Daring Do looked over the ruins straight ahead of her; the Tomb of Queen Parabola. It was finally within her sights, with it’s cracked stone exterior hidden by overhanging snow tipped pine trees. The structure was ancient was partially buried in the ground. The only areas untouched was, to Daring’s relief, the front of the tomb. It was strange to the young archaeologist that there was very little on the outside besides a couple of small number of guard statues, most of which had crumbled beyond recognition, though one next to the entrance gave her a fair idea on what they’d look like, with a bulky intimidating male build, with knight armor. Of what century or design, Daring could only guess.
She slowly approached the entrance, squinting her eyes in a desperate futile attempt at discerning the full layout of the room, as it was shrouded in darkness. After a short moment, Daring pulled the handheld flashlight she had in her pocket, and in an instant, lit up a pathway of light. She checked the walls of the room, and once she was satisfied there weren’t any traps, took a step into the untouched long forsaken ruins.
Her footsteps were loud echoed throughout the underground catacombs, before skidding to a halt when once she came across a locked sealed stone door with a deep hole in the center, with carvings of a small winged unicorn, depicted as spreading its wings out and around the hole in an oddly nurturing manner, though missing portions of it’s horn and feathers. The archeologist-to-be slung her backpack off of her shoulder, sifting through its contents until she pulled out a round slab of stone with mark similar symbols around one of the ends. Placing the silindrical cylinder into the hole, and watched with bated breath as the markings lined up. Seconds ticked by, and Daring was beginning to have second thoughts to her theory.
That was when the stone door began to sink, and Daring had to cover her mouth and nose not to gag at the rush of must and centuries of decay that escaped it’s imprisonment. Though she was adventurous, even Daring had to wait until the noxious smell aired out a bit more before she entered the large circular room that was revealed. Lined across the wall was a long since eroded depiction of a beautiful woman clad in golden armor, magic flaring from her fingertips into an unseen foe. The room had three exits, two leading off into other rooms, while the one between them was locked with an ornate door. The room chamber itself had a large circular pit in the center, a pool of glowing green liquid at the bottom. Above the pool were a trio of levers upon the ceiling.
Daring sighed as she took it all in, and runes on her back began to glow, before a pair of beautiful dark khaki colored tinted, translucent wings spread out behind her. She took to the air, wings beating and propelling her up to the three levers, and studied them.
She pulled them one at a time, seeing what they would do. When nothing happened, she changed the pattern in which she pulled them down. After several dozens of different combinations, finally something clicked, and down below, a bright blue gem began to glow upon the sealed door.
Daring smirked to herself as she hovered towards the ground floor, her wings gradually dissipating back into her back as she descended. Once she touched the ground, she heard a gun being armed behind her. She spun around to see who was there, and-------------------------
“Hey, you three! Get your sorry butts down here and run like everyone else!” Twilight Velvet jerked back into reality, dragging her black pen across the page and drawing a line that marred where she’d been writing. She looked up from her clipboard and noticed very quickly that the gym teacher was looking at her and her two friends venomously. The bookworm was quick to stand, but the other two were less motivated.
“Ugh, can’t you see I’m busy…?” Twilight turned to the leader of her ‘group’, Spoiled Milk. She was reapplying makeup after some underclassman threw a bucket of water on her for the sake of a dare. He had eaten said bucket as a result. She sat on the track field’s bleachers a few seats above Velvet, and two above Fleur de Lis, Twilight’s other friend who was two years her and Spoiled Junior’s.
The three of them were wearing the same track suits that the school had issued them when they got into their respective years. The entire thing was black, except the blue stripes going across the chest and back- green for the younger student, down the sides of the arms and legs. A unique feature that the students hated was the insignia of a white unicorn with a pink mane emblazoned adjacent to their throats on their collars, which would easily chafe if one wasn’t careful. Velvet was unfortunate in that regard, and scratched her tender neck as the teacher chewed her friend out.
