to share plenty of conversations with her when the two went to their own personal outings.
"My how you've grown Charcoal. I haven't seen you since you were so small." She smiles brightly. It's still a wonder how Canterlot hasn't been affected like Ponyville has.
"Y-yeah..." Charcoal murmurs.
"How have you been since your mother's passing?" She pauses a bit, Charcoal's face turning away slightly "I'm sorry dear... I shouldn't have brought that up."
"No, it's fine. I have more pressing matters to deal with." He barely smiles "I'm looking for Twilight Sparkle. Have you seen her?"
"My daughter? Well, she's at my house, which is quite odd considering that she's acting as if she never left the place." Charcoal took a step back and gathered his thoughts. He wondered just how stupid enough not to realize that he knew Twilight's mother, but never heard about her relations between the two. Nevertheless, he thanked her and continued to her house. He knocked on the door and stood there, waiting for a response. Five minutes passed, nothing happened. Twenty minutes passed, still nothing.
"Ugh! What's taking so long?!" Charcoal yelled. Suddenly the door opened, a book covering the lavender mare's face.
"Oh, sorry. I was just reading this interesting book." she lowers the book from her face "Can I help you?"
"Twilight, you have to come back with me to Ponyville! Everything's gone to hell and I need you there!" Twilight flustered a bit, taking the phrase a bit out of context
"I-I don't know you that well... and what would my parents think?" She stammers a bit. Charcoal huffs as he forgot that she was affected by Discord's magic. He pushes her down and stands over top of her. Twilight's face turns a deep red.
"W-what are you doing? I-I don't know if I'm ready..."
"Don't make this any harder than it has to Twilight." Charcoal flusters a bit. He grunts and focuses on his horn, a small brim of magic outlining the base of the horn.
'Come on... a little more...' he thought to himself, lowering the horn towards Twilight's forehead. His horn shined and a pop was heard before he was sent flying out of the house. As the dust settled, Twilight stood up, her hair a bit frizzled and her eyes crossed before she shook off her dizziness.Charcoal landed on his back, gripping his head as a massive headache pounded against his temples. Twilight trotted out and looked at him.
"Where am I? What happened?" She looked around, confused. She then gasped and turned back at Charcoal. "Discord! He's alive! He's back at Ponyville isn't he?!"
"Great deduction Sherlock..." Charcoal moaned "Let's just get out of here, we don't have much time left..." Twilight helped him to his hooves. As they make their way towards the train station, Charcoal is flung yards away by unknown magic. Twilight is caught off guard as a swift kick hits her on her side, causing her to slide a few feet.
"Ow... what was that...?" Charcoal stumbles and gets to his hooves. A Unicorn covered head to hoof in armor stands before the two of them.
"I am Zeris. I'm going to kill you both before you make it back to Ponyville." it says in a cold and monotonic manner. The voice sounded vaguely familiar to Charcoal, but he shakes it out of his head. Twilight crawls away a bit before being grabbed by her tail and thrown into a few barrels. Charcoal grunts and charges Zeris, only to be lifted by its magic and slammed onto the floor.
"Augh! How am I going to even come close to this crazy pony?!" Charcoal said, trying to get up.
"Struggle and I will make this more painful for you." Zeris said. The dark stallion plants his hooves to the ground, forcing himself up against its grip. "Your determination is admirable, but it's not going to save you." it forces its hoof down on his head, pushing him back down to the ground. He grunts as he slowly tries to get back up again. The pony scoffs and lifts him up with magic.
"Why don't you just give up already? What makes you think that the others are going to accept you? No one here did, and that's what the others are going to do to you!"
"W-what? H-how do you know that?" Charcoal stutters, choking on his words as he is lifted higher by the magic wrapped around his neck. The pony is then shot back by a blast of magic made by Twilight, who was charging it while they were talking. She gallops up to him as Charcoal recovers from the fall when the magic wore off.
"Are you okay? Who the heck is that pony?" Twilight said, keeping her guard up and looking at the debris that covered the thrown pony.
