Shattered Souls

Chapter 34: Meeting the New Neighbor

The group watched as Duskfall exited the room. The majority then turned their attention to Starlight and Lightning. One an intruder, the other a traitor, yet both had somehow come to a level of understanding with Duskfall.

Lightning still wasn’t sure how she was supposed to be behaving. She wasn’t sure why this dimension’s Rainbow was glaring daggers at her. She was even less sure why a younger version of Rainbow was standing nearby but not looking nearly as hostile. A lesser Pegasus might have balked under the combined gaze of so many, regardless of the fact four of them were Alicorns. Not Lightning Dust, she stood proudly at attention. Starlight was not so resolved.

“So, uh, what happens now?” Starlight asked, nervously looking around, maybe for an escape route, maybe just because she fidgeted when she was nervous.

“Mischief, Mayhem, and Murder, oh my!” Sakura exclaimed.

“Y’all killed Duskfall too. What do you think is gonna happen?” Appletini asked with a raised eyebrow.

“But she likes dying!” Starlight tried to protest.

“The hell is that supposed to mean?” Rainbow asked in confusion. Suddenly something slipped into place for Lightning. Duskfall hadn’t told her friends about her dying kink. Well, to be fair, most people wouldn’t accept that kind of thing. Lightning had to act.

“Throwing oneself into battle to stop megalomaniacs like you doesn’t constitute a love for dying,” Lightning pointed out and if she were talking about anyone other than Duskfall, she was sure it would be true. Starlight spun to Lightning, her jaw dropped in shock.

“I- but- you- SHE TOLD YOU!” Starlight screeched, trying to get into Lightning’s face, but Celestia froze her in place with her magic.

“Told me what? I think Lady Duskfall’s memory dump scrambled your mind more than we assumed,” Lightning remained standing at attention the whole time, presenting the image of a disciplined soldier against the raving, crazy sounding Starlight. Despite how little the group trusted her, they trusted Starlight even less.

“I think we should get you fitted for a restraining ring,” Celestia decided, carrying the still screaming and protesting Unicorn out of the room. Lightning just barely avoided letting a self-satisfied smirk appear on her face. Was it petty? Maybe, but Duskfall had already gotten some measure of revenge against the pain-in-the-ass Unicorn, so Lightning felt it was fine if she got her turn.

Of course, the one downside to taking Starlight out of commission was now the whole room was focused solely on her. The elder Rainbow stalked up to her, never losing that suspicious gaze.

“What’s your game, Lightning?” She asked, eyes narrowed, as if trying to see the deception in her very Soul.

“Which game are you referring to? I’m told I have a mean poker face,” Lightning quipped. This got a few snickered, but the Rainbow before her looked supremely unamused. With a slight eye twitch, she continued.

“You know what I’m talking about! You’re a selfish, arrogant, self important, egomaniac! What’s all this shit about ‘Lady Duskfall’? What are you scheming, Lightning?” Rainbow growled.

“I would like to mention I came from a different dimension entirely, but I also can’t deny anything you’ve said about me. As Lady Duskfall mentioned when she brought up why she felt the need to ‘punish’ me, I was the lowest of the low. Lady Duskfall simply showed me there was a better way and I wished to follow that path with her. Nothing more complicated than that,” Lightning was being as honest as she felt comfortable being around virtual strangers. Sure, she knew most of these faces, but these specific individuals were new to her. Although, with her new lodging in this dimension, that likely wouldn’t remain the case forever.

“And you’re also part Changeling,” Chrysalis noted. Lightning felt it difficult to get a reading on the Changeling Queen. She had known other full blooded Changelings, but Chrysalis was like a mire of emotions Lightning couldn’t quite taste. Lightning imagined this was how other species imagined tasting emotions would be like, a fog of ephemeral flavors that didn’t exactly have a true taste. It didn’t seem to be a trait of this dimension’s Changelings as a whole either, as Lightning had no real issue properly tasting the emotions of the two drones.

