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BIG MAC
|
936
| 1 |
Dark
|
Guilty Pleasures
|
WARNING: NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART... The parasprites are back, but not how you might imagine them.
|
complete
| 22 | 19 |
<p>The idea for this was originally given to me by something I saw on Fanfiction.net, and I decided to elaborate upon it, and make it a bit more…… Interesting……. I look forward to reading lots of hatemail!! :D</p>
|
mature
| null |
2011-09-22T03:38:04+00:00
| 1,922 |
Rarity was hard at work at her sewing machine, carefully pushing the fabric forward with her hoof, when there was a knock on her door. She let out a sigh, annoyed at having her concentration broken, and then put on a smile and opened the door where she was met by Pinkie Pie, grinning.
"Oh, hello Pinkie," Rarity said. "What can I do for –"
"It's party time!" Pinkie sang, not waiting for her to finish. "I'm planning the bestest most fantastic party ever, and I want you to be there!"
"Oh, well, of course, darling! What's the occasion?"
"Uh, Duh! It's to celebrate the fact that it's gonna be the most amazing fantabulous party ever, obviously! Oh I can't wait, it's going to be so exciting! So I will see you tonight at Sugarcube Corner?"
Rarity blinked, and then looked back at her sewing machine. "Tonight? I'm sorry Pinkie, but…I can't. I've just got so much work to do, and I set aside this evening to get it all finished. Though I suppose I might be able to make it later on…"
"Okie dokie lokie," Pinkie replied, with a shrug. "I'll make sure to save you some cake!"
Rarity watched Pinkie bounce away, and then shut the door. She sighed, thinking about all the fun Pinkie and the other ponies would be having at the party, while she was stuck in the Carousel Boutique slaving away at the sewing machine. Still, she knew she had to get it done, and she was not one to shirk her responsibilities.
She spent the next couple of hours hard at work, occasionally swatting a hoof absent-mindedly as something darted and fluttered around her head, some insect she assumed. It was only when it landed directly in front of her that her eyes widened, and she let out a startled cry.
"Oh my stars, it's one of…you!" Before her was a parasprite, a small, incredibly cute but also terribly destructive critter that Rarity recognized only too well. She felt a panic rising as the parasprite chirped at her and blinked innocently. This, undoubtedly, was bad news.
"Oh no no, how did you get in here? Go on, get out, shoo!"
The parasprite only stared at her, and despite herself, Rarity couldn't help but think how adorable the little thing was. I need to get Pinkie, she thought, remembering how the pink pony had dealt with these things before, but that would mean interrupting her party. "Maybe I can deal with you myself…" she said, pondering out loud.
The parasprite flitted around her. First it tried to nestle in her perfectly styled mane. Rarity shook her head with disgust, and instead it flew towards her tail, brushing lightly against the lips of her labia. She felt a surge of unexpected, tingling pleasure, and turned her head back with shock and looked at the parasprite. It cooed gently at her, blinking its large green eyes, and then set off again, fleetingly teasing her with its wings. Rarity felt herself grow wet, and she felt a mixture of confusion and guilt. It was so strange, having this weird critter touch her in such a way, but the strangeness and wrongness of the situation aroused her. The parasprite returned to the sensitive area, seemingly reacting to the scent of the glistening wetness which now emanated from Rarity's vulva.
"Oh…oh my," Rarity said, her breathing growing shorter and shallower as the parasprite continued to pleasure her. "More! More!"
The critter seemed to understand Rarity's demands, and it grew more frenzied in it's flying, now rubbing quite vigorously, sending tumults of delight through Rarity, causing her to moan and shiver with ecstasy.
"Yes, yes!" The unicorn cried, as the parasprite entered her vulva again and withdrew. "I want you to go right inside me," she gasped, "Crawl inside of me, let me consume you!"
The parasprite acquiesced, creeping into her vagina until it was entirely inside. Rarity could feel it buzzing and fluttering deep inside of her as it penetrated deep into her. She writhed, enjoying the most bizarre feeling immensely.
"Enough, enough," she gasped eventually, as the pleasure began to turn to a slight discomfort. "Come out now."
But the parasprite did not respond this time, and it felt to Rarity as if it was crawling deeper inside of her. The feeling was now entirely distressing, and Rarity tried to strain her back end to force it out, but to no avail. She then felt a pain deep in her gut, as if something was stabbing her from the inside. A moment later, consumed with an ever growing pain, she realized what was happening. Parasprites were always hungry, and it was feasting on her insides.
"Oh no, come on, get out now!" she pleaded, as the parasprite continued to eat, tearing her insides to shreds. She collapsed to the floor, and a few seconds later the parasprite burst from her chest, sending blood and viscera flying all over the floor and the walls of Carousel Boutique. The critter began to gorge on the glistening innards now openly on display, gulping down Rarity's stomach and kidneys and liver with relish. It delved back into her, and what little life was left in her was fading fast. As the parasprite began to chew on her intestines, Rarity blacked out, never to regain consciousness.
A few hours had passed when there was another knock on the door of Carousel Boutique. There was no response.
"Rarity? Pinkie sent me over to see if you had finished." It was Spike. He waited a moment, and then tried again. "Rarity! Are you in there?"
The dragon thought a moment, and then entered Rarity's house through the cat flap, and was entirely unprepared for the sight that he beheld. Rarity was barely recognisable, just a hollowed out shell of skin and bones. As the smell of blood and muscle hit his nostrils he took a step back and vomited. He held his breath and edged towards her, hardly able to believe his eyes or his nose. There was a gaping wound in Rarity's belly, and her eyes were open and staring lifelessly into space. As he came nearer, he noticed an odd smell intermingled with the strong smell of flesh, one that set his scales on end. As he looked at Rarity's corpse, his gaze fell to her crotch, still wet from the orgasm the parasprite had given her, and he felt a strange arousal within him, and a dark thought.
"No one would ever know."
He had grown erect, and for a couple of moments he stood, uncertain of whether he should proceed. He knew it was wrong, but he had desired Rarity for such a long time, and this would now be the only chance he would get to finally release his fantasies. Of course, Rarity being dead and torn open wasn't ideal, but, Spike reasoned, it was this or nothing.
He positioned himself, and gingerly slid his member into Rarity's lifeless vagina. As he began to thrust back and forth, he closed his eyes, imaging that the cold, unresponsive unicorn before him was alive, bucking and responding him. He opened his eyes, suddenly feeling ashamed, and sped up his pounding, eager to come so he could get out of there and pretend that this had never happened.
However, just as he was about to climax, he saw of a flicker of movement within Rarity's corpse. He shook his head, thinking he was imagining things, but then there was the most terrible pain in his nether regions, the feeling of sharp teeth and powerful jaws crunching down agonisingly on his member.
He let out a piercing screech, and pulled away from the corpse. However, his penis was gone, replaced by streams of blood pouring from where it should have been. He gasped, as the blood splattered onto the floor, and before him fluttered the parasprite. Spike fell down, feeling ever weaker and more nauseous, until the profuse blood loss was too much for the little dragon to bear, and he died.
|
ratmage99
|
937
| 1 |
Comedy,Random
|
My Lidl Ponee: Frenship are Majic
|
Folo the avenchers of Twilite Sperkle as she lerns abot frenship
|
incomplete
| -1 | -1 |
<p>Twilite Sperkle is ponee with majic powr and she neds frens. Her frens are Aplejek, Rayritee, Flutrshyie, Pinky Peye, and Reynbow Desh. Also her asistent is Spyke and he dragen.</p>
|
everyone
| null |
2011-10-10T02:23:10+00:00
| 576 |
This is the start of a fanfic with each episode ending with something that would logically stop me from writing another chapter, but just as with all great cartoons, in the next episode, everything will be fine! Also, I feel that I may have made the character's personalities a bit too complex with this. If this hurts your eyes, MY BAD!
-------------------
One day Selestia was eating bagel and she had thought.
"I late for sun!" She say. "Oh well, noone care if I miss one day, rite?"
"Sister, you rais sun now!" Her sister Luna made mouth words.
"I just leave it, noone notice, promlem solve!" Selestia ate more bagel.
"They notice." Luna say.
Meenwile, Twilite Sperke was worry. "Nitemare Moon she return!"
"Are you shoore?" Spyke ask her.
"Yes, why else nite now?" Twilite run to frends.
"What going on? I was apel cooking apel stuff when you call me!" Apeljeck say.
"I was partee and fun!" Pinky Pi had partee hat and was dance.
"I was fly and speed for train!" Raynbow Desh had mad.
"I prety, give me jewls." Rayritee say.
"I scare of everything." Flutrshie say.
"Nitemare Moon is back and we must defeat her with cool blow ups." Twilite say.
"Sereously, I scare of everything. You all scary." Flutrshie hide.
"Jewls." Rayritee say.
"I need more fly!" Raynbow Desh flyed.
"Partee." Pinky was more dance.
"Must apel everything." Apeljeck say.
"Fine, I go and talk Selestia." Twilite say. She majic to Cantarlot and princess was there with bagel. "Princess, nite everywhere, Nitemare Moon back!"
"Nope!" Selesta say. "Just Selesta!" (Author's note: That pun hurt me more than it hurt you.)
"But no sun meen she back!" Twilite scared.
"Nope, I don't rays today, you do becauz this me day off." Selestia say.
"Okay." Twlite say and majiked, but majik no work! "Soree, princess, I break majik."
"You dead to me now." Selestia kikk her out and they live happy ever after. Also Raynbow Desh die becauz she fall. Poor Raynbow Desh.
TO BE CONTINU!
In all seriousness, this has been sitting in my box for weeks not being posted, so I came up with an idea. Hey! Let's post it! I'm so busy with Mating Season in Equestria, maybe this will ease my mind by completely ruining it.
|
BB
|
939
| 1 |
Main 6,Original Character,Spike,Comedy,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Nightmares Don't Last Forever
|
Nightmare Moon has beaten the Elements of Harmony, is Equestria doomed or are they... perfectly fine
|
incomplete
| 1,159 | 52 |
<p>The Elements of Harmony are defeated and Nightmare Moon stands on Equestria's throne as their new Queen. Is Equestria doomed to suffer through night time eternal or will they be... perfectly fine? Twilight finds her new job as slave or "personal assistant" to her new ruler to be a bit maddening. But is this evil sarcastic queen really as bad as she originally believed? And just how many others are diabolical enough to cash in on the change in staff? Can Nightmare truly run a peaceful Equestria? Let me just answer all these questions right here in the description...</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-09-27T01:17:18+00:00
|
2011-09-27T01:17:18+00:00
| 53,166 |
Nightmares Don’t Last Forever
Chapter 1
By BB
They had done it. She’d failed. Before the tyrant queen Nightmare Moon stood the six embodiments of harmony, newly affixed with their magical accessories. They had beaten her at every turn. They stood strong together and overcame every obstacle she had thrown at them. She felt… she felt…. so proud.
They were so brave to confront her. Face to face with an alicorn, practically a god. They sought to stop her with the belief in their new friend Twilight Sparkle and these elements that could best her. Perhaps proud is the wrong word Nightmare pondered in the scant moments she had before their oncoming attack. It’s not like I had done anything with them to be proud about. Sure I set the obstacles but it’s not like I helped them overcome their challenges or helped them grow into the ponies they are today. I did have a hand in their ancestors, so let’s say some kind of maternal pride. Yeah, let’s go with that; it sounds the least weird at least, the moon princess concluded.
I’m over thinking things again. This moment isn’t about me, or, it is, partly about me, but mostly them. My subjects, they should feel like heroes, if only for a little while longer. And the little purple unicorn had given such a heartfelt speech earlier concerning her friends; it took all of Nightmare’s strength to keep her sneering façade and not break out in a loving smile. The Princess thought she might have gone a bit overboard by breaking the elements but her sister’s student was more astute than she gave her credit for. She will be so useful.
Oh, how she had missed all of her little ponies, a thousand years is a long time. Granted, she wasn’t awake for most of it bu-
Oh wait, here comes the rainbow.
From the 6 floating ponies a light comprising of all their colors shot out; swirling and merging together into a magnificently ribbon like rainbow as it flew towards the dark queen. “NOOOOOOOOOOOO” she screeched pleadingly as the rainbow quickly encircled her. “NOOOOOOUUUUAAAAAAAAOOOOOO” she screamed again, perhaps overplaying it a bit much she sheepishly thought to herself. The princess tossed the thought aside, quickly focused on the task at hand. Weaving together the shield spell had taken quite a few more years to master than she was willing to admit (And even longer to come up with the concept of it), but she had plenty of time during her stay on the moon. Nightmare began surrounding herself in a dark shroud of chaos magic, counteracting the harmony of these ponies and their sparkly rainbow. The effect was so minimal it felt a bit anticlimactic. I might as well be sitting in an easy chair drinking a hot cup of cocoa while I’m inside this thing, the princess huffed, her impatience getting the best of her as she tapped a hoof impatiently on the base of her shield. Oh but I wish I could have fully appreciated the harmony magic in action. Perhaps I will get them to do their little trick again in one of my courts, the idea playing around in her head. It’s a shame I’m too busy keeping myself from being completely destroyed, that’s probably what would happen if I didn’t have this handy chaos shield spell. I’m almost sure of it.
After a few moments the princess felt the harmony magic slowly dissipating outside of the shield. Seizing the chance, she slipped into her cloud form and seeped into the cracks of the old decrepit castle. She moved outside of the now fading rainbow to assure its effects did not touch her. Better safe than sorry she mused. Nightmare moved quickly and reformed just behind the now unconscious group of ponies in a puff of smoke. Yes, it was most definitely maternal pride she felt while she stared at the exhausted group. Of course that doesn’t mean I have to be a loving mother Nightmare inwardly snickered.
“Oh, my little ponies, you tuckered yourselves out.” she cooed sarcastically working her way in between the sleeping group- suddenly stopping at the white unicorn and glancing down at her decapitated tail. “I might as well get that for you” Nightmare said in a huff, lowering her head and touching the scrap of a tail with her horn. A soft blue that matched her flowing star filled mane and tail spread from her horn and covered the white pony’s tail. Out of the magic sprang full, luscious new violet fur. Better than the last as it had not even seen a day’s worth of wear.
“I still can’t believe you helped that silly old serpent! I suppose I should go back and fix his ‘moostache’ too whenever I’m not too busy.” The princess all but giggled, remembering the event while she moved to the purple pony in front. “Ah Twilight Sparkle, my sister’s most faithful student, you have done well and served my sister to your best abilities” A wicked smirk played across Nightmare Moon’s face as she spoke “it is a shame my ever planning sister had not planned for me coming up with a counter plan! Mwah ha ha ha ha!” by the Stars playing the villain is so much fun she inwardly squealed in delight. But it was time to end this; they would be waking up soon… and look at that, right on time! What punctual ponies.
The group of six stirred and groaned, slowly finding their bearings “Oooh, my head” the blue pegasus pony groaned out, rubbing the side of her skull to alleviate some of the throbbing. Focusing the elements was not an easy task and had left the group thoroughly worn, Nightmare observed, as she settled into the cracks underneath them in her smoke form. This was good, she didn’t feel like actually fighting them, and in their weakened state she wouldn’t have to. Setting traps and blocking paths was one thing, but she wasn’t actually going to let anypony get hurt. Nightmare felt content simply waiting for her cue to return to the stage for her big finale.
Ooooh the goddess squealed to herself, having trouble concentrating with how excited she was getting. This is going to be so much fun!
“-but I reckon we really do represent the elements of friendship”
There it is!
“Indeed you do!” Came a dark hollow voice followed by a cackling laugh “Too bad it wasn’t enough to defeat ME!” The dark princess swirled up from the ground as she began to reconstitute her dark and terrible self, a lightning bolt or two was sent off around her for theatrical effect.
“No- no it can’t be!” Twilight gasped in disbelief. The group of ponies behind her mimiced her in her shocked horror struck face. “How did-”
“How did I withstand the elements of harmony?!” Nightmare cut her off in a booming, demanding voice. “The elements that I have already faced once before?! Do you take me for a foal TWILIGHT SPARKLE?” the princess sneered as she drew closer to the purple unicorn. Nightmare’s star filled mane wrapped itself around Twilight, lifting her into the air until she was eye to eye with the new ruler of Equestria.
“TWILIGHT!!” the recovering group of ponies yelled as the now limp unicorn was hoisted away from them.
“Face it, I have won, I am the ruler of these lands, I! Am! Victorious!” The princess’ eyes glowed menacingly white as the moon. They felt as if they were searing into Twilight’s very soul, and it petrified her. The unicorn could do nothing but stare back in blank horror. “And now I shall take my prize” a wicked grin played across the tyrants face. “YOU Twilight Sparkle. You are to be my slave from hereafter as punishment for your treasonous actions against your queen!”
Thi- this can’t be! Twilight’s mind floundered. I have to be dreaming, Celestia is gone, evil has won, I finally made some friends and now I have to leave them to be a slave to some usurper for the rest of my life!
Panic finally started to settle into Twilight. The purple unicorn struggled in the magical hair surrounding her “no, NO!” she tried to concentrate, find the magic; I just need enough to-
“Goodbye, my little ponies” Nightmare said in an evil hiss, her horn glowing with arcane power. She and Twilight were engulfed in a sparkling, white and blue light. The light faded leaving nothing in it’s place. They were gone, leaving behind an empty castle, and defeated friends.
The world burst into light. Twilight could feel herself being pulled into the magical stream. Its currents and waves of colors flowing around her, through her, and a feeling of weightlessness bore into her skin in strong waves. She opened her eyes and for a brief moment she saw a magnificent and powerful creature before her. Its deep shades of blues and resounding whites were in stark contrast with the surrounding cluster of swirling colors.
It was beautiful, this being was beautiful.
Then the world burst again. This time in darkness, the light was seemingly ripped away to be replaced with blindness. The creature faded into nothing along with everything else. Her eyes adjusted and found that this place wasn’t as dark as she thought, though dark it was, she could still see. Twilight began to survey her surroundings while she worked off her muddled state.
These columns, this tiling, this room, she recognized it. The purple unicorn was in Princess Celestia’s throne room. Though where are the guards, Twilight absentmindedly thought. The palace seems completely empty.
And I seem to be floating.
She remembered. Nightmare Moon came into view, staring her down. Terror washed over her once again, I have to get away I have to- no I have to face Nightmare- no I have to get away first, yes, first, concentrate.
Twilight focused her magic around herself, expelling the hair that entangled her in a burst of purple light. She landed, quickly rolling away and spinning to face her smiling captor: the alicorn goddess that was able to defeat Celestia, and the Elements of Harmony, and is currently the ruler of all of equestrian, all by herself- oh right there was a reason she was panicked. Panic was a perfectly natural and called for response to the current situation she was in.
So Twilight Sparkle, after reviewing her circumstances and weighing her options, which were nonexistent, decided to panic.
Her knees buckled. Her pupils became the size of peas. Twilight trembled as the moon princess sauntered closer to her. Nightmare let out a maniacal laugh. Wait… that wasn’t a maniacal laugh, that was…. a laugh, a regular bubbly light hearted laugh that cooled the soul in a way that you would expect a moon princess’s laugh to do.
Then she spoke. The black malice and arrogance missing from Nightmare’s speech, replaced with a sarcastic tone and… slightly less arrogance “I hope I didn’t scare you too bad Twilight, I do get carried away sometimes” she gave the unicorn as friendly a smile as her current black form and menacing armor would allow.
Surely somepony around is very good at ventriloquism or there was some sort of switch during that teleportation because this couldn’t be the same insane pony that had kidnapped me. Twilight scrounged up some half-baked reasoning while she felt her mind going numb.
“And please pick up your mouth, you’re going to get drool on my new floors” the princess joked, JOKED?!? She circled Twilight, using her goddess-like power to raise the purple pony’s jaw, which slapped up against the rest of the blank face that seemed to be plastered on. Twilight stared ahead, unable to comprehend what was happening anymore.
“Oh noo~” Nightmare said in a fake concerned tone, placing her hooves on her face in a worried expression “don’t tell me I broke you already! I was hoping to get some more fun first.” Nightmare’s hair whipped across Twilight’s flank, startling her out of her stupor.
The purple unicorn quickly backed away from Nightmare, the panicked look quickly reforming on her face “w- what’s going on?” she squeaked.
“Oh you know, coup of the millennia, nighttime eternal, getting furniture to match the new scene. I mean honestly all this gold and red just isn’t going to work out” the princess said nonchalantly, walking up towards her new throne.
“No!” Twilight said regaining some of her courage though still trembling “no why are you- why are you acting like this? Why aren’t you-” Nightmare cut her off, looking back at Twilight’s shaking frame “Completely insane? Off my rocker? Loooony? Well, I can’t help that my name is… never mind. I guess I can’t use that terrible joke anymore” and for a split second the princess almost looked… sad.
But that was impossible. You can’t just take over a country and be sad about anything, could you?
Whatever face she was making soon cleared as she perked back up “but let me guess, you’re wondering about my change in demeanor aren’t you? Well truth be told, that whole dark queen thing before. That, was the act. Wasn’t it fun though?” Nightmare quickly turned around and trotted up, coming face to face with Twilight. “Didn’t you have fun? You made all of those friends, and went on an adventure, and even fought a goddess, I know that would be fun in my book.”
Twilight was completely taken off guard, who was this menacing and sarcastic pony in front of her. “Yes… I… I did have fun, but-” Twilight shook her head attempting to dispel her confusion, priorities Sparkle priorities, pull yourself together. She’s just trying to mess with your head, Twilight assured herself. Ooooh if only the princess were here… “Wait! Where’s the princess, the real princess! What have you done with Celestia?!” The student demanded taking a step towards Nightmare.
The Princess’ smile spread from ear to ear. She had been waiting for that question. Quickly slipping into smoke and sliding across the room she solidified, now sitting regally atop the throne. “Oh that tired old mare” Nightmare sneered imposingly.
“Why…. I ATE her of course!!!” the princess’ eyes widened, her pupils grew smaller, and her smile seemed impossibly big for her face “Those sun goddesses are just delectable. Seasoned correctly they can be the finest meal you’d ever eaten. I saved some if you want to try it, no sense in letting it go to waste.”
Twilight stared back in disbelief, mouth agape yet again. She had lost track of how many times she had made this face tonight. “No, you’re lying!” the unicorn struggled.
Nightmare let out another maniac- regular moon princess laugh. “It’s not lying if you don’t expect anypony to believe you” she jested letting out another small laugh that garnered a rather unpleasant look from Twilight. “oooh~ fine… you big party pooper” the princess jested again leaning forward in her chair for emphasis. “Sweety. You can come in now” the princess seemingly called out to nopony.
The great engraved stone doors behind Twilight creaked open as a pony entered the throne room. The guest slowly made their way towards them. While it was still dark in the night lit castle room, Twilight could make out most of her features.
She was a nervous looking unicorn with light pink hair; wavy, with small curls at the ends. With a white coat that seemed to accentu- wait, she had wings. So that would make her a pega-… no… no it couldn’t be.
“Twilight Sparkle…” Nightmare announced. “I introduce to you… Sunny!” Even though Twilight wasn’t looking at the moon princess she could just hear the incredible smile sprawled on her dark face.
“Hello…” Sunny squeaked looking nervously at Twilight “um, Princess Nightmare Moon, it is rather dark in here. If it wouldn’t be too much bother could you-”
“Oh yes, of course, of course, where are my manners?” the princess’ horn glowed and the torches lining the room shot alight in a brilliant white flame. The illumination lit up the room and its occupants.
The light allowed Twilight to examine the white pony after a couple of blinks. She looked… well she looked like any other pony, completely normal. If it were not for her slightly longer horn and wings, Twilight wouldn’t even think that it might be, that it could possibly be… “is that… Princess Celestia?” her voice trembled. Twilight’s eyes then fell to the white alicorn’s flanks, and there it was. Celestia’s sun cutie mark blew any lingering doubts in Twilight’s mind.
“Why yes, she is. And it is quite rude to talk about a pony like that while they are standing in the room with you. Much less look at them in such a… lewd manner” Nightmare said in an annoyed and disgusted tone, though the smile on her face quickly dispelled any belief that she felt either emotion.
Too shocked to pay Nightmare any attention, the purple unicorn stared at sunny with a frightened look on her face. “You’re…” Twilight breathed.
“Celestia?” the pink mane’d pony helped with an unsure tone. “Apparently, or at least that’s what I’ve been told.” Sunny let out an unsure laugh as she stared between Twilight and Nightmare. “Though I like ‘Sunny’ better so um, if you wouldn’t mind...” The white alicorn wasn’t sure if she was supposed to say something else or get some silverware because she felt she could cut this tension with a knife. Oh that was a good one, maybe a joke will break the ice the sun princess thought. It is pretty chilly in here. Oh Sunny you are on a roll, the purveyor of ‘jokes’ complimented herself. Sunny took a deep breath “Should I go get some-”
“What did you do to her?” Twilight blurted out turning back to the residing princess, and away from the now disheartened one.
“Well if you must know… I took away her memories, her power, and all of her experiences” the Princess retorted with a matter of fact look on her face, the smile gone.
“You- you MONSTER!” Twilight choked out, her teacher, her mentor, the closest pony she had ever been to was… was…
“Monster?” Nightmare asked quietly, her eyes set aglow, the torches dwindled as the princess sucked in any ambient light around her.
“Monster?” she didn’t yell, she wasn’t even talking very loudly, but her voice cut through both of the ponies witnessing the scene. The dark princess’ edges shifted as her coat became an inky blackness that reflected not even a hint of light. Her eyes glowed ever brighter “a MONSTER would have sent her sister into the sun for exile!!!” the throne room shook and reverberated with each syllable. The blackness surrounding the princess whipped around the columns and furniture as she floated off her throne towards the two shaking ponies. “Would you like to go live on the sun SUNNY, Twilight seems to think you should, I hear it’s lovely this time of millennia!” the moon princess seethed as she closed in on the two frightened ponies too petrified to even look away.
Twilight knew for certain now that the Nightmare Moon that had crashed the summer sun festival was just acting. This was the real Queen of Equestria, and all her terrible glory.
Nightmare stared at the two quivering beings in front of her as her rage poured out. I lost control again the despondent moon goddess thought. Quickly berating herself she drew back her power to her previous form, relighting the torches she gave a heavy sigh “oh Sunny, I’m so sorry.” Nightmare sat slowly in front of the shuddering, smaller princess. She wrapped her dark hooves around the white pony bringing her in to a tight hug. Sunny flinched at her touch, energy from the dark rage still flowing around her. The terror, however, slowly ebbed away as she gently sank into the soft obsidian fur. “I would never, never hurt you” the moon princess comforted, stroking Sunny’s pink mane with a hoof. “Even if you betrayed me, even if you hurt me, even if… you exiled me for a thousand years, I would never hurt you. I love you so much Sunny.” Sunny’s trembling stopped as Nightmare slowly released her from the hug, small smiles played across both their faces “I love you so much, you know that don’t you?”
Sunny looked deep into the moon princess’ teal eyes and knew “yes, I know. I… I love you too sister” a warm smile spread across the white alicorns face.
“Oh and I love you sis” Nightmare responded bringing Sunny in for another hug, her voice cracking, betraying her emotional state.
The sun princess giggled to herself, burying her face in her sister’s arms “you already said that.”
“S- sister?!?” Twilight cried, interrupting the two hugging princesses who seemed to have forgotten she was even there.
“Oh Twilight Sparkle” Nightmare said with squinted eyes and an evil grin on her face “I especially love you!” letting go of Sunny, Nightmare strolled towards to Twilight, crossing her hooves playfully in front of her as she walked “I love you so much, my little slave” she said coyly.
“I am not a slave!” Twilight responded dejectedly.
“Well not looking like that you’re not” Nightmare retorted bringing her face up to Twilight’s. A small unnoticed blue shimmer ran up the dark alicorn’s horn “and don’t bother trying to take them off, you won’t be able to.”
“Take what-” she looked down at her two hooves. Yup, they were there all right, all purple and hoovy. She slowly looked back at the rest of herself… Yup; she was definitely purple, nothing out of the ordinary here. Just a purple magic unicorn purple pony.
“I think it looks kinda’… pretty” Sunny commented in a helpful tone.
“Pretty? Hah, ha ha. What’s pretty? I’m not wearing anything, yup, completely naked” Twilight responded in a high pitched voice, a small cracked smile on her face with pinprick sized irises of varied size.
Nightmare moon let out a bubbly laugh “oh now I most certainly broke her, what’s wrong Twilight? Don’t you like the clothes your sovereign has bestowed upon you?” she asked flirtatiously, tapping the unicorns new horn bracelet.
This seemed to awaken Twilight up out of whatever delusion she had placed herself in. The unicorn flustered “N- No I I I I do not like these these clothes you have forced on me! I- I look like some kind of… of… oriental belly dancer!”
And that is exactly what she looked like.
Her horn was outfitted with a small violet bracelet, letting down two chains that attached themselves to her tiara of harmony; now a similar shade of silver. On her neck rode a thick, similarly dyed metal bracer with a small silver moon engraved in the centerpiece. Tied to that were two long light purple pieces of easily seen-through silk that were draped loosely along her sides and flank, tied together again to her tail in a small bow. The extra length of silk flowed behind her, drooping between her haunches. The fabric’s end neatly embellished with tassels that nearly hit the floor. On each hoof was adorned a matching silk which spun down each leg in a tight wrapping ending in a small bow just above the base of her hooves. And the most striking piece of apparel was the long pieces of silk that connected her right and left hooves together. The ribbons held a slight similarity to the chains normally worn by the incarcerated. A completely unintentional similarity, a certain alicorn would respond if the subject were ever brought up.
The princess gasped mockingly “and where have you seen ‘oriental belly dancers’ young mare?”
Twilight looked away blushing causing her coat to turn a brighter purple “I’ve read books that have… illustrations” lowering her head she spoke quieter voice to herself “so many illustrations” with wide eyes, and a blushing face, she remembered just what those ponies had been doing in their similar garb.
At the confession Nightmare let out a gleeful laugh “oh by the stars I was informed you were a tad reclusive but I never would have thought that you didn’t get out at all” the way she put emphasis on those last two words caught Twilight’s attention.
“What do you mean by that?!” the purple mare asked incredulously.
“Tell me little filly have you ever even kissed anypony?” the moon princess asked with a sly smile.
“Yes! Of course I-”
“Parents don’t count” Nightmare cut her off.
The red faced pony quickly closed her mouth, looking away to blush yet again “I don’t see how that has any relevance to anything! Much less the current situation” Twilight said in a nervous business-like tone. Though something the princess had said buzzed through the unicorn’s head again “wait, ‘informed’? How do you know about me at all? I don’t imagine the moon gets much reception”.
“I told you before” Nightmare professed, ignoring the little moon comment “I took my sister’s memories, and… reviewed them a bit. Oh don’t give me that look I got her permission first. Now don’t change the subject!” The moon princess’ voice took on a sultry tone “you know, I can help you out with that little… problem of yours.” There it was again thought Twilight. The way she put emphasis on those words made Twilight feel a bit- no! She can’t get caught up in her games, stay focused; there is something much more important to discuss.
“No I think this is the perfect time to change the subject” Twilight said confidently planting herself directly in front of Nightmare Moon. “Because you can’t rule Equestria, you know why?”
“Why?” the princess asked with little enthusiasm.
“Because you would have night eternal, and if it were night eternal than everypony and everything would die from lack of sunlight! Granted, it would take the animals and ponies a bit longer to die than the plants, but that’s beside the point! If everyone were dead, you would have nobody to rule! So you might as well just stop now, and save everyone the trouble of dying.”
The moon goddess paused for a moment before responding “you think it’s the ruling that I want?”
“Huh?”
“Nothing nothing, well I guess we should get down to business. Twilight, Sunny, come with me if you would” the moon princess beckoned, turning away and walking out to the small balcony that overlooked most of Equestria.
Sunny put on a bright smile, lifting a hoof to her head in mock salute as she followed closely “yes ma’am! This is the part you said to look forward to right sis?”
“Yes, it most certainly is” Nightmare replied with a small smile.
Twilight stood perplexed as the two princesses walked away from her “what? What part is this?” she asked quickly as she galloped to catch up.
The two alicorns were sitting on the balcony staring up into the star filled sky when Twilight joined them. Nightmare let in a deep breath as she inhaled the magic of the night, gathering her power. “Hold on to your socks” she said in a dramatic voice looking at the purple unicorn “here comes the magic part.”
Twilight scoffed, “these” she held up one of her silk adorned hooves “are not-” a flash of light from Nightmare’s horn interrupted her. Magic was definitely coming, strong magic.
Twilight had seen Princess Celestia raise the sun and moon countless times and it didn’t take near as much effort as it appeared Nightmare Moon to be putting into it. The unicorn’s mind raced. Maybe she was weaker than her sister, no that couldn’t be it; maybe she wasn’t just raising a spatial entity. Though compared to that how many things could be harder?!
Twilight’s thoughts buzzed with the possibilities while Nightmare’s horn developed a cone of pure magic that encased it. Her forehead became completely hidden behind a sheet of blinding light. This is it girl, the princess thought to herself. Sink or swim, if you can’t do this then- No, that’s not going to happen, you can do this. You. Can. Do. This. Concentrate.
Wind was whipping around the group at the moon princess’ labor, except it wasn’t wind, it was night. Night was whipping around the group, smells of the crisp dark air. Sounds of the nocturnal animals making their rounds. Memories of the beautiful starry sky, the pearl colored moon, nights in solitude. The feeling of night invaded every sense.
Light began to peek over the edge of the world, not in shades of orange and yellow. No, there were no shades. This light was pure white and it mixed only minimally with the dark night around it sending off a small white corona. It shone with a purity that would make poets speak of its appearance in despairing tones, for they did not have enough words to describe it. Some tried and came pretty close though.
What rose above the horizon wasn’t the sun, but the moon. Not The Moon, but a moon. A moon with not a single crater marking its surface, shining with its own magical white light. A light that spread across all of Equestria. The colors from the surface’s plants and rivers rebounding more vivid than they ever did before.
And so the night stayed.
Behind the new moon shadowed the blackness of night, with pinpricks of stars poking through. As the new moon rose through the sky the stars just as visible as they were during the night bent around their new sibling in the sky. The earth was lit and the sky was black, a more surreal sight would be hard to find. And it was beautiful.
Twilight and Sunny were speechless, staring at this miracle before them. Twilight broke the silence “this… is amazing, the stars are exactly as they should be! There’s Altair, and and Arcturus, and there, there’s Capella” Twilight gushed like a school filly meeting a famous… star. “This is amazing! This is impossible!”
Twilight’s words began mumbling together as she talked faster and faster “the light coming offa thatthatthat moon is enough to light the ground just as much as the sun maybe even brighter which would mean that the atmosphere should be just as visible or more so absorbing and scattering the light before it hits the---” time passed. Then Twilight breathed, a huge smile playing across her face “it’s impossible, how did you do this?” she questioned looking back at Nightmare.
The princess scoffed “well it’s good to know at least some ponies will appreciate how… how hard that… was” suddenly she collapsed. Falling to her knees, her head lulling forward as her eyes unfocused a soft cry escaping her lips.
“Sister!” Sunny cried rushing to the moon princess’ side.
“I’m fine, I’m… fine” the moon princess weakly looked up at Sunny reassuringly “it just took a bit more out of me than I thought it would, I’m fine.” A low groan liberated itself from her heaving lungs “just… just let me sit here for a bit.”
Sunny sat with her, a pained expression on her face, not knowing what else she could do “sister…” Sunny whispered.
Nightmare gave a nervous cough as she examined Twilight “hm, the flabbergasted look suits the student well. How many times is that tonight? I lost track myself.”
Twilight was indeed flabbergasted, and it showed. Tonight had held one shocking surprise after another “how… why-”
“I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut you off there, there’s a bit of an important matter we need to discuss at the moment” the princess donned a somber face, her eyes unblinkingly trained on Twilight. “First, say my name.”
Twilight couldn’t help but comply with the demand. “… Nightmare Moon” the unicorn slowly announced.
“Good, you know who I am.” Nightmare lifted her head. “Sister to Celestia, ruler of Equestria, I will have night eternal, my subjects will live normally and happy… along with my sister as well. Nopony will be hurt through my actions as long as I am on the throne, and Equestria will thrive in peace and prosperity. So, there is just one thing I need to ask you.” Twilight froze; she knew the next question before the dark princess sitting in front of her asked
“Twilight Sparkle, will you stand against me?”
End Chapter 1
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Main 6,Original Character,Spike,Comedy,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Nightmares Don't Last Forever
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Nightmare Moon has beaten the Elements of Harmony, is Equestria doomed or are they... perfectly fine
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incomplete
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<p>The Elements of Harmony are defeated and Nightmare Moon stands on Equestria's throne as their new Queen. Is Equestria doomed to suffer through night time eternal or will they be... perfectly fine? Twilight finds her new job as slave or "personal assistant" to her new ruler to be a bit maddening. But is this evil sarcastic queen really as bad as she originally believed? And just how many others are diabolical enough to cash in on the change in staff? Can Nightmare truly run a peaceful Equestria? Let me just answer all these questions right here in the description...</p>
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2011-09-28T20:04:05+00:00
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Nightmares Don’t Last Forever
Chapter 2
“Yes”
Twilight squeezed her eyes shut, expecting to be blasted to the sun at any moment for not showing allegiance to her new ruler.
A soft laugh answered “Well then I guess you had better get on with it.”
The purple unicorn opened an eye inquisitively still expecting some sort of discomforting repercussion. Many, many discomforting repercussions. Most scenarios spinning through her head involved copious amounts of dungeons and chains, and yet Nightmare Moon was just sitting serenely across from her. Flanking the moon princess sat her sister Sunny, the goddess previously known as Princess Celestia; a white alicorn who was busily trying to hide her distressed state with any number of distracting things around the balcony. Sunny was currently picking at a small crack in the floor, feeling yet again like she really didn’t, and shouldn’t, be around for so serious a conversation.
“Get on with what?” An inquisitive Twilight ventured. This has to be another one of her tricks the purple unicorn determined.
“Why, stopping me of course” Nightmare stated with a wide grin. “You aren’t going to get a much better time than now to do it. I mean just look how weak I am~” the princess voiced in a high pitched whiny tone. “I’m sure even your little yellow and pink friend could take me in my current state.” Time passed and the dark pony began tapping her hoof in mock annoyance “Well get on with it, it’s not like I have all ‘day’. Just blast me with some fire or maybe you want to use your signature special move, ‘Star Sparkle’ on me!”
“I’m not going to hurt you! And I most certainly do not have a signature move. And even if I did I wouldn’t call it that” Twilight said getting a little annoyed with the princess’ constant antics. Then the current situation dawned on Twilight. I… I could take her, couldn’t I? I mean, defeat her, Twilight quickly corrected herself. But I couldn’t just hurt a defenseless pony that isn’t fighting back, even if they were an evil, sarcastic, troublesome witch. “I… I’m not going to hurt you”. A thought surfaced in Twilight’s mind, spreading into a smug grin on her face “I’m just going to force you tell me how to restore Sunny, I mean Celestia… to her real self” Twilight said in a confident tone.
Sunny perked up at her mention. The floor had been a great distraction. She looked between Twilight and Nightmare, trying to read the mood. Oh, still tense huh? Sunny thought drearily. The mini sun princess’ thoughts turned inward, Twilight’s last remark compelling her to wonder just who her ‘self’ really was. I may have only a couple hours of memories but it doesn’t take a detective to figure out that I probably wasn’t the most social of ponies if this awkwardness I feel around other ponies is any clue. Though what kind of pony am I exactly? Let’s see, I like jokes, there’s an important discussion going on and I’m trying to ignore it so I’m probably very carefree, I’m very open and casual… as long as it’s around ponies I know, which is just my sister for right now, does that make me shy? Yeah I guess it does. But I would like to get to know Twilight Sparkle as well, she seems like such a nice pony. Which means I’m not antisocial at least, Sunny thought happily to herself. Oh I do so hope I can get to know more ponies, though I’m obviously no good at these tense discussions. I guess I’ll just resign to my personality and keep quiet while sister takes care of all the important stuff, the thought relieving the goddess of a great amount of worry.
During Sunny’s inward musings, Nightmare had gently picked herself up. She wobbled slightly while she addressed the purple pony in her now standard sarcastic tone “Sorry Sparkle, but even if you did have the skills to, coerce, the information out of me. I no longer have the means to restore my sister’s memories”
Twilight’s heart sunk, her demeanor deflating “No… you’re just lying again!” Twilight made a step towards Nightmare a desperate look on her face “just- just tell me!” A purple shimmer sprang up from Twilight’s horn.
“Easy now” Nightmare took a few short steps towards the purple unicorn, the effort making her wince. “Twilight, you are going to be interacting with me a lot in the future. And to make this go as smoothly as possible there’s something that I’m going to have to give you to stay by my side.”
Unease permeated Twilight’s voice “What are you giving me?” The purple unicorn kept her horn lit with caution at how close the dark princess was getting. Twilight gulped down the dread building in her throat, her slight muscles strung taught against her frame. Nightmare lowered her head, bringing her teal eyes level with Twilight’s violet. Her eyes, they’re so… exotic, the observation floated through Twilight’s head as she lost her train of thought. So much like a dragon’s, the teal color seemed to be drawing her focus like a gentle swirling whirlpool. The purple unicorn was lost in their depths.
“The truth.”
“Huh, whah?” Twilight snapped back into reality
“I’m going to give you the truth, all the time. I will never lie to you, and you will serve under me as my personal… attendant? We’ll think of a proper title for you later” Nightmare’s normal snappy mannerisms quickly returned. “But for now, I am feeling so very, very exhausted. Let us retire for the morning shall we?”
At the mere mention of rest the purple unicorn realized just how exhausted she was. She had a right to be exhausted, not only did she fail to sleep the previous night, but she braved the Everfree Forest, fought a goddess, and perhaps most taxing of all was dealing with said goddess in these last few conversations. And with the thought of rest came the overpowering sense of failure, and just how unfinished things seemed. I… can’t rest can I? I’ve been through so much these last two days. And it was all for nothing! I lost. I lost everything. These dark thoughts scattered through the unicorn’s mind, the weight of it all spread across her body.
Nightmare’s new sun must be increasing the gravity too somehow, I feel so heavy. The thought made no sense yet Twilight paid it no mind, her attention drifting back to her failures. I failed, I failed I failed I failed everyone. Twilight’s eyes watered as she fell to her knees. What am I supposed to do now?
“You’re supposed to be escorting me to bed” Nightmare said with a huff. The princess lit her horn and brought it down to Twilights head. The second it touched all of the purple unicorn’s apprehensions and misgivings were pulled away like cobwebs from her thoughts.
Twilight jumped back up, the weights on her lifted “How did you- what did- did you read my mind?!?” Twilight yelled in disbelief.
“Well, it’s not like I was trying to” Nightmare said indignantly. “You were practically yelling out your feelings, and our thought patterns are eerily in tune. Oh oh! Check this out” the moon princess bubbled in excitement. Testing TESTING 1 2 3, do you read me Twilight Sparkle? The princess yelled in her head.
“AH! Stop that!” Nightmare’s words sprang directly into Twilight’s brain.
The princess giggled at her attendant’s expense “Oh this is going to be fun. Just remember to keep your thoughts on a lower setting from now on. The more you feel about something the more it’s going to get leaked out. Fair warning, I’m not the only pony that’s adept at mind magic.” A smirk forms on Nightmare’s face. “Make sure especially to keep a lid on thoughts of the more, provocative nature. We wouldn’t want anypony else finding out your little tics, now would we?”
“I- I do not have provocative thoughts!” Twilight sputtered back
“You do now~”
An image popped up in Twilights head “AAAAAAAH I did not think that!”
Nightmare burst out laughing, earning her another death glare from Twilight.
Nightmare wobbled again “Oooh boy, I am losing it, way past my bedtime.” The princess looked down at Twilight who seemed to be suffering from similar sleep deprival symptoms. “Past both our bedtimes it seems.” Nightmare glanced behind her “Oh Sunny, would you mind lending us a shoulder? It would appear that both of us have forgotten how to walk.”
Sunny jumped at the chance to be included in the activities again. She had just gotten done counting the leaves on the nearby tree and had no idea what to do next. “Oh yes of course sister!”
“Wha-oh, I don’t think I need help walking-” Twilight began
Sunny swooped in between Twilight and Nightmare “Nonsense, you look like you’re about to fall over any second!” The sun princess extended her wings and wrapped them over the two ponies beside her, bringing them in to rest against her. “OH...” Sunny gasped, realizing just how forward she was being with her new acquaintance “Well, I mean, you really don’t have to- I don’t- if you don’t need my help, that’s ok too.” Sunny looked away nervously
“No no, it’s ok… Sunny” Twilight conceded. “Thank you very much, that is very nice of you” Twilight took some weight off of her tired legs as she rested up against her past mentor. They began their trek off the balcony, and through the castle’s arching marble corridors. “If only your sister were as thoughtful and considerate as you are” The unicorn said shooting a smirk over at Nightmare, who promptly sent back a stuck out tongue. The act of which forcing Twilight to cast a scrunchy face at the dark princess, who deemed it necessary to make an equally silly face by puffing up her cheeks.
A sun goddess’s giggle interrupted the exchange. “Thanks Twilight. By the way, the funny faces store had just called, and they were wondering if you could give them their funny faces back!” another giggle escaped the goddess’ lips at her own joke.
Polite, pity laughs escaped from the other two, each finding something else in the empty hallways to pretend to look at instead of Sunny.
“Eeeh, good one Sunny”
“Ha ha, yeah…”
A happily content Sunny accepted the new silence as another confrontation successfully averted. Oh, I must have been the best comedian princess ever, the “best comedian princess” thought to herself.
The trio walked along in silence until they reached the royal bedchambers. The room’s door crafted in a similar fashion to the one leading in to the throne room, though this one was considerably smaller. It arched high above anypony’s head, with two large engraved double doors sitting majestically against the elegant stone masonry that surrounded it. Sunny magically opened the doors which lead to a large circular domed room. Opposite the doorway stood an archway leading out to a small balcony that let in plenty of the new light coming from the bright moon.
The room was decorated with silver and gold banners and linings hanging from the walls. Down their line of sight the room seemed to be mirrored on either side with furniture suitable for a bedroom. Both sides had matching desks and dressers with seemed to try and keep the mesh of light and darker colors together as gold and silver lined each one evenly. The only noticeable differences in furniture style were the two large ornate beds lined against opposite ends of the wall. The left bed held soft pink covers and drapes, while the right sported a darker blue.
As Twilight took account of the contents of room she realized that she may be the only non-goddess pony to have set foot in these bedchambers since… ever. Princess Celestia’s room had always been private, even from her most faithful student. Twilight noticed the cluttered sun princess’ desk and general side of the room, and how in contrast the opposite side seemed completely devoid of any life. This can’t be a new addition, pondered Twilight. This furniture looks incredibly old. How long has Celestia had her room like this?
“Uuuuhg too bright!” Nightmare moaned. The heavy curtains hanging over the archway leading to the balcony fell as blue magical energy wrapped around them, shielding the room from the moonlight and plunging the occupants into a half-darkness, though small slivers of light still permeated the edges of the drapes. “Aah, that’s better. And yes, Sparkles, apparently the room has been like this since the castle was built, and no, I wasn’t reading your mind.” Nightmare stuck out her tongue “You’re just easy to follow.”
Twilight replied with a soft humph and mumble about the incorrect usage of her name and how she wasn’t thinking about that at all. The moon princess giggled as she put her full weight back on her hooves. Nightmare stretched and trotted over to the dark blue bed “Thank you very much for the escort Sunny. Now for some much needed rest.”
“No problem sis” Beamed Sunny as she began walking to her own appropriately colored bed.
“Well? Are you coming my little pony?” Nightmare said in a saucy tone, slowing down on her trot to sway her hips seductively “You must be so tired…”
“Wait, what? No, I am not sleeping in the same bed as you” Twilight said adamantly, also I don’t trust you to keep your dark little hooves to yourself. “I’m going to sleep with Ce-Sunny.” The unicorn scoffed and trotted slowly to the pink bed. Abruptly a blue corona surrounded Twilight, lifting her off the ground and above the dark blue bed the moon princess was now laying on.
“Oh Twilight~” Nightmare cooed “You act as if you have a choice.” Down plopped a frowning purple unicorn, her arms folded in defiant acceptance of her current situation. “Oh, and one more thing…” Nightmare leaned herself closer to Twilight, and lowered her head down to the purple unicorn’s horn. The moon pincess’s breath flowed across Twilights bangs, brushing them away from her forehead. The alicorn lightly tapped the silver bracelet with her snout. Lingering for a bit, the princess blew out a warm gust of air through her nose that hit Twilight’s horn dead on. Noting the small shiver play across the smaller pony’s body Nightmare smirked and pulled away “There, all naked and ready for bed.”
“What did-” Twilight looked down to realize that she was indeed without her garments, though at Nightmare’s comment wishing she was clothed in anything at the moment. The bracelet still adorning her horn hardly made a difference.
“Just a tap of that bracelet will bring out and pull back your lovely new outfit and tiara. Pretty handy huh?” Nightmare boasted
“Fascinating” Twilight said with a vacant uninterested face while Nightmare tapped the bracelet with her hoof a couple more times playfully. The garments swished in and out of the accessory at each of the moon princess’ tap.
“Oh, don’t pretend you aren’t simply frothing with questions as to how it works” Nightmare said, a quick flash from dark her horn liberated her own armor.
The scene gave pause to Twilight’s apathetic demeanor, awestruck with just how slender the moon princess looked without all of her intimidating armor. She might even be more fragile looking than Princess Celestia. Though she somehow kept that look of strength that let you know she could lop your head off with a flick of her hoof. And her star filled mane… Nightmare’s helmet must have been holding most of it down as it now naturally filled up the top of her head and surrounding her even more beautifully. The night mane even came forward a bit to cover one of her eyes a bit like Celestia’s hair had done. Twilight watched as the princess slipped under the covers across from her at the head of the bed. She moves so elegantly, even when- Twilight shook her head at what the princess just said, choosing to examine anything else at the moment “Uhhhg” how would I even ‘froth’ with questions. Twilight smartly chose not to argue with the alicorn on the subject. Later, when I’m not so exhausted, she determined.
“Well then, I guess I’ll be going to bed now. On this side of the bed” the purple unicorn stated flatly pointing to the foot of the bed as she grabbed one of the fluffy pillows. Luckily the bed was large enough that the two wouldn’t be meeting hooves in the middle, even if Twilight were as tall as Nightmare. The fact brought at least some solace to the unicorn.
“But what if I get cooold?” The moon princess whined in response.
“Goodnight!” Twilight snapped
“Good morning” A soft voice from the other side of the room corrected, followed by a small giggle.
A similar giggle came from the head of her bed “Good morning, Twilight Sparkle”
A light, grudging good morning and Twilight slipped under the covers, drifting off to sleep. Or, at least, that is what she would have liked to do. Unfortunately her mind was still buzzing, trying to sort out everything that had happened this long day, and then decide what to do with the future, and on what her new friends were doing, and if Spike will be ok, and if she left the oven on in that tree house in Ponyville, and that she had only been in it for a couple of hours and it was extremely silly to even think the oven would have-beside the point. She had a lot on her mind, and sleep was not going to come graciously to this purple pony.
After a few tries to shut off her brain, which took a good 30 minutes or so, Twilight gave up and deemed it impossible. Maybe I can try counting gems hopping over a fence, Twilight considered. Spike had said that worked for him plenty of times. Though maybe I should try a food I like. Is that the reason why he does that, because he likes gems? Or is it because of the aesthetic appearance that lulls him to sleep. I’ll have to perform a test, tonight I’ll count gems, and tomorrow I’ll count… grapes, or something. I like grapes. Oh but what if I don’t go to sleep at- something stirred on the other side of her bed, interrupting her train of thought. Twilight had nearly forgotten that she was sharing a bed with the current tyrant of Equestria. She peeked through a half closed eye to see if she could spot anything in the still darkness.
There! A large bulge in the sheets was steadily moving closer to her. It snuck quietly, and with as little disturbance to the bed as possible, and it was coming straight at her. Twilight was a quick thinker, or rather quick to jump to conclusions, and it didn’t take her long to figure out just what was going to happen now.
Twilight froze and her muscles clenched in fear. Ok Twilight, Twilight began talking to Twilight. You thought something like this would happen, it’s definitely not a surprise or anything. Especially after what she had you dressed in. Just stay calm and enact the plan you concocted for this very occasion.
Twilight hadn’t concocted any plans.
AAAAAAAH Horsefeathers! Hay! Horsefeathers! Horsefeathering Hay Celestia! I haven’t concocted any plan for this! I just wished really really really hard that it wouldn’t happen. The unicorn screamed silently to herself. I mean what am I supposed to do, just say ‘no’!? ‘No means No, my queen. Now I know that you could take me whether I agreed to it or not, but I have faith you’re going to respect my wishes and- oh by Celestia why are there tentacles coming out of your hair?!?’ Yes that is exactly what is going to happen, and they will be going everywhere!
Nightmare had just popped out of the covers directly behind Twilight, laying her head down on the same pillow. The purple unicorn could feel the princess’ hot breath playing against the back of her neck. She shivered uncontrollably at the heat. No, don’t do that! She yelled at herself, this isn’t enjoyable, you aren’t going to enjoy it. Oh! I know, just pretend you’re asleep, she definitely won’t do anything if you’re sleeping. Oh horsefeathers that is so dumb that is the dumbest thing ever dumb dumb dumby dumb, oh Celestia why isn’t she talking? I expected her to be taunting me in my powerless, weak, feeble, helplessness by now.
Nightmare’s front hoof lifted up and slowly traveled across Twilight’s upturned side, coming to a rest on her stomach. Twilight bit her lip harshly to keep herself from reacting to it. Why isn’t she saying anything, why isn’t she talking, she should be talking, the purple unicorn went through the possibilities. The hoof pulled her in, Twilight’s mind let out a small squeak in surprise though thanks to the biting she was able to suppress it before it escaped from her mouth. She was now pressing tightly against Nightmare’s stomach. The princess’ breathing and heartbeat could be clearly felt against Twilight’s back, the hoof twisted even tighter around Twilight’s abdomen. Nightmare’s larger form encircled Twilight in a curve that mirrored the moon. A single thought crossed both of the pony’s minds as their racing thoughts stilled, allowing them to drift off to sleep.
‘Warm’.
Sunny trotted down the long marble halls whistling a bright morning tune. She had just left the royal kitchen after preparing two meals for her dearest sister and hopeful new friend. The alicorn carried the newly made meals on a pair of foldable table trays, balanced squarely on her rump. Some forethought compelled her to bring along two cups of black bubbling coffee, with some cream and sugar in case they preferred their coffee a little sweeter. Sunny didn’t know how she knew what coffee was, with having her memories taken and everything. But she didn’t dwell on it seeing as it was magic and she didn’t have to explain it to anyone. Or she hoped she wouldn’t have to at least.
Sunny opened the doors leading back into the silent, dark bedchambers with Nightmare Moon and Twilight were still sleeping soundly on their bed. The sun princess had gotten up only a short while ago and thought that her two roommates would enjoy a nice breakfast when they woke up. It was now the middle of the day, the three ponies having slept for around 6 hours. Not a complete night’s sleep, but I can’t just have them wasting this new beautiful, day Sunny thought cheerily to herself.
Sunny extended the legs on the trays and plopped them down next to the bed, crawling out from underneath them. Looking towards the bunk, the white pony saw Twilight and Nightmare lying tangled up in the sheets in a bit of a compromising manner, but looking comfortable enough. “Some ponies must not be very good at sleeping” Giggled Sunny, examining the small mound of pony. Nightmare had curled into a ball, the sheets weaving in, out, and around her haphazardly, while in her dark hoofs were held a dark blue tail with purple and pink streaks going through it. Connected to that tail was one purple rump belonging to Twilight, who was entwined equally in fabric as well as in Nightmare Moon. The purple unicorn was hugging one of the dark princess’ back legs while her head rested on her crescent moon cutie mark. This scene, Sunny determined, was adorable. Yes, this is definitely what adorable means.
Sunny trotted over to the large curtains blocking the sunlight from entering the room. “Rise and shine girls!” The princess yelled as she pulled back the curtains. Light rushed into the room, much to the discomfort of the two sleeping ponies.
Annoyed hissing emanated from the bed, oddly enough from both of the ponies; neither of whom felt like rising nor shining today. Sunny giggled to herself again. Oh gosh those tired ponies really do need to ‘snake’ up! Ha ha, oh Sunny you are just too ‘punny’! Sunny snorted at her own pun mastery. The ‘punny’ alicorn headed back towards the two groaning ponies, a huge smile covering her face “Come on sleepy heads, I even got your breakfasts here. Though I guess it is a little late for breakfast. Are you guys ok with eating breakfast? I can go make something else if you want.” Sunny said in an apologizing tone.
Nightmare sat up, still holding Twilight’s tail “No… no…” she yawned “No it’s ok Sunny, breakfast sounds lovely.” Twilight, still too faint to think coherently, was groaning and trying to figure out why her butt was currently floating in the air. Twilight’s back legs kicked in confusion, alerting Nightmare that she was still holding the purple streaked tail; and that that tail was still connected to a pony. The moon princess briskly let go of the tail, landing Twilight squarely on her lap. “Ooooy, ge’ off!” Nightmare mumbled, shoving Twilight off and onto her back.
Twilight shaken from sleep, but not fully was now wondering why she was flying. The unicorn began kicking the air experimentally before resigning that she just didn’t care enough and wanted to go back to sleep. Her legs feebly went slack and fell quite unceremoniously to either side of her, giving the other two ponies quite a view.
“Oooh, Twilight Sprkle” The moon princess still drunk on sleep, slurred “I did not exchpect you to present yourself to me so shoon. I guess I have no choice… but to ravage you!”
“S-Sister!” Sunny exclaimed, shocked at her sister’s words.
But Nightmare wasn’t listening. There was only her, and this delicious purple mare in front of her. The dark princess opened her smiling jaws wide, and dove right in.
The alicorn gnawed at Twilight’s exposed belly. Biting haphazardly at the chunks taken into her mouth and blowing raspberries into the purple fur, Nightmare showed no remorse. Twilights eyes flashed open, chortling escaped her mouth in loud burst “AH NO haahaha NO STOP!” Twilight pleaded through bursts of laughter. The pleading only made Nightmare’s tickling harder.
“… So that’s how you ravage a pony” Sunny looked on in fascinated embarrassment before modesty compelled her to speak “Uuh… your food is going to get cold” Sunny squeaked, blushing. “Is it… is it normal for ponies to be so, um… familiar with each other like that?”
The silly ponies paused and looked down at the red faced alicorn. They coughed uncomfortably and straightened up on the bed, Twilight speaking up to break the awkward silence “Well no not really. Ponies only feel comfortable letting other ponies touch them when they have become friends, or are at least know each other very well.” Twilight glared at Nightmare for her rude awakening. “Unfortunately some ponies don’t know the meaning of personal space!”
“That’s not what you were saying last night” Nightmare sneered back with a grin.
“Oh my~” Sunny lowered hear head and used her hair to hide most of her face. She looked around the room to see if there was something else she could be doing right now.
“Fwha what no NO, nothing happened last night! Sunny nothing happened!” Twilight sputtered. “I-I-I-I mean I wouldn’t even-” Twilight sniffed the air. “Is… is that coffee?” the purple unicorn stared hungrily at the trays.
Nightmare perked up, noticing the distinct smell herself “Coffee? What’s coffee?”
Sunny stared blankly at her “… I have no idea. But, uh, I brought some!”
Twilight leaned closer to inspect the dark brew. She sniffed at it experimentally, not completely sure in Sunny’s coffee making skills. Just a small whiff, however, and surprise shot through the unicorn’s body. “Oh my gosh! This is the royal coffee, it’s only ever brought out during special occasions it has been forever since I’ve had a cup can I really have this Sunny!?” The unicorn managed to say in one breath, a hopeful smile shined directly at the sun princess.
“What is it?” Nightmare reiterated, eying her coffee with caution.
“Oh of course Twilight! Every morning is a special occasion when you’re with somepony else” Sunny cheerily replied
“What. Is. It.”
“Oooooh thankyouthankyouthankyou this is just what I need right now!” The purple pony praised. Twilight grabbed the cup between her hooves and brought it halfway to her eager mouth when she felt a small tap on her enchanted horn bracelet. The oriental outfit flew out over the confused pony as she looked over to see a tight lipped, pouting Nightmare Moon.
Twilight gave an embarrassed cough into a free hoof “Oh. Well. Um, coffee is a brewed beverage prepared from the beans of the coffee plant. It was originally discovere-”
“Uuuuuuhg just tell me why it’s so amazing” Nightmare moaned.
“Well I was getting to that! Coffee is most often used for its energizing properties, usually in the mornings or late at night when, for ponies like myself, really need a good pick-me-up.” Twilight stared at the apprehensive alicorn. “Just try it!”
Nightmare brought the cup of warm dark liquid up to her mouth. Banzai, Nightmare thought uncertainly, and then she threw her head back and gulped down a couple swallows of her drink. She suddenly stopped and brought the cup slowly away from her face. Nightmare turned to Twilight, who was watching with interest at how her reaction would be to the experience. Twilight was not disappointed as Nightmare grew a stern, serious expression.
“This is the best thing ever” The night princess swiftly brought the magical elixir back to her mouth for more.
The purple pony giggled at the sight of Nightmare Moon ravenously drinking a cup of coffee. She remembered her first time trying this drink and how similarly she had reacted. It was Celestia that gave me my first cup, Twilight reminisced staring into her own cup with a small smile. Granted it wasn’t as good as the royal brew but it was still really good, and it helped me get up for those early morning lessons after a night full of stargazing and studying. The unicorn shook her head to disperse the memories. There’s no point in thinking about any of that stuff now, I suppose.
Twilight eagerly drank her own cup, a content sigh slipped from her after each long sip of pure dark liquid. “Mmm, no sugar or cream necessary” The unicorn breathed, setting down her cup and pulling over her bowl of cinnamon oatmeal.
“Hey Sunny, aren’t you going to eat too?” Twilight questioned before sinking her nose into the bowl of food.
“Oh yes, of course, but I don’t eat food like you do!” Sunny cheerily said as she walked closer to the balcony.
Twilight stopped eating. The unicorn carefully raised her head out of the bowl, a couple pieces of oatmeal still clinging to her chin and nose. She turned her head to look at Sunny with a pensive look on her face “Uh… come again?”
“Yup, I eat the sun’s rays! I am a sun goddess after all” the sun goddess stated matter of factly. She turned towards the moon-sun and took a long deep breath. She closed her mouth sharply, trapping a good amount of air and… sun rays… which puffed out her cheeks considerably. The alicorn then swallowed the contents of her mouth and looked back at Twilight “and there we go, all re-energized… I think. Maybe I need to do it a couple more times…”
Twilight sat shocked, she had never known Princess Celestia to have done anything like this. Movement from beside Twilight caught her eye. The purple pony’s blank stare moved to the moon goddess who was shaking, hunched over, face first in her own bowl of oatmeal. Nightmare’s front legs were wrapped around the top of her head, covering all parts of her face.
“… you didn’t” Twilight breathed. Nightmare responded with even more shaking and a couple squeaks that had escaped her tight lips. “Sunny! Don’t listen to your sister, she’s playing a joke on you!”
“Huh?” Sunny stared back quizzically.
Loud muffled guffaws emanated from the oatmeal. Twilight huffed at Nightmare “You can’t eat the sun’s rays Sunny, you eat food like everypony else”.
“But…” Sunny looked even more confused as Nightmare fell back on the bed, rolling over it in laughter. The sun princess’ face quickly changed to anger and embarrassment. The goddess turned a bright red and puffed out her cheeks, daggers were thrown from her eyes at Nightmare “SIS! That is not funny!”
“HAHA, oh yeah? And I suppose you know what funny is?” The dark princess quieted her laughing to respond, small hiccups and giggles popping up instead.
“Yes!” The white alicorn pouted. “Like- like this morning, when I opened the curtains, and you two hissed. Something funny would be like ‘oh boy, those two ponies really need to, snake, up’!”
Nightmare stopped laughing and Twilight turned back to her food.
The dark princess sat bolt upright, a stoic unmoving, pitying expression filled her face. “Oh Sunny… I’m so, so sorry” The dark princess said sincerely.
Sunny pouted again with her puffed out cheeks “well, as long as you apologize it’s ok. Just make sure you know what’s funny.” The sun princess missed the real reason for the apology entirely.
Twilight was simply relieved to know Sunny couldn’t see that she shared the same pitying, stoic face as Nightmare. The purple pony felt just as sorry for the alicorn as the moon princess did. Oh… oh Sunny, Twilight grimaced, that was just horrible. These thoughts could never be said to the sun princess’ face.
“You can have my food Sunny.”
“I’m really not that hungry either.”
Twilight played with the silk that draped over her sides, lifting pieces up with her hoof and letting it fall back over her. “So, when is this thing supposed to be happening?” The unicorn tiredly asked Nightmare for the third time. The student sighed and rested her head on the dark blue carpeting that lead to the throne. Both Twilight and Sunny were seated diagonally in front of the sovereign’s chair, on which sat an equally bored Nightmare Moon.
“They should be coming soon” She absentmindedly replied “or at least I should hope they do. I gave the castle servants and guards the day off today in preparation for their arrival.” The three ponies had spent a good amount of the afternoon lounging in the throne room after the breakfast fiasco, waiting for whatever it was that Nightmare Moon had planned. The princess had instructed Sunny and Twilight separately on what their orders were to be after they entered the throne room. The ponies then spent the last couple hours making idle banter concerning the moon’s temperature, whether or not Nightmare was an old hag, how Twilight’s only friends before yesterday were encyclopedias, and bearing through the awkward silence that always permeated the room after one of Sunny’s jokes.
“Huh…” Twilight mumbled through one of her legs that she moved under her head for more cushioning “I was wondering where all the staff was. I just assumed you ate them or something.”
“Keep up that tone missy and I’m going to eat you too” Nightmare shot back in a hearty tone. “Unless that’s what you were hoping for. And by the way, you taste like some sort of exotic fruit”
Twilight jerked her head up “I assure you I do not!” the unicorn adamantly retorted. Do I… do I really taste like that? It’s not like I can taste myself, Twilight thought to herself.
“Oh yes, you most certainly do. Like some sort of dark and forbidden fruit from the recesses of an unknown jungle.” Nightmare licked her lips “I wonder what the other parts of your taste like…” the dark princess whispered just loud enough for Twilight to hear.
A faint, almost inaudible knocking on the large doors leading into the throne room interrupted Twilight as she was just breathing in to begin her long winded rebuttal.
“Sunny, you remember your instructions?” Nightmare asked, getting a sharp nod in return from the white alicorn. “And you Twilight?”
Again another set of knocks came from the door, somehow even quieter than the first set.
“All you told me was to keep my trap shut!” Twilight hastily hissed back, aware that the door could burst open at any second.
“Just making sure you can remember that much” Nightmare sneered at a glaring unicorn.
The doors slowly creaked open, the intruding object became visible. An extremely large cake rolled into the throne room on squeaky wheels. The squeaks filled the air as the car slowly made its way to the center of the room. The cake stopped, and from behind it stepped a meek looking yellow pegasus pony who had been apparently pushing it. The new pony had luscious flowing golden hair with a cake cutie mark adorning her flanks.
She spoke in a quiet whisper that the other ponies in the room had to strain to hear “Oh, hello miss, um, dark Queen Nightmare Moon, uh, I heard that you… took over Equestria, so I made you a cake” a large unsure smile crossed the pony’s face as she gestured to the cake. “To… to celebrate?” the pony managed to squeak out. Her wings clutched against her body, appearing to be capable of fainting at any moment.
Twilight gasped as this mysterious never before seen pony’s true identity became evident through her keen deductive skills (who could it be). “What are-” Twilight blurted out, only to be interrupted by a muzzle magically winding around her mouth.
“Be quiet slave!” Nightmare commanded. The dark princess’s horn aglow fastened the muzzle on tight, her star filled main whipping across Twilight’s flanks for emphasis.
“Mpfh!” Twilight cried through the muzzle “mfph Mmmfh-” cut off by another whip across her flanks. Grumbling she lowered her head again in unwilling submission, looking back at the small pegasus.
“Um, please don’t do that” the yellow pony whispered.
“What was that, cake maker? You were talking about this lovely cake before we were so rudely interrupted” the dark and intimidating voice that Nightmare had used when she first appeared was back. Venom and malice dripped off of every syllable she uttered.
“Yes, um, yes, it’s a cake I baked… for you?” The pegasus weakly replied.
Twilight took notice of just how large this cake really was. Large enough to hold say, four ponies, easily. They… couldn’t have. They couldn’t possibly be doing this, Twilight thought. What could they possibly hope to accomplish? They don’t think they could possibly defeat Nightmare Moon, do they? Twilight looked pleadingly at the fidgeting pony. They wouldn’t even stand a chance.
The buttercup pegasus met Twilight’s eyes; she smiled nervously, and squeaked.
End Chapter 2
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Main 6,Original Character,Spike,Comedy,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Nightmares Don't Last Forever
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Nightmare Moon has beaten the Elements of Harmony, is Equestria doomed or are they... perfectly fine
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<p>The Elements of Harmony are defeated and Nightmare Moon stands on Equestria's throne as their new Queen. Is Equestria doomed to suffer through night time eternal or will they be... perfectly fine? Twilight finds her new job as slave or "personal assistant" to her new ruler to be a bit maddening. But is this evil sarcastic queen really as bad as she originally believed? And just how many others are diabolical enough to cash in on the change in staff? Can Nightmare truly run a peaceful Equestria? Let me just answer all these questions right here in the description...</p>
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2011-10-01T00:48:33+00:00
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Nightmares Don’t Last Forever
Chapter 3
Nightmare Moon sniffed the air, “Hm, yes, it smells suitable enough for my tastes. I am quite hungry, baker. Let's cut open this cake now!” a large, ethereal knife appeared just in front of the moon princess. Nightmare took the knife with her magic, and pointed it menacingly at the cake.
“NO!” The yellow pegasus screamed, jumping in between the knife and cake with her arms outstretched to block its path. “I… I mean it’s… not ready yet…” The pony knocked a couple times on the cake, hollow thunks resonated from her taps “See? Definitely not ready” the baker gave an apologetic smile. Her eyes darted around the room wildly, before her hoof tapped on the cake again much more rapidly.
“Yes, I see what you mean, not ready at all. If no cake, then I will simply have to appease my appetite with one of my numerous slaves” Nightmare waved a hoof back to Twilight and Sunny as she licked her lips greedily.
“No! No… um, we just need to wait for...” The small fidgeting pony hid half of her face behind her hair as she scuffed the ground absentmindedly with a hoof. Half a minute of awkward nervous silence passed in the room while Nightmare waited for what this pony was going to say next. The baker looked around the room even more nervously than she was before; the ponies watching thought she was liable to faint any second.
The cake rattled. The pegasus let out a quiet squeak, and ducked behind it. Nightmare and her entourage watched dumfounded as the large cake shook a couple more times, nearly tipping itself over. Muffled words could be heard coming from inside the cake, it almost sounded annoyed.
“Baker… one thousand years have left me quite un-knowledgeable on current pastry dynamics, will the cake be done when it stops shaking and cursing?”
“Um….”
The cake exploded revealing a freckled orange earth pony with a blond ponytail mane standing in its broken midst.
“Yup!” Boomed her echoing response. “But we best not spoil ye’r appetite with sweets!” the earth pony bucked the remaining pieces of the nearby crumbling cake at the shocked princess. Nightmare awkwardly deflected the hardened icing projectiles as she was forced back to her throne. “Have some good ‘ol apples instead!” the orange pony lifted a couple apples out of her saddlebags and with practiced precision launched them lightning fast at the princess’s head.
The dark alicorn ducked leaving the apples to fly through her flowing mane. They hit the head of her throne leaving small apple craters in the apparently soft metal. “The Elements of Harmony!” Nightmare sneered “I should have known you would be coming to rescue your precious little friend eventually.”
Twilight’s ear’s perked up. They… they came to rescue me...? The thought hadn’t even crossed her mind.
“Really, Pinkie, the next time you encase us in a shell of icing, Celestia forbid we ever do this again, it would be good of you to include a door of some sort. Thank goodness Applejack was able to, ‘ahem’, accommodate us with an exit.” A white unicorn with purple curled locks huffed as she used her magic to move the remaining pieces of the cake away. Inside the faux confectionery sat three ponies and one delectably bizarre machine the likes of which most would never have seen.
“Sorry Rarity, I always forget to put doors on these things. And let me tell you some of those ponies have been pretty peeved at me afterward! I never got why they wanted to put a filly in their cake to begin with but the customer is always right I suppose.” the pinkest of ponies giggled in reply. The bubbly filly sat in the middle of the strange apparatus, a strap of licorice secured her to a seat of chewy gummy gum drops. Her hooves rested on pedals of hard candy cane that matched its gears and frame which connected in seemingly random points; and propeller that topped the entire machine. The base of the crafting housing only the finest of, wooden planks... The platform had been a last minute adjustment to the craft to accommodate the extra passengers. There would have been gingerbread or something if the pink pony was given more time.
“Quiet girls” The stetson wearing pony ordered “we got a job ta’ do.” The earth pony turned her steely gaze to the dark princess “you’re right, we’re here ta’ take our friend back. Might as well take that other little filly you got holed up in here as well while we’re at it” the blond pony waved a hoof in Sunny’s direction. “So how ‘bout you just give us what we’re after, and we won’t have ta whoop your dark… evil… as-”
Nightmare’s menacing laughter cut her off “Assuming that you’re even powerful enough to harm me, what makes you think Twilight wants to go back with you at all?” Nightmare dissipated and reappeared next to Twilight, grabbing the unicorn and clutching her close to her black chest. The princess petted Twilight’s blue and pink streaked mane with a hoof “oh the things that I have made her do. Oh, the things that she’s willingly done!” Nightmare grasped the purple unicorn tighter. Closing her eyes the princess let out a satisfied moan “mmm, it’s always the quiet ones. Isn’t that right, little yellow one” Nightmare shot the pegasus pony her most alluring bedroom eyes. The baker squeaked, and hid behind the pink earth pony in response.
Twilight looked on horror-struck at her friends who were glancing away, rubbing the back of their heads, or coughing uncomfortably “Mhmm! Mmmhmmm!” Twilight furiously shook her head, trying to pry free from the moon queen’s vice like grip. “Mh hmm hm hmhm!” She mumbled through her muzzle ineffectively.
“See, look, she doesn’t even want to go back! None of you could love her the way I do… well, maybe if you ganged up on her, and had a whole lot of-”
“Don’t worry none Twilight, we’ll get you out of here and away from that old witch!” Applejack mocked, picking up another set of apples to buck.
Nightmare dropped an exasperated Twilight to the ground. “Oh? And how do you expect to do that my little farmpony?” The princess strode threateningly towards the group of rag-tag mares. “Are you going to toss more apples at me?”
Applejack met Nightmare’s eyes with a determined glare and a smug grin. “When the time comes, yeah, ‘ah will. But first ‘ah just need ta get ya’ away from that pretty throne of yours”
The princess looked back at her throne, annoyance playing across her face “What are you-”.
