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CoastalSarv
|
877
| 52 |
Original Character,Princess Luna,Spike,Twilight Sparkle,Adventure,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Under The Northern Lights
|
Luna and Twilight travel to the northern land of the reindeer on a diplomatic mission
|
incomplete
| 623 | 11 |
<p>A diplomatic crisis arises between Equestria and the small, poor kingdom of Tarandroland, ancestral home of the reindeer. Celestia and Luna agree that it is time Luna takes a more active hand in foreign relations again, and Luna brings Twilight with her as someone she actually trusts and can talk to. But the mission turns out to be much more than political discussions - if scheming unicorn courtiers, unfriendly surly reindeer, bloodthirsty pirates, ancient sorcery and dangerous monsters weren't enough, our heroines must deal with something old - older than Luna. And is Luna really ready for diplomatic action, will Twilight learn to use a fan properly, and exactly how wrong are Spike's superhero comics about reindeer mythology?</p><br/><p>Now has a <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FanFic/UnderTheNorthernLights" rel="nofollow">TV tropes page</a></p>
|
teen
|
2015-03-27T22:38:01+00:00
|
2015-05-31T18:25:21+00:00
| 2,132 |
“So, my country is freezing and suffocating to death, and the monsters of yore are back in full force. Most armed deer in the land answer to a stag sworn to my demise, and our last hope was sending my only heir led by a witch on a wild goose chase after legends. About which I’ve heard nothing for a week.”
King Ukko of Poatsula was not a happy stag right now. The old warrior glared into his jug of vodka. The rest of the council looked concerned.
“Well, at least there is increased international support for Poatsula,” said Kol and took out a sheaf of papers. “There are two score warriors from the Tatanka Confederation who came to fight for you, my liege. I’ve had them put up their tents next to the Equestrians.”
“Bah!” said Ukko. “Buffalo may be strong, but even forty buffalo won’t do much in a war this size.”
“There’s a regiment of mercenaries from Arimaspia who have asked permission to enter our territory,” Kol continued. “That’s a lot more than forty, and an air force…”
“I’ve been a mercenary, Kol. Those griffons will want money, and we don’t have any!”
“King Leo of Aquastria graciously sends a cohort of mermares and seaponies to assist you,” said Kol. “They are free…”
“The sjohestar would mostly be fighting turso, but they are very susecptible against poison and plague, and that’s the main weapons of the turso,” Ukko said morosely.
“If I tell you my news, Ukko, will you be more careful when using your Sight on it?” said Princess Luna, who had become more and more irritated during the conversation.
“What?” he snarled.
“Your ‘special talent’, as we ponies say, is finding flaws, isn’t it? Well, unless you use that in a constructive fashion, it’s no use for us coming here. I’m sure your friends here, with their experience, can see ways of overcoming the cracks you were so eager to find in the opportunities presented to you.”
Ukko snorted and quaffed his vodka. The Companions were silent. Then Skiold spoke up.
“Hey, when we served in Saddle Arabia, they had cattle soldiers run those big, simple ram-things. To fight the sand dragons. Let the Hestalanders make some from raw timber, and the buffalo can figure out how to use it against nidhoggs.”
The others mumbled and nodded.
“Ukko, since you have been a mercenary, you know it’s a standard offer to serve for plunder,” said Mustikka. “We have done it. You got your torc that way. There has to be some coins in the rebel camp, and nidhogg hides are worth much”
Ukko scowled, but looked doubtful.
“Uhm…” said Galderhorn. “I… I am sure I could talk to some of the sea-spirits… they and the seafolk could control the currents and tides, keep poisoned water away from the southern coasts… and the seas calmer…”
Ukko muttered something.
“See? With your advisors, you can make the most, even of adversity,” said Luna.
“Yeah yeah yeah! What did you have to say, moon-witch?” said Ukko.
“I received a message this morning,” said Luna and unvrolled a scroll. “They have found the Sampo, and have a way to make it work.”
The reindeer cheered. Even Ukko looked happy.
“They… they did it!” he said.
“This calls for a toast!” said Heikko. “Fill our glasses, servants!”
“Yes… but maybe solemn one,” said Luna. “Here we actually need your Sight, king of the reindeer. What’re the flaws with using a doomed artefact like that?”
Ukko fell silent.
“You mean besides the obvious ones, dream-weaver?” he said.
“Yes,” said Luna.
Ukko looked into thin air, and shuddered. His voice sounded thin and old when he spoke.
“If the legends of the Sampo I remember are true… Every wasted wish is danger to my grandson, to his companions, and to us all. The more time passes, the greater the chance of wasting a wish. So hesitation and tawdriness can spoil it all. Haste. They must make haste.”
“What kind of answer is that!” said Kol. “Making haste! What about all the dangers of wishes in stories?! What about framing a wish so it can be maliciously misinterpreted, or accidentally wishing for something foolish, or being overcome by the lust for power?!”
“Well, he did say, ‘besides the obvious ones’,” said Luna.
“I called this meeting, because we will soon have the Sampo, thanks to the generous help of Master Wiglek…” Twilight nodded to the old lich.
He barely noticed it. In the circle gathered in a big ice cave, Vigg had placed himself firmly at Wiglek’s side, while the others were a bit stand-off-ish. Jarnsaxa sat next to Twilight, far more than stand-off-ish. She had suggested to Twilight, privately, that they incapacitate Wiglek as soon as possible to render him harmless again. Twilight found it hard not to agree with her, at least just a bit, even if her ruthlessness chilled her as much as the physical presence of the Skoll. She did her best to translate back and forth for her.
“When we… or rather, Prince Vigg, gets it, we must have determine how to use it. The prophecy just says that if Prince Vigg gets the Sampo, he can use the second wish to save Poatsula. We’d better know what Vigg should wish for before he controls the artifact. As Ukko said in the letter, wishes will be dangerous, so it’s better to get it right as soon as possible.”
“Nodeer controls the Sampo, sorceress,” said Wiglek. “Worst case, Sampo controls you. It will tease your brain to make you say things that would be a wish, but will bring misery. Everything you say with words or write with runes that can be taken as a wish, will! Wish for heat in a snowstorm and it will either set you on fire or deprive a family of their goahti fire. Wish for silver and it will either land on your head or be taken from a powerful chieftain who now has cause to feud on you. I know a former owner who wished for her enemies’ deaths… and died multiple times, in the way Fate had decreed her enemies would. Utmost care is needed to handle the Sampo! It seeks your doom… for a jest.”
“Right,” said Twilight. “That's bad. Okay. All right. Important safety tip. Thanks, Wiglek.”
“Wait,” said Spike, who was supposed to take notes, “if they lost their deaths, does it mean they became immortal like you?”
“There isn’t just one possible death for each mortal, dragonling,” said Wiglek. “And she didn’t wish for all possible ways her enemies could have done, could she?”
“We should have brought a lawyer!” said Spike.
“Huh?” said Wiglek, Kvalhissir and Jarnsaxa, the latter a little later than the others due to Twilight’s hasty translation.
Before Twilight could break out an explanation of modern law practice, Vigg interrupted her.
“A scholar learned in laws and customs and how to form agreements,” he said. “They are famous for their skill at word-play. Master Wiglek, again, so the only thing the Sampo can do is bring things to you that somedeer else has?”
“Yes,” said Wiglek.”Though as my son showed, ‘has’ is a relative concept here.”
“Our problem is that we need to get rid of things!” said Vigg. “The cold and snow! The winter monsters! The war! We - I can’t just wish for them to go away.”
“You could go somewhere far from Poatsula and wish for them to come there,” said Spike.
“That would mean that place got overrun with all those troubles,” said Saga.
“We could put you in a boat far out at sea,” said Spike. “Everything lands in the water?”
“That still leaves Vigg at the center of a lot of… lethal things!” said Twilight.
“That might be… necessary,” said Vigg. “But how would I wish the war to a place?” said Vigg. “If I say that, I could of course specify the armed rebels, but given how the political situation is, it might end up kidnapping half the country!”
Kvalhissir coughed.
“What if we concentrate on the winter monsters?” he said. “Vigg travels to some unpopulated desert. He wishes for them there. They perish in the heat. We are given relief to deal with war and famine.”
“We don’t have much time to transport anydeer far away,” said Twilight. “Things grow worse by the way. And I don’t know if even Celestia and Luna have a way to transport somedeer by magic to the most unpopulated part of Saddle Arabia or something. Not to mention, again, Vigg in the middle of a thousand angry monsters sounds like a bad idea..”
“I said, that might be necessary,” said Vigg. “I’m not afraid of a sacrifice!”
“But I am,” said Twilight. “I’m responsible for you, to your mother. And Grandfather. And the country. You’re the heir.”
“Vigg, I don’t doubt you’re brave,” said Vidar. “But I’d rather not you die like your father, being too brave.”
Saga swallowed.
“Uh, Mistress Twilight… I might have an idea,” she said. “I actually thought of it tonight. A lot. I don’t know if it is a good idea, or…”
“Shoot,” said Twilight.
Saga drew a wavy line on the ice floor.
“Here’s the western coast running north from Sarvvik,” she said.
She drew a shorter line at one end of the first, at 90 degrees.
“This where is the northern coast starts, all cliffs, if I remember it right.”
She drew a long straight line from the other end of the short line, parallel to the coast.
“These are the steep cliffs inland from the coast. The land is mostly forest, again if I remember it right. Lot of it has been cut down though, I think.”
In the middle of the literal coastline, she drew a small circle.
“Here’s the rebel camp, which is actually quite well defended and have lots of soldiers.”
At the opposite of the short line, she drew a larger circle.
“This is Sarvvik, which if I have understood you guys is now fortified by Equestrian magics and technology and surrounded by traps and mines and spells and barbed wire and guarded by like two and a half armies,” Saga said.
“I think I see what you mean…” said Twilight. “...but I do think this is probably a bad idea...!”
“What?” said Spike.
“Princess Luna has said the right thing would be to drive all the winter monsters to the heavily defended wall where we have a great advantage fighting them - wounding and scaring off anyone not killed,” said Saga.
“And you mean Vigg just should go to the wall and get them there - do like Sampo when he wished for all the snow in Poatsula…” said Twilight, frowning
“Wish for all the winter monsters!” said Spike.
“No, that wouldn’t be a good idea,” said Saga.
“Ah,” said Twilight and relaxed.
Saga swallowed and shut her eyes for a moment.
“I’m saying Vigg - you - should travel to the furthermost North and wish for all the winter monsters there,” she said, opened her eyes and pointed to the shorter line. “Then, they likely would have to travel down here, between the ocean and the cliffs, towards Sarvvik.”
“Along the way, many would perish,” said Kvalhissir. “So many in one spot is already unnatural… like what happened to the nidhogg around my… my former home.”
“When they come to the rebel camp… worst case is the rebels try to fight them off,” said Saga. “That will decimate the monsters, and well, the rebels…”
“No!” said Twilight, “absolutely not.”
“Best case, however, is that they retreat back to Sarvvik and take a stand there with everydeer else,” said Saga. “We’ll warn them clear in advance so they can retreat. And after that it might blow off the whole war - I doubt anyone would want to fight once they have defended the capital together.”
“I bet the rebels wouldn’t be happy raiding Equestria for food and riches once they have fought next to ponies either,” said Vidar and smiled.
“This is still such a… violent solution!” said Twilight.
“And how do you think we should handle the monsters without violence, Lady Twilight?” said Vidar. “Every year, we kill them and they kill us. Because of evil fates, this is bigger than ever, but there has always been a war against winter. I pray it will never happen like this again.”
“At least the Skoll will not fight against us this time, right?” said Vigg and looked to Jarnsaxa.
Twilight translated, and the Skoll frowned.
“I can’t promise anything… but while might not fight with you, I’m sure we won’t fight against you.”
Kvalhissir coughed again.
“I’m not an elder,” he said. “Moose are not of winter. We never have been. But to save the country, we might fight alongside the little ones.”
“So…” said Saga and looked at Twilight Sparkle. “It’s… it means a war. But it’s a way to stop the winter monsters destroying the country, and make all the sapients in Poatsula fight together instead of against each other.”
“We’ll just have to deal with the cold and snow,” said Vigg.
“No,” said Wiglek. “I will not help you with this! I cannot believe you are suggesting this… harebrained scheme! As a war it would be seen as glorious, but surely Äitsi’s curse will find a way to wreck this!”
“Well,” said Tuva, “Äitsi was the god of strife, right? I think he’d love to see the biggest battle ever in Poatsula.”
“And from what I’ve heard of Discord, he’d not pull the same stunt twice, so I doubt you’d actually get crushed by a bunch of zombies falling on your head like with that ‘all the snow in Tarandroland’ thing,” said Spike. “I mean, he’s not actively using Sampo, but he did put the curse on it, and the curse sounds like… like a genie with his personality, or something.”
“But… you… Sampo - I mean, Vigg…” Wiglek. “You would still take such a risk…”
Vigg smiled nervously.
“Well… the world’s greatest sorceress has said that she needs me alive because she doesn’t want to make my grandpa angry, or something,” he said. “You’ve fought her, you should know how good she is.”
“Yeah, she can protect Vigg with a forcefield while he uses the Sampo!” said Saga.
“And teleport us to safety once we have the monsters where we want them!” said Vigg. “Right, Lady Twilight?”
“Yes… yes I supposed I could,” said Twilight. She didn’t look pleased.
“No… no… still no…” said Wiglek, shooking his head maniacally. “No… no… no…”
“Wiglek, she defeated Äitsi himself once, she can handle a curse of his!” said Vigg. “Wiglek!”
“Nonononono…” he murmured.
“Master Wiglek! Wiglek! Father!” Vigg shouted.
The lich looked up, suddenly lucid.
“You can come with me,” Vigg said. “You can protect me as well. I’m sure two of the greatest mages in history can keep me alive and unharmed for one minute!”
“Yes… well… very well…” said Wiglek.
“You can make up for… for the other time,” said Vigg.
“I can never make up for that,” said Wiglek solemnly. “But anydeer can try… to make their best.”
“I still don’t like this,” said Twilight, “ but I’ll further the suggestion to the royals in Sarvvik. They get to decide. Come, Spike, we need to send a letter.”
“Wait!” said Spike.
“What now?” said Twilight. She leaned closer to Spike and whispered: “Please tell me you have a less crazy idea!”
“No, no… but all this talk, it is about the second wish!” said Spike. “If Saga’s predictions are right, the second wish is the one who does it. Then he must wish for something else, anything, before he makes that wish so it isn’t the first!”
“Well, that is a smaller matter,” said Twilight. “Surely he can wish for something trivial.”
“Yeah, I could just use the wish to steal something in a petty way,” said Vidar.
“Wiglek said we should be careful,” said Spike. “And apparently we should trust him, so I think we’d better consider it.”
“Let’s deal with it later, Spike,” said Twilight. “Let’s get this letter away. They need to start working right away to do what Saga proposes.”
“Sure!” Spike sighed.
“Well, it’s now or never,” said Saga with cheer that sounded just a little bit forced.
Vigg sighed and swallowed. “I guess so.”
They were all gathered in Sampo’s tomb. Saga had been a bit disappointed in the lack of ceremony needed to take the Sampo.
“But you would do well to gather and give him your support,” Wiglek had said. “It was no pleasant work, doing that alone, and my son only did it with my meager help.”
Hence they were all there. They had eaten a small dinner first, except Wiglek. He had, however, insisting on having a bowl of food and a jug of liquor with him during the dinner.
“A full bowl and a full jug always brightened my mood,” he said. No one argued, although Spike did consider it a bit of a waste.
Now they had gathered around the dais where the hero of old laid. Vigg were standing next to it, with Saga on his left side and Wiglek on his right. Twilight had her Sight-spell up and was overwhelmed. Spike was supposed to take notes but was really too nervous. Kvalhissir was obviously considering where to run in case of doom.
Wiglek was very controlled, his strange wheezing voice as clear and clipped as possible for the voice of a walking corpse who only breathes out of habit.
“Now… do as I told you,” he said. “Just Look at it. Look at it until you are overwhelmed and there is nothing else in the world. Let it fill your vision, let it fill your thoughts. No, open your eyes. Open them.”
“This is like being at the dentist… open wide…” Vigg said with a nervous giggle.
“Don’t talk!” said Wiglek. “Only Look. You’ll need smalltalk… later. Look! Look at it! Can you See how far it stretches? How the spiral reaches the sea and the sky and the Summerlands? See! See the borders stretches beyond the edges of your vision, how it stretches behind you, how you cannot See it all, how it connects the whole world! The spiral has no beginning and no end, it moves, circles, just out of beat with your heart, almost in tune with the cosmos, stands behind the tree and watches you, the thief of the universe who you almost cannot see! It’s in the goahti-roof when you sleeps and under the surface of the lake, it is in the shadow of the mountain and just behind the snowdrift. It’s the Sampo, burrowing through the world, hiding, reaching, stealing, taking what’s yours, mine, the gods’, everydeers’! Can you See it? Don’t answer, just shut your eyes tight, make your mind see it, and then breathe in!
Vigg wailed and fell to the floor. The reindeer - except the walking dead one - gasped. So did Twilight.
“Such - such… power! And malice… petty, petty malice…” she said.
“Vigg!”
His relatives and his girlfriend rushed to him.
“Vigg! Breathe!” said Vidar and tried to help him up. Saga was holding him.
He was muttering under his breath.
“youcanhaveitalloucanhaveitallnownoeffortnopaymentnopriceallnorestraintcansavetheworldglobalpeaceanendtofamineperfectingtomorrowperfectingyesterday…”
“Stop it! Don’t listen to the voices, and more importantly, don’t repeat them!” Wiglek said and shook Vigg. “Stop it! Breathe instead! Breathe!”
He did, raggedly, slowly.
“Remember what I’ve told you! The Sampo will fulfill anything you say with words or write with runes! If you don’t spell it out, it cannot take it as a wish and twist it!”
“The voices…” Vigg said. “They…”
“Try to sing, or hum, or keep moving,” Wiglek said. “That dampens them.”
Vigg stood up and shook his head.
“Phew…”
“Are you better?” said Saga.
“Remember, if you are, don’t answer in the form of a wish or request!” said Twilight.
Everyone looked at her.
“Well, the expert just told us…” she murmured.
She sighed. She had sort of expected yet dreaded that the reindeer king would have taken to Saga’s plan, but Princess Luna had been scarily positive as well. Celestia had apparently been reluctantly positive. She had only Luna’s word for it, and felt a bit ashamed that she hoped Luna had been bending the truth, that her mentor would have disliked the idea of mass nidhogg slaughter. The preparations were full underway. Jarnsaxa had already sent word to her fellow Skoll. Kvalhissir would leave after he knew Sampo was ready, flying down to the downlands. They had remained where they were because the path to the north coast was long, and they were closer to it here than in Sarvvik.
Vigg was humming.
“I think I… I think I can almost handle it,” he said. He laughed. “They’re bit… stupid.”
“Who?” said Saga.
“The voices,” said Vigg. “I mean, I don’t want riches, I have what silver I want. And I’m not sure I want to be king, despite being a prince, so I don’t think I want power either…”
“They begin with common vices and carry on with more specific ones,” said Wiglek. “Don’t relax.”
“Phew… don’t relax… ever…” Vigg said, then hummed.
“Let’s leave the tomb to Sampo,” said Vidar. “Let’s step outside.”
“We need to talk about the first wish!” Spike muttered.
“Wiglek…” said Vigg. “...had you… the darkness inside you… the Nightmare… when you first found the Sampo?”
“Yes,” said Wiglek.
“Whoa… which of them was worst?” said Vigg, a bit groggily, and then hummed.
“What do you mean?” said the lich.
“Tempting… tugging at you… both of them, right?”
“Yes and no,” said Wiglek and scowled. “They are not exactly the same, though the.. tugging is there. But I bore them both at once, so I couldn’t really tell anyway. Two burdens is heavier than one, but it is hard to say which is worst.”
Vigg stopped and looked at Wiglek, forcing himself to watch the blackness and the three shimmering points of light. Was one of them bigger?
“You’re a great stag, Master Wiglek, do you know that?” said Vigg.
“Thanks, young one, but you shouldn’t talk too much,” said Wiglek, distressed. “And besides, they call me the Wicked with reason. Maybe I was not that great.”
“I’ve… I almost said want without saying not want!” said Vigg. “Ha! In your face, curse!” He giggled. “But I didn’t!”
He put a hoof on Wiglek’s shoulder.
“You… I’m sorry for you and how you’ve been treated, Master Wiglek, and if I could I would relieve you of at least some of that… darkness thing.”
Wiglek saw the danger coming and started to form his mouth into a “no”, but he didn’t get to finish it as a long thin stream of said darkness streamed out of it and into Vigg’s mouth.
Wiglek tried to scream but couldn’t. Vigg tried to scream but couldn’t. Their companions screamed enough for both of them.
|
CoastalSarv
|
877
| 53 |
Original Character,Princess Luna,Spike,Twilight Sparkle,Adventure,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Under The Northern Lights
|
Luna and Twilight travel to the northern land of the reindeer on a diplomatic mission
|
incomplete
| 623 | 11 |
<p>A diplomatic crisis arises between Equestria and the small, poor kingdom of Tarandroland, ancestral home of the reindeer. Celestia and Luna agree that it is time Luna takes a more active hand in foreign relations again, and Luna brings Twilight with her as someone she actually trusts and can talk to. But the mission turns out to be much more than political discussions - if scheming unicorn courtiers, unfriendly surly reindeer, bloodthirsty pirates, ancient sorcery and dangerous monsters weren't enough, our heroines must deal with something old - older than Luna. And is Luna really ready for diplomatic action, will Twilight learn to use a fan properly, and exactly how wrong are Spike's superhero comics about reindeer mythology?</p><br/><p>Now has a <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FanFic/UnderTheNorthernLights" rel="nofollow">TV tropes page</a></p>
|
teen
|
2015-06-20T01:54:10+00:00
|
2015-07-02T19:50:06+00:00
| 1,929 |
The clouds roiled over the tunnel-riddled glacier. The opening to Sampo’s tomb gaped behind the stunned little crowd.
“Vigg!” shouted Vidar. He tried to shake his nephew awake. Saga and Tuva shoved him while Kvalhissir loomed worriedly over Vigg. Spike jumped up and down and shouted Vigg’s name, the lantern in his hand jerking up and down and scattering its meager rays over the landscape. If Twilight had been a pegasus she’d hovered over him.
“Vigg, speak to me!” The fawn remained unmoving, though he breathed heavily.
“Let him be!” Wiglek’s shout made them jerk their necks towards him. “Let him breathe. You… don’t crowd him.” No one had jumped to the lich’s side when he fell, and Twilight was struck with a sudden illogical guilt over it.
“But he got less sick,” she thought, “we’re just being sensible…”
The lich limped up to Vigg and knelt beside him, keeping a careful distance. His speartip foot clicked against the ice, his dead hooves lightly tapped.
“You stupid stupid sarv... “ he sighed. “Always too noble for your good, always too careless…”
He carefully placed his good forehoof beside his head.
“How I wish I could cry…” he mumbled. Louder, he spoke: “Wake up! Wake up, come out of the nightmare!”
There was something in that voice, something magic, most of them noticed. All of them also noticed when Vigg jerked upright with a gasp, his hooves kicking and skidding on the ice.
“Oh my… oh my… oh buck!” he babbled. “What… oh… I can feel it… both of them…”
“That,” said Wiglek sadly, “that is how it is to carry the burden of two curses at once.”
“I messed up! I messed up, I couldn’t do it, it’s all my fault…” Vigg babbled. “I’m… oh no, I’m evil now, right!”
“No - no you’re not!” Saga protested. “It cannot control you just like that, can it?”
“Eventually it will…” Wiglek said. Saga glared daggers at him.
Vigg sobbed.
“I knew it… never fix it… I failed again… so stupid….”
“It will get faster if you keep it like that!” snapped Wiglek. “Those are the feelings the Nightmare needs! Inadequacy, jealousy, despair! That makes deer evil!”
“No no no…” Vigg continued to babble.
“Spike!” Twilight shouted.
“Y-yes?”
“Get me a mirror!” said Twilight and stepped up and grabbed Vigg in a hug. “Shh! Shh! It’ll work out, and I’ll show you how!”
“Mirror…?” said Spike.
“Here!” Saga grabbed a shield with a huge, polished bronze boss from one of the Grazers and gave it to Twilight.
“Thanks!” said Twilight. She levitated it up and held Vigg’s head in front of it, as she also held the lantern and shone its light from a useful angle at his face. “Look at it, Vigg. Look at it, with your Sight. Remember your Sight? You see the evil in deer! Are you evil? Look!”
With tears in his eyes, Vigg looked into his reflection.
“No… no… but it is so dark” he whispered.
“That’s not you,” said Twilight. “That’s Sampo and the Nightmare. They are no more Vigg than a flu and food poisoning is Vigg. We will get you out of here, and get the Elements of Harmony, and me and my friends will cleanse you, and everything will be like before. Right?”
Vigg nodded.
“Breathe,” Twilight Sparkle said. “Breathe. Slowly. So, so…”
“Change of plans. We need to get him out here as quickly as possible,” she said. “We can keep the defense working and warn the rebels while we get my friends and the Elements to Sarvvik, then get him back where he should be. Pegasi can take me, him and Wiglek to the Northern coast and - “
“No,” said Wiglek. “Not possible.”
“What?” said Twilight. “Are you crazy?”
“Oh yes, but my madness have nothing to do with this,” said Wiglek. “Your artefacts will cleanse him of evil magics - and the Sampo is an evil magic! Once he has lost it, he can never use it again. He must use his second wish to do as planned and foretold before he is cleansed!”
“Impossible!” said Twilight. “You see how Vigg is, he cannot keep at this much longer.”
“So we must do it faster…” said Wiglek. He bowed his head and muttered what seemed to be a dark oath.
“No, that’s not possible either!” said Twilight. “We need time to prepare!”
“Then let them hurry!” said Wiglek. “Let your dragon fylgja send one of those spell-scrolls to your Mistress, and tell her that dark magic is as it’s always been, and we need to hurry! Then we do as we said, and we three travel to the northern coast and protect him while he says his wish!”
“Absolutely not!” said Twilight.
Vigg rose and walked up to Wiglek.
“How fast…?” he said.
“Vigg!” said Saga.
The wind seemed to have picked up and more snow whirled about.
“Until corrupted, or what?” said Wiglek. “Oh, that will take a long while. You’re a better deer than me and I suspect better than the Kin-slayer when she took it in desperation. But it can make you slip up and waste the second wish, maybe even cause a disaster with it, long before that. At any time! Trust me, I have done such things!”
“Then we must find another way altogether!” said Twilight. “This might have been a red herring, but there must be something else… Wiglek’s magics, things hidden in the ice, this might not have been a waste even if we cannot use the Sampo…”
“No,” said Vigg. “No. I’m doing this.”
“Why, Vigg?” said Twilight. “Because of some kind of Trotholm syndrome? Wiglek is not your father, you are not his son!”
“Yes,” said Vigg, “I know. And I think Wiglek knows… But Saga said it was the way, and I trust her. And Skinf… Celestia said it was the way, and I thought you trusted her.”
“But it’s crazy!” said Twilight.
“I’m a teenager,” said Vigg. “We do crazy things all the time, so I’m told. You’ll know once Spike gets just a little older.”
The wind was even stronger.
“Wiglek, can you take us out of here?” said Vigg. “Like, fast?”
“Yes,” said the lich and chuckled, “I can, actually.” He went from muttering to chanting.
“Wiglek!” said Twilight. “Don’t do anything stupid!”
“Vigg, don’t” said Vidar.
“Bye everydeer!” said Vigg. “See you later.”
“I CALL UPON THE ACKJA OF KARHU-AKKA! CARRY US ALOFT, OH MOTHER OF WINTER!” shouted Wiglek.
Twilight already had a pretty decent forcefield shaped in her mind, but she wasn’t prepared for what Wiglek’s invocation did. A very dedicated whirlwind swept down, and at the same time, in a flash, the young sarv and the old corpse-being were converted to pure snow. The magic blizzard lifted and howled away, and for the rest of her life, Twilight’s scientific mind would wonder if it really showed the shape of a whale-bear-squid thing pulling an ackja within its spiraling snow, or if it was just her overactive imagination.
“Dang.”
Twilight’s voice was small, yet it could be heard over the wind.
“What do we do now?” said Vidar.
“Can you teleport ahead?” said Spike.
“No,” said Twilight. “I have no mark to target for a teleport and I cannot see the place they are going to. Besides, fighting Vigg now can only make him lose control. It’s useless.”
“What then?” said Vidar.
“We do as Wiglek wanted,” said Twilight, her voice thin, her head bowed. “We hurry to Sarvvik and speed up the preparations. I don’t know how fast the wind flows, but I can make calculations. I’ll need to teleport. You’d better ski, since reindeer can be hurt by teleportation.”
“Take me with you, please!” said Saga. “You need me!”
“I guess I do,” said Twilight with a smile. “Get ready… Spike, you as well!”
“What about our gear?”
“Leave it!” said Twilight. “Vidar’s herd can take what they can fit, otherwise we leave it!”
“Wait!” said Kvalhissir. “There is this…” He ran into the tomb.
“What’s the… what is that troll up to?!” said Vidar.
“Kvalhissir!” shouted Saga. “We don’t have the time!”
Soon the moose came out, carrying a spear.
He gave it to Saga.
“That was right beside Sampo,” he said. “I think you might need it.”
“Why?” said Twilight.
“It is a… how did Vigg say? Magical thingamajig. It will be useful. At least for morale.”
“Sampo’s spear?!” said Spike. “That’s like from the comic book! Seriously, that’s like Supercolt’s indestructible cloak or Mistress Mare-velous animated lasso! This… this is cool and ridiculous!”
Twilight sighed.
“Please be serious, Spike! This is reality, not some made-up fantasy adventure… Besides, magical weapons are my least favorite form of magical artefact,” she grumbled. “But okay. Is everyone ready?”
“Yeah!” said Spike and grabbed the spear.
“No, but let’s go anyway!” said Saga and shuddered.
“Take care!” said Tuva.
“We’ll come as fast as we can!” said Vidar.
“I’ll warn my people,” said Kvalhissir.
“Hold tight!” said Twilight and teleported.
Twilight slowly opened her eyes. They hurt, her head hurt, her nose hurt…
“Whu…?” she said.
“Mistress Twilight!” said Saga and leaned smiling over her… bed. She was lying in a hospital bed. The sheets were a bit cold and dry. There was a beeping machine connected to her chest and horn.
“Good!” said a voice she recognized. Mother Disa was next to the bed as well, a syringe and a bottle of some solution on a tray.
“I knew you would come to, Lady Sparkle,” said the priestess-physician. “But you should really be careful with magical workings, considering your earlier injuries.”
Twilight laid back, then sat straight up.
“We must warn them!”
“Shhh, calm down, mylady!” said Disa.
“We already did;” said Saga. “Or Spike did, I mean. He told Princess Luna everything.”
“Every… really everything?” said Twilight, sinking back down.
“Really everything,” said Saga and nodded solemnly. “She knows about the first wish.”
Twilight looked at the beeping machine.
“How did she take it?” she said.
“Not good,” Saga looked at the sheets. “But she collected herself, called on runners with letters and stuff. Everydeer is up and ready.”
“I need to be there too!” said Twilight. She prepared to roll out of bed.
“No!” said Disa. “With all due respect, you mustn’t take the risk, Lady Sparkle!”
“My country and your country is at war;” said Twilight. “I mean, not with each other, together! With, with monsters! And I am needed! At the front!”
Twilight ripped off the cables to the machine telekinetically and rolled out of bed. Her legs gave away and she landed in a heap.
“Twilight!” said Saga. She bowed down to help the unicorn up.
“Oooh… so… ouch…” said Twilight.
“This is what I’m talking about!” said mother Disa.
“I’m needed…” groaned Twilight and slowly rose.
Disa shook her head.
“Look,” said Saga, “this is a hospital, right?”
“Yeeess?” said Disa, an eyebrow arched.
“You got to have a wheelchair somewhere,” Saga said, helping Twilight up.
Vigg screamed first, then he realized he didn’t hear his own voice, only a howling wind. He didn’t see anything, except a shimmer of white light across black. He didn’t breathe, but he did hear his heart beating. He could feel himself twirling around like a carousel, but he didn’t feel any nausea or vertigo. His fear subsided. He felt a calm certainty.
“This is how it feels to be snow…” he thought. “This is weird. This is the things that happens in movies and comic books. Meeting the world’s greatest sorceress and the most powerful necromancer. Teaming up with the to defeat a horde of monsters. And… it’s mostly bad, because it’s all a chore. Not because it’s dangerous, though ancestors know I’m afraid, but because it’s all something you just have to do. Not doing it would be horrible. There are things you cannot just not do, like helping a friend up when he falls when skiing, or eating all the berries on a nagoonberry stand when you have started to munch on it, or shut your eyes when the sun is reflected in a snowdrift. And some of them are unpleasant, like this one. Though knowing what it feels like to be snow… that is a good thing.”
He felt himself ascending, then descending. He had no idea what time it was. He wouldn’t have even if he hadn’t been turned to whirling snow. He had no watch and couldn’t see the sun. He thought for a moment that it would be horrible if Wiglek had mucked up his incantation and they would never turn back to reindeer, but the thought only coalesced into its natural state of icy terror for an instant.
He could feel the Sampo, as a pulsating ball of greed and temptation, and the Nightmare, as an itch of selfish jealous anger, but they were just riding the same wind as the snow that was Vigg, and he felt he could handle them. That made things easier.
“If I get out of this… when I get out of this I need to talk with so many deer,” he thought. “Mom and grandpa and Saga and the cousins… but I also want to talk to Spike. Make him get some sort of… what’s it called, some royal decree that they’d better retcon ‘Sampo the Warrior Prince’ into something less ridiculous. Yeah. That’s my life goals if I survive this crazy manure. Make my family understand me, and make up with Saga, and reform foreign pop culture so it’s not so very stupid when it comes to reindeer. Yeah.”
He figured what he’d say to his mother and grandfather, and had a letter written to the editor of the monthly comic-book in his head, but he had still no idea what to say to Saga when he landed in the snow with a soft thump.
“Ow,” he said, after spitting out snow. He rose unsteadily. Wiglek was lying a couple of yards away
“Are… are you alright?” Vigg said.
“No,” said the lich from deep in the snow. “We’re in dire danger, you have made a mistake that can doom us all, and I just used up my last invocation of transportation.”
“Oh,” said Vigg.
Wiglek rose up, no more steadily that Vigg. Vigg saw that the bones and leathery flesh shifted, as if he was righting himself.
“I have called Svipp to follow us, but even for an untiring mokkurkalfe running at full speed, that can take days. We have no fire and no food, and while I don’t need them, you will.”
“So… what… we’re gonna die?” said Vigg, feeling something in his throat, and it was shadow and fear and anger.
“Not if I can help it,” said Wiglek, “and I can, but it will be the opposite of pleasant, and not easy.”
“What?” said Vigg. “What do you mean?”
“I have one protective magic that can save you from all danger here, both monsters and starvation and cold,” said Wiglek and started kicking away the snow, clearing a small area. “Come here, help me!”
“Oh,” said Vigg, trotted up to him and started kicking snow as well. “What’s that?”
“I can put you or anydeer, really, into a deep stasis - frozen alive and unharmed in a block of ice,” said Wiglek.
“Will it… hurt?” said Vigg.
“Only for a moment,” said Wiglek, “but probably badly for that moment. Then nothing. ONe only need to be careful when thawing you out, and nothing will happen to you. I only need to chant it just after you make that wish, and you will be safe.”
He stopped kicking.
“If I had used it in time, I could have saved my son,” he said. “He could have slept within the glacier unharmed. Both of us together.”
He sighed.
“Who’d have thawed you out?” said Vigg.
“What?” said Wiglek irritatedly.
“You’d both have been in a block of ice under the world’s largest glacier,” said Vigg. “Who’d have thawed you out?”
“I - I could have been outside the block,” said Wiglek. “I would have become free sooner or later, as you see.”
“You didn’t know, when the snow fell, that you would rise from the dead,” said Vigg. “There was nothing you could do. It’s not your fault.”
Wiglek just stared at him, then licked his leathery muzzle.
“That makes it worse,” he said. “That means I was helpless. Weak.”
“Look, we just travelled across Poatsula in the form of snow,” said Vigg. “You made that happen, I mean persuaded someone to make that happen. You’re not weak, that’s amazing, that’s the opposite of weak! I’m a normal mortal being. I’m weak. You’re an immortal mage, and a powerful mage!”
Wiglek opened his mouth, then shut it, unconfirmed.
“See here, let’s talk, I mean, practical stuff,” said Vigg. “Who will thaw me out?”
“I will be outside, as I said, and now I know I can handle it,” said Wiglek.
“What will you do outside the ice?”
“Keep myself as intact as possible,” said Wiglek and started kicking snow again. “Then, as soon as I am able, I will get aid to thaw you out safely.”
“How?” said Vigg.
“Fires and magic,” said Wiglek. “I know it can be done. Do you have another way?”
Thoughts were already racing through Vigg’s head, about wishing for safety or warmth or shelter, but he shook them off, and he started to shiver.
“If I don’t make it…” he started to say.
“You will!” snapped Wiglek.
“If I don’t make it, listen to me, if I don’t make it, you must take messages for me!” Vigg shouted.
Wiglek opened his jaws then shut them half way again.
“What are these messages?” he said.
“Swear you will carry them and bring them,” Vigg said.
“I swear,” said Wiglek with some irritation, “by my brother, my son and my dog!”
“Okay. Well. For my mother: tell her I love her, and that I’m sorry I’ve b-been a bother, and that she must stand up to grandpa! And tell her to tell the rest of my family I’m… thankful, for everything.”
“I will tell your mother that you love her, that you are sorry for being a bother, whatever that is, that she must face your grandfather, and that you are grateful to your herd for all they have done for you,” said Wiglek.
“Tell Saga… tell her I’m sorry I wronged her, and that I… I love her, and that if she wants to summon my ghost, she needn’t use her whole regalia.”
Wiglek looked quizzically at Vigg.
“She’s a necromancer,” he said, “and, well… you should talk to her.”
“I will - but we must hurry!”
“Right!” said Vigg and swallowed. “Finally tell my grandfather - no, he’ll manage. Tell Lady Twilight Sparkle thanks for what she did, and that I forgive her for lying, and tell Spike to help us, to let people know the true story of Sampo.”
“The little dragonling?” said Wiglek.
Vigg didn’t even try to explain the concept of comics.
“He’s a scribe,” he said. “He’ll know what I mean.”
Wiglek nodded.
“I will bring all these messages if you do not survive,” he said. “but you will. Now hurry! Stand in the open space, and make your wish!”
Vigg nodded and complied. He swallowed.
“I will do my chant,” said Wiglek. “Be ready when I nod.”
“Yes,” said Vigg and started to cry silently as the old lich chanted very hoary names that won’t be repeated. Again the wind howled and the temperature fell even deeper, freezing Vigg’s tears.
Then Wiglek nodded, coming close to the end of his invocation.
“I WISH FOR ALL WINTER MONSTERS IN POATSULA!” Vigg shouted.
Wiglek barely had the time to cry out to the Windigo and call upon their thick icy hoofpits, and encase the fawn in thick, blue ice and freeze him solid yet alive.
Then, the wish came true.
|
CoastalSarv
|
877
| 54 |
Original Character,Princess Luna,Spike,Twilight Sparkle,Adventure,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Under The Northern Lights
|
Luna and Twilight travel to the northern land of the reindeer on a diplomatic mission
|
incomplete
| 623 | 11 |
<p>A diplomatic crisis arises between Equestria and the small, poor kingdom of Tarandroland, ancestral home of the reindeer. Celestia and Luna agree that it is time Luna takes a more active hand in foreign relations again, and Luna brings Twilight with her as someone she actually trusts and can talk to. But the mission turns out to be much more than political discussions - if scheming unicorn courtiers, unfriendly surly reindeer, bloodthirsty pirates, ancient sorcery and dangerous monsters weren't enough, our heroines must deal with something old - older than Luna. And is Luna really ready for diplomatic action, will Twilight learn to use a fan properly, and exactly how wrong are Spike's superhero comics about reindeer mythology?</p><br/><p>Now has a <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FanFic/UnderTheNorthernLights" rel="nofollow">TV tropes page</a></p>
|
teen
|
2015-10-11T17:48:48+00:00
|
2015-10-23T15:25:27+00:00
| 2,048 |
The nidhoggs came. They scrambled down the mountain sides, sinuous bodies twisting, jaws snapping, throats screaming. Many fell, more slammed into rocks or ice-blocks. They roiled over the forested hills, their blasts of chill freezing the stunted trees, the tarns, the bushes, even the turf and soil down to the rock, killing the small things that hid from the winter together with every root and bulb. They snapped and chewed, the trees, the turf, the brush, each other, maddened by hunger, but soon they stopped and hurried on.
Something drove them. Something forced them to hurry, somewhere, further down the snowy slopes and frosted forest. Towards death, their own, but mostly the death of summer.
A shape came flapping through the gray sky, down towards the northern edge of Sarvvik through the haze of the falling snow.
“Princess Celestia!” Twilight said. She almost rose from her wheelchair as the alicorn alighted in front of her. Celestia were wearing her heavy armor in orchalcum and crystal, just as resplendent as her sister’s lunargentum one. The others around Twilight Sparkle, ponies and reindeer both, bowed. Except two.
“Sister,” said Luna, “you are finally here! Good!” She was also armored. Unlike Celestia, her helmet levitated by her side.
“Hi Celestia!” said Spike. “How is the evacuation plan going?”
“There are troubles, but I don’t think King Ukko’s men will do worse than me,” said Celestia. “I took off from the harbor when a messenger told me Twilight had woke up, and it seems I left them behind.”
“What kind of troubles, your highness?” said Mustikka sharply.
“Some ship owners don’t want to let their ships be commandeered to evacuate non-combatants if necessary,” said Celestia. “Lord Skiold and Lord Heikko are negotiating with them.”
“Skiold and Heikko negotiating!?” said Mustikka. “Not doing worse than you?! Freeze me, I have to get over there! You there, you’re in charge!”
He pointed to a vaja in armor and helmet who nodded, bewildered.
“You and you, follow me! Sorry, your highnesses, I have to leave this to you!”
He galloped off followed by two other guards.
“He reminds me of someone,” said Celestia to Twilight, who merely arched an eyebrow.
“Your highness,” said Oak Wreath, “welcome back. We were just showing Lady Sparkle the lines of defense.”
“Ditches! Stakes! Mines!” said Spike. “Those monster won’t dare get near here!”
“You’ve done a lot in so little time, Oak Wreath,” said Twilight Sparkle. “Well, you and everybody else!”
She looked out over the defenses. Walls slapped together from a mix of chopped down trees and torn-up buildings, ditches filled with water or burnable matter, stretches of mined and trapped ground. Reindeer, ponies, aurochs and a scattering of other ungulates were still digging, building and dragging material here and there.
“You have done a good job, Oak Wreath,” said Luna, “but I fear it won’t be enough.”
“I hope it will be,” said Celestia. “We are here to help!”
Luna nodded silently. Twilight’s spirits fell.
“Good that you are here, sister,” said Luna, “since I need to leave now.”
“Why?” said Twilight.
“To warn the pirates,” said Spike, more solemnly than before. “They’re first in the line of the… of Winter.”
“Be careful!” said Twilight. “They have artillery, and…”
“I know,” said Luna. “That means little during the circumstances. I’m well-armored and ready. I’m more worried they won’t see reason and abandon camp.”
“Surely they must see the danger,” said Celestia. “Most of them are reindeer, they should be able to tell the weather is worsening.”
“Jarl Ahto is proud,” said Luna, “and his deer are loyal.”
“Don’t they think you’re a goddess?” said Spike. “Shouldn’t that matter? I for one think we should have done something like this earlier!”
“I don’t know,” said Luna, “not that I like to foster that lie…”
“Better do that than leave those poor fellows to die foolishly,” said Oak Wreath.
“Mmm, Your Highness,” said Saga, “I have an idea. I think you could do a lot with the right presentation…”
“Presentation?” said Luna.
“You have an image to consider, Your Highness;” said Saga and grinned. “As your prophet, I take it very seriously!”
“Saga,” said Twilight, “I hope you aren’t kidding, things are really serious…”
“Of course I’m serious!” Saga snorted. “I think I’ve never been more serious about such a thing…”
The turso came. One minute they were hunting for food, or rather grazing for it. Their miasma poisoned and sickened sea-life around them as they paddled through, then they slowly munched it up as it couldn’t escape. It was rare, very rare, and they were all so hungry. Some were far out at sea, some deep down in the abyss, many scrabbling along the coasts.
The next minute, they were all scrabbling along one coast, close enough to touch. Scared and angry they spouted plague and poison, which didn’t do much, since all turso are immune to such things. Then they bit each other, slammed each other using their heads as flails, as turso do during mating season. Hungry and hurt and angry and scared, they only let up because something drove them on, south, along the coast, almost up on land. Screaming, bellowing, belching out their miasma of death.
The coast died, inch by inch, as they travelled down to Sarvvik.
“What’s the meaning of this?!” shouted the nobledeer and stamped her hoof.
“The meaning is your ship is confiscated,” said Skiold. “It’s for ferrying non-warriors and provisions south if things, well…”
“Go south!” said Heikko and laughed. He poked the lady’s bodyguard in the side. “South! Eh?”
The guard frowned but didn’t voice her displeasure.
“That’s my ship!” she said. “It belongs to my family, and we need it!”
“Sure, if you don’t think you can stand and fight, you and your kin can jump aboard,” said Skiold, “but we will need space for others as well, so that - “ and he pointed to a huge trail of baggage carried by servants - “won’t fit. Now, either get on board, or get lost!”
“This is brigandage!” shouted the nobledeer. “Those things are valuable! They are all we have in the world!”
“What’s bridangage?” said Skiold.
“Brigandage!” she shouted, red in the face.
“Is that a word?” Skiold asked Heikko. “Is she insulting me or something.”
“I think it has something to do with being a robber,” said Heikko.
“Look, lady, I’ve been a robber - “
“Ah, yeah, I remember that!” said Heikko. “That was fun!”
“ - and this isn’t it,” Skiold finished. “This is saving as many as possible if we need to.”
“If the monsters break down the walls,” said Heikko.
“If!” said another deer in the noble’s retinue. “We are all doomed! The old gods have woken and come back, and they’ll end the world in ice and plague!”
Skiold was about to protest when Heikko interrupted him.
“Well, then it doesn’t matter if you die in Trotholm or here. Or in Hestaland, if you want to go across the sea which I guess is getting doomed too then. In that case, you might as well stay and help. It is the last age for heroes anyway. The Hestalanders and their civilisation is coming along, and they won’t need deer like me soon. If it all is gonna end, might as well do it fighting.”
Skiold looked at him. Heikko looked grim, and that was a rare occurrence. The retinue must have sensed it too, or known him by reputation, because they didn’t protest, they let him continue.
“But if the world really isn’t ending, there is a chance, then we must use that, to save all the ones who cannot stand by the walls and fight. And then we need every ship and all space aboard them. See?”
They looked at each other and nodded.
“Good. I really don’t want to fight any reindeer today. I might get hurt early and miss the real fun. So please, all of you take what you really need, and as much food you can carry, and come on board!”
“Well, except for anydeer who think they can fight or build!” said Skiold hastily. He pointed at the guard. “Like you!”
She swallowed.
“You can come with me,” said one of the servants, who put down his burden.
“What?” said the guard.
“I was gonna go join the temple militia anyway,” said the servant. “I have a spear and an amulet they say protect against frost! And poison! And… and my winter coat. We have trained. You can fight next to me.” He smiled.
“I think I will,” said the guard, nodding.
“Lady Hreidunn!” she said to the nobledeer. “With your permission…”
“Well… go!” she said. “But be careful!”
The two volunteers left, and the refugees-to-be started to board the ship, like the reindeer did on the ships around them.
“Wonder if there’s any lingonberry juice to be had?” said Heikko out loud as he watched them embark. When Skiold stared at him, he followed up with:
“I don’t want to get drunk yet! Far too long until any real battle!”
Mustikka came galloping down the street.
“Now what’s going on here!” he shouted.
“Heikko wants some juice,” said Skiold, “and I was gonna tell him, wasn’t I, that we cannot leave because we are overseeing the ships?”
“Juice?!” Mustikka sneered. “Where’s the crisis?!”
“Well,” said Heikko, “I think all the places serving food are closed, seeing as how the city is under siege and all…”
Mustikka facehoofed.
The hraesvalg came. They had found themselves suddenly circling a mountain bereft of the frozen meat they needed so badly, and in a big whirlwind of cold winds and eternal hunger they circled, screaming so loud that their voice were heard on the mortal plane. The spirit world was scoured of everything else, fleeing or hiding or shattering in fear.
The corpsetearers, always bravest in a group, where now a horde and hence braver than ever. Screaming, they swooped in a cloud of famine and frost down south, circling as they moved, and a snow-filled tornado swept across the land, uprooting trees and rearranging the landscape.
Luna had tried to turn down the Night Guards as a retinue, not wanting to risk their lives, but Ukko - who had turn up, scaringly sober, inspecting the militia - had convinced her.
“You cannot let them miss this chance for glory, Dream-sender,” said the king. “Have they ever flown out with you like this?”
She had refused the chariot though when Celestia suggested she borrow one. She’d rather fly with her own wings.
No monster was visible yet as they flew over the snow-covered pine forests and alder-rimmed marshes. Luna didn’t know how long they had, and was nervous when she noticed she was that faster than her guards, but it did give her some time and mental space to work some magic and follow Saga’s suggestion. She sent out a silent call over the land below, a rather specific one.
Hours later, they drew closer to the small open area where renegade camp was situated. It was easy to find once you knew it.
“We should just have scourged the coast until we found it sooner…” Luna thought, but it was easy to be wise after the event.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a bolt from a ballista.
Luna swerved aside, even if it wasn’t that necessary.
“Fools!” she said. “Those things aren’t meant to be shot - “ she easily dodged a second bolt “ - at a single - “ she dodged another “ - flying target!”
Soldiers began to mass on the ground below. Luna hovered downwards and grabbed the ballista itself, throwing it off the tower. Her guards did a sharp swerve as a huge glob of flaming goo shot past them, a flame cannon with better aim.
A few crossbow shots and lobbed javelins came from the mass of warriors, missing rather pathetically but showing they meant business.
“FOOLS!” she shouted, strengthening her voice magically. “I HAVE COME TO SAVE YOU! WHERE IS YOUR LEADER!”
The crowd opened and let past one reindeer, not yet in armor but with his helmet on.
“I AM HERE, PRINCESS LUNA! I AM JARL AHTO, TRUE KING OF POATSULA! EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE A GODDESS, I WILL NOT STAND DOWN! I WILL FIGHT TO THE BITTER END!”
“NODEER IS GOING TO FIGHT ANYDEER!” Luna shouted. “I AM HERE TO SAVE YOU! YOUR DOOM AWAITS UNLESS YOU RETREAT TO SARVVIK!”
“WHY SHOULD I TRUST YOU WORDS, WHEN YOU ARE ALLIED TO MY SWORN ENEMY?” Ahto shouted back, having more trouble keeping screaming.
“ALL MONSTERS OF WINTER ADVANCE, AS ONE ARMY, COMING THIS WAY!” Luna shouted, but in the meantime she kept up her magic call, like a song stuck in your head. “KING UKKO GIVES YOU ALL AMNESTY DURING THE ATTACK, IF YOU STAY AND DEFEND SARVVIK’S WALLS!”
“YOUR LIES ARE RIDICULOUS!” shouted Ahto. “THERE ARE NO SIGNS OF WHAT YOU TALK ABOUT! WINTER EVEN SEEMS TO HAVE RECEDED!”
There were murmurs of agreement from the crowd.
“Y’know, Your Highness,” said one of the guards, “the weather hasn’t been this calm in forever…”
“Of course!” Luna said. “Sampo’s power actually pulled away all winter wind spirits from here…”
She shut her eyes and smiled.
“But here they are… my little friends…”
They didn’t arrive as a cloud, darkening the skies. That’s not how they fly. No, they came skipping, flying short steps from one bush, one tree, one snow drift to another, a small skirmishing army of little brown birds, exiting the forest and entering the camp.
“Jays!” gasped one soldier.
“Thousands of jays!” shouted another and stepped back from one that bravely strutted up to his hooves.
“The birds of ill omen!” wailed another.
“DO YOU SEE IT NOW, JARL AHTO? THIS PLACE IS DOOMED BY POWERS GREATER THAN MINE! RETREAT TO THE SOUTH, BY SHIP OR SKIS, AS FAST AS YOU CAN!”
The soldiers were looking about in fear and shifting their feet. They seemed far more scared of the horde of birds than of the alicorn hovering above them. Ahto looked around him, then scowled.
“NEVER!” he shouted. “THIS MUST BE SOME KIND OF PONY SORCERY!”
Luna sighed… remembered Twilight’s reports and their plans in full, and landed in the snow in front of the jarl. The soldiers nervously and ineptly directed their weapon at her, while looking around at the little birds.
“Jarl Ahto… not only must you retreat to save your deer, but to save the rest of Poatsula,” Luna said gently, ignoring the spears and axes.
“The armies of Sarvvik has too few soldiers to meet the forces of Winter,” she said. “We need your reinforcements, and we need them as soon as possible. You are our only hope!”
The jarl looked at the alicorn, then to his followers. Hakon, his aide, stepped out from the crowd.
“She is right,” he said, talking a bit awkwardly, his damaged jaw not fully healed. “You have to listen to her. I… I know you’d rather save your deer than your own life. Please Ahto, listen to her.”
Ahto nodded.
“You’re right… Ah well,” he looked at Luna. “It’ll have to be by ski. The weather might be better but I don’t want to take a ship out now.”
A rough voice coughed somewhere behind her. Luna turned and found herself face to face with a motley crew of pegasi, donkeys and zebras, sprinkled with a few other folks. In front of them was a small, winged pig.
“Uuuh.. Your Highness, but as a wholly neutral partner, and not very good at skiin', we thought that t' Crimson Kraken could just depart, as smartly as we can, without disturbin' t' evacuation process.”
“Try that again, Mr. Moccus,” said Luna and scowled. “If you don’t pack that ship of yours full of every civilian in this camp and sail as quickly as you can to Sarvvik, I’ll sink the ship right now.” She stamped her foot and sent off a thunderclap to give emphasis to her threat.
The pirates stepped back nervously.
“And if you stay and defend the harbour when you reach Sarvvik, seeing as your ship is armed, I might look in another direction later if you sneak away without standing trial for piracy. Otherwise, you’ll be the top priority for every law enforcement agency and every navy force in Equestria and among all of our allies. And I will have hanging for piracy reintroduced just for you. Is that understood?”
Mr. Moccus nodded vigorously, then looked back to his crew and scowled. As a person, they also nodded and grinned as nicely as they could.
“Good!” said Luna. “I’ll follow you to keep an eye on you. Night Guard!”
“Yes, Your Highness!” shouted the batwinged ponies.
“I leave you under Ahto’s command, as messengers and scouts,” she said.
They saluted.
“If you will have them, Jarl?” she said.
“I’ll be glad to,” said Ahto. “Let’s get moving, folks! We have trained this! Pack only necessities!”
“Let me show you t’ t’ ship, Your Highness,” said Moccus and made an attempt at a courtly bow.
“Very well, Captain,” said Luna.
“Oh… not really Captain,” said Moccus and waved his wooden trotter. “T’ captain became… indisposed, and we haven’t really chosen a new one yet! I’m merely t’ first mate here…”
“Whatever you say!” said Luna. “Get moving, as the jarl ordered!”
“Of course, o’ course…” jabbered the megasus.
They hadn’t arrived with their kin, swarming free and disembodied above the mountain. They had arrived possessing corpses, to their despair and horror, for to suddenly find themselves embodied in frozen flesh is for a hraesvalg is like for a pony to wake up rolled up in a wet blanket. They stumbled, screaming voicelessly, down the slopes of the nameless mountain, landing in a heap that would have been comical if it wasn’t for the torn limbs and cracked backs. The worst damaged were abandoned by the hungry spirits possessing them, screaming over the mass of stiff, walking corpses.
For a short while the other embodied stopped and tore the icy flesh apart, trying to sate their hunger. However, soon, they, like all other those who had been rudely teleported to this place, there was an urge to march south, and so they did. Their ridden bodies had arrived with their gear, and so they eased into their barding and grasped their weapons, even bowed down and put on their helmets.
So marched they did, the armies who once had marched against each other to gain the Sampo, tore from their icy tombs, reindeer and ponies, aurochs and moose and ice-wolf, except this time, they marched as one. It was easier than it should be, for the nidhoggs had torn up the trees and hills, and their disembodied kin had swept away the worst snow, and they felt filled with some kind of purpose, as if there was a memory in the soulless corpses of how you should do it when you marched to war. And from untold throats, a hoarse song of sorts was almost heard, as holdraugr came marching along.
|
CoastalSarv
|
877
| 55 |
Original Character,Princess Luna,Spike,Twilight Sparkle,Adventure,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Under The Northern Lights
|
Luna and Twilight travel to the northern land of the reindeer on a diplomatic mission
|
incomplete
| 623 | 11 |
<p>A diplomatic crisis arises between Equestria and the small, poor kingdom of Tarandroland, ancestral home of the reindeer. Celestia and Luna agree that it is time Luna takes a more active hand in foreign relations again, and Luna brings Twilight with her as someone she actually trusts and can talk to. But the mission turns out to be much more than political discussions - if scheming unicorn courtiers, unfriendly surly reindeer, bloodthirsty pirates, ancient sorcery and dangerous monsters weren't enough, our heroines must deal with something old - older than Luna. And is Luna really ready for diplomatic action, will Twilight learn to use a fan properly, and exactly how wrong are Spike's superhero comics about reindeer mythology?</p><br/><p>Now has a <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FanFic/UnderTheNorthernLights" rel="nofollow">TV tropes page</a></p>
|
teen
|
2016-10-22T17:20:17+00:00
|
2016-10-22T17:20:21+00:00
| 1,684 |
The day was less gray, the wind was less wild, but there was a faint sense of terror in the air, as if this was just something holding back.
Two of the volunteer pegasi landed on the wall blocking north of Sarvvik from the wilds. Specifically, in front of princess Celestia, who together with Ukko was inspecting the wall. The pegasi saluted.
“Your Highness,” one of them said, “the storm is coming, like the reindeer said. It’s barely an hour away. It’s… it’s like nothing I’ve seen before! It’s… it’s much darker than it should be! There shouldn’t be enough moisture about when the weather’s like this… Of course, this is uncontrolled weather, but…”
“It looks like it’s out to get ya!” said the other pegasus. “You think it’s screaming at ya, when ya hear it!”
King Ukko looked a bit annoyed at the winged ponies.
“It’s because it is!” he barked. “It’s full of ill-weather spirits who want you to freeze to death or crash to your death or get smashed to death under a falling fir! They want your corpse to eat and play with!”
The pegasi looked nervous.
“No weather is ever controlled in Poatsula,” said Celestia gently. “At least not by ungulates. While King Ukko is right, hraesvalg aren’t the wind - they live in the wind, ride it and control it. Like you do. If we can break the wind with our magic and scare the hraesvalg, they will shatter and the storm ebb out.”
“So, are you ready?” said Ukko and looked at the pegasus.
They looked at each other, and nodded.
“Yes, Your High - “ he corrected himself and looked at the King instead of his Princess. “Your Majesty. Every pegasus who can fly will try to tame the wind. But I’ll tell you, we’re too few…”
“You’ll do,” said Ukko undiplomatically. “You’ll have to. Got your witches ready, Celestia?”
“Oh yes,” said Celestia, “every unicorn and reindeer spirit-talker who knows a bit of wind or weather magic is ready to fight the wind, everyone who can toss a magic attack are there to hurt the spirits, and everyone who cannot do either is shouting encouragement. And there’s even some more foreign volunteers who know a bit of magic.”
Ukko nodded. “Whatever good it’ll do. This is actually the least dangerous part… it’ll be worse when the nidhoggs arrive.”
“Good,” said Celestia. “I think every civilian or common soldier has hidden in basements or ditches already…”
Ukko looked up and nodded his head towards the stairs to his left.
“Speaking of foreign sorcerers…”
The zebra who trotted up the stairs carefully was swathed in a long yellow scarf and two gray blankets, with a red cap on top of his head.
“Paki Saada,” said Celestia, “how nice to meet you.”
“Your Highness - “ he bowed to the alicorn - “Your Majesty - “ he bowed to the reindeer - “not all the magic-workers wanted my amulets, and Lady Sparkle suggested I brought them to you.”
He brought some dangling necklaces of amber from under his blankets.
“What do those do?” said Ukko suspiciously.
“They make spirits unable to posses you,” said the zebra. “They also make it hard for a spirit to pass through you at all, and you might even be able to grab them.”
“Hraesvalg only possess the dead,” Ukko murmured.
“Yes, Your Majesty, I know,” said Paki, “but me and Lady Sparkle thought each zombie less is a good thing.”
Ukko raised an eyebrow, then wordlessly grabbed one of the necklaces.
“I hope you’re not planning on dying, Ukko,” said Celestia.
“You can never plan the future,” said Ukko. “Get your people, and I’ll get mine!”
Ahto and his deer were skiing fast, but not as fast as the Night Guard wanted.
“Your… grace,” their leader tried, not being certain what a jarl was on the noble scale, “you need to hurry!” He had swept down and was hovering above the reindeer as he steadily tromped on over the snow. “Those storm-demon-things are coming closer and closer!”
“How close?!” barked Ahto.
“Only miles away,” said the batpony, “and a mighty wind is with them.”
“Right,” said Ahto and stopped.
“EVERYBODY HALT!” he shouted, and the shout carried on between the reindeer soldiers and sailors.
“What!” said the pony. “No, you must run faster!”
“They ride the wind, darkling!” snapped Ahto. “No one can outrun it on skis in a forest, not even me!” He ripped off his skis.
“EVERYBODY SEEK SHELTER!” he shouted.
“I kept the speed down so everyone could make it to Sarvvik with breath to fight,” he continued as his soldiers started to follow his orders. “You can either bivouac with us, or fly above the wind and dodge them.”
“But…” said the pony, his fellow guards hovering nervously around him.
“There won’t be a tree left between here and Sarvvik,” said Ahto. “Unless you can ride the wind or outfly it, get below the snow or above the clouds. Now!”
With a second of hesitation, the batpony snapped: “OK!” Then, he and his squad rushed up and away.
The reindeer methodically dug down.
“No way to avoid the trees,” Ahto told the nearest soldiers. “Let’s just avoid being swept away completely - if possible.”
Princess Luna stood at the bow of The Crimson Kraken, her wings spread, her horn crackling with energy, one forehoof weighing down on the base of the bowsprite like a foal on her skateboard. A steady wind blew into the ship’s sails, and a net of telekinetic force lifted it, seeming to give it extra buoyancy. The ship skipped over the waves faster than an Equestrian steam frigate at full steam.
The evacuees had all hankered down below decks, as had most of the crew. The few pirates who had stayed above to do what work was needed on the rigging - under threat of being thrown overboard - where barely hanging on. Jorge the Peryton was at the wheel under protest. He had magic means to anchor himself, the first mate had argued, and Jorge hadn’t been able to deny it. A web of shadows fettered him to the mizzenmast and the planks of the poopdeck. He was beginning to tire.
Gerda the griffon climbed down the mainmast, flying being out of the question. Claw and paw she crawled over the deck to Jorge.
“ARE YOU HOLDING ON!” she shouted. The winds were too loud for any normal conversation.
“I HATE THIS WEATHER! I HATE THIS COUNTRY! I HATE THE CAPTAIN AND HER DAFT IDEAS ABOUT HELPING REINDEER NOBLES!”
“WHAT?!”
He repeated his diatribe.
“BUT YOU’RE HOLDING ON?”
“SO FAR!”
She crawled up to him, grabbed his shadow-web with her back paws and the wheel with her front claws.
“HELMSSTAG NEEDS HELP! COME ON, YOU FOLKS!”
A zebra mare laboriously walked up deck, grabbing lines and rails now and then for support.
“AY AY!” she shouted.
“YOU GOING SOFT?!” he shouted to Gerda.
“IF YOU LOSE IT, PONY PRINCESS GONNA RUN US ALL ASHORE!”
“YEAH!” he shouted. And then: “THANKS!”
Princess Luna stood at the bow of The Crimson Kraken, her wings spread, her horn crackling with energy, one forehoof weighing down on the base of the bowsprite like a foal on her skateboard. Sweat poured down her brow and her flanks.
The hraesvalg came, screaming. Cowards alone, they had reached a never-before seen bravery in a huge cloud of spirits, and they drove the wind in front of them, creating a terrifying blizzard. The snow rose and fell, whipped over the landscape. Trees were cast down and aside, and those that stood the onslaught had their limbs ripped off and tossed about. The few beasts and birds that hadn’t already dug as deep into the snow or frozen earth as possible were also tossed about. Luckily there weren’t many. Even the forest spirits were hiding in fear.
Something drove the carrion eaters on, not just their miserable hunger, but an urgency, tinted with hatred they didn’t recognize, a strange feeling that they needed to thrust themselves at the odd collection of flesh-folk living in one big place. Screaming, they rode the wind as it hit Sarvvik… but then they hit the defences.
Scores of spirit-talkers, lead by Galderhorn, chanted and screamed into the wind, and their words become Real to the spirits. It wasn’t exactly like flying into a wall, but as Galderhorn had explained it to Twilight, it was like running over a field and suddenly realizing there was a big thick bush full of thorns right in front of you, and you couldn’t stop and ran through it, the thorns scratching you and the branches whipping you and the roots tripping your hooves. The cloud didn’t halt, but it severely lost momentum.
The wind didn’t. It blew over and through the battlements, tossing about the less secured defences, until it hit another wall of wind. Every single pegasi - royal guards, volunteers from Equestria, sailors from the harbour - had worked to summon a counter-storm of sorts. Right in the middle flew Celestia, and shouted words of encouragement into their ears, shining like the sun. Their wind seemed to blow upwards, bringing the carrion wind with it, causing it to rip even harder at the battlements, tearing down walls and palisades, but changing path and sparing Sarvvik proper its full force.
There were fewer unicorns than pegasi, but everyone they had gathered was there, getting out of shelter, accompanied by some of the spirit talkers. Twilight had been rolled there in her wheelchair against Spike’s protests, but they were lead by a unicorn guard named Dawn Flames. Not all unicorns are true sorcerers, but all had some training. In addition, creating telekinetic force is a basic skill. Under Dawn’s Command, and guided by reindeer spotters, they simply shot off spikes of horn-force into the most compact groups of hraesvalgs. Non-pony mages followed up with the strongest spells they knew.
The magic power was as real to the spirits as it would have been to a pony. Not that many were often hit, but some of those who were, were smashed to smithereens. In any case, you need not be hit by a bullet to flee machine gun fire. The urge to attack was becoming too weak compared to the fear and pain, joining into panic. The hraesvalgs started to flee, streaming upwards, letting go of the wind completely. Many flapped to the ground, wailing, where they were chased by shouting reindeer emerging from shelter.
Skiold, equipped with one of Paka’s necklaces, grabbed one with his mouth and bit it, tossed another one with his horns, and kicked a third one rhythmically.
“Welcome to Sarvvik!” he shouted. “NOW LEAVE!”
It was just a few of the huge crowd of spirits, but the people who had been hiding and silently prayed for the magic-using defenders crept out of their shelters and cheered. Hraesvalg prey on the weak; cheer is a bad sign for them. They lost all morale, and fled as fast as they could, suddenly tired as the urgency left them.
The cheer that went up only lasted a short while. Neither Ukko nor Celestia needed to bark orders to get any wounded out of the way, any exhausted mages back down in shelter so they could rest, and everyone out and start rebuilding those palisades and defenses which had been broken. Ukko barked orders anyway, but his followers were used to that.
“We did it!” shouted Spike, who rushed out to Twilight’s wheelchair. “I mean, you did it!”
“Everyone helped, who could,” said Twilight. “But this is only the start… I wonder if we can keep going…”
“You should rest as soon as possible,” said Celestia who landed, followed by pegasi. “I know I should tell you that you shouldn’t have been here, but it would have been useless.”
“I didn’t come to Tarandroland to let others go off and do all the work,” said Twilight. She saw Galderhorn trotting up to them, followed by some younger spirit-talkers. The old stag was sad to the point of crying.
“What’s the matter?” said Twilight. “Was somedeer hurt in the battle?”
“Many,” said Galderhorn. “I don’t relish harming or slaying any spirit. For anyone with the Sight, the skies are full of hurt and death.”
“Them or us!” said Spike.
“I haven’t said it was the wrong choice,” said Galderhorn, “just that I dislike it. And for a spirit-talker, it’s hard to work magic when you feel your heart sink.”
“Gathering all the monsters to one place to slaughter them just makes the practical matter of the slaughtering easier, not the moral matter,” said Celestia. “I understand how you feel.”
“I’ll go talk to my grandchildren,” said Galderhorn, “before any more fighting.”
“In… in case you don’t make it back?” Twilight said quietly.
“To convince myself I need to keep killing,” said Galderhorn and smiled. He left, his legs shaking.
“He reminds me of somepony,” said Twilight. She sighed. “I wish so much I could just, you know, go home!”
“We could arrange a teleport,” said Celestia. “You’re currently in a wheelchair, and Spike is a minor. You don’t have to be here.”
“I said I won’t let others do all the work,” said Twilight. “It’s just that this business in Tarandroland wearies me - it has taken such a long time and meant a lot of work and it feels like it’s never ending.”
“It’ll soon be over,” said Celestia. “One way or another.”
Ahto rose out of the snow, shook himself. Right in front of his nose lay a great pine, uprooted by the ghost-gale. He swallowed. He steadied his legs and shouted to his deer.
One after one, the soldiers around him got up, shouted as well. Hakon was one of them.
“The Nidhoggs will be next,” he said.
“I know,” said Ahto, quietly. Then he shouted to the deer that they should look first to themselves, then see if any neighbours were wounded and treat their wounds.
“We have a day or so in advance, but we cannot fight them in the field,” said Hakon.
“I know,” said Ahto.
“And we cannot carry any wounded,” he said.
“I kno... - yes we can!” said Ahto.
“They will slow us down!” said Hakon.
“Then we take another path,” Ahto said. “We go east, towards the mountains, instead of south. The Nidhoggs… they will go straight for Sarvvik. We’ll have to fight any strays, but that… that we can manage. We’re reindeer!”
“Are you… running away?” said Hakon.
“No, I’m just…” Ahto’s voice rose, then suddenly seemed to calm down. “I’m actually making a flanking maneuver. We’ll drop off the badly wounded, let the lightly wounded who’d just slow us down watch them, and every hale warrior falls the monsters in the left flank!”
“I see,” said Hakon. “What about… what about if there are any dead?”
Ahto shrugged, then shouted further orders to his warriors.
“IF YOU FIND ANY FALLEN WARRIOR, CUT OFF HIS FRONT LEGS!”
Hakon gaped.
“I’m sure there’s corpse-eaters around. Not going to give them the pleasure of stealing my deers’ flesh!” Ahto said.
The Crimson Kraken danced over the waves. Princess Luna still stood at the bowsprite, and she still buzzed with power, but she was not as strained. She also didn’t stare in front of her in the same way.
She did, in fact, lower her gaze when Mr Moccus came trotting up to her.
“Cup of coffee, your highness?” said the little hog. He held a small grimy thermos in his left wing, pegasus style.
“I don’t mind if I do, acting-captain Moccus,” said Luna and sniffed the sea air.
He gingerly unscrewed the jug-tip of the thermos and filled it up. Luna grabbed it telekinetically and raised it to her lips, then withdrew it.
“Coffee with vodka?” she said
“The reindeer have some pleasurable customs, your highness,” said Mr Moccus. “Is it not to your liking?”
“No, it is okay,” said Luna and sipped.
“So,” said Mr Moccus, “ we rode out the storm… somehow…”
“Well, obviously,” said Luna and emptied her cup, then levitated it down to him.
“So what comes next?” he said as he re-filled it. “I assume that wasn’t it. Life isn’t that easy.”
“Well, for you and everyone else aboard this ship it will be the turso,” said Luna, “but I cannot tell how fast they will be. They swim as fast as a ship, but only for a short while, and not as fast as a ship borne by a gale. You’ll probably get back to Sarvvik in time. I’ll try to catch up with you.”
“Where are you going, your highness?” said Moccus. There was a sudden fear in his voice.
“Don’t worry, I won’t abandon you,” she said and gave him the cup. “Alas, I need to confer with allies, regarding the tursos and their doings, and I can… smell from the sea it is time.”
“What allies?” he said. “The Equestrian fleet?”
“They are kin of a sorts to the reindeer,” Luna said with a wry smile. “They live in the sea.”
“What?” said Mr Moccus.
“I’m talking about the seaponies and mermares,” Luna said. “I’ve received word by the seawinds the troops promised by our cousin King Leo are near. I will talk to them, as I said, about the turso. Take care of the ship.“
“Yes, your majesty!” Moccus shouted as Luna lifted into the air and quickly flew out over the dark sea.
“Of course I will, you daft old mare,” he scoffed. “It’s MY ship, and just because it’s lost its latest captain doesn’t mean I don’t care! I care more than anything in the world!”
He downed the last of the kask and trotted away to the helmsbeing to keep an eye on things.
“Exactly how do you get lingonberry juice here, Heikko?” said Skiold.
“Well, first you pick a bushel of lingonberries,” said Heikko. “Then, you clean the berries. Then you mash them with honey, preferably in a clay pot with an alderwood pestle…”
“Very funny,” said Skiold. “I meant… hey, look up there”
They were sitting in a lookout tower that was placed in the middle of the zone of traps, obstacles and mines that was the first defence against the enemy. It had been a misreading of the blueprints, and the builders had, after a short bit of panicking, turned it into a firetrap, filled with oil barrels, scraps of wood, and what looked like heaps of fireworks. Presumably, the tower would catch fire explosively and fall in the general direction of the enemy.
Skiold and Heikko found it a perfectly usable lookout tower, and didn’t really get the fuss. Since they technically were the heads of the army and navy, they thought they deserved a good view of the war. The pony engineers had expressed concerns of them trotting over the no-hoofs-land, while the reindeer working on it had just shrugged. They knew the two old warriors.
“It’s a vinghest!” said Skiold, pointing his hoof at the single speck of black flapping slowly and erratically towards them. “Probably a scout!”
“Maybe it’s spotted the trolls!” said Heikko. “It’s coming from northwest, and Twilight Sparkle promised they were on the way.”
Skiold looked at it.
“No, “ he said, “something dangerous is coming. Soon. I can See it.”
The black speck was flying over a large area where every tree had been cut down and dragged to the barricade to use as building material, and every building had been torn down and treated the same way.
“Do they usually have bat wings?” said Heikko. “Isn’t they more like a seagull, usually?” He dropped his bottle.
Suddenly the black speck started spiraling to the ground, like a falling leaf, and right at that second did Skiold take a mighty leap from the tower and landed in one of the few safe spots of snow. Heikko came after, but between starting a second after, and being much bigger, Skiold pulled away from him.
When Heikko reached the spot where the speck fell, Skiold was already poking it carefully.
“So that’s the danger you saw!” Heikko said, panting. “Is it okay?”
“She’s breathing and hasn’t broken anything, but I don’t know about her wings,” said Skiold and poked the mare again. “Hey! Are you okay?”
The bat-winged pony gasped and started to rise.
“Careful there, warrior!” said Heikko. He and Skiold gave her a hoof and she stood up.
“Are your wings alright?” said Skiold. “Didn’t break anything?”
“Just so tired,” she said and shook herself.
“Want some juice?” said Heikko and produced a second bottle from wherever he kept his kit.
“No no,” said the bat-winged mare. “I need to make a report to one of the Princesses ASAP!”
“Does a King suffice?” said Skiold. “I’ve no idea where Skinfaxi is and Hrimfaxi is still out at sea.”
“Your King… yeah, he’ll want to hear this anyway,” she said and leapt into the air.
Just to fall down again.
“Let’s just walk instead,” said Skiold. “We’ll get you to Ukko.”
“Yeah, just walk around the obstacles, they’re built for nidhoggs,” said Heikko. “What’s the news?”
“The nidhogg!” she said as she trotted over the snow beside them. “They’re coming! It’s a whole horde of ice-wyrms! Luckily they spend so much time ripping fallen trees apart and fighting with each other they’re much slower than they could be.”
“A whole horde?!” said Skiold.
“Yeah, hundreds and hundreds!” she said. “They’re laying waste to the whole country north of here, like they cannot wait to fight!”
The Moon-Guard would tell that anecdote more often than many others, when she told her grandkids about her experiences in the Tarandrian War.
“And then, she’d say, “the two of them jumped into the air, whooped with joy, and hoof-bumped!”
|
CoastalSarv
|
877
| 56 |
Original Character,Princess Luna,Spike,Twilight Sparkle,Adventure,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Under The Northern Lights
|
Luna and Twilight travel to the northern land of the reindeer on a diplomatic mission
|
incomplete
| 623 | 11 |
<p>A diplomatic crisis arises between Equestria and the small, poor kingdom of Tarandroland, ancestral home of the reindeer. Celestia and Luna agree that it is time Luna takes a more active hand in foreign relations again, and Luna brings Twilight with her as someone she actually trusts and can talk to. But the mission turns out to be much more than political discussions - if scheming unicorn courtiers, unfriendly surly reindeer, bloodthirsty pirates, ancient sorcery and dangerous monsters weren't enough, our heroines must deal with something old - older than Luna. And is Luna really ready for diplomatic action, will Twilight learn to use a fan properly, and exactly how wrong are Spike's superhero comics about reindeer mythology?</p><br/><p>Now has a <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FanFic/UnderTheNorthernLights" rel="nofollow">TV tropes page</a></p>
|
teen
|
2017-10-29T21:11:17+00:00
|
2017-10-29T21:11:17+00:00
| 2,026 |
WARNING! UNLIKE MOST OTHER CHAPTERS OF THIS FIC, THIS ONE DOES CONTAIN SOME GORE! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Her short meeting with the Aquastrians had been fruitful. Their water-working was reaching its full strength, driving the whole sea and its fury towards the northwestern coast of Tarandroland. The seaponies and mermares had the same skill with the sea as her pegasi had with the sky. As she returned, Luna hovered in the strong winds. Above her, the sky was a roiling grey and black of clouds. None of her beloved skylights were there. Behind her was the coast, that should have been white with ice and snow but was just as dark as the sky. Below her, the black Tarandrian sea was in uproar. Huge waves rolled towards the coast, each one higher than the one before it. Higher, higher they rose above the sea. Luna flew towards the shore.
Here something else moved in the water. Within her sharp sight was scores of turso. The hydra were driven by the magic of the Sampo to swim south, towards the bay of Sarvvik, but swimming was hard. Some, who had shaken off the magical rage, were fleeing deeper, out to sea. Turso didn’t enjoy deep waters, but those who didn’t faced a greater danger. Several of them have been driven ashore, and many of the were stuck. While not as dangerously stranded as a whale would be in the same situation, they were battered and wounded by the strong waves, which had crashed them into the shallows. Rocks tore their blubbery hides. They struck out against each other in panic, slashing each other’s necks and tails. They were tired and bleeding, and screamed out their anger, and they had started to give up. Luna wondered how many of them would be able to get back into the water when the waves and currents calmed down. Their bellowing frightened her, because she found part of her happy for their horrible predicament, when she really felt she should feel ashamed.
Still, there were others who pressed on south, trying to keep away from shore, and fighting the strong currents that confounded them. Luna considered blasting them with lightning or telekinetic force, but she was herself getting tired, and it was getting late. She flew towards Sarvvik. She hadn’t been this tired since she had returned from the moon, she realized. She hoped she wasn’t too tired for the nidhogg.
“A thousand curses on all pony princesses!” Mr Moccus shouted, as he skittered over the rigging. “A thousand poxes and plagues on all equine monarchs!” He then repeated himself in a number of languages, ending up in a snorting cadence that the older crew members recognized as his ancient native language.
As if the situation wasn’t dire enough, this caused the crew to hunker down and work harder. Like all actual ships in Sarvvik’s harbour, The Crimson Kraken was in the middle of the bay, trying to keep away from shore in general and the harbour in particular. The re-directed waves from the Aquastrian magics had hit the harbour with much less force, but laying at anchor too far into the bay would still have been dangerous.
A number of drift anchors and a wind conjured by a bunch of pegasi kept the pirate ship from running ashore, but the whole craft was groaning with the forces of the water, and she had already been shaken by her magically speeded journey. She had started to take in water, and every pump was being worked at full speed.
An Equestrian schooner got too close to the actual harbour, and smashed into a pier. This collapsed the pier, and the ship started to sink. The skeleton crew did their best to escape and the non-pegasi tried to save anypony who couldn’t fly. With no one even trying to control it, the ship turned over and got stuck between one pier and another.
“That could have been us!” Gerda groaned as she worked the pumps.
“It better not be!” Jorges groaned back.
“I should have let her sunk us and hanged us!” Mr Moccus screamed. “Work harder! Save the ship!” he added.
“Contradiction much?” mumbled Gerda.
“If it’s any consolation - hey!”
Jorges observation was interrupted as something slammed into the ship. The crew pumping was doing so under deck, and had little idea what had happened.
“Carcass at starboard!” shouted Mr Moccus. “Turn to port!”
The helmsmare did her best. The ship turned away from the dead turso drifting into the harbor. It was followed by a few others, to the terror of the people trying to keep the ships afloat
“So, if we don’t capsize, we get the plague!” Gerda muttered.
“We should have gone to Tropical Island instead!” Jorges laughed.
After the waves died down, and the ships could lay at anchor normally, the whole crew pointedly chose to man the walls instead of clearing up the turso corpses. Except their not-captain, who hid in his cabin to fume and get drunk.
“Here they come!” the pegasus watchmare bellowed. “Enemy at the outer perimeters!”
Her message was shouted down to the reindeer guards in the watchtowers, and soldiers started to move. Hundreds, thousands of ungulates had been sitting restlessly, endlessly checking their gear, or just walking in circles. The news were a relief. The walls were filled with them, manning war machines, picking up missile weapons, preparing spells or just screaming encouragement. Pegasi and what few other fliers the city had rose, circling the air just outside the walls, hastily raised from torn-down houses and winter-beached ships, timber from every factory yard and chopped down trees around Sarvvik.
The first wave of nidhoggs, lean and hungry and running on whatever ice-wyrms have instead of adrenalin, was met by a series of sharpened stakes, spike-covered logs and rare stretches of barbed wire. The first wave of the first wave ran straight into them, impaling themselves, screaming and tearing themselves apart. Blood spilled on the the snow, already gray from dirt and ashes from the walls, and their frantic struggle tore up the ground. From the walls, Princess Celestia nodded, and two pegasus trumpeteers tooted a short signal.
The flying soldiers swept down the panicking, stuck nidhoggs and the other nidhoggs halted by them, and dropped a score of makeshift fire bombs, oil jars, pots of pitch and actual grenades. Fire and explosions covered the icewyrms, and even if it didn’t do that much actual damage, nidhoggs have a strong fear of fire. In their panic, they started using their innate ice-breath, and succeeded mostly in freezing other nidhoggs, although they started to put out the fires. The wave stopped, wavered, started turning back…
...but the nidhoggs behind them didn’t. They evaded their wounded and panicked kin, and followed the line of stakes and logs, looking for a way in. They found one, two, three open channels, just a few nidhoggs wide, and slithered like a river of shining white scaly muscle towards the walls, towards the target their installed hate told them to attack.
“READY! AIM! FIRE!” shouted Skiold the Bold, and so did the commanders in the other breaches. Around each breach was a gaggle of war machines - mostly ballistae shooting giant spears, but catapults throwing boulders and big balls of burning pitch, batteries of rockets, and some actual cannon, most of them loaded with chainshot. Hastily built, scavenged from ships or from the few defences kept by reindeer fortresses, making the walls groan with their weight, despite the walls being extra reinforced, each mass of artillery fired en masse towards the enemy.
The amassed icewyrms were impossible to miss. Impaled and set a fire, torn and blown apart, the whole phalanx of berserking nidhoggs were put to a dead halt, as the whole front was slain and many behind them wounded. The nidhoggs started to mill about outside the perimeter. Some fled away from the city, some started to dig under the stakes which blocked their path, but the second wave followed the attempts of the first, and charged the breaches in the defenses. They slithered around their fleeing, dying and dead kin, still driven by a force they didn’t understand to crush those walls, to devour them and the houses within, killing any flesh-things infesting them.
“RELOAD! HURRY HURRY RELOAD!” shouted Skiold, while the people under his command ferverishly tried to do so. Then, as he saw the nidhoggs coming closer to the walls, he changed his tune.
“FIRE! ANYTHING READY! FIRE!”
A second volley, half-hearted like their fellow volleys up and down those makeshift walls, slammed into the new wave of nidhoggs. It was less effective, and the survivors pushed onwards, spreading out along the walls, now closer to them. The artillerists went back to reloading, and the ones who hadn’t been finished for the last volley was about to fire, when their commander signed them not to. Signed, and shouted.
“HOLD! WAIT FOR THE…. mines!”
All along the walls was a series of explosions and flashes of fire. The spreading nidhoggs had reached a series of mines, spikebombs and firetraps. The carnage was massive. Many nidhoggs who could still move turned on the spot and tried to retreat, but found that it was almost as hard to crawl over the stakes this way as the other way. The burrowing nidhoggs found their tunnels collapsing, and surfaces where they could. The nidhoggs who more carefully followed through the breaches was hit with another volley from the war machines, and become severely discouraged, if they weren’t slain.
A pegasus landed in front of Ukko, who were squinting at the battlefield.
“Report!” he barked.
“Amazing!” the pegasus said. “More than half of them are down or fleeing!”
“That means almost half of them are still fighting,” he sneered.
“Then where should we strike next?” said the pegasus.
“Where we planned,” said Ukko, still squinting. “Tell Skinfaxi the situation.”
The pegasus saluted and flew off towards Celestia. “Sourpuss!” he muttered to himself.
Heikko the Humongous came running, bouncing over and around soldiers and engineers. His pelt was covered in soot, and he was grinning like a fool.
“Third breach is out of powder!” he said.
“Why didn’t you send a messenger?” said Ukko. “You’re leading third breach, Heikko!”
“Because I’m not leading third breach, I was relieved,” he said happily. “I thought you’d have other things to do for me!”
“Relieved?” said Ukko. “I haven’t given any orders! By whom?”
“Hrimfaxi,” said Ukko. “Did you know she can shoot death-rays from that horn?”
Ukko opened his mouth half-way, then shut it and started squinting again.
“So, what are you looking at?” said Heikko and started gnawing on a potato, looking at the chaos beyond the walls.
“Where did you… never mind…” Ukko sighed. “The fires. They are putting them out too quickly. It’s the smarter nidhoggs that have survived. The old ones.”
“Potatoes, they just happen,” said Heikko and swallowed the last piece. “And I’d say they are using up their ice breath, very quickly. Means they won’t have any when it comes to the fun part!” He licked his muzzle, and suddenly his battleaxe was in his muzzle.
“Not yet, Heikko,” Ukko muttered.
Heikko giggled and shook his head.
“Do-don’t you know, how hard it i-is…” - he chuckled, axe now in hoof - “how hard it is for a berserk to wait and wait and wait.. U-u-until he is allowed… to RAGE?”
Ukko looked at his giggling companion. Then he smiled.
“Yes I know, friend, but there isn’t much time left now - wait!”
“FIRE!” shouted Luna. From her horn came a massive ray of force. It slammed into a nidhogg and smacked it all over the group that was entering the breach, nidhogg who had been unharmed and still more angry than afraid. Had been. Now they were smacked by boulders and impaled by spears - the ballistae were out of actual ammunition, and that anger was slowly being replaced by fear.
“YAAAAH!” Luna shouted, raising over her position on the wall, and grabbed the nidhogg by the tail, twirling him like a flail, smacking around the few nidhogg still standing, then throwing him into the hesitating horde behind, like a giant once-living chainshot. The crew at the breach cheered.
“Nice shot, Your Highness!” said the griffon pirate who manned the ballista next to her.
“Thanks - Gerda, isn’t it?” said Luna. “You perform admirably yourself.” She took off her helmet and wiped sweat of her brow with a telekinetically lifted powder rag.
“Well, I’ve handled this one lots of times on the Kraken,” she said as she started to help reload the ballista.
“It doesn’t matter how good a shot any of us are, if we don’t get more ammunition!” groused Jorge. The peryton moved with slow, jerky movement, handling the spears with his muzzle and hooves in a fumbling way.
“His shadow magic is running out, and he isn’t the only one getting tired,” Luna thought. “You’re right, but when should be able to hold out. Hold out, and HOLD YOUR FIRE!”
Everyone stopped.
“KEEP LOADING BUT HOLD YOUR FIRE!” Luna shouted. “BE PREPARED FOR THE MOAT!”
The shout went out down the wall - it was caught by the other breach captains, and fire was held.
The nidhoggs who were still interested in fighting, an interest diminished minute by minute, slithered past the now detonated mines (though a few still untouched fired off and stopped an ice-wyrm or two), past the dying fires, over the snow covered in soot and blood and grease and splinters.
And then the earth collapsed below them, and they found themselves in water - not that deep if you were the size of a nidhogg, but nidhoggs still avoid water. They became shocked and stressed, and shocked and stressed nidhogg use their innate breath weapons instinctively. The nidhoggs who had any magic left in their strange lungs snorted blasts of void-cold air, and deep froze the water surrounding them. This trapped some of them under the water, and they struggled to get up, to get out, to get away from the walls.
“ARCHERS PREPARE! SPEARDEER PREPARE! FOR POATSULA!” Ukko shouted, and the shout went up and down the walls, reaching his sub-commanders.
Celestia signed to her trumpeteers again, and they blew again. The flying soldiers lifted, and this time they flew north and gathered at the northmost group of nidhoggs trapped in the moat. Then, they dived, following the wall, and dropped their cargo. This time there were less bombs, and more rocks, blocks of ice, logs, scrap iron, anything that could be used as a projectile. Celestia lead the charge in her golden armor, and when her telekinetically held load of rocks was gone, she blasted the ice-wyrms with her magic.
“FOR EQUESTRIA!” she shouted, and all over ponies shouted with her.
The nidhoggs started to tear themselves up from the ice, fleeing away from the rain of missiles and burning alicorn-light, down south along the barricades. It was not that difficult, but it was painful, and it was tiring. Some of them couldn’t get loose, or just lay down, cowering. Others turned straight away from the wall and braved the outer barricades, struggling over them to get back to the wilderness. A few charged the walls, trying to get over them, more in fear than in anger.
At the northernmost breach, a scowling Mustikka jumped up on a cannon and shouted orders to any soldier nearby.
“ARCHERS FIRE! SPEARDEER FIRE!”
Along the wall, reindeer soldiers let javelins, arrows and anything you could throw rain down on the nidhogg, in a wave going from the north to the south, and then from the south. Most of them were common workers and slum dwellers from the army gathered by the temple of Hrimfaxi, but they were marbled with soldiers from nobledeer household and Russ yeomares. Their aim wasn’t great, and their weapons could barely scratch the nidhoggs, but the enemy was already demoralized, and fled in the direction they were herded, towards the bay that gave Sarvvik its name.
The slapdash flying squad repeated their run, starting further south this time, pelting the fleeing nidhoggs with old furniture, sandbags, empty barrels and more ice and rocks.
Celestia had reached the middle breach when she saw a nidhogg that had crawled up on the wall and was almost over. It was riddled with javelins and arrows, since close up the soldiers couldn’t miss, and it had barely any ice-breath left. However, they were now running from its teeth and it was barely acknowledging the missiles stuck in its hide.
Celestia was almost about to swoop down when suddenly a small, grey-brown figure bounced off a cannon, then the outer wall, and then landed on the head of the beast. Somehow holding onto the scales, slippery with blood and snow, it raised an axe in its hooves. Above the rumble and scream of the nidhoggs, and the shouts and clattering hooves of the defenders, rose a thunderous laughter.
Celestia was still tempted to sweep back and lend a hoof, but Heikko the Humongous laughed like he was watching a star-filled comedy at a Manehattan theatre as he rode the nidhogg, smacking its head with the axe repeatedly. The nidhogg pulled back, its head swaying in panic, and then slammed down in the mud outside the walls. Heikko slid off its back and landed on another nidhogg that was trying to raise out of the moat, waving his axe and whooping with joy. A small swarm of cheering reindeer warriors, does and stags, joined him.
Celestia shivered, but followed the plan and returned north with her followers for another strafing run, leaving the reindeer berserk to what he found a pleasure.
When most of the nidhoggs fleeing south down the walls had passed the middle breach, it meant the ones at the front of the horde had reached the bay. Their fear of water kicked in, and they started to mill around, some turning backwards, with others fleeing out the wilderness.
“OPEN THE GATES! FIRECASTERS READY! OPEN THE GATE!” Ukko bellowed. With a massive groan an equally massive set of rickety gates was pressed open by straining bovines - urox, Equestrian forces cattle and a few bison volunteers from the Tatanka Confederation.
Most were wearing urox anti-nidhogg battle armor, beset with spikes and blades. Most had a simple yet dangerous firecaster strapped to their backs. On the urox, it was operated by neckstraps, but the Equestrian cattle were ridden by pigs, goats and other smaller soldiers operating the explosive weapon.
They charged south towards the hesitating nidhoggs, bellowing as they picked up speed, any riders braying and grunting enthusiastically as they did their best to not fall off. They mostly managed to leap over rubble, dead and wounded nidhoggs and smoking wreckage as they connected with the enemy.
A cloud of other soldiers followed the bovine force at a distance, waving various sharp implements and hollering. Some of them leapt in to help any fallen cows and bulls up and back in order, and in one case put out an exploding fire tank. Others charged forward to protect the flanks of the heavy infantry.
When they neared the enemy, they used their firecasters in a few bursts, setting fire to the nidhoggs furthest back. They shied away and started to flee; those that didn’t was tackled by several bulls at full speed at once. Their icebreaths were mostly exhausted, and when they tried to bite their enemies they met the spikes and sharp blades. Several of the armored bulls and cows were slammed to the ground, though, while any riders fell off.
When the other soldiers charged in they started throwing javelins and rocks. Seeing that the stubborn nidhoggs had no ice breath left, they followed with direct attacks with spears, horns and hooves. Most nidhoggs started to flee south or across the stakes into the wilderness, with only a few stayed, and they were soon either set ablaze, wounded by charging heavy infantry, or swarmed by lighter forces.
It would have been a final victory, if not for one thing: a nidhogg covered in burning gunk charged blindly into the wall, and in its panicking ignored every attempt to drive it off. It tore down the wall somewhere between the middle and southern breach, and while dying, it set the wall afire. The fire spread only slowly, since the wood was damp. However, many enthusiastic soldiers had left the walls to join the fighting, and the few deer who tried to help concentrated on getting any wounded out of the way.
Soon, a large stretch of the wall was burning. While it was a fair distance to the city proper, there was still a wind blowing towards it, and the wall was still needed. Ukko and his companions realized too late what was happening, and had to struggle to gather their soldiers to gather at the fire. Luna and Celestia were doing the final phase of chasing the nidhoggs into the wilderness and down into the bay, and the flying troops followed them. As it was, it was civilians from the city carrying buckets of snow and water who had to fight the fire - as well as a certain unicorn.
Twilight’s head and horn throbbed as she let another big scoop of dirty slush and water from the moat rain down over the burning wall. The smoldering wood hissed and sent up clouds of steam and smoke. She leaned forward in her wheelchair as sweat moistened her fur.
“Get me closer!” she rasped and signaled to Saga. Saga didn’t dare disobey and pushed her closer over the rickety wooden battlements. They were really not suited to wheelchair use, but Twilight had insisted.
The smoke, luckily, blew away from them towards the city. Twilight squinted and lifted more snow from inside the wall this time, scraping up everything together with frozen turf and dirt and wooden splinters. It levitated and landed on the burning wall, already weakened by fire, which wavered and collapsed, falling outwards.
“BUCK!” Twilight shrieked hoarsely. “NO!” She gritted her teeth and started to lift the wall piece, feebly trying to fit it back together, and failing. Tears formed in her eyes, more from anger than from the smoke and steam.
“Twilight! Calm down!” shouted a voice from above. “We take over now!”
A white wing gently laid on her shoulder.
“Your highness!” peeped Saga, who was also crying.
“Easy, my little pony!” Celestia had landed right behind them. Her golden armor was smeared with grime and… blood. Above her Luna swept down and lifted a big scoop of snow and water, raining down over the remains of the fire.
Twilight relaxed, breathing heavily. She started to lift the wrecked wood again.
Saga dabbed her muzzle with a dirty rag.
“She has a nosebleed,” said Saga. “I don’t know how bad it is!”
“I’m fine, “ Twilight said. “I must fix the wall…”
“No, you don’t!” said Celestia.
“I tore it down, it was…” Twilight said.
“It was a result of you saving the rest of the wall,” said Celestia. “You have done well enough! We need you fresh and alive! As your commander, sovereign and teacher I order you to desist!”
Twilight started breathing more easily. Sobbed. Saga hugged her.
“Your highness, can you help me get her away from here?” she said.
“Surely,” said Celestia. She enveloped the wheelchair, Twilight and Saga in her glowing aura and levitated them down to the ground, following them on wing.
“Are we… winning?” said Twilight.
“The nidhoggs are flying… except those that are dead or dying,” said Celestia. She looked at Twilight.
“And if it makes you a bit happier, maybe a quarter have just fled more or less unharmed,” she continued.
“Doesn’t mean they will survive,” said Twilight.
“No,” said Saga. “But not all nidhoggs do in any case any normal winter. And now the city won’t be turned to ice or gobbled up or torn down. “
Twilight put a hoof to her forehead.
“I understand. I know.”
Celestia nuzzled her.
“Where is Spike?” she said.
“Spike is just a kid, so I told him to retreat to a shelter,” said Twilight.
“Good,” said Celestia. “I think you should go join him, in your current state.”
“He snuck out to see what was happening,” said Saga.
“He didn’t like what he saw,” said Twilight.
“I can understand…” said Celestia.
“No,” said Saga, “I don’t think so!”
Realising what she’d said, she put her hoof to her mouth.
Celestia looked at her closely, but not with anger.
“Nidhoggs are not like dragons, but still very much like dragons,” said Twilight. “It’s easier to tell yourself it’s just vicious beasts who are being slaughtered when they don’t look much like you.”
Saga nodded. “He took it hard. We left him with gramma when I helped Mistress Twilight out here to help, and then we saw the fire…”
Celestia nodded.
“Even better reason for you to join him now, and comfort him,” she said.
A dark shadow fell over them as Luna landed next to them.
“What’s the situation?” she asked. “King Ukko asks to see you, sister.”
“I’ll explain,” said Celestia. “Can you manage getting to the shelter?”
“I think so, your highness,” said Saga. “There’s a footbridge most of the way.”
“Good,” said Celestia. “Take care, Twilight. And you too, Saga.”
She turned to Luna.
“Let’s fly,” she said.
Luna nodded.
“See you later, Twilight Sparkle. Good work. Take care of her, Saga!”
“I will,” said Saga. Twilight nodded and sighed.
The two princesses took to the air.
Wiglek opened his eye. He gathered his monster-torn body together, stood up and whistled.
From the ice a shape formed, like a giant skoll.
“Svipp!” his dead tongue said without lungs. He turned around, fearfully.
The giant block of blue ice was still there, unharmed, though scratched by many claws. His son… no, not his son, but somedeer much like him, was still inside.
“I need to tell… need to fetch help. Need to be help!”
He turned to Svipp and nodded, and the mokkurkalfe took his master in his great ice-cave of a mouth.
“Run, Svipp!” he shouted. “Run for Sarvvik!”
And as the ice golem bounded in huge steps across the ice, the old liche shouted as a warcry, as if he had heard other cries in his heart:
“FOR MY BROTHER! FOR MY SON! FOR MY DOG!”
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SGTDiphthong
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880
| 1 |
Apple Bloom,Bon-Bon,Lyra,Main 6,Original Character,Sweetie Belle,Dark,Sad,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore
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Without Regret
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When tragedy strikes, sometimes it's best to leave it unexplained. You never know what you'll find.
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complete
| 10 | 2 |
<p>A murder strikes one late winter evening, and nopony seems to be able to provide clues as to what happened. Anytime somepony gets close to revealing anything helpful, they too end up dead. Things get personal when someone close to a certain unicorn ends up a victim. She devotes herself to finding the culprit. What she finds is a ruthless pony, willing to do anything to cover his or her tracks. </p><p>Nopony is safe. Not anymore. This pony acts without regret. Without remorse. Without a single thought of consequence. </p><p>This was a one shot, I think. I didn't really feel like separating each break into separate chapters, so I'll just leave it as is. Unless someone really wants me to break it up. I might then. It's just tedious, that's all. I may or may not decide to write some sort of epilogue or prologue or something of the like. Depends on the day, honestly. Hope everypony likes it, because I'm rather proud of it. Hell, even if you don't, leave a comment. I love feedback. Kind of a lot. (More comments, please. Doooo iiit.) </p><p>Thanks for the 700 views and all, guys. Although, I really wish you would comment a little more. I can't improve if you don't tell me what's wrong.</p>
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teen
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2011-10-01T04:31:09+00:00
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2011-10-01T04:31:09+00:00
| 1,900 |
Winter. That time of year everypony stays indoors, escaping the typical cold weather it brings forth. Nighttime dropped the temperature to an even more biting level, leaving Ponyville in that quiet emptiness. Nothing moved, other than maybe a tree in the wind. For the most part, this night was no different. Everypony lie sleeping, wrapped up in a bundle of blankets and sheets. A few shuffles in bed, maybe a murmur here and there. Nothing really broke the silence. Although, something was off this night. Something subtle. Something small. Maybe it was the cloud cover. No, it was relatively clear. The amount of snow covering the ground? No. That, too, was at about the level it should be. What was it, then?
A subtle snap of a tree branch tears through the silence, almost echoing. Somepony was dashing through the snow; a blur of mint colour, weaving through the trees. Her breath was short, and her steps were getting more and more haphazard. She was running. Galloping away from something. Fear and exhaustion were clear on her face, and she glanced over her shoulder in an almost rhythmic pattern.
Another broken branch. This pony was making her way back into the village. What she was doing so far from it was irrelevant, all that mattered was getting back to the safety of her home. She tripped over a fallen trunk she had forgotten about. Being so focused on keeping her pursuer in sight was working against her. A waste of a few seconds. Those precious seconds she had so few of. Strange, though, how long she’d been running. It felt like hours. The village couldn’t be that far away from where she was. Her mind brushed past these moot topics almost instantly, turning back to the pony chasing her through the forest. She didn’t get a close enough look at the pony’s face, as it was far too dark. It always feels worse when you can’t identify your attacker.
Gallop after gallop. This unfortunate mint pony continued on without even the slightest hesitation. That is, until she heard the distant gallop of her attacker fade into the breeze. She slowed her gallop to a careful speed walk, catching her breath. Her hind legs had practically numbed from the exhaustion, and there was a slight limp in her step. A few minutes passed in their quiet, ominous way. Ponyville came into sight, and the home stretch was in clear view.
“Oh, thank g-” She was quickly silenced by some sort of blunt object to the back of her head. What it was exactly wasn’t important. It hurt like hell, and that’s all that mattered. She slammed down onto the ground, groaning in pain. Blood poured from the wound in a most unhealthy way, and she was struggling to get onto her feet. She called out, weakly, “H-Help…! S-Somepony! Please!”
The poor, defenseless mint coloured pony’s eyes dashed left and right, trying to get at least a decent look whoever it was that did this to her. Of course, it was in vain. Her visibility was only a slight five meters or so. She could hear movement, mostly through crushing snow and snapping dry leaves. Whoever it was paced in circles, slowing down in irregular patterns. Eventually, after what seemed like an endless amount of time, the assailant paused.
“P-Please… What’re…? Just…” The mint pony sobbed, backing away from where she believed her attacker had stopped, “Somepony! Pleas-”
Her words were cut short by another slam of the blunt object. This time, to the jaw. It snapped loudly, and a large stream of blood stained the otherwise white ground. She shrieked in agony, hoping somepony could hear her. As much as it hurt, she rolled onto her stomach and began pulling herself across the floor, sobbing loudly.
“S… Hel…” She groaned, not able to get more than a few syllables at a time from her shattered jaw. Just as she crawled a mere meter away, the broken pony felt a hoof slam onto her tail, stopping her painfully in place. She glanced back, wincing loudly, and gazed at what she could see. Her vision was clouded with bitter tears of pain, but she could make out the cold, sadistic smile of somepony. In it, a bloodied crowbar. A twitch in this otherwise static smile, and everything went black. Strike after strike. Each shattering more and more. Blood practically erupted from each hit, painting the entire area red. The assailant slowed his or her pace, eventually stopping. There was a noise, and a bit of light. Somepony was awake. Almost as quickly as that poor mint pony was silenced, the assailant disappeared into the snow-covered darkness.
“Hello…?” A cream coloured pony plows through the snow, looking around for whatever it was that made all that noise. She had been expecting a friend to return home hours upon hours ago. The hour was late, and she must’ve fallen asleep while waiting. Was her friend hurt? He certainly hoped not. Of course, fate is a cruel, cruel thing. She made her way over to where she believed the noise had come, pushed her lantern through the darkness and looked down. With wide, teary eyes, she rears back a step or two. A blood-curdling shriek tears through the silence, echoing throughout Ponyville in a tragic fashion. Lights flickered on left and right, and half awake residents poked their heads through their windows. A few came rushing out of their doors, mostly stallions, wielding lanterns in their mouths.
“Bon Bon…! What’s wrong?” One asks, stopping himself, “We hear-”
He cut his sentence short, gazing in horror at the mangled pony that lie on the ground in front of a weeping Bonnie. The face was completely unrecognizable, battered into a bloody mess. The cutie mark was entirely visible, though. A lyre.
…
That morning, a deepened sorrow took hold of everypony in Ponyville. Bon Bon was specifically affected by the tragedy. Her closest friend was just brutally murdered, and there was nothing that anypony could do about it. Her friends kept her hidden, consoling her behind closed doors. Twilight Sparkle, who had woke during the initial moments of the incident, advised her friends of the situation.
“An’ she’s…?” Applejack shook her head in a dejected manner, “A’m not sure I understand.”
“Bon Bon found her late last night…” Twilight frowned, “We all heard her scream and…”
“Why would somepony do this…?” Rainbow Dash ceased the nervous fluttering in her wings. Everypony in the room was looking down in sorrow. Even the normally bouncy Pinkie Pie couldn’t force her sadness away. She merely sat there, biting her lip. Much the same with Rarity. She’d even skipped past styling her mane. This was more important. Fluttershy was lying on the ground, hiding her face. Rainbow Dash was next to her, rubbing her hoof across Fluttershy’s back. Applejack was gazing out of the window, watching the various ponies who wandered by.
“Well…” Pinkie Pie finally decided to break the sorrowful silence that besmirched the air, “She wouldn’t want us mourning…! Would she…?”
“It’s not that simple, Pinkie…” Rainbow Dash responded, “She’s…”
“I know, Dashie… It’s just…” Pinkie Pie frowned, “I can’t stand to see everyone like this!”
“She’s right…” Rarity added, “She is most certainly right. All of us, sad like this…”
“Y-Yes…” Fluttershy agreed, shaking the tears from her face. A genuine, albeit forced smile grew over everypony’s face. All except Twilight Sparkle. Something was off. She didn’t think that this was something that could be so easily dismissed. It felt like this would happen again. Instead of smiling like the rest of the group, Twilight dove deep into thought. Trying to piece together what exactly happened. Who wanted Lyra dead? Did she piss off the wrong pony in her slightly unorthodox relationship with ‘Bonnie’? The possibilities were seemingly endless. She would have to talk to Bon Bon at some point. Maybe when things calmed down. Twilight put on a fake smile and joined her friends. They were busy distracting themselves with cooking some sort of breakfast. Smelled rather appetizing, really.
“Ah, dang.” Pinkie Pie groaned, “We need coffee!”
“Uhm… I could pick some up, or… Maybe…” Fluttershy noted.
“I’ll do it.” Twilight responded, “I needed to go out real quickly anyway.”
“Oh, okay!” Pinkie Pie smiled, clearly using up everything she had to act so happy, “Hurry back~.”
“Will do.” Twilight winked, walking out of the door. She’d stop by the coffee shop, ask around. News spreads fast around Ponyville. Somepony there would’ve heard something she could use. Anything would work. The village square was relatively lively, given the circumstances. There were things to do, places to be. Mourning was a luxury they couldn’t afford. Twilight made her way to the coffee shop, giving a few nods to ponies that called her name.
“Hey there, Twilight.” A tan coloured pony called out, wiping the counter with a rag, “What brings you here this dreadful morning?”
“Oh, Mocha Bean.” Twilight smiled, “Just picking up some coffee.”
“That’s all?” Mocha replied grabbing a bag of beans, “You seem like you’ve got places to be.”
“I’m just… Curious.” Twilight responded, slapping down the total for the coffee.
“’Bout?”
“Lyra.”
“Oo… Touchy subject.” Mocha noted, fiddling with some mugs, “We’re all drawing a blank here.”
“No kidding.” Twilight sighed.
“Poor Lyra…” Mocha shook her head, “I lo- Hm… It‘s a shame, really.”
“What was that…?” Twilight took note of the oddity in her head, but didn’t react much to it. She just simply nodded.
“Well, I’ll let you get back to whatever it is you’re doing.” Mocha smiled, “Have a good one, Darling.”
“You too.” Twilight nodded, leaving the store in a subtle hurry. Mocha Bean seemed uncomfortable. Bothered. Guilty? Not necessarily. Just… Aggravated. She drank a lot of coffee, that pony. Maybe she missed her morning cup? No, never. That would never happen. That’s something not even the death of a close friend would change. It all was just theory, but… Twilight may have been looking a bit too deeply into this, really. Perhaps it would be best to just forget about it for now. Just live life until more information got out. Yeah. That would work.
…
The rest of the day went off uneventfully. Aside from the overarching feeling of dread, nothing was really all that different. Typical winter Ponyville. It was getting late; ponies were closing their shops and heading home. Mocha Bean was no exception. She closed slightly later than everyone else, allowing everypony to finish his or her cups. The last customer left, and she was alone.
“Hah…” Mocha sighed, wiping a tear that had formed under her eye. She locked up the cash register, and headed for the door. The lights flickered off, which was unusual.
“Hm…?” Mocha turned around and was met immediately with a crowbar to the hind leg, forcing her to the ground. She cried out in pain, and turned toward the direction of the strike. She didn’t see anypony, but there were the sounds of steps circling her. A subtle giggle echoed throughout the room, which panicked her sufficiently.
“It… It was you!” Mocha tried to climb to her feet, but stumbled back down every time. She knew that if she didn’t get help, she’d end up like her friend, “Help! Somepony!”
“Any-” A strike to the back of the head, knocking Mocha completely onto her back. She was barely conscious, but she could make out a wide smile on the face of somepony. With a wince, she closed her eyes, sobbing. No words could leave her mouth, and she was unable to cry out for help. Her attacker struck each leg over and over, shattering each one into a mess of blood and bone. The sound of splatters and cracking bone filled the air in a sick, twisted harmony. Mocha had died completely due to shock, and everything this demented pony was doing was in pure fun.
“Hahaha…” A quiet, female giggle rode the sound of the breeze coming from the back door. Mocha was left lying were she was struck, each leg beaten separate from the rest of her body. Her face was pretty much intact, aside from a strike to the forehead. There was a tragic face forever frozen on Mocha’s blood stained body, one that spelled fear. Maybe a bit of an upset fear. Like she saw it coming in a most unfortunate way. Luckily for Mocha, the pool of blood beneath her had spread rather quickly, painting a trail of prints leading out of the shop. This wasn’t exactly carelessness on the part of the perpetrator, but rather a side affect of the thinning of Mocha’s blood. She didn’t bleed often, but when she did… She poured a fountain. Hours passed without a movement in town, although there were a few who could’ve heard the noise.
“I heard screams a while ago…” Somepony softly said, looking around the general area of the ruckus she had heard, “You don’t think…?”
“No… Not again.” Another responded, worried, “It couldn’t… Not again.”
“Did they come from Mocha’s shop…?” The first asks, pushing on the door. Locked, of course, “It’s locked… But…”
“’Scuse me.” The second motioned the first to the side, turning his back to the door. He bucked his hinds back and smashed it open, forcing the two of them inside, “Let’s find out if they did.”
“Jeez. You better hope that Mocha doesn-” The first pony’s eyes widened, and she felt suddenly ill. She backed up and screamed, gazing in horror at Mocha’s mangled corpse. The first pushed her back, looking away. The two emotionally disgusted ponies left everything as they found it and reported it to the police.
…
“That’s… Again?” Applejack shook her head, concerned with the safety of her friends, “An’ what’s to stop ‘em from getting ya’ll?”
“Don’t worry, Applejack.” Rainbow Dash reassured her, “I won’t let anyone get us.”
“Wow… Just… I can’t even begin to describe…” Twilight Sparkle was shocked. She had spoken to Mocha Bean a comparatively short time before that. Why Mocha Bean? Twilight admitted that she had acted a bit bothered and uncomfortable, but she didn’t understand what that meant. Her first thought was shattered, as it couldn’t have been Mocha that murdered Lyra. Unless she broke her own legs post mortem. Then the possibility was still there. Otherwise, she had to start from a blank slate.
“This is just… Too much.” Fluttershy frowned, hiding her face behind her mane. Pinkie Pie was trying her hardest to make everyone smile, much as she always did. She enticed a smirk here and there, but nothing much more than that. Rarity had stayed behind, as she had dresses to make for an important client. The five of them sat in relative silence for an extended period of time. Twilight distracted by deep thought and the rest preoccupied with cheering each other up.
“I’ve got to go. I’ll be right back.” Twilight Sparkle suddenly stood on all fours and turned toward the door.
“Where’re you going?” Rainbow Dash asked, clearly curious as to why she would just walk out.
“I need to figure this out.” Twilight responded, opening the door in a hurry. Her pace was relatively quick, and she certainly knew where she was going first. The coffee shop. It was, as it should be, taped off and filled with police wandering left and right. A few curious ponies had crowded around the parameter. Among them was Bon Bon, just as Twilight had hoped. They were friends, if she remembered right, “Bon Bon?”
“Hm…?” She turned, looking obviously upset by everything that had happened, “Oh… Twilight…”
“Are you okay…?” Twilight asked, taking a step closer to her.
“I’ll be fine.” Bon Bon weakly smiled, “I just… Don’t want to talk about it.”
“Can I just ask you one thing?” Twilight pleads.
“I-I guess.”
“Do you know of any reason that the two of them would be killed? I mean, you were close, right?”
“No,” Bon Bon dismissed, “Not that I can think of.”
“But they were your friends? I mean, Lyra and Moch-”
“Mocha was not my friend.” Bon Bon scoffed, giving Twilight an annoyed look, “Listen, I just need some time alone, okay?”
“Oh… Of course. Sorry.” Twilight backed off. Something had happened between the two of them, that was obvious enough. What that was is another matter entirely. Twilight mentally ran through a list of ponies that she knew were in Ponyville, trying to remember which ones were friends with Bon Bon. She could only think of two, but that was a start. First, she searched for Flutter Doo. A slightly silly and somewhat dimwitted Pegasus. She had a kind heart, though, and when she feels something is important, she has a lot to say about it. It took a few minutes, but she did find her helping shovel some snow.
“Hey, Flutter Doo!” Twilight called out, waving her hoof.
“Oh! Hey, Twilight Sparkle.” She smiled, dropping the shovel where she stood.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Uhm. Sure! Why not.” Flutter Doo shrugged.
“It’s about Bon Bon and Mocha…” Twilight sighed, “I was under the impression that those two were friends.”
“That’s…” Flutter Doo frowned, “Not something I should tell you.”
“Why? Did something happen?”
“You can say that.” Flutter Doo shook her head, “All I can say is that Mocha betrayed Bonnie’s trust.”
“Oh. Well, that’s okay. Thanks.” Twilight smiled. She wasn’t going to get much out of Crescent, either. There was some sort of oath at work here, she figured. She’d just leave it at that, for now. Perhaps the killer would slip up. Make his or herself known. Whatever saves the most lives. The rest of the day went on uneventfully once more. Rainbow Dash and Applejack disappeared like they always did. They think they’re sneaky, but they’re not very subtle with their looks and movements. Pinkie Pie was planning a party to cheer the entire village up, but had hit an issue on deciding the theme. She would work that out soon enough, Twilight assumed. Fluttershy was tending to her animals most of the day. She tends to do that when she’s stressed.
“Something’s not adding up…” Twilight thought as she laid in bed, “There’s something I’m missing… Some sort of connection.”
“I’ll figure it out in the morning…”
…
Flutter Doo finished clearing the snow from the front of her house in a timely manner. The sun was setting quickly, and she was feeling tired. With an exhausted sigh, she wandered into her bedroom and jumped onto her bed happily. It was a long day for her, really. Another one of her friends had been murdered, and she felt like she could’ve done more to prevent it. She advised Mocha to watch her back. She told her that she should never be alone. Naivety got the best of her. She shut her eyes and sighed, embracing the silence of night. Which, of course, was broken by a creak from her door.
“H-Hello…?” Flutter Doo’s eyes quickly tore open, darting up and down the dark room. She laid up, gazing in horror at the figure that stood in front of her.
“W-Wait.” She pleaded, “I-I didn’t say anything. I swear. Please. Just…”
“I’m… I’m sor-” Her voice was halted violently by the sharp end of a crowbar, which pierced completely through her throat and impaled her into the wall. She gasped for air, struggling and writhing in place. Every breath bubbled and sprayed blood in front of her, staining her otherwise white room crimson red.
“Sor-ry.” Flutter Doo gargled, a tear running down her face. Her attacker leaned forward, that sick smile still on her face. She pulled the crowbar from Flutter Doo’s neck and threw it to the side. With a knife in her mouth she began carving into her neck. Blood poured from the wound with each motion and, eventually, after a few minutes of sawing, the head was completely separated. The attacker dropped the knife onto the floor and picked up Flutter Doo’s head by the mane. She brought the bloody lump outside and skipped gleefully to town square, setting it carefully under a tree. The attacker left a note next to it.
On it, written carefully with blood, read, “Trust is an important thing, isn’t it?”
…
That morning went off worse than the rest. Flutter Doo’s head was found relatively early, and the poor filly that found it panicked more than most ponies would’ve. The police quickly moved in to control the scene, but everypony was getting slightly anxious. That was three days in a row. Three dead ponies. Three lost friends. Twilight woke to the sound of a knock on her door. She didn’t bother to pretty herself up; it was probably one of her friends anyway. Maybe Pinkie Pie needed help with that party of hers. Of course, fate is cruel, and it was only bad news that met her.
“Again?” Twilight shook her head, saddened, “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“This one was more… Brutal is the word, I guess.” Rainbow Dash sighed, “Left a note this time.”
“A note…?” This was the break Twilight needed. A note. That would work wonders, “What did it say?”
“Something about trust, or so I’ve heard.” Rainbow Dash shrugged, “It’s sick.”
“Listen, I’m sorry but…” Twilight smiled nervously, “I need to do something real quick.”
“Oh, sure.” Rainbow Dash fluttered her wings and drifted away, “See ya’ later. I‘ll be at Applejacks if you need anything.”
“Yeah.” Twilight closed the door and began pacing in circles, “Trust. That’s what this is about. Trust.”
“But… No.” Twilight stopped head in her tracks, “No… No it couldn’t be-”
“Flutter Doo mentioned that Mocha ‘Betrayed her trust’…” Twilight fixed her mane magically, ensuring it laid the way she normally left it, “That would mean that… Bon Bon knows more than she’s letting on, at least. If Flutter Doo was killed because she told me too much… That means I’m also probably a target.”
Twilight sighed audibly. This was getting far more complicated than it needed to. It was all slowly coming together, but… She couldn’t make any accusations without solid evidence.
…
“Bon Bon?” Applejack noticed Bon Bon cleaning something off of her hooves in the river near her farm. She didn’t think much of it, but thought she’d ask anyway. There wasn’t anything that could be made out clearly from where Applejack was standing, but Bon Bon seemed pretty panicked, “Everythin’ alright, sugarcube?”
“Oh. Applejack.” Bon Bon responded, a cold sound behind her words, “What’re you doing out so early…?”
“Workin’ the farm, silly.” Applejack chuckled, “You doin’ okay?”
“Yes. Quite well, actually.” Bon Bon moved something submerged underwater closer to her left hoof. She stepped on whatever it was, grabbing onto it. Applejack noticed a substantial amount of blood running down river, and her eyes widened.
“Hey! Is everythin’ okay?” Applejack rushed to Bon Bon’s side, hoping to help with whatever the problem was, “That’s an awful lot o-”
Applejack felt a sharp pain in her chest, and felt a warm liquid flow down her front left leg. She looked down and gazed horrifically at the knife that was plunged into her, with Bon Bon’s hoof on the other end.
“It… Was… You…?” Applejack cringed as Bon Bon pulled the knife out violently.
“You. You have a lover, no?” Bon Bon smiled longingly at the dripping knife, giving Applejack a hate filled stare, “You know of ‘love’?”
“W-What…?” Applejack fell forward, struggling to stay upright. A lot of blood was pouring from the wound. It must’ve hit an important artery.
“You’ve put your heart out for somepony?” Bon Bon sadistically chuckled, “No!? Let’s fix that.”
Applejack cried out in agony as Bon Bon plunged the blade back into her chest. She began pulling downward, cutting a massive, bloody opening. Applejack tried to thrash and writhe, but Bon Bon had her pinned down sufficiently. With one fabled motion, Bon Bon tore Applejack’s heart from her body, laughing as blood exploded from the hole. The light left Applejack’s eyes almost instantly, but a faint word or two made it out at the last second.
“Dashie… I love.”
…
Rainbow Dash had made plans with Applejack the day prior, and she certainly didn’t want to skip out. She had a date, and she’d been looking forward to it all day. She flew to the Apple orchid and looked around for a few moments. Applejack wasn’t in sight. Maybe she was working out back.
“Hey, Big Mac!” Rainbow Dash called out, waving, “Where’s Applejack?”
“Should be out back.” He responded, giving Rainbow dash a nod.
“Alright, thanks.” She smiled.
“E’yup.”
Rainbow Dash went out back, just as Macintosh had said. She didn’t see Applejack immediately, but noticed a blonde mane laying on the ground by the river. Her eyes widened, and she blindly ran toward it.
“A-Applejack!” Rainbow Dash called out, stumbling over her own hind legs, “Hey, are you okay?”
Rainbow Dash collapsed to her knees as she gazed upon her dearest friend. Her lips twitched, and her eyes began to water up profusely. She screamed let the tears flow unhindered.
“Applejack! Answer me! Applejack! Please!” Rainbow Dash cried, shaking her friend furiously, “No… Nonono… You’re not dead. You can’t be… Please… Answer me.”
“Applejack!”
“Please!”
“Applejack!”
“Don’t die…”
“Please…”
“I can’t…”
“No… No…”
…
Rainbow Dash was quickly discovered by Macintosh, who responded almost immediately to her shriek. He gasped in horror at his mangled sister, but nonetheless tried to pull Rainbow Dash back.
“No!” Rainbow dash thrashed Macintosh off of her, embracing her fallen friend once more. She was crying loudly, and it wasn’t long before others came to discover the cause of such a tragic sound. Eyes widened. Denials were attempted. News spread quickly to the police, and the quickly rushed to control the scene. One officer attempted to pull Rainbow Dash away from the scene, but she kept forcing herself back to her friend’s side.
“Don’t touch me!” Rainbow Dash shrieked, “Please! Stop!”
“Ma’am…” The officer motioned at a few others to help him.
“No! Nononono!” Rainbow Dash thrashed as she was dragged away from Applejack. Ponies looked on in horror, watching the shattered Pegasus torn from her closest friend. Everything was silent except for the painful, heartbreaking cries. Twilight Sparkle rushed to the farm the moment she caught wind of what had happened. She ran into Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie along the way. They, too, were in a panicked hurry. They heard the echoing cries of their friend and knew that they had come to the right place.
“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity called out, “What’s happened!?”
“She’s gone!” Rainbow dash shrieked, “She’s dead! Applejack is dead!”
“I’m… Just… Calm down… “ Twilight had heard exactly that, but she didn’t want to believe it. Nopony did. Not a single one.
“Don’t tell me to calm down!” Rainbow Dash slapped Twilight’s hoof away, shaking the tears from her face. Fluttershy was covering her mouth, weeping nearly as heavily as Rainbow Dash.
“No… This can’t be true.” Pinkie Pie shook her head violently, “No. It can’t be. It couldn’t be.”
“This is my fault.” Twilight bit her lip, trying to fight the tears that she knew would fall, “I had a suspect but didn’t act. This is all my fault…”
“And… D-Do we know who did it…? I mean…” Fluttershy was struggling to find the words she was saying. Her sentences were broken, stuttered and interrupted by gasps for breath.
“They have no idea…” Rarity sighed, wiping the tears from her face, “This is… I don’t believe this.”
That day was a day of mourning. Nopony opened their shops. Nopony came to work. Nothing. Everypony had lost a friend, not just Rainbow Dash. Applejack held a special place in everypony’s heart, and she could never be replaced. Twilight and company stayed with Rainbow Dash during the entire ordeal. They tried to console her as best as they could, but it was rather difficult when you yourself needed the same attention. After hours upon hours; after their eyes could pour no more tears, the group attended the memorial. Just as everypony did.
“We’re gathered hear this evening to remember a certain pony. One who holds a special place in all of our minds, I’m sure.” The chief of police stated, shaking his head, “Applejack was found earlier this morning, brutally murdered by an unknown criminal. Rest assured, we’re trying our hardest to find whoever is responsible for this… This… Tragedy. I hand this off to Rainbow Dash.”
“I’m sure I speak for all of us when I say that we’ve lost an important part of our lives. Applejack was a loyal friend, and a fierce companion.” Rainbow Dash managed her false composure quite well, speaking with a bit of reassurance in her voice, “She was selfless. She was kind. And above all else; she was our friend. Now’s the time for mourning; I accept that. But… She wouldn’t want us wasting our lives missing her. I know most of all that she would want to be remembered as that lovable farm pony that never backed down from anything, not as a tragic loss. No matter how true it is. That’s… That’s all.”
“Rainbow Dash…” Twilight looked down with the rest of the ponies, “Typical of you to be the strongest in a time of tragedy.”
“Where are you, you son of a bitch?” Twilight muttered to herself as she weaved through the crowd. In the back, wearing a blank expression stood Bon Bon. Twilight approached her in a confronting manner, pushing her back a few steps, “You!”
“W-What?” Bon Bon reared back, a scared look on her face.
“You did this! It was you! It’s always been you!”
“I have no idea what you-”
“Stop lying!” Twilight slammed a hoof into the ground, “I know it was you, you sick bastard!”
“How dare you accuse me of such a thing!” Bon Bon tried her hardest to hide the smirk she wanted so much to make, “She was a friend to all of us. Including me.”
“Liar!” Twilight slammed one of her hooves into Bon Bon’s face, forcing a bit of blood onto the floor. A police officer quickly arrived and broke up the scene, forcing the two away from each other.
“What’s going on here?” He asked, struggling to keep an aggravated Twilight in place.
“She accused me of doing this… Disgusting act!” Bon Bon sounded slightly shocked.
“On what basis…?” The officer turned toward Twilight, who clenched her teeth in anger.
“She… Mocha… And Lyra… They… I don’t…” Twilight couldn’t find a way to explain what she was trying to say. In her head, she knew exactly what needed to be brought up. All of the circumstances that pointed to Bon Bon’s guilt. Something was holding her back. A bit of uncertainty, possibly.
“That’s what I thought.” Bon Bon turned away, annoyed, “How dare you disrespect Applejack like this.”
“What!?” Twilight was offended. Quite heavily. Bon Bon quickly turned the table and made her seem like the bad guy. Clever bitch, “I’m not-”
“Just drop it, Twilight.” Rarity pulled her away, not sure exactly who was making everything up. She certainly hoped that Bon Bon didn’t do it, but she didn’t think her friend was a liar either. The topic wasn’t brought up much more than that, and the rest of the day was peacefully morbid. Pinkie Pie had whipped up a rather good tasting dinner, which was ate in a saddening moment of silence. After all that, the five of them returned to their homes. Fluttershy went to bed almost immediately, not wanting to think about anything that was. Rarity postponed a shipment of dresses, as she was in no mood to work. Her clients would need to understand that. Pinkie Pie stuffed her face into a pillow and wept until she fell asleep. Twilight, though, she didn’t sleep. She was up and about, looking over everything. Newspaper articles, mostly. Everything pointed to Bon Bon, but there was that solid piece of proof missing. Eventually, she knocked out on her desk, piles of paper underneath her.
…
Apple Bloom was awake much later than she normally was. Her eyes were swollen with tears and her breath was stuttered in a rhythmic pattern. She’d lost her sister. Her precious sister. Sure, they got in arguments. Sure, they had their disagreements. That’s what sisters do. They still loved each other. Most of her family had fallen asleep. They were all so very exhausted. Something kept Apple Bloom awake, though. Maybe it was that fact that she could hardly breathe? That’s probably it.
“Now this is simply tragic.” A cold voice said from behind.
“W-What?” Apple Bloom shook the tears from her face, looking around the room, “W-Who’s there?”
“I’d like to apologize for doing this to you, little one.” Bon Bon slowly wandered out of the shadows, smirking slyly, “She just saw things she shouldn’t have…”
“S-So… Twilight Sparkle was right!” Apple Bloom hopped off of her bed, taking a few steps back, “Mom! Da-”
“Shut up.” Bon Bon covered Apple Bloom’s mouth with a tattered rag, gagging her silent, “We can’t have anyone interrupting me… Now can we?”
“Mmmph…!” Apple Bloom struggled in place, trying to break free from Bon Bon’s surprisingly strong grasp. Bon Bon wasted no time at all, and pulled a knife from saddle she was wearing.
“I’m sorry about this, little one.” Bon Bon smiled, “This is just too fun.”
“Mmph!” Apple Bloom groaned as the knife plunged into her chest, throwing a bit of blood upward. Bon Bon began forcing the blade downward, creating a massive gash running down Apple Bloom’s body.
“M… Mmp…” Apple Bloom twitched as her eyes rolled back. Blood began to soak the rag in her mouth, and it wasn’t long before it began to pour from her mouth. Bon Bon began laughing slightly as she threw innards left and right, spraying blood over every surface possible. No longer did she kill for a purpose. Instead, she was acting out of pure thrill. Pure excitement. Pure enjoyment. This was evident in the way she left the corpse. Mangled. Much less controlled.
“Hah… Haha.” Bon Bon dipped a hoof into the pool of blood underneath her and began scribbling on the wall.
“She missed her sister.”
…
As if there was anypony that wasn’t already torn into several emotional pieces, the death of a young filly would surely spark it. Poor Apple Bloom was found dead early in the morning, as life on a farm started early. The horrific scene caused quite a ruckus around the farm, and it wasn’t long before news spread to everypony. Twilight, of course, was particularly affected by the knowledge. She couldn’t help but ask herself why. Why would anypony harm an innocent filly? Especially Apple Bloom. What did she ever do? Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were kept at Rarity’s. They understood what was going on, and they certainly didn’t need to be anywhere near the farm.
“This has gone too far.” Twilight said to herself as she stormed into the Police station. She wouldn’t let this go on any further. Nopony else needed to die. Not anymore. This was just too much. Of course, not a single officer believed her. They all just laughed it off as some sort of personal gripe between the two. Nothing more.
“I’m probably next.” Twilight bluntly stated.
“Oh?” The officer chuckled, “And why do you think that?”
“Gut feeling. Never steered me wrong before.” Twilight frowned, looking over her shoulder. Nothing yet. Good.
“Just get home an’ rest, Twilight.” Another Officer smiled, “You look tired.”
“If you find me dead in the morning…” Twilight fought a tear of fear, holding it back as best as she could, “Tell my friends to watch their backs.”
“Right, right.” The officer nodded, motioning her away. He gave her a goodnight and shut the door behind her, hoping he’d not see her again.
“Where the hell are you…?” Twilight was delightfully paranoid, looking over her shoulder at even the slightest of sounds. She made it to her home in one piece, thankfully, and locked every bolt on her door. There was no way that Bon Bon could get in without her knowing. After all, the library had only one door. The windows were locked tight as well. No way in. Perfect. Wonderful. The day passed in it’s now normal fashion. Grieving was done. Remembrance was acted out. The sun began to set, and everypony went to bed. Everypony except Twilight. She was far too busy being concerned with her own survival.
“You won’t win.” Twilight groaned to herself. She was growing more and more tired, and was running out of ways to keep herself awake. Reading and interesting book wasn’t helping. When reading doesn’t help Twilight, there’s a problem. Although, as time went on, it became too difficult to keep her eyes open. She collapsed onto a paper she’d been scribbling on and fell into a much needed rest. Which, unfortunately, led to an entirely new set of problems. No longer was it just about staying awake. That was a game of the past. This was survival. Would Bon Bon decide to target her? Or was she really accusing the wrong pony? She did not know.
…
There’s that smell. Back again. It’s distinct, the smell of blood. It burns the nostrils in a most unique way, and it usually leaves a taste. Not a pleasant one, either. Twilight slowly peeled her eyes open, but quickly squinted as she was met with a bright light. A brightly burning lamp, relatively close to her face.
“Morning, Sunshine.” Bon Bon chuckled, setting the lamp on the table, “How’d you sleep?”
“What… What is this…?” Twilight felt a sharp pain in several places as true consciousness introduced itself. One was on her head. Her horn was removed, and the wound was dripping blood into her eyes. On top of that, in each of her legs, a large hook pierced through several important muscles. These hooks lifted her above a pool of her own blood. She was effectively immobile, defenseless, and dead.
“This… This is dealing with a thorn in my flank.” Bon Bon smiled slyly, taking a few steps back, “You know too much, darling.”
“This is… You’re insane!” Twilight tried to struggle, but that sharp pain told her otherwise. Instead, she merely twitched in place.
“No… Well… Maybe.” Bon Bon placed a hoof onto a table and pulled from it a large cleaver. It was clean and polished. Probably sharpened as well. Twilight looked on in horror as she watched her demise prepare.
“You’re going to…?”
“Yes.”
“And there’s nothing I can…?”
“No.”
“Can you at least explain!?” Twilight was shivering with fear, on top of a twitch due to blood loss.
“I guess I can give you that.” Bon Bon frowned, “Be quick.”
“Why?” Twilight pleaded, “Why do this at all!?”
“Well, you like to get straight to the point, don’t you? Alright.” Bon Bon searched through her shattered mind for the answer, “Lyra. Lyra started it. She and that… Stupid fuck Mocha Bean! She cheated on me. Lyra cheated on me. She said I was losing my ‘passion’ or some shit. Said Mocha was much less of a ‘downer’.”
“You… You killed them because Lyra cheated on you!?” Twilight was shocked. Such a trivial matter sparked this horrific chain of events?
“Of course I did! Wouldn’t you? If the only pony you’ve ever connected with shattered your heart?”
“No!” Twilight shook her head, which hurt more than it needed to, “Those are lives! Innocent lives!”
“No. You’re wrong. You’re wrong. You. Are. Wrong. And then Flutter Doo told you too much… She had to go.”
“And A-Applejack!?” Twilight was getting progressively weaker. Far too much blood was pouring from her body.
“She saw me wash the blood from my hooves. She just had to go.” Bon Bon noticed the weakening Twilight and decided to speed things up, “Apple Bloom was for fun, honestly. No real reason for that.”
“Y-You’re sick… You’re sick…” Twilight shut her eyes, letting the tears flow from her face. She would never see her friends again. Never. No more cynical jokes from Rainbow Dash, poking fun at her various quirks. No more parties thrown by the eccentric Pinkie Pie. No more advice from the well-informed Rarity. No more love and understanding from Fluttershy. No more anything. She just let every bit of pent up emotion out at once.
“Now this is… Unexpected.” Bon Bon admitted, gazing at her delightfully sharp cleaver, “You almost make me feel bad.”
“Please! I don’t want to d-” Then there was silence. Bon Bon had forced the blade deep into Twilight’s throat, pulling down with a tremendous amount of force. Twilight quickly lost consciousness as the blade tore through various important innards. As Bon Bon made her way down, everything began to find it’s way out of Twilight’s body. Blood and organs poured their way into the ground, splashing in a most unpleasant way.
“Now aren’t you pretty?” Bon Bon chuckled throwing the knife to the side, “I wonder what Rarity will think…? I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?”
“Not so high and mighty now, are you?”
…
News of Twilight’s disappearance didn’t spread until he afternoon of the next day. Pinkie Pie needed help setting up that party she had been planning, but there was no answer at the door. She noticed it was unlocked and wandered inside, hoping a prank would soon follow. Maybe a bucket of water? Yeah, that would be great. Much to her dismay, however, she found the entire library in a state of disorder. Books were thrown about in various places and there was an unfinished cup of coffee sitting atop a note.
“What’s this…?” Pinkie Pie titled her head in confusion, pushing the cup off of the letter. It was unfinished, she noticed. There were several lines crossed out, and Pinkie Pie couldn’t make out a single word out of any of them. Although, near the bottom, there was an unfinished statement or two.
“If you’re reading this, I’m dead. It’s Bon Bon. It has always been her. Do me a favour and…” Past that, it was unfinished. This was a disconcerting fact. Why had she left it unfinished? Pinkie Pie hadn’t a clue. The first statement was a slightly disturbing one, and Pinkie had no idea whether or not it was credible. Twilight couldn’t be dead. She decided to take the thing and bring it first to Rarity, who she had already planned on visiting.
“Oh, morning Pinkie.” Rarity opened her door, clenching a bit of fabric in her teeth, “Where’s Twilight?”
“I ‘dunno…” Pinkie Pie shook her head vigorously, shrugging slightly. She handed Rarity the letter and frowned, “She left this.”
“But this… This is a problem.” Rarity dropped what she was doing and bit her lip, “We need to go.”
“What’s wrong, Rarity?” Pinkie Pie was innocently confused by Rarity’s sudden urgency, but followed her obediently. Pinkie was aware of the severity of what she had discovered, but she couldn’t bear to face what she feared was true. Her friend was gone. Another one. She had only so many left. Rainbow Dash hadn’t come down from Cloudsdale since Applejack, and Fluttershy was an emotional wreck. It was just Rarity, Twilight and Pinkie. The three musketeers. She couldn’t accept that Twilight was gone. Not the slightest. The two eventually arrived at the police station and barged in, slamming the note down onto the table.
“This is…?” One of the officers glanced down, skimming over the hastily scribbled note.
“She came to you again, didn’t she?” Rarity shook her head, her eyes tearing up, “You ignored her again, didn’t you!?”
“So… She’s missing?” The officer shook his head, clearly feeling guilty. They had ignored pleas for help, which is exactly the opposite of what they stand for. Although they hoped not to find anything suspicious, the police did agree to at least question and search Bon Bon’s home. They didn’t expect to find anything, but… Just in case. It was worth a try. A few knocks on her door echoed in silence, which was a disconcerting fact, “Well that’s… Admittedly suspicious.”
“She should be home…” Another officer noted, looking around the neighboring areas.
“Fuck it.” The first slammed the door open with his hind leg, chuckling slightly. The house was dark. Still. It seemed like Bon Bon had just bailed in the middle of doing something important. Recently, even, as there was still a cup of hot coffee sitting on the kitchen table. Nopony just leaves everything so… Hectic. Something certainly was off.
“You two stay out here…” One of the officers pushed Rarity back, shaking his head. Rarity reluctantly agreed, and stayed out front with Pinkie Pie. The two officers moved their way carefully through the house, searching every room. There wasn’t anything suspicious, other than maybe slightly more sharp utensils than a normal pony would have. Maybe she cooked exotic foods? Who knows? It didn’t raise all that much suspicion. That is, until one of the officers caught a whiff of a rather rotten, metallic odor. They followed the smell to a small, beaten door. It was creaked open, as if somepony had just left the room as quickly as possible. That, of course, brought forth a few questions of its own. The two curious officers made their way down, but were immediately met with a horrid smell. Decay. Something was dead down there, and it had been for at least 12 hours.
“This is…!?” On officer took a few steps back, putting a hoof over his mouth. Hanging in front of him was the mangled, decaying corpse of a bloodied Twilight Sparkle. Scratched into the ground in front of the pool of blood underneath her was a slightly disturbing note. It read: ’Keep an eye on Rarity and Pinkie. They’ll probably be the first to notice that little note. Love, Bon Bon.’
“Go back and check on those two.” The obviously higher ranked officer quickly commanded, “Now! Go!”
The other officer nodded in a haphazard manner and quickly darted up the stairs. Things had fallen apart quickly, and both of them felt helpless and weak. The higher ranked officer merely sat gawking at the horror that hung in front of him. How could Bon Bon - No - Anypony do this? He noticed an expression of fear in Twilight’s blank eyes. Although, hidden within her empty gaze lie a sense of acceptance. She didn’t want to die, but she accepted that she was going to.
“They’re gone.” The second officer called from upstairs, “They’re both just… Gone.”
“Shit.” The first shook his head, leaving Twilight where she was. He would call in a team to clean up once the issue at hand was resolved.
…
Rarity opened her eyes and found herself in a damp, dimly lit room. She felt ill, and could hardly lift her head to look around. When she finally did manage to tilt her head upward, she found herself strapped tightly to a chair. Each of her legs had been shattered by some unidentified object, and they pulsated with a sharp tear inducing pain. Pinkie Pie was in a similar state, but she hadn’t regained consciousness.
“Finally! God damn, you two aren’t exactly physically powerful are you?” Bon Bon smiled, “Man, even Twilight woke up faster than you two.”
“Wha… What is this!?” Rarity tried to wriggle in place, but her legs screamed in agony. There would be no moving on her part.
“You and your friends just had to complicate things…” Bon Bon smiled widely at a sharp knife that lie next to Rarity, “I don’t have any time for finesse, so I’ll be quick with this, okay?”
“No… No, wait.” Rarity eyes widened as she saw Bon Bon approach with the blade. Tears began flowing from her face, and the pleading began almost immediately. Pinkie Pie’s eyes slowly peeled open, and she opened her mouth in shock as she saw Rarity.
“Rarity! What’s… What’s going on!?”
“Pinkie! It’s…” Rarity shook her head, “It’ll be fine, okay? It’ll all be fine. What ever happens to me… You don’t give up? Okay? Answer me!”
“O-Okay…” Pinkie Pie nodded, tears flowing from her eyes.
“Take care of Sweetie Belle… And… Just… Be good, okay?”
“Rarity… No…” Pinkie Pie shook her head, “Rarity!”
“I’m so-” Rarity was silenced with a knife to the neck. Bon Bon carved left and right; Rarity’s body twitched with every slice. The horrid sounds of gargling and ripping muscle tore through Pinkie Pie’s frantic weeping. Eventually, the sound of a massive flow of blood onto the floor filled the air. Then, silence.
“Hey… Doesn’t she look so pretty?” Bon Bon placed a hoof under Pinkie Pie’s chin and lifted it up, forcing her to gaze upon Rarity’s severed head.
“No!” She struggled, bearing through the pain of her broken legs, “They’re all gone! All of them…!”
“Not all of them, hun… Just most of them…” Bon Bon chuckled, shaking the bloody knife clean, “Damn Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy don’t show their faces anymore… Might just let them live. Depends on how bored I get.”
“You… Why…? Why? I don’t understand…” Pinkie Pie shook her head, thinking of her friends. She’d never see them again, and that was upsetting. No more parties. No more cupcakes. No more… Anything. Bon Bon laughed a bit and jabbed the knife deep into Pinkie Pie’s chest. She pulled it side to side. Over and over and over. Pinkie twitched and screamed in agony, trying in vain to move away from the pain. The trashing slowed to a stop, and both halves of her body were separated.
“There…” Bon Bon smiled, turning toward the staircase. She knew she was pressed on time, and therefore needed to get moving as quickly as possible. The police were probably hot on her trail, and it wouldn’t be long before they noticed that Lyra’s home was unlocked. The smell of blood would lead them down here, and, well… She needed to be far away when that happened. The Everfree forest was a good place… Wide open, dense. Close to Fluttershy’s home. Maybe she could get her to come outside. She would be so much fun to gut… Such an adorable little pony, “One thing at a time, Bonnie.”
…
Rainbow Dash had locked herself inside of her home in Cloudsdale since the incident with Applejack. She hadn’t left for anything other than a grocery trip to the local market. Even that only happened once. Most of her time was spent sulking in her own depression, staring out of her window. She didn’t really have any friends in Cloudsdale, and Fluttershy hadn’t left her house either. Instead, the both of them mourned in unison, ignorant of the other.
“Maybe I’ll go see Pinkie Pie…” Rainbow Dash said to herself, shaking the fringe into her mane, “She always manages to cheer me up.”
“Yeah… That’s a good idea.” She nodded, walking slowly toward her door. Just as she moved to push it open, a subtle knock sounded upon its surface. It was a delicate knock, and Rainbow Dash probably wouldn’t have heard it if she weren’t standing right next to the door. She slowly pushed the door upon and was met with the weakly smiling face of Fluttershy.
“Uhm… Hi, Rainbow Dash… Uhm…” Fluttershy softly said, looking to the side, “I just… Uhm… Wanted to see how you were doing, or something…”
“Oh, alright.” Rainbow Dash stepped back, surprised that Fluttershy left the safety and solitude of her own home, “Come on in.”
Fluttershy did just that, and treaded carefully inside. It had been a while since she had been to Cloudsdale, and was quite used to typical solid ground. Fluttershy looked a bit eager, yet also looked a bit ill. Something was bothering her, clearly, and she didn’t just come to say hello. Rainbow Dash knew this, but decided to let Fluttershy do the talking.
“Uhm… Listen.” Fluttershy bit her lip, looking down, “Rarity and Pinkie Pie are… They’re…”
“No…”
“It’s… They were found in Lyra’s basement and…” Fluttershy began to break into tears. It was just the two of them left. Every single one of their friends had been wiped out in a matter of days. Rainbow Dash quickly consoled her friend, allowing her to cry on her shoulder. There were no words to say, really. It was just them, and there was nothing either of them could do, “They haven’t even caught her yet…”
“This is wrong…” Rainbow Dash shook her head, letting the tears flow down her face. Neither of them were emotionally prepared for all of this tragedy. Especially not Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash could at least fake a pretty good smile, power through her day. Fluttershy could not. Not even close. When she was feeling sad, she was really feeling sad. The two of them eventually made their way onto Rainbow Dash’s bed, in search of a more comfortable spot to weep. Thoughts raced through the both of their heads faster than they wanted to. Every memory they shared with their friends flashed before them, bringing more and more tears to their faces. Rainbow Dash remembered when she first met Twilight Sparkle. How she thought she was such a dork. Fluttershy remembered all of the parties Pinkie would throw just to cheer her up, usually through unhealthy consumption of cupcakes. All of the generosity Rarity shared with the both of them. All the dresses she made in attempts to beautify them. Rainbow Dash remembered every night she spent with Applejack; all the time they spent just talking. If ever she had a problem, Applejack could fix it. No matter how big or small, silly or reasonable. Applejack could fix it. Now, all of their attention turned toward each other. How thankful they were that at least they were alive. That at least they had each other.
“Fluttershy… I’m… Sorry.” Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, shaking the tears from her face, “They wouldn’t want us to be like this…”
“It’s… I’ll be okay…” Fluttershy smiled, somewhat nervously, “As… As long as I… Have you.”
“Wh… That’s…” Rainbow Dash didn’t know exactly how to take what she just heard, but Fluttershy’s blushing face was a good indicator. Did she just confess? How long had she been holding that back? Rainbow Dash blushed in response, but couldn’t find any words to express her feelings. They had always been there, at least somewhat. But Applejack… She was… Rainbow Dash quickly became confused, but didn’t exactly fight what happened after. Push came to shove and the two did a few things that they didn’t exactly regret. A few hours passed, the sun began to hide behind the horizon, and Fluttershy decided that it was high time she headed home.
“Are you sure?” Rainbow Dash asked, a worried look on her face, “You can stay here if you want.”
“No… I should go…” Fluttershy shook her head, “I need to make sure that Sweetie Belle gets to Scootaloo’s house alright.”
“Is she staying with you…?” Rainbow Dash frowned, feeling sympathy for the little filly. She lost one of her closest friends and her sister within a week. That isn’t healthy.
“For now, yes.” Fluttershy sighed, “I really should get going… I can’t leave that filly home alone. It’s not safe anymore…”
“And you traveling alone is better?” Rainbow Dash slapped her lightly on the back, “At least let me make sure you get home alright.”
“Yeah… Okay.” Fluttershy smiled. For whatever reason, these two were doing a great job at acting at least remotely okay. There was no way that they would get over all that had happened in some time, but they could at least try and make each other feel better, right? That’s what their friends would’ve wanted; they were sure of that. The trip down to Fluttershy’s home wasn’t a long one, only a few minutes. Sweetie Belle greeted Rainbow Dash in a slightly dejected manner, which was completely understandable. They walked her to Scootaloo’s in a timely manner, hoping to get her there before dark. Of course, they did without much of a problem.
“Try to enjoy yourself… Okay?” Fluttershy patted Sweetie Belle on the back.
“Yeah…” She shook her head, fighting the tears she so desperately wanted to fall.
“Listen, kid.” Rainbow Dash kneeled down next to Sweetie, “I know it’s tough; Trust me. We both lost someone very important to us. But you and I both know that she wouldn’t want you sulking.”
“That’s easy for you to say.” Sweetie Belle scoffed, looking away.
“No, no it’s not.” Rainbow Dash reassured her, rubbing her hoof through Sweetie’s mane, “Just… Have fun, kiddo.”
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy waved a worried goodbye and slowly wandered back to Fluttershy’s house. It was getting late, and the both of them were far more tired than they needed to be. They arrived promptly at her house and sighed.
“Well… I’ll see you tomorrow… Right?” Fluttershy asked, shoveling some dirt with her hoof.
“Yeah.” Rainbow Dash smiled, sighing in relief. She had been crying for far too long. It was nice to finally take a break from it. Fluttershy pushed her door open and stepped inside. Rainbow Dash turned and prepared to fly back to her home, but she heard a slight thud behind her. She turned to the noise and gasped in horror; Fluttershy had collapsed.
“Fluttershy!” She called out, quickly running to her side, “Are you al-”
A sharp pain struck the back of her head, and then there was nothing.
…
Rainbow Dash shook the unconsciousness from her body and looked around the room. She was in Fluttershy’s basement, presumably, but she couldn’t see more than a few meters in front of her. The room was barely lit by a small candle or two.
“Flutter… Shy…” Rainbow Dash felt weak, and could barely utter out what words she could. She was bleeding rather profusely from the back of her head, and it clearly wasn’t helping her much.
“So you’re awake?” Bon Bon smiled, playfully slapping a crowbar left and right, “That took a while.”
“You… What did you do…?” Rainbow Dash tried to break the ropes that bound her in place, but couldn’t make much progress, “Where’s Fluttershy…?”
“Oh she’s right here.” Bon Bon turned to a bloodied and beaten Fluttershy, “Had a bit of fun before you woke up.”
“Please…” Fluttershy softly pleaded, breathing hard, “No more…”
“What’s that?” Bon Bon asked, preparing the dripping crowbar for another round, “How about more? How does that sound?”
“No… No… Please.” Fluttershy shook her head weakly. Her face was bruised and dripping with blood, and tears were flowing from her face, “No more… No m-”
The air filled quickly with a loud shriek of pain, and Fluttershy writhed in place. A loud crack from her left hind leg, followed by a bloody, shattered bone protruding from it.
“Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash cried out, “Stop it! Stop!”
“Haha… Haha…” Bon Bon chuckled, turning toward Rainbow Dash, “You want me to stop?”
“Leave her alone!” She responded, tears pouring from her eyes.
“Okay, how about you, then?” Bon Bon skipped over to Rainbow Dash, searching for a good place to start, “How about your legs? No… Should I just kill you now? No, that’s no fun. Ah! How about…”
Rainbow Dash suddenly let out a violent scream, trashing in place heavily. Her left wing cracked loudly as the crowbar brought down on it. Swing after swing, shattering the wing into a more bloody mess. Rainbow Dash groaned out in agony as Bon Bon threw the crowbar to the side and grabbed the broken thing. She pulled and pulled until it ripped violently from her back, splashing blood in every direction. Bon Bon then moved onto the other wing, doing much of the same. Swing. Crack. Swing. Crack. Grab. Rip. Scream. Rainbow Dash had never felt this much pain in her entire life, and wanted it to end as quickly as possible.
“Enough…!” Fluttershy weakly cried, clearly uncomfortable with the amount of pain she was in. She knew exactly what would come as she said that single word, but she didn’t care. Her friend was in pain, and she was willing to bear it for her.
“You two really like making it harder on yourselves, don’t you?” Bon Bon turned back the Fluttershy, smiling widely, “I’m tired of you.”
“No… Nono…” Rainbow Dash gazed on in horror as she saw Bon Bon lift a knife above Fluttershy. She thrashed and thrashed until she felt something she didn’t expect. The rope had loosened, as it must’ve been hastily tied. Whatever the reason, she took the opportunity and broke free from her restraints. She put the crowbar that Bon Bon had left in her mouth and ran at her. The knife began its quick descent down, aimed at Fluttershy’s neck. As it came close, however, Bon Bon was struck in the head, forcing the blade to the side. It, instead, plunged deeply into Fluttershy’s shoulder. Not a complete success, but it was better than nothing.
“You... How did you…!?” Bon Bon could no longer move. Her neck was broken, and her entire lower body was paralyzed in place. She had a look of fear in her eyes, which was slightly ironic. Oh how the tables have turned.
“You…” Rainbow Dash twitched, her body screaming in disapproval, “You killed my friends. My friends.”
“Haha... It was fun. I must admit.” Bon Bon smiled, knowing that she was defeated, “Can’t say it wasn’t worth it.”
“You. Sick. Fuck!” Rainbow Dash struck in unison with each word. Bon Bon’s head was quickly shattered, blood spraying in all directions. Rainbow Dash lost control of her actions and kept swinging until the splatters stopped sounding. She reared back, throwing the blood-covered bar to the side.
“Hah… Hah…” She turned to Fluttershy, limping slightly toward her, “You okay…?”
“No… But… It hurts…” Fluttershy sobbed, glancing at the knife in her shoulder.
“Here… This might hurt.” Rainbow Dash bit down on the blade and took a deep breath, “One. Two. Three…!”
“Nngh.” Fluttershy groaned, clenching her teeth, “I… Can’t…”
“Hey, hold on… Just… Hold on…” Rainbow Dash quickly untied Fluttershy’s restraints and laid her over her back. It hurt to have any weight anywhere near the bloody stubs that were once her wings, but she’d be fine. She limped up the stairs, careful not to let Fluttershy fall off of her. The pain had escalated to an almost unbearable point, but she eventually stumbled her way out of the home.
“Help…!” Rainbow Dash called out as loudly as she could, hoping somepony could hear her. She cried out in somewhat rhythmic patterns, slowly limping her way closer and closer to Town Square.
“No… No… I can’t stop…” Rainbow Dash felt her legs buck, forcing her to the ground, “No… Somepony… Just…”
She slowly shut her eyes, unable to continue. A bit of light coming from her left is the last thing she saw before her mind blacked out.
…
A few days passed in a slightly more relaxed manner. The Crowbar Massacre, as everypony had decided to call it, was finally over. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were found collapsed onto the ground in the middle of the night, and they were quickly brought to the hospital. They did their best to patch up the various wounds the both of them had sustained, with Fluttershy’s being the more urgent. Rainbow dash would never fly again, which hit her heart hard. Her dreams of becoming a Wonderbolt were destroyed, and her joy in life was stolen from her. She took this fact surprisingly well, though. At least she was alive. Fluttershy… She was alive too. This made up for it.
“Hey.” Rainbow Dash smiled, glad that Fluttershy’s eyes finally opened.
“H-Hi…” Fluttershy sighed, looking around the room in a relieved manner, “I’m… Really Hungry.”
“Can’t argue with that.” Rainbow Dash chuckled. They were scarred, hungry, and broken. But they were alive. That’s all that mattered, “Let me just do something real quick…”
Rainbow Dash grabbed a pen and pressed it to a paper, hoping her handwriting would be legible enough.
“Dear Princess Celestia,
I’m not sure how much you’ve heard, but a series of tragic events have occurred. The Crowbar Massacre is what everypony is calling it, I guess. It’s finally over, and nopony else will be harmed. I’d like to say how sorry I am that Twilight Sparkle was among the victims. I know how close she was to you, and I wish you the best of luck. I, too, lost somepony close to me. Applejack. I’ll miss her. I’ll probably never stop missing any of them. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, Apple Bloom, Lyra and Mocha Bean. Remember all that they gave to us. The magic of friendship… The magic of love. You find both in places you don’t expect during times of tragedy.
Fluttershy and I are recovering from our injuries, but we’re alive. There’ll be a memorial for all of them soon, and I hope you can make it. Until then,
Rainbow Dash”
…
Months and months passed. Seasons whizzed by and time flowed in its usual way. Proper Burials were had for all 7 of the lives lost, and a memorial was set up in Town Square. Nopony really forgot what happened, but everypony was certainly much happier. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy moved in together not too long after the incident, partly due to the handicaps they both shared. Rainbow Dash took months to become accustomed to travel without wings, annoyed that she could no longer just fly to wherever she wanted to go. Fluttershy’s broken leg took a while to heal, and she still couldn't really walk on it without limping. Sweetie Belle decided to stay with the two of them not long after that, as she had nopony else to turn to, and they acted as mother figures to the innocent filly. All three were lucky to have lived, and they certainly weren‘t going to waste their lives. Not anymore. Sure, they mourned the loss of their friends that were so heartlessly ripped from them. Sure, their lives would never return to the way they were. That didn’t bother any of them, really. The tragedy brought everypony closer than they ever were before, forcing some unexpected love to spring forth. Love is just a deeper form of friendship, and after all…
Friendship is Magic.
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ratmage99
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881
| 1 |
Original Character,Adventure,Comedy,Dark,Romance,Sad,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore
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Friendship is Dead
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When zombies begin to invade Equestria, some ponies must find the truth, or else.
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hiatus
| 20 | 4 |
<p>Zombies, zombies, and more zombies! Zombie sensation is sweeping the nation! Even Equestria isn't immune from these dead hands' clutches! What happens when a young mare with everything to prove and nopony to prove it to must fight to survive? Funny stuff, that's what. Also sad. Yeah, lots of sad. Starspot's always been a loner, but now, she's just plain alone. Join her on her adventure through New Equestria (exactly one hundred thirty-seven years after the events of the show) as she tries to survive, and maybe get to the bottom of the strange phenomenon.</p>
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teen
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2011-09-18T04:02:04+00:00
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2011-09-18T04:02:04+00:00
| 2,140 |
Starspot woke up in a cold sweat, bolting out of bed and onto all four legs. She panted, relaxing her muscles as she calmed herself. She shook her head lightly, trying to convince herself it was just a dream. The pony sighed, shivering a bit. She focused her horn’s magic onto the nightstand, pulling out a small nine millimeter pistol and a few magazines of ammunition. She placed the ammunition into her belt, looking over each detail of the handgun, making sure that each nook and cranny of the intricately designed weapon was as flawless as the day she had bought it. The world wasn’t like it used to be, and she had to be prepared. It had been almost two months since the experiments had backfired catastrophically. Starspot had often found herself wondering how exactly an attempt to create a parasprite repellent had gone so horribly awry.
She checked every spot of the abandoned house to make sure that she hadn’t missed any supplies. She found a few bottles of painkillers in the medicine cabinet, and a few bandages, but not much else. She cursed quietly under her breath. She had wished she could get a better weapon at the very least, since all the stores in town had been looted. She looked out of the boarded up window, slivers of sunlight coming through. She went down the stairs, carefully prying off the boards on the door as quietly as she could. She opened the door a tiny bit, peering through the crack. The street seemed empty and desolate. She swung the door open, pistol at the ready.
Starspot sighed with relief as she looked around and saw nothing. She cautiously walked out of the house, looking in all directions around her. She took in a sharp breath as she saw one of them. A pony with greyed skin, visible through a horribly matted coat, and a mane that appeared to be torn off in places. The pony had many visible injuries to it’s forelegs, mostly bites and scratches, but in a few places it seemed the skin had just given up all hope of clinging to its host and was hanging loosely by a few strands of muscle fiber. The most frightening part of this pony was its eyes. Neither eye had a pupil, and one eye was bulging slightly out of the socket. The pony was bent over the carcass of another, this one seemingly long dead, as it was mostly bones. Starspot shuddered a bit, taking aim at the zombie pony’s head. She fired off a shot, the silencer muffling the sound. The shot went straight through the zombie pony’s head, creating a small, clean hole in the front and back. The pony dropped instantly. She shuddered.
Starspot had grown pretty used to this new Equestria, but shooting a fellow pony was something that she didn’t want to get used to. She looked around once again for any signs of the living dead. Spotting no signs of life, (or lack thereof,) she began walking down the town’s main street, looking for any signs of where she was. She looked up at a road sign a few feet in front of her.
WELCOME TO FILLYDELPHIA!
Where the ponies are friendly and the streets are safe!
Starspot snorted a bit. “Safe my ass.”
“Don’t move, little missy.” A gruff voice called from over her shoulder. A shot rang out and Starspot immediately hit the floor. She heard a splat as a zombie pony’s head exploded just past her.
She stood up shakily, looking around to see if any other zombie ponies had been alerted by the loud shot of her savior’s hunting rifle. “Th-thank you.” She said somewhat quietly, realizing just how close she had come to death.
“Y’all shouldn’t be out here alone.” The gruff voice said sternly.
“Then who are you with?” Starspot asked smartly. She looked over to the mystery stallion. He seemed to be quite a bit older than her, possibly in his forties or fifties. He had a dark brown mane cut short, causing him to look like a soldier. His coat was a light grey color, although Starspot suspected that he was mostly covered in dust. And she was right. A few patches of the pony's true, light chestnut coat showed through a few places dirt had yet to touch. He was an earth pony, using a rifle modified to be fired by the mouth. He currently looked to be quite irritated with her.
“No one, smart-ass.” He said. “I was with my friend until he got bit and I had to shoot him in the head.”
Starspot fell silent. She had always been a loner, and had never had any friends to shoot, so she couldn't even imagine what that had to be like. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“O’ course you didn’t.” He sighed a bit. “Name’s Conrad, but if y’all like, you can call me Con.”
“Oh.” Starspot said, surprised he didn’t shoot her for her earlier remark. “I’m Starspot.”
“Pleased to meet ya’, little miss, but I’m afraid we’ll have to cut this meetin’ short, ‘fore we get too many visitors smellin’ the blood.” Conrad told her, signalling with his head a house that they could go into.
The two ponies walked into the house with their weapons drawn, searching each room. “Looks like we’re all clear.” Conrad said after looking into the last room. “At least, unless one o’ them zombie bastards gets through the door.”
“Leave that to me.” Starspot smiled a bit, pulling a bit of wood from her pack she was carrying, using her magic to bind it to the doorframe.
“That’s some plum useful magic you got there.” Conrad nodded knowledgeably.
“Well, magic is my special talent. It runs in my family, I guess.” Starspot shrugged. “It has ever since my great grandma Twilight.”
Conrad’s ears perked up. “Twilight Sparkle?”
“Yup. Why, you heard of her?”
“Heard of her? My granny used to tell me stories about the pony that defeated the Ursa Minor.” Conrad smiled with the memories of simpler times. Times when undead ponies weren’t threatening every waking moment.
“Your granny knew my great grandmother?” Starspot blinked.
“I reckon so. Granny Applejack would always tell stories about their group of friends.” Conrad shrugged. “Suppose it was pretty lucky we found each other.”
“So, you got any plans for where to go?” Starspot asked.
“Well, out of this hellhole, for one. After that, I was thinkin’ maybe I’d head to Ponyville, it’s supposed to be the last stronghold other than the castle in Canterlot, but I doubt we’d get into the castle.”
“Okay, mind if I tag along? It is dangerous to be out alone, after all.” Starspot said a bit jokingly.
“Alright, but it’s too late in the day to get going now. We have to rest up, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover and not a lot of time to do it.” Conrad frowned a bit. “We’ll have to make it there by nightfall, it’s too dangerous to be out at night.”
“Well, duh.” Starspot rolled her eyes.
Conrad growled a bit at her. “Y’all best take this seriously. I have no problem leavin’ you fer dead.”
“Well excuuuuse me.” Starspot muttered. “Just trying to have a little fun.”
“Ain’t nothin’ fun ‘bout the apocalypse, missy.” Conrad said gruffly. “Now you go look around the second floor for supplies, I’m gonna’ check if the water is drinkable.”
Starspot nodded, walking up the steps and looking in every spot in the house. She cursed quietly, finding almost no usable supplies. She picked up a poster off the ground.
SEE THE WONDERBOLTS!
Watch the amazing antics of the Wonderbolts at Fillydelphia Stadium on the first day of spring at ten A.M.!
Starspot smiled a bit, thinking back to the first day of spring. The air was warm and clear, dew glistening on the grass, and the undead hadn’t spread past Manehattan yet... Starspot put the poster in her bag, sighing a bit. She went down the stairs, instantly smelling something wonderful. She followed the scent to the kitchen, where she found Conrad looking over a pot with what seemed like broccoli floating in it.
“Find anything?” Conrad asked her.
“Nothing much.” She sighed. “Just a few bandages.”
“That’s still somethin’.” Conrad said. “More than I had on me to start.”
Starspot looked at him strangely. “You came that unprepared?”
“All my supplies got left behind when I left Manehattan.” Conrad said.
“Wait, Manehattan? You mean the place where this all started? You were there when the tests went wrong?”
“Tests? What have they been telling you?” Conrad leaned in closer to listen.
“We were told that a company was making a repellent for parasprites and that it was a breakthrough for farmers.” She told him.
Conrad scoffed, laughing audibly. “A parasprite repellent? That’s what they told you?” He laughed even harder. “Naw. That company was doin’ some pretty interestin’ stuff, but nothing that useful. At least, until they started studyin’ Princess Celestia.”
“The Princess?” Starspot blinked. “What were they studying her for?”
“Immortality.” Conrad said simply. “Princess Celestia is thousands of years old, and she looks like a regular ol’ mare... well, a regular ol' magical alicorn with a magical mane, but regular enough, I suppose. She loves the ponies of Equestria, so she jumped at the chance to help them. Those foals. Surely they should have realized that more study was needed.” He put his head in his hooves, sighing. “Rumor has it that they actually got it to work a few times before this zombie hell was unleashed.” Conrad looked at the ground. “Damn unlucky for those ponies, having to live forever as the last on earth.”
“Well, for a bit... until ponies start to... you know... repopulate.” Starspot said, then thought about what she had said. She quickly recovered. “But we need to find these ponies. They probably know more about the zombies than anyone.”
Conrad nodded a bit. “But they’re probably in the castle, which we’ll never get in.”
Conrad turned off the stove, pulling the pot full of broccoli off. He set it between the two. “Eat up, we’ll need our strength tomorrow.” He told her, picking out a few pieces and handing them to her.
“Thanks, Con.” Starspot smiled at him gratefully. Con nodded his head in recognition.
A loud thud from upstairs caused both of them to freeze in place, food still in their mouths. “You did remember to check behind the curtains in the shower upstairs, didn’t you?” Conrad hissed quietly.
“Ummmm....... shit.” Starspot turned her head to the stairs. She levitated her pistol from her bag as quietly as she could. She motioned to Conrad that she’d check it out. She slowly and silently walked up the stairs, using the small amount of light from her horn to guide her. She quietly opened the door to the bathroom, prepared for the worst. She looked around the room, seeing nothing. She pulled back the curtains of the shower and saw a horrifying sight. A pony that had been dead for quite a long time lay in the tub. The tub had some water in it, and the pony’s body had absorbed it, swelling to ridiculous proportions. It took Starspot a few moments to discern the source of the noise they had heard. Apparently the pony’s skin had been stretched to the limit, and just like a balloon with too much air, it had ruptured. The pony’s entrails lay next to it, floating around in the deep red water. The stomach of the pony was outside the body, but still attached to the inside, and it too had burst, revealing that this pony’s last meal had consisted of mostly carrots. Starspot grimaced at the awful scene, gagging. She shut her eyes tight for a few minutes, trying to stay standing on all four legs without passing out from the sickness of it all. Starspot quickly put a bullet through the head of the dead pony, figuring the apocalypse was no time to be stingy with bullets. After the shot, Starspot immediately wished she hadn’t chose to be safe. The shot broke the porcelain tub, bloody water rushing out. The pony’s bits of gore that were no longer attached to it floated past Starspot’s legs. The pony’s small intestine flowed towards her front left hoof, wrapping itself around. Starspot shook it off, shrieking as she ran down the stairs, running for the nearest trash receptacle and losing any of the broccoli she’d already eaten.
“Not pretty, eh?” Conrad asked.
Starspot shook her head, although with how much the rest of her body was shivering, it was most likely difficult to tell. She violently expelled what was left of her stomach contents, wiping her mouth with a hoof. “Why couldn’t a puppy outbreak have been the apocalypse?” She groaned.
Conrad chuckled a bit. “I trust ya’ took care of it?”
Starspot nodded slightly. She tried as hard as she could to not think of what she had just seen.
“You’ll get used to those kinds of sights soon enough. I don’t think there’s a thing in this world that disturbs ol’ Conrad now. Why don’t y’all get some shuteye? I’ll keep watch tonight.” Conrad said. “I think y’all have watched enough tonight.”
Starspot nodded, walking slowly and shakily to the couch that was set up. She collapsed onto it, sighing a bit, relieved that she’d be able to sleep and get her mind off the events she’d just witnessed. She closed her eyes, desperately trying to focus on something else. She thought back to before her whole world got turned around, back when she was just a filly. She had lived in Ponyville until she’d had to move to Canterlot for her parents to more closely work with Princess Celestia. She really had loved living in Ponyville, mostly because it was a smaller community and everypony knew one another. She wondered how much it had changed from what she remembered. She prayed it hadn’t been hit hard, she didn’t know if she could take shooting her childhood friends... At least she had a companion now who could help her if she was unable to bring herself to shoot them. She nestled her mind in a happy memory of playing with her great grandma’s former assistant, Spike. Spike was the only kind fully-grown dragon that she had met. Starspot smiled as she drifted off slowly.
Starspot blinked her eyes open, yawning. She stretched out on the couch.
“Mornin’” Conrad murmered.
“Morning.” Starspot yawned once more. She stood up, cracking her various sore joints. She walked to the downstairs bathroom, splashing her face with water. She looked in the mirror at herself, almost not recognizing herself. Her dark purple mane was tangled and unkempt. She sighed, knowing she may never get the matted mane to lie right again. Her light brown eyes were severely bloodshot and she looked like she’d been drinking too much the night before. Her light purple coat was caked with blood in a few places. Her parents had always told her that she was the spitting image of Twilight Sparkle. Starspot wondered if they would have still thought that if they had seen her now. She found it hard to imagine that Twilight Sparkle had ever been covered in blood with bags full of pistol ammunition and medical supplies strapped to her back. She looked at her flank, frowning. Her cutie mark was obscured by blood. She splashed some water on it, cleaning the spot off. She was very proud to be bearing the same crest as the great Twilight Sparkle had many years ago, albeit with a different color scheme. Hers was a light blue, compared to her grandmother's purple. She stretched, walking out of the bathroom.
“Alright Con, you can get to sleep now and I’ll keep watch.” Starspot said.
“Alright.” Conrad said. “Be careful, though. We don’t want a repeat of the bathroom.”
Starspot looked to the ground, a bit embarrassed. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t worry ‘bout it none.” Conrad stretched out on the couch.
Starspot snuck a peek at his flank, curious about his cutie mark. She stifled a gasp as she saw it, or to be more precise, didn’t. She looked at the ground again, this time in contemplation rather than embarrassment. Conrad soon began snoring.
How could a pony of that age not have a cutie mark? Starspot wondered. I’ve never even heard of something like that. She frowned, thinking back to when she got her cutie mark.
---===---
Nineteen Years Prior
Starspot was just a little filly, only about nine years old, but she had learned to do quite a bit of magic thanks to her grandmother's teachings. She was to present herself to Princess Celestia so that she could see if she'd be accepted into her elite magic school. She passed every test that was thrown at her until the dragon egg test. She looked at the egg and concentrated, learning all of its curves and flaws. The egg was perfect, and had a small life in the center, just waiting to burst into the world with the help of a little magic. Starspot wrapped her magic around the egg inside and out when she noticed something about the dragon inside. It was only about a year old, far younger than the age when dragons are supposed to be hatched. She felt uneasy about hatching a dragon prematurely and possibly having it die. She let her magic recede back into her horn, turning to the princess.
"I apologize, Princess." Starspot bowed to her. "But I refuse to hatch this dragon egg. If I hatched it now, the dragon would die. I've read multiple books on the subject. I will return to do this test once the dragon has reached an age when it would be safe to hatch it. I ask your forgiveness for this blunder."
Princess Celestia laughed a bit. "Very formal." She placed a hoof on Starspot's shoulder. "You have just passed my test. You see, the thing about magic is that it is sometimes necessary to avoid using it if it means helping others. You remind me so much of your grandmother..." Celestia teared up a bit. "I shall assign you to the same place where it was that Twilight learned the most."
"The library in Canterlot?" Starspot asked.
"No. Ponyville." The princess smiled at her. "And one more thing."
"There's more?!" Starspot groaned a bit. "I didn't know about extra credit. I didn't study."
"Not that." Celestia pointed to Starspot's flank. "That." There, on Starspot's haunch, was a gorgeous cutie mark. It was a light blue six pointed star with stars accenting the outside. For the first time in her life, Starspot felt like an adult.
---===---
Present Day
It had to have been the happiest day of her life, but to never get that... She shuddered at the thought.
The night had passed by boringly, with Starspot not even having to worry about zombies with her boarding up trick. Conrad woke up just after sunrise. “Howdy, missy.” He yawned.
“Hey Con.” Starspot smiled at the stallion.
Conrad grunted in acknowledgement. He stretched out.
“I packed our bags with all the supplies I could find.” Starspot smiled at him.
“‘Kay.” He said sleepily.
Starspot rolled her eyes. “That means get your ass up.”
Conrad grunted, rolling off the couch and landing on all fours. He stretched out. “Alright, let’s get going.”
“Sure, let’s get going.” Starspot said.
“I just said that.” Conrad blinked.
“I know.” Starspot smiled at him. “That’s why I said it.”
Conrad shook his head. “I’ll never get mares.”
Starspot laughed, pulling the planks off of the door and placing them in her bag. She pulled her pistol out and double-checked to make sure that it was fully loaded and pristine. She slowly opened the door, peeking out. She assessed the situation, turning to Conrad. “Four of them down the street, want to run for it or take them out?”
“I say run.” Conrad said. “My weapon’s too loud and yours just ain’t all that accurate at long range.”
Starspot nodded, slowly opening the door and running in the direction opposite the zombies. She looked behind her to make sure that Conrad was keeping pace. He was running alongside her with seemingly little effort. “Not bad for an old man.” She laughed.
“I ain’t old, my body just don’t know that.” Conrad laughed right back.
The two new friends ran down the street, laughing with each other. Something ahead stopped them in their tracks, however. The road ahead was covered with zombie pony bodies strewn about listlessly. At least, Starspot hoped they were zombie ponies.They silently stared down the road.
“Think we should take a different route?” Starspot said.
“Nah.” Conrad shook his head. “Worst we’ll find this way seems to be more survivors, and maybe some teammates that can help us get to Ponyville.”
Starspot looked at him skeptically. “Or they’re trigger happy military jackasses ordered to shoot whatever moves.”
“Only one way to find out, isn’t there?” Conrad smiled, running ahead.
“Dammit!” Starspot cursed. She ran after him. “I swear to Celestia if you get killed I’m not going to be responsible!”
Conrad skidded to a halt in front of her, causing the two ponies to collide.
“Ow, what the hell, Con?” Starspot rubbed her sore horn. “I nearly stabbed you with....” She stopped as she saw what it was that Conrad had stopped for. A bright pink pony with an unusually straight pink mane and a gigantic smile sat in the middle of the road, surrounded by carnage, staring directly at Starspot and Conrad.
“Hi.” She grinned at them. “I’m Pinkie Pie.”
End of Chapter One
For those of you that stuck with it, I thank you, and I assure you that more will be released if there isn’t a mass exodus of hate, and even then, I didn’t do all this work for nothing! I would like to extend a hoof of gratitude to my prereaders and proofreaders that made all this the best it could be.
Special Thanks to:
Kuraned
Shall005
Lauren Faust
Hasbro
All the bronies and pegasisters out there that inspired me to write this!
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ratmage99
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881
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Original Character,Adventure,Comedy,Dark,Romance,Sad,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore
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Friendship is Dead
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When zombies begin to invade Equestria, some ponies must find the truth, or else.
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hiatus
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<p>Zombies, zombies, and more zombies! Zombie sensation is sweeping the nation! Even Equestria isn't immune from these dead hands' clutches! What happens when a young mare with everything to prove and nopony to prove it to must fight to survive? Funny stuff, that's what. Also sad. Yeah, lots of sad. Starspot's always been a loner, but now, she's just plain alone. Join her on her adventure through New Equestria (exactly one hundred thirty-seven years after the events of the show) as she tries to survive, and maybe get to the bottom of the strange phenomenon.</p>
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teen
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2011-09-24T14:26:55+00:00
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2011-09-24T14:26:55+00:00
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“Hi.” The pink pony smiled at Starspot and Conrad. “I’m Pinkie Pie.”
Starspot and Conrad looked at each other. “Ummm, I hate to tell ya this, little missy, but Pinkie Pie’s been dead fer years.” Conrad furrowed his brow.
The pink pony giggled. “Well that’s silly. If I were dead how could I be here, huh?” She stood up, walking over to a corpse lying sprawled out on the street. The corpse seemed to be of a pegasus pony, but the wings seemed to have been torn off by the zombie ponies, or at least Starspot hoped that this was the zombie ponies’ doing.
“Gerald, don’t be rude, say hello!” The pink pony said. She twitched a bit, grabbing the pony’s head and twisting it towards Starspot and Conrad. She manipulated its mouth with her hoof.
“G’day, mates, how’s the barbie?” The Pinkie Pie impersonator said, appearing to think that the dead pony really was speaking, and a pony with an Australian accent, at that.
“Um....... hello?” Starspot blinked. This pony had to be absolutely bonkers, she was sure of it.
“What’s your name? Mine’s Pinkie Pie!” The pink pony dropped the pegasus corpse on the ground, turning her neck in a physically impossible fashion.
“Ummm.... I’m...... I’m Starspot.” She said hesitantly. Damn, She thought. Should’ve come up with a fake name.
“You look like the pictures Granny Pie showed me of that Twilight Sparkle!” The pink pony gasped. “You must be Twilight Sparkle! I knew the one I had wasn’t real!” She reached into her bag, throwing something out onto the ground.
Starspot gasped as she saw what the pony had placed on the ground. A skull of a unicorn pony lay in front of her, bits of purple hair still visible in a few spots. She fell to the ground, trembling at the sight of her family member’s skull. “H-how did you.... where did you get this?!” She demanded.
The fake Pinkie Pie giggled. “I went to the Ponyville cemetery, silly! They had a whole bunch of cool ponies there! I almost have a complete set! I just need Rainbow Dash, but I can’t fly, so I can’t get to Cloudsdale. So, I borrowed Gerald’s wings! They didn’t work though, so maybe I didn’t do it right. And now that I know that this Twilight’s a fake, I can get a new one, and then we’ll all be happy!”
Starspot stared at her, dumbfounded. “Y-you can’t be serious.... You... you..... YOU LOOTED THEIR GRAVES?!?!”
The pink pony looked at her confusedly. “Well they weren’t using these. I promise I’ll return them, so it’s more like borrowing!”
“You stole my great-grandmother’s skull?!” Starspot demanded.
“What’d you take of my granny’s, what do you have of Applejack’s?!” Conrad growled, his rifle pointed at the pink pony.
The pony giggled. “Well I had to have her hat! It was famous! And have you heard about her legendary kicks? I’d be crazy not to take the leg!”
Conrad glared at her. “I swear to Celestia I’ll do it. I will blow this bitch’s brains out.”
“Stop!” Starspot said. She hung her head, thinking a bit. She was torn. Part of her wanted to just let Conrad kill her, but another part of her had a plan. “She’s just.... confused.... and probably insane.”
“All the more reason to rid this hellish world of one more monster.” Conrad growled.
“That attitude ain’t gonna get you anywhere with anypony.” Starspot rolled her eyes. “Now, ummm... Pinkie Pie, why don’t you tell us why you want to collect the parts of these ponies.”
“Okie dokie lokie! I need the parts of the ponies because I need the Elements of Harmony in order to get rid of all the bad guys!”
“And how will those parts help?” Starspot asked.
“Because they come from the original bearers, duh!” The pony laughed.
“That’s not how the Elements of Harmony work, though!” Starspot said.
“How would you know? Oh, I know how you know! You’re Twilight Sparkle, aren’t you?!” Pinkie Pie bounced around.
“NO!” Starspot said. “I”m her great-granddaughter!” She looked up to the position of the sun. “We have to get going, Con.”
“Then let me shoot ‘er head off so we can leave!” Conrad said.
“No.” Starspot told him. She magically wrenched the gun away from him. “She’s crazy, but she’s not stupid.”
“What the hay are you talking about?” Conrad narrowed his eyes at her.
“The Elements of Harmony are elements that create peace in dark times. It’s possible that there may be a way that they could help. And while the body parts of the original bearers may not still hold them, what if they passed it down? What if we could hold them? What if we could save the world?" Starspot smiled a bit at that, liking the sound of it. Starspot, the savior of Equestria. "We have to take her with us. I have a feeling she’s related to the original bearer of the Element of Laughter.” Starspot said.
“Well, if I’m going to have to be the Element of Truth, I’m starting now. I don’t like this at all. Who died and made you the leader anyhow?” Conrad grumbled.
Starspot looked at him for a few seconds before answering. “Everypony.” Conrad shut up at that.
“Hey, Pinkie Pie, why don’t you come with us? We’re going to.... uh.... find some more parts of these ponies! Yeah, we can’t do it with just these parts! We need more!” Starspot hoped she’d agree to this lame excuse of an excuse.
“Okie dokie lokie!” The pink pony giggled. She hopped towards them. “Bye Gerald! See you later!”
Starspot shook her head a bit, wondering if she’d made the right choice. She decided they were on too tight of a schedule to dwell on it at all. “Let’s get moving, we’re way behind schedule.” Starspot began running towards Ponyville as quickly as she could, wanting to leave the sea of corpses behind her. Conrad and the new pony followed closely.
“So, your name is Pinkie Pie?” Starspot asked while they ran.
“Yup! My Granny Pie said that she was proud that I was named after her! She was really sweet. Want to see her ribcage?”
“NO!” Conrad and Starspot said together. The two looked at each other, both obviously wondering just how long this mare would survive in the unforgiving new Equestria.
“Do y’all really think that mare’ll be able to handle herself in a fight?” Conrad said worriedly.
“I think we’re about to find out.” Starspot looked ahead, seeing about ten zombie ponies feasting on the flesh of a pony that appeared to have been poorly armed, with the only weapon nearby being a baseball bat.
Starspot pulled out her pistol, floating Conrad’s rifle back over to him. “Okay Pinkie, how are you going to take them out?”
“With a party!” Pinkie Pie grinned, pulling a radio out of her bag, hitting the play button. A polka medly started playing.
“Are you kidding me?!?!” Starspot groaned.
“Nope!” Pinkie Pie giggled, running over to the zombies that were now alerted to her presence. She began to dance wildly, her movements quick, yet graceful, her legs kicking fluidly. Her back left hoof connected with the head of a zombie pony, a loud crunch being heard as the skull crushed. The zombie pony fell to the ground, dead.
Starspot and Conrad’s jaws hung wide open.
Pinkie Pie grinned as she danced, all of the zombie ponies falling down at her hooves as she danced her destructive dance. She giggled, hopping back to the other two and turning off the radio. “That was fun!” She began hopping towards Ponyville once again.
“We’re keeping her with us.” Starspot said, her mouth still wide open.
“Eeyup.” Conrad nodded in disbelief. The two began running after this crazed pony they now had to watch out for.
---===---
The three stopped just before noon to rest. They were on a small patch of broken road, weeds pushing through the large cracks, forming a type of divisor between sections of the stone. There was a gentle breeze, which was highly beneficial, as the sun was high in the sky and there wasn't a cloud to be seen.
“Why didn’t anypony tell me it was so far away?” Conrad whined.
“You’re such a girl, Conrad.” Starspot teased.
“More of one than you.” Conrad grunted.
“I don’t know whether to be flattered or insulted.” Starspot laughed.
“Oh, oh, I know! You should be insulted!” Pinkie Pie jumped up and down. “I win! What game do you want to play next? Please say hopscotch, please say hopscotch!”
“No, we need to rest if we’re to get to Ponyville before nightfall.” Starspot said. “Plus this is not the time for hopscotch, it’s the time for survival.”
A low moan came from over a nearby hill. The three companions froze.
“Okay, we’re going to have to move on. This isn’t safe.” Starspot whispered. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and that was just an echo. They could be miles away right now.”
“Everyone get ready to fight if things get ugly.” Conrad whispered. He pulled out his rifle. Starspot nodded, pulling her pistol out of her bag. They slowly walked over the hill towards Ponyville. About twenty zombie ponies wandered aimlessly in front of them.
“Shit.” Starspot groaned. She checked to make sure the pistol she had loved so much was in pristine condition. “I have nine shots before I have to reload.” She sighed a bit. “And Conrad, you have how many, six?”
Conrad nodded. “That math just don’t add up.”
“Pinkie Pie, why don’t you hang back, and me and Conrad will take out as many as we can. After that, you be ready to distract them long enough for Conrad and me to reload.”
“Okie dokie, lokie!” Pinkie Pie saluted.
“Ready Con?” Starspot whispered.
“As I’ll ever be...” Conrad whispered back.
“Three... two... one... Go!” Starspot screamed the last word to try and confuse the zombie ponies. Starspot and Conrad shot in conrtrolled bursts, trying to cause maximum damage. About half of the zombie ponies fell. Pinkie Pie ran around the remaining zombies while Starspot and Conrad reloaded. A moan behind the two firing ponies stopped them cold. They looked behind and noticed that there was a rather large group of zombie ponies behind them. “Screw the plan!” Starspot screamed. “Just run!” She clumsily stuffed her pistol back into her bag so she could run faster. She ran into the now smaller crowd that was on the path in front of her. She weaved in between them faster than most could react. One zombie pony managed to sink its teeth into her bag, ripping it off of her shoulders. She winced at the close call, running out of the crowd, looking behind her as the other two living ponies followed suit, Conrad not having time to put his bag back on, leaving all but Pinkie Pie bagless. At least Conrad still has his rifle. Starspot thought. But with little ammo. The ponies ran along the road, its mischievous twists and turns causing them to trip over their own hooves every once in a while. The road seemed to cut through the nothingness, as the only plant life around the dry soil were a few cacti and a weed or two poking through the street to greet the ponies' unhappy hooves. They stopped at a sign that was bent back, the metal appearing to have been struck with some sort of blunt object.
PONYVILLE JUST AHEAD
The happiest town in all of Equestiria!
Starspot smiled a bit, thinking back to her childhood days there. She couldn't have agreed with the sign more, after all, it had the second biggest library in existence. "Come on, everypony, let's get going."
The three ponies arrived in Ponyville just before sundown. “Phew.” Starspot panted heavily, coughing a bit. “Made it. Come on, I know a safe place.” She led the two to the library Twilight Sparkle once called home, being overly wary of zombies, hoping to be able to run from these ones. “This is the safest house in town, it’s protected magically.” She opened the door, peering inside to make sure they were alone. She was met with a blast of smoke to her face.
“Spike?” Starspot coughed. “Is that you?”
A large mass rearranged itself in the center of the room. “Huh?” It spoke with a deep, powerful voice. The large purple dragon opened it’s eyes slowly. “T-Twilight?!” It stood with a loud thud, taking up most of the room.
“Calm down Spike, it’s me, Starspot.” She reached out with a hoof, gently stroking his leg to calm him. “I missed you.”
“Starspot? What are you doing here?” Spike leaned down closer to her.
She smiled at him. “We need a place to stay the night, can we stay here?”
“Of course! Anything for you, Starspot! You look just like Twilight, except for the pink in her mane that’s not there. Plus, there's the eyes. Have you seen her? She said she had to run some errands and then I fell asleep, I’ll bet she needs some help from her number one assistant!”
Starspot fell silent. “Spike, when did you fall asleep?”
“Oh, I think it was Thursday. You know us dragons, we can sleep for years, why once I-” Spike froze, seeming to realize what had happened. “I-I’ve been asleep a lot longer than a few days... haven’t I?”
Starspot nodded sadly. “Spike, Twilight’s been... gone... for about twenty years.”
Spike looked down at her. “No...” He shook his head. “No, it can’t be...” Tears began running down his face. “NO!” He roared, flames licking out of his nostrils. He collapsed on the ground, crying harder than Starspot had ever seen anypony cry. Large tears splashed to the floor, soaking the three travellers.
“She’s not gone, silly!” Pinkie Pie smiled. “Starspot, she’s in your bag!”
Starspot glared at her. Spike rose his head up. “What? Was this all some sort of a prank? Haha, good one you guys, although that was really mean. I bet Rainbow Dash was in on it too, wasn’t she? She always took things way too far. Haha Twilight, you can come on out now.”
Starspot stared at the floor. “You don’t want to see this, Spike.”
“Of course I do! Why wouldn’t I want to see Twilight? I’ll bet she has some letters for me to send to Princess Celestia!”
Tears fell down Starspot’s face. “Spike, you really really don’t want to see this.”
“Yes I do! Come on Twilight, get out here.” Spike looked expectantly at Starspot’s bags.
Starspot sighed, magically unclasping her bag. She slowly pulled out the skull that Pinkie Pie had thrown on the ground earlier.
“What is.... this isn’t funny, Starspot!” Spike glared at the pony.
“Spike, I’m sorry.” Starspot was now visibly crying. “I tried to warn you.”
“THAT ISN’T TWILIGHT! TWILIGHT IS ALIVE!” Spike roared at her, flames flashed from his nostrils.
“I’m very sorry, Spike.” Starspot said quietly, backing up a bit. “That is Twilight. She died.”
“NO SHE DIDN’T! TWILIGHT WOULD NEVER DIE WITHOUT SAYING... “ Spike fell silent for a moment. “Without saying...” Tears dripped down the dragon’s face. “Goodbye...”
Starspot put her front arms around the dragon’s leg in a kind of hug.
“We’ll go to another room.” Conrad said, pulling Pinkie along with him to look around.
Starspot and Spike cried in each other’s arms for a while, (although Spike did most of the crying) and not a word was spoken between the two for hours.
“Spike... I’m sorry.” Starspot sniffed after the long silence.
“Why? Why wouldn’t she say goodbye?” Spike wondered, asking the same question he’d repeated in his mind a million times each second since he'd known.
“I don’t know, Spike.” Starspot frowned. “But I’m sure she had a good reason.”
“Yeah.” Spike frowned. He wiped the tears out of his eyes with his enormous clawed paw.
“Spike, would you like to go with us when we bury her? I think she would like you to be in attendance.” Starspot asked quietly.
“Yes.” Spike said. “She would have wanted it that way. Should I ask how exactly you found her?”
Starspot shook her head. “You don’t want to know.” She sighed a bit. “So, you don’t know what’s going on out there, do you?”
Spike shrugged. “I assume not much has changed. The sun goes up, the sun goes down, Celestia watches over us. Same as it has been.”
Starspot winced a bit. “Umm... not quite. Some strange scientists tried to come up with something to make ponies live forever... or at least for a long time. It didn’t go right, and now most of the ponies in Equestria have been zombified. Spike, almost everyone in Equestria is dead.”
Spike simply stared forward. “Sounds like an awful place out there. You three are free to stay here as long as you need. I promise that I’ll keep you safe as long as you need to be.”
“You’re very kind, Spike, but I’m afraid we’ll have to leave for Manehattan soon. I think we may still be able to save Equestria. Tell me, do you know the whereabouts of any relatives of Rarity, Rainbow Dash, or Fluttershy? From what I’ve heard, Fluttershy doesn’t seem like the..... mating type, so maybe a sister or something?” Starspot pulled out a list she had made. She had checks under Element of Laughter, Element of Honesty, and Element of Magic.
“Actually, Fluttershy had a filly. Don’t you remember Mr. Sharp?” Spike said. “And don’t you remember his filly, Angel, you two used to play together when you visited, mostly because you were forced to, but you played nonetheless.”
“Wait, that shy little pegasus that was afraid of her own shadow was related to Fluttershy? That’s...... not all that far-fetched, actually.” Starspot thought back. “Do you know where she lives?”
“Last I heard she lived in Fluttershy’s old house at the edge of the Everfree forest.” Spike thought. “And I don’t know where any relatives of Rainbow Dash or Rarity would be, but I would check Cloudsdale for Rainbow Dash’s relatives, and maybe Canterlot would be where Rarity’s would be?”
“Thank you, Spike, we’ll be out of your hair tomorrow, or maybe the next day, because if we need to convince Angel to join us, we’ll want to be back by nighttime, the zombies get more aggresive then.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Spike smiled, trying to mask the pain deep in his heart. “Why don’t you go get settled with your friends upstairs, you remember where everything is here, right?”
“Of course.” Starspot smiled, motioning for him to bend down. He did so and she kissed his scaly cheek. “Thanks, number one assistant.”
Spike smiled a bit. Starspot went up the stairs, opening the door to the bedroom. She walked in to find both Pinkie Pie and Conrad sleeping soundly on opposite sides of the room. She smiled a bit, going over to Pinkie Pie’s bags she’d set down, removing all of the contents and going down the stairs, placing the bag at Spike’s feet. “Don’t let Pinkie Pie... yeah, that’s her real name. But anyways, don’t let her get that bag. And don’t look in there, trust me.” She went back up the stairs, laying down in the middle of the room. She yawned, not realizing quite how tired she was. She stretched out, dozing off.
---===---
Starspot’s dreams that night were filled with memories of her childhood, playing with Angel and reading with her great grandma Twilight, but Twilight’s voice seemed different. Starspot looked up to her, to see that where her head was completely devoid of skin, looking just as it had when she first saw it come from Pinkie Pie’s bags. The skull stared intently at her, gradually breaking down as she heard Spike crying, just as he had done that day. “TWILIGHT! YOU CAN’T BE GONE!”
---===---
Starspot woke up in a cold sweat, looking about the familiar surroundings of the library. She sighed with relief, shaking her head to wake herself. She yawned.
“Mornin’.” Conrad was sitting in the corner, running repairs on his rifle.
“Morning.” Starspot yawned again. “So, first we’re going to Sugar Cube Corner to scavenge for food, then we’d better go to Fluttershy’s house to see if Angel is still there.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Conrad said. “An’ I’m sorry about how I was acting yesterday, but you understand, don’t y’all?”
Starspot nodded. “You were right to question my judgement, after all, I really am not any kind of leader. Plus Pinkie Pie is crazy.”
“You may not think so, but I think you are the leader. I mean, what if you’re right about this whole Elements of Harmony stuff? I woulda’ just killed her without any second thoughts. Then I think I woulda’ gotten out with less than just my rifle.” Conrad said. He placed his rifle back into his bag.
“Well, that’s nice, but I still don’t believe you. Anyways, let’s get going, we’re burning daylight.” Starspot got up and walked down the stairs.
Pinkie Pie was reading a book. The cover was green and had three balloons on it. She was smiling, her mane much more curly than it was the previous day.
Spike turned when he saw Starspot. “I thought that that would maybe help her.” He spoke with his deep, gruff voice. “It’s a photo album her grandmother had made of the various parties she’d had.” He smiled a bit. “Perked her right up.”
Starspot smiled. “You’re such a sweetie under that tough exterior.”
Spike blushed a bit.
Starspot stretched out a bit. “Pinkie Pie, you wanna stay here while me and Conrad go to Sugar Cube Corner?”
Pinkie Pie shot up. “Sugar Cube Corner?! Wowie-zowie! I wanna go!”
Starspot laughed. “Alright, then, let’ get going. Spike, when we come back we’ll knock three times, otherwise don’t open up.”
Spike nodded. Starspot walked out of the door, gauging the situation. “There appear to be no zombies out here. This is kind of weird, we haven’t seen one since we got to town.” She felt very uneasy, unsure of whether she should be relieved or worried that they had yet to see a single zombie pony in town.
“We’ll have to keep watch.” Conrad noted.
They all walked to Sugar Cube Corner together, looking around the town as they travelled. The town didn't seem to have sustained much damage, looking much like it had when Starspot had last been here. The buildings were mostly made of stone, and had thatched straw houses. While the town was fairly small compared to Fillydelphia, it was by no means tiny.There were close to a hundred houses dotted around town, most of them placed in the central hub around the large town hall. One building stood out above them all, however. Sugar Cube Corner was a large shop, being one of the only in town with three stories. It was decorated to look like a gingerbread house, with numerous delicacies modeled on the building. Starspot's favorite part was the cupcake that was on the top of it all, with three candles on top. Her mouth watered a little at the sight of the candy dwelling.
She opened the door, praying to Celestia that no zombies were in there. There didn't appear to be any, at least on the first floor. The first floor was a near copy of the outside, with peppermint sticks serving as pillars and lollipops and other candies gracing the walls in every available open spot. The front desk had a glass case built in that usually had a cake or a pie in it, but was now eerily vacant.
“Okay, now Conrad, you check the refrigerator down here, I’ll go check upstairs, and Pinkie Pie, just don’t steal any bones, please.” Starspot said. She headed up the stairs, looking around the room that she presumed to have been Pinkie Pie’s room. There didn’t seem to be much in the room, just a rug, a bed, and a record player. The door seemed to have been knocked off of its hinges and there was a dark red stain on the floor. Starspot looked at the record in the player. “The Parasprite Polka?” She shrugged, looking over the record player. It seemed to be fairly small for travel. She smiled. “A wonderful present for Pinkie! A welcome-back-to-sanity gift.” She laughed a bit at her own joke. She heard a low rumble from her stomach. “I really hope those guys managed to find some food.” She groaned a bit. She went down the stairs. “You guys find anything?”
“Loads, most of it inedible.” Conrad said glumly. “There’s a few cupcakes that are still palatable, and maybe some of these cookies, but other than that, nothing.”
Starspot sighed. The three shared the cupcakes and cookies. “I really hope Angel has some food. I could go for a nice daffodil sandwich right about now. Speaking of which, let’s get going, we want to give ourselves plenty of time.”
Starspot opened the door, walking out into the bright sunlight. It appeared to be about ten in the morning. Starspot sighed a bit, not looking forward to the long trip to Fluttershy's house. Her house was on the very outskirts of town, just outside of the Everfree forest. There was a path leading to it, but along the path were no houses, giving it the same feeling as the street to Ponyville. A bridge cutting through oblivion.The path lead over a spot where there once was a gorgeous stream that was always gently flowing, but it had seemed to have dried up since Starspot had left. The cabin itself looked very different from any other home that Starspot had seen before. There were holes all over where the animals once lived, and birdhouses adorned every spare place. The cabin had a grass roof, making it look much like just a part of a hill, save for the door and windows.
The door was hanging open. Starspot readied herself for a fight. “This could be bad.” She whispered. She snuck in, hearing zombie groans. “Dammit.” She groaned. Her heart sank deep into her stomach. “There goes the plan of getting her to join us.” She looked around the cabin. A couch lay tipped over on the floor, pillows strewn about carelessly. The inside looked much like the outside, with holes and birdhouses everywhere. Starspot had always wondered why there were birdhouses indoors, but they had never been empty, so she assumed there were some species of bird that simply preferred the indoor atmosphere. She looked to the middle of the room. There were a few cages hanging from the ceiling. The cages were very large, looking like they were made to accommodate ponies. She looked inside one, gasping.
End of Chapter Two
A special thank you to everypony that has stuck with the story thus far. For the rest of you, well, you won’t be getting this message. I just hope that if one day you’re surrounded by zombie ponies, you’ll think of me and have a party. Who knows? It could save your life.
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ratmage99
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881
| 3 |
Original Character,Adventure,Comedy,Dark,Romance,Sad,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore
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Friendship is Dead
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When zombies begin to invade Equestria, some ponies must find the truth, or else.
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hiatus
| 20 | 4 |
<p>Zombies, zombies, and more zombies! Zombie sensation is sweeping the nation! Even Equestria isn't immune from these dead hands' clutches! What happens when a young mare with everything to prove and nopony to prove it to must fight to survive? Funny stuff, that's what. Also sad. Yeah, lots of sad. Starspot's always been a loner, but now, she's just plain alone. Join her on her adventure through New Equestria (exactly one hundred thirty-seven years after the events of the show) as she tries to survive, and maybe get to the bottom of the strange phenomenon.</p>
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teen
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2011-09-29T21:32:59+00:00
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2011-09-29T21:32:59+00:00
| 1,306 |
Large cages were around the room, suspended from the ceiling by chains. Starspot cautiously looked inside one. A zombie pony lunged at the bars of the cage, gnashing it’s teeth as it tried to bite Starspot.
“Stop! Bad pony! Oh, my!” A very distraught voice sounded from nearby. A bright yellow pegasus pony with a light blue mane that covered half her face stepped into the open. “Umm.... sorry if he tried to hurt you...” She looked at the ground, kicking her hoof at the ground shyly.
“Angel? Wow, you’ve grown up.” Starspot blinked. It was true, the mare was now fully grown, and rather beautiful, at least by Starspot’s standards.
“Starspot... is that you?” Angel squinted.
“Yeah! It’s been years!” Starspot smiled a bit, then looked around the room worriedly. “Umm.... what’s with the zombie ponies?”
“I’ve been trying to help them, but nothing I’ve done has worked!” Angel said frustratedly.
“There’s only one thing that helps these bastards.” Conrad grunted. He pulled out his rifle, shooting the caged pony in the head. “And that was the last of my ammo, you better be grateful.”
“How dare you?!” Angel ran to him, her eyes full of anger and passion. “What gives you the right to do that?!”
“Stop, Angel!” Starspot put her hoof on the pony’s shoulder, well aware of the power of her stare. She had seen that stare cause a grown stallion to burst into tears, and control animal’s minds. “He’s right. It’s the only way to.... make them comfortable.”
Angel shot her a dirty look. “Have you tried anything else?”
“Well, yeah, we...no, but those things are killing ponies and hurting innocent animals!” Starspot tried to win her over.
Angel looked at her with concern. “But still.....”
“Angel, it’s me talking, you know I wouldn’t lie to you.” Starspot nodded at her, flashing a quick smile. “Just trust me.”
Angel looked to Starspot, mulling it over in her mind. “Okay, I believe you.” She looked to the floor. “I’m sorry, mister, I didn’t mean to yell at you... if that’s okay.”
“Not a problem, Missy, I know your grandmother would’ve done the same.” Conrad nodded.
“Grandma Fluttershy? What do you know about her?” Angel gasped a bit, her head shooting up. “You have to tell me everything... if that’s alright.”
“Sure thing.” Conrad smiled at her. “Just come back to the library with us and we’ll tell you all about it.”
“Of course!” Angel smiled. “I would love to!”
The trio led the pony back to the library. All of the buildings they passed were pristine and white, and Starspot recognized them all. Quills and Sofas, the Carousel Boutique, and even the joke shop reminded her of the old days. The trip back took about twenty minutes, during which Starspot and Angel worked on catching up on what had happened to them since they had last met, although most of their stories involved either hiding out, or simply trying to survive. Apparently, Angel was visiting a family member in Maresburg when the zombie infection hit. She immediately ran back to the house that had belonged to her grandmother in order to conduct some medical research on the afflicted ponies to try to alleviate their suffering. Starspot mostly listened, preferring it to prattling on about her own life. Starspot opened the door to the library, finding Spike crying in the corner. He quickly straightened up when he saw the four walk in, though, obviously embarrassed.
“You doing okay?” Starspot furrowed her brow.
“Yeah.” Spike sniffed. “Fine.”
Angel shrieked when she saw Spike. “D-d-d-dragon!” She squeaked frightfully.
“It’s okay, you remember Spike, don’t you?” Starspot said gently.
“Oh.... Spike.... right.” Angel panted a bit from fear.
“I’m a bit bigger than last time, aren’t I?” Spike grinned a toothy and very obviously faked grin.
“Uhm.... yes...” Angel said, still a bit cautious.
“Why don’t we go up to the bedroom and we can tell you everything you want to know?” Starspot suggested, wanting to give Spike some alone time to think.
“Yeah... I mean, if that would be okay with you.” Angel said with her quiet voice.
“Of course it would.” Starspot giggled a bit giddily, feeling very nostalgic. After all, Angel was the only pony she had ever called friend.
The four went up the stairs and began sharing stories of the six friends that once were and their adventures.
“So then, get this, the princess thought that the parasprites were a parade for her!” Pinkie Pie finished the story she was telling. The four laughed together, bonding immensely over the past few hours while they told their stories. Even Conrad and Pinkie Pie shared a few laughs between them.
“Oh, how about I tell you guys about the sleepover me and Starspot had once while she was visiting!” Angel said, laughing. “Now, we had to sleep on the floor and share a blanket, and neither of us was very comfortable with it, so then I said- Oof!”
“Oof?” Conrad blinked. “What a thing to say!”
“Not that story.” Starspot hissed in Angel’s ear after smacking her lightly on her side. She was blushing badly. How could she even remember something like that? She wondered, still blushing profusely.
“Oops.” Angel blushed along with her friend, the blush showing more on her yellow coat.
Conrad stared at the two in disbelief. He wasn’t the brightest pony, but it didn’t take a genius to understand what had happened. “The boys always said that’s what happened at girls’ slumber parties, but I didn’t believe ‘em. Damn.” He began to laugh. Pinkie Pie joined him in the laugh, leaving Angel and Starspot with their heads hung low, trying to dissolve into the floor.
Starspot blushed even deeper. “Shut up, asshole.” She grumbled.
“Not a chance!” Conrad laughed. Starspot growled at him.
“Sorry...” Angel frowned.
“So, just how far did things go?” Conrad asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.
“Too damn far.” Starspot seethed. She wished she knew a dissappearing spell, because at the moment, that was what she wanted more than anything in the world. Pinkie Pie laughed hysterically.
The excitement from the revelation died down after a while and Pinkie Pie and Conrad finally stopped the teasing.
“Oh! I know, I know!” Pinkie Pie grinned, her curly mane bouncing hypnotically. “Let’s tell our stories of how we got our cutie marks!”
“I just did...” Angel spoke softly, looking at the ground. She shifted her saddlebags, revealing a cutie mark of a large smiling rainbow. “My special talent is making ponies happy.” Pinkie Pie stared in disbelief for a few seconds before bursting into raucous laughter.
Starspot placed a hoof on her face, sighing. “I swear to Celestia, I want to kill you right now, Angel.”
“So then... are y’all... y’know, a couple?” Conrad asked awkwardly.
“NO!” Starspot glared at him. “We were kids and it was just some stupid experimenting. I don’t swing that way.”
Angel looked away a bit at the last sentence, her heart sinking. She feigned a laugh. “Yeah, me neither.
Starspot sat back a bit, wanting desperately to change the subject. “Tomorrow we’ll rebury Twilight, then we’re going to stop at Sweet Apple Acres to check for food. There’s bound to be some.” She was happy to have a change of subject.
“Alright, let’s get some shuteye, then.” Conrad stretched out, glad no one asked about his cutie mark. He focused hard, trying to remember what had happened to it.
Pinkie Pie lay on the ground, grinning from ear to ear. She was happy that the voices were starting to disappear. She shuddered a bit as she thought back to what she had done while she was, for lack of a better word, insane. She held the photo album Spike had given her close to her chest, feeling truly happy for the first time in a while.
“Goodnight.” Angel frowned a bit, staring at the ground, her low self-esteem screaming at her. YOU AREN’T GOOD ENOUGH FOR HER! SHE’D JUST LEAVE YOU ANYWAYS! She bit her lip hard, the pain distracting her a bit from her emotional pain. She tasted blood from her lip. NOGOODNOGOODNOGOODNOGOODNOGOOD! The voice screamed in her ear. She had always been attracted to mares, she’d accepted that, but Starspot? She figured she would never see her again after she left for Canterlot, so Angel would always fantasize about the life they could have had, never expecting her to show up on her doorstep. No good. “SHUT UP!” Angel shouted. The three other ponies looked at her curiously.
“Are you okay, Angel?” Starspot asked, placing a hoof on her shoulder.
Angel’s heart lept. “Y-yeah, I just need some night air to clear my head. I”ll be on the balcony.” She pulled away from Starspot, walking out onto the balcony, hanging her head over the railing. “Way to screw it up, Angel.” She sniffed. “Now not only doesn’t she love you, but she hates you for bringing up that bad memory...” A tear fell from her eye, glistening on the tip of her nose.
“Need a tissue?” A calming voice came from behind her.
She turned around to see Starspot standing in the doorway. She held back even more tears. “No.” She sniffed, the tear falling to the wooden balcony, darkening the wood a shade. She rubbed the tear into the woodwork, wanting that dark spot to go back to normal... for everything to go back to normal.
“I know when there’s something wrong with you.” Starspot said gently. “You’re probably the only friend I’ve ever had.”
“That’s really nice, Star, but I would just like to be alone for now... if you don’t mind.” Angel forced a weak smile.
“That’s horse-apples and you know it.” Starspot nuzzled her friend’s cheek. “You can tell me, I’m your best friend.”
Angel’s heart lept to her throat once again. She barely managed to squeak out a small ‘no.’
Starspot closed the door behind her, morphing the wood together so it could not be opened. “Now you can’t leave until you talk.”
“But Star... you don’t understand!” Angel said, tears filling her eyes.
“Then make me understand.” Starspot nuzzled her friend again, not realizing the effect it had on her.
Angel knocked her friend’s muzzle from her coat, turning and staring into her eyes. “I.... I.... I...” She hesitated. “I love you, Starspot.”
Starspot frowned a bit, taking a step back. “That’s what I was afraid of.” She cursed under her breath.
“I... I’m sorry.” Angel frowned.
“No, I’m sorry.” Starspot sighed. “Maybe in another world, things could have worked out, but in this one, I can’t... I don’t...” She hung her head, biting her lip a bit. “I am just not attracted to mares. Not to mention that with all the craziness in the world, this would be the worst time for any kind of relationship.”
“Of course Starspot, it would be selfish of me to expect-”
“I’m not finished.” Starspot told her. “I don’t think that we could ever be together, and I don’t want to give you false hope, but... I don’t regret that night long ago.” She blushed a bit. “And maybe, given some time... I could warm up to the idea... But for now, I think it would be better if we were just friends. Please, Angel, if you won’t do this for me, do it for yourself.”
Angel looked to the ground. “Yes. Starspot, I will wait for you, even if it takes the rest of my life.”
“Hold on.” Starspot said. “It’s not like that. I would like to ask something of you.” Starspot hesitated for a moment. “I would like you to stay here. I don’t think you can handle those things out there, and I won’t see you hurt. At least while we go to Sweet Apple Acres.” She looked to the ground. “I know I am asking a lot of you.”
“I’ll do it.” Angel said. “I’ll stay here, but you have to promise to come back as soon as possible.”
Starspot sighed with relief. “Thank you.” She unsealed the door, walking silently into the large bedroom, then going down the stairs to where Spike was curled up. She hugged the dragon’s tail, a lone tear falling from her eye. “I love you, as well, Angel.” She whispered to herself, the tear descending her cheek and dripping onto the floor. She looked at the spot the tear had fell. The carpet had darkened a shade. She rubbed the tear in, letting the spot disappear into the various fibers. She closed her eyes, thinking. She didn't like mares, she really didn't. She had tried it once in school, and they were all just too emotional. The stallions weren't much better, but they were a damn sight nicer about it. But Angel... Angel was different... She was sweet and a bit naive, but Starspot couldn't help but to be attracted to her. She frowned, her conflicting emotions making her head spin. She held the dragon close, falling asleep.
---===---
Morning came all too soon for Starspot. She yawned, stretching out. She rubbed her eyes to try to speed up the waking process. Her three friends were already down there making preparations for the day. Angel sulked around, somewhat depressed that she would have to spend the day there alone.
“I promise it won’t take long.” Starspot told her wholeheartedly.
“I sure hope not.” Angel frowned a bit.
Starspot put a hoof on her shoulder. “I promise.” She looked into her eyes. “Trust me.”
Conrad couldn’t help but to snicker at this. “Starspot and Angel sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I- Ow!” Starspot had delivered a rather hard kick to his right rear leg.
“What are you, four?” Starspot snapped at him.
“Obviously not. Look at these wrinkles.” Conrad simply smiled at her.
Starspot rolled her eyes. “We should be back in an hour or so. If we take longer, do not come after us.”
Angel smiled innocently at her. “Would I do that?”
Starspot looked away from her. Damn that’s cute. No! No! Keep your head in the game, Starspot! “Yes, you would. Don’t.” She quickly walked out of the door before she could embarrass herself further. She, Pinkie Pie, and Conrad began the short walk to Sweet Apple Acres. After about fifteen minutes of nothing but dead apple trees, they arrived at Sweet Apple Acres. “Let’s check the barn.” Starspot suggested, not that there was much more to check there. The trio opened the door and walked inside. The door shut behind them and a strange purple gas began filling the room. “Oh, shit, it was a trap!” Starspot held her breath, looking for an escape route but it was a losing battle between her and her need for Oxygen. She gasped, breathing in the fumes. She and her friends all passed out.
End of Chapter Three
---===---
Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! The writer of this story let me out of his brain for a while so I could say hi! Hi! Also, he wants me to let you know that because of crazy schedules and a need for partying, new chapters after this will only be posted weekly, on Fridays! I love Fridays, don’t you? You get to do anything! Anyways, be sure to check back on Friday for the next chapter, because I sure as hay am going to be busy with all the cookies I have to make! Why do I have to make them? Because I’m Pinkie Pie, silly! I’ll see ya in chapter four! I hope it stars Pinkie Pie! Wouldn’t that be great? I can’t wait! Byeeeeeeee!
|
ratmage99
|
881
| 4 |
Original Character,Adventure,Comedy,Dark,Romance,Sad,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore
|
Friendship is Dead
|
When zombies begin to invade Equestria, some ponies must find the truth, or else.
|
hiatus
| 20 | 4 |
<p>Zombies, zombies, and more zombies! Zombie sensation is sweeping the nation! Even Equestria isn't immune from these dead hands' clutches! What happens when a young mare with everything to prove and nopony to prove it to must fight to survive? Funny stuff, that's what. Also sad. Yeah, lots of sad. Starspot's always been a loner, but now, she's just plain alone. Join her on her adventure through New Equestria (exactly one hundred thirty-seven years after the events of the show) as she tries to survive, and maybe get to the bottom of the strange phenomenon.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-24T15:08:26+00:00
|
2011-09-24T15:08:26+00:00
| 2,543 |
Author's Note: I wasn't kidding with that title, this chapter is messed up.
“Oh, shit, it was a trap!” Starspot held her breath, but it was a losing battle between her and her need for Oxygen. She and her friends all passed out.
Starspot woke up after what she could only assume was an hour or so. She looked around. She was surrounded by cloaked ponies, most of them seeming to be stallions.
“Yesssss.” The one Starspot assumed to be the leader hissed. “You will make a fine mother to our massster race of poniessss.”
“M-mother?” Starspot’s eyes grew wide as she placed a hoof on her rump, feeling that it was sore. “N-n-no...” She gasped. She felt extremely violated. She gagged, vomit spewing to the floor.
“Yesssss.” The leader narrowed his bright yellow eyes at her. “You should be proud that the world will sssssooon be filled with your sssspawn.”
“You...you...you monster!” Starspot finally managed to choke out. She looked around. “Where are Conrad and Pinkie Pie?!”
“They were.... unnecesssssary.” The leader grinned, his yellow teeth showing. “My.... asssssociatessss are taking care of them. They did not even have anything good on them. Tell me, what issss the ussse of some old bonesssss?”
“Don’t hurt them!” Starspot begged. “Please!”
“We do not harm. If they happen to fall into the manticore den, that isssss the supreme will of Celessssssstia.” The leader lowered his hood to reveal that his ears had been removed, causing his head to have the appearance of a skull with skin stretched over it.
“I-I’ll kill you!” Starspot attempted to stand, only to find her hooves restrained, and she was too sore between the legs to walk anywhere anyways.
“No, you won’t.” The leader glared at her. “You are powerlesssssss.”
The door to the barn burst open, a blur flying around, pony after pony falling at the hooves of the mystery assailant. The blur stopped just in front of Starspot, and she immediately recognized the blue mane of Angel. “Stay... away... from MY MARE!” She screamed, tackling the leader and placing a hoof on each side of his head. She squeezed until she felt the crunch she was looking for. The stallion's eyes popped out of his head, the pressure from his squishing brain pushing them and bits of cerebrum out of the sockets. She stood, panting hard, rage filling her eyes. she looked at the rest of the ponies in the room, the ones that were conscious fleeing immediately. “Are you okay?” Angel took the key to Starspot’s shackles from the leader, undoing them. “Can you stand? What did they do to you?”
Starspot shook her head, tears falling down her face. Conrad and Pinkie Pie walked in.
“The people that had us were saying something about a superpony coming in here and killing their leader, what’s that all about?” Conrad blinked.
“Those jerky lerkies took my bag!” Pinkie Pie said angrily. “Now I don’t have my radio!”
“Or my grandma’s legs.” Conrad muttered a bit.
“I want to go back.” Starspot said tearily. “I just want to go back.”
Angel nodded understandingly. She picked her up, tying her to her back with rope. Angel flew Starspot to the library while Conrad and Pinkie Pie looted.
Starspot cried the entire way there.
Angel frowned. “I’ll run you a bath.” She said as she landed in front of the door.
“No.” Starspot grabbed onto her tight. “I don’t want you to leave.” She sniffled.
Angel nodded. “I’ll let you stay up there until your bath is ready, but then you need a bath.”
“Can’t you stay in the room?” Starspot sniffed.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Angel frowned. “After last night...”
“Please... I don’t want to be alone...” Starspot looked at her with pleading eyes.
Angel looked to the wall, deep in thought. “Okay.” She sighed a bit.
“Thank you.” Starspot shook a bit from her traumatic experience. “You wouldn’t happen to know how make any medicine to stop.... to stop me from......”
Angel frowned. “I’m sorry, but I don't know what you're asking for.”
"Angel, the leader, he... he...
Starspot allowed more tears to fall from her face. “This isn’t fair. Why me? Why me?”
Angel hushed her, taking her to the bathroom and running water. Angel began to sing the song her grandma would always sing when she needed calming.
“Hush now, quiet now,
it’s time to lay your sleepy head.
Hush now, quiet now,
it’s time to go to bed.”
Starspot hugged Angel close, and for the first time since they had been reunited, Angel didn’t get the fluttery feeling in her chest. This time, her chest was filled with pity for Starspot and contempt for the monsters that had done this to the mare she loved. Angel wanted so much to bring that evil pony back to life if only so she could once again kill him. She silently wondered if it was him who had done the deed. She shook her head a bit. No. That doesn’t matter at all.
Starspot buried her face in Angel’s soft mane, wishing she could just disappear in it. I hate doing this to her. She thought. I’m just leading her on. We could never be together in this zombie-infested land. She tried to think of anything but what had just happened to her. Tears flowed down her face as she wondered what she could do. She was violated, she was impure, and nothing could ever change that. Who the hell were those ponies that had attacked her? What were they trying to do? She felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she realized she would have to go back to that barn... the barn where it had happened. For now, though, she just wanted to feel safe, and in Angel’s care, she knew nothing bad would ever happen to her.
Angel reluctantly helped Starspot clean off, trying to avert her eyes most of the time, mostly because she couldn’t stand to see her friend in such immense pain. Starspot was crying silently the whole time. Angel wished and prayed to Celestia that she could just take away all of her friend’s pain. She would take it herself if she needed to, just as long as Starspot didn’t have it. Angel looked at the ground, knowing that her friend was right. As long as Equestria was a land of zombie ponies, they couldn’t possibly ever be together. After what had happened earlier that day, she knew that people in this land would do anything to get by, or would just plain do anything, and she knew that neither of them could think logically while their hearts belonged to each other.
“Star?” Angel spoke softly. “I’m sorry.” She frowned. “Not just for what happened to you. I’m sorry to try to make you into something you aren’t. You aren’t interested in mares, and I can’t change that.”
Starspot shook her head. “We’ll talk later. For now, I just.... I just want..... I don’t know what I want. To turn back time? I wish. What just happened.... that happened. Nothing will ever change that. I may..... I may have a foal forming in me soon.... I’m so scared.” Tears began flowing freely from her face. “I hate them.” She spoke shakily. “I hate stallions. I hate them so much.” She burst into a fit of tears.
“Even Conrad?” Angel asked softly.
Starspot nodded angrily. “I hate all stallions, maybe even all ponies.”
“No, you don’t.” Angel hushed her. “You’re just lashing out. Conrad is your friend.” Angel drained the tub and helped Starspot dry off, eyes averted.
Starspot hugged Angel close. “Thank you for saving me.”
Angel blushed a bit. “I’m sorry I didn’t show up earlier.” She frowned. “If I did..... I could have stopped it... I could-”
“Oh, hush, you silly filly.” Starspot choked back tears. “You did what you could.”
“B-but... it wasn’t enough.” Angel spoke softly and looked at the ground.
“Nothing can change what just happened. I’ve accepted that. I may have a foal forming in me soon, nothing can change that.” Starspot looked at Angel. “And nothing can change that you are in love with me.... or that I am with you.” She added the last part with a hint of sadness.
Angel looked up at Starspot worriedly. “Are you sure you’re okay? You must not be thinking straight.”
“I am.” Starspot frowned. “I love you, but we cannot be together. There is far too much that needs to be done and... and I don’t want you putting yourself in even more danger for me.”
Angel frowned as well. “I was thinking the same thing. I can’t hold you back from saving Equestria.”
“And after this... I don’t think I’m ready for any kind of relationship, and won’t be for a very long time.” Starspot looked to her friend. “Please understand.”
Angel hugged her lightly. “I do. I know that we can’t... we couldn’t survive as a couple out there.”
Starspot frowned a bit. “I’m sorry to do this to you.”
“Don’t be.” Angel frowned. “I’ve waited a long time, a few more years won’t matter.”
Starspot kissed Angel’s cheek. “Thank you. Tomorrow we’re going to head for Cloudsdale after Twilight’s funeral, but we have to be careful, we may have to pass by Manehattan.”
Angel blushed at Starspot’s kiss. “Just like you, Starspot. Even after what happened you always have a plan.”
Starspot smiled, blushing a bit herself. “Like I said, I can’t change what happened. Might as well just do something to distract myself.”
Angel turned away from Starspot so she couldn’t see the blush. “Ummm... you should get some sleep.”
Starspot nodded a bit. She stood shakily, walking slowly to the bedroom with Angel close behind to catch her if she fell. “Nice fighting earlier, by the way.”
“You were in trouble, I had to do something.” Angel blushed a bit.
“It was amazing! I’ve never seen you like that.” Starspot smiled, laying in her usual spot. She pulled a large blanket over herself. “I’m going to sleep now.” She closed her eyes to sleep, but when she did, all she could see were the eyes of that awful leader pony as he stared at her after the deed had been done. She shrieked aloud.
Angel rushed to her side. “Is everything okay?”
“N-no.” Starspot shuddered. “When I closed my eyes... I saw....... him.” She started crying again.
Angel put her hooves around the mare, holding her close. She sang a very calming song to her.
“The bad of the day can never take away,
can’t ever be bad enough,
to make these arms stop their gentle sway,
now darling, darling, be tough.”
Starspot sniffed, burying her face in Angel’s mane. “Please don’t leave.” She whispered. Angel nodded, laying on the ground next to her. She hugged her friend close, continuing the song.
“Stand up, little pony, and we will make it through,
Stand up, little pony, and smile.
Stand up, little pony, and please stop being blue,
And I’ll be by your side for a while.”
Starspot began to snore gently.
Angel wiped away her sleeping friend’s tears, allowing herself to drift off too.
---===---
Angel woke up to a smack to the back of her head. Conrad stood over her, nostrils flaring. “How could you take advantage of her while she was so vulnerable?” He hissed quietly.
“I-I-”
“That’s a nokie dokie.” Pinkie pie whispered angrily.
“It wasn’t like that!” Angel whispered. “She needed my help taking a bath-”
“Oh, here it goes.” Conrad rolled his eyes.
“And after that she needed sleep. She couldn’t close her eyes without seeing the monster that did this to her, so I sang her to sleep.” Angel explained quietly.
“Fine, we’ll talk in the morning.” Conrad grunted.
Pinkie Pie glared at her angrily.
Angel sighed, allowing herself to rest her nose on Starspot’s head. Was that what I was doing? She thought. Was she taking advantage of a pony that was admittedly very troubled? Was she no better than that cult? She shook her head. No. She said she loved me, and besides, it’s not like we had sex. I’m just helping her through a difficult time.
Angel was unable to sleep for the rest of the night.
---===---
Starspot woke up early the next morning. She yawned widely, She snuggled closer to Angel, taking in the familiar and comforting scent of her friend’s mane. “Morning.” She whispered.
“Morning.” Angel said a bit awkwardly. “You feeling better?”
“Loads, thanks to you.” Starspot looked up at her. “You’re a great pony.”
Angel blushed, pulling away from her a bit. “Starspot, please, don’t.”
“Don’t what?” Starspot blinked.
Angel fought back tears. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be. I know that you’re vulnerable and I don’t want to take advantage of you.”
“B-but Angel, you aren’t...” Starspot frowned a bit.
“I think it’d be better if we didn’t use this sleeping arrangement until at least after the zombies are gone.” Angel said with a hint of sadness in her voice.
Staspot nodded a bit, still not fully understanding what had changed Angel’s mind. She pulled away from her, stretching out. “I’m going to go talk to Spike for a bit.” She stood up, walking slowly down the stairs. She tapped Spike on his tail to get his attention. Spike turned to her, yawning. “Hi Spike.” She smiled a bit.
“Hiya Star.” Spike stretched out. “You feeling... better?”
Starspot nodded. “I guess. But... I’m having some... trouble... have you ever been in love?”
“No.” Spike said quickly. “Everything you’ve heard about me having a crush on Rarity is a lie!”
Starspot blinked. “Um... okay. But I’m talking about me... I’m worried that Angel and I might... well, I think we...”
“You don’t need to tell me, I could tell.” Spike smiled at her. “The eyes gave it away the first time you brought her back.”
Starspot blushed a bit. “Well, last night, I couldn’t sleep because of... what had happened, so I had Angel sleep with me. We’ve agreed that we can’t be together until the zombies are gone, so... am I a bad person? Am I just leading her on?”
“I’m not sure.” Spike frowned a bit. “But I think you should probably lay off on the sleeping together if it’s not in your agreement, but... if you two love each other, why not live while you can and just be together?”
“Maybe... maybe...” Starspot thought for a moment. “Spike, are you sure you’re up to what we have to do today?”
“Burying...” He gulped a bit. “Twilight? Yes, she would have wanted me to be there, and... I want to see her...” He shook his head a bit, as if the sadness was simply crumbs he could swipe off and be done with. “Oh! By the way, I know you like magic, so I grabbed a few of Twilight’s old magic books. You can take them with you.” Spike quickly changed the subject.
“Okay. Thank you, Spike, for everything. Especially for making these new bags. They will sure come in handy.” Starspot hugged the dragon’s foreleg.
Starspot waited for the other ponies to make their way down. “Okay, we’re going to do this funeral, then we have to book it. Unfortunately, Pinkie Pie’s bags got taken by those.... those ponies... So we can only have a real funeral for Twilight.” The other ponies agreed silently, no one wanting to talk about the elephant in the room. Starspot sighed a bit. “Okay, we’re going to get this out of the way now. Yes, I was...” She had an issue saying the word. “I was... raped... But we have more important things to deal with. We need to get to Cloudsdale and Canterlot. With how long this has been going on... there may not be any ponies left alive pretty soon, and that includes us. Now let’s get going.” Starspot led them out to Twilight’s grave. “Spike, you knew her best, why don’t you say a few words?”
Spike sniffed a bit. “Yes...” He sighed a bit. “Twilight was... a hero. She saved all of Equestria from eternal night after Nightmare Moon attacked. She was brave, she never backed down when she knew her friends were in need. She had so much l-” Spike choked back tears. “She had so much love to give to her friends. I was proud to be her assistant, and I am proud to have... to have known her for as long as I did. I know she probably can’t hear me at all, but... Twilight, I want you to know, that I am going to miss you every day, and I wouldn’t want to spend my life any differently than by being your assistant... and your friend. You will never be forgotten. I still remember how jealous I got of Owlowisious when he first came, and you taught me that you could love both of us... I’ll never understand why you’re gone, but I can only hope that whatever happens when you die is better than what is going on down here. Don’t worry about your great granddaughter. She’s a wonderful girl that’s stronger than any pony I’ve seen since... since the last time I saw you. And she’s taking after you, Twilight! She has such great friends, and a great mate, just what you always wanted for her! You would be so very proud of her...” Spike coughed a bit, his tears choking him. “I’ll never let Equestria forget you, I promise!” Spike sniffled, digging a hole where the ground was disturbed. He gasped a bit at the sight of her coffin. Starspot opened the coffin, floating the skull to the coffin. She set it in gently as Angel began to sing a beautiful ballad. Spike was crying heavily. Starspot put a hoof on the dragon’s leg, a long moment of near silence following. The only sound that could be heard was the soft sound of Angel’s voice. Starspot was about to close the coffin when she noticed a note sticking out of it. She lifted the note out, reading it aloud.
“Dear Spike,
If you are reading this, that means that I am dead and you slept through my passing. I left this note to tell you not to blame yourself. I know that you already are, but I’ve known that I was close to death for a long time. Ponies just don’t live as long as dragons do, and even my magic can’t stop the flow of time. I chose not to tell you because I couldn’t bear to see the look on your face. You were always so cute while you were sleeping, like a child.” A few tears had stained the paper here. “And that is what you were. You were my child, but more than that, Spike, you were my companion. I cannot thank you enough for the help raising Sunshine after my mate’s passing. I know you loved him as much as I did. Do not worry, I have someone to take care of matters around the library after I am gone. I have left you a large sum of gems stashed away in Rarity’s shop, I know they’re your favorite food. I’m afraid I must cut this note short here, for I fear my time has come. Goodbye, my number one assistant.
Love, Twilight Sparkle.”
Spike sniffed. “She was so kind.” He said softly.
Starspot patted his leg. “Spike, we’re going to go. You take as much time as you need... I’m going to miss you... I promise to visit once we fix this thing.”
“You will always have a home in Ponyville.” Spike turned to her, his eyes red. “Any time you come here, you will be treated like a princess.”
“Thank you.” Starspot told him, walking away to leave him with Twilight’s note. The sound of the dragon’s cries followed them hauntingly to the outskirts of town. The four began the long, arduous walk towards Cloudsdale, without really knowing what they’d even do when they arrived. They walked for what seemed like hours on a dirt road that seemed to go nowhere. Starspot squinted, spotting a city in the distance. “Okay, we’re nearing Manehattan.” She said. “Everyone be on your guard. This place is likely to be crawling with zombies.”
The four ponies crept closer to the city. A loud scream made them all jump. A lone colt stood in the center of a group of nearly forty zombies.
“We have to help him!” Starspot gasped. “Angel, you fly over the zombies and pick that little guy up to take him to safety. Everyone else, charge!” Starspot began running towards the large group of zombies. Her horn flashed as many of the zombies heads exploded. She ran at the nearest zombie, kicking it hard in the head, hearing a satisfying crunch. About this time, Conrad reached the large group as well. He kicked a zombie hard in the chest to ground it. He aimed for the head and kicked, but his aim was a bit off. He ended up kicking his hoof directly into the ground. The zombie took the opportunity to lean forward and take a large bite out of Conrad’s leg. Conrad screamed as blood gushed from the severed vein.
“Conrad!” Starspot screamed, smashing the zombie’s head with her hoof. The zombie’s mouth released, the chunk of meat it had taken out of Conrad lay on the ground, still attached to him by a few strands of muscle fiber. Angel had reached the colt at this point and landed near it. “Don’t worry, I’m here to help.” She reached out and touched the foal, and suddenly, all of the ponies, zombie and regular, froze. They could do nothing to move their paralyzed bodies at all. A low buzz emanated from the foal.
A voice came from the strange colt. “Welcome to Manehattan, welcome to the facility of Equus Industries.” Suddenly the filly’s buzzing rose in pitch, then everything went black for the ponies.
---===---
Hi! It's me again, Pinkie Pie! I'm here to ask Ratmage99 what the hell is wrong with him! These are cute little ponies, for goodness sakes! Shame on him. Anyways, maybe next week he will fix everything and make things okey dokie and everypony will live happily ever after! Maybe...
|
Shadowmane
|
882
| 1 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Main 6,Original Character,Spike,Trixie,Human,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
An American Dude in Equestria
|
This is the tale of how some schmuck from California found himself in Equestria.
|
complete
| 208 | 21 |
<p>A botched spell brings a human into the land of ponies. Could this possibly lead to offbeat hijinks? Read on to find out.</p><br/><br/><p>Note that this story and all subsequent parts takes place between the first and second seasons of the show.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-17T02:13:04+00:00
|
2011-09-17T02:13:04+00:00
| 14,613 |
Even though they didn't know it yet, the inhabitants of Equestria needed a hero. Soon an attack from a dark and dangerous enemy would strike the land and they needed someone to stop it. They needed someone to defend them from utter destruction. They needed a guardian. They needed a champion. They needed a savior.
Unfortunately, all the help that they got was some random douchebag from California. I was that bag of douche, and this is my tale.
My name is Jesse, and I am a brony. I'm a furry too, but that's not really important in this story. I'm really just an average nineteen-year-old guy who happened to discover My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and in a not-so-average way found himself thrown directly into the world of ponies.
Perhaps it would be best to share a little about myself before I go into that: I had no job, no money, and I still lived with my parents in a small rural town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. By “rural,” I mean that the entire county has only one small city (if you were very generous with how you used that word), and we didn't live in it. All of which meant that finding any kind of steady entry-level job was difficult even when the economy wasn't in the shitter, and I never felt like I was making any kind of meaningful contribution to my family or community.
I always got good grades in school and had been in only a single fight (if throwing the only punch even counts). I enjoyed learning new things even when I wasn't in school, especially the useless little footnotes that somehow never made it into the books—for some reason, my biology classes never mentioned how all flatworms have two penises in their mouths and mate by stabbing each other with them. (Seriously, who made the decision to leave that vital information out?)
My few friends all lived in other towns, and I never saw any of them except for a few brief moments between classes at the only nearby community college. Since it was still summer break, I usually divided my time between browsing the internet, writing my fantasy novel (four years of on-again off-again work, and it still wasn't close to being even halfway done), playing my guitar, or drawing—I wasn't all that good at either of those last two things, but they did keep me entertained for a few hours. I didn't go outside more because there was nowhere to go and nothing to do without driving to the next county and, since I wasn't providing my own income, I refused to do that and force my parents to foot the bill for gas. Long story short: I had no social life or healthy relationships.
That's enough info for now, so I'll get on with my story now. The whole “Saving the World” bit doesn't happen for a while, so get comfortable while I start from the beginning.
I can still remember the exact moment that my life changed—I was just sitting on my bed with my laptop and had two internet tabs open. The first was playing music from YouTube in my favorite eighties rock and metal playlist. I know that there are other websites dedicated to doing just that, but for some reason I've never gotten around to using any of them. The second tab was an article called “8 Classic Movies That Got Away With Gaping Plot Holes,” and I was just about to find out what put The Empire Strikes Back at the number one spot (while Rob Halford assured me for the seventeenth time that he was breaking the law), when a sudden flash of white light blinded me and the music stopped with a fuzzy pop.
Before I could even register the fact that my computer—my entire room, in fact—was gone, the light faded and I slammed headfirst into a hard wooden floor.
“Ow! Son of a bitch!” I muttered in pain as I grabbed the top of my head. There was a startled gasp behind me, and I turned to see who it was. I probably don't need to say that I was surprised by what I saw.
Staring back at me with equal parts interest and horror was a purple unicorn. Her eyes were wide as she looked me over, taking in every detail from my tattered black t-shirt to the square glasses that I wore on my nose. She had a single hoof raised, but I couldn't tell if she wanted to step closer or run away in terror.
Another purple face appeared from behind her back legs and gazed at me with open fear. “Twilight,” the tiny dragon muttered uncertainly. “What is that thing?”
“I'm not sure,” she whispered back, never taking her eyes off me.
I was still trying to figure out just what the hell had happened. I wanted to say something, introduce myself, and learn why I was suddenly in a strange room with two characters from a cartoon. Was I having a hallucination? Had I somehow fallen asleep at my computer and was this a dream? Was I slowly dying from a poisonous gas leak while all of this was going on?
“Excuse me,” Twilight said timidly as she took a few strides towards me, stepping over the books that were scattered haphazardly all over the floor. I noticed that she was quite a bit smaller than a regular horse; the tip of her horn was at about the same level as my collarbone after I stood up.
“Yes?” I replied, which seemed to surprise her.
“You...I'm really sorry, but just who are you? What are you?”
“My...my name's Jesse. I-I'm a human.” It felt really weird to have to say that.
A small smile broke out at the corner of Twilight's mouth. “Well, it's nice to meet you, Jesse. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and this is my assistant Spike.” With that, she dragged the little dragon forward by the tail.
“Uh...hi,” Spike murmured before once again stepping behind Twilight. Twilight rolled her eyes before staring at me again.
Several seconds of silence passed as she silently took in every minute aspect of my appearance for the dozenth time. I cleared my throat uncomfortably and asked the most pressing question that was on my mind: “Would it be possible for you to tell me how I got here?”
Twilight dropped her eyes for a moment and gave a nervous chuckle. “Well, I guess it's my fault,” she said. “You see, I've been working on a new spell that's supposed to duplicate whatever item I want, but my concentration must've slipped when a certain dragon”—she narrowed her eyes at Spike—“tried to throw a book onto a shelf instead of using the ladder like he's supposed to.” She stopped and looked around quickly. “Spike, did you see where that apple went to?”
“No,” Spike muttered, still trying to hide from me.
“That might explain it,” Twilight sighed and her horn began to glow as she levitated a small blue book and flipped quickly through its pages. “I may have accidentally turned the duplication spell into a switching spell. They're more similar than you'd think. I can fix this, though.” She stopped moving the book's pages and grinned in triumph as she found the passage that she was searching for. “Aha! I should be able to put you back and we can forget that this ever happened. No hard feelings, right? Now, where in Equestria did you come from?”
“Uh, I'm actually not from Equestria,” I replied.
I swear that I could feel my heart literally sink about a foot and a half as the smile slid off Twilight's face. She frantically turned more pages in the still-floating book, then made three more levitate and flicked through them all simultaneously, her eyes a blur as she frantically absorbed the words at superhuman (superpony?) speed.
“No, no, no!” The four books dropped with to the floor with muted thumps. Twilight stared straight ahead and said nothing for about five or six seconds, then blinked a few times and let out another of her nervous laughs. “This is bad,” she said slowly.
“What's bad?” I asked even though I thought that I might already know the answer.
“These spells can only send you to someplace in Equestria,” she said as she picked up one of the fallen books and flipped through it again as if she might have missed something before dropping it once more in defeat. “If I try to send you somewhere else, I can't guarantee that it will work right. You could end up stuck inside the moon or in the middle of a desert or...or something.” Small beads of sweat broke out on her forehead and her lip quivered slightly. “I'm sorry, but I guess I can't fix this after all.”
As those last words sank in, I began to panic. I won't be able to go back? But I have to...to....
Wait, what do I have to do? I felt my eyebrows migrate towards the top of my head as I considered the situation further. I wasn't really needed on Earth, was I? This might not be so bad after all. I would have had to move out eventually, maybe this is just another way to do it. My family can manage without me, and it's not like I'm leaving a bunch of friends behind. Maybe a new start is just what I need.
“Are you alright?” Twilight asked, breaking my train of thought with her shaking voice.
“Huh?”
“You're just standing there with your mouth hanging open like an idiot,” Spike helpfully pointed out. He seemed to have gotten over his shock at my appearance.
“Spike...” Twilight warned as she forcefully dug her hoof into the end of his tail and bit her lip, still watching me intently.
“Sorry, I was just thinking,” I explained, careful to close my mouth afterward. “Well, if I'm going to be stuck here, I guess I'll just have to make the best of it.”
Twilight's expression cleared up and she seemed to relax slightly—she must have been afraid that I would get angry and attack her. “I'm honestly sorry about bringing you here, Jesse...”
“Don't worry about it,” I smiled slightly to reassure her. “I wasn't really happy on Earth, actually, and this might actually work out better for me. Maybe I can be useful here.”
If it seems like I got over my shock and resigned myself to my fate really fast, it's because I did. There are some things in life that you just can't fight, and others that you really don't want to.
* * * * *
“...Basically, it was their way of telling the king to back off and let them become their own country, but the Brits weren't having any of that. The war went on for about seven more years,” I paused to catch my breath and let Twilight put more ink in her quill. She had already filled out dozens of pages with notes and showed no sign of slowing down. Meanwhile, Spike was sitting on a pile of books, listening intently with his mouth hanging slightly open.
It was only after finding out that her plan to send me home wouldn't work that Twilight realized the potential for interesting new things that I could tell her. She started asking lots of questions about Earth and humans, greedily mining my brain for information. The unicorn seemed to be absolutely fascinated with me and where I'd come from, so I had spent the last hour telling everything that I remembered. I decided to start with American history, including Columbus' journey, the landing at Plymouth Rock, the French and Indian War, and then the Revolution. I was pretty sure that I'd left out some important details and gotten a few things wrong, but I just gave a mental shrug and continued with the story.
By the time that I recounted some of the more significant battles and reached the siege of Sporktown (that sounded about right, anyway), it was well past noon and my voice was getting raspy. It had been years since I'd talked so much in a single session, and my throat felt like it had torn itself open somewhere around my Adam's apple.
As I stifled a yawn, my stomach growled loud enough for Twilight to notice. “Oh my goodness,” she exclaimed before setting the quill down and standing up. “You must be starving. Please, allow me to buy you lunch. Do you like apples?”
“Yeah, that sounds good.” The sudden offer of food made me realize just how hungry I was. I was actually craving a hamburger, but a moment's thought told me that that was probably not an option when I was surrounded by vegetarians. Hell, I might not get any meat from now on, I thought sadly. Well, we all have to make sacrifices.
Twilight had already opened the front door and was walking out. “Spike, I'll need you to stay here and organize my notes after the ink dries. We'll bring you back a couple of pies. Also, see about getting a bed for our guest while we're gone.”
“You want me to stay here?” I asked in surprise as Spike grumbled under his breath. I hadn't given a thought to where I would be during the night. “I don't want to intrude...”
Twilight giggled. “I'm the one who made you swap places with an piece of fruit and dragged you into Equestira, and you're the one who's worried about intruding? You sound just like Fluttershy. Maybe I can introduce you to her later. Anyway, you should stay with me, at least for the time being. Now come on, let's get going to Sweet Apple Acres.”
With a shrug, I headed to the door, only to stop at the threshold. It suddenly dawned on me that my shoes were still next to my bed on Earth. With a grimace I stripped off my socks, folded them, and put them in my pocket before stepping out the door barefoot. Like a hobbit, I said to myself. Or a hippy. No, definitely a hobbit.
There were several ponies milling about the town and a few pegasi lounging in the fluffy clouds or on the thatched roofs of the houses, and within seconds every one of them was staring at me. Conversations stopped and foals paused in their games to get a look at the freak who'd just stepped out of the library. Each pair of eyes curiously and suspiciously tracked my every move as I followed Twilight, and as we headed away from the hollow tree towards the edge of town even more eyes peered at my distinctly non-equine body.
As we passed by the onlookers, Twilight pointed out several buildings and landmarks, many of which I recognized from the show. There was the Town Hall, Rarity's boutique, Sugar Cube Corner, that restaurant that she had tried to eat at in the third episode, and a few others. I had a brief mental debate about whether to tell her about the cartoon or not while she pointed out the shop that sold only quills and sofas, but it occurred to me that letting on how much I already knew might be a bad idea. Would she and the other ponies accuse me of spying on them? Would they be curious or angry about how I'd seen them already? Would they even believe me at all? After a little internal deliberation, I decided that, at least for the moment, I would play dumb and let them teach me everything a second time. Perhaps I'll even learn some things that didn't make it to the show, I told myself.
Soon, the buildings had all been left behind and we were able to see a large, sprawling apple orchard that covered the rolling hills outside of Ponyville. Most of the spectators stayed within the border of the town, though I saw a few pegasus ponies trying to hide in the clouds.
“This is where my friend Applejack lives,” Twilight was saying. “Her family's worked here for generations, and they grow the best apples in all of Equestria. They provide the food for all kinds of special occasions.”
“You don't say,” I muttered distractedly. Those pegasi were still trying to spy on us, which really bothered me. Did they think that I might be a threat? Or were they just curious?
“There she is. Hi, Applejack!” Twilight called out to an orange pony with a long blonde mane who was struggling to pull a cart that was overflowing with red, yellow, and green fruit into the large barn. I randomly noticed that the apples that were still on the trees were all red and couldn't help but wonder where the non-red apples had come from.
Applejack twisted her head around and tilted her hat back so that she could see where the noise was coming from. “Oh, hi Twi...” her voice trailed off as she noticed me. Her green eyes grew so wide that they could have popped right out of their sockets and rolled away.
Applejack shook her head quickly and put on a nervous smile. “Uh, hey there, stranger. Jus' who might you be?”
I gave a smile of my own. “My name's Jesse, and I'm a human from Earth.” It still felt weird to point that out.
Applejack's smile faded somewhat. “Human? Earth? Ain't never heard o' either o' those things before.”
“I can explain everything,” Twilight broke in. “But first, I was hoping that we could buy lunch and eat somewhere without everypony staring at us.”
“Sure thing. Jus' let me take this here load up top an' we'll break out ever'thin' we got.” With a huff, she began to pull at the cart once more into the barn. The wheels stubbornly resisted the force, turning with creaking, agonizing slowness.
I looked up and saw the wide open upper loft. A mental lightbulb suddenly flicked itself on. If my history classes had already helped Twilight, maybe I could make my science classes do the same for Applejack.
“Hang on a second,” I said.
“Huh?” Applejack froze a few inches from where she'd started.
“If you have a few spare pulleys and some rope, we could lift the cart up there with a lot less effort.”
“Ya think so?” She perked up with interest.
“He's smart,” Twilight spoke up. “He was telling me earlier about where he's from, and they've done all kinds of interesting things. I want to see where he's going with this.” She was beaming with excitement.
“Well...” Applejack seemed to be struggling between her pride in finishing her work and learning what I had in mind. “Ah sure would 'preciate whatever help ya can offer. 'Bout how much rope do ya need?”
About ten minutes later, I had my system set up. It consisted of three pulleys hanging from the loft entrance and three more attached to the cart itself with the rope running along their undersides. The thick rope snaked its way through the air as it alternated between the cart-fixed pulleys and the ones in the loft before ending in a loose bit at ground level. A few knots that I somehow remembered from my days as a Boy Scout completed the affair. It was a fairly crude setup, but simple enough.
I picked up the loose end of the rope. “Now I just have to pull this, and it'll feel like it's only about a sixth of it's weight.”
“Really?” both ponies gasped at the same time.
“Really. As long as nothing breaks and the rope doesn't get stuck, it'll be that much easier to move.” With that, I knotted a loop for a handle in the end of the rope, dug my feet into the dusty ground, and pulled with a grunt. The cart was still pretty heavy, but in less than a minute I had it swaying in the air just outside the barn's upper level. Twilight helpfully used her magic to push the cart sideways into the loft, and it took only seconds to disconnect the pulleys.
“Well Ah'll be,” Applejack shook her head in amazement. “It don' even look like ya broke a sweat doin' it like that. This here contraption thingy's gotta be worth a week's worth o' food, at least.”
“I'll settle for just one meal,” I said as my stomach growled again.
That one meal turned out to consist of a table piled high with all kinds of apple-related dishes set out underneath a few large apple trees. There were pies, fritters, bumpkins, cakes, dumplings, turnovers, and a bunch of things that I couldn't name. I was forcefully reminded of the very first episode of the cartoon, except that it was just me, Twilight, and Applejack who had to eat it all. The rest of the Apple family either weren't around or were keeping out of sight.
As I was taking a bite out of a fritter (still warm from the oven), a whoosh of air blew my hair into my eyes and the tree branch that was directly over my head creaked and cracked. A small flurry of leaves and broken twigs fell through the air. Twilight paused in the middle of her story about how I had arrived to stare at the disturbance over my head.
“Hey, Twilight,” a boyish voice rang out from above. “What's this I've been hearing about you wandering through town with a new friend?”
I tilted my head back to see a sky-blue pegasus pony lounging on the tree branch with her ass right in my face. Her mane and tail each had several stripes of colors, and some of the longer strands of hair were trying to make their way up my nose. Apparently she hadn't spotted me before landing.
Applejack and Twilight glanced at each other before returning their gaze to the newcomer. “Well, Rainbow Dash,” Applejack said as she tried semi-successfully to keep a straight face, “If ya hang around fer a spell, ya might get ta meet the fella.”
“Yeah,” Twilight added. “I bet you'd like to get to know him.”
“Well, where is this guy? Snowbank wouldn't stop talking about how weird he looks.” Rainbow Dash glanced to her left, right, and even searched the sky for a moment—she looked everywhere but down and behind herself.
“Well that's...uh, what exactly did Snowbank say makes him so odd?” Twilight cringed and bit her lip immediately after saying that, and I could easily imagine her mentally berating herself for asking.
Rainbow seemed too preoccupied with casually rubbing a hoof against her chest to notice. “Oh, nothing really. Except that he walks on two legs, doesn't have a tail, and has fingers like Spike, but more of them and they're really long. I mean, what isn't weird about all that? I've also heard that he's skinnier than...what's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?” Rainbow's tail was waving slowly back and forth, which made it difficult to see how the other ponies reacted to this. If I'd had a clear view, I probably would have seen expressions of absolute horror on their faces.
I cleared my throat softly, wondering what she would do. For a moment, the only reaction was that every hair along the pegasus' spine bristled and her tail stopped moving. Then she slowly turned her head around to see me.
Rainbow's piercing pink eyes met my brown ones for maybe half a second before she disappeared in a violent cascade of leaves as she launched herself into the air with a high-pitched screech of panic that would have made a banshee cover its ears. She made a beeline for the nearest cloud and shoved herself inside it. She was almost too fast to follow, but we could tell which cloud it was by the sudden appearance of three other pegasus ponies that she knocked right out of it.
It took several minutes of yelling to convince Rainbow that I wasn't going to beat her to death with her own skull for what she'd said. Eventually she calmed down enough to land again and help eat the remaining food, though when she spoke she seemed to choose each word with extreme care and kept giving me brief glances that were equal parts scared and embarrassed.
After a fairly lengthy but pleasant conversation and another explanation about how I had ended up in Ponyville in the first place, Applejack and Rainbow both excused themselves to get back to work. Rainbow seemed both eager and hesitant to leave, and made a promise that she would let me watch her fly around the next day. I personally thought that this was a bit haughty, but decided to agree anyway.
To be continued...
|
Shadowmane
|
882
| 2 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Main 6,Original Character,Spike,Trixie,Human,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
An American Dude in Equestria
|
This is the tale of how some schmuck from California found himself in Equestria.
|
complete
| 208 | 21 |
<p>A botched spell brings a human into the land of ponies. Could this possibly lead to offbeat hijinks? Read on to find out.</p><br/><br/><p>Note that this story and all subsequent parts takes place between the first and second seasons of the show.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-18T00:46:04+00:00
|
2011-09-18T00:46:04+00:00
| 10,529 |
“Be not afraid of greatness, but rather increase your coolness by a full fifth.” — William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, II, v.
Continued from part one...
Rather than heading back to the library, Twilight took a different street into town. “Where are we going now?” I asked as the curious ponies began to pop out and stare at me again. There were more of them than before, and just feeling their gazes made my skin itch.
“If we hurry to the spa, we can meet up with two more of my friends before they leave.” Twilight kept trotting along as if the onlookers didn't exist. Was it even possible that she wasn't seeing them? Or was she just choosing to ignore them all?
The spa in question was a big white building with a purple roof. The hanging wooden sign had a white mare with a flowing golden mane next to some flowers and a horseshoe. Before we'd even reached the front door, it opened and two ponies stepped out.
The first was a majestic white unicorn with a curly purple tail and mane. Every strand of hair was arranged perfectly in elegant swirls and her long eyelashes glinted black in the sunlight. Despite her obviously well-groomed appearance, graceful stride, and the distinguished way she proudly held her head up, her most beautiful feature was her eyes. Her bight azure eyes were soft and soothing, and there was a spark of life in them that was both familiar and alien at once. I usually just groan and roll my eyes whenever a book describes a particularly beautiful woman (or handsome man when it has a female lead character) with bullshit like this, but that's what went through my head at that particular moment.