“Sure I can~! You three must really have it hard~! Poor you~!” the gym teacher spoke with mock understanding. That seemed to knock some sense into Spoiled, as she stood up with Fleur following her lead like a lost puppy. “Velvet, grab some more water bottles!”
Twilight nodded, and ran toward the nearest door and nearly slammed her entire body into the red surface. She grabbed the handle and rushed to enter, not wanting to incur the wrath of her gym teacher. It always surprised her that what she’d just witnessed wasn’t even angry for the athletic teacher.
But that wasn’t what was eating at Twilight though. No matter what, as long as she showed up, she’d get a good grade for gym, so the angry man never really bothered her as much as her friends. No, what really bugged her was her story. She looked down at the piece of paper in an apathetic manner. ‘Ugh, something doesn’t feel right… maybe the puzzle wasn’t fleshed out enough?’
As Twilight was struggling internally, she forgot to look where she was going. This, coupled with the fact that she was used to the trips to the storage closet, meant that she ran face first into the half open door. Stunned by the sudden collision, Twilight stumbled back and only barely managed to right herself.
The person on the other side of the door cringed as she finally got a look at the boy who hit her through squinted eyes. He had dark skin that, in the current light, made him seem almost gold. He had spiky, pure white hair, slicked back with only a few bangs that dangled at the sides of his face. The most distinct feature about him, though, was that he had two amber eyes that almost glowed. His clothes were fairly simple. A torn up black hoodie that had it’s zipper ripped off, a dark blue shirt, a pair of dark shorts and… biker boots of all things.
Velvet growled, and the boy chuckled nervously. “Uh, sorry, Twilight…” he said, scratching the back of his head, “Are you alright?”
Twilight huffed. “Yeah. I just hope that didn’t bruise. You hit me like a train, Luke.”
Luke; the exact opposite of Twilight’s normal friends. He was quiet, stuck to himself and usually just helped her whenever she needed it. Sometimes, he even seemed to fade into the background, though it wasn’t like he ever seemed to mind being forgotten. ‘Actually, I don’t think either of us have called the other “friend”, per say…’ After pulling herself up, Twilight entered the storage room and strolled past Luke. Basketball racks, ping pong tables, and towels alike were placed perfectly in places that would allow the best access to them, more so for the often used things. Velvet had to admit that Luke had a talent for it.
“So, coach made you get something again?” Luke asked, leaning against an unobstructed wall. “What’d he make you get this time?”
Twilight searched for the liquids, scratching her chin. “Water bottles.”
“Again?” Luke seemed uninterested as he moved a box of towels next to the entrance and lifted up a plastic wrapped water. “Here,” he offered.
‘He found it quick…’ she pondered, accepting the offered water. “Thanks… oh, by the way, shouldn’t you be in class?”
Luke was quiet for a moment, before replying with his usual apathetic tone. “Maybe, but I have more important things to attend to. Stay safe, Velvet.”
As he left, Twilight stared at the space he had vacated. After a long pause, she took the water out of the storage room and headed for the track. On her way back, she had the distinct feeling that someone was watching her.
It was probably nothing.
After gym had ended, Velvet and the rest of her class changed into their casual outfits. For Spoiled, that was a soft white blouse with pink frills at the hem, ruffled black skirt with a white stripe going across the middle and a pair of, surprisingly, pink sneakers. Velvet found it humorous that the fashionable Spoiled Milk would wear such casual shoes. Then again, it was hard to run to class if you were wearing heels.
Fleur was a lot more ‘in your face’ with her wardrobe. A lilac sundress decorated with intricate rose patterns, a pair of turquoise platform heels that made her tower over her already shorter friends. On each finger was a different ring, excluding her left pinky and ring fingers. Velvet didn’t bother memorizing them, they’d change each day, and the bookworm gave up on trying to notice Fleur with the same ones weeks later. They always seemed to be new every day.
As for Twilight herself, well, she was content with a white button up dress shirt with short sleeves, metal grey flare jeans and white slip on shoes. She was the least fashionable out of the three, but the other two never brought it up… or at the very least, Spoiled didn’t.