“It’s called a distraction!” A cyan pegasus with rainbow streaked hair boisterously called while lazing atop the elegant seat. Sunny and Twilight stared, just as surprised at the rainbow pony’s entrance. “Not that I needed a distraction to sneak past you” the haughty pony hopped down from her resting spot. Landing between Twilight and Sunny the mare struck an intimidating pose “now, ladies, grab my hooves and we can blow this oatsicle stand”. The two awestruck ponies obliged their rescuer, mouths hanging open in awe… or rather, their mouths would be hanging open if they were both able to.
Nightmare Moon’s mane crackled with sparks of magic, anger boiling within her “you think I’m going to just let you-” an apple struck her dead center on the back of her head, interrupting her tirade. The princess stumbled, attempting to get her eyes under control while they spun madly in her head.
“And that’s where m’ah apples come in. Not a bad toss for a 'farmpony' huh?” Applejack smirked at the disoriented Nightmare Moon. The cyan pegasus now hovered just above the group of ponies and their candy contraption.
“HAHA double distraction! Eat those apples! I bet those didn’t ap-peal to ya’! Maybe we should call a-”
“Rainbow, hush sugarcube.”
“Oh fine…” Rainbow Dash moaned, gently setting down Sunny and Twilight onto the platform.
“Oh, uh, thank you very much for… flying me over here” Sunny nervously stammered.
“Hah, like I’d leave you here with that creepy… creep! The Dash leaves no pony behind!” the pegasus boasted as she took a seat just behind Pinkie.
“Oh gosh, you’re amazing!” Sunny marveled, eyes sparkling at the cyan pony.
Rainbow puffed up at the compliment “yeah, yeah I am aren’t I?”
“Shoot, like she needed a bigger ego” The orange earth pony chided.
Pinkie giggled “gee Dashy who’s your new friend?”
“I’m afraid introductions are going to have to wait until later, Pinkie. Though I think we already know who are new guest is” Rarity looked down to Sunny’s cutie mark and scrutinized her wings and horn.
“We do?” Chirped a pink voice.
“Quite. Now let’s not delay our departure. Pinkie, if you would, I think it’s time we take our leave” Rarity said with a scoff. The mare looked back at Nightmare to see that she was just shaking off the force of the apple.
“Oky doky loky!” Pinkie saluted and slammed a hoof down onto a small peppermint button. The machine whirred and clicked, the propeller at the top split open to reveal two large candy fans that sprang out, reaching just past the platform. The new propellers resting just above the ground spun into life, smoothly lifting the craft and its seven pony occupants off the ground. The pink pony straightened her pink flight cap and goggles and yelled with a large grin, “let’s fly!”
Nightmare Moon’s cackle filled the room “oh bravo, you managed to gather up all your little friends in one spot. How kind of you, I was going to seek you out and end you myself, but here you all are, presenting yourselves to me on a candy platter!” the moon princess’ hair grew rigid, forming together into long spears that grew from the enchanted star mane.
Rarity stepped to the front of the hovering platform, nudging Applejack to the side “I do believe it’s my turn now.” The unicorn opened her own bag, and brought out half a dozen gems of varying size and color, hanging them in the air around the craft with her magic. “I may not have much raw power, but what I do have…” the white pony smirked, her horn glowing brighter. The gems in the air twirled in place. Whipping through the air they blurred, gaining speed. Rarity flung her hair behind her, a sparkle shining in her eyes, “… is style!” The unicorn sent a sharp charge of magic through her horn into each of the gems, lighting them up in an incredible display of beauty and grace. They spun, and they glowed, and a small corona of magic enveloped each one with their respective colors.
Nightmare growled and shot one of her spears straight at the white enchantress. The magical mane collided with one of the spinning gems instead. A loud crash of metal upon metal resounded in the room as the spear was obstructed by the jewel’s glowing shield of light. A small tilt of the gem and the spear was deflected into one of the stained glass windows adorning the hall.
“There’s our exit girls!” Rarity yelled, not taking her eyes off of Nightmare for a second.
Pinkie Pie worked the pedals even faster, her hooves turning into a pink spiral blur. The hovercraft lifted higher off the ground. Rainbow Dash, taking her cue in the back seat, began her own work. The pegasus flapped her powerful wings, moving the flying machine towards the large broken window.
Nightmare screamed in rage, sending a barrage of spears at the ship. Each one expertly blocked and deflected by Rarity’s keen eyes. The rebounded projectiles crashed into walls, ceilings, and floors, smashing them into bits.
“Uh… hey Dashie?” the sound of gems and hair clashing filled the room.
“Kinda’ busy here Pinks!”
“Yeah but-”
“Biseee!” Rainbow’s head was down, using every bit of her strength to move the heavy load forward.
“We aren’t going to make it!”
“What!?”
“The window, it’s too small.”
Rainbow Dash looked up to see that Pinkie was right, the window was too narrow for the hovercraft to fit through. And the pegasus was doing too good of a job, it was coming towards them very fast “everypony hang on!” Rainbow yelled. The tenacious cyan pony wasn’t going to give up that easily. Calling upon every last ounce of stamina she developed through her rigorous training the pegasus pushed the left side of the craft down while raising the right. Twilight, Sunny, and the baker managed to grab hold of Pinkie but the defending unicorn couldn’t risk looking away for a second.
“Applejack, I need full concentration here!” Rarity pleaded, a twinge of panic in her voice as she felt the ship tilt
“I got ya’ Rares!” the orange earth pony grabbed the unicorn by her midsection and lifted her up, making sure she stayed level. With the extra weight Applejack began sliding off herself on the inclined plane. “Whoah there!” Applejack scrambled for a hoofhold, somewhere, anywhere “consarn’it!” Applejack cursed before punching a hole straight through the wood to grab hold of.
The tilted ship approached the opening quickly. Twilight and Sunny screamed as they flew straight through, the sides of the craft just breaking off the last pieces of remaining glass that hung onto the frame.
“Ha ha! We made it!” Dash exclaimed, panting for air. “Heh, heh, I think I’m gonna’ take a nap”
“Rainbow!” The yellow pegasus grabbed Dash and pulled her up just before she slid off the platform.
“Heh, thanks Shy. It’d be pretty lame if I just abandoned you girls now of all times” The cyan pony clambered back onto the wood and collapsed into a feathery heap.
“Oh, well, you know, I can take over flying us from here if you’re-” Fluttershy was interrupted by an enraged scream from the castle.
Rarity jumped to the back of the craft. “It’s not over yet!” A large spear, much bigger than the projectiles that had been sent so far lanced out of the broken window. The white unicorn brought together three of her largest gems into a spinning vortex to block the incoming attack. They collided with a resounding high pitched ting that rattled the teeth. Rarity slanted the gems like she had done before, and the spear slanted with them. The spear’s force was directed to the center of the three gems, curving with them at each tilt. “Oh dear” It wasn't being redirected. Panic crossed the unicorns face as she attempted to alter the spear’s trajectory.
“Should I be makin’ a habit of savin’ ya’ Rarity?” Applejack jumped in front of the unicorn and spun, bringing her hooves into a full force buck straight to the resonating gems. The impact burst the magic infused jewels, erupting color and sparks across the dark skies in a mock fireworks show. The ship was rocketed away from the castle in a burst of speed with the ponies just managing to hang on.
The craft slowed to their previous speed, the group attempting to adjust to what just happened “Aplejaaack, my geeeeeems~” Rarity whined with watering eyes.
“Oh, heheh. Um, whoops?” Applejack smiled apologetically at her pouting friend.
“Is it… is it over now?” Fluttershy spoke up, still holding onto Dash to prevent her from sliding off “did we win?”
Rarity composed herself; there would be time for grieving later. “Yes dear, I believe we have.” The unicorn edged across the platform to Twilight and said with an air of satisfaction, “we most certainly have.” Rarity’s horn lit up to encompass Twilight’s binding muzzle, unlatching and tossing it off the ship. “Well deary? Anything to say?” the unicorn quietly asked.
“You…” Twilight choked, rubbing her mouth and nose where the leather had been squeezing. “You… did all of this for me?” Tears began welling up in Twilight’s eyes. “I mean… I mean we’re friends but I never thought that you would go through all that…” The magician smeared a tear away on her lavender coat. “That you would go through all that just for-”
“Aw, shudup Twi” A tired pegasus looked out from one of her half-closed eyes, “you’re our friend, of course we’re going to fight evil jerk gods for you. At least, that’s what I do for my friends.”
“Oh, Rainbow!” Twilight picked up the limp and battered cyan pony and brought her into a tight hug. “Thank you so much!”
“Ah, ow ow not so tight!”
“Oh we were just so worried when that monster teleported away with you!” Rarity joined in on the hug.
“Owww!”
“So we spent the rest of our time coming up with a plan to rescue you” Fluttershy tentatively found a small open space of Twilight to hug. “While I wasn’t too thrilled about my part… I was the only pony that could do it. Rarity even dyed my hair and painted over my cutie mark as a disguise.”
“Uhhhg…”
“Bear with it a bit longer sugarcube” Applejack stifled a laugh at her friend’s misfortune, embracing the group of multicolored ponies.
“Whoo! Group hug!” Pinkie Pie rushed in and encircled the bundle of ponies in her hooves.
“Oh my!”
“Umm…”
“How are…”
“I just wanna’ sleeeep!”
“Now Pinkie I know ya wanna’ be a part of this but we’re gonna’ crash if ya don’t get yourself back on that thing.”
“Aw, pixie sticks!” Pinkie slumped her way back to the pedals of the craft. A soft sniffling rises above the sound of the blades spinning.
“Come now Pinkie, there’s no need to cry, we can all hug once we set down in Ponyville” Rarity awkwardly assured her saddened friend.
Pinkie turned around, dry eyed. “Huh? That’s not me.”
The group turned to see a small alicorn on the corner of the platform silently sobbing to herself.
“Sunny? Are… are you ok?” Twilight asked in a concerned tone.
Sunny sniffled a bit more and wiped her eyes with her wings before answering “yes, yes I’m fine. It’s just that that was… that was the most beautiful, fantastic, wonderful thing I’ve ever seeeeen~!” the sun princess’ waterworks sprang up again. A pink hoof extended a handkerchief, which the alicorn politely took and used to wipe her face and nose with. “Thank you.”
The other ponies sat and stared at the strange sight of a little pony princess god bawling her eyes out after witnessing a group hug. “Twilight? What exactly is happening?”
The purple pony sighed and grimaced as she looked between Sunny and her friends “It’s…. complicated. I’ll explain everything once we get back to the library. There’s still a certain someone I need to see.”
“And uh… Twilight? Sumthin’ kinda’ important…” Applejack apprehensively began.
“Yes?”
The group of ponies around Twilight began fidgeting and looking away “It’s just that… now you don’t have ta’ talk about it if ya’ don’t want to, but, uuuuh…”
“Applejack?” the unicorn asked completely baffled by her friend’s strange behavior.
Fluttershy put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder “She didn’t… didn’t hurt you, did she?” the yellow pegasus said as sympathetically as she could.
Twilight gave a nervous laugh. “Haha, what? I’m fine, I don’t look hurt, do I?”
“It’s just that… well, your outfit darling. Like Applejack said, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” Rarity stepped forward to give Twilight a sorrowful stare. “I’m sorry we couldn’t have rescued you sooner.”
“My outfi-” Twilight looked down to realize she was still wearing the oriental ribbons. Her pupils shrank as embarrassment froze her for a moment. “NO, nonononononoooooo no, nothing happened! Nothing happened!” Twilight quickly tapped the bracelet to disperse the outfit and looked at each of her friends pleadingly. “Seriously! Nothing!”
“Are you su-”
“Yes I’m sure!”
“We would understand if-”
“I’m sure you would, but nothing happened!” Twilight looked away, attempting to pull her short straight hair over her blushing red face. “Now if you wouldn’t mind, let’s never speak of this again!”
“………”
“… I’d like to do it with a goddess.”
“Rainbow!” Applejack smacked the cyan pegasus upside her head.
“Whaaat? I’m just sayin’. It sounds kinda’ interesting.”
“Well sure Rainbow, except Nightmare Moon is evil, so ‘twas probably all tentacle-y and-”
“Nothing happened!!!”
The rest of the trip passed in relative silence between the light flaps of Fluttershy’s wings and the spins of the propellers. The ship gently settled down in front of the Ponyville library. The new sun hung low in the sky with ponies nervously going about their daily routines, not knowing what else to do in this type of situation.
Twilight eagerly jumped off the platform and ran to the door. Just a few meters away it slammed open, a small dragon with purple scales and green spikes holding it. “Is she here?! Did you guys- Twilight!!”
“Spike!” The unicorn squealed as she ran forward and picked up the dragon with her front hooves. They embraced each other tightly, Twilight nuzzling the top of his head and Spike burying his face in her chest.
“I thought-” Spike choked, attempting to hold back tears that came anyways “I thought I would never see you again. When they- when they came back without you I thought-”
“Hey, hey, it’s ok now” Twilight consoled the young dragon. She pulled away to wipe a few of his tears. His eyes were puffy and red, attesting to just how much he'd been crying. “I’m here now, and everything’s going to be ok”
Spiked looked back up into her eyes, his tears stopping with one last sniffle. “Yeah… yeah I mean I knew you were going to be ok!” the dragon promptly hopped down from Twilight’s arms and straightened himself up. “Sure, yup, not a doubt in my mind you wouldn’t get out of there” Spike said haughtily. “I mean I did help come up with the plan to save you after all” the purple dragon gloated, brushing his chest and bringing his nails up for examination. “Yup, the perfect plan.”
Twilight giggled to herself. “Thank you Spike. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been rescued!” She leaned down, and planted a big sloppy kiss on his check.
“Uhg, gross Twilight!” Spike moaned wiping the kiss away
Twilight giggled again. “C’mon, let’s get everyone inside, and I’ll…. try, to explain everything”
Pinkie parked the craft next to the tree and jumped off with the others to head inside. “Oh, wait!” The pink pony looked back to the ship and pressed a small peppermint she was holding. The ship beeped twice in response “you can never be too safe!” a content Pinkie chirped, as she hopped past her confused friends into the library.
The group huddled around a small table covered with blueprints, designs, directions, and a shopping list. The purple unicorn took it all in, amazed at just how much her friends had planned this out. Wow… they really are my very best friends, Twilight thought as the wave of emotions swam through her once again. The unicorn composed herself quickly, she’d need it for the strange tale she was about to tell.
“Ok, first off, I just want you to know… none of you will believe me.” Twilight said simply, looking at each of the ponies and dragon in a serious manner.
“Ooooh, this should be good” Pinkie Pie said hopping up and down on her seat
Applejack laughed nervously to herself. “Heh, it can’t be that bad.”
“It is.”
“We’ve each seen some pretty strange things dear” Rarity couldn’t help but glance at Pinkie.
Pinkie looked back at Rarity. “Whaaat? I haven’t seen that many strange things!” The pinkest of ponies contested.
“Nothing like this”
“Just get on with it!” Rainbow bellowed, slumping down onto the table
“Ok ok, but secondly, no interruptions. If you guys are allowed to talk while I’m telling this story we’ll be here all night, ok?” Twilight looked expectantly at her surrounding friends who responded with nods and ‘okey-dokey-lokey’s'. The magician sighed, knowing full well how her story is going to sound, she wouldn’t have believed it if it hadn’t happened to her. “Well then…” She began.
“and then she said someone would be coming, or that she hoped that they would be coming. Then we… um… talked for a little when you guys knocked on the door, and she asked if Sunny and I remembered our instructions. And that’s that.” The magician breathed a sigh of relief at the finish of her story. It had taken longer than she anticipated even with the small amount of interruptions. The new sun was just about to set outside the window, casting a colorful purple tint onto everything it touched.
Twilight looked up at her friends. Well of course there hadn’t been many interruptions; each one had a zipper over their mouths. Each one fell to the need to blurt out a question or deny something, and each one was rewarded with a zipper. Well, everyone except Pinkie, who was simply content to eat her popcorn and drink her sarsaparilla. The rest of the group was now simply content to look at Twilight with wide bewildered eyes, the zippers completely unnecessary in their current state.
Pinkie who had stayed quiet through the entire story, save for a munch of popcorn and slurp of sarsaparilla, was the first to talk. “Hmmm, I dunno Twilight, the story’s dynamic seemed kind’uv off to me. Are you sure you didn’t leave any parts out?” She asked skeptically.
The rest of the group stared between Pinkie and Twilight, their thought process still somewhat diminished in their current state.
“Ha ha ha, what? Yeah, of course I didn’t leave anything out!” Twilight plastered on the widest grin she could muster. “Oh, uh, here let me get those zippers” The purple pony flashed her horn, vanishing the restraints on her friend’s mouths.
Each one stayed quiet, pondering exactly what they had just heard. “Well… ah gotta’ tell ya’ Twilight, I don’t know what to say” Applejack managed to say.
“I know what you mean” The purple unicorn groaned, resting her face on a couple of scattered schematics, “believe me it was much worse having to go through that. So, uh… any questions?”
The group was completely silent. A small yellow hoof raised tentatively from the side of the table “um… what were Sunny’s instructions?” The ponies around the table looked inquisitively at Sunny, who in turn looked blankly back at everyone.
“Oh!” Sunny exclaimed “ooooh, oh what time is it?” the alicorn fidgets around before looking out the door at the setting sun “oh, good. Just on time.” Sunny got up from the table and walked over to a nearby bookcase, everypony’s eyes following. “Well, uh, Sis told me to find this one book ‘History of Horseshoes’ and to uh… pick it up before the sun sets!” the princess browsed through the names of the books before finding what she was looking for. “Ah! Here it is.” Sunny pulled at the book only to find it come out halfway before getting stuck. A loud clunk, and the shifting of gears emanated from the bookshelf. Sunny slowly backed away from the strange noises. “Um… do bookshelves do that?” The bookshelf slowly raised into the ceiling, the protruding book moving back into its slot.
Twilight groaned, moving her front hooves to cover her face which was still resting on the table. Fluttershy squeaked and hid behind Applejack, peeking out from behind her.
“Uh, Twilight?” Applejack asked with a twinge of worry in her voice. “You know what’s goin’ on sugercube?” The ponies watched as the bookcase clicked into its new resting place in the ceiling.
“Well…” Twilight mumbled through her hooves “yes, and no”. A large stone arch sat in place of the bookcase. Runes placed all along its borders in a symmetrical fashion. Twilight lifted her head for a moment to examine the mystical device. “Never mind, I know exactly what’s happening.” The unicorn planted her face back on the desk “Nightmare Moon is coming.”
“Twilight? What do we do?” Fluttershy panicked as the surrounding ponies looked at their befallen friend. The sigils on the stone slowly began lighting.
“You’ve dealt with her the longest, Twilight. What’s the plan?” Applejack asked
The plan is to sit here and get teased by the Queen of Equestria! Twilight yelled in her head. What's even the point of doing anything? The unicorn looked around at each of her scared and confused friends… oh, right, Twilight remembered why she chose to oppose Nightmare.
The purple pony slammed a hoof onto the table, slowly raising herself up on it. “Ok! Here’s what you do. First, don’t let her scare you. She’s not evil, just sort of a… jerk. Second, I’m-… oh wow is that a grade three transportation hub? I hear they run on nearly no power and can-” Applejack coughed. “Oh, um, sorry, second. Second… I’m sorry to say but she let me escape, and I think she meant it when she said I was going to be her, slave…” Twilight raised a hoof to touch the metal bracelet around her horn. “So… so I’ll just give myself up to her, she is still dangerous and it will keep the rest of you out of harm’s way.” Twilight looked at each of her friends with a steely determination.
“… Baahahaha!” Rainbow let out a mirthful laugh much to Twilight’s surprise. “As if, Twilight, if that fakey princess wants to get you again, she’ll have to go through us…. Again, uh, that came out wrong”
“She’s right Twi, you’re our gal. An’ we ain’t gonna let nopony hurt ya” the orange earth pony rested a hoof reassuringly on the magician’s shoulder.
“But she-”
“Twilight…” Fluttershy walked up to the unicorn, her head down with locks of pink mane covering most of her face. She looked up at Twilight with her one visible eye and said “… nopony.”
“Yeah!” Spike yelled from atop Fluttershy’s back.
“Oh oh! Are we going to have another group hug?!?” Pinkie Pie asked energetically. “We should include Sunny, she’s in this with us too!” the pink pony appeared behind Sunny, giving her a quick nudge and a wink “Even if she did disappear the bookshelf”.
Sunny’s face lit up like the sun “oh yes yes yes please! I would like nothing better!” the princess squealed and clopped her hooves together softly in front of her mouth. “Ah, um, I’m sorry about the bookshelf, please don’t hate me, I’ll get you another!” the alicorn’s expression quickly changed to alarm and dread.
Applejack chuckled. “Well shoot, ah guess we couldn’t stay mad at the princess, get over here.” Sunny squealed again in delight, and rushed over to the group of ponies.
“What, no! No wait please I’m still sore just leave me-AAAAAAH” The second heartfelt group hug of the night ensued.
The arches gave off a low humming as the last sigils burned bright in blue ethereal energy. The ponies separated and placed themselves a good distance away from the portal. Each one took a stance, ready for whatever it was going to do. “We could simply run away” Rarity said hopefully.
“We really couldn’t” Twilight said in a settled tone. The portal flashed, a rippling silver now filled the once empty arch. “Last chance to book it girls” the unicorn said with a smirk.
“Hah, what’s the worst she can do?”
I could throw the moon at them, Nightmare thought to herself as she watched her sister and the Elements of Harmony fly away on their silly candy flying machine. The moon princess paused for a moment, why didn’t they use the balcony as an exit? Nightmare looked a few meters to the right of the now broken pane of glass at the large archway that led out to a grand view of Equestria.
The moon princess snickered, scrunching up her face. “But oh my Moon, that was bucking awesome!” Nightmare filled the room with her uproarious laughter. Shaking off her giggles, Nightmare began her short trek back to her throne. As the princess passed, a blue magical aura encased the shards of broken glass and cake that now littered the ground. “Those girls certainly know how to make a mess” the princess said with a wry smile. The pieces of pane lifted off the ground and began placing themselves back into the frame. A sound like shattering glass arose as the pieces slowly began fusing together. The cake littering the floor swept together and compressed itself into a small orb, slightly bigger than a marble.
Nightmare sat on her throne and appraised the hall to admire her handiwork, the small orb floating just to her side. An apple began reforming just in front of the alicorn’s face, bits and swirls appearing from behind her head. “That would have given somepony a concussion” Nightmare noted as she took a bite out of the now re-forged apple. “Oh goodness, you ponies have certainly increased the quality of fruit in a thousand years” Nightmare said to herself.
A few more bites and the moon princess became utterly bored. “So how long are you going to keep me waiting?” Nightmare huffed, throwing the orb’d cake into an empty corner of the hall. A very distinct plunk came from the empty space. “Ten points” Nightmare halfheartedly gloated.
The corner shimmered. Then as if a curtain had been dropped a pony became visible, looking slightly annoyed at a cup that was levitating in front of him. “My coffee…” He stated with a hint of disappointment. The unicorn had a pale blue coat, piercing eyes that were just a shade darker than his fur, and a light blond, wavy mane and tail that flipped ever so slightly at the ends giving his appearance a sort of roguish charm. His cutie mark was a simple splotch of yellow on his flank.
“You know I gave everyone the day off, what is it you want?” Nightmare asked coldly.
The unicorn bowed. “Forgive me, I simply wished to become more acquainted with the new boss, as it were” the light blue pony chuckled and flashed a disarming grin.
“Tell me is spying still frowned upon in this day in age?” the princess scoffed, looking out a window directly away from the stallion.
The pony chuckled again “sorry, I can be pretty nervous around new ponies.”
“Of course.” Lies, lies, so many lies! Does this pony do anything but lie? I bet his cutie mark is lying, Nightmare thought angrily to herself. “I mean, what kind of pony wouldn’t be nervous around the Tyrant Queen Nightmare Moon?”
“Not a one, your majesty” he flashed another grin “oh but where are my manners? I never introduced myself.” The unicorn let out another light laugh. “My name is Lucid Sky, I am your head of Civil Affairs.”
Well, at least half of that wasn’t a lie, the princess drearily admitted to herself. “I look forward to working with you, Mr. Sky. And sorry about your coffee, I can get quite bored sometimes.” Nightmare sniffed the air experimentally “I am new to this drink, but that smells familiar. That wouldn’t happen to be the ‘royal brew’, would it?”
Lucid plucked the small orb out of his cup. “Why yes it is. You have quite keen senses your majesty. I met the most lovely young lady this morning who granted me access to it. After I told her where it was of course, poor dear looked completely lost” The unicorn said in a sympathetic tone.
Nightmare glared daggers, but kept her voice even “Funny how she didn’t mention you.”
Another laugh. “Well, I do have that effect on ponies, I’m not exactly the most noticeable of ponies. Let us hope that you’re able to remember me at least” Lucid gave the princess a heartwarming smile. “Oh, and look at the time” The unicorn said not taking his eyes off of Nightmare. “I really must be going, it’s my night off after all.” A chuckle and the unicorn made to leave before abruptly stopping as if he forgot something “and one more thing, here is your dessert back.” Lucid drifted an orb over to the princess who caught it with her own magic. “Goodnight your majesty.” Again, Lucid made to leave.
This wasn’t the same orb that Nightmare shot into his drink. The pearl swirled with colors and magic and a pony. Nightmare peered into the small sphere.
Oh um, hi there, I’m sunny…… what’s coffee? ………sounds terrific! I’m sure they’ll love it especially with…………. thanks for showing me all this Mr. Sky……… oh heh, um, ok, Lucid…………sure, I’ll give her a message!
Nightmare groaned. So such magic still exists these days. “Lucid, wait, stop” Nightmare said as she lit her horn. The surprised unicorn was lifted off the ground and flew back towards the throne and Nightmare Moon.
“Um, uh, my Queen” Lucid chuckled nervously “whatever are you-”
“No, just stop. I don’t want to play this little game with you, I don’t want you near my sister, and I especially don’t want you stealing any more memories” Nightmare said grimly.
“I- I don’t know what you’re-”
The moon princess’s eyes shone bright “I said. I don’t. Want to play. Celestia may have been fond of your little chess match but I am not!”
“But- but, you can’t just not-” Lucid was interrupted by his windpipe, it was slowly caving in.
“Let me make this plain and clear Mr. Sky. I will kill you if you do anything that displeases me.” The queen gave an extra tug on his throat to drive her point across.
Lucid writhed and squirmed under the moon goddesses’ influence, wheezing out as many apologies as he could.
“Now get out of my sight, I have plans for tonight.” And with a flash Lucid was gone. Content that her business here was finished Nightmare resigned back to her bedchambers. The princess had to get ready for her trip to Ponyville come sundown.
A flash of light just outside the castle gates deposited a sky blue unicorn a few feet above the ground. He flopped to the hard gravel with a resounding thud. Slowly, he picked himself up and fixed his disheveled hair, careful to wipe off any dust that had stuck to him. He took a deep breath and looked down upon the city before him. This really is the best view, Lucid thought to himself. The pony smiled. Then he smiled even wider. Lucid Sky was so happy he decided he would smile even wider, he couldn’t remember the last time he smiled like this. His heart had been beating slowly up until this point “what kind of pony indeed” Lucid whispered to the wind. The unicorn couldn’t remember the last time his heart had raced either. Lucid laughed by himself; a really, really happy laugh. So many adjectives could be used to describe that laugh. A great and terrible many. But Lucid would just stick with ‘happy’. “Oh this is going to be so much fun~.”
End Chapter 3
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Main 6,Original Character,Spike,Comedy,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Nightmares Don't Last Forever
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Nightmare Moon has beaten the Elements of Harmony, is Equestria doomed or are they... perfectly fine
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<p>The Elements of Harmony are defeated and Nightmare Moon stands on Equestria's throne as their new Queen. Is Equestria doomed to suffer through night time eternal or will they be... perfectly fine? Twilight finds her new job as slave or "personal assistant" to her new ruler to be a bit maddening. But is this evil sarcastic queen really as bad as she originally believed? And just how many others are diabolical enough to cash in on the change in staff? Can Nightmare truly run a peaceful Equestria? Let me just answer all these questions right here in the description...</p>
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2011-10-06T18:08:39+00:00
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Nightmares Don’t Last Forever
Chapter 4
“Be prepared girls, we don’t know what that witch is going to throw at us” Rarity said to the surrounding group of battle ready ponies.
“Oh! Oh! Maybe she’s gonna to throw a cake!” said the pink, definitely not battle ready pony.
“What! Why the hay would she throw a cake?” Applejack asked skeptically.
Pinkie Pie tilted her head to give the orange earth pony a strange look. “Because we gave her a cake! It’d only be fair. Plus I didn’t get to eat any of ours so I’m kinda’ low on sweets right now and I’m suuuuper hungry!”
“I don’t think Nightmare Moon cares about your empty stomach, Pinks” Rainbow joked at her pink friend.
“Oh no! You really think so? Girls we have to make a cake right away!” the pink pony worriedly hopped in place, flinging her poofy pink hair up and down.
Applejack chuckled. “Well sure Sugarcube. We’ll get to that right after we beat up this here-”
A star filled mane poked through the liquid blue surface of the glyph covered arch.
The farm pony gulped. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of her face. “… Goddess.”
Nightmare's mane mystically flowed out of the portal, seemingly testing the air. More appeared until Nightmare Moon herself walked through the portal. Everypony in the room immediately fell silent. The dark princess’s mere presence and intimidating, dark, demeanor forced the group of ponies to freeze. They stared in dumfounded awe of her awesome power. Wait, no, that wasn’t her mane. That was her tail. Everypony in the room froze in dumfounded awe at Nightmare’s intimidating, taut flank.
Pinkie fell over onto her back, letting lose loud guffaws and snorts. “It’s a butt!” Her pink little hooves waved wildly in the air.
Rainbow broke her trance at Pinkie’s comment to stifle a laugh, snorting through her nose instead. The other ponies in the room busied themselves in trying to understand what was happening. Twilight herself was pulling her hooves across her face in exasperated silence. Nightmare Moon shifted the position of her bottom half that was sticking out of the portal.
“Do you… do you think she’s stuck?” Fluttershy squeaked from behind the table.
Nightmare pulled herself free of the liquid looking portal with a flourish of movements and stood regally before the elements. A broad smile crossed her face. “’Fraid not little one, but that is so nice of you to be worried about me.” Nightmare began gigging to herself “I almost didn’t do that too, I was thinking to myself ‘this seems a bit too juvenile, I mean really, maybe I should do something else‘” the night princess rambled while she walked past the group of ponies and sat at the table. “It was either that, or stick a plush version of me through the portal first. But you know what, I’m glad I went with the flank first approach.” Nightmare looked over at the still flailing and laughing pink pony before laughing again herself. “At least somepony can appreciate a good joke.”
Twilight trotted up and glared at Nightmare. “Why did you have to do anything at all?? Is acting like a normal pony really that hard?”
“First off…” Nightmare said with a snooty expression and closed eyes, “yes, yes it is very hard acting like a normal pony. Second…” Nightmare crossed her arms and looked away from Twilight as if she’d been hurt. “If I had come in normally I would have gotten a face full of apples, diamonds, and rainbows!”
“… She’s right, I was totally going to buck her in the face” Rainbow said flatly.
“Wait wait wait! Ain’t we supposed ta be fightin’ or somethin’!” Applejack flustered out as she rubbed a hoof on the side of her head, completely bewildered by the current situation.
“Fight? Why? Do you want to fight?” The moon princess stared blankly at the earth pony and cocked her head.
“Well, uh, no… but, uh…”
Rarity stepped in front of the befuddled orange pony. “We don’t want to fight. But if it’s to keep you from taking our friend away from us I for one can make an exception!”
Nightmare attempted to look as innocent as possible with a huge horsefeather eating grin on her face. “Why, whoever said I was coming here to steal her? I certainly didn’t. After all, you already rescued her.”
“But… but you let them rescue me” Twilight said, just as confused as everypony else in the room.
“Well, not exactly” The princess looked away in mock thought. Nightmare’s hair grew and picked up each of the ponies, setting them down at the table; Twilight and Sunny of course being placed on opposite sides of her. “Poor little Twilight would still be in my ‘evil clutches’ if it weren’t for the rest of you ponies” Nightmare said sweetly, rubbing a hoof across the purple unicorn’s cheek. Twilight shoved the hoof away while keeping her face half lidded and expressionless. “True, I gave you a handicap, but I was not by any means going easy on you. Anything less than what you did tonight, and I wouldn’t be letting Twilight stay here in Ponyville at all!”
“What?!” Twilight looked up wide eyed and hopeful at her mistress. “But I thought I was going to be your…”
“Slave? Yeah, you aren’t getting out of that one so easily. You’re still going to be at my every beck and call” Nightmare said absent-mindedly, examining one of her hooves for scuffs.
“But how can I-”
Nightmare pointed at the grade three portal sitting in the corner of the library.
“Oh… ooooh.”
“Yup. From here on out, Twilight Sparkle will be taking up residence in the Ponyville library, while attending to her Queen, me. And accompanying my dark and terrible self each morning” Nightmare finished in her regal, half caring voice.
“Oh, thank you so much Prince- wait! No!” Twilight slammed her face on the desk. “This isn’t something that I should be thankful for! I’m still playing slave to some crazy usurper!” Twilight groaned out from between her hooves.
Nightmare laughed as she got up from the table. “Tough break Sparkles. At least you have it better than Sunny! She has to come back with me to that old, cold, lonely, friendless castle… welp! C’mon Sunny, let’s get a move on” Nightmare beckoned the smaller princess with a wave of her hoof.
Sunny stared with wide, watery eyes between her sister and the group of ponies that she was hoping would become her very first friends. “But… but I don’t want to go back to the friendless castle” the alicorn cracked, almost breaking into tears.
“What? Are you sure? I mean, it’s pretty cold and dreary there. You probably wouldn’t even see another living pony half the time. Are you sure you don’t want to go back?” Nightmare asked in a concerned, reasoning tone.
Sunny shook her head back and forth, her hair bobbing wildly in the air.
“Hmmmm…” The dark princess pondered, obviously deep in thought. “Ok, you can stay here with Twilight, but you’re twisting my hoof on this. Also, you’ll have to wear this.” Nightmare flashed her horn, a deep magenta diamond imbedded in a light golden metal frame appeared in the air next to her. The night alicorn drifted the gem to the tip of Sunny’s horn, sliding down the length of it effortlessly. The jewel had no opening at its base where the horn was entering, and it didn’t appear through the other side as the foundation finally reached her forehead. The sun princess’s horn was simply gone, a piece of fine jewelry taking its place. “And yadda, yadda, yadda, your cutie mark is different too” Nightmare waved an uninterested hoof in the air.
Sunny looked to her flank and indeed her cutie mark had changed from an ornate regal sun to one that was a bit more simplistic and most certainly not one a princess would be wearing. “Ok… um, why?” the smaller princess asked with a confused look on her face.
Nightmare knelt down and squeezed Sunny’s cheeks together. “Because deary, if everypony knew you were the princess they would be too busy worshiping you to become your friend!”
“Oh… goodness, that won’t do at all” the princess said in a concerned voice, a serious expression across her face which was still being scrunched up by her sister’s hooves.
“Exactly.” The moon princess wrapped her hooves around her sister in a warm embrace. “Just make sure you come see me in the mornings when Twilight does. Not any other time though, I wouldn’t want to submit you to all the dull and uninteresting ponies that make up the political system!” Nightmare released her sister with a small ruffle of her pink mane, eliciting a small giggle from the little princess. “Twilight, see that this is so. And one more thing, my sister here is rather unknowledgeable about the world and interactions with other ponies. It will hereby be your secondary job to study the magic of friendship, and report your findings directly to her.”
“It’s… not like I needed you to tell me to help my ‘real’ princess” Twilight said, annoyed that she was being told what to do, and that she couldn’t and wouldn’t have said no to assisting Sunny.
“Oh don’t get your horn in a twist” the dark princess teased the purple unicorn. “I mean, not until later” Nightmare cooed, running her hoof down the girth of Twilight’s horn. “You haven’t lived until you’ve tried one of my horn twisters.”
Rarity gasped, covering her mouth and blushing face with a hoof.
The purple pony began laughing loudly, her eyes shrinking to small dots. “HA HA HA oh shucks Nightmare Moon you are such a kidder! HA HA HA. Ohlookatthetime you have to leave now!” Twilight’s voice turned a few octaves higher as she scurried behind Nightmare, sliding her across the floor to the portal. “You really are a treat, this visit has been ever so lovely, if you ever get the urge to visit, please don’t.”
“Goodness, Twilight, you can be so forceful sometimes, but we’re leaving? I thought you said you liked it when other ponies watched” Nightmare innocently questioned.
“I do not like other ponies watching!”
Pinkie flew into another fit of giggles while everything but her kicking legs disappeared beneath the table. Dash and Applejack managed to keep a bit more composure, simply looking away and shaking ever so slightly.
Nightmare snickered through a hoof. “Well fine. Oh girls, before I go I just wanted to say... make sure you give Twilight a taste. I can't for the life of me classify it and the closest thing I could come up with is an exotic jungle fruit. Our little Twilight is most certainly one mysterious pony.”
Twilight let out an exasperated scream as she threw Nightmare Moon into the portal which engulfed her soundlessly. “Never speak of this again!” the unicorn said, looking around the room wildly with a few stray hairs sticking out of her mane.
“… What’s a ‘horn twister’?”
“Rainbow!” Applejack shouted, smacking Dash upside her head.
“Whaaat? I’m just curious!” the cyan pegasus whined, rubbing the side of her head.
Sunny walked up to the still panting and blushing Twilight. “Hey, it’s ok Twilight. Like you said she’s only joking. I’m sure she didn’t mean to give everypony the wrong idea like-”
Nightmare Moon’s head popped out of the portal. “One more thing, make sure you treat Sunny horribly and be as unwelcoming as possible to her. Toodles~.” The queen smirked and pulled her head back through the portal.
Sunny gasped and looked around the room in wide eyed horror, tears appearing at the edges of her eyes.
Twilight sighed, straightening herself up she attempted to smile warmly at the panicked princess. “Sunny, don’t listen to her. She’s only trying to tease you again. Heh, I guess I should be taking my own advice.”
“You mean… you mean you aren’t going to hate me?” Sunny looked around the room with cautious hopefulness.
“Of course not!” Rainbow trotted up to Sunny. “You seem like a pretty cool mare, er- princess?”
“Well hay, ye’r highness. Ye’r the reason we set out ta fight Nightmare Moon in the first place” Applejack chimed in.
“And look!” Pinkie popped up from behind the sun princess. “We got our princess back, nopony is dying from eternal night, we get another new friend, and Twilight might have scored with a princess-”
“Did not!”
“-Do you know what this calls for?!” The peppy, pink, party pony all but yelled.
“Um… another group hug?” Sunny asked hopefully.
“Nope!”
The party was in full swing in less than half an hour. Pinkie had managed to scrounge together a cake, streamers, refreshments, and a couple party games from those cakes, streamers, refreshments, and party games she had found lying around the library. Pinkie Pie looked over her newest creation in pride. “You know girls, sometimes I even amaze myself! This has to be the fastest party I’ve ever set up! Good thing this library has enough forethought to be stocked with all the stuff I need for a party.”
“Pinkie…” Rainbow said through a party horn, giving it a small blow before continuing. “This stuff was already set up from the last party we had here. Remember, for Twilight?”
Pinkie blinked and stared blankly at Rainbow. “Oh yeah! You know I was wondering how a library could manage to misspell a pony’s name” the pink pony giggled, waving a hoof at a banner reading ‘Welcome Twilight Sparkle’. “I mean, their names aren’t even similar at all! You’d think a library would be smarter than that, right Dashie?”
“Uh-huh, sure Pinks” Rainbow laughed, following her pink friend to one of the nearby party games. The two passed Twilight and Rarity who were attempting to teach a pony princess how to play pin the tail on the pony.
“So… I’m not going to hurt them right?” Sunny asked as she slid the pin and tail to the side of her mouth. “Also, I can’t see a thing through this blindfold.”
“That’s the point, deary” Rarity happily assured her new friend. “And no, you don’t have to worry about hurting it. It’s only paper after all.”
“Now we just spin you around…” Twilight spun the princess around and stopped her directly in front of the paper pony. “And you have to pin the tail on the pony!”
Sunny stumbled forward, sticking the pin on where she assumed the flank would be. “Did I get it? Did I get it?” the alicorn excitedly asked as she ripped off her blindfold.
“Not quite, I’m afraid” Rarity giggled. The tail had been placed directly on the pony’s chin, giving him an incredibly distinguished, long beard. Sunny laughed along with Rarity at her failed attempt. Twilight, however, glanced over to the portal still active in the corner of the room. Nothing passes by Rarity undetected. “Sunny sweety, why don’t you go acquaint yourself with Fluttershy. The dear is even shyer than you but I have a feeling you two will get along swimmingly” Rarity said sweetly.
“Ok Rarity! Um… where-”
“You see the pink mane, sticking up from behind the refreshments table?”
“Oooh” Sunny said with a smile as she rushed off to make yet another friend.
“So, Twilight…” The white unicorn turned to her unicorn friend, the sudden attention snapping her back to reality. “I see you’re still thinking about you-know-who as well.”
“What-? How did-… can you read minds too?” Twilight said shocked, taking a step back from Rarity and blasting her favorite bedtime story as a filly through her head.
Rarity chuckled, raising a dainty hoof to cover her mouth. “Twilight dear, I don’t need mind reading to know what you’re thinking about.”
Twilight pouted and lowered her head. “Am I really that easy to read?” the unicorn asked herself.
“We’re all thinking the same thing dear… well… except for Pinkie of course” the fashionista corrected herself, waving a hoof dismissively. “Our entire world has been turned upside down. While some of us have been less affected by this than others… we’re all still worried about what will happen, Twilight.”
“Heads up!” A rainbow maned pegasus shouted from across the room.
Rarity ducked as a spinning plate flew over her head. The unicorn regained her composer immediately with a flip of her mane. “Well… most of us are still worried” the white pony corrected herself yet again. “I can live with it being night time eternal. But having someone like her be residing over me, and what she did to Celestia... the others might be fine with her current condition, but I, and of all ponies you, are certainly not. I don’t mean to put any pressure on you sweety… but we’re all counting on you.”
Twilight nervously laughed. “Right… no pressure.”
“Also just about every other living creature is counting on you too…”
“…”
“Oh… terribly sorry”
“Oh-kay, fillies and mares!” Pinkie exclaimed, silencing any conversations or merriment that had been ongoing. “It’s time for the good stuff… truth or dare!”
Applejack spit out the punch she was drinking, coughing up a good amount that went down the wrong way. “Now Pinkie! Remember what happened last time you played that game.”
“C’mon ya big worry wart!” Pinkie chirped, hopping to the center of the room “there aren’t even enough sweaters for everypony this time!”
“Yeah… ah guess so” The orange earth pony conceded reluctantly.
Twilight sat unmoving at the refreshments table, staring intently into her drink. She had just concluded it was definitely not hot sauce this time, drinking hot sauce for the fourth time would have gotten pretty silly, and was lost in thought as she swirled the liquid in her hooves.
“Something wrong Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, tentatively sitting down next to the purple pony. “I know Pinkie’s truth or dare game can be a bit… intimidating…” the pegasus squeaked. “But it is actually pretty fun… if… if that’s what you were worried about, I mean.”
“Thanks, Fluttershy. I was just thinking…” Twilight looked up from her drink. “About some stuff… Celestia…” Twilight let out a quiet sigh and looked back down to her hot sauce. She didn’t know how that kept happening. “And this old story that I read. Do you… do you think that evil queens of darkness can get lonely?”
“Everypony gets lonely, Twilight” Fluttershy responded simply. “Are you going to…?”
“Yeah. I shouldn’t be gone too long... cover for me? I don’t want anypony worrying” Twilight asked hesitantly.
“You can count on me” Fluttershy said as confidently as she could.
The night was cool. Twilight could feel the crisp air seeping into the room from the large open archway that led out to the balcony. Nightmare Moon was sitting at its very edge, her fur melding completely with the dark night that silhouetted her. Ironically, the princess’s star filled mane stood to be less like the night sky than her coat. Twilight looked around, examining her surroundings before continuing on. She was back in the royal bedroom, exactly as she had left it save for the new addition of the portal. With her location cleared, Twilight almost felt confident enough to ask those questions that had been burning through her head all night. The unicorn slowly walked out onto the balcony to seek audience with the queen, her small hooves quietly tapping on cold, stone floor. Nightmare Moon’s head was pointed towards the sky, though her eyes were closed. Twilight gulped down her unease. She had hoped she would do this without hesitation. “Nightmare?” the purple pony quietly spoke, nudging the dark alicorn’s side.
“AAH WOAH!” Nightmare screamed, flying meters into the air, bringing her hooves in front of her protectively. The princess looked down to see a surprised unicorn. “Twilight?!” Nightmare said incredulously while she started flapping her way back down to the balcony. “What- what are you doing here?” The alicorn landed, holding a hoof over her beating chest. “By the stars, don’t do that to me!”
Twilight blinked, attempting to formulate words. “I… I didn’t even know you could be scared.”
“I wasn’t scared!” Nightmare defended herself, a bit too heatedly to be believable. “I was just surprised! What are you even doing here? Shouldn’t you be enjoying the company of all your new friends, or something? Don’t tell me you’ve gotten tired of them already.”
“No, it’s just… there’s still something that’s been bothering me. Something that I need to know, maybe something that will...” Twilight paused, reluctant to say those next words.
Nightmare froze. Of course she’d ask all the right questions at the start, the princess thought drearily to herself.
“You said you’d tell me the truth, all the time. So... I want the truth.” Twilight closed her eyes and steadied her thoughts. “So why? Why are you doing this? All of it. Your sister… my Celestia… the sky... me?”
The moon princess nervously looked away. Horsefeathers.
End Chapter 4
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Main 6,Original Character,Spike,Comedy,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Nightmares Don't Last Forever
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Nightmare Moon has beaten the Elements of Harmony, is Equestria doomed or are they... perfectly fine
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<p>The Elements of Harmony are defeated and Nightmare Moon stands on Equestria's throne as their new Queen. Is Equestria doomed to suffer through night time eternal or will they be... perfectly fine? Twilight finds her new job as slave or "personal assistant" to her new ruler to be a bit maddening. But is this evil sarcastic queen really as bad as she originally believed? And just how many others are diabolical enough to cash in on the change in staff? Can Nightmare truly run a peaceful Equestria? Let me just answer all these questions right here in the description...</p>
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everyone
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2011-10-23T03:12:24+00:00
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2011-10-23T03:12:24+00:00
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Nightmares Don’t Last Forever
Chapter 5
Nightmare Moon sighed, glancing at the smaller purple pony that sat next to her. It’s cold tonight… I haven’t felt that in a while, the princess thought to herself. “Yes, fine. I will answer your questions, Twilight Sparkle,” The alicorn groaned to her companion. “But first let’s talk about something else!” Nightmare said, immediately perking up.
“You said you’d-”
“Yes! And I will, but first we’ll have to talk about things that won’t make you…” The princess paused, grinning awkwardly as she lowered her head. “Oh, hey! So what is the moonest thing that’s happened in the last thousand years?! Does the shrubbery still walk around when you turn your back?”
Twilight cocked her eyebrow apathetically. “Moonest?”
Nightmare laughed bashfully. “I’m… hoping it catches on.”
“Uh-huh. And the moving shrubbery?” The unicorn asked with a small smirk playing on the sides of her face.
“I made that part up,” the princess said, flashing a large grin at Twilight.
“Of course. Well, in the hopes of moving this along, I’ll fill you in on some of more important historical footnotes,” The purple pony said in a tone that was probably too excited. “Let’s start with-”
“Wait! Stop. I can already tell this is going to be boring,” Nightmare interrupted. “Tell me about stuff that I would be interested in.”
Twilight pouted and looked off into the night sky. The heavens were particularly clear and bright tonight, probably due mostly to Nightmare, the unicorn noted. “Well… astronomy has had a lot of advances in the last couple hundred years,” Twilight mentioned offhandedly.
“Wait, what!?” Nightmare ducked her head down to Twilight with a surprised look on her face; surprising Twilight just as much. “That… that actually got off the ground?” The princess whispered skeptically.
Twilight chuckled at Nightmare’s outburst. “Well, yeah. It has its own science and everything. And don’t get me started on the subcategories… no, really, you probably shouldn’t. Being anti-social isn’t the only reason I haven’t had any friends in the past” Twilight chuckled again, though this time out of embarrassment. “I’ve been told I could talk a pony’s ear off when it comes to astronomy.”
“You study astronomy?!” Nightmare cried in amazement. “There’s enough of it to talk a pony’s ear off!? But- but it was just a tiny club I made! How does that even…” Nightmare plopped onto the ground and stared blankly off into space. A dumb grin slowly slid across her dark face.
“Yes, and yes. Astronomy happens to be my favorite non-magic subject” Twilight proudly stated.
“Seriously?” The princess said, gaping at the purple pony.
“Yup! Sometimes, I stay up all night just looking at the stars. They really are beautiful, and I’ve gotten lost in them hundreds of times. Spike would get so mad when he’d see I hadn’t been to bed,” the unicorn professed while she stared dreamily at the night sky.
Nightmare’s mouth couldn’t hang any lower. “R- really?” The princess’s cheeks took on a blue hint of color.
Twilight looked back to Nightmare in confusion. “Well, yeah. What’s gotten you-…”
A flip switched in Twilight’s head.
Twilight looked away with an air of aloofness, hiding her smirk completely. This will be perfect, the purple pony giggled mischievously to herself. The unicorn’s voice took on a sultry, titillating quality as she picked up her words once more. “Yes… I cannot recount how many times I’ve refused sleep, instead watching the stars sparkle through my telescope, sifting through the masses of celestial bodies; each unique and more beautiful than the last. Oh, how I sometimes dread the thought of the rising sun, coming to obscure such a beautiful spectacle.” Twilight dramatically sighed, placing a hoof across her head. The unicorn paused for theatrical effect while she stared longingly at the stars through hooded eyes. “You know… there’s a game I sometimes play,” Twilight paused again, bringing the hoof to her lips. “It helps me remember all the names of the stars.” The pony gave the tip of her hoof a light sensual lick before raising it too the sky. “I outline each constellation with my hoof.” The unicorn slowly began caressing the outline of one of her favorite star formations. “Just sliding… ever so slightly around the edges, barely touching the stars themselves. And it help me memorize their shape.” Twilight slowly finished her sketch in the air, drooping her hoof slightly, only to raise it back up to give the constellation one last stroke. “Sometimes I almost feel like I can… touch them.” Ha ha ha I did it! I used the voice she uses! Twilight praised herself, making sure to keep her come hither gaze at the heavens. “What do you think, Nightmare Moon?” The unicorn innocently asked her princess. Twilight waited for a response but none was given. “Nightmare?” the purple pony broke her gaze with the sky to question her mistress.
Nightmare’s face was dominated by a deep blue. Her eyes were as wide as they could go, and her lips were pursed in utter shock. “Wh-… why did you tell me that?” The princess hesitantly spoke through her blush.
Whatever switch had triggered Twilight’s episode immediately slammed back into its original position. Realizing everything she had just said the unicorn quickly turned away, her own face felt like it would melt at any second. “I- I don’t know! Why do you say all of the stuff that you say!?“ The purple pony half accused the princess.
“Because it’s fun!” Nightmare squeaked out.
“Well, it’s fun for me-… HA HA HA let’s change the subject!” Twilight frantically looked around the room for something else to talk about. Her eyes stuck to the portal. “Ah, portal! Yes, um how did, uh… how did you… how did you get the portal in the library, anyways?” Twilight’s curiosity instantly eclipsed her panicking nature at the presentation of a plot hole.
“Oh… uh… that, well.” Nightmare coughed nervously, turning her head away to look at her kingdom. “Right after you left the library. I moved it in, installed the hidden door, and was able to catch up with you and your friends before you were in the forest for more than a couple minutes… Your dragon is a heavy sleeper by the way.”
Twilight giggled knowingly. “You should try waking him up some mornings…”
The princess fidgeted with her hooves, looking at a nearby piece of tile. “So did you… did you mean what you said?” Nightmare asked, almost masking hope in her voice.
“Umm… what part?” Twilight asked looking at a different tile on the opposite side of the balcony.
“The part about wanting to see the stars all the time,” The princess murmured.
“Uh… well, I… yeah, I have wished a couple times that the stars and the night sky would last-” A large squealing princess interrupted Twilight.
Nightmare laughed giddily, grabbing Twilight and flying straight up into the air, spinning wildly. The moon princess’s hair spun out into a beautiful blue corona that spread through the night sky as the duo rose higher. “Haha, Don’t you see Twilight! That is exactly what I’m doing here. I want to share my night with everypony! All the time! You understand me don’t you!”
Twilight screamed.
“Oh hush, you big baby” Nightmare teased, stopping her accent and slowly returning to the balcony. “I haven’t even done anything to make you scream yet,” Nightmare giggled, her good mood returning.
Twilight flopped out of Nightmare’s hooves once they were close enough to the balcony and hugged the cold stone floor. “Please… please! Don’t ever do that again,” The unicorn pleaded breathlessly.
“No promises.” Nightmare grinned.
Twilight coughed up a bit of trepidation and calmed her mind. “You… you just wanted the night sky?”
Nightmare nodded happily in reply. “I wanted everypony to have it!”
Twilight paused, still looking away from the princess. “So, let me get this straight... You were locked in the moon for a thousand years, took over a country, and mind wiped your own sister… so people could see the night sky all the time?”
Nightmare couldn’t see Twilight’s face, but the princess could imagine what it looked like. “It- it’s not exactly like that!” A bit of anxiety nipping on edge of the moon princess’s voice.
Twilight turned on the alicorn, glaring at her dark form. “Well, then why don’t you tell me what it is exactly like!”
“I… I just wanted ponies to appreciate the night…” Nightmare conceded, lowering her head dejectedly.
“That’s it!?” Twilight yelled, a small flame spurted from the side of her hair. “I read your story, but I didn’t think it was word for word! You’re so… you’re…”
“The queen!” Nightmare yelled back, wisps of her own hair whipping wildly.
“No! You’re a spoiled princess who thinks you can always get your way!”
“I will always get my way! I deserve it, I worked hard! You can’t even fathom how hard I worked to create the night sky! And nobody even cared… nobody appreciated… That’s never going to happen again. And nobody is going to stop me or stand in my way!”
“Not even your sister apparently! Who knew blood wasn’t as thick as selfishness!” Twilight chided, her hair licking up in spurts of red and orange.
Nightmare flinched “Th- that’s not-! Celestia just didn’t understand! Nopony does, and neither do you!” Nightmare sneered at the purple pony.
Twilight closed her eyes and screamed through her teeth. “I understand perfectly well!” The unicorn’s hair subsided with a sizzle, a small pillar of smoke lifting from her hair. “I understand perfectly well,” Twilight growled as she turned away from Nightmare and began walking back to the portal.
“Wh- where are you going?!” Nightmare demanded.
“Where does it look like?” Twilight jeered, not bothering to look back. “I’m going home…”
“You… better show up before sunrise tomorrow!” the alicorn called after her.
“How could I ever refuse you, princess~” the unicorn responded sarcastically.
“That’s Quee-” Nightmare was cut off as Twilight entered through the portal.
Nightmare slumped onto the railing of the balcony... Alone again, huh?
Twilight entered her library tree house, quite literally fuming. Ok Twilight, just calm down, the unicorn thought to herself. I’m with my friends now, away from that selfish brat, let’s just enjoy tonight. And then I’ll find a way to return Celestia to her- Oh my Celestia!! Twilight was not expecting this.
“WHYYY?! APPLEJACK WHYYYYY?!?” Rarity cried, holding a limp Applejack in her hooves. It looked like a bomb had gone off in the library. The room was a complete mess; ruined decorations, furniture, and ponies were laid haphazardly around building.
“Rarity!?” Twilight screamed in panic. “What happened?!”
The white unicorn promptly dropped Applejack with a thud, looking up at Twilight as if she’d seen a ghost. “Dear me… Twilight, um…” Rarity looked around the room nervously. “Pinkie’s game, may~ have gotten just a tad bit out of hand.”
A bubbly hiccup could be heard from the corner of the room behind a large cushiony upside-down sofa. A set of Pink hooves slung over the side of the upturned couch were the only visible parts of the very same exuberant party pony mainly responsible for the mess. A speedster cyan pony’s hooves were similarly situated on the sofa; though less visible as the pink ones were lying on top of them. It’s also worth noting that the sofa was definitely not a furnishing that adorned the library earlier that day.
A muffled groan sounded from the other side of the room. “Twilight…? Is- is that you?” Sunny managed to mumble while stumbling out of a pile of pillows. Nearly tripping over the cushions the sun princess looked like she could barely hold herself up. Sunny’s coordination was inhibited in most part from a large tube that completely covered her head and rose a couple feet into the air. A small unconscious dragon stuck out the other side. “Heh… heh… I’m a giraffe~” the alicorn blearily informed the wall next to Twilight. “Twilight… what’s a giraffe?”
Twilight blinked. She had seen and experienced too much these last couple days. The scene hardly fazed her in the slightest. “Well… it looks like you guys had fun,” the unicorn smirked at the fidgeting Rarity.
The white unicorn laughed apprehensively, looking around the room. “Yes, I suppose we did.”
“What were you doing when I came-”
“Just look at the time! I really must be off.” Rarity dashed for the door. “I’ll be sure to come by tomorrow morning to help clean up! Oh-!” The unicorn gasped, running back to the unconscious Applejack, grabbing the blond pony’s tail with her teeth. “And I’ll be taking this with me. Toodles~” Rarity said through the hair, then dashed out the door once again, dragging the orange earth pony behind her.
Twilight smiled and shook her head. “Over here Sunny, let’s get Spike off your head and get to bed, shall we?” The unicorn magically lifted the tubing off of Sunny’s head with a pop.
“Oh my” The princess said, blinking in the new light flooding her eyes. “Twilight! I have been having so much fun!” Sunny exclaimed, stumbling on the floor a bit. The alicorn shook her head to clear most of the wooziness. “Does having friends always mean this much fun?!”
“Well… I’m not exactly the best person to ask… yet,” Twilight giggled, a determined smirk on her face. “But I’d say most of tonight’s success should be credited to Pinkie Pie”
Another hiccup resounded from behind the couch.
“Let’s… just leave them there for now,” The unicorn smiled, raising an eyebrow in the couch’s direction before looking around the room again. “Hey, where’s Fluttershy? Did she go home already?”
“Fluttershy…” Sunny stared at Twilight for a moment in thought. The pony quickly froze and slowly lifted her head up to the ceiling.
Twilight quietly did the same. Fluttershy appeared to be unconscious and suspended by her tail, which tied around the ceiling fan, which was also a new furnishing that wasn’t in the house prior. The pegasus pony was peacefully being spun around the room by the ends of the propellers, making a quiet squeak whenever the pony got to a certain point on the circulation. The fan wasn’t the one that was squeaking. “Huh…” the unicorn said without an ounce of surprise. “You’ll have to tell me how this game is played while we get everyone comfortable.”
Sunny scampered up the last of the stairs and jumped excitedly into the bedroom. “-And that’s when it just flew out of the room!”
“Uh-huh,” Twilight said as if dealing with an excited little filly, which she was. The unicorn drudged up the rest of the stairs, an unconscious Spike resting on her back. “I’m… glad you’re having fun Sunny,” The purple pony managed to say with only a twinge of dejection in her voice.
“Oh, I am Twilight! Having friends… having friends is just the best thing ever!” The alicorn proclaimed gleefully, jumping up to the bed in the corner of the room and giving it a couple bounces. Sunny paused for a moment to look around the room. “So, where am I going to sleep?” The princess asked innocently.
Twilight rested Spike in his basket and pulled the covers up to his neck to tuck him in lovingly before turning to Sunny. “Well, with Fluttershy using the extra bed and my new… sofa being used by Pinkie and Rainbow, this is the last bed in the tree. We’ll just have to bunk together tonight” The unicorn stated absentmindedly.
Sunny immediately blushed and turned away, her hooves rubbed against each other anxiously. “Twilight, you…
“Yes, Sunny?”
“You aren’t going to… ‘ravage’ me are you?” the sun princess squeaked out.
“I- what! No!”
“It’s just… it did look a little fun with you and… sis. I don’t think I’m close enough to you, like you said before, for us to do that sort of thing. But- but if you really want to, I mean, I guess I can-”
“Wait! Stop! That’s not what that word means” Twilight said, completely frazzled. Well at least it’s good to know I can still be surprised. I was worried there for a while, the unicorn thought, a bit relieved by the notion. “Just make sure you only say that to somepony you’re very, very close to.”
“How do I know when-”
“Ah! Wait, sorry! No, never say that to anypony ever!” Twilight quickly corrected herself. “Let’s just… let’s just get some sleep,” The unicorn said, exhausted once again from her busy day. The unicorn quietly situated Sunny and herself in bed and quickly drifted off to sleep. Or, at least she tried to.
“Hey, Twilight?” Sunny called, turning to face the unicorn.
Twilight sighed and turned to face the alicorn. “Yeah, Sunny?”
“I’m not tired.”
“Have you tried counting gems?” The purple pony suggested.
“Huh?”
“Wait, nevermind. I never got around to testing that, did I… Well, how about a story?” Twilight offered hopefully.
“Oh yes that would be wonderful!” The alicorn commented happily, dipping her face half-way below the covers so only the top of her head and eyes poked out.
“Okay then, what to tell… what to tell…” The unicorn pondered. “Oh! How about I give you your very first friendship report!”
“Yeah!”
“Well then. Let’s start at the beginning. Now, I wasn’t exactly the most social of ponies, rather, I wasn’t social at all. I was too preoccupied with my studies of magic to have time for anything else. Well, one day in my studies, I stumbled across a book…”
“… And you know what lesson I learned that day, Sunny?”
Sunny blearily shook her head, her half-lidded eyes making it apparent she was ready to fall asleep at any moment.
“I learned that your friends will always be beside you to help you out… always be… beside” Twilight stopped, feeling the dampness of a tear rolling down her cheek. A much cherished memory surfaced to the front of Twilight’s mind. She was crying then, too…
“What’s wrong, my little pony?” A large white figure knelt down beside a bawling little purple filly that was nearly completely encased by a small fort of books.
“P- Princess…” The small unicorn cried, attempting to sniffle back her tears in the presence of her idol. “Th- the other ponies… they keep teasing me!”
“Whatever for, my faithful student?”
“B- because I read too many books!” The small filly looked down, a bit of her sadness replaced by anger, though her tears kept falling.
“You cannot simply run away when you are faced with a problem, Twilight Sparkle,” The large pony began levitating the books surrounding the filly away. “But that does not mean you have to face that problem alone.” The alicorn spread her wing to cover the filly in a warm, feathery embrace. “You will have friends beside you one day to help you.”
Twilight sniffled. “And… and you, princess?”
“… Yes… yes Twilight, I will be beside you…”
“… Always” Twlight breathed out the last word. The tears were flowing from her just as much as they had on that day. Twilight lowered head onto the now soundly sleeping Sunny. I’m sorry princess… I’m so, so sorry. You’re gone, and it’s all my fault. I’ll keep your memories alive… beside me, forever. “… You gave me my very first book that day,” The unicorn whispered, again revisiting her memory. The only place left where she could see her beloved Princess Cele-
“You were so small then.”
Twilight fell backwards off the bed with a thud. “S- Sunny?!” Twilight whispered loudly in disbelief.
The sun princess’s eyes were still closed, still in a deep state of sleep. “Introduction to Sorcery… such a big book for such a small filly,” Sunny mumbled and giggled before turning over, away from Twilight.
Twilight was dumbstruck, staring blankly at the back of the alicorn’s head. She… she remembered… she remembered. She remembered! She remembered! She remembered! I don’t know how but she did! Twilight’s thoughts floundered over each other upon her discovery. I don’t know how she did but she did! Was it the story I told her? Could friendship be the key to restoring Celestia’s memories? Was it my memory that did it? Can mind magic work like that? Wait, but I didn’t use any magic, that’s not how magic works. Could it have been-mmmmmMMMYesss yes yes yesyesyesYESSSS! Twilight jumped around the room in joy. She didn’t know how, but she was going to get her teacher back! But first she was going to sleep. These days are getting more and more exhausting.
Nightmare Moon tapped on the side of the balcony impatiently. Where is that pony?! The princess thought angrily to herself. She better show up! If she doesn’t show up I’ll… I’ll… remove all of her hair! An evil smirk formed on Nightmare’s face. Yesss that’ll show her. She will be so naked. She’ll rue the day she dared oppo-
Twilight trotted through the portal, chipper and raring to start the new day. “Good morning Nightmare Moon~” The unicorn called in a sing-song voice
“Oh, um… good morning… Sparkle” Nightmare replied, a bit unsure of Twilight’s new jubilant attitude. “What… what are you so happy about?”
“Well, it’s a brand new day of course! Why wouldn’t I be happy?” Twilight beamed a heart-meltingly warm smile at her mistress.
Nightmare only became even more unnerved. “…Riiiiight, well, uh… you’re a good little slave for coming” the princess attempted to goad the unicorn.
Twilight didn’t flinch at all, her smile was unfaltering. How couldn't she smile. The unicorn had just found hope to return Celestia to her rightful place as princess, and of course, teacher.
“Heh…” Nightmare laughed nervously. “So, where’s Sunny?”
“Oh, she partied a little too hard last night, so I’m letting her sleep in today.” She just kept smiling. “So are we going to raise the new sun or what?” Twilight asked innocently.
“Yes… of course…” Nightmare slowly turned out to the grand view the balcony revealed, and lit her horn. The alicorn shone bright and the night whipped around them in a repeat of the first morning Twilight had spent with Nightmare. It was just as beautiful and awe inspiring as it was the first time. Less poets wrote about it this time though. Nightmare finished her chore as the moon-sun began rising in the sky, shining brightly against the black backdrop of the night. “Phew!” Nightmare exclaimed, wobbling a bit. “That was much easier the second time around.”
“Hey, you never did explain how you managed to get such a bright celestial body in the sky, and keep the stars visible behind it,” Twilight’s smile fell as she was once again placed in front of an enticing puzzle.
“Pffft,” Nightmare chided. “It’s magic, I ain’t gotta’ e-” Nightmare was interrupted by the cold stone floor of the balcony that rushed up to meet her. The alicorn laid unmoving, sprawled on the ground.
“Whoah!” Twilight winced. “Nightmare, are you ok?” Twilight moved closer to the dark princess. “Uh… Nightmare?” The pony tentatively asked again with no response. Twilight knelt down next to Nightmare and slowly lowered her ear down to the princess’s chest. The uncorn’s coat turned a few shades whiter as she jumped up in panic. She looked around the room wildly before turning again down to the unmoving form of Nightmare Moon. Shaking her head, Twilight decisively lit her horn with a large charge of magic and jabbed it into the princess’s chest. Nightmare’s body jolted. Twilight lowered her ear back to the princess’ chest. The purple pony lit her horn again, brighter this time and jabbed again. Nightmare’s body jolted once more, followed by coughs and wheezing as the dark princess pulled her cooling hooves in closer to her body. Twilight fell to the floor, relief, and fatigue from such large spells filling her.
Nightmare coughed and groaned, looking up through bleary eyes at Twilight. “… what were we-” she coughed. “-talking about?”
Twilight looked down at the fallen princess with a mixture of utter shock and boiling anger. “Nightmare… WHAT THE FLYING HORSEFEATHER?!”
Nightmare coughed again. “You kiss your princess with that mouth?” The princess groaned out, and fell over.
End Chapter 5
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939
| 6 |
Main 6,Original Character,Spike,Comedy,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Nightmares Don't Last Forever
|
Nightmare Moon has beaten the Elements of Harmony, is Equestria doomed or are they... perfectly fine
|
incomplete
| 1,159 | 52 |
<p>The Elements of Harmony are defeated and Nightmare Moon stands on Equestria's throne as their new Queen. Is Equestria doomed to suffer through night time eternal or will they be... perfectly fine? Twilight finds her new job as slave or "personal assistant" to her new ruler to be a bit maddening. But is this evil sarcastic queen really as bad as she originally believed? And just how many others are diabolical enough to cash in on the change in staff? Can Nightmare truly run a peaceful Equestria? Let me just answer all these questions right here in the description...</p>
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everyone
|
2011-11-10T03:18:13+00:00
|
2011-11-10T03:18:13+00:00
| 25,990 |
Nightmares Don’t Last Forever
Chapter 6
Twilight grumbled, struggling to get back into the royal bedroom of the castle. The full weight of the night princess pressed down on the small of her back. “Why… why why why!” The unicorn grunted, continuing her pilgrimage. “Why is it all of a sudden nothing can make any sense ever! It’s like I’m in Bizarrequestria and it’s the social norm to be as confusing and vague as possible! Is everypony crazy? If everypony is crazy, does that mean I’m actually the crazy one. That must be it, as I don’t see any other way I could be so confounded non stop!” Twilight shouted as she dropped Nightmare Moon onto her bed with a loud thump. The unicorn glared down at the sprawled form of her mistress. “And this is all your fault!” Twilight accused Nightmare with an outstretched hoof. “Why do you have to be so- so-… unconscious” The purple pony mumbled the last word, looking around to make sure nopony had witnessed her embarrassing little outburst. The unicorn slumped down to the floor, resting her back against the bed. “Why can’t anything make any sense…”
“… Sorry” came a weak reply.
Twilight didn’t react, intent to stare at the floor in front of her. “You’ll have to be more specific than that. You have a lot to be sorry for.” The unicorn half-heartedly muttered.
“It can’t just be a general apology for everything?” Nightmare questioned, weakly opening her eyes.
“No.”
“Well then… sorry for dying, I suppose. I really didn’t plan on that happening…” The princess paused. “… So soon” She offhandedly slipped in.
“You planned on yourself dying?” Twilight turned skeptically to stare at the princess.
Nightmare let out a hoarse chuckle. “You did ask why I picked you.”
“What? So I’m just your defibrillator or something?” The unicorn scoffed and stared back at the floor.
“Well, that’s one of the reasons.”
“What are the other reasons?”
“I don’t have to tell you” Nightmare rejected the question.
“Tell me.”
“Fine, but you only get one” the princess conceded.
“Three!” Twilight demanded, raising her head a bit and lessening her frown.
“Two, and that’s final” The princess stated in a convincingly serious tone.
“Deal.”
Nightmare smirked, blowing out a victorious burst of air through her nose. “Hmph, I was going to tell you this one anyway.”
Twilight rolled her eyes.
“Well, I have been gone for… a while. And I’m not exactly the most familiar with customs and… social conduct of this time period. So I’ll need you to help me ‘adjust’” The princess said a bit awkwardly. “That’s one, now the second reason is… no, wait. Ah, no, I was sure I had more reasons than that! I mean- I- uh I thought I. I can’t tell you this one-” Nightmare sputtered out, completely against having to reveal her last reason.
The purple pony’s ears perked, looking back at the flustered Nightmare with a haughty grin on her face. “What’s wrong Nightmare? Something you don’t want me to know?” Twilight asked innocently, malice laced in her words.
The princess stumbled over her words. “AH! Sunny! Yes! That’s it!” Nightmare coughed, recollecting herself. “That’s it. I need you to keep my sister safe… at least until I get someone a little more suited.” The princess closed her eyes as she tried to prevent her smile from showing.
“Hey, what? I am perfectly capable of protecting somepony” Twilight retorted, hotly. “I just so happen to be the most powerful-…” The unicorn hesitated, realizing with a blush just what she was about to say. “I’m… I’m pretty powerful” Twilight admitted.
Nightmare chuckled, finding the strength to raise her head; cracking a few joints on the way. “Hm, no doubt” The princess teased. “But not exactly the most battle experienced pony are we?”
“Well I-”
“Or very quick to act.”
“Now hey I am-”
“Or flexible.”
“I most certainly am fl-” Twilight stopped herself just in time. The purple pony looked up at Nightmare who was holding a hoof in front of her smirking face. The unicorn grew a smile of her own. “Heh, nice try” The unicorn goaded while she slowly rose from her resting place. “But you know what? You lied.”
“What? No I didn’t!” The alicorn defended, bringing her hoof down onto the bed.
“Well, you didn’t do it on purpose, but you definitely did” Twilight said coyly, jumping onto the bed and laying down beside the princess. The purple pony’s tail flicked excitedly.
“Horsefeathers” Nightmare cursed, looking away from her helpless captive.
“That’s right missy. I know your third reason” The unicorn boasted, a sly grin plastered across her face. “It really wasn’t that hard to figure out. It was honestly the most obvious explanation. To anyone that’s read your story, that is.”
Twilight’s eyes pierced through the back of Nightmare’s head. The princess could just feel that little purple smirk looming behind her. “Shut up.”
“You~”
“Shut up shut up.”
“Are~”
Nightmare groaned, burying her face in her front hooves.
“Loooonleeeee~” Twilight finished in a sing-song voice as she rested her head playfully on the moon princess’s shoulder.
Chance! Nightmare exclaimed to herself in delight. “Oh, Twilight Sparkle… you are right” The moon princess said dolefully. First, catcher her off guard, create your own pace, the alicorn reviewed her strategy.
Twilight lifted her head off of Nightmare in surprise. “Um… I, am…” The unicorn replied nervously.
“I have been so very, very lonely” The alicorn continued in her saddened, melancholy voice. Nightmare flapped wing and spread it over Twilight, pulling the purple pony’s head back down to rest on her dark shoulders.
“Um, what?”
Now reel her in. “I should have known that you of all ponies would be able to see through my tough, uncaring façade. To the real, miserable, lonely, me” Nightmare cooed sadly while her wing gently brushed down the purple pony’s body. “That you and all your knowledge and insight could undress my convoluted psyche so easily.”
“Well, um, yes, that’s-” The purple pony attempted to get up but found the dark princess’s wing had her locked in place. Oh Celestia, I am not comfortable with this at all, Twilight squeaked to herself. It was still morning, she had just cast a couple high level revival spells, her head was fuzzy, and the princess’s body pressed up against her side along with her soft stroking feathers and… words, were certainly not helping matters. While Twilight is very much capable of dealing with a wide variety of situations, being seduced by a goddess is not one of them. The purple pony shrank helplessly into the bed.
Now go in for the kill. “I didn’t even realize, Twilight…” Nightmare lowered and turned her head, bringing herself eye to eye with Twilight. “But I’ve been waiting for a pony like you. Someone of your intellect, of your… prowess.”
Twilight squeaked, hiding the bottom half of her head, leaving her wide eyes to be the only visible part of her face.
The moon princess leaned her face in closer to the purple unicorn. “Twilight… there’s something I have to tell you” Nightmare hesitantly whispered.
The purple unicorn attempted to struggle free again. She was unsuccessful.
“I… You…” Nightmare bit her lip and looked away while her breathing became heavier. The moon princess brought herself nose to hoof covered nose with Twilight, locking her teal dragon eyes together with the unicorn’s. “You’re… You’re a thousand years too early to even attempt teasing me.” Nightmare’s grin grew to horsefeather-eating proportions.
Twilight blinked dumbly at her dark princess. The unicorn closed her eyes and buried her head underneath a pile of covers; and screamed.
“Goodness…” Nightmare said with an air of surprise. “Somepony~ is a little frustrated” The princess teased.