Behind Rarity (I already knew all their names, so why don't I just start saying who they are when they show up from now on? It's not like it's some kind of important secret.) came Fluttershy, who was slowly and nervously making her way outside. Every one of her footsteps was carefully made, as if the ground might crack open if she put any kind of force on it. Her mane and tail seemed to weightlessly hang in the air; their wispy curls looked far too delicate to risk contact with anything. Her wings looked just as fragile and she kept them bent tight against her body.
Rarity was telling the yellow pegasus something about the latest important dress that she was making for a distinguished mare from Canterlot when they noticed me. Rarity's eyes went wide (that seemed to be a common response), her mouth hung open in surprise (also common), and she abruptly tripped over her own hoof and sprawled in the dirt (less common).
The unicorn quickly stood up again, muttered in disgust at her slightly-dirty state, and frantically made her horn glow with a faint blue light. A sudden magical breeze blew the dust off of her coat and right into Fluttershy's face, which caused her to have a brief sneezing fit. Each sneeze was a tiny squeak that was barely audible.
Her coat once again spotless and white, Rarity put on a big smile and strode forward toward me and Twilight while Fluttershy tried to hide behind a nearby bush that was about half her size. “So, everything that Aloe and Lotus heard was true,” Rarity's airy Mid-Atlantic accent rang out. “Although I must say that you look far more dashing than their tale led me to believe.”
I took a quick look at myself. My t-shirt had a few ragged holes in the sleeves, my pants were fairly worn out and faded, and my bare feet were covered in dirt. “I appreciate the compliment, but I think 'dashing' might be too strong of a word,” I said. I look like a hobo, for Christ's sake, my mind added.
Rarity giggled just a bit too much at that. “Perhaps, but it seems that you do have manners, and that counts for something. And speaking of manners, where are mine?” She brought a forehoof dramatically to her chest and batted her eyelashes. “I am Rarity, Ponyville's premier seamstress and dressmaker.”
“My name's Jesse, and I...well, I'm not entirely sure what I'll be doing from now on. But it's nice to meet you.”
“The pleasure is mine, and Fluttershy's too, I'm sure.” Rarity's horn glowed again and the bush was shunted aside, revealing the other half of the terrified pegasus, who squeaked and pressed herself against the ground in a trembling heap. Her eyes were also blue, and they glistened with doe-like moisture as she peered at me over her hooves.
I knew that I had to do something to stop her from panicking before she ran away. “Hi, there,” I said in the friendliest voice that I could manage and gave a little wave.
Fluttershy squeaked again and somehow compressed herself into an even smaller size. So much for that idea, I thought.
“Come on, Fluttershy,” Twilight trotted up and prodded her into a standing position. “Aren't you going to introduce yourself?”
“Ummm...hi...I'm...I'm Fluttershy...” her voice trailed off uncertainly to another squeak and she gave me an apologetic look before dropping her gaze back to the ground. I'm usually not a big fan of cute things, but she was just fucking adorable. And kind of pathetic.
“You simply must excuse her, Jesse,” Rarity spoke again. “She's very timid around strangers.”
“I understand,” I assured them.
“Maybe we should finish up the introductions somewhere a little more private,” Twilight inclined her head in the general direction of a few of the spectating ponies who were still watching us. Most of them weren't even trying to be subtle about it and were either standing or floating in plain sight. Am I going to have to deal with this whenever I go outside? I asked myself.
In a few minutes—during which Twilight yet again described how her spell had gone wrong and brought me here—the four of us were outside the library tree again. We quickly ducked inside to leave the spying ponies behind and shut the door.
The inside of the library was completely dark, which was strange because there was still an hour or so of daylight left. Before any of us could comment on this or open a window, the lights all came on at once and a blizzard of multicolored confetti shot out from all directions. The entire main room was decked out with balloons, streamers, and a banner that said “Welcome, New Pony!" with the last word crossed out and "Whatever You Are!” clumsily written underneath.
“SURPRIIIIIISE!!!” shouted a maniacally smiling Pinkie Pie, who grabbed me roughly by the neck and shoved me across the room to a table that was dominated by an enormous cake and bowls of colorful candy. I grunted as the corner of the table dug into my spleen.
Pinkie didn't seem to notice my pain. Instead, she was bouncing around and talking really fast. “Were you surprised? Were you? Were you? I bet you were everypony's always surprised when I throw a surprrise party. I always throw a surprise party when there's a new pony in town. You're not really a pony but I bet you were still surprised. Do you like it? Do you? I had to change the banner a bit but you don't mind do you? You look really weird did you know that? Have some cake before it's gone and try the punch—”
“Pinkie!” Twilight shouted as the hyperactive pony tried to shove a glass of fruit punch down my throat. The rest of the ponies—Applejack and Rainbow Dash were already there for some reason—and Spike were all staring at her in shock.
“Yes?” Pinkie turned to beam at Twilight and let go of me. My knees gave out from the unexpected release and I slumped to the floor.
“I...you...what are you...” Twilight sputtered, utterly perplexed at her friend's behavior. Pinkie still had that absent-minded smile stretched across her face, completely unfazed by her friend's objection.
Rarity stepped forward and stared hard at Pinkie. “I believe what Twilight is trying to say is that this is not at all how you should treat a guest. Haven't you ever heard of personal space?”
“You okay there, sugar cube?” Applejack asked me, a note of concern coloring her voice.
“Yeah,” I stood up and rubbed at where the table had stabbed me. “I'm fine, and you did surprise me.”
Pinkie giggled and bounced up and down a few times. “I just knew that you'd like it,” she said at a much more reasonable speed than before. “Everypony loves my surprise parties!”
Before anypony could say anything to that, my vision was suddenly obstructed by something wet and pink that slammed into my head and clamped down on my face.
My first thought: Kinky.
My second thought, which I also calmly and collectedly said aloud: “JESUS CHRIST GET IT OFF! GET THIS FUCKING THING OFF ME! I'VE SEEN THIS MOVIE AND I DON'T WANNA DIE LIKE THIS!”
I frantically and blindly pulled at my attacker, and after a few moments of struggling it slipped right off. I gasped for breath and glared at the creature in my hand. Instead of the spidery facehugger from Aliens that I had been expecting, it was a bright green alligator that smiled toothlessly and snipped playfully at the air.
“Aww, Gummy likes you,” Pinkie crooned as she picked her pet out of my grip and cradled him in her hooves. Gummy responded by gnawing the hell out of her ear. The others exchanged glances while I wiped the saliva off my face.
After that excitement, the rest of the party was fun but fairly uneventful. There was food (Pinkie Pie covered everything that she ate with hot sauce), music from an old record player (Rainbow Dash tried to show off her breakdancing skillz, but gave up after a headspin sent her crashing right into a bookcase), games (Fluttershy managed to win every time at Pin the Tail on the Pony), and plenty of time to talk.
I surprised myself by opening up and telling stories about my life on Earth, which they were very eager to hear. They especially liked hearing how I had been left behind during a third grade field trip and stranded at a zoo almost a hundred miles away from home for several hours (true story). Spike laughed the loudest and subtly mentioned to Rarity that he would certainly keep his head and not be scared at all if the same thing were to happen to him.
At last, the party ended and the five non-Twilight ponies left to go home. The sun had been down for almost three hours and the moon and the stars were shining brightly in the inky sky. Spike was snoring in the empty punch bowl, and with a quick spell Twilight gathered all of the party decorations and scattered confetti into a pile in the corner.
Twilight sighed happily and yawned. “Pinkie always throws the best parties, but they do tend to wear a pony out. Why don't you head upstairs and get some sleep? I'll be up after I write a quick letter to Princess Celestia. I'm sure that she'll be very interested to hear all about you.”
“Sounds good to me,” I replied tiredly. Despite all the sugary food, my eyelids were beginning to feel pretty heavy.
I stepped up the stairs to the library's second level. Just enough moonlight was streaming through the windows to illuminate the extra bookcases that lined the walls. I wouldn't have noticed the large brown horned owl that was settled on a wooden perch if he hadn't spun his head around to look at me.
“Who?” the bird called.
“Me,” I replied simply. What was his name again? Owlolishious? Owlicious? Something like that. Whenever his name was mentioned in that particular episode, I imagined him being toasted to a crispy golden brown and eaten by a beer-bellied redneck who shouts “Dayum, this sure is one owlicious thang!” Yeah, my head's not always filled with happy thoughts.
“Who,” the owl turned his head back around dismissively.
Before I got into the bed that Spike had set up for me—How did he even manage to get it here? I asked myself—I took a short detour and stepped out onto the balcony. The night air was crisp and clear with a gentle breeze that made the tree's leaves rustle softly. I looked around, but if there were any more ponies trying to get a look at me, they had figured out how to hide themselves and were doing a damn good job of it.
I yawned and gazed at the stars. Rainbow Dash had managed to clear the clouds from the sky at some point, so I could see Orion, the Big and Little Dippers, and what looked like part of Sagittarius near the horizon. It's kinda odd that they have the exact same constellations that we do on Earth, I mused, half asleep. What are the odds of that? Is this a different planet or another dimension altogether?
“Enjoying the night?” I sat bolt upright at the soft, unfamiliar voice and whipped my head around to see where it had come from, my fatigue completely forgotten for the moment. When I saw who was sitting on the balcony's railing, my heart decided that it wanted to commit suicide and tried to force its way out through my throat.
The speaker was slightly bigger than the other ponies had been, and she had both a horn and wings. Her coat was a dark purple color with a darker spot on her haunches, and her mane was a light blue that shone brightly in the moonlight. A black tiara and chestpiece also caught the light with glossy reflections, as did the polished silver shoes that capped her hooves. Her teal eyes were full of curiosity and her lips were perked up in a playful smile.
Even through my shock, I knew that I should answer her question. I quickly swallowed and composed myself. “Yes, I am. You must be Princess Luna.”
Luna's smile grew. “And you must be the human that my sister's letter mentioned. Jestin, is it?”
“Jesse,” I corrected. That's a fast response to a note.
“Well, Jesse, I hope that you will forgive me for startling you. I'm sure that you've had your fill of questions and onlookers today, but the note that Tia received spoke most highly of you and I must admit that I allowed my curiosity to get the better of me.” Her smile became more apologetic. “I suppose it's not much of an excuse, but I wished to take the opportunity to make your acquaintance and welcome you to Equestria.”
“Well, uh, thank you. It's a very nice place.” I was tired again and couldn't think of what else to say.
The Princess leaned forward slightly. “So what brings you to our land anyway? We've never had a visitor from this 'Earth' place before, and the letter didn't say anything.”
“Well, to tell the truth, I'm here by complete accident. You see, Twilight Sparkle made a mistake when she was practicing a new spell, and it brought me here. Not that I'm complaining, mind you,” I amended myself quickly.
She cocked her head to the side. “Well, I hope that you find things here to your liking. I'll be sure take special care when making the night for as long as you are here.”
That was a little unexpected. “Well, it's absolutely beautiful already. I've always liked nighttime, especially around this time of year.” You're supposed to be polite when dealing with royalty.
Luna nodded in appreciation and spread her wings. She flapped them a few times until she was hovering just beyond the balcony. “I'm afraid I can't stay and talk longer—somepony's got to keep the moon moving along.” She paused and looked thoughtful for a moment. “There's going to be a festival in Canterlot to celebrate the beginning of fall next week. Consider yourself invited, as well as any friends that you want to bring along. We'll see more of each other then.”
With a wink, she flew off. I blinked a few times in surprise at the tone of her last sentence. Did she just hit on me? I wondered as she faded quickly into the black night. No, I must've imagined it. I really need to get some sleep.
I wandered back inside and noticed that Twilight had brought Spike to his basket and fallen asleep herself. Spike had set it up so that my bed was across the room from Twilight's with his in the middle. Guess he doesn't trust me, I thought as I pulled off my shirt and dropped it next to the headboard. But that's understandable. Hell, I wouldn't trust me either.
A few seconds later, I was fast asleep as well.
* * * * *
Author's note: I realize that there wasn't a whole lot that happened in this part. I promise that the future chapters will be a bit more animated.
* * * * *
|
Shadowmane
|
882
| 3 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Main 6,Original Character,Spike,Trixie,Human,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
An American Dude in Equestria
|
This is the tale of how some schmuck from California found himself in Equestria.
|
complete
| 208 | 21 |
<p>A botched spell brings a human into the land of ponies. Could this possibly lead to offbeat hijinks? Read on to find out.</p><br/><br/><p>Note that this story and all subsequent parts takes place between the first and second seasons of the show.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-20T19:43:26+00:00
|
2011-09-20T19:43:26+00:00
| 8,961 |
“TV is chewing gum for the eyes, and Pinkie Pie is the taffy.” — Frank Lloyd Wright
Everything in the room was made up of dark, angular shapes that constantly shifted and refitted themselves together. Walls turned into hallways and hallways became staircases that reconnected to themselves in ways that were physically impossible. Corners became rounded, then sharp, then rounded again, as if the gray stone was breathing.
I wasn't sure what I was doing there or how I had ended up in that room, but something was driving me to keep walking forward. The floor was filled with holes and randomly placed steps would periodically pop out of the ground with no warning, which made my progress slow to a snail's pace as I struggled to keep my footing.
All the while, the pieces shuffled around and rearranged themselves in sickening patterns. It was like something out of M. C. Escher's acid trips.
At last I reached the mirror at the end of the room. It was a plain reflective mirror like you would find in your bathroom, and it wasn't even clean. Spots of filth and streaks of dust marred the reflection, but I struggled forward to see what was in it just the same. I didn't know why, but it was absolutely necessary that I see myself...
“Good moooorning!”
I abruptly woke up from the unexpected call and got tangled in the blankets. In my struggle to free myself, I managed to fall off the side of the bed and slammed face-first into the wooden floor with a thwump.
Huh? I thought blearily. What the hell happened to my carpet? This isn't my room.
“Are you alright, Jesse? What happened?” came the voice of Twilight Sparkle, whose mane was sticking out in every direction as she climbed out of bed somewhat more carefully than I had.
Holy shit, is that a purple unicorn? I thought blearily. Then, in a flash, the events of the previous day came back to me. I'm in Equestria, about to start day two, I reminded myself.
“Yeah, I'm fine.”
Pinkie Pie's head popped up from the staircase. “I made paaancaaakes!” she sang as polka music randomly started playing from nowhere. “Ohhh, pancakes, pancakes, come and eat some panca—” The music stopped with a record-scratch and she stared at me. “What's that black stuff all over your face?”
“Huh?” I freed myself from the blankets and walked up to a big mirror that was hanging on the wall. My hair was almost as messed up as Twilight's, but the only unusual thing was the stubble on my chin and cheeks.
“I just need to shave, that's all. I'll need to get a razor and some hot water, but I can take care of this.”
Twilight stared at my chest as I turned back around. “What are those things?” she asked as Spike turned over and tried his best to ignore us as he went back to sleep.
“Huh? Those are my nipples.”
“Ooooh,” Pinkie bounced up to me to get a closer look and shoved her nose right up against my skin. “Those are so weird! Do they do anything?”
“Well, when it gets cold enough I can use them to cut diamonds.”
“Really?” Twilight looked very interested.
“No, not really. I was just...What are you doing, Pinkie?”
Pinkie Pie stopped messing with the side of my pants. “Sorry, but I just realized that we never got to see what your cutie mark looks like.”
It took me a second to realize what she was talking about. It bothered me that they called those things on their flanks “cutie marks;” it seemed odd to give such an effeminate name to something that affected both genders.
“I don't have one. Humans don't get them.”
“Oh,” Pinkie ears drooped slightly in disappointment, then perked up again. “Well, what are we still doing up here? I didn't make a bunch of pancakes just to let them get cold, you know!” She hopped briskly down the stairs, humming the tune from the polka music to herself.
While Twilight levitated a brush through her hair until her bangs were back to their customary neatness, I picked my shirt up from its place on the floor and slipped it back on. It was already beginning to smell like dried sweat and had a new hole in the back. I made a mental note to ask about getting some new clothes after breakfast.
Twilight came up behind me. “I noticed that you were out on the balcony last night and it sounded like you were talking to somepony. What was that about?”
“Oh! I completely forgot about that.” I told her about Luna's visit and our conversation as we walked down the stairs together. I finished just as Pinkie, who was now wearing a gigantic white chef's hat and pink apron, brought out a massive plate of pancakes and set it on the table next to a bottle of maple syrup.
“And we're all invited to the Autumn Festival?” Twilight turned to Pinkie. “We'd better all see Rarity and get some new dresses made.”
“Ooooh, that sounds like fun!” Pinkie clopped her hooves together. “I'll go tell everypony right away!” Without another word, she bounced out the door.
After Twilight and I finished our pancakes, we got back to documenting everything that I knew about Earth for a few hours. This time, I opted to share some of what I thought were the more interesting tidbits of history. This included the death of Aeschylus (I just called him Archie the Philosopher because his name is literally impossible to pronounce), the Helepolis and how it was disabled during the siege of Rhodes, the almost-war between Michigan and Ohio over who owned Toledo, the sinking of the U-1206, and how much of a total prick Thomas Edison was. (If you're not sure what makes any of those so remarkable, remember that Google is your friend. And friendship is magic.)
Just as I was starting on the U.S. re-invasion of Kiska—in which over a hundred soldiers were killed or wounded despite there being exactly zero enemies on the island—Pinkie Pie came back. It might be more accurate to say “she suddenly burst into the library, grabbed Twilight and myself by the hair, and dragged us away into Rarity's dress shop without a word of explanation while Spike was left behind to sort the notes again.” Actually, let's just go with that instead, since I've already written it down.
“Got 'em!” Pinkie declared happily after she dumped us unceremoniously to the store's floor.
“Thank you, darling,” Rarity said without looking up from the rich purple cloth that she was draping over a horse-shaped mannequin. She had a pair of red glasses perched on the end of her nose and a long measuring tape hanging over her back. Pinkie trotted back outside, humming yet another upbeat tune.
“What's going on?” Twilight asked as Pinkie's voice faded away.
Rarity fussed with the cloth for a few more seconds before turning to us. “Oh, Pinkie Pie mentioned that Princess Luna has invited us all to the Autumn Festival and that we will need new dresses for it. If we only have until next week, I want to get started right away. I already have a few designs that—Sweetie Belle, come down from there this instant!”
“Awww, but can't I at least have one chance to get an alien-catching cutie mark?” A smaller white unicorn with pink and purple hair whined. She was perched on top of one of the several supply cupboards behind us and holding a large butterfly net. It looked like she'd been about to pounce on me.
Rarity hardened her stare. “I already told you no, and that's final. Now why don't you go find your friends and try to earn your cutie marks doing something else?”
“Alright,” Sweetie Belle grumbled. She dropped her net to the floor, carefully climbed down, and headed out the door.
Rarity sighed as the door closed again. “I'm terribly sorry about that. I'm not sure what goes on in her head sometimes. Anyway, Jesse, would you kindly come over here so that I can take some measurements?”
“Alright,” I said a bit uncomfortably. “But I'm not sure how I'm gonna pay for this.”
“Oh, don't worry about that, darling,” Rarity smiled reassuringly at me. “I won't charge you a thing.”
“Businesses don't work that way,” I objected. “And Applejack did the same thing yesterday. How do you ponies manage to make a profit if you don't make your customers pay?”
Despite my protests, Rarity insisted on making me some clothes for free (she won the argument by default after mentioning that she's the Element of Generosity, which was apparently common knowledge in Ponyville). The measuring took only a few minutes, then Rarity cut a few pieces of several types of cloth and started stitching them together. She then added buttons, pockets, hems, and a few things that I didn't know the name of. The floor became littered with scraps of cloth and spools of thread. Within a half hour, she had created a stately three-piece suit for me.
“This is really nice,” I said as I stepped out from behind the changing screen. In truth, the sleeves were a little long and the waistband felt a bit tight, but I remembered how she could obsess over tiny details and thought better of bringing a few minor discomforts to her attention. Besides, she was already making a second, less formal outfit from the same measurements.
“Hmmm,” Rarity paused in her work and narrowed her eyes as she looked me over. “You do look quite fetching, but something's not right here.”
“Shoes?” Twilight offered and pointed at my still-bare feet.
“Well, those too. But I was thinking it might be the hair, especially that growth on his face.”
I unconsciously rubbed at the rugged stubs poking out of my cheeks and chin again. “I was going to shave as soon as I got my hands on a razor. Is there anywhere around here that I can get one?”
“I've got a better idea. Twilight, darling, do you think you could use that spell that gave Spike that awful mustache to make his whiskers grow out?”
Twilight thought for a moment. “Well, I can try.” She screwed her eyes shut and made her horn glow purple.
My face suddenly felt like it was melting. I could feel my skin warping and stretching unnaturally as my stubble forced its way out. The sensation only lasted for two seconds, but those moments were one of the most bizarrely uncomfortable experiences that I have ever had.
When the tingling stopped and the glowing faded, Twilight opened her eyes to see her handiwork. Her mouth then dropped open as if she were seeing me for the first time again. “Oh my...”
“I...that's...” Rarity was at a loss for words as well.
I tried to feel my face, but my hand stopped a couple of inches away from my skin when my fingers were stopped by a bulk of rough hair. I sprinted to the nearest mirror to see what went wrong, and as soon as I saw my reflection...
“The fuck did you do to me?”
My beard had grown out so much that the mass of wiry black hairs hung to my waist. I could have applied to be the new guitarist for ZZ Top and been accepted for beardliness alone. I was a hobbit before, but now I look like a younger version of Gandalf! Or another hobo.
“Don't worry,” Rarity tried to sound confident and forced another smile. “We can fix this. Oh goodness, I hope we can fix this. I must say, I imagined this makeover going a bit differently.”
“Maybe we shouldn't use magic this time,” Twilight proffered. “That's twice now that my spells have messed up around him. Do you have any extra scissors around?”
* * * * *
It was about three or four in the afternoon when I stepped out of the store, leaving Twilight to discuss the particulars of her dress with Rarity. The unicorns had cut my hair and trimmed my beard down to a crisp black mustache and sharp goatee, which I felt much more comfortable wearing. They had almost decapitated me with the scissors only twice in the process, which was about on par with my regular self-grooming skills.
I'd swapped out the suit for a few different outfits before settling on a more relaxed crimson vest that Rarity had put together. Together with the black undershirt, new pants, and even a shiny belt, it finally felt like I was properly dressed.
My favorite part of the ensemble was the new pair of oxfords. I couldn't tell what materials Rarity had used, but the shoes looked like they were made from treated gray leather and felt great. All in all, I thought that I looked pretty good. They come runnin' just as fast as they can, 'cause every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man. I was still had ZZ Top on my mind, can you tell?
“There you are!” Rainbow Dash's voice called out from an overhead cloud and cut my thoughts short. “I've been looking for you all over. Did you forget what I said yesterday?”
“I didn't forget,” I shouted back. “But I've been stuck in Rarity's shop for hours. Did Pinkie Pie tell you about the festival?”
Rainbow flew down from the cloud so that we wouldn't have to talk so loudly. “You mean the thing that Luna invited us to? Yeah, Rarity said earlier that she's already got something planned out for me.” As she landed, she took another at me. “What happened to your face? That black stuff wasn't there last night.”
“Long story. Anyway, you said that you wanted to show me how you fly?”
She seemed to take that as a challenge. “Oh yeah. I bet you've never seen anything like this!”
With that, she sprang back into the sky, leaving behind a multicolored streak in her wake. Sudden holes appeared in the clouds that were scattered across the sky, much to the irritation of the spying pegasi who were hiding in them (would they ever stop doing that?), followed by sudden gusts of wind that blew the leaves and dust around without any clear pattern. A few of the buildings had shingles or chunks of thatch fall from their roofs as she pulled off some daringly low loops and spins.
Suddenly Rainbow was back. It had taken her ten seconds flat to go across just about every inch of sky, but she wasn't even breathing hard. “How'd you like that?” She said proudly as she struck a victorious pose. “I bet you've never seen anything go that fast!”
“That was really cool,” I said, pretty impressed. “And no, I don't think I've ever seen anything that fast. Not personally, anyway.”
Rainbow didn't seem quite satisfied with that, but then she put on a wicked, devious grin. “Well, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Get ready for a little pain, 'cause your jaw is gonna drop right off your face when you see me pull off the ultimate stunt: the Sonic Rainboom!”
She took off again and headed straight up into the sky, gaining as much altitude as she could. Within seconds, she was so far away that the only indication of where she went was a faint rainbow trail, and then even that faded. For a moment, there was absolutely nothing to see.
Then the colorful trail reappeared, heading at a steep angle at breakneck speed. Even from such a long distance, I could see the cone-shaped air barrier forming up in front of Rainbow as she streaked right back towards Ponyville. Little blurs of various colors and sparks of electricity flowed around her body.
As she came closer, I saw that she had one front hoof stretched out in front with the other pulled up close to her body, as if she was trying to punch the air in the face.
She's not gonna make it, part of my mind whispered.
A fraction of a second after that thought, the air bubble collapsed in on itself and sent Rainbow spinning off course. “WHOOOOA!” she cried out as she bounced off the street and went smashed through a house's door. There was a quick series of ear-shattering crashes and crunches before she blasted out the window on the opposite side of the building. She finally crashed to a halt in a nearby bush that had been perfectly trimmed a minute before.
“Unghhh,” she moaned softly. Her eyeballs were still spinning around in their sockets and her wings' feathers were sticking out in weird directions.
“You alright?” I rushed over and knelt down next to her. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
Rainbow took a few moments to focus her unevenly dilated pupils and count. “Nineteen,” she muttered and shut her eyes. “I...I think I'm gonna be sick.”
“What's going on out here?” Twilight and Rarity had just walked out of the boutique and seemed surprised to see the damaged house.
“We've had a, uh, minor accident,” I explained. Rainbow was sitting up now and rubbing at a lump that was growing on the side of her head. A bunch of leaves and twigs were stuck in her mane.
At the sight of the disheveled pegasus, the unicorns seemed to understand completely. Rarity narrowed her eyes and stamped a hoof in frustration. “Did you just try to do the Rainboom over Ponyville again? Didn't we make it clear that you're supposed to do that outside of town after you went right through my windows? I kept finding new shards of glass in my hooves for weeks afterwards.”
“Uh, my bad?” Rainbow put on a guilty, toothy smile that failed to disperse the glares from Rarity, Twilight, and a number of other ponies who were staring at what was going on (and not me, for the moment).
Rainbow sighed and threw her hooves in the air. “Alright, alright. I'm sorry about wrecking that house and all that stuff. I won't do it again. Now, can everypony move on with that whole 'forgiveness' thing?”
A bunch of the ponies rolled their eyes and went back to whatever they were doing before the crash without more than a few backwards glances.
“Are they really just going to let you get away with it that easy?” I asked in surprise as the crowd dispersed.
“Yeah,” Rainbow laughed. She'd gotten her sly smirk back. “They let it go every time. Say you're sorry once and they'll forget it even happened. Buncha suckers.”
“Well,” said Rarity as she stepped closer. “Perhaps it's time for the 'buncha suckers,' as you so delicately put it, to remind you that there are repercussions for putting everypony in danger with your antics. And for damaging property that's not yours.” Her statement was punctuated by a splintered stub of wood snapping off from the damaged house's broken window shutter and falling to the ground.
Rainbow groaned in annoyance. “Alright, I'll fix this place later. First I—”
“You'll fix it now,” Twilight interjected forcefully. “Last time you put something off, Fluttershy's rabbits got flooded out of their holes. We told you to move that particular raincloud to the east, didn't we?”
"Fine, I'll fix it now!” Rainbow was really starting to get agitated.
“Good,” Rarity seemed satisfied. “When you're finished, come find me and we'll make sure that your new dress fits properly.” She then turned around and headed back to her shop.
“'Fits perfectly,'” Rainbow scoffed too quietly for Rarity to hear as she picked up the bits of broken window. “Oh, I bet I could make your head fit perfectly in a...in a...” She scowled even deeper as she struggled to come up with something that made sense.
Twilight tugged at my vest and led me away from the fuming pegasus. “Is she gonna be alright?” I asked once we were out of earshot.
“She will be in a few hours. Once she's finished, she'll calm down and things will be back to normal.”
I nodded and glanced around. I didn't recognize the buildings here. “Where are we going, anyway?”
“The farmer's market. I wanted to pick up a few things to make dinner.” She paused to think for a second. “Actually, would you mind making some Earth food tonight? I always like trying out new things.”
I took a moment to think as well. As we took a turn and were able to clearly see the lines of produce stalls, a cart piled high with kidney beans caught my eye. A sudden craving entered my mind.
“Actually, there is something that I could try to make.”
|
Shadowmane
|
882
| 4 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Main 6,Original Character,Spike,Trixie,Human,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
An American Dude in Equestria
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This is the tale of how some schmuck from California found himself in Equestria.
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complete
| 208 | 21 |
<p>A botched spell brings a human into the land of ponies. Could this possibly lead to offbeat hijinks? Read on to find out.</p><br/><br/><p>Note that this story and all subsequent parts takes place between the first and second seasons of the show.</p>
|
teen
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2011-09-22T20:40:16+00:00
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2011-09-22T20:40:16+00:00
| 8,397 |
“The bird a nest, the spider a web, ponies friendship.” — William Blake
I carefully stirred the big pot that was filled with steaming chili. A ton of beans, tomatoes, garlic, mild peppers, various spices, and a diced onion had gone into the simmering mix, and a rich odor was coming out.
“That smells great,” Twilight remarked. She had been skeptical at first, but had quickly changed her mind after it all came together. After seeing the resulting food for herself, she had invited the other five ponies to come to the library and eat as well, and they were all waiting impatiently for it to be done.
“That does smell mighty tasty,” Applejack put in. Just a minute ago she'd won four consecutive hoof-wrestling matches with a slightly battered-looking Rainbow Dash.
“Absolutely divine,” Rarity added. “I can't wait to try it.”
Fluttershy and Spike were sitting calmly on a nearby bench and neither of them said anything.
I took the spoon out of the chili and tasted it. It was good, but...
“It could be a little spicier, but I guess it'll—”
“You need to make it spicier?” Pinkie Pie's upside-down face was suddenly in front of mine. Our noses were actually touching and I still have no clue how she was holding herself up in the air over the pot.
“Yeah, but I'm sure it'll be fine as it is. It's pretty close to how I remember it, and we don't want to make it too spicy.” What it really needs is some meat, I didn't say.
“You can never have it too spicy!” the pink pony shouted. “Wait here, I'll be right back.”
Pinkie then ran out of the library at top speed. Before we'd stopped looking at one another in confusion, she was back with a small plastic bag in her mouth. Inside the bag were two plump, medium-sized peppers—one red and one green. On the outside of the bag was a sticker with a black skull-and-crossbones on it.
“Where'd ya get those?” Applejack asked. She looked a little worriedly at the sticker as Pinkie took the peppers out of the bag.
“I bought them from Pasilla last week,” Pinkie said proudly as she pulled out a sharp knife and diced the peppers on the cutting board in a flurry of flashing steel. “She said they're called ghostie peppers, but I thought they looked too silly to be scary. I was saving them for something extra special.”
As she slid the chopped-up bits into the chili, an ominous hissing came from the pot. Pinkie then stirred it with a cheerful hum for a few moments, which turned to a “hmm?” of surprise as she lifted the spoon out again. The wood had shriveled to a blackened smoking stump.
Pinkie shrugged and licked at the bit of chili that was still stuck to the end of the ruined spoon.
“Perfect!” she declared giddily as thin tendrils of black smoke came billowing out of her little ears.
“Uh, I'm afraid that I won't be able to stay after all,” Rarity took a few backward steps towards the door. “I've just realized that I have to change something on my dress. Perhaps we can try again another time?”
“Umm, I...I think I forgot to give the bunnies enough food,” Fluttershy also retreated away from the chili.
“I'd better, uh, get back to studying for, uh, something,” Twilight gave me an apologetic glance. “I'll get something to eat later.”
“I'd better come and help you with that,” Spike said, quickly seizing his opportunity to get away.
“We'll I guess that means more for us!” Pinkie said happily, oblivious to the terrified glances that the others were giving the pot.
“Actually, now that I think about it—” Rainbow's attempt to escape was cut off as Applejack set a hoof on her tail and gave her a look that was half-glaring and half-pleading.
“Five bits says Ah can eat more o' this stuff than you.”
Rainbow balked for a moment. She gave another apprehensive look at the sizzling pot, then looked to Applejack, then stared at the chili again. She swallowed hard.
“Make it ten and you're on,” she said in a brave but not-quite-certain voice.
As I filled up four big bowls of the chili, I thought that I heard faint evil laughter coming from the food. You're just imagining things, the rational part of my brain assured me.
Then why is the spoon all burnt up like that? some other area of my mind shot back.
As soon as Pinkie got her bowl, she poured the entire thing into her mouth at once. “Mmmm, that's really good!” she said earnestly as she licked up every bit. Despite her smile, I could have sworn that I saw flames coating her entire tongue. Judging by their uneasy glance at each other, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had noticed it too.
I looked down at my bowl as Pinkie went for seconds. The chili didn't look threatening, but it still put a knot in my gut.
Well, you shouldn't cook what you're not willing to eat, a decidedly irrational section of my brain reminded me. Still, this is probably gonna hurt like hell.
* * * * *
“How are you all feeling today?” Nurse Redheart asked brightly as she pulled back the medical curtain.
“Ughhh,” was the simultaneous reply from Applejack, Rainbow and myself, who occupied three hospital beds.
It was the second morning after the chili incident, and the pain still hadn't stopped. The burning in our mouths had been bad enough (even after about thirty-eight hours, I could still feel a slight tingling on my tongue), but the dizziness, headaches, nausea, and agonizing stomach cramps had been so serious that even the stubborn Applejack hadn't resisted the need to find a doctor.
“You have a visitor today, dears,” the nurse strode off and Twilight walked in cautiously.
“Sorry I took so long to get here. I went through my books and talked to Pasilla to learn more about those peppers—”
“So how are you gonna fix us?” Rainbow Dash interrupted as she sat up with a grimace. “Do you have a spell?”
Twilight shook her head. “The only thing that I found that might help is aloe, and Nurse Redheart is going to brew some tea to put it in. Other than that, we'll just have to wait until the effects wear off, which might take up to a week.”
“That's great, just fuckin' great.” Rainbow slumped back in her bed with a groan. She'd picked up my entire vocabulary of swearwords over the past day or so and had even invented a few of her own, such as “shitracks” and “cocksocket,” whatever those were supposed to mean. If I'd been in better condition, I would have been somewhat mortified by this.
“Any other good news?” Applejack spoke up, only the slightest trace of irritation coloring her voice.
“Well, since Pinkie's fine, we can probably assume that this won't cause any lasting damage.” Twilight frowned. “I've seen her put hot sauce on cupcakes, but I still can't believe that she ate nine bowls of that chili and it didn't affect her at all.”
“I'll bet she's laughing her ass of at us right now,” Rainbow growled. “Probably her idea of a sick joke.”
“Rainbow Dash, ya know that ain't fair,” Applejack winced as she spoke.
“Neither was putting those 'ghostie peppers' in the chili!” Rainbow shot back with a sneer. “How's she been, Twilight? Is she still wearing that stupid little grin of hers and laughing about how good she got us?”
“She feels completely horrible about what happened!” Twilight snapped. “She didn't know that this would happen, and the guilt is probably giving her worse pain than those peppers gave you! She didn't laugh at anything yesterday, and you know how she thinks her own breathing is the funniest thing ever. Even worse, her hair's gone flat again! Don't you remember how upset she was the last time that happened?”
Twilight's glare made Rainbow's scowl disappear. Instead, it was replaced with...something else. Remorse? Uncertainty? Confusion?
Twilight kept glaring at Rainbow for a few seconds after the blue pegasus dropped her eyes. Then she trotted to the foot of my bed and looked right at me. “Are you okay, Jesse? You haven't said anything.”
I was having difficulty seeing less than two Twilights. “Yeah, sorry 'bout that. My brain's not working so good right now. I've been having trouble sleeping.”
In truth, I hadn't slept at all. The cramps only died down when Rainbow and Applejack wouldn't stop arguing with each other. Once it was quiet again, the pain came back full force. It was like the peppers were deliberately screwing with me. I didn't know how much more I could take before I snapped and disemboweled the others so that I at least only had one thing to bother me.
Twilight nodded sympathetically. “Pinkie wanted me to ask if you were mad at her too. If you were upset at her for ruining the chili and putting you through this.”
“I am, but I'm not, if that makes any sense,” I shrugged.
“Ya don' seem angry ta me,” Applejack observed.
“I never do until I'm about to lose it,” I replied a little more testily than I meant to.
Twilight nodded again. “Well, I've got the cards that you wanted. Rarity made them herself.”
She reached into the saddlebag that I hadn't noticed and pulled out a small felt pouch. Inside was a standard deck of playing cards, which, oddly enough, the ponies hadn't invented yet. They had other kinds of cards, but not the regular 52-card set. Yesterday, despite the pain, I had told Twilight how they should be made and what they were for. This was both to give Equestria a simple thing from Earth and to help pass time in the hospital.
“Thanks,” I muttered as I opened the pouch and looked through the cards to make sure that all fifty-two were there.
The one on top was the three of diamonds, which had been made to look just like Rarity's cutie mark with bright blue gems that seemed to sparkle and shine from the card's surface. Curiously, the rest of the diamond cards had dull red shapes that were comparatively boring, just like Earth cards.
The bottom card was the ace of hearts, with the words “Get well soon!” in Rarity's curly handwriting (hoofwriting? hornwriting?) in the corner. The large red heart had vines of ivy wrapped around the edges and a big pink rose stuck out from behind it. Stylish shadows and highlights that couldn't have been easy to draw had also been added. It was much fancier than the pictures for the other aces or for the face cards.
Am I reading too far in to this, I wondered as I looked at the card, or did she just use the deck to sneak in a love note?
“These are really nice,” I said instead, reserving my judgment for later. “Could you tell her that I appreciate her doing this?”
“Sure,” Twilight quickly glanced around and dropped her voice. “She seemed really worried about you especially. Maybe she's just concerned because we don't know anything about humans and how you deal with illnesses, but I think there's more to it. If you ask me, I think that—”
She was cut off as a bright pink balloon suddenly flew in past the curtain. As it spun around, we could all see that it had “Forever!” printed in a darker shade of pink on the side. It hung there in the air for a few seconds before bursting apart with a soft pop and falling to the ground.
Twilight's face was suddenly filled with discomfort. “Oh, I almost...I mean...,” she stammered, then paused and tried to force a smile. “I...I think that she feels bad for not eating the chili with you three. Yes, that's what I meant. Oh, would you look at the time! I'm going to be late for, uh, for something.” She unceremonious bolted for the exit.
“Is it the same something that you had to study for the other night?” Rainbow called out sarcastically as the unicorn left our view. There was no response.
“That gal never was good at keepin' secrets,” Applejack muttered as she shook her head. “Even if Ah was blind I coulda seen right through that.”
I frowned as I shuffled the cards. Guess I wasn't reading too deep after all. Spike is gonna be pissed.
It tried to get the thought out of my head. “Do you two want to learn how to play Go Fish or Blackjack first?”
* * * * *
“Are you peeking at my cards?” Rainbow Dash had grown steadily more irritated as the day wore on and she kept losing.
“'Course not, there jus' ain't that many cards left ta choose from,” Applejack said, keeping her temper in check like she had for the past few hours. “Got any sixes?”
Rainbow angrily tossed a card onto the orange pony's bed. “That's four times in a goddamn row! I don't care what you say, I know you're cheating somehow!”
“An' Ah know that yer jus' bein' a sore loser!”
Shut. The fuck. UP! I screamed in my head as I shut my eyes even tighter and tried to ignore the urge to decapitate them both with the painting that hung on the wall. Again the cramps had begun to fade and again those two were bitching at each other.
Am I ever going to get some sleep? I asked myself and tried to ignore the argument. At this point, forming even simple thoughts like those took a lot of effort. Nurse Redheart's tea hadn't helped at all.
After the ponies had calmed down and started yet another new hand, it seemed that I would finally be able to get a little rest. Just as I was beginning to relax, however, I heard the metallic rasping of the curtain being whisked back again. What the fuck can it be now? I thought angrily.
I opened my eyes and saw a blur of purple standing next to a larger greyish blob with specks of yellow on it. Once I put my glasses back on and forced my eyes to focus, the shapes turned into Twilight and Zecora. The zebra was curiously staring at me just like all the other inhabitants of Equestria, obviously not sure what to think.
Twilight was smiling. “Get on your feet, everypony. Zecora's figured out how to make the three of you feel better. I don't know why it took me so long to think to talk to her.”
“Ya know how ta fix us?” Applejack dropped her cards to the floor and sat up.
Zecora nodded. “Some herbs of healing I have, your illness they will cure. Yet in their use some pain you three must endure.”
“Well, we're already in a shitload of pain,” Rainbow winced as another cramp hit her. “What are we waiting for?”
“I have prepared you a potion of wormwood and sherath; after it is drunk, you must soak in the bath.”
“Another bath? Is that yer answer ta every problem?” Applejack looked a little doubtful.
“The bath isn't to help make you better,” Twilight explained. “The potion's going to do all that by making whatever was in those peppers come out through your skin. You'll need to clean it off when that happens.”
“This is safe, right?” I asked unevenly. Even after days without sleep, this seemed like an odd way to do it.
Zecora nodded again, making the gold rings around her neck jingle. “This potion is benign, you will not be harmed. It will cause much discomfort, but there is no need for alarm.”
“Her people have used this potion for generations to cure stuff like this,” Twilight reassured us. “Apparently a lot of the food where she's from will sometimes be poisonous, so they've figured out which combination of herbs will help them get better.”
“Alright,” I heaved my body upright and carefully got to my feet. The room swam as I stood up and my vision flashed white for a few seconds, but I caught myself on the end of the bed and stayed standing. The dizziness passed after a moment, but my knees still felt weak. The others seemed to be having similar problems.
“Well, let's get this over with,” I muttered and we all followed the zebra out of the hospital.
* * * * *
In the spa where I'd first met Rarity and Fluttershy, there was a large private room set up with three large bathtubs that were filled with water, steam, and suds. Next to them was a small iron cauldron of bubbling green goop. Nurse Redheart nervously watched as Zecora stirred her potion, sniffed at the blue smoke that it was giving off, and gave a satisfied nod.
“The potion is ready, made with much ease. Drink from it now and be cured of your disease.”
“Getting sick from eating peppers isn't the same as a disease. A disease is...is when...”
Twilight's voice withered under Zecora's glare. “I'd like to see you try to make somet'ing rhyme wit' 'food poisoning!'”
“Oh...right. Let me just get some bowls, then.”
“Ah got 'em!” a little yellow filly who appeared out of nowhere said. She had three small ceramic bowls balanced on her back and a pink bow tied to her red mane.
“Apple Bloom!” Applejack scolded. “What're ya doin' here? Does Big Macintosh know yer gone?”
“It was his idea,” Apple Bloom protested with a hurt look. “He told me ta come over an' see if Ah could help.”
“And we came along too!” Scootaloo stepped around the middle tub.
A strange pounding and scraping sound suddenly came from the floor under Applejack's hooves. A few tiles lifted up seemingly of their own accord and Sweetie Belle climbed out of the resulting hole.
“Here I am!” the little white unicorn said proudly. “We're gonna try to get our cutie marks for...uh...whatever it is that we're doing here.”
“Medical assistants?” I offered.
“Cutie Mark Crusader Medical Assistants!” the three fillies shouted in unison.
“What were you doing under the floor?” Twilight asked seriously.
Sweetie Belle scratched at her head just behind her horn. “I really can't remember,” she said sheepishly.
There was a strangled grunt from my right, which it turned out had come from Rainbow Dash. Apple Bloom had somehow found a pressure cuff and slipped it over the pegasus' neck. With that in place, she started pumping it up to the max. Rainbow's eyes puffed up and her face started to turn purple as she fought for breath.
Before I could ask the yellow filly what the hell she was trying to accomplish, I felt something sharp jab into my left ear. I jerked my head away and turned to see that Scootaloo was trying to shove an otoscope in there. She was wearing one of those mirrored doctor headbands on her forehead and a stethoscope hung around her neck.
“The patient seems to be suffering from Fecal Encephalopathy,” the orange pegasus announced dramatically. “We'll have to amputate immediately. Somepony get a bone saw!”
“No, I don't have Fecal Encephalopathy!” I insisted as Applejack ripped the pressure cuff off Rainbow's neck. I vaguely recalled coming across that phrase on the internet once and that it was doctor-speak that literally means “shit for brains.”
I felt something pull at the back of my pants, followed by another stab of pain—this time it came right from my ass. I spun around to see Sweetie Belle holding a long, old-fashioned glass thermometer.
“No,” I said evenly, despite my mounting frustration. “Just...just no.”
“But we need to take your core temperature,” the little unicorn protested.
Twilight rolled her eyes at the fillies' behavior and magically ladled out the green potion into the bowls while Nurse Redheart tried to get back all of her medical equipment. “You'll have only a minute or two before the effects start, so be sure to get in the baths before that happens.”
“Yeah yeah yeah,” Rainbow cut in as she rubbed at her recently liberated throat with one hoof and grabbed a bowl with the other. “Let's hurry this up. I want to get flying again before it gets dark. Bottoms up!”
She sucked all of her potion in at once, then abruptly gagged and brought a hoof to her mouth as her cheeks bulged out. She swallowed with difficulty and shuddered. “Holy crapstacks, that shit's horrible!”
“You need ta watch yer mouth 'round mah sis, girl,” Applejack said seriously as she gave her hat to Apple Bloom. She then swallowed her own potion, also cringed, and climbed into the bath with a splash. She disappeared into the bubbles and water for a moment, then resurfaced. “Oh, that feels mighty nice.”
I grimaced in advance and quickly shotgunned my potion as well. I could ignore the vile taste (it was like a mouthful of old bacon grease mixed with vinegar and liquified sauerkraut, if you wanted to know) and even the oily texture, but then the stuff came right back up! I forcefully swallowed it a second time, paused to make sure that none of it had come out my nose, and turned to the tub on the right.
I pulled off my shoes and shirt and started working on my belt before it hit me. I glanced around and noticed that everypony was staring at me. “Do you mind?” I asked a little irritably.
They looked around at each other in confusion. “What d'ya mean?” Apple Bloom asked.
“I'm not really comfortable undressing with all of you looking at me like that. Especially with three fillies around.”
“In case ya hadn't noticed, we don' normally wear clothes.” Applejack pointed out from her bathtub.
“You're running out of time,” Twilight reminded me.
I sighed in exasperation. “Alright, but I still don't like doing this.”
I hesitated for a moment longer, then stripped off my pants. A sudden wave of dizziness hit me before I could make it to the tub and left me staggering for a few seconds.
“What is that?” Apple Bloom gasped as I regained my balance. Scootaloo was staring at me and trying to figure out the same thing.
I quickly got myself back under control, hopped into the tub, and gathered as many suds as I could over my groin. The water was pretty hot, but I could feel my face burning even hotter.
“I didn't get a good look!” Sweetie Belle protested. She ran up to my bath and sunk her face right into the water over my crotch.
For a few seconds, my mind completely shut down and my body refused to react. In fact, everyone seemed frozen in surprise. The only movement in the room came from the bubbles that swirled around Sweetie Belle's head. Then...
“Aaahh,” Rainbow gasped in pain and slid under the water. As if a spell had been broken, everypony was moving again. I managed to move my arm and firmly lifted Sweetie Belle's dripping head out of the water by her horn.
“The potion is working, that is plain,” Zecora announced. “We must leave these ponies and human to their pain.”
Nurse Redheart ushered the fillies out of the room as Applejack gave a similar grunt of discomfort. Sweetie Belle seemed reluctant to leave, and for a moment I was afraid that she might try to get another look, but then she turned around and followed the others. Twilight gave me a strange glance as she closed the door behind them, and I could have sworn that she was blushing through her lavender fur.
Before I could decide if I had imagined the redness on her face or not, the pain hit me too. My entire skin started to burn and itch, and sharper pains stabbed randomly all over my body. It was very uncomfortable, like a sudden fever had come upon me. Rainbow and Applejack were moaning softly out of sight.
I glanced down at my arm as the burning grew more intense there and almost threw up at what I saw. A greasy black liquid was leaking out of my skin. It seemed to seep out from the same pores that the hairs were growing out of, which just seemed wrong on so many different levels.
Without thinking, I plunged my arm into the water. The dark fluid washed right off, leaving no trace of its existence behind. More came out, and I rinsed that off too.
Surprisingly, I was already feeling better. For every drop of that black stuff that came out, the pain subsided. Five minutes of scrubbing later, I was feeling great. The cramps, headache, and even my fatigue faded away. The other ponies were making less noise as well. I even thought that I could hear Rainbow laughing softly to herself.
I stood up and let the last of the dark liquid slide off into the tub. I grabbed a nearby towel, dried myself off quickly, and got my clothes back on just before the others hopped out of their baths.
“I ain't never felt so good in mah life,” Applejack grinned as she slapped her hat onto her still-soaking head.
“Tell me about it,” Rainbow shook her tail out and flapped her wings. “Now let's get some food and go home.”
Those last words made me realize just how hungry I was. After the chili, none of us had been able to swallow anything more substantial than the useless tea. It felt like the sides of my stomach were rubbing against each other.
The door interrupted my thought as it squeaked open and Pinkie Pie poked her head in. I almost didn't recognize her with her poofy pink mane hanging flat and lifeless. The giddy spark that always danced in her eyes was gone and her usually hyperactive bounciness was replaced with an unsure, nervous plod as she stepped inside.
“Uhh, hi...” she said uncertainly and stared at the floor.
“Pinkie Pie! What're ya doin' here?” Applejack asked loudly. She also seemed surprised at the change.
“I just...” Pinkie swallowed hard and winced. “I just wanted to...to c-come by and see how you were doing. Twilight said th-that something was going on.”
“We're better now, thanks to Zecora,” I said with a nervous glance to the others. The change in Pinkie's demeanor was really unnerving. “She made a potion that got rid of whatever was in those peppers.”
Pinkie cringed and rubbed at the floor with her hoof. “Oh. A-about that. I also wanted to...I wanted to say that I'm sorry for putting those things in your chili. I-I-I didn't know they were going to do this to you,” she finished pleadingly. Tears were welling up in her eyes and her tail was flopping around in agitation.
“We know,” I said as reassuringly as I could. I hate to admit it, but this new Pinkie Pie was starting to scare me. “You were just trying to help, and we understand that. I won't hold it against you.”
“Ever'thin's better now,” Applejack tried to soothe her with a warm smile. “Don' worry yer li'l head 'bout it no more. We still love ya, an' we forgive ya. Ain't that right, Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow's face was contorted into a bunch of emotions at once. One moment she was scowling, then frowning, then half-smiling half-surprised, then furious, then some kind of expression that I had never seen anywhere before, then scowling again, then her features froze in a blank, unreadable stare. She tried to say something, but stopped.
Pinkie took a step back from the pegasus. “I...I can see that you're still up-upset. I'll...I'll just go and...and—”
“Hold on!” Rainbow cried out in a strangled voice and flew over to Pinkie.
The pink pony froze in panic, her moist eyes growing wider than ever. “I...I just...I was...”
She stopped as Rainbow threw her hooves around her neck and hugged her tight. “It's alright, Pinkie,” Rainbow said softly. “I know you didn't mean to hurt us.”
“You mean it, Dashie?”
“Yeah, I really do.” Rainbow's eyes were a little shiny too and her cocky smile came back. “Just promise that you'll be more careful with what you put in the food from now on.”
“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” Pinkie grinned. She pulled Applejack and me into the hug too as her mane poofed out to its usual level of absurd fluffiness. The air suddenly smelled like cotton candy and all the colors in the room were noticeably brighter than before.
Applejack shrugged and hugged back. Ah, what the hell. I added my arms to the embrace too. (Feel free to go “D'awwwww.”)
The hug dragged on for a minute or so before my stomach growled loudly enough for the ponies to hear. At the sound, Pinkie abruptly let go and the three of us crashed to the floor in a confused heap.
“Come on, everypony!” Pinkie bounced up and down, completely back to her normal energetic self. “Fluttershy's making some more of that chili just for you. No ghostie peppers in it this time, and that's a Pinkie promise!”
“Sounds good ta me,” Applejack smiled as she put her hat back on again and stood up. It sounded like a pretty good idea to me and Rainbow Dash too.
Happy End!
|
Shadowmane
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882
| 5 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Main 6,Original Character,Spike,Trixie,Human,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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An American Dude in Equestria
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This is the tale of how some schmuck from California found himself in Equestria.
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complete
| 208 | 21 |
<p>A botched spell brings a human into the land of ponies. Could this possibly lead to offbeat hijinks? Read on to find out.</p><br/><br/><p>Note that this story and all subsequent parts takes place between the first and second seasons of the show.</p>
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teen
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2011-09-25T02:17:13+00:00
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2011-09-25T02:17:13+00:00
| 8,629 |
“Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together. It is the true magic of the universe.” — Woodrow Wilson
The next day, Pinkie had the brilliant idea to have a party to celebrate our recovery. Not just any party, though: she wanted to go to the beach and have a picnic there before summer ended. Since there weren't any beaches that we could travel to and return from without missing Luna's festival, we all decided that a nearby lake would have to do.
I had had a few brilliant ideas of my own (I get a lot of those). Rainbow Dash was wearing a harness that was connected to about twenty feet of rope that in turn was connected to a wooden handle that I held in my hand. We were both standing at the edge of the shore and looking out over the expanse of water.
“Are you completely certain that this is safe?” Rarity asked worriedly. She was watching us from the shadow of a nearby oak tree whose roots hung out into the lake. Despite the shade, she was wearing a straw sunhat on her head.
I nodded and shifted my weight on the wooden board that I had strapped to my feet. I'd already stripped off my shirt, glasses, and shoes and rolled my pant legs up to my knees. “I'll be fine, I've done this plenty of times before.” Behind a boat, I didn't mention.
Rainbow shrugged a few times to get the harness to fit more comfortably on her back. “Are you ready? Let's hurry up and try it out.”
I gripped the handle tightly. “Just try to keep going in a straight line for as long as you can, but don't get too close to the shore. Ready when you are.”
Rainbow Dash took off a moment later, speeding directly for the opposite shoreline only a couple of feet above the flat lake. There was a second where nothing happened, then I was yanked forcefully out over the water as the rope ran out of slack. I leaned back and bent my knees as my makeshift wakeboard came into contact with the lake.
Everything was going perfectly as Rainbow pulled me quickly across the water's surface and away from Rarity, Twilight (who was reading a book, naturally), and the barbeque that Pinkie Pie and Applejack were cooking on. The ponies didn't have meat, but they did have hot dogs and hamburgers made out of a mishmash of different fruits and vegetables that had been ground up and sprinkled with various spices. It was pretty much the vegetarian equivalent of spam. The end result had the same consistency as beef, and somehow even tasted pretty similar, but something about it was just wrong and I hadn't been able to swallow more than a few bites. Sometimes there's just no substitute for the real thing.
I was suddenly dragged back to the present as Rainbow changed course to avoid Fluttershy, who was also wearing a harness and pulled a snoring Spike across the lake in a rubber tube. I turned my board as well to give them a wide berth. The resulting wave rocked Spike hard enough to make him open an eye and glance around, but he was asleep again a few seconds later.
Rainbow turned sharply to the right as we came close to the other side of the lake, and I used the momentum to swing around to the left side. The water was clear and still, which gave me a decent wake to work with. I would have preferred a bigger one, but it was actually much better than I had been expecting, considering that Rainbow wasn't a boat or dragging anything through the water.
By the time that we got back to where we'd started, I'd pulled off a few jumps and grabs, but nothing spectacular. The wake just wasn't big enough, or maybe Rainbow's speed was off. Whatever it was, it prevented me from pulling off my favorite tricks. At least Rainbow had gotten a good laugh each time that I crashed. It was still pretty fun, but not completely satisfying.
I let go of the rope as we came close to the shore and let the momentum carry me to land. My back and knees were sore from the ride, but that wasn't anything unexpected. What was unexpected was the distinct lack of ponies under the trees.
“Where'd everypony go?” Rainbow asked out loud. “Is this one of your games, Pinkie?”
There was no way that we'd come to the wrong spot, since my stuff was all right where I'd left it. As I put my glasses back on, I got a better look at the place but still couldn't see our friends.
“Twilight?” I called out. “Rarity?”
“Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow shouted. “Applejack! Fluttershy!”
“I'm right here,” Fluttershy flew over, still pulling a still-sleeping Spike along on the water. “What's with all the yelling?”
“Did anypony mention going somewhere after we left?” I asked.
Fluttershy shook her head, making her wispy pink mane whip through the air. “I didn't hear anything, but I was out in the middle of the lake.”
“Uh, guys?” Rainbow pointed to the ground further inshore, which was churned up as if a bunch of animals had been digging through it. The barbeque was knocked over and most of the scattered almost-meat pieces had teeth marks on them.
Well, it looks like we have a mystery on our hands, I thought to myself as I got a closer look at the mess. Or hooves, whatever. What we need now is for a tall blonde guy, a redhead chick, a nerdy girl, a stoner with permanent munchies, and their Great Dane to all drive up in a flower-power van.
Spike sat up in his tube and rubbed his eyes before he realized that something was wrong. “What's going on?” he asked sleepily. “What happened to everypony?”
“We're trying to figure that out,” I said and scratched my head as I picked up the copy of Histories of the Griffon Kingdoms that Twilight had been reading. A bunch of the pages had been torn out and blew away in the wind. Well, that can't be good.
“Rarity's hat!” Spike grabbed the abandoned sunhat that was floating in the shallow water by the oak tree's roots and pressed it to his chest with a soggy crunch. “Don't worry, my love, we'll find you!” he promised the air.
Fluttershy started searching through the nearby brush. Every time that she pushed the scraggly vegetation aside, she shook her head and moved on to another location.
Rainbow Dash flew up above the trees and looked around. “No sign of 'em anywhere,” she announced after a minute or so.
I turned my head away to the left and scanned further along the shore. A speck of bright pink near the water's edge about fifty feet away caught my eye. I pointed it out and quickly walked over to it. The others wordlessly followed, still looking everywhere for any other clue.
The pink thing turned out to be Pinkie's saddlebag, which was half-buried in the mud. I noticed that there was a heavy lump about half the size of my head in the bottom as I picked it up. “Huh? Did she put a big rock in here?” I wondered out loud.
After opening the bag, the weight was revealed to be a bomb. Yes, a bomb. A stereotypical cartoony round black bomb with a long rope fuse. The only thing unusual about it (other than the fact that Pinkie had packed a fucking bomb for a relaxing trip to the lake) was that the fuse ended in a small metal plate with a LED screen flashing random colorful lights.
That screen was state-of-the-art futuristic technology by Equetrian standards, and of course Pinkie Pie was the one who owned it. And had it attached to an explosive. It makes perfect sense.
“Why is there a bomb in Pinkie's bag?” Rainbow nervously asked the obvious question that had no obvious answer.
Before I could even shrug or try to come up with some kind of explanation (as if there were any good ones), the mud beneath my feet liquified and I sunk right into it. Spike yelped as he was pulled into the ground as well, but his cry of surprise was cut off as the mud covered his mouth.
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy rushed downwards to help us, but I sank out of sight before their hooves could reach my hand. I thrashed my arms around, trying to claw my way back up, but I was already too far down to reach the surface and was quickly sinking even further.
I began to panic as I fought to breathe, but suddenly I fell out of the muck and into clean air. Well, it actually smelled like stale farts and moldy leftovers, but it was marginally better than the mud in the sense that I could actually inhale it.
A moment after my arrival, Spike fell through the ceiling as well. He landed on his back with a grunt and gasped for breath. He was covered from head to tail in muck, and I was pretty sure that I didn't look any better.
I wiped as much of the gunk out of my eyes as I could and took in our new surroundings. We were in a small, damp underground tunnel that was sparsely lit by glowing blue crystals that stuck out of the walls at irregular intervals. I wasn't quite sure how the mud had allowed us to sink through without falling in on itself or leaving a hole, but it somehow made up the ceiling of the passage. Magic, probably. Magic is always the answer.
“What just happened?” Spike asked as he got his breath back and rubbed at his spine. Then he sniffed at the air and violently plugged his nose. “Ugh! Diamond Dogs! I'd know that smell anywhere!”
“Diamond Dogs? Here?” I struggled to remember the proper episode of the show. They were filthy canines who had a hard-on for jewels and could dig through the dirt like a fish swimming through water.
Spike nodded and wiped his chest off. “They captured Rarity last time we met them, and they've probably ponynapped the others too! We've gotta save 'em!”
I glanced down at the bomb that I had somehow managed to hold onto during the trip through the mud and got a new idea. Maybe this will come in handy, I thought as I wiped the mud off the piece with the LED screen.
The lights read “ARMED” and several options were listed next to tiny buttons, including “ALTER MAGNITUDE” and “SET TIMER.” I pressed the one that said “REMOTE DELAYED DETONATION”. The metal plate snapped itself off of the fuse and fell into my hand.
“What are you doing?” Spike's eyes went wide. “Don't mess around with that thing!”
A few more button presses and I'd set the bomb to go off fifteen minutes after pressing a small red button that popped out of the back of the plate. I now had a remote detonator.
“Do you even know what you're doing?”
“Yep,” I said as I nonchalantly shoved the bomb back into the muddy ceiling, where it stuck somewhere out of sight. “I just got us a bargaining chip.”
“For what?” Spike rolled his eyes. “Even if that thing blows up and fills the tunnel, they'll just dig another one. Some chip.”
“We're right next to a lake,” I reminded him. “All it'll take to make it flood this whole place is a little encouragement, if you know what I mean. I'm pretty sure that they'll want to avoid that.”
Spike's mouth turned into a small “o” as he understood the implications. Then he gave the ceiling a nervous glance and purposely occupied himself with cleaning off the rest of his scales.
I slid the detonator into my back pocket and made a mental note to be careful if I sat down. I knew that using the bomb would be risky, but it could definitely make negotiating the release of our friends much easier.
* * * * *
Spike and I quickly ran down the tunnel, which lead even deeper underground. The passage twisted and turned frequently, so my sense of direction got completely screwed up early on. To make matters even worse, there were occasional forks to choose from that would sometimes loop completely around and end up right back where they'd started.
Every so often, I stuck my ear to the ground like Indians would do in those old TV shows. I could actually hear faint shuffling and a few muffled thumps, but I had no way of telling what caused them or where they were coming from. They seemed to be getting slowly louder as we kept moving, but I wasn't completely sure.
It was impossible to tell how long we'd been descending, but after what felt like at least an hour a light appeared at the end of the tunnel that was much brighter than the crystals that dotted the walls. There were definitely noises coming from up ahead as well; it sounded like guttural voices.
I turned to Spike and held a finger to my lips before crouching on all fours and sneaking forward like Gollum. He nodded and hugged the wall, scrambling over loose rocks and making as little noise as possible.
The light turned out to be coming from a huge torch-lit cavern that was filled with gigantic glowing crystals and gems that protruded from the rough walls and ceiling. Massive diamonds and titanic rubies jutted out beside gargantuan emeralds and colossal sapphires. Not one of them was smaller than my head, and most were bigger than a car. It was a jeweler's wet dream and an excavator's piss-yourself-in-terror nightmare. (Either way, you'd need to change your sheets after seeing the place, is what I'm saying.)
Our tunnel connected to the chamber at the base of a rocky ledge that wrapped all the way around the room in a natural ramp. There were several gray boulders just outside the connection, and we hid behind those, peeking over them to get a better look around.
The grunts that we'd heard came from a bunch of dogs that were about the same size as me. They wore rusty gray armor and helmets that left their legs and club-like tails free but covered their eyes. Most of them were just standing around or patrolling in circles, though a few were digging at the base of some of the giant gems.
Three of the dogs stood off to the side, clothed in tattered vests with small jewels poking out of their pockets and more hanging from the collars around their necks. I dimly recalled that they were the leaders.
“Move faster!” the smallest of the Diamond Dogs sniveled as he cracked a whip in the air. He was brown and vaguely resembled a bulldog with drooping ears and arms that were far too long for him.
I raised myself up slightly to see who he was yelling at and had to fight back a gasp of complete unsurprise. Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie were all yoked to carts that were piled high with gemstone fragments and were pulling them slowly across the room toward another tunnel. They all looked scared and trudged along obediently. Even Applejack sagged with fatigue and Pinkie looked defeated.
“He said move!” shouted the big blue oafish-looking dog as he swung his own whip and brought it down right on Rarity's flank. She tossed her head back with a grimace of pain. She didn't cry out or say anything because the Diamond Dogs had thought ahead and tied a muzzle onto each of the the ponies' snouts.
“Oh no you don't!” Spike tried to vault over the rocks, but I pulled him back and pinned him to the ground. He tried to struggle out of my grip and I had to shove my hand into his mouth to keep him quiet.
“Oh no you don't!” I hissed. “Listen, there's too many. If we just barge in there, they'll take us out too. We need to think of some kind of strategy.”
He spat my hand out with a disgusted look—it had been through the mud, after all—and quietly coughed a few times before trying to talk again. “Well, think faster. I'm not gonna just sit here and watch them get beaten up!”
Just as I was starting to put a plan together in my head, an angry growl came from behind us. We whipped around in time to see one of the guard dogs jump from the wall and barrel straight at us.
Spike managed to duck in time, but I wasn't so lucky. The dog's paws slammed into my chest and knocked me against the boulder. He leapt away again just as quickly with a screech of pain as Spike jabbed the point of his tail into the dog's unprotected leg. I booted the mutt in the side of his head, and he took off running back down the tunnel.
I would have been thankful for Spike's assistance, but that yelp turned the attention of all the Diamond Dogs straight to our location. Braying and barking filled the air and echoed in the cavern as they all charged right at us.
Shit. So much for strategy, I thought.
They cut off our retreat and we were quickly backed into a corner next to an absurdly big ruby that reached all the way to the vaulted ceiling. It was not an ideal situation for rescuing our friends. Suffice to say that I had not factored this possibility into my plan.
There were about thirty dogs in total, including the leaders. A few of them had crude maces or spears clutched in their paws, which they pointed menacingly in our direction. Their growls grew louder and a few of the dogs were even laughing to themselves.
The ponies had nothing holding them back except for the carts, but they were all too shocked by our appearance to realize this. I couldn't signal for them to run without their captors noticing.
“Stay back, you mutts!” I shouted as the Diamond Dogs began to close the gap. “One step closer and I'll set your brains on fire!”
I didn't even realize what I'd said until after the words had left my mouth, but the bluff seemed to make them pause for a moment. They shared glances (despite not having eye-holes in their helmets) and I could tell that they were mentally debating whether to risk it or not. They didn't know what I was, after all.
“It's true,” Spike quickly reassured them. “I saw him do it to Lyra yesterday because she looked at him funny. It was horrible, and she wouldn't stop screaming! Her skull popped right open and her brain was burnt to a crisp! He's crazy!”
Most of the dogs all took a few hurried steps back and put their tails between their legs. They suddenly seemed much less sure of themselves. Well, they didn't have to be smart, did they?
The gray medium-sized leader facepalmed (facepawed?) and muttered something to himself before turning to his smaller companion. “Spot, take him down!”
The brown bulldog leader shrank back with a whine and his ears drooped even more than before. “But...but...I like my brain the way it is.”
“Take him down!” the gray one screamed and jabbed a long finger at me.
Spot gulped and turned back to us. He set his face into a determined scowl and charged forward. Spike dove off to the side, but I stood my ground and waited, my hands curled into fists. The rest of the pack started howling in support of their sorta-leader's attack.
At just the right moment, I jumped forward and sunk my knee right into Spot's nose. Without missing a beat, I swung my arm down in a judo chop right to the back of his head. Spot crashed to the ground and slid to a bruised halt as his momentum stopped. He didn't move to get up.
The barking died down to shocked whimpers and some of the dogs retreated even further. They stared at me warily and stuck their tails between their legs again. The entire pack seemed to be having second thoughts.
The gray alpha pulled at his pointy ears in frustration. “Oh, you useless...Fido, you go and get him!”
“But boss...” the big blue dog protested. His yellow eyes were filled with fear.
The gray one grabbed him by the collar and forcefully shoved him at me. Fido seemed genuinely terrified, despite being slightly bigger than I was.
“Run while you can,” Spike suggested. Fido seemed to think that that was a good idea and slowly backed away.
The gray one wasn't having any of that. “I will skin you alive if you don't rip his head off this instant!” he shrieked. His sickly green eyes had become bloodshot in the last minute or so.
Fido seemed momentarily torn between fleeing from me or his boss until one of the armored dogs tossed a spear forward, which he desperately grabbed and pointed right at my face. The other dogs started growling again and banged on each other's armor like drums.
The blue dog narrowed his eyes and ran forward, jabbing the spear right at me. I ducked to the side and grabbed the weapon's shaft, but he shoved his shoulder into my chest and knocked me on my back.
The dogs howled louder than ever, screaming for blood.
As Fido moved in for the kill, Spike jumped onto his back and pulled at his neck. Fido responded to this by slamming his back into the giant ruby. Spike released his grip and slowly slid down the jewel's face when the dog pulled away. Little stars spun around the little dragon's head.
With that distraction out of the way, Fido turned his attention back to me and pointed the weapon at my head again. I rolled straight at him and shoved him back. I grabbed at the spear again and turned it sideways so that the point was away from either of us. We both pulled at it for a moment, and the veins on both of our arms popped out.
Then I twisted my grip and slammed the blunt end painfully into his jaw. Before he could recover from the blow, I tore the weapon out of his paws and pulled it against my knee. It snapped in half without much resistance. I smashed the blunt ends against his head in a quick flurry of heavy blows and finished with a double swing that hit home on both sides of his neck at once.
Fido crumpled to the ground right next to Spot with a grunt. He didn't try to get back up either.
Again the noise died down to whimpers. I was breathing pretty hard, despite not having done a whole lot. Adrenaline does that to you.
The gray leader seemed taken aback by Fido's not-moving status and my not-dead status. He tried to take a few steps away, then froze as I pointed my finger straight at him and slowly curled it back towards myself. Come get some, the gesture said. My blood was pumping and I felt invincible. I knew that getting too confident was dangerous, but I didn't really care at that point.
Only then did I realize that my right ass-cheek was really hurting. Then I realized why. Oh. Shit. Not good. This is really not good.
I cleared my throat and tried to keep the panic out of my voice as I called out the remaining alpha. “Do you want to try now?” My voice was much calmer than I felt.
“Uh, n-no...not really...” He tried to back away again.
“Is this your leader?” I spat at the armored dogs. “You follow this runt who tells you to do things that he's not willing to do?”
“Who are you calling a runt?” The gray one's eyes flashed in anger.
“You, obviously,” Spike called out from where he was eating the diamonds from Spot's collar.
“Shut up,” I hissed quietly and turned back to the gray dog. Even though it would be great to stage a full-scale uprising against him from his own troops, that might take a while. We didn't have a while to take.
“I could spend a few more minutes taking you all out even without frying your brains, but at the moment I'm more than willing to be merciful. If you release the ponies and leave this place for good, I'll let you all live.”
“And leave all theses gems behind?” He gestured at the giant jewels that decked out the cavern. “Forget it! We know that you'll just take them for yourselves. We'll never surrender our wealth to the ponies and...and whatever you are!”
This was taking too long. I almost thew another threat out, then a sudden thought entered my mind. It was absurd—there was no way that they'd accept it. Still...
Well, it's worth a shot. “In that case, I might have another proposition for you.”
His ears perked up at that. “And that is...?” he said warily.
I twisted the pointy end of the broken spear into the dirt to vent my growing agitation. “Listen up, Rover. We have—do you have a name?”
“Rover,” he growled.
“Well, listen up, Rover. What do you say to an accord that will provide a mutual benefit to all of us?”
The dogs all looked at each other in confusion. So did the ponies, who still hadn't made a move to escape. Spike raised an eyebrow as he chewed the last of Fido's gems.
“Go on,” Rover said, his curiosity overcoming his fear and anger.
“It's simple, really,” I said more evenly than I should have been able to. “It's called capitalism, or private enterprise if you prefer. Instead of stealing a bunch of ponies away and forcing them to work, you hire them. You pay them with a set percentage of the gems that they haul.”
“Why should we do that?” Rover sneered. “Why share instead of taking them all for ourselves?”
“Other than to avoid my wrath?” I casually nudged Spot's unconscious body with my shoe. “Because you'll get a lot more jewels in the long run. Like I said, you get to keep most of the gems, and they only earn more when they work harder. Working harder to increase their wages means more profits for you. Imagine, just as a quick example, that one pony gets ten percent of the gems, so they have to haul a hundred of them before they earn ten and you keep the other ninety. If they want to increase their take to twenty gems, they have to pull two hundred, and you get a hundred and eighty of them. Everyone wins.
“Also, since they'd be here of their own free will, you wouldn't have to worry about them escaping, which means that you could set these guards to doing something more productive than standing around to keep an eye on them. Have them dig up the gems or reinforce the tunnels or something.”
A few of the guards were nodding along and nudged each other, but Rover still looked skeptical. “What about the unicorns? We want them to help us find more gems when we're done here.”
“I'm sure that for the right price you could convince them to work for you every once in a while to find another motherlode of jewels.” Another random thought popped into my head and quickly took shape. “And speaking of them, Rarity could probably set up another shop specifically to sell jewelery in Canterlot if you invest a few loads of gems to help get it started. In return, she could give you shares in that store so that you have a say in how it functions and get a fraction of the total profits that come from it.”
Rarity's eyes bugged out of her head at the thought of partnering with the dogs, but I could tell that she was interested in the concept. Not everypony could say that they owned two successful businesses.
Rover tapped at his chin in thought. The other dogs kept shifting their attention between him and me. I frantically wished that he would hurry up and make his decision.
Finally, he nodded. “Alright, you have a deal.” He walked up and stretched out his dirty paw, which I shook firmly. Normally I would have been a little hesitant to touch something so filthy, but I was a little preoccupied and sucked it up.
I couldn't believe that it had actually worked. Maybe they were just that stupid after all. But we were still in a rush, so I didn't waste time dwelling on it.
I cleared my throat once more. “If that's settled, we'll be back tomorrow to work out the details and write up a contract. If you would be so kind as to show us the way out...”
“Why wait?” Rover's eyes suddenly narrowed again in suspicion. “We could get started now.”
“Because...” I threw my gaze around and saw Rarity again, her hair all disheveled and her coat caked with dust. I snapped my fingers and pointed right at her. “Because these ponies are all dirty and tired out, that's why. You can't make important business decisions and set regulations in this state! They need to rest and get themselves washed up.”
I grabbed Rover's vest and pulled him closer—I was careful to avoid breathing—so I could whisper in his ear. “And, between you and me, Rarity whines way too much when she's not perfectly clean.”
Rover nervously glanced over his shoulder and nodded enthusiastically. “I know what you mean. Very well, we'll meet here again tomorrow at dawn. You four!” he snapped his fingers at the nearest armored dogs, who came to attention. “Release the prisoners and lead them all to the surface. Make it quick, so that she doesn't have a chance to start whining again.”
* * * * *
The trip back to the open air was quick, but not fast enough for my preference. Our escorts didn't seem to notice my agitation, and lead us rapidly through the twisting tunnels and into the sunlight. We emerged from a large rocky cave that jutted out of a hill about a quarter of the way around the lake from the site of our ruined picnic.
Pinkie bounced along, humming a happy song to herself as we left the darkness behind. The other ponies and Spike let out sighs of relief. I still glanced around nervously. We weren't safe yet.
I jumped as Rarity started talking. “Jesse, I must say that you were quite clever back in that cave. And the new business opportunity! It's like a dream come true! This deal is the chance of a lifetime!”
I felt a rock of guilt drop into the pit of my stomach. She looked so happy, and I had bad news for her.
I twisted around to make sure that the guard dogs weren't listening too closely and whispered back. “Sorry, Rarity, but I was just talking out of my ass back there. There's not gonna be a deal.”
“What?” both she and Twilight asked at the same time, completely caught off guard.
“I'll explain later. Listen up; I'm not sure how much time we have left, so we need to get away ASAP. Pinkie, count to five. When she's done, everypony run into the forest.”
“Okie dokie lokie,” Pinkie said with a smile, still bouncing and not questioning my order. “One, one, it's so much fun! Two, two, don't be blue! Thre—”
A massive explosion shot out of the mud near our picnic site, throwing chunks of the ground into the air and shaking the lake into a mass of choppy waves. The ground heaved violently and threw us all forward. The dogs growled in confusion.
“Shit, just run!” I yelled and sprinted for the trees. I could hear the clopping of the four ponies' hooves right at my heels as they followed my lead. Angry barks and the pounding of the dogs' feet followed closely as they gave chase a moment later. I turned around in time to see Spike blow a few green flames to keep them at bay as he struggled to hold onto Twilight's mane.
We reached the treeline quickly, where the tangled roots of the trees would prevent any Diamond Dogs from digging after us. That's what I was hoping, anyway.
Two of the armored dogs ran right into tree trunks (eye-holes were invented for a reason) and a third got tangled in the brush. The last one seemed to be slightly more competent and managed to catch up behind Applejack. She bucked him right in the face for his trouble and he ran off with a howl of pain.
More barks sounded out behind us, but the dogs couldn't travel as quickly as the ponies while we were above ground. After a few more minutes of running, the braying faded and we stopped to rest in a small rocky clearing.
“Just...just what was that commotion?” Rarity asked as she gasped for breath. “What happened back there?”
“A bomb,” I replied as I got my own energy back. “We found it in Pinkie's bag.”
“You used my bomb?” Pinkie frowned at me incredulously. “I was saving that!”
“Why did you set it off when things were going so great?” Twilight asked. She sounded a little upset too.
“I didn't mean to!” I said a bit too defensively. “I was going to use it as a threat so that we could get them to release you, but they attacked before I could mention it. Then when Fido knocked me down, I hit the button by accident and started the timer.”
“That's what happened?” said Spike. “I was wondering why you never brought it up. So...now we've just flooded all the tunnels and the cavern with all the jewels in it? Right when we could have made a great deal to keep the Diamond Dogs from ponynapping ever again and helped Rarity start another store?”
“Uh...yeah. Pretty much.” It did sound really bad when he put it like that.
The others all purposely moved their gazes away from me. I suddenly had a flashback to seventh grade, when I was one of those kids that everyone avoided for no particular reason. Only, in this case, they had a pretty damn good reason.
Christ, you really fucked that one up, I told myself as I pulled the now-useless detonator out of my back pocket and tossed it into the trees. Dammit.
“Oh, come on!” Rarity spoke up with an edge of anger in her voice. “Jesse just saved us from a lifetime of slavery, and you're all upset about some silly business contract that probably would have fallen apart anyway? Why, we should all—”
“Hey, there you are!” Rainbow Dash's loud voice interrupted as she flew down from a cloud with Fluttershy following more slowly. “What happened to everypony? And do any of you know why the lake's draining away?”
“Dashie!” Pinkie shouted excitedly and jumped straight up into the blue pegasus' hooves. “It was really weird! First those meanie Diamond Dogs captured us, then Jesse and Rover tried to make a deal, then my bomb exploded, and did you know that giraffes can clean their own ears with their tongues? That's just so gross!”
“Is that...you...wait, what?” Rainbow looked confused, then shook her head to clear it. “Forget it, let's just get the hell outta here.”
“Pinkie, why did you even have a bomb in your bag?” Fluttershy asked as she landed on the ground and walked with the rest of us. Heading back to Ponyville seemed like the proper thing to do at this point.
“I had it in case we ran into a chupacabra, duh,” Pinkie said cheerfully as she hopped along, as if that were the most obvious thing in the world.
“An' jus' what the hay is a chupathingy?” Applejack asked, then shook her head. “Ya know what, on second thought, I don' really wanna know.”
The rest of the trip back to town was quiet except for the wind in the trees and Pinkie's humming.
* * * * *
“'Dear Princess Celestia,'” Twilight spoke aloud as she used her magic to write a note. “'Today my friends and I learned that, even though things don't always go perfectly, they can still work out. Sometimes you just have to settle for what's good enough and realize that complaining about what might have been won't improve the situation.'”
“That's not very inspirational,” I paused in my drawing and twirled my pencil around. Spike lowered the stick that he was holding and relaxed. On the paper, he was swinging a sword to defend a cowering Rarity from a rabid manticore.
Twilight sighed. “I know. I really did learn a lot today, but I'm having trouble finding the right words to describe it.” With a groan of frustration she crumpled up the letter and dropped it into a waste bin. There were six other rejected drafts of the same note already in there.
I turned back to my drawing and frowned as I added a few lines to Rarity's horn. “I still think she's upset. Rarity, I mean.”
“Of course she's not,” Twilight insisted with a forced smile. “She said so herself that the deal probably would have fallen apart, and she was right. Those Diamond Dogs are greedy creatures, so it's pretty unlikely that they'd accept a contract that's fair to us.”
“But we'll never know for sure,” Spike hefted his stick and stuck his heroic pose again, then shrugged as Twilight glared at him. “What? It's true.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and got out a new piece of paper. “Ugh,” she growled in frustration. “I don't even know where to begin this thing!”
“How about you start by saying that making a decision too fast can come back to bite a chunk out of your ass,” I offered.
“That's great, can I quote you on that?” she asked sarcastically, then her face brightened. “Why don't you write the letter? I'm sure the Princess would love to hear about it all from your perspective.”
“Oh hells no,” I protested as she levitated the quill and paper to me. “I can't write to a Princess! What am I supposed to say? Forget about the deal, I managed to—”
Twilight cut me off. “If you don't want to write it, maybe I can convince Princess Celestia to come to Ponyville so that you can just tell her face-to-face. I'm sure she wouldn't mind at all.”
“On second thought, writing doesn't sound so bad,” I muttered. At least then I wouldn't have to worry about answering questions unless the Princess wrote back. Not to mention that this way I would avoid her possible—if unlikely—fury at being summoned away from her palace. I didn't really like the idea of being banished to the moon.
I had to write it out a few times. Twilight gave me a few tips and Spike offered occasional insight such as “She doesn't need to know your life story, man,” and “That sounds stupid, use a different word.” Eventually, I got it into a somewhat presentable form:
Dear Princess Celestia,
I am Jesse the human, writing to you at the request of Twilight Sparkle. I know that she will occasionally send you a report on her what she learns about friendship, and she has decided that I should make one of my own based on the experiences of today.
What I learned from our ordeal is that a hasty decision, even when made with the best intentions, can occasionally cause a great deal of harm. Despite this, choices must be made and their consequences must be faced. You need to learn from the mistakes that you make and not allow them to keep you from moving forward.
On another note, I also learned that leaders need to be considerate of their followers and should never give orders that they wouldn't be willing to follow. Such a ruler only plants the seeds of their own destruction and will one day find themselves abandoned by their subjects. In this way, you may rest assured that your reign will far outlast Rover the Diamond Dog's.
I greet you on behalf of Earth and look forward to one day making your acquaintance.
Jesse
It wasn't the best letter that I've ever written, but it was short and summed everything up in a fairly concise manner. I never claimed to be a great writer, anyway. (I know what you're thinking right now, and shut up about the irony. Nopony likes a smartass.)
After Spike sent the note, we got back to my drawing. Despite what Twilight and my letter had said, I could have sworn that the charcoal Rarity's eyes were secretly accusing me of stealing away a perfect opportunity from her.
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Shadowmane
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882
| 6 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Main 6,Original Character,Spike,Trixie,Human,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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An American Dude in Equestria
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This is the tale of how some schmuck from California found himself in Equestria.
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complete
| 208 | 21 |
<p>A botched spell brings a human into the land of ponies. Could this possibly lead to offbeat hijinks? Read on to find out.</p><br/><br/><p>Note that this story and all subsequent parts takes place between the first and second seasons of the show.</p>
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teen
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2011-09-26T05:47:11+00:00
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2011-09-26T05:47:11+00:00
| 8,513 |
“I raise quarter horses. Mine are mostly thoroughbred cross horses, a little bigger horses than some people like. I used to raise ponies too, but then Pinkie Pie gave me diabeetus.” — Wilford Brimley
I made a few more lines on the chalkboard and stepped back so that the others could see clearly. “Now, this chunk of land up here is called Alaska. It's part of America too, but hardly anyone lives there because it's mostly covered in ice. The cities are all in the southern parts.”
I'd decided to start small when interacting with the rest of Ponyville's population, and taking a day to teach the school-foals had seemed like a fairly innocuous step. They'd all warmed up to the idea of learning about an alien world and—after I promised to refrain from laying eggs in their brains or enslaving them into my evil zombie army—they practically dragged me into the schoolhouse. Several different classes had gathered into one room to attend my lecture, and the place was just slightly crowded.
Scootaloo carefully raised her hoof so that she wouldn't accidentally hit her neighbors. “Why's it all the way up there? Why isn't the rest of the place America too?”
“It's another country,” I patiently explained to the classroom. “It's called Canada, and they've given the rest of the planet a few good things. Stuff like maple syrup, Rush, and Colin Mocherie, but they haven't had a huge impact on the world. As for why they're between Alaska and the other states, the French claimed a lot of this territory first hundreds of years ago. Eventually the settlers declared their independence and became their own nation, which is something that happened a lot on this side of the Atlantic.” I knew that that last bit was a huge oversimplification, but it would suffice for the time being. I never learned a whole lot about Canadian history anyway. (Or lack thereof. Zing!)
“What's that place down there?” a red unicorn filly that I didn't recognize pointed to the bottom right portion of my chalk map. I'd somehow screwed up the scale and made the landmass in question almost as big as Russia. Oh well.
“That island's another country called Australia. Just about everything that moves there will try to kill you. It's infested with giant spiders, poisonous snakes, crocodiles, and dingoes. Don't even get me started on the dingoes. For a long time, the whole place was used as a natural prison for criminals, because no—”
“Fascinating,” a bored voice drawled from the back of the room. “But I was under the impression that our otherworldly visitor to be up to something more impressive than becoming a common school teacher.”
Everypony turned in their desks to see who was talking, and there were scattered gasps as they laid eyes on the source of the interruption. A blue unicorn mare was calmly sitting on top of a spare desk in the corner with her legs crossed. Her pointy purple hat and cape were covered in circles and stars, and that haughty smirk was unmistakable. It was Trixie the sorceress.
Cheerilee coughed softly from her paper-strewn desk. “I'm sorry, but you seem to be a little old for my classroom. And if you don't want to hear what our guest speaker has to offer, I'll have to ask you to leave.”
“The Great and Powerful Trixie does not have time for your prattling,” Trixie said dismissively. She hopped down from the desk, stuck her nose in the air, and loftily stepped around the students to the front of the classroom. “Surely the human has heard of Trixie's amazing talents just as she has heard of him even as far away as Baltimare. Such a shame that you ponies would have one of such exalted reputation in this ramshackle town.”
“Are you the magician that they won't stop talking about?” I asked. I actually hadn't heard a single word about her, but I decided to lead her on anyway.
Trixie sniffed and theatrically held a hoof to her chest. “I am not just a magician. I am the one and only Great and Powerful Trixie!” If we hadn't been in such cramped quarters, she probably would have set off some fireworks out for emphasis.
“So you said. Well, Great and Powerful Trixie, I've heard that your disappearing act is the best part of your shows. Could you skip ahead to that and let us get back to the lesson?”
A few giggles came from the seated foals, which seemed to irritate the unicorn. She narrowed her eyes dangerously. “You dare to mock me? You will not spurn the Great and Powerful Trixie so contumeliously!”
“That's a big word,” I returned mildly.
“If you want, next time I'll say it slower,” she shot back.
I leaped forward and grabbed her by the neck. “HOW DARE YOU STEAL A JOKE FROM THE GREATEST CANADIAN WHO EVER LIVED?” I shouted as I ripped her horn right out of her forehead and shoved it straight into her eye. As Trixie screamed in pain, the students all turned into purple gorillas and started smacking each other with ginormous pink dildos before lapsing into a massively bloody orgy.
No, none of that last paragraph actually happened. You should see the look on your face right now.
Her comment just annoyed me. “Look, if you want to talk, you'll just have to wait until after we're done here. We still have another...” I glanced at the clock on the wall. “...hour and a half to go, give or take.”
Trixie flipped her mane through the air with a sigh. “Very well. But do not think that you have seen the last of the Great and Powerful Trixie!”
With a puff of gray smoke, the interrupting pony vanished. The door slammed shut just behind a retreating whitish blue tail.
I rolled my eyes and turned back to the chalk board. I'd deal with her later. But first I had a bunch of foals to teach.
“Okay, now where was I? Were we talking about Australia or Austria? Did I mention a bunch of killer animals or the Governator?...”
* * * * *
After talking a little more about Earth and its various countries, I dismissed the class. The colts and fillies all seemed a little reluctant to leave, but their need to go outside and play overcame their desire to hear more.
“Thank you again for coming in,” Cheerilee said brightly as the last of the students left the room. “I've never seen them so interested in learning before.”
“My pleasure, we should do it again some time,” I said as I took a sip from a small wooden bottle of tea. That day's brew tasted like apricots and raspberries.
I'd never been a big fan of tea on Earth, but the the ponies had hundreds of different kinds to choose from. It was like they'd heard about Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and took it as a personal challenge. There were the ordinary types, like various fruits, berries, and candies, but they also came in some pretty wild varieties such as deviled egg, pickles, hoof polish, and dish soap. The stuff was addictive as all hell, and I'd gotten into the mindset of “Gotta drink 'em all.”
“Are you finally done?” came that pesky voice. The blue unicorn came back through the door with little ceremony.
I sighed. “Yes, Trixie, we're done.”
“I am the Grea—”
“Not right now, you're not,” I cut her off with a wave of my hand. “Just drop it, I'm not gonna add three extra words every time I say your name. Now what do you want, anyway?” I knew that I was acting like a prick despite having just met her, but something about her just rubbed me the wrong way.
“I-I think I'll just be going,” Cheerilee excused herself as she gathered all the papers into her saddlebags. “Would you mind locking the door when you're done?”
Trixie waited until the teacher left before setting her hat down on the nearest desk and shaking her pale mane out. “As you are obviously aware, I am the greatest magician that Equestria has ever been so graced to have walk upon it. I am not called the Great and Powerful Trixie for nothing; I earned the right to use that title through years of dedication to my craft.
“Though my talents have been contested many times, not once have I ever been defeated in an official one-on-one test of skill. As such, I have no laudable competition and I seek a worthy adversary to contend with. This world has been lacking the kind of challenge that I desire, so perhaps a visitor from another one will suffice.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Are you challenging me to a magic duel?”
“I believe that 'competition' might be a better word, but yes. Do you accept?”
I shrugged and picked up my bottle of tea again. “Alright, you win. Since I can't even use magic, you're the victor by default. Congratulations. Now if you'll excuse me...”
Trixie's eyes went wide. “What? Do you honestly expect me to believe that you could be the subject of such tales and renown without any kind of magic at all?”
“I honestly don't know what stories you've been hearing, and I don't really care,” I muttered as I made for the door. “But no, I can't use magic. Never have, probably never will. Have a nice day.”
My last sentence dripped with scorn as I shut the door in Trixie's aghast face.
* * * * *
An hour after leaving the schoolhouse, I was busy helping Fluttershy in her cottage. A few of her animals had gotten sick recently, and I hadn't been doing anything important, so I decided to offer my assistance. I've always been pretty good at handling animals, and her pets were fairly trusting of me.
I was holding a small gray rabbit still while Fluttershy fed him some carrot soup when the door slammed open. The rabbit jumped out of my grip at the sudden noise and hopped behind a stack of pillows. Trixie stood in the doorway, her cape fluttering lightly in a sudden breeze.
Fluttershy squealed in panic at the sudden noise and quickly flew behind her couch. “T-take w-whatever you want. It's all yours! J-just don't hurt us!” she fearfully stammered as she tried to shrink out of sight.
“As if you have anything worth taking,” Trixie cast a disdainful eye over everything in sight. “Trixie is here to speak with the human.”
“Is this about your challenge again?” I asked irritatedly. I was already getting tired of this.
Trixie put on a wicked smile. “It is, and I believe that you will reconsider now. You see, the Great and Powerful Trixie has something that she believes you will want very much. Somepony, to be more accurate.”
Trixie's horn glowed and a swirling portal of light appeared in the air. The scene that the spell depicted was dark and indistinct. It seemed to be some sort of cave that I wasn't familiar with, but I did recognize the huddled white-and-purple shape...
“Rarity!” Fluttershy gasped from her hiding place. “What have you done with her?”
“Isn't it obvious?” Trixie cast a miffed glance at the timid pegasus as she let the picture fade away. “I've captured her, and if you want to get her back anytime soon, the human must accept my challenge.”
“So you've pulled the stereotypical damsel-in-distress routine?” I asked, pretty annoyed at how cliché this was. “Let me guess, if I lose you'll keep her forever and—”
“Celestia, no!” Trixie shook her head. “I'll release her either way, so long as you make a genuine effort to best me. She's more annoying than I thought possible. I'll just hang onto her for another week or two if you refuse, and I doubt that she would be happy with that. Imagine how irate she will be if you decline now and leave her in my custody for that long.”
So maybe this wasn't quite that cliché after all. “Alright then,” I muttered through gritted teeth. “I accept your challenge. What are the rules to this magic business?”
“It's quite simple,” Trixie said, and she put on her theatrical airs again. “There are three rounds to an official magic competition: a card trick, a light or illusion show, and finally whatever act the magicians wish to end with. Best two out of three wins. A crowd will watch and decide which of us is the greater magic-user.
“We will meet tomorrow at noon in Ponyville's town square. You have until then to prepare.”
With a triumphant smirk, Trixie dramatically drew up her cape and another cloud of smoke announced her departure. The door slammed shut and the escaped rabbit hopped away again, this time heading for the kitchen.
The silence went on for a few moments before a flustered Fluttershy (Flustershy?) stepped back out in the open. She looked a little upset at what had just happened.
“Ohhh, that Trixie makes me so angry, I-I could just...I could just...” Her wings flapped in agitation and she drew her hooves high into the air to give the floor a furious stomp...
Tap.
With that out of her system, she turned to me. “What are you going to do? You can't use magic, you said so yourself. How are you going to beat her and get Rarity back?”
I was still glaring at where Trixie had been standing. “There's one thing better than having magic,” I muttered to myself in that special calm voice that you can only pull off when you're really pissed. The gears in my brain were turning rapidly. “And that's making everyone else think that you do even after you tell them that you don't.”
* * * * *
Twilight's horn glowed as we walked along the rocky hills south of Ponyville. She was using a modified version of Rarity's jewel-finding spell, but we were looking for something other than gems at the moment. It was pretty late in the day for that, but we had to work fast if everything was going to be ready before the next morning.
“Ya know,” Applejack drawled as she followed the two of us, “I don' get why yer goin' ta so much trouble. It seems ta me that ya could jus' show up, pretend ta give a care how this turns out, an' let 'er win. We'd get Rarity back jus' the same, so why're ya gonna even bother puttin' on a halfway decent show?”
I shook my head and stepped over a jagged stone. “We have a saying on Earth: If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing. I'm gonna make Trixie regret forcing me into this.”
“Don't go too far,” Twilight warned seriously. “Hubris has always been Trixie's problem. But I understand what you're saying. Who knows how much extra boasting she would do? Saying that she'd defeated a human would stroke her ego to no end.”
I couldn't help but snort at that. “I'll bet that's exactly what she's aiming for. It would almost be worth throwing the challenge just to see her face when that dream gets crushed.”
Both ponies raised an eyebrow at me. “What d'ya mean by that?” Applejack asked.
Before answering, I readjusted the saddlebags so that they sat more evenly on my shoulders. One was already filled with several pounds of white powdery saltpeter. “Think about it for a minute, Applejack. I'm only here because of Twilight's spell, so that technically makes me her minion. So even if Trixie does somehow manage to win, it'll count as a point against Twilight, not me. And since the 'Great and Powerful Trixie' already lost to her once, she'll have to challenge Twilight and win again before she can say that she's the best.”
“How did you know that?” Twilight asked. “I don't remember telling you about the Ursa Minor.”
“Fluttershy mentioned it earlier,” I quickly lied with an inward wince. Strike one.
Applejack raised her other eyebrow at that, but Twilight gave a soft “Aha!” before she could ask any more questions. Twilight's glowing horn pointed right into a shallow crevice in a steep cliff face. A pungent odor like rotten eggs wafted out of the crack.
“Eww,” Applejack brought her hoof to her nose. “Tha' smells 'most as bad as them Diamond Dogs. Do we really need this stuff?”
“Yes,” I insisted as I a small hammer and chisel from one of the bags and began harvesting the smelly yellow rocks that lined the crack's interior. It looked like I could get as much as I needed from that one spot. “Now, Twilight, we need to change the spell again. We need lodestones, can you find some of those? Just a few small ones should be enough.”
* * * * *
I didn't get a chance to sleep that night. I kept a small gas lamp burning (kept far away from what I was working on, of course) into the early hours of the morning as I frantically put everything together. I'd done several all-night study binges for college finals before, but if it hadn't been for the copious amounts of hot cinnamon-flavored tea, I might not have managed to keep myself alert.
The ponies had all offered to help, but beyond a few quick uses of Twilight's duplication spell—which she'd finally gotten to work right at some point—and Fluttershy's assistance at something that I couldn't do myself, I insisted on working alone. This was partially out of concern for their safety and partially because what I had in mind had a very small margin for error.
Pinkie Pie took it upon herself to set out a plate of cupcakes for me, but I was too busy grinding up pieces of scrap copper into powder to notice until several hours later. I could hear them muttering among themselves that I was really dedicating myself to getting Rarity back, almost to the point of obsession. Or something like that. I was a bit too preoccupied with setting a spring in place—and imagining what looks would come onto Trixie's face throughout the contest—to hear everything that they were saying. The others eventually got bored of staring at me hunched over the table and left me to continue my preparations in the main room of the library by myself.
I tried to keep the noise level down after Spike and Twilight went to bed, but failed miserably at it. I'm not sure how they managed to sleep through the hammering, sawing, metallic clicks and rasping, and a series of small explosions that rang out from downstairs. Or maybe I kept waking them up and they were just too polite to tell me to knock it off.
By the time that I was satisfied with what I'd made, the sun had already broken away from the horizon. My fingers were sore. My head hurt. My back ached. My eyes and throat burned from the acrid smoke that hung in the air. But everything was ready, and that was what really mattered. I'd never learned much about performing magic beyond watching a few TV specials and reading a couple of books, but, even without Tesla's cloning device, Ponyville was still in for one hell of a show.
I sighed and pushed my chair back onto its back legs. I closed my eyes for just a moment while I stretched my arms out, then opened them again.
A pair of green eyes stared right back.
“Shit!” I frantically pulled away from the unexpected stare. I overbalanced in the chair and the back of my head smacked into the floorboards. That's one way to wake yourself back up.
“Are you alright?” Sweetie Belle asked with concern.
“No,” I muttered as I rubbed the back of my skull. “What are you doing here?”
The little unicorn tucked a stray bit of her mane behind her ear. “I've been looking for you. I'm worried about my sister, and Apple Bloom said that Applejack said that you're going to get her back. Is that true?”
I really should have expected this, but I'd been focused more on beating Trixie than saving Rarity. I could say that this was because she would be released only if I gave Trixie a real challenge first, but I would be lying if I did. In truth, I'd treated the whole affair as a personal attack that deserved a personal response, and Rarity was just a niggling detail.
I set that thought aside and nodded. “Don't worry, she'll be free tomorrow. You can count on it.”
Sweetie Belle gave me a big smile, followed by an even bigger hug around my waist. “Thank you thank you thank you!” she said breathlessly as her grip tightened. “I miss her so much!”
I gently pulled away from her embrace. She'd stuck her face right into my crotch again and her horn was digging into my gut. “Don't worry,” I repeated softly. “And save some of that energy for Rarity. I bet she's missing you too right now.”
She sniffed and nodded. “She really likes you, you know. She kept talking about how you saved her from the Diamond Dogs, and now she'll be talking about how you saved her from Trixie. She says that you're the best human ever, and I know it's true!”
“Uh...yeah, not really,” I shifted my weight uncomfortably. “There are plenty of other humans who are better than me. I'm just the only one who's here.”
“Well, you're the only one we need,” Sweetie Belle said brightly. “I'll be watching the show and cheering for you.”
With that, she trotted out of the library and into the morning light. It was only a few minutes after she left that I realized that her last sentence might be a really bad thing.
* * * * *
News of the upcoming duel had spread like wildfire throughout Ponyville. As the sun reached for the highest point in the sky, just about every pony in town and a few from nearby villages had gathered at the rickety wooden stage that had been hastily constructed in the middle of the town square. Every cloud in the sky had been repurposed by the pegasi to serve as deluxe seats.
Behind the stage's curtain, I checked all of my equipment yet again. I knew that everything was in order, but the back of my mind kept nagging at me to take another look just in case something was missing. I told myself that I was just nervous and tired, but insisting that everything was fine didn't help at all.
I raised the wooden bottle to my mouth and took a big swallow of sugary blueberry tea. There hadn't been a single mention of any kind of coffee in Equestria, so it would have to do. I knew that I needed to keep myself awake and alert, or else things could go really bad really fast.
Hoofsteps sounded out behind me. I turned and saw a smirking Trixie walk up, followed by a small orange earth pony that I'd never seen before. His blond mane and tail were fairly long for a stallion and a pair of dark green stars adorned his flanks.
The unicorn threw her nose in the air and raised a hoof to the sky. “So, how does it feel to know that you are going to be going head to head against the Great and Powerful Trixie? Do you feel the honor flooding your veins? Can you hear the overwhelming awe of this moment echoing within your soul?”
I resisted the urge to tell her that I was going to make her eat those words. Better to wait and let it hit her in the face a few minutes later.
“Where's Rarity?” I asked instead.
“You'll get your fillyfriend back after your performance,” Trixie declared with a wave of her hoof. “We can't risk having the two of you running away after drawing such a crowd, can we?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, sure. One thing, though.”
“Oh?” Trixie stopped and turned somewhat more solemn for a moment. “And what is that?”
“Don't fuck with my act,” I said with deadly seriousness. “I'm not kidding around, just don't. If you interfere, you could get somepony killed.”
The orange pony shrank back at my tone, and even Trixie seemed to get the message. Then she put on another smile. “Very well, the Great and Powerful Trixie will not 'fuck' with your routine, whatever that means. Come along, Raiment.”
With that, the pair trotted along to the other side of the backstage, probably to get some last-minute practicing in. I swallowed some more tea and checked everything for the eighth time, almost hoping that there was something out of place so that I could justify the urge to keep looking for it.
Before I could start a ninth search, the magical intercom buzzed to life. “Good day, fillies and gentlecolts!” Spike's amplified voice rang out. “We are here to witness a standoff between two legendary figures. A magical contest of epic proportions that is sure to be told of for ages to come! First is the Gre—Oh Celestia, I can't read this! You can't seriously...wait, are we still going? Oh! It's, uh, Trixie!”
A puff of smoke and a few small fireworks announced the unicorn's arrival on the stage. “That's the Great and Powerful Trixie!” she shouted as the smoke cleared. “And she shall smite anypony who forgets her title!”
A few ponies at the rear of the crowd clopped their hooves politely, but most of the audience kept silent and gave Trixie a distrusting stare. I pulled my hood up while I waited for my turn.
“Well, uh, okay then,” Spike started again. “Also, we have the mysterious human from Earth performing as well. Please welcome Jesse to the stage! Just Jesse? Does he seriously not have any kind of title yet?...What do you mean it's still going?”
I didn't bother with a flashy appearance and simply walked out onto the stage. My footsteps echoed loudly on the wooden planks. I could feel everypony's eyes on me, and I suddenly had a pressing urge to scratch my groin. Of course the itching only starts when I can't do anything about it, I thought in annoyance.
My welcome was a bit more lively than Trixie's had been, but not by much. The ponies curiously eyed the hooded black cloak that I was wearing. Fluttershy had put it together for me, and even though it wasn't as comfortable or well-fitting as Rarity could have made it, it would serve its purpose just fine. The fact that it hid most of my face was just a bonus, albeit one that made me look like a total badass. (I'm not just saying that; Black cloak + bitchin' goatee = awesome. It's science.)
Spike's magically aided voice cleared its throat. “Now that they're both here, let the contest begin! The first round is card tricks, and as Trixie is—”
“The Great and Powerful Trixie!”
“...As the Great and Powerful Trixie is the challenger, she will perform first.”
Trixie closed her eyes and pulled her hat off. She reached into it and slowly drew out some cards that I recognized as part of a deck used in Phase. It was a pony game that used sixty cards at once, but only a dozen of them were unique. Each card had between one and twelve black dots on its face, and there were five identical cards for every number in each deck.
Trixie's deck only consisted of the twelve cards, which she telepathically shuffled. “Take a card, Raiment,” she said with authority as she splayed the cards outward.
After her orange assistant took his pick and showed it to the crowd, Trixie shuffled the cards again in a rapid flurry of mid-air motion. From where I was standing, I could see that one of the cards was hanging almost motionless in the air, while the others shielded it from the audience's view.
Eleven of the cards dropped to the stage, leaving the unmoving one still in the air. “Did you pick the two?” Trixie asked proudly and showed it to the gathered ponies.
There was a smattering of reluctant clopping from the crowd. Then their attention was returned to me.
I quickly stuck my hand inside my cloak, reached into a hidden pocket, and pulled out a 52-card deck. There were gasps from the audience, and Trixie's eyes went wide. I ignored her and turned to the gathered crowd while casually shuffling the cards.
“I'll need a volunteer,” I said loudly. “Somepony who has a strong stomach and will be willing to do something a bit odd...”
“Me! Me! Me!” Pinkie Pie pulled herself onto the stage. “Pick me! I'll do it!”
“Okay, you'll do,” I handed her the deck. “Pick a card, any card. Show everypony but me what it is and then stick it face-down on top of the rest.”
I turned around while Pinkie did so and reached into a second pocket. I would have to be really careful now.
“All done!” Pinkie announced proudly as she gave me back the deck.
“Thank you,” I muttered as I quickly slipped my fingers around. Nopony seemed to notice the slight of hand, and I began shuffling the cards again. “Now, Miss Great and Powerful Trixie, would you care to look through this deck and confirm that Pinkie's card is in there and that every single card is unique?”
Trixie roughly levitated the deck out of my hand and looked through the cards. Her eyebrows shot up into her hat as she realized that all fifty-two cards were different, and I could imagine her thinking how crazy I must be to use such a deck for this kind of trick.
After a minute, she swallowed and nodded. “Trixie has seen the pink one's card.”
“Go ahead and shuffle it again if you like,” I said. She did so for a few moments. Raiment cocked his head to the side in puzzlement.
I turned to the pink mare. “Pinkie, would you kindly eat the deck?”
“I will do it, yes I can, 'cause I know the candy man!” Pinkie cheerfully trotted over to Trixie's part of the stage and shoved the floating cards into her mouth.
The entire crowd, including Spike's voice and Trixie, all gasped as Pinkie chewed and swallowed. A lot of them had their mouths hanging open, and they were probably wondering why I'd just sabotaged my own trick. I let the confusion drag on for a few moments longer before I stepped over and grabbed Pinkie's fluffy mane.
I rummaged around in her hair for a second before pulling a card out of it and holding it up for all to see. “Did you pick the ten of hearts?”
The audience burst into gleeful cheering and clopping. Trixie shrank back, a worried expression on her face. Pinkie hummed to herself and stifled a belch as she made her way back into the crowd. At least the ink shouldn't be toxic, I told myself as I watched her go.
“Wow, I think it's safe to say that Jesse's won the first round! Now it's on to the light and illusion show. It's Trix—I mean, the Great and Powerful Trixie's turn again.”
Trixie shot me a dirty look and touched the big sapphire that held her cape together at her neckline. The sun dimmed until it could have been midnight. A few ponies looked around in panic, but most just held still and watched.
Out of the darkness came a light. Trixie's gem glowed blue and green, driving back the shadows. The audience gasped and the light glinted in their wide eyes.
Suddenly more colors poured out of the jewel and twisted through the artificial blackness in bright red and yellow tendrils that twirled and whipped around in a complicated pattern like a gymnast's ribbons. The ponies all “ohh”ed and “ahh”ed and somepony in the middle “Muffins!”ed.
After almost half a minute, the sun came back and the magical lights disappeared back into the sapphire. The audience again clopped in approval and Trixie gave me a smug grin.
“Your turn,” she scoffed almost too quietly for me to hear.
I reached back behind the stage curtain and pulled out a heavy elongated cone made of red paper and cardboard. Little black plywood fins jutted out from its base. I carefully set the thing down in the center of the stage and pulled a long fuse out of the bottom.
At this moment I need to stop and point something out: the ponies hadn't invented gunpowder. All of Trixie's fireworks and Pinkie's bomb used a special magic dust that violently burned and fizzled but didn't explode per se. It was a small but extremely important difference.
My firework was filled with black powder.
I'd tested the stuff the night before and had gotten the charcoal, saltpeter, and sulfur to a mixture that worked pretty good, but those had all been small trial runs. This would be the moment of truth. I flicked a small lighter (yes, the ponies had made those) and set the chord ablaze in a shower of orange sparks.
“Stand back!” I warned the crowd and retreated to the end of the stage. The fuse was already almost gone, and I silently wondered if my rocket would fly into the air and shoot out a trail of green sparks like it was supposed to. Or would it just blow up where it was? Maybe it'll explode twice, I joked to myself.
Actually, none of that happened. The fuse burned all the way, but it didn't set the damn thing off. As the seconds ticked by, the crowd restlessly waited for something, anything to take place. But the rocket just sat there on the stage.
I found out later that, in my rush to get the thing put together, I'd forgotten to actually attach the fuse to the initial thrusters. I had made a perfectly good rocket, but disastrously screwed up one little thing and made the whole thing useless. I'm glad that I don't work for NASA.
Well, that was embarrassing. Despite all that buildup, Trixie won the second round and I had to stick the dud back behind the curtain. (If you're wondering why I didn't just set the whole thing on fire, you obviously haven't spent enough time on YouTube watching and laughing at stupid people doing that very thing. I don't know about you, but I like having skin.)
“That's a bit anticlimactic,” Spike said flatly. “With the score tied, it's on to the final round: freestyle tricks! Show us what you've got, Trixie.”
“I am...oh, never mind,” Trixie sighed in exasperation and turned to the crowd one last time. “For her final trick, the Great and Powerful Trixie will perform an old favorite: pulling a rabbit out of her hat!”
As the crowd murmured and rolled their eyes, Trixie slipped her hat off and showed everypony that the inside was empty. With a quick reach inside she fished out the promised white rabbit by his long ears. He looked pretty annoyed at this and pulled himself free from Trixie's grip before hopping away through the crowd.
Crickets started chirping to fill the awkward silence.
“Also pretty anticlimactic,” Spike's voice muttered. “But there's one performance left. Let's hope that Jesse can end this thing with a bang.”
“One bang coming up,” I whispered to myself as I reached behind the curtain again and pulled out a small wheeled cart. The ponies all leaned forward and craned their necks to get a better look at what was on it as I carefully turned it sideways in such a way that nopony would get hurt.
“What I am about to do is extremely dangerous,” I announced heavily as I set up my finale. Trixie loved melodramatics, so I would give everypony a taste of my own. “This trick has been performed for centuries on Earth, and even to this day infatuates the population. That is because, if it is done improperly, even the most experienced magician can very easily kill himself.”
I paused and let that sink in for a moment before continuing. “I will be doing this trick improperly.”
Gasps came from the audience and several protective parents tried to turn their foals away. I had their attention now, and even Trixie looked worried for a moment before regaining her composure. A few skeptics coughed disbelievingly, but they would be whistling a different tune in a few moments.
I made a big show of pouring more of the black powder into a short metal tube that was bolted to a wooden handle and ramming it down with a long wooden rod. Yes, I had made a gun in Equestria. It was just one and it only existed for a single day, so keep your shirt on.
I dramatically held up a small iron ball that I had painstakingly filed down to the perfect size and shape that morning. “This is the key to the whole trick. It doesn't look like much, but once I pull on this string—” I held it up for them to see “—the ball will be moving too fast for your eyes to see. To give you some idea of how dangerous this little thing can become, I will now give a quick demonstration.”
I rammed a patch of felt and the bullet into the crude pistol and secured the gun in the vise that was on top of the cart. I also had a watermelon on the cart, and the gun's muzzle was pointed right at it. I hadn't bothered to rifle the pistol's barrel, but, since the range was only about a foot, there was no way it could miss.
After a quick second look over the whole thing, I stood back and pulled the string. The string pulled the trigger, the trigger dropped the hammer, the hammer hit the flashpan, and the impact in the flashpan ignited the powder.
BAM!
Everypony jumped and most of them screamed in terror as the cart jumped into the air with a flash of crimson fire and a cloud of black smoke that blasted from the pistol's barrel. Steaming bits of red and green were scattered everywhere as the bullet savagely tore through the melon. A few larger pieces flew a short distance into the audience and drenched the closest ponies in juice. It was a pretty messy scene.
I gave the ponies a minute to calm down, then addressed them again. “Now I want you to imagine that the melon was me. Because I'm going to be shooting that thing at myself now.” I had to hold up my hand to stop their noisy protesting. “I will attempt to catch the bullet before it can hit me. And to make sure that I don't just hide the bullet and pull another one out of my pocket, Trixie will now carve something of her choice into it before I put it in the gun.”
I fished a second iron ball and a small steel needle out of my cloak's pocket. I offered them to Trixie, who wordlessly made her horn glow and levitated them into the air. A few seconds later, the ball had a small copy of her cutie mark inscribed into it.
My hood hid my nefarious smile as I reloaded the gun and reset the vise. The ponies were all on edge and filled with borderline panic. Just how I wanted them. I knew that I was playing on their fear and enjoying myself just a little too much, but I would make it up to them later.
Fortunately, nothing had broken after the shot. Even the hammer's spring was still working fine, which was better than I had been expecting. I rammed the bullet in with extreme care and pulled the rod out again. Nopony noticed as I slid my hand over the end of the stick.
I took a deep breath and stepped back. Everything was ready. “Trixie, would you like to do the honors?” I offered her the string. The audience gasped again.
It was an extremely cruel thing to do. Maybe even the cruelest thing that I've ever done. But it would teach her a lesson—one that she definitely needed.
Trixie's face was blank as she took the string in her hoof and I backed away to put several long steps between myself and the gun on the cart. I slowly pulled my cloak's hood back and gave the audience a final panning view so that everypony got a clear look at my face.
Some of the ponies openly shook their heads at how stupid I was for doing this. Others still hadn't fully grasped what was going on. The vast majority appeared to be completely horrified at what I was doing, but they eagerly looked on anyway. There's something mesmerizing about watching the final seconds of a life, and they all took in every moment that could have been my last. After that demonstration, not one of them seemed to believe that I might actually live though this.
Twilight, Spike, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie were all gathered together under a small tent that was set up near my end of the stage. I'd reassured them over and over that they shouldn't worry about me, but their faces betrayed their distrust. They were all agitated and shifted their weight uncomfortably, except for Pinkie. She was too busy trying to pick a piece of playing card out of her teeth to follow what was happening. Priorities: she haz dem.
I could see several colts and fillies who had been in Cheerilee's classroom, and they all had tears welling up in their eyes. To the rest of the crowd, I was just some alien that they'd caught a few quick glimpses of, but the students had already accepted me as a friend. Perhaps not the bestest friend ever, but a friend nonetheless. Some of them held onto one another and a few others covered their faces so that they wouldn't see me get torn to shreds. The red unicorn filly who had pointed out Australia shook from head to hoof and broke down into noisy sobs.
My gaze ground to a halt as I found Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were both hugging her tight, but her frightened, tearful eyes were fixed right on me. Don't do this, the little white unicorn wordlessly pleaded. Don't kill yourself. Rarity wouldn't want you to do this.
My heart leapt into my throat and I almost stopped the trick right there. Almost. But I gritted my teeth and forced my gaze to focus on Trixie. This was about me and her, and I wasn't about to let her off that easily. She'd called down the thunder, now she had to reap the whirlwind. Her face was a mask of neutrality, but she couldn't stop the hoof that held the string from shaking.
I swallowed and nodded. “I'm ready. Go ahead and pull it.” I bent my knees and held my hands away from my body.
Trixie steeled herself and tightened her grip on the string. She shut her eyes and gave a quick yank...
BAM!
The ponies shrieked again as another black cloud thunderously appeared. I threw myself backwards and grabbed at my mouth. The blast of hot air helped propel me little further. I landed roughly on my back and tried to keep myself lying motionless on the stage.
“Celestia have mercy!” somepony screamed.
“She killed him! That bitch killed him!” Spike's enhanced voice shouted.
“No! Somepony help him!”
“Where's that nurse when you need her?”
“Don't look, Elmsprout!”
“Muffins!”
“Get the witch! It's her fault!”
Trixie was suddenly in my face and shook me frantically. “Get up, get up!” she shouted hysterically as tears streamed down her cheeks. “I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to kill you! I didn't want it to end like this! Please get up! GET UP!”
“Gerroff me!” I muttered and pulled myself onto my side. I reached into my mouth and pulled the bullet out of my teeth. It tasted pretty nasty from the powder residue. “For God's sake, lighten up. You almost made me swallow this thing.” I turned the ball so that she could plainly see the marking that she'd carved into it.
At the sight of me alive and intact, the crowd went wild. Cheering and stamping and excessive clopping filled the air. Shouts of joy and surprise drowned out every other sound.
“He's alright!” Spike shouted over the noise. “Thank Celestia, the human is still alive! Jesse wins the challenge!”
Trixie took a few steps away from me and slumped to the stage, her wet face blank. Her eyelids spasmed a few times before she closed them tight and furiously wiped her tears away.
Before I could say or do something, Trixie shoved herself to her hooves again. Her eyes snapped open and fixed on me. I've heard the phrase 'glaring daggers' often enough, but that was the first time that I ever felt like someone was literally trying to stab me with a look.
Just as I thought that she might try to impale me with her horn,Trixie stomped a hoof on the stage and disappeared in another puff of magical gray smoke.
A fit of coughing came from the dark cloud. The fumes quickly dissipated, leaving Rarity behind. Her hair was a mess and her coat needed to be washed, but it was her.
“Oh my goodness,” she spluttered and blearily looked around. “What happened? Where am I?”
* * * * *
After the end of the contest, Pinkie Pie had declared that a party was in order. Sure, she thought that every breath she took deserved its own party, but everypony agreed that this time definitely called for it.
I honestly don't remember much about how the celebration went, and most of it wasn't really important. The most significant part was early on when Rarity met with Sweetie Belle and the sisters shared a loving embrace. It was a beautiful moment (just because I'm a guy doesn't mean I can't appreciate a few seconds of sentimentality, so piss off), but I was pulled away from it by a group of ponies asking me to do some more magic tricks. I had to turn them down repeatedly throughout the afternoon.
There was fun and games and I finally got to meet with the general public of Ponyville instead of hanging out with just Spike and the six main ponies and being stared at continually by the others. They all thought that I had just put my life on the line to save Rarity's, and as far as they were concerned that made me a bona fide member of the herd. Even after I assured them that she and I had been perfectly safe the entire time, they thought that I was just saying that and still treated me like a hero. They couldn't have been more awestruck if I'd won an arm-wrestling match with Death himself to get Rarity's soul back and then kicked him in the balls afterward.
The conversations that I had brought a little new insight to my view of the town's inhabitants. I learned that Carrot Top has a phobia of snakes, Big Macintosh's favorite color is blue, Bon Bon had gotten a crush on Raiment during his brief appearance onstage, and the Mayor had never learned how to cook for herself. There were lots of other interesting bits of knowledge, but none of them were really substantial and, like I said, I forgot what most of them were.
One thing that I do clearly remember was setting up a Blackjack table with my remaining deck of cards. The ponies took an instant liking to this game, and I soon had eight rotating groups who all took turns playing while I dealt.
Instead of wagering their bits, the winner of each hand earned the right to dare the loser to do something. Oddly, this usually became a command to kiss another pony. A fair number of the kisses were homosexual in nature, but not all of them ended in disgusted sputtering. A few even dragged on for longer than necessary.
Go figure, I thought as Lyra won with a count of nineteen and made Raiment lock lips with Bon Bon. At least they all had the good sense to leave me out of it.
* * * * *
The sun was sinking as the party broke up. Everypony was worn out, and I had to push my gun cart with one arm and carry a snoring Spike back to Twilight's library tree with the other.
As soon as the door shut behind the three of us, the lights all came on. An unfamiliar armchair was positioned in the middle of the library's main room with its back to the door. A very familiar pointy hat poked over the top.
Twilight and a newly-awoken Spike stared at the chair, but something in the back of my mind told me to ignore it. I reached off to the side and groped around until I felt something in the air and held onto it.
Trixie suddenly appeared out of nowhere as her invisibility spell faded. My hand was caught in her pale mane.
“Release me!” she commanded and pulled herself out of my grip. “How did you know I was there?”
“Stage magic's all about surprise and deception,” I said with a shrug. “Also, you breathe too loud.”
Twilight glanced between Trixie and the hat that was stuck on top of a pile of books in the chair. “I'm confused,” she muttered. “This isn't my kind of magic.”
Trixie waved her and Spike off. “Be gone with you two. I wish to speak with the human alone.”
“He has a name,” Twilight snapped. After a quick exchange of glares with Trixie, she and Spike went up the stairs to the bedroom.
After they were out of sight, Trixie pulled angrily at her cape and let it fall to the floor. She then shoved the books out of the chair and threw herself down in it. I stayed standing in front of her. She glared at me for a full minute before speaking.
“I can't believe you made me do that,” she finally spat. “I'll admit that you had plenty of reason to be angry with me, but that last trick was far out of line.”
I shrugged. “Maybe. Probably. Definitely,” I corrected myself. “Look, I know what that would have done to your career, but—”
“I'm not talking about my career!” Trixie snarled and leaned forward. “You made me believe that I'd just turned into a murderess! I don't know how things work...wherever it is that you come from, but in Equestria, That's. Not. Funny.” She punctuated those last words by knocking her hoof against the side of the chair.
I let her keep glaring for a few seconds. “You're right,” I relented with a sigh and looked down at my hands. “That wasn't funny, and it wasn't fair. Not to you and not to the audience. I really made everypony freak out. I guess I got a little carried away and forgot that this isn't Earth. You ponies definitely aren't ready for stunts like that.”
I sighed again and rubbed my eyes. “Look, I know I was acting like a dick and made this whole thing into a massive pissing contest. I'm sorry.”
It was more apologizing than I should have given and she still had plenty to amend for, but at that moment I was wracked with significantly more guilt than the situation should have warranted. I blame the lack of sleep.
Trixie leaned back again and scratched at her jaw. I noticed that she looked really small and fragile without her outfit. Again there was silence.
“Were you ever in any danger?” she asked a few moments later.
I shook my head. “I was completely safe the whole time. You couldn't've killed me even if you'd meant to.”
Trixie kicked her hooves a few times. “How did you do it, anyway?”
“A magician never reveals his secrets,” I said with a small smile.
“But that's just it. You're not a magician, or any kind of magic-user for that matter.” Her horn glowed as she magically picked up her hat and spun it around. “And now all of Equestria will know that the Great and Powerful Trixie has been defeated by a wizard who can't even use magic. I said earlier that this wasn't about my career, but I suppose that's not completely true. Who will want to come to my shows now? Thanks to you, I might never get a chance to perform again.” She dropped the hat back to the floor with a sad sniff and a sigh of defeat.
I could have pointed out that this was her own fault. I could have told her that she'd challenged me. I could have mentioned that I'd blatantly told her that I couldn't do magic. I could have reminded her out that she'd captured Rarity to force me into competing. I could have this. I could have that. I could have, I could have, I could have. Maybe I even should have.
But I didn't. Instead, I got a new idea.
“Perhaps you won't,” I said softly. “Or perhaps you'll get more shows than ever.”
“And what makes you think that?” she asked hopelessly.
“Because ponies will line up and literally throw their money at you if you happen to mention that you've learned how to do Earth magic.”
She snorted. “What happened to 'a magician never reveals his secrets'?”
“The same thing that happened to 'you're not a magician or any kind of magic-user.' With that in mind, I can tell you anything I want. Do you want to learn or not?”
Trixie suddenly sat up, her foul mood forgotten. “Yes, please,” she said desperately. “I will do whatever it takes to learn how to perform your tricks. Anything at all.”
“Alright,” I rummaged through my cloak and pulled out the deck of cards from one of the hidden pockets. “That's lesson number one: be more than meets the eye. Be subtle and bring more stuff on stage than the audience will ever see. They shouldn't even know that any of it exists unless you want them to.”
Trixie frowned. “But didn't that pink friend of yours swallow your cards?”
“That's lesson number two: mislead the crowd. Direct their attention away from the real trick, then surprise 'em. This deck has fifty-two cards in it, but I went onstage with a hundred and four.”
It took Trixie a moment to understand. “Two decks? And you swapped them?”
I nodded encouragingly. “You're learning already. I switched the cards after Pinkie gave me her deck, and I had her show you the other one. Since both decks are the same, you saw a card that looked just like the one that she'd picked. And because I knew that she'd set her real card on top of the deck that she handed me, I just palmed that card and pulled it out of her hair after I had her eat the other deck.”
Trixie's mouth hung open as she digested this. “It's so simple!” she gasped. “Why didn't I ever think of it? How did you do your other trick? The one that worked, I mean.”
I fixed her with a very serious glare. “I don't want you to ever use it. I wasn't kidding when I said that a lot of people have died trying to pull it off, usually because they screwed up during the preparation. Too many things can go wrong, and the results aren't pretty when they do. And even if it all goes perfectly, some of your fans might decide to try it themselves and forget that it's really just an act. You don't want that on your conscience.”
“But can't you at least tell me how?” she persisted. “I'll never get it out of my mind unless you do, you know.”
I stoked my goatee (that probably made me look like a supervillain for a minute), then nodded. “I'll tell you how to do the trick, but I won't tell you how I made that special powder that I used. Without it, you can't pull it off. That magic dust that you ponies use won't work.” That last bit probably wasn't true, but it would at least make Trixie think twice before trying.
She waved her hoof through the air. “No matter. I just care about the rest of the stunt.”
“The first thing you need to know is that the gun was deadly, and two things made it that way: the powder and the bullet. I couldn't get rid of the powder without ruining the trick, so I had to get rid of the bullet.”
I walked back to where I'd left the cart by the door and grabbed the pistol, ramrod, and bullet that I had 'caught.' I handed them all to Trixie.
“Try to figure it out.” I said positively. “Remember what I said about the card trick.”
Trixie stared at the pieces and picked them up one by one. She set down the bullet and rod after barely a glance at each. She examined the pistol itself the longest and confirmed that there was nowhere for the bullet to go except out through the barrel. She scratched her head and wracked her brain for a few minutes.
“More than meets the eye...” she muttered to herself. “Mislead the audience...”
I could see the answer pop into her eyes. She picked up the ramrod and held the end to the bullet. The ball stuck to it.
“How did you do this?” Trixie asked as she pulled the bullet off of the stick and examined the end more closely. “Why is there a rock in here?”
“That's a lodestone,” I explained. “They act as natural magnets, and the bullet's made of iron. They're not the most common rocks in the world, but there's nothing magic about them.”
“So it stuck to the stick when you shoved it into the barrel,” Trixie continued the explanation herself. “Then you took the ball with you. Since that was gone, you didn't need to worry about getting killed when I pulled the string. You just hid it until that happened, then pretended to catch it.”
“Exactly,” I said with a grin.
Trixie sat back again pensively and crossed her hooves. “Well. It seems so...so...”
“It's a lot less impressive now that you know how it's done,” I finished for her. “Unfortunately, that's how it is with all the greatest tricks.”
“Do you know any more?” Trixie's eyes blazed with a hunger to learn.
I nodded. “A few. And none of them require any actual magic.”
* * * * *
I had plenty of extra lessons for her. I casually mentioned that she could integrate mirrors into her light shows, plant fake audience members, rig special equipment, and perform some tricks in multiple ways. She learned scores of little tips to enhance some stunts and subtly change others for different effects. Mixing unicorn magic with human “magic” yielded a new experience that she was eager to market to Equestria.
By the time that Trixie departed, she also had a dozen brand-new tricks to add to her routine, from simple card tricks to escaping from handcuffs (hoofcuffs?) to the infamous “saw somepony in half” stunt. She promised to keep the violence on that one to a minimum.
Before she took her leave, Trixie looked at me for the last time. “You know, you're...complicated,” she muttered. “You're full of surprises. I'm not entirely sure if I like you or not, but I'm glad that we met. Thank you, Jesse. Thank you for the lessons and the experience. I won't forget any of it.”
And with that, she disappeared in a final cloud of smoke.
As the library's door slammed closed behind her—she had a really bad habit of letting that happen during her departures—I realized just how tired all that talking had made me. Hell, I'd been up the entire previous night and managed to pull off the greatest magic show in Equestria's history and attended a long party before all this. No wonder I was exhausted. I climbed up the stairs and made a beeline for my bed.
Twilight was pretending to be asleep. I could tell by the way that her breathing was too regular, as well as from the uncompleted letter and inkwell that were laid out on her bedside table. I briefly wondered how long she'd eavesdropped on the conversation and what she'd learned from it, but then decided that I didn't really care.
Before I drifted off to sleep, questions popped into my head. Would Trixie's career really survive after her defeat? Would she blame me if it didn't? Would Rarity approve of me helping the pony who'd captured her? What had she even been doing for the past day? How was this whole thing going to affect Equestria?
After a minute or two, I had much more pressing questions on my mind. Like why I suddenly had to give a high school lecture on the differences between Plato and a rotting ham sandwich that I'd found in a dumpster. And why my students were all narwhals. And why my pants were made of almonds.
|
Shadowmane
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882
| 7 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Main 6,Original Character,Spike,Trixie,Human,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
An American Dude in Equestria
|
This is the tale of how some schmuck from California found himself in Equestria.
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complete
| 208 | 21 |
<p>A botched spell brings a human into the land of ponies. Could this possibly lead to offbeat hijinks? Read on to find out.</p><br/><br/><p>Note that this story and all subsequent parts takes place between the first and second seasons of the show.</p>
|
teen
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2011-09-29T21:21:32+00:00
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2011-09-29T21:21:32+00:00
| 7,444 |
“Ah, how good it feels...the hoof of an old friend.” — Mary Englebright
After the magic show, a few days passed without any major events. I divided my time between telling Twilight more about Earth (she had compiled every bit of information that I provided into a fairly dense book and kept revising it as needed), helping out various ponies with their everyday activities, and inventing new things. I guess that it's not really inventing if the things already existed on another planet or in another universe or whatever the case was, but it was all new to the Equestrians, so close enough. There weren't any patent laws around to stop me.
The biggest new innovation was the steam engine. It was the crudest thing imaginable, half because the various pieces weren't quite the right size and half because I had never made a freaking steam engine before, but it worked about fifty percent of the time and hadn't killed anypony yet. I let the ponies worry about improving the design and actually using it. I dropped a few hints about how the engine could be used to power boats, carriages, and trains, but decided to let them figure most of it out on their own.
Now, let me remind you of what I wrote in the very first part of my story; that some kind of evil foe arose to threaten Equestria and they needed someone to stop it. Remember that? And how we established beyond any kind of doubt that I am the sexiest, studliest, most awesome guy alive? Good, because I'm gonna tell you all about that now. The evil thing, I mean.
Let's pick up on the final day of summer, just after the sun began to make its descent towards the western horizon. It was the last day before Princess Luna's Autumn Festival, and I'd spent the entire morning with Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight putting together a new machine. It wasn't a very useful thing, but I'd always wanted to make one.
I wiped a few beads of sweat off my forehead and poured the last of the sandbags into the wooden box. After I packed the sand down, I gave a thumbs up to Applejack. The orange pony heaved against the ropes that tied her to the mechanism, digging her muscular legs into the ground to move against the massive weight. After a moment, the thick wooden beam tilted and the box was lifted into the air.
I slipped a long metal pin into a hole and held up a hand to tell Applejack to stop pulling. I untied the rope that held her back and replaced it with a shorter length that had a wooden handle attached to it. It just so happened to be the same handle that I'd used to wakeboard during our day at the lake.
“This can't be safe,” Twilight said critically, always the skeptic.
“I never said it was,” I replied as I took a swig of tea that tasted like...I'm really not sure what it was supposed to taste like. I'm pretty certain that they hadn't purposefully made a Sweaty Monkey Ballsack flavor, but that's what came to mind. It wasn't the best taste that I'd come across. (Before you ask how I knew what sweaty monkey ballsacks taste like, you should try out their special Shut the Fuck Up-flavored tea. I hear it's really refreshing.)
“Alright, let's try this out already,” Rainbow Dash impatiently rubbed her hooves together and picked up the handle.
I took a second to make sure that everything was where it was supposed to be and nopony was in a position to get hurt if something went wrong. Things like my latest creation had a tendency to have something go wrong.
“Ready?”
Rainbow nodded and grinned impishly. “Let 'er rip!”
I grabbed the iron rod and yanked it out of the hole. Immediately the lever tilted, sending the sand-filled weight box towards the ground as the end with the handle (and Rainbow Dash) was sent rocketing upward.
The entire mechanism jumped slightly as Rainbow let go and let the momentum take her even higher into the sky. Soon she was doing her usual flying routine, albeit a little faster than normal.
Neither of the other ponies spoke until Rainbow landed again with an unimpressed shrug. “Meh. It helped, but not a whole lot. Do we need more weight?”
I squinted at the trebuchet and scratched my beard while I thought. “Maybe. Or we could make the firing arm shorter and move the sandbox further from the axis. We could even—”
“Hey, what's that?” Rainbow pointed over my shoulder.
I whipped around, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Well, there was one cloud in the distance that looked like a giant penis, but even Equestria got one of those every so often. So no, nothing too unusual.
“I don't see it,” I said and took another swallow of Sweaty Monkey Ballsack tea (it may have tasted horrible, but it was still as addicting as the other flavors).
There was a groan of wood and a quick metallic ping behind me, and I started to turn back around. Before I could move my head, however, something grabbed me around the neck and pulled me to the ground.
I dropped the bottle of tea and started to fight back against my attacker, but it was just Rainbow Dash holding me down. She flapped her wings and started to drag me backwards.
“What are you doing?” I asked, slightly annoyed and pretty confused. Applejack snorted somewhere off to my left.
Rainbow just grinned, shook her head, and slapped something into my hand. It was the wooden handle to the trebuchet.
I suddenly realized that the whole mechanism had been reset while I'd been looking the other way.
“Oh fuck no,” I tried to let go, but my hand had a purple glow around it and my fingers didn't respond. Yes, Twilight's horn was glowing too. And she was smiling devilishly while Applejack nudged her shoulder.
“Et tu, Brute?” I asked and gave her my saddest, most tragic look. No, she didn't get it. She didn't have time to, because at that moment Applejack bit down on the metal pin and pulled it out of its hole.
I summarized my entire thought process on the situation into a single word as I was launched into the air: “FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU—” If I'd actually had a second or two to think about it, I might have used “Team Rocket blasting off again!” instead, but you only have so much time to come up with that sort of thing.
Anyway, the trebuchet worked perfectly and shot me screeching about three hundred feet in the air. I'm pretty sure that it was physically impossible to reach that height with the weight that we had, but you can't argue with results. Magic probably had something to do with it. Or maybe my engineering skills were just that good.
As you can probably imagine, I was a little upset that my friends had tricked me. But I was even more upset by the fact that I was suddenly three hundred feet above the ground and at the mercy of gravity. That was a bit of a problem.
There's two reasons why people will sometimes choose to jump off of stuff to commit suicide instead of, say, poisoning themselves. First: the resulting adrenaline rush gives them a quick high before they crash into the ground. Second: once you start falling, there's no way to back out. There is nobody to turn to for help and nothing that you can do to stop yourself.
And, since I couldn't stop myself, I started to fall. I happen to be very afraid of falling, so I started screaming bloody murder. It was something along the lines of “HOLY FUCK JESUS BALLS SHIT MOTHER CHRIST BALLS FUCK SHIT BITCH BALLS” and so on. In case you somehow haven't noticed, I tend to swear a lot.
My foul-mouthed tirade was cut off by a certain blue pegasus who flew out of nowhere and caught me by the legs about fifty feet from the ground. She was laughing her ass off.
“You shoulda seen the look on your face!” she chortled as she set me down next to that damn trebuchet. Applejack was rolling around on her back and held her stomach as she guffawed. Twilight was trying (and failing) to keep her giggles back.
“Not funny,” I muttered as I hit the ground. “Not even a little bit.” My limbs were all shaking and my face was burning, but I had somehow managed to not piss myself.
“Oh come on,” Rainbow slapped her knee and wiped a tear of mirth away. “That was hilarious and you know it!”
“I know where you live,” I growled. That was an empty threat and we both knew it, since I couldn't do anything to her home without the help of another pegasus. That's one perk about living in a cloud-house.
Applejack finished her laugh with a loud pig-like snort and rolled to her hooves. “Aw shucks, we got ya good! Ain't never seen a human fly b'fore!”
“I'll bet you ain't never seen a human—”
“Twilight!” Spike called from a ways off. He was running toward us as fast as his stubby dragon legs would carry him. He was breathing hard and clutched a scrap of paper in his hand.
“What is it?” Twilight asked, her expression sobering up. We all stopped with the laughing and sulking and refocused our attention. I kept planning my revenge, but this looked more urgent.
Spike held out the paper and leaned up against the nearest apple tree to catch his breath. “Letter...Princess Celestia...important...” he said between gasps.
Twilight levitated the note and began to read. “'My dearest, most faithful student Twilight Sparkle, it is with with great distress that I am writing to you. I have received news that a great calamity has arisen in the form of a shadow dragon, which has attacked Bitsburg and even now threatens Fillydelphia.' Oh, this is serious.”
“Shadow dragon?” Applejack cut in. “Ain't never heard o' that b'fore.”
Twilight's eyes blurred as she read through the rest of the letter. “The Princess is in Stalliongrad right now, so she it'll take her at least a day to return. She wants us to do something to stop the dragon before then.”
“Sounds like we'd better get the others,” Rainbow said. “Then we'll head out and kick that thing's ass so hard it chokes on its own tail!” A bloodthirsty spark glinted in her eyes.
“I thought you're supposed to use diplomacy to deal with this kind of thing,” I pointed out, thinking about the episode of the show where they had persuaded a red dragon to take a nap somewhere else. We were dealing with just another one, right?
Twilight dropped the letter into her saddlebag and shook her head. “That's not an option this time. I've read about shadow dragons once or twice, and they never listen to anypony. They also never stop destroying things until either they're killed or there's nothing left to break.
“Anyway, we should get the other three caught up and head out soon. Rainbow Dash, you go get Fluttershy. Applejack, find Pinkie Pie. I think she said she was going to make deliveries to Melilot and Lucky, so you might want to check with them if she's not at Sugar Cube Corner. Jesse and I will go to Rarity's. Meet us at the library as soon as possible.”
With that, the other two sped off in opposite directions. Twilight set the still-puffing Spike on her back before galloping back towards the village. We left the trebuchet where it was on the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres—we had all learned a lesson about practicing new stunts where Rainbow could crash into a building.
Twilight was running slower than usual so that I could keep up. “Any clue how we're gonna stop that thing?” I asked as we hurried toward Ponyville.
She shook her head. “Not really. I was actually hoping that you might have a few ideas, with Earth having so many wars and all.”
I wracked my brain. “Well, I have read a bit about dragon slaying. It's all fairy tales and legends back home, but maybe some of it will apply here.”
“That's better than nothing,” Twilight muttered as we entered the town.
A few things had changed in Ponyville since my arrival. For one thing, the ponies had stopped spying on me and instead offered friendly waves as we ran past. A few even called out salutations before turning back to their own business. It felt good to be accepted as a fellow resident of the little village instead of being seen as a mysterious stranger. It made me feel like I was back in my California hometown, to be perfectly honest.
Another new development had been a sudden demand for playing cards, which had caused a couple of new businesses to spring up practically overnight. Everywhere you looked, there were groups of ponies playing Blackjack, Go Fish, War, and some odd variation of poker that they had come up with on their own. They also had a few games of dice, checkers, and chess, all of which had been introduced by me over the previous days. It was satisfying to see that I'd brought something so worthwhile and harmless to Equestria.
At least until they figure out how to cheat or set up casinos, I thought wryly. But what were the odds of that happening?
By this point we reached the Carousel Boutique and hurried inside. The place was a mess, with scraps of cloth and ribbons strewn around with no rhyme or reason. Stray spools of thread and needles were scattered dangerously all over the floor.
Rarity had her back to us and was working on her Festival dress again, making a few final adjustments. She was also singing softly to herself as she placed a sapphire at the neck. “Piece by piece, snip by snip. Croup dock haunch, shoulders hip.”
“Rarity, we have a situation,” Twilight said loudly.
Rarity turned around and pulled off her red glasses. “What's going on? Is everypony alright? Did Sweetie Belle get stuck in Matte's printing press again?”
“Huh? No, everypony's fine. We'll explain at the library.”
Without another word, Rarity magically moved the mannequin off to the side and cleared a path through the debris on the floor. She paused only to grab a shady hat before following us to the hollow tree.
* * * * *
Once all of the ponies had gathered at the library, Twilight again explained the situation and everything that the letter told us. Nopony spoke up until she was done.
“So, the Princess wants us to either drive off or kill this 'shadow dragon'?” Rarity asked once we were all on the same page. “How are we supposed to do that?”
“Good question,” said Twilight. “Since Jesse knows more about fighting than we do, I think it'd be best if he's in charge when it comes to that.”
This caught me off guard. “Me? You really think so? Like I said, I don't have any experience and I'm not an expert on this kind of thing.”
“Yer not an expert in anythin' ya've been doin' an' makin' here, but it all works fine,” Applejack pointed out. “That fancy liftin' contraption o' yers has made work a mite easier at the farm. An' the other thing you put together this mornin' worked jus' fine.”
“I'm certain that you will be more than capable of leading us to victory,” Rarity chimed in. “You managed to defeat the Diamond Dogs easily enough.”
“Yeah,” Pinkie added with her perpetual smile. “I bet you'll do great! What are we doing, anyway?”
Rainbow Dash facehoofed. “Shadow dragon. Fillydelphia. Kill it. Jesse's in charge.”
“Oh, right,” Pinkie didn't seem put off at all and kept grinning.
Fluttershy didn't have anything to say other than a nervous squeak.
Twilight cleared her throat impatiently. “Okay, then. If that's settled, let's move on and find out more about what we're going up against. Did you find that book, Spike?”
“Yeah, but there's a bunch of pages missing,” the tiny purple dragon said. He was holding a thick red tome with the words “Beasts of Darkness” scrawled on the cover in glossy black letters.
Twilight levitated the book out of Spike's grip and flipped through the pages. “Sagaries, sandwalkers...seps...shades...Aha! Here it is:
“'Shadow dragons are rare, violent creatures made almost entirely of darkness. They shun most forms of light, though they do not fear it. Any sign of life will draw their wrath and they will attack on sight. Despite being intelligent and able to learn, these beasts refuse to negotiate and will fight to the death. They are able to use powerful destructive magic, but prefer to kill and destroy with their own teeth and claws when possible.'”
“Not polite fellas, huh?” Applejack interrupted with a humorless laugh. The room felt a little colder.
Twilight continued reading. “'Unlike most creatures, a shadow dragon only exists as an extension of an enchanted object. They usually have a prominently glowing gem that...' It cuts off right there. The next few pages are gone and it goes straight to strixes.”
“I thought that you would have all of your books properly maintained,” Rarity objected.
“It's a rare book,” Twilight explained “There are only a few copies around, and we never got around to borrowing another one so that we could get ours repaired.”
“Well, at least we learned a few things,” I said and scratched my goatee. “Don't bother talking to it, watch out for its magic, destroy the glowing gem. Sounds simple enough.”
“Umm, I-I don't know if I should go,” Fluttershy quietly spoke for the first time. She was visibly shaking. “You don't r-really n-need me, do you?”
“Of course we do, silly!” Pinkie said louder than necessary and hugged the yellow pegasus. “Remember when you told that meanie dragon on the mountain to take a hike? Remember how you didn't think you could help that time?”
“Oh. Okay,” she shook even more than before.
“Don't worry yourself, Fluttershy,” Rarity put her hoof on my arm. “With Jesse at the lead, we'll soon be rid of that horrible creature. Isn't that right?” She batted her eyelashes at me.
“Uh, sure,” I said uncomfortably. Christ, she's trying to make a move on me. Not good.
Spike suspiciously narrowed his eyes at the two of us, then his entire body spasmed with a sudden “urk!”, followed by a belch of green fire that formed into a letter. Unlike the usual notes, the seal on this one was silver and had a “L” stamped into it.
“A letter from Princess Luna?” Twilight thought out loud for all of us.
Spike opened the letter and cleared his throat. “'To the ponies of the Elements of Harmony and our visitor from Earth,'”—his voice became cold and unfriendly for those words—“'As my sister has no doubt informed you, there has been an attack by a shadow dragon and another will soon occur. I volunteered to take care of the creature myself, but Celestia has forbidden me from doing so.' That's a little weird, but okay. 'Instead, I will provide whatever indirect aid I can. I have already dispatched a chariot from Canterlot that will bring the Elements of Harmony to you and then take you north to Fillydelphia. Also, as Jesse does not have an Element, our finest smiths have created a pair of tools that he should find most useful in this battle. Signed, Princess Luna.'”
“Well, that's mighty neighborly o' her,” Applejack said when Spike had finished reading. “Sounds like we don' have much time, though.”
Pinkie Pie clopped her hooves together. “Oh, a chariot ride! It's so exciting! I'd better go pack some snacks for the trip!” She was gone in a flash of pink before anyone could even figure out what she'd said.
“Why don't we wait outside for the chariot to show up?” Twilight suggested as she floated Beasts of Darkness onto a shelf. The other ponies agreed and we stepped out the door into the sunshine.
“Hold up, ah'm a-comin'!” a high-pitched voice called after us.
“Apple Bloom? What in tarnation are ya doin' here?” Applejack demanded of her sister, who trotted out of the library. The filly had a colander on her head and baking sheets draped over her back to make the worst set of armor I've ever seen.
Scootaloo poked her pot-covered head out the door. “We heard about the dragon, and we're gonna help you take it down.” She hit one hoof into the other menacingly.
Sweetie Belle dropped out of the second-story window and crashed to the ground. “Ow! Dumb gravity! We're going to be Cutie Mark Crusader Dragon Slayers,” she said with a pained smile. The little wooden lance that she was holding had snapped in half from the fall.
“You most certainly are not!” Rarity said firmly. “Now clean yourself up and go home. This is far too dangerous for any of you fillies.”
“But sis—”
“No buts, and that's final.”
“Spike,” Twilight said, “You should stay here and keep an eye on these three. Look after them until we get back and don't let them follow us.”
“Awww,” the Cutie Mark Crusaders whined in unison. Spike looked both relieved and sullen at the same time.
“Hey, they're finally here,” Rainbow Dash pointed at the sky where a team of golden-armored pegasus stallions of the Celestial Guard were pulling a large golden chariot. A few moments later they carefully landed in front of the library. A few ponies were looking in our direction, but they kept their distance.
The lead horse detached himself from the harness and walked up to our group. His coat was dark brown and he had a curly mustache growing from his lip. Whereas the other armored horses had blue manes and tails, his were bright crimson. His eyes scanned us for a moment before he spoke.
“Miss Sparkle and company, I presume,” he said gruffly. “I'm Lieutenant Thunder. I trust that you've received Princess Luna's note and understand where we are taking you.”
Twilight nodded. “We'll be ready to leave just as soon a—”
“I'm baaaack!” Pinkie sang as she came into view. Her saddlebags were bulging with sweets and there were crumbs all around her mouth. Apparently she was incapable of waiting to even get inside the chariot before digging into the snacks.
“Well, we're ready then.”
The stallion nodded but exchanged an odd look with the other pegasi. “Very good. If I may ask, which of you is in charge of this venture?”
“That's me, I guess,” I stepped forward.
The stallions looked me over from the oxfords to the beard. They didn't seem overly impressed with what they saw, but were smart enough to keep their thoughts to themselves.
The pegasus leader coughed quietly. “Alright. How much military experience do you have?”
I blinked and my mouth suddenly felt dry. “None, actually.”
The stallions looked at each other again. Are you fucking kidding me? they didn't have to say aloud.
“But that doesn't mean that he is not knowledgeable about such things,” Rarity rushed to my defense. “He's been more than capable of handling stressful situations, and this will be no exception. I have no doubt at all that he will have that monster's head hanging in Princess Celestia's dining hall by tomorrow!”
“Thanks, Rarity.” A small amount of my confidence came back. Not a lot, but it was a start.
Thunder shrugged under his armor. “If you say so. Before we head off, Princess Luna wanted us to give you these.” He opened the back of the chariot and pulled out a wide wooden crate. He stepped back and gestured with his head that I should open it.
I pulled off the box's lid and was nearly blinded by the reflected sunlight. It was a small silver kite shield. The polished metal had a black crescent moon and a few bronze stars emblazoned on the front. I lifted it out of the crate—it was much lighter than it looked.
Under the shield was a long sword that was also silver and sheathed in a smooth black scabbard. The pommel was adorned with a polished metal star whose facets caught the light and reflected it in every direction like a disco ball.
“Oooh, shiny,” Pinkie muttered.
“Princess Luna commissioned these for you and enchanted them herself,” Thunder said as I examined the weapon. “She wanted me to tell you that the shield will reflect most magical attacks, but you should be careful that you don't make them hit any of these mares instead. She also said that you should trust in it, whatever that means. The sword will allow you to strike the killing blow if it comes in contact with the shadow dragon's weak spot.” He leaned forward and narrowed his eyes at me. “You do know how to find it, right?”
“Yes, we found a book that explained everything,” Twilight answered for me.
Hit the glowing spot for critical damage, I thought to myself. Any gamer knows that.
“Good. The Princess mentioned that after the beast is slain the sword's magic will fade and it will become just a normal weapon. I'm not sure if that's going to be important or not, but you might want to know.”
I pulled the sword a few inches out of its scabbard. The glinting blade pulsed with a pale blue light of its own that was both soothing and slightly frightening to look at.
“That's awesome,” Rainbow Dash said from where she was hovering above my head.
“It's nice,” Fluttershy agreed. She seemed a little more sure of herself than before.
“Perhaps we should get moving, sir,” a white pegasus stallion suggested from where he was still harnessed to the chariot.
“Yes,” Thunder agreed. “We'll give the rest of you the Elements of Harmony when we arrive in Fillydelphia. All aboard, ponies and, uh....” He cocked his head to the side as he looked at me again. “If you're going to lead this op, you need a rank. You look like a captain to me, so let's go with that.”
“Captain Jesse,” Rarity repeated softly as she stepped carefully into the chariot. “I like the sound of that.”
“Me too,” I admitted as I strapped the scabbard to my belt and hung the shield on my back with a strap that was included in the box for just that purpose. Ding! Achievement Unlocked: Get Promoted.
“Get comfortable, everypony,” the stallion leader said through his mustache as we began settle down onto the cushioned seats. “It'll be about two hours before we land.”
“A whole two hours?” Rainbow asked in annoyance as she flopped herself down one of the padded benches. “I could be there and back again in half that time!”
Twilight's eyes suddenly went wide as she got an idea. “Hey, Captain,” she giggled at my new title. “Remember what you said about how humans entertain themselves on long trips?”
“You mean the radio? Did somepony invent a portable one while I wasn't looking?” The only radio set that I'd seen in Ponyville was a big clunky machine in the Town Hall basement that worked with primitive vacuum tubes, diodes, and a few special enchantments. It was used primarily for receiving instructions for the weather patrol and emergency communications. The ponies had never thought to use it for music or talk shows because of how difficult it was to use, how few of the machines existed, and how expense they were to make.
Twilight shook her head. “No, but I came across a new spell the other day that will allow somepony—or somehuman, probably—to broadcast their thoughts out loud. The book's author mentioned that he used it once to let his friends know what song he had stuck in his head. So if you think of some music, we can all hear it.”
“All of my thoughts? I've got plenty that you don't want to hear.” I meant it as a joke, but I did have quite a few things in my head that I didn't want them to know. For one thing, Rarity might get a bit upset if she found out that I didn't reciprocate her feelings.
“Well, I can modify it so it only lets whatever thoughts you want to get out, uh, get out.”
I shrugged. “Okay, why not? Let's give it a shot.”
Rainbow was suddenly interested. “Do you have any really awesome bands on Earth? I like rock n' roll, do you guys listen to that?”
I felt a smile come onto my lips at her eagerness, despite the threat of a dragon at our destination. Sometimes the small things can overcome big issues. “I've got a song in mind that I bet you'll love. It's by a band called Rainbow, actually.”
Rainbow put her hooves to her face and gave a quiet but high-pitched “Eeee!” that was nearly as adorable as Fluttershy's squeaks. Boom, instant fangirl.
As Twilight worked the spell (in case you're wondering, I actually didn't feel a thing as my skin glowed), the chariot started moving and took off into the air, leaving behind the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Spike, who were all sulking. At least we wouldn't have to worry about them anymore.
I thought hard and the air was filled with the sound of Ritchie Blackmore pumping out chords and dead notes, Bobby Rondinelli pounding his drums, and Joe Lynn Turner singing. As we left Ponyville behind, the residents were left scratching their heads and trying to figure out just what the words meant.
Ohhhhh, so strong
Got the Power when I turn it on.
Yeah, I'm gonna get my fill
Nothin's gonna stop me now and nothin' ever will.
I got the Power!
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To be continued...
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Shadowmane
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882
| 8 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Main 6,Original Character,Spike,Trixie,Human,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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An American Dude in Equestria
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This is the tale of how some schmuck from California found himself in Equestria.
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complete
| 208 | 21 |
<p>A botched spell brings a human into the land of ponies. Could this possibly lead to offbeat hijinks? Read on to find out.</p><br/><br/><p>Note that this story and all subsequent parts takes place between the first and second seasons of the show.</p>
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teen
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2011-10-02T00:12:43+00:00
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2011-10-02T00:12:43+00:00
| 6,781 |
“I think, therefore I am a fan of ponies.” — René Descartes
Throughout the flight to Fillydelphia, Twilight kept the thought-music spell going. After a few more songs by Rainbow, I moved on to the Clash, Rush, Journey (“Don't Stop Believing” was an instant hit), AC/DC, Aerosmith, the Ramones, Van Halen (Rarity really seemed to like them for some reason), and a few others.
The mares all listened intently—Rainbow Dash would occasionally start to headbang and play air guitar (yes, despite not having fingers, the ponies had invented guitars)—and even the armored pegasi could sometimes be seen bobbing their heads in time to the beat.
Despite the music in the air, my guts squirmed as Ponyville faded in the distance. If we failed, that might be the last that any of us ever saw of it. We really had no idea what we were up against, and sword or no sword I wasn't completely convinced that the shadow dragon could be killed so easily. I nervously rubbed my thumb along the star in the sword's pommel.
The others looked only slightly worried and I wondered if the same thoughts had entered their heads as well. I was suddenly very grateful that Twilight wasn't allowing my own misgivings to get out of my skull. I tried to keep the music upbeat and cheerful, which helped a little bit.
It was late afternoon by the time that our destination came into view. Fillydelphia was located at the bottom of a shallow valley and sprawled along the shores of a pair of rivers that intersected at the city's heart, dividing it into quadrants. The buildings all seemed to be made of either wood or stone bricks and came in a variety of interesting styles. A few of the trees that lined the edge of the city had already started to turn yellow and orange, but most retained their brilliant green foliage. If it weren't for the thin layer of black smoke covering the western section and a conspicuous lack of visible residents, it would have been a pleasant sight.
The chariot descended and landed just outside the southern border. A dozen stallions in rusty iron armor snapped to attention and gave a human-style salute. Their eyes were all bloodshot and the pegasi's wings drooped ever so slightly, but they were obviously reluctant to show any kind of weakness or even surprise at my non-equine appearance.
“Oooh, it's a welcome party!” Pinkie said before she stuffed the last of the taffy pieces into her mouth. Despite the uplifting music, she'd been the only one to eat any of the snacks during the entire trip.
I returned the guards' salute as I stepped out of the chariot. “At ease, folks,” I said, swallowing my returning anxiety and attempting to adopt a military mindset. “Who's in charge here? What's the situation?”
A big black unicorn—the only one in the group—stepped forward. “Sergeant Linden, Fillydelphia Reserve Forces. I'm the acting commander. Or at least I was until you showed up, sir.”
“What happened to the Major?” Thunder demanded through his mustache from the front of the chariot.
“He lead the evacuation of the west sector, but his squad was ambushed and taken out by the dragon.” Linden paused and his unreadable expression turned to absolute terror for a fraction of a second before he regained his composure. “I've never seen anything like that monster. Even when you're staring right at it, you can't tell what it looks like. Sir.”
“Do you know where it is right now?” I asked. My innards squirmed again and I took a quick look around to make sure that there wasn't anything unusual in sight.
“It's holed up in the main library, uh...”
“Captain.”
“It's holed up in the library, Captain. Probably resting or waiting for it to get dark again.”
“Alright, let's move quick,” I said as I tried to think like a soldier. “Send out your pegasus warriors for immediate aerial recon in case that bastard tries to leave. The rest of you form up. Stay close, but try to stick to cover. Everypony understand?”
It felt strange to be giving orders like that, but they all nodded and the three ironclad pegasi took flight, leaving behind eight earth ponies and Sergeant Linden. Not the attack force that I would have picked, but beggars can't be choosers.
“You want us to go too, Captain?” Thunder asked. He pulled a small steel box out of the back of the chariot and it dropped to the ground with a jingling metallic clink.
I nodded. “Might as well, Lieutenant. Keep your heads down, though.”
The golden-armored stallions detached themselves from the chariot and set off after the other pegasi, pausing only to give a quick final salute. A minute later, they were out of sight.
Pinkie Pie bounced out of the golden carriage with her usual grin and energy, completely unfazed by (or uncomprehending of) the gravity of the situation.
Rainbow stretched her wings and flew up to my side. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get in there and whoop some ass!”
Applejack nodded in agreement. “A quick kick to th' teeth an' a stab to the heart is what Ah say. Let's hurry an' get 'im 'fore ma sis gets inta too much trouble back home.”
“Not so fast,” Twilight walked up too and dropped her voice to a whisper. “Did you see how scared Linden got when he mentioned the dragon? We need to be smart about this. Our best bet may be a surprise attack.”
“Surely we can't fail with our new leader,” Rarity said rather loudly. “Whatever strategy he chooses, our triumph is assured.” If I hadn't been so grateful for the support, I would have been frustrated with her constant insistence that I was some kind of miracle worker.
“The length of a triangle's hypotenuse is equal to the positive square root of the sum of the squares of the lengths of the other two sides!” Pinkie shouted happily, which earned her a long, confused stare from everypony.
I looked at Fluttershy, but she was nervously glancing all around and didn't say anything. She also shook very slightly from head to hooves, but that was actually displaying more confidence than usual and much more than I had expected from her.
I cracked open the box that Thunder had pulled out, and inside were five golden necklaces. Set in each was a bright gemstone in the forms of an orange apple, a blue balloon, a pink butterfly, a purple diamond, and a red lightning bolt. In the middle of the jewelery was a shiny tiara with a large purple starburst gem and several smaller blue jewels along the band. They were the Elements of Harmony, naturally.
The mares silently put on the necklaces and tiara. There wasn't much to say, but at least we had another line of defense now. Hopefully one that would make a difference.
When they were all ready, I nodded to Linden. “Lead on, Sergeant. Let's get a move on.”
“You heard him, colts,” Linden barked to the earth ponies. “Spread out, eyes open. Regent, take point. Draft and Tackle, guard our rear.” The stallions wordlessly got into a protective ring around us and we settled into a quick march toward the setting sun.
The shadows grew long as we walked, filling the alleys between them with darkness. A warm breeze blew scraps of shredded paper and dust through the air. There was very little noise and a vague hint of dread hung in the air. That ethereal feeling of anxiety grew as the light faded beyond the distant hills.
Before long, we came to one of several arching stone bridges that spanned one of the rivers. The water was completely still, and Pinkie couldn't resist the urge to kick a pebble into it. The resulting splash echoed in the lifeless city and the ripples spread in thick rings that bounced off both shores and headed back to their point of origin. Nopony said anything and we marched on.
“Oh, this is positively horrible,” Rarity complained as we stepped off the far side of the bridge and set foot in the western quarter of Fillydelphia. “All this smoke is going to ruin my hair.”
The air on this side of the river was filled with dark fumes that blocked the already weakened light. The wind was stronger here, but the smoke refused to dissipate.
“D-did the dragon start a f-fire somewhere?” Fluttershy's voice shuddered, and again she was looking everywhere.
Linden shook his head. “While the evacuation was underway, we enchanted the entire city with a fireproofing spell to make sure that didn't happen. We think that the smoke you see is coming directly from the beast himself.”
He suddenly took a deep breath and turned to me with pleading eyes. “Look, we never trained for an attack like this. None of us are soldiers. We're carpenters, apothecaries, and bakers who volunteered to be in the Reserve Forces, but we never really thought that we'd have to handle something this serious. I plant trees for a living, for Celestia's sake! Please tell me that you can defeat this monster and save the rest of the city!”
I was taken aback by the sudden begging. That was a bad sign. A really bad sign.
“You can count on us,” I said bravely. “One way or another, we'll get this dragon out of your manes soon enough.” I wasn't really that confident myself, but I knew that the other ponies were listening for my response. Keeping morale up in stressful situations is important.
Nopony seemed to have anything to say to that, so we kept moving in silence. The smoke became even thicker and the odd feeling of uneasiness increased as we moved on. I could tell that the others felt it too by their heavier breathing and the nervous glances that they kept throwing over their shoulders. Only Pinkie Pie didn't seem eager to get away from this dark place.
What little light managed to permeate the gloom revealed that many of the houses had been heavily damaged. Roofs had been torn apart, walls were knocked in, and long scratches were raked across the street. Loose tiles and chunks of stone were strewn haphazardly around. Long splinters of ruined timber beams stuck out like shattered bones from what looked like a destroyed post office. Whatever had done all this had to be big and seriously pissed off.
Several times I saw what appeared to be torn and bloody pony corpses, but they were always lying in a darkened alley or covered in debris. We all tried not to look too closely; at least one of the bodies was far too small to be a fully grown pony.
The sun finally set. Now the only sources of illumination came from a few electrical lights on the nearby buildings that were still more or less intact and the occasional streetlamp. The bulbs flickered and threatened to go out at any moment, causing the shadows to waver and shuffle around unnaturally.
Before the moon could rise, we reached the library. It was located near the middle of the western quadrant, in the darkest and smokiest part of the city. The place was enormous and looked like a medieval cathedral, complete with columns, leering gargoyles, and spiky Gothic spires on the steep roof. The surrounding trees swayed back and forth in the wind, and the rustling of their leaves sounded like plotting, treasonous whispers.
There were numerous lights inside that gave off plenty of colorful illumination through the stained glass windows that hung between many of the building's ribbed stone arches. The windows depicted scenes of ponies playing in the sun, lounging under trees, and other cheerful situations that the gloom and smoke had twisted into perverse mockeries of themselves. Every painted smile had become a grimace and their singing mouths now screamed in agony. Each trace of red glass was a pool of blood and the eyes all seemed to be fixed on us.
Twilight shivered. “I have a bad feeling about this,” she muttered to herself.
With a flutter of wings, Lieutenant Thunder landed in front of us and saluted. I returned the gesture. “Anything to report?” I asked, grateful to see another familiar face.
“The dragon is still inside and we're stationed all around. He can't get out without us knowing.”
I nodded and slid Luna's shield onto my left arm. “Good. Tell the others that if things go to hell and he makes a break for it, don't try to take him on by yourselves. Follow him and let us know where he's headed so that we can plan an ambush. And, most importantly, don't let him out of your sight.”
“Of course, sir.” He flew back into the darkness where the indistinct silhouettes of the other pegasi hovered.
“What about us, sir?” Linden asked nervously. “Do you want us to go inside with you?”
I considered for a moment, then shook my head. “No, if there's too many of us, we won't be able to sneak around. Set up a perimeter out here and be ready to follow the dragon if he tries to break away. Coordinate with the pegasi and stay calm.” I didn't say that nine extra ponies would just be more targets for the dragon to attack. Or that I had some serious doubts about their resolve. I happened to know that if even one of them tried to retreat in the middle of a fight, it could get all of us killed.
Linden nodded and gave a few short orders. He soon had the place surrounded. Apparently they had trained on how to do that.
I stepped up to the library's massive wooden door, took a deep breath, and turned to my friends. “Well, if anypony's having second thoughts, this is your last chance to back out.” I fully expected Fluttershy to try to take off, but she bit her lip and said nothing.
“Alright, let's go in quietly and get a look at the situation. Stay close, keep your eyes open, and be ready for anything.”
The ponies nodded and I carefully pushed open the door. It swung silently on its hinges and we all snuck inside quickly. I pulled the door shut behind us and gently allowed the latch to close. We were now in the shadow dragon's temporary lair.
The entire building was silent. Utterly silent. I know that libraries are supposed to be quiet places, but there was not a single sound in that place. Even my own breathing echoed off the walls, columns, and ceiling.
We slowly made our way forward into the library. Tens of thousands of books were stacked in hundreds of bookcases that spread out across the floor and the nine upper levels that protruded from each of the walls. Twilight gasped quietly at the sheer number of texts. It was clear that she was wondering what was written in them all and planning how to get her hooves on a few before we returned to Ponyville.
Scores of long tapestries hung from the walls and carved marble columns. Each of them displayed a sun and a moon at the top and various different scenes on the bottom two thirds. Like the windows, these showed ponies in moments of happiness and blissful playing that had been tainted by the dragon's presence. A few had been ripped to shreds, but the ones that were still intact seemed even worse somehow. The woven eyes either stared at nothing or glared at us, furious that we hadn't been consumed by the beast yet.
Applejack suddenly stopped in her tracks and motioned for us to do the same. She frantically pointed towards the wall to our left, between two rows of bookcases.
Lying against the wall between two support columns was a dark mass. It was a lump of solid lightless matter, as black as the library was quiet and then some. There weren't even any shadows on it, it was so dark. Pitch-black doesn't even come close to describing how black it was.
The darkness was illuminated ever so slightly by a strange green light that came from a shining emerald gem, but strangely the light only made the darkness seem even darker. That faint light made my skin crawl and the hairs on my neck stand up, and judging from Rarity's expression—a mixture of awe and disgust—even she knew that the jewel was tainted by evil.
The darkness was slowly expanding and contracting in a slow, steady rhythm. We all watched in horrified fascination as the dragon silently slept, oblivious to our presence. You'd expect to hear deep, rumbling snoring or breathing from something like that, but it gave off no sound of any kind, as if it didn't have lungs. That was pretty damn disconcerting.
I waved the ponies back and they silently followed. We hunkered down together behind a few rows of bookcases to discuss the best approach of attack.
“Here's what I'm thinking,” I whispered as they all huddled around. “If we stay quiet and do it right, we can end this without a fight. One quick hit in the jewel and it's dead.”
“Then why didn't you just do it when we were over there instead of bringing us back here first?” Rainbow asked crossly. Her wings twitched in agitation.
“Because we need to be smart about this,” I explained calmly, or at least as calm as I could manage while coming up with a plan with a giant shadow dragon less than a hundred feet away. “We want to have a Plan B in case something goes wrong. Stay back and let me get close unless that thing wakes up. If that happens, Rainbow, you and Fluttershy need to fly above the dragon and distract him while Applejack and Pinkie run around behind him and attack from his rear. Rarity and Twilight, get his sides. Everypony take turns pulling his attention away until I can hit him with this thing,” I tapped the sword's star pommel and looked around at the six of them.
They were all nodding. “If that doesn't work, Plan C is to fall back and regroup, say on the second floor in that corner over there. Are we all clear? Any questions?” Nopony spoke up. “Then let's do it.”
In a few moments, we were back to where we had been and were looking at the dragon once again. It hadn't moved or changed its breathing at all in our absence. The gem still glowed with its strange otherworldly light.
I took a deep breath and took a careful step towards the creature. Then another. And a few more. It didn't react. Maybe we didn't need to make a Plan B or C after all, I reassured myself as I slowly crept forward. This might be easier than I thought.
Since it was impossible to distinguish just what the dragon's body looked like (the thing's parts all blended together and it was so dark that I couldn't tell what part was the body and what was a leg or the neck), I judged my progress by how close the gem was as a reference. The thing wasn't quite as big as I'd initially thought. Once the jewel was within an arm's length, the mound of blackness rose up about ten feet; not nearly as big as the dragons that the ponies had faced on the show.
Despite its reduced size, that odd feeling of dread was back and hung extremely strong in the air around the dragon. It was suddenly tempting to fall back and try to think of another plan, but I gritted my teeth and took one last step towards the shining emerald. It really was a nice gem, but there was something about it that made me cringe. It simply didn't belong in this world, or in any world for that matter.
I took another breath and tried somewhat successfully to steady myself. My hand shook as it slowly pulled the glowing sword out of its scabbard, which suddenly seemed like a really bad thing to do. I had a sudden vision of the blue glow waking the dragon up, angry eyes, breathing fire, burning...
But the dragon kept sleeping, undisturbed by the metallic rasping noise and sudden change of light.
I tightened my grip on the sword and drew my arm back. One quick stab, I told myself. Just one quick stab and it'll all be over.
I jabbed my arm out. I thought that I could hear the ponies suck in their breath. My aim was perfectly straight and the point of the blade hit right in the center of the green jewel....
The point bounced off.
A sudden snort came from the mass of shadow and two new green lights appeared right above the emerald. They lingered on me for a moment and narrowed into thin, furious slits.
Oh. Shit.
I frantically swung the sword again and once more hit the gem. Like before, the metal was ineffectually turned aside by the emerald.
“Get out of there!” Twilight yelled as Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy leapt into the air. The glaring eyes and the jewel rose in the air as the dragon lifted its head and neck off the floor with an angry hiss.
Again, the thing was so black that without the gem, eyes, and background there was no way to distinguish the dragon's exact shape. It seemed to have sharp angles around the edges of its head and spikes along its neck, but it was difficult to see even those. I really wish that there were some other features to help me figure out what the fuck this thing actually looks like, I thought for some reason.
The monster decided at that moment to open his mouth, revealing dozens of dark silver teeth that glowed with their own faint evil light. Each one of them was about as long as my hand and tapered to a sharp point. On second thought, maybe it was better the other way.
The dragon arched its head back before darting forward, its jaws stretched wide. Without thinking, I brought the shield up and planted my feet. I bent my knees and braced myself.
The impact of the dragon's snakelike strike knocked me flat on my back, but I somehow managed to turn my fall into a backward somersault and rolled to my feet just in time to see Rainbow crash into the side of the monster's head. That distraction gave the other ponies time to run into the positions that I had assigned to them.
“Take this!” Applejack gave a swift buck to the black mass at the bottom of the dragon. A large clawed foot materialized out of the darkness and kicked her right back. She slammed headfirst into a bookcase with a yelp and was covered by an avalanche of text as the tomes fell from the shelves.
The dragon then returned its attention to Rainbow, who was still flying around its head and delivered an occasional kick. A deep rumbling came from the beast's chest as he took a breath (so it did have lungs after all). He then opened his jaws again and violent green flames shot out past his teeth at the blue pegasus. Rainbow let out a continuous stream of half-formed swearwords as she looped and twisted to dodge the fire.
The flames abruptly stopped as a small stone statue fell from above and slammed the dragon's mouth shut with a nasty crack. He glanced up with an enraged hiss to see Fluttershy hovering in the air and attempting to rock a large bookcase over the edge of the third-level balcony. He opened his teeth again in what looked vaguely like an evil grin and took another deep breath.
Suddenly I had a crazy, stupid idea. Just as I dismissed it, the words of Thunder came back to me: 'She also said that you should trust in it, whatever that means'. I looked down at the silver shield and gave a mental shrug. Alright, but there's no way in hell that this is gonna work.
I slipped the shield off my arm and threw it in a reverse frisbee toss just as the dragon shot out a small fireball at the yellow pegasus. The shield flew in a silver arc and intercepted the green flames, throwing them right back at the dragon. It let out a roar of pain as it was hit by its own attack and knocked over a shelf full of books and scrolls.
The shield then flashed back towards me and fitted itself once more to my arm. The entire process had taken less than a second. It was like something out of an outlandish anime, but I was there to see it happen with my own eyes.
Fluttershy meanwhile had managed to tilt the bookcase over the balcony's railing and sent it crashing down on the shadow dragon, who was more preoccupied with the dying fire that had landed all around him and was unable to dodge as the weight crashed right onto his back with a hollow thump.
The beast shook itself and finally got to its feet. The additional defined limbs finally gave us a much better idea of what it looked like; it was stocky with a short neck and had a long slender tail that ended in a pointy spike. The green gem was located on its neck just under the chin.
Pinkie giggled loudly and popped up from behind a bookcase. “Hey, mister draaaagon!” she called, which drew an angry glance from the monster. “You look like you've been living in a chimney for the last ten years!”
She had to duck down as the dragon swung a claw at her. Apparently laughing at this thing only made him angrier.
Several books smashed into the dragon's side, and he turned to see Twilight and Rarity picking up another volley with magic. He didn't seem to enjoy the thought of being hit again, and his tail flicked out. Both unicorns were knocked away and skidded to a halt on the stone floor about twenty feet away. Twilight's tiara flew off and fell to the ground with a metallic tink. They groaned softly in pain as they got back to their hooves.
I ran back up to the dragon and slashed my sword at where his chest seemed to be. The gem was out of range, but seeing my new friends getting hurt made me slightly angry. Besides, just sitting back and waiting for him to offer a free shot didn't seem to be an option.
I definitely felt the blade slice through something in the blackness, but there was no blood or visible damage of any kind. The dragon knocked me back to the ground with a backhanded (backclawed?) strike for my trouble.
Rainbow came up behind the dragon's head and gave a mighty kick that seemed to disorient it for a moment. “You like that?” she yelled as she kicked again. “Have some more!”
The dragon shook its head furiously and growled in annoyance. His tail whipped through the air and smashed into Rainbow Dash as she tried to land another hit, sending her spinning into Applejack just as the orange pony managed to free herself from the cascade of books. A second avalanche of texts buried both of them.
Rarity was standing still and rubbed her head at the base of her horn. She seemed a little disoriented from being hit, but snapped out of it when she saw Twilight using her magic on one of the pillars that supported the level over the dragon. Rarity then made her own horn glow and went to work on the other column, which shook violently from the spell.
An iron anvil dropped out of nowhere on the dragon's head, driving it to the ground. Pinkie Pie laughed maniacally and shimmied up the nearest tapestry while I sprinted forward and stabbed out again before the dragon could recover. The glowing jewel was once again within my reach.
Speaking of once again, once again the sword bounced off the gem without any helpful result.
Goddammit! I raged as the dragon hissed and drew its head back to strike at me again. Why isn't this working?
“Get back!” Twilight and Rarity yelled in unison as the marble pillars that they'd been affecting cracked and fell. They didn't have to tell me twice. A few quick backward steps brought me out of harm's way, but the dragon wasn't so lucky. The falling pieces of stone pinned him to the ground and a large cloud of dust blocked our view of him as he thrashed around in an attempt to free himself.
I took advantage of the brief break in the fighting to see what had happened to the others. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were both fighting to free themselves from the books, Rarity and Twilight were levitating more rubble and bookcases onto the trapped dragon to buy us a little more time, Pinkie Pie was still hanging from the tapestry and threw what looked like cupcakes down at the beast (no idea where she got those from), and Fluttershy was trying to back away from everything. We were too scattered and disorganized to do anything at the moment, and the dragon wouldn't be stuck for much longer.
“Fall back!” I shouted. “Plan C!”
We escaped from the flailing beast before he could try to attack us all again, pausing only to retrieve Applejack and Rainbow from the mound of texts. By the time that he freed himself, the seven of us were hiding out of sight behind a large bookcase in the corner of the second level.
Aaaaand it's time for another commercial break! Yay!
Hello, fillies. Look at your stud. Now back to me. Now back at your stud. Now back to me. Sadly, he isn't me. But if he stopped using that whimpy coat wash and switched to Ancient Zest, he could smell like he's me.
Look down. Back up. Over there. Back here. Where are you? You're on a boat, with the stud your stud could smell like. What's in your hoof?
Back at me. I have it. It's a pair of golden tickets to that thing that you like. Look again. The tickets are now diamonds. What's that in the sky?
Back at me. Now back at the sky. Me again. The sky is now diamonds. Anything is possible when your stud smells like Ancient Zest and not a whimp.
There's now two of me. Two studs that your stud could smell like. Now just one. Two again. Just one now. Back at your hoof. Your hoof is now diamonds.
Back. To. Me.
I'm a horse.
To be continued...
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Shadowmane
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882
| 9 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Main 6,Original Character,Spike,Trixie,Human,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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An American Dude in Equestria
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This is the tale of how some schmuck from California found himself in Equestria.
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complete
| 208 | 21 |
<p>A botched spell brings a human into the land of ponies. Could this possibly lead to offbeat hijinks? Read on to find out.</p><br/><br/><p>Note that this story and all subsequent parts takes place between the first and second seasons of the show.</p>
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teen
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2011-10-04T06:19:56+00:00
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2011-10-04T06:19:56+00:00
| 6,244 |
“Neigh! Whinny! Nicker!” — Sarah Jessica Parker
The shadow dragon was still hunting for us on the ground floor and hadn't even bothered to look up on the higher levels. Not yet, anyway. So we were safe on the second balcony for the moment.
“Tha' worm's lucky he di'n't gimme a chance to give 'im a good kick where it really hurts,” Applejack was saying as she rubbed at the lump that was swelling at the back of her skull.
“That fucker could've broke my wing, piece of shit,” Rainbow Dash added as she straightened her feathers out.
Fluttershy was still shaking from the encounter and nearly being roasted. “Please don't say those words, Rainbow. I don't like them.”
“How can you be be thinking of that at a time like this?”
“Be quiet or he'll hear us,” Twilight warned Rainbow sternly before turning to me. “What happened down there? Why didn't the sword work?”
“You tell me,” I said bitterly as I sheathed the weapon in question. “I definitely hit that gem, but it just kept bouncing off.”
“That don' make no sense,” Applejack cut in. “Di'n't Thunder say tha' Luna'd put a spell on the sword so's it could kill that thing?”
“That's what he said,” Pinkie Pie confirmed. Even with a vengeful dragon sniffing around downstairs, she had a smile on her face and a spring in her step.
I sighed in frustration and rubbed my eyelids, trying desperately to think. “The shield worked just fine, so Luna obviously knew what she was doing with the enchantments. You're right, AJ. This doesn't make any sense. Something's not right here.”
I clenched my fist furiously. If the library's wall hadn't been made of solid stone, I would have tried to punch right through it. Being attacked by a dragon made entirely of darkness and having to retreat was straining my patience to the max.
“Calm yourself,” Rarity said softly as she gently placed a dainty hoof on my shoulder. “Anger won't help us now.”
I had to physically bite my tongue to prevent myself from snapping at her. The other ponies looked at each other uncertainly. Like I'd told them in the hospital, I never really show my ire until I'm about ready to rip somebody's head right off their shoulders.
After a moment, I got myself back under control. I knew that she was just trying to help me get my head straight, and lashing out would just make things worse anyway.
“You're right,” I sighed and put my hand on the hoof.
Rarity smiled reassuringly. “Of course I am. We have to think about this logically and—” She was interrupted as Pinkie bit her tail and roughly dragged her over to the balcony's edge.
“Hold out your hooves,” the pink pony demanded, her face suddenly deadly serious.
Rarity obeyed and stuck her hooves out in the air over the railing, asking a million questions with a look.
“Perfect,” Pinkie said. “Now just stay there for a minute.” She took a few steps back and looked at the underside of the balcony right above us. She thought for a moment, stuck the edge of her tongue out of the corner of her mouth, moved to the left a couple of inches, and blasted off with an impossibly high jump. Her face hit the stone hard with a dull thud.
Twilight rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Pinkie, we don't have time—”
A soft cry of surprise from Rarity cut her off. The white unicorn had nearly fallen over the side, but she managed to pull herself upright again. A large red book was clasped in her hooves.
“Is that...?” Rainbow was at a loss for words.
“Beasts of Darkness!” Twilight muttered, casting a quick glance at the bottom floor to make sure that the shadow dragon hadn't seen or heard anything before levitating the tome out of Rarity's grip. “And it looks like it has all the pages! Maybe this will help us figure out what to do.”
“Jus' how in tarnation didja do that?” Applejack asked Pinkie as Twilight ripped the book open.
Pinkie sat on the floor and crossed her hooves in irritation. “Well, while you were all worrying about why the sword didn't work, I was looking at these books here.” She pointed vaguely at the bookcase to our right. “If things like Bodacious Needlepoint Creations and Xtreme Basketweaving are here, that means that we're in the Arts and Crafts area, and that the Evil Supernatural Creatures section must be two levels up with Beasts of Darkness precariously balanced on the edge of the railing. All it needed to fall was a little—”
“Okay okay, we get it,” Twilight said as she used her magic to turn to the proper page. “Here we are, the missing...”
You could actually hear her eyelids snap away from each other. Her eyes traced over the same spot on the page, as if she couldn't believe what the words said. She tried unsuccessfully to speak a few times before forcing out a hoarse (no pun intended) “Are you...are you fucking kidding?”
“Twilight...”
“Sorry, Fluttershy, but this...you don't...oh, I'll just read it! It's that last sentence that was cut off in my copy. 'They usually have a prominently glowing gem that is used to distract from the actual source of their existence'!”
A moment of silence passed as we let that sink in.
“You mean this whole time I was hitting it in the wrong spot?” My subdued anger was coming right back.
Rainbow Dash glared down at the dragon, who was currently knocking over random bookshelves and sniffing their contents. She looked even more furious than I felt. “So, Twilight, where do we stick the sword? Is it any of the places that I wanna shove it in him right now?”
Twilight regained her composure and carefully looked at the page again. “'The object must be revealed with a large amount of light before it can be identified and struck.' And then there's a few accounts of how they've done that in the past. It looks like they usually had Princess Celestia or a small army around to do it.”
“Light, huh?” Applejack put a hoof to her chin. “Well, the sun's down. Now what?”
“These things, duh!” Pinkie tapped her necklace lightly.
“Of course!” Twilight mumbled excitedly. “The Elements of Harmony gave off all kinds of light when we used them! That must be why the Princess sent them with us! All we have to do is...”
She stopped talking again and desperately grabbed at the top of her head. Her tiara was gone.
“Oh no!” she squealed and rushed to look over the balcony's edge. The rest of us also looked down, only to see the shadow dragon chewing on something golden and purple. The tiara had been knocked off when the dragon hit Twilight with his tail, and now he was having it for a snack.
We all stared in dumbfounded silence for a moment while the beast continued to gnaw on the Element of Magic.
Well, that's a kick in the balls, I thought resentfully.
“So much fer that plan,” Applejack muttered in disappointment. “Guess we gotta think o' somethin' else.”
“Perhaps these will work?” Rarity pointed to her horn hopefully.
Twilight shook her head and stuck her nose back in the book. She was fuming but kept her voice even. “Just you and me won't cut it. Even if we called Sergeant Linden in to help us out, we wouldn't have nearly enough magical power. According to this, it takes at least twenty unicorns to make enough light. Next idea.”
“Are there any more o' these thingamajigs around?” Applejack was pointing at the nearest electrical lamp, which gave off a feeble glow that dimmed and flickered occasionally.
“He'll notice if we start hanging lights everywhere,” I pointed out. “That'll take forever, and it doesn't look like there's much power left, anyway. I guess we'll have to make our light the old-fashioned way.”
The ponies all looked at me in confusion.
“Fire,” I clarified.
Twilight bit her lip and gazed longingly at the books that sat on the shelves. She sighed unhappily. She knew what had to be done.
“Well, if we must...” She closed her eyes and her horn glowed. The entire bookcase burst into bright golden flames...which then disappeared and left the books completely unharmed.
The purple unicorn frowned and tried again. The books burned for a moment and then were perfectly fine a second later. A third try yielded the same result.
“Didn't Linden mention that they put a fireproofing spell on the entire city?” Rarity recalled.
Rainbow Dash facehoofed with a groan. “Great. That's just perfect! Well, we're totally fucked now, aren't we?”
Fluttershy gasped. “Rainbow!”
“I know, I know, you don't like it, but—”
“No, that's not what I mean!” Fluttershy's voice was much louder than usual, about at the same volume as a regular pony's voice. “Rainbow, you can do it. If you make a Sonic Rainboom, there will be plenty of light.”
“What?” Rainbow was caught off guard. “A Rainboom in here? Are you insane?”
“Actually, that might be just crazy enough to work,” Twilight was thinking.
“You can't be serious. There's nowhere to pick up enough speed! I need a lot more room than we have in here.”
“Then fly 'round outside,” Applejack put in. “We can knock down one o' these walls or windows fer ya. We can always rebuild 'em later.”
Rainbow still wasn't convinced. “And what about after the Rainboom, when I'm going really fast? I don't wanna splatter all over the place!”
“Then we'll have to take out two walls,” I said, also thinking. “One for you to fly in through and one for an exit. But we'll have to do it quickly and carefully so that he” I jerked my head downwards “doesn't have a chance to see and break out.”
My mind was racing, but I didn't like where the thoughts were going. “This isn't gonna be fun,” I muttered to myself.
“You have a plan?” Pinkie asked, her eyes wide and sparkling.
I nodded and kicked myself back into leadership mode. “Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack, you get to work on the exit hole. Make it, say, on the fourth level right above the front door. The rest of you put the entrance wherever Rainbow wants it, then she'll head outside and get plenty of distance. As soon as you're ready, fly in and go supersonic right in the middle of the place.”
“Where are you going to be?” Rarity asked.
I scratched at my beard and reset my glasses on my nose. “Someone's gotta keep that dragon busy. Everypony clear on the plan?” There were nods. “Then let's do it.”
Rarity came up to me again. “Before we do, I have something that I would like to tell you, Jesse. If I may—”
Applejack cut her off with a tug on her mane. “No time fer fancy words. Save it fer afterwards, 'cause we got a wall ta knock down pronto.”
Rarity glared daggers at the earth pony and attempted to put her hair back in place. “You know nothing about dramatic timing and revelations! But I suppose you are right.”
I quickly made my way to the staircase and climbed up to the next level before they could say anything else. Rainbow Dash flew up after me.
“You know that this is completely insane, don't you? Do you have any idea how many things can go wrong?”
“You're preaching to the choir, Rainbow,” I said as I started up the next set of stairs.
“Meaning...?”
“Yes, I know. But this is the only chance we have.”
“Do you really expect me to fly through two tiny holes at top speed and pull off the Rainboom inside the place? With an error margin that's probably less than a tenth of a fucking second?” Both her voice and her hooves were shaking. That was a lot of pressure.
I paused in my climbing and turned to look straight into her pink eyes. “Look, Rainbow, I know that you can do this. Do you trust me?”
For a few moments, Rainbow hovered in place and silently stared at the floor. One of her hooves brushed the red lightning bolt that hung from her neck. Then she sighed and nodded. “I'm not sure why, but yes. Somehow, I do.”
I cracked a smile and continued moving. “Good. That makes one of us.”
“Why are you going upstairs, anyway?”
“You'll see when you pull off the Rainboom.”
“You really think I can? I know, you just said you do, but I've only done it twice, and you saw how my last practice run went...”
I was beginning to get frustrated with her self-doubt. “When you tried that time, you kept one leg up against your body. If you stick out all of 'em and point your hooves, it'll work. Just focus on your aim and timing. Now go tell Twilight where you want your hole.”
Rainbow blinked in surprise at being dismissed so tersely, but she flew off without arguing and I climbed the rest of the stairs by myself in silence. I could faintly hear the dragon downstairs still bumping into stuff and tearing apart whatever books had managed to survive his presence for so long.
The top level seemed to be filled with more adult-oriented material. Smutty romance novels and what appeared to be a ponified version of the Karma Sutra were scattered around. Most of the covers looked like they'd been inspired by the scribbles in the binder of a pre-teen schoolboy who had just discovered that girls had different things in their pants than he did.
One small book caught my eye and I curiously picked it up off the shelf. It was a copy of That's Not All That Horns Are Good For, by some doctor pony named Gentry Dolhooves. Judging by the photo of the author on the back cover, his credentials probably weren't legit. The old blue stallion looked more like a trashy onion peddler than a bestselling writer.
I shrugged and tossed the book aside. We had more important things to do than learn which holes to shove a horn into and if firing off a spell mid-thrust would increase the receiving pony's pleasure. I walked up to the edge of the balcony and peeked over the side.
Nine stories is a long distance from the ground when you look down and there's nothing to stop you from falling but a short wooden railing. It seems even longer when there's a hostile shadow dragon down there and you know that he's trying to find you. Translation: It felt really fucking high.
The beast was still meandering around the ruined ground floor, now pulling one of the long silk tapestries off the wall for some reason. The hanging showed a green pegasus filly dancing in giddy abandon, but as he gnawed on her leg it looked more like she was crying out in pain and trying desperately to fly away.
“Naw, Rarity, ya gotta put some muscle inta yer kicks,” Applejack's voice suddenly rang out audibly. A crash of collapsing stone echoed from the general direction of the front door as a small hole appeared in the wall a few levels up. The shadow dragon turned its angular head and hissed loudly, its tapestry forgotten as it focused on the crunching sound.
Here we go, I thought as I swallowed hard and cleared my throat. Time to get his attention.
“Hey you down there!” I shouted.
Two green slits glared up at me.
“Yeah you, scrotumbreath! Yo mama's so fat, when she sits around the house, she sits around the house!”
The dragon cocked his head, obviously confused. Does it even understand what I'm saying? “Yeah, she's so fat that you have to roll over twice just to get off her in the morning. But I'll bet anyone could tell you that.”
The dragon let out a puff of smoke from his nose. It looked like he was starting to get annoyed. I was dimly aware that Applejack was running around the balconies to the other side to help with the other hole while Rarity and Fluttershy finished the exit by themselves.
“Yo mama's so fat that whenever she steps on a weight scale it says 'To be continued.' She makes sumo wrestlers think that they suffer from anorexia. They say that fat chicks have more to love, but she could count as an entire harem all by herself!”
The dragon was clearly angry now. It spread two long, black wings and launched itself into the air.
Shit, too early! I pulled off my shield and threw it without thinking.
Wham!
The dragon crashed to the ground with a roar of pain after the shield stuck its wing. His impact threw scores of loose books into the air and the silver shield flew right back to me.
Forget Captain Jesse, now I'm Captain Fucking America! Wait, that sounds weird. I'm Fucking Captain America? No, that's way worse.
The shadow dragon shook himself off with a snarl and flapped his damaged wing experimentally. It was bent at an odd angle.
“How'd you like that, bitch?” I spread my arms in a cocky mocking gesture. I was suddenly much more sure of myself now that I'd actually hurt him. “You wanna piece of me? Come get some!”
“Don't overdo it!” Twilight called from somewhere to my right as Applejack bucked at the second hole with a crunch of breaking stone. “Rainbow's not in position yet!”
The dragon snarled again and folded his wings back as well as he could. Then he sunk his claws into a support column that lead directly to my balcony and began to climb. The pillar cracked and shuddered from the weight, but it held. Claw by claw he slowly made his way upward.
I began hurling more insults as soon as they formed in my head. “Yo mama's so fat, she deep-fries her toothpaste. She's so fat that when you're on top of her your ears pop. I know that one from personal experience. Don't try to sugarcoat how fat she is, 'cause you'll just make her eat that too!”
He was already about a third of the way up. I was starting to feel just a bit nervous as he came closer, but I kept yelling.
“Yo mama's so fat, when she goes swimming in the ocean all the sailors say 'Land ho!' Then they pull up their ships and climb on top of her, so she gets covered in seamen! When she sits around the house, she—wait, I already used that one. Uh, your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!”
Halfway up. He looked pissed.
My newfound confidence was just about gone and my insults became steadily more nonsensical. “If you were an ice cream flavor, you'd be pralines and dick! Looks to me like the best part of you ran down your mama's crack and ended up a brown stain on the mattress! You're so useless that if we put you in the same room as nine lesbians and ten government workers, you'd be twenty folks who don't do dick!”
Three quarters of the way up. He looked really pissed.
“She's coming!” Pinkie Pie yelled. “Ten seconds!”
I stopped my verbal barrage and backed away from the edge until my spine was against the wall. The glowing sword rasped against its scabbard as I unsheathed it again and tightened my grip on the handle. I could hear the dragon climbing even higher and the balcony shuddered violently as he made yet another claw-hold.
Any last words? I asked myself as I got ready. Yeah. I really wish I had a better idea than this.
I placed my foot against the base of the wall and took a deep breath. Then I pushed off, sprinted to the edge of the balcony, and leapt headfirst over the railing.
Yes, you read that right. No, it wasn't one of my better plans.
If you've seen an action movie within the past two or three decades, you can instantly recognize when shit's about to get real. Everything slows down and there's usually a helicopter somewhere to let you know just how much time passes as you watch the rotors slooooowly spin around. Then everything speeds back up when the helicopter explodes for no good reason.
At this point, time was going slow. Really slow. The dragon was surprised to see me coming straight at him and didn't have time to react as I sloooowly smashed my shield right into his face and broke three of his front teeth right out of their sockets. The fangs fell out of his mouth without any sign of blood and twirled completely around about six times each as they fell down his throat before I lost sight of them.
His roar of pain was looooong and drawn out at a lower pitch than it should have been. I'd bounced off of his head and reached out my shield arm until, after what seemed like a full minute, I hooked my elbow into the nook between his short neck and shoulder. I pulled myself into an upright position and clung to his back.
I pulled the sword back slooooowly and stabbed the glooooowing blade into the dragon's spine. I knew that it wouldn't kill him, but I did it anyway. The point only sunk in a few inches before it was stopped by bone and I had to slooooowly pull it out again while he slooooowly but firmly shook himself in a futile attempt to throw me off. His tail whipped dangerously close to my head.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rainbow Dash hurtling through the hole in the wall at a dangerously steep angle, just barely clearing the balcony's railing and sending a bunch of loose papers flying into the air. She was going fast, but everything else was still slooooow. She'd taken off her necklace at some point, probably to get rid of even that tiny bit of weight that would have slowed her down. The clear cone-shaped bubble of air in front of both her hooves looked unstable and electricity sparked along its edges.
For a brief moment a look of utter horror went across Rainbow's face as she saw me stabbing the shadow dragon. It was painfully obvious that she was thinking that I'd completely lost my mind. Not that I blame her; what kind of moron deliberately throws himself off a ninth-story balcony to grapple with a monster like that? Besides me, obviously.
Then she put me out of her mind. Her pink eyes narrowed in determination and she returned her focus to flying as she put on an final burst of speed, straining every fiber of her body to go just a little faster...
Then time slowed down again. Even Rainbow slowed down. Everything went silent in that stretched-out instant as the air bubble suddenly sparked and fizzled and she punched right through it.
As her hooves connected with the barrier, a supernova of color exploded outward and mercilessly blasted the shadows away. She pulled back and struggled into an upward angle, her mane flapping wildly as she flew straight through the exit hole and out of sight, a rainbow contrail hanging in her wake.
At that point, the wave of light and brilliant colors washed over us and the concussive air burst shoved me into the dragon's dark back. Then, his back suddenly wasn't so dark. The blinding light punched right through the shadow dragon's scales and flesh until there was nothing visible but a few faint outlines where his skeleton should have been. I could still feel his shoulder under my arm, but I couldn't see anything other than a bunch of transparent dragon bones hanging in midair in a vaguely dragon-shaped pattern. There was a massive crack in one of his larger wing bones.
A spot of darkness drew my attention as I slooooowly struggled to pull myself out of my enemy's now-invisible back. It was a single scale near the base of his tail that seemed to absorb the light instead of letting it pass through. A tiny patch of darkness on a dragon made entirely of darkness.
I have you now.
I slooooowly let go of the dragon and slooooowly let myself fall downwards towards the black speck. I could feel him slooooowly trying to turn around to find out where I was and what all of this light was coming from. I didn't plan to let him figure it out.
Now, the speck was right below me. I slooooowly pulled the sword back one more time and slooooowly stabbed out with all of my strength. The tip was slooooowly approaching the scale and I was slooooowly shouting out a stolen one-liner.
Then everything sped up. The dragon's bones faded away and became a bunch of thin shadowy tendrils that sunk into where the sword had hit. The black scale flashed white and turned into a bright red ruby that fell after me toward the ground with the emerald from the dragon's neck in hot pursuit.
“YIPPIE KI-YAY, MOTHERFUCKER!” I was screaming in triumph at the top of my lungs. Yes! That cocksucker is finally dead!
Then I turned my head back and realized that I was still four stories from the ground and falling fast. And Rainbow Dash wasn't around to catch me this time.
Shit.
I closed my eyes shut as the air whipped through my hair and beard and wondered what it would feel like to have my brain splatter all over the floor. And what the janitor pony who had to clean it up later would say. Probably something along the lines of “I don't get paid enough to put up with this bullshit,” most likely while puffing on a cigarette and wishing that his wife would just accept the fact that he had to have this job and work late hours so that he could support her and their foals until his painting career took off. Bits didn't grow on trees, dammit!
My thoughts were interrupted as I fell onto something soft and rolled off. I opened my eyes in time to see that I had hit a floating tapestry that was glowing blue around the edges. Before I could even fully grasp what I was looking at, I hit another one. And another. Then another one. My speed had been reduced to almost nothing.
I missed the next tapestry. I was still about fifteen feet from the book-covered floor. I had time for only one more thought before I hit the ground: This is gonna hurt.
* * * * *
“FUCK!”
“Hold him still, Pinkie!” Twilight's horn glowed as she tried again to reset my leg. She'd gotten her tiara back at some point, complete with bite marks in the metal. “That was extremely reckless, you know. You're lucky Rarity thought fast enough to save you.”
“Yeah, I knoCUNTFLAPS!” I involuntarily kicked my leg out of Pinkie's grasp. It felt like my right shinbone was jamming my kneecap into my femur.
“Just where did you learn such foul language?” Rarity's purple mane was a complete mess, but she either didn't notice or didn't care at the moment. For that matter, she didn't seem at all concerned with the dust that had turned her perfectly white coat a dirty gray and hid her cutie mark from view.
I groaned and tried to ignore the pain. “Sorry, but on EarSON OF A BITCH!” The offending bone had tried to shove its way through my foot. Fluttershy winced at all the shouting but didn't say anything.
Now that the danger was gone, the rush of adrenaline was dying down but not gone yet. My hands were shaking and my spine tingled. I also had a massive erection for some reason.
The glow around Twilight's horn faded and she gave a tired sigh. There were dark circles under her eyes. “That's the best I can do. It's fixed, but it'll still be tender and painful for a few days.”
I gingerly lifted myself to my feet. A sharp pain came from my right ankle and I quickly shifted my weight to the other leg. She wasn't kidding about the tenderness.
“Thanks,” I muttered and took a few gentle steps. That didn't hurt too bad, so I kept moving. I felt the need to walk around and get rid of the extra energy.
I struggled to limp around and scramble over the destroyed bookshelves. Luckily it wasn't far to where my sword and shield had fallen on top of the destruction. I noticed that the blade wasn't glowing anymore as I sheathed it and hung the shield onto my back once again.
A couple of shining specks among the fallen books and shredded tapestries caught my eye. A closer look revealed that they were the emerald and the ruby that the dragon had dropped. They were much smaller than I'd thought, each only about the size of my thumb, and the sinister glowing was gone. Now they looked just like ordinary jewels.
Something at the back of my mind told me that it would be unwise to leave them sitting there, so slid the gems into my pocket. Also, years of video games driving me to loot everything that's shiny and not nailed down may have had something to do with it.
At that point, my leg had had enough. My knee buckled painfully and I had to grab onto a broken bookcase to keep from falling to the ground. My attempts to get my leg back under control only resulted in sharp stabs of pain and more swearing.
“Ya need a crutch o' somethin', sugar cube?” Applejack asked with concern.
“I have a better idea.” Before I realized what was happening, Rarity's disheveled head appeared between my legs and she lifted me up on her back without much effort. Either I'd lost weight or she was stronger than she looked. Or maybe it was magic.
“I can manage just fine,” I said as I moved to dismount. Call me a stubborn prick, but I didn't want to make her carry me around.
Rarity swung her head around to look at me. “Why so eager to get off? Don't you want to ride me?”
Her quick wink proved that she had snuck an entirely different question in there. Christ, how am I gonna deal with this?
Before I could form a response, the library's door crashed open and Rainbow Dash burst in with a few staggering steps. Her multicolored mane was tangled and knotted to absurdity and there was what looked like half of a small bush hanging from her tail.
“Sorry I took so long to get back. I hit a tree and...” Her voice trailed off and she snorted in amusement as she noticed me still sitting on Rarity's back. “About time you got him on top of you, if you know what I mean.”
Rarity rolled her eyes in annoyance, despite her own question from a few seconds before that amounted to pretty much the same thing. “You can be so crude at times, Rainbow Dash.”
“That sounds like fun!” Pinkie shouted and grabbed the other pegasus, who hadn't said anything lately, around the neck. “Hey, Fluttershy! Let me get on top of you and we'll be crude like Dashie!”
Twilight and Applejack both facehoofed at the same time. Rainbow's face turned bright red and her wings popped up into the air with an audible sproing.
I'm a really bad influence, I belatedly realized.
* * * * *
Outside, the gloomy smoke had all but disappeared and the silver moon shone down on the damaged city. The stained glass windows (none of them had been broken by the Rainboom's shockwave because magic) once again depicted scenes of joy and life that cheerfully warmed the night. The menacing black shadows had all become soft and inviting. The rustling leaves were no longer whispering threats behind our backs.
The stallions were all lined up and saluted once again as Rarity carried me out the door and the other ponies followed. They weren't quite unprofessional enough to point out that I was riding my friend, but they did look much more relaxed than they had when we had left them behind. The Royal Guard pegasi remained fairly stoic and composed, but the Reserve Forces were another story entirely. A couple of them exchanged brohoofs and shoved each other coltishly.
Linden and Thunder both stepped forward, the former's rusty armor a far cry from the latter's shining golden breastplate and helm. Both looked very reassured by our return, though they tried not to show it.
The ironclad unicorn spoke first. “On behalf of Fillydelphia, please accept my eternal gratitude for saving our city and defeating the monster. Most of it, anyway. Thanks to all of you, we can now reverse the evacuation orders and bring the resident ponies back again.”
“Are we gonna get our own holiday for this?” Rainbow asked hopefully. “You should invite the Wonderbolts to have a flying show in our honor! And tell them—”
Twilight stepped forward and cut her off. “What she means to say is that it was our pleasure to help and that you can always count on us in your times of need. Isn't that right?” She stared hard at the blue pegasus out of the corner of her eye.
“Yeah, that too, I guess.”
“Well, there will likely be some sort of celebration,” Linden said, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “I'm sure that the rest of our city's population will be more than happy to make a special occasion in remembrance of tonight's events.”
“A party! I love parties!” Pinkie was bouncing up and down excitedly.
Lieutenant Thunder cleared his throat and puffed out his chest. “You'll all be pleased to know that we have received an announcement from Princess Luna congratulating all of you for slaying the shadow dragon. She invites you to a celebration of her own to be held at noon tomorrow in the royal palace of Canterlot. Separate from the Autumn Festival, of course.”
“Wait a second, ” I objected. “That thing's only been dead for about ten minutes. How did she know that we killed him? And how did she manage to send a message?”
“It's a mystery!” called a voice from above.
Everypony threw their heads back. Princess Luna's silvery blue and purple head was hanging over the edge of the library's roof . She waved happily down at us.
Thunder coughed into his hoof. “That's how, Captain. Apparently she watched the whole thing through the windows.”
Luna leapt from the roof and spread her wings, floating down until she was right next to us. She clopped her hooves together in joy. “That was so exciting! Absolutely amazing! I've already started working on a song to celebrate your victory here. I think I'll call it 'The Glorious Ballad of the Human Hero.' Sounds nice, don't you think?”
I shifted uncomfortably on Rarity's back. “Uh...it wasn't me, really. It was all of us working together that brought brought the dragon down. If any one of these six wasn't here, that thing would still be sacking the place.”
“Aw, give yerself a li'l credit,” Applejack drawled. “'Sides, what did Ah do ta help?”
“We wouldn't have gotten the walls down fast enough without you,” I said and turned back to Luna. “Twilight knew when things were going downhill and figured out how to trap the dragon long enough for us to get away and come up with another strategy. Pinkie Pie found the book that let us know what we were doing wrong. Fluttershy reminded us that the Sonic Rainboom gives off a ton of light and Rainbow Dash made that happen. And Rarity saved my life after I jumped and forgot about how I was gonna land. Also, without your sword and—”
Rarity gave a little hop to make me shut up. “Couldn't you just say 'thank you' and have a little pride in yourself for a while? You did just slay a shadow dragon, which is no small accomplishment. Besides, it would be a terribly rude gesture to refuse a gift from the Princess of the Moon herself.”
Luna giggled girlishly. “Don't worry, I've been making songs for the others as well. Anyway, don't think too hard about it right now. I'm sure that you're all exhausted, so feel free to sleep on the ride to Canterlot.” She gestured with her horn at the golden chariot, which had somehow ended up nearby.
While the pegasus guards hooked themselves into their harnesses, the mares and I got back to our seats in the cart. Everypony did look tired. Even the energetic Pinike Pie was yawning, despite the promise of a party.
The Fillydelphia Reserve Force saluted one last time at us and Luna, their rusty iron armor glinting dully in the moonlight. I sat myself down between Twilight and Rarity. My leg was still sore, but that beat the hell out of being broken. Despite the dull pain, I fell asleep before the chariot even left the ground.
The first dream that formed in my head looked suspiciously like a commercial...
She can wade through fields of Poison Joke without fear of being affected. The plants know that they could never embarrass her.
She doesn't have a cutie mark, because her special talent is everything.
She can buck every apple off a tree with a few polite words. Or ones that aren't polite.
She once found herself staring a cockatrice in the eyes. He is now part of a tasteful fountain in her yard.
She was voted both the best magician and the best high-speed flier in the same year. And she doesn't have a horn or wings.
She was invited to the Grand Galloping Gala, but still gatecrashed the party. Just because it's more fun that way.
She is...The Most Interesting Mare in the World.
“I don't always drink beer. But when I do...I prefer Dos Equines.
Remain athirst, my comrades.”
|
Shadowmane
|
882
| 10 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Main 6,Original Character,Spike,Trixie,Human,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
An American Dude in Equestria
|
This is the tale of how some schmuck from California found himself in Equestria.
|
complete
| 208 | 21 |
<p>A botched spell brings a human into the land of ponies. Could this possibly lead to offbeat hijinks? Read on to find out.</p><br/><br/><p>Note that this story and all subsequent parts takes place between the first and second seasons of the show.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-10-07T08:52:58+00:00
|
2011-10-07T08:52:58+00:00
| 7,249 |
“Home is where the ponies are.” — Pliny the Elder
“Jesse, I'm pregnant,” Rarity said dramatically, her tentacles bouncing with each word. “It's yours.”
My mechanical eyes whirled as I looked her over. Several diagnostic graphs loaded themselves onto my visual display, each confirming the others.
“My logical data analysis sector indicates that would be highly unlikely,” I replied in an emotionless monotone. “And my Bullshit meter agrees.”
“YARRR!”
A tiny pink comet slammed into the side of my head and latched onto the metal bits that poked out of my decaying skin. I didn't react or move at all as the pint-sized Pinkie Pie grabbed at my face. She was wearing an eyepatch, a big gold earring, and a bandanna around her head.
“Mizz Applejack!” Pinkie yelled as she wrestled with the wires that stuck out of my ear. “Tie up this 'ere dog an' throw 'im in th' brig!”
“Dear me, but I do believe that all this commotion will frightfully ruin my complexion,” Applejack waved a fan to give herself a little air. Her hair was carefully stacked in a tall bun and a lacy corset pulled her body into an hourglass shape.
Wait, something was wrong here. I tried to figure out what it was as Pinkie started gnawing on my metallic scalp with muttered threats about “makin' ya walk th' plank” and “feedin' yer gizzard ta th' gulls.”
Maybe it had something to do with the way that Fluttershy was sticking clouds into an electric blender and turning them into martinis. Or perhaps it was the fact that the snoring Rainbow Dash was a dolphin with tacos for flippers. Or it could be the ominous bluish gray smoke that swirled around and compressed itself into a twenty-foot high Twilight Sparkle. A twenty-foot high Twilight Sparkle with more gold bling hanging from her neck than Mr. T could ever dream of. And a handlebar mustache.
No, none of that was unusual. My logic system said so, and it never lied to me. Like that time that it said that babies are delivered by a stork and everyone said that was ridiculous, but it turned out that it was right after all. So if it said that that stuff was all normal, it was all normal.
That meant that it had to be Twilight's fifth leg that was out of place. Yeah, that was it. Or maybe she was just really happy to see me...
“Jolly good day, Mizz Sparkle,” Pinkie called out and saluted from my shoulder. “We be havin' a prisoner for you we do!”
“I thought you had a pirate accent,” Rarity objected, her tentacles getting themselves in a knot.
“Arr, I'm not very consistent. Yearghh.”
“DEVOUR!” the giant, five-legged, blinged-out, mustached Twilight rumbled.
Next thing I knew, I was shoved into the massive mare's ginormous mouth by a snickering and clearly drunk Fluttershy. Everything went dark...
* * * * *
When I opened my eyes, the first thing that I saw was a bright blue sky with a giant golden sun in the middle. I thought that the sun looked a little odd, but then my brain caught up completely I realized that it was just a painting on the ceiling. Where am I? What happened? Where's everypony?
I sat up and stretched my sore arms while I looked at the room. It was fairly large, with long rectangular windows that let the real sun's light in. The walls were all the same blue color as the ceiling. A full-length mirror hung on one wall next to a teak wardrobe. The two wooden doors that led out of the room were big and covered with intricate carvings of various wildflowers.
I climbed out of the big round bed with a hiss of pain as my leg took on too much of my weight. The memories of the previous day came back: the shadow dragon, the Rainboom, falling, the book, the frustration, the chariot, Rainbow Dash swearing a lot. It felt like there was something really important that I was forgetting, but, as always seems to be the case, I couldn't figure out what that might be.
It was at that moment that I realized that my clothes were all gone. This discovery raised a few new questions in my mind. Why am I naked? Who undressed me? When was the last time that I did some manscaping? Was I raped in my sleep? A quick check showed that the rest of the bed was undisturbed and there wasn't an imprint in the mattress, so I'd either been alone all night or somepony who was really careful had been here.
I tried to drive the thought from my mind. That was a completely ridiculous and irrational fear. And even if I had been raped, I probably would have noticed or at least felt a little different. Since I didn't, that probably meant that I was in the clear.
I heard the distinctive sound of a flash bulb going off from the window. I turned my head in time to be blinded by another burst of light. When my vision came back an instant later, I could see that there were five or six pegasus ponies hovering outside with old-fashioned cameras pointed right at me. More flashes went off as they took pictures.
I quickly shut the fancy aquamarine curtains and tried to think and assess the situation. Okay, I'm in some building that I don't recognize, I'm naked, and there's a bunch of perverted pony photographers outside the window who were just waiting for me to wake up. Is this the pony version of Hollywood or Vegas?
Well, first things first. I cracked open one of the doors and peeked inside. Luckily, I'd picked the one that lead to a large, fancy bathroom. The white tiles shone and the glass of the lightbulb was swirled around like a seashell.
After relieving myself and taking a quick bath, I went back to the bedroom and looked inside the wardrobe. A few sets of clothes were hanging in there, most of them fancy suits and tuxedos that looked really uncomfortable. The clothes that I had worn before were nowhere to be found, so I grabbed some new ones.
I picked the second-most informal outfit, which consisted of black linen pants, a dark blue polo shirt, white socks, and what could have passed for regular tennis shoes on Earth. There was even a nice wristwatch to go with it.
The absolute most informal outfit was a black leather bondage harness with spikes stuck in a very painful-looking place. There was even a nice gag ball and a black whip to go with it. I still have no idea why the fuck that thing was in there or what the point of it was and I never asked anypony about it.
As I finished dressing, there was a light knock at the door. It was Twilight, who looked to be in much better condition than she had been the night before. She was wearing a dark green dress that had a few gems sewn along the edges in star-shaped patterns.
“I was wondering where everypony went,” I said as I stepped out of the room and into a long hallway that was decorated with fancy pillars and intricate paintings of birds.
“They're already at Luna's party,” Twilight explained as she turned and began walking down the corridor. I fell into step beside her, still limping slightly. “It's just after eleven o'clock right now, but ponies have already started to show up.”
Was that what I'd forgotten about? “I take it that we're in Canterlot right now?”
Twilight nodded. “I used to live here, you know. That was back before Princess Celestia sent Spike and me to—”
She suddenly stopped mid-stride. “Oh no. We left Spike with the Cutie Mark Crusaders all night! Sorry, but I have to go and get a letter to them right away!”
Twilight took off running and sped through one of the numerous doors. Yes, she just abandoned me in an unfamiliar corridor in a strange building in an unknown city. I stood there for a full minute trying to figure out what to do about this, and eventually I decided to just keep walking until I either ran into somepony or found something interesting.
I took a grand total of four uneven steps before Pinkie Pie stepped right out of a painting and started walking next to me. She didn't say anything or even acknowledge my presence. I was about to ask just how the hell she did that when I reminded myself that it was Pinkie and the laws of physics didn't seem to apply around her. So I didn't say anything either.
It took a moment before I noticed that, like Twilight, she was wearing a dress. Hers was pink (shocking!) and covered in little metal pins that were shaped like cupcakes and lollipops. She also had bright red ribbons woven into her mane and tail and cookie-shaped earrings. Totally odd, but it was a perfectly natural fit for her.
After we had been walking for about three minutes (it was a really long hallway), Pinkie held up a hoof and shoved me right up to a fancy door to our right, from which came the faint noise of conversation and light music. When I didn't move to open the door, she pointed forcefully at the latch.
“What's this?” I finally asked.
“YOU LOSE!” she shouted happily and giggled like I'd just said the funniest thing ever.
“Huh? What did I lose?”
“I win! I win! I win!” she was bouncing up and down. “I win and you—”
She suddenly stopped in mid-bounce (and in mid-air about a foot off the floor) and gasped. Her ears flopped around, then her eyelids fluttered wildly, then her knees started twitching like crazy.
As I tried to remember what that particular combo meant, the door flew open and smashed right into my face. I fell to the floor with a muttered “ugh!” A bunch of stars appeared and spun around my head while a bird chirped somewhere out of sight.
“Didja find 'im, Pinkie Pie? Where is he?” came Applejack's drawl.
“Man down,” I groaned. Thankfully, my face was still more or less intact.
Applejack's head and signature hat peeked around the door. “Oh. Sorry 'bout that, sugar cube. Didn't know ya'd be right there.”
“I seem to get hurt a lot around you ponies,” I muttered to myself as I brushed myself off and stood, wincing as my leg objected once again. Applejack's dress was purple and blue—nothing fancy, but it had a subtle elegance in its modesty.
“Come on, we don't wanna keep everypony waiting!” Pinkie stepped off the air to the floor, grabbed my hand, and yanked me through the doorway.
Inside was a room decked out from floor to ceiling for a party. Not a formal party like the Grand Galloping Gala, but a Pinkie-style party. There were streamers, balloons, tables for food and drinks, party games, the whole shebang. A few ponies were quietly playing classical instruments in the corner, which added a little light music to the air. There were already about fifty or sixty guests inside, each dressed semi-formally and talking with one another.
The conversation died away and the music screeched to a stop as everypony looked at me. Mouths hung open, eyebrows shot up, and eyes went wide. Yet another “Holy shit, it's an alien!” reception.
That really irritated me. I'd just gotten used to not having that happen in Ponyville, so my patience with being gawked at was nonexistent at this point.
I just rolled my eyes, ignored them all, and headed for the nearest punch bowl. A few moments after the silence started, the talking picked back up and the music resumed, but everypony kept throwing an occasional glance my way.
“E-excuse me,” came a hesitant voice as I got myself a drink.
I turned around. The speaker was a small white earth pony colt who nervously waited for my response. He seemed to be some kind of page, though I thought that he couldn't have been more than a paragraph (/rimshot), and he had a scroll and quill for a cutie mark. (As a reminder, I really hate that phrase when it's applied to colts and stallions. Why couldn't they come up with a more masculine expression? Stud stamps, for example. In fact, I think I'll just use that.)
“Yes?” I kept my voice neutral.
The colt coughed timidly and rubbed a rear hoof against the floor. “The Princesses have requested your presence for a short private affair before the party really begins. If you would kindly follow me, I'll take you to them.”
I nodded and downed my glass of punch in a single gulp. After I set down the empty vessel, I followed him across the room and past a lot of the party attendees. They still stared, but respectfully stepped back to give us plenty of walking space.
Pinkie Pie was animatedly telling a group of wide-eyed foals about our battle from the night before. “And when that big black meanie-pants dragon started climbing up at him, he said stuff to make it even angrier like 'your mother was a hamster' and 'if you were an ice cream flavor, you'd be pralines and dick!'”
“Eww,” a blue unicorn colt with a silver horseshoe stud stamp (I'm totally going to use that from now on) stuck out his tongue. “That's disgusting! I hate pralines.”
Oh balls, did I really say that? I asked myself. And they heard me? I really need to watch my mouth more carefully.
Next to the Pin the Tail on the Pony board, Rainbow Dash—who was wearing a minimalist orange dress with golden lightning bolts stitched along the sides—was telling her own version of the fight to another bunch of fillies and colts. Their eyes were all wide as she described the dragon.
“I'm telling you, it was at least sixty feet tall. And it had five heads that all shot fire right at us! I managed to kick one of its heads right off, but it just grew two more and kept coming at us.”
Okay, at least that's not my fault.
We also passed Fluttershy and Rarity, who were hanging out and talking quietly in a corner. The former's dress was white and flowing, while the latter's was deep red and maroon with scores of small gems set in a complicated wave pattern. Neither of them noticed us go past.
The page that was leading me cracked open a large door that had the sun and moon painted on it and stuck his head through it. “Your Majesties, he's here.” He stepped back and tilted his head toward the door in the universal sign of “get in there, buddy.”
It occurred to me just as I was about to push the door all the way open that I was about to meet Princess Celestia. Real royalty. The one who moved the sun through the sky everyday. The pony version of God.
My entire thought process reverted itself to two of the most profound words known to mankind: Oh. Shit.
I quickly pulled my shirt straight, ran my fingers through my hair, and picked a speck of dust from my pants. I was just about to straighten my glasses, but the white colt got impatient. He rammed the top of his head against my ass and shoved me into the door.
Since I wasn't expecting that, the Princess of the Sun's first look at me was as I hit my face on the door and tripped over the threshold before crashing in a heap on the floor with a groan. I suppose that's one way to make an entrance.
“Are you alright?” It was Twilight, who looked down at me with concern.
“Yeah,” I picked my glasses up off the floor, put them back on, scrambled to my feet, and dusted myself off. Then I turned my eyes to Celestia.
If you've seen even one episode of the new My Little Pony (For those of you who haven't, stop reading this right now and look it up on YouTube. Also, why are you reading this in the first place?), chances are you already know what she looks like. Regardless, my first impression of her was a mixture of both the familiar and some completely new sensations.
The white alicorn dwarfed all of the other ponies that I'd seen—her eyes would have been at the same level as mine if she were standing up. Her long multicolored mane fluttered in waves from a nonexistant breeze in such a way that she usually had only one eye visible at a time. Her sun-shaped cutie mark was partially obscured by her long tail and large dove-like wings. Her tiara, chestpiece, and shoes were all made of gold and her long ivory horn tapered to a keen point.
Celestia's pink eyes were calm and full of curiosity. Like every other pony, she took in every detail of my appearance and tried to make sense of what she saw. Unlike the other ponies, her gaze seemed to go right through my skin and straight to my bones. Not my heart or my soul or my mind like you'd expect, but my bones. It felt invasive and creepy as hell, but what are you supposed to say to the Princess of the Sun when she makes you feel uncomfortable in a way that you didn't even think was possible? Yeah, that's what I thought.
Ignoring the odd sensation, I bowed. It seemed like the appropriate thing to do.
“Rise,” Celestia said evenly. It was half-command and half-request.
I stood up straight and clasped my hands behind my back with my feet close together despite the twinge of discomfort from my ankle. I'd seen enough movies to know that this was one of the few acceptable poses around nobility.
“Oh, can't you relax?” Princess Luna asked with a slightly irritated edge to her voice. I hadn't even noticed her sitting next to Celestia. “In case you hadn't noticed, we don't stand on formality if we can help it.”
“Oh. Right, sorry,” I felt the blood rush to my face as I loosened my shoulders and slouched a bit. Should've known, idiot, my brain taunted.
Celestia's raised an eyebrow in concern as if she'd just heard me berate myself. “Please, take a seat and make yourself comfortable. I'll have some tea brought in.”
Before I'd even set myself down on the offered cushion, a gray unicorn stallion (four bronze stars for his stud stamp) brought in a large tea tray and left it levitating in front of us. Luna took it upon herself to pour the drinks while Celestia took another look at my skeleton. Her neutral expression made it hard to tell what she thought of me.
Twilight cleared her throat. “So, Jesse, I was just telling Princess Celestia about how you managed to defeat the shadow dragon.”
Celestia nodded in agreement. “That was a very brave action on your part, and you have our eternal thanks for it. You nearly gave your life to slay that monster, which is not something that many of our own citizens would do.”
I dropped my eyes to my teacup. “To be perfectly honest, your majesty, jumping on its back was probably one of the stupidest things I've ever done. There had to've been a smarter way to finish off that dragon.”
“It looked fantastic,” Luna interjected. “The way that you fell and then...oh, my heart was in my throat!”
I shook my head forcefully. “That doesn't matter. One of the first things that a professional soldier learns is that you're never supposed to put yourself in danger just to be a hero and go out in a blaze of glory. You just put everyone else at risk.”
“But you're not a professional soldier,” Twilight pointed out. “You said that you had no experience at all and that it was your very first command.”
“And I must say that you did a fantastic job of it, Captain,” Luna chimed in with a smile.
Fantastic my ass, I didn't say. I shook my head again and still didn't meet their eyes. “You know, back on Earth I was seriously considering joining the military. If I'd done something that dumb in a real combat zone, you'd've had to bury what was left of me in a matchbox.”
“Do you have many wars on Earth?” Celestia asked. Her eye narrowed almost imperceptibly.
I nodded. “There's over a hundred different countries on Earth. With that many governments combined with human nature, there's always a few wars going on somewhere for some reason or other. America's always getting involved somewhere, which means that there's always a demand for new soldiers.”
I paused to sip at the strong tea. “We realized a long time ago that war is horrible. It's evil and heartbreaking, and when you've seen pictures of entire cities that have been completely destroyed and met people who've been scarred for life because of what they've seen and done...” I didn't even know how to finish the thought.
“Then why do you still have them?” Luna seemed slightly uncomfortable at the direction that the conversation was going.
I paused a moment phrase my response. “Because some things are worth fighting for. And sometimes we have no choice. Like when the shadow dragon tore into Bitsburg and went off to Fillydelphia; you don't just let anyone who attacks your cities and your people get away with it. You send out your forces to put an end to it and to protect your citizens. We've had things like that happen on Earth, too.
“For instance, there was an attack about ten years ago that we call 9/11. Early in the morning, a small group of extremists hijacked a few planes and—” I noticed that all three of them had blank stares. “Well, think of them as big metal birds that you can fit about a hundred ponies inside and fly around with engines instead of magic. Anyway, they took control of the planes and crashed them right into a pair of our tallest towers that were filled with ordinary civilians. The buildings collapsed, which ended up killing almost three thousand innocent people.”
The three ponies gasped in horror. A few seconds of silence passed as they absorbed this information.
Celestia was the first to recover enough to speak. “Why...why would they do such a horrible thing?” Her eye looked a little moist.
“They'd been taught that America was evil, and that killing any and all Americans, regardless of whether they're a threat or not, was their ticket to heaven. It's completely stupid and unreasonable, but they were brainwashed to believe it anyway. Even today, we've been fighting a war with the rest of that particular group, or at least they were when I came here. A lot of good men and women have been killed because of it so that the regular people who are just going about their ordinary lives don't have to worry about being shot in the street.
“And as horrible as 9/11 was and the current war is, we've had even worse things happen in the past. The biggest war that we've had in the last century involved about twenty different countries and over sixty million humans lost their lives.”
A full minute passed as they tried to get their jaws working again. I could see that their minds were completely boggled by just imagining so much slaughter and piles of corpses. It was impossible to tell if they felt disgust or pity. A single tear slid down Celestia's face.
Finally, Twilight got her voice back. “You...you never mentioned that before.”
Luna coughed softly. “That sounds like a very...dark world to live in.”
I shrugged. “It's complicated, to be sure. But it's not all bad; we might have some of the worst people imaginable, but there's a lot of good people on Earth too. People like Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, my grandpa, the list goes on. They all tried to make the world a better place and thought that it was worth the effort.
“It's a harsh planet, but it's the only one we have. There's a lot of bad things that go on. But if you don't give up and keep looking, you can find a lot of good things that are worth living for. Eventually, you learn to be strong and keep pushing onward when the tough times come. You learn to use your head. You learn from your mistakes and the mistakes that others make. You learn to appreciate and take comfort in the little things in life that make you smile. Humans aren't always happy. A lot of us usually aren't happy, actually. But when we do find lasting happiness, it makes it feel that much better.” I shrugged again. “I'm not sure if that makes it worth the extra suffering, but that's the way it is.”
Well, that was a mouthful. I'm a pretty shitty philosopher and I wasn't quite sure where most of that rant had come from, but it felt...right. Somehow.
The lapse in the conversation stretched out again and we drank our tea quietly. It was oddly spicy and left an acidic aftertaste in my mouth.
Again, it was Twilight who broke the silence. “The way that you describe it...do you...do you even want to go back to Earth if you could? I really can't tell.”
I frowned and thought. Did I? It was my home, certainly, but I hadn't truly felt like I fit in anywhere. And everything that I'd done in Equestria had actually seemed to matter.
“I'm not sure,” I said quietly. “Maybe one day, but certainly not at the moment. Like I said, Earth isn't a very happy place, unlike here. Equestria's a real breath of fresh air, and I've actually made some friends here.”
Celestia nodded. “I suppose that living in a world such as that would become...tiring after a while. You are more than welcome to stay here as long as you wish, especially considering your actions in Fillydelphia.
“Which brings us back to the original point of interest and to something that I wanted to discuss with you. According to what Luna has told me, you all had difficulty figuring out how to attack the dragon.”
“That was my fault, actually,” Twilight said quickly. “The book that we used in Ponyville's library had some pages missing, so we didn't know that it's weak spot wasn't the obvious glowing gem. If—”
“SHIT!” The ponies all jumped in surprise, but I was too busy digging through my pockets to notice or care that I'd just sworn in front of the Princesses. “That's what I forgot! I had the jewels with me last night!”
It was only after I'd thoroughly searched every pocket twice that I remembered that the emerald and ruby were in my other pants. That always seems to be the case for some reason.
I turned to Twilight. “Do you know who undressed me last night?”
She blinked in confusion. “Huh? What do you mean?”
“When I woke up, my clothes were all gone,” I explained. “They weren't in the room, and I had the gems that the dragon dropped in my pocket.”
Twilight frowned and mumbled something to herself that I couldn't make out before raising her voice back to normal. “Don't worry about it right now; we'll find them later. Anyway, as I was saying, our book was damaged and we didn't know that it's weak spot wasn't so self-evident. If I'd had it properly maintained, we would have known to use the Elements of Harmony before the sword.”
“Is that what happened?” Celestia turned her eye back to me and gave a small smile, my outburst already forgotten. “And even with such a setback you persevered and defeated the monster. Quite admirable for a first command, I must say.”
I opened my mouth, but Luna cut me off. “We know, you had help from your friends and all that. Be that as it may, you still deserve some kind of formal recognition for your actions. You were the one who used the sword, after all.”
A frown covered my face at her mention of the sword. A few stray thoughts pulled themselves together in my head, but something didn't add up.
Celestia's smile faded as she looked at me with that invasive scanning vision again. “You have a question,” she muttered. Her tone made it clear that she was commanding me to ask it.
I finished my tea with a quick sip. “Well, I was just wondering. Luna was the one who enchanted the sword, so she definitely has the ability to take out a shadow dragon by herself. Why didn't you let her help us directly?”
Celestia frowned even more. “I'm surprised that my sister didn't ask that question herself. Jesse, are you familiar with the story of Nightmare Moon?”
Luna bristled slightly. I nodded. No sense in hearing it again for the dozenth time.
“Then you know how Luna...” she hesitated and glanced at her sister for the briefest moment imaginable. “How Luna was changed a thousand years ago. A dark and evil force warped her mind and turned her against all of Equestria. A dark and evil force like the one that allowed that abomination to exist. A force that I was afraid might have corrupted her once again.”
Luna sat up straighter. “Is that why you tried to keep me away? That's the reason that you made me swear to stay out of the library? Why you put the rest of Fillydelphia at risk?”
“Yes,” Celestia said softly and brought her head close to her sister's. “Perhaps it was foolish to believe that you were so vulnerable, but I couldn't help it. Having to banish you broke my heart in ways that words can't express. I can't bear the thought of losing you a second time.”
“I'm not helpless!” Luna snapped, then sighed and relented. “Tia, I understand why you would think that way, but that part of my life is behind me now. Nightmare Moon is dead, and I would never do anything to put you through that pain again.”
“Oh, Luna,” Celestia leaned forward to hug her sister.
As the two Princesses shared a nuzzle, Twilight and I shared a glance. Sisterly bonding time is great, but it makes everyone else in the room feel a little awkward for intruding on the moment.
After a second, the alicorns realized what had happened and broke away from each other.
Luna coughed lightly. “If that answered your question, perhaps it's time to move on with that recognition thing that I mentioned a minute ago.”
“Would you care to do the honors, Luna?”
“Of course, Tia. But if we're going to do it, we might as well do it in front of the others.” Everypony stood up and I scrambled to do the same, wondering what she meant by that. Luna lead the way back to the party room.
A blast of music greeted us as the door opened. The quiet band of before had been replaced by our friends. Rainbow Dash had somehow gotten her hooves on a guitar and strummed away for all she was worth while Applejack pounded on a small drum set and Rarity daintily played the chords (How do they do that with hooves?) on an electric keyboard. Even Fluttershy had bravely picked up a bass guitar and carefully plucked at the strings, trying her best to ignore the crowd of ponies that had gathered to listen.
“Don't stop! Believin'!” Pinkie Pie was shouting into a microphone. She was slightly off-key, but the rest of the band was playing a pretty accurate version of Journey's biggest hit.
“I don't think I've ever hear this song,” Celestia muttered as the ponies rocked the outro.
“It's from Earth,” Twilight explained. “Just one more thing that Jesse brought from home.”
The music ended a minute later and everypony bowed down to the Princesses. Once they'd all risen again, Luna stepped to the center of the room, cleared her throat, and began to speak.
“Thank you all for coming to this celebration that we have prepared. Especially since the reason for it hasn't been properly revealed yet. I'm sure that many of you have heard the stories that some of the mares who wield the Elements of Harmony have been sharing for the past half hour or so, but please allow me to briefly explain so that we all understand clearly.
“Yesterday morning, before the sun had even risen, the city of Bitsburg was attacked by a monster of pure darkness and hatred. The town was severely damaged and many ponies were killed. Our hearts go out to them and the grieving families and friends that they left behind.”
There were murmurs among the guests and a few had concerned looks on their faces. Perhaps they had friends or family that may have been affected. Once the talking had died down somewhat, Luna continued.
“The creature fled before we could retaliate and then proceeded to take refuge in Fillydelphia. After the evacuations had been arranged, it was clear that we needed help to defeat this monster, this shadow dragon. We turned to the bearers of the Elements of Harmony and a new friend of theirs who has come from another world.”
Luna gestured for me to step forward, and I did so as all eyes turned to me. I tried to keep myself from limping, but some of the ponies seemed to notice my uneven strides and whispered into their neighbors' ears. I could feel some extra blood rushing to my face.
“This is Jesse, who comes from a land called Earth. With the assistance of the bearers of the Elements, he destroyed the shadow dragon last night. I was present to witness the entire battle, so let me tell you all from my own testimony that his brash and courageous actions were what finally defeated the monster. Such a daring attack nearly claimed his life, despite the tools that we sent to aid him.
“Despite a major setback and wasted time, he never lost hope and persevered until the beast was slain at last. Moreover, his leadership skills were instrumental to their survival and ultimately their success. It is clear that the title that was temporarily given to him was well deserved. Kneel.”
The last word was directed at me, and I obeyed. Out of nowhere, the sword that I had used the night before appeared in the air and unsheathed itself. Luna's horn glowed as she levitated the silver blade until it rested on my shoulder.
“I hereby permanently bestow upon you the title of Captain, and furthermore you shall now be known as Sir Jesse the Bold, Guardian of Equestria.”
A few moments passed, then the floor shook from the onlookers' stamping applause. I looked up at Luna and tried to say something, but my tongue felt numb. After a few unsuccessful attempts at speech, I simply nodded and she nodded back with a gentle smile. The sword then pivoted in midair and she offered the handle to me.
As I stood and took the sword, Rainbow Dash flew up and landed on my shoulders. “So you're a knight now?” she said excitedly as she messed up my hair with a hoof. “That's so awesome!”
“You're practically a noble now,” Rarity added as she nuzzled my arm.
“Yay,” was all that Fluttershy had to say.
“Well, yer movin' right on up in th' world, ain'tcha?” Applejack was grinning.
I nodded, still not sure what to think of all this. One week, I told myself. I've been here for one week and I've gotten way further in life than I did in years on Earth. It was actually the eleventh day, but who's counting?
“Hey, do know what comes before Part B? PartAAAYYY!” Pinkie Pie grabbed me and threw me into the corner where the musical instruments had been abandoned, completely oblivious to the sharp sword that I could have impaled myself on. “Play some more Earth songs so we can get this thing started!”
“Yeah!” Applejack sped back to the drums and picked up the sticks (How the hell does she hold them with hooves? I asked myself). “Hey Twi', d'ya think you could use tha' fancy spell o' yers ta make us play the songs he's thinkin' of?”
“I think so,” Twilight said, deep in thought as Rainbow, Rarity, and Fluttershy also grabbed their instruments. Everypony was watching me eagerly.
I set down the sword off to the side and picked up a second guitar—a crimson stratocaster that had appeared out of nowhere. I tried to think of what song to do, but my mind was as blank as the Cutie Mark Crusaders' flanks. Just being thrown onstage without a word of warning doesn't exactly stimulate my brain.
“Uh, anypony have a request?” I asked the others, hoping for a little inspiration.
“Somethin' fast!” Rainbow said eagerly as she gave her guitar an experimental strum. Deep, growling notes came out of the speakers.
“Something poetic,” Rarity said airily. She set her hooves on the keys in a trill of quick light taps.
“Something heroic, like the battle!” Luna called out.
Fast, poetic, and heroic? Well, one band came to mind that embodied all three of those, but I couldn't...could I? I didn't know how to play any of their songs—but the magic would probably take care of that. Same thing with my lack of singing skills.
But, then again, this would be brutal. Fluttershy and Rarity would be left intact, but it would completely ruin both Applejack and Rainbow Dash! And I couldn't bring myself to do that, could I?
Actually, I could. Revenge is a bitch.
“This is a song by a human band called DragonForce,” I informed the crowd as I adjusted the microphone. They perked up with even more interest if possible; you can't take a name that badass without being totally hardcore. “It's a type of music that we call 'speed metal' on Earth.”
I nodded to Twilight, and her horn lit up with a bright purple glow. It was a shame that she wouldn't get pulled into this, but, as Meatloaf said, two out of three ain't bad.
I thought of the proper music, and the lights all dimmed to set the mood. No, I didn't choose “Through the Fire and Flames.” You can only hear a song so many times before you get sick of it. “Valley of the Damned” seemed like a better fit anyway.
A few short ghostly sounds from Rarity's keyboard filled the air, and some of the ponies glanced around nervously. Those noises raised the hairs on the back of my neck every time I heard them, and this time was no exception. The lights came back ever so slightly...
Everypony was blasted back by a sudden surge of noise and the lights flashed brightly. Rainbow was caught by surprise, but her hooves kept hitting the strings. Applejack was thrown around erratically as the sticks crashed onto the drums seemingly of their own accord in ear-pounding smacks and thunderous rolls. Fluttershy seemed to be having fun on the bass, but this was the easy part.
After a few moments, I slid my hand up the guitar's neck and started hitting the higher notes. Pinkie Pie joined with a harmonica. I hadn't planned on her being in this, but she kept up pretty good on her own and it sounded alright.
Just as everypony got comfortable with the way that the music sounded, everything changed and I was suddenly the only one playing. The lights dimmed again and I sang at the same time:
“On a cold dark winter night,
Hidden by the stormy light,
A battle rages for the right
For what will become”
The rest of the music came back in.
“In the Valley of the Damned
A warrior with sword in hand
Travels fast across the land
For freedom he rides.”
The music picked up and Applejack was being thrown around by her own hooves again. Rainbow was already breathing hard. I ignored both of them and concentrated on the song.
“And the sign from the master on high,
Screams aloud and across hear the cry
For the kingdom of fire and ice
And the power to be alive.
Be strong!
Ride on!
Carry on through the war!
Come along!
Carry on!
Living for evermore!”
Just when they thought that it couldn't get any louder and heavier, it did. The pounding shook the floor and everypony's teeth rattled in their jaws as we hit the pre-chorus.
“On the wiiings of death!
By the haaands of doom!
By the daaarkest light
From the daaarkest moon.
Crossing siiilent seas
Over mooountains high
For we stand
As one
Toniiiiight!
On the black wind forever
We ride on together
Destroying your evil
With freedom our guide.
When the master will call us
He'll stand high before us
Our hearts filled with splendor
Our swords will shine over the light!”
And so it went on for about seven minutes in total. The lights kept flashing different colors throughout, which was a little distracting but definitely made the impact even better. I really liked the way that they dimmed and then flashed when I played the solo.
Of course, Rainbow and Applejack were about ready to strangle me. They were tough ponies, but they were totally out of their league here. Even Equestrian guitars weren't designed with hooves in mind, and a lifetime of bucking apple trees wasn't ample training for becoming a drummer of this level.
Comparatively, Rarity and Fluttershy seemed to be enjoying themselves. Pinkie was still playing that harmonica, and doing a damn good job on it. Since I actually knew how the song went, I was also having a pretty good time and the pain in my fingers wasn't as bad as I had predicted it would be. I would have preferred to use a pick, but you need to make do with what you have.
Once the final chorus was sung and my wailing outro solo faded away, the lights returned to normal. The crowd stayed completely still for a moment. Their manes were all sticking out, as if they'd been electrocuted, and their mouths all hung open. It was the classic cartoony vision of minds being blown right the fuck out of their skulls. If it were any more stereotypical, there would have been an elderly pony whose dentures would fall right out of his mouth and hit the ground with an echoing clack.
And then that exact thing happened.
Then the cheering came. Lots of cheering. The crowd went wild and whooped in appreciation. All at once they started stamping their hooves and Luna shouted for a second song.
Judging by our drummer and secondary guitarist's panting and gasping for breath, another one like that wouldn't be happening any time soon. My fingers were sore and raw, but they were much worse off. Applejack had collapsed onto the snare and fought to get air into her lungs. Rainbow was rubbing her hooves together to get the circulation going again.
“That's for the trebuchet ride,” I said loudly enough for the two of them to hear over the yelling. They glanced at each other worriedly, obviously making a mental agreement to never prank me again. Or to get me back really good later. It was one of those two, anyway.
As the onlookers stomped on the floor and Applejack rubbed at her throbbing legs, I had a moment to think. One week, I thought again. A little over one week to go from a jobless nobody in the ass-end of nowhere to being a hero. And a rockstar, apparently. I had to smile at the thought.
That would probably be a good place to end this, but at that moment I noticed a white unicorn stallion in the audience. I could feel my blood pressure spike just from looking at him. His wavy amber hair (undisturbed by the music, somehow) and compass stud stamp were unmistakeable.
That asshole! I thought. What kind of person refused to spare a little common decency for a fellow pony? Hell, I'd never had any decent amount of money on Earth, but that didn't mean that I couldn't afford some manners.
A sudden thought entered my head, and, even though it was stupid and childish, it was just too good to pass up. You have to grow old, but growing up is optional. So I would play just one more prank...
“I have another song that I'd like to play,” I announced into the microphone. “A much shorter, slower song. This one is dedicated to Prince Blueblood, for how he so graciously entertained my good friend Rarity when she was here for the Grand Galloping Gala.”
I heard Rarity gasp behind me, but she was cut off as Pinkie shoved a trumpet into her hooves. She also replaced Rainbow's guitar with a trombone and took another one for herself. I had no clue where she got them or how she knew that we needed them for the song, but it was Pinkie Pie. You just can't explain her.
The prince had raised an eyebrow and the rest of the crowd waited impatiently while Twilight worked her spell again. Equestria was about to discover ska.
The song started with the brass instruments, followed by a quick roll from Applejack's drums. Prince Blueblood had a smug grin on his lips and nudged a silver-coated mare that was next to him, raising his brow suggestively. Yeah, I get my own song from the human, he was saying without words.
I was about to make that cockiness evaporate.
“I wrote this song about you,” I sang as I strummed the guitar in an upbeat rhythm.
“I wrote this song about you.
Just to let you know
That I hate your guts
And I think
You suck.”
There were gasps and a few snickers from the crowd. The Blueblood's mouth dropped open in shock, but I concentrated on singing the chorus again as the other instruments came back in.
“I wrote this song about you.
I wrote this song about you.
Just to let you know
That I hate your guts
And I think
You suck.
I hate the way you look,”
“You make me sick,” the entire crowd joined in, captured by Twilight's enchantment.
“I hate the way you talk.”
“I wanna punch you in the face.”
“I can't stand you at all!”
“You drive me insane!”
“Why won't you go
Away-ay-ay-ay?
I wrote this song about you.
I wrote this song about you.
Just to let you know
That I hate your guts
And I think
You suck.”
The music suddenly swelled to a dramatic crescendo.
“This is your song!” I was yelling into the mic.
“Congratulations!
You're the inspiration!
I hate you so much!
You're why I wrote this song!
Congratulations!
You're immortalized!
I hate you so much,
I hope you fuckin' DIIIIIIE!”
As the last note faded away, I noticed that the prince was gone. He must have slipped away at some point. Yeah, that's what I thought. Run and hide, you little shit.
Despite the fact that I had just shouted an obscenity and insulted a member of the royal family, there was a lot of applause. Even Princess Celestia was unsuccessfully trying to hide a smile and Luna was clopping her hooves in giddy delight. Apparently the prince wasn't all that popular around the palace.
There was a lot more music that went on that day and into the night, but I let the ponies handle it. It was a great party that I won't bother describing. Use your imagination.
Also, imagine that this chapter had something impressive and meaningful to end with, because I can't think of anything. Insert your own ponified commercial or something.
|
Shadowmane
|
882
| 11 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Main 6,Original Character,Spike,Trixie,Human,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
An American Dude in Equestria
|
This is the tale of how some schmuck from California found himself in Equestria.
|
complete
| 208 | 21 |
<p>A botched spell brings a human into the land of ponies. Could this possibly lead to offbeat hijinks? Read on to find out.</p><br/><br/><p>Note that this story and all subsequent parts takes place between the first and second seasons of the show.</p>
|
teen
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2011-10-12T07:29:43+00:00
|
2011-10-12T07:29:43+00:00
| 9,606 |
“As for me, all I know is that I know nothing. And that ponies are awesome.” — Socrates
I sighed tiredly and stared out over the dark countryside that surrounded the city of Canterlot. Since it was perched high on the side of a mountain, I could see miles of rolling hills that stretched out to the horizon and the lights of Ponyville gleamed in the distance. The trees had all turned from dark green to yellow and orange in the past twenty-four hours.
I really wished that I had a cigarette and a few slugs of whiskey, which was weird because I don't smoke and I don't drink anything stronger than Dr Pepper (yes, apparently there are college students in California who don't get shitfaced every night and I'm one of them). Instead, I sipped at a goblet of cold fruit punch and tried to think. Doing that wasn't easy for some reason, and I was starting to get a headache.
The party had dragged on through the entire day and was still going strong behind me. Luna had excused herself to raise the moon about two hours ago. The entire time, I had been bombarded by ponies who wanted to shake my hand, congratulate me on my new title, and ask questions about Earth. I didn't really mind, and even shared a few personal stories and interesting tidbits, but it's not easy to keep it up for so long.
I heard quiet hoofsteps come up behind me and turned to see who it was this time. Probably another foal who wanted to hear about the shadow dragon for the third time. Or maybe one of the big-shot music ponies asking to get together and make some records of Earth songs.
It turned out to be Rarity, actually. She stepped out onto the balcony beside me and looked over the railing.
“It's beautiful, isn't it?” she said with that musical accent of hers. “I always love to look at the stars when they come out.”
I nodded but kept quiet. Something in my gut told me that I wasn't going to like what was coming. Sometimes I hate being right.
Rarity gently laid a hoof on my shoulder. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah,” I muttered. “I'm just a little worn out. And still sore from yesterday.”
She nodded sympathetically. “That reminds me, I never did get around to telling what I wanted to say before you ran up the stairs in the library. Jesse...I feel that you and I—”
I turned and looked her right in the face. “Sorry, Rarity, but I know what you're going to say and it just won't work out.” I'm not one to beat around the bush when it comes to unpleasant news.
She drew back as if I'd just slapped her. “Whatever do you mean? Of course it could, why wouldn't it?”
“We're from two different species for starters,” I said a little more harshly than I'd intended to.
She huffed. “In case you haven't noticed, nopony's ever objected to Spike's advances toward me on that basis. His age is an obstacle, certainly, but interspecies relationships are not frowned upon in Equestria.”
“They are on Earth,” I shot back, then took a deep breath and tried a slightly different route. “Look, you're a beautiful mare and I'm just some schmuck from California. You should settle down with a suitable stallion, have a few foals, and raise a happy family. Isn't that what you want?”
Rarity rolled her eyes. “I've had dozens of suitable stallions approach me, and none of them has captured my fancy. The only one of the lot that I ever felt something for turned out to be the most worthless, spoiled lout in all the land. But you knew about that already, somehow.
“No, the stud that I desire is a rugged individual. He is educated, stalwart, clever, creative, and willing to put the needs of others before his own. He perseveres when all hope is lost, yet knows how to enjoy himself when appropriate. He does not hide his faults and failings, but strives to succeed in spite of them. He withheld nothing when Trixie captured me and put her in her place. He has defeated Diamond Dogs and a shadow dragon, not for the boasting and glory, but out of loyalty to his friends. He is you, and you alone.”
“Well, uh, that's all fine and dandy,” I said, genuinely touched that she felt that way. I was starting to feel bad about turning her down. “But I'm not willing to start a relationship with you. End of discussion. It'll just end in tears, I know it.”
“Would you deny us both this love?” Her blue eyes sparkled in the moonlight and she took another step toward me. “I felt something for you the instant that our eyes met outside the spa, and that feeling has only grown stronger in the days since. And I know that you feel the same way toward me, deep inside your heart. It's there, even if you're unwilling to admit it to yourself. You've put hints of it in the music that you've made since your arrival. You took it upon yourself to chastise the prince for his behavior toward me, and before that were the songs that you chose during the chariot ride to Fillydelphia. I know that I am the one that that song was meant for, the one about dancing the night away by that 'Van Halen' group of yours.”
“You mean the one that's about a stripper?”
“A what?” She frowned as she tried to figure out what that was, then shrugged and put on a coy smile. “I'm not sure what that means, but yes. If it makes you happy, I want to be your stripper.”
“No, you really don't,” I assured her. I couldn't help but get a certain mental image that belongs in the darkest, most depraved corners of the internet when she said that.
Rarity still seemed completely unfazed by my objections and stepped even closer. “Won't you please at least give me a chance? Even if you don't want me to be your stripper, can't I at least be your fillyfriend? I've already made these for us.”
She pulled two golden necklace chains out of a pocket that was hidden somewhere on her dress. From each chain dangled a small gem encased in a band of gold. One was a ruby and the other was an emerald.
“I remember what you said to the Diamond Dogs about selling jewelery in a second store. While that might not happen, I made these earlier just for us.” She looped the emerald one over her neck and levitated the other into my hand.
I brought the ruby up to my face to get a better look. The blood-red gem caught the light and its facets threw crimson reflections around in all directions. “Are these the gems that came from the dragon?”
She beamed. “The very same. Now you'll have a little something to point to whenever you tell the story of our battle. And to remind you of me whenever I'm not around.”
I fixed her with a hard glare until her smile faded away and her ears drooped. “The same gems that I had in my pocket last night?”
Rarity suddenly looked horrified and took a quick step back, but then she recovered and put on a less-than-convincing smile. “Why yes, I did find them in your pocket. But don't you think that this is a good use for them? What else would you use them for? Would you prefer a ring instead?”
“Why did you take my clothes off?” I demanded. “You didn't need to do that to get to them, did you?”
She swallowed hard and hung her head. “No, I didn't need to. But...you see, Sweetie Belle talked about when she saw you in the spa after Pinkie's peppers made you sick. I suppose I let my curiosity got the better of me.”
“Is that so?” I gave a frustrated sigh and set the necklace on the balcony's railing. “Goddammit, I knew it was a bad idea to get undressed in front of those fillies. Did you put a spell on me so that I wouldn't wake up when you did that? And...” I sighed again. Even in my anger, I felt really bad about asking the next question.
But it had to be done. “And did you let something else get the better of you while you had me unconscious?”
Rarity threw her head back up and stared straight into my face. Her blue eyes were narrowed in fury and brimming with moisture. “Of course not! I would never even consider such a shameful action! How could you think so little of me?”
I had to fight off the intense guilt that filled my gut as I watched the angry tears roll down her cheeks. Sure, I just made her cry, I told myself. But I had every right to ask those questions. Plus, that's one way to sabotage this relationship thing before it can get started.
“Well, this isn't going to work out,” said another voice from somewhere below the balcony. It startled Rarity so badly that she yelped and jumped right into my arms Scooby-Doo-style. She was a lot lighter than I would have expected for a pony, but her grip on my neck was like iron.
Princess Luna flew up into view and stepped over the railing to land gracefully on the balcony. She was wearing a smirk for some reason. “Since you're obviously not meant for each other, I suppose that makes him available. Dibs!”
I was not prepared for this at all. Now she was suddenly interested in me too? My highly composed response was as elegant as it was simple:
“...The fuck?”
Luna collected herself and strode forward with a fluid bounce in her hips. “I couldn't help but overhear your discussion,” she said much more formally. “It is clear that the two of you have too many issues that will make a successful relationship impossible, so I wish to take this moment to declare my own eligibility and point out yours, Jesse. No doubt you would like to extend a desire to become my beau, and I wholeheartedly accept. Although I must say that we need to discuss your language.”
“Whoa whoa whoa, hold up! Since when have you...why would...I don't...the fuck?” In case it's not clear, my mind locked up at that point. I hate it when that happens.
“You know, you're cute when you're flustered,” Luna giggled to herself. “Just say yes, dear, and don't bother yourself with a doomed union.”
Rarity, who was still in my arms, clung to me even tighter than she had at first. Her ire and shame of just moments ago seemed to melt away and was replaced with pure affection and a hint of desperation. “Do you truly believe that a single argument makes our love an unattainable fantasy? True love conquers all obstacles thrown at it, especially when they come from the couple themselves. And in any case, what qualifies you to judge whether we are suitable or not?”
Luna tossed her shiny mane back haughtily. “Besides being the Princess of the Moon? I'm thousands of years old, so I think I know a thing or two about how life and love go.”
“And you just spent an entire millennium on your moon,” Rarity spat back. “What could you possibly learn about love there?”
Luna's eyes flashed white with anger. “You dare to mock me? Clearly this human deserves to be with somepony who is wise enough to think before she speaks ill of her superiors! Do you even have the ability to appreciate his qualities?”
“I've already told him why I love him so,” Rarity paused to nuzzle my neck. “He and I will be together forever, and nothing that you do can prevent it! Isn't that right, darling?”
Luna narrowed her still-white eyes. “Do you really believe that I will just take your refusal and leave like that? He will be mine!”
“Do I get a say in this?” I cut in, pretty annoyed at the whole situation. Now I had two psycho almost-girlfriends fighting over me? I'd never been that popular on Earth.
Rarity looked at me with those enormous blue eyes. “Of course you do. I won't selfishly decide for you, unlike somepony.” She glared at Luna for a split second before turning back to me.
I sighed and set her down on her hooves gently. I didn't have a whole lot of options and my head was pounding, which made it difficult to think. But I forced my brain to start working again and decided that the best course of action would be to lie my ass off in such a way that neither of them could pursue the issue any further. I'm sure that even Applejack knows that there are times when the truth is not an option.
Just as I was about to say that I was gay (the ultimate lie to get out of this kind of situation), Princess Celestia stepped out onto the balcony.
