**PreRead By Subtle Rampage
Third Person POV**
Where . . . am I? The question pulsed through Cirrus’ mind as she stirred. It took the albino pegasus a moment to remember Celestia’s parting words to her. She looked up. The EverFree forest . . . Cirrus felt like she should have a bad feeling about the name. A vague memory; from the unit in history class on Discord, nudged at her conscious mind. Ohhh, right the final battle ground between Discord and Celestia! Feeling pleased with herself for remembering something from a test she got a D- on, Cirrus stood up and began to walk over to a gap in the foliage.
Then she remembered her wings. The white pegasus, glanced at them. They were featherless and covered with what looked like old scar tissue. ‘’NOW IT’S PERSONAL, CELESTIA!’’ Cirrus screamed, as a wave of horror filled her. To be a flightless pegasus in the most dangerous place in the world: Heart Of EverFree.
‘’You are so, so dead! And that’s not a threat! It’s a promise. ‘’ That was when Cirrus realized she was yelling at a blueberry bush. ‘’Well, I’d better start moving.’’ Cirrus surveyed the area Celestia had dumped her in. There were no supplies or weapons, but a quick glance down at her body proved Celestia had only taken one thing from her: flight.
The feathers will grow back soon. I’m an adult mare, well chronologically I haven’t been born yet, but biologically . . . I can handle the drive! That’s the point.
Cirrus started walking. Maybe she’d get lucky and manage to avoid all the monsters. Yeah right. EverFree was a magical dumpsite and well, usually you came out of the heart insane or mutated. I’m not as far in as I think . . . and even if I was in the heart, well i’d make it out!
So far, so good! It had been 15 minutes and Cirrus hadn’t seen a single monster . . . or animal or even thing blocking her path. This is too easy . . . Celestia must want me to make it out. She started running. If I'm safe, I may as well not waste time, right? Cirrus thought with a cocky smirk.
--
So the question is, if a pegasus is killed by a hydra but no one sees it, does it really happen? The answer was very important to Cirrus who was currently being chased by a hydra. She had somehow managed to walk right over its eye as it slept. Cirrus was not the most observant pony ever.
Cirrus wasn’t stupid, she knew that the hydra would catch her before she made it out. Her body was telling her to fly, a painful impossibility without feathers.
‘’I’m gonna make, I’m gonna make it,’’ Cirrus chanted to herself, leaping over a log. Blood dripped into her eye from where she had cut herself on a branch. C’mon, how much farther can it be? Wondered the pegasus in desperation. Just keep running, she reminded herself. The hydra slammed it’s head on the ground, snapping its jaws and narrowly missing her. I gotta take this thing out!
Cirrus pulled herself up to her full ( short to be honest ) height. ‘’I’m gonna take you down monster!’’ She said baring her teeth. Somehow, thought the Pegasus. She ran under it, avoiding its snapping jaws. C’mon these things must have a weak spot, think, Cirrus, THINK! Not for the first time Cirrus wished she’d paid better attention in class.
Suddenly she felt covered in a sticky, disgusting substance, as the sensation of being lifted upwards thrummed through her wings. Oh, fucking HELL! She was in it’s MOUTH! The white pegasus fought down a wave of panic and started struggling, trying to escape it’s slimy tongue and the gaping maw that was it’s esophagus. I need to get OUT! With that thought, Cirrus launched herself through its semi-open mouth in one explosive movement.
As soon as she was on the ground, dripping with hydra drool, Cirrus picked up the big stick that happened to be laying conveniently next to her. That’s kinda weird, thought the part of her mind not completely occupied with being hydra-bait. ‘’Come and get me, ‘’ Cirrus said in a singsong voice, raising the (suddenly sharpened?! Wha . . .?) stick in her mouth. As soon as one of the heads- the same one that had tried to eat her, slammed downwards, Cirrus leaped, slamming the stick into its right eye. The hydra bellowed in rage, slamming it’s other heads on the ground, frantic to destroy the course of its pain.