"I don't know, but whoever it is, is trying to stop us...” The debris is suddenly blown in all directions by a burst of magic. The armor covered pony stands before them, the helmet cracked and golden eyes piercing through the opening.
"It's going to take more than that to take me down!" it yells. Charcoal looks at the pony, and then back at Twilight.
"Twilight, can you tear off the chest plate with your magic?" he said.
"I-I think I can. What are you going to do?"
"Something that I may have to do if we're going to get out of here alive." Charcoal sighs. He knew that this is something he would never have dreamed of doing, but he had no choice. As the pony charged in their direction, Charcoal stood firm, lowering his head and having his horn pointed in its direction. Once it got close enough, he gave the signal and charged. Twilight's horn glowed and she quickly jerked her head away, the armored pony's chest plate doing the same. As the protective piece of steel flew off, it threw the pony off guard, letting Charcoal pierce his horn through its chest. The pony yelled in agony for a brief moment before shoving him off.
"You bastards!.. What did you... do..?" The monotonic voice began to sound feminine, blood pouring out from its chest and spilling to the floor. Both Twilight and Charcoal looked at each other in confusion. The pony fell to the floor, barely breathing. Twilight looked at Charcoal with a saddened face.
"I'm sorry..." Charcoal said softly "I had no choice. Twilight put a hoof on his shoulder.
"It's okay. You did what you had to do." Charcoal paused for a moment and closed his eyes.
"Go to the train station. The others need you. I'll catch up ok?" he said. Twilight nods and slowly turns and trots off. He looks on as Twilight disappears from the distance, and then looks back at the assailant. He couldn't help himself and wondered who was behind the mask, and how it knew about his past. He slowly removes the helmet and his eyes widened by what he saw.
"No..." he muttered "No... no no no..." the helmet drops to the floor as tears began to flow from his eyes. The pony that laid, dying before him was none other than Cinnamon. The only pony that bothered to be friends with him when he was younger. The only pony that gave him the benefit of the doubt. He killed her, and he couldn't take it back. Charcoal slammed his hooves to the ground and yelled with all his might. This had Discord's name written all over it.
"Discord..." he growled "You're going down..."
Author's Note
Sorry for the long delay. I needed the motivation to start doing this again. But now that this is up, I'm going to make up for it with a more dramatic ending! Hope you guys enjoy.
Discord couldn't help but chuckle as he watched Charcoal writhe in sorrow through a magical projection for all to see. Shadow Blast and the others were mortified as they saw the dark stallion break down in front of the lifeless body.
"What brainwashing can do to a pony. Works wonders really. Means I won't get my hands dirty." Discord makes a chaotic grin.
"You're a monster! A straight up monster!" Applejack yelled
"I am, aren't I? That IS what you made me out to be, so I started to act like one after I gave it a bit of thought." he floats around the six ponies, claws behind his head "And I gotta say, this is much more fun than playing by some silly rules to 'keep the balance'." The group had a hard time keeping it together. Fluttershy couldn't stop crying at all, Rarity had fainted and hasn't stood up for five minutes, Pinkie Pie was despondent, her poofy hair going flat and dull, Rainbow Dash grit her teeth in fury, ready to blow her top, and Applejack was simply distraught and hurt to see Charcoal in agony.
"You only have three hours left ponies, before you all are at my mercy." Discord laughs. Rainbow Dash suddenly flew after him and tried to buck him in the face. Her efforts were in vain, as Discord side stepped and removed her wings with a snap of his fingers, letting her crash into the floor. She slowly picked herself up and continued to charge him, despite the loss of her wings. He then grabs her by the neck and picks her up.
"You always were a wild one Rainbow Dash, but you really need to simmer down!" he slams her to the floor, immediately knocking her unconscious.
"Rainbow Dash!" Shadow gallops towards the knocked out pony. She sees a trickle of blood falling from the cyan mare's lips.