The purple pony glared up from her covers, sated enough with her outlet. Though she considered bash-a-queen would allow her to blow off more steam, she decided against it. For now. “Ok, yeah, you got me. Ha ha ha” Twilight said in a disgruntled, deadpanned tone.
Nightmare giggled before releasing the unicorn from her dark feathery hold. “Oh, don’t be such a spoilsport…” The princess looked at her still frowning companion. “Though, um… I might have overdone it a bit. Heh, sorry.”
Twilight scrunched up on the bed, turning herself away from Nightmare. “Uh-huh” The unicorn grumpily replied. Suddenly inspiration struck the purple pony, this wasn’t over yet. “Did you… did you mean any of that” Twilight asked innocently.
“Huh? You mean…”
“Yeah.”
“… Nice try, Sparkles.” Nightmare smirked. “But we’ve had this scene already” The princess said in a smug, confident tone.
“Blast” Twilight cursed to herself, scrunching up even further into the covers. It was over.
The princess looked uncomfortably at Twilight. Maybe I did go a little overboard… The alicorn reconsidered her actions. “Although… yeah I do… kinda, sorta’… meanallofthat” Nightmare managed to mumble, quickly looking away from the purple pony and her now adorable perking ears.
Twilight slowly raised her head from the bed. “You’re not forgiven yet” The unicorn adamantly pouted.
“Hmmm, demanding reparation, eh? Ok, I can give you a gift as an apology.” The moon princess tapped a hoof on her chin as she pondered her options. “Do you like harems?” Nightmare beamed a hopeful smile at the purple pony.
“…” Twilight remained silent.
“Oh… yeah, I guess you already have one of those” Nightmare said seriously, bringing the hoof back up to her chin.
Twilight’s tail flicked in an agitated manner.
“Hmmm, you’re a bookish, dork type, right…?” Nightmare happily noticed the purple pony’s tail to be flicking even faster. “Tell me, do you like making schedules?”
The purple pony’s ear twitched, her tail halted in place. “… Possibly” Twilight responded as her ear twitched again.
“-and the strangest thang, ah don’t even know how I made it home last night!” Applejack finished, shelving the last of the books that were lying on the ground. After working all morning the group of ponies had managed to get the library nearly spotless, with the occasional party decoration here or there.
“Hm, yes, quite a mystery indeed” Rarity offhandedly replied. Her horn glowed, the wisps of her magic picking up a couple stray streamers from the party the previous night.
The orange farmer pony eyed her unicorn friend suspiciously. “Oh, and something else. Ah smelled right like some kind of frilly fru-fru perfume. Now what did that smell like…” Applejack scratched the side of her head as she contemplated the distinct smell. “What was it… oh, it smelled almost exactly like spiced pumpkins...”
Rarity nearly lost her magical grip on the trash but managed to keep herself from flinching. “Oh hoho, quite the sense of smell you have there Applejack.”
“Say Rarity… weren’t you just bragin’ ‘bout your new perfume the other day? If memory serves, why, you called it pumpkin spice or some such-”
“Fragrance Spice’ a la Pumpkin Mix No. 6” Rarity interrupted before realizing what she’d said. The white unicorn coughed nervously. “I mean… I’ve heard of that perfume, yes. I’d never wear it though! Simply dreadful, so last year. You’d never catch me wearing it these days” The fashionista huffed, flipping her mane over her head.
Pinkie popped up from behind the white unicorn. “But Rarity, I though you said you loved-” Streamers flew into the pink pony’s mouth.
“HA HA HA be a dear and help me throw these away, Pinkie?” The unicorn hastily requested, her eye twitching ever so slightly.
Pinkie Pie nodded happily and tilted her head back, slurping up the remaining streamers that were sticking out of her mouth.
Rarity looked on in horror.
“What? They’re candy streamers!” Pinkie chirped, smiling broadly.
“I- wha- but, they were on the floor!” The unicorn exclaimed, a stray piece of hair falling in front of her face.
“Well so are your hooves but that doesn’t stop you from putting them in your mouth!” The pinkest of ponies responded in a frank tone.
“Eh… ueeeeeh” Rarity whined as she rubbed the sides of her head with her hooves.
Rainbow Dash trotted up laughing with a trashbag on her back. “Pinkie Pie, you are so random. Also, weren’t you the one that put the streamers in her mouth?” The cyan pegasus accused Rarity with a playful smirk.
“Well, yes, but I didn-“
A purple pony slumped through the portal in the corner of the room. The unicorn looked completely disheveled, with a few stray pieces of hair, legs that wouldn’t keep straight, and the faintest of an unfocused smile on her face. The group of ponies stared in silence as Twilight slowly got to her feet.
“Darling!” Rarity cried out. “Whatever happened to-”
“I knew it!” Rainbow exclaimed as she flew up to a confused and still wobbly Twilight. “I knew it I knew it!”
“What’re ya talkin’ ‘bout Rainbow?” The orange earth pony skeptically questioned her cyan friend.
“Oh c’mon AJ! Isn’t it obvious?” The pegasus said with a huff while she walked around the purple unicorn. “The long hours away, the seductive princess, and just look at her current state! That dazed goofy smile, those wobbling legs!” The cyan pony flew back around to the orange earth pony. “I told you it would be good!” Rainbow said arrogantly and triumphantly, pointing a hoof at the cowpony.
“Well, shoot Rainbow, ah guess you were right” Applejack conceded, scratching the side of her head as she eyed the aghast Twilight Sparkle, whose legs were still shaking.
Pinkie hopped up to the unicorn with a tiny happy smile. “Jeez Twilight, the party was supposed to be last night, not this morning!” The pink pony giggled, booping Twilight on the nose.
“I-… I have had just about enough of these- these false assumptions about my… more intimate life” The purple unicorn weakly stammered out, attempting to control her weak legs. “I was simply assisting Nightmare in organizing her schedule and I just… got a bit carried away” The unicorn blushed happily in remembrance of her earlier toiling. “… I really like organizing.”
The pink pony giggled again, scrunching up her face with her hooves. “Oh Twilight, we know you’re not makin’ woopie with the princess. It’s just really fun teasing you about it!”
“… I still think she is.” The cyan pegasus got smacked by an orange hoof. “Now cut that out!”
Twilight sighed, collecting her thoughts. “Where’s Fluttershy and Sunny? There’s something I need to- Oh, there you are.”
An excited Sunny and tentative but happy Fluttershy trotted into the library. “Twilight!” The pink haired alicorn yelled giddily. “It was so amazing, Fluttershy was showing me around town and there is just a shop for everything and there are so many nice ponies and we got some ice-cream and- oh, um, uh… thank you for last night, by the way. I really enjoyed it.” Sunny tilted her head down and blushed, twirling the tip of her front hoof on the ground.
Rainbow Dash rushed up to Twilight with large sparkling rose colored eyes. The pegasus deliberately rested her front hooves on the purple pony and pulled her closer. “Tell me how you do it” The cyan pony whispered in awe.
Twilight shoved Rainbow away apathetically. “Bed time story” the unicorn groaned out.
The pegasus pulled out a notepad and began scribbling furiously in it. “Bed time stories, gotcha!”
The unicorn ignored this. “It was no problem Sunny, really” Twilight said sweetly. “Now… there’s something really important I have to talk about with you. About what exactly is going on, and what happened to you” The purple unicorn said dejectedly.
“Um… you mean how my sister erased my memories, and became the new princess?” Sunny shyly replied.
“You- you knew?” The unicorn asked with wide eyes.
“Well, yeah. Sis told me everything.”
“And you’re ok with her doing that to you, and takeing over your kingdom?” Twilight asked almost shocked.
“Um, uh, no? I mean-” The alicorn stumbled through her words. “I kinda wasn’t ok with it. But- but she promised we would be able to live happily this way” Sunny mumbled, rubbing her hooves together nervously. “I’m sorry…”
“I’m not mad at you Sunny… just a little confused” The unicorn said reassuringly, resting a hoof on Sunny’s back. “You do… want your memories back though, right?”
Sunny bit her lip as she looked away from Twilight. “I… I just want us- I just want everypony to be happy” The alicorn murmured. “But I want my memories back too!” the white pony said decisively, staring intently back at Twilight.
“Don’t worry Sunny. I’ll make sure both of those happen!” The purple pony smiled confidently at her princess. “We can get your memories back Sunny, I know we can. Nightmare is wrong. Last night, you remembered something.”
“I did?”
“Um, well, you were sort of asleep.” Twilight laughed nervously, bringing her hoof back to scratch the back of her head. She decided to leave out the emotional bit. “Do you remember anything after the story I told you?”
“Well, there was this really weird dream” The alicorn explained. “I was really tall in it, and you were soooo small!” The sun princess giggled as she thought back to the scene. “And there was an oddly large book with you too… I think I was giving it to you.”
“And this will be our main objective, to restore your memories Sunny!” Twilight exclaimed, striking a heroic pose. “And our other objective is to keep Nightmare Moon from dying.”
“Why… would that need to be an objective?” Sunny questioned innocently.
“Oh, because she died this morning” The unicorn stated bluntly.
“W- WHAT?!?” Sunny screamed hysterically, her wings extended in shock and her eyes grew as big as saucers.
“AH, no, wait! She’s fine now. She’s all better!” Twilight quickly blurted out
“Oh, thank goodness.” The alicorn fell to the floor breathlessly, her wings outstretched and twitching.
“But there’s still a good chance she’ll die again tomorrow” The purple pony added as if it were the most natural thing to say at the time.
Sunny looked up, somehow even paler than normal. The sun princess took in a gulp of air before fainting unceremoniously.
“… Not exactly the most tactful of conversations, Twilight dear” Rarity stated, looking down at the collapsed alicorn.
“Huh, never woulda’ thought the princess would have such weak stuff” Rainbow added, poking one of the princess’s wings.
“Twilight, c’mere sugarcube” Applejack beckoned, a dissatisfied look on her face.
The purple unicorn sighed, forlornly walking over to the earth farmpony. “I know, I know.” Twilight said sadly as she was lightly bopped on the back of the head by her friend’s hoof. “Ow!” The unicorn cringed and flicked her ear at the dull pain. “I need to work on talking to ponies” Twilight stated as the surrounding group nodded in agreement.
Twilight jumped out of the portal and into the bedroom, a bit more chipper than usual. “Ok Nightmare, I think I have it this time. Now I know I’ve said that before, and you died a couple of those times…” The unicorn added in a hushed voice. “But this time I am certain of it!”
Nightmare was sitting stoically on the balcony, looking up at her early morning stars; not reacting to Twilight’s entrance.
“Uh, Nightmare?”
“Twilight Sparkle, there is something that has been on my mind these past few days” The moon princess announced, still staring ahead with her back to Twilight. “That first day that you came to me… you were happy then, extremely happy.”
“Uh… yeah, I-” Twilight stammered out before being interrupted.
“I have been completely honest with you, Twilight. I would expect the same treatment in return.” Ice clung to every word the moon princess spoke.
Twilight froze, mind buzzing with the ramifications of what she would say next. “I… just…” The purple pony weakly attempted to respond. She couldn’t lie and she couldn’t tell the truth. “I’m sorry, I just can’t tell you” Twilight said, her voice wavering.
“I see. So… she remembered something.”
End Chapter 6
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BB
|
939
| 7 |
Main 6,Original Character,Spike,Comedy,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Nightmares Don't Last Forever
|
Nightmare Moon has beaten the Elements of Harmony, is Equestria doomed or are they... perfectly fine
|
incomplete
| 1,159 | 52 |
<p>The Elements of Harmony are defeated and Nightmare Moon stands on Equestria's throne as their new Queen. Is Equestria doomed to suffer through night time eternal or will they be... perfectly fine? Twilight finds her new job as slave or "personal assistant" to her new ruler to be a bit maddening. But is this evil sarcastic queen really as bad as she originally believed? And just how many others are diabolical enough to cash in on the change in staff? Can Nightmare truly run a peaceful Equestria? Let me just answer all these questions right here in the description...</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-11-11T02:32:19+00:00
|
2011-11-11T02:32:19+00:00
| 32,238 |
Nightmares Don’t Last Forever
Chapter 7
“Thank ya’ kindly Twilight, for helping me out. Now you gotta’ finish up your story. Ah bet you must’ve flipped your hay when Nightmare told ya’ she knew about Sunny’s memories” Applejack kindly requested. The farm pony slowly trotted down a path through her family’s apple orchard, two buckets full of apples bouncing on her sides.
“Nope, nope… nope” a purple dragon atop a purple unicorn commented as he examined apples plucked from the baskets hanging next to him.
“No problem at all, Applejack” Twilight responded, carrying the dragon and two bushels of apples across her back. “And, yes, I admit I was a little alarmed when she said that” The unicorn confessed with pride. “But, I was able to keep a level head, and stay on top of the situation.”
Horsefeathers horsefeathers horsefeathers horsefeathers, Twilight Sparkle shouted in her head. What am I going to do?! What’s going to happen to Sunny?! I can’t let Nightmare near Sunny, thank Celestia she hasn’t come through the portal yet... wait. No! No time for waiting! Yes. Portal. I’ll run through the portal, grab Sunny, and run some more, away from the portal. Yes! Twilight exclaimed in her head as she inched incredibly conspicuously towards her exit. Wait, I need to stall her, yes, that’s what ponies do in these situations. They stall! “So-” Twilight squeaked out. “So… you know Sunny remembered something.” Yessss good good.
“Yes, I did just say that” Nightmare Moon stated, continuing to stare at her starry sky.
Twilight took another couple nervous steps towards the portal. “So… so what are you going to do?”
“So, what’d she do?” Applejack excitedly asked.
“I’m getting to that” The purple unicorn patiently retorted.
Nightmare Moon turned questioningly towards Twilight. “Do, Twilight Sparkle? You say that as if this is some sort of problem for me” The dark queen stated flatly.
“But I- uh… What?” Twilight stuttered out, shaking her head quickly which caused a few strands to stick out.
“Whoah Nelly! Ain’t that’a surprise! I bet you musta’ been runnin’ in circles at that” The orange earth pony chuckled at her purple friend.
“What? No!” Twilight defended herself probably a little too fiercely. “I mean, yes, I was a bit confused. Sunny regaining her memories would pretty much mean the end of her rule. But she said…”
“Aww my pretty little purple pony, did you think I would leave you in such a compromising position with my sister, if I thought you would actually be able to take advantage of it?” Nightmare taunted, that oh so familiar smirk on her face.
“… she said I couldn’t do it” Twilight looked away from her friend, a small blush crossing her cheeks.
Applejack chuckled again. “Lemme guess. You paid her no mind on the subject, huh?”
“Absolutely!” The unicorn exclaimed, raising her head high as the wind blew her main and tail heroically. “I’m going to get Sunny’s memories back, no matter what that dark mare says!”
“Atta’ girl” The farm pony enthusiastically encouraged. “So what happened after that?”
“Well, uh… I’m not sure if I should say” The purple pony said quietly, smiling awkwardly at the white alicorn pony behind her.
Sunny trotted along behind Twilight, carrying her own two baskets full of apples. “I-… I would rather you didn’t” The princess said blushing, lowering her head to look at the ground.
Applejack slowed until she was side by side with Sunny, beaming a bright, honest smile at the princess. “Oh c’mon princess! You haf’ta tell me whacha did.”
“Well…” The alicorn looked up with an embarrassed, half smile on her face.
“Where is my sister by the way?” Nightmare questioned, looking around the bedroom curiously.
The purple pony grumbled in response, turning away from the dark princess. “She was just behind me before I went through the portal.”
“Well, I guess we can-” A large curtain muffled the rest of the moon princess’s words.
Sunny yelled and jumped on the now covered Nightmare Moon, latching onto her back and tightening the curtain around her sister even more. “Ha hah!” The sun princess triumphantly shouted. “Twilight, my plan worked! Quick go get me a- a cell, or something!” Sunny urgently demanded.
“I… what?!?” Twilight shouted in response, quite bewildered.
A muffled sigh came from the curtain covering Nightmare. “Sunny, what are you doing?” The night princess stifled out.
“Stopping you! You’re aren’t going to raise the sun anymore! You- you keep getting hurt!” The sun princess clutched tighter as her voice wavered.
Nightmare phased into a glittering smoke and flew out the underside of the curtain, materializing just next to a surprised Sunny. “You always were horrible at scheming” The moon princess said disapprovingly.
Sunny dropped abruptly to the floor atop the pile sheets with a faint squeak. “Oh… you can turn into smoke” the white alicorn said dejectedly, laying her head in between her hooves.
“Sunny…” Nightmare said sympathetically. “Why don’t you just-”
“Why do you have to do all of this?!” Sunny interrupted, her voice cracking as she looked up with watering eyes. “Why do you have to get hurt just to do this?”
“… Sacrifices have to be made to realize any dream, sister” The moon princess quietly responded, closing her eyes and lowering her head.
“Well… YOUR DREAM IS STUPID!!” Sunny cracked, the tears started flowing as her white wings flared in her agitated state. Nightmare flinched as if struck but kept her head down. The sun princess attempted to wipe her eyes and collect herself, to little effect with how much she was crying. “I- I’m not going to let-” Sunny sniffed. “-Let you if you’re just hurting yourself!”
“Sunny, it’s not li-” The dark alicorn looked up apprehensively only to be cut off.
“I’m not letting you!” Sunny shouted again, stamping her hoof into cloth.
“But that’s just it Sunny! I won’t be getting hurt anymore” Nightmare said confidently with a small smile. The night princess trotted beside Twilight and rested a hoof over the purple pony’s shoulders. “Isn’t that right Twilight?” The princess asked as she beamed a reassuring smile at Sunny
“I- what?”
“Why, Twilight was just telling me about how she figured out the perfect way to keep me safe” The princess said happily.
“I- wha-” A kick to her purple flanks stopped Twilight short. “Oh… ooh, yes!” Twilight agreed, catching on. “Yes, I definitely found… a way… to stop that” The unicorn said awkwardly, flashing a smile just as sure as her words.
The sun princess sniffed as she looked between the two dark ponies. “R- really? You won’t be hurt at all?”
“Of co-ho-hoourse~ not” Nightmare reassured her bawling sister, tilting a hoof forward dramatically for emphasis. “Now if you’ll excuse us we need some time to prepare” The princess quickly said while she dragged Twilight out onto the balcony. “Just wait right there!”
Sunny sniffled again and nodded her head blissfully, pulling together the curtain for a comfier seat.
Once on the balcony and out of earshot, Nightmare grabbed the purple unicorn tighter and hissed quietly into her ear “Ok, seriously. Real smooth move telling her about me dying and everything!”
“Well, it’s not like I knew it was a secret or something!” Twilight whispered back, huddling closer to the princess.
“So what, you just tell ponies whenever their family members die or something?!”
“Well, yeah! You do-”
“Shutup. It doesn’t matter now” Nightmare interrupted hotly. “From now on, me dying is on a need to know basis. And nobody needs to know!”
“Right, well at least we’ve got that cleared up” The purple pony said sarcastically, rolling her eyes away from her mistress.
“Speaking of, why am I still dying? I thought you said you were going to stop that from happening” The moon princess continued whispering, taking a quick peek back at Sunny to make sure she wasn’t getting any closer.
“Well, I’ve been trying” Twilight groaned. “It doesn’t help when the pony you’re trying to save has a death wish.”
“I DO NO-” The dark alicorn nearly yelled out. “-I do not have a death wish!” Nightmare said in a more appropriate whispered tone.
“Says the ‘sacrifice’.” The unicorn glared at the foreboding form above her.
“Whatever!” The princess breathed bitterly, looking away from the purple pony. “Your solution for today, is it going to work?”
“… Well…”
“You said earlier it would work!”
“Well I’m not completely sure it will work…” Twilight responded in an unsure tone, rubbing a hoof against her leg.
“How sure are you?” Nightmare asked crossly, tightening her grip on the unicorn.
“Um… fifteen percent sure?” The purple pony flashed the princess a sheepish smile.
A crooked grin grew on the night alicorn’s face, her grip on Twilight tightening just a smidgen more. “You realize that’s not going to cut it tonight” Nightmare said ever so sweetly.
“I know I know!” Twilight squirmed in her black clutches. “Just give me a second or two to think!” Twilight didn’t even need a second to think. The purple pony already knew she was out of options and had to call upon her last resort; she wasn’t going to have the princess cry on her watch. “Ok, so, I have something… but it might be a little risky.”
“Right. Because, I haven’t been dying. Or anything” Nightmare stated in a flat tone.
“Shutup. I’m going to be involved this time” Twilight retorted.
“What?” Nightmare kept her flat tone.
“I’m going to help you with your spell” The unicorn responded in a serious manner.
“You can’t possibly think- like I would even let you-”
“I realize the dangers, I’m confident in my abilities, and… you don’t really have much of a choice” Twilight interrupted, her expression telling Nightmare she was completely determined to go through with this.
The moon princess grumbled, looking around nervously. “Fine” She finally conceded. “Just- just don’t die. If you do I swear I’ll make you regret it.”
“Well then I have nothing to worry about because we’ll both be dead!” The unicorn smirked at her princess. Her princess stared blankly back at the purple pony. “… That was a joke” Twilight continued.
“Ha, ha” The dark princess said, straightening her back and shaking her head to prepare for her early morning endeavor. “Let’s do it then…”
“Ok” Twilight said hesitantly. “Do I need to get on your back or something? Do our… do our horns need to be touching?” Twilight gulped down her rising anxiety.
“What? No! Don’t be stupid.” Nightmare quickly responded self-consciously. “I mean- I don’t know- just… just touch my hoof… or something” The moon princess slid her hoof closer to Twilight as she tried to hide her distressed appearance.
“Right- right” Twilight muttered, resting her hoof nonchalantly on the princess’s. “It would also be nice if I knew what I’d be doing.”
“It’s hard to explain. You just sorta… keep the night, instead of bringing in the new day” Nightmare fumbled with her words, uneasily shifting her stance.
“Wait… so you aren’t just making the atmosphere invisible or something?” The unicorn skeptically asked.
“No! What? How would I even do that? I’m princess of the night, not princess of the atmosphere. Just… I’ll concentrate on the moon, you concentrate on the stars” The alicorn finished anxiously.
“What exactly am I-”
“I’ll guide you. Don’t worry, just follow the flow.” Nightmare slowly breathed in to calm herself. In exhaling the night princess drew upon her powers, the night enveloping her and lighting her horn the same as so many other mornings. She wasn’t going to start just yet, this was just a warm-up. Nightmare sent a small taste of the magic through her hoof and into Twilight; a dark, cool wind visibly flowing along its path through their bodies.
Twilight gasped as the foreign magic invaded her, scrunching her eyes tight at the feeling.
“Please don’t make weird sounds like that” The moon princess murmured, looking away from Twilight.
“Sorry” The unicorn said sheepishly. “It was just a little surprising…” Twilight shook her head and concentrated on the new magic flowing through her body. It was soothing, incredibly so. This feeling, the purple pony experienced it every morning when she accompanied Nightmare, but this was so much more intense. Before, she could feel the dark night air, smell the coldness of the sky, but now she was one with all of those things. Twilight could touch the stars in the sky and move them however she pleased if she wanted to. The unicorn activated her own magic and reached out a tentative, ethereal hoof towards the stars.
“Stop that” Nightmare calmly said, lightly smacking Twilight’s magic away from the stars. “I like them the way they are.”
“Sorry” the unicorn said sheepishly again.
“Are you ready? Once I start, you’re going to have to keep up or fall off” The night princess stated.
“I’m ready… let’s do it.” Twilight’s mind was literally, in a figurative manner, swept off its feet. The moment Nightmare began casting her magic the purple pony felt as if a mountain of pure power was suddenly growing right next to her. And the moon princess was right, Twilight was going to fall off. The unicorn quickly grabbed tightly onto the ever growing mass of magic around her, gaining a hoofhold; but not for long. Twilight needed to raise her own mountain if she wanted her plan to work, simply piggybacking on the night princess’s magic wasn’t going to cut it. So the magician rose, using her hold on Nightmare’s magic, the unicorn pushed her own magic higher and higher until she lost track of just how high she or the princess were. The unicorn abruptly stopped, completely out of breath. She had reached her limits.
Wow, I didn’t actually think you could do it The wispy magical form of Nightmare stated, utterly surprised.
Twilight would have blinked in confusion if she could have. Seeing as she was an ethereal magical form herself she wasn’t currently able to, nor would it have done anything. Whah- where… Twilight stopped herself as she looked around. The now rose colored magical pony was surrounded by utter darkness, interrupted by little pinpoints of small lights. We’re in… space? Twilight said with a mixture of skepticism and disappointment, cocking her head at the shining blue form standing next to her.
No! At least I don’t think… no, no we’re definitely, probably not in space Nightmare stated with confidence. We’re in the Night, capital N. And that’s not your real body either in case you were wondering. We left our bodies pretty much the second we started.
Oh… Twilight waved a hoof experimentally in front of her face, watching it shimmer and fade as it moved. So, you come here whenever you change the day to night, and night to day? The unicorn asked curiously.
Not as fun as it sounds Nightmare reached out and stopped Twilight’s waving hoof. Now concentrate because this is the important part. If you don’t do this right… the sky might freeze. The alicorn bluntly said.
What? Twilight questioned flatly, resting her hooves back onto the imaginary ground.
Don’t worry, I only said that to get you more focused. There’s only a medium sized chance that will actually happen The moon princess beamed a blurry ethereal smile at the smaller pony. And don’t bother panicking, that won’t do anyone any good.
Twilight groaned and slammed her head on the previously mentioned imaginary ground. Ok… ok, no panicking The unicorn perked up, slapping on a small smile. Ok, yeah, I can do this. Let’s do this. We can do this. How do I do this?
I just said don’t panic.
Yeah, ok, like that was actually going to happen!
Calm down, this is the easy part. You just kept up with a goddess in terms of power. Who else can even say that? Nightmare reassured her smaller companion.
Heh… yeah… you did help with that though… Twilight nervously chuckled. Yeah… ok The unicorn took in a couple abstract breaths, only the motions themselves helping to calm her. What do I need to do?
Your job is simple. Like I said before, just hold the Night still. I’ll take care of the rest.
Applejack stared blankly at Sunny. Then at Twilight who was pretending as if she hadn’t been listening to Sunny’s story and was looking off in the opposite direction. The orange earth pony then looked up at the dark, star filled sky and bright shining moon, and finally back to Twilight. “Huh… and ah thought ah had busy mornings…” Applejack slowly trotted up next to Twilight who was still pretending she wasn’t part of the conversation. “So, Twi…” Applejack leaned in closer to the purple pony. “How’s it feel to be as strong as a princess” The farmpony teased with a knowing smile.
“I am not as strong as a princess!” Twilight defended herself blushing, quickening her pace to get slightly away from Applejack.
Applejack laughed hardily, pulling Twilight back by her tail. “Aw c’mon ya silly filly ah’m only foolin’. No need to run off on us”
Twilight grumbled, still blushing heavily.
“And princess, let me just say ah’m proud of what you tried ta do” Applejack tipped her hat to Sunny, flashing a bright friendly smile.
“Um… cover my sister in a curtain?” The alicorn asked awkwardly.
“Well, not that part exactly.” The orange pony rubbed the back of her head feeling just as awkward. “But trying to stop yer sister from hurting herself. I can relate ta how ya feel. Ya always have to look out fer family, even if they’re not looking out for themselves” Applejack confidently stated, rubbing the top of Sunny’s head affectionately. “And your story reminds me of the time my own little sister escaped from the moon and took over the apple farm.”
Twilight and Sunny stared blankly at the earth pony.
Applejack chuckled uneasily. “Uh… that was a joke.”
“Ah-hah!” Spike exclaimed as he held up a juicy red apple.
“Oh, Spike! That looks del-” The purple pony was interrupted by a gurgling in the small dragon assistant’s stomach.
The purple dragon belched out a green lick of fire that engulfed the apple completely, leaving a scroll stamped with the royal seal in its place. “Aww, my apple” Spike whined as he held up the scroll.
Twilight groaned, looking away from the letter. “It’s a letter from Nightmare Moon”
Spike quickly hopped off of the purple pony and unrolled the scroll, clearing his throat before beginning. ”Dear Twilight Sparkle. I hate writing letters so I’ll keep this short. For being such an obedient subject I have decided to give you a reward. Enclosed are two tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala, for yourself, and one guest. Have fun picking who gets to go with you. P.S. Sunny doesn’t get one because she’s stupid.” Two golden tickets fell to the ground as Spike finished.
“Whaaat?” Sunny whined, disappointment written all over her face.
Twilight magically picked up the tickets and scrutinized them carefully. “But… I don’t even want to go.”
Nightmare Moon and Twilight trotted into the royal bedroom through the balcony’s archway. “And yet another beautiful morning. You are definitely improving your control Twilight. Maybe I should take you on as my student” The moon princess coyly suggested. “I could teach you so many, many things.”
“Yeeeah, how about we just stick to casual enemies, and we can leave all of your little teacher fantasies to your hundreds and hundreds of suitors lining up at the door” The unicorn snarkily responded, rolling her eyes.
“Oooooh~ you are getting feisty!” Nightmare snarled playfully, batting a hoof. The moon princess passed Twilight and trotted up to a smaller, white alicorn that was sitting patiently on the floor. “And as you can see sister, yet another hapless free morning” Nightmare triumphantly stated, before bending down to peck the smaller pony on the forehead.
The sun princess giggled at the kiss. “I’m sorry sister. I should really learn to trust your decisions more often” Sunny sweetly apologized.
“No you shouldn’t” Twilight added from across the room.
“It’s just…” Sunny continued. “It’s just, I wish I could have helped you somehow…” The alicorn sadly said, looking away from her big sister.
“Oh Sunny” Nightmare quietly consoled, lifting the smaller pony’s head. “You did everything you could, and you tried your hardest. Believe me, I couldn’t ask for a better sister. Now get out of here before I throw you out” The moon princess teased, smacking the smaller sister’s flank as she walked past.
The sun princess giggled again, waving her hoof as she moved towards the portal. “Bye~ see you tomorrow then” The alicorn happily bid farewell before disappearing through the portal’s liquid depths.
Twilight scrunched up her face in thought “Wait… did you mean you and Celestia tried to do what we’re doing? Why didn’t it work?”
“Twilight, there are many different frequencies of magic, and my sister’s was just too bright and sunny to actually pull off this sort of thing. I swear she nearly scorched my stars when we tried” The alicorn grumbled to herself. “… Wait a second… Twilight, what day is it?”
“The date? Why it’s-”
“TWILIGHT!” Nightmare jumped to the purple pony and grabbed her abruptly with her hooves.
“AAH! What?!” The purple pony screamed back, falling limp in the princess’s clutches.
“This is horrible, today is horrible, I thought I was ready for it but I’m not! Not for today!” The moon princess blurted out. “I am nowhere near ready!”
“What? What’s happening? What’s so bad?” The unicorn quickly questioned, a tinge of worry lacing her words.
Nightmare gently set Twilight back down and started wringing her hooves together, eyes darting around the room. “You know how time moves forward, and events and dates move closer… well time must be broken because this event has come way too fast! I didn’t even notice but it’s already here!”
“Time isn’t moving faster, just tell me what it is!”
“Summer is over Sparkle! Summer. Is. Over!” The alicorn hysterically shrieked.
“… So?”
“So summer vacation is over, which means school is back, which means children will be back, which means I have to talk in front of a bunch of tiny, whiny, bipolar, foals!”
“…” Twilight stared at Nightmare with a mixture of shock and irritability.
“It starts in an hour and I need your help! Go talk to them, you’re a student! You have so much in common! You’ll be like twins! Warm them up for me or something, I’m going to go- go- go fly around!” And with that Nightmare bolted out through the archway, soaring into the sky.
The unicorn stared after her mistress before shaking her head. “Me… and an entire class… are going to be like twins…” Twilight groaned and walked out into the hallway, closing the door carefully behind her. The unicorn slowly began making her way to the castle classroom that was used specifically for young unicorn foals to become better acquainted with their power, and have a rare opportunity to have the princess herself teach them. “I guess that duty falls to Nightmare now” Twilight drearily said to herself. “Honestly, that mare. Being scared of children. Sometimes I don’t even know what’s going on in her head” The unicorn chuckled to herself. “What am I saying, I never know what’s going on in-” The purple pony’s monologue was interrupted by a pale blue hoof that pulled her out of the hallway and into a nearby doorway, the door slamming shut behind her.
“Twilight Sparkle, I need your help! That monster is going to kill me!” The voice and hoof came from a rather handsome, if not slightly disheveled, sky blue stallion with a messy blond mane and blood shot eyes that gave him the appearance of one who had not slept in days.
“Wh- what? Are you ok? Who’s trying to kill you?” Twilight sympathetically asked the worn out, ragged unicorn.
“Nightmare Moon!” The pony exclaimed. “She has told me as much herself! Oh… um, excuse me” The stallion released Twilight from his grip and attempted to fix his hair. “I’m very sorry, I’ve been a bit at odds ever since my…” The pony rubbed his neck apprehensively. “Encounter” The unicorn hoarsely chuckled. “But the fear of death is no excuse for bad manners.”
“This- this can’t be right, Nightmare wouldn’t-” Twilight began
“Listen, I’m sorry but I don’t have much time. You’re Twilight Sparkle, Celestia’s most faithful student, and you still are. I know this. And I understand that you are probably the pony that can do the least for me. After all, you are in the most danger, not to mention your friends…”
“What are you saying?” The purple pony breathed out.
“I’m saying you cannot trust Nightmare. She is a monster, and a liar. She will destroy anything that stands in her way… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have stopped you. Dragging a pony such as yourself into this is the last thing I wanted to do” The blond pony sadly commented, running a hoof through his ragged hair. “Just… please be careful, and know that you have allies. My name is Lucid Skies, and it was a pleasure meeting you Miss Sparkle” Lucid formally complimented Twilight as he raised her purple hoof and kissed it. “Remember, don’t believe anything she says.” And with a flash a golden sparks the unicorn disappeared from the room.
Twilight stood alone, shocked at what she had heard.
End Chapter 7
|
Argembarger
|
940
| 1 |
Big Macintosh,Flim and Flam,Original Character,Spike,Twilight Sparkle,Adventure,Dark,Romance,Sad,Slice of Life,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore,Sex
|
The Spiderses
|
the that: spidering when heres?
|
complete
| 455 | 67 |
<p>After a spell misfires, Twilight and Big Macintosh find themselves trapped in a world like none they've ever seen before. Together, they will face adventure, hardship, loss and longing, as their shared experience brings them closer together.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-21T02:17:08+00:00
|
2011-09-21T02:17:08+00:00
| 21,079 |
the spiderses
by ~Argembarger
It was a beutiful spring daty in equestrias when tilight sparkle was in her study where she lived. Spike! She sayd, come here spike! And spike camed over to her, What do you want Twilight spike said and twilight said "Spike I need you to gt me the book of magic ok spike said I will get it for you and he went over to the bookshelf to get the book for Twilight Sparkle. It was a dusty book and spike almost sneezed but he didn't.
He gaved the book to twilight and she said thank you spike go away now" and spike said ok I will go away and he slided away like a dragon. TWlilight opened the pook to chapter 5 and said ok magic please happen and the magic began happening in her horn and she did the spell!
it was a magic spell and she knew that it was magic which is why she casted it because her cutie mark is magic because she is a uunicorn.
The spell made everything bigger and eight. "why is everything bigger and eight?>?" wilight said. oh it is because i am a spider now :(
spider twilight wet up to the bookshelfs to find a fix spell to fix the spell. but she culdn't open teh books or even grab them because she was a spider and not a unicorn and her horn was gone and also she did not have a voice that coudl speak loud enough for spike to hear her adn go get her book for her adn even if she did she probably woulnt want to because Spiek would see her as a spider and maybe get scared or angry and then stomp all ove r her which would make her dead spider twilight abd that is bad.
and then she herd a voice well not really a voice but it sounded like another spider! she oculd understand the spider clicks and she new that it was a spider and that she had to go and talk to this other spider because that is what spiders do (talk to other spiders)
a red spider appeared and said "helo twilight I am a big mac spider now?? why' and twilight spider said "uh big mac spider is it because I casted a spell that wsent wrong" and the big red macspider said ok well maybe but can you fix it and twilight said :(
oh ok said the red spider wlell if we are going to be spiders forever lets have spider sex and twilight spider said ok well but i don't know how to have spider sex and big spider mac red said it is probably easy ok are you ok with this i am asking permission to have spider sex with you
twilight said i dunno spiders are creepy and weird :(
and then big mac said twilight WE ARE SPIDERs
and then tiwlight said you have point ok i guess we haf to make the most of it right
and then big mac said that is the spirit yes ok spider sex
they started to have spider sex and it felt rely wieird for twilight but twilight nevr even had normal regualr pony sex so spider sex was the weirdest most strage thing ever. it was like a crunchy potato chip bag full of chips got throwed into an chainlink fence and i dont know wer this metaphor goesing. amynore.
after the spiders sex twilight felt funny on the inside like something real not normal. big mac spider said is it ok twilight spider if i live here with you so we can have more spider sex and twighti said i dunno i gues so but i dont want to hav spider sex for a while that was werid :( and big mac spider red said this is ok i will wait for you to be ready beacuase i am a gentlespider and twilight said ok i appercieate it.
|
Argembarger
|
940
| 2 |
Big Macintosh,Flim and Flam,Original Character,Spike,Twilight Sparkle,Adventure,Dark,Romance,Sad,Slice of Life,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore,Sex
|
The Spiderses
|
the that: spidering when heres?
|
complete
| 455 | 67 |
<p>After a spell misfires, Twilight and Big Macintosh find themselves trapped in a world like none they've ever seen before. Together, they will face adventure, hardship, loss and longing, as their shared experience brings them closer together.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-21T02:16:13+00:00
|
2011-09-21T02:16:13+00:00
| 9,037 |
chapter two : spiders
there was a living like that for a while time where they lived together and had some spider sex sometimes but only when twilight felt extra sorry for big mac. spidke was downstairas and crying lotgs because he didnt nkow where twilight went to and twilight wanted to go make spike feel less ad but she was a spider and couldn't talk?
twilights belly got bigger and bigger and she didn t know wat was hapneing and then spider mac red big said uh i tink you might be getting redy to have spider babies : and twilight said WATTT and big mac said "eeyup" excupt for he couldn't actually make that word sound because he was a spider and doesn't have pony voice boxes anymore.
twilight was real sad and upset because spider babies were gross and creepie and wierd and she creid an little bit but big mac red spider gaved her the biggest mos happy hug ever and said i always watned to be a daddy and even though i didnt want to be a spider daddy i will try to be the best spider daddy ever and be here for you all the times and ok? and twilight felt the most happy but still was not happy at the same time.
then one day twilight had to laye spider egegs adn it was the most strangest it felt like a bubble wrap bubbles being poopd out. and then she was sad and upset agin but big mac spider was tehere the hole time and made her comfort. he borught her spider food which was bugs and twilight was finally ok with eating bugs even thouhg she wished she could eat vagetables and mushroom but with spider big macs help she nkew she had to eat them (bugs) to be alive and being alive was more good than eating bugs was bad so she did it and was sad and upset because the bugs were gross but it was ok becas she was a life.
bbig mac spider helpd her gaurd the eggs for many many many many days until one day the egs were very big and had dark thins movin around inside of them and twilight knew they were her babies and she was kind of happy a little bit and big mac was happy because she was happy and then she was even happier because big mac was happy but they didnt hav espider sex because big mac new how much twilight didn t like that because it felt werid and also she didnt want to have more babvies and neither did he really but he was redy to be the best spider daddy so that twilight didndt have to worrie.
a fter a few more a days the eggs started moving and they knew that the eggs were going to hatch because twilight was smart and she knew all about eggs. they watched the egg pile of eggs move around and then they heard little baby spider clicks and they new it was the baby spiders and they watched even more much.
The eggs all hatched simultaneously and vast multitudes of tiny spiderlings swarmed out in a screeching horde. Twilight and Big Mac started to scuttle away as quickly as they could, but they soon found that they were in no real danger - the spiderlings had no intention of killing their parents. They witnessed a solid black mass of itchy screaming death cover every surface of the library. Millions of spiders continued to swarm out of the eggs. The flood seemed to be endless.
Spike lay curled up in his little dragon bed, moping. Things hadn't been the same since Twi's dissappearance, and it had been over a week since he had any decent ideas about what to do about it. He was depressed and miserable.
Suddenly, he heard a scratching, high-pitched noise coming from upstairs. His curiosity overcame his melancholy and he plodded up to investigate.
He was intercepted by a solid wall of spiderlings pouring down the stairwell, which overwhelmed him almost instantly.
Spike had just enough presence of mind to scream, but doing so did nothing but allow the swarm of spiders access to his lungs and stomach. The spiderlings drained his fluids for sustenance, and Spike died in horrible terror and agony.
|
Argembarger
|
940
| 3 |
Big Macintosh,Flim and Flam,Original Character,Spike,Twilight Sparkle,Adventure,Dark,Romance,Sad,Slice of Life,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore,Sex
|
The Spiderses
|
the that: spidering when heres?
|
complete
| 455 | 67 |
<p>After a spell misfires, Twilight and Big Macintosh find themselves trapped in a world like none they've ever seen before. Together, they will face adventure, hardship, loss and longing, as their shared experience brings them closer together.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-21T02:18:34+00:00
|
2011-09-21T02:18:34+00:00
| 7,007 |
chpapter three : spiderday
allf the spiders runed away from twilight and red spimder mac and tehy didn't know what to do tbecause they were so many spiders of the eggs. big Mac said "hey you spider babies you are my spider babies now litsen to me!!!" and but the spider babeids didn't listen because they were making too much noise but they wuld of listen if they could because mac spider was they're daddy and they luved him and there mommy tewilight more than any of the bugs even the juicy ones.
big mac spider said to twilight spider "i am so sorroy I am the wurst spidder daddy even tho i promised I was gonning to be the best one even :(" Twilight felt really bad and sorry for big mac spider because she knew that he tried his best and but if there wasn't an biggest problem happening she would give him the hugs.
twilight thought hardest with having ideas and then had one idea "spider big come here and help me ok" and spider mac sd alright what do you want me to do twilight and?" twilight said I need yo to throw me into the spiders and red mac said are you sure?????/? you tohugt spiders were creepy and wierd! and twilight said I knmow but i need too do this ok becaus big mac, WE AR SPIDERSs and big mac said ok"
Big mac pickeded her up by her legs with his legs and thre wher at the spider babies. She screamed a little bit but not really becasue she was trying to be brave like rainbow dash would be brave if she was a spider and flying at spider babies.
Then finally after falling for time she landed in thes pider babies and they diddnt know she was their mom because they were still just babies and crawling annd twilight spider tried to click at them to stop but they didnt know waht to do because babies are confused :(
Big mac watched all the babies carry Twiilight away and he felt the most terribel and sad and said ' it is my fault that twilight is being carreid away by spider babies because i aws the one who had spider sex with her and she made babies because :(
I have to resuce her! he sed"
|
Argembarger
|
940
| 4 |
Big Macintosh,Flim and Flam,Original Character,Spike,Twilight Sparkle,Adventure,Dark,Romance,Sad,Slice of Life,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore,Sex
|
The Spiderses
|
the that: spidering when heres?
|
complete
| 455 | 67 |
<p>After a spell misfires, Twilight and Big Macintosh find themselves trapped in a world like none they've ever seen before. Together, they will face adventure, hardship, loss and longing, as their shared experience brings them closer together.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-21T02:20:15+00:00
|
2011-09-21T02:20:15+00:00
| 7,542 |
chapter 4: when spidrs are
I dont like this ? twilight spider thoguht I wish big mbac waer here he nows what to do every time!
but big mac was chsasing her and the spider pabies and she didnt know it
it was wery exciting.
all the spiders ran thru equestria and all the ponies were scared and ran into house but except for one pone who stood in teh street and angry!
Stop spiders! she said and they stopped
an big brown spider jumped off of her hed (her head was gray and her coat was gray too and her hair was straighT) and the spider was bronw and big and made angry click.
Twilight heard the clicks clicking and knew that the spider had name: miriam webster! and miram webster spider told all the baby spiders to stop being bad! tehy coudln't do what they did because what they did was something bad to do! and they had to stop and listen to their mommy spider like spiders do every
Twilight mom spider thoguht rely hard and all the baby spiders watched her and then big mac got over to where she was and said 'twilight Im so glad your ok!" and twilight said "ssh I'm thinking" and big smider mac said "oh ok sorry
Twiligth said I love you baby spiders but you did bad thing and made my friend spike dead! why you do that? and pelase so go make spike better and then go to everfee forest wer u belong as spiders! it will be" ok?
and the spiders said ok mommy and they wetn back to where sipke was and tehy barfed all his juice back and he was better! spike said t"henk you spiders you are my best friends :D' and the spiders made a happy face and then they hugged but this time they didn't drain all of spike's vital fluids :)
then the spiders all listened to mommy twilight and wet to the Eferfree forest where spiders live happy and free and it was good
Twilight and big mac spider red talked to miram and the gray pony listened (the gray pony was pinkie pies sister from cutie mark chronicles and she worked on the rock farm in case you were wondering) and twilight clicked thank you! to miriam webster and miram websetr clicked its ok listen twilight spider I am a wizard and I know yo and the big mac spider are not spiders at all but ponys who are spiders by accident?? do you want to be ponies again
|
Argembarger
|
940
| 5 |
Big Macintosh,Flim and Flam,Original Character,Spike,Twilight Sparkle,Adventure,Dark,Romance,Sad,Slice of Life,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore,Sex
|
The Spiderses
|
the that: spidering when heres?
|
complete
| 455 | 67 |
<p>After a spell misfires, Twilight and Big Macintosh find themselves trapped in a world like none they've ever seen before. Together, they will face adventure, hardship, loss and longing, as their shared experience brings them closer together.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-21T02:21:56+00:00
|
2011-09-21T02:21:56+00:00
| 9,344 |
ten twilight spider I am a wizard and I know yo and the big mac spider are not spiders at all but ponys who are spiders by accident?? do you want to be ponies again
chapter 5 : the end spider end
twilidn and big mac said yes! we want to be ponies again and miram sadi ok here I will do my spider magic and the spider magic happened! twilight and big mac were ponies again! they gave each other a big pony hug and because they were friends from being spiders together and it was good :)
Miram clicked and they cudlnt understand it anymore because they were ponies and not spiders but the gray pony (pinkie pies sister) could undersand and she transtated the spider speak to pony speech and so they could talk some more
Miram said i hope you learned something from being a spider and Twilight said yes I did I will always remember! and I am aslo happy because I made a big mac friend :) and big mac said eeeyup and then big mac said listen twilight about being spiders and twilight said its ok big mac I understand and we can still be very good freinds forever ok? and big mac said ok
Thank you miriam I said and miraim said did you learn anyhting and I thought about it really extra hard and I sed yes I did learn something but I will tel celestia about that ok? and miram said 'that is fair" and
then I saw my bestest friend in the world Argembarger who was the most hadnsome aleicorn in eqeustria! and Argembarger siad "helo twilight it has been a llong time" and i feel mysef blushikng because of how charming Argembarger alicorn was and I said yes it was had been a long time do hyou think we can spend some time alone together?? and he sed "I don't think so Twilight I have lots of important things to do becase I am an alicorn but mabe someday ok" and I was very sad because he was teh niceset alicorn ever but I said I understand adn he flew away and it was amazing!! I was so impressed and amazed and happy taht I got to see him :)
then I went back to the library and found spike and gave him the biggest most happy hug ever because he was happy to see me because I was gone for so long because I was spider :( and I said spike pease take a leter and he said ok I will take a letter spike and then spike took a letter
Dear Princess Celestia, today I learned that spiders are creepy, but being a spider is better than being dead. Your faithful studnt, Twilight Spackle
the end of the storei! you can stop reading now thank you for readingh my story :)
all glory to jude
|
Papillon Rose
|
941
| 1 |
Fluttershy,Main 6,Pinkie Pie,Rainbow Dash,Adventure,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
In The Late Summer Sun
|
After a trip to Everfree to cure Angel, Rainbow Dash begins to develop feelings for Fluttershy.
|
hiatus
| 77 | 2 |
<p>After Angel falls gravely ill Rainbow Dash agrees to help Fluttershy by embarking on a journey into Everfree in search of a rare herb needed to make medicine for him. The trip pits them against a creature dwelling deep in the forest, and the encounter changes Rainbow Dash's entire view of her gentle, reserved friend. As she spends more time with her following their return from Everfree, she finds her feelings for Fluttershy changing and is forced to deal with something she's never had to face before -- something that could possibly interfere with her dreams. While Rainbow Dash struggles with her first crush (with a little help from her friends), a lonely Pinkie Pie struggles with her resulting feelings of resentment and is drawn into an unhealthy friendship with a strange unicorn living on the outskirts of the forest...</p>
|
everyone
|
2012-08-11T11:14:54+00:00
|
2012-08-11T11:14:54+00:00
| 4,310 |
There came a time every year where Applejack found herself with considerably less work than the infamous Applebuckin' Season fall brought, or the pruning and maintenance she and the other members of the Apple family engaged in throughout the chill of winter. Managing such a large orchard required a great deal of work to maintain the health and quality of the fruit, and nopony could make the claim that Applejack or Big Macintosh slacked off in those departments. However, a few months after Winter Wrap-Up when spring was in full swing, the apple trees burst into an endless field of pinkish white blossoms that were beautiful to behold.
During the blooming season there weren't too many tasks to be performed in the orchard, besides gathering the honeybees used to fertilize the apple blossoms that would eventually become lush red fruit. Aside from regular farm upkeep there was little buckin' to be done in late spring.
While she far too often strayed into workaholic territory, Applejack really did enjoy pausing in her routine to stroll through the orchard. Whenever the wind wove itself among the trees, it would dislodge pale petals to litter the ground below her hooves. The world around her always looked wonderful following the manual cleanup, but the beauty of spring shone more brilliantly as it progressed on its own.
Applejack paused to lean against one of the flowering trees and inhaled, breathing in the sweet scent of the apple blossoms. She couldn't wait until those flowers withered away, leaving the small buds that would grow into the apples her farm was famous for, but they were pretty to look at, at least.
She should've known by then not to expect the peace and quiet to last very long. She and her friends did not live peaceful, quiet lives the way some in Ponyville did. In contrast to the Cake family, who led a relatively calm, sensible life of baking -- or at least they would have, if they didn't have Pinkie to contend with on a daily basis. Still, the baker couple, and most of the other inhabitants of Ponyville only had to deal with domestic troubles. They were never called away to deal with dragons, hydras, and whatever else crept out of the Everfree Forest or fell out of the sky.
Clearly it was a day for the latter. Applejack didn't even bother to look up as "Look out below!" rang out over her head, followed by a rainbow-colored blur barreling straight into the tree she was leaning against with a muted "OOMPH". The impact dislodged a substantial amount of petals and leaves, all of which found a new home in Applejack's mane. Only then did she glance up, glaring at the thrashing, grumbling pegasus struggling to free herself from the branches in which she'd managed to entangle herself.
"A little help here?" Rainbow Dash snapped. She grimaced as a branch sprung back to smack her in the face. Applejack sighed, placing her forelegs against the tree trunk and reaching up to seize her friend's tail with her teeth. With one sharp tug she yanked the pegasus free, letting her slide unceremoniously to the ground.
"You gotta start practicin' your routine somewhere else, Dash, else I won't have any trees left when applebuckin' season comes around." Applejack chided her friend, who looked rather put out about the whole affair. As if she had any right to be irritated.
"Eh." Rainbow Dash dismissed her concerns with a wave of her hoof, brushing herself off as she stood up. "You've got a million of 'em."
Applejack rolled her eyes. "You're gonna knock yer own block off one o' these days."
"Nah. I've got a pretty hard head."
"Ain't gonna argue with you over that one. What kind of trick were you tryin' to pull off, anyhow?"
"I'm glad you asked." Rainbow Dash shot into the air, hovering above Applejack's head and pantomining her brilliant plan that had somehow, although she couldn't imagine why, gone wrong. "Well, I was gonna start off with a-"
Applejack watched in amazement as her friend detailed the series of complicated and seemingly impossible maneuvers, tracing a diagram in the air with her hooves. "Followed by my signature move - a sonic rainboom. Two of them. At the same time."
"Is that even possible?"
Rainbow Dash shrugged. "I don't know. Never hurts to try, though."
Applejack shook her head, although she couldn't hide the smile that crept across her face as Rainbow Dash continued rambling on and on about her aerial prowess. Her bragging sometimes approached Trixie-level, but somehow it remained endearing instead of annoying. "By the way, sugarcube, yer head's not nearly as hard as you think."
"Wha...?"
Applejack gestured at the pegasus' scalp with a hoof, where large bump was rapidly swelling.
"What? What is it- OW!" Dash exclaimed as her wandering hooves came in contact with the lump. "Uh... I mean, it's not so bad. Injuries are a badge of courage... don't do that!"
"Badge o' courage, huh?" Applejack asked dryly, poking at the lump peering through her friend's rainbow-colored mane. "You should probably have yer badge of courage looked at."
"It'll go away on its own," Rainbow Dash said dismissively, although the grimace of pain that crossed her face briefly said otherwise. "I don't feel like going all the way over to Ponyville General because I hit my head."
"I swear to Celestia, yer the stubbornest mare I ever laid eyes on. At least let Fluttershy look at it." Applejack offered, realizing she wasn't getting anywhere with the weather pony.
"Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Why Fluttershy?"
"She spends all her time carin' for critters. I don't see why she'd have any trouble dealing with a stubborn stuntpony."
"Alright already!" Dash groaned. "I'll go! Just stop nagging me about it! I'd hate to see how bad you guys would flip out if I broke a wing or something."
"That's only a matter o' time."
A full-fledged argument broke out as usual between the two ponies, their voices ringing out among the flowering trees. As always, neither mare sounded truly angry.
-----------------
Fluttershy's cottage was only a few minutes away by air travel, especially at the speeds Rainbow Dash was known for, but she decided to take it slow for once. Contrary to what she'd told Applejack, the lump on her head was pretty sore and flying at top speed did nothing but aggravate it. She let out a sigh of relief as Fluttershy's cottage and garden came into view, teeming with the animals she devoted most of her time to caring for.
Even after knowing Fluttershy since they were fillies, and having witnessed her reluctance when it came to making the most of her wings in typical pegasus fashion, Rainbow Dash still couldn't understand how Fluttershy seemed so at ease spending most of her life on the ground. She would've felt boxed in without her breezy, spacious cloud home above Ponyville. Ponyville had its share of pegasi, although they weren't nearly as common as Earth ponies and unicorns. Yet Fluttershy was the only one, save for the younger pegasus ponies that had yet to fully master the art of flight, that didn't spend the majority of her time in the air.
Multiple birdhouses hung haphazardly from every tree; their inhabitants perched within their branches, conversing with each other melodically. Dozens of small animals grazed and scampered over and around the bridge, the stream running beneath it bubbling cheerfully. Clustered around the chicken coop a smattering of hens pecked at a pile of corn, oblivious to all save the delicious meal spread before them. Their caretaker stood a few feet away with her back turned, humming gaily to herself as she watered a patch of brightly colored flowers at her hooves.
"Hey, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash called out, throwing herself into a dive and landing in a cloud of dust that sent the chickens and the pale yellow pegasus in question flying. The latter let out a startled "Eep!" and darted behind the chicken coop. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "It's just me. You can come out now."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Fluttershy said apolegtically, peeking out from her hiding place.
"It's okay, I'm used to it."
Fluttershy crept out from behind the chicken coop, retrieving the watering can she'd upended in her rush. "Did you need something, Rainbow Dash?"
"Yeah, you got a moment?" Dash gestured towards the lump on her head. "I made a minor miscalculation when trying out a new stunt earlier."
Fluttershy trotted over to inspect the lump poking through Dash's vibrant mane. "Oh dear! Don't worry, I have just the thing."
"Thanks!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, catching herself almost immediately and coughing, tossing her head proudly. "I mean, not that it actually hurts or anything..."
Fluttershy smiled; years of friendship had taught her how protective her friend was of her pride. "I know."
Leaving the watering can hanging from a hook on the side of the chicken coop, she led Rainbow Dash up the path to her front door and into her cottage. The inside of Fluttershy's house was just as charming as the outside, if not more; it was certainly inviting and friendly. From various nooks and crannies glittering eyes peered out at the newcomer, and hummingbirds occasionally darted in and out of the open window, the humming of their rapidly beating wings announcing their arrival.
"Wait here for a moment. I'll be right back," Fluttershy instructed, leading Rainbow Dash to a thick, comfortable looking rug. "If you don't mind."
"No prob," Dash sat down on the rug, which felt incredibly soft against her haunches, and tucked in her wings. She took stock of the room while she waited, fighting her urge to get up and explore; she briefly wished she'd brought Tank with her to visit. Fortunately Fluttershy returned before she could get up to any mischief, carrying what appeared to be a damp rag in her mouth. She motioned for Rainbow Dash to lie down, and she complied, lying flat on the rug with her back legs stretched out behind her. She felt her friend carefully drape the rag over her lump, and shuddered slightly. Whatever medicine Fluttershy had slathered over it felt cool, almost instantly causing the soreness to fade to a faint ache.
"Just let that soak in for awhile, and the swelling should go down." Fluttershy's voice was warm and comforting, as always.
"That feels great. You're really good at this." Dash closed her eyes, inhaling the poultice's sweet, minty aroma appreciatively. "Forget Ponyville General -- I'm coming to you the next time I cr...have a miscalculation." Not that there would be any more such errors in judgment, she chided herself.
"T-thank you," Fluttershy stammered; Dash could tell she was blushing without even bothering to look up. "Um, you can rest here for awhile, while I go give everyone their afternoon snack. Just let me know if you need anything."
Dash's only response was a flick of her tail. Between the rug, the relaxing atmosphere and the cessation of her headache her body had apparently decided it was time for a nap. The warm, clear skies outside called to her, and the weather was perfect for revising her failed routine from earlier that day. But even awesome ponies had to take a break sometime.
She lay there dozing lightly as the poultice worked its magic, listening to the faint sounds of Fluttershy tending to her animals outside and within the various corners of the room. She dimly registered a note of concern in the other pegasus' voice as she chatted with her birds and squirrels and everything else that looked up to her as a sort of den mother, but she paid it no mind until-
"ANGEL!" A terrified shriek rang out from above, jolting Rainbow Dash fully awake. It was Fluttershy's voice, alright, but it sounded far different from her usual squeals and other exclamations of surprise. Instead of dismissing it as one of her usual quirks Rainbow Dash leapt to her hooves and shot upstairs, knocking quite a few knickknacks off the wall and shelves placed along the stairwell. The scream had come from Fluttershy's bedroom. It was a good thing the door was already ajar, as Rainbow Dash would've knocked it off the hinges in her haste to reach her friend's side. Fluttershy stood beside the bed, looking at something on the floor with an expression of horror plastered across her face. Dash groaned; she didn't see any immediate sources of danger. "What is it? Did one of your animals leave you a surprise?"
Fluttershy turned from where she stood, barreling into Rainbow Dash and sending her head over hooves as she galloped down the stairs, ignoring the cyan pegasus entirely.
"Ow! What gives?" Dash picked herself up, rubbing her head. She'd lost her rag somewhere in her ascent, and she could feel the faint stirrings of discomfort where the lump persisted, although it had gone down considerably. It was then that she noticed the small heap of white fur Fluttershy had been standing over. It wasn't moving, at least not noticeably. Upon further inspection Rainbow Dash could see the white rabbit's chest rising in an unnervingly slow manner. She'd never seen the disagreeable little bunny Fluttershy loved so dearly so quiet and still, and she felt a foreign sense of anxiety stirring within her at the sight.
Downstairs the normally tidy Fluttershy had forgotten all in her panic; containers of herbs, kitchen utensils, and cookware were strewn all over the kitchen floor. A pink tail stuck out from behind a cabinet door, its owner seemingly arguing with herself. "Think, Fluttershy! Where is it? I know I had some left..."
"Uh, Fluttershy?" Dash ventured.
Fluttershy continued rummaging around in the cabinet, either unaware of or unconcerned with Dash's presence. "I can't have used it all up last year."
'Maybe I should go.' The thought vanished just as quickly as it had come; Rainbow Dash recalled the expression on the gentle pegasus' face, and knew she couldn't just leave her there to deal with whatever was happening on her own. Besides, she could recall going into a similar panic several weeks ago when she'd forgotten to carry Tank over to Twilight's library for a cloud-walking spell renewal. Of course she'd managed to catch him only a few seconds after he sank like a stone through her kitchen floor, but those seconds, and the overwhelming feeling of guilt at having forgotten him were permanently burned into her memories.
Leaving Fluttershy to her devices in the kitchen, she ran back upstairs to the bedroom, slowing to a halt beside the rabbit. "Alright, bunny. Wake up before your owner has a heart attack. Or explodes."
The white rabbit didn't respond, although Dash wasn't used to conversing with woodland creatures so that wasn't necessarily indicative of anything. She had a good idea of how inconsolable Fluttershy would be if anything terrible did happen to Angel, and with a growing sense of dread she leaned forward, lowering her head and nudging the rabbit with a hoof. "You're not really...dead, are you?"
A moment of perfect silence passed. Rainbow Dash's spirits began to falter.
The white rabbit stirred, slowly, and a furry head inclined towards her. The rabbit's fur was slick with perspiration, and his ears hung limply against his head, but she could've sworn the little creep was glaring at her with his glassy black eyes.
Rainbow Dash sighed, although she felt much better knowing the rabbit was still alive and kicking. "I don't know why Fluttershy likes you so much," she groussed, poking her nose beneath the prone rabbit and deftly flipping him onto her back. "You're kind of a jerk."
By the time Fluttershy returned, carrying a cup of some kind of potion she'd worked up from her medicinal supplies Dash had managed to make Angel comfortable on her bed, sans the good bit of effort it usually took to make Angel do anything. He was now draped awkwardly in a light blanket she'd found in a drawer, with Fluttershy's pillow propped up behind him. Despite her initial assessment of the rabbit's attitude she actually felt sorry for him, huddling beneath the blanket shivering and drawing shallow, shaky breaths. It was a good indicator of how sick the little creature was that he gave her no real trouble, despite glaring daggers at her the entire time.
Fluttershy's eyes shone with gratitude, although she held off on expressing it and immediately rushed to Angel's side. The rabbit poked his head out from beneath the blanket, his nose twitching. Fluttershy sat the cup on the nightstand, leaning forward to nuzzle her pet affectionately. "Oh Angel Bunny, I was so worried," she said, her voice heavy with emotion. Angel's small face was still fixed in its characteristic glare, but it was softer and considerably less abrasive. He shuddered, withdrawing to huddle beneath the blanket once more.
"Now now, you have to take your medicine, or you won't get better." Fluttershy admonished, pushing the blanket away to reveal her sickly looking companion. Angel initially shied away from the cup Fluttershy held to his lips but he lacked the strength to push it away, grudgingly opening his mouth to swallow the vile smelling liquid.
"Oh, thank you, Angel." Fluttershy said gratefully, placing the empty cup on the nightstand. "Now you get some rest, and you'll feel a little better when you wake up."
Rainbow Dash made note of the quiver in her friend's voice. While she tended to be oblivious when it came to social cues, or even outright ignored them at times, even she could tell that Fluttershy was lying.
Angel complied with his owner's orders rather quickly; by the time Fluttershy finished rearranging the blanket around his tiny body he was already asleep. Fluttershy glanced over at Rainbow Dash, then at the door; it took a second for Dash to understand the implication.
The two mares descended the staircase in awkward silence; Fluttershy clearly distressed and Dash completely unaware of how to handle the situation. Upon reaching the living room, Fluttershy broke away from Dash's side and ran over to her bookshelf, reaching out to grab a very familiar book. Dash caught sight of the cover, realizing that it was the very same book they'd encountered such a long time ago, when they'd befriended Zecora. Supernaturals. Fluttershy flipped through the book, brow furrowed in concentration, while Dash approached her, feeling somewhat out of place. "Uh, Fluttershy? Should I go, or," She trailed off.
Fluttershy looked up at her, her large blue eyes full of unshed tears. "If you want to," she said quietly, although those eyes said the exact opposite. It was the kind of expression one would have to be completely heartless to say no to.
Dash shrugged, settling down beside her friend to stare at the open book as well. "Eh. I don't have anything to do today. Nothing but sunny skies scheduled for the next couple of days, anyway."
"That's good to hear," Fluttershy smiled weakly. "The flowers could use some sunshine."
She continued poring over the book. Dash stared blankly at the pages full of remedies and pictures of strange plants. Finally Fluttershy stopped, the page turned to a full color picture of a beautiful blue flower. Its petals curled gracefully back to reveal golden tendrils of pollen. Unlike mundane daisies and the like, it seemed more a flower made for admiring, not eating. "Lunawort." Rainbow Dash read aloud; the plant's name was printed in black letters beneath the picture.
"This is it." Fluttershy fell absolutely silent, inspecting the remedy detailed on the opposite page intently.
"What do you need it for? Is that what that medicine was made of? Why's it called Lunawort, anyway?" Rainbow's barrage of questions went unanswered as Fluttershy suddenly went pale, closing the book and pushing it away.
"Okay, what's going on?" Dash huffed. "You've got to tell me something here. What did the book say?"
Fluttershy stared the book as if it were a full-grown dragon. "Everfree." She whispered the word, as if speaking it aloud would bring whatever horrors the forest held into her home. The word still unsettled Dash as well, albeit to a lesser degree. They might've have survived their first journey into the forest, and Twilight occasionally braved its mysterious foliage and rogue weather conditions to visit Zecora, but they'd only scratched the surface of the Everfree Forest. The outskirts were far less dangerous and held much less of a threat than the dense, ancient forest that lay beyond Zecora's tree. Even the zebra herself seemed distrustful of it; she seemed to live in the relatively tame part of Everfree.
"You mean like actual Everfree? Not the part we've been in, but Everfree?" Dash asked.
Fluttershy nodded. "It's the only place Lunawort grows. There used to be a clump at the edge of the forest, but it withered away a long time ago. I only managed to save a little of it. I haven't seen any around here since, and the book says it grows plentifully in the forest." She shuddered fearfully. "Deep in the forest."
The two mares fell silent, staring at each other. Dash claimed to not be afraid of anything, but the depths of the forest weren't just anything. A few minutes passed, and then Fluttershy shook her head, a look of determination taking the place of her anxious expression. "It doesn't matter," she said shakily, stamping her hoof on the ground. "I...I have to go. Angel needs me."
Fluttershy rose from the floor, darting upstairs with Dash close behind. "Are you crazy? You can't go in there alone!"
"I have to." Fluttershy's voice was muffled, her head buried in a closet as she dug through its contents. "If I don't, Angel could..." She paused, unable to even voice the possibility. "I've seen that illness before. It's really bad."
She fell silent, and Rainbow Dash heard the distinct sound of sniffling. "I don't know how long the dose I gave him will last. I've got to go now before he gets any worse."
Fluttershy emerged from the closet, her saddlebags bearing the image of her cutie mark slung across her back. She ran back downstairs, and as Dash followed at her heels it occurred to her that she'd never seen Fluttershy as worked up as she was at that moment. In the living room the pegasus flew from corner to corner, stuffing various items in her saddlebags, including the Supernaturals book. As she packed, Dash continued trying to reason with her. "Okay. Let's say you're crazy enough to go into Everfree. Shouldn't we get the others? "
"I don't have any time." Fluttershy snapped one bag closed, holding the strap in her teeth and pulling it tighter, then doing the same for the other. "I have to find the blossoms and get back here as soon as I can."
She took a final look around her living room, sadly, then shook her head once more and resolutely pushed her way out the door. As if unaware of the situation taking place, her animals approached their caretaker but went unacknowledged, scattering as she broke into a gallop towards the forest that loomed in the distance. Dash gave chase by hoof for a minute then stopped short, remembering that she was much faster in the air than on the ground. "Fluttershy!"
She reached Fluttershy's side as the pale yellow pegasus halted before the great stand of trees, gazing into the depths of the forest apprehensively. The pegasus' legs trembled, and despite her resolution Rainbow Dash could tell how terrified she was. Everything was happening so quickly, and while it wasn't how she'd planned on spending the rest of her day Rainbow Dash knew there was no way she could leave her friend to her own devices. The idea had been forming in her head, ever since Fluttershy had begun her mad dash throughout her house, and now it solidified.
"Well, if we're gonna do this, we probably need to get going before it gets dark," she said nonchalantly. Fluttershy's legs ceased trembling; she gasped in surprise, turning to face Rainbow Dash and ducking her head behind her pink mane in her usual hesitant manner.
"You're going with me?" Fluttershy said, trying to disguise her hopefulness and failing miserably at it. "I mean...you don't really have to. I don't want to inconvenience you."
"Of course!" Dash reared up on her hind legs, shaking her colorful mane out fiercely. "If you're gonna make it out alive you're gonna need the bravest, fastest pony in all of Ponyville by your side. If anything comes at us, WHAM!" She bucked at an imaginary foe, fluttering her wings. "I'll take 'em down. In ten. Seconds. Flat."
'And I know how much he means to you.'
Fluttershy rushed forward, wrapping her forelegs around her in a tight hug. "Thank you," she whispered.
Dash grinned, patting her head affectionately. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I've got a pet too now, remember? You'd help me with Tank, if I needed it. So let's go."
With a backwards glance at the safe, peril-free town of Ponyville now far behind them, the two mares turned and entered the Everfree Forest, unsure of what the future held but ready to take it on. Dash felt her heart pounding against her will and ignored it. Fluttershy was depending on her to help her save Angel from whatever illness had taken hold of him, and there was no way she'd ever let one of her friends down.
|
Papillon Rose
|
941
| 2 |
Fluttershy,Main 6,Pinkie Pie,Rainbow Dash,Adventure,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
In The Late Summer Sun
|
After a trip to Everfree to cure Angel, Rainbow Dash begins to develop feelings for Fluttershy.
|
hiatus
| 77 | 2 |
<p>After Angel falls gravely ill Rainbow Dash agrees to help Fluttershy by embarking on a journey into Everfree in search of a rare herb needed to make medicine for him. The trip pits them against a creature dwelling deep in the forest, and the encounter changes Rainbow Dash's entire view of her gentle, reserved friend. As she spends more time with her following their return from Everfree, she finds her feelings for Fluttershy changing and is forced to deal with something she's never had to face before -- something that could possibly interfere with her dreams. While Rainbow Dash struggles with her first crush (with a little help from her friends), a lonely Pinkie Pie struggles with her resulting feelings of resentment and is drawn into an unhealthy friendship with a strange unicorn living on the outskirts of the forest...</p>
|
everyone
|
2012-08-12T22:23:06+00:00
|
2012-08-12T22:23:06+00:00
| 3,407 |
The presence lifted its shaggy head, snout in the air, and sniffed the wind. Today, and for many days previous it had taken the form of a large bear draped in a thick brown pelt instead of the translucent, star-spangled hide of an Ursa. It found the bear's body more efficient in allowing it to feed. The extra bit of terror the sight of the looming creature sparked in the hearts of its prey was an additional treat. Nothing substantial, but beggars couldn't be choosers.
The unfortunate prey it set its sights on that morning was a raccoon. The presence snorted; it had been hoping for something larger, but by now a great deal of the meatier animals had come to avoid its territory. It could barely keep itself fed, much less muster the energy to erase the trail of corruption it left in its wake. Of course, there were always exceptions: young, stupid cubs and kits that strayed from their parents' side, foolhardy males fueled by the chance to impress their female counterparts. Those exceptions sustained the presence, for in its weakened state it knew not to risk leaving its home deep in the forest where hooves no longer trod.
On heavily padded paws, it crept closer to where the raccoon crouched, scratching at the ground for some tiny, creeping grub. Such was the symphony of Everfree - eating only to be eaten, in a cycle as old as time itself.
The raccoon was obviously very young, for it failed to notice the approach of the hulking beast stalking it until the bear was almost upon it. Only then did the raccoon whirl around, emitting a shriek of terror and turning to run, pushing its short, stubby limbs as fast as it could go. It was already too late.
The raccoon's legs gave out of their own accord, leaving it lying prone on the forest floor. It struggled vainly to move, but the presence had it within its grip and it had no intention of letting the small creature go. It could feel the fear coursing through its body, sending its heart rate to fever pitch, and the presence trembled in anticipation. Such rousing fear of death, frustration from the immobility having taken hold of its limbs, and of course, sorrow. The mixture of emotions emanating from the struggling body drove the presence into a frenzy - without further hesitation the bear descended upon the raccoon, savoring its final burst of pain as sharp teeth pierced its hide.
The raccoon died without ceremony, and the creature fed. It wasn't nearly enough, it never was. But it would have to do.
-------------------------------------------
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy stood side by side, staring out at the forest spread before them in awe. Twisted, gnarled tree trunks with lush vines snaking around and throughout their tangled branches loomed high over their heads. The resulting canopy of intertwined vegetation and bark still allowed a fair amount of sunlight to stream through the cracks, forming intricate patterns on the ground.
Unfamiliar birds flitted throughout those trees, engaged in a disorganized melody quite different from one of Fluttershy's compositions. Fluttershy sat on her haunches, seemingly overwhelmed by the enormity of their mission, but Rainbow Dash's adventurous spirit rapidly overcame her initial discomfort. "Whoa," she said, flitting from tree to tree like a pony-sized hummingbird and inadvertently startling the actual birds roosting in them."This place is huge!"
Fluttershy slowly rose from where she sat on the forest floor. "It's..." her voice quivered, giving lip to the lie, "Not that scary."
"Oh, this part of the forest is fine." Dash landed on a low-hanging branch, fluttering her wings excitedly. "We've been here before like a million times. This isn't the scary part." She nimbly leapt to the ground, grinning mischievously as she crept towards Fluttershy, one hoof after the other. "It's the stuff we haven't seen before that's truly scary."
Fluttershy's eyes widened. She squeaked, sinking to the ground with her hooves clamped over her eyes.
"Come on, Fluttershy, I'm just kidding. Lighten up a little." Rainbow Dash ruffled her tidy pink mane fondly.
Fluttershy stopped trembling, peeking up at her friend nervously. "O-okay."
The two mares set off, Fluttershy leading the way with her hooves firmly planted on the ground unlike her companion. Rainbow Dash insisted on hovering a few feet above her, deftly slipping between the various natural obstructions in her way. In her mind the whole setup was just one big obstacle course to tackle. "So where are we going, anyway?" Fluttershy flinched; the cyan pegasus' voice was even louder against the tranquil backdrop of the forest. "Do you already know where this lunawort stuff grows?"
Fluttershy lowered her head, avoiding making eye contact with her friend. "Um... no, actually."
Rainbow Dash froze in mid-air, lowering herself to Fluttershy's eye level. "Wait a minute, hold up. How are we supposed to find one plant in all of this?" She indicated the vastness of the forest with her forehooves. "We can't wander around forever."
Fluttershy sighed. "I... I know. We have to go see Zecora first."
"Zecora?"
"Yes." Fluttershy nodded. "She lives here, so she probably knows about all the plants that grow in the area."
"Oh. Good idea." Dash moved out of Fluttershy's way, satisfied with the answer. "At least we know where that is." With a destination in mind Rainbow Dash took the lead, Fluttershy trudging behind morosely.