“I am whether that helps or hurts my case-” The Pegasus was cut off by a Changeling Queen pouncing on her for a hug.

“You are real living proof that a Changeling/Pony hybrid is feasible! I must know everything! Do you know what you represent?!” Chrysalis squealed as she continued to hug Lightning.

“Uh, not really?” Lightning was baffled and mildly uncomfortable with the spontaneous and ongoing hug.

“What Chrissy is trying to say is that in this dimension, there’s never been a chance to see if Changelings and Ponies could reproduce,” Luna explained, a slight smile on her face, “It has been weighting on her mind quite heavily recently.”

“I should think so! More than a few of my children have started falling in love with Ponies!” At Chrysalis’ words Fluttershy and Thorax blushed slightly, “Of course it’s important to know if they can produce viable offspring and it’s even better to know those offspring will be fertile! By merely existing, this Lightning Dust has shown we can avoid so much heartache!”

“Um, can you let go?” Lightning asked, her wings and ears fidgeting. Chrysalis either didn’t notice her request or ignored her as the Changeling Queen kept giggling happily.

“She just gets like this sometimes. Best to ride it out,” A crème colored Earth Pony remarked before inclining her head, “Coco Pommel, pleased to meet you, Miss Dust.”

“Uh, charmed, I’m sure?” Lightning was terrible at that high society stuff, not made any easier when being snuggled to death.

“Bug Horse, I do believe you should let the poor Pegasus go before she pops something,” Discord snarked, conjuring and then popping a few balloons in Lightning’s color for emphasis.

“You’re not the boss of me,” Chrysalis pouted, but released Lightning anyway. Everyone in the room could sense Chrysalis wanted to keep hugging, her overflowing energy betrayed by her buzzing wings. Lightning felt a surge of gratitude towards this version of the Lord of Chaos before being beset upon by a mint green Unicorn and a grayish green Earth Pony.

“So…you and Duskfall, huh?” The Unicorn asked, beginning to circle Lightning.

“I know she was gone for 350 years, but she never really told us what she got up to,” The Earth Pony remarked, joining the Unicorn in circling her like a pair of sharks.

“But apparently, somewhere along the way, she learned how to make whoopee good enough to win hearts and minds,” The Unicorn continued.

“Do you remember, Lyra, that cute, awkward mess we knew not so long ago, from our perspective?” The Earth Pony asked.

“I do indeed, Bonnie. She seemed so innocent back then, but I suppose 350 years is a long time. It just never really sank in before now, I guess,” Lyra sighed.

“We were ready to upend our lives for that girl, but in the end she went and grew up without us,” Bonnie remarked, a bittersweet smile on her face.

“Uh, if this is all some sort of hazing ritual to see if I’m ‘worthy’ of Lady Duskfall, I can assure you I have no intentions of betraying her,” Lightning tried to interrupt. Something about her statement caused Lyra and Bonnie to crack up.

“Oh, we’re under no illusion that Duskfall needs us to help her take care of herself,” Bonnie snickered.

“And you’re way off the mark with thinking we see Duskfall as our daughter or anything like that,” Lyra assured Lightning, a wide grin on her face.

“No, what we want to know is…” Bonnie began.

“What was it like?” Both mares asked together. Before Lightning could formulate a response, the two Pinkies snuck up behind them and hit them on the heads with inflatable baseball bats.

“Go to horny jail, you two! There are minors present!” One of the Pinkies declared.

“My birthday’s in two months!” The younger Rainbow protested, "And Duskfall literally just got done spilling the beans on what she did while she was dimension hopping! There's no innocence to protect!"

“Minor,” The Pinkie said simply with her counterpart nodding in agreement. The Rainbow made a very frustrated noise, but dropped it.

“Don’t think this conversation is over, missy,” Lyra threatened, pointing menacingly at Lightning.