“What's going on out here?” she asked curiously.
“Your Highness,” Rarity said quickly as she bowed. “Sir Jesse and I desire a union and wish to have your blessing.”
“No!” Luna stepped up to her sister. “Tia, it is I that he desires. Give your blessing to us!”
“Do I get a say in this?” I repeated in exasperation as the pain in my head grew steadily worse.
A few more ponies were staring out through the door to see what all the commotion was. Rainbow Dash actually shoved a few other pegasi out of the air to get a decent view.
Celestia's eye flicked between each of us and that weird x-ray feeling returned whenever it was pointed at me. She seemed to be about as confused as I was.
“Threesome!” Pinkie Pie shouted merrily from the doorway.
“Wha—No! Do you even know what that means?” I shouted with a facepalm. My headache was rapidly approaching migraine levels.
“Everypony calm down,” Twilight said as she pushed her way through the crowd. “What's all the yelling about?”
I rubbed furiously at my temples as my skull threatened to split in half and spray my brains all over the onlookers. “These two both want me to be their boyfriend for some reason. I don't...ugh...I...ow, Jesus...ARGHH!”
The pain grew to unbearable levels. I clutched at my head and sank to my knees. I was dimly aware that Rarity and Luna were both gaping at me in surprise, but I wasn't paying much attention to anything other than my own agony.
My vision started flashing random colors, so that one moment everything was green, then switched to red, then brown, green again, orange, and so on. My other senses started going haywire as well, with weird smells in my nose, a sharp ringing in my ears, the taste of vinegar in my mouth, and I swear that I felt things touching my skin that simply didn't exist.
Fuck! I somehow managed to think. These ponies gave me a fucking aneurysm!
A neon blue Twilight was violently shaking me by the shoulders and yelling something, but everything went black before I could figure out what she was trying to say.
* * * * *
The first thing that I was aware of was the pounding in my head. It felt like my brain was bashing itself against the inside of my skull. It wasn't quite so bad as before, but “not as bad” isn't the same as “good.”
I groaned and sat up groggily. The lights were too bright, and it took my eyes a few seconds to adjust. The air smelled weird, like someone had hung one of those tacky tree-shaped air fresheners under my nose.
After a moment, I could actually see my surroundings. I was in a small medical bed in a tiny square room. A single unremarkable door sat in the corner. The walls were all white and there were no windows. The only decoration was a small mirror that hung on one of the side walls.
I froze when I saw my reflection. That couldn't be right. My features were the same, but my hair was way too long and my beard was spread evenly across my entire face instead of my sharp mustache and goatee. It looked like I hadn't washed my face in a week.
I pulled my gaze away and noticed a short table next to the bed. On it was a small vase of flowers and a digital clock that read 10:33 am. There was also a blank notepad and a pencil, but that—
Wait a moment. I looked back at the clock. Ponies don't have digital stuff. What the hell?
The door opened with a squeak. I leaned forward and squinted at whoever was coming in. Was it Twilight, who would have some sort of explanation for what was going on? Was it a concerned Rarity? Some doctor pony?
Actually, it was a man. A human man with a white lab coat. Curly red hair and a thin mustache. A clipboard in his hand. A cross between professional interest and amusement on his face.
“So you're finally awake,” he said simply.
I tried to get my jaw working. Why is there another human here? Where are the others? Where am I? What's going on?
“...The fuck?” That seemed like a good way to ask every question at once.
He pulled a pen out of his coat pocket and made a quick note on his clipboard. “So you don't know. I'm not really surprised.”
“What's that s'posed to mean?” I demanded. “Where am I?”
“This is the Aurora Psychiatric Hospital in Sacramento,” the man said slowly. “You've been here for four days now.”
“What? You...that's not...I'm...” I swung my legs out of the bed and stood up. It was then that I noticed that I was wearing a battered black t-shirt and faded pants. The same clothes that I'd been wearing when Twilight's spell had pulled me into Equestria.
“Sit down or I'll have you sedated,” he glowered seriously. “We get violent patients all the time, so don't even think about doing anything stupid. You won't like what the nurses will do to you.”
“Alright, fine,” I sat back down on the bed. “Just what the hell happened? What's the date?”
“September sixth,” he said. “Like I—”
“Bullshit!” I snapped. “That can't be right! I've been gone for more than a week, so it's...it's...” I tried to do the math in my head, but my brain didn't feel like cooperating. “Well, it's gotta be later than that!”
The man made another note. “More than a week, huh? Sounds like your sense of time's been screwed up as well. Now, do you want some answers or not?”
I bit my tongue and nodded. He consulted his clipboard again. “As I said before, you've been here for the past four days. You were conscious but unresponsive when your parents admitted you. MRI scans indicated hyperactivity in your neocortex and hippocampus, along with decreased activity in your thalamus.”
“Uh...English?”
He sighed and crossed his arms. “The imagination center of your brain went into overdrive and your outside senses stopped working. So you've been perceiving whatever it is your mind created instead of reality. Basically, you've been stuck in your own head for a while.”
“You're saying that everything I've seen and done lately has just been happening inside my mind? ” I challenged. “Now that's definitely bullshit. Hollywood-level bullshit.”
The man shook his head slowly. “Why do my patients always have to make this so difficult? Look, you developed a delusional psychosis from a chemical imbalance and we administered anti-psychotic drugs to set your brain right. Everything's fine now and we can discharge you after we finish our report.”
“I still don't believe you,” I huffed. “I've been busy as hell for the past couple of days. Saving the world and all that.”
He snorted. “And you say that I'm the one full of bullshit? What world have you been in, anyway?”
I was about to sneer back when it hit me. Magic. Ponies. Dragons. Impossible physics. In retrospect, that did sound like the ramblings of a psycho. Nevermind that it was the truth, just talking about it wouldn't exactly help my case.
So I steered the discussion in a different direction. “Well, Doc, could you expand on what you're saying? Is there some other case like this to help make it clearer?”
He nodded. “Yes, actually. Have you ever heard of Miguel de Cervantes?”
“Rings a bell,” I tried to think of where I'd heard that name before, but my mind still fought back.
“He wrote a book called Don Quixote. It's about an old man who thinks he's a knight. He ends up attacking a windmill because it looks like a giant to him. Sound familiar?”
I nodded. I'd heard about that before.
“His fantasy overcame his perception of reality. Perhaps it was a chemical imbalance in his brain or maybe there was a disconnect with his neurons. Anyway, that's what happened with you, only you weren't moving around, thank God. Now what exactly did you see?”
“Huh?”
He fixed me with an irritated look. “Son, this needs to go in the report. Either cooperate with me or you can forget about getting released any time soon.”
“Paging Nurse Ratched,” I said sarcastically.
He just tapped his pen against his clipboard impatiently.
* * * * *
I ended up talking for a few hours. I spoke about Equestia, my adventures, my inventions, and my friends. Even more had happened during my time in the ponies' world than I'd thought, and I hadn't ever taken the time to sit down and reflect on it all.
The doctor sat on a stool and took notes as I told my story. He seemed to be holding back snickers for most of it, which was pretty irritating. Try talking to someone who is actively attempting to convince you that your memories of the past week are nothing more than a passing illusion, even if they aren't laughing at you, without being annoyed. You just can't do it.
Although I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised at his response. If I had to hear some nineteen-year-old guy go on about how he'd visited a world of ponies and single-handedly turned it on its head, I'd probably be a little skeptical too. Actually, that's a lie. I'd have thought he was either retarded or seriously deranged.
Even worse, I started to have doubts too. As I got to the part about the Diamond Dogs' mine, it really started to sound like a bad fever dream. One guy taking out two giant dogs? And a single bomb flooding the place?
But just because it sounded weird didn't mean it couldn't be true, right?
On to the magic show. Okay, so making functional gunpowder with unrefined minerals and a working pistol out of scrap was a bit of a stretch. I'm pretty sure that the Mythbusters did something with that at some point and said that it was really unlikely.
But not impossible! Right?
The shadow dragon. Jumping off a balcony and hoping for a successful Sonic Rainboom (he actually snorted when I called it that) was stupid, sure, but it was just crazy enough that it could actually work.
I mean, it did work! Right? Right?
After I finally finished, the doctor or psychiatrist or whatever the hell he was continued to make notes for a few minutes. Then he cleared his throat loudly.
“Well, this has been...interesting to say the least. I think I've found a few things that can help explain why your mind created this 'Equestria' place.”
“I didn't make it up,” I growled, but that sounded feeble even to me.
He ignored my comment. “These characters that you saw all seem to be projections of your own subconscious. Six of them in particular stand out. The first one that you found—this 'Twilight Sparkle,' is it?—appears to be an extension of your desire to learn, as well as your antisocial tendencies.”
“I'm not antisocial!” I shot back angrily.
“According to what your parents said, you spent all summer in your room. And you never hung out with anyone else. In fact, they couldn't name a single friend of yours.”
That stung. I didn't say anything to that, so he consulted his notes again and kept talking.
“Now, this pegasus,” he paused to wipe the smirk off his face. “Fluttershy—they all have odd names, but that one takes the cake—is part of your withdrawn and quiet nature. It seems that you were much more active during this delusion than usual, but your parents assured me that you're normally very unmoving and reserved. So perhaps you projected what you see as a negative trait onto another being.”
Again, I was silent.
“Rainbow Dash, you said? She seems to be much more outgoing and unrestrained. Not held back by anything, completely carefree. Do you feel trapped by your life? Don't you just wish that you could fly away and enjoy yourself?”
My hands curled into fists, but he was too busy with his clipboard to notice.
“Pinkie Pie; you're not happy, are you? You don't laugh very often, do you? You want a little enjoyment out of life and to have a little fun. To let your hair down and be sociable. But you can't, can you?
“Applejack is a manifestation of your desire to find work and support yourself instead of leeching off your family. She also has a close bond with her sister, whereas you are emotionally distant from your relatives. Don't you wish that that would change?”
I could feel my blood boiling.
“And finally Rarity. You haven't gotten laid recently, have you?”
That was unexpected. “Huh? What?” I blinked in surprise.
He made another note. “I noticed the way that you described her. Pent-up sexual frustration, as Freud would say. Your mother confided in me that you haven't had a girlfriend since high school. You're now at a point in your life when you're expected to be partying and having drunken orgies in a bathroom stall. No wonder you'd want a little romance in your life, so she's your outlet for that.”
That did it. I stood back up and pointed my finger right at his eye.
“She's not just a vagina on legs, you cock-guzzling son of a bitch!” I snapped. “And they aren't just figments of my imagination! They're my friends, dammit!”
He held up his hands in a mockingly gesture of pacification and smirked. “If you say so, kid. Keep telling yourself that your precious little ponies are still out there.”
I was very tempted to punch him right in the face. I even tried to, but something held me back. Something at the back of my mind tethered my fist to my side and kept me from mauling the ever-loving shit out of him.
I suddenly felt very tired. I sat back on the bed and massaged my temples. The headache had never gone away completely, but it was getting worse again.
The doctor made another note and then stood up. “I'll need to review this report with a few of my colleagues, then we'll discuss any additional treatment and your release. The door will be locked, but there's a button on the side of the mattress if you need any kind of assistance. Have a nice day.”
I didn't look up until the door shut with a metallic click. Then I glanced at the clock again. 2:25 pm. I should have been hungry by then, but my stomach felt like it was full of sawdust.
I sighed heavily. Alone again. Normally, I would have taken comfort in solitude. Being by myself usually makes me feel better.
But not then. In that room, I just felt lonely. Lonely and helpless. Helpless and unhappy. Unhappy and unloved.
No, I didn't start crying. If there was ever a time in my life when I could have cried and not cared if the whole world knew about it, that was it. But the tears didn't come. Which only made me feel even more depressed.
Maybe it was just a fantasy, I thought, then immediately my anger flared again, this time at myself. Of course it wasn't! How could I even consider the possibility? That doc's full of shit, that's all! What the fuck does he know?
That was just a pitiful excuse to blame this all on him, and I knew it. And I had to admit that some of what he'd said made sense. Twilight was just as bookish as I was, I did want to be happy like Pinkie and outgoing like Rainbow, and I normally was about as withdrawn as Fluttershy. But a few coincidences didn't necessarily mean anything, did they?
Of course not! I was thrust into a new world, filled with tons of new things, so a few similarities were bound to...
Wait. But that...oh. Shit.
Well, that settles it.
You see, my thoughts had taken a bit of a detour. “New world” had lead to the Pilgrims. You know how it goes: Spring showers bring May flowers, Mayflowers bring Pilgrims, and Pilgrims bring smallpox. It was the smallpox that made me pause and reconsider everything.
You should know that the Americas were already inhabited when the first settlers from Europe arrived. Hundreds of tribes who wouldn't just pack up and leave their land to the white conquerors. Just the tribes on the East coast outnumbered the European arrivals several thousand to one. Didn't you ever wonder how they natives didn't manage to keep the newcomers out?
Sure, you could point out that it took multiple tries to set up successful colonies and how the Europeans had guns, but the correct answer in this case is smallpox. Since the Native Americans had never encountered that particular disease, their bodies were unprepared and it ripped them a new asshole. They died by the millions.
So, what does this have to do with the ponies? Well, take a look at your hand. There are millions of bacteria on it right now, some of which could cause a potentially fatal infection if you had an open cut or if they made their way into your mouth. Feel free to go wash your hands now. And your keyboard while you're at it, since you've been touching it with those same hands.
Now, my hands had a similar amount of germs and bacteria. Bacteria that must have spread to the ponies. Bacteria that caused illnesses that the ponies had never encountered before.
Yet not one of them had gotten sick. No new diseases had spread to my friends and they hadn't given any to me.
It's like what happens at the end of The War of the Worlds when the Martian invaders all died from the common cold. Only, in this case, it was a lack of that happening. And the odds of that, in proper scientific speech, are exactly a fuckton and a half squared to one.
So what did this mean? It meant that I'd been trying to prove that two plus two equals seven, and just then discovered new evidence that proved that I'd been counting wrong all along.
That pissed me off.
I turned to the mirror again. I didn't like the way I looked. I looked like a loser. A lonely loser who'd had to invent his own friends because he couldn't make any real ones.
That pissed me off even more.
Crash!
My hand hurt. I looked down at it and was surprised to see shards of glass sticking out of my knuckles. I didn't remember telling my legs to carry me across the room or making my arm swing my fist into the mirror. My hand started bleeding.
I sighed again and sat back on the bed. My head was hurting again. I rubbed at my temples again, but that didn't seem to help.
“Jesse?” came a small but familiar voice. Twilight's voice.
I looked around quick enough to give myself a whiplash. Where was she? Oh, God, please don't be coming from inside my head.
Actually, she was in the mirror. My blow had broken the glass into six big pieces, and Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie were each looking out of one of them.
You know what, that didn't help at all. That's how some crazy people in TV shows see their hallucinations—just reflections in a mirror.
“My goodness, what's happened to you?” Rarity asked. She obviously meant it to be a question of concern, but at the moment it sounded just like an accusation.
“I found the truth,” I spat. “You're not real, so quit bugging me.”
“What th' hay is that s'posed ta mean?” Applejack asked.
“Yeah, get over here!” Rainbow urged. “Let's figure out a way to get you the hell outta here and back to Equestria.”
“You mean back inside my own head? Not gonna happen.”
Flutterhsy looked confused. “Twilight, what's he talking about?”
It was Pinkie who happily answered that question. “Well, he was talking to that psycho doctor guy about us. So now he thinks he's loco in the coco and we're figments of his imagination. Which is weird, because I thought that I was real this morning!”
As if I needed any more proof. “How did she know that?” I sneered at of the rest of the ponies. “How could she know about the doctor when she wasn't there? Unless she's part of my mind and can access my memories.”
“It's Pinkie Pie. How d'ya explain anythin' she does?” Applejack drawled.
“And that's another thing! Half the stuff that Pinkie does is physically impossible! I don't know why I didn't realize it before, but none of that could have happened.” I'm not sure what came over me, but I was feeling like they'd all betrayed me somehow.
“Calm yourself,” Rarity pleaded. “You're not insane. You're just—”
“Insane? Who said anything about being insane? I'm not insane!” Yes, there was just a trace of hysteria in my voice when I said that.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Rainbow demanded. “You're not acting like yourself. What did that doctor do to you? He took your brain out, didn't he?”
I shook my head. “He didn't do anything. He just let me see for myself what had happened. That I'd lost touch with reality. Well, it's time for me to wake up and smell the coffee. And you girls aren't a part of that.”
Pinkie didn't seem upset at my outburst. “You just need a little cheering up! I know, we'll have a party! That'll make you feel better.”
“Fuck your parties, and fuck you!” I growled, then immediately wished that I hadn't. “Wait, I didn't—”
But the damage was done. Tears welled up in Pinkie's eyes and her ears dropped. Her lip quivered for a moment, then she took off running out of the mirror and out of sight while her mane deflated into a lifeless heap.
“Oh no,” Fluttershy flew after the pink pony and disappeared as well.
“What'd you do that for?” Rainbow asked angrily. “If you wanna pick a fight, come get a piece of me!”
“What are you gonna do, make the wind mess up my hair?” I taunted. “When was the last time you did something useful?”
“I saved your ass!” she shot back. “Does a certain trebuchet ring any bells?”
“My ass wouldn't've needed saving if you hadn't tried to send it into orbit!" I cupped a hand to my ear and leaned forward. "What's that? I couldn't hear you, 'cause your mane's too loud!”
She was fuming. “Nopony makes fun of my mane! Just wait 'til I get my hooves on you, you prick—”
Applejack pulled Rainbow Dash out of the mirror by her tail, despite the pegasus' attempts to fly out and throttle me. The earth pony flashed me a death glare as she too disappeared form view.
You know what? Venting my frustration like that didn't make me feel any better. It made me feel like a jackass. I don't like feeling like a jackass.
Only Rarity and Twilight were left, and they both looked genuinely terrified by my behavior. That didn't help either. If anything, it made me feel even angrier. Why was my own imagination scared of me?
“P-please, Jesse,” Rarity begged. “Please get yourself under control. You're better than this. I know you are. I've seen your strength and—”
“You saw a lot of stuff in me,” I cut her off. “A most of it isn't really there. Let's face it, I suck.”
“No you don't!” she insisted quickly. “And putting yourself down like that won't make it true, either. You are and always will be my white knight!”
“No, I'm just a white guy. You know what, Rarity? You're fooling yourself just like I was. You think that I'm your perfect boyfriend, but how do you explain what just happened? If I was that great, would I have driven the others away like that? Well?”
Rarity helplessly looked to Twilight. “They've destroyed his mind! Please, get him out of here before they can...I don't know, do something worse!”
Twilight shook her head sadly. “We shouldn't bring him back to Equestria if he doesn't want to come.”
“But he doesn't know what he's saying! Once he's back to normal, he'll be thanking us for rescuing him from this horrible place!” Rarity turned back to me desperately. “Please, Jesse, come back! I love you! We all love you! Please!”
I paused to think for just a second while Rarity pleaded and Twilight glanced between us uncertainly. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you know that your decision will affect how the rest of your life turns out? Take the red pill, take the blue pill. If you haven't been in one of those moments, let me assure you that they suck balls.
On the one hand, Equestria was a dream come true. It wasn't perfect, but it was a hell of a lot more bearable than Earth. There were new things to learn and old things to teach. My actions had meaning there. Things in general were less complicated. I had friends.
On the other hand...
I shook my head. “No. I can't live in a world that's not real.”
Rarity began to speak again, but Twilight cut her off with a horn prod and a shake of her head. The unicorns both stepped out of the mirror's frame and away from me. Rarity gave me a final look before she disappeared, and that tragic, tearful glance burned itself into my memory. Then they were gone.
I waited to see if they would reappear or make any kind of sound, but nothing happened. The broken mirror just sat there on the wall, completely devoid of life except for my reflections.
After a few seconds of silence had passed, I looked at the clock again. 2:31 pm. That was a really short time to go from being absolutely convinced to slightly doubtful to full-on denial.
Perhaps I should have been happy that I'd chosen to face the truth, but happiness was the last thing on my mind at the moment. It didn't feel like I'd accomplished anything at all.
What I did feel was guilt and remorse. Try to imagine how bad you would feel if you purposefully punched your best friend in the face and could never tell him or her why you did it. Then multiply it by ten. That's about how bad I felt.
I was exhausted. My energy was totally gone from arguing with the ponies. Or with myself, rather. Either way, I felt way more tired than I should have after being awake for only four hours.
Before the clock changed to 2:32, I was asleep again. My dreams were weird and indistinct, but the ponies were there. I found myself chasing after them, but they ran away before I could catch up. No matter how fast I ran towards the colorful equines, I was always left behind in the dreary darkness.
Alone.
* * * * *
“Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.” — Mark Twain (unaltered)
* * * * *
Afterword
Thank you all for sticking with me and reading on as this fanfic derailed itself into a tangled mess. I'm pretty sure that you have some questions, so let me address those first:
Holy crap, what just happened in this part?
A conclusion to the first story, that's what. Yes, the first. I already have some ideas for the sequel, which will begin some time in the next few weeks. And yes, it will have ponies.
Is the narrator really you or another character that you made up?
I plugged myself right into the story and followed whatever decisions I would make in a given situation, with a few tweaks here and there to help the narrative move along smoothly and make it a bit more interesting. Like jumping off the balcony to grapple with the shadow dragon, because who in their right mind would seriously consider doing that? Call it pandering to my ego if you want (okay, that's pretty much exactly what it is), but keep in mind that you shouldn't take this thing too seriously anyway. I'm just some random douchebag from California, remember?
How could you reject Rarity like that? What gives?
Putting aside all notions of bestiality, there's still the issue of pedophilia. I'm not really sure how old the ponies are supposed to be, but they're definitely too young at this point. Even with the massive amount of shipping fiction, they're just not mature enough. Sure, Luna was interested too, but that's another can of worms entirely.
Also worth noting is that they're all cartoon characters. I'm not a cartoon character, and I'm pretty confident that you aren't either. Imagine for a moment that you have a sister and she tells you one day that she's going steady with Spongebob Squarepants. Actually, that might be a bad example because that would be fucking awesome. (Hey look! A pun!) But I think you know what I mean.
How did you come up with the idea for this fanfic?
I was partially inspired by a few other Human in Equestria stories, namely “Through the Eyes of Another Pony” and “Adventures in Equestria.” I also drew inspiration from Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (note the similarity of the titles and the reference in the previous chapter) and the movie Army of Darkness. Eventually, those pieces all came together and I turned the resulting thoughts into the story that you just read.
You're a dick.
That's not really a question. Duly noted anyway.
Now that we've got those all answered, on to the acknowledgments!
Special thanks to the team who brought us My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, including Lauren Faust, Chris Bartleman, James “Wootie” Wotton, and the rest. I highly doubt that any of them will ever read this, but if for some reason they do, let me just say that the show is absolutely incredible and I'm really looking forward to the rest of season 2 and beyond.
Also, a massive wave of thanks to websites such as FIMFiction and Equestria Daily, as well as the amazing online brony fandom in general. Who would think that a cartoon for little girls could bring about so many awesome things?
Finally, a very special thank-you to you, the reader. As of this writing, my story has over twelve thousand total views—that's about fifteen thousand more than I'd been expecting—and the responses have been overwhelmingly positive. Without you, this thing wouldn't exist.
If I had to use a metaphor to describe what you all are to me, I'd say that you're like a bunch of meat and my story is two slices of bread. Bread is alright, but it's not really a sandwich until it has little pieces of dead animals in the middle. If you don't like that metaphor, refer back to the last question that I addressed.
Until next time, BROHOOF!!!
(Also, start using “stud stamp” instead of “cutie mark” when it's a male pony. It's a pet peeve of mine, and I will use my 1337 int3rn3t p0w3rz to exert my will over yours!)
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Asterilos the Star Watcher
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885
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Angel,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Gummy,Main 6,Octavia,Original Character,Spike,Comedy,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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The Sounds of Silence
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A certain yellow pegasus is making it hard for Allegretto to live the simple life he wanted to lead.
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complete
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<p>When a new pony arrives in Ponyville to lead a quiet, simplistic life away from the stage, he can't imagine getting smitten by a shy, timid little pegasus. Even worse, his life before wasn't as glamorous as everyone would believe, and when his past begins to show up in his new home, he'll have to decide between the music he loves to play, or the pony he loves to play for.</p><p>Author's Note: Yes, I understand the tags are a bit contradictory, but elements of humor always manage to snake their way into every work I do. If the general consensus is that I don't need it, I'll uncheck it. And it goes without saying that all feedback is welcome so long as it isn't blatantly offensive.</p><p>EDIT 9/21/11: Yes, that cover image is one I drew myself during a Calculus lecture. An intricate flute with a butterfly on the end? How adorable, I know! Before anyone says anything, I have no idea what an actual flute looks like anymore, so any issues can be chalked up to pony craftsmanship. Enjoy!</p><p>Many thanks to knighty for helping me with the issues on uploading my picture. I'm eternally grateful.</p>
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everyone
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2011-09-26T15:05:56+00:00
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2011-09-26T15:05:56+00:00
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It was a beautiful day in the land of Equestria, which is to say it was much like any other. This didn't detract from its glory, however. The sky was a beautiful shade of blue, the clouds were perfectly spaced, and the birds were singing sweet melodies as the residents of Ponyville prepared for another day, one they assumed to be quite ordinary. So, when a new pony arrived with a wagon full of possessions and a smile on his face, most ponies were understandably curious, and many stopped in what they were doing to watch for a minute.
News of the new arrival spread quickly, and before long the most hospitable pony in Ponyville had quickly left the bakery and ran to meet the new arrival. Pinkie Pie bounced up as he began rummaging for something in his saddlebag, and squealed when she saw his C-Cleft cutie mark. “Ohmigosh, are you a music pony?!” she gasped, causing him to jump and spill his bag. A silver flute tumbled out alongside the map he wanted, and Pinkie’s eyes lit up as she squealed again. “You ARE a music pony! I’ve always wanted to meet a music pony because I like to sing but I’ve never had any music to go with it except for the time my friend Spike played the piano and at the Grand Galloping Gala! Oh!” She stopped and put a hoof on her face, eyes twinkling again. “We should throw a doubly fun party to welcome you! I like throwing parties, it’s my talent, see see see?!” She indicated her own balloon cutie mark before continuing on. “I mean I throw parties so well ponies call me Pinkie Pie the party pony! Well they should if they don’t, because it all starts with a ‘puh’ sound! By the way I’m Pinkie Pie!” She stuck a hoof out to him.
It took him a moment to find his voice, face growing even redder than his deep crimson coat. “I, uh, I’m Allegretto. I’m new here from Manehattan to take a break from the music life.” He bent over to pick up his bag’s spilled contents, rubbing his flute against his flank to get some grit off of it, then noticed Pinkie staring at him expectantly. He sighed internally. It really never takes long before someone wants to hear me play. He took a deep breath and played a quick jig, swaying his head side to side as more ponies stopped and watched with rapt attention and growing happiness. Pinkie took up the beat and began to hop to it, giggling as she jumped around him in a circle. He finished with a flourish and bowed to the applause, tucking the flute away as Pinkie shook with excitement.
“Wow, you’re really good! I can’t wait to tell everypony about you! Maybe you can play us another song at your party!” She began to hum the tune again and bounded off to plan another soiree, leaving a very confused Allegretto in her wake. Shaking his head to make sure he was awake, he began to pull his wagon towards the other end of town.
Before he got much farther his attention was called to a cafe by a white unicorn with a very stylish purple mane sitting across from a lavender unicorn with a dark mane, a bright dash of pink in one section. The sight of the color made him shudder as he walked towards them, dropping the harness on his wagon to alleviate some of his back pain. He waved away the waiter and went to their table, bowing his head to them as they eyed him. “Nice to meet you, dear.” The white unicorn said with an air of nobility, sipping a drink daintily as she used her magic to add more sugar and stir it. “It’s always quite the commotion when somepony new shows up. I assume you’ve met Pinkie Pie?”
He nodded and sat, blowing a lock of copper hair from his eyes as he readjusted his packs. “Met isn’t really the word. It was more along the lines of ‘verbally assailed.’” He chuckled as they laughed knowingly, wishing he hadn’t waved the waiter away. The long trip from Manehattan had made him thirsty, but the pleasure of playing for the excitable Pinkie pushed that away for a few minutes. With it lapping at his throat, he sat there and tried his best to not swallow every time one of the unicorns took a drink. “My name is Allegretto, I just moved here from Manehattan to-”
Rarity was instantly upon him, eyes wide with wonder and passion. “Manehattan?! The big city?! Where the streets are paved with talent and everypony is on the cutting edge of every trend? Oh, how I envy you, sir Allegretto!” She pulled away and fanned herself, and Allegretto was again left confused in the wake of another excitable mare.
The purple unicorn giggled as her friend realized what she did, sipping her tea with embarrassment. “You’ll have to excuse Rarity, she has large dreams involving the ‘cutting edge of trends’. I’m going to go ahead and introduce myself before somepony scares you off. I’m Twilight Sparkle, loyal student and messenger to Princess Celestia herself.” Her introduction wasn't without an unnecessary bit of pride, but if her claim was true, he couldn't blame her for it. She nodded her head politely as Rarity managed to recover her composure enough to be part of the conversation.
Allegretto bowed his head and straightened a hoof, bowing to the two unicorns. “Pleasure to meet you both, ladies. Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Allegretto, a music pony, and I came from Manehattan to escape the pressure of the stage.”
Rarity took a new interest in him altogether. “Ooo, a colt with manners and talent. And one at home on a stage. Oh, please say you come from a regal line!” She laid on the table and gazed at him, and again he felt uncomfortable. She noticed his silence and sighed, taking another sip of her tea. “I suppose it was too much to hope for. Ahh, maybe someday my pony will come.”
He smiled slightly in sympathy for her and turned back to Twilight. “Miss Sparkle, Lady Rarity, do you think you could help me with finding my house? I’m absolutely unsure where everything is, and my map is no help at this point.” He reached his head into his saddlebag and pulled out the map, which was worn and smudged, and Ponyville was almost rubbed off. “It’s from my grandma, but she hasn’t exactly been up to date on anything for a while. I’d appreciate the help, for what that’s worth.”
Both ponies finished their drinks and walked beside him. “It’d be our pleasure, Mister Allegretto.” Twilight said amicably. “Do you know where it’s supposed to be?”
Allegretto tilted his head to think for a moment, slowly walking back towards his wagon. “Somewhere out of the way so I can practice my music without bothering anypony. Close to some woods or another.” He didn’t notice when both unicorn’s exchanged a glance, and when he hitched himself up he caught them looking. “Did I say something wrong?” he asked.
Rarity cleared her throat and motioned for him to follow them, leading him down the main road towards a great treeline. “It seems you’re the owner of the house built near the Everfree Forest. It’s a nice enough place, dear, but you’ll have a neighbor who may not exactly enjoy a lot of noise.” She glanced over at Twilight, who nodded for her to go on. “She tends a lot of animals, and she’s a quiet thing, so if you could maybe not play very loudly…?” she trailed off, allowing him to extrapolate as he wished.
He mulled it over in his head, then cast his thoughts back to some of his larger instruments. His cello, his trumpet, his snare, and his tuba might have to collect dust if he was to stay on the good side of as many ponies as possible. “Okay, I think I can handle that. I should probably practice my woodwinds and smaller strings more, anyway.” He beamed at them, and they both gave him appreciative smiles. He opened his mouth to talk again, when shouting could be heard coming down the main road towards them. A cloud of dust quickly closed in on them, and they could barely make out two ponies neck and neck in the midst of a race directly at them. While his companions didn’t bat a lash, he began to worry as they blazed towards them.
They came to rest right before him, both talking rapidly at him while trying to nudge each other out of the way. One of them, a pale blue pegasus with rainbow mane and tail, took to fluttering above him trying to grab his attention. The other, a pale orange pony with a cowpony hat, was busy scrutinizing him while yelling just as loud as the pegasus. Finally, the pegasus won out. “Dang, Applejack, I told you I’d beat you here to introduce myself first!”
“And ah’ guess ya think ya won, don’tcha? Well, we all know who the fastest pony in Ponyville happens to be, and it sure as sugar ain’t you!” She stuck her tongue out at the pegasus and turned to Allegretto. “Sorry ‘bout that, newcomer. Ah’m Applejack, proud member of the Apple family and best darn apple picker you ever seen!” She held a hoof out to him and smiled smugly at the pegasus.
“Aww, no fair AJ! I wanted to be first!” she whined, lowering her head sulkily. She dropped to the ground and crossed her front hooves angrily.
Allegretto, shaken for the third time in a day, took the outstretched hoof and shook it warily. “Nice to meet you, Applejack. Glad to hear Ponyville has a nice supply of apples. Quite a fan of them, myself. You’ll probably see me quite a bit.” He turned to the sulking pegasus and trotted over to her, whispering in her ear. “If it makes you feel any better, it’s just as big a pleasure to meet you, too.”
She looked over at him and winked, flapping back up into the air. “It’s nothing! If I could’ve flown over here I would’ve won hands down! Nopony flies faster than Rainbow Dash!” She puffed out her chest and awaited his gasp of recognition, his begging for an autograph, his total and utter awe.
Allegretto looked up at her with his head cocked to the side. “Nice to meet you, Miss Dash,” he replied with a grin. “My name’s Allegretto, a music pony. Nopony plays faster than me!” he said, mimicking her stance of bravado while the others snickered at her. He laughed and then winked at her, repairing her broken ego while they all accompanied him towards his new abode. “I already like Ponyville better than Manehattan. It’s so much more personal here, so friendly,” he remarked casually.
Applejack nodded in agreement. “Yeah, mah time in Manehattan taught me that, too. Couldn’t nopony be bothered to spare ya a second glance.” She smiled at the old memory and what it had taught her, the town falling away behind them as they neared his new home.
Rarity cleared her throat and trotted ahead of them a bit, prancing before them. “Well, that’s only if you’re a nopony. One day my name will be all over Equestria, and I’ll be hard pressed to be able to walk outdoors without being swarmed.” She sighed and fell into another fantasy of the glamour life, eyes glazed and half-open.
Allegretto grimaced, his own memories being drudged up with theirs. “Well, you may want to rethink that. Being a nopony is much better than being swarmed all the time. I’ve… seen it happen a lot to some good friends, and it does get to you,” he mumbled the end, as if thought up on the spot. Twilight and Applejack both noticed, and both gave him the same questioning glance. “Oh, you know how it is in showbiz!” he said nervously. “I had lots of famous friends, moving up without me, getting the glitz and glamour!” He paused as Rarity sighed and slipped off into fantasy again. “Then they get mobbed, lose their privacy, and they miss the simplicity of their old lives.” He lowered his head for a minute and became lost in thought, leaving the others to come to their own conclusions.
Rainbow Dash tapped his head twice as they approached his house, a homely hut built into a tree. Nearby was another home, covered in greenery with a river running nearby. “I say we take you to meet your neighbor before you get set up!” she said excitedly before taking off towards the house, the others following suit. Bracing himself for another emotionally taxing encounter, he trudged up with them as they were trying to draw out their friend. “Fluttershy!” Rainbow called, darting up to the windows and knocking on them as the others waited below.
The door swung open with a comforting creak as the resident edged out, a yellow pegasus with a pink mane that drooped over her right eye. She carried a strip of gauze in her mouth as a small white bunny cradled the rest of the roll. “Oh, hey girls,” she said timidly, passing the gauze to the bunny. “What’s going on?”
Twilight waved a hoof towards Allegretto. “This is your new neighbor. He’s a music pony from the big city.” She looked back at him and nodded towards Fluttershy. “Go on, introduce yourself.”
Allegretto stood there motionless, mouth working like a fish. He pawed at the ground and looked down, hoping the blush on his face wasn’t showing. The others stared at him, Applejack and Rarity both smiling. This made him blush more, so he turned back towards the village and tried to compose himself. “I… I’m uh… Alle…Allegretto. N-n-nice to… nice to meet you, Fluh… Fluttershy.” He coughed in embarrassment and went to go inspect his wagon.
Rainbow Dash glanced at her friends, then flew over to land next to him. “Hey, you alright? You’re actin’ kinda… lame. You’re gonna make Fluttershy self-conscious. What, you scared of animals or something?” She waited for a response, but all she got was a clank as he shifted his things around. She huffed and grabbed his tail with both fore hooves, dragging him back to them against his will. “Now, say hi like a normal pony!” she demanded, blocking his escape.
He gulped once and turned back to Fluttershy, his heart in his throat as he tried to find his voice. Her eyes met his, and he was sure all the blood in him was rushing to his face. His mouth failed to produce sounds again, so he stood there gaping before finally forcing out a weak “Hello.”
“Hi…” she mumbled back just as weak, lowering her head much like he did. “I’m…Fluttershy…” Her name was so low he strained to hear it past the thudding of his heart. “I… take care of animals like Angel…” The bunny on her back shot him a glare before hopping down and back inside. “Oh, don’t mind him… He doesn’t really like strangers.”
“Hello,” Allegretto repeated, locked into emotional overload. They all stared at him for a minute before he seemed to break out of it. He realized almost instantly he’d made a foal of himself, so he quickly backpedaled to his wagon and stuck his head back inside.
Applejack opened her mouth to say something before she heard a familiar voice bounding up towards them. Pinkie Pie raced towards them with a basket full of invitations, her confetti cannons firing at full blast. “Hey guys! I’m throwing a party for the new pony in town! He plays music and he’s really good, so I thought ‘Hey, why not throw a party and get him to play for us!’” She looked around and saw him with his head in his wagon, gasping. “There’s that silly filly!”
Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Pinkie, he’s a colt, not a filly.”
She tilted her head in confusion, the narrowed her eyes as she stared at him. “But I don’t really have any names for colts. Ooo, unless I call him a ‘dolty colty’! Oh, that works!” She squealed and started to bounce in place. “Dolty colty, dolty colty, dolty colty!” she repeated, the invitations staying in place by some strange Pinkie miracle. She stopped suddenly and passed all the invites out, confetti firing off again. “I have it all set up and everything! Cupcakes and cakes and punch and music and fun!” She switched gears again and looked around, searching. “Has anyone seen Gummy?”
There was a shout, and they all stifled laughter as Allegretto came up with a new alligator hat, Gummy’s eyes blinking out of sync. “Mrrm mrrrrm mrrrm hrrm mrrm,” they heard, muffled by the toothless gator.
Pinkie gasped. “Gummy! You silly, he’s not food! He’s a new pony friend!” She took a deep breath. “Don’t worry!” she shouted, making them all jump and spooking Fluttershy, who hid behind Twilight’s flank. “This just mean Gummy likes you!” His retort was muffled again, so Pinkie gently bit Gummy’s tail and pulled him off with a wet plop. “It’s okay, he just brushed, so his mouth is super clean!”
“Consider me overjoyed,” he said in a deadpan voice, then wiped the spit from his face. His sight restored, he saw Fluttershy emerge from behind Twilight and locked up again, trying hard to force a breath past the lump in his throat. Again, the most he could muster was a weak wheeze, so he turned to bury his head again.
Twilight moved next to him and turned back to her friends. “Girls, why don’t you all go help Pinkie with the party? I’ll go make sure Allegretto gets home.” Catching his extremely grateful glance, she trotted with him as he drug his wagon towards his house. When they were out of earshot, she looked at him with the most serious look she could muster. “You’ve got a crush on Fluttershy.”
He gulped, then nodded once slowly. “No use hiding something from Celestia’s number one student.” He tried to get his thoughts in a line before talking, not wanting to dig further into his own grave. “I don’t even know her, though. I just saw her, and my heart just sort of went ‘There she is.’” He sighed and waited for her to mock him like his older acquaintances would have, so the reassuring nudge he got from her was a bit of a shock. “You’re not going to berate me for that?”
She shook her head and opened the door for him, using her magic to help unload his things as quickly as possible. “No, not at all. I’ve known you for how long? Maybe an hour or so at that? And already I can tell you’re a sweet pony, just the kind of colt that Fluttershy deserves. I’m behind you one hundred percent on this, Allegretto.”
He beamed at her as he drug his piano in on its side, trying his best to not hug her right now and forget his instruments. “I don’t suppose you have any spells that’ll help me talk to her, do you?”
Twilight thought, then scanned over his assortment of instruments in the main room. “Why would a music pony need his voice when he can convey how he feels in other ways?”
Thanks to his taxing day, it took him a minute to register what she was implying. Then he followed her gaze to his veritable orchestra, and the gears turned as his grin returned. “I’m going to need some music sheets and a quill.”
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Asterilos the Star Watcher
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885
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Angel,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Gummy,Main 6,Octavia,Original Character,Spike,Comedy,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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The Sounds of Silence
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A certain yellow pegasus is making it hard for Allegretto to live the simple life he wanted to lead.
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complete
| 36 | 2 |
<p>When a new pony arrives in Ponyville to lead a quiet, simplistic life away from the stage, he can't imagine getting smitten by a shy, timid little pegasus. Even worse, his life before wasn't as glamorous as everyone would believe, and when his past begins to show up in his new home, he'll have to decide between the music he loves to play, or the pony he loves to play for.</p><p>Author's Note: Yes, I understand the tags are a bit contradictory, but elements of humor always manage to snake their way into every work I do. If the general consensus is that I don't need it, I'll uncheck it. And it goes without saying that all feedback is welcome so long as it isn't blatantly offensive.</p><p>EDIT 9/21/11: Yes, that cover image is one I drew myself during a Calculus lecture. An intricate flute with a butterfly on the end? How adorable, I know! Before anyone says anything, I have no idea what an actual flute looks like anymore, so any issues can be chalked up to pony craftsmanship. Enjoy!</p><p>Many thanks to knighty for helping me with the issues on uploading my picture. I'm eternally grateful.</p>
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everyone
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2011-09-24T16:38:00+00:00
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2011-09-24T16:38:00+00:00
| 2,045 |
Twilight laid back on the couch, in a total daze as Allegretto tried to catch his breath. Attempting to wrap her mind around what had happened, her body still tingled in pure ecstasy as he cleaned up, gathering scattered music sheets and wiping up puddles of spilled ink. She tried to rise, but her muscles refused to respond as she tried to talk. “That… That was incredible!” she finally got out, causing him to blush again. “I mean… can you do that every time?”
He nodded and went to the kitchen to see if it was stocked with something to quench his still raging thirst. Performances like that always left him drained, and he was sure Twilight would need the time to recover as well..
He was right. That explosion of cosmos in her mind left spots on her vision, and she still felt as if she were floating along a stream of something so beautiful to name it would somehow lessen it. “That… You were… You were the famous pony, weren’t you?” Her head throbbed with the effort strenuous thought brought. “There’s no way you weren’t if you can do that…” She stared at his flute as if it were a holy object, then gazed at him the same way when he set a glass of water in front of her. The utter amazement in her eyes made him blush even more, the heat rising as if he were staring at Fluttershy again.
He nodded again, sipping on his straw as his lungs pulsed dully. “Was afraid you’d treat me differently if you knew I was famous. I get pestered enough to play as it is.” He took another long drink before getting the things for the party together. He had played longer than he thought, and they were both surprised to see that the sun had almost set. “I’d appreciate if you didn’t let it slip. I’m trying to get away from that life, and Fluh… Flutter…” He sighed and inhaled. “Fluttershy doesn’t seem like the kind of pony who’d enjoy being in the limelight.”
She smiled and forced her right fore hoof up before her. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” she recited, accidentally jabbing herself in the face at the end. Rubbing her eyelid, she watched as he picked up his flute. “You know, Pinkie has a piano, if you want to try your piece on there, instead. It might be a bit more poetic.” She tried to imagine what his piece would sound like on the ivory, and almost fell into the majesty of it all over again. It was just something about the passion he poured into it was like a spell, a story unfolding through her ears rather than eyes. There was no doubt in her mind that he would get Fluttershy’s attention at the very least, but one thing bothered her. “Why’d you want to run from something like this?”
He sighed and packed his saddlebags, motioning for her to follow him. Even as new as he was to town there was no way he was going to miss Pinkie’s house, lit up enough to dull the stars, so he could focus more on talking than navigating. “Ponies stopped caring for me and only wanted my music. That feeling that you got, they all got it, and they became addicted. So I ran from that, that pressure of always needing to play with that intensity, to a town where I was sure nopony knew me. I’ll risk it to get… her to talk to me, but I’m also scared, Twilight. I don’t want her to talk to me just because of my music.”
Twilight laughed and nudged him gently. “Pinkie was right, you are a dolty colty. I know my friends, and they’ll appreciate you for you. You know, I was afraid they only like me for my magic,” she confessed, and his raised eyebrow signaled for her to go on. “Oh yes, I was very afraid of that. I thought they’d always want me doing some crazy magic trick for them, like invisibility or something silly like that. But they like me for me. That’s what friendship is all about. I’m not just this horn.”
Her words, while they didn’t erase all his fear, did wonders for reducing them, and the added spring in his step helped keep him positive as Sugar Cube Corner loomed ahead, all his current tension and excitement focused in this one place. He swallowed and steeled himself for his performance, Twilight right beside him as they pushed through the doors to a raucous greeting from almost every pony in Ponyville. All of a sudden the stage life flashed before him, the chorus of greetings and laughter from his old friends and fellow musicians, and his spirits rose even higher. He cantered to the middle of the room where his new friends were, Twilight leaving his side for theirs. “Wow, Pinkie, when you said you throw great parties, you weren’t kidding!” he laughed, trying to take it in all at once. There were pastries and drinks all down the far wall, and a white pony in sunglasses spun records for everypony to dance to. It was all so fun and vibrant he couldn’t help but smile and laugh.
Pinkie beamed at his praise. “I’m super happy you like it, Gretto! You coming here was a great reason to throw a party, I was running out of ideas to throw one! Maybe next I can throw a ‘I don’t have any more reasons to throw a party’ party!” She laughed and hopped once, a limitless fountain of energy and goodwill. “I was going to set up a stage, but Rarity said that putting you on the spot like that was rude, and then Applejack agreed, and then Rainbow Dash said she could play faster than you, and then Fluttershy was all mumbly and we couldn’t understand her over all the thinking going on!”
Allegretto tried to not visibly stiffen at the mention of her name, fighting the urge to glance over at her and lose his hard fought composure. “Well, I’d love to play tonight, Pinkie, but I’m really tired from all the moving. Big shows take a lot of energy, and that’s something I don’t have right now.” He smiled sympathetically and nodded slightly to Twilight, who nudged Applejack. “So, Rarity, I don’t think I ever heard what exactly it is that you do. What does a pony on the edge of every trend occupy her time with?”
“My my, you’re more polite every second, Mister Allegretto! I run a little fashion shop called Carousel Boutique, and I specialize in only the best and finest for my clients!” As she began talking Applejack and Twilight began to whisper to Pinkie and Rainbow Dash, who both nodded and followed them out back. “You’ll simply have to stop by some time so I can fit you for a nice outfit to play music in! Something sophisticated, yet simple in design. Oh, if only we were at my store right now, I could have it done in a flash!” She faded to a quick fantasy, then came back out as a purple baby dragon came up to her. “Oh, Spike, have you met Allegretto? He’s a new resident, and I hear he’s quite the musical talent!”
Spike visibly bristled with jealousy at her praise for him, then seemed to keep it in check as he turned his back on him. “Rarity, Applejack tore her hat helping Twilight and Pinkie out back. Do you think you can help her fix it?”
Rarity put on an air of supreme confidence, trotting towards the back door. “Think? I know I can fix that old cowpony’s hat in a jiff! I’ll be outside if anyone needs me!” She dashed out, leaving Allegretto alone with Fluttershy and Spike.
Spike glared at Allegretto with a look that could wither plants. “You’re new in town, so I don’t expect you to know, but I like Rarity, and one day she’ll realize how amazing I am. So please, don’t get in the way of that.” With a huff he was outside, leaving Allegretto and Fluttershy amidst the bouncing party atmosphere.
Fluttershy lowered her head and turned to the side, wishing for her friends to come back. “Oh, umm, I… I never welcomed you to Ponyville… I’m sorry, I was just nervous…” She tried her best to meet his gaze and establish some kind of relationship, but something in his eyes made her nervous, but in a new way she’d never felt before.
He took a step closer, and his spirit soared when she didn’t retreat like he feared she would. “It’s fine. I wasn’t exactly… You know, I wasn’t a good new neighbor.” It was a true effort on his behalf to finish his sentences and not break eye contact, and if Twilight hadn’t given him that shot of confidence earlier, he wouldn’t have been able to do it. But some hidden steel deep within him decided to show through, and he pushed ahead. “I just get a little flustered around… pretty fillies such as yourself.”
The compliment gave Fluttershy butterflies, and a blush began to creep up her cheeks as she looked directly at him, a strange new phenomenon that Twilight should have been recording for the history books. “Oh, uh… Th… thank you,” she muttered, taking a step closer herself. She’d forgotten her friends had left and focused on him, some strange feeling passing through them both. “I… I don’t really know how to act around colts. There aren’t very many around…”
Allegretto saw Rainbow Dash over Fluttershy’s shoulder, motioning to him that they were ready. He gave her a very minute nod and walked a little past Fluttershy. “I’m sorry, but I can’t hear you that well in here. Do you mind if we head outside, maybe see what the others are up to?” She nodded and stuck closer to him than necessary, not that he complained at all. Every time they brushed it sent an electric tingle across his coat, and as they walked into the crisp night air he swore he could’ve charged a thundercloud. When he saw what his friends had prepared, though, he felt the shock in tenfold.
Lights were strung all around a small stage, only big enough to accommodate him as he played. There was a blanket laid out before it, with all his friends on there, with room for one Fluttershy at the front. She was twice as shocked as he was, so Rarity and Pinkie guided her over to her spot as Allegretto mounted the stage. “I’m sorry we had to spring this on you, Fluh… Fluttershy.” He swallowed and pulled his flute out of his saddlebag, gripping it in his teeth as he said “I hope what I’m about to do makes up for it.” He positioned his flute correctly, took a deep breath, and began to play.
The tune started off soft and slow, the passion he put into it building as the music began to spin its wonders. Each note a clear peal into the night, he began to play louder, and they began to experience what Twilight already had. It was almost indescribable, but his passion spilled over into them, and they felt themselves carried along by the melody as colors blossomed in their heads, a galaxy of swirling lights that suggested the true intent behind his composition. He looked down at Fluttershy, who watched him with growing wonder and adoration. He focused his feeling on her, and the resulting symphony of vibrancy and emotion was powerful enough to make her whole body shiver in delight. His feelings towards her and his gentle kindness were transferred in that fantastic display, and without saying anything in return she reciprocated, placing trust in him with a small smile that filled him with so much elation that he reached a crescendo, the notes spiraling up to the night sky to twinkle with the stars.
He let the song end of its own accord, dying with his own breath as they gaped at him with awe, save Twilight, who had felt it before and was the first to applaud him at the end of the last note. As the others came from their stupors they began to applaud too, replacing the music that had once filled the air. Fluttershy rose and edged up to the stage as he came down, a deep red coloring her face. “That was… very pretty,” she said, and for once she did not mutter or mumble. She took a tentative step towards him, and then rested her head in his neck for a brief moment as the applause continued.
“Yes, yes, very pretty indeed,” a voice called from behind, snapping them out of their precious moment. They all spun to find the perpetrator, a small black pony with a white tuxedo on. They way he held himself suggested an air of egotism, and he stared directly at Fluttershy and Allegretto. “And you know you had shows scheduled all through this season, Allegretto.” He began to trot forward until Applejack and Rainbow Dash cut him off. “Oh, and I see you’ve made some new friends. How quaint. I’m sure they love your music, don’t they?”
Allegretto placed himself protectively in front of Fluttershy, glaring down the new pony. “What are you doing here, Adagio?” he growled, anger flashing black behind his eyes. “I told you in my letter that I was leaving the company and that you should respect my choice. You didn’t have a right looking for me.”
Adagio snickered and shook his head, keeping his cool masterfully. “You had no right to leave. You owe everything to us, Allegretto. Your home, your career, your life. Nopony could rake in the bits like you could, and when you took your leave we saw a sharp decline in the profits.” He tilted his head slightly to the left, thinking deeply. “Of course, demand for you has risen quite a bit. We miss our first chair flute. So, if you return with me now, I suppose we could forget about this little lapse in judgment-”
“He ain’t goin’ nowhere,” Applejack cut in, taking a menacing step towards him. While she was an intimidating sight, he refused to balk, so she pressed on harder. “Allegretto came here ‘cause he wanted to. Ain’t nopony takin’ that away from him, not while Ah’m around, fer sure!” She snorted and began to paw the ground, ready to charge him.
Sticking his nose up at her, he turned and trotted back towards the main road, glancing back to see them all glaring at him. It caused him to smile, and they had to hold Applejack back from charging straight at him for it. “It’s so adorable how you’re all fighting for such a sad little pony. Has he not told you about his old life? That sordid tale of music and entrapment? Oh, it’s quite a story, I’ll say.”
Allegretto snorted and lowered himself closer to the ground, a reserve of patience he had built over the years the only thing keeping his anger in check. “Just leave me alone, Adagio. I’ve made you enough bits to buy a replacement for me, so let me live the rest of my life away from that.”
“You know that isn’t how it works, Allegretto. Once you are a Concerto, there is no other life. You work for us, you owe us everything. And to shirk that is to welcome disaster upon yourself.” Adagio turned again and began to saunter away towards the main street, to whatever had brought him to Ponyville. “Luckily for you, we are so busy repairing our schedule from your departure that we don’t have time to bring you home this season,” he called back, risking another charge with his condescending smile. “So, you have until then to get whatever this is out of your system. If you’re not back by next summer… Well, just be back by next summer.”
He had finally gone, but the anger in the air still hung heavy as fog as all eyes turned to Allegretto. “Allegretto, what are you keeping from us?” Twilight asked, voicing everyone’s thoughts.
With so many eyes on him, and in light of what happened, he knew that trying to play this off as smaller than it was would be futile. He buried his face in his hoof, and a small sniffle escaped him. “That was my brother, Adagio. He’s not exactly a good apple, to say the absolute least, but I’m not one to talk. We’re both part of a group called the Concertos, a musical troupe on the surface with a terrible core.” He sighed and moved towards the blanket to lie down, Fluttershy trying to perk him up with small, reassuring nudges. They all gathered around him as he began to tell his tale. “My brother and I were orphaned at a very young age, left on the streets with only my flute and his brains…”
Author's Note: I apologize that this chapter seems to move so fast, perhaps even too fast, but when I had a definitive past ready for Allegretto and a major conflict cemented, I wanted to get through the rising action into the heart of the story. I'll try my very best to move more slowly in subsequent chapters.
|
Asterilos the Star Watcher
|
885
| 3 |
Angel,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Gummy,Main 6,Octavia,Original Character,Spike,Comedy,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Sounds of Silence
|
A certain yellow pegasus is making it hard for Allegretto to live the simple life he wanted to lead.
|
complete
| 36 | 2 |
<p>When a new pony arrives in Ponyville to lead a quiet, simplistic life away from the stage, he can't imagine getting smitten by a shy, timid little pegasus. Even worse, his life before wasn't as glamorous as everyone would believe, and when his past begins to show up in his new home, he'll have to decide between the music he loves to play, or the pony he loves to play for.</p><p>Author's Note: Yes, I understand the tags are a bit contradictory, but elements of humor always manage to snake their way into every work I do. If the general consensus is that I don't need it, I'll uncheck it. And it goes without saying that all feedback is welcome so long as it isn't blatantly offensive.</p><p>EDIT 9/21/11: Yes, that cover image is one I drew myself during a Calculus lecture. An intricate flute with a butterfly on the end? How adorable, I know! Before anyone says anything, I have no idea what an actual flute looks like anymore, so any issues can be chalked up to pony craftsmanship. Enjoy!</p><p>Many thanks to knighty for helping me with the issues on uploading my picture. I'm eternally grateful.</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-09-24T17:39:38+00:00
|
2011-09-24T17:39:38+00:00
| 1,847 |
The flute was a constant source of tension between us, although at the time I had no idea. Adagio isn’t as musically inclined as me, and it’s one of the only things we had left when the house burned down. Though, being the sly pony he is, he never let me know how jealous he was of me, and me being so young didn’t help, either. I looked up to him, honestly. During those rough times I had to, he was older and my brother.
The jealousy didn’t take such a nasty grip on him at first, either. The first few days when we lived in the alleys he was too worried about surviving to waste energy on it. All he cared about was having food, and while there was some here and there, there wasn’t always enough to feed us both. In a good story, my older brother would colt up and give me the food and wait for his turn, but this isn’t a good story. I had to spend many a miserable night as I watched him chewing on some leftover pastry or flower, and I never wished him ill for it. The way he explained it made everything seem right in the world. “I need the food so I can have enough strength to keep you safe,” he told me one night as he devoured a half-eaten cupcake, and I went along with it because it made sense at the time. It was very cruel, but he always spun it in such a way to make it seem tender and caring. He never raised his voice, or hit me, or anything.
Unless I tried to play, that is.
Adagio never saw the beauty that other ponies say they see in my music. His jealousy and hatred for me tainted it, and to him it was just me trying to be better than him. Of course, it was never like that. To me, there was no way I could be better than him, because he was the pinnacle of pony perfection. But when I tried to explain that to him, he wouldn’t listen. He hit me, and told me that playing my music was bad, because I wasn’t any good at it. But it just made me want to get better, to be something to my brother, so some nights I snuck off while he slept and practiced until Celestia’s dawn. They were those few hours when the world was at peace, when I wasn’t just a homeless pony, and when my stomach didn’t rumble quite as loud.
Every night I practiced, until one night I lost track of time. I was playing a quick serenade to welcome the sun when I heard his voice behind me. I slipped a note, and the piercing blast that came afterwards just made him more furious. He was upon me, a hoof raised up about to strike me, when we heard voices calling. My mistake had gotten someone’s attention. When we looked down the alley we saw a family of well dressed ponies, one of them even carrying a musical instrument with her! My brother realized how he looked and began to pat me on the head, telling me how good I had gotten and to not lose focus at the end. I was confused, to be sure, but elated that he had complimented me. The family called us over then, and introduced themselves. The father, a tan colt named August, looked at me with a kindness I hadn’t seen in a while, and asked me to play again.
I was nervous, so when my brother glared at me and motioned for me to go ahead, I played just a simple melody that any musician could produce. But when I saw that none of them were going to stop me, not even Adagio, I began to play faster and better, until they began to experience that same experience that everypony does when I play my best. It was a busy street, as well, so before long I had gathered a crowd, all floating along on my notes. It was wondrous, a glimpse of the stage life, and I just continued to play for as long as I could.
My brother had other plans, though. His jealousy was eating at him, so in the middle of my performance he pulled on my tail as discreetly as he could. When the flopped note broke the trance that everypony was in, they all stared at me with open wonderment. Despite having made that “mistake”, they all still clapped and threw bits at me. Bits! A rain of little coins, each one clinking on the street, and to my brother, that music was sweeter than any I could have produced. He gathered the bits as the applause began, and his own greed overrode his jealousy. Ponies began to ask if August was my father; apparently he was a major supporter of music, and his daughter was a prodigy all her own. So, when he looked at me and winked, he announced that yes, we were indeed his sons. Both me and my brother were dumbstruck, so when he invited me to the music class he was heading to, I was sure it was a dream.
It wasn’t, and even if it was, I never wanted to wake up. His daughter, Octavia, a gray little filly about my own age with a pink treble clef cutie mark, played the cello with a mastery that belied her years, and so we would often spend long nights in the study, conducting private orchestras for an imaginary crowd. My days were filled with endless music, both mine and hers, and it was glorious.
My brother, however, wanted more than this. He wasn’t satisfied with his life in the background again, so on some days when class was short, he would intercept us at school and take us down to the theater district, and then force us to play for crowds on the sidewalk and then take the bits for himself. And he would always tell us that if we ever told August about this, he’d break both our instruments and any we dared tried afterwards. Since he was bigger than us, we had to accept that, although Octavia had more fight in her than me and resented every second of it. On the way home she’d filch bits from his bag and then we’d later go run off for treats, and we found happiness in even the lowest part of our days. Soon we began to look forward to his forced performances and the shopping we’d do afterwards, and each time Octavia stole a little more from him. “Our rightful share” she called it, and each time we came home in such good mirth Adagio began to wonder.
We were digging our own graves, as it turned out. Adagio didn’t know that we were taking his bits, but he soon realized that he was coming up with less and less every time. His greed expanded like his bags, and the next time we played and transfixed ponies, he would wander through the crowd and steal entire bags of bits, using his immunity to music as a tool to fill his coffers. His profit tripled overnight, and soon he began to leave late at night and not return until midmorning, always tired but with more and more bits. It didn’t take us long to figure out that he was exploiting performers all over Manehattan, each on a different day, each one a little profitable venture. There’s a reason that Manehattan is said to have streets paved with talent, and Adagio began to concoct a scheme to use that talent for his own personal gain.
For months he’d leave at night and bring strange ponies home, always dressed in such sleek and gorgeous clothing that they made August look low-class by comparison. They’d stay in the den all night talking about some business plans they had while Octavia and I sat around the hall corner listening.
That was the birth of the Concertos. A group disguised as a musical troupe who stole from those captivated by our music. Of course nopony knew that at first, so when a new “scout” came to the door a year later asking about Octavia and I, August was so pleased he packed our things for us and sent us with him, never looking back when his door was closed. We were taken to a grand theater hall neither of us had ever heard of before, and we had our first performance that night.
Ponies from all over town came when they heard that the promising street duo had finally made it big, and the hall was packed as we began to play. We were so caught up in our own music we didn’t notice the ushers picking every pony clean, and later that night a party was thrown to welcome us to the troupe. Our lives were just seeming to begin.
We played every event imaginable, even going so far as playing the Grand Galloping Gala once or twice. And each time ponies left with lighter bags and pockets, not even realizing that the price they paid for admission was only half of what they lost. And I was never the wiser, although Octavia thought it odd we were making such a large amount so fast. We never thought to make the connection between Adagio’s late night business talks and our current situation. We never had any reason to. We were famous as famous gets, or at least our music was. Nopony knew us really, but when we were out and about we would always get swarmed and pressured to play, and we loved the attention for a while. It was the perfect validation for two musical ponies.
After another year or so of playing music, we were staying late at the concert hall one night to go over another piece we had been working on when we heard a very familiar voice that sent chills up and down our spines. Both of us quit playing immediately and followed the noise back to our dressing room to find Adagio talking to our troupe leader. What we heard then was almost the same as what they were talking about those few years ago, about the theft of so many bits and how it was all thanks to us, and it was then Octavia decided to let all that courage she had bottled up over the years finally spill forth. She devised a plan for us to escape, and within a week we would be free.
That was the best scenario, but those almost never play out like we want. When the time came, right as we were preparing for our biggest show to date, they made the mistake of leaving us alone to get ready. Grabbing our instruments and enough bits to get us far away, we made a break for the stage entrance. If we’d been a second quicker, if I hadn’t tripped on my tuxedo, then things might’ve gone as planned. But I did trip, and the ushers and our troupe leader were bearing down on us. Octavia had stopped and came to help me up, but we didn’t have time to get away by then. If something didn’t happen, we weren’t going to make it.
So I decided to be the pony I always wanted Adagio to be. I placed myself between them and Octavia and told her to run, that I would be behind her soon. If this was a story, she wouldn’t have ran and we would’ve been through it together, like the brother and sister we’d grown to be. But I thank Celestia every waking moment that it wasn’t a story. She knew that this was her chance and that I was giving it to her, so she grabbed her cello and ran again as I readied my flute. Before any of the Concerto had time to react I played one piercing high note after another, so shrill the lights began to burst and they were forced to cover their ears. I was able to play for an amazing amount of time, but those notes required a lot of effort and I had been running, and Octavia had barely made it away before I dropped to the floor and the Concerto converged on me. The beat me, almost mercilessly, until Adagio appeared and took me to a dark room where they questioned me and beat me over and over. Luckily, I didn’t know where Octavia had planned to go, so I couldn’t tell them. This didn’t keep them from punishing me, but I was content that she was safe and I couldn’t harm that.
The Concerto have quite a long reach, though, and were about to begin the search for her when Adagio forced me into a deal. If I continued to play, never getting paid, a show every week, then I could make up for her and they would let her leave. And I took his offer for half a year. But things had changed. The stage no longer brought me pleasure, so long as I knew that I was playing for ill purposes, and I made the choice to run away, this time making it out much quicker than Octavia had. I left my brother a letter and all the bits I had saved so he could find somepony to replace me, and wished over and over that this was it, that Octavia and I were forever safe and that we could finally live away from the manipulation and thievery. But I should have known my brother was not going to let me win, and while Ponyville is a bit out of the way, he found me again and is probably looking for Octavia as well. I feel that the grace period he gave me is so that he can find and use her as bait for me. I was hoping to spend my life here in Ponyville, but if he finds her, I’ll have to go back. I can’t put her at risk for myself.
He finished his story and looked at them, trying his best to not falter and break down. “I should’ve guessed, and now I’ve put you all in danger. I should try to catch up with Adagio before he-”
Fluttershy put her hoof gently over his mouth, getting his attention as she laid her forehead on his. “No, Allegretto, this isn’t your fault,” she said softly, acting the part of her Element very well. “It’s Adagio’s fault. You just wanted to be happy, he’s the bad guy.”
Pinkie Pie actually had a serious look on her, eyes darting to each pony’s. “I dare that big meanie to come back and take away our new friend. He’s in for a Pinkie Pie pummeling if he tries!” She stood up and began boxing the air with her hooves before smiling a bit maliciously. “I’ll give ‘em a Jelly Jab, and a Cupcake Chop, and a Turnover Toss! Hiya!” she yelled, swinging at the air and raising the mood slightly.
Rainbow Dash shot up into the air above them and puffed her chest out again. “I’m right behind Pinkie! That loser tries to come back here, I’ll rain down the fury of Rainbow Dash! He won’t know what hit him!” She flipped once and hovered above him, flashing such a confident grin that his own confidence was boosted.
Applejack jumped up and straightened her hat, tipping it slightly to him. “Ah’m behind ya, too, pard’. That varmint tries to mosey his way back into our town, and he’ll hafta answer to the Apple family! You got the entire orchard on yer side, now!”
Rarity also rose, clearing her throat. “I can’t say I’ll be much good in a fight or anything so barbaric, but I have a few ponies in high places I can rely on to find Octavia for you. I’ll make sure she stays safe as can be, don’t you worry at all.”
Twilight joined them in standing, Spike on her back. “I’ll send word out to Princess Celestia that Manehattan has a shady music business she should put a stop to. Though, Allegretto, I think I should warn you that this could destroy your chances of being on stage. Once ponies find out that you were a Concerto, even if you didn’t know what they did, nopony will want to take you on.”
Allegretto thought about this, then looked at the friends he had assembled around him. He loved his music, truly, but right now he wouldn’t trade anything in the world for these ponies, especially the one nestled up against him. “Twilight, I choose you ponies over the stage any day. Besides, who’s to say I still can’t play for entertainment?”
They all nodded in agreement, elated at the decision he’d made. They wanted to celebrate at the party, but it had long since winded down and the night air was beginning to nip at them. They all said their goodbyes and went their separate ways, except Fluttershy, who pawed the ground timidly, and Allegretto, who laid on the blanket a while longer and stared at the night sky. “Allegretto, I’m… I’m happy you decided to stay here in Ponyville,” Fluttershy said, and flashed a smile that rivaled every twinkling star. Despite the cold they both felt warm, and the stars pulsed with a cold fire as the moon began to sink. “I have to go back to look after my animals… Are you going to be alright finding your way home?” she asked with a yawn, slowly moving towards her home.
He smiled and suppressed his own yawn, lowering his head. “I think I’ll be fine for just one night,” he said, then sent her on her way with a taxed smile. Trying to fight his sleepiness for a little bit longer, he watched as the stars began to fade and the moon almost fell behind the horizon, feeling a peace he hadn't known for years. When the morning did come it found him asleep on that blanket, with another thrown over him by Pinkie Pie when she woke up and saw him outside her window. Even outside in the cold and damp with dew, his first night in Ponyville was one of the best Allegretto had ever had.
Author's Note: Phew, hopefully I fleshed out Allegretto's backstory enough to allow the story to continue on. I hope this chapter doesn't seem as rushed as the last one, but if it does seem that way, I apologize. Also, if the romantic/touching scene with everyone assembled outside seemed cliche, the reason is I don't have a lot of experience with that sort of writing, so I'm trying to build that. Hopefully as the rest of the characters make their way in and the story goes on it'll all become more refined and fall into place. Anyway, enjoy!
|
Asterilos the Star Watcher
|
885
| 4 |
Angel,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Gummy,Main 6,Octavia,Original Character,Spike,Comedy,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Sounds of Silence
|
A certain yellow pegasus is making it hard for Allegretto to live the simple life he wanted to lead.
|
complete
| 36 | 2 |
<p>When a new pony arrives in Ponyville to lead a quiet, simplistic life away from the stage, he can't imagine getting smitten by a shy, timid little pegasus. Even worse, his life before wasn't as glamorous as everyone would believe, and when his past begins to show up in his new home, he'll have to decide between the music he loves to play, or the pony he loves to play for.</p><p>Author's Note: Yes, I understand the tags are a bit contradictory, but elements of humor always manage to snake their way into every work I do. If the general consensus is that I don't need it, I'll uncheck it. And it goes without saying that all feedback is welcome so long as it isn't blatantly offensive.</p><p>EDIT 9/21/11: Yes, that cover image is one I drew myself during a Calculus lecture. An intricate flute with a butterfly on the end? How adorable, I know! Before anyone says anything, I have no idea what an actual flute looks like anymore, so any issues can be chalked up to pony craftsmanship. Enjoy!</p><p>Many thanks to knighty for helping me with the issues on uploading my picture. I'm eternally grateful.</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-09-24T17:15:33+00:00
|
2011-09-24T17:15:33+00:00
| 1,673 |
Things were beginning to take a turn for the better, much to the relief of the ponies in Ponyville. After all the excitement of the party and the appearance of a new pony, they were all excited to return to normal and to let Allegretto experience a regular day after his weeks of moving in and getting set up.
It was a bit too much to hope for, as three young fillies had heard of the arrival of a new pony and were eager to get to him to try and earn their cutie marks for playing instruments. “All right, now are we ready to go earn ourselves some cutie marks?!” Applejack’s younger sister Apple Bloom asked as they made their way to Fluttershy’s house, riding on Scootaloo’s scooter. All three had shown a massive amount of interest in trying to get Allegretto to teach them to play, and when they learned he was helping Fluttershy take care of some of her animals, they immediately took off from the Apple’s orchard, shirking their promise to help the oldest Apple, Granny Smith, make some pies.
“I don’t know, I still feel kind of bad for leaving Granny Smith like that…” Rarity’s younger sister Sweetie Belle murmured, her conscious giving her a hard time. “I mean, we promised to help her make pies today, and Applejack’s not going to like it when she finds out we lied to Granny Smith.”
The propulsion and pilot of the scooter, a young orange pegasus named Scootaloo, scoffed and swerved up the winding path to their destination, somehow retaining their balance. “It’s not lying, Sweetie Belle! We’ve helped Granny Smith make pies before, and we didn’t get our cutie marks then, so if we helped Granny it’d only be a waste of her time and ours! We’re doing her a favor!”
Sweetie Belle didn’t seem very convinced, and continued to listen to her berating conscious as they skidded to a halt in front of Fluttershy’s door. Apple Bloom was the first off and began to knock on the door, shouting for the residents. “Fluttershy! It’s me, Apple Bloom! We’re hear to talk to yer colt friend about learnin’ to play some instruments! Hurry up!” The other two fillies joined her in shouting, until it seemed they could be heard all across Equestria.
There was a commotion on the other side of the door and various shouts and squawks, and they heard the flapping of wings as a small, multicolored bird shot out of an open window and disappeared into the sky. Fluttershy answered the door as Allegretto yelled out the window, looking down at the three with a worn look on her face. “Oh, hello, girls. Is it my turn to watch you today?” she asked as Allegretto came behind her, mumbling angrily about a ’prismatic pest’. “Allegretto, we have guests,” she said, and his mood seemed to lighten almost instantly.
The three dashed in past them into a messy room, books and bandages and birdseed everywhere. “Wow, what happened in here?” Sweetie Belle asked them, oblivious to the look Allegretto was giving her. She looked around the room again, watching as Apple Bloom and Scootaloo tried to put some thing back into place. They looked back at their flanks as they cleaned, but when they didn’t see anything they instantly stopped and stood next to her. “You guys have a wrestling match or something?”
Fluttershy’s face turned a bright red as Allegretto attempted to change the subject. “Well, hello there, little fillies. It’s so nice to meet you. My name’s Allegretto. Who are you three?”
Sweetie Belle took a step forward. “I’m Sweetie Belle! I’m Rarity’s sister!”
Apple Bloom stepped forward as well. “Ah’m Apple Bloom! Ah’m Applejack’s sister!”
Scootaloo moved up with them. “I’m Scootaloo, and I’m Rainbow Dash’s number one fan!”
“We’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” they all three exclaimed, then ran around in a small circle, kicking up the bird seed and making an even bigger mess. It took a very large measure of control on Allegretto’s part to not react, but he managed to wait until they were done, stopping out of boredom and not exhaustion, to his chagrin.
Apple Bloom noticed that they had made a greater deal of work for the two ponies, and as she looked around at the disastrous mess her friends noticed as well. “Aww fiddlesticks, we jus’ made a bigger mess for y’all…” she whined, waiting to be reprimanded by one of the two. Her friends waited by her solemnly and they gazed up at them with large, sorrowful eyes, a trick of younger ponies to try and lessen their impending punishment.
Allegretto wasn’t about to let that work, but before he had a chance to voice his outrage at them Fluttershy stepped up. “Oh, it’s okay girls. That rainbow robin was a hoof-full anyway. He probably would’ve made a mess even if you didn’t show up.” Her forgiveness caused the girls to cheer and run around again, as Allegretto chuckled and shook his head teasingly at her. She turned, smiling, and placed her head against his, and the second long distraction gave the Cutie Mark Crusaders time to run out behind their backs. When she turned around she noticed instantly, looking across the entire room for them. “Girls?” she called quietly, glancing back at Allegretto for some kind of direction.
There was a loud blaat from upstairs, and the look of pure horror on Allegretto’s face made Fluttershy assume the worst. “My instruments!” he cried, racing upstairs towards the noise with her close behind, almost running down Angel. The bunny gave him an angry glare as he slammed open the door into Fluttershy’s bedroom, and his look of horror before was nothing compared to the one he wore right now.
The girls were all across the room, each one playing an instrument loudly and with reckless abandon. Sweetie Belle blasted another flat note from a trumpet, and the animals downstairs were in a frenzy, their sensitive ears assaulted by one sour sound after another. She picked up a tune, and began to spew mistakes left and right as Scootaloo joined her on the piano, hitting bad chord after bad chord and slamming her hooves as she did it. Apple Bloom was trying her best to keep up with a pair of cymbals, and the crash made him wince every time, his ears crying out for some kind of mercy. In a resounding fit of anger he grabbed his flute from the nightstand and blew one solid, high note that canceled out theirs. They all stopped and looked at him, wearing that same apologetic expression they had tried before.
Fluttershy stood between them, sparing the girls his wrath for the time being. “Allegretto, they didn’t know any better… They were just trying to get their cutie marks. I’m sure they’re very sorry.” She smiled at him, and his anger abated, but didn’t vanish altogether. “Now girls, maybe we should leave Allegretto alone for a minute. Why don’t you run into town with me? I have some things I need to pick up.”
With looks of pure relief, they filed out of the room, trying not to cringe when he passed his furious gaze over them. “We’re sorry, mister Allegretto,” Scootaloo said, her head so low to the ground her mane brushed it. “We just wanted to find our talents…”
Allegretto narrowed his eyes, then took a deep breath and let his anger dissipate completely. He didn’t necessarily approve of what they did, but to be angry about it now wouldn’t solve anything. “Look, just… Just give me a while to get my things in order, then I’ll see about teaching you how to play something.” He caught the grateful look from Fluttershy as they all filed out the door, leaving him with his possibly shattered instruments. “It’s going to be a very long day,” he muttered, opening the lid on his piano.
“Now y'all ought to be very ashamed of yerselves!” Applejack was busy scolding the Crusaders, Rarity and Rainbow Dash on either side. “Y'all promised to help Granny Smith today, and ya ended up runnin’ off to go bother our newest pardner!” She glared at them, having been told the whole story when she caught them out with Fluttershy, who stood a bit away to avoid the yelling. “Now Ah got half a mind to let that colt punish ya as he wants! But it ain’t all up to me, lucky fer you!” She looked to either side of her for one of her friends to step in.
Rarity took point, glaring at Sweetie Belle especially. “Now, that pony is trying his best to fit in here, and he doesn’t need you three making that any harder for him! Now, when he gets here I want each of you to apologize and offer to clean up the mess you made, then you’re going right to the Apple orchard to… to… Oh drat, Applejack, do you have anything for them to do?”
“Ah reckon they could sort the apples into the bushels or sumthin’. But Big Mac said he was gunna do that this mornin’, and I bet he’s done it already.” She thought for a minute, looking to Rainbow Dash. “Ya got any ideas, Rainbow?”
Rainbow Dash snapped out of a daydream and looked at them, befuddled. “Huh? I’m just here because you guys told me to. I haven’t been listening.” She ignored their looks of disappointment, floating lazily on the breeze as Rarity and Applejack continued to list possible punishments.
This continued in much the same way for several minutes until Allegretto finally came along, looking even more tired than before, and what really drew the eye was Angel laid across his back. Fluttershy hurried over to check on her little bunny pal while Allegretto glared at the Crusaders. “You girls best thank Celestia you didn’t break anything. If you had, I would’ve left you to your sisters and Rainbow Dash.” He looked up at the older fillies and blew his mane from his face. “As it is right now, I’m going to ask you not punish them. I actually have something else in mind for them.” He reached into his saddlebags and pulled out three small instruments: a piccolo, a triangle, and bongos. “Now, if it’s okay with your sisters, I have a bit of a deal to strike with you. I want each of you to take one of these instruments and practice a little each day, then at the end of a week I want to hear what you’ve learned.” He smiled when they squealed and ran to take one each, Apple Bloom the triangle, Scootaloo the bongos, and Sweetie Belle the piccolo. They all laughed and began to belt out notes, but being the simple instruments they were, there wasn’t nearly as many sour notes produced. “Now, there’s a catch,” he continued, and they all set down their gifts and looked at him with rapt attention. “This doesn’t mean you can skip doing things to play, and this also doesn’t mean you can annoy ponies with them. If your sisters think it’s the right thing to do, they have every right to take them from you.”
Scootaloo looked at him with a bit of slyness that he didn’t appreciate. “How’re you gonna know if I do anything bad with my instrument?” she said with an air of superiority, tapping a few times on her bongos. “I don’t have a sister who can take mine away.”
He sighed and turned to look at Rainbow Dash. “I hope I can trust you to keep an eye on her sometimes?” he asked. He didn’t know about the Elements of Harmony, much less that Rainbow Dash was loyalty, and a smaller pony than her would’ve been insulted.
As it was though, she just saluted him and somersaulted in the air. “You can count on me, colt!” she said, swooping down to tap on the bongos. This made Scootaloo beam with joy, and it was evident this is what she wanted to happen all along. Watching all these fillies with their older sisters, and in the case of Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo a relationship very close to siblings, made his heart pang for both his corrupted brother and his missing sister, and reminded him of the looming confrontation that was shaping up in a little under a year. According to Twilight, Princess Celestia sent out guards to search the theater hall he had told them about, but the Concertos had long since gone away.
Fluttershy noticed a look she had come to recognize on him, when he was thinking about his past and the Concertos, and went to nuzzle next to him. “I know you’re still worried,” she whispered, watching the fillies play with their gifts. “But that’s a long time from now, and everypony says it’ll be okay. So just trust us, okay?”
He looked over to her, smiling tiredly, and without warning planted a kiss right between her eyes, chuckling when her face turned a vivid red. The Crusaders stopped playing for a minute to whisper and giggle as their guardians exchanged a look of happiness. Fluttershy mumbled something under her breath, and rather than repeat it she leaned against him and nestled her head under his. The Crusaders, seeing that there would be no more smooching, began to play with their instruments again.
Of course, they should’ve realized that music usually signifies a party, and before any of them had realized, Pinkie Pie came bounding up with a kazoo, joining the fillies in their music-making with a gusto Allegretto and Angel wished they could muster. The kazoo playing became erratic after a moment, and Pinkie finally dropped it to laugh. “Oh wow, I can’t believe we’re having a music party! I love music, not as much as singing and throwing parties and baking of course, but it’s my fourth most favorite-est thing ever! Hey…” she said, eyes shifting back and forth between the gathered ponies. “How come nopony came and told me there was going to be a music party? It’s my job to know about all the parties in Ponyville, otherwise I’ll have to give up my Party Pony status!”
Before anypony could respond, Twilight came walking up with Spike on her back holding a book and several scrolls. Allegretto had long since stopped wondering how they all managed to converge at some point or another throughout the day, chalking it up to one of those unexplained forces, like Fluttershy’s talent with animals or Pinkie in general. “Hey, everypony! What’s with the big get together?”
Pinkie was immediately upon her, grabbing her head between both hooves and knocking Spike off by accident. “Oh Twilight, they didn’t invite you either?!” She looked back the rest of them and stuck her tongue out. “You meanies! You know music is my fourth most favorite-est thing ever, and Twilight needs some pony interaction, being cooped up in that dusty old library all day!”
Spike shook the stars from his vision and gathered his literature, walking over to stand with the rest of them, making sure to keep a comfortable distance from Allegretto. While he no longer perceived Allegretto as a threat to his relationship with Rarity, per se, they hadn’t gotten enough time to know each other, and stayed mutual acquaintances for the time being. “What is she talking about?” he asked nopony in particular, adjusting the papers in his arms.
“Pinkie Pie seems to think that we’re throwin’ a party without ‘er,” Applejack responded, and that seemed to be all the explanation that Spike needed as she went over to the unpredictable pony. “Pinkie, ain’t nopony throwin’ a party without you, sugar cube. We was just scoldin’ the littleun’s here, and Allegretto seems to think that givin’ ‘em instruments is gonna keep ‘em outta trouble!” She looked back at him with one eyebrow cocked. “And he better know that Ah’ll be seein’ him if this don’t work.”
Pinkie let Twilight’s head go suddenly and scratched her head. “So, if we do bad things, Allegretto gives us instruments?!” she asked incredulously, a twinkle coming to her eye that gave every pony the chills. Without warning she grabbed a hunk of mud off of the ground and chucked it, covering Allegretto and Fluttershy in the wet earth. She was right before him in a second and wiggling excitedly. “I want a xylophone!” she exclaimed, not noticing the glare that Allegretto had been using to no avail all day.
Again he felt anger flare in him, nipping at the back of his head like a hungry animal, but he also realized that anger wouldn’t be the best course of action. Pinkie was just Pinkie, and he couldn’t be mad at her for that. “Sorry, Pinkie, it was an offer for the Crusaders only,” he explained, trying his best to remove the clumps of mud from Fluttershy’s mane. “I mean, if you want, I guess I could find something for you to play…”
Pinkie thought it over for a moment, then shook her head so quickly it was a blur of pink. “Nope! I just realized that if I tried to learn to play an instrument then I wouldn’t have time to write songs or bake or throw parties! You silly music ponies can have the instruments, just leave the important things to the Party Ponies like me!”
He was about to argue his case for learning to play an instrument, then realized that Pinkie was a bit of a handful herself. It probably wouldn’t be in the best interest of everypony involved to give her another facet of Pinkie-ness, so he shrugged and let her decision stand. “If that’s your choice.” He looked back at the Crusaders with a touch of mirth in his eyes. “And I’m serious, girls. I want to hear what you can do in one week, and I’ll be in touch with your sisters to make sure you stay out of trouble.”
Apple Bloom stopped beating on her triangle and stood as tall as she could, her friends joining her almost instantly. “Ya ain’t gotta worry ‘bout us, mister Allegretto! We give ya our word we ain’t gonna use these instruments bad! Cutie Mark Crusaders honor!” They all threw him a salute, seemingly rehearsed because of how expertly timed it was, then continued to produce note after note of happy amateur music.
Rarity watched the girls for a minute, then glanced up at the sky and did a double-take. “Twilight! We’re late for our spa date!” she exclaimed, running over to her magical partner and tugging on her tail. “Come on, now! If we’re any later we’ll lose our reservations!” She didn’t give Twilight time to respond, and barely enough time to wave feebly before dragging her away.
Applejack glanced at the sky herself and nodded once, smiling. “It is gettin’ late. Sweetie Belle, Ah reckon you can stay with us for th’ night. Knowin’ yer sister, they ain’t due home for a while. Spike, ya think ya can handle yerself?”
The tiny dragon puffed his chest out and held his scrolls with an air of importance they didn’t quite have before. “Yeah, I’ll be fine! I’ve had to watch out for myself before, trust me. Don’t worry!” he boasted, then began swaggering off towards the library as they watched him go, trying their best to not giggle as his overly inflated ego. The sunlight was rapidly waning, and the others said their goodbyes as Allegretto, Fluttershy, and Angel made their ways to their respective homes.
Allegretto had fallen back to thinking now that he wasn’t distracted, and Fluttershy tried her best to think of something to say that would make him feel better and to forget his brother, if even for a night. “Umm, Allegretto? Would you maybe help me clean up a little bit? I mean, if you want to…” With his confidence down, hers plummeted as well, and she was finding it harder and harder to talk without mumbling.
Allegretto let a small sigh escape, and lowered his head even further. “Angel and I already took care of it,” he said distantly, not looking at her as his mind raged and his anxiety spoke whispers of doubt into his ear. He knew she was worried, and that made him feel even worse because of his emotional unavailability, but he made a promise to himself to not drag her into his past any further.
Fluttershy looked away at the ground. “Oh…” She walked along in silence for a minute, trying to find another way to get him to talk to her. “I, uh… I didn’t expect you to… to kiss me… Especially not in front of everypony…” she whispered, trying her best to fight the heat rising to her cheeks, and out of the corner of her eye she saw him smile just barely. “And… I’m really happy you offered to help today… with the robin. That was really nice…”
Allegretto stopped at the split in the road that marked their separate ways, one road leading to his house and one to hers. Many a long dusk was spent with them chatting, not wanting to leave each others company for another few minutes, and tonight was no exception. “Fluttershy, can I ask you something?” he blurted suddenly, finally turning to look at her.
“Yes?” she asked, enjoying the light she saw in his topaz eyes. She felt a tingle in the air, a special charge like lightning was about to strike, yet the sky was clear as a bell. She realized that the charge was crawling all over her, and her wings twitched once out of excitement.
He started to speak, then seemed to rethink it. He repeated this several times, and she fought the urge to giggle lovingly at him. Finally, he gathered himself and forced it out. “Do you think I’m a bad pony for what I’ve done?” he asked, ashamed to look at her now that it was out. “I mean, ignorance may make it better, but… I’ve hurt so many ponies. And I’m putting more ponies in danger. Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, the Crusaders… And you. I can’t… Fluttershy, I can’t put you in danger like this.”
She was shocked and touched by his concern, and that tingle became a charge that wanted to pull her towards him. “Allegretto… I would’ve left if I was scared… And normally, I am scared…” she began, moving closer to him, obeying that charge as her confidence began to rise. “But I’m not as scared when you’re around. You make me feel stronger. And I want to be there for you as much as you are for me.” She drew even closer, and she could tell the charge was passed on to him, because he leaned in as much as she did. Angel seemed to sense what was going on, and hopped back to Fluttershy’s to give them their own precious privacy. “Allegretto, you’re not a bad pony. A bad pony would’ve stayed, and left Octavia for himself, and never would have stood up to Adagio.”
He was unable to break eye contact with her, and now they were so close he could smell the scent of nature that he loved so much on her. “When you were there is the first time I stood up to him face to face. I… I wasn’t going to let him hurt you.”
“And now I’m not going to let him hurt you. None of us are. So you don’t have to worry about it…” She placed her forehead on his, their signal for a heart to heart moment, a gesture of warmth and safety and support. She breathed deeply and tried to transfer her calmness to him, realizing the irony of it but not dissuaded by it. “Allegretto, no matter what happens, I… I…”
He chuckled. “I… I… you too,” he said, and their lips suddenly collided in the last moments of sunlight, and while they both wanted it to happen, it was still a surprise for them both that neither was pulling away. It lasted for only a minute, but time had stretched, and that twilight was nearly an eternity for them. When they both finally did pull away, Allegretto had a new mirth in his eyes, and smiled so warmly Fluttershy wanted to kiss him again. “Thank you, Fluttershy.”
“For kissing you?” she asked, befuddled, and it didn’t even register until after she said it that they’d just become intimate. Once it did, her face flared like the sun and her heart raced like an Iron Pony Competition, thundering in her ears.
He laughed and shook his head. “No, for giving me another reason to fight back against Adagio.” He raised his head to the sky and sighed, watching the stars grow in intensity. “It’s going to be a cold night, isn’t it?” he asked, even as he watched her shiver.
She nodded, her mind racing along thousands of paths of pure joy as she watched her colt with adoration. Her colt. She said it in her head again and again, and the shivers he perceived weren’t of cold, but excitement, as she nodded towards her house. “Tree homes can get very drafty…” she said, leaving the end hanging as she turned slowly down her own path.
Allegretto raised an eyebrow with a mischievous grin. “Miss Fluttershy, what are you suggesting? That doesn’t seem very timid.”
She lowered her head and glanced over at him with a blush. “Well, you make me a little more confident…” she whispered amorously. “And… My bed gets a little cold, too…” she admitted, watching him for his reaction and hoping for a very specific one.
He didn’t say anything, fearing that it would spoil their moment, but rather followed her as they made it back to her house so close they were almost one pony in body and heart.
Author's Note: This is more of a "not moving too quickly" chapter that I used to flesh out the main (mane?) relationship and add the Cutie Mark Crusaders to the tale. Also, I know how it looks, but I'm a bit hesitant about making this "sleepover" sexual rather than intimate. I think I'll just leave it as intimate, and hopefully that won't detract at all from the story itself. So, it is a night of embracing. That is all. Sorry to disappoint, if I did.
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Asterilos the Star Watcher
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885
| 5 |
Angel,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Gummy,Main 6,Octavia,Original Character,Spike,Comedy,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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The Sounds of Silence
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A certain yellow pegasus is making it hard for Allegretto to live the simple life he wanted to lead.
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complete
| 36 | 2 |
<p>When a new pony arrives in Ponyville to lead a quiet, simplistic life away from the stage, he can't imagine getting smitten by a shy, timid little pegasus. Even worse, his life before wasn't as glamorous as everyone would believe, and when his past begins to show up in his new home, he'll have to decide between the music he loves to play, or the pony he loves to play for.</p><p>Author's Note: Yes, I understand the tags are a bit contradictory, but elements of humor always manage to snake their way into every work I do. If the general consensus is that I don't need it, I'll uncheck it. And it goes without saying that all feedback is welcome so long as it isn't blatantly offensive.</p><p>EDIT 9/21/11: Yes, that cover image is one I drew myself during a Calculus lecture. An intricate flute with a butterfly on the end? How adorable, I know! Before anyone says anything, I have no idea what an actual flute looks like anymore, so any issues can be chalked up to pony craftsmanship. Enjoy!</p><p>Many thanks to knighty for helping me with the issues on uploading my picture. I'm eternally grateful.</p>
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everyone
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2011-10-02T22:16:48+00:00
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2011-10-02T22:16:48+00:00
| 1,705 |
The day seemed to be slow to start because of the clouds hiding the sun. This was a major concern for all of Ponyville, because Rainbow Dash wasn’t scheduled to let it rain until the end of the week, and try as she might these clouds simply wouldn’t stay away; the rolling thunder prompted all the ponies to take shelter for the rest of the day. Work would be almost non-existent and some ponies would be bored out of their minds, but they would all manage to make due.
Twilight, predicting the severity of the storm well ahead of its arrival, worked together with Pinkie to gather all her friends in her library to wait it out safely and comfortably. It took a bit of convincing and a lot more pushing to get Applejack to leave her crops, and she was currently sulking in front of a window, watching as the rain began to pour and her crops waited to be picked. “Ah can’t believe ya couldn’t clear this up, Rainbow Dash!” she said crossly, interrupting their game of Monopony. “Y’all are just sittin’ there, playin’ yer little game, while mah crops are gettin’ drowned!”
Twilight clicked her tongue and tried to decide on buying Conneticolt Avenue, only sparing a small portion of her attention to Applejack’s griping. “Really, AJ, she tried, and there was nothing she could do. We all watched her try it most of the morning. Heck, most of Ponyville did!” She levitated the money she needed to buy the property, then lowered it down again as everypony else moaned. “What? I want to make sure it’s a reasonable investment!” she argued, performing multiple calculations as to her return and how often to upgrade her property if she were to buy it.
Rainbow Dash groaned and flipped upside down, cranky about being stuck inside and her inability to clear the skies. “It’s ponies like you that make this game take fooooreverrrrrr,” she whined, flipping onto her back and leaning halfway off the couch they pulled in from Allegretto’s home. “It’s not like it’s real money, Twilight! Just buy it or don’t!”
Twilight stared at the space for a moment longer, then finally ponied up and sent the money floating over towards Pinkie Pie, who had somehow, certainly without anyone knowing, become the banker, with Gummy sitting on her head to, as she put it, ‘help her count right‘. She took the money, a 200 bit note, and looked down at her haphazard pile of bills. “Let’s see… We don’t have any eighty bit notes…” She tilted her heard a bit and glanced up at Gummy, then smiled and nodded. “Of course! How silly of me!”
Twilight reached out her hoof to take her change, and wore quite the surprised expression when she felt the soft paper of the bottom of a cupcake. She turned it side to side, then glanced up at Pinkie with a confused and disapproving look. “Pinkie, this isn’t Monopony money. This is a cupcake.” She held the pastry as far as she could and wiggled it around a bit for emphasis. “A cupcake.”
Pinkie nodded vigorously, Gummy flopping back and forth, but defying gravity so deftly he barely slid an inch from her head. “Yup! We don’t have any eighty bit bills, so I decided to make cupcakes worth eighty bits! So you get a cupcake!”
Twilight looked to her friends for help, but they all just shrugged, not surprised in the slightest. “What did you expect when you made Pinkie the banker?” Spike asked, his bills fanned out in front of him like a poker hand. He grabbed the dice and threw them with a flick of his wrist, spinning them to land on double threes. “Oh, darn…” he cursed under his breath, reaching for the dice again.
Twilight gaped at them all. “But she’s the only one who has access to any cupcakes!” she argued, still holding the cupcake as she pointed at Pinkie. She looked around again to try and catch some look of agreement, but the others were losing interest quickly and were wandering away from the board.
Pinkie hopped up and laughed, bouncing around the room. “That means I win! I have a monopoly on the cupcakes!” she cheered, grabbing Gummy and dancing in a circle. The others were so relived to be able to leave the game they actually congratulated her, finally free to spend the stormy afternoon as they wanted. The storm raged on angrily, though, and each crack of thunder made them more and more worried.
Fluttershy gulped loudly and buried her head into Allegretto’s mane, trying to not shake and failing spectacularly. While he tried his best project a sense of calm for her sake, storms frightened him, and he began to breathe heavily when the rain became peppered with hail. “Hey, Dash, you deal with weather a lot. What are you predicting this storm will do?” he asked nervously, and was infinitely appreciative when Fluttershy put a wing over him and held him tight.
Rainbow Dash opened one eye and looked at them, huddled together near the doorway like that, and crossed her hooves in thought while all the blood rushed to her head and flushed her cheeks. “The thing is, I’ve cleared clouds way worse than this before. And when I tried, I couldn’t even touch them! It was like I was an earth pony!” She grunted and hid her face in her hooves, completely nonchalant as the lightning struck closer than normal and the thunder rumbled through them all. “I mean, it’s my job to clear the skies! How could I ever hope to be a Wonderbolt if I can’t even do simple pegasus chores anymore?!” She grabbed a cushion off the couch and screamed into it, kicking at the back of her seat as she did.
Scootaloo sat with her friends and watched her idol’s dreams crash before her eyes, feeling lower than she ever had before. While the older ponies knew that this wouldn’t affect Rainbow’s chances of being a Wonderbolt in the slightest, some young pegasus weren’t so logical, and it broke her heart to watch Rainbow Dash act so upset. She walked to the couch and began to stroke Rainbow’s mane, watching out the window as the wind whipped up and the upper branches began to creak and moan. It scared her terribly, and she yelped and hugged Rainbow as tight as she could as everyone else found someone to hang on to.
Rainbow glanced around the room and saw everyone huddled together, felt Scootaloo wrapped around her, felt the tree they were in begin to sway, and felt rage bubbling up inside her. Who did this storm think it was, trapping her friends and scaring them like that? How dare it not listen to her?! Didn’t it know who she was?! She was Rainbow Dash, the best flier in Equestria, and some little hurricane wannabe wasn’t going to stop her! She wrenched herself from Scootaloo’s grasp and flipped back off the couch, and before anyone could stop her she threw the door open and marched out into the howling winds, screaming something about ‘showing that storm who was boss’.
The others made no move to stop her, frozen in surprise and still clinging onto one another. Finally, a bolt of lightning struck very close nearby, and the booming thunder shook them into action, everyone shouting and running around to gather supplies to go out. In the midst of all the commotion, no one noticed when another pegasus went missing, sneaking out of an upper window. She barely had enough wing strength to not get blown around while gliding to the ground, and was constantly thrown side to side as she tried to run after her idol.
The ruckus continued in the tree until a loud, ear-shattering whistle made them all stop to cover their ears and look to the source of the noise. Applejack was standing next to Allegretto, and was giving him a appreciative wink. “Sweet apple cider, colt! Didn’ think there was a single pony out there that could out-whistle me!” He bowed, and she turned back to her now captive audience. “Listen! Ain’t nopony doin’ any good runnin’ around in here like a buncha wild stallions! We gotta get organized or Rainbow Dash ain’t gonna be the only one lost out there! Now, we better split up into two groups, one with me an’ one with Allegretto. We got the best whistles and loudest voices, so we can keep everypony together in our group. All right, I’ll take Twilight and Pinkie, Allegretto, you take Rarity and Fluttershy.”
Spike dropped the rain gear he had gathered in a pile in front of them, then spun to look at Applejack with a bit of hurt and outrage. “Hey, what about me?! I wanna help look for Rainbow Dash!” he protested, grabbing a poncho and flipping it over his head. “C’mon, I can help! Just give me a chance!”
Allegretto kept Applejack from responding and nodded, walking over towards the tiny dragon as the others listened to Applejack divvy up the town. He kneeled down and flicked the hood off of him carefully, a little pained that Spike wouldn’t meet his eyes. “Spike, I know how badly you want to help, but we really need someone to hang back and watch the Crusaders. We don’t need them running off like Rainbow Dash did. It’d be a big help, believe it or not.”
The little dragon glared at him and growled, angry beyond belief. “I can help by looking!” he argued still, throwing his arms up as he turned away, watching Applejack, Twilight, and Pinkie run outside towards Whitetail Wood as Rarity began to put her umbrella saddle on. Fluttershy slid up next to her colt and leaned her head on his neck, looking down at the little dragon as he fumed. “I’m so tired of everyone treating me like a little hatchling! I’m a dragon! A dragon! I can handle some rain and thunder!”
“But the fillies can’t, Spike. We need someone to stay back and watch them.” Allegretto moved his hoof slightly to rest on Fluttershy’s, drawing courage from it. The lightning crashed and he cringed, but fought to not show it as he tried to convince his little purple acquaintance to his idea. “We don’t have much time to argue this, Spike. Would you please just do this for me?”
Rarity rushed over and pushed both the ponies out towards the door. “What are we waiting for?! We don’t have time to argue! Spike, I’m trusting you to look after the girls, no arguments about it! We have no time to waste!” She shoved them into the howling winds without giving Spike a chance to argue again, digging her hooves into the ground to fight the drag her umbrella caused. “Oh, when we find that Rainbow Dash I’ll make her pay for what this rain is doing to my mane…” she grumbled, sloshing with her teammates through the mud towards the Apple Orchard.
“Priorities, Rarity!” Allegretto called, squinting against the stinging rain and biting winds as he raised his gaze to the sky. How any pony could ever conceive of going out in this, let alone someone preparing to go straight to the heart of it, was beyond him. And to fly, even! It was a chore in itself to walk, hooves sinking into the mud that covered most of the ground, and he couldn’t imagine how it would feel to be at the mercy of the winds. They were having trouble themselves, with Rarity’s umbrella and Fluttershy’s wings catching more wind than he was, and frequently he had to bite a tail or mane to keep them nearby.
Fluttershy tried to say something to him, but her words were caught by the wind and thrown to Celestia knew where. She tried again, but the timid little thing couldn’t manage to get a word out past the airy barrier. Finally she gave up on talking and pointed ahead, towards the loft of the looming Apple barn, and the huddled shapes that moved within there. The wind died a bit, but when she tried to talk for a third time the sky lit up and thunder boomed so loud their ears began to ring.
Rarity shook her head and ran over to her companions, trying to rush them over to the barn as quickly as she could. “Hurry! I think that may be Rainbow up there!” she cried, taking off towards the barn while Allegretto and Fluttershy tried to understand what was happening around them. Shingles from the barn began to snap off and fly around them, clattering against the ground and bouncing away into the apple trees, which were stripped bare save a few tenacious leaves. They tried to follow Rarity towards the barn, but the mud and water made for treacherous going, and one was forced to balance the other multiple times as they trudged on. By the time they made it into the barn, they were covered in flecks of mud and stuck with twigs and leaves, both feeling quite miserable as they ascended into the loft.
Upon arriving to the second floor, they did indeed find Rarity hunched over something, her frame blocking it entirely. She was muttering things to herself rapidly and tearing bits of her umbrella off to use for this something. Allegretto took a step forward, the floor creaking under his weight, and Rarity spun around to reveal a disheveled and writhing Rainbow Dash, grunting and moaning with pain. Her left wing was flapping around futilely as her right twitched against the floor, mangled and broken with the starts of a splint around it. “What are you standing there for?!” Rarity screamed, turning back to Rainbow Dash to try and calm her down. “I need help! Somepony needs to go get the others, and one of you needs to stay and hold Rainbow down while I try to splint this.”
There was no deliberation, as Allegretto spun to get the others and Fluttershy dashed towards her friend, the storm raging on, oblivious to the going-ons in its borders. Allegretto burst out into the storm proper and ran as quick as he could towards Whitetail wood, ignoring the increase in hail and the wind that was now blowing it right into his face. He fought against it best he could, his coat absorbing enough of the impact to help him push through, but he had to slit his eyes to protect them, and it made for hard navigation when everything farther than a few feet ahead with a roiling gray mess. Still, he had a friend to help, and he wasn’t about to let her down, so he pressed his tongue against his teeth and blew, producing a shrill whistle that barely made it above the cacophony of the storm. He trudged onward towards where his other friends were supposed to be, blowing whistle after whistle as the storm actually intensified, the gale actually making him slide back in the slurry. Something about it caused a bit of a tickle in the back of his head, but he ignored it and whistled again, this time getting some noise in return. Very faintly he could hear Applejack shouting back at him, and his next whistle brought them to him, three dark shapes emerging from the icy curtain.
Applejack had a little lump on her back, and with mounting horror he recognized the purple mane and weakly flapping wings of Scootaloo, his breathing coming faster and faster as they listened to boom after boom of thunder. He grit his teeth and began to shout. “We found Rainbow Dash! She’s in the loft of the barn! We should take shelter there!”
They hurried back as quick as they could, mindful of their possibly hurt little charge, and the storm just seemed to get stronger and stronger as the hail increased in size and frequency. Pinkie, who was usually bouncing and full of vibrancy, could only skip a bit as her mane deflected a vast majority of the hail. Still, it was getting colder, never a good sign for storms, and even she took a shot at complaining. “Grumpy old storm! It’s not winter yet, and this ice isn’t nice!” She slipped and fell headfirst into the mud, coming back up a veritable Pinkie Mud-Pie. “And this mud is a dud!”
They glanced at her friend, unsure if she was trying to be comical or if laughter was just that far ingrained into her mind, but knowing Pinkie the latter seemed much more likely. Nobody had much time to follow that train of thought before lightning crashed in behind them, the pressure and heat tossing them up and onto the Apple property. Applejack and Scootaloo had the worst luck of the bunch, as the lightning hit so close to them that they were thrown against the side of the barn so hard they left indentations in the wood, and the little orange pegasus let loose a wail that chilled them more than the weather could.
Shaking the stars from her vision, Applejack stumbled over to Scootaloo and tried to figure out why she had screamed like that, but she was befuddled from her possible concussion and the dull roar in her ears made thinking that much harder. She was still trying to figure it out as the others dusted themselves off and made their way over, each with varying degrees of pain showing. It took Twilight only a fraction of the time Applejack had been looking to see what had caused the little pegasus so much pain, and it made her stomach turn.
For the second time in a day, Allegretto was face to face with broken pegasus wings, and it did nothing to lessen his shock or sympathy. But while Rainbow seemed to have much more control over how much she let the pain show, the little pegasus hadn’t nearly the willpower, and she was busy crying as Applejack scooped her back onto her and limped into the barn, Pinkie close behind.
“Allegretto, wait for a minute,” Twilight called, and he stopped with one hoof in the barn as she motioned him back to where the lightning struck. The small patch of dirt was easy to find, even as it was turning back to mud, and Twilight stared up at the sky as Allegretto watched her, waiting for whatever it was she was about to do. “Don’t you think it was a little odd that lightning happened to strike us as we were all getting together?” she finally asked, ignoring the downpour for the time being.
Allegretto clicked his tongue once and turned his head slightly as he thought. “Weather can just be unpredictable, Twilight. What, do you think it’s something else?” Still, she had stirred the paranoia in him, and even now he recalled how the storm seemed to be keeping Fluttershy from pointing out where she thought Rainbow Dash was, and now he thought that maybe Applejack’s group may have coincidences like that themselves. “Could it be something else?” he said with a bit of incredulousness.
Twilight answered right as thunder boomed again, then nodded towards the sky as if this proved her point. All at once the clouds began to swirl and precipitation let up around them, building up for a true tempest. The sudden quiet gave way to an all-too familiar laugh, and Allegretto instinctively braced himself as his brother emerged from the rising mist, wearing another smug look that incited the worst in those around him. He was flanked on either side by dressed-to-kill pegasus, and they stopped on the other side of where the lightning struck, staring at them with an oppressive air of condescension. “Well, it’s a shame our ruse was found out so quickly. We were hoping to knock a few of your other friends down a notch, but three isn’t bad, now is it?”
Allegretto snorted and glanced at Twilight, who stood her ground next to him. While he respected her for it, right now he didn’t need somepony else getting hurt on his behalf, and he didn’t think his conscious could take that kind of abuse. “Twilight, please head back to the barn,” he said flatly, and the glare he gave her stopped any argument she may have had. She shot a look at Adagio before galloping off, leaving the brothers to their twisted rivalry. “You said I had a year.” He was on the verge of screaming, it took everything in him to resist the urge to charge.
Adagio inspected a hoof, grimacing at the mud that coated it, then glanced at his brother with that same grimace. “Years, months, seasons. I’ve never been very good at keeping track of things, much less time.” He nodded to the pegasus on his right, who reached into a saddlebag and produced a small present, which he tossed over to Allegretto’s feet. “I did, however, remember a birthday. I wanted to get your opinion on the gift I got for them. Father used to say you had good taste.”
Allegretto eyed them carefully as he bent to open the gift, and when they made no move towards him he focused his full attention on it. The second he did, the ribbon caught his eye, and his heart began to beat quicker as he recognized it as a bow-tie. Trying to not let his terror show, he shifted the lid to the side, and his vision became blurry as he began to cry. “You didn’t…” he whispered, unable to tear his eyes from the contents of the box.
“Not yet, brother, not yet,” Adagio sighed, cantering over to him and looking into the box over his shoulders. “She is such a beautiful little thing, isn’t she?” He lowered his mouth next to Allegretto’s ear, aware of how uncomfortable it made him, and exhaled with faux grief. “Oh, but you know how to make sure we don’t, don’t you? Just come with us, brother. Right now, just follow us, never look back, and she’ll stay safe. They all will.”
Allegretto swallowed the lump in his throat, and tried his best to not sob openly in front of a pony that would and will laugh at his sorrow. He carefully moved the lid back onto the box and made to pick it up, when a quick blow on the cheek kept him at bay. His face stinging and his spirit crushed, he slowly walked towards his escort as his brother grinned so wide his face seemed about ready to split. He kicked the gift to the side and pranced after them, humming to himself and dreaming of the return of his absurd profits.
Twilight had gotten back to the barn as quickly as she could and told her friends of the arrival of Adagio, and as soon as Rainbow, Scootaloo, and Applejack were bandaged as best as they could do they hurried back down to the lightning strike. It still wasn’t quick enough, and Allegretto was long gone before they arrived. The sun finally chose now to begin shining, trying its best to squeeze in a sunset as they tried to find some sign of where their friend may have went. It wasn’t long before Pinkie managed to come across a small present, crumbled and muddy, on the side of the path. Being the type of pony she is, she instantly yanked the top off and let it drop before staring at what lay inside. “I don’t get it?” she said, showing the contents to the others.
A broken cello bow.
|
Asterilos the Star Watcher
|
885
| 6 |
Angel,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Gummy,Main 6,Octavia,Original Character,Spike,Comedy,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Sounds of Silence
|
A certain yellow pegasus is making it hard for Allegretto to live the simple life he wanted to lead.
|
complete
| 36 | 2 |
<p>When a new pony arrives in Ponyville to lead a quiet, simplistic life away from the stage, he can't imagine getting smitten by a shy, timid little pegasus. Even worse, his life before wasn't as glamorous as everyone would believe, and when his past begins to show up in his new home, he'll have to decide between the music he loves to play, or the pony he loves to play for.</p><p>Author's Note: Yes, I understand the tags are a bit contradictory, but elements of humor always manage to snake their way into every work I do. If the general consensus is that I don't need it, I'll uncheck it. And it goes without saying that all feedback is welcome so long as it isn't blatantly offensive.</p><p>EDIT 9/21/11: Yes, that cover image is one I drew myself during a Calculus lecture. An intricate flute with a butterfly on the end? How adorable, I know! Before anyone says anything, I have no idea what an actual flute looks like anymore, so any issues can be chalked up to pony craftsmanship. Enjoy!</p><p>Many thanks to knighty for helping me with the issues on uploading my picture. I'm eternally grateful.</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-10-09T01:40:31+00:00
|
2011-10-09T01:40:31+00:00
| 1,768 |
“Forty-seven missed shows. Thousands of bits, gone. And ponies say I’m the bad colt.” Adagio paced back and forth at the edge of a stage, giving a monologue to his brother who lay behind him. “You know, dear brother, at some level I envy you. It must be so easy having the talent. The natural ability to wow others. It makes us without it look oh-so-very drab by comparison.” He turned, and if Allegretto could see past the blinding stage lights, his brother’s vicious grin would have dominated his vision. “I grew so very tired of listening to mother and father praise you for that noise,” he hissed, enjoying Allegretto’s labored breathing more than he ever could a composition. “Day in and day out, that same little metal tube twittered like a bird, and day in and day out mother and father showered you with love, their little protégé. Nobody saw little Adagio, with his ideas and plans for success. No, while I was making my own path, you were being led down yours by the hooves, never even worried about falling down. I had business sense, but what good is that on a stage? How can you show that to thousands and get that praise?” He waited a moment for Allegretto to make some sort of remark, and the silence he got instead drove his hoof deep into his brother’s side.
The resulting moan and coughing made him purely ecstatic, actually hopping around for joy as his brother writhed in pain. “Oh, now this kind of music I could grow to love. This noise is what I long to hear!” He stopped above his brother again, an ear cocked to every wheeze and groan, still wearing a manic grin that made even his bodyguards squirm. “Now, I wonder what your little friends would think of this performance. Ahh, speaking of friends…” He glanced over in the audience, and the only seat occupied was right in the middle of the front row, and held a gray filly struggling against the rope that bound her. “It’s so good to see you again, Octavia, how has the year been treating you?”
She stopped struggling and spat at him, the courage Allegretto sung praises of back in full force. She missed, but the message was clear all the same as she shook the spittle from her lip and resumed struggling. She growled and tried to break out, then slumped back, spent for the moment.
“Ah, what a lovely captive audience…” Adagio sighed, then turned to his still floundering brother. “That joke was in bad taste, wasn’t it?” He thought for a minute, then smiled again, never a reassuring sight. He trotted back to his brother and propped his head up for Octavia to see, and reveled in her shocked expression. “Why is it that families are only brought together in the face of great tragedy?” he lamented, shaking Allegretto back and forth to intensify his pain.
Octavia struggled against her bonds and shot Adagio a malicious glare, rubbing her forelegs raw against the ropes. “You’re not part of my family!” she screamed, her throat already raw from crying. “You’re a monster, a curse! Leave my brother alone! You said if I came he’d be safe!”
Adagio feigned shock, dropping his brother’s head to the floor with a sound thud. “A monster? But, dear Octavia, what about all those days we spent together? The dinners, the recitals. Does that mean nothing to you?” He glanced down, and suddenly swung his hoof against Allegretto’s mouth, further increasing the damage there as Octavia screamed for him to stop. “Then again, ponies did enjoy my brother’s company over mine. Even mother and father.” His voice dropped at the end, the blood from Allegretto shining brightly under the hot lights. He grit his teeth and began kicking with reckless abandon, only caring that he made contact. “How dare you? Nopony makes me second best! I was the eldest, the first, the Alpha! And then you came along and dared to be greater than me! You made mother and father ignore me! I. DON’T. LIKE. BEING. IGNORED!”
He stopped kicking to catch his breath, heaving as blood seeped towards him, already splattering his tuxedo. He leaned down an inch from Allegretto’s battered face, listening to each shallow breath with an air of impatience. “If I couldn’t have the attention and praise, you couldn’t either. So I took it from you.” His voice dropped to a menacing whisper. “I burned down the house and locked mother and father inside,” he confessed, Octavia staring at him in unrestricted horror. He caught her gaze and grinned wickedly, slowly walking towards the edge of the stage. “And then Daddy August found us. Just maybe, dear Octavia, I am cursed, because by some miracle Allegretto got even more attention from you and August. And I was shoved backstage again!”
Octavia threw all her weight forward, ignoring the rope biting into her and the possible bleeding she may have caused. “What did you want us to do, Adagio?! You’re a planner, not an actor or a musician! You don’t have a home on the stage!”
Adagio sneered at her, then gave a nod to one of the guards at her side. The sight of his hoof connecting so solidly with her face cheered him significantly, and he tried to freshen up his appearance as she fought against unconsciousness. “There’s no applause backstage. Great ponies such as me need validation, don’t they?”
Octavia began to thrash, rubbing more and more of her skin raw. “You’re not great! You’re an egotistical devil!” she shrieked, her voice cracking on the last few syllables.
Adagio began to smile again, then turned and went backstage, stomping on his brother as he passed. “Ponies I’ve respected more than you have called me worse. Besides, who doesn’t love a good villain?”
Manehattan was quite the large city, with literally thousands of buildings that could house a psychopathic pony and his captives. Yet this was just a small deterrent for his assorted rescue team, who never tired in their search for the lost colt and his sister. Still, they had virtually no leads for finding where exactly they were hidden, and were forced to search every possible location. Twilight was trying to narrow down their search, but she hadn’t much to go on. “I wish I knew more of this city,” she sighed to Spike, who studied a map intently as the others trailed behind. It had been a long trip to get to the city, and they had traversed a good section of it already in the few days they’d been there. Old buildings, abandoned warehouses; all the places that it would be easy to hide a few prisoners. Twilight looked back at her friends in their ragged condition, and called for a few minute break while they got their bearings.
The Crusaders, who had tagged along for fear of being left alone, all collapsed in a heap as the others gathered around the map, deliberating where to head next. Sweetie Belle groaned and flipped onto her back, staring up at the imposing buildings all around them. “I’m tired…” she whined, a chant that her fellow Crusaders took up almost at once. Ponies all around them began to cast them disapproving glares and gave them a wide berth, whispering amongst themselves as the whining started to evolve into a tantrum, the trio begging to go back to their hotel for the day.
Before Applejack and Rarity had a chance to reprimand their siblings for their outburst, Fluttershy spun around and glared at them, a foreign emotion rolling off of her as the three instantly fell into silence. The others stared at her with a touch of fear as she fought the urge to scold them, and the whispers from around them increased. “Look at them,” they heard above the rest. “I can’t believe they allow those fillies to act so outrageously. I pray they aren’t going to the production, too.”
Fluttershy broke her Stare and spun to face the ponies they heard, two colts walking towards the theater district in distinguished attire. “Did you girls hear that?” she asked, taking a few steps after them. The others were silently coming to the conclusion that all the stress had finally broken her as she began to hyperventilate, turning to them and back, her mind racing. “A production…” she began, gaze flicking to each of her friends to see if the were following the same train of thought.
Applejack went to their emotionally cracked companion and put a hoof on her. “Fluttershy, Ah don’t think we’re followin’ ya. What do ya say we listen to the girls and give up fer the day?” She tried to steer her back to the group, but she wouldn’t budge, and Applejack was contemplating forcing her to take a break. “Sugar cube, Ah ain’t playin’. Yer mind’s run off, ya need a break.” She put a bit more force into her pushing, and almost stumbled onto her face when Fluttershy stepped away. “Fluttershy…” she growled, taking a menacing step forward.
Fluttershy backed away in fear and tried to hide behind her mane, then glance back down the road and gathered a minute amount of courage. “No, please listen…” she said, trying to plant herself firmly and failing. “Maybe it’s the Concerto…” She trialed off, hoping vehemently that they were coming to her point of view.
Rainbow Dash sighed and dropped her head in exasperation. “Fluttershy, that’s the fifth time you’ve thought that, and for the fifth time, it’s just going to be another regular play. Those tend to happen a lot in the theater district,” she said with emphasis, her exhaustion making her sour. Optimism was fine and all, but she was fed up with all the boring shows and false hope.
Twilight nodded reluctantly, placing herself slightly in front of Applejack to stop a potential scuffle. “Rainbow’s right, Fluttershy. I know you want to find him more than any of us, but we can’t keep chasing every little hunch. We need all the time we can get.” She knew that Fluttershy didn’t want to walk away from possibly finding him, and truth be told she didn’t either, but it had been a few days, and with a pony as sadistic and manic as Adagio there was no telling what could have happened.
Fluttershy was fighting tears, and it broke their hearts to see her that way. Amidst her crying the day decided to catch up with her, and she dropped to the ground and whimpered, still glancing down the road. “Please…” she pleaded, losing the fight against weeping.
Rarity went to help her up, then glanced down towards the crowd gathering outside the theater hall. “Why don’t you all go and take your break? I’ll go with her. I absolutely love the arts, anyway.” She tried to keep the accusation out of her voice and for the most part succeeded, and Fluttershy gave her such an appreciative smile it made her forget some of her own tiredness. “Come on, Fluttershy. Lying on the ground isn’t something a pegasus should ever do, never mind a mare.”
The others were shamed into silence, watching the pair make their way to the growing crowd. Pinkie scratched at the ground with her hoof, uncharacteristically quiet. “We’re the silly fillies now, huh?” she finally said, dropping everyone further into guilt. She seemed to realize this and kept quiet again, instead joining the others in silently deliberating on whether or not to follow them. The decision was made when the Crusaders found new reserves of energy and began after them, living embodiments of the fickle minds of young ponies. With no reason not to, they all raced off to catch up to them, merging into the massive crowd around the entrance.
Adagio peeked from behind his curtain, ecstatic at the turn out of his greatest production. His cast milled about behind him as the final touches were added, and he shivered in his costume. For once, he was going to be center stage, and the mere thought sent him into another little spasm of glee. He was beaming as he turned to his “antagonists”, both bound on the floor behind him. “Oh, put on a smile, you two. After all, this is your return to the stage in a little over two years.” He giggled and pranced in place, ignoring the scathing glares from them both.
“Four minutes until curtain,” the floor director called, sending the two into quakes of fear. Adagio took great pleasure in this, a bit reluctant to leave them to prepare for his debut. Still, the job of an actor requires a great deal of self-sacrifice, so he took a mental snapshot of their terror and went off stage left. They, on the other hand, were dragged deep backstage for the final act, and sat in darkness as the narration began.
Octavia looked at her brother and cringed internally, almost moved to tears again. The damage done to his mouth was severe, and if he didn’t get help soon, probably permanent. His remaining teeth were wildly out of place, and his lips were so swollen it was a wonder he could bear to mumble back to her. Adagio had been thorough in his abuse, and it chilled her to wonder what he had in store for them. “Allegretto, how do you feel?” she asked, trying to calm them both down, or at the very least take their minds off of the play.
“No’ vurry gud,” he mumbled, trying his best to smile at her without reopening his wounds. “Ish shucks being de ba’ guy.” While Octavia feared for them both, he only worried for her safety, already prepared for whatever his brother had planned for him. It didn’t keep him from being terrified, but it did give him the conviction to not show it as much. “How do yu feel?” he asked in return.
Octavia didn’t answer, instead listening to the applause as the curtain opened and the play proper commenced. When she heard Adagio, she closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall. “I don’t know how to feel. I guess I’m scared.” She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling, then managed to smile when she felt Allegretto’s weight against her flank. “You’re scared too, huh?” She put an hoof around him, and together they listened to the play roll on, waiting for their grand finale.
“I can’t see anything from here!” Spike moaned as the play began, flitting from position to position along the balcony to gain a better vantage point. Finally, he gave up his endeavor and sat back in his seat, pouting as the play continued out of his sight. “Why’d we have to get such high seats, anyway?” he grumbled loudly.
Twilight shushed him and glanced at the stage, feeling an odd sense of recognition at the lead role as he hammed his lines so badly it could’ve passed for parody. He was too loud at some points and too quiet at others, and most times he was obviously ad-libbing. “How could anypony let him on the stage?” she murmured as the crowd whispered uncomfortably amongst itself. The premise of the play itself was fine: an ancient court was trying to decide the fate of two villains, with the lead convincing everyone that they were worthy of maximum punishment. But with this lead, the entire play fell apart as even the other actors tried not to cringe when he spoke.
Rarity made a disgusted noise and let her forehooves hang over the railing, blowing her mane out of her face. “And to think we paid for these seats!” she muttered, trying her best to not get up and leave in a huff. “I have half a mind to go demand for our money back…” She looked down towards the exit and saw that several others were thinking to same, the rows slowly but surely emptying out. The lead continued on as if he didn’t notice, caught up in his own acting, and more and more the rows began to file out. “I have a feeling this play is going to drag on and on,” she whined, settling back in for a long few hours.
Octavia awoke with a start, her vision completely pitch black as she heard a voice calling out. She tried to get up and get some sense of direction, but when she realized she was bound and heard the faintly familiar noise of Allegretto snoring it all snapped back to her and she settled back against the wall. Adagio prattled on and on about how evil they were, and she had to laugh at how badly he acted, then stifled herself when Allegretto began to stir. She put a hoof on his head and stroked his mane, trying to lull him back asleep as the floor director kicked her flank. “Hope you’re ready for show time,” he said menacingly, motioning towards one of his crew to begin opening the curtains. He stepped back into shadows and the light blinded them, finally revealed to the remaining crowd and the final act of the play.
Allegretto stirred and opened his eyes groggily, glancing at the crowd assembled before them before turning to look at Octavia. “Ish thish de final ac’?” he slurred as two great colts in stage-armor pulled them center stage. They paid no mind to their injuries, and when they threw him on the ground the jolt mashed his teeth, eliciting a cry of pain that seemed to capture the audience. He tried to push himself up as blood began trickling out his mouth, but failed and let Octavia take him against her. “Ish hursh sho bad…” he whimpered, the edges of his vision darkening. He could vaguely hear Adagio screaming, something about their evil ways and how justice would always find a way, before he slipped into unconsciousness again.
“Oh dear Celestia!” Twilight cried as she recognized Allegretto past his horrid injuries, the entire crowd ablaze with interest for these convincingly done-up prisoners. They all leaned against the railing as far as gravity would permit, watching as Adagio called for their immediate execution. Her mind reeled, unable to process what was happening as the guards called for an executioner, the entire cast almost radiating glee. The hooded pony drug an ax behind him, heavy and rusted and flecked with Celestia knew what, and as he raised it above their heads the audience gasped and began to mutter in sympathy for the poor ragged villains. She scanned the crowd, and when she looked back to the stage Adagio was literally bristling with rage. She felt a tug on her tail, and had to tear her gaze away as Adagio stormed towards the front of the stage.
“How can you show sympathy for these bloody monsters?!” he screamed at the assembly, shocking them into silence. Even his own cast was stunned, and the executioner lowered his ax as his boss carried on in what could only be described as a tantrum. “You should despise them, and hate them! They are embodiments of pure sin, with no purpose other than to waste time! Why do they always get all the attention?!” He fumed and turned to order their immediate beheading when he came face to face with a very smug and angry looking Applejack. “What-” he began, before stars shot across his vision as he rocked back on his hooves. He stared at her incredulously as his cheek swelled, his rage redirected at the new show-stealers. “You’re not telling me fate is smiling on them again?!” he exclaimed, feeling his fury bubble over tenfold. He glared at Applejack with this unbridled chaos, his cheek still aflame with pain, and began to advance. “You little-” He was cut off again by another blow, this one so fast and unexpected he staggered to the left. When the starbursts faded and he looked up, Rainbow Dash had taken a position next to Applejack, both of them grinning at him menacingly as their friends tended to his captives. His entire cast was still frozen in shock, watching their leader with open wonder. “You idiots! Do I have to tell you to stop them?!” he roared, his rage ripping and snarling inside him.
Slowly, they shook themselves out of their paralysis at began to advance on the group, the executioner still dragging the ax behind him as the crowd watched on, still believing that the play continued on as the new heroines were surrounded. The cast was suddenly surrounded by a purple glow, being lifted up into the air by a straining and huffing Twilight. When they reached the scaffold, the curtain ropes were covered in a blue glow and began to snake their way around the cast, hanging them in a great mass as the curtains swung shut, leaving Adagio to meet his just fate out of the spotlight again.
Author's Note: Phew, I apologize for the wait! But I have a few more stories in the making, so hopefully I can make up for it in the near future. And I guess it goes without saying that the next chapter will probably be the last, so I'll be sure to end it as well as possible. Enjoy!
|
Asterilos the Star Watcher
|
885
| 7 |
Angel,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Gummy,Main 6,Octavia,Original Character,Spike,Comedy,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Sounds of Silence
|
A certain yellow pegasus is making it hard for Allegretto to live the simple life he wanted to lead.
|
complete
| 36 | 2 |
<p>When a new pony arrives in Ponyville to lead a quiet, simplistic life away from the stage, he can't imagine getting smitten by a shy, timid little pegasus. Even worse, his life before wasn't as glamorous as everyone would believe, and when his past begins to show up in his new home, he'll have to decide between the music he loves to play, or the pony he loves to play for.</p><p>Author's Note: Yes, I understand the tags are a bit contradictory, but elements of humor always manage to snake their way into every work I do. If the general consensus is that I don't need it, I'll uncheck it. And it goes without saying that all feedback is welcome so long as it isn't blatantly offensive.</p><p>EDIT 9/21/11: Yes, that cover image is one I drew myself during a Calculus lecture. An intricate flute with a butterfly on the end? How adorable, I know! Before anyone says anything, I have no idea what an actual flute looks like anymore, so any issues can be chalked up to pony craftsmanship. Enjoy!</p><p>Many thanks to knighty for helping me with the issues on uploading my picture. I'm eternally grateful.</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-10-13T10:40:13+00:00
|
2011-10-13T10:40:13+00:00
| 1,760 |
“Oh, so is this the part where I beg for mercy?” Adagio snarled, backed against the wall underneath his dangling cast. “Is this where the ‘villain’ gets his comeuppance, his swift karmic due?” He braced himself as Applejack and Rainbow Dash headed the advancing group, both itching to put him in a worse state than his brother. He felt this, and began to shiver in fear, yet his eyes were still aflame with rage. “It’s time I have center stage! It was my night to shine, and you all ruined it! Why am I the bad pony for this?!”
Applejack feigned a charge, smiling when he flinched away. She nodded back to Octavia and Allegretto, being tended to by Fluttershy and Pinkie, and her smile began to droop. “Ah ain’t never seen a good pony do somethin’ like that to ‘is own kin. Ah ain’t never seen nopony do anything like this, matter of fact.” Her gaze held a rage that rivaled his own, though she was much better suited to express it than him, and she advanced a few steps alone. “And ya ain’t gonna be doin’ it again!” she declared, bristling as he tried to not flinch.
Rainbow Dash stepped up beside Applejack, taking careful note of her still bandaged wing. “Leave some for me, AJ. I have a wing to pick with him, too.” Together they began to close the distance, taking their own time to make him suffer the anticipation. “Now, begging for mercy? Up to you. I would, though.”
Adagio again tried to not flinch, failing spectacularly, and his own false bravado began to crack. He was about to scream for help, despite how much the idea sickened him, when a small noise drew his gaze up to his bound group. Most everypony else was too focused on him to notice, but what he saw returned some of his courage, enough to allow him to sit back and beckon them. “Well, if we’re going to do this, best do it quick.” He flashed a warped smile that caught them off guard, then laughed at them as they paused. “It’s never good to have second thoughts, dears. So come on, what are you waiting for?”
“Colt’s got a mouth bigger than he should,” Applejack grumbled, quickening her pace without Rainbow in an attempt to still that infuriating mouth. She was so set in shutting him up she didn’t hear a rope snap, and if Rainbow hadn’t grabbed her and pulled her to a stop the executioner ax would have embedded itself clean in her skull. As it was, though, it only nicked her hat and a few strands of mane, yet the shock of it dropped her to the ground as her heart hammered, staring at the nearly upright ax.
Adagio cursed his bad luck, being forced to do the deed himself, and gripped the ax shaft with a dead glare directed at Rainbow. “I should’ve had the High Notes kill you when we had the chance!” he hissed, wrenching the weapon from the ground. Adagio wasn’t the most muscular pony, though, and he could only keep it aloft for another second before it crashed back to the ground. Huffing, he tried to swing the weighty thing, and only managed to scrap it a few inches before his fore hooves gave out and it clanged uselessly to the floor. “There’s a reason I keep those large imbeciles around,” he muttered, ignorant to the recovered and now advancing Rainbow and Applejack. When he finally noticed them, they were upon him, and so great was his ire he barely batted an eyelash. “This is supposed to be my finale, right? The swan song of the antagonist?”
Rainbow raised a hoof and grinned at him, her one good wing outstretched in excitement. “Probably,” she answered, waiting for some last act of cowardice before they exacted their revenge. Oddly, it saddened her when he didn’t back down, and her sorrow turned to fear when his eyes filled with hatred. “You’re not in a good spot to be so full of yourself,” she accused with little conviction, lowering her hoof warily, seeing Applejack do the same from the corner of her eye.
Adagio huffed, still staring them both down with enough black hatred to make the whole congregation feel uncomfortable. Even the audience outside, still waiting for some ending, squirmed and shifted as the mood went even further south than it had been. “I’ve never been in a good spot, you idiot. I’m just good at making the most out of it.” Before they could begin to comprehend what happened, Adagio ripped an inkwell from his costume pocket and splashed it across their faces. He took the opportunity and grabbed Applejack’s mane, holding her hostage as he backed away towards the exit. “It must be painful knowing you’ve come so close to winning and then having it taken from you,” he boasted as they all watched on, helpless. “Such is the wheel of fate. Having crushed me for so long, I am finally at the top of the arc! It’s all coming together! I’m finally going to win!” He snickered, trying to contain gales of laughter, finally not caring and letting loose a howl of mirth that chilled them all, including the audience. “Now, after I get out of here, if I get followed, I swear you’ll never see those musical misfits again. But as it is, I may let you have them back when I’m done.” He was blatantly lying, and they could all tell, but they were at an impasse, not wanting to risk either Applejack or Allegretto and Octavia. Stuck in a moral turmoil, he got close enough to the stage exit that he was nearly home free, another evil grin plastered to his face. “Now, send my poor family over here.” He waited for a moment, then yanked back on Applejack’s mane and fixed his gaze on Fluttershy and Pinkie. “Now, you stupid fillies!”
The two stared him down valiantly, and he didn’t notice until just then that he could only count nine ponies before him, his confidence suddenly gone and his grip slackened on Applejack. He stared at the empty space where they were, until scraping to his right moved his empty stare to watch them both hefting the ax. “Duck, filly!” Octavia screamed, and Adagio only watched incredulously as Applejack ripped free from his grasp and the blunt end of the ax zoomed towards him.
But, I had this all planned out, he thought, and black spots exploded across his vision as he spun and skidded across backstage into the wall, blood trickling down the side of his head. He lay unmoving, and they assumed the worst, but never made a move to go check on him. The ax clanked to the ground for the last time, and brother and sister stood shaking and gasping, their wounds reopening from the exertion. Their rescue team was on the verge of cheering, but this jubilation turned to fright as both ponies dropped to the ground, unconscious.
“Come on, Allegretto, you can do this,” Fluttershy urged, gently pushing her colt towards the stage. He stood stock still as a rock, Octavia already in the middle of playing a piece, and gave her an impatient glance as the crowd began to complain. “Please, Allegretto, you’ll do fine,” she urged again, putting a tiny bit more force behind her nudges.
Shaking and sweating in his new suit, his legs refused to respond as the crowd became more vocal, nearly demanding his appearance. “I… I don’t… I don’t think…” he stuttered, turning back to the crowd gathered behind him. “I… I’m not ready,” he finally got out, sweating even more than he was, his flute sitting alone by his music stand. “I… can’t play right now.”
Rarity huffed and trotted over to him, careful of the hem of her dress, and stared him dead in the eye. “Don’t say I made that suit for nothing, Allegretto! I spent a lot of time on these ensembles, and the Gala only comes once a year! Now, you have a lot of ponies out there waiting for you, and we all went through great pains to make sure it would be as perfect as could be. You have no excuse to not play tonight!”
Applejack chuckled as he was scolded, herding the three Crusaders behind her with their little instruments. “’Sides, ya promised the fillies you’d let ’em play with ya! And ya don’t wanna be lyin’ to them, colt.” She gave him a look of playful sternness, doing her best to keep the three from bolting out onto stage at that moment and disrupting Octavia’s stalling.
Allegretto gulped, his mouth still stiff from all the medical procedures he had to go through, and the final encounter with Adagio played in his head, his stomach churning from the memory and a new case of stage fright. He turned to Fluttershy, done up in her Gala-attire, and some of his anxiety went away. The gears in his head turned, and he actually smiled. “I’ll go, but on one condition.”
“Anything!” Fluttershy promised, all smiles and happy thoughts. Her smile quickly disappeared when he pushed her out on stage with him, and the sudden flood of lights and eyes made her stiffen. “Allegretto…”she whined, trying to press herself into him as the entire Gala gazed at them expectantly. Even with him to draw some strength from, she was wildly out of her element, and tried to get some sort of explanation out of him.
He watched the audience for a minute, still thinking about something, then looked into her eyes and smiled wholeheartedly. “Well, from what Twilight and I read, you’re suppose to do this sort of thing in front of a lot of ponies.” Before she could ask, he motioned for his sister to stop playing, and a hush fell over the crowd. He took a deep breath, and the spotlight fell on them, adding to his stress even more. “Fluttershy… We’ve been… spending time together, for about a year now… And I really do think I… like…” He stopped, an odd look coming over his face, then caught her expectant and innocent gaze and broke into another smile. “Well, no, not like. I don’t like you.” The audience gasped and their friends stood with their mouths open, Fluttershy’s eyes beginning to well up with tears. Before she had a chance to cry, though, he stopped her sniffles with a long and passionate kiss, the entire room thrown into a state of confusion. When he pulled back, he noticed her misty eyes and chuckled. “I don’t like you, Fluttershy. I love you. And I want to, possibly, spend the rest of my life with you. Fluttershy, please be my mare, and together we‘ll make beautiful music.”
She was at a loss for words, so great was her elation, and she could only nod slowly as the audience erupted into cheers and sounds of endearment, her friends cheering loudest of all, and she was rooted to the spot until Pinkie and Twilight came and dragged her backstage. Allegretto took his place next to his sister, finally enjoying the stage, and caught her laughing and shaking her head at him. “You’re a real piece of work, brother. Sappy as can be, through and through.” She winked at him, and together they played the night away, the good mood permeating every pony in attendance.
Adagio woke up to the sound of his door being opened, ponies he didn’t recognize filing in behind his nurse. He made to rise, but his head swam and the weight of his bandages kept him glued to the pillow, forced to lie watch them sideways. “My head hurts…“ he complained, voice groggy but innocent, and he actually managed to smile earnestly as two of them, a crimson colt and a gray filly, sidled up next to his bed. “Who are you?”
The colt smiled wistfully, watching Adagio with a bit of regret, then turned to the filly and chuckled. He turned back, and his wistfulness was replaced by warm familiarity. “Hello, Adagio. My name is Allegretto.” He nodded to the filly. “And that’s Octavia. It seems like you had quite a nasty accident.” He smile faltered at the end, a pained look shooting across their faces, and just like that it was gone.
Adagio moaned and nodded, watching his nurse check his vitals and wishing he could go back to sleep. “I don’t remember what happened. I really don’t remember much of anything except my name.” He shut one eye against the light and rolled his head back towards them, the same earnest smile on his face. “How do you know me?”
Octavia inhaled sharply, trying to not cry as a mix of emotion ran through her. “Well, Adagio, we’re your brother and sister. We came as soon as we found out. We’re all pretty close.” She cringed as she said it, the lie they had fabricated almost literally hurting her, but when she saw that smile on him, it made it slightly easier. “Mom and Dad aren’t around, but we’ve always had each other. We always will, Adagio.”
Adagio closed his eyes for a bit longer than a blink, and when he opened them again they could see a faint shimmer of friendliness behind the exhaustion. “Well, that’s good. I’m really lucky to have ponies like you, aren’t I?” he asked, oblivious to the awkwardness he had created.
Allegretto swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded, his smile faltering. “If you say so, Adagio. We really should catch up as soon as you start feeling better, okay?” He waited for a response, but he had already fallen back asleep, and the nurse motioned for them to leave and to let him rest. On the way down the hall to the exit, he sighed and nuzzled gently against Fluttershy, trying to comprehend the situation they were in. “It’s so ironic, isn’t it, Octavia? All the time he hid something bad he was doing from us, and now…”
Octavia looked back at him, holding the door open for them all to file through. The afternoon sun glanced off the glass door, bathing the reception room in a warm orange glow that was the polar opposite of how she felt. “Is this really the right thing to do?” she asked.
He walked past her, a sunset directly across from them, painting the sky pink, and he stared into it as he mulled over an answer, Fluttershy right next to him. He unconsciously put his hoof slightly on hers, and when she pressed her head into the crook of his neck he began to fill with hope, matching the light that bathed them all. “I don’t know, Octavia, but we have to take responsibility for this. We have to take care of him. We can’t run from the past again.” He smiled and let the warmth of the sun bathe over him, feeling the heat in every part of his body. “We just have to try our best. Hopefully, everything turns out for the best.”
For Allegretto, watching that sunset, with the brother he always wanted behind him, his friends all around him, and somepony he really cared for beside him, he felt a surge of joy and elation, even through everything: all the bad in the past, all the pain and trials, and to him…
Well, he couldn't wish for a more perfect moment.
Author's Note: Endings are really REALLY difficult, doubly so at 6 in the morning. I hope this is good enough, but if anyone has any suggestions, I'm open to them. I'm actually a little sad to see this go, really, and who knows? I may sneak our little lyrical pony into another work. But for now, this tale is told. Enjoy!
|
remsaman
|
889
| 1 |
Adventure,Alternate Universe,Random
|
Choose your own Adventure!(MagiScience with Hornsworth)
|
incomplete
| -1 | -1 |
<p>All goes to hay when professor Hornsworth, a happy-go-lucky scientist, invites two fillies, Blossom and Malt, to his lab to be his assistants! Blossom is reluctant, and for a good reason. Hornsworth's history isn't the best among those in Ponyville.</p>
|
everyone
| null |
2011-09-17T11:59:09+00:00
| 78 |
Welcome to The Terminal. Here is where you select what kind of story arc you would like to happen! The training level: MagiScience, has been selected by default. To proceed, please complete the current chapter.
Two fillies trotted up ominous stone steps. Blossom was a green pegasus with a deep red mane. Malt was a unicorn, she had light brown fur and a striped white and dark brown mane. Although best friends, neither knew what fate had in store for them, but they only knew one thing, The professor needed some assistants!
"Malt, how long is this going to take. My parents want me home by dinnertime." Blossom groaned. Malt turned around started bouncing backwards up the steps.
"Come on Blossom! Don't be such a downer! You know what my mother always says!" Malt was about to break into song, Blossom interrupted
"Just because you look up to Pinkie Pie, doesn't make her your mom" Eyerolls ensued
"Well then what about YOUR mom? She's so shy its a wonder you were born!"
"Don't talk about my mom that way. She's allowed to have kids if she wants." Blossom snapped
"Hey, calm down. What does your dad always say? 'throw another gumleaf on the barbie!' hahaha!"
"Stop with the stereotypes Malt, or ill just go home."
"Oh fine, but you really need to learn to take a joke!"
"Whatever, let's just get this over with." Blossom grunted.
As the fillies reached the top of the stone staircase, which was unusually long, there was a large wooden door attached to a steel frame. Below them was a very large mat labelled "welcome". On the door was a large rusted door knocker, with a sign saying "Do not touch" in huge red letters.
"Well, lets go in!" Malt insisted
"I dunno Malt, looks kind of dangerous.. Maybe we should look for another way in?" Blossom looked around for an open window.
'Pfft, don't be such a worry wart. I'm sure there's nothing to be afraid of!" Malt leaned in to grab hold of the door knocker
"Wait!" Blossom tackled Malt to the floor
"What is it?"
"Don't you see the large sign specifically saying NOT to touch the knocker?" Blossom flew up to the sign and lifted it down "See? Do. Not. Open. It says it right underneath the 'don't touch the door knocker' lettering"
"Well then what do YOU suggest, if you're so smart?"
You are at your first crossroads, reader. Should the fillies ignore the sign? Or should they do the smart thing and knock on the door? But then again. Blossom could be right, something might be wrong. you could just look for another entrance. Be forewarned, some of your intentions might be noble, but think thoroughly before selecting. Things are not always as they appear.
to use the door knocker, open page 2
to find another way in, open page 3
to leave and never speak of this again, turn to page 4
to knock on the door without the knocker, turn to page 5
|
|
Tunersymphon
|
891
| 1 |
Original Character,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore
|
Across Equestria
|
Tuner Symphon, a traveling pony, stumbles upon some others that will join him for the ride.
|
incomplete
| -1 | -1 |
<p>Tuner Symphon, a traveling pony with a long to-do list, has been traveling ever since he got out of school. Along with that, he is a blank flank trying to find his talent. Appleloosa, Canterlot, Manehattan, you name it. Alone and trying to find himself, he stumbles upon some other ponies that help him.</p><p>I actually submitted this for the time being just to fill in the gap between Burning Heart's chapter 1 and 2, as I'm working on it right now, but in the mean time, have some old piece of garbage that never got off the ground.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-17T16:11:03+00:00
|
2011-09-17T16:11:03+00:00
| 610 |
Prologue
“Hey, everypony! GET DOWN!” The mortar hit the ground, the earth shaking, bits of dirt flying in my eyes. Ponies ran around me while I sat in the trenches. Bullets whizzed over the opening of the dug-out structure.
“Y’all have probably never heard of me before.”
Dirt sprang up into my eyes as I attempted to protect myself from the assaulters. My hooves trembled as I tried to hold my gun against me. A weapon has never made me feel so vulnerable.
“I go around everywhere, trying my best, and I’ve done everything for y’all, but you’ve never heard of me.”
My friend shook my shoulders, picking me up to sit up straight. “Hey, we’re in this together! Got that?!” I nodded my head, trying to hear over the gunfire. Lifting myself and my gun above ground level, I looked at the firearms aimed straight at me.
“But that’s no matter. We all have stuff that no one knows about.”
I grunted. Now or never, really. Putting my gun up on the trench edge and looking down the sights, I aimed at the easiest target. Even with intense training at Boot Camp, shooting a gun while you had no magic was still a difficult task.
“My name is Tuner Symphon.”
A bullet whizzed at full speed through the air as I aimed, skimming my cheek and leaving an instantaneous, nasty wound. Not horrible, but enough to make me drop my weapon and keel over in pain.
“And that… Wasn’t any part of my story.”
http://mirrors.rit.edu/instantCSI/
Chapter 1
A mare rose her hoof in exasperation, acting as if she was in a schoolhouse. Tuner shook his head, smiling. “Yes, you have a question?”
The mare, a unicorn with a yellow coat and conflicting black hair, questioned, “Then why did you tell that entire story?”
The dark blue pegasus leaned across his table, picking up his glass of bourbon before putting it to his lips, taking a small sip. His mane and tail was striped with light green and cyan, the mane long enough to settle over his eyes if he let it hang down. Tuner was slightly taller than most ponies, although not quite as muscular. He preferred agility and intellect over strength anyday.
He slammed it back down onto the table, shaking the glass’s content onto the surface. Tuner wiped his lips with his foreleg before replying back, almost sarcastically, “Dramatic effect.”He gave a hearty laugh, throwing his head back.
Another light green mare that was listening to the conversation pushed herself out of her seat, beginning to walk across the bar floor. “Yeah, I’m out. This drunk has nothing to say.” She grabbed a small handkerchief and quickly trotted to the exit.
Tuner made no attempt to stop her but merely held up his glass and stated, “I’m not a drunk. This is my first of the night.” He took a large swig of the smooth alcohol before finishing the said drink and slamming the glass onto the counter. “And my last. I appreciate my drink, and never treat myself to them as if they were dessert.”
The yellow unicorn spoke up again, the small crowd inside of the bar turning towards Tuner in anticipation of a good story. “Well, what’s your story then?”
The blue pegasus ignored her at first, turning towards the bartender and saying, “Barkeep, a water, please. Feeling dehydrated.” A cup of water slid over to him, hitting his hoof gently. Tuner lifted it, saying, “Gracias, amigo,” before taking a small sip and setting the drink back down. “Anyway…” He turned back to the mare, giving a welcoming smile. “That’s a long story, indeed. And an ever-growing one. I guarantee you, you probably won’t see me in this town again for a long time. By then, more ponies will know me and more will forget. But that’s besides the point.”
Tuner slid off of his stool, grunting slightly. “I’m not really in the mood for telling my story to a bunch of strangers at the moment. Some days I am. If you want to know my story, lemme hear yours.” He pointed at the 5-pony audience. The huge crowd provided no response, sitting in silence. “Well, that was expected, as always. I’ll be off, y’all.” Following suit of the light green mare from a minute ago, the pegasus began walking towards the exit, picking up a small sword contained in a sheath next to it.
One of the few colts paying attention noticed quickly and shouted from across the bar, “Do you always carry that sword around?!” This quickly made Tuner turn back around, strapping the sheath onto his back, the hilt of the sword close enough to his mouth that he can grab it by quickly reaching over.
“That is one question I will answer, dear audience.” Walking towards the bar visitors just a bit more, Tuner turned his body slightly as to show everyone his flank. “As you can see, no cutie mark. I don’t know why, but I thought that the sword might be mine. And, obviously, I can’t go around killing other ponies to see if I have a cutie mark for it. So, in case it is and I’m attacked or something along those lines, SLASH!” He grabbed the hilt, swinging the sword at full force, giving a nice, flashy spin to the effect, accidentally hitting one of the nearby stools and slicing it in half.
Tuner blushed at his obvious mistake, although slightly impressed in his ease at doing that. He quickly put away the weapon, stepping back to the exit. “And as you can see, I’m not half bad… And I’ll pay for that. True story.” His hoof hitting the exit, it signaled his escape with ease. “I lied!”
The Manehatten streets, despite being well past midnight, were still bustling in every sense of the word. In fact, it might’ve been more busy than during the day. Neon signs outshone the street lights like the sun, cars grinding bumper to bumper. Sidewalks were packed with traveling musicians, merchants, high-class snobs, prostitutes, and con-artists, their hooves wearing away at the concrete.
Passing ponies took notice of the weapon of Tuner’s back, some trying to ignore it as others pointed at me suspiciously. Normal behavior, of course, he thought to himself. A year ago, if I saw a pony walking down a Manehatten street with a sword on his back, I’d be worried too.
Of course, a year ago seems like a lot longer past than it is. I seemed to have matured more than a year should allow. Mentally, at least. He adjusted his strap slightly, beginning to stray to the right side of the walkway to avoid getting pushed over.
Reviewing his own life was something Tuner did often, both because of the psychological findings he discovers within his own mind… And the fact that he travels alone between cities and towns and become excruciatingly bored. And, again, the traveling alone is caused by two reasons: He is thrown into intense situations a lot and doesn’t anyone to get hurt, and a pony that travels from city to city without a cutie mark carrying a sword doesn’t seem all that friendly. Not to say he isn’t a friendly pony; he’s one of the nicest ones you’ll meet, as some would say.
The pegasus was still in deep trance of his thought as a pegasus pony, black as night from tail to mane with a knife and chest as a cutie mark and a purse in his mouth, came galloping through the crowd at full speed, knocking any bystander over. “Move out of the way, move out of the way!” Grunts and shouts were heard over the shuffling of hooves and screeching tires. The ruckus was normal for Manehatten, somepony always stealing something.
Being off to the side and being a street-smart member of society, Tuner didn’t even look at the runner… Or at least wouldn’t have if the thief with a purse in his mouth didn’t turn at the small alleyway Tuner was currently walking past and knock him over without as much as a recognition of his existence. The cobalt pony fell over in the dirt, completely unprepared for the hoofball tackle he just experienced. Tasting dirt and slight metallic tang of blood, the grounded pegasus spit onto the ground below him, getting back onto his feet. Being of the city’s stereotypes, not a single other pony helped another, treating them with ignorance as if to say, “Your own problem, filly.”
Best to just ignore it, Tuner, he thought to himself. Shaking off the dirt of him, he lifted his hoof to continue his walk when he heard a loud shout. “WAIT!” The yell was easily audible over the large crowd, expressing a sense of exasperation. “SOMEPONY HELP!” Tuner shook his head, sure that the mare yelling had something to do with the purse. Deciding to be nice (as much as he hated being so nice), he waited for the mare to reach him, the crowd managing to hold her back quite a bit.
She popped out of the crowd, instantly face-planting the ground in front of Tuner. The earth mare was slightly shorter than the average one, her smaller ears probably causing her to seem even shorter. Her coat was a deep cardinal red, her mane and tail halved with sage green and violet, causing an odd pallet of colors on one pony. As she opened her eyes, Tuner could see the deep sky blue color that he believed probably entranced many colts. The pegasus did his best to ignore her eyes, but it was quite difficult for him.
“Well, looks like everypony loves the taste of dirt today, eh?” The mare looked up spitefully, spitting out dirt as Tuner just did before, her red coat spoiled by the ground, making it an auburn color. Her mane and tail were surprisingly barely touched.
“Will you at least help me up?” the mare said strikingly, acting helpless on the ground. Ugh, mares sometimes.
“I’ll do more than help.” Starting to bat his wings, picking his hooves off the ground, Tuner put his hooves under the mare’s stomach and lifted her up onto her feet with relatively no problem, much like a crane. As quickly as he lifted off, the pegasus touched back down on the ground, barely making a sound. “You could’ve said please, though.”
She sighed, looking down at her hooves. “Yeah, sorry, just my purse got stol-“
“Yeah, I saw, the guy ran past me.” Tuner held a stern expression on his face after the initial smile, his face now becoming unreadable. In response, the mare looked past him to first get a glimpse at the alleyway behind him, but then noticed the sheath strapped to the blue pony’s back.
“Wow! You have a sword?!...And you didn’t stop him?!” She held out her hoof in disbelief, stepping forward accusingly. Even with her advancing on him, Tuner could still only notice the eyes.
“Well, I can’t exactly just clothesline somepony running beside me and get in no trouble with the authorities. Not exactly something that happens every day.” He shrugged, turning on his back hoof and landed facing the other way, quickly beginning to walk in the opposite direction of the mare. “Besides, they’re your problem, not mine.” HAHA! he thought to himself. I MANAGED TO BE NOT NICE!
Over the crowds of ponies walking on the sidewalk, the mare behind him had a unique gait that approached him yet again, making Tuner wince and grin in the inside at the same time. “So, you’re just going to leave a poor little mare alone out on the streets with no purse and no money?” Her tone was both accusatory and begging, almost in a sarcastic way.
“I wasn’t aware of your loss of money. I’m guessing you have somewhere to stay, though.” The pegasus expected a response right away, but the only response he received was the stop of the mare’s trotting. Sighing and turning around, Tuner saw the earth pony looking at the ground regretfully.
“Actually…I was moving over to a different hotel when this happened. With no money and no I.D., I can’t stay anywhere.” Her tone was softening with every sentence, as if the few moments of speaking with her as made a connection between the two. Tuner felt no different, but he was still unsure how mares worked completely.
The blue pony’s will shattered. I -HATE- being nice so much! Looking down at his hooves as well and barely being audible over the passing ponies, Tuner stated regretfully, “…You can come and stay the night with me.”
Upon looking up at the mare’s reaction to see if she was accepting, Tuner was greeted by a hoof to the cheek.
|
CoastalSarv
|
892
| 1 |
Rarity,Twilight Sparkle,Comedy,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Rarity's Greatest Fantasy
|
Rarity asks her lover to fulfill her greatest fantasy. Twilight is sceptical.
|
complete
| 167 | 7 |
<p>Rarity asks her lover to fulfill her greatest fantasy. Twilight is sceptical.<br/>Rated Teen for talking about adult thingies.</p>
|
teen
|
2012-01-03T08:17:23+00:00
|
2012-01-03T08:17:23+00:00
| 9,045 |
This is based on the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic cartoon. As everyone knows, I don't own it; Hasbro does.
"No!" said Twilight Sparkle empathetically. "Nix. Nu-uh. Zilch chance!"
"But please, dearie!" said Rarity, her lover since some time back. "This is my greatest fantasy! I've had it since before I met you! Since I was a filly! It was the first thing I thought of the first time I laid eyes on you!"
Twilight winced visibly.
"Thanks, but that just makes me less willing to try this," she said.
"But... why?" said Rarity.
"Because I find that fantasy – no offense – ridiculous and embarrassing, and that it was the first thing you thought of when you saw me the first time does not give me bigger confidence in myself, so to say."
Rarity tilted her head, then leaned close across Twilight's neck.
"Dearest beloved, we have done some fairly embarrassing things already, haven't we?" she purred.
Twilight blushed deeply and began to stammer. "We-well but those... things we-were embarrassing in a go-good way... If I would do what you ask it would make me feel... silly."
"You wouldn't be silly to me," said Rarity. "It would make you even more... attractive and sensual than you already are. It would be deeply arousing..."
She kissed Twilight's ear and the other unicorn flinched a little. "I.. I am so sorry Rarity but... no, I can't."
Rarity pulled back and stared theatrically at her lover. "You don't love me any more, that's it!"
Twilight gasped. "No no I love you, very much, it's just that I..."
Rarity struck her forehead dramatically. "You think I am ugly? Have I become ugly? I must have become ugly!" She began to make weeping noises.
"No no, you look fabulous, you are gorgeous..." Twilight tried to get closer but Rarity pulled away.
"Then... I am becoming fat! I knew it, oh I knew it! Oh, how you must hate this swollen blob of a body..." she wailed.
"NO!" Twilight shouted. "No and you know it!"
"Then you have another! That must be it! I didn't do enough to keep you..." She put her hooves to her face and sobbed.
"Rarity, sweetie..." She pulled away from Twilight again, who suddenly got a wary look in her eyes and pulled back herself.
Rarity uncovered her muzzle and placed her front hooves on Twilight's shoulders. "Who is she? Or is it a he? Were I just... an experiment?"
"Rarity!" Twilight firmly placed Rarity's hooves on the floor. "I know your real melodrama well enough to see through a fake tantrum like this."
Rarity grew silent and looked down into the floor, embarrassed.
Twilight suddenly giggled. "But if you can make yourself totally ridiculous, maybe I can too. Go into the bedroom, I will get ready."
Rarity gasped. "Oh thank you, thank you... you're the best marefriend one could have..."
"Now please go there before I change my mind", Twilight said and shook her head. "I need some preparation for this you know?"
Rarity nodded silently and walked backwards into the bedroom.
Twilight sighed deeply and looked around to see if she could improvise the necessary equipment from Rarity's workroom. She rummaged around and found what she needed.
First, she stood in front of the mirror and, grabbing her mane telekinetically, wound it into a tight knot and secured it with some hairpins and a rubber band. Then she levitated Rarity's old, thin-rimmed glasses onto her muzzle and mused that because of them it would be the first time in the bedroom she wouldn't see a thing. Finally, as she walked towards the bedroom, she started to slap the wooden ruler she had found against her left front thigh experimentally, using her telekinesis.
When she entered the bedroom Rarity had lain down on the floor, shuddering with expectation, her eyes slightly moist, her breath heavy, her cheeks and muzzle flushed. She looked up at Twilight expectantly.
"Miss Rarity!" Twilight said with the sternest, harshest voice she could muster.
"Yes ma'am,", Rarity squeaked, barely able to speak with excitement.
"Are you aware of the penalty for an overdue library book?"
THE END
|
CoastalSarv
|
893
| 1 |
Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Comedy,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
The Thousand Year Urge
|
Her exile has left Princess Luna with certain urges. She asks her big sister for advice.
|
complete
| 183 | 9 |
<p>Her exile has left Princess Luna with certain urges. She asks her big sister for advice, but Celestia is deep in a crossword puzzle.<br/>Rated Teen for talking about adult thingies. No actual shipping involved. May contain some Trollestia.</p>
|
teen
|
2012-01-31T23:46:30+00:00
|
2012-01-31T23:46:30+00:00
| 10,308 |
The Thousand Year Urge
This fanfic is based on the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic cartoon, which is owned by Hasbro, not me.
Princess Celestia, Goddess of Dawn, Our Lady of the Sun, Ruler of the Day Court, had settled down for the night with a crossword puzzle. She loved a mental challenge where there could only be one single, correct answer, because that was not how her day job worked. She was currently pondering what LICKS TO WASH (three letters across) could be. The obvious answer, "cat", didn't fit the existing letters. Her pondering was interrupted by her sister Luna knocking on the open doorframe with her hoof.
"Can I come in?" said Luna who was already inside.
"Of course,", said Celestia.
Luna stepped closer to the bed and fidgeted with her ornaments, clearly having just stepped away from raising the moon, arranging the constellations and bringing on the night. They were usually off tilt after her heavenly duties. Luna's ceremony was far more of a wild dance than Celestia's serene ritual, and she hadn't listened to her big sister's suggestions about safety pins, her crown, and her hair.
"I will not disturb you or anything?" said Luna who had already disturbed her sister, who had completely lost her train of thought regarding LICKS TO WASH (three letters across, not "cat").
"Not at all,", said Celestia and put aside her crossword puzzle. "What is bothering you?"
Princess Luna, Goddess of Dusk, Our Lady of the Moon, Ruler of the Night Court, cleared her throat with clear embarrassment before she spoke.
"It has been a thousand years..." she said before she saw her sister's pained expression. "No – not that! No, not the loneliness or having missed a millennium of news! It is that..." (and she blushed) "...I am so horny!"
Celestia drew back, surprised, and for the moment forgot all about LICKS TO WASH (three letters across, not "cat").
"I have not got laid in a thousand years!" said Luna, blushing deeply. "And clo- clopping is not the same thing, and while there have been... technological advancements, as it might be, it is not the same as a living partner!"
Celestia smiled. "Lulu dear, that should be easily corrected. Just find somepony to have sex with. You should have no problem whatsoever finding a partner – you are beautiful, charming and kind. And you have power! Power is sexy, you know?"
Luna frowned.
"Well it is not that easy to get into a relationship," she said. "There are not that many Immortals left – strange as that might sound – and as for mortals, it is bad enough to lose friends and devoted servants to time, I do not need to lose lovers as well."
"Whoever has talked about a relationship?" said Celestia. "Dear, you simply have to settle for simple carnal satisfaction – a 'one-night-stand' as modern ponies call it."
Luna looked astonished. "We can do that? Just like that?"
"How did you think I kept sane all these years?" said Celestia and smiled wickedly.
"But... how do I do it?" said Luna.
"Lulu, you just have to act considerate and fair. And, oh – use protection! I didn't use to do it a few centuries ago, and that's how we got stuck with this blasted aristocracy. Why did unicorn stallions of the Third Century have to have such nice flanks?" Celestia sighed.
Luna pondered the concept while Celestia, satisfied by once again being the wiser, older, sibling (even when encouraging a swinging lifestyle) reached for her crossword puzzle. LICKS TO WASH (three letters across, definitely not "cat" because then I have to redo a lot of other words, second letter might be "o"...)
"But... are there any special rules – I mean, we are not ordinary ponies... are not there things I have to consider?" said Luna while her sister chewed on her pencil.
Celestia sighed.
"Oh sure – you have to shift shape to do it. Divine tradition you know. A bull or swan or golden rain or something,", she said sarcastically as she stared at LICKS TO WASH (three letters across, you know the drill).
"I – I see", said Luna. "Well, I will go about my business then."
And she left.
"TOM"! shouted Celestia. "Tom, as in male cat, that licks itself to wash, then second letter is "o", and... Luna? Oh, where did she go?"
Outside the cows' part of the Sweet Apple Acres barn a family quarrel was taking place. Applejack, in no way the family matriarch but often acting as one, glared at her big brother in frustration.
"Big Macintosh, what in tarnation has gotten into ya? Why don't ya wanna help them cows gettin' milked? It's your turn, an' Ah have other chores," she said.
Big Macintosh avoided her gaze and chewed his hay.
"Don't wanna,", he said.
"Why?" Applejack was starting to become angry. "Have ya suddenly become afraid o' the dark? Are ya sick? Has one o' the cows been rude ta ya?"
Big Macintosh swallowed hard and looked at his sister with terror in his eyes.
"'Cause yesterday – the milk machine – it flirted with me!"
THE END
|
CoastalSarv
|
894
| 1 |
Main 6,Original Character,Spike,Adventure,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Cloudy With a Chance Of Larceny
|
Trouble at her job causes Rainbow Dash to exhaust herself. Her friends try to help her.
|
hiatus
| -1 | -1 |
<p>The Ponyville Weather Service is in trouble, and its most prominent weathermare, Rainbow Dash, is being unusually energetic trying to fix it. When she works herself into exhaustion, her friends gather to help solve the mystery that plagues the weatherponies.</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-09-17T20:10:19+00:00
|
2011-09-17T20:10:19+00:00
| 1,348 |
This story is based on the cartoon My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, which belongs to Hasbro, not me.
Chapter One – In which Dash fails to crash
The story began when Rainbow Dash failed to crash-land on the main street of Ponyville early one morning. This did not mean that she landed successfully, just that her crash-landing was wholly pathetic. She came in with a slow, wobbling flight, landed on only three of her legs, stumbled forward, her wings flapping aimlessly, until she fell down with her muzzle in the dusty street and plowed a furrow for a few yards before she came to a complete stop and just lay there with a scrape on her chin and her hind legs in the air.
Applejack has just set up her market stall, and while she saw her friend crash, she at first didn't pay it much attention to it. Rainbow Dash crashed regularly as she trained, usually in much more violent fashion than this, no worse for wear. However, when she noticed the azure pegasus didn't rise, she got worried and trotted over.
"Dash, ya OK?" Applejack wondered as she pulled her up with her teeth and swished her tail to dust her off. "Ya hurt?" Rainbow Dash blinked and shook her head.
"I'm fine. Never been better!" she said with forced cheer. "Would love to chat - or race - but I have to get to work!" Then she started to walk away shakily towards the shops.
"Uhm, Dash, aren't yer job in that direction?" said Applejack worried and pointed a hoof towards the sky, where weather ponies usually work. "That's Sugarcube Corner."
"Just gonna get some breakfast on way to work" her friend said and yawned as she trotted to the door and entered it just as Mrs Cake opened it. "See ya!"
Applejack frowned, shrugged and went back to her stall.
Inside the shop Rainbow Dash sauntered up to the counter where Mr Cake was making the last things ready. Behind the counter was a newly installed enormous coffee machine, and the baker looked suspiciously at it.
"Hello, Rainbow Dash" he said when he noticed her. "What can I do for you today?"
"I want some doughnuts... strawberry... and some coffee." said Rainbow Dash and yawned again. "Strong coffee!" she added.
"No problem!" The baker got two fresh doughnuts with strawberry jam and started to put them in a paper bag.
"No no, don't bother, I will eat them straightaway!" said the pegasus. Mr Cake shrugged and put them down on the counter in front of her.
"Coffee, then... How strong did you want?" he said as he went up to the coffee machine.
"Espresso. Black. Double... no, make that double-double. Double-double-boppel-triple-trippel strong!" Rainbow Dash started to munch on a doughnut.
"Really strong, I get that." Mr Cake started to fiddle around with the machine. "I am sorry, this will take a little while. I am not really that good at this newfangled contraption yet. Your friend Pinkie Pie is the one who manages it, really, and I suspect she actually has added some things to it - " as he said this he looked very worried " - but she is still sleeping, she partied late and baked hard in the early morning, so... oh, there she blows!" The machine spouted a tar-like substance into a paper cup with a cookie printed on it. "Here's your coffee, young lady. I think it is..." he said as he turned to Rainbow Dash, but the mare, leaning against the counter, had falling asleep.
Meanwhile, on the street, Applejack spotted another familiar face as she gave a matronly mare two jars of apple jam. "Hiya, Twi'!" she said as the purple unicorn trotted up to her, her bigger saddlebags on her back together with Spike, who blinked and yawned. "Grocery shopping?"
"You read my mind!" said Twilight Sparkle and smiled. "I have decided to start to make my grocery shopping and cooking more efficient. I use up too much of my allowance and too often the larder is empty and I have to send Spike on unnecessary errands."
"Sounds sensible to me. Would yer new, efficient shoppin' include any of our fine, healthy, price-worthy apple products?" said Applejack, ever the salesmare.
"Well, I'll have to look at the List!" Twilight levitated a scroll from her bags and unrolled it. "I have carefully calculated both the nutritional values and suitable prices of all groceries for the upcoming months - perishables excluded, which will be bought on a tri-day schedule! Ah yes, here it is, two bottles of apple cider, one bag of apple rolls, one bag of dried apples!"
"No fresh apples?" said Applejack and started to gather the mentioned wares. "Are ya goin' to stop eatin' fresh apples?"
"Oh no, but they count as perishables, you see. They last much better in your cellar than in my larder, so I will buy them every third day instead."
"Well then, here's yer other things, then. Twenty-two bits, please." Applejack placed the wares on a box next to Twilight. Twilight looked up from her scroll.
"Oh no! I can't take them now!" Twilight looked aghast.
"Why not? Yer standing right here now?" Applejack looked irritated. Twilight held the List up to her face.
"Because I have exactly calculated the shortest route including what must be carried, and I will have to get a bag of biscuits and two pounds powdered sugar first from Sugarcube Corner" said Twilight. "It will be faster that way."
"But... ya is already standin'. Right. Here." Applejack said, looking incredulous.
"Of course, Applejack, silly filly, I went here to say hello to you! But now I must go on. See you later when the List calls for your stand!" Still reading her List, Twilight walked off humming to herself. Applejack stared at her slack-jawed, then she noticed a tugging at her legs. It was Spike.
"Save me! Or kill me! She's been like this for a week!" The little dragon looked like he was ready to collapse.
Applejack chuckled.
"Ah'm afraid yer on your own, Spike, though 'tis a pity Twi's latest fixation hurts ya as well as herself."
Just as Twilight went into the shop, Rainbow Dash was leaving it, still just walking, trying to munch muffins at the same time as she kept the coffee mug in her mouth. Twilight turned to her.
"Hi Rainbow Dash! Look at my new List!" Twilight said happily. Rainbow Dash walked straight past her. "Well, I guess only I find it interesting, but..." she mumbled.
"Rainbow Dash!" No response. "Rainbow! Dash! Dashie! RD!" The pegasus walked on and was about to launch herself into the air when she spilled industrial strength coffee on herself and changed her mind. She placed her breakfast on a bench and started eating it, breaking off to yawn. The other ponies closed in on her, Applejack with the most celerity and an angry expression.
"Rainbow Dash! Twilight jus' wanted to say hello, what's up with ya?" There was no answer. When she reached the bench, Applejack could see that her friend had fallen deeply asleep leaning against it, and coffee was running over it and dripping on her coat unnoticed. Twilight and Spike joined her.
"What's up with her?" Spike said. "Is she ill?"
"Looks dead tired to me" said Applejack and frowned. "Is she training too much or somethin'?"
Twilight looked closely at Rainbow Dash and registered a matted, unwashed coat, a mane that lacked all luster and was twisted into knots, and hooves that hadn't been washed for a very long time.
"She is exhausted. And she looks like she hasn't been sleeping, eating or even drinking enough!" said Twilight with some panic in her voice. "This can be really dangerous - we should take her to the clinic!"
"Sure can do!" said Applejack. "Jus' hoist her up on my back an' I'll take her there".
Said - and done.
|
CoastalSarv
|
894
| 2 |
Main 6,Original Character,Spike,Adventure,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Cloudy With a Chance Of Larceny
|
Trouble at her job causes Rainbow Dash to exhaust herself. Her friends try to help her.
|
hiatus
| -1 | -1 |
<p>The Ponyville Weather Service is in trouble, and its most prominent weathermare, Rainbow Dash, is being unusually energetic trying to fix it. When she works herself into exhaustion, her friends gather to help solve the mystery that plagues the weatherponies.</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-10-23T17:09:31+00:00
|
2011-10-23T17:09:31+00:00
| 2,043 |
This fanfic is built upon the My Little Pony - Friendship is Magic cartoon. I don't own it, that would be Hasbro.
Chapter Two - In Which Rainbow Dash Eats Ensilage Pudding
Rainbow Dash woke up with a jerk and a gasp. She was in darkness, neither on a cloud nor in her own bed. Instead, she was in a smaller bed painted pink, in a room hung with posters of fairy tale characters and androgynous-looking colt singers. A collection of butterfly-winged fairy ponies made of paper hung just over her head. Rainbow Dash rose groggily from the bed in stunned silence as the door to the room slowly opened and a thin ray of light speared her blinking eyes.
"Are you awake, darling?" said Rarity as she peeked through the door. Rainbow Dash realized she was in the room Sweetie Belle used when she stayed with her sister.
"I have to get to work!" said Rainbow Dash and rubbed her eyes. Rarity turned on the lights in the room, momentarily stunning the pegasus.
"First" said Rarity "it is evening already. Second, Twilight contacted your forestallion, Mr. Beaufort Scale, and told him you couldn't work today because you were ill." Rainbow Dash started to protest but Rarity interrupted her. "He was very understanding and said you had worked yourself ragged the last week and that he had feared you would fall ill or have an accident. So don't worry about it."
"Why am I in your house?" asked the weathermare as she sat down on the bed again.
"You collapsed on your way to work and Applejack and Twilight took you to the nurse. When it turned out to be just lack of food, water and over all sleep, she just prescribed rest. Since none of us could get to your house and someone would need to keep an eye on you, we lodged you here, it was the closest and my work is just one stair away. Sweetie Belle isn't here this week so I made her bed for you."
Rainbow Dash looked away from Rarity. "You wouldn't have needed to do that." she mumbled. "I can take care of myself..."
"Nonsense!" Rarity chided her. "I didn't even need to check on you that much, since Pinkie Pie was here whenever she could get a break from work." Rarity pointed to the bedside table, which had a heap of heart-decorated paper boxes on it. "She brought you flowers and chocolate every time, that's why the table is covered in chocolate like that."
"Where did the flowers go, then?" said a stunned Rainbow Dash.
"We're having them for dinner, with some ensilage pudding." said Rarity.
"Ensilage? I'm not a sick foal!" Rainbow Dash groaned.
"Well, you need some filling food, and we are all eating it" Rarity said and looked stern. "If you can walk, please get yourself into the bathroom across the hall and wash up. Fluttershy got your... toiletries from your home and I put them there." Rarity shuddered at the memory of the plastic bag with a very old toothbrush, a steel comb missing a few teeth, and a bottle of the rather cheap SOAPOO - ITS A SOAP AND A SHAMPOO! brand FOR SPORTSCOLTS. "I need to be sure the ensilage doesn't burn. Come down when you're ready."
The Elements of Harmony were gathered in Rarity's dining room, which made it pretty crowded, but it wasn't the first time. Aside from the fact that Rainbow Dash didn't say much, and that the others constantly kept pushing her to eat more ensilage pudding and flower salad, and to drink more water and juice, it was a fairly normal dinner between friends. But when they reached the dessert - a huge apple pie brought by, of course, Applejack, and a jar of strawberry-blueberry-raspberry-gooseberry-cloudberry ice cream brought by Pinkie Pie ("I invented the flavor! Twilight should like it because it is scientiriffically tastulous!"), Applejack turned to Rainbow Dash and looked at her seriously.
"Dashie, sugarcube, what has gotten into ya? Yer normally the opposite of hardworkin', an' the least likely of us, I'd say, to work yerself sick. Is it yer trainin'? Do ya lack money and haveta work overtime? What is it?"
Rainbow Dash munched her pie and avoided Applejack's gaze. "It's nothing big. There have just been a lot of weather disturbances lately, so I haven't been able to work as fast and take my naps. Well, or eat lunch."
Fluttershy swallowed, cleared her throat and spoke up. "That doesn't explain why you haven't slept at night or eaten dinner, Dash. I... saw your bed in your house and your kitchen, not that I meant to pry or anything. And you don't get this tired just from missing naps, if you don't mind me saying so. I know more about... animal medicine than pony medicine, but I'm sure of that." She quickly hid her face by turning it to the apple pie on her plate.
"It's just a work thing" said Rainbow Dash. "Thanks so much for helping me, but I'll be more careful now and you needn't worry about it."
"If there is trouble at your work I could use my... government contacts and find out." said Twilight "The weather service is a public business, after all. But I would much rather my friend tell me why she is becoming ill than having to spy on her."
"No one needs to spy on anyone! We'll help you!" shouted Pinkie Pie. "We're your friends, and besides it would be our duty as citizens!" Everypony stared at her. "Oh you heard what Twilight said! The weather belongs to everypony! Dash could swear us in as her deputies, or something like that!"
Rainbow Dash sighed and licked icecream from her nose. She had been really hungry. It was a long time since she had a real, hot meal. She looked at the others, actually meeting their eyes.
"Someone is stealing from my work. I... feel kinda responsible, so I've been trying to keep a watch at night. Guess I had a hard time sleeping anyway. And those thefts have caused trouble with the weather just as I said, so I haven't had time for my usual naps during the day."
"Wait" said Rarity "what is there to steal from the weather service?"
"Well" said Rainbow Dash. "weather, of course. Duh!"
After the mares had cleared the table ("Oh don't worry about the dishes, I'll do them later!" said Rarity) they removed to the tea room, as Rarity insisted on calling her living room when she had tea there. (Sometimes she would insist it was "the library" though not within earshot of Twilight Sparkle, who questioned the libraryness of a room with just one bookshelf.) After Pinkie Pie had finished putting some drops of tea in her sugar, Rainbow Dash started to explain.
"It began a little over a week ago. I'd just put some clouds - not actual rainclouds, mind you, just basic clouds - in western Whitetail Woods. I... went away to do something else, but then I had to go back there after like two hours or so. The clouds - gone! They hadn't drifted off in the wind as planned, they sure hadn't dried up or rained away. So somepony must have grabbed them. I looked all over for them, and missed most of my day. The boss was less happy about that, even less happy about the cloudnickers. Then, it continued... every day we lost several clouds, gusts of wind... even pieces of rainbow and some bolts of lightning. None of us have been able to catch 'em at it, even when I started get up at night and fly patrols around Ponyville." She sighed and looked out Rarity's window.
"I am the fastest flier in Equestria. I should be able to do this. But..."
"Ya can't be everywhere at once, so they steal where yer not right now." Applejack looked sympathetic. "Ah admire yer hard work here, Dash, but nopony can do what yer trying to do." Rainbow Dash looked flustered.
"But why would anypony steal weather?" said Twilight Sparkle. "Everypony already has weather, right?" The others looked at her.
"Yer a city filly alright" said Applejack. "Farmponies might want more rain, millers an' sailors might want more wind. Celestia alone knows why someone would want a rainbow..."
"I think it would be awesome to have a rainbow!" said Pinkie Pie. "Well, not enough to steal one but they look great."
"Oh. I hadn't thought like that." Twilight frowned. "But Applejack is right, Rainbow Dash! You have shown empirically - that is, by experiencing it yourself - that you cannot catch the thieves that way. If we help you, I am sure we can figure out another way to do it."
"Aren't we forgetting the easiest one, Twilight darling?" said Rarity and sipped her tea daintily. "Shouldn't the police do something about large scale thievery of important public property? Why haven't Mr Scale reported it?"
"Oh he did!" said Rainbow Dash. "But there are no guardponies here in Ponyville, closest station is in Canterlot, and they said that unless something bigger happens they simply can't send umpteen police pegasuses to sit on every cloud over a tiny unimportant village."
"So this isn't 'big' to them?" said Rarity angrily.
Applejack broke in. "Ah can sorta see what they mean, Rarity. 'Cause Ah read ma weather almanac every day, and haven't seen anythin' missin'. The weather hasn't become worse yet, despite what Dash says here. What's up with that?"
"Well, they haven't stolen anything big over the town itself or the farms, I suppose since then anyone just need to look up and see who they are. Anything going wrong with the scheduled weather has been where they stole something and we couldn't get new parts there in time, and that was in the wilds around here, where there aren't many ponies."
"Uhm..." Fluttershy started to speak. "Maybe... maybe I can..." She looked down in her tea.
"Can what, Fluttershy?" said Twilight gently.
"I could talk to my animal friends and see if they know anything. They might have seen somepony they didn't recognize flying with a cloud, or noticed the weather being wrong."
"Fluttershy, that's great!" shouted Twilight, though Fluttershy shrank back from her enthusiasm. "That's how we will do it!" She turned to Rainbow Dash. "Not even you can be everywhere at once, but not only are there animals in the wilds, there are ponies working and traveling and whatnot. There are somepony almost everywhere. Somepony must have seen something - not just taking something but moving it! I mean, they either have used the weather they stole…"
"That would make lots of winds and rain out of nowhere" Rainbow Dash interrupted.
"Or they stashed it somewhere to sell it or use it later… "
"The clouds would make one big heap" exclaimed Rainbow Dash.
"...and then they must have moved it. There is no chance all that could have bypassed every eye in Ponyville!" Twilight finished triumphantly.
For the first time in a long while Rainbow Dash looked both happy and energetic. "That sounds really smart, Twilight! If we just know who did it is the rest is easy."
Twilight blushed a little, but now she was in her organizing mood. "Fluttershy, tomorrow you ask your animal friends. Applejack, see if you can ask your fellow farmers, because you know ponies in the countryside. Rarity and Pinkie Pie, check the same in town. Rainbow Dash, ask your friends at work and check with your boss so you can make a list over what has been stolen. Your boss might already have a list, he probably has to send one to his bosses. And I… will do some research."
"Twi', Ah don't think there are books on recent weather thievery in Ponyville" said a doubting Applejack.
"Not books - but newspapers. The first thing ponies do when the weather fails is to write a Strongly Worded Letter to the local newspaper. Besides, this might be bigger! They might be stealing weather from more than one town, and they might sell it somewhere else. Newspapers love to report about crime, even small crime. And when newspapers have nothing to write - " and pony society was quiet and peaceful " - they love to write about strange things people have seen... like weather disappearing." Twilight looked confident. "So starting tomorrow, we will solve this mystery together, Rainbow Dash, don't you worry." Rainbow Dash looked happy but a bit embarrassed.
"I'm going to start tonight!" said Pinkie Pie. "There are night-open places and I know them all since that's when you have parties. I'll ask their customers!"
"Jus' don't have too much sugar" said Applejack. "Ah'm gonna make a sweep tonight as well as Ah get home - Ah should catch a lot of cows, and they see much when they graze."
"Well, everyone who can manage it starts tonight, sure!" said Twilight. Everyone looked at Rainbow Dash. "That doesn't include you. You should go back to bed."
"But I slept all day!" said Rainbow Dash. "I'm not tired!"
"Well, if you absolutely cannot sleep, go training then" said Rarity. "But no aimless patrolling or worrying, darling"
"Training?" said Rainbow Dash
"It has been long since you did train, hasn't it?" said Rarity and smiled. "Remember, we might need the fast and fearless Rainbow Dash before this is over!"
"Well - I guess you're right. I'm a sportspony, not a guardpony." Rainbow Dash drained her teacup and left, just stopping to grab the Pinkie Pie praline pile from Sweetie Belle's bedtable. "See you all tomorrow!"
As the other ponies started to drop off, Rarity turned to Twilight Sparkle, who as usual had ended up in the leader role. "This isn't over yet" she said sternly.
"Well, of course not! We will have to catch those thieves before Rainbow Dash can stop worrying and Ponyville's weather is safe" said Twilight as she packed her bags with some gems for Spike, a gift from Rarity. Rarity looked solemn.
"That's not what I meant. What I meant was that it is strange enough for Rainbow Dash to work herself sick over troubles at work. She is far too... laid back for that. But to give up her training? What could make you stop reading for a week, Twilight Sparkle?"
|
CoastalSarv
|
894
| 3 |
Main 6,Original Character,Spike,Adventure,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Cloudy With a Chance Of Larceny
|
Trouble at her job causes Rainbow Dash to exhaust herself. Her friends try to help her.
|
hiatus
| -1 | -1 |
<p>The Ponyville Weather Service is in trouble, and its most prominent weathermare, Rainbow Dash, is being unusually energetic trying to fix it. When she works herself into exhaustion, her friends gather to help solve the mystery that plagues the weatherponies.</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-10-25T15:59:01+00:00
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2011-10-25T15:59:01+00:00
| 1,309 |
This is based on the cartoon My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Which I totally own. Yeah. Own so much I am gonna charge people muffins for using it. This is not at all a lame joke to cover that I don't want to write it is the intellectual property of Hasbro. No sir!
Chapter Three: In which Dash connects the dots.
“And then” said the donkey carter, “the wind just stopped.” He brought his left front hoof down with a stomp. “Just like that.”
“Ya mean it died down?” asked Applejack, who had met the donkey couple as usual pulling their carts from Ponyville to Manehatten, filled with farm produce. Most in Ponyville sent their veggies to Canterlot. Those who didn't used the Shaft couple's services.
“No, I said stopped and meant stopped. The wind didn't slow down, it just wasn't there.”
“It took some while for the windmills to catch up, so they kept going on momentum a while. It was creepy – really creepy” said his wife. “The birds all stopped singing, and junior here thought he saw ghosts”. She indicated their colt, who flushed with anger.
“I didn't 'see ghosts'! I saw something real, it was a big shadow in the sky. Like a big bird!”
“Yes yes dear” said the jenny, clearly indicating she didn't believe a word of it.
“And where were ya when this happen, did ya say?” said Applejack.
“Well first I thought the weather reports were wrong again – they have been off a little – but by more now. I mean, unscheduled thunderstorm?” The mailmare chewed on her break muffin.
Pinkie nodded. “Yeah, it seems hard to mislay a thunderstorm. Unless you have as very cluttered house.” The mailmare smiled. Pinkie had no trouble following her gaze, which calmed her. Few managed that, so she didn't worry about Pinkie's other sides.
“And I was about to think that I would need to turn around pick up my raincoat at home, when I didn't because I had to think about the thunder.”
“Was the thunder wrong?” said Pinkie who had somehow produced a dicta-phone
“It wasn't there! You know there is always a gap between lightning and thunder, right?”
Pinkie nodded. “Except when you are where it strikes! Then they are there at the same time, flash bang!” she said. “Trust me, I know!” The mailmare choose to ignore the implications of this.
“It wasn't a big gap between it and the lightning, there was no thunder. It was silent lightning! Never seen that before. Heard it, I mean.” She poured some coffee after her muffin bite.
“So that's where it come from!” Pinkie mused into her dicta-phone
“What came from?”
Pinkie hastily spoke into the machine again: “Disregard that statement!” And then: “The saying – 'stealing my thunder'! By the way, disregard that statement as well!”
“Who are you speaking to?” said the mailmare confused.
“Twilight Sparkle!” said Pinkie happily.
Spike dumped the heap of newspapers on the table.
“These are the last.” Then he collapsed on the floor. Twilight smiled and started sorting them.
“Thank you, Spike!”
“From now on, Madam Boddoni at the newsagent thinks you are the best pony” Spike panted.
“Well, the work isn't over, Spike. Now we must read them all through, cut out anything that speaks about weather, note which date the paper was from, and put them into order.”
Spike groaned. “Why does this has to be so hard?!”
“Because there isn't a Ponyville newspaper, but any of the big newspapers in Canterlot or Manehatten could mention Ponyville, since they know Ponyvillians read them. So we need to check them all. Since they are all national newspapers, we can check for national weather trouble at the same time, and actually save some time. Take five, Spike, and then step on it!”
Spike groaned again.
“TIKKA-NIKKA-NIKK-TIKK-TAKK!”
“You don't say, Mr Woodpecker? That was awfully rude of that nuthatch! I mean, it probably had its reasons...” Fluttershy was always being dragged into various conflicts among animals, completely against her will. A naive pony would that thought that ever since ponydom came to control nature around it, to the degree that they even weaned predators off eating their friends (well, at least the warm-blooded ones), peace would reign in nature. Not so. Conflicts were constant.
“TAKKI-NAKKI-KIKK-TIKK-NAKK!”
“So it started raining when the chickens had guaranteed it wouldn't, that's why you had the quarrel to start with.” Domestic animals tended to carry news to the “wilder” ones, truly wild animals being nonexistent outside Everfree Forest and inside Equestria.
“TIKKI-TIKKA-NIKKA-KNAKKI-TAKK-TAKK!”
“But then the rain started drifting north, and there was no wind? Well, that is strange... Where were you then?”
“TIKK-TIKK-TAKK-TAKK-NOKKA-NIKKA-NAKK!”
“Over the hill with the old bole with the ants but on this side of the stream that has a lot of round stones?” Animals weren't much for proper names for anything.
“NOKK-NOKK-TOKK-TAKK-TIKK-KIKKA-KAKKA-KIKK!”
“And then... the blueberry sauntered slicing anthropoid splotches? What?”
“TIKK! NYKKA-NIKKA-TIKK-KAKK-TIKKA-NIKK-NIKK!”
“Oh, you found a worm, sorry. I thought you were making conversation...”
“It's scandalous, is what it is!” The little old unicorn mare waved her umbrella telekinetically, keeping her mouth free to be loud.
“Oh, it is most rude, I agree” said Rarity dodging the umbrella while holding the box of scarves the old mare technically was there to inspect and then decide were too expensive. Rarity knew her customers, and the only reason Meadow Flowers shopped these days was to chat. She would never admit this, however. Rarity had known that letting the gossip in with a comment about something exactly for her would start her talking at once.
“They keep moving these things at night and not avoiding the village completely, so they wake you up!”
“Oh, there were more than you?” Rarity asked and held up a silver-embroidered black shawl.
“Certainly! Three of the mares in my sewing circle! Though I assume Rose Garden just claimed it to make herself sound important...” The old unicorn laughed hard at that. Rarity kept her smile.
“When was it? All the same night?” she asked innocently.
“Oh no... let's see, the first time was the day after the Flower sisters had that incident outside their house...” Meadow Flowers switched for another line of gossip. Rarity hoped she would get back soon, her horn was getting tired of waving shawls around.
“Thanks chief for the help” said Rainbow Dash, not really used to feeling grateful, especially not to Beaufort Scale. “And thanks for the time off.”
“Don't spend it all playing detective!” the old green pegasus grumbled. “And you weren't of much use when you tried to work last week. It's better you take the time off.” Rainbow Dash laughed weakly. He looked at her seriously.
“Don't let it get to you. Nopony blames you. It wasn't your fault. Well, not in that way. It was your fault, but you have done your part to correct it, and nopony has any right to blame you any longer.”
Rainbow Dash looked at her co-workers, who had avoided her. “It doesn't feel that way, chief” she said quietly.
“'Nopony' includes you, Dash” said Mr Scale gruffly. “'Nopony' includes you.”
Having gathered in Twilight's library that evening, the Elements of Harmony compared notes and memories and dictaphones (the statements were duly disregarded) and Twilight used a marker to draw little arrows all over the map Rainbow Dash had gotten from mr Scale. What direction (if possible, otherwise she made the little arrow go in two directions), what time, and what day. When everyone else had done their thing, Twilight gave the marker to Rarity and picked up her binder with clippings.
“First – there are indeed a number of angry letters about the weather. Most complain about small things, that's probably why it didn't bother someone like you, Applejack, who is more seriously affected by weather.” Twilight rattled off a number of somewhat incomplete data, half of which matched the angry old mares' statements Rarity had collected.
“A fearsome force indeed” said Pinkie. “What would happen, I mean, if some dastardly villain could channel the power of the little angry old lady?!” She was speaking into the dicta-phone again.
“Then, there are reports outside Ponyville... which are like this.” Twilight held up the almost empty pages of this part of the binder, with only a couple of clippings. “Unscheduled smog in Manehatten, drought in Appleloosa – that can't have anything to do with this.”
“Yeah” said Spike “that was a pity! All that job for nothing!” Twilight shook her head.
“Oh no! Sometimes it is important to know that something doesn't exist as well! Now we know that it is a local Ponyville thing.” Everyone fell silent.
“You know, that doesn't mean someone from Ponyville did it, just that it is only happening here. Ahem. And then we have the final thing I found, which is a dozy.” She turned to the last page of the binder and read from the luridly-colored clipping glued there:
“SWINEHERD SPOTS SPACEPONIES – UFO OVER PONYVILLE – THEY ARE HERE, AND THEY WANT OUR PIGS!”
“What” said Rarity.
“Spaceponies!” shouted Pinkie Pie.
“Where's that from?” said Rainbow Dash. Twilight grinned impishly.
“Equestria Daily, three days ago!” The library groaned collectively. Rainbow Dash facehoofed.
“Twilight, ED claims Soarin' is really a disguised griffon. They might be fun to read but they are manure. It ain’t flying saucers stealing our weather.”
“To be fair to ED, it doesn't talk about flying saucers, but UFOs” said Twilight.
“Aren't those the same?” said Rarity. Twilight shook her head, and Pinkie held up a hoof and jumped up and down.
“Oooh! I know! I know!”
“Go on Pinkie, tell the rest of the class” said Applejack.
“Well, a flying saucer is when you have a spaceship with spaceponies who will land and make crop circles or stuff. But a UFO, that just means you see something up there which you don't recognize!” Twilight nodded.
“And Scuffle Truffle, the swineherd they mentioned, who lives outside Ponyville, did really see something in the sky that he couldn't say what it was. 'A cloud moving too fast, faster when them pegasuses pull 'em!' Like a stolen cloud!” The others pondered this, and Rarity looked sourly at Applejack.
“You have been looking smug a while, so you know more!” she said. “I am so curious!” Applejack giggled.
“Yeah, sorry. Twilight sent a message to me an' Ah went out and talked to Scuffle Truffle. An old friend of ma Pa's. He was really angry what them city-slickers wrote in their paper, but he did see the cloud, an' his pigs confirmed it. They could say where it was as well.” Applejack borrowed the marker and drew an arrow on the map, far away from any other arrow.
“So, Rainbow Dash, what do you make of this?” Twilight said.
“Me? I'm not good at this thinking thing...”
“You are the one who knows weather, darling” said Rarity.
“Yeah, this is like cops do when they look for burglars!” Pinkie said. “You have to use your weatherly knowledge to say: how could the have moved all this swag after they took it.”
Rainbow looked a little helpless. Applejack stuck the marker in her muzzle.
“Here, sugarcube. Go on ahead. Do some graffiti.”
Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. Then... she started to draw. Everyone was silent, even Pinkie Pie. Lines grew and shapes formed on the map, and it took Rainbow Dash maybe an hour, but when she was done...
“It looks little like a fleeing squid!” said Pinkie Pie.
“It makes one big fat arrow!” said Appejack. “Every single one piece of weather adrift is goin' in one direction, an' then they turn north-west where Scuffle Truffle an' his hogs saw the 'UFO'.” Rainbow Dash nodded and planted a hoof at the map.
“Towards Shuttlecock Mountain. And behind it you could hide everything in the stores of Cloudsdale's weather factory, and no one would see it!”
“Because there is this strange weather stationed there permanently!” said Pinkie and made a little dance.
“And because of the angle from Ponyville!” said Rarity.
“Great job, Rainbow Dash!” said Twilight and smiled. Rainbow Dash beamed with brash pride, her usual expression, for the first time in a long while.
“Of course!” she said. “I'm the greatest!” Then she reared and plunged. “So, expedition to Shuttlecock Mountain starts tomorrow?” The others nodded.
“I can find someone to mind the store” said Rarity.
“I can get time off!” said Pinkie Pie. “I'll bring food! And a loudspeaker!”
“I'll get some serious packin', and the family can mind the farm for two days. Back and forth shouldn't take longer.” The apple farmer nodded.
“Why a loudspeaker?” said Twilight, then added: “And sure, I and Spike will come too.”
Fluttershy, cleared her throat and failed. She spoke up anyway.
“How many are there?” The others grew silent.
“What do you mean darling?” asked Rarity.
“How many thieves, I mean, not that I know much but... they have to be more than one. Look at all things they moved, and how fast. I mean, sorry Rainbow Dash, not even you could fly that fast carrying a whole thundercloud by yourself.” The others pondered her words.
“How many weather thieves are there?”
|
Wheller
|
895
| 1 |
DJ P0N-3,Fluttershy,Princess Celestia,Rainbow Dash,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore,Sex
|
Rite of Passage
|
Twilight has been thrust into a role of a parent, a task of which she is frankly not prepared for. Ponyville readies itself for war against the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, but when people start going missing, it's up to an unlikely group to investigate.
|
complete
| 24 | 5 |
<p>Twilight has been thrust into a role of a parent, a task of which she is frankly not prepared for. Ponyville readies itself for war against the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, but when people start going missing, it's up to an unlikely group to investigate.</p>
|
mature
|
2011-10-01T04:30:39+00:00
|
2011-10-01T04:30:39+00:00
| 1,908 |
Chronology notes:
Stop! You are reading the Tenth story in the series started by The Kindness of Strangers!
Please read The Kindness of Strangers first!
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/389/
The second part of the story is Putting the Pieces Back Together found here:
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/407/
The third part of the story is Midnight in the Heart of Equestria found here:
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/419/
The fourth part of the story is Tomorrow is Always a New Day found here:
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/433/
The fifth part of the story is To Each Their Own found here:
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/526/
The sixith part of the story is Imperfect found here:
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/600/
The seventh part of the story to Paradiso found here:
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/687/
the eighth part of the story is Broken Record found here:
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/732/
This story is the direct sequel to Home Sweet Home found here:
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/826/
Rite of Passage
Chapter 1
The still air in Ponyville was broken with the loud roars of machine gun fire. Rainbow Dash released the trigger on the control yoke and looked down range.
“Aww yeah! Ain’t nobody coming back from that!” Rainbow Dash cheered as she inspected her handiwork. She was clad in the prototype for the Ponyville Pattern Sen Gun that she and Twilight had cobbled together as a concept model for Emerald Ordinance, the South Island government owned company that produced the famous kangaroo Emerald Rifle and the Sen Light Machine Gun.
Rainbow was looking down range that the target that she’d shot up, it was, make that had been, one of Rarity’s display dummies that she’d dressed up to look scary. Rarity had donated the dummy and the failed dress that it was clad in after realising that it looked and to quote: “simply dreadful and I had absolutely no idea what I was doing when I’d designed that horrible piece of garbage.”
Twilight and Rainbow Dash had noticed a change in Rarity lately, she too, like Applejack had come to them an offered an apology and her help in the war effort, practically out of nowhere, and unlike Applejack, was actually still around.
Applejack had completely disappeared from Ponyville entirely. The Canterlot Police Service were looking for her, two of their detectives, Detective Sergeant Lucky, and his partner, Detective Constable Banana Crème had practically moved into town and made it a point of asking everypony, sometimes multiple times a day, for more information about Applejack. According to them, Applejack was wanted for Grievous Bodily Harm against Apple Bloom. Something that Twilight and Rainbow couldn’t believe was possible, but no pony on the Apple family farm was around to deny it.
To make matters worse, Fluttershy had shut herself up in her cottage, refusing to come out, and no pony had seen or heard from Pinkie Pie in a very long time. While Twilight and Rainbow were glad to have Rarity back, they missed their other friends terribly.
Sugarcube Corner’s construction had finished, and the bakery had finally reopened for business... but it simply wasn’t the same without Pinkie Pie there.
“My my!” Rarity called out inspecting the Sen Guns effect on the dummy. “Twilight, Rainbow, I simply don’t know if it is even possible to design barding to protect against that!”
Twilight frowned at this statement, causing Rarity to add: “but I will certainly try!”
“That’s all we’re asking Rarity,” Twilight assured her. “And I think that the Ponyville Pattern Sen Gun is finally ready for Emerald Ordinance, we’ll have to ask Ambassador Goyle to send a letter to get one of their representatives out here to see it in action!”
Twilight and Rainbow Dash had spent most of the last month designing and assembling the prototype. Rainbow had scribed the design from memory, having memorised every detail of it from her flash forwards. Now they were ready.
Rainbow Dash had informed Twilight what she had seen at her flash forward to the Battle of Cloudsdale, it had been a slaughter, without Ponyville Pattern weapons, it would be a slaughter again. Twilight didn’t trust Rainbow’s flash forwards considering where they were they were supposed to have come from, and neither did Rainbow, to a point, but Rainbow knew that Cloudsdale was a huge target that the gryphons would eventually come for. Cloudsdale personally created the weather for Canterlot Province, but it was also the central hub for all weather control operations in the entirety of Equestria. Cloudsdale in gryphon talons was bad. Rainbow knew what would happen if they had to destroy the Cloudsdale weather engines... but it was better than what the gryphons would do.
Crash!
Rainbow Dash looked up and saw what was happening, more gliders.
With a lack of airfields in Equestria, kangaroo cargo planes couldn’t land. Instead, they loaded supplies up in gliders and let them fly in on their own. Of course, they were extremely quiet; you didn’t know one was coming until it already was on the ground. This was quite possibly the brilliance of the design. Rainbow Dash leapt into the air to look for where it landed, and discovered that it had landed just on the outskirts of town to the southwest, near Fluttershy’s cottage
“I’m going to go see what they brought!” Rainbow called to Twilight.
“Just be careful Rainbow! You’re still wearing the prototype!” Twilight called back.
“I’ll be fine egghead! What’s the worst that could happen?” Rainbow asked.
“You just JINXED us! Come down here and take it off right now!” Twilight called out.
Rainbow sighed and did as she was told; she landed back on the ground and slid the Ponyville Pattern weapon off her back.
Twilight thanked her by giving her a light smack on her arse.
“Hey! I thought you were the one who said no PDA?” Rainbow called back.
Twilight responded by winking at her.
Rainbow smiled back and dashed off to the kangaroo glider. She arrived at it and found it stock full of weapons, Emerald Rifles, Austin Submachine guns, Sen Light Machine Guns, SPGATs, crates of ammunition for each.
Something was off though; the pilots were nowhere to be found. Rainbow checked the cockpit, empty. It was standard procedure to wait with the gliders until other kangaroos from town came to collect the supplies. Rainbow looked around; they were a hundred metres from Fluttershy’s cottage. She might have invited them in for tea or something... but still, this was an awful lot of ordinance to leave just lying around. It was irresponsible more than anything.
Rainbow trotted over towards Fluttershy’s cottage and knocked on the door. No answer. She knocked again.
This time however, a very tired looking Fluttershy opened the door with a kitchen knife in her teeth.
“Fluttershy...?” Rainbow Dash asked. “What is that for?”
Fluttershy noted the knife in her mouth and set it down.
“Heh... sorry Rainbow... you caught me in the middle of... making a salad! I was just chopping some lettuce,” Fluttershy said sweetly. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“You wouldn’t by chance have seen any kangaroos around here would you?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Kangaroos? No... I haven’t seen any kangaroos here lately. Why?” Fluttershy asked, looking concerned.
“Did you not hear the glider that just landed right next to your house?” Rainbow asked her.
“No, I was down in my cellar getting vegetables until you knocked on my door,” Fluttershy said.
“Well, all right. If you see the pilots, tell them that they’re in big trouble!” Rainbow said.
“I will, goodbye Rainbow,” Fluttershy said as Rainbow Dash left.
...
Fluttershy locked the door and picked the knife back up, she went over to her cellar stairs and trotted down them. She set the knife down again on the table and smiled brightly to those sharing the room with her.
“I’m sooo sorry about that! I promise that there won’t be any more interruptions!” Fluttershy said smiling sweetly. “We’re going to have so much fun together!”
Fluttershy picked the knife back up, causing the two bound and gagged pilot kangaroos’ eyes to widen with fear.
...
Twilight had entered the Ponyville Library to find a white Alicorn filly with a pink mane standing on the table grinning madly.
“Twilight! Twilight!” Tia called at her. “Look what I can do!”
Tia closed her eyes and her body reformed into a cloud of white smoke, howling loudly and proceeding to zip around the room.
Racka-racka-racka-racka-racka-racka!
The White Smoke charged towards Twilight, reforming into Tia who skidded to a stop in front of her.
“Wasn’t that so cool!?” Tia asked her in excitement.
Twilight’s mouth fell open in shock. “Yes... Tia, we need to talk about this new found talent of yours.”
Tia frowned; she figured that she was in trouble.
“You’re not in trouble!” Twilight reassured her. “But just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you always should, showing off isn’t good.”
“I understand,” Tia said, Twilight didn’t want her to do it, so she wouldn’t.
“Good, I’m glad that you do!” Twilight said. “Just remember, it’s okay to be special, but it’s not okay to show off.”
Tia nodded, and trotted over to one of the bookshelves to grab a book.
Twilight was worried about Tia. She hoped that she was going right by her, but she frankly had no idea what she was doing. When Princess Luna had asked her to take care of her, she had gladly taken up the role.
She just hoped that Tia would grow into a pony as good as she was supposed to be.
|
Wheller
|
895
| 2 |
DJ P0N-3,Fluttershy,Princess Celestia,Rainbow Dash,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore,Sex
|
Rite of Passage
|
Twilight has been thrust into a role of a parent, a task of which she is frankly not prepared for. Ponyville readies itself for war against the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, but when people start going missing, it's up to an unlikely group to investigate.
|
complete
| 24 | 5 |
<p>Twilight has been thrust into a role of a parent, a task of which she is frankly not prepared for. Ponyville readies itself for war against the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, but when people start going missing, it's up to an unlikely group to investigate.</p>
|
mature
|
2012-05-22T19:59:50+00:00
|
2012-05-22T19:59:50+00:00
| 1,238 |
Chapter 2
Detective Sergeant Lucky and Detective Constable Banana Crème were standing at the edge of Ponyville. Their investigation was going nowhere. Applejack was nowhere to be found. They’d searched the Apple farm top to bottom, every nook and cranny three times over. It was time to branch out. That’s what they were doing here, Fluttershy’s cottage. The only one of Applejack’s friends that they had yet to talk to was a Pegasus by the name of Fluttershy. She apparently hadn’t left her home for several weeks, about the time Applejack went missing.
DS Lucky was trained to see things like this, maybe it was a coincidence. Maybe this Fluttershy was hiding Applejack in her home. There was only one way to find out.
The detectives knocked on the door. No answer.
“Police! Open up!” DS Lucky called out, knocking again.
“Umm... could you give me a minute? I’m not decent!” called a quiet voice from inside.
Lucky rolled his eyes, and after a moment, the door opened, revealing a yellow Pegasus clad in a bathrobe and her mane held inside a towel.
“I’m sorry... you caught me in the middle of a bath,” Fluttershy said quietly.
“My apologies miss,” Lucky said. “I’m DS Lucky, this is DC Banana Crème. We were wondering if we could ask you a few questions?”
“Oh... my, what about?” Fluttershy asked. “I’ll try to help you if I can! Please, come in.”
Fluttershy smiled oddly at the two detectives, stepping aside and allowing them to enter. DC Banana Crème felt slightly uneasy, and did her best to quietly communicate this to her partner, something was off about this house, but she didn’t know what.
DS Lucky didn’t pick up on it. “You’re friends with Applejack, aren’t you, Fluttershy?”
“Applejack? Well... yes, but I haven’t seen Applejack in a very long time... which is unfortunate, because I’d really really like to talk to her.” Fluttershy said.
“Well we would to, so anything you could tell us would be much appreciated,” Lucky said with a smile.
Fluttershy was about to reply, but was interrupted by a squeak from the cellar door. Fluttershy looked over to it, it had popped open slightly.
“Oh... I thought I fixed that!” Fluttershy said with mild annoyance.
DS Lucky and DC Banana Crème looked at each other, and then back to Fluttershy. “Would you mind if we had a look downstairs?”
“Downstairs...? Well... okay, I suppose...” Fluttershy said.
DC Banana Crème opened the door, and went down first, DS Lucky followed her, and they were shocked upon reaching the bottom of what they had found.
The remains of two disembowelled kangaroos littered the floor, fresh blood covered every square centimetre of the floor, and organs lay haphazardly scattered as if they’d been thrown about with homicidal glee.
Banana Crème and Lucky were stunned by what they were looking at.
With a quick flash, Banana Crème’s throat had been cut, she gasped for air and fell to the floor blood spilling out and mixing with the blood of the kangaroos. Fluttershy had thrown off her robe and towel, revealing that the pegasi’s coat was covered in blood. DS Lucky sprung into action, charging at the Pegasus and attempting to give her a subduing kick. Fluttershy was too fast, she dodged and countered, planting the knife in her teeth between Lucky’s ribs, puncturing his lung and kicking him to the ground.
Fluttershy smiled at her handiwork, and rolled Lucky onto his back, taking the knife and cutting into his chest.
DC Banana Crème watched in horror until the last bit of life escaped her.
DS Lucky wanted to scream in pain, but couldn’t, Fluttershy had placed her hoof over his mouth, muffling him, he tried to fight her off, but the pegasi mare was surprisingly strong. She finished cutting through the chest, exposing several of the Detective’s organs.
“Hmm... let’s see, what do we not need?” Fluttershy said maniacally, grinning with pleasure. “Lungs! Those are gone!”
Fluttershy ripped the Detective’s punctured lung out of his chest, and tossed it aside haphazardly. She was giggling intensely.
Lucky’s blood had spilled on the floor, mixing with DC Banana Crème’s and the kangaroos who’d been here before.
Fluttershy was rolling around in it, coating herself completely in the blood of four individuals, squealing with intense pleasure.
DS Lucky felt his life leaving him, the last thought he had go through his mind, was that his luck had just run out.
...
Fluttershy had taken to pleasuring herself now, she rubbed fresh blood over herself, coating every square centimetre of herself in it, she moaned loudly, she was about to reach her horrific climax, and soon enough she felt herself relieved
“Oh... that was wonderful!” Fluttershy said, panting in exhaustion. She looked to each side of her, the cold, lifeless eyes of DC Banana Crème and DS Lucky looked back at her. She didn’t like them looking at her like that. They reminded her of the way the kangaroo pilots had looked upon expiring. Well, they simply had to go.
Fluttershy proceeded to gouge out the detectives eyes, smashing them on the ground. They wouldn’t look upon her again.
“Oh Fluttershy, just look at the mess you’ve made!” she said, playfully scolding herself. “This won’t do... this won’t do at all!”
She went over to the sink inside her cellar, grabbing a small garden hose and attaching it to the faucet, she proceeded to spray herself off, the cold water caused her to shiver slightly, but otherwise, it felt nice. After spraying her coat clean, she floated herself into the air and sprayed her hooves clean.
“There you go Fluttershy! Now you won’t get your nice clean floor upstairs dirty!” She said to herself. She turned to the bodies before her on the floor; she would have to do something with them. It would be dark soon. She’d take the bodies and dump them in the forest, nopony would think twice if they discovered the heavily dismembered bodies in there, they’d all think some wild animal did it, who would ever suspect that poor, timid Fluttershy had done all this?
Night came, and Fluttershy loaded the two kangaroo pilots along with DC Banana Crème and DS Lucky into a small cart, and pulled it through Everfree forest, dumping a body every five hundred metres or so.
First went the kangaroo pilot. After another five hundred or so metres went DC Banana Crème, another five hundred went the kangaroo co-pilot, and another five hundred after that went DS Lucky. Fluttershy was proud of herself for being so clever, she pushed her cart into the river that ran through Everfree, where the current would take it down stream, smashing it to bits.
Fluttershy took flight, flying slowly and surely back to her home, where she intended to take a nice, long, relaxing, hot bubble bath. She felt that she deserved it after such manual labour.
Fluttershy slipped herself into the bathtub, only vaguely aware that she had violently murdered four people.
...
Derpy Hooves was in the middle of her rounds when she noticed the commotion in the centre of town. It was the middle of the morning; she landed and trotted up to the first familiar face she found, which belonged to Trixie.
“What’s going on?” She asked her azure unicorn friend.
“Trixie is not sure,” she said with a shrug. “Trixie noticed a crowd, and Trixie went to investigate.”
“I’m going to see if I can’t get a closer look,” Derpy said. She smiled brightly when she discovered what everypony was looking at. It was a Blue Box.
The Doctor was back.
Derpy landed back next to Trixie, smiling brightly. “He’s back!”
“Who’s back?” said another voice from the other side.
Derpy and Trixie looked to find a brown earth pony with a spiky brown mane wearing a tie and an hour glass cutie mark smiling at them.
“Hello!” The Doctor said brightly. Derpy and Trixie tackled the earth pony, hugging him profusely.
“Oi! Can’t breathe!” he called out, causing the two mares to release their grips on him, but only slightly.
“I missed you all too!” the Doctor said. “Wish you would come with me when I go places! But I can understand why you wouldn’t.”
“To what do we owe the pleasure of a return by Ponyville’s most elusive resident?” Trixie asked.
The Doctor grinned at her. “Don’t know yet! But that’s half the fun!”
|
Wheller
|
895
| 3 |
DJ P0N-3,Fluttershy,Princess Celestia,Rainbow Dash,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore,Sex
|
Rite of Passage
|
Twilight has been thrust into a role of a parent, a task of which she is frankly not prepared for. Ponyville readies itself for war against the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, but when people start going missing, it's up to an unlikely group to investigate.
|
complete
| 24 | 5 |
<p>Twilight has been thrust into a role of a parent, a task of which she is frankly not prepared for. Ponyville readies itself for war against the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, but when people start going missing, it's up to an unlikely group to investigate.</p>
|
mature
|
2011-10-01T04:31:23+00:00
|
2011-10-01T04:31:23+00:00
| 1,519 |
Chapter 3
“Twilight?”
Twilight opened her eyes; Tia was sitting at the edge of the bed, prodding her trying to get her attention.
“Tia? Is everything all right?” Twilight asked the filly before her.
“I can’t sleep,” the filly said with a shrug. Clearly, Twilight wouldn’t be either. Not that she minded. “I have questions!”
Twilight looked over to Rainbow Dash, who was lying asleep next to her, Twilight gently folded back the covers and got out of bed, she whispered a quiet “shh” to Tia and the two walked out of the room and onto the balcony, looking up at the night sky.
“Twilight? Who made the sky?” She asked.
“Your big sister Luna did,” Twilight said with a smile.
“It’s so pretty!” Tia exclaimed. Not what Twilight was expecting coming from the princess of the day. “I could never make something as pretty as that!”
They sat looking up at the stars for a few minutes, before Tia asked another question.
“Twilight? How come I live here with you and not with my big sister?” Tia asked.
Twilight wasn’t sure how to answer that, she knew the reasoning why Luna wanted the filly here, but putting it into words that she would understand was difficult.
“Because your sister wants you to have a normal childhood, and that’s not something you can have living with her, because there wouldn’t be other kids for you to play with. Here you have Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell to play with!” Twilight said.
Tia frowned, “I don’t want to get in their way...”
Twilight reassured Tia that she wouldn’t, and that Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo would be happy to have her along. “Tell you what? How about tomorrow we go introduce you to some of the other kids in town?”
“Okay...” Tia said.
Twilight smiled, this would be good for her, having kids to play with would help her to have a normal life.
...
Twilight and Tia were walking towards the Ponyville school house. School was in session, but Twilight didn’t think it was going to be an issue. They had arrived just at the beginning of recess.
“Hello Cheerilee!” Twilight said, greeting the teacher pony, who was keeping an eye on her students as they ran about the playground.
“Hello Twilight Sparkle!” Cheerilee said, the filly catching her eye. “Now who is this?”
“This is Tia, my... niece who is living with me for a while, she doesn’t have any friends in town, and I was hoping that she could meet some of the other kids!” Twilight said.
“Certainly!” Cheerilee said she blew on a whistle that she was carrying around her neck; all of the school aged ponies froze in place and turned to look at their teacher. “Everypony, this is Tia! She’s new in town, and I hope you’ll make her feel very welcome here!”
“Go on Tia!” Twilight said, nudging the shy pony forward.
Most of the children went on doing what they were doing before. Twilight and Cheerilee had stopped paying attention to them and started talking to each other.
“Hey!” one of the other fillies called out, this one was an earth pony wearing a crown on her head.
Tia approached her and her friend, also an earth pony wearing glasses.
“I see you have your cutie mark!” the crown wearing pony said.
“Oh yes...” Tia managed.
“You should stick with us, lest you be known as one who associates with blank flanks.” The glasses wearing pony said. “I’m Silver Spoon, this is Diamond Tiara.”
“I’m Tia...” she managed quietly.
“Want to have some fun, Tia?” Diamond Tiara asked.
Tia nodded in affirmation.
“Go tell Sweetie Bell that she sucks at singing,” Silver Spoon suggested, snickering to herself.
Diamond Tiara pointed towards Sweetie Bell, who was sitting with Scootaloo at the other end of the playground.
“Um... okay,” Tia said, she didn’t really want to because it sounded like a mean thing to do, but she didn’t want Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to not like her, so she, reluctantly, trotted over to where the two fillies were sitting.
“Um...” Tia said she cleared her throat, looking directly at Sweetie Bell and spoke: “You suck at singing!”
“What?” Sweetie Bell said, tears began to form in her eyes, she began to cry. Now Tia felt bad for saying it, she opened her mouth to say that she was sorry, and that she didn’t mean it, but she didn’t get a chance. Scootaloo popped her right in the nose, knocking her to the ground.
“Who do you think you are? What makes you think you can say that to somepony?” Scootaloo yelled at her angrily.
Tia was lying on the ground, clutching her nose in pain. Tears were forming in her eyes. She started crying too. Unintentionally, her body formed into the White Smoke, letting out a loud howl that got everypony’s attention, and began zooming away.
Racka-racka-racka-racka-racka-racka!
Twilight watched in horror as the White Smoke zipped past her, driving itself into town. Catching the attention of a crew of Kangaroo leaning next to a VC Firefly that was parked several hundred metres away from the play ground.
The kangaroos hopped into the Firefly and took off after it, the medium tank rolling through the streets in hot pursuit of the White Smoke.
“Oh no,” Twilight said, and took off in pursuit of the Firefly.
...
There was nothing more dangerous than what Vinyl Scratch was doing. Her onion soup recipe required everything to be done just right. She’d just finished stirring in the onions into the broth, it was almost ready!
Onion Soup was Vinyl Scratch’s favourite meal, and hers was the best.
Her ear twitched, something was coming this way.
“Wonderful, why is it that this town can’t go without a crisis in the time it takes me to make my onion soup!?” Vinyl cried out in frustration.
She turned towards the open window; there was a loud howling noise and a cloud of White Smoke darted past.
Racka-racka-racka-racka-racka-racka!
A few seconds later, a VC Firefly passed by.
A few seconds after that, Twilight Sparkle ran past.
“No no no no no no no no no no no!” she cried as she ran past.
Vinyl looked at the sight before her for a moment before making a comment on it. “What the hell is wrong with this town?”
Vinyl turned towards the stove, and turned the burner off. She slapped her goggles down from where they were resting on her forehead and down onto her eyes, and dashed out the door. “I swear, this town if built on top of an ancient burial mound or something!”
Within a few minutes, Vinyl Scratch had caught up to Twilight.
“How ya doing?” Vinyl said, grinning like a madmare as she came within eye contact.
“I’m chasing a kangaroo tank, which is in turn chasing a sentient cloud of White Smoke! How do you think I’m doing!?” Twilight exclaimed starting to pant from exhaustion.
“You know you should really try to pace yourself, you’re going to get burnt out running at full speed like this,” Vinyl said.
Twilight huffed in annoyance. “If you’re planning on doing something useful, do it now!”
“Fine, fine,” Vinyl said, she picked up speed and leapt up onto the Firefly tank, knocking on the turret hatch.
The kangaroo tank commander opened it and poked his head out.
“Pull over buddy! And I’ll need to see your licence and registration!” Vinyl said.
“You’re funny,” the tank commander said.
“I know right?” Vinyl said with a grin. “Seriously though, pull over.”
The tank commander popped his head back inside, the VC Firefly slowed and pulled off to the left side of the street. Twilight galloped past, hoping that the White Smoke would stop running if the tank was no longer chasing it, which it did not. The White Smoke disappeared into the tree line of Whitetail Wood.
Twilight was exhausted by this point, but forced herself to keep running.
Soon enough, she reached the point that she could go no further, and collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily. “Maybe this was... a bad idea.”
Twilight heard crying in the distance. She forced herself to get up, and she trotted as fast as she could towards it.
Tia was sitting on a fallen tree, crying her eyes out.
“Tia... what’s... wrong?” Twilight managed between pants.
“I’m bad Twilight!” Tia said sobbing. “I made Sweetie Bell cry! Then Scootaloo hit me.”
“Why did you make Sweetie Bell cry? Wait, Scootaloo hit you?” Twilight cried in surprise.
Tia nodded. “Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon told me to tell Sweetie Bell that she sucked at singing. I didn’t want to because I thought it was mean... but I wanted Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to like me! So I did it.”
Twilight frowned, “Oh Tia...” She sat down next to the crying filly. “You need to apologise to Sweetie Bell for making her cry... and it sounds like to me that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon aren’t very nice ponies. Maybe you shouldn’t hang around them?”
Tia shrugged. “I will Twilight; I’m going to go do it right now!”
Tia stopped crying and got up, she and Twilight walked back to town.
...
Tia walked up to where Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo were sitting.
“Um... Sweetie Bell?” Tia said. “I wanted to say I’m sorry for making you cry.”
Sweetie Bell looked at her oddly. “You made me cry? When?!”
Scootaloo facehoofed. Tia looked confused.
“Don’t worry about it Tia,” Scootaloo said. “I’m sorry for hitting you.”
“You hit her?!” Sweetie Bell exclaimed. “Scootaloo why would you do that?”
Scootaloo sighed and looked off in the distance. “Hey Sweetie Bell! Look! A banana!”
“Where!?” Sweetie Bell called out excitedly, after a few seconds of looking, she turned back to Scootaloo. “What am I looking for?”
“I dunno,” Scootaloo said with a shrug.
“Okay!” Sweetie Bell called out excitedly, and started staring off in the other direction.
“Well... um... bye!” Tia said nervously, backing away from the two fillies.
“Tia!” called another pony from the distance. Tia turned to discover that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were waving to her. Tia galloped over to them.
“There you are! Come on! School’s over!” Diamond Tiara said. “We’re going to the reopening of Sugarcube Corner! Come with us!”
“Oh... okay!” Tia said excitedly, and the three fillies trotted off towards town.
|
Wheller
|
895
| 4 |
DJ P0N-3,Fluttershy,Princess Celestia,Rainbow Dash,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore,Sex
|
Rite of Passage
|
Twilight has been thrust into a role of a parent, a task of which she is frankly not prepared for. Ponyville readies itself for war against the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, but when people start going missing, it's up to an unlikely group to investigate.
|
complete
| 24 | 5 |
<p>Twilight has been thrust into a role of a parent, a task of which she is frankly not prepared for. Ponyville readies itself for war against the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, but when people start going missing, it's up to an unlikely group to investigate.</p>
|
mature
|
2012-01-31T02:21:20+00:00
|
2012-01-31T02:21:20+00:00
| 1,115 |
Chapter 4
Fluttershy had become horribly bored, and that simply wouldn’t do at all. The things she had done with her time in the past could no longer be done. All the animals she took care of were dead. Angel Bunny, her chickens. All of them killed by the Black Smoke.
The Black Smoke however had done them a favour. Where any of them still alive for Fluttershy to get her hooves on... their deaths had been quick and painless, the deaths that they would have met under this new Fluttershy would not have been.
Fluttershy looked to the door to her home, she’d not been outside in the last month save twice, the first time was trapping the kangaroo pilots, and the second time was taking the bodies of the kangaroos, plus DS Lucky and DS Banana Crème into the Everfree forest. Well, it settled it then, Fluttershy was going to have to go out and find somepony.
Or some Kangaroo, Fluttershy wasn’t prejudiced.
Fluttershy donned a coat and went outside her door.
Fluttershy made her way into town, and discovered lights from Sugarcube Corner, it seemed that the reconstruction had finished, and the Cakes had reopened for business. Fluttershy figured it was as good a place as any.
She walked inside, the bright colours, lights, and decorations of the all new Sugarcube Corner paled in comparison to anything that Pinkie Pie would have done. Alas, the pink party pony was not here. She hadn’t been spotted in town for a very long time.
Fluttershy scanned the room, looking for someone that she could have some fun with, and soon discovered a prospect. A brown coated stallion, chestnut mane, and a three leaf clover for a Cutie Mark, sitting alone in a corner, quietly sipping a glass of punch through a straw, Fluttershy trotted up to him.
“Hi,” Fluttershy said in her most sensual voice possible.
The Stallion looked up in surprise.
“What’s a handsome stallion like yourself doing here all by your lonesome?” Fluttershy asked playfully, she noted to herself that she didn’t even sound like herself. It was if she was just watching from a distance and letting somepony else do all the talking.
“I... uh... I...” the stallion said, stumbling over his words.
Fluttershy giggled sweetly at him. “I’m Fluttershy, what’s your name?”
“M... Melilot,” the stallion said.
“Well Melilot, I don’t think this is quite the place for either of us, how about we go somewhere a little more... quiet.”
...
Fluttershy’s head rolled back as she rode up and down, moaning with pleasure, she was lying on top of Melilot as the stallion thrust between her hips, shy in public, certainly not shy in the bedroom... or in this case, the cellar. Fluttershy moaned loudly, her body growing hot in excitement.
The stallion kept going, he’d been holding back, he thrust harder and harder, causing Fluttershy to continue to yelp in both pleasure and pain until the stallion could keep himself no more, Fluttershy felt his warmth shoot through her body, she could stand it no more and let out a loud yelp, her muscles tightened and her head rolled back, she moaned Melilot’s name and collapsed forward onto the stallion, placing her hooves around his neck, panting heavily. Fluttershy kissed the stallion gently.
“Did… did you like it?” he asked her.
Fluttershy smiled at him warmly. “Oh yes! It was a nice... warm up.”
Melilot’s eyes widened in excitement, oh how had he become so lucky that this beautiful mare had practically fallen into his haunches.
“Would you like to play... a game?” Fluttershy asked him.
“What kind of game?” Melilot asked.
Fluttershy smiled seductively at the earth pony before her, working her feminine charms to her favour. “How would you like... being tied up?”
The stallion’s eyes widened, she was into that.
“I’d do anything for you!” he said enthusiastically, exactly what Fluttershy wanted to hear.
Fluttershy fetched some ropes, binding the ponies fore and hind legs together, gagging his mouth, and leaving him waiting anxiously for his final reward. It was when Fluttershy picked up her knife that he began to realise that luck was not what he had.
Fluttershy plunged the knife into the stallion’s chest, slicing him open, he screamed in pain, but made little noise as Fluttershy had gagged him, the filly cut him open, spilling his organs onto the floor and haphazardly tossing them about with homicidal glee.
Fluttershy reached in and gently picked up Melilot’s heart, she smiled at him, showing him, and proceeded to crush it between her hooves.
The stallion closed his eyes, and drifted off into the endless sleep.
...
Um... Fluttershy? If I can talk to you? It would be really nice if I could... Fluttershy heard a small voice say inside her head.
NO! DON’T LISTEN TO HER; SHE WANTS TO STOP ALL OUR FUN! Cried another voice from inside Fluttershy’s head.
I don’t mean to be a spoil sport but...
“NO!” Fluttershy screamed.
GOOD GIRL! Shouted the louder, more menacing sounding voice.
The quieter voice squeaked in fear, and retreated into a dark corner of Fluttershy’s mind, leaving only the louder voice.
THAT WAS FUN!
Fluttershy had to admit, it was. “Oh but I’ve made a mess again!”
SO WHAT?
“Well, I have to figure out what I’m going to do with the body. I can’t just keep dumping them in the forest, people will notice!”
BURN HIM!
That would do it. Fluttershy did have plenty of paraffin oil for use in oil lamps, more than she could ever possibly use.
BURN! BURN! BURN! BURN! BURN! BURN! BURN!
Fluttershy dragged Melilot’s body outside, dumped paraffin oil over his body she struck a match and dropped it on him.
The stallion’s body erupted in flame, incinerating deceased stallion.
“Burn! Burn! BURN!” Fluttershy found herself chanting; she tossed wood onto the fire every so often, trying to keep it going as long as possible. Soon enough, it was indistinguishable from just a regular bonfire. After an hour of watching the fire burn, Fluttershy found herself beginning to get bored again. She allowed the fire to die down, and she went back inside to take a nice bubble bath.
...
Derpy Hooves trotted into the post office in order to get started on her shift. Her goal was to deliver the entire town’s mail before lunch time, though she was unlike to meet it, she never did.
However, something was different about the post office today. There were two posters that were not there yesterday.
MISSING:
DETECTIVE SERGEANT LUCKY
DETECTIVE CONSTABLE BANANA CRÉME
PLEASE CONTACT CANTERLOT POLICE SERVICE
WITH ANY INFORMATION ABOUT WHEREABOUTS
500 POUND REWARD
The poster had the two Detectives pictures on it; they weren’t anypony that Derpy recognised. Derpy hated seeing these posters, because she never knew anything that would be helpful to the case. Otherwise she’d report it post-haste, not for the money, though Derpy did admit, that having 10,000 bits would be nice, but simply because it would be the right thing to do.
Derpy didn’t think anything else of it; she grabbed her mailbag, and checked her compass. To her annoyance, the needle was pointing towards her, indicating that she was facing south. She knew that this was wrong, because the direction she was facing was most definitely west. She turned to the south, the needle continued to point towards her.
Derpy looked crossly at the compass; she knew it wasn’t the compasses fault. Somepony had placed a magnet in her mailbag again. Derpy groaned in annoyance, her mail bag was perfectly sorted. This was why she could never finish before lunch.
She dumped her mailbag out, discovering the trickster’s magnet and tossing it away in the waste bin. Now she had to re-sort the mail, by hoof, and then deliver it.
It was going to be a long day.
...
The clock struck two by the time that Derpy made her last delivery, Carrot Top’s Home was the last stop on her route, and by the time she knocked on the door, Carrot Top opened the door and gave the Pegasus a cold glare for being several hours late.
Derpy was usually polite while doing her rounds, regardless of how impolite the recipients of the mail were, but Derpy was not having it today. She was angry, and turned over the mail, and as she turned to leave she added a quiet “get stuffed” as she flew away.
Derpy returned home to her flat, she went to grab her keys out of her bag, but realised that she was carrying her mailbag, and not her personal bag, thus, her keys were still at the post office.
Derpy facehoofed herself for letting herself be so flustered to make such a mistake, she went down to the post office, swapped her mailbag for her personal bag, and made her way back home.
She trotted up to her doorstep, took her keys out, but she stopped herself upon noticing that the lock wasn’t right.
Somepony had jammed up the mechanism with superglue.
Derpy clenched her teeth, and let out a loud scream of frustration. She broke down and started crying on the steps that lead up to her flat. Why did this keep happening to her? What had she done to deserve all this? The endless pranks and jokes at the pegasi mare were starting to get to her.
As it so happened, Lyra & Bon Bon walked by and noticed the crying pegasi on the steps.
“Derpy? Is everything alright?” Lyra asked.
“No...” Derpy said with a sniffle. “I’ve had the most rotten day. Somepony put a magnet in my mailbag. So I had to dump out and re-sort the mail by hoof. I was late with everyponies mail, so they all gave me looks for it. Then I get home and find that someone put superglue in my locks, again!”
So was a day in the life of Derpy Hooves.
Both Lyra and Bon Bon gave the sniffling pegasi a hug. “There there, it’s all right! How about you come and stay the night with us, and we’ll get a locksmith out to your flat tomorrow morning,” Bon Bon suggested.
Derpy smiled, wiping the tears from her eyes. “You two are great friends, you know that?”
Lyra and Bon Bon smiled, and the three of them walked back towards their flat.
|
Wheller
|
895
| 5 |
DJ P0N-3,Fluttershy,Princess Celestia,Rainbow Dash,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore,Sex
|
Rite of Passage
|
Twilight has been thrust into a role of a parent, a task of which she is frankly not prepared for. Ponyville readies itself for war against the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, but when people start going missing, it's up to an unlikely group to investigate.
|
complete
| 24 | 5 |
<p>Twilight has been thrust into a role of a parent, a task of which she is frankly not prepared for. Ponyville readies itself for war against the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, but when people start going missing, it's up to an unlikely group to investigate.</p>
|
mature
|
2011-10-01T04:32:11+00:00
|
2011-10-01T04:32:11+00:00
| 1,068 |
Chapter 5
When Tia, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon walked into Sugarcube Corner, Tia couldn’t help but let out a gasp, she had never seen such a place like this.
“This is amazing!” Tia called out in excitement.
“Eh, the first one was better,” Silver Spoon said apathetically.
“Oh,” Tia said, looking down at the ground in embarrassment.
“Look! It’s the blank flanks!” Diamond Tiara said, pointing at Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo sitting in the corner. “Come on girls; let’s go say ‘hello’”
Silver Spoon giggled, Tia however said nothing, but followed anyway.
“How’s it going blank flanks?” Diamond Tiara sneered at the two ponies sitting in the corner.
“We’re doing awesome! Thanks for asking!” Sweetie Bell said with a smile, causing Scootaloo to facehoof.
“What?” Sweetie Bell asked, looking at her friend.
“Don’t you have anything better to do than make fun of us for not having our Cutie Marks?” Scootaloo asked in annoyance.
“Nope! We cleared out our evening schedules just for you!” Silver Spoon said.
“That was considerate of you!” Sweetie Bell exclaimed, causing Scootaloo to facehoof again.
“Shut up Sweetie Bell!” she cried out in frustration.
“Hey! Don’t tell me to shut up!” Sweetie Bell exclaimed.
“Um... Silver Spoon? Diamond Tiara?” Tia asked. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Don’t go anywhere blank flanks!” Diamond Tiara exclaimed.
“We won’t!” Sweetie Bell said, causing Scootaloo to facehoof again. “You’re going to hurt yourself if you keep doing that!”
Tia, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon walked over towards another end of the room.
“What is it Tia?” Diamond Tiara asked with mild annoyance.
“Um...” Tia began. “Don’t you girls think that you’re being... kind of mean to them?”
“Pfff,” Diamond Tiara exclaimed. “What does it matter?”
“Yeah!” Silver Spoon added. “They’re blank flanks! They’re like, totally not special!”
“Everypony is special,” Tia said quietly, she looked up at both of them, managing the bravest face that she could. “And you two are MEAN!”
Tia stared intensely at the two fillies before her, they looked back, as if they were mesmerised by Tia’s glare. After a few moments, they shook their heads and looked at each other in confusion.
“Maybe... maybe we are mean?” Diamond Tiara said.
“I don’t want to be mean!” Silver Spoon replied.
“You’re right,” Diamond Tiara said, looking at Tia with a frown. “Come on Silver Spoon let’s go say sorry to the blank... to Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo.”
Tia looked at her friends as they turned and walked back over to Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo in confusion. Tia didn’t know it yet, but she had influenced the two fillies’ minds into being nicer.
When the possibility dawned on her, Tia looked around in excitement, if she could get everypony to be nice all the time, it would make Twilight proud of her! It had to!
Tia trotted over towards her friends grinning with accomplishment, she was so happy that she just couldn’t contain it.
...
Sugarcube Corner closed at ten. Scootaloo, Sweetie Bell, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and Tia trotted out together, chatting with each other. Tia was beaming; her friends were all getting along with each other!
Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell turned to the south east towards Carousel Boutique. Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and Tia went north.
“They’re not bad,” Diamond Tiara admitted. “We could have been good friends!”
“Well now we can all start fresh!” Tia said, beaming with happiness.
“Yeah!” Silver Spoon agreed with enthusiasm.
Tia waved her friends goodbye and went inside the Ponyville Library. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon waved back, and continued on their walk north towards their homes.
After shutting the door behind her, Tia looked up to see that Rainbow Dash was talking to one of the kangaroos.
“... I just want everything to be perfect for Emerald Ordinance tomorrow Sergeant Tebbs! I mean ‘Lef-tenant.’”
Tebbs smiled at her. “Rainbow Dash. I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times! Call me Percy! Besides, the promotion to Second Lef-tenant is temporary at best.”
Tebbs looked towards the door, and discovered the pink maned filly standing at the door. “Why hello! Who might you be?”
Naturally, Tia shied away from the unfamiliar kangaroo.
“That’s Tia, she’s shy,” Rainbow Dash said. “Tia, this is my friend Lef-tenant Tebbs!”
“Percy!” Tebbs reminded her. The kangaroo Lieutenant kneeled down to look at the filly. “It’s very nice to meet you Tia.”
Tia didn’t reply.
Tebbs smiled at her and stood back up. “Well, it’s getting late; I need to be getting back. Good luck with Emerald Ordinance tomorrow!”
Tebbs hopped towards the door, opened it and then quickly shut it behind him. Rainbow waited a few seconds before turning to Tia.
“You could have said ‘hi’!” Rainbow Dash scolded her.
“He’s scary!” Tia cried out.
“He’s not scary! He’s... different,” Rainbow explained. “Everypony... everyone is unique in their own way, but being different doesn’t make them weird! You’re going to apologise for being rude to him tomorrow during the Emerald Ordinance trials!”
Rainbow Dash was very glad that Vinyl Scratch wasn’t around, otherwise she would have made a comment on how much like a mother Rainbow Dash was sounding.
There was a knock at the door, Rainbow Dash went over and opened it; Vinyl Scratch was standing at the door, grinning like a madmare.
“You were just thinking about me weren’t you?” Vinyl Scratch asked. “”Cause I was just thinking about you... in bed!”
Rainbow Dash gave the unicorn before her a blank stare. “You never get bored, do you Vinyl Scratch?”
“Nope!” Vinyl said. “Good thing too, otherwise a huge bomb would fall on the town!”
“Huh?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking at her friend in confusion.
“You know, because it’s unlikely to happen?” Vinyl said with a grin. “Okay... I’ll admit. It was funnier in my head.”
“Do you want something Vinyl?” Rainbow Dash asked in annoyance.
“Nope! Just waiting for Scootaloo to come through this way, see ya Rainbow!” Vinyl said with a wave she trotted away, leaving Rainbow Dash standing confused in the door step.
“Tia?” Rainbow Dash said. “When you grow up, please try not to be like Vinyl Scratch?”
“By the way!” Vinyl called back. “You sounded like a mother!”
...
Apple Bloom opened her eyes just slightly, light poured in and her eyes took a minute to adjust. She was in a room with white walls, and a white ceiling, and white everything else!
She didn’t know how she got here, she tried to turn her head to get a better look but found herself unable to move. She tried moving her legs, no response; she tried to open her mouth. No response; it seemed that all she could do was look around the room with her eyes.
She had no feeling in any part of her body; it was if her mind had been disconnected from her body entirely.
Then she remembered. She remembered Applejack on top of her, stomping her into the ground, she remembered the feeling of her bones breaking. She remembered Big Macintosh carrying her away from Sweet Apple Acres; she remembered the ride on the VC Firefly tank that carried her to the hospital.
She remembered everything, and she wished that she didn’t.
Apple Bloom felt her mouth begin to move, it was coming back under her control.
“Some...pony!” she exclaimed weakly. Nopony heard.
“Somepony!” she cried again. “Somepony!”
A black Pegasus pony clad in a medical coat walked into the room, discovering that Apple Bloom was awake.
“Oh no...” he said. “You’re not supposed to be awake yet!”
“What?” Apple Bloom asked.
She began to feel her own body again, the intense pain of her condition became noticeable, Apple Bloom started to cry out in pain.
“I need sedatives!” the doctor pony called out. “I need them now!”
A unicorn nurse followed the doctor pony into the room with a syringe full of sedatives.
“You’re going to be all right. I promise,” the doctor pony said, his amber eyes shining at the filly brightly as she reeled in pain. The unicorn nurse stuck the syringe into Apple Bloom’s IV and soon enough, the filly drifted back off to sleep.
“I need to know whose patient this is,” the pegasi doctor said. “They’re not paying attention to her, and as in bad of condition she is, she’s lucky I was around the corner when she started calling.”
“It’s Doctor Asiago’s.” The nurse said.
“Not anymore, you can tell him that I’m taking over.” The Pegasus said.
“Yes, Doctor Nightsinger.”
|
Wheller
|
895
| 6 |
DJ P0N-3,Fluttershy,Princess Celestia,Rainbow Dash,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore,Sex
|
Rite of Passage
|
Twilight has been thrust into a role of a parent, a task of which she is frankly not prepared for. Ponyville readies itself for war against the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, but when people start going missing, it's up to an unlikely group to investigate.
|
complete
| 24 | 5 |
<p>Twilight has been thrust into a role of a parent, a task of which she is frankly not prepared for. Ponyville readies itself for war against the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, but when people start going missing, it's up to an unlikely group to investigate.</p>
|
mature
|
2011-10-01T04:33:12+00:00
|
2011-10-01T04:33:12+00:00
| 1,172 |
Chapter 6
Very few townponies came out to watch Rainbow Dash and Twilight perform for the representatives of Emerald Ordinance. They had set up stands for the few that did, which were now being occupied by Vinyl Scratch, Scootaloo, Sweetie Bell, Tia, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and several of the kangaroo commandos notably, Captain Reginald Blackthorn, Lieutenant William Cutting, and Private Wilfred Dillingham.
Lieutenant Tebbs and his crew had been helping Rarity to design and construct a suitable obstacle course for the two ponies to run through. Complete with concertina wire, hand dug slit trenches, several broken up gliders, and the burnt out hulks of several kangaroo and gryphon tanks.
Two Mark VIII cruiser tanks had been parked on either side of the course; they would be firing blanks from their 7.55mm Sesa machine guns and would advance alongside the ponies during the trial in order to simulate the chaos and confusion of war.
Rainbow Dash had already strapped herself into the Ponyville Pattern Sen Guns; Twilight loaded two fresh magazines into the contraption and cocked each of them. She felt unnaturally heavy under the weight of both the Sen Guns and Rarity’s prototype combat barding.
“Ready to go Rainbow!?” Twilight called in excitement.
Rainbow Dash looked at her and smiled. Twilight would be running through the course with her, due to the fact that it was physically impossible to reload by herself, while under fire. Twilight was carrying all the ammo and would slide new magazines in with her magic whenever Rainbow needed them.
“I’m as ready as I’m ever going to be,” Rainbow said nervously. Ordinarily, Rainbow Dash loved showing off her stuff... but when it was something that actually mattered, like the Best Young Fliers Competition in Cloudsdale, or the trial for Emerald Ordinance. Rainbow got nervous.
“You’ll do fine,” Twilight said, planting a kiss on Rainbow’s muzzle. “Eyes down range, teeth on the control yoke, and blast all of Rarity’s creepy looking fashion dummies!”
Twilight levitated her revolver out, snapped open the breech, and checked the ammunition, satisfied she snapped it shut.
Rainbow Dash looked over in the stands again. Several more ponies had showed up. Derpy, Trixie, Lyra, Bon Bon... the Doctor?
Rainbow Dash was surprised to see that he was here, but then again, for all she knew this was something he would enjoy watching. Rainbow Dash barely knew him. All she knew was that he liked to be called “the Doctor.”
But what caught her eye the most was Fluttershy. Fluttershy was sitting by herself in the top corner of the stands, watching intently, their eyes met causing Fluttershy to give her a small wave.
Rainbow tried to wave back, but not accounting for the weight of the Ponyville Pattern Sen Guns caused her to fall forward on her face. Twilight giggled.
“Stop that!” Rainbow said coldly. Twilight ignored her, continuing to giggle as she helped the Pegasus up.
Rainbow Dash looked back towards the corner. Fluttershy was gone. She blinked several times and looked again. No Fluttershy.
“Huh,” Rainbow said aloud to herself. That was certainly odd.
Rainbow Dash eyed several important looking kangaroos take seats. These were the people from Emerald Ordinance.
“May I have your attention please!” called Lieutenant Tebbs through a bullhorn from the hatch of his tank. “We thank everyone for coming out, and especially would like to thank the kangaroos from Emerald Ordinance for taking time out of their busy schedules to watch the trial runs for the Ponyville Pattern Sen Light Machine Gun. In this scenario, the Light Machine Gun team, consisting of Ponyville’s own Corporal Twilight Sparkle and Lance-Corporal Rainbow Dash, will advance under simulated fire from the two Mark VIII Cruiser tanks at each side of the course. The tanks machine guns are loaded with blanks. Half way through the course, enemy targets will pop up at random. LMG Team, please take your positions.”
Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked at each other, they didn’t have ranks, but they figured that Tebbs had given them some to make them look professional.
“You ready?” Twilight asked.
“As ready as I’m ever going to be,” Rainbow said.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be right behind you,” Twilight said.
“That’s comforting; at least you’ll have a nice view of my arse the entire course!” Rainbow Dash said.
“LMG team! On the sound of the tank shell, begin!” Tebbs called out.
Tank... shell?
Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked over at the Lord Stuart; Tebbs was pulling himself inside the tank, shutting the hatch behind him. The light tank’s turret rotated slightly towards the north and fired its 37mm cannon.
On cue, Rainbow Dash and Twilight ran forward, ducking into the trenches. Machine gun fire from the Mark VIIIs overhead rang in the two ponies ears, but they kept moving and quickly as they could. They reached the end of the trenches, towards a wall of piled up sandbags. Good enough for cover.
Two targets popped up, each of them had an Emerald Rifle taped to the side of them, but what did not expect was the fact that the targets shot back at them. Rubber Bullets whizzed by the two ponies as they kept their heads down. One of the rubber bullets struck Rainbow Dash’s brodie helmet and bounced off.
Twilight peeked around the sandbag, the rifles were glowing, there were unicorns operating them from a distance.
“Ready Rainbow?” Twilight said.
Rainbow didn’t answer; instead, she popped up and bit down on the control yoke. Ripping apart the ex-fashion dummy,
Several more dummies popped up, Rainbow Dash turned towards them and bit down hard, spraying bullets in their direction. Interestingly enough, several of the dummies dropped back down, taking cover from Light Machine Gun fire.
They had to give Rarity and the Kangaroos credit; they knew what they were doing when they designed this scenario.
Rainbow Dash continued to fire, then her Sen Guns clicked empty, and she dropped back down into cover.
“Reload!” she called out, from now on, she needed to pay more attention to how much ammo she was using, or she’d run out when she needed to not run out the most.
Twilight pulled the old magazines out from the Sen Guns, allowing them to fall to the ground; she slid two new ones in.
“Go!” she called.
Rainbow Dash popped back up and fired, cutting down two more of the dummies. To even more of their surprise, all of the dummies that were in cover popped up and began moving towards them! Whoever was operating them really knew what they were doing.
Rainbow kept her focus, using her ammo sparingly. The last thing she wanted to do was run out here.
She fired, mowing down the dummies as they approached her until there was one; it was three metres from where they were. Rainbow bit down hard, intending to cut this last one to pieces.
Click Click.
Empty!
Twilight heard the clicking, and just as the dummy came up to the sandbags, she pointed her revolver at it and pulled the trigger, sending an 11mm magnum bullet right through the dummies head, knocking it over.
The machine gun fire from the Mark VIIIs stopped.
“And there you have it!” Tebbs called out.
Everyone in the stands was cheering.
...
Rainbow Dash and Twilight made their way back out into the open. Vinyl Scratch and Scootaloo were grinning at them in accomplishment. Lyra and Bon Bon were stomping their hooves in applause. Derpy was cheering; Trixie was smiling warmly at them. The Doctor kept a neutral face.
But most important of all, the kangaroos from Emerald Ordinance were clapping. They had been impressed. They’d done it! They’d won!
Eventually the applause died down, and everyone piled out of their seats.
“How did you like the targets?” Trixie asked. “Trixie certainly couldn’t make it easy for you, of course!”
“That was you? All of it?” Rainbow Dash cried out in surprise.
“Well, Lyra helped too, but Trixie did do most of them,” Trixie affirmed.
Captain Blackthorn and the Kangaroo Commandos walked up to them.
“Good show!” Blackthorn called out. “If we have even a hundred ponies like you, we’ll kick the gryphons back for sure!”
“Corporal Sparkle?” Another kangaroo that they didn’t recognise said. “Peter MacGregor, Emerald Ordinance, you’ve certainly impressed us! We’ll be putting the proposed design into production post-haste!”
Twilight and Rainbow Dash grinned at each other. This was the happiest they’d been in the longest time.
...
Twilight and Rainbow walked back into the library. They were out of combat barding, having turned it back over to Rarity. Rarity had complained that it smelled, but the two ponies had just laughed at her.
“I need a nice long bath,” Twilight said.
“What’s the point? We’re just going to get dirty again,” Rainbow said sensually, stroking a hoof down Twilight’s flank.
“Twilight! Rainbow!” Tia called out.
The two mares froze, they had completely forgotten about her, and both of them turned red in embarrassment.
Tia fortunately was too young to pick up on it.
“That was so cool today! You two were amazing!” Tia called out in excitement. “It was super loud too! I had to keep my ears covered!”
Twilight and Rainbow Dash smiled at each other. They were parents now after all. They’d have their time later.
|
Wheller
|
895
| 7 |
DJ P0N-3,Fluttershy,Princess Celestia,Rainbow Dash,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore,Sex
|
Rite of Passage
|
Twilight has been thrust into a role of a parent, a task of which she is frankly not prepared for. Ponyville readies itself for war against the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, but when people start going missing, it's up to an unlikely group to investigate.
|
complete
| 24 | 5 |
<p>Twilight has been thrust into a role of a parent, a task of which she is frankly not prepared for. Ponyville readies itself for war against the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, but when people start going missing, it's up to an unlikely group to investigate.</p>
|
mature
|
2011-10-01T04:34:18+00:00
|
2011-10-01T04:34:18+00:00
| 1,012 |
Chapter 7
“Vinyl Scratch!” Rainbow Dash called out at the top of her lungs.
Vinyl popped her head into Ponyville’s Library, smiling intensely. “You rang?”
Rainbow Dash was looking at a rather lewd note left addressed to her from an “anonymous pony.” Lewd letters from anonymous were always Vinyl Scratch in origin.
“Why do you continue to do this to me?” Rainbow Dash asked in annoyance.
Vinyl climbed in through the open window, regardless of the fact of the unlocked front door less than a metre away.
“Because it’s hilarious to see you blow up like this,” Vinyl said.
“I hate you so much,” Rainbow Dash scowled in annoyance.
“No you don’t!” Vinyl said, rubbing the top of her head against Rainbow Dash’s chest. “You love me and you know it.”
“Out you! Stop leaving me these notes!” Rainbow said.
Vinyl stuck her tongue out at Rainbow Dash and climbed back out the open window.
“Please use the door like a normal pony!”
“I am not a normal pony!” Vinyl called back.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” Rainbow Dash said with a scowl.
Episodes like this were entirely normal in the friendship between Rainbow Dash and Vinyl Scratch. It was how they showed affection for each other. Tia on the other hoof did not know this, and assumed that Rainbow didn’t like Vinyl Scratch at all.
Tia frowned, Vinyl wanted to be Rainbow’s friend, and Rainbow just wasn’t giving her a chance, she decided that she needed to take matters into her own hooves and fix it!
She stared intensely at Rainbow Dash, reaching into her mind and planting the right thoughts.
Good as new! Tia smiled at her handiwork; Rainbow Dash was going to be a lot nicer towards Vinyl Scratch from now on! Things couldn’t possibly go wrong!
...
Vinyl Scratch knocked on the door to the Ponyville Public Library.
“Come in!” Rainbow Dash called from inside.
Vinyl Scratch pushed open the door and found Rainbow Dash lying on the sofa, sitting on the table was a bottle of wine and two lit candles.
“Hi Vinyl,” Rainbow Dash said sensually. “Come sit with me!”
Vinyl Scratch knew, or at least, thought she knew what Rainbow was doing, she was trying to get back at her for all the jokes she played on her. Vinyl decided to play along, she if she could turn the joke back around on her friend. She trotted over and sat down next to Rainbow Dash was sipping on a glass of wine, she poured one for Vinyl and offered it to her.
Prank or no, this sent up a red flag. Vinyl was a recovering alcoholic, Rainbow Dash was very well aware of this, and wasn’t cruel enough to actually offer her alcohol... was she? If so, this was turning into a very bad joke. Vinyl refused it, but found that she was unable to take her eyes of the glass as Rainbow set it back down on the table. Rainbow Dash set hers down as well, flipping herself over and crawling towards Vinyl.
“Ha ha. Okay Rainbow, you got me! You can stop pretending now,” Vinyl said uneasily. She didn’t think it could happen, but Rainbow Dash had finally outdone her.
Rainbow Dash looked up at her and smiled coyly. “Who’s pretending?” She leaned in close and planted a kiss right on Vinyl’s lips.
Red flag number two.
Vinyl pushed Rainbow Dash off her, sending the cyan Pegasus into the other corner of the sofa. “Okay... I know that we joke about getting intimate with each other all the time, but that is NOT okay! Rainbow, what would Twilight think about this!?”
“Who says she has to know?” Rainbow asked.
Red flag number three.
“I cannot believe I just heard that from you of all ponies!” Vinyl Scratch exclaimed. She smacked Rainbow Dash hard across the face, snapping her to her senses.
Rainbow shook her head in confusion. “Huh... what just happened?”
“I hit you is what just happened!” Vinyl cried out. “You had better explain yourself before I start hitting you again!”
Rainbow shook her head again. “I... don’t know I knew what I was doing... but it was like something was keeping me from acknowledging that what I was doing was wrong.”
“Aww! You’re not supposed to be fighting!” called a soft voice from the stairs.
Vinyl Scratch and Rainbow Dash looked over at Tia, who was standing there looking terribly disappointed. She had lot of explaining to do.
...
“You did what?!” Twilight cried out in anger.
Twilight, Vinyl, and Rainbow Dash were standing around the filly, looking upon her in anger at what she had done.
“Rainbow Dash was being so mean to Vinyl Scratch! So I made her be nice... with my mind!” Tia explained again.
“Tia! You can’t do that to ponies! You can’t make them change who they are! It’s not right!” Twilight called out.
“Well why not?!” Tia called out in frustration. “I did it to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon! And now they’re way nicer! Everypony is happier for it! Especially them!”
“Tia!” Twilight Sparkle called out. “You need to go undo it right now!”
“No!” Tia called out; she looked into Twilight’s eyes intently.
“Oh no you don’t!” Twilight said breaking eye contact with the filly. “Tia... I am so disappointed in you that you would actually try and do that to me.”
Tia tears began to flow from the filly’s eyes, she started crying, pushing past the three mares and running out the door.
“Tia! No! Come back!” Twilight called out.
...
Tia kept running, not paying attention to the direction she ran to, she kept on going, sobbing her eyes out. She just wanted to make the world nicer, was that so bad?
Tia ran headlong into somepony, causing her to stagger backwards in surprise.
“Oh... my! Are you all right?” the pony she ran into said.
Tia looked up to find that a pink maned, yellow coated Pegasus was standing over her.
“No...” Tia said truthfully. She looked around, she had run out of Ponyville and was near a small cottage next to the Everfree forest, luckily she stopped when she did otherwise she would have been halfway through the forest before she knew it.
“I’m sorry to hear that. What’s your name?” the Pegasus asked.
“Tia...” she managed.
“Nice to meet you Tia, I’m Fluttershy. I was just about ready to put on a kettle for tea, would you like some?” Fluttershy said with a smile.
Tia didn’t really want any tea, but she felt it would be rude to say no; instead she nodded in affirmation, and followed Fluttershy into her house.
Tia was hit by a horrific smell upon entering the cottage, unlike anything she had ever smelled before. She couldn’t help but cry out in surprise.
“What is that?!” she asked.
“Oh!” Fluttershy cried out. “My pie! I almost forgot!”
Fluttershy dashed into the kitchen and pulled a pie out of the oven.
“Phew! Didn’t burn!” Fluttershy said, sighing in relief. She turned towards the filly and with a smile asked if she would like some.
