A Medicine Cat among Ponies

*Rainbow Dash’s POV*

Wow! This was an awesome party!

Emerald asks "By the way, Karei-chan… What’s all this “important business” you were talking about? I mean, you came all the way here to tell us about something, right?"

“Oh, right! You wanted to ask us something?” I remembered.

Karei spoke "Mmhm, well… I actually have a favor to ask of everyone."

Emerald asks "A favor? What is it?"

Danyelle spoke "Don’t keep us in suspense."

Teddie spoke "Ohh ho ho ho, I get it now. Karei-chan’s here to scout me as a brand-new idol, huh!? But I already have an exclusivity deal with Junes. Me, an idol… I don’t know if I could bear the pressure!"

“Uh, no…” Emerald and I said with a bead of sweat.

Kaze spoke "Dude, you’re just a part-timer anyway."

OC-verse Twilight asks "Can I kick him?"

Ido spoke "Hahaha, well… maybe not the idol part, but he’s not completely off track."

Karei spoke "*Gasp!* Ido-san! I told you I wanted to say it…!"

Ido spoke "Hahaha, sorry, just trying to help! You seemed like you were at a loss for words."

Kaze asks "Wh-Whoa, hold on! I-I’m not sure I get it! Could you explain what’s going on!?"

Twilight asks "Yeah, what is it?"

Kare spoke " W-Well…"

Seiko spoke "Karei wants us to help her stage her comeback. She wants to use us as her backup dancers."

“Backup dancers!?” Most of us gasped in surprise.

Emerald spoke "Ohhhhh, I see, backup dancers! Right! Phew, I was kinda surprised there, ahaha…"

Shima asks "Emerald, you know what a backup dancer is?"

Emerald asks "Well, I mean… not exactly… But since it has “backup” in it, it’s nothing too big, right…?"

Kanji asks "Backup dancers are just… that, right? Y’know, guys that dance… in the back?"

Emerald spoke "Ahhh, okay, I get it. Dancing in the back! So that’s what we’re going to…!"

Goryuu spoke "Yep, you figured it out."

Emerald asks "You mean w-we’re going to dance!? B-Backing up Karei-chan!? Us…!?"

Karei spoke "That’s right. I’m scheduled to star in this Love Meets Bonds festival coming up… And I told my agency that if I’m going to appear in it, I wanted you guys on stage with me! They okayed it, so here I am. Soooo… Please, everyone… I want you to dance with me onstage at the Live Meets Bonds Fest next two days!"

Kaze spoke "Wha-Whoa whoa whoa! Next day after tomorrow!? On stage with an idol!? Th-That’s an impossible deadline! I mean, I don’t even know where to start! Look, if we could somehow be expert dancers in two days, then everyone in school would be professionals!"

Danyelle spoke "I got it! We could hand out flyers for the performance!"

Shima spoke "Yeah! Dancing together sounds like a lot of fun. I’d like to try."

Kaze asks "Wha…!?"

Shima asks "After all, Karei-chan personally asked us. Plus, we learned how to dance during PE at school, right?"

Emerald asks "Oh yeah, we did. Like this, and this, and one of these… hwataaaa! Right?"

…Could use some work.

Kanji asks "Pretty sure we never did that… *To Seiko, Miran, Sunao and Kochuu* You guys already knew about this, huh? So… you’re okay with it?"

Seiko spoke "Karei was in trouble, after all."

Miran spoke "Yeah, we didn’t mind."

Kaze spoke "Yeesh. That right there is real generosity…"

Rarity asks "Excuse me?!?"

Kanji spoke "Then I don’t got a reason to say no either! I’m in!"

Goryuu spoke "Hehe, count me in too."

Teddie asks "Sounds like fun! I know all about that stuff! It’s like, “Yo my name’s Teddie I’m a lyrical beast/I love the ladies and Personas and Topsicle feasts!” …Right?"

Heifa spoke "*deadpan* Teddie, that’s rapping."

Kaze spoke "*Bead of sweat* Are you serious!? That’s not even close to dancing! No one’s even trying to back out of this one, huh…"

Sunao spoke "To be honest, Kochuu and I expected this reaction. We were surprised as well when we heard about her plans, but the two of us imagined this is how it would turn out."