--
Cirrus, though not really one to care about appearance, felt absolutely disgusted. The hydra drool and dried into a clingy, substance- half liquid half not that smelled just as bad as it did originally. The specks of blood on her wings (You will die a slow horrible death Celestia) had dried and formed uncomfortable itchy scabs.
Oh, well, it didn’t really matter, there was a cottage with a river by (completely overrun with animals, didn’t they have animal control?) it. Cirrus grinned, if there's one benefit to not having feathers- it’s the ability to swim without having sopping wet wings that won’t dry for HOURS!
‘’KALABUNGA!!’’ Shouted the white pegasus, leaping into the stream. The surrounding animals fled. . . . . or not? A yellow pegasus, with a pink mane . . . Fluttershy, Cirrus remembered. Had come out of the cottage and started going up to what looked like feral EverFree animals. Wasn’t Fluttershy a pathetic pony who couldn’t take care of herself?
‘’Stop!, The white pegasus yelled. ‘’Those are feral animals! They’ll attack if you get too close to them.’’
‘’Why would me animal friends hurt me-’’ she gasped. ‘’Oh, no, you’re injured! Do know where the hospital is? Can you walk?.’’ It was kind of funny to hear questions in her sweet little voice.
I looked at her. ‘’I doubt any hospital in this time period could regrow my feathers.’’
‘’T-this, time period, are-are you from the future.’’
Me and my big mouth, thought Cirrus in annoyance. Fluttershy was staring at her, mouth open wide in surprise.
‘’ . . . I should just go.’’
‘’No, you won’t! Not until you’ve apologized for scaring my animal friends!’’ She shoved her face close to mine and I sighed. Dumbass animals! ‘’Look i’m sorry, but I thought they were feral, I mean an otter is a wild animal and so are raccoons and hawks.’’
She scraped a hoof against the ground.‘’. . . what does feral mean?’’ She asked quietly.
‘’How exactly can you not know that?! It means wild, vicious, etc!’’
Silence. ‘’This is awkward. Look, obviously you’re an extremely sheltered weirdo and i’m just going to leave now and clean off in a pond.’’
I walked off.
PreRead By Red Tear
Cirrus watched, hidden in a bush a Ampere fought with the royal guard. She hadn’t seen it happen the first time, but it wasn’t much of a fight. He’d obviously had no real training.
Following Ampere into the market, Cirrus snarled quietly; it was far too happy- full of vendors counting money and satisfied customers. It was also the polar opposite of her mood.
Cirrus saw the past (current, other?) version of herself talk to Ampere.This time i'll save them.You're not going to die this time Ampere, *I promise*** hought the white pegasus. But first she had to convince the six ponies that could actually wield the Elements (the ones from this time period anyway), because as much as Cirrus needed to admit it, she needed those six, annoying, way-too-in-love-with-Celestia ponies to help her.
She hated to admit it- or be philosophical about anything but, the Elements had to be wielded by those who actually had their qualities. Or maybe there could only be one set in any given time. But the more powerful set had obviously been determined.
The best way to do this is to present info that they CAN’T deny, thought Cirrus ducking behind a tree to avoid being seen by Rarity. Wait, later today- or maybe now Rarity is going to hear Diamond’s VERY unconvincing speech.
Cirrus grinned. ‘’I have an idea, ‘’ she said to herself, ‘’there should be a cutie mark creation bureau somewhere in this town.’’ So where?
--
Cirrus mentally went over the list of places it could be as she walked down main street for what felt like the 20th time in the past ten minutes. Or there was always getting into the town hall and finding something that told her where it was. Which would be an option if she and the rest of her team weren't currently held their. And Cirrus knew enough about time travel to know that you never let your past self see you. Ever. For any reason.
Maybe there isn’t one in the town . . . she hadn’t seen anybody with the symbol of a CMCB Worker yet. Until now.
Damn, that was lucky. Cirrus walked up to the pony. She was a pink, blonde earth pony. ‘’I need to talk to you, privately,’’ Cirrus said keeping her voice low. The pony looked up from her bag of bits.