Once again, Tia didn’t really want any, but she didn’t want to sound rude, so she accepted a small piece of pie that Fluttershy offered her. Fluttershy put a kettle of water on to boil, and returned to the table where Tia was sitting at.
“Do you like the pie?” Fluttershy asked with a smile.
Tia did not, not only did it smell funny, it tasted funny, and the texture was unlike anything that Tia had ever eaten before in her entire life, but once again, she felt it would be rude to criticise it, so she simply nodded in affirmation, causing a bright smile from the Pegasus.
“Oh I’m so glad it turned out all right! This is my first time making it! It’s my own special secret recipe that I’ve been working on!” Fluttershy said enthusiastically.
Tia smiled, she’d made Fluttershy happy, and she hadn’t even needed to influence her mind. Twilight was right; she didn’t have to make ponies happy with her mind. She could do it through her actions.
Fluttershy poured Tia a cup of tea, which too tasted funny, but she didn’t say anything about it, she was a guest, after all, and a guest must always be polite.
“If you don’t mind my asking, what was troubling you?” Fluttershy asked the filly.
Tia looked at the floor guiltily. “I did something I shouldn’t have... it was wrong of me to try and force somepony into doing something they didn’t want to, even though it would help them... Fluttershy? Thank you for helping me see that.”
“You’re welcome,” Fluttershy said, knowing full well she hadn’t done or said anything.
“I need to go and apologise, thank you so much for the tea and pie! It was... nice!” Tia said with a smile.
Fluttershy smiled back. “You’re welcome! Feel free to come by and visit again sometime Tia!”
“I will!” Tia said, she got up from her seat and trotted outside the door and back towards Ponyville. Not realising that the Pie she had eaten had been made from the organs of DS Lucky and DC Banana Crème.
|
Wheller
|
895
| 8 |
DJ P0N-3,Fluttershy,Princess Celestia,Rainbow Dash,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore,Sex
|
Rite of Passage
|
Twilight has been thrust into a role of a parent, a task of which she is frankly not prepared for. Ponyville readies itself for war against the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, but when people start going missing, it's up to an unlikely group to investigate.
|
complete
| 24 | 5 |
<p>Twilight has been thrust into a role of a parent, a task of which she is frankly not prepared for. Ponyville readies itself for war against the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, but when people start going missing, it's up to an unlikely group to investigate.</p>
|
mature
|
2011-10-01T04:35:04+00:00
|
2011-10-01T04:35:04+00:00
| 1,037 |
Chapter 8
Tia had not made it half way back to the library before she started to feel sick. She wanted to vomit, but struggled to keep it down.
The feeling was horrible, like nothing she’d ever felt before, Tia made it only another metre forward before she dropped to her knees and vomited violently in the street.
She collapsed on her side, beginning to shake and continuing to vomit not only on the street, but over herself. It was if her entire stomach disagreed with her and intended to purge every last bit.
Tia didn’t understand what was happening, and began to cry.
It was at this time a kangaroo commando on patrol, Dillingham to be precise. Took notice of the fallen filly, and rushed over to her.
“Oi! You all right kid?” he asked.
Tia’s only answer would be another round of vomiting. She needed a doctor.
Dillingham picked her up, not minding that he was getting covered in her vomit and hopped over to one of the parked Mark VIII cruiser tanks.
“Oi! This one needs to get to hospital! Get the lead out!” he called to the tank’s crew.
Everyone piled inside, and the Mark VIII cruiser tank A Gryphon Dead is Worth Two in the Bush. Drove off at flank speed towards the Royal Hospital in Canterlot, Dillingham held on to the filly for dear life as the Mark VIII rocketed through the river that ran through Ponyville and back over the other side.
This didn’t go unnoticed, at such speeds, the tank was very loud. Rainbow Dash had taken to the air to search for Tia, and spotted the fast moving tank rocketing towards Whitetail Wood. She dived down upon them, noticing that Dillingham had Tia in his arms.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Found her lying in the street covered in her own sick. Getting her to hospital, why? She yours?” Dillingham asked.
“Not exactly...!” Rainbow Dash yelled over the noise of the Mark VIII’s engine. “Just get her there safe! We’ll meet you there!”
“Aye!” Dillingham said.
Rainbow Dash peeled off back towards Ponyville. A Gryphon Dead is Worth Two in the Bush continued to rocket up the mountain.
Crunch!
The tank halted abruptly, causing Dillingham to nearly lose his hold on Tia.
“What the hell happened?”
The tank commanded poked his head out, climbing out of the tank. “We blew out the suspension! We’re going nowhere.”
Dillingham scowled. “You want something done right? Do it yourself.”
Dillingham gripped Tia tightly, hopping off and bursting forward at full speed. A kangaroo at full hop was just as fast if not faster than a Mark VIII. It reinforced that if kangaroos were good at anything, it was fast attacks.
In under a minute, Dillingham tore through into the city proper, hopping madly towards the Royal Hospital, he burst through the door and breakneck speed, sending them flying off their hinges.
“This girl needs a doctor!” he called out.
Tia vomited again.
...
Twilight, Vinyl, and Rainbow Dash were galloping up the mountain towards Canterlot. They’d caught a ride on another Mark VIII that had gone up to assist the broken down A Gryphon Dead is Worth Two in the Bush. They’d be hoofing it the rest of the way.
Twilight was worried, Rainbow Dash had said that Tia was sick, but with what she didn’t know.
Soon enough The trio made their way into the Royal Hospital, through the open doorway that was no longer covered thanks to Dillingham.
Dillingham was waiting for them at the receptionist counter. Waving over towards them. He led them back to where the doctors had taken her.
“She’s fine. I got her here in time. The Doctors are emptying the contents of her stomach.” Dillingham said. “That’ll tell us what made her sick. I’m surprised that kid had anything left to empty!”
Off in the distance, there was a Pegasus doctor chatting with a nurse over the status with another patient.
“Apple Bloom is doing much better today...” the nurse said. “I think we can finally take her off the sedatives, the magical healing seems to be doing its job.”
“Excellent,” the Pegasus doctor said. “What about that unicorn filly that was just brought in?”
“Stomach is empty, sent the contents off to be analysed,” the Nurse said. “We’ll know by morning.”
Twilight perked her head up. They had to be talking about Tia!
She trotted over towards the doctor and nurse. “Excuse me did I hear you talking about a unicorn filly...”
Twilight stopped as she got a better look at the Pegasus doctor. She let out a scream in surprise. It was Nightsinger.
Dillingham drew his submachine gun instinctively. Vinyl and Rainbow Dash ran over towards her friend.
“What do you think you’re doing!?” Rainbow spat at him.
“Begging your pardon miss,” Nightsinger said. “I’m just trying to do my job, and that’s taking care of a very sick unicorn filly.”
“Don’t play games with us Nightsinger!” Twilight cried angrily at him.
“Games? Miss I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“Drop the act Nightsinger! We know who you are and you know who we are.” Vinyl called at him.
“Miss, please. I’ve never seen any of you before in my life, and you!” Nightsinger said, pointing a hoof at Dillingham. “Put that away before you hurt somepony! This is a hospital, not a shooting gallery!”
Dillingham obeyed, putting the Austin submachine gun away.
Twilight and her friends however looked at Nightsinger in confusion, but then they thought about it. Celestia had been turned into a filly and lost all her memories, could the same have happened to the Siblings Nightmare? But why was he still a full grown pony!
“Miss, if you and your friends don’t calm down, I’m going to have to call security,” Nightsinger said.
They looked at each other in surprise. Maybe he really didn’t know who they were.
“I’m sorry... doctor, I think I mistook you for somepony else,” Twilight said.
Nightsinger didn’t buy it for a minute, but he went on as if he didn’t care either way. “Yes, the unicorn filly, name unknown. Brought in by a kangaroo, and vomiting up her entire stomach. We pumped out the contents and sent them to be analysed. They should be back tomorrow morning; we’ll be keeping her here until then.”
“Okay... thank you doctor, can we see her?” Twilight Sparkle asked.
“Are you members of her family?” Nightsinger asked.
“Umm... no, not exactly,” Twilight said.
“Then I’m afraid the answer is no. Family only... considering we don’t have records of who she even is... I’m not letting anypony see her until after we get the results from the stomach pump back,” Nightsinger said. “You can wait over there.”
Twilight frowned, but gave in. She wasn’t going to argue with an immortal, all powerful being of chaos, despite the fact that he likely didn’t know that he was that at all.
Instead, Twilight, Rainbow, and Vinyl sat down on a bench, and waited for Nightsinger to go away.
“I can’t believe this!” Rainbow Dash cried out in frustration. “Him of all ponies!”
Twilight nodded in agreement.
“Do we think he was telling the truth?” Vinyl asked.
“The siblings aren’t exactly known for being honest, Vinyl. We’ll trust that he was telling the truth... for now, but we’ll be keeping a very close eye on him,” Twilight said. “He mentioned Apple Bloom, which means that Big Macintosh is going to be around here somewhere. I’m going to go find him and talk to him about it.”
“He doesn’t know about the Siblings, neither does anypony else outside of us!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Are we going to tell him?”
“Yes. He’s got a right to know if Nightsinger is looking after Apple Bloom,” Twilight said simply. “You two wait here. I’m going to go find him.”
|
Wheller
|
895
| 9 |
DJ P0N-3,Fluttershy,Princess Celestia,Rainbow Dash,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore,Sex
|
Rite of Passage
|
Twilight has been thrust into a role of a parent, a task of which she is frankly not prepared for. Ponyville readies itself for war against the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, but when people start going missing, it's up to an unlikely group to investigate.
|
complete
| 24 | 5 |
<p>Twilight has been thrust into a role of a parent, a task of which she is frankly not prepared for. Ponyville readies itself for war against the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, but when people start going missing, it's up to an unlikely group to investigate.</p>
|
mature
|
2011-10-01T04:35:32+00:00
|
2011-10-01T04:35:32+00:00
| 1,315 |
Chapter 9
Big Macintosh caught himself staring blankly at the wall again. The draught pony was lost in his own thoughts, not only about Apple Bloom, and her current status, but the way his life was going in general.
Big Macintosh felt somewhat guilty that he was spending all his time here at the Royal Hospital and none of it at home. He’d left Braeburn to deal with the farm chores all by himself. He knew his cousin understood, and naturally wanted to help. That didn’t make him feel any better.
Sweet Apple Acres had been in financial trouble for the last few years, ever since Big Macintosh’s grandfather had died. Granddaddy had always taken care of the business side of the Apple Farm. While Granny Smith had done the actual farm work. She knew everything there was to know about the growing side, but when it came to business... she didn’t have a clue.
Years of mismanagement had sent the Apple Family swarming in debt, and it had only gotten worse with the passing of Granny Smith during the winter.
Applejack had inherited both Granny Smith’s talent for growing, and her talent for business. This was why she let Big Macintosh run the business side of it, because unlike her, he actually knew what he was doing.
One would not have been able to guess by looking at him, but the simple farm pony was actually quite intelligent. He’d been attending the University of Canterlot for the last six years, taking classes during the winter semester, bucking for degrees in agricultural science and business management. It was taking longer than he’d like, but considering that he could only manage a single semester per year, it was slow going from here on in. He couldn’t afford to be away from Sweet Apple Acres for more than a year.
Applejack didn’t know a thing about business, and despite allowing Big Macintosh to take care of that side, she had liked to poke her head in anyway. Several corporations had made offers to distribute Sweet Apple Acres apples all around Equestria for a very reasonable price. It would be enough to keep the farm from defaulting for the next several years. Applejack had butted her head in and said no, of course.
Big Macintosh didn’t want to sell all his crops off to a corporation either. But splitting the profits with a corporation would be better than having no profits at all. Big Macintosh had tried to explain this to Applejack many-a-time, but to no avail. Since Granny Smith’s passing, it seemed like all the two ever did was fight over everything as insignificant as how to run the farm, to something as important as Apple Bloom.
Apple Bloom... Applejack had grown unreasonable in the last few months, she’d hurt Apple Bloom badly for disobeying her, now Big Macintosh sat around the Royal Hospital, day in and day out, hardly ever leaving his little sister’s side.
Apple Bloom had been placed in a magical coma. She was healing, ever so slowly, but she was indeed healing.
On some days, Big Macintosh was joined by his kangaroo friend, Corporal Elliot Southerland, who he’d gotten to know very well over the last month, Elliot was very fond of Apple Bloom, and had been part of the reason why Apple Bloom was here now.
Elliot had given Apple Bloom and her friends a ride on his tank, which had angered Applejack to no end. When Applejack confronted Apple Bloom about it, the filly told her off, causing Applejack to get angry and beat the ever loving day lights out of her.
Big Macintosh suspected that Elliot blamed himself for what had happened. Big Macintosh did not. He blamed Applejack.
This had been bound to happen sooner or later, Applejack had become increasingly hostile towards her friends, her family, and frankly everyone she met. As the days went on, she got angrier. It didn’t excuse her behaviour, but they were heading for this for a very long time.
What Applejack had done was unforgivable. Big Macintosh was certainly in no hurry to offer forgiveness.
“Big Macintosh?”
Big Macintosh turned his head towards the door; standing in the opening was Twilight Sparkle.
“‘Ello Miss Twilight,” Big Macintosh said. “Somethin’ Ah can do fer ya?”
Twilight trotted into the room and sat down next to him. She told him her tail, sparing no detail of the Siblings Nightmare, what had happened to Applejack, and what had brought them to this point. Big Macintosh listened intently.
“I know that sounds crazy...” Twilight began.
“‘Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't,’” Big Macintosh quoted, catching Twilight off guard. “Ah believe ya. Ya’ll might be surprised, but Ah’m a learned pony.”
Twilight wouldn’t have guessed. She didn’t know Big Macintosh that well, he rarely came into town, and even when he did, he always looked incredibly bored and disinterested in everything around him, but she supposed that behind that bored expression, ticked a very active brain.
“Ya want me ta keep mah eyes on this Nightsinger fella, well he’s been takin’ care o’ mah sister, so you believe me Twilight, Ah intend to.”
“Thank you, Big Macintosh... is Apple Bloom doing all right?” Twilight asked.
“Eeyup.”
...
The night came and went; Doctor Nightsinger received the test results of Tia’s stomach pump back. What he found shocked and disgusted him to no end. He went out into the waiting area where Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Vinyl Scratch had all fallen asleep, leaning on each other’s shoulders.
Family or no, these mares were better than nothing.
“Excuse me,” Nightsinger said audibly enough for them to hear.
The three mares opened their eyes slowly, looking up at the pegasi doctor.
“I have the results back from the stomach pump... family or not, I figured that you wanted to hear this. The contents of your little filly’s stomach had large amounts of meat. Considering how much she was vomiting, I’m surprised that there was still any left to pump out... but that’s not the disturbing part, further analysis on the meat revealed it to be several organs... from a pony.”
The trio of mares’ mouths dropped open.
“Multiple... ponies in fact, the lab is doing further testing to see if they can’t identify DNA and see who those organs belong to.”
Twilight wanted to vomit. The idea of a pony eating meat was disgusting enough... the idea that Tia had eaten parts of another pony were even worse.
“I don’t suppose you three would know anything about this?” Nightsinger asked with suspicion.
They each shook their heads no, too stunned to speak.
“Figured as much,” Nightsinger said. “As you can figure, there isn’t going to be anypony seeing her until this mess is resolved. I highly suggest, and by suggest I mean ‘get out, or I’ll have security escort you out,’ that you go home.”
Nightsinger turned and went around the corner, leaving the three mares confused as to what they had just been told.
“What a piece of work he is!” Rainbow Dash seethed. “I think I preferred him when he was trying to kill us.”
Twilight frowned. “I don’t suppose you still have your Canterlot apartment, would you Vinyl?”
“Still mine for another few months!” Vinyl said with a smile. “Been meaning to get all my crap cleared out of it, glad I didn’t.”
“Glad to see your laziness is working out for us Vinyl,” Twilight said with a smirk. “We’ll go there. I for one don’t intend to leave this city without Tia.”
“You know we both got your back Twilight!” Rainbow Dash said.
“Whatever you decide we’re going to do, we’ll do!” Vinyl said grinning.
They’d give Nightsinger his time, but not a second longer.
|
Wheller
|
895
| 10 |
DJ P0N-3,Fluttershy,Princess Celestia,Rainbow Dash,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore,Sex
|
Rite of Passage
|
Twilight has been thrust into a role of a parent, a task of which she is frankly not prepared for. Ponyville readies itself for war against the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, but when people start going missing, it's up to an unlikely group to investigate.
|
complete
| 24 | 5 |
<p>Twilight has been thrust into a role of a parent, a task of which she is frankly not prepared for. Ponyville readies itself for war against the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, but when people start going missing, it's up to an unlikely group to investigate.</p>
|
mature
|
2011-10-01T04:36:07+00:00
|
2011-10-01T04:36:07+00:00
| 899 |
Chapter 10
More missing posters had been posted in the Ponyville Post Office. There were now six posters hanging on the walls in the Ponyville Post Office. Two for the missing detectives, another one for a pony named Meilliot, two posters for missing kangaroo pilots, and a third for a missing representative of Emerald Ordinance.
This troubled Derpy Hooves to no end, and as such, she found herself hopelessly distracted during her delivery route, and despite the fact that nopony had sabotaged her mailbag today, she didn’t come anywhere close to making her deliveries on time.
Derpy returned her mailbag to the post office, and was about to make her way home when she bumped into Trixie. Neither of them had been paying attention.
“Sorry Trixie...I’ve got my head in the clouds today,” Derpy said.
“Trixie does too. I’m disturbed by all the missing person posters that have been plastered around town,” Trixie replied understandingly.
Somepony had taken to posting them everywhere they could. The missing detectives had been missing nearly a week at this point; everypony was worried to say the least. Nopony knew anything. Everyone who had gone missing either wasn’t from Ponyville, or kept to themselves.
“I think we need to do something!” Derpy said. “I can’t keep going to work and watch as more and more posters pile up!”
Trixie frowned at her friend; she was an illusionist, not an investigator. Derpy was a postal worker, what could they possibly do that the police weren’t already? Derpy understood Trixie’s convictions, but she couldn’t sit by anymore.
“I understand if you don’t want to get involved... but I need to,” Derpy said simply.
Trixie smiled at her friend. “Trixie has a few months to live at most, might as well spend it doing something worthwhile.”
Derpy smiled at her friend, she was glad to have her along for the ride.
...
They had no idea what they were doing.
Derpy and Trixie discovered very quickly that they had gotten in way over their heads. If they were going to crack this, they were going to need more help.
Lyra and Bon Bon were naturally good choices to ask, and of course, they agreed without hesitation. The Doctor would have been if he were an easy pony to find, which of course, he was not.
Derpy, Lyra, Bon Bon, and Trixie had found themselves on the edge of the Everfree forest. So far, it was the only place that the police hadn’t looked.
“We’re... we’re not really going to go in there, are we?” Lyra asked.
“It’s the only place that hasn’t been checked,” Derpy said. “CPS won’t go anywhere near it!”
“For good reason!” Bon Bon exclaimed. “There are... monsters in there!”
Derpy nodded. “We’ve faced down monsters before and come out okay,” Derpy smiled and placed a hoof on Bon Bon’s shoulder. “We’ll be fine. I promise.”
Lyra and Bon Bon felt much better with Derpy’s reassurances, and with that, the four mares took a deep breath and entered the forest.
Truth be told, it was not as bad as it had been in the past. Fire and kangaroo had cleared out many trees and the sun was visible overhead. The forest had been thinned so that walking along a predetermined path wasn’t necessary, because they weren’t going to find clues along the main road anyway. Everfree felt different now. The new found openness to the forest made it feel more like Whitetail Wood than the dark and scary Everfree forest. While things still operated on their own, the ponies felt that if they wanted to retake the forest and bring it back under their control, they could parts, maybe.
Everfree was vast, while the forest itself was relatively condensed around Ponyville, which was at the forest’s northern end, the forest extended hundreds of kilometres to the south and expanded east and west the farther south you went. While Everfree had at one time been under Equestrian control, retaking the forest now would take years upon years to claim the entirety of it.
Lyra and Bon Bon were trotting along the path, still slightly nervous about the situation, Derpy and Trixie had taken to searching just east of the path where the trees were thicker.
Lyra smiled at her friend, hoping to alleviate some of the uneasiness.
Bon Bon however did not smile back, she froze, and her mouth dropping open at what was lying before her. She let out a scream of terror, causing Derpy and Trixie to run to their aid.
Lyra looked at what Bon Bon was screaming at. When she saw it, Lyra screamed too.
Before them was a decomposing body of a unicorn mare. Eyes gorged out, despite being partially decomposed, they could tell that the mare’s coat was yellow. The body before them was one of the missing ponies. Detective Constable Banana Crème. Further walking around the area turned up the bodies of Detective Sergeant Lucky and the two Kangaroo pilots. All of them in equally bad shape.
Both Lyra and Bon Bon found themselves vomiting heavily. They had never seen something so horrible, so brutal, in their entire lives. None of them had.
What was worse was that there were still two unaccounted for. Derpy tried her best to get the group to stay positive, the bodies of Melilot and the Representative from Emerald Ordinance were not to be found, in the forest, there was hope, however slim, that they were still alive.
Trixie noted that the bodies were roughly along a straight line with each other, which meant that whoever dumped them here had walked in a straight line when they did the deed. Derpy smiled, this was the clue that they needed, and they could follow the line back to its origin. They were close to finding out the truth.
...
Following Derpy’s compass on as straight a line as they could, the mares walked towards the eastern edge of the Everfree forest. They broke the tree line and stopped. They were right next to Fluttershy’s cottage.
No... It couldn’t be! The line had led them here, but Fluttershy couldn’t be the one behind it, could she?
The four looked at each other in fear, silently communicating to each other that caution needed to be exercised from here on out.
The four took the first step, going up and knocking on the door to Fluttershy’s cottage. Fluttershy opened the door and was surprised to see the four of them together.
“Um... Hello,” Fluttershy said nervously. Though that wasn’t anywhere out of the ordinary. “Is there something I can do for you?”
Trixie glowered angrily at the pegasi, causing her to recoil slightly. “We know,” she said.
She was bluffing, they didn’t know if Fluttershy was behind this or not, but she figured that if they confronted her in this manner, she’d break down and spill everything. Turns out, Trixie was spot on.
“You... do?” Fluttershy said her eyes widened with fear. “Oh no... No no no!”
Fluttershy tried to slam the door in their faces, but Trixie was too fast, she caught the door with her hoof, pushing it open and sending the Pegasus flopping backwards.
The four closed in on her. Fluttershy panicked, her eyes darting around the room for an exit. She found one, the large open window at the other end of the room. Fluttershy took flight, darting quickly out the window as fast as she could.
“Lyra! Bon Bon!” Trixie called out. “Go after her! We’ll look and see if those other two are here!”
Lyra and Bon Bon nodded, running outside and towards Ponyville.
Derpy and Trixie went over to the partially open cellar door, pushing it open and trotting down the stairs.
Sitting bound and gagged was a kangaroo, his eyes wide with panic. Derpy and Trixie undid his gag, dropping it to the floor.
“She’s crazy! You hear me! She’s insane! You have to get me out of here before she comes back!” the kangaroo said.
“Relax!” Derpy said. “We’re here to help you!”
|
Wheller
|
895
| 11 |
DJ P0N-3,Fluttershy,Princess Celestia,Rainbow Dash,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore,Sex
|
Rite of Passage
|
Twilight has been thrust into a role of a parent, a task of which she is frankly not prepared for. Ponyville readies itself for war against the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, but when people start going missing, it's up to an unlikely group to investigate.
|
complete
| 24 | 5 |
<p>Twilight has been thrust into a role of a parent, a task of which she is frankly not prepared for. Ponyville readies itself for war against the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, but when people start going missing, it's up to an unlikely group to investigate.</p>
|
mature
|
2011-10-01T04:36:35+00:00
|
2011-10-01T04:36:35+00:00
| 1,047 |
Chapter 11
Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Vinyl Scratch walked into Ponyville’s limits, passed the dug in Iron Hoof of Cromwell, each of them bitter by the day’s events.
“So much for plan A,” Twilight said in annoyance.
“Hey! I said I was sorry!” Vinyl called back. “What more do you want from me! I haven’t had to use that flat in almost a year!”
Twilight frowned and gave the off-white unicorn an apologetic look. “I’m sorry Vinyl, it’s not your fault. I just don’t like the idea of leaving Tia alone in Canterlot with Nightsinger watching over her. If Nightsinger was bluffing, then who knows what he’ll do!”
“You’re worrying too much Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said trying to relax her. “She IS still Princess Celestia after all, what can Nightsinger really do to her?”
Twilight sighed, Rainbow was right, she was worrying too much.
“I’ll help Vinyl look for her keys, Rainbow, can you go get a few days worth of food from the Library?” Twilight asked.
“I’m on it!” Rainbow Dash said, she leapt into the air and flew off towards the Library, landing in front of it and going inside, not aware that another pony was rapidly approaching the Library behind her.
...
The door to the Ponyville Library opened and quickly slammed shut behind it. Fluttershy dropped to the floor, panting heavily from exhaustion.
“Fluttershy?”
She looked up to see Rainbow Dash standing over her. Fluttershy leapt up, throwing her forelegs around Rainbow’s neck and pulling the cyan Pegasus close to her.
“Oh Rainbow!” Fluttershy said. “I am so happy to see you!”
“Clearly,” Rainbow Dash said returning Fluttershy’s hug. “I haven’t seen you in forever! Where have you been? What were you doing?”
“I’ve been keeping busy, doing things around my home, you know?” Fluttershy said sidestepping the question. “Do you care about me, Rainbow?”
Rainbow Dash was caught off guard by Fluttershy’s question, her eyes blinked, thinking that she might have misheard her friend. “What kind of question is that? Of course I do!”
Fluttershy smiled. “I care about you too, Rainbow... a lot. Ever since we were fillies! You were there, sticking up for me when those bullies gave me a hard time about not being very good at anything. I... I liked you a lot.”
“When you say ‘liked me a lot...’?” Rainbow started too asked, not entirely sure where Fluttershy was going with this.
“I... have had a crush on you since we were in flight school together,” Fluttershy said. “I love you, Rainbow Dash. I’ve loved you for years, but I was too scared to every say anything or do anything about it... and now I’m worried...”
Fluttershy broke down into tears; she knew what was going to happen to her. Derpy, Trixie, Lyra, and Bon Bon were going to expose her. She was going to be locked away forever... or worse. She had no other options; she needed Rainbow to protect her.
“Fluttershy...” Rainbow Dash said. She frowned at her friend, not liking where this path had taken her in the slightest. “You’re my friend, Fluttershy. I do care about you, I really do! But I... don’t love you. I’m sorry, but I’m with Twilight.”
Fluttershy felt her heart crack. The sting of Rainbow Dash’s rejection ripped her mind in two; the worry had been replaced by rage.
Fluttershy’s eyes narrowed, anger surging through her entire body. She pushed Rainbow Dash away, and pounced on her, tacking the surprised Pegasus to the floor.
“Twilight! You’ve known Twilight for two years! How could you love her more than me! We’ve been friends since we were fillies!” Fluttershy said, her voice was quiet, but filled with rage.
“We weren’t that great of friends then Fluttershy...” Rainbow said, trying to reason with her. It ended up being her biggest mistake. Fluttershy lifted her wing, revealing the knife stained with the blood of five.
Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened with fear, and as she looked back into Fluttershy’s eyes, she noticed that they were filled with murder. When Fluttershy drew the knife, she panicked, trying to break free of Fluttershy’s hold.
The meek pegasi was much stronger than she looked, Rainbow only managed to get a singly hoof free, she pushed it under Fluttershy’s chin, trying to keep the knife away.
Fluttershy’s rage filled strength proved to be more than a match for Rainbow, the knife began to lower towards Rainbow’s chest in spite of her attempts.
“Fluttershy! No! Stop! Please!” Rainbow cried in desperation, her hoof slipped, and she lost control of the only thing keeping her from harm.
Fluttershy plunged the knife into Rainbow Dash’s chest, causing the cyan Pegasus to gasp in surprise. The pain was unimaginable, amplified by the fact that her assailant was the most gentile of all ponies.
Rainbow Dash was drowning, her lungs were filling with her own blood, and she choked for any air that she could get. Fluttershy pulled the knife out and stabbed her again.
“Ooo lub be nah?” Fluttershy asked stabbing her again, and again, and again.
Rainbow Dash was crying, she lay on the floor in her own blood, she felt her life slipping away.
She gave Fluttershy a last look, she tried to speak, but was unable. Her eyes rolled past Fluttershy’s and the world seemed to wash away in a brilliant white light.
I’m sorry.
That was the last thought that went through Rainbow Dash’s mind, and with it, she drifted off into the endless sleep.
...
Twilight opened the door to the Library and stepped inside. “Rainbow! We found Vinyl’s keys! I... ” Twilight stopped and looked at Fluttershy standing over Rainbow Dash, knife clenched in her teeth, Rainbow’s lifeless body at her hooves.
She screamed, not in fear but in anger, Twilight tackled Fluttershy to the ground, catching the Pegasus off guard and knocking the knife away.
“You killed her!” Twilight cried in rage, she pressed her hooves on Fluttershy’s neck, blocking off the Pegasus’ airway.
Fluttershy gasped for air, but found herself unable to take any in. She struggled to push Twilight away, but like she had been with Rainbow, rage made Twilight too strong to push away.
Fluttershy’s face was turning blue, she tried to plead with Twilight to make her stop, but no sound would come. Fluttershy made a last attempt to breath, but she could not, she looked at Twilight, her eyes fell to the side, and her head drooped.
Twilight realised what was happening and backed off. She prodded Fluttershy, but the Pegasus would not move. She had stopped breathing.
Twilight began to cry, Rainbow Dash, the love of her life, was dead, and now so was her assailant, at her own hooves.
Twilight backed away, sitting against the wall, she could only watch in horror at the sight before her.
Her saddlebags had fallen off; Twilight looked to her left and discovered that her revolver was lying on the ground next to her.
She levitated the revolver up to inspect it. Emerald Ordinance No.4 Revolver, 11mm magnum. She snapped open the breach, it was fully loaded. Twilight snapped it shut and pulled back on the hammer. She sighed and looked back at the bodies of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy lying on the floor in front of her. When she came to Ponyville, she had six friends. Spike had long been out of contact, on the diplomatic staff of an Ambassador with the Green Dragonflight. One of their members had been destroyed by Overdrive, causing a political scuff up. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were dead. Pinkie Pie and Applejack were nowhere to be found. Now it was just her and Rarity.
If Twilight was going to get her way, soon enough it would be only Rarity left.
Twilight pointed the revolver at her temple, and closed her eyes, she took a deep breath. She was ready.
“Twilight? I saw your door was open and... what are you doing!?”
Twilight’s eyes opened to find Vinyl Scratch looking at her from the opening.
“You need to put that down! Right now!” Vinyl called out to her, her voice was filled with panic.
“What’s the point?” Twilight asked. “Rainbow Dash is dead. Fluttershy is dead. All of my friends are either dead or gone.”
“Hey! Don’t talk like that!” Vinyl said; she slowly walked over to her. “Not everypony is gone. I’m still here. Remember what I said? You will always have me until you decide you don’t want me around.”
Twilight looked up at her friend, she smiled faintly at her, she eyed the revolver, still levitating in front of her and frowning at it.
“Do you think...?” Twilight began but was interrupted by Vinyl wrapping her magic around it.
“That I could hold on to this for you for a while?” Vinyl Scratch finished. “Of course.”
Twilight released it, allowing Vinyl to slip it away into her saddlebags. The mares embraced each other.
“It would be really nice if you could lie and tell me that everything would be okay,” Twilight said, tears streaming down her face and onto Vinyl’s shoulders.
“Yeah...” Vinyl said. “Yeah it would.”
|
Wheller
|
895
| 12 |
DJ P0N-3,Fluttershy,Princess Celestia,Rainbow Dash,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore,Sex
|
Rite of Passage
|
Twilight has been thrust into a role of a parent, a task of which she is frankly not prepared for. Ponyville readies itself for war against the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, but when people start going missing, it's up to an unlikely group to investigate.
|
complete
| 24 | 5 |
<p>Twilight has been thrust into a role of a parent, a task of which she is frankly not prepared for. Ponyville readies itself for war against the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms, but when people start going missing, it's up to an unlikely group to investigate.</p>
|
mature
|
2011-10-01T04:37:10+00:00
|
2011-10-01T04:37:10+00:00
| 1,422 |
Epilogue
“Twilight? Ya need ta wake up now.”
Twilight Sparkle’s eyes shot open, she was tired, it was the middle of the night, and she’d had a hell of a day. The police had already been by, and taken away the bodies of both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, the Library was still considered a crime scene, though the police believed that Twilight had only acted in self defence. She was staying with Vinyl and Scootaloo until the Police gave her the okay to go back home.
Twilight sat up in the bed and looked in front of her. Applejack was sitting on the floor, looking at her with sad eyes, sad, blood red, eyes.
“Applejack?” Twilight asked.
“Sorry Twilight, this ain’t a social call, Ah gots a message ta deliver,” Applejack said. “From Overdrive, He ain’t happy with ya. Says that ya’ll just handed victory to the Siblings Nightmare, he intends ta punish ya.”
Twilight frowned. “Whatever it is, I deserve it.”
Applejack scowled. “He ain’t just punishin’ ya Twilight. He’s punishin’ everypony! Now ya listen ‘ere. In Whitetail Wood, there are caves. These caves are hidin’ somethin’ that’s been hidden fer a real long time. You and Vinyl Scratch need ta go there an’ find it. She already knows where it is. Jus’ ask her an’ she’ll take ya. Ya understand?”
Twilight nodded in affirmation.
“Good.” Applejack said, she turned to leave, but stopped short and turned her head back. “One las’ thing. Ya’ll better do it. ‘Cuz if ya don’ Ah’ll hafta come back ‘ere. Ya’ll don’t want that. Trust me. Ah ain’t got freewill no more. If he sends me back here ta motivate ya... somepony’ll get hurt.”
“I... understand,” Twilight said. “Applejack? I’m sorry.”
“Ah am too. G’night Twilight.”
|
strangemodule
|
896
| 1 |
Original Character,Pinkie Pie,Comedy,Romance,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Party Planning
|
Poodle Puff is new in town, and like every Ponyville newcomer he gets ropes to a Pinkie Pie Party.
|
complete
| -1 | -1 |
<p>Poodle Puff is new in town, and like every Ponyville newcomer he gets roped to a signature Pinkie Pie party. Pinkie finds out that Poodle likes his friend Lounge Lizard, parties ensure.</p><p>My first MLP fanfiction, involving my BF and I's OCs. I'm mainly satisfied with the humor, but it was a nice exercise in writing.</p><p>Also, OCs, OCs, OCs. Not OJ, OCs!</p>
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teen
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2011-09-19T05:51:37+00:00
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2011-09-19T05:51:37+00:00
| 1,742 |
Story: Party Planning
Characters: Poodle Puff x Lounge Lizard (OCs)
Synopsis: Poodle Puff is new in town, and like every Ponyville newcomer he gets roped to a signature Pinkie Pie party. Pinkie finds out that Poodle likes his friend Lounge Lizard, parties ensure.
~~*~~
Daytime had reached Ponyville on this warm morning, and the first rays of Celestia’s sun began to wash over the countryside. Small critters scurried and flew about as they did their morning activities, ponies came out of their houses, and the quiet town grew more lively as more and more ponies began their day. Whether it was running errands, hanging out with friends, or even baking some cakes, Ponyville was up and running on this beautiful morning day.
A certain black pegasus pony was enjoying this morning as well in his quaint Ponyville home. He basked in the warm glow of the rising sun for a few hours, enjoying the soft touch of its rays as he continued to sleep in his bed, covers pulled tight around him. When he finally opened his eyes to the bright rays, he greeted the morning by shuffling out of bed, throwing his shutters closed with a groggy moan. Falling back into bed with a “pomf”, he yawned and slept on.
*knock knock knock*
Sleep would not come easy today, as a loud rapping on his front door startled him, making him leap off the bed and faceplant into the hard ground, comforter falling on top of him. After squirming around for a moment and getting all tangled up, the pegasus poked his head out from underneath the comforter.
*knock knock knock*
“Hang on, I’ll be thuh....there in a second!” he called out, trying and failing to stifle a yawn. Struggling for a moment to free himself from the comforter, he gave up and instead used his wings to lift himself off the ground. Hovering haphazardly to the door, he shook his head multiple times in an attempt to stave off both fatigue and the comforter.
*knock knock knock*
Stopping at the door, he flung it open in irritation. “I SAID I was com-”
*smack smack smack*
“Ow! Hey! Stop that!” flinched the pegasus, trying to dodge Pinkie’s hoof .
“Hi Poodle Puff! I came over because I need a friend to help me shop for party stuff! I baked like, a bunch of cakes at my last party because I didn’t have enough for my last party and I need to bake a ton more for tonight’s party and a party without cakes is like a day without sunshine! Besides, you really need to get out more, because if you stay inside all the time you’ll be all alone and mopey and dusty!”
As Pinkie launched her verbal salvo, she walked through the house, throwing open the shutters and blinding Poodle Puff in the process. He shook his head a bit more, attempting to muddle through his foggy fatigue and comprehend the hailstorm of words Pinkie Pie just bombarded him with. “...Pinkie, what do you mean by ‘I should get out more’? I go outside all the time. Wait...how do you know about when I go out? I’ve know you for, like, two days.”
“You’re always by yourself and you always look so sad! A saddy waddy gloomy gloomypants, and that’s just not right! I can’t let a sad face go unsmiled! I will throw you a party!” With that, she put her hoof in the pegasus’s mane and ruffled it, eliciting an incredulous look from him. The black pony looked into her eyes for a moment and tilted his head, not quite sure what she was thinking.
“What do you have in mind?”
~~*~~
The shelves of Party Stable stretched to the ceiling and towered over the comparatively puny ponies below them, containing everything a hardcore party pony like Pinkie would need. Stocking ludicrous amounts of streamers, confetti, invitations, jumbo candy bags, and countless other party goods, the monochrome gray shelves held more party goods than Poodle Puff knew existed. Liberally air-conditioned and cheaper than apples, it was one of the pink pony’s favorite place to be.
As Pinkie Pie bounced around in her happy place, Poodle Puff trailed on behind her as if being pulled by an invisible leash. Considering he just flew his hyperactive friend all the way from Ponyville to Manehattan, he wasn’t exactly able to trot about like an energetic schoolpony. Normally he didn’t fly other ponies around, but there were no party stores in Ponyville and Pinkie said that it was “super duper extra urgent” that she get to one as soon as possible. Not like he would know; he’d prefer to stay away from busy hubs where tons of ponies gathered every day. The loudness, the crowdedness, the massive streaks and patters of color everywhere, it was overwhelming. Being sensitive to sound made him rather dislike being in places with a lot of ponies, and the explosions of bright colors all across the shelves would melt anypony’s eyes. He really didn’t like being amongst too many unfamiliar ponies and was feeling apprehensive about Pinkie’s latest upcoming party.
Poodle Puff looked around, not really absorbing what he was seeing. The black pegasus was in an aisle for invitations and candy. Various shopgoers were pushing carts or carrying baskets filled with all sorts of unrecognizable colorful party goods. Parties are fun every once in a while, but... why was he here again? What did he have to celebrate? He sighed and rubbed his forehead with his hoof. Maybe he shouldn’t go to Pinkie’s next party.
“No.” The black pegasus thought firmly, shaking his head rapidly as if to dispel bad and unwarranted thoughts. “Despite only knowing her a short time, and her eccentricities, and the fact she drags me everywhere, Pinkie is my new friend, and not going to her party would be like spitting in her punch. Besides, I could just stick with Pinkie Pie when everypony shows up to the party. She’s a good pony. Besides, her baking isn’t bad...maybe I could actually have some fun.”
Poodle Puff blinked as he mulled in his thoughts, and took him a moment to realize that a large shadow was creeping over him. Poodle Puff’s eyes and wings shot open and he jumped forward in shock, turning around and facing whatever had spooked him.
“Dear Celestia, are you alright? I’m sorry!”
The source of the shadow was another pony, but not just any other pony. Puff’s friend Lounge Lizard stood before him, his expression a mixture of amusement and apology. This purple unicorn sported a short and straight mane that was red-brownish in color (sangria, he liked to call it). His long legs put him several apples above the average pony, and he sported a horn slightly longer than a normal unicorn’s his age.
“Whew... yeah, I’m okay. Just need to... catch my breath.” the black pegasus breathed, still twitching a bit from the surge of adrenaline. “Don’t worry about it... it’s not like I kicked you or anything, eh?” Puff chuckled a little and gave a nervous smile.
Lounge Lizard chuckled back. “Well anyway, I saw you in the store and came over to say hi. I have to pay for this stuff,” he said, motioning to the bags on his saddlekart. “I’ll see you around Puff.” With a smile and a wave of his hoof, he stepped around the corner and out of sight.
Poodle Puff watched his friend turn around and leave, eyes drifting onto his flank as he left. “What, what?” the pegasus thought when he caught himself staring, shaking his head violently and taking a moment to think about Lounge Lizard. He’d known the unicorn for a little while now from a forum on the Ponynet they both frequented. After getting to know each other a little bit, they discovered they both lived in Ponyville, and met up the next day. Having a common interest in computers and video games, they formed a fast friendship. It was little surprise he felt butterflies in his stomach each time he was around the tall unicorn.
“Hi again!”, ejaculated Pinkie Pie as she leaped from around the corner, causing Poodle Puff to jump a second time.
“Jeez Pinkie, don’t scare me like that! Also, where did you go? You just disappeared for a moment there.”
“I’m sooooo sorrry for that! I had to step out and help a friend of mine express her true feelings for a colt she likes! She’s all like ‘he’s so handsome and courteous’ and he’s all ‘hurr durr can I take your order’ and she’s all ‘I like you!’ and he’s all ‘but I like colts!’”
Poodle Puff’s put his hoof on his head and rubbed it, bracing himself for yet another of Pinkie’s tidal wave of words.
“...but they decided to be friends after all and I was sooooo happy for her! Besides, I’m sooooo happy for you!”
“Huh? Why?”
“Because you are totally free to take that stallion out for a ride!”
“...what.”
“I saw how you were looking at Lounge Lizard!”
Poodle Puff shifted uncomfortably. Was he that obvious? “How do you mean? He’s my friend, we sometimes hang out, get lunch, talk about video games and stuff.”
Pinkie Pie gave a warm, knowing smile and patted his head. “No need to be shy! I know a lot of ponies, and it just makes me super duper sad seeing a pony who likes another pony but is too shy or afraid to say it! And I know everypony! That’s a lot of ponies! By the way, you should really put your wings down before somepony thinks you’re gonna frost my cupcakes!”
Puff blushed and forced his wings down with noticeable effort. The black pegasus looked down, something he did more often than he should. “...you’re right, Pinkie. I do like him a lot. He takes time out of his day to spend time with me, we have a lot in common. I can’t think of anything really flawed about him...” Poodle Puff looked away from Pinkie Pie for a moment, his face flushed. “Plus I mean, dat flank... damn.”
“That purple pony’s presenting a particularly pudgy posterior! I could watch it jiggle all day! They’re like party balloons, but they don’t pop!” Pinkie Pie giggled with a snort. Poodle Puff chuckled a little bit, which broke out into a few minutes of quiet but squeaky giggling.
“You know what, you’re right Pinkie. I need to tell him how I feel. But how should I go along doing it...” Puff pondered for a moment, looking at Pinkie’s bags of party goods. After a minute, his eyes widened, glowing with the beginnings of an idea.
“Pinkie...I need your help.”
~~*~~
Nighttime may as well have been daytime for Sugarcube Corner on this warm Wednesday. Pinkie Pie’s parties always got the place packed, as usual. Cookies, shortcakes, cupcakes, sarsaparilla, and punch were laid out in such large quantities they could feed a small country. Music by Equestria-famous Vinyl Scratch played on the speakers loud enough to shake the windows, threatening to separate the glass from their panes.
Poodle Puff was sitting on the edge of the roof outside, looking down at the ponies coming to the party. He wasn’t the most accomplished flier, but the pegasus did like being high up sometimes. It was very relaxing seeing the world below him, its features shrunk down to the size of dots from up above. Watching the ponies dancing below as he took a bite of the shortcake he brought up with him, Puff found a strange peace here despite the loud and thumping music.
“Why you all by yourself Puffy?”
Puff jumped a bit. Wheeling around in place, he saw that pink earth pony straddling the peak of the roof. How she got up here without wings, he had no idea.
“Jeez Pinkie, you need to stop doing that!”
“And youuuuuuuuuu need to stop sitting by yourself! This is a party! Move them hooves! Strut your stuff! Shake them flanks!”
Poodle Puff held out a hoof, as if trying to silence her. “Not yet. The guest of honor isn’t here yet. I want to see his face when...”
Pinkie hopped in excitement. “He’ll love it! I know he’ll love it! You set it up just for him, and if there’s anypony who knows what he likes, it’ll be you!”
Puff smiled a bit, and stretched his wings. “I think you’re right, Pinkie.” Suddenly, he spotted a familiar unicorn on the ground that was heading for Sugarcube Corner. “Oh horseapples, that’s him. Horseappleshorseappleshorseapples...”
Pinkie Pie slid down to the edge of the roof where Poodle Puff was, and gave the nervous pegasus a pat on the shoulder. Confidence raised, he made his descent from the roof to the ground. He quietly landed just around the corner of Sugarcube Corner, so as not to spook or seem creepy by landing directly in front of Lounge Lizard.
Lounge Lizard had just reached the front door of Sugarcube Corner. Although the unicorn found Pinkie Pie to be a tad too intense sometimes, her parties were fun. He especially enjoyed the free food. Free food was the best kind of food, after all! Truthfully, the only reason he came to this party was because Pinkie made him guest of honor for some inexplicable reason. He didn’t know Pinkie Pie that well, or many ponies really, but he knew the pink pony was master of throwing parties. But to throw one in his honor? He was truly perplexed and somewhat intrigued. He supposed it wouldn’t hurt to stay there for an hour or two.
Lounge Lizard sighed anxiously as he slowly pushed open the front door. “Might as well grab some snacks and try to mingle,” he thought dully, reminding himself of how much he disliked to just “mingle”. Lizard, however, was not quite ready for what was in store of him inside the bakery.
The room was covered in party decorations of course, but these were quite different from Pinkie’s usual flair. The streamers, ribbons, and confetti were auburn and purple, just like his mane and coat were. Balloon animals that looked like origami-style paper cranes hung from various tables. Most interestingly, however, were the many flower baskets that sat on various tables; instead of being filled with flowers, they showed off many origami animals sitting on top of a clump of green tissue paper in lieu of actual grass.
“I’m so glad you made it Lounge Lizard!”squealed Poodle Puff excitedly as he ran up next to Lizard.
It was the tall unicorn’s turn to jump. Taking a moment to regain his composure, he turned around to face his friend with a smile. “Of course, I’m the guest of honor, apparently!”
“Yes! I set this party up just for you! Come on, let’s get some cake!” Poodle Puff exclaimed excitedly, flying circles around his friend. Lounge Lizard watched him curiously, wondering what had gotten into his normally reserved friend. He hadn’t seen the pegasus so excited since... ever. Confused but happy for him, Lizard followed him to the snack table.
After amassing two shortcakes, a trayfull of cookies, and half a gallon of punch, Poodle Puff found them a booth. Sliding into the booth, Puff eagerly helped himself to the many snacks, leaving Lounge Lizard to ponder how he could eat all those sweets and not get sick. Suddenly, something the pegasus said popped into his mind.
“Wait a moment Puff, you said YOU set this party up? I thought Pinkie was the one who did parties.”
Poodle Puff bounced in his booth seat in excitement. “She let me have a go at it this time! Of course she helped me pick out..well, just about everything, but the theme is mine, all mine!”
“Well... I have to say, you did a good job. I have to admit, I was not expecting inflatable balloon cranes.”
“So you like it?” Poodle Puff seemed to bounce even faster in his booth seat.
Lounge Lizard looked over his friend’s excitement and chose his next few words carefully. “This is all very...flattering. You put quite a lot of effort into this.”
Poodle Puff stopped bouncing. The other pony’s serious tone was a dead giveaway for what he was about to say next. Those awful words he did not want to hear, those that would make his efforts all for nothing.
The purple unicorn gave him an amused grin. “Now why are you so somber all of a sudden? It’s obvious that you like me.”
The pegasus gaped, his wings flaring out suddenly. “How...how did you...”
“Oh come on Puffy, it’s incredibly obvious. The themed party, the way you get extra nervous around me, staring at my flank... what, you think I didn’t see you doing that?” he teased, making Puff’s face go hot red.
Lizard took the initiative and leaned forward so that his face was barely a few inches from Puff’s, his front legs on the table. “You’re really sweet, Poodle Puff. You’re honest and true to how you feel and I like that.”
Poodle Puff gave a nervous smile. “Well, allow me to be ‘honest and true’ with this,” he said quietly, and suddenly grabbed Lizard’s head and pulled it towards his own. Their lips met, and the pegasus started giving Lizard some rather mouthy kisses.
After kissing for a few moments, their lips parted and they looked into each others’ eyes. “So...what do you think?” asked Puff, still smiling nervously, but with a bit of happiness as well.
“I think you need to work on your kissing, I swear I thought you were going to eat my face,” teased the unicorn, shaking his head in amusement and smiling. He then scooted over to the side of the booth Poodle Puff was sitting, and began to nuzz him with his head.
“I think you’re a good pony, Puffy” Lounge Lizard began, while the pegasus watched him, unsure of what he might say. “In the months that I have known you, you’ve always been honest and you have a big heart. I’d like to get to know you more.”
Poodle Puff’s eyes widened and he started to bounce in excitement again. Lizard just chuckled and pulled the pegasus close to him. “I’m quite happy too, Puffy.” They leaned their heads forward and were about to start kissing again when they both noticed that quite a few ponies were watching them, unreadable expressions on their faces.
“Um...”
Pinkie Pie bounced up to where the crowd was and, seeing the new coltfriends in each others’ arms, got even more excited than usual.
“So did they kiss, did they, did they?”
A blue unicorn with a wavy white-and-blue mane stepped out from the crowd, pulling out a heavy bag full of bits with a sour look on his face. “I can’t believe I lost that bet! I could have sworn the ridiculous party decor would never work!”
Pinkie took her freshly-won bits eagerly. “Bitches gotta get bits! I’m toooootally gonna buy a Pac-Mare machine with these!”
And then Poodle Puff took Lounge Lizard home and did him in--
THE END
Author's Note: The whole "Pinkie Pie steps out to help Twilight" scene was a reference to my BF's fic, here: http://www.fimfiction.com/story/673/Paper
You should read it, it's pretty good!
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TheLunarArmy
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897
| 1 |
Main 6,Mayor Mare,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Crossover,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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The Tale of KyuubiDash
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Rainbow Dash discovers a dark secret about her element of Loyalty. Can she contain her inner demons?
|
incomplete
| 38 | 4 |
<p>In an alternative universe the ninjas from the hidden village of Konoha discover an ancient temple used to protect a forgotten clan and to test ninja's loyalty. In a complete twist of fate, a team of ninja manages to seal a demon fox inside a stone orb and banish it from existence. But where did it go? And how could this possibly have an effect on the ponies of Equestria?</p>
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everyone
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2011-10-01T07:45:02+00:00
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2011-10-01T07:45:02+00:00
| 4,547 |
The Tale of KyuubiDash
Written by TheLunarArmy,
Edited by ScionTheKitsune and Ezn
Consulted by R4g3d, theunlovablerouge and wolf
Writer’s notes:
Sorry for lack of ponies in this prelude. However the reason for this is to set the stage for the rest of fanfic and without it will make the story feel soulless. More so this fanfic captures the essence of the Naruto lore and combines it with a new adventure for the Equestrian girls. Feel free to drop me an email at [email protected] for any suggestions and comments!
Prelude: Setting the scene
A perfectly cloudless day began to shine down upon the village of the Hidden Leaves. A slight breeze brought a cool and delightful aura about the streets. The dusty roads puffed up with brown powdery clouds as the doors to the various shops open for business. Each opening door greeted by a villager with broom in hand to sweep away the grime from the previous day. The marketplace had slowly started to awaken.
As early afternoon passed, a slightly annoyed Naruto and Sakura are standing outside the Ramen shop, impatiently waiting for Kakashi’s arrival. The pink haired ninja is sporting her usual short hair and red outfit. Both ninja take a look at each other and sigh as they realize that the Copy Ninja is living up to his “late arrival” reputation. Two patrons walked out of the noodle bar and with into Naruto, causing the three of them to topple over one another.
“Hey, watch when you’re going,” yelled the one patron at Naruto.
“Me? I was just standing here, you watch out!” replied the ninja. “Idiot…”
All three quickly stumbled to their feet, Naruto and the patron began to start a juvenile argument while Sakura and the other person watch the two aimlessly debating. Unfortunately things started to escalate. The patron delivered a swift punch to Naruto’s face which caused him to fall backward; a solid bull’s-eye on the nose. Sakura almost jumped in, but realized that Naruto probably deserved it for being so rude.
“Yeah take that, you bastard demon fox,” shouted the patron. His friend was in shock at what he did just done and Sakura clenched her fist.
“You might be tough enough to stand against the Hyuuga family’s best genin. But you’re still a punk with the damned demon inside of him.”
A crowd was now beginning to form around the four. Naruto lifted his head, blood from his nose now covering his mouth.
The patron’s friend pulled his buddy back, “What are you doing? You just punched a Konoha ninja - who is also the demon fox’s host - for no reason!”
“You think I’m intimidated by this punk? He should leave the village; he is an embarrassment to all ninja! Just look, I took him down in one hit...”
Realizing this, the crowd started siding with the angry patron, yelling harsh language and taunting the blood-faced Naruto. Sakura decided she had to get Naruto out before something terrible happened. She quickly unsheathed a smoke bomb from her pouch and slammed it towards the ground. However before it landed Kakashi appeared, grabbing both ninja in each hand jumping them out of sight onto the rooftops. The smoke bomb exploded in a harmless cloud of pink powder causing the surprised crowd to disperse.
The three ninja jumped across the town and towards the city’s border, where they stopped and walked along the grassy paths and into the cool forest.
“I didn’t need your help Sakura-chan,” Naruto said while wiping the blood with his sleeve. “That guy really had it coming. If you hadn’t…”
“What would you have accomplished, eh? Except get more people wanting to hurt you?” she scorned back at him.
“Sakura is right,” Kakashi interfered, “I know it’s hard to ignore what the people say, but you have to remain calm. Like the Hokage, the only way to gain respect is by showing you’re mature and mindful.”
“I guess so, but I really wish I socked that loudmouth at least once.”
Sakura delivered a swift bump to Naruto’s head to remind him to stay focused. By now they were at the base of the mountain and Kakashi turned around and started explaining the basics of channeling chakra to their feet, to help them scale the walls of the loose rocks. It took about an hour for Naruto to finally understand concept, and soon all three of them were sailing upwards, dodging the loose rocks with each footing.
Sakura seemed to be faster, but in classic Naruto rivalry style, he would not let her take the lead for too long. They reached the top, where they found a large clearing of stones which seemed to have been excavated; like some sort of quarry. Kakashi looked back at his exhausted students, who had taken a small break by sitting on the peak of the mountain drinking water from the cantinas.
His mind wondered to the missing stone. How odd, usually the Jonin are informed by Tsunade if there are materials excavated from outside the village. I didn’t read about any of this in the daily report. He walked to a section of smooth rock to examine the stone up close, with a flick of his wrist he unsheathed a kunai from his pouch and slit a small cut in his thumb.
His hands quickly formed seals. Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram.
“Kuchiyose no Jutsu.”
A puff of smoke dispersed and in front of Kakashi awaited his eight loyal ninja dogs.
“Ah Kakashi, it’s been a while since you called for all eight of our noses. How can we help you, friend?” asked Pakkun.
“This quarry is new and within thirty kilometres from the village, bordering Orochimaru’s domain. I need you to search the area and report any unusual scents; I feel that this stone doesn’t look like it cut by normal methods.”
“Right,” said Pakkun, “Spread out, do a thorough search of the area, leaving nothing unsniffed.”
Sakura looked up, “Do you think Orochimaru is behind this, Kakashi-sensei?”
“Alright,” yelled an enthusiastic Naruto, “let’s looks for the slimy snake and his evil plans!”
“TajūKageBunshin no Jutsu.”
The area filled with hundreds of orange jumpsuits and they began to search around the rock walls alongside Kakashi’s hounds, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
<>-<>
As the sun began to set, clones started to disappear one after another, bringing an exhausted Naruto to his knees. “Nothing,” he whimpered. Pakkun had finished talking to his team, after which they disappeared into a cloud of smoke. Only the pug remained behind to talk to Kakashi.
“You were right Kakashi, the stone was not cut or damaged but rather moved. I suspect an Earth style user may have caused this large section of the mountain to sink into its current shape.”
“Hmmmm, this is very peculiar; anything else to report?”
“Not from a dog’s perspective,” responds the smiling pug, "However I wouldn’t stay here for long Kakashi, Orochimaru isn’t blind to a technique like this.”
“Yeah. Thanks for the help Pakkun. That will be all.”
“Very well, good luck Kakashi,” the small pug said before disappearing in a puff.
Looks like a better investigation team is needed for this, thought Kakashi as he ascended to the peak of the mountain. As he reached the top he saw Naruto almost passed out on the floor and Sakura, with kunai in hand, scratching dirt off a particular section of stone.
“Kakashi come look at this!” she shouted.
While taking a step back, her eyes expanded in awe. In front of her was a marking similar to the symbol on Kakashi’s jacket. As he and Naruto joined Sakura’s side, his eye closely examined the dirt-covered insignia; engraved in the solid rock.
“Wha--- Why is a Konoha symbol engraved in this wall, Kakashi sensei?” enquired Naruto. Unbeknownst to him it was actually an Uzumaki insignia, a fact that Kakashi was forbidden to reveal.
“It looks like this site was used by the Hidden Leaf, but it’s strange we haven’t heard from its existence, or that it’s not marked on any of the maps,” explained Kakashi as he wiped the remaining dirt from the engraving. “Someone must have uncovered this recently and failed to report their findings.”
Naruto stepped forward to take a closer look, suddenly the ground started to tremble. The insignia glowed and a sudden rip caused a doorway leading to a secret passage hidden behind the stone face. The trembling stopped and the three stunned ninja stood at a newly created opening. The passage revealed a well-kept hallway, lit by candle light.
“Aha, a secret door,” yelled Naruto. “No wonder the ninken could smell its existence!”
“We should probably report this to Lady Tsunade, right Kakashi-sensei?” asked Sakura.
“In a normal situation like this I would, Sakura, but we are so close to the Sound’s border we cannot risk leaving Konoha property within Orochimaru’s hands. As much as I hate adventuring, we have no choice but to see what’s inside this cave.”
<>-<>
The trio walked inside, the door closing behind them, causing both genin to shake a little in fear. Kakashi walked ahead, searching for any traps, but only found a single door at the end of the hall with an inscription, which read: “For those sealed with fear, for those loyal to bear the pain”. Underneath it was another Uzumaki insignia. As Naruto and Sakura approached the door the insignia glowed and the stone door lowered into the ground.
As they passed through the door and entered a large dome shaped structure. The walls curved to meet up at the ceiling where a large chandelier was hanging from a single chain. It had many lit candles flickering and it brought an ambient glow to the entire room. Littered across the room were many strange iron contraptions and chains. In the middle of the room stood three stone statues; the middle one held a staff in his left hand while his right contained a large stone sphere with a triangle engraved in it. The other two statues were identical ninjas, each hosting a forehead protector and flak jackets bearing the Uzumaki symbol.
A sudden rumble caused the dust to fall from the walls around the ninja; again the door slammed shut behind them. The same ominous aura that Kakashi first felt when he entered the quarry arose again. Something was about to happen. The ninjas quickly leaped into formation as the statues started to move and shake their stone limbs.
“Who dares enter this sacred temple of the Demon Fox? Only those with loyalty are able to save the ones who suffer, no others shall enter this domain,” boomed the middle statue.
Kakashi quickly stood his ground and kneeled, the genin following his actions. “Our pardon, great golem, we simply stumbled on this place by accident. Please pardon our intrusion and allow us a safe passage.”
The statue, now revealed to be a golem, laughed at the ninja and responded. “We have read your mind, Kakashi of the Sharingan, son of the White Fang. You care deeply for your students but it seems your loyalty is at risk; for it was you who lead to the death of your former teammates, didn’t you?”
Kakashi bit his lip. It was true, but he had to find a way out, by any means necessary.
“Your pass has been denied, Kakashi of the Sharingan. For trespassing with a disloyal heart, I sentence you to death.”
With that the two ninja golems leaped forward, rushing the group.
It took seconds for the golems to cross the distance of room, more than enough time for Kakashi to form his hand seals.
“Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu.”
A giant water dragon burst from the ground, snapping at the golems who now took up defensive positions to block the water’s mighty onslaught. However they appeared to be more than a match for the water jutsu as they quickly used a mud wall technique to snap its head in two. The water drizzled away, revealing hundreds of Naruto clones and Kakashi, with Sharingan revealed, standing ready to fight.
<>-<>
Sakura stayed at the back, keeping her eyes on the mage golem, who appeared to be staring at Naruto’s clones. It did not take long for Kakashi and Naruto to jump into combat with the remaining golems.
“Alright, let’s give them a taste of our kunai!” shouted Naruto, as all the clones unsheathed explosion tags from their pockets and threw them at the duo.
“Uzumaki Naruto Nisen Rendan.”
All the kunai hit their mark and ignited, but when the smoke cleared the golems remained unscathed.
“My turn,” said Kakashi, performing more hand seals before taking a deep breath in positioning his hand in front of his mask.
“Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu.”
A giant fireball flew straight towards the golems and they both prepared another wall to block the attack. “Now is our chance, Naruto!”
They both stood side by side while all but one of Naruto’s clones disappeared. Naruto moved his hand back and the clone started spinning a ball of chakra in it. Kakashi followed with weaving more hand signs then holding his right hand with his left, electricity started to build at his fingertips.
“Ready?”
“You bet, Kakashi-sensei!”
Both ninja sprinted toward the wall, thrusting their hands at the mound of stone; easily breaking through revealing one of the golems standing right behind it.
“RASENGAN!”
“CHIDORI!”
<>-<>
The room was filled with smoke as the two jutsus collided with the golem, rendering it to dust. The two ninja smirked at their accomplishment only to find the mage golem laughing in front of them. “You fools, where is your loyalty is now?” he said smirking.
The missing golem has flanked them and captured Sakura by her arms. Naruto turned around and shouted: “You bastard, let her go!”
Kakashi started forming hand seals for one last time in an attempt to strike the remaining golem.
“Naruto, I need you to distract the main golem while I try to free Sakura. Keep him busy for as long as you can,” whispered Kakashi to Naruto before sprinting across the room, Chidori ready.
Naruto didn’t hesitate to make five more clones and readied three Rasengans to strike the mage. He charged forward, straight towards his target. The mage did not move, but instead summoned rock walls to block the path of the clones, destroying them, leaving only Naruto and his own Rasengan remaining. As he reached the golem, it grabbed his arm and in swoop pushed Naruto to the ground, negating the attack.
“You are no match for a guardian of the Uzumaki,” said the golem. When he attempted read Naruto’s thoughts he made startling discovery. “You are….the Kyuubi’s Jinchuriki?”
Naruto struggled to loosen his arm from the stone hand, but the monster’s grip did not falter. He looked back as Kakashi battled the other golem; unbeknownst to him the mage was enchanting a ninjutsu with his other hand. Kakashi leaped back to catch his breath as he saw a circular rock wall enclose around Naruto and the mage golem. He didn’t have time react as he was more concerned over Sakura’s condition. Whatever the golem had planned for Naruto, it would have to wait.
<>-<>
Inside the circular room the mage released Naruto. He paced around the kneeling genin and then used a technique to make the stone walls transparent. They could see Kakashi being beaten by the other golem.
Naruto yelled at his mentor but the mage responded: “He cannot hear or see you; all he sees is a stone wall. We are alone in this room.”
“What do you want from me, bastard?”
“I want to test you. I want to test your will and your heart.”
“And what if I refuse?” demanded Naruto.
The mage snapped his fingers and revealed two more golems hidden in the wall behind where Kakashi was fighting. “I will send them into battle.”
Naruto stayed on his knees, tears started to form as he saw he was helpless to assist his friends. With much courage he stood up and spoke: “Please, take me instead. Please replace me with Kakashi sensei and Sakura. Let me fight your friends!”
The golem smiled and with a snap of his fingers the other golem disintegrated into dust, leaving Kakashi to tend to Sakura’s condition. The mage smiled, as the walls become opaque again.
“You have the spirit of loyalty, Uzumaki Naruto. But I sense you have become corrupted by the monster that resides in you.” spoke the golem. “If you wish, I can grant your greatest desire.”
“What do you mean?”
“I can take away the pain the Kyuubi has caused you. I can take away the hate the Kyuubi has bestowed upon you. I can take away the nightmares the Kyuubi has caused you. In short, I can take away the Kyuubi. Forever.”
Naruto held his stomach with his left hand and fell to the ground. A chance to get rid of the demon fox… forever? But how… wait… do I really care? I could be free. For good.
Naruto raised his head, tears of joy clearly visible. “What would happen to me, and to my friends?”
The golem continued: “They are no threat to this place anymore, and are free to leave. As for you, I will merely extract the fox and seal it in a different container. You will be free to live your life without it.”
Naruto started to tear again, so much that he could feel the ground shaking. Oh, it was shaking!
“Your friends are trying to break through the wall, but I fear they won’t be kept out for much longer. Now is your chance, loyal Naruto. Do you want to be free?”
Naruto thought back at what happened earlier that day, at the ramen shop. To be free would remove the pain of knowing the hatred of the other villagers. To be free could make Sakura finally fall in love with him. To be free might mean he would be acknowledged by everyone in the village. This is was an opportunity of a lifetime!
Naruto quickly kneeled in front of the golem again and gleefully yelled: “Yes, please free me golem. Take away this damn Kyuubi.”
<>-<>
The golem levitated his staff and orb back into his hands and with a powerful enchantment he started to make them glow. The staff splintered into small toothpick-sized spears which proceeded to pierce Naruto’s skin, causing him to lay flat on his back, similar to a complex acupuncture. With his left hand free, the mage focused all his concentration into the orb and the stone crumbled away to reveal a glass sphere inside. The golem placed the sphere on Naruto’s stomach, right on top of the Fourth Hokage’s seal. With the sound of thumping on the walls filling the room, the mage hurried and started forming hand seals while preaching the forgotten Uzumaki sealing ninjutsu incantations.
The empty sphere started to fill with ominous orange goo. It boiled and bubbled inside the glass orb as it slowly started to fill from the bottom up. While the golem kept chanting he could feel his own body starting to weaken, a side effect caused by the power of the kyuubi desperately clinging to Naruto’s soul.
“We are nearly done, Usumaki Naruto,” he spoke, “I have unsealed three quarters of the Kyuubi’s power and trapped it inside the orb.”
Unfortunately Naruto was lapsing in and out of unconsciousness due to the pain. But he could feel the darkness in his heart leaving him.
Just as the mage started the final verse in the incantation, Kakashi broke through the wall using his Raikiri jutsu. This threw off the mage’s concentration and caused the glass orb to crack. Thinking Naruto was in danger, Kakashi leaped forward and struck the mage with his Lightning Cutter.
“No, you fool!” the mage yelled. “You will release the Kyuubi!”
Kakashi looked at the orb and could see the demon cloak forming around the crack he caused. The mage started to crumble. Kakashi realized the horrible mistake he just made, as a he clearly saw the evil chakra with his Sharingan.
Facing what was left of the mage he frantically asked, “How can we stop the Kyuubi before the orb shatters?”
“I can grant you a fraction of your Sharingan’s true power, use it to send the orb into another dimension… do so now… before it’s too late…”
The golem crumbled into dust but not before stabbing Kakashi’s eyes with one of his staff’s fragments. Kakashi felt an intense burning sensation in his Sharingan as he felt its power momentarily increasing. It would be a once off jutsu, he thought. I’d better make it count.
Kakashi stood up and closed his Sharingan eye while observing the hovering sphere above Naruto with his own. It was not completely full with the orange goo but he had to follow the golem’s commands, for better or worse. He reopened his left eye and revealed a Mangekyō Sharingan. The power was overwhelming and he could feel the remainder of his chakra rapidly depleting. Sparing no time he created a rift in the dimension and forcefully pushed the sphere through it. The sphere reacted by regrowing its protective stone hide, even though the cloak tried to resist, however it was engulfed in wormhole’s attractive force.
In the blink of an eye the contained Kyuubi was gone and Kakashi finished the technique by yelling: “Kamui!”
Kakashi was so bewildered by the Mangekyō’s power that he passed out next to Naruto. Sakura quickly ran to their aid. She stood watching as the remainder of the Kyuubi’s cloak receded back into Naruto’s seal, unaware of the mysterious orb that was now banished into a dimensional rift.
To be continued…
|
TheLunarArmy
|
897
| 2 |
Main 6,Mayor Mare,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Crossover,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Tale of KyuubiDash
|
Rainbow Dash discovers a dark secret about her element of Loyalty. Can she contain her inner demons?
|
incomplete
| 38 | 4 |
<p>In an alternative universe the ninjas from the hidden village of Konoha discover an ancient temple used to protect a forgotten clan and to test ninja's loyalty. In a complete twist of fate, a team of ninja manages to seal a demon fox inside a stone orb and banish it from existence. But where did it go? And how could this possibly have an effect on the ponies of Equestria?</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-10-04T22:14:04+00:00
|
2011-10-04T22:14:04+00:00
| 4,023 |
Chapter 1 – The Element of Loyalty
Written by TheLunarArmy
Edited by Ezn
It is eve of the one thousandth Summer Sun Celebration and Nigthmare Moon was on the loose. Inside the forgotten castle ruins in the Everfree forest we find Twilight Sparkle and the twisted Princess Luna facing off against one another, both deadlocked in a death-defying stare.
The young purple-maned unicorn clopped her hoof on the smooth stone floor, readied to charge straight at the dark mare.
Nightmare, surprised at the young filly’s enthusiasm, lifted her hoof in disgust and sarcastically murmured: “You’re kidding, right?”
The mere thought of a feeble unicorn charging at her malevolent beauty made Nightmare's wings cringe. However, this was not nearly enough to make her back down from a challenge. Just as Twilight started to charge, so too did the mighty alicorn. Mere seconds before the two would have collided, the crafty Twilight unleashed her spell and teleported herself right next to the five stone spheres. A deceiving move that stunned Nightmare, how cannot she lose to a mere filly! She quickly reacted by using her own telemorphing spell in an attempt to intercept the unicorn from reactivating the Elements.
But the dark mare was too late. The spheres had started to glow, and even though the unicorn suffered recoil from her spell, Nightmare could not do anything to stop the reaction.
“No. NO!” she yelled. But, luckily for her, the spheres turned back into their original stone states.
Twilight gasped: “But where is the sixth Element?”
Nightmare’s maniacal laugh filled the room with a terrifyingly dark atmosphere. She slowly raised her front hooves up into the chilled evening air. Her goal was clear: destroying the Elements would seal her victory. With a mighty stomp the alicorn shattered the stone spheres. Twilight sat in shock as she saw the fragments of the orbs tumbling all around Nightmare’s hooves. The mare gloated unconditionally.
It would only be after Twilight heard her friends approaching that she realized what the Elements of harmony actually meant. The spark of magic infused itself within in her. Twilight Sparkle now knew what to do.
"You think you can destroy the Elements of harmony just like that?” she proclaimed. “Well you’re wrong, because the spirit of the Elements of harmony are right here!”
All six ponies stood poised against the mare’s aggressive stance, ready to support one another. The shattered orb fragments also started to levitate, much to Nightmare Moon’s dismay.
As Twilight explained what each Element meant and how each of her friends had helped her along the way, the shattered orbs flew to each representative’s side, each having a different effect on the ponies as they bonded with their Element.
Applejack, the Element of Honesty, was given a vision of her friends together running through a field of wheat and enjoying the sun.
Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness, saw a reflection of herself in the future holding onto a friend’s hoof.
Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter, also saw a vision of the future: not surprisingly a party scene with many types of cakes and confetti.
Rarity, the Element of Generosity, felt as if she was deeply in love with a mysterious dark stranger.
All four of the ponies were in bliss for a few seconds due to the bonding’s seemingly soothing effect, all of them smiled uncontrollably.
Noticing her friends in such states of euphoria, Rainbow Dash eagerly awaited bonding with her own Element.
“And Rainbow Dash,” Twilight continued, “who could not abandon her friends for her own heart’s desire represents the spirit of… Loyalty.”
With that the red fragments lifted into position and Dash could feel the Element bonding with her soul. It felt like she had just pulled off a Sonic Rainboom, like she did as a foal. She felt strong. She felt omnipotent. She felt ready to crush Nightmare Moon on her own. But the feeling soon subsided and she too smiled alongside her friends.
With the power of all the known Elements complete, Twilight Sparkle called upon the final Element, Magic, and together they ended Nightmare’s evil plans. The combined powers of the Elements utterly destroyed the alicorn’s defense. No-pony could withstand the power of the six most ancient Elements known to pony kind.
Nightmare Moon’s armor shattered and a purple filly fell to the ground. The room was filled with an ominous white glow. Everything became quiet as the mysterious Elements of Harmony continued to bond with their hosts, creating beautiful jewelry that resonated with each pony’s inner strength.
<>--<>
The ponies started to awaken, each utterly confused and in disarray. Rainbow Dash stood up, massaging her temple with a hoof.
“Ugh, my head,” she scorned.
Applejack made sure everypony was okay before Fluttershy and Rarity noticed all the new jewellery they were sporting. Each pony was excited at their new attire. Even Dash, who disliked wearing frilly, girly... things, expressed her opinion over the ruby lightning bolt. She felt even stronger now. An overwhelming light caught the group's attention. Princess Celestia had stepped into the castle to see if Twilight had followed her instructions. Victory was attained and the princess was happy to have received her sister back. Now it was time to return to Ponyville.
<>-<>
A short distance into the journey, Princess Celestia stopped and turned to the ponies. They froze in place as the white alicorn looked at their new jewelry. She knew that if they revealed their mystic powers to the rest of Ponyville, it would only be a matter of time before any number of dark forces would be after them. A worried look dawned upon her face.
“What’s the matter, Princess? You seemed worried,” inquired her faithful student.
Everypony glanced at Twilight and then looked anxiously at Celestia, who was still pondering about their current situation.
Celestia opened her eyes and spoke. “As grateful as I am for all of your strength in helping my sister free herself from Nightmare Moon’s grasp, but I need to ask you all to perform another task which could very well determine your future.”
“Sister?” asked Luna. “What are you saying?”
Everypony was confused by the white alicorn’s statement. What did she mean?
“I have to ask you all to hide your identities. The Elements of Harmony are a rare and powerful force, which, when combined, can create great joy or bring forth much pain. So for your own safety, I need you to hide each of your symbols in a safe place. Don’t use them unless I instruct you to. This is the path you must all take.”
The decisions was unanimous. The powers were too great and should remain hidden to the rest of Equestria. They all agreed to Celestia’s request, bringing a smile to the Princess’s concerned face. Before they move along she turned to each pony and made them swear not to abuse the power they received.
Twilight Sparkle agreed, and made an oath not to call upon the Element of Magic to further her studies.
Rarity swore not to reveal she was the Element of Generosity, but she would help all those who need it.
Applejack swore to her oath to stay honest and not to disobey the power she is entrusted to guard.
Fluttershy quietly agreed to her oath, saying she would rather lose her wings then stop being kind to others.
Pinkie Pie, swore not to tell anypony about what had happened that evening, as she did not want to lose anypony’s trust.
They all turned to Rainbow Dash who, disheartened by the thought of losing her new power, sighed and eventually agreed to her oath to “not disobey the Element of Loyalty blah blah blah...”
“Good, it seems your friends are trustworthy, Twilight,” said Celestia.
All the ponies giggled as one by one, they removed their jewellery. Rainbow Dash hesitated, and decided to keep it on while they were still in the forest. She explained that it was easier to fly while wearing it, rather than while holding it in her hooves or mouth.
But now, the rainbow-maned pony was wallowing in confusion. She had never felt this strong before – surely she could apply to the Wonderbolts if she felt this good. Then again, was it really her inner self this strong, or was this new Element of Loyalty providing a supplement?
The ruby started to heat up. It felt as if it was comforting her thoughts, resonating in perfect harmony. How weird, thought Dash, this new rock isn’t so bad once I get used to it. With the help of the ruby, the self-doubt washed away.
Dash’s friends all noticed the pegasus gleefully smiling. They were all thinking about how weird it was for a tomboy such as herself to enjoy wearing a flamboyant necklace like that. Rarity, for one, was almost impressed: she decided that Dash was finally maturing.
“You seem happier than usual dearie,” the white unicorn laughed. “Enjoying the fabulous jewellery are we, hmm?”
“Buzz off, fashion brain. Don’t ruin the moment.” Dash snapped back.
Both broke out in a laugh – they were feeling far too happy to be start throwing insults at each other.
<>-<>
Celestia greeted the fillies as they reached the edge of the forest. She said she would join them after dealing with some royal duties. In a glimmer the two alicorns disappeared.
Each pony started making their way to their respective homes. Twilight turned around and happily smiled at her new friends trotting along the different paths into Ponyville. However, she also noticed that Dash still hadn’t taken off her ruby.
“Hey Dash!” she yelled at the zooming pegasus.
“Yeah?” she replied.
”Don’t forget about the necklace!”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll go drop it off at my house real quick. Be back down in ten seconds flat.”
Twilight giggled and proceeded to trot towards the library.
The rainbow pony shot straight into the sky, flying as fast as she could; fighting the planet’s gravitational force as she broke through the cloud barrier to lay eyes upon Cloudsdale, which was straight ahead.
Wow, she thought, even on a good day I would never be able to get up this high without taking a breather. Her eyes slowly glanced down at the ruby again. This thing must be helping me somehow. I don’t know why, but I like it. Her grin grew so wide that she couldn’t help but do a few barrel rolls on the way to town, just to see the ruby shine in the sunlight.
A few moments later Dash was at the door of her house. Nopony was around; they were all at the celebration, of course. She quickly slipped inside and galloped to her bed. She carefully reached behind her neck and unclipped the golden lock. As she removed the ruby from her body she could feel a hallow gap forming inside her stomach: she felt nervous. Shaking her head, she snapped out of it, thinking: A cool pony like me doesn’t get attached to frilly jewellery like this. She huffed and placed the ruby necklace underneath her pillow.
She slowly trotted to the door, but could not help looking back at the bed. It’s almost like she didn’t want to leave. All her friends were waiting at the celebration party; admiring the ruby would have to wait for another time. Dash raced outside and spread her wings. Just before taking off she stood her ground and looked back.
Why am I so fixated on their darn jewel? It’s just a red rock for goodness sake, get over it Dash! she scorned herself and took off. But try as she might, that mysterious, nervous feeling crept back into her stomach. What a day to have the butterflies.
To be continued…
|
TheLunarArmy
|
897
| 3 |
Main 6,Mayor Mare,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Crossover,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Tale of KyuubiDash
|
Rainbow Dash discovers a dark secret about her element of Loyalty. Can she contain her inner demons?
|
incomplete
| 38 | 4 |
<p>In an alternative universe the ninjas from the hidden village of Konoha discover an ancient temple used to protect a forgotten clan and to test ninja's loyalty. In a complete twist of fate, a team of ninja manages to seal a demon fox inside a stone orb and banish it from existence. But where did it go? And how could this possibly have an effect on the ponies of Equestria?</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-10-01T08:24:12+00:00
|
2011-10-01T08:24:12+00:00
| 3,313 |
Chapter 2: A trapped soul
Written by TheLunarArmy
Edited by Ezn
A cool mist loomed over the streets of Ponyville, as the sun slowly peaked over the hills. The light slumped to reveal the confetti, flowers and balloon-covered roads. The doors of the small Equestrian town started to open as the dawn brought another day to its citizens. It was the morning after the Summer Sun celebration and almost all the ponies were scurrying about, cleaning up the aftermath of a fantastic party.
Rarity was outside her boutique, levitating a consortium of brushes with her magic; ferociously scrubbing the doorway to her shop. Applejack was hauling a wagon in the boutique's direction, seemingly rushed but keeping a steady pace. Inside the cart was a large barrel, securely strapped to the wagon's floor, similar to an armoured truck.
"Morning Rarity," the earth pony opened, "it seems yah still got that gosh darn paint all over yer doorway again. Luckily Mayor Mare allowed me to fetch this barrel of acid to help you scrub it out."
The unicorn took a breather from all the "manual labour" and greeted her friend back.
"Oh yes. For some reason whenever a party is thrown somepony has go around vandalizing the stores with their accursed spray paint. Honestly, Mayor Mare should just ban those bothersome aerosols altogether."
Applejack couldn't help but giggle, which of course made Rarity huff out of frustration. Applejack untied her harness and slowly turned the lid on the barrel until it slid open. The putrid stench of sulphur loomed about the cart.
"You have to be mighty careful with this stuff, Rarity. If one single drop touches your mane it will melt a hole right through your skin."
Applejack snuck off the cart to stand next the unicorn, who used her magic to dip a cloth into the bubbling green liquid. The two fillies stood far clear as the cloth was levitated over and across the ground towards the paint. With a flick of her horn Rarity skilfully started scrubbing again while Applejack trotted off to her next odd job.
More and more doors opened as various earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns leave their homes with brooms and bags to help clear the streets. Twilight Sparkle and Spike, the newcomers to Ponyville, also joined in the fun by picking up the rubbish left by the snack tables. After disposing of the leftover cake and muffin wrappers, Spike caught a glimpse in the corner of his eye: a bush or something moved out of turn.
"Hey, Twilight!" the startled dragon yelled, unaware that she was standing right behind him. "Oops...sorry. Take a look at those bushes next the Quill shop. W-w-w-why did they rustle like that?"
The purple unicorn wittily responds: "I don't know, maybe it's those zombie ponies you've been reading about in your story books."
She was trying to be as obviously sarcastic as possible, but realized that the poor dragon froze in his tracks the second the "z" word was mentioned – the poor boy and his overactive imagination.
"Oh Spike, you know there are no zombie ponies, I was just kidding when I..."
Her words ground to a halt as she realized that he would probably stay like that for the next hour unless she investigated those bushes.
As Twilight approached the flora she too started to develop a lump in her throat: maybe she overdid it with the zombie pony scare. Nevertheless, she reached the foot of the bedding and peered over the leaves. Her vision was blinded by a flash of blue, red, yellow, green, purple and cyan, all at the same time. The unicorn jumped about two feet backward in shock, but quickly breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing what she had found.
"It's only Rainbow Dash sleeping in the bushes, Spike. You can come out now."
She stepped forward and peered over the bush again, but this time her expression changed. No time to think, I have to get unwanted eyes out of the area.
"Spike, stay back, it looks like she's sick. You'd better go find the nearest doctor and get help."
Spike was startled by Twilight's instructions but quickly gets his head in the game and rushed off without saying a word. After checking that nopony was around, Twilight rustled through the bedding to stand over the sleeping pegasus.
"Dash. Wake up. Right now," Twilight said as she levitated a nearby bucket of water over Rainbow Dash and poured its content over her.
"Yeaaaaaah!" Rainbow Dash yelled.
Dash flipped out of her resting spot and toppled onto the floor in front of the bush. She jumped up and flapped her wings, trying to shake off the cold water that was now running along her mane.
"What’s the big idea? I was taking a nap there!"
She stopped upon seeing Twilight's grim expression, but after cautiously staring into her purple eyes for a few seconds Dash finally continued: "What? Who woke you up on the wrong side of bed?"
Twilight's eyes narrowed and her mouth opened. In a low whispered tone she eventually spoke: "Dash, I thought the Princess made it clear that you were to keep your Element hidden. Why are you down here in obvious daylight wearing your ruby necklace?"
Dash looked down and noticed the red lightning bolt ruby neatly harnessed around her neck. Her eyes become fixated on the sparkling jewelry. How did it get there?
"I, uh, I... don't remember wearing this to the party Twi, I promise."
Dash quickly jumped back into the bush before shuffling around, trying to make sense of what was going on.
"I swear I took this thing off before leaving Cloudsdale last night. Don't you remember me arriving without it being on?"
"It's true that you weren't wearing the necklace when we shared that group hug. But after that I don't really remember seeing you at all." Twilight replied.
Twilight could see Spike running closer in the distance, followed by Applejack and what appeared to be a white mare wearing a nurse hat.
"Oh no! We can't show Spike or the mare your necklace!"
In a panic Twilight focused on her horn and with a white sparkle, teleported herself and Dash in a flare of smoke.
"What in tar-nation?" yelled Applejack. "Why would Twilight disappear after calling for help?”
Spike and the nurse unicorn shared a look; all three were now completely confused.
<>--<>
The library was dimly-lit as most of the curtains had been pulled shut by Twilight's magic. The door was locked and everything became quiet: the only faint sound being Twilight's hooves plopping on the wood floors.
After clearing her mind, Twilight walked into the main room of the library where Rainbow Dash was sitting on one of the sofa's pillows, glaring straight down at her ruby necklace, almost mesmerized by it.
"Dash?" Twilight called.
No response.
"Hey, are you okay?"
The pegasus didn't look up or move an inch, as if trapped inside her own body. Twilight was taken back by Dash's unusual lack of response. Maybe she's experiencing teleportation shock?
Twilight circled around the stone-like Dash before finally attempting to snap her out of her concussed state with a nudge. Still nothing happened. The unicorn was now really worried. Maybe the necklace is having an effect.
Her horn glowed as she tries to undo the lock on the back. No use. It was obviously protected by a charm of some kind which prevents weak magic from tampering with it. Twilight reached out with her hoof, slowly reaching towards the back of the necklace. As she grazed along Dash's mane, she finally detected movement.
Dash, still in her seated position, was now glaring at Twilight's mane, now right underneath her chin. Her magenta eyes narrowed, almost as if she was analyzing Twilight's neck in a distorted manner. The unicorn became aware that Dash was staring at her neck. She stopped moving towards the lock and pulled back to look at Dash's face. Their eyes met, but Dash's stern glare did not change.
"Hey... Dash...? Can you hear me?"
Still the pegasus did not flinch. Her eyes continued to track Twilight's. Twilight tried to negotiate with the petrified pony, unaware of what was really going on inside Dash's subconscious.
<>--<>
On a dark and featureless plateau, Dash lays in a pool of black water in a braced position. The pegasus was in a solitary lake, only about hoof deep but spanning the abysmal plane’s width. The only visible thing was a striking orange light in the distance: its bright haze provided ambient lighting across the reflective water. In this colourless and empty void the only persistent aura was anguish.
Ripples started to form around the blue pegasus as she began to stir about in the water. Her eyes opened, only to see the abysmal darkness surrounding her. She mustered her strength and forced herself upright; it felt like the entire world is trying to keep her down. Dash took a moment to stare down into the black pool surrounding her. She could barely see her reflection in the disturbed water, but the bright red ruby illuminating her neck made it unnoticeable.
She looked around, only to see the orange glow near the horizon. It was the only place with actual light present, so, if anything, that's where she would need to go. Dash spread her wings and kicked off into the sky, only to be pulled back down into the water; it seemed the gravity in this place was much stronger than Equestria, hence wings were off-limits.
"Man, as if waking up in dark place wasn't enough?" pleaded the rainbow pony, suddenly remembering how to talk.
In a huff she set off towards the light, dragging her hooves through the murky water, causing a noticeable disturbance. Dash's mind wandered as she made the long trek towards the horizon. What happened after Twilight told me about the necklace? Why am I still wearing this necklace? And why am I stuck in this infernal place?
A chill wallowed up her flank, across her spine and through her wings – causing them to spread spasmodically. It felt like somepony was stroking a hoof through her mane. Dash turned her head back, but saw nothing. With a distasteful grunt, she continued walking, but now cautiously slower, almost as if she was expecting something to sneak up behind her. The ominous feeling of being watched loomed. Somepony is definitely trying to freak me out.
<>--<>
It had been two hours and Rainbow Dash still had not moved from her seated position in the middle of library. Twilight had had to let Spike inside eventually and both the mare and her dragon were searching through ledgers, desperately looking for advice on their friend's predicament.
"Twi, I know you're not allowed to tell me about that necklace around Dash's neck. I can tell you're avoiding the subject. But are you sure she isn't somehow being possessed by it? I mean... that sounds way too... untrue, to be.... uh... true?"
Twilight took a moment from sifting through the large dusty book in front of her to take a good glare at Dash before answering. "There are some things I'm not allowed to share with you, Spike. It really hurts me to keep secrets from you, but it’s for your own good."
She put on the best smile she can, but it was clear that she was very worried about her friend.
Three loud knocks rattled the front door of the building. Spike quickly hopped off the ladder he was perched on and walked toward the entrance. Twilight cast a spell to conceal Dash on the pillow and gave a signal for Spike to open the heavy wooden door. Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were all standing outside, gloomy expressions all around. "Heya Spike, can we come in?"
"Well sure, anypony is welcome in the library," he greeted them as they somberly walk inside - even Pinkie Pie wasn't hopping like her regular self.
"Hi girls," opened Twilight. "What's the matter?"
"Twilight, dear, we're quite... worried," said Rarity. "The clouds around Ponyville are amassing and Dash normally keeps them cleared until a scheduled downpour."
"Yeah, we can't find Dashie anywhere. We looked everywhere around Ponyville, even up the trees at Applejack's farm!" said Pinkie Pie.
"I...I... even flew up to Cloudsdale. She wasn't there either," whispered Fluttershy.
"Now I know Spike mentioned Dash bein' hurt or something this morning, but we couldn't find you after you used your fancy magic, so we don't know what’s goin' on." Applejack began as the ponies surrounded Twilight. "Please, we are very worried about her. Do you know anythin' that might help us find her?"
Twilight was stricken with guilt. She knew hiding Dash would just hurt her friends more, and even Spike started to look concerned. She finally gave into her emotions and spoke.
"There is something terribly wrong with Rainbow Dash." Twilight said, her eyes watering.
Twilight did not shed a tear, she needed to be strong for everypony. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy cringed, while Rarity and AJ shared a stern look at the unicorn's face.
"What do you mean... wrong?" murmured Rarity.
Twilight sparked up her horn and in a flash of light revealed Dash in the middle of the room, still perked on the cushion, and glaring at Twilight's eyes.
Pinkie Pie jumped for joy and ran over to give her a big hug: "DASHIE!"
No response. The pink pony took a few steps back, her smile completely wiped off her face. Fluttershy was still cowering behind Rarity and Applejack, but slowly followed behind them as all the ponies gather around Dash.
"Is she...?" opened the farmer.
"No, theoretically she's fine. No injuries or anything. But she won't move," explained Twilight. "No matter what I do she just sits there and glares at me. I've tried every spell I know, nothing is working."
All five ponies and Spike huddled by the pegasus; they felt helpless about not being able to do anything for their stone-like friend. Pinkie and Fluttershy started to whimper, and it didn’t take long for Rarity to feel depressed as well.
"Twi," whispered Applejack. "We can't keep her this way."
"I know..." she responded.
"We have no choice. We must tell the Princess..."
Not the words Twilight was hoping for. She despised telling her mentor of her failures, but her friend's health was in danger. So with a flick of her horn she levitated a parchment and quill into Spike's awaiting hands.
"Spike, take a note please."
Everyone looked at Twilight. She was looking up at the ceiling with closed eyes, tears visibly pouring down her cheeks. After a short pause she continued.
"Dear Princess Celestia. I have terrible news..."
To be continued...
|
TheLunarArmy
|
897
| 4 |
Main 6,Mayor Mare,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Crossover,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Tale of KyuubiDash
|
Rainbow Dash discovers a dark secret about her element of Loyalty. Can she contain her inner demons?
|
incomplete
| 38 | 4 |
<p>In an alternative universe the ninjas from the hidden village of Konoha discover an ancient temple used to protect a forgotten clan and to test ninja's loyalty. In a complete twist of fate, a team of ninja manages to seal a demon fox inside a stone orb and banish it from existence. But where did it go? And how could this possibly have an effect on the ponies of Equestria?</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-10-01T08:25:41+00:00
|
2011-10-01T08:25:41+00:00
| 3,286 |
Chapter 3: A dark night
Written by TheLunarArmy
Edited by Ezn
The lone town hall in Ponyville was very quiet at late dusk. Most of the politicians and town officials had left for home as the sun began to set on the horizon. The only light still present in the dark halls emanated from Mayor Mare's office. The grey mare was focused on the parchment in front of her; some new bill had caught her attention.
A swinging door in the hallway interrupted her concentration. She took off her glasses as the sound of hooves resonated throughout the room. Something must have happened in town. That would be the only reason for this kind disturbance. She got up from her desk and walked over to the door, slowly peering into the dark corridor.
Twilight Sparkle, Applejack and Rarity were running at full speed down the long passage, obviously headed straight for the her office. They bore very serious expressions and both unicorns had a light spell at the tip of their horns. Mayor Mare walked outside to greet the three exhausted ponies.
"Applejack! Rairity! Miss Sparkle! What is the meaning of this?" she asked with a slight startle in her voice.
"Mayor Mare, we have an urgent letter from the Princess you must read," explained Twilight.
"Something has happened Rainbow Dash which has caused a great stir in Canterlot, please read it with post haste", continued Rarity.
Applejack opened the saddlebag on her back. Inside sat two neatly rolled scrolls, bearing the royal sun insignia. One had been opened and the other had not. Twilight levitated the unsealed scroll out of the bag and presented it to the Mayor, who had placed her reading glasses back on. She cautiously broke the seal and began murmuring the words as she read.
Dear Mayor Mare,
My gracious congratulations to the year's Summer Sun celebration, even with the return of Nightmare Moon and my abrupt disappearance from the initial festivities I feel that Ponyville, as hosts, handled the situation excellently. Now I must call on this service once again.
What you are about to read is highly classified and may only be known by yourself, my faithful student Twilight Sparkle, her associates and her assistant. As much as it pains me to write this, disclosing any information to the public is punishable by death.
Mayor Mare stopped to look at the ponies. They all seemed very stressed which causes her to start sweating as well. She continued.
My sister, Princes Luna, was not defeated by my magic this time, but by the Elements of Harmony absorbed by Twilight and her friends. All six ponies bravely stood against Nightmare Moon and managed to vanquish her evil spirit. Each of these ponies are guardians of the Elements now and will remain, hidden, in Ponyville. They may not reveal their power to others and you are to see that this order is carried out to the letter.
However, a problem which requires your immediate attention has already arisen. Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty, has gone into a near-coma state and does not seem to be recovering. It seems obvious that a higher magic is at work here and may be controlling the beloved pegasus. As of this writing I am already setting off to the mystical city of Bronkonia to consult with the council of unicorn magic. Until my return to Ponyville you are to ensure that Rainbow Dash and her friends stay safe and monitor her condition. My sister will patrol the night skies, so internal security will be handled by the the royal guards at your disposal.
Let us all hope for Rainbow Dash's well being.
Signed
HRH Princess Celestia of Equestria
Mayor Mare's eyes looked up at Twilight. She turned around, walked into her office and spoke.
"Follow me," she said.
The three ponies walked into the dimly-lit office and noticed the Mayor placing the scroll inside her safe. She turned around and the four ponies started discussing the current situation. The moon was in full view through the bay windows, and a dark figure was seen flying across the night sky.
<>--<>
Rainbow Dash felt exhausted from the trek across the dark lake. Her mane was soaking wet and her magenta eyes were focused on the rippled water in front of her; even her feathery wings had started to drag alongside her worn body. The ominous feeling of being watched had never left, in fact, she almost felt comforted by its presence. At least she wouldn't feel so lonely anymore.
The orange light began to grow closer, but it still appeared distant. The pegasus stopped to take another glimpse of it. The bright glow and warm heat it radiated gave her stamina to push forward. Now she definitely felt closer. Another chill started to creep its way across her flank, towards her back and through her mane. Not this time, she thought.
Dash leaped up into the air, spreading her wings to take flight. However, the dark water lashed out and dragged her back down.
In a fit of rage she yelled: "Alright, show yourself! I know you’re there!"
The pegasus's warm body and tattered spirit had affected her judgement greatly. She searched the sky with her bewildered eyes, unable to see anything. A defeated Dash sank into herself; she no longer felt the strength that she had had a few moments ago. The depressing feelings of loneliness and anguish ripped through her mind. At last she cried in her own brow.
The broken pony lay crippled in the dark lake. Her tears struck the murky water, causing the mixed fluids to create bright orange smoke that hazed across its surface. Dash's closed eyes did not see the smoke. As more smoke was being made, faint laughter started to echo from across the peninsula. Dash was finally able to hear the sinister chuckle through her own snickering. She opened her eyes and was surprised to see that the dark pool of water had been replaced by a bright room.
The cyan pegasus, still crouched and soaking wet, looked around the stone room with her swollen eyes. The walls to her sides and behind her had no real distinctive features, besides a few chains and torches that burned with bright orange flames. She still stood in the pool of water, but it had an orange tint about it; an improvement over the blackened sludge she had been trekking through earlier. However, these distractions were only masking the real feature, a large cage that spanned the entire wall in front of her.
Large wooden pillars stretched from the floor to the ceiling and were firmly braced with horizontal beams. In the middle was a large white sign, covered in strange markings. Dash walked closer to the paper to try and make out the scribblings, however, it was written in a language she couldn't understand. The paper seemed old and a small tear protruded from the top downward, about half a hooves length. Behind the large gate was a dark void, similar to the one she was walking in. It appeared to be a prison and Dash immediately felt shaken by the thought of being imprisoned.
A small chuckle resonated from behind the bars, startling the pegasus.
"Who are you, small creature?" asked a deep, sinister voice.
"I...I.. am Rainbow Dash! And I'm not afraid of anypony! Show yourself!" she replied.
"Any... pony?" questioned the voice, "What an interesting statement, ha ha!"
Its dark billowing made Dash cringe but she stood her ground. "Rainbow Dash, was it? Yes... yes... Rainbow Dash... bwhaha... Do you know who I am?"
"Yeah. You're the perverted creep who kept touching me while I was walking through this horrible muck."
"Ahaha, so you did notice me. Well I suppose an introduction is in order."
From the darkness a set of large white eyes opened to reveal the voice's figure. The eyes were not of any pony Dash ever saw, they had bright red irises with black pupils slicing through them; they looked very similar to Spike's eyes. Underneath the eyes, a set of pearl white teeth appeared; they were razor sharp, perfectly aligned and formed a large smile. Dash was certainly scared of the creature's mysterious face. She slowly backed away from the cage.
The creature licked its teeth before narrowing its eyes and continuing to speak.
"I am known by many names, but you may call me Kyuubi, the demon fox."
<>--<>
Canterlot. Princess Celestia was hurrying down the one of the large passage ways that lead from the royal court towards the castle's entrance. She was followed by two of her royal guards and what appeared to be personal assistant of some sort - a beige unicorn with bright red mane and a closed eye for a cutie mark. The unicorn was levitating a scroll in front of her face and quickly scribbling down instruction Celestia was whispering to her.
"One final note, Copper," said the Princess, "My trip to Bronkonia is to stay a secret; even the royals are to remain unaware of this situation."
"Of course, your highness. But what of Luna and the guards?" Copper said, looking up to the mighty alicorn who was magically creating a white cloak around her body.
"Even though it has only been one day since my sister's return, I can feel her heart is back to where it once was, before she was corrupted by Nightmare Moon. So, in my absence, she is to take full control over the castle and any responsibilities that come with it. The guards are to follow her orders without question."
The unicorn bit her lip as she scribbled the final sentence onto the parchment. The four ponies reached the door to the castle. The guards opened the door and bowed as the Princess stepped into the dark night; Luna ensured that the crescent moon reflected no light from the sun that evening. Celestia turned back to Copper.
"If anything goes wrong, or if you hear anything about Rainbow Dash, please contact me as soon as possible."
The unicorn nodded and bade farewell before the princess lit up her horn and dissipated into the darkness of the night. As Copper and the guards were slowly walking back to the main throne room they came across Princess Luna, who was staring at the stars through one of the palace’s many large windows. Copper cautiously approached the alicorn and cleared her throat. However, before she could say a word, Luna sparked a conversation.
"Copper, right?" asked Luna.
The unicorn smiled and nodded.
"Do you have any information about this... Element of Loyalty?"
Copper felt pinned against the wall, but luckily remembered one of the letters that Celestia had given her earlier that morning. With a bright red spark, the unicorn revealed an unsealed scroll in front of Luna.
"This is a letter from your sister's personal student, Twilight Sparkle. She wrote a detailed report on all the friends she met in Ponyville. It’s quite a co-incidence that each of them became a guardian for the Elements of Harmony."
"Ah yes," replied Luna. "My memories of the whole encounter are still a bit fuzzy, but I do remember this blue pegasus's loyalty: very admirable."
Luna was quite surprised to see the scroll nearly reached the floor: it was indeed very detailed. Each pony had a physical description, psychiatric analysis and strengths/flaws section.
"Looks like I will have some reading to do this evening."
Luna resealed the scroll and made it disappear. "It's time I took to the skies. See you in the morning, Copper."
The blue alicorn walked out onto a nearby balcony and took off, quickly disappearing into the night sky and leaving the beige unicorn to her duties.
<>--<>
The half-moon provided almost no radiance over Ponyville, so it came as no surprise that all the lanterns in town were burning furiously to provide suitable lighting for the dark streets. The library in the middle of town was under heavy lock and key. Royal guards were situated outside the door and others were patrolling around town. The noticeboards around town, usually littered with outdated posters and advertisements, were cleaned to make room for the new decree that Mayor Mare had posted only moments ago.
To all citizens of Ponyville.
Her royal highness, Princess Celestia, has put Ponyville into a state of emergency until further notice. Please do not be alarmed by the armed forces in town, they are merely there for your own safety. Please cooperate with the authorities and carry on with your daily lives. That is all.
Mayor Mare, Mayor of Ponyville.
Applejack, Rarity and Twilight entered the library. They were the only ponies allowed to enter and leave the premises unquestioned, so naturally they felt a little intimidated by the armed guards standing outside the door. Twilight walked over to Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, who hae passed out next to Spike (fast asleep in his basket). The three of them snuggled closely by the base of the stairs, shivering slightly due to the cool evening frost.
"Twilight," said Applejack. "Don't worry too much ya' hear. I'm sure the Princess will find a way to cure Dash."
The unicorn almost didn't hear the earth pony as she pulled a blanket over her sleeping friends. She turned to face Applejack, hoping some inspiration could make her fib about her true emotions. However this was the Element of Honesty; lying now would just be a contradiction. Rarity walked over to Twilight and gave her a hug.
"Don't think for a second that this is your fault, Twi," said Rarity comfortingly.
Twilight turned away before finally speaking: "No, no, no. I'm sorry you guys, but you're wrong. If I hadn't come to Ponyville... if I hadn't met you... then none of this would be happening."
"Yeah, but then Nightmare Moon would have taken over all of Equestia!" replied Applejack. "We couldn't let our new friend take on a mystical being on her own."
Rarity also added "... This was much our own doing as anypony else’s Twilight. There is no need to be so hard on yourself."
All three ponies stopped to look at Dash, who was still motionless in the middle of the room. It had been a long and eventful day and everypony started to feel exhausted.
"Look Twi, we did everything we could today. Let's leave Dash in the princess's hooves now and get some shut eye. Tomorrow is another day," said Applejack.
Rarity nodded with her friend's resolution before turning towards the exit. "Please get some sleep Twilight."
Twilight tracked Applejack as the door closed behind her, however she could not help but stare at the idle Dash. Her eyes were watering again. How would she live with herself if Dash never recovered? Why would her mentor react to the situation like this? Why all the armed forces? Twilight's mind was spinning. The poor unicorn, disregarding Applejack's kind words, convinced herself she was to blame. This was her first time having actual friends and now she bound one of them inside a magical prison? This pushed her even deeper into thought. I need to help Dash right now. Mystical elements? Stone-like coma? Introduction of magic to a non-magical being?
Then it hit her. The dark magic section within Celestia's private library in Canterlot! Although Twilight was not supposed to know about that forbidden collection of books, she hadn't been able to help flipping through one of the dusty ledgers a few months ago while waiting for her mentor to meet her. She could recall that the index mentioned a cure for magic aftershock.
It took about three minutes for the unicorn to jump into action. She fetched her saddlebag, grabbed a coat and galloped out the library, only to momentarily look back at Dash and whisper: "I will fix this, no matter what the cost."
Once outside she addressed one of the guards patrolling the road: "I need to get to Canterlot right away, please."
To be continued...
|
TheLunarArmy
|
897
| 5 |
Main 6,Mayor Mare,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Crossover,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Tale of KyuubiDash
|
Rainbow Dash discovers a dark secret about her element of Loyalty. Can she contain her inner demons?
|
incomplete
| 38 | 4 |
<p>In an alternative universe the ninjas from the hidden village of Konoha discover an ancient temple used to protect a forgotten clan and to test ninja's loyalty. In a complete twist of fate, a team of ninja manages to seal a demon fox inside a stone orb and banish it from existence. But where did it go? And how could this possibly have an effect on the ponies of Equestria?</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-12-07T10:52:48+00:00
|
2011-12-07T10:52:48+00:00
| 3,131 |
Chapter 4: To each their own demon
Written by TheLunarArmy
Edited by Ezn
Rainbow Dash stood in front of the fortified cage, staring down the vicious eyes of her harasser. The “fox”, as he called himself, had started to reveal more and more of his figure as the orange light flickering from the pool started to illuminate the darkness. He was huge in comparison to the cyan pegasus - nearly thirty times her height. His name literally described his face and body, however he had one other feature that set him aside from a normal fox: nine long, hairy tails that seemed to move about autonomously.
Dash finally started to converse with the demon: "Where am I, fox?"
The fox lowered his face down to the pool and responded with a smile.
"You are inside your own twisted world, little pony."
"That makes no sense, I would never dream up a dump like this!"
"...No?"
The fox directed Dash to the floor in front of her. The pool of water rippled for a few seconds before revealing a vision. It was a compilation of Dash's grim, younger memories. It reminded her of all the times she got rejected from the Wonderbolts, all the times she failed to repeat the Sonic Rainboom and, naturally, all the times she spent bullying ponies with Gilda in flight academy. It was like a relapse of all her failures throughout her life and it struck a nerve in the poor filly's heart.
She took a step back, thinking hard on what she just saw. This must be some plan he's thinking up, thought Dash, I can't trust this creep... She raised her head again and, with her usual stark confidence, decided to snap back.
"Sure, I may have been in some bad moods, but my feelings would never make a dark place like this. Nor would I ever do anything to hurt my friends."
The fox leaned closer to the cage and whispered.
"But are you sure they haven't been hurting you?"
"My friends would never hurt me! What do you know about friends anyway, being locked up like that in a dirty cage, huh?"
In an instant the fox rolled back in his cage with a maniacal laugh; he got what he wanted. He now knew how to tamper with this pony's emotions. A way in, he thought. Excellent.
"I have only known you for a few hours now, Rainbow Dash. But I can already tell you're being held back by your so-called ‘friends’. You may be loyal to them, but are they really, truly, loyal to you?"
The pegasus doubted herself for a moment, but persisted in staring the demon down.
"Think about this," continued the Kyuubi, "Your dream is to one day captain the Wonderbolts, yes?"
The fox's expression became serious.
"If you stay with your friends, then you will never reach your goal. You may have some fun in their company, and I can even predict some adventures here and there. But every evening, before you close your eyes, you will have to acknowledge the fact that these Wonderbolts - and every other pony - will never see your talents. Eventually, you'll just become a nobody. Unliked and unloved. Is that what you really want?"
His words brought a chill to Dash's spine. As much as she tried to keep the sly demon out of her head, she could not help but to ponder the possibilities. It took several minutes for Dash to reply.
"I will prove you wrong, fox!" she yelled. "My friends are the best, and they wouldn’'t stab me in the back!"
The fox crept back into the darkness of his cage. "We shall see..."
<>--<>
The sky was beautiful that evening. The lack of light made the stars glow with such great intensity that Twilight could see all the constellations from the back of the chariot. She enjoyed the moment of tranquility before focusing at the task at hand. She would need to sneak past the guards, get inside Celestia's room and then retrieve that tome. Luckily, she knew that Celestia always stored valuable artifacts behind the paintings in her room: a useful tactic that Twilight had also started to employ.
Princess Luna was patrolling the sky overhead and saw the gold chariot with ease. Nopony had authorized an escort without informing her, so she flew closer to investigate.
"Hello Twilight," said the alicorn.
Twilight looked around until she finally recognized the voice above her. She saw Luna flying upside-down, parallel to the chariot.
"Oh, hello Princess. How are you feeling?"
"Much better, thanks to you and your friends. Once again, my gratitude for saving me."
"I'm glad to see you and Princess Celestia are still close, even after this whole fiasco."
"My heart was twisted by Nightmare's remorse... every day I spent on the moon I yearned to be free from its grasp... and you gave me that freedom."
Twilight tried to keep the petty talk going, but knew that Luna was there to find out where she was going. Eventually the subject came up.
"Twilight, I need to ask you something. Why are you going to Canterlot after my sister instructed you to stay by Rainbow Dash's bedside?"
Thinking fast, the unicorn quickly responded. "Her condition is stable, and I'm sure my friends can look after her for one night. I just need to... uh... fetch a book I left in the castle. It may have some clues to help solve this mystery."
Princess Luna gave a concerned look. She came all this way for a book? Really?
"Well, make it quick, Twilight. I'm sure your friends need you back in Ponyville."
The unicorn nodded as Luna barrel rolled out of formation and back into the darkness of the night. Twilight failed to notice that the princess had embedded a sensory spell onto one of her saddlebags' insignias. Whatever Twilight saw, telepathically, so would Luna.
<>--<>
Rainbow Dash was pacing around the stone room, looking for a way out. The black and orange water was still clinging to her hooves, causing much discomfort with the added weight to her step. She searched all the walls, from corner to corner, but found nothing of any use. This dungeon certainly was meant to prevent its prisoners from leaving.
After spending another hour searching, Dash stopped to have a rest. The Kyuubi was still watching her every movement. He knew how to play the waiting game. Eventually she will become curious.
Dash took off the necklace around her neck and stared into the glimmering ruby.
"I still don't know how this thing got back around my neck." she whispered to herself, unaware that the fox's keen sense of hearing could detect exactly her every word. He stood up, stretched his forelegs and decided to toy with her again.
"Don't you remember pony? You went back to your house and fetched it?"
"What?" said Dash, startled by the fox's sudden reappearance. "I think I would remember flying back to Cloudsdale. Duh."
"You silly filly. Although your mind my drift away from the truth, your body is yearning to wield that crystal's power. Without it, I sense your weak spirit will eventually drive everyone you love away."
Dash curiously stared back at the necklace before tossing it aside.
"I don't need any power boosts! I can handle anything on my own!"
"Oh?" said the fox, pointing at the pony's chest. The necklace was back to its original position and Dash was shaken to see it again.
"T-t-that’s not possible. I just... how did you do that? Are you using magic?"
"I did nothing of the sort, pony," chuckled the fox. "Here, look for yourself."
The bubbling pool of water in front of Dash suddenly revealed another vision. This one was of just a few moments ago. After Dash had tossed the necklace aside her body started to shake. The seemingly docile pony rushed over to the glowing ruby and cuddled it close to her nervous body. The necklace attached itself back around her neck, ending the vision.
"It... can't be..." said the pony, completely stunned by despair. "This thing is ruining my life! How can I get it off?"
This was the moment the patient fox had been waiting for. Dash had taken his bait.
The Kyuubi pushed out as much empathy from his black heart as he could: this next statement had to be as convincing as possible.
"Let me help you Rainbow Dash. Come closer."
Dash couldn't help but listen to the fox's comforting words. It had been a long day and her bottled-up emotions couldn't help but make her move closer to the cage.
<>--<>
The chariot ground to a halt on the asphalt path leading into the castle grounds. Twilight hopped off and proceeded to walk along the road, towards the entrance of the large white fortress. She felt a little nervous trotting past the guards that patrolled the walkways. This would be the first time she had ever truly done something dishonest.
A familiar face saw her from across the main lobby as Twilight approached the receptionist pony.
"Twilight! Twilight Sparkle!" called Copper, who was trotting over to her location.
"Oh hello, Copper," replied the Twilight, "Nice to see you're managing things while the Princess is away."
"Yes, Celestia was in awful hurry to get to Bronkonia - we are all very worried about the Element of Loyalty."
Both unicorns walked along the main hallways towards the door leading into Celestia's room. Twilight paused for a moment, and corrected Copper's statement.
"Rainbow Dash. Her name is Rainbow Dash."
"Of course, Rainbow Dash."
"Look Copper, I'm in a bit of a hurry as well. I left one of my notebooks in the princess's room. Is it possible for me to go in and fetch it?"
The beige unicorn shot a stern look at Twilight. Access to the either of the princess' quarters was absolutely forbidden during her absence.
"Can it not wait until Celestia's return, Twilight? I think there is a more important matter to attend to, don't you think?"
Twilight knew this maneuver. Copper had a knack of changing the subject immediately after she was asked to do anything even mildly illegal. Twilight knew this first-hand after she had begged Copper not to tell Celestia about the 'explosive pixie dust' experiment she had conducted a few months before. Twilight now knew that she wouldn’t be able to worm her way into that library. Both ponies were standing in front of Celestia's door alone; the guards had taken their hourly hay break.
"This is a very important book! I need to get it, Copper."
The beige unicorn turned away from the door before speaking. "Sorry Twilight, but rules are rules. I cannot allow you inside the princess' room withou--"
Copper was cut short. Twilight had magically levitated a nearby menorah and slammed it into the back of her head. The unicorn crashed to the ground, covered in blood caused by the gash. Twilight was a little shocked by her own strength and rushed over to Copper to see if she was okay. She was still breathing, so Twilight removed the golden key necklaced around Copper's neck before whispering in her ear.
"Sorry Copper, but I need to save my friend."
At that same moment, Princess Luna saw what had happened and immediately turned wing straight back to Canterlot.
Twilight quickly unlocked and opened the heavy door leading into Celestia's room. She knew it would only be ten minutes before the guards would return, so she wasted no time running across the red carpet towards a painting of the royal sisters. She carefully lifted the painting off its hook and placed it neatly to one side. A small wooden chest was revealed and Twilight quickly lowered it to her eye level. The box bore a grim skull insignia on it, but it didn't scare Twilight's determination. She opened the box and blue magic aura sliced through unicorn's body, sending little lightning jolts jumping from hair to hair.
Luna's connection with her spell was suddenly lost. The box obviously had some shield to protect its wielder from magic. What kind of book did Twilight pick up? wondered the alicorn as she sped closer to the castle.
Twilight was surprised to see her Element sudden appear on her head. The purple and gold tiara created a white orb around the book, somehow helping Twilight to maintain the book's dark energy.
"I don't have time for this!" yelled Twilight.
She levitated the book into her saddlebag and then placed her tiara next to it. After placing the painting back on its hook, she proceeded to sprint back towards the door. Outside, the guards were standing over Copper's body as they helped the semi-conscious unicorn onto her hooves. After opening her eyes she noticed Twilight leaving the room. The order came in loud and clear.
"Seize her!"
Twilight turned tail and ran down the hallway as fast as she could, guards in hot pursuit. An alarm bell started to ring and more guards appeared in doorways. The chase didn't last long: it ground to a halt when Twilight stopped in the middle of the lobby. All the doors leading back into the castle were blockaded by guards, but only one obstacle stood between the unicorn and her escape...
Princess Luna.
To be continued...
|
TheLunarArmy
|
897
| 6 |
Main 6,Mayor Mare,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Crossover,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Tale of KyuubiDash
|
Rainbow Dash discovers a dark secret about her element of Loyalty. Can she contain her inner demons?
|
incomplete
| 38 | 4 |
<p>In an alternative universe the ninjas from the hidden village of Konoha discover an ancient temple used to protect a forgotten clan and to test ninja's loyalty. In a complete twist of fate, a team of ninja manages to seal a demon fox inside a stone orb and banish it from existence. But where did it go? And how could this possibly have an effect on the ponies of Equestria?</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-10-01T14:02:56+00:00
|
2011-10-01T14:02:56+00:00
| 3,315 |
A loyal fan sent in some fanart for chapter three. Check it out!
Source, Thanks ScionTheKitsune!
|
TheLunarArmy
|
897
| 7 |
Main 6,Mayor Mare,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Crossover,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Tale of KyuubiDash
|
Rainbow Dash discovers a dark secret about her element of Loyalty. Can she contain her inner demons?
|
incomplete
| 38 | 4 |
<p>In an alternative universe the ninjas from the hidden village of Konoha discover an ancient temple used to protect a forgotten clan and to test ninja's loyalty. In a complete twist of fate, a team of ninja manages to seal a demon fox inside a stone orb and banish it from existence. But where did it go? And how could this possibly have an effect on the ponies of Equestria?</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-10-12T22:38:09+00:00
|
2011-10-12T22:38:09+00:00
| 2,819 |
Chapter 5 - Freedom
Written by TheLunarArmy
Edited by Ezn and SciontheKitsune
The entire Canterlot castle was dead quiet as two of the most powerful ponies in Equestria stared at each other in a grim showdown. On the one side there was the infamous, former, dark mare of the moon, Princess Luna, well-known for her harsh treatment of traitors and Princess Celestia’s magical equivalent. Twilight Sparkle was on the opposite side of the large room, standing on a velvet carpet lined with the royal pony sisters' insignia. The purple unicorn was also well respected by the Canterlot population, if not by her peers, then certainly by the various lecturer ponies from the School for gifted Unicorns; many of whom were standing behind the guards blocking the doors.
The dark alicorn bore a very displeased and subtly angry face; one could cut the tension with a knife. The whole room remained absolutely still, as nopony dared to make a move on either pony. Twilight knew she was in serious trouble. She had one plan to get out. This was her only chance to save Rainbow Dash.
"Twilight. Just, stop," said Luna, "I will not let you leave with that tome. You don't understand what power you are dealing with..."
Twilight angrily snapped back at the alicorn.
"No Princess. It is you who don't understand friendship."
All the spectators in the room started to whisper to one another.
"Twilight, I know this must be hard for you, but this is not how you should save your friend. You may be loyal to her, but there are safer ways to..."
"No no no!" cried the Twilight, "For the first time in my life I have real friends who didn't abandon me when I needed them most. And now I can't face them. All because I led them into danger and somepony got hurt!"
Her face was pouring with tears, but the distressed pony still held a focused, somewhat angry, glare at Luna.
"Maybe if you never showed up... Princess..."
Twilight suddenly realized what she said. How could she? Nightmare Moon wasn't Luna's fault! Oh, by Celestia, what have I done? Scorned the unicorn.
"That is enough, Twilight. I promise if you back down, then we will pardon this entire episode and I will escort you back to Ponyville. Rainbow Dash needs you at her side, not going crazy and dipping into dark magics."
The crowd gasped in disbelief. Princess Celestia's most powerful student? A dark unicorn? This certainly caused everyone to stir, and a few of Twilight's former lecturers even fainted. The guards were now on full alert, drawing swords, pikes and various other weapons, clenching them in their mouths.
Suddenly Twilight's saddlebag flung open, casting a blinding light throughout the entire room. The mystical book and her Element had somehow reacted with one another, causing the entire room to become frozen in time. All of the guards, ponies and staff remained absolutely motionless, no pony blinked moved or even breathed! Twilight looked around, noticing all the various expressions on every pony's face as they remained static in position.
Twilight opened her saddlebag to take a look inside the ledger. Inscribed on the front page was a note. Strangely, it was directed at her.
Twilight Sparkle, guardian of Magic.
This codex was written to preserve the power of those who need it most.
In dire situations it has the power to pause time for a single hour.
Use this time to accomplish goals you would otherwise not be able to.
Be warned that after the sixty minutes expire, so will these pages.
Act wisely.
Wasting no time, Twilight sprinted past the idle alicorn and straight towards Ponyville. She could feel her muscles ache but it didn't stop her. Nothing could hold her back from her goal. She continued to read the black ledger while maintaining a steady pace towards home.
<>--<>
After about forty minutes worth of running, Twilight finally managed to get back inside her library. Everything was still frozen, and naturally the noiseless, motionless surroundings gave hollow conjecture. The unicorn's mind was racing with all the various incantations she had memorized; all this while fighting the exhaustion from the punishing run she just endured. Twilight took a few seconds to catch her breath before placing the large book in front of Dash. She had about fifteen minutes before the spell wore off.
She opened the ledger with her magic and turned to the section she was looking for. Page 645: Unbinding non-unicorns from arcane comas.
The instructions were clear and precise. This would be the first time Twilight was to attempt a powerful spell without the help of Spike. So after a nervous sigh, she closed her eyes and mimicked the words from the page, causing her horn to glow with an ominous orange haze. Various symbols appeared around Dash, cryptically branding themselves into the wood floor. Additionally, some arcane halo-like chains wrapped around the pegasus, covering her body, hooves and wings in a bright orange snare.
Twilight opened her eyes and yelled the enchantment while bowing her head to focus the built-up magic straight at Rainbow Dash's stomach. In a beautiful display of colour, a powerful streak of light extruded from Twilight's horn and sliced right into Dash's flesh. However, it caused no visible damage, so it was obviously an ethereal blade. Twilight continued to make an magical incision though Dash's stomach and towards her neck, slicing through the ropes wrapped around her.
<>-Meanwhile-<>
Inside Rainbow Dash's conscience, the pony slowly waddled through the dark pool, nearing the Kyuubi's cage. Dash had no expression on her face - she was completely mesmerized by the fox's tempting proposal and willingly moved closer to his grasp.
"Yes, haha, YES! Rainbow Dash!" he yelled. "Join me, and together we will make all your dreams come tr-"
However, before the demon could finish his sentence, a bright light pierced between the cage and the pegasus, who was literally inches away from the fox's claw. White lassos poured out of the tear and ensnared the fox's body, suppressing the demon deeper into his prison. At the same time, a single rope latched around the paralyzed Dash. It secured a tight knot around the pony's waist and pulled her towards the tear.
It was at this moment Dash finally snapped out of the Kyuubi's mental bind. Her body felt weak, unlike she anything she ever felt. It was like the fox was drawing the very life essence out of her. If the ropes had not appeared when they did, things may have ended for her. She could only manage to open her eyes a crack, but it was enough to see what was happening.
"Huh, what they hay is going on?" she whispered, seeing the magical lassos holding the fox down as it snared and snapped at its attacker. The mighty beast fought valiantly, but it was no match for ethereal constraints. The fox could do nothing but back away as the ropes slowly dragged Dash into the crack in the floor. Even though he was defeated, the demon managed to send one more chill down the weak pegasus' spine.
"It seems our meeting has been cut short, pony!" chuckled the fox. "Rest assured, I will still be here. Watching! Waiting! Don't forget what I said! You'll see! Ahahaha!"
The laughter soon faded as Dash was pulled to safety. She saw the dark room disappear in the distance as the magic lassos rapidly closed the hole they had made, sealing the dreadful prison from sight. However, the pony could not keep her eyes open anymore, and she embraced the warm energy enveloping her as the scene slowly faded to white.
<>--<>
Just as the spell's energy wore off, Twilight Sparkle found herself back in Canterlot, standing in the middle of the castle's lobby. There were many guards covering the doors leading away from the room and many ponies stood in shock at the spectacle in front of them. Princess Luna stood opposite Twilight's position, in front of the large doors leading to the outside. Twilight was completely confused about what was going on; only a few seconds before, she had been casting a release spell on Rainbow Dash when...
Twilight’s mind 'clicked'. The book had sent her back to before the spell had been released!
Almost expectantly the dark alicorn spoke: "That is enough, Twilight. I promise if you back down, then we will pardon this entire episode and I will escort you back to Ponyville. Rainbow Dash needs you at her side..."
This was her cue to clean up the mess she made. To everypony's surprise, Twilight immediately dropped the saddlebag and ran towards the alicorn, her eyes doused in fake tears. Luna initially thought she was charging at her, but soon saw the pony's disconsolate expression as form of surrender. The sympathetic princess immediately dropped her guard and wrapped her wing around the poor unicorn's trembling body, attempting to brace her.
"There, there," said Luna, "It's okay."
"I'm so... so... sorry... Princess. I don't know what came over me," cried Twilight. "Please... please forgive my actions, and those mean things I said about you."
Princess Luna comforted the unicorn as she continued to sob. She looked up at the guards and, with a silent nod, they backed down and returned to their posts. She wasn't sure how to deal with the situation on hoof. Twilight had broken many rules and injured an innocent bystander in the process. However, could she really blame the poor, confused unicorn? It was only two nights before that she attacked the Summer Sun Celebration. Had Celestia punished her? This thought decided Luna’s next course of action: she would show the same kindness as everypony else had during her crusade as Nigthmare Moon.
"It's okay Twilight, you were just confused about what to do. Take my advice: have faith in Celestia and have faith in Rainbow Dash. You need to show them the same faith they had in you - that is the magic of friendship!"
Twilight relinquished a hidden smirk, away from Luna's sight. She still pretended to pour her eyes out into the alicorn's brow. The clever strategist had successfully convinced Luna to believe her; she was unaware of the book's powerful time stopping spell that had given Twlight the opportunity to save her friend.
Twilight felt exhausted after the entire fiasco. After looking into Luna's eyes, she unwillingly passed out, surprising the alicorn a little. The benign princess couldn't help but smile at the sleeping unicorn as she wrapped her completely in her large wings.
Luna called for the nearby maiden ponies, who quickly carried Twilight to one of the bedroom suites down the hall. Another maiden came to fetch her bag, but she was stopped momentarily. The alicorn carefully removed the tome from the bag before allowing the maiden to take it to Twilight's room. All the other ponies cleared the way as Princess Luna walked back to Celestia's room.
<>--<>
The sand dunes cast a majestic atmosphere over the city of Bronkonia. The large emerald city was enveloped by an impressive dome, about the same size of Canterlot and with one entrance. Many chunks of earth hovered around the city’s mind-blowing skyscrapers, all of which nearly touched the large protective bubble. Inside the city, one could see lush green parks with trees and flowers, all surrounded by plazas, walkways and libraries. Although Canterlot was known for its School for Gifted unicorns, it was Bronkonia that possessed the perfect environment for unicorns to test their magical prowess.
Princess Celestia galloped over one of the large sand dunes and headed straight for the main gate. She was wearing her white cloak and it reflected a beautiful blue and pink haze in the moon’s crescent glow. Even though there was little light around, the few ponies awake at this time witnessed the alicorn's arrival from inside the dome.
The two unicorn guards bowed as Celestia walked past them and onto the mosaic plaza leading towards an impressive jade castle directly in front of her. She had not visited Bronkonia in the past year, but the urgency of this matter did not excuse her presence. She had to speak with the Council of Magic before Rainbow Dash became locked in statis for all eternity.
It did not take long for the mighty alicorn to burst into the main lobby of the castle. The massive halls echoed with the slamming of doors. At the receptionist table, Celestia could see a familiar unicorn. She walked over to the stunned pony, spreading her wings in almost dominant manner.
"Faerie Fyre, am I glad to see you," said the alicorn, lowering her hood to reveal her sparkling mane that somehow flowed in the windless room.
It took the unicorn a few seconds to grasp her situation before breathing a sigh of relief.
"Princess Celestia! What a surprise! It’s been almost a year since we last saw you here. How do you fare?"
"Not well, Faerie. It seems a dark and mysterious force has crept its way into Equestria again, and I fear it may have corrupted one of the Elements of Harmony."
The silver unicorn shuffled her orange and teal mane away from her face to get a better look at Celestia. The alicorn was known for her subtle jokes every now and then, but Faerie Fyre could see this was not one of them.
"We need to assemble the council as soon as possible," said the unicorn. "Give me a moment."
Faerie Fyre walked to the middle of the marble floor, and her blue eyes ignited with a bright orange flame as her horn sprung to life. The unicorn levitated off the ground and cast a powerful spell, sending many colourful sparks through the castle's walls. Celestia intensified the expression on her face as, one by one, the Council of Magic appeared around the room.
Poly Cure, a tall black unicorn with bright green mane who was the Master of Potions, appeared in blaze of green smoke. His cutie mark was a set of dragon wings.
A scroll also appeared in a puff of smoke. It opened and out jumped Daylight Scribble, Mistress of Scrolls and Seals, a majestic crimson unicorn with dashing white mane bearing a quill cutie mark.
The final council member then appeared in a lightning strike. She was Ginger Blitz, an orange unicorn with yellow mane bearing a thundercloud as a cutie mark, and the Mistress of Nature and Incantations.
Faerie Fyre then dissipated in a flash of blue fire, only to reappear alongside her fellow council members. This surprised Princess Celestia, as she did not know of the unicorn's promotion.
"My, my Faerie, you made the council as well?"
"Yup," boasted Faerie Fyre. "I now bear the title of Spell Mistress, teehee."
"Now with pleasantries out of the way, let’s get down to business," said Celestia. "The Elements of Harmony have been summoned once more, and I fear a dark spirit may be looming over Equestria."
The council seemed a little shocked by the news. They looked at one another before Ginger Blitz spoke.
"Once more? You mean... you know of this entity?"
Princess Celestia lowered her wings. She had hoped that this day would not come, but she had no choice in the matter; Rainbow Dash was in grave danger.
"Yes. Back when I used the Elements of Harmony to free my sister from Nightmare Moon's grasp, I could feel a spirit living inside the Element of Loyalty."
"What kind of spirit?" interrupted Poly Cure.
Celestia closed her eyes as her own horn sprung to life. Behind her the sun started to rise, slowly bringing light through the windows of the jade castle. The unicorns watched intently as she mumbled her spell. The sun stopped moving, castling a white halo over Celestia's figure. The council could only watch in awe at the alicorn's beautiful aura.
At last she reopened her eyes and spoke.
"A cunning demon from another dimension!"
<>--<>
It had been a long and eventful evening. Luna stood on the balcony facing east, concentrating while awaiting the sun's slow ascent over the mountains. On cue she focused her magic and brought the moon down in a geosynchronous fashion; a perfect dawn to a dark night. The princess walked back into the marble hall and slowly made her way towards Twilight's room.
The unicorn was already up, bathed and ready to leave for Ponyville. The alicorn crept into the bedroom to see her packing the elemental tiara into her saddlebag and then tossing the loose baggage over her back. Luna smiled when Twilight's eyes finally met her own.
"I don't usually say this, but uh... good morning," asserted the alicorn. "I see you're ready to go?"
Twilight returned the greeting but immediately looked away from the princess, ashamed at the harsh words she had used the previous night. Luna, however, could see that something was troubling the young mare and decide to have a heart to heart.
"Listen, Twilight. What happened last night was a proof to me that you really care for your friends. You were willing to pay a terrible price and I commend you for your loyalty. But sometimes it's better to just take a step back, and approach things with caution."
The unicorn was willfully keeping herself from telling the truth. Nopony should know that her spell had actually succeeded and Rainbow Dash would likely be back to her normal tomboy self later that day. Twilight simply nodded and smiled innocently at Luna's touching words.
"Never forget to have a little patience, young one. Greed and the desire for power can turn you away from your goal. Remember this."
"Thanks for understanding, Princess," said Twilight, "I hope I can put this entire experience behind me."
"Don't worry too much about. Now, let’s get you onto the next chariot leaving for Ponyville, shall we?" smiled Luna.
“Sure thing. But first I should pay a visit to Copper.”
To be Continued...
|
TheLunarArmy
|
897
| 8 |
Main 6,Mayor Mare,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Crossover,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Tale of KyuubiDash
|
Rainbow Dash discovers a dark secret about her element of Loyalty. Can she contain her inner demons?
|
incomplete
| 38 | 4 |
<p>In an alternative universe the ninjas from the hidden village of Konoha discover an ancient temple used to protect a forgotten clan and to test ninja's loyalty. In a complete twist of fate, a team of ninja manages to seal a demon fox inside a stone orb and banish it from existence. But where did it go? And how could this possibly have an effect on the ponies of Equestria?</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-10-20T15:03:51+00:00
|
2011-10-20T15:03:51+00:00
| 2,780 |
Chapter 6: Back to reality
Written by TheLunarArmy
Edited by Ezn
Applejack and Rarity were walking through Ponyville at a moderate pace, heading straight towards the town library. Both ponies had woken up particularly early that morning in hopes of dedicating all their effort towards Rainbow Dash for the entire day.
"I hope Twilight didn't overexert herself last night," pondered Rarity, "I hardly know her, but she seems like a very pedantic pony."
"Shucks Rarity. You shouldn't be saying those harsh things; she seemed awfully guilty about this whole mess."
"Oh, I know, I know. But you have to admit, she did seem to overreact. I, for one, have great faith in Princess Celestia's capabilities."
Applejack couldn't help but agree with Rarity's comment. Twilight was being too harsh on herself, but judging by her reactions during the whole Nightmare Moon fiasco, Applejack could see that unicorn did not really know how to deal with new friendships.
The two mares reached the large tree house’s entrance. The guards slowly shifted away from their posts, allowing Rarity to open the door. As the ponies walked inside they could hear sobbing coming from upstairs. It only took a subtle eye-lock between Applejack and Rarity for both ponies to run up the wooden staircase into Twilight's bedroom.
Both ponies froze at the door leading into the room. They saw Spike bracing Pinkie Pie, who was sobbing in the dragon's arms. He was stroking the back of her mane in attempt to comfort the distressed pony. He looked up to meet Applejack's eyes. She suddenly felt her spine chill all the way to her flank.
"You... you... guys should go into the next room..." said Spike as he scurried off, his eyes to the floor.
The two mares continued into the adjacent room. Fluttershy was at the window, covering her face with her one wing and Rainbow Dash with the other. The rainbow pegasus was standing on her own four hooves, staring out into the horizon. Fluttershy moved her wing to reveal a smile across her tear-covered face. Both Rarity and Applejack's expressions changed to match that of the joyful pegasus.
"... Fluttershy," said Applejack, "...is she?"
Dash slowly turned around to meet all the ponies’ expressions. She let out a soft sigh and then stood in her typical proud Rainbow Dash pose.
"Hi guys! Did'ya miss me?"
<>--<>
Celestia stood in front of four very shocked masters. Their minds were racing with questions. The serene white light from the morning sun caused the emerald castle to flood with a green luminescent glow. The ponies blandly stared into Celestia's magenta eyes, utterly stunned with news of an inter-dimensional demon inside Equestria. It took a good four minutes of shell shock before Poly Cure finally broke the awkward silence.
"Celestia, if you knew of this demon... why did you not stop it from inhabiting the Elements of Harmony?"
Celesta stared daggers at the black stallion. She expected to be scrutinized, but not this soon. She tapped her hoof on the cold floor before responding.
"Over a thousand years ago, I had to call upon the Elements of Harmony's power to banish Nightmare Moon. During our battle I only had a fraction of each Element's true power." Celestia took a moment to recall the story. "It was at this time that I saw the demon, a fox, sitting in a cage inside Loyalty. Although I had to focus on the battle at hand, I saw great evil flowing from outside its prison, but I needed all the power I could... so I... accepted its existence.” The council remained quiet, both in shock and intrigue.
“It s-s-spoke to me,” stuttered Celestia, “I retained my concentration on Nightmare Moon, but in the back of my mind I could hear it whispering my name.” The princess was obviously very dis hearted by revealing this secret. Her eyes glimmered across the room, with soft sigh she then continued.
“Although I did not aspire for the demon’s power, it was there for the taking. I realized the magnitude of problems that Equestria would face in eternal darkness. So I... I accepted his offer. With the power of the Elements and this demon’s strength I was finally able to banish Nightmare to the moon.”
"So you harnessed the power of a demon? This is heresy, Celestia!"
"Silence, Ginger Blitz, you have no right accuse me or heresey!" snapped Celestia, "If I hadn't seal Nightmare Moon, then her darkness would caused famine, death and chaos across the country! Do you think that would have been a better solution the problem?"
The unicorn quickly backed down after seeing Celesta’s fury, a grim sight to behold. Their teachings forebode accepting assistance from evil beings, however after reflecting on Celestia’s reasoning for a few moments the zealot pony actually accepted the princess’ resolution. The princess took a few moments to regain her composure, but soon continued.
"After the banishment spell was complete, the Elements returned to their stone state, making it impossible for me to access the Element of Loyalty again. It and the others remained untouched until three nights ago."
Although she was a new addition to the council, Faerie Fyre finally scavenged up enough courage to enter the conversation. This would be her first time to make an impression with her new teammates.
"How strong is this demon, Celestia? And if it’s trapped inside the Element of Loyalty, then surely it poses no real threat?"
"We cannot make that assumption, my dear. As for its true power: I don't know. All I can say is that this demon is obviously very dangerous."
"From my studies I can tell that it would be very difficult to unseal Princess," included Daylight ,"So why the rush all the way from Canterlot?"
"I'm afraid the demon may be manifesting itself in the new Element of Loyalty bearer: a pegasus from Ponyville named Rainbow Dash. I believe the demon is trying to talk to her. Possibly trying to weaken her will, I wonder what his true intentions may be..."
The meeting was suddenly interrupted by the appearance of a spiral of green smoke in the middle of the room. A scroll suddenly appeared and opened itself in front of Celestia. She quickly read the scribbled text, and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Its seems things may have turned for the better, friends. I just received message from my faithful student's assistant, saying that Rainbow Dash has snapped out of her comatose state."
"This is excellent news, Princess!" smiled Faerie Fyre, "Maybe the demon didn't affect her after all..."
"Another assumption we cannot afford to make, Faerie. But I agree, the news is excellent!"
"We should observe Rainbow Dash to check for any anomalies," explained Poly Cure. “Better safe then sorry.”
Under normal circumstances Celestia would agree with such a proposition, but she knew what happened to ponies under "observation" . It’s not a pretty thought. The fear of constantly being followed would surely only provoke Dash into submission. No! She could not stand the thought of doing that to Twilight Sparkle’s new friend. There had to be another way.
"Poly Cure, I have a better idea," explained Daylight Scribble, as if she was reading Celestia’s mind ,"Why don’t we simply use a protection potion to seal away any demonic energies that may be within the pegasus? That way we can spare her life from ruin while avoiding disaster."
The dark stallion raised a hoof to his short stubby beard, giving a few strokes and then opening his eyes on the unicorn’s prospect.
"It could work, but that potion will only last for a year! What will we do once it expires?"
"Then we should have enough time to prepare for any threat," Ginger Blitz said confidently.
"I agree with Blitz," said Faerie Fyre, garnishing a thanking nod from the Princess.
All the unicorns seemed to agree as well, and Poly Cure focused his horn on his summoning spell. With another puff of smoke, a bright blue bottle appeared in the middle of the room.
"Pour this potion on the bearer's coat, Celestia, and it should seal any demonic energies within her for one whole year," he said.
Celestia thanked the council and concluded the meeting. "I need to get back to Canterlot right away so I'd best make haste."
The council agreed and, one by one, scattered back to their respective quarters, all except Ginger Blitz. The orange unicorn watched closely Celestia as put her coat back on. She cautiously approached the lone alicorn.
"I meant to tell you something Celestia,” she began. “I recently discovered a faint communication signal on one of the crystal balls in the laboratories.” The alicorn halted in her tracks. Could it actually be possible? Celestia turned to Ginger and gave her her full attention.
“It seems to be reflecting from one of the nearby stars, but it we cannot focus on its frequency to get a clear response. If we were able to do this then we may be able to contact celestial beings. We may finally prove your theory of the existence of other sentient life."
"After all those years of wondering, do you think it could actually be true?" enquired Celestia, “Although I have more pressing matters to attend to, I’m sure I can help. What do you need Ginger?”
"A project assistant mentioned remembering one of her peers from your School for Gifted Unicorns had a natural affinity for long distance communication. Maybe we could... uh... borrow him? His special talent may be what we need to solve this conundrum."
The princess took a moment to remember all the ponies that were in Twilight's peer group. She smiled upon realizing who the unicorn was; she was sure he would like the challenge too. The alicorn then responded to Ginger.
"I'll see what I can do."
<>--<>
Twilight Sparkle and Luna were walking through Canterlot castle’s main corridor. The princess was quite tired after staying up all evening, but she felt obliged to escort Twilight to the awaiting chariot. She could see the young mare was still feeling rather sad and decided to give her one last word of advice.
"Twilight," said Princess Luna, "Before you go, I need to tell you the tale of Nightmare Moon and myself."
The unicorn froze in place, curiously attaching her concentration on Luna's statement.
"The sense of control can really diminish a pony's sense of reality, Twilight. The real reason I became Nightmare Moon was because of the jealousy that developed in my saddened heart. I wanted all the ponies to love and enjoy the night. I wanted to control how they spend their time. It is this sense of control that caused me to become Nightmare Moon."
The unicorn could do very little but close her eyes and nod. Luna had really struck a chord with her there. Thinking back, Twilight realized how out of control she had really been. Breaking the law? Sacrificing her own safety to use black magic? Actually hurting an innocent pony? Twilight couldn't help but feel guilty and, in doing so, finally understood what the princess meant. Her sudden epiphany made her turn Luna and give a grateful response.
"Princess, you’re right. I am very, very sorry for what I did, and I appreciate your advice." Twilight blushed a little, causing her to cover her face with a hoof. "Would you like to be my friend too?"
Luna froze midway into taking her next step. It had been over a thousand years since another pony, beside her sister, had asked for her friendship. Her heart melted at Twilight's small proposition.
Looking into Twilight's eyes, the mighty alicorn's face was smeared by a joyful smile. She lit up her horn causing a small gold ring to appear in front of her...
"Why, of course Twilight," said Luna, as she handed the ring to Twilight, "If you ever feel like sending me letters, just place a wax seal on the parchment using this ring."
Twilight gratefully accepted the Princess' gift as the two ponies reached the main door of the castle.
"Well, have a safe trip back to Ponyville, Twilight..." yawned Luna. "I need to get some sleep. You certainly provided some excitement this evening."
Twilight hugged the alicorn before hopping onto the chariot.
"Thanks for everything Princess! Expect to hear from me soon!"
With that the guards took off, leaving Princess Luna to stare after her new friend as she disappeared into the clouds.
<>--<>
Back in Ponyville, the library's usual serine and quiet hallways were alight with laughter and music. It had taken almost no time for Pinkie Pie to arrange balloons, streamers, confetti, punch and cupcakes in celebration of Dash’s recovery.
All five ponies - and also Spike - were having a fun time playing various games and enjoying each others’ company. Everypony was overjoyed to see Rainbow Dash back to her normal self, and even though the ruby was still firmly stuck around her neck, it was as if nothing had happened.
Dash was also happy to be out of the nightmare of her own subconscious. If those mysterious ropes had not saved her, she would shot past sanity's edge. She was so happy that she lit slide her usual facade of "coolness" and joined in playing Pinkie Pie's silly party games.
"We should really wait for Twilight, don't ya'll think?" laughed Applejack.
"Of course we should, but the guard outside said she went over to Canterlot quickly. She should be back soon." replied Rarity. "Also, this punch is absolutely divine!"
"And there's lots and lots of cupcakes to go around!" giggled Pinkie Pie who was happily munching on said cupcakes.
Rainbow Dash walked over to Spike and gave him a small nudge with her hoof.
"Hey, uhh, Spike, was it? Why did Twilight rush off to Canterlot anyway?"
"To be honest, I don't really know. She seemed very worried about that rock around your neck. I think she may have felt a little responsible for the entire episode. My guess is that she rushed back to our library in Canterlot to fetch the books on pony anatomy she left behind."
Dash couldn't help but smile upon hearing the dragon's reply. Wow, she dropped everything she was doing to help me? Twilight Sparkle looks like an amazing friend to have! Even if she's a bit of an... egghead.
A loud knock on the front door broke the party atmosphere. All the ponies, bar Dash, rushed to the door in hopes of greeting Twilight. The heavy door flung open, and it was indeed Twilight Sparkle on the front porch.
The unicorn was a bit shocked to see everypony in her face, jumping up and down, smiling, and trying to tell her things, but the mixed conversations made it nearly impossible for Twilight to figure out what they were saying.
"Woah, woah!" yelled Twilight with a large smirk on her face. "One at a time please!"
All the ponies cleared out of Twilight's way and replied, unanimously: "LOOK!"
Twilight finally laid eyes on Rainbow Dash. The pegasus was standing the middle of the library, head lowered in a shy smile, and with a slightly embarrassed look on her face. It took less than ten seconds for the unicorn to drop her saddlebag and nearly crush Dash in an embrace. The unicorn's eye watered up in joy, both because Dash was okay and because her spell was success.
"Thank Celestia you’re okay!"
The pegasus struggled to keep her footing against the overpowering hug, and spanned her wings around Twilight's neck to hug back.
"You're quite the hugger, Twilight," laughed Dash. "But you don't need to worry about me."
"But I do, Dash. Your friendship is very important to me... and if anything were to happen to you..." Twilight broke off. Dash reassured her friend with another hug before the rest of group huddled together, all of them unaware of white flash that enveloped the entire room.
“It looks like every pony is having fun!” exclaimed a familiar voice.
The ponies all turned towards the staircase to see Princess Celestia smiling at their show of affection. Twilight quickly trotted over to her mentor's side for a reassuring greeting.
“Princess! I’m so glad to see you.”
“I'm very glad to see you too, Twilight. Even more so is the headstrong Rainbow Dash up on her own four hooves!”
The pegasus blushed a little at that remark, but she shook her head and regained her cool stature. However, Celestia’s smile faded into a slightly dark frown.
“Tell me,” asked Celestia, “What did you see on the other side?”
Everypony looked intently towards Rainbow Dash. She had closed her eyes and a visible tear streaked across her cheek. This was the one question she had hoped no pony would ask. The thoughts of the hell-hole she just went through still lingered on her burdened soul. She felt like melting down, but instead bottled up her sorrow. She opened her eyes, wiped the tear off her face, and gritted her teeth in a stalwart attempt avoid facing the truth.
“I was trapped in a room alone for a few hours. No big deal. I’m back now and that’s aaaall that matters.” said Dash, forcing out a smile.
Princess Celestia easily saw through the pegasus’ fib, but used the opportunity to create amnesty for her friends’ sake; in the end it would be better if they didn’t know. Celestia winked at Dash’s courageous response, she knew that deep down Dash knew that the Princess knew.
“I have to go soon, but I’m glad to see you’re all doing well.” Celestia smiled at the happy ponies and turned around, remembering the potion Poly Cure gave her.
“Oh, I almost forgot!” She turned back levitating the sparkly bottle in front of her.
“Oooh shiny!” laughed Pinkie Pie.
Celestia gave a slight giggle at the party pony’s spontaneous outburst before looking back at Rainbow Dash.
“This is a gift for you Rainbow Dash, made by the four unicorn masters of Bronkonia.”
“What is it?” demanded Rarity with her curious demeanour.
“It is a potion that will prevent this from happening again. A safety spell which will last one whole year.”
Rainbow Dash’s smile grew for ear to ear. Although she tried to retain her bravado, the thought of never seeing that dreadful prison again was enough to make any pony feel safe. Celestia hovered the bottle over Dash’s wings and poured its magic contents all over her.
All the ponies stared in amazement as the rainbow coloured powder streamed over Dash’s body, causing it flicker and shine before ultimately settling into her coat. After the bottle was empty, Celestia walked over to the pegasus and performed a quick scan with her shimmering horn. The potion had taken its full affect and Celestia could sense the protection barrier around her.
“Excellent, now I must be off, royal duties call! Don’t forget about those letters, Twilight.”
Celestia disappeared in a haze of white light, leaving all six ponies - and the dragon - to enjoy the rest of their party.
<>--<>
However, deep inside Dash’s heart, sat the fox. And, although barrier surrounding his cage made it difficult for him to communicate with his possessee’s conscious, he watched her movements very closely. The patient hunter was back in his familiar habitat. Waiting for the moment to strike.
To be continued...
|
TheLunarArmy
|
897
| 9 |
Main 6,Mayor Mare,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Crossover,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Tale of KyuubiDash
|
Rainbow Dash discovers a dark secret about her element of Loyalty. Can she contain her inner demons?
|
incomplete
| 38 | 4 |
<p>In an alternative universe the ninjas from the hidden village of Konoha discover an ancient temple used to protect a forgotten clan and to test ninja's loyalty. In a complete twist of fate, a team of ninja manages to seal a demon fox inside a stone orb and banish it from existence. But where did it go? And how could this possibly have an effect on the ponies of Equestria?</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-10-29T10:23:32+00:00
|
2011-10-29T10:23:32+00:00
| 4,257 |
Chapter 7: As the clock ticks
Written by TheLunarArmy
Edited by Ezn and SciontheKitsune
It has been twelve months since that fateful day when Rainbow Dash met the fox for the first time. The pegasus pony was resting on top of a single cloud hovering over Ponyville. It was like a spec of dust on the clean canvas of the beautiful blue skies and lustrous sun, which brought warmth over the entire area.
However, unlike the serene atmosphere and crisp afternoon air, Dash was a bundle of emotions and unhappiness on top of her perch.She had dark rings around her eyes, her face was blushed in a puffy red coloring and from her tangled mane one could see had not had a decent night's rest for days. She had been on the cloud for nearly a day now, too weak to fly home and too insecure to hover down to Ponyville below.
Dash had been crying. It was hard to accept, but even under her cantankerous persona, cool bravado and stubborn exterior was a sad pony with a heart made of glass. On this day, a crack had appeared on said glass and the events that were to unfold would forever change the fate of the Element of Loyalty.
"Rainbow!" came a yell from down on the ground.
Dash wiped the tears from her face and slowly peered over the side of her puffy mattress. Down below was Twilight Sparkle. Rainbow Dash and Twilight had become very good friends over the last few months. However, this made the reality of her actions all the more shocking. How could they have done this to me? Why now?
Dash kept staring at the unicorn, trying to search for an emotion to help the situation. Her magenta eyes met with Twilight's purple ones. Her mind raced until finally... How could they? How... dare they? Dash had found anger instead of remorse.
"Dash, PLEASE! Please come down and talk to me!"
The pegasus stood up. Her sadness was no more. Where once there was a broken and betrayed pony now stood a pony with a vendetta. The white cloud underneath her hooves turned dark. Not just a simple rainstorm grey, but nebulous black. Electricity could been seen dancing around the rim of the cloud - this was the type of cloud any regular weather pony would be terrified to face.
Dash looked down at her "friend" again. This time she had an answer. This time she would not place her loyalty in her.
"No."
<>--<>
Two months prior, the six Elements defeated Discord, the evil lord of chaos, and sealed him back into a stone statue. For this, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow Dash were the heroes of Equestria.
Who would have thought the six ponies from Ponyville would be able to divert danger for a second time?
After the festivities in Canterlot were concluded, Princess Celestia and Luna decided to evaluate each pony. They could see Discord’s game had affected them personally, and their will needed testing. A few guards escorted the six to throne room. Pinkie Pie was especially worked up, thinking that the royal bakery would give them all some of their famous donuts as reward. Her antics lightened the mood a little, but Rarity and Applejack were still on edge.
Twilight and Rainbow Dash walked into the large, marvelous court room first. Celestia and Luna both sat upon their respective thrones. The two alicorns heartily welcomed Twilight and her friends, before jumping right into business.
"WE ARE VERY INTRIGUED BY DISCORD'S RETURN. WHAT EXACTLY DID THE DASTARDLY DRACONEQUUS DO?!" said Luna with her royal Canterlot voice.
The six ponies, Celestia, guards and all were surprised to hear her overpowering voice; it was obvious Luna still had not been able to differentiate between personal conversations and common prattle. Fluttershy cowered in fear behind Applejack.
"Luna, you don't need to speak to the Elements like that," giggled Celestia, "After all, they did save our hides."
The moon princess felt very embarrassed. She blushed, took two steps back and then lifted her head in remorse.
"You're right. Sorry."
"Aw shucks, don't worry about it Princess. Honest mistake!" reassured Applejack, as Fluttershy crept out from behind her.
"Back to your question," said Twilight. "Discord tried to turn our strongest attributes against us. He knew exactly how to hit us where it hurt." She felt a little nervous, but knew full well Luna’s question was inevitable.
"So you had to face the harsh realities of your true inner spirits?" asked Celestia, "Tell me, what have you all learned?"
Each pony’s ears spit upright, ready to answer her majesty’s question. Applejack took the lead: "Stick to the honest truth, no matter how harsh reality may be."
"Always be HAPPY with everypony around you! Even if they seem a bit down in the dumps!"
"Don't place your own personal interests above those around you."
"...Don't be mean..."
It was now Dash's turn. Knowing full well she had chosen to leave Discord's game, she felt a bit ashamed to answer, but came up with a response nonetheless
"Give your loyalty to those you trust."
"Always stay true to your friends," finished Twilight, looking at all her friend's proud expressions.
"Excellent!" said Celestia. She pretended not to notice, but Dash's false statement was very easy to detect. When one expresses their true feelings they do not hesitate or doubt, and Rainbow Dash failed did both of those. This brought worry to Celestia. The Element of Loyalty was showing signs of weakness.
The Princesses thanked the ponies for their hard work once again and then allowed them to leave for home. However, before leaving the door Celestia called Twilight for a private consultation. Twilight had her suspicions about Dash, and when Celestia told her to stay back she knew exactly what the subject of discussion was going to be.
"Spike, why don't you head back with Rarity? I'll be back home before you know it."
"You got it!" replied the daydreaming dragon as he wallowed aimlessly behind the rest of the group.
Celestia and Twilight walked into the Element vault. The guards were not at their posts. Twilight knew that this had to be a very serious discussion - even more serious than the Discord ordeal they had just been through.
Celestia opened the vault and levitated out the magical case where the Elements were stored. Twilight her mentor closely as she levitated the ruby necklace out of its place. At first they she saw nothing out of place, but after a quick enchantment Celestia revealed her worries to her student.
The ruby necklace was fractured; a sign known among all magic users of broken spirit.
“Princess… what does this mean?”
Celestia could no longer withhold the truth from Twilight. Poly Cure’s spell would wear off within the next six weeks and nearly all the preparations had been made. Judgment was around the corner and the princess would have to inform the other Elements of the upcoming events.
“Your friend, Rainbow Dash… is possessed.”
“What?” yelled Twilight in utter disbelief. “That can’t be true! She’s the Element of Loyalty! She’s my friend! No way is she possessed.”
“Twilight, I am sorry to say this, but it’s true. Dash has a demon locked inside her soul. This demon once lived inside this necklace, but when Rainbow Dash first used its magic to defeat Nightmare Moon, we fear it may have escaped and trapped itself within her heart.”
“We?”
“Yes, we,” said a voice from behind her.
Twilight jumped out of shock to see Luna behind her, levitating a crystal ball with her telekinesis. Inside the crystal ball was another unicorn with a bright red mane.
“I am Faerie Fyre, you must be Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic. I am impressed.”
“Don’t feel threatened Twilight,” explained Luna, “We are all desperately trying to find a way to save Dash, but so far very little can be done without sacrificing her life.”
The sudden rush of information was difficult for Twilight to comprehend, her mind was racing. So many questions started to pop up and her own suspicions started to take on new light as well. She took her time evaluating every pony’s facial expressions. They seemed very serious about the matter; this was no joke.
“What can we do then?” asked Twilight.
“Right now: nothing,” answered Celestia. “The potion we used on Dash will expire in about two months’ time. Until then we-”
“Potion?” interrupted Twilight, “Are you talking about that protective potion you poured on her nine months ago? It wasn’t a protection spell?!”
“No,” said Faerie, “It was a special brew that suppressed a mystical energy we identified as Chakra. All beings, from creatures to plants seem to posses it, however this demon seems to have an unnatural reserve of the stuff."
“So why suppress some mystical energy? I don’t understand!”
“If we hadn’t intervened then Dash would have been slowly consumed by the demon’s energy and who knows what would happen next? We can tell she isn’t very strong willed, you know.”
“Hold on one second! Rainbow Dash has one of the most pure and powerful spirits of any pony! She bears the Element of Loyalty, after all.”
Both the princesses and Faerie could see how emotional Twilight became over her friend. They needed her on their side, or else they might lose the Elements of Magic and Loyalty for good. Celestia could also see how she is getting hurt, so she walked over to Twilight and wrapped a wing around her.
“It’s okay Twilight,” she whispered. “We have a plan to save her, but we need you, and all your friends’ help.”
“What can I do? What can we all do?”
Celestia took a step back and used her magic to levitate the elemental tiara out of the case. She placed it on Twilight’s head where it instantly disappeared.
“I had found a way to seal each Element into its bearer for storage until you need it,” replied Celestia. “Keep your tiara close to you and keep watch over Rainbow Dash. The demon feeds on negative thoughts, so do everything in your power to keep Dash happy for the next six weeks.”
“If she can strengthen her will,” continued Luna, “Then we may have a fighting chance against this evil. However, if she-”
Luna stopped. Faerie Fyre gave her a stern look.
“If she what?” queried Twilight.
“If she were to give into her hatred, then the demon would be able to take over.”
Twilight could now comprehend the entire problem. She gazed at Celestia and delivered her response: “I swear I’ll protect my friend, Princess.”
“I know you will Twilight,” replied Celestia, “Be careful: do not under any circumstances reveal our plan to Dash. Soon we will be able save her with Faerie Fyre’s help.”
The princess handed the other Elements to Twilight and explained how to bond them to Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity. The ruby necklace would remain in the vault for safe keeping.
“Good luck Twilight,” said Faerie Fyre, before disappearing from the crystal ball.
Both alicorns walked Twilight to a waiting chariot. The moon was in full view, their plan was set in motion and all they could do was hope that their preparations would be good enough.
<>--<>
Six weeks later, an infuriated Dash stood over Ponyville on top of the dark cloud she had manifested. The Element of Loyalty stared down at Twilight Sparkle. It had taken her a whole month to unravel what she had been doing behind her back.
“TWILIGHT!” cursed Rainbow. “I thought you were my friend! How could you have done this to me?”
“We did it to protect you Dash!”
“You mean Applejack, Rarity and others were in league with this sinister plot?”
Twilight bit her lip - the one rule was not to reveal what was going on. But at this point, there was no longer any need to keep her lie. With tears in her eyes, she responded: “We all love you, Rainbow! Celestia, Luna and myself devised a plan to help you with your ‘problem’, but we needed every pony to go along with it. We didn’t want any of this to happen!”
“You mean you told them to lie to me?”
“Yes.”
“You all pretended to be my friends this entire time? Just to make sure I didn’t give in to that damn fox’s temptations?”
“NO! We truly are your friends Dash!”
“THEN HOW COULD YOU LIE TO ME?! I am the damn ELEMENT of LOY-AL-TEE. How can I trust any of you now?”
Twilight was in tears. She thought back to the last few weeks, when she tried to keep Dash happy. Her friends had done everything to make sure no pony would complain about the weather, Dash had front row tickets to the Wondershow in Cloudsdale and she even had a chance to meet with Spitfire and Soaren afterwards. It was Dash’s dream come true. Now it all came shattering down around her as she discovered it had all been a lie.
“I’m sorry Dash. We just wanted you to be happy…”
The rainbow pegasus’ rage started to overwhelm her. She wanted to accept Twilight’s apology, but something was forcing her to let her hatred to flow. Her body started to move by its own accord. Dash lifted her forehooves and slammed them into the dark cloud, causing a massive bolt of lightning to jolt across the sky and hit the roof of the mayor’s office, setting it ablaze.
“Dash!” yelled a familiar voice from down below.
All her friends were now alongside a weeping Twilight. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie embraced Twilight while Applejack and Rarity tried to talk to the pegasus.
“Dear, please calm down and talk to us!”
“Yeah, we’re all your friends here.”
“Yet you LIED to me for two months! You, the princesses, Twilight, the whole lot of you couldn’t tell me about your plans to capture me and betray me to…”
“I told you!” whispered a dark voice within Dash. “I told you they would betray you.”
Dash froze in horror. She could hear the fox’s voice in her ears. It was clear as day and the sheer force of his words rattled her nerves.
“Sugarcube? Are you okay?!” yelled Applejack
All the other ponies now stared up to Dash. She stood motionless on the cloud. The same way she had stood in one spot the previous year.
<>--<>
Dash found herself back in front of the fox’s cage. This time it was different; instead of him lurking in the darkness, he was in full view, openly talking to her.
“It’s been a while, Rainbow. You must thank whoever kept you away from me. But now that we meet again, let’s have a chat. Hmmm?”
“I have nothing to say you,” said Dash as she looked away from his bright red eyes.
“No? What about your friends? You said it yourself, they betrayed you. Aren’t you upset?”
Dash peered back at the fox. He was reading her like a book.
“So what if I am?” snapped Dash, “Friends lie to one another every now and then…”
“Hahaha!” laughed the fox, “You silly pony! You think this is the first time they have lied to you?”
“What do you mean?”
The dark pool of water around Dash stirred, revealing her memories of the previous twelve months. One by one the fox manipulated her thoughts to show her friends betraying her. The twisted images he used caused Dash to stand in absolute shell shock. Although her memories didn’t actually change the true events that occurred, the fox warped her perspective of what happened.
These visions, coupled with the recent string of lies her friend had sold her, were enough to win over Dash. The pony crumbled back into the dark water as an absolute wreck.
“They never… they never wanted me around at all?! But I was so loyal! I was always there for every pony!” whimpered Dash.
The Kyuubi marveled at his victory. Now it was time to claim his prize.
“Rainbow Dash.”
The pegasus looked up.
“Let me be your friend.”
“Wh-why… why would anypony want to be my friend? Just look at me. Everypony just wants to stab me in the back.”
“Why have a group of bad friends when all you need is one good one?"
The Kyuubi extended his claw between the bars and held his hand out to Dash.
“I promise. I will never betray you, pony. Together we have a beautiful future.”
Rainbow Dash looked at his hand, then at his face. She could not detect any sarcasm or deception. His offer was irresistible and at this point it seemed like nopony would care what her decision would be. She smiled.
“Friends? You and me?”
“Of course,” said the fox, “Together we will have more fun then you have ever had before!”
Dash wiped the tears from her eyes. Her sadness was gone. She looked straight into the Kyuubi’s eyes one more time and then reached out to his awaiting claw.
The Kyuubi picked her up and pulled her closer the cage. Her smile grew as sinister as his. The demon’s influence was now in full swing.
“How’s about we had a talk to your old friends again? What was it… Dashie?”
The pony giggled at the name Pinkie Pie gave her, weird, it was used by a being she never thought existed.
“Yeah, I think I should give them a piece of my mind,” whispered Dash in a dark voice.
The fox pointed at the seal on his cage.
“Let me out. With my strength, you can punish all those who have abused your loyalty. Fair, don’t you think?”
Dash didn’t even doubt her actions. She simply reached out, clenched the piece of paper firmly between her teeth and, in one swoop, ripped it off the wooden bars.
The Kyuubi gently put Dash down and proceeded to smash his prison to pieces using his tails. The pegasus stood in awe of her new friend’s might - his violent attack somehow excited every fiber in her body. Maybe being this bad would be fun.
After the fox was satisfied with his rage he looked down at the small pony in front of him. He had grown fond of her. Her new dark personality was strangely appealing: it was as if his influence had shaped her character - she was a splitting image of himself in the making. For years he had tried to accomplish this goal with Naruto, yet in a measly twelve months his new host bowed to his every whim.
There had to be a change in the plan. Instead of killing Dash, he thought about giving her the power she needed instead. Let her have the fun she wanted, and gain a powerful ally in the process.
He picked up Dash and brought her closer to his face.
“I like you, pony. I truly mean it. You may take all the power you need. Get your revenge.”
Rainbow Dash felt a burning sensation ripple across her skin. It felt… tantalizing. She closed her eyes in pain for a second, only to reopen them to her new self. Her magenta irises were gone. In their place were two bright red fox eyes, glaring with fury.
“You look beautiful, my dear.”
The new Dash blushed at his compliment.
“Thank you.”
“Now, go and have your fun. If you need any help, just let me know.”
Dash nodded, disappearing a black haze.
<>--<>
“…are you okay?” came a voice from a distance. Dash recognized it. It was that liar, Applejack.
In reality, Dash had only been contact with the Kyuubi for a few seconds, and she returned to find herself still perched on top of her cloud. She could feel her eyes starting to burn, and she knew her body was transforming to match her new awesome persona. She closed her eyes and smirked.
“Am I okay?” she laughed.
All the ponies were shaken by her response. They saw her spread her wings and jump off the cloud straight into the skies above. She flew high into the cloudless atmosphere. Her body was tingling all over as she felt the fox’s strength seep into it. It felt amazing - even more amazing than the power she felt a year prior.
Her eyes remained closed as she performed one of her signature loops with precision accuracy. Then she bolted straight down towards the ground at full speed, causing her friends to yell her name in shock.
“DASH NO! Pull up! Don’t do it!” yelled Twilight.
“Dashie! No! What are you doing?!” cried Pinkie Pie.
Fluttershy and Rarity stood in shocked silence.
“Arr Dee! We are your friends! We can help you!”
Dash could only laugh maniacally as she swooped out of the dive mere meters away from ground, swooping low and landing in front of the group of shocked ponies.
It was at this time that they saw her new appearance for the first time. Her coat had become darker, her wide grin bore large sinister teeth and three whisker tears had developed on each cheek. At long last she opened her eyes, revealing her bright red irises and dragon-like pupils.
“My friends, you say?” giggled Rainbow Dash.
No pony said anything; they slowly took a step back, unsure of what has happened to Dash.
“Let me tell you guys something… about friendship…”
To be continued...
<>--<>
Writer's Note: Thanks for everyone's continued support. As a reward I will release the next chapter within 24 hours! Additionally thank you ScionTheKitsune for the great Rainbow Dash vector artwork.
|
TheLunarArmy
|
897
| 10 |
Main 6,Mayor Mare,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Crossover,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Tale of KyuubiDash
|
Rainbow Dash discovers a dark secret about her element of Loyalty. Can she contain her inner demons?
|
incomplete
| 38 | 4 |
<p>In an alternative universe the ninjas from the hidden village of Konoha discover an ancient temple used to protect a forgotten clan and to test ninja's loyalty. In a complete twist of fate, a team of ninja manages to seal a demon fox inside a stone orb and banish it from existence. But where did it go? And how could this possibly have an effect on the ponies of Equestria?</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-10-30T14:24:49+00:00
|
2011-10-30T14:24:49+00:00
| 2,965 |
Chapter 8: Surviving the elements
Written by TheLunarArmy
Edited by Ezn
Alarms rang. The usually serene emerald castle in Bronkonia was filled with absolute chaos as unicorns scrambled throughout its great halls, quickly scurrying to fetch scepters and artifacts kept in the magical armories.
In the great lobby, Faerie Fyre was readying her own armour. Her silver shoulder guards and horseshoes fit snugly in their respective places. Her green cape bore the Master of Magic symbol and her flank shields matched her cutie mark.
The masters had certainly not wasted their twelve month grace period. They had spent every minute researching demonic energies, looking for ways to detect and weaken their power in the case of a full manifestation. Faerie and Daylight Scribble were the leading researchers in the matter, so all the other unicorn guards would follow their commands to letter.
"Attention! Bronkonia Magic Korps!" yelled Faerie.
All the guards stopped in place, paying close attention to their commanding officer. Faerie scanned their faces, seeing both fear and anxiety.
"You have been scrambled because our greatest fear have come true. Three minutes ago our Chakra sensors rang off the hook due to a massive influx of demonic energy detected overhead Ponyville. This has most likely been caused by the demon in the Element of Loyalty."
Everypony started to whisper to one another. The Element of Loyalty? A demon? Confusion lingered.
"We have anticipated its presence for quite a while now but have not seen its full potential until just a few moments ago. Princess Celestia has kept us on standby should the other Elements of Harmony fail to suppress the demon's power. This may be your first encounter with this kind of evil, but as long as you follow my orders correctly, you will come home alive."
Faerie paused until a nod from Daylight bade her to continue.
"Alright! We are moving out in ten minutes! Make sure you have your cloaks ready and your teleportation spells warmed up. Dismissed."
She vanished in a flash of blue flame and then reappeared next to Daylight. The two masters scurried down an empty hallway, discussing their plan of attack. Both looked very nervous.
"Faerie, are you sure you can handle this? I mean, from what I've read, demons don’t go down easy, nor do they play fair."
"I am a bit worried, yes, but I need to be strong for Celestia and the troops. Additionally, I believe Twilight and her friends will be able to calm Rainbow Dash. All they need to do is trust in their friendship."
"Have you thought of a backup plan? Just in case the demon takes over completely?"
Faerie stopped in her tracks. She looked at the floor and closed her eyes. Her backup plan was not pleasant. It was considered the ultimate fail safe against an entity they could neither defeat nor control. Faerie doubted if the princesses would allow this technique, but it was available if there was no other way to save Dash.
"I do, but it's a horrible one. Let's just hope it doesn't come to that."
The masters continued through the only doorway leading out of the passage. They entered a room with a large crystal ball (roughly the size of a juvenile hydra) placed directly in line with the sun. There were also various wooden tables, chairs, bookshelves and opened ledgers scattered across the room.
This was the new Inter-Stellar Communication Array that Ginger Blitz had constructed in the castle. The room was the center of all communication between castles throughout Equestria and beyond. Faerie and Daylight used this room regularly to relay messages to Canterlot and today would be no exception.
"Hey, White Noise!" yelled Faerie, "Where the hell are you?"
A set of grey eyes peered out from behind a large pile of books. The stack of codexes tumbled down to reveal a white unicorn stallion with bright blue mane and a set of speech bubbles for a cutie mark.
"Sorry ladies," said White Noise. “Guess you caught me daydreaming again.”
"No time for chit-chat, we need to talk to Celestia right away!"
White Noise lit up his horn and projected his magic into the large crystal ball. He had to focus all his power into establishing a connection to Canterlot castle, which was an impressive distance from Bronkonia. After a few seconds the crystal ball flickered to life and they could suddenly see a grey unicorn with red curly mane looking directly at them.
"Morning, Copper," said White Noise, "We’d like to request an urgent audience with Princess Celestia immediately!"
"No can do, Bronkonia," replied Copper. "She is currently out on royal duties. Is there any way I can help?"
"Listen!" yelled Faerie Fyre, "This is bloody important! Our demonic sensors are off the hook this side, so something is happening in Ponyville at this very moment. You'd better get a hold of Celestia immediately! Hell, even Princess Luna might be able to help!"
Copper's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates.
"D-d-did you say demon? I-I-I'll wake Luna right away! Thank you for the heads up."
The crystal ball dimmed again as the Copper cut the connection from her side.
"Connection lost," confirmed White Noise.
"Damnit! I had hoped to tell Celestia my plan before heading out, but it looks like I'll have to inform her while in the field."
"What should I do from this end, Faerie?" asked Daylight.
The Master of Combat Magic stared at White Noise, who attempted to shuffle out of her uncomfortable glare. She knew well his recent achievements in the field of long distance communication and, somehow, she got the feeling that he would be a vital asset in the upcoming confrontation. Faerie turned to Daylight.
"I need you and White Noise to get in contact with them again."
"What?! Do you have idea how much magic it would take to bridge a stable conn-" White Noise couldn't finish his sentence, as he was being held quiet by Daylight.
"Don't worry, you silly stallion," said the Master, "With your brains and my scrolls, I'm sure we can make a plan."
White Noise gave an unsure huff. Although he had not yet mastered the frequency stabilization, he knew that they might be able to help.
"Alright, fine, we'll give it try. But I can't promise anything."
On that cue, Faerie closed her eyes and disappeared in a puff of blue flame once more.
<>--<>
Back in Ponyville, a dark storm was brewing overhead. The fire from town hall was starting to blaze out of control, causing a lot of heat to seed the overhead clouds, fueling the ever-growing tempest. Any pony not involved in stopping the inferno was desperately trying to evacuate their friends and family from their homes, hoping to save what little they could.
In the grassy fields between the town and the Everfree forest stood the six Elements of Harmony - five of whom were mortified to see what had happened to their closest friend.
Rainbow Dash had unleashed the fox's full strength and, bit by bit, he was feeding her hunger for vengeance. She remained eerily calm, soaking up the terror expressed by her former friends while buying time for her body to adapt to the demonic energies.
"Friendship," said Dash in an ominous tone, "What a truly laughable concept. I mean... I spent all this time sharing my loyalty with you guys, just to be betrayed for a little suck-up action with Celestia."
"Horseapples Dash!" scorned Applejack. "These last few weeks were to help you keep your emotions under control. To prevent... this."
Rainbow took a few slow steps forward. Every pony watched her, unsure what to expect. Suddenly she moved again. Her movements were so fast that all her friends saw was a splash of rainbow before she stood in the middle of the group and placed her head on Applejack's shoulder. Her coat was so corrupted with dark energy that Applejack could feel her flesh burning just by making contact with Dash.
"Feels bad, doesn't it?" whispered Dash. "This is how I felt every day since you guys abandoned me."
Applejack shrugged Dash off her shoulder and crumpled to the ground in pain.
Pinkie Pie’s mind started to flicker - seeing Applejack throbbing in pain and Dash slowly growing into a monster caused her fragile mind to slowly rattle under the stress of the situation. A slightly harsher Pinkamina now stepped forward.
"Dashie, why are you hurting Applejack, huh? She has been nothing but honest with you! You’re becoming such a meanie."
"Haha! Oh, Pinkie Pie. You're still the same weak fool you’ve been since the first time I met you. Applejack, honest? What a laugh. Just look at her. You all knew about Celestia's little plan for two months. Did she come forward to tell me about? No. I had to force it out of Twilight."
"But we were trying to keep you safe, Dashie! Doesn't that count for anything?"
Dash placed her hoof on Pinkie's chin.
"You silly, little fool! Why don't you just go back the candy shop and fill your gluttonous face with sugar? Leave the serious business to the real ponies."
As tough as Pinkie tried to be, there was no mistaking that the burns on her chin were excruciating. It was not long before she joined Applejack on the floor, crippled by intense heat generated by Dash’s deadly touch.
"Who's next?"
Rarity took her chance leap at Dash, landing a solid kick in her torso.
"Rarity! No!" yelled Fluttershy. "We said we wouldn't..."
Rarity landed back on the grass, perfectly poised. Her eyes focused on Dash.
"This is not Rainbow Dash, my dear. Rainbow Dash would never knowingly hurt our friends.”
"Then you are not the real Rarity," laughed Dash, "because the real Element of Generosity would never selfishly withhold secrets from her friend, now would she? Oh wait... you never gave a rat's ass about sharing squat, you selfish cow!"
"WHAT?"
"You heard me. You've selfishly tried to grab everything within your grasp, from the Photo Finish contract to the diamond dogs’ gems, and even the Best Young Flier award - the one that rightly belonged to me. You've always been generous to number one and no-one else."
Rarity softly whimpered: "I... I... never intended to."
"Haha! You're just as weak as Pinkie Pie, you selfish filly. Now let me return the generous smack you gave me."
"No! Dash... I...."
Twilight and Fluttershy jumped in between the two. Fluttershy's anger was now at a level sufficient to oppose Dash. While Twilight tried to comfort Rarity, the two pegasi locked each other in a stare down.
"Now there’s a sight I never thought I'd see: wimpy little Fluttershy pretending to be tough," mocked Dash.
"Oh no? Well I can say the same about you, demon! Using an innocent pony to do your dirty work for you! How shameful!"
"Demon? You think the demon is controlling me? It's me, Fluttershy - the REAL me. All he's doing is giving a little help... since, you know, real friends do that for each other."
"No! Dash would never need some corrupt evil thing's help to be strong! She’s not weak!"
Their eyes were still firmly locked, and neither pony backed down for a even a second. However, from deep within Dash's mind, the Kyuubi made a startling discovery while looking into Fluttershy's eyes through Dash's sight. It can't be, he thought. This pony possesses enough willpower to... DASH! GET AWAY FROM HER!
Dash followed the fox's orders immediately and pulled up into the sky. She soared high into the dark clouds, with Fluttershy right behind her.
"Running away? Who's the big scaredy cat now, huh? Come out and play, Dash!" mocked Fluttershy as she entered the clouds.
This turned out to be a big mistake. Just as Fluttershy got above the cloud cover, Dash swooped in from above her and kicked between her wing joints with all four hooves, knocking Fluttershy back down to earth.
Back on the ground, Pinkie Pie's tail starting twitching and, although her skin was still burning, she let out a ear splitting yelp: "TWILIGHT! Look up!"
Twilight saw a motionless Fluttershy break through the clouds, falling towards the ground like a rag-doll. The monster was nowhere to be seen.
"Quickly Twilight!" urged Pinkie. "Dash won’t be far behind."
Twilight quickly got on her hooves and fired up her horn with her magical maroon aura. After saying a few enchantments, Twilight opened her eyes to reveal her spell. With a sudden burst of lightning, she summoned the Elements of Harmony.
Each one appeared on its respective bearer, except for Loyalty. With the sudden boost in power, Twilight easily teleported next to Fluttershy and used her protective bubble to catch her. The bubble slowed their descent until they touched down on the ground.
"Are you okay, Fluttershy?" asked Twilight.
"Yes. She got me with a cheap shot, but luckily this necklace healed me and got my strength back."
Twilight then teleported herself and Fluttershy back the main group. Both Pinkie Pie and Applejack's wounds had healed, and even Rarity snapped out of her emotional lockdown. The five ponies were now certain that their friend had been taken by the demon. Holding back would only endanger the citizens of Ponyville.
"Listen girls," said Twilight, "We have to stop Dash before the demon takes complete control. She still has the strength of the Element of Loyalty; so don't worry about holding back. If we need to break every bone in her body to get her back, then I say we do that."
Applejack took off her hat to reveal her trusty rope nestled inside. She took it out and knotted a loop in it. At that moment Pinkie Pie's Pinkie sense started to kick in. Eye flutter, twitchy tail, knee wobble and ear flop? Uh oh.
"Look out! Behind us!"
Sure enough, Pinkie’s sense were spot on. They could see a darkened rainbow streak above Ponyville - curving down and then parallel to the ground. Rainbow had taken the opportunity to gain speed from the high altitude and was proceeding to form a Mach cone around her fore hooves.
"That's the Rainboom! We have to slow her down!" yelled Rarity.
They knew a point-blank Sonic Rainboom could easily shatter their eardrums, causing massive hemorrhaging and ultimately death. Time was short and they had to act fast. Luckily Applejack noticed a nearby stack of hay bails.
"Rarity, Twilight, use yer magic and toss those bails of hay directly at Rainbow. Fluttershy, fly up and intercept her when she gets closer to us. Pinkie, you stay behind me and hold on. I'm gonna lasso me a bucking bronko."
The two unicorns sprung into action, combining their magic to instantly lift the bails of hay into the air and firing them at Dash in an artillery-style salvo.
Rainbow had to take evasive action, narrowly dodging several bails but slowing her speed in process. She flew faster to compensate, causing the Mach cone to ripple but leaving herself wide open. Just as she got in range Applejack flung the lasso at Dash, scoring a direct hit on her left wing. She pulled back, and with Pinkie's help, was able to swing Dash over their heads and crash her into the ground behind them, immobilizing the deranged pegasus.
Suddenly from out of the sky came a streak of yellow and pink. Fluttershy had also gained massive momentum thanks to the high altitude and promptly used all of it to crash into the grounded Rainbow Dash, delivering the same maneuver she had experienced earlier right back at her.
This time Dash could definitely feel the pain. She let out a deafening scream as both her wings were snapped in half. Fluttershy quickly hopped off her back to rejoin the others, who were racing towards the crash site.
Dash struggled to her hooves, burning with pain, and with her wings hanging limp at her sides. She had underestimate her former friend’s creative solutions, a mistake she did not intend to make again.
"You...you think this will stop me?!" muttered Dash.
"Dash, please stop. We don't want to hurt you anymore. Just come back to us," begged Rarity.
"Like hell I will!"
"Then you leave us with no choice, Dash," said Twilight, "If you won't come quietly, then we will drag you back to Princess Celestia."
<>--<>
Dash knew she wouldn't be able to harm the others in her present state - she needed more power. She retreated to her thoughts and quickly manifested herself back in front of the Kyuubi. The fox was at ease, sitting in his former cell and enjoying the performance all the ponies were putting on.
"I need your help. Can you fix my wings? It's the only advantage I have over them, and the only way I can beat their Elements."
The fox raised a claw to his chin, looked down and snapped his fingers.
"Done. Oh, and one more thing: the Element of Loyalty is bound to you; this relationship is inseparable. Using it is just a matter of willpower."
Dash could fell her energy being restored, but her strength felt much darker now.
"What is this power?" asked Dash, with a wide grin.
"That? Just a little boost I thought you might like."
"This is... awesome! Hell, with this I don't think I even need Loyalty!"
"Don't underestimate your former friends - especially not that yellow one! Avoid eye contact with her at all times."
"You got it," said Dash, before disappearing in her usual puff of black smog.
<>--<>
Back outside, the five Elements were encroaching on Rainbow when she suddenly sprung back to life. She laughed maniacally, causing the air around her to ripple with such power that it actually ignited the grass around her hooves. Dash stared daggers into Twilight Sparkle.
"Let’s up the game, shall we?"
A bright, sinister red mist formed around her entire body, enveloping it in a translucent armour of some kind. Additionally, Dash's teeth became longer, the tears on her cheeks widened, and small black lines formed around her eyes. The next step of her transformation was now complete.
"My buddy likes to call this a demon fox cloak, hehe. And it's wicked-awesome," taunted Dash.
"Dashie..." whimpered Pinkie, "What is happening to you?"
Dash's dark expression almost spoke for itself. She had had enough with games - now was the time to get serious. Her “demon cloak” started to bubble and swirl as the pegasus jumped into the air.
"I’m aligning my Loyalty elsewhere," exclaimed Dash with a dark, sinister voice, "and without it, Harmony will be extinguished."
<>--<>
Copper ran through the white halls frantically, startling various business ponies and guards. It had been a long time since the assistant had ran at top speed, but she needed to wake the princess as soon as possible.
Her eyes narrowed as her destination came into view. She opened the door and stepped into the dark room.
Princess Luna lay in her bed, fast asleep. She spent her nights keeping watch over Equestria, and was therefore very exhausted during the day. As much as Copper respected Luna's rest, this matter demanded her immediate attention.
The unicorn slowly walked over to the bed. She placed her hoof on the princess's shoulder, nudging it slightly.
"Princess, princess! Please wake up, we are in grave danger."
Luna's eyes sprung wide open as soon as she heard danger. Copper took two steps back and knelt as Luna stood upright.
"What's going on, Copper?"
"Bronkonia contacted us. It seems the Element of Loyalty has gone wild."
The princess sighed, remembering the instructions her sister had given her, should this day ever come. She quickly used her magic to attach her clothing to her body and then walked out the door. Copper was close behind her.
"What are you going to do, Princess?" asked Copper.
"Where is my sister at this moment?"
"Oh...uh... Botanical Garden opening in Fillydelphia. She should return within the next hour or so."
The two ponies made haste toward the vault in the west wing of the castle. Upon arrival, Luna opened the vault, revealing two cases protected by a luminescent blue barrier. The guards on duty and Copper watched closely as Luna slowly removed the necklace from the box using her telekinesis.
"Princess... are you sure that this is a good idea?"
"Oh yes. I’ve been wondering how powerful this thing still is..."
It was at this time that Copper noticed the another case hanging on the wall inside the vault. With Element in hoof, Luna now levitated the second case down. The long black box had a crescent moon engraved on its cover and silver adornments attached to its sides. The curious guards and Copper stood around Luna as she slowly creaked open the black box. They immediately gasped upon seeing the large curved blade nestled in between the purple padding; the marvelous saber was well known throughout pony legend.
"Is that... the Dusk Blade, milady?" asked a guard.
"Thou art correct," smiled Luna.
"But...but... it’s only a legend! How...?" gasped Copper
"The moon holdeth many secrets, my dear. Now, let us see if this will work..."
Luna levitated her sword out of the box, revealing an incomplete hilt. She moved the necklace close the blade, causing both to vibrate. The ruby necklace disassembled in midair, startling the three observers. Luna watched in awe as the gold pieces created a new hilt from the bits of necklace. After assembly, it had a new red glow which stood in stark contrast to its sleek black finish. The ruby lightning bolt was firmly attached to the chappe.
With the transformation complete, Luna placed the sword in its scabbard and strapped it to her back. She signaled for the guards to follow her as she walked towards the main lobby, donning her infamous black cloak. As usual, Copper was following close behind.
"As soon as my sister returns, tell her to come to Ponyville."
"Are you going there now?"
"Yes. Without the Element of Loyalty, I fear Twilight and her friends might not be able to hold out against a possessed Rainbow Dash for very long."
"But... Princess, isn't Dash the Element of Loyalty?"
"Well, we are about to find out."
Luna and the guards extended their wings and took off into midday sky, flying straight toward the dark clouds lingering in the direction of Ponyville, and leaving the tranquil Canterlot for battle.
To be Continued...
Writer's note: Chapter nine may be a little delayed due to upcoming examinations, expect it around the 10th of November. Thanks again for all your comments!
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TheLunarArmy
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897
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Main 6,Mayor Mare,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Crossover,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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The Tale of KyuubiDash
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Rainbow Dash discovers a dark secret about her element of Loyalty. Can she contain her inner demons?
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incomplete
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<p>In an alternative universe the ninjas from the hidden village of Konoha discover an ancient temple used to protect a forgotten clan and to test ninja's loyalty. In a complete twist of fate, a team of ninja manages to seal a demon fox inside a stone orb and banish it from existence. But where did it go? And how could this possibly have an effect on the ponies of Equestria?</p>
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everyone
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2011-11-15T01:09:08+00:00
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2011-11-15T01:09:08+00:00
| 2,617 |
Chapter 9: Weaponized Loyalty
Written by TheLunarArmy
Edited by Ezn
Applejack was fighting fiercely to maintain control of the rope clenched in her mouth. In the perfect opportunity Applejack managed to lasso Dash left wing again, but unfortunately the rope had started to smoke, confirming Applejack's suspicion that the demon cloak acted as a protective barrier. Dash turned her attention to Applejack, who was keeping her firmly grounded.
"Haha, looks like you're still as weak as you were during our tug of war at the Iron Pony compitition, Applesmack!" taunted Dash as she pulled back on the rope, causing Applejack to slip forward and fall to the ground.
Rainbow took the opportunity to rush forward and lift both arms over Applejack, in an attempt to crush her under hoof. Twilight and Rarity quickly sprung into action, using their magic to create a temporal shield over Applejack and pull her to safety, respectively. But Dash delivered her attack anyway, driving her mighty hooves straight through the arcane magic and shattering it with ease. Applejack had luckily made it clear of the impact zone and was back on her hooves
"This is gettin' us nowhere, sugar cube!" yelled Applejack, "Why are you fighting us? This is not like you at all."
The rope had turned to ash and Dash took flight. She hovered a few meters off the ground, staring intently at the four ponies in front of her.
"Let's just call this revenge for the abuse you guys put me through. Why talk things out when..." Dash quickly ground her sentence to a halt as she realized Fluttershy was missing. She realized that Applejack had been distracting her so she wouldn't notice Fluttershy's disappearance. Not wanting to spoil the fun, Dash decided to make short work of the rest of the group before her they could execute their plan.
The demon cloak started to bubble and warp outward, creating two large ethereal arms out of the haze’s main body. Dash had full control of the arms, as if they were attached her body physically; stretching them outward to test their reach.
"Cool, huh? Let’s see if they can let’s see how sharp they are," said Dash who was slowly losing more of her sanity due to the Kyuubi’s psychopathic will. Although she was aware of her thoughts being corrupted by darkness, she embraced it. No pony cared about her feelings anymore anyway.
The arm on the left stretched upward, creating a massive shadow that eclipsed the sun from every pony's sight.
Pinkie Pie felt another combo and quickly yelled for Twilight to duck left. Twilight did so and could feel a light graze of the demon cloak as the claw swung past her right side. Dash pulled the arm back and decided to aim for Pinkie instead. However, after another combo she easily dodged the claw as it struck the ground a few centimeters in front of her.
"Enough of this!" yelled a frustrated Dash, "You guys will pay for what you've done. As the Element of Loyalty, I swear I would bring justice."
The Kyuubi chuckled.
"Maybe a little more power will drive her over the edge," said the fox out loud as he channeled additional Chakra energy to Dash's heart, making it overflow with corruption.
Twilight and Rarity levitated cobblestones from a nearby road to shield the group from Dash's relentless demon claw assault. The two unicorns cringed every time the claws made contact with the stone shield. Applejack was starting to worry about how long they would be able to hold out.
"Listen, I really hate to say this, but it looks like we're gonna hafta unleashed all the Elements’ powers to strike Dash down."
"No," said Twilight, "We can still saver her - she’s just being manipulated!"
Another claw struck the shield, causing Rarity to lose focus for a moment. She quickly sparked up her horn to maintain the shield, whinging at the mental strain it had on her.
"Twilight..." whispered Rarity, "I... can't... hold out any longer. Please... reconsider Applejack's offer."
Twilight turned to Pinkie Pie, hoping to find empathy - but even she bore a grim expression on her face.
"Pinkie, what do you think?"
Pinkie Pie looked directly into Twilight's eyes. When she spoke, she sounded as sure as any pony there had ever heard her being.
"It’s like you said, Twilight: if we have to break every bone in her body to get her back, then I say we do it."
"Alright," said Twilight, "I was hoping we would only need to use the Elements to protect us from the demon's power, but it seems like Dash has really betrayed us."
"Sorry, Twi. But if we don't stop Dash here, there’s no telling what she or that demon will do to Ponyville, or to the rest of Equestria!"
Twilight nodded.
"Okay. Let’s buy as much time as we can, so that Fluttershy can bring in the reinforcements."
<>-<>
The stone shield collapsed and a surprised Dash found herself staring at four very different faces than the ones she was used to. Her friends seemed different, almost as if they had had complete personality changes while they were hiding behind the stone shield. She liked it. Maybe she would finally be able to have some fun.
"Finally decided to stop behind some dirty old rocks, huh? Alright, let’s see what you got."
Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie lit up their necklaces. Dash knew this move, and used the demon cloak claws to form her own barrier just as the three ponies fired their energy blasts at her. The bolts hit the cloak and it whittled, but then regenerated, too quickly for the bolts to actually get through to Dash.
"Haha! Is that all you got?" laughed a sadistic Dash.
"No, Rainbow," came a whisper from behind her.
To her horror, Dash turned around to see Twilight behind her. She was hovering alongside Dash, with both her eyes and tiara glowing in a bright white haze. The Element of Magic had tapped into her well of power and was readying a terrifying spell that no pony had seen for over a hundred years.
Six white spheres started to orbit around Twilight, each a miniature sun spinning on its own axis. Dash considered extending a claw to disrupt Twilight's concentration but it would allow the other Elements to damage her with their energy blasts. Whatever Twilight was planning, Dash would simply have to bide it out.
"I'm sorry, Dash." yelled Twilight.
One sphere struck her, followed by another, and then another, every strike enveloping Rainbow Dash in its own blazing inferno. Rainbow fell to the ground, wrapped in the scorching-hot fire. The other Elements quickly ran over and pinned her to the ground, using their own power to shield them from the fire and the demon cloak.
Even though Dash was in tremendous pain she quickly bucked herself loose and backed away, using her demon claws to pat out the remaining fire. She immediately sprung back into action, attempting to strike Twilight with her claws, but with Pinkie's warning, her strikes were quickly avoided.
"Alright, let me help you out, Dashie," whispered the fox in her conscious.
The demon cloak bubbled again, causing two more "tails" to form alongside Dash's current single tail. Even more of the demon's power seeped into Dash's body, causing her fox-like appearance to sharpen. Dash let out a deafening shriek as the power overwhelmed her body.
Pinkie was twitching again, but before she could say a single word, the new three-tailed demon Dash moved directly in front of her and swiped her sides with her cloak claws. The other three ponies watched in terror as Pinkie Pie was pushed aside helplessly, trailing a stream of blood from three large gashes in her side.
"DASH!" yelled Applejack.
Rainbow swooped towards her and proceeded to headbutt her in the ribs, knocking her over. Dash's new speed made it impossible for Twilight or Rarity to keep up with her movement, so it came as no shock when Rarity was also forced to the ground with a single smack from Dash's demon cloak.
Only Twilight remained. Her friends were unconscious and Fluttershy was still nowhere to be seen. Dash slowly walked towards her prey. Twilight unleashed another volley of magical blasts from her horn, which dispersed helplessly in front of Dash. Admitting defeat, Twilight fell to her knees in tears.
"Please, Dash, please don't do this," cried Twilight. "We... I love you... and it pains me to see what you're doing... please stop..."
Dash stood still. She glanced down at the helpless pony in front of her. It struck a nerve. Twilight's confession and the overflow of emotions caused Dash to reconsider.
She tried to reach out and touch Twilight's face in remorse. However, this action was met by massive surge of pain that streaked across her forearm.
She turned around to see Princess Luna wielding a massive black saber. Before Dash could react, Luna lunged forward, the massive blade to slice through the section of the demon cloak that protected Dash's bleeding forearm. Luna bounced backwards and lit up her horn, wielding the blade professionally above her head.
"Cometh at me, demon," said Luna as she poised herself.
<>-<>
Deep within the Everfree forest flew Fluttershy. She swerved left and right, dodging tree branches and other obstacles that littered the forest floor. The ground beneath her started to shake, knocking many of these branches off their trees.
Fluttershy stopped for moment, landed to the ground and turned around.
"Please hurry, Thornreeds," yelled Fluttershy, "We... we don't have much time..."
The trees in behind the pegasus suddenly split apart, revealing a big, no, really big green dragon with super sharp claws and extra spikey tail, breaking through the forest overgrowth.
"I don't understand what the rush is, Fluttershy. I haven't seen you since my last back message and now you drag me out of my cave? What is going on?" demanded the slightly annoyed Thornreeds.
Fluttershy kicked off back into the air, turned tail and resumed her flight, with the dragon close behind. She had to think carefully about what to say to the scaly behemoth following her - she was still unsure whether or not it was okay to hurt Dash. Her judgement was so clouded that she narrowly escaped flying straight into an overhanging tree branch, swerving away just to miss it by a hair’s breadth.
"I uh... need your help stopping my... friend," said Fluttershy as she continued to lead the dragon out of the forest.
"You need me to stop a pony?" laughed the dragon, "That sounds ridiculous! What, is your friend being possessed by a demonic force that makes him invulnerable or something?"
"Well, actually...."
The party of two reached the edge of the forest but ground to halt by the bright lights that had formed just outside the clearing. In a burst of blue flame the lights disappeared to reveal a silver, armour-clad unicorn. Fluttershy and Thornreeds were surprised to see the pony, but were even more surprised when more armoured unicorns teleported into formation around her. Faerie Fyre turned towards the forest and noticed the odd pair peering through the foliage.
"Reveal yourselves," demanded the master.
Fluttershy flew out and landed in front of her, with the mighty green dragon trailing close behind. The soldiers gasped upon seeing the dragon up close, but were too focused on keeping in formation to show fear.
Faerie looked at Fluttershy’s necklace and instantly recognized it as an Element of Harmony.
"That necklace..." said Faerie. "You are the Element of Kindness, Fluttershy, correct?"
The pegasus nodded.
"Who's your friend?"
"Oh... his name is Thornreeds. I asked him to help me uhh... stop... my friend."
"Rainbow Dash? What has happened to her?"
"I don't know, but it looks like she's gone crazy. So crazy, that I think only dragon would be strong enough to stop her."
"It's the demon, right?"
"Uh-huh - wait, how do you know...?"
"I am Faerie Fyre. Princess Celestia sent me to help contain Dash in the event that she got out of hand. Looks like I got here just in time."
"We'd better hurry. There’s no telling what she could be doing to my friends right now."
The master nodded and with a simple wave of her hoof, the entire battalion of thirty or so soldiers started galloping towards Ponyville.
"Stay close, Fluttershy. And, uh... make sure your dragon friend knows exactly who we're fighting," said Faerie as the trio followed close behind.
<>-<>
Back on the outskirts of the town, an epic battle was underway.
Princess Luna gracefully dodged the claws while simultaneous trying to carve away at Dash's demonic cloak with her Dusk blade. She brought the sword in back to her mouth and held it tightly: this way she had more control over its movement.
Dash flung two claws, which impaled themselves into the ground on either side of Luna's wings. With a swift nudge of her head, Luna quickly sliced into the ethereal cloak and severed the claws from the rest of its body. Dash's leg had healed from her initial attack.
The two ponies stood equally matched. Luna was able to successfully dodge any attack Dash made, and Dash was able to degenerate any injuries she received. After fighting in this way for some time, the two took a two steps back to catch their breath.
"You fighteth well in pony's body, demon," said Luna as she levitated the blade out of her mouth. "But I will bring you down and return the fair Rainbow Dash to her former self."
"Dream on, princess," lamented the pegasus, "this is the real me, and I ain't going nowhere with you royalty scum!"
"Rainbow, why in Equestria are you attacking your friends? Have you forgotten everything about friendship?"
"Like what?! You know this is all your fault anyway, Nightmare Moon."
Luna cringed at that name, but was still curious as to why Dash was blaming her.
"You say it is my fault that you are savagely hurting your friends?"
Dash leaped forward, grinding against the Dusk blade with her demon cloak claws. Sparks sprinkled as the two forces were equally matched.
"When Nightmare Moon had to be stopped," continued Dash as she attempted to snap the blade with her claws, "I was given the Element of Loyalty with the demon inside it. It was because of you that it is living inside of me."
The two broke apart again and Luna stumbled a little. She regained her footing and took a few precious seconds to look around. Her guards had been able to move the four remaining Elements of Harmony away from the fight and were applying first-aid to them. Although Twilight was still conscious, she was in no condition to stop Rainbow, and the guards were making sure she did not interfere with the fight.
Luna looked back at Dash.
"I am afraid that title does not belong to you anymore, Rainbow Dash."
"Say what now?"
Luna levitated the Dush blade horizontally, revealing that Dash's necklace was attached to the sword like a hilt. The blade started to glow in an ominous red colour as the sword fed off the Element's power.
"I used your necklace to power my Dusk blade. So you have been fighting against your own power. The Element of Loyalty is no longer yours, but mine."
The anger on Dash’s face soon faded and was replaced by a large, dark smile.
"Ahahaha," laughed Rainbow Dash, "You think an Element of Harmony is some title and a lousy necklace given to a pony who shows that quality? You are more daft than you look, princess. I do not own the Element of Loyalty, I am the Element of Loyalty. Let me demonstrate."
Dash extinguished her demon cloak and walked closer to the blade. Her body still had fox-like features on it, but she was walking up to he sword completely defenseless.
"Oh come now, Dash. Here I thought you were going to put up a fight," said Luna as she levitated the blade upward and swung it straight down at Dash.
The blade stopped inches from Dash's neck. Luna tried to force the blade down further, but it wouldn't budge. Some mysterious force was holding it back.
"You see? I AM the Element of Loyalty. And any weapon you try to use against me will fail."
"But..." demanded Luna, "How did you know it wouldn't...?"
"The same way Twilight had a mentor that teaches her magic, I have a mentor that teaches me power."
"The demon is teaching you?!"
"That's right," answered Dash. "He also says it’s safe for me to do this."
Dash turned around and gave a mighty buck, shattering the blade from its hilt. A surge of energy burst outward and pushed Luna aside.
The smoke cleared, revealing Dash, fully enveloped in her three-tailed demon cloak and wearing her necklace as well.
Luna saw in horror that the reawakened Element of Harmony had fused with the demon cloak's dark energy and had started to glow bright red. It too was now giving power to Rainbow Dash. Dash used a demon cloak claw to sweep the hilt-less blade aside, making a path directly to the seemingly defenseless Princess.
"Now," said Dash. "Let's see how well you defend yourself without that silly toothpick sapping my power..."
|
TheLunarArmy
|
897
| 12 |
Main 6,Mayor Mare,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Crossover,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Tale of KyuubiDash
|
Rainbow Dash discovers a dark secret about her element of Loyalty. Can she contain her inner demons?
|
incomplete
| 38 | 4 |
<p>In an alternative universe the ninjas from the hidden village of Konoha discover an ancient temple used to protect a forgotten clan and to test ninja's loyalty. In a complete twist of fate, a team of ninja manages to seal a demon fox inside a stone orb and banish it from existence. But where did it go? And how could this possibly have an effect on the ponies of Equestria?</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-12-06T22:36:07+00:00
|
2011-12-06T22:36:07+00:00
| 4,582 |
Chapter 10: Broken
Written by: TheLunarArmy
Edited by Ezn
The sudden increase in energy was starting to play mind tricks on the possessed pony. Rainbow could have sworn she heard something call out to her - it was like a faint whisper, similar to that of the fox's. She shook her head and retained focus on the matter at hand: a stunned Luna slowly trying to scamper away from her.
The pegasus's instincts finally kicked in. Luna was within her grasp and nothing would get between her and her revenge. Dash moved forward, extending her demon cloak claws outward and reaching out towards the alicorn. Just as they were to reach the Princess, her royal guards jumped intercepted, blocking her from her prey.
"Out of my way."
A simple sweep of her claw made short work of the two white pegasi. Dash continued walking forward. The Princess's desperate attempt to distance herself from Dash ended in vain. The claw reached out and wrapped itself around her with ease. Luna lit her horn and casted a protection enchantment around her body. It was weak, but it would be enough to shield her from the cloak's incendiary effect.
Dash pulled the princess closer - bringing her face to face. Luna gazed deeply into Dash's twisted eyes, trying to understand what was really going on. She could see the demon's influence; its madness - but also... something... unexpected. At first Luna had thought she was dealing with a blind psychopathic monster, but now it was different.
Dash's grip tightened and Luna's magic started to fade. Her guards stumbled onto their hooves but could barely move under the excruciating pain the cloak had caused. She tried to signal for them to stay back, but this only alerted Dash to their presence.
"You guys never learn do you?" scorned Dash. "Looks like I'm going to hafta deal with your little bodyguards first, moon princess."
Dash tossed the alicorn aside and set about lunging at the two pegasi. Luna managed to roll the impact off and now stood on all four hooves, staring as Dash pinned the guards to the ground with her claws. Their screams filled the early evening air; it was unlike any holler anypony had even heard.
"Dash!" begged the princess, "Leave them be, please. They're just following orders; they are innocent."
Dash peered over her shoulder bearing a sickening grin.
"With royalty and their plans there is no such thing as ‘innocent’, my dear princess."
The guards had stopped screaming and were dangling limp in Dash's claws. Satisfied that they were out of the picture, she tossed them aside. The brief victory, however, left Dash's blind spot wide open.
Luna swiftly moved close behind the deranged pegasus, wielding the Dusk Blade's broken blade with her aura - this time she had no remorse. Although Luna could see there was a deeper meaning to Dash's current state, she could not allow her mindless murder spree to continue.
The blade seared through the air, exactly perpendicular to Dash's neck. This was known as Luna's Crescent Moon Strike - a decapitation maneuver. Dash could sense the blade moving at a blindingly fast speed toward her. Unable to move in time, she instead thickened the cloak near the back of her neck, soaking the blade's razor sharp edge with her powerful shield.
Dash took to the skies, leering at Luna as she struggled to maintain control of her weapon. Since the blade fed of the energy of its wielder, Luna was sacrificing her own magic and life energy to fuel its power. Dash reached her desired altitude, and noticed that her former friends had recovered and were slowly making their way toward the lone alicorn.
"Excellent!" yelled Dash, "Since you're all together, I can finish you off in one go."
Dash limbered up, stretching her limbs and savoring the calm.
"We can't stop her. No pony can stop her," murmured Rarity, tears slowly drizzling down her cheeks.
"I hate to say it gals, but it looks like we may never get Dash back. We lost 'er for good," said Applejack.
Luna quickly turned around.
"No," said the princess, "Dash is still in there; she is still in that monster. We just have to get her out."
"Are you crazy?" yelled Pinkie, "Just look at Dashie! She is nothing but a mindless crazy pants now. Look at the guards..."
Twilight remained quiet. She was too focused on keeping track of Dash, hoping to catch glimpse of the formerly beautiful pegasus.
"The princess is right, Pinkie," said Twilight, "We just have a lot of hate to break through."
Luna, Twilight and Rarity then noticed an influx of magical energy approaching from across the field. Unicorns were able detect even the faintest bits of magic, and this massive buildup was impossible to miss. Twilight nodded to others - their plan had finally reached its pinnacle. With that, Applejack took her cue.
"Go on then, murderer. Finish me off, if ya have the guts."
Dash laughed.
"There is no silly rope to hold me back this time, ya know," responded Dash, "Hold on to your horsehoes!"
Dash swooped forward, piercing through the sky like a smoldering red meteor. She gained impressive speed, forming a Mach cone around her forehooves.
One second... two seconds.. three.... counted Dash. It's all in the timing now
Suddenly Thornreeds made his appearance - directly in front of Dash's path. The dragon towered over the fast moving flyer blocking her intended projecotry of her friends. He swung around and with a flick of his spiny tail, he sent the pegasus plummeting towards the ground in a red and rainbow streak.
"Looks like we got here just in time," whispered Fluttershy.
<>--<>
The ponies watched for a few seconds as Dash and Thornreeds clashed in a deadly dogfight over the fields. The rest of the Bronkonia Magic Korps took the opportunity to set a parameter around the surrounding area, erecting jade relay antennas of some kind while Fluttershy and Faerie made their way to the group.
"Wow-wee Fluttershy, could ya' cut it any closer?" sighed Applejack.
"Not her fault, Applejack," responded Faerie, "I kinda held her up for a minute or so."
"And who the blazes are you spose' to be then?"
"My name is Faerie Fyre, and I am..."
"Master of Unicorn combat magic," exclaimed Twilight. "Normally, I would love to have met you Master Fyre, but..."
Twilight paused, widening her eyes upon the realization.
"...you are here to... exterminate.... Rainbow..."
"What?" yelled Rarity and Applejack in unison.
The unicorn shuffled her hooves in the dirt, looking for the right words to say. She looked up, bulged out her chest and responded with all the confidence that she could muster.
"It is my duty to uphold peace in Equestra. Rainbow Dash has become too great of a threat to keep alive and I..."
"Horseapples!" yelled Applejack, "I can see right through your lies, Flary, Frarie or whatever your name is. Judging from your delayed response I can tell ya' don't want to kill Dash any more than we do."
Faerie was a bit shocked at Applejack's quick response.
"Heh, you bear the Element of Honesty very well, young Applejack. Alright I'll be on par with you gals. See those emerald towers we are setting up?"
Faerie pointed at the field where her troops were situated around the battlezone.
"We are going to catch Dash and keep her in that field. Once she is there, we will pin her down and forcefully extract the demon from her body through dissection."
"An exorcism of some kind?" asked Twilight.
"No, no, we will be using a... unique... technique to slow down time and take the demon's evil spirit out of her."
This rang a bell in Twilight's mind.
"Wait, ‘slow down time’?" questioned Twilight, "Isn't that forbidden dark magic?"
Faerie narrowed her eyes.
"Well, yes it is, Twilight, but how do you know?"
"That's irrelevant. You said you can take the demon's spirit out of her with dissection? How does that work?"
"Well, you see. Every celestial being has a yin and yang part, sort of like a good side and a bad side. By using this technique we will extract the demon's yang, or dark, side, leaving only a harmless good side dormant in Dash's body."
Twilight suddenly realized what had actions caused twelve months ago. She had used that very technique in an attempt to revive Dash from her comatose state - but what she had inadvertently done was slice Dash's yin side out of her body, leaving a darker version of herself alone with the demon fox.
"What would happen to the dark side of the demon then?" asked a nervous Twilight.
"We don't exactly know, which is why we set up those towers. They will prevent any matter from leaving the forcefields they’re about to generate.
Luna finally managed to join the conversation; she had been looking over the guards, who were surprisingly still alive, but in wrecked conditions. The princess walked over to Faerie and acknowledged her with a nod. The master knelt in respect, only to stand up again and face her.
"What can the rest of the Elements and myself do to help?" asked Luna.
"Firepower and distraction. I am sure Fluttershy's friend is holding out well against Dash, but we have no idea how strong that demon truly is."
A soldier suddenly teleported next to Faerie, whispered something in her ear and then teleported away.
"Looks like we're ready to go. Can I rely on you six to give it your best? Remember, we are dealing with a demon here - not an innocent pony."
The five ponies and Luna nodded simultaneously as they trotted towards the ongoing battle.
<>-<>
Thornreeds was becoming exhausted. Rainbow Dash was more than a match for the mighty green dragon, since her astonishing regeneration quickly patched up any damage he caused. He had to figure out a way to hold her still so he that could attempt to snap off the demon cloak protecting her body.
Dash, on the other hand, was experimenting with the cloak; testing out new moves and perfecting her precision.
"I think you're about ready for my signature move," whispered the fox.
"What would that be?" asked Dash subconsciously.
"It's quite simple really. All you have to do is focus your energy directly in front of you, sort of like when you concentrating on pulling of your Sonic Rain-whatever."
"RAINBOOM!" scorned Dash.
"Focus!" responded the fox, "Fuel all your hatred and fury directly in front of you. Imagine that it is a ball that you can reach out and grab."
Dash closed her eyes and concentrated.
"NO! You fool, don't lose track of your ene-"
The fox was cut short by Thornreeds’s midair tackle. Dash opened her eyes again and could see she was between the dragon's large teeth, luckily being protected by her cloak.
"Why, you!" Dash yelled as she bucked her way out of his grasp.
She flew higher to put some distance between herself and the behemoth, but he was right behind her, keeping up with her speedy stride.
"Concentrate, and keep your damn eyes open this time!" yelled the fox.
"Yeah, yeah, I got this. Ball. Ball. Ball."
The green dragon pulled out of his loop and managed to grab hold of Rainbow's leg, yanking her down. He grabbed onto her wings and pulled her down.
"I have you now, creature," bragged Thornreeds.
"That’s what you think," responded Dash as she turned to face the dragon, wielding a dark sphere directly in front of her face. The energy build-up was so immense that all the unicorns in the area could sense Dash's powerful aura.
With a simple snap of he mouth, the sphere was flung out and impacted with Thornreed's neck. A massive explosion erupted and the dragon was covered by a smog of black smoke and fire. A circular rainbow pattern - similar to Dash's Rainboom effect - wrapped around the smoke.
Thornreeds fell out of the cloud and plummeted straight towards the ground, completely covered in a soot and obviously unconscious. Fluttershy stood in shock as she saw her dear friend falling to his doom.
"THORNREEDS!!" yelled the canary pegasus.
Faerie and Twilight lit up their horns and quickly teleported closer to the dragon's impact zone. They used their magic to create an ethereal blanket around the dragon, which slowed his descent enough for them to catch and lower him gently to the ground. Faerie walked over the black beast and checked his vitals.
"He's still alive!"
"Oh good!" yelled Dash. "Enough reason for me to hit him again. Whatcha think of my new move huh? I call it the Rainbolt! Ahaha..."
Dash’s laughter was cut short by a powerful blow to her face. The cloak was still actively protecting her, but it was too weak to hold against the punch. Her cheek bone broke instantly.
Everypony stood in awe as Fluttershy hovered where her friend had been. She was the one who had delivered the deadly blow.
"I....I...." whispered Fluttershy.
Dash stood up out of her crater, rubbing her cheek and noticing Fluttershy in the middle of the field. Her Element was glowing a fierce pink haze and her tail and mane stood on end.
"I am going to crush you!" yelled an absolutely enraged Fluttershy.
"...Uh oh," whispered the fox.
To be Continued
Writer's note:Sorry for the delayed and short chapter, examinations kinda ate up my free time and now the holidays are taking its toll. Additionally my faithful editor is without internet so please excuse any grammar mistakes you come across. Hopefully I'll be able to release another chapter next week As always, thanks for your continued support: I am working on something special for all my loyal readers!"
|
OBXSuperindustries
|
899
| 1 |
Adventure,Alternate Universe,Dark,Sad,Tragedy
|
The Burning Times
|
"Do good ponies make good leaders?"
|
cancelled
| -1 | -1 |
<p>"Do good ponies make good leaders?"<br /><br />Ever since the Technology-Boom, Equestria has never been the same. Great prosperity, but also great dividing of the Land. To the North and West lies the Lunar Republic, strong and vigilant; To the South, The Mighty Hyperion Empire, marvel to its age. And in the center, The Solar Empire, vast as it is old. For these nations, three great leaders. Proud and distinguished with their many ideals and innovations of battle. But with the conflict of these three motivations comes the conflict of war. Equestria seems to boil and bake at its borders. Neighbors and family destroyed by lines and words on paper, but the worst seems yet to have come!<br /><br />Caught between ideals, the young Lieutenant Bright-Flare must choose where he aligns himself. With his military career seeming to have its own propulsion, he must choose and discover for himself, what is 'right' and what is 'wrong'!</p>
|
teen
| null |
2011-10-27T13:24:31+00:00
| 1,806 |
“BrightFlare… BrightFlare… LIEUTENANT BRIGHT-FLARE!?!?!?”
The force of the shout knocked Bright-Flare off of his seat, onto the hard metal deck behind him. He quickly squirmed off his back, onto his four hooves and sat back up at his station.
“Sir, yessir!” he replied with a bark, holding a hoof up to his brow in salute. The Admiral eyed the red and orange earth-pony with a weary look.
“Dreaming on the job again I see, how do you explain yourself this time eh?!”
“I… I… I-“he stammered, unable to regain his lost composure. The admiral shook his head and walked back to his command post, radiating disapproval.
“Having an epiphany and loosing focus, especially this close to the border, can be detrimental to not only your crew peers, but to your consideration for any form of promotion, Lieutenant!” spoke Admiral Warding-Spark, glancing back at Bright-Flare sat, his expression reaffirming his displeasure. Bright-Flare lowered his hoof, his ears flattened as his shoulders also lowered in defeat.
'Stupid, stupid, stupid, you need to focus-'
“It- It wont happen again sir...” he said, trying to hide the tremor in his voice. The admiral let out a scoffing sneer. Maintaining his dominant persona, he sat back up at the Main-helm.
“See that it doesn't Lieutenant!” he chided, turning to ascend to his normal seat on the bridge.
He rasped sharply at his forehead, trying to conjure his focus again.
'You're an idiot, a big idiot. Rumors of your promotion- and you let all your hard work slip away. Dad is not going to like his next letter!..'
His mind began to drift again, the lack of time-occupying orders leaving him with a nagging desire for activity. He decided to more closely examine his post, realising that he hadn't actually taken a personal survey to notice his peers properly.
The room was large, though that was a given considering its role as the brain for the entire 'Harbinger'. Across the front was the massive Observation-window, sweeping from the top all the way down below as one massive piece of foot thick protection, cradling the bridge with views that were to be reckoned with. Below the entire wall of glass were hills, graced by thick jungle-Forrest, rolling under and past them at an alarming pace, indicating the sheer velocity that they were traveling at.
In the center was a raised platform; The Main-Helm. The admiral was at work, surrounded by a panorama of dozens of monitors, humming with activity. A split in the middle allowed the admiral to see out through to the Observation-window, out into the real battle. The old stallion looked across the various info-feeds with a battle-weary eye, examining and coalescing the data with a practiced and logical mind while uttering under his breath his devised strategies. From his helm he could see many things. Engine status, weapon compliments, a list of orders to ponniel* in chronological order. He even had four video feeds of different angles from all sides of the ship.
Across the two walls aside from the widow were the various booths called “Ops”. Bristling with equipment, In each sat a pony, hooves a blur with activity as they crunched decisions and calculations into their specialized stations. The bridge was divided down the middle, the left being Tactical and Radar, right being Weapons and Engineering. The four sections were controlled and adjudicated by the four command ponies, their highly tuned and optimized stations adjacent to the Admirals elevated command hub.
There were four tiers; four levels of the deck. Main-helm, Main-control, Secondary-control, and the normal Staff-Deck. The admiral was atop, perched like a proud bird-of-prey; The second tier was a pair of Command-Units, the Main-Thruster-Control, or "MTC", and Main-Engineering, residing at adjacent positions to the left and right of the Main-Helm; the third tier was comprised of Main-Radar and Main-Weapons, Radar being directly in front of MTC, and Weapons being directly in front of Engineering; the fourth tier comprised of a further four sections, corresponding to the four lower Ops next to the main helm; Radar, Tactical-ponniel, Weapons-security, and Engineering-power. BrightFlare was the commanding MTC, meaning he had control over all of Tactical and ponniel.
The four commanding ponies were assisted by the staff on the bottom tier, requesting tasks or other intelligence as they saw fit. But of course, the Admiral was really in charge of his bridge. The distinguished roles could also be seen in the various attire, or uniforms. Engineer and weapon ponies wore clean overalls with tool or weapon belts, covered in the awards and decorations required to become bridge-staff. The radar and tactical officers had neat trimmed coats, sometimes with hats depending on their rank. The officers' uniform served no real purpose, other than to bedazzle and discipline; the small white-and-yellow coats emblazoned with the golden-sun clearly communicating their allegiance. BrightFlare's Uniform was a bit flashier, due to his proximity and importance on the bridge, Gold trim, White, with the Sun symbol emblazoned over his chest, and he hated it...
An alarm sounded directly ahead of him, breaking his calm composure.
“Sir, we have them!” called the mare at Radar-command. “Six Cruisers, and one Dreadnought, full complement of Frigates!”
“Where? Which Direction?!” asked the admiral. His constructive meditation stopped abruptly as he quickly turned his head to another monitor. The black-and-green Mare looked back, her expression of steel.
“Over the next mountain range: completely stationary. It looks like they knew we were coming, sir!” Her cutie mark was a red Cross-hair, seeming appropriate considering where she worked. BrightFlare didn't know her name, but she had always been posted when he was rostered on. This very first week as MTC-command had kept him on his toes, but she always helped him out whenever there was trouble.
“Lieutenant BrightFlare, set the ship speed to intermediate and proceed to take us closer.” The admiral turned to his side and grabbed a Boom-Mic hanging from the ceiling, its cord extending down as he applied tension.
“All ships, this is Admiral Warding-Spark, we have the enemies location and are ready to engage. All fighters deploy, stand ready, and wait for my signal to open fire-“
A second, louder alarm sounded, visually crushing the admirals dominant composure he assumed when addressing the fleet normally. BrightFlare looked around expectantly. When the admiral was concerned, it meant something was amiss
“Admiral!” screamed one of the Officer-ponies at a Tactical-Op behind them, his voice urgent. “Intelligence is way out! The Dreadnought, It's the Eclipse, sir! The Flagship is here!”
“Fuck!” cursed the Admiral, returning his focus to the Boom-Mic “Well... I'm sure you all just heard that... But this is not the time to panic or retreat. They will tremble at the might of our new weapon, and the presence of our own flagship. All hooves, this is the Admiral! Prepare the Solar-Flare Cannon. Here is where we shall remain; this is where we will prevail. We will hold the border for the Empire, and let this be our finest hour!” He relinquished his grasp of the microphone, and turned back to BrightFlare.
“Lieutenant, I want you to turn this ship around. Place us just before the village, in a defensive stance; we will command the battle from there.”
“Aye, Admiral!” Flame-Oath gave a quick salute and began to work.
He grabbed a touch-screen, swinging it on its pivoting hinges, and brought the computer to life with a sweep of his hoof. A bird's eye view of the surrounding terrain displayed, checked with a square-kilometer grid. Green icons representing their fleet slowly drifted towards the mountain, seeming to float away with the wind. Just beyond the ridge he could see the mass of red dots, lining the mountain like soldiers in a trench. He noted the location of the village relative to their position, and began to punch in thrust instructions into the input-panel below.
After making the necessary instructions, he placed the other hoof over the confirmation button in the center panel. Somewhere behind him, a deep, resounding noise emanated. The ships mechanisms roared to life, either coming to life from their dormant states, or changing speed and gears. The low rumbling of the streams of fire gently shook the massive ship's frame, propelling them into a wide arc.
BrightFlare scratched at his cutie-mark furiously with one hoof. The symbol of a flame and dagger always seemed to become irritated whenever there was a battle, or anything else of notable tension. He tried hard to ignore it, but could barely resist the urge.
He watched the Admiral expertly code in orders for the other ships to follow. His hooves glided effortlessly, with little or no hesitation. His proficiency put BrightFlare's youthful vigor to shame, as he tirelessly worked at his role.
BrightFlare's gaze drifted to the admirals flank, and he couldn't help but cringe in sympathy. No matter how many times your eyes came across it, it never got easier seeing the remnants of his torture at the hooves of the Republic. The jagged scorch mark left nought but short brown hairs, deeply contrasted against his gray coat and sapphire-blue mane.
BrightFlare was reminded of one of the oddest occurrences in the mess hall of the ship, a few months before his promotion to bridge-commander. One of the cocky Deck-hooves, an arrogant Pegasus with everything to prove, trotted over to the admiral during lunch, seeming quite pleased with himself without even doing anything. And without any shame, asked the admiral what his cutie mark had been before it was so cruelly removed. The admiral didn’t answer, but simply just left without a single word or remark, his half finished lunch remaining.
For many days afterwards, he looked rather distraught, avoiding almost everyone where it was permitted. He even didn't turn up for duty at the bridge on one of those occasions. But his attitude seemed to return to normal after one of Princess Celestia’s "Routine inspections". He seemed to appear from his sulking out of nowhere, appearing more cheeiry and active than before when she had arrived. Though, she seemed to have that effect on everypony, even during such dark times.
BrightFlare looked away and inspected their progress towards the allotted position. Temperatures – normal, Thrust – normal, wind speed – slightly elevated. He carefully adjusted the Main-thrust one more time before the silence of the bridge was corrupted by yet another alarm.
“Contact!” yelled another mare at the Weapon-command, her voice shrill with urgency. “The fighters and the Dreadnought have come over the mountain range first, sir!”
“Very good! I have ten cruisers engaging the Dreadnought, and the other two other Harbinger's are engaging the remaining enemy-cruisers stationed behind the range. We may have been unprepared for their flag-ship, but we have them severely out-gunned.” He grinned as he watched his main viewer overlaying an image of the battle, his eyes gleaming with the light from the monitor, producing a rather ghastly facade. BrightFlare looked away, and out through the colossal sheet of glass.
He watched the progressing battle, the wide window providing quite the view. The two other 'Harbingers' soared past, their gargantuan Thrusters spewing forth blue flames, gaining altitude and speed. Hatches on either side of the massive frame's swung open and a throng of small fighters dived out, like a curtain of death, blanketing the battlefield with the screams of their engines. Metal-slugs roared overhead as volley after volley of hot projectiles hissed away, the various cruisers pelting the enemy beyond with suppression. The admiral's grin became even wider as the 'Eclipse' came within eye-shot of one of his camera feeds.
“We meet again, Lunar, Your sister is very upset with your little uprising!” he said under his breath. BrightFlare was taken aback, not expecting to hear the soft whisper, nor the undeserving curse on Luna. He cocked his head in though, trying to contemplate what he had actually just said.
“Oh my- ADMIRAL! BRACE FOR IMPACT!” screamed the mare at Radar-command.
There was barely time to see it on screen as a rainbow flash filled the sky behind the mountains and surged forward, washing over the Allied ships before gushing through theirs. The wave of energy moved through, leaving every pony in its wake untouched. But as quickly as it came, it was gone, but with it had taken the electronics.
All circuits had been completely wiped and fried. Screens went dim, blinking lights shut-off, and the only source of light emanated from the window forward.
“AURORA CANNON, DAMN! Bright-Flare! Hit the secondary-power array before we fall out of the sky- NOW!”
Without further hesitation, BrightFlare kicked out of his chair, diving down to the lower tier, and galloped down the darkened corridor behind him. He had practiced the maneuver dozens of times before, the countless drills maturing to good use. There were no electronic lights now, so he had to make do with the light from the viewing-windows in the bridge, and his well-versed memory.
He kept one shoulder on the smooth metal wall, scrabbling through the hungry dark, bumping past somepony with little regard or care, even at their rather aggravated protest. Finally coming to the hatch, he slid it open with little effort, revealing a large, heavy lever. Using his two back legs, he gave it a kick, pushing it into the upright position. A small red indicator light began to blink above, counting down till the ships reboot.
Thats when he could feel it; the gut-wrenching sensation of slowly falling from the sky. Everything around him began to rise from the ground as the ship plummeted to the earth. Spanners, Wrenches, Bolts, Tools; anything that hadn't been secured slowly moved up to the ceiling. He held his breath, staring attentively at the small blinking light.
'One, two, three, four- BINGO!' The light went solid green, and just as quickly, the power returned. A chorus of metallic banging echoed out through the ship as gravity returned to the normal. BrightFlare released the grip on his breath with a sigh, and then swiftly returned to his station, apologizing to the engineer-pony he had bumped past in the dark on the way back.
“Good work, Flare. Now, can anypony tell me the status of my Fleet?” said the admiral, still seeming to be calm despite the surprise attack. The Radar-command pony spoke.
“Both of the other Harbingers are still airborne… and literally a couple of fighters, but otherwise…” She hesitated “All the Cruisers… are down, sir!”
He slammed a hoof on his console, now visibly angry.
“Then tell me that the cannon is ready!” he exclaimed, turning to both the Weapons-command and Engineer-command.
Both of them sat frozen, locked in the admirals death stare. The Engineer pony spoke. “Yes it is, sir...”
“Fine.. Fire directly below us….” There was the longest pause. All the ponies at their stations stopped, and looked back at the admiral, shock filing their expressions with worry and concern.
“But sir, the village is just below us-“ The weapon commander trailed off as the admiral's expression seemed to writhe and surge with rage. WardingSpark lent over the edge of the helm, staring down at the terrified officer.
“I KNOW YOU FOOL, NOW FIRE!” he ordered, slamming a hoof into one of his monitors, causing it to fizzle out with a sharp electrical spark.
Everypony hesitated again, still unable to comprehend the consequence of the command. The weapon commander, a decorated veteran with a decade of combat under his belt, cowered in fear, leaning away from the looming stallion.
“FINE!!! GET OUT OF MY WAY YOU INSUBORDINATE LOUT!!!”
He dived down, kicking the weapons command out of his chair with a violent two-hoof blow to the chest.
“IF YOU LOVE YOUR SUBJECTS SO MUCH LUNAR, YOU WILL FLEE AT THE SIGHT OF THEIR DESTRUCTION” he screamed, tapping in instructions to The Control-Unit. “THIS IS FOR MY FLANK!!!”
He stamped the fire button, and listened as the weapon below roared to life, the power surging through the rails below, screaming with the uncontrollable amounts of electricity.
BrightFlare rose from his seat, the morality of the situation breaking his restraint.
“Admiral Warding-Spark!... What have you done, what are you doing?!” yelled BrightFlare, the muted furry undeniable in his voice. Everypony else rose as well, turning to where the admiral now stood, surrounding him.
The Admiral turned back to BrightFlare, his mane furred in his fervor. His lip curled back in a snarl, and his eyes burned with his newly formed revenge as he screamed at the top of his lungs.
“WINING THIS WAR!”
*BOOM*
Authors Note:
* - 'ponniel': a replacement for the word 'personnel' ; the registered individuals in an establishment, especially for military.
--------
Dear Reader,
If you like this, please track it. Click that little tick up there next to the ratings bar!
Oh, speaking of ratings bar, please take the extra click of your finger to judge my story
"Go on then! Judge me, i dare you!!!"
Also, the entire 30 chapter set will be ready and available by the 25th of December, stay
tuned for early releases of chapters...
Thanks heaps :D
|
OBXSuperindustries
|
899
| 2 |
Adventure,Alternate Universe,Dark,Sad,Tragedy
|
The Burning Times
|
"Do good ponies make good leaders?"
|
cancelled
| -1 | -1 |
<p>"Do good ponies make good leaders?"<br /><br />Ever since the Technology-Boom, Equestria has never been the same. Great prosperity, but also great dividing of the Land. To the North and West lies the Lunar Republic, strong and vigilant; To the South, The Mighty Hyperion Empire, marvel to its age. And in the center, The Solar Empire, vast as it is old. For these nations, three great leaders. Proud and distinguished with their many ideals and innovations of battle. But with the conflict of these three motivations comes the conflict of war. Equestria seems to boil and bake at its borders. Neighbors and family destroyed by lines and words on paper, but the worst seems yet to have come!<br /><br />Caught between ideals, the young Lieutenant Bright-Flare must choose where he aligns himself. With his military career seeming to have its own propulsion, he must choose and discover for himself, what is 'right' and what is 'wrong'!</p>
|
teen
| null |
2011-12-18T14:29:15+00:00
| 1,053 |
“Behold! Look not upon me or our great city above, but upon yourselves, and rejoice. For you have been bestowed the presence of everything you have ever worked for” He called out amongst the hundreds of ranked soldiers, lined up into neat squares that stretched out far across the fields. His voice boomed into the microphone, carrying with it his message of pride and tragedy.
“What you see is yourselves, the mightiest of forces amongst all of Equestria. Today, we reckon what we have feared the most, and that is why we now act upon the cruel dealings of the foes, for this great nation. Today, we have received word of the massacre at the hand of the Empire. Be saddened, and weep for the lost, for to forget and not to love what we defend is to destroy what we strive to accomplish every day. For every day that the two dictators sit in their thrones of lies, hatred, fear and denial, their prisoners they call subjects cower and suffer. Tyrants of dark and light, fighting and plotting not only against themselves, but against the ponies that they claim to protect and serve.”
He slammed his hoof on the podium as his emotions and rage peaked into one point. “Today is a sad day, but we can only be relieved in this event- this filthy crime derived from jealousy and spite, we now have a reason to unleash our Glorious Retribution. We march to their death. We march TO WAR!”
The ranks of soldiers began to chant in time, stamping their collective hooves and calling out their agony for war. They had all been told of the Great War before their time, the war that set apart the Great empires. But that would now pale in comparison to the new scale and ferocity of this age. Empires for decades, in a constant flux of espionage and border-warfare, now unleashed upon the world in barbarous, intense campaigns of military acquisition and calculated destruction.
“Victory is assured, so long as we never falter. And our greatest accomplishment, the army that surrounds us now, will become the fable of every bed time story, of every pub bard, of every preacher and historian. The saga of our Holy Vengeance shall echo out forever through time. Hyperion shall guide us to destroy Lunar and Celestia, and to free our kindred. Through us their deliverance is close at hand.”
His expression darkened into one emotion. His face cruel, with longing remorse for the little action they had performed. He longed more than them to avenge the peoples of Equestria, and deliver them upon to a world without chains and fear, without rank or prejudice. He burned with the passion for war, to destroy his ‘makers’. His defiance would ring out across time.
“DEATH TO THE FALSE QUEENS OF EQUESTRIA, ALL HAIL HYPERION!!!”
The army roared, drowning out his speech, deafening him to all other sounds. He held one hoof high in the air, while firmly placing the other on the podium underneath him, shaking his elevated limb to the adopted rhythm of the troops below. He swept up his microphone and screamed a mighty war-cry out across the ranks, his voice pure and high, but harsh and loud at the same time. Many other voices faltered far weakening the volume of the ranks, their distant faces all gazing up at him in awe and wonder.
“NOW PREPARE FOR THE CONQUEST OF THE SOLAR EMPIRE. BEHOLD, THIS IS YOUR TSAR!!! AT SUNRISE TOMORROW, WE TAKE CANTERLOT FOR THE PEOPLE!!!”
Again, the armies roared, louder than ever before. And even in the temporary festivities of the war-speech at hand, they began to pass out across the fields in an organised manner. They filled, still keeping in their ranks, out across to the Air-Docks. Atop the docks were immense structures, Engineered to Deathly Perfection. Ships, armed to the teeth with an arsenal that would put their foes to shame. Small, one-man fighters screamed overhead, faster than a Pegasus could imagine. Large, brutal engines of war scared the ground as they rolled ever closer to their victory. And vessels of the air, with technology to lift entire cities, clamored with instruments designed to outwit any opponent.
Without their technology they would be nothing. An entire civilisation based on freedom and democracy, built off the one thing that neither princess could seem to grasp before they could not control it; The one thing that seemed to perpetually defy magic in all its endeavours: Science.
He looked upon his work one last time before retreating back from the announcement Balcony. His expression remained the same. He was good at what he did, and what he did was public speech. The empire valued him once upon a time, but he left in anger over the blindness of the Princess, her inability to see beyond the few towns she loved to visit, and onto the majority of her subjects; But most of all, Stalliongrad, his place of Birth. He cast himself out of Princess Celestia’s court, taking with him the majority of aristocrats, and joined Hyperion and his glorious vision for universal exemption.
His name was Rising-Idiom, an individual of great significance in the political realm of Equestria, especially for his ceaseless ability to ignite the imagination of anypony simply through speech. His flank was emblazoned with two Olive-branches, twisting around each other in a symmetrical twist, centred by a long Stiletto of Gold.
He calmly (or as calmly as physically possible) stepped down from view of the Armies, turned to the peers behind him watching, and bowed, releasing one hoof and letting his head descend; his chin almost touching the ground.
The viewers were still stunned, either their imaginations captured in the unrelenting grip of his words, or their awe for the newly established morale that burned like a fever throughout the ranks of the armies below. The group of ten on-looking ponies, blown away and wrapped up into oblivion by his Poetic Requiem of War and Action, needless to say hadn’t a clue on how to respond or congratulate to something as successful as what had just transpired. “That was amazing!” exclaimed a Mare Democrat, her jaw agape in shock. “You just gave all those recruits the confidence of seasoned veterans! How… I…” Rising held a hoof up to her mouth, stopping her rambling. “Now, now, we cannot get our hopes up just yet until they prove themselves in battle. Besides, I have done nothing… everything I said wasn’t some foul ploy to make fresh-grunts go headlong into battle without hesitation. Every word was true, it was merely the way I said it.” He said, still holding his hoof to the flustered Democrat’s lips, which still trembled in excitement and disbelief.
He swung back to the podium, turned off the microphone with a tap of his hoof, and grabbed the large, leafy manuscript, gently placing it in a small saddle-bag left to the side. He swung the luggage onto his back and quaintly trotted back into the large marble building, leaving the observers behind- attempting desperately to decipher the repercussions of the currently transpired event.
He began to reflect on it to. “What did I just do… well I roused up an army of patriots into what may be the greatest war ever conceived by pony kind…” he slowed, down to a walk before he completely stopped in his tracks. There was no other way of putting it. He just had a hand in sending millions of lives to their death, innocent or otherwise.
He trembled, his composure snapping into two halves of morality. “Why did you do that- because the ponies of this world have suffered too much- so you will have them suffer more torture and hardship?- it’s not like that, we can save the innocent from the tyrants’ rule!- Why? So they can be free for a time in peace before they are snatched up by a Fanatic or preacher like yourself- No, they will rule themselves in harmony without the influence of leaders or corruption- And how did you plan on doing that, by conscripting an army to serve another empire- It was never meant to be like that, ever- Well, then what was it meant to be like, trading one dictatorship for another?!-“
Rising seemed to sway, and almost buckle in self-pity and disgust before a saving grace blessed his presence. His intense lime-green gaze seemed to gash at any doubt or fear that Rising had. His coat was a deep, dark purple, almost black in comparison to the same green of his mane. Around each of his legs was a dark metal cuff, signifying not only his position and rank, but who he was.
Lord Hyperion, the only Alaecorn in existence other than the two sisters of the Sky. He was the leader and sole survivor of the most recent Celestain Regime. He fled Far East, further than Celestia dared look for him, and hid till she gave up searching for him. He built an entire society based on freedom and democracy. And as the world grew from his inventions of electricity and power, so did the ‘notorious’ Empire of Hyperia, an “evil, corrupt, and violent society of treacherous deviants”, or so the propaganda would have you believe. He had been good friends with Rising-Idiom ever since the second revolution of Celestia’s government where Rising had escaped her piercing clutches.
“Rising?! You look like you’re going to be sick?” He laughed, his youthful voice striking out at the strum of the armies synchronised hooves. “Are you okay, friend? It appears your Pseudo-leadership is working wonders” The words were like ecstasy, the charisma and charm of the Prince-Lord smiting all and any conflicts and doubts in Rising-Idioms heart.
Rising-Idiom realised he had held his breath from the moment his mind began to race with morale questions, but those doubts seemed to shred away in Hyperion’s presence. He let out a huge sigh, and walked closer to the Lord.
Hyperion glanced over Rising and gazed over the Marshalling-grounds, his eyes widening at the level of activity and organisation of the troops below the Acropolis of the Military HQ. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to controlling my own army. Too much stress and worry to bear, in my opinion.” Hyperion laughed nervously, and too gave out a sigh, but not from lack of breath.
“You should have been there, my lord!” spoke Rising-Idiom, “All the Democrats that attended had to scramble around for their dropped jaws. Apparently I was marvellous, again… I don’t think I have ever been able to understand why I am so ‘charismatic’ and ‘empowering’. To me it’s just telling it how it is. Sure I’ve always admitted that I have a certain way of speaking that boils the blood of anypony. But I have never had the real capacity to listen to myself talk-“he trailed off as he realised that Lord Hyperion wasn’t paying him an ounce of attention, his gaze still focused out across the flat grassy plains, eyes wide with the stark realisation of how far his empire had actually come.
Rising-Idiom sighed with weariness, this wasn’t the first time the young Lord had been distracted during one of their conversations. He carefully stepped aside, raised both hooves to Hyperion’s ears and clapped them together as hard as he could. The Lord jumped and looked around wildly before his gaze fell upon Rising again. “Oh- Uhh- I’m sorry Rising. I did it again didn’t I? What was it you were talking about then?”
Rising just grinned foalishly. “Oh never mind, Lord, let’s get back to the war room and tell the generals the status of their armies morale!”
|
OBXSuperindustries
|
900
| 1 |
My Little Setian: Set Abominae Is Magic
|
A horrifying revelation comes to pass, as Twilight discovers a ruse deeper then anypony realised
|
hiatus
| -1 | -1 |
<p>A horrifying revelation comes to pass, as TwilightSparkle discovers a ruse deeper then anypony realised. For many years, he has walked among them, shifting through the folds of time, manipulating governments in an attempt to divide the nations of Equestria. The coming curse prophecised by the Elder-Setians of the Order of the Rose, nearly 12'000 years ago, of a saviour, born of the beast in the Eastern Sands, who would free the planet of the menace that they've hated for so long. Kingdoms Fall, leaders die, as he sees fit. He devours souls of those who pose a threat, and he has TwilightSparkle in his sights.<br /><br />Can Twilight reveal the secrets behind the ancient past of all Ponies? Can she save her friends, and beloved mentor and leader, from sure destruction? Can this cliche word-montage actually seem funny to Iced Earth Fans?<br /><br />Come what may.<br /><br />WARNING: Lots and LOTS of gore (oh my dear f**king god, you have no idea!)</p>
|
teen
| null |
2011-09-30T07:12:10+00:00
| 1,297 |
Deep deep underground, the creatures quickly walked through the temple catacombs. Dank dark walls, covered in millennium of moss growth, dripped with the slime of ages. The long talons on their feet scraped across the floor, leaving not a scratch on the strange yellow stone. The chamber had not been used in quite some time, but the need now was too dire to ignore. Thirteen elders, gathering in a meeting for what was to become the greatest war the universe had ever seen. Trillions of lives counted on their decisions, but the decisions would be a heavy burden on all concerned.
Passing through the last arch, they entered the gaze of the Watcher's Eye. Huge and glorified, its walls latticed with crystals that glowed and ebbed with the ancient power that these 'Equines' now sought. Colossal walls covered in the smooth glass, spiraling up, twisting till they met at the pinnacle of the ceiling. Razor-thin shards hung from the top, layered and forming a red crystal rose, the namesake of their order. The chamber was circular, with steps descending down to an even smaller circle-base; this was the place of council, The Temple of God. Twelve pedestals bordered the edge of the gathering area, adorned with lavish cushions; In the centre was a metal plaque, worn with the eons of High-priests' feet shaping it. Beams of light surged through small holes high above, providing light for them to see by.
Thirteen robed figures; one carrying a long sceptre, adorned with the looped cross, representing his power; quickly assembled in to their designated spots. The twelve all sat on their respective pedestals, crossing their legs, while the priest stood on his position. Utter silence overcame the chamber as the hundreds of onlookers in the shadows remained perfectly still...
The priest brushed his hood back, revealing his face. A long array of teeth protruded from his mouth, eyes of glowing fire burned with power. He scratched his leathery cheek with one of the long talons on his hand, and waited...
His neck snapped up, his gaze casted straight into the centre of the rose high above. A beam of fire surged abruptly from the crystal- then gently covered him, igniting his staff. The flames danced around the floor, like a liquid, flowing around the pedestals, filling the depression and only stopping just before the top of the twelve pedestals. The priests eyes dimmed slightly, before he replaced the hood, holding his staff close.
the council removed their hood simultaneously, revealing their faces as well. The same teeth arrangement, but their eyes were normal, not showing a single trace of light. One spoke, his voice booming with the influence of ancient wisdom.
"What does the architect say... that we must do... to avert this disaster?!"
another spoke, replying to his question.
"Imagine the consequence if man does succeed!"
"All life in the universe will suffer in chains and fear"
"They will spread... like a virus... through time and space... filthy lords of violence and dominance... The Equines..."
"We must not let them obtain it! \What does the architect say priest! Tell us, we demand it-"
One of the other councilors began to talk over the other. "God has done nothing to indicate a plan- we must act on our own accord-" The interrupting councilor stopped with a choke. The priest extended his staff out, pointing at the startled setian. "Do not speak the architects name, you fool. your right does not permit it, no matter how distinguished!" He lowered his staff, slowly. The councilor gasped as his breathing returned to normal, almost falling back into the liquid fire.
There was a silence, no-one dared to speak.
"He is right." boomed the first councilor "If the architect... does not respond... to our pleas... we must find... our own salvation... from the coming storm..." Far above, the rose seemed to emanate with thunder, ringing out across the now startled crowd. Some cowered, and a baby began to cry.
The priest flew from his trance, gliding across the ground without a sound and into the darkened throng. He found the baby, swadled in cloth, held tight to the chest of its mother. His eyes light up the darkness, glowing now with teal-green. He extended his clawed hand, waiting for the mother to give up her child. She did so without question. He cradled the child, his gahstly figure seeming to comfort the newborn, gently humming a sad, loamy tune. There was some time before the child finally went to sleep. the priest presented the infant boy back to his mother, before gliding back to the centre of the room.
His eyes turned back to their normal red, and he slumped over his staff, seeming now to be exauhsted.
"HUSH, all. The Priest sees the future."
The liquid surged, flowing back up to the rose,and enveloping it in a fiery mantle of light. the priests eyes now streamed with the power kept long in his body. surging now as he was granted the future. His jaw opened wide, his throat glowed like a furnace.
"I can see clear... Pain... Death and pain are coming... They will commit such foul deeds- MASSACRE" Molten-metal spewed from his maw, flowing freely across his feet. "their thirst for universal conquest... has brought them here. They seek the EYE! WE MUST NOT LET THEM TAKE IT- The galaxies cower in fear... WE MUST ACT NOW BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE- We must accept this to be true, for it cannot be averted... They will come in millions, and of the children- only ten thousand will remain!"
From thin air, a huge Tome appeared, held in the priest hand. His mouth closed, and began to open it, flicking through the pages. He stopped, a page caught his attention. He quickly snapped the book shut, it disappeared.
"They will be Clouded..."
|
|
BornIn1142
|
901
| 1 |
Main 6,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Alternate Universe,Adventure,Dark,Drama,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Sunshine and Fire
|
Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.
|
incomplete
| 1,389 | 32 |
<p>Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.</p><p>Feel free to check out or add to the story's <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/SunshineAndFire" rel="nofollow">TV Tropes page</a>.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-18T16:18:26+00:00
|
2015-04-12T22:10:37+00:00
| 22,324 |
It felt good to be back home.
Twilight Sparkle still caught herself thinking that when she happened to visit Canterlot, to her honest dismay. She had a cozy house in the nicest town in the nation, as perfect a home as a home could be, but it was hard to forget her roots. Whenever she returned to the city of her birth to visit her parents or the Princess or on some random business or another, she was always hit with at least a little bit of longing. The smell of familiar magic in the air was too much for her. Magic was Twilight's talent, her passion, her life, and Canterlot was the capital of magic; it was as if they were created for each other. The notion always made her feel a little guilty, like she didn't appreciate what she had as much as she should have.
Twilight was in an open-air pavilion on top of one of Canterlot's taller towers. The Tower of the Horizon (as it was called) hung over the outer edge of the city, facing away from the mountain that it was built on, and offered a gorgeous view of the countryside. Equestria stretched forth before her, all the way to the horizon – woodlands and grasslands, lakes and rivers, hills and swamps, towns and hamlets, a thousand farms and fields and orchards for carrots and wheat and apples and everything else. Ponyville was there as well, or at least the silhouettes of its roofs were, there between the Lonely Mountain and the Everfree Forest. The land was covered in spring greens. It looked beautiful. Twilight had never paid much attention to the scenery while she'd still lived in the city, but now she was glad to soak in the sights.
The sky was blue and clear. Canterlot had always favored an open view of the heavens, conceding clouds for rain and snow only when they were truly necessary to maintain natural equilibrium. This was especially true on days of import like today. There would not be a single speck of white or gray in the sky, on the honor of the weather patrol.
It was quiet this far up. The hustle and bustle of the streets and the rush of the city's waterfalls were distant and muted. Twilight appreciated the calm. She closed her eyes and took a moment to enjoy the feeling of the afternoon sun on her coat. It was perfect to bask in. Canterlot was far above sea level; it was, in fact, the highest altitude non-pegasus settlement in Equestria. The sun was closer here, its presence more powerful, its rays almost tangible. It was warm, but not hot. Local climate spells kept the air in circulation, so there was always a pleasant breeze to be had.
Twilight felt someone step up next to her. She didn't even need to look to know it was Spike.
"Do you want some ice cream?" the dragon asked, "It was melting, so I had to take a few licks, but it's still good."
Twilight glanced down at him, and levitated the ice cream cone from his hand. It was chocolate, with peanut shavings. She happily took a lick.
"Thank you, Spike."
The taste was familiar to her. If she knew Spike – and she did – then he'd probably walked all the way to the Royal Palace to buy the ice cream from the same vendor that he'd frequented when they still lived in Canterlot. He was far from a picky eater, but most definitely a loyal customer. He enjoyed his homecoming as well, no doubt.
"What's with the wistful look? You're not thinking of moving back here, are you?"
"Of course not! Well, I suppose it would have some advantages. I could visit a different library every day and see the Princess whenever I wanted, and I wouldn't have to talk to mom and dad by letter. But I'd miss my friends too much." She instinctively glanced over her shoulder to check around for them. "It's been an hour since we split, and I miss them already."
There were a lot of other ponies in the pavilion now, peering off the edge of the tower, conversing with each other, killing time until the show. The Tower of the Horizon was wide enough for hundreds of spectators. An elaborate stage had been set up in the middle of the floor, on which a large rectangular stack covered with black velvet cloth featured prominently. Right next to it, there was a small platform with mats for the guests of honor to lie on.
Twilight had to finish off her ice cream in a hurry so she could greet the ponies she was familiar with – mostly teachers and librarians she happened to know, or else acquaintances of her parents. Quite a few of her fellow students at Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Youngsters were there for the exhibition as well, and she made sure to be extra friendly to them, to make up for her past irreverence. Most everyone there were academics. Spike climbed on her back and spoke his courtesies as well. One of the other gifted youngsters had a dragon companion of his own, standing beside him on all fours. The other dragon was of the winged kind, sharp and lean and the color of bronze. He was a few years older than Spike, at a guess, but they quickly got to talking. Twilight had to break it off when she saw her friends come up the stairs. They were all there: Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. She made her excuses and galloped over to them.
"So, have you enjoyed your time at the Symposium so far, girls?"
"Oh, it's been a terrific experience!" burst out Rarity, "I truly thought I knew everything I needed to know about unicorn magic, but I found this wizard of a pony running a telekinesis workshop on Amalthea Avenue that gave me some inspiring tips for fine handling – at no charge! And I'll have you know, Rainbow Dash, that this gentlepony thought my perfume was lovely, not anything like a 'flowery industrial accident', so there!"
"It's been pretty interesting," admitted Applejack, "The demonstration for that quick-grow enchantment for plants they were advertising was mighty impressive, to take one example, though that sure was a lot of effort and preparation for one spell! The poor pony doing the casting nearly threw her hooves up once the deed was done. I don't think something like that could ever be economically feasible, thank grace. Besides, I'm not sure who'd want an eggplant thirty hooves high."
"Oh, ahem, I've had a wonderful time as well," said Fluttershy, "There's an entire square set aside for the study of foreign magic, did you know? Oh, sorry, of course you do. There were these nice scholars who talked about dragonflame and fairy-glamors and it was all very pleasant and peaceful. They even brought in this old griffon lady to demonstrate her powers. I think they called her one of the last remaining aeromancers..."
She'd barely finished when words positively exploded out of Pinkie Pie:
"Oh, it's been tons and tons and tons of fun, even the bits that weren't fun! All these stuffy, serious unicorn scholars loosen up when you get a party going, and it gets people a lot more involved with their work too! I especially liked that show where one unicorn created a magical double of himself – but I only liked it ironically, you know? I mean, why would you need a spell for that? But what I especially liked was those giant, pony-shaped mechanical contraptions they animated with the power of love! It's just too bad one of them went berserk and tried to destroy the city. Hmm, I'll have to remember that stomach growl, eye twitch, droopy ears, eye twitch means incoming rampage by giant thing. Don't worry though, the city wasn't destroyed! Me and Trixie – she's here too, I hope you know that! – went and borrowed the other robots and fought off the bad one, so everything turned out all right!"
Nopony quite knew what to say to that. While Twilight exchanged questioning looks with the others, Spike hastily leafed through his event guide.
"I don't think there's anything like giant robots in the program, Pinkie Pie," he said.
"Really?! Well, maybe it was just all in my head then. That happens sometimes!"
Suppressing a chuckle, Twilight turned to the last member of their group.
"What about you, Rainbow Dash?" she asked.
"Meh," said Dash with a shrug, "Hate to say I told you so, but it's just been a bunch of boring talky stuff, just like I expected."
"Oh?" wondered Fluttershy, "But I thought you said you really liked that spell they invented to make walls and ceilings look like the sky outside? I hope I didn't misunderstand you."
"Well, yeah, there was that..."
"And that gravity-affecting device they came up with to help pegasus flight training?" asked Applejack, "Shoot, I thought for sure you'd love it."
"Granted, but..."
"And I saw you giddy as a little filly watching that magically recorded puppet show," said Rarity.
"Okay, okay, okay!" exclaimed Dash, now flushed, "So the event's had its moments and I'm glad you took us along, Twilight."
"Hear, hear!" echoed the others, and Twilight had to smile.
In truth, Canterlot's Symposium of the Magical Arts was bittersweet for Twilight Sparkle this year. She had hoped to see a presentation of her own featured there, but things hadn't quite worked out. Her research exploring the effects of emotional states on teleportation spells had been very promising, but she'd been plagued by one interruption after another until she'd hopelessly lost her way with her work. By the time she had everything in order, it was already too late – which was rather embarrassing for someone who prided herself on being a good planner. Of course, nopony could blame her for the schedule slip after that bizarre body swap incident and the great Ponyville library heist...
Despite everything though, there was so much interesting magic at the Symposium that she couldn't help but have a good time. All the cutting edge magical research in Equestria was represented: there were shows and seminars and and readings and everything else. Some unicorns demonstrated newly invented spells, quite a few of which were still unpredictable and unworkable, while others presented forgotten magics they'd uncovered from forgotten literature. Hanging out with her friends in an intellectually stimulating environment was a perfect remedy for disappointment.
"I'm glad you've had a good time," said Twilight, "but you've seen nothing yet. Princess Celestia tells me the final presentation is going to top everything else so far. They save the most impressive experiments and most significant discoveries for the grand finale. This one is directed by Brainy Bright, one of Equestria's leading magical theorists!"
For some reason, nobody looked quite as excited about hearing about one of Equestria's leading magical theorists as she had expected.
Not long after that, the sound of trumpets blaring the first notes of the Equestrian anthem heralded the arrival of Princess Celestia and her entourage. They swooped into the pavilion from the air, some of them on their own wings and others in pegasus-drawn carriages. The group included a number of courtiers and government officials, flanked by an entire squad of royal guards. It was a larger security detail than usual.
Celestia herself was at the center, looking beautiful, dignified and – above all – constant. She never looked any different. Even though her shimmering mane waved as if it was caught in the wind, as soon as she put her hooves down, she became as firm and unyielding as a rock. She gazed around with half-lidded eyes and her usual mild smile, and to Twilight's great delight, she steered directly towards her.
Twilight would have liked nothing more than to trot right up to her and nuzzle her, but they were in public and certain procedures of formality had to be followed. She bowed like everyone else. Celestia received her as she would have received anyone else as well, but when she spoke, there was an extra dose of warmth in her voice that she reserved only for a select few.
"Twilight Sparkle! You've grown since the last time I saw you, my little pony. I hope you've found the Symposium a rewarding experience." She passed her gaze over Twilight's friends, nodding at them. "I'm glad you decided to join us, girls, Spike."
Only when Celestia stood up straight again did Twilight notice that Princess Luna was present at well, stooped down and off to the side from her sister.
"Princess Luna," said Twilight with a deep bow, "It's a pleasure to see you again! I had not thought to find you in attendance."
"I wouldn't have missed this for the world, Twilight Sparkle," replied Luna with a stiff nod.