"I hope she really does know where we can find the flowers," The pale yellow pegasus said softly. "The Everfree Forest is really... big."
She sounded so miserable that Rainbow Dash couldn't help landing beside her, placing a comforting hoof on her shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll find it, even if Zecora doesn't know. These eyes can spot anything, no matter how small it is. In the dark."
Fluttershy smiled, knowing good and well that there was little to no evidence to back up these claims. But Rainbow Dash sounded so confident that it was hard not to take her seriously. "Really?"
"Hold on a second." Dash unsnapped one of the saddlebags Fluttershy carried, poking around until she located what appeared to be a blueberry muffin. Even in her panic Fluttershy had had the presence of mind to bring some food along. "It's not a cupcake, but it'll have to do."
In a perfect imitation of Pinkie Pie, she launched into the famous Pinkie Pie swear, tossing the muffin into the air and swallowing it in a single gulp. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Dash licked her lips; the muffin was absolutely delicious. "Dude, those are great! Did you make them, Fluttershy?"
"Oh, yes." Fluttershy beamed. "The berries are ripe now, so I make use of them while they're still in season. Angel always has to help me, since he's better at collecting berries than I am."
She stopped speaking abruptly, as if something were caught in her throat, and after a moment of awkward silence the two mares continued down the path to Zecora's tree.
------------------------------------------
After half an hour of travel, the large tree Zecora lived in came into view. Bottles of various sizes and colors hung from the branches, sparkling in the thin streams of sunlight. The various hollows in the tree's trunk, as well as its raised roots that looked for all the world like claws were unsettling; the entire tree loomed as if it were a creature waiting to ensnare them the moment they approached. Fluttershy's hoofsteps slowed, although she resolutely soldiered on against her obvious anxiety. Rainbow Dash attempted to disguise her discomfort by boasting as usual. "It's not that creepy. I mean, it's creepy, but it's the good kind of creepy."
"There's a good kind of creepy?" Fluttershy whimpered.
"Of course there is." Dash dropped to the ground, approaching the door as if it weren't connected to the most disconcerting house she'd ever laid eyes upon. "You think she's in?" Before Fluttershy could respond Dash darted past her, rapping at the door heavily. "Hey Zecora, you in there?"
Fluttershy pressed a hoof to her face in embarrassment. "Rainbow Dash."
"What?" Dash shrugged, seeing nothing wrong with the situation. "How else is she supposed to hear me? It's a really big tree!"
She raised her hoof, preparing to knock on the door once more. It swung open without warning, causing Dash to lose her balance and topple over, landing in a heap at a pair of ebony hooves. Zecora's stern striped face gazed down at her. "I can hear you just fine," she said dryly, "Pounding on this door of mine."
Dash laughed nervously, flushing. She picked herself up, trotting contritely behind Fluttershy and shoving her forward with a squeak of protest. "I'll just let Fluttershy tell you why we're here."
"I... I..." Fluttershy looked absolutely terrified, awaiting Zecora's wrath. "I..."
Zecora's stern expression gave way to a kindly, welcoming smile. "Ah, the gentle healer I rarely see." Fluttershy relaxed slightly at her words, although she remained tense. "What is your reason for visiting me?"
"Um... well... that is..." Fluttershy stammered. "I needed to ask you about something, if you don't mind. About a plant that grows here."
Zecora mulled over this for a second, then gasped, bowing her head politely. "It is not often that I entertain guests, foolish me." She backed away, gesturing towards the interior of her tree. "Would you care to join me for tea?"
"That would be wonderful," Fluttershy said gratefully. "Although we can't stay for too long."
She glanced back at Rainbow Dash, who nodded in agreement. "Sounds good to me."
Twilight visited Zecora's tree in the forest more often than any of her friends did. She lacked the natural apprehension ponies that had been raised in Ponyville, and ponies that had been living there long enough possessed in respect to the Everfree Forest. Zecora's presence was more constant in Ponyville ever since the whole 'curse' business had been debunked and swept behind them, but her home was still a mystery to Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. They shared a couple of meaningful glance as they followed Zecora inside the tree hut and seated themselves beside the ring of stones encasing Zecora's campfire.
The two pegasi and the zebra engaged in light banter regarding recent events in Ponyville while Zecora prepared their tea. There were no major occurrences save for the Cakes announcing Cup's pregnancy and the decree that the year's Summer Sun Celebration would take place in Ponyville to make up for the history-altering event that had interrupted the celebration a couple of years back.
"I've stepped up my training just in case the Wonderbolts decide to put in an appearance at this one," Rainbow Dash was saying dreamily as Zecora placed two carved wooden cups full of steaming tea before them.
"Excuse me, I wish not to offend, but there is a matter to which I must attend." Zecora left the two pegasi inhaling the mouth-watering aroma rising from their cups of tea; it was clear that she'd been generous with the honey she used as a sweetener.
While they waited for their refreshments to cool and the return of their host, Dash took the opportunity to get a better look around than she had the first time she'd invaded the poor zebra's home. The masks were definitely strange, but the sight of them evoked a sense of excitement within her. She didn't know much about Zecora's homeland, only that it was very far away. 'Do Celestia's sun and Luna's moon rise there? Who controls the weather? What are the clouds like?' The thought occurred to her that perhaps they had their own version of pegasi for weather maintenance.
A pair of masks caught her eye. The one on the left was fearsome, jagged teeth and long horns curling to a point at either side of its head. The one propped up beside it was the exact opposite, composed of elegantly sloping curves. Its head was decorated with soft white feathers. "See, that's what I'm talking about," she nudged Fluttershy, pointing at the mask with the horns. "That's the good kind of creepy. It's weird, but it still looks really cool."
"The one on the left represents brashness, foolhardy bravery. At its side is compassion and wisdom, co-existing in harmony." Zecora explained as she reentered the room, having heard the remark. "Where one is weak, the other makes them strong. Side by side is where they belong."
Dash blinked. "Whoa. That's deep."
Fluttershy gasped, suddenly recalling why they'd come in the first place. She rummaged around in one of her saddlebags, producing the Supernaturals book and turning to the page displaying the lunawort. "Zecora, have you ever seen this plant before? Does it grow here?"
Zecora studied the image thoughtfully. "Nightblooming flowers of blue," she muttered to herself, "In such a calming hue. From root to petal, its medicinal powers abound; among those who practice the healing arts this herb is renowned." She paused for a moment, amidst the sound of Rainbow Dash noisily slurping at her tea in such a indecorous manner that Rarity would've passed out at the sight of it.
Fluttershy pushed her half-empty cup away. "One of my animals is sick, and I need the flowers to make the right medicine."
"Would you happen to know what ailment has laid your companion low?"
"It's my bunny, Angel. He has the snuffles."
Rainbow Dash looked up from her cup, licking her lips. "The snuffles? That doesn't sound all that threatening."
"Make no mistake, this is a grave illness indeed." Zecora said solemnly. "Many attempt to cure it, but..." she looked at Fluttershy with an expression of pity, "Very few succeed."
Fluttershy stiffened and lowered her head, as if she were about to cry, but the pegasus that met the zebra's gaze a moment later had no trace of fear or sorrow in her eyes. "I have to find the lunawort, Zecora, no matter how hard it is." All the shakiness had withdrawn from her voice. Rainbow Dash sat up straight. This was a side of her friend she rarely saw. "I can't just give up on Angel. He's very important to me."
Zecora regarded her with interest for a minute, then turned her back on them. Fluttershy fell back, her fighting spirit having fled once more, and Rainbow Dash prepared to defend her friend's decision, as loudly as possible. Before she could say anything, Zecora glanced over her shoulder at them. She wasn't smiling, though there was no trace of anger or disapproval on her face. "A truly kind spirit resides deep within you," she said evenly, directing her attention to Fluttershy. "I shall see what I can do."
The zebra walked away, still muttering to herself, into one of the back rooms. With the altercation averted Fluttershy let out a deep sigh and deflated, allowing herself to sink to the dirt floor. Being truly assertive seemed to take a lot out of her.
Rainbow Dash stared at her for a moment, glad the expression of surprise on her face had gone unnoticed. They'd come a long way since she'd spent an entire expedition to shoo a sleeping dragon off the top of a mountain berating the least confident member of their party, and through the course of their adventures she'd come to understand that Fluttershy was capable of much more than she'd imagined. Still, it shocked her every time she saw her shy, hesitant friend confront ponies or creatures larger or more aggressive than herself. No squeaking or shying away.
'She's not shy at all when it comes to someone she cares about.' It was a sappier thought than Dash usually allowed herself, but she reached over to pat her friend's mane reassuringly anyway.
By the time they'd polished off their tea Zecora had returned with a rolled up scroll in her mouth. She spread it out on the ground, weighting its corners down with stones, and made various marks on it with a stick of coal. Once finished with the crude map, she rolled it up once more and stuffed it into the side of Fluttershy's saddlebag. She gestured for the pegasi to follow her outside, and after gathering their equipment and securing Fluttershy's bags once more they left the tree. Zecora led them a few yards away from her tree, pointing at a light trail that led deeper into Everfree. "The herb you seek grows where the forest is most dense. I ventured into its depths only once, and haven't returned since. It blooms in abundance at the side of a small lake. On this map I've marked the path you should take."
Fluttershy had resumed hiding behind her mane, but the gratitude was evident in her voice. "Thank you so much, Zecora."
Rainbow Dash came forward then, not quite meeting Zecora's gaze as she apologized for her earlier actions. "Yeah... sorry for almost knocking your door down."
Zecora shook her head. "Your devotion makes up for the patience you lack," she informed the cyan pegasus, who couldn't figure out whether to be insulted or pleased at the compliment. "You'll need to rely on each others' strengths to make it back."
"No problem. I've got everything covered." Dash flew over to Fluttershy, who was staring intently at the trail.
Zecora shook her head. "Noon is high upon us, so you must be on your way. Your journey will proceed smoothly, I pray." With those parting words the zebra bowed politely, as before, and returned to her tree. Rainbow Dash watched her go, then waved a hoof in front of Fluttershy's face. "We should probably get moving."
As they approached the trail laid before them, Rainbow Dash tapped Fluttershy on the head with a hoof. "Hey, Fluttershy. How do you think she does it?"
"Does what?" Fluttershy looked up at her curiously.
"That whole rhyming thing." Rainbow Dash folded her forelegs over her chest, contemplating. "You think she just does it without thinking about it?"
"Uh...I'm not sure."
"Or does she actually think them up on the fly?" Rainbow Dash ran her hooves throughout her wild mane, mussing it further. "Why am I even thinking about this?"
"Well..." Fluttershy paused, smiling up at her. "Whether by instinct or force of will, there's no doubt it requires a good amount of skill."
Rainbow Dash's mouth dropped open. She burst out laughing. "Nice one, Fluttershy."
Fluttershy ducked her head bashfully at the praise. "You're right, it is a little hard."
The two mares trekked along the path with Rainbow Dash attempting a few awkward rhymes of her own while Fluttershy listened appreciatively. However, their conversation slowly died down as they realized that the forest was rapidly becoming very different from the section of Everfree they were used to. The trees had begun to grow more closely together, and the canopy appeared to be thickening. It became harder for Rainbow Dash to slip between the trees as she had been. The trail wasn't very well defined, and from time to time they strayed a few feet from the path. The birdsong was muted, more somber, and the sound of smaller creatures crashing through the undergrowth had become less frequent.
"I don't think anyone's been here in a long time," Fluttershy whispered, afraid to speak too loudly. Dash agreed, finally giving up flying and dropping to the ground to walk beside Fluttershy. She too was starting to feel uneasy, but she couldn't pinpoint why. Something about the area of the forest they were entering felt wrong. Her instincts nagged at her, but she ignored them. 'Don't be a wuss. There's nothing here, and if there is, it's nothing you can't handle.'
After another half hour of travel they reached the end of the trail; the path beneath their hooves disappeared completely. The unmarked forest lay ahead of them. Fluttershy reached for the map, spreading it out on the ground before them. "Rainbow Dash, you know how to read these, right?"
"Of course." Dash positioned herself to get a good look at the map. "It's one of the first things you they teach you in weather pony certification class. Gotta know where you're going."
Zecora had sketched out the disorganized stand of forest, and leading through the trees a path marked by various landmarks. She stood up, scanning the area for the first one: a large boulder with a deep indentation in it. "There it is. Okay, you see that rock right there?"
Fluttershy nodded. "Is that where the path is?"
"There isn't one." Rainbow Dash studied the map for a little while longer, then rolled it up and placed it back in Fluttershy's bag. "She's marked off a bunch of rocks and other stuff, and we just have to keep moving until we reach the next one. So we start at that rock, and move in a straight line until we reach the next landmark. It's a big tree with a weird-shaped hollow in it. We'll check again once we get there."
Fluttershy sighed with relief. "I'm so glad you came with me. I don't think I would've made it this far on my own."
Rainbow Dash accepted the praise with a proud toss of her mane. "We've got a long way to go, so let's move out."
Fluttershy lingered where she was standing, regarding the trail they were leaving behind wistfully. Realizing that Rainbow Dash was proceeding without her she raced off after the other pegasus with a panicked, "Wait for me!"
Neither of them registered that the birdsong had ceased completely.
---------------------------------------
The presence couldn't have been more pleased.
It watched from a branch, having taken the stealthier form of a red squirrel to spy on the intruders entering its domain, and was overjoyed to see two hooved creatures, ponies. Save for the zebra it had foolishly allowed to escape its grasp several months earlier, it had been years since it encountered a such a large creature. It could scarcely remember the taste of ponyflesh. Far more appealing were their heads, capable of processing so many emotions, instead of the simple fear it managed to squeeze out of the smaller animals before consuming them. What tasty morsels could it find resting within these two, it wondered?
The blue one with the colorful mane was clearly the bolder of the two, while the pale yellow one visibly quivered with fear. It radiated from within her, to the point that even at a distance the presence got a good whiff. That one, it decided. She was certainly the weaker of the two, and probably the easiest to catch. It would've been ideal to kill two pegasi with one stone, but it lacked the energy to seize both of them. She would have to do.
The disguise fell away; the presence would need all its remaining energy soon. Freed of physical confinement, it flowed through the trees, around their trunks, and slithered along the forest floor.
Freedom, and the world outside Everfree lay within its grasp once more.
|
Papillon Rose
|
941
| 3 |
Fluttershy,Main 6,Pinkie Pie,Rainbow Dash,Adventure,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
In The Late Summer Sun
|
After a trip to Everfree to cure Angel, Rainbow Dash begins to develop feelings for Fluttershy.
|
hiatus
| 77 | 2 |
<p>After Angel falls gravely ill Rainbow Dash agrees to help Fluttershy by embarking on a journey into Everfree in search of a rare herb needed to make medicine for him. The trip pits them against a creature dwelling deep in the forest, and the encounter changes Rainbow Dash's entire view of her gentle, reserved friend. As she spends more time with her following their return from Everfree, she finds her feelings for Fluttershy changing and is forced to deal with something she's never had to face before -- something that could possibly interfere with her dreams. While Rainbow Dash struggles with her first crush (with a little help from her friends), a lonely Pinkie Pie struggles with her resulting feelings of resentment and is drawn into an unhealthy friendship with a strange unicorn living on the outskirts of the forest...</p>
|
everyone
|
2012-08-13T11:40:37+00:00
|
2012-08-13T11:40:37+00:00
| 3,102 |
For once Rainbow Dash plodded along in perfect silence.
While not nearly as chatty as Pinkie Pie, she wasn't the kind of pony that went for too long without striking up some form of conversation, even if it were merely bragging about her accomplishments or bemoaning a lack of action. This wasn't odd for Fluttershy, as she'd discovered through years of one-sided conversations, but somehow even Dash herself felt too nervous for small talk.
It was a feeling that had been building in the pit of her stomach for awhile, and despite her efforts to quell it the anxiety had grown in scale to the point where it was all she could do not to grab Fluttershy and fly, tearing through the canopy above and hightailing it back to Ponyville. Her heart did battle with her head though, and no matter how uneasy she was the lunawort was their main priority. The thought of watching Fluttershy cry over Angel was much worse than what she felt now.
It occurred to Rainbow Dash that if she was feeling this freaked out Fluttershy must be close to passing out. She glanced over at the pale yellow pegasus. Fluttershy was several shades paler than usual and she was biting her lip, wings folded in tightly against her sides.
"Hey Fluttershy, you okay?" The sound of her voice rang out throughout the silent forest, even in the lowest whisper she could muster. Fluttershy merely whimpered, never taking her eyes off the ground she beneath her hooves.
"It's okay," Dash reassured her, in a tone that she hoped didn't betray her own fear. "We've only got a little ways to go to reach the lake. And if anything shows up..." She prepared to make one of her infamous bravado-laced speeches, but somehow couldn't bring herself to do it, given their circumstances. "I'll protect you."
Fluttershy briefly looked up from the forest floor, meeting her gaze. There was such a deep expression of gratitude in her eyes that Dash felt infinitely better herself, the knot in her stomach loosening somewhat. She couldn't afford to be scared of what lay beyond if Fluttershy was counting on her to keep them both safe. It was always easier to push herself past her limitations when it was for someone she cared about. Performing her signature move had become second nature to her, but Rainbow Dash knew she never would've been able to overcome her ability to pull off the second sonic rainboom of her life if she hadn't been striving to keep Rarity from becoming a stylish splat on the ground.
They reached their next landmark: a clump of large bushes covered in berries of all colors; deep yellow, vibrant green, vivid red. She was reminded of her own mane and tail. The leaves were such a bright green that it was hard to believe the entire bush wasn't fake. Even Fluttershy seemed intrigued by them, speaking up for the first time in a good half hour's worth of travel. "I've never seen anything like these before."
Rainbow Dash, who was in the process of leaning forward to take an experimental bite out of the strange bush realized that this was probably a poor choice. "Probably shouldn't eat them if even you don't know what they are."
"Usually around this time of the year there aren't a lot of berries at the top of bushes around Ponyville," Fluttershy said thoughtfully.
"Why not?"
"The birds eat all the berries at the top." Fluttershy suddenly resumed her anxious stance, her voice trembling. "But... I don't think there are any birds around here."
Rainbow Dash let this sink in, pointedly ignoring the faint stirrings of discomfort rising within her once again. "Maybe they like the rest of the forest better," she offered lamely. "It is pretty stuffy in here with the canopy being so thick."
Fluttershy's trembling intensified. "There aren't any animals around here, either," she whispered, taking a step backwards. "Nothing lives here, Rainbow Dash."
"How do you know that?" Rainbow Dash hadn't realized how oppresive the silence surrounding them had become until that moment. All natural noise had ceased, save for their voices and the soft swish of Fluttershy's quivering mane. She could smell the stagnation in the air. There was no air flow in this area, no movement. That was unnatural.
Rainbow Dash hadn't been this frightened in a long time, and it took great effort not to show it. The tremor in her voice was hard to swallow as she spoke, cringing at how loud her voice sounded against the complete silence of the forest. "Maybe they're just hiding. You shouldn't worry so much, Fluttershy. Nothing's happened-"
A low grunt from behind them caused both pegasi to whirl around, turning their backs on the odd bushes. A large bear stood about 20 feet away from them, staring at them intently with curious brown eyes.
"Yet." Rainbow Dash growled, hair rising along her neck as she prepared to recklessly launch herself at the threat. Fluttershy, on the other hand, brightened at the sight of something familiar.
"Oh! A bear! I didn't know any lived this deep in Everfree." Fear forgotten in the face of meeting a new potential friend, she began to approach the bear, practically glowing. "Hello there, Mr. Bear!" she called out, amiably.
Rainbow Dash didn't follow her. There was something about that bear that bothered her. Granted, she hadn't seen many bears, unlike Fluttershy, but this bear... it was much bigger than any other bear she'd seen, aside from the Ursa Minor they'd encountered. Its fur was shaggier and much more unkempt, although that could've been from living unaided in Everfree. Animals did take care of themselves here.
The eyes. It was the eyes, and almost instantly her wings unfolded as the cyan pegasus stiffened in recognition. Those eyes were not the kind, beady eyes of the few bears she'd seen in her lifetime. They were cold, and clearly malevolent.
The bear's eyes were also deep red, instead of brown as she'd initially thought.
"Fluttershy!" she yelled; her friend was about ten feet away from the bear. All of a sudden Fluttershy stopped short, sitting down hard on the ground and folding herself into a compact, trembling ball. Her ears slicked back against her scalp, and Rainbow Dash could hear the faint sound of whimpering. It made her angry.
"Fluttershy, get away from that thing!" Rainbow Dash yelled again, galloping towards her immobilized friend. At that moment the bear let out a chilling roar and attacked, clods of dirt flying through the air behind it as it launched itself at Fluttershy. For an animal with such stubby, short legs it moved surprisingly fast.
Fluttershy still didn't move; instead, she wrapped her tail around herself and lowered her head in resignation. Rainbow Dash gave up running and took to the air, silently begging Celestia for the speed to reach the terrified pegasus in time.
Her wish was granted. With a split second to spare before the bear was upon Fluttershy, huge paw raised to strike her down, Rainbow Dash soared past, seizing the thankfully lighter pegasus and shooting into the trees as swiftly as her wings could carry her with Fluttershy in tow. The bear roared again, this time in frustration, and took off after the fleeing pegasi.
Rainbow Dash crashed through the branches and vines hanging in her way, forelegs wrapped tightly around Fluttershy. She was lighter than any of her other friends she'd found herself having to carry at various points in their adventures, but the extra weight still slowed her down a bit, and it was harder to navigate the obstacle course Everfree had laid out for her with an extra body to look out for.
"Fluttershy, I can't carry you forever!" she hissed, barely missing slamming the yellow pegasus into a low-hanging branch too thick to break through. "You're gonna have to snap out of it and fly on your own."
"I can't!" Fluttershy squeaked, her panic-ridden voice barely audible over the sound of the wind whistling past Dash's ears. "I'm not as fast as you!"
Rainbow Dash groaned. "This is why you should've stayed in flight school longer!"
"I'm sorry!"
"Whatever-" Rainbow Dash managed to get a glimpse behind her; the bear was hot on their trail, only a few feet behind them. "What the hay! What kind of bear is that? How is it keeping up with me?"
"It's not a bear." Fluttershy glanced over her shoulder at the beast for confirmation. "It's not a bear at all."
"What?" Dash looked back at the creature pursuing them. "What do you mean it's not a bear? It looks like a bear!"
"It's not a bear!" Fluttershy snapped.
Dash was surprised by the vehemence in her soft-spoken friend's voice, but she decided to deal with it later. The bear was gaining on them, and she wildly scanned the forest surrounding her for an escape. The canopy was much thicker than it had been, only allowing the slightest amount of sunlight to trickle through, and she couldn't risk bashing through it without hurting Fluttershy. The pale yellow pegasus in her arms was shivering so hard it was a wonder she hadn't shaken herself loose, and Dash bit into her lip hard enough to break the skin. Ignoring the coppery taste of blood on her tongue she narrowed her eyes and gave it an extra kick of speed. No one was faster than her, no one and nothing, not even a creepy not-bear in the Everfree Forest. She could outrun or outfly anything.
This course of action was shattered as she burst through the forest into a small clearing. The trees surrounding it were also too thick to fly through at top speed. The canopy remained dense overhead, and she realized she'd been flying deeper into Everfree instead of out of it. There was no escape; the clearing felt like a cage.
Rainbow Dash's heart sank; she knew what she had to do, and she had only a few seconds to do it. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy," she said sadly, veering to the right and unceremoniously tossing her into a stand of bushes. Fluttershy yelped, flying through the air and landing somewhere inside the clump of foliage, hidden from the naked eye. "Get out of here, okay? Go get help or something while I hold it off!"
The bear crashed through the trees into the clearing behind her, knocking one aside with a single blow, and paused, its red eyes fixed on the cyan pegasus before it. Rainbow Dash gulped. Somehow the bear looked enraged, although there was no way to tell from its nonexpressive face. She landed lightly on the ground, her own deep growl rumbling in her throat. Her powerful wings spread out to their full length, and she stamped at the ground with her hooves threateningly. She'd had her share of fights before, but very few with stakes as high as this.
"Hey!" She shouted, glaring at the bear as if daring it to even consider approaching her. "You want a piece of me?"
The bear stared dead at her, not moving, although it opened its giant maw just enough to display its jagged rows of ugly-looking teeth. "I asked you a question, you stupid bear!" Rainbow Dash snarled. "Do you want a piece of me?"
The bear did. With another resounding roar it charged at her, claws digging into the earth and leaving deep gashes in the forest floor. Adrenaline raced through Rainbow Dash's veins, and with an equally loud war cry she charged at the bear, hooves kicking up just as much soil in her wake. Her fear melted away, and the weatherpony felt a trill of excitement. This bear was scary, but it had nothing on her, and she was going to show it exactly what happened when something picked a fight with her and her friends.
Meeting the bear head on at the center of the clearing, Rainbow Dash ducked between its legs, using the moment of surprise to land a powerful blow against its backside with her hindlegs. The bear roared in anguish, twisting around to swipe at her with one of its paws. Dash jerked out of the way a split second before the long, wicked claws raked through her side. This was a real battle, unlike the ones she'd been in at any point in her life, and she found herself hard-pressed to keep up. Wrangling storms was one thing; fighting an angry bear was something else entirely.
Taking advantage of her ability to fly and the extra speed it gave her, Rainbow Dash darted from side to side, landing blows on the bear wherever she could and avoiding its flailing paws. At one point she grimaced as a claw slashed her flank just above her cutie mark; she repaid the blow by slamming into the bear's head with her own, knocking it off-balance. The bear wasn't going down, but it wasn't gaining on her, either.
Something had been needling at her the entire time, and now it finally wormed its way into her head. If they were now deeper in Everfree, how exactly was Fluttershy supposed to make it back to get help from the others? Rainbow Dash gasped, hovering above and just out of reach of the bear. 'Who knows what else is out in that forest?' The odds of Fluttershy running into another monster were fairly high, as was the chance that she'd be immobilized by fear once more. A chill ran down her spine; there was the distinct possibility that her efforts to save Fluttershy would be in vain regardless of how the fight with the bear turned out.
At that moment, the tide of the battle shifted drastically, and not in her favor, either. Rainbow Dash's wings stopped, mid-flutter, and without warning she plummeted towards the ground with a shriek. She hit the forest floor hard. Not hard enough to break anything, but it did hurt, knocking the wind from her lungs. "What the..."
She gritted her teeth, attempting to spread out her wings experimentally. Nothing happened. She tried once more, to no avail. They were there, she could feel them folded against her back. Try as she might, her wings remained unresponsive; she could still feel them, but her continued attempts to move them yielded no results. She began to panic, struggling to rise to her hooves. She managed to take a single step before falling over, her legs giving out as well. Lying there limply, Rainbow Dash scowled, willing her body to obey her. 'What's happening to me? Why can't I fly?'
'Weakling.'
The thought came out of nowhere.
'Weaaakling.' It taunted her, in a mockery of her own voice. 'The great Rainbowcrash has fallen once again.' The voice in her head giggled, cruelly, and Rainbow Dash shook her head in an attempt to clear it. 'Just when your little friend needed you the most.'
"Shut up," Rainbow Dash hissed.
'She trusted you to protect her, and you let her down.' The voice giggled once more. 'Rainbowcrash lets her friends down.'
"I do not! Shut up! Get out of my head!"
'I can't,' the voice said, sorrowfully. 'I would if I could. I don't want to be you.'
"Then you suck!" Dash yelled; it didn't occur to her that the bear was no longer roaring, nor was it attacking her. It stood in front of her, quietly watching her struggle to move even an inch. "I'm awesome!"
'...because if I didn't say I'm awesome, no one else would.'
The thought wrapped around her heart, constricting, and Rainbow Dash fell silent. That couldn't be true, could it? Her friends...
'Tell me I'm awesome, because they feel sorry for me.'
"No. That's not true." It was becoming a little harder to protest against the seed of doubt blooming within her. "They like me. They'd never hurt me or anything."
'And that's why they lie to me. Because they know I couldn't handle it if they told me the truth.' The voice was now starting to sound more like hers; identical, to be exact. Rainbow Dash was beginning to have trouble differentiating between the two. 'That I'm weak. Weak, and delusional. A second rate pegasus with a few fancy tricks. You could never be a Wonderbolt, you know. You'll never be good enough.'
"Stop it." Dash moaned, wishing she could clamp her hooves over her ears. "Stop it. Buck off."
'Why? Why lie to myself? Why not be honest?'
"Because...it's...not..."
'Because it's true. You couldn't protect Fluttershy, could you? You let her down. You let your friends down. Some element of loyalty you are. You couldn't even outfly a bear. She's going to die, and it's all your fault.'
"I..." Tears began to stream down Rainbow Dash's face unbidden, dampening her cyan coat.
'I'm too weak to protect my friends.'
"I'm..." She couldn't finish the sentence, knowing it was true. She was too weak to protect Fluttershy, or any of her friends. She wasn't fast enough. She wasn't strong enough.
'Yes. The truth hurts, doesn't it?' The voice crooned, maliciously. 'Don't fight it.'
Rainbow Dash didn't answer. She'd regained control of her limbs, but she didn't have the will to use them. She curled into a ball, wings limp, neither noticing nor caring that the bear had begun to walk towards her, slowly, with its fangs bared. Saliva flowed over its chin; had she possessed the presence of mind to get a good look at it she'd have noticed how triumphant the creature looked.
'It hurts.'
Rainbow Dash closed her eyes, and the bear loomed over her, raising its paw to slash her open...
"NO!"
A yellow blur slammed into her, knocking Rainbow Dash halfway across the clearing and jolting her out of the trance. She felt dizzy, nauseated, and lay there moaning as she tried to make sense of what was happening around her.
"You stop it right now!"
Although her vision was blurry from the pounding in her head, she could dimly see Fluttershy, standing before the bear with her wings raised high. She neither cowered nor trembled. This was the Fluttershy that had stared down a fully grown dragon, approached a manticore without batting an eye, and taken on a cockatrice even as her limbs solidified. She stared up at the thing that she'd insisted wasn't really a bear, unflinchingly... and surprisingly it did not move.
The two stared at each other and the world fell silent, as if holding its breath. Fluttershy's voice rang out again, harshly. "You can scare me, Mr. Whatever You Are, and you don't have to be my friend if you don't want to. But you do not hurt my friends! Ever! Do you understand me?"
Rainbow Dash couldn't believe what she was seeing. 'Fluttershy is fighting a bear. Fluttershy. Is fighting. A bear.' Nothing about this made sense, but she felt far too sick to intervene.
The bear growled, opening its mouth to roar at the pale yellow pegasus before it. Fluttershy stamped her hoof on the ground. "Don't you dare growl at me when I'm talking to you!"
The bear's mouth snaped shut. It took a cautious step, clearly unprepared for something like this.
"Go away!" Fluttershy snapped, stamping her hoof again. "You've been really mean, and you should go back where you came from! Maybe when you've learned to be a little nicer we can be friends, but not now!"
The bear took another step back, and Fluttershy stepped forward, eyes locked on the bear intently. "I said GO AWAY!"
In a moment of utter insanity, the bear turned on its heels and fled back into the forest, crashing through the trees haphazardly. Fluttershy ran after it for a few paces, then halted, staring after it.
A few moments passed, with Rainbow Dash staring open mouthed at Fluttershy, and Fluttershy's sides heaving as she watched the bear retreat. Then Rainbow Dash rolled over on her side and began to laugh.
Tears streamed from her eyes once more, but not from guilt. She'd never seen something as ridiculous as what she'd just witnessed, and despite her entire body aching she couldn't stop howling. "Oh Celestia!" she managed to gasp, holding her sides. "That was awesome! That was so awesome!"
Once more her quiet, sometimes downright wimpy friend had sent something more than twice her size heading for the hills by just telling it to get lost, and Rainbow Dash vowed never to doubt Fluttershy again. Or at least to try not to.
Her laughter began to die down, and Rainbow Dash sat up, shaking her mane out. She remembered that she'd heard a voice, before Fluttershy'd knocked her out of the way, but she couldn't remember what it had said, though she remembered feeling awful for awhile. No matter. She grimaced again as she rose to her hooves; save for the slash on her flank she appeared to be fine. She tested her wings, extending them to their full span and flapping them experimentally. Thank Celestia they seemed to be fine too.
"Hey Fluttershy!" She called, trotting over to where the pale yellow pegasus still stood, staring into the forest. "That was so cool! Where'd you learn to do that? You should do that all the time when a monster shows up!"
Fluttershy didn't answer.
"Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash stopped beside her, nudging her. "You alright?"
Fluttershy turned to her; her eyes were downcast, and she was sobbing. "I'm sorry," she said, hanging her head.
Rainbow Dash tilted her head, confused. "Why? You just saved my life! I've never seen anything that cool before!"
"I made you come with me," Fluttershy cried. "And you got hurt trying to help me."
Rainbow Dash sighed, smiling. She pressed her forehead against Fluttershy's, looking into her deep blue eyes. "You really are too nice, you know?"
Fluttershy leapt forward, wrapping her forelegs around Dash's neck as she cried. "I'm sorry."
"You don't have to be." Rainbow Dash nuzzled her friend affectionately; it wasn't something she was used to, but at a moment like this it didn't bother her at all. "I came with you because I wanted to help you. You don't have to be sorry for anything. Everything's okay now."
Fluttershy continued to sob into her mane, but it eventually started to subside. Tossing awkwardness to the wind, Rainbow Dash allowed her to stay there, hugging her while the birdsong that had been absent during their journey resumed in the trees surrounding them.
-----------------------------
After a few minutes Fluttershy calmed down, still sniffling. She let go of Rainbow Dash, backing away from her while a deep blush spread over her cheeks.
"Are you okay now?" Rainbow Dash asked, trying to keep the impatience from creeping into her voice. Now that they were safe, and the forest around them was flowing with life once more, she wanted to get moving. She could tell from the color of the sunlight streaming through the canopy that it was late afternoon, and she wanted to find the lake before nightfall. Although she had no idea where they were now. She shifted uncomfortably; the gash she'd sustained in the fight with the bear had grown terribly sore in the aftermath.
Fluttershy noticed this, and wordlessly trotted over to take a good look at the wound. "It's not too deep, but we probably need to clean it so it doesn't get infected."
Her saddlebags laid on the ground near the bushes Dash had tossed her into; one had come open during their mad dash through the forest and was completely empty. Thankfully the one with the now crumpled map and the Supernaturals book was still tightly shut. "The first aid kit was in the side that came open, but I can probably find something around here to bind it with."
"It's fine." Dash flicked her tail carelessly. "Battle scars. We can take care of it when we get to the lake."
She retrieved the map, spreading it out on the ground. "I don't know where we are now. The bushes were the last landmark we passed, but I'm not sure what direction we went in."
She scoured the map, then gasped with recognition. "Oh my gosh."
Rainbow Dash suddenly leapt to her hooves, rolling the map up and shoving it back into Fluttershy's bag. "I can't believe this." She rose into the air and took off into the forest, with Fluttershy trailing behind.
"What is it?" Fluttershy called out from behind her, but Dash ignored her, plunging through the forest with only a single goal in mind. Her hind leg still throbbed, but it wasn't as bad as it would've been had she been running. After a few minutes of seemingly arbitrary winding her way through Everfree she ground to a halt in mid-air. Fluttershy clumsily stopped beneath her, out of breath. "What happened?"
Rainbow Dash met her gaze, grinning. "Maybe that bear did us a favor." She landed on the forest floor and stepped forward through a wall of leaves into a much larger clearing, leaving the dense stand of trees behind her. Fluttershy followed, stunned into silence. Here the canopy thinned out, golden sunlight reflecting off the still surface of a small lake on the other side of the clearing and warming a field of brilliant blue flowers waving gently in the light breeze.
'We're here.'
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Papillon Rose
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941
| 4 |
Fluttershy,Main 6,Pinkie Pie,Rainbow Dash,Adventure,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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In The Late Summer Sun
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After a trip to Everfree to cure Angel, Rainbow Dash begins to develop feelings for Fluttershy.
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hiatus
| 77 | 2 |
<p>After Angel falls gravely ill Rainbow Dash agrees to help Fluttershy by embarking on a journey into Everfree in search of a rare herb needed to make medicine for him. The trip pits them against a creature dwelling deep in the forest, and the encounter changes Rainbow Dash's entire view of her gentle, reserved friend. As she spends more time with her following their return from Everfree, she finds her feelings for Fluttershy changing and is forced to deal with something she's never had to face before -- something that could possibly interfere with her dreams. While Rainbow Dash struggles with her first crush (with a little help from her friends), a lonely Pinkie Pie struggles with her resulting feelings of resentment and is drawn into an unhealthy friendship with a strange unicorn living on the outskirts of the forest...</p>
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everyone
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2012-08-15T10:57:22+00:00
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2012-08-15T10:57:22+00:00
| 2,696 |
Deep in the Everfree Forest, a shaggy brown body huddled in a shallow, somewhat damp cave, trembling with frustration. So close; it had come so very close. The presence had succeeded in soaking up quite a bit of energy from the blue pony, but not nearly as much as it could've had the yellow one not interfered.
The yellow one... the bear's body shuddered again at the memory. The wretched creature had fooled it, emitting such intense fear and anxiety while she trudged through its territory, enough that it was able to fuel itself on the fumes alone, only to shake it off so rapidly in defense of her companion. Just recalling the encounter sent a wave of anger so violent coursing through its body that the sullen creature took a few swipes at the cave wall, leaving an irregular pattern of light claw marks in the rock. At the moment just before it overwhelmed the doubt-ridden pegasus it had weakened, when the previously fearful pony knocked her aside, it had definitely felt the shift in atmosphere. And then she stood before it, commanding it to leave them be, and the presence found the tables turned as it was now the one held in thrall. Her eyes were the worst part. Those eyes, the determination within them when she turned her gaze on it... she'd radiated with some kind of vitality that shook its physical body to the core. The aura of confidence washed over it, overriding its efforts to infiltrate her thoughts. There was nothing to grasp at, and the look in those blue eyes... the look was familiar. The presence had seen that very defiance, countless years in the past before its confinement.
There was nothing to do but retreat, fleeing from that pony before she drained it of the moderate amount of energy provided by the blue one.
As expected, hooved ones provided a far better meal than any number of animals it could've frightened to death. Their emotions were so very complicated, and it did feel much stronger after its interrupted meal. The extra kick of energy had restored its ability to eradicate the natural stench of corruption it left behind, so it opted to venture closer to the exterior of the forest than it had in years. It couldn't leave, not yet, but perhaps there was something that could be done. It wouldn't be able to feed off the bounty of the forest any longer, but soon that would cease to matter.
Tucking the bear's legs in, the presence stilled itself, feeling the bear's heartbeat pick up the pace. The thick, furry pelt tingled unpleasantly, and agonizing pain shot through its body as its limbs lengthened, bones flattening and rearranging themselves, fur falling in clumps from its hide and giving way to a short, brightly colored coat. The bear's body shrank to a fourth of its size, trembling uncontrollably until the pain centered at a point on its forehead...
A few minutes passed, the forest outside the cave falling silent as an ear-splitting roar rang out from within, followed by silence. After a moment, the forest returned to normal, the incident forgotten. None of its inhabitants took notice as the small, svelte body of a unicorn mare with a light green coat crawled out of the cave, struggling to stand on unsteady legs. She shook her wavy, deep green mane out of her hazel eyes, reaching up to poke at the horn on her head. It was a useless protrusion of keratin with no magic flowing through it, for now.
Satisfied with her appearance, the unicorn set off shakily in search of water and food. It would be easier to sustain this form, physically, until an opportunity arose to feast once more.
------------------------------------
The tranquility that hung over the clearing was shattered as a loud "Yahoo!" rang throughout the air, followed by Rainbow Dash rearing up on her hindlegs in excitement and galloping straight for the lake. After the battle with the bear and hours of trudging through the forest she was far too thirsty to care about the pain at her side. She tried to halt at the edge but momentum carried her forward, sending the cyan pegasus plunging into the water.
Crisp, cool water flowed down her throat and over her body, instantly lifting the sheen of dust and perspiration matting her coat, mane, and tail. To her surprise, the throbbing sensation in her flank lessened considerably as well. She turned a few somersaults beneath the lake's surface; being a prime example of athleticism Rainbow Dash was perfectly capable of swimming, and she rather enjoyed doing so when she got the chance. She caught sight of Fluttershy, kneeling at the side of the lake and frantically scanning its depths for her friend. "Rainbow Dash?"
Dash grinned mischievously, propelling herself forward with her wings. "Boo!" she shouted, breaking the surface and splashing Fluttershy with a light spray of water from the lake. Fluttershy let out a characteristic squeak and fell backwards on her rump with her wet mane hanging over her eyes.
"You should've seen your face!!" Rainbow Dash howled, pointing at the dumbfounded pegasus in front of her. "That was priceless!"
Fluttershy picked herself up, squeezing the excess water from her mane as Rainbow Dash climbed out of the lake, shaking herself vigorously. "That really hit the spot," she sighed.
Thirst sated, she took stock of the clearing around them. Ringing the lake were thick stands of reeds, hiding small frogs that conversed among themselves. The healthy-looking grass beneath her hooves was soft yet springy; she snagged a mouthful, confirming that it was as good as it looked. A few of the rainbow-fruited bushes they'd encountered in the forest before grew along the edges of the clearing near the trees. The trees ringing the clearing were large enough that their branches stretched out to create a thin canopy that disappeared altogether towards the center of the clearing, where the lunawort grew its thickest, clearly flourishing in the undiluted sunlight. The place was absolutely beautiful, and that beauty was not lost on Rainbow Dash. She swallowed a few more mouthfuls of grass then took to the air, flitting about like an excited pegasus filly. "This place is amazing! Who would've thought something like this would be in the Everfree Forest?"
Fluttershy also seemed thrilled at the sight of the oasis amidst the deep forest. She delicately trotted over to the stand of lunawort and leaned down to sniff at one of the tightly curled blossoms. "I've never seen this many before," she said softly, eyes shining with unspoken happiness. Careful not to crush any of the flowers beneath her hooves, she waded out into the middle of the sea of blue petals. "I'm so glad we managed to find them."
Rainbow Dash landed beside her, a little less gracefully. She flinched when her right wing touched her injury, opting to avoid folding them in completely. "That bear got me good," she admitted, glancing over her shoulder at the offending area. "At least it didn't hit my cutie mark. That would've been seriously uncool."
"Oh, I'm sorry! I'll fix that up right away." Fluttershy left her side and ran over to a vivid green patch of what Rainbow Dash assumed were herbs, gathering a mouthful and then heading for the lake. Once there, she dug a small, shallow hole in the muddy bank with her hooves and dropped the vegetation into it. Rainbow Dash watched uncomprehending as Fluttershy proceeded to mash the herbs and mud together.
"Uh, Fluttershy? Is this really a good time to be making mud pies?"
Fluttershy looked up, smiling shyly. "Oh, it's not a mud pie. It's for your back."
"You're putting mud on it?" Rainbow Dash asked, skeptically. "I mean, I know you're the expert and all, but I don't see how mud is gonna help."
"Well, I'm not applying the mud directly to the wound." Fluttershy left her handiwork and flew just high enough to grab a large leaf from one of the trees ringing the clearing. She hovered over Rainbow Dash, looking apologetic. "It's going to hurt for just a little bit, and then you'll feel better," she said, softly.
"It's okay. Do what you have to." Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth and attempted to ignore the burning sensation spreading over her back as Fluttershy quickly lined the wound with a few herbs and placed the leaf over it, applying a liberal amount of mud to the area to hold the leaf in place. She finished her dressing up by turning a few rapid circles in the air around her patient to dry the mud.
"Wow, that already feels better!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, folding in her wings properly with little pain this time. Whatever the herbs were, they were definitely effective. Within but a few minutes the soreness subsided altogether. "You're really good at this, Fluttershy."
"Oh... it's nothing." Fluttershy looked away, a light blush coloring her face again. "I'm sorry you got hurt."
"Are you kidding? That scar is going to be wicked." Rainbow Dash grinned, raising a hoof triumphantly. "And I can say I got it fighting a bear."
Fluttershy brightened, looking as if she felt a little less guilty. She looked up at the sky, noting the time; the run-in with the bear had eaten up a good chunk of their time. "It's getting late. I need to get back to Angel before the sleeping draught I gave him wears off."
"Yeah, we probably need to grab the lunawort and head back before it gets too dark." Rainbow Dash approached the patch of flowers, leaning down to seize one with her teeth. "So how many do you need?"
"Rainbow Dash, wait!" Fluttershy darted over to where she stood before she could grab ahold of the plant to yank it free. "We can't just pull them out."
Dash poked one of the flowers; the stems weren't particularly thick, and it felt just as fragile as any other flower she'd encountered. "Doesn't look that tough to me."
Fluttershy surveyed the edge of the patch, picking out one of the isolated flowers. She began to dig lightly at the earth around it, concentrating intently on the job. "You have to be very gentle with plants, so you don't damage the root system. It could kill the entire patch."
Rainbow Dash watched her dig at the ground in a painstakingly slow manner with a look of disbelief on her face. Whereas the process would've been far easier with claws, as Spike had, with hooves it seemed like it would take forever. Rainbow Dash felt she should mention this before Fluttershy got any further. "You know that's gonna take forever, right?"
Fluttershy paused in her work, glancing over her shoulder at her friend with the kindly expression she normally wore while caring for one of her animals. "But it could also take forever to grow back if we harmed it somehow."
The sincerity on her face went straight to Dash's heart. She recalled, less than an hour earlier, being pushed out of harm's way by that same pony; the same timid pony that had forced herself to venture through uncharted woods to save a single rabbit. 'She really is the element of kindness,' Rainbow Dash mused. She'd never met another pony with so much love to give — and whose devotion extended to everything.
She heaved a heavy sigh, although she really wasn't as exasperated as she normally would've been. "Fine." Approaching an isolated flower the cyan pegasus eyed it disdainfully. "This shouldn't be too hard."
Rainbow Dash began to dig at the ground around the flower with her hooves, slowly making a shallow indentation in the earth around it. After a good five minutes she was still digging, and in typical Rainbow Dash fashion she grew agitated. She muttered a few choice words under her breath, increasing the speed of her digging until she was literally kicking up clods of soil.
"This... isn't... supposed to be hard!" Mind completely focused on the task, Rainbow Dash didn't stop and get a good look at what she was doing until she heard soft laughter behind her. Fluttershy had a hoof clamped over her mouth, trying to hide her amusement. Rainbow Dash looked down at her handiwork. Somehow, she'd managed to dig a perfect circle a few inches around the lunawort flower. The flower sat at the center of the circle, swaying slightly in the wind as if mocking her — and still firmly rooted in the ground.
Rainbow Dash coughed, averting her eyes from her friend. "I meant to do that," she lied. "I was trying to make it easier for you."
Fluttershy trotted over to her, beaming. "I know."
She began to dig at the ground closer to the flower. "It's okay, Rainbow Dash. I can gather them on my own."
The cyan pegasus dismissed this idea with a wave of her hoof. "It's faster if I help you. I just need to go a little... " she sighed. "Slower."
After about an hour of work, the two pegasi had managed to safely extract ten flowers, roots and all. They were also both dusty, tired, and their hooves were a bit sore from the effort. After Fluttershy carefully placed the flowers in the empty side of her saddlebag she and Rainbow Dash both headed for the lake, flopping down on the bank.
Rainbow Dash scanned the clear blue sky overhead. By the position of the sun she could tell that Celestia would be lowering it soon. She wanted to be well on their way before that, considering they were looking at a good two hour walk back. "Did you get all the flowers you needed?"
"I think so." Fluttershy sounded uncertain. "I don't think we should disturb any more right now, though. If need be, I can come back, now that we know the way."
"Kinda." Rainbow Dash inspected her dirty hooves. She decided to hold off on washing them off, especially since they'd just get muddy again trudging through the forest. The idea of returning was both aggravating and enticing, all at once. The clearing was quite pretty, and the lake and clear sky above were perfect for developing and practicing some new moves. And save for the bear, the trip there had been fairly uneventful. Years ago she'd have never thought she'd be in the middle of the infamous Everfree Forest, much less strangely enjoying it. "We do still have the map."
The two pegasi rested in silence, listening to the hum of the frogs and the discordant melody coming from the trees ringing the clearing. As usual, Rainbow Dash broke the silence first. "So what's so special about Angel anyway? Is he your favorite or something?"
"I'm not supposed to have favorites. It's not fair to everyone else." Fluttershy mumbled, sounding ashamed. "But... yes. Angel's the first animal that came to stay with me after we left school in Cloudsdale and I came to live in Ponyville."
Her voice took on a faraway quality, as if she were reminiscing. "When I first moved here, it was pretty lonely. I didn't know anyone in town, and you hadn't moved in yet. None of the animals lived here yet, and I hadn't met any of the other ponies," she said. She refrained from stating the obvious, but Rainbow Dash was well aware of how nervous Fluttershy was around... well, everypony, especially ones she didn't know.
"A few weeks later, there was a really big storm."
"That's because I wasn't here to take care of things yet," Rainbow Dash interjected proudly.
"It was terrifying, because I was all alone. I was so glad when morning came." Fluttershy smiled sadly. "When I left my house in the morning, everything was wet, and my garden was ruined. It was awful. And all of the animals were still too frightened to come out of their hiding places. I was on my way to the edge of Everfree to check on a den of mice that lived nearby... and there was a tiny bunny in the grass. He wasn't moving, and he was soaked. I rushed him home and dried him off, and gave him something to eat. Angel was so small then. He was just a baby, and I didn't see any other bunnies when I found him. I don't know what happened to his parents, and he was all alone, too. He needed me, so I let him live here with me. And then I wasn't alone anymore..." She trailed off, staring off into the distance.
Rainbow Dash tried to imagine Fluttershy's cottage standing alone, without the chicken coop and numerous birdhouses, with a lonely pegasus inside. By the time she moved in Fluttershy was well on her way to having an all-out menagerie, and she'd somehow become acquainted with a few of the other inhabitants of Ponyville, as well.
She recalled the day she showed up at her old friend's house, wary of the many birds and other critters hanging around in the lush yard outside, walking right up to the door and pounding, as usual.
"Hey, Fluttershy! You there?"
Fluttershy had taken a few minutes to answer; she probably wasn't used to company, especially company as boisterous as Rainbow Dash. She'd opened the door ever so slightly, just a hint of pink mane and blue eyes that initially looked frightened... until she recognized the pegasus on her doorstep.
"Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here?"
"I live here now. I-"
Before she could explain, Fluttershy had thrown the door open, face lit up brighter than Dash could remember. The shy pegasus threw herself forward, in a haze of yellow and pink, and wrapped her forelegs around Rainbow Dash's neck in an uncommonly tight hug.
"I'm so glad."
A couple of years and many more adventures later, Rainbow Dash resisted the urge to reach over and pat her friend reassuringly. It was very difficult not to. She'd felt like an outcast in flight school until she met Gilda; she couldn't imagine how lonely Fluttershy must've been all that time, especially after she took off. "That must've been hard," she said awkwardly.
"It was." Fluttershy brightened. "But now I'm lucky to have lots of wonderful friends."
Rainbow Dash smiled herself, although she made sure Fluttershy couldn't see it. She rolled over and pointed at the sky, indicating how late it was. "We should probably head back. The sun'll be down soon, and I've got cloud control early tomorrow morning." She was never pleased when work required being up at the first light of dawn, even though she knew she'd be finished almost as quickly as she began.
Fluttershy nodded in agreement. After retrieving her bags with the flowers safely enclosed inside and the clasp pulled as tightly as possible in case they ran into any more trouble on the way home, they took a final look at the clearing behind them. The late afternoon sunlight illuminated the area, casting an otherworldly glow on the patch of lunawort. Rainbow Dash did not want to leave.
Fluttershy must've felt the same way. "We can always come back," she said, gently.
"Yeah." The two mares then slipped through the curtain of leaves and back into the dense foliage of the Everfree Forest.
---------------------------------------
Only a moment of standing in the forest confirmed what the two pegasi had felt before — whatever presence had been corrupting the area was now long gone. In contrast to the oppressive silence they'd initially encountered, this section of the forest was now as lively, if not more than the rest of it. Birds perched in the branches, chirping joyfully, and the bushes rustled with the passing of any number of small creatures, some of which ventured close enough to watch the two ponies passing by. The entire forest was alive with sound; it felt as if its inhabitants were expressing their gratitude in the only way they knew how.
Whereas Rainbow Dash had been the excited one running around the clearing hours ago, it was now Fluttershy that brimmed with energy, greeting each furry head she saw cheerfully and almost bouncing in place with every step. Instead of being grating, her excitement was endearing. With a happy Fluttershy trotting beside her and Everfree bursting with activity around her, the trip back to Ponyville was rather pleasant. At first Dash remained somewhat tense, waiting for danger to rear its ugly head as it had earlier that day. However, after awhile the cyan pegasus relaxed like her companion and took to the air, twisting and turning through the obstacle course with a surprising amount of skill given that her exhaustion was now creeping up on her after a full day of work.
As expected, it took two hours to reach the edge of Everfree, close to Fluttershy's home. The journey back went smoothly and without incident. By the time they reached the bridge night was in full swing; a heavy full moon shone like a dollop of silver amongst a milky sea of stars. Fluttershy looked up at her friend hovering above her head. "Thank you so much, Rainbow Dash."
"Aw, it was nothin'." Dash grinned. "And I'm not the one that ran a bear off just by glaring at it. I told you that was cool, right? Because that was really cool."
"You did," as usual Fluttershy lowered her head, clearly embarrassed by the compliment. She glanced over at her house, still brightly lit the way she'd left it when she ran out that morning. "I need to go check on Angel, so..."
"Yeah, I need to get home too. Tank's probably wondering where I've been all day. And I need to get some sleep, too." Rainbow Dash groaned. "Maybe I can get Ditzy to cover for me tomorrow. Although knowing her, she'll lump 'em all together and it'll take forever to separate them. Like last time."
Fluttershy turned to leave, then suddenly rose into the air and hugged Rainbow Dash once more, tightly. Instead of backing away as she normally would she held on; and instead of telling her to knock it off, as she normally would, Dash returned the gesture wholeheartedly. After a brief moment, Fluttershy lost her nerve and broke away, whispering a quick "Good night" and making off towards her house with her flowers in tow. Rainbow Dash stared after her, feeling rather peculiar. It wasn't a bad feeling; she felt perfectly happy. Warm and fuzzy was more like it.
She shook her head frantically to shake the feeling free. She was approaching sentimental territory, and that was a definite no-no, although she felt happy for Fluttershy, and glad that she would be able to save Angel. It would've been terrible seeing her upset had they not been able to locate the lunawort. Of course, it felt wonderful realizing that Fluttershy clearly cared about her enough to put her own life, and Angel's, on the line to save her. She and her friends had saved each other numerous times, but usually on a grander scale, in the sense of saving Equestria itself instead of risking their lives for each other personally. The moments when they had to fight simply for each other didn't arise as often, but it was always amazing to see how strong she and her friends could be when it came to protecting their loved ones.
Rainbow Dash growled, pounding at her head with her hooves. "You are being a sap. Stop it."
She recalled Fluttershy pushing her out of the way, rigid with determination; standing up to Zecora's light criticism, unafraid of the consequences of her decision, and patiently digging up lunawort blossoms, unwilling to harm even a single one, despite the pain in her hooves. Devotion, determination, and sheer willpower, all in a fragile-looking, easily startled package. She had to admit — even though she'd taken Fluttershy for a weakling before, and of course she wasn't nearly as fast and skilled as Dash herself was, she was pretty awesome in her own right.
"Yeah... awesome," she muttered. The warm and fuzzy feeling intensified, and suddenly Rainbow Dash's eyes shot open, realizing that she had wandered into sentimental territory despite her internal warnings not to. "NO! Stop... being... lame!!"
Like a rocket she shot into the air, rainbow jetstream trailing behind her. She was tired and needed to get some rest before the next day, but perhaps some additional exercise would clear her head. She cared about her friends quite a bit, but dwelling on that fact was most definitely not her style.
Even after pushing herself through a tiring routine and finally arriving home completely worn out, a single thought continued lingering at the back of her mind, and it was hours before she managed to banish it altogether.
"Fluttershy is awesome."
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Papillon Rose
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941
| 5 |
Fluttershy,Main 6,Pinkie Pie,Rainbow Dash,Adventure,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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In The Late Summer Sun
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After a trip to Everfree to cure Angel, Rainbow Dash begins to develop feelings for Fluttershy.
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hiatus
| 77 | 2 |
<p>After Angel falls gravely ill Rainbow Dash agrees to help Fluttershy by embarking on a journey into Everfree in search of a rare herb needed to make medicine for him. The trip pits them against a creature dwelling deep in the forest, and the encounter changes Rainbow Dash's entire view of her gentle, reserved friend. As she spends more time with her following their return from Everfree, she finds her feelings for Fluttershy changing and is forced to deal with something she's never had to face before -- something that could possibly interfere with her dreams. While Rainbow Dash struggles with her first crush (with a little help from her friends), a lonely Pinkie Pie struggles with her resulting feelings of resentment and is drawn into an unhealthy friendship with a strange unicorn living on the outskirts of the forest...</p>
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everyone
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2012-09-04T05:52:41+00:00
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2012-09-04T05:52:41+00:00
| 6,570 |
"So Spike was telling me that a new joke shop just opened up in Canterlot next to Pony Joe's donut shop, and I was like, a joke shop? In Canterlot? You've gotta be joking!"
Rainbow Dash was indeed listening to Pinkie, but she couldn't focus very well on what her talkative friend was saying. Her mind kept wandering of its own accord, like a wayward butterfly. She tried to direct her attention to the chattering pony dancing around Sugarcube Corner in a blur of pink and confetti, but it slipped away just as quickly. Perhaps she was simply tired; the previous day had been devoted to a series of late spring showers that had to be carefully monitored to avoid overwatering crops. That took more out of her than merely kicking clouds.
"But he wasn't joking, so I put in an order for an assorted collection of super duper pranky stuff, and it just came in yesterday! And it was a lot cheaper than I thought it would be, too! I got this whole box for only three bits!"
"Uh-huh." Rainbow Dash cast a weather eye over the box Pinkie Pie was bouncing in place atop. It was an ordinary-looking brown box with faded lettering on the top; she recognized the kind of shimmering ink and postal stamps associated with Canterlot. Granted, the package was a bit dented and appeared to have been dropped a few times, but with mailmares like Ditzy Doo on the job that was to be expected.
"Overall it's a pretty good haul, but some of this stuff is weirrrd. I mean, like really 'We probably shouldn't let some of this stuff fall into the wrong hooves' weird!"
For what seemed like the millionth time that day, Rainbow Dash wondered what Fluttershy was doing. A few days had passed following their excursion in the Everfree Forest, and Dash hadn't seen hide nor hair of her since then. This wasn't odd, as they all had duties and jobs of their own to attend to, and she assumed that Fluttershy would be occupied with caring for Angel for an indeterminate amount of time anyway. Yet, given the terms that they'd parted on, Fluttershy's absence bothered her.
She lifted her wing, tuning out Pinkie Pie, and looked over her shoulder at the wound she'd sustained from her fight with the bear. It itched occasionally, but whatever herbs Fluttershy had lined it with really were magical. It had only taken a day for it to scab over, and from the way it was healing it looked as if the scar wouldn't be as dramatic as she'd initially thought. Dash hoped Fluttershy's expertise would be enough to help her sick charge just as well as she'd attended to her.
"Dashie?" Two sparkling blue eyes and a mass of unruly pink hair appeared directly in front of her face, causing Rainbow Dash to topple over backwards. Pinkie Pie stood over her, looking down with a hint of concern dimming her cheerful smile. "Are you okay? You're kinda not there. Even though you're still here."
"Yeah, I'm fine." Rainbow Dash stood up, folding her wings back once more. "Sorry, I was just thinking about something."
"Ooh, is it a good something or a bad something?" Pinkie punctuated the question with a characteristic bounce. "Or is it a secret something?"
Rainbow Dash briefly considered voicing her concerns to Pinkie Pie, then thought better of it. "It's nothing."
"I thought you said it was something. Nothing isn't something." Pinkie's tone indicated that she didn't believe Dash's explanation for a second. "Are you sure it's nothing? I'm the best secret keeper in Ponyville, remember?"
"Really, it's nothing." Rainbow Dash lied. In an attempt to change the subject, she poked at the box with a hoof. "So what all did you get? Anything good?"
Pinkie tilted her head to the side, regarding her thoughtfully for a minute, then seemingly dismissed the issue altogether. "Oh, I've got some great prank material! Ponyville won't know what hit it!"
The two mares proceeded to dump out the contents of the box on the floor to get a closer look. As per Pinkie's initial assessment some of the items were rather questionable. There was the usual lot of itching powders, whoopee cushions, joy buzzers and cans of fake snakes to be expected of a joke shop. There were also a couple of items Rainbow Dash did not recognize. These included a simple brown book made of a shiny material that seemed familiar although she couldn't put her hoof on it; it was bound with black clasps and made her feel uneasy when she looked at it for too long. Further inspection turned up a strange, colorful mask with a spike-lined, heart shaped face and vivid eyes painted on the front; Pinkie Pie stuck her head into the pile and withdrew it with a large green gem that seemed to sparkle within in her mouth. Rainbow Dash couldn't see how such a thing could function as a joke item, but if it did have some practical use Rarity would be a great target, seeing as the fashionista would've likely considered ponyslaughter to get her hooves on a rock like that.
"Maybe they got your order mixed up with someone else's," she offered, tapping the cover of the book and shuddering. Pinkie dropped the gem and picked up the mask, sliding it over her face.
"This looks like one of the masks Zecora has!" She exclaimed. "We can have a costume party!"
As Pinkie Pie launched into planning out a costume party (from the sound of it a costume party was simply one of her regular everyday parties with an additional dress code), Rainbow Dash found herself feeling unusually grateful for her hyperactive friend's company. Whereas Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack had their hooves full on a more regular schedule, Dash's weatherpony duties were hardly difficult and tended to be more sporadic. She'd finish her tasks swiftly enough to have lots of free time for training, lazing about, and social interaction; whereas her other friends were busy a good deal of the time Pinkie Pie was always up for the latter.
Having witnessed Ponyville's premiere party pony in action while at work, Rainbow Dash had to wonder how the Cakes dealt with having such a wayward employee. Pinkie regularly ate half of what she needed to be selling to customers and threw parties at the drop of a hat, and yet they rarely reprimanded her and even allowed her to live above the bakery. Dash assumed that she'd just been absorbed into the family like a high-strung adopted filly with a bottomless pit for a stomach. She wasn't sure she would've been able to take actually living with Pinkie Pie, but she was great fun to be around. When they weren't pranking Ponyville's unsuspecting inhabitants they passed the time scarfing through Pinkie's appropriated supply of baked goods while Rainbow Dash regaled her with tales of the nightlife and party scene in Cloudsdale; Pinkie Pie seemingly never grew tired of these stories.
The earth pony in question interrupted her thoughts, abruptly ripping off the mask and throwing it across the room. "I knew it!" She cried. "I knew I recognized that mask! I thought I'd destroyed it last time!"
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "Should I even ask?"
Pinkie Pie ignored her, continuing to hold a one-sided conversation with herself. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, sighing with exasperation. 'Pinkie Pie... you are so random.'
The tinkling of a bell announced the arrival of a potential customer; a familiar purple unicorn entered the bakery, levitating a small shopping basket at her side. "Hi girls!" Twilight Sparkle called cheerfully upon seeing two of her friends.
"Hey Twilight." Rainbow Dash greeted her; Pinkie Pie didn't acknowledge Twilight's entrance, still engrossed with whatever crisis she'd happened upon.
"But then we'll have to visit Cloudsdale and break into the weather factory, and I haven't patched the balloon yet!" Pinkie waved her hooves in the air in frustration. "It's hopeless!"
Twilight glanced from Rainbow Dash to Pinkie Pie, and then back to Rainbow Dash. "Uh..." A slight shake of Dash's head warned her against questioning further. "Okay, I'll just take that as a hello, I guess."
Sensing the chance to discuss the issue with somepony a little saner, Rainbow Dash withdrew from the pile of joke items and moved closer to Twilight, nudging her off to the side.
"Twilight, have you seen Fluttershy around lately?"
Twilight thought for a minute, stroking her chin. "Maybe? Sorry Rainbow Dash, I've been so busy making checklists for the Summer Sun Celebration that I haven't seen much of anypony lately."
"Isn't the Summer Sun celebration two months away?"
"Yes it is," Twilight announced proudly, "And you can never start planning too early!"
Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to respond, and for once thought better of it. Fortunately Pinkie Pie snapped out of her reverie before Dash could change her mind. "Oh, Twilight!" She literally leapt across the room, stopping just short of tackling Twilight. "I haven't seen you in forever!"
"Pinkie, you just saw me yesterday," Twilight said dryly.
"That's pretty close to forever." Pinkie Pie's eyes lit up as the proverbial lightbulb went off over her head. "We should have a 'Welcome Back, Twilight!' party!"
"But I haven't gone anywhere," Twilight insisted. Rainbow Dash resisted the urge to laugh at how flustered she looked. After nearly two years of living in Ponyville she would've expected the town's resident librarian to adjust to Pinkie's antics. "And anyway, I've got to get back to the library as soon as possible. Spike isn't feeling well today."
"He's sick too?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, incredulous. Granted, it probably had nothing to do with Angel's mysterious illness, but it was an interesting coincidence...
"Well," Twilight hesitated. "Not really. He's just molting, and he refuses to leave the house because Rarity might see him in 'such a disgraceful state.' His words, not mine."
"Dragons molt too?" Rainbow Dash grimaced. "That sucks."
"It's only once in awhile, instead of every year. And unlike you guys," she indicated Rainbow Dash's wings, "It only takes a day or two instead of shedding feathers over a longer period of time."
She turned her attention back to Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie, could you make some more of those muffins Spike likes so much?"
Pinkie Pie paled, letting out an exaggerated gasp. "Y-you mean... those?"
Twilight nodded. "Yes. I figured they'd help the little guy feel better. You do remember how to make them, right?"
"Yes. I do. I remember," Pinkie Pie said grimly. She glanced back at the kitchen as if it were a desolate battlefield, then walked away with the air of a scarred soldier cantering off to war. "I think we all remember."
Neither Rainbow Dash nor Twilight had suffered through the 'baked bads' incident, but they'd witnessed the aftermath. Rainbow Dash pantomimed gagging; Twilight merely shrugged. "I'm not sure why he can eat them without succumbing to food poisoning as well. I suppose dragons have a severely different constitution than we do, even at such a young age," she mused.
"He eats gems, Twilight. Duh." Rainbow Dash deadpanned.
The bell tinkled again, cutting off Twilight's response. Both ponies turned to see Fluttershy peeking into the bakery over the bottom half of the door. Her mane, while retaining its gentle curl, appeared to be slightly disheveled, and there were small bags beneath her blue eyes indicating that she hadn't been sleeping well. "Um..."
"Hi there, Fluttershy, we were just talking about you," Twilight hailed the newcomer, pleased to see so many of her friends at once. "Did you need to put in an order? I think Pinkie Pie went out to get the ingredients for Spike's muffins but I can go get her if you want."
"Oh, no, that's fine," Fluttershy said quietly. She kept her eyes trained on the ground, as if afraid to make eye contact with anypony. "I was just wondering if I could borrow your book a little longer... if that's okay with you?"
"Supernaturals? Of course!" Twilight smiled. "I've got an entire section on natural remedies now, if you need any more. There's a particularly informative one recently released by a herbalist from Manehattan. It's got the craziest home remedy for hay fever."
"That's okay, I think the one I have is fine." Fluttershy cut the enthusiastic librarian off before she could get started, bowing her head in gratitude. "Thank you so much, Twilight."
Rainbow Dash watched her walk away, not quite sure why she'd let her leave without saying anything. On one hoof, she was incredibly glad to see Fluttershy after their adventure earlier that week, but she would've expected her to look a little happier, having gotten the ingredients needed for Angel's medicine.
A terrible thought occurred to her: perhaps the lunawort hadn't been effective.
"Hey Twilight, I just remembered I gotta do something. Tell Pinkie I said I'd catch her later, okay?" With those parting words the cyan pegasus flew off after Fluttershy at top speed, leaving Twilight staring after her in wonder.
--------------------------------------------------------
Of course Fluttershy hadn't gotten very far on hoof, and Rainbow Dash came close to bowling her over... and several other ponies that just happened to be in the way.
"Hey! Fluttershy!" She shouted as she crash landed right in front of the startled pegasus, pointedly ignoring the couple of disapproving stares her arrival earned her. Fluttershy's eyes widened in shock; for a brief moment she looked as if she were about to fall over, but she managed to steady herself.
"Oh... hi, Rainbow Dash."
"What's up?" Rainbow Dash asked eagerly. Normally she might've attempted to conduct herself with a more nonchalance but the elation she felt over seeing her friend for the first time in days went straight to her head. "Did the lunawort work? Is Angel better?"
"Um... " The tone of Fluttershy's voice indicated that she didn't have good news for her, slightly diminishing Dash's excitement. "A little."
"Just a little?" Rainbow Dash almost yelled in disbelief. "You got plenty of those flowers. They should've been able to cure him, right? Maybe the recipe's wrong."
"Actually, it's only the roots that are used to make the medicine." Fluttershy sighed, dejected. "I used all I had to make the batch I've been giving him, but it doesn't seem to be working that well. He's not getting worse, but he isn't really improving, either." She hung her head, sounding close to tears. "I guess I didn't make it strong enough. I'd need a lot more to fix a batch that would actually be effective."
"So we gotta go back to Everfree and get some more of those flowers then." Rainbow Dash shrugged. "You saved the map, didn't you? You took care of that crazy bear last time, so we shouldn't have any trouble getting there."
Fluttershy gasped and lifted her head. Her eyes were shining, although whether from joy or unshed tears Rainbow Dash couldn't tell. "You mean you don't mind?"
"Of course I don't. I already said I didn't mind going back if you needed to. What, you think I'd leave you hanging?" Rainbow Dash joked, feigning offense.
"No," Fluttershy said hurriedly, "It's just I thought you'd be busy and I didn't want to bother you-"
"Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash reached over and tapped her friend on the head (lightly for her, although Fluttershy flinched). "Stop freaking out. You could've just asked me, you know."
Fluttershy didn't need to respond; the expression of sheer happiness she wore said it all. Seeing it made Rainbow Dash feel lighter than she had all day; it was if the fog weighing her down had completely dissipated.
After years of leading other Ponyville's other pegasi in weather management, Rainbow Dash was used to giving orders, and after a moment of pondering she laid the plan out for Fluttershy as if they were embarking on a mission. "Okay. We need to gather as many of those flowers as possible tomorrow, so we're gonna need to set out early. I'll bring Tank with me to keep Angel company, too. Fluttershy?"
The pale yellow pegasus snapped to attention. "Bring something with you to make digging easier if you can. In fact, maybe... "
The idea of bringing their friends along entered Dash's mind, then disappeared almost immediately as she envisioned Pinkie Pie rolling in the flowers laughing, Applejack trampling them, and Twilight attempting to remove one with her magic and somehow uprooting the entire patch. She didn't even bother considering Rarity, who would've fainted dead away at the prospect of manually digging up lunawort with her manicured hooves. "Never mind. Just bring something so we don't have to spend all day on a single one. And bring some more of those muffins. And the map, 'cause we're gonna need it."
Fluttershy nodded in agreement, making a mental note of everything her friend listed. "Is there anything else?"
Rainbow Dash rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "I think that's about it. I'd tell you to bring the awesome, but that's my job."
The two pegasi finalized their plans to meet up at Fluttershy's house early the next morning, and after another tearful round of 'thank yous' Fluttershy left to attend to her other charges. Rainbow Dash sat on her haunches as Ponyville bustled around her, watching her leave for the second time that day. This time there was no lingering anxiety, only a sense of accomplishment, much like she felt when she managed to pull off a particularly well-executed stunt.
It felt good to make other ponies happy. Especially when they were as expressive with their gratitude as Fluttershy.
----------------------------------------------------
The next morning dawned clear and bright; the first rays of Celestia's sun warmed Rainbow Dash's mane, awakening her from a peaceful sleep without a trace of the bad humor waking up at a reasonable hour generally left her in. She stretched, taking care not to knock Tank out of the bed as she usually did, and all but floated to her bathroom to prepare for the day. Instead of bleary eyes and a scowl, a perfectly content face greeted her upon looking in the mirror. She even found herself humming as she went through the motions of showering, contemplating combing her mane and snorting at the very thought, and fitting Tank with his propeller and goggles.
While doing so she felt compelled to hug the tortoise, who watched her with his usual adoration. He'd only been living with her for a couple of months, but Rainbow Dash could truthfully say she loved Tank already. It was wonderful to have someone to talk to all the time, even when the world below was slumbering.
"You don't get to get sick," she informed him; Tank nodded, slowly.
After retrieving her empty saddlebag, reasoning that they could collect and carry more of the flowers if she shouldered a load as well, she left the house with Tank buzzing behind. Twilight's contraption couldn't keep up with her top speed, but it did allow Tank to follow along pretty rapidly.
"I'm gonna need you to try to get along with Angel today," Rainbow Dash called behind her, looking over her shoulder at her airborne tortoise. "Think you can do that for me?" Tank didn't respond, but Rainbow Dash knew the answer would be yes.
As she streaked through the sky, gracing Ponyville with its first rainbow of the day, it became apparent to her that they'd left much earlier than they needed to. That fact didn't slow Rainbow Dash down any, and within a few minutes she'd reached the edge of Fluttershy's property. She settled on a soft, pillowy cloud nearby and stretched out to wait for the appearance of her traveling companion. Tank landed nearby, creeping up beside her and pulling in his legs, leaving only his head visible outside his shell. It wasn't long before Fluttershy burst through her front door, obviously frazzled as she attempted to make sure her other animals would be alright without her guidance for the day. Chicken feed spilled from the bucket she carried while nearly tripping over a bag of vegetables hanging around her neck. Instead of alerting Fluttershy to her arrival, Rainbow Dash chose to take in the scene of chaos unfolding below her. It was all pretty comical.
Shaken from their usual routine by the early administration of food some of the animals had taken to eating already, leading to Fluttershy struggling to wave them away. "Now now, that's for later," she fussed, taking to the air to keep from trodding on the group of chipmunks, squirrels, and young rabbits following her every move. "I'm sorry, everyone, but I won't be here to give you lunch today."
After about fifteen minutes of herding small animals about she managed to reign some of the madness in, as well as convince most of them to hold off on eating their lunch for a little while. She headed back into her house, presumably to grab her supplies; after a few minutes she returned laden with supplies and looking hopeful. It was then that Rainbow Dash chose to reveal herself, leaping from her resting place and landing on the ground in front of her. Fluttershy seemed to be adjusting to her friend's entrances; the sudden arrival only resulted in an "Eep" instead of her dropping everything as she normally did. Tank followed suit, landing beside Rainbow Dash.
Fluttershy leaned down to nuzzle the tortoise affectionately. "Has Rainbow Dash been taking good care of you?"
"Of course I have." Rainbow Dash lightly tapped the tortoise's shell with a hoof. "I do everything with this little guy. Even if he is a little slow." Tank craned his head up, gracing his owner with one of his contented smiles, and Rainbow Dash patted his head lovingly. Fluttershy looked on, clearly pleased at how well her former charge and his new owner were bonding.