“Ugh, my father set me up on a blind date again… I hate how intrusive he is!” Spoiled huffed as she, Fleur de Lis and Twilight Velvet strutted-or in Velvet’s case, shuffled- down the hallways, all three headed towards the front of the school with the rest of the student body.
“Yeah. Dads… am I right?” Twilight knew that Fleur was just trying to mimic Spoiled’s opinion to stay in her good graces. Or maybe she was just an ass kisser.
Yeah, probably an ass kisser.
“Hey, Vel, have you been asked to the prom yet?” Spoiled suddenly asked, snapping Twilight out of her train of thought, and stopped her in her tracks.
“Uh... n-no... not yet…” Twilight looked off to the side, avoiding eye contact with her cohorts. Fleur noticed that.
“Do you have an idea who you want to ask you~?” the pale skinned girl jumped into the conversation, smirking deviously. Velvet glowered at her, clearly unamused with her prying.
Spoiled noticed this and pressed on, if only slightly. “Hey, you know we’d never gossip about you. Anything that damages you, hurts us as well.” Though it sounded vain and selfish, Twilight understood that it was just Spoiled’s way of comforting her. She may have been a bit of a brat, and yes, spoiled beyond belief, but Celestia be castrated if she wasn’t loyal and supportive.
“W-well… uhm… there’s a guy I like,” Twilight blushed. Fleur leaned in, her face mere inches from Twilight’s own with an uncomfortable grin.
“Oh~? Who’s the lucky bookworm!?” Velvet scowled, the red tint fading.
“He’s not a nerd. He’s on the basketball team,” Twilight then continued, but stopped herself before she finished trailing off into a murmur. “His name is...”
“What was that?” this time, Spoiled pitched into the teasing. Or perhaps she was genuinely interested, Twilight wasn’t sure.
“I said his name’s Night Light. Gosh, you’re both such a pain!”
“Ooh~! I’ve seen him around campus! He’s a good pick, if not a bit clumsy. You two would make such a good couple!” Fleur squealed in excitement, wrapping her arms around Twilight in an awkward one-sided hug. “Our wittle Twily’s all gwown up~!”
Velvet huffed, yanking Fleur’s grip away from her. “It’s just a little crush, it’s not like I’m fawning over him…” She turned to look at Spoiled for help, blushing.
Thankfully, the rich girl had her back. “Of course, Vel. If that were true, you would’ve watched him practicing… they do that right now, right?”
“Yeah, after school they usually-” Twilight instantly regretted her choice of words as Fleur broke out cackling like a madwoman.
“You know their schedules!? You are such a stalker!”
“N-no! I’ve just heard them practice after school while heading to my locker!” Twilight defended herself, vigorously waving her hands in front of herself as if it’d dissipate the blush that was heating up her face. Fleur’s grin only widened.
“Sure you have~!”
As the trio made their way to the exit, Velvet felt a hand tapping her shoulder. Turning around, Twilight was met with a familiar face. Color bleached skin, quizzical brown eyes, towering stature and lanky frame, all topped off with short, combed back white hair. She was wearing a white button up dress shirt, black dress pants and shoes, with a fencing saber facened to a black belt that camouflaged well with her slacks. It was none other than Zesty Gourmand, one of the student council members and president of the Baking Club, as well as a part timer at the Fencing Club, as the blade at her hip more than spelled out.
Spoiled had an opinion of everyone at their school. Even the outcasts at their school would be given a description from the hotheaded socialite. She described her as ‘plain looking, but with an edge of mystery and sophistication that nobody at school- not even the adults, had’.
“I need to speak to you, Ms. Velvet,” There was something in Zesty’s expression- and tone, that didn’t sit well with Twilight. But not a lot did anyways, so she ignored it.
“Sure. What is it?” Velvet tilted her head
“We should discuss this… privately,” Zesty began avoiding eye contact, which from what Twilight knew of Zesty, wasn’t like her. Then again, she hadn't ever really spoken directly to her, so perhaps her sources were off. And she was glad for the distraction to get away from Fleur’s barking.
