Vendetta

Rarity waited all day for Rara to wake up from her sleep. She paced back and forth with her hands behind her back. She had been tempted to speak with Twilight but decided it best not to after the previous events. Rarity stopped pacing and went to the kitchen and grabbed some wine from the cupboard. She grabbed a glass and poured the wine in. “Come on Rara, wake up.” She grabbed her glass of wine and continued her pacing as she drank.

Rarity drunk her tenth glass of wine and sixth glass of rum. She was far too drunk at that point to wait for Rara. Rarity was out cold and slumped over the chair. It was near bedtime before Rara’s eyes fluttered opened. “Rarity, you around?” Rara asked and then saw her friend. “Rarity, you worry too much but I suppose I can’t blame you.” Rara remembered what happened with Rarity’s sister.

“Ah, you’re awake, wonderful. How do you feel?” Twilight asked coming into the room with her hand rubbing the bridge of her nose. Of course Rarity was drunk, she worried too much but there wasn’t anything anyone could do about it.

“I’m ok, a bit sore still but I’m overall ok.” Twilight sat down next to Rara and smiled. “You know Rarity better than I do, but did she always worry?”

Twilight sighed and took in a deep breath. “Only since her sister died, she really lost it after that but I think we all did to some extent at some point.”

“I suppose, it brings up a few questions.” Rara thought about her question for a bit and then looked at Twilight. “I know you, Rainbow Dash, and AJ were all hit first by the marker but could you explain how this all started? You know, if you don’t mind.”

Twilight thought back and then nodded. “This war of ours started a long time ago Rara and it’s not a pleasant one. I’ll tell you though, you deserve to know. Applejack would want you to know.”

Ten years ago

Twilight had decided to go visit what was supposed to be a ghost town just for studies sake. No one knew anything about the old town and it wasn’t acceptable. Twilight just had to find out something about the old town. Sure it was a long bus ride there but if it meant discovering something new, it would be worth it. She even packed enough for a month. She invited her friends but only Rainbow Dash and Applejack sounded interested in a ghost town. “Ok girls, thanks so much for coming with me.”

“Hey, I just wanted to visit a ghost town.” Rainbow rubbed her hands together in excitement. She couldn’t wait to see old broken down buildings and tell ghost stories in one of the broken down buildings.

“No problem sugarcube, I thought this would be something to tell my family about.” Applejack winked.

“Just remember, I’m here to learn, what you two do is your own business, during the day anyway. Without electricity, I probably won’t be doing much and I’ll need all the battery power I can get for my flashlight. So at night, we can tell ghost stories if you like.” Twilight looked into her backpack and revealed her fifty batteries. Applejack peeked in and put her hands on her hips. “What, it’s very plausible that something could happen to some of the batteries. I could lose some for instance.”

“Twi, you always over pack for things and never have a problem.” AJ leaned back against her seat and looked out the window.

“Yes I do overpack and one of these days, I’m going to need the extra stuff. Besides, this is much different, I can’t just go home if I need something. The bus only comes out here every so often and there aren’t any stores way out here.”

“You know AJ, she has a point there.” Rainbow said looking out at the mountains in the distance.

“Ok, I admit she has a good point but I still think she overdoes it.” Applejack leaned against the window and sighed. “So Twilight, how long until we reach this town?”

“A few hours, until then, let’s enjoy the scenery.” Twilight looked out the window but could only think of the discoveries she would make. Soon she and her friends would be in an old town, with no real history, in the middle of nowhere. Her stomach ached in anticipation.

It didn’t take long for the three to fall asleep. When Twilight woke, the bus was within minutes of arriving at their destination. “Oh this is so exciting. A part of my summer vacation in an abandoned town.” Twilight shook Applejack and Rainbow Dash awake. “Girls, we’re almost there and it’s only noon.” She squealed with excitement. AJ and Rainbow plugged their ears to keep from hearing the high pitched noise. “Sorry girls, I’m just so excited.”

“Yes, we know Twilight, you wouldn’t shut up about it before we left.” Applejack elbowed Rainbow Dash in the side. “Well she wouldn’t.” The two glared at each other.

“Now girls, let’s not fight now. Look, we’re here, let’s go.” Twilight grabbed her backpack as the bus came to a stop. She grabbed her other two bags and ran off the bus. She was in a desert but it was surprisingly cool for being noon. “Come on girls, get moving.” Twilight said poking her head into the bus.

“Jeez Twilight, you don’t slow down do you?” Rainbow asked and then heard the irony in what she said but shook it off.

