Shadows of the Past 2

Took me a bit longer than I thought, but here's chapter 2. Oh, I did change Sweet Tart's name to Sweet Note - made more sense for a musician, after all.


Shadows of the Past

Chapter II: The Party

The party started early, but that was mostly because Pinkie couldn’t contain herself.

When the seven friends entered the pavilion, they were greeted by loud music, long tables of food, lots of them sweets, endless bowls of drinks, and about five hundred ponies dancing, playing games, or just hanging out talking.

“My word!” Cello said. “Is the whole town here?”

“I think so,” Truffles said. “At least, that was the plan.”

“The whole town? Seriously?” Catseye asked.

“Of course,” Truffles replied. “It wouldn’t be fair if she didn’t.”

“Ah, well, I better get with Octavia,” Cello said.

“Hey, home come we can’t hear this noise from outside?” Cloud Dreamer asked as Cello walked away.

“Magic,” Star Chaser said.

At that moment, a brown Pegasus with a green mane suddenly fluttered over to them.

“Hey! Wind Blaster!”

“Oh, hey, Lotus,” Wind Blaster said. “Uh, everyone, this is Lotus Bloom, the second best Pegasus at school. She’s a year ahead of me, actually – graduated last year.”

Lotus chuckled, and said, “You say that to everypony.”

“Well, everypony is second best to me,” Wind Blaster said with a smile. “Except Rainbow Dash, I mean.”

She turned slightly, and said, “Hello, Cloud Dreamer, Catseye.”

“Hello,” they both said.

“Oh, uh, Lotus,” Wind Blaster said, “these are my friends – Star Chaser, Truffles, and Wheat Chaff.”

They exchanged greetings, and then Lotus said, “Let’s dance!”

Not waiting for an answer, Lotus grabbed him, and pulled him onto the dance floor.

The others watched, a little bemused, and then Cloud Dreamer said, “Well, may as well join in. It is for us, after all.”

She took a little leap, and glided to a table stacked with food.

“For some pony that doesn’t like hay and grass,” Truffles commented, “she sure does eat a lot.”

Wheat Chaff chuckled, and said, “C’mon, we better make sure Applejack doesn’t need our help.”

Star Chaser and Catseye found themselves alone together.

“Well?” Star Chaser said after a moment. “Aren’t you going to have some fun?”

“I guess,” she replied. “What about you?”

“Well, I can’t dance,” he said, making a gesture with his muzzle at his neatly folded legs under him. “And games kind of bore me, and I’m not hungry. I think I’ll just sit here, and talk to other ponies.”

Catseye seemed to hesitate for a moment, then suddenly blurted, “You think I’m terrible for what I’ve done to Cello, don’t you?”

Star Chaser didn’t look surprised by this change of topic. He just looked back at her, and said, “That’s between you and him. I don’t judge.”

“You must have some opinion,” she replied, flustered.

Star Chaser seemed to weigh something in his mind, and said, “I do. But again – it’s not my place.”

“I . . . just . . .” Catseye trailed off.

Star Chaser waited a moment, then said, “You just what?”

“Never mind,” Catseye said with a sigh. “This isn’t the place. I’m sorry I brought it up.”

Star Chaser shrugged, or rather, his version of a shrug, since his legs from the shoulder and hip down didn’t work, which amounted to a quick tilt of his head.

“It’s obviously bothering you. If you want, after the party, we can talk.”

“I’d like that,” she said.

“Hey, Star Chaser!”

Star Chaser turned, and saw three unicorns walking towards him. In the lead was a gray pony, with black stripes, and a dark yellow and teal stripped tail and mane.

“If you’ll excuse me,” Star Chaser said, inclining his head towards Catseye.

Catseye looked a little disappointed, but said, “Of course.”

A short time later, the town’s musicians came onto the stage and sang some songs. During a break, Cello spotted Truffles watching him in the audience, and came down to visit with her a bit, while Octavia sang.

Truffles listened in bemusement for a couple of minutes, then turned to Cello, saying, “I can’t believe they love the Beatles so much here. Isn’t that All the Lonely People?”

Cello chuckled, and said, “Yeah, except it’s All the Lonely Ponies, of course.”

Truffles listened a bit more, and said, “And you put Octavia instead of Eleanor Rigby into it?”

“Whoever heard of a pony named Eleanor Rigby?” Cello pointed out.

Truffles could just shake her head. “What else did you do to them?”

“Well, Strawberry Field hasn’t changed much, and maybe if you ask nicely, Sweet Note will do her rendition of Dashie in the Sky with Rainbooms.”

Truffles stared for a moment in utter shock. “What?”

“Well, she’s got a bit of a crush on her, and when I started bringing in Beatles songs, she came up with that.”