“Uh… sure,” Turning towards her friends, Twilight huffed indignantly, “I guess I’ll see you girls in a bit.”
“No problem, Twily!” Fleur responded, beaming at her. “We’ll see you tomorrow!”
Spoiled just frowned and crossed her arms, giving Twilight a ‘you owe me’ look. Twilight didn’t like when she owed Spoiled, but she understood why. Fleur was usually alright, but when it came to romance she could be overwhelming. And Twilight just left Spoiled with her while she was on one of her tangents.
Twilight waved at her friends as she followed Zesty back into the school, following Zesty until they arrived at an empty hallway. She noticed how particularly stiff the taller girl seemed to be. Not that she wasn’t already uptight-as her friends put it-, but there seemed to be an oppressive air around her that almost suffocated Twilight.
‘Is she mad at me? What did I do to make her so angry?’ Twilight barely registered Zesty having stopped in place.
“Get out of her…” Twilight’s elder rasped out threateningly. Velvet raised an eyebrow at that, confused.
“What was that, Zesty-?” Twilight felt an uneasy shiver run through her spine, making her cut herself off and instinctively backtracking. Just in time, too, as Zesty had unsheathed her saber and took a swing at Velvet’s neck. And to the aspiring writers utter fear, the blade morphed in mid swing, transforming like clay into a far more sharp and sturdy blade. Velvet watched as sliced across the wall to her right, leaving a very visible mark on it. “What the heck!? Zesty, what’s gotten into you!?”
“Your eyes… They’re repulsive! Can’t you see that…!?” Zesty snarled, lunging towards Twilight in a stiff thrusting motion, causing Velvet to leap backwards to avoid being impaled. The book worm could hardly call herself athletic, but she was sure that even the school jocks would be impressed with how fast she turned and hightailed it back the way they came. “Oh, no you don’t! Fire!”
Feeling a strange and intense heat rearing up behind her, Velvet dived to the safe but hard embrace of the tile flooring. With the wind knocked out of her, Twilight missed a ball of flames surging past her and making contact with the pair of double doors she had been making her way towards. That feeling of fear turned into outright horror as she witnessed the fire ball melt the doors together, barring her from escape.
‘But she can’t use magic...!’
Twilight dared not move. Her heart pulse coursed through her entire being as her joints locked up, and she tensed. She heard Zesty’s slow footsteps echoing through the hallway that was theirs and theirs alone. She was alone with her soon to be killer, and she had no idea what she’d even done to earn her wrath.
“Leave her body now, fiend! Or I’ll make you!” Zesty’s venomous voice boomed through Twilight’s ears, through her mind before finally reverberating through her chest like a ping pong ball ricocheting off of her ribcage.
Twilight forced herself to turn onto her back. She saw a brief flash of hesitation as she reached her hand out in a vein attempt to hold Zesty off. “I-I don’t know what you’re-!” But the moment she looked into Twilight’s eyes, she steeled her resolve by impaling Twilight’s hand with her rapier. It went in between the bones of her hand, but seemed to go through the younger teenager’s flesh like it was jello.
Twilight screamed in pain as Zesty removed the blade. Velvet scrambled backwards until she hit the steaming door and pressed herself against the red painted, unusable door. She pressed her hand against her chest, and covered it further with her uninjured hand to prevent blood from leaking out. Fear and adrenaline numbed the pain to a small degree, but that didn’t stop the tears from freely flowing.
‘I’m going to die…’
“I hope she forgives me for what I’m about to do to her…” Zesty said solemnly, almost as if to herself. She began walking towards Twilight, her shoes echoed throughout the empty hallway…
Or almost empty hallway.