Twilight sat on a bench, waiting for Charcoal to arrive since the train doesn't leave for another ten minutes. She looks up at the sky, wondering how everything just changed so quickly and went to hell like the way it did. She could only hope that the others are okay, and that she could make it in time to stop Discord. The air around her began to chill, causing her to shiver slightly, as if a strange presence was approaching. The lavender mare turned to see Charcoal slowly trotting towards her, his head hung low.
"Charcoal! Is everything okay?" She asked a bit worryingly. There was a long pause before the traumatized stallion muttered a few words.
"I'm gonna kill him..."
"You're going to what?.." Twilight felt a surge go down her spine as she heard the coldness of his words. He looked up, his eyes having blackened veins surrounding them, and the irises changed colors from the jade green that he naturally had to a lime green with a slight purple hue outlining the pupils. She gasped, as this was a sure sign of dark magic at work. Though she was slightly relieved that he can't use magic, Twilight is unsure about the effects of holding all of that dark energy in.
"C-Charcoal... you need to c-calm down." A sharp glare was shot at her. The pure hatred he had for the omnipotent being that caused all of this only fueled his motivation from this point to stop him, by any means necessary. He boarded the train and headed towards the back, leaving Twilight to sit in the front, frightened and uneasy.
"Tick tock, said the clock, for time cannot simply stop. Where the heroes of this broken world they try to mend, they resist facing their... inevitable... end." Discord rhymed with an eerie tone in his voice, tracing minute and hour hands onto the dark clouds. Rarity finally came to, and Fluttershy was able to be consoled by Shadow and Applejack. Rainbow Dash was still unconscious, and Pinkie Pie only stood there, her hair covering her eyes and giving no expression at all. It was as if life was sucked right out from under her. Shadow looks at her and puts a hoof on her shoulder.
"Pinkie... everything is going to be ok..."
"She's dead... He made Charcoal kill her..." Pinkie whispered "Nopony should suffer like that..." Discord would only scoff at the remark.
"You knew that death was going to happen at one point, so don't at like it was such a terrible thing.” At this point Pinkie flipped and chucked a knife that she had hidden on her. The blade grazed Discord's cheek, making him bleed a little.
"Ironic how you all call ME the monster." He points his claw in her direction and zaps a strait-jacket on her. Pinkie fought with all her might, tears pouring down her cheeks. Twilight was the first out of the station when the train arrived. She decided to leave Charcoal alone after the silent outburst he gave her back at Canterlot. She galloped as fast as she could towards Ponyville, hoping to Celestia that everything was okay. Her eyes widened to see everyone in a mess, and Discord grinning as he clapped.
"Well done, and with only twenty minutes to spare too!" he chuckled.
"What have you done to my friends?!" She yelled
"Well I didn't do a thing at first. I just gave them front row seats to a tragedy that happened at Canterlot." Discord stroked the hair from his chin, letting the realization sink in for Twilight as she saw the magical projection that was still up. It was paused at the sight of the dead mare, giving a clear view of her face. Twilight covered her mouth in horror, knowing that she played a role in her demise.
"Two of your friends did try to interfere with my plans though..." he turned towards the group "And for that, all of you must suffer a penalty."
"That wasn't part of the agreement!" Shadow grunted
"But then again, I AM the god of chaos. I could do what I want!" he booms "And for that, I say that your punishment is... starting the game over!" he raises his claws in their direction, a ball of light forming around it.
"It can't be!" Rarity shouted "This is madness!" Discord laughed as loud as he could
"Madness you say?! THIS! IS!.... well you all get the picture here." The ball of light begins to flash, and everypony screams for their lives.
"DISCORD!" a yell bellowed out of nowhere. The light was dispersed, and the group remained the same, memory intact and all. Discord turned around and saw Charcoal, his horn covered with a black, mucky aura. His eyes were now covered black and his pupils a bright purple and crimson red.
"Well now, this has been a turn of events." The God of Chaos crossed his arms. Twilight looks on, seeing Charcoal being taken over by the dark magic. With all the access of magic built within him, the dark energy was able to consume him much quicker.