"You ready to go?"
"Just a minute." Fluttershy turned to face her host of creatures, who were watching her with a myriad bright, questioning eyes. "I want everyone to be on their best behavior today." She singled out a trio of chipmunks standing in a row, looking up at her intently. "Simon, Alvin, and Theodore, I don't want to hear about any rough housing while I'm away. Lola, please keep an eye on them for me." A pale brown bunny twitched her nose in affirmation. A beautiful hummingbird hovered over her head, and Fluttershy smiled up at it. "Hummingway and Tank, I have a very important job for you. He's still sleeping and he shouldn't wake up until after I get back, but if he wakes up before the I left medicine and carrot soup next to the bed. Try to get him to eat. " Hummingway landed on her head, chirping his response, and then flew back through an open window to begin his shift. Tank followed, his propeller kicking into gear and carrying him along after Hummingway.
"Okay," Fluttershy said, looking back at Rainbow Dash. "Now I'm ready."
They assumed their general traveling positions, Rainbow Dash flying either directly above or beside her, and Fluttershy firmly planted on the ground with her wings tucked in, and set off for Everfree. The sense of urgency driving the two pegasi before had vanished, and instead of a dangerous mission this time the trip felt much more light-hearted, as if they were merely going for a long walk. Rainbow Dash relayed news from Cloudsdale, including a Pinkie Pie-esque, fanpony rant about a Wonderbolt performance that she'd missed while Fluttershy listened patiently, occasionally interjecting a comment or two. She shook her head in sympathy when Rainbow Dash told her about her missed chance to see her idols in action.
Even the march through Everfree was easier and more enjoyable. This time some of the small animals skittering about in the undergrowth actually stopped to peek out at them. One brave squirrel approached the path, inching towards Fluttershy before losing its nerve and dashing back up the tree it had come from. Fluttershy took this in stride, stating that at least they were getting used to her.
The feeling of elation had not faded, and as Rainbow Dash slipped in and out of the openings created by intertwined branches, thick creepers and misshapen tree trunks she did so with more speed and precision than ever. Whatever the cause of her high spirits was, it was a good thing. The fresh air and the light warmth hinting at the approach of summer must've gotten ahold of her, she thought. Now she understood how the birds felt, literally dancing in the spring breeze.
After awhile, following Zecora's map without divergence, they reached the silent woods where the bear had attacked them. As before, the area no longer felt tainted, and was just as lively as the rest of the forest around it. Fluttershy actually rose into the air beside Rainbow Dash, clearly ecstatic. "Isn't it wonderful?" she said happily. "This place was so dead before. Now it's alive again."
Recalling the fight made Rainbow Dash uncomfortable. There were some details that were too fuzzy to remember, but one stuck out first and foremost. Why didn't she remember what it felt like to be staring death in the face? She had no memory of being seized by fear for her own life, and the thought that she must've laid down and prepared for death without putting up a fight disgusted her. But was that really what happened? Whatever the case, it really did seem like the bear was gone, and that was a relief.
False sense of security or not, the two ponies felt much safer traveling through the section of forest this time, and before long they stepped (and flew) through the ring of trees surrounding the clearing and were greeted with the lovely smell of innumerable lunawort blossoms. This time Rainbow Dash refrained from pitching herself into the lake, deciding to save that for after she'd spent a couple of hours digging up flowers.
Fluttershy shrugged her saddlebag off, nosing one side open and withdrawing a small silver trowel. Rainbow Dash knew next to nothing about gardening; the only turf she was heavily familiar with was the pliable softness of clouds beneath her hooves, and thus she didn't recognize the tool. "What the hay is that?"
Fluttershy skillfully seized the handle between clenched teeth and lowered her head, burying the blade in the soil. She then pulled back, lifting a scoopful of soil and leaving a small hole in the ground. It wasn't very large, but it was a much easier way of digging holes than scratching at the earth for hours on end. She dropped the trowel, nudging it towards Rainbow Dash. "We can't use it to dig up the flowers directly, but we can dig around them more easily so it doesn't take as long to pull them out."
Rainbow Dash eyed the gardening tool skeptically for a moment before reaching down to retrieve it. To her surprise, and minor irritation, she had trouble biting down on the handle. The trowel slipped from her grasp and fell back to the ground, mocking her. The cyan pegasus growled, leaning down to attempt grabbing the trowel once more, with the same result. "Hold still!" she commanded it, finally managing to get a good hold on the handle.
"YES!!" Rainbow Dash shouted triumphantly, pumping her hoof in the air...
...and dropping the trowel she'd worked so hard to pick up. "No!" The wicked gardening tool lay before her innocously. Yep, it was definitely mocking her.
Fluttershy laughed; a light, gentle sound. "It's okay, Rainbow Dash. I can dig around the flowers as close as I can get, and then you can finish digging them up. If you don't mind."
"An assembly line? I can get with that." Rainbow Dash shoved the trowel in Fluttershy's direction. "You do this part."
For the next couple of hours the two pegasi worked side by side. Fluttershy, having mastered the use of the trowel through her own gardening endeavors, dug deeply enough around the flowers at the edge of the lunawort patch that it was easy for Rainbow Dash to extract them. It took a few tries of accidentally separating the plants from their roots to get used to wiggling them free gently instead of yanking the flowers from the ground, but after awhile the cyan pegasus got the hang of it. When they finally finished working sometime after midday, they'd managed to gather enough flowers to fill both of their bags. Fluttershy was overjoyed.
"With this many I should be able to make a stronger version of Angel's medicine." She hovered above the lunawort patch, staring up at the cloudless blue sky with the wind ruffling her mane and tail. "I can't thank you enough, Rainbow Dash."
The cyan pegasus in question stared blankly at sight of her friend floating in the breeze much like one of the butterflies depicted on her flank, finding it impossible to look away. She hadn't paid much attention at the time, but it was clear why Photo Finish had taken Fluttershy under her wing.
As if unwilling to take the line of thought any further, Rainbow Dash bolted for the lake and dove into the water. She held herself beneath the surface for a moment, utterly confused by her reaction, and severely irritated by it. She couldn't understand why she felt weird over acknowledging the fact that Fluttershy was... pretty? Rarity was attractive; that was a universally accepted truth among the group, and Rainbow Dash knew it. There was nothing wrong with noticing that.
She ran out of air and was forced to surface, where Fluttershy was waiting for her on the bank, looking concerned. "Is everything okay?"
"Yep." Rainbow Dash shook her head, shoving her frustration aside. "I'm good."
The rest of their day passed uneventfully. They rested for awhile in the soft grass beside the lake and made use of the food Fluttershy had brought with her (fruit salad, blueberry muffins, and a couple of barley and alfalfa scones that Rainbow Dash practically devoured). She was too stuffed afterwards to get some aquatic exercise in the way she'd intended, and simply fell asleep with a satisfied smile on her face while Fluttershy puttered around in the clearing, refilling the holes they'd created. By the time she finished, and Rainbow Dash woke up, it was late afternoon once again; after cleaning up the two pegasi left the clearing.
"That was nice," Fluttershy remarked. This time they reached her house just before the moon rose, and stood on the bridge in the twilight observing the early evening sky before returning to the cottage. Once inside, Fluttershy set about unloading the lunawort, layering them in a basket she found nearby. Tank slumbered on the rug, completely withdrawn into his shell, and Hummingway dozed lightly on a stray perch.
"I guess everything is fine," Fluttershy remarked. "They look awfully tired, though. I hope Angel didn't give them too much trouble."
"Did you get enough this time?" Rainbow Dash asked, somewhat impatiently. The foreign anticipation fluttering in the pit of her stomach was bothering her; she attempted to ignore it, flying over to where Tank slept and gathering him into her forelegs to carry home.
Fluttershy looked over the basket of flowers taken from Rainbow Dash's saddlebags, and those she'd collected. She took tilted her head so that her silky pink mane fell over her face, leaving only her eyes visible. "...maybe. I think so."
Rainbow Dash tossed her mane proudly. "Well, if you don't and we need to go back, I got ya covered."
"Um... are you sure?" Fluttershy asked hesitantly, taking a step back. "I don't want to-"
"Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash grinned. "I'm sure."
As before, Fluttershy darted forward and gave her a quick hug before flushing crimson, then rushing upstairs to check on Angel. Rainbow Dash hovered in place for a few minutes after the pale yellow pegasus withdrew; even after excusing herself and heading home with Tank in tow she was unable to shake her preoccupation. The thought from before tickled her brain; it would not stick long enough for her to fully dwell on it, but it joined another thought that had been lurking beneath the surface.
'Fluttershy is pretty.'
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A couple of days passed with no further word from Fluttershy, and even though she remained busy with weather duty, an impromptu party thrown by Pinkie Pie in celebration of some randomly cooked up event that Rainbow Dash couldn't recall, caring for Tank, and assisting Applejack with watering a couple of fields recently sown with summer crops through a localized cloudburst she remained preoccupied as before, wondering how the pale yellow pegasus was doing in her efforts to care for Angel. This was unsettling, as she really wasn't used to spending this much time thinking about any other pony save herself.
After half a week she found herself wandering towards Fluttershy's house, pretending that she was merely heading in that direction for some reason that had absolutely nothing to do with its owner, and nearly collided into Fluttershy coming from the opposite direction, also clearly distracted by something.
They stared at each other for a moment before Rainbow Dash broke the silence. "How's Angel?" she asked, formalities aside. She was fully aware of how swiftly her heart was beating, as she awaited Fluttershy's answer. It felt as if she'd just flown a race, thumping against her ribcage strongly enough that it was a surprise that Fluttershy couldn't hear it.
Fluttershy looked down at her hooves. "He's a lot better now." She met Rainbow Dash's gaze, smiling shyly. "I had to make a couple of batches before I found an amount that works, though. It used up a lot of the roots we collected last time, though."
Rainbow Dash's heart skipped a beat, and she felt herself smiling in return.
The question, and the consequent answer, went without saying.
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A pattern developed over the next few weeks.
At least once a week, sometimes twice, Rainbow Dash and Tank arrived at Fluttershy's house early in the morning, whenever the day was guaranteed to be clear. Fluttershy bid her animals goodbye and left Tank and Hummingway with instructions to watch over Angel, and the two pegasi went to the clearing to gather lunawort.
Even Fluttershy's residual reservations regarding Everfree, at least in regards to the part they traversed, melted away after awhile. A few of the small animals that lived in the forest became comfortable with approaching her. Only a few, two rabbits and a raccoon, came close enough to converse with her, but she was overjoyed to have even a few new friends.
They'd made a larger dent than Fluttershy liked on their second trip to the clearing in Everfree, and on the subsequent visits she only gathered just enough for a single batch of medicine to avoid harming the flower patch irreparably. This freed up Rainbow Dash to pursue her own interests: improving her swimming ability, practicing in the open air above the clearing, developing a few new tricks incorporating the use of the lake, and generally lazing about in the sun as summer set in. It was still unclear as to whether the Wonderbolts would actually be present at the upcoming Summer Sun celebration, but she needed to be ready just in case.
Whether occupied with something constructive or not, she found she was content just to be there with her old friend. Fluttershy was incredibly fun to be around; she wondered how she'd never realized it. The pale yellow pegasus was terribly reserved and she moved at a far slower pace than Rainbow Dash did, but at some point it had ceased to matter. They talked, more than ever, about their lives prior to Ponyville, their friends, and occasionally strayed into personal territory. Those gentle eyes allayed any fears Rainbow Dash had of losing face, and she found herself telling Fluttershy things she'd kept to herself for such a long time that it felt strange hearing the words spoken aloud. It was clear to those that knew her that she got stage fright when actually faced with the prospect of performing in front of massive crowds, but for once she actually admitted it openly, unloading her reservations and fear that one day she'd freeze up mid-stunt, possibly in front of the Wonderbolts themselves.
"It's scary being watched by everypony," Fluttershy told her, probably recalling her own stint as a celebrity. "I don't blame you for being nervous. It doesn't mean anything is wrong with you. But you're the best flier I've ever seen, Rainbow Dash. You're the fastest pony in both Ponyville and Cloudsdale, maybe all of Equestria." Fluttershy sounded perfectly sincere, instead of emptily complimenting her. "You shouldn't worry so much."
The irony of Fluttershy telling anypony not to worry was not lost on Rainbow Dash, but she appreciated the advice. She was surprised at how self-assured her friend sounded recently, but even more at how much Fluttershy's words comforted her.
It was almost too embarrassing to do so, but she eventually admitted that she missed Gilda rather badly, having been very close to her prior to parting when she came to live in Ponyville. Although Fluttershy's experience with the griffon wasn't exactly pleasant, she nodded understandingly.
"M-maybe one day you two can patch things up with each other... and she can come visit Ponyville again." Fluttershy's smile was shaky, yet appeared to be genuine as she spoke. "She's probably very nice when you get to know her."
"Yeah." Rainbow Dash watched her in awe. How anypony could forgive so readily eluded her.
"Fluttershy is kind."
From time to time the focus fell on Fluttershy herself, who took a little longer to become comfortable with opening up. Rainbow Dash wanted to know why she'd never spent much time developing her flight skills. She could fly well enough to travel to Cloudsdale (although she did need to stop and rest on the way), but her endurance, flexibility and speed were severely lacking in comparison to Rainbow Dash's, which was to be expected, but still.
Finally Fluttershy told her, her voice nearly inaudible. "I'm not good at flying. I never was, and the other ponies teased me so badly that I was afraid to try. And after I got my cutie mark, it didn't really matter so much. I knew my place was here."
Rainbow Dash bristled. "Those jerks. I knew I should've beaten 'em up when I had the chance."
"It's okay. I have my life down here, taking care of all my friends, so... "
"You still need to work on your skills, Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash insisted. "You've got potential! Not as much as I do, but with a little practice you can be almost as good as I am." She thought about that for a second, then amended her statement. "Okay, you need a lot of practice, since I've been doing this for way longer than you have. But I can help you if you want."
Fluttershy considered this for a moment, then sighed in resignation. "Alright."
Rainbow Dash reached over and ran a hoof over her mane. "Don't worry, I won't push you TOO hard. You'll probably be sore for awhile, but it'll wear off. Eventually."
Fluttershy gulped.
When she wasn't talking to Fluttershy or sleeping on the bank, Rainbow Dash spent a good bit of time stretching her wings. The fresh air and unfamiliar clouds of Everfree made perfect training grounds, as the Everfree clouds were quite different from those manufactured by her hometown. They weren't as substantial, and when she perched on them it felt like she was seated on nothing. They were also harder to destroy, for some reason; simply dashing through the center of one or bucking it wasn't nearly as effective as it would've been on one of the ones she was used to dealing with. It took trapping one in the center of a miniature twister and choking the life from it to disperse the clump of condensation.
The lake below was even more intriguing. She found that she could create natural rainbows by propelling herself in a perfect circle at top speed in just above the surface with one of her hooves lightly touching it. The sunlight filtering through the resulting spray produced a rainbow haze that shimmered for a brief moment before fading. It wasn't as impressive as a rainboom, but the effect was certainly very pretty. Fluttershy seemed to like it.
They usually left before the sun slipped below the horizon, enjoying the symphony of crickets, frogs, and other creatures greeting the approaching night as they walked through Everfree, although on one occasion both pegasi drifted off to sleep after a delicious lunch provided by Fluttershy; the pale yellow pegasus lightly snoring with her legs folded beneath her, and Rainbow Dash flat on her back with her limbs splayed in all directions, occasionally kicking in her sleep. The latter awoke an hour or two later to Fluttershy gently but urgently nudging her with a hoof.
"Rainbow Dash!" The cyan pegasus rolled over, yawning.
"What?" she asked blearily, then realized that Celestia's sun had vanished. Luna's moon was in place, casting a silver glow over the clearing. A handful of lazy fireflies imitated the stars above. Neither she nor Fluttershy had the magical intuition of a unicorn, but it was very clear that something magical was taking place. Leaving her side, Fluttershy carefully approached the lunawort patch, pale coat illuminated by the moonlight. The fact that night had fallen over Everfree didn't seem to be bothering her, at least not yet, and the overall ethereal effect made Rainbow Dash wonder if she was still dreaming.
She rose to her hooves, aware of every blade of grass beneath them, every feather lining her wings; there were no cynical observations to be made as she found couldn't speak. Even if she could've, she had no idea what to say. She followed Fluttershy to the edge of the patch and stood at her side, looking out over the sea of blue reverently. It was apparent, now more than ever, why the flowers were named for the younger princess. The scene unfolding before them felt less like a natural occurence and more like a rite in her name.
One by one at first, and then all at once, the lunawort flowers began to unfurl their tightly closed petals, displaying deep golden stigmas and the lighter blue interior of the blossoms. Fluttershy inhaled; Rainbow Dash glanced over at her, surprised to see how close she seemed to be to tears. When Fluttershy tore her gaze away from the blooming lunawort and looked up at her, her eyes were gleaming, and a single tear coursed its way down her cheek. "I've never seen anything this beautiful," she whispered.
Rainbow Dash picked her brain for a response. It was very hard to do so; it was even harder to pay attention to anything besides Fluttershy standing before her, with the light breeze ruffling her mane. There appeared to be a lump in her throat, and swallowing did nothing to clear it. The flowers were beautiful, but unlike Fluttershy Dash couldn't say that they were the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. Fluttershy looked at her expectantly, and finally Rainbow Dash gave up, echoing her sentiments. "Y-yeah. Beautiful."
It was very late before they reached the cottage. Neither pegasus had spoken since they left the clearing save for Rainbow Dash asking whether Tank could spend the night with Fluttershy. They were each lost in their own thoughts, and somehow unable to look each other in the eye. Upon reaching the bridge, Fluttershy turned to face Rainbow Dash. It was clear she wanted to say something, but whatever it was remained buried for the time being. "Good night," she said softly, refraining from her usual hug.
Rainbow Dash waited until she'd entered her house, and then turned on her hooves, trotting towards Ponyville. Her mind was absolutely blank. She wasn't sure where she was heading; she doubted anypony else was awake in town. As she walked, her hoofsteps grew faster and faster, until she broke into a canter, and then began to gallop. Her wings flared out of their own accord, and Rainbow Dash shot into the sky. Her jetstream trailed behind her as she gained more and more altitude. The glowing eye of the moon gazed down at her, drawing her in; she sped towards it in an impossibly straight line.
A familiar sensation spread throughout her body. The air closed in around her, a thick, inpenetrable wall against her hooves. Her speed began to decrease as the air sought to deny her passage. Her heart, which had faltered innummerable times when meeting this resistance, sped alongside her, driving the cyan pegasus forward.
She recalled the sweet smell of flowers, soft, scratchy grass against her hooves, and a pale yellow pegasus with a pink mane standing in the moonlight, looking at her with lovely cerulean eyes.
Rainbow Dash didn't realize what was happening until the pressure melted away; she heard a loud RIP as she burst through the sound barrier, breaking into a sonic rainboom that sent waves of rainbow colored moonlight rippling throughout the night sky.
She spiralled into a barrel roll and gradually slowed to a halt, wings flapping intermittently, just enough to keep her airborne. All around her, stars twinkled, several tearing themselves from the velvet cloak spread above Equestria and trailing thin streams of light behind them as they descended.
Her coat was slick with perspiration, her mane was damp... and she felt amazing.
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Rainbow Dash, for all her bursts of frustration and hatred of immobility, was usually pretty content. She doubted any of the residents of Ponyville weren't happy most of the time. However, there was a noticeable difference between simple complacency and what she felt now. Even when she wasn't at Everfree, she felt ecstatic; it gave her such a kick of energy that her performance rate with weather duty and her training sessions almost doubled. She bucked clouds into nonexistence and pounded rainclouds with her hooves and shot through the sky above Ponyville, occasionally inadvertently breaking into a rainboom, usually on the way home from a visit to Everfree.
Maybe it was the beautiful weather, or whatever magical energy that sustained the lunawort seeping into her, or Fluttershy's cooking or a million other reasons why she felt the way she did all the time. Maybe there wasn't any reason at all.
She was simply content to bask in how wonderful it felt to be alive.
|
Papillon Rose
|
941
| 6 |
Fluttershy,Main 6,Pinkie Pie,Rainbow Dash,Adventure,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
In The Late Summer Sun
|
After a trip to Everfree to cure Angel, Rainbow Dash begins to develop feelings for Fluttershy.
|
hiatus
| 77 | 2 |
<p>After Angel falls gravely ill Rainbow Dash agrees to help Fluttershy by embarking on a journey into Everfree in search of a rare herb needed to make medicine for him. The trip pits them against a creature dwelling deep in the forest, and the encounter changes Rainbow Dash's entire view of her gentle, reserved friend. As she spends more time with her following their return from Everfree, she finds her feelings for Fluttershy changing and is forced to deal with something she's never had to face before -- something that could possibly interfere with her dreams. While Rainbow Dash struggles with her first crush (with a little help from her friends), a lonely Pinkie Pie struggles with her resulting feelings of resentment and is drawn into an unhealthy friendship with a strange unicorn living on the outskirts of the forest...</p>
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everyone
|
2012-12-28T08:14:28+00:00
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2012-12-28T08:14:56+00:00
| 1,492 |
Every morning, Pinkie Pie greeted the day with a smile. This day was no different.
Brilliant blue eyes fluttered open, briefly squeezing shut as she yawned, while pink hooves pushed aside her quilt and a pile of super fluffy pillows.
"Morning, Gummy!" Pinkie greeted the alligator stretched out at the foot of her bed. Gummy craned his head at an unnatural angle; Pinkie could see herself reflected in his large purple eyes as she swept him up for a great big gator hug. "Oh Gummy, today is going to be great! Well, every day is great, but today will be double great! First I need to cover the counter for Mrs. Cake since she's feeling under the weather...wait a minute, can you be over the weather?"
She leapt out of bed with a literal spring in her step, bouncing across her bedroom to the open window and sweeping the shutters open to poke her head out.
"Good morning Ponyville!" she cried at the slowly thickening crowd of ponies also beginning their day below. Her outburst received a couple of smiles and waves in return; seeing them further brightened Pinkie Pie's already bright day.
As she cavorted through her bedroom like a hyperactive filly half her age, preparing for the day, Pinkie couldn't help but notice how colorful the world around her was. Despite the essentially colorless world of her origin, Pinkie Pie saw the world not in simple primary colors, but an entire spectrum: pale golden balloons, silver and cerulean confetti, deep lavender alligator eyes, her own carnation-hued mane that poofed out in all directions. Or maybe it was bubblegum. Or tea roses, like the ones Fluttershy grew in her garden. Perhaps it was a color the world didn't have a name for yet, and it was all up to her to come up with one.
Dropping the load of streamers and party supplies she was carrying, Pinkie Pie flopped over on her back, kicked her legs in the air and embraced the element she represented, wrapping her forelegs around her midsection and laughing at how wonderful it felt to be surrounded by vivid colors and wonderful friends.
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"You seem more excited than usual, dear," Mrs. Cake remarked. She sat off to the side of the storefront, firmly installed in a comfortable armchair Pinkie and Mr. Cake had picked up at Quills and Sofas. While she was only a few months into her pregnancy, Mrs. Cake was already beginning to feel the effects of having not one, but two foals developing in her already relatively plump tummy, and occasionally Pinkie Pie covered for her while Mrs. Cake rested and observed. Adhering to the other symptoms of her condition, Mrs. Cake also occasionally proceeded to make a light snack of the freshly baked goods being laid out for sale.
"I am!" Pinkie giggled, as she put the finishing touches on a fresh batch of strawberry banana cupcakes. Her frosting job wasn't as impeccable as her incapacitated employer's, but Pinkie's skills still far outshone those of other ponies. "Taste test!"
She tossed one cupcake into the air and nabbed it as it fell, swallowing the baked good in a single gulp. "Those are delicious!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, licking her lips. She held one out to Mrs. Cake, who held up a hoof in protest. She started to chide Pinkie for once again eating what they needed to be selling, but her growling stomach halted her in her tracks.
"Well...I guess one won't hurt," Cup said sheepishly, accepting the cupcake and inhaling it almost as quickly as Pinkie had inhaled hers. Pinkie only smiled as she reached for another immediately.
"Today my favoritest friend out of all my favorite friends is coming over, and we're going to spend the whole day talking and laughing and eating yummy snacks and it's gonna be so much fun!" Pinkie bounced in place with every word, somehow managing to not send the cupcakes flying in all directions. Noting the accident waiting to happen, Mrs. Cake reached over and gently took the tray from Pinkie, setting it on the countertop out of harm's way.
"That certainly sounds like fun," she said with a knowing smile. Her right hoof drifted close to the baked goods, hesitantly. Pinkie noticed her discomfort, and nodded in affirmation; she grinned as her employer's eyes lit up.
"I'm sorry, Pinkie," Cup sounded embarrassed as she helped herself to the remaining cupcakes. "These two have quite the sweet tooth, it seems."
"Aw, that's okay, Mrs. Cake!" Pinkie chirped. "I can always make more."
Mrs. Cake's eyes widened at the implication.
Shortly afterwards the first few customers of the day arrived, and the bakery steadily filled up over the next few hours while Pinkie Pie darted back and forth between the kitchen to retrieve Mr. Cake's handiwork and the counter. Mrs. Cake watched her with admiration, amidst humbly accepting congratulations for her impending arrivals. At times Pinkie was nothing more than a pink blur, and yet she still managed to provide service with her characteristically bright smile. At one point Pinkie found a few minutes to catch her breath, and Mrs. Cake, struggling to rise to her hooves, waved her over.
"Are you sure you don't need to take a break, dear?" She asked; Pinkie shook her head vigorously.
"Don't you worry your little head, Mrs. Cake! I've got everything covered."
"But aren't you getting tired?" Cup gave up and settled back into her chair with a sigh.
"Oh, of course not! I never get tired when I'm helping bring a smile to somepony's face!" True to her word, Pinkie never faltered for the next couple of hours, long after Mrs. Cake retired for a nap (after polishing off a few more pastries). As the lunchtime rush died down, Mr. Cake left the kitchen to relieve her, hanging his baker's cap on a peg on the wall.
"We really appreciate this, Pinkie," Carrot's voice shook with gratitude and exhaustion; between turning out an entire day's worth of baked goods and simultaneously fretting over his wife he looked as if he were ready for a nap himself. "Do you mind picking up a morning shift later this week? Cup's tiring out more easily these days."
"No problem, Mr. C!" Pinkie saluted. She literally danced in place, hugging herself with her forelegs. "Oh, I can't wait to hear the pitter patter of itsy bitsy hooves running around. Have you thought of any names yet?"
"Well..." Mr. Cake scratched his head. "Preferably something that goes well with 'Cake', of course."
"Ooh! Like Strawberry? Oh no, wait. Chocolate Cake? Coconut Cream Cake? Vanilla Bean Cake?" Mr. Cake watched (with a fondness that his wife admitted to aloud more readily, but he felt it all the same) his wayward employee wander off, still rattling off suggestions to herself.
-----------------------------------------------------
Pinkie's next task was to prepare for the arrival of Rainbow Dash; she threw herself into the job so energetically that anyone simply watching her would have grown tired. Pinkie couldn't help it. She was so excited that her legs felt like springs, of a springier than usual quality. It was a joy that went beyond her normal demeanor, one that only the possibility of spending time with Rainbow Dash ignited in her.
She paused for a brief moment, standing in the middle of her room and looking up at the colorful balloons and streamers hanging above her head. She wasn't decorating for an actual party, but she treated these get-togethers like a party anyway, one for two. Dash never complained, laying into the snacks Pinkie provided enthusiastically and treating the decorations like they were the norm. Pinkie closed her eyes, standing perfectly still, and listened to her heartbeat. At times like this it deviated from its ordinary rhythm, thrumming in her little pink chest so swiftly that she imagined her heart was dancing.
"Gummy! Gummy!" Pinkie whispered loudly; the alligator in question opened one purple eye lazily in response. "I feel like my heart is dancing."
She decided to take Gummy's blank stare as encouragement.
After close to an hour of preparation, Pinkie Pie stood back and gazed upon her handiwork proudly. Her newly cleaned and decorated room gleamed, two batches of chocolate cupcakes topped with rainbow sprinkles sat waiting to be devoured, and her recently acquired box of prank material sat on a rug, filled to the brim with opportunity.
"All done!" Pinkie chirped, patting herself on the back. "And just in time. Rainbow Dash should be here any minute!" She settled down next to the box, watching the window for signs of her friend's arrival. Using the front door was not Rainbow Dash's style.
True to form, several minutes later Rainbow Dash darted in through the open window, alighting on Pinkie's bedroom floor. "Hey there, Pinkie Pie!"
Pinkie's usual greeting was a full body hug that generally sent both ponies tumbling, and today was no exception. Rainbow Dash visibly braced herself for impact, but that didn't prevent her from being thrown to the floor as Pinkie slammed into her with a squeal of glee.
"Rainbow Dash!" She exclaimed, wrapping her forelegs around her friend's neck and embracing her tightly. Pinkie's heartbeat had once again risen to fever pitch in her little pink chest; the vibrant mane pressed against her face smelled only lightly of perspiration, and the body lying limp beneath hers was ever so warm. Rainbow Dash didn't return the hug, but she allowed Pinkie to slightly restrict her air supply for a good minute before gently pushing Pinkie away, although she was smiling as she did so.
"I take it you're glad to see me," She joked, rising from the bedroom floor and brushing herself off.
"Yes!" Pinkie bounced in a circle around the pegasus, chattering the entire time. "Oh Dashie, today's going to be so much fun! I made cupcakes and punchy punch and I made my room all super sparkly..."
Rainbow Dash looked up at the ceiling, noticing the abundance of streamers and balloons. She raised a cautious eyebrow. "Is all of this just for this afternoon?"
Pinkie stopped bouncing for a brief moment. "Of course! Even if it's a two pony party it's still a party! Although every day is a party when your bestest best friends are with you!" Her tone shifted to a less cheerful one, and she looked away before continuing. She felt a bit guilty for bringing up the glaring alteration in their schedule of spending time with each other, but the feelings refused to remain bottled up any longer. "Especially since you've been so busy lately. Me and Gummy have had to undertake the sweet pranking of Ponyville as a duo, instead of a trio. Or a duo and a half since he can't really do much besides providing moral support."
Rainbow Dash sighed, staring at the floor. "Yeah...sorry about that. I've been working on something."
Pinkie's ears detected the uncertainty in her voice. The manner in which Rainbow Dash said the word 'something' was suspicious, and it smacked of secrets. She took a step closer, grinning knowingly. "What kind of something? Is it another secret something you're gonna call a nothing?"
Rainbow Dash was clearly taken aback, and her mouth hung open for a second or two before she managed to recover. "Um...sorta?" she said with a nervous chuckle. In a obvious attempt to change the subject, she pushed past Pinkie Pie, eying the chocolate cupcakes. "Hey! Cupcakes! I haven't eaten all day, so..."
The moment wasn't lost on Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash was terrible at hiding things, and this was no exception, but in the spirit of indulging in her wonderful day Pinkie decided to let it rest momentarily. There was still plenty of time to figure out what the 'something' bothering Rainbow Dash could be. "Well then eat up, because there's more where that came from!" she giggled. Dash needed no further invitation, proceeding to lay into the treats with an enthusiasm that rivaled Pinkie Pie's.
Time flies when you're having fun, and Pinkie was having a blast. The afternoon marched forward in a blur, as did her time with Rainbow Dash. After finishing off the cupcakes and punch, the pair dug through the box of prank material, discussing various uses for the newer items and potential targets; this gave way to a couple of hours of simply gossiping, with Rainbow Dash sprawled on the rug beside Pinkie's bed and Pinkie perched atop it, gazing down at her with a loving expression that Rainbow Dash likely failed to notice. As the afternoon sun streamed through her open window, bathing the room in its light and warming the two lounging ponies, Pinkie began to feel lightheaded. Not sick lightheaded; she knew what that felt like from the cold she'd slogged through a few months back. This was something different, something lovely. Her forehooves tingled in the most distracting manner. It wasn't her Pinkie Sense, as far as she could tell. She had to catch herself, at one point, as she realized just how close she was to reaching down and running a hoof over Rainbow Dash's mane.
As Pinkie struggled to keep her hooves to herself, Rainbow Dash was venting her concerns involving the upcoming festival later that summer. "So I've got less than two months to come up with some new moves and perfect my routine. They've already seen a rainboom, although another one can't hurt. But this time I need to really wow them." She punctuated the statement by pounding a determined hoof against the floor. "Especially after the worst night ever."
"Or the best night ever," Pinkie piped up. She agreed with the statement for the most part, but it really hadn't ended too badly. "Maybe the best worst night ever?"
Rainbow Dash considered this for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Let's go with that. At least I've been getting plenty of exercise out in the f...the farm."
"The farm?" Pinkie's brow furrowed for a moment; had Rainbow Dash meant to say something else? "Oh, have you been working those calves by kicking trees with Applejack?"
"Y-yeah. Something like that." There it was again, that uncertainty. Not to mention, Dash's behavior was suspicious as well. Every time she caught herself, she unconsciously ran a hoof through her mane, scratching her head nervously. It was a subtle quirk, but noticing things about other ponies was a skill that made Pinkie so good at making others happy.
"Dashie?"
At one point, Rainbow Dash would've flinched at the decidedly uncool nickname; now she merely looked up at Pinkie questioningly. Pinkie Pie took a deep breath, mentally prepping herself for what might be a serious conversation. "Are you okay?"
Rainbow Dash kept her eyes trained on the floor, responding with a quick (and completely insincere), "I'm fine."
"Are you really okay?" Pinkie insisted, pushing herself closer to the edge of her bed so she could get a better look at the pegasus lying below her. "Really really?"
"Um..." Rainbow Dash was scratching at her mane again. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just worried about the Summer Sun Celebration."
"Are you sure?" Pinkie was leaning so far off the bed now that she knew she was in danger of falling off of it and landing right on top of Rainbow Dash, but she wasn't entirely opposed to that outcome. Dash, however, had reached her limit, and when she looked up at Pinkie her lovely pink eyes were narrowed.
"Pinkie, stop asking me if I'm fine. I said I'm fine and I mean it," She snapped. "Don't worry about it."
Pinkie recoiled, hurt. She scooted further away so Rainbow Dash couldn't see her expression. After a good minute or so she felt a hoof on her shoulder, and glanced up into those same eyes; instead of angry, they merely looked guilty.
"Sorry, Pinkie," Rainbow Dash said; she both graciously accepted and returned, in a halting manner, the hug that Pinkie seized her in in response to the apology. "I've been letting all the stress get to me. I didn't mean to yell at you. I know you're just trying to be a good friend."
Pinkie held on tight; her Pinkie Sense was throwing all kinds of signals she didn't even recognize, her heart racing a mile a minute, probably faster than Rainbow Dash when she sent waves of rainbow colored light rippling through the sky. When she finally broke the hug, she could still feel the skin beneath her luminous coat tingling. "It's okay," she heard herself saying, in a whisper. She examined her hooves ruefully. Even she could tell that Rainbow Dash wasn't being completely honest, but for once she felt it would be best not to push the issue any further. Besides, she didn't trust herself to keep talking. Her mouth wanted to say things that she wasn't sure she should say.
The tension broken, the pair fell into a comfortable silence, lost in their own thoughts for the moment. Pinkie's mind was fixated on the observation she'd made earlier, and she finally voiced it, in an offhanded, irreverent manner. "Hey Rainbow Dash? Do you ever feel like your heart is dancing? Like there's an entire party going on in your chest?"
"Pinkie, you're being random again."
"No, really!" Pinkie sat up and leapt onto the floor, grabbing one of Dash's hooves and holding it against her chest. "See?"
Rainbow Dash just looked confused. "Um..."
"Normally my heartbeat sounds like 'thump thump, thump thump'," Pinkie tried to explain, "But then sometimes it goes crazy and it's all 'thump thump thump thump thump' like a party that lasts all night. Like one of those parties."
Dash chuckled at that. "You mean a good one?"
Pinkie nodded vigorously, releasing her friend's hoof and flopping over on her back with her own hooves pressed against her chest. "The best kind of party."
"Hm..." Rainbow Dash seemed to be taking the question seriously, staring up at the ceiling while she stroked her chin. "Oh, I've got it! Have I ever told you what it feels like when I do a rainboom?"
Pinkie bolted upright. "I'm all ears!"
"Well...it's like this." Rainbow Dash trotted over to the window, gazing out at the late afternoon sky. "It's hard to explain if you're not a pegasus, but when I'm in the air, with the sun warming my wings and the clouds at my heels, it feels like...like I'm alive. Like I can hear every heartbeat, the wind whistling in my ears..."
Pinkie Pie leaned closer, enthralled. She was not used to Rainbow Dash waxing poetic, as Rarity could. Her wings had flared out of their own accord, waving softly. The sunlight illuminated her form, highlighting the spectrum of colors composing her mane and tail. Of all the words she could think of to describe the image, the most accurate was beautiful. That wasn't all, of course, but in that moment she could think of nothing else.
"And then when I'm launching into a rainboom," Dash continued, completely unaware of the internal battle keeping her friend standing stock still, "It all gets louder and louder, and my heart's beating so fast it's like it's trying to punch a hole in my chest. I can feel the sky closing in around me, the air trying to keep me out, and just as I can't take it anymore..."
Pinkie closed her eyes, envisioning the sight: waves of color rippling across the sky, in the wake of a toned blue body being held aloft with powerful wings. Her little legs trembled, and she quickly sat on haunches, no longer trusting them to keep her standing.
"Rainboom," She whispered, her eyes wide and her own heartbeat out of control once more. Rainbow Dash glanced back at her, her wild mane sweeping to the side and her face alight.
"Yep," Dash said with a wink, and Pinkie melted like a chocolate chip, sighing inwardly. She rolled over on her side, giggling madly.
Of all the forms of happiness she'd encountered in her life, being in love was most certainly one of the best.
|
AtrocityEquine
|
942
| 1 |
Dark
|
Wicker: Story of a Haunting
|
There's something in this house..
|
cancelled
| -1 | -1 |
<p>Inspired by the hauntings in the US and the Infamous story of 'Canitas'(Straws) by Carlos Trejo.<br /><br />(If anybody HAS heard of Canitas and sees some similarities, let me know and I'll change the story up.)<br /><br />~*~<br /><br />Three years ago, Rainbow Dash and her friends moved in together in an old house on the Street of Wicker in Ponyville. What followed was a series of events that are unexplainable to everypony in Equestria, leaving Rainbow Dash to tell the story to a reporter earth pony named Lights, wanting her to tell of what happened in that house. <br /><br />What did happen in the house?What is watching them from inside..?</p>
|
everyone
| null |
2011-10-14T02:40:38+00:00
| 97 |
Wicker: Story of a Haunting.
by Anti Cosmic Wolf-Pony of Darkness.
~*~
The following story is inspired by hauntings in the US and inspired by the events of the book 'Cañitas'(Straws in Spanish) by Carlos Trejo.
For any My Little Pony fan,don't take this story too seriously.It's a fan fiction and shouldn't be taken so seriously.
~*~
All houses are haunted. All persons are haunted. Throngs of spirits follow us everywhere. We are never alone.
- Barney Sarecky
~*~
The young black mare entered the pegasus's home in the skies of Ponyville.She recieved a very cryptic letter from her, leaving her very interested of it's meaning.As she entered,she didn't see anybody around.
"Ms.Rainbow Dash?",she cried out.
She then heard a soft whisper,"Over here..".She turned to see Rainbow Dash, looking like she hadn't slept in a long while, staring at the window,looking down at Ponyville."I'm glad you made it Light.",she said,not looking back.
Light sat down on the chair infront of Dash as she turned towards her, her rainbow hair now a dull color, her mane all lightish blue and her wings slowly stretching.She looked at Lights with her light dark magenta eyes.
"I see you did come for my story,did you?"she asked.
Lights nodded.Lights was a reporter for the Canterlot Newspaper, and had been wanting to find a hit story to release.When she had recieved the letter of Rainbow Dash, It was only a short message saying:
"I have a story to tell.The truth to be told.Wicker.."
- Rainbow Dash.
At first,she didn't seem interested, thinking it was another stupid fraud of a story like last time with the case of so called 'Another Amityhoof' haunting' or a 'Canterlot east castle haunting'.But the word 'Wicker' caught her attention.She remembered hearing it before.It sounded familar...
Lights's very thoughts where stopped by Dash's voice interupting them.'Hello?Ms.Lights?"she asked.Lights looked up at her, shaking her head."Sorry,I was thinking..",she said.Dash nodded and looked at her hoofs."It's okay.You did come to hear the story right?".Lights nodded and said,"Yes,I did.I'm wondering...was Wicker ever some phenomenon around Equestria?".
Dash's smile slowly disappeared and tilted her head slowly."You don't remember Ms.Lights?The story of Wicker?".Lights shook her head.Rainbow Dash sighed and put a right hoove on her left one,looking out the window."It was only three years ago..'Satanic House' they called it...I was the only one to ever talk about it to this day...and remember that horrible tragedy..".
When Rainbow Dash said 'Satanic House',it all ran back to Lights and her eyes widen and looked at Dash."..Y-you...you were the one of the occupance of Wicker house in Ponyville!",she exclaimed.She nodded and looked at her, her eyes full of angish and sadness."It's a horrible story to remember..",she looked away,wiping a small tear from her eyes.Lights put a hoove on Rainbow Dash's arm, sighing softly."You don't need to tell me Rainbow if it pains you.."
Dash nodded for no and looked up,her eyes all red from the the tears."I need you to know this tale..please..everypony needs to know..",she whispered.Lights looked down slowly for two minutes or so before looking up again, nodding.Dash nodded back and motioned her to sit back down.As she sat back down,Dash began to speak.
"It's been three years since the events at the House of Wicker.I lost every single one of my friends to a series of events that layed conntected to that home of evil..I should have known something was wrong..but...I guess it was just planned for all of us...This is what happened..".
And thus,she began the tale of Wicker.
|
AtrocityEquine
|
942
| 2 |
Dark
|
Wicker: Story of a Haunting
|
There's something in this house..
|
cancelled
| -1 | -1 |
<p>Inspired by the hauntings in the US and the Infamous story of 'Canitas'(Straws) by Carlos Trejo.<br /><br />(If anybody HAS heard of Canitas and sees some similarities, let me know and I'll change the story up.)<br /><br />~*~<br /><br />Three years ago, Rainbow Dash and her friends moved in together in an old house on the Street of Wicker in Ponyville. What followed was a series of events that are unexplainable to everypony in Equestria, leaving Rainbow Dash to tell the story to a reporter earth pony named Lights, wanting her to tell of what happened in that house. <br /><br />What did happen in the house?What is watching them from inside..?</p>
|
everyone
| null |
2011-10-15T03:31:14+00:00
| 79 |
Chapter I - It Begins.
"It happened three years ago..it started with an idea about moving in together.At first, we thought it wouldn't be possible as none of us had enough money to afford a house.Mostly because half of the houses in Ponyville were occupied.But..as if some sort of 'stroke of luck' as you may call it, we found a house..."
Three Years Earlier.
Rainbow Dash had finished putting her stuff in her bedroom. She still didn't believe that she now lived in a two-story house-tree with her best friends.It was perfect house to begin with: Three floors, four bathroom, six bedrooms.It was amazing, yet it was strange the place was only sold for a small amount of money.Why did a house of two floors and such elegant stature be sold so cheap?
Her thoughts were interupted by a voice,the voice of Twilight Sparkle.
"Oh hey Rainbow Dash!"
Dashie turned around to see Twilight,all with smiles,outside of her door,she smiled too and walked towards her,finished with her work.
"Hey,Twi.What's up?"
"Oh nothing,finished putting everything in the room.I still can't believe we have this house.",she said,looking around in awe,looking down the hall as it lead to the other two rooms and a window at the end of it.Rainbow Dash nodded,
"Yeah.I'd expect it to cost ALOT more."
The two ponies left the room and went downstairs,Pinkie Pie was making cupcakes in the kitchen,Fluttershy was putting items in their place in the living room and Rarity was putting new curtains up. Dash looked around,she noticed that Spike and Applejack weren't around."Hey,where's Applejack and Spike?",she asked.
"Oh deary,they're helping out to get more of our belongings out of our homes into this one.",said Rarity, using her horn to put the lavish curtain up.
Dash nodded and looked at Fluttershy.She noticed that Fluttershy looked from side to side, and then shook her head.Rainbow Dash tilted her head and walked up to her.
"What's wrong Fluttershy?",she asked.
She looked at Dashie and shook her head."It's nothing..just...thought I heard something.."
Dash raised an eyebrow.Heard something?
~*~
A week had passed after moving into the Wicker House. Everypony was inside, sleeping soundly, the wind from outside echoed through the trees, the house itself was silent however.Fluttershy was sleeping durably, with Angel next to her. As she slept, a voice echoed in her ear, leading her to wake up.She looked from side to side, thinking it was either her friends pranking her.
"Girls..is that you?",she called out in her quiet tone.
There was an eerie silence for about three minutes before the voice was heard again.This time, It was very vivid.
"No.."
Fluttershy jumped and curled up more in her bed,making Angel wake up, give his grumpy look at Fluttershy before curling back up and drifiting to sleep.Poor Fluttershy trembled and called out again.
"Pinkie Pie,is that you?",she said, thinking it was her friend doing her usual pranks.
Before she could get an answer, she heard the floor creak next to her. As she turned, she could clearly see, a white Earth Pony, it's mane all dull and almost ebony, covering half of her face, it's eyes deep blue and bloodshot. Fluttershy screamed in horror and shock,waking Angel up again. Her friends ran into the room and turned on the lights, running to her.Rainbow Dash was the first one to trot quickly and calm her down.
"Whoa whoa!Calm down Fluttershy,it's just me and the others!What's wrong!?".
Fluttershy calmed down slowly before crying on Dashie's chest."I-i saw something..i-it was staring a-at me..".Rarity looked at her with abashed. "Who was deary?What could you have possibly seen?",she asked, concerned.Fluttershy sniffed and looked at her, "I-it was a pony..she was staring at me right there..", she said, pointing at the spot she saw the figure.Twilight put her hoof on Fluttershy's and looked at her. "Fluttershy, nothing was there.You probably imagined it, After all, the dark can do that."
The scared pegasus looked down at her hooves,along with Twilight's hoof before looking up and nodding. "I guess you're right Twilight..". Rainbow Dash petted her friend's head and said, "Come on Fluttershy, you can sleep with me if you want". Fluttershy nodded and smiled, "Thanks..", she got up as Rainbow took her to her room, with Angel following. Twilight turned off the light of Fluttershy's room before going to join the others for bed.
After that, Fluttershy didn't see or hear anything after that.
....for now at least.
|
AtrocityEquine
|
942
| 3 |
Dark
|
Wicker: Story of a Haunting
|
There's something in this house..
|
cancelled
| -1 | -1 |
<p>Inspired by the hauntings in the US and the Infamous story of 'Canitas'(Straws) by Carlos Trejo.<br /><br />(If anybody HAS heard of Canitas and sees some similarities, let me know and I'll change the story up.)<br /><br />~*~<br /><br />Three years ago, Rainbow Dash and her friends moved in together in an old house on the Street of Wicker in Ponyville. What followed was a series of events that are unexplainable to everypony in Equestria, leaving Rainbow Dash to tell the story to a reporter earth pony named Lights, wanting her to tell of what happened in that house. <br /><br />What did happen in the house?What is watching them from inside..?</p>
|
everyone
| null |
2011-10-20T05:14:03+00:00
| 80 |
Chapter II: A Presence.
It was a strange expirence what happened to Fluttershy.We didn't know what to think that night.Fluttershy couldn't sleep till probably 4 am, she kept going on and on how she saw the 'white pony'. I felt like just putting it behind my back and just move on for tonight, I figured she was imagining things.I mean, we did just move in after all.But..something happened the next day..with Twilight..
~*~
Twilight scanned her books and levitated her feather pen on her scrolls as she continued reading through her books. She felt bad for rejecting her friends's offer to go out for lunch, but she had to finish her studies and send her report on friendship to Princess Celestia. She poundered more into it as she finished on the 4th book. She sighed and put it down,putting the scroll and book in their place. She walked out of her room, stretching her body, before hearing a soft 'click' sound,making her ears perk up.
"Guys,Is that you?",she yelled out, walking through the hall, before turning her head to the right, seeing the door to the sole room of the third floor opened. Twilight grumbled and used her horn to close it again. "This is the 5th time this week.."
The 3rd floor door had kept opening since they moved into the house. It wasn't really anything special about it, it bassicly was just a single room with just a chair there.Nobody took it as their own, as it was very cold up there,nobody knew why, as the windows were always shut.
Twilight trotted downstairs of the house to the living room,walking to kitchen to make some tea. As she used her horn to make the soothing drink, she began to hear something, it was really hard to understand, it was very vague. The unicorn turned her head and looked, horn still glowing.
"Hello?Spike is that you?", she asked, but she knew that wasn't Spike, as he went to do some work at Canterlot for Princess Luna. She slowly shrugged it off, thinking she was probably imagining things after so much studying. She finished making her tea and walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. As she began to drink the hot liquid, she slowly began to drift. Twilight yawned and put her cup on the table before fading into her thoughts..
~*~
She woke up finding herself in her bedroom, the smell of fire and smoke filling her lungs. She coughed and got up, the floor was engulfed by the flames, burning everything. She didn't see her friends or her baby dragon. Infact..she didn't see the furniture her fashionista friend placed in the house. All she saw was strange pentagrams and spray canned undescribable writing all over the walls. She rushed downstairs, only to see the fires running throughout the house. The smoke entered her lungs once more, making it harder to breathe.She couldn't escape, everything was blocked on the bottom floor.The entrance was blocked by a fallen piece of the 2nd floor as was the back door also. She ran to the bay window and felt her body crash onto the glass before slamming onto the pavement of the street. The shards stabbing her sides made her cringe in pain. She looked up to see the house engulfed in flames, seeing a figure staring at her from the window..
~*~
"Twilight..Twilight..TWILIGHT!"
Twilight woke up with a jolt,looking to see her friends staring at her with concern.It was Applejack who was calling her name. She stroked the unicorn's mane with a firm look. "Twi, you alright?You were jumping and coughing like a crazy. Ah, along with the others were getting worried..",she said.
Twilight shook her head, the dream felt so real..the house on fire, the symbols..that figure..She looked up at Applejack and gave a forced smile. "It was just a bad dream.It's nothing to worry about."
Pinkie tilted her head. 'It must have been ONE messed up one!",she said,giving her goofy smile. The group chuckled,Twilight getting up and stretching. "How was lunch?",she asked.As the girls talked among themselves, Pinkie Pie, however, trotted upstairs, wanting to just simply check on Gummy. As she walked into the hall to her room, she noticed the 3rd room door open yet again. Her eyes furrowed and walked towards it,tilting her head.
"Why is this door always open?",she asked, before closing it shut. As she walked into her room, it opened quietly and slowly..
~*~
Lights looked at Rainbow with a off look. "She never told you bout this dream?",she asked.Dash nodded her head for no. "She ended up telling it to us a week later. She told us it wasn't serious when it happened that day...that was until..",she sighed. "Until it became more noticeable that there was something in that house.."
Dash looked down dismally and began again.
|
Big-Mac-115
|
943
| 1 |
Big Macintosh,Braeburn,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Main 6,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Soarin,Spike,Spitfire,Trixie,Crossover,Adventure,Dark,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore
|
Halo: Fall of Equestria
|
The final frontier of the Human-Covenant war brings chaos where no man, or pony, thought it could go
|
incomplete
| 38 | 3 |
<p>The year is 2756, roughly 200 years following the human victory against the Covenant Empire in the Great Interstellar War. We know for a fact that the Covenant, while they were massively corrupted, they were NOT by any means crushed altogether. Over the past two centuries, our UNSC Navy fleet has been assigning unmanned scout craft to and around the homeworlds of the major species of the Covenant Empire, and - while they appear to be living individually for the majority - new intelligence and scans of major systems still in "Covenant controlled" space suggest an ominous and inescapable truth: the alien menace has managed to regroup covertly, and they have massed a fleet FAR larger than anything our galaxy has ever seen before. We would assume that their most likely motive is vengeance, however other pieces of intel suggest that their intended target is not in fact Earth - or any of her colonies within UNSC controlled regions of space - but another, far more distant planet, lying on the outstretches of the Milky Way galaxy. Although their intentions are otherwise unknown, we cannot take any chances and allow the Covenant to advance to this new planet. A medium fleet of UNSC warships has been assigned a scout - and if all goes well - interception mission of this new planet, hopefully cutting off the Covenant in time to stop whatever plan they may have.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-10-15T20:37:36+00:00
|
2011-10-15T20:37:36+00:00
| 5,470 |
Staff Sgt. William H. McLendon
March 19th, 2756
1307 hours
Outer reaches of the Prometheus-Five system, aboard UNSC Halcyon-Class cruiser "Hellhound", en route to "New Arcadia".
>>//Journal entry #1//<<
Well, since we're going to be arriving at our destination later today, I figured I might as well jot down my first journal entry. I am Staff Sargent William Howard McLendon, ten-year veteran of the United Nations Space Command Marine Core and squad commander of the 407th Orbital Drop Shock Trooper (ODST) scout division..... Not much of an intro, but you get the idea (I've never been good at intros). Anyway, according to the ship's captain, Rear Admiral Mikel A. Barrat, we're gonna be dropping out of slipspace sometime within the next couple hours. And God, am I glad to hear it. We've been stuck aboard this hulk of metal that the Core calls Hellhound for almost four weeks straight in slipspace, nothing to see, nothing to do, so you can imagine me and the rest of the crew's reaction to the news that we'll be able to actually see something other than the pitch-blackness of slipstream space. 'Course, regular space isn't much better, but it sure as hell beats the nothingness of.... Well, NOTHING.
If all goes well, we're supposed to be dropping out within a few-hundred thousand kilometers of this new planet that the UNSC calls New Arcadia. ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence) tells us we're just gonna be doing some research and reconnaissance of the place, seeing if it's inhabitable for life and able to sustain future colonies, samples of the soil, see what kind of life that may or may not live there, the general stuff like that. I call bullshit on that. They said that the details of the mission are classified, and when the spooks say "classified", everyone knows they mean "you're going to be hot-dropped into a battle zone with limited ammunition and reinforcements, because we're too much of a buncha pricks to give you the proper weaponry and equipment you need, in fear that we might ruin the surprise". I swear, they do this just to screw with us. Obviously that's not true - they're ridiculous, but they're not stupid enough to send a fleet of ships far outside the reaches of UNSC space just for a damn good laugh - but I can't help getting that feeling sometimes. I'm sure there's SOME sort of threat to take care of, probably just a group of Insurrectionists that tried to find a new place to live, and they want us to kill them. Typical. Whatever though, I don't mind that kind of work, so why am I complaining? 'Sides, hunting down the Innie bastards is better than just coming here for research or whatever it was that we're supposed to be doing.
As long as it's taken this tin can to travel to the planet, I must say she's a beauty. Although not quite as new as some of the other ships in the UNSC's Navy - but what'd you expect, they ain't gonna give some ragged scout fleet a set of brand spanking new Halcyon-Class VII cruisers - she's DEFINITELY got what it takes to handle herself, not only in a gunfight, but we've got enough new technology on here to do just about anything this job might require. It's one of the few upsides of the whole human-Covenant war of the late 2500s: apparently, based on research I've done and things I've learned, our technology then was even SHITTIER than it is now, and I figured that a hard thing to imagine. So, after we defeated the Covies, we salvaged technology from their ships, weapons, armor, ect. and adapted it to our own liking (I should say 'they', rather, because I sure as heck wasn't there). But anyway, thanks to their brilliant minds, they actually managed to not just replicate, but IMPROVE the Covie tech, upgrading it from "Wow, this is some pretty neat stuff here" to "Holy shit! I wouldn't want to fight that!". So, of course, yours truly is once again the strongest force in the galaxy. I say that with pride, because I'm sure there's a ton of other races out there in the universe that are fighting just for survival, and how many of them can say they're the best? Not many.
Well, while I'm ranting about our ship's tech and how it came to be, I should probably mention the rest of the fleet. We're traveling in a five-ship fleet composed entirely of Halcyon-Class IV light cruisers, a bit overkill if you ask me, even if we are dealing with the Innies (funny how they overstock us on ships and equipment, but understock us on weapons, huh? You'd think there'd be some middle ground, but no). It sure as hell is an excessive amount of firepower for a "scouting" mission, but, you know the Core: deploy a full convoy of M-1200 Main Battle Tanks to swat a fly. Anywho, we're actually making record time, once again thanks to our alien menace friends. A shipboard AI back during the war - her name was Cortana, I think? - managed to hack into some of the Covies' ships, accessing their schematics, memory base, encryption codes, and intell on weapons tech. But the most important thing she discovered was the programming of the ship's slipspace drives, FAR advanced compared to our Shaw-Flamboyant (can't remember the name) slipspace drives. The Covies had long been able to outrun and out maneuver our ships, both in and out of slipspace, but that discovery changed it for the most part. After the discovery, the mechanics and builders of the Shaw-Flaubert engines called themselves stupid and narrow-minded for never thinking of it like that before; apparently, the Covenant drives were not even that much harder to construct than our own, even though they were immensely more powerful and capable. I ain't no engineer, so I can't tell you jack about the details of the whole thing, but I can tell you that whatever the Covies did differently, it sure as hell worked for them (well, more or less... They did get it handed to them in the end). Funny thing is, we would have won that war even if we never got our hands on those schematics. It actually wasn't until about fifty years ago that the technology was successfully duplicated and improved upon to the liking of ONI, so the fact that this ship even HAS one of the new drives in place of a Shaw-Flumblebirth is beyond me.
Well..... Actually, it's not that outlandish now that I think of it. We ARE exploring a distant planet in another system after all, and it would have taken several months to travel to this new planet with one of the old slipspace drives, so I guess it makes sense. The faster the trip is, the less they have to pay us, so I guess the price for getting new engines outweighed the price for a bigger payday for us..... I'm going to have to say ONI can shove it up their asses. (I hope one of them finds this and reads it) Anywho, not only did Cortana manage to get the slipspace schematics, but she also got a look at the Covie weaponry, which we haven't quite mastered to the Covenant's full capability yet, but we're working on it. The ships in this fleet actually have small prototype plasma lasers that aren't quite as powerful as our standard MAC rounds, but they have a damn good effective range. Almost twice that of our MAC guns, in fact. Another thing that ONI says that they're going to be working on - and I don't think I hold them to this; they hardly live up to any promises they make - is the development of heavy shields, similar to the ones that the Covies used to have on their craft. Not that they're all that necessary anymore, the only threat we really have at this point is a handful of scattered Innie colonies, but it's a nice bit of reassurance the next time you may find yourself in an asteroid field for God-knows-whatever reason. The UNSC has done a pretty good job on duplicating the shields on a small scale (our ODST power armor has been outfitted with light shields, similar to those of the legendary SPARTANS), but I guess they just haven't managed to recreated them powerful enough to cover an entire battle cruiser. Which I can't really blame them, these ships are over a mile long. I can hardly imagine the energy and amount of time it would take to design one of those shields to fully cover one of these behemoths.
Hell, while I'm on the topic, I might as well mention our armor. Seventh-Gen ODST Mk XIII Semi-Powered Infiltration armor. BEAUTIFUL stuff (although the designers apparently never thought we'd have to sit down..... Ouch). Full-body light energy shielding, capable of sustaining several hits in succession before collapsing entirely. Derived from the original SPARTAN II Mk V MJOLNIR power armor, it's not QUITE as tough as that, but hey, you can't just go around mass-producing shield technology that costed a hundred and seventeen million dollars a suit (at least, that's what it was back then). Each one of our suits costs around three million, still not cheap, but with a pocketbook as big as ONI's, who cares? And besides, it's less danger we're put in on the battlefield, so it's a win-win (unless you're an enemy of the UNSC, then you can kiss your ass goodbye). Also a reinvention of the SPARTAN armor, the ODST Mk XIII helmet is outfitted with a new-and-improved Heads Up Display (HUD), which now has some neat little features such as tactical maps; thermal, electrical and night-vision modes; improved eye-to-weapon links, increasing the preciseness of the HUD, to allow for greater accuracy; a full-radius activity sensors, capable of picking up not only motion, but thermal and electrical energy as well ; and last but not least (and this feature is reserved mostly for snipers and marksmen), an auto-targeting and leading system for targets at extreme range. From what I understand, the optics in the helmet basically track your enemy's movements if they're running, calculates the range and travel time of the bullet, and tells you where you need to aim in order to make the perfect shot. Pretty cool, but not quite as cool as the features we close-quarters guys get: In our armor itself, we actually get a nifty little overdrive feature that allows us to use the armor's reserve energy in our shields, giving us an exponential increase in damage resistance for a limited time. How long that time is, I have no idea; we've never had a chance to test it first-hand yet (and I don't think I look forward to being in a situation where I might need to use it). But still, a nice feeling of security it brings. Downside is, you can only use it every once in awhile, and after you use it, your shields are completely drained until the system can recharge. The techs said that the recharge time could last anywhere from three to five days, so you better be sure you have a damn good reason to use it. On another note, something that both designated marksman, and regular CQC troopers like me have in common is our armor's onboard computer system that interfaces with our neural implants, making our reflexes faster, our coordination better, and most impressively, we can control and interact with parts of the armor just by thinking of it. Say, for instance, you wanted to open a secure COM link with just one or two members of your squad. You just look at them and think about it, and the COM channel opens, and you can talk to them via secure radio frequency. Or, say you want to mark out a target or designate a location for the rest of the team to see, you simply concentrate on the location on either a map or visual sighting of where you want said marker, and it places a beacon. Pretty neat shit, right? Well that's nothing compared to this: our armor's inner skeletal structure is composed of the same reactive metal crystal as the Mk VI MJOLNIR. Amorphous micro-capillaries of the stuff run throughout the suit, scaling and amplifying force. So basically, it doubles the wearer's strength and potential movement speed. Coolest thing in the galaxy if you ask me, and of course, it came from the SPARTAN project. You know, I really have no idea why the other ODSTs hate the Spartans so much. I mean, for one they don't even exist anymore, and realistically if it we're for Halsey and her Spartans, we wouldn't have most of this technology to begin with, not to mention we would have lost the war!
Damn, captain just announced we're exiting slipspace in thirty. I was just about to talk about our weapons, too. Oh well, gotta get moving to the hangar.
Staff Sgt. McLendon, out..... Time to see what this new planet has in store for us.
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Big-Mac-115
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Big Macintosh,Braeburn,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Main 6,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Soarin,Spike,Spitfire,Trixie,Crossover,Adventure,Dark,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore
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Halo: Fall of Equestria
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The final frontier of the Human-Covenant war brings chaos where no man, or pony, thought it could go
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incomplete
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<p>The year is 2756, roughly 200 years following the human victory against the Covenant Empire in the Great Interstellar War. We know for a fact that the Covenant, while they were massively corrupted, they were NOT by any means crushed altogether. Over the past two centuries, our UNSC Navy fleet has been assigning unmanned scout craft to and around the homeworlds of the major species of the Covenant Empire, and - while they appear to be living individually for the majority - new intelligence and scans of major systems still in "Covenant controlled" space suggest an ominous and inescapable truth: the alien menace has managed to regroup covertly, and they have massed a fleet FAR larger than anything our galaxy has ever seen before. We would assume that their most likely motive is vengeance, however other pieces of intel suggest that their intended target is not in fact Earth - or any of her colonies within UNSC controlled regions of space - but another, far more distant planet, lying on the outstretches of the Milky Way galaxy. Although their intentions are otherwise unknown, we cannot take any chances and allow the Covenant to advance to this new planet. A medium fleet of UNSC warships has been assigned a scout - and if all goes well - interception mission of this new planet, hopefully cutting off the Covenant in time to stop whatever plan they may have.</p>
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2012-04-09T15:59:39+00:00
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2012-04-09T15:59:39+00:00
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War is an abominable thing. It is bloody, vile, oppressing, heinous, and vexing. But worse than war is the idea of defeat. With defeat, comes hopelessness for whomever experiences it, and without hope, comes things far worse than a simple war could ever bring. However, let this be certain; no civilization, large or small, is defeated when lives are lost, when physical possessions are plundered, or the place of one's homeland is destroyed. Defeat, in all it's hideousness, comes only when the morale is oppressed. When hope is lost. When all will to defend and protect is taken. Only then will defeat prevail. And with a reason to fight, be it personal gain or the better will of a whole, anyone can bring hope. Anyone can sustain the moral of their people. Anyone can be a soldier, anyone can defend and protect, and most importantly, anyone can win a war.
And without a reason to fight, defeat has already conquered.
Chapter One: Contact
March 19, 2756
0949 hours
Royal Palace, Canterlot, Equestria
Where is the Princess? Dauntless glanced around her courtroom for what felt like the hundredth time, and flicked a stray lock of dark purple hair out of his eyes. He felt bare, and almost incomplete, without his hemet and armor; normally he would be wearing it, especially when requested in the Princess's presence. But she had called upon him on such short notice this morning, waking him up at about six-thirty in the morning by sending one of her combustive letters into his barracks. She had a knack for doing things like that.
He and his squad of four other royal guards; Stalwart, Sunspot, Specter, and Ruhig Tödlich, had been standing in formation for the last three hours, chins held high and motionless at a crisp attention, and they were growing tired. They had been summoned by Her Majesty, requesting their presence in the matters of discussing a mission she had for them, and though she didn’t disclose exactly what this “mission” entitled, if the order came from Princess Celestia herself, they knew it had to be of the utmost importance. At this point, Dauntless had begun to think it was another one of her little jokes (she had been bestowed the nickname 'Trollestia" for a reason), but he and the rest of the team didn't DARE run the risk of leaving early in case she did in fact show up; it would probably mean demotion at best, the end of their careers at worst.
However, just as he began to think he'd been royally played, he heard the massive door to the courtroom open behind him, followed by heavy hoofsteps. Not daring to turn around and break his saluting stance, he had to assume it was Princess Celestia, and he spoke up on behalf of his troops. "Ma'am, 22nd Royal Security Regiment, reporting as ordered, ma'am!"
A chuckle came from behind them. "At ease, soldiers!" Luna mocked in a deep voice.
Dauntless was slightly startled at her presence, and he and his squad turned around to face her. "Princess Luna! We are here on strict orders to see Princess Celestia. Have you any idea where she is?"
"Oh, you mean you got a letter from her saying that she 'had a mission that she needed you to accomplish, and she needed to see you in her court at once'? THOSE strict orders?" Luna smiled slyly.
".......Yes, ma'am. How did you kn-"
The princess of the night chuckled. "Good, glad to see my hornwriting matched hers enough for you to think it was indeed her."
Actually, Dauntless didn't check the hornwriting; orders were orders, and they weren't to be questioned. He kept this to himself, though. "Your Majesty, with all due respect, you have wasted our valuable time by summoning us here without legitimate reason. Have you an actual request of us, or are we simply here for your amusement?" He said this last sentence with a biting tone; he didn't like the fact that he lost the last three hours just standing here doing nothing.
She smirked. "A bit of both, actually..... What? Is there a problem with wanting to spend some time with Equestria's best group of soldiers every once in a blue moon?"
"When we could be doing better, more important things, yes there is a problem."
The princess sighed. "Ugh, you guys are no fun. Anyway, yes I do have a small assignment for you."
That's more like it. For a moment, I thought I was going to have to start calling her "Princess Lunnoyance". He laughed silently to himself.
Luna circled around in front of the five guards as she spoke. She was large, taller than most other ponies in Equestria in fact, but by comparison she was still dwarfed by these five massive stallions. "You're probably not gonna like this, but you all know my nephew Prince Blueblood, right?"
Yes, unfortunately... Everypony in the royal palace hated that little brat, Dauntless and his team being no exception. "Yes, ma'am. Why do you ask? Does he need a good flank-kicking?" He knew it was okay to joke around and loosen up a bit; Princess Luna regarded the Royal Guards as more of personal friends rather than militants, and they felt the same way about her.
"Well of course he does! He ALWAYS does! And you're always welcome to do so, any time you wish. I won't stop you!" She laughed. "Anywho, he wanted me to ask a favor of you. Mind you, I know you're probably not g-"
"Ma'am, permission to interject?"
"Yes?"
"NO."
Princess Luna frowned and drooped her shoulders. "Aww, c'mon! You haven't even heard what I have to say!"
"You said 'Prince Blueblood' and 'favor'. That's all I need to know."
".....Touche. But, even still, listen. Evidently he and another of his acquaintances was visiting Ponyville lately, and his little friend wandered into the Everfree Forest, got lost, and now he hasn't heard from him since. Blueblood mentioned his name was Eminence, and he said he wished for you to go look for him. You know, 'search-and-rescue mission'!" Her voice dripped with fake enthusiasm.
"Well, if he wandered into the Everfree forest, not only is that his own stupid fault, but he's probably dead by now as it is. When did he go missing?" Dauntless had heard this sort of thing many a time: stupid kid wanders into the forest, gets lost, never heard from again. Ponies got lost in the Everfree all the time, and nobody ever even bothered to look for them because it's almost a guarantee that they're dead already, so why should some little spoiled rich kid that is friends with Blueblood have the most elite squad in the country come looking for him?
Luna tapped her chin. "Umm... He said a week? I think. Yeah I know his chances are low to say the least, but still, can you do it? It is not like you have anything better to do as it is."
Dauntless sighed loudly and rolled his eyes.
"Look, I know you're probably not gonna to find the kid, but can you at least go so you can say you tried? Apparently it was one of his closest friends, and as much as I dislike Blueblood, he IS still my nephew. I don't want to see him go into a depression or something. Pleeaassee? Out of the goodness of your heart?" She puffed our her lower lip, making the puppy dog face. It was a face Dauntless couldn't resist, and she knew it.
".......Ugh, I SUPPOSE we could make a couple passes over the forest... But if we find him, and IS by the grace of Celestia still alive, he's going to wish the hydras and manticores had gotten to him first."
"THAT'S the spirit! Besides, you don't even have to actually rescue him. As long as the effort was made, HOPEFULLY Blueblood won't be whining about it as much."
Yeah, right... Now that he though of it, as much as Dauntless hated Luna's nephew, he had to have a little sympathy for him; he had lost many good squadmates, friends... Even family members in the line of duty, so he understood how Blueblood probably felt right now.
"Men, back to the barracks and get ready. We're leaving in one hour. You have till then to prepare. Move out!"
Every stallion in his squad except Ruhig Tödlich saluted with a booming "Sir, yes sir!", and then they all trotted briskly through the door in the direction of the barracks. Dauntless watched them as they exited, then his eyes returned to Luna, who was smiling broadly.
"Thanks, Dauntless. I know it's probably hard to do this, considering how obnoxious Blueblood is to you guys."
Dauntless waved his hoof dismissively. "Naahh, I don't much mind doing it. If it's any consolation, I can sympathize with him a little bit. I've lost too many good men - most of them being either close friends or relatives of mine - in combat. I know how it feels to lose someone close." He paused for a moment. ".......You think he would want me to talk to him? Blueblood, I mean."
Luna winced. "Ehh I don't think that'd be such a great idea. He's sensitive enough about it as it is, and you know how the whole 'authority figure' thing just rubs him the wrong way. I think the best you can do is just try to find his friend for him. That's about all he'll respond to."
"Understood. I am going to return to my quarters with the rest of the squad to prepare. Good day, Princess."
He turned to leave, but Luna stopped him. "Wait! Once again, thank you. I'm sure Blueblood himself would thank you as well, if he wasn't too busy moping..." She rolled her eyes.
"It isn't a problem, ma'am. Like I said; I know where the boy is coming from. I've seen too many good men die for a lost cause. And I'll do everything in my power to keep from losing more."
The princess smiled softly. "Well, that's... Very noble of you. Good luck, Dauntless. Although, I know you hardly need it. And I'm sure I'll be hearing back from you soon." She gave him a wink.
Dauntless blushed slightly. "Thank you, ma'am."
"Quite welcome....... Now, uhh, dismissed! Go to it! Uhm... Break a leg, or whatever it is you guys say!"
The stallion couldn't help but laugh out loud at this. "'Dismissed' will do just fine."
* * *
March 19, 2756
1029 hours
En route to Ponyville, Equestria
"Boss, permission to speak?"
"Go ahead."
"Why the hay are we out looking for this colt? You and I both know he's long dead by now."
Dauntless stopped in mid-flight, turning around and grabbing Sunspot's collar armor with a hoof, and angrily brought his face closer.
"Because it's the right thing to do. Imagine, for whatever reason, you lost your mother. Or your brother. Say you went and requested the help of the Royal Guard to assist you in finding her. Say they laughed at you and told you right to your face 'she's already dead, kid. Might as well forget about it.'..... Is that what we do? Is our job to turn down ponies that come to us in their times of need? Does that sound like Celestia's Royal Security Force to you?"
Sunspot blankly stared back into Dauntless's eyes. "No, sir. That is not what we do. You're right." Dauntless released his collar from his grasp with a forceful shove.
Specter spoke up. "Dauntless, with all due respect, sir. I know the true reason is not because 'it's the right thing to do', even though it is indeed: The reason is because you are defending Prince Blueblood. Why? It is uncharacteristic of you."
It never failed: Specter could see right through anypony's emotions, no matter how much they play it off, or how much they try to hide them. He always managed to probe through their minds with his. Darn-near telepathic..... And almost creepy.
Dauntless shook his head. "I can't give you a straight answer to that, I really don't know myself. I suppose it is because I don't like the idea of another pony dying for nothing: we all know how it feels to lose someone close. We've all lost friends and family in battle, and I don't think anypony - even somepony like Blueblood - should have to experience that. I know you all know exactly what I am talking about: there is a difference between a life spent, and a life wasted, gentlemen."
There was momentary silence as Dauntless's words sunk in to the consciences of his men.
"Then sir," Specter spoke out again, "let us waste no time."
Dauntless and the other three nodded in agreement.
The remaining fifteen minutes of the journey to Ponyville were silent.
They arrived at the small populace at about a quarter to eleven, and landed in the town square, where they were met with looks of both concern and fear by many of the citizens.
"So wheredye suppose we start lookin'?" Stalwart asked in his thick Scottish accent. "Ye think we should just head right into the forest, or should we do abit o' askin' around first?"
"It'd probably be best if we interviewed somepony to get a general idea of where he was last seen... But I'm not sure anypony here is in the mood for talking. At least to us." Sunspot replied, surveying the wary looks of the ponies, most of which were clearing away from the square.
This sort of reaction was typical: small-town ponies like this seemed to think of the Her Majesty's Royal Guards as some alien invaders rather than sworn protectors. Of course, when they were about six times more muscular and easily two to three feet taller than the average pony, who could blame them?
"Hold the phone, looks like somepony decided to be friendly enough to introduce themselves." Stalwart gestured to a purple unicorn who was approaching them, seemingly unfazed compared to the other inhabitants of Ponyville.
"Good morning, sirs!" She greeted them, grinning. "We noticed you seemed to be looking for something. Is there anything we can help you with?"
"'We'? I think it's just you. Nopony else seems to want to be of any assistance." Dauntless replied.
The unicorn laughed uncomfortably. "Right... Sorry about that. Anyway, I'm forgetting my manners. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and this is-" She glanced over her shoulder, looking for somepony who wasn't there. She turned around and called out to the missing pony. "Fluttershy! Don't be disrespectful! Come say hello!"
