Team Superstars: Regain The Strength

It was three days since the attack…

Inside Pipp’s salon, Mane Melody, two particular ponies were working. Jazz sat down on a stool, painting a customer’s hooves as he chatted away about the award his daughter won at school a few days ago. He sounded very proud, but she couldn’t brush her fear away. She tried her best to not think about it, but it kept coming. Who was this griffon? Griffons exist? Why did she want their magic, anyway? What was she planning to do with it? Maybe she knew where it all came from and why she even had it?

“Oh yeah, she also scored 100% in her test two months ago, I treated her with a new Bluey set, not sure why she wanted one.” The stallion finished, Jazz snapped out of her thoughts as she finished making a yellow stripe on his hooves.

”She did?” She asked, her voice trembling slightly. “Congratulations! You must be very proud, Speedy Fisher” She said, smiling a bit, which the stallion knew was a fake smile, he raised a brow, as he looked down at her, he was pretty tall, having a little bit of horse DNA in him. Perhaps some of his ancestors were big horses instead of little ponies. Which would be rather a discovery, where did all those big tall horses go, anyway? Somewhere else in Equestria? Likely yes, but far from the ponies.

”Are you okay?” He asked her, noticing how uneasy she was. Noticing her looking down the window with concern before glancing at hos hooves, avoiding eye contact.

”O-Oh yeah!, I’m fine.” She said, brushing his concern aside. Followed by her fidgeting her hooves together and tapping her hind ones against the stool she was sitting on. She let out a deep breathe, trying to assure herself the griffon wasn’t to return, maybe she on,y wanted Zoom’s? She did have a shield barrier and super speed, after all, there are many who would want those, right?

”You look worried about something?” The stallion responded. It was clear he hadn’t read or heard of the blog Pipp put up to warn ponies of the griffon. Or maybe that wasn’t on his mind at the moment, or perhaps he just didn’t want to bring it up for whatever reason.

”Oh, just a thing, you don’t need to worry about it.” Jazz slightly chuckled, “Unless you want, but- Don’t worry about me- You are here to have your hooves done, not to worry about earless ponies, okay?” She questioned with a nervous smile.

”Okay?” He raised a brow.

“Good.” She kept looking up at him and quickly changed the subject smiling slightly, trying to hide her worries. “I’m glad you love your hooves, they look gorgeous!” She asked.

”Yeah, I guess they, do, thanks!” He exclaimed the paused. “Are you sure you are okay?”

”I’m fine!” She waved a hoof and happily watched as the stallion got up and went to the door, he gazed worriedly back at her once more before leaving, having already paid for the design. He didn’t have the time to try and get an answer from her, plus he felt it was none of his business and he wasn’t the right pony, he didn’t know her well, so maybe she’d open up to somepony closer. She wiped some sweat from her forehead and put away the polish on the table, she slowly gazed down at her hooves. It’s been a while since they glowed or she used any of the magic that came with it, since it never really came in handy. She sighed a bit, wondering why the griffon needed them, what kind of crazy strong power did they come with, other than those strong blasts of light that only happened during the quest to defeat Dark Matter and haven't happened since? Perhaps that’s what she was after? But it only affected those affected by Dark Matter and such, it had no effect on anything else! Was there even more to these crazy powers?

”Hey Jazz!” Rocky exclaimed, Jazz jumped out of her skin, falling off her stool with a squeal, eyes winded as the fur on her back stood at an end and her jaw on the ground with her rump up against the stool, poking in the air.

“R-rocky!?” She exclaimed as she looked at him, getting up and brushing herself off, calming down at the sight of her friend.

”You okay, Jazz? You seem a little sweaty…” He asked with concern. “And a but jumpy…”

”I-it’s fine, Rocky.” She said, grabbing a duster and pretending to do some dusting, hoping she’d have another customer soon. To keep her mind off the griffon and the powers she had. She felt ill just thinking about it.

“You’re thinking about the griffon, aren’t you?” He asked, watching as she froze and dropped the duster, slowly turning around. She gulped as she gazed at him, her heart was thumping in her chest like it wanted to escape. Her mouth felt a little dry as she gazed at him.

“N-No-“ She said then sighed, knowing there was no point pretending in front of Rocky, who knew of the situation like she did. It’d be obvious to him it was worrying her. Y-yes…” She said quietly, looking down a bit. She could feel tears well up in her eyes from the stress, not having slept very well the night before. Who would if there was a dangerous thief of some sort after you for your powers hunting you down like a prey and a predator. Rocky looked at her sadly, putting a hoof on her to comfort her.

“Jazz…” He said slowly, watching as she looked up at him, looking tired. He didn’t know exactly how to say it, which was unusual. “I… Uh… I’m sure it’ll end just fine, everything before ended just fine, right?” There was a pause as Jazz looked at him, a tear going down her cheek as she shivered slightly. Her heart was thumping. She was scared of the griffon, she was scared for those effected by when she attacked Zoom, too! She wanted to do something.