Kochuu spoke "So it doesn’t really surprise us."

Kanji spoke "Appearing in this thing’s fine and all, but do we even have the time to practice? Senpai, Miran, Sunao and Kochuu ain’t around here for long, and we don’t know what the hell we’re supposed to do.

Emerald spoke "Oh, that’s right, huh!? We have classes, so it’s not like we can just visit your studio every day…

Shima spoke "True… I’ll be pretty busy helping out at home as well.

Ido spoke "You don’t need to worry about that. Let’s see… Hold on just a moment. *Gives out something* Here… These magic memory discs, or known as MMDs, have all the steps you’ll need for the routine we’re using at LMB. Karei-chan also said she’ll be coming here to practice with you whenever her schedule allows. These come with commentary by a famous instructor, so it should be all you need to practice on your own. Oh, and if you’re really gonna be dancing, I’ll have a talk with your guardians. There’s gonna be a lot of view mirrors, and I’ll need their permission before I can put you guys on TM."

Emerald asks "Yikes… We’re gonna be on TM!?"

Teddie spoke "Wow…! Finally, Teddie’s grand debut in living rooms across the nation!"

Seiko spoke "*A bit surprised* TM, huh…? That Miran and I didn’t know."

Kaze asks "*Bead of sweat* Don’t you have to find out all the details before you just sign off on this kind of stuff!?"

Kiko spoke "*Giggle* Looks like no one has changed still."

OC-verse Danyelle spoke "Speaking of mmds, I could get in touch with Miku. She's a really good dancer and can help train the others who are taking part in the event."

Karei asks "*Smile* Then that's that! I'm so happy, thank you so much, everyone! Are you okay too, Kaze-senpai?"

Kaze spoke "*Sigh* Well, this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance... And saying no isn't really gonna do much at this point... *Smile* Alright, fine. Let's do this!"

Shima spoke "Karei-chan herself will be teaching us. I'm sure we'll manage!"

Seiko spoke "Yeah. Let's do our best."

OC-verse Danyelle groans "And my idea got ignored...."

Karei asks "No, I heard it, and I think that could help. But why do I feel like that sounded familiar?"

OC-verse Danyelle asks "What did you mean by that?"

Redux Aphmau was in harpy form for some odd reason.

Kaze spoke "Heheh... Now that it's been decided, time to get hyped! Don't blame me if my slick moves send you head over heels for me!"

Shima spoke "*As Kiko giggled* Oh, don't worry, that's impossible."

Emerald asks "Wait, you can dance?"

Kaze asks "Hey, don't butt in like that! I'm trying to pump myself up here! Do I have to explain everything!?"

Foot, meet mouth.

Ido spoke "Hahaha, glad to hear it. I'd better start recording, then."

Ido brought a small mirror out of his bag.

Kanji asks "Recording? Wait... that some kinda mirror?"

Ido spoke "Well, I mean, since it's decided that you ARE going to perform... I thought it'd be interesting if we recorded the practices for documentary material. Reality TM is pretty big these days. It might be good publicity for Karei-chan. Something like "The Road to Karei Shinai's Comeback!"

Karei spoke "*Giggle!* Plus! I thought that might be an important thing to have when we're practicing for the show."

Emerald asks "What, a mirror?"

Karei spoke "Well, that too, but something more important. I'm gonna be honest with you... dance practice is way harder than you might think. Rhythm in dance needs a lot of movement you just don't do in your everyday life. So bringing you guys up to on-stage quality, getting that muscle memory down within two days...? Honestly, it's gonna be hard. Even for me.

Sunao spoke "K-Karei-san, that sounds unnecessarily ominous..."

Karei spoke "Sorry, but it's the truth. So, if we can put our feelings right now into words, and share it with everyone when we're feeling down... *Smile* We can remember that feeling when we need it most, help each other back up, and get on the right track again."

Seiko spoke "I see... So it's a way of connecting all our feelings. Alright, let's do it."

Karei spoke "Exactly! So we'll go around the group, and we'll all declare our resolutions for the mirror. Okay? Who'll go first? Hmm... guess I'll pick..."

Danyelle spoke "I'm more of a singer, same with the sirens."

"I'm in on the dancing!" I smirked.