She looked tired and disheveled. There were dark circles under her eyes and her mane and tail were matted with inexpertly applied mane gel. Her crown was slightly askew. She'd either had not enough sleep, or too much of it.
Pinkie Pie was already rushing in to make the meeting less awkward. She pushed right past old Lady Blueblood and Paper Cut, the director of Canterlot's Institute for Magical Research (who just happened to be the organizer of the whole Symposium), to shake Luna's hoof.
"Oh, I was so worried you'd spend the whole day cooped up in your room, I don't know, sleeping or something!" she said, beaming, "Boy am I glad you proved me wrong!"
Indelicate as that was, it seemed to brighten Luna a bit. She still didn't smile though.
"As I said, I wouldn't have missed it for the world. I am a student of magic myself, after all, and this is the event of the year when it comes to magic and learning both. Even if it a little too... busy."
Fluttershy quivered slightly. "Mmmm, I'm not good with crowds either," she said as if she was talking to no one in particular.
"A student in a figurative sense, at least," said Celestia, "Your knowledge of the field overshadows that of mortal ponies. I would be surprised if there was much you learned today."
"One never stops learning," replied Luna without looking up at her, "And magic has developed a lot over the last millennium. You still know much more than I do..."
Celestia's entourage was starting to realize that she hadn't paid them any attention in a while now, and slowly dispersed to mingle with the rest of the crowd. Half the guards stayed close by the Princesses, while the others spread out in the pavilion.
"Bit more guardponies than usual, Your Highness," observed Spike, "You wouldn't mind if I asked if anything was wrong, would you?"
Before Celestia could open her mouth to answer, Luna did so in her stead. "I asked the captain of the guard to extend the ranks. Somepony left a death threat in Celestia's quarters."
There was a moment of shocked silence.
"That's outrageous!" rasped Rarity.
"Oh my," said Fluttershy.
"No. Way!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash.
Applejack cursed quite strongly. "Er, pardon the language, Princess. A death threat?!"
"Pull the other one!" said Pinkie Pie, her eyes as wide as saucers.
"But why would anypony want to harm you?" asked Spike.
"I... I wouldn't worry about it, to be honest," said Celestia with a smile, "It's hardly the first of its kind I've received in my life. Few such threats ever materialize, and I am hardly easy to kill. Nopony has ever successfully assassinated me, you know, and the last time anypony attempted it was over a hundred years ago. It's the duty of my guards to be paranoid, but this is not something for you to be concerned about, children."
Her tone was light, but Twilight couldn't help but worry whether the threat was affecting her after all. She wasn't for one moment afraid for the Princess's physical safety, but for all her power, she was still pony, and had feelings to be hurt.
Princess Celestia was loved by most, but not by all. There were always at least a handful of political extremists and self-professed freethinkers that opposed her rule, and the return of Princess Luna and the validation of the legend of the Mare in the Moon only added fuel to conspiracy theories that she was an unlawful despot. They rarely did more than spread leaflets and rant on street corners. There were few things that angered Twilight as much as such unfounded and malicious attacks against her person. Celestia went out of her way to get to know her people whenever possible, and yet there were still ignoramuses who didn't know anything about her.
But this letter was delivered directly to her quarters, meaning a member of the palace staff was most likely responsible. How could that be? They should have known first-hoof how gracious and good she was; they should have known better than to do something like this, whoever it had been.
Twilight and her friends were Celestia's personal guests, so they got the best seats in the house, on the dais right in front of the stage. Twilight uncomfortably realized that the place of highest honor seated three, with Celestia on the center mat between Luna and her. That did not seem right. Luna looked impassive, but she must have been aware of it herself. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie took their places on one side of them and Spike, Rarity and Applejack on the other.
No sooner had they all laid down than Paper Cut headed their way, pushing a stone-faced earth pony with a grain-gold coat and a close-cropped white mane in front of him. He was not much older than Twilight, perhaps a postgraduate. Twilight peeked a look at his cutie mark and recognized it for an Old Equestrian rune. She was uncertain about its meaning.
"Come on now, it's only polite to say a few words to your sponsor," Paper Cut was saying.
"But the preparations..." muttered the earth pony, just before being thrust in front of the dais.
For a moment, it looked like he was struck deaf by Celestia's majesty. It must have been his first time seeing her up close, and that was a natural enough reaction. Eventually, he found his voice and wits and bowed.
"It's an honor to make the acquaintance, Princess."
"The honor is mine," said Celestia, "Your name has been ringing out in Canterlot a lot in recent years, always alongside favorable references to your character and work. Please, allow me to introduce my sister, Princess Luna."
She held out a hoof towards Luna, and wiggled an eyebrow to boot. It took the earth pony a moment to catch on that he was supposed to bow to her too. Luna ignored his bow.
"And this is my star pupil, Twilight Sparkle, along with her dragon companion and her friends, the wielders of the Elements of Harmony. Girls – and Spike – this is Brainy Bright, who will head up the forthcoming demonstration."
Twilight gasped. "You're Brainy Bright? But- um..."
"I'm an earth pony, what of it?" asked Bright with a clenched jaw, "Unicorns aren't the only ones interested in the field. I am a theoretical magicianist – I research and document, and in some cases, invent. I don't see that it matters whether I can do magic or not."
He was completely right, of course. Twilight blushed over her outburst. She had never met an earth pony with magical expertise before, but the fact that he had reached his current eminence without actually being able to cast spells himself only spoke higher of his brilliance.
"I'm sorry, Mister Bright. I really look forward to your demonstration."
"As do I," said Celestia, "I know we're in for something special today."
"You most certainly are, Your Highness!" boasted Paper Cut, "When I signed off on this, I knew I was making history. This is something without precedent! Why-"
Bright interrupted him with a cough. He shuffled awkwardly on his hooves, peering at the guardponies around them.
"I'd rather not give anything away, Princess. It's only a few minutes until we begin anyway."
"Of course," said Celestia graciously, "Don't let me keep you."
With one last glance at Princess Celestia, Brainy Bright turned around and headed for the stage. The rest of his team, a group of four unicorns, was there waiting for him. Paper Cut left them to their own devices as well. As soon as they were out of earshot, Celestia turned towards Luna.
"He's a handsome one, isn't he? And he is rather clever as well."
"I don't know what you're implying, sister."
The expression on Celestia's face bizarrely reminded Twilight of Rarity's cat Opalescence during her smugger moments.
Rarity launched into a lengthy critique of the decorations in the pavilion, which she held to be slightly (but only slightly) too ostentatious for an event as informal as a magical exhibition. Spike was completely enraptured with her and merrily nodded along without hearing a thing she said, while Applejack kept sighing in exasperated boredom. On the other side, Rainbow Dash was flustering Fluttershy with some sort of bawdy tale and Pinkie questioning (or possibly interrogating) Luna about the quality of baked goods in the Royal Palace. When Pinkie paused to take a breath, Celestia leaned over to her sister and whispered something in her ear, causing her to snort and giggle.
Twilight, meanwhile, was watching the preparations on the stage. Bright's staff had thrown aside the black cloth and revealed a stack of thin plates about the size of a doorway. They looked to be made of a substance similar to glass, but were somehow both far more transparent and far more reflective, giving them a hazy, fractured appearance. The plates were levitated up in the air and folded into each other; somehow, they melded together as if they had no substance or mass. At length, the unicorns visibly started to strain holding the construct up. After a brief argument with Bright, they gently floated it down on the stage in a standing position – it really did look like a doorway, though bigger now.
The pavilion was near to full by this point, but the crowd was quiet. Some final conversations were dying down, muffled under the weight of expectation. Everypony could sense that something was happening. When Brainy Bright stepped to the front of the stage and cleared his throat, the hush was absolute.
"Some of you may have read the dissertation I wrote for my entry into Canterlot's Institute for Magical Research six years ago. It's not a well-known piece, but nothing else in my career has polarized the magical community quite as much. It's been praised and denounced in equal measure – the ideas I proposed in it have been held up as the Holy Grail of space relativity magic by some and decried as a sensationalist fantasy by others. The subject matter has always fascinated me, and remained a passion even as I moved on to other projects. The title of my dissertation was 'The Many-Worlds Hypothesis.'"
A wave of murmurs passed through the crowd. Most of the gathered ponies were lost and confused, but the rest were suddenly very excited. Twilight was furious at herself for never having read the work in question and being in the dark about it now. She was familiar with most of Bright's research, but not that. Why not? There was just so much to read, and she didn't have as much time as she used to...
"Twilight," whispered Spike beside her, "Hey, Twilight!"
"What is it, Spike?" she quietly asked.
"I can't see anything from here. Can I climb on your back?"
Twilight nodded without taking her eyes off the stage. Spike crawled on top of her for a better view.
"There are worlds beyond ours," continued Bright, "There are alternatives to our pasts, presents and futures. Every choice we make or don't make creates an alternative universe, a different branch of reality. This is what I posited in my hypothesis. To put it bluntly, I was right, and I can prove it. My associates Golden Perfect, Glimmerbum, Enigma, Life Saver and I have conceived and created a method for accessing such alternate universes – a window, if you will. Today, we will be looking at a few worlds we've already cataloged."
Bright fell silent, and the silence drew on. He seemed to be lost in reverie, his face scrunched up, and ponies were starting to get awkward and restless.
"I am not a braggart, but... I truly believe that this is a very significant discovery. It's a new and potentially dangerous territory, but one with uncountable promises and possibilities for learning. This is science, this is magic. I hope..." His voice faltered; he started anew. "I hope this is what I will be remembered for."
That sounded reasonable enough, but his expression was so pained that Twilight was genuinely confused as to what he meant. Then Bright shook his head and smiled, and everything seemed to be all right.
"We haven't come up with a name for it yet, but it's my pleasure to present it to you all the same."
The four unicorns took this as their cue to lift the 'window' back up and to start feeding magic into it. All of them held their eyes shut, their horns lit up with a colorless glow. The portal flashed and bubbled with light like waves in the sea. Twilight couldn't take her eyes from the spectacle. Eventually, the window settled into a rectangle of perfect blue, indistinguishable from the sky around the tower. Bright muttered some instructions to one of his associates, and the picture shifted to show the countryside. Everything looked normal enough, and Twilight couldn't have sworn it wasn't just a vision of Equestria or one of the other nations they shared their planet with. At length though, she started to notice little oddities in the plant-life. She was no expert on flora, but even the unfamiliar vegetation looked queer to her eyes. When they got their first view of a settlement, many in the crowd gasped.
This strange new world wasn't inhabited by ponies, but bears, colorful bears that walked on their hindquarters. As stunned as she was by what she saw, Twilight tried to be analytical. Their town looked much like Equestrian towns in architecture. The tools they used were similar to their own. They seemed to talk and live as ponies did. They even had their own version of cutie marks – large symbols on their chests. She spotted a maple leaf, a bow and arrow, stars and a heart. Truly, the bears were just like them.
The portal reset. The sky they saw now was the color of ash. Thick clouds blanketed everything. When the view slid downwards, it was hard to make out anything concrete through the smoke. The earth was an ugly patchwork of black fields, jutting crags and rivers of fire. The ceaseless flow of lava was threatening to engulf the entire planet. There had never been any life there.
"Our world as it might have been, save for the grace of the goddesses," announced Bright, his voice curiously dull.
He gave more directions to the unicorns, and after a pause, they obliged. The view changed again, but while most everyone was intently watching another blue sky in the portal, movement in the corner of her eye caught Twilight's attention. Bright was slinking away to the other side of the stage. Just when she started to wonder what he was doing, he sped up and bumped roughly into one of his colleagues.
"Look out!" shouted Twilight, but it was already far too late.
Bright had pushed the unicorn right off the stage, and the weight of the portal was too much for the other three. It was tilting dangerously, and it was tilting directly towards them on the dais.
Suddenly there was sound all around, a hundred questions asked and a hundred panicked shouts. The guardponies were pressing closer to the stage. Everything was happening so fast.
Princess Celestia was up on her hooves in an instant and tried to catch the portal with her magic, but her horn seemed to have no effect on it.
Spike's tiny claws were in Twilight's mane and tugging sharply.
"We need to move!" he was saying, but she barely heard him.
Just when it seemed like the three unicorns were starting to stabilize the sinking portal, Bright leapt and crashed into it from above. The telekinetic field gave out under his extra weight.
"Princess!" shrieked Twilight.
"No!" gasped Luna.
"Stay back!" said Celestia.
She had spread her wings, but the sky was already falling. The portal had shattered into shards of indistinct blue, and Brainy Bright was gone.
Twilight instinctively threw herself towards the Princess, vaguely aware of the black glow of Luna's horn, and the next thing she knew, the world unfolded itself around her.
When Brainy Bright woke up, the first thought on his mind was fear of failure.
After sorting through his jumbled memories, and trying to make a judgment based on the element of surprise and the angle of his descent, he concluded that there was no way to know for sure whether he had really gotten the Princess. The idea that it may have all been for nothing and that he might never know what really happened made him want to retch. He had to hope that he'd succeeded, that he'd managed to exile Celestia from Equestria forever.
Bright was slowly becoming aware of the fact that it was very, very hot. He was outside, he could smell it, so that must have been sunlight that was aggressively seeping in between his eyelids. Laboriously, he opened his eyes and – to his surprise – found himself standing up, leaning heavily against a wall. His head was spinning, and he felt as weak as a newborn foal. There was no way to tell how long he'd been unconscious.
He whinnied and took a few experimental steps. He'd intentionally kept himself from finding out too much about this world, except that it was inhabitable, but he seemed to be in a city. An alleyway stretched forward in front of him, and there were rows of tall, white buildings on either side of it. Who lived in the city, he could not say, since he couldn't see anypony. The sun hung low in a cloudless sky, but it was as light as if it was midday.
He'd been prepared for this possibility – that he too would be lost in an alternate universe. In fact, he welcomed it. The only things he'd had to look forward to back home were imprisonment and dishonor, both well deserved.
Bright had never hated himself as much as he did at that moment. Misusing his greatest creation for an act of terrorism at the day of its own unveiling betrayed every scientific ideal he'd ever held, but there had been no other option. An opportunity like that may never have come again. Celestia was just too powerful to take on by conventional means. At least this way, nopony had gotten killed.
He wondered whether the portal had swallowed Celestia alone, if it had swallowed her at all. Her sister may have been caught as well, but perhaps that wouldn't have been so bad. There was no point in exchanging one absolute monarch for another; it was best to have no deities at all. But Bright sincerely hoped that Celestia's young student hadn't shared her fate.
Without the Princesses, ponies were finally truly free. They no longer had an immortal and unknowable jailor deciding their destinies for them. The invisible eye was gone. The three pony races would get an even footing in society. Nature would longer be beholden to any one individual's whims, and surely even the other species would be glad for that. Perhaps the democratic faction would start to gain support in Equestria at last.
Bright did have one regret about being lost, and that was that he didn't know what would happen next. He hoped it would be enlightenment and equality, not violence and uncertainty.
Somepony was calling. Bright turned and saw two figures approaching, but the sun stung his eyes too much for him to make them out clearly. He was as good as blind.
As they got closer, Bright recognized them as pegasi. They were asking him who he was. It was a small burden off his back that he'd at least ended up on a world with a pony civilization. As he was trying to figure out what to say, one of the pegasi swooped forward and smashed a hoof into his face. Bright was flung to the ground, a streak of blood running from his nose.
"It's a lousy earth pony," growled the pegasus mare who'd kicked him.
"Stupid animal," said the other one, a stallion, "Doesn't he know you're not supposed to go out during a curfew?"
They were both wearing golden armor, emblazoned with a pair of wings and a jagged white sunburst. Bright noticed that just before they kicked him again.
"What is this?!" he groaned.
"What are you doing out here at this time, huh, earth pony?" asked the stallion.
"Dirt-eater!" hissed the mare, "Giftless!"
Bright cringed before them. "Wait! Wait! I'm not from here! This isn't my world..."
The mare pushed him down on his back and stood on his chest. Her ironed hooves dug painfully into his torso.
"Stop! Please!"
"You broke the Queen's law," said the stallion.
"And we just don't like your face!"
"So you're going away forever."
Seeing them bent over him and staring him in the face with mocking grins and rabid eyes, Bright couldn't think of anything to say.
"This isn't right," he tried to explain, "This is wrong."
He would have called it a nightmare, what was happening to him, but the day was clear and bright.
"Hellooooo?"
Nothing. No reply.
"Is anypony there?"
Nopony was there. Not a single living thing.
"Celestia!"
Celestia was gone.
Or else Luna herself was gone, she wasn't sure. They hadn't just fallen through a crack in the fiber of the universe, they'd been blasted through. The magic of the broken portal had been wild, and Luna worried that the telekinetic push she'd unleashed at the last second had contributed to the force with which they had been thrown apart. Luna had flashed through the sky like a meteorite. She may have traveled for hundreds of miles before finally crashing, as far as she knew. Celestia might have been anywhere or nowhere.
Luna had found herself in an abandoned town. Most of it was broken-down houses of mismatched stone, but there were older, wooden buildings there as well, almost rotted away to nothingness. The ruins were empty but for occasional broken pottery and books that had fallen to dust. The town was surrounded by the desert, and the sands were reclaiming the land. It was a desolate place. There were no plants, no animals, and certainly no ponies. Luna did not explore too much for fear of finding the bones of whoever had lived there before, but standing on the edge of town and staring at the empty wastes all around was just as disheartening.
The sense of disquiet in Luna was growing. She stomped her hooves and screamed for her sister and destroyed some of the ruins around her, but felt no better for it. She whirled around, certain that something was behind her, watching her, but found nothing and no one. The quiet of the desert was getting very loud. Something was terribly wrong, but she didn't know what. She could feel it in her bones and her horn. There was a strangeness throbbing in her mind like a second headache.
Eventually, she realized what it was that she was sensing – or wasn't sensing. She was used to feeling the drift of the sun and the moon; the steps they took over the firmament were like her own heartbeats. Now that feeling was gone. Perhaps things worked differently in this world, perhaps her cosmic awareness simply didn't reach here and perhaps is was completely normal that the sun was hanging dead in the sky – but she didn't think so. She was in a world much like her own, and yet not. Everything was familiar enough that she could tell that it was unnatural for the sun to be so close to the earth, and for the light to shine so evenly. The sun was broken. And that wasn't everything, oh no...
Luna sunk to her knees. The weight of the realization made her ill.
The sky looked beautiful from above.
The thin blue sheen of the atmosphere was the only thing Celestia could take any heart in as she looked down at the travesty she'd been thrust into. She recognized much of what she saw. This world was a mirror of her own – she could tell that as much from the indefinable magic certainty in her stomach as from the familiar configuration of the continents and the oceans. The land was faded and burnt though, and there was somewhat less of the seas. The caps of snow and ice at the poles and in the mountains were gone, and proper cloud cover only sporadic between large swathes of clear sky. Parts of the world were still green and verdant, but most of it was covered in sickening yellows. Deserts spotted the surface, the greatest of which lied directly at the heart of her precious Equestria.
It was her world, but something had ruined it.
Celestia could see it all clearly from space. She'd been flung far coming out of the portal, and had let the momentum carry her forth so she could look over her domain. The silent emptiness around her was jarringly peaceful. Celestia nursed her wrath for later. She had plenty of it to go around. For now, she soared, examined and considered.
Stars were catching in her mane as she glided through the void, little glassy orbs that should have twinkled merrily in formation instead of floating about in disarray like trash. The constellations were gone, broken up, and the lights had gone out of the stars. It had been a long time since they'd shined down on the land.
It pained Celestia to even look at her sun. It was bloated and monstrous and hung in the sky at least half as low as she had ever dared to let it go back home. It was situated some ways off from the desert-lands in Equestria, but its light did not go to waste. The sunshine curved around the hemispheres, casting a warm golden glow about everything below. It was day on both sides of the planet, Celestia knew.
All day meant no night. The light had extinguished the dark. The sun dominated the sky, and the moon... the moon was gone.
Equestria had been so beautiful, a small voice at the back of Twilight Sparkle's mind reminded her. Now it wasn't.
She'd been admiring its beauty just a short while ago. She'd gazed at the lakes and rivers, the forests and fields. Now the lakes and rivers had dried up, and the forests had withered and died. All the green was gone, and the empty reaches of desert sprawled as far as the eye could see. The land was dead.
All this, she somehow noticed on her descent. As disoriented and panicked as she was, Twilight tried to be analytical.
She'd been thrown into another world, she remembered that. The world had twisted and spun, and the uncountable streaming colors had grasped her brain and squeezed it, and now she was falling.
She was falling and falling and falling. She was falling because the Tower of the Horizon had disappeared. Canterlot itself was gone. Little Ponyville was gone too, and a great white city stood in its place.
It was hard to breathe with air flowing past her so fast. Spike's screams mixed together with her own, but she couldn't see him – didn't know where he was – and was all the more afraid for it. She'd never been so afraid in her life.
Death was rushing towards her at the base of the mountain.
Next chapter: Lay of the Land.
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BornIn1142
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901
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Main 6,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Alternate Universe,Adventure,Dark,Drama,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Sunshine and Fire
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Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.
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incomplete
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<p>Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.</p><p>Feel free to check out or add to the story's <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/SunshineAndFire" rel="nofollow">TV Tropes page</a>.</p>
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teen
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2011-10-24T15:37:05+00:00
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2015-04-12T22:10:51+00:00
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Think. Think. Think!
Nopony was going to swoop to her rescue here – not Rainbow Dash, not the Princess, not even the Royal Guard. But even with frozen fear in her veins, Twilight knew that this was not the end. She still had her magic, and a few precious seconds of time.
She swiveled around her head to look up and saw the purple hide of her dragon companion flash in the corner of her eye. She hadn't even noticed the pain at the back of her scalp. Spike was hanging onto her mane for his dear life, yelping helplessly in the wind all the while, but that would avail him nothing once they hit the ground. Twilight had to think of something for his sake as well as hers.
She couldn't stop screaming even if she wanted to. The ground was looming, and she could see nothing but the sandy hills below and the sloping mountainside running along her fall.
A dozen different spells flickered through her mind. She could give a pony wings, but that required a clear and focused mind, and more seconds than she had. She could turn the ground below into water, but water could be as hard as rock at sufficient speeds. She could teleport, but the landing would be just as fatal wherever she moved herself.
Everything took too much time, and her time was growing ever shorter.
Think! she reminded herself.
The right spell was on her horn before she knew it.
When time was too short, she could lengthen it. Affecting its flow was beyond her, but changing her own perception of it was very possible. The magic burst out of her in a flash; the frantic motion all around them grew languid. Her descent seemed to slow down, but Twilight knew that this was only an illusion. It was still imperative to act fast.
She was suddenly aware of just how thick the air whistling past her felt, how it pushed against her snout and stomach. This gave her another idea.
If water wasn't soft enough to land on, perhaps air was?
There wasn't enough time for a transmutation, but there were others ways to manipulate substances. She reached out her telekinesis as far and wide as she could. She grasped the winds from all around her, and drew them tighter and tighter together. Holding onto it all was difficult – more difficult than anything she'd ever done, it seemed to her, even more difficult than lifting a star-bear – but willing the insubstantial mass to move was worse still. The pressure in her head was horrible, almost painful.
But it worked. The air was all aglow and flew to catch her at her own command. There was so much of it in such a small space that it was almost tangible. It felt a bit like stepping onto an impossibly soft cushion. Trying to balance awkwardly on nothingness almost broke her concentration, but she managed to hold on until she slowed down enough that she was no longer falling but floating.
She dropped to the ground like a sack of flour anyway when she released her hold on the spell. The gusts of wind flying apart blew up vast quantities of sand. The landing itself wasn't exactly gentle. Twilight tried to come down on her hooves, but quickly lost her footing. Another cloud of dust was kicked up when they bounced off from a hillside and rolled down and around and around and eventually slid to a crashing halt.
Every bone in her body ached and she'd swallowed more sand than she'd have liked to; her heart was still thundering in her chest, and she was certain that she'd just earned herself a headache from the strain – but it didn't matter. They were alive. She had done it! Twilight allowed herself a pleased smile.
Spike had managed to hold onto her during all this. Now he let go and rolled off, his chest heaving and his eyes wide open. Twilight was breathing heavily herself. Neither of them was in a hurry to get up. It felt good to lie back for a moment after the ordeal, so they waited for the torrents of sand to settle down.
"Are you all right, Spike?" asked Twilight.
Spike groaned. "There's little birds flying around my head."
"You're all right."
It didn't take long for Twilight to notice the heat. It was hotter than on the hottest summer's day she could remember; even Equestria's frontier lands, which she and her friends had visited on their trip to Appleloosa, were more temperate. The heat was positively oppressive. The air was dry and so warm that it was unpleasant to breathe. She was sweating profusely in mere minutes.
The sun was nowhere in sight, but a blinding glare was in her eyes where ever she looked. Something was amiss. They couldn't afford to rest, or they'd be cooked. Twilight stood up, tried in vain to pat out the sand from her coat, and nudged Spike to his feet as well.
"Oh brother," said Spike, "Don't tell me we were thrown into another universe?"
"I'm afraid so."
Twilight's insides were still churning, and not just from the fall and their narrow escape. The gravity of their situation was starting to sink in.
They climbed one of the taller hills in the area to have a look around. Moving about was difficult – the loose sand shifted under Twilight's hooves, causing her to stagger and stumble. Even worse, her eyes quickly started to water from the bright sunlight. As far as they could tell, no one else was around, but the terrain made it hard to get a good sense of their surroundings. There was no sign of any wildlife or plants, not even cacti. There was nothing but sand.
They found the sun on top of that hill. It peeked out from behind the mountain, looking so much like a golden eye belonging to a giant as big as the sky that it made Twilight flinch. This was not the sun she knew. It was well out of its usual path, and far too huge and far too bright besides. It was nothing but ominous. Twilight had a hard time wrapping her head around the bizarre spread of light. This was magic, she knew. The mountain didn't cast a shadow like it should have. The moment she realized that, she snapped her gaze down to look at the ground. There was no darkness anywhere. Not even she and Spike had shadows. The sense of foreboding in Twilight was growing.
She craned up her head to examine the mountain in more detail. Shadow or no shadow, it looked queer and alien without the city there. The entrance of the tunnel leading up through the mountain was missing as well. There didn't seem to be any ruins on the ground, which meant that this must have been a world where Canterlot had never been built.
"What is wrong with this place?" asked Spike, "Why's it so hot here? Are we in Equestria?"
"I don't know, Spike," Twilight admitted.
She had to remind herself not to jump to any conclusions. This was a new, foreign universe, and there was no way of knowing how different or similar it was to her own. There could have been hundreds of explanations for why things were as they were... but one invariably kept suggesting itself to her: something terrible had happened to Princess Celestia, and the world had gone wrong because of it. That seemed like a likely doomsday scenario, but it was a possibility she would rather not have contemplated.
Twilight licked her lips. She was starting to long for shade.
"The Princess was taken by the portal too," she said, "I saw it. Princess Luna as well, I think. I don't know where they are now, but they are here somewhere."
She'd been too disoriented upon entering this world to be able to tell what happened. She could have sworn she'd seen the colors of Celestia's mane streaking past her, but now she was nowhere to be seen. What could this have meant?
Spike sighed anxiously. "What are we going to do? How are we going to get back home?"
"The Princess will know what to do. We just have to find her." Another thought struck her. "Brainy Bright! He should be in this dimension too! He created the portal, so he can build another one and take us back to our own world."
At the mention of Bright's name, Spike scowled. "He did this on purpose, didn't he? It was some kind of trap, wasn't it? But why?"
"He must have been some kind of radical. It was obviously an attempt to get rid of the Princess."
But how could this be? Brainy Bright was a respected scientist and scholar, he was a genius. Why would a pony like that commit such a foolish act of treachery?
"Do you think he had something to do with that death threat the Princess received?"
"Hmm. I don't think so. He didn't try to kill her, after all. And surely he would be too smart to warn Celestia and put her on her guard."
"You sound like you want to marry him or something," pouted Spike, "He's a bad guy, remember?" He crossed his arms and closed his eyes in thought. "Tell me something, will you? If Brainy Bright wanted Princess Celestia to get lost in another universe, then why would he ever help us get back home?"
Twilight wished she had an answer to that.
"I saw a city while we were falling," she said, "It looked to be in the area where Ponyville and the Everfree forest should be. We should head there."
Saying it out loud only made her feel worse. Both of her homes were gone.
"Should we wait for night before moving out?" asked Spike.
Twilight bit her lip and glanced back at the sun. That seemed like the obvious course of action, she had serious doubts about the night. It would do them no good to wait for sunset if it turned out the sun never set.
Perhaps it was a bad idea to move at all? They had no paper and couldn't make use of Spike's flame to message Celestia, or Luna. What if they came looking for them? If they returned, what would they do if Twilight and Spike weren't there?
The thought gave her pause, but the fact of the matter was that it was just too hot. Staying here in the heat was out of the question. What if Celestia didn't come? If they waited for too long and nopony came, they'd no longer be able to go anywhere. They had to find shelter of some kind, or their narrow escape falling down the mountain would be for nothing. Once they reached civilization, they could make further plans.
"No, Spike," said Twilight loudly. She didn't want him to catch on how unsure she was about this. "We can't afford to wait. The sooner we move out, the better."
So they went.
Ponyville was less than a day's trot away from Canterlot – but that was with a road connecting them. Traveling in the desert was different. It was slow going, marching up one hill and down another. Twilight had to be careful and watch every step, since her hooves kept sinking into the sand. A few times, she stumbled when the ground disappeared from underneath her, sending her tumbling down the hillsides. It wasn't so bad when it happened after they'd passed the hilltop, but falling back the way she came quickly became very frustrating.
At first, Spike kept stealing glances at her, hoping she would pick him up and carry him on her back, but he let off when he realized she was having a much harder time than him. The heat didn't affect him as badly, but Twilight felt it stinging her head and back at all times. It sapped her strength, slowing her down further. The air was so heavy it was almost like a wall – a wall she had to keep pushing against to get further. Sweat kept sloshing out of her. It flowed from her mane and dripped down her snout; wet strands of hair kept getting in her eyes. Her coat was still matted with coarse sand, so moving her legs was getting more and more uncomfortable. It was tempting to clean herself up with a spell or to conjure up a fan, but she felt it best to conserve her strength as well as she could.
"Spike, take a note!"
"With what?" wondered the dragon dryly, "It's a bit difficult to write without a quill, ink or paper."
"A mental note then. The instant we get back home, I want you to gather all the books on wilderness survival and desert crossings we have in the library! I want to be well prepared if we ever end up in this sort of situation again."
Properly keeping track of time was impossible, but it was slowly becoming apparent that Twilight's earlier assumption had been correct. The sun lay unmoving in its place in the sky and the day dragged on and on. Twilight wondered how long it had been since this land had last seen night.
"It's like what Nightmare Moon wanted to do," she muttered, "Eternal... day."
The journey was much worse than Twilight expected, but thankfully, things got a little easier as they reached flatter ground. They made much better time when they didn't have to move up and down. Though there were still some low dunes, the hills themselves started to shrink and dwindle the further they got. This was consistent with the geography she knew.
What wasn't consistent with the geography she knew was that there should have been a mountain in front of them as well – the Lonely Mountain, which she and her friends had once climbed to confront a dragon. It wasn't exactly the biggest mountain in Equestria, but it was big enough that its absence raised some serious warning flags in her mind. How could an entire mountain disappear? Had it ever existed in this world to begin with? Or could it be that they were going the wrong way?
Once the plains opened up before them, they caught a glimpse of white buildings on the horizon. That they were tall was the only thing Twilight could say for sure. It was hard to make out anything more specific because of the shimmer.
"How far do you think it is?" asked Spike.
"It's hard to tell. In deserts, the heat can sometimes create the illusion that distant objects are closer than they really are."
Spike cocked an eyebrow. "You know, that's not very comforting. I was hoping for something like "Not much farther" or "It won't be long now, Spike." Besides, I know what a mirage is, thank you very much."
"Heh. Sorry, Spike."
By this point, the thirst was getting unbearable. Twilight busied herself with trying to work up some spittle in her mouth. She would have killed for something to eat as well. She couldn't stop thinking of her saddlebags. She and her friends had decided to spend the night at Twilight's parents' place instead of using guest rooms at the palace, so that's where she'd left her bags. There was a bottle of water in it, and one of Pinkie Pie's sandwiches that she'd left uneaten. It was too sugary and would only have made her thirstier, but Twilight would probably still have eaten it. Applejack had filled her own bag with apples, nice green and red apples. They were from last year's crop, but still tasty. Why oh why hadn't she taken the bag along to the Symposium? Why hadn't she asked for a few of Applejack's apples and packed them in? Why had she skipped breakfast?
Her dragon companion was faring somewhat better, at least for now. Spike could live off the sand if he needed to – perhaps there were even some gems to be found somewhere – but even he needed to drink. How long could they carry on without any water? Twilight was already feeling light-headed from the dehydration. Surely they could at least make it to the city.
Suddenly, there was a canyon in front of them. Twilight caught sight of it from a distance, but didn't want to believe her eyes. She must have been imagining things. Surely the canyon was only a delusional vision born from a heat-struck mind? Or perhaps a mirage? As they got closer though, her vision only got clearer, and didn't even think about fading away. There it was – a canyon.
"Aw, nerts!" groaned Spike, "How did this thing get here?"
It stretched forth on both sides as far as the eye could see, and it was at least a thousand hooves wide. At its sides, the ground curved sharply downwards where the sand had continuously spilled into the canyon over the years. The sand looked deceptively solid, but Twilight knew that it would give out under her and drag her into the crack if she edged too close. She could only imagine how deep the canyon was.
"This isn't a natural landmark," said Twilight, "It was created by magic, I'm sure of it."
She could smell it. It had been no simple spell that had carved this scar into the land – it had been a discharge of raw magic, wild and furious and powerful. It must have happened hundreds of years ago, but the energies that had torn open the earth then had lingered, fading at places and growing strong elsewhere. It was a foul place, but part of her was excited about being there. In other circumstances, she might have enjoyed studying the canyon to find out what had happened.
"We can't go around it, can we?" asked Spike.
"Nope. Climb on my back and hold on tight."
Spike looked nervous about the prospect, but did as she said. He didn't much like tagging along when she teleported. The process had been a little unpleasant for 'passengers' when she started out, but she'd gotten much better at it recently. Still, it was a long jump to the other side of the canyon, and Twilight wasn't in top form. Even Spike felt heavier than usual. The headache she had wasn't helping matters any either. She wouldn't have forced herself to do this if there had been any other way to cross.
"You stink," came a muffled assertion from her back. Spike had his nose pinched shut.
"You don't say? Tell me if you see any bathhouses around here and I'll be sure to step by."
Twilight picked out a spot on the opposite side of the abyss and concentrated. Spike sucked in a breath when her horn started to glow – but everything went fine. They blinked to their destination with a light blue flash. Twilight staggered a little – fearing for a moment that she would faint – but managed to stay on her hooves.
"I'm not on fire!" said Spike, and hopped off. Twilight almost felt like she was. The blaze was merciless.
They continued on their way, taking one mechanical step after another. Looking back and seeing how far their hoof- and footprints extended, it was hard to believe that they hadn't yet gotten anywhere. Time passed at a snail's pace, and it seemed to Twilight that they were moving no faster. They'd definitely slowed down since they started out. Without the hills to keep them company, their surroundings were uniform and dull, and the white city in the distance seemed to be getting no closer. It was hard to gauge their progress. For how many hours had they been traveling now?
Twilight was starting to wonder if she'd made the right decision heading out. Seeing Spike panting listlessly at her side, shoulders sagged and his gaze empty, only made her worry more. He might have been a dragon and resistant to high temperatures, but he was still little, and the strain of the march was pushing him to his breaking point. Perhaps they should have stayed back and waited for Celestia after all? The heat was just as bad there, but she could have conjured up some kind of shelter, so they might have been able to hold out. Had she made a mistake? Had she doomed them both?
It was getting hard to focus, as if her mind was stuffed full of cotton. Her vision was getting fuzzier as well. Her wits, like her strength, was pouring out of her like sand from a broken hourglass.
Twilight tried to imagine what was going on with her friends right now. What did they make of Brainy Bright's surprise attack, and how did Canterlot react to the disappearance of the Princess? Was anything being done to retrieve them? If this whole business hadn't happened, they would all most likely be sitting in a cafe somewhere, sipping lemonade and talking and laughing. Or perhaps they'd all be lying in sleeping bags on the floor of her bedroom, whispering about all that they'd seen at the Symposium. What time was it? Did they miss her as much as she missed them?
It was far too early to give up hope of seeing her home ever again, but she worried.
Holes begun to appear in the desert floor, first one, then two, then dozens. They were wide, more than big enough to fall in, but not so frequent that they were getting in Twilight's and Spike's way. The openings were unevenly round and did not go straight down into the earth.
"What are these things?" asked Spike.
Twilight was quite stumped, but then the answer came to her. "They're burrows." She could hardly believe how hoarse her voice sounded.
Not long after that, Spike fell. His legs simply gave out underneath him. He got right back up again, but it was obvious he was too weak to carry on much longer.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," said Spike, "I just tripped. See? I'm fine."
"Do you want me to carry you?"
He chuckled at that. "Yeah right, sister! Do you want me to carry you?"
He continued on at twice the speed, kicking up sand from under his heels, but Twilight lagged behind, frowning.
She no longer thought they would be able to make it to the city, at least not right away. The odds weren't good, and Twilight had lost her taste for risk. They needed rest, and they needed it now. As temporary measures went, she might have been able to shelter them from the sun by magic, but it would take a lot of effort to do that for even a few hours, and she could do nothing for water.
These holes might have presented a better option. They could crawl inside the earth and hide away where the sun hopefully didn't reach. Perhaps they would even find water underground? There had to be reservoirs here somewhere, and she might have been able to use magic to find them and to dig through to them. It was a fool's hope, but it didn't hurt to try. A simple scanning spell shouldn't be too taxing.
Twilight looked ahead towards the city. How close was it really, she wondered. Did the buildings seem bigger than earlier? She couldn't say for sure.
But...
There was something else. She could have sworn she was seeing a tiny something on the horizon, a dark figure moving amidst the light.
"Spike! Do you see someone up ahead?"
Spike lifted his hand to his eyes to shield himself from the sunlight – a useless gesture. After much squinting though, he could see it as well.
"You're right! There is someone there!" He looked back at Twilight and grinned. "I think it's a pony!"
They started shouting as one. They made more noise than Twilight would have thought possible, but the dark figure in the distance gave no sign of hearing them. Twilight wasn't going to let a potential rescuer get away though. A blast of fireworks thundered into the sky from her horn and blew apart in a shower of purple sparkles. It looked rather beautiful.
"Great going, Twi!" said Spike, "Whoever that is must have noticed that for sure!"
The relief on his face melted away as he looked back at her. His expression showed pure alarm.
"What is it?"
"S-s-s-s-s!" he stuttered.
"Spike?"
"S-S-S-S-S!" He lifted a hand to point.
"Spike," said Twilight in a small voice, "I hope you're not trying to tell me there's a giant snake behind me."
"It's a scorpion!"
Twilight forced herself to turn around. What she found behind her back was more horrible than her most horrible expectations, even worse than a snake. The dark gray monstrosity was at least twice her height and three times her length, and that was discounting the hideous-looking, crooked stinger hanging over its back.
The scorpion lurched closer to her – and it was pretty darn close already. Twilight yelped and backed away, but the creature skittered after her, snapping at her with pincers large enough to take off her head.
Fatigued as she was, Twilight stumbled at the worst possible moment. She dropped flat on her back and the scorpion was on her in an instant. Twilight managed to roll to the side just in time to avoid the stinger striking down at her.
Before she could get back up, the scorpion dealt her a glancing blow with one of its pincers, pushing her over again. As it loomed over her, Twilight got an unpleasant close-up of the scorpion's mandibles, dripping with a thick gray goo, and its only two eyes, which were black and menacing but also pitifully small.
Twilight Sparkle was trembling.
Magic requires a level head, Celestia had told her more than once, A thoughtless unicorn can wreak great havoc, or fail to take action where necessary.
Think! Twilight reminded herself, but nothing came to her.
A moment before the sting came, the scorpion was struck in the head by a burst of green flame. It leaped away without making a sound and started flailing around in mindless terror. Twilight watched in morbid fascination as the creature spun around. It had far more legs than it should have, some of them tiny and atrophied or hanging out of their backs at useless angles. A mutant, perhaps?
A shout from Spike broke her out of her daze. She jumped to her hooves, grabbed Spike's tail between her teeth and broke into a wild gallop to get away from the creature – but others just like it were appearing from the holes all around them.
Of course there were some kind of dangerous beasties in the burrows! Why hadn't she realized that sooner? Had the sun befuddled her mind that much?
The scorpions were converging on them, dozens of them. Twilight focused her magic on the two directly ahead of them, and flipped them over with telekinesis. While they were twitching around on their backs, Twilight sped past them. The next ones, she teleported past, only barely managing to stay moving.
But there were too many of them, and Twilight was too tired to outrace them for long, especially on sand. Her lungs were already on fire.
This wasn't something she could run away from, she realized.
What would a brave pony like Rainbow Dash do?
Twilight slid to a halt. This time, she thought of something. Wreak great havoc.
She let go of Spike. "Stay close to me," she told him, and started weaving up another spell in her horn.
The air around her started crackling with energy. The nearby sand was shivering and blowing away. Spike held onto her, afraid to even breathe.
The scorpions were stopping. They clearly had some rudimentary intelligence – enough that they could tell the pony exuding streams of light before them could be a danger.
The light surrounded her, protected her like a wall. But the scorpions weren't just going to scurry off.
Princess Celestia had always imposed on Twilight the importance of never cutting loose, but there didn't seem to be much of a choice. It was do or die.
She let loose a blast of magic as powerful as she could manage, holding nothing back in reserve.
The sand vitrified in front of her eyes. A whirlwind of color spread out from around her, caught the horde of scorpions and tossed them away as if they were nothing at all.
And then, amidst her bright castle on the plains of sunshine, darkness caught up with her. It struck her by surprise and enveloped her wholly. She passed out.
It was still dark when she regained consciousness.
She did not feel well. Her muscles pained, her joints were stiff and the thirst still plagued her. Her headache had only gotten worse and she felt as weak as a newborn filly – weaker, even. Newborn fillies could at least stand up, but she was not at all sure she'd be able to do the same.
She was lying on a rough-hewn blanket with warm sand underneath it. Once her eyes started to adjust, she saw that there were walls of thick cloth surrounding her. She was in a tent, unless she was mistaken. Hints of sunlight glimmered through the fabric in places, but although it was as hot as in a sauna, the conditions in the tent were infinitely preferable to the fiery hell outside.
Spike was next to her on a blanket of his own, snoring gently.
"Spike?" she said, without meaning to.
"He's only asleep."
Twilight flinched. She hadn't realized there was someone in the tent besides them. It took him a second to pick that someone out in the shadows. A lean old earth pony stallion was sitting in the opposite corner of the tent. His coat was pale brown, his mane short and thin and gray. A wide-brimmed hat hung around his neck by a leather cord, and something like a poncho was spread out on the ground under him.
"Oh! Hello!" Twilight struggled to get up into a sitting position. "Did you save us from the scorpions?"
"The beasts were already gone by the time I reached you." There was plenty of gravel in the old stallion's voice, but he spoke quietly so as to not disturb Spike's rest. "Do you want something to drink?"
"Yes, please!"
Twilight eagerly grabbed the water bottle the stallion pushed towards her – with her hooves, since she didn't trust herself to be able to keep it afloat by magic right now. She told herself she wouldn't abuse the other pony's generosity and only take a little sip, but once she started it was hard to stop. Water had never tasted so good before.
"Thank you so much, for everything! I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't found us."
"Basic courtesy."
The stallion's eyes were piercing. They almost seemed to shine in the darkness.
"What's your name, filly?" he asked.
"I'm Twilight Sparkle. The dragon's name is Spike, but I guess you figured out by the fact that I called him Spike and all..."
"Twilight Sparkle," repeated Glint. He pondered over it, somehow judging. "Strange name."
Twilight chuckled nervously. "And you are?"
"The name's Glint Hardhoof."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mister Hardhoof. Please, could you tell me where we are?"
"We're in my tent, a couple of miles outside the capital."
"But what country?"
"Why, Equestria of course. I figured you were lost, but I didn't think you'd be that lost. Where did you come from and where were you headed?"
Twilight didn't think it would be a good idea to reveal that she was a dimensional traveler. That would just have made her look like a lunatic.
"I was headed for the capital," she said, truthfully.
Glint met her with a discomforting silence.
"There aren't many ponies who travel the desert by their lonesome," he said at last, "especially not unicorns. Beg pardon, but you're blatantly unprepared for such a journey. You couldn't have lasted long out here."
"I am lost, as you said. I hoped to find my companions in the city."
"That's a bad idea. Everfree City isn't safe. I'd advise you not to go there. I'm on my way to Trottingham, and you're welcome to join me if you wish."
It was a gracious offer, and tempting. Trottingham was a familiar name, and she wondered if it was anything like the Trottingham in her own Equestria. Glint's help would be invaluable, but Twilight had to take into account where she was most likely to link up with the others. Surely Princess Celestia would look for her in the biggest city around, especially if it was also the closest one to where they had arrived in this world.
But doubts kept gnawing at her. It struck her as both foolish and dangerous to just bide her time and hold out hope that Celestia would find her and fix everything. But what could she hope to accomplish on her own? Alone but for Spike, she truly was lost. Her trek in the desert had demonstrated just how clueless she was. What could she do? She needed allies, she needed help, and Glint could perhaps be both. Most of all, she needed information.
"What do you mean, Everfree City isn't safe?"
"Strangers aren't looked upon too kindly at the moment. There's been a crackdown lately. Dissidents are getting arrested left and right. Apparently, there was some kind of assassination plot targeting the Queen."
"The... Queen?"
"Queen Celestia."
Of course! This dreadful situation with the sun had her half-convinced that Celestia was somehow dead and gone, or even that this was a world where she'd never existed at all. She should have known better. Even if she was using a different title, Celestia was a constant, as eternal as the sky itself. Just the knowledge that she was there took considerable weight off Twilight's shoulders. Perhaps she could seek her out and ask for her assistance? Twilight resolved to head to the capital after all.
"So Celestia still reigns?" she confirmed, "But then why is this land a desert?"
Glint narrowed his eyes. "I hope you're not playing tricks on me, filly."
"No! Not at all."
Was that a silly question? Was she just asking why the sky was blue or water wet?
"How can you not know this?" asked Glint, "Is this one of these amnesia things?"
"My memory is perfectly all right, I assure you. I'm just, uh, new here!"
Glint fell silent again. He stared at Twilight so intently that, frankly, it was making her nervous.
"The land is a desert because Queen Celestia wills it to be. It's always been a desert, ever since the dawn of the eternal day. The Heat and the Light are Celestia's instruments. They're her strings, and we're the puppets. We survive only because she allows it, so we have to obey her."
"I- I don't understand..."
"Of course not. None of us can ever truly comprehend the mind of Daymare Sun."
Twilight's heart skipped a beat. She hoped she'd misheard, she prayed she'd misheard.
"Everypony knows of Daymare Sun's regime, because every pony is beholden to it. How is it that you know nothing of it?"
Twilight didn't know how to answer. It didn't even seem to matter. She felt much weaker all of a sudden.
"This can't be," she said, "Celestia would never be like that. Celestia is kind and wise."
"Celestia is, by her own admission, a tyrant."
"What about Princess Luna?"
"Can't say I've ever heard of a Princess Luna."
They were both quiet then. Twilight had to process everything she'd just heard, and Glint didn't feel the need to interrupt her reverie.
She didn't want to believe it. The idea of Celestia being some sort of dictator was so at odds with the Princess she knew that it was hard to even comprehend. But that was just the thing. This wasn't the Princess she knew. It was somepony else, somepony completely different. It was a Celestia that had gone mad and done something horrific. How? Why? Twilight didn't even want to think about it.
Her world had Nightmare Moon and this world has Daymare Sun. Nightmare Moon had failed, but Daymare Sun had succeeded. The day would last forever.
"How long have things been like this?" Twilight asked.
Glint shrugged. "Since long before my grandfather was born, and his grandfather before him. Hundreds of years, untold generations. Who can tell?"
If Twilight couldn't turn to the Princess for help, who could she turn to?
Five names came to her mind. But were they still the ponies she knew?
"Do any of these names mean anything to you? Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack?"
It was a fool's hope, but she saw Glint stir in the shadows.
"Yes?"
"I know of an Applejack. Might be I've even met her once or twice. She's an outlaw, pretty famous in some circles. She's one of the leaders of a group of rebels fighting against the state. That assassination attempt I mentioned? I hear it was her people that cooked it up."
Applejack, a revolutionary? It was too much, the idea was just too strange – but the prospect of seeing a familiar face made Twilight perk up anyway.
"Do you know where she could be? Could you point me the way?
"Why do you need her?"
"Because she's a friend of mine and I have to find her!"
"How do I know I can trust you?"
Twilight's answer died on her tongue. Of course, he couldn't. To Glint, she was just an odd stranger. She couldn't expect him to reveal the hideout of a clandestine organization to her. She hung her head, only to raise it again when Glint spoke.
"Might be I'd be able to arrange a meet with the rebels, but I'd have to come along."
"Why?"
"If I didn't, they might mistake you for someone else."
Twilight shivered. She felt inexplicably chilled.
"Mistake me for someone else? What do you mean?"
"There is another young unicorn in the realm that looks much like you. She is also exceptionally talented at magic, and accompanied by a small dragon. She's the head of the Secret Police, the Queen's right hand and heir, and one of the rebellion's most bitter enemies. Daylight Sparkle."
Next chapter: The Prisoner and the Slave.
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BornIn1142
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901
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Main 6,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Alternate Universe,Adventure,Dark,Drama,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Sunshine and Fire
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Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.
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incomplete
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<p>Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.</p><p>Feel free to check out or add to the story's <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/SunshineAndFire" rel="nofollow">TV Tropes page</a>.</p>
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teen
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2011-09-29T17:33:40+00:00
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2015-04-12T22:13:07+00:00
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Chapter 3: The Prisoner and the Slave
Prison was not something Brainy Bright had any experience with. The only crime he could consciously remember committing in his entire life was stealing a toy dragon from his kindergarten classmate, and he hadn't even gotten caught for that. High treason and assault on the person of Princess Celestia herself was a pretty big leap up from that, but he had known from the start that he wouldn't walk away from it. Equestria didn't practice capital punishment, so being jailed for the rest of his life was the most likely outcome for Bright – assuming, of course, that he survived the attempt. While he was plotting, he'd spent long hours pondering about what it might be like, losing his freedom.
This wasn't exactly what he'd expected.
The most galling thing about his imprisonment was how irrelevant it was. Fifty years, give or take some, had been a price Bright was willing to pay, because his cause, while bizarre and incomprehensible to some, had meaning. Some things were worth going to jail for. Being out in the street at the wrong time by sheer chance was not one of them. He had expected to be punished for something, not for nothing.
Not that it wasn't appropriate though. Bright didn't believe in destiny, or karma. What happened to him had simply been a very fair coincidence. He deserved to be in prison, whether in Equestia or some strange alternate universe. He would accept his fate without complaint, he'd already decided that.
He had been put in some sort of dungeon. It wasn't a terribly frightening dungeon, but more on the utilitarian side. The walls were smooth and the chambers all had rounded corners, which were tell-tale signs of a building crafted by magic. The lighting must have been magic as well, since there were no windows or torches anywhere in sight. They were below-ground. It was warm down there, but not uncomfortably so. The thing that really bothered Bright was the complete lack of rhythm. The lights were always on, so time seemed to be at a standstill. Ponies just slept whenever they saw fit and even their meals were brought to them seemingly at random. It was hard to tell, but Bright estimated that he'd been there for about three days.
There were forty of them in that dungeon, and a few more came every day. The cell they all shared was an oubliette, which amounted to being thrown inside a giant hole. The walls around them were almost two stories high, too high to climb. There seemed to be no way for any of them to get out on their own. Whenever the guards came to check up on them or bring them food, a unicorn gaoler would use magic to raise up a long, sloping walkway from the floor. The staff of the prison seemed to be composed exclusively of unicorns, while every one of the prisoners was an earth pony. This was no coincidence. Bright was surprised how dispassionate he felt when he made note of it. He still remembered what the two pegasi had called him when they'd arrested him. The words sounded like slurs.
As far as Bright could tell, all the ponies there had been taken in more or less at random. There had been some kind of incident in the city – Everfree City, it was called – and the culprits had gotten away. The authorities had arrested anypony they had the slightest excuse to arrest in the hopes of taking in the runaways while they were making their escape. The problem was that they didn't have the slightest idea who they were looking for. Bright worried that they didn't much care. One of the prisoners was a young colt that didn't even have a cutie mark. How could he be guilty of anything? All of them were being held there without trial, or without any kind of formal charges. In Bright's world, that would have been a gross miscarriage of justice. Here, it seemed to be normal.
"You know what I hate, my friend?" he asked the large red stallion, "Fascism. I really hate fascism."
The large red stallion said nothing. Bright soon regretted his choice of words. It was a little presumptuous to address someone whose name he didn't even know as a friend. His comment hadn't even been especially funny.
Bright bent his neck down and slurped up the last of the gruel in his bowl. The prisoners were kept decently fed, but the sporadic schedule of the meals made him nervous, so he tried to make the most of his portions by drawing them out for hours. It seemed like the clever thing to do. Realistically speaking, he couldn't be sure when his next meal would come – and pragmatism aside, it tasted awful and he didn't have the stomach for it.
"I wonder what they put in this," he said out loud, "It tastes like brown bread in liquid form."
A shrug was the large red stallion's only reply. In truth, he hadn't uttered a single word in the couple of days since they'd met, but he didn't seem to mind Bright's attempts at conversation either, and it was good to have some companionship. Neither of them mingled much with the others. Bright had learned a few things from listening in on their quiet conversations, but he didn't have a clue about what to do if anypony asked him about his origins. Staying with the mute seemed safer.
"I don't much like brown bread."
The large red stallion had no comment. He'd eaten his own gruel quickly and easily, but there wasn't much of it, hardly enough to keep a big fellow like him from going hungry. Bright wondered whether he shouldn't have offered him some of his own portion. He also wondered whether that sort of sentiment wasn't rather stupid in his current predicament. He wondered about a lot of things.
"I wonder what they're waiting for."
The large red stallion looked at him and cocked an eyebrow.
"Why aren't they interrogating us? Why aren't they investigating anything? They're just letting us stew here, and I don't see what the point of that is."
Bright was operating under the assumption that this was only an arrest cell. It was also possible that they'd all already been sentenced without knowing it and that none of them would ever leave.
His musing was interrupted by a sound very much like a loud, echoing groan. The floor was rising. Forty heads turned to see who was coming.
Two guardsponies were moving down the walkway, accompanying an officer – a fleshy mare with a teal coat whom Bright thought was in entirely too good a mood, as always. A light smile was never far from her lips. She treated the prisoners with vapid courtesy and behaved more as if she was at a vacation resort rather than a jail. He could well imagine her going home in the evening, perhaps to a husband and children, without taking anything from the prison with her.
"Oh no. They're coming right this way."
The large red stallion hardly seemed to hear him. He was carefully observing the coming unicorns. Suddenly, he scowled and broke off from Bright. He smoothly headed for the far side of the cell without giving him a second glance. Their brief acquaintance vanished in an instant. Bright was confused, until he realized the large red stallion seemed genuinely surprised when the chipper officer ignored him and trotted straight over to Bright.
"Please come with us, earth pony!" said the chipper officer.
Bright frowned, but obeyed. He didn't have a choice. There were few good things to be said about the prison, but one of them was the fact that the guards mostly didn't bother with the captives. They were quick enough to punish anypony that did anything to displease them – and Bright had painfully learned that asking questions displeased them – but they made no extra effort to be cruel. They weren't bloodhounds like the two that had arrested him. If he tried to argue his rights though...
The other prisoners were watching as the guards led Bright away. They were wondering who he was and what he had done. They were wondering why the officer had picked him. It couldn't be just chance, could it?
The chipper officer started humming as they walked back up. It was a sore test of Bright's frayed nerves. He glanced around while trying to look like he wasn't glancing around. The guards were looking much more malicious all of a sudden. The gaoler closed up the walkway behind them, and the chipper officer led Bright into a corridor. They walked for several minutes, weaving around in the complex, heading deeper underground. He was taken to an interrogation room.
Bright wasn't certain what kind of terrible inquisitor he'd been expecting, but the pony sitting behind a small desk fell short. This one wasn't dressed in uniform like the others in the prison, but he was wearing a light orange cape, fastened around his neck by a brooch resembling a sunburst. He was pudgy, with a faint silvery coat so light it looked almost white, but no mane or tail. His cutie mark was a black wheel with eight spokes. Only when Bright had been seated down opposite him did he realize the pale pony was a unicorn as well. The horn on his forehead was only a small stub. Somepony had cut off most of it.
The guards left the room, but the chipper officer remained and took up a position behind Bright. Bright kept his back straight and his ears up and looked directly at the pony opposite him, trying not to stare at his horn. The situation called for a certain wary humility, but he wasn't going to bow and scrape either. That kind of behavior wouldn't keep them from beating him. Weakness and insecurity only ever earned scorn, never respect. This was true even in the academia.
The pale unicorn seemed profoundly uninterested in Bright. There were some papers laid out on the desk in front of him, and he was paying more attention to them than to him. He sat almost motionless, looking calm and bored in equal measure.
"What is your name, earth pony?" he asked in a soft, high-pitched voice.
"I am Brainy Bright." He had decided not to use an alias.
"And where are you from?"
"Canterlot."
This caused the pale unicorn to look up and regard him silently. The heat didn't seem to bother him, while Bright was acutely aware of the trickle of sweat on his own forehead. He had the vague impression that he'd blundered somehow, but there weren't exactly a whole lot of options available to him.
"How long have you been living in Everfree, Brainy Bright?"
"I- I was only visiting."
"Why?"
"Why?" All the stories, lies and excuses he'd previously run through his head in the hopes that they'd get him out of there were utterly gone. Deception had never been his forte. "I just... felt like it."
"Where are you staying? When did you arrive? From whence did you come? Why did you break the curfew?"
The questions came as hard and fast as a series of kicks. Bright was at a loss, unable to conjure up even a single answer. He gritted his teeth together, not daring to breathe.
"Where were you from 17 to 21 o'clock on Tuesday?"
There was nothing for him to say. "I... don't know. I wasn't anywhere."
"Shall we execute him, milord?" asked the chipper officer, "He's definitely one of them. Isn't he?" Bright felt queasy with fear, but the inquisitor silenced the speaker with but a glance.
The pale unicorn was so inanimate that Bright felt like he was talking to a corpse. He seemed weak and fragile somehow, as if a strong wind would break him up like a house of cards. Perhaps he was sick or disabled? His movements were languid, even though he was quite young, not even middle-aged. Did his condition have anything to do with his missing horn? Bright had seen some vague snippets relating to horn removal in historical texts. It had been used as a severe form of punishment, but the practice had been abolished half an eternity ago, at least in the Equestria he knew. There existed no record of what something like that might do to a unicorn – though the obvious guess was that it would remove or seriously hamper their ability to do magic.
Bright had to remind himself to stay focused. This was not the time or place to lose himself in idle musings and pointless theorizing, no matter how comforting they might have been. He swallowed and forced himself to speak.
"Say it plain. This isn't about breaking some curfew. What am I accused of?"
"Treason," said the pale unicorn, "as well as plotting the deposition of Her Holiness Queen Celestia. However, I do not think you are guilty of those particular crimes."
Bright was lucky not to burst into hysterical laughter. He broke eye contact and tried his best not to look as flabbergasted as he felt. The irony was bitter.
"I find your cutie mark interesting, Brainy Bright. What is your calling?"
Bright licked his lips. He wondered if the pale unicorn knew the symbol's meaning. "Magical research," he said, very quietly.
"Is that so? Involvement in the area of magic is rather unusual for a pony in your position, do you realize?"
Bright didn't respond, for fear of saying something that would get him in trouble. This was a subject that often made him testy. The pale unicorn, on his part, was content to let the matter go.
"Would you like to tell me your story?"
"My story?"
"How you came to be here. You were not at all reticent to tell it to the sergeant in charge at the time of your arrest."
"I was, mm, quite drunk. I don't even really remember what I was saying."
Bright couldn't think of anything else to cover up his mistake, but this was a weak excuse. The pale unicorn must have thought so too. Bright caught a glimpse of disdain in his expression before he looked back down at his papers.
"You claimed innocence. You claimed ignorance. You claimed the laws did not apply to you because you were from another world." He paused only long enough to gauge Bright's reaction. "You lavished everypony involved with your tale of how you had come from another universe, and how twisted and wrong everything here is. According to the sergeant, it was impossible to get you to shut up. I believe the word he used was 'raving.'"
"I... must have been very drunk indeed."
"How amusing," said the pale unicorn in a voice that suggested he couldn't possibly have found things any less amusing. "So none of it was true then. You are not an alien pony thrown into this world by a magical accident."
It wasn't an accident, Bright almost said, but caught himself at the last moment. "No, of course not. I went to a tavern for some salt water and drank in excess. I was foolish, I stayed too late and wandered out into the streets inebriated during the curfew. That's my story."
"Is that all you have to say to me?"
The question was dangerous. For a moment, Bright hesitated and wondered if it wouldn't really be best to give everything up. He didn't see any real harm in it, except the possibility that they would think him mad, or a liar, or a mad liar. What was the worst that could happen? Bright didn't know. But he knew he didn't trust the inquisitor. The more he found out about the world he'd gotten lost in and the regime that held him, the more chilled he felt. Refusing his captors may well have had dire consequences – but it still felt like the safer choice.
"That's all I have to say."
Bright expected some kind of threats at least, an ultimatum, a beating, anything. He wasn't foolish enough to think this would be the end of it. The pale unicorn had neither an angry scowl nor a disappointed sigh to offer him. He looked entirely unaffected by Bright's refusal. He slowly rose to his hooves and paused to ponder.
"Do you know who I am?" He didn't seem to be asking to boast.
"No," said Bright hesitantly, "I don't."
And suddenly, the pale unicorn's mouth twisted into a sickly toothless smile. "You do not seem to know much anything. I did not think there were any in our realm who had not heard of me. I am called Gelding. I am the Prime Minister of Equestria." The smile faded away like water seeping into the ground. "And you are a liar, Brainy Bright."
His eyes flickered over to the chipper officer.
"Separate this one from the rest. Put him in an out-of-the-way cell and keep the filly's henchponies away from him for the time being. It would be best if she did not learn of him at all. Also get word to Growing Violet and Doorstopper to inform me as soon as she returns to the city."
"Yes, milord!" said the chipper officer, "It will be done."
Gelding stared down at Bright with his dead eyes. Bright tensed up, but tried to look back with as much defiance as he could muster. He wondered who the filly was they were talking about. More to the point, he wondered just how screwed he was.
"And one more thing," said Gelding, "Don't feed him until he's ready to tell me everything."
Next chapter: Apple Underground.
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BornIn1142
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901
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Main 6,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Alternate Universe,Adventure,Dark,Drama,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Sunshine and Fire
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Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.
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incomplete
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<p>Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.</p><p>Feel free to check out or add to the story's <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/SunshineAndFire" rel="nofollow">TV Tropes page</a>.</p>
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teen
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2011-10-24T15:48:25+00:00
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2015-04-12T22:22:00+00:00
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"Did you say 'the Griffon Kingdom?'" asked Twilight in astonishment.
"That I did," said Glint.
It was another reminder not to take anything for granted. In Twilight's world, the Griffon Kingdom had fallen hundreds of years ago. Descendants of the original griffon refugees who had escaped the destruction of their homeland were still living in Equestria and other countries, but their culture was virtually extinguished. The Kingdom's existence would have been a staggering change, if this world hadn't already been so different. Twilight didn't know how similar it was to the civilization that had existed on her own world, but she would still have loved to visit it and study it. Of course, the nation wasn't exactly hale and hearty either since Daymare Sun had moved the sun over the Talon mountain range to scorch her old enemies a few years ago.
"Where was the sun before that?" asked Twilight.
"Right here in the crownlands. Above Everfree City."
Spike shuddered. "That sounds horrible! How could ponies live like that?"
"I doubt we could. Thing is, it's not as hot in the cities as out in the desert. The Queen wants ponies to gather up where she can keep watch of us, so she lowers the temperature in some areas. That's why Everfree City is so big. Over a million ponies live there."
"Is that why you stay on the move?" asked Twilight, "You don't want to be under her control?"
"That's one reason."
The answer seemed a little evasive to Twilight, but that was all right. She had tried to find out as much about Equestria and the Queen from Glint as she could, and Glint had done his best to tell her, even though he wasn't a talkative pony by nature. Some of the questions she and Spike had bombarded him with were so naïve and ridiculous that their cover story of being new in the area must have sounded as fake as it truly was, but Glint had the courtesy to turn a blind eye to their fumbling.
They were only a short distance away from Trottingham now.
Twilight had never been there in her own world, but she'd heard a little about the place. Ponies from Trottingham had a reputation of being welcoming and hospitable, since the town was located at a major crossroads and always full of visitors. It was supposed to be a picturesque and lively place. Twilight had always imagined it as basically a larger version of Ponyville – but not much larger.
She had made a point of not expecting anything like that here, but even so, it shocked her to see Trottingham in the distance. It looked a bit like a giant fortress, or perhaps a very squat and ugly mountain. Once they got closer though, it became obvious that its walls had not been built for defense. Up close, it looked more ramshackle than threatening. The entire town had been hidden underneath a patchwork dome of rough stone slabs and ancient-looking lumber planks. It rose high above the ground.
"It seems like a... nice place," lied Twilight, and let out an awkward chuckle.
"I don't know," said Spike, cocking his head, "It looks kind of hovel-ish to me."
Glint grunted. "It doesn't need to look pretty. A good, solid roof over your head – that's what's important."
The journey had been difficult. They had steered away from the open desert and onto a road early on, and Twilight had been as thankful for the smooth white stone pathway underneath her hooves as she had ever been for anything, but the going was still tough. They stopped to rest often, but Twilight never stopped feeling tired. It was impossible to tell how long their journey took; it was all a single endless sunny day that passed in a daze. As she walked, she was uncomfortably aware of the sun behind her every step of the way. It was hard to shake the feeling that she was being watched, that the sun was glaring down at her.
Glint had carried ungodly amounts of water with him, but not enough for two ponies and a baby dragon to comfortably get by with, so he was merciless with his rationing. He had a lot of other supplies and equipment with him as well, stuffed into two enormous saddlebags. He carried most of them himself, only passing some lighter things on to Twilight. She was impressed that a pony of his age could still have so much strength. The folds of loose skin on him indicated that he'd recently lost some weight, but he still looked hardy, not to mention very tall. He would no doubt have marched twice as fast if Twilight and Spike hadn't been there to slow him down. His cutie mark was a horseshoe, though Glint claimed it symbolized his lucky nature rather than his hard hooves.
"So Applejack is here?" Twilight confirmed, "In this town?"
"I don't know where Applejack is," said Glint with a shrug, "but this is the best place to find her."
Twilight chewed on her lip. "Can you tell me more about her?"
There was a glimmer in Glint's eye, something he left unsaid. Twilight had told him Applejack was her friend, so why did it seem like she didn't really know her? Twilight must have looked so insanely suspicious that she wasn't even sure why he continued to help her.
"Let me tell you a story, filly. Before Applejack took charge of the Apple Underground, they were led for twenty years by another pony. There was nothing he wanted more than to do away with Daymare Sun. He'd seen earth ponies build houses and then sent out to waste away under the sun. He'd seen earth ponies plant and harvest and then left to starve. He'd seen earth ponies take up arms and fight their own brethren because they dared to wonder why things are as they are. He'd seen all that and more. He'd even come face to face with the Queen herself, and she scared him so much like you wouldn't believe. He wanted to do something. But he didn't have it in him to take any real action. He was afraid to take risks, because he couldn't stand the thought of losing any of his compatriots. As he grew older, he became feeble and craven, and too stuck in his ways. He refused to involve pegasi and unicorns in the rebellion because he was afraid of them. In the end, he never accomplished much anything.
"The other ponies in the Underground respected the old pony too much to argue with the way he ran things. Maybe they didn't even dare to dream that they could do more. Applejack was the only one who had the guts to speak up and say what was wrong and what needed to be done. She was very young back then. In truth, she should have been in school instead of hiding among criminals and plotting. The things she said made sense though. It just happens that Applejack's the great-granddaughter of Apple Baron, who started this rebellion in the first place when his apple trees withered and died. There was a lot of him in Applejack, hmmhm. She eventually rose up to become the leader of the rebellion. They've done some great things since then. Applejack took the rebellion out of the shadows. More and more ponies have been joining their cause, even pegasi and unicorns. She allied with Zebrican freedom fighters, and organized the first ever jailbreak from the Queen's dungeons. She's personally led attacks against government bureaus and barracks.
"Applejack's a fighter. Mind you, I mean that literally. She has a mean buck, and can brawl with the best of them. She's bold, but she's also smart enough to know when to break off and gallop away. She's evaded the Secret Police countless times. Of course, she can still be stubborn as a mule sometimes. She's a pony that just refuses to give up. She's a hard worker and a good leader. She's fair and straight with everypony. In short, she's the leader the Underground deserves."
Twilight took a moment to digest what she'd heard. For a while, the only sound around them was the clacking of their hooves. For the first time, Twilight had the feeling that Glint was giving her anything less than the honest truth. He spoke of Applejack almost reverently, and she couldn't help but notice that he didn't say a word about the failed assassination attempt in the city he'd mentioned to her earlier. It sounded almost like, well, propaganda. There was another thing as well...
"And the old pony leader?" she asked, "What happened to him?"
Glint pretended not to hear her. "We're almost there," he said.
Before Twilight knew it, he'd slipped off his poncho and wrapped it around her. It was as large as a blanket, but very light and airy.
"Um, what are you doing?"
"Best if nopony recognizes you, I think." He took off his hat as well and placed it on her head, right on her horn. It slid down so she could hardly see a thing. "Where we're going, a unicorn would draw too much attention anyway."
That was true enough, supposed Twilight. Glint hardly sweated at all, but his things still smelled funny to her, very musky and masculine, very different from the smells she was used to.
"Looking good, Twi!" laughed Spike. He paused for a moment and considered. "Hey, what about me? Won't people notice me in a crowd? What's the situation with dragons anyway?"
"Equestria is on fairly good terms with the Dragon Matriarch, but I've never known any dragons to be out and about in this land on their own. Your kind is always paired up with unicorns of the Secret Police. You're right, you would stand out. I was hoping you could do something about him, Miss Sparkle."
"A spell, you mean?"
While she was pondering for ideas, Spike already came up with something. "Hey, you could turn me into a pony!"
"Are you sure, Spike?"
"Come on, it's the perfect way to make me unnoticeable! And I'm kind of curious what it's like."
Twilight glanced at Glint. "An earth pony, right?"
"That'd be best, I think."
Twilight closed her eyes. She reached out and found Spike's essence and set to work imagining a new shell for it. Spike had been the one she'd practiced bodily transformations with when they came up in her curriculum, so he knew to stay still. A little zap of magic and it was done. When she opened her eyes again, Spike was a runty purple colt. He looked a little similar to her, though his mane and tail were green and spiky.
"Whoa, this is weird!" he said, twisting his head around to look over his new form. "I'm so long. All this hair is so itchy, and why's it suddenly so hot here? You know, you could have made me a little older." He jerked and looked at Twilight. "Do I look handsome?" he asked with such a serious expression that it almost made Twilight laugh.
"If you think you're going to woo Rarity like this, forget it. It'll wear off eventually."
"I know, I know!" He bent backwards to take a look at his flank. "Aw. No cutie mark?"
"Heh. You're too young. Give it time."
It took effort on her part to keep the spell going, but only a little. The memory of it was like a post-it note in her mind, reminding her to concentrate, but she'd long since learned to hold a grip on her temporary magics. Another unicorn would have been able to tell that Spike was transformed, but if there were going somewhere unicorns weren't likely to be, that wouldn't be a problem.
"I could just as well cast a spell on myself as well," Twilight told Glint.
"You unicorns always want to over-complicate things, don't you? You've got a perfectly good disguise already."
"Well, let's go then!" said Spike, "On to Trottingham!"
He set out and promptly fell on his face.
"Oh yeah. Four legs."
Twilight watched Spike's struggle to get up on his new hooves with a mixture of amusement and excitement. He reminded her a little of a newborn foal, except Spike was a lot more talkative.
"Why would anybody need four legs? Two's the perfect number, I could understand three as well, but four? And they're way too high!"
He adapted quickly enough. Watching him push himself into a standing position with a victorious grin took Twilight's breath away, though she couldn't exactly say why.
They continued on into Trottingham. Glint's hat kept sliding down over Twilight's eyes.
The gate through which they passed was more akin to a modest door. It was big enough to allow a carriage to pass through, but no bigger. Just stepping into Trottingham reinvigorated Twilight. It had been a long way and she had no idea where she would go from there – but if everything worked out, she'd see one of her friends soon. Applejack may think her a stranger, true, but just seeing her would be something. It would be a reminder of home.
Even though the air in Trottingham was heavy and dry, the relief from the sun the dome offered was most welcome. The temperature was downright pleasant compared to the outside. It was, however, brighter than Twilight had expected, since there were cracks and openings in the dome. Whether they were there by design or as a result of wear and tear, she could not say, but they allowed light to flood inside and illuminate the buildings. Still, it was visibly not as bright on the inside, somewhat similar to daytime during a solar eclipse. It seemed that there was a limit to the sun's curious omnipresence.
Twilight had also thought there would be a lot of empty space inside the town. In fact, the buildings went all the way up. There were glasshouses of all sizes scattered throughout the city, and it made her smile to see the green of plants in them. She spotted a few reservoirs of water as well, probably there in case of fire breaking out. The dome was supported by several gigantic limestone pillars. Large houses were attached to each one, connected by a criss-cross of walkways and staircases. A few pegasi were flapping about up above. It looked exciting. Twilight was so focused on taking everything around her in that she hardly heard Glint explaining about the underground river that kept the ponies here supplied with water. She had judged too quickly, she decided. The town didn't look so bad on the inside.
And then she looked down.
She'd been so caught up with what was above her head that she hadn't even noticed the things right in front of her. The buildings on the ground were packed tight and dingy. Some of them were made of stone, others of lumber, and yet others were little more than large tents. Many were in a state of disrepair. Some of the ponies who lived there had tried to brighten their homes with coats of paint, but the faded colors did little to disguise the rotting wood and collapsed corners. The streets were mere dirt roads, and a vaguely unpleasant smell permeated everything. There were really two towns in Trottingham, one on top of the other. The one down below was a slum, that was plain to see.
Glint didn't waste any time in leading them away from open ground, off the main street and into the narrow and winding side alleys between the taller buildings. Twilight quickly lost her bearings as she and Spike trailed after him. After five minutes of twists and turns in Trottingham's labyrinthine streets, she no longer had any idea which way they were coming from and or they were headed. The area seemed like a good hiding place to her. Since Applejack was a wanted fugitive, she imagined her to have a hideout somewhere in the town.
There were not a lot of ponies out and about. Most business and social interaction took place indoors, but there were some who did not have a choice about being outside. When Twilight spotted anypony, they were usually laborers – craftsmen replacing broken panes on one of the glasshouses, dirty miners climbing out from an underground shaft, street sweepers working to keep the sand from piling up. All of them were earth ponies.
Their destination, a large indoor marketplace, was a little livelier. There were a few dozen ponies doing business – but the entire hall looked like it had space for half a hundred vendors and five times as many customers. All the empty space gave the place a desolate appearance. The wares – what little there was – were of low quality and priced steeply.
"You ought to wait here," said Glint, "I've got some business to take care of."
"Business?" asked Spike, "What business?"
"Trying to find somepony who knows Applejack's whereabouts," explained Glint quietly.
They watched him trot off and enter one of the stalls near the middle of the hall. He had a few words with the vendor, after which they both stalked off to go somewhere else. Being separated from their guide, even temporarily, made Twilight a little anxious. She bit her lip and looked around, but nopony seemed to be paying them the slightest bit of attention. Rationally, she knew that her surroundings were relatively normal, but everything felt weird and alien nevertheless, and the ponies here were beyond mere strangers.
Twilight warily sat down and leaned against a wall. Her legs were achey and stiff from the long journey, so she took every bit of rest she could. Spike awkwardly plopped down at her side.
"What do you think of Glint?" asked Spike. The old pony had always been within earshot out in the desert, so it had been difficult to have a frank talk. "Can we trust him?"
"Glint has been very open with us."
"He's been open all right. That's what worries me. He's been a little too open towards somepony he has every right to be suspicious of."
"He also saved our lives, and was kind enough to share his food and water. I think he deserves the benefit of a doubt, Spike."
"I'm just saying, we don't really know whose side he's on."
"You heard the way he was talking earlier. It sounded genuine to me. He's on the side of the rebellion. Actually... I sort of got the impression that he's trying to recruit me."
"Good call, Twilight! He saw you take care of those freaky scorpion things in the desert so he knows you're powerful. He might really be trying to get you to join up. If we go by what he said, then Applejack seems to be her usual awesome self here – but who knows what she's really like?"
"You should always expect the best of your friends, and never the worst," Twilight reminded him.
Spike cocked an eyebrow. "I don't know about that. We're in another universe, and it's a whole new ballpark. Even our friends might not be good people here."
He wasn't wrong, but Twilight still found his attitude a little too cynical. "You're not just saying that because Daylight Sparkle is an amoral agent of a tyrannical government who hunts down political dissidents and freethinkers and makes them disappear, are you?"
"Er, sort of. It was to be expected, really. These alternate universes always have evil doubles of the heroes in my comic books. It's pretty much par for the course. I just hope this isn't a full-blown mirror universe where everything is reversed!"
Twilight rolled her eyes.
"Wait a minute," continued Spike, "Glint said officers of the Secret Police have dragon companions! Does that mean there's an evil double of me running around too?"
He paused. If Twilight knew him at all, he was imagining how he would look like with a goatee.
"It wouldn't suit you," she said, "Stick with a mustache."
Twilight wished she hadn't brought up Daylight Sparkle. Her equal number had never been far from her mind on the way to Trottingham, and once she started thinking about her, it was hard to stop. Having a different name should have made it easier to think of Daylight as a completely different individual, but Twilight could never get it out of her mind, what a version of her was doing. It was guilt by association. A pony could conceivably lead a very different life if the circumstances were different enough, if their choices and consequences played out another way – Twilight understood that. But how could she ever be so... so evil? How could she serve such a morally bankrupt world order? The figure that rose up in her imagination was invariably brutal, unfeeling and above all, stupid. How could any person of intelligence not recognize how wrong this all was?
How things were in the Equestria she'd found herself in weighed heavily on her mind. A large part of that weight was anger and pity and disbelief, but another part – a tiny part – was guilt. She was still one of the wielders of the Elements of Harmony, even if she didn't have her element on hand. Was that fact meaningless in this universe, or did it mean more than ever before? Twilight could not conceive of anything so lacking in balance, so in need of harmony, as this world. She and her friends had defeated Nightmare Moon and saved a world, and yet here was another one, suffering under the hoof of Daymare Sun. Did she have a responsibility to do something? It was a disturbing thought, an unshakable thought, and ultimately, a futile one. She knew it wasn't in her power to do anything. Still, she had decided to talk to Celestia about it once they found each other again. Celestia would have an answer for her.
Glint's return broke Twilight out of her reverie. He was alone, and his expression was unreadable.
"Well?" wondered Twilight.
"Got what we need," said Glint, "Follow me."
Twilight and Spike painfully struggled on their hooves and followed Glint back into the labyrinth. They walked longer than before, circling away towards the edge of town, twisting and turning until Twilight started to get impatient. It sounded childish, but she wanted to be there already. And she was tired.
"Where, exactly, are we going?" she asked Glint.
"To a meet with the rebels." He hesitated, then continued. "They'll probably make it difficult. Doubt they'll allow you to know the path to their secret hideout. Just don't struggle."
Don't struggle? Was he expecting a struggle?
Some of the alleys were so narrow they had to walk in single file. These parts were so empty they might as well have been in a ghost town. At some point, they had simply stopped coming across other ponies, and yet Twilight kept glancing behind her, expecting to find somepony following them. It was dusky in those tight spaces, though not quite dark. This was a pleasant change, but also a little sinister, and made Trottingham seem all the seedier.
At last, they reached someplace more open again. Glint came to a halt at an intersection of several alleyways, but Twilight didn't think this was their final destination. There were no doors or entrances anywhere, nowhere to go but down another alley.
"Now what?"
"They're here," said Glint. He nodded, pointing to something behind Twilight.
There was a pony there, blocking off the way they had come from. The pony was wearing a light brownish cloak with a hood that covered their face, but Twilight could tell it wasn't a pegasus or a unicorn.
When she swiveled around to face Glint again, another pony had appeared. This one was very big, almost a giant, but wearing a cloak similar to the first one's. Within moments, Twilight noticed two more reaching the intersection. The fact that she couldn't see their faces disturbed her. Glint seemed unconcerned, but Twilight's insides were tightening with fear.
The ponies were coming closer. Twilight took a step back, but there was nowhere to retreat to.
"Twilight?" asked Spike nervously.
"Um, hi!" said Twilight, "I'm looking for Applejack. Would you happen to know where I might be able to find her?"
None of them answered her. Twilight swallowed, and peered towards Glint for guidance.
"Now remember, Twilight, I'm on your side. Just relax, and we'll take you to Applejack."
Was this really a good idea? She knew for a fact that some of her friends, like Rainbow Dash – or Applejack, for that matter – would have tried to fight them off. Should she? Was she going to trust Glint, or not?
Twilight decided to trust him. She bent closer to Spike. "Do as they say," she whispered to him.
One of the rebel ponies had some kind of black cloth in his mouth. Twilight recognized it as a bag just a moment before he leapt closer to her and slipped it over her head. It was as if she'd been struck blind. She couldn't see a thing. A yelp from Spike told her they'd done the same thing to him.
She dearly hoped she hadn't just made a mistake.
For a moment, she feared they would tie her up as well, but they didn't. There was muttering she couldn't quite make out. She made out Glint's voice – and then she was heaved off the ground and thrown over somepony's back.
"Hey, watch it!" she heard Spike say. She hoped he wouldn't try anything. A burst of dragonflame was the last thing they needed right now. She really hoped she hadn't made a mistake.
The pony carrying Twilight started moving. He – Twilight assumed it was a stallion – trotted stiffly, and for a moment, it seemed to her that she felt him shivering, as strange as that sounded. They walked for a few minutes and took a few turns. Eventually, Twilight heard the sound of rusted hinges turning. They entered a building. She assumed that was meant they were there, but she was wrong. She couldn't have been any more wrong.
They passed through a few more doors, eventually reaching a staircase. After taking a few turns downwards, they continued on their way vertically. They traveled in a straight line for a while, then headed turned and headed downwards on a sloping walkway. On and on and on, they went, at times down and then on even ground, sometimes even up again.
It was impossible to tell how far they descended, but it quickly became obvious that they were headed deep underground. And even with her eyes covered, Twilight could tell that this was no paltry dungeon they had down here. The temperature decreased as they got further away from the sunshine, until it was almost chilly. The rebels were probably taking an extra long route to confuse her, but the complex must have been extensive even so.
Trottingham wasn't two towns in one, but three. The third was a secret settlement right below everypony's hooves. Twilight thought of the underground river somewhere down below, and the mines built to reach it – mines built by earth ponies. She thought of how deserted Trottingham had seemed. Perhaps the heat wasn't the only reason for that? Twilight would have been willing to bet that a lot of Trottingham's earth ponies actually lived down here. It was an incredible ruse.
Eventually, Twilight was dumped on a stone floor and the bag on her head was removed. By then, the pony who had carried her had already high-tailed it out of there. Spike was there by her side, already relieved of his own bag. Twilight stood up and looked around. The room they were in was bare and empty, but it didn't look like a prison cell either. A burning oil lantern was hanging from the ceiling. There were a total of five ponies present aside from her and Spike. Applejack was nowhere to be seen.
It was Glint who had taken off the bag from her head. He was already wearing his hat, and used the opportunity to take back his poncho and fold it together. That done, he trotted off and laid down in a corner, taking a drink of something that might have been ice tea. He looked improbably relaxed considering the circumstances. Twilight wasn't sure whether that was a good or bad thing.
An earth pony mare with a grass-green coat and long, golden locks was pacing around the room. Her cutie mark was a watering can. A large, long-wilted flower in her mane bobbed up and down as she muttered to herself.
"What am I going to tell Applejack?" she was saying, "This is awful, simply awful! Or is it the best thing ever? Oh, why me?"
A sleek and beautiful black and white pegasus mare that surely had zebra blood in her immediate family was standing watch to the side. She stood stone-still and never let her eyes leave Twilight. Her cutie mark was a tangle of black stripes that resembled a throwing glaive.
There was even a unicorn there, a white colt with a blond mane only a little older than the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The symbol on his flank was a shooting star. He was smiling brightly, and winked at Twilight when he saw her looking at him.
The last pony in the room was a feminine-looking stallion with a tan coat and a lush brown mane. His cutie mark consisted of three blue horseshoes. He kept his gaze on the floor, but even so, Twilight recognized him right away.
"Caramel?" she blurted out, "Is that you?"
Caramel flinched when she spoke to him. "Ah, do I know you, miss?"
Twilight hesitated. "Heh heh, no. No, I guess not..."
Speaking up seemed to remind the grass-green mare of her presence. She whirled around to face her.
"All right, Daylight Sparkle! We'll have none of your tricks here! You are now officially a prisoner and hostage of the Apple Underground!"
Spike blustered. "Ugh, you've got it all wrong, lady!"
"Yes, there's been a bit of a misunderstanding..." said Twilight warily.
Glint loudly cleared his throat. "I already told you, Emerald Hope, that's not Daylight Sparkle."
"Could you please explain to me how that's not Daylight Sparkle?" asked Emerald Hope.
"I've met Daylight Sparkle," said Glint, "This isn't her. Her cutie mark's all wrong."
"Well, technically, you've only seen Daylight Sparkle," offered out Caramel uncertainly, "You haven't met her. That's not quite the same."
"Do you think I'm a idiot?" asked Glint harshly, causing Caramel to draw back.
"If you're not Daylight Sparkle," Emerald Hope asked Twilight, "then who are you?"
Twilight felt supremely silly. Indeed, she didn't think she could possibly feel any sillier.
"I'm, er, Twilight Sparkle."
It took a moment for her words to sink in with Emerald Hope. She proceeded to give Glint a withering glare. Glint just shrugged. Twilight suddenly found the unicorn colt standing right in front of her, holding out his hoof to her with a winning smirk on his face.
"It's such a pleasure to make the acquaintance, milady. Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Brightsmile."
His words were mature, but his voice was a surprisingly squeaky reminder of his youth. When Twilight raised her hoof to his, he leaned down and kissed it. The way he wiggled his eyebrows when he looked up at her struck her as a bit forward.
"Hello," she said, with hesitation.
"I'm actually a hostage here myself!" continued Brightsmile, "What are the odds, huh? Hey, if I said you had a great body-"
At this point, Emerald Hope unceremoniously pushed him out of her way.
"This is crazy!" she said, Why oh why would you bring her here, Glint?"
"This Underground is supposed to accept anypony who seeks refuge here, isn't it?"
"You can't possibly be serious about that! Since when are you such a fan of unicorns?"
"Never mind about that, will you? She's not Daylight Sparkle, but she might be just as powerful. If you'd seen what I have, you'd know that she could be a great ally to us. She defeated a whole horde of scorpion muties out by the Scar all on her own. Filly's got a serious gift for magic."
Emerald Hope's eye twitched. "That doesn't make me feel better at all!"
She turned towards Twilight and stared at her long and hard, as if she expected to pierce veil of time itself and gleam her entire history up until that point. She looked more afraid than suspicious. Was it because of her own neurotic nature, or was seeing the face of Daylight Sparkle up close just that frightening? Twilight tried to smile at her, but that only made the other pony narrow her eyes and scowl harder.
"So you're here to join us or something, is that it?" asked Emerald Hope.
"Um, no, not exactly," admitted Twilight. She sneaked a glance at Glint, but couldn't make out a reaction. "I'm actually just here looking for Applejack. Is she around here somewhere?"
"Hmh, well, you won't find her here!"
"Why, where is she?" asked Twilight.
"She hasn't gotten back to us since the assassination attempt on the Queen." Emerald Hope's eyes bulged. "Wait, why am I telling you this?"
Twilight looked from one pony to the next. "You mean... something might have happened to her?"
"No, no, of course not! Applejack can take care of herself better than anypony!"
"Most of the other ponies in her group have already made it to safehouses," said Glint, "Applejack likes to take the longer routes to make sure she shakes off pursuers. I'm sure she'll be back soon."
"Um, shouldn't we be careful about telling her stuff like that?" asked Caramel.
"Yes," said the black and white pegasus.
"Yeah!" exclaimed Emerald Hope, "Yeah, we should! Even if she's not Daylight Sparkle herself, she could still be one of Sparkle's henchponies. In fact, she probably is! And who knows what kind of insidious motive she has?"
"I came across her out in the open desert," said Glint, "It was sheer chance we met."
"Perhaps you only think it was chance, hmm? Have you considered that possibility? That this is all a plot, carefully orchestrated to get an infiltrator into our hideout? Applejack left me in charge when she headed to Everfree, and I'll be damned if the Underground is exposed and destroyed on my watch! Goodness gracious, she might even be an assassin sent after sent after Applejack herself!"
"Use your head, Emerald. If she was a member of the Secret Police, there would have been a dozen better ways to find us. Not to mention, she'd have come to us in a proper disguise. Why would they send somepony looking like that? It's a straight-up guarantee that we'd be suspicious. That makes no sense, no ma'am. The Secret Police isn't so dumb."
Emerald Hope was frantically chewing on her lower lip as she tried to deal with these contradictions. It seemed to Twilight that she was at least considering Glint's words. Finally, she turned to the others in the room with a pleading look.
"Thoughts, everypony?"
The pegasus was the first to speak. There was no trace of the peculiar Zebrican rhyming accent in her voice, but she sounded foreign nevertheless. "We mustn't take any chances," she said, "If you get me ten hooflengths of bamboo, a spoon and a bucket of glue, I could have the truth out of her... dead or alive."
The awkward silence that filled the room told Twilight she wasn't the only one who thought that sounded a little disconcerting. The pegasus looked confused when Brightsmile burst into laughter.
"Oh Chequy, you're such a kidder!"
"That was a joke?" muttered Spike incredulously.
"Okay then!" said Emerald Hope quickly, "Noted! Now, what do you think, Caramel?"
Caramel looked surprised at even being asked. "Um. I'm not really sure it's a good idea for us to decide anything on our own. We should wait for Applejack to get back."
Emerald Hope enthusiastically nodded along to his words. "Brightsmile?"
"Oh, I'm sure such a lovely lady has nothing to hide. I would certainly be willing to put all my faith in her, if you know what I mean. By the way, can I just say that I really like your hair, Miss Sparkle? It's very stylish."
Twilight hadn't gotten much chance for personal grooming recently and was all but certain that her hair looked much like a mummified bird's nest at the moment. She was starting to suspect the young pony had undue intentions towards her. Brightsmile wasn't done yet, however.
"I'm not so sure about the other one though," he said, turning up his nose towards Spike and sniffing, "There's something odd about him I can't place."
Emerald Hope pounced on it right away. "What? You mean like a spell or something?"
"Hey, could be!"
Brightsmile conjured up an expression of intense concentration. The members of the rebellion were paying attention to Spike for the first time now. Twilight caught sight of Glint and saw the old pony slamming a hoof into his forehead.
"Now that you mention it, I think you might be right, Miss Hope! There is a definitive magical feel about him. It's almost as if, hmm, wait. Wait, wait, wait. Wait."
Suddenly, his eyes turned as big as dinner plates.
"I think he's a dragon!"
It was as if an explosion had gone off in the room.
Emerald Hope gasped so loud that Spike stumbled backwards in shock and rolled over. Caramel looked close to fainting, while Glint simply sighed. Chequy reared, and that was when Twilight first noticed the sharp little blades tied to her forelegs with leather straps. She hung low and folded out her wings, ready to jump, but the next moment, Brightsmile had sidled up so close to her that he was practically underneath her.
"Ooooh, protect me, Chequy!"
"Please don't touch me down there..."
Emerald Hope had to take several deep breaths until she could continue speaking.
"Aha!" she said, "Aha! This proves you're an enemy agent! Why else would you try to bring a dragon among our ranks covertly?"
Twilight sunk down to the floor and let her ears droop. "This isn't what it looks like! I only cast an appearance-changing spell on him because Glint said he would draw attention around town!"
All eyes turned to Glint.
"What were you thinking?" demanded Emerald Hope, "Why would you bring a weapon of mass destruction right to our doorstep? Do you not you understand how dangerous this is?"
"There's no need to get all bothered," said Glint, but he couldn't stop himself from looking abashed. He turned away, his brow furrowed, and there was a defensive note in his voice when he continued. "I knew you people would react like this when there's really no reason for it. The dragon's a good kid. I don't think he's been trained like the others. He's nothing to be afraid of, I promise you. Just try to look beyond it, will you?"
"I can't believe this," moaned Emerald Hope.
"It's not like you to make such a gamble," said Caramel pensively.
"Shaddap, Caramel," said Glint.
"What shall we do about the creature?" asked Chequy. Her voice was calm, but there was a burning intensity in her hawkish eyes.
"Hey, I resent that!" exclaimed Spike. He set down his hooves to get up, causing everypony but Twilight and Glint to take a step back, "Would you all please stop talking about me as if I'm not right here?"
"Shuuut uuup, Spiiike!" whispered Twilight through her teeth. She took up a position between Spike and pegasus, just to be on the safe side. "You don't have to worry," she said "I mean, he's only a baby dragon."
She laughed nervously, but the tension in the air refused to go anywhere. Nopony seemed to think this was a laughing matter. Twilight didn't understand the state of panic they were all in. Caramel was visibly quivering, and Emerald Hope looked at her as if she was crazy.
"I can turn him back if you want?" suggested Twilight.
"No!" burst out Emerald Hope, and then instantly changed her mind. "Okay, do it."
Twilight didn't strictly need to do anything flashy to return Spike's original form to him, but she thought the rebel ponies would be more comfortable if they could see the magic at work. She lowered her horn towards Spike and let it glow on him. It took a single thought, and the shell she'd created disappeared. A collective gasp went through the room when the colt turned into a baby dragon in a flash.
Spike plopped down on the ground, then calmly stood up and dusted himself off. "Hi there. I'm Spike."
"He's so small," said Caramel.
"He's small now," said Emerald Hope, "The other ones in the Secret Police are small too, but... well, you know what they can do."
Spike rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Deal with it, will you?" he said.
Twilight bit her lip. The fear they were all showing Spike was making him a bit too bold.
"You really don't have to worry," she repeated, "We don't mean you any harm."
It didn't look like anypony was going to argue with her on that, at least for the moment, but she wasn't sure whether any of them really believed it either.
"So now what?" asked Glint loudly, "What are you going to do, Emerald?"
"What?" asked Emerald Hope.
"Applejack left you in charge, so make up your mind," said Glint, "What do you want done with them? Should we give them a room or a cell? Or should we dump them out in the open desert like I found her? You don't mean to execute them, do you?"
"No, no, not that, but..." She cringed. "Ohhh, why me?"
She was running her front hooves over the sides of her head in a circular motion, trying to massage her temples. Doing so, she pulled loose the wilted flower in her mane, which fell to the floor and lost most of its remaining petals. Emerald Hope looked sad to see it come to pieces. It was a sunflower, as it happened.
"I may not be the smartest pony around," said Glint, "but I think I do know other ponies a bit. I can tell that Twilight's the okay sort. Just give her a chance. There's no harm in letting her speak to Applejack. If you don't trust her, then at least trust me."
Emerald Hope sighed and looked at Glint unhappily. "I think..." she started.
But before she could finish her thought, somepony kicked open the door.
"Heya!" said Applejack.
Twilight's heart jumped. For a moment, everypony seemed to forget about her. Chequy was the only one who kept an eye on Twilight and Spike, but even she seemed brighter somehow, less composed. Glint remained sitting in his corner, but the others flocked around their leader, all announcing how glad they were that she was back. Emerald Hope looked especially excited. An invisible weight seemed to have disappeared from her shoulders; she stood straighter and even smiled.
"I had a heck of a time getting out of Everfree City," explained Applejack, "The whole place is on high alert, and the unicorns are dragging citizens off the street left and right, hoping they'll nail one of us. They followed me for days before I managed to shake them off. Thank grace we didn't make it to the citadel by the time they got wise."
"What went wrong?" asked Chequy.
"We can talk about that later."
Emerald Hope was frowning again. "Applejack, listen. Big Mac still hasn't made it back..."
"Shush, Emerald. I already know. I'm still hoping he managed to hide away somewhere."
The twangy accent in her voice was familiar, but not much else. This was not the Applejack Twilight knew. This Applejack kept her blond mane cut in a short bobcut instead of tied up in a long tailstyle. She was still sturdy and muscled, but also had more than one scar on her body. Her distinctive hat was missing, and even her cutie mark was different. It was not three gleaming red apples, but a sharp stick with a three-pronged white cover – a parasol. This Applejack's special talent wasn't growing apples, it was standing against the sun.
"So, where is this dead ringer of Daylight Sparkle everypony keeps telling me about?" she asked.
Twilight's breath caught in her throat when their gazes met. She didn't know what to say. Applejack stepped closer and did a full circle around Twilight, curiously regarding her from every angle. Even she jerked slightly when she saw Spike, but Twilight was the center of her attention.
The scowl on her face was more perfunctory than unfriendly. Her mane was matted with sweat and sand, probably from several days of galloping in the desert. She looked horribly disheveled, but if she was tired at all, she hid it well.
Finally, she stepped back and declared her judgment.
"Naah, it ain't her."
They accepted her word as fact right away. It was Glint himself who asked her how she knew.
"'Cause I saw Daylight Sparkle in Cow's Crossing not three turns ago. Only barely managed to lose her. I reckon she's somepony I would recognize by now, after all our run-ins. I have to admit though, they look darn similar. Almost identical." She faced Twilight, and asked her in a much rougher voice: "Now, who are you and what do you want with me? Careful what you say; I'll know if you lie."
Twilight had been waiting for her to ask.
"My name is Twilight Sparkle. I'm aware that you don't technically know me, but I came to you for help about, um, a thing." She glanced around in the room. "I was actually hoping we could discuss things privately, away from the others?"
"Heh, fat chance of that. You can just go on and say what you want to say. This crew here's my most trusted lieutenants in Trottingham, and, well, Glint. But I'm sure you won't mind him, since you seem to be such good buddies and all."
"Well, the thing is... How do I put this?" She cringed and laid it all out without drawing breath. "I'm actually a traveler from another universe and I came to you because you're one of my closest friends in my own world and I hoped you could help me find a way back home."
There was a pause of absolute quiet – and then everypony in the room broke into laughter. Chequy snorted, Glint and Caramel chuckled, Brightsmile guffawed, Emerald Hope cackled, and Applejack herself was almost rolling on the floor, with tears of mirth in her eyes. Even Spike couldn't stop himself.
Twilight stomped her hooves in frustration. "I'm serious, you guys! Spike!"
"Sorry, Twi!" said the dragon, "But you have to admit, it sounds kind of ridiculous when you just say it out loud like that!"
Twilight pressed on. "I realize how this sounds, but I'm not crazy, I swear! I really am from another planet, another Equestria! They're both similar to yours, and yet very different in some crucial aspects."
"Different how?" asked Applejack. Her face was scrunched up from trying not to grin.
"Well, for starters, my world isn't a desolate wasteland, and our Celestia isn't a tyrant."
That wiped the smile from Applejack's face.
"In my world, it was Princess Luna who was corrupted a thousand years ago and turned into Nightmare Moon. She tried to bring about an eternal night, but Celestia fought her and put a stop to her plans. The world was never ruined. Nightmare Moon was banished to the moon for a millennium. When she broke out, we two and our other friends defeated her for good and restored Luna."
"The moon?" cut in Brightsmile, "What's that? And who's Luna?"
"I think I've heard of the moon before," said Caramel hesitantly, "My grandmother used to tell me stories. The moon was where the night happened."
"My people still pass on the legends of antiquity," said Chequy quietly, "but... I never paid much attention to old stories. I remember hearing about the moon though, the dark twin of the sun."
Twilight nodded. "Just as Celestia commands the sun, her sister Luna commands the moon. The natural order is an equal duality between the two, between day and night as well. You've all heard stories, haven't you? About how things were before?"
They had.
"You see, Applejack? I'm not Daylight Sparkle, but at the same time, I am. We are the same person, born in different universes. That's why we look the same, and that's why her cutie mark isn't the same as mine. She has grown to doing things I would never approve of."
"And me?" asked Applejack, "You say you know me? So what am I like, in your world?"
"I... don't know what to tell you. I don't know you, so it's hard to compare you two, you know? You look different, but I see a lot of her in you, I think. You would like her if you met her. Does that make sense? Glint told me about Apple Baron, and how he had to stop growing apples because of the climate. Well, in my world, the Apple clan has orchards all over Equestria. You're renown for it!"
Applejack looked quite serious now, but Twilight still didn't think she believed her.
"So in that world of yours," said Applejack, "are my parents still alive?"
Twilight hadn't expected that. "No," she said, "No, they're not. I'm sorry. But the family you do have is wonderful! You all live in your parents' orchard together, you, your grandmother, your big brother and your little sister..."
Suddenly, Applejack's eyes were blazing fury. She whirled around to face Glint.
"Glint Hardhoof, you didn't!"
Glint looked confused for a moment. "Applejack, on my word, I never told her about Apple Bloom."
And with that, Applejack was starting to believe. The anger disappeared and her mouth fell open. When she looked back at Twilight, there was a whole new sense of wonder in her eyes.
"So she exists in this world as well?" said Twilight, "I'm glad to hear that. She's a sweet filly."
"Apple Bloom, she..." started Applejack, and then fell silent. "Nopony is supposed to know about her. Nopony except some of my comrades. Apple Baron's line lost their trees, that's true, but some of my relatives are still growing apples, farther away from the crownlands. Apple Bloom and Granny are living with one of my cousins, so nopony can use them against me. I don't want them involved in this."
"I promise I won't tell anypony," said Twilight
"Something strange," said Glint, "She didn't know a thing about Equestria when I met her. I had to explain everything from A to B. She wasn't faking, I can tell you that much. I don't know if she's from another world or whatever, but I really don't think she's from these parts."
Twilight wasn't the only one intently staring at Applejack. All of the others were watching her as well, waiting to hear what she had to say. Applejack was silent for a while before continuing.
"Your story is.. interesting and all, Twilight, but assuming for a moment you're telling the truth, I'm not really sure what you expect from me, sugar."
What options did Twilight have? Tell Applejack that she herself had no idea what to do? That she sought her out more out of sentimentality than any real reason? But then again, perhaps there was a way for her to help.
"Spike and I weren't the only ones thrown into this world. There were three other ponies aside from me, but we got separated during the crossing. One of them was the magical theorist who created the dimensional travel spell system in the first place, Brainy Bright. If you helped me find him, he might be able to build another portal and get us back to our own world."
Twilight wasn't at all sure she should tell them who exactly her companions were. The ponies of the Apple Underground only knew Celestia as an age-old enemy, and Luna didn't mean anything to them at all. Not being straight with them grated on Twilight's conscience, but she didn't know how they would react if they found out. It was best to hold back that particular bit of information, at least for the moment.
But Applejack's decision came swiftly and mercilessly anyway.
"I can't help you."
Twilight's heart sank. Applejack read her disappointment from her expression and sighed.
"Look, I understand that you're in a serious pickle here, but there's nothing I can do. Do you even have any inkling where this Brainy Bright might be? Trying to find one pony in the whole wide world is the next best thing to impossible. We're fighting a war here, and most everypony in the Underground is wanted by the law. I can't risk sending my people on some wild goose chase for somepony that hasn't yet conclusively proven she isn't crazy." She smiled apologetically. "You're welcome to stay with us though, if you don't have anyplace to go! You don't have to fight for us or nothing. We take in anypony."
No. Twilight couldn't let this be the end of it.
She thought about everything Glint had told her about this world, about the centuries of abuse the land and its inhabitants had gone through. She thought about Applejack's struggle, and all the others who must have tried to fight back before her. She thought about home, her friends, her Princess, and her star-shaped tiara. And she knew what she had to do.
"What if I told you I knew a way to defeat Daymare Sun?"
This caused some murmurs in the room, but Applejack looked skeptical.
"And what would that be?" she asked.
"The Elements of Harmony! Magical artifacts infused with the essences of Honesty, Kindness, Loyalty, Generosity, Laughter and Magic. That's how we defeated Nightmare Moon in our world. We can do the same here, Applejack. You and I. If we find the rest of our friends, and the physical vessels that hold the Elements, then we can purge Celestia of the corruption inside her and return this world to normal!"
"Normal?" repeated Applejack, "You mean..."
"The end of the eternal day. No more constant light, no more constant heat. Imagine it, Applejack! Imagine an end to the oppression. In my world, all the pony races are equal and free, and we live in peace with our neighbors. Celestia, Princess Celestia, is meant to be a kind and benevolent ruler! She's not just a monarch, she's a mother to us all. If things hadn't gone wrong, if something hadn't happened to your Celestia, she would be like ours as well, I know it! But with the Elements, we could fix everything!"
They were all silent now, deep in thought. Nopony was laughing anymore. Twilight waited patiently as the rebels chewed over everything she had said and tried to look beyond the inherent insanity of it all. It was a long shot, certainly. She had no way of knowing whether the events a thousand years ago had played out anything like in her own world; she didn't know whether the Elements had been destroyed or whether they'd been forged at all. But it was the only chance she saw. She glanced at Spike and saw that the dragon had his fingers crossed. Glint looked particularly excited, but Emerald Hope was the first to speak.
"All the seeds I've gathered," she said, almost reverently, "I could finally plant them! And they would grow!"
Caramel sighed. "I really don't mean to be so blunt, but we gave it our best shot at Everfree, and we still failed. I want to believe we're making a difference, but at this rate, it'll never come to anything. In a hundred years, we'll all be dead and Daymare Sun will still be Queen. So, what I mean to say is..."
"This could be our secret weapon," finished Chequy for him, her face grim, "It could turn the tide. Magic, but not unicorn magic."
Brightsmile was grinning from ear to ear again. "Aren't you curious what nighttime is like?"
"You can't pass something like this up," said Glint, "No matter how small the odds are, you've got to try. There's no harm in trying. Good grace, Applejack, what if she's telling it true?"
Applejack desperately wanted to believe – Twilight could see that from her eyes. But it was also apparent that she was deeply conflicted. She looked Glint in the eye.
"She's not exactly asking for nothing," she said, "There's a lot to do, and no real idea of how to do it. Going out to chase for some mythical artifacts would be a huge risk."
Glint looked good for his age, but the years seemed to melt away from his back as he got to his hooves and stood up to his full height, which was tall indeed. At that moment, he seemed like a much younger pony.
"Everything the Underground does is a big risk," he replied, "but think of the possible gains. This is exactly the chance you've been waiting for."
The corners of Applejack's mouth twitched, and a moment later, she was chuckling.
"Boy, look at us! This feels familiar somehow, but shouldn't it go the other way around, with me proposing some wild plan and you cautioning me about it?"
"Heh. Well, I guess we've both learned a thing or two."
Applejack looked back at Twilight.
"Okay. Supposing everything you've said is true and those Elements of Harmony are really out there – do you have any idea where we might find them?"
"Not really," said Twilight honestly.
"And those friends of ours? How do you know they even exist in this world, or that they'd be willing to help us?"
Twilight smiled weakly. "I don't."
"Taking you by your word and going on this quest has got to the craziest, most foolhardy idea in history." But she was smiling as well.
"You'll do it though, right?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I reckon I will."
She raised her hoof, and Twilight knocked her own against it.
"First things first," said Twilight, "Do you know any of these ponies – Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie?"
Applejack looked surprised for a moment, and then nodded.
"Which one?" Twilight asked her.
"Rarity. Or Lady Rarity if you want to be particular. She's a member of the unicorn nobility and – get this – she's not an evil bastard or an dumb pleasure-seeker. She- ah, she's been a good ally to the Underground."
Their situation wasn't hopeless at all, oh no, far from it. After all, there was a special bond connecting Twilight and their friends. It was time to see how deep that bond really went. Twilight wanted to know whether to believe in destiny.
"But, um, if you're thinking about seeking her out, that could prove a mite tricky."
"What? Why?"
"Well, it's like this. Rarity lives in Everfree City."
Next chapter: A Twinkle in the Mind's Eye.
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BornIn1142
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901
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Main 6,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Alternate Universe,Adventure,Dark,Drama,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Sunshine and Fire
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Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.
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incomplete
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<p>Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.</p><p>Feel free to check out or add to the story's <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/SunshineAndFire" rel="nofollow">TV Tropes page</a>.</p>
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teen
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2011-10-15T15:22:33+00:00
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2015-04-12T22:23:53+00:00
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By the time Celestia got back to Canterlot Mountain, nopony was there. Four others had crossed over with her and she had lost all of them. Of Brainy Bright, there was no sign at all, but she did catch a whiff of Luna's scent in the sky, and found tracks leading into the open desert that belonged to Twilight Sparkle and Spike. There were subtler traces as well – memories of magic gleaming invisibly around her in which she recognized her student's work.
Celestia set down amongst the hills briefly to have a look around. Her pastel mane waved and shimmered, even though the air around her was dead still. The wind was forgotten. It was quiet. She could sense nothing alive anywhere near her – not on the ground or the mountain, not under the earth and not up in the sky. There wasn't even a tiny worm to be found, not even anything left of a worm. There was only sand. She felt like she was in the graveyard of nature.
She had made a mistake.
Upon being thrust into this world, Celestia had floated onwards outside the atmosphere and explored. She had examined the planet from the above and tried to make sense of the sun. As repulsive as it was, it almost seemed to be calling out to her. She mind drowned in thoughts of flames when she looked at it. Still, her flight into orbit could have waited. She had wasted days when she should have turned around immediately and rushed back to find the others. She had made a mistake, and now found herself with no excuse for her foolishness.
Following the tracks was the only option at the moment, but Celestia worried more about her sister than Twilight Sparkle. Luna should have been the one more prepared for any dangers this world might present, true, but what effect would the absence of the moon have on her? It would not be pleasant, neither physically nor psychologically. Celestia hoped to gather everypony up soon so they could start thinking about how to get back to their own world.
She gave her wings a mighty flap, rose back in the air and headed after Twilight. In minutes, she came across a great canyon running several kilometers in length and infused with elemental power. The magic there was not recent – calling it ancient would have made her feel old – but nevertheless raw and pungent. It almost made her gag. The energies that had seeped into the ground there felt evil and terrible, and yet somehow familiar.
There was something underneath the earth. Celestia hadn't sensed anything alive at the mountain, but there was something here... not worms, but something else.
It didn't matter.
Celestia found the tracks again on the other side of the chasm. Soon after, she found another site of a magical eruption. This one was still fresh. There was a crater of vitrified sand there, flat and wide, from which an explosion of light and kinetic energy had burst outward from. What could Twilight have come across here that would have forced her to do something this drastic? What kind of dangers did this dimension hold?
Celestia could not find the tracks again. She soared around the edge of the crater, but found only broken glass and windswept sand that had obscured any sign of movement. Still, there couldn't be any doubt about Twilight's destination anyway. She and Spike had been on their way to the city nearby. Being the closest settlement around, it was the obvious place to head for.
It didn't take her long to get there herself. The city was huge, bigger than anything in Celestia's own Equestria. It was well-planned though. Most of the streets were grid-like and neat. She could see ponies on the move inside. Many of the buildings reached high, but there was an expected lack of towers, even in the huge palace that lay at the city center. Everything was built from a chalk white rock Celestia didn't recognize. There was an obvious distinction between large apartment complexes and elaborate, baroque mansions. The architecture of the latter reminded Celestia of Canterlot, though it was certainly more severe and less curvy. There were also many greenhouses of various sizes strewn about. Many of the bigger ones seemed to be for private use. A massive wall surrounded the city, and numerous tunnels for railway tracks led through it.
Obviously, Celestia was going to have to disguise herself. She picked the eastern gate, since that seemed closest in direction to Canterlot Mountain, and approached the city as a young mare with a snow-white coat and flowery pink locks. A certain tinge of spite made her keep her own cutie mark, the image the sun she called her own, but she made certain to hide away her alicorn features. She also made herself appear sweaty and dusty, and conjured up saddlebags and empty water canteens – everything needed to appear as if she'd just came wandering from the desert. She chose the body of a unicorn more out of habit than any other reason. This was the simplest disguise in Celestia's repertoire, and she used it often enough when she wanted to keep an eye on goings-on in and around Canterlot. She had to admit, she liked this form. It was very similar to herself in her youth. An ageless being felt no vanity about how young she looked, but there was a certain nostalgia in it, and she so enjoyed the feeling of freedom it gave her to be just another unrecognized snout in the crowd.
By entering the city on foot, however, Celestia did exactly she would rather have avoided: she stood out. The city gates were under heavy guard, and it turned out that nopony was allowed to leave the city. Entering was not forbidden, but it was certainly odd.
"You traveled in the desert by yourself?"
There were several armored soldiers there, but the pony in charge was a black and blue unicorn mare dressed in a white robe and hat. It was her who handled the questioning.
"You traveled in the desert by yourself?"
While she spoke, she was also probing Celestia magically. If Celestia had been any other pony, and if her magic was just any other magic, then the inquisitor would no doubt have seen through her disguise.
"Yes, ma'am," said Celestia meekly.
There was no need to say anything else. The unicorn stepped very close to Celestia – all authority – and glowered down at her with dark and cold eyes. Celestia matched her gaze. The guards had nothing to go on, nothing to justify any suspicion. They had to let her pass.
"Enjoy your time in Everfree City," said the unicorn, "Do not try to escape. It is forbidden by express command of the Queen, owing to the emergency situation currently in effect."
"Emergency situation?" repeated Celestia, but the unicorn did not answer. She turned around and stomped off.
On the side of the guardhouse was a large sign, lettered in golden block capitals:
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
WAR IS PEACE
MAGIC IS FRIENDSHIP
Celestia read it over one more time while the gate was being opened. It still did not make sense. She turned towards one of the guards, an earth pony, and smiled.
"The situation can't be that unusual, can it? I'm sure you have young and strapping unicorn ladies coming through on their lonesome here all the time."
The earth pony was slow to answer. "No, Madam. Not really."
Celestia considered asking about Twilight Sparkle directly, but decided to move on, at least at the moment. There was no need to rush ahead of herself and do something she might later regret. She had time to do some investigating first.
Once she was inside the tunnel leading through the city wall and the doors shut behind her, Celestia let her saddlebags melt into nothingness. She was now just another citizen, hopefully. The other end of the tunnel wasn't closed. As soon as she stepped out into the light, she noted a difference in temperature. It was somewhat cooler within the city walls. It might still have been a warm summer's day, but the sunshine was not nearly as intense.
Celestia found her cutie mark everywhere in the city. The sunburst symbol adorned half the street corners and the front doors of all barracks and government buildings. Armored soldiers – unicorn, pegasus and earth pony – wore it proudly on their chests. Hundreds of flags hung listlessly on hundreds of flagpoles, each of them showing what must have been the Equestrian coat of arms – a giant sun surrounded by a ring of fire, on a field of pure white. The sigils came in many different colors, but most often, they were bright and gleaming gold. They were on every side, where ever Celestia looked, and they all seemed to confirm her worst suspicions.
She wondered if it hadn't been another to mistake to use the sun as her cutie mark instead of the little blue stars or something else entirely. It turned out not to be a problem. Her flank drew a few glances, true, but these were almost always appreciative or even jealous. The ponies themselves looked perfectly ordinary to her eyes, but there was a distinct difference in how members the different pony races carried themselves.
The question now was what the best way to locate Twilight was. Should she start checking for guesthouses, public locations? Should she try asking ponies? It did not seem likely that Twilight would have any money to pay for lodgings. Celestia was reticent about doing something like, oh, turning to the authorities, not until she'd had a chance to look things over in Everfree.
The first thing she tried to do was find newspaper to learn more about the current situation in the city, but it seemed that the last several editions of the local papers had been blanketed by royal decree. It was apparently temporarily illegal to report the news, but there was always another way to find things out: gossip and rumor.
There was, of course, the distinct danger of distortion and exaggeration, but Celestia often found that commoners knew far more than anypony gave them credit for, or than they were supposed to. This Equestria had many of the trappings of a police state, and its citizens quite likely wary of being overheard saying something that could be construed as treasonous, but that didn't mean they didn't express themselves. It was as easy to pick up on the moods and concerns of a crowd as it was to read a morning paper, if one knew what one was doing. Celestia did indeed know what she was doing. She weaved through the shops, the marketplaces, the greenhouse parks and the streets – she looked and listened.
"Thank grace the curfew is over and done with. The new opening times I had to set for my shop were killing business. I'm so glad I get to sleep in again."
"I know what they said, but a friend of a friend told me Applejack is still out there, and she heard it from one of the soldiers that was sent to catch her."
"...and you know what the best part is? I've heard the foal might have been Duke Blueblood's!"
"I've been saying for years that we could use another war. I don't know why it's taken us so long to move against the Griffon Kingdom. They've been making a mockery of Equestria for centuries just by existing."
"He's not a unicorn anymore, so what is he? It's like he's not even a pony at all. He's just a dead... thing."
"She broke into Earl Catnap's treasury and took everything that wasn't bolted down. The guards only noticed what was going on when she left them her dust to eat..."
"I've never seen anything like it. The city guards were out of their minds. Nopony expected them to attack Everfree City directly."
"I don't know how we'll get by next month. I've already sold everything I could possibly sell. I told myself I'd never enlist, but what other choice is there?"
"They're only earth ponies."
"...regiments marching past their village..."
"Nopony's seen her for a week. I knew she should have kept her damn fool mouth shut about the Queen."
"But why would anypony want to kill Celestia?"
"I'm so glad Lord Chocolate Sun's ball is still taking place. Everypony who is somepony will be there."
"The griffons don't stand a chance. We outnumber them five to one. As soon as their capital falls, the other cities will follow like a row of dominoes. This war will be over in a couple of months."
"They'll never catch the Blue Bolt. She's too fast."
"They took him! They took him! I tried to tell them he had nothing to do with it – he was with me – but they still took him!"
"I'm telling you, I saw it happen! I actually saw Applejack!"
"There's no way they can beat us in the air. We'll match the griffons feather by feather."
"Nopony knew anything until a message came down from the Queen herself. But how could she have known there were assassins in the city?"
"She came into our store and simply took what she wanted, When I tried to put a stop to it, she threatened to kill me! I don't care whether that bitch is on the Council or not, this is an outrage! A pegasus can't boss around a unicorn like that!"
"What'll happen once we've taken the Griffon Kingdom? I don't want the sun hanging over us again, I don't!"
"Lady Rarity is your best bet. Just go to her and tell her everything. She might be able to help."
"I just can't shake this feeling that I'll never see him again. He'll be buried in an unmarked grave in the Griffon Kingdom..."
"What are you, stupid? There are no wild dragons in Equestria. You mustn't believe every rumor you hear."
"...Daymare Sun..."
Celestia gasped. She immediately raised her hoof to her mouth, fearful that the ponies speaking had noticed that she was listening in on their conversation. Both of them were looking at her. Celestia quickly turned around and cantered away, keeping her pace inauspicious and her expression neutral. Meanwhile, her mind was racing.
Daymare Sun.
She hadn't misheard. The two ponies had been talking about strange graffiti appearing around the city recently. It hadn't been the first time, and the city guard always made sure to have it cleaned away as fast as possible. It couldn't just be a coincidence. What other conclusion could there be but the obvious one?
It made sense though. The piece fit in perfectly with the rest of the picture. At once, this Equestria's plight seemed even worse than before. Celestia was quite powerful by herself, but Daymare Sun's power was no doubt greater still. If they fought for control of the sun – thinking of it purely theoretically – Celestia was certain she would not come out as the victor. Not by herself, at least... If she and Luna faced the Queen together, though, what then? Perhaps it was futile even to consider this. There were too many other variables to consider. She needed time to think.
A coming war with the Griffon Kingdom was something she had heard mentioned again and again. Celestia headed out to look for some shop where she could find a map of Equestria and surrounding lands. She needed to get the full picture of what was going on in this world, and that included the geopolitical situation. She didn't have the money to buy the map, so she settled for committing it to memory.
As it had once in Celestia's own world, the Griffon Kingdom lay to the northeast of the Principality of Equestria. The border between them, however, was further back, coinciding roughly with the Talon mountain range. Surrounding nations were greatly reduced in territory – or simply gone, swallowed whole by their neighbor. Equestria itself was almost twice its original size, and that didn't include the occasional "protectorate" it had annexed over the years. Only the dragon lands were of comparable size, but vast as they were, but it was likely that they were also in large part uninhabited. It seemed clear that ponies were the dominant species on the planet.
What worried Celestia most of all was the fact that the sun seemed to be positioned right above the capitol city of the griffons. The Queen could wipe out the whole nation if she wanted to, but she must not have wanted to, or she would have done it already. The plan seemed to be invasion and occupation.
Celestia scanned the pony-griffon border carefully. The mountains were a respectable natural defense, but they were not impenetrable. A route near the coast called the Valley of the Wind was an obvious route to take if the ponies were going to bring infantry to bear, but it would no doubt be heavily defended. Relying on pegasus troops or perhaps a surprise attack by magic were also options, but there was a lot of risk involved with either strategy. Celestia wondered if Equestria had any strength at sea.
There was much more she yet needed to learn. It didn't take her long to figure out a way to do that. Barracks and guardposts were plentiful in the city. It seemed that the Queen was nothing if not dutiful when it came to "policing" her ponies. Celestia sought out the biggest of them, a district headquarters. From there, she looked for the nearest tavern, where off-duty soldiers were sure to be hanging around. What she found was the Prancing Pony, which was in truth more of an evening club – so to say – than a pub. It was a place for officers, not common enlisted steeds, and that suited Celestia just fine.
Lavish double doors led into the shadowed insides of the club from the street. The gilded metal engravings of ponies prancing and dancing around in happiness that decorated the frame seemed to have a terrible irony to them. On either side of the entrance was a plaque stating 'We Do Not Serve Earth Ponies.' This regime certainly liked to belabor the obvious.
Celestia stepped in and made her way through the entrance hall, making sure to look suitably lost and confused, as well as impressed with the fine interiors. The main hall of the club was quite roomy, and the ceiling reached too high to be visible in the gloom. Low walls segmented the room and kept the tables strewn about apart. It was quite dark in the club, owing to the lack of windows, but the circular bar area in the middle was brightened by magic, and some tables were lit by candles or hornglow. It was hard to say at a glance how many ponies were there, but the place didn't seem too crowded. Most of the guests seemed to be unicorns, and quite a few of them wore uniforms.
Celestia slowly circled around and put herself up for display, then sat down at the bar. It didn't take long for somepony to take the bait.
"Do you want me to buy you a drink?"
Celestia was in luck. The unicorn stallion that had approached her was a guardpony, a lieutenant to boot. He smelled of liquor and salt.
"Oh, would you? That's so kind of you!"
She ordered a glass of white wine. Once the pony tending the bar put it down in front of her, she leaned forward and took a minuscule sip. When she sat up straight again, she had to push her mane back over her shoulder, and smiled at her benefactor as she did so. She expected she looked like a proper vision of loveliness.
The guardpony had taken the seat next to her. His coat was light beige, his mane a candy-cane mix of red and white. He was of middling height, but his posture and uniform nevertheless made him look quite statuesque. The golden plate he was wearing was very similar to the armor of Celestia's own Royal Guard, though this seemed to have a few extra enchantments. It protected its wearer from the heat, for one. His helmet, the stallion had left with a group of friends sitting at a nearby table.
"What's your name?" asked the guardpony.
"I'm Twinkle," said Celestia, "What about you?"
"Scoop. Power Scoop."
"I'm pleased to meet you, Lieutenant Scoop!"
"You know, I'm a Prancing Pony regular and I'm 99% sure I've never seen you here before."
"Oh no, you wouldn't have! My family only moved to Everfree City a few days ago. This is all still so new to me."
"Where are you from?"
"I doubt you'd know the place. It's a bit of a backwater. It took us a week to get to the capital by train. I'm so hopelessly out of date with everything that's been going on."
"Uh, wouldn't it have been more convenient to use a pegasus carriage?"
"That's what I thought, but Mother didn't want to leave the servants alone with our things, especially the money coffers. I'm sure you understand."
"Ah, of course. It's never wise to trust earth ponies too much."
Common wisdom held that lying at length became more and more difficult. Celestia, on her part, found that every new lie came easier than the one before it. It wasn't hard to see how this world fit together, and the nature of ponies was such that what they believed and what they expected to hear could always be predicted.
"Your cutie mark is amazing," said Power Scoop, "You were very lucky to get it."
"Oh, I couldn't agree more, Lieutenant. It's such an honor. May I ask what yours is?"
The stallion's smile curdled. "It's a... ladle. How banal is that? Cooking is a job fit for dirt-eaters. There is no prestige in it. Being a soldier is a much more, ah, noble profession, don't you think?"
Celestia nodded. She wondered if that was simply his personal opinion, or an indication of a more general cultural leaning. Soldiers did seem to have a fairly high social status.
"It feels like I've missed out on so much while I was traveling! I was a little scared about all this recent chaos when I got here."
"No need for concern, Miss Twinkle. The earth ponies' plot fell through before it began. Agents of the Secret Police were onto them before they even made it into the palace."
Why was it even called that when it was clearly not secret?
"I do hope all of the rebel scum is behind bars now?"
"Certainly! Not one of them made it out of the city. We also arrested a whole bunch of collaborators who tried to harbor them. It should only be a matter of time until we know the whereabouts of their hideout and take care of the other ones as well. You know, come to think of it, I'm not supposed to tell other ponies about this, I don't think."
"Oh? I'm sorry, I wouldn't want to get you in trouble. Let's talk about something else then. What do you think of this war that's coming?"
"As far as I know, the invasion was already supposed to have begun, but there's a hold-up of some kind. Maybe it's because of the rebels, I don't know."
"Are there a lot of ponies involved?"
Scoop closed his eyes and drummed his forehoof against the side of his skull, making a show of trying to remember. "Over half the earth pony infantry and almost all of the pegasus air force, plus specialist unicorn support attachments. They even pulled in some reserves from the crownlands. That's over a hundred thousand ponies all in all, so yeah, quite a lot. It's the biggest campaign in living memory."
"Oh, wow! How much of Equestria's forces is that?"
"Two thirds maybe? I don't really know the exact numbers of our occupation armies in the south. They recruit some of the local sub-pony species as grunts."
"I admit I'm not well-versed on this subject, but isn't this all a little excessive? I've always heard it said that the pegasi will match the griffons feather for feather. I mean, what can they really do against us?"
"I think the Council is worried about their aeromancers. Apparently, some of these guys can control the airflow or something like that. Besides, the griffons are a martial culture. They'll be fighting down to the last soldier, and the Griffon King has had years to dig in."
"You're so smart, Lieutenant! Who is this Griffon King anyway?"
Scoop shrugged. "I don't really know. Some griffon, no doubt. You know, I'm not sure I'm supposed to be talking about this either."
Celestia paused, then smiled. "What, in case I'm a griffon spy?" she asked with a tiny hint of teasing mockery in her voice.
Scoop forced a laugh. "No, no, of course not. It really is a silly regulation. It's not like any of this is much of a secret anyway."
Celestia took a sip of wine, without letting her eyes leave Scoop's.
"You know, I've heard that Everfree City has wonderful balls."
Power Scoop did a double take at that.
"I've never really had the occasion to go to one before," continued Celestia, "Like I said, I used to live in a backwater. There were few others of my own standing there and none of them were my age. It was mostly just earth pony farmers. I never got the chance to go out and, you know, strut my stuff a bit. Now Mother got me an invitation to Lord Chocolate Sun's ball."
Scoop raised his eyebrows. Celestia hoped the idea that a fairly insignificant noble would be able to arrange an invitation to what seemed to be a very prestigious gathering wasn't too much of a stretch.
"Will you be there, Lieutenant?" she asked.
"Oh, um, I'm afraid not. I'll be on duty at the time. It's a pity, I've enjoyed it on previous years."
"Aww," said Celestia with a smile, "Well, I'm really looking forward to it, but I'd hate to make a fool of myself." She frowned. "You don't... you don't think Queen Celestia will be there, do you? Does she usually mingle with the nobles?"
"No, no, she doesn't. I don't believe she's left the palace in a few years now. Ordinary ponies only get to see her by special invitation."
"Oh. I have to admit, I've been wishing I could meet her since I was a little filly, even if it's just once."
"I've met her," said Scoop, and he couldn't wait to tell her about it.
"Really?"
"Oh yes. The Prime Minister summoned me to give testimony at the palace a few years ago, when he was still in charge of the Secret Police. Some ponies under my command were a little rough with a suspected rebel, and he happened to die before he could be interrogated. They wanted to stick the blame on me. I know, stupid, right? But they couldn't prove I had anything to do with that nonsense."
Scoop's smirk suddenly seemed a little stiffer. His eyes flickered around the room nervously.
"When it was all over and done, I was leaving and then – in the hallway – I met her."
"So what's she like?" asked Celestia, almost whispering, to give the question a suitable measure of awe.
Scoop's face scrunched up. "Huh. Well, she's very... um... I don't think I truly knew what the 'divine right to rule' meant until I came face to face with her. You wouldn't believe what a majestic figure she made, truly. I mean, she's as much beyond us as we are beyond the dirt-eaters. She looked me directly in the eye, you know, and somehow, it felt like she knew... everything about me. She had this serene smile on her face, so I would hardly have thought I was looking at a tyrant. I kind of got the impression that she wanted me to come closer to her. I tried to do that, but the heat was too great and I had to back away. Then, before I knew it, she was gone. I'll never forget how she looked until the day I die though. She is glorious, oh yes, and so, so beautiful."
Then he shivered, and fell silent. Celestia took another sip of wine and tried to imagine how the Queen looked like. It now struck her as odd that in the millennium she had spent without her sister, it had never occurred to her – not even once – how things would have gone if the monster had taken her instead of Luna, what she might have become. What did that say about her?
"Shouldn't you be careful about calling her a tyrant?" she asked after a while.
"Why?" asked Power Scoop, raising an eyebrow, "That's what she likes to be called. Hmmm."
"What is it?"
"You're pretty."
Celestia giggled. "Thank you. Hey, you mentioned the Prime Minister, right?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah."
"What's he like?"
Scoop did a bad job at hiding a roll of his eyes. Celestia's questions were starting to tire him.
"That guy? Hmh, you know what?" He leaned closer to Celestia. "He's not all he'd made out to be. I find him creepy, nothing more. He's lost his horn, he's lost Celestia's Gift. That makes him no better than an earth pony as far as I'm concerned. I don't know why the Queen has kept him around for such a long time. It would have been merciful to put the damn gimp down a couple of centuries ago. I guess she's not very merciful, heh."
Now that was an interesting bit of information. Celestia had to find out more about this Prime Minister. Power Scoop did not seem to think highly of the pony – and yet he lowered his voice when speaking ill of him.
"But you say he's not the head of the Secret Police any longer?"
"Hah hah, true. Celestia gave the position to her new favorite. Not only that, she also named the filly her heir. Not really sure what the point of that's supposed to be, but who am I to second-guess the Queen? I think the filly's name was... Sparkle something."
Celestia took a deep breath. "Twilight Sparkle?"
"Yes, I think that was it."
There was nothing so good and pure and innocent in the world that it couldn't be corrupted. Nothing and nopony. The thought sounded poisonously cynical in her head, but she could not shake off the grimness that was gripping her, not then and there.
"So how about we two see each other again some time?" asked Scoop, "Privately, I mean." His smile was ugly. "Oh, do you want another drink?"
Celestia looked away, which left the impression that she was blushing. Clearly, she was flustered and had to compose herself. After letting him stew for a moment, she turned back, stared him in the eye and gave him a perfect shy smile.
"Ah, I'll- I'll be going to the little fillies' room in five minutes."
The implication was obvious. Power Scoop looked like he couldn't believe his luck. A big enough ego, though, helped him believe.
"See you there, babe!" he exclaimed and stood up.
Celestia took another sip of wine and watched from the corner of her eye as Scoop returned to his friends, smirking wildly, and told them something that led to general snorts of laughter and several pats on his back. He downed a half-empty tankard of beer, wiped his mouth and galloped for the female restroom. The corners of Celestia's mouth twitched.
It took her a few minutes to finish off her glass. She stepped away from the bar, ignored the leering from Scoop's buddies and left the building. Then she trotted off.
At some point along the way – she wasn't sure exactly when – Celestia had reached a decision. Daymare Sun was going down. She knew this.
There would be no great change to her immediate intentions. She still had to find her pupil, her sister and the treacherous magicianist to ensure their safety, and they still had to secure some way back to their own universe. While dealing with all this, however, Celestia also had to figure out a plan for deposing an all-powerful monarch and crushing her rotten dominion down into nothingness. It would, perhaps, be quite difficult. There was much more she yet needed to learn before she could make a move. Furthermore, certain ethical issues would come about from affecting the causality of another dimension, but that was negligible.
She could not leave this be; she couldn't simply go back to her own throne in her own Equestria and forget. In her heart of hearts, Celestia knew that if she didn't even try to bring Daymare Sun down and correct the horror she'd wrought, its memory would never stop gnawing at her, not until her sun burned out at the end of eternity. Did she not already have enough regrets for her hundred lifetimes? Celestia could not bear to make such a mistake.
She might have been compelled to stay if it was Nightmare Moon or Discord or anything else holding the world under his or her thrall – but it wasn't. It was Celestia herself, or as good as. It was guilt by association. The Queen didn't even have the excuse of a greater good, but dared to openly call herself a tyrant! It was unforgivable. The weight of responsibility resting on Celestia's shoulders left her little choice about what to do.
She was going to have to find a way to kill herself.
Next chapter: Lady of Liberty.
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BornIn1142
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901
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Main 6,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Alternate Universe,Adventure,Dark,Drama,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Sunshine and Fire
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Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.
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incomplete
| 1,389 | 32 |
<p>Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.</p><p>Feel free to check out or add to the story's <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/SunshineAndFire" rel="nofollow">TV Tropes page</a>.</p>
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teen
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2011-11-26T03:31:01+00:00
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2015-04-12T22:24:59+00:00
| 12,074 |
The plan was Applejack's. How could it have not been hers? Twilight tried to flatter herself with the thought that she too might have had the guts to come up with something almost as audacious, if the stars happened to align just right, but she wasn't so sure she'd dare enact it as well. The role Applejack herself had to play was especially dangerous.
Though, in truth, it was less of a plan and more of an idea.
"What if something goes wrong?"
Applejack rolled her eyes. "If something goes wrong, then get the heck out of there, and don't forget to take me with you! I'm counting on you to keep your head on your shoulders and break off the whole shebang if necessary."
They were almost at the gates of Everfree City now. Applejack had insisted that they not approach the city from the Trottingham road, so they'd circled around to the eastern gate. It was a safety measure supposed to make the Apple Underground harder to find, if something indeed went wrong.
"What if word about this gets out to the general public though? Won't that be really bad for the resistance?"
"Ehhh. According to the Queen's propaganda machine, they've captured or killed me a dozen times over. Ponies don't know what to believe anymore. It just makes our work easier."
All the traveling Twilight had done over the last week or so had been the hardest workout she'd ever had. Her muscles had settled into a steady numb ache that made it difficult to fall asleep whenever they stopped to rest. Applejack, on her part, didn't look much worse for wear, even though she'd been practically dragging Twilight along for the last stretch of road. Apparently, Applejack simply did not get tired.
"I'm still not sure how exactly I'm supposed to act."
"How would I know? I haven't exactly had occasion to sit down for tea and crumpets with her, you know. Just act bossy and things will work out."
Nopony was in sight. Applejack dropped her saddlebags in the sand, took a final swig of water from her canteen and shared it with Twilight as well. Twilight used her magic to clean herself up from the sweat and dust of travel. It was important that she looked proper, respectable, authoritative. She had to be careful with her flank; one of Applejack's rebels had painted it over. In place of her star and sparkles was now a star casting a shadow – Daylight Sparkle's cutie mark.
Meanwhile, Spike was still practicing his angry face.
"How are we supposed to get out of there again?"
"Secret passage."
"What?"
"Yup. Secret passage. There's a perfectly good one going from the city out to the open desert. I know what you're thinking, but I don't have a clue where it is. We'll have to find Rarity for that."
They were as ready as they would ever be.
"Are you really sure about this?"
"Hey, I'd be glad to skip this part if you don't mind just zapping us inside with your magic."
"I already told you, no sensible unicorn would teleport into an unfamiliar environment! Many famous wizards like Bumblebee and Star Wobble the Mustachioed have written about the dreadful consequences this can have!"
"I get it, I get it! Now would you get on with it?"
Twilight took a deep breath and set about casting a spell of conjuration. She created a bundle of rope as thin as spider-silk and wrapped it around Applejack, tightly binding her legs and snout. Applejack closed her eyes and let herself go limp. Twilight caught her and lifted her up in the air with her telekinesis. She then headed for the guardhouse at the gate in long, casual steps, dragging her new old friend along with her.
Twilight felt like she was walking off the frying pan and into the fire. She also felt this was rather silly. No metaphor was adequate to describe her anxiety. Surely there was no way this deception would actually work? She wanted to close her eyes; her natural instinct was to turn around and gallop away. The closer she got to guards, the more certain she felt that they would see right through her, and so every step wound her up tighter. She felt like she had hooves of clay.
Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, the guards did not see through her. The earth pony soldiers immediately fell on their knees and bowed down all the way to the ground. The black and blue unicorn mare in charge – whom Twilight recognized as an agent of the Secret Police based on Applejack's descriptions – got away with just lowering her head. All of them thought they knew exactly who she was.
"Lady Commander Sparkle!" exclaimed the black and blue mare, "We didn't expect you back so soon!"
If Daylight Sparkle had happened to return to Everfree City ahead of them, then their plan might have ended in failure before it could even begin, but Twilight couldn't bring herself to feel much relief. This was still a huge gamble. Twilight came to a halt directly before the gate, Spike close to her side. The dragon was grimacing and glaring daggers at each of the guards in turn. That, as well as the low-pitched grumbly noise he was making, was his idea of being evil, but the guards didn't even seem to notice him. All of their attention was focused on Twilight, which only made her more nervous.
In lieu of saying anything, she floated her "captive" closer. There were gasps of surprise, and the black and blue mare's eyes widened when she recognized Applejack.
"Is that- is that who I think it is?"
"Um, yes?"
"Oh, this is big! It's just the coup you needed, isn't it, milady? The Queen will be so pleased with you! My congratulations!" Without pausing, and without turning to look at them, she gave the earth pony guards an order. "Leave us!"
Twilight licked her lips and watched the soldiers shuffle away into the guardhouse. She didn't see why they couldn't go in there themselves if there was a need for a private conversation. It would have been nice to get out of the heat.
"What's going on?" she asked hesitantly.
The black and blue mare swooped forward and stood very close to Twilight, almost nose to nose. She looked very serious.
"Milady, may I ask where the rest of your party is?"
Twilight swallowed. "Ah, yes! My party! They're still out there, hard at work with hunting down the rest of those scoundrels! As for me, I felt I had to bring in the catch right away."
"Was Growing Violet with you?"
Twilight's mind was racing. It did several laps in the eternity it took her to open her mouth.
"That's a definite possibility!"
"Then it was lucky that you came back alone. I have some disturbing news for you. Our sources close to the Prime Minister have found out that Growing Violet is his mole!" She paused expectantly.
"Oh... dear," pressed out Twilight, who had no earthly idea what they were even talking about, "What a shame."
"I think Gelding's time is finally up. His influence is waning and all his trump cards depleted. I had heard that the old fool was trying to capture Applejack himself to regain Her Majesty's favor."
"Well, that was certainly... foolish of him. Muahaha!"
One of the black and blue mare's eyebrows was slowly making its way up over her forehead.
"Is... everything all right, milady?"
She was still an agent of the Secret Police, and she wasn't stupid. Twilight felt a subtle touch of magic breezing over her. She was being scanned. There was no disguise to reveal, but relying on the sheer outlandishness of the truth was no way to go. Twilight had to be much, much more convincing. She had to be a bad guy.
"What do you think you're doing, huh?" she barked, "Of course I'm all right, I'm Daylight Sparkle!"
The black and blue mare's eyes widened. In fact, she looked a little bit hurt. She bent her neck quickly enough, however.
"It's standard procedure, milady. Please forgive me."
In her submission, Twilight saw something like an opportunity. She tried to grin viciously while also trying to stay distant and aloof, resulting in an expression that expressed approximately nothing.
"Is there... anything else you'd like to bring to my attention, Agent?"
"Well, the monthly report from the Board of Education has arrived. You might also be interested to know that Agent Striker's left for the Dragon Swamp to deal with that pegasus thief. The only urgent matter is the captives we picked off from the streets during the curfew. We've held off from interrogating them yet, just as you ordered."
Twilight chose her next words carefully. She wanted no doubt or uncertainty in her voice now.
"Have any of the prisoners been identified as rebels yet?"
"No, milady. As I said, they haven't been processed yet."
Twilight couldn't help but glance over at the floating Applejack, unsure of whether this was a good thing or not. By the time they had left Trottingham, Big Macintosh had still not returned. Although news that he'd been captured would have been unpleasant to hear, anything indicating that he was still alive was welcome at this point.
"All right then!" said Twilight, "I'll go on ahead and take this pony to be... processed."
The black and blue mare nodded and smiled. "I look forward to the execution."
She called back the guards and told them to open the gate, even though Twilight was certain that either one of them could have opened it quicker and more easily with their magic. It seemed that ordering earth ponies to do things was an ingrained habit.
The black and blue mare bid Twilight farewell as she was about to enter the tunnel, but she chose not to answer. She walked forward stiffly, not daring to look behind her until she heard the gate slam shut. They were by themselves, and the tunnel was shrouded in semi-darkness, which was probably as good a cover as they were going to get. Twilight lowered Applejack to the ground and released her from her bonds.
"Could this pony have been any more rude?" grumbled Spike, "It's like I was invisible or something."
"You might as well been," said Applejack, standing up and doing stretches to get her circulation going, "That's how most unicorns are. Cows, deer, buffalo, zebras, even dragons – none of them are considered real people. Even their most valuable allies are nothing more than weapons to them. Ah, cripes, you better stop me now before I get worked up over this!"
"Well, you two are certainly very casual about things!" huffed Twilight.
Spike shrugged. "What? I thought everything worked out pretty well!"
Twilight was about to get sarcastic when she realized that he was probably right. Espionage was certainly not her forte, but somehow, she'd managed to muddle her way through the situation and get them inside. This was the end of her role for now; Applejack meant for them to make their way through the city covertly. They were only going deeper into the lion's den – but the hardest part, at least, was over. They'd taken a huge step closer to Rarity, and there was something else to look forward to as well.
After all, Princess Celestia was somewhere in the city.
The semicircle of sunlight up ahead burned bright, and Twilight was surprised at how difficult it was to force herself to move ahead, back underneath the clear sky. She would never have thought that she could be so averse to being out in the sun. Yet, once she stepped through the inner gate, shoulders slumped and head lowered, she found that the temperature wasn't as bad as she'd been expecting.
"Well," said Spike, "This is pretty nice. Or maybe I've just gotten used to medium fried."
"Glint said it wouldn't be as hot here," recalled Twilight, "I wonder if there's some sort of enchantment around the city, perhaps a shield spell? The sunlight is still just as bright, so there doesn't seem to be any luminal filtration. Perhaps the Queen can just manipulate temperature at will?"
"Don't know, don't care," said Applejack with a shrug, "I'd rather be in the heat, myself."
The tunnel led to a small plaza where several streets intersected. The open view immediately made Twilight uncomfortable. Fortunately, while there were ponies out and about, none of them was close enough to recognize her or Applejack. The city gate wasn't seeing a lot of activity, and the blinding sunlight actually worked to their advantage at a distance.
Twilight cleared her throat. "All right then," she said, "the first thing we should- hey, wait!"
Applejack had already stomped off ahead of her. She did stop for the briefest of moment's when she heard Twilight's voice, to look over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow and call out.
"Come on now! Time's a-wasting."
"O-okay!"
Ignoring the creaking and groaning of her bones, Twilight cantered after Applejack. They headed left alongside the wall. Once they reached the nearest buildings, they casually changed course and slipped into the alleyways, out of everypony's sight.
Sneaking through the city was not difficult. The only thing Twilight had to do was stay close behind Applejack as she navigated the streets. Applejack always knew how to evade the ponies they came across, where to speed up and where to turn around. More than once, they had to rush across busy streets and time their movements just right so that nopony noticed them. They had to take careful steps so their hooves wouldn't make too much noise on the pavement.
They wandered around for what seemed like – what must have been – hours. Everfree was enormous, and getting around it by hoof was a real hassle. As routes went, theirs wasn't exactly the most direct. It seemed to Twilight that they were doubling back more often than going forward. Whenever they spotted soldiers patrolling or standing guard near crowds, easily recognizable by their golden armor, they usually had to make a big circle. Occasionally, they did have chances for breaks, when they had to stay back and hide away somewhere, but Twilight simply didn't have the strength to keep going for long, especially with Spike on her back.
Applejack noticed her panting, of course.
"Hang in there, partner," she said, "It'll only be a short while."
But it wasn't just a short while.
At least that meant they had time to see the sights.
Everfree City was a far cry from Trottingham's squalor. Everything in it was neat and orderly and pretty as well. The architecture was a curious mix of modern and classical, simple and grandiose, pragmatic and ornamental – but all of it was built on a scale that Twilight had never seen before. Many of Manehattan's skyscrapers might have been taller, but none of them covered as much ground. Ponies didn't build structures this big in Twilight's Equestria. There were other oddities as well: some buildings didn't even seem to be constructed of brick or slabs, but carved like statues. Everything in the city – absolutely everything – was built of the same white rock, and the streets were paved with the same material. All the white gave the whole city an eerie radiance, as if Twilight had stepped into some kind of strange hyper-reality. As beautiful as it all looked, the brightness also highlighted the imperfections. Every little crack in the pavement and pile of bird droppings stood out.
Occasionally, Twilight caught glimpses of the Royal Palace at the heart of the city from between the other buildings. What she saw was white domes like giant hills of marble. The palace was flat and wide rather than tall and compact, and did not at all seem like the residence of an evil overlord. Twilight had imagines something completely different, some sort of dark and gloomy tower, with spikes extending skyward and firepits and skull-faced gargoyles. The reality was something she could actually picture Celestia living in, and that in itself made her much more uncomfortable than the ominous heraldry featuring her Princess's cutie mark. It wasn't just the palace either...
Eventually, the three found themselves in a residential district in the southern side of town, facing an apartment complex. The building was twenty floors high and shaped almost exactly like a cube. Twilight had never seen a more boring-looking place in her life. Even the white of its walls looked a bit duller than that of surrounding buildings, almost slightly grayish.
"Rarity lives here?" asked Twilight.
"Naah. One of our safehouses is in this building. I just wanted to check by here before heading to Rarity's. It'll only be a minute, and you can have a rest here."
Twilight frowned. "You could have mentioned that, you know."
They poked their heads through one of the doorways into a cramped corridor that slowly lit up with daylight as they stepped inside and then fell into darkness when they closed it behind themselves. Weak electric lights flickered on as they headed further inside. Applejack led them into a small elevator that creaked and groaned as it brought them up to the thirteenth floor. They exited into another corridor and passed by a dozen apartment doors packed very close together and Twilight had to wonder what the point of this detour was.
The hideout itself was decidedly unimpressive. Twilight couldn't see a thing until Applejack opened a sunshade on the tiny window and let in some light. The apartment consisted of a single room with a small kitchen corner and a bed that slid out of a wall. There was a couch, and Twilight didn't waste any time in throwing herself on it with a colossal sigh. It was old, sunk-in and uncomfortable, but it felt good to get off her hooves for a bit. Spike rolled off her and started examining a map of the city hanging on the wall.
Twilight was vaguely aware of Applejack starting to ruffle through some papers on a drawer.
"Rats," said Applejack quietly.
"Where?" asked Twilight, "Er, I mean, what's wrong?"
"I was hoping Big Mac had been through here and left a message or something. He's been off the grid for way too long now."
Seeing Applejack hunched up in the half-darkness made Twilight sit up straight. For a moment, she even thought Applejack might have been crying, but when the earth pony looked up at her, she could see that her eyes were dry and clear, just a little bit tired.
Twilight truly wished she could have said more than merely the expected.
"I'm sure he's okay."
It felt like a platitude, but Applejack seemed to take some comfort in the words.
"Yeah. My big brother won't easy to get rid of, let me tell you that! He's actually been captured by the Secret Police once before. Damn fool has a martyr complex, always puts himself in danger for the sake of everypony else. It was... pretty bad for him, but he persevered where a lot of others might have cracked. Somehow, we managed to get him out, I just... I just don't know whether we could pull off the same miracle twice, if they've taken him again."
"We won't have to," said Twilight with a slight smile, "We'll just pull off a whole new miracle by defeating Queen Celestia and then freeing all the prisoners."
Applejack didn't say anything to that, but Twilight could see that she was imagining it.
"Speaking of which," said Spike, "Have you got any stationary, Applejack? We have a letter to write."
"Oh!" exclaimed Twilight, "Right!"
Applejack wordlessly opened a shelf, stuffed some parchment, a pot of ink and a quill into her mouth and gave them to Spike, who handed them on to Twilight with a sour expression after sitting down next to her. He took pride in his role as royal scribe, but Twilight couldn't exactly dictate what she was about to write. She dipped her quill in ink with her horn and tried to ignore Applejack staring at her.
Dear Princess Celestia, she wrote. Her usual nomenclature was more important than ever right now. With two Celestias, who could tell what might happen if her wording was inexact?
Applejack and I have reached Everfree City and will be heading to find Rarity soon. Where could we meet up? Please respond as quickly as you can.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
"Sooo what are you writing?" asked Applejack.
Twilight hurriedly rolled up the parchment and thrust it into Spike's lap. The dragon sent it off with a flash of his flame, but not before giving Twilight a long glare probably meant to make her feel guilty. He didn't approve of keeping the truth from Applejack.
"I just told her we'd reached the city," said Twilight, "and asked where she could meet us."
"You didn't tell her about this hideout, did you?"
"Of course not!"
"Uh huh. So who exactly is this friend anyway? Another student of that Princess of yours?"
Twilight opened her mouth and then closed it again. She didn't really know what to say. Celestia had mentioned in her letter that she was traveling incognito, but they had never worked out a proper story. She didn't know what she'd have done if Spike hadn't come to the rescue.
"She's Twilight's aunt," he said, "and she's a really nice pony. Just wait, you'll definitely like her once you meet her! On top of that, she's super-talented with magic, way better than Twilight!"
"Oh thanks a lot, Spike!" muttered Twilight, even though he was, of course, right.
"I see," said Applejack curtly before turning back to her desk. Spike had just about enough time to look at Twilight and shrug before she turned around again. "You know, I don't think I caught her name?"
Twilight cleared her throat. "A-actually, isn't it about time you told me a little more about Rarity? How did you two meet?"
Applejack pursed her lips. It took her a while to answer.
"I'm not so sure she'd want me to tell you the exact details, but okay. I reckon I've known her for about a year by now. I've only talked to her face to face a few times though. The first time I met her was out in the open desert. She'd contacted me to set up the meet herself, so right off the bat, I was pretty darn suspicious. We've got to be careful about who to trust if we're going to survive, right? Once I actually saw her though, there wasn't a doubt in my mind that she was for real. Girl looked absolutely ridiculous out there with her oversized parasol and dainty little boots. She seemed to think there was too much sand out in the desert. There was no way she had any real experience with stuff like that. So I had her pegged as a pampered noble who'd never left the comfort of her home – and I wasn't wrong, not really. That just made her reasons for seeking out even more surprising though.
"Basically, she offered us a... business arrangement. Business is what Rarity's all about. Her special talent's finding precious gems and she's pretty savvy, so she's made a fortune in the mining industry. She's turned her family into one of the richest noble houses in Equestria. Quite a few of her mines are right here in and around Everfree, actually. So anyway, she offered to do something for us if we did something for her. It was a heck of a deal, so I agreed. Everything worked out real well, so we just sort of never stopped working together. The Apple Underground gets resources, funds and intelligence at a bargain."
If Twilight was listening with interest, then Spike was completely enraptured. He cut Twilight off before she could say anything herself.
"I heard one of your ponies call her something in Trottingham," he said.
Applejack chuckled. "What, the Lady of Liberty?"
"That was it!"
"Yup, she has her own fancy nickname and everything. Though I guess you could say she deserves it. Rarity... isn't like most other unicorns. Even before our agreement, she lived a dangerous life. She's been running an underground railroad to get oppressed ponies out of Everfree City for I don't know how many years. If somepony ends up on the Secret Police's hit list, or even if they're just sick of the life here but aren't allowed to move away, she can get them out to relative safety and freedom. Many of the ponies she rescues end up joining the Apple Underground. Saving lives's the kind of thing that makes you real popular, so as you can imagine, she has something of a reputation with earth ponies."
"Do you like her?" asked Twilight.
Applejack seemed taken aback by the question.
"Sure I like her! Well, I appreciate what she's done for us. You've no idea how grateful I am about her support. Plus, I'm real glad that unicorns like her are joining our cause, you know? Listen, I don't dislike her, okay?" She shook her head and refocused on Twilight. "Don't get the wrong idea, it's not like we're friends or anything. Circumstances being what they are, we don't get to hang around and chat much, and at the end of the day, we're just not very similar."
"Well, you know, Applejack, friendship isn't limited by anything like race or upbringing or taste. Ponies can be friends with all sorts of other ponies, including those that are very-"
There was a knock on the door.
Applejack was up on her hooves in a flash. When Spike opened his mouth to say something, she shushed him. For a moment, they all stood frozen in place. Who would have chanced to visit them, and how did they know to come at just the right time? Had they been discovered somehow? Surely, the authorities wouldn't knock if they came in force...
They didn't have a whole lot of options. Applejack warily made her way over to the door and opened it. Twilight held her breath and then promptly released it when she caught sight of a young unicorn mare about her own age, with airy light pink curls and a white coat. Twilight thought there was something terribly familiar about her, especially the serene expression and measured gaze. When the mare looked at Twilight and smiled, she realized it – and almost gasped out the stranger's identity right then and there. She couldn't, however, keep herself from pushing past Applejack and pressing herself close to her mentor. Celestia returned the nuzzle.
"Twilight Sparkle!" she said. Even her voice sounded different, less mature, more appropriate for her delicate frame.
"Hello, um, auntie! It's so good to see you!"
Celestia didn't miss a beat. "You don't know how worried I've been for you, my dear niece!"
Twilight detached herself from Celestia and looked her up and down once more. Hugging her felt strange when she wasn't towering over Twilight and didn't have a flowing mane to brush against her head and neck. In hindsight, it should have been obvious that it would be within the Princess's power to hide herself by magic even amongst other unicorns.
"I don't understand though. How did you find us?"
"A spell, Twilight. It seemed like the simplest option to me. There are ways to trace a dragon's flame-mail. You must remind me to teach one of them to you once we return home."
Twilight nodded eagerly. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Applejack looking on with a scowl.
"Well, go on then, come inside!" said Applejack, "Two unicorns in a tenement like this is going to look mighty suspicious! So will a pony looking too happy, come to think of it."
Twilight hopped inside ahead of Celestia, probably unable to stop grinning even if she wanted to. The room seemed to brighten as the Princess entered, though that might well have just been Twilight's imagination. Celestia greeted Spike with a pat to his head.
"Ahem," said Spike, pointing a hand towards the Princess, "Applejack, this is..."
"Twinkle," supplied Celestia. She also properly stood to face Applejack, smiling a relaxed smile. "I've heard a lot about you in the short while I've been here, Applejack. You are at the head of something heroic and admirable. I have a great deal of respect for everything you've done for your fellow ponies, and for Equestria."
She then did something Twilight would never have expected: bent her forelegs in an unpracticed but heartfelt half-bow. Even though Applejack's face bloomed in a blush, she made a noise that was half-neigh and half-harrumph.
"Begging your pardon, Miss Twinkle, but I haven't done a single thing 'for Equestria' in my whole entire life. It's Equestria I'm fighting against."
This seemed to catch Celestia off guard, but she quickly returned to smiling.
"Of course. My perspective must seem odd to you, but I consider Queen Celestia the real enemy of Equestria."
"Uh huh. Well, I hope nopony followed you to this place. It'd be a shame if one of our safehouses was compromised..."
"Oh, you don't have to worry. I can be very inconspicuous when I want to."
Twilight plopped down back next to Spike on the couch.
"May I ask what you've been doing the last few days, auntie?"
"I've done little else but study. I've explored the city and the culture of tyranny that built it, I've read up on the histories and politics of this world, I've talked to ponies to find out about this land and its leaders. In other words, I've been preparing for our attack. I have a few ideas of my own, but I applaud your initiative in seeking out the Elements of Harmony. The Elements could very well make the crucial difference in this war. It is wonderful to know that you have the moral fortitude to stand up for this world on your own. You do me proud."
Twilight raised an eyebrow at that. Not only had she never expected to hear dear, sweet Princess Celestia speak of waging war, it was surprising that she would say that the Elements of Harmony could "make the difference." As far as Twilight knew, they were the only way to save this world. What other method could there be for bloodlessly deposing Daymare Sun?
"You haven't heard anything about, er, your sister? Or Brainy Bright?"
"I'm afraid not. But don't worry, we will find them eventually – or perhaps they will find us."
They had gone over all the important bits in their brief letters, but there was a lot more Twilight would have liked to talk to the Princess about. Applejack's presence made that impossible.
She couldn't keep this a secret forever. She wasn't going to! This was just not the right time. Applejack was a reasonable pony, but she hated the Queen as much as anyone. If Twilight had been in her horseshoes, she would most definitely have been put off by knowing about the Princess being there. Celestia herself thought hiding her identity was a good idea for the time being as well.
"This is all well and good," said Spike, "but isn't it about time we go and find Rarity yet?"
He was looking at Twilight, but it was Applejack who answered.
"If you guys feel up to it, we can head off now."
"As a matter of fact, I had the occasion to scout out Lady Rarity's estate a while earlier," said Celestia, "I can take us there right away."
"That would be great, P- auntie!" exclaimed Twilight, "I really wasn't looking forward to another long walk!"
"Wait, what?" asked Applejack.
Celestia's horn had already started emitting a golden glow. In a moment, the glow had grown to encompass the whole room. When it abated, Twilight was surprised to find herself surrounded by greenery.
"Oh my!"
"What in tarnation?"
Celestia's technique was expectedly superb. Twilight didn't feel a trace of disorientation or physical pain from the jump.
"This is Lady Rarity's greenhouse garden," said Celestia, "She keeps it open to the public, unlike other nobles. We can get inside her manor from here."
"I- I didn't give you permission to do that!" grumbled Applejack.
"Oh? I'm sorry." She never lost her calm smile, not even when she bowed her head as a gesture of reconciliation. "We should move before somepony comes."
It wasn't as hot and humid as it would have been in a proper greenhouse. This place was more like indoor park. The plants there weren't exotic flowers or vegetables; most of them were ordinary trees and bushes Twilight could easily come across stepping out of her house in Ponyville. There were also ragged patches of grass, and it was clear that the plants there weren't watered as well as they should have been. Yet, this little oasis was considered the height of luxury. It smelled of nature and life, and Twilight wished she could spend a bit more time there.
They could see Rarity's home through the trees. The greenhouse was built directly into its side. The building was impressive enough, but not much different from any of the other mansions Twilight had spotted in the city.
Celestia confidently led them to a large set of double doors that could have passed for the front entrance of a lesser noble's abode.
"Shall I open it?" she asked, but didn't wait for a reply.
She raised a hoof and softly stomped it against the door. The lock clicked and the doorway opened. Twilight thought entering this way would leave a terrible impression, but followed the others inside anyway.
Just the entrance hall was as grand and beautiful as almost any room in Canterlot's royal palace. A vast staircase leading forward and then splitting in two filled much of the room. It was almost as light inside as outside. The floor was reflective, and the walls glittered. Everything that wasn't white was toned in shades of purple – those were still Rarity's colors, it seemed. A humongous crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling. Could two places be any more different than this mansion and the apartment building they'd all just come from?
"Would you like some refreshments?" asked a raspy voice from behind them.
Twilight whirled around and found... a diamond dog, wearing a tux. In his hands, he held a silver serving tray with several glasses of clear, pure water in them. His beady little eyes were fixed right on her, and his mouth was twisted into something quite like a snarl.
Spike scooted between Twilight and the dog, spreading his arms in a defensive posture, but Applejack in turn took up position before him.
"Hold on now!" she told the dog, "It's me! You do recognize me, don't you?"
"Of course. You're the rebel, Applejack, whom I have never met before. What are you doing here, outlaw?"
Applejack glanced back at Twilight. "It's okay, everything is fine and dandy. This isn't Daylight Sparkle. She's just wearing a disguise, so you can put away that knife."
Twilight hadn't even noticed that the dog was holding a knife in one of his hands, hidden underneath the tray. After a moment, he slipped it into a scabbard inside his vest. Applejack gave him an appreciative nod.
"We've come to see Rarity," she said, "Is she here?"
"Milady is home. Whom should I announce?"
"Yeah, you can just skip that part. Just tell us where your boss is and we'll go to her."
"Lady Rarity is in the third floor office. I believe you know the way, ponies."
They made their way upstairs in hurried steps. Being familiar with the area, it was Applejack leading the charge, while Celestia was content to stay in the back. Twilight barely had time to notice the opulent furnishings in the rush. Once they got to the office, she pushed ahead in her excitement and stormed through the door. Perhaps that wasn't the smartest thing to do...
Lady Rarity was there, seated behind an ancient-looking wooden desk with stacks of documents in front of her. She had a much fuller figure than the pony Twilight knew, but she looked no less beautiful. Her mane was still elegantly coiffed in the familiar style, but she used slightly different shades of color in her make-up. Her white coat had a healthy shine to it, and she was wearing horn-rimmed glasses as she worked. Unlike Applejack, her cutie mark was the same: three finely-cut diamonds.
Rarity's jaw dropped when she looked up and saw who'd busted in. Spike victoriously called her name. That was when Twilight realized how this must have looked like: a captured Applejack giving up her accomplice to the Commander of the Secret Police.
Rarity sunk out of her chair with a gasp and disappeared behind her desk. When she popped up again, her horn was glowing and she's pulled out a spiked mace from somewhere.
"Come on then!" she shrieked from behind the table, waving the mace around with her telekinesis, "Have at thee!"
"Whoa, nelly!" exclaimed Applejack, "Settle down, this is not what it looks like! There's a perfectly reasonable explanation for this, believe it or not!"
"I'm not Daylight Sparkle!" called out Twilight, "I'm not Daylight Sparkle!"
She was frantically rubbing off her fake cutie mark, revealing her own star and sparkles.
Rarity looked around between them, uncomprehending. Gradually, she relaxed and lowered her weapon. Applejack breathed a sigh of relief.
"Ahem," said Rarity.
Looking vaguely embarrassed all the while, she set down the mace on a shelf and returned to her seat as if nothing at all had happened.
"Applejack, what is the meaning of this?"
"I'm just the escort here," said Applejack, "This pony's the one with the story to tell."
"Hello!" said Twilight, "I guess I should start by introducing us. See, this here's Spike-"
"Hi, I'm Spike!" burst out Spike, wearing the goofiest possible grin and waving.
"Settle down, I just told her that! Anyway, that over there is Twinkle, and I'm Twilight Sparkle. This is all kind of complicated, so I'll just be direct. We're travelers from another dimension brought into this world by an accident, and we've come to enlist you and Applejack on a mission to defeat Queen Celestia."
Rarity laughed. It started off as an inelegant chortle and then evolved into a hearty, sonorous full laughter. She spent quite a while at it.
"Er, Rarity?" said Applejack once she stopped, "We're being completely and utterly serious here."
"Oh," said Rarity, looking completely and utterly lost. That didn't stop her from smiling politely. "Gosh, where are my manners? Please, do sit down, all of you."
Twilight and Applejack took their seats on cushy armchairs in front of Rarity's desk. Spike remained standing, while Celestia hung back for some reason, choosing instead to sit down on the floor close to the door. Rarity steepled her hooves and stared at them in silence. Her brow was furrowed. Eventually, she spoke up.
"All right, darling. I can buy the part about you being from another dimension. It's either that or you're an identical twin of Daylight Sparkle – or something! That part is implausible, but believable. But goodness gracious, how do you expect me to believe that you're going to defeat the Queen, just like that? Applejack, you know how I feel about that: it can't be done."
"It can be done," said Applejack.
"I don't want to sound mean, but recent events would suggest otherwise," deadpanned Rarity, "Then again, you never got close enough to try, did you?"
"There is a weapon that could do it," said Twilight.
She explained briefly about the Elements of Harmony, their little group of friends in her own world and everything that needed to be done. As Rarity listened, her expression shifted from bewilderment to worry to uncertainty – uncertainty not just about whether it could be done, but perhaps also about whether it couldn't be done.
"This is the longest of long shots, you do realize?"
"It's not nearly as hopeless as it looks!" said Twilight, glancing back at Princess Celestia, "With you, we already have half the gang together. If you think about it, the odds of either of you even existing in this world despite centuries of differences between the timelines are infinitesimal. We will find the others as well, and once we have the Elements, taking care of Daymare Sun will be a piece of cake!"
"And what about her armies?" asked Rarity, "Her hidden fortresses? The fanatics who'd be willing to die for her? Will they all just disappear with her? I can't help but think your view of this all is a little simplistic."
"If that's true, then you're over-thinking it," said Applejack, "You've worked hard to make a better world, and a world without Celestia will undoubtedly be a better place. I know you think she's untouchable, but that's exactly the kind of hopelessness she'd tried to breed into pony-folk so we'd never have the guts to try anything. Rarity, I think it's time for you to take direct action for once."
"Ahh, hmm, but do I necessarily have to come along with you to? Applejack, you know I'm willing to stand by your side, but I am not going to be much use in the field."
"Yes," said Twilight immediately, "It's absolutely vital that you come with us."
Rarity groaned at length, but ultimately put up her hooves in defeat, a weak smile on her face.
"Very well then. I'll come with you and see where this journey takes us. Maybe it'll even prove to be an interesting experience before the Queen kills us all. Do you mean for us to go off right now?"
"We should leave as soon as you can get your affairs in order, yes," said Applejack, "but there's no rush. There's actually something I want to ask you. Has Big Macintosh been through here lately, Rarity? Have you heard anything about him?"
Rarity frowned. "I'm afraid not, Applejack. Sonnette and Cloud Kicker did come by here and used my secret passage to escape the city, but I haven't seen any trace of Big Macintosh. Is he...?"
"We don't know."
"Ah. I'm sorry to hear that."
"Hmm, can I ask you something as well?" asked Twilight.
"Certainly – Twilight, was it?"
"What do you think of the fashion industry?"
"Why, I have nothing but respect for the artistry involved in making fine clothes."
"You've never... thought to try it out yourself?"
Rarity laughed. "Darling, where ever would I find the time for that?"
"What about painting? Writing? Composing music?"
"I'm afraid not."
"Sculpting? Interior decorating? Interpretative dance?"
"Neigh, if you'll pardon the pun."
Twilight could only gape. The idea of a Rarity that wasn't an artist was, frankly, strange and unfathomable to her. True, Rarity had always been something of a business-pony as well, and she did well for herself in that regard because of her natural cleverness, but certain questionable business practices kept her from truly excelling financially. She would never be the richest pony in Ponyville while she still gave her friends and neighbors free samples and discarded nearly finished designs due to flaws only she could see.
"So how did all this start? How did you become the Lady of Liberty?"
Rarity stood up and firmly pressed her forehooves on her desk. There was an almost visible glitter in her eyes.
"Why, I have known ever since I was a little filly that I had no greater purpose in this world than to do good! My heart has always bled for the weak and downtrodden; I've only ever waited for the chance to do my part in resisting the Queen's regime! Being the Lady of Liberty is my destiny!"
She plopped back down on her armchair and chuckled.
"Is that what you expected me to say? Well, actually, the truth is a bit more prosaic than that. You could say I stumbled into it by chance. There was a time when I didn't much care for anypony, let alone the plights of my inferiors. I was too rich to worry about such things! Then one day, one of my servants was accused of treason and I happened to know for a fact that she was innocent. She pleaded with me to help, so I got her out of the city and helped her set up a false identity. She told one of her relatives what I'd done for her, and then she came to me and told me about her coltfriend, who'd been blacklisted from working in the city for incurring the wrath of a noble. I helped him as well. Even though I strictly told them not to mention my involvement to anypony, ponies kept coming to me for assistance. I couldn't very well say no, could I? Every one of them told me their stories, and bit by bit, I became more aware of the injustices of this world. It became rather difficult to just stand by and do nothing."
"So that's why you made a deal with the Apple Underground?"
"Aheh... You could say that."
"I have to say, I admire you. I'm sure not many unicorns would have done the same thing in your stead – risking everything for a good cause even though your lives are privileged, I mean."
Rarity's smile right then looked rather painted on. "Privilege is rather relative, isn't it?"
"What do you mean?"
"Unicorns do form most of the upper strata of pony society, that is true, but we do pay a certain price for those privileges. We have no more freedom than earth ponies or pegasi, and in some respects, we have even less. I'm referring to the education system in particular. Earth ponies and pegasi get their lessons about what their 'proper place' is, but the schooling of unicorns is much more dogmatic. And that's not nearly the worst of it. You see, when a young unicorn earns his or her cutie mark, they are examined by the State. If they show the promise of great magical power, a prodigious mind or a valuable special talent, they are drafted and assigned to the Secret Police, the Officer Corps or perhaps a special division of the Army, where they undergo special training. I don't mean to mince words on this matter – they are forcibly removed from their homes and brainwashed." Her smile, bitter as it was, twisted into a frown. "When a colt or filly is selected to join the Secret Police, you can be the richest, most influential pony in Equestria, but you still won't be able to get them back. So yes, I'm afraid our privileges are quite useless in some regards."
"I'm... sorry to hear that," said Twilight.
She brushed her tail back and forth with her forehooves, unsure of whether to say anything more. Rarity did not sound as if she was merely voicing her righteous indignation. She sounded genuinely pained.
"Did they take Sweetie Belle?" asked Twilight quietly.
"Sweetie Belle?" repeated Rarity with a note of confusion in her voice.
"Your sister? You... do have a sister, don't you?"
Rarity shook her head. "I'm afraid I don't have any siblings, Twilight, brothers or sisters. And no, I don't mean that figuratively. I'm an only child."
"But then..."
"Be that as it may, don't think I only help the Underground with my wealth. I like to think I'm quite useful to them otherwise as well. Have you heard about the prison break they pulled off? It's the only recorded escape from the Secret Police's panopticon in Equestrian history. Well, I was the one who planned it – yes, me, none other! Did you know that?"
"I didn't," said Twilight slowly, "I thought Applejack was behind that, actually."
"That's just the cover story," said Applejack, "We can't exactly tell ponies the truth, can we?"
"Yes, luckily, I'm not a glory hound like Applejack here."
Applejack rolled her eyes, a smile on her lips. "Hardy har, Rarity."
"So wait, Rarity's operation was the one that got out your brother, Applejack?"
"Told you I felt grateful for her."
Twilight still didn't know what Rarity got out of their deal, but everything else came together nicely. Diamond dogs and the Lady of Liberty, an underground railroad and a fortune in mining...
"You use your company's mineshafts for the smuggling, right?"
"That's exactly right. Considering my role in Everfree City's economy, me and my associates can get away with doing just about anything down below. By constantly digging and re-digging the secret tunnels in different locations, the chance of our little operation being discovered is remote indeed. It's lucky for me this area is so rich in precious gems."
Twilight sat back, quietly impressed. This sort of cunning was something she might have expected from Rarity. Not only that, she was still the giving soul Twilight knew. Helping all those ponies was very generous of her, wasn't it? All things considered, it was amazing how familiar she seemed! Applejack and Rarity were both everything Twilight could have hoped for. She was confident the others wouldn't disappoint her either.
She had to believe that she herself was the only weak link – the only bad seed – among her friends in this universe.
"So yeah," said Applejack, "Let's get down to business, why don't we? The three ponies we still need to find are... what were their names again?"
"Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie," said Twilight, "Do you know any of them, Rarity?"
"I've never heard of the other two, but yes, I am familiar with Rainbow Dash."
Twilight felt a stab of elation. Everything was going perfectly.
"Well?" she asked insistently.
Rarity fidgeted around in her seat. "Very well, I'll tell you about her, but I do hope you realize this matter requires your strictest confidence. For you see, Rainbow Dash is none other than the Blue Bolt!"
Applejack whistled. "You mean this Rainbow Dash pony is the Blue Bolt? Galloping galoshes, I sure didn't expect that."
Twilight looked around between each of her companions. "I don't understand. Who's the Blue Bolt?"
"She's a thief," said Applejack.
"A most amusing thief," added Rarity, "Though actually, the State has officially classified her as a terrorist now."
"She operates all over Equestria, but Everfree City's her favorite hunting ground. She always goes after nobles, the richer the better, and the police force has failed to catch her for years now. They say she's the fastest flier in Equestria. The catch is that she gives away everything she steals to poor earth ponies or anypony else that needs it."
"Oh, you mean like the tale of Robin Hoof?"
"Yeah, exactly. She's even robbed government bureaus and granaries to distribute food to the needy. Sometimes, she gives supplies directly to the to the Apple Underground, though I've never met her personally. She's nothing less than a folk hero."
"Sort of like me," said Rarity with a sly smile, "but with less style and more hooves-on action. The brawn to my brain, if you will."
"Where could we find her?" asked Twilight.
"Her homebase, if you could call it that, is in the Dragon Swamp."
Applejack grunted. "That's pretty far."
"Well, we don't have to go there by hoof, do we?" Rarity's eye twitched. "Applejack, please tell me we're not going there by hoof."
A memory was dawning in Twilight's consciousness.
"Wait a minute."
She turned to Applejack and Spike.
"The guard at the gate! She mentioned a pegasus thief!" A very nasty feeling was spreading through her gut. "She said an Agent had been dispatched to the Dragon Swamp to deal with her."
"Goodness," said Rarity breathlessly.
"Oh crud, this is bad," growled Applejack, "She might just take off, fly so fast and so far that we'll never find her. And that's if she's lucky! I'm willing to bet she's never faced off against one of the Secret Police before. If they take her unawares, she could be in deadly danger."
"Twilight, do you remember the name of the Agent in question?" asked Rarity.
"It was... Striker. Yes. Agent Striker."
Rarity gasped and raised a hoof to her mouth. "Agent Striker is one of the Elite. He has a dragon."
The moment of silence that followed was almost physically painful. It was as if they had just gotten news of somepony's death. Perhaps they had.
Twilight glanced over her shoulder at Princess Celestia and found her strangely distant, lost in thought.
"We might already be too late," drawled out Applejack.
"No," said Twilight, "No! We don't know that yet!"
"Well then!" said Rarity, "It looks like we don't have a moment to lose, doesn't it?" She raised her voice and shouted "Fido!"
Another diamond dog butler – this one a particularly large specimen – lumbered through the doorway in a few seconds.
"Wake up Soarin'! Get my personal chariot underground to the tunnel-mouth! We have a rescue mission to perform!"
Fido barked an affirmative and left as quickly as he'd arrived.
"My personal chariot driver is one of the best in the business! We can make it to the Dragon Swamp within a turn by flight."
Rarity's confident smile made Twilight feel like they'd saved Rainbow Dash already. They all stood up, ready to follow Rarity down to the mines where their secret tunnel awaited them.
"He'll have to carry four of us, and a dragon," said Applejack, "That's a lot for any pegasus. Considering how much weight you've gained, you better not pack too much luggage. That means you'll have to leave home your cabinet of spare clothing."
Rarity gave an ridiculously protracted sigh. "Hilarious as ever, Applejack."
"There will only be three of you. I cannot join you."
Twilight whirled around to face Princess Celestia, who'd taken a few steps closer to the group.
"What?" asked Twilight, ears drooping, "But why?"
"I can't be there, Twilight. You know why."
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Applejack, "I thought you were supposed to be some kind of master wizard. We could use some of that out there, you know! Are you a coward?"
Celestia's eyes met Applejack's. She looked regretful, but also completely unapologetic.
"Well?" said Applejack.
Twilight raised her hoof. "Please, Applejack," she said, "It's complicated, but auntie's right about this."
"She is?" wondered Spike, eyes nervously flickering to the Princess.
She was. Twilight could see the rationale. Princess Celestia could come with them, and quite possibly make short work of the dragon – but what effect would that have in the long run? Their quest to find the Elements of Harmony was as much about the ponies as the Elements. Could they really form meaningful bonds if they ended up being mere onlookers in their own adventure? Could they truly demonstrate the qualities that defined them? Somehow, Twilight did not think so. No, they had to earn their own victories by working together. Celestia had no choice but to step back and let them find their own way – just as she'd done once before, when she'd arranged the defeat of Nightmare Moon. That was also why she'd stayed in the background while Twilight had made Rarity's acquaintance. She wanted their friendship to form on their own terms.
"I will meet up with you again once you've gathered up the others," said Celestia, "There are other things I can busy myself with in the meantime." She turned to look at Rarity. "Lady Rarity, I assume you've received an invitation to Lord Chocolate Sun's ball?"
Rarity fluttered her eyelashes in surprise. "Indeed I have. Now that you mention it, I suppose I won't be able to make it, since it takes place in four turns and I doubt we'll make it back by then. Oh, well, I can still go to the second-biggest gathering of pretentious jerks when the time comes."
"I hope this doesn't sound brazen, but may I take the invitation and go in your stead?"
"I... well, I have absolutely no problem with that, but why? I would assume..."
"Let me just get this straight, missy," said Applejack, "While we're going off to try and save somepony's life, you're staying here so you visit a ball?"
Applejack's accusation only made Celestia smile. One small smile said so much and yet so little. It was a rejection, an apology and a mystery. During an instant, the facade of Twinkle broke. Celestia looked her real age.
It really was just an instant.
"While I do love formal gatherings, that is not exactly what I'm interested in. Lord Chocolate Sun is known to have a collection of antique literature and documents, is he not?"
Rarity nodded. "Yes, his library is rather famous. Not that he ever reads any of it, mind you, he's barely literate. He just enjoys the reputation it earns him."
"I would rather not risk breaking into the Royal Library, and a private collection is much more likely to contain items of interest, so this should suit my purposes just fine."
"What do you mean?" asked Twilight.
"In an undertaking as momentous as ours, preparation is the key to everything. I must get to that library. Recall that we still don't know anything about the physical vessels of the Elements. I am confident that they exist, but where could they be? If there is any hint to be found about their location, I must find it. There are other things I wish to look into as well. For one, wouldn't it be grand if I found a prophecy predicting the downfall of Daymare Sun?"
"A prophecy?" repeated Applejack, voice dripping with doubt.
"I know it sounds like fantasy," said Rarity, "but there are records of genuine prophecies, I believe."
"A prophecy predicted the return of Nightmare Moon in our world," said Twilight, "You'll be looking for something similar, right?"
"Very good, Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight could almost see her hidden wings unfolding.
"Trust in me as you always do. I wouldn't let you go if I didn't think you could do it. I have faith in you and all your friends. Go, find Rainbow Dash!"
Next chapter: The Forgotten Princess.
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BornIn1142
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901
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Main 6,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Alternate Universe,Adventure,Dark,Drama,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Sunshine and Fire
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Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.
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incomplete
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<p>Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.</p><p>Feel free to check out or add to the story's <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/SunshineAndFire" rel="nofollow">TV Tropes page</a>.</p>
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teen
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2012-01-08T02:26:10+00:00
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2015-04-12T22:25:42+00:00
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Turn 10
Every evening when Luna woke up, the first thing she thought of was her millennium-long imprisonment, the first thing she remembered was Nightmare Moon's laughter and the first thing she felt was regret. Every morning after a hard night's work when she lay down to go to sleep, it was exactly the same. Every quiet moment, every minute she spent on her own, every hour where she had the slightest bit of time to think, her demons returned to haunt her.
Luna had a lot of time to herself, but the dim state between sleep and waking was the worst, because it was such a vivid reminder of what it had been like on the moon. She had never been truly awake, nor had she been fully conscious either. Somehow, she'd even had some awareness of what was going on down below in Equestria, when she wanted to. From time to time, she'd heard her sister's voice singing in the distance, but whether it was real or just a dream or a jumbled memory from childhood, she could not say. Mostly, the only thing she was aware of was being cold and lonely and in pain, yet she couldn't be sure she hadn't felt that way simply because there was something inside her that made her cold and lonely and pained.
The whispers never stopped for the whole thousand years. There were two beings thinking with her mind, but both of them had only a single voice – her own. Since it was all her, it was so difficult to keep it all straight, to tell what was real, to decide what she really wanted to do. Pondering over this in retrospective, Luna sometimes caught herself thinking a bad thought and got so frightened that it was back that she wanted to kill herself. She'd never mentioned this to anypony.
Luna still couldn't be sure whether she'd even existed as a physical entity, or whether it had only been an idea of her dumped in some metaphysical hole inside of that stupid rock that hung in the night sky. She couldn't ever ask Celestia; these were not things to be discussed openly.
Even now, so far away from home, with much bigger and more immediate concerns hanging over her head, she couldn't forget the woes of her past, not for one second.
Luna stayed in her cot for hours after waking up, not even bothering to disentangle the blanket from her wings or to pick up the pillow from where she had flung it in her sleep. The bed was made for a child and thus dreadfully small for somepony as big as Luna, but that didn't bother her. The bedclothes were rough and not very soft, quite unlike what she had in her royal chambers back home, but Luna had slept in it several times before remembering to mind.
Getting up seemed utterly pointless, but when she considered all the things she had to do, she knew that this couldn't be true. She had to find Celestia, for one, and make sure she was alright. Luna wasn't sure she could do much for her sister, but she had to try to comfort her if possible. Celestia was terribly sensitive to hatred and disharmony, and no doubt very distraught about the attack and this whole dreadful alternate universe. Then there was the matter of figuring out a way to get back home. Equestria – the real Equestria – could not be faring well without its ruler. It would be lucky if the government managed to keep widespread chaos from breaking out among the citizenry. Even worse, with both the Princesses gone, there was nopony there that knew how to move the sun and the moon. The time of the day would be locked in place until their return: day on one side of the planet and night on the other. Things would be okay for the time being, but this state of things would get very problematic in the long run. Last but not least, Luna had to find and annihilate Brainy Bright!
Yet, whatever ardor these thoughts built up in her died quickly.
Where could she even begin to look for Celestia? The only way she could think of was flying from town to town and asking around for her, but if she explained that she was looking for the beautiful, white, horned and winged ruler of Equestria, the pony she'd be pointed to would not be the one she wanted to find. Getting a hold of Brainy Bright and securing a way home was no easier. Everything seemed so difficult. Luna felt tired, even though she had done nothing to tire herself. A strange lethargy had overtaken her since coming to this place, and it was getting worse and worse. Her insides felt hollow, like a part of her was dead and gone. She had always been nocturnal by nature; perhaps that was why she could hardly bring herself to get out of bed here.
What was the point of anything, really? There was no day or night in this world, only the sun. None of the things that defined Luna's being existed here any longer. She was nothing more than a sad, strange relic. Of course, saying she was out of place wasn't quite right either, seeing as how she had
always failed to find her place even in her own world. There was a part of her that recognized how ridiculous the extent of her self-pity was, but the dark mood Luna was in was a pit she couldn't easily crawl out of.
She did, however, eventually manage to crawl out of bed. The room was too small to stretch herself out fully, so she settled for turning her head until her vertebrae popped. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and shambled into the living room. To her relief and dismay, it seemed that the others were already out in the fields – though "already" was perhaps the wrong expression, considering how arbitrary daily cycles were here. Luna couldn't even venture a guess as to how long she'd slept. It was an unusual feeling for somepony who was used to always knowing the exact time through one of her extra senses.
There was a sparse meal set on the table, consisting of a wooden cup of milk and a plate of small spherical rolls of bread. Next to the plate, Luna found a penciled note in the rough handwriting of somepony writing with their mouth.
You should really eat something, it said.
Luna stared at the food ambivalently, before deciding to nibble one of the rolls of bread. It tasted quite good – kind of fruity – but she couldn't bring herself to do more than finish off the one she'd started. Eating was such a hassle.
After standing around awkwardly for a couple of minutes, Luna was just about ready to go back to bed – but there was another note on the outside of the bedroom door.
Don't take this the wrong way, but maybe you should go out for a bit?
Underneath the note was a happy smiley snout drawn in bright blue crayon.
Luna sighed and turned around. She didn't want to impugn on the wishes of her hosts, so she made herself leave the cottage. The door creaked and quivered as she opened it. One of the hinges was loose; Luna noted that for later.
The sunlight outside was as powerful as ever, though Luna wasn't much bothered by it. She was more resilient to high and low temperatures than the strongest earth pony; what would have been painful for most any other living being was was not even an inconvenience to her. Her eyesight was basically unaffected by the bright light as well, but even so, she couldn't bring herself to look directly at the sun. It disturbed her. She had noticed one curiosity though: of all the things in this world, only Luna still cast a shadow while outside in direct sunlight. It was darker than black and made her stand out almost as much as her mane and tail.
Luna was not at all sure what she should do. In the short while that she'd arrived in Hillside, she'd quickly become something of a curiosity and a source of endless rumor, so she was honestly surprised not to see any ponies around. Luna was, after all, a vision of a night-sky apparently not seen by anypony in centuries; she had a horn and wings and a shadow, and was – according to some – extremely beautiful as well. She was thus half-annoyed and half-relieved that nopony was there to gawk at her, though it was natural enough if she thought about. In a small farming community like this, ponies were most likely to be either working or sleeping at any time, which left little time for waiting behind a closed door for a mysterious guest to wake up.
Luna wasn't certain whether to call Hillside a town or a village. It would perhaps have been most accurate to say that it was a collection of villages so close together they had melted into one. There was no elder or mayor, just a long swathe of windowless, ramshackle houses built on hilltops and hillsides. Each hill had its own name, and between them were the fields and wells – the two things most necessary for life to continue in Hillside. Ecologically speaking, the place was lovely. There was grass growing in the area, as well as some pine-trees, though not quite enough to make a forest. It didn't even matter that most of the plants were yellow and sagging.
Reluctantly, Luna set out to see if she could find anypony. She cantered down the side of Piney Hill and up the slopes of Ponyhill, then followed the small valley between the Littlehills to Middlehill. (With so many hills to name, they couldn't all be winners.) Taking into account the short detours she had to make to avoid stomping through the fields, it was perhaps an hour's worth of wandering all together. She didn't come across a single pone on the way until she finally reached Middlehill.
Her steps wavered when she heard voices up ahead – unexpectedly loud voices. Luna slowed down and crept closer, finding an entire crowd in the small square on the summit. Several cloth bags were strewn around between them, and a number of large chests had been dragged out of the nearby houses. After a moment of confusion, Luna realized what was going on: it was soldiers requisitioning supplies. There was about half a dozen of them, standing amidst the villagers in gleaming gold armor. Luna had been told of them visiting Hillside recently, but she hadn't yet seen any.
After a moment spent frozen in hesitation – during which she was lucky that everypony's attention was too caught up in the proceedings to fall on her – Luna stepped further back and set about casting a spell of invisibility over herself. The dark glimmer of her horn caught the eye of one of the villagers, but by the time she turned to look her way, Luna had already disappeared. She felt too tired to get into lengthy explanations on who she was and where she came from. Dealing with all this... it was such a bother. She could only barely bring herself to walk forward amongst the crowd to look over what was going on.
It was the villagers themselves doing the repacking of their bread, grass and vegetables, with the soldiers overseeing them. A bored-looking unicorn officer was killing time standing in the sidelines, leaving an earth pony sergeant in charge of the work and dealing with the questions of the ponyfolk.
"When are you leaving this area?"
"Yeah, when are you leaving?"
"When?"
They seemed to feel safer asking such questions in a group, but the sergeant seemed understanding enough.
"There's been a delay," she said, "but we'll be ready to move across the border, I promise. We're very grateful for the assistance you provide."
"So long as you understand that we don't have much to spare for you!" said one of the villagers, an elderly mare, "The harvests have been getting worse and worse since Queen Celestia moved the Sun so close!"
"Is it going back to Everfree City once you've taken care of the griffons?" asked another one, a younger male pony.
"I wouldn't presume to make guesses about Her Holiness's decisions," said the sergeant smoothly.
The griping didn't end there. Luna could understand the villagers' ire, but wasn't inclined against the soldiers either. From what she had heard, Equestria was at war, and requisitioning foodstuffs from civilians was sometimes just a necessity when times were tough. In ages past, she herself had been forced into the position of keeping armies fed in such a manner. Seeing as this unit only asked for a portion from each household instead of simply taking everything, they were more benevolent than others might have been.
Once all the supplies were redistributed, the soldiers heaved their newly filled bags on their backs and set out. The sergeant had a one final thing to say to the villagers.
"Remember to be on the watch for griffon spies and saboteurs! Report any griffons you see in this area to the military immediately, and do not try to interact with them! Under no conditions are you to harbor any of them! Do you understand?"
The villagers exchanged worried glances, but had no reply otherwise. The sergeant gave them a nod and cantered off after her commanding officer. Luna watched her and the others head down the hillside for a moment, and then – to her surprise – went after them. At long last, she felt something clear and positive: curiosity. She wanted to know what the Equestrian military was really like, and so decided to follow the soldiers back to their camp. Luna had heard some disturbing, frightful things about Queen Celestia. The truth was that she didn't want to believe them, so she hoped to find out more. There might have been, she thought, some other explanation for why things in this world were as they were.
The group headed northeast, crossing hill after hill on their way. Occasionally, they came across other collection teams picking up supplies from some of the other villages of Hillside, but there were still few villagers on the move. Luna's hooves didn't bend a single blade of grass as she walked, let alone make any noise. She didn't have to worry about being noticed, so she easily kept up with the other ponies' quick military match. It didn't take them long to reach the edge of the settlement. Once they got over one final ridge, Luna finally laid eyes on where the military had set up camp – an abandoned city.
Hillside was apparently located in territory annexed from the Griffon Kingdom many years ago. The ghostly city nearby had once been a griffon settlement. Although pony settlers had cannibalized it for raw materials and other valuable leftovers, griffon architecture wasn't really suited for permanent habitation by landlocked earth ponies, which most of the settlers just happened to be. Although it was still decent for giving an army unit on the move shade from the sunshine, the city was little more than a burned out ruin nowadays. Most of its plentiful towers had long since collapsed, brought down by the ravages of time, and perhaps also damage from the first pony-griffon war. The sad picture was completed by the giant sun illuminating the wreckage. It was close, just beyond the mountains that loomed on the horizon beyond the ruins.
The unicorn officer kept apart from the others on their way, but the sergeant made small talk with the others and asked questions of them. This all faded when they reached the abandoned city. Despite the hundreds of soldiers milling about the streets, the whole camp was unnaturally quiet. Luna wasn't sure whether that was because of the solemnity of the environment or something else entirely.
The band took their supplies to a quartermaster, based in an empty and cavernous hall that was largely intact. They also met their commanding officer there – a grizzled, middle-aged unicorn mare with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. The colonel's coat was a cloudy gray and her mane a silver-striped off-white. Half of her snout was a mess of talon-scars and she wore an eyepatch over one eye. The wounds looked relatively recent.
"Well, soldiers?" she asked the new arrivals sharply, "Did you see any griffons?"
It was the sergeant who answered. "No, sir. No griffons anywhere."
"That's where you're wrong!" barked the colonel, "Griffons can be just about anywhere! By Celestia, we can't let our guard down for one moment if we're to beat them! Do you think I got like this because I fell into a rosebush?" She raised her forehoof and pointed it at her face.
"No, sir. Sorry, sir."
"What did the villagers have to say? Come on now!"
"They've seen no trace of the enemy."
"They are lying, of course," said the colonel, "We have reports of griffon scouts coming down in this area. I just know they're hiding somewhere around here!"
The sergeant wisely kept her mouth shut at that. Luna, on her part, turned around to leave in search of somepony more interesting. This whole scene was an embarrassment. Before stepping out the door, she took one last look at the colonel, who was now pacing around the hall with a manic intensity. Her eyes were gleaming with unshed tears and madness.
"I'll need to go there myself in a turn or two to find out the truth! Yes, there will have to be an inspection..."
Luna shook her head and stepped outside. This mare was obviously in no condition to be in command of anything right now. Still, there would probably be no great harm if she brought her troops to knock on some doors in Hillside. After all, it wasn't as if there were really griffon spies hidden there...
She went on to trot around the cityscape, covertly looking in on what the soldiers were up to. Being invisible granted her a pleasant sense of freedom, though this freedom came at a price. She felt like a coward, and a bit of a voyeur as well. This was not behavior befitting a Princess.
From what Luna gathered, there were about a thousand earth ponies in the ruined city – a battalion – as well as some hundred pegasi. The earth ponies were under the command of unicorn officers. Many of them were busy with drills and sparring, or with fixing up this or that for their temporary lodgings, or with standing guard on the perimeter, but just as many were resting and waiting. As expected, the upcoming battle dominated all conversation, but the general mood was neither as somber nor as jittery as Luna would have expected. The troops seemed to await the coming battle with resignation. Nopony seemed worried that the griffons would strike first.
Luna soon came across a group of officers discussing the state of things over a meal. Their outlook was generally optimistic.
"If it hadn't been for that mishap in Stalliongrad, we'd have won this war already. At this point, we're just wasting time."
"I'm not so sure about that. It'll probably take us some time to take the Valley of the Wind and get our main force into griffon territory."
"Do you think that terrorist incursion into Everfree might have been part of the reason for why top brass delayed the attack?"
"Perhaps. I don't see why the Council would be so worried though. The rebels were routed, weren't they? They were never even a threat."
"I have to admit, speaking purely from a strategic perspective, I don't feel comfortable leaving the City so defenseless while most of the army is concentrated here. It would take us weeks to get back there, and the occupation army in Zebrica is out of the game entirely."
"The garrison at Everfree is more than enough to handle Applejack's rag-tag bunch of misfits. She'll never have the numbers to threaten the City openly. The Secret Police will handle them. Meanwhile, we have the griffons shaking in their feathers, so they won't strike out beyond their borders. Who does that leave? No one. Gentleponies, we have no enemies left."
"I can't believe you're worried about that. The Queen is in Everfree City."
One veteran earth pony warrior, sitting underneath a tarp overhang with a bunch of younger recruits, was giving instructions on enemy tactics.
"You'll hear officers telling you that griffons are cowards. They'll be talking right out of their flanks! Griffons are not cowards. In nine cases out of ten, a griffon will face you head on in an honest battle. They're too honorable to ambush you or gang up on you. They call it "chivalry." That's their weakness right there, you hear me? Never get into a one-on-one fight if you can help it. When you see an opportunity to hit them while they're unawares, take it. When one of them picks you out, retreat. Mingle with your comrades, rely on numbers to overwhelm them. That's how you'll survive."
As cynical and dirty as this sounded, it was probably good, pragmatic advice. Luna couldn't blame them for thinking this way. Others, however, had very different ideas and were even looking forward to the battle. On a lookout post on top of one of the standing towers, three pegasi in chainmail armor were having a discussion of their own. Since no stairs led there at all, Luna had to hover up so the beating of her wings wouldn't give her away.
"Sir Darlton Feathershine the Rampant. That's who I want to fight. He's supposed to be a real beast, so wild that others won't even hunt with him. Huge as a bear, too! They won't soon forget my name if I manage to kill him. I've heard he's been spotted at the griffons' defensive line near here, so I think I have a shot."
"Feathershine is good, but the real prizes are back at the Capitolium Leo. I'm setting my sights on one of the King's Claws, the bodyguards of the royal line. If I'm lucky, I might even nab Frederica Greenhill. The Avenger, they call her. Though, I'm worried the capital will already have been picked apart by the time we get there."
"I thought Dame Greenhill had passed away? She must be close to a hundred by now."
"The way I hear it, she swore an oath to die in battle before old age claims her. She'll take to the field sooner or later. If only those bloody giftless earth ponies could finally get a move on..."
"Your goals are lofty, my fellows – but I'm aiming higher still. I'm going to bring down an aeromancer, just you wait."
Overall, there was griping about the army group whose late arrival was responsible for the delay in the invasion plans, musing about sneaking to Hillside for some off-duty entertainment, grousing over the rationing. It was all very normal, very expected, and yet Luna couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. From time to time, she could sense the indistinct stink of rotting meat in the stale air, but the feeling disappeared as soon as she tried to home in on it. She couldn't even trust herself to be sure whether she merely imagined it or not. On top of that, even though she knew she was invisible, she couldn't get over the notion that somepony or something was watching her.
Throughout all this, Luna still couldn't figure out the big mystery... Why was Equestria going to war? Why all this was necessary? Ponies were pure and noble and good in general, and not given to warring unless it was to defend themselves. They usually only did bad things because of bad influence, because they were led astray. The Celestia Luna knew would never have condoned violence without a very good reason. What was she supposed to make of it all? Was she among the armies of evil or the forces of righteousness? She wished her sister had been there to help her and to take away the responsibility of having to decide for herself what to do. Luna was too tired to think properly.
In the end, Luna even saw a griffon – a dead one. She caught the scent of its blood from up the street. When she went to investigate, she found a small crowd gathered around a limping pegasus with a broken wing. The pegasus was very small for an adult stallion, and his bulging eyes would have been almost funny if it hadn't been for the streaks of dried blood in his coat. The griffon corpse he was dragging behind himself was covered in dark red, and every single limb seemed to be bent at an odd angle.
"Why did you bring it back to camp?" somepony asked him.
"Trophy," grunted the pegasus, "For my wall."
Luna shuddered.
Turn 11
By the time Luna returned to the cottage a couple of hours later, Sandy and Sweet Potato were already back home as well. Despite knowing she was welcome there, Luna slinked inside with the greatest sense of embarrassment, which was then mostly dispelled when little Wingspan came galloping up to her like an excited puppy.
"Hello!" he said.
"Good, um, good day!" said Luna earnestly.
"You gonna do another trick, Miss Woona?"
"No, not right now. Maybe later..."
Wingspan nodded, grabbed her by the hoof and dragged her over to the hearth, where his parents were making dinner, lunch, breakfast – whatever. It looked to be some sort of tree root soup.
"Welcome back!" said Sandy, "We're so glad you're okay!"
"Oh yes," agreed Sweet Potato, "We got a little worried about chasing you out of the house just as the soldiers came around for another visit. None of them saw you, did they?"
"No," said Luna, "Why shouldn't they see me?"
They couple glanced at each other. "We just thought it might be... trouble," said Sandy.
Luna had hidden herself from the soldiers almost off-handedly, but now she tried to imagine what kind of "trouble" she might have gotten into with them. She could at least hope that none of them would have tried to make a trophy out of her.
Sandy and Sweet Potato had been kind enough to give Luna a place to stay since she'd found her way to Hillside a short while ago. She'd been in a rather sorry state back then, so she was thankful for their assistance, even though she didn't strictly speaking need the shelter or the food. Luna had told the family – in rough terms – who she was and where she was from, though she didn't for a moment think that they fully believed her. They did, however, accept her even though she looked unlike anything they had ever seen.
Sweet Potato was fairly small of frame for an earth pony, though still all wiry muscle under his yellow coat. He had spiky ginger hair and – unsurprisingly – a potato for a cutie mark, though it was a potato plant, not the produce itself. Sandy was a maroon pegasus with a black-ish mane and tail and a quill cutie mark. One of her wings was slightly bent, indicating an old injury. Their young colt took after his mother in looks as well as race. He was still very young and didn't yet seem to understand the differences between his parents.
"The soup's almost ready if you want it!" said Sweet Potato.
"You didn't eat anything earlier, so you must be very hungry," added Sandy, "I'll get out a bowl for you."
"Um, thanks."
Luna would have preferred to go back to sleep, but didn't feel the need to argue. It was courteous to stay for the meal. In the same vein, although she didn't need nearly as much sustenance as a normal pony, she still forced herself to eat so the others wouldn't feel uncomfortable about what she was.
"By the way, I noticed that the hinge on the door is a little shaky!" said Luna, "I could fix that up for you, if you want."
Sandy and Sweet Potato glanced at each other again, as they often did. They were so in tune with each other seemed to understand each other perfectly through the shortest moments of eye contact. Every time they did it, Luna felt like she was getting left out of entire unvoiced conversations.
"Feel free if you'd like," said Sandy with a smile.
Luna could hardly take a step back towards the entrance when she already found Wingspan at her side.
"You're going to do a magic trick, aren't you?"
"I will perform a spell, yes, but it really won't be very impressive this time."
She couldn't help but try to give him a little show of sorts. She let a bit of mist stream forth as she started exuding black light from her horn. Pointing the horn at the hinge, she started working her magic, reverting the effects of years of mechanical stress. For good measure, she fixed the other one as well. Though his parents looked fairly ambivalent about the display, Wingspan watched Luna in fascination. He had never seen unicorn magic before meeting her.
"That was very nice of you, Luna," said Sweet Potato once she was done.
"No problem!" replied Luna with a vague smile.
It was her way of giving something back to the family. With her magical expertise, repairing this and that around the household was easy as pie. All the same though, she couldn't suppress the guilty little feeling that told her that this was pointless and that there were much bigger issues she should have concerned herself with.
After that, they ate. Luna gobbled up her bowl of soup dutifully and remained sitting at the table. The soup tasted a lot like... well, tree roots – rather bland, in other words. Wingspan wasn't fond of it, but his mother talked him into finishing it, after which he retreated into his play-corner for some quality time with his toys. Luna waited until his parents were done as well.
"I'm curious about some things," she said.
Both Sandy and Sweet Potato smiled identical smiles. Luna had been curious about a lot of things. She'd been quizzing them about most anything that came to mind since she'd moved in. They had taught her a lot of things about the world she now found herself in.
"What do you want to know?"
"What, exactly, does 'giftless' mean?" asked Luna.
The couple shared yet another glance, their smiles gone now. Asking the question, or just saying the word, seemed to impact their good mood somewhat. In this case, the glance was an indication for Sweet Potato to speak.
"Well, according to all the histories, all ponies used to be just ponies. When Celestia descended from the heavens and brought harmony to Equestria, she gave her subjects two gifts: horns and wings like her own. One third of ponykind became unicorns and another third pegasi. But the Queen didn't have any gifts left for those that remained, so they had to stay just ponies forever after. That's why we're the giftless."
"The Queen also declared that since earth ponies are the only ones that can grow crops anywhere but the very hottest deserts, they were obligated to produce food for ponykind and handle the more menial jobs while the other races dealt with more important matters using their gifts."
"That- that doesn't even make sense!" burst out Luna, "How are earth ponies giftless if they have abilities unicorns and pegasi don't? Doesn't anypony realize how contradictory this is? Just because earth ponies' talents aren't visible-"
She shut up abruptly, turning a little red under Sandy's and Sweet Potato's gazes. They certainly didn't need her to tell them how unfair the system was. Sweet Potato was the one that had lived with this discrimination his entire life.
"Wait, you're saying you've been taught that Celestia created unicorns and pegasi?" wondered Luna, "That is such a... such a... such a load of dung!"
"How do you know?" asked Sandy and Sweet at the same time.
It was a good question. She didn't really know, or at least, she couldn't explain how she felt safe in the knowledge that things had happened the same way in this universe as they had in her own.
"Everything in Equestria is kept separate between earth ponies and the other two races," said Sandy, "Schools and hospitals, obviously, and public facilities too. In the case of living areas, it's more the result of economic differences. Relationships are restricted as well."
"'Relationships are restricted?'" repeated Luna, "You mean... there are anti-miscegenation laws?"
"Miscege-what?"
"I mean, it's illegal for ponies of two different races to marry?"
"Well, it's not illegal... It's just not supposed to happen. That goes for all three races, but earth ponies especially."
"If a foal born to a pegasus and earth pony couple or a unicorn and earth pony couple has wings or a horn, they're said to have stolen Celestia's Gift. Things can be very difficult for ponies born from such unions."
Both of them looked over to Wingspan as one. The colt was lounging on the floor and drawing on a piece of paper with dark blue crayon. Luna could guess what he was drawing. Since her arrival, he'd churned out one heart-warmingly grotesque rendition of her after another. He seemed to think she was "cool."
"Do the other ponies here have a problem with you two... you know?" asked Luna.
"Some do. Sandy gets some nasty glances from time to time..."
"That's not because I'm a pegasus; they just think I'm useless."
"...but we get along with most folks just fine. Wingspan plays with the other colts and fillies like any other kid. They're just used to us by now, I suppose."
"Out here in the borderlands, these kinds of stigmas aren't too big of a deal. There's one other pegasus in Hillside, and I hear her family's lived here since the beginning. Young stallions try to court her often enough, but she's not very sociable and mostly stays to herself. That kind of stuff would not be acceptable in the city."
"Well," said Luna, "what would happen if two ponies in a city decided to pursue that kind of relationship? Or what if you moved to some bigger place?"
"I'm not really sure, to be honest," said Sandy with a nervous laugh, while Sweet Potato shrugged. Neither of them looked comfortable with the thought.
"How did you two end up together then, if this is such a big deal?" asked Luna, "How did you even meet? You're not from around here, are you Sandy?" She paused. "I hope it's okay for me to ask."
Sandy laughed, but there was a certain awkward fakeness to it. She had a brief look at her husband before answering. "Of course it's okay! It's kind of a long story though, and not nearly as exciting as you'd expect from a tale of forbidden love. I won't bore you with the details."
That sounded rather evasive, but Luna didn't feel the need to push it. Everypony had some things they wanted to keep to themselves, or things they just didn't like to talk about.
They were all silent for a good long time. Sandy and Sweet Potato finished up their meals, while Luna sat still and pondered. Her thoughts kept sliding back to the one big issue still on her mind – the question she'd been wondering about since coming to Hillside, but had never dared ask. She reckoned it was time to see if she had built up enough courage by now.
Besides, protracted silences with Sandy and Sweet Potato always made her nervous that they were only waiting for the chance to ask Luna when she would move out.
She cleared her throat, catching their attention, and looked at both of them in turn.
"Do you know anything about any other ponies named Luna?" she asked, her voice a little more high-pitched than she intended.
She could tell right away that they did not. Both of them looked at each other inquisitively and were reassured that the other knew just as little about any Lunas as themselves.
"I don't think so, no."
"Sorry, doesn't ring a bell."
"It wouldn't necessarily be somepony you know," urged Luna, "It might be a historical figure, or... something!"
She was too embarrassed to mention the possibility of "Luna" being the former co-ruler of Equestria.
"Well, if you're wondering about history, there's somepony who might be able to help you."
Luna leaned forward. "Oh? Please, go on!"
"There's an old pony that used to work in the big city many years ago. He's not quite a scholar, but he does know a lot, especially about folklore and things like that."
"Mind you, he is getting on in the years, so his memory is a little fuzzy. He can't remember his name anymore, so we at the village just call him Old Pony."
"He lives right near here, on Last Hill."
Turn 12
Luna had a self-conscious look around before raising her hoof and knocking on Old Pony's door. Although the hut he lived in wasn't terribly big, it took a long time before Luna got any sort of response. As Sandy and Sweet Potato had explained to her, catching somepony while they were awake was a matter of luck, so she waited. Just as she started wondering whether it would be proper to knock again, she heard shuffling from inside. Soon after, the door opened, revealing a shriveled-up old stallion half the size of Luna herself. Old Pony had a coat of faded turquoise and little to none of his mane left. He squinted up his eyes in the sunlight.
"Hi?" said Luna.
"Oh? Oh, why hello there! I've been expecting you!"
Luna's eyes widened. "You- you have?"
"Well, aren't you here to deliver my milk?"
"What? No! That's not it at all! My name is Luna, I came here because I heard you could tell me something about the legends of Equestria's past!"
Old Pony stood still for a moment, an expression of utter confusion on his face, then smiled. "Is that how it is? Well, come on in then! You'll have to forgive me, it's a bit of a mess, eh."
Saying it was a bit of a mess was an understatement. The light shining in through the open doorway illuminated the oodles of dust swirling around in the air, and everything else as well. There were books, scrolls and clothes strewn about everywhere, and a rolled-up rug took up most of the dining table – and there was a smell, oh yes. Luna could tell Old Pony was a bachelor. A moment later, she felt bad for thinking that.
Stepping into the room, she almost lost her balance and fell over when the small brown thing on the floor she had (for some reason) thought was a fur hat – but actually turned out to be a small cat – leapt up and streaked across the room. The only space clear for sitting was the bed, so Luna elected to remain standing. Old Pony ponderously made his way there to lie down. Once down, he paused to think.
"Oh my goodness," he said, "I forgot to offer you some water."
"That's all right," said Luna quickly.
It was apparently a bit discourteous for a visitor to refuse water when offered, but Luna was uncomfortable seeing somepony this old and infirm strain himself. She wasn't going to let herself be waited on. Old Pony didn't look offended, but that didn't stop an awkward silence from settling in. His eyes were half-closed and his head kept swaying downwards, as if he was close to nodding off.
"So," began Luna, "is it true you don't remember your name anymore?"
"What'd you say?"
"Never mind..."
"What?"
Luna bit her lip and raised her voice when she continued. "I have a question about the history of Equestria! I was told you were the pony to see?"
"Oh yeah? Well, I do know this and that."
"Well, what I want to know is..." She searched for the proper words. "Do you know anything about Queen Celestia ever having a sister?"
"You're referring to the Forgotten Princess?"
Luna lowered her head. "Yes, I suppose so."
"Hmmmhm. Not many primary sources survive from that period, but I am familiar with the known lore surrounding her. Her name was Luna, and she was once Celestia's equal and opposite." He cleared his throat. "Once upon a time, in the wake of the disastrous reign of Discord, both sisters ruled Equestria together. Celestia, the elder sister, controlled the sun and Luna, the younger sister, controlled the moon. In these days, you see, time passed in a cycle of days and nights, heralded by the movement of two different celestial bodies. The moon was similar to the sun, but brought darkness instead of light. Both sisters also had the title of Princess, in case you're wondering. Anyway, Equestria is said to have been very different in those times – very peaceful and harmonious. But a thousand years ago, something changed."
At this point, Old Pony paused and blinked his eyes in confusion.
"Yes?" Luna urged him.
"Easy, my dear. I was just collecting my thoughts. Now where was I? Oh yes." He cleared his throat again. "Princess Luna disappeared, and Celestia became Queen. Things continued on much the same for a while, and nopony ever knew what happened to Luna. However, there is one last reference to her in the historical texts. When the Queen declared the Eternal Day, destroyed the moon and started the wars of conquest, Luna is supposed to have returned and led a rebellion to try and stop her sister. She came with a secret weapon, something called the Aspects of Harmony or the Elements of Harmony and fought Celestia in a grand battle that is said to have moved mountains. But she and her rebellion failed, and that was the last anypony has heard of her. This was the beginning of what is commonly known as the Tyranny of Light, approximately 750 years ago. From then on, Princess Luna has been consigned to the realm of memory."
"So she was killed," said Luna, looking at the floor.
There was a substantial pause before Old Pony answered. "Yes," he said. He was now staring intently at Luna, eyes fully open, as if only now realizing how unusual she looked like. "What did you say your name was again, young lady?"
Luna ignored the question. It wasn't so much that she felt she had to be secretive – she just didn't see the point if he was likely to forget her as soon as she left anyway.
"Why?" she asked, "Why did Celestia do that? Did she... do it out of her own free will?"
"There is some question on the matter."
"Well, hurry up and tell me!"
"Ahem. There are some stories claiming that Celestia became a tyrant because she has been possessed, or that she has some sort of alter ego called Daymare Sun. The Queen has never referred to herself as such though, and in fact actively discourages ponies from spreading rumors like that."
Luna swayed on her hooves for a moment, then buckled and turned around. She muttered a halfhearted thank you to the surprised Old Pony and rushed out of the hut, back into the bright sunlight. There were perhaps other questions she might have asked, other important matters to consider, but for the moment, she just wanted to get out of there.
She galloped away at random, holding back tears, not even minding where she was going. A painful mixture of different feelings was swirling around in her chest. She felt at a loss on how to handle this, what to think, how to cope. It was hard to think even straight. Rationally speaking, she knew that the Princess Luna who'd lived and died in this world was not her, that she'd been another individual entirely. At the same time though, she knew without the shadow of a doubt that it could have been her, if things had gone differently. Distinguishing them was difficult.
There had once been a time when Luna had been terribly afraid that her sister was going to kill her, but the matter of her mortality was not something she felt she had ever resolved. The thought that she might come across her own dusty bones disturbed her, but that wasn't even the worst of it. Knowing that this entire world and everything wrong with it was a monument to her failure was something else entirely. Whereas Celestia had managed to use the Elements of Harmony to defeat the evil Nightmare Moon, Luna had fallen short in her mission to save the world from Daymare Sun, and died. How many species had gone extinct when the ecosystem had collapsed? How many thinking beings had died in the wars? How many ponies had been killed for trying to resist? And how many still lived under the thrall of a tyrant, not even knowing that they could have been living full and happy lives in freedom, peace and harmony?
It was, all of it, Luna's fault as well – and that burned her more than the heat of the sun ever could. The sheer scope of it was hard to grasp. How was she supposed to deal with the weight of it all?
Underneath, in her heart of hearts, Luna even felt a touch of a sickening sense of triumph, mixed with familiar shameful jealousy. The fact that a world without her was a horrible, desolate wasteland was, in a sense, incontrovertible proof that she mattered. But that was the thing, wasn't it? While the absence of Luna and her moon brought about a decline, it didn't cause the death of everything in all the land like the disappearance of Celestia and her sun would have. It was clear who the more important one of the two was, was it not?
Luna almost wanted to laugh. Worrying over her place in the cosmos was such a ridiculously petty concern, especially in light of the suffering ordinary ponies went through. She hated herself for being such a pathetic crybaby. Acting hysterical like that should have been beneath her, but she simply didn't have Celestia's uncanny self-control; she couldn't help it.
Luna didn't get very far into the countryside before slowing down her pace and gradually coming to a halt. She sighed and looked around, blinking her eyes to clear the tears from them. She had ended up next to a large, half-empty field of carrots, with stalks of corn visible further away. A familiar-looking patch of pines was visible on the next hill over, indicating that she was still close to Sandy and Sweet Potato's cottage. Feeling rather drained, Luna flapped her wings and rose up into the air to quickly get back to bed and forget about everything for a while. There was no way that she wanted to face her hosts right now, but odds were that they had left to go to work by then.
As she was soaring, Luna's gaze accidentally drifted towards the sun. Looking at it made her flinch, and not simply because she didn't like what she saw. She knew nature, and could sense exactly how unnatural the sun's power was. It wasn't just radiating sunshine and fire, but also an evil magic that seemed frightfully familiar to her. The longer she let her gaze linger on it, the more her impressions deepened of some vast intelligence staring back at her, of not being alone, of furious screams echoing inside her head...
With a start, Luna realized that she wasn't imagining it. The screaming was real; she could hear it. It seemed to come from the cottage ahead of her: her destination.
Frowning, Luna sped up and touched down before the cottage. Its door – the same one Luna had repaired previously – had been knocked off its hinges and was now lying on the ground, a large crack running through it. Several voices sounded from inside. Luna stepped into the doorway. The scene that unfolded before her made her blood boil.
The dining table had been tossed upside down, the dishes broken into pieces on the floor. Wingspan was cowering in the corner, a small trail of blood running from his nose. There was an earth pony soldier standing before him. Another one was beating on an unconscious Sweet Potato, already battered and bruised. Two more were menacing Sandy, who was backing away in stiff, twitchy movements, her face face contorted into a fearful grimace. All of the soldiers were saying something or other, whether they were shouting angrily or speaking in quiet mockery. Luna couldn't make out what they were saying in the confusion, beyond hearing one of them call Sandy a whore. It didn't matter. She didn't care what they had to say. She didn't bother demanding an explanation either.
Quivering with silent rage, Luna took a step forward and raised her wings, blocking off most of the light from the doorway and causing the room to dim. This was enough to catch the soldiers' attention. Each of them turned to face her, but before they had a chance to react, Luna's shadow stretched forward on the floor, growing clearer and darker, swirling and spreading like a living thing. Once it touched their hooves, the soldiers were caught in it, unable to move. Luna plucked them from where they stood and dragged them towards her, away from their victims. One of them whinnied fearfully, another gave a wheezy scream of his own. Luna stepped back out the door, drew them out after her and tossed them in the air. The shadow retreated back into the approximate shape of a pony and reared.
One of the soldiers went rolling down the hillside. The other three were picking themselves up from their harsh landing. Luna jumped on the closest one, knocked the helmet off his head and pounded down on his face until he stopped moving. Even seeing red, her mind completely blank, she held back her full strength so she only ended up knocking him unconscious. Without pausing to take a breath, she took aim at the next one and fired off a spell. The flare of black light burst out of her horn and struck the soldier in the chest. The soldier, somewhat protected by his golden armor, was left staggering backwards in a daze. A few more shots and he collapsed to the ground.
The third one was more prepared. He reached down with his mouth and pulled a short sword from a scabbard on his chest, then made a mad dash to get to her before she could get him. Luna deflected the sword with her horn and slammed her forehoof into the soldier's chest, but he had strength enough to shrug that off. His next slash, Luna ducked. This gave her the opening to buck him to kingdom come. The soldier's jaw shattered under her horseshoes. Luna – panting heavily, though more from anger than exertion – was left staring at him writhing on the ground in pain. Somehow, it didn't seem like punishment enough for hurting a child.
There was still one left – the one who had gotten separated from the others. When Luna scanned the hillside for him, she found him galloping away in fright. Luna took to the air and swooped after him. It took her mere seconds to catch up.
"Face me, you coward!" she yelled.
The soldier stumbled on the uneven terrain and went sprawling before Luna could even do anything. Luna came down on top of him and pressed him against the ground roughly, but before she could incapacitate this fourth bastard, she noticed more soldiers approaching. Two infantryponies and an officer were coming to their comrade's aid. Luna growled in frustration. She hadn't thought this through at all, had she?
The new arrivals were confused and frightened. They didn't understand what they were up against. Luna wasn't sure what to do about them, but unicorn officer made that decision for her when she ordered an attack. Both of the earth pony soldiers pulled out their own swords and split up to get to either side of Luna. The officer gouged out some sort of whistle and blew it. Luna had no patience for this, and tried to communicate that.
"I'm not the bad guy here, you fools!"
The group was warily edging closer. Luna had to swing her head around from one side to another to keep sight of them. More of them were coming as well, over the crest of another nearby hill. The one underneath Luna's hooves feebly tried to crawl free, so she kicked him.
"Stay away if you know what's good for you!"
They wouldn't listen. They were just moments from attacking. This was going all wrong...
"I said... stay away!"
Luna got rid of the soldiers surrounding her by teleporting them away, all the way to the other side of the settlement. She needed more time to think, but it was no use. The next group of reinforcements was much bigger – an entire contingent. It looked like every soldier in the vicinity was coming for her.
Luna was going to make them disappear as well, but it wasn't just soldiers that were coming. There were at least a dozen village ponies among them, chained together by leashes around their necks. They were being led by the mad commander Luna had seen earlier. She stomped ahead of the other, but slowed down the closer she got to Luna until she finally came to a halt opposite her. Upon seeing Luna's wings, horn, mane and shadow, the colonel's expression had turned to one of shock.
"What are you?" she demanded.
"What are these ponies doing here?" asked Luna in turn, nodding towards the villagers.
"Them? They're suspicious persons that I've placed under arrest!"
"On what charges?"
The colonel hesitated. Luna doubted that she could even describe whatever paranoid logic drove her to go this far with her "inspection." She had been gravely mistaken in thinking that this delusional madmare wouldn't be a danger to anypony. What would happen to them now, if Luna didn't do something?
"I don't have to justify myself to you, freak!" said the colonel, "I ask again: what are you? And what are you doing with my subordinate?"
"Help me, sir, please!" cried the pony under Luna.
She kicked him again. "Shut your mouth, worm!"
Luna didn't even try to calm herself down. She stood tall and proud and fixed the colonel with a glare.
"You want to know what I am?" she asked, "Well, I'll tell you! I am your rightful lord and master; I am your Princess! And if you do not obey me, I will be your worst nightmare! The conduct of the troops under your command is reprehensible, and their behavior reflects a failure in leadership on your part! Consider yourself relieved of duty! I will take charge myself!"
The colonel stared at her in disbelief, and some of her forces started murmuring amongst themselves. Luna heard some of what they were saying: "looks like the Queen," "what did she do," "insane," "look at her hair," "demon." Finally, the mare in charge started shaking her head, too flabbergasted even to laugh. In fact, she seemed to be getting angrier. Without looking at her forces, she gave them a single, simple command.
"Bring me her head!"
Luna wasn't certain, but she had the impression that Equestria had just declared war on her.
Turn 13
Things had... escalated.
Luna had never meant for things to go this for. She had never meant for any of this to happen at all, but now the die was cast and Luna had to see how it landed.
She had been fighting for hours now, with hoof and magic both. Pegasi, unicorns and earth ponies alike had thrown themselves at her, but they'd bitten off more than they could chew. Luna had defeated them all. The mad commander herself had been taken care of easily enough, and her captives freed and sent home. Luna had also checked up on Sandy and Sweet Potato to make sure they were all right, and imprisoned the four soldiers that had tried to harm them, though in truth, she had no idea what to do with the villains now.
These things accomplished, she had flown all across Hillside and driven out any and all troops in it. Then she had moved on to the dead city of the griffons, where she had done the same. She was still there now, scouring the streets of strays. Few of the soldiers resisted anymore; most simply left the city behind and escaped. Before Luna knew it, the place had been hers.
By this point, Luna had calmed down, more or less, and granted that she had probably overreacted a little. Even though the ironclad certainty that had driven her actions was starting to fade, she didn't really feel bad either. The thing that had been guiding her was pure protective instinct. True, she could have flown away, escaped, avoided conflict – but that would have meant having the leave Hillside at the mercy of these barbarians.
Not a single soul had been killed in the course of her rampage, not even those desperate few that had grasped her motives and tried to use the villagers as hostages. She did not fault all of them for the actions of a few, but it was obvious by now that the presence of the battalion might have been quite a bit more than a slight disruption in the villagers' daily lives. They were a threat. Luna had rectified that... but it wasn't enough.
Luna didn't feel tired, weak, lethargic or feeble any longer. Her sorrow and self-pity were forgotten for now, burned out by a righteous anger she had not felt in an eternity. For the first time since her arrival in this world, she felt exhilarated and alive. It might have been because she had done the right thing. She had needed something like this, something to snap her out of her funk. Rather than feeling bad about what her counterpart in this world had failed to do in the distant past, she had to work out what she could do right in the here and now. She'd spent enough time hiding and avoiding responsibility when there was so much for her to do, such a great many things that had to be fixed.
Luna truly believed that ponies were good by nature. They didn't do bad things but for bad influence, and an unfit commanding officer was neither the beginning nor the end. That's why Luna had to go directly for the source of the problem. The first thing that had to be corrected was Daymare Sun.
Next chapter: Justice, Like Lightning...
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BornIn1142
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901
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Main 6,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Alternate Universe,Adventure,Dark,Drama,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Sunshine and Fire
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Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.
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incomplete
| 1,389 | 32 |
<p>Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.</p><p>Feel free to check out or add to the story's <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/SunshineAndFire" rel="nofollow">TV Tropes page</a>.</p>
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teen
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2012-02-19T03:39:00+00:00
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2015-04-12T22:26:55+00:00
| 11,409 |
Twilight could hear Rarity's voice, cutting through the haze of her dreams. She was telling her to be a dear and wake up – and she did, right away. Her sleep had been light and restless, and she'd never been able to shake off the perception of her companions' quiet murmuring conversation and the noise of the air rushing past. Twilight opened her eyes, still groggy, and found herself looking at Applejack's face.
"Whazzat?" she muttered, "Are we there?"
"Won't be long now," said Applejack.
Twilight struggled up on her hooves, but not before yawning so hard her jawbone popped. It was quite possible that she was more tired now than when she had laid down to rest. Sleeping on a flying carriage while out in the open sunlight had been one of most uniquely unpleasant experiences she had ever suffered through. In fact, it seemed a miracle that she'd been able to nod off at all. They had taken Rarity's fastest and lightest chariot, which – while opulent – was a little too cramped for three full-grown ponies and one very small dragon. None of them had a lot of movement space. The ride hadn't exactly been the smoothest either, considering the speeds they were doing, but the worst thing of all, obviously, was the heat.
Twilight closed her eyes for a moment longer, enjoying the feel of the wind on her coat. It was a scant pleasure. Her bones, her joints, her muscles – all of them felt stiff and achey, and the sunlight was still beating down on her mercilessly. Unfortunately, they couldn't afford to lose the gain in velocity they got from using a lighter open-air chariot instead of a closed carriage. Rarity had a sporty and fashionable calash with a folding top that would have seated them all, but by a stroke of bad luck, it had happened to be in for repairs just then.
Twilight's knees buckled when Spike hopped from Applejack's back to hers, as much from surprise as outright fatigue. She was about to tell him off, but then the chariot careened forward gently, causing everypony inside to bump into each other in turn. Soarin' was descending.
"Careful you don't fall, Spike," said Twilight.
"Hah hah!" said Spike, glancing back at Rarity, "As if I was that clumsy!"
That was when they finally spotted their destination. Twilight and Spike – at the very front end of the chariot – got the best view. "The Dragon Swamp" was a somewhat ostentatious name for a maze of shallow, winding depressions framed by numerous dried-up tree stumps lying on the hillsides or standing stubbornly in place like gravestones. The ground was all drab and brown, a mix of sand and dry organic grit, not greatly distinguished from the surrounding desert. A small valley led into the distance where there had once been a river. There was a certain deathly peacefulness about the place, that much was undeniable.
"Why's this place called the Dragon Swamp anyway?" asked Spike.
"Well, it's obviously an anachronism," said Twilight, "There used to be a swamp, maybe even as recently as a century ago, which then disappeared due to changing weather patterns. It didn't go dry overnight, so the name stuck around even after the swamp itself was long gone."
Spike rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah! I was wondering more about the 'Dragon' part, Twilight."
"Oh. Hey, why is it called the Dragon Swamp?"
"I'm not sure," said Applejack with a shrug, "Some folk tale about a dragon, I think."
"The name is rather ominous, considering the circumstances," muttered Rarity, "You don't see any real dragons around, do you? No sign of our dear Agent Striker?"
"He's got to be around somewhere," said Applejack, "No way we beat the guy here."
Soarin' set down the chariot on high ground. Since none of them had any idea where exactly Rainbow Dash's abode might have been, they were going to have to look for her. That Striker might have come across her first, or that Rainbow Dash might be hostile because of Twilight's presence were both very real possibilities – but they still relied on the assumption that Rainbow Dash was even there in the first place. If she was away on business at the moment, well, that would have been troublesome.
Twilight was no tactician, but even she could tell that the uneven ground in the area made it really easy for a pony to keep an eye on somepony else without being spotted themselves. Perhaps that was why Rainbow Dash chose to live there in the first place. A dragon wasn't exactly the easiest thing to hide, but as far as they knew, Striker might have been watching them from somewhere very close by, hidden by the terrain and the glare of the sunlight. There was no way to tell.
The others must have been thinking the same thing. Rarity was nervously eying the surroundings as she daintily lumbered out of the chariot, and Applejack warned them to keep a lookout when she followed. Twilight was the last to stumble out. Feeling good, solid ground under her hooves after almost a full 24 hours in the air felt like a godsend.
"Are you all right, darling?" asked Rarity.
"As well as can be expected," said Twilight, "What about you?"
"Oh well," said Rarity with a polite smile, "This is most definitely an experience I hope never to have to go through again. I hope you understand."
"We're going to have to get back somehow, you know," replied Applejack.
All of them were well aware that it was Rarity who had been most miserable in that chariot. Twilight had the suspicion that – despite her three different methods of transportation – Rarity didn't really leave the house all that often. She hadn't managed a moment of sleep on their journey and looked uncharacteristically haggard. Her hair was coming loose and there were bags under her eyes. And yet, although she was far away from her usual comforts, she braved the situation without complaint.
Soarin' joined them once he'd gotten his harness off. He grabbed the canteen from the chariot, drank several long gulps and even went as far as to pour some over his head. Wasteful as it was, Twilight couldn't begrudge him the luxury. He looked somewhat drained, although there was still bounce in his step. Twilight wasn't exactly sure how much this Soarin' differed from the one in her world, since she couldn't quite conjure up an image of the superstar athlete in her mind. Rainbow Dash would have killed her if she found out about that.
"You've done a wonderful job, Soarin'," said Rarity, "Nopony could have done better. Do you feel up for accompanying us on our search?"
"I wouldn't miss it for the world, actually!" replied Soarin' brightly, "It's not like I could just wait here while all these interesting things might be happening just around the corner. Besides, it could be dangerous out there."
They set out into the wilderness once they'd all had a drink. It was agreed that splitting up was unwise with the threat of Agent Striker hanging over their heads, even though that would have helped them cover ground faster. Twilight was glad for that. It was very important for them to stick together to become good friends and earn their Elements of Harmony. In fact, Twilight even guiltily wished that Spike and Soarin' hadn't been there with her, Applejack and Rarity. They mostly stayed on the ridges, trading off safety for a better view of the surroundings. From time to time, they had to cross trenches where the former waterways had been.
Moving about was difficult, which made the Swamp seem bigger than it really was. The ground was dreadfully soft, and ancient, gnarled remains of tree roots seemed to get in their way whenever it was least convenient. Applejack went up ahead, with Twilight and Spike close behind her. Rarity was last, huffing and puffing as she walked. Soarin' stayed at her side like a guard dog; he seemed to behave more like a bodyguard than a chauffeur. Twilight wondered if how much good he'd be in a fight.
Despite her anxiety to meet Rainbow Dash, Twilight had to work to keep her attention from flagging. They had been in such a rush to set out from Everfree City, but after all the waiting on their ride – hours upon hours of just standing on their hooves, boxed into place, talking and resting when they tired of talking – the sense of urgency seemed to be gone. By this point, Twilight had gone through and discarded a dozen different what-ifs spelling doom, always coming back to her original conclusion: it was better to hope than to doubt. They were either too late or they weren't. If Agent Striker was only now bearing down on Rainbow Dash, then Twilight was confident she could sense any serious emissions of magic and lead the others to Dash's aid. As it was, they were just trying their luck.
There were some signs of life to be found in the Swamp, if one looked close enough: there were small burrows in the sand, for instance, as well as occasional trails of tiny paws. Things lived there. Of pony habitation, however, they couldn't find a trace. No convenient trail leading to where ever Rainbow Dash lived presented itself.
Twilight decided to use the time spent wandering productively and fell back to Rarity.
"So how did you and Rainbow Dash meet?" she asked.
Rarity tossed her a sideways glance. "Aheh. Well, how does one meet a serial thief? You get robbed by one, that's how. The Blue Bolt broke into my mansion a year or two ago and tried to burglarize me. All in all, a rather tumultuous beginning to a relationship."
"I can imagine. Breaking and entering doesn't seem very conductive to, um, becoming friends. What happened?"
"The Blue Bolt operates in a very particular way. She strikes... well, I'll just go ahead and avoid using the phrase 'out of the blue'... no, not 'like lightning out of a clear sky' either... Well, she strikes when ponies least expect it. Knowing what I do know, it's probably because she's impulsive and thoughtless and makes her moves without any sort of prior planning, but this unpredictability does make her difficult to catch, both for her targets and the authorities, and lends her a certain aura of invincibility.
"I certainly never considered the possibility that she might target me. I remember, I was going over some profit reports with a nice glass of sherry in the lounge when Rover came in and told me we had an intruder in the house. It was a bit of a shock, to say the least."
"It's true," added Soarin', "She was shocked."
"Luckily, my diamond dogs are highly capable – not to mention territorial. They get a bit touchy when somepony enters their 'turf', as they call it. They managed to close off the exits and seal her inside. The lot of them had a merry game of cat and mouse all over the building. My entire household couldn't catch her, but at least they managed to keep her from stealing much anything. Finally, we happened to stumble across each other as I was trying to get to my panic room. Not knowing what else to do, I engaged her in conversation and asked her to have a glass of sherry with me. Despite her rude and dismissive attitude, I managed to convince her that we were alike in some ways. We made a deal. I am in an excellent position to give her tipoffs about the assets of the nobility, who has the most and who'd deserve to lose some. I don't really get much in return, but that just means I have a lot of credit built up with her. She owes me."
"And all the things she steals, she distributes to the needy," said Twilight, chewing her lip and thinking, "She sounds like a really good person."
"I suppose. She's certainly valorous. I mean, she's been known to break into the same places several times, letting her targets get new security systems and hire more guards and then going back just to show them up. She beats them every time, but there have been some close calls."
"Oh, what I wouldn't give for a chance to race her!" said Soarin', "We had a short kerfuffle in the corridors at Lady Rarity's, but you can only really tell these things under the open sky. I asked her to a speed date, but she turned me down." He sighed, but not in a gloomy way. "There's all sorts of rumors flying around about how fast the Blue Bolt is supposed to be; I just have to know for myself! I know these things get exaggerated, but her skills are said to be legendary! Though, to be honest, I'm not a big fan of the name 'the Blue Bolt'. It just seems like it could be flashier, you know?"
"You'd prefer something like 'Wonderbolt'?" suggested Twilight, ignoring the groan from Spike.
"Hey, I like that!" said Soarin' brightly.
"I hope you do realize that Rainbow Dash didn't pick out the name herself," said Rarity, "It's just something ponies started calling her."
"Oh, did she not? Well, since madam started to call herself the Lady of Liberty on her own, I just assumed..."
"Hah hah haa," said Rarity forcedly, "Let's move on to another subject, shall we?"
"Good idea!" said Spike, "I've had enough about Rainbow Dash anyway. I'm more interested in you, Lady Rarity!"
Rarity slowly turned to look at him. "Indeed? And what do you want to know, dragon?"
"Are you seeing anypony? I mean, I would assume a gorgeous, intelligent, glamorous pony like you would definitely have a very special somepony..."
Twilight raised a quizzical eyebrow at Soarin's sudden coughing fit. Then she noticed the stiff expression of Rarity's face.
"That's a little private, don't you think?" asked Rarity.
Spike chuckled nervously. "Is it?"
"Well, it's something I'd prefer not to talk about. I'm sure you understand."
Spike didn't get the chance to answer as she added pace and cantered up ahead to where Applejack was.
At or near the center of the Dragon Swamp, at the bottom of a concave depression, they found a lake or something like it – seemingly the only remainder of the waterways. It was roughly circular and bigger than might have been expected. There was a lot of empty space around it where the water levels had dwindled over time. It looked to be rather shallow, but that was hard to ascertain since the surface of the still water was an impenetrable brown. There were even some signs of plant life, floating in the sludge in small clumps.
The group did split up at the lake, to cover it from all around. They scanned the shore in semicircles and came back together on the opposite side, having found nothing.
"This is a waste of time," said Applejack, "Aren't there any spells you could use to find Rainbow Dash?"
"If there was any practical way to track her by magic, I'd have done that to begin with. Such spells are usually complex and require magical aids, as well as usually some personal items or such. We don't have anything like that on us, do we?"
"All right, all right, I get the picture."
"Hey, didn't something just move there?" asked Spike breathlessly.
Twilight found him pointing a finger towards the water. "I don't think there's been any movement there for decades, Spike." She turned her attention to Applejack. "This is pretty much the only source of water in the area, isn't it? Shouldn't Rainbow Dash have a place very near here?"
"Not necessarily. I could see her bringing in her own drinking water. Yup, I could definitely see that."
"Shouldn't we move somewhere, ahem, less exposed?" said Rarity.
"I don't know, should we?" said Twilight, "We want Rainbow Dash to notice us if she's here, don't we?"
"But we don't want anypony else to notice us."
"Listen, I can see something moving," said Spike, "There's bubbles."
Twilight sighed. "There are no bubbles, Spike."
"Well, actually," said Applejack, "I can see some of those too."
They all turned to look, just in time to see a particularly large bubble pop on the surface.
"Swamp gas," said Twilight, "Or just an air pocket."
"Or maybe Rainbow Dash has a secret underwater base hidden there!" exclaimed Spike.
"Let's keep our perspective here. There's no need to get excited over... all right, that's a little weird."
Something was rising out of the water – something slimy and writhing and big. A living thing. It uncoiled itself out into the open air, dripping with dark mud from the bottom of the lake. Its elongated, snake-like body towered above them and swayed dangerously from side to side. The monster reached out two gangly arms into the sky, opened a gigantic maw filled with a row of vicious-looking incisors and started a groan from the depths of its throat. Whatever it was, it was... stretching and yawning.
When the great brown thing finally opened its eyes and noticed the ponies before it, gaping upwards, it froze. Then it shrieked.
"Oooohhhh myyyy goodness! Oh my goodness! Please don't tell me you're here to arrest me!"
None of them quite knew what to say to that. Suddenly, it bent toward them to have a closer look. Twilight and the others took a step back as one – all except for Rarity, who cringed and fell on her backside when her hindlegs gave out underneath her.
"A dragon!" squeaked Twilight, feeling terribly vulnerable.
"A wild dragon at that!" said Soarin', "That's kind of cool."
"Actually, I'd prefer to be called a free dragon," said the dragon with a small swish of his hand that flicked drops of mud all over them.
"And it's one of them water-dwelling types," said Applejack, "The Secret Police don't use those."
Spike cautiously held out his hand. "Hey there! Pleased to meet you, I guess."
Two great reptilian eyes swiveled around between Spike, Rarity and Twilight Sparkle before finally resting on Applejack. The elder dragon's hand was entirely too big to shake the younger's, so he elected to pat Spike on the head.
"My oh my, you are a free one as well, aren't you, little one? I take it you fine folks are not with the Secret Police?"
"Heck no," said Applejack, "And we're not looking for a fight."
"Yes!" added Rarity, "I mean no! Most certainly not!"
She had gotten up at some point and maneuvered herself behind Applejack. Rarity's wide-eyed gaze was locked on the dragon, while Applejack was glancing around, perhaps assessing their chances at escaping. Twilight, meanwhile, managed to start breathing again and tried to think back to everything she knew of water dragons. They were the least numerous of the dragon races, as well as the ones most different from the physical baseline, though they were still capable of interbreeding with other kinds of dragons. They lived both at outer sea and in-land, and were also unusual in that, instead of breathing magical fire, they could ingest and expel great quantities of water.
Seeing the dragon up close brought the droopy bushels of hair on its face to her attention.
"Wait a minute," she said, "I know you. I'm sure I know you!"
"Ummmm, I'm quite sure you don't, miss! Or do you? I have a hard time keeping all you ponies apart, to be quite honest. But with the social life I keep, I certainly can't imagine where I might have met you!"
"No, you're right," said Twilight quickly, "It's kind of a long story. Say, do you live here?"
The dragon took a deep breath and gave the longest sigh in history.
"I do, unfortunately!" he exclaimed, his lip quivering, "You can't imagine what it's like, living in this dingy mud-hole! It's so small that I can hardly move! My body fat's gone way up in the last century! And the dirt, oh, the dirt! It makes personal grooming an impossibility! Look at all the dirt under my claws! It's terrible, I tell you!"
He reached forward his hands to show them his nails, though in truth, his nails weren't even visible under the layer of mud.
"You poor dear," said Rarity quietly, without a trace of sarcasm in her voice.
"Wait, so if you live here, do you know a pony named Rainbow Dash?" asked Spike, looking to Twilight for approval, "We're kind of looking for her, so could you maybe point us in the right direction?"
The dragon narrowed his eyes. "Well, maybe I could, maybe I couldn't. I happen to be a friend and confidante to Rainbow Dash, and I can't let just anypony see her! Who are you again?"
"Ah," said Rarity, "We'd actually like to enlist Dash's help for an epic quest sort of thing? I'm a business partner of hers. My name is Lady Rarity; I'm sure she's mentioned me."
The dragon stood up straight and started stroking its chin. "Hmm. Hmmm. Hmmmmm. Oh yes, Rarity! Come to think of it, she did mention you once!"
"Once...?" repeated Rarity.
"But how do I know you're really her? No, no, no, I can't give her up just like that!"
"Look, we don't have time to argue about this!" said Applejack, "We're not from the Secret Police, but we happen to know for a fact that one of them is coming for her. He's got a dragon too, and that one's decidedly not 'free.' We came her to warn Rainbow Dash. Tell us where she is, will you?"
"Oh! Well! That's not good at all!" He sighed again. "All right, the truth is that Rainbow Dash isn't here right now."
Twilight could almost feel the collective team spirit deflate a little.
"She's away on business, actually. Left for a granary at Hoovesburg a while ago. It shouldn't be too long until she's back, so I suppose you could stay here to wait for her, and keep me company while you're at it."
Applejack and Rarity both glanced at Twilight, and she knew that they were both thinking the same thing as her – what now? Spike, on the other hand, seemed unconcerned.
"So what are you doing in a place like this?" he asked the other dragon, "I mean, you must have been living here for quite a while, right?"
"Too long! Too long!"
"Yeah, there aren't supposed to be any wild dragons in Equestria as far as anypony knows," mentioned Soarin', "By the way, do you know what kind of stallions Rainbow Dash likes to race?"
"I can't say that I do, Mr. Pegasus. But be that as it may, I'd certainly be willing to share my sad, sad story with you, if you're willing to hear it?" He cleared his throat.
"Do we really have time for this?" asked Applejack, "We should find a place with the least visibility and the most overview and lie in wait for-"
"I still remember when this place was lush and green!" said the dragon, speaking over Applejack, "Well, perhaps that's a bit of an exaggeration. Everything was already starting to show signs of withering away, but the swamp still reached as far as the eye could see, there were rivers just around the corner and this lake was big enough to get lost in it. There were still living things around, with dozens of different species flying and crawling and scurrying everywhere. The delicious alligators were my favorites. Anyway, I found my way here on my way from the East Sea. I came in-land through the River Bellerophon. Some of my cousins, the dragons of the air, were hunting me, so I stopped to rest here. I fell asleep underwater some miles from where we are now. When I woke up, a century had passed and the terrain had changed greatly. The water-ways had dried enough that I couldn't get back to the ocean. I was trapped. I floundered around for years as more and more of the water disappeared, until I eventually ended up here."
"What were you doing in Equestria in the first place?" asked Spike, "Why was someone hunting you?"
"Well, if you must know, I came here looking for an egg."
"An egg?"
"My egg. The Matriarch gave it away! Just like she gives away all the eggs! I wanted to rescue my offspring from you ponies, but she wouldn't allow it. So I set out on my own. I thought I could find the egg and hide it away somewhere... Instead I ended up stuck here, not knowing whether the egg ever hatched or if the ponies allowed my offspring to live. The best I could hope for is that it survived to live in slavery. And I can't even go home again..."
At some point along the way, without Twilight even noticing, the dragon's voice had turned from flamboyant and overly dramatic to genuinely sorrowful. His head sank lower and lower, until Twilight could see two large, clear teardrops on his lids. They trickled down the sides of his face when he closed his eyes.
"Queen Celestia and the Dragon Matriarch have this pact," explained Applejack, "They give their eggs to the unicorns. That's how the Secret Police get their dragon companions. I've never understood the reason for it all."
Twilight chewed on her lip and spoke. "Is it because of the Draconic Ovistasis?"
"The what?" asked Applejack.
"The Draconic Ovistasis, or the Doom of Dragons if you prefer. In my world, dragons have a... sickness. Their eggs no longer hatch naturally; only powerful magic can do it. It's believed to have started some nine hundred years ago, but nopony knows the reason for it. A couple of centuries later, they made an agreement with the Princess to have their eggs hatched by unicorns at her school of magic. That's where I met Spike. Er, obviously, dragons are raised as free citizens and allowed to return to the homeland once they reach maturity."
The water dragon was scowling at them in confusion. "Um, yes, that's the reason, but... I feel like I'm missing something here?"
"Aheh. Would you be satisfied if I said it's a long story?"
"I'd prefer something a bit more substantive, actually!"
They were interrupted by an explosion – a paradoxical blast in the distance that reached them even before the glow did. They looked and found a magnificently bright rainbow circle rippling outward in the sky, kilometers away. The light stretched forth almost as if it was a physical thing, made of translucent crystal.
"What the hay is that?" asked Applejack.
"Hey, that's neat," said Soarin' as if he was praising a fine carpet.
Twilight could see something blurry slicing through the air like a knife, backlit by the fading rainbow and accompanied by a faint whooshing sound.
"Oh dear, something is coming," said Rarity.
"Is that-?" started Applejack.
"Oh!" said the dragon, "I didn't expect her to be back so soon."
The blur showed no sign of slowing down. By the time Twilight felt an inkling of worry, it was already too late. A flash of blue, a fearful gasp and already Spike was sent flying with a smack. She called out his name as he skidded across the surface of the lake and then disappeared into the water.
Applejack cursed, Rarity was muttering something, Twilight twisted her head and spun around to catch a glimpse of Rainbow Dash. She was nowhere to be seen. Then, suddenly, Twilight found that the ground and the sky were not where they should have been.
The pain came a moment later, when she landed on her back and was sent rolling in the dirt. Twilight coughed, disoriented and breathless from the collisions, and tried to stagger back on her her hooves.
"Rainbow Dash!" she wheezed, "Stop!"
Rarity was the next to get hit – or she would have been. Her pleading ended in a shriek when Soarin' jumped her and pushed her out of Rainbow Dash's path. The water-dragon was saying something in his high-pitched voice as well, but clearly, "engaging Dash in conversation" didn't seem to be working.
"We're not the bad guys!" yelled Twilight desperately, already racking her brain to identify a suitable spell to defuse the situation.
The Blue Bolt came around for another swoop – but Applejack planted herself firmly down and held her ground. Rainbow Dash rebounded and landed, sliding back through the sand on four hooves, kicking up a cloud of dust. She scowled at the wall that had toppled her. Applejack only smirked.
The water dragon was swinging back and forth at the lake's edge, wringing his hands.
"Behave yourself, Rainbow Dash!" he said, "Don't attack my guests!"
Dash's glare focused on Twilight Sparkle. After a moment's surprise, she narrowed her eyes and sunk low, ready to spring into action again.
"You doofus!" she snarled at the dragon, "That's Daylight Sparkle, Commander of the Secret Police!"
"I'm actually not!" said Twilight very fast, "Oh no. Spike!"
She scrambled towards the waterline, causing the dragon to turn around and dive under to retrieve him. Meanwhile, Soarin' was helping Rarity get upright again. Her coat now looked a lot less white and her mane utterly unsalvageable.
"Rainbow Dash."
"Huh," said Rainbow Dash, "Oh, hey. What are you doing here?"
"Oh, just standing around. Waiting for somepony. Getting attacked by thoughtless ruffians!"
"Sorry about that. Didn't recognize you."
"I don't think you mean that apology," said Rarity.
"Look, missy," interrupted Applejack, "We know our companion looks a bit suspect, but she really isn't Daylight Sparkle. Daylight Sparkle wouldn't hang out with me."
Dash eyed her quietly for a moment. "You're Applejack, aren't you? I recognize you from the wanted posters..."
Applejack nodded. "We were looking for you."
The water dragon was returning to shore, holding a dripping, coughing and sputtering Spike in his arms. The smaller dragon groaned when he was set down.
"Are you all right?" asked Twilight, scooping him up on her back and ignoring the muddy smear that left.
"I got some in my mouth!" he complained, "I feel like I'm going to die." He glowered at Dash. "Do you always ram into people when you meet them?"
"Shouldn't I?" asked Dash with a shrug.
"That was some pretty slick flying, by the way!" interjected Soarin', "Not a bad Sonic Boom either. Very colorful!"
The Rainbow Dash Twilight knew was sleek and lithe, but this one had a gaunt, emaciated look. Not in a million years would she have stood a chance against Applejack in a hoof-wrestling competition, not with her ribs showing through her sides like that. There was a small nostril ring piercing on her nose. Her tail was only a small stub, and her mane was trimmed into a very short, multicolored fuzz – almost a buzz cut. She had a small, sky-blue cowl on her back that she could pull up to cover her head and face. Like Rarity, she still had her familiar cutie mark: the rainbow thunderbolt.
Rainbow noticed Twilight looking her over. "So who exactly are you?" she asked, "I'm not supposed to believe that it's a coincidence that you look identical to Little Miss Fascist Princess, am I?"
"Well, no-"
"Twilight Sparkle here isn't from the Secret Police," interrupted Rarity, "but one of them is coming here to find you. We can explain everything soon, but we must act quickly if we're to escape! The agent could find us at any moment."
"Your little display up there had to have tipped him off that you were here," said Applejack dryly.
"Well, yeah," said Dash with a roll of her eyes, "That was the general idea of it, you know."
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Twilight.
"I heard about their operation, actually. That's why I'm here instead of making a mockery of the city guard back in Hoovesburg. Wouldn't want to miss this opportunity, would I?"
"What exactly are you saying?" asked Rarity, "Don't tell me you came back here to fight?"
"All right," said Dash, "I won't tell you."
There was an uncomfortable lull in the conversation. The flippancy in Rainbow Dash's voice was impossible to ignore. Twilight put into words what they were all thinking.
"Are you insane?"
"You don't understand, Rainbow Dash!" pleaded Rarity, "This isn't just some grunt you'd be facing – Agent Striker is one of the Elite! You can't take on a dragon!"
"This is not a good idea," said Applejack, "tactically speaking."
Dash barely seemed to be listening. She made a wing-assisted leap and came down at the edge of the lake, before her water dragon friend.
"This is kind of a bad time to be out in the open. Just go and hide away down under for a while, okay?"
"Oh." The water dragon looked around between Rainbow Dash, Twilight and the others, tapping his finger-claws together nervously. "Well. If that's what you think is best. It was nice meeting you all! Especially you, little one."
He nodded towards Spike, gave them all a little wave and turned around to submerge once more.
Rainbow Dash started pacing around, raising and flapping her wings with every other step.
"I don't think you guys understand how I operate. I have a rep to maintain, okay? I spend a lot of time running away, so it's vital that I don't end up looking too weak. Ordinary ponies look up to me. They all know I'm on their side; that's why they give me their support when I ask for it. But they'd never have the guts to do that if they didn't know that I'm the baddest pegasus pony that's ever flown the skies. On the other hoof, the nobility is scared shitless of me! Every time I come to town, they get a bloody nose. There's nothing those fat-cats hate more than taking hits to their wallets or their reputations. They fear me for nothing more than making them look bad, and that makes them weak. They're exposed to the people as the gutless weaklings they are! But would they still be afraid of me if they didn't know I'm the best and most skilled thief in history? Hardly! And the state – the state respects me. I mean, the more troops and resources they assign to take me down, the more their oh-so-perfect machine of tyranny is disrupted, right? Hell, I'm thrilled that they're finally giving me a serious opponent! That means they're taking me seriously. In other words, I matter! My actions are having an effect. And it's all because everypony knows that I'm the fastest flier ever, uncatchable and unstoppable!"
"Yes, but..." Twilight licked her lips and tried to find the proper words. "What if you don't win?"
"Have you ever faced one of the Secret Police before?" asked Applejack, staring pointedly at Dash, "Well, I have, and I'm lucky to be alive. Plenty of others haven't been that lucky. This isn't a game, you know."
"It's suicide!" burst out Rarity.
"What's it to you?" asked Dash, standing and facing them now, "I'm not keeping you here. Go and hide away if you want."
"We didn't come here just to deliver a warning," said Applejack, "We need your help on a very special mission!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Well," said Rarity, "I think Twilight could explain better than we could..."
So Twilight explained everything, as she had explained it to Applejack and Rarity. She told Rainbow Dash who she was, where she was from and what she was trying to do. By the time she got around to the Elements of Harmony, Dash had her forehooves pressed to her muzzle and was snorting and sputtering. When Twilight finished her story, Dash was quick to break down laughing.
"See?" said Twilight, "Isn't it annoying?"
"We're being quite serious here, Rainbow Dash," said Rarity.
"A hundred percent," added Applejack.
Dash straightened herself up, wiped the tears of mirth from her eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay. I believe you. I'm in."
Twilight exchanged glances with the others. "Were- were you being sarcastic there? Because I couldn't really tell..."
"Nuh huh. If there's a chance a chance – any chance – of taking down Queen Celestia, then sure, I'll give it a shot. What's the first step?"
"Well, there's two others we need to complete the team. Do you happen to know any ponies named Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy?"
Twilight wasn't even surprised anymore when she saw Dash's face light up in recognition.
"Fluttershy? Yeah, I know Fluttershy. We used to work together, back when I was still in the Cloud Patrol. What do we need with a flake like her though?"
"Never mind that! Do you know where we could find her?"
"Hmh, maybe. Far as I know, she quit the force a while after I bolted. I don't know exactly where she lives nowadays, but my best guess would be that she went back to her hometown – some place near the north-eastern border, I think? It was called Hillside or something like that."
Vague as that was, it was a decent enough start. Twilight had every confidence that everything would neatly fall into place – provided they could convince Rainbow Dash to see reason.