‘W-what are those...?’ Velvet almost forgot about her assailant as she stared behind Zesty Gourmand. There, not five feet away from her, a strange looking stretched out shadow slithered across the ground. It snuck up behind Zesty, before condensing in on itself and rising out of the ground, taking the form of a small, black bipedal creature that barely came up to Zesty’s knee. Its body was almost dwarfed by the size of its own head, which was circular with two crooked antenna. It had three fingers on each hand, although Twilight would hardly call them that, as they were more like talons. But what really caught Twilight’s eyes were the two beady yellow eyes, staring at her soullessly.
It twitched and spasmed in place, almost as if it were waiting. Before Twilight knew it, two more identical creatures formed out of the ground, seemingly from nowhere. Once its comrades were by its side, the lead… shadow jumped Zesty, followed a few seconds later by the others.
Zesty yelped in surprise, and stumbled forward. This was her chance! Twilight planted her feet on the ground, pushing herself up. With renewed hope and adrenaline kicking through her veins, the bookworm made a mad dash past her distracted attacker, desperately trying to block out the pain, her shoes squeaking every time her shoes made contact with the floor.
‘This is just a nightmare! It’s just a nightmare! This isn’t possible!’ Twilight thought as she ran, passing classroom after classroom until she noticed a pair of double doors.
“Get back here, fiend! Your Heartless won’t stop me!” Zesty’s voice boomed down the halls. Thinking quickly, Velvet rammed her shoulder into the double doors and collapsed onto the ground due to the momentum.
“Gyah!” Twilight hissed in pain as she hit the floor of the gym. ‘Oh great, I’ll die in my least favorite place on the planet...’
“Yo! You okay, man?” An unfamiliar voice asked to her right. Velvet turned to see a shabby looking girl. Her hair was a long, pink and unkempt mess. She wore a purple tank top, black leather jacket, faded pink short skirt, pink matching tights along with purple leg warmers, a checkered scarf around her neck, blue lightning bolt earrings and lastly, several thick glow sticks that hid both of her wrists, all of which had lost their color. The girl also had what Twilight assumed was a lit joint in her hand.
Before Twilight was able to reply, Twilight heard the sound of flames, most likely those of Zesty’s creation with those fireballs.
The stranger looked out at the hallway confused, “Hey, man, what the flying-!?” Before she could finish, she saw Zesty barreling towards them with rapier in hand. The strange girl wordlessly hooked her arm under Twilight’s and hoisted her up to her feet before she practically dragged Velvet towards the other end of the gym where there was, to Twilight’s relief, a big sign with the word ‘EXIT’ in bold green letters. ‘We’re going to make it!’
“Stop!” Zesty’s shout sounded… off to Twilight. The way she said it didn’t sound anything like a plea or an order. She stated it as fact, as if no matter what, her word would have an effect on the retreating pair.
‘Hah! Joke’s on her, she should have thrown another fire- oof!’ Twilight’s internal victory dance was cut off when she collided with the joint smoker who has suddenly locked in place. “What are you doing!? She’s going to kill us!”
The strange girl didn’t respond. She didn’t move an inch, nor did she even breathe. Twilight was steadily becoming more and more panicked, and when she couldn’t pull her arm away from the girl’s vice grip, she began dry heaving.
“Don’t worry, Ms. Velvet. I won’t kill you.” Zesty walked slowly and methodically towards the helpless girls, rapier dripping with Twilight’s still fresh blood. “But we need to do something about those horrendous eyes.”
“What’s wrong with my eyes!?” Twilight pleaded, the confusion, fear and ebbing adrenaline causing her a headache. She just wanted answers.
Silence. For a while, Twilight thought she broke Zesty with how quiet she became. She was about to call out to her, but finally, she spoke. “Because they’re gold!” she said, as if it were obvious.
Zesty looked the stranger up and down, seemingly sizing her up. “Hmm… her heart isn’t pure enough...” Twilight watched the taller girl as she mulled over her options. “It’s too risky…” With that, she placed the tip if her rapier against the strange girl’s heart.
“No!” Twilight cried out. In that instant, Zesty’s rapier was knocked from her hand by a black spinning weapon that proceeded to imbed itself into the ground straight downwards. Twilight looked on at the bizarre looking weapon… or at least, she assumed it was.