Azure spoke "No offense Dashie but you have four left hooves when it comes to dancing."

"I can improve!" I pouted.

Though still in diapers, Mint was twirling about in the air as she danced.

Azure chuckles "Looks like we've got a little ballerina on our hooves, eh Dashie?"

"Oh." I noted. "Then I gotta get better so I can look cool for our foal!"

Mint spoke "Mama, you alweady cool as is!"

I couldn't help by nuzzle Mint. "Thanks, kiddo. But it's not like I can't get any cooler for you and papa."

Mint cheered and clapped her hooves at that.

Bold was soon on my head.

Bold spoke "Mama!"

Azure spoke "Hehe, if Mint and Bold are cheering you on, I guess I'll cheer you on too."

Danyelle teleported somewhere before reappearing with a Pegasus mare along with two unicorn bodyguards.

Danyelle spoke "I have an idea Karei, you could perform with this mare if you want."

Karei asks "Wait, you're serious?"

Danyelle spoke "The sirens and I will be handing out flyers though."

Ben asks "Want me to get the flyers out, babe?"

Danyelle spoke "It's okay Ben, I've got this covered."

Ben spoke "You sure? Don’t want you to stress yourself."

Danyelle spoke "StarClan's sakes Ben... I'm pregnant, not disabled..."

Ben spoke "Yeah, but we know how emotional you can be while pregnant."

Danyelle spoke "I heard that OC-verse Twilight was WAY worse when she was pregnant with twins since one was bigger than the other."

OC-verse Twilight spoke "I can hear you, ya know."

OC-verse Danyelle spoke "SIT GIRL!"

OC-verse Twilight was soon face down on the ground.

Danyelle giggles "That doesn’t get old."

OC-verse Danyelle spoke "You should have seen how snippy my world's Twilight got when Ein pranked her. Of course, this was all before the whole Kurama thing."

Soon, we got to work. Surprisingly, Twi, AJ, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Sunset, Starlight, Trixie and Spottedleaf volunteered too, some others joined too while the Dazzlings volunteered for the singing like Danyelle did. Soon, us participating got great outfits each with a yellow scarf or ribbon. Later, I was with AJ, Spot, Dagi, Seiko, Sunao and Karei as we met an idol group known as Kanamin Kitchen and their manager, Ms. Kyoka Ochimizu, a female changeling. The leader was a female sheep known as Tomoe Sayama, another member was a female Diamond Dog known as Kanami Mashita, one was a female chicken ornithian known as Tamami Uesugi, there was surprisingly a female pterolycus known as Sumomo Ujima, who might be a bit older than the CMCs, and the fifth was a female earth pony known as Nozomi Nakahara, who had a cutie mark of a rose with an eighth note. In the afternoon, the six of us were still at the studio practicing while hearing about all of Kanamin Kitchin suddenly going missing as we saw Kanamin’s real appearance, but we accepted her for who she really is. Soon, we were getting ready to head back to the other as we discussed what was going on. There were guesses of what’s happening being a promotional stunt, but that seemed much.

Sunao spoke "I see… By the by, there’s something I’d like to mention which may have no bearing on this case… I heard an odd rumor regarding the festival."

Seiko asks "An odd rumor?"

Sunao spoke "IYes. If you got to the festival website at midnight, it plays an unusual video. The video shows an idol known to be dead dancing in it… Those who watch the video to the end are taken to the “other side” and never awaken… or so the rumor goes."

Karei asks "Wh-Whoa, Sunao-kun! Where is this coming from?"

Sunao spoke "II’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to scare you. O-Of course, I don’t believe this tall tail about some dead idol… Not one bit!"

Hehe, yeah right.

OC-verse Danyelle spoke "I think that's a load of bullshit."

OC-verse Twilight spoke "And can you not talk about ghosts though? I'd rather not deal with a screaming cat and a screaming wolf..."

"When did you two get here?" I asked.

OC-verse Danyelle spoke "Just a few seconds ago."

Karei asks "*Smile* Sunao-kun... You're scared, huh?"

Sunao spoke "...Yes. But that isn't important! I didn't bring this up to talk about that!"

Well, no time to be worrying right now.

Seiko spoke "Go on, Sunao."