"So you see how important this is?" she asked, "We can't afford to waste time on risky escapades like this. Will you come with us?"
Dash smiled apologetically. "I can't. This is something I have to do."
Applejack snorted and turned away from the conversation entirely. She began to scan the surrounding countryside for any ponies on the approach. Rarity took a step closer to Dash.
"No, you're absolutely coming with us! We'll drag you away by force if we have to!"
Dash's expression darkened for an instant, but the next moment, she was already smirking. "As if you could ever catch me."
"I could catch you," said Soarin'.
"No you couldn't."
Rarity sighed and gingerly stepped before her. "Look, Rainbow, I'm asking you as a favor. You know I've done a lot to help you since we made each other's acquaintance. Surely you can at least postpone this battle while we deal with this matter? Please? Pretty please?"
Dash was shaking her head, but there was now something like doubt in her eyes. At least she seemed to be thinking about it. Just as she was opening her mouth to answer, Applejack interrupted.
"I can see something."
Rainbow Dash jumped a few meters into the air to get a better view, flapping her wings to stay aloft. Twilight galloped to Applejack's side, squinted her eyes and looked where Applejack was pointing. Rarity was slower to join them. There was indeed something there, at the very edge of the depression they were in – a figure that might have been a pony.
"I can't see anything," said Rarity hesitantly.
There was nothing to see anymore. The figure was gone. Twilight was suddenly filled with a most terrible sense of foreboding. With the pounding of her heart in her ears, she turned around.
He was there. Without the quietest zap or pop, Agent Striker and his dragon had landed right amongst them.
"Hello and well met," he said, looking them over as calmly as calm could be, "Fine weather we're having, no?"
They were all shocked and enthralled as he spoke, but as soon as he was finished, Rainbow Dash dropped down to the ground and took off again with a gust of wind in her wake. Rarity instinctively stepped backwards, and Soarin' scooted closer to her protectively. Applejack consciously had to keep herself from rearing, and Twilight could feel Spike inadvertently pressing his claws into her neck. She herself didn't even know what she should have been doing.
Striker looked nothing like what she'd been expecting. He had bulky frame, a wide, friendly face and he was smiling. His coat was a mellow blue, like the wallpaper of a nursery, and his spiky hair the color of ash and coal. Like the guard at the gates of Everfree, he was wearing a white cape and hat, though his cape was cast to one side in a manner that exposed his cutie mark: an arc of lightning, bent like a horseshoe, yellow on a black background. Standing close beside him was a young winged dragon with beautiful bronze and golden scales – a female. She was a hair's breadth taller than her master, but her downcast head made her seem small.
Although the golden dragon was older than Spike, she was still decades away from being fully grown. In Twilight's opinion, she looked... manageable. It wasn't the adult dragon she'd been afraid of, at least. Perhaps they wouldn't even have to fight; perhaps there was still some way to talk their way out of this situation? Striker hadn't made a move against them yet, after all... He was trying to keep watch of Dash whirling all around them in wide circles, but he looked to be in no particular worry doing so. When Dash attacked, hooves extended, he teleported just a few meters away, leaving her to pass him by harmlessly.
"This is quite unnecessary, you know," said Striker.
When she went at him again, Applejack rushed to join her. She approached Striker from the side, flipped around and bucked at his foreleg. Before her hooves could connect, she was thrown off by a blast of kinetic force. Dash, coming up to him from above, smashed straight into the ground when Striker blinked away again. She was up again in an instant, snorting and dragging her hoof along the ground. All she and Applejack had managed to do was cause the wide-brimmed wizard's hat to fall from his head. Twilight decided to step in before they could try again.
"Agent Striker," she said commandingly, trying to keep her voice from shaking, "I have everything under control here. Y-you aren't needed. I relieve you of your duties. Go back to Everfree City."
He looked at her and smiled. "Hmm, no. No, I don't think so."
"What? You're disobeying a direct command. That's-"
"Treason? You don't say. I think you should be thankful that I'm willing to overlook you colluding with enemies of the state, Lady Commander. And please..." He looked over at Rainbow Dash, who was crouching and ready to pounce. "Why don't you just settle down? I only want to talk."
Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked at each other in confusion. Clearly, opening negotiations was not something agents of the Secret Police did often.
"What?" spat Dash, "You think I have something to say to the guy sent to assassinate me?"
"Me assassinating you is just one possible way this could go," he paused and chuckled, inexplicably amused, "But I'm sure we can come to a peaceful resolution. I'd like to make a deal."
Dash shook her head in disbelief and then forced herself to laugh. "Make a deal?"
"Sure. Come with me, and your companions get to live. That's nice and peaceful, isn't it? My mission is to retrieve you, Rainbow Dash, nothing more. I am perfectly willing to turn a blind eye to whatever else is going on here. How about that? Isn't that gracious of me?"
This was enough to shock everypony into silence for a while.
Things weren't as simple as they sounded, of course. Striker had seen Rarity. If he went back to Everfree and reported to his superiors, he could destroy her secret identity, her life and her work. All the good the Lady of Liberty did could break apart. Striker just taking off and leaving with Rainbow Dash wasn't an option, for several reasons, but what could they do about it? Twilight thought of memory spells she could use to wipe Striker's mind. It wasn't anything she had ever done before, but she knew the theory and was sure she could pull it off...
"Hold on," said Twilight, "What do you mean by 'retrieve?'"
"That is a secret, Daylight." He said it loudly, confidently, but his smile was a little weaker now. "It doesn't bother you that you don't know everything, does it?"
"Nice try, jerkward," said Dash, "I'm not going to walk meekly to my own execution."
"Who said you'd be executed – publicly, no less? Trust me, we have no interest in making a martyr out of you. If we do end up killing you, it'll be a quiet affair and you'll be buried in a shallow grave in the middle of nowhere, soon to be forgotten. My boss and I have something different in mind. If you come with me, you might even be pleasantly surprised."
What was Twilight supposed to do? How would Daylight Sparkle have reacted to this situation? There was something more going on here, something beyond her understanding or superficial knowledge of the Secret Police. Even when he was talking to Rainbow Dash, Striker kept a view of Twilight from the corner of his eye. He must have been confused about why she didn't do or say anything, why she kept opening and closing her mouth like a fish. She flinched when he suddenly winked at her.
"Sorry, my dear, but the battle lines have been drawn and I'm just not inclined to side with you."
"And I'm not inclined to side with you," said Dash, "You can forget that deals of yours. I don't want anything to do with evil bastards like you!"
Striker clucked his tongue. "That's a bit self-righteous, don't you think? After all, you're the dangerous criminal here, while I'm the representative of the law, here to bring you to justice."
"I don't recognize your law or your justice, okay? Now put up your hooves!"
"Wait," said Twilight. What did he mean by battle lines? she wondered.
"This is how it's going to be, is it?" said Striker, "Hmm, all right. Well, here's another proposal for you: I'll kill all your companions and then ask again. What do you think of that?"
Zig-zagging tendrils of electricity erupted from his horn with a powerful thunderclap, touched the ground and tore forward in their direction. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were quick to split apart and Twilight Sparkle managed to throw herself out of the way as well as well – accidentally dropping Spike in the process – but Rarity was too slow. Soarin' leaped up to protect her and took a lightning bolt to his back. He rolled limply to the ground while Rarity stumbled to her knees.
"Soarin'...?" she whispered.
Striker was strolling closer to them, his horn aglow with the promise of another volley. Twilight clenched her teeth and pushed herself up. She threw a quick reflective field spell – the first thing that came to her mind. The next arcs of electricity bounced away into the sky from an invisible barrier.
"Soarin'? Soarin'!"
Soarin' wasn't moving, not even when Rarity shook him. As horrible as the black burn between his wings looked, it was nothing compared to the empty, glazed look in his eyes.
"He's gone," said Rarity flatly, sinking down to her stomach.
"That bastard!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash.
"Is this- is this really happening?" asked Twilight.
Striker casually unclasped his cloak with his teeth and let it fall on the ground. The next spell he cast wasn't targeted at them. He fired it at his own dragon companion. Instantly, a strange distortion passed over the golden dragon, as if they were viewing it through a moving magnifying glass. Twilight recognized it for a growth-enhancing spell. In the blink of an eye, she grew by a factor of twenty, became indistinguishable from any adult dragon – and they were all entirely too close to it.
"We have to move!" said Applejack.
"Get up, Rarity!" urged Spike. He grabbed her leg and gave it a yank, but she refused to buckle or look away from the body.
"Haven't got time for this," muttered Applejack. She grabbed Rarity and threw her over her back.
And then they ran. Rainbow Dash didn't look as if she would join them, so Applejack grabbed hold of her short tail with her teeth and dragged her along. They headed uphill, away from the lake, away from their enemies. Somewhere behind them, they heard Striker's voice.
"Don't let them get away, Blitz," he was saying.
The rush of air the dragon produced beating her wings to lift off almost knocked them all off their hooves. They kept moving. Twilight was dead sure they'd be roasted by her fire or crushed underneath her feet, but the beast only swooped over them and landed on a crest of land up ahead. The ground shook when it touched down. Even if they could get farther away, there was no cover, anywhere.
Twilight, Spike and Applejack all came to a halt, but Rainbow Dash used the chance to tear free and keep moving. She rose up in the air and drew up close to the dragon to deliver a kick to her snout. The dragon – Blitz – reacted with a screech of annoyance. She snapped at Dash with her jaws, then let loose a torrent of dark red flame, hitting only empty air. Dash held the dragon's attention; she turned around to grasp at the pegasus buzzing around her.
Applejack whirled around, and grimaced when she saw Striker heading towards them.
"Twilight, what kind of combat magic do you know?"
"What? None! No combat magic!"
Spike fidgeted, looked at Striker and then back at Blitz. "Give me things! Anything! If I had stuff – if I could grow – then maybe..."
Striker appeared right in the middle of the group. Twilight yelped as a bolt of lightning passed so close by her that it made the hair of her coat stand on end, accompanied by an ear-splitting crack. Applejack wasted no time in throwing off Rarity and lunging at Striker, but he was quicker still. He held her off simply by grabbing hold of her with his telekinesis and dangling her in the air, snorting a laugh as he did so.
"As if an earth pony could ever defeat a proper unicorn..." he said.
While Twilight was still mentally running through a list of spells she could use, Spike blew some of his green magical fire at him, but he teleported out of the way – still keeping his hold of Applejack – right behind him and knocked him down with a hoof to the back of the head. At the same time, Blitz's tail waved over their heads as she whirled around to unleash another inferno on Rainbow Dash.
"But you're hardly any better, Daylight! What is wrong with you?"
Striker lowered his head, readying another lightning bolt. He might have killed Spike then, if he hadn't gotten tripped up by a faint blue glow around his hooves. It was Rarity, pushing herself up by her forehooves and glaring daggers at him. Not seeing any other options, Twilight leaped and barreled into the off-balance Striker. He fell, rolled over, and looked at her with equal parts shock and confusion.
"Blitz!" he screamed, and teleported again, farther away this time, somewhere out of sight.
Applejack touched down on the ground, free again – but the dragon reoriented herself towards them. Her eyes were a sinister red, Twilight noticed, but dull and lacking in malice. Time almost seemed to slow down when she opened her jaws, revealing fangs that glowed like embers. Twilight could see the flames rushing out of her black throat and knew she had to do something.
First of all, she snatched Rainbow Dash from the air and teleported her to the rest of the group with a flash of violet. Then she closed her eyes and focused; reached out and grasped a hold of her companions and brought them all along to the relative safety of a dune a few hundred meters away. She would have stumbled and fallen on her landing if Applejack hadn't quickly moved to give her support.
"All right, we need to think," said Twilight shakily, "Think, Twilight, think!"
"Could you get us back to the chariot?" asked Applejack.
"Maybe with multiple jumps, but that would be useless! The dragon could just follow us!"
"And Soarin'-" Rarity closed her eyes tight and shook her head, "Of course, Rainbow Dash can do the flying."
"Wait a minute!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, "Steve will help us!"
"Who?" asked Spike.
"Steve!"
Another bolt of lightning thundered over their heads. Twilight jumped in fright, then quickly followed the others as they clambered over the crest of the dune to cover. It was useless; the lightning began coming from another direction entirely only moments later. Evidently, Striker had elected to keep his distance. Twilight couldn't even see where he was. The group could do nothing but to stay low to avoid the fire.
"The water dragon you met!" explained Rainbow Dash.
Another gust of wind heralded that Blitz was approaching. She glided down from high above, wings and claws outstretched, and was coming directly for them. Twilight attempted a spell then – an improvised burst of light and energy – but it glanced off the scales on the monster's chest as if it was nothing. Applejack shouted for everypony to scatter, and so they could do nothing but get up again and spread apart.
Twilight narrowly avoided the dragon's claws coming down behind her with a thump, but couldn't help losing her balance and sliding down the hillside, only barely managing to stay upright. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Spike hitching a ride with Applejack. Glancing back, she found the dragon ready to spew another gust of fire – and she herself was unmistakably the target. Twilight backpedaled immediately, galloped right for Blitz and slipped in between her legs to avoid the flames. She would have been impressed with her courage, if the feel of the heat on her flank wouldn't have been so horrifying.
As Twilight was coming out from underneath her, the dragon almost crushed her with a swipe of her tail. One thing came after another, each close escape was more harrowing than the last. Without a moment's respite, there was no time to think, but Twilight did fixate on one very important thing: they had to get closer to the lake.
She teleported them all away again, right across the entire lake. It may or may not have been the longest jump Twilight had ever made, but she also did it pulling along four others, each of whom was moving and lacked direct physical contact with her. It was magic to be proud of, no doubt, but not right then. Twilight felt an addling buzz from the adrenaline.
"It's coming," whispered Rarity.
The dragon had taken to the air on the opposite shore and quickly honed in on their position. It would take her scant seconds to reach them.
"You sure your dragon friend'll help us?" asked Applejack.
Dash gave a slightly manic laugh. "I can make sure he does!"
She shot off so fast she kicked up a cloud of dust and drove everypony else into a fit of coughing. Twilight had never seen her Rainbow Dash go that fast, of that she was sure. A shimmering mach cone formed around her in mere seconds. An instant before she could collide with the dragon above the center of the lake, the air around them flared up with another ring of rainbow light. The resulting shockwave rocked the waters and stopped the dragon dead in flight. Although seemingly unhurt, she fell into a tailspin, plunging upside down, flailing her wings but unable to right herself. She splashed into the water and struggled to pull up and take off again. Just as it looked as if she might succeed, the water dragon snaked up from underneath. He wrapped his arms around Blitz's neck, clamped his jaws and teeth into the leather of her wings, and dragged her under. Moments later, an explosion of bubbles breached the surface where she had undoubtedly used her flame-breath.
Twilight and the others had to step back to avoid the small tidal wave hitting the shore, but kept watch of the lake. No blood was visible in the dirty water, so determining how the fight was going was difficult. Rainbow Dash rejoined them, feathers ruffled and chest heaving from the exertion. She touched down with a dark chuckle, and immediately stumbled and sank to her knees.
"Should have seen the look on her face," she said.
"Do you think this is funny?" hissed Rarity.
"Maybe we can use this chance to get away," said Applejack, "before- oh darn."
Striker had popped up again, not far from their position. He was glancing around wildly between them and the lake, and his features alternated between a half-hearted attempt at his previous amiable facade and pure, unadulterated rage.
"What is this?" he screamed, "What did you do? That's my dragon, MY dragon!"
He broke into a gallop directly towards them, firing another barrage of chain lightning as he did so. This time, something clicked in Twilight's mind. She didn't waste any time in throwing up another reflective field spell. The lightning bounced back every which way and Striker skidded to a halt. At once, Twilight felt her hooves being lifted up from the ground by a faint electric yellow glow. Striker was using his telekinesis to pull them all towards him, outside of Twilight's protective bubble.
"This isn't fair! You tricked me! You weren't supposed to have two!"
Twilight took a page from Striker's own book and teleported behind him. Doing so disrupted his hold of her, but also broke Twilight's reflective spell. As unfocused and angry as Striker was though, he was also very well trained. Anticipating her arrival, he evaded Twilight's petrification hex by throwing himself to the ground and answered with another lightning bolt before she could even blink. Twilight only barely ducked out of the way, and when she looked up again, Striker had teleported once more. Instinctively, she whirled around and found him aiming his horn at her back.
Twilight took another page from his book and shot out lightning of her own. The spell was simple enough, and he did such a thorough job of demonstrating its use. The two bolts collided between them and crackled away into nothingness. The smell of ozone was overpowering.
"Did you plan this, Daylight?" raged Striker, "What are you playing at?"
If Twilight hadn't been so out of breath – so utterly desperate to keep up with his movements – she might have tried to say something, to explain the situation and to plead her case. But then again, she thought as she remembered the look in Soarin's eyes, maybe peace was no longer an option.
Before she could match him with another attack of her own, Striker already blinked away again. Twilight turned around, but he was nowhere to be seen. All of them looked looked back and forth frantically, trying to locate him before he could strike again.
"Where is he?" cried Rarity, "Where is he?"
"Damn it," muttered Rainbow Dash, back on her hooves.
"There!" yelled Spike, but they only caught the tail-end of a yellow flash when they looked where he was pointing, "He was just there!"
"Be quiet, everypony," said Applejack, "Don't lose your heads."
Striker was nowhere and everywhere. He was simply much too fast. An idea came to Twilight on how to counteract that, however. She recalled her arrival in this world, how she'd almost met her end in another tense situation. She'd managed to save herself there by speeding up her reaction time and thought processes, and she was sure she could do the reverse to Striker. All she needed was eye contact...
Twilight caught sight of him, reappearing behind Applejack, quiet as light. She yelled her friend's name as a warning. Applejack dropped down and rolled out of the way, but Striker was already firing another bolt.
Spike just happened to be standing in his line of fire. He was struck in the chest, and fell over with a burst of emerald fire flaring and dying in his mouth. For a moment, Twilight thought she herself had gotten hit – that's how great the pain of fear in her chest was.
"Striker!" she yelled, "I'm not..."
This time, instead of lightning, invisible waves of force blew out of his horn. Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash were both knocked over. Twilight, further away, remained standing.
"Striker!" she yelled again.
He didn't look. He was taking aim at Applejack again...
"I'm not Daylight Sparkle!"
This tiny distraction was enough to get Striker's attention. His head swiveled instinctively towards her. Their eyes met. Twilight cast her enchantment.
Striker seemed to freeze for a second – then his expression changed subtly. He seemed to realize that something was wrong, but couldn't quite tell what that was.
"Go for it, now!" shouted Twilight.
Applejack went for it. She hopped up close and drove her forehoof into Striker's jaw hard. Striker staggered back, trying to compose himself, trying to gather his wits and retreat, but Applejack tripped him and laid into him with more punches. He raised his hooves pathetically, and tried to say something, but none of them could make out what. Twilight didn't stop to watch Applejack knock him unconscious, but rushed over to Spike.
He was breathing, and conscious as well. Twilight's heart did a little dance of joy when she saw that. As a dragon, Spike was more resilient than his small size would have suggested, and his thick scales had protected him from the brunt of the blast. Even so, he moaned when Twilight put her hoof too close to the scorch mark on his stomach.
"Is he all right?" asked Rarity.
It took Twilight a while to realize Rarity was asking about Spike. She looked at her and smiled. "He's injured and could could probably use medical attention, but he shouldn't be in any acute danger."
Rarity sighed raggedly and wiped nervous tears from her eyes. "Thank goodness we didn't lose him too. Thank goodness this is all finally over!"
"Not quite," said Applejack, standing up and looking down at Striker's still form. A spurt of blood was still on her cheek, dribbling downwards. "Rainbow Dash, do you want to or should I?"
"Might as well be me," said Dash with a shrug.
"Wait, what?" asked Twilight.
Applejack pushed Striker over on his stomach. Rainbow Dash stepped over him, her bravado all gone now. She seemed like she was trying very hard to look irreverent.
"What are you doing?" asked Twilight again, although she was starting to suspect.
Rainbow Dash reared, and then sharply brought down her hooves.
Twilight closed her eyes and covered her ears, but she couldn't suppress the sickening crunch of Striker's neck snapping.
Next chapter: Overshadowed.
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BornIn1142
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901
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Main 6,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Alternate Universe,Adventure,Dark,Drama,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Sunshine and Fire
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Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.
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incomplete
| 1,389 | 32 |
<p>Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.</p><p>Feel free to check out or add to the story's <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/SunshineAndFire" rel="nofollow">TV Tropes page</a>.</p>
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teen
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2012-09-01T06:50:51+00:00
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2015-04-12T22:27:31+00:00
| 10,256 |
The cloud was nothing less than a mountain in the sky.
It was enormous in size, and implausibly shaped to say the least. The winding, layered sheets surrounding a gigantic, kilometers-tall pillar even made it look like a mountain. It was big enough to blot out the sun and cast a shade over the land underneath it – for the cloud indeed had a shadow in open sunlight, unlike anything else in all the land. It looked as if it was cobbled together from elements of strati, nimbostrati, cumulonimbuses, cirri and who knew what other types of cloud. It was so thick it looked hard to the touch, and its dark gray folds only seemed darker on the bright blue backdrop.
The cloud was also in constant motion, ever shifting, always growing. Most curiously, it appeared to be multiplying. Chunks of smaller clouds broke off from the main body at regular intervals, drifting off every which way even though there was no wind to carry them. Most of them were apparently headed northeast, towards the griffon border.
To Twilight, it was the single largest cloud she had ever seen. To Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash – judging by their wide-eyed stares – it was quite a bit more. From the moment they spotted it on the horizon, over the hours they watched it grow ever bigger on their approach, to when they finally fell under its shadow, none of them had been able to do little more than stare. It was a rain cloud, of that there was no doubt. The temperature was markedly lower underneath it, and they could sense the humidity of it as well, ready to burst out. The amount of water vapor that had to be created from nothing to sustain a cloud of that magnitude must have been staggering. There were only a few individuals that could manage something like this, and Twilight was thinking of one in particular.
"Princess Luna," she muttered.
"This is her doing?" asked Applejack, "She's here?"
A vaguely affirmative grunt was the only reply Twilight could muster.
Rarity lifted her head to look at them. "But that's excellent news, isn't it?" Her voice was tentative, as if she wasn't really sure whether she had permission to speak. "Having an honest-to-goodness deity on our side should be a marvelous boon, no?"
Applejack looked at her as if she'd said a dirty word. "Yeah, well..." she said, "Lucky us. What were the odds that we'd run into her here?"
Twilight ignored them both.
After briefly slowing down upon reaching the cloud, Rainbow Dash added pace again, and drew closer to the ground as well. Twilight peered down over the side of the chariot, finding yellow-colored fields and trees and grasses, and a great many hills dotted with ramshackle houses. They headed towards the center of the settlement and descended further. It was impossible not to notice that there wasn't a single pony out and about on the dirt roads below. The whole place seemed to be deserted.
Rainbow Dash was none too gentle in setting them down. The chariot bumped and skidded along before coming to a halt. Applejack and Rarity were the first to get off – the latter of them a bit shaky on her hooves. Twilight was about to follow when she felt Spike tugging at her mane.
"Hmm?"
"I could use a lift, you know."
"Oh. Right. Of course. Sorry."
She buckled her knees to let Spike crawl on her back, and then gingerly hopped outside. After a moment's hesitation, she bent forward, smelled the grass and had a taste of it. As expected, she found it to be terribly dry, but ultimately edible.
Rainbow Dash quickly relieved herself of the chariot's harness and looked around the shadowed landscape. "This is weird," she commented.
"It's so... not hot," added Rarity, shivering.
Twilight thought it was still plenty hot, but the thought of mentioning that to the others didn't even enter her mind.
The journey over from the Dragon Swamp had been trying for them all. Rainbow Dash may very well have been the fastest pegasus in all the land, but she lacked the strength and stamina to drag them all with her over a long period of time. The group had to make frequent rest stops, which had dragged out their already long journey even further. Another problem had been finding Hillside in the first place – they'd actually had to ask for directions to get to the small frontier town.
Even though the stops had made things easier for them physically (especially the convalescent Spike), bad dreams had kept Twilight from getting a lot of sleep.
"Have you got any idea where we can find Fluttershy?" asked Applejack.
"Not exactly," replied Rainbow Dash, "I've never actually been here before. She's just happened to mention her birthplace to me a couple of times. Pretty sure I remembered the name of the town correctly though."
"I wonder where everypony is," said Rarity, "It's rather eerie."
Nopony else answered, so Spike hurried to agree with her. "It really is! I didn't think this place would seem so imposing."
Applejack had a look around and marched off as if she seemed to have a destination in mind, so Twilight and the others followed. For a good long while, their hoofsteps in the low grass was the only sound in the world. Twilight was uncomfortably aware of every small twig that crunched and cracked underneath.
Twilight could feel Spike moving around on her back, looking around between the ponies around him, face no doubt etched with worry. At last, he took it upon himself to start a conversation.
"So, Rainbow Dash!" he blurted out, "Mind telling us how you and Fluttershy met?"
Twilight kept her gaze firmly away from Dash, but couldn't help but hang on her every word.
"Oh, we've basically known each other since we were both little. We met in flight camp."
"Really?" said Spike, "It's the same in our world."
"Oh yeah?"
"You've got something else in common too! You and she sort of drifted apart for a while when she finished school and moved to the ground, but then became better friends than ever when you moved down to Ponyville too. That's just like you meeting her again here!"
"Hmh. Why would I ever move to the ground when I could have the sky?"
Spike scratched the scales on his chin. "I'm not too sure about that, actually. You've never – that is to say – our Dash has never talked about that. It's probably because of your job. You do weather work in Ponyville while training to join a flight team in your spare time."
"Interesting," said Dash. She didn't sound particularly interested. "You know, I wish I could see one of those cloud cities for myself. There hasn't been enough cloud cover for those in this world for centuries. They all just rained down or evaporated. We pegasi used to have our own customs and a unique culture, but that's all gone now. I could get used to this, you know."
When Twilight glanced at her, she found Dash looking up at the darkened sky and smiling. Then she turned and saw Twilight look. Her expression curdled.
"We can turn all that around and get the clouds back once we've gotten rid of the Queen, right Twilight?" She stared at Twilight, challenging her to say something. Twilight ignored her and walked on in silence.
"I'm sure that's, um... going to happen," said Spike.
There hadn't been much conversation in general of late. Unlike on their journey to the Dragon Swamp, during which they had all talked and occasionally joked, the way to Hillside had been made all the more ponderous by the unwavering awkwardness. Applejack had taken a curt and business-like tone and talked only when necessary. She spent the rest of the time restless and twitchy. The usually cordial Rarity had done little but stare at the horizon, lost in thought. Rainbow Dash had made attempts at chatting when she wasn't busy flying, but her boasts and jests in camp had ultimately only descended into exchanges of glares between her and Twilight. Twilight herself had nothing to say. Spike had valiantly tried to keep up the mood and get the others talking, asking questions and regaling the others with tales of his and Twilight's native Equestria. Since he'd come so close to death's door, nopony wanted to tell him to shut it. Eventually, the general dour atmosphere had suffocated even his attempts.
"I'm guessing Fluttershy's a farmer like everypony else around here," said Applejack, "You think she'd be willing to uproot her life and come along with us to fight Queen Celestia?"
"Definitely," said Dash, "Her parents were taken away by the Secret Police when she was still a filly. She's gotta be aching for some payback. Besides, to be honest, I'm not sure she has much of a life to uproot."
"I'm a little curious," said Rarity, "Where exactly are we headed."
Applejack pointed her hoof up ahead. "There's a house with a smoking chimney over there. That's where we'll find some ponies."
The homestead was relatively large amongst the others surrounding it. There was even a detached storehouse or something like it standing nearby. The roof was half cloth, half ages-old thatched straw. As expected, the building had no windows. Applejack wasted no time in putting her hoof to the door. It wasn't too long until a middle-aged, balding stallion opened the door. He moved slowly and antsily, and his gaze immediately gravitated towards the sky. Peering over Applejack's shoulder, Twilight could see a family of four more earth ponies sitting around a dinner table playing cards, back-lit by a glowing brazier. All of them were staring at the door with eyes as big as saucers.
"Hello, good sir," said Applejack.
"We'd like to ask for some directions," Twilight forced herself to say. This was something she needed to involve herself in. "We're looking for a pegasus named Fluttershy that's supposed to live somewhere around here."
The farmer was obviously puzzled, but gave an answer quickly enough. "Fluttershy? Windy Hill."
Before they could ask anything else, he closed the door in their faces. It didn't look like the outside world was something they wanted to deal with at the moment.
"Isn't it curious?"
Twilight and the others turned around to find none other than Luna standing behind them. Even though her dark blue coat was disheveled and dusty, she still managed to look majestic enough to make Twilight's companions step back in inadvertent deference. Her starlight tresses waved high in the phantom wind, making her look even bigger than she really was. The Princess wouldn't have stood out more even in the brightest of lights; the surrounding gloom only made her seem darker. The only aspect where her majesty faltered was her expression, which was thoughtful and inattentive. Even though she was facing them, she nevertheless seemed to be looking somewhere far away.
"Isn't it curious, the way these ponies hide away in their homes? Through all the toil from the moment they're born to the moment they die, the sun is their greatest enemy. And yet, when I give them relief from it, how do they react? With fear and suspicion."
"Princess..." muttered Twilight.
"So you're Luna then." Applejack wasn't even trying to come across as polite. Her eyes were narrowed and she was jutting her snout forward combatively.
"The one and only," replied Luna indifferently.
Rarity was a fair bit more accommodating. She stepped up close to the Princess and reached up to put a small kiss to each of her cheeks. Luna only nodded solemnly in greeting.
"Are you responsible for this cloud-thing, then?" asked Rarity, "It's certainly an impressive sight. I can't imagine why these folks would be put off by it!"
"I can tell that you're lying, you know," said Luna simply, "I see you've found some of your friends, Twilight Sparkle. That doesn't surprise me. Somehow, I knew you'd feel compelled to do something about the state of the world. Am I correct in assuming that you're working on gathering the Elements of Harmony?"
"Um, right." Twilight bit her lip. "Listen, Princess, I'm sure these ponies are just a bit confused. I mean, this must be very new and strange for them..."
"I'll say!" said in Rainbow Dash, "I used to work in the Cloud Patrol and even I've never seen anything like this! It would take a full cadre turns to do away with a cloud this big!"
"Is that what the Cloud Patrol does?" asked Luna, "Get rid of clouds?"
"Well, yeah. What else would it do?"
"What else indeed?" She shook her head. "No matter. Tell me, Twilight, how have you been faring? Have you had any contact with my sister?" She glanced at Spike on Twilight's back.
"Oh yes, we have," said Twilight, "We even met her in the capital and I'm happy to say-" She realized too late what she was saying.
"Beg pardon?" asked Applejack.
"Um, right..." Twilight grimaced. "I guess this is as good a time as any to tell you. My aunt from Everfree City? That was actually Princess Celestia in disguise."
While Rarity huffed a quiet "oh dear," Applejack took an abrupt step closer to Twilight. "What? And you kept this from me?"
"I didn't think it was the right time to mention it..."
"When exactly was the right time to mention it going to be?"
"I was hoping for a time when I could be sure you wouldn't over-react. It should be obvious that I didn't want to deal with a potential argument while we were still in enemy territory and- hmh, you know what? I'm not interested in discussing this with you right now." She turned back towards Luna. "What have you been doing since we were thrown into this world, Princess? And how did you end up here?"
"I wandered here by chance. I've done precious little so far, but I believe I have a basic grasp of what we're dealing with and also made contact with the enemy. A detachment of a pony invasion force was occupying this town here. I dealt with them."
"Dealt with them how?" asked Applejack, "How many exactly are we talking about here?"
"A platoon or thereabouts. I scattered them to the four winds. Hopefully, they learned something from it.
"A platoon?" repeated Rarity, "Isn't a platoon a thousand ponies?"
"Yes. I had certain advantages however, not the least of which was the element of surprise. They broke rank quickly enough. It can be quite a boon to be frightening sometimes."
Rarity and Applejack exchanged glances, looking worried as much as impressed.
"And what are you doing here, in the middle of nowhere?" asked Luna.
"Well, like you said, I'm gathering everypony up so we could make use of the Elements of Harmony. Fluttershy's supposed to live somewhere in this area, on Windy Hill?"
Luna raised her eyebrows. "Indeed? Windy Hill is known to me. You will find it on the very northwestern edge of town. Head on until you see the ruins. Fluttershy's house should be somewhere in the area."
"Thanks for that, Princess!" said Twilight.
"Don't thank me. Best get on with it. We will speak again afterwards and figure out how to go on."
Twilight's companions and the inhabitants of Hillside might have found the shade discomforting, but she herself thought it was almost liberating. She felt lighter and more at ease, and not just because the temperature was a tad closer to tolerable. More than once in this alternate Equestria, she'd had the unaccountable feeling that she was being watched.
Some conspiracy theorists claimed that Princess Celestia had the power of omniscience and always kept sight of her subjects through the sun. There were those who kept themselves locked off inside their houses because of these beliefs, or only left their homes wearing elaborate tinfoil hats that were supposed to mask them from the ever-present light. Twilight knew those stories to be utter nonsense, of course, but she was starting to have her doubts. Daymare Sun may well have had powers that Princess Celestia had never known...
What if the Queen had had her eye on them all along? What if she knew everything they were doing?
It was a disturbing thought, but Twilight was sure she was just being paranoid. She wasn't going to bring this up with her companions.
The way to Fluttershy's cottage on Windy Hill took them past small fields of half-withered vegetables. The cottage itself wa smaller than any other they'd seen so far, consisting of no more than a single room, and was in something of a state of disrepair. There were loose panes of wood on the walls and the building seemed more slanted than it should have been.
Twilight had to admit that she felt mentally unequipped for the situation. It was hard to focus, to change modes into who she had to be right then. She was going to have to pull herself together though. This was important. This was Fluttershy.
Twilight slipped ahead of Applejack so she could knock on the door herself. It took long minutes until somepony responded.
The door creaked open slowly, but only by an inch. From the darkness beyond, an eye framed by tufts of pink hair peeked out. Twilight felt a pang of joyful familiarity, but she knew Fluttershy well enough not to push her.
"Fluttershy?" she said gently, but silence was her only answer. "Um, hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle," she went on, "Me and my companions would like to discuss something with you. Can we come in?"
Fluttershy kept up her gaze, but didn't respond. When the moment dragged on too long, Rainbow Dash stepped forward, shouldered into Twilight and knocked her out of the way ungracefully.
"Heeeeeey, Fluttershy! Remember me?"
They heard a quiet gasp from inside. "Is that you, Rainbow Dash?"
"Sure am. Why don't you come outside so we can have a talk?"
They saw Fluttershy's eye narrow and then close. A second later, she shut the door. Twilight had just enough time to feel confused and worried when it opened again, Fluttershy edged out and closed it behind herself. She remained standing with her back to her home, leaving Twilight to take her in.
Fluttershy looked much the same, but also not. It was hard to overlook the signs of malnourishment – her coat was patchy and coarse, her hooves cracked and her long mane brittle and dry. Even more so than Applejack or Rainbow Dash, she looked sun-bleached. There was a drab greyish discoloration all about her. Her cutie mark was a single butterfly rather than three. The biggest difference, however, was also the most subtle. Despite the tenseness in her every movement, and the way her eyes flickered around between the ponies she was facing, Fluttershy did not seem truly afraid. There were lines in her face that gave her a strangely hardened appearance, and the look in her big, baby-blue eyes was resigned and unfeeling.
Before Twilight could think of how to approach their business delicately, Rainbow Dash was already speaking.
"It's really great to see you again! Sorry I haven't been in touch, but it's hard to send letters when the law is after you. What's going on with you? How's your rabbit doing?"
There was a barely discernible twitch in Fluttershy's eye. "My rabbit? My rabbit is dead." Her voice was as meek as quiet as might have been expected, but also eerily calm. "We didn't have a lot of food out here and often went hungry. Even though I tried my best to keep him fed, my poor Angel got weaker and weaker. One turn, he'd simply disappeared. I think he wandered off into the wilderness so I wouldn't starve. I tried so hard to look for him, but he was gone."
"Oh, jeez," muttered Dash.
"I'm very sorry to hear that," said Twilight, and took a step forward.
Fluttershy shivered and withdrew. "What do you want from me?" she asked, "What is going on here? Do you know anything about this cloud?"
"Don't worry about the cloud," said Twilight, "Listen, we're all very happy to finally meet you. We've come a long way to discuss a matter of great importance with you. You know Rainbow Dash. These are Applejack and Rarity, and I'm called Twilight Sparkle. Oh, and this is my good baby dragon friend Spike!"
She grabbed Spike off her back, forcing a smile all the while, and held him up between her forelegs for Fluttershy to see. Fluttershy spared him a glance. Her expression didn't change, and her eyes gave nothing away. The ice didn't break.
Twilight cleared her throat and took a deep breath. "I'll get right to it, shall I? You see, I'm actually a traveler from another dimension. Me and some companions of mine were stranded in this dimension by, er, by a magical mishap. All of us here are actually the best of friends in my world. Are you with me so far?"
Fluttershy hesitated. "I think so," she squeaked.
"Now, while I'm trying to get back home, I've also decided to help set things right here. At some point in your history, something must have gone very wrong, allowing Celestia to be corrupted by a malicious magical presence. Since then on, she's warped Equestria into a horrible dictatorship that's illuminated by an unnatural, eternal day. The natural state of the world is actually diarchy overseen by Celestia and her sister Luna, with the time of day cycling between light and darkness. It's all pretty simple, really."
"Right..." muttered Fluttershy, her brow furrowed.
"But see, there's this magical weapon – the Elements of Harmony – that would allow us to rid Celestia of her corruption and set Equestria back on its proper path, effectively saving the world. I've been seeking out allies to help me in doing so."
"Pretty wild story, huh?" asked Rainbow Dash with a smirk that looked more like a sneer.
"I hope you can believe me on this, Fluttershy," said Twilight.
Fluttershy chuckled. "I believe you."
Twilight frowned. "Did you- did you just roll your eyes?"
"Oh no, not at all!"
Twilight could count on one hoof the number of times she'd heard Fluttershy express sarcasm. Perhaps that was why she was so unfamiliar with recognizing it. She could have sworn she'd heard a tinge of sarcastic mockery, but the only thing she could read from Fluttershy's eyes was purest sincerity.
"Er, you do believe me, don't you?" she asked.
"Of course."
"It's very important that you understand-"
"Um, could you – if you don't mind – please get to the point?"
Twilight licked her lips. "Er, okay. The point is this – we need your help. The five of us, plus one other, are the only ones that can use the Elements of Harmony. I was hoping that you could, um, find the time to come with us and..." She paused, trying to think of the right words. "And fight for Equestria."
Fluttershy's expression was slowly crumpling into a grimace of confusion and anxiety.
"What you're describing is insane. It's utterly hopeless."
Twilight could have sworn that there was a tiny, bitter smirk on Fluttershy's lips.
"It's- it's not hopeless," said Twilight, "You've been conditioned to think that way by a system with centuries of practice in oppression, but trust me, there's always hope. Right, guys?"
She looked to the others for further encouragement, but the only thing they had to offer was Dash's bluster.
Fluttershy's smirk melted away, replaced by a haunted, unseeing look in her eyes. She shook her head. "Nothing good ever comes from standing up to the Queen."
"I don't think you realize how much we have going for us. Applejack here? She's the leader of the Apple Underground. She's an expert at survival and guerilla combat, and she has thousands of troops under her command all across the country. Rarity is called the Lady of Liberty in Everfree City. She has a keen strategic mind and the resources of a major noble house at her disposal, not to mention hundreds of ponies owing her favors. And you must know all about your friend Rainbow Dash – how she's one of the best fliers in Equestria-"
"The best," cut in Dash.
"-and how there's nothing she can't steal and no place she can't break into. As for myself, I am a fairly accomplished mage if I do say so myself..."
None of it seemed to make any impression on Fluttershy.
"And I haven't even gotten to the big guns yet!" added Twilight quickly, "The Princesses of my world are both with us – Celestia and Luna. They want to set this world right, and both of them are unbelievably powerful. Trust me, the odds aren't as unlikely as you might think."
She gave Fluttershy the warmest, most reassuring smile she could muster – only to be met with more irreverence.
"Then why do you need me?" asked Fluttershy.
"Um, what?"
"Why do you need me? I'm not a resistance leader or a warrior or a goddess. I'm nothing. I'm nopony. I can't do anything. You're a fool to ask somepony like me help."
Twilight laughed nervously, taken aback by the wording. The Fluttershy she knew could be self-deprecating, but she didn't deprecate others right along with her. "Oh Fluttershy, I'm sure you have many useful skills."
"How would you know?" asked Fluttershy quietly, "You don't know me."
"Well... I know you're living out here on the frontier on your own. That already means you're resourceful and capable. Judging by your cutie mark, you have an affinity for animals as well, don't you?"
Fluttershy didn't even look sad. The only thing her expression showed was an acrimonious and unsatisfying certainty in the truth her own words.
"How am I resourceful and capable if I can't even provide for myself and my pet rabbit? I'm a failure as a farmer. I only survive by begging my earth pony neighbors for help. And I do like animals, but do you see any around? How many have you seen in this lifeless wasteland in general? Do you see how useless I'd be to you?"
"Ah." Twilight sighed. "Look. I know that you might feel... like what you have to offer is too little to make a difference, but please believe me when I say that everypony's contribution is important, no matter how small. If you keep your head up, do your best and believe in yourself, anything can happen! Even if you're not a great warrior, the magic of the Elements Harmony will do most of the work. All you have to do is to be there."
"But I don't want to be there," said Fluttershy, looking down and shaking her head. She wasn't crying, but her back was rising and falling at an irregular rhythm. "I don't belong on a battlefield. I don't want to be... hurt. I'm sorry, but my answer is no."
Rainbow Dash dragged a hoof over her face. "Come on, Fluttershy! Don't be such a whiner!"
"Dash!" Twilight glanced at Rainbow, and then quickly back at Fluttershy. "Couldn't you please just take a moment and consider things-"
"No," said Fluttershy again.
She started turning around, and Twilight felt a panic seeping through her like a chill wind in her bones. Fluttershy was slipping away and she could think of nothing to stop her. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. Fluttershy was supposed to agree and join them!
"Wait! Just wait! Pinkie Pie. Do you know where we might find somepony called Pinkie Pie?"
Fluttershy looked back over her shoulder. "I don't know anypony by that name."
The door closed not with a slam but a quiet click. It was the whimpering final note to their entire quest. They were at a dead end.
Twilight felt tired. It felt almost silly to think that – after all, she'd been tired when she'd reached the Dragon Swamp, she'd been tired at the gates of Everfree City, and she'd been tired when she walked into Trottingham. She'd been tired and beleaguered since the moment she'd reached this world. The fatigue had kept building and building, and there was hardly ever a moment of rest to be found. Most of her time had been spent on the move in less than hospitable conditions, and Twilight had never been a particularly physical pony.
Throughout it all, she'd had a goal to move towards, something to push her onwards whenever she felt her legs getting wobbly. All the hardships in the world couldn't touch her because she was on a Mission. More than that, she was motivated by the fact that was on her way to find her friends, never even considering that they might not be to her liking. Now the rug had been pulled out from underneath her. It was all catching up to her...
Twilight and the others had made their way to a ruined city nearby that Luna had "conquered." The soldiers the Princess had driven off from the place had left behind much of their equipment and supplies on their retreat. Twilight wanted nothing more to lie down for a while, so she sought out an overhang in the abandoned campsite and sunk into a messy sleeping mat that still smelled of tobacco and aftershave.
Spike took to pacing around under the overhang and awkwardly rifling through the saddlebags there. It wasn't too long before he sat down opposite Twilight and looked her in the eye.
"What are we going to do now, Twilight?" he asked with a frown.
Applejack had asked her that same question, and Twilight hadn't had an answer to give her. She'd rushed ahead of the others so she could get a chance to think about it, but so far, she didn't have anything.
"I suppose we'll write to Princess Celestia and ask her for advice."
"What can we really do without the Elements of Harmony though? Twilight?"
Twilight sighed. "I'm not sure, Spike."
"I'm just spitballing here, but maybe we could find somepony to replace Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie? I mean, there have got to be other kind and cheerful ponies out there somewhere, right?"
"Maybe there are," said Twilight, "but ponies as kind as Fluttershy or as cheerful as Pinkie Pie? Finding them would be like..." She fell silent. The old needle and haystack comparison seemed inadequate.
And besides, she and her friends were supposed to be tied together by destiny. Their bond may or may not have existed in this universe per se, but if Twilight couldn't bring together people she nominally knew, what chance was there of finding a bunch of perfect strangers?
Twilight turned around on her other side so Spike wouldn't see the inevitable look of defeat on her face.
"Are you all right?" he asked her, "You've been a little out of it recently."
"Just a little tired," said Twilight, "I'll try to have a nap."
After a moment of silence, Spike stood up. "I'll try to find some paper for that letter," he said.
"Are you sure you're up for the exertion?"
"I'll manage. You better get some rest." He was already padding away.
Twilight closed her eyes, but although her body was ready and willing to fall asleep, her mind wasn't. For once, overt brightness wasn't a problem, but sleep just didn't seem to come to her. Clearing her head of thoughts was difficult. The truth was... she was afraid.
She wasn't sure how long she spent lying there – it was long enough to lose track of time – but eventually, she did manage to find her way to slumber.
Her dreams were a fractured mess of familiar imagery: a hundred misshapen scorpions waddling towards her and a hundred banners depicting jagged, golden suns; the open maw of Blitz and the coldly determined gaze of Brainy Bright; Agent Striker with his fake smile and Twilight herself wearing that very same smile.
Finally, she saw a familiar pony shining brightly in the distance, freakishly tall and yet impossibly elegant. She was cloaked in sunshine and fire...
None of it really bothered Twilight. She had grown accustomed to action, and in her mind, she breezed through all these obstacles with the cool and logical detachment of an automaton. Saving the world was old hat.
But then...
There was Soarin', struck down right in front of her. What had taken an instant in reality now dragged on for an eternity. The moment of his death seemed to pass in slow motion, to better burn into Twilight's memory.
Soarin's expression changed from valorous resolve to fear and regret at the very last second. He didn't want to die. Then, all emotion drained from his face as his heart gave out and his existence was extinguished.
Twilight could smell the horrid mix of ozone and burning flesh as if she was still standing there at the lakeside.
The knot in Twilight's stomach drew tighter. Part of her knew that the worst was yet to come.
Rainbow Dash.
A stranger wearing the face of a friend.
She was looking down at the unconscious Striker with an expression of greatest indifference. There was no vengeance in what she was doing, and certainly no justice. All she was doing was snuffing out the life of an enemy – as if it was nothing.
Dash raised her forehooves and smashed them down. This time, Twilight didn't look away. She couldn't.
Crack.
Striker's head bobbed upwards while a spray of blood burst out of his open mouth. The sound of his last breath escaping his shattered throat was almost as bad as the echoing snap of his neck breaking.
Crack.
Twilight heard it over and over in her dreams. She couldn't forget.
Crack.
Twilight woke to the quiet pattering drumbeat of rainfall. The sound was so unexpected to her that she didn't recognize it at first. She listened to it in a confused state of half-sleep, until she felt something wet hit her snout and finally found the strength to wonder. She opened her eyes.
Water was dribbling down the sides of the overhang. Twilight suppressed a yawn and pushed herself up into a sitting position to get a better look. The entire world was gray and misty, and a million drops of rain were hanging in the air. It looked impressive, but was actually just a light shower. Anything much heavier would quickly have swept away the fields of the villagers, and maybe even the hillside houses.
"Bad dreams, Twilight Sparkle?"
Twilight startled and turned around, finding Luna sitting right by her bedside. She was looking down at Twilight very seriously, very stoically, but she was also soaking wet and holding out her wings to air them out, which came across as faintly silly.
"I... I can't remember." Twilight cleared her throat and rose up to her hooves. She found the intensity with which the Princess was staring at her a little disquieting.
Luna might have had many extraordinary powers, but peeking into others' dreams was not one of them. Was it?
Eventually though, Luna broke her gaze and looked out into the empty city streets. "What do you think of my work, Twilight Sparkle?"
"It's good rain as far as I can tell, Princess. I'm impressed by the measured rate of precipitation and how stable you managed to keep most of the water in that cloud. I'd wager that the average weather team could learn a lot from you."
"Your friend Rainbow Dash did assist me with the shakedown."
"I... see. Um, is this all really a good idea though? Won't this spectacle attract a lot of attention?"
"The die is cast, Twilight Sparkle. Daymare Sun's servants will come to Hillside to investigate my intervention here. By then, I'll be gone and the ponies here need only tell the truth: that they have no idea what I am, where I came from or what I wanted. By then the cloud will have spread far and wide, and the investigators will have their hooves full dealing with the fallout from it to concern themselves with this place. The spectacle also sends a bit of a message."
"A declaration of war?" asked Twilight.
"The message is for the villagers," said Luna, "I wanted to give them the joy of rainfall and the protection of the shade, and to demonstrate that there somepony looking out for them. I hoped to give them some hope." She turned back towards Twilight as she said that. "I may or may not have succeeded. It must all be so confusing and frightening for them. They won't have seen rain like this for decades, and their houses will not be waterproofed. I wonder if they're not looking at their leaky roofs right now and cursing my name."
"Water is life here," replied Twilight, her voice shaking a little, "They'll be too grateful to curse you."
"I'm glad you see it that way." Luna's expression was strange and unreadable. Despite her self-doubt, she didn't seem down on herself. "Spike told me you weren't feeling well."
Twilight cast her eyes down and slowly scraped one of her hooves over the ground. "I'm just tired."
"I can understand being tired. But you've had a rest now, and yet you still feel nothing but apathy and anxiety, do you? What you are is lost."
"Yes, well," muttered Twilight, "I know where I am. I just don't know where to go. We can't go on without Fluttershy."
"It's unlike you to give up so easily, Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight snorted. "I could probably bully her into joining me if I tried hard enough, but what would that accomplish? What kind of friendship would that be? I can't just charm people like Pinkie Pie, and she's nowhere around! I don't have a single lead to her. For all I know-"
"Don't sit here and complain about things not falling into your lap!" exclaimed Luna with an emphatic stomp of her forehooves. Twilight glanced up at her in surprise. "Taking down Daymare Sun is a momentous undertaking, one which you've barely begun. This is no time to be giving up!"
"I haven't given up! I'm just... disappointed."
"In Fluttershy?"
"In how things are turning out. Well, maybe Fluttershy too, a little. Is that wrong of me? I know I shouldn't blame her for not putting her entire life on hold to come with us on this quest, but still..."
"You wish she was stronger."
Hearing it said out loud made Twilight feel like... kind of a bad person. Friendship was supposed to be unconditional, not dependent on somepony's willingness to help save the world.
"I am reminded of your struggle with Discord. You also lost faith then, when your friends weren't all they should have been, did you not?"
"But we only overcame all that with the memories of all the good times we'd had together. I don't have anything like that with their counterparts here. I barely know them."
"You know what they can be. You're better qualified than anyone to help them reach their potential, because you've already done it once."
"I don't know what I could do for everypony else. Applejack and Rarity are already heroes. I guess Fluttershy is kind of right. She's a little overshadowed."
"And Rainbow Dash?" asked Luna.
Twilight tensed up involuntarily. All the memories of what Dash had done came flooding back to her. She remembered the crack. "Did Spike...?"
"He did."
Twilight thought for a moment, of how to best sum up her feelings towards Rainbow Dash. "I can't even stand to look at her," she finally admitted.
"So you disapprove of her actions."
"Of course!"
"And your solution is to ignore her and stew in your disapproval until it boils and bubbles over into hatred."
"What? No!" She shook her head, but there was some truth to the accusation. "This isn't about me! Dash killed somepony! That's wrong! She's not the same pony that I know."
"Actually, from what I can tell, she is much the same. Is that what frightens you? That one of your friends might herself be capable of taking a life? Tell me, would you disown her if she did?"
"You're not being fair," said Twilight. She wanted to look away again, but Luna raised her hoof and gently held up Twilight's snout so their eyes were locked.
"I believe you are wrong, Twilight Sparkle. This is about you. Yes, Rainbow Dash killed somepony – what are you going to do about it? In my opinion, you should ask her to explain herself at the very least. You might inspire her to be better, or you might learn something yourself. Things aren't always as simple as they seem. The worst thing you could do is deciding you don't want to know her without giving her a chance."
Luna pulled away, took a few steps off to the side and furled up her wings. While Twilight mused about facing Dash and what to say to her, the rain slowed down to a trickle, and then stopped altogether.
"I won't tell you what to do, Twilight Sparkle," said Luna, "but do something."
Twilight nodded. "I should thank you, Princess. For talking to me about this."
"Think nothing of it," replied Luna, "You would have done the same for me."
Twilight stepped outside and smelled the rain. She splashed into puddles on the cracked pavement, and realized that she had missed this. At the very least, it was nice to take a breath without invisible dust getting clogged in her throat. The deathly quiet of the ruins (accounting for the dripping water) now seemed peaceful rather than ominous. Everything felt new and fresh, and it was impossible not to feel a little brighter.
Twilight wondered what to do. She wasn't exactly sure where Rainbow Dash was, and there were other matters to be settled. For one, she wanted to seek out Applejack and apologize for lying to her – and also perhaps to acknowledge her failings and ask for advice. Twilight didn't have to figure everything out on her own, after all. Applejack was wise and as experienced in matters like these as anypony. All the same though... Twilight hadn't forgotten that, while Rainbow Dash had struck the killing blow, Applejack had been just as willing to finish off Striker.
Finding Applejack was not difficult. Twilight came across her at the command post at the center of the army's encampment. Applejack had turned the place upside-down rummaging through various documents there, or perhaps the place had already been a mess beforehand.
"Found anything interesting?" asked Twilight perhaps a little too brightly.
Applejack looked up at her. "Not exactly. There's some battle plans here for the coming invasion, but nothing of use to the Apple Underground. I understand that Luna distributed most of the supplies to the townspeople, but we'll be able to restock our provisions."
"Ah, good... I'm glad you're keeping busy."A glare by Applejack reminded Twilight just how ineffectual she was being in comparison.
"This isn't keeping busy," said Applejack, "There's a lot of things I'd much rather be doing."
"Yes, um, we seem to be a little stuck. Do you have any ideas? About what to do with Fluttershy, I mean."
"Hmh." She shrugged. "Rainbow Dash went back to talk to her one on one. We'll have to see how she does."
"Even with her though, we're still missing the last member of our crew. We don't have anything to point us towards Pinkie Pie. I really expected us all to know each other..."
"Can't one of your Princesses find her then?" asked Applejack with a roll of her eyes.
"They're- they're not all powerful, you know. There's no need to be passive-aggressive." She drew closer to Applejack, keeping her head humbly low. "Look, I wanted to clear the air with you about that. I'm really sorry about deceiving you about Celestia. I just felt really queasy about introducing you to your sworn enemy and I don't want this to give you the impression that I don't trust you. I should have known better than to keep secrets from you."
If Applejack found her emphasis curious, she made no sign of it. She leaned against a nearby table, which creaked under her weight, and stared intently at the closest wall.
"Eh, trust's really not the issue," she said after a moment, "I know where you're going with this. You want to tell me that your Celestia is all different and that there are special circumstances to consider. Well, don't bother. I can abide working with your Princess and her sister because they're an asset too great to discard – but don't expect me to like it, not ever."
"That's... fair enough, I suppose," murmured Twilight.
"There's something I've been meaning to ask you for a while now," said Applejack, looking her in the eye now, "Suppose we pull through on this thing. Suppose we manage to beat the Queen with those thingamajigs. What then? What's going to happen then? Look, I'll say it plain – who do you think's going to be in charge in this country afterwards?"
"Well. Celestia will be, the real Celestia. Once the Elements of Harmony purify her of the force controlling her, she'll be free to start undoing the damage."
Applejack shook her head. "That's not gonna happen, Twilight."
"Come on!" said Twilight, "You have to realize that she isn't responsible for her actions! You're blaming the greatest victim of them all."
"If you say so. But you know what? It doesn't even matter. Whether she's culpable or not, ponies will never trust or accept her as their ruler anymore. You can't just make them forget all about the last millennium or so. You also can't have a revolution without change, for that matter. Celestia's gotta go. I don't think you realize what a symbol of evil she is..."
"I don't think you realize how vital she is," Twilight shot back. She caught a note of spite in her voice, and tried to go on calmer. "Ignoring the fact that she's the best pony for the job, the day-night cycle requires her to move the sun along its proper path. I'm sure you understand that, despite the detrimental effect constant exposure to it has, the sun is necessary for the life to exist on this planet. Moving the sun is something that used to be done by unicorns, but that knowledge has been lost in my world, and I seriously doubt Daymare Sun would have allowed it to exist here either. Even if she did though, would you really trust unicorns with that power? Those best qualified for it would also be the ones likeliest to want to enforce existing social structures."
Applejack chewed on her lip as she pondered Twilight's words. When she spoke at last, there was a familiar stubbornness to her words. "If I had a choice between changing one thing for the better, ecology or society, I'd pick the latter. Life sure isn't easy with that thing hanging over our heads, but I'd let the Eternal Day continue if that's what it took to make the tyranny end."
"The real Celestia would not be a tyrant."
"If she's going to wield absolute power with no oversight, then she sure would be."
Twilight felt a tinge of pity for Applejack's naivete that she immediately recognized as condescending. Such criticism of Celestia was a bit of a sore spot for her, but in truth, Applejack's views were at least a natural reaction against the world she'd grown up in. It wasn't her fault that she didn't know any better. Forcing an argument on the matter wouldn't be conductive to anything.
"Well, I'm sure there's room for a compromise," said Twilight with a sweep of her forehoof, "but I still feel that you don't truly understand what our Princess is like. Once this is all settled, I'd like you to come back with us – even just for a day – and look at the utopia she's created."
Applejack's expression was a study in ambivalence. Eventually though, she broke into a sad little smile. "I'm not sure I can take you up on that offer. If I ever see your world, I don't think I could ever force myself to come back."
"Applejack, I'm completely certain that this world will one day go back to being just as beautiful as ours, and ponies will have you and your work to thank for it. What we're doing here right now is the path to that. It matters, please believe me on that."
"Heh. Save the sales pitch, you don't have to keep convincing me."
"Well, you did say you wish you were rather elsewhere."
"Ah, well. Even if I was still back in Trottingham, I'd probably still be doing nothing. We're supposed to be laying low right now anyway. I just..."
"You wish you could do something about your brother," finished Twilight.
Applejack nodded. "It's tough, not knowing what's happened to him. At least last time, we knew for certain."
"I can't imagine how you must be feeling," said Twilight.
"How do I feel? Mostly responsible. That's not the same thing as guilty, mind you. He wouldn't even be doing any of this if it wasn't for me. He joined up so he could watch over me. I didn't need him to protect me, but grew used to having him there for me anyway. There was a time, not long ago, when he was talking about getting out of the game and settling down with some mare he knew. I talked him out of it. It seemed like the most obvious thing back then, but now? Now I kind of feel like I pressured him into it."
Yet, wasn't that exactly what they meant to do Fluttershy – pressure her into it? Twilight had been so resolute about not wanting to bully her, but how could she reconcile that with the fact that she had no intention of taking no for an answer? That was hardly respectful of her wishes.
Once Twilight's mind was on the question, it inevitably led her to its logical outgrow: what if Fluttershy agreed to come with them and something happened to her?
Before she stumbled across Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle found Spike again. The little dragon was sitting in a dry spot under the eaves of a broken-down building. Twilight cantered over to him and nuzzled her head against his side.
"Thank you, Spike!"
"Hey!" he exclaimed, wincing under the affection, "I didn't even do anything!"
"You went to Luna and sent her to talk to me, didn't you?"
Spike poked one of his finger-claws into her nose and pushed her away. The scales on his cheeks were a little reddish. "I figured if anypony could get you out of your funk, it would be the Mistress of Brooding."
"Well, you were right! I knew I kept you around for a reason!"
"Yeah, well, maybe you can return the favor now."
"What do you mean?"
"I saw Rarity earlier and thought she looked a little upset, so I followed her here-"
"Mmm. How stalkerish of you."
"I'm being serious here! I really think she could use somepony to talk to. I'd have done it myself, but, well, I figured it should be you." He scrunched up his face unhappily. "She's inside here."
Twilight turned around towards the dark doorway leading into the building. After a nod to Spike, she ventured into the ruins.
At any other time, her scientific curiosity would have been piqued. Ruins was all that was left of the griffon civilization in her world, and archeology was one of her many fields of interest. The building she was in had experienced its share of wear and tear – she couldn't even tell what its function might have been before the city was abandoned – but it would nevertheless have been a golden opportunity for study, had she been so inclined. Alas, there were more important things to deal with.
Twilight found Rarity in a wide-open hall, with only bare hints of muted light shining in from outside. Twilight could barely make out anything of the surroundings, though there were outlines of broken furniture visible on the floor. Rarity was lying on a legless couch with the upholstery ripped away ages ago.
"Is that you, Twilight?" she asked.
Her voice was slurred. Twilight could make out an open canteen on the floor in front of her. As she made her way closer, she picked up on the unspeakable smells wafting out of it.
"Have you been drinking?" asked Twilight.
"Mayhaps," replied Rarity, "I found some sunshine in the campsite. It's absolutely, positively the most despicable-tasting thing I've ever drunk."
"Sunshine?"
"You know. Bootleg. Hooch. Illegally distilled liquor."
"Oh. We call it moonshine. You shouldn't be drinking, Rarity. It's not good for you. It dehydrates you, for one... I don't even understand why these idiots were making moonshine in a desert!"
"Now what business if it of yours whether or what I drink? Considering our current situation, it's not like this is some big hindrance to us."
Twilight rolled her eyes and made a grab for the canteen with her magic. Rarity grabbed hold of it herself, and for an instant, Twilight was afraid they'd get into a telekinetic tug-of-war, but Rarity was quick to relent. She let her head lull.
"You know another word for sunshine?" she mused quietly, "'White lightning.'"
Twilight pursed her lips and went about pouring what was left of the foul-smelling liquid through a gap in the cracked floorboards while desperately trying to think of something to say.
"This isn't very ladylike of you, Rarity."
"How little you know of being a lady! Being able to do whatever you want whenever you want it is a big part of it." She sniffled, which sounded suspiciously like holding back a sob.
Twilight sighed and sat down next to Rarity. "Were you and Soarin' close?" she asked carefully.
"I'm close to all my employees."
"There wasn't... anything else between you two?"
Rarity was addled enough that it took her a moment to catch the implication. "Oh, no. Not at all. I don't do romance anymore. What gave you that idea?"
"I don't know," said Twilight with a small shrug, "You just seemed so comfortable together."
"I want to retrieve his body if at all possible," mused Rarity, "When this is all over and done with, I mean. The Swamp should be safe to return to by then. I hope he'll be undisturbed. I'm not certain where to lay him to rest, or what else needs to be done. He didn't have any close friends beyond our little circle as far as I'm aware. His parents were dead, but he mentioned some cousins... I'll have to contact them and inform them what happened. Goodness, how am I going to tell them that his death was my fault?"
"Oh Rarity, don't say that..."
Rarity snorted. "'Don't say that?' You can't even manage a 'that's not true?'"
"It isn't," said Twilight.
"I was the one who brought him along as our chauffeur, I was the one that refused to let him rest at the chariot and I was the one who froze up at the crucial moment. He laid down his life to protect me. How, pray tell, is it not my fault?"
Twilight was at a loss for things to say. She was used to seeing Rarity's composure cracked by... outbursts of emotion, not this kind of seething bitterness. On the other hand, she'd never seen Rarity in circumstances like these; she'd never seen her truly grieve. In point of fact, Twilight had never had to comfort anypony in serious bereavement. How was she supposed to go about it? Was she overthinking it?
"Striker was the one that did it, not you. He's the only one to blame, and he's... gone now. I don't think the context of it really matters. It was just... bad luck."
Rarity shook her head. There were tears glistening on her cheeks.
"No, no, that came out wrong!" groaned Twilight, "Scratch that. It wasn't really bad luck. It wasn't chance. Soarin' made a decision to defend you. It was meant to happen because he made it happen. The responsibility for Soarin's death was his own." At the throaty sound of disbelief Rarity made, Twilight quickly added: "So I think – I think the best thing you could do is honor his memory by accepting his actions and not blaming yourself."
Rarity considered her words. "This doesn't really do much for me," she said quietly.
"I know," admitted Twilight.
Rarity was breaking up right beside her. Not knowing what else to do, Twilight enveloped her in a hug and held on as Rarity's body was racked by sobs.
Twilight felt guilty about Soarin's death – not because she'd failed to prevent it, but because she was unable to do it justice. She'd never seen a pony die before. It had shocked and horrified her, that was true, but it wasn't enough. In her heart of hearts, she knew that it didn't hit her as hard as what had happened to Striker. Soarin' was outweighed in Twilight's mind by his own murderer. How wrong was that? Her preoccupation with Dash's actions had even caused her to neglect how Rarity was feeling. She'd been so put off by the whole ordeal that she'd neglected the relationships she was meant to be building.
"You don't have to deal with this alone," said Twilight when Rarity had settled down a bit, "You shouldn't be here in the dark."
"You're right," said Rarity, sniffing and running a hoof over her eyes, "You're right."
"You should go find Applejack. She's a resistance leader, I'm sure she's dealt with her share of losses. Perhaps she can give you some advice."
"Yes. And Twilight..." She pulled back a bit and looked Twilight in the eyes. "Thank you."
Here she was now, working on those relationships, and Twilight suddenly realized that she felt disgusted with herself. What she was doing seemed so cynical, so manipulative. It was exactly what Spike had had in mind – letting Twilight comfort Rarity so that they could bond like they needed to. She was building a friendship by mandate. Was such a thing even possible? Was this genuine sentiment or cold calculation? What was familiar and what was strange? Was this friendship "real?"
Should she not have done this? But then what should she have done?
Even in the dark, Rarity could make out some of her internal conflict from her face. Hesitantly, she leaned forward renewed their hug. Twilight felt a little less doubt.
When Twilight found Rainbow Dash at last, it was largely due to luck: she just happened to look up at the right moment. Dash was perched on top of one of the few of the city's old lookout towers that was still standing. Her bright blue coat was the perfect camouflage for a sunny day, but it looked a tad more conspicuous framed by storm-clouds.
Twilight took a deep, halting breath and teleported up to the tower, landing on the roof with a preemptive sense of vertigo. The building's parapets had long since collapsed and fallen away, and the roof seemed slightly slanted. Twilight kept her legs splayed apart to steady herself and tried to avoid looking down.
"Er, ahem, hello," mumbled Twilight, "How did things go with Fluttershy?"
Rainbow Dash stared her down coolly before answering. "Like crap. She wouldn't consider what I had to say, wouldn't even let me inside. She's a lost cause."
"Well, I still hope to give it another shot."
Privately, Twilight wondered whether Rainbow Dash's brusque manner was right for drawing Fluttershy out of her shell and changing her mind, but she wasn't going to say that. This was supposed to be a reconciliation.
"S-so what are you doing up here?" Twilight asked, before the uncomfortable silence had time to settle.
"Small talk, huh? So, what, you feel like talking to me now, Ms. High and Mighty? You want to buddy up all of a sudden?" Dash was grinning humorlessly, her eyes narrowed.
"It's not that I want to buddy up..." Even though that was exactly what she should have wanted. "I just want to get to know you a bit and to understand – and to understand where you stand."
Suddenly, Dash was on her hooves and up in her face, almost close enough that their noses were touching. "I'm standing right here."
Twilight couldn't help but shrink away from her. The motion seemed to gratify Dash, judging by the way her lip curled.
"I can't even tell whether you're afraid of me or whether you just think you're better than me. What is it with that stick up your ass?"
"You-" Twilight cleared her throat. The words were hard to say. "You killed somepony."
"And so what?" Lowering her voice, she added: "Do you think Striker was the first one?"
Twilight had barely even considered that, at least not enough to fully acknowledge the fact that, no, Striker was most likely not the first pony Dash had killed. She realized something else too: Dash was only bringing it up to throw her off her guard.
"That's horrible." It was such a stupidly obvious thing to say, but Twilight wanted Dash to hear it.
Dash snorted. "Um, hello, Ms. Brainiac? He was a bad guy! He was a ruthless, murdering bastard that did his best to kill all you guys! Just look at what he did to your dragon buddy. I don't even want to imagine what he wanted me for."
"But we'd already beaten him! He wasn't a threat to anypony anymore. He was unconscious and completely defenseless!"
"So I'd have been a moron not to make use of that! Do you think he'd have had mercy if the situation was reversed?"
"That doesn't matter!" burst out Twilight, "You're supposed to be better than that!" You're supposed to be better.
"Do you think that other pegasus would have minded? Do you think he would have wanted to go unavenged?"
"Neither of us know what he would have wanted! You don't even know his name, so don't pretend you were particularly concerned about him!"
"You know who I was concerned about? All the ponies Striker had yet to kill. If we'd let him go, he'd have been free to orphan some poor filly or colt, or torture somepony for information, or have his dragon burn down a village for fun! Don't think he wouldn't have! Not to mention he would have blown Rarity's cover and done untold damage to her work in Everfree City! For crud's sake, I can't even list all the ways that it was a good idea to end him!"
"Your pragmatism is not in question here! That doesn't mean it was the right thing to do! There may have been alternative options, if you'd just-"
Dash's nostrils flared. "What gives you the right to judge what's right and wrong? As if somepony from some namby-pamby paradise could ever understand what it's like, living here! We don't have horns or fancy magic to make our problems go away! We don't have a benevolent goddess looking out for us! We have to fight and struggle to make it, and sometimes, that involves being hard and cold! You have it so easy and yet you complain about me not living up to your standards! You can't even comprehend all the horrible things the Secret Police have done, but I do! I've seen it myself! Why don't you try checking your self-righteousness, because you don't know anything!"
She raised her hoof and poked it in Twilight's chest to make a point. Twilight remembered the crack. Startled by the movement, she recoiled and lost her balance. She fell to her knees and swiveled around. Faced with the edge of the tower, she quickly scrambled back upright.
Dash frowned and averted her eyes. "I didn't mean to do that."
Twilight waited for her heartbeat to settle down and tried to think things though. Rainbow Dash was right on both accounts – Twilight was afraid of her and, on some level, she indeed thought herself superior. Both of these were irrational, emotional reactions. She was, however, meant to be intellectual and reasonable. Dash wasn't going to hurt her, and even though every fiber of Twilight's being screamed the opposite, she had to consider the notion that killing Striker may have been the right thing to do. That was Luna's advice – not to close herself off to the possibility.
Twilight would have been lying if she said that Dash's arguments left her untouched. This was a whole new world, and things were so different here. She couldn't take anything for granted, not even morality. It was fundamentally unrealistic to expect somepony from such a hostile environment to grow up with the same value systems as Twilight.
It was true, Dash and others fighting the good fight in this world didn't have the means that Twilight and her friends enjoyed back home. Indeed, they might not have had the luxury of dismissing pragmatism and other extreme methods. It was a complex, maddening dilemma that could ultimately be reduced to a simple question: did she think Rainbow Dash was a bad person at heart? The answer was no. A person that did questionable things, a misguided person, but not an evil one.
Twilight had come to wonder whether there was a reason she'd ended up in this world. Perhaps it wasn't just a matter of defeating Daymare Sun and restoring balance, perhaps she was also meant to show them another way, and that couldn't happen if she rejected Dash out of hand. They were meant to be friends, her conviction in that belief had never wavered. One could be friends with ponies very different from yourself, as long as you were willing to accept those differences. Twilight had proven herself capable of that throughout the childish spats of the mundane, but this was the real test.
"I'm sorry," she said, "I'm sorry for ignoring you and for... this. I didn't mean to come here to accuse you."
Dash's expression didn't soften, but her voice did. "I... wasn't really going to start justifying my actions like that either."
"No, I'm glad you did. I needed to hear all that. Like you said, I don't really know anything. I guess I've had a hard time adjusting."
Twilight could understand Rainbow's actions, and – to an extent – accept them. But she found that she could not forgive. She could not force her heart to cross that threshold. Perhaps that was fine though. Perhaps it wasn't her place to forgive... Twilight resolved to ask Princess Celestia her opinion once they met again.
Dash just stared at her. It fell on Twilight to deal with the awkwardness.
"So, if you don't mind me asking, how many have you... you know?" Perhaps it would have been better to move on from the subject, but Twilight couldn't couldn't suppress her morbid curiosity.
Dash shrugged, but there was palpable weight to the motion. She wasn't being dismissive. "It's not something I keep count of."
Twilight nodded slowly, not really sure where to go from there. It felt inappropriate to segue this conversation into lighter territory at this point. Perhaps it was best to leave things be for the time being instead of forcing anything.
"I think maybe we should take off now," said Twilight, "Let's find the others. Like I said, I haven't given up on Fluttershy yet."
She raised her hoof. After some hesitation, Dash raised hers as well and bumped it together with Twilight's.
Once more unto the breach...
Like last time, Fluttershy was slow to come meet them, though she now met them with irritation rather than anxiety.
"What do you want?" she asked through half-open door.
"I'd just like one final opportunity to talk to you. Please." It must have sounded like Twilight had something big in mind to make a convincing case, but she wasn't too sure about that. She had a new tactic, but suspected it would merely boil down to more pleading in the end.
Fluttershy regarded her with suspicion, but finally decided to squeeze herself through the door and face them again.
"I'd like to you reconsider about joining us, Fluttershy."
"This again? I already gave you my answer."
"Look, you made it abundantly clear earlier that you're unhappy with your life here, and that you have trouble managing. That's understandable. It's a tough going and not suited to just anypony. I don't think that makes you a failure or somehow less than others. But Fluttershy, if you're not happy here then you should leave! Come with us and you'll have a chance to turn a whole new leaf! I know this sounds strange, but if farming isn't working out for you, maybe being a freedom fighter will?"
Arguing with Fluttershy was always a delicate balancing act with her self-worth. Twilight had to push rather hard for her to change without hurting her feelings about who she was. Thankfully, the others were a lot more enthusiastic about stepping in this time.
"No offense, but you are a pegasus," said Applejack, "and a relatively delicate one at that. You're not meant for this line of work."
"You know, quite aside from whether you're joining our little group – and I do hope you will – I could find a place for you in my service. Helping tend to my mansion or some-such should be a little more comfortable."
"You're just undercutting yourself," answered Fluttershy, "If I'm 'delicate,' then all the more reason I wouldn't be able to do anything to help you guys. And no thank you on the generous offer, milady. I came back to Hillside because I wanted to be alone."
"I don't believe you," said Twilight.
In the ensuing silence, they all heard a metallic clunk, loud and clear. All heads turned towards Fluttershy's cabin.
"What was that?" wondered Rarity.
"Sounded like... something," replied Applejack, her eyebrow cocked.
All heads proceeded to turn to Fluttershy herself, who looked like she'd just finished drinking a bottle of vinegar.
"Oh, that was..." Fluttershy's voice faded away. Her eyes flickered from side to side like a cornered animal's. Finally, she sighed. "I have a guest."
"A guest?" repeated Dash, "You?"
"Thank you for that," mumbled Fluttershy, "This is really none of your concern."
"You mean you've had somepony sitting there listening in on us the whole time?" wondered Applejack, with an edge in her voice.
"No, it's not like that..."
"I wouldn't exactly call this being alone," commented Spike.
"It wasn't a – no, don't do that!"
Thanks to a small push from her wings, Dash was already gliding over Fluttershy's head towards the door. "Sorry, but I gotta see this." She pushed open the door.
Twilight wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, but it wasn't this. There was a griffon standing in the middle of Fluttershy's hut – a particularly familiar griffon at that. It was, unless Twilight was mistaken, Gilda.
Instead of a rebellious fringe, the feathers on her head were trimmed into a crew cut, and she wasn't wearing make-up. One of her wings and one of her hindpaws were wrapped in bandages. She seemed to have been working at slipping on a light metal armor with spots of brownish dried blood on it, and now stared at the group of ponies with a mixture of bewilderment, embarrassment, uncertainty and probably a host of other emotions.
"Oh no!" muttered Fluttershy and breezed past Dash back inside, "I told you, you're not fit to leave yet!"
"And I told you I was," replied Gilda gruffly, "Now's the best time for me to get away, with no ponies to stop me. Except you, I mean."
Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Dash and Spike used this opportunity to slip into the cottage after Fluttershy. With all of them inside, the place was rather crowded.
"Um, what?" said Rainbow Dash.
"Well, I'm not confused at all," murmured Spike.
"Uh, hey?" said Gilda, "No offense, but I really don't want to get involved in your crazy shenanigans. Just one of the reasons I'd like to take off now."
"No," said Fluttershy, "You won't make it to that border with that wing of yours, and it would be too risky to walk the whole way."
"Ahem, would you mind explaining what a griffon is doing here?" said Twilight.
Fluttershy snorted and sat down on her bed in the corner of the room. "It's nothing, really. Gilda here is with the Griffon Army. She was injured in a skirmish and came down nearby. I took her in, treated her wounds as best I could and kept her hidden from the soldiers. They... they would have killed her."
Gilda and Dash had started pacing around each other, wings extended.
"A griffon, eh?" said Dash, "What's your title then?"
"Those are for knights, featherbrain. I'm just a regular scout."
"Oh yeah? That must must mean you're pretty fast."
"Fast enough."
"You still got caught and beat up though."
"Correction: they didn't catch me. I got away. That's why I'm here now."
"Cool your heads, ladies," said Rarity, "Applejack, didn't you say something about finding some pony battle plans earlier?"
Gilda perked up at that. "Hey, could I see those battle plans? I mean, uh, if you feel like selling out your homeland? Wow, kind of an awkward thing to ask. Sooo how about it?"
"I'll show you them later on," said Applejack, "Consider it a gift of goodwill from the pony resistance, eh?"
Twilight joined Fluttershy on her bed.
"You're already standing up to the Queen in your own way, you know," she said, "After all, you took in Gilda here, didn't you? She's an enemy combatant and aiding and abetting her would be considered treason, I'm sure. There's only one punishment for treason. You were brave to help her. You're fully capable of rebelling when you feel it's the right thing to do, and you know what we're doing is the right thing, don't you?"
"Yes. Yes. I hope you succeed. I wish you the best of luck. But I'm not meant to go along with you. I'm nothing. I'm nopony."
"Yeah, well, you're a nothing that probably saved my life," said Gilda, "Good lord, I've seen the way you live. There's absolutely nothing keeping you here. Just do it."
"You're keeping me here, for one! If I leave, you would too, and then what?"
"Well, actually," said Twilight, "we could drop off Gilda safely at the border on our way."
"Fluttershy, please," said Dash, "We wouldn't be hassling you if this wasn't important. I know you don't like responsibility, but this might be the most crucial thing any of us will ever do. So come ooooon!"
"I- I can't. I'd only get in your way."
"Don't shield yourself in self-pity, darling," said Rarity, "It's unbecoming."
"We have a lot of different ponies on our side," explained Applejack, "Not all of them fight. There's a lot of ways to contribute something. I can't pretend to know how these Elements of Harmony work, but if you'd just have a little faith..."
"I can't! Why won't any of you understand?!"
"I don't get it," said Twilight, "Dash said the Secret Police took your parents. We figured you would want to go up against them."
"You know about my parents and you still have to wonder why I don't want to go along with you? They tried standing up to the Queen and look what happened to them. They got killed for their trouble. Do you realize that I'm saying? They left me an orphan because they couldn't leave well enough alone! My parents were fools that shouldn't have been together in the first place!"
"Why would you say something like that?" Twilight remembered what she knew of Fluttershy's parents. "You mean because they weren't of the same breed?"
"Yes. My mother stupidly got together with an earth pony. And I'm just as stupid as she was..."
"What do you mean?"
"Did Dash tell you why I left the Cloud Patrol? No, that was after her time. Well, I'll be honest with you." She let her gaze drop to the floor. "I didn't really leave. Not voluntarily. It was the one thing I was any good at. Most ponies assume I quit my job in protest or something, that I just told my bosses to eff themselves like Rainbow Dash did. As if I'd wanted to be left bitless and come back home to chew on dried roots to survive! As if I was that brave... I didn't leave my job – I was fired. For fraternizing with an earth pony."
Fluttershy blushed under their collective stares. Twilight mouthed something indistinct, her brain momentarily unable to formulate any coherent thoughts. By Rainbow Dash's wide eyes, this was all news to her as well.
"But you want to know the funny part?" continued Fluttershy, "He got roped into rebelling against the Queen as well. The Secret Police killed him too."
"Fluttershy..." Twilight reached out and put her hoof on the pegasus's shoulder. "I'm so, so sorry."
"He was part of some kind of operation. I don't even know what he was meant to be doing, but the city guard at Everfree caught him. It was over a year ago that they took him from me and walked him to their prison complex. Like you said, there's only one punishment for treason." She took a deep breath and released it. "I can't think of anypony that would have deserved his fate less. Even though he had the look of a brute, he was always the sweetest, gentlest soul. He had a mind too. Even though he rarely spoke, his mind was always working. I loved him, and nopony could ever replace him. We never even got much time together, what with my job requiring me to travel and Big Macintosh being a part-time outlaw. I haven't been truly-"
Applejack raised her head. "Beg pardon? Did you say-?"
"Big Macintosh?" repeated Twilight.
Fluttershy eyed them cautiously. "Yes?"
"Big Mac's my brother!" Applejack half-shouted.
It took a moment for the information to take hold in Fluttershy's brain. Ears twitching and mouth slightly agape, she slowly pulled her skeletal form back upright and stared at Applejack.
"The leader of the Apple Underground," she muttered to herself, "Yes, of course. I should have realized..." Abruptly, she raised her voice. "Then you're the bitch that sent him to his death?!"
The outburst shocked everypony else in the room into silence. For an instant, Fluttershy's face was contorted into a vicious snarl. Her anger dissipated as quickly as it had appeared. She herself seemed as disturbed as anypony.
"I'm sorry!" she squeaked, closing her eyes in shame, "That was unkind of me. I didn't mea-" Her mouth snapped shut. Nopony there was under the illusion that she hadn't meant it. "I'm sorry," she repeated.
Applejack's mouth had drawn into a thin, tense line. "You've got something very wrong, missy," she said, "Big Mac didn't die. They took him prisoner, but we got him out before he could be executed. Me and Rarity and the rest of the team."
"Wh-what?" She paused. "That can't be... It's not possible." The desperate smile that flowered on Fluttershy's face was painful to see. "Are you telling me he's all right? That he's been all right all this time?!"
"Oh dear," whispered Rarity.
"He was alright," said Applejack quietly, "Right now... we don't know. He's gone missing in action, just a short while ago. My best guess is that he's been recaptured."
Fluttershy looked as if the smile on her face had been frozen and then shattered. Her entire body seemed to sag, leaving her staring listlessly at the floor.
"How- how did I not know about this?" Her voice was high-pitched and filled with blame. The accusation wasn't directed at any of them, but herself.
"The Secret Police hushed everything up," said Applejack, "They didn't want it known that somepony had managed to stage a prison break right at their headquarters. By the time Big Mac was out and in the condition to go looking for you, you'd left Everfree. It took him a while to get in shape. They- well, they did a number on him."
It took Fluttershy long seconds to raise her head again. Twilight had the oddest mental image – it was as if they were watching a coin spinning in the air, waiting for it to land on its side. Heads, Fluttershy would be so broken by the revelation that she would be neither inclined nor capable of helping anypony. Tails, Fluttershy would be so furious at Applejack and the whole wide world that she'd spit on them and throw them all out.
And the third option...
"Are you telling the truth?" Fluttershy's voice was shaking, but surprisingly calm.
"What kind of question is that?" asked Applejack with a scowl.
"Why wouldn't we be telling the truth?" asked Twilight.
"Because if if what you say is true, I have to come with you. If there's a chance that he could be rescued, then I have to come and try to make it happen."
And that was that.
Fluttershy was on board. The development could not possibly have been less fulfilling for Twilight.
Somehow, it didn't seem right that Fluttershy was the only one among them going along for personal reasons rather than the greater good. She was doing it for a stallion, not for Equestria and not for any one of her companions. It was even a little naïve, since whatever prison Big Macintosh was in was unlikely to be their first destination.
Did that matter? Was this friendship? Was some arbitrary purity of motive necessary to qualify her as one of the Elements of Harmony? Twilight didn't know, and she didn't like not knowing. It was another thing she was going to have to ask Princess Celestia.
Fluttershy wasn't lacking in empathy and social awareness; she was as interested in seeing Daymare Sun's reign end as anypony. Perhaps this personal connection was merely the final push needed to entice her to action? None of them had really been heroes when they'd first braved the Everfree Forest to find a way to defeat Nightmare Moon. As long as Fluttershy had that spark of kindness within her, Twilight hoped, nothing else mattered.
These questions raised, however, were not the biggest problem. There were still only five of them. Even with Fluttershy, they were still at a dead end with no recourse in sight. For now, they had no other option but to head back to Trottingham with Luna and figure out what to do about Pinkie Pie.
Next chapter: The Die Is Cast.
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BornIn1142
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901
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Main 6,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Alternate Universe,Adventure,Dark,Drama,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Sunshine and Fire
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Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.
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incomplete
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<p>Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.</p><p>Feel free to check out or add to the story's <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/SunshineAndFire" rel="nofollow">TV Tropes page</a>.</p>
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teen
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2012-07-07T17:58:22+00:00
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2015-04-12T22:28:09+00:00
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Queen Celestia's palace was often considered the most beautiful building in Everfree City, if not the world. Located at the very heart of the city, it consisted of a series of expansive domes built into and around each other and arrayed in a careful, winding pattern. A sizable inner courtyard also served as the city square and center of upscale commerce. The outline of the building was smooth, largely unblemished by overt decorations. The predominant materials were moonstone and crystal, naturally in Her Majesty's preferred colors white and gold. Brown Nose, a prominent unicorn architect, had once said that the curves and slopes of the palace were "at once evocative of delicate femininity in both a sensual and a familial way." Nopony quite wanted to consider the implications of that statement.
Unlike most other surrounding buildings, the palace was windowed. Large clerestories opened up the domes to sunlight, though not to the outside heat. Through various tricks of construction, the offices, storerooms, quarters and museums inside – everywhere that ponies worked and lived – were kept illuminated at all times. There was, however, a place deep in the bowels of the palace where the light did not reach: the Queen's personal chambers underground. The inner sanctum, as it was called, was a place for secrets, but nevertheless kept bright by torches burning with magical flames.
Diane couldn't remember the last time she'd left the inner sanctum. Oh, she knew how long she'd been there – ten thousand tally marks in her calender made keeping track of time a cinch – but her arrival from the outside world was only a blurry memory. By this point, she had grown used to living in the Queen's basement and everything that came with it. Crowds, open spaces and natural light were if little concern to her. The palace was her home, and her home was the palace. There was nothing formal saying she wasn't allowed to leave, no rule or regulation that she'd ever been made aware of. The inner sanctum had no guards to keep her there. Yet, she knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that if she tried to get out, something very bad would happen. All in all, it was lucky that she didn't have a claustrophobic bone in her body.
At the moment, Diane was stalking through a dark corridor that wasn't. There was no particular need for her to stalk, but she liked it ever so much. Stalking was much more interesting than simply walking.
Her destination was right ahead – a large double-door leading to Queen Celestia's throne room. Now here, some stealth was called for. Diane pushed open one of the the needlessly heavy doors and slowly poked her head inside. Of course, she would never have come here if she thought there was any chance of the Queen actually being there, but it never hurt to be careful. Nope, the coast was clear! Diane slipped in like a butterfly.
Unlike the dark corridors that weren't, the throne room was actually dark. The chamber was vast and cavernous, roughly rectangular and filled with the shadows of a dozen columns cast by the flickering flames of six large fire pits arranged around it. The fire pits burned high and eternal, consuming nothing and radiating only a mild heat. Diane stalked past the first two pairs and the conference table where the Queen's Council held its sessions, and briefly came to a halt at the throne standing between the last two fire pits at the very end of the hall.
Most of the throne was pure white marble, though it could be hard to tell in the chamber's warm, orange glow. Golden ornaments depicting stylized flames decorated the hoofrests and the top of the throne, and a generously long carmine velvet cloth reaching down to the floor served as a cushion on the seat. The cloth was frayed and blackened in places, as if burnt. The base of the throne was held up by statuettes of various horrifying creatures like minotaurs, ogres and trolls, their faces twisted by hideous, leering grins. It was this element of ugliness among the elegance and beauty that always struck Diane.
There was noise out in the hallway. Diane turned around to look at the doors, then quickly pranced off into the shadows on the side of the chamber. A moment later, the door was slammed open to admit two loudly conversing ponies.
"...have a talk about tracking down and punishing those responsible for spreading these malicious rumors. What's the big deal anyway? It's not like I did anything wrong. I would never hit a lady, of course, but a courtesan isn't a lady! Being roughed up a bit is practically in their job description."
"I swear to all that is unholy, Blueblood, if you don't shut up right this damn second, I'm going to stick my hooves into your throat, pull out your guts, and jam them back in through your ass."
Blueblood was a physically impressive specimen: he was large and well-toned, and had a lustrous blond mane that he was forced to comb over the side of his face to hide a nasty burn scar. The scar was his only physical blemish, but it was a sizable one. Blueblood's one good eye was a piercing light blue, and quite beautiful. He wore a fanciful silver-blue cloak and armor, complete with epaulettes and a chestful of unearned medals and honors, as befitting the highest-ranked general of the Equestrian Army. Ponies often called Blueblood things that Diane didn't know the meaning of, like "philanderer" or "nincompoop."
The mare accompanying Blueblood cut a much less imposing figure, at least if one didn't know her. Redsky was lithe and small, with coat of deep, bloody red and a wild black mane and tail. As commander of Equestia's Air Force, she was quite literally the single most important and powerful pegasus in the world, but she wore no clothes to signify her station, only a pair of military-style spurs on her forehooves. There wasn't as much gossip about Redsky as about Blueblood – nopony much dared to say bad things about her – but Diane still occasionally overheard the horrified whisperings of cooks and other servants that had to deal with her. Redsky... was not like other ponies.
"It seems as if we are the first ones here," said Blueblood.
"Buffoonishly stating the obvious never gets old with you, does it?" sneered Redsky. Her voice was like ground-up gravel.
"You're a tedious little hag, do you know that, Redsky?"
Diane slinked over behind one of the pillars next to the conference table, measuring her steps on the hard stone floor. Alone in a room with those two was never a good place to be. While Blueblood only ever threatened and insulted Diane, Redsky sometimes had the courage to hit her.
"I can only hope this meeting doesn't drag on like last time. I have places to be, you know."
"Blueblood, I know you think I'm joking about this, but I'm not. I'm really not. I'm completely serious when I say I will murder you if you don't shut your mouth! Do you understand?"
"Whatever you say, Redsky," replied Blueblood with a generous roll of his eyes, "Whatever you say."
Diane cringed. Could Blueblood truly have been so dim that he didn't realize that he was teetering on the edge of a knife?
Prime Minister Gelding was the next to arrive. He trudged in with his usual shuffling gait, eyes dull and indifferent to everything. He was so quiet and unassuming that Blueblood and Redsky didn't even notice him until he was close by.
"Oh, it's you," said Blueblood, raising his snout as if he was smelling something bad. Redsky, meanwhile, sneered and bowed mockingly before the new arrival. Redsky was big on sneering in general.
"It is me," said Gelding impassively. His dull, high-pitched voice carried badly in the throne room. He walked past them like a ghost and took a seat at the table.
The Prime Minister looked feeble at the best of times, but being near the Duke didn't favor him at all. He came off worse in every possible way. He was pudgy and small, while Blueblood had an ideal stallion physique. His simple orange cape, already plain-looking compared to Blueblood's ostentatious attire, was becoming more and more dusty and frayed. His pale silvery coat seemed to reflect the firelight oddly in comparison to Blueblood's white. And of course, the horns... Blueblood's was long and magnificent; Gelding's was broken.
If there was one thing to be said in Gelding's favor though, it was that he simply didn't care.
Then at last, Daylight Sparkle came.
If Diane had a watch, she was sure she'd have found that the Lady Commander of the Secret Police entered the room on the dot, right when she needed to be there. She strode in – as always – with her nose buried in a grimoire of magic held aloft by a violet glow, wearing only her wizard's hat. Her long, straight hair had a precise, regal-looking cut to it. Her dragon, Spike, followed closely at her heels, head bowed reverentially and carrying a briefcase of state documents. The door shut itself after them.
Daylight trotted along the length of the chamber and took her place at the table. Only when she'd closed and put aside her book did she acknowledge the others in the room.
"Greetings, fellow oppressors!" she said, "I hope the last 48 hours have gone as well for you as they have for me."
Blueblood nodded his head in a cordial greeting, while Redsky inexplicably began giggling in a most disconcerting manner. Gelding didn't show the barest glimmer of a reaction.
"You're in rather good mood, aren't you?" asked Blueblood.
"Why wouldn't I be?" replied Daylight, "I've just received some rather gratifying productivity reports, I have an interesting book of magical lore on hoof and a dinner-date with the Queen later on. The Day has been good to me. There's just one little thing..." She frowned mildly. "Can somepony explain what that earth pony is doing sitting in out meeting again?"
Diane grimaced. The cat was out of the bag now. Well, in truth, the cat was still in the bag, but whatever. Diane stepped out into the firelight and waved.
Blueblood shuddered, looking extraordinarily unmanly for a moment. "What do you want, Fool?" he demanded.
"Did you say 'fool' or 'Fool'?" Diane cocked her head to the side. "I can never tell! Oh my, but a jester's life is hard!"
Redsky looked as if Queen Celestia's birthday had come early. She made a wing-assisted leap over the table and stalked closer to Diane, grinning all the while. At the sight of her sharpened teeth, Diane backed up against one of the pillars, trying not to look as fearful as she felt.
"Well, if it isn't the mud pony!" said Redsky, "You don't mind me calling you that, do you, mud pony? Or would you prefer I call you giftless? Or dirt-eater?"
"Actually, I'd prefer it if you called me-"
"Diane," said Gelding without looking at them. He was staring off into the darkness with half-lidded eyes. "Her name is Diane."
"I want that freak out of here!" exclaimed Blueblood. He looked around, then – finding nopony he had the authority to boss around – turned back towards Diane. "Do you hear me? Leave, you dreadful thing!"
"Okay-dokey-lokey!" said Diane, and briefly rose to her hindlegs and waved around her forehooves in an exaggerated gesture of galloping off. "I guess I'll just have to go find the Queen and tell her you booted me out of here... She'll be a teeny-tiny bit confused though, since she said I could be here."
It was as if she'd said a magic word. Redsky stopped in her tracks, muttering something under her breath. Blueblood startled and paled – if there was one thing he was more afraid of than anything, it was angering the Queen. Neither of them dared call her on that particular bluff. Daylight wasn't likewise daunted, of course, but she wasn't going to say anything either. She only glared at Diane with irritation and impatience and jealousy in her eyes, and and then looked away, shaking her head dismissively.
All at once, everypony in the room seemed content to ignore Diane. All of them seamlessly went on with the meeting. Redsky hopped back over the table and took a seat beside Blueblood. Diane slowly sat down on her haunches, keeping a close watch of the others. Daylight cleared her throat.
"Let's get to it, shall we? Spike, take a note!" The dragon, standing close behind her, obediently procured a quill and parchment and set to writing down her words. "90th Council meeting of the year. The Queen is not in session. Lady Commander Daylight Sparkle presiding."
As the prime minister, it would have been more appropriate for Gelding to be in charge of Council meetings. Relinquishing this duty was another concession he'd been forced to make to the Queen's rising protege.
"We all know what the first order of business is, don't we? Duke Blueblood?" Daylight leaned towards the General, who stiffened and then deflated with a sigh. "Why don't you give us an update on the invasion plans?"
"It's not my fault!" exclaimed Blueblood immediately, "I can't be held responsible for any of this!"
"I didn't say you were, Duke."
"Look, a train connection breaks down, an army group has to march all the way from Stalliongrad – that's unfortunate, but these things happen."
"According to the reports of the engineers Gelding sent on-site to investigate, the accident was caused by sabotage. That means the incident was a security failure and therefore falls under your purview."
"These reports could have been falsified!"
Daylight looked at Gelding expectantly. "They are, however, not," said the Prime Minister.
Redsky let out a ragged laugh. "Take some responsibility for a change, you pathetic worm!"
"I'd have had the troops there by now, but these earth ponies are as stupid as they are lazy! There's only so much I can do!"
"So, am I to understand there's been another delay?" asked Daylight.
"72 more hours until they reach the border. That's the final word from General Reinherd. If he doesn't come through on that, I'll have him executed, and that's a promise. Goodness gracious, I could use a drink..."
"72 hours," repeated Daylight, weighing the figure in her mind and then nodding, "and then the invasion can finally begin. Queen Celestia will be so pleased!"
Daylight broke into a bright, slightly unprofessional smile. For a moment, her youth shined through. She returned to form when Redsky abruptly slammed her forehooves into the table.
"Gah, this is all so pointless!" Redsky cawed, "Can't we just get on with it already? We should gotten this attack started ages ago! I've been saying for weeks that we should go ahead without the missing troops!"
"And I've been agreeing with her!" said Blueblood, "It's on record!"
"The forces we have are more than enough to overwhelm and crush the griffon army," continued Redsky, "We don't need ten thousand more, so really, what gives?"
"The Queen has been very specific on this matter, Duchess," said Daylight patiently, "She told me herself that she wants the invasion launched only with a full force. I'm sure we can all agree that it would be nice to have this over with, but there is really no great hurry – especially not for her."
At the invocation of Her Holiness, Redsky was forced to back down. She slid down in her seat and pouted. "Still... haven't you asked her what her reasons are?"
"Well..." started Daylight, but quickly fell silent. Diane thought Redsky was a little bit silly for even asking something like that. As if Daylight Sparkle ever questioned her mentor...
"It is really rather simple," said Gelding, again without deigning to look at them, "The more ponies, the bigger the spectacle. This could well be the last great war in the history of the world, and so the Queen wants to savor it."
Redsky was, perhaps not surprisingly, completely satisfied with that explanation. She nodded in quiet appreciation, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly as she – in all probability – reflected on the love of slaughter she shared with the Queen.
"Let's move on. Now, what's next on the agenda?" She picked up one of her personal papers and gave it a cursory glance. "Ah yes, I have some good news to report. We've confirmed the capture of a member of the Apple Underground during the earlier street-sweeps. I'm feeling rather optimistic about our chances of getting some very relevant information out of him. There's a number of new techniques I'd like to test on him. The interviews of the rest of the detainees are proceeding on schedule as well."
"It is my understanding," said Gelding, "that one of your special agents has not sent in his regular update report as he was supposed to."
Daylight steepled her hooves and gave Gelding a sideways glare. "You're referring to Agent Striker? Yes, I'll have to reprimand him for not following procedure once he gets back. I hope you weren't suggesting the termination of some insignificant thief would be any cause for concern? Really, Gelding. But while we're on the subject of you sticking your snout where it doesn't belong, esteemed Prime Minister, could you please explain what you were doing at my headquarters interrogating one of my prisoners?"
Gelding looked about as cold and expressionless as a rock – and Diane knew a bit about rocks. However, he chose not to make use of his flawless poker face. Denying it was probably useless anyway.
"Because you were not there to do it yourself," he said.
"I was out in the field trying to capture the ringleader of these outlaws – the most dangerous terrorist of them all – as you very well know."
"A bird in the hoof is worth three in the bush, is it not? You should have been focusing on the ponies you had already taken in instead of wasting time doing the work of grunts. Since you failed to capture Applejack anyway, your venture accomplished nothing but to waste time."
Daylight narrowed her eyes, but her voice was sugar-sweet. "You would do well to remember that the Queen put me in charge for a reason, Gelding. Just because your... disability left you unable to do field work doesn't mean I'll constrain myself likewise."
"You could have had someone else handle the interrogations while you were away on your chase. You wanted to handle both yourself, and that was a mistake. A leader is meant to delegate. Had your mistress not taught you that?"
"There was no need to delegate. Between the interrogations and the chase, I was in a time crunch with one and had plenty of it for the other. But I think you're trying to misdirect me, Prime Minister. Please, answer the question. Why did you try to interfere in my investigation? I don't believe for a second you were just hung up about your former duties."
"I am surprised you even need to think about it. I did it to get even with you for reassigning my ministers to Zebrica. You should not have done that, Daylight Sparkle. You did not have the authority."
Daylight graced Gelding with a smile that was – at least on the surface – conciliatory. "To get even? That's unexpectedly petty of you. I've never known you to make decisions based on grudges before. You needn't have bothered anyway. The Queen approved my suggestion, remember? Your ministers would already be on their way back if they simply did as they were ordered and fixed the Zebrican economy. And besides, you've shown yourself to be able to step up and fill the void wonderfully!"
It wasn't a secret to anypony that Daylight had pulled her move with Gelding's ministers to keep the Prime Minister busy. There were still some among the Secret Police that preferred to have Gelding in command, so Daylight had hoped to keep him away from state security matters by drowning him in domestic issues. The ploy did not seem to have worked.
"The reason my ministers have not been able to complete their mission is because they are scared witless. One of them was run through by a spear thrown by a zebra headhunter. The Secret Police has been unable to secure their safety."
Daylight shrugged. "Yes, the situation in Zebrica has grown uncomfortably unstable – hence why I intend to head there to take care of things personally once I've dealt with the Apple Underground. But you're still trying to misdirect me, aren't you? You removed one of the prisoners from the Panopticon. That prisoner is now unaccounted for. What did you do with him, and what did you learn?" She lifted up one of her hooves and tapped her snout. "I'll give you this one chance to tell me."
"Or what?"
Diane gasped inadvertently. Even Blueblood and Redsky, who'd been observing the confrontation with casual boredom, took notice. Gelding was not known for being confrontational.
"Will you complain to the Queen about me?" continued Gelding. Another pony's voice might have been mocking, but his only sounded heavy and tired. "What do you imagine she could do to me that she has not done already?"
Daylight Sparkle didn't seem perturbed in the slightest. She was smirking. "Oh, so you do have a spine!" she said, "It's a fair enough question. I mentioned new interrogation techniques I was introducing, didn't I? Tell me, have any of your spies told you of them? No? Well, let me enlighten you. I've invented a spell of telepathy. Breaking into and dissecting the minds of criminals directly will provide a much cleaner, much more efficient avenue of gathering information than your crude tortures ever could."
To any casual observer, Gelding must have looked as cool and emotionless as ever, but Diane had known him since she was only a little filly and could recognize the subtle undercurrent of shock that passed through him. But of course, Daylight had known him just as long...
"You've served the Queen oh-so-dutifully for, what, seven hundred and fifty years now?" asked mused Daylight, "With that in mind, I give you the chance to avoid me taking what you know from you by force when you least expect it. Put your cards on the table right here, right now, and I'll let you keep your dignity... well, what little of it you have left."
Gelding considered it and considered it. His eyes were a little bit wider than usual, his face drawn a little bit tighter. Finally, he lowered his head.
"There is no grand secret I've been keeping for you," he said, "The pony I picked up from the cells is a non-entity. He puzzled me with a strange story he later recanted in a most suspicious manner. I thought he must be hiding something, so I went about breaking him and found that he genuinely seems to believe he is a traveler from another dimension. What can I say? He must be mad, no?"
Daylight scowled, less from irritation and more from confusion. "A traveler from another dimension? How odd. I'll have to speak to this madpony myself when I can fit it into my schedule. Well, thank you for being so accommodating, Prime Minister!"
Gelding lifted his gaze and looked Daylight in the eye. "Will you be resorting to this threat often from now on, Daylight?"
"That's entirely up to you and how cooperative you choose to be, isn't it? I'd like to believe that we're a tyranny whose strength lies in working together. By the way, I'd really prefer if you addressed me by my rank."
"You know, my mind might not be a place you would want to visit, Lady Commander..."
Daylight ignored him and turned back to her papers with an appreciable amount of smugness.
"Now, what other outstanding issues do we have to go over?"
Before she could go on, the doors of the throne room burst open with an thump that echoed through the chamber in the ensuing silence. A unicorn officer had bucked them open. Diane recognized the brown and white stallion as one of Blueblood's adjutants. The officer turned around and galloped the length of the hall, momentarily stopping once he reached the conference table to hurriedly bow to each of the ponies sitting around it, then stepped up to Blueblood and started whispering into his ear.
The officer's explanation took a few moments. At first, Blueblood only squinted. Then he lurched upright, throwing over his chair doing so.
"What did you say?" he bellowed, grabbing the officer by the shoulders and giving him a shake.
"What is it?" asked Daylight Sparkle, her brow furrowed.
"One of- one of our outposts near the Griffon border was attacked," said Blueblood.
"What?" said Daylight.
"Don't say the birdies struck first?" asked Redsky.
"Just... tell them what you told me," Blueblood instructed the officer.
The officer nodded. "An entire platoon was broken up and forced on the run by a surprise attack. We're still trying to determine casualties. It's just... the descriptions of what happened... they're a little confusing..."
"Will you just get on with it, Lieutenant?" snapped Daylight.
"Yes, ma'am! The reports we're getting indicate the lone attacker was an alicorn. Several sources have compared her to Queen Celestia. She's supposed to have had immense magical powers, and control over shadows, and, um, she called herself 'Princess'."
Diane was more than a little lost what all this meant, but the reactions of the Council made the gravity of the situation obvious. The unicorn officer was growing uncomfortable under their intense gazes. Gelding slowly stood upright. There was nothing subtle about his display of emotion anymore. Diane had never, ever seen him like this before: eyes bulged, mouth wide open, barely able to breathe. He was shocked.
"Luna!" he rasped.
"How can that be possible?" muttered Redsky, "Luna is-"
"Don't you see, Duchess?" said Daylight. She had a vague smile on her face and seemed to be looking somewhere far away. "This isn't the Luna, it's merely a Luna. We actually are dealing with an incursion from a different reality! The theoretical implications of this are staggering, and..." She snapped to attention and glanced at Gelding. "And there are steps we must take to defend ourselves. You'd better bring your 'madpony' to the palace, Gelding. I'm sure the Queen will want to talk to him. In fact, I better go see her now and inform her of what's happened. This is very much a big deal."
Daylight scrambled to her hooves and took off, her dragon scampering after her – she then turned around and returned to pick up her book before taking off again. Blueblood and Redsky stared at each other in confusion, while the unicorn officer hesitantly waited for futher instructions. Gelding stood still as a statue, but the shock was already abating. He was hard at work, thinking, but who could say of what?
"Well, isn't this a doozy?" said Diane quietly.
Nothing good would come of this...
Next chapter: The Plan.
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BornIn1142
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901
| 11 |
Main 6,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Alternate Universe,Adventure,Dark,Drama,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Sunshine and Fire
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Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.
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incomplete
| 1,389 | 32 |
<p>Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.</p><p>Feel free to check out or add to the story's <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/SunshineAndFire" rel="nofollow">TV Tropes page</a>.</p>
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teen
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2012-09-01T06:50:09+00:00
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2015-04-12T22:29:09+00:00
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"Are you to be my entourage?"
The two ponies looked at each other, and then back at Celestia. They were an earth pony and a pegasus, the former male and the latter female. Both of them were wearing sun-bleached cloaks that would have made them look more than a little conspicuous in any sane and rational universe.
"Are you 'Twinkle'?" asked the mare in a low monotone.
Celestia nodded, and produced a letter from her saddlebags. It was something she'd received from Twilight Sparkle – instructions on how to meet up to regroup, signed by Applejack herself. This was the designated place at the designated time, one small back-alley among hundreds of others in the town of Trottingham. The rebel ponies looked over the letter, then nodded to each other. They didn't see a tall and glorious princess standing before them, only an ordinary young mare with pretty pink curls, but there was something in their eyes – a certain wariness – that made Celestia suspect they had an inkling of who and what she was. She offered them a mild smile to put them at ease. She'd picked the form of an earth pony for the same reason.
"You're going to have to put this bag on your head if you want us to take you to our hideout," said the stallion, "I, uh, I hope that's all right." The mare glared at him, leading to a brief game of charades, with plenty of shrugging from both sides. "Well, it better be," added the stallion a little louder than necessary, "because it's not optional."
"Certainly," said Celestia, and bent her neck to allow them to cover up her head.
One of them took up a position ahead of Celestia, and one of them behind her. Were they escorts or guards – who could say? They themselves didn't know how it was appropriate to treat her. Eventually, after a few minutes of misdirection, they led her inside a building of some sort, and then underground. The air temperature dropped a few degrees as the floor slanted downwards.
Once they were deep enough, Celestia asked for permission to remove the blindfold. Even without being able to see, she could sense a hesitation in the ensuing silence. Nevertheless, they pulled the bag off. Both of them had their hoods pulled back now. The stallion was rather handsome, with a generic brown on brown color scheme. The mare was blackish-whiteish, suggesting she was either a zebra or a mixed breed.
As far as unlit underground tunnels went, the sights were quite interesting. The complex was obviously far-reaching – quite possibly linking together dozens upon dozens of different basements. Celestia made note of traps embedded in the walls, including mechanisms she guessed would cause the tunnels to collapse in case of intrusion. The place was a stunning testament to earth pony ingenuity and labor, all the more impressive for being built entirely in secret. After a few minutes of traversing empty tunnels, they reached deeper halls that were obviously built for habitation. Firelight seeped out from open doorways, and they started coming across other ponies, some of whom threw Celestia curious glances, while others passed her by in blissful ignorance.
"Might I perhaps ask where I could find my dear sister?" asked Celestia, all prim and proper. The earth pony guards were being so uptight that it was hard to keep the amusement out of her voice.
"Your sister," said the female guard, "That would be the Princess."
"That's right," said Celestia, as if she was talking to a little filly, "Princess Luna. I'm sure you've noticed her around."
The stallion cleared his throat. "I think I saw her in the canteen just a short while ago. I don't know if she's still there, but..."
"But it'll be a good place to start looking!" finished Celestia for him, "I would very much like to see my sister and make sure she's all right, so could you please point the way?" She looked around between the two. "Oh, and I suppose one of you should find Applejack and announce my arrival, isn't that so?"
The guards both looked shocked at the suggestion, and quickly held another wordless conference. Between a deep frown from the mare and more shrugging from the stallion, they seemed to reach some sort of agreement.
"I suppose one of us should," said the mare. Somehow, bizarrely, she made this innocuous comment sound like a threat.
Celestia watched her take a few steps back, then turn around and disappear into one of the nearby corridors. She took one last glance over her shoulder before rounding the corner. Celestia turned back towards the stallion. There was something very schoolcoltish in the way he looked away from her.
"The canteen?" suggested Celestia with a smile.
"Yes. Right."
The stallion seemed hesitant to put his back to her, so Celestia solved his dilemma for him by walking at his side. She didn't expect him to break the awkward silence.
"You're not exactly what I- we expected," he said.
"Oh indeed?"
The stallion didn't elaborate. His back was straight as a ruler, and his neck jutted upwards sharply. He looked as if he was trying to stand at attention and look casual doing so. It wasn't an attempt to impress.
"Did you think I would breathe fire and wear spiky armor and try to steal your foals?" asked Celestia, but regretted it an instant later. The jest seemed in poor taste, considering that many ponies indeed lost their children to Equestria's armies.
"I'm not sure," said the stallion, "I'm honestly not sure."
"Have you ever seen the Queen?"
"N-no. Never. I've just heard the stories."
"She's just a pony, you know. Underneath it all, despite all the power, she's just a pony. Don't ever forget that."
"That's what Applejack keeps telling us."
They walked the rest of the way without saying anything. When they finally reached the entrance to the canteen, Celestia breathed in sharply and raised a hoof to her mouth.
"Oh dear, I completely forgot," she said.
"What? What is it?"
"I just realized that I really should have a talk with Spike! Would you be so kind as to fetch him?"
"The dragon?"
"Yes, please. If he's available. I'll just see if Luna is here in the meanwhile, hmm?"
The stallion looked as if he might say something, but Celestia turned around and stepped inside without waiting for a reply. She didn't turn to see to ascertain whether he was leaving or not.
The canteen was low and wide – Celestia couldn't have stood up to her full height under the ceiling – and was lit by half a dozen low-burning oil lamps hanging above a series of long tables. The chamber was sparsely populated considering its size, and the ponies that were there mostly seemed to be conversing and generally killing time rather than eating. A few of them watched Celestia canter inside, but most of them were crowded around one of the side-tables and had their attention focused on a pegasus standing on top of a bench and gesticulating wildly. This pegasus happened to be Rainbow Dash. Celestia barely recognized her without her glorious mane.
"So there I was, playing chicken with a dragon," she declared, sweeping her forehoof from one side to the other, "Outmatched in every possible sense of the word, I'd set myself on a course for my own destruction! I'd been in some tough spots in my life, but this? This one was a real doozy! I knew that my survival depended on just one thing – firing off a sonic rainboom in the dragon's face at just the right moment..."
Fluttershy was also there, Celestia belatedly realized, sitting in the shadows behind Dash. She barely seemed to be paying attention to the latter's tale, choosing instead to take slow sips from a steaming cup and brood. Even seated, she looked incredibly fragile, like a flower made of ice, like she would break up at the slightest touch.
Celestia passed through an archway separating the canteen from a kitchen area where a single earth pony was bustling at an oven. Luna was also there: a large, deep blue shape in the darkness, crammed into a chair at a smaller round table. She seemed to consume the light around her – or perhaps glow more darkness. She was close enough to observe the crowd in the other room, but distant enough to give them an excuse to ignore her.
"This fudge is delicious!" Luna announced to the cook, just as Celestia was stepping in, "I shall have another!" Her eyes widened when she noticed Celestia. "Sister...?"
Before Celestia could do anything, Luna had stood upright, rushed up to her and nuzzled her face against Celestia's neck. It wasn't exactly royal decorum, and must have looked a tad awkward considering their usual size difference was currently reversed, but neither of them particularly cared at that moment.
"It is so good to see you again, sister!" said Luna.
Celestia gave her sister a kiss on the cheek. "Likewise, Luna."
"Your disguise is rather impressive! If only I had thought to disguise myself like you did..."
The sudden turn to self-admonishment wasn't lost on Celestia. "I'm glad that you're safe and sound. I never doubted that you'd acquit yourself well in this hostile environment."
Luna scoffed a little as she pulled back, but didn't say anything else. It was something Celestia had seen a thousand times before: Luna biting back self-criticism and burying it deep within. She was still bright and cheerful, so Celestia was loathe to push the matter with questions, but it was her duty to work through these things.
"Is something the matter?" she asked.
"I'm afraid I've acquitted myself a little too well," explained Luna levelly, a lop-sided, apologetic smile on her face. "My hot-headedness may have cost us an important strategic advantage. But never mind that for now. We can go over all the particulars of what we've been up to later on."
The pair of them took a seat at the table, where Luna sidled up close to Celestia and offered her the plate of sweet fudge that the cook had deposited there. Celestia wasn't hungry, but accepted the plate to please her sister.
"Trottingham's a lovely town, isn't it?" asked Celestia, taking a spoonful of fudge to her mouth. She wished she more often practiced eating like an earth pony.
Luna cocked an eyebrow. "I could not disagree more, sister. I find an ugly, dreary, thoroughly unpleasant place. Unsafe too, as a matter of fact. That dome seems as if it could break up and collapse at any moment!"
"All of that is true, yes, but I still much prefer it to Everfree City. Oppression weighs ponies down like iron shackles in that place."
"I suppose conditions are abysmal all around," muttered Luna.
"Have you, Twilight and Spike gotten settled in nicely here?"
"You could say that." Luna turned her head to look at the ponies in the canteen. "The atmosphere is understandably awkward, you understand. They look at Twilight Sparkle and Spike and see one of their greatest, most dangerous enemies and a mindless, remorseless killing machine. To hear respected figures like Rarity and Rainbow Dash tell tales of how heroically they fought against one of the Secret Police must be rather jarring. I think they are coming around to recognizing Twilight's value, and not just for her magical abilities. But while we are on the subject, I believe you should go and talk to Twilight soon. She has need of your guidance."
"Oh? And where is she?"
"I told her to get some rest, so that's what she'll be doing if she knows what's good for her. She should be in the barracks, in Applejack's bed."
Celestia bent forward and arched an eyebrow. Luna made an adorable frowny-face that made Celestia want to pinch her cheeks. "You know very well what I mean!"
While Celestia laughed, Luna tried to look dignified. "This is a good crew here, I believe," she went on, "The Apple Underground has acquitted itself as well against Daymare Sun over the years as could be expected, and I see a lot of potential in Twilight's friends. I'm sure that with her guidance, they will be able to live up to heroic standard set by their counterparts. They will be a formidable group once we complete the set."
"Oh, I don't doubt that they will be formidable," said Celestia, stroking her chin.
"Now that you're here, we can hold a proper war council and come up with a plan. I have some ideas I want to put forward myself..."
"You know, you neglected to mention what the Apple Underground thinks of you."
"It's the strangest thing, sister!" said Luna, genuinely incredulous, "I thought my appearance would frighten them, but it is not so. Instead they seem curious – fascinated even! Some of them seem hopeful about my presence, and I've done my best to bolster their spirits and assure them that I will lend my power to their cause. I did not think to expect this. It's not so strange, after all, that they would feel an affinity for shadows, right? All their lives, shadows have provided them with safety and relief. Darkness has been their home. Isn't that bizarre?"
"I don't think that's bizarre at all," said Celestia tenderly.
"A while ago, I found out that this world's Luna was killed trying to fight back against Daymare Sun." Celestia had heard the same thing. It was a slightly shameful relief to know that she didn't have to break this news to Luna herself. "I thought this made me – her – a miserable failure. I'm still not sure that's wrong, really. It wasn't easy to hear that everything that other Luna ever was had been almost forgotten, but that might not be entirely correct. There's quite a few ponies here that have heard her name in bedside stories and vague myths. Those that have heard of her have been telling the rest since I arrived here. I had been nearly forgotten as well, and... truth be told, I don't even know why I'm telling you this. It's just good to know that she's not completely gone yet."
"Princess Luna led the original rebellion against Queen Celestia," said Celestia, "She was, in a way, the inspiration for all those that followed her, including the Apple Underground. They are right to look up to you."
They sat in a happy silence for a few moments, until Luna's expression started curdling. "Oh yes. I had nearly forgotten. Have you seen any sign of Brainy Bright?"
Celestia put down her spoon and took a thoughtful lick of her plate. Luna was right – the fudge was quite good. "No, I haven't," she said.
"Hmh. Neither have Twilight or I. That's not too surprising, really. He could be anywhere within the hemisphere for all we know."
"We'll come across him eventually, no doubt."
"Hopefully sooner rather than later! I will say this: we should not necessarily wait until we've defeated Daymare Sun to make contact with our Equestria. I am getting somewhat concerned with how things are going back home. All this time, you've been such a..." Luna briefly averted her eyes and then raised them again to meet Celestia's. "such a strong leader, and now you are lost to them." If Celestia hadn't known better, she would have had the vague impression that Luna was somehow reproachful. "There will be panic. If not right away, then once the short-term ecological problems become apparent. Equestria needs you, Celestia. You must not dally with your return."
“As a matter of fact, I have certain contingency plans in place. Besides that, my government isn't composed of children, you know. I'm sure Cadence, Shining Armor and Fancy Pants have matters firmly in hand for now. They have Twilight's friends to help maintain harmony, don't they?"
"That is true. Still, we mustn't forget about Brainy Bright! We have no way home but for him. Gah, I can't wait to get my hooves on him!"
"I didn't realize you felt that way, Luna..."
"Please do not turn this into a joke!" said Luna loudly, "He attacked you! He disrespected you! That coward! There is no punishment great enough!" Her anger disappeared in halting glimpses of expression, leaving behind only uncertain solemnity. She sighed, and went on speaking with uncharacteristic delicacy. "Please tell me how you feel about all this, sister. Are you... upset?"
Celestia hesitated. "I'm... disappointed in Brainy Bright's actions, yes, of course. He threw away so much for this one chance to get rid of me. I don't understand why someone so brilliant and well-regarded would... take such a negative view of me." There was a strained note in her voice that Celestia didn't appreciate. She didn't want to be thinking about this. "It doesn't matter," she said with a shake of her head, trying to smile, "It's irrelevant. We have bigger concerns, don't we?"
"Yes, well..." Luna bit her lip. "I didn't just mean Brainy Bright, I meant..." She made a weak sweeping gesture. "...everything. Fighting such a distortion of oneself must be a harrowing ordeal in itself. Part of you is still within Daymare Sun, guiding her. Everything about this world is a demonstration of sorts of your own potential for destruction, is that not so? By all rights, this should be an enemy more intimate than any you've faced before. I am not certain that I could stand to confront what I once was in person – and I know you're stronger than I am, and dealing with it much better than I would be, but... What I'm trying to say is that it would be understandable for you to be upset. I hope you know that I want to be here for you, to help you figure things out about Daymare Sun and what brought about her change."
For a moment, Celestia entertained the notion of telling Luna of her suspicions, but looking at her staring back with such obvious worry in her eyes quickly caused her to discard that idea. Where she should have been feeling grateful and touched, she instead felt a curious sense of detachment that she couldn't quite explain. Celestia was the comforter; she found that she did not wish to be comforted herself. In fact, she wished Luna had never even thought to raise this issue, if for no other reason than because she didn't want Luna to have cause to doubt her. She did not need to make sense of all the emotions roiling in her chest since finding out who she was up against to view the matter of her opposite number with perfect clarity.
"You don't have to tell me that, sister," said Celestia with utmost grace and deliberation, "I've never doubted that I can rely on you in this battle. When we work together, there's nothing we can't accomplish and no one that can stand against us. I know you'll help me fix everything and undo the evil that my twin has wrought."
Luna released a quiet breath. She looked as if she hadn't quite gotten what she'd wanted from Celestia, but all the same, she couldn't keep from blooming into a slight self-satisfied smile from the praise. "Yes. Yes, of course! I'll do anything within my power to help you!"
Celestia smiled and nodded. There was, of course, an unspoken implication in Luna's words. Nothing Luna had done in the time since her release from the moon had in any way made up for her actions as Nightmare Moon, at least in her own eyes. She'd taken on minor duties in the governance of the realm, started charities, traveled the world, saved and improved lives, but none of it was enough. Going up against Daymare Sun was a perfect chance to redeem herself for her actions as Nightmare Moon. There was something a little troubling about that mindset... Celestia knew her sister would have done good with or without a guilty conscience, but did Luna?
Both of them turned to their side at once, glimpsing movement from the corner of their eyes. The earth pony guard that had accompanied Celestia had appeared on the doorway, Spike in tow. They began moving through the canteen towards them.
"I'll have that talk with Twilight now," said Celestia, "but I'd prefer some privacy. Why don't you distract my little bodyguard for a moment?"
"If you wish."
The rebel and Spike approached their table. The earth pony had a vaguely nonplussed expression, but Celestia's gaze was invariably drawn to Spike. There was nothing particularly haggard about his appearance, but it was hard to overlook the faded black scorch-mark still adorning the scales on his belly. Celestia returned his wave.
"You found your sister," said the earth pony, "That's good. I've brought the dragon, but now we should really-"
"You there!" barked Luna, "Caramel, is it?"
"Yes?"
"Do you have a marefriend?"
"Yeah... buh... what?!"
Celestia, now upright again, bent down to the floor, pushed her snout underneath Spike and lifted him up, then let him roll down onto her back. Half a second later, she was already casually cantering away. Spike had dug his claws into her mane in response to the sudden drop, but she barely felt him. Somewhere behind him, Caramel was nervously explaining that he wasn't in the market for a marefriend.
"Ahem, welcome to the Apple Underground, Your Majesty," said Spike once he'd gotten the chance to brace himself. She found his light-hearted formality much more amenable than the real thing.
"Why, thank you, Spike. Let's go and find Twilight now, all right?"
Rainbow Dash's display in the canteen seemed to have taken a bizarre turn from self-aggrandizement to economic theory. She seemed to be talking about the rights of the working class. Celestia made a brief mental note of the oddity of this when she walked past, but paid it not further heed. She also noted that Fluttershy had taken off in the meanwhile.
After Spike had given her directions as to which corridor to head down, he settled down on her back and began telling a story. Spike talked, and Celestia listened. He talked of the dried-up and lonesome Dragon Swamp and meeting the fellow dragon that inhabited it, of Rainbow Dash and Agent Striker, and of the battle. He forwarded the explanation Twilight had given him of what had happened while he was unconscious, and described the awkwardness that took hold in the group after they left the swamp. He continued on with their search for the frontier town where Fluttershy made her home, with Luna and her cloud, with the griffon guest and the long path to getting Fluttershy to agree to come along. Celestia often asked for clarification or elaboration, sifting through the story, picking up errant facts and new bits of information to fit in with what she already knew. One could never be sure which seemingly innocuous detail could end up becoming relevant; being aware as much as possible was an essential part of problem-solving. Celestia was a big believer in the doctrine of "knowledge is power."
As Spike's narrative came to a close, Celestia first slowed down, then came to a halt and craned her neck to the side to look Spike in the face. She didn't want to give him the impression that he didn't have her full and undivided attention.
"I'm truly sorry to have put you in that position, Spike. You're far too young to have come so close to dying. It was a mistake to let you go out on your own."
Spike didn't completely succeed at putting on a brave face. "Yeah, well, it couldn't be helped, could it? We had to be there to save Rainbow Dash, and you had to be elsewhere to deal with other stuff."
"Mmm. Are you feeling all right now?"
"I think so." His hand unconsciously drew to his chest. "I'm not in any pain or anything, though I do get out of breath a little easier. I just wish I could have done more and protected everyone. I asked Twilight if she could figure out that growth spell and use it on me, but she just looked at me as if I was crazy!"
"Perhaps she doesn't want to put you in harm's way like that."
"Whatever," said Spike with a sigh, "But it should be my choice, right? Those other dragons haven't got a choice, but I do. I want to help, but... I can't. Not really. I can only send some letters and provide moral support."
"You don't necessarily have to fight to contribute," suggested Celestia mildly.
"I know, I know! I guess I'm not the only one feeling useless right now. Everypony's trying to figure out how we could track down Pinkie Pie right now. We're done for if we can't find her, but we still don't even know if she even exists!"
"I might have an idea or two on how to resolve things. For what it's worth, Spike, I'm sure you'll have a role to play in all this." She winked, leading to a sheepish smile of gratitude.
They reached the barracks in a couple of minutes. Celestia was noticing that, despite the skill of the labor that had created this headquarters, it was not particularly well-planned place. The barracks seemed to be a fairly haphazard collection of dormitories and bedrooms, with living areas interspersed in the halls, and the way there was long and winding. Some of that was no doubt necessitated by the secrecy of its construction, but this hidden village underground was not such a perfect place to live, in the end. Some of the bedrooms didn't have doorframes, much of the furniture was generations old, and hygiene and sanitation were probably luxuries. Celestia looked at the faces of ponies she came across, and wondered how many of them lived there because they didn't have a choice – because they were outlaws in the outside world, or because their previous lives had been destroyed by a whim of fate. She wondered how many of them truly preferred this sort of freedom.
Celestia caught a glimpse of Rarity in a common room, hunched over a young unicorn colt with a white coat and a blonde mane and talking to him in hushed tones. There was something vaguely familiar about the colt, but Celestia paid it no further mind. They were almost at Applejack's personal bedroom, which she'd been lending to Twilight to use.
"This is it," said Spike, hopping off Celestia's back to stand next to the closed door, "Twilight's been asleep for a while now, so it should be okay to wake her up."
Celestia stepped into the bedroom in her true form. She found Twilight still in bed, sleeping the sleep of the righteous. A pang of nostalgia went through her when she saw Twilight lying there in the darkness, looking so small, so defenseless, so much like a young filly. Twilight's mouth was open and her mane frazzled. It almost seemed a cruelty to wake her up, to drag her out of peaceful dreams into a harsh and troubled reality. Before Celestia could even finish the thought, however, a shudder seemed to pass through Twilight's body and her expression tightened into a frown. Celestia hurried closer and gently touched her shoulder as she sat down on the edge of the bed. Twilight awoke with a start, momentarily confused.
"Who's there?" she mumbled.
"It's me, little one."
Celestia did not need a spell to create a source of light like a unicorn would have – Celestia was light. It only took a thought for Twilight to see her as clearly as if it was the brightest day. As Celestia didn't need aid to see in the dark, the bright aura did not pass beyond her form to illuminate the room itself. Twilight wasn't even blinded; her eyes adjusted instantly.
"Princess Celestia!" gasped Twilight, "You're here!"
"Indeed. I only arrived a short while ago."
"Um, well, welcome!" Twilight scrambled up to sit on her haunches, rubbing the bleariness from her eyes. "I'm very, very glad to see you. We've been waiting for you to have a little conference and figure out what we're going to do next..."
"I know. Luna and Spike filled me in."
"Oh, did you find what you were looking for in that library? That prophecy?"
"Actually, I did not. I found nothing conclusive at all, only hints and clues and breadcrumbs." One of those breadcrumbs, admittedly, could yet prove very valuable.
"Ah... That's a pity."
"How did your journey go? Your letter mentioned running into some difficulties."
"'Difficulties?' Did I really write that?" She chuckled humorlessly. "Well, yes, we had some of those."
"Tell me what happened."
Twilight took a deep breath and broke into a story of her own. Although she was hesitant at first, it wasn't long before the words were streaming out of her. Celestia let her unload, without interruption, even though she already knew what happened. Twilight needed to get it off her chest. Her story was a little different from Spike's. Although usually so analytical, she now talked less of events but more of reactions, worries and emotions. The biggest worry on her mind was uncertainty – uncertainty about whether she should have acted differently, uncertainty about Rainbow Dash, and uncertainty about the path they were meant to take. When she was finally done, her voice was close to breaking.
"I'm just so glad you're here now," said Twilight, smiling vaguely, "It's all getting to be a bit much for me, all the decisions..."
"Oh, Twilight," said Celestia, wrapping her forehooves around her and pulling her close, "I'm so sorry you had to go through this. This must all be a terrible burden on you, but you don't have to keep worrying about it any longer. Rainbow Dash was right to take that pony's life."
Twilight tensed up and pulled back, looking at Celestia. Her big purple eyes were quivering in wonder and confusion. "Oh," she said. Poor, poor Twilight. She was ill-equipped to handle a dilemma like this. Celestia might have hoped that she'd never have to lift this veil of innocence from Twilight, but this was a situation that required a realistic perspective.
"I'm not going to tell you that these are somehow extraordinary circumstances that warrant extraordinary measures. Nothing about this place is intrinsically different from where we come from. Our Equestria has been violent and chaotic in the past and could easily become violent and chaotic again. It's taken a great deal of effort on my part to ensure the peace and stability of modernity that we all enjoy. What kind of ruler would I be if I lacked the will to do whatever it took to defend my people? The truth is that anypony that wishes to lead or to champion others should possess a certain... flexibility. I'm sure that someone as scientifically-minded as you, Twilight, can appreciate what I'm saying. It's very important not to fall into rigid patterns of thinking, and a stubborn insistence on a simplistic division of right and wrong is one of the greatest of such fallacies. Twilight, you don't think I've never killed anyone, do you?"
Twilight flinched as if slapped, even though Celestia's tone had been far from harsh. "I know you've fought in wars," she said quietly.
"You know this because you've read it in books, but you don't truly acknowledge to yourself what it means. I've sent armies off to do battle with the stroke of a quill and the sound of a trumpet. I've forgotten more combat magics than any unicorn has ever learned. And yes, I've fought myself." She touched her forehooves to Twilight's cheeks and forced Twilight to look in her eyes. "I've taken lives with these very hooves."
Twilight stared back at her, doe-eyed and mesmerized. "That's different," she whispered.
"In some ways, perhaps. In any case, it's been centuries since I've had to take measures like that. I've quite successfully phased out the concept of war, but make no mistake – it was integral in teaching Equestria's neighbors that ponies are not prey."
"You- you don't have to tell me this, Princess. I know that this is how things have to be. I may not like it, but I accept it."
"You might have to put forward more than just tolerance, Twilight. I'll do what I can do avoid it, but you may well find yourself in other life-or-death situations, where your survival, the survival of others and the success of our entire mission may depend on you making the right choice. Do you understand, Twilight? There may come a moment where all non-lethal avenues are exhausted and you yourself will have to kill as well."
There was, of course, one more theoretical scenario that these high stakes opened up. The fact that Celestia refused to acknowledge or consider this possibility, despite a nagging fear at the back of her mind, was a persistent reminder that her conviction was not absolute. That was not such a bad thing though. Celestia felt strengthened by the knowledge that there were lines that she would not cross, that her conviction remained tempered by morality...
There was a pause before Twilight answered her, as if she was mentally replaying Celestia's words to make sure she'd heard right.
"I- I don't think- I couldn't. I'm not a soldier, Princess, I'm just-" She stumbled over her words, unsure of what to call herself.
"You're my student," said Celestia gently, "so pay attention and learn. No pony is made for killing. Any pony can do it when the need is great enough. All it takes is an adjustment of mindset. Should you come face to face with other agents of the Secret Police, it would be better not to think of them as ponies at all. That will make it easier."
"They're not... ponies?"
"No, Twilight. They are weapons of the enemy; they are obstacles in the path to justice and freedom. Like their dragon slaves, they are nothing but tools. This Equestria is rotten to the core, and the Secret Police gnaws at that rot. I grieve for their ruined, stolen lives – I do – but there there won't be a place for them in the new world we shall create."
"What about Daylight Sparkle?"
"What about her? She is ultimately just another cog in a machine that has no other purpose but to ruin. Don't let her name bother you. Don't waste your time thinking about her. The time for pardons, forgiveness and re-education will come, but not yet. Right now, we must focus on victory. Don't ever think I don't consider this only the very last option, but it's important to explore all possibilities. This is a fight we cannot afford to lose."
Twilight's gaze slowly drifted away from Celestia's face and onto the empty darkness around them. Although she still looked conflicted, there was now a trace of academic puzzlement in her features, the likes of which Celestia had often seen while Twilight was considering some great theoretical problems set before her. Celestia could tell that she'd gotten Twilight thinking. Twilight may have had a tendency to over-complicate, but Celestia was certain she'd reach the correct conclusion in the end.
To be continued in Part II.
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BornIn1142
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901
| 12 |
Main 6,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Alternate Universe,Adventure,Dark,Drama,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Sunshine and Fire
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Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.
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incomplete
| 1,389 | 32 |
<p>Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.</p><p>Feel free to check out or add to the story's <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/SunshineAndFire" rel="nofollow">TV Tropes page</a>.</p>
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teen
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2012-11-01T03:23:23+00:00
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2015-04-12T22:29:57+00:00
| 9,475 |
Celestia was among the first to arrive at the war council. She walked the length of the room, ignoring Applejack's glaring, and took a seat at the very front, right under her nose. She made a point of picking a seat opposite Twilight's.
The meeting took place in what could generously be described as a conference room. It was narrow and rectangular, with yet another cramped, low ceiling. Much of the room was taken up by four small tables pushed together to form a single large one. There were maps and scrolls lying on it, and a blackboard permanently smudged from overuse at the back wall.
The council ended up being a rather crowded affair. In addition to the main group, Applejack had – understandably enough – summoned some of her own lieutenants to the meeting as well, filling up most of the seats. Both of Celestia's escorts from earlier were there, as well as a fidgety green pony wearing glasses, and a tall, elderly pony that elected to remain standing at the far side of the room and didn't seem able to take his eyes off Celestia. As the room filled up, Applejack strolled around between them asking questions and giving follow-up orders to matters discussed previously, eventually settling into an exchange with Rainbow Dash admiring each other's accomplishments. Fluttershy and Rarity were also edging into a conversation, mostly consisting of polite, impersonal inquiries into each other's lives. By comparison, Luna and Twilight were both rather quiet, the latter obviously lost in thought.
When the time came, Applejack headed to the head of the table with a quiet sigh and called the room to order.
"Guess I'll get straight to the point," she said, "Things are not looking too good at the moment. Short of putting the word out to all our agents and contacts around Equestria to be on the lookout for this Pinkie Pie, I don't see any way for us to track her down, and that's not really a practical option."
"Not to mention," added Rarity, "We still don't know for sure whether there is a Pinkie Pie to be found."
Applejack nodded. "All things considered, the Elements of Harmony plan seems to be a bust. So I want to get this out of the way – anypony got any ideas that would convince me otherwise?"
Celestia let her eyes wander over the room. Nopony was in a rush to offer solutions to their dilemma. The only one who raised her hoof – and she did so only hesitantly – was Twilight.
"This ain't a school, Twilight," said Applejack with a lop-sided frown, "You can just speak up."
"Well, I've been mulling over this and..." Twilight turned to look at Celestia. "Couldn't you perhaps fill in for Pinkie Pie, Princess? The more I think about it, the more appropriate it feels. I'm sure the Element of Laughter would really suit you!"
Celestia smiled a particular sad smile she liked to use when she was letting ponies down. "Are we friends, Twilight?"
"Um," started Twilight.
"I wouldn't say we are. Don't get me wrong – you're very dear to me and I cherish the bond between us, but we are teacher and student, not friends. The Elements of Harmony would not react to our relationship."
Celestia didn't want to poison the well by suggesting there was too much bad blood between Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and the Queen for them to ever truly accept her, even though that was probably the case. No matter how disarming or amiable she could be, they would never look at her without preconceptions. The spectre of the Queen was just too powerful to allow for any sentimentality. Twilight, ironically enough, had just the opposite problem. Her feelings ran too deep. The sad truth was that friendship usually didn't involve worship...
And besides all that, Celestia hadn't felt much like laughter for a while now.
"Uh, isn't this a bit of a problem?" asked Spike, his head barely peeking over the side of the table, "Aside from the obvious, I mean. If finding one pony is such a problem, how are we ever going to track down Brainy Bright and get home?"
"Well, maybe we'll come across him by chance?" suggested Twilight, "No, I realize that's rather unlikely. But we'll definitely have an easier time looking for him once we've dealt with Daymare Sun."
"And on that matter," said Celestia, ever so slightly raising her voice so everypony in the room could hear her clearly, "I'm actually inclined to agree with you, Applejack."
Twilight perked up her head slightly, while Applejack looked at her in surprise. "Uhh, beg pardon?" she asked.
"Chasing after Pinkie Pie, at this point, would be a waste of time and effort. As a matter of fact, we might not need the Elements of Harmony at all."
There was a barely audible "What?" from Twilight's direction.
Celestia stood up and faced Applejack with a smile. "I have an alternative plan I'd like to put forward – with your permission of course."
"Hmh. Well, let's hear it then."
Celestia stepped to Applejack's side at the front of the room.
"But- but- Princess, wait!" sputtered Twilight, "I've tried really hard to make this work, and we're so close to having everypony together! Haven't you always told me to have faith in the Magic of Friendship?"
"Your quest thus far has not been in vain, Twilight Sparkle. Whether or not they ever become the holders of the Elements of Harmony, the group you've gathered is composed of extraordinary ponies."
"And me," came a quiet voice from the gallery. Celestia fixed Fluttershy with a glare, but she wasn't even looking in Celestia's direction.
"Each of you," continued Celestia, overlooking the group, "possesses skills and traits invaluable to our cause – and yes, that includes you, Fluttershy. Each of you is an asset. There is great merit in putting you all together in one room, in pooling your individual areas of expertise. With all of us combined, the Apple Underground has never been stronger. The "Magic of Friendship" need not be literal, you see. Sharing ideas, forming alliances, complementing strengths and weaknesses, cooperating – all of these things are part of that magic. The power of friendship isn't the greatest force in the universe because it manifests in a magical beam that solves problems. No, it's because what underlies that power are the social contracts without which civilization itself would not be possible."
Twilight didn't look reassured in the slightest, but neither did she inject any further. Applejack's eyebrows were doing some wondrous things. Celestia thought they might get crossed and tied into a sardonic little bow.
"So to beat Daymare Sun, we have to work together?" mused Applejack dryly, "Thanks for that particular bit of wisdom. Real enlightening." Somepony in the back coughed a half-hearted laugh.
Celestia merely kept smiling. "There are three primary problems for us to consider," she explained, "The first is the Equestrian Army. The second is its special operations division, the Secret Police, and their dragon enforcers. The third, obviously, is the Queen herself. Let me ask you this question: which of these do you think is our biggest concern?"
"The Queen," said Applejack immediately.
"I would also say the Queen," said Twilight. There were murmurs of agreement from all over the room.
"Are you sure?" asked Celestia, "Tell me, have you ever come face to face with her?" At Applejack's silence, she went on. "Has anypony in this room ever even met her?"
At this, some of the rebels turned to look at the elderly earth pony at the back of the room, who clenched his jaw and met Celestia's gaze.
"Yeah. I've met her."
Celestia had asked quite a few ponies about their experiences with the Queen. She was almost afraid to do it again, but couldn't help herself. "What was it like?" she asked softly.
The old pony had to force himself to answer, that was plain to see. "Not a whole lot to say, hmh. She was majestic and powerful and all that. She spoke slow and picked her words, but you could tell she had a thousand different thoughts going through her head all at once, and you felt like nothing you could do would ever take up all of her attention. Oh, she was quite pleasant, mind you. All smiles, as if she didn't have a care in the world. Everything she did was so damn gracious. But the thing is, no matter how nice she acted, you could always tell she was pure poison underneath."
The atmosphere in the meeting room was very awkward all of a sudden. Asking that question had been a mistake. Celestia wasn't even sure what she'd been hoping for, but she'd succeeded in trapping herself within expectations. What else could she do but keep smiling and try to segue onwards?
"Yes," she said, "The Queen's attention is always divided. Even something as troublesome as the Apple Underground is beneath her notice. She may be the biggest danger, but she is not necessarily the biggest concern. You already have your solution for dealing with her." She glanced at her sister. "Luna and I together will be able to overpower her in combat, I'm certain of it. We could fly to Everfree City and do it right now – though not without difficulty – but would that really solve your problems? Applejack, have you put any thought into what would happen if you succeeded at assassinating her?"
"'Course I have!" said Applejack. The question seemed to put her on guard – even more so. "Well, the government would be thrown into chaos, wouldn't it? Even the most high-ranking officials don't have much capacity for independent thought. They're pretty much all followers, not leaders. So, we figure the repressive policies would lighten while they try to sort things out, and we'd have more leeway to pick apart what's left. Besides, nothing frightens common ponies as much as the Queen, so they'd be much more willing to rise up against the state. If we were especially lucky, there might even be political infighting among the unicorns!"
"A sensible strategy," said Celestia, "but futile." That was putting it mildly. She was making an effort to be diplomatic. "A headless scorpion can still sting, and the Equestrian Empire would survive the death of its Queen. That's why she's selected an heir for herself. Upon Celestia's death, what happens next would be up to Daylight Sparkle. If she turned out to have the force of personality necessary to maintain control and suppress ambitious rivals, then she would simply take over where the Queen left off, and Equestria would be transformed into a more conventional hereditary monarchy. Nothing would change, at least in the short term. If, however, Daylight Sparkle should falter, you'd probably get the infighting you want - a civil war between unicorn warlords. I couldn't begin to speculate how long this conflict might last and how many ponies might perish in it. This chaos, as you call it, is the absolute worst case scenario, and something we must never allow to happen. Do you understand?"
Applejack kept a good poker face. Celestia couldn't tell whether an all-out war within Equestria was something she'd never considered, or whether it was an outcome she was willing to accept. "So where are you going with this?" Applejack asked, "Are you saying that the Secret Police is what we should be worried about?"
"Yes and no. The Secret Police is a tactical weapon. Their agents have impressive mobility and firepower, but they would never be enough to maintain control of Equestria on their own. Ultimately, they rely on the pegasus and earth pony armies for support, particularly in the occupied lands."
"The chains keeping you in your bondage were forged by your own kind," mused Luna quietly.
"That's deep, mare," deadpanned Rainbow Dash.
"What I'm getting at," continued Celestia, "is that it's pointless to distinguish between these three aspects of the enemy. All three need to be accounted for – not necessarily defeated outright, mind you, but accounted for. Luna and I can fight the Queen for you, but we couldn't fight the Queen and her Secret Police and her armies – at least not all at once. You're right to think that we need to remove the Queen from power, but you're not taking that idea far enough. A guerilla strike is not enough. To truly win, we need to conquer Equestria."
She paused for a moment to let the thought sink in. Big ideas had a way of captivating an audience. Even Applejack was intrigued enough that she didn't interrupt with questions.
"To do that, we'll need an army," said Celestia, "In fact, we'll need two. We need to enlist the dragons and the griffons to our cause."
"How?" asked Applejack simply.
Celestia allowed herself a tiny smirk. "Why, the magic of friendship, of course. It's really quite simple. I propose sending diplomatic envoys to talk to the Griffon King and the Dragon Matriarch directly. As luck would have it, we already have ins with both groups." She swooped her hoof towards where Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were seated. "Rainbow Dash has a long-standing friendship with a dragon expatriate, whom we can convince to lead us into the dragon lands and vouch for us. Fluttershy provided assistance to a griffon scout in trouble. If we found that scout, she could get us past the border guard. I also propose that we explain the whole truth to the monarchs. They need to be aware that Luna and I are there to counter the Queen herself, as long as they don't become frightened of us."
"Um, with all due respect," said Rarity, "I'm afraid you may have misread the situation a bit. The Dragon Matriarch is Daymare Sun's closest ally. She would have no reason to make common cause with us."
"Oh, but she does. She's only an unwilling ally to Queen Celestia. Dragons are a proud race, and I assure they, they do not appreciate their offspring being raised as slaves to ponies. They will take the opportunity to rebel, if we give it to them."
"Are you sure? Would they dare go against Daymare Sun with that plague of theirs hanging over their heads? It is a matter of survival for them, isn't it?"
"It doesn't have to be. We can offer them assurances of more beneficial terms for the agreement to hatch their eggs in the future, as well as the return of their lost children. They have much to gain if we win."
"Okay, but what about the griffons?" asked Rainbow Dash, cocking her eyebrow, "How do you expect them to help us out? They kind of have problems of their own, what with the hundred thousand ponies on their doorstep, waiting to invade."
"Hundred twenty-five thousand, actually. But don't you see that this will work to our advantage? Most of the Equestrian Army is occupied at the border, leaving Everfree City protected only by the the city guard and limited reserve troops. The griffon air force is the most mobile military force in the world. If they help us take the capital and topple the Queen, they'll not only divert the invasion force but foil it entirely."
"That's... a hell of a long shot," said Applejack. She'd raised a hoof to her snout, and was gazing thoughtfully at the earthen floor.
"The fact that it's a long shot is what will make it work," said Celestia smoothly, "The Griffon Kingdom knows that it's facing certain defeat. A desperate gambit is the only thing that can save them. We'll be presenting them with an invaluable opportunity."
Celestia let her gaze wander around the meeting room, and she could see that attitudes were shifting. She's expected nothing less. Twilight of all ponies being the one to remain doubtful was also expected, but Celestia was certain her student would come through for her in the end.
"Okay," said Applejack. She lifted her head to look Celestia in the eyes again. "Okay. I have to admit, you've thought this through down to the last detail. This, huh, this might actually work."
"It will work," Celestia assured her.
"Um, excuse me?" Twilight was in the process of raising her hoof, but quickly let it drop her side. "I'm sorry, Princess, but there's still one detail..." She bit her lip, hesitant to contradict Celestia. "You still haven't explained what we're meant to do about Daymare Sun. You and Princess Luna will fight her, yes, but what about afterward? Without the Elements of Harmony, there's no way for us to purify her of her corruption. Is there?"
"I'm afraid not, Twilight," she said in her calmest, most reassuring voice, "As much as I'd like to keep looking for Pinkie Pie and the Elements, with the Equestrian Army poised to strike at the Griffon Kingdom at any moment, we have to make our move as soon as possible."
"So- so you mean to kill her?" burst out Twilight, clashing against Celestia's soothing tone.
"Sometimes, drastic measures are necessary. We talked about this, remember, Twilight?"
"Yes, but..." Twilight chuckled, almost hysterically. "You were talking about evil beings then! Daymare Sun is an innocent! She can't help what she's become! I mean, I mean, I thought rescuing her was as important as anything? You of all people should-"
"It's precisely because I am who I am that I feel qualified to make this decision," explained Celestia, "I know better than anypony what my twin would want, no? If I were in her position..." It disgusted her to make that comparison. "If I were in her position, I would want to be stopped, no matter how. Death will be a mercy to her. Trust me, Twilight."
Somepony else spoke then, almost too quietly to make out. Celestia turned around sharply.
"Could you speak up, please?" she asked.
Fluttershy blushed, but raised her voice nevertheless. "I was saying... that it doesn't matter who you are, that's still such a presumptuous thing to say." She dared to look up at Celestia this time.
Celestia had to admit, she was caught a little off guard by how... forthright Fluttershy was being. She looked at the pegasus quizzically, not even bothering to say anything. Despite Fluttershy's comment, Celestia didn't expect anypony but Twilight to be seriously resistant to the idea of killing the Queen.
Twilight, however, was still not letting the matter go. "She doesn't deserve to die," she pleaded.
Ecological destruction, chaos, starvation, extinction, murder, abuse, repression, fear, torture, genocide, death, death, death, death...
"Doesn't she?" mused Celestia, without looking back at Twilight, "Don't you think at least some part of the blame falls on her shoulders?"
There was a thump. Celestia turned back to face Twilight and found Luna standing upright, having pushed over the chair she was sitting on. She was taking heaving breaths, almost snarling, and it took until an empty feeling started spreading in Celestia's chest for her to realize how thoughtless she'd been with her words. Just when it seemed like Luna was about to explode with rage, she turned around and fled.
"Luna, wait," started Celestia. "I didn't mean it like that..." But already, Luna was out through the door and slamming it shut behind herself.
The silence in the room was deafening. Celestia came close to bolting right after Luna, but managed to maintain composure. For a brief instant, all the stares directed at Celestia seemed judging, but upon closer inspection, they were mostly just confused.
"Please excuse us for a moment," she said to nopony in particular and followed Luna outside in careful, measured steps.
Celestia expected having to chase after her sister, but Luna was right there, waiting for her in the corridor. She hadn't run away to avoid a confrontation, she'd done it to make the confrontation a private one. Celestia approached with carefully, without rushing to make any apologies. She wanted to give Luna the opportunity to calm herself down by getting her issues off her chest.
"Well, go on then," said Luna through gritted teeth, "Don't hold back on my account! Tell me how I deserved to be put down all along! It's so refreshing to hear how you really feel!"
"Please, Luna." She spoke clearly and slowly to put Luna's mind at ease. Once upon a time, she'd sung her lullabies in that same voice. "That wasn't what I was suggesting at all."
"I've misunderstood, have I? Of course I have, I'm just a dumb little filly, aren't I?"
"You're not dumb, and you're not a little filly."
"Stop it! Just stop it! Do you not realize how condescending you sound?! You keep talking like we're all foals – me, Twilight Sparkle, everypony!"
"I'm-" Tired. Tired of the constant self-pity. "I'm sorry if I've given you that impression. Please, calm yourself."
"Why should I?! Pray tell, what were you suggesting? You said it clear as day: I deserved to die!"
Celestia's mouth drew into a thin line. "I should have been more tactful and I apologize, but we have more important issues to deal with right now. This isn't about you, Luna."
Luna barked a bitter laugh. "No, it just has to be about you, doesn't it? Princess Perfect! You always know better than anypony!"
Luna raised her hoof and waved it in Celestia's face accusingly. Celestia looked at Luna's dirtied silvery horseshoe, and then back up at her face. Then she stood up straight. Whatever contrition she might have felt was fading, replaced by a burgeoning flame of anger all her own. When she spoke, she hardly recognized her voice.
"Why are you so mad?" she asked.
"Wh- Why would you even ask me that?!" demanded Luna.
"You've told me yourself that there were moments you were so desperate for release that you wished to die. You've sworn up and down that you'd have paid any price to protect the world from yourself. In fact, you've never tried to deny that the ultimate responsibility for Nightmare Moon's actions is yours – and now I'm the bad guy for agreeing with you?"
"I'm mad because- because you ever pretended otherwise! Perhaps I have said those things, but you know what? You were always there to tell me how wrong I was for thinking like that! All those reassurances that I was an innocent victim... what, were they all lies to make me feel better?"
"You were a victim, but I've never called you innocent, sister."
Luna reacted as if she'd been struck, losing her balance and taking a few steps back. A sound like half a neigh escaped her throat.
In any other situation, Celestia would have felt bad for saying something like that. Indeed, in any other situation, she'd never have said it at all. But the truth was that they did not have the time for Luna's histrionics, and even Celestia's patience wasn't limitless...
"Nightmare Moon started as a mistake – your mistake. Whatever it was that took over your mind, you invited it in!"
Luna sank back on her croup and dragged her forehooves over her face. "So you really would have killed me if you could have?" Her voice was meek and quiet now.
"No." Celestia shook her head. "No, no, no. If I hadn't had the Elements, I would have done everything in my power to find another solution. If I'd had some means so stop you without exiling you, I would have tried that as well. You only made a mistake, after all, and deserved a second chance."
Celestia thought Luna would be pleased to hear that, and so was surprised to see her sink even lower to the floor.
"Why does this other you deserve to be punished when I didn't?" she asked.
Why indeed?
Punishment wasn't really the issue – empathy was. Celestia had so many lives to save, and so little time to do it. The invasion of the Griffon Kingdom would be an unconscionable slaughter if allowed to happen, and there there ponies suffering and dying every hour that the Equestrian Empire was allowed to continue existing.
Or perhaps that wasn't it. It might as well have been a matter of simple, callous convenience. A death was the most obvious, most pragmatic solution to their problem. As disturbing as such cold-bloodedness sounded, a quick end was a good thing and would have allowed Celestia to focus on the substantial social problems that the Queen's reign would leave behind.
Perhaps that wasn't it either. Perhaps those were only excuses after all. In her heart of hearts, Celestia knew she wanted justice to prevail. More than than... she wanted to be the one to cast judgement. As much as she'd have liked to pretend this was only about Equestria and not at all about her, she couldn't deny her desire for redemption.
With a start, Celestia realized she'd left Luna hanging on her question.
"It's... complicated," she finally said, "One obvious difference is the severity of the crimes. Nightmare Moon's holocaust was averted, but the Queen has been enacting evil for centuries."
"So you would have been willing to kill me after all, if things had gone differently..."
"I don't much see the point of such speculation. Are you asking me if I would still have forgiven you if you'd succeeded in wiping out all life in Equestria? Do you really want me to answer that?"
Luna was quick to anger, but she was also quick to calm down. Unfortunately, she often calmed down by sinking into melancholy. All the fight seemed to have drained out of her.
"But the mistake we made... it was the same one, wasn't it? Everything that came after that was out of our hooves. That's... what I need to believe. If I deserved a second chance, then so does she." Luna's eyes narrowed. She found the energy for another accusation after all. "Is this the reason, sister? You can't stand the idea that you could have made a mistake, so you want to wipe out the result?"
Luna never realized how close Celestia got to striking her. There was a moment – just a moment – where Celestia would have done almost anything just to get her to shut up. Every word was like a nail driven into her chest.
"You want to know why I'm not going to forgive 'Daymare Sun'?" asked Celestia, "Because I'm not convinced she is."
"What are you saying?" asked Luna with a suspicious scowl.
Celestia sighed. "Isn't it obvious? I'm saying I don't believe I'm possessed like you were." She spoke quietly, heeding a half-conscious fear that the ponies in the meeting room could hear.
Luna stared at her, barely comprehending her words. Gradually, her expression drew into perplexed outrage. "But-" she started.
"The Queen herself doesn't call herself Daymare Sun, do you realize?" Celestia spoke over her sister. "Using that name is banned in Everfree City. The only ones that call her that are outlaws, and even they don't know what it's supposed to mean. Why do you think this is?"
"I don't know, but-"
"I've been suspecting it for a while now. In Everfree City, the Queen is everywhere. There are so many little things I found out about her behavior, her personality, her tastes. She's not just an avatar of dark impulses, she's too fully formed. She's keeps the world in this hellish state rather than trying to destroy it, and rejoices in being called a tyrant. I don't understand it. And the name... Nightmare Moon coined her own moniker, but whoever it is that sits on that throne, she wants to be known as Celestia."
"But why?!" Luna leapt back to her hooves and stood closer to Celestia, "Why would you- why would she do this?"
"I don't know." Celestia regretted revealing her theory to Luna. She thought she should be honest with her sister, that she would feel better with the truth out in the open. She didn't. Instead, she only felt as if she was drowning in shame.
"This doesn't make sense. It doesn't add up. I refuse to believe it! You are the best pony in the entire world; you could never be evil! You really are perfect!"
Celestia stared at Luna and reflected on why hearing that somehow made her feel like she'd done something wrong.
There were many, many ponies who felt the same as Luna. Princess Celestia was perfect. Princess Celestia was everything a pony should be. Princess Celestia could do anything except wrong. Celestia did her best to live up to expectations, and she certainly never resented others for thinking well of her, but... she'd have liked to think her own sister knew her better than that.
"Thank you for... believing in me," said Celestia with a mild smile, "I suppose we'll find out the truth soon enough. But let's head back now, all right?
Luna nodded and scrambled up to her hooves, then rubbed her eyes to make sure there weren't any tears in them. Together, they cantered back into the conference room.
Celestia had the vague feeling everypony there had been sitting in uncomfortable silence the whole time they'd been away. Nopony even seemed to have moved. Luna quietly took her seat, and Celestia made her way back to the front of the room.
Rarity was the one to take an initiative in breaking through the awkwardness. "I have a question, ahem, Princess?" She'd steepled her hooves on the table and was looking up at Celestia quizzically.
"Go ahead, Lady Rarity," said Celestia, sitting down on her haunches and facing her.
"I do foresee something of a long-term problem in this plan of yours. Inviting in foreign powers to counter Queen Celestia's power-base is certainly clever in itself, but it's something that could have far-reaching consequences. Once they've won this war for us, why would the Griffon King and the Dragon Matriarch just leave? You didn't really answer the question you posed to Applejack earlier – what's going to become of Equestria once the Queen is gone? Will we be left under occupation by our own allies?"
"That's a valid concern to raise," said Celestia, "The Queen's fall will indeed leave behind a power vacuum – one that Equestria's neighbors will no doubt try to take advantage of. There's no need to worry, however. I've taken that into account and fully intend to leave ponies with their own sovereign nation."
"Mmm, but what steps, exactly, will we take to ensure that?" asked Rarity.
Celestia was going to have to handle this... delicately. Since she seriously doubted that the group would appreciate her dancing around the issue though, she laid out her idea straight and upfront.
"Once the Queen is dead, I will have to take over as interim ruler."
All at once, the room exploded with a flurry of questions and protests and general disbelief. There were gaping mouths, furrowed brows and wide eyes. Of course, nopony present was as outraged as Applejack.
"No way. No way! We're not going to exchange one tyrant for the exact same tyrant!"
"Please don't be melodramatic, Applejack. If you'll just think about it, you'll find that there's a lot of merit to the idea. I have the power to stand up to potential retaliatory aggression on part of the dragons and griffons, and – even more importantly – only I can use the Queen's own authority to overturn her orders and begin deconstructing the system she's created. I doubt many of her followers would dare stand up to me once I've taken control."
"That's exactly what I'm afraid of!" said Applejack. She stomped closer and got up in Celestia's face. "Read my lips, missy: unacceptable! Our next ruler's gonna be democratically elected!"
Celestia didn't know whether to admire her idealism or pity her naivete. "I don't believe democracy would be the right solution for Equestria's problems," she said, treading carefully.
"Figures an autocrat would say that," growled Applejack.
"I understand the necessity for external security," interrupted Rarity thoughtfully, "I do! But if we're taking control of the state itself, we'll have the largest army in the world protecting us. Surely they will keep outside threats at bay?"
"But who will guard you from the guardians?" asked Celestia.
"And who's going to guard us from you?" Applejack shot back.
"Applejack, let me remind you..."
"What is it?!"
"...Let me remind you that this world will still need somepony to take control of the sun and attempt to fix the ecological damage your world has suffered."
"I don't give a rat's ass about the sun! We've managed to survive in the heat for hundreds of years and we'll manage it in the future too!"
"Don't let your pride stand in the way of your better judgement," said Celestia, never one to miss an opportunity for a lesson, "You need to keep the well-being of the people above all else."
Applejack looked particularly offended by the implication that she didn't, but before she could voice her displeasure, Twilight brought up an issue of her own.
"But Princess... What's going to become of our Equestria? How will it keep functioning while you're taking care of things here? Assuming we do find Brainy Bright, of course."
"Keep in mind – all of you – that this is only a temporary solution."
"But then, what do you see as the permanent solution?" asked Rarity, "If you're only the interim ruler..."
Celestia smiled, and looked at her sister.
Luna came just shy of turning around and checking whether there was somepony standing behind her. Her face froze in a curious expression of breathless shock.
"Luna can do everything I can do," Celestia said, glancing over to Applejack, "but should prove to be much more agreeable to the populace. I think you would do well, Luna, if you decide to accept this role. After all, who would be better for ending the Eternal Day than you?"
There were only a few instances in her long, long life that Celestia could think of when she had ever been so profoundly unfair. She was offering her sister an impossible responsibility – an arduous, lifelong task in a sad distortion of their true home – and she did it with the knowledge that Luna would feel compelled to accept due to her sense of duty and caring. It was unfair – but it was also the best possible outcome Celestia could envision. Luna could make this Equestria beautiful again, and in doing so, she could finally escape Celestia's shadow.
Celestia knew she was right, but once again found herself wondering what had led her to making this call. Was she looking out for the ponies and other peoples of the otherworld, or was she simply taking the most logical steps? (Two Princesses, two worlds. It made sense.) Or was she perhaps acting out of a selfish desire to see her sister succeed? In their own Equestria, Luna would never escape the anguish of being second place, both in the hearts of the people and in the rulership of the realm. This was the chance she'd been looking for her entire life. Celestia was confident in the gesture she was making.
Of course, however right this course of action may have been was not going to make their farewell any easier...
Luna's face was scrunched up from fervent thinking. Celestia could guess the question that was on her mind. Was this vote of confidence a lie? Did Celestia only propose the idea out of guilt, to make up for their spat? These doubts were in themselves proof that Luna needed this. She needed a space of her own to come into her own.
When she finally opened her mouth, she managed to press out a single, pained syllable...
"I..."
...before Applejack interrupted her.
"What's the difference, really? Either way, we'll have some unknowable overlord controlling us. Ponies need to stand on their own four hooves!"
"Exactly!" added Rainbow Dash, "Well, sort of. We'll never achieve a classless social order with a monarch being more equal than everypony else."
"Now hold on just a moment," said Rarity, "We shouldn't reject the idea out of hoof. Surely there is some merit to the idea of an enlightened monarchy..."
"'Enlightened?'" repeated Applejack, "Are you messing with me, Rarity?"
"You know what she meant," murmured Fluttershy.
"As fruitful and interesting this debate promises to be," declared Celestia, "this is no time for it. We've yet to win the war, after all."
It was difficult, not being in charge. Celestia had plenty of experience being deferential from the times she'd spent among common ponies in various guises, but in a situation like this, her first instinct was to be the Princess. She tried to find a balance between being mindful of Applejack's authority and keeping control of the dialogue.
"Nor is it the time for second-guessing and belly-aching," she continued, "The invasion of the Griffon Kingdom is imminent. We need to act now. I have put forward my plan. You have asked your questions. Now let me ask you something – do you have any alternatives to propose?"
There was dead silence in the meeting room. Twilight Sparkle was holding her head, desperate to come up with something to put forward, but no new ideas came.
"Then... shall we proceed, Applejack?" asked Celestia.
The decision was difficult for Applejack, but she didn't hesitate in making it. Quick glances at the faces of her troops was all she needed.
"We'll go ahead with the griffon and dragon alliances," she said, "Everything after that? Well, we'll see about that."
Celestia smiled and nodded. "Very good." She turned back towards the rest of the group. "I also have some ideas about deployment. I would propose that Luna take Rainbow Dash and Rarity to pick up the water serpent and then onward into the dragon lands. Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy and Spike should head back to the griffon border – I'll have to give you a crash course in long-range teleportation so you can get there fast enough, Twilight.
Twilight Sparkle frowned at the idea of her newly formed group of friends being split up, but refrained from saying anything. It was admittedly a rather counter-intuitive move after Celestia's speech about complementing each other, but they had little choice at this point.
Spike stood up in his stool to have a better chance of being heard. "Uh, couldn't I go to the dragon lands too, Princess? I wouldn't mind seeing the place at least once, you know."
"Ahem, yes," said Rarity, "I'd actually take issue with these placements as well. There doesn't seem to be much of a point in me going there, and I'm... not exactly cut out for field work."
"You'll be part of a diplomatic envoy, Lady Rarity," answered Celestia, "It'll be an excellent opportunity to make use of your particular talents. Don't forget dragons' love of precious gems either. Both your treasure-finding magic and personal fortune could prove to be valuable negotiating tools. As for you, Spike..." She stepped over to the table and reached forward to pat Spike on the head. "I'll need you right where I put you. The dragons can get into contact with us by their own dragonflame, but you'll have to mark the Griffon King so we can keep in communication with him through you. You'll be crucial for coordinating our attack."
The change in Spike was subtle but immediate. He pulled in his stomach and stood a little straighter, almost seeming to have a slight gleam in his eyes now. Making others feel appreciated was one of Celestia's favorite hobbies.
Luna was still too bewildered to question Celestia's suggestions, but her placement had been no accident either. When dealing with beings as old as the elders of dragonkind, somepony of Luna's age had much better odds of gaining their respect and regard than just anypony.
"And just what are you gonna be doing all this time?" asked Applejack.
"Oh, me?" Celestia pointed a hoof in her own face. "I don't think either the dragons or the griffons would react well to my being there. In fact, I may well seriously jeopardize the talks, so I'll keep myself busy elsewhere. There's still a lead I have to follow up on..."
"Is this still about that prophecy?" asked Twilight Sparkle, "I thought you said you didn't find anything at the library?"
"I didn't find a prophecy. I did, however, find a reference to a prophet – the same Oracle that predicted Nightmare Moon's release from the moon in our world. I want to visit the island where she's said to have lived and look for any remaining prophecies that might pertain to us."
Finding such a prophecy could turn out to be an important strategic asset, that much was undoubtedly true... but there was something else as well. Celestia needed to know what had caused her counterpart to fall, and the hidden knowledge of an ancient pony oracle might well have been her best bet. Aside from asking the pony in question herself, of course.
"Well, I guess that settles it," said Applejack, "Twi, you can take care of the Griffon King on your own. I won't be going along."
"Oh?" said Celestia.
"I'll be coming with you. Whatever you're up to, I'll be there to keep an eye on you. Got that?"
Celestia considered it, and acknowledged her decision with a bow of her head. "I think that's a wonderful idea. We have a lot to discuss."
"Whatever you say." Applejack sighed and spoke up. "All right, folks, we've got a lot to do so let's move it. We'll need supplies packed, for one, and somepony better find these folks some books or something about dragons and griffons..."
One by one, the ponies at the table stood apart and left, rushing off to follow Applejack's orders or to get everything in order before they left. Some of them were excited for the path they were on, and some of them weren't. Twilight picked up Spike and headed off, her head bent low. Luna was the only one who remained sitting.
Celestia stepped up to her sister. Even though Luna was almost a head taller, she still seemed so little as she looked at Celestia. Celestia leaned closer to tell her something.
"Just think about it. I know you'll make the right decision."
Next Chapter: Shades of Grey Clouds.
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BornIn1142
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901
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Main 6,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Alternate Universe,Adventure,Dark,Drama,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Sunshine and Fire
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Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.
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incomplete
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<p>Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.</p><p>Feel free to check out or add to the story's <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/SunshineAndFire" rel="nofollow">TV Tropes page</a>.</p>
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teen
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2013-01-18T16:58:51+00:00
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2015-04-12T22:30:24+00:00
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The longest span of space Twilight had ever teleported was somewhere in the range of a few miles. The trip from Trottingham back to the border of the Griffon Kingdom was several hundred miles as the pegasus flew. To add to the challenge, she was going to have Fluttershy and Spike along with her. The learning curve was such that Princess Celestia had decided that Twilight should make the journey in four jumps, just to make sure she wouldn't be over-taxed or get lost along the way.
The Princess had seemed vaguely distant and distracted throughout their short lesson, but her teaching was impeccable as always. Twilight was reasonably familiar with the theoretical underpinnings of teleportation already and she'd been a passenger on a number of long jumps; Celestia helped her put the pieces together. Much of the impromptu lesson was spent on stressing the importance of maintaining focus.
A lot went into teleportation: expelling the appropriate amount of magical energy, maintaining perspective on topology, finely calibrating two calculated rips in space-time, and so on and so forth. The most complicated part of the procedure – and also the most unpleasant – was the lack of sensation. On a short-range jump, the time-lag involved was practically imperceptible. On a longer journey, several seconds could pass in an empty void between arrival and departure. Twilight could neither see nor hear nor feel – and disconcerted like that, a few seconds could seem like an eternity. It was easy, then, to lose your head and also your sense of direction, ending up somewhere you didn't intend to go as a result. Twilight had to ignore instincts she'd honed for years in order to teleport to a place she wasn't completely familiar with.
Twilight made one jump, she made another, and then a third, and still she didn't get used to the process. Even when she appeared in the thin grass of the northeastern frontier, she instinctively gasped a deep breath she didn't need. A moment later, she felt a wave of fatigue hit her like a mule. All of a sudden, she was exhausted once again – mentally if not physically. She felt much as if she'd just spent an entire day doing exams. Fluttershy and Spike were both there with her, holding onto her tail for dear life.
"Are you alright?" asked Twilight, "Everypony still has all their parts?"
She was trying for some levity, but only caused Spike to pat himself over to make certain. Fluttershy, looking paler than usual, did not respond. She let go of Twilight's tail and inched away into her own personal space. She'd been just as awkward bunching up close to Luna with the others for the trip to Trottingham.
They'd landed several miles further northeast from Fluttershy's hometown, just at the edge of where the hills were becoming mountains. Up ahead loomed sharp inclines and cliffsides. The grass was already noticeably thinner, and the earth was caked and spotty from intermittent rainfall. The remains of Luna's giant storm cloud lay scattered in the sky above them. Much of it had come down in the mountains, either obstructed by the higher ranges or evaporated by the heat, and some had remained drifting aimlessly in the borderlands, but the magic of the cloud had allowed the rest – against all odds and meteorological sense – to pass beyond and provide shade for the Griffon Kingdom. Twilight could only see occasional glimpses of sun on the horizon, with impossible gray clouds swirling around underneath it to block out the light. They were safe from the sunshine, at least for the moment.
"So now what?" asked Spike, "We're just going to wander around and hope we come across some griffons?"
"They should have a defensive perimeter somewhere around here," said Twilight, still running her eyes over the surrounding countryside, "If we don't find it soon, we can head further inland and look for a settlement, but I'm worried that might leave a rather hostile impression."
Fluttershy mouthed something wordlessly, then turned her head away.
Twilight suppressed a sigh. "It's all right, Fluttershy. What were you going to say?"
"I was just wondering whether the griffons would recognize you..."
"Well, I don't think so. The border's been closed off for a while now, right? So, I imagine the average griffon wouldn't be up to date with the newest political developments from Equestria, like who Daylight Sparkle is. I suppose they're bound to have an intelligence community that would keep track of these things though."
"You mean spies?" said Fluttershy, "I'm not so sure about that..."
"What do you mean?" asked Twilight.
Twilight hadn't had nearly as much time to familiarize herself with the Griffon Kingdom as she would have liked. She only really knew the basics – that it was a hereditary monarchy in which the king or queen usually governed in concert with a parliament, but had control of the military and other emergency powers during wartime. The current King of the Griffons was Humphrey the Third, the latest in a dynasty that supposedly reached back to before the dawn of the Eternal Day. Twilight also knew that the griffons had a proud military tradition, but even that wouldn't be enough to make up for their immense numerical disadvantage.
"The impression I've always had is that they'd be too honorable for spies. But, um, I'm not an expert or anything. I'm just going by what I've heard."
Twilight nodded, pondering over her words. Fluttershy stepped back from her in a clear attempt to end the conversation. Twilight didn't push it, only cast a worried glance at Spike, who shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, we better head on," said Twilight, "We might not have a whole lot of time."
They had to walk uphill, of course. Even if they wouldn't have had to split their attention between scanning the surroundings and keeping an eye on the ground due to the difficult and potentially treacherous terrain, the environment didn't make things easy for them. It was hard to get a good overview with so many nooks and crannies that could have been used as hiding places, and it was really only a matter of time before the crags and cliffs made further passage by hoof impossible.
Cantering through the desolate wilderness, it was so easy to get the impression that they were all alone there. For miles and miles, all they could see was raw and empty nature. From time to time, they found some dubious signs of life, like a lost piece of equipment or a claw-mark on rock, but nothing concrete. Even if the area hadn't been swept over by rainfall recently, griffons would probably have stayed airborne often enough that there was little hope for finding any pawprints to conveniently lead them to a hidden camp. Still, finding some griffons was ultimately less important than some griffons finding them.
Perhaps it was the urgency egging her on and making her antsy, but Twilight quickly lost her sense of time. It felt as if they'd been on the move for hours. In fact, she was finding it rather difficult to keep her mind in the moment.
To begin with, she was acutely aware that somewhere on the plains behind them, there was an army on the move: ten thousand earth pony infantry and hundreds of unicorn officers and magician-specialists. Each one of them was, whether willingly or unwillingly, a trained killer. They might have been a hundred miles away or only ten, there was no way to know. The troops had spent days and weeks on the march; they were tired and frustrated. Twilight could only imagine that they couldn't wait to take out their frustrations the only way they could – on the enemy. Thousands of soldiers more were spread across the border, and somewhere further away, the main body of the invasion force was waiting. Their encampment must have been as big as a town. Twilight could barely imagine it, nor dare to speculate how it was all organized or provided for.
Were the ponies there fearful of the coming battle, or were they looking forward to it? It must have been a bit of both. Many of them were no doubt fixated on the danger, or thinking of loved ones back home, or just wanted to do the right thing, but others... others may well have enjoyed the opportunity to shed blood. In the end, all of them would do as they were told and stomp down every single griffon in their path. Twilight knew she wasn't there to do anything about the Equestrian army directly, but it was hard not to worry when that army might come bearing down on them at any moment. The way Spike occasionally turned to glance at the skyline over his shoulder made it obvious she wasn't the only one this matter weighed on. It was odd to think that she was going to walk into the Griffon Kingdom and tell them to ignore this profound existential threat at their doorstep...
This was, however, not the only issue that stuck to her mind. Twilight's thoughts inadvertently kept wandering back to the war council, Celestia's plan and the objections she'd made, and the more she dwelled on what had happened, the more the situation weighed on her. A queasy sense of doubt in her chest that she might have gone about things the wrong way was becoming an ironclad certainty that she'd failed, failed, failed... She'd failed her mistress.
Princess Celestia was acting unlike herself. Twilight had noted that fact and thought it disconcerting, but she'd put no real thought into why that was – so consumed had she been by her moral dilemmas that she'd completely neglected to consider the strain Celestia was under. The Princess had taken responsibility for so much, she was up against the worst possible enemy and had to make everything right while still dealing with allies who didn't understand her and questioned her wisdom. Right now, more than ever, she would have needed Twilight's support. Whatever misgivings she might have had, Twilight should have been ready to raise her voice in support of Celestia's plan instead of second-guessing everything. All the while that Twilight had spent on the road on her quest, she'd expected Celestia to have the answer to any dilemma or question she faced. Now she rejected Celestia's solutions out of hand instead of trusting in her judgment as she always had. In the end, didn't the Princess know best about what was right and what was wrong?
It was maddening. How could she have undermined her mentor like this, on such an important matter? Twilight could only conclude that she'd been a bad student and a bad subject. She'd have liked nothing more than teleport back to Celestia and beg her forgiveness. Since that wasn't an option, she at least resolved to do her very best as the Princess's agent. What other option was there?
Twilight gave her head a shake, trying to clear away the intrusive thoughts. This was neither the time nor the place for deep thinking. It would have been rather silly if she slipped in her inattentiveness and broke a leg or something.
She was finding the journey uncomfortable, especially with her head still fuzzy from the teleporting, but in truth, she was more worried about Fluttershy. The pegasus looked perennially tired anyway, so it was difficult to say how she was doing, but the heavy rising and falling of her back certainly gave the impression of exhaustion. Twilight veered closer to her.
"Can I ask how you're feeling, Fluttershy? Everything okay with you?"
Fluttershy's ears twitched. She responded without turning to face her. "You mean aside from the fact I'm under-qualified outlaw wasting time stumbling around in the middle of nowhere while my love might be having his eyes gouged out this very moment, if he's not already dead? Aside from that, I'm fine."
Twilight and Spike both cringed. Fluttershy didn't even raise her voice, but the bitterness, subdued as it was, was palpable.
"Well, I'm glad you're holding up," said Twilight, "The cloud's not bothering you or anything, is it?"
Fluttershy looked at her impassively. "It's just a cloud."
"Well, yes." Twilight chuckled nervously. "I just thought you might find it a little... disturbing."
"...It's just a cloud," repeated Fluttershy, "I did use to work with them, you know. We had to corral some of these every few weeks when they came floating in from the sea, and then either disperse it or gather it up. This one's just a little bigger. And more willful." She hesitated before going on. "Would... the other me be afraid of a cloud?"
"Well, maybe. She's afraid of a lot of things, but then again, she's also got this enormous reserve of inner strength and always ends up surprising both her friends and herself." Twilight hoped she wasn't being too obvious with the encouragements.
Fluttershy seemed to struggle internally with whether she wanted to express her curiosity, but finally gave in after all. "So what does she do? Doesn't she work in the Cloud Patrol as well?"
"Our Fluttershy's just an associate member. Her main job is taking care of animals. She pretty much single-hoofedly keeps the fauna around our hometown in order. And of course, when somepony's pets or farm animals are sick, she can take care of them."
Whereas Fluttershy had only kind of sort of focused on their conversation so far, Twilight could tell she now had her full and undivided attention. There was a barely-masked gleam of envy in her eyes. "I never really wanted to be in the Cloud Patrol anyway," she said after a moment, "I'm not really much of a flier, and... training in meteorology always struck me as as something with very limited usefulness. But I was lucky to get a position like that, with my family history, so I had to take it." She sighed. "Do I have a lot of animals in your world?"
"Oh yeah, tons," said Twilight immediately. She thought Fluttershy would be happy to hear that, but the pegasus only lowered her head and stared mutely at the ground. Conversing with somepony so melancholy was difficult, but Twilight found her annoyance receding in favor of an ever stronger desire to make Fluttershy feel better.
"She sounds coddled," said Fluttershy quietly.
Based on the little she knew about her parents, Twilight wouldn't exactly have described her as coddled, but she doubted that this was what Fluttershy wanted to hear. "Maybe so," she admitted with a shrug, "But I guess we're all coddled compared to you and others who live in this world, aren't we? We've had it pretty easy." She didn't quite say Fluttershy could feel proud for managing as well as she had, but nevertheless hoped her meaning would be understood.
Fluttershy only twitched. She seemed to pick her next words very carefully. "I can't really look down at her anyway. You know, before Gilda crashed down in my back yard, I was starting to think about... I was starting to wish I could just lay down and-"
"Halt!"
The voice came from the sky. Twilight looked up just in time to see a blur strike the ground ahead of them, perhaps twenty meters away. The griffon was large, and covered head to wing with a bulky armor of leather and plated mail. The emblem of the Griffon Kingdom was displayed on his chest: 14 golden slashes arranged in four ordinal clusters, two groups of three talons at the top and two groups of four claws at the bottom. The uniform must have been unbelievably hot to wear – not to mention heavy, but the griffon didn't show the slightest sign of discomfort. He stood up straight and spoke.
"I am Sir Reynald Oldhome the Reliant." The griffon's voice pierced the air, sounding as loud and clear as if he was standing right next to them. "I hereby declare you to be prisoners of the Griffon Kingdom. Will you resist, lady unicorn?"
It was game time. Twilight cleared her throat. "We're not here for a confrontation, Sir Reynald. We're here on a mission of peace."
Other griffons were touching down around them. The group was an even mixture of male and female, with plumages reaching from white to light brown. Most of them were light and willowy rather than heavy-set and tall like the knight. They were also not armored nearly as heavily; some were only wearing shoulder-guards, half-helms or sharp gauntlets on their forelegs. Several held weapons, mostly lances, but the majority seemed to rely on their claws and talons. Upon suddenly finding herself in a crowd, Fluttershy kept her head down and edged closer to Twilight. They were, after all, in the presence of predators.
Sir Reynald was cocking his head to one side. "Pardon me, but I find that hard to believe."
The knight's voice was polite, even gentle, but his posture gave the impression of a wrecking ball that could start rolling towards them at any moment. Despite his large stature and heavy armor, there was a practiced ease to all his movements that made Twilight feel like he could lunge at them and tear them apart in the span of a heartbeat – and Twilight's heartbeats were getting to be rather quick. They'd never even have seen him approach if he hadn't announced himself...
"I understand that," said Twilight breathlessly, trying to avoid glancing around at the other soldiers, "But we're not who you think we are! We're a diplomatic envoy from Equestria's resistance movement."
"A diplomatic envoy," repeated Sir Reynald, "With whose authority do you speak?"
"Um, my own, I suppose? Ah, you could say I represent Applejack of the Apple Underground."
"Please accept my apologies for interrupting, Sir Reynald," said one of the griffon scouts from the sidelines, a female. "I believe I have heard stories of this Apple Underground. They are said to fight a shadow war against Queen Celestia. They hide in secret bunkers, they disguise themselves and lie to get what they want. They're assassins and pretenders who don't fight with honor." The griffon kept her tone formal, speaking her piece with no malice, hatred or distrust in her words. If anything, she sounded indignant.
Sir Reynald gave a slow nod once his subordinate was finished and turned back to face Twilight. Discerning the knight's thoughts was difficult with a visor covering his face. "Is that true?" he simply asked.
Twilight was at a momentary loss about how to answer a question like that. Yes, she supposed it was true – the Apple Underground did do some underhanded things on their mission – but describing these necessary moral ambiguities as "dishonorable" seemed to miss the point rather badly. Complaining about lying, hiding and secrecy? Wasn't that just a little bit ridiculous? Rebels and revolutionaries didn't exactly have a choice about following the law.
"That's..." Twilight licked her lips before continuing. "...a little unfair. The Apple Underground exists to save and improve lives, and I think that's very honorable. I hope you understand and appreciate the difficulties of fighting against steep odds in what is essentially enemy territory. They – I mean we – need to keep our heads down in order to survive. And survival is why we're here. We have just as much reason to hate Queen Celestia as you do, so we came to propose an alliance to your King Humphrey and offer our aid in dealing with the current troubles."
Twilight expected displays of skepticism or even anger from the group, but the griffons reacted mostly with polite disinterest, as if this sort of thing happened to them on a regular basis. She couldn't tell whether the stiff upper beak routine went along with the local military life, or whether this kind of composure was an aspect of griffon culture in general. Even the scout that had spoken out against them didn't raise her voice as she went on.
"Sir Reynald, I would strongly urge you not to put any trust in these creatures. The hearts of ponies are black and treacherous by nature. Even if they speak the truth, associating with terrorists who know nothing of chivalry would only stain our honor." She then turned to look directly at Twilight and said something absurd. "Please forgive me, I do not mean to offend. You may be aligned against Equestria, but are you really any better at all, in truth?"
Twilight was left so flustered by the seemingly rhetorical question that she almost forgot to answer. "Um, yes! Definitely!"
Sir Reynald stepped up to Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike, humming quietly to himself. The gesture deflated his physical menace somewhat, but every step he took closer made Twilight feel a little bit more antsy. The moment of truth came when the knight raised his talons and slipped off his helmet, revealing a large, curved beak and attentive blue eyes. His face was surrounded by a vaguely leonine crest of feathers – all wild and ruffled from wearing his helmet. His plumage was snow-white and flecked with gold like bright ermine. Twilight had time to realize that Sir Reynald might well have been called rather handsome before the nervous idea that he really would recognize her one of the griffons' worst enemies bloomed into an instant of full-blown fear. And yet he didn't. His eyes passed over her and rested on Fluttershy.
Twilight looked over her shoulder and found that Fluttershy had sunk down to her stomach and was staring up at the looming knight. It was the short of wariness that might have been expected of Fluttershy, and yet... her eyes weren't quivering or tearful, they were focused and clear.
Sir Reynald's aura of big and scary took a conclusive blow when he bent down and graced Fluttershy with an easy-going smile.
"Please, please, milady. There is no need to be frightened. We would never hurt you without due cause. A griffon never strikes the first blow."
Fluttershy opened her mouth and closed it again without saying anything – that was something she did often – but nevertheless relaxed allowed herself to relax visibly. Sir Reynald stood up straight.
"As much as I'd like to believe you, what assurance can you offer me that you speak the truth?"
"There's someone that can vouch for us!" said Twilight, "One of your own scouts. We met up with her some time ago and my friend here helped her get away from the pony forces."
"Indeed?" said Sir Reynald, "And what was that scout's name?"
"That would have been Gilda."
The knight stood silent for a moment, then cocked his head again, and finally leaned back to unleash an ear-splitting screech that made Twilight shudder as if a chill wind had passed over her.
This time, Twilight caught sight of a dark shape taking off from one of the surrounding elevations. She flew perhaps a little unevenly, but nevertheless reached the group in mere seconds, touching down at Sir Reynald's side and deferently bending her neck. Gilda still wore the bandages Fluttershy had fashioned for her, which finally caused the pegasus to speak up.
"You shouldn't be doing field work with your injuries," she quietly noted.
Gilda almost seemed to blush – it was hard to tell. "Don't be such a dork," she said, "I couldn't take a leave of absence even if I wanted to. Not right now."
"It seems there is no need to ask whether you know these ponies," said Sir Reynald.
Gilda stood at attention. "This pegasus is the one that sheltered me and treated my wounds. I wouldn't be alive right now without her. I met the unicorn and the dragon and some others when they came to recruit the pegasus to a rebellion. They helped me find my way back here, and one of their companions provided the pony battle plans I gave you." There was something eerie about seeing her take on such a courteous and correct mold.
"So you think these ponies can be trusted?"
Gilda looked as if she physically had to keep herself from shrugging. "Far as I can tell."
"This is a matter of great import, Gilda," explained the knight patiently, "Give me an answer with conviction or none at all."
Gilda cast a quick glance at Fluttershy. "I'm, um, sure their intentions are benevolent."
"Do you swear to take responsibility for these ponies and their actions?"
"I... swear it," promised Gilda.
Sir Reynald gave a nod of affirmation. "In that case, it is my honor to welcome you to the Griffon Kingdom as guests rather than prisoners."
"Pardon me, Sir Reynald," said the same scout from earlier, "but are you sure this is the right thing to do? I must remind you that Gilda's record is not without blemish."
Gilda seemed to be getting ready for a nasty rebuke, but Sir Reynald cut her off. "Your opinion is noted, soldier. Alas, this is a matter of state, and I am only a knight. This warrants the attention of His Altitude, and I'll do my duty by him." The scout fell back in line with no further comment, whereas Sir Reynald focused all his attention on his new guests. "Before I forget – may I ask for your names, esteemed ladies?"
"I'm Twilight Sparkle." Evidently, the name meant nothing to anyone there. "This here's Fluttershy, and the little guy's Spike."
Sir Reynald and Twilight each raised their forelegs in greeting. Twilight recalled once reading that it wasn't unusual for a griffon to be able to exert 1000 psi of force with their talons, and yet the knight's touch was as soft as silk. Surprisingly, he even bent down to touch his beak to Twilight's foot in a symbolic kiss. It was hardly a gesture familiar to griffons, so he must have done it only as a matter of decorum. He took an even gentler approach with Fluttershy, approaching her as carefully as if he was stepping over a flowerbed and bowing impossibly low. Fluttershy seemed more than a little perplexed at the attentions, but she was also blushing. Knights must have naturally been drawn to damsels...
"Truly a pleasure," said Sir Reynald, "Your dragon isn't going to cause any problems, is he?"
Spike let out a prolonged ruffled groan. "'The dragon' can speak for himself, actually! And if you're wondering whether I'm going to start spewing flame and start hankering for poultry, then the answer is no. Unless someone does something to make me angry."
Twilight quickly grabbed Spike to shut him up and tossed him on her back to get across that he should hold off on potentially causing an international incident.
Sir Reynald looked a bit shocked at the outburst, but recovered himself quickly. "Please forgive me if I've spoken with impropriety," he said, "Now then, shall we proceed? We can get you to the Capitolium Leo and a meeting with the King in less than an hour if you don't mind flying."
"That won't be a problem!" said Twilight, "As long as we get there as soon as possible."
"Gilda, do you feel up for carrying your pegasus friend?" Sir Reynald nodded at Fluttershy humbly. "I don't mean to offend, milady, but I would dare suggest we'd be slightly stronger fliers."
Gilda winced imperceptibly. "I... guess so. Yes sir." Twilight didn't exactly think that would be a good idea what with her recent injuries, but Gilda seemed to think saving face outweighed the discomfort. At least Fluttershy was light.
Sir Reynald addressed the rest of his troops next. "Report to Sir Darlton and explain the circumstances here. I am placing you under his command until such a time as I can return."
Before Twilight could give much of a reaction, the knight already swooped her up on his forelegs and held onto her. Spike wrapped his arms onto Twilight's neck for better support. Fluttershy smiled apologetically as Gilda picked her up. They were set, so off they went.
As they rose up on griffon wings, Twilight realized that she was suddenly brimming with optimism. The encounter with Sir Reynald had gone better than she would have ever dared predict. She hadn't known what to expect of griffons, and was relieved to find them (aside from a few hiccups) to be polite, reasonable and – above all – good. It was as if she'd stumbled into the very opposite of the empire of evil that Daymare Sun presided over. Perhaps the Griffon Kingdom had evolved specifically to fill that void as Equestria's noble opposite number. It only reinforced the feeling that Twilight wasn't just doing all this for ponies, but for the whole world. Whatever the case, she was again coming down on feeling good about how things were going. Hopefully, her meeting with King Humphrey would turn out fruitfully as well...
They did reach the capital quickly, though still not as quickly as Twilight would have liked. She had the feeling Sir Reynald held back from speeding for the sake of his passengers. Perhaps it was for the best, considering the way the air whipped in their faces and how close by the knight weaved through the mountains, but it gave Twilight the impression that he didn't quite understand the urgency of the situation.
The Capitolium Leo itself was magnificent. Even though both its population and land area were substantially smaller than those of Everfree City, there was a palpable sense of scale to the griffons' capitol. Unlike the vast complexes of Everfree, the Capitolium Leo's size reached up rather than around. Most of the city consisted of towers – each a mountain unto itself, together they formed a rough approximation of an even greater mountain. A citadel in the middle of the city took the place of a peak and a series of guard towers arranged on and around the gigantic walled defenses served as the lower reaches. It was an impressive replacement for the ranges that must have been picked apart to provide construction materials.
The city's centerpieces easily dwarfed the spires of Canterlot or even the skyscrapers in Manehattan. Some of the towers were so thin and tall that pony engineering would have declared them impossible, and yet there they were, with tops reaching almost to the swirling mass of cloud-cover hovering above the city. Many of the buildings were in turn capped with enormous statues so high up that anyone on the ground could only guess what they depicted.
The overall architecture was stark and not particularly ornate, but nevertheless elegant. Each tower seemed like the distant descendant of a fortress – the end result of centuries of evolution from something harsh and martial into something sleek and refined. There was a sense of timelessness to the city; most everything seemed well-kept enough not to show its age. The perpendicular pattern of the towers evoked stability and order, especially at a distance.
And yet – of course there had to be an "and yet" – the city was showing signs of decline. The grandeur was almost obscured under makeshift reconstructions. There was a large swathe of tiny, ramshackle wooden buildings outside the city wall, standing out all the more in their slightly pitiful utility clashing against the vast stone backdrop. The area almost had the appearance of a shantytown. Furthermore, some of the towers had enormous canvases reaching down from their tops that were meant to shield the streets below from sunlight. It took Twilight a moment to realize that the towers reached so far up – so close to the sky – that they would have been uninhabitable as long as the sun bore down on the city.
Luna's storm cloud must have been the best thing that had happened to the Griffon Kingdom in the last five years. Even with the protection it offered, conditions were far from hospitable. The air remained hot and heavy, feeling much like a blanket of heat enveloping and weighing down anyone caught underneath it. Whenever the sun did peek through the cloud-cover, it appeared as a bright spear of light driving down into the ground. Twilight did not even want to imagine what sort of living hell the city must have been like just a few days ago.
To Twilight's surprise, Sir Reynald moved to touch down just beyond the city walls instead of flying directly to the citadel. They would apparently walk the rest of the way. As they were landing, Twilight noticed an odd but unsurprising architectural curiosity – there were no gates on the walls. The group touched down on a small plaza leading into a wide-open avenue to the city center. The path must have been bordered by rows of trees at one point as well, but any plants in the city were long since dead and gone by now. In this case though, their absence gave a better view of the seemingly endless series of stone statues that ran along both sides of the street.
Twilight at first thought the statues were all completely identical – a bird of prey with its wings raised, about twice the height of a pony – but as they moved onwards, it became clear that each subsequent pair of statues was subtly different from the ones preceding it. As they walked on, the postures, expressions and bodies of the eagles changed bit by bit, like frames of film shown in three dimensions. The birds flapped their wings and unleashed a screech at the heavens, then folded their wings and turned their eyes to the ground. Gradually, the form of the eagle mixed with that of a lion, finally becoming a griffon at the steps of the citadel.
They were remarkable pieces of sculpture, all the more so for the amount of detail and nuance in them considering they seemed to be carved from granite. Twilight actually recognized the statues, though she wished she didn't. She had seen some of their molten and slagged remains in Canterlot's Museum of the World.
There were griffons in the city. In fact, there were quite a lot of griffons in the city. They could see dozens walking the streets or soaring around between the towers. All of them in total wouldn't have amounted to much of a crowd, but many more must have been inside. The capital was still populated. The more Twilight thought about it, the more baffling this idea seemed.
"I thought for sure the city would be abandoned," said Twilight, addressing both Gilda and Sir Reynald, "I mean, I didn't think it would be inhabitable with the sun so close? And we're so close to the border as well, so once fighting breaks out..."
Gilda was the one who answered her. "His Altitude did try to have the city evacuated a while ago, but the idea fell through."
"Fell through? Doesn't he have complete executive control?"
"His Claws – uh, I mean his bodyguards – managed to convince him that it was a bad idea. Abandoning the capital would have destroyed the morale of the people."
Logical enough, supposed Twilight. Still, it was amazing that the inhabitants hadn't taken off on their own. The discipline and stick-it-to-itiveness of the griffon people was truly admirable.
This turn in the conversation was a welcome reminder for Twilight. There hadn't been much chance for conversation up in the air, so this was her last chance to find out a little more about who she was heading to speak with.
"What can you tell me about the King?" she asked to begin with, only to raise a quizzical eyebrow when the question caused Gilda to stiffen and look to Sir Reynald for guidance. The knight demonstratively ignored them and maintained his distance from the whole subject matter. Gilda was already starting to roll her eyes before abruptly snapping back to a more formal expression.
"King Humphrey is..." said Gilda at last, "very well-meaning."
"Well-meaning?" repeated Twilight in deadpan. As descriptions of monarchs went, that was decidedly less than impressive.
"Don't get me wrong, he's not incompetent or anything," continued Gilda, "When your Queen moved the sun over our capital and Parliament granted him emergency powers, King Humphrey started up a program to store as much of the flood water from the mountains as possible. That and the strict rationing probably kept a lot of griffons alive in the long run, and he moved quickly to mobilize the troops as well. He knows how to keep a country running, it's just that... he might not know how to, umm, keep it running the right way?"
Twilight frowned, but before she could ask for elaboration, Spike already spoke up. "The heck does that mean?" he asked.
"Well, let's just say that..." Gilda glanced over to Sir Reynald once again at this point. "He's not as steadfast in the ideals of chivalry as he could be."
"So King Humphrey is a knight as well?"
"Oh no. Not him. But chivalry is the standard for all griffons, whether old or young, male or female, strong or feeble. Nobility in thought and action is important in all walks of life. It makes sense, right? You don't need to be a warrior to act proper and decent." She sounded like she was reading off a previously memorized script. Funny enough, that more than anything reminded Twilight of the Gilda she knew. She wasn't quite a jerk, but still a little... irreverent.
Twilight hesitated before continuing. Considering how Gilda was dancing around the subject, asking outright how the King had been less than chivalrous seemed like a poor idea. Still, she'd have liked to know as much as possible about the fellow before meeting him.
"But you said he was a good person, right?"
"Oh yes. He might not be as awe-inspiring as one of the old hero-kings, but his heart's in the right place. It's just that he keeps to some... bad company."
"Hero kings?" piped up Spike, before Twilight could inquire further about the "bad company."
"Oh yeah," said Gilda, "His Altitude has some very illustrious ancestors. Did you know that Humphrey the First once killed a dragon in single combat? And then there's Gilbert the Great, the griffon who defeated the ponies at the Battle of the Traps and the First Battle of the Valley, holding back the Equestrian advance. Me, I've always been a big fan of Dolores the Thrice-Crowned. She took her throne back from the Goldwing Pretenders and pretty much single-wingedly kept the country from falling into civil war. Oh, and His Altitude's great-aunt Princess Frieda personally went out with a war party and rescued the royal chicks when the Secret Police abducted them."
These anecdotal bits of history were interesting, but not particularly useful to Twilight. She didn't have the time to ask any more questions before they reached the citadel.
The tower didn't have any sort of main doorway, but rather a line-up of entrances covering its full height, only one of which was on ground level. The inside of the citadel was busier than the streets outside, and that's where griffons finally started noticing the ponies amongst them. None of the griffons they met said or did anything untoward towards them, but Twilight didn't exactly require a lot of social acumen to pick up on the barely-withheld hostility – not that she didn't understand it, of course. It was also obvious she and Fluttershy were only allowed to proceed by the grace of Sir Reynald's presence.
Sir Reynald led the group downstairs. King Humphrey's chambers seemed to be located underground, probably as a necessity due to the heat. It was hard to imagine griffons living beneath the earth if they could at all avoid it. When they reached what must have been the throne room, they found the doors guarded by two armored guards. Twilight at first thought they were equal in rank to Sir Reynald, but the way they bowed down in greeting disabused her of that notion.
"May I ask what this could mean, Sir Reynald?" asked one of the guards while cocking his head to the side, "What are these ponies doing here? Are they prisoners or war?" The other one only glared – obviously while still trying to look prim and proper.
"A diplomatic envoy, actually," replied Sir Reynald evenly.
The guards exchanged mystified glances and then moved to open the doors. Twilight followed Sir Reynald inside, finding the throne room filled to bursting. There could easily have been as many as a hundred griffons in there, making the wide-open hall look tight and cramped. Why ever all these people were there – audiences, reports, inquiries – they had the room completely blocked up. For a moment, Twilight became frightened of the prospect of having to wait in line before she could go on with her mission, but the crowd actually started receding when they noticed the new arrivals. The buzzing of conversation in the room quieted down and the throng split apart to open up a path for Sir Reynald.
The throne was located on an elevated platform at the far end of the room, surrounded by four guards in bright plated mail like Sir Reynald's. An elderly griffon was sitting slouched on the throne. To his left, a large female griffon was floating in the air. To his right stood a dark-feathered shadow. Twilight took a deep breath and stepped forward to meet the King.
To be continued in Part II.
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BornIn1142
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901
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Main 6,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Alternate Universe,Adventure,Dark,Drama,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Sunshine and Fire
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Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.
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incomplete
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<p>Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.</p><p>Feel free to check out or add to the story's <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/SunshineAndFire" rel="nofollow">TV Tropes page</a>.</p>
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teen
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2013-08-03T20:22:28+00:00
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2015-04-12T22:30:49+00:00
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As she stepped closer to the throne, Twilight quickly realized that King Humphrey might not have been quite as elderly as she'd originally thought. As a matter of fact, he was probably not even middle-aged. Yet, he sat hunched over like some graybeard, his eyes were sunken-in and squinty and the loose feathering on his head gave him a balding appearance. His dull, light gray plumage also made him look older than he really was, and the rich cape of carmine velvet he had wrapped around him despite the heat seemed ill-fitting and overlarge. In truth, there wasn't a bit of majesty to be found on his person. Sir Reynald looked more like a king than the King himself.
Having reached the elevated platform, Reynald and Gilda fell into deep bows. Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike followed suit as well, bending their knees and lowering their heads. They stayed in that position for several long seconds. When Twilight dared glance up at His Altitude, she found him massaging the bridge of his beak with his talons as if trying to scratch out a headache.
Looking up, Twilight's gaze fell on the griffon standing at the King's right-hand side as well. For a second, Twilight thought she could see something like recognition glint in his piercing, yellow eyes. Before she could feel queasy at the notion of discovery, the expression of the counselor – or whatever he was – had already returned to being so unreadable and so inscrutable that any trace of emotion showing on him at all seemed like it would have been nothing more than the figment of an overactive imagination. This griffon's plumage was a darker shade of grey – almost black. His head was wider and flatter than other griffons', more like an owl's than an eagle's. Large tufts of eyebrows stuck out to the side of his face. He stood very close to the King.
A sigh from Humphrey drew Twilight's attention back to him. "Are you really going to make me ask before explaining this, Reynald?" He gave his foreleg a quick wave. "Oh, and rise. Get up, you."
The group stood up. Twilight found the King's voice vaguely surprising. Based on his appearance, she'd expected something wheezy and weak, but instead he spoke with clarity and authority... in sound if not in tone.
"It is my honor to introduce the ponies Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy and the dragon Spike – here as a diplomatic envoy to represent a faction of ponies rebelling against the Equestrian Empire."
"A... diplomatic... envoy," drawled Humphrey, "Is that so?" He did have a powerful voice, but seemed to use that power mostly in the service of sarcasm.
Sir Reynald simply ignored the jibe. "Indeed, Your Altitude."
"You surprise me, Sir Reynald," boomed a heavy female voice from near the throne. It took Twilight a moment to realize that it had been one of the guards speaking – it was difficult to say which one, since she'd remained perfectly motionless, as still as one of the statues around the city. "I never thought you would sully His Altitude's throne room by bringing ponies here. Their lies will foul up the very air we breathe!"
Twilight had to cringe at her words, and Sir Reynald frowned. "The ponies have already made an overture of peace towards us, Dame Frederica. They provided us with intelligence regarding Equestrian troop movements, and even ensured the safe return of one of my scouts trapped behind enemy lines."
The guard's head was covered by a visor, but Twilight could quite clearly imagine a glare. "Back in my day, we wouldn't have hesitated for a second before burning whatever intelligence ponies had to offer into ash. You Talons are our first line of defense, and you are a fine knight, Sir Reynald. Do not let our convictions falter."
King Humphrey's eyes flickered over to Gilda. "And I'm assuming you're the scout in question? What is your name?"
"We've actually met before," said Gilda with a slightly insolent raised eyebrow, "but... ah, it's Gilda, Your Altitude. And I don't know if this is worth much, but they did help me out and I swore to take responsibility for them while they are here."
King Humphrey acknowledged her with a nod of his head and then refocused his attention on Twilight. "We shall hear you out."
Twilight took half a step forward, tried to ignore how the King's armored bodyguards drew tighter around him so she could barely see him, and reminded herself that diplomacy was, in essence, nothing more than the art of making friends writ large. That's all there was to it.
"I realize this must be a position you never expected to find yourself in, Your Altitude. In fact, the circumstances here are even more extraordinary than you realize. I'd have a hard time believing the story I'm about to tell you myself, but I think you and your court deserve nothing less than the naked truth. We're here to do big things, Your Altitude. We'd like to discuss an alliance between our humble group and your people, in the hopes that both our homelands might be saved."
The King seemed pleasantly energized by her words. With a lopsided grin on his beak, he stood up straighter and addressed the whole throne room. "Officials, courtiers, associated hangers-on, as this seems like it's going to be a highly sensitive matter of state security, I would ask that you excuse yourselves. I'm afraid I'm going to have to cancel all non-essential appointments for the time being."
Most of the bystanders remained politely silent at the announcement, but there were some grumbles to be heard. Not only did the griffons have business of their own to bring up with the King, they must certainly have been curious about the developing situation. Many of them looked over their shoulders with quizzical or worrisome glances as they filed out of the throne room. The throne room emptied up considerably, but not completely. King Humphrey's idea of a private meeting still involved over a dozen griffons, not including the guards at the walls and four of the King's Claws around the throne itself. Gilda used the minutes it took for the crowd to progress out of the throne room to coach Twilight some more about the court.
"The guy with the giant cravat is the representative of Parliament," she muttered, "And there's the leader of the Order of Aeromancers – the floating one." She discreetly nodded towards a plump brown griffon lady hovering near the throne. Twilight was going to ask about that, and perhaps why the leader of the Aeromancers had her eyes closed and was muttering frantically to herself under her breath rather than paying attention to the proceedings, but found herself distracted by movement from the other side of the throne. The King's dark counselor had leaned closer to him and whispered a question. King Humphrey's response was half a nod and half a shrug.
"Never mind about them," whispered Spike, "I want to know who that guy is." He took the words right out of Twilight's mouth.
"That guy." Gilda looked impassive enough, but she also drew in a sharp breath before continuing. "His name is Lord Willard Fairweather. His official position is Chancellor to the King, but..."
She was interrupted by the doors of the chamber slamming shut after the last griffon to leave. King Humphrey was on the ball right away.
"Feel free to carry on, Lady...?"
"Twilight Sparkle. I'm here on behalf of the Apple Underground, a group of ponies fighting against the tyrannical reign of Queen Celestia. But that doesn't tell you who I really am..."
And so she related her story once more, for what felt like the hundredth time. She told them of her origin and the way things were meant to be, of her journey to their world, and of her quest to find a way to bring down Daymare Sun. She told them of the Princesses and the opportunity they represented to defeat Equestria. Explaining this whole business had long since gotten tiresome and Twilight wished she had some way to simply skip it, but she tried not to let her frustration show. A much bigger concern for her was the expected shadow of skepticism she saw fall across the faces of her audience. It was plain to see that they did not believe her. Gilda, who'd heard the story before in Fluttershy's cottage, looked like she'd have liked nothing more than to sink underground and disappear.
"Highly dubious!" thundered the female knight from earlier as soon as Twilight finished. She had to be more than just a bodyguard. No one in Princess Celestia's Royal Guard would have been allowed to interrupt as she did.
King Humphrey, after a long moment of stillness, leaned back on his throne and rested a foreleg against his head. "I never thought I would have to tell you this, Reynald – dear, dependable Reynald – but when bringing in someone for an audience, I would expect you to screen out the obvious crazies!"
The rebuke genuinely seemed to sting Sir Reynald. He reddened slightly, and let his perfect posture sag. "Your Altitude, I-I didn't..." he started before a wave from the King silenced him.
"I suppose this meeting is going to be shorter than I expected," mused King Humphrey, "Well then. I can't say I understand where you're going with this, but can you give me even one reason to believe you, Lady Sparkle?"
It was a debate Twilight was coming to hate. How wonderful would it have been to move past this pointless back-and-forth and get to the real meat of the issue? Unfortunately, Twilight had no evidence, nothing to demonstrate the truth of her words. She hadn't yet formulated a response to sidestep the issue when a quiet question from over her shoulder threw her for a loop.
"Have you been outside recently?"
King Humphrey leaned forward, straining to hear. "Pardon me?" he asked, with only mild incredulity.
"Have you been outside recently, Your Altitude?" repeated Fluttershy, "There's an honest to goodness raincloud outside. How do you think that could have happened? Who do you think would have the power to do something like this? Only the Queen... or in this case, a Princess."
Right. That should do. "Our Princess Luna sent you this cloud as a gift," improvised Twilight quickly, "to ease your burden and to strengthen your resolve. This is meant to be the first step on the road to recovery for this world. An alliance between us could be the second."
"Their tale isn't as implausible as it sounds if you think about it, Humphrey." Lord Fairweather chose this moment to speak up. "Movement through space is nothing for pony magic. Why, they can even travel through time! Is traveling from world to world so far beyond belief then?" His voice sounded neither like an eagle's nor an owl's. It was like the croak of a raven.
King Humphrey cocked his head. "You really think it could be, Willard?"
"Oh, certainly," responded the dark griffon hastily, "In fact, I'm rather sure they're telling it true. If these were Equestrian agents engaged in some sort of plot, the last thing they'd do is invent such an unbelievable story. What would be the point?"
Sir Reynald's eyebrows slowly arced into a scowl. "And who would know truth from falsehood better than the master of lies himself?" Twilight was a little shocked by the sudden ferocity in his voice, and Lord Fairweather himself seemed to flinch as well, but recovered smoothly enough. "Why thank you, Sir Reynald," he responded with a thin, fake smile.
"Believe me, no compliment was intended!"
King Humphrey was quick to cut through the resulting awkwardness. "You have my attention, milady, but I could do with a little more detail and a little less inspirational fluff." Despite his words, his expression was veering from snide to thoughtful.
"I'll be happy to explain. The Apple Underground has a plan for bringing about the defeat of Queen Celestia. Nothing and no one has been able to challenge her for the last millennium, but now we have two goddesses of our own who can and will overcome her. They're just going to need a bit of assistance with getting the Queen's forces out of the way. This is where you come in. An intervention by the griffon army could free the path to the Equestrian throne."
"An intervention, you say?" repeated King Humphrey, "By the griffon army? I don't know if you've noticed, but the griffon army is a tad busy with the defense of our borders at the moment."
"Yes, well..." This was the tricky part. "It would be necessary to evade the invasion force and push forward into Equestria itself. That's why swift action would be crucial to the plan. If we act fast, we can force Equestria to surrender and forgo the invasion entirely."
The King did not respond right away. He bent forward, running a talon through the thin feathering on his scalp. "Forgive me if this question offends you, Lady Sparkle, but have you ever worked as a maid-servant?"
"Er, no?" replied Twilight, "It doesn't, and I haven't. Can I ask why-"
"Because you would offer my kingdom to Equestria on a silver platter!"
There was silence in the throne room after King Humphrey's outburst. Even though he'd barely raised his voice, the words were still ringing in Twilight's ears.
"I know it sounds counter-intuitive-"
"Oh really?"
Twilight tried not to let the sarcasm get to her. "But if you think about it, with the vast majority of Equestria's standing army congregated at your border, the rest of the country is left relatively vulnerable, including the capital. Everfree City's garrison has no reinforcements to hope for. It's as vulnerable now as it ever has been or ever will be. A surprise attack now could end the war before it really begins."
King Humphrey sucked in a breath, then let it out as a monstrously long sigh. "How many griffons are you thinking of?"
"Um, as many as possible, I suppose? Everfree City is too big to secure with just a few thousand."
"Well," said Lord Fairweather loudly, "This is it, isn't it? The chance we've all been waiting for." Despite the wide breadth of his words, he seemed to speak only to the King, whom his unblinking yellow eyes were fixed on.
"It can only be a trap," declared the female knight again, the one Sir Reynald had called Dame Frederica.
King Humphrey looked first at one, and then the other, but did not address either of them. He continued speaking to Twilight. "I am genuinely stupefied that I'd even have to ask such a thing, but you do realize that this would leave most of our population completely defenseless?"
"It might be necessary to temporarily evacuate the capital and its environs, or distract the invasion force somehow. I don't know. I'm sure we can figure out a way to stall the advance if we put our heads together!"
"The risk..." The King snorted a completely humorless laugh. "You cannot expect me to take such a risk with the lives of civilians."
"But..." Fluttershy's quiet interjection echoed through the chamber like a ripple in a pond.
"Go on, Fluttershy," said Twilight, "What were you going to say?"
"Even if your forces stays here to defend the Kingdom..." she offered out while staring at the floor of the throne room, "the Equestrian army will destroy you anyway. You understand that, right?"
"If that is how it must be, then so it shall be," declared Dame Frederica.
"It would be a good death," agreed one of the other Claws, "glorious and meaningful."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," added another one.
"I... what?" asked Twilight.
"As knights, we're all prepared to lay down our lives in the defense of our people," explained Sir Reynald. He seemed to realize how vague that sounded, for he went on after a brief pause. "We are fully aware of our odds in the coming battle, but we do not fear it. Though it may be our last stand, we shall make it a proper one, worthy of the legacy of our ancestors. The rest of the country feels the same way."
"I would not expect a pony to understand," added Dame Frederica.
For a heartbeat, King Humphrey looked like he was on the verge of rousing anger, but he didn't quite seem to have the energy for it. Twilight caught a glimpse of a surreptitious roll of his eyes.
"If you're going to kill yourselves," said Lord Fairweather, "I welcome you to do it. Thankfully, I know that we are a nation of griffons, not lemmings. There are many who would prefer survival to your glorious suicide. I think the children of the Griffon Kingdom, Dame Frederica, would welcome the death by old age you're so fearful of."
"And since when are you so eager to fight after all your harping about peace, traitor?" shot the female knight back, "You, who would have sold us all into slavery if you'd had the chance? We all know what your idea of survival would mean – an existence without sovereignty or dignity as a 'client state' of your Equestrian masters."
"We don't exactly have a lot of options at this point, do we? My plan was the last and best hope for peace, but you ruined it. We could have adapted and persevered as other races have. So what if we might have had to sacrifice a few freedoms to ensure our continued existence? At least now we have another opportunity to escape the hole you're so insistent on burying us in." He leered at Twilight and curved his beak into something like a smile.
"You will throw in your lot with the enemy one way or another, is that how it is?"
"I saved our Kingdom and you would do well to remember that, you ingrate! If my agents hadn't sabotaged the Equestrian railroad, the invasion would be underway and we'd already be drowning in blood."
Dame Frederica had been a model guard until that point, staying stationary almost to the point of absurdity. Now, a quiver seemed to run through her, and for a moment, Twilight thought she would lunge at Lord Fairweather and attack him. "You know less than nothing about what it means to be a griffon!" she said instead.
"If you're so proud of this so-called achievement, then why not explain how your intelligence network managed to find out about these maneuvers in the first place?" asked Sir Reynald.
"Well, that would be rather stupid of me, wouldn't it?"
"I'm sorry, but I feel like I don't know who I'm speaking to anymore?" said Twilight.
"Apologies, milady," said Sir Reynald, "You have the honor of addressing Dame Frederica Greenhill the Avenger, head of the King's Claws and one of the most distinguished knights in the kingdom."
Dame Frederica turned her masked face towards Sir Reynald, then at last lifted up her visor to reveal a generous tuft of feathers whiter than snow. It was hard to say whether she was born with such plumage or whether it had grown lighter with age – for this griffon was old indeed. Her jowls were sagging and her beak shriveled and soft, but her dull eyes honed in on Twilight and her friends with a judgmental intensity. In lieu of a greeting, Dame Frederica bowed curtly.
"And this, of course," said the King with an indistinct wave to his right, "is my trusted adviser Lord Chancellor Willard Fairweather, the Royal Spymaster."
"I... had heard that griffons did not believe in spies," said Twilight carefully.
"You heard right, milady," said Lord Fairweather with another crooked smile, "But alas, that does not mean we have no need for them."
"Enough," said King Humphrey, just in time to cut off a rebuke from Sir Reynald, but he seemed unsure of how to go on from there. He held on in silence for nearly a minute while Twilight and her friends stared at him expectantly. "So, you think a surprise attack by our forces could bring a decisive end to the Equestrian Empire? I generally have a great distrust of simple, catch-all solutions being thrown in my lap, but then again, this isn't exactly simple, is it? And..." The King sagged on his throne. "And I'm afraid... there is another issue that will make your plan unfeasible, quite apart from the strategic considerations."
"What do you mean?" asked Twilight, "What other issue?"
Sir Reynald cleared his throat. "It would not be honorable," he said with a jarringly kindly smile.
Throughout the whole conversation, Twilight's mind had constantly been at work processing information. Now, all her thoughts came to a screeching halt. "What do you mean?" she asked, already fearing the answer.
"Facing an enemy army in open battle – whether from the front, flanks or rear – that's how wars are meant to be fought," said Sir Reynald, "Ignoring the enemy's challenge and choosing the path of least resistance by attacking an undermanned settlement would not be chivalrous. It's underhanded trickery, not the way of knights."
For a moment, it seemed like King Humphrey would hide his face behind his talons, but then he only let them fall limply to his side. Twilight found herself stumped on what to say or what to do. Spike glanced up at her, his mouth as wide open as she'd ever seen it.
Come to think of it... Sir Reynald had announced himself and his troops when he'd found them back in the borderlands. Twilight remembered him telling Fluttershy that a griffon never strikes the first blow – but not in a million years would Twilight have thought he was being literal! The image of griffon patrols standing in front of a pony army and telling them to please leave before meeting them in combat crept into her mind's eye, and it was so ludicrous she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"With all due respect..." started Twilight, her voice almost shaking, "You can't be serious. I- I might not have expressed our intentions as clearly as I should have. We're not discussing an attack on the civilian population or anything like that! Everfree City is a valid military target. I don't see what difference it makes if we take them by surprise!"
"I don't blame you for feeling that way," said Sir Reynald with infuriating patience, "But we are knights. We must hold ourselves to a higher standard."
Dame Frederica picked up where he left off. "As with all things, there is an etiquette to warfare. It is the way of the Equestrian Empire to pillage, burn and stab their enemies in the back like cowards, and it is the way of its victims to give up their righteousness in desperation, by convincing themselves that the ends justify the means and taking up whatever deplorable tactics are convenient to them. We know what happens in the rest of the world. Zebra guerillas meld into the jungle, camel nomads hide in their desert dunes and reindeer raiders in the polar ice. They murder some Equestrian bureaucrats and call it revolution. We griffons are still free because we've remained steadfast in our ideals. As the peoples of the world descent further, we must strive ever harder to be a beacon of nobility to remind others of what is right. Even if we are butchered to the last, the spirit of our heroism will live on to inspire others."
The impromptu speech only crossed Twilight's wires further. Though the tone of indignation never quite disappeared completely, Dame Frederica sounded appreciably more open and peaceful as she explained the philosophy of the Griffon Kingdom. She seemed to speak from the heart. Somehow, that made things worse.
Lord Fairweather's counterpoint was a quiet, bitter cackle. "I can scarcely imagine the cognitive dissonance you must feel every day while you try make me the villain for wanting to save people."
"I can honestly say I feel no compunctions about dismissing whatever pretexts you use to drive your plots currently. I am of course persistently baffled that our merciful King lets an amoral parasite like you live!"
"Please, Dame Frederica," said Sir Reynald, "Can we not speak of this? We made a mistake addressing him at all."
"You are right, of course, Sir Reynald. I should not let that cur get to me!"
King Humphrey suffered this debacle in silence, sneaking a glance at Lord Fairweather over his shoulder but not speaking out to stop the argument. "So you see," he said loudly to Twilight, "I cannot give you my army. The only option I can think of – and this is speaking hypothetically, mind you – is asking for volunteers to step forward, an expeditionary force..."
"Show me those volunteers, Your Altitude," said Dame Frederica, "and I'll show you nothing more than deserters, not fit to be called griffons! I have every confidence you will not find such rabble among our brave troops."
The King closed his beak, in a motion that Twilight supposed would have made a pony look like they were grinding their teeth.
"What about King Gilbert?" asked Twilight, surprising even herself. King Humphrey cocked his head to the side in query, so she went on. "King Gilbert the Great was one of your ancestors, I believe. Didn't he foil the first pony invasion of the Griffon Kingdom in... the Battle of Traps, was it?"
It seemed relevant to the conversation. She didn't know any of the details about how the battle played out, so bringing up that half-remembered tidbit of information was a bit of a gamble, but the payoff was immediately obvious – every knight in the room cringed as one. Gilda looked embarrassed as well, though her reasons were harder to discern. The King covering his beak with a wing could have passed for shock, but Twilight thought she could see amusement twinkling in his eyes.
"King Gilbert was a model knight and remains an example to us all," said Sir Reynald, "But... even he made mistakes."
"So the traps in that battle were his, weren't they?" asked Twilight, almost letting a snide follow-up about honor slip out as well in her exasperation.
Sir Reynald couldn't even bring himself to admit it. "His conduct throughout the rest of the war was immaculate."
"King Gilbert the Great was also the monarch who established the position of the Royal Spymaster, as I recall," cut in Lord Fairweather, in a tone that suggested he was far more interested in mockery than making any sort of legitimate argument.
True to his earlier promise, Sir Reynald ignored him. "We live in a very different Kingdom nowadays. The first invasion happened at a relatively barbaric time in our history, but this is a new age of chivalry..." He fell silent and turned to Dame Frederica for further guidance.
The elderly knight did not address the matter at all, but swiveled around to face King Humphrey. "Your Altitude, I implore you," said pleaded and commanded, "turn these ponies away. They are preying on our foolish hopes for a salvation. Do you think these creatures are as innocent as they look? Do you you think it matters that they are colorful and adorable? That is how they've ever gotten others to lower their guards and wreaked havoc. It would be a mistake to underestimate them. We mustn't let weakness slip into our ranks with pointless debates when we know what is right and what is wrong! There can be no compromise!"
"Need we go quite so far, Dame Frederica?" asked Sir Reynald carefully, "An alliance between us might be worth considering. Obviously I could not condone stooping so low as to use deception to achieve our ends, but there must be other ways we can benefit each other. Should we not consider the possibility that they are being genuine?"
"Even if they are being genuine, association with them and their ilk would stain us and affront our principles. Nothing good would come of it." Twilight had never heard anyone sound so sure of herself in her life.
Sir Reynald bent his neck. "Perhaps you are right."
Sir Reynald didn't even believe what he was saying – that much was obvious from his tone – but he said it anyway, whether out of solidarity or deference or whatever else. Twilight had known him for no more than a couple of hours, so she knew she had no right to feel as betrayed as she did by his attitude as she did. The debate seemed as good as over, and Twilight had never even come close to winning over the griffons to their cause. It was difficult to fathom the scale of such a failure. Would Celestia's plan even still be feasible without the griffon army? Everything depended on Twilight...
"Equestria is counting on you thinking this way," she suggested, trying not to let her voice shake, "With all due respect, a philosophy this rigid makes you predictable. You're playing right into their hands."
"I don't think it matters," said Dame Frederica.
Lord Fairweather had leaned closer to the King to whisper in his ear again, and even made a move as if to put his taloned foreleg on the King's shoulder, but Humphrey shook it away.
"This alliance as the ponies imagine it would be impossible, of course," said King Humphrey, "but I would not send them away just yet. I will make one concession towards pragmatism. We will... detain the ponies for the time being, and learn as much else from them as there is to learn. It may take a while to discern truth from fabrication."
Twilight's throat tightened at what looked like the King turning on them, but thinking about it, the situation was not really all that sinister. It actually seemed like the King's way of keeping the dialogue going.
"They are our guests, not prisoners," said Dame Frederica in apparently completely genuine outrage, "It is a great offense to break one's trust to your guests."
"Would you rather stay or leave, Lady Twilight?" asked the King.
"We will stay," said Twilight right away, "But we don't have a lot of time to-"
"Then it is settled. We will speak again in a little while. Hey, you." He was addressing Gilda with that. "Why don't you show your charges to the guest rooms and make sure they're settled comfortably for the time being?"
The griffon in question first flinched in surprise, and then lowered her head – half a bow and half a nod. "Yes, Your Altitude."
Twilight had no idea why the King felt the need to call this recess, why he expected Gilda to know her way around the palace, or why Sir Reynald offered to accompany them there, but she had little capacity to care for such details at the moment. As much as she'd have liked to argue for carrying on right away, she couldn't deny that part of her was relieved for the chance to rethink and reassess her approach. The atmosphere in the throne room was getting to be too much. Passing by the guards and remaining courtiers, with every eye on her, felt like a walk of shame. She'd expected resistance from rational disbelief, but not this.
Sir Reynald guided them out through a small side-door in the throne room, leading to a badly lit corridor and stairwell, but the door did not close after them. Twilight was still deep in reverie, replaying the conversation with the King and his advisers in her head and frantically trying to think of ways to turn things around, when she heard someone clearing his throat behind them. She looked over her shoulder to find Lord Fairweather slipping into the hallway. He let the door fall shut and blanketed them all in darkness when the torchlight from the throne room no longer reached them. There wasn't much visible of him except his bright yellow eyes.
"I was hoping to have a word in private, Lady Sparkle."
Maybe it was because she was distracted, but Twilight found the Chancellor's eyes almost mesmerizing in the gloom. She hadn't quite caught on to what he was saying, let alone formulated a response, when Sir Reynald already decided for her.
"She has nothing to say to you."
Twilight quickly realized that she dearly wanted to know what Lord Fairweather had to say to her, but the words to say so died on her lips before she could say them. She couldn't ignore the unbidden question at the back of her mind – did she really want to alienate Sir Reynald and lose the support she still hoped to gain from him to engage someone as obviously unpopular as the Royal Spymaster? Given a few seconds to think, she might have come to the conclusion that it was worth it, but she didn't have that time. Gilda placed herself between Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike and Lord Fairweather. Before she knew it, Twilight and her friends were being herded onwards, as if escaping from a house on fire.
Twilight remembered something then. Back when she'd reached the throne room, she'd had the momentary impression that Lord Fairweather had recognized her. Who could he possibly have recognized her as?
"Things weren't always like this, you know," said Gilda.
"Like what?" asked Twilight, knowing she should have been paying more attention than she was.
"So... set in stone," said Gilda, and sighed, "Don't get me wrong, chivalry has always – always – been important. Proper, honorable conduct, and all that stuff. It's a way of life; it's what griffons are all about. But it used to be that there were different ways to be chivalrous, and not everyone who wasn't was a bad guy. There was a bit more space to..." She paused for a bit – Twilight imagined to remind herself that no one that would have minded what she was saying would have been rude enough to listen in. "...be yourself," she finished.
"Everything changed five years ago. All of a sudden, the sun was right on top of us and burned away every bit of normalcy. It didn't edge here bit by bit; it just appeared in a blink. We all knew what it meant – we were being softened up. The ponies were coming. We'd had a long time to prepare for it, but still we weren't ready, not really. The hospitals were filled with heat stroke victims, and some of the folks that were out in flight when it happened never showed up again. Others were blinded. The army had to move out to secure the borders, and militias were appearing left and right all of a sudden. There wasn't quite a panic, everything held together at first, but that was just the beginning. The heat put everyone on edge, and the uncertainty was a thousand times worse. Everyone knew that the end of everything we knew was coming, but no one knew when. The water and food shortages sure didn't help things any either. It started with a single riot about the rationing, then a second one, and suddenly there were riots all the time – about food distribution, about defense strategy, about I don't know what. When people saw how afraid others were, they realized how afraid they were themselves. It was like an infection, like a plague. It was especially bad here in the capital. Looting and doomsayers perched on towers and... sedition. Surrender was unthinkable at first, but more and more people started thinking about it, and some were saying it out loud. Things were looking bad.
"King Humphrey did the sensible, clear-headed thing at every turn, but it wasn't enough. The nation needed someone to inspire them – or shame them, whichever worked. So he sent out the knights. I know you might not have gotten the best impression of Dame Frederica and the others back there, but they really did save our asses back then. They inspired and shamed about equally. They reminded everyone of the right and proper ways, of discipline and bravery and the strength of solidarity. They reminded us that we were supposed to be better than our enemies. They drew the battle lines and made things clear again. They made us want to fight. The common people got back the... zeal they'd lost. I really think the nation would have devolved into anarchy without them."
Gilda was standing in the middle of the guest room, telling her tale looking vaguely like a performer on a stage. It was as if she'd just finished up a spoken-word recitation or something, except there was no applause. No one was in the mood for that.
Spike was laid out on a small couch while Fluttershy was sitting in an armchair taking minute sips from a glass of water. Twilight stood next to the window and balcony door, which were covered by a heavy cloth. She was peeking through the makeshift curtains outside into the open air, but she could not say what she was actually looking at or looking for.
"That's all good to know, Gilda, but it doesn't really help us turn things around," said Spike, scowling in consternation.
"It does tell us something useful," said Twilight , "It's not really King Humphrey we have to convince, is it?"
"But he's the king!" said Spike, "He makes the decisions, and his bodyguards have to listen. Right?"
"It's not that simple," said Gilda. She idly moved one of her talons to scratch her bandaged wing, then pulled it back when Fluttershy shot her a glare. "You're not getting how much influence the knights have."
"Well, what could they realistically do if King Humphrey made up his mind to help us?" asked Twilight, looking over her shoulder at Gilda.
"If they thought his decision would irreparably shame the Griffon Kingdom..." Gilda stumbled on her words, paused for a moment, then sighed and went on. "A lot. Most of the military would support the knights over the King if they proclaimed he was deeply wrong about something."
"Do you mean... Gilda, you can't seriously tell me the knights would rebel against King Humphrey over this matter? Surely they would be too honorable for that?"
Gilda shrugged. "They might be too honorable not to."
Twilight fell silent and pondered some more. "If it came down to it, who would stand with the King?"
"Probably at least some in Parliament, and some of the forces loyal to them. I bet the aeromancers would stick with His Altitude as well."
"What about Lord Fairweather?"
"Discussing his loyalties would be a... whatchamacallit, oxymoron?"
"And what would you do?" asked Fluttershy.
Gilda didn't look for a moment like she actually wanted to answer, but she seemed to think she owed Fluttershy the truth. "I'd go along with the knights," she said, bowing her head in shame, "The Kingdom needs certainty right now, but with King Humphrey, you never know which way he's going to turn and how many of ideas actually come from him. Basically, the knights always know the right thing to do, but the King has to think about it."
The admission led to a semi-awkward silence. Twilight turned back to peek out of the window, trying to puzzle things out. If she thought about the parties involved, Gilda and King Humphrey seemed a lot more alike than Gilda and Sir Reynald, or Gilda and Dame Frederica. Twilight didn't think for a moment that Gilda agreed with the knights on everything – but still she followed them. And why? Because of ideological purity? Twilight would have called it moral absolutism, and she found their earlier demonstrations of it in the throne room insane and counter-productive, but all the same, she found she could not hate Reynald and Frederica. They were only trying to be good people, weren't they? Even though their views put them squarely at odds with rational behavior, they were only trying to be good people. It was annoying that they couldn't see eye to eye on this... no, it was more than annoying, it was painful. It bothered Twilight more than anything about the situation. She was a good pony too, wasn't she? They were all good people. It didn't make sense to quarrel.
There seemed to be only one person in court that was on her side and – well – what was she supposed to make of him? She'd been so willing to dismiss the look he'd given her upon her arrival, but now it seemed impossibly conspicuous in her memory. If he really did recognize her, then there was only one pony he could have mistaken her for, wasn't there? Yet he had said nothing to anyone. Or had he? Twilight didn't know what he and King Humphrey had been whispering about. She had no idea what agenda the Royal Spymaster was pursuing. He seemed willing to go along with Princess Celestia's plan, but it seemed he'd also tried to get the Griffon Kingdom to surrender to Equestria previously. What did he really want?
Of course, Twilight could not discount the possibility that she was making too much of things either – that she was paranoid over nothing.
"How long has that been lying there?"
Twilight turned to look where Spike was pointing – the floor in front of the entrance. Indeed, she found a small glossy piece of paper, not unlike a postcard. They would certainly have seen it coming in. Twilight cantered over to it, picked it up with her horn and examined it. The front was a complicated weave of tiny lines and etchings; there might have been a drawing hidden there, but the card was entirely too small to make anything out of it. When Twilight flipped it over, she found text on the reverse. Look behind the obvious, it said.
"Huh," said Gilda.
"Does this mean anything to you?"
She meant the text, but it was the picture Gilda recognized. "It's a reproduction of some famous piece of art. I don't remember what it's called, but I've seen it over at the Royal Art Gallery. Darn, what was it again? It's on the tip of my tongue. Something about a duel..."
All of a sudden, Twilight didn't think she'd been making too much of things at all. Someone had slipped them some sort of secret message. The griffons had neither the will nor the need for such secrecy, except of course for Lord Fairweather. He was still trying to make contact, but for what purpose? Could Twilight afford to say no to it?
"Where is the Royal Art Gallery?" asked Twilight.
"Right here. Up in the citadel tower." Gilda pointed one of her talons towards the ceiling, but her eyes were fixed on Twilight's. She seemed both fearful and annoyed, expecting Twilight's next question.
"Can you take us there?" asked Twilight.
There was a moment in which Gilda was stuck in time, completely motionless with her beak hanging slightly open. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."
"Think about it!" said Twilight, "This has got to be from Lord Fairweather. I don't know what he's trying to pull, but- but if he's really some sort of spy, then maybe we can nail him?"
It wasn't a lie – not really. She wanted to know what Fairweather had to say, but if her suspicions proved correct, then exposing him might have been just the thing to give Twilight the political capital needed to turn the rest of the court around. Gilda did want to help them, and this gave her a chance to do it without too much conflict. She still seemed hesitant, however.
"I'm supposed to look after you, not get you into trouble," she said.
"Please?" said Fluttershy, "Um, you still owe us, you know."
Gilda's expression slowly faded into a wry half-smile. "Uncool, Fluttershy. Real uncool." She sighed. "Let's just go, okay?"
Twilight counted 25 stairs on their way up – her legs were starting to feel rubbery by the end of it – and the museum itself was spread over several floors as well. Spiral staircases led further up into the high tiled ceilings. Aside from the works of art filling it, the museum was no more adorned than the utilitarian interiors of the rest of the tower. As they got higher, the temperature did as well. Each floor was worse than the last, with the museum at the upper limit of tolerable. Twilight tried not to think about the sun directly above their heads, only a few kilomers away, and focused on the galleries.
The griffons seemed to have little use for painting. All the works of art on display seemed to be sculptures, engravings or reliefs. Not all of them were made of rock either. They walked past one statue of a griffon that was made of moldy old straw, paired up with one made of opaque glass, and some of the others they glimpsed were even more avant-garde. Twilight thought she could detect subtle differences in works carved by talons or tools. She also noticed that there were no lone statues. All of them were either paired with identical copies or opposites. Again she found that she would have relished a chance to research griffon culture at a more opportune time.
"I'm pretty sure it's this way," said Gilda, leading them up one of the spiral staircases.
"How do you know your way around here so well anyway?" asked Spike.
"Hmm? Oh, I used to be stationed here."
"You were a palace guard before becoming a scout?"
"Uh huh. Well, I was actually training to become a knight, but, uh, I flunked out pretty early. Oh, there it is." She gestured a wing at the wall across from the landing.
The little postcard hadn't prepared them for how enormous the original work was. It covered most of the wall, from floor to ceiling. Even though she couldn't make much sense of the work overall, Twilight had to admire its almost mathematical symmetry. The relief was split in two halves, each of which was in turn split in two halves, and so on and so forth. It was composed of tinier and tinier segments like a fractal, each of them depicting a different theme or idea that matched up with a counterpart diagonally across from it. A small plaque next to it on the wall named the work "Dualities" and gave the names of its sculptor and her fifteen assistants.
They'd found the work – but what next? Twilight circled around the hallway but found no one lurking in the shadows. She'd expected someone – either Lord Fairweather himself or perhaps one of his agents – to be there waiting for them, but this gallery was as empty as the rest of the museum. Had they come at the wrong time? Had they already missed whatever clandestine meeting was scheduled there? Lord Fairweather did not strike Twilight as someone that would drop the matter this quickly. Then again, maybe there was nothing to find. Maybe she was making too much of a piece of litter.
"Look behind the obvious, hmmm," repeated Twilight.
There seemed to be another piece of paper sticking out from behind the top of the relief. She could just barely see a glimpse of white below the ceiling. The discovery was actually a slight disappointment. As riddles went, it wasn't exactly impressive. She pointed it out to Fluttershy, who gave her wings a flap and delicately plucked the second piece of paper from behind the relief. Twilight grabbed it from her once she landed. This one was largely blank, possibly stripped from a notepad. There was no text on it, only a string of numbers. She showed the paper to Gilda.
"Does this make sense to you?" she asked.
"It's a date and a time," said Gilda, "Midday three months ago. Huh, three months ago tomorrow, actually."
Was it a message? A secret code? What was this?
Twilight lifted a hoof to wipe some sweat from her brow and rotated the piece of paper around in mid-air look at it upside-down and sideways, but could detect nothing else on it. She read over the numbers again and again, looking for a hidden meaning or cipher she might recognize, but came up with no such thing.
"Did something happen three months ago?"
Gilda's eyes glazed over for a moment as she considered, but only shrugged in response.
Twilight did another circle around the upper gallery, took a glance down the staircase they'd come from and peered up to the next floor as well. There was no one else around. She bit her lip and turned to Fluttershy and Spike. They were staring back at her, waiting.
"It's probably for the best," said Gilda, "If someone had seen you up to something suspicious, they might just have distrusted you guys more. I don't know what you were expecting anyway."
"I don't know what I was expecting either," said Twilight, frowning.
Gilda led them back to their room, and then let them be.
They spent a while – no more than a few hours – in harried preparation for their next meeting with the court. They talked over various strategies strategies they might adopt and rhetorical ploys they might attempt. For Twilight, at least, it was difficult to put the looming invasion out of her mind, so each minute felt like wasted time, which was made all the worse by the fact that their discussions failed to produce any really solid ideas. It did drive home one point for her though: logical arguments alone would probably not enough to turn the griffons around. Appeal to emotion wasn't exactly good form for debate in general, but it was what Twilight suspected she'd have to turn to in this case. The question was which emotion?
Twilight had an inkling of an idea when Gilda returned to take them back to the throne room. She ran a speech through in her head on the way down, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gilda looking less than confident.
The audiences with the King had continued in the meantime, with the throne room looking virtually unchanged from earlier on. His Altitude King Humphrey the Third was still slouched on his seat, with Lord Fairweather at his side and his Claws lined up around him. Dame Frederica had pulled down her visor again. Sir Reynald greeted Twilight and the others with a bow. Some of the dignitaries in the chamber were shuffled around from their previous positions, and the leader of the aeromancers had opened her eyes and stopped her previous muttering. As she looked over the arrivals with sad green eyes, a thought occurred to Twilight. She realized what the griffon lady had been doing before – she had been praying.
"Do you have anything new for me, Lady Sparkle?" asked the King.
Twilight thought it a rather strange question. He had said earlier he wanted to find out more from Twilight, but why did he put it in such vague terms? Why did he give her another opportunity to speak if he'd already decided that an alliance would not work? In fact, Twilight was still a bit confused about why this recess had been called in the first place. She would have liked to think all this this meant that King Humphrey wanted to go along with her proposal, and was only waiting for her to say the right things that would let him supersede the arguments of his guardians. Perhaps he had given Twilight a break to give her time to come up with something else to drive the discussion along. If that was true, then Twilight hoped not to disappoint.
"Your Altitude, I want to reiterate my previous point, that a joint attack on Everfree City is the best way – the only way – to resolve this conflict and avoid disaster. To that end, I would like to tell you about the Griffon Kingdom of my world."
King Humphrey sighed, and bid her to carry on with a wave of his talons. Despite the subdued reaction, there was an interested gleam in his eyes.
"There is no Griffon Kingdom in my world," continued Twilight sharply, pausing to let the words sink in, "It's gone. So many great people and administrations, so many high ministers and brave knights, so many proud princes and power so splendid – all of it gone. It was wiped out by a natural disaster centuries ago. In modern times, the facts of the existence of the Griffon Kingdom only exist on paper, known at best to dedicated scholars. Its survivors have assimilated into other cultures. No one ultimately remembers the nobility the griffon people once aspired to."
She was being so disingenuous...
Once upon a time, there was a king of the Griffon Kingdom that wanted to be more. His delusions of grandeur led him to dictate that his subjects worship him as a god, and over time, he grew to be jealous and resentful for the power and influence Princess Celestia wielded due to her control of the sun and the moon. That king was approached by a rogue unicorn wizard with knowledge of the old spells that had allowed unicorns themselves to move the celestial bodies in the past. Together, they formed a pact to take the world. But something went terribly wrong when they tried to annex the sun. One unicorn was not enough to affect such a spell, and most of the Kingdom was obliterated in the few seconds it took for Celestia to react and set things right again.
How could Twilight reveal that their race had already been doomed by the approach of the sun once – or that it was an alliance with a pony that had led to their undoing? She could not. It would be foolish and counter-productive. She was trying to make a point.
"You said earlier that you hoped a heroic death would inspire the rest of the world," Twilight carried on, resting her gaze on Dame Frederica's armored form, "but death inspires nothing. Only the living can do that. You have to be more than a memory to teach others!"
Only now, with her heart feeling like it was bound by a tighter and tighter knot, was Twilight coming to realize how counter to her instincts saying all these things went. Was she wrong to do this? Wasn't she acting exactly as manipulative as the griffons were accusing her of being? And yet, another voice in her head whispered other questions to counter these: What harm could it do? Was it not worth it? She could no longer tell whether she herself believed what she was saying, and that troubled her, but it was too late to turn back now; she had to carry on. The silence in the court gave her free reign to continue.
"If you perish fighting the pony invasion, you'll be remembered for your defiance, not your idealism. If your last stand is impressive enough, it may well be spoken of for one or two centuries, but in the end, I'm sorry to say, you'll be just another race of victims when you could be so much more. You could be remembered as not just the people but the individuals who managed to beat the Equestrian Empire against impossible odds! Your names could be in the annals of history alongside Gilbert the Great, Humphrey the First and the famous knights who served them! All that glory could be yours, with one... small... compromise."
There was only a minuscule change to King Humphrey's expression. Twilight might have made too much of it by thinking he looked disappointed.
"There are no small compromises," said Dame Frederica, less fire and brimstone now, but no less steely in conviction, "There is right and wrong, good and evil, true and false. One cannot dip over the line and expect it not to affect them. We are who we are, and we cannot 'compromise' our existence for you no matter what you say. You are not of us and only know the morally vacuous thinking of ponies, so you cannot judge us. Being a martyr is about more than public opinion. We will take the moral high ground over glory, thank you very much."
The King remained silent, but he was still looking down at Twilight expectantly. A subtle arc in his brow made him look more sympathetic than usual, but it came off more as pity for her struggling than anything else. Lord Fairweather was so tense beside him he was almost quivering. What were they waiting for? Couldn't they see she'd tried everything she could think of?
Twilight sneaked a glance at Gilda in the sidelines, and found that she had averted her eyes. Sir Reynald, the only knight present whose face was visible, didn't seem the least bit swayed. If anything, he seemed less kindly disposed towards her than before.
They were all expecting her to go on, but she could think of nothing else to say.
"You cowards."
Twilight sincerely hoped she had gone insane. For a moment, she wished nothing as much as that something inside her had snapped that would have caused her to imagine Fluttershy saying such a thing. Slowly, she turned to look behind her, at the pegasus. Fluttershy was staring sullenly at the floor, but the look on her face was... spite?
"You are!" she insisted, eyes flickering back and forth as if she was looking for an escape route, "Y-you're not afraid of dying, but you're so scared of failing your own absurd standards and being judged by your peers! You said public opinion isn't why you do this, but that's not true, is it? Even if you've convinced yourself there's some real breach of morality here, the truth is that you knights have come to be held for such perfect paragons of goodness that you're frightened to death of not living up to that! Don't you realize how insignificant this whole argument is? And how can you be so focused on your personal complexes when the survival of your people is at stake?"
Twilight wondered whether she should interrupt, but found that she could not. If Fluttershy had the courage to come out and say these things, it was only right that she get to finish.
Fluttershy's mouth had twisted into a bitter smile. "You're just like me... I was also willing to stand by and do nothing instead of taking responsibility, but at least I knew how pathetic I was! You're not foolish little girls, you're strong and skilled enough to make all the difference in the world! Well, you know what? If you're not willing to save people, then you don't deserve to have such a high opinion of yourselves. You're- you're so arrogant! You keep putting down ponies, as if there weren't thousands of innocents that aren't kept in slavery or killed trying to stand up to the Queen on our side as well. You've had it easy in comparison! If you were real heroes, you would save them. S-save us..."
She lowered her head even further so her bangs covered her eyes, but they could all see the tears rolling down her cheeks and dripping to the marble floor. If there was a tone to silence, then the entire timbre of the throne room changed at the sight of her crying.
Twilight's own breath caught in her throat, and she felt mildly delirious from the rush of a dozen different thoughts in her head. She dismissed the idea of Fluttershy putting on some sort of show to clamor for sympathy before she could fully conceive it. She'd never seen anyone be more genuine. This Fluttershy may have been orders of magnitude more cynical, but she was still pure. The griffons could tell. All at once, Twilight realized how little chance she'd given for Fluttershy to contribute by taking all the responsibility for Celestia's mission on her own shoulders. This may have been just what they needed. She turned and had another look around the chamber, and almost gasped when she remembered her own thoughts from earlier – these knights in shining armor, they could not resist a damsel in distress...
"Ahem... I'll join you even if no one else does." It was Lord Fairweather speaking from his perch next to the throne. "I'm not much of a warrior, but I might be able to make some small difference."
Twilight wasn't sure whether to be impressed or worried over how ably the Royal Spymaster had seized the opportunity. He'd been able to pick out the one precious moment where saying that came off as valorous rather than dastardly. As if Fluttershy's exhortations weren't enough, Lord Fairweather acting so far out of his context as a sniveling adviser must have been like a slap in the face for the knights. The one they considered the least among them came off as the most chivalrous.
The Claws were shifting uncomfortably and turning to look up at the throne. One of them cocked their head to one side. Sir Reynald, on the other hand, couldn't take his eyes off Fluttershy, and looked as if he had to physically restrain himself from stepping up to comfort her. Twilight could hear whispers from the other dignitaries in the throne room. She took a deep breath and said the one thing she'd somehow neglected to come up with so far.
"Won't you please help us?"
King Humphrey cleared his throat. It felt like he was intentionally slowing himself down, keeping himself from blurting out a response.
"You've given me much to think about, Lady Sparkle, Lady Fluttershy. In fact, you've offered me a very interesting perspective I had not considered. I may have rushed to judgement in my earlier summation that an alliance between us could not happen, and I dare say I'm not the only one who feels this way. Don't you think, Dame Frederica?"
There was another precarious moment of silence in which the whole throne room waited for Dame Frederica's response. Again, Twilight was reminded of a statue looking at her still, armored form, but this was not a comparison she wanted to be thinking of at the moment. The pause dragged on. The knight was no longer completely sure of herself. She had to think about what to say.
"Yes," she said at last, "It is true that there are lines that should not be crossed, but there is something to be said for having enough self-awareness to measure your steps towards these lines. And there is honor in recognizing when you could be mistaken..."
As oblique as her wording was, it sounded a lot like she was coming around. Twilight released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Her heart was pounding; at some point during the last minute or two, all of her despair had been replaced by an irksome hope.
"There is a lot to being a knight, isn't there?" prodded King Humphrey further, "There are various ideals to balance, but some ideals are undoubtedly more important than others, wouldn't you say?"
"Indeed, Your Altitude."
"Do you share that view, Sir Reynald?"
"I... I believe knighthood can be a great burden for exactly this reason. All of our ideals are important. When they do clash, however, then surely it is best to err on the side of standing up for the weak and down-trodden..."
"You're not going to fall off some slippery slope," said Spike, sounding very pleased with himself, "You can fly."
King Humphrey smiled. He looked almost handsome when he wasn't being sarcastic. "As I said before, I could never spare all of my..." His voice faded, and so did his smile. He'd just noticed something behind them.
Twilight turned around to look and saw that the entrance door was open. There was a specter standing in front of it, having slipped in without a sound.
The new arrival was another knight, wearing the same bright armor as Sir Reynald, but even taller and bulkier.. He approached the throne briskly, ignoring everyone but the King, and as he stepped closer, it became obvious that his armor was smeared with what could only have been blood.
"May I have a word, Your Altitude?" asked the knight in a deep, incongruously calm voice.
King Humphrey leaned forward, perforating the armrests of the throne with his talons. Twilight shared his dread. "It's begun, hasn't it?" asked the King.
The knight nodded. "As predicted, Equestria opened with a synchronized envelopment by its pegasus troops along the land border. Our scouts confirmed that their main force is moving along the Valley of the Wind, and retreated to the designated defensive lines. The invasion has begun."
Fluttershy had raised her chin again. The tears had dried, but the weary shock in her eyes was not much better. Spike had lifted his hands to his head and was chewing his lip. He would have been pulling at his hair if he'd had any. Twilight imagined she looked rather calm by comparison.
Even if King Humphrey had put all the griffon forces at their disposal the second they'd walked in the door, they wouldn't have been able to get them all off the ground by this point. The few hours that King Humphrey had kept them waiting would never have made a difference. It was liberating, in a way, to know that the onus of responsibility was not on her and never really had been. They had been too late from the beginning.
Next Chapter: A Sick People.
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BornIn1142
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901
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Main 6,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Alternate Universe,Adventure,Dark,Drama,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Sunshine and Fire
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Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.
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incomplete
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<p>Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.</p><p>Feel free to check out or add to the story's <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/SunshineAndFire" rel="nofollow">TV Tropes page</a>.</p>
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teen
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2014-02-19T02:41:02+00:00
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2015-04-12T22:30:59+00:00
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Luna was a mare with a mission.
She arrived at the Dragon Swamp already in motion, blazing forward from the moment that she and her companions flashed into the open wasteland from the underground confines of the hideout in Trottingham. Cantering on the ground was a concession she made only because Rarity could not join her and Rainbow Dash in the air, but she did not let that slow her down. For several seconds she kept moving, right up to the point where she realized she did not know where she was going.
Upon this realization, she stopped and turned around. Dash and Rarity, both still standing in place, both still looking somewhat disoriented from the teleport, flinched at her gaze. Luna frowned and wondered – had she looked angry just now? She relaxed her facial muscles and tried to conjure up an expression of confident composure, but wasn't entirely sure she was succeeding.
"We must hurry," she said, hoping she didn't sound too defensive, "Where is this dragon of yours?"
They had landed in what seemed to be an old riverbed; the surrounding ridges and elevations obscured much of their environment. Rainbow Dash gave her wings a beat to hop into the air for a look around, then spiraled back to the ground with a few more measured flutters. Rarity coughed from the sand the movement whirled up – a surprisingly indelicate sound.
"Not far," said Dash as she landed, pulling up the sky-blue hood she wore to shield her from the sun, "Just a couple of klicks."
"Klicks?" repeated Rarity, "Oh, you mean kilometers." She grimaced slightly, presumably at the idea of a long walk, but didn't speak up to complain. She was wearing a rough-hewn brown cloak on loan from the Apple Underground that she was ignoring as if it were a distasteful acquaintance in a crowded ballroom.
Without further ado, they were off on their journey.
Even as she kept pace with Dash and Rarity, Luna's mind went racing ahead, across the dunes of the Dragon Swamp, to the meeting with Dash's contact. She didn't stop to pause there, but skipped a long trip to the dragon lands far in the southwest for an audience with the Matriarch – and continued even further to envision a future where the rebellion was over and she, Luna, was the sole sovereign of Equestria. The idea was as shapeless as any fantasy of the future had ever been. It strained her imagination to its limits. It was the responsibility she had always wanted, but she didn't know what to do with it. Even thinking of the work she'd done back home, she could not think of a single edict or policy or proclamation to make, beyond reversing the edicts, policies and proclamations of Daymare Sun. In short, she could think of nothing that would make her a ruler rather than someone who merely sat on a throne.
Perhaps she wasn't feeling very leaderly running errands for her sister... but then again, had she ever?
There had been a time when Luna had come very close to simply quitting.
She knew she could be a little impulsive, but it had been no whim that led her to consider that possibility. True, she'd always had dark moods every once in a while. There had been moments of spite and anger when she'd thought about simply picking up and leaving, even said as much to her sister in an argument or two – but this had been something altogether different. There had also been a period of time when the prospect haunted her every waking moment. She'd had many a lonely night to think about it, to carefully weigh its positives and negatives like a rational being. It wasn't a matter of giving in to despair – it was about finding a way to happiness.
Even alicorns could get sick – though not usually of the same diseases as normal ponies – and her sister had had the occasion to fill in for her when Luna had come down with something. She had done so admirably, and without difficulty. That's when Luna had learned that one pony could well rule Equestria alone if necessary. Most ponies probably never even noticed the difference. All heads had been turned away from Luna, and those few that acknowledged her existence were as likely to be wary or indifferent as admiring or respectful. There was surely not a single pony in the world that liked her as much or more than Celestia. Nothing she tried to change things, whether personally or politically, seemed to make any difference. She'd been all out of ideas.
What was the point? Why did Equestria need two Princesses?
Luna had begun to think it was foolish to carry on. If you got no fulfillment from your life and career, didn't it make sense to try something new? Luna loved the canvas of the night sky, but she knew ponies could have successful careers not related to their cutie marks. Surely there was something else out there that she could do if she went and looked for it?
There had been a moment when she had stepped to the door of Celestia's room, ready to tell her sister that she was done with it all. She didn't, of course, whether it was because of pride or shame or because she didn't want to wake Celestia in the middle of the night. Not long after, an entirely different idea started to take shape in her mind...
The lake was indeed not far. The water proved to be so dark and impenetrable it made one feel dirty looking at it. There was a mound – a hill – of dirt on the shore nearby. It was a barrow made of mud, big enough to leave no mistaking as to what was buried underneath it. Luna had been told what had happened here. She looked around for another, smaller mound, but found none and decided the matter was too touchy to breach with a question. And anyway, there was no time for such idle curiosity.