It was almost like a sword but far more wide and intricate, with its dark black handle, with a raised spiral carved around it, and a pommel and double sided guard resembling bat wings. The base of the blade had an etching of a goat, and the shaft was formed from two black, barbed blades, etched with a white icon resembling a bramble of thorns. The teeth were formed in the shape of a demonic wing, and were set with a blue, snake-like eye. At the base, there was a Keychain made of a series of thick grey links ending in a token, which was an entangled grey talisman with an eye almost identical to the one at the end.
Underneath its teeth was Zesty’s rapier. The now weaponless teenager looked to the source of where the blade came from, her eyes narrowing. “You…”
Velvet turned to where she was looking. Sitting on the bleachers was Luke, staring down the senior coldly.
“Luke! Get out of here, she’s crazy! Call the cops!” Twilight pleaded in desperation.
After a moment, Luke stood up from his seat and began walking down the stairs. “I thought I told Eraqus to stop sending his zealots after my Seeker candidates…” His voice was far more monotone than Twilight had ever heard from the white haired boy.
“He didn’t need to! I come here of my own free will, to purge your order from this and every world!”
Twilight felt the girl who was holding her begin to move, but in a downward arc towards the ground. Wrapping her good arm around the hapless bystander’s waist, she began dragging the dazed girl towards the exit quietly, as to not catch Zesty’s attention.
“I’d hardly call my Seekers an ‘order’, zealot. But still, I suppose if I must teach one of the Guardians the natural order of things, then I suppose it’d be more engaging to show up someone with such blind faith as yourself…” Luke hadn’t changed his tone at all, but a cocky smirk tugged at his lips. Twilight watched as the weapon that was holding Zesty’s rapier down vanished, reappearing in Luke’s hand with a flash of light.
Luke bounded towards Zesty, weapon poised to strike the unarmed student. He was right in front of her before she moved, but Velvet watched in awe as Zesty effortlessly backflipped out of the path of Luke’s first strike towards where her rapier was. She bent down to pick it up, but several shadows much like the one that jumped her in the hall emerged from the ground, surrounding her.
Before she was able to properly arm herself, three of the shadows clawed at her back, slashing through her clothes and flesh beneath. Zesty let out a pained gasp, stumbling forward and letting her blade slide across the floor.
Luke watched the scene unfolding with an impassive stare. Unimpressed, he lunged through the shadows, disintegrating the ones in front of Zesty only to ram the tip of his “blade” into her chest, knocking her onto her back. The unharmed shadows melted back into the floor, slinking around Zesty like sharks.
Gourmand bared her teeth, rolling over onto her stomach and crawling towards her rapier. Luke followed alongside her, and as she desperately reached out for her rapier, Luke raised his weapon to point at her chest.
“Firaga.” A burst of flame exited the end of his bizarre weapon, which exploded on impact, sending Zesty flying into the wall of the gym. She slid down, leaving an indent where she hit.
“You’re out of your league, zealot. You’re barely even a fledgling apprentice…” Luke walked up to Zesty’s side, stomping a boot onto her chest. “I hope you’ve learned something from me that your teacher could not.” With that, he took one swing at her head, and a loud cracking sound echoed throughout the gym. Velvet flinched at that sound, nearly dropping the barely conscious stoner.
Luke’s weapon vanished in the blink of an eye. He turned to her and walked towards her casually. Velvet stared at him blankly, mouth agape as she tried to process what had just occurred. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she regained her bearings and looked over Luke’s shoulder at Zesty.
“I-is… is she-?” Twilight began, but could barely finished. ‘She tried to kill me, but… does she really deserve that?’
“No, merely out cold. She will, however, suffer a broken jaw when she wakes up.” Luke replied, easing Twilight’s worry. There was still one more thing on her mind though…
“What the merry mother of flying fuck just happened!?”
Author's Note
I'm still deciding on a few things for the story, and would like input. Any little thing helps.