“And next time, we’ll be talking to you and Duskfall together,” Bonnie giggled, also menacingly. Lightning was about to question how they had managed that, but thought better of it.

“So, I guess Duskfall found someone to confide in,” An amber Unicorn noted, a tinge of hurt that would be undetectable to most coloring her emotions.

“Could’ve found someone better to do it with, Sunset,” Elder Rainbow grumbled. Lightning felt that was entirely fair. Duskfall probably needed someone accepting and grounded to share her darkest secrets with, not a fellow psycho like Lightning.

“I’m just glad she felt she could talk to someone at all. Although, I guess by that metric, she’s also confided in Starlight,” Sunset laughed without mirth.

“For a given value, I suppose you are correct, Sunset,” Luna agreed, her disgust clear on her face and body language, “And a good confidante keeps the confidence of the one who trusts them.”

Lightning couldn’t help but feel nervous after a line like that. She tried not to show it, but her ears refused to stop flicking about. It sounded distinctly like Luna had seen right through Lightning’s attempted redirect with Starlight. The Pegasus was distinctly not looking forward to when the Lunar Diarch decided she wanted answers from herself or Duskfall.

“Well, at the end o’ the day, Duskfall is home, and that’s the important thing,” Appletini remarked, to the agreement of the room.

“Yes, Duskfall’s journey by no means short or easy. It is not something we should expect to full digest and come to terms with in a single afternoon,” Harmonia commented, her tail flicking about.

“Aye, and Duskfall will no doubt wish to have more intimate conversations with some of us based on certain things that she saw and heard,” Luna observed, gaze sweeping over Chrysalis, Discord, and the door where Celestia exited.

“Imagine such a snot nosed punk version of me running around, it’s embarrassing really,” Discord chuckled dryly.

“Poke around long enough, Discord, and you’ll find plenty of embarrassing versions of yourself,” Harmonia remarked and Lightning couldn’t tell if the Greater Spirit of Harmony was being serious or joking.

“In any event, tomorrow I will be heading out to Canterlot to open my new boutique,” The older Rarity announced, “Rainbow, Lightning, you are both welcome to come.”

“Wait, what?!” Rainbow knew all too well how Anwyn operated. This wasn’t an invitation, it was an order, “Anwyn, you can’t be serious!”

“Serious about what, Darling? My invitation? Of course I am,” Anwyn chuckled. Rainbow knew it was already too late and resigned herself to the inevitable. The last time Rainbow had tried to weasel out of an ‘invitation’ like this from Rarity, she had set both Pinkies on her.

“Why do I suddenly have a feeling of dread?” Lightning wondered.

“That’s because you don’t get through two wars without some kind of survival instinct,” Rainbow snarked, her face wearing a sour expression.

“Oh, come now, I’m sure it will be delightful!” Anwyn wasn’t even trying to pretend she wasn’t kidnapping the pair of Pegasai anymore.

Rainbow sulked as no one thought to come to their defense. Bunch of traitors…

Author's Note

Oh wow, this chapter felt a lot better. It was a bitch to write, but now that it's on the page and I've read it as a complete chapter, it just feels infinitely better than last chapter.

Other than that, this week has been mighty stressful. My debit card got hacked, so I had to fix things with my bank to send me a new card. Fortunately, they only stole about 45$ when I caught it, so no real damage done other than waiting a week or so until my new card arrives. Which is still annoying because I really wanted to go grocery shopping, but oh well.

On top of that, my Insurance decided to split my medical and pharmaceutical providers without telling me. So imagine my surprise when I went in to buy my anti-psychotics and I was being charged 500$. It took me a good 6 hours on the phone being looped around to 3 different agencies the whole time to finally figure out what had happened. To make matters worse, I can't remerge the plans so I have to tell all my doctors to resubmit all my prescriptions to the new pharmacy. Because I can't just transfer my meds over either.

Although the pharmacy thing might have been for the best, seeing as I had a clear head to write this chapter with, so count my blessings, I guess.