The serpent did not keep them waiting. As they approached the waters, a pillar of mud slowly rose up to meet them, dripping and foaming. It bent down towards them and shed enough dirt to become recognizable. Luna craned her neck back to get a good luck and spotted patches of lilac scales, drooping bushels of facial hair and large, expressive eyes opening up under horizontal lids. The dragon looked them all over, one by one. Considering the way he tapped his finger-claws together and snaked his body in place, Luna pegged him for the quiet and withdrawn sort.
"Hi," the dragon said, in a voice that seemed too small for his stature, "How's your quest going, Dash?"
"Could be better," shrugged Dash, "Didn't know saving the world involved so much standing around and talking."
There were so many problems and hardships associated with the idea of ascending to the throne of this broken Equestria that it would have seemed to be lunacy to want it. There were quite a number of logical arguments to be made for Luna taking the job, which she had already thought over at length, but not many understandable reasons for her to desire that herself. Luna wasn't sure if she wanted it yet, but her sense of not minding it only seemed to be growing.
Luna did not mind the fate Celestia had in mind for her, despite all its difficulties. Despite a perennial voice of doubt and fear that whispered from the back of her mind, she knew her sister was not trying to get rid of her. Indeed, the fact that Luna was Celestia's solution to help the disaffected ponies of this world may have been the ultimate vote of confidence. What Luna took issue with, however, is that her sister had not given her the opportunity to offer herself up. Surely Luna would have thought of it herself...
Taking the throne from Daymare Sun wasn't just an answer to her indistinct ambitions, it was an opportunity to recreate her legacy. It was a kind of redemption, or it could be. By another virtue, she supposed it was an admission that she could not fully salvage her reputation in her own world, so she had to wipe the slate clean and start anew with a new people. It was just another way of running away.
Luna wondered whether she still had a decision to make, or whether Celestia had already made it for her.
But this was not the time or place to mull these things over.
"...not quite how I imagined a Fluttershy to look like." The dragon was looking directly at Luna.
Dash snorted. "Yeah, no. This is Luna, not Fluttershy. She's another stray from Twilight Sparkle's dimension we picked up along the way."
"Charmed! You can call me Steven. Or Steve, I suppose."
It was not his true name, of course. Unless they were born among ponies, the given names of dragons tended to be long and very hard to pronounce for most anyone that was not a dragon. That's why they tended to pick nicknames when dealing with outsiders, though Luna had to admit she'd never met a dragon with a nickname quite so... prosaic.
"We require a boon," said Luna.
The water dragon cocked his head to the side. "Pardon?"
"Aheh heh." Rarity interrupted them with an abrupt titter. She moved closer to the lakeshore, ahead of the others, in a few quick steps. "What our companion meant to say is... well, we worked rather well together, all things considered. You saved our lives and we're obviously very, very grateful, so we'd like to show you our appreciation."
The dragon leaned further down in what Luna briefly assumed was a threatening gesture. Instead, he merely let his head sink down on the lakeshore with a sigh.
"Oh, don't thank me!" he said, "I still feel like a louse for what I did. That poor kid's only crime was being a brainwashed, weaponized mutant. She had no awareness of what she was doing, let alone control of her actions! I truly wish I didn't have to be in that position..."
A hint of reproach seemed to creep into his voice at the end of this declaration, and his black eyes came into focus on Rainbow Dash. Rarity merely offered a sympathetic smile and carried on.
"Nevertheless, we are grateful," she said, "Why, the fact the fact that it was such a difficult moral issue for you makes your intervention even more admirable! So we thought we'd make it up to you by getting you out of this dreadful place. We have somepony here that can make that happen." Her hoof made a graceful little arc as it came to point at Luna.
Luna raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Yes... That is something I can do."
The dragon perked right back up at this proposition. Luna kept her gaze steady and acted as if she'd been in on this all along – as if she'd even thought about it. As much as she disliked treading in place, least of all at this particular moment, she supposed it was naïve to assume that they wouldn't have to put some work into it. The dragon may have been Rainbow Dash's friend, but he still had his own interests, so of course they had to negotiate. It was fortunate that Rarity seemed to be a natural at that.
"Oh, glorious freedom!" chirped Steven, lifting his head and shaking it as if he couldn't quite believe what he was hearing, "I could finally have... a bath!"
"You can have a great many baths," agreed Rarity, "Though seeing how we can benefit one another, I for one hope that we can continue our partnership even after you're free. You see, we're planning a little something that could really benefit from a bit of your advice, if not your outright presence."
The dragon drove his two thin arms into the mud and pulled himself further out of the water. "Um, what do you mean by that?"
"Our quest, as you called it, has taken a rather strange new direction." She stepped even closer to him so she was just about adjacent to his giant, mollified eye, then again raised her hoof and made a dramatic sweep towards the horizon, albeit in the opposite direction of where Luna knew the dragon lands to be. "We're actually headed to a sojourn in the dragon lands, so any information you could give us would be very much appreciated."
"Oh," said Steven, "Oh dear. Are you sure that's a good idea? It's, er, not a very hospitable place!"
"You know, we've heard the same thing," mused Rarity, "which is precisely why we're keeping an eye out for a guide to give us some pointers, show us the way, perhaps make some introductions..."
The dragon backed up and rose once again into an upright posture. His eyes flickered back and forth as if looking for an escape route, and Luna wondered if he was even really a dragon or merely looked a lot like one. He was definitely unlike any of the wild dragons she'd ever met.
"It will be quite dangerous there! Quite, quite dangerous! Nice little ponies like you should stay far away. Why would you want to go there anyway? I'm sure that if you think about it a little, you'll find that you don't really need to go there at all! The place is kind of a wasteland anyway. Even more so than Equestria, I mean."
"We have urgent business with the Matriarch," said Luna.
Steven ceased cringing and stood motionless for a moment. "Did she invite you?" he asked with a curious mixture of disbelief and sincere hope.
"No, she did not. She won't know we're coming."
"Oh dear. It won't be safe for you there!" His voice lowered to a hush. "Dragons can be real jerks, you know."
"Understatement much?" piped in Rainbow Dash.
"I know how dragons can be," said Luna, "and I can defend us if necessary. That's not why we've come to consult with you."
"I'm not exactly sure what you think I can do for you! It's been a few centuries since I was there, so I'm not exactly up to date. More to the point, I didn't exactly leave on good terms. I was kind of a wanted fugitive for a while there. Hmh, not that most of them ever had much respect for yours truly..."
"A few centuries would be the blink of an eye for dragons, so I doubt conditions there have changed all that much in the meantime. And weren't you a wanted fugitive because you spoke out against and wanted to interfere with the Matriarch's policies vis-à-vis the adoption of dragon eggs by ponies? As it happens, that is exactly the subject we want to discuss with your one-time leader. Our interests would seem to coincide, hmm?"
Enough of the mud had cleared from Steven's face that it was plainly visible how important this matter was to him. Nevertheless, whatever old fears or shames he associated with his homeland didn't give ground easily.
"I- I'm really not sure how they're going to react to me back home. I was never particularly highly regarded by the movers and shakers of dragonkind. They thought I was a wimp. And the Matriarch... was rather cross with me."
"You don't have to come with us if you truly don't want to," continued Rarity, "But the dragon lands cover quite a geographical area, so some information about it, including where we might find the Matriarch reigning, would be rather appreciated. The benefit of your wisdom would be enough."
At this, Dash scrunched up her face. "Well, not really, if you ask me."
"Rainbow Dash," said Rarity in her best sotto voce, "I am trying to negotiate here!"
"Hey, you're getting a one-way ticket out of here either way," said Dash, "but really, what else are you going to do, Steve? Whatever plan you had when you first came to Equestria isn't really going to pan out after all this time. I can't really argue if you want to go the 'lone renegade fighting a personal war against an oppressive regime' route too, but if you put it off a little bit further, we might come up with a better course of action."
Though Rarity clearly hadn't expected this from Dash, she quickly adapted it into her routine. "Even if you have a hard time resting your faith on strangers like me or Luna, surely you can believe in your buddy Rainbow Dash?"
"I don't really know about this," replied Steven, tapping his finger-claws together again. He paused to think, and since none of them wanted to press him any harder, the pause went on and on to the point of being a little ridiculous. "I suppose... I already owed Dash a lot anyway, right? She did provide for me after I woke up from my sleep. So you're not really repaying me for anything by getting me out of here. And anyway! I don't want to come across as some sort of haggler! Doing right by somepony shouldn't come with so many qualifications." He took a deep breath before carrying on. "For what it's worth, I guess I can come along and show you the way."
"Outstanding," said Rarity with a winning smile.
"Knew you wouldn't let us down, Steve!"
"I'm not entirely sure what you have in mind for transportation though. Magic, I presume?"
"Yeah, guess we'll have to think of our next move now?"
That's when all three of them looked to Luna.
For all that Luna wanted to shape her own destiny, she felt rather annoyed at how little she had done to shape this conversation. It wasn't just that she was deferring to Dash's longer acquaintance to the dragon either – Rarity clearly hadn't let that stop her.
She cleared her throat before speaking. "As Rarity said, we will need to know where we can find the Matriarch first and foremost."
"Well, that's no great mystery," said Steven, "The Matriarch's lair is in the Gulf of Eternity under the Backwards Mountain in the Waste of Pandyssia."
"Which is where?" asked Luna abruptly. None of these locations sounded familiar to her, but she wasn't sure whether it was because they didn't exist as such in her world or because she'd never been there.
Steven thoughtfully scratched his snout. "I'm not really sure how to say it in your language. So the dragon lands are to the southeast of Equestria, right? Do you know that peninsula that looks a little like a fish? There is – or at least there used to be – a mighty river there that flowed directly from the Backwards Mountain. That's the path we water dragons used to take to approach the Matriarch."
"Then we shall start there," said Luna with a decisive nod. She believed she knew the peninsula and river he was speaking of.
"Though, er, there are a few pretty important things about the Matriarch's lair I should explain as well..."
"You most certainly will. But we can discuss all that on the way. Prepare yourself!"
Steven opened his mouth, presumably to ask what he should have been preparing for, but the dark glow Luna's horn had taken on cut off his question. There was a ripple in the water around him, as if he had flinched without moving. Perhaps he felt something invisible and insubstantial move around him. Most of his body was hidden below the surface, so Luna had to reach out with a telekinetic field to get a good idea of his volume. This was not something she would have wanted to spitball.
Moving something as big as a full-grown dragon obviously took a measure of effort, but the magic she needed to put into action was insignificant compared to the power at her command. The real difficulty was something much subtler. Her intention was to teleport ahead to the Pandyssian shore and pull Rainbow Dash, Rarity and the dragon after her a split-second later once she confirmed the local topography.
Her initial jump put her a few hundred hoof-lengths above sea level. The shore reached quite a bit further into the sea than she'd expected, but there was indeed still a river there, visible from her high vantage point. In less than a moment, she'd teleported herself down to the beach where the river intersected the ocean and pulled the others there along with her. Steven, she took the liberty of dropping directly into the sea.
It was a relatively complex bit of magicking, though she doubted any of her passengers noticed that they were traveling separately. The journey would have seemed seamless to them. Luna did make one miscalculation though, in underestimating the splash the dragon's surprise belly-flop would make in the surf. They were all drenched by the shower, which felt pleasantly cool considering the circumstances.
Steven's initial shriek of shock turned a roaring cry of joy and then into a bubbling moan of contentment as his head disappeared underwater. A great brown splotch of dissipating mud obscured him from sight. The surface foamed and splashed and finally dipped when Steven... inhaled, Luna supposed.
"Oh, what a wonderful feeling!" he blubbered upon resurfacing. He still looked far from well-kempt, but admittedly left a much fancier, more respectable impression in his present state. "A most gracious thank you to all of you, my pony friends!"
They were now far enough from Equestria that the sun was actually hidden beyond the horizon. Daylight was still upon them, of course, but the temperature was perhaps a tad more bearable. The land here was relatively flat, giving them a good overview of the surrounding terrain. In the distance along the path of the river – through a flickering heat haze – they glimpsed a sharp-peaked mountain that must have been their destination. The only elevations in the immediate vicinity were outcroppings of rock that marked earlier boundaries of the river, when the water-way had been somewhat bigger. Even further on from the beach, there were no plants visible but occasional patches of shrubbery. The only sound in the wilderness was the gentle back-and-forth of the waves.
Steven had rolled himself sideways on a higher spot in the surf, where he remained half-submerged. He's lifted one of his arms up this drooping facial hair and, almost reflexively, started combing through it with his claws. He reminded Luna partly of a lizard basking in the sun, and partly of an otter cozying itself for a nap in water. As happy as she had been to give him his freedom though, they still had a mission to complete.
"This is no time for rest!" she declared, "We shall have to move on."
"Oh, er, right."
He gazed trepidly over their heads into the heart of the dragon lands, then abruptly turned over to lie on his stomach in the shallow water. Luna didn't immediately catch his meaning.
"Well, climb aboard, ponies! I'll give you a ride!"
Luna wondered if that was really worth it, or whether she should just have teleported them the rest of the way as well. There was one major downside to that idea, which was that they were headed to the nominal heart of dragon territory; they had no idea how many dragons would be there or how they would react to a group of ponies suddenly appearing in their midst. It did not seem like the most safest of ideas. Approaching by an established route of visitation seemed like the most sensible thing to do. It was probably what Celestia would have done. Besides, they really could have used a bit of time to hear more about the being they were going to visit.
Big as Steven was, he was also narrow and slippery enough that they could only fit in single file. Dash hopped up to take the spot right behind his head, Luna touched down and sat in the middle and Rarity gingerly stepped into the rear, careful on the slippery scales. Steven lurched forth, and quickly swam on to the mouth of the river, betraying none of the gangly awkwardness he exhibited when not submerged. It seemed like he could have gone a lot faster if he didn't have to mind the well-being and balance of the passengers on his back.
In her native world, dragons were also ruled by a Matriarch. Perhaps they were one and the same and perhaps not. Just as Luna had flown past Pandyssia in the past but never visited it, she'd never met the Matriarch of Dragonkind back home, despite occasional dealings with other dragons in earlier times. Their Matriarch was content to remain hunkered up in her own realm and never took part in any of the migrations, but Luna knew her sister had made contact during Luna's long exile. She felt foolish for not asking Celestia about this back at the Apple Underground hideout. Maybe she would have thought to do so, but Celestia had seemed to want to avoid her before they parted. Luna had a few questions in mind by now, however.
"Tell us what the Matriarch does," she said. The dragons didn't have much of a government, she knew, and not much in regards to hierarchies either.
"Well, first and foremost, she keeps the peace. Dragons quarrel with each other all the time, of course, and sometimes die fighting. There's all the usual clashes about territory and plunder – that's to be expected. From time to time though, folks start banding together into bigger groups to fight it out over bigger grievances. When that happens, or when a powerful elder starts making trouble, the Matriarch would come out of the mountain and break it all up. Aside from that, she also gets mating privileges."
"There's no earthly way I'm not going to regret asking this question," said Rarity, "but... pardon?"
Steven cleared his throat very thoroughly. "Well, you know. She gets first pick on who to, hmm, procreate with. She gets to birth the future generations of dragonkind – at least in theory. It didn't quite work out that way anymore with the plague and all."
"And what about the other dragons?" asked Rarity with a note of sullenness, "What if they say no?"
"I don't think anyone would say no to a chance to mate with the Matriarch."
"So they agree to it because of her prestige and authority?" Rarity went on. She was fighting to keep her voice level. "That's not right!"
"Oh, it's not so bad," with a slight shrug that almost sent them tumbling.
The implications of his words seemed to hang in the air around them. "Don't tell me you've been with the Matriarch too?" asked Dash, trying and failing not to sound a little grossed out.
"As a matter of fact, yes," said Steven defensively, "It came as a bit of a surprise to me as well, to be honest. For various reasons, I was not exactly a smash hit with the lady dragons. I'd actually given up any hope of even the idea of having offspring of my own, least of all with her, but then she picked me. Maybe she thought my eggs might actually hatch? Well, that was the first time I met her. The second time I met her, she told me she'd laid our eggs, that they would not hatch like all the others, and that she'd given them away to Equestria. Somehow, I got the idea of trying to sneak there and try to take them back. It was a silly plan, I realize that now."
He sounded barely restrained in sorrow rather quietly melancholy as might have been expected from a loss that was by this point centuries past. His head was drooping lower and lower into the water before suddenly snapping back up with a splash, perhaps from realizing the awkwardness of the ponies on his back. He went on with a faked cheeriness before anypony had the chance to start consoling him.
"My kind isn't very political, you know. The Matriarch isn't at the top because someone elected her, or because she was born to it. She's in charge because she took charge. She beat out the competition, and whenever someone tries to challenge her for rulership, she beats them too. She's the oldest, biggest and strongest living dragon – and the richest."
"The richest?" "The richest?" Dash and Rarity looked at each other in amusement. That word had piqued both their interests.
"The magic of dragons makes them grow in size and power the bigger their hoard gets," explained Luna quickly.
"Ah, so the Matriarch is going to have a lot of treasure under that mountain, eh?" asked Dash with a slight grin.
"You're not thinking of burglarizing the ruler of all dragonkind, are you, darling?" wondered Rarity.
Steven abruptly threw back his head to have a look at them, almost tipping them all sideways into the river. The slight panic in his eyes seemed to be a bit much in Luna's opinion; it seemed rather obvious to her the question had not been completely serious.
"Oh no, no, no!" said Steven, "You don't want to try stealing from the Matriarch! She wouldn't like that!"
"Relax!" said Dash with a frown, "It was just a joke! We're not going to mess this up by taking her stuff."
Steven kept a wary gaze on them for a few moments longer, then righted himself to look ahead again. "Good, good. In any case, I'm not sure she has all that much to steal anyway. Most of her wealth – maybe all of it – comes from a single item."
"Go on," said Luna. A good bit of this info was new to her as well.
"Oh, it's called the Rock of Ages. It's supposed to be the most valuable jewel ever. It's got all sorts of magic powers in addition to being so valuable. Or maybe it's so valuable because it's got magic powers? I'm not really sure, to be honest."
"What's it like?" asked Rarity dreamily.
"Well, I've never seen it, have I? She doesn't have to carry it with her to own it. It's well-hidden somewhere in her mountain hideout. Occasionally, one of the Matriarch's rivals or an adventurous outsider would try to get in and take it for themselves. This, um, does not end well for them."
On their journey upstream, they had a chance to see some more of the environment, or what little of it there was. Steven had called this land a "waste," and that couldn't have been more accurate. Even compared to the dried-out swamp they'd come from, this place was desolate. The difference was that as far as Luna could recall, this area didn't look much different in her world. No matter in what direction they looked or how far they tried to see, they were met with nothing. Dragons didn't build things, they didn't grow or cultivate anything, but one would have expected some signs of life. Well, in truth, there was one thing: occasional faded scorch marks on the rocky ground, and thin trails of smoke in the distance. Where there was dragons, there was fire.
Luna looked into the greenish river-water, and then up towards their destination. She couldn't help but notice that there was no sign of snow visible on the mountaintop.
"Why did the Matriarch become the Matriarch?" she asked.
"I'm not sure I understand the question?" replied Steven.
"I would like to know what caused her to take up this responsibility. It must have been a considerable effort for her to become the ruler of dragonkind, magic jewel or no magic jewel. Why did she bother, if the biggest part of ruling is fighting others to stay the ruler? What motivated her to do this thing, if she's now content to remain in her hole in the ground otherwise? Was it just a struggle for power, or a dragon's greed that drove her? Or some other ambition?"
"I don't think I'm qualified to answer that question. It's not like we're friends, and this all happened a little before my time. She has a few thousand years on me, you know!"
Luna frowned. For all that Steven had told them, she did not feel like any of it helped her understand the being they were to meet. Luna could assess the Matriarch as a threat, but they were headed to a negotiation and not a fight. Giving dragonkind a future beyond slavery was supposed to be their big trump card, but this depended wholly on the Matriarch caring what happened to her people. What if she didn't? What if what Equestria did with her children was entirely beyond her concern? What if the the disease that could drive dragons to extinction was nothing to her?
This general sentiment was going to be Luna's next question, but she never got to ask it. Rainbow Dash, whose gaze happened to wander across the horizon, perked up suddenly.
"Hey, I think I see something," she said, squinting into the distance to their left.
"What?" asked Rarity warily.
"I think... I think we've got dragons!"
Luna could see them too. Two large reptilian shapes were lounging on the open plains – perhaps a mating pair, or the closest thing dragons had to friends. One of them was lying flat on its stomach with its leathery wings curled around it, while the other one, bigger and bulkier and wingless, was sitting upright. The former was emerald green and the latter a dull bronze that would have camouflaged it well and good if it had stuck closer to ground. As far as could be judged from a distance, they were both asleep.
"Should we go and introduce ourselves?" asked Rarity.
Steven didn't even dignify that with a response. He bent down his neck to reduce his profile and accelerated. He also let himself sink a little deeper so all their hooves were doused by the oncoming water. It became quite hard to maintain balance on his back, and he seemed intent on building up even more speed.
"Hey, what's the big deal, Steve?" asked Dash, but she too was reflexively arcing her back.
"We shouldn't talk to anyone except the Matriarch," replied Steven, half-whispering, "They might be hostile."
"But why would they want to attack us?" asked Rarity, "We haven't done anything to them!"
"They might be in a bad mood. Or hungry. Or bored. They might just not like ponies very much. Or they might not like me very much!"
The lower reaches of the mountain were no more than a few kilometers away by now, but the dragons were stirring. Steven and his pony passengers had the riverside ridge providing decent cover, but voices carried well in the wasteland, and dragons had excellent noses. Any new sound or smell must have stood out.
"I think they've noticed us," commented Dash, to which Steven whimpered.
"Pardon me, but surely we can slow down a little?" suggested Rarity, leaning back despite her best efforts. The water was splashing up to her chest now.
Luna opened her mouth and closed it. She was very close to commanding that they stop. This quiet escape ran counter to all her instincts. She knew better than most how aggressive and territorial dragons could be, and she was willing to trust Steven's judgement on the matter, but she had not come to this place to scurry and hide. How would they negotiate with the Matriarch if they didn't have some dignity? Getting into a fight would be... unbecoming, but backing down from one might have been worse.
The green dragon was up on its feet and stretching its wings. The bronze land-dweller had thrown back its head; they realized it wasn't just gazing at the sky when the echoing roar reached them. The green dragon crouched down and lifted off.
Luna had overplayed her hoof in Hillside. Even though Celestia hadn't said anything, Luna knew her sister had to be displeased by going public so spectacularly. She knew she could be too emotional sometimes, so she would have liked to think things through this time. Alas, there was very little time for thought now.
"It's pointless to try to escape," said Luna, "Stop."
She couldn't deny she was nervous, but the fact that Steven didn't listen made her feel something else entirely.
"I said stop!" she snarled.
In a few beats of its wings, the green dragon crossed half the sky. It was upon them. Where it wasted no time on its victims but swept down with claws extended, Luna hesitated. Her resolution withered into uncertainty; thoughts of defensive spells and tactics were buried under worries about diplomatic impact and the appropriate level of force. Suddenly, it was too late to worry.
Steven, still moving forward, veered to his right. He reached out his arms to intercept the attack. The green dragon couldn't slash him to ribbons, but its weight pushed him under. Luna, Rarity and Rainbow Dash were all thrown off his back and strewn into the river.
Luna found herself whirling around in the water, not knowing which way was up or down. She was caught in the downstream flow, which had grown fierce so close to the river's source
Her surroundings were darkening steadily from mud and sediments kicked up by the commotion. She felt rather than saw the dragons struggling above and around her. Twisting currents betrayed the movement of their gigantic limbs.
Dash had been starting to flap her wings, but even she'd been too slow to take to the air. Rarity, more mindful of landing than taking off, had curled herself into a ball. Where they were now, Luna could not tell.
The river wasn't deep enough to get lost in. Luna knew which way to orient herself when she touched down in the sludge at the bottom. She tried to roll over, push herself off the ground and swim to the surface, but found her hooves stuck in the mud. She stumbled and lost her footing and was dragged further away. Fortunately, she could make do without breathing.
The second time around, she didn't make the same mistake. She blasted out of the water with a beat of her wings, ascended and shook off some of the water with another beat, and circled towards where the water serpent and the winged dragon were snapping at each other.
Her rapid heartbeat in her ears was egging her on like the drums of war. It was as if the river had washed away her doubts. She no longer particularly cared what the appropriate level of force was.
A smoky silvery whip shot forth from her horn, homed in on the green dragon's half-submerged neck and wound around it. Luna yanked back her head, and through a little twist in the laws of physics, her opponent came hurtling out of the riverbed. Luna had exerted far more force on the dragon than just her weight.
She only paused to let the green dragon hit the ground. He was in some ways quite beautiful – up close, Luna was fairly sure it was a male. His scales ranged from emerald plate on its back to minute and shamrock splint around its belly, and he was covered in a glistening sheen from the water. As soon as he'd gathered himself and started staggering to his feet, Luna pulled the whip taut so his head was pulled in her direction. She kept herself aloft slightly higher than his eye level.
"You have made a grave mistake, little dragon!" she declared, "We are here to speak to your mistress and we will not be treated this way!"
She was honestly not sure whether she was using the royal we.
Her eyes flickered, for the barest of moments, back to the river to check on her companions. Perhaps that was what decided the green dragon's answer.
His answer was a burst of flame.
Luna let herself drop. The gout of fire passed her by in free-fall, but the hot wind that followed still caught her.
Luna twisted around and landed upright, cracking the rock formation underneath her with her landing. She dug her hooves into the ground and further tightened the silver band to the point where the flame ceased and the only thing coming out of the green dragon's throat was a thin gurgling sound.
"Will you listen to me now?!" Luna demanded.
They locked eyes. She was choking him, and she could have killed him, but she didn't see panic in those yellow-black eyes. Though his mouth was wide open and gasping for breath, he didn't even try to lean forward to slacken the band. The only thing she could read from his eyes was hunger – but not for meat.
Then, quick as lightning, the green dragon extended his wings and beat them along the ground. Luna had to raise her own wings to shield her face from the torrent of dust and sand that rose up. The painful hail caused her to take a step back. Just like in the river, her vision was obscured.
Luna was surprised by such a move, but she should not have been. She'd forgotten what dragons were like. Despite the indifferent savagery of his attack, this was no mere mindless beast, but a cunning, thinking monster.
She tried to keep a hold on her whip, but she could tell the green dragon was on the move. He kept storming up more sand with his wings, but slithered towards her along the ground. That was an advantage Luna intended to press. She jumped and took back to the air. The last thing she noticed lifting off was that the ground was shaking, and the first thing she saw reaching the clear sky was a metallic brown mass towering over her. The bronze dragon had caught up with them on the riverside.
It struck her before she could react. It struck her so hard she was propelled all the way to the opposite side of the river. The silver band snapped off from her horn somewhere along the way.
This time, she did not land on her hooves. She crashed and bounced on the bank, finally skidding to a halt against an elevation. Stumbling, she rose back up. She lifted a hoof to her mouth and found that she'd been bloodied. It wasn't so bad: a normal pony would have broken every bone in her body twice over from that.
From her new vantage point, she discovered that Rarity and Rainbow Dash had both made it to the riverbank. Steven had wrapped himself protectively around them, which included keeping a hold on Dash so she wouldn't fly into action. There was red in the water around him.
On the opposite bank, the green dragon was still struggling with the silver band around his throat – clawing at it, trying to bend his neck to bite at it – but without Luna there to feed the magic, the hard light would dissipate in a minute or two. The bronze dragon, probably a female, was standing on her hindlegs, off to the side from her companion. This one was built like a fortress, and her scales looked less like reptile skin than tree bark. Her wedge-shaped head had two mouths and four eyes. She bent forward to stand on all fours, and roared once more, with both maws. The sound made the world tremble.
Luna wasn't sure whether the metallic tang in her mouth was blood or bile. Without thinking, she responded with a wordless war cry of her own. There was another spell on her mind, and soon enough her horn. She fired off bursts of force that shimmered at the bronze dragon's head and chest and impacted with no more effect than some growls of pain and a slight staggering.
Luna grunted from the wasted effort, but fired once more, aiming lower this time. A section of wasteland rock on the riverside was ground into dust in a soundless implosion. The bronze dragon stumbled without footing.
Luna took flight immediately, rushed forward much faster than any wings could carry her. She aimed straight for the gargantuan mass before her, obscured by a momentary mach cone. The moment before impact, she whirled around and bucked.
It was as if she'd landed on thunder. She felt the bronze armor splinter with cobweb cracks under her hooves.
Even as she was shrieking in pain, the bronze dragon brought one of her claws down on Luna. She might have been swatting a fly, but Luna knew she'd managed to hurt the beast. Leveraging herself against the wound, Luna pushed off and evaded the blow.
Relying on instinct, she angled her wings and withdrew in zigzag. A pillar of light yellow fire blared past her into the atmosphere, without even interrupting the roar of pain and rage below.
Luna circled around for another approach, quite willing to try the same tactic again. She even went for the center of mass again. The bronze dragon's stumpy legs would have made good targets as well, but... Luna wanted the beast to be able to run away once once she was done.
The bronze dragon was and was not ready for Luna. It bellowed more fire, slashed the air with its claws – but Luna was too fast. She was faster than shadows fleeing from light. The air scattered before her; friction and momentum gave way. The speed seared her bones, but it was worth it.
She struck, now with her forehooves, at the wound she'd left behind on her first pass. Something soft gave way this time. There were no words for the noises the bronze dragon was making.
Something strange happened on her retreat: the horizon inclined, and the earth careened towards her. Luna had to pull up sharply to stay in the air. Perhaps she was trying a bit too hard...
Another pass was all that was needed, she was sure of it. Another pass would allow her to bring the bronze dragon down.
Through the haze of exertion, she almost didn't notice the green dragon clawing forward to rejoin the fray. The silver band Luna had conjured up was becoming too ethereal to impede him.
Blinking her eyes to keep them in focus, Luna changed direction to intercept her first opponent. She tuned out everything else and tried to keep sight of the tangling, frayed end of the silver band. Slicing ahead of the green dragon's snapping jaws, Luna managed to close her own teeth on the end of the ghostly whip, which brightened and solidified at her touch.
Luna kept moving. Instead of tightening the band, she extended it, weaving a tempestuous circle around the green dragon's wings before he could put them to use again, then descended to loop around his legs as well. The whip was going to make do as a snare.
She caught one leg, a second, and a third – the fourth one, front right, met her on her way. Luna banked, but one enormous claw came so close it ripped free some of the feathers on her wing. The only way to evade was down, so Luna made one more crash-landing.
The important thing was that she managed to keep a hold of the line. When the green dragon leaned closer to deliver a fatal blow, all Luna had to do to close up the band around him was to pull. As badly as he wanted to kill her, he couldn't do so yet. Stumbling and immobilized, he had to focus on getting loose, and that gave Luna the chance she needed.
She clambered back up – first on her hooves and then in the air. She had to hurry now. From the corner of her eye, she saw the bronze dragon lumbering closer. With a quick forward surge, she snagged the green dragon's last free limb, then rose back up to tie up his snout and close up his jaws, and finally did a few quick circles around his upper body.
When she constricted the line now, the green dragon's considerable mass came sinking down to the ground, where it remained, twitching and quivering like a volcano that could no longer erupt. Luna touched down next to his head and let go of the whip. It was no longer needed. Up close, she could disable the beast with a sleep-spell.
She'd hoped to find him cowed now at last, but his eyes followed her approach with the same rabid intensity she'd seen before. He could no longer breathe heavily, so he breathed rapidly, driving up gusts of sand with each exhalation.
And then – a puff of fire from his nostrils. It would have done no more than singe Luna's eyebrows, had there been any heat to burn.
The world lurched, and Luna was expelled from time and space for the briefest of moments. When her surroundings resolved back into reality, she found herself somewhere else entirely, standing in ash rather than sand.
She looked to one side and saw crimson, gray, amber and plum purple. She looked to another side and saw copper, teal, magenta and periwinkle blue. All around her, in every imaginable color and shape, there were dragons. Of course they saw her as well, but their stirring was not the worst of it. A deep humming sound from behind alerted Luna to a presence closer than any other. She turned around and saw a living shadow, a coal-black shape so vast that it seemed endless. She could have stared at it for hours without seeing all of it.
Luna didn't know where she was, but she teleported back to her previous location right away.
The green dragon had surely not expected her to have this power. He didn't have time to be surprised by her reappearance, since she struck back from the clear blue sky and smashed his head into the ground with as much force as she could muster. The sleep-spell she'd had in mind was forgotten, but the effect was the same. The same yellow-black eyes that had stared at her so impetuously were now blank and rolling up in his head. Luna didn't feel as much satisfaction in her victory as she'd expected, but she felt some.
Luna now turned to look at her only remaining opponent.
The bronze dragon had stopped in her approach at some point along the way. She swiveled forward and backwards, roaring and roaring again, with one mouth, the second, and both at once. It was like a barking dog, trying to express a wounded pride and an anger like she'd never known before, but not daring to step forward. The thick blood and bits of broken scale dripping from her abdomen must have accounted for some of her hesitation.
Luna leaned forward and extended her wings as far as they reached. She forced her flattened ears up to show she wasn't afraid. She tried to look as majestic as her scruffy and dusty coat would allow.
"Flee!" she bellowed.
The bronze dragon fell silent. She heard and listened. Her resolve wavered and broke. She turned around and went off into the wilderness, though she would not go without occasionally turning around and roaring some more, as if that would lessen the shame of her escape.
Luna kept watch until she was sure the bronze dragon would not return. She had another look at the green dragon to make sure he was down and out. Once she was certain the situation had been resolved, she released a quiet sigh and licked her lips. She still had anger left over from the battle, and nothing to do with it now. With the adrenaline fading fast, the pains and aches were catching up to her. Still, they had not and did not have time to waste, so Luna flapped back into the air. The craters Luna's magic had left behind were filling up with water, but she ignored them and crossed the river to check on her companions.
Luna noticed a limp when she landed, but she couldn't tell which leg. She didn't have as much cause to complain as Steven, however, who'd had a patch of scales torn off from his back during the initial attack. Luckily, the damage only appeared to be skin-deep. The water had made the bleeding look worse than it really was. Rainbow Dash and Rarity both seemed unharmed, though the latter had lost her cloak in the river. All of them were staring at the approaching Luna with wide eyes and unmasked astonishment.
"That was... quite an impressive display!" said Rarity breathlessly. She coughed up some water the next moment.
"Do you know how fast you were going there?!" asked Dash.
The awe of her companions was pleasing to Luna, but she couldn't get caught in such vanity.
"Never mind that," she said, "Are you all right?"
"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" said Steven, dabbing at his bare back with his arms, "Yes, I am fine, relatively speaking."
Space was clearing up in Luna's mind to worry about what she'd seen earlier. Evidently, the green dragon had been spiteful enough to try having others kill Luna where he could not. The question was, who had he tried to send her to? The black figure couldn't have been the Matriarch... could it? The Matriarch's lair was supposed to be underground, but Luna'd been under open sky. Perhaps the Matriarch's habits had changed, or perhaps the Matriarch herself had changed. There were any number of ways Steven could have been inadvertently mistaken. Of course, if all his information was still up to date, and Luna had not met the Matriarch, that meant the being she'd glimpsed was not the biggest and mightiest of dragons – that there was still one bigger and mightier.
"What a wonderful welcome," Rarity was saying. She sounded more disgusted than sarcastic.
"Well, they've got no reason to be welcoming, do they?" observed Dash, "Ponies keep their kin as slaves. But... yeah. This was pretty excessive."
"You think this was personal?" asked Steven, "I'm not so sure. That's just what we're like."
"You do yourself a disservice," said Rarity, "You're nothing like these brutes. You are a civilized being!"
"Thank you," said Steven simply.
"Think this is what we can expect from the Matriarch?" wondered Dash.
"Oh, the Matriarch would never attack you without provocation," replied Steven, "I hope."
"What does the Matriarch look like?" asked Luna.
Steven raised an eyebrow at this. "Well, I'm not sure about you ponies, but my kind considers her very beautiful. She has an impressive symmetry to her. Silver scales, by the way, kind of translucent..." He must have noticed a change in Luna's expression, because he didn't go on. "This seems somewhat irrelevant to me though. Why are you asking?"
"I will explain." Luna stroked her chin. "But not just yet. Let's head out first."
"Agreed!" said Steven, "Feel free to get back on. And before you ask, yes, I'm sure. Let's just get away from here, hmm?"
Steven was ready and willing to carry them further, though they had to take up position further back than last time. They were probably no more than another hour away from the mountain, and Luna certainly hoped they'd get there soon, without any further incidents. The Matriarch was waiting.
"You said this place was called the Backwards Mountain?" said Dash. Perhaps she hoped some small-talk would keep Steven's mind off the pain. "It looks right-side up to me."
"Oh," said Steven, "Oh, right! I forgot to tell you about that, didn't I? That's not why it's called the Backwards Mountain. It's just that mountain is traveling backwards through time."
Luna wondered if things couldn't ever be easy.
To be continued in Part II.
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BornIn1142
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901
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Main 6,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Alternate Universe,Adventure,Dark,Drama,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Sunshine and Fire
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Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.
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incomplete
| 1,389 | 32 |
<p>Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.</p><p>Feel free to check out or add to the story's <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/SunshineAndFire" rel="nofollow">TV Tropes page</a>.</p>
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teen
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2014-03-03T13:23:05+00:00
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2015-04-12T22:31:52+00:00
| 5,592 |
No one had ever taken a hammer and chisel to the gate of the Matriarch's premises, but it had not gone completely without craftsmanship either. Over the course of millennia, the opening of the cave had been battered by spikes, fins and various other protrusions of scaled bodies until it had attained a form that was right for every shape of dragon. It must have been hundreds of hooflengths high, and proportionately wide.
The opening was framed by twin waterfalls, split in twain by a rock formation higher up on the side of the mountain. The doorframe of water looked so elegant and appropriate that it must have been intentional; this touch of ornamentation was as close as dragons got to art or architecture. At the base of the mountain, the two waterfalls joined up with an underground stream to become the river they'd been traversing. They could simply continue on their way, though none of them felt comfortable about entering the tunnel into the unknown.
"What's going to happen to us in there?" asked Luna.
"This mountain is a rip current in the tides of time," said Steven, as if that explained everything, "Time flows the other way here, and foreign bodies are caught in the drift. Inside, old things become new, old persons become young. I've even heard of some folks regrowing lost limbs when they come here. It happens proportionately, so even the oldest feel the effects, and the reverse aging gradually slows down, so you won't be unborn or something like that. It feels a little weird, but you don't have to worry at all. Once we come back out, everything will be back to normal."
"There are things in my past I'd rather not revisit," said Luna. There were things in her past that would have been dangerous to revisit...
Luna wanted to be annoyed at Steven for failing to mention the unusual properties of the mountain earlier, but she was herself to blame. He'd wanted to explain, but she'd cut him off in her rush to move forward.
"I don't think it works quite like that," said Steven.
He took initiative and swam forward into the mouth of the cavern, and nopony objected. It was the only way forward, after all.
"The Matriarch's Rock of Ages was mined here, a long time ago," Steven continued, "Some barbarian canines lived in these lands and dug these tunnels before dragons came and took both from them. That was before living memory, of course. This place is where the Rock of Ages gets its magic. It's said that the gem stops its owner from aging, though it's hard to tell whether that's the case with the Matriarch."
When the longest rays of sunlight no longer reached them, Rarity put her horn aglow to light their way in the tunnel before Luna could even think to suggest it. The thin blue light reflected from the water and sediments on the walls to create a wavery ambiance that most ponies would probably have found eerie.
"Do I look any different yet?" Rarity asked.
"Nope," said Dash, but continued carefully studying Rarity's face even after her reply.
The tunnel got smaller and narrower the farther in they got, though it remained huge in comparison to most underground spaces. Stalagmites and stalactites would have been expected but were nowhere to be found. They too must have been worn away before they could form by visitors and the Matriarch's own outings. (Or perhaps stalagmites and stalactites dripped upwards into nothingness in this place?) The tunnel also split off into smaller paths, some of which opened up from above and some of which led underwater. There must have been a labyrinthine criss-cross of caverns throughout the mountain. Steven kept them on a straight path though, so Luna supposed the Matriarch's lair was at the very heart of the mountain.
In the underground emptiness, the rest of the world seemed to fade away, quite literally. Existence was reduced to the small section of the cave system they could see. There was no sound that they didn't make themselves. Even the pulsing heartbeat of the sun across the world that Luna could feel at the back of her head if she wanted to first quieted and then disappeared completely. This would ordinarily have been very disquieting, but with the evil energies that permeated and powered the sun in this dimension, Luna did not miss the sensation. If she needed any proof that the mountain wasn't just a mountain, however, this was it. There should have been no earthly way to interrupt her connection to the cosmos like that.
Luna had been in a similar situation once before, actually. The would-be king Sombra had trapped her in a pocket dimension of his own creation. None of Luna's senses, movements or magics could take her back outside. It had been a space of infinite scope and tiny magnitude; there was nothing to see not because of a lack of light but because of a lack of anything. It had been a true emptiness, with only Sombra's own voice to give her company. There had even been moments when he'd addressed her directly, but most of the time, his presence had been a background noise of maniacal laughter and depressive musings about entropy and the void of being.
Of course, Sombra had been a very different pony back then. He'd gone beyond his usual gloomy spells and outbursts of rage into the realm of outright hostility, but he hadn't yet been the villain he'd later become. There was still good in him, and enough sentimentality to value the past between himself and Luna. In the end, he'd let her go.
Luna wasn't sure whether she would ever have been able to escape there on her own. The Backwards Mountain was worrisome, but she'd been through worse. She hadn't turned back into Nightmare Moon like she'd feared, had she?
Luna shook her head. She had best focus on the matters at hoof...
Rarity's head had drooped and her hornlight seemed somewhat duller. Judging by the slight scowl on her face, she wasn't just bored. Rainbow Dash, by contrast, was staring right through the cave-wall, a corner of her mouth raised in a subconscious smirk.
Luna glanced at the spot on Steven's back where he'd taken his wound, and found she could barely tell where the scales had been missing. He was as good as healed, but he too was so lost in thought he hadn't noticed or felt the need to bring it up.
"What are you thinking of?" asked Luna, of no one in particular.
Steven didn't react, but her pony companions took notice.
"Ah, excuse me," said Rarity with an affected lightness in her tone, "My mind was wandering."
"Just fantasizing about something," said Dash with a shrug.
"Remembering?" asked Luna.
Rarity and Dash both looked at her, and she knew she'd hit the mark on its head. All of them were remembering.
They did look different now, both of them. Rarity was slimmer, with bigger eyes and what might have been a pimple on her cheek. Dash, already petite and underfed, seemed even smaller now. Her tail hair was longer, the colors brighter. Though most of Steven's mass was still hidden under the waterline, he too seemed to have shrunk. As for Luna herself, she realized her mane had come to rest on her back, and the starlight appeared to be fading from it.
Steven had been right. It did feel weird. The three of them looked at each other, hoping to see the changes as they happened, wondering what to say or do. Luna half-way expected them to shrink down to fillies and lose their cutie marks when she blinked her eyes. Nothing like that happened, of course. They tried to keep the worrying down and just continue on their journey.
Luna had to give credit to what a perfect arrangement the Matriarch had set up. The Rock of Ages remained in the Matriarch's possession even if she didn't hold it in her claws, so every time she left the mountain, she would grow to her natural size and regain full use of the power her treasure gave her. No other dragon could match her then, and if she wished to throw off the shackles of her gargantuan size, all she had to do was return to her abode and grow young again. Meanwhile, the jewel itself remained where the Matriarch's greatest rivals could literally never reach. Young upstarts could perhaps sneak into the mountain to try to take it for themselves, but the jewel was sure to be well hidden in the caves, and searching at length probably would have made them helpless children.
Eventually, main body of the underground river split off from the path to the Matriarch's lair. They had to continue by hoof. Although Steven was quite elegant in water, seeing him waddling on land on his stick-thin limbs was awkward in every way. Then the path turned upwards, and with the rock underhoof slick from trickles of water, Steven regained the advantage. He had a much easier time with his claws and knowledge of the cave system than his hooved companions. Yet even though he was leading the way for them and taking great big steps, there was no energy in his movement. He fell in behind Luna and the others. Once he started hyperventilating, they guessed they were almost at their destination.
The ever smaller tunnel opened up into a much larger space, or at least a somewhat larger space. It wasn't quite the size of a cathedral, but perhaps that of a large church, from what they could see in the limited circle of light. The cave at the heart of the mountain may have been natural, but it must surely have been expanded and reshaped by digging, once upon a time. The flatness of the ground, really more of a floor, and the angles of the steeped cave ceiling indicated architecture more than geology. Their steps echoed all too ominously as they moved forward.
The Matriarch of Dragonkind was not the biggest among her species right now. She appeared to them as a young adult, two times taller than Luna yet diminutive. The lair was too big for her. Her scales looked like the armor plates of a knight, silver and gleaming. In the dark, she was bright. There was a strange sort of transparency to her body - hints of crystal bone, veins of mercury and glowing white flame were visible inside her. The effect should have been horrifying, even disgusting, but it was neither. Seeing her inner workings made her look like an intricate, perfect organism.
She was currently curled up on an elevated platform in the middle of the cavern, her wings loose around her. Her head was raised and she was looking directly at her visitors. No matter how hard Luna tried, she could not discern an expression in the Matriarch's face. She was thankful enough the ruler had more restraint than the subjects, and that there was no malice or anger in the zirconic eyes cast upon them, at least not yet.
Everything Luna had prepared, every diplomatic greeting she'd thought of, was wiped from her mind with the Matriarch's first words.
"Welcome back, Princess."
"You know me?" Luna rasped.
The Matriarch considered her coolly. "We spoke not long ago, did we not?"
Part of Luna's mind went wild with conjecture, but another, more rational part realized how she might have misunderstood.
"When was that?" she asked.
"Only some centuries ago. Perhaps seven hundred and fifty years by your old reckoning."
Of course. There was little chance of meeting the Forgotten Princess at any later point in history.
The Matriarch's voice was smooth and steady; it was not a monster's voice. Yet even though she seemed cordial, Luna could not help the impression that she was acting against her nature, that she had to make an effort to be polite. Somewhere inside her was still a furnace waiting to burn.
"The Princess Luna you met," said Luna, "was not me."
Even though her curiosity was obvious, the Matriarch seemed to make a point of not asking the obvious question. She stood up to full height, folded up her wings and slowly padded closer to the group. There was grace in her every move, but it was not the grace of a doe or a swan, but of a predator. She leaned close to Luna and smelled her. Luna met her gaze. If she was being tested, she intended to leave a favorable impression, a strong impression. The Matriarch may or may not have found what she was looking for. She turned around and stepped further away again.
"You wretched creature. You would have been better off not coming back."
As before, outrage started bubbling in Luna before she could remind herself what was really happening. The Matriarch was speaking to the guide that had brought them to her.
Steven had been trying to hide behind Luna and the others – which was quite ridiculous even with his slightly smaller stature. He might have been a very gentle soul among dragons, but he was no coward. So why was he cowering? There had to be a reason for his fear of the Matriarch. Her words to him were harsh in everything but tone. They did not sound like a threat at all. Then again, perhaps his feelings towards her were more complex than just fear, with shame and a considerable amount of resentment in the mix as well.
"Ah, hello, mistress," he said, with his neck bent down but his eyes turned up to look at the Matriarch.
"I'm surprised to see you back here."
"So am I, mistress," replied Steven. He was squirming under her gaze.
"He came back here as a favor to us," said Luna.
"Dragons do favors for ponies now?" mused the Matriarch.
"They return favors."
The Matriarch bared her fangs in amusement. "I suppose we do."
She was smiling at Luna's words, not at Luna herself. Then, without warning, she threw back her head and released a breath of shining-white fire. Though she was not aiming at them, Rarity and Dash both leapt backwards on instinct, and Luna unfurled her wings to take action if necessary. The flames snaked through the cavern above their heads, where they froze in place to illuminate the audience instead of dissipating. Rarity put out her horn when it became clear that the cavern would remain bright as daylight.
"Don't be frightened," said the Matriarch, "I only thought you'd prefer better lighting."
It was an apology without an apology. At first Luna thought the Matriarch was making a display of her power, or was simply trying to gauge their reactions. She'd seemed to make an effort to keep her guests on the defensive through the whole conversation so far. There was another possibility as well, however, that Luna wanted to kick herself for not realizing right away. Maybe the Matriarch was simply not used to interacting with others? Maybe she was just awkward?
"What are your names?" she asked, addressing Rarity and Rainbow Dash now.
They introduced themselves, and the Matriarch accepted their introductions even though it was quite clear to everyone involved that she was unlikely to remember either their names or their existence in a century's time.
"If you have something to say to me, then speak."
"It's a long story," said Luna.
"I have time to spare."
"And it might be hard to believe."
The Matriarch said nothing more, so Luna went on and explained herself. There were in fact quite a number of things she'd have liked to ask about her counterpart and what the Matriarch knew of her, but she thought it best to focus the mission. She told the story simply and without varnishing, covering the tale of their expulsion from their home universe in only as much detail as necessary, but going over why they stood against Queen Celestia and what they intended to do about her more convincingly. Since they couldn't be sure of the Matriarch's allegiance – she was after all a nominal ally of Equestria – Luna wasn't going to reveal everything all at once. She let Rarity and Rainbow Dash explain the particulars of how they knew 'Steven' and the deal they'd made with him.
The Matriarch, so emotionless before, now made some attempts to express herself. She nodded her head, she raised her brow, she raised a clawed hand to her chin. It all came across as an act, like she was mimicking ponylike behavior for their convenience. But that was a good thing, wasn't it? She was being... forthcoming. It just made it difficult to tell what she was really thinking. When Luna's story ended, the Matriarch looked down at her expectantly, as if waiting for more to come.
"Have you ever had the feeling," she finally said, "as if moments in your life keep repeating?"
"Deja vu?" Rarity filled in mechanically.
"That must be it," said the Matriarch, "Somehow, I know exactly what you're going to say next. Go on then, ask the question."
Luna went on as requested. "I – we – came here to ask for your assistance in defeating Queen Celestia."
"I shall give you the same answer as last time. I know your journey here must have been perilous, but I'm afraid you've wasted your time. I'm not going to take any action against Celestia."
Luna took a deep breath. There was no need to be disheartened; this was only the beginning. She had not expected to close this without a lengthy negotiation.
"Would you tell us why not?" she asked, "You do believe us, don't you? I told you, we've never had this conversation before."
"I see no reason to doubt you. I've known that there are realms above and below ours for most of my life. I shouldn't be surprised that there are also realms next to ours."
"Then why?"
"Isn't it obvious? Celestia is a dear friend of mine. We've known each other for a long time, and we've done much for each other. You're asking me to betray her, but why would I?"
This was... unexpected.
"I don't believe this," said Luna, shaking her head, "You must realize that your 'friend' is only using you to secure her empire!"
"How presumptuous!" The Matriarch growled that last word. Realizing this, she paused and carried on in a much more conversational tone. "You know us so well, do you? Tell me, what do you really think you know? Have you ever even met her? Have you seen her? Or are you just making assumptions?"
Nightmare Moon had not been a complete person. She'd existed only in the present moment – the only existence a being with the ambition to wipe out all life could lead. Luna couldn't imagine being able to carry on living in such a state, nor being able to maintain any sort of relationships with others, not even as an illusion or deception. Yet Daymare Sun seemed to have managed to do both. Even as she made a conscious attempt to suppress it, her sister's idea wormed its way forward from the back of her head. What if there was no Daymare Sun?
What she was forced to conclude – the only thing she allowed herself to conclude – was that Celestia was simply better at being a supervillain than she herself had been.
"I know her by her actions," said Luna. It was a bit of a deflection, but it lead her to a very important question. "So you agree with the things she's doing?"
"What things?" asked the Matriarch.
"The ecological devastation, the oppression of other species, the wars of conquest..."
The Matriarch considered. "None of that is of any great concern to me." She turned away from them and walked off, as if she'd grown disinterested with the conversation, but carried on talking. "Oh, it's true that Celestia has changed since we first met. She's moved in directions I would never have expected. Of course, she's still quite young. I believe the current world order is just a phase she's going through. Growing pains, if you will."
"Growing pains?" repeated Luna in disbelief, "Growing pains she's gone through for centuries, costing the lives of... what, millions?"
The Matriarch only barely seemed to be listening. Luna wondered if she too was prone to reminiscing in this place. She must have had a lot to think back on.
In any case, this wasn't as big of a setback as it might have seemed. She'd never really expected to be able to appeal to the Matriarch's nobility. The plan all along had been to lean on her pride and self-interest.
"What about what she's doing to your people? Your so-called friend is using your sickness to turn dragons into slaves!"
Luna had let her passion into her voice, and recaptured the Matriarch's attention.
"Is that so?"
The coldness in the Matriarch's words disturbed her. She had to count on the idea that the ruler of dragonkind had some concern for the welfare of her people. There was nothing to bluff with here; she could only play the cards in her hooves.
"Yes, that is so," she affirmed, "But I swear to you now, we will put a stop to it! We will fight as hard to liberate dragons as our fellow ponies, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that your lost children are returned to you! If you join together with us, we can work out a new deal, where ponies keep hatching dragon eggs without pressing the little ones into our service and turning them into tools. Dragons could keep going strong as a people!"
The Matriarch paced back and forth during Luna's appeal. They stopped together.
"Would you leave us be for a while?" said the Matriarch.
She threw her voice into the space of the cavern without direction, but somehow, all of them could tell she was speaking to Steven. The water serpent started moving and stopped.
"Er, where should I go?"
"Find someplace in my chambers. Don't wander."
Steven looked at his companions with worry in his eyes as he brushed past them, both for himself and for them. He lumbered off into one of the other tunnels leading away from the central cavern. The Matriarch waited for him to leave, but remained silent even after he was gone. She was staring far away, and broke the silence as suddenly as she'd breathed fire earlier.
"You seem to think that the arrangement Celestia I have is something forced on me," the Matriarch said, "Not at all. It was my idea." Her voice seemed to reach them from distant stars. "The whole plague was my idea."
Words failed Luna. Dash had to pick up the slack.
"What the hell are you saying?!" she demanded.
"Scholars call it the Draconic Ovistasis, don't they? Everyone else calls it the Doom of Dragons. You know what I call it? Our redemption. And yours..."
Luna instinctively stomped her foot. If the Matriarch's statement had not been so perplexing and intriguing, she might not have managed to stop herself from doing something stupid. As it was, she needed to know where the Matriarch was going with this.
"Confused, are we? It takes magic to hatch dragon eggs, but generally, magical cures only work for magical problems. Did you really think such a plague could be natural?"
In truth, Luna had never paid it any real attention. She'd learned about the Draconic Ovistasis as a new fact of life in a history book while reintegrating into Equestria. It had taken hold in the world during her absence.
"Dragons," said the Matriarch, "are disgusting. We are a vile, destructive race. I'm sure you've noticed it yourselves. We have much and more of the greed, lack of caring and bloodlust other beings can show at their worst, but with none of their redeeming qualities. Other species may dip into states of conflict, while we never leave it. They may fight for politics and religion and even pettier things, but we don't need a reason to fight. The only things that keep a dragon from killing are apathy and laziness. I've seen the forces of evolution give the gift of empathy to so many different creatures. Dragons are as savage as we've always been. Over millions of years, we've remained the same. Only our ability to manipulate has grown. We're loose bands of marauders, who harry strangers, kill them for our amusement and take what's theirs when we aren't busy tearing at each other over nothing."
She didn't need any further prompting to keep talking. Indeed, more and more it seemed she wasn't even addressing her guests anymore. She'd started pacing again. Back and forth she went across the cavern, turning around abruptly on each side to go again. It had seemed like a sign of distraction before, but now it hinted at mania.
"We don't create or build things. We have no homes, only the most basic tool use, no culture, no civilization! I've seen the art your kind creates. I've seen beautiful paintings, evocative sculptures. thought-provoking stories and haunting songs created by ponies, griffons, reindeer and leviathans – but not us. There are species long-extinct that never invented the wheel and yet became much more than us. Oh but how we love shiny things, yet making something beautiful is almost impossible for our kind. Once we've scraped some precious metals and minerals from rockwalls, our wisdom is exhausted, so we fall back on taking from others. We're less than the vainest magpie or most rabid of hounds. The worst of us are clever enough to fool others with nice words and not feel a thing doing it. We're just monsters that have fooled the world into thinking we're more!"
This outburst rendered Luna all but speechless. None of the questions that echoed through her head seemed fit to ask, and none of the comments she'd have liked to make seemed like they would make a difference. She was starting to wish the Matriarch would stop, if only because her tone of voice was becoming genuinely painful in its despair. Luna wanted to do something though, so she blurted out the obvious.
"What about Steven?" she asked.
"Who?" The Matriarch stopped and swiveled to face them again. "Oh, him. There are exceptions, of course. I admire them, and I'm thankful for them, and I pity them. Most like him are killed by their parents or brood siblings before reaching maturity. I was sincere in my words to him, you know. He was never happy here among his own kind, and he should not have returned. Weakness doesn't last long among us, and he's lasted longer than I would have expected."
"Steve isn't weak," burst in Dash.
"Can't you just tell them to leave him alone?" asked Rarity hesitantly, "You could do more than that. You are their Matriarch, after all."
The Matriarch chuckled bitterly. "Do you really think I can control them? Dragons respect no laws; the only authority we have is power. By this point, my people are far too numerous to watch over. It took us a long while, but we eventually started multiplying faster than we our violent clashes could cull our numbers. Our territory begun expanding faster than it used to. Every time we spread out and appropriated the labors of others, a new generation would already be on its way to one day do the same. It has gone on that way for longer than you can possibly imagine. My predecessors, warlords all, reveled in it. I could not stop it. Finally, we reached a point where I knew we would ruin the world."
She turned around fully, sat down on her hindlegs and addressed the group directly.
"Do you find the Eternal Day uncomfortable? It's not so bad, if you think about. Celestia takes great pains to keep you all alive, with safe zones where temperatures are carefully measured for agriculture to remain viable. She is in perfect control, whereas our world would have no control. It would be a thousand thousand dragons bringing down their own fire from the sky, charring the countryside for fun and profit where ever they pleased. Your sister integrates other races into her empire instead of exterminating them. Under the reign of dragons, instead of a fascist government, you would be allowed no government. All you would have is dwindling numbers and a road to extinction as all your achievements are smashed to rubble and all your resources are used up for the benefit of others. Do you understand what I'm saying? Can you possibly grasp when you've seen nothing like this in your limited lifespans? A plague of locusts, where each locust is a dragon..."
She paused, and sighed. It sounded of inexplicable relief.
"We would, in truth, probably be better off not existing. That was my first line of thinking – how to wipe us all out. I would have had to do it myself, and – and I admit I lacked the conviction to go through with it. I talked to your sister about these matters, Princess, and I had a different idea. We were already sick, I thought, so... it seemed fitting. It seemed to be the only way to control my people, to keep us from overrunning everything, to make us more civilized. I couldn't have done it without the help of Celestia's magic. She prepared the spells according to my designs. We made it so dragons couldn't just keep breeding, because only unicorn magic can hatch live babies from our eggs. More than that, we made it so the young are raised by ponies who shape them into docile creatures. And the last centuries have proven that it is working!"
The Matriarch smiled again, but not with the same self-assurance as before. Luna couldn't quite say she was hoping for their approval, but she did seem a bit more tentative now.
"Future generations of dragons will exist in a state of symbiosis with ponies. They will be tame – not harmless, but tame. They may be put to work as warriors, but they will not grow up to menace the entire world. Their lives will be strict, but ultimately better than the mindless violence of their homeland. This arrangement has changed things even back here, actually. For the first time in history, dragons consider matters of genetic destiny. They are less likely to get into fights with the knowledge that their bloodlines could end with their deaths. Those among us who cannot adapt will kill each other off. Everything is getting better. I can't say I wasn't selfish in doing this, but it was as much for the sake of everyone else as for my people. You can see why I won't help you ruin it all, don't you?"
The whole thing was ridiculous, morally bankrupt and more than a little bit insane. On the other hoof, Luna at least thought the good intentions underlying it all were genuine. All of a sudden, it seemed like their ambition to recruit this dragon to their case was hopelessly out of reach. It didn't seem like the Matriarch would brook any argument. There was a certainty in her words that must have built up over literal ages.
Luna wondered how long the Matriarch had been living with this. She obviously wouldn't have shared what she'd said here with any other dragons, not just because their reaction might have been violent, but also perhaps because they might have lacked the intellectual and ethical capacity to understand her motives. Aside from Queen Celestia herself, the last time she'd gotten to air these dark thoughts may well have been... with Luna herself?
"This... doesn't have to be," Luna attempted, "I can see what you're trying to do, but... you're going too far! Listen, we have a similar program in our world! We take in dragon eggs and hatch them, but instead of raising the little ones as brainwashed tools of oppression, they become companions for our students of magic. They grow up to be free members of our society, and we respect them as individuals."
"Free members of your society," repeated the Matriarch dubiously, "And what happens if they don't play along? What if one of them wants to return to their people?"
"Then... we let them."
The Matriarch sneered joylessly. "That defeats the purpose of it. You're trying to entice me to your cause, but you have nothing to offer me."
"It's not just about you joining our cause," said Luna with a shake of her head. It was true as well, she realized. "The point this experiment makes is that whatever the problems of dragon society are, they're not inherent! The violence isn't in your blood! Any baby dragon can become a good person with the right nurture." She wished Spike had been there to add his voice to hers.
"There is no one to nurture them right among us," said the Matriarch. "Any dragon that tried to raise their young to be peaceful around here would get chewed up and spat out. Generally speaking, a nice dragon is also a weak dragon."
"What about you, Your Grace?" suggested Rarity, "You're not weak."
This amused the Matriarch enough to provoke a hollow laugh that went on a little too long. "Oh, but I'm not a nice dragon either! I am no better than any of the other beasts out there on the countryside! I have tried to raise my children before, of course, and many times at that. I'm afraid I am not fit to be a mother. All my attempts to set examples, to show empathy and to educate rather than punish have failed. I can't teach something I don't know. You can have others force you to change, but you can't change your own nature."
Luna didn't know what to do anymore. A full-frontal assault – a rhetorical one, of course – didn't seem like it would get them anywhere. Even though she wanted to press on, it seemed like pulling back to reassess these new revelations was the best way to go. They needed to think about whether this situation could still be salvaged, or perhaps even turned to their advantage somehow. Luna would have liked to speak to Steven some more and see if he had any advice – but how much of this they could even share with him was another big dilemma. A talk with Celestia would have been helpful too, but that wasn't really an option.
Luna looked over to her companions and realized that they were both making headway on their teens. Both were now noticeably smaller and cuter. The whole thing was so subtle and gradual that they probably hadn't even noticed it themselves. Luna hadn't. It seemed harmless enough, but staying in this cave for longer to see how far it would go did not seem like a good idea.
"So there's nothing we can say or do to change your mind about this?" Luna asked, quite uselessly.
The Matriarch returned to stand directly before them, and Luna realized that neither she, Dash nor Rarity had moved at all over the course of this conversation. As before, the Matriarch approached her in particular, but she seemed a little bit taller now, or perhaps Luna herself had lost a few inches.
"No," said the Matriarch, "Though I wish you all the best in your endeavors, and hope you and your sister and work out your differences without another war. I'll be gracious and not go out of my way to let Celestia know that you approached me. If she happens to come and visit, I will tell her, but I'm not expecting her."
Though her reptilian expression was still hard to read, Luna now had some experience to interpret her emotions. The little flicker sideways that her eyes made could have meant she was lying, but in this situation, Luna thought it indicated guilt instead. The Matriarch had promised not to betray her dear friend, after all. Despite all that she'd done, keeping this secret made her feel bad. No matter what she herself thought, she was pretty nice for someone that had flirted with the concept of genocide.
"Thank you," said Luna, "We may be back yet. And what about Steven?"
"Ah yes, 'Steven'. I would speak to him for a while. I will send him out after you."
"You gonna tell him what you told us?" asked Dash through gritted teeth. Her voice was a fair bit squeakier than usual.
"No, I think not. And neither will you."
"He deserves to know," said Dash.
"If you tell him," said the Matriarch, stepping away again, "I will kill him."
The Matriarch held herself to be the leader of the greatest evil in the world. She saw this as an almost deterministic fact, and that's why she could say what she'd just said.
The white fire that had burned over their heads all this time started fading rapidly and then flashed away entirely, leaving the Matriarch herself the only source of illumination in the cavern. Luna hadn't paid attention to it earlier, but her crystalline frame revealed a faint glow shining from her insides. Though barely there, it was enough for them to see themselves out by.
They were going to wait for Steven at the mouth of the cave, near the waterfalls.
Their age didn't immediately catch up to them on the way out, but something did seem to change, even just from turning around and heading the other way. Presumably they were surfing on the currents of time, or whatever. Without Steven to ferry them on the currents of time and the actual, physical river at that, the way back was a lot more arduous than it had to be. There was a thin stony ridge at the side of the waterway they could make use of, if they walked in a row, but it was slow going and immediately made them all wish they'd waited it out in the Matriarch's chambers. None of them talked much. At one point, either Rainbow Dash or Rarity – one of the two anyway – asked Luna what they were going to do next, but she was too hard at work thinking to pay notice or answer. She was not going to let this be. She could not be the linchpin on which Celestia's plan failed – there was too much at stake.
They were going to wait for Steven at the mouth of the cave...
When they stepped outside, someone was already there waiting for them.
They all froze, and even Luna – if pressed – would have admitted to feeling a shock of fear. Still, she stood her ground, whereas Rarity and even Dash took an instinctive step backwards into the relative safety of the tunnel.
There was a shadow looming over them. It was as if the mountain itself had bent over to have a look at them. Luna recognized it as the same dragon she'd glimpsed on unwilling journey earlier. She wondered if he recognized her as well. Had he seen here there? Was that why he was here?
"G r e e t i n g s, l i t t l e p o n i e s."
His voice was the bass to end all basses. It pressed down on Luna and her companions and rattled their bones even though he was making an effort to speak softly. More disconcerting than that was that he spoke with an absurd mockery of friendliness, making it clear that he knew they knew he had no chance of acting harmless. Whether he was really friendly they couldn't say yet, but he didn't seem to be hostile, and that was more than Luna would have expected. This one might have been a little harder to take down. Not impossible, but harder.
The dragon's body was the black of coal, the black of obsidian. Scales and scutes flowed into each other, looking like volcanic rock-wall. Though hardly sleek, he was also not as misshapen or disproportionate as some other dragons could be. He had no wings, and that was well and good, because Luna refused to believe something this big could fly no matter how much magic was flowing in its veins. He was lying on its stomach, one gigantic forearm casually crossed with the other.
This black dragon had two heads – but it had once had three. The head on their left and his right had been torn off, and it had been centuries since the wound had scabbed over. It was the middle head that spoke, and it was the middle head that looked down at the ponies in front of him with two gigantic red eyes. The head on their right and his left was looking down and off to the side. The remaining necks were short, quite unlike a hydra's, so the heads were placed very close to each other, but the head on the side seemed to be trying its hardest to be further away.
"Hello," said Luna, and then repeated herself, louder and stronger, "Hello!"
"W h o m i g h t y o u b e?"
Luna took a deep breath. "I am Princess Luna of Equestria, here on a diplomatic mission to your Matriarch. And you are?"
The black dragon made a rumbling noise indicating understanding, but ignored her question.
"A r e n ' t y o u s u p p o s e d t o b e d e a d?" he wondered.
Suppressing any hesitation, Luna stepped out from the mouth of the gave and took flight to approach the black dragon's head – the middle one. She stayed there in front of him, close enough to make conversation easier but not so close that he couldn't focus his gaze on her.
"Who are you?" she asked again.
The black dragon showed its fangs, each larger than Luna's whole body. Perhaps he was making an effort to be threatening, or perhaps he found her defiance amusing. There were things between his teeth that would have made great villains for horror stories.
"M y n a m e w o u l d m e a n n o t h i n g t o y o u. T e l l m e o f y o u r m i s s i o n."
So Luna told the story again, this time in even more edited form. She said nothing of what the Matriarch had told them about the Doom of Dragons and her arrangement with Queen Celestia, but she made it clear the Matriarch had declined to support them. At first she did it because they didn't have anything to lose, but as she went on, she started to wonder if this was not exactly the opportunity they needed. They'd approached the Matriarch in the first place because she was dragonkind's nominal leader, but dragon society was independent enough that individuals might have joined them on their own. This would have been improbable due to their hostility – but this black dragon seemed receptive enough. He was even likely to be influentially powerful, and could perhaps press others into joining in. Everything was still open to them.
Once Luna finished explaining, the black dragon showed even more of his fangs.
"I w i l l h e l p y o u."
"Just like that?" asked Luna.
The black dragon chuckled a minor earthquake.
"O f c o u r s e n o t. I w i l l h e l p y o u i f y o u h e l p m e."
"Then what do you want?"
"I w a n t d r a g o n k i n d t o b e m i n e. Y o u s h a l l b r i n g m e t h e R o c k o f A g e s a n d m a k e m e P a t r i a r c h."
Next chapter: Daymares.
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BornIn1142
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901
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Main 6,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Alternate Universe,Adventure,Dark,Drama,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Sunshine and Fire
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Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.
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incomplete
| 1,389 | 32 |
<p>Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.</p><p>Feel free to check out or add to the story's <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/SunshineAndFire" rel="nofollow">TV Tropes page</a>.</p>
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teen
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2014-05-11T20:05:15+00:00
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2015-04-12T22:32:02+00:00
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There was a knock on the door of Brainy Bright's cell. Prime Minister Gelding always knocked when he came. It was just one of those peculiar things...
While the key found the rusty lock on the other side and turned, Bright got up from his cot and took a deep breath. The question of whether to stand or sit had been quite a concern for him. He didn't want to act like a trained lapdog for his captors, after all. Imprisonment was a constant struggle in trying to gauge what behaviors were defiant and what behaviors were dignified – and Bright was far from sure which he really wanted. In the end, he'd elected to do what came naturally to him, and greeting visitors while lying down was not it.
The large metal door opened with a creak, and Gelding's pale face appeared in the frame.
"Come with me," said Gelding, and turned around without entering.
Bright, momentarily disoriented, took half a step and looked around his room for anything to take with him. It was a silly, reflexive thing to do. Except for a bucket he used as a toilet, he had no possessions to leave behind. He rushed to follow Gelding, not even excited to leave. He was probably just being moved again.
When he stepped outside into the corridor, he realized that there were no guards. The Prime Minister had come for him alone, and was now staring at Bright as if daring him to do something about it.
Before he could stop it, a fantasy started to take shape in Bright's mind. He imagined attacking Gelding and making a break for it, finding a way out and taking back his freedom. The unicorn with the broken horn seemed about as sturdy as origami. Even famished and weak – and lacking much experience as a brawler – Bright was certain he could overpower and outrun the fellow.
But... no. It would have been futile. Gelding wouldn't have placed himself at risk without back-up. There must have been troops nearby that would intervene if Bright tried anything. Besides, overpowering and outrunning Gelding was only the first step, but what would he do next? What could he hope to accomplish among enemies and in territory he knew nothing about? Where would he even go?
If there was a way out of Bright's predicament, an opportunistic escape attempt wasn't it. If there was a way out of Bright's predicament... Bright didn't know what it would be.
"W-where are we going?" he asked. There was that line again – asking questions was generally not a good idea, but he felt better for taking that small chance at least.
"There are others who would question you," said Gelding.
For a moment, it seemed like he would continue on from there, say something else, but instead he simply set out along the corridor, with Bright obediently following along.
Bright had already been broken, of course, and told the Prime Minister whatever he wanted to know. Aside from an occasional beating from guards when he was slow in obeying commands, nopony had ever really gotten around to torturing him. They hadn't needed to. The hunger, along with the mere threat of pain hanging over his head at all times, had made him pliable enough. With no clocks or cycle of day and night, and with no breakfasts and dinners of prison gruel to tell the time by, Bright couldn't even tell how long he'd lasted before giving in.
He told himself it was all natural. Everypony would eventually have cracked in his situation. By withholding food, they attacked him by his most basic biological imperatives. He had to talk to survive. He'd tried to hold on, he really had, but what was the point? It wasn't as if he was really betraying anyone, or giving up anything important. All he did was answer a few simple questions about his homeworld, how he had ended up here, and who had come along with him. The straws of hay and cup of water he'd gotten in return had been worth it.
Bright hated the Prime Minister. He hated Gelding's annoying, high-pitched voice, and he hated that someone so frail could have so much power over him. It seemed like all passion had been wrenched out of the older pony like water from a wet rag, so interacting with him was not only tense and frightful but also tedious. Gelding was the face to put on all of Bright's misery.
Well, actually, he wasn't so bad. His overwhelming indifference was infuriating, but it was also a consolation. At least he didn't enjoy what he was doing, unlike some of the guards. He didn't hate Brainy Bright back. Gelding was a constant, almost reassuring, amidst bewildering changes.
Bright had gone through three different cells, each deeper and better-hidden in the bowels of the prison complex, before being moved to a different facility entirely – a private dungeon in what he believed was the ruler's palace. He'd never been put back in with the general prison population, though at one point, he'd shared a cell with another pony he was certain was a plant meant to watch him. This pony, a pegasus, had never acted hostile or tried to pry any information out of Bright, but there was something about him – a certain sharpness in his eyes – that had kept Bright from being able to sleep while in the same room as him. The time he'd spent awake had wound him into a paranoid frenzy, but they'd moved him again before anything could happen.
The walk was long, and it led them deeper underground. That was something of a surprise. Bright had assumed his dungeon was already near the bottom. He tried to keep a track of the journey, but the corridors all looked much the same.
"You're not going to try to escape?" asked Gelding dully, without looking at him.
For somepony that had gotten a start on advanced calculus back in elementary school, it took Bright a while to put two and two together.
"You want me to? To escape?"
"I wondered if you would try."
Bright was almost afraid to carry on. This casual frankness, it was something new entirely. Was it some sort of trick, a test, a new interrogation technique?
"W-why?" he asked. The stuttering was embarrassing. He tried to speak clearer. "You wouldn't let me, would you?"
"No," said Gelding, "It would be a convenient pretext to kill you."
Bright misstepped, but continued walking. There were others who wanted to question him. The Prime Minister did not want that to happen. Bright asked a question to see if he would be proven wrong.
"Why would you need a pretext to kill me?"
Gelding responded to the question he'd asked but not the question he'd intended.
"You are inconvenient. Your mind is a Pandora's box I'm not sure we should be prying into."
"Still," said Bright, "You could have me killed and... say whatever you want about how it happened. Couldn't you?"
"I'm not sure whether that would be the right thing to do," answered Gelding.
Bright almost laughed. He had to assume the Prime Minister meant that in terms of practicality and not morality. But that in itself was promising. It must have meant he was regarded not just as inconvenient, but also as potentially useful.
"Would you like me to have you killed?" Gelding now asked, almost spontaneously. It might have been some sort of sick joke, had Bright held him capable of making jokes.
"No!" he said a little too quickly, "No. Why would I want to die?"
"You're headed for an audience with Queen Celestia," replied Gelding by way of explanation, "You may come to understand all too well."
They walked on in what silence they could get. Aside from the clopping sound of their hooves, Bright found his heartbeat becoming distractingly loud. The words didn't sound like a threat, but it could well have been manipulation, an attempt to psych him out even further. But what more could the Prime Minister want from him? Why bother?
"You do not have to decide right away," Gelding went on to say. He spoke quietly anyway, but Bright really had to strain to listen now. "I don't know what your fate will be from now on, but if you change your mind, if you get word to me, I may be able to do something."
If Bright had thought this was a joke before, he no longer could have. The Prime Minister was genuinely offering to assist him in suicide. Somehow, that didn't seem funny any which way anymore. It was a different kind of absurd altogether.
"You're very merciful," said Bright. He was perhaps going for sarcasm, but it didn't come out that way. He had the impression that this really was Gelding's idea of mercy.
"There's not much I would ask from you in return," said Gelding, "You can perhaps satisfy my curiosity. I would like to know if you can keep from your next questioners not what you told me, but that you told me. I don't know if you'll be able to hide the fact that we had this conversation either, but try. If you succeed, then all the better, for both of us."
Brainy Bright considered. The Prime Minister was trying to make a deal. It all seemed to fit together with the conversations he'd heard indicating the Prime Minister wasn't supposed to have interrogated him at all. He wondered if there was a way to leverage this.
It wouldn't do to be afraid now. Bright had found the conviction to take action against Princess Celestia herself, after all. This should have been nothing in comparison. He stopped moving.
"If you want me to do something for you, then I – I need more than the promise of a clean death."
Gelding slowed down, looked over his shoulder and measured Bright with a long gaze. He didn't bother stopping, and turned to face front soon after.
"It's the only thing in my power to give you," he said, raising his voice so it echoed back to Bright.
Just like that, Bright had tried and failed. The tiny bit of influence he'd tried to exert hadn't even given Gelding pause. He was still moving, unconcerned with whether Bright followed. He wasn't even looking.
It felt obscene to make it all so easy for the Prime Minister, to just go along. Again, Bright mulled over the possibility of escape, despite the fate promised to him if he tried. He glanced back in the torchlit corridor and wondered if there was somepony there, ready to take action. Even if there wasn't, there was no hope of navigating the labyrinthine passageways on his own anyway. Eventually, he would be discovered. What would the guards do if they came across him like that?
When Gelding rounded a corner, Bright trotted after him. His eyes downcast in shame, he almost walked into the unicorn, who'd stopped and turned around after all. They were close, face to face.
"You may be thinking of telling my fellows of my request. If you're hoping for leniency, believe me when I say that honesty will avail you nothing with the Queen. She will do with you as she wills either way. If you speak out of spite, I will leave you to your fate."
Gelding continued on his way, and Bright followed. His thoughts had actually not turned in that direction, and he wasn't sure they would have. The Prime Minister was dutifully covering all the angles.
Bright didn't know where they were going, but he had a feeling they were getting there. The surroundings were starting to resemble a fine if gloomy mansion rather than a dungeon. Torches were becoming more frequent on the walls, leaving them to walk in a steady veil of firelight. In that light, a large set of double-doors was visible before them at the end of the corridor. Bright tried to keep his breathing under control. Whatever was in that chamber was bound to be unpleasant.
Before they reached the doors, however, they were ambushed, or at least greatly surprised, by a head leaning into sight from one of the side-corridors. Bright startled, while Gelding barely reacted. The head belonged to a mare with a dull pink coat and a long, straight mane of similar color. She was the first fellow earth pony Bright had seen since the prison when he was first taken in. Around her neck was a large metal band – a collar. The collar looked so rigid and tight it was surprising she was able to breathe.
"Hello!" said the earth pony when she recognized who was coming.
Gelding calmly walked up to the pink mare. As they approached, Bright saw her eyes briefly veer towards him and then flicker back and forth to see if there was anypony else around. She leaned closer to the Prime Minister. At first Bright thought she'd give him a kiss on the cheek, but she only went to whisper something in his ear.
Bright didn't get a clear look at the pink mare's cutie mark, but he saw something else of interest. Certain magical symbols were etched into her collar. The symbols were ages old, and had faded from common usage centuries ago in Bright's own world. He didn't have the chance to read much of what was written on the collar.
"Go on without me," said Gelding.
"What?"
"Go. I will come in a moment."
Hesitantly, Bright moved on towards the doors. This was a far cry from the strict watch they'd kept on him before. His face burned. It was as if he was nothing, that's how lightly they were taking him. But as ridiculous and humiliating as it was, he had no choice but to abide, did he? A much bigger concern was what he would find in that chamber, and what they would do to him...
When he pushed open the door, a blast of hot air escaped from inside. The chamber, with its giant pillars, firepits and gloom, wasn't far from what Bright had expected. His eyes were immediately drawn to the throne at the far side, which was – much to his relief – vacant at the moment.
Her Majesty was not present, but there were others in the room. A red-and-black pegasus was maniacally pacing back and forth beyond a mid-sized conference table. Sitting at the table, comfortably slouched, was a white-and-gold unicorn. This pony actually looked vaguely familiar, though Bright wasn't sure whether he was someone Bright knew in his own world, or because he looked so generically aristocratic.
Though it was the last thing he wanted to do, Bright slowly started edging forward, if only to hear what the two were talking about.
"What a waste of time," the pegasus was murmuring under her breath. When the unicorn didn't respond, she repeated herself louder. "What a waste of time!"
At this, her companion made an indistinct sound of acknowledgment. The pegasus ranted on.
"They'll be making their move right now. It will be the largest battle of our lifetimes. Four hundred thousand hooves on the ground, forty thousand wings in the air. The ground will run red with griffon blood. We'll have the chance to rub out a nation that's survived for over a thousand years!" She harrumphed. "And will I be there? No! I'm stuck here with you!"
At this point, she briefly paused and turned to glower at her companion. When he failed to respond, she pushed on.
"Half the bloody battle strategy is mine! I spent months developing the air force order of battle and the encirclement plan. I should get to see it in action." Bright could hear the grinding of her teeth from half-way across the room. "I want to kill some griffons!"
It seemed there was a war on. Somehow, that didn't surprise Bright.
"The Queen wants us here, so here we are," said the unicorn.
"Oh, please!" snarled the pegasus, "The Queen doesn't care if we're here. Little miss Daylight Sparkle just wants an audience to show off to!"
"Give me a break," moaned the unicorn, "Whatever Daylight has in mind probably won't take more than a few hours. She told me she could teleport us over there later on. We'll be there for most of the invasion. Enjoy the comforts here while we still have them."
"I'm not surprised it wouldn't matter to you, you half-ass! You're just going to pop in to the command tent, do nothing for a while and then take credit for everything, but I want to be there and experience it all. I want to take part, I want to see how their first line of defense reacts as we get closer and closer, I want to see them break and... What is this?"
They had seen Bright, and took a moment to gape at him in silence. It was eerie how quickly the pegasus's mood shifted. She let out a raspy laugh.
"Oho, our guest of honor! Do you know you kept us waiting?"
Bright froze in place. The pegasus begun a casual stroll towards him, even as she turned back her head to speak to her companion.
"You know, I bet I know a way to get this dumb meeting over with right now? Heh."
There had barely been time for her to turn forward again, and for Bright to blanch at her eager smirk, when a purple figure spontaneously appeared between them. It was another unicorn, a mare with a purple star cutie mark, garbed in a white robe and pointy hat rather than the military uniform worn by the stallion. She'd teleported in. Without prompting, the small dragon that had arrived with her produced a pocket watch and held it out for her to see.
"Just in time!" she beamed after having a look.
Even though they were facing the other way, and even though he'd only met them once before, Bright recognized them well enough. It was a mirror image of Twilight Sparkle, and that of her dragon companion. They didn't even notice him to begin with.
"Duke Blueblood, Duchess Redsky, I'm very glad you were able to join me!"
This provoked a furious bout of under breath muttering from the pegasus – presumably the duchess. The duke shrugged in the background.
Twilight Sparkle's double had a look around the throne room. "Ah. This would be the subject, wouldn't it?"
She stepped closer to Bright, and in fact walked a circle around him, examining him from every angle. The sight of his cutie mark evoked a small smile and then a mild scowl. There was a distinct lack of malice emanating from this pony, but that did little to put Bright's mind at ease. She's called him a subject, and this wasn't a meeting, but a study.
"You may refer to me as Lady Commander Daylight Sparkle, earth pony," she said.
No answer was expected, but Bright tried for one anyway. This was a culture that seemed to regard earth ponies as worthless savages, so he could prove them wrong by acting polite and intelligent. Whatever her first name happened to be, Miss Sparkle was known to be a clever pony, so surely she didn't fall in line with such nonsensical racial ideology. Maybe if Bright left a good enough impression, he could even get them to release him. He told himself the notion wasn't completely ridiculous.
"How do you do?" he said, straightening his back self-consciously. He didn't think of himself as vain, but he wished he'd tried to go over his mane a little back in the cell. As it was, he probably didn't look terrible civilized.
Daylight didn't respond, though she carried on speaking. "He's showing signs of short-term malnourishment. Some lacerations and contusions, but not as many as I'd have expected. Gelding seem to have used a rather light touch. Are you taking this down, Spike?"
Her dragon was indeed scribbling Daylight's observations down on a piece of parchment.
"Hey, you!" pressed in Redsky, "Are we getting started soon? Do you know when Her Holiness will be here?"
"I'm quite sure she will be here precisely when she feels like it," said Daylight, making it sound like an admonishment.
She cocked her head to look past Bright and raised a sardonic eyebrow. Bright looked over his shoulder and saw that the Prime Minister had reached the throne room as well, surprisingly with the pink earth pony following along. Gelding came straight at them, while the pink pony slipped off to the side and approached in the shadows of the chamber's giant stone pillars.
"I am truly glad you could make it," said Daylight, "You of all ponies should find this little demonstration of mine enlightening."
Gelding as good as ignored her. He took up position close to Bright, and the only thing he said was... "She is coming."
There was a light shining from the open doorway. Something changed in the throne room.
Bright, glancing back and forth, tried to follow along how the others reacted. Blueblood got up from his chair and awkwardly stood at attention. Redsky chewed on her lip and held her breath. Gelding appeared expectedly wooden, but seemed to be pointedly looking away from the doors. Daylight Sparkle was beaming.
"She is coming," muttered Blueblood under his breath, "She is here."
"Shut up," said Redsky.
"My Queen!" whispered Daylight.
The light at the doorway was blinding by now – but it wasn't even light, but a pony. It was Celestia.
Her mane and tail were fire.
The cloak of flames curled on her back and lazily billowed forth behind her; its movements were easy and languid, more like calm waves at sea than a furious conflagration. Every single sliver of shadow in the throneroom was eradicated when she entered. The light she cast wasn't gloomy, reddish firelight, but bright and clear like summertime air. Her countenance did more than glow. Queen Celestia was not radiant, but radiance.
She didn't look so different from her mirror image. Bright had never been more keenly aware that Celestia was a mutant, freakishly large and disturbingly spindly, unnatural and supernatural, an impossible crossbreed that defied the laws of the universe. She was unicorn, pegasus and earth pony, but she might well have been a child of swans and spiders. Everything unique to the Queen was magnificent, and nothing she shared with common ponies was common. She was beautiful beyond comprehension.
Her body was perfect ivory, as solid and powerful as it was lean and elegant. Even half-folded, her wings – angelically soft by their looks – were enormous. She took slow steps, but moved swiftly on long legs. Her golden horseshoes trod the ground without a sound, and her crown rested on a horn that ended with a point sharper than any spear.
As the Queen approached, she smiled, and looked them over all with kindly serenity in misty white, pupilless eyes.
"I hope I haven't keep you waiting," she said, "With the day being so perfectly beautiful and sunny, I just had to go out for a walk. I do so love to spend time with my little ponies, and yet I rarely get the chance to do it. Whenever I feel like I need a break, I usually go out on the town in an inconspicuous guise, to keep watch of what our good citizens are up to and to teach them some basic truths about the reality of their lives. It's a wonderful exercise in enlightenment. If the occasion is special enough, if a pony intrigues me enough, I might even show them who I really am..."
Bright, so engrossed by her appearance, hadn't even noticed every other pony present falling to their knees. Alone left standing, Celestia's gaze naturally came to rest on him. Breathing heavily, sweating and wide-eyed – he imagined he looked rather pathetic. He tried and failed to swallow when she approached him. All his instincts screamed at him to try to escape, but he already knew that would be futile, and could not move or even look away in any case.
"Of course, it is just as well to have guests brought to meet me. Nothing is quite the same as making a new friend, is it?"
The Queen stopped only inches away. She craned down her neck and leaned over him. Bright fell down on his haunches, and stopped bending backwards only when he could go no further without keeling over. The Queen took his breath away. She may well have literally taken his breath away, by burning the oxygen around him. He shuddered, and he couldn't stop shuddering. His discomfort shook him in an uncontrollable spasm, as if he was caught in intense cold rather than unpleasant warmth.
"What's your name?" Subtle wisps of white smoke blew from her mouth as she spoke.
"M-my name is B-Brainy Bright."
"Mmm. I like it. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Celestia was so close their noses were almost touching, and Bright realized that she did not breathe. There was no movement to her but the rippling of her flames – and the corners of her mouth drawing further back to reveal rows of perfect teeth. It was not a smile anymore, but a grin. Bright wondered what she was looking for in him to make her stare like that. He was struck with an insane yet irresistible compulsion to lean forward himself.
Before he could give in, Celestia abruptly turned around and stepped away. Bright yelped in pain when her cloak of fire almost touched him, and threw himself to the floor to get clear.
"Ah, but it wouldn't do to neglect old friends in favor of new ones," said Celestia, "I will always appreciate your service, my honored councilors."
The others in the room were as quick to rise as they were to kneel. The Queen greeted them warmly, truly more like friends or family members than subjects. Each received a personal sign of favor from Celestia: a hug for Daylight Sparkle that the unicorn hardly wanted to release her from, a cup of the cheek for the smugly smiling Duchess Redsky and a pat on the head for the Prime Minister, who remained as stoic as ever. In the case of Duke Blueblood, now not so lackadaisical anymore, Celestia parted his blond bangs to reveal a sickening burn scar, which she caressed as tenderly as if she was dressing a baby. Even the pink pony, peeking out from behind a pillar with only half a face and a fringe of hair visible, received a gracious wave from the Queen, and immediately receded from sight.
Celestia kept moving even after she finished her wordless welcomes. Instead of taking a seat at the table, she circled around towards the throne at the far end of the room, but she didn't sit down there either. There was something eerie about how noiselessly she moved. She seemed to float like a lifeless spirit rather than walk like a flesh-and-blood pony. Everypony else had to follow her. Bright was forced to follow as well, by a telekinetic snare cast by Daylight Sparkle that dragged him forward and deposited him before the throne, where he remained beneath notice at the center of attention.
Daylight stared at the Queen rapturously. She took half a step forward and looked like she was getting ready to speak up, but held off when Celestia noticed the movement and turned to look at her. Celestia kept up a stare for a few silent seconds, then suddenly cocked her head towards Duchess Redsky instead.
"Does something trouble you, my dear?"
Redsky frowned in confusion. "Not at all, Your Grace."
"Are you sure? You seem so restless to me."
"Maybe a little. I'm eager to get out there and, heh, do my duty for your happiness and the glory of Equestria."
"Ah, that is commendable. But you know what? I've been feeling terribly lonely lately. At first I wasn't sure why, but then I remembered that all my beloved ladies in waiting seem to have died of old age, so I have nopony to chat with these days. That's the sad lot of an immortal. I think it would make me much happier if you stayed with me for a little while to keep me company. I feel like we've drifted apart. Wouldn't it be nice if we spent the next few weeks getting to know each other a little better? Yes, I think it would be."
Redsky's only response was a blank stare and a quiet gurgling noise from the bottom of her throat. Celestia watched her, still smiling, then snapped her gaze to Duke Blueblood.
"And what about you? Are you feeling restless as well?"
Blueblood licked his lips. "Er, I wouldn't really say so."
"Bored perhaps?"
"I don't know..." he ventured in return.
"That's sad. I know this must be all so very tedious for you, stallion of action that you are. You always try so hard to get noticed, but despite your distinguished service record and the honors given to you, you've somehow never had the chance to prove your mettle in battle. I thought I'd put you in charge of a front-line battalion that will be moving to engage in just a few hours. That should show anypony calling you a coward, hmm? I'll make make sure you get there as soon as we're done here. Think of it as my gift to you."
Blueblood's mouth moved as if he was voicing protestations, but no sound came out. After a few seconds, he hung his head and stopped. Celestia observed every twitch of muscle on his face.
"May I say something, my Queen?" asked Daylight Sparkle, evidently unable to contain herself any longer.
"Of course," said Celestia graciously.
"I have some wonderful news for you!" burst out Daylight, "I couldn't resist one more test run of my new spell in the dungeons, and discovered a member of the Apple Underground among our prisoners. I know where their headquarters is! I'll have plans for an attack on your desk within 12 hours, Your Grace."
Blueblood and Redsky each raised a curious highbrow, and the pink pony gasped from somewhere out of sight. Even Gelding's lips parted slightly, which meant as much for him as somepony else's jaw dropping. The Queen's expression did not change. Her face was like an alabaster mask.
"My oh my," she said, "Exemplary work, Daylight! Every time I raise the bar in consideration of your achievements, you exceed my expectations all over again! You're so much better than that stodgy old doormat that preceded you – you've done more in a few months than he accomplished in centuries! Why, Daylight, you're simply the best!"
Daylight's pleased smile faded more and more the longer Celestia sang her praises. Where an ordinary pony would have had to pause to draw breath, the Queen could go on as long as she wanted. She never sounded less than sincere, until she stopped. It was the silence that brought the sarcasm.
"Is that what you wanted to hear, Daylight?" Celestia asked at last.
"I'm sorry, Your Grace?" said Daylight. Bright could have sworn her lip was quivering.
"Honestly, how much credit can you really expect for stumbling across crucial information by accident?"
The Prime Minister cleared his throat. "The prisoners in the dungeons would already have been interrogated and this information discovered had Lady Commander Daylight been less distracted from her duties."
"Indeed?" One of Celestia's eyebrows rose fractionally to indicate displeasure. "How disappointing."
"I- I thought you'd be pleased with me," said Daylight, suddenly looking very young and very small.
"But that's just it, Daylight," said Celestia with obvious worry in her voice, "Sometimes, I feel like you do everything only to please me and to hear me praise you, and that you don't even really believe in what you're doing."
"I – I do! I do believe, Your Grace!"
"Are you sure?"
"I believe in everything you believe in! I love my work and I wouldn't give it up for anything!"
"I'm glad to hear that." She really sounded relieved. "Let's go on to do some of that work now, shall we? Show me what your magic can do. Tell me who this pony is."
Daylight nodded. She marched up to Bright and stood in front of him like her mistress had, but the effect wasn't quite the same. Up close, it was very visible that she had to work hard to keep it together. Nevertheless, there was a grim determination in her eyes, and Bright held his breath in terrified expectation.
She touched the tip of her horn to Bright's forehead and – and the world melted away around them. It melted, faded, dispersed and vanished, leaving them in an endless white space, with no borders, horizons or lines in sight. Bright backed away from Daylight, and she allowed him to do so. He looked down and found he was standing on nothing. There was no sense of distance to give him vertigo.
"We're inside your mind, earth pony," said Daylight.
"I thought there would be more stuff in here," said Bright drily. Considering the circumstances, he felt like the epitome of daring and wit.
She smiled at that. It started almost reflexively, but quickly took on a very polite and formal look. Bright was surprised she would waste any etiquette on him. Perhaps she was trying to emulate her mistress, but her expression was a far cry from Celestia's half-lidded, self-assured pleasure.
"Oh, there would be quite a lot in here," she explained, "That's actually the trouble. The average pony has a brain positively stuffed with information, most of which is irrelevant at best and completely inane at worst. Extracting information from somepony indiscriminately would be a very bad idea, so I've developed a spell to sift through individual memories. I don't expect you to understand what that entails, but believe me, what we're doing here is quite revolutionary."
Bright did understand. Telepathy had never been his chosen field, but he'd read enough papers on it to be familiar with its premises and problems. The fact that he never had to worry about studying spells in practice meant his theoretical knowledge ran far and wide. Obviously, neither of them was, at the present moment, real. They must have been some sort of mental manifestations. Still, even understanding that, the sight of Daylight Sparkle producing a notepad and quill similar to the ones her dragon had been using from nowhere and holding them aloft with her magic came off as notably weird.
"Is that some sort of mnemonic device?" asked Bright warily.
"Oh, very good!" said Daylight, though her compliment came with raised eyebrows, "It's not actually a notepad, just a psychological projection I can use to retain information at a subconscious level. But enough of that. We should get to the point."
That struck Bright as an odd thing to say. Whatever information Daylight Sparkle was hoping to extract from him, she'd never even tried to get it by asking for it. Bright didn't think he would resist. Instead of interrogating him, she had moved straight to invading his thoughts. As far as Bright could tell, it was the spell and not he that really mattered here.
"What is the point?" he asked, "I don't even know what you want from me."
"Let's start with the obvious." There was a violet glow in Daylight's eyes. "Show me how you arrived here."
Bright felt like something grabbed a hold of his thoughts and yanked. He staggered to the side, without weight or gravity to unbalance him. His mind spilled out into the world like liquid. It wasn't quite painful, but it wasn't pleasant either.
The first thing he conceived was ego – himself. A copy of him appeared beside him and Daylight Sparkle, but it was a hideously incomplete copy. Rather than a real pony, it looked like a half-finished outline filled in haphazardly with the golden color of his coat. It had no face, only the suggestion of a head and blank patches of nothingness on its back and legs. Bright took an unintended step back when he saw it. Worse still was realizing what he was seeing – a very literal self-image, all the bits of himself he could see without a reflection.
The empty white void around them became a canvas for his memory. Bright's ego began walking. In the blink of an eye, a world of black shadows and orange-gold torchlight took form around it. The scene they found themselves in was one Bright had just experienced a few minutes ago – his walk to the throne room accompanied by the Prime Minister. Yet his memory of those moments, which he'd lived through such a short time ago, was profoundly imperfect. This was only a recording of his senses, influenced by his state of mind. Everything in the ego's direct line of sight was drawn in oily realism, while the edges of its vision devolved into blurry watercolors. Where ever it wasn't looking, only fading sketches remained. The result was an entire world shifting along with its gaze in a disorienting phantasmagoria. The only thing clearly visible was Gelding's pale form up ahead – the focus of Bright's attention.
Bright felt a stab of pain in his temples. He wasn't sure whether that was because of the reams of information he was forced to recall, or because of the unnatural visual environment that he didn't know how to process. Instinctively, he looked down at the patch of stone floor to give his eyes a rest, and saw that small hoofprints of synesthetic texture remained behind where his ego's steps fell.
"I didn't mean the throne room!" said Daylight indignantly, incongruously visible amidst the shadows of memory, "Show me how you came to this world."
In an instant, the canvas was painted over with a new memory.
Color drained away in a flash, and Bright's ego almost disappeared in a gleam of light so powerful it made a real place look almost like the empty void from earlier. This was the empty street he'd found himself in after falling through his magic mirror, and the scene was that of his arrest. Vague white architecture was around him, and the silhouettes of two ponies approached up ahead. Everything was blurry and diffusive; even less remained of this memory than the last. Bright had been too addled by the trauma of his journey, too concerned with the enormity of his actions and too blinded by the sunshine to retain much of his surroundings. Yet even now, he was acutely aware of the heat he'd felt back then, and wondered if Daylight could feel it as well. If she did, she gave no indication of it.
"No, that's not it," she said, "Where were you before this?"
The next memory, by contrast, was etched out for them to see in painstaking and painful detail. It was Brainy Bright's exhibition at the Tower of the Horizon in Canterlot, on the last day of his old life. Vast as the moment had been, with a crowd of hundreds laid out before him on the roof of the tower to witness his greatest work, he remembered it all. There were little touches of unreality to it all, as the other towers of Canterlot were nothing more than outlines amidst the deep blue sky and the buzzing of conversation was somehow a little too garbled and indistinct, but the ponies themselves were clear and crisp. One pony took up more of his attention than anypony else, but Bright made sure to keep a careful watch of all that was going on. Though his gaze always returned to the seat of honor where Princess Celestia lay waiting, it scanned the crowds every few seconds, making particular note of the guards where-ever they stood, looking for anything that might interfere with his plans. This was a moment Bright would bring with him to his grave.
Daylight Sparkle had a look around. Perhaps rather naturally, the first thing that caught her attention was her own counterpart. She stepped up to where Twilight Sparkle was sitting and looked herself in the face. She also spared a glance for Princess Luna – but only a glance. Ultimately, it was Princess Celestia she focused on. She didn't look but stared. She didn't glance but absorbed. Celestia's aurora mane engrossed her especially, but she examined every bit of her, and crawled as close to Celestia as she could.
Bright himself found somepony else of interest. One of Twilight Sparkle's friends looked exactly like the pink earth pony in Queen Celestia's throne room. Though brighter in hue, much more cheerful in attitude, and possessing somewhat fluffier hair, they were undoubtedly the same pony. Daylight didn't even notice the similarity. If Bright remembered correctly, her name was Pinkie Pie. He wondered what this could have meant. Were the Elements of Harmony a factor in both worlds, or was it some sort of coincidence? What were the odds that these two ponies, Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle, would be acquainted in such wildly different environments?
Time did not stand still in the memory. Neither Bright nor Daylight paid attention to the speech in the background. When things finally came to a head, it was a surprise to both of them. Bright's ego took action, just as it was always going to happen. Now at long last, everything but the Princess herself blurred, and all sound on the rooftop faded away. Bright watched his ego and his mirror-door go hurtling towards Celestia. A flash of magic engulfed them all. It had felt like an eternity back then, perhaps that's why everything seemed to move so slowly.
"No, no, no," said Daylight, "Go back."
The scene reset. Everything was peaceful again, like it had been a few minutes ago. There was a buzzing noise at the back of Bright's head. It was hard to focus on what was going on.
This time, Daylight dragged her eyes away from the Princess and turned to the dais where Bright's ego and his crew bustled, and to the device that they were bustling with. She leapt on top of the dais and put her quill and notepad to use taking down various observations about the portal and its assembly. Doing so, she couldn't possibly miss Bright's ego giving instructions to his unicorn assistants.
"Who invented this?" she asked Bright.
"I did," he admitted.
"That's not possible," she said shaking her head, but it was only token resistance.
Daylight watched his past self finish the preparations and make the introduction to the proceedings with stone-faced fascination. It was impossible to say how much of what was going on she could actually understand so lacking in context. When the time came for Bright's ego to make his move yet again, she lowered her notepad and narrowed her eyes. The look she gave Bright himself afterward, once the memory had looped around again, held a new sense of contempt, one that almost invited him to turn away in shame. In Daylight Sparkle's world, this may well have been the greatest of all crimes. Was he not, after all, a criminal, and she the law? Bright felt a twitch of outrage in his chest. Where the hell did she get off judging him? He sneered, and made sure to face up to her scrutiny.
Having free reign of his mind, there were a number of directions Daylight could take in her explorations. She threw back her head pondering, perhaps not sure herself. The fact that her aims were still so hazy to Bright only incensed him further. When she finally reached a decision, she pointed a hoof at Princess Celestia.
"I want to know who she is and what she does."
Bright hadn't thought to resist until now. When he tried, it didn't really seem to make much of a difference. He could think of nothing but storybook ideas of telepathic warfare, like emptying his mind and doing calculus for diversion, which did nothing to halt the flow of memories but only made his headache worse.
Daylight returned to even ground with him in the new memory. The dais underneath her hooves had disappeared, but another platform had risen up some distance away. Around them was an impressionist vision of a field outside Canterlot before dawn. Dabs of spring greens in the trees and grass were visible under the early morning's veil of gray. This was a very early memory, and not much of it remained. They were among a crowd of ponies here as well, but these were nothing more than shades. Bright's ego was a tiny phantom amidst them. His older sister was there too, though barely recognizable. He felt a stab of grief and regret over how little he remembered of her.
True to his memories, Bright never saw Celestia appear on the platform, but he heard the sound of horns that heralded her coming, and the explosion of light that followed was unmistakable. All those present could bask in the golden glow of the finest of sunrises. Everything else from this moment in Bright's earliest years may have been faded, but Celestia was eternal. Though far away, she was there in clear and detailed perfection. Having assured her subjects of the passing of time and the continued operation of the world, she touched down and went to greet them, to talk to them, and to grant what favors she could.
It had been Brainy Bright's first Summer Sun Celebration, and thus also his first memory of Princess Celestia. Perhaps that's why they were here. He felt annoyed with his subconscious. This one moment could not possibly represent the political and economic complexities of Celestia's Equestria, nor did it encompass Bright's opinion of the Princess nowadays. He'd never even gotten close enough to hear her speak.
Bright turned to look at Sparkle Daylight and found her wide-eyed with shock and confusion. Even a little bit of panic might have started to shine through, but Daylight worked against it to regain a facade of professional curiosity. She scrunched up her mouth and wrote something in her notepad.
"What was that?" she finally asked of Bright.
"What was what?"
"That peculiar darkness."
She expected an answer. It seemed Daylight's magic worked mostly for episodic memory, with little to no insight into semantic memory. Bright supposed that made sense.
"Night," he said, "It wasn't even proper night, just... twilight."
"Oh yes."
Bright wasn't sure if these words actually meant something to her, or whether she was just acting that way.
"And what would be a proper night?" she continued.
The pressure in Bright's head intensified. He had to close his eyes and grit his teeth to bear it. He didn't even remember to resist until it was already too late. Daylight paid him no mind, but watched the sun melt away from the horizon.
Everything that was gold before was now black. The darkness was not complete, for there were lamps around, lone city lights in the distance, a canopy of stars in a sky as cloudless as they only came in summertime, and a prominent full moon to boot, but it was certainly a proper night. Up above, the Mare in the Moon beckoned. This was a moment from shortly before Luna's return, almost two decades later than the last memory they'd visited.
It was the night Brainy Bright had celebrated getting his first higher degree, and the publication of his thesis. They were on the rooftop of Bright's favorite pub and hangout, him and a dozen or so of his friends that had stuck around this late. They'd been forced to retire to the roof due to a mix-up with the reservations, but this had turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The night had been lovely, with perfect weather and the echoes of a string quartet from an open-air concert in a nearby park setting the mood earlier in the evening. The roof was littered with empty wine bottles and withered blocks of salt, but among those that had stayed, the party was still going strong – if it could be called a party anymore.
Why this night of all nights? Was Daylight Sparkle guiding him into particular experiences, or was the choice Bright's after all?
Even though they were all buzzed if not outright drunk, the talk was quite serious at this point. They were uninhibited enough to say things they might otherwise not have said. Celestia was one of the main subjects. Not all those present were earth ponies, but all of them were in their own ways Brainy Bright's philosophical confederates.
Horsepower talked about the trouble he'd had putting his name forward for the Royal Guard and how little faith he had in being accepted – all of which he attributed to being an earth pony. Knelling Bell, born and raised in Las Pegasus, talked about the local governor, who was set to take enough votes for a third term on the basis of taxation and spending policies that ran counter to the Princess's national proposals. The proclamations made by Celestia's cabinet were always called proposals, but they were always meant to be followed implicitly. Rainy Days remembered a study his economics professor was doing that seemed to indicate limiting Equestria's farming subsidies only to earth pony enterprises might have been limiting overall growth, though nopony quite knew how to fit this into a relevant context.
Papyrus, an expert on history and magical theory who knew as much as anypony of the ancient magics unicorns had once used to move celestial bodies, made a convincing case for his suspicion that Celestia had intentionally suppressed knowledge of these magics centuries ago. If that idea was feasible, then what about all the other so-called conspiracy theories people had leveled against her? Some believed that Saddle Arabia's current royal family was only in power due to a coup engineered by Celestia – was that really out of the question? There had always been rumors that she had provoked the reindeer declaration of war in the last century – could they not be true as well? Many suspected that she'd sabotaged the Constitution of 750 and caused the dissolution of Equestria's last parliament – was that so unbelievable?
Doorstopper retold the legend of Nightmare Moon and they all mulled over what historical basis it might have had, how the real story of a power-grab in ages past could have been distorted over time into a propagandistic fairytale meant to reinforce and legitimize Celestia's reign. Many of them thought being imprisoned on the moon forever would have been far too harsh a punishment anyway – if it had really happened. Somepony even drew a few chuckles with the old joke that the Princess didn't actually move the sun, but only took credit for the planet's supposed natural revolution.
Beyond politics and pseudo-politics, they also had a chance to discuss the Princess's character. Wasn't she just a little too perfect? Didn't she seem to be trying a little too hard? Hat Trick mentioned that his aunt and uncle had met Celestia at some social function a short while ago, where she'd acted haughty and distant and above it all. She was apparently a bit of a bitch, he said with a sheepish smile. Rainy Days remembered all sorts of gossip about cruel pranks she'd played on others, as well as whispers of the illegitimate children she was supposed to have had. That was just what he'd heard, he said with a shrug. Melony argued that it didn't matter whether Celestia was a good pony or even a good princess, but only whether she had the divine right to rule. In Melony's opinion, she did not.
Somepony – Bright didn't remember who, so he only appeared as a smirk visible in the shadows – remarked on how much time Celestia spent with little children, and how close she appeared to be with some of her students. Nopony responded, but the silence itself, the idea that people even had to wonder, spoke volumes.
They talked about democracy a lot – the ideals, the practicalities, the historical precedents. Knelling Bell insisted that she would vote for her governor on a national level, if she could. Melony agreed. Papyrus didn't, but got to thinking whom he would vote for if given the chance. It was hard not to wonder why they couldn't choose their ruler.
Throughout it all, Bright himself, for the most part, stayed quiet and listened, only intervening occasionally with a factoid about demographics or a citation from some paper he'd read. He absorbed everything put forward while also recognizing that a great many things were left unsaid, especially about the security and prosperity she had provided for her subjects, and the efforts and sacrifices she'd made for the sake of Equestria. He didn't necessarily agree with all the opinions he heard, but this was the night that struck home that he wasn't alone in asking these kinds of questions about his homeland.
The conversation went on into the early morning. Words like "dictatorship" or "tyrant" were never mentioned, but the implications hung so heavy in the air that they were obvious to everypony. This was only the first such conversation the group was to have, and subsequent meetings saw those words said out loud as well.
In hindsight, irony was a vicious thing.
Daylight, though initially busy being fascinated by the surrounding darkness, could not help but listen in to all this. She attended the conversation mostly with perplexity, and eventually with disturbing coolness. Her lips curled downward until they could go no further. Bright realized that any chance he'd entertained of gaining Daylight Sparkle's respect was already dead. This pony was not primarily a scholar, but an enforcer for the very ruler he'd betrayed. Then again, Twilight Sparkle would probably have been no more disposed to give him any breaks after what he'd done either.
Bright shrugged his shoulders hopelessly. "Aren't you curious why I did it?" he asked.
"I can guess," said Daylight right away, "Envy, ignorance and mindless anger. You did it because you're insignificant, and Celestia is the greatest exemplar of your insignificance."
Bright's mind betrayed him. Though Daylight had asked no question, the setting shifted once more. Even she looked surprised by that, and immediately started scratching something into her notes.
Mellow pastels circled around them and took the shape of Bright's classroom in elementary school. The room was filled with people that had once seemed so important – his first best friend, his first crush, his first academic rival – but were now nothing but names and faces that time had worn all emotion from. He hadn't thought about them for years.
This was a time well before he'd come up with a cutie mark for himself. It was an early afternoon, and they had some time to kill before the end of the school day after going through their curriculum, so the teacher had decided to finish up with a casual discussion about what they all wanted to become when they grew up. Even at a young age, Bright had held that sort of thing to be a waste of time; he'd much rather have kept studying. His little ghostly ego slumped in his seat. With how much his mind had wandered while his classmates talked, he now remembered nothing of what they'd said.
What about you, Brainy Bright? the teacher had asked at last, What would you like to be?
He hadn't really been paying attention. He'd said the first thing that came to mind.
A unicorn.
All of them laughed. The whole classroom laughed. They laughed forever and ever. Even the teacher laughed, though he masked it by coughing. Nopony meant anything bad by it. None of them had been cruel, and none of them had been bullies. They laughed simply because he'd said something profoundly silly.
Bright sat down and buried his face in his hooves, only partly from the shame of living through one of the most embarrassing moments of his life a second time. Each giggle and guffaw buzzed uncomfortably in his throbbing head. He started to wonder how bad it might get. This procedure was apparently novel and experimental, after all. Could it cause long-term damage? Was this pain even "real?"
He lowered his hooves and hesitantly looked up at Daylight. She was smirking at what she'd seen and the validation it had given her, inattentive of his suffering.
Maybe it was the pain and the constant buildup of stress, or maybe it was the dreamlike unreality of these memories, but Bright's resentment was starting to exceed his caution. He wanted to hurt Daylight right back.
"If I'm being quite honest," he said quietly, "you're not much compared to your mistress either."
Daylight maintained her composure, but the way her nostrils flared and her mouth drew into a thin line told Bright he'd hit a nerve.
"For your information," she replied testily, "Her Grace has told me that she foresees a great destiny for me. She said I had the potential to become like her. With proper study and training, I could leave ordinary equinity behind to become something divine – that's a chance you'll never get."
"You think a pair of wings will make you her equal?"
"Shut up."
Bright wasn't willing to take it any farther, so he did shut up. The tiny sliver of satisfaction he got from her cutting him off had to do.
Daylight tapped the end of her quill against her jaw, perhaps in thought about how to go on. The direction she took was like a slap in the face for him.
"Show me how you invented that device from before."
All of a sudden, everything was so very clear to Bright. In his mind was everything Daylight Sparkle would have needed to recreate his portal and to open a path back to his home. The idea, and the unfathomable implications thereof, chilled him to the bone.
Although he now had a much better reason to resist than mere spite, he had no more success at it. He tried once more to suppress his thoughts, to focus on anything but his work on interdimensional travel, but he felt himself failing. Whether it was because Daylight's magic was too strong or he was too weak, he did not know. Perhaps the effects of the spell were a certainty and resisting was simply not possible. Thoughts spilled out of him and dripped pain as they came.
Something was taking form around them. The architecture of Bright's study in his Canterlot apartment faded in as if sliding closer from a great distance. It was night and candles were burning, but there was neither light nor shadow in the room. Most of the walls and furniture were clearly distinguishable and detailed yet out of focus, remembered not necessarily from his particular moment but from countless observations across a number of years. The used wooden armchair, the alphabetized bookshelf, the rug covered in cat hair, the flowery wallpaper fit for a granny – all of it was as familiar to him as anything.
Daylight immediately homed in in Bright's ego, who was sitting at his desk writing. This was the night when he'd finally completed his plans for the portal, but it was not a special night. The first draft had been done months ago, with a lot of time put down on triple-checking the theories, running over the math again and confirming his conclusions, and half the work – construction – still lay ahead.
All that work made for a lot of data. Bright had a blackboard with sketched diagrams covering one entire side of the study, dozens of books that had informed his work, a number of enormous manila folders containing schematics and reams of texts, as well as innumerable smaller notes lying around with scattered thoughts. Much of his writing would have been in shorthand, and all of it completely incomprehensible without the proper background in magical theory.
Daylight bit her lip and considered. She put her quill to paper, but clearly didn't know where to start.
"I guess your notepad isn't big enough," said Bright, too deadpan to be called smug.
She didn't react at first. Bright thought she hadn't heard him, or was ignoring him, but a few seconds down the line, she lowered her quill and looked at Bright with the utmost seriousness.
"This is, what, your life's work? It's nothing. You think I mind doing some reading? I'll take a week or two at most to figure it all out. Picking through your brain is going to be a hobby, a diversion, something to do in between real work. How does that make you feel?"
She let the question hang long enough for Bright to come to terms with an answer, even if he wouldn't and couldn't say it out loud. It was only a minor relief that Daylight put away her quill and notepad in the ensuing awkward silence. Whatever the project was to be, she wasn't willing to go in-depth with it just yet. In light of what she'd just said, being too eager for his knowledge wouldn't have come across right.
Daylight stepped back over to him, with a new violet glow in her eyes. The memory was already fading.
It was over in a flash; they were back in the throne room. Bright stumbled and almost fell again. He'd taken his headache back with him into the real world. His eyes stung from lack of blinking, and he was, for some reason, out of breath. For a time, he couldn't tell up from down. Daylight had already walked away from him. With his ears still ringing, Bright saw rather than heard her brief the Queen about what she'd seen in his mind. The sight of them blurred from tears welling up in his eyes.
The truth was that Daylight Sparkle was probably right. She could figure out the magical technology in his portal given time; there was nothing he could do to stop her. They would make his invention into a weapon. It wasn't as if he'd never considered that it could be abused – he'd been the first to abuse it himself, after all – but he'd never foreseen something like this. All the responsibility would be his. Each thought of escape he had and each notion of a solution that went through his mind seemed more hopeless than the last, until there was well and truly nothing left. The Prime Minister's offer didn't seem so unthinkable now...
He hung his head. Some of Celestia and Daylight's conversation seeped through to him. He heard Celestia say she was looking forward to meeting herself. Daylight said something about sending out out troops to look for "them." It was hard to concentrate. Once the pain and disorientation abated a little, tried to listen in more.
"You've been a very clever pony, Daylight. It's a fine spell you've invented."
"Thank you, Your Grace! I think it will prove to be much more efficient than our traditional means for extracting information. Plus, with some tweaking, it could have interesting applications in other fields, like psychotherapy and education. Perhaps we'd even be able to go beyond reading minds to influencing them! It's such a waste to execute a rebel when we could just ensure their obedience instead..."
She fell silent. Bright glanced up to see the reason why. Celestia had raised her hooves and enclosed Daylight in a hug.
"Oh, Daylight," she said, "at least you're trying."
Daylight didn't get the chance to comment on that. Bright looked away again when Celestia glanced in his direction.
"What do you make of him?" asked the Queen.
"A very promising subject. Give me a few weeks to work with – no, just a few turns – and I can tell you all his secrets! I'll be able to build you an interdimensional portal! It will be easy!"
"No, I don't think that will be necessary."
Bright could tell the Queen was approaching by the glow at the edge of his vision. He didn't want to look up. Suddenly, he was yanked off the floor and left floating in mid-air. Celestia's telekinetic field was exquisite; Bright could feel nothing from the golden aura holding him aloft, no pressure or weight. She raised him up so he had no choice but to look at her face, framed by flame.
"Why go through all the effort, when there's an easier way? Have you even considered simply asking for his cooperation?"
Even though he was several hooflengths above the floor, Celestia towered over him. She raised a hoof and ran it through his sweat-drenched mane, idly combing together strands of hair. Bright's gaze flickered back and forth between her blank white eyes and the sea of heat and hurt encroaching on him.
"Oh... What was your name again?" She cocked her head to one side quizzically.
"Brainy Bright," he said through gritted teeth.
"Won't you please build me a doorway to other worlds, Brainy Bright?"
"No," said Bright, to prove to himself he could.
Celestia sighed theatrically, but her smile was undaunted. "Why not?"
Why not indeed? How could he possibly sum up all the reasons not to, all the fears of catastrophes and calamities, all the ways that would be a terrible idea on both a personal and a universal level?
"You're evil," he said.
"Oh, you wound me!" said Celestia, "You might at least do me the justice of saying I am the greatest evil of all."
She circled around so she was standing beside him, to his right, rather than opposite him. Bright didn't dare follow her movements, so the touch on his back made him flinch. The strokes came slowly and softly. She was patting him down. What should have been a calming motion only wound Bright up tighter.
"What would you like to be?" she asked right at his ear, in a voice that was not her own, "A unicorn. Oh, that was precious!"
Bright hadn't realized the Queen had been following along the journey through his mind. Judging by the glimpse of a shocked Daylight Sparkle he caught further away, she hadn't been aware of it either.
Celestia leaned against him. Bright tried to squirm away to avoid the fire in her mane, but he was helpless in immobility. He didn't feel pain yet, but a terrible suggestion of pain in his every cell. His heart thundered.
"I could make you a unicorn, you know," Celestia whispered, "All of nature's gifts are mine to give."
"Really?" asked Bright, and immediately wished he hadn't.
"Really," said Celestia.
"Gifts are free," he mumbled in response.
"Oh, would my price be too dear for you?"
Bright did not answer, but pressed out another question. So far, his fears regarding the portal were supposition and imagination. He wanted to understand what he was fighting against so that it might give him strength.
"What would- what would you do with a doorway to other worlds?"
Celestia nuzzled into his neck, eliciting a moan from Bright. "I would take you back home, my little lost stallion. I would let you watch while I burn your home to the ground and make your friends and neighbors into cattle."
The answer didn't give Bright strength. He could see it all so vividly in his mind's eye he nearly sobbed. "Why? Why would you do that? Why would you do any of this? Why?"
"Why?" asked Celestia, and laughed, "You would ask me why?" There had been nothing but warmth and good cheer in her voice so far. Only now did her tone take on a harder edge, an unfathomable bitterness, and only for a brief moment. "I am evil, aren't I?"
"I won't do it."
"Oh, you will. I love my Equestria very much, but one world just isn't big enough for one such as I. I've seen most anything there is to see and done most anything that can be done. An eternal being could only be satisfied by infinity. There's an entire multiverse out there waiting to be discovered, so many new friends to make..."
"No!"
Bright twitched when he felt something hot and wet on his neck. He couldn't understand what that was, until Celestia came back into view. She was licking across his cheek until her tongue brushed against his lips. Bright gasped for breath but found none. He couldn't see smoke, but he could taste it.
Celestia pressed her snout to his and looked him in the eye. A slight tingling sensation on his cheek blossomed into pain, and the pain worked itself up to agony. It got worse and worse and worse, all the more troubling for the fact that he could not move or see what was happening. He imagined a scar on his face – a necrotic hole. He imagined acid eating through his skin and flesh. Had Celestia permitted it, he would have screamed.
"You are mine," said Celestia, "and you will do as I please. You will build me that portal. Nopony else will do it for you."
Bright could not think clearly from the pain, nor even remember the syllable he needed. Even when he remembered, he could not say it out loud. He was afraid to shake his head, knowing she was so close next to him, as close as two ponies could be. Through a herculean effort, he forced the word through his lips.
"No..."
"Yes."
Next chapter: Savior of Equestria (provisional).
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BornIn1142
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901
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Main 6,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Alternate Universe,Adventure,Dark,Drama,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Sunshine and Fire
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Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.
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incomplete
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<p>Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.</p><p>Feel free to check out or add to the story's <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/SunshineAndFire" rel="nofollow">TV Tropes page</a>.</p>
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teen
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2015-04-12T22:36:09+00:00
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2015-04-13T06:16:29+00:00
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Celestia and Applejack touched down, quite appropriately, in the middle of nowhere. They appeared on a nebulous strip of land where desert became beach, with an empty plain at their back and an ocean ahead of them. One horizon framed a sea of sand and reflected another that bordered endless blue waters. They were all alone out there. Not much was to be found here in either universe.
Celestia felt a puff of air on her neck. Applejack had been holding her breath for the jump. Now she drew away, almost hopping backwards to get to a safe distance, while Celestia had a look around.
"Where's this?" asked Applejack.
"The southwestern edge of the continent," said Celestia, "If this place ever had a name, it's been forgotten."
Applejack remained silent, most likely calculating just how far they'd traveled in the span of the last few seconds. If she figured out the mileage, she made no comment on it.
The terrain was not entirely flat. Further up on the beach to their left, grains of sand, pebbles, rocks and boulders formed the imperceptible steps of a stairway leading all the way to the horizon, where the ground grew into cliffs. It was good that some monument to the land's ancient geography remained. At some point in the past, the rockface had marked the coastline, but it was a long way from water now. Further outcroppings of stone among the dunes marked, perhaps, the former locations of little islets that had been swallowed by the earth when the sea receded.
"Hmh, well, you can drop the act now."
"I'm sorry?" said Celestia, turning her attention from the distant cliffs back to Applejack.
"This isn't what you really look like, is it? You gonna show me the real thing or what?"
Celestia frowned and hesitated, but had no real cause to object. It was time to drop the guise of the normal, little pink-maned pony she'd maintained since Everfree City. With a mild glow from her horn, she revealed her true form and returned to a familiar, higher perspective.
Applejack suddenly found herself looking almost straight up, and seemed to be resisting the urge to take several more steps back.
"Ah," she said, warily eyeing Celestia's colorful mane and tail, "Well. I thought you'd be..."
"Taller?" suggested Celestia with a slight smile, but already she bent her neck to try to appear less intimidating. Judging by the curve of Applejack's mouth, she wasn't exactly succeeding.
Somewhere at the back of her mind, Celestia found it curious that Applejack had tolerated this disguise while they were in the midst of her compatriots, but that was not something she could concern herself with at length.
"Do you see those cliffs?" Celestia began walking in their direction. "We might as well start looking over there."
She could hear Applejack's hoofsteps following. "So who or what are we looking for here, exactly?" Applejack asked.
Celestia had to take a moment before answering. She knew that her objectives here were somewhat tenuous, and even though Applejack had invited herself to come along, Celestia didn't want to make it seem like a waste of time.
"We're looking for the most celebrated pony prophet of the ancient world – the Oracle of Equ, she's sometimes called. We don't know a lot about her in modern day, not even her name, but it's a matter of historical record that she inhabited this coast toward the end of her life."
"And you're hoping to find artifacts or such? Do you really think there's actual useful intelligence to be found?"
"She's known to have made a great many prophecies applying to both her own time and the far future. I can vouch for the accuracy of at least one myself."
"Have you, uh, met her?" Applejack's brow was almost comically furrowed asking this.
"She lived a little before my time."
"Hmh. That's a lot of trust to put in some legendary unicorn's fancy magics, isn't it?"
"Oh no. History never retained this oracle's name, but we do know her race. She was an earth pony."
Applejack snorted, but only after a brief shocked silence. "How's that possible?"
Celestia wasn't surprised that she'd be skeptical. This wasn't commonly known in the first place, and she suspected that the Equestrian Empire's overall level of education regarding the racial heritage of earth ponies and what made them special by their own right was rather lacking.
"There is magic in all ponies. In earth ponies, it manifests as a tendency for increased strength, a powerful constitution and an affinity for the land and the things that grow in it. Queen Celestia has to keep your people plowing the fields because unicorns and pegasi wouldn't be able to produce enough to keep the population alive in this climate – and they'd have a harder time staying alive."
"I've never seen a farmer cast a spell in my life!"
"There are subtler forms of magic than spells, hexes and curses. Sometimes, it's as natural as breathing, and hard to notice when it's happening. I wouldn't want to credit magic too much, of course. When it comes to farming, there's just as much skill involved, and traditions that have passed on agricultural expertise."
"And what does all that have to do with predicting the future?"
"Well, in some rare cases, the magic in our blood manifests differently, as a sixth sense that gives ponies premonitions or visions, or even an ability to connect with the minds of others. Not every every seer can do what they think or say they can do, but it's not unheard of. Earth ponies in particular tend to display such gifts."
Celestia had not chosen the best of words. Applejack scowled and looked off to the horizon, her mouth clamped firmly shut.
All Celestia had wanted to do was to defuse Applejack's distrust by affirming that her people were deserving of respect and that each earth pony could feel proud of being an earth pony, but all she'd succeeded in doing was reminding her of how they didn't have that respect and any pride they felt was stamped down as a matter of course. She'd tried her best to speak mildly, gently, friendlily – wasn't it obvious that she'd been cloying and patronizing? How could Celestia, with all her maturity and experience, still make such mistakes?
So it went, time and time again.
Some ponies didn't like Celestia. Surely Applejack had that right, the right to hate her outright even, but it still bothered her. It was a niggling little irritation in her chest that just wouldn't go away.
It was so silly, wasn't it? Celestia felt annoyed with herself for the annoyance she felt. She thought it was childish to think Applejack was being childish. She wished she could laugh it off.
Was it manipulative to want somepony to like you? Was it arrogant to think that the reasons so many had for disliking you didn't really make sense?
Ah, well. In the grand scheme of things, such feelings were rather insignificant.
For that matter, there were much more constructive and provocative ways to engage Applejack.
"Tell me, if Equestria held an election, who would you vote for?"
"Huh?" Applejack peered at her sideways.
"Have you given it any thought? You've worked hard to tear down the existing government, but what should take its place? Who would be qualified to rule Equestria, in your opinion?"
"Uhm," said Applejack.
Once Celestia was sure that Applejack did not have an answer ready, she went on. "There might be earth ponies who are respected village elders, pegasi who've made it in middle management, but they wouldn't know much about governance. The only ones with experience in administration and legislation will be unicorns – ponies who have as much to unlearn about ruling a nation as others have to learn. And there's so much else to consider. How many prospective leaders will stand up to lead when when they've been conditioned to keep their heads down by generations of repression? How will candidates establish and distinguish their platforms when most ponies have no concept of open political discourse? I'm curious who you would vote for because the average voter is going to have a much vaguer idea of the process and the result than you would. To be honest, I think you would be more suited to be a candidate than just a voter."
Applejack's eyes widened at that, but Celestia couldn't believe the idea was new to her. If she hadn't wondered about it herself, one of her subordinates must surely have suggested it at some point.
"I'm sure more ponies would know of Applejack of the Apple Underground, who bravely fights for their rights, than anypony else. You're going to be on their minds whether you put your name forward or not. In fact, you're going to have to govern no matter what, at least for a time. If your revolution succeeds, the Equestrian Empire will collapse into anarchy, unless those who destroy the old order retain the authority to build a new one. That's a compromise most revolutionaries are willing to make. Some enjoy it so much they never let go of the position at all..."
"That's not going to happen," said Applejack, "None of us are in this for power!"
"I wouldn't doubt it. But somepony's going to have to make the decisions on how to transition to an entirely new form of rule. And there are so many decisions to make, about constitutions, executives, lawmaking bodies, ratios of representation, regional rights, term periods and a hundred other functions of government. Many of these decisions will have to be made quickly and decisively, and cannot afford the squabbling and fumbling of an inexperienced congress. There are ways in which transforming a dictatorship into a democracy is more difficult than striking up a new state."
"How's that?" Applejack did not seem like she particularly wanted to have this conversation – Celestia had not thought she would – but there was curiosity in her voice.
"Once you get to a certain age, you realize... that time is cyclical. For every action there is a reaction. Once the balance of power shifts with the swing of an election, it will be easy for those once privileged to become victims themselves, and for the existing elitism to be replaced by a mob rule that's really no better. There are more earth ponies than pegasi and unicorns combined – do you realize what that means? Restoring earth ponies to their rightful place in society will perhaps be more important than anything, but can you honestly say there are none that would seek to punish their oppressors, whether by acts of violence or by turning their own institutions against them? Does that fair to you? Does it seem just? It could be called both, but it's not going to create a stable, healthy society. A true democracy is pluralistic and protects the interests of its minorities – even if those minorities have committed serious wrongs in the past. I think the wounds of your people run too deep for that to be possible any time soon. The ideal of One Pony One Vote may be a foundation for equality, but not necessarily for balance and harmony."
"We all know the cliché," grumbled Applejack, "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch, right? Does Twilight Sparkle know you're this cynical?"
They walked on in silence for a little while as Celestia considered. She'd never really thought of it that way. It seemed clear to her that Twilight Sparkle would have agreed.
The cliffs they were heading for were much closer now.
"I don't think I'm being cynical. I think ponies are inherently good by nature, but we're as corruptible and capable of pettiness as anyone. The pony races are just different enough in abilities and affinities that it is difficult for one kind to effectively represent another politically. This is true even in my world, where we're much more integrated and familial. Here the centuries of prejudice and resentment are going to make a peaceful ideological competition almost impossible. The revolution is going to expose these racial tensions. The truth is that we are herd animals who tend to be shaped by our communities, and the ugliness of the current world order will have an impact for generations."
"So you think you and Luna should rule because you're above all that?"
Celestia allowed herself a small smile. "It's precisely because we're amidst it all that we should rule. We are earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns all. We can relate to all of you, and represent everypony's interests."
"Uh huh? That sounds more like you can't relate to any of us or properly represent anypony's interests."
Celestia's smile faded. That was, in some ways, a rather cruel thing to say.
"If we're as detached as you say," she pointed out softly, "then we are also free of the grievances and biases that affect you. Even if you believe that I could not possibly understand or empathize the average earth pony's circumstances, you must at least grant that I have a grasp of the big picture of geopolitics. There are other things to consider beside the fate of ponies. What of all the other races whose lands Equestria has subjugated? How will their independence be restored? Can you say with certainty that there aren't ponies who wouldn't rather maintain Equestria's hegemony and international influence?"
Celestia paused to give Applejack the opportunity to contradict her. Even though she hoped to change Applejack's mind, she'd always meant for this to be a conversation rather than merely a lecture. Applejack, however, had nothing to say.
"Do you think a laborer who's never been further than twenty kilometers from Trottingham is qualified to make decisions about the political liberties of zebras half-way across the world? No, there are decisions that must be made unilaterally, because there are some mistakes too great and terrible to be made even in the comfort of knowledge that they were made as part of the democratic process. Equestria's occupation of its neighbors must end. It needs a leader who can make that happen swiftly and decisively, yet one who can protect ponies from revanchism..."
Applejack actually stopped at this point, and stomped her front hooves into the ground.
"All right, democracy's complicated! Nopony ever said otherwise. It's not just something that happens, it's a continuous process that needs ponies working on it and maintaining it. The wheels of justice grind slow and all that."
Celestia slowed down and looked over her shoulder. "I would call that continuous process bureaucracy. While those wheels turn, the injustices prevail. I understand desire for self-determination, but the ideal of democracy isn't worth it when ponies and others continue to suffer, hoping and waiting for reforms to be implemented."
"How do you even figure?! Where's all this expertise coming from when you've lived in your utopian bubble for so long? What do you know about democracy? We – earth ponies, I mean – we pretty much invented it."
"So the old stories go. Unicorns created monarchy, pegasi thought up despotism and earth ponies invented democracy. History isn't quite so clear-cut though. Some unicorn kings and queens were elected, and some pegasus generals were appointed dictators by decree of law and majority support and almost always stepped down peacefully when their terms ended. Some earth pony chancellors abused their power and worked to undermine the limitations of their office."
Celestia faced front and kept walking, hoping Applejack would keep up to hear what she had to say. She was glad to hear Applejack's hoofsteps pick up again behind her.
"There have been various movements to reform my Equestria into a republic, you know. I've never tried to stand in the way. These experiments, they never lasted long. The most recent such attempt was only about two and a half centuries ago. A group of local governors and freethinkers approached me with a proposal to institute a parliament and a request that I step down – so I did. They called their treatise for government the Constitution of the Year 750, and it didn't last beyond that year. The council of ministers voted into power broke up from infighting, the parliament followed, and I was asked to resume my office."
Applejack harrumphed, but Celestia liked the sound. It sounded thoughtful as well as disapproving.
"It just goes to show," Applejack said, "that your people have become so dependent on you that they can't function on their own anymore. Heck, even if you never tried to stand in the way, I bet you never gave it your full support either, did you?"
Celestia looked down from her destination, at the dirt under her hooves, and idly noted that none of it was sticking to her pristine golden shoes.
"I couldn't support a system I didn't believe in."
The words made her feel hollow like a lie, even though they were nothing of the sort. She spoke the truth, but it was also true that she had been afraid, not for her position but for her perception. She'd been scared, so scared, that her ponies would blame her when the experiment failed. It had happened before, in previous instances in previous centuries, when she'd tried to do more as an adviser or an elector or a symbolic constitutional monarch. Always, always there had been angry whispers in the underground, accusations of sabotage and conspiracy that were hardly ever voiced directly to her, and that terrible word was at the back of her mind whenever she saw a frowning face. In 750, she had practically gone into exile so nopony could accuse her of undermining the work of her successors, and she had not succeeded. In the midst of her recrowning ceremony on the last day of the year, with a cheering crowd of hundreds in front of her and a rainbow of fireworks outside, she remembered nothing as well as the whispering servants in the corner of the hall and the former minister who'd spat on the floor and stormed out. She knew what they were thinking...
Ah, well. Celestia had no right to feel angry, or sad, or frustrated. Luna had always had it so much worse.
"Well, neither can I," said Applejack, "However much trouble it is, a republic's still better than some absolute monarch..." She searched for the right words, and found them. "...playing Goddess!"
She said it with conviction, but Celestia wasn't sure whether it was because she genuinely found Celestia's arguments wanting, or due to simple stubbornness. Perhaps Applejack's perspective would change if she had time to think about it, without Celestia's poking and prodding putting her on the defensive. If not, then not. Celestia didn't want this debate to become more heated than it already was. And yet, she couldn't help responding to that last barb.
"I've never claimed to be a god, and I've never asked to be worshiped..."
"Well, somehow, you ended up in that position anyway, didn't you?"
"Mmmm. God... Well, I've always thought that God is a dream of good government."
"What?"
Up close, the cliffs appeared old and feeble. It was a limestone formation, with a steady inward curve that clearly marked the former waterline. The rockface looked like it had curled down on the beach to die after being worn down by the push and pull of waves lasting for millennia. Even though the waves had receded and given it peace, the place must have seemed that old even long before.
Celestia was certain they were in the right place, the place where they needed to be. She'd only had a vague idea of the exact geographical location of the oracle's abode, but stepping closer to these rocks felt appropriate, like she was taking steps in invisible but familiar hoofprints. Something, whether lingering magic or simple intuition, was guiding her. She was hardly surprised when they progressed along the former seaward-side of the cliffs and found a small cave entrance.
It was, in many ways, a highly impractical living space. Celestia looked over the strip of desert reaching towards the sea and tried to picture the area as it had been a thousand years ago. It seemed like it would have been desolate, remote and lonely in any time period. What sort of pony would have chosen to live here? Had the oracle been a loner with an appreciation of flat vistas? Or had she been so hounded by ponies seeking knowledge of their futures that she'd made herself a recluse?
Celestia may have been on the lookout for prophecies to help navigate future paths, but she was also seeking prophecies of the past, answers about how the Equestrian Empire had come about. In Celestia's world, the prophecy of Nightmare Moon's return had been made some time before Luna's fall, even though Celestia had only discovered them long afterward. It was interesting to wonder... Was this an alternate reality or a parallel reality? Had there been a specific time, a specific moment, where this universe and hers and split off from each other? How might that have affected visions of the future from before that moment? Perhaps there was an explanation there for prophecies that did not come true. Celestia certainly hoped she hadn't come all this way to find the same old warning about the stars aiding in Luna's escape.
No scrolls or papers would ordinarily have survived the salty seaside air and the span of centuries, but they might well have been protected by magics, and there might have been stone tablets, inscriptions, less mundane ways of leaving records. Or so she hoped.
The tunnel entrance was wide and open, but the path quickly became cramped enough that Celestia had to bend over and keep her wings tightly folded. Applejack had an easier time moving forward, but turning around promised to be tricky for both of them. The cavern seemed largely natural, but had probably had work done to widen and extend it. There were faint marks on the walls that may have been scrapes left by pickaxes. Though it was dusty and dry inside, Celestia could well imagine how damp the space would have once been. Applejack didn't say anything, but she must have appreciated the lower temperature underground.
They reached a living area. By this point, the daylight had faded away, so Celestia created some of her own. She tweaked her inner glow to a colder blueish, assuming Applejack would prefer something less solar.
"Sheesh," said Applejack observing the chamber, "Not as fancy as I was expecting."
The cavern was a cavern, and nothing more. There was no elaborate stonework, no reliefs or carvings – no sign left of art, only practicalities. The ground was littered with broken pottery and refuse that might have once been wooden furniture. A pile of mortar in the corner implied an oven. Alcoves in the walls had the function of storerooms. The place may have been an archeologist's treasure trove, but nothing there looked conventionally valuable or even serviceable in any way. They had a cursory look through the junk anyway.
Along the way, Applejack cleared her throat loudly. "I can't believe I'm asking this. Uh, can you see the future? If you alicorns have got the same blood as us, do you ever get premonitions yourself?"
"I... can see the present on occasion, in my dreams. Sometimes, it's flashes of secrets and dangers, and sometimes it's nothing at all, things I can't recognize or interpret. Sometimes, I can't tell whether I've dreamed something real, or just fantasy."
Applejack's face scrunched up as she thought about Celestia's answer, but she didn't seem to reach a satisfactory conclusion.
"Why do you ask?" Celestia wondered.
"There's ponies damn near convinced that the Queen knows what's going to happen before it happens. I swear I've had the same idea sometimes. When we tried to infiltrate her palace, I'm telling you, we didn't mess up. It felt like the guards were waiting for us." Her eyes flickered from side to side. "I know what you're thinking – I've thought about it too – but nopony's on my crew's a traitor or a sell-out! I, hmh, I made sure of that. Nopony but me knew when and where and how we made our move, so nopony could have betrayed anything really important to the enemy."
"A wise precaution." Applejack stared a silent question at her, so Celestia went on. "I don't know how she might have known. There are many things about her I don't understand, and she may have allies or command forces that I don't."
A further tunnel led out of the living area. Applejack followed Celestia inside without prompting.
The next chamber seemed more promising. This was a space that had been dug out into a rough rectangular space. There were signs of stalactites and stalagmites being broken off to make room. Large stone shelves, consisting of a dozen tiers and reaching almost up to the ceiling, were lined up next to each other. The place had the look of a library – but the shelves were empty at a glance.
Applejack spent some time chewing on her lip and then spoke up again. "What do you know for sure then?" she asked. It was as if the idea had only now sunk in that she could better understand her enemy by questioning Celestia. "Could you move the sun?"
"I could," said Celestia, turning away from Applejack. She started pacing between the shelves, looking for something, anything. She had to scrape against the cave walls to turn around in the cramped space.
"Then why haven't you?"
"Because until she is defeated, she could move it back anytime. It would be incredibly dangerous to get into a tug of war with the sun."
Only after she spoke did she realize that Applejack had asked her whether she knew this for sure when she actually did not. Celestia thought about it, but did not correct herself.
The truth was that from the moment she'd entered this universe, she'd sensed something strange and unnatural about the sun. It was certainly larger than usual, and there was an energy about it that she could not explain, except by assuming it was being fed by the corrupt magics of its mistress. She knew that ordinary ponies could not look directly at the sun because of its bright light and that was not unlike what she felt here. Even seeing it clearly, a haze of flames seemed to cloud her awareness.
She would have preferred not to take any action before she understood this twisted sun and the ways in which it differed from her own. Celestia wanted to make sure she would have perfect control.
"Besides," she carried on, "Queen Celestia doesn't yet know that I am here, or even that I exist. If I interfered with the sun, she may be able to figure out who I am and we would lose a major advantage, secrecy."
Did that come across as defensive? Celestia glanced back at Applejack, but found her nodding along without rancor.
"You've got something there," said Applejack.
Celestia thought Applejack was voicing her agreement at first, until the latter raised a hoof and pointed to one of the shelves, where something of faded dark metal had eluded the glow Celestia was projecting. It was some sort of tube or cylinder, a container, made of bronze perhaps. She picked it up with a gentle telekinetic field and tempered her excitement. If this was a storeroom of prophecies, most of the prophecies were long gone by now, so the odds of happening across something relevant to their quest were long indeed. Yet she expected they'd come across something and not nothing, which may have been a bit optimistic. She examined the bronze cylinder and clicked open the top. Inside was a rolled-up piece of cloth. Once she extricated and unwrapped it – carefully, without touching it – she supposed it had once been a piece of writing. It looked more like a worn kitchen rag than a document, but there were faint traces of text on it, now far from legible. Deciphering whatever had been written there seemed impossible.
Without a huff, Celestia rolled up the cloth again and slipped it back inside the container. When they looked around for more, they discovered two more bronze cylinders, one of which was empty while the other contained only dust and scraps. They also found shards of clay tablets they could not piece together. Celestia scanned the walls for inscriptions or painted messages and saw nothing of the sort. It was nothing they found after all.
They did, however, come across another way forward, another tunnel deeper underground.
The next chamber was by far the largest. Celestia's glow created a bubble of illumination around them that did not reach the back walls. She had to aim a more focused beam of light from her horn to look around, but found only empty space between herself and the far side. While the previous parts of the cavern had been plausibly natural, with occasional modifications and extensions, this area did not make as much sense. It was too big and symmetrical, like the inside of a dome.
"The heck is this place supposed to be?" asked Applejack, keeping her voice low
Something was different here. Though there was nothing conspicuous to draw the eye, Celestia could sense strangeness. There was a distinct smell to old magic, and she was sure she caught a whiff of it here. Yet even with the feeling that they were in the right place, Celestia felt lost, as there was nothing obvious there to approach or investigate. They had a look around, both zigzagging across the chamber and meeting back up somewhere in the middle. They spent minutes aimlessly searching for, and failing to find anything, stood still and took in the silence. Applejack yawned, and raised a hoof to protect her eyes when Celestia looked at her in reaction.
"Hey, watch it with the flashlight!" she muttered.
Celestia aimed her horn downwards. She did notice something then. There was something on the cave floor – circular grooves in an unrecognizable pattern. As the uneven ground was obscured by loose rocks and dust, it was hard to make out anything for certain, but it may have been some sort of symbols carved into the rock.
"I'll be darned if we didn't come all this way for nothing," murmured Applejack, taking further steps around.
Celestia remained silent and kept her gaze on the floor, but only for a moment. A vague but spiking sense of unease caused her to whirl around at almost the same time that Applejack yelped.
Applejack was quivering, and waving one of her forehooves up and down. She looked, rather implausibly, like she'd been frightened by some rodent or insectoid and was trying to throw it off or stomp it on the ground. Celestia scooted closer and tried to find the real cause of her alarm.
"Applejack?"
Applejack didn't respond, didn't even look at her. She was shaking her hoof with increasing panic, as if something invisible was crawling up her leg and drawing up her body. Her eyes were rolling to the back of her head. She seemed like she should have lost her balance and fallen, but something was holding her upright. Celestia considered a dozen different spells and magical wards, but hesitated to take action before she understood what was happening. Before she reached any conclusions, Applejack neck twitched and she fell still.
When she spoke, she seemed to start in the middle of a sentence.
"...we can begin. Yes, this is the part where we begin."
Her voice echoed even before it left her mouth, before the sound could soar and bounce in the underground hall. Celestia moved closer, causing Applejack to take a wobbly step backwards. She moved only very slowly and was bent forward like an old mare with aching joints.
"Hail Celestia, Princess of Ponykind," said something through Applejack, in a voice too indifferent to be called mocking, "There's no need to get fussy about your companion, you hear? I am only borrowing her for a little bit. Yes, yes, it is all very morally suspect, I'm sure, but it can't be helped. I will only take a few minutes. She will be fine. And I think you can bear it too."
The movements of her mouth seemed to follow the sound rather than the other way around.
"I'm speaking these words over three thousand years before your time and leaving them for you to find. Do not ask me how exactly it works – it's all very complicated and I only hired somepony to make it happen. He is just staring at me with a dumb expression on his face. Maybe he doesn't know how it works either, eh?"
The theory of it, at least, made sense to Celestia. It must have been some sort of psychic imprint, magicked into the environment and triggered by specific circumstances. There was nopony here but a recording speaking through Applejack's body. Her eyes were half-lidded and out of focus – whatever presence was visiting her did not see Celestia or their surroundings.
"You know who I am. I am the Oracle of Equ. You'd like me to tell you your fortune. Before we get to that, I will give you the same two warnings I give anypony else. Firstly, don't get your hopes up too much. You knew what you were getting into when you came looking for prophecies, and something very specific wasn't it. I've been able to predict the future for most of my life and most of it has been good intuition, hunches and mysterious dreams. I've never had a vision as clear as the one I had of this conversation. I can still remember every word you and I say, which is how I can communicate with you at all. I would prefer to skip the nonsense back and forth and tell you everything now, but that's not what I am going to do."
The sudden silence caught Celestia off guard. So far, it felt like the Oracle was reciting from a script, addressing points before Celestia had time to raise them. If the Oracle was following a script, she must have still been following it. She wanted Celestia to speak next, to teach her how to communicate with somepony that wasn't really there, or perhaps to make some sort of point about predestination. It seemed childish to refuse or to change the subject, so Celestia went along with it.
"And the second warning?" she asked.
"Don't blame me if you don't like what I have to say. You have not realized this, since you only know me from centuries of success stories and myths thought up in hindsight, but I won't be very popular until after my death. Ponies are more likely to throw rocks at me than heed me, and those that come to seek my wisdom often regret it. Oh well. I guess a lot of ponies have reason to fear their futures, hmm?" The warning seemed fair, but the Oracle wasn't finished yet. Applejack's mouth twisted into an ugly sneer. "You won't be the only one to leave this cave running away in tears."
"I'll... keep that in mind," said Celestia. She bit her lip and tried to clarify what she could expect a bit further. "You say that you've foreseen this conversation, but if most everything else you've foreseen is vague and blurry, then what do you actually know?"
"I know enough. I know who you are and the circumstances you're in, so the conversation we're having filled in any blanks."
Celestia pondered that for a moment. "So you know the future based on foreseeing your own predictions of the future?"
"Hmh. Don't overthink it." Applejack did a lopsided shrug. "I don't do hogwash, and I'm sure I wouldn't be here without a reason. This is the part where you go ahead with your actual questions."
It was good advice on both accounts. Despite all the rules of predestination, the future could be too mutable to recount reliably, even by the best of prophets. Celestia had not been foolish enough to let her expectation get too high.
The first question seemed obvious enough.
"Are we going to defeat Queen Celestia?"
"Oh yes. Probably."
Celestia sighed.
"Will Twilight Sparkle and her friends be all right?"
"I don't know. They'll survive though, if that makes any difference."
"Am I going to succeed in killing Queen Celestia?"
"You'll come closer to killing yourself than the Queen."
"But she will die, won't she? She has to get her punishment, right?"
"She will lose her life and gain a new one, though not necessarily in that order."
This was presumably why the Oracle hadn't wanted her to get her hopes up.
"Is my plan going to work otherwise?"
"It would get close enough, if you stuck to it yourself."
"Why wouldn't I?"
"There will be several convincing reasons. Applejack will beg you to. Luna will refuse to play her part. Your conscience will force your hoof."
"Are you being cryptic to provoke me?"
"Hmh. I warned you, didn't I?" Applejack cocked her head to one side. "I only say what I'm meant to so you would do as you will. It can't be helped."
Do as you will...The words seemed to have a grating double meaning.
"Then I've wasted my time coming here? There's no point to any of this?"
"There is a point and I wish you'd get to it. The truth is that you wouldn't behave any differently no matter what I predicted."
"That's not-"
"You would not. You believe in prophecy, but you believe in yourself and your allies more. More importantly, you know the future can't be changed, no matter what. You made your plans before coming to this place, and it's too late to recalculate everything now, based solely on the words of a memory. You sought me out because you hate the uncertainty of your conclusions and hoped I would prove you right and make you feel good about yourself. Why don't you ask me what you really came here for?"
Celestia took a deep breath to calm herself. She was starting to see why ponies might have wanted to throw rocks at the Oracle, and it wasn't just because she might have foretold terrible things.
"Do you know why this reality is so different from my own?"
"It's not so different, really. All that separates this world from yours is a single decision made a thousand years ago."
"Who made that decision? Me?"
"It was your sister, when she relinquished her claim to the crown of Equestria."
"Why would she do that?"
"You'd be better off asking that from Luna herself. Stop biding time and get to it."
The Oracle was right. Celestia was putting off the questions that weighed most heavily on her. It was ridiculous, really, how like a nervous schoolfilly she felt. She was acutely aware of her heartbeat, and when she finally spoke, she had to choke out the words.
"Why did all this happen? Why did I do all these things? Why am I evil?"
Applejack's face, in twitches of muscle, took on the expression of a joyless grin. "Did you really come all this way to ask something you already know the answer to?"
Celestia shook her head. "I don't know."
Applejack's slack form took a step forward, and Celestia took a step back. She had thought Applejack's eyes were blank before, but now she could have sworn they were gleaming and boring into her.
"Isn't it possible that you're a simply a bad pony and, somewhere along the way, you got tired of pretending otherwise?"
The only thing Celestia could think to do was glower back. The Oracle went on.
"You've spent centuries manipulating others for their own good. You've gotten used to it. Is it really far to go from that to toying with others just for the hell of it?"
"No... That's silly."
"If it's not true, then why are you crying?"
Celestia startled and raised a knee to her eyes, where she felt tears brimming.
She was surprised that, in this empty cave lost in a desolate wasteland with only an ancient phantom for company, she could feel so embarrassed. What a relief it was that Twilight Sparkle wasn't there to see her act so pathetic. It was unseemly.
"If you were right, then I wouldn't feel so bad," she said, quietly and feebly.
"If I were wrong, then you wouldn't feel guilt for someone else's actions. You wouldn't refer to the Queen as 'I'. It's strange that you'd argue against the idea now. This is what you must have suspected from the moment you started believing that there is no real Daymare Sun and that the Queen is responsible for her own actions."
"That's what I'm trying to understand. Our actions are not so arbitrary. Nopony – no one – is evil for evil's sake."
"Oh, but perhaps you are mad. Perhaps you are crazy and demented. Maybe the strain of your duties and constant pretentions caused you to snap and lose all sense of right and wrong. Would that be a more satisfying explanation?"
"No matter what you believe, I'm not here for my satisfaction. I'm here for the truth."
"What use is the truth about this to you? Will it help you fight your war in any way? You should admit to yourself that the only reason you're here is for yourself – if not so I could prove you right, then perhaps for me to prove you wrong instead." Applejack moved her head to the side and looked away in a show of contempt. "I won't do you that favor. You're going to have to figure out who your other self is and how you feel about it."
Celestia sniffled and frowned. Somehow, it seemed of the utmost importance that the Oracle understood.
"I'm- I'm not like her. I don't hate anyone. I don't want to harm anyone. And I'd never, ever do that to my own sister!"
Applejack showed no reaction. For several seconds, she remained motionless, before eventually turning back towards Celestia.
"Do what to your own sister?"
"Kill her..."
The Oracle laughed and laughed and laughed. It was a laughter from deep inside, loud and resonant, filling the entire cavern, and it would not stop.
It sounded forced.
When the laughter eventually wound down into quiet croaking sounds and then silence, Applejack's face returned to the previous blank expression. It took her a while to carry on.
"Our Luna never died, my dear."
It was as if the world itself took a giant breath, leaving none for Celestia.
"That's impossible."
Was it? Luna's death was a matter of historical record, but history barely remembered her, and facts could become so very dubious across seven hundred and fifty years.
"Where is she?"
"She's hidden away, imprisoned somewhere nopony can reach."
"There's no- She's.. she's in the sun?"
Despite Celestia's sharp stare, the Oracle did not bother to voice a confirmation.
Now it was Celestia who turned away. Thoughts came rushing to her so fast and furious that she could not think clearly. Even the barren, shadowed environment of this underground chamber was too much of a distraction. She wanted to see nothing, to hear nothing, to give peace to her senses. Closing her eyes was the only way she could finally focus and take control of herself.
This idea also had the tinge of impossibility, but why should that have been the case? Magic had a way of making anything possible, as her present circumstances demonstrated, and reducing a being of flesh and blood into an abstraction and fusing them into an object was undoubtedly an inexact science. There was nothing to indicate that Luna and Celestia could only be imprisoned within the heavenly bodies they called their own, was there? Each of them had a connection to both the sun and the moon.
The more she considered it, the more sense it made. Seconds into this revelation, Celestia already believed it with all her heart – and not just because she dearly wanted to believe. It could not be only a prank by the Oracle; there had to be something to it.
Yet Celestia's affinity for the sun had done nothing for her in understanding what was going on, or allowed her to sense her sister's presence. She'd never thought of this, never even considered the possibility. Several times she had wondered about the strangeness of this world's sun, the disturbing energies that permeated it and bubbled in its surface. She had supposed that the Queen was supercharging it as part of her effort to keep the world burning with sunshine, and for all she knew, that was still the case. This had all hidden the truth from Celestia, dulled her perception of something that should have been obvious.
Some things were less obvious. The thing that gave Celestia pause was that she had imprisoned Luna using the Elements of Harmony... How did it all fit together?
Celestia reopened her eyes. Slowly, without any conscious thought on her part, her head had turned to look at a particular section of cave wall. This was the direction where, above the ground and beyond the horizon, the sun lay hanging above the Griffon Kingdom. With effort, she pulled her gaze away and back to the Oracle.
"It is Luna, right? Not Nightmare Moon?"
"Yes."
"How is this possible?"
Applejack shrugged. "I don't know about such things. In fact, we are pretty much through with the things I can tell you."
"This is the part where we say farewell?"
"Oh, there is one last thing to get over with. You should go back to Trottingham as soon as possible."
"I will." Again Celestia's head turned by itself, this time to look at the tunnel they had entered from. Her mind was still roaming, a few steps ahead of her, out of the cave and under the clear skies. "As soon as I've freed my sister."
"You should go immediately."
Celestia slowly shook her head, without much further heed. It didn't help that the Oracle sounded obliged to the point of boredom.
"Queen Celestia knows about the Apple Underground. Her forces will be attacking there soon."
Celestia flinched and peered at the Oracle once more. This recaptured some of her attention.
"When?"
"Tomorrow, if there were such a thing."
"There is time then. I will warn them."
Applejack's smirked, looking surprisingly wistful. "Ahh, I knew you would say that." She paused for several seconds, her jaw unclenched as if she would speak further. Or perhaps she was expecting Celestia to say something? If so, Celestia had no idea what. "Well, Princess, I hope you agree that this has been and will be an interesting experience. I... wish there was something more I could do."
Applejack's shoulders rose. She seemed to take a breath to sigh, but never released it. Instead she slumped to the ground like a sack of apples.
Celestia scooted to Applejack and leaned over her. She said Applejack's name and prodded at her shoulder, but did not get a reaction. A gentle snoring sound indicated that Applejack was all right, merely unconscious. The Oracle had released her.
Celestia took off. There was a lump in her throat and – indeed – tears in her eyes. The dull ache of guilt and shame she was used to flared up into something sharp and urgent. Every thought of pity she had ever had for her sister was back and stronger than ever. Luna could well have been conscious for all the years hours and seconds of her imprisonment, staring down at Celestia's crimes without being able to do anything about it. Celestia could now allow it to go on a moment longer. Once she was finished, she would pick up Applejack and return to Trottingham. It would not take long. She would not dally.
After a rush to the exit tunnel and a few seconds of pressing forward inside it, she realized that she did not have the patience to navigate the cramped pathways and repository. She teleported outside, touching down on the crest of the cliff for the barest split second, and took to the sky.
She did not have to go very far, nor very high. A few powerful beats of her wings took her up to the edge of the troposphere, where she could see the upper side of the sun. She could take it in by sight as well as smell and hearing and the feel of it on her skin and under her skin. From this angle, it looked much like a glowing golden boil or tumor on the surface of the earth. Though the sun's rays reached all across and its energies were within her already, she wanted to look upon her work as she was doing it.
Once she came to a halt, the windless silence and the deep blue gave her an unwanted moment to reflect. She wondered if there were other things she should have asked the Oracle, anything else useful she might have gleamed with further prodding. The Oracle seemed insistent that the conversation go a specific way, but perhaps it would have been possible to find out more. It was pointless to consider that now. This revelation was more important than anything else. Still, Celestia wished she'd at least thanked the Oracle, or... asked for her name perhaps.
Celestia reached out and took a hold of the sun.
This was not, technically, a good idea. Everything she had told Applejack earlier was still true. If she did this thing, even though she planned no movements or modifications to the sun as of yet, her presence and the element of surprise would be lost. It would be as good as poking Queen Celestia in the eye with her horn.
From that doubt others followed. According to the Oracle, it was not Nightmare Moon she was reaching out to, but Celestia could not really know who this sister of hers would be. Did it matter? What else could she do? Would waiting and thinking about it further make any difference? The only alternative she could think of was leaving Luna imprisoned, and that was unacceptable. Celestia could not leave this be, no more than she could have left the Equestrian Empire stand.
With all of her magic and mental power directed and focused at the sun, using senses she could neither name nor describe, she could feel something – sunspots hidden in the brightness, a pocket of chill within the heat. Her attention was met by another. She recognized the presence and smiled through the tears.
During Nightmare Moon's imprisonment, she had always assumed she would be able to use her magic to free her opposite number. She'd pondered it sometimes, usually at night, with hopes that the bad dream was over and Luna could be herself again and everything would be all right, if only she was let out. Of course, Celestia knew she could never take such a foolish risk, but it had seemed a feasible possibility. Now she knew for sure.
She felt along the surface of the sun for the right places and gave it a pinch. The fiery light wavered and blinked and – for the fraction of a fraction of a second – ceased. It was hardly a proper eclipse, and ponies who didn't happen to be looking at the sun at just the right moment would never have noticed. Queen Celestia, where ever she was, oh she would notice most definitely...
The real show happened when Celestia was already on a slow circular descent. The exertion she felt was vastly out of proportion with how much she actually had to do, but she wasn't finished yet. Luna's energies were leaking back into the physical world and collating into a pony, but Celestia had to focus on pulling these energies towards her. Arcs of smoky, black lightning whizzed over the sky, leaping across hundreds of kilometers and striking on the cliffs below. This spectacle too was short-lived, but it kicked off a minor storm on the ground, where dust and sand swirled and mixed with an impenetrable dusky miasma.
The beats of Celestia's wings helped clear the air a little, but the darkness was already receding when she touched down again. It was a darkness of ravens, coal, obsidian and ebony – the essence of everything black. It was the color of mourning, gaping like an empty space in the world, or blazing like a banner to everything that was missing from the world.
And there stood Luna. She appeared with her legs bent, almost at a crouch, but slowly stood up to her full height. There were no royal vestments on her. She was taller than her counterpart, but still not quite as tall as Celestia. Her mane and tail were very short, down to her shoulders in the case of the former, and only showed faint, tired glimmers of starlight. The edges of her hair were gray and frayed; it may have been burned away.
In her expression, the emotion Celestia could read was not dignity or pride, not relief or thanks, not anger or recrimination, not despair or insanity – but resolve. Though her eyes were circled and baggy, her gaze was focused. Even as she looked at Celestia, it seemed like she could see so much else, like she was taking in more than just one anxious onlooker and a desert plain.
Celestia didn't dare approach, or even call out to her. Her instinct would have been to her sister, to nuzzle against her and wrap her hooves around her, but she knew better.
"Don't- don't be afraid!" said Celestia, "I'm not who you think I am!"
It was she who was afraid. Of all that Celestia's deeds had damaged, Luna had been the worst off and her judgment would be the hardest to bear.
Luna's cool eyes shifted but continued staring at Celestia.
"I know who you are," she said, "I've been watching you, when I've been able." She smiled, slowly and awkwardly. She was remembering how. "Thank you for freeing me!"
Celestia was not sure what she was going to say next. She never got to say it.
As the last of the dust and magic smoke cleared, something changed. An unfamiliar weight was bearing down on Celestia and a strange noise buzzing was in her ears. It became difficult to focus on the here and now. She was tired, she thought, but shouldn't have been that tired.
Why did she feel this way? Perhaps it was all in her mind...
Though Luna looked no different, Celestia could sense invisible tendrils of power reaching out and probing her.
"I am sorry about this," said Luna, no longer smiling.
Celestia's knees buckled and she fell. There would still have been time to counter-attack, to escape, to do or say anything, but she could not gather her bearings. The shock was too great, and her thoughts were of the most random things – of playtime with her little sister, of fighting with her little sister, of old friends and enemies, of the minister who'd spat on the floor at her recoronation, of Brainy Bright's betrayal, of the war council at Trottingham where she laid out her plan...
"You're not the only one with a plan, sister."
Celestia head was heavy with the flood of memories, and sleep seemed so sweet as it took her.
Next chapter: Keeping Chivalry Alive.
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BornIn1142
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901
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Main 6,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Alternate Universe,Adventure,Dark,Drama,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Sunshine and Fire
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Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.
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incomplete
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<p>Twilight Sparkle, Celestia and Luna are transported into a strange alternate Equestria, the Land of Always Summer, where the day lasts forever and a terrible queen rules with an iron hoof.</p><p>Feel free to check out or add to the story's <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/SunshineAndFire" rel="nofollow">TV Tropes page</a>.</p>
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teen
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2015-12-08T23:55:59+00:00
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2015-12-08T23:55:59+00:00
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It struck Twilight that in the course of their planning on how to save Equestria, she had never asked Celestia one obvious question, namely what she was to do if she failed and was not able to secure an alliance with the griffons. She had taken the rather simplistic view that failure would not be an option, and that spending too much time thinking about it would be pessimism. Of course the question occurred to her now, once she was already sinking in the great currents of that failure. What was she to do?
From a strictly rational point of view, she couldn't really fault herself. It seemed quite clear that circumstances had been against her from the start, and that a few hours here or there in the time allotted to her would not have been enough to turn things around. There was no cause for guilt or shame in the fact that her usual luck hadn't held out. The Princess was sure to be understanding.
Assuming Luna succeeded in enlisting some dragons to their cause, they would still be able to match the firepower of the Secret Police. The plan could still work. It could work, but there would still be hundreds of city guards and reservists to try to interfere with the Princesses once they went after the Queen. Leaving them unaccounted for would be a risk.
Of course, there was more at stake than the plan. Preventing the destruction of the Griffon Kingdom was an end in itself. Lining up Celestia's dominoes could take time, but defeating Defeating Daymare Sun would do the griffons no good if it happened too late. Millions of lives could be lost.
King Humphrey had slumped against the back of his throne. Rather than appearing defeated, he looked more like a vast amount of pent-up tension had drained out of him. There was a faraway look in his eyes, but Twilight was sure his imagination was turned towards the oncoming storm, not away from it in escapist fantasy. His knights were looking at him expectantly, without outward fear or worry. Lord Fairweather had withdrawn slightly from the throne, but he too was waiting for the King to speak.
"Hmmmhm," said the King, "It's nothing we didn't expect. You say they're moving through the Valley of the Wind, Sir Darlton? "
The new arrival in the throne room nodded. "Five great columns. Only minimal reserves remain at their base camp. However, they are marching slower than expected. Their commanders must know they cannot bring their full numbers to bear in the valley, so the initial approach seems to be watchful and guarded."
"I would hazard a guess," said Sir Reynald, "that the pegasus air force will act particularly aggressive in comparison, to pin down as many of our forces along the border as possible and prevent them from joining the main host."
King Humphrey shrugged with one shoulder. "One way or another, we will have to meet them in the valley before they can spread out in the mountain passes. Sir Darlton, retain command of the scouts for now. Feel free to attacks of opportunity, but make it clear that they are to hold the line and be ready to converge in the valley if necessary."
"I will send back anyone who can be spared, Your Altitude," answered Sir Darlton with a bow.
"I suppose there's a few benefits to being boxed in," said the King sourly, "We hold the interior lines and can shift our forced quicker than them."
What could salvage the situation at this point?
What would Princess Celestia do?
It was silly even to wonder. Princess Celestia could get the enemy forces to stand down somehow – with some trick or threat or appeal – or she would use the magic of the sun against them. If despair dictated it, she could burn the whole enemy army, or more likely, position the sun so they would be forced to turn around from the heat. It would be easy. Why oh why had Celestia not simply come with them? Twilight was not prepared for such a challenge. She wasn't an alicorn princess; she was just a pony.
But then again...
The thought, so sudden in Twilight's mind, reached back along her spine like a slow, cold touch and made her shudder.
Touching the sun was not beyond the grasp of a unicorn, was it?
"As for you, Sir Reynald..." the King was saying now. Although he addressed his knight, he was looking at Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike. "I would have you with the main host, but I have one more task for you first. Perhaps you can gather an escort for Lady Sparkle and her friends and make sure they get through the siege lines to safety?"
"Is that a proper job for a knight?" asked Lord Fairweather, "I don't think it would be much use to try to fight a way out. Leave them in my care and I can help them sneak out safely."
None of the knights in the chamber responded or acknowledged the Chancellor's idea. One of them did, however, snort.
"Huh?" said Twilight. It took her several long seconds to redirect her thoughts. "No, no, I don't think so. We're not ready to leave quite yet. If there's something we can do to help..."
There was something she could do to help.
"I doubt that," said the King, "though the gesture is appreciated."
"Yes, well," replied Twilight, half-mumbling, "If we have to leave, we can do so on our own power anyway, without you having to risk your lives for us. Actually..."
She could imagine a solution to their dilemma. What was taking shape in her mind was a confluence of possibilities so outrageous she wasn't sure she could call it a plan or a daydream.
"Actually... Sir Reynald, you'll be heading to the front, right? I'd like to come along if you don't mind."
She had to know what she was up against, she had to understand the tactical situation, she had to... get out in the open and look up in the sky.
"Oh yes," said Lord Fairweather, "You're very welcome to join us."
Once upon a time, it had been unicorns that performed the task of moving the sun and the moon.
Every pony knew this factoid of Equestrian history from school, but nopony really paid much heed to it. It was a bit of half-mythical trivia, a point of fact irrelevant in the modern era. Whatever ancient spells had been used to accomplish this were long forgotten, and any new research into the subject was banned by royal decree. A variant of telekinesis was obviously at the core of it, but the exact mechanics of nativity transference and intrinsic fields were a mystery to spellcasting theorists. There was more to it than simply raw power, though an unthinkable amount of raw power was nonetheless required. Common wisdom held that a large group – dozens of unicorns – was required to move the sun and the moon before the era of the Royal Pony Sisters.
If Twilight could somehow figure out the magic of celestial transposition in the next few hours, and if she could put it into practice by her lonesome, then perhaps the Griffon Kingdom could still be saved.
It was a dubious proposition to say the least. As other unicorns willing to lend a hoof were in short supply, Twilight had no one to rely on but herself.
Of course, whether it was possible was one thing – whether Twilight dared to try was another matter entirely. She'd be courting disaster and taking it out for a dance, and missing a step would be oh so easy. The Griffon Kingdom of her world had been destroyed by a unicorn's bungling attempt to move the sun. Some things were better off outside the reach of mere mortals; some ambitions were not just dangerous but blasphemous.
Still, it was better than nothing, and she was willing to give it a try. Princess Celestia had given her this mission for a reason, and Twilight was not going to fail merely because of a lack of resolve.
Sir Reynald's flight from the capital back to the frontier was much faster than than the reverse earlier on. He clearly couldn't bring himself to hold back for Twilight's sake anymore, but she never felt anything but safe being held in his gauntleted claws. The convalescent Gilda had a hard time keeping up, and Lord Fairweather, who had invited himself along but was clearly not on the same physical level, lagged far behind them. Fluttershy and Spike had stayed back at the palace.
Twilight fastidiously scanned the countryside underneath, observed the weather conditions, and kept a rough count of the kilometers they traversed. It would be useful to know how far away the sun was from the front lines. Though she had to keep her eyes peeled in the rush of air, there was still much to see. Had the magic storm cloud not obscured the sun, it would probably have been disastrously blinding. It was hard to imagine setting up a proper defense with that kind of glare.
Their destination was one of a series of watchtowers standing atop and among the mountains at the mouth of the Valley of the Wind. In truth, it was more of a giant stone pillar than a tower, wide enough perhaps that ten ponies could stand side by side on its flat hexagonal top. There were no guardrails, of course. This particular tower was unmanned, but adjacent ones had griffons stationed on them. They had passed by quite a lot of griffons soldiers on the way.
Sir Reynald touched down on the tower and allowed Twilight to disentangle herself from him, standing still long enough to let her find her hooves and then stepping away. Twilight had a lot of trust in the stability of griffon architecture, and so attributed the sensation that the tower was somehow swaying to the half an hour she'd spent rustling in the wind. Without consciously thinking about it, she gravitated toward the center of the platform. Working in combination, the height, the thin air and the clutching humid heat were daunting the sense of empowerment she felt she needed right now. Looking down over the edge of the tower seemed too foolhardy to consider, but nevertheless she forced herself to follow Sir Reynald forward and focused her attention to the horizon up ahead.
The enormous vista that opened up from the elevated position was hard to take in all at once. Twilight didn't react when Gilda reached them to take up position on the other side of Sir Reynald, but continued studying the terrain, trying to read it like she would read a book, making an effort to distinguish the relevant from the irrelevant.
The valley, with dense mountain formations making up its sides, looked very much like an open passage to the Griffon Kingdom, but it was hardly a flat plain either. In the middle of it, scaling small hills and navigating slopes, was the Equestrian army.
Twilight had never seen an army before. She had witnessed the movements of pony troops on parade fields and in action, she had faced groups of enemies in violent altercations, and she had academic knowledge of most of the major conflicts in Equestrian history, but none of her experiences had prepared her for an actual war.
The long lines of ponies were streaming into the country like an enormous winding snake, which was just about ready to draw back its head and strike. There were more ponies in her sights now than she had ever seen before at once, the distance blurring a number she could comprehend in mathematical theory, but not in flesh and blood. One hundred thousand soldiers were on the move – and more were waiting in the wings.
Yet the difference an army made was as much of essence as of scale. A majority of the ponies there were not anything resembling evil, yet their totality amounted to something monstrous, something that could only create destruction and give birth to death. For the time being, this entity before her was nothing more than a giant grasping limb of Queen Celestia with the grand ambition of snuffing out a way of life.
Although Twilight's knowledge of warfare was restricted to what she'd gleamed from histories, she knew the terrain would give the griffon army at least some advantages. She scanned around, tried to guess at what point the enemy would split up into the mountain passes and, conversely, where the griffons would have to meet them to prevent that from happening. She tried to guess how long it would take the pony army to reach that point. An hour, she figured, maybe two.
She was vaguely aware of Lord Fairweather landing on the tower as well. He was making panting noises behind them.
"The right flank is weak," commented Gilda. Sir Reynald made an assenting sound, not taking his gaze off the enemy.
"How can you tell?" asked Twilight.
Gilda made an indistinct gesture towards one side of the army that encompassed thousands. "They're lagging behind the rest. Very sluggish hoofsteps."
"The divisions from Stalliongrad would have approached from the west," said Sir Reynald, "They were probably put into formation for the attack as soon as they arrived, without any time to rest. They're exhausted."
"There's a lot of exhausted guys there though," said Gilda.
"Hmm, no. The ones next in line are walking out of step with the majority, but they aren't falling behind. I would guess that they're raw recruits."
Twilight couldn't even distinguish individual ponies in the mass of bodies ahead, let alone gauge their walking pace. Then again, she didn't have the eyes of an eagle.
"They really screwed up putting all their weakest troops together." Gilda's voice sounded like she was tempering a hopefulness she knew she shouldn't have been feeling.
"Or they want us to think they did," said Sir Reynald quietly.
"I would humbly suggest we take opportunity at face value," said Lord Fairweather, padding closer with heavy steps. His dark gray plumage had been left rather ruffled by his flight, but he was clawing down loose feathers on his head to restore a more respectable look. "Lady Sparkle, don't your people have a saying about doubting one's good fortune?"
It took Twilight a moment to think of the answer before blurting it out. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth?"
Sir Reynald turned to look at Lord Fairweather, but only half-way, perhaps as a deliberate slight. A moment later, he seemed to reconsider and faced Fairweather. It could have been that he didn't want to be rude, or it could have been that he preferred putting his back to the front lines rather than leave it exposed to the Royal Spymaster.
"You're suggesting this isn't a trap?" he asked.
"I happen to know that one Duke Blueblood has been put in command of the invasion force. From what I know about the Equestria's commanders, he is not capable of this manner of deception. In fact, he's exactly the kind of pony to make a mistake like we're seeing."
Although Twilight's eyes widened at the mention of a familiar name, Sir Reynald's expression did not change one bit compared to when he was assessing the enemy.
"How did you come by this information?" he demanded.
Lord Fairweather answered by way of a joyless smile and a shrug. As he smiled, he also stole a very obvious glance at Twilight.
"I have my ways," he said.
"No," said Sir Reynald, shaking his head, "No. If you think I have the time or patience to play games with you, you're sorely mistaken. I can't order men to their deaths based on your rumor-mongering."
"Do you have a better plan then?" Twilight thought Fairweather may have been trying not to sound mocking.
"Hmh... You say this Duke Blueblood is known to be less than competent. Isn't it just a bit too convenient that things would fall into place like this?"
"Nothing about this situation is convenient," snapped back Lord Fairweather, "I made it happen, remember? I'm the one who engineered the delay of the Stalliongrad army group. You're welcome, by the way."
"You'd engineer a lot more than that if given the chance, I'm sure." Sir Reynald's voice was shifting from cold to outright acidic. "Perhaps the trap here is yours, not Equestria's."
Though Twilight tried to grind her teeth and keep out of it, she could not. "Gentlemen, excuse me for saying this, but... are you fricking nuts?" She'd perhaps raised her voice a bit more than she had intended. "Ahem. We're all on the same side here, aren't we? Aren't we? All this bickering does is help the enemy. It's rather unbecoming of griffons of your stature."
Sir Reynald seemed abashed. His perfect posture wavered a bit, as if he was looking for a way to disengage from this conversation, but the tower was too small to go anywhere.
"You are right, of course, Lady Sparkle," he said.
Although he hung his head and probably felt bad about acting unprofessionally, Twilight doubted that Sir Reynald actually thought he was wrong to accuse Lord Fairweather of working against them. Fairweather himself seemed almost indifferent, or at least past caring. He had his piercing yellow eyes locked on Twilight again, his beak twisted sardonically.
"Well, I had better return to report to the King." He said this after being there for all of five minutes. He turned to leave, but held off. Almost as an afterthought, he continued speaking. "Would you like me to accompany you back to the city, Lady Sparkle? I'm sure Sir Reynald will be busy here."
Twilight almost cringed. She would have given a lot to have somehow prevented this situation from occurring, to force the words back in Lord Fairweather's mouth and give him a kick in the behind to get him off the watchtower.
"Um," she said, to win herself some time.
Almost with a sense of resignation, she had a look at Sir Reynald, and found him staring at her expectantly. The optimist in her told her there was concern in his eyes, but the pessimist thought it looked more like suspicion. One way or another, he refrained from voicing his opinion to see what Twilight would do. Gilda, standing slightly behind his line of sight, was trying to signal her thoughts to Twilight with a lot of minimalist head-shaking.
Lord Fairweather was not well liked, certainly not trusted, and his overtures towards Twilight threatened the precarious alliance she had struck with King Humphrey's knights. Going off alone with someone so shady may or may not have been a bad idea, but letting his reputation rub off on her definitely was. They might have all been on the same side, but leaving the wrong impression by playing into the griffons' suspicions could well put an end to that.
"No, thank you," said Twilight, "I appreciate the offer, but I can get back just fine on my own."
Fairweather did not seem surprised.
"Very well. I hope we'll see each other again, and sooner rather than later."
He dropped off the tower's edge and arced up into a glide
Twilight frowned. Perhaps, if she found the time, she would seek out Lord Fairweather in the citadel later on. While she didn't like the idea of working behind the griffons' backs, it would be worth it to finally find out what he wanted from her.
"Gilda," said Sir Reynald, "Follow him. Keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn't get up to anything suspicious."
"Are you asking me to spy on the Lord Chancellor?" asked Gilda, somehow looking very small.
"Not at all!" said Sir Reynald, though his expression, not unlike that of someone smelling curdled milk, indicated he was aware of the implication, "I would ask you to stay in plain sight. Keep his company. Guard him, if you will. There is no need for anything underhanded."
"I'd prefer to fight," grumbled Gilda back.
"A point will come where you will have to fight one way or another. But for now, rest and heal up, and do your duty by keeping a lookout for enemies of the Griffon Kindom."
Muttering something under her breath – something that probably would have gotten her in trouble if properly voiced – Gilda lurched into movement and flew off after Lord Fairweather. It seemed trying to find and privately talk to him later on was already out.
Sir Reynald sighed. He did not display the same stalwart bravery as he did staring down the doom of his homeland when faced with his own capacity for a bit of hypocrisy. Twilight even felt somewhat voyeuristic intruding on his unhappiness at the moment. She felt like she should say something, but wasn't entirely sure what.
She respected the griffons for their philosophy, and thought they had good hearts, but it seemed beyond ridiculous to be so broken up by this tiny concession to ethical uncertainty. Whatever chivalry had done for them, and she did believe it had kept the spirit of the nation alive, it was also such a tricky balancing act that they were fighting against their own better natures as much as any external enemies.
Twilight had never regarded herself as anything but an idealist and didn't want to be anything but. Part of her was still frightened by what this world had made of Rainbow Dash. She wasn't any sort of trickster, and had no interest in teaching the griffons a lesson. But... if it took a bit of pragmatism to see things through, then she was willing. It's what Princess Celestia would have done. There were lines she would not cross, but Twilight would take on the burden of protecting the griffons her way, and not their way.
When Twilight teleported back into the guestroom of the palace, she found it empty. That was okay. Not having Fluttershy and Spike there was a good thing. It gave Twilight the peace and quiet she needed to fashion something actionable from a bunch of half-baked hopes and imaginings.
At first, not knowing what to do, she stood in place, and thought. She brought to mind the bits of information she'd gathered outside, made a start with the more obvious equations for calculating energy requirements and trajectories, and tried to review everything she knew about telekinesis.
She had become aware as she grew up that she did not think as most other ponies did: her thoughts were more voluminous and compartmentalized, and she could easily understand concepts that baffled others. Yet despite years of being told by her parents and teachers that she was a clever pony, she knew that this did not make her better than others. She was as prone to distractions, idling, forgetfulness and plain lapses of reason as anypony. Great conclusions and inventions rarely happened without effort being put into them, so she too had to focus to achieve anything.
At some point along the way, she started pacing. She walked back and forth by instinct at first, but eventually settled into a more comfortable circular pattern.
Why had she never asked Celestia more about how she did what she did? Why had the never poked and prodded? It was one of many things Twilight found fascinating about the Princess. If she had asked nicely, if she had explained that she would never have considered putting such knowledge into practice, surely Celestia would have indulged her favorite student...
What was the point of wondering what could have been?
The familiar feeling of not having enough time had never been so acute. Even in her worst, most neurotic moments, the pressure for minutes and seconds had not been as intense. There was something else as well, the niggling feeling that one part of her mind was ahead of the rest.
She must have been mad in a very literal sense. Having no desire to kill anypony, she was trying to pull a weapon of mass destruction out of her back pocket. What if it didn't work as a deterrent? The only thing Twilight could do then was to stand down.
But it was the only way. Wasn't it?
How much did the sun weigh? There was a figure in her mind, but Twilight had no idea if she knew it for a fact, had come up with an estimate, or invented it by accident.
She had to take notes. She had to start writing her thoughts down or they would fade away.
Without breaking stride, she changed course and stepped over to the nearest desk to look for some paper. The note from before, the note slipped into the guest room in secret, was lying there. All at once, Twilight lost her momentum, both mental and physical. She stopped moving and her thoughts stopped flowing. She had forgotten about the note, and even knowing she should not have concerned herself with it right now, it had invaded and occupied her attention.
Twilight grabbed the note with a touch of telekinesis, brought it up to her nose, turned it around and studied it once more. The miniaturized picture and vague call to action scribbled on its back were as she remembered them and offered no new insights. She lowered the glossy piece of paper back on the desk. Without hurrying, she walked over to a coach and took a seat. A moment later, she plopped to her side, absent-mindedly pulled her tail in front of her and started brushing her hooves over the dusty and frayed hair.
In a situation where everything seemed to hang in the balance and every moment was filled to bursting with some sort of significance, it might not have meant much to say that something felt important... but Twilight did have the feeling that this note was important. Even if it wasn't, she wanted to know what what was behind it.
She tried to think about it logically. As quandaries went, this one seemed much more manageable.
Anyone could have delivered that note, but based the on the information available to Twilight, she had to assume it was Lord Fairweather, or someone acting on his behalf. He'd been trying to meet Twilight in private; this seemed like a way to bring that about. That answered the who and the why, probably. The pertinent question was how. How did guiding Twilight into an empty art gallery accomplish anything? Had something that was intended to happen not happened? It may have been Gilda's presence that changed the game plan, but how were they even supposed to find the location without her assistance? And what was the significance of that darn date and time?
"Movement through space is nothing for pony magic," muttered Twilight, "Why, we can even..."
While the enmity between the Lord Chancellor and the knights was of a more fundamental nature, their most recent point of contention seemed to be that he had failed to explain how he'd known enough about the coming pony invasion to enact his own plans to hinder it. What if he could not? Because the truth was too outrageous to believe?
What would the griffons have done if Fairweather had told them he'd been warned by a unicorn wizard from the future?
In a very literally twisted sort of way, it made sense. Taken separately, Twilight was a fairly sympathetic representative of the Griffon Kingdom's worst enemy, and Lord Fairweather was a shady guy that gave the King advice that no one agreed with. When put together, they were a lot closer to a spy and a double agent making contact. They compromised each other. A proper face to face was not feasible under current circumstances, but it might just have been possible on a quiet moment three months ago.
Whether Lord Fairweather was really trustworthy or not didn't even really matter. It was still conceivable that he really was a double agent trying to make contact with someone he held to be an ally. He may have known Daylight Sparkle and thought Twilight was her. He could have been misleading the griffons at every turn, could have taken credit for someone else's actions in delaying the invasion, or even spun a tale around some sort of accident. If Twilight saw this through to the end, then the truth would become clear.
Twilight was surprised how dispassionately she was coming to these realizations. There was no shock of dramatic revelation, only the feeling of wheels turning, and a subtle sense of... relief, perhaps? Instead of the uncertainty of an impossible challenge, she was faced with the predictable notion of closing a time loop. She knew what she had to do, because she had presumably already done it.
Time travel was and was not dangerous. Twilight had learned her lesson about trying to use it for personal reasons and sworn off further attempts, but she had also known that she may have have a choice about it. The past could not be altered, only recreated. It was inevitable. Conversely, if it wasn't meant to be, then something would interrupt Twilight before she could go through with it, right?
Twilight forced herself to cease the compulsive movements of her hooves and clutched into her tail. The couch under her side was getting uncomfortably warm. She almost wondered if something would stop her, because she was about to do it. Glancing at the door, when she expected Spike or Fluttershy or anyone to burst in, no one did.
She had wondered from time to time about destiny, and didn't necessarily like how it intertwined with the notion of predestination.
Part of her wished something did stop her. Knowing what to do was comforting, but knowing that there was only one thing she could do less so. If she was right about all this though, then the invasion only came this late due to her actions in the past. If she had a choice, she wouldn't really have had a choice anyway.
If it meant helping the Griffon Kingdom, if it meant getting a chance to save so many lives, if it meant coming through for Celestia, she was willing to give up her freedom to causality.
"Thirty to ninety minutes until battle is joined," she reminded herself.
Thinking about this was... a waste of time.
With a deep breath, Twilight swung herself up on her hooves. Instead of landing on the guest room carpet, she materialized twenty-six floors up in the art gallery of the palace tower, right in front of the "Dualities" relief that the note had pointed to. The sudden rise in temperature caressed her cheeks like a flush.
"Three months... That's way longer than what you've previously done. Are you sure you're up for it, Twilight?"
Star Swirl's spell was adaptable, and could take her farther if she pushed herself harder. The real problem was trickier.
"Ohh, how am I going to have any time for a proper conversation? I'll only get a minute or two in the past before I'm dragged back."
She could expend extra energy on the length of time she traveled or the duration of her stay, but she didn't have enough for both.
"Come on, Twilight, think! Hmmm, maybe if I..."
There was a solution to this as well. Magics of the mind was one of Twilight's many cursory interests, one which she wouldn't have minded doing further research on if there hadn't been so many other things in her life that demanded her attention. While she longed to determine if visiting and observing thoughts and dreams was possible, she already had practical experience with something as simple as beaming her memories into the minds of others. She and her friends may never have defeated Discord without that possibility.
"All right then. Let's do this."
Already she had begun to remind herself of the details of the spell. She ran through it once for practice and then cast it for real, reading the words in her mind and pouring magic out of her horn. A few white sparks quickly turned into a bright light that engulfed her entirely. For a brief time, she could see nothing, yet was somehow aware of her environment twisting and resettling in the anomalous flickering of higher dimensions. Three inverse months passed by in as many seconds.
The art gallery still looked to be a few shades brighter once the light receded. There were no windows in the vicinity, but sunlight seemed to reach farther into the inside of the building, even through distant corridors. The solid stone walls didn't do much against the heat either. At this point in time, no magic storm cloud protected the city from the solar hellfire outside. A heat stroke did not seem out of the question.
Lord Fairweather was there, of course. He seemed to have been looking right at "Dualities," but now had his head turned towards Twilight. His neck was bent several degrees further than it would have been possible for a pony, much like an owl's. Had he come up there to brave these temperatures just for the sake of appreciating art?
"Uh, hello," said Twilight, taking a hesitant step forward.
Fairweather's cool, calculating expression broke down into rather graceless shock. He burst into action hopping down the hall.
"Guards! Guards! There's a pony assassin on the premises!"
"Wait, no! Drat..."
Cursing herself for losing the initiative, she bound after the griffon. All she had to do was get close for a few seconds. Hopefully, no guards were actually in the vicinity to mess things up.
Fairweather's movements were perfect in their hectic aimlessness. Twilight's almost got close enough to try for a grab, but he twisted out of the way and performed a wild series of strikes that were neither punches nor slaps nor waves but involved elements of all three. He was not a warrior, but then again, neither was Twilight. One of his flailing talons connected to her face. It was enough to knock her back and send her sprawling head-first to the gallery floor.
"Nguh..."
Twilight dragged her jaw off the ground just in time to see Fairweather flapping away again. Her vision was red. Blood was trickling from a shallow cut on her forehead.
"Clock is ticking, Twilight," she murmured through gritted teeth and clambered from a standstill to a crawl and then a gallop.
Fairweather was making for the spiral staircase leading to the lowers floors of the gallery. Instead of taking the steps, he dove straight down and smoothly glided out of sight.
Twilight slid to a halt against the railing, almost going over.
"This isn't what it looks like!" she shouted after him, but doubted he could even hear her.
Twilight's next moves were almost automated. If she did any thinking at all, she did it so fast she barely noticed.
She teleported. A split-second's estimate of Fairweather's position down below got her close enough to grasp at him.
Both of them went down in a spin. It was Twilight who got up first, only to lunge down at Fairweather right away.
"Assassin!" screeched the Chancellor again, somewhat muffled by having Twilight's head pushing against the side of his beak, "Someone warn the King!"
Instead of trying to pin him down, Twilight merely clutched and hoped he wouldn't be able to throw her off. He was bigger and stronger, but this was purely a battle of determination, and Twilight was damned if she wouldn't be able to win it.
Fairweather buckled into a more or less upright position, but Twilight held on. With strange, strained bird noises in her ears, she edged forward her neck until she was able to poke Fairweather's forehead with her horn and let loose a stream of consciousness.
The spell she went for – had no choice but to go for – was an awkward and rudimentary thing. She played Lord Fairweather a selection of her memories: basics of who she was and where she came from, everything she knew about the invasion and what Lord Fairweather could do to delay it, and most importantly, knowledge about how to leave the clues that would bring Twilight to this meeting. Some irrelevant things probably slipped in as well. It was over soon.
Twilight expected the memory transference spell to be a kind of finish line, that she would be carried back to the present as soon as she was done. Instead, she was left several seconds with which to disentangle herself from the griffon she had tackled. The awkward silence went on long enough to become almost boring. Twilight had to lift her hoof and hold it to her head to quell the gushing blood. The wound wasn't serious, but the blood was plentiful. Her head was spinning, probably more so from exerting herself in such heat than anything else.
Lord Fairweather straightened up as well and tried to look composed, but he'd lost some of his sinister mystique, even when he peeled his eyes and glowered at Twilight with all the suspicion he could muster. There was an absurdly dazed look about him.
"How do I know that what you showed me was the truth?" he asked, "This could all be a..." He trailed off before stating the obvious.
"Because it's what you would do?" said Twilight, "But it's not what I would I do."
A taste of copper got in her mouth as she spoke. She could feel the energy building that would transport her back to her own time.
"Look, I don't have anything else to give you, okay? There's no time to argue any points. You just have to decide if you have it in you to trust me or not."
On a spur of the moment, she let her hoof drop and lifted the other in front of Fairweather for him to... shake it, bump it, hold it, whatever. He startled at the motion and hesitated. Twilight would have liked to see him respond before she disappeared, but his face grimaced with conflict. In the end though, he did snatch her hoof between his talons and pulled her up close. He did it suddenly, held her so hard it almost hurt, and stared into her with such intensity that Twilight realized he might be worth fearing after all.
"Do you really want to know what I would do that you might not?"
"What?" said Twilight, already aglow.
"I would do exactly what I accused you of doing. If I was planning this invasion, I would send assassins here to cut off the Kingdom's head." Even with light bursting from Twilight and swallowing her, he held on to her hoof. "Do you understand? Humphrey will have his guards, and he'll have me, but he might need you as well! Protect him! Protect him!"
Twilight was deposited back on the upper floor, in front of the "Dualities" relief, like she'd never been gone. She chewed her lip and considered what to do. Lying down for a rest, having a good cry or repeatedly bashing her head into the artwork all seemed like good options.
Technically, she knew she'd just done a hell of a thing. Though there was still the encore performance to worry about, she had just saved the Griffon Kindom. If only there was more satisfaction to be had, more of a chance to enjoy the warm and fuzzy feeling of accomplishment. Closing a time loop may have meant a lot, but it did not feel like much. It felt like she had merely kept something from breaking than that she'd truly fixed something. Her only reward was reaching another link in a ridiculous chain of challenges.
She knew it was true, of course. It made too much sense not to be true. The King was obviously an important symbol to the griffons, and killing him would be a perfect opening blow to start the hostilities. Assassins would come to strike from the shadow of the great army out in the valley. They may have been there already. Even as she considered and accepted this, she was shaking her head and spilling more of her blood.
She was nowhere near doing what she'd set out to do. Intuition was not enough to move the sun; if it could be done at all it needed work. If she didn't get the time she needed, she would fail.
An idea formed in her mind, which did not so much occur to her as slither slimily forth from recesses of her mind that should not have existed.
She could stay up here, in the peace and quiet of an empty art gallery, do her best to think up a spell to move the sun, and nothing more. If she did not go down, then anything happening there were just abstract possibilities that did not have to mean anything to her. King Humphrey may come under attack and he may not, and he may be killed or he may not. If Twilight succeeded and saved his nation, then wouldn't it be worth it either way? It was he oldest moral dilemma in the book – the good of the many versus the good of the few.
Twilight had taken on an enormous responsibility, which entailed much more than charging forth in good faith. She was supposed to be pragmatic about it.
So many justifications were lining up for her. King Humphrey had an entourage of skilled protectors to help him, did he not? Twilight could just end up being a distraction, right? The griffons would have wanted her to stay out of harm's way, wouldn't they?
And yet... it was something she would never have done.
Spike was somewhere down there, and Fluttershy as well. Her friends were in danger, and neither the King nor the countless anonymous griffons around him were hers to sacrifice.
She could not lose sight of the parts for the whole.
With a quiet whinny, she blinked back into the guest room, where she only stayed long enough to march for the door and burst into the corridor.
It was empty there, and nothing seemed amiss looking one way or another.
The griffons would still be antsy around her, so displaying too much magic out in the open could provoke them, but Twilight could not bring herself to care. She teleported again, to the stairwell at the end of the hall that Gilda had earlier led them through. She peered up and she peered down, but saw nothing and no one. It was quiet.
As abruptly as she had moved on from it, she did not leave the choice she had made behind entirely. She worried for herself, just for considering it. There were lines she would not cross, but lines could be redrawn. If she wouldn't do it now, what would it take to make her reconsider?
She teleported down one, two, three floors, still not coming across anyone, and moving so fast she almost missed the first inkling of an emergency: the smell of smoke. Some of it was wafting up from the next landing.
Twilight had to be more careful now, slinking down the flight rather than blindly teleport into potential danger. On the next floor, she could see the smoke as well – thick gray tendrils of it crawling along the walls, floor and ceiling in a manner that wasn't quite natural.
There could be natural fires in stone structures, of course, but it did not seem terribly likely just now...
Twilight shuddered. Where were Spike and Fluttershy? Why hadn't she wondered earlier where they might have been?
She had to consider where to go next. It was hard to keep track in the windowless and blandly grand stone corridors, but she must have been close to the ground floor, and close to the throne room as well. The King must have had private chambers as well though, perhaps quite near here. It might have been best to follow signs of trouble and see where they led.
Somewhere, not far off, a griffon screeched and fell silent. Even without knowing much about bird calls, it sounded like a warning cry. Something had cut it short.
Rather than slowly spreading outward, the smoke was curling back, flowing out of sight. A wall of it was receding at the far end of a corridor.
Forcing herself every step of the way, Twilight cantered off after it. Something strange was going on with the smoke, but the fear of ending up in the middle of a fire was still too strong to let her teleport into the unknown.
She kept her ears forward, listening for anything useful. As she progressed down the hall, she heard the clanging of metal, long scratching sounds and faint screams...
It didn't take long until she came across the first skewered corpse.
To be continued in Part II.
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Tarkana262
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904
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Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Crossover,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Life Among the Distant Stars
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Six ponies. One Doctor. A universe to explore. (Sequel to The Emotional Illness)
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complete
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<p>Sequel to The Emotional Illness. The Doctor takes the mane cast on an adventure unlike any they've had before. Thrills! Chills! Ponies!</p>
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everyone
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2011-09-18T22:12:03+00:00
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2011-09-18T22:12:03+00:00
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As the TARDIS touched down, the noises associated with time travel died down, giving way to the moans of ponies.
“Isn’t there a less…jarring way for us to travel?” Rarity asked, tidying her mane.
“I like it!” Pinkie Pie said excitedly. “It’s like a rollercoaster, but with more bumps and noise and shaking!”
“That’s precisely what I’m talking about.”
“Oh, trust me, you’ll grow to love it,” said the Doctor. He jumped up and grabbed his brown coat from the floor.
“Right, here we are: Ponyville, Equestria, in the year…well, I don’t know what year it is – I don’t even know what year we left – but I’m pretty sure it’s sometime in your future. Hmm, I’d better look into your dating system; it’ll probably help with avoiding paradoxes and such. Anyway!” He threw open the door. “Welcome to the future of…Ponyville…”
The seven ponies were met with a wasteland. The ground was scorched by fires long dead and riddles with old craters. What remained of the buildings they knew so well were grey, unrecognizable piles of rubble and ash. Worst of all, along the paths were hundreds gravestones, leaving no doubt what had happened here.
“Oh my Celestia…” Twilight breathed. Fluttershy began to cry in Rarity’s soft embrace; Applejack held her hat to her heart solemnly; Rainbow Dash simply stood, her mouth hanging open in shock.
The Doctor walked over to a nearby sign – the only unmarred thing in the ruins, besides the gravestones – and read aloud:
“HISTORICAL SITE: PONYVILLE
In the 1563rd year of Celestia’s reign, our planet was attacked by the Twelfth Sontaran Battle Fleet. Several cities, including Manehatten, Canterlot, and Fillydelphia, were hit by their orbital bombardments. In this time Ponyville was destroyed, taking the lives of the nearly 300 colts and mares that called the town home.
Thankfully, the 5th Fleet of the Earth Empire had been following the Sontarans, and defeated their fleet before any further attacks were made. Princess Celestia decreed that the former site of Ponyville would remain as it now is, in memory of the thousands of ponies lost across Equestria.”
The Doctor knelt and touched his hoof to the sign. “I’m sorry…I’m so sorry…”
He remained there silently before ushering the mares back into the TARDIS. “Let’s go; there’s nothing we can do.”
“Wait,” said Twilight. “I want to see Celestia.”
“Twilight, I don’t think – ”
“Take me to see her!” she demanded “I want – I want to see if she’s okay.”
The Doctor held her gaze, then walked to the console and started up the TARDIS.
Twilight was shocked to see the new Canterlot. The city was crowded with more homeless ponies than she had ever seen. As they walked to the castle, she saw that every house had two or more families living in them, often in houses meant only for one. There were even several blocks lined with tents, covered wagons, and other forms of temporary housing – and still the streets were packed with ponies with nowhere to go.
The castle itself had more guards present than Twilight remembered, likely due to the potential threat of rioting. The Doctor showed his psychic paper to all who asked for ID – another addition to security – though he showed them that the paper gave their real names rather than aliases. When they reached the throne room, the guard gave them a look of disappointment. “Finally decided to show up, huh?” he grunted as he opened the door. “Luna’s in Manehatten to assist the recovery, but Celestia will see you now.”
The first thing Twilight noticed about her former mentor was how old and tired she looked. Her rainbow mane had faded no longer flowed on its own accord. Bags had formed under her eyes, along with wrinkles around her mouth. Her jewelry was tarnished, as if they hadn’t been tended to in months. Even those purple eyes Twilight knew so well had lost some of their motherly shine.
The Princess looked up wearily, but her eyes widened when she saw the group. “Twilight…is that you?”
It was too much for Twilight to take in. She ran to the princess and threw her front legs around her, tears streaming from her face.
“Shhh…” Celestia wrapped her wings around her and stroked her mane softly. “It is good to see you again, my faithful student.”
No one dared to interrupt the heartfelt reunion of teacher and student. It had only been a few hours for Twilight, but to see every year of separation in her mentor’s eyes was heartbreaking.
“Celestia…”she said, wiping her eyes. “What happened?”
The Sun Princess did not answer for a moment.
“When you came home from your travels with the Doctor, you wasted no time telling any pony who would listen of your adventures. You told them of the vastness of the universe, of all its wonders…and horrors.
“As I listened, I came to realize how small we truly were, how utterly defenseless we would be if any of the aliens you spoke of were to come. And so, in the interest of our own protection, I began the Equestrian Space Initiative.
“I gathered all the scientific minds from across the planet to work together to establish a credible space defense. But compared to the rest of the universe, we are a primitive civilization. Even after years of constant research and the technology and techniques you brought back with you, we were hundreds of years behind the other races.
“It is likely that those efforts are what alerted the Sontarans to our planet. We were a fledgling race in their eyes, an easy conquest to be taken advantage of before we grew stronger. They would have destroyed us, were it not for the Human Empire.” She looked out the room’s great windows to her healing kingdom. “Equestria has not seen war for thousands of years. If the humans hadn’t gifted us with their terraforming technology and agreed to trade, I fear we would never have even begun to recover.”
Celestia sighed. “Even so, many, many ponies died that day; more in the days following. It’s the most horrible thing to ever happen to Equestria. Nightmare Moon was stopped before any harm was done. But after this, I doubt we will ever truly recover.”
“But…we can fix it!” Twilight said suddenly. She ran to the Doctor. “You have a time machine; We can go back! We can warn them, or stop the Sontarans before they get here, or – ”
“I can’t, Twilight.”
The purple mare stared in disbelief. “What?”
“I can’t save them,” the Doctor said gravely. “Not this time.”
Twilight stepped back, a look of horror coming across her face. Her mouth hung open for a moment before she finally found words.
“What kind of pony are you?!”
She ran after that. She ran blind, eyes filled with tears once again.
How could he?
She ran until she found herself in the library. Navigated the shelves and piles of books, she reached a quiet corner she had often visited during long hours of study. She sat there in its familiar embrace, and let her tears flow freely.
How could he?
She didn’t know how long she sat there, huddled among the dusty mounds of literature, before she heard her friends walking towards her.
Rarity cleared her throat. “Twilight, darling…” she began slowly, “Why don’t you come out of there? All that dust can’t be good for your mane.”
Twilight said nothing. Rarity looked to the others and motioned them to assist her.
Applejack sighed. “Listen, Twi. I know as well as any of us that all that the Doctor says don’t always make sense – ”
“That’s an understatement.” Rainbow whispered.
The farmer shot a glance at her before continuing. “But I also know that he don’t do anythin’ without a good reason. Maybe you should jus’ ask him why he…”she trailed off not wanting to finish the sentence.
Twilight’s eyes opened, filled with rage unlike any they had seen in the librarian. “Yes, let’s ask him,” she said, approaching the Doctor. “Let’s ask him who he thinks he is. Let’s ask him how truly ‘sorry’ he is about everyone in Ponyville. Let’s ask him why he thinks he can sit idly by when he has the means to avert the BIGGEST DISASTER EQUESTRIA HAS EVER KNOWN!!!”
Her eyes were brimmed with tears as she breathed heavily, but her intense gaze never left the colt’s eyes. As she searched them, she only saw sadness…directed at her.
“It’s not my choice, Twilight,” he said quietly. “If I could I wouldn’t hesitate to save every last one of them. But…”His eyes turned down for a moment, then met hers again. “There are rules. Rules of time, things you can and can’t do. One says that some points in time are in flux, and they can be changed, but others are fixed. Fixed Points in time have to stay the way they happened. They can’t be changed, or something far worse will happen. I checked while we were in the TARDIS; I’m sorry, but the attack is fixed. Even though I want to help them, I can’t.”
Twilight’s face softened slightly as he spoke. She was silent for a moment. “…how do you know?”
The Doctor kneeled in front of her. “I can show you, but I need you to trust me. Can you do that, just for a moment?”
Her remaining anger screamed no, but Twilight sat and hesitantly nodded.
“Close your eyes.”
She obeyed, and felt the Doctor’s hooves on the sides of her head. She tensed at the contact, but then relaxed. An odd sensation appeared in the back of her head, which then spread forward and stopped at her eyes.
“Alright…you can look now.”
The mare opened her eyes, and she saw.
She saw Time. She saw it everywhere, in each of her friends, in everything around her down to the last book. She saw it flow in its majestic motion. She saw it in the Doctor, saw how it poured through him more than the others, a being so wonderfully and strangely existing in so many places and times at once. She saw it move forward, and how slow it suddenly seemed.
She saw Time, its wonders, its intricacies, every secret of its workings laid bare.
And she screamed.
The Doctor removed his hooves, and she fell to the floor, gasping for breath. The experience had been indescribable. So amazing, but for a moment, for just as quickly it became agonizingly horrible. So much input, her senses so suddenly heightened and overloaded. So much information, that it had nearly driven her mad.
And all that from half a second.
She looked up at the Doctor, but now she couldn’t meet his eyes. Where she once held anger towards him now was filled with shame.
“That’s the burden of the Time Lord,” he said softly. “I can see everything I can change…and everything I can’t.”
Twilight’s voice caught in her throat. “Doctor, I – I’m sorry…”
The Doctor shook his head. “It’s a hard lesson for anyone to learn; believe me; I’ve struggled with it myself. Come on now, Celestia’s waiting.”
They spent the next few hours with the princess, helping her as she travelled around the city to assist relief efforts. The whole group pitched in: Rarity gave out hand-made blankets and clothing; Rainbow Dash ran supplies to the various building projects; Applejack organized a communal soup dinner; Pinkie Pie put on a puppet show for the young foals and fillies; Fluttershy attended to medical needs to both ponies and animals; and Twilight spearheaded their efforts and made plans for the town to follow after they left. The Doctor went between the six, helping out wherever he was needed.
Celestia stopped Twilight before she entered the TARDIS at the end of the day. “Twilight, before you go…did you learn anything about friendship today?”
“I did, Princess,” she said happily. “I learned that in friendship and in life, you can’t predict what will happen to you or others. Sometimes, good things happen, sometimes bad things do. But you also can’t change what happened or will happen. What’s left is that you have to do everything you can to help others with the time that you do have, rather than wait for someone else.”
Celestia smiled. “It’s good to hear that a second time. Now go, your friends are waiting.”
But as soon as the TARDIS disappeared, Celestia’s smile fell.
“Take care of them, Doctor,” she whispered. “For my past is their future, and I know what dangers await them.”
|
Tarkana262
|
904
| 2 |
Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Crossover,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Life Among the Distant Stars
|
Six ponies. One Doctor. A universe to explore. (Sequel to The Emotional Illness)
|
complete
| 39 | 1 |
<p>Sequel to The Emotional Illness. The Doctor takes the mane cast on an adventure unlike any they've had before. Thrills! Chills! Ponies!</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-10-11T23:03:53+00:00
|
2011-10-11T23:03:53+00:00
| 1,541 |
The Doctor was strolling through the TARDIS, humming some 25th Century show tune he couldn't remember the words to, when he heard Rarity grumbling in his wardrobe.
It wasn't a wardrobe as in "a large, tall cabinet in which clothes may be hung or stored," but more of a walk-in closet the size of the TARDIS' control room. Clothes racks curved upward around a spiral staircase, holding all kinds of outfits from various times and planets.
"Oh, there you are, Doctor!" Rarity sighed. "I can hardly believe this room! So many outfits, and so few of them fashionably viable!"
"Well, I'll admit some of these aren't really the kind of thing I'd wear on a normal day, but – "
The fashionista grabbed his hoof and dragged him to the far wall. There, a podium stood, showcasing the trademark outfits of his previous regenerations.
"And these nine in particular – oh, where do I begin? I can hardly believe a colt such as you even dared to wear these!"
Looking at the podium, the Doctor realized that all the clothing in his wardrobe had become pony-sized, probably around the same time he had become one. Peculiar, he thought, but Rarity kept him from his musings.
"These first two aren't horrible," Rarity began, "but these styles simply don't fit you. They belong on someone much older-looking than you.
"The third gives the impression of a senator, diplomat, or lord – of which you are obviously none."
"Oi! I was knighted by Queen – "
This one is one of your better choices in fashion," the mare continued, "A sensible winter coat, hat and scarf, but these earthy colors are just so dull.
"The fifth one isn't terribly bad, but these cream colors are – what's this?" She raised an eyebrow. "Celery, Doctor?"
"There's a very, very good reason for that," the Doctor said defensively. "I was dealing with a Praxis gas allergy – "
"Well, you at least could have kept it in your pocket or somewhere else out of sight. The lapel is for flowers, not vegetables." She sighed as she looked at the sixth outfit. "Oh, this one's just awful. All these gaudy colors – ugh! And this next one's no better; plaid pants? Sweater vest? An umbrella cane? And all of them covered in question marks!"
"I'll admit, that was a bit of an…odd phase for me." The colt said, rubbing the back of his neck.
Rarity stopped between the last two outfits. "These two are definitely better than the others – not that that's saying much at all. This one is reminiscent of your first two, but it pulls off the look much better than they did. And this last one is odd, compared to the ones previous – it's so simple. All these subdued colors; were you going through a – oh, what's the word the foals use – 'emo' phase?"
"You…could say that," the Doctor replied.
"And now we come to your current attire," Rarity said, turning to the colt. "And I must say, it is the best of them all. A blue, red pinstriped suit, and its brown counterpart, completed with the accompanying tie and overcoat. Simple, yet dashing."
The Doctor grinned. At least she approved of his current fashion sense.
"But I'm confused, Doctor," she continued, turning back to the racks of clothing, "For someone as outgoing as yourself, you must have several more of those suits, but I can't find them anywhere."
"Oh, that's because there aren't any."
Rarity's eyes grew noticeably smaller. "There…aren't?"
The Doctor shook his head. "I just switch between the brown and the blue every now and then."
The mare sighed in relief. "Ah, good. That gives you time to wash the other." She paused. "You do wash them, don't you?"
"Of course I do!" the colt replied indignantly. "Well, a few times a month, anyway. At least twice. Usually."
It took Rarity a full five seconds of eye twitching for her to finally faint.
The Doctor sighed. "Note to self: never invite any more fashion designers on the TARDIS."
|
Tarkana262
|
904
| 3 |
Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Crossover,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Life Among the Distant Stars
|
Six ponies. One Doctor. A universe to explore. (Sequel to The Emotional Illness)
|
complete
| 39 | 1 |
<p>Sequel to The Emotional Illness. The Doctor takes the mane cast on an adventure unlike any they've had before. Thrills! Chills! Ponies!</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-11-02T23:32:35+00:00
|
2011-11-02T23:32:35+00:00
| 1,406 |
Martha Jones' heart skipped a beat when she heard the phone.
Martha was not the kind of person to assign a unique ringtone to all her contacts, but the Doctor was a unique case. It was a simple, unobnoxious tune; a song she hadn't heard for nearly a year.
She flipped the phone open and looked at the display. A picture of the Doctor gazed back, flashing a smile at her. She grinned as memories of their travels came back. The last time they met, she had joined his current companion, Donna Noble, Captain Jack Harkness, Mickey Smith, and Rose Tyler and her mother to help him stop the Dalek armada from destroying all of reality. It had been a very long and memorable day.
She pressed the phone to her ear. "Hello?"
"Martha Jones!" the jovial voice she knew so well answered.
She gave an inward sigh of relief; from what she could tell, he hadn't regenerated yet. "Doctor! How have you been?"
"Oh, I'm managing. As good as a nine-hundred-and-five-year-old time traveler can, anyway. How about you?"
"I'm doing fine," she replied. "And you'll be happy to know I've quit UNIT. Mickey and I have gone into freelancing."
"Really? Good old Mickey the Idiot, I can always count on him. Anyway, the reason I'm calling is that I'm bringing some off-world companions to Earth for the first time, and I thought, 'You know, I should take them to Martha's, I haven't seen her in a while.'"
"Calling ahead, Doctor? This is a first."
"Well, there's a first time for everything. You see, these...companions of mine are all vegetarians, so if you could hide all your meat and put out a nice vegetable platter, that would be fantastic. Oh, and apples! Lots of apples."
"Veggies and apples - got it."
"Brilliant, Martha. We're coming in a few seconds; don't go anywhere, I've got a surprise for you."
Martha was puzzled by the last bit as he hung up. Surprise? What more surprises could he have than dropping in like this – and actually telling her beforehand, no less?
She had just finished preparing the platter when she heard the distinctive noise of the TARDIS. With a smile, she ran outside to the blue box and threw open the doors –
– and was met by a brown miniature horse with gigantic blue eyes wearing the Doctor's clothes.
"Surprise!" said the horse. "I'm a pony now!"
*~*
Despite all that she had seen in her days with the Doctor and serving in UNIT, Martha Jones found it very hard to accept that the Doctor was currently a three-foot-tall horse (or rather, pony - he had corrected her several times on the distinction.)
"You humans," he said, shaking his head, "Take them around the universe and suddenly a planet full of sentient ponies is harder to believe than murderous angels statues."
While it was an odd experience for Martha, she could only imagine what it was like for the Doctor's six companions. From what she gathered from their conversations, their technology was generally behind their by several years, with a few appliances he said were powered by magic (exactly what he meant by that, she wasn't sure). They had entered her house wide-eyed, blown away by everything within it. She gave them permission to explore her house, which quickly went downhill, thanks to Pinkie Pie. Martha still had no idea how the pink pony managed to get her microwave to self-destruct.
When they finally settled down in the living room, Twilight positioned herself next to the bookshelf, switching between the conversation at hand and a book on world history. Rarity wasted no time taking notes on a few fashion magazines she had found, talking animatedly with Martha about what she found. Rainbow Dash attempted to take a nap on one side of the couch, her efforts thwarted by a bouncing Pinkie on the opposite end. Applejack opted to stand up, allowing Fluttershy to curl up on the recliner. The farmer pony's questions centered on earth agriculture and why their apples tasted so different, while Fluttershy, unable to speak up quick enough to bring up a new subject, simply commented on whatever conversation was at hand. The Doctor himself walked all around the living room and kitchen, experimenting with all kinds of objects to see what he could and couldn't do with hooves (which, disappointingly, included peel bananas; he assumed that earth and Pegasus ponies had some other method of doing it and resolved to ask Twilight later.)
"I don't understand, Doctor," Martha said at one point, "How does a Time Lord end up as a pony?"
The other six ponies all looked at the Doctor expectantly; he had not explained it to them, either.
The colt swallowed a piece of celery. "Well, to be perfectly honest, I only have a theory about that, but I'll tell you anyway.
"I actually ended up in equestrian by accident. I was in transit to go to the first Beatles concert - it's an earth band; you'd like them, Rarity - when something pulled the TARDIS off course."
"Something <i>pulled</i> it?" Twilight asked. "What could possibly do that to the TARDIS?"
"Happens a lot more often than you'd think..." the Doctor muttered. "But my theory is that what pulled me was, in fact you six – through the Elements of Harmony."
"That doesn't make a lick o' sense," said Applejack. "We hadn't worn them for months before you arrived."
"Yes, but you are still psychically linked to them! You lot are the only ponies who can use them that we know of. Not only did they protect you from the empathivores, but they also sent out a psychic distress beacon, which the TARDIS picked up on."
"That still doesn't explain why you're a pony," Rainbow pointed out.
"Well, suddenly changing course in the middle of the Time Vortex like that isn't the kind of thing you'd normally do. I think the internal rematerialization circuits - the things that put us back together when we land, Dash - might have got a little damaged. Either that, or she's playing tricks on me again." Upon noticing the worry in the mares' faces, he added, "Don't worry! I am almost very 90% sure that it won't affect you. Mostly."
A nervous chuckle was shared as Rainbow Dash glanced at the clock. "Hey, Doc. You wanted me to tell you when it was five-thirty?"
"Yes!" The Doctor stood up and made his way to the door. "We'd better be going, or we will be late for the first Summer Sun Festival!"
"Wait a second!" Applejack yelled. "How in tarnation are we <i>going</i> to be late for somethin' that's <i>already happened?</i>"
"Exactly!" the Doctor shouted back.
The six mares filed into the TARDIS, but the Doctor remained within the threshold. "The invitation is still open, you know."
Martha gave him a sad smile. "I'd love to, Doctor, but you know why we can't travel together anymore. I've just started to move on, and I've a job here, with Mickey. Besides," she added with a laugh, "you look like you've got your hands full, yourself."
"Hooves," the Doctor corrected. "Speaking of which, what do you think of them?"
"You've always had a knack for meeting the odd ones, that's for sure. But...they're good people, probably the kindest I'll ever have the pleasure of meeting. The world could definitely use more like them."
"So could every world."
"But they're so innocent," Martha continued. "They haven't seen the darker parts of the universe yet, and travelling with you will put them right into it. So, whatever happens...be careful, Doctor."
The Doctor smiled warmly. "Always, Martha. Always."
He closed the door behind him and gave a happy sigh. It was good to see an old companion again...
His smile widened as he was hit with an idea. "Change of plans, girls," he said, already working on the console. "One more stop before we go…"
*~*
The first thing Captain Jack Harkness saw after leaving the Torchwood Hub was a collection of seven pastel-colored ponies.
"You have <i>got</i> to be kidding me..."
|
Tarkana262
|
904
| 4 |
Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Crossover,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Life Among the Distant Stars
|
Six ponies. One Doctor. A universe to explore. (Sequel to The Emotional Illness)
|
complete
| 39 | 1 |
<p>Sequel to The Emotional Illness. The Doctor takes the mane cast on an adventure unlike any they've had before. Thrills! Chills! Ponies!</p>
|
everyone
|
2012-01-05T01:20:10+00:00
|
2012-01-05T01:20:10+00:00
| 1,343 |
At the top of the tallest tower in the Canterlot castle, the royal sisters' bedchambers glow at night. And on the northern side of the tower, a balcony extends from the room, designed to give a perfect vantage point for observing both the ponies living on the land below and the movement of the sun and moon in the skies above. And on many nights, a single alicorn can be seen there, dark as the night itself with a mane composed of a unique sea of stars.
It felt odd to Luna to stand on this balcony, to live in this castle. All her memories of royal life before were of the old castle in what was now the Everfree Forest; she hadn't been here when her residual magic changed that place into the cursed wood it was today, or when Celestia had commissioned the construction of the new castle. She was supposed to feel at home here, but it was all so…foreign. As if she was taking something that did not belong to her.
She shook her head. This is your home, she told herself, You are meant to be here.
Yet even months after her return, she still didn't entirely believe herself.
A sound came from the room behind her. Luna weighed the possibilities: Celestia would not have made noise if she had awoken; a guard or servant would have knocked before entering, leaving only one conclusion…
Luna quickly jumped back into the room and faced the intruder. "HALT, FOALISH TRESPASSER! HOW DARE THOU ENTER OUR BEDCHAMBERS WITHOUT OUR CONSENT!"
"Blimey, you can shout!"
Luna's hoof went to her mouth as she threw a quick glance at Celestia's bed; thankfully, the sun princess was still sound asleep.
"Doctor!" she whispered. "My apologies – I did not know it was you!"
The Doctor cleaned one of his ears. "Perfectly alright – I was the one sneaking around. By the way, what was with the shouting and the thou-ing?"
"It is tradition to speak to the common ponies with the Royal Canterlot Voice," Luna replied. "Of course, you are an exception, for very little is common about you."
The colt nodded slowly. "Right…I think you'd better read up on those traditions, your majesty."
"Just Luna, please," she said waving a hoof. "You are more than qualified to use my name."
The Doctor smiled and looked outside. "Beautiful night you've got here," he commented. "And believe me, I've seen a lot of nights, but knowing that you have a direct hand, er, hoof in them makes it look that much better."
"Why…thank you, Doctor," Luna said, smiling. "No one has said anything like that to me in a long time. Well, except Celestia, anyway."
"Well, just because they don't say it doesn't mean they don't think it," the Doctor replied. "I'll bet every one of those ponies down there look up every night and say to themselves, 'Wow! Look at those stars! Look at that moon! Luna's outdone herself tonight.'"
Luna's smile faded. "I appreciate your words, Doctor, but even if they are true, they should be saved for someone more deserving."
"More deserving? You're Princess Luna – co-ruler of Equestria, bringer of night!"
Luna sighed. "Tell me – did Celestia not perform both tasks well enough on her own for a thousand years? And was I not also once Nightmare Moon, the evil mistress of eternal night?"
The Doctor nodded slowly. "Well, yes…"
"Then why do I deserve the praise of my subjects? Not only did I betray them and threaten to effectively destroy the ecosystem out of jealousy, but I am also unnecessary in the government – a proverbial fifth wheel. Nothing I have done merits their admiration."
The alicorn sighed again. "But what would you know about that? You're the Doctor. The Oncoming Storm. Savior of a thousand worlds, past, present and future. You saved our planet within hours of landing here." She turned away and whispered, "What do you know of failure?"
"You seem to know a bit about me," the Doctor noted.
"The stars have much to say to those willing to listen. And I know from them that you have no idea what it is like to live with the guilt of betraying your own people."
The room fell silent. Luna turned back to the Doctor, who looked in her eyes with an intensity she hadn't seen in anyone since Celestia.
He slowly sat on the floor and motioned for her to do the same. He glanced into the night sky and took a deep breath. "There was a war…"
Half an hour later, Luna was crying.
The Doctor had told her everything – the conquest of the Daleks, the horrors of the Last Great Time War, the plan of the Ultimate Sanction. The greatest war the universe had ever known, fought to save all of creation, had turned into mutually assured destruction, with both sides willing to sacrifice anything for victory.
And so, the Doctor had made the ultimate choice.
Luna could hardly comprehend it: destroying your own homeworld for the sake of all life, and then sealing the war from time travel, so nothing could escape from it. Even for magic, it seemed impossible, and yet the Doctor had achieved it.
And not only that; he had chosen to do it.
"How do you cope, Doctor?" she said between tears. "How do you live, knowing you have committed a crime beyond redemption?"
"Only one thing has kept me doing the right thing since then," the Doctor said softly. "My companions. They give me a reason to keep going; to keep exploring the galaxy, looking for adventure; to see the good in people. They bring out the best in me because I don't want them to see me at my worst."
"So what would you have me do?" Luna asked.
"It's simple, really: find someone to care about. Not just your subjects as a whole, that's good, too; but someone specific. Someone who needs a pony to look up to, and you'll want to stay on the right path for; not because you're obligated to, but because you want to."
He took a quick look at the clock. "Well, I've taken enough of your time, Luna, and I need to make sure that Pinkie hasn't taken the TARDIS for a spin, so I'll leave you to – "
"Hold, Doctor," Luna put her hoof on his shoulder. "I…thank you for your words. I will follow your advice. There's a holiday coming up – Nightmare Night. It is based around the Nightmare Moon legend; the tradition is that the children gather candy from their neighbors to give as an offering to me – er, her, so that she will not eat them." She chuckled softly at the notion. "I believe I will visit them then."
"I'm sure it will turn out wonderfully," the Doctor said, smiling.
The colt trotted out of the room, leaving Luna alone in the dying candlelight. She would take the matter up with Celestia tomorrow. Surely she would agree to a public appearance; Celly made so many herself, anyway.
She would make her first appearance on a day centered around her darkest hour - and hopefully, she would finally come out of its shadow.
|
Tarkana262
|
904
| 5 |
Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Crossover,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Life Among the Distant Stars
|
Six ponies. One Doctor. A universe to explore. (Sequel to The Emotional Illness)
|
complete
| 39 | 1 |
<p>Sequel to The Emotional Illness. The Doctor takes the mane cast on an adventure unlike any they've had before. Thrills! Chills! Ponies!</p>
|
everyone
|
2012-01-05T01:27:38+00:00
|
2012-01-05T01:27:38+00:00
| 1,328 |
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It is highly recommended that you read the fanfiction Bubbles (Go to Equestria Daily, then add this at the end of the URL: 2011/03/story-bubbles.html) before reading this chapter, or else the full emotional intent of the chapter will not be realized. Manly tears may follow. Or girly tears, if you're female.
..."Girly tears?" Is that even a thing?
The TARDIS' doors opened to a dark forest. The Doctor wasn't sure why she had taken him here – alone, no less – but he wasn't one to turn down a mystery.
The forest, which he assumed was the Everfree, seemed to be unnaturally shadowed, even though it was nightfall. The plants were overgrown from years of desertion, and the Doctor heard many sounds he couldn't identify.
As fascinating a place it was, the colt was still uncertain why the TARDIS has brought him here – until he heard a faint sobbing.
He followed the noise through the trees and bushes until he found the source of the noise: a small grey pegasus filly with blonde hair. When she turned to look at him, he noticed that her right eye lazily pointed up higher than the other.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" the Doctor asked softly. The filly jerked away from him, hiding behind a tree and pointing what appeared to be a bubble wand at him. "Don't be afraid; I'm not going to hurt you. What's your name?"
The filly blinked and sniffled for a few seconds, then spoke with difficulty: "D…D-Dit…z-y…D-Doo."
The Doctor smiled warmly. "Ditzy Doo? Cute name. I'm the Doctor, and I am going to help you. Do you know where your parents are?"
Ditzy shook her head sadly, beginning to cry again.
"Aw, don't do that. Here, it'll be okay." He pulled out a handkerchief and gave it to her. "Let's get out of the dark, alright?"
Ditzy nodded as she dried her eyes. The Doctor placed her on his back and began to navigate the forest back to the TARDIS. Several times on the way, Ditzy would hear a noise and cling tightly to his back and bury her face in his mane. By the time they reached the blue box, however, she was fast asleep.
He took the TARDIS to the Ponyville orphanage and explained the circumstances to the mare in charge, who gladly agreed to take the filly in for as long as necessary.
Back inside the TARDIS, the Doctor couldn't help but be intrigued by Ditzy. Why would a filly be alone in the Everfree Forest? Surely her parents were worried about her. Wouldn't they have organized a search party by now?
The colt stood up and threw a lever. It was time that he got to the bottom of this.
When the Doctor returned to the orphanage the next day, he was visibly stunned.
The first thing he had discovered was that he was actually about ten years in the past from when he met Twilight and the girls. The second, more pressing matter was what preceded his discovery of Ditzy.
As he had guessed from her speech impediment, Ditzy had a mental disability. Even with her permanently crossed eyes, it wasn't terribly severe, as she played like any other child in the days before, but it did separate her from other fillies her age since she didn't do well in crowds or in school.
The week had started nicely. Ditzy's mother was baking muffins (Ditzy's favorite food), her father was at work, and the filly herself was patiently waiting for the muffins to be ready. When they were done, her mother invited her to eat as many as she liked, which Ditzy happily did.
Then it all went horribly wrong.
It didn't take the Doctor long to piece together the circumstances of Ditzy's sudden illness, her father's argument with her mother when he returned home, and the subsequent trip to the emergency room which her mother did not participate in. He wanted to be very, very wrong, but the truth stared at him in the face: Ditzy's mother had tried to kill her.
When the filly was released from the hospital, the family celebrated. Even her mother joined in all day, with games and singing and purple muffins (Ditzy's favorite kind).
Seeing them happy made the Doctor hopeful. Maybe her mother had realized that she didn't actually want Ditzy dead. Maybe things would improve.
But the very next day, she had the nerve to do it again.
Watching her bring Ditzy miles away from home just to abandon her in the Everfree forest, distracted by bubbles, brought the Doctor to his knees. Until then, Equestria had been a utopia of peace and harmony, where evil was unheard of.
And then, in the midst of it all, was this picture of utter cruelty, serving as a reminder that even this planet has its dark side.
More than once, the Doctor had wanted to kick that horrible mare square in the jaw, rant at her selfishness, and drop her in a supernova on the farthest side of the universe. Unfortunately, Ditzy's past was fixed in time.
But if her past couldn't be changed, maybe he could guide her future.
As the Doctor entered the orphanage, the staff told him that Ditzy had been distant all morning. Many of the other foals and fillies had tried to approach her, but she remained silent to all of them.
She looked at the Doctor in surprise when he came to her. "Hello, Ditzy. How are you doing?"
The filly shrugged. "Nobody's been mean to you?"
She shook her head "no." "Are you happy here?"
A pause, then another "no."
"Well, you're just lonely, is all. And I've got a friend for you…"
The colt pulled out a small yellow doll. Ditzy smiled at the sight of it and hugged it tightly, happily squeaking "Sweetie!"
"She's missed you as well," the Doctor laughed, "so I thought I'd bring her to you so you could have a friend."
The Doctor stayed with Ditzy the whole week, playing with her and helping her make friends with the other orphans. The staff was at first puzzled by this; if he cared so much for the pegasus filly, why didn't he just adopt her? When asked, the Doctor simply replied that he didn't have the stable lifestyle she deserved, and he wanted to be sure she was happy before he left her there.
To himself, he admitted there was another reason: despite all that she had been through, despite her mental disability, deep in those crooked eyes, there was an ember of innocence left in her that he couldn't bear to see go out.
On the last day of the week, the Doctor announced that he had hired a therapist to help with Ditzy's condition. "I talked to every doctor from here to Appleloosa," the Doctor explained to her, "This one will help you talk just like everyone else."
Ditzy was very happy, but that joy only lasted until the evening, when the Doctor told that he wouldn't be coming every day anymore.
"It'll be okay, Ditzy," the Doctor said softly as the filly looked at him misty-eyed. "I'll still visit every month, and we can play then." He put a hoof to his chin thoughtfully. "Tell you what: if you promise to be a good little filly while I'm gone, I'll bring purple muffins every time I come. Is that okay?"
Ditzy smiled and nodded. As the colt stepped through the doorway, she ran under his legs and wrapped her front legs around his neck in a tight hug.
"Don't worry, Ditzy," he whispered. "I will come back, and while I'm gone through all of time and space, I'll be thinking of you."
The Doctor proved better than his word, and came to the orphanage no less than three times a month. Wherever he went, he brought back some exotic souvenir to show Ditzy; eventually, all of the orphans looked forward to the tales of his adventures in time and space.
He watched Ditzy slowly grow older, overcoming more and more of her disability to the point where she nearly acted as if nothing had ever been wrong. The therapist told him that one of the first new words she learned to say was "doctor."
According to the orphanage staff, she had taken their promise to heart; they said she was the nicest, happiest little filly they had ever seen. Even so, there were still times when they would find her curled up in her bed, tearfully asking only for the Doctor.
One of the happiest days they had together was in one bright Summer about a year and a half after they had met. Ditzy had bounded up to him as he arrived, excitedly crying, "Doctor! Doctor! Look – I got my cutie mark!"
She turned and proudly showed off her mark: a collection of seven bubbles.
It had happened the previous day. One of the other fillies had been trying to balance on a rubber ball and had slipped and hurt themselves. In an effort to cheer her up, Ditzy had started making bubbles; the mark appeared soon after the filly started laughing at the strange shapes she made.
"But does that mean my special talent is bubble making?" she asked as she played checkers with the Doctor, "That's a stupid talent."
"It's not that silly," the Doctor replied. "What would the world be without bubble makers? A lot less fun, that's what."
Ditzy laughed. "But I don't think that's your talent, Ditzy," The colt continued. "What I think your talent is, is making other ponies happy."
"Really?"
The Doctor winked. "Hey, thinking of you makes me happy any day."
"But why bubbles as a cutie mark?"
"Well, bubbles make everyone happy, don't they? And yet, they're so simple. Ponies might look at you and think you're nothing special. But you are so unique, because you've got a big old ball of happiness just waiting to be shared right here." He poked her in the chest, causing her to giggle. Smiling mischievously, he began poking her more. "And here, and here, and here…"
Ditzy laughed uncontrollably, and the checkers game was forgotten in favor of the ensuing tickle war.
Though the Doctor would later count the days he spent with Ditzy as some of the best of his on Equestria, he knew that one day, Ditzy would need to learn to live on her own, without him teaching and guiding her. His plan had originally been to leave her with whatever family chose her for adoption, but every year she was overlooked. Well, let's give another year, he told himself many times; a family will choose her eventually.
But seven years passed, and she still occupied the same bed in the orphanage. And so, one rainy evening, he swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and told Ditzy he would not be visiting anymore.
He assumed it was easier since she was older now, but that didn't mean it wasn't hard for the both of them. He had practically raised the filly for years now, and he very much didn't want to leave. Ditzy told him she understood why he had to leave and accepted it, but the intense look in her eyes despite their crooked nature almost convinced him to adopt her then and there.
But in the end, goodbyes were said in the light of a candle on the porch outside the orphanage where the TARDIS was parked. Ditzy encased him in a hug tighter than any she had ever given before while the Doctor emphatically assured her that they would meet again.
And so it was that Ditzy tearfully watched the TARDIS disappear for what she desperately hoped would not be the last time.
Years Later…
As Ditzy walked home from her mail route, she caught sight of a reserved table outside a café. The table itself was not notable, but what was placed on it stood out: a purple muffin and an envelope addressed to her.
Ditzy was certain the café didn't serve purple muffins; even Sugarcube Corner didn't until she had given Pinkie Pie the recipe after the pink mare had seen her eating one while delivering the mail. Picking up the envelope, she noticed it was a very familiar shade of blue.
Intrigued, she opened it and read:
Sorry it's been so long. I've been busy lately, but don't think that I've forgotten you.
Unfortunately, I can't visit just yet; there's some trouble on Raxacoricofallapatorius that needs straightening out. In the meantime, I came across a chap who you should know who's missed you for over ten years now. He should be there shortly.
Thinking of you across time and space,
The Doctor
"Ditzy? Is…is that you?"
Ditzy looked up to see an old grey pegasus colt; yes, she did know this pony…
"…Daddy?"
Immediately, the colt ran to her and hugged her tightly. "Oh, Ditzy, it is you!" He said through is tears. "I've missed you so much, sweetie…"
Ditzy smiled into her father's mane. Thank you, Doctor. Thank you.
|
Tarkana262
|
904
| 6 |
Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Crossover,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Life Among the Distant Stars
|
Six ponies. One Doctor. A universe to explore. (Sequel to The Emotional Illness)
|
complete
| 39 | 1 |
<p>Sequel to The Emotional Illness. The Doctor takes the mane cast on an adventure unlike any they've had before. Thrills! Chills! Ponies!</p>
|
everyone
|
2012-01-17T15:55:14+00:00
|
2012-01-17T15:55:14+00:00
| 1,276 |
"Okay!" The Doctor clapped his hooves together and faced the six mares assembled around the TARDIS' control pillar. "We have achieved safe passage into the Time Vortex, the crossroads of time and space. Where to?"
"Well, I've always wanted to see what ancient Equestria was like," Twilight answered. "Maybe we could see some of the great pony scholars. Ooh, we could even meet Star Swirl the Bearded!"
Rainbow Dash scoffed. "C'mon, Twilight, don't be such an egghead all the time. Everyone knows the future is where it's at! And not just fifty or sixty years, I mean really in the future! Like robots and lasers and spaceships in the future!"
"No thanks," said Applejack. "Ah've read too many of them robot-revolution books to want t'go that far."
Rarity raised her brow in surprise. "Applejack, I didn't know you read science fiction."
The orange earth pony coughed. "Well, eh, Ah don't read 'em that often. Only two or three." Her eyes shifted. "A month."
"Of course, dear," Rarity said with a knowing smile. "What about you, Fluttershy? When would you like to go?"
"Oh, I'm fine wherever we go," she replied, "But…personally, I kind of want to see if everypony is okay after…" she gulped. "…what we saw before."
An uncomfortable silence fell on the room. Nopony wanted to address what they had seen in their first journey into the future.
"ANYWAY," The Doctor yelled, "Survey says that opinion are across the board, so I'll just set the TARDIS on random and we'll see where – "
Knock, knock, knock, knock.
The ponies turned towards the TARDIS door. "Who could that be?" Applejack asked.
"No one…" the Doctor answered. "Literally, no one. We're in the Time Vortex – there's nothing out there but artron energy!"
Knock, knock, knock, knock.
The mares could all tell this impossibility was making the Doctor very agitated. But they did not know the true cause of the colt's fear. They did not know the prophecy that had hung over his head ever since he had received it months ago.
He will knock four times, and then you will die.
He very much did not want to face it. He did not want the mares to see him die, even if he would just regenerate. He knew he could turn around, press one button, and send them all away to a private beach on Barcelona, leaving it far behind.
But he also knew, in the end, he could not run from it forever.
Knock, knock, knock, knock.
He walked towards the door, the knocks seeming to intensify with every step. Eyes closed, his hoof reached the handle and threw the door open –
"Well, it's about time, Mr. Slowypants!"
The Doctor's eyes shot open. "Pinkie Pie?!"
"Yeah!" Pinkie said brightly, trotting into the room and closing the door behind her. "Didn't I tell you guys that I was gonna run back to Sugarcube Corner to get more sprinkles?"
She dropped her overflowing saddlebags on the floor, several confectionary items falling out. "Well, it started that way, but then I remembered that more sprinkles means more cupcakes, and then I had this weird feeling that just saying the word 'cupcakes' would make a lot of people feel really weird, so I decided to make normal cakes instead. And I even remembered my rubber chicken!"
The Doctor stared at her with a very flabbergasted gaze. "But…but…Time Vortex!"
"Oh, you mean the red and blue swirly-tunnely-thingy? I use that all the time to get places. It's so much more fun than just walking everywhere! But sometimes, there are these ginormous words in there, too, and they whoosh on by like Rainbow Dash when she had coffee that one time. They're like, really weird names. I mean, seriously, who's ever heard of a pony named David Tennant?"
The colt's mouth hung open. "What…what…what?!"
Pinkie squinted at him. "Hmm…you don't look so good, Doccy. Maybe you should go lie down or something. That always helps me when I eat too much fudge."
The Doctor nodded slowly. "Y-yes, I'll go do that…"
"Okay. Have fun!" The party pony waved as the colt trotted down the hallway. She was about to bounce off into the kitchen when she noticed the other five mares staring at her similarly to how the Doctor has moments ago.
"Geez, don't tell me you all had too much fudge, too!"
|
Tarkana262
|
904
| 7 |
Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Crossover,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Life Among the Distant Stars
|
Six ponies. One Doctor. A universe to explore. (Sequel to The Emotional Illness)
|
complete
| 39 | 1 |
<p>Sequel to The Emotional Illness. The Doctor takes the mane cast on an adventure unlike any they've had before. Thrills! Chills! Ponies!</p>
|
everyone
|
2012-02-25T21:59:29+00:00
|
2012-02-25T21:59:29+00:00
| 1,187 |
The control room was filled with all sorts of noises as the Doctor worked underneath the control column. Pinkie Pie sat happily nearby, hooked up to the column with a great tangle of wires.
The other five ponies looked on, knowing and fearing the inevitable outcome.
“Uh, Doc…what are you doing?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Science!” the colt yelled back. He emerged from his work, his mane frizzier than before and sonic screwdriver in his mouth. “You girls had better stick around, because I am, once and for all, going to figure out what makes this mare tick!”
His declaration was met with a round of facehooves and groans.
“Listen, sugarcube,” Applejack said, “When you’ve been around Pinkie as long as we have…”
“You discover some mysteries are better left unsolved,” Rarity finished.
“Oh, but that’s no fun!” The Doctor grinned widely. “We are friends with a pony that lives in direct defiance of the basic laws of physics and you me to act as if that’s entirely normal? Well, I suppose that’s technically true in your case…and by extension, mine – but that’s beside the point!”
Twilight shook her head. “Trust me, Doctor. I tried this a couple months ago, and I came back empty-hoofed. There are some things you just have to accept on faith.”
“Ah, but you didn’t have good old Gallifreyan engineering on your side!” The Doctor hopped over to a large lever. “Ready, Pinkie?”
The pink pony grinned. “Okie dokie lokie!”
“Right – now, my dear nay-saying companions, behold!”
With a dramatic swing of his arm, the Doctor threw the lever – and instantly, all the lights went out.
“’Good old Gallifreyan engineering,’ huh?” Rainbow Dash quipped.
The Doctor sighed frustratedly. “Just giver the old girl a second to get back up. It’s probably something simple, like stray artron energy or something.”
The lights returned shortly. The colt began to pull out his screwdriver again when he noticed something.
“Where’s Pinkie?”
The mares looked, and sure enough, the chair where Pinkie had been sitting was now empty, save for the collection of wires she had been wearing just moments before.
“Woah! That was fun!”
Pinkie’s voice echoed through the control room, as if it came from everywhere at once. The six ponies looked everywhere, but found no sign of her.
“I don’t get it,” Applejack said, “Where’s she gone off to?”
“Silly Applejack, I’m right here!” Light flickered as a hologram of the pink pony faded into existence before them.
“Whoa,” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, “How’d you do that?”
“Oh, it was easy,” Pinkie answered. “I saw you guys were all worried, so I looked around in the application directory and I saw this hologram projection thingy, and I told to to look like me and here I am!”
“Wait,” the Doctor interjected, “Did you say, ‘application directory?’”
Pinkie’s head bobbed happily. “You wouldn’t believe all the cool stuff that’s in there! There the room generator, and a star map, and a universal timeline, and the wibbly and wobbily modulators, and…”
As the party pony continued her list, the Doctor’s pupils became progressively smaller. “No…no, no, no…no no nononononono!”
“Uh-oh,” Rainbow whispered, “The only time he does that is when something’s really messed up.”
“Pinkie!” the colt shouted at the hologram. “Listen very carefully – you are now inside the TARDIS. Not just in a room, but inside its mainframe that controls everything. I don’t how, I don’t know why, but whatever you do, don’t – ”
“Ooh! Ooh! You mean I can make it go whoosh! All right! Let’s go on an adventure!”
Switches on the console flipped themselves and the TARDIS was thrown into action. The room shook even more than it did when the Doctor was in control.
“Where are you taking us?!” The Doctor demanded.
Pinkie giggled. “It’s a secret!”
The TARDIS’ abrupt landing threw the six corporal ponies to the floor.
“Ow – is…everypont alright?” Twilight grunted.
“I believe so,” Rarity said, “though I wish the same could be said about my mane. And I just got a new perm, too…”
The Doctor dusted off his coat. “Right, Pinkie, where have you taken us?”
“Well, I opened the star map and I closed my eyes and pointed at the map and said, ‘Ooh! Griffoth!’ That sounds like fun!”
“Wait, Griffoth?!”
A dull, repeating thumping noise rang through the room. It started slowly, but quickly picked up speed and force. Soon, the entire TARDIS began to shake.
“Doc, what’s goin’ on?!” Applejack asked.
“It’s the Graske,” the colt said, “They’re the natives, little lizard-like guys who invade planets on their free time. And they really, really don’t like me.”
“Are there any species that actually like you, Doctor?” Rarity asked.
The Doctor paused. “That’s not important!” he said, then turned back to the control column. “Pinkie, I need you to get us out of here, now.”
“Awwww, but this planet’s name is so much fun to say!” Pinkie whined. “Griffoth, Griffoth, Griffoth! It’s like Griffon, but with – ”
“PINKIE PIE!”
“Ugh, fine! You don’t need to be a bossy-flossy.”
Celestia sighed when the sound of a quill scratching paper reached her ears. “Luna,” she called into her sister’s bedroom, “I’m going for a walk in the garden. Would you like to come with me?”
She received no answer. When she entered the room, she saw Luna on her bed, surrounded by books and scrolls and writing furiously.
The moon princess jumped slightly when Celestia cleared her throat. “Oh, my apologies, sister. I did not hear you come in.”
“It is alright, Luna.” Celestia replied. “It looks like you’ve been working hard today. Why don’t you take a break and come walk in the garden with me? The Heart’s Desires are starting to bloom.”
Luna shook her head. “I’m sorry, Celly, but I’m in the middle of a project. I can’t just stop now.”
The sun princess frowned, remembering how many times she heard those same words from a certain faithful student of hers. As the filly had grown older, Celestia had to use more inventive ways to get her to stop studying even for a moment.
Her frown turned to a smile when she recalled a specific method she had often employed.
“Why Luna, I think there’s something on your fur!”
Luna looked down. “What? Where – ”
“Here!” Luna found herself underneath Celestia, the white alicorn tickling her belly. Their combined laughter grew as the playful assault continued –
CRASH!
The alicorns’ heads turned towards a very familiar blue box that had unceremoniously wedged itself in the outer wall. Smoke billowed out the open door, along with a dazed Doctor.
“Blimey, that’s the second time this has happened! I’m very sorry, your magesties – ”
The colt’s eyes fell on the bed, where Princess Celestia was on top of Princess Luna, both of whom were looking slightly exhausted.
“Weeeelllll…” The Doctor’s face slowly turned red. “I’m very sorry for barging in like this, but we’ll be leaving NOW PINKIE!”
He stumbled back into the TARDIS as fast as he could as it slowly faded away.
The two princesses looked at each other for a full second before bursting out in laughter.
“Where are we going now?!” Twilight cried.
Pinkie laughed. “I have no idea!”
Currently, the TARDIS was in the closest a time machine could get to a tail spin in the Time Vortex. The six passengers felt the full force of physics as they gripped on to whatever they could.
“Doctor!” Rarity maneuvered next to him and gave him a deadly serious glare. “My mane and tail are in the most unimaginable disarray I have ever had the displeasure of seeing. It will take hours to set it back as it is, and the longer we are like this, it only get worse. If you do not stop Pinkie now, I will personally shave off all your hair and use your teeth as a hairbrush! Understand?”
The Doctor nodded with a nervous gulp and turned to the control pillar.
“Pinkie! Listen to me. The Heart of the TARDIS is still inside there, and eventually, it will take back control and kick you out of there. I don’t quite know what will happen then, but there is a large chance that you will be jettisoned out into oblivion, and when that happens, there will be no cakes, no random songs, and no more parties! The only way to stop that from happening is to take us back to Ponyville, NOW!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the TARDIS came to a sudden stop. The door opened, and the familiar sounds of the Ponyville marketplace drifted in. As the ponies ventured out, they saw they were indeed back home at the exact moment they left.
Rainbow gleefully threw herself to the ground and began to kiss it. “Oh, I never thought I’d miss you!”
“But…what about Pinkie?” Twilight asked.
“What about me?”
They turned around, and there in the TARDIS doorway, stood a flesh-and-blood Pinkie Pie.
“But…but how?!” the Doctor demanded.
“Pinkie shrugged. “Oh, I just put us in reverse, and when we got home I gave the keys back to the girl in charge and thanked her for letting me drive.”
“Wait,” the colt said, eyes narrowing, “She…let you take control?”
“Yep! She’s a very nice lady, you should talk to her more. She let me in after I promised to bake her a cake.” Pinkie’s eyes widened as she gasped. “CAKE!” she cried, and dashed off to the bakery.
“But…but…but…” the Doctor tried his best to make sense of what had happened, but his mind came up blank. Left with no better option, he simply collapsed to the ground.
“Confound you ponies…”
|
Tarkana262
|
904
| 8 |
Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Crossover,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Life Among the Distant Stars
|
Six ponies. One Doctor. A universe to explore. (Sequel to The Emotional Illness)
|
complete
| 39 | 1 |
<p>Sequel to The Emotional Illness. The Doctor takes the mane cast on an adventure unlike any they've had before. Thrills! Chills! Ponies!</p>
|
everyone
|
2012-04-02T23:00:25+00:00
|
2012-04-02T23:00:25+00:00
| 1,217 |
"Well? Are you going to touch it?"
"No way I'm touching it! Apple Bloom, you do it!"
"Nuh-uh! Sweetie Belle's the oldest, she should do it!"
"I'm not even a year older than you, that doesn't count!"
"Well, somebody's gotta do it, and it's not gonna be me!"
The Cutie Mark Crusaders stood before the blue box just outside of Ponyville. They had heard stories of the Doctor for weeks now, and they had finally decided to meet the colt himself.
A plan that had already hit a snag.
"Maybe we should just wait until he comes out," Sweetie Belle suggested.
"But that could take hours," Scootaloo groaned. "He could leave without ever coming out!"
Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. "Well, if we're not going to knock, then we should just call him."
The three fillies took deep breaths and yelled in unison: "DOCTOR!! ARE YOU IN THERE?!"
"You know, if you're going to yell at me, you might as well yell at me."
They faced the Doctor, who wore an amused smile on his face and saddlebags full of groceries on his back. "And no, I'm not in there. I was just out shopping to restock my fridge with some of your marvelous fruits. It's brilliant – you ponies somehow managed to make pears taste good, and I hate - "
"So, you're really the Doctor?" Scootaloo asked, eyes widening.
The Doctor flashed a grin. "Yep, that's me! And you must be those kids the girls are always talking about – that's Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, right?"
"That's us!" Sweetie confirmed.
"We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Apple Bloom announced, posing with her friends. "We're on a quest to find our cutie marks!"
"Ah yes, those little pictures on your rumps. Funny things, those. The most impossible combination of biology and your own native magic, and you see it as naturally occurring! I've always wanted to find out how they work, but cadavers just won't do for the tests I have in mind, and I'm not too keen on testing live ponies, so – "
The Doctor noticed the three fillies looking expectantly at him. After a moment's pause, he sighed.
"Let me guess: you girls want to go in the TARDIS, don't you?"
"Yes!" they said together.
"And you probably also want to travel through time, don't you?"
"Yes!"
"And you're not going to leave me alone until I agree, are you?"
"Nope!"
"Oh, alright then," the colt said, rolling his eyes, "I suppose there's no way out of it now."
Gasping excitedly, the three fillies high-hooved and chanted, "CUTIE MARK CRUSADER TIME TRAVELLERS! YEAH!"
The Doctor winced. "I swear, you ponies are going to be the death of me."
*~*
After watching yet another rendition of the "TARDIS Dance" (his name for the act of walking in the TARDIS for the first time, staring at the interior, walking a lap outside it, walking back in and out any number of times, and finally ending with his favorite sentence in the universe), the Doctor had asked the Cutie Mark Crusaders where and when they wanted to go. They held a short, hushed discussion among themselves (with frequent glances back at him), they gave their best "No-we're-not-planning-anything-why-do-you-ask" smiles and said they wanted to see Ponyville ten years in the future.
They were obviously hiding something, the Doctor knew, but given the generally peaceful disposition of the ponies he had met, he figured there was nothing to worry.
The fillies took surprisingly well to the TARDIS in motion. Granted, they assumed the normal first-time-companion routine after a few minutes, but at least in Scootaloo's case it was done in excitement rather than fear.
They landed in a Ponyville nearly identical to their own. There were key differences, of course: some buildings were newer and some were older, and there were new faces mingling among the familiar. But what mattered was that it was still Ponyville, and the girls –
The girls were gone.
In a panic, the Doctor ran through the town square, looking down every alley and road for the three fillies. But soon, it became clear to him that he may have potentially doomed all of Equestria.
*~*
The shop's bell rand as Scootaloo entered. "Hey, Apple Bloom – Sweetie Belle! What're you doing here?"
The two mares looked up from their conversation. "Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle said, rising to hug her childhood friend. "It's been much too long!"
"Sweetie's stoppin' nearby on her tour an' decided to visit," Apple Bloom replied. "We were just about to go find you."
"Guess you're lucky I'm so fast, or we'd have missed each other," Scootaloo laughed. "That reminds me; you done with it yet, Apple Bloom?"
"Sure am!" the earth pony ducked underneath the counter and came back up with a well-loved orange skateboard. "Here you are, good as new – or as close as I could get it, anyway. You really ought to get a new one, ya know."
"Are you kidding?" the pegasus scoffed. "I had this thing made from the scooter I had when we were fillies – and by you, no less. I'm giving this thing up until it catches fire while I'm riding it!"
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Sweetie Belle said. "We don't want you on fire in the middle of a show."
"Ah, you worry too much. What's the worst that could happen?"
"Ah-HA!"
The three mares turned their heads to the front of the store and saw…themselves. Their younger selves.
"Woah, Sweetie," Young Scootaloo said. "I gotta say, you look good when you're older."
"Are you saying I don't look good now?" the young unicorn asked.
"Do you really want me to answer that?"
Apple Bloom stepped forward. "You're us from the future, right?"
For a moment, the mares were speechless. Sweetie Belle was the first to recover. "Um…yes?"
"And you've got your cutie marks now, right?" Young Scootaloo leaned to the side to get a better look at her future self's flank, but it was covered by her saddlebag.
"Well, yes. We – you – get your cutie marks eventually." Future Apple Bloom answered.
"Really? What do they look like?"
"What's our special talents?"
"How do we get them?"
"C'MON, TELL US!!"
The mares shared a look, and Scootaloo cleared her throat. "Well, you see – "
"Ah-HA!!"
The Doctor burst in, gasping for breath as he approached the fillies. "I have been searching all over for you," he said, "asking everyone who would listen and making a complete fool of myself just because you ponies wouldn't stay – "
It was at that moment that he realized exactly who was in the room.
"Oh, no. Ooooh, no. Ooooooh, no, no, no, no, no, no. Oh-ho, NOW you've done it! Now you've gone and found your future selves and tried to break one of the most fundamental rules of time travel. Now we'll have to deal with Reapers and ponies are going to die because – "
"It's okay, Doc," Future Scootaloo said. "We weren't going to tell them anything."
"What?" said the Doctor.
"WHAT?!" said the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
"Listen, girls," Apple Bloom said, "Finding your special talents is important, but the journey you take getting there is just as important. There'd be nothin' special about it if someone just told you how to find them."
"Besides," Sweetie Belle continued, "You now know that you definitely will get your cutie marks. That's a pretty good discovery, isn't it?"
The fillies thought for a moment. "Ya know…you're right!" Young Apple Bloom said.
"It's not a matter of if we'll get our cutie marks," Young Sweetie Belle said excitedly, "but when we will!"
"Which means we don't have to worry anymore; we'll just keep trying harder!" Scootaloo finished.
The three fillies high-hoofed. "Cutie Mark Crusaders! Yeah!"