"Twi... What's wrong with Charcoal...?” Applejack said.
"It's the dark magic..." Twilight sighed, saying nothing more. The hate filled eyes of the dark stallion shook the country mare to the very core. She couldn't recognize the same handypony she fell in love with. Discord hovers to the ground and smirks.
"What's that dark magic gonna do you?" he points his claw at Charcoal "Absolutely nothing!"
"DISCORD!" Charcoal roars as he charges towards him, Discord firing a surge of energy from his claw as he does so.
Light at The End of The Tunnel
A large cloud of dust surrounds the area. The group of ponies can barely see what's going on between Discord and the enraged stallion. They all start to worry.
"What do you think is going on?" Shadow Blast looks on.
"Ah don't know, and Ah don't like it..." Applejack shook. With one of the elements out cold and the other in a psychotic trance, there was nothing the others could do now that Discord was playing by his own rules. If she did something now, it would only end badly. But she couldn't shake the feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had to help him, she needed to.
"Applejack..." Twilight turns towards the country mare "I know what you're thinking, but it's too dangerous...”
"But ah have to! Charcoal is over there all alone fightin' Discord and we're over here just sittin' here like a bunch of scaredy fillies!"
"You saw what he did to Rainbow Dash, who knows what he'll do to you!" Rarity tried to snap some sense into her. There was a short pause between the two of them. The unicorn was right, but Applejack's feelings outweighed the danger.
"Ah don't care! I'm goin'!" The stubborn mare stomped a hoof before running into the fray.
"Applejack!" Twilight cried out, seeing her vanish into the dust.
"SHOW YOURSELF YOU COWARD!" the dark stallion roared.
"Some temper you've got there. It's a shame you can’t use magic, not like it's gonna have any effect on me anyway." Discord scoffs
"I DON'T NEED MAGIC TO CRUSH YOU!" Charcoal starts kicking into the ground and air, stirring up more dust and making the battlefield a bigger advantage towards his opponent.
"And here I thought you were going to put up a better fight than this. I am very disappointed." Discord appears in front of Charcoal and swipes him across the face. The stallion flies back as the swipe tears a gash across his cheek. He lands on all fours, blood slowly falling down the side of his face, and then starts to charge at him again. Discord vanishes and reappears behind him, grabbing him by the back and lifting him up before slamming him down to the floor. Charcoal cringes tries to stand, but he is pinned by the deity.
"Let's see how far we can push you before you snap!" Discord's eyes began to change into stripes of different colors, hypnotizing Charcoal and putting him into a discorded trance.
"Where... am I?" he looks around, and several familiar ponies begin to surround him.
"It's all your fault..." one of them said
"You should have used your magic...” another echoed
"She's dead because of you..."
"No... it was an accident..." Charcoal whispered. The ponies begin to chant around him, getting louder every time.
"It's all your fault...""IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!"
"STOP IT!" He cries, shutting his eyes as tight as he can. Everything went quiet. He then felt a floor beneath him and he was now on solid ground. When he opened his eyes, he looks around to see that he was in the same classroom where the event took place. A small crowd of ponies formed a circle around two figures. He trots closer to see a younger version of himself standing before a body lying on the floor. However, this was much more different than he remembered. From what used to be Cinnamon with nothing more than a head injury, was now a body with a maimed and disfigured head sprawled across the floor, blood pooled around it and a gear cog wedged in the skull. The dark stallion couldn't take it, and vomited on the floor. He looks up to see everypony look at him.
"Look at what you've done. You killed her." one of the ponies said. The younger version of himself turned towards him, hooves covered in blood and his eyes crying the same liquid.
"Seems like this past will forever haunt you, won't it?" the colt mumbles. Charcoal grits his teeth and shakes his head violently.
"No, I won't let you get to me!"
"But it was you that caused all of this."
"It wasn't my fault!"