Dauntless followed her gaze, and found himself looking at a yellow pegasus several meters behind Twilight Sparkle, who was shaking and seemed ready to bolt away.
"My apologies, you'll have to excuse her. She's a bit shy, as you can tell." Twilight sighed.
Dauntless shrugged. "You say it as if cowering from us is an unusual reaction. Don't worry, we're used to it. Now, since you asked, we actually could use your help with something. We're looking for a certain unicorn, his name is Eminence. We were told he was here about a week ago with Prince Blueblood. I'm sure you've heard of HIM, yes?"
The unicorn rolled her eyes. "Yeah. I haven't met him, but I don't like him. He was a jerk to one of my best friends at the Grand Galloping Gala. From what I hear, he's a stuck-up snob and a real pain in the flank."
Dauntless laughed; he found it hysterical that even ponies from this small town and that had never even met the prince hated him. "Well, you heard right, Miss Twilight. Believe me, I do not think kindly of him either. However, we're here on orders to find the aforementioned acquaintance of his that has gone missing. He supposedly wandered off into the Everfree Forest. We were wondering if maybe you had seen any ponies that looked of royalty anywhere around?"
Twilight gasped. "Oh my... That's awful! I wish I could be of more help to you, but I haven't seen or heard of anypony like that. I didn't even KNOW Blueblood was in town... I hope you find him, though. Eminence, that is." Her brow furrowed in concern. "Actually, I have a fairly extensive knowledge of the Everfree, and I could possibly use my magic to help you locate him. Would you like me to come with you?"
"Well, I appreciate the offer, Miss Twilight: but I'm afraid I cannot allow it. Really, ponies are encouraged not to go into the forest as it is, so I can't take you in there, even under our watch. It would be..." He searched for the word. It wasn't unlawful, but the Princess surely wouldn't smile upon the idea of taking this unicorn into the Everfree and possibly risking her life to look for some lost pony.
Then it hit him. "Wait, you said your name was Twilight Sparkle?"
She tilted her head and nodded, slightly confused at the sudden change of subject.
"YOU'RE the one Celestia always talks about!" Sunspot called forth with excitement.
Dauntless shot a warning glance back at him for speaking out of line. "Yes, we have heard many great things about you. She calls you her 'prized pupil', her 'prodigy', the 'Element of Magic', is it?"
Twilight blushed. "Yeahhh that's me I guess."
"Well, it is an honor to meet you, ma'am. My name is Dauntless, and this is Sunspot, Specter, Stalwart, and Ruhig Tödlich." He gave each of them their respective nods as he said their names. "We are 22nd Royal Security Regiment."
"Top o' da mornin' to ye, malady!" Stalwart boomed with a wide grin.
"Hey, how's it goin'?" Sunspot cooed in a seductive tone, which earned him a jab in the ribs from Stalwart.
"Greetings, Twilight Sparkle." said Specter in his usual, monotone voice.
Ruhig Tödlich only gave a quick nod of acknowledgment.
"You'll have to excuse him." Dauntless said. "He lost most of his ability to speak in a fight, so he rarely talks."
"Eh, I know how that is" Twilight said with a shrug, and motioned back toward Fluttershy, who still seemed terrified and on edge.
"Speakin' o' that," Stalwart interjected, staring at the yellow pegasus, "I think I just might try to talk ta her. Maybe get her to calm down a wee bit."
Dauntless glared at him, but Stalwart simply shrugged. "What? She seems like she could use somepony ta talk to." He walked casually in the direction of Fluttershy, who quickly took several unsteady steps back, stumbling on the last one.
Dauntless rolled his eyes. He knew there was no point in trying to stop the read-headed stallion. Stalwart considered orders hardly more than friendly requests, and he really didn't see himself getting into a heated argument with Stalwart anytime soon; he was even larger than Dauntless, and even though he outranked him, Stalwart wouldn't think twice about getting phyisically violent with a superior officer. He had done it before.
He then remembered why they were here in the first place, and that they had a job to do. "Well, all things aside, back to our original conversation. I appreciate the notion that you would like to help us in our search Miss Twilight, but I don't think the Princess would think kindly upon the idea of me taking her prized pupil into the Everfree, regardless of the reason."
"I understand." She gave a respectful nod.
Dauntless nodded back. "Alright. Gentlemen! Let's move! Stalwart, that means you too."
"Aww, but I was just gettin' acquainted!" He called over from near Fluttershy, who seemed to have calmed down significantly in the brief moments the two had been talking.
He narrowed his eyes at Stalwart. He need not say anything; his expression did the talking for him. Get over here before I tell everyone in earshot that you still sleep with a teddy bear.
Stalwart knew that these threats weren't empty, so he trotted over to Dauntless's side once more and took his place among the ranks, muttering something under his breath.
"Well thank CELESTIA! I was starting to think the flirting would NEVER end." Sunspot exclaimed as sarcastically as possible.
"Hmph! And YOU'RE one ta talk?" Stalwart scolded. "Does 'hey, how's it goin'?' ring a bell?" He mocked Sunspot in the same seductive tone he had used on Twilight.
"Well at least I didn't go out of my way to try to get some from that pegasus!"
"Now you listen here; I wasn't tryin' ta 'get some', I was just makin' a friendly gesture, somethin' that the likes o' YOU wouldn't know about if it came up and bit ye right in the a-"
"STALWART! SUNSPOT! ENOUGH!!"
They immediately stopped squabbling and snapped to a crisp attention. "Yes, sir!"
Dauntless turned back to Twilight. "Disregard anything those two say. They tend to forget who they are sometimes." He said with a hint of embarrassment.
Twilight laughed uneasily. "It's fine. I understand that males can't help but have the urge to flirt sometimes; it's natural."
"But that's just it. These are supposed to be my trained, disciplined soldiers, NOT some group of teenagers out looking for their next date." He said this with a stern glare back at his troops.
Twilight shrugged. "Well, I suppose that's not any of MY business. Maybe you should knock them over the head more often, to keep them in line!" She teased.
"Oh, I'm likin' this idea!" Stalwart said excitedly, and with that, he slammed his hoof down on Sunspot's helmet, hard enough to make it ring for a good five seconds.
Sunspot was too stunned by the blow to respond immediately: instead he stood dazed for a moment before turning to his attacker, who just grinned broadly.
"What? 'Twas the lady's idea, not mine."
Dauntless had given up at this point: he simply stood staring at the ground in front of Twilight, rubbing his temple with a hoof until they were finished. "Are you two going to be like this every time we leave the palace? If so, I'll just take Specter and Ruhig next time."
This was enough to silence the two stallions.
"Again, I apologize for the UN-EXEMPLARY behavior of these two." Dauntless shook his head in disappointment.
Twilight just laughed. "As improper as it is, I must admit it's considerably entertaining."
"Yeah, well, as much as I know they'd like to be, they're not comedians. ESPECIALLY when we're on assignment."
"Well, like I said, perhaps a good kick in the flank would be in order for them every so often and DON'T DO IT!" Her eyes widened as she saw Stalwart look at Sunspot with a devious smile.
"Anywho, good luck to you guys! I hope you find whomever it is that you're looking for!"
Dauntless smiled warmly. "I do too, Miss Twilight. I do too. 'Twas a pleasure meeting you! Hope we cross paths again soon!" With these last few words, he and the other four guards took to the sky with their powerful wings, and began flying toward the Everfree.
* * *
March 19, 2756
1104 hours
Town Square, Ponyville, Equestria
"That was... Interesting." Twilight thought aloud as she watched the five stallions as they glided over the buildings of Ponyville, away from her and Fluttershy, and in the direction of the forest. "Alright, lets go, Fluttershy."
She looked over her shoulder at the pegasus, who was sitting on the ground and still shaking slightly as she also watched the guards depart. "Fluttershy, don't worry. They're gone. And besides, it's not like they were ever going to hurt you in the first place."
She warily pulled herself off her rump, and continued walking with Twilight to Sweet Apple Acres, where they were to be having lunch with the rest of the Apple family later today. "I... I know, I just... They were so big and scary-looking. I know they meant no harm, but they're just so loud, and they seemed a little bit hostile, I guess..." She paused. "But... I like the one with the accent who came over and talked to me. He seemed really nice..... Well, of course, aside from always harassing the blonde one... But I guess that's just what boys do....."
"Well, they're all nice in their own way." Sorta... She wasn't sure if the one that they called Sunspot was "nice" in any way, considering that he had little to say but sarcastic and disrespectful remarks.
But something about them seemed familiar, like she already knew that particular team of royal guards on a personal level. Had she read about them somewhere? Had she studied them without recalling it? Had she met them before? She hadn't a clue. Their names struck a bell, too. She knew that the leader's name, "Dauntless", meant fearless and brave. But she also felt like that name meant something else, like she SHOULD remember it, but couldn't.
Then it dawned on her. "Of course! 22nd Royal Security Regiment! I KNEW they sounded familiar!"
This sudden outspoken epiphany earned a confused and frightened look from Fluttershy.
"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about that group of soldiers, and something brought to mind about them. Then I remembered that they're the ones that Princess Celestia always talks about! She boasts about them quite a bit, actually. According to her, they're about the best team of militants in Equestria. I just wish I had remembered that when they were here, I would have brought it up! Wow, I actually feel kind of honored to have met them, don't you?"
Fluttershy's eyes wandered uncomfortably "Umm, well... I suppose... They seemed..... Okay..."
Twilight was a bit disappointed at her lack of enthusiasm, but she understood; Fluttershy had never been big on anything that had to do with war, conflict, or any sort discordance at all.
".....What was the big one's name again? Fluttershy asked sheepishly. "Stalwart, right?"
Twilight nodded.
"...Stalwart..." Fluttershy repeated quielty to herself, and smiled. "He hardly had time to introduce himself before the one with the purple mane said they had to go."
"Yes, but you have to understand, they didn't come here to socialize: they're on a mission to find a missing pony. They only stopped to ask us if we had seen him. They were in a bit of a hurry."
Speaking of being in a hurry, Twilight remembered that they told Applejack that they would be at Sweet Apple acres by eleven fifteen, and they had probably lost about ten minutes talking to the guards.
"Oh no, c'mon, Fluttershy! We're going to be late!" She picked up the pace to a brisk trot, followed by Fluttershy, to the apple farm, where she planned to spend the rest of the day eating, playing, and generally having a good time together with her best friends.
But plans change.
* * *
March 19, 2756
1810 hours
Everfree Forest, Equestria
Dauntless's fears were being realized. He knew from the start that there was little chance of finding the missing friend of Blueblood, but he tried to be as optimistic as possible up to this point. They had been flying over the Everfree in their standard overlapping search pattern for several hours now, with no sign of anypony so far, and though they still had only searched about half of the forest, there wasn't much hope left; they were now several miles from Ponyville, and the farther and farther they ventured from the town, the thicker and more dangerous the forest got. If they hadn't had success by now, they weren't going to have any at all. But still, they persisted. He thought it was ironic that he had been reluctant to even try to find him when Luna had first suggested it, but now it had turned into such a personal objective. He still wasn't sure why, either.
"Specter, see anything?" Dauntless asked desperately.
"Negative." He replied.
"Sunspot?"
"Nope."
"Ruhig?"
He shook his head.
Dauntless sighed. "And I KNOW you haven't seen anything Stalwart, because you would be having a hyperactivity attack right now."
"Too right, mate."
"Boss, believe me, I wanna find this colt just as much as the next pony, but..... I'm sorry, but there's just no hope at this point. We've looked over almost half the forest, and there's just nopony here. I think we should just go home." suggested Sunspot.
Dauntless sighed. As much as he didn't want to admit it, the young stallion was right. At this point, they were surely wasting their time. Besides, at least we tried, right? He shook his head. No, trying isn't good enough... But there was simply just no hope left.
"Alright..... Let's turn around boys, we're heading b-"
Dauntless felt somepony tap his shoulder, and he turned to see Ruhig pointing a hoof toward the horizon in the distance. He followed his gaze, and saw what looked like..... Smoke? Yes, it was smoke, slowly trickling out of the treeline and over the forest. He felt his heart rise in his chest, almost threatening to leave him. Could it have been a campfire set by the missing colt? A signal for help? He hadn't a clue. But whatever it was, they were going to investigate.
"Men, I think we may have found something."
They made a beeline for the spot where the smoke seemed to originate from, and descended below the treeline, and into the dark canopy of the forest. However, upon reaching the ground, they found something that surprised and disheartened them: a small hut, or what was left of it, stood in a clearing of burned trees and scorched undergrowth, about a hundred feet in diameter. They speechlessly and unknowingly spit up and began wandering about, surveying the scene, taking it in with both caution and worry. There were patterns of black, charred bark on the trees, almost as if somepony had splashed molten lava about the litte clearing. Small bushfires still danced on the ground, but the were of no immediate threat; they were too small, and looked to be about ready to die on their own. The small house itself stood in small segments. Only parts of it were still standing, the majority looked as if it had been blown apart with a considerably-sized explosion. Which may or may not explain the strange burnmarks on the trees and ground... Dauntless thought absent-mindedly.
"Well I'll be damned..." Stalwart said grimly, and motioned for Dauntless and the others to come join him on the other side of the clearing. They did so, and what they saw made their hearts drop like stones; there, in a small crater-like depression in the forest floor, was the body of a pony. Or was it a pony? No... Dauntless recognized the telltale black stripes and off-white body of a zebra. His eyes played grimly over the corpse: most of her coat around her back and flanks had been singed off, revealing bare skin that was red, splotchy, and covered in heat blisters. Her face wore and expression of shock, her mouth hagning open and her eyes staring cold and lifeless at the forest in front of her. Around her neck and front legs were dozens of gold bands, many of which had been melted together and become just large, twisted masses of metal. But near her chest and stomach was the most disturbing sight. Her entire lower half from the navel down was missing, the flesh and bone that would and should have been connecting the two halves was also blackened and burned to a crisp. Some of her organs were spilling out from her abdomen, the red, raw flesh a gruesome and gory sight that made even Dauntless, a hardened and desensitized soldier, want to throw up. Feeling his stomach turn over inside of him, he had to look away and breath through his mouth to get rid of the rancid smell that the burning flesh produced. He couldn't begin to imagine what - or who - could have done this. The only thing that he could think of was possibly an attack by a rouge dragon, but he wasn't so sure, because if that was the case, it probably would have consumed this body. He consulted his expert. "Specter, what's your analysis on what could have happened here? This is like nothing I've ever encountered before."
The lean, brown-maned stallion just stood silent, still looking about at the forest around him and the body.
"Specter?"
He shook his head. "The pattern of burn marks and rate of the depression of the fire is inconsistent with a possible forest fire, and fact that there is still a body left unconsumed rules out the possibility of a dragon attack." Once again, is was almost as if he read Dauntless's mind. "And there is no weapon or force on Equestria that I am aware of that could cause such an explosion as the one that was inflicted upon the dwelling of this individual. Or, I am assuming that is her dwelling." He shook his head. "I do not know."
Hearing these words come from the mouth of Specter was terrifying; he ALWAYS knew. He ALWAYS had a hypothesis. But now, he just didn't know. But, nopony knew everything, so with a slow nod Dauntless said "Alright. Men, stay alert. We don't know who or what did this, and they may still be nearby." It occurred to him that this incident had to have happened recently..... VERY recently, since there were still small fires going on the ground and the charred marks on the trees still glowed slightly red with embers. He also wondered why this zebra was here, this deep in the forest. He wondered how long she could have been out here, and how she had survived. Well, up until now... The forest was a tough environment, not only because of the beasts that lived here and could easily kill and eat a pony, but resources were also very limited. Then he remembered.
"Zecora."
"Come again?" Sunspot said, confused by the sudden and un-germane statement.
"Zecora. She is... Well, WAS, the only pony under Celestia that was ever granted permission to live here in the forest. I remember reading about when looking through some files at the Palace. Celestia only allowed her to stay here because she claimed there were herbs and other ingredients that she used for spells and potions, and they could only be found here. Deep in the Everfree.
"Celestia almost didn't allow it, but being such a powerful and intelligent enchantress, Zecora said, and proved, she could take care of herself. For the most part, at least." He avoided looking at the corpse again. "Well, we had best get burial detail. Specter, document the victim and time of discovery, and label the incident as 'unknown death', and send it to Celestia. We'll have to get an investigation team out here eventually to-" his words were cut off by a loud grunt behind him. He turned around, and found himself facing Ruhig. ".....Did you say something?"
The brown pegasus shook his head.
Dauntless cocked a brow; Ruhig Tödlich wasn't one to speak out of line. Hell, he's hardly one to speak at all... He brushed it off, though. "Anyway, we had best be getting back to Canterlot. There's nothing more we can do here. We'll note the coordinates and schedule and investigation of the scene."
"Sir, what about the colt that we came all the out here lookin' for?" Stalwart reminded him.
Dauntless's stomach twisted even tighter; he had forgotten the original mission of searching for Eminence.
".......It's as Sunspot said: there's hardly a chance he's alive by now. Especially with whatever creature did this," he motioned to the zebra's mangled body once more, "still wandering around the forest. We... We failed. Not only Zecora, but Eminence. We failed them." Those words tasted like vinegar coming out of his mouth. We failed. The mere thought was detesting.
He took one last wary glance back at the scene, and with a lump still in his stomach, Dauntless and the rest of 22nd Royal Security Regiment took to the sky once more, on their way back to Canterlot, where they had a new mission: find out what did this, and stop it before it could harm any more citizens in Equestria.
Little did they know how hard this mission would be.
Two pairs of beady, red eyes watched them from the shrubbery as they departed.
Once the five creatures had flown away, the smaller of the two brutes snorted and re-holstered his plasma rifle, turning toward his commanding officer. "Why could we not just kill them? Now they are simply going to return to their capital and notify their leaders of our presence!"
"Patience, young one. It hardly matters; our presence on this planet will be obvious shortly as it is."
"Yes, but NOW they have time to prepare!" he huffed.
The massive, nine-foot-tall brute captain stood up and deactivated his active camouflage, all the while glaring down at the younger. "Bastehm, your tongue is going to get you into heaps of trouble if you do not keep it in check."
He huffed one more time before apologizing. "Forgive me, master."
They climbed out of the underbrush and walked toward the middle of the bare patch of burned turf, where the body of the white-and-black striped alien still lay in the crater caused by their plasma grenades. "So what do you suspect these creatures are? Forerunners?" Bastehm asked, looking down into the hole with disgust at the hideous foreigner.
"Doubtful.... They would possess more superior technology than they have displayed in the time we have been watching. We have been here for weeks, and have not seen so much as an electrical appliance, let alone any sign of Forerunner technology."
"Then this will be easier than we had originally anticipated." He grinned a sharp, toothy grin.
"Aye, but alas; we must be patient. We mustn't attack before the fleet is ready."
"Then what do you call that?" He asked, pointing toward the half of the body that remained in the crater.
Malmee shrugged. "Insurance. She would have tried to run and tell the rest of the population of our discovery."
"Then WHAT does it matter?" Bastehm hissed. "Those other five are on their way to do the same right now!"
"Watch your tone, boy," Malmee growled. "You almost gave away our position back there as it was. It if were not for our active camouflage, they would have surely spotted us when you did your impatient mumbling. It would be beneficial to you if you learned to keep your mouth shut." He paused. "Although, you do have a point. However, it does not matter; the rest of our ships will be dropping out of slipspace within the hour, and our assault on this world will begin."
As if on cue, the sky suddenly grew darker, and three-dozen Covenant battle cruisers, corvettes, and light destroyers entered normal space, just a couple hundred thousand feet above the surface of the planet. The two looked up at this sight, and smiled wickedly.
Malmee held his wrist up to his mouth and spoke into his COMM system. "This is scout unit 107-B, hailing Regret's Sentence: the rest of the fleet is inbound and ready to proceed with the operation. We will begin our attack on the nearest populace via our Phantom in approximately one cycle. Do you copy, over?"
"This is captain of Regret's Sentence, we read you. Any significant findings to to report from the ground?"
"Affirmative, captain. They possess limited technology and appear to be unarmed as a race." He said this on the verge of excitement and hysteria.
A booming laugh responded from the other end of the COMM link. "Then the overthrow of this planet and activation of the installation will be a most swift victory." With a click, the link was disconnected.
The two brutes strode with purpose back to their Phantom dropship a few hundred meters away in another clearing, where a platoon of a dozen grunts, ten jackals, and four more brutes awaited them. Upon return, they all shared a rousing battle howl, and lifted off, preparing for their surprise attack of the town that the natives of this planet called "Ponyville".
Stage one of the invasion was in progress.
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Big Macintosh,Braeburn,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Main 6,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Soarin,Spike,Spitfire,Trixie,Crossover,Adventure,Dark,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore
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Halo: Fall of Equestria
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The final frontier of the Human-Covenant war brings chaos where no man, or pony, thought it could go
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<p>The year is 2756, roughly 200 years following the human victory against the Covenant Empire in the Great Interstellar War. We know for a fact that the Covenant, while they were massively corrupted, they were NOT by any means crushed altogether. Over the past two centuries, our UNSC Navy fleet has been assigning unmanned scout craft to and around the homeworlds of the major species of the Covenant Empire, and - while they appear to be living individually for the majority - new intelligence and scans of major systems still in "Covenant controlled" space suggest an ominous and inescapable truth: the alien menace has managed to regroup covertly, and they have massed a fleet FAR larger than anything our galaxy has ever seen before. We would assume that their most likely motive is vengeance, however other pieces of intel suggest that their intended target is not in fact Earth - or any of her colonies within UNSC controlled regions of space - but another, far more distant planet, lying on the outstretches of the Milky Way galaxy. Although their intentions are otherwise unknown, we cannot take any chances and allow the Covenant to advance to this new planet. A medium fleet of UNSC warships has been assigned a scout - and if all goes well - interception mission of this new planet, hopefully cutting off the Covenant in time to stop whatever plan they may have.</p>
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Chapter Two: Preparations
March 19, 2756
1813 hours
Aboard UNSC Halcyon-Class cruiser "Hellhound", en route to "New Arcadia"
"All hands, report to your designated hanger bays and prepare to enter normal space. All hands to hangers, prepare for slipspace departure."
Yeah, yeah, we're comin'. Calm your tits. "C'mon, we better get moving." Staff Sergeant McLendon picked up his pace from brisk walk to a jog, and motioned for his two squadmates to do the same.
"Sarge, we don't gotta run; we still got fifteen minutes." Sergeant Hand said, his voice slightly weary.
"It wasn't a request, it was an order. And maybe you'll think next time before you screw around in the gym instead of sleeping all night."
Hand groaned, and pulled his legs harder to keep up with his team.
They weren't running late, but McLendon didn't want to end up having Captain Barrat on him for not being present, were they to drop out of slipspace earlier than scheduled for some unforeseen reason. They dodged and weaved through the technicians and engineers that were busy in the hallways, moving supplies and preparing equipment for when they descended onto the planet. He peered into some of the crates and racks as he passed them: food, medical supplies, what he assumed was either mining or testing equipment, and occasionally he spotted a container of MA5-F assault rifles and ammunition. The presence of these weapons incited his mood to rise a bit; it was another sign that this was probably more than just a 'scout mission' like the Office of Naval Intelligence had endowed. They wouldn't normally employ the use of such heavy armament, unless there was a more clandestine meaning to it all. McLendon had always been the kind for action, and he wasn't fond of the notion of coming here for a simple pioneering mission.
He glanced at a sign ahead: >HANGER B/ LEVEL 1< This was their stop.
He tapped a series of numbers on the control pad next to the door, and it slid open with a hiss of steam, revealing a vast, open hanger area bustling with activity. More technicians loading and fueling Osprey dropships (the successor of the outdated Pelican transport), pilots running flight checks on their Vulture heavy gunships, Marines and Navy personnel toying with their standard-issue M6-J sidearms in anticipation. Looking around at all this, the McLendon again got the feeling that there was much more to be said about this upcoming mission than had been let on by ONI. He shook these thoughts as he saw Sergeant Aylward - another of his squadmates - wave him over from near one of the Ospreys. He nodded and ran to her, Sergeant Hand and Private Beck following.
"Took you boys long enough," she said as they approached, her voice elevated to be heard over the noise of the hangar.
"Yeah yeah, can it." He motioned to the transport ship. "This our bird?"
"Yup. Pilot's running his pre-flight diagnostics right now. We'll be among the first to land, we're leaving as soon as we drop out of slipspace."
McLendon nodded. "Any change on when we're entering normal space?"
She shrugged. "As far as I've heard, it's the same: eighteen thirty." Looking past McLendon, she noticed Hand panting slightly and out-of-breath. "You spend all night in the gym again?" she accused.
Hand gave her the finger, and she replied with a laugh. "Well you're the dumbass who's going to be paying for it for the rest of the day, so it's not MY problem."
"Corporal Neihoff, what kinda equipment are we carryin'?" McLendon asked, stepping between the sergeants.
"Funny you asked," the big man said, and scooted off the crate he had been sitting on. He flipped two clamps on the front and it swung open, revealing an impressive display of armaments. "Most of it is our standard scouting loadout and equipment, but they set us up with a few extra..... toys." He effortlessly hefted a SPNKR-4 rocket launcher out of the crate.
"Whoa..." McLendon was genuinely surprised. "Why would the UNSC give us anti-vehicle for a scouting mission?"
"Because we're not scouting, like I told you," Aylward interjected, and shot a glance at Beck, who had been absentmindedly loading his M6's magazines until now. She smirked, and he groaned in response, dropping to the ground and beginning the three-hundred pushups he now owed her for losing their bet.
McLendon ignored the exchange and returned his attention to his weapons specialist. "So what else are we looking at here?" he asked, peering into the box next to Neihoff.
"Welp, while on the topic of anti vehicle," he replied with a grunt, heaving another heavy weapon out of the container. It took McLendon a moment to recognize the weapon, but once he did, he sighed and rolled his eyes. "A damn Spartan Laser? REALLY?"
The corporal grinned like he had just won a million-dollar jackpot. "Mhm. Can't go wrong with the Mk 6 GNR! And we've got four fully-charged proton packs for it." He placed the laser back in the box as carefully as he would his own child, then produced three M7-L sub-machine guns with silencers and holographic sights pre-attached. "Apparently they're preparing us for anti-personnel, too. I seriously don't understand how they can tell us that there's no threat to be had on this planet with a straight face."
"Have you guys EVER considered that maybe they're supplying us in surplus just in case there ARE potential threats on this planet?" Hand interposed.
McLendon wanted to say something back, but couldn't find the words. Hand had a point: this was an unexplored planet, and only exo-atmospheric probes had been sent here previously, so the surface details of the planet were probably unknown and inconclusive. Unable to formulate a counterstatement, he simply responded with a "watch your tone, or you'll be joining Beck with the pushups," and reached for one of the MA5-F assault rifles out of the container. There was an under-barrel M3-19 40mm grenade launcher on it. "Jesus..." he muttered, turning the rifle over in his hands, more fascinated with the high-explosive attachment than the gun itself. Before now, he figured they were under-stocked on weapons as usual, given that he had seen nothing of these arms during the course of the entire journey.
He wasn't sure whether he should be anxious or excited; for one, they would never be stocked with such an extensive array of armaments if they were simply exploring this planet (the UNSC would barely supply them with their sidearms and maybe an assault rifle or two if this was the case). So he knew there had to be SOME form of combat involved, which he thought might make this a somewhat interesting and enjoyable endeavor. But on the other hand, even the Insurrectionists would hardly require such firepower to combat. Maybe an Innie stronghold? A headquarters? Again, he was nervously excited.
He placed the MA5-F back into the crate on its appropriate weapon rack, and directed his attention to the boxes of ammunition and accessories next to them. They were just as various as they were numerous: armor-piercing, anti-material, high-velocity and even a few cases of explosive reactive rounds. His eyes shifted to the assortment of suppressors, flashlights, foregrips, bipods, and optics for their weapons. Toward the bottom of the container were two sniper rifles: a standard SRS 99E-S5, and its bolt-action equivalent, the SRS 105B, with slightly extended barrel for increased accuracy at extreme range. "Well, they sure as hell wanted us to be prepared," he said, his voice distrait.
Neihoff noted his facial expression and laughed hardily. "You look like a little kid in a candy store, staff sergeant."
McLendon shook his head to clear his thoughts, and brought up his wrist to check the time on his tac-pad. Eighteen twenty-three. They would be entering the realm of normal space in seven minutes.
"ODST 407th squad! Roll call!" McLendon shouted.
"Sergeant Courtney Aylward, reporting sir!"
"Corporal Neihoff, aye sir!"
"Private Beck, reporting," he groaned, and pulled himself off the ground after finishing his one-hundred and fiftieth pushup.
"Sergeant Hand, reporting as ordered."
"Private Bradley, aye aye!"
McLendon turned around and noticed the private for the first time since they had arrived at the launch bay: he already had his helmet on, his armor powered up, and was screwing a suppressor and foregrip onto one of the MA5-Fs.
"What? Nothin' wrong with being ahead of the game," Bradley said through his helmet's speakers, and shrugged.
McLendon shook his head and addressed the rest of the team. "I'm assuming Sergeant Calum is getting preparations set on board?" He motioned toward the Osprey, who's main power systems were warming up.
"Yup, and speak of the devil," Aylward replied, and ponted toward the cargo bay of the ship.
"Pilot's ready for dustoff as soon as Captain Barrat give the order," he said as he bounded down the loading ramp of the aircraft.
"Well why aren't you up there helping him load the equipment?" Hand inquired. "He tell you to go away because you were being annoying?"
"Hey I didn't ask you, alright?" Calum retorted. He faked a cough, badly disguising the word "yes".
McLendon nodded. "Alright team. Load up and suit up. We don't know what's down there, so prepare yourselves accordingly." He leaned over the box of weapons and grabbed one of the M7-Ls for himself, and attached a flashlight in addition to the silencer and sight that were already present.
"That's for me, right?" Aylward said jokingly as she strode up next to him, retrieving one of the SMGs for herself and also attaching a flashlight. "I like the way you think, sarge."
McLendon reached down to the bottom and uncovered the SRS 99E, and tossed it to Sergeant Hand, who accepted it willingly.
"Now now, let's not be greedy. Make some room for me, here," Neihoff said, and retrieved one of the MA5-Fs, along with several extended magazines and all of the boxes of explosive reactive ammunition.
Beck huffed. "Look at you, Neihoff? Telling US not to be greedy? Maybe I wanted some of those?"
"Finders keepers, bro. Maybe ya shoulda gotten over here sooner and not been doing them pushups." He and Aylward high-fived.
The private cursed under his breath and reluctantly scooped up a few boxes of standard 7.62x51mm rounds, a 4x scope, and an assault rifle.
McLendon motioned for Calum to join them in loading up their arms, but he respectfully declined with a wave of his hand. "Nah, I'm good. Unless... Maybe... There's a shotgun in there by any chance?" he said nonchalantly, glancing with fake interest about the interior of the ship.
"No, sorry, not this time." McLendon replied somberly.
"Eh, then I'll be fine as is. I've got all I need right here." He patted the M6-J on his hip.
McLendon shrugged, and tossed another box of SRS 99E magazines and ammo to Hand. He collected a dozen of the M7-L's pre-loaded caseless ammunition mags, and filled the pockets and pouches of his rig with them. He also retrieved two spare M6-J clips and loaded them with 12.7x40mm armor-piercing rounds, and slid them into the pockets on his holster.
As a final thought, he picked up three M9 HE grenades, clipping them to his belt. He stood up and spoke out, louder this time to be heard over the growing noise of the Osprey's engaging engines. "Well, everyone ready?"
"Yes, sir!" came a unanimous call in return. They stood at attention, magazines loaded and weapons prepared, suits sealed and helmets on. McLendon's eyes played over each of them proudly: Sergeant Hand with his SRS 99E sniper rifle, a deadly marksman that was just as patient as he was accurate. Corporal Neihoff with his telltale assault rifle, his person loaded with more ammunition than most would ever think of using. He was a real get-shit-done kind of guy, the type that found just as much fun in getting shot at as returning the fire. Sergeant Aylward, silenced M7-L in hand, the sneakiest, most deceptive, cunning marine he knew. He'd seen her kill a man instantly with nothing but a her index and ring fingers, not making the slightest noise. Private Beck, while although nervous-in-the-service, he was quite possibly the damn best technician and medic the UNSC had, capable of fixing anyone or anything that wasn't already totaled. Private Bradley and his MA5-F, loaded with accessories, such as the silencer, foregrip, scope, flashlight and laser sight. Typical; he tended to outdo himself, but it was compensated for by the fact that he was always one step ahead of everyone else. He was by far the fastest and most quick-witted of them all, which made him an excellent hand-to-hand fighter. And finally Sergeant Calum, although he was obnoxious and loud almost all of the time, he made for an excellent tool of psychological warfare. In fact, McLendon once recalled him running into a room full of hostile Insurrectionist soldiers with nothing but a combat knife, screaming "LEEROOOYYY, JEEENKINNNSSS!!!" To this day, McLendon hadn't a clue what Calum meant by that verbal outburst, but hey, it worked, and apparently Calum knew it would: he had ended up killing four of them before they had time to pick up their weapons, and the ones that survived dropped to the ground instantly in terror. He smiled as he thought of this, and all their different aspects that made them such a perfect team.
McLendon nodded in satisfaction, and glanced down at his tac-pad again. Eighteen twenty-eight.
"Alright people, let's get the rest of this cargo on board, and watch the fireworks." Everyone in the Core referred to the phenomenon of exiting slipspace as "fireworks" because of the mind-stretching spectrum of light and radio waves, both visible and invisible to the eye. He engaged his armor, and squatted down next to the crate, motioning for Neihoff to assist him. With the combined strength of them and their power armor, they lifted the heavy equipment container as if it was no more than thirty pounds. The two soldiers loaded it into cargo bay of the Osprey and secured it.
"I assume the rest of the equipment is already on board?" McLendon asked.
Aylward gestured toward the other end of the hold, where there were a few more metal crates of various sizes.
The staff sergeant acknowledged, and un-clipped his helmet from his belt, securing it on his head. He sealed it to the rest of his suit, then powered on the Heads Up Display. His field of vision came to life with various numbers, meters, sensors and controls that flashed before him. He felt the familiar warmth and tingling as the suit linked with his neural implant at the base of his skull, and felt the activity around him slow slightly. It was an effect of the armor: all impulses from his senses, as well as his motor neurons, now passed directly from his armor to his brain, essentially shortcutting his central nervous system for the most part and quickening his movements, reaction time, and thoughts. He drew his pistol from its holster and aimed it. Instantly, his suit registered and linked the weapon in his hand with his HUD, drawing a small blue ridicule that represented the spot where the bullet would go were the weapon to be fired. Satisfied that his armor was functioning fully and correctly, he re-holstered his sidearm, checked the time - eighteen twenty-nine - and addressed 407th.
"Alright ladies and gentlemen, let's get ready to see where we're going to be spending the next few weeks." With that, he and the rest of the elite team turned toward the main entrance to the hanger, looking into the black void of slipspace that they were about to exit.
|
He_who_wins
|
944
| 1 |
Original Character,Adventure,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Outsider's Tales
|
A traveling storypony looks for a story that could not only tell...but take a part of!
|
incomplete
| -1 | -1 |
<p>After years of collecting and retelling the fantastic stories of other wonderful heroes, a young pony decides its time to stop sitting on the sidelines and make his own adventure! After all, occording to the stories, it ought to be a quick, easy, and relativly painless experience.<br/>Right?</p><p>Time to go on an adventure and find out what it takes to have a story worth telling!</p><p>((First story ever, so [constructive] comments are very appreciated! Very OC based with a mostly OC driven storyline for those that worry about that stuff :P)</p>
|
teen
|
2011-12-18T04:23:13+00:00
|
2011-12-18T04:23:13+00:00
| 639 |
Thunder roared across the hills as rain gushed forth from black clouds. A few trees were bent with the force of the storm. Occasionally, fierce lightning streaked from the clouds to meet the earth, providing a brief instant of blinding light.
A small figure in a ragged, cloak still trudged on through the mud that served as a road here. It took a look up at the sky, cracked its neck, and kept walking.
It was too dark to see, so it had to rely on the lightning to see. The same lightning that nearly struck it a few times already. No matter. A single storm isn't going to stop this one. Not even a second one. No amount of rain, or mud, blasting wind would ever stop this one!
*CRRRACKK*
The figure stopped and frowned, then chuckled to itself.
Although that lightning might.
****
The figure kept walking through the entire night. Thankfully it petered out mostly right before dawn, although it was still sprinkling a bit. It said a quick prayer to the sun as it rose, but then quickly cursed as the soaked earth began to dry.
That darn musty, uncomfortable feeling quickly settled into the figure, made worse by the drenched cloak. It groaned, but kept walking. Maybe somewhere out here there'd be a dry spot to lie down and rest.
It took a quick check of its surroundings. Not likely.
****
By now the figure was dead tired. It had been walking all day in the middle of one of the worst storms ever without ever taking a break at all. Of course, it knew it didn't have anyone to blame but its self, but hey. Places to go.
Finding a comparatively dry patch of grass in a ring of nearby trees, it lay down and began to stretch itself out and get ready to have a well deserved sleep. There were even a few big boulders around for shelter. Still, it had something to do before it could finally sleep.
It shied off its still wet cloak and reached around for a small saddlebag on its flank. He opened up the depressingly small pouch and sighed. It used to have another much bigger bag. Mentally berating himself for losing it, he reached in an removed the one thing it held- a tiny cracked mirror.
It held it in one hoof, trying to remember how it was cracked, frowned, and began to look itself over.
What the figure saw was the face of a young colt. Its coat was covered in mud but a few patches of amber fur managed to stay clean. The mane, or least what was left of it after several obvious bad self attempts, was a reddish brown. Its face was a soft yet obviously boyish once, deep orange eyes, and a few scars on his right cheek that never quite healed right.
"Ha," he said to himself as he brushed back his mane, "Still lookin' pretty sharp eh, Amber?"
"I'll say," A new cheery voice piped up, "Quite a way to pull off the rugged look huh? You're doing it pretty well!"
Amber stood and craned his neck around searching for the owner of this new voice. Company would be nice, but sometimes he ends up with the wrong folks at the worst of times.
"Show yourself," he growled, "I've no time for shenanigans."
There was a slight pause then a chuckle, "Alright, he he,"
One of the nearby rocks started to shift. It stopped moving for a movement, but then rumbled again twice as much. A small sound floated up to Amber's ears...Was this rock laughing?
The 'rock' shifted slightly in its merriment and tumbled to its side. Amber blinked- this was no rock- it was another pony!
It had quite the odd coat, a grayish color with what looked like to be some sort of molted discolorations, giving the appearance very much like a oddly shaped boulder. Its mane and tail were also the same color as its coat, another a few bits of a deep blue-ish color poked out here and there. Oddly, there was no cutie mark.
'Must be some sort of dye, which would explain the lack of the mark. Otherwise that would...' Thought Amber, but any further thoughts were brought to a halt as the 'rock pony' opened its eyes to look at him.
Its were the clearest eyes he'd ever laid his own.
Those new white eyes stared straight into orange ones.
After what seemed like a few minutes, Amber broke it off, slightly unnerved about how the other kept eying him curiously.
"Soo...whatcha up to?" It asked, eyes full of an odd excitement.
" Uh..Just passing through...and nothing at all?"
"Well, which one is it? I mean 'cas you can't exactly do both of those things at once."
Amber cut it off with a wave of a hoof, "Let me ask you the same question."
The other quickly became quiet.
It then smiled and offered a hoof, "Nice ta meet'cha Amber! Although that is kinda a silly name for a colt."
Amber bristled, "Is not!"
The other placed a hoof on his lips, "Oh hush. I was only joking."
Amber stared for a moment, then whipped his mane back, shoved the mirror back into its pocket, and started to walk off.
"H..hey! Where are you going?!?" The rock called out.
"Don't care!"
"That doesn't seem very smart!" The rock started after him, "I mean, you gotta know where you're going right?"
Amber groaned. This trip was going to be a lot longer.
****
The rock pony was not showing any signs that it was going away. It followed him for at least two hours by now and even managed to track him down once Amber finally managed to lose it on his fourth try. It was starting to get annoying, even creepy.
Amber pegged the rock pony as another colt, and managed to coax it into telling him so. He wouldn't answer any other questions though. Not his name, his age, or his reason (if any) for following Amber around. Amber decided to refer to him as 'Rock', and he answered to it readily.
The two continued on the muddy road, Rock telling Amber, in much detail, why he thought Amber was a funny name and that Amber wasn't very smart seeing as he doesn't care about destinations. This quickly turned into an argument with Amber getting nowhere at all. He was about to launch into a tirade of his own when Rock pointed out a large forest that took up most of the next horizon.
Despite being ready to drop along with the sun, Amber reasoned it would be safer to camp out in a forest than out in the open regardless of what was in said forest. Rock had no complaints and was almost rushing Amber into the forest.
Once inside the forest Rock seemed to have forgotten the concept of 'personal space' and was constantly getting close enough to Amber to trip him a few times. Amber would try to scare him away with his angriest glares but only received sheepish grins in response, After the eighth time, he gave up on trying to chase Rock away and grudgingly accepted his presence.
Rock was being only quiet now. Every now and then he would get really quiet and whip is head around as if he was looking for something. Amber commented on this, but only got offhanded 'nothing's as a reply. Amber's trip with his unwanted companion continued much like this up until nightfall, and then Rock firmly planted himself down and declared that he'd be going no farther.
As much as Amber wanted to continue without him, another pair of eyes would defiantly be useful, so he tried his best to convince Rock to keep going, at least for a little while. Rock refused.
"Come on Rock, just a bit farther. It's not that hard." He reasoned.
Rock shook his head like a foal, "No way! Besides, we got no idea what's out there!"
"Neither do we here."
Rock sighed dejectedly, "Oh alright...it you really want to."
Amber rolled his eyes, "Fine, we can rest here."
Although he could never prove it, Amber swore that he saw a tiny smirk on his companion's face. Amber shrugged and smiled too. He just got played like a mother and her foal! 'I'll get him next time,' Amber thought as he lay down to sleep for the first time in two days.
"Uh...Amber?"
"What Rock?"
"Thanks."
Amber let out a puff of breath as his response and was about to drift off when he remembered just how he lost his old saddlebag.
****
"Ya, no worries Mr. Amber, I gotcha covered all nice and safe!"
"Th..thank you very much for watching my bags! I be right back ok?"
"No, no. Thank you..."
****
And that's why Amber was short his favorite saddlebag. Tired as he was, he didn't feel like getting robbed a second time. Angrily the stomped over to where Rock was laying down, with the latter looking terrified.
"OK," Amber shouted as loudly and threateningly as he could manage, "Jig's up! Where's all your little bandit friends hm? Tell me and I won't have to hurt you too badly!"
"Ahh! Ahhhh!" Tears started to form in Rock's eyes, much to the confusion of the now savvy Amber, "What..wha...whaddya...mean? Rob you?!? I..I thought you where going to rob ME! That's why I stayed still when you found me! I thought you were a nice pony...and...and..." Further comments were downed out by full out crying.
"Uh...I...erm...I..." Amber was at a loss for words, caught completely off guard by Rock's reaction He tried to pat Rock reassuringly saying he wasn't trying to be mean, but was swatted aside and called 'A big mean, rude, un-smart, meanie mean face' between the hiccups caused by Rock's tears.
Amber sat and shook his head. This was...unexpected. Amber searched his head for anything he could do to calm down the crying Rock. Objectively, his noise could attract more unwanted attention- but personally the teary eyed Rock reminded him too much of his younger brother back home when one of Amber's pranks got out of hoof.
Then he knew exactly what to do. He lifted Rock's head and made him look at him, then wrapped his arms around the other.
After a few more hiccups Rock quietly whispered: "Apology accepted.'
|
He_who_wins
|
944
| 2 |
Original Character,Adventure,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Outsider's Tales
|
A traveling storypony looks for a story that could not only tell...but take a part of!
|
incomplete
| -1 | -1 |
<p>After years of collecting and retelling the fantastic stories of other wonderful heroes, a young pony decides its time to stop sitting on the sidelines and make his own adventure! After all, occording to the stories, it ought to be a quick, easy, and relativly painless experience.<br/>Right?</p><p>Time to go on an adventure and find out what it takes to have a story worth telling!</p><p>((First story ever, so [constructive] comments are very appreciated! Very OC based with a mostly OC driven storyline for those that worry about that stuff :P)</p>
|
teen
|
2011-12-31T05:14:09+00:00
|
2011-12-31T05:14:09+00:00
| 361 |
Amber and his now like-it-or-not friend Rock (who looked very much like his namesake) managed to get through the night in an unknown forest. Despite that neither pony knew anything about the other, they slowly began to warm up to each other.
Once Rock calmed down enough, he mentioned that he didn't have anything with him at all. This was fine with Amber since he was in the same situation- only he was armed with his incredible cracked mirror and still soggy cloak.
Unfortunately, neither pony had the tools or talent to build a fire at all so the night was spent entirely in the dark. It was only now did Rock mention his fear dark. Naturally Amber rolled his eyes. When questioned why Rock didn't mention that earlier Rock simply stated that, "It wasn't dark then." Again Amber rolled his eyes.
So the night was spent with Rock tightly clinging to Amber. Rather than let himself get too bored and to avoid further suffocation, Amber began a rather lengthy conversation which passed the night faster than they both expected...
****
Amber was feeling very awkward with Rock squeezing him as he was. Every time he would try to pry him off Rock would just squeeze harder, complain about Amber being mean again, and then bury his face as deep as he could into Amber's chest. Amber flushed with embarrassment as he gave up.
"So, uh, Rock?"
"Mhm?"
"That's not your real name, right?"
Rock gave a single muffled grunt in assent. Amber chuckled, 'What a kid.'
"Feel like telling me your actual one?"
Two more mumbles, an obvious 'no'.
"Why not?"
Rock gave three replies this time, although Amber couldn't quite make out what that exactly means.
Rock peeked his face out from Amber to translate, 'Idunno,' before forcing it back.
Amber scoffed. Definitely a kid.
After a few moments Amber noticed that the other pony was strangely quiet and still. Alarmed, he took a quick look at his companion. Rock's breaths were long and steady, and as far as he could tell Rock had almost fallen asleep.
"Hey...Amber.." asked a quiet voice, "How 'bout," a yawn, "You tell me about yours first..kay?"
"If you're in for a bedtime story then..."
A dozy nod from Rock.
Amber took a deep breath, "Well, okay. It's not all too complicated really. See, you know what amber really is right? Tree sap or somethin' like that. Sap that gets fossilized."
"Its...'caz you're amber colored isn't it?"
Amber tweaked one of Rock's ears. "No interruptions. And it isn't. What happens is that stuff from a long, long time ago can get stuck in it, and then years and years and years later, it still there. Stuck and preserved in the amber!"
"So...you...preserve things?"
"More or less. I'm...I'm a story pony." Amber smiled, "Kind of. It's a family tradition. And I'm sorta new at this. I mean I just started last month or so."
Rock's interest was piqued and out went the idea of sleeping, "Oh wow! A storypony? No kidding?"
Amber shrugged as best he could, "Yeah. I really am."
Rock pushed right off Amber and instantly turned around and pinned Amber down, his eyes alight, "Oh! Oh! So that must mean you've got a bunch of stories to tell! Ooo, ooo tell me one!"
"It...it doesn't work like that..."
Absolutely stunned, Rock sat back on his haunches. How could there be a storypony with nothing to tell?!?
Amber caught the look on his friend's face and explained, "I'm not that kind of storypony. Sorry. I guess it's more like...a story...collector...pony."
Rock cocked his head to one side, still confused.
"Look. I need to find a story worth having. A story cool enough to be told. A story which, by tradition (or at least so my pa says), I need to be a part of. I can't go around willy-nilly telling ponies the same old stories over and over again, can I? Like my pa told me before I left myself-"
Amber stood up and puffed himself up as best as he could. The effect was quite ridiculous, something more akin to a golden pony trying its best to imitate a cloud and barely keeping a straight face, "If ya think ya can jest go out there an repete everythin' everypony else is sayin', then ya ain't I bright as I hoped ya are. They already-"
Amber broke down into gales a hooting laughter with Rock quickly following suit. After a few breathless attempts, Amber got started on his impersonation again.
"They...ha...They already herd them stories already me boy...and....oh Celestia...they don't wanna here them same ol' same ol'. They want sometin NEW! So git yer lazy flank outta here and find us a new 'un. An' don't think ya can just go be on and not do anything! Ya gotta be IN it, ya hear? Now..."
Again, Amber was cut short by his laughter. He tried to explain, "See...my pa was horribly drunk when he told me that! Haha, and he's a professional storypony...really...ha..good with accents.....he lapsed into four different ones when he told me that!"
The two friends laughed and laughed throughout the night.
***
Or at least killed off the better part of an hour. Now the two's situation was reversed- Amber managed to laugh himself to sleep while Rock was wide awake was wasn't about to fall asleep again anytime soon.
Rock pranced around the 'campsite' giggling to himself. Amber's dad seemed like a hilarious pony, somepony he ought to meet some time. He looked back at his amber-furred friend. He looked so peaceful, yet so strong and brave for falling asleep out here. And so utterly boring!
Filled to the top with excited energy Rock was ready to do...something! But..not too far from Amber. It was still dark- just enough light to make out where Amber lay. Some of Rock's exuberance died out just then.
Rock groaned and began pacing around Amber in a tight circle. Rock didn't mind the dark too much if Amber was around. He seemed to know what he was doing. 'He's been out for a month,' Rock rationalized, 'So he must know how to handle himself.'
He briefly contemplated waking him up to ask him why he wasn't as bothered as he was, but wisely decided against it. He'd probably just tell him to go back to sleep, which was totally impossible.
Rock frowned at glared at the dark for be so...dark. He sighed and began trotting slowly away from the safety of Amber. He wouldn't mind if he just took a look around. Of course not.
***
It took a few tries, but Rock managed to take enough brave steps away to get a better look of the surrounding forest. So far it was just...a bunch of trees. Big, big trees that were really tall with enough leaves to block out most of the moonlight. A bunch of bushes, a few smaller trees, and lots of moss. Otherwise a forest.
Rock was about to turn back and try to sleep when something caught his eye. A couple trees off there was a large patch of moss growing on the side of one of the larger tree trunks. What was so special was that particular patch of moss was glowing a pale blue glow.
Drawn to it like a moth to a light, Rock slowly made his way towards it. He took one glance back towards sleeping Amber and kept going. Totally fixated on the moss, Rock forgot all about the encompassing dark and found himself at the moss patch faster than the thought he'd be.
He turned around to call out for Amber to check this out, when. He gasped. He must've forgotten how dark it was or misjudged how far off this moss was or something- but...the important thing was that Amber was nowhere in sight!
Panic welled up in Rock before he forced it back down. Gritting his teeth the tried to think of a solution. Naturally, he figured that if he were to walk back exactly how he did when he got here, he'd end up where he started. Easy.
Right before he started, he rushed back and swiped his tail across the moss and dragged a hoof across it too for good measure. Now, in case his plan didn't work out, he'd at least know where he came from. Rock silently congratulated his good thinking. He felt oh-so confident and even a little bit smug as he trotted off in the same direction he left in.
****
Amber was having a nice dream about sunshine and rainbows and rolling around on the grass with a old mare friend of his. Key word being 'was'.
Having been just recently accustomed to Rock's endless chatter, the odd quiet surrounding him was jarring enough to even invade his dream. Talk about a loud silence. At first he chalked it up to being Rock just needing to take care of his 'business', Amber calmly waited a few minutes for him to come back.
After the fourth, he decided it was time to go looking for him. Unfortunatly, it was still to dark to see and nowhere near daytime. Judging by the moon, an hour or so had past. Not good. Worse than not good.
Without anyway to see for himself Amber would just get lost trying to find the lost Rock. The obvious solution was to make some light- which wasn't going to happen- or to wait until the sun rolled around, which wasn't happening either.
Amber groaned and thought things over in his head. Why should he care anyway? He was just a random stranger, nothing wrong with them going seperate ways. But still, a lingering doubt hung in his mind. Rock was obviously young and more than a little naive, but he did meet him all the way out here in the wilderness. So it was all a facade most likely.
Amber rolled through the possible scenerios through his head over and over. Rock could've just gone out to chase after something, or maybe wanted some privacy after all. Or he could've just ditched him. Or maybe something awful happened to him!
As Amber saw it, he had two options: either accept the loss and move on, or spend the rest of the night tearing down the entire forest looking for him and not get any sleep at all and just be rewarded with a hug or somthing stupid.
He donned his cloak and let out an exasperated breath, "Once I find him...oh Celstia help him..."
|
Unicron
|
947
| 1 |
Applejack,Big Macintosh,DJ P0N-3,Derpy Hooves,Fluttershy,Octavia,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Rainbow Dash,Trixie,Twilight Sparkle,Random,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Pony Tickling Stories
|
just a random fanfic had nothing else to do
|
incomplete
| 50 | 10 |
<p>This is a random story, I really had nothing else to do, I did this just for fun. You may rate it and comment it as you please just nothing too negative please. If you want to make a request on which pony I should tickle next, say in the comments or message me, If I have time I would be happy to fill out your request. (I will tickle Orignal Characters if you want me too, just make sure the owner of the charecter says yes) </p><p>I AM IN NEED OF IDEAS.</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-09-26T19:48:51+00:00
|
2011-09-26T19:48:51+00:00
| 20,272 |
Vinyl Scratch gets tickled
Vinyl Scratch was shackled to the table where she lay, she was shackled in an X position.
“Ugg,” she tried to break free “where I’m I!?!? Leme go!!!”
“Nah… I don’t feel like it, but I’ll tell ya what, you admit my classical music is better than your “cool” music, and I let you go.” It was Octavia and standing beside her were two Minicons (miniature transformers)
“I’d rather eat glass.” Vinyl shouted
“Suit yourself.” Octavia said
The two Minicons came toward her and put their hands on her stomach, Vinyl immediately broke out a smile; Vinyl knew she was death ticklish, if someone were to even touch her stomach, she might start laughing. The black Minicon started gently stroking Vinyl’s sides, and she broke out in uncontrollable laughter.
“Wow Scratch, I haven’t truly even started yet and already taking it harshly.” Octavia calmly said
Aahahaha I’ll never admit that your noise is better hahahaha.”
The Minicon that was tickling her sides moved onto her stomach, Vinyl regained control over her laughter and started just giggling slightly.
“Hee…hee…stop…I’m really ticklish, and I mean really you heeheeheehee have to stop…”
The Minicon that tickled her belly moved back to her side and Vinyl broke out in laughter again, the other Minicon started tickling her underleg (underarm) Vinyl broke out in tears, and more laughter
“Stop PLEEHEEHEEHEEASE You don’t know AAAHAHHAAHAHA know what you’re doing!”
Octavia ordered them to tickle her faster so she wouldn’t have to hear her pleas, both Minicons moved to her ribcage, Vinyl started struggling in her shackles .
“GAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA STAAAHAHAP!!!!”
One of the Minicons stopped tickling her ribcage, it got out a feather and stroking her back hooves. Then another Minicon came in and started tickling her lower stomach, now there were three Minicons tickling her.
“YOU’RE KILLING ME!!! AAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!” Vinyl wouldn’t say that Octavia’s music was better, no matter what she did to her.
All three stopped, one Minicon came and sat on top of her, he leaned and tickled her stomach, hard, Vinyl begged for this torture to stop, she said she would do anything, expect say Octavia’s music was better. The tickling only intensified, now rivers of tears where under the table.
It was going overboard, It was too much for her, her ribs started to ache, she was losing her voice, and she was dehydrated.
“Octavia ha…ha… please its…starting to hurt…”
Octavia paid no attention to Vinyl, and signaled them to tickle her lower body, Vinyl’s upper body hurt a lot. One of the Minicons tickled her waist, one tickled her thighs and the third tickled her hooves.
Vinyl broke out in hysterical laughter again, no more tears came down her face, because she was dehydrated, and her voice was fading away.
“Please Octavia heehee…,” she was trying to speak, “Your hurting…me...my throat hurts haha please at least can I have some water…”
“Haha you think I’m falling for that, the tickling doesn’t stop until you admit that my music is better!” Octavia shouted.
Normally Scratch would just get over with it but she didn’t, she was stubborn when it came to music, her music was great, she wouldn’t say something like that, she wouldn’t lose her pride.
She started coughing, but the tickling did not stop, her laughs became, coughs.
“I can’t breathe,” she moaned while faintly laughing, please Octavia you really haha are going to kill me… for real…”
Octavia chuckled she didn’t listen to her begging, but her face changed when she saw Vinyl’s face started to turn blue, she ordered them to stop.
Vinyl kept coughing for five minutes, but she was breathing, when she regained her breath she said
“WHAT THE HAY ARE YOU TRYNG TO DO, KILL ME!?!?!?!?” She screamed
“heh…heh… sorry didn’t know, but don’t think I’m done with you, I’m giving you an hour to rest…”
Octavia walked out of the room with the three Minicons. Vinyl stared up at the light that was staring down at her, she turned her head to the side and she drifted off to sleep…
****
“wakey wakey sleepy head!” Octavia said cheerfully
“An hour can’t be over yet…”Vinyl said in a very tired tone
“I gave ya two, cause I was feeling nice” Octavia said
One of the Minicons starting stroking Vinyl’s tummy with a feather he did it very gently, Vinyl giggled
“heehee…why do I haha get the feeling you’re heeheehee… just doing this hehheh… for your own pleasure.”
Octavia said nothing.
The Minicon tickled her thighs and waist again he switched every five seconds. Scratch was laughing helplessly, she was completely helpless to the tickling. The other Minicon got out a brush and tickled her hooves he held down her leg to prevent her from twitching in the shackles.
N—no more okay, I can’t take it, alright you music is better than mine, I admit it just no more t—tickling heehee.”
The Minicons unshackled her, and Vinyl sighed in relief, but they held her tight and strapped her to a frame suspended in midair, a Minicon came from behind her and put his arms around her and tickled her sides, another came from the front and tickled her ribcage.
“GAAAAAAHAHAHA NO MORE NO MORE WAAAHAHAHAHA THAT’S MY TICKLE SPOT! AAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”
One tickling her ribcage and another tickling her sides from behind was too much for her she took a deep breath in and sucked up all the breath left inside her lungs and screamed
"SOMEPONY HELP MEEE!!!!!!"
“Heehee, it’s a soundproof room Scratch nopony can here you.” Octavia chuckled.
It was too much Vinyl started crying (and laughing) Please,” she sobbed “AAHAHAHAHA I admitted you music was better please let me go heehee!
There was no response, Octavia looked at her with a grin on her face and signaled them to tickle her faster and harder
The Minicons started to tickle her faster and harder . The Minicon in the back of her stopped tickling her sides and tickled her lower belly.
AAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA…CAN’T TAKE IT, CANT TAHAHAKE IIIT!!!!!”
Vinyl’s heart was pounding, she was panting and out of breath. The Minicon in front of her that was tickling her ribcage stopped, and got out two soft paint brushes, he started tickling under her front legs while the minicon behind her tickled her lower tummy then sides then upper tummy, he switched ever ten seconds.
Vinyl was completely helpless, and she laughed uncontrollably as she tried with all her little pony might to break out of the shackles.
“AAAAHAHAHA IT’S TOO MUCH TOO MUCH WWHAAHAHAHAHAHA I’M GONA DIE!!!!!! AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Octavia trotted over to her “Having fun Scratch, cause I sure am.”
“PLEHEEASE STAAHAHAHAAAAHAHA!!!!” Vinyl couldn’t speak in complete sentences anymore because her laughter interrupted what she was trying to say
“Sorry Scratch, can’t quite understand, you want them to tickle you faster? Well ok…”
“HAHA MAKE THEM STAHAHAHAHAHAP! MAKE THEM STAAAP!!!!” Vinyl screamed
Then they tickled even harder, Vinyl was shaking a million miles an hour in her shackles , she thought to herself “I can’t believe… I’m going to die… because of tickling…” She thought she was done for, she thought this was pure torture, she just wanted it to end, she just wanted to just die, death had to be better that this. Before she knew it they were tickling even harder and it was just too much for Vinyl Scratch and she passed out…
****
She awoke up on the porch next to the back door of her house the first thing she felt was pain, intense pain. Her ribs ached and the rest of her body as well
“Uhh…,” she couldn’t pick herself up to open the door, “well at least I ain’t dead…” she moaned
She tried crawling on her stomach to the door.
AAAARRRHHH!!!” she wrenched in pain
She rolled on her back and shook her head to get her purple glasses off, she looked up at the night sky.
“I guess I’m here on my porch for the night, By Celestia my aching stomach.” She rubbed her tummy for a while and she
looked back up at the night sky, and soon she drifted off to sleep.
End
|
Unicron
|
947
| 2 |
Applejack,Big Macintosh,DJ P0N-3,Derpy Hooves,Fluttershy,Octavia,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Rainbow Dash,Trixie,Twilight Sparkle,Random,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Pony Tickling Stories
|
just a random fanfic had nothing else to do
|
incomplete
| 50 | 10 |
<p>This is a random story, I really had nothing else to do, I did this just for fun. You may rate it and comment it as you please just nothing too negative please. If you want to make a request on which pony I should tickle next, say in the comments or message me, If I have time I would be happy to fill out your request. (I will tickle Orignal Characters if you want me too, just make sure the owner of the charecter says yes) </p><p>I AM IN NEED OF IDEAS.</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-09-26T19:47:14+00:00
|
2011-09-26T19:47:14+00:00
| 32,146 |
Rainbow Dash gets tickled
She kept struggling on the table,
“Who are you ponies?!?!” Rainbow screamed as she struggled
“I want to know more about you.” Something came out of the shadows it was something…it over hung from the ceiling
“What the hay are you!!?!” Rainbow kept struggling.
“ Stop struggling (Subject name here) you will want to save you energy, for the party that I have made for you.”
“What party! the room is completely white!” Rainbow yelled
“You’re not happy. I want you to be happy, this is your party you know.” It spoke a small claw came from the ceiling. And started scratching Rainbows belly.”
“Maybe I should stimulate you touch receptors, 72% of all subjects demonstrate cheerful emotions when touch receptors
are stimulated.” It spoke again.
Rainbow couldn’t move as the small claw scratched her belly she was giggling a bit
“This…haha isn’t…funny… stop it!” she giggled
Another small claw came down from the ceiling and tickled her side, the other claw did the same thing.
“AHAHAHAHAHAH! CUT IT OUT!” Rainbow laughed
“You are enjoying this, your emotions signal that you are 99.99999999999999998% enjoying this, that is enough scientific information to not make me stop.
The claws that tickled her went faster
“PLEHEEHEEHEEASE NO MORE I’M REALLY, REALLY TICKLISH!!!!”
Rainbow Dash begged and begged for it to stop, tears started to rain down her face, and her tail was wagging back and forth.
“WHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!! AAAAAHHHHH!!!!” she screamed
Two more claws came down and started to tickle her back hooves. Rainbow burst out in uncontrollable laughter, she shook her head back and forth and tried to flail her legs but the shackles held her firm in place. Her back legs were completely immobile. She was totally helpless. The claws that tickled her back hooves moved to her thighs, which made her scream even louder.
“OH CELESTIA, PLEASE STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!!!!!!” she laughed
“See you are enjoying this.” The overhanging robot said.
The claws tickling her sides started to move up and down her belly, they moved up and down, in a stroking motion, looking for a sensitive area to tickle. They settled with her lower belly and waist. Rainbow screamed and begged but it didn’t stop.
The claws tickled faster.
“NO, NO, NO NAHHAHAHAHHA!” Rainbow Dash laughed
It was too much for her and she wet herself.
“You are really enjoying this; I will make them go faster, just for you.” It said
“NOOOO AAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA AAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!”
Then one big claw came down , one side of the claw was on one of her sides and one side on the other, the claw started vibrating. Rainbow started vibrating as well. She started to lose it,
“STAPIT! STAPIT! OH ICANTBREATHE!!!!!!” she yelled and laughed again.
Teas were just pouring down from her face, she tried struggling again but the shackles and the huge claw held her in place, while smaller claws tickled her belly and hooves.
“feeling comfortable?” It asked Rainbow responded in laughs and screams.
A machine then was activated to hold her head in place, it was like a neck brace, and on the back of It were vibrators which tickled the back and sides of her neck.
“So (subject name here) want some more?,”
“NOOOOOOOOOO! PLEEEEEEAAASE STAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAP AAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!”
Rainbow couldn’t move at all she was totally immobile, she now couldn’t even struggle. It was way to much than she could handle.
“MAKE EM STOP MAKE EM STOP!!!!!!!” Rainbow screamed it was way too much and she passed out.
She woke up again almost as soon as she slipped unconscious.
“There you fell asleep but I woke you up with the magic of adrenaline.”
Rainbow shook for a while but then she became stable. The tickling began again.
“Please heehee I can…take this…I can take a lot…of things haha… but not this…”
Rainbow started to cry. Her cries became sobs. She BEGGED for it to stop.
“Now your emotions say that you are not enjoying this. Well boohoo, I don’t feel like stopping.”
The claws moved to her ribcage, Rainbow shrieked, her ribs were her tickle spot. Rainbow was still immobile, so she couldn’t even twitch. They slowly stroked her ribcage while her tears made a large puddle under the table. Her heart pounded really fast in her chest.
“Stap….” Rainbow panted “I can’t do this….anymore…I’ll do anything…if you JUST STOP!!!
WWWWHHAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
The overhanging robot continued to torture Rainbow Dash for hours. But Rainbow didn’t know that, because she had lost her sense of time, she had no idea if this had gone on for two days or two hours.
“I CAN’T GO THOUGH THIS ANYMORE!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH”
They tickled her waist, and her sides, there was absolutely nothing she could do.
“Do you want to go home?” It asked” then it stopped tickling
“Yes…yes…please…I…wana….go….home.” Rainbow was sweating.
“Well I know you want to go home, but I don’t want you to go home, so there.” It started tickling her again
They stroked her soft ,sensitive, light blue coat over and over again.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!” Rainbow cried
Rainbow then passed out AGAIN. But it just gave her more adrenaline and she woke up again, and the ticking resumed.
“Stop passing out its very annoying, because I have to find another shot of adrenaline, and there very hard to find you
know.” It said
“STOP THE TICKLING AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!”
“My wings” she thought to herself “I forgot about my wings!” she beat her wings furiously and managed to hit the button on the bottom of the table she shot up and flew off at amazing speeds. She flew for an hour and then got out of the building she didn’t stop flying until she reached her cloud home, she panted as she laid on her bed, she laid there for an hour, before falling fast asleep.
|
Unicron
|
947
| 3 |
Applejack,Big Macintosh,DJ P0N-3,Derpy Hooves,Fluttershy,Octavia,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Rainbow Dash,Trixie,Twilight Sparkle,Random,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Pony Tickling Stories
|
just a random fanfic had nothing else to do
|
incomplete
| 50 | 10 |
<p>This is a random story, I really had nothing else to do, I did this just for fun. You may rate it and comment it as you please just nothing too negative please. If you want to make a request on which pony I should tickle next, say in the comments or message me, If I have time I would be happy to fill out your request. (I will tickle Orignal Characters if you want me too, just make sure the owner of the charecter says yes) </p><p>I AM IN NEED OF IDEAS.</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-09-29T21:37:54+00:00
|
2011-09-29T21:37:54+00:00
| 26,051 |
Applejack gets tickled.
Dusk walked over to four stakes which made a square.
"lay in the middle." Dusk said to her,
Applejack walked over to the middle of the stakes and laid down on her back. Dusk tied Applejack's stretched out front hooves and hind hooves tied the stakes so she was in a stretched out spread eagle position.
"Now time to make you laugh." Dusk said.
"So tell me why you want to do you want to do this?" Applejack asked, Dusk smirked and got out a box of tickle tools.
Dusk got two feathers from the cardboard box and tickled under Applejack's front legs. It made Applejack laugh and squirm around. Dusk then tickled Applejack's belly with his tail making her laughter increase a lot. Dusk levitated two brushes and made them hover over Applejack's back hooves and began to brush them. Applejack's laughter sky rocketed. Dusk then blew a huge raspberry in her belly making her squeal hard with laughter.
Dusk then got out two feather dusters and he tickled Applejack's sides making Applejack laugh really hard and buck in her bonds.
“All right, quit it, it ain’t funny no more! Hahahahah.” Applejack said
Dusk tickled her faster, Applejack started shaking, and He moved the two feather dusters from her sides to her thighs. Applejack laughed uncontrollably. She kicked her four legs, but Dusk kept the feather dusters on her thighs.
“Heh, heh, heh, I’m beggin ya, no more, pleheeheeheese!” Applejack begged “This was only supposed to be a game ya no, you’re turnin it into torture!”
Dusk stopped tickling her thighs and got out a spinning brush mechanism. Applejack looked at him in horror.
“No please don’t, we were only playin, this has gone overboard.” Applejack begged again.
“So what do I care, your tied down, and completely helpless, I can do whatever I like with you.” Dusk said tauntingly.
He switched it on, and put it on Applejacks belly. Applejack thrashed around, kicked and begged. But he wouldn’t turn it off. Applejack was laughing helplessly. She was squirming everywhere
“Stop squirming!” he said
“WHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH CUT IT OUT STAP IT!!!!!” Applejack screamed “I AM SO TELLIN YOUR PARENTS AAAAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!”
Dusk moved a rotating spinning brush slowly to her waist. Applejack thrashed some more, tears poured down her eyes.
“if you threaten tell my mom, I’ll just tickle you harder, my mom’s outa town until tomorrow, maybe I could do this aaaalllll night…” Dusk taunted her again
“YOU LIL’ BRAT AAAAAAAAAHHH AAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!” Applejack yelled at him.
“Dusk turned off the sander. Applejack panted and breathed heavily.
“You sure are more ticklish than I imagined…heh heh…” Dusk said calmly to her “What should I do next…..hmmm” Dusk thought.
“I’ll tell ya’ll what you should do next, untie me from these here ropes and let me go!” Applejack yelled again.
“But that would be…to boring.” Dusk said
Dusk got out a thick, soft paint brush with his magic and stroked her chest lightly, it made her giggle only slightly, when he found out it wasn’t effective enough, he moved back under her front legs. Applejack’s giggles became, laughs. Dusk stroked up and down. Dusk then moved the stakes farther apart, now the stakes were in a rectangle, and Applejacks front legs were high above her head. Applejack couldn’t thrash around as much now. Dusk continued to tickle under Applejack’s front legs for five minutes. Then he moved again. The filly then sat on top of Applejack and put her hooves to her belly, he rubbed her belly gently, then harder
“Cut it out, ya brat, GHAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHH!!!!!!” Dusk tickled her even harder to block out her pleas and begs for mercy.”
Dusk got off the tired Applejack. “So, Applejack…where’s your tickle spot?...” He asked with a grin on his face.
“I ain’t got none.” She muttered
“Everypony has a tickle spot. Even you.” Dusk chuckled
Dusk continued to torture Applejack for hours on end.
“Please….”she groaned “no more, I won’t tell ya mom, just please let me up…”
Dusk totally ignored her, And he laid out a whole bunch of brushes out in front of her, Dusk picked four. Dusk used his magic to tickle Applejack’s thighs and back hooves. Applejack started to tear up again, she slammed her eyes shut and tried to resist, she thought “Maybe if I don’t laugh…he’ll stop.” She used her effort to stop laughing, but the tears came natural, tears came in waterfalls down her face, she couldn’t take much more resisting.
“You can’t resist forever Applejack…” Dusk slowed the speed of the brushes tickling her thighs an increased the speed of
the brushes tickling her back hooves. Applejack started shaking, the slow strokes to her thighs were just torture, she could feel all of the hairs of the brush stroking her thighs and it really, really tickled. Applejack started sweating. She used all the strength inside her to utter out a sentence without a giggle.
“Ya know, this…doesn’t….tickle…..ugg…” It was hard to utter out but she managed to do it.
Dusk saw that it did tickle, so he made it harder on her by making the brushes on her hooves stop, and move to her thighs, but first he stretched out the stakes some more so she couldn’t twitch her hind legs. Dusk slowly and gently tickled her thighs with four brushes. Applejack shook even more “Don’t know how long I can resist…” she thought to herself. More tears came from her face.
“C’mon Applejack laugh, you know you wana.” Dusk said to her
This wasn’t making it bored for him, it was making it fun for him. Dusk slowed the brushes again. All those soft hairs on her thighs, just tickled to much, way to much, it really, really, really, really tickled and Applejack burst out in uncontrollable, helpless cackling. She tried to thrash around.
“That’s right Applejack just laugh…” he said
Dusk got out two more brushes, and he moved them over her ribcage. Now there were four brushes tickling her thighs and two one her ribcage.
“PLEHEEEHEEHEEASE I’LL GIVE YA ANYTHING, JUST NO MORE, PLEASE NO MORE GHAAHAAHAAHAAHAA!!!!!!!” Applejack screamed
Then Dusk moved all the brushes on all sides of her waist. He stroked her waist very fast. Applejack squealed,
“SOMEPONY HELP MEEEHEEHEEE THIS LIL BRAT KEEPS ON TICKLIN MEEEHEEHEE!!!!!”
Applejack used all of her might to snap the ropes that held her in place. But whatever they were made of was impossible to snap. Applejack shook her head so much her hat flew off her head, Dusk could see the tears flooding down her cheeks, and he snickered at her.
Dusk stopped stroking her and out right pounced on her; he used his hooves to tickle all over her belly. Applejack could be seen with the sight of laughter, but she uttered no sound, Dusk used his hooves faster, Applejack shook from all the pressure that Dusk was putting on her. She regained her voice
“I’LL DO ANYTHING FOR YA, JUST STOP THE TICKLIN PLEASE WHAAAAAAHAHAHAHAAHAHA!!!!!!!”
“Then how about you just stay tied here, while I tickle you.” He said calmly
“YOU ARE ONE EVIL LIL’ FILLY YA KNOW THAT!!!!!!!!!!!” Applejack was cut off by her own laughter
“and You are one ticklish big pony you know that?” Dusk taunted back
Dusk tickled her faster with his hooves. Dusk just smiled at Applejack.
“BWHAAHHAHHAHAH TOO MUCH TOO MUCH HAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…UH…uhhh….ug…uhhhhh…………………….” Applejack passed out.
“Applejack?” Dusk asked “Oh…no…I-I…think I killed her… Gotta get outa here!” Dusk ran as fast as his little legs would carry him.
****
“Jackie…? You alright?” Applejack slowly opened her eyes, It was Big Macintosh.
“Uhhh….” She could move one leg Macintosh was biting the ropes that held her down.
“Somepony was ticklin me Big Mac, I’m totally beat…” Even though she was untied she still lay on the ground. Macintosh scooped her up and her hat and carried her on her back, back to her bed.
Applejack was already asleep, as Macintosh tucked her in her bed, and left the room and closed the door behind him
“Night Jackie.” He said before blowing out the light.