"Alright, girls," the Doctor chuckled, "I think your business here is done. Back to the TARDIS, now, and don't touch anything!"
The fillies left, already scheming about what they were going to try once they were back home. The Doctor turned to their future counterparts with a grin. "And you lot already knew this was going to happen, didn't you?"
"Of course we did," Sweetie Belle answered. "It's not like we would forget something like this."
"We've been prepared for this for years," Apple Bloom said, nodding to their saddlebags. "That's why we all wore our bags today – to keep us from seeing our flanks."
"That's why I love you ponies, so brilliant!" the Doctor said happily. He turned to leave, but stopped. "Ah…since I might not be around when you do get them, do you think I could…"
Scootaloo gave him a sly look. "Spoilers, Doc."
Slowly, the colt grinned back. "I've taught you ponies too well."
As the Doctor left, the three mares thought about the days when they were younger. They remembered the adventures they had, the successes and failures, the triumphs and trials. They remembered how many times, even after they had returned from the future, they had felt their quest was hopeless. And finally they remembered the joy they all shared when, at last, they found their destinies.
It would be a while yet for their past selves, they knew, and they would lose their faith many times before the end. But they also knew that when the day did come, it would all have been worth it.
|
Tarkana262
|
904
| 9 |
Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Crossover,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Life Among the Distant Stars
|
Six ponies. One Doctor. A universe to explore. (Sequel to The Emotional Illness)
|
complete
| 39 | 1 |
<p>Sequel to The Emotional Illness. The Doctor takes the mane cast on an adventure unlike any they've had before. Thrills! Chills! Ponies!</p>
|
everyone
|
2012-04-14T05:23:12+00:00
|
2012-04-14T05:23:12+00:00
| 1,330 |
Starswirl put down his glasses and rubbed the edge of his nose. The winter was receding – a natural one, thankfully – but it wasn’t helping his sleep any. His position as the Chief Magician of the new nation of Equestria was one that meant many long nights, especially in these early months as the finer points of the government were being nailed out.
At least he still had Clover as his assistant. He smiled, remembering how she had served as Princess Platinum’s aide when he was too sick to attend the summit of the three tribes so long ago. He would never have guessed that she would end up helping to unite them in their new home.
He caught a glimpse of purple in the corner of his eye. “Ah, Clover. Could you find my notes on temporal displacement? I believe I’m close – ”
He turned to see a very excited-looking purple unicorn mare. She looked very much like Clover – a dead ringer, even – but something about her behavior and her magical aura was decidedly different.
“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!!” The mare bounced like a schoolfilly. “I’m actually standing in the same room as Starswirl the Bearded! I’ve read all your books: The Tapestry of Time, Supernaturals, Practical Potions for Punctual Ponies – oh, wait, you haven’t written those yet, silly me! – oh, it’s just so good to meet you!”
Starswirl simply stared at the mare. “…who are you?”
“You’ll have to forgive her, she’s…like that sometimes.” A brown suit-clad colt strode into the room. “You promised me you wouldn’t do that.”
“I promised I wouldn’t act like, and I quote, ‘a pre-teen girl at a Justin Bieber concert.’ I have no idea what that means!”
The colt shrugged. “Well, now you do.”
To add to Starswirl’s confusion, five more ponies entered – another Unicorn, two Pegasi, and two Earth Ponies. At first, he thought he was confused by what had already happened, but somehow, these ponies all looked exactly like -
“Seriously, Twilight,” the blue Pegasus laughed, interrupting his thoughts, “You were like a filly in a candy store. Priceless!”
“What’s going on here?!” Starswirl demanded. “You’ve brought Pegasi and Earth Ponies in this district? Five of them? You’ll be arrested for sure!”
“Now that’s interesting,” said the colt, browsing the shelves before selecting a book and opening it to random page. “You’re implying that Canterlot has been segregated between the three types of ponies, and that breaking that is a strict offense. I thought you had sorted out your differences by now. What happened, I wonder - ”
Starsiwrl snatched the book from the colt’s hooves. “If you insist on invading my study, risk the arrest of yourselves, as well as me by association, by bringing Earth Ponies and Pegasi with you, ask strange questions and read my books, you may as well have the courtesy to tell me what this is all about!”
The colt held his gaze firmly before removing his glasses. “Fair enough. I’m the Doctor, and these are Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. We’re time travelers.”
Starswirl frowned as his horn glowed and a small orb of magic appeared, flying around each pony individually. It focused the longest on the Doctor before returning to the tip of Starswirl’s horn and disappearing.
His brows furrowed even further. “Such a high magical trace on you six, even the non-unicorns. But your chronoton signatures - that’s not possible!” He faced the Doctor. “Especially you! What in the world have you been doing?”
“Well – ”
“The chronotons are so agitated,” Starswirl continued as if the Doctor had never spoken, “It would indicate direct manipulation, but to remain stable this long…no. It can’t be, that’s impossible…” He turned back to the group, eyes wide. “You are time travelers.”
The Doctor sighed. “Yes. Yes we are. From the future. Time travelers.”
“The future?” Starswirl gasped, realizing the implications. “Please, tell me! Does Equestria survive? Well, obviously, it does, if you’re here together, but I need to hear it from you – do we make it out of this intact?”
“What are you talkin’ about?” Applejack asked. “Get out of what?”
“You mean…this was not recorded?” Starswirl said.
Twilight shook her head. “From what I’ve read of Equestrian history – And I’ve read a lot – there’s no major conflicts for over a hundred years after the crowning of the princesses.”
“Then your history books are flawed to forget something as important as this,” Starswirl said. “For the first few months after the Unification, efforts to establish the new government went smoothly. But our old grudges were not easily forgotten. As the quarrels grew more violent, Princess Platinum, Chancellor Puddinghead, and Commander Hurricane ruled that Canterlot would be split into three districts, one for each tribe. Taking after that decree, entire cities began to cordon themselves and only allow one species – Cloudsdale was built specifically for that purpose. Even the council isn’t immune to the hostile feelings between us.” He sighed. “Personally, I think it’s all foolishness. Can’t they see the only way to have peace is to unite as we intended?”
“But what about the Windigoes?” Rainbow Dash asked. “They should’ve frozen this place a dozen times by now!”
Starswirl shook his head. “The Unicorns developed a spell to ward them off soon after Canterlot was built. It was one of the first things we did for the nation. Only now do any of us realize it was a double-edged sword.”
“The council should be telling everyone to be nice,” Fluttershy piped in, “not yelling at each other.”
“I agree, but…well, see for yourselves.” Starswirl’s cast a spell, causing a magical window to appear before them. “I use this to watch their meetings when I am unable to attend. They should already be in session.”
The window cleared to show three ponies sitting around a table, each looking very displeased with her neighbors. And all of them looked frighteningly familiar…
“Doctor!” Rarity whispered. “They look just like us! Or we look like them – whatever. How is this possible?”
“Well, even a species as genetically diverse as yours can only have so many combinations,” The Doctor explained. “Add over a thousand years in between, and anything’s possible.”
The room fell silent, save for the voices from the image before them.
“I am not asking for much,” Princess Platinum said, voice level, “All I want id for the Earth Ponies to live up to our agreement and give us the food we need to restock our reserves.”
(“They even sound like us!” Rarity hissed, only to be shushed by Pinkie, who was happily munching on a box of popcorn.)
Chancellor Puddinghead frowned in a way that would have seemed comical in any other atmosphere. “Hah! As if you haven’t taken enough! With all the food you and the Pegasi have gobbled up, we barely have enough to fill our own bellies!”
“I dunno,” Commander Hurricane said skeptically, “You’re looking pretty pudgy to me.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Puddinghead demanded.
Hurricane shrugged lazily. “I’m just saying, that maybe you’ve been holding out on us, Chancellor.”
The earth pony gasped. “How dare you! How could we even do that with what little rain you’ve been sending us?”
“Pegasi don’t give rain to liars,” Hurricane said.
“And you!” Puddinghead turned to Platinum. “You promised you’d get us some enchanted seeds to make the plants grow faster. Well, I don’t see any super speedy seeds, do you?”
“Research is slow,” Platinum replied, boredly examining her hoof. “It doesn’t help that it takes our best magicians to raise the sun and moon every day.”
“Speaking of which,” Hurricane said, “I could’ve sworn the sun came up a little later this morning.”
Platinum scoffed. “I’m appalled, Commander! We unicorns strive for perfection in everything we do – a philosophy both of your tribes would do well to copy.”
“At least we pegasi would clean up after ourselves when we attack our allies.”
The room froze. “What are you talking about?” Platinum asked.
Hurricane grinned as if she had revealed a winning Poker hand. “A week ago, a building in the Pegasi district was burned down. Eyewitnesses confirmed it was done by unicorns – ”
“Platinum, how could you!” Puddinghead interrupted. “The Pegasi may be a bunch of old meanie heads, but that doesn’t mean you can burn down – ”
“ – and earth ponies.”
“What?!” the Chancellor gasped.
“Are you suggesting we formed an alliance against you?” Platinum asked.
“I’m not suggesting,” Hurricane said, “I’m flat out saying it! You two planned this together!”
Puddinghead scowled. “Well, how about this? Five days ago, the Earth Pony District was attacked, too – by pegasi and unicorns!”
“Huh?! That’s impossible!” the pegasi countered. “We would never team up with those snooty unicorns!”
“Hmph!” said Princess Platinum. “I was going to try and be the bigger pony and not pin this on you, but circumstances have changed.” She leveled her eyes with the other two ponies. “Two days ago, the Unicorn District was attacked by earth ponies and pegasi.” Her eyes narrowed. “And three of my people were killed.”
(In Starswirl’s room, there was a collective gasp. Fluttershy started crying.)
“This is ridiculous!” the Commander yelled. “None of this would have happened if you two would have held up your end of the bargain.”
“And we would have,” Platinum replied, “if we had any indication that you would honor yours.”
“That’s how you wanna play it?” Hurricane said, baring her teeth. “Fine! From now on, until both of you agree to our deal, we will not deliver any rain anywhere outside of pegasi territory.”
“Oh, yeah?” Puddinghead yelled, “Well, from now on, nopony’s getting any food from us!”
“Very well,” Platinum said, almost resignedly. “You two have forced my hoof.” She stood up, holding herself high. “After tonight, until our demands are met, the unicorns will no longer raise the sun.”
(Another gasp was heard in Starswirl’s study, followed by silence as the gravity of the threats sunk in.)
Commander Hurricane narrowed her eyes. “Where I come from, we’d call that an act of war.”
“It’s only one if you make it,” Platinum replied.
“Then for your treachery,” Commander Hurricane announced, “The pegasi declare war against both the unicorns and the earth ponies!”
“And so do we!” Chancellor Puddinghead, “On the Pegasi and the Unicorns!”
Princess Platinum nodded firmly. “Then when we next meet, it will be on the field of war.”
Twilight was already panicking as the window faded. “How can this be happening? Never in the history of Equestria has there ever been a full civil war! Surely the historians would never skip over something as big as that!”
“Unless…” the Doctor tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Twilight, you said that the next important thing after the princess’ coronation isn’t for another couple hundred years?”
Twilgith nodded. “Yes, but that was nothing to do with a civil war.”
“Oh, but it can!” The colt took out his sonic screwdriver and fiddled with the settings.
“What are you going to do now?” Starswirl asked.
“Now,” the Doctor said, giving him one of his famous smiles, “we go find ourselves some alicorns.”
|
Tarkana262
|
904
| 10 |
Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Crossover,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Life Among the Distant Stars
|
Six ponies. One Doctor. A universe to explore. (Sequel to The Emotional Illness)
|
complete
| 39 | 1 |
<p>Sequel to The Emotional Illness. The Doctor takes the mane cast on an adventure unlike any they've had before. Thrills! Chills! Ponies!</p>
|
everyone
|
2012-05-12T23:05:46+00:00
|
2012-05-12T23:05:46+00:00
| 1,169 |
"I don't understand," Starswirl said, following the Doctor as he paced around the room. "How is looking for a legend going to help end this conflict?"
The Doctor tapped his screwdriver impatiently before waving it around again. "When you've been around as long as I have, Starswirl, you begin to assume that all myths are true. Trust me, it saves you a lot of unfortunate surprises in the long run."
"And this…stick of yours is supposed to help us find them?"
The brown colt held the screwdriver in front of his face. "This, my wizard friend, is a sonic screwdriver. It can do a while mess of things I won't go into right now, but right now it can get a lock on an energy source – magic, in this case – and lead me to its location." He smacked the device again, frowning. "At least it will, after I isolate Celestia's magic. Oh, why did we have to be in the Unicorn District?"
"Actaully, I think I can help," Twilight offered. "Celestia's guards have a spell they use for locating her in case of an emergency. I learned it while I was studying in Canterlot; I just hope it will work now…"
She closed her eyes in concentration. A beam shot from her horn and raced out, leaving a solid purple trail in its wake. It continued outside, travelling through the city and into the snow-covered mountains.
Starswirl looked at the unicorn in amazement. "Such skill…a perfect combination of classical scrying and pathfinder spells – flawlessly executed! But you're so young…no unicorn has that much power! It's impossible!"
Rainbow Dash chuckled. "Trust me, we've made a habit of doing the impossible lately."
The group, collectively covered in hooded cloaks, walked cautiously through the streets of Canterlot. Starswirl had warned them to keep their cloaks up at all times within the city; as long as nopony knew they weren't all of the same tribe, they would have nothing to worry about.
The magician looked behind him and stopped. He roughly pushed Twilight and the others, guiding them into an alley. "Quickly – get in here, all of you!"
"What's goin' one?" Applejack asked.
Starswirl peeked around the corner. "Clover is coming; I'd prefer for her not to be mixed up in all this. Plus, Twilight's identical appearance would be difficult to explain."
The other seven ponies hurried into hiding just as the other unicorn appeared. "Starswirl! Have you heard the news?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Starswirl said, nodding. "As much as it was bound to happen eventually, I was hoping we wouldn't enter a war so quickly."
"I can't believe this is happening," Clover said. "Everything we worked for, coming down right on top of us."
Starswirl threw a quick glance at the alley that held the Doctor and his companions. "Perhaps not yet," he said quietly. "Listen; I believe I may have a lead of a solution. I'm going to the mountains to investigate."
"I'm coming with you!"
"No, Clover. I need you to find Smart Cookie and Private Pansy. The three of you have to talk to the Council and try to convince them what they're doing is folly – or at the very least, try to stall them. If my efforts prove fruitless…"
He fell silent. Clover tilted her head. "What's wrong, Starswirl?"
The mage sighed. "If I fail, I will be called to serve in the Unicorn army." He looked her straight in the eye. "If that happens, I don't want you to come with me."
"What?! I can't just leave you!"
"You can and you will!" Starswirl said, pausing to soften his voice. "Many ponies will die if war does come about. I couldn't bear to put you in directly in danger."
The senior magician lifted Clover's chin. "Please. Don't follow me to death."
After a moment, Clover slowly nodded, eyes moist. "Just…be safe, alright?"
Starswirl smiled sadly. "I will, my love." He leaned in and kissed her, then slowly, she began to walk away.
Starswirl stared after her until she disappeared into the crowds. When he turned around, he was met with the seven ponies all peeking out from their cover, including one red-faced, open-mouthed Twilight Sparkle.
He gave a small grin as he passed her. "I assume that wasn't in your history books, either?"
The journey up the mountain was long yet not difficult, as most of their path lay along the pass created during the original migration to Equestria. The Doctor was finally able to lock on to the magic signal, giving Twilight a much-needed rest before they veered off the pass.
"Is this it?" Starswirl asked as the screwdriver pulsed brightly at cave mouth. "I expected the dwelling of an alicorn to be more…grand."
"Appearances can be deceiving, my dear Starswirl," the Doctor answered. "Look at you ponies, for instance. No one would ever suspect you to be capable of civil war, and, well, here you are."
He stepped into the cave. "Hellooooooooo! Is Celestia in right now? We'd very much like to speak with her, if you don't mind."
"WHO DARES?" a voice. From the shadows emerged an alicorn, but she was different from the one Twilight knew. She was only a few feet taller than her, and her mane and tail were pink rather than flowing rainbow. It was odd to see her like this, Twilight thought, finding it ironic that she had now seen her mentor in both the distant past and far future.
Celestia's eyes widened at the at group. "Ponies? How did you find this place? How do you know my name?"
"We're from the future," the Doctor said. "Well, except for Starswirl here – he's from this time – but that's not important. What is important is that we need your help."
The alicorn frowned. "I am aware of the war brewing in the valley below. Why would you ask for my assistance? Can the ponies not take care of their own problems?"
"This is beyond any of us," Starswirl said, finally overcoming his awe at seeing an alicorn in the flesh. "The Doctor says there is only one way to end this, and it must come at your hooves."
"And I am to believe a madpony who believes himself a time traveler?" Celestia asked. "Your words are hardly compelling."
"Please, you must do something!" Fluttershy pleaded, surprising even herself with the force in her voice. "You can't just watch as they hurt each other!"
"What the ponies do is not my concern. They knew what war details when they made their decision; it is their own fault that they die tonight." She turned away from the group. "Whatever happens, when the dust settles, we will remain."
"'We?'" the Doctor asked. "Oh, so Luna is here! We never get to talk much, she being the Princess of Night and all. Could we see her?"
Celestia slammed her hoof in front of his face. "You will stay away from her!"
"Mmm…big sis?"
Celestia gasped softly as she looked behind her. Peeking out from the depths of the cave was a small blue alicorn filly. She tiredly pushed her light blue mane out of her eyes. "What's goin' on? Who are these ponies?"
Celestia walked calmly over to her and stroked her mane. "It's alright, Luna. These are…guests; they won't be here long. Go back to sleep."
Luna ventured a look at the ponies. The Doctor gave her a playful wink, causing her to giggle slightly before walking back into the cave.
"She's…she's so young." Starswirl said. "What are you two doing in the mountains alone?"
There was a moment of silence, and then the alicorn sighed. "Our mother sent us here. It was very sudden – there may have been trouble in the city, I don't know. But she told us to come here, to remember everything she taught us about harmony and friendship. She said we were to be 'a light in the darkness,'" She shook her head. "She made it sound as if we had some great destiny to find. But here we are, in a cave overlooking a kingdom at war. This is no place to live. This is no place to raise a sister."
The Doctor smiled softly. "Your mother was right, Celestia. You are meant to be a light. But do you think she wanted you to do that hiding in a mountain while a nation destroys itself? Or were you meant to show them what harmony truly means?"
Celestia walked outside the cave, ignoring the biting cold and falling snow. She sat down at the cliff side, staring down upon the gathering armies in the valley. "Why should I?" she asked. "I owe nothing to them."
"Perhaps not," the Doctor admitted, "but are you really so far above them? Maybe they just want their families to be safe. Maybe, if you look hard enough, they're just like you."
The alicorn didn't move for a moment. But when she did face them, no one could deny the resolve in her eyes.
"So. This is it."
Princess Platinum stood with the other two leaders. The sky was unnaturally dark; true to her word, she had commanded her unicorns to not raise the sun. Commander Hurricane wore more armor than usual, yet still retained her natural flexibility. Chancellor Puddinghead, on the other hand, had not changed her clothing, but Platinum noticed that her hair had fallen out of its naturally curly state and instead fell flat over her face.
"Yep," Hurricane affirmed, front legs crossed.
"It sure is," Puddinghead agreed, her voice grating lower than Platinum thought possible for the mare.
"The point of no return," the unicorn continued. "From here on, we will be enemies at war."
The other two agreed again. There was little point to this meeting, they all knew, but Platinum saw the true reason for stalling in their eyes: in these final hours, their uncertainty had come crashing down on them.
She knew because she had felt it, too. The sudden, ever-present doubt: What in Tartarus are we doing?
More than anything, she wanted to say she was sorry. She would give her crown to stop this, to resolve it peacefully, and she was certain they felt the same.
But as she said, it was too late now. They were too far gone on the path they chose and had to follow through.
Her gaze wavered. "Well…I suppose this is goodbye."
The other two returned her farewell. The unspoken meaning wasn't lost to them; this would be the last time they ever gathered as anything other than enemies.
She walked back to her army, composing herself. No matter her personal feelings, she would be strong for her soldiers.
As she mounted her chariot, she saw the looks of hatred in the unicorns' eyes, anger for the other tribes. If she said anything now, they would only think her mad carry on without her.
Platinum closed her eyes resignedly. "Commence the attack."
A shout went across the lines. Slowly, the army began to move, gaining speed until they came to a thundering gallop. The pegasi and earth ponies charged at them, poised so all three would meet in the middle.
It would be a massacre.
Platinum couldn't hold it in anymore. When the sound of hooves reached their loudest, she cried, "I'm sorry!"
"STOP!"
A bright light flashed just before the armies met. The soldiers stopped in their tracks and looked on with fear and wonder. In an instant, the sun had risen, bathing a flying alicorn in light. As she descended, the armies stepped back to give her room to land.
She cast her eyes over the armies, every pony turning from her gaze.
"Ponies, hear the words of Celestia," she began. "When you came to this valley, you were as one nation. You vowed to remain as friends to one another, to abandon your petty squabbles in the interest of survival. And yet, here you are now: at each other's throats, ready to spill the blood of the ones ypu once called your brothers and sisters.
"Have you forgotten the lessons of your exodus? Do you so easily cast aside the bonds you formed? Did you never learn the values of a prosperous friendship?
"Honesty – to be truthful even when it is difficult. Loyalty – to stand with and for your friends and loved ones in their time of need. Kindness – to overcome evil with good, or else turn the other cheek when wronged. Generosity – the willingness to give unto others even when you will gain nothing in return. Laughter – to find joy in all its forms and bring it to others. Magic - not just as the unicorns know it, but as we all feel it in our lives.
"These are the elements of harmony. These are what will keep your friendships whole and your nation strong. These will be your reminders that you are not earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns – you are ponies, one and all, and you are meant to stand together in harmony and love as long as you live."
Nopony dared to speak after Celestia finished. Then slowly, Princess Platinum, Commander Hurricane, and Chancellor Puddinghead stood before her, and bowed as one.
And with that, the Equestria's first and final civil war was ended.
*~*
Canterlot was a very different picture than it had been the previous day. Now, ponies from every tribe walked together, rediscovering their lost camaraderie and mending damaged relationships.
"I can hardly believe it, Doctor," Starswirl said, gazing at the scene before him. "You stopped a war before a single blow was made. How do you do it?"
The Doctor smiled sadly. "It dosen't always work out so nicely, Starswirl. Sometimes, there's a lot of death before the victory. But I keep going, trying my absolute best, hoping that this time, this will be the day that nobody dies." He gazed at a group of foals and fillies playing in the snow. "These days are the ones I live for."
Celestia emerged from the crowded streets. "They wish for me to lead the nation, Doctor," she said. "I am honored, but…I'm not sure that I am ready."
"No one's ever truly ready for this kind of thing," the colt replied. "As for you, I think these mares could tell you better than I could."
The alicorn faced Twilight and her friends. "Mares of the future – you have undoubtedly seen my rule and hold me in high regard. Tell me – do you have any wisdom to give?"
"I'm not going to lie to you, Celestia," Twilight began, "there are…things in your future that will try to break you. But I can tell you that what you said to the armies was true. Remember the Elements of Harmony – "
"Honesty!"
"Loyalty!"
"Kindness!"
"Generosity!"
"Laughter!"
"And Magic," Twilight finished. "Hold on to them and never let go, and everything will turn out alright."
Starswirl smiled. "The future holds you in favor, Celestia. Personally, I believe you will make a great queen."
"Princess," Celestia corrected. "My mother was a queen, and she will never have an equal."
The Doctor announced it was time for him and his companions to go. Twilight was the last to enter the TARDIS, but stopped in the door. "One more thing," she called to Celestia, "If you happen to have a faithful student in about, oh, a thousand years or so, and she happens to knock over the entire Royal Library her first time there…go easy on her, okay?"
She ducked into the TARDIS as it slowly departed. Once it had disappeared, Celestia turned to the unicorn beside her. "Starswirl. Clover tells me that you are studying the manipulation of time through magic."
"Yes," the unicorn answered. "It's more of a side-project, really, nothing important."
"It is now," said the alicorn. "From this moment forth, your studies will have full funding from the Equstrian government."
Starswirl gaped at her. "Why – my lady, this is – thank you! But – why? I've barely made any progress."
"Twilight said there are still dark times ahead," Celestia explained. "Without the Doctor, our nation would have been destroyed today. He travels through time as if it were a sea to be sailed; if we are to call upon him again, we must understand time as he does." She closed her eyes. "I have seen many things you ponies would never dream of. I pray they will never make it here, but if they do, the Doctor may be our only hope."
|
Tarkana262
|
904
| 11 |
Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Crossover,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Life Among the Distant Stars
|
Six ponies. One Doctor. A universe to explore. (Sequel to The Emotional Illness)
|
complete
| 39 | 1 |
<p>Sequel to The Emotional Illness. The Doctor takes the mane cast on an adventure unlike any they've had before. Thrills! Chills! Ponies!</p>
|
everyone
|
2012-05-27T23:40:19+00:00
|
2012-05-27T23:40:19+00:00
| 1,486 |
The six mares went on many more adventures with the Doctor. They saw the farthest reaches of the universe, met all kinds of new beings, and fought many foes. For a while, it seemed like one great dream from which they never wanted to wake up.
But soon, their love for home, friends and family caught up with them. As wonderful their adventures had been, they agreed it was time to go home.
They arrived a few weeks after they had last left, and were met with open arms. All of Ponyville had gathered to welcome them home; somehow, Pinkie had been able to tell them of their return.
Each of the six mares had something to show for their journey. Twilight Sparkle’s bags were full of new books from other worlds, and her mind was swarming with new research ideas. Rainbow Dash had employed all sorts of new tricks against the monsters they met, and was eager to adapt them into flying tricks. Rarity’s cargo, dutifully transported by the stallions of the village, consisted of several large crates of exotic fabric for new dresses. A cartload of seeds and fertilizer made its way to Sweet Apple Acres as part of a bet between the Doctor and Applejack to see if apples from the future tasted as good as hers. Fluttershy had the least of them all; just a small tea set and some flower seeds to give to Carrot Top and Roseluck.
Pinkie’s loot was meant specifically for that evening.
The “Say-Goodbye-to-the-Doctor-Party” was especially big, even by Pinkie Pie standards, as to “make up for lost time,” as she put it. The entire town was invited, and all night they enjoyed food and song, and gathered around the Doctor to hear his tales of his adventures across time and space.
As was tradition with Pinkie Pie, the party never officially ended. Ponies simply said goodbye when they were tired. Some even managed to stay until morning. After the last guest left, the six mares and the Doctor had their own little party, which consisted of reminiscing over a pot of tea. They talked and laughed and simply enjoyed their friendship, not wanting to end their time together.
Yet on the morning of the third day, they knew normal life had to continue. The weekend was over, and they all had jobs to perform and family to take care of. As much as they hated it, it was time to say goodbye.
“Do you really have to go?” Fluttershy asked.
“Surely you can stay a while longer,” Rarity offered. “If it’s a matter of money, you could always help in the boutique; I’ve been meaning to start a line for stallions for a while, and you would make a fabulous model – ”
Applejack touched the unicorn’s shoulder. “Ah don’t think that’s the problem, Rarity.”
“Trust me,” the Doctor said, “I’ve like to stay, too. But there’s something I’ve been putting off for too long now.” He sighed, then whispered, “I’m going to die soon.”
The group shared a hushed gasp. “D – die?”
“It’s not so bad, really,” the Doctor explained. “Time Lords regenerate, you see. I’ll change a little – a new face, new body, new quirks. But it’s still me, just different.”
“But if all that changes,” Twilight said, “it won’t be you.”
The Doctor sighed again. “Yes, that’s the thing. It’s never easy to let go of that – I would know, I’ve done it nine times already. And I’ve gotten awfully fond of this one.”
The room fell silent before Rainbow Dash spoke up. “…you’ll still remember us, right?”
The Doctor smiled. “Yes.”
“Then you’ll come back, right?”
The colt nodded. “Yes, I will. I Pinkie Promise, even.”
“And you’d better not break it!” Pinkie cried. “Cause if you do, so help me Celestia, I will find you and drag you back here myself!”
The group laughed, pausing again before beginning to say their goodbyes.
“Keep y’self safe, Doc. We still have to settle that bet, ya know.” Applejack dipped her hat. “If ya need it, there’s always room for you at the Apple family table.”
As the Doctor turned away, Pinkie took that opportunity to put her face inches away from his. She held it there for a moment before saying “FOOOREEEVEEERRR,” and then happily bounced away.
Fluttershy slowly walked over. “Well…um…I guess…goodbye.”
The colt hugged her gently. “Goodbye, Fluttershy.”
As he pulled away, he saw the faintest blush on her cheeks before she shuffled away.
The Doctor grinned and turned to the next mare – “Rainbow Dash, are you crying?”
The pegasus quickly sniffed. “W – what? No! Of course not! I’m not sad!” She sniffed again and wiper her eyes. “I’m just, just – just go already!”
Eyebrows raised, the Doctor nodded and walked to Rarity.
“Doctor,” she said simply.
“Rarity,” he replied.
She shifted her weight, as if unsure about something. Then she said, “Oh, fine,” pulled the Doctor’s head and kissed him.
The other mares’ jaws dropped as they gasped. After a few seconds, she released the colt and said, “There. Now I have no regrets.” And she walked off as if that was that.
The Doctor coughed as he futilely tried to fight the intense warmth on his face. “Well, if that’s it, I’ll just be off, then – ”
“Ahem.”
Between him and the TARDIS stood Twilight Sparkle.
“Ah, Twilight, of course! How silly of me to forget. Especially since you were the first pony I met, and – ”
He staggered slightly when the purple unicorn wrapped her arms around his neck. “Please come back,” she whispered.
He smiled and hugged her back. “Don’t worry, Twilight Sparkle. I will.”
She released him and went to stand with the others. The Doctor looked upon the six ponies he had gotten to know so well, all with tears in their eyes (some more than others; Rainbow was still fighting hers, and Rarity looked as if she was going to break down any second.). Wordlessly – as there was nothing to say that hadn’t already been said – he nodded to them and walked into the TARDIS.
As soon as the box was in the Vortex, he let out another sigh. He had discovered a whole new world, with many new species and even its own science. He had seen a nation survive war and treachery to become an utopia of love and harmony.
And he had made six fantastic new friends he would never, ever forget.
The Doctor smiled. Yes, he would definitely visit them again.
THE END
…OR IS IT?
In the city of Canterlot, there is a garden, just outside the castle proper. It is a marvel of nature, filled with flowers and animals from all over the country and the planet. It is also home to a collection of statues of various beasts, even some which have been extinct for centuries.
Of these statues, one in particular stands out. It depicts the strange creature known as the draconequus, of which there is only known to only have been one in all the history of Equestria. This statue shows him in all his chaotic glory, but in a position that shows great shock, almost as if he had been frozen alive.
Unknown to the ponies of the city, underneath their very hooves runs a time rift, from which temporal energy leaks into the world. Most of the time, this energy simply passes through and dissipates in the atmosphere, neither harming nor benefitting anypony. But for some time, the energy has taken a liking to that particular draconequus statue, saturating it but seeming to have no effect.
And then one day, that statue gave a tiny crack.
|
Skeptical Poet
|
905
| 1 |
Applejack,Fluttershy,Pinkie Pie,Rainbow Dash,Rarity,Comedy,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
The Rainbow Effect
|
Applejack and Rainbow Dash prepare for Twilight's birthday... but hidden feelings get in the way.
|
complete
| 308 | 14 |
<p>Applejack and Rainbow Dash are preparing a party for Twilight Sparkle. But will Applejack be able to confront her feelings for her feathered filly-friend?</p><br/><p>**Featured in early 2012**</p>
|
mature
|
2012-05-13T19:15:44+00:00
|
2013-04-28T21:53:12+00:00
| 9,992 |
Author's Note: Hey everyone, I'm back! New name and everything! I've finally decided to start writing stories again, though chances are you probably don't know me. Well hopefully this story will give you something to remember me by! This is my first dive into the deep waters of… eh heh, adult literature, so give me any feedback or tips you've got! Read and review!
Disclaimer: I don't own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. If I did, I'd have a cockatrice make a pretty little statue out of Gilda, paint it gold, and have the dragon from Dragonshy haul it off to who knows where.
Aaaand... on with the story!
"The Rainbow Effect"
By: Aquarian Poet
Chapter 1: Wind In The Leaves
It was so… gorgeous.
Celestia's legacy lightly bathed the outskirts of Ponyville. The green hills appeared to flow with rippling waves as the summer breeze fluttered along the lively clearing. Butterflies spread out among the clusters of flowers, unaware of the portrait to which they paid homage, a life of color to the wondrous sight. The trees spread their shadows, and one was more than likely to see a squirrel or rabbit snoozing away the sunny day underneath one of them. It was the picture-perfect lazy day for all.
…but a single leaf riding in the wind. Trailing the air in a dazzling display of flips and turns, weaving in and out of the eddying winds, soaring faster and faster, so seemingly out of place in such a serene setting, and finally coming to rest…
…in the brim of the hat of one Applejack.
"Oh for hay's sake, she's got a rainbow for a mane! "
Still scouring the skies for any sight of her feathered friend, Applejack just couldn't find hair or hoof of Rainbow Dash amidst the many pegasus ponies dutifully moving the clouds around all morning long. She was about to pull the reigns on her little operation when she heard someone talking behind her.
"…and then I pulled up with three ponies on my back! The ground was so close, the grass caught fire! Fwooosh!"
'Heh, ain't no pony in Equestria that can tell their tales with such a spin', the earth pony thought. 'Cept maybe that Trixie girl.'
Applejack looked up behind her, and could see a spill of rainbow suspended over the edge of a cloud, two arms dramatically waving in the air. Three blonde mares were hovering just above them, their "oohs" and "ahhs" in perfect synchronization. Applejack shook her head fondly, glad that her goose-hunt was over.
Even if her quarry was already full of stuffing.
"Hey Rainbow!" She called out. Rainbow Dash let out a small 'hm?', and sat up, turning around to look down to her friend.
"Oh hey Applejack, what's up?" The pegasus jumped off the top of the cloud, and glided toward the ground. The three girls all frowned with a "hmph," and left to help the other ponies move the clouds. Applejack blinked, her well-prepared speech about laziness and forgetting every other pony-darned thing died in her throat, unable to keep from watching the bright blue pony descend from atop her cloud, her sleek wings stretched out in all their feathered glory, her colored mane waving wildly behind her, the way her smile…
"Uhh, Applejack? You okay?"
Applejack nearly jumped, but kept her footing, settling for looking away with a blush.
"Well shewt, I've been lookin' for ya all mornin'! Just a little sunburnt is all, plus the sun shinin' in my eyes don't help none." She replied, squinting her eyes for effect. Rainbow Dash frowned for a second, then retook her ever-confident grin. Applejack let out an inward sigh of relief. "Y'all remember what tomorrow is, don'tcha?" She asked.
"Yeah, tomorrow's Twilight's birthday! But what does that have to- oh yeah…" she trailed off, looking suddenly sheepish. Applejack rolled her eyes.
"I've been settin' up preparation's an' everythan' all by myself! Fluttershy's too busy with sick animals today, Pinkie Pie's spendin' all day makin' the cake, and Rarity's got her… frou-frou dress guy comin' over fer some big project she's been workin' on. I could use a little help…" she responded, weakly.
"Yeah yeah, let me just tell the guys upstairs that I'll be too busy to be helping with the downpour this month. I'll meet you back at the barn in ten minutes."
"Flat?" Applejack threw in, smirking. Rainbow rolled her eyes, scowling, and took off in a flash of color as Applejack galloped off with a light chuckle, leaf still tucked in the brim.
"Piece by piece, snip by snip. Croup dock haunch, shoulders hip…"
Through the numerous stands of clothing in the Carousel Boutique, one would be hard-pressed to see the lovely unicorn through the window, surrounded by bolts of cloth, softly singing as she gathered a number of dresses from one of the racks, and laid them on a table next to her self-enchanted sewing machine.
But then, some ponies don't always show up for just a look.
"RARITY!" Applejack nearly shouted as she burst through the door, causing the laboring lady to shriek, her red-rimmed glasses flying into the air and sending her tumbling onto another table of linens, cloth flying everywhere in a dazzlingly terrifying display.
The cowpony looked more than hangdog as Rarity fumbled around under a large green roll of cloth, dramatically flinging it off herself, leveling Applejack with a look of her own.
"Applejack! WHAT are you doing, frightening me in the middle of my work? I don't have time for such nonsense! Hoity-Toity is going to be here in less than a few hours to-"
"Uhh… Rarity?"
"-and just barge in here like you own the boutique! As if-"
"Rarity?"
"-should really get that enchantment for the entryway that keeps you ruffians from flinging my newly-polished doors-"
"RARITY!"
"WHAT?"
"Frog." Applejack simply replied, looking a little worn. Rarity blinked, slowly looked up to her horn, where a plump, green frog had perched itself, croaking quietly. Pupils shrinking, Rarity inhaled a large breath while Applejack slowly slid her hat down to cover her ears…
"And I just came down to get the ribbons an' streamers for the party… Didn't mean to scare you like that."
"Oh don't worry about it, darling. Everything's all cleaned up, and I wouldn't want to keep Rainbow Dash waiting any longer, you know how impatient she can be." Rarity calmly replied, magicking the basket of items for the party off of a shelf in front of Applejack.
"Uh, heh, yeah. W-Wouldn' wanna keep her waitin' any longer." She stammered, bowing her head and feeling her face heat up. Rarity stared at Applejack for a moment.
"Hmm? Applejack dear, you look a little flushed. Are you all right?" Applejack did jump this time, nearly tripping over the basket.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just a little sun-dried," she dourly replied, mentally kicking herself. Rarity let a small smile grace her features, turning away and trotting toward the back.
"Oh don't trouble yourself. Sit right there, and I'll be back with some water. You must be parched!" She tittered to herself with a shake of her head, disappearing behind a dress rack with another tune on her lips. Applejack let herself slump to the floor, more out of nerves than exhaustion.
"Good gallop, I gotta get a grip on myself. If Rarity 'spected that I had a thing fer Rainbow, it'd be all over Equestria by tomorrow! Why I'd hafta pack up an' move on in to the Everfree Forest! 'Course Zecora'd probably hear it from Twilight by then, so then I'd-"
"Gracious, you must be exhausted! You're not even listening to a word I'm saying!" Rarity's voice chimed beside her, shaking Applejack out of her thoughts.
"Hmm? Oh no, I was uhh… just admirin' yer carpet! Y'all sure do have fine taste in yer... floorin', don' ya know." She pointed out with an exaggerated gesture of the hoof while grabbing the floating teacup from Rarity, who's eyes seemed to sparkle for a moment.
"Well thank you Applejack! I did have it imported from Canterlot, made by the very same pony who provided the carpeting inside the Royal Castle! Why, it's even the same material, though in a much lighter shade of periwinkle. I just love what it does to the place, so magnificent! It really brings out the curtains around the… Applejack?" She glanced behind her, barely catching the swinging of the deep-purple door, ending with a merry 'click!' Rarity shook her head.
"Oh well, so much to do for the both of us, I suppose. I must admit, I never held Applejack as a pony who knew an apple's worth about interior designing." Giggling at her pun, she turned around to face a large glass jar, where a green frog lightly simpered in her direction.
"And you are going to sit there until I've finished my tailoring! Honestly, pet fashion is pushing my limits as it is, but a suit for a frog? Please, not much I can do to make you look any better. If it wasn't Hoity-Toity that…"
The frog merely puffed out its cheeks as Rarity continued her rant, either out of pride, or indignation.
Applejack raced into the barn as fast as she could, skidding to a halt as hay flew off of the ground across the floor.
'pant'…'pant'…"Rainbow?"…'pant'…"Y'all in here? Aww horseshoes, she probably went out lookin' fer-"
"YAHHHHHH!"
SHOOF!
Her back now throbbing, and a low groan coming from her throat, the pony-tailed mare opened her eyes. Through her slightly fuzzy vision, she could see a blue leg dangling in front of her face, all tangled up in an array of colorful ribbons.
Eyes widening, she helplessly let gaze trail upwards to where her other leg was, bent to the left, and still on upwards to her rainbow tail, arched up and outward, giving her a perfect, not-so-fuzzy view of Rainbow Dash's…
"CANDY APPLES!" she yelled, flinging the trussed-up pony into the air, who cried out in shock, landing in a haystack with a small "oof!" Suddenly dizzy, whether from standing up so fast, or… other reasons, Applejack struggled to stay on her hooves, unaware of that her hat had flown off and landed near the barn door.
A rustling to the right brought her back to reality, and she trotted (in a funny way) over toward Rainbow Dash, who was struggling to get out of her multi-colored binds with little luck.
"Eeeugh! N-ugh! Help me out here, Applejack! I can't get loose!" she hollered through her tousled mane, unable to break free from the streamers. Three of her legs were tied together, and one wing was fixed to her side by a large purple ribbon, one leg waving frantically through the air. Despite her tremoring knees, sweat-stained mane, and flustered face, Applejack couldn't help but chuckle a bit.
"Well at least I found ya without too much trouble this time. Though I gotta admit, I thought y'all was colorful enough before." She nickered lightly, looking down at Rainbow, who stopped her struggle long enough to give Applejack a light glare. She returned it with a mischievous smile, suddenly thinking of all the payback she could give her filly friend. "Ya know, I'm thinkin' I could have a little fun with you before I let you loose."
Rainbow Dash suddenly went stock still, her face now obstructed by her rainbow mane.
"W-W-Whaddya mean by… 'gulp', fun?"
Applejack smirked, and then froze as the double-meaning of her words hit her. This… wasn't what she had in mind. She shook her head fiercely, 'So much fer that…'. Reaching down, Applejack took a single ribbon in her teeth, and gave it a gentle tug. The knot of decorations loosened from around her legs, and Rainbow Dash quickly shook them free, and started working on releasing her wing from the mess. Applejack gave a strained smile as she turned toward the door.
"Heh, well we don't really have time fer foalin' around, what with all the décor we need to lasso about this place. So uh, nevermind. I'll hafta get you back later." She noticed that Rainbow Dash had gone quiet, still trying to free her wing from the purple ribbon, her hair still covering her face. Applejack took a step forward, worried that she may have upset her friend.
"You okay… Rainbow Das?" She hesitated. The pegasus finally got her wing free, and flapping it a few times to shake off the ribbon, she turned to Applejack, flinging her hair back with a quick jerk of the neck. Applejack saw that she was smiling, though her eyes seemed lightly narrowed, and her pupils a bit larger…
"She probably just got some hay botherin' her eyes or somethin'." she thought, dismissively.
"Yeah, I'm cool." Rainbow Dash replied, a little shakily. Applejack let out a breath through her nose she didn't know she was holding.
"Alrigh' then, I'm gonna head over to Roseluck's Botanical an' pick up the violet roses Rarity wanted me to get fer the decorations. She said she had somethin' special planned fer them… or somethin'. I'll be back soon, so keep up the…" –her eyes swept over the bare pillars of the barn, and landing back to Rainbow Dash, a mess of colored bunting around her.- "…the good work an' all. See ya'll later!" She called, running out the door at something close to a gallop. Rainbow Dash shrugged, and went to pick up the streamers when something caught her attention.
*sniff* *sniff* Whoa… what was that?
'What's that smell? Oh man, it smells so... good. I'm really… It makes me…' her eyes drifted towards the ground where Applejack had stood, before looking toward the door Applejack had left from.
"Hungry... I haven't eaten anything all morning! I wonder if the Apple family's started lunch yet?" Rainbow Dash chirped while jogging toward the exit, completely unaware of the burning sensation in her face…
...and of the hat that lay at the foot of the door.
|
Skeptical Poet
|
905
| 2 |
Applejack,Fluttershy,Pinkie Pie,Rainbow Dash,Rarity,Comedy,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
The Rainbow Effect
|
Applejack and Rainbow Dash prepare for Twilight's birthday... but hidden feelings get in the way.
|
complete
| 308 | 14 |
<p>Applejack and Rainbow Dash are preparing a party for Twilight Sparkle. But will Applejack be able to confront her feelings for her feathered filly-friend?</p><br/><p>**Featured in early 2012**</p>
|
mature
|
2011-11-11T16:50:14+00:00
|
2011-11-11T16:50:14+00:00
| 7,104 |
Disclaimer: I don't own Hasbro, or My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. God forbid you put me in charge of more than a smoothie shop. Or a café. Oh man, how awesome would that be, owning a café that sold both coffee and smoothies? Smooth jazz every Saturday night, open mike nights, poetry slams…
Okay, the bit's over. Story time.
"The Rainbow Effect"
By: Aquarian Poet
Chapter 2: Before The Storm
"Well ah'll be, these here flowers are quite a sight! I'm plum grateful that y'all put so much effort into these!" Applejack exclaimed, scooping up the flowers with a sweeping hoof, leaving the golden bits on the counter with the other. Roseluck smiled from behind the counter.
"Oh don't thank me, Daisy's the pony that grew them. She happens to be a good friend of Twilight's, so she was more than willing to look after these. She also wanted me to ask you to let Twilight know she wishes her a happy birthday, and that she's sorry that she will not be able to attend." she said, head diving down behind the counter top, and reappearing with a violet-stained vase, handles on both sides. "Here, this might make carrying them easier."
Applejack lowered herself back on all fours after setting the roses back onto the counter. "D'ya think so? How much fer the vase?"
"Hee hee, don't worry about it, it's on the house. For Twilight." Roseluck insisted. Applejack smiled gratefully, setting the flowers upright in the slender glassware.
"Well shucks, thank ya kindly. Ah shore do 'preciate all y'done fer us! Take care now!" she called, grabbing the vase-handle in her mouth, and was about to walk out of the store when Roseluck suddenly called her name from the back. Applejack glanced back toward the rosy-haired mare whose head peaked out from around the corner, looking back at her in perplexity.
"Say, aren't you usually wearing a hat?" she asked. Applejack instinctively reached a hoof up to where her trademark usually rested, feeling nothing but dust-speckled hair. Flopping her ears, she couldn't feel the rub against the brim of her hat that she'd become so accustomed to. Gasping, she started to panic, head jerking left and right, trying to find her beloved Stetson when she heard Roseluck talking again.
"Umm, I don't think you were wearing it when you came in. But if you'd like, I could-" she stopped mid-sentence as she helplessly watched Applejack tear out of the shop without another word. Roseluck cocked her head to the side as Daisy strolled up next to her.
"What was that all about?" she asked.
"I honestly have no idea."
"She seemed to be quite… daffy. More so than the garden variety of ponies around here."
"Do florists have a vernacular term for insane?"
"Rosey-cheeked."
…
"Oh you're hilarious."
Boing. Boing. Boing. Boing.
Almost any resident of the (usually) quiet town of Ponyville could easily tell you that only three things could make a sound like that:
One, a pegasus pony jumping on a cloud, causing it to shed any rain held inside.
Two, the coiffure of the Carousel Boutique owner, Rarity, stiff with too much hairspray. (At which point the more knowledgeable ponies would quickly advise you against commenting about it while in her presence.)
Or three, the lovably loud and loony laureate of Ponyville-partying: Pinkamena Diane Pie.
The latter of the three had a spring in her step as she merrily made her way to the Sweet Apple Acres orchard, her hoof-made hoofbasket hat atop her head, miraculously keeping the contents from spilling out with each skip. Humming a cheery tune, she quickly came into view of the massive fields of apple trees, all blushing red with fruit. She slowed to a trot as she noticed a very colorful tree off in the distance.
"Ooooh! That doesn't look like an apple tree! *Gasp!* Maybe it's a new kind of apple tree! I wonder if it grows rainbow apples! Bleck! Those would taste terrible!" she mused out loud, prancing off of the dirt trail, and down the hill into the orchard.
Up ahead, a certain pegasus pony was combing through the branches of one of the many apple trees, searching for the biggest, juiciest apple she could find. Apparently the Apple family didn't eat lunch until three today, on account of the family being spread out to every corner of the field working on repairing and repainting the fences surrounding the acres. Rainbow Dash darted left and right, trying to decide between two especially plump apples, when she heard a voice… that sent a shiver through her feathers.
"HEY RAINBOW DASH! HEY! DOWN HERE!"
'Oh no! Pinkie Pie!' Rainbow thought to herself. Dread overtook her long enough for the pyretic pony to pounce upward, tackling Rainbow Dash out of her stupor, and pinning her to the ground by her wings.
A sharp intake of breath shortly followed…
"Hi Rainbow Dash! How've ya been? I was just heading over to the barn to help you guys out with the decorations like I promised, cuz' Mr. and Mrs. Cake finished their baking early, and were able to help me out with making the cake for Twilight's birthday! Isn't that great? Anyway, I was walking along, 'la-di-da-di-da!', when I saw you by this tree! Only I didn't know it was you, I thought it was a super-duper-ali-ooper colorful apple tree that grew rainbow apples! Which is ironic, because a few weeks ago you thought Fluttershy was a tree, and I-"
"Can I help you with something, Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow Dash quickly interjected through gritted teeth. 'Ugh… why now?'
Pinkie Pie didn't skip a beat. "Weeeeeeeeeell, now that you mention it, I need to head back to Sugarcube Corner and gather the rest of the supplies I was going to use to paint the banners we were going to hang around the barn! I couldn't fit anything else in my basket, and Gunny insisted that he was going to use all of my other bags for something, but he wouldn't tell me what! He can be such a mea-"
"Alright fine! We'll head back to town and get your stuff. Now could you PLEASE get off of me?" Rainbow shouted, bucking Pinkie Pie off of her with a swift lurch of her legs, sending her sprawled a few feet ahead of her. She jumped back up, and re-adjusted her basket-hat, a slight pout on her face. Rainbow Dash sighed, it was hard as hay to pull off a Sonic Rainboom, but even she couldn't find the energy to let down a pepped-up Pinkie Pie.
Shaking the cobwebs from her mind, she got up, and stretched her wings. Glancing back at Pinkie Pie, she noticed that, aside from her talking about something else that she was already sure she wouldn't care about, something was sticking out of her bushy pink tail. Striding up to her, she reached a hoof out, grabbed hold of it, and pulled it out with a light 'shff!'
She blinked.
She blinked twice.
It was a hat.
A cowboy hat, to be specific…
Yeah, it was definitely Applejack's hat. Rainbow Dash's mind shut down at this point.
"What… (looks left) this… (looks right) but… (looks back at the barn) hat… (looks at Pinkie Pie) you… …huh?" she finished, falling on her hindquarters, settling her gaze on the brown hat in wide-eyed disbelief. Pinkie Pie looked back, and gasped again.
"So that's what that was! Right before I saw you, I saw this beautiful patch of flowers! I just had to smell them! So I walked over and went *SNOOOORT!*, and then it got really, really windy, and something poked me in the rump! It scared me so badly, I fell right on top of the flowers! SPLAT! (She made a stomping motion.) I tried to tell them I was sorry, that it wasn't my fault, but some plants-" She stopped as she received a fistful of hoof in her mouth. Rainbow Dash looked haggard, letting out a deep breath. This day was starting to take its toll, and it was barely even noon!
"Look Pink, let's just head over to Sugarcube Corner, and get your stuff. We can give Applejack her hat later, but we really need to get working on getting the party ready for tomorrow." She finished tetchily. Pinkie suddenly smiled widely, leering at Rainbow Dash.
"Oh, now I know what's going on! Applejack, huh? Well it's about time, you were taking so long that I was going to make the first move, but if you think you can (wink) take care of her, well, you just make sure to tell Pinkie Pie all about it when you're done!" she piped, starting back towards the path, not noticing Rainbow Dash freezing in place, her face erupting in a clashing crimson, eyes the size of wagon wheels.
"Wh-wh-what? Y-you… I… B-b-b-but…"
Pinkie slowed down, looking thoughtful. "Maybe I should take you to Tutti Frutti's shop. She can get you everything you'll need for tonight." She paused, and then started making measuring motions with her two hooves. "I wonder if Applejack will need a small, or a large."
*THUMP*
She looked back to see Rainbow Dash sprawled out across the ground, her face a bright shade of cherry, wings sticking rigidly upward, topped with an undecipherable grimace that seemed to be mumbling incoherent noises out of one side. Pinkie "hmm'd", lowering her head and scooping Rainbow Dash onto her back, then took a thoughtful stance while examining the hat her filly friend had dropped.
"Well, the hat isn't very stretchy, and Applejack usually doesn't wear it all the way down, so I'd say you'd want to get a small. Ooh, I can't wait to show you Tutti Frutti's Magic Trick Parlour, she has the best magic trick and pranking supplies in all of Ponyville! Hee hee, this is going to be the best prank EVER! WAIT!" She paused again, looking back at her catatonic cargo. "Were we talking about the Itching Powder, or the Hat Buzzer? *Gasp!* How about we use BOTH of them, that'll give her twice the shock! (She started giggling) But then she'll be itching to get back at us even more!" Breaking out into full-blown laughter, Pinkie Pie barely kept her footing as she picked up Applejack's hat, made her way to drop off the supplies in her basket at the barn, cargo in tow, before heading down to Sugarcube Corner.
"Alright Lucy, you make sure that he takes his medicine every day, okay? And if something happens, you let me know." Fluttershy politely asserted, giving the small grey rabbit a friendly nudge. Lucy gave a quick succession of nods, -pills in paws- and scampered back into her hole. The pink-haired pony sighed with a smile.
"Okay," she softly stated to herself, "That's six families on the right half of the Apple Orchard, and four on the left, with the last burrow near the barn. The barn is right over there, so I should probably check up on them first." She looked down toward the left side of the property. "Or maybe I should check on them. It is possible the bunnies at the barn didn't get sick, being farther away from the rest of them." she mused. Tilting her head slightly, she silently debated her next course of action when she heard a voice in the not-too far-off distance.
"Raiiiiiinbow!"
Looking ahead, she saw a small orange pony making her way toward the barn in a frenzy of a gallop, clouds of dust kicking up behind her with each step. Frowning, Fluttershy bent down and picked up her double-knapsack, tossing it over her back, and quickly adjusting the straps so that they wouldn't fasten her folded wings down…
"Rainbow Dash! Y'all in he-… oh you gotta be foalin' me." she ended, setting the vase of purple roses down and walking the rest of the way into the barn. Streamers from the two ponies' earlier mishap were still strewn across the hay-layered floor in the same place they were before. Hat forgotten for the moment, she tentatively peered up into the shady rafters for any sign of her cyan friend. Finding nothing, she stomped the ground in frustration.
"Why I can't believe the nerve of that pony. S'already past mid-day an' nothin's been done n' here! That pony's just one peccadillo after n'other, ah swear! Fine filly or not, she's got a job to do!" she whispered heatedly. Shaking her head, she turned around, and came face to face with a pair of intensely cerulean eyes.
"Oh!" Fluttershy exclaimed, backing up slightly and looking down at the ground, pink mane covering one of her eyes in an innocent manner. Applejack frowned. She was hoping to at least have gotten the good part of the décor set up before anyone else showed up, so they could get the tables and everything else moved in without a hassle.
So much for that.
"Hello, Applejack. I saw you running towards the barn, a-and I just wanted to make sure everything was alright. You know, because I was worried…" she trailed off, idly scraping a hoof back and forth on the dirt floor. Applejack smiled jadedly.
"Well thanks, sugarcube. I was just gettin' those roses over there while Rainbow Dash was s'posed to be finishin' up in here… *sigh*, but apparently she had other plans. What brings y'all down here to the farm so early?" she asked. Fluttershy raised her head, meeting Applejack eye-to-eye with a growing smile.
"Oh, I was just checking on the bunnies that live around the acre. That terrible bunny flu is still going around, and just I'm making sure it hasn't complicated things for their families." She gently explained. Despite her situation, Applejack let a small smile grow to the side of her mouth. The bunnies taking residence in the apple orchard were actually quite the goddess-send, as the majority of the food they ate was the apples that had fallen off of the trees in between apple-bucking schedules, keeping the nice orchard grass from becoming too muddled up with rotten fruit.
"Well that's mighty kind, but I gotta find Rainbow Dash somethin' fierce an' finish up preparations 'round here." she started, turning around and heading out the barn doors, the same feeling of exasperation looming over her as it did the last time she left the barn, though with a different, stronger flavor. And she didn't like it one bit.
"You know, Applejack, I'm still making my rounds around the orchard. If you'd like, you could come with me and help me hand out medicine to the sick bunnies. It would make things faster for me, not having to undo my bag over and over again, plus we could both keep an eye out for Rainbow Dash, and then I'd be able to come help you two here at the barn sooner. T-That is, if you're not too busy…" she trailed off again, looking hopeful. Applejack mulled it over for a few moments. It seemed like a solid plan, chances are she would be lazing away the day on a cloud. And the pegasus ponies hadn't gotten as far as the acre as of yet, so Rainbow Dash wouldn't get re-enlisted to work on cloud cover for the upcoming rain shower should she have decided to take an afternoon nap.
Plus it wouldn't hurt to have Fluttershy around to… discourage her from beating the colors off the lazy pony if she really was.
"Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Let's get goin' then." She resigned.
Fluttershy beamed, taking flight with Applejack galloping quietly behind her.
"Okie dokie, I'm gonna need this! No wait, this! And this! And some of these! And we'll need this!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, darting from container to container in the upstairs party room of Sugarcube Corner, while Rainbow Dash haplessly waited near the stairs, fumbling around with Applejack's hat as a means to distract her from the saccharine-intensified scene, as well as the pointedly-embarrassing misunderstanding that she'd had with Pinkie Pie an hour ago.
Thank the clouds for her friend's naivety.
She had to admit, holding Applejack's hat like this was a very surreal experience all on its own. She couldn't remember ever seeing her friend's trademark in detail like she was now. Despite the many years she'd seen her with it, the old Stetson didn't show any tell-tale signs of aging. Apart from the creases layering the inside of the brim, it looked to be a fairly new hat. Upon further examination, she noticed a small green object tucked away in one of the creases. Pulling it out, she found that it was a leaf.
She pulled it out, turning it over with a sturdy blue hoof, a torrent of memories washing through her. Unlike her friend Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash didn't care so much for the natural beauty she surrounded herself with on the soil. Were it not for her cherished friends (as well as a few fans), it was likely that she would still be living in Cloudsdale, rarely frequenting the flight to the peaceful town-on-the-ground. But something that she could relate with down here… were the leaves that ventured away from their sturdy homes. Carefree, light, a testament to the joy of absolute freedom. It often astounded her to see how the wind could carry the little leaflets all the way up to Cloudsdale during a storm or a rain shower. She could remember as a little filly trying in vain to keep the ones that blew upwards near her parent's home. Everything from cloud jars to enchanted shelves that could hold physical objects, all it took was a gust of wind or a careless moment, and her little souvenirs would fall through the clouds, leaving her alone in her bedroom once again.
One of the few academic studies in flight school that she could say she had actually cared about, was Ground Studies. It was amazing to her just how diverse the world below her was compared to the cozy-but-consistent city of clouds. Not that she cared all that much, but it was still fascinating to her.
She thought back to her first flight to the world below, on a field trip with her classmates not a few months before quitting the academy. The group had touched down at the edges of Ponyville so many years ago, the young pegasi struggling to keep their footing on the alien, unmovable and unforgiving clouds of brown and green. Rainbow Dash was the only pony who hadn't touched down right off the bat; instead she darted over to the nearest tree, and just stared. Oh what she wouldn't give to get just one of these up in her home city! It was so… awesome (She did not say gorgeous). The sunshine seemed to light up the simple tree, leaves lightly reflecting some of the rays as the wind started to pick up, the rippling branches becoming a dazzling sea of green sequins, a few of them even daring to endeavor the flight away from home. It was both hypnotic and alluring.
Later in the year, she quickly came to realize that Fall had become her favorite season of them all. Frequenting the flight to the ground once a month now, it was as if the meadows around Ponyville had exploded into color within a week! Her favorite sight to see had become one that she couldn't even recognize anymore, and she could care less!
She softly smirked, eyes glazing over. One of her fondest memories was the Running of the Leaves her and Applejack had taken part of last fall. After the mortifying realization that the two fillies had tied for last place, as well as the fact that the Princess herself had attended the display (Not to mention Twilight made the top five, something the both of them were eternally grateful that their good friend never brought up), the two had set off at an easier pace, enjoying the scenery, as well as each other's company. Even after the dozens of ponies had cleared through the area, many a maple had opted to keep their colored dressings, and even though the two of them galloped the trail a slower rate, the leaves all began to fall, twin curtains of red and gold funneling behind them in majesty! She keenly remembered looking toward her comrade as the two continued on, a scene she was sure would remain vivid in memory forever. Applejack's eyes were closed, and she was smiling, her pony-tail waving behind her as the leaves fell in between the two.
And then she looked at her, eyes opening to reveal her vivacious green eyes, and her smile had grown even wider. Oh yeah, her two favorite things all wrapped up in one golden memory.
The leaves, and Applejack…
Looking up and making sure Pinkie Pie was still occupied with gathering materials, Rainbow Dash lifted the hat up to her small, blue nose, and after a moment… took a deep whiff. Her reflections were instantly forgotten as she was rewarded with a flood of ecstasy! The sweet scents of meadows, a hint of apples, some sort of flowery shampoo, and a wonderfully light trace of sweat carried her way above the clouds she burned through on a daily basis. Blushing heavily, her thoughts took her back to the old cloud-candle shop, positioned a hop away from her flight school, where as a young filly, she would often find herself distracted by the many indulgent (and sometimes repugnant) scents in the air during the shop's production hours.
Goddesses, if she could only get that old pegasus to make a candle out of this…
"BOO!"
"GAH!" Rainbow Dash jumped in fright, wings flapping so quickly she bumped her head on the wooden ceiling. Hastily grasping one of the rafters with all four hooves, she looked down toward the ground, where Pinkie Pie was rolling across the floor, laughing with both forelegs crossed against her stomach.
"Ahahahahaha! I got you good, Dashie! Hee hee!"
Someday, Pinkie Pie was going to disappear from Ponyville without a trace.
Releasing the wooden girder, Rainbow Dash grudgingly let herself drop to the floor, a single flap of the wings slowing her descent. Pinkie Pie, eyes closed and grinning, trotted cheerfully down the steps, her two saddlebags bouncing upward with each step. The feathered filly tossed her own pack in a sweeping slapdash motion, and started after Pinkie Pie when she remembered something, turning back toward where Applejack's hat lay behind her.
"Hey Pinkie Pie, I'll be out in just a second!" she called out, not bothering to turn back toward the descending stairs. A muffled "okie-dokie" ensued as Rainbow Dash walked over toward the brown article, picked it up and- after a moment of hesitation- she tossed it into the air, flipping twice until landing squarely on her head. Immediately she began to feel dizzy with an abrupt bout of giddiness, as well as guilt, she realized. Nopony aside from Applejack had ever worn this hat for as long as she'd known her, and Rainbow Dash didn't know whether to feel shameful for wearing it, or embarrassed that she was feeling so sensual right now.
She decided the word naughty encompassed the current majority.
'Oh man, I'm wearing her hat! I'm wearing… her… hat! Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh, I-I… can't even think straight!' she mentally cried. Lightheaded and wavering on all four hooves, she swiftly sat down on her haunches, a stupid grin plastered on her features. Just wearing her apple-bucking friend's hat blew her senses… she couldn't even imagine how she'd react if something ever were to happen between the two. Powerless against her imagination, she started envisioning herself running her hooves through the sun-bleached hair on which the Stetson usually rested, following the gorgeously matted pony-tail down her back, undoing the hair band and caressing her taunt, hard-worked back as she stroked away the stress of a hard day's work, the sweet rapture sparking through smoky-lidded eyes of green, the soft-
"BLUH-LUH-LUH-LUH!"
"AHHH! PINKIE PIE!"
'Three down, eight to go.' Applejack mentally recited. Keeping her eyes to the sky, she tracked her yellow companion out of the corner of her eye as the duo traveled back to the barn grounds. It wouldn't have been so dreary for the orange mare if each administration didn't take so long. It simply boggled her mind just how much conversation Fluttershy could squeeze out of a small critter. Baggy-eyed, she sullenly reminded herself that they weren't just making small talk, that she was genuinely looking out for the families of the rabbits that took ill. She went out of her way to take care and help those in need, like a true friend would.
Unlike some ponies.
She averted her eyes from the skies for a moment, unfocused as a flurry of green leaves blew past her, her hair swaying along with them. For all she was worth, she could not help but wonder why? Rainbow Dash loved her friend, she knew that without fault. She held the hay-pickin' Element of Loyalty, for Celestia's sake! She'd always been able to depend on her secret crush whenever the group got into trouble, and she couldn't remember a time where Rainbow Dash hadn't been there, for any of them! And here they were, trying to set up and celebrate Twilight's birthday, the first one she would have since moving down here from Canterlot…
The first birthday she'd get to celebrate with her first friends, with ponies that loved her to pieces.
Friends that had taken a manticore's claws alongside her.
Friends who stared down the petrifying gaze of a cockatrice for her!
Friends that wanted to celebrate the day Twilight Sparkle came into Equestria, and made everyone's life for the better as she blossomed in her years.
Everypony from the original five still remembered the first birthday they celebrated with the other four attending, showing their appreciation for one another, they would still talk about it to this very day. Who could forget the first bone-crushing group hug they all shared at Pinkie Pie's party? Or the most heart-melting smile anyone had ever seen at Fluttershy's celebration?
Or the tears that Rainbow Dash fought to keep at bay in vain, threatening to stain the floor of the Sugarcube Corner party room… at the feathered filly's own birthday party?
'So why now?' she thought bitterly, 'Why would she just up an' leave us hangin' like that? Why would she do that… to Twilight, to… me?'
With a tiny gasp, Applejack found herself fighting back her own set of waterworks. She groaned, it wouldn't do for Fluttershy to see her in this state, knowing the trouble it was cause her kind heart. She unconsciously reached a hoof up to pull her beloved Stetson down to cover her face… but felt nothing.
Again.
Hurt gave way to betrayal, which in turn gave way to a murky, sickening spell of anger welling up inside of her. She simply could not function like this, so she willed the darkness boiling within her heart away for the moment. She was being too emotional about the situation, Rainbow Dash wasn't like that. She wouldn't abandon the group out of self-interest and take something important that belonged to one of her friends…
"Maybe she didn't take m'hat outta spite. Maybe she moseyed on back to Ponyville, lookin' fer me…"
Applejack looked upwards again, seeing nothing but the blending shades of light blue and white, cloud against the skies.
'Or maybe the other pegasus ponies picked her up, and she hasn't had time t'find us…'
The two fillies walked along the white fence line surrounding the cabbage and celery plot about a hundred yards away from the massive barn. Applejack strained her eyes, peering up into another giant puff of clouds, hoping to catch a glimpse of the lazy mare. Looking to the left, she noted that the sun was beginning its descent, the bright beams of light no longer shining straight down, but slanting, the multitude of crops and other vegetables starting to cast their tiny shadows toward the pair, a sight which nurtured the earth pony's mounting frustration.
Gingerly avoiding the many budding plants, they came up to a small rabbit-hole. Fluttershy ducked her head down into the hole, sweetly calling out for the furry residents. Applejack mechanically reached down into Fluttershy's knapsack, and pulled out one of the many peapod-sized bottles, and setting it down next to her, before despairingly returning her watch to the sky again.
"Pinkie! Over here, quick!" Rainbow Dash whispered out from behind a large bush. Pinkie Pie zoomed up next to her, both ponies peering out from beneath a shady branch. They had hoped to use the usual hustle and bustle of Ponyville's main street as cover to get back to the barn, but apparently Twilight's had taken her studies with her to the fountain in the middle of the road. Spike had darted off earlier, but they weren't sure where, and didn't want to run the chance of running into him either. He was far from the smoothest secret-keeper they'd ever met, and with him in the loop, it was very likely that Twilight would suspect something was up by sundown, which was speedily approaching. So Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie hid beneath the brush, planning their escape route back to the barn.
"Maybe we could just walk around her?"
"But what if she turns around? We're carrying all of this stuff for her party, she'll know something's up!"
"Well, what if we're really, really sneaky-sneaky? Oh, what if I took one of the banners, and made a scary ghost costume! Or a cloud costume! We could-"
"Oh forget this, let's just walk around."
"Hey guys, what's going on?"
The plotting ponies screamed as they jumped away from Twilight, who had somehow managed to get behind them while they were arguing. She looked at them quizzically, tilting her head.
"Umm, did I miss something? You guys are acting really strange." The guilty girls looked at each other. They were caught, and they had to make up something fast. Twilight was about to say something when Rainbow Dash spoke up.
"Oh yeah, we were just… d-delivering some supplies! Yeah, to this, uhh… bear that lives in a cave down this way. Yeah, me and Fluttershy had to house-sit for her a while back, isn't that right Pinkie Pie?"
There was a moment's silence, after which Pinkie Pie uncharacteristically sweat-dropped… and then face-hoofed. Rainbow Dash coughed, nudging her partner in crime lightly, bringing her back to the current situation.
"Oh yeah, that bear! She's a very, very nice bear, and we wanted to bring her kids some… coloring supplies, see!" she exclaimed too-excitedly, pointing at Rainbow Dash's saddlebags, where a few colored markers were sticking out of the flap. Twilight looked slightly skeptical, but shrugged it off all the same.
"Well that's very nice of you guys. Say, do either of you have time to help me out with this spell I've been working on? It's an old interrogation spell that Princess Luna had come up with over a thousand years ago! It was used by the Royal Court to gather information about crimes committed and to garner confessions from prisoners. It's actually pretty harmless, it just causes the pony under the enchantment to temporarily be unable to keep any secret that passes through their mind while under the effect, but Princess Luna was too busy to-"
Both ponies let out a shriek, and bounded away at full speed, barreling into a humming Spike and sending him tumbling into the ground. An assortment of sandwiches and leafy food products landed around him in thin packaging, leaving Twilight blinking in the wake.
And was it just her, or was Rainbow Dash wearing Applejack's hat?
A blur of rainbow and pink hurtled into the barn, the door shutting swiftly behind them. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash leaned back against the entrance, breathing heavily and simultaneously wiping the sweat off of their respective foreheads. After a minute, they looked at each other, grinning.
"Alright Pinkie Pie, what say we get this place ready for a party?" Rainbow asked, dropping back down on all fours. The poofy-haired pony jumped with glee, setting her two bags down, and diving into their contents. Markers, containers of streamers, bags of confetti and more flew all across the barn floor as Rainbow Dash began her efforts of organizing the streamers left from this morning. The two worked in almost complete silence for a half an hour, Rainbow Dash hovering left and right, winding and twisting the multi-colored strips around the rafters, and Pinkie Pie decorating the many banners with phrases and pictures of every kind.
The blue filly's progress suddenly became impeded as one of the ribbons started sticking to a wooden beam for some odd reason. Looking closely, there was some sort of sticky residue coating the beams. A quick glance upward showed that a careless sander-pony had missed a pocket of tree sap that had collected in one of the beams during the last (and fairly recent) renovation. Pulling and yanking as hard as she could without ripping the ribbon, she quickly grew frustrated, and after a particularly hard tug her body lurched forward as the ribbon jerked back hard. She felt her head bump against the long plank, and a whiny "ouch!" from below. Looking down through the dulling pain, she saw Pinkie Pie glaring down the old brown hat that had fallen off of her head...
"That's TWICE you decided to poke me today, buster!" the pink pony exclaimed, pointing an accusing hoof toward the offending object. "Well I'm not going to take that sitting down, even though I was when you poked me, but now I'm standing up (she stands up on all fours) and… umm… well… I'm still not gonna take it!"
Rainbow Dash chuckled, swooping down to grab the hat. She turned back to Pinkie Pie, who was still glowering at the item in her hands. "Geez, relax Pinkie, it's just a hat." She stated, casually dusting it off. Pinkie 'hmmph'd, and turned back to her coloring tools. Giving the hat a quick once-over, and setting it gently back on her head, she found herself repressing the annoying urge to giggle along with…
Wait, was Pinkie Pie giggling?
"Hahahaha -*snort*- ahahaha! You really shouldn't get distracted so often!" Pinkie cried through bouts of laughter. Rainbow Dash turned her head back in bewilderment, before her head started to itch…
Really badly! Oh she didn't…
With a strangled yelp, she speedily took the hat off and looked inside. Sure enough, there was a little packet of pink powder, labeled "Small". Taking the packet out of the hat, she flung it behind her, and frantically started scratching her multihued hair, desperately looking left and right for some sort of relief. A nail file, some sandpaper, heck, even a pitchfork at this point would do fine! As her eyes spotted a water basin in one of the corners of the barn, she took off toward it with a voice-cracking howl, plunging her head into the icy water while furiously washing the (metaphorically) smoldering substance out as fast as she could. A minute later, she resurfaced with a gasp of air, and collapsed in exhaustion. Pinkie Pie gasped for her own supply of oxygen on the other end of the building, albeit for a different reason.
"Tha… tha… ahahahaha! You were… the hat… hee hee hee hee hee!"
Rainbow Dash inhaled and rolled over, standing back up, her strength renewed. Walking over to the snickering mare, she salvaged what she could of her usually-mellow smirk, though her light-purple eyes gleamed with a darker edge.
"Heh… heh…. good one Pinkie Pie… but you're toast."
For all the levity in her heart, the pink pony could only gulp.
"Well I'm glad I caught you two when I did. Oh I don't think I could have done any better, it was such a nightmare… but to think, an entire fashion line for the little… ehh, things. Not my cup of tea, personally, but Hoity-Toity seemed so pleased with my work!"
"Wow, I'm so happy for you Rarity. Was the frog okay? Did you treat it nicely?"
Looking worse for the wear, Applejack trudged on in front of the dainty fillies, paying little mind to their conversation. She had all but given up on finding the flighty pony that had been on her mind all day, and was tiredly watching the ground, following the path with her apple-green eyes. Whatever Rainbow Dash was doing right now, it was no concern of hers anymore. All she wanted to do was get to the barn, finish the preparations for tomorrow, and hit the hay so she could give her addled mind a well-needed reprieve. As the trio neared the barn, she could see her shadow cast along the red walls. The sun had finally begun to retire beyond the horizon, enhancing her hatless silhouette to great proportions against the building she so desperately hoped to find her heart's fixation in. She quickly noticed, however, that the lights had been turned on, a soft glow that was almost indistinguishable from the slowly fading sunlight. A spark of hope lit up in her heart, when she heard her friends talking behind her.
"Fluttershy dear, have you seen Pinkie Pie today?" Rarity started. Fluttershy shook her head.
"No, I haven't. From what I heard, she was supposed to be baking the cake for Twilight's birthday before coming to help us. Rainbow Dash had told me that she was going to wait until you were through with your project before moving the cake here, so you could use your magic to safely-"
"Wait jus' a moment…" Applejack interjected, "When did you talk to Rainbow last?" she asked, suddenly interested. Fluttershy fixed her gaze back to the pony ahead of her.
"Oh, I found her last night. She was dropping off a paint can of rainbows for Pinkie Pie to start making the banners early if she found the time, and I caught her as she was walking out. Pinkie Pie was planning on finishing the baking by about this time, so she should be coming down here very soon. She may already be at the barn."
'Well, it's either Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie in there…' Applejack contemplated. The rest of the Apple family was still scattered around the field, they had seen more than a few members as her and Fluttershy had tended to the sick bunnies scattered across the property. She hoped it was both, Rainbow should've had plenty of time to set up the ribbons if she had somehow made it into the barn while she was assisting Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie would have started on the banners and balloons, leaving the group plenty of time to get everything in with minimal hassle. Applejack let out a small smile as she trotted up to the barn door, noises coming from inside. 'Maybe this won't end up bein' so bad after all." she assured herself as she opened the barn door.
She couldn't believe her eyes.
The first thing she noticed was that about half of the rafters were set up and decorated. Nicely -she cynically thought- though that didn't outweigh the fact that the rest of the streamers were wrapped around a pony suspended in the air like a candy wrapper. A colorful one, though it was the second colorful pony that caught her eyes next, who was suspending the swathed-up pony from a red streamer, a silly grin on her face, partially shaded by the hat she was wearing...
Her hat!
"That'll teach you to try and outdo me!" the flying filly exclaimed proudly. "I'm the queen of pranks, and don't you forget it!"
Pranks…
It all clicked together in one nasty, sickening crunch of revelation. Two and two, four and four, and less than a second later, Applejack found herself seeing red…
Civilities be damned.
"WHAT THE HAY IS GOIN' ON HERE!"
Rainbow Dash froze at the acidic shriek that came from her orange-coated friend, dropping her colorful bundle which let out a loud "eep!" as it landed on a pile of hay, and touching down in front of her, looking stunned.
"H-hey Applejack, what's goin' on? Where've you been all day?" she asked uncertainly. Applejack's glare intensified.
"Are you FOALIN' me? I've been out there with Fluttershy lookin' all over for ya! Where have YOU been all day?" she shouted. Rainbow Dash took a step back, and then frowned herself.
"Geez, I was helping Pinkie Pie out. We only got back a few-"
"Helpin' her with what? Playin' a trick on me, or tyin' her up as a piñata fer the party?" she retorted venomously. "What in tarnation are you playin' at, Rainbow?"
Rainbow Dash stood her ground, wings spread out in aggravation. "What is your problem, Applejack? Calm down!" she replied ardently, but Applejack wasn't about to back down so easily either.
"ME calm down? I ran down t'Roseluck's fer twenty minutes! Twenty minutes, and you hauled outta here like you was done with the place! I was countin' on you to help me out today, and y'all left before anything got done!" she yelled. Rainbow Dash's wings lowered slightly, the heat of her argument starting to ebb away.
"Yeah, well if you hadn't run off, maybe I would have…"
"HOW DARE YOU!" she spat fiercely. "I busted mah flanks all mornin' long without you to get this done fer Twilight, and it wasn't near enough to make it in time! Y'all were supposed to meet me here bright 'n early like y'promised me, and you DIDN'T!" Rainbow Dash felt her wings go slack, her expression turning sorrowful.
"Ya know somethin', Rainbow…" Applejack continued, her voice getting shaky, "I thought ah could depend on you, that WE could depend on you! For Celestia's sake, Fluttershy could've fixed these up rightly faster n' you! (Fluttershy ducked her head down behind a shaking Rarity, her lip quivering, and trying not to be noticed.) "An' you know why that is? Because she cares more 'bout others than about herself! She spent the whole day fixin' up her friend's families with nothin' but a smile! And what've you got to show? NOTHIN'!"
Rainbow Dash looked down even further, speaking softly. "But… I do c-"
"Jus' forget it! We've got too much work t'do, and y'all are so WORTHLESS! WE DON'T NEED YOU HERE! AND I DON'T WANT YOU HERE NEITHER!" Applejack shouted. Through her furious gaze, she watched Rainbow Dash slowly raise her head after a moment of absolute silence… she panted heavily as she prepared herself for the proud pony's next predictable outburst, her explanations and her excuses.
She saw twin trails of tears, streaming from a pair of vacant, violet eyes. All of the fire, the righteous anger that festered through her being… was doused in an instant.
By the tears of a broken champion.
"Rainbow…" she started, quietly.
But she was gone, in a bright flash of rainbow, colors that mocked the sorrow and resentment coursing through Applejack as the reality of what had happened caught up with her. Eyes glistening, she helplessly turned toward the door her friend had flown out of, to her friends backed up in the corner. Rarity was holding a trembling Fluttershy, not caring that the sensitive mare poured her tears into her previously perfect mane. She looked to the middle of the room, so lifeless and empty now…
And to Pinkie Pie, still wrapped up in her bindings, unwilling to meet her eyes.
Not since the day she left the farm as a filly had she ever felt so alone.
Choking back a sob, she looked back to Rarity again, her expression veiled by her long indigo tresses.
"Y'all… y'all gonna be okay without us fer a while, I hope." she half-asked, half-stated. Rarity turned her head toward her, eyes traced down to the floor, but let a small, understanding smile give all the confirmation Applejack needed to bolt out the door without another word, a trail of tears falling behind her as she charged under the symbol of her love's philosophy…
The lone rainbow trail streaked against the blazing sunset.
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Skeptical Poet
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905
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Applejack,Fluttershy,Pinkie Pie,Rainbow Dash,Rarity,Comedy,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
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The Rainbow Effect
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Applejack and Rainbow Dash prepare for Twilight's birthday... but hidden feelings get in the way.
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complete
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<p>Applejack and Rainbow Dash are preparing a party for Twilight Sparkle. But will Applejack be able to confront her feelings for her feathered filly-friend?</p><br/><p>**Featured in early 2012**</p>
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mature
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2011-11-11T17:12:16+00:00
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2011-11-11T17:12:16+00:00
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Disclaimer: I don't own Hasbro, or My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Somebody else does. Lucky bastard.
"The Rainbow Effect"
By: Aquarian Poet
Chapter 3: Raindrops and Teardrops
Dusk had finally settled over Ponyville, the ponies and other minority species working to retire the terrene town underneath the tender glow that remained, while it remained. The unicorns and earth ponies worked together in the twilit tranquility, closing up shops for the night, and watering their many gardens before retiring to their homes and families. The pegasus ponies continued their work unabated, laboring together to smooth out the dark clouds into an ever-growing blanket over the denizens of the small city.
A number of ponies had chosen to glance toward the remnants of the sunset, and many of them had given a double-take in that direction, as a rainbow had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, brightening up the normally tranquil atmosphere in a striking display.
Rainbow Dash soared through the dimming skies of lavender and dark grey, tearing past the many pegasus ponies hovering to and fro. She had no destination, only the purpose of escaping the consuming ache of shame and depravity she could not help feeling as Applejack's furious countenance drifted through her mind.
"I thought ah could depend on you…"
Unconsciously she began picking up speed, the colors below blending into a dark, purple miasma. Withdrawing inside of herself, she desperately searched for the sense of thrill, for the rush of adrenaline that would overtake her, drowning out the worries of the world and emptying her mind of the despair that threatened to engulf her.
"And what've you got to show? NOTHIN'!"
Even with her wings beating at full force, the haze of pre-Sonic Rainboom cloud collection beginning to form, she felt so slow.
"…y'all are so WORTHLESS!"
Against her will, she began to see trace images being cast against the opaque shielding of gray in front of her, watching her memories unfold in agonizing slowness…
It had almost been a year since she had left the academy. Today was a clear and sunny day, perfect for venturing down to the world below. Sparing a glance toward the barely visible community in the clouds above her, the blue filly turned her attention down a long stretch of straight meadow ground sparsely populated with trees and flowers, while casually munching on an apple.
It was here where she had touched down to the earth for the first time so long ago, in all of its summer glory that bloomed into a picture-perfect replica of that special day. She had chosen this particular place many a day that she sought to fill the previously-studious hours of her young life, whether it be to run through a flying routine, to laze away the day with a nap in the swaying branches of a tree, or just to get away from the lonely clouds during school hours.
Today was special, however, as she had decided to dedicate her time to start practice on her soon-to-be second signature move….
She called it the Super Speed Strut, and it was one that required precision and… grace over speed, despite the catchy name, an ability the young teenager often found herself lacking. However, she had mastered the element of confidence…
And enough of that could make up for anything in her book.
A few wing-flutters to loosen up the tension, a crack of the back, and one twitch of the neck later, she settled her gaze on the grass ahead, donning her trademark smirk. Rainbow Dash took a deep breath… and brought her wings down hard, launching herself straight upwards. Ten seconds of furious flapping, and she was already halfway up to Cloudsdale, rising higher and higher…
So she folded her wings back in, stalled, and allowed herself to gently tip backwards, smiling as she felt the euphoria of weightlessness for all of a second, her colored mane flowing out in front of her face, before twisting and plummeting back down toward the earth.
She reached forward with both hooves, ignoring the light whistling noise that increased in volume as she gained speed, the land steadily growing in detail as she could make out the individual flowers in every bunch, the direction the leaves on the trees swayed in the wind…
A trail of ants marching in a line away from the apple core she carelessly tossed away moments ago.
With all of the strength in her wings, she brought them out, pulling out of her dive at a flawless ninety-degree angle. Waves of dust flowing behind her, she brought her hooves parallel to the speeding ground below, and began a graceful strut. The tension in her legs was almost too much to keep up with her velocity, but she pushed through it with every step, teeth clenching with every furiously gentle hoof-touch, the pain causing her eyes to squint.
Which caused a single rock to slip out of her pegasus-precision eyesight.
Her back right leg caught the object hard, tipping her balance forward and to the left. It was a phenomenon she could relate to very easily, that split-second where time seemed to stop long enough for her to realize… that it wasn't long enough. A stubbed hoof, a bump to the head, she'd experienced them more times that she would prefer to admit. But something told her within that paradoxical time frame that this was going to hurt.
A lot.
Instinctively she recalled the lesson from her old "Crash Course" class, the very same class she had received her endearing nicker-name from the three bozos that still found the time to heckle her whenever they were near. Quickly thanking Celestia in the back of her mind, she folded her wings in, tucked her legs under herself, and jerked her head down, attempting to bounce off the ground in a roll, and catch the air with her wings in hopes of slowing herself down with minimal damage.
But she overshot. Her body still lurched dangerously to the side, catching her shoulder, and sending her into a rapid corkscrew when she unfolded her wings out of panic. She spun through the air, unable to readjust her bearings, when her world was suddenly brought to a stand-still, a dull *crack!* echoing in the back of her consciousness.
And then she felt the pain.
Her vision danced with colored dots as she cried out in agony, her throat too taunt to scream the way her twinging body urged her to. She panted hoarsely as she lay sprawled on the ground, the fuzz of semi-consciousness surrounding her being in a medley of pain and delirium.
She couldn't tell how long it had been until she decided to try and stand up. It could have been a few minutes, a half an hour, or even half of the day. Laying on her side, she could see the sun shining above her at a slight angle, indicating sometime close to midday.
Not that she really cared at this point.
Summing up all of the willpower she could, Rainbow Dash began flexing her legs. A growing pain began building up inside of her right leg. Not good. Testing the tension in her front legs revealed them both to be fine. Inhaling deeply through her nose, she shut her eyes tightly, and started pushing herself up off of the ground. Numbness began spreading across her body starting from her spine, and unable to support her own weight she collapsed once again, yelping from the pain stemming from falling on top of her injured leg.
"Hey guys, look! It's Rainbow Crash!"
Oh no… not now. Please, not now!
Try as she might, she found herself unable to move from her prone position, and so she helplessly looked toward the source of the call. Three teenage pegasus ponies touched down in front of her, one with a chocolate coat and cream colored hair, one with a grey coat and black hair, and the last having a caramel-colored coat, with long brown hair that covered his eyes.
"Whoa, look at her wing." The chocolate-coated pegasus spoke up. "Looks pretty bad. What'd you do this time, Rainbow Crash?"
"Sh-shut up…" she croaked in a low voice, struggling to keep the tears of pain and shame back.
"Ha, she totally wrecked that tree, look!" The caramel-coated pony laughed, pointing at the indentation in the tree behind her. The other two joined in as Rainbow Dash struggled to get onto her feet, pushing past the pain with anger and righteous indignation.
"Yeah? Like you've never…heh… crashed before. I'm just the only pony… stallion enough to do it at full speed." she groaned, cracking a small grin. The chocolate-coated pegasus scoffed.
"Oh yeah? Well we're not the ones flying into trees and breaking our wings. Face it Rainbow Crash, you're just one big failure after another!" he sneered.
"…y'all are so WORTHLESS!"
Rainbow glared back at him, struggling to maintain her balance.
"Just shut up and wait… I'm g-gonna join the Wonderbolts someday… and I'll make you eat those words!" she yelled. The three bullies started laughing again.
"Yeah right, like you could ever make the team. They'd never let a pegasus in who couldn't even graduate from Flight School. Speaking of which…" the chocolate-coated pegasus reached into one of his saddle-bags, pulling out a piece of paper. "…you just missed graduation day. And guess what? We've got our diplomas!"
"So what? Who cares about some stupid piece of paper…" she trailed off, looking uncertain.
"Well maybe if you stayed in school, you'd have learned that every single one of the Wonderbolts graduated from Flight School!" he chuckled, seeing the dawning look of dirt-stained horror on Rainbow Dash's face. "Well too bad for you, we've got a better chance of getting into the Wonderbolts than you do! We actually graduated Flight School…"
"And what've you got to show? NOTHIN'!"
The three burst into laughter once again, Rainbow Dash collapsing on the spot in disbelief and humiliation as she helplessly watched the three take to the skies, calling back to her as they left her behind.
"Have fun walking all the way to Ponyville, Rainbow Crash!"
That day, they had left her behind. They had abandoned her in the middle of the field, leaving her to the lonely and excruciating half a day's walk back to the earth pony town. She recalled the bitterness she had felt, a wrench in her heart that hurt even more than when the Ponyville nurses had to reset her wing back into place later that evening.
That day, she had vowed to never let that happen to anypony.
She would be loyal to everypony who needed her to be.
'I'd never leave my friends hangin'.
And today, she had finally broken that credo. To the one pony who needed her the most, and who mattered the most to her.
Every flap of her wings that brought her farther away from her friends only served to worsen her feelings. She flew higher and higher, into the midst of the dark rain clouds, her vision becoming completely obstructed.
Maybe... if she didn't know where she was going, she would not be able to find her way back. She could never go back.
'WE DON'T NEED YOU HERE! AND I DON'T WANT YOU HERE NEITHER!'
She had to go faster, she needed to get away from it all…
*CRACK!*
Numbness spread throughout her being as her body suddenly went slack, the only sensation being the searing, white-hot pain in her right wing. Lightly scraping against what she hazily presumed to be a mountain side, she felt herself begin a slow spiral through the dark and misty sky, beginning to descend. She closed her eyes as she began losing feeling in her body…
And the last thing she saw was the old Stetson flying from above her, and plummeting down through the storm clouds.
"They don't need me here… and I don't want to be here, either."
Her legs ached, her lungs burned...
But the screaming in her heart kept her going.
Applejack raced across the windy fields of Ponyville, in the direction where the slowly-fading rainbow above her would surely lead her to Rainbow Dash. The sun had long since disappeared from view behind the dimming skies, the vitality of the world around her slowly fading into nightfall.
There was no time to rest, she had to hurry. The pegasus ponies were due to start the downpour any moment now, and through the rain and darkness she would have no hope of finding her friend.
…if she could still call herself the same.
'Why? Why'd I say those things to Rainbow?'
She had grown especially close to Rainbow Dash as the years had gone by, closer than any of her other four best friends. Sure, they had their quarrels same as any other two ponies, but everything would always work out for the better in the end, the bonds of friendship between the two growing stronger after each and every challenge thrown between them.
One day was all it had taken for her to throw it all away.
'What have I done?'
She had always admired Rainbow Dash as somepony who shared her values. Both were a headstrong set of mares. If they saw something they wanted, they went for it, and held no reservations about getting down and dirty in the process.
They were both hard workers, surely enough. The two had even been designated team leaders in last year's Winter Wrap-Up!
But most importantly, the two of them would always help out a friend in need. She would admit that it could be a chore to get her rainbow-maned friend to help her out with a previous commitment, but if it was important, she would come through in the end, honest-to-goodness.
Honest…
The word suddenly echoed throughout her mind, filling the void of inquiry and drowning out the sounds of the coming storm around her.
"Big Macintosh, Granny Smith! I'm home! I'm home!"
The sun was shining over the lush, autumn hills as a young and freckle-faced Applejack raced down the dirt path of the apple orchard, past the coloring trees and buckets of apples, calling out for the two ponies that ran the farm.
Surely enough, she could see them waiting beneath the vine-covered gate to the property, both smiling and looking so happy to see her. Overjoyed, she ran right up next to the two ponies she called family, who wordlessly nuzzled her with affection.
"Oh Granny Smith, Big Macintosh, I missed y'all so much…" Applejack whispered, returning their love in full.
"We missed you, little AJ." Big Macintosh replied in a quiet, deep voice. Applejack sunk deeper into the hug, leaning against her big brother's red body. After a moment Granny Smith pulled away, and started a slow walk toward the picnic area, motioning for the two to follow.
"Well get a move on, young lady! There's a lot to do before we can celebrate tonight." the old pony called back, smiling.
"Aww Granny Smith, y'all don't need to throw me a party. I'm jus' glad to be home for good." the orange filly replied, tilting her head. Big Macintosh walked up next to her.
"I dunno, AJ. I'd say this here –he pointed to her- is definitely something to celebrate." he stated. Applejack blushed, lightly jabbing her brother in the side.
"Aww, thanks Big Mac. But really, it's fine."
Big Macintosh made no motion to lower his hoof. Granny Smith's toothless smile widened.
"…why are y'all lookin' at me like that?" asked Applejack after a moment, shifting uncomfortably. Big Macintosh gave her a sly look.
"Well why don't you take a look yourself? Or haven't you noticed it yet?" he asked rhetorically.
"Wha-" But she stopped her sentence short when she noticed where her brother's hoof was pointing. Looking back, she finally saw it. Through all of the excitement of the day, she had failed to notice the three red apples that had made their grand appearance on her flank.
She gasped, looking back up to Big Macintosh, who was still smiling.
"Eyup."
Applejack let out a high-pitched "Yee-haw!", and wrapped her arms around Big Macintosh, laughing as she jumped up and down.
"Ah got my cutie mark! Ah got my cutie mark!"
Granny Smith let out a hoarse chuckle after a moment, watching the celebration. "Alright, settle down young lady. Like I said, there's work to be done, and we'll need the whole Apple Family to get everything ready before tonight."
Her eyes twinkling, Granny Smith walked up to the large apple tree in the center of the picnic area, right up next to the large, rusty triangle suspended from a limb. Taking the small steel rod in her mouth, she walked over and gave it to the orange filly. Applejack looked at her grandmother in confusion, before looking up again to the red pony next to her, who was giving her a warm look.
"You didn't forget what today is, did you? Every Apple knows what today is." he said slowly. Applejack gave him a look, before it dawned on her. She remembered marking off the days she had been at the Orange residence in Manehattan on the calendar next to her window, where she would watch the sun rise every morning… how did she miss it?
Today was the Apple Family reunion!
Big Mac pushed a tree stump under the triangle, propping it up, and then looked back at her.
"Get on up there, AJ. I reckon you're big enough to help out on the farm now, and this here's a good start."
Applejack eagerly jumped up onto the log, unable to contain her excitement to the point that she almost dropped the metal rod. Biting down through a grin, she turned to look at the old triangle hanging above her, so rusty and worn out with time.
Her thoughts drifted back to her relatives in Manehattan, how fancy and prim the sweet couple had been. Living with them, it seemed so long since she had seen anything that looked so down to earth. So… familiar.
She looked back towards her kin, both of which gave her reassuring smiles. In all of her young life, she had never felt as silly as she did that she had left these wonderful folks of hers.
And never so proud that she decided to come back home.
'I knew right then just who I was s'posed to be.'
*DING-A-LING-A-LING-A-LING-A-LING!*
"SOOOUP'S ON, EVERYPONY!"
Family.
It was more than just being related.
Applejack sat at one of the picnic tables, surrounded by her aunts and uncles, her cousins and other distant relatives, none of which felt like strangers to her. The whole Apple Family right here, the family whom she had come to love so very much. One whole year, and she still felt like she knew them all as well as she knew herself.
She turned to watch the sunset beyond the horizon. She could see the faint outline of Manehattan in the distance, becoming a dark shadow of buildings as the sun drifted behind the large city. It was very surreal, having grown used to watching the sunrise from her room in Manehattan, the beautiful display taking place right above Ponyville. The Orange's apartment was suited on the east side of the building, and didn't have a window from which she would watch the setting sun, a sight she sorely missed.
Somehow, it felt right this way. As if her chapter in Manehattan had ended once and for all, and the morning sunrise would bring her bright future along with it, right here on the farm.
She stood up, politely excusing herself from the table, where she was greeted with a loud number of compliments and gestures from her sitting relatives. It didn't seem right to feel so quiet and philosophical with all of her kin around her, but she couldn't help it. She simply could not bring herself to mingle with the rest of them in this state.
She walked over towards the well, where some of her cousins had decided to play apple-catch. Watching the fillies and colts play with each other, tossing apples and calling out each other's names in such a familiar manner… she still felt so out of place.
'Maybe I just need some time alone. Why don't I go… visit my old room? Maybe that'll help clear my head.'
She stopped walking to the well, and about faced, starting towards the east end of the property when one of the colts called out to her from the game.
"Hey Applejack, where ya goin' coz? Don'tcha wanna play with us?" one of the young colts her age asked. Applejack glanced back towards the pony who addressed her.
"I would, but… I just need some time to myself, Braeburn. I'll be back, just gonna head to my room for a spell." she replied, trotting away from the picnic area at a slow pace.
"Okay, don't be too long!" he called out to her, running toward the other fillies and colts tossing apples to one another.
The young Applejack smiled, watching her cousin joining in with the apple-toss, before turning back to the dirt path heading to the hill behind the barn.
Oh how she relished the feeling of dirt beneath her hooves, and the welcoming smell of hay and apples! The wind was breezing by so naturally, untouched by skyscrapers and alleyways. No bright city lights to obstruct the birthing stars above her in their twilight splendor. Why, the hay bales and haystacks were all lined up along the path right where she remembered them before heading off to Manehattan!
Passing the last field of crops, she finally made it to the old brown house in the back of the property. She tread up the familiar wooden steps, her ears taking delight in each noise-shattering squeak that issued whenever she set her foot down, and even more so with the slow *crrreeeeeaaak!* that came from the old door when she opened it. There was no light inside, but she knew the layout of the building by heart.
Making her way through the darkness, she blindly trotted up the stairs into the loft, mentally counting each step. Reaching out for the door, she found it and pushed it open. She walked in, and mechanically reached up and to the right, turning on a gas lamp suspended to the wall with effortless ease.
The room, and all of her memories with it were instantly illuminated as the tiny flame above her brought the two to light before her. Nothing had changed since she had left, from her single-pony bed against the wall, the dresser on the side where she kept her work clothes, not even the log Big Macintosh had hauled up to her room for her last birthday, so she could practice apple-bucking when the season had passed.
But what really caught her eye was that the room was perfectly clean. Walking up to the bed, she could smell the fresh detergent in the sheets, dust free and looking cleaner than the day she left. The dresser had been dusted, oiled even, and the floor was perfectly swept.
Speaking of, she could feel a set of hooves vibrating through the floor, and her ears picked up the memorable creaking of the stairs that led to her room, when the clacking hoofsteps stopped behind her.
She didn't even have to turn around.
"Y'all knew that I… that I'd be comin' back this whole time, didn't you?"
"…Eyup."
Applejack turned to face her brother who stood in the doorway, lightly glowing red in the lamplight. Without a word spoken between them, she ran up and hugged him tight, fresh tears soaking into his orange mane.
"Oh Big Macintosh, it was awful, just awful! It weren't nothin' like I was expectin', all them high-class ponies judgin' me an' makin' me feel like such a fool! I tried so hard to change for them, because I was so afraid of lettin' my folks down!
The orange filly hugged the teenager tighter, her voice suddenly becoming quiet.
"I… I missed y'all so very much… Down here on the farm, bein' myself was good enough for all of you. I don't gotta pretend to be somepony I'm not, because the folks here in Ponyille love me for who I am… and that should have been good enough for me."
The red teenager said nothing as Applejack continued, her grip going slack.
"I love my Aunt n' Uncle Orange, I really do. They're such sweet folks, and they loved me like family. But no matter how much they taught me, no matter how hard I tried… I just wasn't good enough for them…"
"Now hold on a minute, little sis." Big Macintosh interrupted, pulling away, and looking into his little sister's watery eyes. "You've always been good enough for them, for 't go lettin' yourself think that there was something wrong with you in the first place, because there never was."
Big Macintosh smiled. "Granny Smith and I let you go to Manehattan because we wanted you to learn a valuable lesson, a lesson that you wouldn't have learned if we made you stay here on the farm."
"What lesson?" Applejack asked, frowning. Big Macintosh sat down on the floor next to her.
"Well, you've already told me most of what you've found out. What else did you learn?"
Applejack paused, looking down at the floor.
"Well… I learned that what I wanted was right here."
"And what's that?"
"I-I want to live with ponies who love me for who I am. I want… I want to be who I want to be, and not somepony else. Here on the farm, everything's so simple. We don't pretend to be better than each other, or more successful. We're always thinkin' about each other and what we can do to help out the family… and the good folks of Ponyville." Applejack paused, before continuing in an even quieter voice.
"I left… because I wanted to live a better life. Because I thought I could be better by actin' like some fancy pony. But I was lyin' to myself the whole walk there. Aunt Orange was right, all I was doin' was actin'."
"So what does that mean you have to do?"
"It means… It means I gotta be honest with myself before I can go about bein' honest with everypony else."
Big Macintosh beamed, and pulled the orange filly into a big hug. Both ponies sat there, enjoying the warm silence for a moment, before he spoke up again, his voice beginning to quaver.
"You've always been good enough for us, AJ, and you've always been good enough for them. And I reckon with what you've come to realize all by yourself, you just might be too good for them."
Applejack returned the hug in full, a rush of loving warmth rolling through her.
"Thanks, I s'pose… you always know just what t'say to me."
"…Eyup."
Applejack beamed at her older brother, the firelight dancing in her wide, sincere eyes. She felt much better than she had before, the sadness and self-disappointment melting away from her heart. She felt like herself again.
"Alright, Mac. Let's head back to the festivities." Applejack said, trotting past Big Macintosh and down the stairs, who in turn stood and followed behind her. "Cousin Braeburn's probably wonderin' why I'm not peltin' him with apples right now."
The two walked out through the open doorway in pleasant silence, and into the open world where dusk had fallen. Applejack leaped off of the porch, looking back to see that Big Macintosh had stopped in the entryway.
"Hang on, sis. I've got something for you." Big Macintosh said, walking back into the old house. The young filly huffed, turning to look back at the celebration. Somepony had lit a fire out in the fields, where she could see a large number of ponies sitting around in a large circle, doing who knows what.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a light whirling noise in the air behind her, and she felt something soft, but weighted land on her head, obstructing her eyesight.
"Good to see I haven't lost my touch at horseshoes. Not too many ponies to play against since you left, AJ."
Applejack reached a hoof to take off whatever had landed on her head, mumbling about older brothers and their need to show off at inappropriate times. She took it off and brought it level to her face, eyes slowly growing wide.
It was the most beautiful brown Stetson she had ever laid eyes on. It looked perfectly new, no creases or marks were visible. It smelled of sweet leather, and the material was just as sturdy, and not at all uncomfortable to the touch. The hat was a little big for her head, but she would grow into it in time.
As she silently examined her present, Big Macintosh started up behind her.
"Me and Granny Smith got this for your birthday right before you left. I noticed you eyeing it on our last trip to Ponyville before you left. We… weren't sure whether the Oranges would take kindly to you wearin' it around the house all the time, so we decided to save it for a different occasion."
Applejack didn't turn back, but instead sat on her haunches, holding the hat close.
"…you really did know I was coming back." she sighed.
"I figured you'd like it… it's uncanny, you look just like she did with it on."
Applejack blinked back a pair of tears. "Just like mom…" she whispered. Big Macintosh nodded.
"She was the most dependable of ponies… and I reckon she'd be proud to know that you're following in her hoofsteps, right behind her."
Applejack broke out into a wide smile at that. Standing up, she flipped the hat up into the air with an idle hoof, and let it land on her head, turning towards her brother with a wide grin.
"Thank you, Big Macintosh. I promise to always be honest about who I am, whether people like it or not, and I promise to be honest to my friends and kin. An' I'll do it by showing them just how much I appreciate them."
The side of the red teenager's mouth turned up slightly, and he walked up next to the proud-looking pony, who started walking down the hill in turn.
"Betcha I'll grow up to be just as pretty as mom, too."
"I'm sure you will. The hat really does look good on you, AJ.
"Thanks, Big Macintosh."
"Besides, I figure you'll be glad to have one, come your first applebuck season. You looked mighty sunburnt when you got home today. "
"Well, I s'pose we can't all have your gorgeous, red c'mplexion."
Three ponies sat under the stars later that evening, listening to the crickets chirping in blended harmony. The fire pit was reduced to a small pocket of glowing coals, the only source of light on the ground as far as the eyes could see. The silhouetted horizon stretched far out, blanketed by the twinkling sky above.
"So did y'all see that rainbow up in the sky this mornin'?"
"Not so loud, AJ. Granny Smith's asleep."
"Oh, sorry. So did'ja?"
"'Shore did. The most spectacular one I've ever seen."
"That rainbow pointed right to Ponyville from where I could see. It led me straight home this mornin'."
"You know, the pegasus ponies make the rainbows up there. But I ain't never seen one like that before, it just came outta nowhere. I reckon somepony might've had an accident, or was playing a prank."
Applejack looked up toward the night sky "Well whatever it was, I'm glad it happened."
. Big Macintosh looked at the young Applejack, who stood silhouetted against the starlight, proudly adjusting her new hat.
"Someday, I'm gonna find the pony who made the rainbow that led me home, and I'll thank her sure enough for leadin' me back home. That's a promise."
Running through the fields, the trees were getting thicker and thicker, until there was a large canopy of leaves above her. The orange pony galloped through the blinding wind, and through her memories.
It was after she had learned that her best friend had made that rainbow… that she had came to realize that her affections had begun to blossom into something more, something she later came to call love.
She had never approached Rainbow Dash about it, the rainbow or her feelings. And she began to wonder if it was too late for both.
Her gaze fell to the rushing ground below her hooves.
Laying on the ground a few yards ahead… was her Stetson.
Braking hard, she walked up to it, picking it up with a shaking hoof, looking frantically for the pony who would have dropped it. She saw nopony, her gaze then settling on the hat that caught the blowing wind, trying to escape her grasp.
She had vowed all those years ago on this very hat, that she would be honest with herself, and with her fellow ponies. Like her hat, it had become her identity, her life's doctrine.
Both of which she had lost today, because she hadn't been honest with Rainbow Dash.
Applejack lowered her head, fresh tears falling from her cheeks.
How could she expect Rainbow Dash to live up to her virtue… if she couldn't do the same?
Looking up to the sky, the rainbow trail had all but dulled out into the haze of cloud cover above her. Moments later, it disappeared completely, the world around her losing the last bit of color… of life.
Those two promises she made all those years ago weighed heavily upon her as she sprinted off again, running through the darkening groves, the splintering shards from those pledges tracing lines over her heavy heart. Blinking furiously as a large leaf raked across her eye, she galloped onward through the first drops of rain, hat between her teeth.
Rainbow Dash deserved to wear this hat more than she did. And she'd be damned if she wore it again before she reclaimed her virtue.
"I'll find you, Rainbow Dash." she whispered, her words lost to the rushing wind around her. "And when I do, I'm gonna show you just how much you mean to me…"
Raindrops.
Her world was dark, and full of them.
Cold and pitiless they cascaded around her, sliding down her limp frame and through her windswept hair. Soaking into her feathers, the icy chill dulled the throbbing in her wing enough that her thoughts drifted away from the pain. She listened to the sound of water beating through the leaves above her, offering no refuge from the chilling downpour.
Hesitantly, she opened her eyes.
Teardrops.
She could feel them now, sliding down her cheeks and mingling with the dirt where she lay below. She could see the muddy grass, and the root of the tree that had brought her descent to a numbing standstill. Tilting her head, she felt something small and light shifting below her.
Leaves.
They were spread out around her, dark and faded against the freezing wet ground. Unmoving, lifeless and stained with mud, some lying atop the small patches of grass around her, and some almost buried completely under the rising marshes.
All as soaked and lonely as herself.
Rainbow Dash closed her eyes one last time, listening to the sounds of the storm around her, the silent *shluck* of somepony's hooves treading through mud, and the gentle whispering of her name, before giving way to the looming shadows in her mind.
Raindrops and teardrops falling around her.
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Skeptical Poet
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905
| 4 |
Applejack,Fluttershy,Pinkie Pie,Rainbow Dash,Rarity,Comedy,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
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The Rainbow Effect
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Applejack and Rainbow Dash prepare for Twilight's birthday... but hidden feelings get in the way.
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complete
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<p>Applejack and Rainbow Dash are preparing a party for Twilight Sparkle. But will Applejack be able to confront her feelings for her feathered filly-friend?</p><br/><p>**Featured in early 2012**</p>
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mature
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2011-11-11T18:09:26+00:00
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2011-11-11T18:09:26+00:00
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Disclaimer: I don't own Hasbro, or My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I own a ten year-old boulder of a computer, a chair that offers no back support, and about twelve assorted musical instruments, depressingly most of which nobody has ever heard of.
Maybe Pinkie Pie has? Someone go ask her.
"The Rainbow Effect"
By: Aquarian Poet
Chapter 4: Overcast
*Crick… crick-crack…pop… crick… crick-crick*
The rain was gone.
She lay there on her side with her eyes closed, listening to the tiny bursts of sound echoing in the stillness. Wherever 'there' was, it sure was soft. And dry.
Warm, even.
She gradually became conscious of the emanating heat in front of her. She lay in a pleasant daze, feeling the light waves of rolling warmth that washed over her body.
Slowly, Rainbow Dash opened her eyes.
She was lying in front of a fire pit, the logs pointing out in a conventional six-star spread, surrounded by a ring of rocks. Burning only a few feet away, she squinted as the unexpected light assaulted her vision. She blinked a few times, broadening her awareness and looking around as her eyes adjusted to the shadows of the room around her.
A rock wall of jagged layers came to view first, shadows towering across the ceiling from the rough slabs, illuminated by the light of the fire. Her eyes scanned the entirety of the ceiling, and to the other side of the room above her head, same as the previous. She was in a cave.
Her head began to throb dully, but painfully from the eyestrain, and so she directed her gaze sideways from the floor. Shifting to roll off of her tender shoulder, she heard a light crinkling sound, more rapid and high-pitched than those coming from the blaze before her. Glancing down, she took notice of where she lay.
A bed of leaves had been arranged underneath her, glowing in different colors below the dancing light source. From her peripherals, she saw very few leaves scattered around the floor near the jumping flames.
Somepony had to have collected the pile of leaves for her.
'Rainbow…'
She blinked, the memories of the crash suddenly rushing back to her. She remembered… hearing somepony whispering her name before she had passed out! Violet eyes shooting open, she raised her head, feverishly searching the corners of the poorly lit cavern for her would-be rescuer. She could not see anyone.
The cave was completely silent, but for the crackling noise of the fire. Directing her gaze forward, she miserably recalled the events that had brought her here, memories brought back with her epiphany a moment ago. In a single day, she had managed to ruin Twilight's surprise birthday party, lose the friendship and trust of the pony she had grown closer to than any other, and broken her wing mid-flight in the middle of nowhere, now stuck in a cave with somepony she did not know, and could not find.
Tears willed themselves to the rims of her eyes, but refused to spill over, finding herself undeserving of such self-pity. She lay in stoic stillness, unable to find a reason to get up, surrendering instead to stare at the wavering firelight.
Careless. That was the word that pervaded her thoughts as her vision glazed over. She watched the flames reaching upwards, stretching towards the ceiling in vain, flickering flourishes, aimlessly and spontaneous.
Or so it seemed at first glance. There in the center of the fire pit was a glowing furnace of hot coals. A bed of embers, shimmering and warping the air with the intensity of its energy, feeding the burning tendrils that licked and curled in the air above.
Staring into the fire, she could see the rainbow visage of a pony. In each burst of flame, the memory of a failed trick, wisping away into nothing. With every crackle from the burning logs came the scornful laughter of a pony who would not realize her dream.
And from every flicker she saw a pair of victoriously-gleaming violet eyes, a silent reservoir holding back the years of accumulated pain, silently pleading for understanding and reprieve.
No matter how high the flames reached, they would always disappear, leaving small cinders occasionally falling down around the ring of rocks. And still those flames ventured upwards, no irresolute or hesitant gesture made.
Why?
Her eyes fell to the bed of coals again, the shimmering heat giving way to a memory long since forgotten…
*FWOOOSHH!*
Animals of all kinds darted into the trees and burrows. Ducks abandoned a nearby pond in a frenzy of feathers as they took flight, whether by choice, or by the destructive power of the gale-force winds tearing them from the water's surface, sending the helpless birds sprawling in the awe-striking surf.
Streaking upwards in a blur of colors, the peace-shattering perpetrator braked hard in mid-air, grabbing a cloud in the midst of her speeding wake and stopping her ascent in full.
Legs still dangling upwards from her previous momentum, the pegasus pony grinned as a spray of pond water flew upwards at her, showering her face and drenching her hovering body in ice-cold victory.
Shaking her head free of the moisture, she glanced downward, her smile growing wider as she took note of the large branches and debris strewn all over the previously-pristine clearing, a testament to the sheer velocity she had attained.
Perfect.
But enough warming up. Rainbow Dash had real work to do.
The teenage prodigy stared down at the world below as the wind blew through her rainbow mane. The fields and meadows of Ponyville lay before her, the nearby town sitting a healthy distance away. She was only just able to make out a few colorful dots someplace far off below; a number of ponies working outside in some nearby orchard.
She jumped up from the cloud, and began a routine of stretches in mid-flight, attempting to loosen up the tension in her arms and legs, twisting her body left and right. Lastly, she looked behind her and gave her rainbow tail a good flick, making sure it was devoid of any tangles or knots.
This stunt was all about presentation.
The pegasus lay out the practiced scene before her, visualizing a cheering crowd below; a large, slanted box full of shouting fans and adoring admirers. Her eyes became slits as she glared down to the world below, refocusing all of her attention on her upcoming routine.
Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, and dove off of the cloud.
Putting her hooves in front of her, her hawk-like gaze locked onto two objects; the imaginary stand of cheering ponies, and a tiny cloud hovering some distance below and to her right, rapidly approaching as the blue filly built up speed. Two hundred yards… one hundred yards… twenty yards.
'NOW!'
Thundering passed the tiny cloud, Rainbow Dash swiftly flicked her tail out, catching the puffy object with a sharp-sounding *pff!*, and drawing all of the water into her slipstream as she roared towards the ground. Halfway to the ground, she quickly glanced backwards, grinning as she saw the beginnings of a rainbow trail forming behind her from the wayward moisture.
But she wasn't through yet. The proud pegasus hurtled toward the imaginary crowd at break-neck speed, and began a high-speed twirl, the rainbow trail twisting behind her like a shimmering, dazzling ribbon.
All that was left was to pull up and out of her spinning nose dive in the right direction, and she would have that audition in the bag. This stunt was bound to impress the Wonderbolts for sure! This was going to be even more spectacular than her recently-perfected second signature move.
This move… was going down in the history books for sure, the name of which would be spoken in awe for generations to come!
The Fantastic Filly Flash!
She could feel the curvature of the wind through her outstretched wings, hear the howling wind that gave way to the triumphant athlete. She was the fastest pegasus around for miles, the sky was her racetrack in which she found no competition.
Champions didn't compete, they showed off.
She began struggling to keep her focus, biting back the building wave of queasiness from staring at the spinning ground below. The trick to this one was keeping her bearings, and it was hard to keep track of the direction she needed to pull up from. One wrong move or moment of hesitance would send her spiraling through the brush.
Or worse, into another tree.
'Ha, she totally wrecked that tree, look!'
Rainbow Dash fought hard to bury that bitter memory as she tore past the drifting clouds.
'Yeah right, like you could ever make the team…'
Spinning, she began to lose focus, the same feeling of helplessness and fright from the memory overtaking her as she corkscrewed downwards, the ground growing rapidly closer…
The ground!
She had lost her bearings!
Casting fate to the wind, Rainbow Dash leveled her course in a burst of impulse and panic, her hooves skimming the unforgiving soil below her. Through her adrenaline-fed terror, her eyes could scarcely keep up with the terminal speed at which her body rocketed, barely dodging the rushing blur of brush and tree limbs.
Careening through the thickening foliage, Rainbow Dash was unable force her wings to tilt downwards in hopes of rocketing herself upwards into the spacious safety of the sky, the intensity of her speed too hard to fight. Wide-eyed and panicked, instinct had completely taken over. Left! Up! Left! Right! Left! Down! Right! Left! Up!
An opening!
With only a blink of hesitance, Rainbow Dash willed her wings to thrust downwards, swiftly rising up and over the treetop.
Or so she would have, were it not for that moment of uncertainty. Instead the panicking pegasus cried out as a cluster of branches scraped against her body as she flew through the top of a tree, twigs lashing out at her body, and sending her tumbling through the sky at high-speeds.
Five seconds of stomach-turning somersaults later, she felt herself rolling across the earth, gradually decreasing in speed. Five more seconds of painful collisions with the ground, and she finally felt the momentum leave her body, the world catching up to her as she let out a small "oof!"
She lay sprawled across the ground, covered in dust and clumps of dirt. With a groan, she found the strength to raise her head slightly from the ground, only to let it fall down with a depressing *thud*. She had allowed herself to get distracted.
Again.
It was a miracle that she was still alive after all of the stunts she had blown, each crash more spectacular and disastrous than the last. It was becoming more and more difficult to keep her focus as the months went by, her mind always drawing back to those three pegasus ponies, who forever reminded her of the disappointment she was slowly becoming.
'Face it Rainbow Crash, you're just one big failure after another!'
During every trick, and after every jaw-dropping feat she performed for her growing number of admirers, that memory would haunt her. It was always sitting quietly in the back of her mind, torturous and unnerving. But it didn't matter what they thought. She would prove them wrong, and she would tell herself that every day since then.
Words were cheap.
'Have fun walking all the way to Ponyville, Rainbow Crash!'
And so Rainbow Dash lay there alone, listening to the sounds of the forest around her in quiet defeat.
…
…
"Y'all just gonna lay there all day or what?"
The pegasus jolted in mute surprise. From the direction of the voice, somepony was standing over her! Startled by the sudden realization that she wasn't so alone, humiliation quickly overtook her. She decided to pretend to not have heard the pony. Maybe whoever was there would leave her alone, and walk off without recognizing her.
"Hello? Equestria to rainbow-pony?"
Oh yeah, she had a rainbow-colored mane. So much for subtlety.
Rainbow Dash exhaled in resignation, opting to glance up at the pony who had addressed her. Her violet eyes trailed up a pair of toned, orange legs, a body and a neck, and up to a set of freckles ornamenting an innocent pout… that made her heart skip a beat. Her gaze slowly worked up, and into the most vibrantly emerald eyes she had ever seen, shaded by a brown hat that rested atop her head just a size too large.
But Rainbow Dash had not noticed. She locked eyes with the stranger, feeling all sense of self and self-pity slip away into those apple-green pools...
"What, never seen a Stetson before? Or have I got somethin' on my face?" the pony asked, tilting her head. Rainbow Dash blinked, breaking away from the pony's puzzled stare, and looking to the side.
"Hey."
"Hay is fer horses… and ponies I s'pose, but that still ain't no way to greet a stranger!" The pony exclaimed readily, leaning down towards the reticent pony. "The name's Applejack, what's yours?"
"…Rainbow Dash."
"Well Rainbow Dash, that sure was some fancy flyin' back there. I've never met a pegasus that could do half of what you were pullin' off."
…
"You sure are quiet. Are you okay?"
Rainbow Dash still did not meet her gaze, opting instead to stare at a nearby apple tree. "I'm fine."
The hat-clad teenager cocked her head. "Can you even stand up?" she asked.
The pegasus visibly tensed. "Of course I can stand up!"
"Well, you must sure like that patch o' dirt." The stranger raised an eyebrow. "Do it then!"
Frowning, Rainbow Dash squirmed on the ground, moving her legs into position, and tried to stand on all fours. She got as far as propping her front two legs up, when they buckled out from under her. The blue pony collapsed in a pathetic heap, groaning softly.
The orange pony chuckled. "Didn't think so." She walked a slow, full circle around the silently-simmering pegasus pony, giving her a once-over, and even running a hoof down Rainbow Dash's right front leg, the pony recoiling at the touch with a sharp gasp.
"Ya shore did a number on that one. Just sprained it, though, but I reckon you're still not up to flyin' anywhere." she commented. Rainbow Dash just closed her eyes, grunting in humiliation. A second later, those same eyes shot wide open as she felt a hat-clad head dive down under her belly, hoisting her onto the same pony's back.
"Hey, what are you-"
"Simmer down, Sallie. You're in no condition t'be walkin' or flyin' anywhere. And I don't know about you, but I'm powerful hungry for some apple pie, an' I don't fancy bakin' like one in the middle of an orchard on a hot, sunny day." she stated carelessly, beginning a slow trot through the apple trees. "Besides, I've got the rest of the day off, so we can spend some time together, get to know each other n' all."
Rainbow Dash watched the trail of grass and rocks drifting by, unsure of what to say to the stranger's sudden gesture.
"So… where are you taking me?"
"Well lucky for you, I've got my treehouse nearby. I've been out in the orchard for a while now, doin' a quick check-up on this here part of the farm for Granny Smith before callin' it a day. Then I saw you flyin' by… an' boy howdy, you sure can fly. I could feel that last gust o' wind all the way from here before you started that twirly-trick o' yours. You sure got a talent fer it."
*Clop clop, clop clop, clop clop…*
"Applejack, right?"
"Yeah?"
"…Thanks."
The trotting pony smiled, bowing her head. "Think nothin' of it."
"An' so I said, 'Braeburn, why in the hay would anypony want to settle in the desert?' Want to know what he said?"
"Tell me!"
"He said, 'Well coz, anypony can settle in the desert, but me and Silver Star are gonna start our very own town, and our very own apple orchard!"
"Hahaha, in the desert?"
"I know! An'… haha, an' I said, 'Well that's about as practical as takin' an art class for horse-drawn horse-drawn carriages!"
The two ponies laughed riotously while slamming their hooves down in delight, shaking the tin of steaming-hot pie that sat on the table before them. Rainbow Dash fell over onto to the wooden floor, gasping for breath.
"Horse… drawn… horse-drawn… oh that's classic! Hahaha!"
Applejack chuckled heartily, taking another bite of apple pie before staring out of the window. The sun had begun a slow decline beyond the horizon, casting golden beams of light across the small table, lighting the back wall and warmly diffusing throughout the rest of the room.
Rainbow Dash sat up, wiping the tears of mirth from her eyes with her good hoof. "You're a riot, Applejack. And a great cook too!" she exclaimed, diving back into her side of the large pie dish.
"Well thank ya kindly, Rainbow… if it's alright if I call you that." she said, coyly pointing a hoof at the pony. Rainbow Dash looked up from her tasty meal, a miniature smile forming across her face.
"Yeah, that's cool."
"Well good. Still hankerin' for more pie?"
"Actually… nope, I'm good."
"Alrighy then." Applejack moved the pie dish towards her side of the table, and began to eat.
"… so can I call you Jack?"
The orange pony snorted into the dish. "No."
The rainbow-maned pony chuckled, leaning back on her haunches and taking in the scenery. The room was surprisingly well-lit for lacking a better light source, the large windows allowing for healthy amounts of sunlight to filter in. A small fan was set up on the other side of the small room, creating a pleasant cross-breeze with the window that combed through Rainbow Dash's hair. The small blue table in front of them was close enough to the ground that the two forwent using chairs, instead sitting across from each other on the floor.
Looking down further, Rainbow Dash adjusted the feather-down pillow on which her hoof softly rested. She smirked, glancing back at the freckle-faced pony, who was loudly devouring the last slice of pie, blissfully unaware of her companion's silent musings.
"Hey Applejack…" she started, looking away from her.
*Mmph… hawmph mmmph… gulp* "Mmm, yeah?"
"Thanks again… for all of this."
Applejack smiled, closing her eyes and waving her acquaintance off with an idle hoof. "Oh don't mention it." She dived back down into the pie.
Rainbow Dash turned her head towards her. "No really, I-I mean it, you're a great friend."
Silence. Applejack slowly leaned up, swallowing and looking away from the blue filly, who gave her a questioning stare.
"Friend?" she asked in a soft whisper. Too softly to settle with Rainbow Dash.
"What's wrong, Applejack. You… don't want to be friends?"
Applejack took her gaze. "No! I… I do wanna be friends. I just… well, y'see…" she trailed off. Rainbow Dash leaned forward, quietly awaiting a response.
Applejack looked out the window again.
"I… I don't have that many friends. I spend most of my time here on the farm. There's always a lotta work t'be done, an' the only ponies here to do it are my brother Big Macintosh, my Granny Smith an' me. Sometimes we work all day long… an' we still get behind on our duties."
She then noticed the look the pegasus pony was giving her. "Now don't get me wrong, workin' on the farm is my life, an' I ain't never been happier here… but it can get kinda lonesome."
Rainbow Dash frowned, turning her head. She knew what 'lonesome' was like.
"I mean sure, family comes to visit every so often, and all of us even get t'gether once every year. But it just isn't the same, ya know? An'… well, I don't have very many friends as it is. I don' even know… what friends are supposed to do, t'be honest." the pony ended, her gaze slowly sinking towards the empty pie dish, only to snap back up as Rainbow Dash snorted loudly.
"You've got to be kidding! I fall out of the sky and sprain my leg, you carry me all the way to an awesome tree house, you give me free pie and we trade funny stories for three hours! And after talking to me for what, a minute? I mean come on, you're the best!" she declared, grinning down at the empty pie dish. "Not to mention an awesome cook."
Applejack smirked, inclining her head. "Heh, you did mention that."
"Oh." Rainbow Dash frowned, waving off the sniggering pony. "But I'm serious, I'd say you're a great friend, and I'd love to have you be mine. I mean… you know, one of mine." she quickly corrected, looking away with lightly-dusted cheeks.
…
"Yee HAW!"
Rainbow Dash yelped in surprise as the orange pony ambushed her with an over-the-table hug, biting back the urge to ruin the kind-hearted gesture with a squeal of pain. It didn't help that the setting sunlight was bursting through the window now, bathing the two in an obnoxiously well-timed golden glow.
But sometimes physical necessity takes priority over cosmic deliverance.
"Apple… Jack… air… leg… ouch!" she squeaked.
"Oh, right. Sorry partner." Applejack pulled away, ducking her head in embarrassment. She stood up and stretched out her legs with a content groan, taking note of the waning sunset outside of the window.
"Would'ja look at that. Time sure does fly when y'all are havin' fun."
Rainbow Dash laughed nervously, opting to look away, and coughing into her good hoof as the orange pony trotted towards the entryway with a light yawn.
"I gotta head down to the farmhouse an' meet Big Macintosh b'fore it gets any later, let him know what's goin' on. I'll be back with a set o' sleepin' bags an' some marshmallows, an' we can camp outside tonight. We'll see if your leg feels any better then." The farm-pony frowned. "Y'all gonna be comfortable enough for twenty minutes or so?"
The feathered filly gave her a grin, waving her hoof. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." she assured Applejack, who smirked back, and continued out the doorway.
Rainbow Dash sighed when Applejack disappeared from view, glancing down to the empty pie dish.
"Just fine."
*Crick-crick… crick-crick… crick-crick… crick-crick*
"Ouch! Horseapples!"
"Heh heh, watch out for the flies 'round these parts. They bite."
"It's not that, it's my stupid leg!"
"Well stop leanin' on it s'much. Scoot closer to the fire."
With a grumble, Rainbow Dash complied, kicking the pillow her aching foreleg rested on with her knee as she moved forward, carefully enough as to not poke the burning logs with the marshmallow-laden stick she held in her other hoof.
Applejack sighed, gulping down the rest of her marshmallow, and setting her stick down to lean back and stare upwards. "It sure was awfully kind o' Granny Smith to give me the mornin' off tomorrow.
"Hmm."
"What's the matter? Leg still botherin' ya?"
"No."
*Crick-crick… crick-crick… crick-crick*
"Bit fer your thoughts over there?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Well you sure as hay aren't doin' anypony any favors by keepin' it bottled up t' yourself."
"Just don't worry about it. Could you pass me the marshmallows?"
"No."
Rainbow Dash looked up from the fire to the orange pony, who was giving her a firm glare.
"We're friend's now, Rainbow Dash, an' if somethin' is botherin' you so much that you go an' act this way, then I wanna know what it is."
"It's nothing."
"The hay it ain't, sugarcube." Applejack said, her tone getting sharper. "I c'n spot a troubled pony a mile away. Ya don't get into sales without gettin' to know how a pony works, an' I've sold more apples than you'd ever care t'count.
Rainbow Dash matched Applejack glare-for-glare, "It's none of your business." she asserted, pointedly.
The two stared each other down, until Applejack let out a submissive sigh, turning to the fire.
"Look, I don't mean t'pry. It's just that, with y'all lookin' like that… it really bothers me."
She idly drew her hoof across the ground in small circles, frowning. "I mean, I know we haven't been friends fer long… but in the few hours I've have known you…" she lingered, her tone growing quieter.
"…I think you've become my best."
Rainbow Dash blinked, her throat growing taunt.
"I really do care about you, and I can tell that somethin' is eatin' at you somethin' fierce. I jus'… wanna help." she finished, at almost a whisper.
Her heart filling with a rushing warmth, Rainbow Dash's felt her own glare softening, to the point where she had to look away from the confessive pony out of embarrassment. She heard the crinkling sound of a plastic bag from across the fire.
"An' I know you still want these marshmallows, Rainbow." Applejack teased, waving the bag tauntingly to the side. The pegasus exhaled through her nose in irritation, but could not prevent a resigned smirk from forming at the edges of her mouth. Applejack chuckled, tossing the bag over the fire and into the pony's lap.
"Hmph, I though you said you didn't know how to be a good friend." Rainbow Dash stated, reaching into the bag for another puffy treat.
The orange teenager snorted. "I jus' can't stand seein' a pony lookin' so down like you were. 'Specially a friend." she added, leaning up and resting her hooves on the ground before her. "So tell me, what's wrong?"
Rainbow Dash set the bag down with a sigh, a shiver going through her wings as she brought her knees up to her chest, turning sideways. She began in a quiet voice.
"Well, it all started on my very first day in Flight School, in my old Crash Course class…"
…
"And that's pretty much how I ended up here. Camping out with a friend, stuck on the ground… with a sprained leg."
Silence filled the small clearing, the crackling of the fire muted by the solemn atmosphere. Even the crickets stayed their nocturnal thrumming, as if quietly pondering the story they had been told. Rainbow Dash turned towards her companion, barely glimpsing the Stetson-clad pony quickly wiping a hoof across her cheek, the appendage glistening and wet.
Applejack sat up, and looked her straight in the eyes.
"Yer a terrible story-teller, Rainbow Dash."
...
"Y'all just told me a story 'bout a pathetic failure of a pony, who had nothin' to go by but a waste of a dream. Any other pony might sit here an' tell you that everythin'll be all right, that y'all deserve better than that. Well I say y'all deserve jus' what you got."
Rainbow Dash bristled, but said nothing.
"Jus' about any pony I know would've given up bein' a pegasus, let alone a member of the best flyers in Equestria, if they had t'go through what you jus' told me."
The fire wavered and crackled before them, filling the small moment of silence.
"Fer a pony… f-fer any pony to go through all that, an' still keep on fightin' fer a dream… that sounds like somepony worth cheerin' on. Somepony loyal enough to her cause to be worth somethin'.
Applejack stood up, and trotted around the fire towards the shaking filly, taking a seat beside her and staring into the starlight above.
"You've got a big dream, Rainbow Dash. An' it sounds like some ponies don't want you t'make it happen. Well forget them. They ain't worth the time n' effort to think about." Applejack paused, taking a deep breath. "If you're even feelin' lonely, an' find yourself thinkin' about a pony…"
The Stetson-clad pony turned towards Rainbow Dash, startling her with a tear-stained smile. "…then try an' think of me. Because I'll be here for you, cheerin' you on no matter what anypony else says about you."
Applejack's content, watery-eyed visage faded into blurriness as Rainbow Dash began losing the fight against the tears that danced underneath her twin violets.
"From what I saw, you've got the talent, and more than enough of a drive to make it. An' if all of what you jus' told me is what it took for you t'be as good a flyer, an' as strong a fighter as you are… then I say you deserve jus' what you got, sugarcube. An' you deserve t'be proud of it."
All pain forgotten, Rainbow Dash threw her hooves around Applejack's neck in desperation, who returned the silent hug in full. The grief-stricken filly held her tight, ignoring the tears that fell freely down her face, and relishing the feeling of her friend's tears dripping down her back, caressing the ache in her soul.
"What I'm tellin' you… is the honest truth. You are anythin' but a failure."
She felt the dam in her heart break away, and let herself go completely. She sat there in the tranquility of the moment, sobbing away months of accumulated pain into her best friend's shoulder.
'Thank you…'
The only words she could think to say, and the only words that would not come.
Time passed, and Rainbow Dash's sobs grew quieter and quieter, until the stillness of the camp reached their ears once again. Applejack pulled away for the two of them, catching the pegasus pony's violet eyes in her own, and giving her a knowing smile. Rainbow Dash sniffed, an embarrassed grin spreading across her own face.
"Now, what say we call it a night, then?"
"Yeah… that sounds good."
The pegasus looked up towards the sky, her star-littered eyes sparkling as Applejack made her way back to the other side of the fire pit, shuffling supplies off of her sleeping bag.
Rainbow Dash let her gaze follow a streaking star, zipping across the night sky, disappearing behind the tiny dot that she recognized to be Cloudsdale. She frowned.
"Hey, do you think that…" Rainbow Dash looked back at the empty abode behind them. "Would you mind… if I ever needed someplace to hang out, somewhere I could, you know..."
"Get away?"
"Yeah."
"My clubhouse is your clubhouse, sugarcube. Jus' make sure to say hello if you see me close by."
"Well duh. I'd totally drop by if I saw you."
"Not like you did t'day." she interjected, chuckling as she snuggled further into her sleeping bag.
"Very. Funny."
But she could not suppress a smile as she stared into the pit of coals, burning as warm as the hope in her heart.
Rainbow Dash drew away from the memory, tearing her gaze from the searing coals, and back into the cold, empty reality of the cave. Bitterness and nausea swept through her chest like a wave of acid.
Those flames had something to burn for.
The pegasus pony shivered as a sudden chill ran through her, from the loneliness the memory brought. She had something to burn for, once. A pony that held her in high regard for never giving up, and never giving in. After every weary day, and after every failed trick, that pony had never thought any less of her, even willing to go so far as to help her out with a few of them… regardless of her own health and physical wellbeing.
Rainbow Dash found the heart to turn the corner of her mouth upwards at a particular memory, only to feel her gut wrench with guilt soon after. She had not been at all grateful for the time Applejack had taken out of her busy schedule to help her out last harvest time, knowing full well that the apple-buck season was in bloom. Drifting back to Applejack's ceremony at the Town Square, she had also agreed to assist some of the others with many a time-consuming project during the demanding month.
She cringed further inwardly as she remembered the pitiable state the working-pony had shown up in, before submitting herself to repeatedly falling off of the wooden tower. She could not remember hearing a single word of complaint from Applejack about her condition.
And not a word of gratitude from herself, for Applejack helping her out at all.
Despite having been launched all the way to Twilight's residence in the end, she was grateful. Applejack always made good with a promise in the end, and Rainbow Dash was hard-pressed to remember a time when she hadn't been there for her.
She lowered her head, wishing that somehow, even after all that had been said and done between them, she could tell Applejack just how much that had meant to her throughout all their years of friendship.
Too late for that.
Rainbow Dash exhaled, blowing a stray leaf from out of her matted hair, watching it drift into the crackling flames. An emptiness seemed to fill the cavern as Rainbow Dash came to realize… that she had nowhere to go. She couldn't face any of her friends after what had transpired in the barn, especially Applejack. No doubt she would try and find her once the storm blew over, to make things right between them.
It wouldn't change the fact that she had been right about her.
The dull ache throughout her body interrupted her thoughts once more. Too tired to fight through it, she submitted to staring once more into the flickering light before her, reaching up and out into the dim cavern…
…and casting shadows around an orange mare with long sun-kissed hair, sitting in stock still silence across from the fire, staring at the Stetson she held in her hooves.
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Skeptical Poet
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905
| 5 |
Applejack,Fluttershy,Pinkie Pie,Rainbow Dash,Rarity,Comedy,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
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The Rainbow Effect
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Applejack and Rainbow Dash prepare for Twilight's birthday... but hidden feelings get in the way.
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complete
| 308 | 14 |
<p>Applejack and Rainbow Dash are preparing a party for Twilight Sparkle. But will Applejack be able to confront her feelings for her feathered filly-friend?</p><br/><p>**Featured in early 2012**</p>
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mature
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2011-11-11T18:25:50+00:00
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2011-11-11T18:25:50+00:00
| 8,333 |
Author's Note: All I can say is… finally. You've all been patient with me, so thank you all, and please enjoy the final chapter of "The Rainbow Effect!"
Disclaimer: I don't own Hasbro, or My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I don't own The Hub, or anything affiliated with any of the aforementioned above.
Hell, I don't even own a car.
"The Rainbow Effect"
By: Aquarian Poet
Chapter 5: Silver Linings
Rainbow Dash stared at the pony in disbelief. It couldn't be. There was no way she could have caught up with her so quickly.
Yet there she was.
Her cheeks held twin trails of dried tears, gleaming faintly in the firelight, while dark silhouettes tickled the freckles at the base of her eyes. Vacant, lifeless greens were glazed over in thought, thinly veiled by strands of long, golden hair. Her red hair band was nowhere to be seen, instead her mane was adorned with tiny twigs and small, muddy patches of discoloration, falling down her back in gorgeous, gilded tangles.
But the orange pony paid no heed to any of these things.
Rainbow Dash felt her throat run dry as she stared at the pony from across the fire. Applejack… had already found her. And now she did not know what to do next.
She wanted to call out to her, to let her know she was awake. She wanted to scream at her, furious that she had chased after her through the storm. She wanted… to cry out to her, to express the remorse and disgrace that shook her fragile core.
Whatever decision she made in the end, the blue pony could not find her voice.
Rainbow Dash attempted to sit up, and just as quickly experienced a sharp pain that drove daggers into her side, her broken wing no longer supported by the ground. She cried out softly, landing in the bed of leaves with a light *shuff*.
Applejack's head snapped up at the sound, dropping her Stetson as she leaped to her hooves in surprise.
"Rainbow!"
Eyes closed and body tense from the pain, Rainbow Dash heard the sound of swift hoofsteps echoing throughout the cave, coming to a rest by her side. The pony above her was breathing heavily, and her quiet voice bore signs of cracking as she addressed her.
"Are… you okay?" Applejack asked slowly, tenderly. Rainbow Dash attempted to respond, but she still could not. A moment later she felt a cooling hoof gently pressed against her forehead, and one between her shoulder blades. Her ears picked up Applejack's breathing becoming shallow and shaky as she pulled away.
"Oh Rainbow, this is all… all my…"
'Pit… pit…pit…'
The silent pony felt her heart curl painfully at the sound.
"I… *sob*… I could've prevented this. I should have been more understandin', and I could've t-taken the time to sort this out b'tween us." Applejack's voice grew hoarse, shuddering with sobs.
"You're my b-best friend, Rainbow Dash, an' I n-never should'a yelled at you like I did. I'm… I'm no better t-than the pony I made you out t'be."
Rainbow Dash felt her heart stop as she listened, the pony's voice laden with sobs and gasps.
"I'm so sorry."
Rainbow Dash felt herself grow cold, numb to the fire before her as Applejack's admission ripped through the fragile remnants of her shattered self-image. In place of pity, she felt sorrow. Where confidence once roamed, disgust.
It was too much to bear. A burning fury took hold of her, seeking a victim, scapegoat on which she could lay out all of her grief and self-inflicted suffering.
Her eyes fell to the ground, where her tears collected in a puddle in which she could see her own distorted reflection. A loathsome, disloyal and treacherous pony stared back from the floor from shared violet eyes, watching the watery anguish trickle down towards her.
She had found one, lying in pool of shame that mingled with the dirt.
"I hate you…" she whispered hoarsely to the reflection, barely audible over the crackling flames. Applejack stiffened next to her, and let out a shaky breath.
"I… understand, Rainbow. But I ain't gonna leave you all by your lonesome out here.." she spoke lowly, head bowed to the ground. "So say what you need to say t'me."
Applejack turned towards the fire pit, and fell onto her haunches next to her charge, silent and still as the firelight filled her vacant eyes.
No more tears to spill for either of them.
Rainbow Dash was brought back to reality as Applejack's words hit her in full. What? There was no way she… how could she possibly hate her? She owed Applejack… for so much. For coming after her through a blinding rainstorm in pitch black night, saving her from making what could have been the worst mistake, and possibly even her life.
She had to find her voice. She needed to tell her… that she didn't deserve this. That Applejack had run out into a thunderstorm at her own safety's expense, for a pony that had not deserved to be found.
But there she was, sitting only a few feet away and unwilling to leave her. So many questions, so much to say, and all she could manage to whisper was…
"Why?"
Applejack did not turn around to face her.
"Because… I still consider you t'be my best friend. You ain't never done me wrong before, an' you still haven't."
Rainbow Dash began to quiver in silence. Applejack slowly exhaled, closing her eyes in resignation.
"I treated you like a traitor today, Rainbow Dash. I-I took y'all fer granted, an' you have every right t'hate me for it. But I don' care if the pony I consider m'best friend has to be the one… who hates me the most. I deserve it, then."
"NO!"
Rainbow Dash leapt to her feet in a flurry of leaves, screaming the word as the pain returned in force, yet firmly holding her stance. Applejack jumped in shock, snapping her head towards the sudden howl that shook her, as well as the cavern around them.
"R-Rainbow! I... I'm sorry, but I can't change-"
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP APPLEJACK!" Rainbow Dash roared, "JUST… just stop… please..." she moaned.
Applejack recoiled as the blue pony stared her down, her visage growing soft with each word while not losing an ounce of intensity. She shrunk down inside of herself, ears low and wilted in despair, willing herself to stay strong, to not lie down and curl up around her broken heart in a weeping heap…
"I… I don't hate you, Applejack."
She caught Rainbow Dash's gaze just as soon as she said those words, looking into those two violet eyes, trails of tears falling down from them… same as back in the barn, when she had been the one yelling.
However, these were filled with a fire of their own.
"I could never hate you…" Rainbow Dash continued, her voice cracking from the outburst. "You're my best friend, and best friends… they can't hate each other. I don't hate you at all… and I can't stand the thought that you… that you think I could ever…"
Rainbow Dash fell in a crumpled heap, sobbing into the floor. Applejack galloped up to her in an instant, numbly looking down at the same time Rainbow Dash looked up.
And before either pony could blink, the two were in the other's arms, weeping and locked in a desperate vice.
"Oh Rainbow, I've… I've done some terrible things today …"
*Sniff* "Me too."
"An'… when I saw you wearin' my hat, havin' a laugh with Pinkie Pie…"
"I'm so sorry Applejack, I was so worried that you would be mad at me… if you lost your hat, that you would think I was-"
"I did, an' I was. But y'all wouldn't do that to me. You n' Pinkie are much better than that, an' I should'a known better."
"I don't care anymore, Applejack."
"Never gonna happen again, I promise."
"I know, I believe you. Oh AJ, I was gonna leave Cloudsdale, and Ponyville for good…" Rainbow shuddered, her grip tightening.
*Sniff* "Wouldn't make a difference t'me, I'da found you either way, sugarcube. Jus' wait till after the storm nex' time, y'had me so worried. You slept for hours, an' I wasn't sure if… if…"
"I'm fine now. Honest."
Applejack tensed up, and slowly pulled away from the embrace at those words.
"I'm sorry Rainbow… but I haven't been."
Rainbow Dash shot her a puzzled look, shuffling closer towards the pony who suddenly avoided her gaze.
"I… haven't been honest with you, not for a long time now." Applejack stated quietly. She took a deep breath and looked Rainbow Dash in the eye. "An' I'll be a fancy-actin' city pony once more before I let you go another minute… without lettin' you how much you really mean t'me." she finished, resolutely.
Rainbow Dash stared blankly into her eyes, a light blush dusting her cheeks. "What I… mean… to you?"
The emerald-eyed pony moved in closer, steadily closing the gap between them. Rainbow Dash felt her heart pulsing throughout her chest, spreading to the ends of her legs to the tips of her ears. She could feel Applejack's breath mingling with her own, feel the tingling heat that warped the infinitely small distance keeping their noses apart, becoming smaller and smaller…
…until she could feel the whispered words Applejack spoke next, on her own quivering lips. "Yeah, what you mean t'me."
Applejack tilted her head slightly up, and the world dropped out from underneath the two, sunlight bursting into the cavern.
At least, it was as far as Rainbow Dash was concerned. She could not remember a time when she had ever felt so… warm. All that she could feel, all that existed around her was an expanse of warmth, wrapping around her and another life next to hers, relishing in the vitality that flowed infinite and freely between them.
Applejack... was kissing her!
Through the encompassing heat, Rainbow Dash felt a foreleg wrap itself around the back of her neck, drawing her close. She responded by pressing up against the precious source of warmth and life, wrapping her arms around Applejack's neck, intensifying the interlacing of their essences.
An infinity later, and the two slowly drew away from each other. Applejack exhaled a breathy laugh, fresh tears springing from apple-green eyes filled with a new energy.
"I love you, Rainbow Dash."
The pegasus pony stared blankly into those eyes, unable to move or even breathe. She already knew, Applejack's unspoken words were buzzing through her psyche and left tingling on her lonely lips, before she had pulled away and reiterated herself through sound.
But to hear those words, springing forth from lips she had just embraced…
A pleasant, numbing feeling welled up inside of her, banishing away the rest of the world and filling her to the brim with am intangible joy... as well as a new feeling she couldn't place her hoof-tip on.
Light-headedness.
"Easy there… don' hurt yerself." her partner sighed, reaching out and steadying the swaying pegasus, who stared straight ahead. She then brought that hoof up to her cheek, sliding it down to her neck and resting it above her heart.
"I said I love you, Rainbow." she said, softly.
Those words again, wrapping themselves around her and binding her in place. Violets meeting greens, her voice broke free from the spell for a moment.
"Applejack?"
"Still here, sugarcube."
Rainbow Dash exhaled lightly through her nose, cracking a tiny grin… which then grew in size, until filling the entire cavern with the joy she could not contain. She jumped up to her, wrapping her hooves around her neck and burying her face in Applejack's shoulder, the two ponies spilling joyful tears for each other, and laughing away the remainder of the bitter-sweet melancholy.
"How long? Please, I gotta know." she asked, breathily.
Applejack wrapped her own arms around Rainbow Dash's torso, closing her eyes.
"That day at Sugarcube Corner, when you were tellin' the girls 'bout the day you got your cutie mark."
"Really… but why?"
"It was that day that I learned… that it was you." She chuckled, resting her forehead against Rainbow Dash's. "You probably don' know it, but you saved a little filly from makin' a terrible mistake that day. You led the way home fer me with that Sonic Rainboom, back to my family. My true family, Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, an the good folks 'o Ponyville."
The orange pony opened her eyes, apple-green orbs swimming with emotion.
"I learned that it was you all along, that you're the reason I became the pony I am t'day... an' I've loved you ever since."
Rainbow Dash hiccupped, her breath shaky with a joyful chuckle.
"I think… it started back when we first met, out in the apple orchard."
"Heh, so soon? 'Spose I was a looker back then, too."
"You kept me going, Applejack." Rainbow Dash continued, smiling. "You were the only pony who cared to see me reach my dream. Those bullies tried to keep me down, and the Wonderbolts never noticed me, but you were always there for me… and you wanted to see me make the team. You were the one who gave me a real reason to keep going, to be loyal to my cause."
Rainbow Dash sniffed, closing her eyes, and sinking into the embrace. "I think you're the reason I became the pony I am today."
Applejack chuckled, closing hers own, and smiling in-between the cascades of joy she felt spilling out from under them. "Well then, sounds like we're pretty good fer each other, don' it?"
"Yeah… I think so."
Love.
It never cared if you were stuck in a cave, miles away from home. No injury or wound could keep it away when it came, and no memory stood stronger than the feelings it brought. It created color from darkness, and music from silence, traveling through distance and time, through matter and thought, unbound by the laws of nature.
It created them.
Rainbow Dash looked to the fire, flicking with delight and vigor in a place so dark and seemingly-lifeless, and then down to the orange-coated pony who lay beside her, basking in the warm, intangible glow…
And finding herself unnaturally bound to the very same pony by that ubiquitous adhesive.
Warm and content, she glanced back to the far entrance, where the raindrops had begun to fall straight down rather than in torrential sheets of velocity, nearly soundless from where the two lay. She suddenly started.
"Wait, you said hours, right? Then…" Rainbow Dash's eyes shot open, bursting with hope. "Then that means we still have time!" She looked back to Applejack sitting up, before turning to the mouth of the cave. "We can get back and help with the par-ah!"
Rainbow Dash's breath hitched as she twisted back in place, her misaligned wing scuffing across the floor. Applejack blinked, quickly noticing the appendage.
"Rainbow, lay down."
"What? Ow!" Rainbow cried, recoiling as she tried to turn to face her. "Why?"
"Ya can't keep movin' around with yer wing like that. We need t'reset it, right now."
Rainbow Dash stiffened, and then looked ahead as she sat up straight, puffing her chest out and smirking, trying to distract from the beads of sweat forming on her forehead as she fought to maintain her pose. "H-hey… don't worry about… about…"
…
"Oh, who am I kidding." she surrendered, slouching in place. "Let's just get it over with."
Applejack smiled sadly. "I don't wanna do it either, but it'll only hurt worse later if ya leave it like that any longer. We… we best get it done now." she finished, wearily.
Rainbow Dash nodded, and slowly stretched out across the cavern floor. The hatless pony walked up to her and straddled her haunches, gingerly setting her hooves in place under the limp wing, and behind the bent joint.
"A-alrighty then. You ready?"
Rainbow Dash sucked in a breath. "Do it."
"Okay… h-here goes. One, two…"
A muffled *crack* echoed against the cavern walls, followed by a voice-cracking shout of pain. Rainbow Dash tensed up, the wave of agony tearing through the pegasus' spine, and leaving just as quickly to be soothed by a sudden trickle of teardrops.
"T-Thanks…*hah* A-Apple… Jack."
The orange pony hiccupped, steadily moving off of her and sitting down, breathing steadily. "I know that wasn't easy fer ya."
"*hah* You d-did what you h-had to do… *hah* Besides, t-the pain is almost gone. It just tingles a little."
Applejack creased the corners of her mouth up, turning and wiping her tears away to better view the entrance of the cave. Rainbow Dash caught the slight movement out of the corner of her eye, staring at her quiet friend who was gazing out into the storm with a contemplative look on her face, seemingly lost in thought.
Minutes passed, the two listening in pleasant silence to the crackling of the fire, and the faint sounds of the storm outside the , Rainbow Dash spoke.
"Alright, I… think I can sit up."
The pensive pony turned to face her friend, watching as she brought her forelegs in, and pushing off of the ground with little effort. Sitting upright, she looked towards Applejack, who spoke next.
"Feel anythin'? Any pain at all?"
Rainbow Dash did a few twists from the hip, and even flapped both wings at length for good measure, looking behind her.
"Nope, nothing!"
"Good."
And with that, Applejack tackled Rainbow Dash back onto the bed of leaves, landing on top of the helplessly-surprised filly, and enveloping her in a kiss that rekindled Rainbow Dash's heart beat.
"Wha… what are you doing?" whispered Rainbow Dash, slowly pulling back. Applejack moved in with misty eyes, nuzzling the side of her neck and effectively stopping Rainbow Dash's retreat.
"I reckon I still got a lot to make up fer, Rainbow Dash." she whispered, lovingly. "And I'll be darned if I don't show you how I truly feel 'bout you any longer."
"But, I-I thought… you said… the k-kiss…" she stammered, the heat rising up inside of her.
"Rainbow, love…" Applejack began, bringing a hoof up to her burning face, her voice taking on a low, husky undertone.
"…I haven't even begun to show you how much you mean t'me."
(The lemon scene… has officially begun! For those of you who do not wish to read it, hit Crtl+F on your keyboard, and type "Skip Lemon")
Rainbow Dash could feel the contours of her partner's face, how her nose pressed against her every time the apple-flanked pony dived down for another slow, taunting kiss on the neck, gradually making her way up and around her chin, once more on the cheek, and then full on the mouth, sending a wave of sparks jumping through her spine.
Applejack braved the tenderness of the moment, opening her mouth and signaling to Rainbow Dash her hot-blooded intentions. The disoriented pegasus returned the gesture on instinct, softly opening her own, too immersed in the heat of the moment to notice Applejack slowly slipping her tongue into her mouth.
She froze up when she did, no longer returning Applejack's affections, who then slowed down her own and pulled away to look at the hesitant pony.
"What's the matter, Rainbow?" Applejack asked in a velvety voice. Rainbow Dash turned her head away in embarrassment.
"I don't know what to… how to…"
Applejack reached her hoof up to Rainbow Dash's face, gently turning it to her own again.
"Jus' follow my lead, Dash."
She moved forward, capturing her mouth and sending her back into that insensible, musical bliss. Through the haze in her mind, she dimly became aware of Applejack attempting to repeat the passionate gesture. She reached out to gather what remained of her consciousness, and slowly opened her mouth. The golden-haired pony took no time in sliding her tongue into her quivering mouth, lightly feeling around until finding hers.
Rainbow Dash gasped as Applejack guided her tongue underneath her own, brought it up, and slowly began a lover's dance inside of her mouth. Breathless, she found the rhythm, and moved along with the silent beat, letting her partner take the lead and take her away to a painless, euphoric existence. Timeless, the two danced and loved in the world away from home. A slow, heated waltz of desire and necessity, a need to be closer in body and essence. Inhibitions and hesitance were thrown to the wind, left to drift away and vanish as passion filled their places…
…and erased their identities.
Applejack finally pulled away as Rainbow Dash felt herself drawn back to the world around them.
"Apple... Apple... *hah*..." She could not finish her sentence, particularly after Applejack captured her mouth with sweet enrapture once more. Pulling away once again, she rested her forehead atop of Rainbow Dash's, giving the bewildered pony time to catch her breath.
"That… was… amazing." Rainbow Dash breathed in-between gasps for air. "You're amazing." She finished, closing her eyes.
When she suddenly felt a pair of lips briefly flit across hers, teasingly.
"Mmm, y'all are makin' it sound like I'm finished with you…"
What?
Rainbow Dash felt her pulse quicken as she suddenly felt a hoof press against her beating heart, lightly beginning a slow trail down her chest, across her stomach and past, coming to rest torturously close to a spot that tingled with a steadily-growing desire. She closed her eyes in panic and desperation. The hoof did not move from there.
But she could feel its follower…
A kiss on the neck.
A kiss to the chest.
A kiss above her stomach.
A kiss below her stomach.
A kiss right above the hoof, which moved to make way for the powerful force that sent waves of heat soaring throughout her whole body.
And a kiss… that sent her pulse skyrocketing, eliciting a gasp that caught half-way through her throat, her body afraid of giving attention to anythingbut the overwhelming pleasure that wracked through her shaking body.
Just how much did she mean to Applejack?
She felt her legs closing in on impulse, only to be stopped by a pair of hooves.
"Applejack… w-wha…" Words gave way to harsh panting.
"Y'all are gonna give yerself a heart attack. Jus' breathe fer a moment."
Rainbow Dash closed her eyes, willing her heart beat to steady itself to no avail. Even with her eyes closed, she could perfectly see Applejack sitting there between her legs and staring up to her, striking greens burning through her heavy-lidded eyes. She felt a pleasing movement below, and creased her eyes open, watching Applejack idly trail a hoof down Rainbow Dash's leg, slow and sensual.
"You ain't never… 'fooled around' with yourself b'fore, I take it?"
"I-I… w-wha… you m-mean… w-well…"
"Y'all don't have to tell me if ya don't want to." Applejack cooed, trailing the hoof back upwards, almost distracting her from the orange pony's next words. "But I'll tell you what, when a pony gets in the right mood… y'all make fer some 'colorful' eye-candy."
Between Applejack's idle stroking and her fiery admissions, Rainbow Dash felt herself hopelessly tongue-tied. "A-Applejack!"
Applejack laughed quietly. "Honesty, Rainbow. I promised you nothin' but, an' I figured you deserved t'know." She glided her hoof up the back of her leg, and around her thigh, where she began tracing slow circles around her cutie mark, the full of the action causing Rainbow Dash's eyes to roll upwards in hazy elation.
"Now, be honest with me. Are you ready fer this yet?"
The feathered filly looked down at her with wide, glazed eyes, panting heavily. After a moment, she clumsily nodded her head. Finding the remaining shards of self-control left behind from Applejack's last mind-shattering kiss, Rainbow Dash slowly, but gradually spread her legs apart, giving Applejack all the consent she needed to plunge forward with a passionate tongue.
Rainbow Dash shuddered at the contact, eyes widened and sitting up slightly with a gaping mouth. Electricity flowed freely through her entire being, dancing through her nerves and stealing away any sense of self that remained. All words, thought and memory in her mind had long since vanished, replaced with the numbing ecstasy brought by Applejack's warm, wet administrations.
Adrenaline surged through her body with each tender lick, warping her world with every nuzzle and kiss. Rainbow Dash dug her hooves into the ground, barely able to breathe. Her ears filled themselves with the soft moans and 'mmm's from below, as well her own whimpers and whines of pleasure.
She gasped softly as she felt Applejack continue further… inside of her. The pegasus' legs jerked in small spasms, her back arching upwards as her lover licked along her length. The world around her was becoming smaller, and the vivacious song her madrigalist mare's poetic tongue was composing inside of her grew larger, swelling to fill her shrinking existence.
It was just her and Applejack, here… wherever here was… with literally nothing between them. The rush of love and warmth from that thought intermingled with the waves of blissful ecstasy from down below, the vibrancy inside of her growing tenfold.
It was too much! Her eyes darted around the colored haze, her mind swimming with an empty pleasure that filled every fibre of her being! She could not remember where they were, she could not remember why they were here…
She could not even remember her own name. Only the name of another pony, the only pony who mattered right now, and the only pony who could save her from this blissful suffering.
So she screamed it.
"APPLEJACK!" the pegasus cried out in a cracking voice as she lost herself completely to the chaos of ecstasy, arched and trembling as the orgasm ripped through body. Another loving lick later and she felt herself convulsing, lightly spritzing Applejack with her warm approval, who met her rapturous release with tender ardorations of her own.
She finally collapsed onto her back, the leaves beneath her making no sound as she released control of her body entirely. Her heavy panting, her erratic heart beat, all were lost to her ears as she stared to the ceiling with wide, violet eyes. With perfect clarity, she listened to the sound of her fantasy's final kiss, the sweet song of her lover smiling from below her, and the melody played upon her torso as Applejack lay herself along and on top of her, moving her forelegs around her body in harmonious embrace. The orange pony brought herself up to her face, and graced her lips to her own.
"Skip Lemon"
Slowly, the world caught up to her.
The rest of her senses began to work once more. She became aware of everything at once; the smell of their arousal, the invigorating taste of her kiss, the feeling of her and Applejack pressing against each other in desperate desire…
...and the magic she saw dancing through Applejack's green eyes, bursting with love and devotion.
"What's the matter, Rainbow?" asked Applejack in a soft voice.
Rainbow Dash struggled to respond between pants, in a raspy voice of her own. "I've never… n-never felt… where did you learn all that?"
"Learn what?"
"Everything. The kissing, you… with your hooves, a-and the… you know…"
Applejack chuckled, lowering herself and snuggling up close to the rainbow pegasus. "Twilight." she sighed.
Rainbow Dash blinked. "…What?"
Applejack kissed the dumbfounded pony's cheek. "Heh, I'm just messin' with ya. Well, sort of... Remember that day you came crashin' into Twilight's library, the day you won that Young Flyer's Competetion?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, y'all left a nice little mess fer us to clean up when you left. Can't say I blame you though, you were under a lotta pressure."
She traced a hoof along Rainbow Dash's chest. "But when we got back, I went with Rarity t'help clean up again. Found a fun little book lyin' on the floor called, "Slumber 101: All You've Ever Wanted To Know About Slumber Parties, But Were Afraid To Ask."
"But… isn't that the book she showed us when all of us slept over at Rarity's last mo-"
"The Manehattan Mare's Edition."
"…oh."
An awkward silence pervaded the moment, until Applejack began chuckling.
"I'm not so sure she even knew she had it there. Can't imagine innocent little Twi' gettin' into that sorta thing, much less tryin' anythin' from it at a slumber party." She frowned. "D'you remember who ran the library before she moved t'Ponyville?"
Rainbow Dash shook her head.
"Me neither."
Another moment of silence.
"So Applejack, a-about all that. How are we going to let the others know? You know, about us?"
Her partner clucked her tongue from within her mane. "Well, I don't imagine it'd be somethin' we'd just blurt out on the spot. An' tellin' em' one by one would make a mess o' things. Maybe we should wait fer a while, until all of this has blown over and Twilight has her party. Then I say we tell 'em all and be done with it."
"That's a pretty good idea." Rainbow Dash said, snuggling further into the embrace. "So, what about you?"
"What about me?"
"We didn't… I didn't get to… aren't you feeling-"
"Hey." she interrupted, kissing Rainbow Dash on the nose, causing her to blush. "Don' worry about it too much, this was your night."
"But-"
"Nope, you just relax. I'm fine." she assured her, nuzzling the side of her face. "Besides, between the nasty fall you took, resettin' your wing an' all the trouble we caused each other today, y'all needed the… ah, stress relief, from what I gandered." she teased, causing her friend's blush to intensify.
"But if ya really want, y'all can make it up t'me later." She said, nipping her shoulder. Rainbow Dash felt her face further heat up in surprise.
"You really don't have a problem telling me these things, do you?"
"Only with you, Rainbow. Honesty, an' nothin' but."
Rainbow Dash smiled, the last of the night's tears falling freely into her best friend's mane.
"Thank you, Applejack." she whispered.
"Anythin' fer you, love. Anythin' at all…"
Rainbow Dash awoke to the sounds of birds chirping, and a light breeze that smelled of rain, chilling the parts of her back not covered by her feathered wings. She yawned, shivering and creaking an eye open to gaze at the source that was keeping her front warm, finding herself wrapped around an orange pony.
A gorgeous, hatless orange pony.
She snuggled closer to the sleeping mare in an attempt to ward off the morning cold. Opening an eye once more, she looked around. The cavern was colored in a dim, deep blue from the dawning light outside. The fire pit had gone out, and the embers beneath all but vanished with the night
She tried to sit up, but quickly found herself bound to the pony before her, her limbs unwilling to let go of the pleasant warmth.
"Hey Applejack… you awake? Applejack?"
"C-Caramel…? Thassa red gala, you…*yawn*… silly pony."
Rainbow Dash uncharastically giggled into her partner's mane, heaving a hearty sigh. Burying her face into the sleeping pony's hair, she could not help but imagine herself lying atop a cloud, weightless and free. And so she felt, after all that had been said and done the previous night, the weight in her heart and the ache in her wings fading into a new tomorrow.
She felt like a true pegasus again.
A new tomorrow…
Rainbow Dash sat up in an instant, wide-eyed and bushy-tailed.
"Oh my gosh, Twilight's birthday is today! Applejack! Applejack, wake up!"
Applejack stirred from underneath her arm, and sat up with a yawn, looking around the dim cavern.
*Yawn* Whassa matter, Rainbow?"
"It's Twilight's birthday today! We gotta get back to Ponyville and finish the barn for the party!"
Applejack blinked. "…oh, is that all?" she mumbled, nestling back against her warm spot on the ground. Rainbow Dash jumped up.
"What?! Applejack, we don't have time to sleep! It's already morning, look! There's so much work to be done, and the others won't be able to handle it all on their own! Twilight's going to be so di-"
Her rant caught in her throat as Applejack leaned up, and tenderly kissed the panic-stricken pony on the neck.
"Rainbow… party's not 'till tonight."
She froze, slouching in place. "I-It's not?"
" Nope. Rarity's givin' her presentation t'Hoity-Toity today, so we were plannin' on holdin' it after sundown. We jus' wanted to have it all finished a day early, so we wouldn't have s'much to be worried 'bout."
Rainbow Dash looked down at the lethargic mare, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head.
"I… guess I missed that part."
Applejack nudged her friend in the ribs, smiling. "I figured you might've." she chuckled, stretching out and standing up on all fours, shaking her unbound mane in fatigue. "Well, might as well get up now, seein' as I'm awake. What say we head on back t'Ponyville, partner?"
Rainbow Dash yawned, and stretched out her wings, itching to feel the breeze between them once more. "I say that sounds like a great idea!"
"Well good. Up an' at em'."
Rainbow Dash smiled back at the mare, who returned it in silence. Her cheeks tingling, the pegasus began a slow walk in the other direction, listening to the mirroring sounds of hoofsteps behind hers.
The two trotted to the entrance of the cave, and looked out at the world. The smell of meadow rain filled their senses as the morning sunrise dawned across the sky from behind a distant mountain.
Rainbow Dash walked out into the open, when she heard Applejack call out to her.
"Hold on, I almost forgot somethin'."
Rainbow Dash turned back to the cave as Applejack's tail quickly disappeared from view. Facing forward, she stretched out her wings, and flapped them a few times, hovering just above the dewy grass. The sounds of her wings beating filled her ears, as the morning light dancing across the tiny dot of Cloudsdale in the distance filled her eyes.
And close below, Ponyville was waiting for them. She had a destination again, and a pony who would travel there with her.
*Whoosh!*
*Fft!*
"Yee-haw, I'll beat Big Macintosh at horseshoes jus' yet!"
Rainbow Dash took the Stetson from off of her head, blowing her colored bangs from off of her face, and holding it back toward the owner with a smile, who shook her head.
"Nope, y'all get to wear it on the way back."
"What? Why?"
The apple-flanked pony sported a grin. "I'll tell you a little story 'bout my youth on the way back. You'll understand then, Rainbow love."
Rainbow Dash felt her heart swell as she grinned, "Deal." she exclaimed, putting the hat back on, nestling itself perfectly between her ears.
"Well I'll be, it looks like it fits good."
"Yeah, I dunno… it's not really my color."
Applejack snorted. "Like that's hardly an issue. I think y'all look jus' dandy with it on." she stated, winking. "Besides, I don' look so good in it without a ponytail, anyway."
The hat-clad pegasus smirked, "You don't look so bad with your hair down."
Applejack looked away with a blush, "Yeah, well don' get too used to it, it ain't practical in my line o' work. An' speakin' o' colors." She walked up to the pegasus, throwing an arm around her shoulder. "I say we make blue n' orange look pretty good."
"I thought I made any color look good." her partner pointed out.
"Well then," she kissed the pegasus on the cheek. "I s'pose I'll have to hang around you often as I can."
The blue pony thew a wide grin in her direction, pulling away and starting towards the horizon, her hatless lover close behind.
"Rarity'd be green with envy."
The pegasus groaned, not looking back. "That was a terrible pun, Applejack."
"Oh hush up an' get goin'."
*Shff shff, shff shff, shff shff…*
*Fwf, fwf, fwf, fwf…*
…
"So you dream about guy ponies in your sleep, huh?"
Applejack tripped over her hooves, and whipped around to face Rainbow Dash. "Say what now?"
The hovering pegasus burst into a fit of laughter. "I'm just teasing. I heard you mumbling something about Caramel in your sleep."
"Oh yeah, I remember now." Applejack mumbled under her breath. "That pony, I swear…"
She looked up. "Well, it might be a few hours' walk, but we should make it in plenty of time to help out. I wager we'll be back in Ponyville by high-noon."
"Hey, doesn't matter to me how long it takes." Rainbow Dash said, hovering close. "As long as you're here with me."
Applejack giggled, elbowing the pegasus pony. "That was real sappy, Rainbow. But thanks."
"Don't mention it." Rainbow Dash turned to her friend. "Seriously, don't."
Rainbow Dash looked away with a frown as she heard her friend chuckling, in a tone lower that she would have liked.
"Oh don' spit yer bit, I'm only messin' with ya."
…
"By the way, I'm startin' t'notice a pattern in our relationship. Must you always twist or break somethin' fer us t'have a tender moment?"
"Oh shut up, Applejack."
She heard more chuckling. "Well come an' make me, sugarcube." Rainbow Dash felt a hoof tip the hat over her face, obscuring her vision as she dazedly hovered forward.
Right into a tree.
*Thud!*
"Ow!"
Applejack burst out laughing. "Well I guess breakin' yer nose counts too! So ya wanna cuddle in the grass, or would you prefer a piggy-back ride?"
"Alright Applejack, it's on!"
Applejack closed her eyes mid-laugh, pointing at the unfortunate pony when a big clump of mud smacked into her face, filling her nose and open mouth with slimy, gritty muck.
"Eeugh! Bleck! Rainbow!"
"Haha, I'll take the piggy-back ride! You're muddy enough to be one!"
The pegasus pony went into a cackling fit at the sight of the gagging pony, laughing even harder when she found herself dodging similar clumps of dirt and mud.
"Y'all *cough!* like me bein' honest so much? Well I'm gonna kick yer hind *bleck!* up n' over your wings! You'll be wearin' yer rear as a party hat to *cough!* to Twilight's party, *bleck!* an' that's the honest truth! Now get back here!"
Rainbow Dash flew up and across the hill with her apple-flanked pursuer close behind, joyful laughter and throaty curses echoing in harmony across the meadow as they chased one another under the blazing morning sun, peaking over the horizon and heralding the dawn of a brand new day…
The End
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Kegisak
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906
| 1 |
Other,Romance,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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My Time Among Clothes Hangers
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Sometimes, the hardest person to come out of the closet to is yourself.
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complete
| 218 | 12 |
<p>After being dumped by the latest in a long line of marefriends, Pokey Pierce is starting to wonder if he'll ever find the right mare for him. He never even considered that he shouldn't have been looking for a mare at all...</p>
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everyone
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2011-09-19T02:32:17+00:00
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2011-09-19T02:32:17+00:00
| 8,917 |
My Time Among Clothes Hangers
“Hey, Rose!”
The mare in question looked up from a bundle of flowers, and saw a familiar blue unicorn approach her. She set her flowers down, and smiled happily at him.
“Hiya, Pokey,” she greeted, “You look like you’re in a good mood today.”
“Yeah, well,” the unicorn laughed, “It’s a pretty good day, I guess. Have you got any roses?”
“Have I got any roses?” she repeated, smirking at him, “Have I, Roseluck, the pony with a rose stuck on her flank forever and after, got any roses?” she tapped her chin thoughtfully, finally saying, “No.” Pokey’s brow furrowed, and he cocked an eyebrow at her. She sighed, and laughed.
“Of course I’ve got roses, Pokey. How many do you want?”
“How’s a half dozen sound?” Pokey grinned. Rose nodded and popped back into her shop, making small talk with the unicorn as he followed her in.
“Half dozen, huh? Not a half bad number - sounds like things are going pretty good with the new marefriend, eh?”
“You bet,” Pokey answered gleefully, “She’s great! We’ve got a lot in common, lots of the same hobbies and stuff.” Rose’s head peeked up over the counter, giving Pokey a quizzical glance.
“You’re with... Medley now, right?”
“Uh-huh. Why?”
“Oh, well... I always kinda thought she went for... well, never mind.” She placed a bundle of roses on the counter, which Pokey levitated, dropping a few bits in their place.
“Thanks, Rose!” he said, heading for the door, “Have a great evening.”
“Yeah,” she replied, “you too.”
Pokey trotted happily through the streets of Ponyville, heading for his marefriend’s small apartment. She had invited him over that evening, and Pokey figured it could only be a good sign. He’d had marefriends before - plenty, really - but none of them had ever gone very far. But Medley was different, Pokey could tell. She would last. A grin was plastered across his face as he approached her door, knocking and hiding the bundle of roses behind him.
An aqua pegasus opened the door, looking a bit worried - though if Pokey noticed, he didn’t show it in the slightest. He grinned even wider, and presented the pegasus pony with the roses he had bought her.
“Hey, sweetie!” he said, “I got you a present!”
“Oh,” Medley said, putting a hoof to her mouth, “Oh, thank you, Pokey... you shouldn’t have...”
“Aw, don’t mention it,” Pokey said bashfully, “How are you?”
“I’m, um, alright,” she answered, taking the roses, “Why don’t you come in, and sit down?” Pokey did as he was beckoned, taking a seat on the loveseat in Medley’s small living room. She placed the roses in a small vase, and sat in a chair near Pokey.
“Pokey,” she said to the unicorn, “I’m not sure you understand why I invited you over here. We... Pokey, I don’t think this is working.”
“I... what?” the blue pony asked, “What... do you mean? What’s not working?”
“This,” Medley said, waving her hooves vaguely, “Us! I just... I don’t think we’re working out, Pokey. As a couple.” The colt lowered his head, his smile disappearing.
“But... why? Was it something I did? I mean - “
“Oh, Pokey, please don’t make this harder than it is,” Medley pleaded, “It isn’t anything you did. I like you, I really do, but there just isn’t a spark between us! You feel it too, don’t you?”
“But, but,” Pokey objected, “I mean, we’ve got so much in common! How can there not be a spark?”
“Having things in common isn’t what romance is about, Pokey. It’s good for friends - and I do want to be your friend. I know that’s cliche, but I really do! You’re a great colt, Pokey, and I’d love to be friends with you. But you’re just not... coltfriend material.”
“Wow,” Pokey said, his neck drooping low. “Thanks.” Medley sighed sadly.
“I’m sorry Pokey,” she said, “but I was never a good marefriend for you either. You tried really hard, but you never felt the spark either, did you?”
“I... I dunno,” Pokey shrugged. “Maybe. I guess.” Medley smiled at him, and opened her arms.
“See?” she said, “It’s probably better this way. Okay?”
“Yeah,” Pokey sighed, taking her offered hug. “Yeah, I guess.”
Pokey left Medley’s apartment not long after. She had offered to let him stay for dinner, to celebrate their new-found “friendship”, but Pokey wasn’t feeling up to it. He’d probably feel alright about spending time with her in a few weeks, just like all his other ex-marefriends, but right now... he’d really, really wanted it to work out. He really felt like there could have been something between him and Medley, but it didn’t seem to be in the cards. Pokey was beginning to wonder if there was a mare in his cards at all. He sighed dejectedly as he made his way back to his apartment.
He found his roommate waiting for him when he arrived - though, waiting for him was not entirely accurate. In fact, when Pokey opened the door to find a white pegasus with a blue mane and a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth, the pegasus looked quite surprised indeed.
“Pokey?” he asked around the spoon, “I thought you were having dinner with Medley?”
“Yeah,” Pokey sighed, sitting at the table and resting his head in his hooves, “So did I. She dumped me.” Pokey’s roommate winced, and flew over to the table, placing the tub of ice cream in front of the depressed unicorn.
“Here,” he said, “You’re gonna need this waaaay more than me.”
Pokey stared sidelong at his roommate. “What am I,” he asked, “a mare? Down a tub of ice cream through my tears because that cute colt in math class likes somepony else?”
“Well, I dunno,” the pegasus shrugged, “You’re stupid-romantic, and I’ve never seen you hold down a mare, so...” Pokey glowered at him.
“Brolly,” he said. The pegasus held up his hooves defensively.
“Hey, I’m just saying...”
“Well, stop saying,” Pokey muttered. Despite his snide comment, Pokey dug a spoon into the ice cream, and stuck the spoon in his mouth sullenly. Brolly sat beside him, taking a spoonful of the ice cream for himself and humming thoughtfully.
Pokey had known Brolly since the pair went to school together. They may as well have been siblings, for all the time they spent together growing up, and so for all the two sniped back and forth at each other, Pokey knew that Brolly really did mean well. In fact, Pokey imagined, the concentrated expression on Brolly’s face was probably another scheme to pull the unicorn out of his funk.
“I have a plan!” Brolly declared suddenly. Pokey rolled his eyes, and the pegasus continued. “Clearly, Medley was not the mare for you. All that means is that the mare for you is still out there! And the only way to find her is to make your way through as many mares as you can!”
“You’re not taking me speed-dating again,” Pokey said shortly.
“You’re darn right I’m not,” Brolly said, “You’re going to a bar!”
“A bar.”
“A bar! A new one just opened up in town, so there’ll be plenty of new faces, and you can talk to as many mares as you want - the best part is, you’ll be getting drunk! So you’ll actually be able to talk to them!” Pokey sighed, and took another spoonful of ice cream.
“Look,” Brolly told him, “I’m serious! Even if you don’t want another marefriend right after Medley, it still can’t hurt to meet some new fillies, right? Get a head start? And I mean, even if you don’t talk to anypony, you really look like you could use a drink, buddy.”
“You think so?” Pokey asked slowly. Brolly nodded.
“Definitely. Go out man, have a good time. You deserve it right now.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right,” Pokey said, perking up a bit, “I think I will - wait... you aren’t coming?”
“Nope,” Brolly said, patting his shoulder, “I gotta go pass out soon, man. Weather team has me on morning duty.”
“That bites,” Pokey sympathized. Brolly shrugged.
“Hey, at least it means I’ll be up again by the time your drunk flank finally rolls in, huh? I’ll be able to help you find your bed. Now go on, get out there and find yourself a nice colt.”
“Brolly.”
“Alright, alright,” Brolly laughed, “I don’t know why you’re so sensitive, man, you’ve probably had more marefriends than any colt I’ve ever met!” the two colts said their good-nights, and Brolly disappeared into his bedroom. Pokey put the ice cream away, and left the apartment.
In a small town like Ponyville, it wasn’t difficult to find a new place - particularly a new bar. All he had to do was follow a pair of colts who were trying to look as mature and inconspicuous as possible, and they led him straight to it. The pair were immediately turned away, to much grumbling and moaning, but Pokey flashed his ID to the bouncer and was let in without fanfare.
Ponyville’s only other ‘bar’ was in fact a club, filled more than anything with ponies writhing on the large dance floor. This place, however, was a true bar. There was music, certainly, but it was much quieter, allowing for the murmur of conversation to permeate the atmosphere. Pokey took a seat at a small table in a corner, and a mare approached him within a moment. Pokey’s heart leaped, thinking that maybe this mare thought he was cute, and wanted to talk to him - hopes dashed the moment she spoke.
“Hey there, can I get you anything to drink?”
“Huh?” Pokey asked, “Um, a hoofweizen, I guess?”
“Sure thing,” the mare said. She fetched him his drink and took his bits, leaving him alone at the table sipping his beer. He scanned the bar idly for mares, but his heart wasn’t really in it at all. Even at the best of times he couldn’t really go looking for a mare - he just met fillies he liked, and asked them out. He’d never actually done... whatever this was, before. He sighed into his drink, only to find the bottle empty. He waved to the waitress who had served him, calling, “Hey - could I get another?”
Two beers later, Pokey once again sighed heavily. This time, however, somepony responded.
“I know that feeling,” somepony behind Pokey said. He turned around the see a beige stallion with a thick, brown mane and mustache smiling at him, holding a drink. “Need a drinking buddy?” he asked.
“Sure,” Pokey said, “Go right ahead. Er - come right ahead? I dunno.” The beige pony laughed.
“Maybe you don’t need a drinking buddy,” he joked, “You seem to be doing just fine on your own!”
“No, no.” Pokey shook his head, “It might be nice to have somepony to talk to, actually.” The beige pony smiled, and carried his drink around to Pokey’s table.
“So,” he said, “what’s got you drinking alone, anyways?” Pokey shrugged half-heatedly, and sighed.
“Eh...” he said, “My marefriend dumped me today. My friend thought I should come here to try and get over it...” The colt raised his eyebrows in surprise, and scratched his neck awkwardly.
“Oops,” he grimaced, “sorry for reminding you.”
“Eh, don’t worry about it,” Pokey waved his hoof, “I haven’t had enough to drink to forget it yet, anyways.”
“Well,” the stallion laughed, “We’ll have to fix that, won’t we? Let me get the next one for you.”
“What, really?” Pokey asked, raising an eyebrow at the stallion. His offer caught Pokey off-guard, and maybe even made him a little nervous. It was odd enough to have a strange colt start chatting with him in a bar, but to offer to buy him a drink? Still, Pokey could hear a very slight accent when the beige pony spoke... maybe, wherever he came from, everypony was this friendly. Whatever it was, Pokey really couldn’t help but get caught up in the stallions cheery demeanor. He smiled, in spite of himself.
“Really! It’s no fun getting dumped, anypony could use a friend after that. Speaking of, if your friend told you to come here, where’s he?”
“Eh, he had work in the morning...” Pokey said. He paused for a moment, then asked, “You know, I never asked your name, did I?”
“It’s Ace,” the beige pony introduced himself, holding out his hoof. Pokey shook it, giving his name as well.
“Pokey,” he said, “nice to meet you.”
“Same here,” Ace smiled, “Now! How about that drink, huh?”
***
When Pokey awoke the next morning, his head pounded as if somepony had punched it while he was asleep. It hurt so much, in fact, that it took him a few minutes to realize he wasn’t in his own bed. He couldn’t make out exactly where he was - the light streaming through the window hurt too much to look at, and aside from the soft double bed he lay in the room was extremely spartan. It gave the impression that whoever lived there hadn’t done so for very long. The unicorn sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes, and the smell of eggs reached his nose - followed shortly after by a wave of nausea.
Pokey leapt from the bed, running to a nearby wastebasket and emptying his stomach into it. He hung his head over the basket, groaning to himself as the sound of hoofsteps came towards the door. It opened slowly, and a head poked through the crack. Pokey’s heart froze in his chest.
“So,” Ace said, “I guess that’s a no on the eggs then, huh?” Pokey just stared at him open-mouthed, an expression of horror on his face. Ace scratched his chin awkwardly, asking, “Are you, uh... can I get you a glass of water, or something?”
“What?” Pokey asked, “I mean... where am I? Who are you?”
“You’re at my apartment, Ace explained to him, “I’m Ace, remember? We met last night?” he grinned apologetically, and shook his head. “I guess you don’t... I guess those beers caught up with you fast... I only had to put a few more in you before I brought you here...”
“Oh, Celestia,” Pokey cried, “What did I do!? What did we do?”
“What?” Ace asked, giving him a puzzled expression. The two stared at each other for a moment, before a look of realization dawned on Ace’s face, and he burst out laughing. Pokey’s expression fell even more, if that were possible. Ace managed to stifle his laughter, and explained.
“We didn’t do anything,” he told the unicorn, “You were too drunk to stand by the end of the night. I live close to the bar, so I brought you back here so you wouldn’t hurt yourself trying to get home.”
“Oh,” Pokey sighed a sigh of relief, “Thank Celestia...”
“How about that glass of water now?” Ace asked, “It might help a bit.” Pokey nodded.
“Yes please,” he said, “Thank you.” He followed Ace out of the bedroom, moving slowly so he didn’t upset his stomach again, and into the kitchen. Ace poured him a glass of water, and the two sat down at the table together.
“So,” Pokey asked, looking around at the stacks of boxes around the apartment, “Did you just move to town, or something?”
“Sort of,” Ace told him, taking a bite out of the eggs he had been cooking when Pokey awoke, “I used to live with... somepony else, until just a little while ago. But it didn’t work out, so I moved in here on my own. I used to live just a little ways outside town.”
“So I guess you just moved in recently, huh?” Pokey commented. Ace laughed, and scratched his neck.
“Weeeell,” he admitted, “A couple of months ago. I’m kinda bad about unpacking stuff. I only really take anything out when I need it, and, well...”
“Yeah, I know how it is,” Pokey chuckled, “I think it took a year for my roommate and I to finally finish unpacking all our junk.”
“Your roommate, huh?” Ace commented, lifting an eyebrow. Pokey lifted one back at him.
“Yeah,” the unicorn said, a touch defensively, “Brolly. We’ve been best friends since we were little... We both needed a place, so I guess it just seemed like a good fit. Why?”
“Oh, nothing,” Ace said, “Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just curious, was all.”
“Eh, don’t be,” Pokey shook his head, “Sorry, I guess I just get defensive about it... you wouldn’t be the first one to make jokes. I dunno, Brolly doesn’t really help. He seems to thrive on the jokes. They just make me feel... nervous, I guess? I don’t know why.” Ace smiled knowingly.
“It happens to the best of us,” he said, “You’ll get used to it. Are you gonna be alright?”
“I think so,” Pokey said, sipping his water, “I’m not feeling so dizzy anymore... I’ve been hung over before.”
“No, I mean,” Ace said, rubbing his hooves together nervously, “about the marefriend thing. I mean, I know it can be pretty stressful, at first, so...”
“Oh, that?” Pokey asked, “I’ve been dumped before. Lots. I liked her, but I’ll get over it, I guess... she still wants to be friends.” Pokey chuckled to himself, “Not sure if that helps or not.”
“Well, yeah,” Ace said as Pokey started to drink again, “You mentioned that last night. But I mean, you never mentioned it was because you were a coltcuddler, so - “ Pokey coughed violently, nearly choking on his water.
“I’m not a coltcuddler!” he cried. Ace blinked, surprised.
“You’re not?” he asked.
“No!” Pokey said, “I mean - I don’t - I’m not a coltcuddler!”
“Alright! I get it!” Ace laughed awkwardly, waving his hooves, “Sorry, It’s just... well, you woke up and pretty much immediately assumed we did something stupid, so I guess I just assumed.”
“Well, I mean,” Pokey mumbled, “I guess I just... I was drunk, and I wake up in your bed... I thought maybe you had, uh... you know what, forget I mentioned it. Sorry.” He looked away from the beige stallion shyly. Ace laughed heartily.
“Gee, thanks,” he said, “But I don’t think I’m quite that good looking. If you’re not a coltcuddler Pokey, you couldn’t get drunk enough for a stallion to convince you to do anything. Trust me.”
“Er, right.” Pokey said, “That’s what I meant. Well... thanks, I guess.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. How’s the stomach?”
“Hm?” Pokey asked, “Better, thanks.”
“Great,” Ace smiled, standing up, “If you think you can hold them down, some eggs could help a lot. Whaddaya say?”
“Sure,” Pokey smiled, “Why not?”
***
It was a round noon when Pokey finally returned home. He and Ace had spent most of the morning chatting idly while Pokey recovered from his hangover. Their conversation had darted from topic to topic, never really staying in one place for too long. Ace seemed eager to learn more about the blue unicorn, which Pokey had found a bit odd at first - but he decided that the stallion was only trying to be friendly. He had asked where Ace hailed from, and the pony had told him he came from Stalliongrad - Pokey had heard that the ponies living higher in the mountains could be very friendly. Ace explained to him that it was practical; ponies were too focused on helping each other make it through to be unfriendly. He had grinned wildly while explaining it though, so Pokey wasn’t really sure if he had told the truth, or if the earth pony was just pulling his leg.
Brolly was already back from work when Pokey came in. The unicorn heard the sounds of television briefly before they went silent, and the white pegasus poked his head through the kitchen doorway, grinning stupidly.
“Hey, hey!” he greeted, “It’s about time you got back! So I guess the bar thing turned out pretty good after all, huh?” Brolly trotted into the kitchen and waggled his eyebrows at Pokey. “So am I gonna get to meet this new mare, or was she just a one-night thing?”
“Huh?” Pokey asked, “No, I was with a colt, actually.” Brolly eyes bugged, and he began to laugh hysterically.
“Oh, WOW!” he said, gasping for breath, “I had no idea! I mean, all the jokes... all the mares! Oh, geeze, Pokey!”
“Wha - no!” Pokey shouted at his roommate, “I’m not a coltcuddler! I just got drunk, and he gave me a place to stay. I’m not a coltcuddler!” Brolly continued to laugh, snorting and snickering as the unicorn glowered at him.
“Okay, okay,” he said, finally managing to rein his laughter in, “Okay, that’s good. You had me going there for a second, buddy. So I guess you didn’t find a mare?”
“No...” Pokey said, “It was mostly empty... I guess word hasn’t really gotten out about it yet, or something.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Brolly agreed. “We should try and do something about that... it’s got to be hard enough to compete with the club already. We need to fight for the right to have a decent drink without stupid rave music boiling our brains out!”
“Here here!” Pokey grinned, punching the air, “well, not here. Or now. Later.”
“Now, TV?” Brolly asked. Pokey nodded.
“Now, TV,” He declared, trotting into the living room. The two ponies flopped onto their couch, and Pokey flipped on the TV.
“So who’s the guy who held you up for the night, anyways?” Brolly asked. Pokey shrugged.
“He was an earth pony - I don’t think you’d know him.”
“Are you calling me racist?” Brolly asked jokingly. Pokey smirked at him.
“Yes Brolly. I’m calling you racist. You’re a great big racist, who never hangs out with anyone but your pegasus buddies on the weather team.”
“That’s not true! Why, I’ve got a unicorn best friend!”
“Oh really? So who’s this best friend I haven’t met, huh?”
“Oh, you’ve met him,” Brolly grinned slyly, “I’ll bet you’ve gotten quite familiar with him, in fact.” He grinned at Pokey, who grinned back. The two grinned intently at each other for a few minutes, before Pokey finally snorted, and laughed.
“Yes!” Brolly declared, “I win again! Seriously, though. Who’s the guy that helped my buddy out?”
“His name’s Ace,” Pokey said, “He’s beige, and - “
“He’s got a huge moustache, right?” Brolly laughed, “Like, the kind the blends into your sideburns?”
“Yeah,” Pokey laughed, “you know him?”
“Not personally, but one of the mares on my team had it bad for him a while ago - looks like he’s found himself another fan, huh?” Brolly nudged Pokey, who snorted and looked away.
“Oh, buzz off,” Pokey sulked. Brolly laughed.
“Chill, lover colt,” Brolly teased. “You feeling any better today?”
“Yeah, actually,” Pokey admitted, “A lot better. I don’t really know why... I guess going out really did help...” he looked over at Brolly, who was grinning madly. Pokey rolled his eyes.
“Brolly,” He said shortly, and his roommate backed off, snickering to himself.
“Well, it’s good to hear,” he said, settling into the couch more, “Think you’re gonna try and get another one?”
“Another marefriend? I dunno. I mean, I guess if I meet someone I like.”
“What about that Rose filly you’re always talking to?”
“Rose?” Pokey laughed, “No way. Come on, we went to school with her, man.”
“Yeah, so? I dated a filly we went to school with. What’s the big deal?”
“I dunno,” Pokey shrugged, “It’d just feel... weird, I guess.” Brolly shrugged as well.
“Well, your dating life, I guess,” he said. Pokey snorted.
“Because you totally have respect for my opinions when it comes to dating,” he snarked.
“Hey, I’m your friend!” Brolly laughed, “Sticking my nose in your business is pretty much the whole job description. Make fun of you, freak out your parents, stick my nose in your business... it’s all there in the contract, man.”
Pokey rolled his eyes. “Yeah, whatever. You gonna work nights for a while?”
“Yeah. I think they’re gonna have me on nights for a couple months, at least. How about you? What are hours like in the shop?”
“They aren’t, at least for a while,” Pokey answered, “Inky’s out of town visiting family for a while, so the shop’s closed...” He grinned sheepishly at Brolly. They had done this dance before.
“Which means no pay,” Brolly said.
“Which means no pay.”
“Which means no rent?”
“Which means no rent.”
Brolly sighed. “Yeah, I can cover it. Seriously buddy, get a more stable job.”
“I have a stable job,” Pokey said, “There’s like... maybe two and a half ponies in town who can pierce or make tattoos, there’s no way Inky would fire me!”
“Well then get a more stable boss! Seriously man, Inky’s nuts! She closes the shop like, every couple of months!”
“She’s not... so bad,” Pokey shrugged, “So the shop closes down now and then. I still like working there. I mean, I get to meet lots of cool ponies, and I’m doing what I enjoy - “
“Well,” Brolly interrupted, smirking, “considering you stab people for a living, I guess it’s better than having you out on the street.”
“Hah, hah.” Pokey rolled his eyes. He got up from the couch, trotting into the kitchen and opening the fridge. “Hey Brolly,” he called, “are we out of milk?”
“I think so... I used the last of it this morning. Sorry, you want me to go get some more?”
“Nah, I’ll do it,” Pokey said as he closed the fridge, “I can walk off the rest of my hangover while I’m at it. I’ll be back in a little bit.”
“Are you sure? It must be pretty uncomfortable to walk after last night!” Brolly laughed, ducking under a ball that Pokey launched at him.
***
Pokey meandered through the streets of Ponyville. Despite leaving to get milk, he wasn’t really headed towards the market. In fact, he wasn’t really headed anywhere. He simply roamed randomly. Something was bothering him. He couldn’t quite put his hoof on what it was, all he knew was he felt sort of nervous... but he had no idea why. He passed by Rose’s flower shop, and sighed.
“Oh, that’s no good,” A voice said. Pokey turned to see Rose leaning in the window, tilting her head at him. “What’s got you down, Pokey? Things didn’t go so well last night?”
“Oh, hey Rose,” Pokey greeted, trotting to the window, “Well... things didn’t go so great last night, no. Medley dumped me.”
“What?” Rose exclaimed, leaning almost halfway through her window, “That’s awful! Geeze, I thought it was going great, too.”
“Yeah, so did I,” Pokey said, “But I guess... I dunno. She didn’t feel the same? She said she didn’t feel a spark between us.” Rose just shook her head.
“Well, she’s crazy. You’re the sweetest, most romantic guy I know Pokey. You’ve got plenty spark to go around.”
“Thanks, Rose.” Pokey smiled. she smiled back at him.
“I couldn’t have my favorite customer down in the dumps, could I?” she asked, “It’s a slow day - whaddaya say we head over to the park? Maybe that’ll cheer you up.”
“Sure,” Pokey nodded. As long as the tattoo shop was closed he wouldn’t have anything to do, and this wouldn’t be the first time he went out for something small and returned a few hours later. He waited outside while Rose locked up her shop, and the two were off.
The park wasn’t very far away - at least, the closest one wasn’t. One of the odd things about Ponyville was that, for a small town, it had a lot of parks. This one was a large, open field with a few benches scattered around, and a walking path weaving through the whole thing. Rose and Pokey took a seat on a bench along the edge of the park, and basked in the midday sun.
“It’s a beautiful day out, huh?” Rose exclaimed, closing her eyes happily. Pokey nodded, and hummed his agreement. He looked over the park, young colts and fillies playing on the grass, and birds flying about, and he started to feel a bit better. Whatever had hung on his heart before, some of the weight was taken off, and he felt some of his enthusiasm returning - at least, until a stallion and mare trotted by, necks pressed firmly against one another. Pokey sighed, and Rose nudged him.
“Aw, cheer up buddy,” she said sympathetically, “You’ll find that right somepony eventually.”
“Yeah, I know,” Pokey said, “I just kinda wish it would be sooner rather than later, you know?” Rose nodded knowingly.
“Patience, that’s the key,” she said, “We’ll just have to wait together. Of course,” she laughed, “Knowing you, I’ll bet you went ahead and got yourself another marefriend last night, didn’t you?” Pokey grinned sheepishly.
“Well,” he said, rubbing his neck, “I kinda tried... Brolly sent me out to that new bar to try and find a new mare, but I didn’t end up meeting anyone... except for this colt.”
“Colt!?” Rose asked, her jaw dropping. Pokey grimaced, and corrected himself quickly.
“We just talked!” he insisted, “We just talked. We, um. He just sort of started talking to me... he’s from up the mountains. He told me that everypony is friendly like that, where he’s from.”
“Oh,” Rose laughed, “That makes sense. I thought - that would have come completely out of left field for me, you know?”
“Yeah, well,” Pokey laughed awkwardly, “I’m not, y’know, a... I’m not.” The two gave forced chuckles, and the air became so awkward that Pokey was almost glad when the tennis ball struck him square in the face.
“LOOK OUT!” the shout came just moments too late to do any good, and the little green ball hit Pokey right in the eye. The unicorn rolled off the bench, clutching his eye where the ball had hit.
“Pokey!” Rose cried, dropping beside her friend, “Pokey, are you okay?” Pokey squirmed, his eye squeezed so tight he could barely open the other to look at her. He put on a brave smile, but the hit hurt - a lot. Rose pulled him up to a sitting position, and a stallion galloped up.
“Oh geeze, oh geeze oh geeze oh geeze! He called to the pair, “I’m so sorry, I served way too hard! Are you alright?”
“I think so,” Pokey laughed. The voice sounded familiar, but Pokey couldn’t place it until his eye started to open. His vision was blurry at first but soon cleared, revealing the speaker to be a beige earth pony. Pokey had been right - he had recognized the voice.
“... Pokey?” the stallion asked.
“Ace?” Pokey asked back. Rose looked between the two, and asked,
“You two, uh, know each other?”
“Yeah,” Pokey explained, “Ace is the colt I told you about - the one I met last night.” Rose’s eyebrows rose, but Pokey didn’t notice. Ace was inspecting his eye, and the unicorn grinned sheepishly as Ace tiled his head back and forth.
“It doesn’t look so bad,” Ace declared, “Wait right here - I’ve got some salve that might help the swelling a bit. This sort of thing happens more often than I’d like to admit,” He laughed. Pokey nodded, and the earth pony dashed off. Pokey smiled, and it was only then that he noticed Rose’s expression.
“What?” he asked. Rose blinked at him.
“Oh, nothing,” she said, “I guess it’s none of my business... you really only met Ace last night? You haven’t seen him around town at all?”
“No?” Pokey aid, leaning away from Rose, suddenly nervous, “Why?
“Oh, I dunno... you just seem really friendly with him. Like, it reminds me of you and Brolly together, I guess.”
“Well,” Pokey said, “Ace is... fun, I guess. He’s friendly.” Rose looked like she was about to say something else, when Ace returned carrying a small jar.
“Here,” the stallion said, opening the jar, “This should help. Hold still.” He scooped a bit of the salve and gently rubbed it around Pokey’s eye. Pokey flinched away, Ace’s pushing stinging him a bit. The salve felt cool, though, and it tingled pleasantly as it sunk into the skin. “How’s that feel?” Ace asked. Pokey smiled at him.
“Much better,” he said, “Thank you. So, uh, you said this happens a lot?”
“Yeah,” Ace nodded, “Well, I mean, I don’t usually bean other ponies. It’s usually me who gets hit.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, well.” Ace grinned, and shrugged, “I don’t usually have anypony to practice against, and it’s hard to hurt a wall... it’s also kinda tricky to get used to swinging a tennis racket with your mouth. You, uh, take a few balls to the face.” His grin turned shy, and Rose looked away from the pair awkwardly. Pokey didn’t seem to notice, once again.
“Sound like fun,” he laughed, “so you play tennis a lot?”
“Yup,” Ace said, “Fourth best in all Equestria!” he declared, puffing out his chest proudly. Pokey’s eyes widened.
“Wow, Really?” he asked. Ace’s grin widened, and he laughed.
“Not for long,” he said, “Soon, I’ll be higher up! Another tournament is coming up in a few months, I was just training for it when I... well, you know.”
“Yeah,” Pokey laughed, rubbing his eye, “I know. Why is it, every time I run into you, my head ends up hurting?” Ace shrugged comically.
“I guess I just have a... striking presence?” he chuckled. Pokey gave a snorting laugh. Rose simply groaned.
“That was an awful joke,” Pokey laughed, “You should be ashamed.” Ace laughed back, and hung his head in mock shame.
“Gee, I guess I’ll go back to practicing, then,” he said. Pokey’s face fell.
“I didn’t mean you had to go,” he said. Ace smiled, and nudged him.
“I’m just joking around Pokey. I really should get back to practicing, though. But you know what, you brought up a good point - we need to stop meeting up like this. Were you, uh, planning on going back to the bar tonight, at all?”
“Huh?” Pokey asked. He hadn’t really considered it at all. He had only gone last night at Brolly’s insistence, he hadn’t planned on going back at all. Still, it didn’t seem like such a bad idea, now. “Yeah,” he said, “Actually, I think I might.”
“Great!” Ace grinned. “Do you want to meet up there? Like, around nine or ten o’clock?”
“Sure,” Pokey said, “Ten sounds good to me. Good luck with practice!”
“Thanks,” Ace said, waving as he trotted away, “I’ll see you tonight!” Pokey waved back at him, and sat back down on the bench. He looked over at Rose, who was staring at him, a concerned look on her face. Pokey’s smiled faded away.
“... What?” he asked.
“Pokey, you don’t need to lie to me,” she said suddenly, “I’m your friend. I’ll accept you no matter what.”
“I... what?” Pokey asked again. That weight on his heart he had felt before was back - only now, it felt like someone had grabbed his heart, and was squeezing it. Tight. Rose could clearly see that he was scared - she reach out, and put her hoof on his.
“It’s okay, really! I’ve known you since we were foals, I promise I won’t think of you any differently. Now we can look for Mr. Right together, right?”
“Mr. - What!?” Pokey cried, pulling his hoof away from Rose and sitting up. “I’m not a - “ He swallowed, and lowered his voice, “Rose, I’m not a coltcuddler. I’m straight. Ace is just a friend. That’s all. Really.” He shuffled his hooves nervously.
“Well...” Rose said. She didn’t sound convinced, but she smiled, and nodded at him. “Okay. So... just a friend you’re going to go drink with?”
“Oh Rose, please don’t,” Pokey said sadly, shaking his head, “I get enough of that from Brolly -”
“No, really,” Rose said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like I was teasing. I was just asking - he’s just a drinking buddy?”
“That’s - yeah,” Pokey gave a relieved smile, “That’s all. Just a drinking buddy.”
“He seems... friendly,” she commented, “Like you said. He seems nice.”
“Yeah,” Pokey chuckled, “He’s nice. I mean, I guess I wouldn’t know, since we didn’t meet that long ago. But I think he’s nice.”
“So I guess you’re feeling better?” Rose asked. Pokey nodded.
“I think so,” he said. “I think I’m gonna head home - and finally get that milk I said I’d get.”
“Okay,” Rose said. The two ponies stood up, and she gave Pokey a hug. Pokey blinked, a bit surprised.
“What was that for?” he asked.
“Oh, I dunno. I just thought you might need it.” She smiled at him.
***
Hours later the milk sat safely inside Pokey’s fridge, and Pokey in the smoky bar. He glanced at the door every few minutes, wondering just when Ace would finally arrive. Of course, it was only a few minutes past ten; Pokey had arrived at the bar about a half-hour early. He had almost finished his first drink already; every time he looked at the door he felt strangely nervous. Finally, a tired-looking Ace appeared through the doorway. He scanned the bar for a moment, and perked up upon seeing Pokey, who waved at him. He made his way over, and sat down heavily.
“Heya, Pokey,” he said, “Sorry I’m late.”
“Oh, no,” Pokey smiled at him, “I only got here a little while ago,” he lied. Ace wasn’t fooled, though. He gestured to the near-empty bottle in Pokey’s hoof, and said,
“I guess you just drink fast then, huh?” he laughed. Pokey smiled sheepishly, and polished off the drink.
“Um, yeah,” he laughed. “How was practice?”
“Not bad, not bad,” Ace said, “I’ve got a ways to go if I want to win that tourney, but I’m doing pretty well, I think. It’ll be easier once my coach finally move out here.”
“Your coach?” Pokey asked, “I didn’t think tennis had coaches.”
“Well, as a sport it doesn’t,” Ace said, “But I have a training coach, you see. He taught me how to play, and he gives me a training regime to practice - I follow what he told me to do for now, but once he gets here he’ll be able to tell me what I need to work on most, you know, alter the regime.”
“That makes sense. But why isn’t he here with you now?”
“Well, he’s got a lot of family - and he’s an old-fashioned type. In the mountains, that means you live close by your family for your entire life. It’s sort of tricky to convince them to let go of him,” Ace laughed, “So he’s having a bit of trouble getting out here. But I got a letter from him, saying he’ll be out soon.” He grinned, and added, “Probably with at least one aunt in tow, to keep an eye on him.” The two ponies chuckled. Ace waved a waitress over, asking for a drink, and Pokey ordered another beer as well. Ace sighed, and continued, “My family... was old fashioned in a different way. It made it a bit easier for me to leave.”
“Old fashioned how?” Pokey asked. Ace shrugged, and put on what Pokey thought was the first frown he’d seen on the earth pony.
“I’d rather not say,” Ace told him. Pokey guessed that he and his family were not on the best of terms. He wanted to press further, but decided against it. It occurred to him briefly that it was odd he was so concerned about somepony he had just met, but he shook himself internally. He told himself it was only natural to be concerned for a friend, new or not. Fortunately for him, Ace’s smile returned along with the waitress, who carried the pair’s drinks.
“There you go, colts,” she smiled at them. Pokey thanked her, and Ace nodded politely as well.
“But, never mind all that,” the beige stallion continued, taking a sip of his drink, “I was boring and practiced all day - what about you? What did you get up to, today?”
“Oh, not much,” Pokey said, glad of the subject change, “I mostly just hung out with my roommate, watched TV and stuff until he had to go to bed. That, and picked up milk.” He laughed sheepishly, and added, “Not that you’d want to hear about that.” Ace chuckled.
“So, your roomie’s an early sleeper, huh?” he asked.
“He’s on the weather crew - a pegasus,” Pokey told him, “and they have him working early mornings for a while. I don’t know for how long... but I still get to see him in the afternoon’s, at least.”
“You get along well with him, then?”
“Oh, yeah,” Pokey smiled, “Brolly - my roommate - and I are best friends. We’ve known each other since we were little. I wanted to move out on my own, but didn’t have enough money, so he moved with me.”
“That was nice of him,” Ace commented. Pokey laughed.
“Well, he told me he wanted to move out too,” the unicorn explained, “But I’m glad he decided to move in with me. It’s nice, living with your friend.”
“I’ve heard some people say you should never live with a friend,” Ace commented, “Like, you’ll wind up hating each other over little things.”
“I’ve never heard that,” Pokey said, tilting his head a bit, “But... well, we’ve lived together for a couple years now, so I’m pretty sure we’re fine. I know there’s probably nothing Brolly could do that would make me hate him.” The unicorn chuckled, and Ace smiled.
“It sounds nice,” he said. “So, you mentioned your roommate is a weather pegasus - what about you? What do you do?”
“You mean what I do for a living?” Pokey asked. He was genuinely surprised that Ace asked. Most ponies, upon seeing his cutie mark, would spend more time trying to find out what ‘silly’ talent he had than actually considering asking him.
“Sure,” Ace said, “You know what I do, right? Tennis - but I don’t know what you do, so it’s only fair. Plus...” He grinned, and rubbed his neck, “I’ll admit I’m kind of curious about your cutie mark...”
“You aren’t the only one,” Pokey laughed, “I work at the tattoo shop here in town - but I actually only really do piercings.”
“Really?” Ace’s eyebrows rose, “You’re a pierceist?”
“Piercer,” Pokey corrected, “but yeah. We actually get more business than you’d think from a small town. Lots of young fillies come in to get their ears pierced, and there’s even a couple of ponies who get body mods. There was a filly once who wanted piercings all down her back, and she got them all laced up, and there’s one colt who comes in every...” Pokey paused, and thought back, “three weeks or so, I think. If he got any more face piercings, I swear you could use him as a weapon!” Pokey laughed.
“I think I might have seen that colt around,” Ace chuckled, “But I guess I’m sorta surprised. I always thought that piercers were supposed to have lots of piercings themselves.”
“Well, it’s not like there’s a rule,” Pokey chuckled, “A lot of us get one or two piercings at least, just so we know how it feels, but not all of us. I used to have a few, though.”
“Really? How come you don’t anymore?”
“Well...” Pokey said, grinning embarrassedly, “I got my first one when I was little - it was how I got my cutie mark, actually, I gave it to myself - and I guess I sorta convinced myself that a piercer should have plenty of piercings. So I got a few more earrings, and a nose piercing or two... I got into body modding for a little bit, and I started to stretch my ears out - you know, those great, big hoop earrings?” he waved his hooves in circles in front of his ears, and Ace laughed heartily.
“Oh Celestia, really? What made you get rid of them?”
“I thought it was cool when I was doing it,” Pokey shrugged, rubbing his foreleg sheepishly, “Until I finally caught a look at myself in the mirror. I looked like somepony from a circus sideshow.” He and Ace both laughed, and Pokey took a sip of his beer. “I was just a dumb teenager. I mean, the look works for some ponies, but for me? No way. I took out all my piercings after that, and let them heal. I figured I’d just go back to being plain old Pokey Pierce.”
“Well, I’m glad you did,” Ace smiled at him, “I like plain old Pokey Pierce. I can’t imagine what you’d look like with all those rings in your face.”
“Um, thanks,” Pokey said, completely unable to think of anything else to say. He felt a slight blush creep into his cheeks, and he took a deep drink of his beer. He searched for a way to change the subject, and blurted out a question.
“So how did you get into tennis?” he asked. Ace leaned back in his chair, and thought.
“Huh,” he said, “Let me think... it was a real long time ago. I think it might have been a friend who got me into it first... His parents made him do it or something, and he dragged me along to his practices with him. I thought it looked fun, so I gave it a try, and it turned out I was pretty good at it, too. My coach found me, and asked if I wanted to train with him, and well... a lot of practice and competitions later, here I am!” he looked around, and grinned. “Well, not here specifically. I mean, it’s nice to relax a bit after practice sometimes, but I don’t actually drink that often.”
“No?” Pokey asked, “Then what brought you here tonight and last night?”
“Well last night I just needed to unwind a bit,” Ace shrugged, “I’d had a... tiring day.” He looked away, and Pokey got the impression he didn’t want to talk about it. This time, however, the unicorn let his curiosity and concern for his friend out.
“What happened?” he asked. Ace sipped at his drink.
“Eh... We’re here to have a good time, aren’t we? We shouldn’t be thinking about that sort of thing...”
“Talking about it might make you feel better,” Pokey said, “You never know.” Ace laughed dryly at him.
“Maybe you should have been a psychiatrist instead,” he commented, “Alright. I just had a run-in with an old ex. Things... didn’t end on good terms with us. He had a temper, see. He never got violent, or anything - he was a little guy, so it wouldn’t have been a big deal - I just got tired of having to deal with him, you know? I got tired of being yelled at all the time. So I left him. Well, I saw him again today. He claimed he’d changed, and he wanted to get back together with me, but... well, I just wanted to have lunch to myself, and he wouldn’t leave me alone. I told him to buzz of. Turns out he hadn’t changed so much after all.” The earth pony snorted, and sipped at his drink. Pokey simply blinked, as he had done since Ace began his story. The beige pony looked at him, and raised an eyebrow. “Pokey?” he asked.
“He?” the unicorn croaked. Ace sighed, and drank deeply. Pokey shook his head, and apologized. “I’m sorry!” he said, “Really. I didn’t mean to sound like there was anything wrong with it, I just, um...” He struggled to come up with words to describe just what he had felt. “I was just surprised, is all,” he concluded, telling himself just as much as he told Ace. The beige pony smiled.
“You aren’t the only one,” Ace told him, “We aren’t all walking stereotypes, you know.”
“Y-yeah,” Pokey chuckled awkwardly, “Sorry again.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Ace told him, “Like I said, you aren’t the only pony I’ve ever surprised with it. At least you didn’t freak out and run, or something.” He grinned, and finished his drink. He swirled the ice around the bottom of his glass, and commented, “Huh... I do kinda feel better. Thanks, Pokey.” He smiled earnestly at the unicorn, who smiled back in spite of himself.
“You’re welcome,” he said. Ace set down his glass, and stood up.
“I guess I should get going,” he said.
“Already?” Pokey asked, a bit disappointed.
“Yeah. I have to practice again tomorrow, and I’m pretty tired already. I’ll need a good night’s sleep. Besides,” he added, as Pokey finished the last of his beer, “I thought you wanted to spend some time with me where your head didn’t hurt? That’s not gonna happen if we stay here drinking all night.”
“I guess you’re right,” Pokey chuckled, “I guess I expected to spend a bit more time with you than... what, a half-hour? Maybe?” Ace nodded, and grinned his familiar grin.
“True,” he said, “So, maybe we should find something to do that meets both?”
“What do you mean?” Pokey asked.
“Something where we can spend time together, and doesn’t make your head hurt,” Ace told him, “Like... why don’t we go have lunch together, or something?”
“Uh...” Pokey said, leaning away from the colt. Ace laughed, catching on immediately.
“No, not as a date, Pokey. If I was asking you on a date, I’d have asked you to dinner. Lunch is friend territory.”
“Oh,” Pokey chuckled awkwardly, “right... sorry.”
“Relax, buddy,” Ace told him, “It’s not like I’m gonna try and sneak into bed with you or something. You’re not a coltcuddler, and I respect that. Besides, it’s not like I need to want to get in your bed to be friends with you, right?”
“Right,” Pokey nodded gratefully. “So, lunch? Tomorrow, or something?”
“Mmm, not tomorrow,” Ace shook his head, “I need my practice for the next few days. How about this Saturday, how does that sound?”
“Sounds good to me,” Pokey smiled.
“Great! Why don’t we meet in the park we were at today at around noon?”
“It’s a plan.” Pokey grinned.
“Not a date,” Ace grinned back.
“Right,” Pokey laughed. He watched the beige pony walk away from the table, and called out to him as a thought reached Pokey’s mind.
“Hey Ace,” he said. Ace looked back at him, and Pokey continued, “I’m sorry to hear about the coltfriend thing. I hope you’re feeling better.” Ace laughed heartily, and waved goodbye to the unicorn, before exiting the bar. Pokey stood as well, and made his own way home.
***
The next day Pokey was awake and sitting at the kitchen table when Brolly came home. The unicorn munched happily on a bowl of cereal as Brolly flew through the door.
“Get a job, you bum!” the pegasus shouted, lobbing his keys at Pokey. The unicorn caught them with his magic, and laughed at his roommate.
“You’re just jealous that I get to sleep in,” Pokey said.
“Yes, I am,” Brolly replied, taking his keys back. “You’re in a better mood today... are you sure you’re Pokey?” he eyed the unicorn theatrically, who simply chuckled.
“Pretty sure,” Pokey said, “I dunno. I guess I’m in a pretty good mood. I went back to the bar last night-”
“Dude, did you meet another mare?” Brolly asked excitedly, “How far did you get?”
“No, I didn’t meet a mare,” Pokey rolled his eyes, “I was just hanging out with Ace again.” Brolly looked at him for a moment, before asking,
“So how far did you make it with him?” Pokey scowled, and Brolly laughed, jostling the unicorn happily. “There’s my Pokey!” he laughed. He sat across the table from Pokey, and commented, “Seriously, though. You met this guy a couple days ago. You’re spending a lot of time with him.”
“He wanted to apologize to me,” Pokey explained, “After he got me in the face with a ball-” He stopped as Brolly snorted back a laugh, and corrected himself, “TENNIS ball. He’s a tennis player. We just had a couple drinks, and talked for a while.”
“Still, I’m getting sort of jealous,” Brolly joked, “You’ve got another stallion in your life! I thought we had something special!”
“What are you talking about, I’ve got plenty of other friends.” Pokey scoffed.
“You’ve got other friends, yeah - like Rose, or Inky, or what’s-her-name from the coffee shop. But they’re all mares! I’m pretty much the only colt friend you’ve got!”
Pokey thought about for a moment. “Oh goddess,” he laughed, “You’re right! I guess it’s a good thing I met Ace after all!”
“Are you crazy? You were surrounded by mares! You were getting this like... sensitive nice guy reputation, or something. Mares like that. The more colts you know, the faster that’s going to disappear.”
“Right,” Pokey laughed, “You just want to keep me all for yourself.”
“Yes,” Brolly exclaimed dramatically, “You’ve found me out! I simply cannot help myself, thinking of you running into his big, strong hooves like that! Thinking of you swooning over his mustache-” a spoonful of cereal struck him on the face, and he broke down laughing. Despite his annoyance at his roommates taunting, Pokey eventually joined in laughing as well. When the two settled down, Brolly wiped off his face and asked,
“So when do I get to meet this guy anyways?”
“What?”
“This Ace guy. It sounds like you and him are getting to be good friends. What, don’t I get to meet my best bud’s other friends?”
“I guess,” Pokey said, “I guess it never occurred to me. Maybe I’ll bring him around to meet you on Saturday.”
“What’s so special about Saturday?” Brolly asked. He trotted past Pokey, picking up his now-empty bowl and taking it to the sink.
“I’m going out to lunch with him on Saturday,” Pokey said. He heard the bowl clatter to the ground, and turned to see Brolly staring at him, an awkward half-smile playing on his lips.
“What?” the shocked pegasus asked, “Are... are you serious? You’ve got a date with this guy?”
“It’s not a date!” Pokey said, “Seriously Brolly, enough with the jokes. I’m not a coltcuddler!” Brolly relaxed visibly, and chuckled a bit.
“Okay, okay,” he said, “I’m sorry. But seriously man... if you don’t like the jokes, don’t keep doing that to me.” Pokey gave a surly grumble, and Brolly trotted past him into the living room. The unicorn sulked at the table by himself for a while. He considered breaking the date with Ace - no, NOT date, he reminded himself. They were just having lunch together. As friends. Anyways, it didn’t seem right to him. Ace had wanted to spend time with him. Despite how... uncomfortable he could feel around the stallion sometimes, Pokey was looking forward to it as well.
The rest of the week trudged by for Pokey. This always happened when Inky closed the shop. There was nothing for the blue unicorn to do except watch television, nothing to keep him occupied. So the hours just drifted by. He found himself pacing through the apartment a lot, which was unusual for him. But there was something on his mind... it was that same something from the day he met Ace in the park. He still couldn’t put his hoof on just what it was, though. There was just this nagging feeling at the back of his mind, chasing him wherever he went. As the week went on he found himself thinking more and more of Ace, and their impending lunch together. Perhaps it was a way of fending off that nagging feeling - whether he did it on purpose or not, it was certainly working.
I must just be missing work, he had thought to himself, having something to look forward to is taking my mind off it.
It wasn’t completely effective, however. There was still a nervous feeling, a feeling that only magnified as the days passed. By the time Saturday came, he felt unbelievably nervous.
He brushed his curly mane for probably the fourth time that day. Brolly stared into the bathroom, having woken early out of habit.
“If it’s as much of a ‘not date’ as you say it is,” the white pegasus commented, “Why are you making such a big deal out of this?”
“I’m not making a big deal,” Pokey said absent-mindedly, “I’m just brushing my mane. You need to take care of long hair. Make sure it doesn’t get tangled.”
“I have literally never seen you brush your mane this much. Seriously. Do you want me to help you pick out a dress and matching earrings?”
“Buzz off,” Pokey said, walking out of the bathroom. “Actually though, I’ve been thinking of getting an earring again. What do you think?”
“Seriously? Dude, you remember where that went last time. No way. Never again, man.”
“I’m not gonna go overboard this time,” Pokey promised, “I’m just thinking one earring.”
“Eh, I dunno... I think you look better without it. Especially if you don’t want people thinking you’re a coltcuddler.”
“You think so?” Pokey asked, concerned.
“It’s up to you, man. I won’t judge... out loud.” Brolly smirked. Pokey just sighed.
“Whatever... It’s 11:30. I’m gonna get going.”
“You still planning on bringing Ace ‘round after?”
“I guess so,” Pokey said. Brolly said something else, but the unicorn didn’t pay much attention. He trotted out the door, and to the park where he and Ace said they’d meet. This time, the earth pony was waiting for him.”
“Hey, Pokey!” he shouted, waving to the blue pony. Pokey waved back, his nerves starting to let up upon seeing the friendly stallion.
“Hey,” he called back, “Looks like I made you wait this time. Sorry about that.”
“Naw,” Ace said, “I was here training already anyhow.”
“You were still training? I thought you said you wouldn’t be on Saturday?” Pokey asked, concerned he had inconvenience his friend.
“I train every day,” Ace laughed, “But I don’t do it all day long on weekends. On weekends, it’s more a hobby than a job, I guess.”
“Oh, I see,” Pokey said, “I’m glad to hear that. So, speaking of, did your coach arrive yet?”
“Nah, not yet,” Ace told him, “I’d give it another week or so.” His stomach rumbled quietly, and he laughed. “Well,” he said, “I think that sounds like a lunch bell! Are you hungry too?”
“Yeah,” Pokey lied - he had relaxed some, but he was still too nervous to even think about food. “Did you have somewhere in mind?”
“Yeah, there’s a pretty good place nearby here,” Ace replied, “I end up going there a lot. There’s a good view, and they have really great food.”
“Sounds good to me,” Pokey smiled, “Lead the way!”
The beige earth pony led Pokey through the park, chatting happily with the unicorn as they walked. Pokey could feel his apprehension slipping away as they trotted through the grass.
I don’t know what I was so worried about, he thought to himself, laughing as Ace cracked a joke, This is fun. Ace doesn’t care whether or not I’m a coltcuddler... I’m sure nopony else thinks that, either.
The pair arrived at the restaurant, and Ace sat at one of the outdoor tables. Pokey sat across from him, and peeked inside the menu. Ace didn’t bother to look.
“You know what you’re getting already?” Pokey asked. Ace nodded.
“Yup,” he said, “I get the same thing every time I come here. They make a great Egg and Tofu sandwich.”
“You really have the same thing every time?” Pokey asked again, “You don’t ever want to try anything new? What, have you had everything on the menu?” Ace laughed.
“Well... no. I got used to looking for really high-protein foods for after training, see... I haven’t really had much else.”
“So you just eat the same foods because they’re better for you?”
“Pretty much. My coach would skin me alive if he found out I was eating something that would be bad for me, so I just play it safe.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Pokey said, shrugging, “But it still seems sorta boring. I’m gonna look for something interesting here.”
“Suit yourself,” Ace laughed, “I’m sure they’ve got plenty good food here. But I’m gonna stick with my tofu and egg.”
“So does everything you do have a routine?” Pokey asked, looking through the menu.
“Well, not everything. But a lot of things. A lot of work goes into being the best you can be, you know? And that usually means a routine. But I can be more spontaneous when I’m relaxing.”
“Spontaneous?” Pokey asked, “That’s not a word you hear with relaxing a lot.”
“Sure!” Ace grinned, “Some days I watch the sports channel, some days I watch the cooking channel!” he laughed.
“You cook?”
“Well... sometimes,” Ace said, “but mostly it was a joke.”
“Oh,” Pokey said. He buried his face in the menu, embarrassed that he had missed the joke.
“... Just like my cooking,” Ace added. He and Pokey both laughed at this. Pokey smiled earnestly at the colt, and continued to search through the menu. Ace let him read for a while, staying silent until the unicorn was finished. When he was, Ace grinned again, and launched into a story.
“I had a coltfriend once who tried to teach me to cook once,” he recounted. “The thing was, he wasn’t very good himself. He was proud of his cooking, so I went along with it, but...” The colt pulled a face, and Pokey chuckled. “I guess he was actually the best in his family, somehow,” Ace continued, “He used to watch the cooking channel all the time, trying to get new ideas. Anyways, the day he tried to teach me how to cook, he’d been watching a show about cooking with wine. Only he had just caught little bits of the show, so he didn’t know exactly how it went.”
“Oh goddess,” Pokey chuckled, “Please tell me this isn’t going where I think it is...”
“Oh, it’s better, probably,” Ace laughed, “See, he got it in his head that part of cooking with wine involved actually drinking it! He told me he watched the whole thing, so I figured he knew best, right - this was a long time ago. So anyways, there we are, two drunk colts trying to cook. And we’re both hungry, too, so we want to cook this as fast as possible. And we were trying to make a stir-fry, which you cook pretty fast in the first place...”
“Oh, Luna...” Pokey commented, already chuckling. Ace continued, starting to wave his hooves as he spoke.
“So we’ve got the stove on probably as high as it will go, and we’re just tossing vegetables in and trying to do something with them before they burn to a crisp - and then he says that it’s time to do the tofu. And this is where the wine comes in - he soaks the tofu in the wine, and tosses it in! Now, you pressure cook stir-fry, sort of: You put this big lid over the whole thing and hold it down, so the steam cooks it faster. And by this point we’re completely blitzed, so neither of us is thinking of the fact that we’ve just cut off alcohol soaked tofu from any air, so when he takes off the lid - BOOM!” Pokey erupted laughing, and Ace grinned like a madpony, still telling the story. “The explosion actually sent the tofu flying, so we’ve got little flaming chunks all over the kitchen, and we’re running around trying to put it all out before the apartment goes up!”
The two ponies laughed at the story for a while. When they both recovered, Pokey asked,
“It sounds like you’ve had a lot of interesting coltfriends.”
“Well,” Ace shrugged, “I wouldn’t say I’ve had a lot. They’ve been interesting, oh yeah, but I’ve only had... four, I think. I tend to hold on to them for a year or two, so I never went through many. It doesn’t help that I’ve only been able to date for a few years now. How about you? You had many marefriends?”
“Umm...” Pokey said sheepishly, “About... 13?” Ace’s jaw dropped.
“13,” he said, dumbfounded. Pokey shrugged, and said,
“Well... I can’t seem to hold one down! The longest I’ve ever had a marefriend was a few months. They always dumped me after not too long...”
“Wait, all 13 of them dumped you?” Ace asked, “What did you do to them?
“I dunno,” Pokey sighed, “the excuses are always different. I’ve gotten the classic ‘It’s Not You It’s Me’ a couple times, an ‘I Don’t Think You Really Like Me’, and at least one ‘I Can’t Take You Seriously With All Those Piercings’...” He smiled, and Ace snickered as well.
“Well, I think they’re all crazy,” Ace told him, “Don’t worry, You’ll find the right mare soon.”
“Thanks,” Pokey said, “Still, 13. I’m not feeling so lucky lately.” He smiled at Ace, who smiled back. The two were interrupted, however, by the waitress.
“Hey there, Ace! What can I get for you and your - Pokey?”
“Medley?” Pokey asked, “I didn’t know this was the place you worked at.”
“Yeah,” she said, “what are you doing here?”
“I invited him,” Ace told her. “How do you two know each other?”
“I’m his, um, EX-marefriend,” Medley told the earth pony, “So... can I get you the usual?”
“Yup,” the beige stallion nodded, “A Tofu and Egg Sandwich and a glass of water, please. How about you, Pokey?”
“Uh,” Pokey said, rubbing his neck, “Make that... two Tofu and Egg Sandwiches. And a Sarsaparilla, please.” Ace chuckled as Pokey handed over his menu. Medley grinned at the pair, and trotted happily back into the restaurant.
“So,” Ace commented. Pokey interrupted him.
“I did look through the menu,” he said. Ace laughed, and waved his hoof.
“I wasn’t going to say it,” he said, “Actually, I was going to ask you about Medley. She’s your ex?”
“uh, yeah,” Pokey said, “We actually only broke up earlier this week... on the day I met you, in fact.”
“Really?” Ace said, “So she’s the reason you were at the bar?”
“Well, a bit of her and a bit of Brolly,” Pokey said.
“I guess I should thank her, then.” Ace said. Pokey tilted his head.
“What? Why?”
“Well, it’s because of her I met you, obviously,” he said, “Why shouldn’t I thank her for introducing me to a new friend?” Pokey laughed, and looked down.
“Well... thanks,” he said. The two chatted a bit more before Medley returned, balancing their meals on her wings.
“Wow,” Pokey commented, “that was fast.”
“They work quick here,” Ace told him as Medley set the plates down in front of them. She also put down Pokey’s drink, as well as a strange red bottle. “Ah! Thank you, Fresh,” Ace said when he saw the bottle, “I forgot to ask for that!”
“Don’t mention it,” the mare laughed, “I know how you like it by now.”
“What is it?” Pokey asked as Medley went to take another customer’s order. Ace turned the bottle to face the unicorn, revealing a flame on its label.
“In the mountains,” Ace told him, playing up his accent, “We like our food spicy! It gives it flavor, and keeps us warm!”
“You know,” Pokey commented, “One day I’m going to have to go to the mountains and see if you’re telling the truth about any of this.”
“Would I lie to you?” Ace asked, grinning at him, “Every single word of it is true. I’ll tell you what, I’ll even take you there myself one day - but all the food there is spicy. Care to give it a go now?”
“What, you mean put the hot sauce on my sandwich?”
“Exactly,” Ace said, adding a few drops from the bottle onto his own sandwich, “It goes good with the egg, anyways.”
“Really...” Pokey said, “Alright, I’ll give it a shot.”
“Great!” Ace said, tapping a few drops onto his friend’s sandwich. The unicorn lifted it in front of his face, and the scent of the hot sauce hit him immediately. It was a tangy, sour scent. It made him a bit nervous - he had never had a taste for spicy things. He took a bite of it, and chewed carefully. The hot sauce almost wasn’t there at all - he could taste the same taste as the smell of the sauce, but it wasn’t spicy. The sandwich itself was fantastic. The tofu was firm, and the egg perfectly cooked. He munched happily - until the hot sauce struck.
It started as a tingling at the back of his throat, with quickly moved forward, spreading over his entire mouth. He swallowed, and opened his mouth, breathing in and out. the air moving over it helped cool it for a moment, but it wasn’t enough for long. The burn in his mouth escalated, and he started to sweat.
“Hey Pokey, are you okay?” Ace asked him. Pokey just panted in response. He lifted his drink and took a deep swig of it, causing Ace to grimace. “Oh, don’t do that!” he said, but it was too late. The fizzy drink just made the burning worse. Pokey’s eye twitched, and Ace handed him his water. “Drink this,” the earth pony instructed, “But don’t swallow! Just hold it in your mouth!” Pokey did as he was told, and Ace stood up.
“I’ll be right back, “He said, “Wait here.” he darted into the restaurant, and returned a moment later carrying a tall glass of milk. “Drink this,” he instructed. Pokey took a deep drink of it, and his mouth felt better almost instantly.
“Oh, wow,” he said, “that’s really, REALLY spicy.”
“Sorry,” Ace said, “It’s never bothered me at all... I guess I built up a resistance to it. I had no idea it was so hot.”
“It, uh, probably isn’t,” Pokey laughed, taking another sip of milk, “I’m just kind of a wimp when it comes to spicy stuff.”
“Well, you should have said something then,” the earth pony told him. Pokey shook his head.
“Hey, I know I don’t handle spicy well. I wanted to try it.”
“Well, still. Are you gonna be able to finish the rest of that? Do you want me to order you another one?”
“What? No, no,” Pokey waved his hooves, “Don’t worry about it Ace. I chose to put it on, remember? I’ll be fine...” He didn’t sound so sure, but he pulled the glass of milk closer to himself, and said, “I should be fine with this... if I take it slow.”
“If you say so,” Ace said, a hint of concern in his voice. True to his word, Pokey took small, careful bites, punctuated with deep sips of the milk. Despite trying to hold up a conversation while he ate, Ace still finished his sandwich long before Pokey did. When the blue unicorn finally swallowed the last bite of his sandwich, and drained the milk, he smiled sheepishly across the table.
“There,” he said, “That wasn’t... so bad. Sorry about the, um, wait.”
“Don’t you worry about that,” Ace laughed, “How’s your mouth?”
“Not bad, actually,” Pokey said, surprised himself, “that milk really did the trick.”
“I asked for the thickest they had... the thicker the better, really. Yogurt actually helps even more.”
“Really?” Pokey asked, “I had no idea.” Ace nodded, and explained.
“It’s the fat in it. So thicker milk has more fat, and yogurt has way more fat. Cheese helps too, I hear, but I’ve never tried it.”
“Weird,” Pokey said. Ace nodded his agreement. The two chuckled a bit over it, when Medley approached again.
“How’s the mouth, Pokey?” she asked. Pokey smiled sheepishly.
“It’s good, thank you,” he said.
“If you colts are done, you can just head inside to pay any time,” she told them. Pokey nodded, and asked,
“You take debit, right?”
“Oh... no,” Medley told him, “We’re cash only. Sorry.” Pokey frowned, and took out his wallet. He dug through it for a moment, and grimaced.
“What’s the matter?” Ace asked him. Pokey lowered his head, and told him.
“I, um, don’t have any cash on me...” he said, “I’m really sorry, but...”
“You need me to pay for you?” Ace grinned. Pokey lowered his head even more.
“If you could,” he said quietly, “I promise I’ll pay you back.” Ace laughed.
“Don’t worry about it, buddy. I’m more than happy to pay.” The stallion stood and trotted inside the building, leaving Pokey with Medley. As Ace disappeared inside, the mare began to giggle, and hop excitedly.
“This explains everything!” she said happily, “Oh Pokey, I’m so excited for you!”
“What are you talking about?” Pokey asked. He had a sinking feeling that he knew exactly what she was talking about, however.
“You and Ace! Now I know why it never felt like you really liked me that much! Ace is a great guy, Pokey, he’s been coming here for a while. Oh, I’m so excited for you! How did you two meet!?” Pokey groaned, and buried his head in his hooves. That sinking feeling and turned into a hole in his stomach.
“Why does everypony think I’m a coltcuddler?” he asked miserably. Medley blinked in surprise, and Pokey continued, “I still like mares, Fresh! And I liked you too! Ace and I met in a bar, but we’re just. Friends.”
“Really?” Medley asked, “But... I’m sorry. I mean, two colts having lunch together...”
“I’m not allowed to have lunch with my friend?” Pokey asked defensively. Medley waved her hooves.
“I’m sorry Pokey, really!” she said, “I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just the way you were acting with him. You seemed like you were having such a good time... you seemed to like him way more than you ever liked me.”
“Look, Fresh,” Pokey said, starting to feel sick, “I do like Ace. As a friend. Please, I get enough of this crap from Brolly... I really, really, REALLY don’t want to hear it from you too.”
“Okay,” Medley said, throwing up her hooves, “It was an honest mistake, Pokey. Ace’s brought coltfriends here before!” she fluttered off, muttering to herself, and Pokey put his face in his hooves again.
His nerves from that morning had returned, only worse. He managed to calm his beating heart, and fight down most of the feeling of coldness, but he still felt sick. Medley’s words bounced around in his head, and he wished that Ace would be back soon, so he could assure himself that they were just friends. Just friends. That’s all they were.
“Hey Pokey, are you okay?”
Pokey jumped, his head snapping up. It was Ace, standing over the table and looking concerned. “Is the sandwich not sitting well, or something?”
“Uh, yeah,” Pokey said, “I think so.” That’s why I feel sick, he thought, the hot sauce is upsetting my stomach.
“Do you think a walk would help?” Ace asked him, “Or would it just make it worse? Do you want me to go get someone, or -”
“I think,” Pokey interrupted, “I think just going for a walk should do it.” He got to his hooves slowly, and began to walk. Ace fell in beside him.
“I wonder if there was something in the sauce you’re allergic to,” the beige stallion said. Pokey laughed weakly.
“I’ll be fine, Ace,” the blue unicorn told him. “I think I might just be catching a bug - I’ve felt kind of sick all week.”
“You should have told me, we could have rescheduled -”
“Ace!” Pokey said firmly, “I’ll be fine. Let’s change the subject... when’s that tournament coming up?”
“Um... “Ace said, thinking, “It’s about three months... around mid-December. I’ll probably have a better idea when it gets closer. I just tend to focus on training, and my coach tells me when we go to tournaments.”
“That sounds like a good system,” Pokey laughed, “I guess you can’t afford to worry about it, huh?”
“That’s what they say, yeah,” Ace said, “Coach always says, ‘Ace, you don’t think. You tennis. I think for you. If you think, you think about balls!” he grinned, and Pokey snorted. “My coach wasn’t really known for subtlety,” Ace said, but Pokey was falling back.
“I think I need to sit down,” he said, moving towards a bench. Ace quickly took his side.
“Are you okay?” he asked. Pokey nodded.
“Actually, yeah,” the unicorn said, “I just need to sit for a minute. Then I should be fine.” He eased onto the bench, and Ace sat beside him. The earth pony kept looking over at him, clearly fretting for his friend.
“For someone who jokes as much as you do,” Pokey commented, “You sure know how to worry.” Ace shrugged, and laughed nervously.
“It’s a weakness,” he said, “I actually used to be really nervous... I guess some parts of it stuck.”
“You, nervous?” Pokey laughed, “Go on, pull the other one.”
“No, really,” Ace grinned, “I used to worry and fret all the time. I just wasn’t really sure of myself at all. But I started to grow up and get to know myself better... that helped a lot. It can be really scary, not knowing who... or what you are.”
Pokey’s stomach lurched again, but he tried his best not to show it. He relaxed on the bench, breathing in and out, in and out. He started to feel a bit better after a while, but no matter how long he sat there, he still felt sick. His heart was starting to beat harder, as well. He opened his eyes, to tell Ace that he was feeling better, and saw the stallion’s face filled with worry for him. He felt sick again, all at once. His heart beat fast and hard. Strangely, Medley’s words came into his head.
You seemed to like him way more than you ever liked me...
He swallowed hard. “Hey, Ace?” he asked suddenly.
“What’s wrong?” the earth pony asked.
“Nothing’s wrong,” Pokey replied, shaking his head, “I’m just sort of curious. You said you’ve had one coltfriend for a few years before, right?... What’s it like, being with one pony for that long? I’ve only had a marefriend for a few months, so...”
Ace shifted on the bench, and hummed thoughtfully to himself. “I don’t know,” he said, “I mean, I know how it feels... I don’t know if it’s the same with mares, though, obviously. But... well, it’s the same as with anypony, at the start. There’s that crush, you know? Where you feel really nervous around them, and you’re not sure if they like you too, or you’re just barking up the wrong tree... It’s scary sometimes, too, if you like them before you know that they’re a coltcuddler too. But if they are, and you’re with them for a while... It’s like there’s a few feelings combined. You start to get really comfortable around them. You can relax easier around them, and focus on them if things suck. Everything feels a bit better, when you really care about them. Sure, you fight sometimes, but you make up... well, that or you break up.” He chuckled. Pokey was silent, so Ace continued, “And you start to really care about them a lot, too. It sort of hurts to see them sad, or angry. I left more than one just because I couldn’t bear to see them angry all the time. You worry about them, and you want them to be happy...” Ace looked over at Pokey slowly. The unicorn looked away, and closed his eyes. “Is something wrong, Pokey?” he asked.
“No,” Pokey said a bit too quickly, “nothing’s wrong. I’m fine. Something’s just... bugging me. But I’m fine.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” the beige stallion asked. Pokey inched away from him, and mumbled,
“No, thank you. I can... I should deal with it by myself. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me at all.”
Ace frowned at the blue unicorn. “Are you sure? You never know... talking about it might make you feel better.” He reached over, and put a gentle hoof on Pokey’s own. The unicorn jerked his hoof away from Ace, and sat up. He saw the confused look on Ace’s face, and shook his head. He could feel a giant, icy hand close over his heart and start to squeeze, tighter and tighter.
“I...” Pokey started, “I don’t... I... I-I’m not... I need to go!” he jumped off the bench and bolted, leaving a confused Ace in his wake. He ran through the streets of Ponyville, heart pounding, the icy hand refusing to relinquish its grip. He felt unimaginably sick again, like if he stopped for even a moment he would vomit out everything, so he kept running. He ran until he reached his apartment on the far side of town. He ran inside, slamming the door behind him and slumping to the floor. Brolly poked his head in, and asked,
“Celestia man, what the hell happened to you?”
“I’m fine,” Pokey croaked, standing up again, “I’m fine, I... I just need some rest. I’m gonna... go to bed for a bit.”
“Okay...” Brolly said, standing aside for the unicorn. He smiled awkwardly, and joked, “So, uh... I guess the date didn’t go so great, huh?”
“SHUT UP!” Pokey screamed, whirling on the shocked pegasus.
“Okay, geeze!” Brolly said, taking a step back, “I’m sorry Pokey, it was just a joke-”
“JUST... JUST SHUT UP, BROLLY! Enough jokes, okay!? I’M NOT A COLTCUDDLER!” Pokey panted heavily, and his eyes watered. “I’m not... I’m not...” A tear rolled down his cheek, and he sat down. “I’m not gay,” he said quietly.
“Pokey?” Brolly asked softly, taking a step towards his friend, “Pokey, what’s the matter?”
“Nothing’s the matter,” Pokey told, more tears streaming down his face. He wiped his eyes, and said, “Nothing’s wrong with me. I’m normal. I swear.” He sniffed, and more tears came down. Brolly’s jaw dropped.
“Oh... oh, Celestia... Pokey, I’m so sorry...”
“What are you sorry for?” Pokey asked, trying to laugh through his tears. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. Nothing’s wrong, right?” Brolly sat in front of him.
“Pokey, I’m so, so sorry. I mean, all the jokes... I had no idea! I didn’t mean to...”
“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Pokey sniffed, still trying to laugh, “They were just jokes! It’s not like they offended me, I mean, I have no reason to be offended. ‘Cause... ‘cause I’m normal, right?” Tears were streaming down his face, and Brolly wrapped him in a hug.
“Pokey, it’s okay,” he said, “It doesn’t matter.”
“Of course it doesn’t! Why should it matter?! I’m normal! I’m straight, just like everypony else! It’s not like... it’s not like... like I’m some sort of freak, or, or anything,” Pokey sobbed. Brolly squeezed him tighter, and Pokey began to cry. He cried, earnestly and openly in Brolly’s hooves. Brolly just held him, heedless of all the tears that spilled on his shoulder.
“Oh Luna,” Pokey sobbed, “Brolly, Please. Please, please, I swear I didn’t want to be, but... but... Brolly, please don’t hate me.”
“Oh Pokey,” Brolly said, rocking his friend, “Pokey, I’ve known you since we were foals. You’re my best friend. I love you more than anything in the world. I could never hate you.”
“You... you mean that?” Pokey asked.
“Absolutely,” Brolly smiled at him, “Pokey, I’m so sorry about all the jokes. I never meant to hurt you, I swear.”
“It’s okay,” Pokey sniffed, “You were just joking. I know.”
“Are you gonna be okay?”
“I... guess. I guess I just need to get used to being... being...”
“Pokey, listen to me,” Brolly interrupted him, “You don’t have to get used to being anything. You’re Pokey Pierce. You’re my friend. So you like colts, so what? There’s nothing wrong with that, and it doesn’t have to be who you are. You’re still Pokey Pierce.”
“Thanks,” Pokey smiled, wiping away his tears. Brolly let go of him, but the two still sat on the floor for a while.
“So,” the pegasus asked, rubbing his neck, “does that mean it really was a date, then?”
“No,” Pokey chuckled, “But I do like him. A lot. He... probably doesn’t like me anymore, though.”
“What happened?” Brolly asked.
“I ran away,” Pokey said. “He wanted to help me, and I ran away because I was afraid to face him. Because I was afraid to face myself. I guess I’ll just... have to find somepony else.”
“No,” Brolly declared. Pokey looked up at him. “No,” the pegasus pony continued, “You like this colt. How often does that come along? Really, really liking somepony before you even start dating them? You need to go talk to him.”
“I... I don’t know,” Pokey said, shuffling his hooves, “I mean, it’s so soon.”
“Pokey, you’ve been through more relationships than most ponies before you even knew what you wanted,” Brolly insisted. “You deserve this, and you deserve it now.”
“No,” Pokey shook his head, “I mean... I still don’t know how to feel about this. I still don’t know what to do. I’m... I’m scared. I don’t think I’m ready... “ Tears began to well up in his eyes again, and Brolly put his hooves on Pokey’s shoulders.
“Then he can help you,” Brolly assured him. “You’ll never be ready if you don’t take that first step, Pokey.”
“But, he probably thinks that I was a homophobe, or -”
“Well, then go set him straight!” Brolly said, shoving Pokey towards the bathroom, “Let him know what an awesome guy you are, and let him know that he’s not going anywhere but to bed with you! You finally know what you want, Pokey, it’s time for me to stop staying out of your love life!”
“When did you start?” Pokey asked. Brolly spun him around, and looked him in the eyes.”
“I’m your friend, Pokey, and that means doing what’s best for you. Right there in black and white: Make fun of you, freak out your parents and do what’s right for you.” Pokey grinned, and shoved Brolly away.
“Thanks,” he said, running the water. He splashed it in his face, and drying himself off. After brushing his hair once for good measure, he was looking presentable again.
“What are you waiting for?” Brolly asked, “Go Wilde.” Pokey grinned, and dashed out the door.
“Thanks Brolly!” he shouted over his shoulder. The pegasus grinned from the doorway, and shook his head.
Pokey dashed through the streets of Ponyville once again. This time, however, he wasn’t taking the direct route. He took a detour, stopping in front of the flower shop and pounding on the door.
“We’re closed,” A call came through the door.
“Rose, open up!” Pokey shouted. There was a small pause, and the door opened to reveal Rose, staring curiously at the panting unicorn.
“Pokey?” the asked, “What are you doing here?”
“I need a rose,” Pokey said, “Just one, please.” Rose grinned, and trotted back into the shop. She grabbed a single rose out of a vase on her counter, and brought it back to the unicorn.
“Here you go,” she said knowingly, “I’ve been saving this for you. Go get him, Pokey.” Pokey grinned at her, and took the rose in his mouth. He wouldn’t be able to levitate it as he ran, so he clutched it in his teeth, dashing through Ponyville back to the park. He looked around desperately, finally spotting Ace. The earth pony was still sitting on the bench where Pokey had left him, looking at the ground.
“Ace!” Pokey called through the rose in his teeth, “Ace!” the stallion looked up.
“Pokey?” he asked. The unicorn ran up to him, panting.
“Ace,” he said, “I’m... I’m sorry I ran away.”
“It’s... okay,” Ace said, looking back down, “You aren’t the first colt I’ve scared... I’m sorry that I seemed forward”
“No... that isn’t it,” Pokey told him. He levitated the rose, and stared at his hooves as he spoke. “I was... I ran away because I was scared. But I wasn’t scared of you, I... I was scared of the way you made me feel. I care about you, Ace. A lot. I couldn’t admit it to myself before, but I do. And I really enjoyed having lunch with you. I’m sorry that I ran away and ruined our afternoon together but...” He looked down, and floated the rose over to the stunned earth pony. “Do you think we could try again sometime? Maybe?”
Ace looked between Pokey and the rose for a moment. It felt like an eternity for the unicorn, staring at the ground as his heart pounded in his chest.
“Do you mean,” Ace asked slowly, “like a date?”
“Like a date,” Pokey nodded, smiling hopefully. A grin spread across Ace’s face. He took the floating rose, and embraced the unicorn.
“That sounds great, Pokey,” he said. “I’d love to.”
|
theworstwriter
|
909
| 1 |
Princess Celestia,Spike,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Monster
|
It's never easy, choosing. But the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, right?
|
complete
| 29 | 8 |
<p>Princess Celestia hears of a terrible future, and must make a painful choice.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-19T08:32:08+00:00
|
2011-09-19T08:32:08+00:00
| 4,191 |
Celestia stood in the still growing pool of crimson liquid, her wounds burning in agony, her mind reeling from the shock of the last few moments. There hadn’t been any other way. If there had been any other possible course of action, any at all, she would have taken it. She began to sob. The next part would be even more difficult.
Twilight Sparkle burst into the room, tossing the heavy wooden doors off their hinges with her magic. Panic in her eyes, she jerked her head around the room searching. Her eyes came to rest at the puddle below the Princess and doubled in size.
“You… you MONSTER!” she shrieked as her horn flared and she charged.
---------------------------------------------------
All of Canterlot’s brightest unicorns were in that tiny laboratory, focusing intensely on the task at hoof. Many of them hadn’t bathed, ate, or slept in days. The stench was incredible, and the ability of all of them to carry on was miraculous. Celestia had given them a summary of the grim prophecy, and assured them of its validity. They had to find a way to save their Princess.
Celestia did not fear for HER life, but the lives of all the ponies she fondly thought of as her children. Without her, Equestria would wither and die. Luna was still not fully recovered, and would not be able to control both the sun and the moon. There would be nopony to help her. The Elements of Harmony would surely be unwilling to assist until they had vanquished the beast responsible, and there was little chance they would even succeed. If it were powerful enough to slay the Element of Magic, what could the others hope to do against it?
She wanted so badly to believe it wasn’t true. That there had been a mistake. But, the Seer had never been wrong. Not once in the thousands of years he had served the royal family of Equestria.
---------------------------------------------------
“Are you certain of this?” Celestia asked, her eyes narrow. She already knew the answer. The Seer was certain. A terrible monster would rise and crush a child in before its mother’s eyes. The terrible creature would destroy one of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Celestia would die. The remaining elements would seek revenge on the abomination. This was the truth. The Seer was never wrong.
“Absolutely. I can only warn you that the most powerful unicorn is the key. Without the greatest living mage, the beast cannot come to be.”
The striking white alicorn lowered her gaze. She had a terrible feeling she knew exactly which unicorn the Seer spoke of.
---------------------------------------------------
“Isn’t it amazing Twilight? You’ve got hard proof that you’re amazing! If Trixie ever shows her flank again, you can just bust out that slip of paper and BAM! Instant victory! The numbers don’t lie, she is WAY beneath you.”
“I know, Spike, but still something about all this is making me really uneasy. Why would Princess Celestia even need these numbers? If there’s a magical task that needs to be done, and for whatever reason she can’t do it herself, couldn’t she just ask me to try? Why does she need to have exact measurements of what I’m capable of?”
Spike shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, but I can’t think of any reason this has to be a bad thing. We got to take a trip to Canterlot, and we got proof that you’re the best…” Twilight blushed. “Why can’t this be fun? How about we go get donuts over at Pony Joe’s, huh?”
The lavender unicorn sighed. “Okay Spike, I’ll be over there in a few minutes. I need to go ask some of those researchers a few questions.”
The baby dragon rolled his eyes. “Always with the learning… alright, though. But don’t stick your nose TOO far into their business. We’ve got donuts to eat!”
---------------------------------------------------
Trotting down the streets of Canterlot, the unsettling feeling in the pit of Twilight Sparkle’s stomach continued to grow. The researchers had all been friendly and helpful, many of them deciding to bow and her refer to her as ‘Lady Sparkle’ now that her status had been confirmed, but getting her questions answered didn’t answer her questions. What exactly was going on, and why couldn’t she shake the feeling that something terrible was looming on the horizon?
The door to Pony Joe’s glowed purple and pushed its way open, the bell attached jingling merrily. “Why if it ain’t Twilight Sparkle. What can I do for ya today?”
“I haven’t decided what I want yet. Where’s Spike?”
“Haven’t seen him. He’s in town with you, yeah?”
“Yes, but he said he was heading over here. We were supposed to get a bite to eat.”
“Sorry, Sparky, haven’t seen Spike or any other dragons since the Gala.”
Twilight frowned.
---------------------------------------------------
The little bundle of purple and green scales was practically skipping down the hall, content with the world and eager to reach his destination. He barely paid his surroundings any attention until he thought he heard somepony yelling. Stepping back just a little and pressing his ear to the door, he recognized the voices of the Princesses. Celestia and Luna seemed to be arguing about something, but Spike couldn’t make out any of the words. He pressed himself closer to the door, but was flung aside as the door suddenly swung open. Princess Luna left the room, not quite at a gallop, but not exactly at a leisurely pace. Was she… crying?
Spike peeked his head into the room to see that Princess Celestia was standing in the center. It was quite clear that Celestia was, in fact, crying. Deciding he couldn’t leave her like that, but that it wouldn’t be good if anypony else saw the Princess cry, he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.
“Princess Celestia? The Princess sniffled slightly. “What’s wrong?”
“I am sorry you had to see me like this, Spike. I have had a very… emotionally draining day. Could you please leave me? I’m quite exhausted.”
“Does this have to do with Twilight? She’s been complaining about something being ‘not right’ all day. If something’s wrong, I’d like to know. Maybe I can help!”
---------------------------------------------------
Terrible pain shot through the regal alicorn. Even as a baby, the bite of a dragon was not to be trifled with. He simply wouldn’t listen to reason! It was the only way. Twilight Sparkle was the key to the coming of something horrible. Something that would cause much heartache and plunge Equestria into an age of grief. Neither of the Princesses could propose a viable alternative, and the Seer was silent. But Spike would not listen. He didn’t care about the fate of Equestria. He only cared about the fate of his number-one assistant-haver.
She couldn’t bring herself to physically stop him, but every time she tried to magically sedate him, he found some new reserve of strength to draw from and resumed his attack. She had tried everything non-violent tactic short of teleporting him away, but the fierce little dragon would not be deterred.
Her horn glowing once more, the Princess attempted to sedate Spike one last time. It seemed to work, as his eyelids fluttered and he fell to the floor with a dull thud. Blood began to leak from his ear. No, this was wrong. That was only a simple sedation spell, and he hadn’t hit the floor nearly that hard! He should not be bleeding. Why was he bleeding?
Why had he been able to resist all that magic? Some sort of overdose of magical absorption must have taken place, his body continuing to take the energy out of the spells so he could carry on until he could handle no more. Oh no. No. Nononononono. This wasn’t right, this wasn’t right at all. She had to do something, but what? She couldn’t risk trying to heal him with magic. She had been surprised enough at the way he handled simple spells. Something as complex as healing could have any number of unknown effects.
He moved. Spike began to stir, and started to stand again.
“SPIKE. STOP THIS IMMEDIATELY. YOU ARE GREIVOUSLY WOUNDED AND YOU NEED MEDICAL ATTENTION AT ONCE!”
If he heard her, he made no indication of it. The dragon lunged at her again. She panicked.
Spike hit the floor with a sickening wet crack. She didn’t know what else to do. Any more magic would only have made things worse, and despite his size and lack of experience, the wounds Spike had inflicted were mind-numbingly painful. She had only tried to swat him down to the floor and pin him underhoof, but having so few occasions to use physical force she frequently forgot her strength.
If he hadn’t already been bleeding from the magic, he certainly would be from the second impact with the floor. Why was here so much blood? She had meant only to stop his attacks, nothing more.
---------------------------------------------------
Celestia stood in the still growing pool of crimson liquid, the full weight of her actions finally beginning to settle on her mind. Neither Twilight Sparkle nor Spike moved. There… there really hadn’t been any other way, had there? She was assured, hundreds of times. All the numbers had been triple checked. This was the only sane course of action. So why did it all feel so wrong? How could she live with herself? How could she face Equestria? How could she face LUNA?
She couldn’t. She was already dead inside. She was a monster. With the magic of friendship ripped from them, five ponies were going to watch her burn.
|
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