Sunao spoke "Yes, a-anyway... There's something that disturbs me about this rumor."

Applejack asks "Like whut?"

Sunao asks "Well... doesn't it seem a bit similar to our prior experiences...?"

Seiko spoke "When you looked at a switched-off TM at midnight on a rainy day, you'll see your soulmate... You're talking about the Midnight Mirror."

Okay, I guess that makes sense.

Sunao spoke "Of course, it's justified to say how much we can trust these sorts of rumors. On the other hand or hoof... this particular rumor has some troubling aspects to it."

Adagio asks "Like...?"

Sunao spoke "...There had been genuine victims. And their numbers have been rapidly increasing. Though naturally, there's no proven correlation between the victims and the rumor. It's quite possible that the rumor sprung up in reaction to the the victims... But it's a fact that a good handful of creatures are in a comatose state right now."

"A coma..." Seiko, AJ, Spot and I noted.

Karei asks "Seriously...? I've never heard about that. Hey, is something like before happening again...?"

Sunao spoke "There's no knowing whether this is a "case" yet or not. I only briefly heard about it yesterday during work. I was going to look into it, and if it did turn out to be connected to that case... I thought it might be necessary for me to consult everyone about it."

Seiko asks "The LMB website at midnight, huh...?"

Seiko and I looked at the clock, and it was 11:58, almost midnight. We could find out right now...

Seiko asks "It's almost midnight. Why don't we check it out for ourselves?"

Sunao spoke "...I knew you'd say that. In all honesty, I doubt that this rumor has anything to do with the disappearances... But all the same, it may be faster to get to the bottom of this rumor ourselves."

Karei asks "W-Wait, you want us to look at it right here, right now!?"

Spottedleaf spoke "Yep, that's what it sounds like."

Karei asks "Geez, fine! But we're all gonna look at it together! Whatever happens, no running away, okay!?"

OC-verse Twilight spoke "I have a bad feeling about this. Even Matatabi thinks so too."

Karei spoke "Let’s see… Love… Meets… Bonds… Oh, here it is, the official LMB site."

Karei brought out her compact and brought up the site, but it didn’t look like anything happened.

Sunao spoke "The site appears to be operating normally…"

Karei spoke "See? Nothing’s coming up. That rumor has to be fake."

Seiko, Spot and I checked the clock, now one minute before midnight. Let’s hope nothing weird happens.

Karei gasps "Wait-What is this!?"

We saw something new displayed on the compact, seeing crackling static and eerie light flickers, accompanied by infinite shadows swaying barely visible. We saw an unknown silhouette in front of a web that looked like it was made of yellow ribbons.

Sunao asks "They do look like creature silhouettes. *Video now showing the silhouette dancing in front of other dancing silhouettes with an eerie song playing* And they seem to be dancing, don’t they?"

We then saw another unknown silhouette grasping, like it was against the other side of the mirror before it was all static.

Sunao spoke "…That’s all of it."

Karei spoke "Th-This has to be just a prank! I’m gonna check with the admins about this. Oh, or it’s part of Ms. Ochimizu’s PR! I bet she spreads that weird rumor to get Kanami’s group to sell more…!"

But then I heard something as I noticed Seiko, AJ, and Spot’s ears twitch, same with OC-Verse Danyelle’s. What was that?

Sunao asks "What’s the matter, Senpais? *As that strange noise sounded again* …Did you hear something just now?"

Seiko spoke "Yeah, I heard it too."

Karei asks "No way… So it wasn’t just me…?"

OC-verse Twilight was growling.

But then we felt the atmosphere change before hearing a female eerie voice. “Hahaha…”

Seiko asks "A voice…!?"

But then a purple rift emitting an eerie light appeared on the ceiling.

Sunao asks "What… is that…?"

An eerie voice spoke "Come, Karei Shinai… I’ve prepared a place just for you…"

Karei asks "Wh-Who’re you!? How do you know my-!?"

But all of a sudden yellow ribbons erupted and coiled around each and every one of us in the room, dragging us up into the rift.

Karei spoke "Eeeeeek!"

Sunao spoke "Aaaah…!

Seiko spoke "Ngh…!

“What’s going on?!” I yelled before everything went white, then black.

To be Continued....