Note: Dusk is one of my orignal characters. If you want me to tell which pony I should tickle next, just say so in the comments or message me, I would be very happy (if theres time) to fill out your request. I request that you do leave a comment on which pony I should tickle next, cause I can't decide which pony I should write about being tickled.
|
Unicron
|
947
| 4 |
Applejack,Big Macintosh,DJ P0N-3,Derpy Hooves,Fluttershy,Octavia,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Rainbow Dash,Trixie,Twilight Sparkle,Random,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Pony Tickling Stories
|
just a random fanfic had nothing else to do
|
incomplete
| 50 | 10 |
<p>This is a random story, I really had nothing else to do, I did this just for fun. You may rate it and comment it as you please just nothing too negative please. If you want to make a request on which pony I should tickle next, say in the comments or message me, If I have time I would be happy to fill out your request. (I will tickle Orignal Characters if you want me too, just make sure the owner of the charecter says yes) </p><p>I AM IN NEED OF IDEAS.</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-09-30T20:04:59+00:00
|
2011-09-30T20:04:59+00:00
| 42,141 |
Fluttershy gets Tickled (Requested by Hazel)
Fluttershy gulped
“I’ don’t think I wana do this…” she spoke very softly.
“I can’t here you, you don’t speak loud enough!” It was Rainbow Dash she was tying Fluttershy to her own bed. She was tightening the bonds so she couldn’t flail around.
Rainbow looked at the immobile Fluttershy, and grinned at her. Fluttershy gulped again. Rainbow Dash pulled out one of her wings and stroked Fluttershy’s belly, Fluttershy giggled.
“Does this tickle?” Rainbow asked, as she moved her wings to her sides.
Fluttershy squealed with laughter.
“Heeheeheehee!” she squealed
“Choochie! Choochie! Coo! Rainbow said as she got on the squirming Fluttershy and put her hooves to her sides.
Fluttershy laughed helplessly, she shook in her bonds as Rainbow tickled her sides, Rainbow then moved her hooves up under her front legs. She used her wings to continue tickling her sides
“Ahahahahha! Rainbow Please….” Fluttershy still spoke in a soft tone
Rainbow then blew a raspberry on her belly, which finally made her break out in loud laughter.
“WHAHAHAHAHAHAH HEEHEEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!” Fluttershy beat her wings as Rainbow kept blowing raspberries on to her belly.
Rainbow then nuzzled Fluttershy’s tummy with her nose. Fluttershy’s laughter died down a bit.
“What? That doesn’t tickle, I can fix that.” Rainbow then tickled both of her back hooves with her wings, it made tears come down her cheeks.
“What are you doing to poor Fluttershy?” Twilight came in the room.
“Tickling her…” Rainbow said
“Can I join in?” Twilight said
“Sure.” Dash said to her
Twilight came over to Fluttershy and levitated a brush and started stroking under her front leg. “Sorry Fluttershy.” She said as she tickled
Rainbow rubbed her tummy, while Twilight started to tickle both of her sides. Fluttershy shook around, in a pathetic attempt
to shake them off. Her mouth was wide open, laughing really loud
“GUYS YOU HAVE TO STOP, I’M REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY TICKLISH!!!!!
GHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!” She squealed.
“Shouldn’t have told us that!” Rainbow Dash laughed and she started to rub her tummy faster.
Twilight moved to her lower body, where she used brushes to tickle her hooves again. Fluttershy was laughing and screaming at the top of her lungs, Twilight had never seen Fluttershy smile like this before, so she tickled her faster, Rainbow moved her hooves to Fluttershy’s ribcage. This made Fluttershy scream and try to push away Rainbow Dash with her wings. Twilight used her magic to control Fluttershy’s wings, Twilight made Fluttershy’s wings to stoke her ribcage so Rainbow didn’t have to.
“PLEASE, SOMEPONY HELP MEEEHEEHEEHEEHEE! ANGEL HONEY HELP!!!!!”
Rainbow moved one hoof up and down Fluttershy’s belly; Twilight stopped moving Fluttershy’s wings and tightened the robe so she was more stretched out. Twilight went back over to her hooves and used a different kind of brush, a thick and softer one to tickle her hooves. Rainbow blew more raspberries on to her belly.
“STAAHAAHHAAHAAP, PLEASE IT TICKLES, IT TIIICKKLLLES!!!!!”
“Duh, that’s the point.” Rainbow chuckled.
Fluttershy was very sensitive to tickling, she hated it when her parents tickled her, but her parents loved to tickle her. She remembered her daddy held her down, while mommy used her big soft wings on her belly, but this was a hundred times worse, her parents knew when to stop, but Rainbow and Twilight didn’t.
Twilight levitated the brushes tickling her hooves to under her front legs. Fluttershy screamed with uncontrollable, helpless laughter, her friends were torturing her.
“Watch this Twi!” Rainbow said.
Rainbow pounced on Fluttershy and tickled her in every which way possible, Fluttershy laughed so much, she wet herself. But Rainbow didn’t stop.
“Tickle, tickle, tickle!” She said in an evil tone as she tickled everywhere around her belly.
Fluttershy wet herself again, as her laughter intensified. Twilight used brushes and feathers on her hooves, while Rainbow roughly tickled her everywhere. Rainbow grinned at her
“Having fun Fluttershy.” She laughed evilly.
“NOOOOOO WHHHAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA!!!!!! IT’S WAY TOO MUCH, I’M TICKLISH.”
“You already said that Fluttershy.” Rainbow said.
Rainbow Dash tickled faster and harder, to prevent Fluttershy from talking, and just laughing.
“Do you think we’re going over board?” Twilight asked
“Nah, Fluttershy can handle it.” Rainbow said
Fluttershy started panting and breathing heavily.
Twilight then pulled out an electronic spinning toothbrush and switched it on, Twilight put it to her waist, and Fluttershy just started screaming, scream after scream, the rotating hairs on her waist really tickled her, she tried to thrash around but her bonds held her firmly in place, so the two could continue their relentless, brutal torture on her. But twilight STILL wasn’t done; she pulled out two more electronic rotating tooth brushes, and taped them on her sides. Twilight switched them on at the same time and Fluttershy just shrieked her intense laughter sky rocketed to its peak.
“BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH I CAN’T TAKE IT” Fluttershy moved her head around, Rainbow still tickled furiously on her tummy.
“Poor little Fluttershy, laughing her little whittle heart out, hehheh.” Rainbow taunted her.
“PLEASE DASHIE I CAN’T TAKE THIS I’VE WET MYSELF THREE TIMES WHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHH!!!!!!!”
Rainbow tickled her ever harder. Fluttershy pleated and begged for Rainbow to stop the brutal torture. But it worked the opposite; she tickled faster and harder. Fluttershy hollered at the top of her lungs. Rainbow blew more raspberries on her sensitive tummy.
“I think we should stop, Fluttershy is falling to pieces, we might make her pass out.” Twilight turned off the electronic tooth brushes.
“Alright….” Rainbow groaned “but I was having a lot of fun.”
Rainbow and Twilight started to untie the panting, tired Fluttershy. When she was untied, she thanked them for stopping the torture.
Rainbow and Twilight walked out of her house, Fluttershy still laid on her bed, for the rest of the night, but didn’t fall asleep, she was still trying to recall what the hell just happened.
Want me to tickle another pony, Then leave a comment, cause I can't decide witch pony I should tickle next, so I reqest that you leave a comment, on which pony I should tickle next.
|
Unicron
|
947
| 5 |
Applejack,Big Macintosh,DJ P0N-3,Derpy Hooves,Fluttershy,Octavia,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Rainbow Dash,Trixie,Twilight Sparkle,Random,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Pony Tickling Stories
|
just a random fanfic had nothing else to do
|
incomplete
| 50 | 10 |
<p>This is a random story, I really had nothing else to do, I did this just for fun. You may rate it and comment it as you please just nothing too negative please. If you want to make a request on which pony I should tickle next, say in the comments or message me, If I have time I would be happy to fill out your request. (I will tickle Orignal Characters if you want me too, just make sure the owner of the charecter says yes) </p><p>I AM IN NEED OF IDEAS.</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-10-13T12:09:08+00:00
|
2011-10-13T12:09:08+00:00
| 30,297 |
Luna gets tickled (requested by Br2nd66)
Celestia dragged the begging Luna in to her own room.
“Lay down on your bed Sis.” Celestia ordered
“But Tia…” Luna whimpered
Lay down Sis!” She shouted
Luna tried to make a break for it, she knew what was coming next, Celestia who was blocking the exit, stopped her and picked her up and threw her on her bed. Celestia then used her magic to hold her still while she tied her legs to the four posts of her bed. Luna knew that there was no escape now.
“Sis please…you don’t have to punish me like this!!!” Luna screamed.
“Hush up!” Celestia said as she got out a toolbox of brutal torture devices.
“Tia…” Luna started to tear up.
Celestia used her magic to remove of her Crystal shoes. Luna tried to make a small attempt to break the bonds that restrained her legs. Celestia opened her toolbox of torture, and laid feathers and brushes in front of the squirming Luna. Celestia pulled out a small brush and put it to her exposed back hoof, and grinned
“Any last words?” Celestia chuckled
“Please Tia, don’t do this to me.” Luna begged.
Celestia ignored the begging and stroked the middle of her back hoof up and down gently, Luna snickered and twitched, but resisted to laugh. Celestia paused and removed her other back shoe she pulled out another feather and put it Luna’s other hoof.
Luna slammed her eyes shut, her teeth showing from her wide smile, and she was breathing heavily.
“Hmmm… still not laughing, I can fix that!” Celestia snickered
Celestia stopped tickling her back hooves and walked around to her dark blue belly. Celestia removed her chest armor and put one hoof on her belly.
Celestia slid her hoof down Luna’s belly and slid it back up again, she kept repeating this, and Luna squirmed around, while giggling.
“Sis…Please heehee you know how ticklish I am!” Luna said while she struggled
Celestia stopped stroking her belly and put both of her hooves to Luna’s sides and moved them in a circle motion, this caused Luna to break out In Laughter.
“Haha Tia….no….Heeheehee!” Luna laughed
Celestia then plucked two feathers from Luna’s wings and stroked them under her front legs, Luna jumped, and her laughter increased, some tears came down her face. Then Celestia moved the feathers up and down her sides. Luna struggled some more.
“Ahahahahaha! Tia, no please, I hate this!”
Celestia paid no attention to this.
Celestia got out a brush and stroked her waist furiously, which caused Luna to squeal, she tried to kick her legs, but it failed to work.
Celestia tickled Luna’s waist harder and put the feathers that tickled her sides onto the sides of her waist. Luna shirked and jumped some more at the sensation.
“PLEEHEESE WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO MEEHEEHEEHEE AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAH!!!!!” Luna screamed
Celestia took her tail and covered Luna’s belly, the glowing sparkling tail’s softness tickled her belly, Celestia didn’t even have to move it. Celestia continued to tickle Luna’s waist with the brushes and feathers while her tail tickled her belly, Luna had rivers of hers coming from her face.
Now, now, don’t cry.” Celestia laughed again.
Luna could only squirm while Celestia tortured her. Celestia moved back to her sides again. Luna pleated for Celestia to let her go. But Celestia ignored it.
Celestia then blew a raspberry on the center of Luna’s belly, Luna screamed
“AAAAAAAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH I CAN’T TAKE IIITTT WHAHAHAHAHAHAH TIA STAAP IT!!!!!” Luna yelled.
Celestia then used her wings on Luna’s chest, Luna was laughing helplessly, when Celestia did this. There was no place on Luna’s body Celestia’s wings could not reach, Luna cried laughed and begged but Celestia wouldn’t stop.
Celestia started to rub Luna’s belly furiously, Luna kicked and screamed, and Celestia smiled at this and continued to torture Princess Luna faster.
“CEEELLLLLESSSSTIIIIAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! PLEASEEEE!!!!!!” Luna screamed again.
Luna then struggled and struggled until she broke on of her front hooves out of her bonds, she hopped up, Celestia trying to pin her down again, Luna broke her other front hoof out of the bonds and grabbed her elder sister and tried to tickle her. Luna broke out of all her bonds and pounced on her sister and tickled her furiously, Celestia did the same. Both sisters were laughing hard Luna pinned Celestia down with magic, while Luna tickled her sides furiously, Celestia screamed like a little filly, while Luna tortured her
“Not so funny now isn’t it Sis!” Luna yelled at her
“PLEASE LUNAHAHAHAHAH I’M SORREEEHEHEEHEEHEEHEHEE, PLEASE JUST STAAAAP!!!!!!” Celestia squealed
Luna held her in place with her magic, Celestia thrashed around while Luna laid on her belly, tickling her. Luna rolled Celestia over and wrapped her hooves around her, like a hug from behind. Luna then moved her hooves furiously on Celestia, Celestia screamed she couldn’t get up, Luna’s weight pinned her down, the only thing she could do, was thrash he legs around while Luna laid on her back, and tickled her belly.
“WHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH LUNA I CAN’T TAKE THIS, I’M SORRY I TORTURED YOU, JUST PLEEHEEHEEHEESE STAHAHAHAAP!!!!!” Celestia yelled.
Tears poured from Celestia’s face. Luna then took some rope and tied Celestia’s legs to the posts. Luna rolled over Celestia again, and removed her chest armor. Luna could now tickle Celestia’s white belly, without her thrashing around and moving. Luna continued to move her hooves furiously on Celestia’s lower belly. Luna then took brushes and tickled her sides. Celestia shook her head franticly; she started to beg to Luna to stop.
“Why should I give you mercy, I mean I asked for mercy, but did you give me mercy, no, you decided to be a troll, so guess what, I’ll be a troll, and I won’t stop!” Luna said angrily.
Waterfalls of tears poured from Celestia’s face, she tried to mouth the words “please” but the only thing that came out was intense laughter. Luna moved the brushes to under Celestia’s front legs, it caused Celestia to shriek really, really loud. Celestia threw her head, and her crown flew of her head. But still Luna continued to angrily torture Celestia.
Luna decided to stop tortured Celestia, when she started coughing, and wheezing “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.” Luna untied Celestia who was sweating.
“I’m sorry please don’t be mad with me…” Luna said
Celestia got herself up and dusted herself off “I got what I deserved, now come on it’s almost time for dinner.
“Oh yeah and a package came for you today.” Celestia said while walking out of the room.
Luna saw a big box on the ground she opened it, there was a burnt up white cube with a pink heart on all sides
“What the hay is this!?!?!?” she said in confusion and she walked out of the room to join Celestia for dinner.
Derpy is next, but that dosn't mean you should stop giving me comments on who to tickle next, after I tickle Derpy I will have no idea on which pony I should tickle, so..... in conclusion, keep telling me what pony I should tickle next.
|
Unicron
|
947
| 6 |
Applejack,Big Macintosh,DJ P0N-3,Derpy Hooves,Fluttershy,Octavia,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Rainbow Dash,Trixie,Twilight Sparkle,Random,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Pony Tickling Stories
|
just a random fanfic had nothing else to do
|
incomplete
| 50 | 10 |
<p>This is a random story, I really had nothing else to do, I did this just for fun. You may rate it and comment it as you please just nothing too negative please. If you want to make a request on which pony I should tickle next, say in the comments or message me, If I have time I would be happy to fill out your request. (I will tickle Orignal Characters if you want me too, just make sure the owner of the charecter says yes) </p><p>I AM IN NEED OF IDEAS.</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-10-13T14:05:18+00:00
|
2011-10-13T14:05:18+00:00
| 18,139 |
Derpy gets tickled
Before I begin, this is my version of Derpy, She is not retarded, she just has an eye problem, she is a young mother, she is a little clumsy, but not stupid, she is a well-educated pony, it’s just an eye problem.
Note: I wrote this on paper before I typed it, and it was really early,
“Good morning muffin.” Derpy called out from the kitchen table.
Dinky ran downstairs and looked at her mom, she looked tired, the coffee wasn’t finished yet.
“are you tired mommy?” Dinky asked
“Yes muffin, I’m very, very tired.” Derpy said
It was so early it was dark out.
“I know to make you not tired.” Dinky said
“How muffin?” Derpy mumbled
“Lay on the table.” Dinky said
“Lay on the table?” Derpy asked “You sure muffin?”
“Yes mommy” Dinky answered
Derpy got up and sat on the kitchen table, she then laid her head back. Dinky came over and moved Derpy’s legs in an x position.
Derpy thought to herself “What is she doing?”
Dinky got some rope and tied her mother’s legs down to the legs of the table.
“Muffin? What are you doing.” Derpy said worryingly
“You’ll see…” Dinky grinned
Dinky plucked a few feathers from her mother’s wings
Derpy finally figured out what Dinky was about to do “Muffin, you know how sensitive I am.” Derpy said. “I’m not tired anymore hon, please kiddo, see I up, not tired this is me, not tired!”
Dinky ignored it, she put a feather to her chest, she slid it down all the way to her waist. This made Derpy giggle slightly at the sensation.
Dinky then looked at her mother’s waist, she bent down and blew a huge raspberry, Derpy squealed really hard.
“MUFFINN STAAHAHAHAHP WHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH!!!!”
Dinky blew another raspberry on her waist, this made Derpy jump and struggle in the ropes.
Dinky then went into the living room and came out with a belt and a feathery, fuzzy blanket, she wrapped the blanket around Derpy and wrapped the belt around her and the table, Derpy could not struggle as much now.
Dinky used her magic to vibrate the feathery blanket, Derpy screamed and laughed at the top of her lungs, Dinky had never ever heard her mommy scream like that before. Tears came down her derp eyes. Derpy laughed manically, and uncontrollably.
“MUFFFIIINN PLLLEEEHEHEHEHEHEEHEESE NOO MOREE.
Dinky put two feathers under her front legs and stroked them, while the feathery blanket kept vibrating, parts of the blanket became wet, Derpy had wet herself, Derpy struggled to breathe while her own daughter tortured her. Dinky was getting tired of using her magic to vibrate the blanket with her magic, so she stopped. She took the belt off, then the blanket, revealing the thin slender, grey body of Derpy, who was sweating very hard, while panting.
Since Derpy was stretched out, Dinky could see her ribcage, Dinky grinned and hopped on her mom’s belly, Dinky took two hairbrushes and slowly stroked both side of her ribcage, Derpy of course being super sensitive, wet herself again. Derpy laughed harder than ever, she begged Dinky to cease the infernal torture.
Dinky stopped stroking her ribcage and moved to her sides, Dinky started to gently rub her sides, in an up and down motion, Derpy just squeezed her eyes shut , and tried not to pee herself again. She laughed helplessly. Dinky grinned at the sight of her mother’s distress.
“Choochie, Choochie coo!” She taunted.
Derpy attempted to break free from the restraints, but to no avail, she was stuck on that table, Derpy had to make an excuse, and fast.
“HON I GOTA GO TO WORK!!!!! YOU GOTAAHAHHAHAH LEME UP!!!”
“You think I’m stupid, it’s Sunday, the mail doesn’t run on Sunday heeheehee.” Dinky tickled her sides a bit faster.
Dinky moved her hooves to Derpy’s warm chest, she stroked her chest up and down, and it made Derpy in a state of total laughter. Tears just rained from Derpy’s face, it was too much for the Mail Mare. Dinky stopped to get a drink of water
“Muffin….stop…please……muffin…” she panted. Derpy caught her breath, as Dinky drank her water.
After Dinky finished drinking her water, she went back to her squirming mother, this time she tried to bribe Dinky with candy and toys.
“I don’t want those things; I just want to tickle you.” Dinky replied.
Dinky took one hairbrush and stroked the top of Derpy’s left back hoof, Derpy struggled some more, but that didn’t work. Dinky stroked her hoof up and down, Derpy threw her head back, trying her absolute best not to wet herself, but that was extremely hard. Dinky got out another brush and did the same with her right back hoof. Derpy screamed, she swung her head back and forth, she kicked all four of her legs, and she tried jumping in the ropes, anything, just anything, to get off that table.
“MUUFFFFANNNN PLEASE, YOU KILLING MEEHEEHEEHEE.” Derpy screamed.
Dinky stopped tickling her hooves, and moved the brushes over to her thighs, it was too much and Derpy wet herself again. Dinky then tickled her a little bit below her waist, that was Derpy’s tickle spot, she screamed and kicked, and begged. Dinky tickled faster; and then ocean of tears started to form below the table.
Dinky finally was satisfied, she had tortured her mom enough, she stopped and untied her.
“I’m sorry mommy, you’re not mad right. Derpy even though untied, still lay on the table, she was regaining her breath, and sweating
“No mommy’s not angry with ya,” Derpy panted
The sun was just coming up, Derpy eventually regained her strength and got up from the table,
“How…about we go out to eat breakfast….” She still panted.
And so they went out to eat, and went shopping and had a great time
I have no ideas at the momet SO tell me which pony should I tickle, message me or say in commets, If theres time I will fill out you request, I will do origanal charecters, just make sure the owner aproves.
|
Unicron
|
947
| 7 |
Applejack,Big Macintosh,DJ P0N-3,Derpy Hooves,Fluttershy,Octavia,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Rainbow Dash,Trixie,Twilight Sparkle,Random,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Pony Tickling Stories
|
just a random fanfic had nothing else to do
|
incomplete
| 50 | 10 |
<p>This is a random story, I really had nothing else to do, I did this just for fun. You may rate it and comment it as you please just nothing too negative please. If you want to make a request on which pony I should tickle next, say in the comments or message me, If I have time I would be happy to fill out your request. (I will tickle Orignal Characters if you want me too, just make sure the owner of the charecter says yes) </p><p>I AM IN NEED OF IDEAS.</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-11-07T18:37:22+00:00
|
2011-11-07T18:37:22+00:00
| 20,120 |
Note: This might not be very long, and I’m sorry. I’m also very, very sorry it’s taking me a long time with writing these stories, its hard coming up with ideas, plus I’m also very busy with school and life stuff. I apologize again, sorry.
The Great and Powerful Trixie gets tickled (Requested by CharginChuck and Sgt.Dash^_^)
Trixie laid on the bed, Twilight was in the room as well.
“I don’t know if I want to do this…” Trixie said
“You do want to prove that you are “great and powerful” correct?” Twilight said
“Well yeah!” Trixie yelled
Twilight took some rope and spread her legs apart and tied them to the posts of thr bed.
“Well can you move?” Twilight asked
Trixie tugged at the ropes. “A little bit, but I can’t really break free.” She said
“Good.” Twilight got out a big box.
“Are you ready?” Twilight asked.
“There’s nothing to be ready for.” Trixie said
Twilight walked next to the bed and started to gently rub the middle of her blue, soft, belly in a circular motion
Trixie smiled and closed her eyes. Twilight rubbed a little faster, the smile on Trixie’s face, evolved into a grin. Twilight rubbed lower on her belly. It made Trixie jump, she started to twitch in her bonds. Twilight moved down some more until she was at her waist, Trixie let out a burst of uncontrollable giggles.
“oh…ticklish there are we…” Twilight grinned and put her other hoof at her waist and she rubbed both of her hooves on her waist.
Trixie giggled slightly louder
“Heeheehee…haven’t….smiled….like this in a heehee…long time…heehee!” Trixie giggled.
“Well you’re about to smile a lot more…” Twilight said in an evil tone.
Twilight slid her hooves up to her sides, and started to move her hooves up and down her sides repeatedly, Trixie started to laugh, her heart started to pick up speed, she started to struggle against the ropes that held her laid out upon the bed. Trixie tried to control the outbursts of laughter, but she failed.
Twilight stopped tickling her sides, and walked over to her back hooves, she got out a long, straight feather. She used her magic to levitate it, and she started to stroke Trixie’s back hoof.
Trixie tried kicking, but she was held firmly in place, so she tried to whack Twilight in the face with her tail.
“How pathetic… and just for that stupid act I’m not gona show you any mercy…” Twilight got on the bed and sat on Trixie’s waist, she leaned over and tickled all over her belly, sides, under her front legs, It made Trixie squeal with laughter.
“EEEEEEEEEE!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OH CELESTIA MAKE HER STAAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!!!!” she screamed
“Your more ticklish than I originally thought….hey you haven’t brushed your coat yet, I’ll do it for you.” Twilight said again in an evil tone.
Twilight took two brushes from the box and put them to her belly, she moved the brushes from her chest, all the way down to her waist then she would put the brushes back on her chest but in a different area and do the same thing.
Tears started to form under Trixie’s eyes, there was no doubt that she was insanely ticklish. Twilight wanted to make Trixie suffer some more, so she used her magic to make two more brushes scrub her back hooves profusely. Tears rolled down her face and she swung her head up.
“HAHAHAHAHAHA PLEEEASE NO MORE NO, NO, NO!!!”
She then repositioned the brushes tickling her belly, to tickle the outside of her thighs, right on her cutie marks.
Trixie insanely struggled in the strong ropes.
“You can’t escape the tickles!” Twilight taunted.
She then made the brushes tickle the insides of her thighs in which she squealed louder than ever. Not to mention brushes where still tickling her back hooves. Trixie’s heart pounded in her chest, she panted trying to catch her breath
Twilight stopped, and leaned down again , and blew the longest, loudest, biggest raspberry ever, right in the middle of her belly. Tears rained down Trixie’s face, she kicked and bucked, but they just wouldn’t break.
Twilight blew another huge raspberry on her belly and Trixie squealed with helpless laughter.
“I CAN’T BREATHE!!!!!!!! AHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAH! GAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!” She screamed again.
Twilight continued to torture Trixie; she wrapped his hooves around her and tickled her furiously. Tears were now pouring down her face, soaking the bed sheets that she laid on.
Trixie’s vision was blurry due to the fact, that there were so many tears forming at her eyes. She couldn’t see what Twilight was going to do next.
Twilight used some long feathers to tickle under Trixie’s front legs.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA NO PLEHEEHEEHEEHEESE!!!!!!” she squealed
Trixie sputtered and coughed, she still laughed intensely.
Twilight had to use more rope to hold her still, she was struggling so much that the rope was starting to loosen. Now Trixie was almost completely immobile.
Twilight replaced the feathers with brushes, Trixie laughed and choked on her breath, sweat poured down her body she tried begging but the only noise that came out was laughter and coughs.
Twilight tickled her faster; Trixie swung her head back and forth struggling to break free of the restraints that pinned her down.
“Look at you so great and powerful, tied on a bed with mere ropes and laughing to death…” Twilight said
Trixie tried to use her little magic skills to throw a nearby book at Twilight’s head. Twilight easily dodged the projectile.
“Just for that I’m going to make you SUFFER…” Twilight laughed
Twilight got a spinning sander device and placed it upon her waist
“Please don’t do this to me, Urg uh ARH!” Trixie begged as she struggled.
Twilight switched on the device and Trixie was in tears, her laughing was heard throughout the entire library.
Twilight moved the spinning device up her belly, then moved it over to her left side. The sensation caused Trixie to use all of
her might to break out, she wasn’t that strong, and the ropes still held her. Twilight moved the device over to her right side, and the sweat and tears came down faster now.
Trixie started screaming for help.
“There’s no one coming for you, you know.” Twilight taunted.
After an hour of non-stop tickling Twilight stopped for a minute, Trixie blankly started at her, the tears still came down her face. She moaned “Untie me….please…” She let out a few coughs.
“Don’t think I’m done with you yet!” Twilight stammered.
“Twilight started to furiously brush both sides of her ribcage, she was so tired she could barely laugh, she was out of sweat
and tears. She laid upon a soaked bed due to tears and sweat. She had used up all of her little strength so she could no longer struggle. Trixie did the only thing left that she could do
Pass out.
Twilight laughed, as she untied the unconscious Trixie, she opened the library door carried her out, then took a pitcher of ice cold water and dumped it on her head, she woke up struggling to stand.
“Now get outa here, before I decide to change my mind!” Twilight yelled
Trixie slowly walked away in pain and agony, Twilight continued to laugh, even when she closed the door.
I'm sorry again for the shortness of this story, and the huge wait. Don't just tell me which pony I should tickle next, please, please give me an idea, I don't do any Inappropriate stuff, so any Idea's I find offencive, will not be considered, Just please give me some idea's Keep in mind that I do Original Charecters. just make sure the creator says yes.
|
lycurgus
|
949
| 1 |
Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Late
|
Princess Luna returns to Equestria... but finds some unfinished business is still waiting for her...
|
complete
| 45 | 2 |
<p>Princess Luna returns to Equestria... but finds some unfinished business is still waiting for her...</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-09-21T17:47:45+00:00
|
2011-09-21T17:47:45+00:00
| 3,074 |
Late
a fan fiction
by Lycurgus
A thousand years is a long time. It's a longer time to spend in one place. And it's a REALLY long time to spend in that one place, alone. You don't want to think about how long it is when that place is the moon.
After such a long time, Luna expected more to have changed about Equestria when she returned. Sure, the castle in the forest had crumbled and was being reclaimed, and there were new buildings all around Canterlot, but that was all surface stuff. The feeling of the place hadn't changed a great deal, which was at once comforting and strange. Comforting for the familiarity it brought, but strange because she felt certain that the passage of a thousand years should have left some mark. This strangeness left her ill-at-ease - as if she was forgetting something. Maybe she was? After all, a thousand years is a long time to try and hold onto your thoughts. Something (or even several somethings) could easily have slipped her mind in that time... but what?
She returned with Celestia to the palace by carriage - the same carriage they had travelled in on official business so long ago. They walked through the same palace corridors, passed the same intricate tapestries, even the same potted plants were still in recesses in the walls. At last, Luna stood outside the bedchamber she hadn't seen for a millennium. The same stern-yet-gentle plaque on the door in Standard Equestrian: "Private Chambers of Princess Luna". The engraved floral border somehow managed to look regal, despite having been chosen when she was but a filly. Again that feeling nagged - everything was the same, but something was different. Something important... but it could wait. There was much to catch up on, and if this forgotten thing was really that important, she'd remember it in good time.
Opening the door, memories rushed back - the room was just as she'd left it, maintained immaculately by the palace's cleaning staff. It could almost have been yesterday that she opened that letter from "a secret admirer" at her desk - the letter itself still pinned in its spot on the corkboard. It could have been just days ago that Celestia was reading Luna one of the old tales before bed. Just last week that a passing swallow had alighted on her windowsill to sing a playful song to her. Only last month that-
Her reverie was interrupted by the sound of a throat being cleared. "Uh, Princess Luna, Your Highness?"
She turned to find an earth stallion guard standing somewhat sheepishly outside the doorway, a letter held delicately in his mouth. Taking it from him with her magic, Luna dismissed him with a quick "thank you" and began, not a little excitedly, to open the first piece of mail she'd received in a thousand years.
It bore an official seal, which was interesting - she was only newly returned from her isolation on the moon, and had not yet been assigned any royal duties. Perhaps the letter had been waiting to be delivered when she left? Now intrigued to read it, she fetched a letter-opener from her desk and began to open the envelope. No sooner had she extracted the slip of paper from within than she was interrupted once more by the clearing of a throat at the doorway. The guard from earlier had returned - this time with a medium-sized box which looked to be filled with more envelopes. Luna eyed the guard and his cargo quizzically.
"Uh, apologies, Your Highness," the guard began. "I went to mark that first as 'delivered', and, well - these were on top of one of the shelves. Apparently they just kept piling up, so they got put in a box for you. Folks'd almost forgot, they've been there so long." He nosed the box into the room cautiously. "My apologies again for the interruption, Your Highness," he said, before bowing slightly and turning to leave once more.
Now intrigued, Luna refocused her attention on the first letter - dated just under one thousand years ago.
"Dear Patron," it began.
Patron? she thought. Who addresses a Princess as...
"According to our records, you still have on loan..."
Oh, no.
"...one copy of An Exhaustive History of Equestria (Unabridged)..."
Oh, NO...
"...for the absence of which we hereby regretfully issue a fine of..."
Luna almost couldn't bring herself to look at the next line.
"...three gold Bits..."
Wait, what?
"...payable by the 18th of this month.
Sincerely yours,
Blueberry Prance
Head Librarian
Royal Metropolitan Library of Canterlot"
Luna laughed - for a moment she had worried that the book had never been returned, and that the fine would be much greater. Three Bits could be paid without trouble.
Turning now to the box of envelopes, her heart skipped a beat. She hadn't noticed at first, but all the envelopes bore the same official seal as the one she’d just opened. Her pulse quickened as she realised that the envelopes followed a visible trend of ageing from one end of the box to the other. It couldn't be... she thought with a groan. Looking about the room, she tried to remember back a thousand years. She'd returned the book, right? All she could remember accurately was that it was deadly boring (which, honestly, she should have been able to tell from the title) and that she'd never finished it. But surely she'd remembered to return it? She must have, otherwise it'd still be-
There. On the desk. Under a small pile of papers, the corner sticking out and proudly showing part of a circular stamp: "-TROPOLITAN LIBRARY OF CANT-", it read, encircling a partially-obscured official seal.
Heavens be damned, she thought. Of all the things to come back to...
After a brief pause to consider the humour of the situation - if century after century on the moon had taught her anything, it was to look at life positively whenever possible - Luna resolved to examine the rest of the letters. The bill wasn't going to go away just because she refused to read it.
She began with the oldest of the boxed letters. This was slightly longer than the first; it opened with a mild admonition for not having settled the initial bill in a timely manner, then moved on to a description of how the amount payable would increase with ongoing non-payment: every three months, the amount would increase by one quarter (rounded up), with an administration fee of one Bit added at the end of every fourth three-month period. The letter closed with the new amount payable: three and three-quarter bits. Maybe it won't be that much in the end, thought Luna. There shouldn't be a problem settling it, even if it has been a thousand years.
The next letter was shorter, opening like its predecessor with an admonition that the bill was not yet paid, then simply stating the new amount payable: five Bits.
The fourth letter was the same. The new total: six and one-quarter Bits. The fifth brought the amount payable to a ("truly daunting!", snickered Luna) sum of nine Bits.
Bored now of going through letter-by letter, she decided to skip to the end of the box - where the newest-looking letters had been stuffed in as space ran short. "Let's see how high it got," she chuckled to herself. Interestingly, this letter was longer than the last few she'd opened. What else had there been to tell other than the new total? Opening the envelope, she read:
"Dear Patron,
Please be advised that as your fee for the late return of An Exhaustive History of Equestria (Unabridged) remains unpaid, the amount payable has increased. Due to limitations in our records (as described previously)..." Glancing at the box, Luna noticed that one, about halfway through, was a good deal thicker than the rest - it must've contained at least ten sheets of paper - "...we are unable to furnish you with an exact figure, but an estimate places it in the vicinity of one decillion decillion decillion decillion decillion decillion decillion decillion decillion decillion decillion Bits, or at least 10^363 Bits.”
She balked. Ten to the... But the letter continued:
“As this is over 50 Bits, you qualify for an Equestrian Government Debt Assistance Loan to help in the payment of your fee. Please find attached an Assistance Loan application form if you wish to take advantage of this opportunity.
Once again the Library asks for your cooperation in settling this issue as soon as is practicable for you.
Sincerely Yours,
Sunshine Spice
Head Librarian
Royal Metropolitan Library of Canterlot"
Luna's eyes went wide as she took in the enormity of the number - no loan could help with a sum like that - and then rolled as she fainted cold.
----
A few rooms away, Celestia heard a soft thud as her sister passed out, followed by a metallic tinkle as Luna's crown rolled across the floor. She grinned devilishly at the deception - she had come across the book a few weeks after being forced to imprison the younger princess, and had duly returned it. As time went by, though, an idea had formed, and the opportunity had been too great to resist. She'd forged thousands of letters from the Library over the duration of Luna's imprisonment, and then borrowed the book once the time had come for the banishment spell to end. There was only one thing left to do now - wake poor Luna and reassure her that she didn't have an astronomical debt to pay back.
But maybe she could wait a few days to pass on that piece of information.
First, she had a letter to write - to a certain occasional student of hers:
“To my faithful student, Pinkie Pie...”
|
Synthaholic
|
954
| 1 |
Adventure,Dark,Tragedy
|
Finding A Star
|
Twelve chapters. Six ponies. Two twisted goddesses. One apocalyptic city. It's time to kick flank.
|
incomplete
| -1 | -1 |
<p>Discovery has always wanted to meet with the legendary Twilight Sparkle. But when two bolts of destructive magic impact upon the streets of New York, lives are lost, lives are changed, and life becomes more monstrous than anypony could've imagined.<br /><br />This is the story of a unique group of mismatched ponies that find each other on a journey fraught with danger and death around every corner, and where love and friendship struggles to endure.<br /><br />This is the story that questions all you believe in the Elements, Equestria and Fear itself.</p>
|
teen
| null |
2012-02-20T02:27:55+00:00
| 473 |
Finding A Star - Prologue
A long time ago, planets floated silently in the sky, and their moons span just as soundlessly. Stars shone and sparkled, their billions joining a picture on the largest canvas in existence..
Now, where there was peace and beauty that was on a scale unimaginable, there is only the carefully orchestrated display of cruelty to the night sky. Stars no longer shone in kind, and the planets and their moons appeared to all as if a goddess had marred their surface with fear itself.
There was one world however, that persisted. Where all others were lost to the cries of the infinite universe, Equestria endured. It did so because it had to. It was a beacon of hope for those who had lost everything but their minds. But this choking fear which had claimed all other worlds, this fear that had the power to shape the beauty of a billion stars into a vision of hate, was only kept at bay by a single being. A pony. One that's name kept being heard. Twilight Sparkle.
~~~~~
"Hello, and welcome to today's show of The Mane News. Our special guest tonight is a pony who has braved the pelting of hail and the beating of the sea to rescue a filly after she was swept into the water after hurricane Clover hit New Ponyville."
Discovery looked onto the stage, and wondered not for the first time if she wanted to appear in front of millions of ponies on Manehattens' top news channel. Shaking her blonde mane from out of her eyes, she steeled herself with the fact that she would just have to play her part; the scared and grateful filly that everypony expected her to be; and she would have no reason to make a blunder.
"So, Swift Saddle, how is it you saw little Discovery in amongst the rain, hail and wind? That must have been quite some luck on your side."
"Yes, it was at that. I only managed to see a wing, but I couldn't be sure even then. It was the shine of a boat further in the distance that put my gaze in her direction. When I saw her, I realized I had to rescue her. I reached her just in time, too. The waves that broke the sea barriers came not seven minutes after we got to shore."
Her time to go on was just around the corner. She smiled as the carefully scripted lines started to further convince all listening to Swift that he was a hero. This was an essential part he had to play. A part he made sure was spot on.
"Unfortunately Swift, we will have to cut this interview - and show, fillies and gentlecolts - short, as I have just received information that an emergency nationwide broadcast is going out in five minutes. Until then, here's Cacophony, with her latest rendition of..."
Whatever else was said past Discovery by. She did not plan for this eventuality at all. I spent twenty damn minutes in that freezing sea, she thought. All that preparation, for nothing! She was about to throw a fit right there backstage, until somepony let out a cough behind her.
"Excuse me Miss Discovery, but you will have to leave now. We're sorry for cutting this short, but the broadcast is being sent by Twilight Sparkle herself."
Discovery stifled a glare. It wouldn't make sense that she would be angry for not appearing on the show - ponies would suspect something was amiss. If anything, she would be expected to be relieved. So she put on a quiet and calm voice when she spoke. "Thank you, I'll just be going then." She smiled a, a fake, if convincing smile.
She left the building and stepped onto hard sidewalk. Turning, saw two stallions quietly arguing, recognizing them straight away. She was moving toward them when their voices got louder, both with scowls on their faces and clearly anything but relaxed. Discovery looked at them with a disgruntled gaze. This is just what I need, she thought.
"Sparkles sake, Twister! I told you to watch out for this kind of incident, and schedule around it!" The first stallion yelled.
Twister met his hard stare with his own. "How do you expect me to foresee an emergency broadcast?"
That got Discovery thinking. She was always looking for answers. I wonder what the broadcast was about. Must be important if they were willing to tell TMN to shut down their studios for the day.
"I don't know!" Swift started. "What I do know is that this was our one chance to get our message to Twilight Sparkle on the air, and then you-
"Listen, Swift. I may be able to get into their building and take a peek at their calander, but I can't read her mind!"
Discovery stepped in before a really heated argument could take hold. "If the broadcast is being sent by Twilight Sparkle, then we can use it to hijack the enchantment line it's being sent across. I'm of a mind to believe that she could be more convinced to converse with us if we orchestrate ourselves into this correctly."
They turned to her, startled. They didn't even know she was there until she spoke up.
Discovery looked upon Twister. His unassuming gray coat and brown mane might've hid his talents from other ponies, if not for his shiny gold (but most importantly, unlocked) padlock of a cutie mark. His talent; he was very good at opening things that ponies didn't want opened.
A far cry from Swift Saddle, Discovery mused as her gaze moved to the left. The hot headed stallion had his personality clearly reflected in his appearance. His glaring white coat was a stark contrast to his dark orange mane. His cutie mark of an open flame behind a unlit candle was not a testament to his temper however. This unicorn had a talent for using the sun as a tool. He could warm the hearts of other ponies, or encourage wilted crops to grow. He even boasted he could magnify the suns rays on a particular area. Discovery suspected this was mostly a white lie. She knew he could warm things, but using the sun directly as a conduit? She thought this was unlikely. No pony had that power.
"Discovery, warn me next time you intend to give me a heart attack." Twister said, smiling. The contradictory wording had Discovery smiling back.
Swift was just irked further by the Pegasus and Earth pony's nonchalant attitudes. "Don't be a foal, Discovery. You know the best way to talk to her was through publicity. If there was any other way, you would have thought of it. Or am I mistaking your talent to solve problems as over-confidence?"
He added that last part out of frustration, and Discovery knew this.
She was here to calm the situation, not intensify it. With this in mind she said: "Swift. You trust me and my talents. It will be those talents that will turn this around, I assure you. But it will be your trust in me that will let this succeed. I promise."
Swift sighed. She was right, he realized. "Fine. But first we must find out what the broadcast was about. And since it will have likely passed by the time we return to New Ponyville, I suggest we book a few rooms."
Any reply was either forgotten or was unheard.
Two incredibly bright bolts of white and dark blue stuck the Empire State Building, sending a blitz of magical fire outwards. Its superstructures blew apart, sending huge chunks of flaming debris in all directions. Screams and gasps of horror radiated around the three ponies, while they and a distant purple Unicorn sitting in the Rockefeller Centre, looked on in terror.
|
Synthaholic
|
954
| 2 |
Adventure,Dark,Tragedy
|
Finding A Star
|
Twelve chapters. Six ponies. Two twisted goddesses. One apocalyptic city. It's time to kick flank.
|
incomplete
| -1 | -1 |
<p>Discovery has always wanted to meet with the legendary Twilight Sparkle. But when two bolts of destructive magic impact upon the streets of New York, lives are lost, lives are changed, and life becomes more monstrous than anypony could've imagined.<br /><br />This is the story of a unique group of mismatched ponies that find each other on a journey fraught with danger and death around every corner, and where love and friendship struggles to endure.<br /><br />This is the story that questions all you believe in the Elements, Equestria and Fear itself.</p>
|
teen
| null |
2012-02-20T01:33:47+00:00
| 386 |
Finding A Star : Chapter One - Ash
Bleary eyed, Discovery looked up at the empty night sky. She immediately wished she hadn't. The glance brought with it another wave of depression. Another reminder of the gray clouds of ash, another reminder of what she had lost.
She was currently standing guard while two ponies caught their sleep. Swift, all energy and anger, seemed to have been drained from him, leaving in their place misery and sadness. Twister, the level headed earth pony, seemed less affected, but it was all there under the surface. The pain was simmering beneath his calm demeanor. It was a pain they had all lived with for a long time now.
Discovery mulled over the idea that being in this park in the dead of night was not the wisest of ideas, but dismissed it. The only dangerous creatures likely to approach them would not be deterred by stone walls. She could smell the burning, choking scent of smoke and ash. This was common now. It had been for the past ten years. The Swayback Volcanoes must be more active than usual, she mused. But then her muscles went taut. Her instincts were telling her something wasn't right. She always listened to them. Discovery inhaled deeply through her nose, and fought back the urge to cough. The smoke smelled different. It was the ash of burning wood, there was none of the usual fiery scent that was in the Sway ash.
So somepony.. or something was making some sort of fire nearby, she thought.
She decided to investigate.
****
Brightfield awoke while the sun was starting to make its way across the sky, dispelling the harsh black of the night, and replacing it with a worse vision of gigantic gray clouds. They were filled with ash, and more importantly, sulphur dioxide. Mix those with the moisture from the nearby Hudson river, and you had acid rain. He decided then that he would need to fix up the roof with more layers of sheet metal.
He attached a large sheet of metal to a dangling length of rope. Using a row of wooden planks suspended by two other, longer ones, he climbed up to the roof. He had to put both forehooves on the third step, and he pushed up with his rearhooves. He made a small leap, and landed on the next set of steps. It was an unconventional method of reaching the roof, but without the use of his wings, he had no hope. The thought gave another pang of wistfulness in Brightfield, but he had come to terms with his lack of ability to fly nine years ago.
When he reached the roof, he yanked on another piece of rope, and the pulley slowly lifted the metal upwards. He then started a careful decent down the planks. He did this entire routine four more times.
By the time Brightfield was finished welding the metal to it's worn out counterparts beneath it, the sun had reached the middle of the sky, and the clouds had gathered above the city.
He pulled all his equipment with him down the makeshift ladder, and stowed the rope, remaining metal and blowtorch in the cellar beneath his building. He didn't call it a house. It wasn't his home. But it was his.
The first drop fell. It landed next to him, and instantly burned through the tiny weed that had managed to grow through the choking ash and lack of sun.
Leaving whatever insignificant equipment was left behind, Brightfield galloped as fast as he could to the entrance of his building. Several drops of the burning rain had impacted on the broken Pegasus' wings. Fortunately, he could not feel pain from them anymore. If he could, he would be screaming in agony. As it was, he was simply in a lot of pain. Two drops had managed to land in the centre of his back, and had burned to the skin, scalding it. His roof was holding against the rain, even if it was a particularly strong storm. A very good thing he reinforced it when he did, or the entire roof might've collapsed, and he would've been dead in minutes. The sun had awoken him just in time. The first thing the sun has done usefully in a long time, he thought.
****
It was nearing dusk, and Brightfield reflected how unproductive the day had been. He had used up a lot of his metal supplies, and had not scavenged for more, or searched for food or water. Instead, the storm had lasted all day, and he was forced to stay indoors.
After the rain had finally stopped, he ventured into the browned and blackened garden behind his building, and decided he needed to eat. He had eaten a packet of crackers and drunk water, but could now start a fire. First, he needed to dry out the ground, as to not to let his hooves dissolve from the acid in the soil. He set out strips of chipboard, then made three thin lines of gunpowder down their lengths, and one down the middle, interconnecting the strips. He lit a fragment of chipboard with flint, and stood back before flinging it on the powder.
The chipboard burned extremely quickly, almost vaporising the moisture in the ground.
Finally, with a path into the garden, he gathered his firewood from the immensely large stores in his cellar, and turned them into a small, but hot fire efficiently and swiftly. He ate soup, which he previously bought from a traveller with a coat and a pair of shoes. It was a harsh world, and he had plenty of spares. In fact, he had spares of pretty much anything. Scavenging for long periods of the day, as well as the fact that there were a lot less ponies around to use them, had made supplies that don't expire quickly extremely plentiful.
****
Discovery found the source of the fire. In a secluded area, she spotted an apparently derelict white and red building.
The rain had struck not ten minutes before she set off, and thankfully, an abandoned warehouse had sheltered all three of the ponies from the worst. She was tired from being the lookout for the last half of the night, and now it was almost dusk.
Slowly and carefully, she moved around the damp patches of the ground. It would be agony if she stepped in loose mud or worse, a puddle.
As Discovery approached, she realized the building was not as empty as she once thought. Looking into the window, she could see an electric generator, and a large cupboard stacked high with food. Cans and cans stood in line with powdered packets. They were the few foods that survived the last ten years.
The front door was locked with more than five padlocks. The windows didn't look like flimsy glass either. So, she chose option three. Spreading her golden hued wings, she leapt into the sky.
Discovery glanced at the horizon, from her higher viewpoint. She saw the ash that covered everything that wasn't moving, she saw skyscrapers that were starting to fall apart, some with great chunks missing from their frames. She saw plants reclaiming the world. Her white coat, that used to shine with luscious radiance, now was closer to grey with dirt and ash.
She landed upon the roof with a metallic twang and upon looking down, she realized why. Her next logical leap was that there was no entry here either. Frustrated, she stomped a hoof. What happened next was completely unexpected.
****
Brightfield had just gone back inside, to get his equipment ready for scavenging, when he heard a stomp on his roof. Then the roof gave way. Immediately he ran into one of the back rooms. It was decorated sparsely, with peeling paint and nothing but a sizable cupboard inside. It was what was in the cupboard that interested him.
He grabbed the handle with his mouth and pulled, revealing an obscene array of weapons. Most were small barrelled point n' shoots he used often while scavenging, to save on weight. But he had a select few that strapped onto his back, and could generate a hail storm of bullets, rockets or grenades. He used those in emergencies. He put this situation somewhere in the middle, and he drew his eyes towards the back of one of the shelves...
****
Discovery was a Pegasus. That much was fact. From when she was only getting past fillyhood, however, three things came to light. She was not ordinary. She was not even close to normal. Often ridiculed by the pretentious mares in New Ponyville because of these traits, she led a secluded life. Her preternatural beauty and golden eyes don't help her. She wears colored contact lenses to hide the golden shine, but her beauty she cannot hide. She wants to. She knows it is not normal to have the figure and face of a goddess.
She is walking down the Backstreets, an unofficial name for the more unkempt areas of New Ponyville. Although they are frowned upon by the aristocracy that live in the richer areas of the city, Discovery had found a place where she is not only welcomed, but the drinks there are incredible.
She finds friends among the crowd, the closest of which are two slightly older stallions. She learns their names are Twister and Swift Saddle. She does not know Twisters last name. And no one knows hers. They all often come here for a drink, and more than Discovery likes to admit, Swift and her end up in considerably more inappropriate situations. Always stuck on the friendship boundary, Discovery soon realized that she does not have the right feelings for Swift to make things serious. They still continue however, however many times they apologise to each other in the morning. This is until, on a particularly drunken misadventure, when the final of her attributes shows itself. It is let out of control, her alcohol levels freeing the bonds which her mind subconsciously kept tight. A burst of light is shone forth, and shatters windows. Swift is thrown onto his back, his head hitting the wall in the progress. His Unicorn horn reacts intensely to the incredibly strong magic released, and it glows a furious red.. All the while, Discovery's wings are aglow, still casting a blinding light that shines through the empty window frames to the streets below. Then it abruptly stops. The flow of magic cuts off, and it is shackled once again. Discovery is laying back, wings splayed, and is terrified of what has just happened. Then logic kicks in, and she goes to help her friend, who is currently unconscious.
After sending him to the best hospital in the Backstreets, Discovery tests her mind, to see what caused the outburst. To her surprise, she can now feel the taut chains keeping back the powerful magic. She tests the waters, and finds that she can move the chains. She doesn't dare try to release them, scared that if she does, she won't be able to reel them in again.
It is from this point, her life becomes dedicated to gain audience with the one being in all Equestria that could help her understand.
Twilight Sparkle.
****
Discovery woke up three hours after she landed in a heap in the middle of the derelict building. Not realizing how much time has passed, she expected to be lying in a mound of rubble. Instead she found herself in a warm and comfy bed. She moved out of the bed, landing quietly on her hooves, and gave the plumage on her wings a quick sorting out. Now she was alert. She took in her surroundings. A faded blue coat of paint covered the walls, with pink flowers dotted around the room. Discovery noted, with some concern, that she had been sleeping in a young filly's room.
She carefully made her way around the room, looking for any sign of danger. There were none.
Odd, she thought. Who would put me in a bed after I crash through their roof?
The answer came from a distance. Would you feel better if I killed you on the spot?
"Where are you talking from?"
I'm downstairs, Discovery.
"How do you know my name? What in Sparkles name is going on!?" She yelled into the darkness, her smooth voice magnified in an attempt to scare the strange voice out of hiding.
I know your name, I know your age, and what you are, miss Pegasus. I know you have powers you want no one to notice. I could not withstand these powers were they to be used against me.
Discovery was numbed to her core. Only Twiser and Swift knew of the powers she had. But none of us know how they work. Not really. It was thoughts like these that only chilled her further.
But enough of that. Come downstairs when you are ready.
Discovery wondered at this strange voices' ability to talk as if without speaking. Perhaps she was finally going insane. Ten years of gray ash and destruction does that to ponies. But then, how could she explain her coming out of sleep in a bed? There was only one way to find out.
She started to walk down the rickety stairs, listening to the creaks and groans. Giving a quick glance half way down, she could've sworn she saw a flash of metallic shine under that cupboard. She dismissed it as nothing major. She was made of sterner stuff than to be frightened of her own imagination.
No. She had much worse things to be scared of.
|
Synthaholic
|
954
| 3 |
Adventure,Dark,Tragedy
|
Finding A Star
|
Twelve chapters. Six ponies. Two twisted goddesses. One apocalyptic city. It's time to kick flank.
|
incomplete
| -1 | -1 |
<p>Discovery has always wanted to meet with the legendary Twilight Sparkle. But when two bolts of destructive magic impact upon the streets of New York, lives are lost, lives are changed, and life becomes more monstrous than anypony could've imagined.<br /><br />This is the story of a unique group of mismatched ponies that find each other on a journey fraught with danger and death around every corner, and where love and friendship struggles to endure.<br /><br />This is the story that questions all you believe in the Elements, Equestria and Fear itself.</p>
|
teen
| null |
2014-04-11T00:39:09+00:00
| 379 |
Finding A Star: Chapter 2 - Secrets
It took Swift less than several seconds to realize something was amiss. Discovery's bed of hard mattress and wool blanket had been disturbed. More importantly, it was empty. Her gun was missing, too.
The unicorn wondered for a short moment why she would need to carry a gun, when her unnatural magic could kill a pony as quickly as it could. Then he got back to the problem of where Discovery had gotten too. He was extremely irritated that she up and left before waking himself and Twister. If a mutated Manticore, or worse, a chaos infected Dragon had appeared, they wouldn't have had the time or offensive capability to defend themselves.
He decided first things first, he would wake Twister. Swift wouldn't make the same folly that Discovery had.
Trotting over to Twister's sleeping form; he took in the bleak scenery around him. Ash mounds and puddles of acidic slush gathered outside the warehouse. These were visible for only several hooves however, as beyond that, an eerie fog clouded anything and everything within them. The fog appeared each night, without fail. Swift's magic never seemed to clear it, and the one time Discovery had tried with her own, she had to spend several hours in the dark, alone and crying.
Swift placed a hoof upon Twister, and shook him gently. With a glint of silver as his only warning, a knife was at his throat in an instant. The words, Nothing Stays Closed, were embossed in the sharp steel.
Green pony eyes flickered, then regained focus upon the victim he was about to end. Then, with quick and stressed apologies, Twister used his incredibly dexterous left hoof to stow the blade in a side pocket on his right foreleg.
Swift realised his mistake. "Twister!" he exclaimed. "My Sparkles, how did I forget!? Even if for a moment, it is inexcusable."
Twister grumbled something that Swift couldn't hear, and looked at the ground.
Swift, concerned, tried to further console his friend. "Are you alright, Twister?" He asked.
"I'm 'kay." The earth pony replied softly, "I just want the nightmares to quit it. It's all I get every damn night, I swear it! I just want to have one peaceful nights rest. I mean, is that too much to.."
Whatever Twister was about to say was lost. Swift saw his eyes go large and round, widened with fear. With a gulp, Swift turned to face the direction the earth pony was looking, to see something monstrous.
A silhouette many times a pony's size moved lazily forward. It moved on its hind legs, thumping the ground with great smacks. Swift could smell rotting flesh.
Twister was yelling at him to run, to gallop out of the warehouse as fast as they could.
But it was the form emerging from the fog, which seemed to overload Swift's brain, his fear being pushed aside, with a surge of adrenaline.
Turning to catch Twister's strong body getting ready to bolt, the Unicorn finally caught up with his head, and galloped at breakneck speed, in whatever direction was opposite from the hulking beast.
****
Brightfield looked up from the small set of drawers he was putting back together. It was a tricky job if you weren't a unicorn.
Upon hearing the creaks and groans from the staircase, he started to put away the hammer and nail box under a glue and sawdust covered workbench. He felt hard eyes upon him. Turning his head, he saw for the second time that day, if she was in much better condition this time, a startlingly gorgeous Pegasus. Unnaturally beautiful, he thought. Remember that.
He thought back thirty minutes ago when he started speaking through her mind. Reflecting upon this, he reflected it was likely not the best way to introduce one's self.
He saw the light yellow, almost golden hued Pegasus take a suspicious gaze over the room, before finally settling on himself. Her eyes narrowed, and she started towards him. Her first question was expected.
"Who are you?"
The melodic voice once again almost put Brightfield in daze. But he quickly collected himself. He knew this could well be an enemy. It was unlikely that a mutated pony knew how to disguise itself as a normal one. Still, he knew he could not dismiss her as a potential foe. And bandits were almost non-existent. A sliver of that passive kindness resided in each pony still, a leftover from the leadership of The Harmonies.
"You'll find out soon enough. Take a seat." Brightfield motioned towards another stool, across from him. He raised a hoof for her to shake, but Discovery glared at him with her golden eyes once again.
She sat on the fairly uncomfortable wooden stool, before speaking. "I don't know your name, but you seem to know every detail about me. I'd say it's a little one sided, don't ya think?" Her tone was strong and firm, but it was trying to hide something too. Was it nervousness? Or anger? Brightfield couldn't quite tell.
"You're right of course. I apologise." He replied, then adding, "My name is Brightfield."
The lack of his last name did not go unnoticed by the Pegasus, he noted, when her eyes widened ever so slightly, and a light of curiosity sparked in her eyes.
He knew what the next question would be.
"No, I'm not telling you my last name. " He said, looking her in the eye.
"Like I said. You know every. Detail. About. Me." She punctuated each last word with a small stomp of her hoof.
"And like I said, my last name stays me own. I'm not opening up to a pony I've only known for less than a day." He retorted.
"Then why would you tuck me in freakin' bed, when you could've shot me on the spot!"
"Because I'm one of the few things out here that isn't some sort of pony eating monster." He looked the golden Pegasus dead in the eye. "My wings are broken, and now my roof, but not my heart." Brightfield said the last part darkly, then immediately followed up with a chuckle. "With that out of the way, would you like some carrot juice?"
****
Discovery stared incredulously at this strange Pegasus that called himself Brightfield. Not only had he taken care of her, and put her in bed of all things, but now he was offering her carrot juice after having the most heated conversation she's had with a pony that wasn't Swift or Twister in a long time. In fact, she realised, I haven't talked to anypony other than Swift or Twister in years. This thought soured her expression.
"What's the matter, don't you like carrot juice?"
Discovery once again looked at Brightfield with confused eyes, and then noticed something. She thought back to what he had said several seconds earlier.
"Your wings!" She exclaimed.
"That doesn't have anything to do with carrot juice." Brightfield said, smiling.
"B-But, how do you.." Discovery trailed off, and it was Brightfields turn to turn his expression sour.
"I don't want to talk about it, thank you," he said, quietly. "Maybe sometime. But not now."
Brightfield's expression was almost shy, and Discovery wondered just how in Sparkle's name he had managed to survive this long. Without the use of his wings, he's the same as a regular earth pony. Then, another thought crossed her mind. Her mind froze.
"B-Brightfield.. Are you different? Y-You know? Like me?" Discovery stammered, still reeling from this revelation.
Brightfield hesitated, then took a slow, deep breath.
"I don't know," He started. "I've never met somepony with my abilities. I still haven't really, your abilities are entirely different." He stopped, and entered into a deeply thoughtful expression.
Discovery looked on, eager to have met somepony even a little like her. Consistently though, her mind was calculating the ramifications of this. It meant there could be even more like her and Brightfield; ponies with talents, not seen or heard of ever in history. Half of her active mind was waiting on Brightfield, while her other half span with her imagination. There were ponies of all sorts enjoying themselves in a field, Pegasus, Unicorns, Earth Ponies, and even Alicorns, all with abilities beyond their normal reach. She imagined happiness. Remembering happiness was another challenge altogether.
The image cut off, interrupted by the Pegasus opposite her.
"How do you feel I tell you a story, Discovery?" He asked, his position on the stool changing into a more relaxed pose.
Now all of her attention was on Brightfield.
"It would depend on what it's about, I suppose." She shrugged, but her voice was eager, betraying her curiosity.
"This story is of my life before the events of ten years ago, when I was only coming out of my time as a colt. I'm going to tell you what I think caused them. I will also tell you how my talents changed the pony I wanted to be.
"I suggest you grab the pillow from the upstairs room. This tale is long and complex. As they say, I shall start, from the beginning."
****
Like I said, I had only just started becoming a stallion. I believed I knew everything about everything, like I was king of the world. You know, how the young often think of themselves. I had passed Flight School with flying colours. Quite literally in fact. According to the records, I am one of the very few that have pulled off a Sonic Rainboom. The only others before me were Wild Wing – the captain of the Wonderbolts before the incident – and the direct descendants of the legendary mare, Rainbow Dash.
Here are some interesting things for you to think over. One, Wild Wing was helped to pull off his Rainboom by magical means. Very few ponies know this, and fewer yet believe. But it's true. Secondly – and this is the key – I have searched high and low for any family heritage to Rainbow Dash. I believed that if I had some lineage, then I could take a claim in their family fortune. Greedy, I know, but understand that it was hard for me to believe that I was the only non-descendant of her to perform the legendary manoeuvre without magical help.
What I had not expected to find were records and journals dating all the way back to when Twilight Sparkle herself was just a filly! Hard to imagine really. You may ask how I came across these when no other pony had stumbled across them. Well, let me tell you another secret. Twilight's vaults are not as secure as many make them out to be. Simply pretend to confirm a water leak in the vaults, and hire yourself out as a plumber. Of course I was accompanied by the powerful Unicorn's Royal Guards. They were, however, easily dealt with. Sleeping sprays were remarkably easy to find.
I had risked myself like this because of rumours. Nothing more substantial than that. But if they were true, then the one thing that could link me to Rainbow Dash existed there.
The journalsI mentioned earlier did not only contain records of illegitimate foals and fillies of the Six families, but a terrifying secret.
Before I get to that, I will tell you that I am in fact related to the best flier who had ever lived. Illegitimately, true, but even that would have gotten me into the family. I could not have done so however, for two reasons. One, this would mean discovery of the fact I was the one who had infiltrated... no, that's too harsh of a word. Sneaked into. Yes, that will do. So, that would mean I would be revealed as the one who had sneaked into Twilight's vaults.
I couldn't do so for something else too. The secret I had learned. It has scared me, and it had shaped my life from then on.
For seven years after that revelation, I had committed myself to learn everything about the Elements of Harmony.
As you know, and therefore do not a lengthy lecture on, the Elements kept the balance of Kindness, Loyalty, Generosity, Laughter, Honesty, and most importantly, Magic. The Six were the keepers of each Element. Without those ponies, the Elements would have continued to have their power drain into the void of space. So given embodiment, they could contain and release their energies at will.
What you will likely not have been told is that there resides another two Elements. Brilliance and Calm.
Three guesses where they resided.
Long before the Six were given their Elements, Celestia and Luna held Brilliance and Calm, respectively.
Luna's transformation was only in part caused by her jealously of her sisters Sun. Being the Princess of the night, Luna had explored space, and had millennia to understand it. She understood it, while we had only started exploring and examining it four decades before the incident. Or the moment. Whatever you want to call it.
Anyway, using my research and a stolen journal of Twilight's that contained her own theories, Luna had come in contact with Fear. I talk not of the emotion, but the taint that had consumed much of the galaxy.
It was this that corrupted Luna. Celestia was forced into imprisoning her to the moon. The giant satellite not only reflected light, it also acted as the first barrier against Fear. It repelled it, acting as a conductor for the Elements to channel its balancing energies into the void.
I suppose the Fear is at least partially conscious in its actions. It must have realised that the Elements were keeping it at bay. Luna was its gateway onto Equestria; a way to bypass the conductive nature of the moon. It attacked at the Element of Calm, attempting to twist it into an inverted version of itself. However, when Nightmare Moon was banished onto the side of the giant rock where sun does not shine, it could never push itself onto Equestria. It simply could not bend itself round to push itself in the direction it wished.
So for a thousand years, Celestia was without Calm, and without her sister.
But what does Brilliance transform into without a calming presence?
Arrogance and Greed were the result.
Over the thousand years of which Nightmare Moon was banished, Brilliance kept warping further. In a way, Fear had won by simply removing the balance of Calm.
Upon Luna's return, and Nightmare Moon's vanquish, the element of Calm was restored.
But Celestia, though struggling to be the ruler she knew she should, was too far gone. A thousand years of internal strife was far more damaging than the thousand years of simple anger that Luna was subject to.
So now the roles were reversed. Without the effects of true Brilliance, Calm became Complacency and Ignorance.
And so, both Brilliance and Calm were lost. All the while, Fear itself looked upon Equestria, and saw it's time. It saw the perfect opportunity to remove the last Six elements keeping it at bay.
Influencing Celestia's and Luna's decisions, warping them further, corrupting them from afar, it finally saw them fall.
That was the day when two bolts of blue and white impacted. The day when everything fell apart.
That was the day Fear gripped our world.
|
Biuz12
|
957
| 1 |
Applejack,Fluttershy,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Rainbow Dash,Spike,Twilight Sparkle,Alternate Universe,Dark,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Love and Hatred
|
Leader of the Shadowbolts, nothing can go wrong right?
|
incomplete
| 7 | 5 |
<p>"I'm done" was what Searing Moon said to Luna, before leaving the Lunar Republic, in hopes of having a better life. He heads to Equestria, only to find out that it has been ravaged by this war, and he knows the pony who could give him some answers. Only being there a day, his best friend and two others were murdered, and Moon goes to find the killer, and try to stop the war before it destroys civilization as he knows it.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-26T02:35:24+00:00
|
2011-09-26T02:35:24+00:00
| 2,300 |
Love and Hatred: Chapter 1
"Just do it already!"
"I don't know, what if a guard shows up?"
"No guard will, they've all been called to Prance to deal with the problem there"
"You sure?"
"Just do it!"
Searing Moon watched as his friend ripped the large poster of Celestia, revealing a hidden door. The two colts walked through the entrance, putting up a new poster to hide the secret door. They trotted to a second door, leading to the conference room of the New Lunar Republic. When they got inside, it smelled of sweat and anger. They looked over their shoulders, looking eye-to-eye with Princess Luna. She had a worried look on her face. They both knew what happened.
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Luna told them that the squad sent to Prance, to try and stop Celestia from taking over the country had failed, and all laid dead at the border of Prance and Stalliongrad. The Lunar Republics' lands were growing smaller and smaller as Celestia's numbers grew each and every day.
Searing Moon had been pestering Luna to go to Prance and take back the land they had lost. He had been wanting to actually do something, other than attack Celestia's guards in daylight. If anything, he'd been arrested more times than he's seen a fight.
"Look, Moon, you're my lead Shadowbolt, I can't let you go." Luna said.
Moon thought otherwise, "C'mon Luna. We haven't seen anything for the past 3 weeks. We're all growing antsy and needing some action. Let us go to Prance!"
"No! I won't allow you to risk your life just to take back land!" Luna screamed. She never yelled at Searing Moon.
"Heh, really. You won't let me go, but you'll let our trainees go. What good will that do?! They're untrained! They don't know the first thing about fighting!"
“That is enough!" Luna had heard enough, and wanted Moon out of her presence. "Get out. Get out right now."
"Oh why? So you could throw MORE useless troops at Celestia, ONLY for her troops to kill them?!"
Luna snapped, and charged at Moon. He quickly dodged her attack and flew up. He could see she was changing into Nightmare Moon. She fought back the urge to change, and was able to keep Nightmare Moon inside of her. Searing Moon looked at Luna with a disappointed look on his face. He wanted to leave. Not just out of the building, but the Republic. He wanted to leave his past, leave everything that haunted him every night.
"I'm done." He whispered.
"What?" Luna looked at his, her face looked worried again.
"I'm done. I quit. I'm tired of living this way. Look around Luna, NOTHING is happening. Hell, we're losing this war! We lose land everyday! We're slowly running out of supplies, and Prance was the only way we were getting them! So, I'm done. It'll be up to the other Shadowbolts if they want to leave too. I won't force them to leave."
With that being said, Searing Moon walked out on the Republic with his friend by his side. As he walked out, Luna burst into tears. She had lost a great soldier, a great flier, but most importantly, she lost her son.
"Moon, are you sure you want to leave the Republic, the Shadowbolts, and your mom?" his Shadowbolt companion had asked.
"Yes, I'm sure. You saw what she did, how she just sent troops to their death. I couldn't stand for it."
"I guess your right. Hey, maybe Nightshade can get his job back" His friend jested
"Hah, yeah, unless he follows us and quits the Republic."
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A couple of hours had passed, and the silence got on Moon's nerves. He hated silence. As a young colt, he always was the loudest in his class, loudest at home, loudest in public. He was friends with his companion, Blueball Blitz, since they both got their Cutie Mark. Moon's was a dark red Crescent moon that looked like it was bleeding. Blitz's mark was his face, but it was cut in half and on the other side, it was his face, with a crazed look. Growing up, Blitz was always... Crazy. He talked to himself all the time, usually had no social life, and when he did, he always went to an alley behind his house and got drunk with some older colts.
Both had lived terrible lives. Searing Moon, living with Luna as his mother, was terrible. Whenever he did something wrong she grew angrier and angrier until she was almost Nightmare Moon. He remembers Celestia, and she was not any better. Celestia watched Luna as she beat her son, and she loved it. She would record it, and everyday the two would watch the videos and laugh at Moon for crying.
Blitz's life, was also horrible. His father had left him and his mother when he was 3, and that led to his mother to start dating ever colt she could find to fill the void. After a while she stopped, but gained a drug addiction, which led her to beat Blitz. He got whipped, burnt, choked, and almost stabbed. This made him start the alcohol addiction. He did it to stop the pain.
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When they arrived at the Shadowbolts training ground, Moon told them that he was leaving, and all but one colt said they would follow. This colt being Nightshade. Ever since Moon had become leader of the Shadowbolts and knocked him down to co-leader, he hated him. He thought about killing him multiple times, and even attempted to kill him once.
"Nightshade, should've known you wouldn’t come with me. What's the matter? Still pissed at me for taking your spot?" Moon asked.
"Heh, you always were a jerk Moon. I'm really surprised that attempt at killing you had failed. I almost cried that night knowing you weren't dead."
"Ah, well sorry, next time I'll be sure to jump in front of that bullet. Oh, by the way. Here's a going away present."
"Wha-" And that's all that came out of his mouth. At that moment, Moon had murdered Nightshade with a quick slice of his knife. The colts around his looked shocked, but then they felt relief. They hated him almost as much as he hated Moon. The remaining Shadowbolts looked at his body, neck mutilated, and spit. "Good riddance" most of them said.
"C'mon guys, lets go. I know a place where we can stay" Muttered Moon, eyes still fixed on Nightshade.
The Shadowbolts started to flap their wings and headed off north, out of Stalliongrad, and into Equestria. Moon knew exactly where he was going. He knew exactly who he was going to visit.
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The journey lasted 2 days, and as they approached the borders of Stalliongrad and Equestia, they were stopped by a Celestian guard.
"Halt, who are you, and why are you here?"
"Pardon me sir, we've come to visit some friends who reside in Canterlot." Moon answered.
"Oh? And who might that be?" The guard asked looking suspicious.
"Why none other than the ponies by the names of, General Twilight Sparkle, Sergant Rainbow Dash, Corporal Applejack, and Private Fluttershy." He did not name the other two ponies, they had died during a night raid when the Lunar Republic went through the walls to Equestria.
"Very well. Open the gate!"
The gates opened and revealed a shocking sight. Equestria, the lush green land had turned almost brown. Moon, for the first time in a while, looked surprised. He wondered why it looked like this. Maybe Twilight knows.
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The four colts quickly made their way to Canterlot, where the four other ponies resided. They flew over Ponyville, noticing it wasn't as busy, and it, too, looked barren. They saw Cloudsdale, it also was looking rather depressing. It seems that Equestria was hit hard by this war. When they arrived in Canterlot, it looked most depressing out of the rest of Equestria. The whole place looked as if many ponies were murdered here. They walked through many halls, looking for Twilight. They finally arrived in a room that was all too familiar with Moon, Luna's room. This is where he was beaten daily. This is where the hate for his mother had begun.
They looked around and saw Twilight on the bed, crying. Moon walked up to her, and put his hoof around her. The sight startled her, and she kicked him in the gut. Quickly noticing who it was, she looked apologetic.
"Oh! Sorry Moon! I had no idea you were here!"
"Hrmph yeah. We just arrived about 30 minutes ago. We came for refuge."
"We...?" And Twilight then noticed the Shadowbolts all in the back of the room.
"Oh, I see. Well I can lend you this room for the ni-" She was cut off by Moon talking.
"Not just for the night, we need to stay here for a while, to cool down."
"But what about the Lunar Republic? Your mom must be worried!"
"Heh, highly doubt that, we all quit. We were done with this damn war."
"Uh, ok then, say Moon, why do you look bloody?"
Moon looked down, forgetting he murdered Nightshade early yesterday.
"Oh this? Yeah, I killed someone. He pissed me off and the rest of us, so I killed him."
"What?! You killed someone!? Moon, how could you do that?"
“Are you really surprised? Heh, of all ponies you should know me best.”
The two laughed and exchanged smiles. And at that moment, Moon felt something. Actually two things. One, he felt safe, secure and happy. Two, he felt something he hasn't felt in a long time - Love.
"Alright, lets get you cleaned up, Applejack is preparing dinner as we speak."
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They walked into the dining hall and the first thing they smelled was apple pies and fritters. Their stomachs growled, realizing that they have not eaten since they left Stalliongrad. They sat at the table as Applejack brought out the food, with a puzzled look.
“Oh hi guys, ah wasn’t expectin’ visitors. Don’t worry, ah’ll bring more out.”
“Thank you Applejack. You’re too kind” Moon said.
Ever since Moon got to Equestria he’s been kinder and more gentle. He felt calm, he felt like a giant weight was lifted from his shoulder. He didn’t want to think about this war. He didn’t want to think about his mother back in Stalliongrad. He smiled to himself, knowing that everything was going to be alright.
“So, Twilight, how has Equestria been since I last left?” Moon asked, hoping she would say something about the barren wasteland that was Equestria.
“Well, as you probably noticed, the land has turned completely brown. Last year, a drought hit us, and we lost most of our supplies, and troops. We lost a couple of our best fliers and soldiers that year. Then, to add to this, the Lunar Republic decided to attack us at night, killing many civilians, including Rarity and Pinkie Pie. When I heard this news, I couldn’t stand by anymore, so me, Applejack and Rainbow Dash all applied to join the Solar Empire. I was quick at rising in the ranks, reaching Sergant status within 2 months. Moon, believe me when I tell you this, you guys have murdered thousands of innocent civilians, and for what? Luna to rule the land?”
Hearing this left Moon speachless, he knew about the night raid, and only that Pinkie and Rarity had died, but he didn’t expect for the death count to be so high.
“Moon, you quit because of these problems right?” Twilight asked with a bit of hope in her voice.
“Yes, that is correct. But surely Twilight you have seen what the Solar Empire has done to u- *ahem* them? They took over Prance, the only way they got supplies. After that, their land in Stalliongrad, the very few land they had there, lost much, and a famine cost a lot of ponies their lives. So in reality, both sides have done some pretty bad things to the other side.”
