//------------------------------// // These Sarosian Eyes // Story: Appledashery // by Just Essay //------------------------------// "These are absolutely perfect, Zecora!" Twilight exclaimed, muzzle agape. She looked across the central courtyard of the palace, levitating a series of crystals in front of her violet eyes. "Where in Equestria did you get them?" "Hmmmm..." Zecora smiled. "Those minerals aren't nearly as rare as you would think. Back in my home country you can pluck them from any stone in a blink." "But still, your place of birth is so far away!" Twilight said while Trixie and a few more scientists trotted up. "To think that you were holding onto them for all this time." "They are certainly very shiny," Trixie said. "The Great and Humble Trixie believes they will suffice for the inner leyline buffering system." "Are you sure we can use these, Zecora?" Twilight said. "After the kind of experiments we are attempting to do, they'll likely lose all mana conductivity." "Consider it a scientific dedication," Zecora said with a smile. "I knew that I would be saving them for an extra special occasion." She tilted her head up, squinting into a patch of sunlight through the castle's exposed rooftop. "If I'm not mistaken, an experiment of this nature is going to need large quantities of moisture." "In order to control the air temperature," Twilight said with a nod. "The sheer amount of magical currents we'll be conducting could heat things up like an oven if we're not careful." "Then some rainwater is in order!" Trixie turned towards Rainbow Dash who had been perched atop a stone alicorn statue the whole time. "You! The Great and Humble Trixie requests your weather flying service in summoning a rain cloud!" "Trixie," Twilight whispered aside. "A little advice: friends don't make requests in a way that sounds like a demand." The unicorn next to her winced. "Er... Trixie is sorry. Ahem. But of course, Twilight, if you would like to make the request." "Why, sure." Twilight looked up. "Rainbow?" She opened her mouth, then sighed and muttered; "I request your weather flying service in summoning a rain cloud." Trixie and the nearby scientists giggled. "Heh... s'all good, guys," Rainbow said with a salute. She flexed her forelimb, delighted to sense every square inch of it without difficulty. "If I'm gonna squat around, then I might as well be useful." "It's a shame there aren't other pegasi around to assist you, Rainbow," Twilight said. "I'd hate to think of you doing all the hard work on your own." "What of the sarosian?" Trixie said, pointing towards the cloaked figure perched on another granite beam. "Huh?" Twilight turned to look. "Oh, right! Mr... Noir was it?" She immediately chewed on her lower lip. "But... weather flying means lots of exercise in the lower atmosphere, and it's full daylight right now—" "Fear not, Miss Sparkle," Noir said, adjusting his cloak. A pair of wings stretched out. "I do have experience in daytime flying. It would be a pleasure and an honor to assist in this experiment taking place on hallowed ground." "Well, thanks a'plenty, Mr. Noir!" Twilight said with a grin. "Hallowed ground...?" Trixie whispered aside. "Well, we are standing in the Castle of the Two Sisters," Twilight said with a smug grin. "Oh, right." Trixie blinked, then blinked even wider. "Eeeeee!" She shimmied from side to side in sudden elation. "Trixie. Is. In. The Sisters. Castle!" Twilight giggled. "Come on, Noir," Rainbow said, motioning towards the heavens as she lifted off. "Let's glide." "Indeed." He flew after her, albeit at a slower speed so as not to lose his cloak and hood. Rainbow Dash noticed it. She was already collecting wispy bunches of cloud high above the Everfree Forest when she looked down to bark his way: "So... what happens if that outfit of your flies off? Do you—like—melt or something?" "Please, Miss Dash," Noir muttered. "Don't make this more taxing than it is." "'Taxing?!'" She stuck a tongue out. "Pffft! Whatever happened to 'being honored to be on hallowed ground' a few farts ago?" "You and I are business associates. I trust that our collective feelings are a great deal less... formal. Or constrained." "Hah! Well that's a stiff way of putting it! Though... no surprise, coming from you." She winked while clumping more clouds together. "Mrmmfff..." Noir sighed as he harnessed a misty bed of his own, gaining more and more moisture in the air. "If this was the dead of night, I'd have summoned a tornado by now." "Sure. No doubt." She flew over his head, collecting more wisps. "So, like, if this is so dang 'taxing' to you... why bother?" "Hmm?" "This is kinda super out of your element, right?" Rainbow remarked. "Not to mention completely unrelated to New Saros, the shards, and all that crazy lunar assassin schnazz." "We are not assassins," Noir snarled, a pair of fangs flashing beneath his muzzle. Clearing his throat, he collected a larger cloud and muttered, "Though it sometimes helps to have an intimidating reputation." "Heh. No doubt." "You deserve nothing less than the truth, Rainbow Dash," Noir said. "And the truth is... I... f-felt compelled." "Compelled?" Rainbow blinked. Suddenly, she exhaled with a knowing nod. "Zecora..." "Yes, indeed." "Heh... she certainly has that effect on a pony." "I would agree," Noir said. "Her integrity and commitment to the shamanistic arts is most admirable." "She can be fun and fancy free when she wants to be, though." "Perhaps. But, first and foremost, she is a mare of duty, progress, and communal protection—all of which are highly admirable qualities among the Lunar Code." "So, basically, you dig her." "... ... ...I beg your pardon?" "Heeheehee!" Rainbow Dash giggled, nearly losing track of a cloud. "You do! You totally do!" "I assure you, Miss Dash," the sarosian growled with emphasis, readjusting his hood. "This is purely a respectful business venture. She's gone out of her way to nurse me back to health, and I am now assisting her humbly in her pursuits." "She's got you doing errands in the daaaaaytiiiiime..." Rainbow stuck her tongue out. "Just wait, buddy. Soon she'll get you fetching tubs of ice cream at ten o'clock at night. Well... eheh... in your case that may not be a bad thing." "Ggghhhh..." "Friggin' zebras." Rainbow winked. "Am I right?" "And just how long have you been acquainted with her yourself, pray tell?" "Hmm? Who, me?" Rainbow shrugged, packing a pair of cloud beds together tightly. "A few months, I guess. Give or take." "Less than a year?" "Oh, totally." "And yet, in such a small time, she has grown remarkably fond of you. Trusting, even." "Er... yeah..." Rainbow squinted at him with sudden curiosity. "What's your point?" "Simply this. We've both mutually agreed that Zecora is an individual fully deserving of respect and admiration." "Dang straight." "And yet she has made a fast friend with you, expressing little to no hesitation... or remorse." Rainbow blinked. "Well... yeah. I guess that's true." She exhaled with a pleasant twitch to her ears. "She's quick to forgive too." "Then that's something to be proud of, considering her qualities," Noir said. "That she would admire you so." "Heh..." Rainbow Dash slicked her mane back. "Shucks, dude. Knock it off. You're being too kind." "... ... ...so perhaps it is you who should be endeavoring to procure the late night shebert." "Heh..." Rainbow rolled her eyes, smirking. "I take that back. You just fell into lame-town." "Of which you are an avid resident." "Woohoo!" She pumped a hoof and resumed cloud-gathering. "And he saves it in the end! The crowd goes wild!"