“Oh Rainbow Dash, of course not and since when did you ever want to slow down?” Twilight looked around and found an old trail leading down a hill into the old village which didn’t look so old. The houses were neat in two lines and there were people everywhere. “That can’t be right.” She turned around to speak to the bus driver but the bus had already driven off. “I suppose it is.” Twilight shook it off and began marching down the trail. If this was the old ghost town, surely someone would know something about it. When she reached the little town, everyone greeted Twilight with large creepy grins. “Maybe this town has people freaked out by its history but then why stay and why fix up the homes so she could stay, hmm?” Twilight walked by everyone and toward the house at the end. As soon as she reached the end, Rainbow Dash and Applejack had caught up.

“Twilight, could you wait a minute?” Applejack asked.

“Yeah, we know you’re excited but come on.” Rainbow set her bags down and wiped her brow free of sweat. It may have been cooler than expected but it was still desert.

“Sorry girls.” Twilight knocked on the door. A person with light purple skin and purple and blue hair answered the door. “Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, I was just wondering if this town used to be a ghost town.”

The woman in the door smiled and nodded. “Yes but I came in and made it a town for many who have lost their way. It’s sad really, so many people ran from home and got lost and so I took them in. Please come in and I’ll get you all ready for your new homes.”

“Oh we’re not running away from home, we wanted to come to the ghost town that was supposed to be here. I wanted to find out more about this place and I wasn’t expecting people to be here.” Twilight explained.

“Forgive me, no one has ever come to find out more about the place that used to be here. You can imagine why I thought you were running away from home.”

“That’s alright miss, uh, what’s your name?” Applejack asked.

“Oh silly me, I’m Starlight Glimmer. Now, why not come in and we can talk.” Starlight opened her door and allowed the three girls in. “This is my home where I run this little town. You know, you really should stay here, this place is full of people who have been left out and felt unappreciated by others. I have simply given them a new view on how the world could be if everyone was kinder. No one fights, Tea?” The three girls shook their heads. “There are no problems here, everyone is equal with each other. Those that work get just as much as the next hard worker. Of course that means that everyone has just as much as the next person. No one complains or does anything that could harm another.” Starlight’s eyes went from blue to red and then back to blue in a second. “It’s convergence.”

Twilight and the others backed up and out of the house in time to get grabbed by a body guard. “Hey, let us go you creep.”

“Yeah, we have families that will worry about us if we don’t return.” Applejack said as she struggled to free herself.

“Oh nonsense, no one ever wants to go home after staying here. Why don’t you take our guest to the cave of equality.” Starlight picked up the girls bags and set them inside. She then led the group around to the side of the house and up a hill. Once they reached the top of the hill, they were taken in and shown a large object. It was covered in weird symbols, maybe writing. “This is the marker and it’s where your transformation will begin.” Starlight left with her guards before blocking off the exit.

“What is this thing, it’s all twisted and it’s huge.” Applejack said in awe.

“It’s giving me a headache.” Twilight said unable to stop looking at the object.

Rainbow Dash smiled and it confused the other two in the room. “Ha, I got this.” She pulled out some firecrackers out of her pocket. “I’ll blow this thing to bits.” Rainbow climbed up to the top of the marker and stuck her firecrackers in the top. She pulled out a lighter and lit the fuse.

“Rainbow, why do you even have those and I highly don’t something that big will blow up from a few firecrackers?” Twilight said.

“I can’t use them at home and so I figured, why not in the middle of nowhere and sure they will, just watch?” Rainbow plugged her ears expecting a loud bang but when the firecrackers finished blowing up, the marker only had some burn marks. “Really, it’s just a large rock.” Rainbow said and then turned to Twilight and Applejack. The two were looking angry. “What’s going on?” The two didn’t answer. Rainbow ran to the back of the cave and pulled out her phone. “One bar, should have guessed. Good enough.” She dialed in Sunset’s number as Applejack tackled her. “Get off.” Rainbow pushed her friend off and began running around. “Come on Sunset, answer the phone.”

“Hello Rainbow, get tired of the town already?” Sunset asked.

“You have no idea, the others and I are being held hostage.” Rainbow got tackled by AJ who wrapped her hands around Rainbow’s neck. “What’s wrong with you?” She said through strangled breaths.

“Rainbow, what’s going on?” Sunset asked

“You will join the convergence.” AJ said and started to release Rainbow but quickly went back to straggling her.

“Sunset, call, police. I’m in a cave, back of town. Applejack, I don’t want to hurt you.” Rainbow dropped her phone and tried to get AJ off but failed and blacked out.

“Rainbow, hold on.” Sunset hung up.

When Rainbow woke up, she found herself in a prison guarded by two people she didn’t know. Starlight walked up and smiled. “Take her back.” The two guards grabbed her and pulled her out.