Truffles just stared for a moment, then said, “I need some punch.”

“Just as well,” Cello said. “I have to get ready.”

Cello went backstage, and got ready.

As promised, Cello had an unusual solo in which he played not only his cello, but a trumpet and saxophone as well! He used magic to control the cello and trumpet, and attended to the saxophone personally. All the ponies were impressed, the unicorns a little more-so, for they knew how difficult it was to manipulate two items separately, while using a third would be even more complex! Even Star Chaser, normally reserved for these events, thumped his braided tail on the ground – the closest he could come to stomping his feet. He also made a mental note to ask how Cello “blew” on the trumpet.

Then, after the song, Cello put away all his instruments, and nodded to the back stage. A moment later, Lyra and Octavia came out, with their instruments. They posed themselves behind Cello.

“This party is for those of us that have turned twelve today, which is an unusually high number of ponies, or so I’m told.”

Cheers and laughter greeted Cello’s words.

When they died down, Cello continued, “We were orphans, from far away, and you took us into your town, your homes, your families – you made us part of the family.”

He paused a moment, obviously trying to control his emotions. A couple of sniffles could be heard.

“For those of you with families, you can’t imagine what it’s like to loose your family, to loose all that you love. To feel alone in the world. And more alone than others because – you don’t quite fit in. But that never seemed to matter to any of you. You accepted us as if we were your long lost brothers and sisters. I expected, at the best, to be treated like some cousins that you didn’t know you had – friendly, but distant. I was very happy to see that wasn’t true. And, I’m glad I can call everypony here a friend.”

There was some applause to that.

“And before I get too mushy, perhaps I better do this song. Don’t worry, it’s not sad or anything, at least not too much, but, uh, yeah . . . I’ll just sing.”

Polite clopping greeted this, and Cello looked around, spoke briefly to Octavia, who shrugged in response. Cello then quickly went behind the curtain, and a moment later, came out with another earth pony: pale green body, with black spots all over, and a sea green mane and tail. He sat nervously beside Lyra and Octavia, with an instrument that caused a slight murmur to ripple through the crowd.

“Everyone, you all know Bongo, I believe,” Cello said. “This is his first public performance, so go a little easy on him.”

The instrument resembled a small drum, but could easily be held between the hooves. It was, although nopony in Ponyville knew, his namesake.

Cello started singing a cappella, much to the surprise of the crowd. About half-way through the first verse, the bongos came in, followed by the lyre, and finally by Octavia’s double bass.

He sang a verse to each of the Mane Six, as they were known – the heroes of Equestria more times over than most ponies could count. In the last seventeen years, they had fought off all sorts of terrors from outside.

Then, apparently a bit to the surprise of his instrument players, he started up some new verses, including one to Octavia that made her stop playing for a fraction of a second.

When he finished, everyone cheered wildly.

“Man, you are so lucky!” Lotus said to Wind Blaster. “I can’t believe that’s your friend.”

“Best friend,” Wind Blaster pointed out. “And, yeah, he’s pretty cool. If he could fly, he’d be even cooler!”

Lotus smiled and said, “About twenty percent cooler?”

They both chuckled at that.

“Are you two having fun?!”

They both jumped at Pinkie Pie’s sudden appearance next to them.

“Uh, yeah, Pinkie,” Wind Blaster said. “This is the best party ever!”

“Yeah!” Lotus agreed.

“Good!” Pinkie said, and suddenly produced a punch bowl. “This is for you, Wind Blaster! Cello seemed to think you’d like it!”

“Really?” He cautiously sniffed it, then looked at Pinkie in surprise.

“Yep!” she cried out, thrusting the punch bowl at him, and bouncing off.

“What is it?” Lotus asked.

“Beer . . .”

A short distance away, Star Chaser was alone again. The unicorns had a couple of simple questions about some schoolwork, and he answered them quickly, without any of his usual meandering. As strange as it seemed, he wanted to be alone in this party. Something was itching his horn, and that usually meant magic was at work.

He had already dismissed the minor magic of the Pavilion itself, and of course, he was used to the magic that was Pinkie’s cupcakes. This was something else. He floated around, stopping and talking to various unicorns, but none of them seemed to have something up their sleeves – so to speak.

As time went on, he started to become anxious.

He wanted to talk to Cello, but he was busy getting congratulations from the crowd, and talking to just about everyone – and he seemed to be enjoying it.

Star Chaser turned away in annoyance. Cello certainly seemed to like his celebrity – but perhaps that was being unfair. Before, he wasn’t popular at all, except to a small group of people. Here, just about everypony loved him and his work. He hadn’t produced a bad song yet.

That was something to think about – later.