”I-I-“ She chocked as she spoke, looking at him, suddenly hugging him and crying into his chest, her voice muffled. “I can't!” She shouted, sobbing a bit. “It’s too much, the griffon! It’s too much for me! She’s gonna attach us and I can’t do anything about it! I’m not prepared for this!” She shouted. “Sh-she’s gonna attack at any moment, it’s gonna be sudden, we won’t be ready! I-I can’t do this!”

“I-it’s” Rocky spoke but paused. “Sunny and friends dealt with villains before!” He responded, hiding his own fear and worry for her sake. “I’m sure they got a plan for when she comes back, even if we don't expect it, it’s going to end okay, in the end…”

”How do you know!?” She spat.

”I-I don’t…” Rocky responded, feeling her shivering from his touch, his ears were as far as they could go at this point. But he had to stay positive, for her sake. “I mean… We didn’t lose, yet. Right?” He asked, with a cheesy smile. He felt Jazz breath in deeply and sighing.

“I guess.” She said. “But what about later-“

”Shhh…” He said hugging her now, wiping her tears. “They’re getting it under control. I know they’ll figure this all out eventually, they saved magic before. What matters now is we are still here, together and still alive… Don’t get you tail in a knot about it, okay?” Jazz nodded softly as she rested up against Rocky, her heart was still racing. She didn’t know what to do if Gumdrop came for her powers. Perhaps Rocky was right, but what if he wasn’t? She had so many thoughts and emotions rushing through her head, but she just had to trust him

Alphabittle was polishing a teacup one morning, back at the tearoom after a camping trip, taking a glance at the unicorns. The tearoom was quieter at night now, since unicorns were scared by the news, believing they’d get jinxed if they were out at night. Thanks to some ponies deciding to twist the story, but at least only a quarter of unicorns believed in that. The griffon wasn’t after them, it was after those born with those Superstar Powers! He was already prepared with a small plan of what to do when the griffon came back. He and a few others would distract the griffon while Onyx got away, as far as she could with the powers, to protect them. No one knew where the griffon lived, where she came from or when she’d be back, Living your life in fear of being suddenly attacked at any moment wasn’t fun. He hoped Misty was okay back at the Brighthouse where Sunny and her friends would have explained the best they could, he actually put it in his mind to give a phone call to check up on her later, imagine coming home to such an intense moment. After he put down the teacup, a certain two entered.

”A-are you sure you aren’t scared?” Asked Dapple.

”No.” Onyx responded, looking chill, but not even looking at him as he spoke, just listening as she walked along.

”So you are not scared of ending up like Zoom?”

”I’m prepared for the pain.” She shrugged, not wanting to say much.

“The pain!?” Asked Dapple, it was rare for him and Onyx to disagree on something, how can she be so chill about this? “What about running for your life just to escape?” He stopped, eyes widened in terror. “Who knows what will happen next.”

”Chill Daps.” She said, putting a hoof on his muzzle. “I don’t want you to get your curly tail in a knot. Okay?”

He looked at her puzzled the looked at his bushy curly green tail and back at her. “That’s possible?”

“It’s a figure of speech. Let’s not panic yet, better to prepare than panic.” She said softly before she looked down at her hooves, deep in thought as questions appeared in her mind, along with possibilities. She blinked ss she shrugged them away, looking at her friend again.

”You can do both at once!” He cried before sitting down at a table, not getting a response as Onyx asked for some tea. Soon sitting down herself as Dapple nervously tapped on the table, looking around him. Feeling rather uncomfortable, his heart racing at the thought of the griffon. What if Onyx can’t get away? Will she be alone? Will Jazz be on the run, too? Where will they both run to and hide? He gazed at Onyx, noticing her ears were a little droopy as she seemingly got stuck in thought again, possibly thinking of something, not paying attention to what he was saying as the idea of running away entered her mind, she wasn’t really sure why she was thinking of that, maybe it was because she heard another unicorn’s conversation how they would abandon the town when danger came and run away. She blinked when confusion entered her mind, not focusing on Dapple’s rambling, until he said her name.

“Onyx! You sure you aren’t scared?” Dapple asked. “I heard the griffon had powerful magic. How can you even defend yourself, anyway? Your superstar Powers are only healing and- What was it again?”

She glanced at him without a word, squinting a little before raising her hooves up to the table, both of then soon glowing with sharp white light, little specks drifting off. She did two simple taps and then a small snow cloud appeared over her head. “Weather change…” She said quietly, gesturing to the cloud as it floated to the middle of the table. It rained a bit onto the table, creating a small puddle before disappearing.

“Oh yeah, the little fella?” He questioned, knowing she can whip up a storm, but it takes a lot out of her, and she hadn’t had much use for it anyway. Besides special effects during dramatic poetry, like wind. “Guess you could use that to create a massive storm to protect yourself?” He suggested before Onyx coughed while trying to not think about that unicorn’s conversation, why was she so fixated on it?

“Would take too much energy that I would likely need to escape, besides, it could be extremely dangerous and damage surrounds.”