"You took a life, and you'll have to bear this weight on you forever..." The colt's voice began to sound dark and evil, with a black substance leaking from his mouth
"ThErE Is nO esCApe..." Skeletal hooves stretched out from the ground and grabbed at Charcoal, pulling him down an abyss.
"No! Let go of me! I won't go!" he tries to fight back, but their grip becomes stronger. Tears run down his eyes as he screams at the top of his lungs. A bright light suddenly covers the room and gripping feeling of the hooves disappeared.
"You're still the sensitive colt I once knew. You never changed, did you Charcoal?" a familiar voice said. He quickly looks up to see Cinnamon. She still wore the armor, but her helmet was gone. She slowly trots up to him and wraps her hooves around him, holding him close and resting her head on his shoulder.
"I don't blame you. I never did." She said softly.
"At the time I thought you were..." Charcoal looks away
"I'm sure you did think that... but everything is okay now." She locks eyes with him "It's time for you to let go, and move on from the past."
"I can't..."
"Yes, You can. You're not alone anymore. You have friends, you have family..." she grabs his hoof and holds it on her chest plate "And you still have me." Her voice began to echo in his mind, and he slowly felt a weight lift off of his heart.
"Charcoal..." her voice began to echo and fade. He shut his eyes as her voice began to call his name over and over, her voice changing and getting louder. He finally came to, looking around and seeing Discord knocked onto the ground. He looks in front of him and sees Applejack lightly shaking him and calling out his name. The dust began to settle, giving the two of them a clear view of the area around them.
"Charcoal, Charcoal! Are you okay?" The country mare cries. He leans up and feels the gash on his cheek. He winces in pain, giving him a sign that he was back in reality.
"What happened? Last thing I remember I was in Canterlot... and then...” he stopped and remembered what had happened when he found out who was under the armor.
"That was a cheap shot you pulled..." Discord stood up and glared at Applejack. She took a step back and stayed next to Charcoal.
"I think I dragged this on for far too long. It's time I wrapped things up." He raised his claws and pointed towards the rest of the group "It was fun while it lasted, but it's time to say goodbye..." Charcoal ran towards them as fast as he could. Discord fires a large burst of magic in their direction. They all brace for impact as the dark ball of energy zips at them at high speed. The dark stallion jumps in front and takes the brunt of the attack, blocking it with the edge of his horn. He fights it, but the force of the back is slowly pushing him back. He couldn't deflect it, in risk of destroying a portion of Ponyville, but at the same time, he isn't going to let it destroy the friends he finally managed to attain. Charcoal took a risk; he tried to absorb the magic.Twilight looked at him in surprise, realizing his intent on taking in all that magic.
"Charcoal! You can't do that after all the work we put into venting your pent up magic!"
"I have no choice! It's either him, or us!" he yelled
"You know what's going to happen, don't you?!"
"You don't think I know that?!" Discord readies another attack and eyes the both of them.
"You know your magic can't hurt me!" he laughs
"That's right... but this isn't my magic." Charcoal grits his teeth and absorbs the dark energy all at once. Discord's eyes widen as the stallion's body is now enveloped in a dark aura. His eyes were now glowing a deep purple and he had a sly grin on his face. Discord fires a few more bolts of energy, but the dark aura brushes them aside. Charcoal quickly runs up to him and stops short, pointing his horn upwards.
"If you want me gone so bad, I'll be glad to take you with me!" He forces all the magic in him to the tip of his horn and lets it all loose in one short burst. The dark aura brightens, blinding the area and a loud explosion sends shock waves across Ponyville.
A week has passed since the battle with Discord. A large crater stood in the center of Ponyville Square and has yet to be repaired, and the houses surrounding it have been patched up. Since the event, Discord was nowhere to be found. Many have thought of him to be dead, but with no body, nopony knows for sure. Princess Celestia managed to fully recover from her injuries thanks to her sister. Twilight, Shadow Blast, and Fluttershy are in the waiting room of the hospital. Doctors and Nurses pace back and forth from room to room, taking care of all the ponies that were injured.