“Ooo! Twitchy-twitchy! Watch out, something’s going to fall!”

Star Chaser turned, and saw Pinkie was holding on to her tail as it spastically twitched about. She was stroking it, trying to calm it down like it was another pony. He had some doubts early on about her Pinkie Sense, but time and again, she was shown to be accurate. She did go through periods when her Pinkie Sense didn’t seem to operate – she claimed it would need a rest from time to time – but when it did, you could bet your last coin on what it would say.

Star Chaser looked up, wondering if that’s where his anxiety was coming from, but he could sense nothing bad up in the rafters.

. . . Not in the rafters – but above?

Something up there made his horn itch even more.

“Ooh!” Pinkie suddenly cried out.

Star Chaser turned, and saw Pinkie having a full attack of the Pinkie Sense. He had cataloged everything, and knew it by heart, but what she was doing now was none of the ones he knew.

Her whole body jerked and twisted. Her legs shot sideways, causing her to fall down. Then she rolled around, scooted sideways, and her head shot up and down.

“Ah!” Pinkie cried out. “What’s going on?!”

Her normally cheerful voice sounded concerned – even a bit fearful.

Star Chaser suddenly noticed a yellow pony with red mane and tail, standing nearby and watching Pinkie with some concern.

“Apple Bloom,” Star Chaser called out.

She tore her eyes away from Pinkie, and then brightened.

“Hi, Star Chaser. Is Pinkie going to be alright?”

Star Chaser glanced at Pinkie, just as her twitching legs caused her to bang her hooves on the floor – painfully so, judging from her expression.

“I don’t know,” Star Chaser admitted.

Apple Bloom suddenly looked nervous. If Star Chaser didn’t have an answer, then who did?

“Try and help her,” Star Chaser said. “Is your nephew around?”

“What? Somewhere. Applejack’s just over there, you can ask her. But, Star Chaser – what am I supposed to do?”

“Just hold her and try to comfort her,” Star Chaser said, and headed off in the direction Apple Bloom said. Behind him, he heard Apple Bloom try to speak soothingly to Pinkie.

“Applejack!” Star Chaser yelled when he spotted the orange earth pony.

She turned at her name, and said with a big smile, “Oh, hi, Star Chaser! Enjoyin’ yer party?”

“Not really,” he said.

“Huh? Why?” she asked, both confused and concerned.

Star Chaser gave Applejack a brief rundown of events. Then he added, “Where’s Orion?”

At this Applejack furrowed her brow in anger, and said, “What do you want with my son?! Ain’t we been over this enough already?”

When Applejack’s son had been born, she surprised everyone by naming him Orion. This puzzled Star Chaser, so he did some research, and learned that long ago, there was a might pony warrior – one of the few in Equestrian history – who was named Orion. It seemed strange to give a pony such a war-like name, and ponies said as much. But, the ‘Naming Urge,’ as they called it, did not explain itself – it simply urged the parent to give a particular name. Star Chaser had tried to understand it, and had been asking new mothers to help him. All helped as best they could – except Applejack, who seemed annoyed whenever he asked about Orion. After a while, he just gave up, but Applejack still seemed touchy about it.

“Think about it,” Star Chaser said, suddenly piecing it together in his own mind. “Pinkie Sense going crazy, a sense of great magic nearby – coming from above us. Does that say anything?”

Applejack thought, and said, “Another attack? The Griffins again?!”

A few years ago, the Griffins suddenly started waging war on Equestria. It was all a misunderstanding, of course, but for several months, ponies were afraid to go out in the open.

“Or worse,” Star Chaser said. He was thinking that perhaps a stray dragon was too close.

Applejack blanched, and then said, “What does this have to do with Orion?”

Star Chaser started to leave, but paused long enough to say, “What do you think?”

Then, he moved away. Now that he had some idea what was going on, he had to warn people. But in this party, that wasn’t going to be easy. He decided to go to the stage.

Octavia and Lyra were still onstage, and now Bon-bon had joined them, talking casually and drinking punch. They looked surprised as Star Chaser floated up, and suddenly started talking in a loud voice.

“Everypony! Listen up! Twilight? Can you come up here?”

“What is it?” Octavia asked.

“Is something wrong?” Bon-bon asked.

Star Chaser considered a moment. Bon-bon was a little flighty, and might panic is he said there was something wrong – but, there was something wrong. And Octavia and Lyra could keep her calm . . . hopefully.

“Yes,” Star Chaser finally said. “I think we’re about to be attacked by Griffins.”

“Again?!” Lyra cried out.

“Calm down, sister,” Octavia said. “Now’s not the time – we better get ready.”

The three of them, including Bon-bon, all left the stage, and started quietly spreading the word.