“You psycho, you won’t get away with this.” Rainbow had her legs kicked out from under her. Starlight just chuckled as she watched Rainbow get dragged off. “What happened to no violence?” Rainbow didn’t have far to go before she was back in the room with the marker. “So you people just moved me to a different room?” She was thrown to the ground and the marker began to pulse in her head. Her head started to ache as whispers were thrown into her mind. The whispers weren’t annunciated and made no sense. She fell to her knees and bruised them doing so. Rainbows body trembled and shook. Her vision turned red and everything looked like a heat wave. “Why is this happening now?”

Rainbow tried to stand but she was too weak. She fell to the floor with her head in her hands. It felt like hours and she could see two creatures with bladed arms in front of her. One of the creatures ran at her while the other stood in place. Rainbow searched for something to fight with, forgetting the pain she was in and found a rock. The creature got closer and closer as she stood slowly off the ground. Just as the creature was within range, the blocked entrance to the cave blew wide open. A single missile flew through the entrance and hit the marker. It shattered and Rainbow was sent flying through the air and into the cave wall. She was slowly losing consciousness.

Applejack was next to Rainbow Dash on the floor already unconscious and bleeding. Twilight was further away but was also out cold. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes but still heard talking. Starlight was screaming something. The last thing Rainbow heard was ‘Don’t worry, you’ll be fine’ before she blacked out completely again.

Rainbow Dash looked around and saw Twilight sitting up in the bed next to her. “Twilight, what happened? Where is AJ?”

Twilight looked over to Rainbow and smiled. “Turns out Sunset called my brother. With my brother being in the military, he was able to pull a few strings despite being a recruit. He convinced his superiors to rescue us. I’m surprised since a recruit should not be able to pull strings like that. Oh and Applejack is in another room. Her injuries were more severe than ours. She’ll be fine though.”

“That’s good and I’m not surprised your brother was able to pull off something so early and awesome. Your brother is undeniably awesome and respected.”

“I know but still, being able to get his superiors to bring in a helicopter, that’s some serious stuff there. Oh, I almost forgot, He and Cadance are engaged.” Twilight clapped her hands excitedly.

“Congrates, now I’m gonna take a nap ok, good night.” Rainbow fell asleep.

Five Years Ago

“Here is your baby girl.” The doctor said handing the baby over to her mother and then left the room.

“Cadance, she is beautiful, just like her mother.” Shining smiled looking at his baby girl.

“I’m so tired right now.” Cadance said as Twilight came into the room. “Twilight you made it.”

“Of course I made it, I wasn’t about to miss out on seeing my new born niece. Are mom and Dad coming?” Twilight ran over and put a hand on her brothers shoulder as she leaned in to see her niece. “So cute.”

Shining looked at Twilight and then something shiny caught his eye. He couldn’t help but smile. “Yes she is but she isn’t the only good news is it Twilight?”

“Yeah, I’ve got some news as well.” Twilight took her hand off of her brothers shoulder and held it close to her. “I didn’t want to take away from this experience.” Flurry Heart began to cry. Cadence smiled and lifted her shirt to feed the little baby. “I can wait to tell.”

Cadance shook her head. “Don’t you dare wait Twilight, what is it?”

“Oh, well, if you insist. I’m engaged to Timber.” Twilight kept her squeal to a long squeak. “He and I are going away for five years while Gloriosa. I know it’s really long but Timber wants away from the camp for a while. We will be raising money for the camp. A five year fundraiser, should be fun. Now back to my adorable niece.”

Just outside the room in a cloak was Starlight Glimmer. “I can wait five years to get revenge on you Twilight and your friends. Just wait and besides, that will give me more time to work out my magic.” She pulled up her sleeve to reveal a few different symbols on the back of her hand that were glowing brightly. The symbol was a pentagram. On her palm shone a picture of the marker etched into her skin. She quickly hid her hand as a nurse walked by.

“Please take off the hood of your cloak or I will call security.” The nurse said stopping by the door.

“Oh, of course, my apologies.” Starlight took off her hood and left.

Present

“So that’s what happened and I only know about Starlight being outside the door because she told me the last time I ran into her. She figured it didn’t matter if I knew or not.” Twilight let out a yawn.

“How did you know what happened with Rainbow Dash in the cave.”

“I was able to hear and see everything but I was struggling to move. It’s all a bit fuzzy actually. Anyway I’m sure there is more you want to know but its midnight and I’m exhausted. I’ll see you tomorrow?” Rara nodded happily and said goodnight before lying down.

“So what happened Rarity and what happened between now and five years ago?” Rara let out a big yawn and closed her eyes.