"How is Rainbow Dash doing?" Shadow Blast looks at Twilight, who looks on in the direction of the ICU.
"They said she only suffered a concussion and two fractured ribs. She should be okay." she said.
"What about... Charcoal?" Fluttershy said quietly. The lavender mare only looked down
"He's still in a coma... Applejack has been in there with him for the past couple of days. He's lucky enough to be alive after what he just pulled." Twilight placed her hooves on her face "It's no surprise he didn't come out unscathed."
"W-what do you mean Twilight?" Shadow looks at her with worry.
In the ICU, Applejack sits next to the dark stallion that laid in bed before her. Her eyes were distant as she held her hat to her chest.
"Please come back Charky... Everyone misses you... Ah miss you...” she leans forward and gently places her head to his. She heard a small groan, and felt a small stir. The country mare looks up and sees the comatose stallion finally open his eyes. Tears welled down her eyes as she saw him wake up from his week long slumber.
"Charcoal!" She wraps her hooves around him and nuzzles her head against his neck.
"Where... am I?" he mumbles before a screeching pain hits his head and the left side of his body.
"Take it easy Charky... Yer at the hospital. You were out for about a week. Nopony thought you were going to make it out alive...” She lowered her voice down to a whisper. It took him a brief moment to take in what he just heard. Out cold for seven days, from an event so catastrophic that it should have killed him.
"Where's Discord?"
"Nopony knows. The royal guard's been searchin' for days. Couldn't find a thing."
"That's just great..." He huffs. Nurse Redheart trots into the room and smiles, carrying a clipboard.
"You're a very lucky stallion Charcoal." She beams
"So I've been told." He sighs
"Still have that spunk I see. That's a good sign." her voice changes into a more serious, and saddening tone "We managed to do all we could to save you... but it came with a cost." Charcoal didn't understand what she had said until he realized that he felt much lighter than he used to be. He couldn't feel anything from the left side of his shoulder, downwards. He removes the blanket and his eyes narrow from what he sees. Applejack looks away as the panic stricken stallion yells out of fear. His entire left foreleg is completely gone, and what's left of his shoulder is bandaged up.
"W-where is it? What happened to me?!" he screams
"You're left leg was mangled beyond repair... We had to amputate it." Redheart said calmly "Your horn also took some damage as well. You no longer have any feeling there, and the crack that trails from the base to the tip cannot be fixed...” Charcoal didn't care about his horn, since he had no use for it, but he was still in shock from what she said about his leg. He looks down and his fear begins to fade.
"So this was the price I had to pay..." he mumbles quietly. Applejack grabs his hoof and looks up at him.
"You saved hundreds, thousands even... Yer a hero Charcoal."
"Hero...” The word rung in his head. As flattering as it was, it only stirred up something he didn't want: Unwanted attention and pity. Especially pity. Everyone would start to feel bad for him now that he has become nothing more than a handicap, something that was branded upon him when he was much younger. Redheart replaces the empty IV bag with a new one and stands in front of his bed.
"We can make a prosthetic leg for you, and you'll be good as new." she says
"No...” Charcoal shakes his head
"No? We have all the equipment needed to--"
"I said no...” he cut her off "I can build one myself." Both Applejack and Redheart look at him in surprise "I'm not going to be no pony that'll be pitied upon. I did what I can to make it this far, and I'm going to keep doing just that." He removes the IV needle from his right leg and wobbles a bit as he stands off from the bed. There was a short silence as he looks out the window to see Ponyville and its denizens cheerily going about their business.
"Ya can't do this alone Charcoal." Applejack looks at him concerned. The dark pony grinned and gave a slight chuckle. After these past few months, he has gone through some serious events that changed him on the inside. He felt a sense of renewal, and a sense of peace.
"Never said I was going to." he turns and smiles "I got friends nopony could ever as for to help me out."
THE END
Author's Note
This was quite a long story to write, but I'm quite happy with it tbh. There will be a sequel to this story that will be far better than this one, I can assure you. Hope you all enjoyed it,
Charcoal is a simple stallion. He's quiet, gets his job done, and works with the necessities. As of now he is living in Canterlot, repairing various machinery that breaks down, until he gets a notice from Princess Celestia...