Star Chaser nodded in pleasant surprise. These ponies still had it in them, it seemed.

“What’s going on?”

Star Chaser looked down, and saw Cello at his feet. He lowered himself to talk with him.

“Something’s wrong. I’m sensing great magic above us, and Pinkie’s going berserk with her Pinkie Sense.”

“What?” Cello said, looking around. He suddenly spotted the knot of people that marked where Pinkie was at.

“Star Chaser, what’re you doin’ up here?”

Both of them turned, and saw Wind Blaster and Lotus floating towards them. They looked a little hazy.

“Oh, great! Pinkie gave it to you!” Cello said.

“Ishn’t that what you wanted?” Wind Blaster slurred.

“Yeah, it was going to be a gift to you . . . but we got problems now.”

“Problemsh?”

“What’s wrong Star Chaser? I came as soon as I could – I was in the back, talking with some ponies about – is that Pinkie? What’s wrong with her?”

Twilight started to change direction, and headed towards Pinkie.

“She’s having a massive Pinkie Sense overload,” Star Chaser said.

This got the attention of everypony that was nearby. They instantly started shushing people, until the silence spread outward, ripple fashion.

“Everypony!” Star Chaser called out into the ensuing silence. “I think we need to get the foals out of here! I suspect there may be another attack.”

Instantly, cries of “The Griffins!” and “How dare they?” went out.

“We can figure out why later!” Star Chaser said, almost angrily. “Right now, we need to-“

Star Chaser broke off and the buzzing around his horn traveled over his skull, and down his spine to his tail. It made him involuntarily shudder.

“What is it?!” cried several ponies nearby.

“They’re here-!” Star Chaser said, his voice a raspy whisper.

At the same moment, the top of the tent ripped open, and a dark cloud poured in. A second later, more dark clouds poured in from the entrances.

“What the heck is that?!” Octavia cried out.

“It’s not griffins, that’s for sure,” Lyra said.

Cello suddenly saw they were out in the open on the stage, and in danger. He leaped at the three ponies next to him, knocking them down.

“Hey! What-?!” Lyra cried out.

Just at that second, a stream of black buzzed by over them. If they had been standing, it would have taken them out.

Lyra looked embarrassed, and Octavia said, “Thanks, Cello. We need to get to Star Chaser, though.”

She nodded in his direction, and Cello said, “Get off the stage – I’ll get him.”

Octavia became alarmed when Cello started moving towards him, and said, “Just use your magic!”

“Can’t,” was all Cello said, and slid across the stage towards Star Chaser.
Nearby, Twilight had thrown her body across Pinkie as well. Somehow, the – things – seemed to know Pinkie was in distress, and were trying to dive bomb her.

Apple Bloom squirmed out from under Twilight, and took a deep breath, then gave a squeak of shock as one of the forms brushed right past her, knocking her on the floor. Luckily, Rainbow Dash had taught her some martial art moves, and she knew how to roll with a punch, and Scootaloo had taught her some fancy moves as well.

She flipped, and landed on her rear hooves just as one of the dark shapes dived straight for her. She stepped back as it nearly hit her, then lunged forward, grabbing it as it flew past.

It probably wasn’t her best idea. She was swept up into the air, high over the heads of everypony about. She vaguely heard Applejack cry out her name, but didn’t have time to worry about it.

All these years of training with Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, and now she could finally use it. Strange how calm she felt.

Her presence dragged the creature she was hanging on, and it couldn’t gain elevation or speed as fast as its companions. While she was still pretty high up, she wasn’t even close to half way to the roof.

She tried kicking, but couldn’t quite reach. So she did something that wasn’t in the training – she bit the creature.

The creature screamed, and turned just enough to try and get at Apple Bloom. She used the opportunity to spin her legs, and spin them both around. Something blunt hit her in the withers, but she ignored the pain, and kept twist them around.

She caught sight of the ground about two seconds before they hit. Luckily, she had twisted enough so she landed on top of her attacker.

Whatever it was cried out in pain at the impact, and fell still. She stood up, and looked down at her assailant.

“That was great!” said a voice that Apple Bloom recognized as Rainbow Dash. “That was amazing! You’re at least twenty percent cooler now, Apple Bloom!”

“Rainbow! Now’s not the time!” Apple Bloom chastised. “Look!”

She pointed at the figure on the ground, which now that it was still, could be seen plainly.

Rainbow Dash, perhaps for the first time in her life, was speechless.

There, on the ground before them, unconscious, was a black Pegasus pony.

 

I guess I should of warned people - I'm known as the Master of the Cliff Hanger.

Spelling errors? Odd - Microsoft Word didn't catch any except what you'd expect - Octavia, Lyra, Ponyville, everypony, and the like. What do you see?