Dapple gazed at her and paused, sighing slightly as she knew she was right. She already passed out once from whipping up a huge storm with that power, she can’t be fainting while on the run. “Y-yeah, that’s true. But what will you do when the time comes?”

She opened her mouth but shut it again, gulping spit as she thought about her words, finding it a little hard to say. She wanted to suggest running, but just thinking about it made her rethink that unicorn’s conversation, it wasn’t directed towards her, but it was stuck in her mind. She inhaled a bit before managing to speak, but bluntly. “But… We should be prepared, if we need yo fight back.” Onyx said quietly, not wanting to fight, but she didn’t want to run either, just the idea of abandoning her friend made her sick to the stomach, she didn’t know why, but it felt like something was missing as she began to overthink, something she rarely did. Or so she thought she hardly ever did it, but why was she doing it? She wasn’t really focusing as her tea arrived, she grabbed it, not noticing something happening behind her before a tomato whizzed past her head and splattering on the table, near her tea, Dapple looking down at it before looking at the offender in disgust before she, herself turned around to see a familiar apple red unicorn flick aside his tan and dark red striped mane. Gripping onto the slingshot with his hooves that had tan sock markings

”Agate...” Onyx said quietly as said unicorn smirked while holding his slingshot rather smug.

”Like a tomato catapult?” He laughed, ignoring it was a slingshot instead.

”What are you doing, here, Agate?” Asked Dapple, looking rather annoyed at the fact it almost hit Onyx or her tea.

“Just checking out with my buds!” He said, giving Onyx a punch to the shoulder, enough to hurt. But she didn’t show that it was hurt, only glanced at him and back at the table.

“We aren’t buds.” Dapple said bluntly before Onyx could speak. “You haven't been showing us anything besides bitterness for at least two or three years. Starting when magic returned”

“It’s been two years?” Laughed Agate. “Well, your bland, depressing poetry is still the same, isn’t it? After all these years!”

”Knock it off, Agate!” Dapple warned, raising his voice. “It’s just her style. Don’t like it, then don’t listen!”

“Fine, fine.” Agate only scoffed and flicked his mane before walking off. “Later, losers!”

Dapple rolled his eyes and eyed Onyx, noticing she was looking shallow as she looked down at her tea, she was hardly bothered by Agate, did he finally get to her? “You okay, Onyx? He’s a complete jerk.”

”Nothing worse than usual.” She shrugged before seeing a smirk appear in his face, a slightly cheeky one as he glanced at Agate and back at her. “Actually, he didn’t stay around as long as usual…” She said, a bit confused but also sounding sad.

“You don’t reckon that you might be able to maybe…” He said, tapping his hooves slightly. Looking at the puddle and at Onyx’s hooves, who soon caught on. Her response being rather cold and bitter.

”No.”

”What!? Why not?” He asked out loud. “It’ll just be a small cloud, after all the things he did-“

”Not doing it.” She shook her head slightly before sipping her tea, pausing as she thought about what to say, glumly looking at her hoof as her ears drooped back down, questioning why she was the one with the power, was she really worthy of this whole mysterious effect. “It’s my responsibility to use these powers safely, he’s just trying to get a response… He’s done nothing dangerous.” She said, hoping he’d stop asking these questions. She never even asked to have these powers in the first place, she just wanted to be quiet and herself…

”I guess.” He said before getting up, failing to notice her reactions. “Well, what about the griffon?” He whispered. “You’d use it on her, right?”

She looked up at him, hoping this would be the last question. “It’ll depend on the situation…” She said before looking down at her tea, trying to hide her concerns. The truth was she was scared of what was going to happen. She never even wanted these powers in the first place, adventure wasn’t her thing, she was glad the first one was over, but now another one? “But I have a bad feeling it won’t completely end this.” She said, having a bad feeling about this, she looked at Dapple with an unimpressed but slightly concerned feeling. She didn’t want to lose him, she didn’t want to risk him getting hurt, he was her best friend, one of the few ponies that actually knew her well. She didn’t want to abandon anypony, either, if that’s what running away meant, because that’s what it did for her.

“You are scared, right?” He asked.

“I’ll be fine once it blows over. I was fine last time, wasn’t I?” She asked with a slight smug expression before sadly looking out the door as it opened when a pony entered. There was a feeling in her gut she couldn’t shrug off, that she was hiding. Perhaps she could put this in a poem, this uneasy feeling could make for a great one, she thought. But she was worried on why she felt so uneasy, she didn’t usually feel this way. She did feel scared for the griffon, but just running away, leaving everypony and everything behind just felt wrong, giving her a deep pit in her stomach.

Far away, in the abandoned building, Trixie was witnessing something with a nervous expression. She could only see Gumdrop’s shadow, it sounded like she was talking to someone on the phone.

“RJ- I mean Stripes, was it?” Gumdrop chuckled. “I got one of the targets down. Just let me know when you find the location of the next one, okay? Your award should be waiting once they are all down, got it?”

Trixie gulped, not knowing who Stripes was, but this did not sound good at all.