Charcoal is at his house, preparing his tools for the work day. A letter is dropped off at his doorstep. As he looks at the letter, it is a plain sheet of paper, rolled up and tied with a fancy ribbon.
To Charcoal,
I have some important matters to address with you, so come to my palace as soon as you receive this letter.
Sincerely,
Princess Celestia
Charcoal was a bit surprised that he'd get a letter directly from her. He placed the letter on top of the shelf and made his way to her palace. The streets were busy today, so various ponies were out and about chatting with one another about topics like jewelry and wealth. Charcoal wasn't into things like that. He'd rather get things that he needed and live a very basic and peaceful life. Walking down the road, all the ponies were staring at him and he knew why. Though he's a well paid stallion, they all consider him to be middle, if not lower class compared to them. Various whispers can be heard, shunning him and making vague comments. Though it looks like it doesn't phase him on the outside, he feels really hurt and put down. He finally makes it to the palace and enters the large double doors. He has only been here once before, but it's still a breath-taking place with all the extravagant decor, and furniture. The palace guards take him to Princess Celestia, where she formally greets him.
"Hello Charcoal. It's nice to see you respond to my letter so quickly" Celestia said with a smile.
Charcoal bows his head again, and promptly leaves the room. He then runs out the castle to prepare to move to another city. 'A new place? This is great! I can finally get out of this aristocratic city!' he thought to himself. He ran inside his house and packed a few of his things. Charcoal only needed his tools, and grabbed a few of his work vests and puts it along with his other things in his suitcase. There was a knock on the door, making him jump out of his ecstatic trance. He opens the door to see one of the guards hand him a train ticket.
It was a natural thing that he wasn't as formal as other ponies are with Princess Celestia. With the given circumstances, it was because of her and someone that was very close to him that he got his cutie mark. Two plain old gears, but they meant more to him with every job that he did. It all started when Charcoal was younger. He had a friend named cinnamon. She loved to bake and always put a hint of; you guessed it, cinnamon in everything that she made. Her cocoa fur and cream white hair made her pass off as more of a chocolate fanatic, but the obvious bag of brown sugar as a cutie mark said otherwise. She was the only one that knew of his... handicap. Charcoal never knew how to fully control his magic as a unicorn. He'd hide it from others and avoided any form of activities that required it.
It was then that she had an idea. She had a large assortment of recipe books and how-to books in her home. She grabbed this one book that she rarely read that dealt with machinery. She had lots of ovens, and other machines that were needed for her to cook, so it was no wonder that she had at least one book about stuff like this. Cinnamon showed it to Charcoal, and he began reading up on how machines work, and what to do in case of a breakdown. Since that day, he picked up more books on the subject and became more fascinated, moving along to even building things from scratch. However... his disability with magic came to light during class one day.
Cinnamon was with Charcoal when he was building a small cart that relied on shifting gears instead of the much relied electricity. She was ecstatic that he had found his "calling", but the other unicorns surrounded him with curiosity and scorn. "It'd be a lot easier to work on this with magic" they said "With magic, you don't have to work with your hooves". They kept pestering him over and over to use magic, and Cinnamon began to get worried. It all started to get to him: his anxiety, his nervousness, all this pressure suddenly taking over and he forced himself to use magic. That's when it all started to spiral out of control.
Charcoal tried using his magic to start up the cart by spinning one of the small gears. Little did he know, he forgot to tighten the screw that kept it in place. The gear wobbled and shot out from the cart, aiming directly at Cinnamon. He tried to warn her, but it was one second too late. The gear hit her in the head and she fell to the floor with a thud. Everyone, at that moment, the only moment where Charcoal needed someone to say something, anything, was quiet. Blood seeped in between the tiles on the floor, and he began to panic a bit. He tried to help her, everyone else just stood there, looking at him with such disappointment.