‘’I’m guessing you're a client?’’
Cirrus motioned for the earth pony to follow her into an alley. ‘’ Not exactly. But I am purchasing. ‘’
She snorted. ‘’What? Info? Because if you are, you're not very smart. I’m a low level worker, okay!’’
‘’Trust me,I can tell by your asstat’. Look, I want an . . . ah,’’ I licked my lips, ‘’How do I put this, an initiation tour for a few . . . friends of mine and I mean the facts, pony!’’ My voice rose by the end of the sentence. ‘’Got it?’’ I snarled, giving her my best death glare.
‘’I’ll do my job, ‘’ she seemed to find my lack of a cutie mark interesting, ‘’What are you anyway, and more importantly what’s in it for me?’’
‘’That’s none of your business. And you’ll cooperate if you value your life for one thing. ‘’
She laughed. ‘’You don’t scare me shortie.’’
I reacted in a whirlwind of emotion and want. I leaped, striking a nerve cluster in her neck before she could react. The pink pony fell to the ground.
‘’How ‘bout now?’’ I said, my voice razor sharp. She twitched.
‘’I’ll do it. But don’t think I’ll forget you.’’
I smiled, showing teeth, ‘’I wouldn’t have any other way. I’ll see you at five. Wait here.’’
Her gaze followed me as I walked out. ‘’You’re doing something big aren’t you? Trying to overthrow Celestia. I don’t mind.’’
I raised an eyebrow. ‘’How’d ya know?’’
‘’You don’t have the look of a drug smuggler.’’
‘’You know, I may just like you pony.’’
--
Carousel Boutique. Blah. How exactly is this building supposed to be practical in ANY way? Cirrus had chosen Rarity as the first one to tell because she, through a fashionista had no real love of Celestia. Yeah, she was a suck up. Her asskissing to Celery had almost been physically painful.
But she’d seen asskissing turn to hatred in a nanosecond when the foundations of the love were obliterated. And it was time to suck it up and deal with the melodrama. I pushed open the door, accompanied by a jingling bell and walked in.
‘’Hellooo, welcome to Carousel Boutique where everything is chic, unique and maginif- where is your cutie mark?! ‘’
The albino pegasus rolled her eyes. ‘’It’s always about the cutie mark isn’t it? Why does it bother you ponies so damn much that I don’t have a brand on my ass for a career assignment?’’
Cirrus’s POV
The other pony stared at me. Riiiiiiiight, I’m starting to respect Diamond’s attempt a (tiny) bit more now . . . ‘’Rarity,’’ I began, ‘’I need you to trust me. I going to take you to a facility. You will be safe I promise.’’ If that earth pony double-crossed me, she’s gonna have HELL to pay.
Rarity blinked. ‘’I’m not into mares.I sorry I really am, but you have no feathers on your wings. Do you have any idea how off-putting-’’
‘’This. Isn’t. A. Date. Now, what I will show you, it will shake the foundations of what you know. Permanently.Oh and PLEASE try to keep the screaming to a minimum, PLEASE!’’ I looked at her. ‘’Are you coming or not?’’
Her mouth opened, probably trying to say no. I didn’t let her.
‘’You HAVE to believe me PUH-LEEZ!’’ I must have looked like a madmare. But she believed me. I don’t know if it was something in my voice or the look on my face but she believed me. It was all I could do to keep the crazy grin off my face.
The building itself was about ten stories tall, large for Rarity, but I was used to skyscrapers. It had the same pastel, flowery exterior as all the buildings in this town. Yuck. The earth pony i’d ‘seen’ earlier walked over to me.
‘’This better be worth losing my job.’’ Her voice was frigid and had a degree of hatred in it I didn’t think was possible for a pony brainwashed by Celestia. This didn’t match her earlier attitude but I didn’t pay much attention to it. I should’ve.
She looked up, and plastered a big, fake smile on her face. ‘’I’m Lily and I’ll be your guide today.’’