Twilight had to agree with him. She had heard about what happened when Celestia’s troops killed the squad to get Prance back. She just left the bodies at the border of Prance and Stalliongrad, and killing whoever had come to claim the bodies. She now realized that Celestia was no better than Luna. Tears started to well up in her eyes, and Moon noticed. He quickly got her and pulled her out into the hallways of Canterlot. They sat on a staircase and Twilight just kept crying. Moon almost felt like he was about to start crying, but he held it in.
“Why Moon, why would Celestia do this? Why would she cause so much hate in this world?” Twilight said through her crying.
“I don’t know Twilight... I just don’t know why she and Luna would turn this world into a hell-hole. I don’t know why we had to choose sides. I don’t know why this conflict continues.”
Moon still had his hoof around Twilight as her crying stopped and she slowly got a smile on her face. He smiled back as they hugged and Twilight thanked Moon for being there.
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It was pitch black outside when Moon finally crawled into bed. He shared a room with Twilight for the night being, until they could find separate rooms. The other Shadowbolts were sleeping at the dinner table, falling asleep after stuffing their faces full of Fritters and Pies. When Twilight entered the room, Moon was almost asleep. He awoke to find her sleeping on the floor with a makeshift cot.
“Twilight, you know this bed is big enough for the two of us right?” Moon said while frowning. He didn’t want her to be uncomfortable.
“Oh, that’s quite alright, I’ll be fine on the floor”
“No, I insist you sleep here tonight.”
“A-alright, if you insist.”
Twilight climbed into the bed and laid next to Moon, he gave her a quick smile, and she returned with a smile, as they drifted off to sleep. Moon woke up about 2 hours later to Twilight sitting on the floor crying again. He trotted over to her and put his hoof around her.
He asked with a worried tone, “What’s wrong Twilight?”
“Oh, it’s nothing, I’m still upset that Celestia is no better than Luna. You’re right Moon, they are both turning into tyrants, and they need to either be stopped, or killed. It will be nearly impossible to kill them, so we must find a way to stop them.”
Twilight started to cry less and less as Moon continued to comfort her. They turned their heads to look at each other. Moon leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.
“Don’t worry Twilight, we will find a way to stop them. I promise you.”
She blushed and gave a shy smile at Moon. He smiled back, and they went back to bed, both with smiles on their faces.
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Moon and Twilight both awoke abruptly to the sound of screams and wails. They ran out of the door of their room to find Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash standing over the bodies of a Wonderbolt and Shadowbolt. Both had been stabbed in the back of their heads, and now lie dead in the middle of the hallway. Twilight was the first to reach the bodies, and stood there, looking as if she was about to throw up. Moon soon came up behind her and noticed the horrific sight.
“Alright, who is responsible for this!?” Moon yelled with such anger, he felt himself shaking.
“I-I don’t know. When I woke up this morning I found these bodies here.” Fluttershy said quietly.
“Well whoever it was, lets go kick their butts!” Rainbow said with courage.
“No, let’s not resort to doing things like Celestia and Luna do. We find them, we ask why they did it, THEN we kill them.” Moon said, still shaking.
Moon helped Rainbow Dash carry the ponies to the morgue, being extra careful, so they did not drop them, causing the place to get stained with more blood. Moon was still shaking when they reached the morgue. He was furious. He thought that they were safe, he thought everything was going to be okay, he thought life was going to be decent from now on. This incident proved him wrong.
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“Hey Moon, can I ask you a question?” Rainbow asked as they were heading back to the main hall.
“Sure thing Rainbow, what’s on your mind?”
“Well, I never got to ask you what it was like being a Shadowbolt, being one of the best fliers in Stalliongrad.”
“To be honest Rainbow, it wasn’t all that fun. The training was vigorous, usually orders were to go scout on enemies, which was incredibly dull. The only reason I was so good is that my mother always pushed me to do better things. She told me this after beating me countless times. So, to make her proud of me, I trained every day. I would push myself to go faster and faster, and soon enough, I was eligible for the Shadowbolts. On my entrance test, they told me that I was as good as the leader. After a few months of being a rookie, they made me leader, and this didn’t sit well with the original leader Nightshade. He got so mad one day, he hired a hitman to kill me, and his plan failed. He gave up on trying to kill me and just went with it. After the incident with me and Luna, I gathered the Shadowbolts, excluding Nightshade. He was about to become the new leader of the Shadowbolts, but instead I killed him. I did it not just because we all hated him, but because I wanted Luna to lose the fight. Luna caused me so much grief as a child, and so did Celestia. I will remain neutral throughout the rest of this war.”
Rainbow looked at Moon with a saddened face. She felt bad for him. She flew over to him and gave him a supporting hug, and he returned the hug.
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They returned to the main hall, gliding in with depressed looks on their face. Twilight was the first to approach them.
“So, how’re you holding up?” She asked.
“Uh, not good. That Shadowbolt wasn’t just any Shadowbolt, he was my best friend growing up. He was Blueball Blitz.”
|
Biuz12
|
957
| 2 |
Applejack,Fluttershy,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Rainbow Dash,Spike,Twilight Sparkle,Alternate Universe,Dark,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Love and Hatred
|
Leader of the Shadowbolts, nothing can go wrong right?
|
incomplete
| 7 | 5 |
<p>"I'm done" was what Searing Moon said to Luna, before leaving the Lunar Republic, in hopes of having a better life. He heads to Equestria, only to find out that it has been ravaged by this war, and he knows the pony who could give him some answers. Only being there a day, his best friend and two others were murdered, and Moon goes to find the killer, and try to stop the war before it destroys civilization as he knows it.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-26T02:36:40+00:00
|
2011-09-26T02:36:40+00:00
| 1,944 |
Love and Hatred
The next couple of days were hard on everypony. It seems that another Wonderbolt had died from the same wounds as the first one and Blueball Blitz. Moon took the death of his friend hard, and went into a minor state of depression. He couldn’t believe that his best friend had died, from some random murder. Twilight came in and checked on him while he laid in bed every once in a while, but he barely noticed her. It seemed as though the world had crashed down on top of him.
A couple of days later, Twilight was doing one of her usual check ups on Moon, and she found him out of bed putting his Shadowbolt goggles on.
“Moon, what are you doing?” Twilight asked
“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m finding out who killed those two Wonderbolts and Blitz. I’m done lying around doing nothing, while the killer is on the loose.”
Twilight thought he was insane for trying to find the murderer. It was incredibly dangerous, and she didn’t want anything to happen to him. She thought for a few seconds and finally said to him, “I’m going with you.”
“Wha-what? Why are you coming with me? I don’t want anything to happen to you. Plus, who would look after the place in your absence?”
“I can get Applejack to look over the place, I can trust her, and I’m sure she will do a good job at keeping peace within these walls. Plus, it’s going to be extremely dangerous, you could use all the help you can get.”
She was right, it was probably going to be dangerous, and what if it was a group of ponies who killed them? Moon nodded and they began packing for the journey. They both knew it would be long, and would take them outside of Equestria, so they planned to venture into the warzone that was Stalliongrad, and the province of Prance, a country in which Celestia was currently staying.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They both arrived in the main hall where Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were discussing who would’ve commited the crime.
“I bet it was Celestia’s troops come to kill Moon and his friends.” Rainbow Dash exclaimed
“That wouldn’t surprise me,” Fluttershy said in her usual soft voice, “Celestia has always hated Mo-”
They all finally realized that Moon and Twilight had been standing next to them listening to them take guesses on who killed them.
They all looked embarrassed and Twilight just gave them a small smile and said,
“Having fun girls?”
Rainbow Dash, being the eccentric pony she was nodded and said,
“Yup!”
“Haha I’m glad to hear it. Hey AJ can I talk to you for a moment?”
“Well sure Twilight, what do ya’ll want to talk about?”
“Uh, well, could we talk in private? Maybe in the halls?”
Applejack looked confused and just gave a suspicious nod.
“Alright Applejack, I’ll be gone for a while with Moon, I need you to look over Canterlot while I’m gone, okay?”
“I’d love to Twilight, but why?”
“It’s.... It’s Moon, he’s obsessing about the murders that went on and he’s going to look for the ponies responsible for killing his best friend Blueball Blitz. I’m going with him to make sure that everything will be alright. He’s starting to worry me AJ. He was never like this, even when he was still in the Lunar Republic. I have a feeling he knows what is going on with this, so I’m going to help him with this.”
“Alright Twilight, ya’ll be careful now. Especially around Moon, you’re right, he is actin’ differently.”
And with that, Twilight and Moon left to find the killers. Twilight was right, Moon did have an idea on who killed them. He had an idea on who was the person responsible for the deaths. Twilight grabbed a hold of Moon’s neck and they started to fly south towards the border of Stalliongrad. They were going to see one of the ponies responsible for the hatred in this world.
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The two ponies reached the border of Equestria and Stalliongrad when they were stopped by the same guard who had stopped Moon. He nodded at seeing Twilight, and he opened the gate. Moon flew out of Equestria with such speed, Twilight almost fell off of him. She was used to Rainbow Dash flying recklessly, but she was never on her while she was doing that. Moon noticed and slowed down to a speed that was comfortable for Twilight.
The flight was so quiet, Moon started to get uncomfortable. He almost cringed at the fact that it was so quiet, and to change this he asked Twilight a question he knew would be a touchy subject.
“Hey, Twilight, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure Moon, what’s up?”
“Well, I never knew what had happened that night of the raid on Equestria. When the scouts got back, all I heard was ‘Pinkie Pie’ and ‘Rarity’. I was curious on what happened, so I asked the main scout, and he told me that they had killed them brutally, in front of Sweetie Belle. They said that they had gotten so much pleasure from watching Sweetie Belle cry from killing Rarity, they grabbed a pony by the name of Pinkie Pie. From then on, I didn’t listen to a word he said, I had enough. That is all I know, and from the little you told me at dinner the other night. So, Twilight, what the hell happened?”
“Well Moon, here is what happened on that night. Celestia was putting the sun down, so all of the fillies in town were running inside, ready to go to bed. Rainbow was finishing up her moves with the Wonderbolts, when she noticed out of the corner of her eye, what looked like a stampede. As she flew closer, she realized that it was Luna’s troops, heading straight for the gate. Rainbow flew as fast as she could to tell me what was going on. All I could make out from her panting and babbling was ‘Luna, troops, wall’. And at that moment, I knew what was going on. I climbed on her back as we flew up to Canterlot, which had been turned into the Solar Empire’s HQ, and we told Celestia what was happening. I’ve never seen her with such a scared look on her face. She couldn’t believe what was happening. She immediatly told the guards to stand watch at Cloudsdale, Ponyville, and the Everfree Forest. The attack was quick, but brutal, killing civilians and guards like they were nothing. Rainbow and I were in the sky looking down at the horrors we saw. We saw young ponies getting killed, we saw Granny Smith get tackled by one of Luna’s troops, instantly killing her. And then it happened. I saw a pitch black colt dragging Rarity behind him laughing hysterically. We flew in closer to see what would happen to her. We got there just in time to watch the colt stab Rarity in front of her sister. He thought it was the greatest thing, killing a pony in front of a younger sibling. At that point I was sobbing, tears falling from my face like a waterfall. I just couldn’t believe that Rarity was killed in front of us. The next part made me go insane. I saw a purple pony carrying Pinkie Pie like she was a feather, and threw her on the ground. Pinkie and Sweetie had grown close in the past couple months, making her feel like her second sister. Pinkie looked up at Sweetie with a swollen eye, and gave her a reassuring smile and whispered, ‘Don’t worry Sweetie, everything will just be Pinkie Keen.’ And then she was gone. Kicked in the face a dozen times by the two troops. I lost it, Rainbow lost it, we couldn’t control what was going on. We were filled with anger, sadness, and frustration. When the troops left Equestria, Rainbow and I went to see Applejack, and see how she was taking the death of Granny Smith. Her and Big Mac looked more depressed than anyone. We walked up to them and shared a hug. We told them what happened to Pinkie Pie and Rarity, and they both burst into tears. We all burst into tears. And at that moment, we all decided that we would join the Solar Empire. Celestia, like as a filly, took me under her wing, and made me her second in command. I didn’t like that job, in fact, I hated it. I tried to get out of it, but Celestia wouldn’t let me. She said that ‘I was her second in command, and I was the most important thing in her life’. I believed her, although I shouldn’t have. And everything after that is just me being here doing nothing. The only reason I hit Sergant so quickly is because of Celestia. So, yeah. Now you know what happened that night. I hope I never have to live it again.”
Moon said nothing. He couldn’t say anything. He just stared forward, tears welling up in his eyes. He couldn’t believe that a group of troops could do that to one country, or just a small town in the middle of Equestria. Twilight could see the sadness as he focused on the flight, and too, started to feel sad. She thought that it wouldn’t phase her anymore. She thought that after 2 years she could get over that night, she was obviously wrong.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They reached a small town about 78 miles in Stalliongrad, and they both decided to stay there for the night. They were able to find an inn to stay there for the night, and when Twilight looked up to see who was working behind the front desk, she saw someone whom she hadn’t seen since the war began.
“Sp- Spike, i-is that you?”
The dragon, now grown since the last time she saw him looked over his shoulder to see the purple pony who he had lived with for most of his adolesence. He stood there, mouth open and was only able to mutter out one word, “Twilight...?” The purple pony nodded her head and gave him a warm smile. He returned the smile and walked over to give her a hug. Moon gave a little smirk at this reunion, then returned to a frown wishing that they would be reunited under better circumstances.
“Oh, and who is this?” Spike asked turning around to look Moon dead in the eye.
“Spike, this is Searing Moon, he’s an old friend of mine, we’re going to see... Well I actually don’t know what were doing. He never gave me the details.”
Moon quickly realized that and said, “We’re going to see Luna, at the Lunar Republic’s HQ. And now that I think about this, I don’t think they’ll be too happy to see us.”
“But we’ve got you, and I’m sure you could get us in.”
“Right, like they’d be thrilled to see a Solar Empire General, let alone a deserter.”
Spike couldn’t help but to chuckle at this. Moon and Twilight both gave him a dirty look and he just shrugged. Even growing up, Twilight could still see that he was still that young dragon she knew and loved.
Spike, still with a smile on his face looked at Moon and asked, “So, what, you guys want a room tonight?”
“Uh, yes that would be pleasant.” Moon said.
“Alright, we only have one more room left, lucky you.”
“Thank you Spike, and how much will this cost us for the one night?” Twilight asked.
“Well, since you were basically my sister, the room is free for the night. Family discount.” Spike smiled at the two of them and winked. Moon gave a half-smile, while Twilight gave him a full out gleaming smile.
They walked up a creaky winding staircase to the rooms above. The walked down a narrow hallway and stopped at the farthest right side room.
“Well, here ya go guys. It’s no tree library, but it’s shelter. You have a good night!”
“Thanks Spike, you too.” Both said, tired from a long trip.
|
Biuz12
|
957
| 3 |
Applejack,Fluttershy,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Rainbow Dash,Spike,Twilight Sparkle,Alternate Universe,Dark,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Love and Hatred
|
Leader of the Shadowbolts, nothing can go wrong right?
|
incomplete
| 7 | 5 |
<p>"I'm done" was what Searing Moon said to Luna, before leaving the Lunar Republic, in hopes of having a better life. He heads to Equestria, only to find out that it has been ravaged by this war, and he knows the pony who could give him some answers. Only being there a day, his best friend and two others were murdered, and Moon goes to find the killer, and try to stop the war before it destroys civilization as he knows it.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-26T02:37:50+00:00
|
2011-09-26T02:37:50+00:00
| 1,918 |
Love and Hatred
Moon and Twilight woke up the next day feeling refreshed, and somewhat decent. They knew that getting into the HQ was going to be hell, but they shrugged off the thought. They got their saddles on and ready to walk out off the door when Spike rushed in panting, with a worried look on his face.
“Guys... Hurry up and get downstairs, there is a problem.”
They looked at each other with confused looks and followed Spike down the stairs into the front room of the inn. As they got closer to the door leading out of the building they heard shouting and screams of horror. They tried opening the door, but it was jammed. Damn this old door Spike thought. He ran through the door with such force, it rocked the foundation of the whole building, and this caused Moon to smile. When he had met him the night before, he thought that he was just a joke, the huge stature was just a facade, but after seeing this, he knew he was as strong as he looked. When they got outside they saw what was going on: Celestia’s troops had come and started to terrorize the small town. This made Moon fill up with anger, such anger that he started to shake again. Twilight noticed him shaking, and went over beside him to calm him down, putting her hoof around him. He jumped a bit at that, but quickly realized who it was. He started to stop shaking, and he was calming down.
“Moon, don’t be so angry, we can try and stop this.”
“How Twilight, how?!”
Twilight looked at him and gave him a “Seriously?’ kind of look. She calmly walked over to to the soldiers and just stared at them.
“HEY! What the hell is going on here?!” Twilight never swore, so Moon gave a little smirk at this.
“Well, you see miss....uh?”
“Sparkle. Twilight Sparkle.”
The guards immediately stopped doing what they were doing, and Moon had just remembered that she was one of Celestia’s generals.
“G-general Sparkle, what a pleasure to meet you.” Said one of the guards.
“Oh cut the crap soldier. Why are you terrorizing this town?”
“Well, it was Celestia’s order.”
“Oh really?”
“Y-yeah” The guard was scared beyond belief.
Twilight looked over at Moon’s way and asked a simple question Moon was dying to know the answer to.
“Before my friends and I escort you out of this town I have a question.”
“Uh... Sure.”
“Well, you know about the murders that happened at Canterlot about a week ago right?”
The guard nodded.
“Good, glad to know that news travels to Prance. Anyways, do you know who was the cause of these murders?”
“Of course. It was Celestia who ordered a small group of pegasi to Canterlot. She got word that the Shadowbolts were there, and she wanted to get rid of them. I thought you would know this General?”
And at that moment, Moon snapped. The shaking came back, the rage came back, and he grabbed the knife he always kept in his saddle. The same one who killed Nightshade, it was coated in his dried blood. Moon charged the soldiers, slashing the necks of two of them. Nothing could stop him, not even Twilight. She just stood there, watching Moon murder the soldiers one by one. Spike tried to intervene, but Twilight just held him back.
“No Spike, just.... let him go. We can’t stop him.”
There was one guard left and Moon stared at him with crazed eyes. The trooper looked back with such fear, he was almost crying. Moon slowly trotted to him and stopped 4 inches from his face.
“You’re coming with me.” Moon said in a half whisper.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spike helped Moon drag the soldier into the room that Twilight and him slept in. They threw him on the bed like he was nothing. They tied his hooves up and started to question him. Moon was first to ask the questions.
“Does your ‘Oh so great’ leader know they also killed two Wonderbolts?”
“W-wait.... There were Wonderbolts that were killed?!”
Moon scoffed towards the soldier.
“Heh, of course not. Should’ve guessed those cowards wouldn’t say that.”
“Moon!” Twilight exclaimed
“What? You and I BOTH know that the Solar Empire is filled with a bunch of cowards! And so is the Lunar Republic! This whole damn war is filled with cowards!” Moon turned back to the Soldier.
“Sorry kid, your time’s up.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“But Twilight, he MURDERED somepony in one of the rooms! He can’t be trusted!”
Spike was furious at Moon for cutting up the Celestian guard. Moon just shrugged and waited for Twilight to finish talking.
“Look, I’m sorry Spike, but..... Well...” She started to whisper in his ear, “They are the reason that his friend he grew up with almost all of his life is dead. He’s an emotional wreck.”
“Then why are you with him Twilight?”
“Well, for two reasons Spike. One, to make sure he doesn’t do anything to get himself killed. And two...” She stopped there. She didn’t want Spike to know that the colt who murdered somepony in a room is the person she loves the most.
“What’s the second reason?!” Spike demanded.
“Oh, nothing, just that first one.”
Spike could see the hesitation in answers, but just let it go.
“Hey, you guys done talking?” Moon yelled across the room. He was starting to get very impatient.
Twilight started to walk towards the door after saying her good-byes to Spike, when he stopped her. There was a groan from across the room.
“I’m coming with you guys.”
Twilight just stared at him. Was he serious? Did he have any idea what he was getting himself into?
“O-ok. Not sure how Moon will feel about this but whatever.”
As Twilight and Spike walked towards Moon, he was confused. Why was Spike with her?
“Uh, what is he doing?”
“Well, he’s coming with us.”
Moon had the same reaction and facial expression as Twilight. He stared at her, then him, then back at her.
“Twilight, is this really a good idea? I mean, sure he’s big, but what fighting experience does he have?”
Spike gave Moon a glare that shot through his body. Moon felt it too, he gave an evil smirk towards Spike.
“Yes, I’m certain it’ll be a good idea. The more people we have, the better survival rate.”
“*sigh* Fine, but I don’t want him interrupting me when I’m killing troops.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Twilight climbed on Moon’s back, preparing for another reckless flight. Spike, on the other hand, grew wings as he aged. Moon watched Twilight climb on his back hesitantly, so he reassured her that he wouldn’t fly as fast. And as dangerous. She gave a little chuckle, and that made him smile. He was always fond of Twilight, even as a growing child, he always liked her.
Both Moon and Spike started to flap their wings, and they took off. With the recent news that Celestia was the reason that Blitz was dead, they flew west towards Prance. Luna would have to wait, he thought. It’s time to get revenge. For Blitz.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The night came quick after flying all day. The two ponies and Spike were worn out, so they decided to find a place to stay. Unfortunately, they were surrounded by mountains. Spike was on the lookout for a decent looking cave for them to stay, and 3 minutes later, he found a perfect cave. Spike went out to look for a river or lake nearby to get water, while Twilight and Moon set up make-shift beds out of clothing on the ground. Twilight kept glancing over at Moon, and smiled each time. Sometimes he would notice, and he would give a small smile to himself. When they were finished, Spike hadn’t come back yet, so they set up a fire with tinder they brought along. The cave was silent, with the exception of the crackling fire. Twilight was the one to break the silence.
“Hey Moon, can we talk?”
“Sure Twilight, what’s on your mind?”
“Well, it’s just that.... Well... I can’t explain it, but... Uhm...” Twilight was trying to tell Moon she loved him, but she just couldn’t.
“I.... Uh... Oh jeez.... Well Moon I-”
Moon stopped Twilight from continuing to stutter with a sudden kiss. To her, it seemed to have lasted forever. When the kiss broke, he gave her a smile and said,
“I know Twilight, I love you too.”
She blushed, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“Thanks Moon. I was just worried that if I said that I lov-”
He kissed her again, this time shorter.
“I’ll shut up now.” Twilight giggled.
Moon grinned at her giggle. He never felt this way towards a pony, let alone his friend. The two ponies sat around the fire, hoof-in-hoof, and Twilight’s head in his shoulder. Spike returned 10 minutes later with news of the water hunt. He said that there was a lake about 15 miles to the south, but it was surrounded by mountains, and could easily be looked over. The two looked at each other and decided that they would go get water. They grabbed their canteens and bottles, and whatever else they could use to carry water in, and headed off to find the lake. They flew over it about a dozen times before they realized that it was below them the whole time. The two winged allies descended as Twilight started to pull out bottles, and canteens, and buckets. They filled each bottle, canteen, bucket etc. to the brim with water, and were overjoyed with Spike for finding this lake. It didn’t take them long to get back to the cave, Twilight was starting to get more comfortable with Moon’s crazy flying. When they got inside the cave, Spike laid his belongings next to ‘his’ bed and fell asleep fast. Twilight and Moon stayed up a little longer, sitting next to the fire, enjoying the time they had before they got to Prance. Before they went to bed Moon walked over to Twilight and gave her one last kiss before he put out the fire and went to bed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Moon was the first to wake up, as he couldn’t sleep most of the night. He had many things on his mind. One was that they would need to find a way to get revenge on Celestia for sending the troops to kill Blitz and two Wonderbolts. Two, he was in love. He was in love with a special purple pony, who didn’t give a damn if he killed somepony. And third, Spike. He was unsure of his reliability in this. What if he is siding with Celestia? Or with Luna? These and other questions kept him up most of the night. He stretched and walked over to Twilight, kissing her gently on the cheek, so he didn’t wake her. He decided that he would go for a quiet fly around the cave to try and clear his mind about everything. Everything but Twilight.
Twilight was the next to wake up, and she felt good. No, great. She felt great. She was reunited with Spike, who was pretty much her brother, and fell in love the night before. She walked to the mouth of the cave where she saw Moon flying around and she gave him a warm smile. He returned the smile and flew over to her.
“Hey darlin’. How’re you?” She blushed when he said darlin’.
“I’m doing quite well, and yourself?”
“Well, you’re here, so I guess that makes me extremely happy.”
They both leaned in and kissed. To the both of them it felt as right as the night before.
Twilight and Moon walked into the cave as Spike was waking up.
“*yawn* Oh hey guys, how’re y-” He drifted off, seeing them holding hooves. “So, uh, what’s going on?”
They looked at each other and noticed that they indeed were holding hooves.
“Oh, yeah. This, sorta happened last night, while you were gone.” Twilight answered, still blushing.
“Gah! I miss everything! Oh well. Off to Prance am I right?”
Moon nodded, and they started to pack.
30 minutes passed, and they were all packed.
“Well, we’re packed, why aren’t we leaving yet?” Moon asked.
“It seems Spike lost his compass, we don’t know which direction is west.”
“Well, let’s see. If the lake is south, and that’s that way, then west is...” Moon pointed in a direction, “...that way.”
They headed in the direction that Moon pointed in and went off towards Prance.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The trip took a good 6 hours, but they finally reached the border between Prance and Stalliongrad. They were stopped briefly by a guard, but then quickly recognized Twilight and let them in. Prance looked worse than Equestria. Whole towns were reduced to ash, lush plains were reduced to dirt, the whole place looked depressing.
Twilight approached one of the guards at the gate and kindly asked,
“Excuse me sir, but where is Princess Celestia currently staying?”
“Head about 40 miles north and you’ll see a castle. You can’t miss it.”
They all thanked him and they went to ‘pay a visit’ to Celestia. Moon was almost shaking from seeing Celestia for the first time since he was a young colt. He couldn’t wait to get revenge on her for the hell she and Luna out him through. He gave an evil grin at the thought of revenge.
They arrived at the castle and realized the guard wasn’t kidding; there was no way you could miss this. It looked bigger than Canterlot and Cloudsdale put together. Twilight was the first to approach one of the guards at the front gate of the castle.
“I would like to see Princess Celestia please, it’s urgent.”
The guard nodded and opened the gate. Now Moon was shaking. Not because he was nervous, but he was excited. He desperately wanted revenge on Celestia. He started to get more and more excited as the got closer to the main hall where Celestia was residing at the moment.
Twilight walked through the arched doorway and saw Celestia sitting in her throne in the middle of the hall.
“Ah, Twilight Sparkle, my favorite General. How have you been?”
“I’ve been good Princess, but there’s someone I’d like you to meet.”
“What ever could y-”
She stopped her sentence early as Moon walked through the doorway and gave a smile at Celestia.
“Hello Celestia, remember me?”
|
Nordlichter
|
958
| 1 |
Comedy,Romance
|
To the Nth Dimension
|
Pinkie Pie gives Rainbow Dash some hyper-special cupcakes. Time and space go completely bonkers.
|
complete
| 60 | 4 |
<p>Pinkie Pie gives Rainbow Dash some hyper-charged energy cupcakes, and as soon as it touches her tongue, time and space go completely bonkers bonkers beeyonkers. Umad, Twi?<br /><br />Note: I wrote this several months ago, so consider this a pilot episode of my now-flourishing writing style.</p>
|
everyone
| null |
2011-09-21T23:48:24+00:00
| 3,807 |
“C’mooooon!!”
“No, Pinkie Pie. I don’t have time to go to the Sugarcube Corner, I’m practicing this new move!” Rainbow Dash sighed and blew her mane off her face.
“But it’ll be fuuunnnn,” Pinkie urged, looking up at the pegasus from the ground.
“No, Pinkie Pie! I’ve been practicing all morning, and I don’t want to lose my focus!”
“ALL MORNING?!” she gasped her usual gasp, bounding up and pulling Rainbow Dash to the ground by one hoof. “That’s even MORE reason to come with me! You neeeeed to seeee this!!”
“Hey! Pinkie! Where are you taking me?” Dash struggled in mid-air, but Pinkie’s grip was iron as they approached the Cakes’s bakery where Pinkie worked. Opening the door, Pinkie introduced her to a large glowing machine.
It went up to the ceiling and then some. Reels of paper were being written by markers and fed through spools and unwritten. Blinking lights made strange patterns on the front of the display. A screen showed a progress bar, nearing 100%. Intense heat came out of vents on the sides. And all the while, it emitted a dull, loud humming noise not unlike a duck snoring.
“Whoa... what is it?” Dash was awestruck and a wee bit confused. However, an egg-timer ding resolved that question shortly.
“They’re done!” Pinkie Pie opened up a slot in the center and pulled out a batch of steaming hot cupcakes, each one shaped like a different polygon.
“I shoulda guessed. Pinkie Pie, you are so random.”
“Thanks! Twilight helped me build it! It super-charges each delicious cupcake with the power of a billion neutron stars and the flavor of an entire planetary rainforest!” Pinkie offered a pentagon-shaped cupcake from the baking tray. Her rainbow friend looked hesitant.
“...What’s a neutron star?” She sniffed the treat, looking for anything out of the ordinary, or, well, anything more out of the ordinary.
“Nevermind! Just eat it!” Pinkie began to push it onto Dash’s snout, making bits of frosting get on her nose. “Eat it! Eat it eat it eat it eat it eat it!”
“Well, oookay...” Slowly, she grabbed ahold of the treat and took the smallest but least-insulting bite she could, chewed deliberately, and swallowed. A few seconds later, it was like a nuke went off in every cell in her body.
“OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!” Rainbow Dash felt great! Everything was colored so much more brightly than before. She could hear long-gone echoes everywhere and smell things so much clearer. The pink mare in front of her was grinning madly, wobbling from side to side with every breath. “PinkiePieWhat’sInThisCupcake IHAVETOKNOW!!!!!” So much energy, so much to do.
“Just the usual stuff, but super-charged! The big ol’ machine increases the metabolic conversion rates of all the ingredients by 3 orders of magnitude! That means every gram of sugar is equivalent to 1000 grams!”
“IsThisHowYOUFeelAllTheTime?!?!” Dash was jittering as she spoke, resonating the cupboards nearby into releasing their dishes upon the floor. Nothing broke, but the winged pony saw something falling and did her best full-body impression of a whipcrack while picking them up and placing them on Pinkie’s head in afterthought.
“Yep! I make these every day, but usually with a different machine! Don’t you love ‘em? I call ‘em Pinkie’s Secret Energizer!” She did a sort of clapping thing with her front hooves like she was playing a drum. “Have a great day, Dashie!”
“WhatDidYouJustCallM—” but Dash was already being pushed wings-first out the door into the gorgeously bright day. The light was at once beautiful, invigorating and overwhelming. She could hardly see a thing, and yet she was seeing farther and sharper than she had ever seen before. It was like a veil that filtered everything into one spot: her mind. She took to the air, casually flapping her already-outstretched wings, and seconds later was at the top of Dragon Mountain, listening to a million bats slumbering. She could hear their dreams turning into pictures in her mind. Going back the way she had come was easier, being downwind, and even faster than before she was at the Library, home of resident egghead Twilight Sparkle.
“HEYTWILIGHTLetMeInLetMeINNN!!!” She punched a hole through the door knocking on it, accidentally toppling Spike as he came to open it. Fumbling inside for the handle, she decided it would be easier to just bust the whole dang door, and did so. Twilight was in the middle of reading, a pallor of shock on her face.
“Rainbow Dash? What’s gotten into you?!” Twilight slammed the glossy paperback shut, covered it with another heavier book, then a cloth, and walked over to the incredible vibrating pegasus. “Does this have anything to do with—”
“PINKIEPIE??? YESOFCOURSEITDOES!!! IHaveSoMuchEnergy!! SheFedMeTheseAWWWESOMECUPCAKES!!!” She found herself being levitated out the door by the unicorn, who was frazzled at being interrupted and just wanted some quiet, but was willing to sacrifice her morning to attend to a matter of friendship. “WHOAWhereAreWeGoing???”
“We’re going to talk to Pinkie Pie. Those cupcakes were prescribed for her and her alone. Sharing them, although nice, violated the terms of her prescription, according to the town rules.” Twilight walked alongside the floating pony, carrying her back to Sugarcube Corner.
“WhatDoYouMeanPrescribedForHer??? ADOCTORAgreedToGiveThoseToHer?!”
“I wouldn’t know that far, but I do know that I was required to make that machine so she could have her special cupcakes. It was a request I was happy to fulfill.”
Rainbow Dash saw the Sugarcube Corner slowly approaching and twitched slightly at the thought of being called “Dashie” again. After a brief moment in thought, she found herself twenty feet up, free of the levitation spell. Twilight peered out of a nearby pond, a feathery imprint on her cheek. Embarrassed yet again, Dash took to the skies, effortlessly gliding all the way to within sight of Fluttershy’s cottage in three seconds flat.
While Dash was flying, an unfortunate bug happened to move in front of her. Swerving to avoid the incoming menace to all bug-kind, it was surprised to find a soft, sugary breeze had replaced the gigantic blue thing. It bug-shrugged and continued on its merry bug-way.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash could not see anything. There was nothing to see, not even darkness, not even emptiness. She felt her lungs strain for air but there was no air to breathe, and even then she had no lungs to breathe with. Her heart beat sideways, splaying as a bacteria on a microscope slide would. Gradually she became aware that she was still alive, and she knew this because she was thinking, “Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh I’m gonna die!!!” But then she realized that she was no longer in impending danger, for she could not feel any wind or gravity or time passing by. Opening one eye, then the other, she found herself in a void. A vacuous white space. A small, cruller-shaped cloud hovered behind her.
“Whoa. Whoa. Where... am I?” She could not hear herself think over the deafening silence, but she could talk herself through this anyways. Turning in a circle, she confronted the non-visible cloud with her non-visible face, and stuck her non-tangible head into it. She could see Fluttershy’s cottage about 100 feet below her, and the stream was burbling. “Weird... that’s where I was, I guess?” She pulled her head out of the cloud and back into the nothingness.
Concentrating as hard as she could, Dash flew forwards at what she thought was a snail’s pace. But her eyes betrayed her inner ear, and she saw many pinpoints of blue light converging on her non-position. As they got closer, she noticed they bore a resemblance to the Greatest Young Flier in Equestria — that is, herself. And they were! The Rainbow Dash copies made every movement exactly in sync with her every movement, and by moving in the same direction as before, they got closer until she was rubbing flanks with infinite numbers of herself in all directions. She batted her tail and the one in front brushed her face.
Turning to the left, she saw the back of her own head, and exclaimed with the loudest echo imaginable, “Is that really how my hair looks?” It hurt her ears, and she could see it hurt her other ears too. She decided she’d had enough, and tried to move backwards. Instantly, everypony receded into infinity.
Meanwhile, back at the Sugarcube Corner, Twilight was sopping wet and terrifically peeved. “You gave her your special cupcakes?! What were you thinking?!”
Pinkie Pie tried to put on her best puppy-dog eyes, but seeing as it was Twilight, she thought better of it. “I, I just thought that she’d like them—”
“She couldn’t handle them! Those cupcakes are specifically adjusted for your metabolism! Imagine what they’d do to Fluttershy! She’d explode, twice! To Rarity! She’d get fat as a cow! You wouldn’t give THEM your special cupcakes, would you?”
“No, no, no, no, no, I only gave them to Dashie! What’s the problem?”
“The problem,” Twilight sighed, calming herself by covering her eyes, “Is that you gave Rainbow Dash, the fastest pony in Equestria, the equivalent of over 50,000 grams of sugar in one serving. You’re the only one with this... condition you have, and your metabolism is the only metabolism that can process that much sugar meaningfully.” She uncovered her face and looked at the Earth pony, who was now standing about 0.5 microns away from her.
“Not to mention the salt and flour,” Pinkie Pie said jubilantly, “And all that water weight too! I bet she’ll swell up and have to be popped with a pin or maybe you could use your horn or a shoe-nail but that might hurt and I don’t want my Dashie to be—” she blathered on.
Twilight pretended to be startled by this, but only just. She put a hoof to Pinkie’s mouth. “Pinkie, stop talking.” The pink one nodded. “Now, we are going out to find Rainbow Dash, and I expect you to apologize to her.” Another nod. “AND never share your special cupcakes with her again.” A reluctant nod. Twilight removed her hoof and the two of them trotted out the door, the machine idling behind them.
Somehow, even while in the timelessness between here and there, Rainbow Dash had perceived the entire exchange as if it were happening all at one moment. It was confusing, to say the least, but the conversation between Twilight and Pinkie had started and ended at the same time. She could see the purple unicorn asking passersby if they had seen her, and she could see them continuing hours later within the same second. To hear everypony’s voices squeezed together was unnerving, yet she could understand everything with crystal clarity. She wanted to call out to them.
“Hey guys! Guys! Help me,” the pegasus spoke at the bubbling and boiling images before her, “Guys! I’m in some kind of weirdo place!” Sadly, none of the pictures in front of her showed any semblance of hearing. In addition, these pictures were beginning to run together as paints do on a hot summer day. As she reached toward one to steady it, they twisted into unworldly and thaumatropic forms, gradually showing other creatures the likes of which Dash had never seen. They vaguely reminded her of monkeys, but they were bald, and they were looking at computers. The computers had her on them.
“AUGH! What are those things?!” Shocked, Rainbow Dash pulled back from the image in some odd direction and it melted yet again, this time showing Princess Celestia reading a letter from Twilight with concern. “Is that Celestia? What’s she...? Oh no. Ohhh no. They must think I’m missing. I am missing. How long have I been gone?”
Her monologue was broken, however, by a thud emanating from somewhere behind her. Spinning around the spot she saw Pinkie Pie laying down on some sort of surface, another white cloud behind her too. The pink pony sprang up as she saw Rainbow Dash.
“Dashie! Oh my goodness we were wondering where you were and now I’ve found you and everything is right with the world! But we’ve gotta get you back to Equestria before they call out the Royal Army to search for you! By now,” she paused for breath, pointing at an ethereal image of Celestia and Twilight looking at an atlas of Equestria and the strange lands beyond, “They must think you’ve gone clear off the map! Bang! Zoom! Straight to the moon! Straight to the other side of the globe, and who knows what awaits there?! They don’t, that’s for sure. They’re so worried, and it’s all my fault...” Pinkie Pie rarely frowned, but this was a rare moment.
“Pinkie Pie! What’s going on? Where are we?” She stared at her friend, who was staring back. “How is this your fault?”
“Oh! I gave you my special cupcakes which I’m not supposed to give to anypony else and then your metabolism went CCRRAAZZYY and now we’re in the fourth spatial dimension! You’ve been learning to move in the directions of ana,” she moved her right hoof behind her, and it vanished suddenly at the elbow, “and kata!” she moved her left hoof ahead of her, and it too became invisible, a cross-section of the stuff inside showing. She then pulled them back in and they reappeared. “But working with spissitude must be confusing for a pegasusasus like you, who normally works only with latitude, longitude, altitude and attitude!” She giggled nervously. “That’s my Dashie!”
Rainbow Dash blushed and coaxed her wings back down. “So, lemme get this straight. We’re in the fourth spatial dimension.” Pinkie nodded. “And we got here by eating your cupcakes, which Twilight says were prescribed for you.” Pinkie nodded and pulled out a set of colorful markers from her mane. She began to draw three-dimensional shapes in mid-non-air. Soon there were little sketches of her and Dash.
"Okay, so that’s you, and that’s me. Well,” she took a deep breath, then began to draw frighteningly fast, “About a year ago I went on a diet because I had eaten too much candy and I was all bloaty, like a cute li’l puffer-fish, and then I got sick because I dieted too much and then I had no energy and I couldn’t even get out of bed and it was awful! So I went to that Doctor guy and he said I had some kinda mitochondrial disorder and that I needed enormous amounts of energy to do anything or I would start digesting myself and implode!! So he drew up some plans with a prescription with his psychical papers and I brought them to Twilight and convinced her to help me build it and the Cutie Mark Crusaders helped too but they didn’t get their cutie marks for advanced thermodynamic accelerator machining, which would have looked weird on their flanks anyways, and they’re so cute but anyways so the machine makes any food come out with a thousand times the energy it went in with, and I looove candy and sweets and chocolate and cakes and I love you so I shared them with you because I want you to be happy but I didn’t realize the implications of a separately-formulated metabolism and the energy was too much for you and that’s how we got into this big ol’ mess.” She stepped back, partially vanishing, and took a look at her work. It was a giant ink-sculpture of Rainbow Dash making a Sonic Rainboom with anatomically correct pony hearts surrounding it. The real Rainbow was dumbfounded.
“...you love me...?”
“Of course I do, silly! Haven’t you noticed?”
“Well, sometimes you say things that make me wonder...”
“Oh, Dashie, I’ve known all about you since forever! This dimension is how I take care of you! From here, I can look over you at any moment in time and space!”
“...look at me... ...at any time...”
“No, not like that!! Well, maybe, but that was only once or twice, I can’t remember, and you should get that mole checked out soon.”
The blue pegasus was frozen solid, her mouth agape, her wings flared, her eyes wide and staring at nothing. She began to tip over but Pinkie zipped and caught her before she hit the tenuously created idea of “ground”. “Dashie, I love you, and there’s nothing that will ever change that. Not even the stupid laws of physics!” Pinkie stroked her Dashie’s hair softly, turning her to putty in her arms. “Now let’s get back to Equestria; I think they’re calling out the cavalry for us.”
“Ahuhuhu... okay...”
“General Bascule! General Brindle! Any luck finding the missing civilians?”
“None, Your Highness.” Generals Bascule and Brindle spoke in unison; they always did. “However, a pegasus reported seeing a small cloud over her house near the last known heading of one of the two ponies.”
“You’ll start from there. Good work,” Princess Celestia said, and bid her soldiers farewell. She turned to her student Twilight sitting beside her throne and lowered her head. “I have a sneaking fear we may not find them tonight. Who did you say this Doctor pony was?”
Twilight shrugged. “Pinkie just mentioned a stallion called “The Doctor” who seemed to have all the right credentials. She said he was the best.”
“I’ll ask Spike to send me the papers, if that’s okay with you?”
“It’s fine, Princess. Anything to find my friends.” Twilight looked back over the throne room, which was bustling with ponies of all shapes and sizes, frantically working computers to search for the pegasus and the Earth pony. Magic screens showed the locations of every trooper, and little snippets of reports poured into the headphones of trained messengers. Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight saw a small cloud, no bigger than a saddle, gently waft across the night sky and through the open window. It was shaped like a donut, with a gnarled annular center empty of anything visible. “Princess, is that cloud supposed to be there?”
“No, it’s not.” She and her pupil followed it with their eyes while it seemed to thrust itself in front of the throne. The cloud stretched back and forth, wiggling and shoving, until suddenly a familiar pink face popped out.
“Hi Twilight! Hi Princess Celestia! Oh hold on, I’ll be right back...” Pinkie’s head faded back inside, and Twilight thought she could hear hooves scraping. “C’mooooon, Dashie, we can come back laaatteerr...” Pinkie reappeared, flank-first, shifting herself out of the cloud with something in her teeth. It was a tail. “M’mon, Dmphsh!!” She lowered herself onto the palace floor, pulling Rainbow Dash by the tail out of the cloud. They collapsed in a heap, and the cloud shrunk to a point out of existence. A few eyes from the crowd turned to look at the noisy intrusion. “Ooh, hey a search-and-rescue party! Where are the balloons?”
Celestia and Twilight stared at the two, looked at each other, then looked back. Their monocles popped out.
Rainbow Dash stood up and dusted the sugar off nonchalantly. “Hey, guys! What’s up?” She noticed that ponies were staring, including the Princess, and shyly turned to Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie, what do we do?”
Pinkie answered by walking up to the Princess and whispering into the alicorn’s ear for several seconds, during which silence fell upon the rest of the ponies. Celestia showed that she understood.
“Attention, everypony!,” the Princess projected her voice with magic, “The two missing ponies have been found, and all is well. The search is off.” Everypony returned to situation normal and went about their business. The screens changed to show the soldier-marks returning and after a while faded off to a simple fresco of the palace. Celestia deamplified her voice and told Twilight Sparkle what had happened, albeit abridged. Twilight smiled and turned to her friends.
“I’m so glad you guys are safe and sound! What else happened? I want to document it for my research.” The unicorn hugged both her friends around the necks. Pinkie and Dash smiled awkwardly, and Dash stepped forward and knelt in front of the Princess.
“Princess Celestia, today I learned that friendship comes in all forms, even ones we are unaware exist. By finding these new friendships, we make the old ones stronger. I also learned to never take somepony else’s medicine, no matter how tasty it looks.” Dash held back a smile after a glance at Pinkie Pie, who was bouncing up and down, her usual hyper self. “Although I can’t say I won’t make exceptions.”
Twilight blurted, “But I’M the one who tells Princess Celestia about friendsh—”
MY LITTLE PONY! *instrumental music* Ah-ah-ah-ah-aaaahh...
|
Cold in Gardez
|
960
| 1 |
Rainbow Dash,Scootaloo,Twilight Sparkle,Comedy,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Maiden Flight
|
The ever-humble Rainbow Dash has selflessly agreed to give Scootaloo a wing-up on Flight School
|
complete
| 488 | 6 |
<p>The ever-humble Rainbow Dash has selflessly agreed to give Scootaloo a wing-up on Flight School with a few lessons. Twilight Sparkle, however, has her doubts...</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-09-22T00:41:01+00:00
|
2011-09-22T00:41:01+00:00
| 8,175 |
It was a lazy afternoon in Ponyville, at the height of summer, and most sensible ponies were taking refuge from the sweltering heat inside their homes or favorite shops. The lake south of town and the ice cream stand outside the Hayseed Cafe were doing brisk business, but otherwise the streets were conspicuously empty of traffic. Apart from the twittering of birds and the buzz of insects, the town was remarkably quiet, content to bide its time until the sun dipped toward the horizon and the cool breeze of evening could come to the rescue.
The pennants atop the Carousel Boutique hung limp in the thick air, looking like streamers from a certain pink pony's parties. Inside, undisturbed by the heat but panicking over an upcoming order of summer dresses for the Canterlot Homecoming ball, a white unicorn with a frazzled expression and mane fed bolts of the finest cotton through an old-fashioned hoof-powered sewing machine (the electric machine was on the fritz, contributing greatly to the pony's taut nerves). To judge by the abundance of cotton bolts in the workshop and the lack of summer dresses, she had a ways to go before resting.
Across the street Sugarcube Corner, Ponyville's finest confectionery, was looking a little worse for wear. Somepony had thrown open all the windows, which had the agreeable effect of filling the town square with the tantalizing scent of bread, muffins, cupcakes and pies in various states of completion. Through those open windows, though, the occasional passer-by could just barely make out the shapes of Mr. and Mrs. Cake slaving over hot ovens and stoves, filling tray carts with steaming-hot desserts, and pausing occasionally to take long gulps of water from a tankard near the sink. They looked, to put it mildly, rather hot, but nevertheless neither showed any sign of slacking off before the day's orders were done.
Similar scenes of quiet industry played out across the town. Nopony with any choice in the matter was outside, and the buzz of cicadas was the only conversation to be heard. It was peaceful. It was quiet. It was good.
Of course, in every town there are ponies who cannot stand peace or quiet. Indeed, they seem determined to seek out and destroy peace and quiet wherever they may be found. Perhaps it's genetic; perhaps their parents raised them that way. Perhaps it's just more fun.
And so amidst the peace and quiet of Ponyville two loud, enthusiastic voices could be heard carrying on a conversation in the most unlikely of places. They were practically shouting in their excitement at the one spot in town that should have been quiet at all hours: the Books and Branches Library.
“Alright, preflight checks!” the larger of the two, a cyan pegasus with a garish rainbow mane barked. She was perched on the railing of the library's balcony, the highest point in Ponyville reachable by stairs. “Flightplan?”
“Check!” shouted the other, a tiny orange pegasus. She grabbed in her mouth a loose leaf sheet of paper pilfered from the library's stores, on which was hastily scrawled the words:
Origin: Library Balcony
Destination: Ground beneath Library Balcony
Est. Duration: Two seconds
“Great! Weather?” Rainbow Dash asked next, her eyes looking up to the cloudless sky.
“Blue! Er, check! I mean, clear!” Scootaloo answered, trying to remember the appropriate Weather Patrol terminology.
“Right! Emergency supplies?”
“Check!” Scootaloo tapped a mound of assorted gear with her hoof. Visible in the disorganized pile were signal flares, saddlebags stuffed with unknown contents, a solid week's worth of food, and multiple medical kits.
“Ya know, Dash, it was really nice of you to agree to teach Scoots to fly,” said Twilight Sparkle, who had been observing the exchange from the back of the balcony and was now eyeing the pile of supplies with professional distaste.
“Yeah, well, when you're the greatest flier in all of Equestria you get requests like this all the time,” Dash responded. “I like to think I have an obligation to help other pegasi become just as awesome as I am.”
“Uh huh,” the unicorn responded. “How many other fillies have you taught to fly, again?”
“Um,” the blue pegasus deflated slightly, but quickly rebounded. “Technically none, but I've inspired plenty! That's the same thing.”
Between the two adult ponies Scootaloo waited patiently, her wide, adoring eyes locked on her hero.
“Riiight,” Twilight Sparkle said, her eyes narrowed. “Tell me, why do you need three separate first aid kits?”
“Well, each kit only comes with two splints and two tourniquets,” Dash answered. “So you need three kits to have enough for all your limbs!” She paused a moment, then added, “They really should make special kits for new fliers, come to think of it.”
Twilight Sparkle spent a silent moment in cognitive dissonance, torn between reassurance that Dash had actually planned ahead to have enough medical supplies, and deep unease that Dash, of all ponies, thought medical supplies might be necessary.
“Okay, enough talk, time to fly!” Dash said, taking advantage of Twilight's momentary silence. “Get up here, squirt.” She grabbed the tiny pegasus' mane in her teeth and hauled her up on the railing.
Scootaloo's wings buzzed as she tried to keep her balance on the railing while peering over the edge to the ground below. For some reason it seemed much further away than she remembered.
“This is kinda high, Dash...” she started.
“I know, isn't it great!?” the blue pegasus cut her off. “Remember, the point is just to float to the ground. Don't try anything fancy yet.”
“Nothing fancy, got it.” She took a few deep breaths to steady herself. Then a few more. Then some more. “Okay, on the count of three. One... two...” she paused for some more deep breaths. “Two-and-a-half...”
“Three!” Dash shouted, giving the younger pony a shove to the rump with her muzzle and knocking her clean off the railing.
“AAAH!” she screamed, falling a few feet before her frantically flapping wings slowed her to something resembling a hover. “AAAH AaaAAaaa! H-hey! Hey! I'm doing it! I'm flying! Dash, look, I'm flying!” The orange filly managed to stay in place for nearly a second before she started to sink again, vanishing through the branches with a series of crashes followed, a few seconds later, by a muffled thump.
“Great job, champ!” Dash shouted over the railing. She turned back to the shocked Twilight with a huge smile on her face. “Oh, I am such an awesome teacher!” she said, then leapt over the railing with a flap of her wings, diving to check on her student.
For her part, Twilight Sparkle stared at the empty space where only moments before two pegasus ponies had perched. Finally, with a sigh, she levitated one of the medical kits and started toward the ground floor, using the stairs like a sensible filly.
***
“Twilight! Twilight! Did you see me?!”
“Yes, Scoots, I saw you,” the unicorn replied, pushing her way past a circle of concerned ponies who were gathered around the young pegasus. She set the medical kit next to Scootaloo. “Are you okay?”
The pegasus tested her wings, flapping them so fast they blurred into an orange smear. “Yep!”
“I mean, the rest of you?”
“Oh.” Scootaloo, who was still sitting awkwardly on the ground, held up her right foreleg. “My hoof hurts.”
Twilight sighed, looking around for Scootaloo's erstwhile teacher. She finally spied Rainbow Dash talking animatedly with a group of concerned looking ponies.
“...and then I said, 'Three!' and shoved her off! Wasn't it awesome?”
Twilight rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Scootaloo, who was trying to get to her feet. “Hold on a second, let me see that leg.” She took the limb with her hoof and gently palpated the cannon bone and ankle, causing the young pony to wince.
“Looks like you twisted it,” she said, popping open the medical kit and levitating out an elastic bandage, which she proceeded to wrap around the joint.
“Twilight! I was flying!” Scootaloo said, her voice filled with wonder. “I was flying!”
“Uh huh.”
“It was awesome, Twilight! I was like, 'Aaaah!' and then I was like, 'I'm flying!' Did you see me-- ow!”
“Sorry,” Twilight said, not actually feeling very sorry at all. With another twist she finished off the wrap, securing it with a pair of butterfly clips. “Alright, no more flying until--”
Whatever time limit she meant to impose was lost as a rainbow mane suddenly shoved its way into her field of view, followed by the rest of an excited pegasus pony.
“Twilight! Twilight! Did you see that?!” Rainbow Dash blurted, sounding nearly as excited as her student. “That was So. Freaking. Awesome!”
“Yes, Dash, I saw her,” Twilight responded, a bit archly. “And frankly I think you two might be moving a bit fast. You know, there are several good books in the library about flying. If you wanted we could check a few out, and set up a study schedule for Scootaloo. I'd be happy to help drill her and proctor tests. A good grounding in aerodynamics and flight mechanics is much more logical than just jumping off of balconies. Come to think of it, that has to be one of the least efficient... hey, where are you going?” She finally realized she was talking to thin air, as both pegasus ponies were already walking back into the library, one limping, the other nearly levitating with excitement.
Twilight sighed and started after them, not even bothering to pack up the medical kit. No point in lugging it up all those stairs just to carry it right back down again.
***
Thirty minutes and four “flights” later, Scootaloo was none the worse for wear. Her flying, it should be said, had not much improved, but her landing skills were far more advanced. By the fourth flight they had even managed to attract a small crowd of ponies who applauded appreciatively after each attempt.
In fact the only pony who seemed to be suffering any ill effects was Twilight Sparkle, who was beginning to regret opening her library and balcony to flying lessons in the first place.
Never one to let a chance to be passive-aggressive slip by, Twilight had taken to reading loudly from an introductory flight manual hastily recovered from the library's “Life Skills” section.
“Hey, it says here that young fliers should start by jumping from small objects like tables or chairs,” she said, her horn glowing as she levitated the open book over to Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, who were doing their best to ignore her. “You know, I have lots of tables and chairs downstairs. We could go down there and--”
“Uh, yeah, thanks Twilight,” Dash cut her off. “Anyway squirt, you're doing great! This time you're going to try for a little forward momentum on the way down. Just angle your wings a tad back, like this,” she demonstrated by stretching her own wings out to their full extent, tilted into a normal flight profile.
“But won't I fall faster if I do that?” the filly asked, torn between absolute acceptance of anything Rainbow Dash said or did and the reality of the 50 foot fall to the ground.
Her teacher shook her head emphatically. “Nope. Right now you're generating lift with the downward pressure of your wings, which lets you hover but is very inefficient. In true flight you only flap your wings to move forward – all your lift is generated by the airflow over your wing surface.”
“Oh,” said Scootaloo. “Uh, okay.” She craned her head over her shoulder and flapped her wings experimentally, trying to get a feel for tilting them like Dash said.
For once Twilight had nothing to add, in shock from hearing Rainbow Dash use such technical terminology.
“Got it? Okay, let's see what you can do!” Dash jumped up on the balcony and tapped the railing next to her with a hoof. Scootaloo climbed up with a bit more effort and significantly less elegance, making sure not to put any weight on her injured hoof.
“Remember, push back with your wings, not just down.”
Scootaloo nodded, stretched her wings out as far as they would go, and jumped before Dash could push her.
Twilight Sparkle stood with her forelegs draped over the railing to watch the flight. The orange pegasus seemed to be doing well – she was actually gliding forward instead of just falling, helped by the occasional flap of her wings.
“Yeah! You got it!” Dash shouted beside her. “Now, turn a bit away from that house! No, don't flap! Turn! Tilt your left wing to catch more... oooh...” she trailed off as Scootaloo crashed into the side of a nearby house with enough force to rattle the windows, followed a second later by the ground.
“So, turning.” Twilight observed. Below them a circle of concerned ponies had gathered around the dazed pegasus.
Grumbling something under her breath, the cyan pegasus jumped from the railing and soared effortlessly down to her student. Twilight watched the spectacle for a few minutes from the balcony, then turned with a quiet huff to head back down the stairs.
|
Cold in Gardez
|
960
| 2 |
Rainbow Dash,Scootaloo,Twilight Sparkle,Comedy,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Maiden Flight
|
The ever-humble Rainbow Dash has selflessly agreed to give Scootaloo a wing-up on Flight School
|
complete
| 488 | 6 |
<p>The ever-humble Rainbow Dash has selflessly agreed to give Scootaloo a wing-up on Flight School with a few lessons. Twilight Sparkle, however, has her doubts...</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-09-22T00:41:42+00:00
|
2011-09-22T00:41:42+00:00
| 7,670 |
“I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier. It just makes so much sense!”
Rainbow Dash was in a particularly good mood. Nearly a week had passed since Scootaloo's last flight, and Nurse Redheart had reluctantly cleared the young pegasus for more lessons. Scootaloo hadn't even been hurt after that crash, really, just a little sore. And she certainly wasn't blaming Dash for not teaching her how to turn.
Unlike some ponies, anyway. Dash peered over the edge of the cloud at the beach below, searching for the dark purple unicorn whose cutie mark should have been a lectern. She loved Twilight, she really did, but sometimes that pony could be an aggravating little...
Aha! There, near the water's edge, a spark of sunlight was reflecting off a pair of binoculars held in front of a certain filly's face. Feeling smug, Dash waved down at the pony.
“Hey! Twilight!” she called. “Thanks for coming out to help!” She held a hoof over her mouth and snickered. As if Twilight could be of any help from down there.
Behind her on the cloud Scootaloo was having the time of her life. It was a thin cloud, and the young pony was stomping holes in it with her hoof to peer down at the lake below.
They were much higher than the balcony. The cloud Dash chose for their exercise was at least a thousand feet above the lake, drifting slowly away from the beach in the gentle summer breeze. Below them ponies were splashing in the water or lounging on the beach.
The balcony was a good start, but it lacked two important components, Dash had realized one night. First, it wasn't very high. Second, it was over the ground; hard, unforgiving ground.
The lake, on the other hand, was much softer. You still didn't want to slam into it at full speed, as Dash had learned years before, but it definitely beat running into the ground. Or trees. Or houses.
And so, on the first day Scootaloo was allowed to fly again, Dash carried her to a cloud high above the lake, to review what they had learned.
“I am such an awesome teacher,” Dash said quietly, looking down at the beach.
“Huh?” came the curious voice of Scootaloo, right behind her.
“Ah!” Dash jumped into the air and spun, hovering a few feet above the cloud. “Ahaha, just talking to myself. Anyway, are you ready?”
“Of course!”
“Okay, what are the four forces of flight?”
“Uh, lift, gravity, drag, and... uh...” Scootaloo screwed her face into a squint, trying desperately to remember their lessons.
“And?”
“And... speed?”
“Hm, close enough. Now, it's a hot day with the sun out. What's that mean for the air?”
“It's thinner, so I'll need more speed to generate the same amount of lift as a cold day. It also has less oxygen, so I'll get tired faster.”
“Right! Now, winds?”
Scootaloo looked up at the higher clouds. “Light, generally from the west, but blowing from the lake onto shore down near the surface.”
“Good. Flight plan?”
“Big circles over the lake. Only flap for thrust. Try to maintain altitude as long as possible. Land in the shallow water near the beach. Oh, thrust! Thrust is the fourth force, not speed.”
Dash grinned. “Not bad. I'll be on your wing, and remember, this is a long flight. If you try to hover you'll just wear yourself out, and then it's a long way down.”
The young pegasus gulped audibly, then nodded. Together then stood at the edge of the cloud, staring down at the lake far below. Neither moved.
Several minutes passed. From below the two were visible only as tiny dark dots on the edge of one of the lower clouds, unless one had binoculars, in which case they were slightly larger blue and orange dots on the edge of the cloud.
Dash glanced at the filly beside her. Scootaloo was trembling ever so slightly, her wings held stiff and frozen out to her sides.
“You know,” the blue pony said quietly, “Not many ponies here know this, but the first time I tried flying I hurt myself very badly. It was a month before I could even walk again, much less use my wings.” Beside her Scootaloo had stopped shivering, and appeared to be listening as she stared at the water.
“The next time my parents tried to take me to fly I was terrified,” she continued. “I didn't even want to try jumping from trees, like most young pegasus ponies do. I figured I could just spend the rest of my life on land, like a unicorn or earth pony.”
She laid down on the cloud, her forelegs and head draped over the edge. “Finally one of my friends, who hadn't started flying yet, asked me for help. He said that if I could survive a crash like that, then I must've learned something important.”
“Is that why they call you 'Rainbow Crash?'” Scootaloo asked quietly, now also lying down beside her.
Dash scowled at her. “How did you... ugh, nevermind. Anyway, even after seeing what happened on my first flight, he still wanted to fly and trusted me enough to help him. So we both went to the edge of one of the clouds in Cloudsdale, closed our eyes, and jumped together.”
Scootaloo stared at her, eyes wide as saucers. “And? What happened to you?!”
Dash stretched her legs and wings and stood back up. “That doesn't matter, squirt. What matters is that we jumped.” She gave the young pegasus an expectant look.
Scootaloo thought about that for a moment. Then, without further hesitation or doubt, she stood, trotted to the edge, and leapt into the sky.
Behind her on the cloud, Dash grinned. “I am such an awesome teacher.”
And then she jumped as well.
***
A thousand feet below, peering at the cloud through her binoculars, Twilight saw the tiny orange dot leap from the cloud and fall nearly a hundred feet in just a few heart-stopping seconds. Just when she was starting to panic, the dot (now a bit larger) began to turn, slipping sideways through the air with surprising speed. It was joined a moment later by a rainbow-colored smear that followed as it began to trace a large circle around the lake.
“Oh my, she's going very fast,” said Fluttershy from beside her. The yellow pegasus pony had passed the time accumulating a collection of turtles, ducks and even snakes from around the lake, but was now staring just as intently as Twilight up at the two fliers.
“Is that safe?” Twilight asked.
“Oh yes,” Fluttershy assured her. “Young fliers are usually safer when they fly quickly. It's less tiring to stay up than trying to hover.” She paused, then added, “Of course, it can make landings a bit more difficult.”
***
Scootaloo had never expected flying to be so loud. The roar of the wind past her ears was like thunder; her mane was whipping like a flag in a tornado, and her legs were shaking so hard she thought she might lose the feeling in her hooves.
“Tuck your legs in, champ!” called a sudden voice to her side. Sparing a quick glance to the left she spied Rainbow Dash. The blue pony's flight was so steady she might as well have been ice-skating.
She duly pulled her legs up under her body and was rewarded with a suddenly calmer flight. The wind was still loud, but she found she could ignore its roar. Her wings were still a tad shaky compared to Dash's, and she was constantly trimming her pinions to try and stay level, but she was flying! She was flying!
“Look down!” Dash called beside her. Scootaloo did, and saw that the edge of the lake was rapidly approaching below them. Tipping her left wing slightly to catch more air, she began a wide turn to stay over the water. Dash mirrored her movements, not moving even an inch relative to the younger pegasus.
“You've got energy; trade it for height!” Dash yelled, before suddenly soaring up with a slight tilt of her wings. Scootaloo took another look at the lake below, then gave her own wings a slight twist, feeling them grab the air and shove her higher while also slowing her down.
“Doing good, squirt,” Dash said from above her. Now that she was slower they could have something resembling a normal conversation. “Remember to flap occasionally to keep your speed. Oh, and breathe!”
That was good advice. She hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath nearly the entire flight. It also made talking easier.
“Dash! I'm flying!”
“I know! Isn't it awesome!”
It was indeed.
***
The two stayed in the air for nearly twenty minutes before Scootaloo's wings began to tire. Not wanting to risk a rough ending to an otherwise fine day of flying, Dash took them down to the water in a low, sweeping arc that terminated with a hundred-yard-long skid across the water's surface, sending up twin fans of water that doused dozens of nearby ponies.
The two were still splashing each other when Twilight finally reached them, trotting on the surface of the water as though it was solid earth.
“Well, you two look like you had fun,” she said. “Dash, you really are an awesome teacher.”
“Well, duh! Nice hat, by the way.”
Twilight glanced up at the pith helmet she wore whenever spying on people, which was a surprising amount of her time. But then, Celestia had never told her how she was supposed to learn about friendship.
“Thank you,” she responded dryly. “And Scootaloo, you looked fantastic up there.”
“Simply amazing,” said Fluttershy, who was hovering above all three of them.
“Aw, it was all Dash's work,” she replied, blushing.
Dash waved a hoof dismissively. “Yeah, right. All I did was tell you to jump. You did the rest.”
“Well, let's get you two back to shore,” Twilight said, ever practical. “I hear Pinkie's already planning a party to celebrate your first real flight.” She grabbed Scootaloo's mane in her mouth and lifted her out of the water, and began trotting back to shore with the squirming bundle.
With a bit of help from Fluttershy, Dash managed to get out of the water and into the air. Thanking the other pegasus, she turned back to the cloud high above.
“Still awesome,” she whispered, then raced to catch up with her friends.
|
Noyman Jayden
|
966
| 1 |
Adventure,Alternate Universe,Dark,Romance,Sad,Slice of Life
|
Ponies in Space
|
Ponies go to the Wild West
|
incomplete
| -1 | -1 |
<p>The Ponies all go to a pl;ac and fite</p>
|
everyone
| null |
2011-09-22T18:46:30+00:00
| 93 |
Edwerd Nortan was done wit Fight Club and was pony and there were ponies everywhere becuase Tyler Darden was bitcvh to heim and too much fucking marla so he shootas him in the movier.
“You met me in a strange part yof tmy lief.” says Edwerds whi’s name we nevar no.
“thats okay but pleze turn back into tytler durdan he is hotter.”
“Ok” and Edwer Norten became Bradd Pith who pleyed Tyler Durnden and soon police came.
“Die polcie!” Project Mahyem said asnd shoots bullet rocks from their fists and everyone fights like in the movie.
‘Tlyer we are same person we shuld fight as won.”
Tyler nods and they tke both of their fists and jump threw the window and two to sky with hailstrom of mighty litning and windsa that blew all around maeking the tiem go by slow and the peeple who fighting project Mayhehm go dlow into comas.
As tleyer and Edwers soul com back in eveyrone bleeds a littel froem badass of Bradd Pith who is plays Edward Nortam. “Tyler we worshup and surve you give us life.” and he bled on him.
“The bluildings explod” Tyelr said as moer buildins othere than usual explodes to grounds. “Tyelr I know plonger respecrts you.” says Nortan and she bullets himself with guns.
The End.
Fight Club 3 Tylre is Goast
Edwerd Nrotan is sleep in bed aftwer sex with Marla bnecause evberythin better now. “Dont sleep hrd long” says voice so Edwerd uses mind powars to now it was the voice Tylar Dardan.
“Wat sort of hell briangs you hear!” Yelling Nortan with anger.
“All of the hell has broughts me here.” Tylar pulls from a gun swith big bullet vbarrel.
“NO!” Nortan Nortans as he jumprises frombeds to save the wrold wants more frrom Tyelar Derduan who kill people in grocerys convinients for no reason but veterinarians.
“BUrn hosues” and tyyeler Does whatg he does bets and burns a whoale lots og buildings all aroudn edwards new condon. “NO!” Edwards cong foos all over tyler until blod and another fight begins until marla \
“waht are you fighting Tyler tonight?”
“Hea is goast see?” Nortans and Marlaw sees and grabs gun vacuum from goastbusters like masturbation and shots and Tiler who ebcaomes exploding decay ecto matter.
“His lief ended two minets at a time.” Sed Nortan with drama and everyone cheered as he putsed on sunsglasses and walks to into the sunster on horse he found and marla.
The Endm for real! BUT NOT! to beE continue
|
BlakeAllen
|
967
| 1 |
Adventure,Comedy,Random,Romance,Slice of Life,Tragedy
|
Shoots and GUNS
|
the not so exicting life of people
|
complete
| -1 | -1 |
<p>This happened to me so i wrote it</p>
|
mature
| null |
2011-09-22T05:38:12+00:00
| 20 |
Shoots and GUNS
Roosevelt woke up to explosioing which he think never of becaues it was daily.Then went to heart surgery after that he stote a polic for hell drove around hitting people that wore Raiders stuff he hated Raiders so much.’
Fuck dem raidars i hate zem” he sad cryinly to the child he kidnapped
Weh teh pollice puled him ovaer he screamed then threw Jets at them while taking his clothes off in the middle of the ocean.He to friend house to go to the Gameplay which was in his friends house walking in the door Ower of the stor Cameron shooted him gunly quielty screaming Rejected common in the hood nowhere near.Then Cameron realized that he was a Raiders fan the whole time.Walking in at te sane tame wes Blake and Nate whime CAmeron panned killed but had bulllets so heh not killing very much.Josh came out of everywhere and knifed them in the past
but did know that Black oraled nate back to futre pats were he give Josh sach a mand blowing revel that he trllu is cameron from the present then shot himself buried ike nate had once scene b4 in nam.Then they played baseball which wss a foile to leave GOveremant who fireded fist at them but Roosevelt cma black to alive due serect that he never existed before today butt no one knew that which fisting Josh with his feet overly tben Obamia come out of sky and president no one then went home
“WHat helling cock” Josh contently said
I never know happlyil sad Roosevelt.whoma never shot anyones fully so he decided to killling some1 he woke up the guy and shots him laserlly with eyes that he didnt have yet
What the hell ssid ‘nate this is my firt lane wha fuck then super sainden and drank himself deadky with whine then Govment came and took te baby whcih i forgot about and shootly kill every moment in time every
They endth? or so i think
|
Scarlett
|
968
| 1 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Diamond Tiara,Original Character,Silver Spoon,Snails,Snips,Twist,Romance,Sad,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Facets and Flaws
|
Diamond Tiara is spoiled, Silver Spoon is sheltered, both have secrets, will friendship survive?
|
incomplete
| 93 | 2 |
<p>Comments and reviews very welcome.</p><p>A secret revealed tears apart Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.<br/>Can old enemies and rivals learn to forgive?<br/>Will new friends fill the void left behind?<br/>Will the Troublesome Twosome find a way to repair their bond, or will it be some other pony that will fill the holes in their hearts, with friendship, or even love?</p>
|
teen
|
2012-03-20T16:11:21+00:00
|
2014-10-25T10:32:56+00:00
| 5,085 |
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and all its characters are property of Hasbro and Lauren Faust. Only the story and original characters are the property of the author.
This is a not-for-profit fan based work of fiction
WARNING: This story will contain adult themes including homosexuality, gender dysphoria, and other mature topics. I will be avoiding explicit sex, I’m trying for a PG-13 rating.
Facets and Flaws
By: Scarlett
Prologue
Humming softly, Diamond Tiara prepped the tray of tea and cookies herself- unwrapping the package of shortbread rounds, and pouring the hot water from the kettle into two mugs; the tea bags released a lemony scent that caused Diamond to shiver, all the stress of the day was released from the top of the pony’s purple and white mane and down through her pink hooves into the very ground beneath. She loved a good tea. She sighed as she finished her task, and leaned against the counter, 'Cooking is like, totally so easy,' she thought to herself, allowing a smug grin to cross her face, never mind the fact that her butler Randall had been the one to pull the cookies from the pantry, light the stove, and boil the water for the tea, and that no real cooking was involved at all.
Normally Diamond would not have done even these simple tasks herself, that is what lesser ponies like her butler were for, but today was special, and the pony waiting upstairs for the second mug of tea was special indeed. Silver Spoon had been Diamond Tiara’s best friend for years— was truthfully her only friend, though she would never admit that to anypony. It wasn’t supposed to be that way; she was rich, beautiful, she always dressed in the finest fashions (lately nothing but Rarity Originals). All of the other fillies should have looked up to her, should have wanted to be her. It wasn’t fair. She was supposed to rule the school.
Instead, she and Silver Spoon had found themselves to be near outcasts in that horrible excuse for a school here in Ponyville. Both of their families were more than rich enough to send them to fine private academies in Canterlot, or Manehattan, places that ponies from the finest families should have gone. Instead Diamond was left pondering and dreaming on what life would have been, should have been, in those centers of culture. Parents just don’t understand; she had been given some excuse about building character or something— which was totally lame, and Silver’s family felt she should be kept close to home, so instead of living a life of glamour among the elite, they had been stuck with all the dweebs and blank flanks in this backwater town.
Finally, just yesterday, they had graduated from that rinky-dink little red schoolhouse, paving the way for this fall. In just a few months they would be going to “South Canterlot High School!” The last was shouted aloud with a squee, as she thought about the new opportunities to meet all the right friends, and become the queen of her new school, she would look down upon her kingdom and all would be right with the world, her best friend at her right hoof, as always, and as the two richest, classiest earth fillies in all of Ponyville, she and Silver would show those Canterlot unicorns a thing or two about style.
Her outburst had earned a stifled chuckle from her butler who to that point had been blending into the background like he was supposed to. She gave him a look of pure malice, her imaginations interrupted, and in that glare the butler saw his forgotten place, and perhaps caught a glimpse of the cliffs of insanity, and cast his eyes quickly downward.
His young mistress reined in her anger, and gave her command, pointing to the tray with her muzzle, “Carry this upstairs, I will take it from you at the door.”
“Yes, Little Miss,” the butler replied, earning another glare- this one not as harsh. Apparently that form of address was no longer acceptable, he thought to himself with an internal chuckle. Quickly regaining his composure he crossed the tiled kitchen floor, taking care to step softly, and took the tray from the impressive white granite counter top, heading up the luxurious stairwell. Its rails were made from the finest cherry wood, and mosaic tiles were inlaid on each and every step.
His thoughts were not on the beauty of the home at that moment, though at other times he would just wander and find the little details that no one else noticed, like the dovetails joining the baseboards, but today he had no thoughts for his secret passion, he was distracted by memories. Holding in a sigh, he fondly recalled the days when he had been a friend and confidant to the young filly; she had grown colder as the years had passed. He could barely remember the last time he’d seen her truly smile— except when the young Miss Spoon had been around— was it? Yes, just before the Cuteceñera a few years before. She had been so happy getting everything ready for that day. . .
. . .They had reached the door, and he ceased his meandering, reminding himself his lot was but to serve. The butler bowed low and held the tray until the Young Miss took it from him. “Will that be all Miss Tiara?” he asked.
“You are dismissed,” came the curt reply, and the butler left quickly allowing himself to rub at his rickety joints. As he left, his existence was immediately forgotten by the young filly, he was just a butler after all, more a part of the house than a pony.
She stood in front of the door, balancing the tray of snacks upon her back, and paused, for some reason feeling a bit on edge; She took a deep breath to calm herself, it was just the start of a great summer with her friend Silver. She should be excited, and yet, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.
Diamond bit her pink lips gently, took one last deep breath and walked through the door.
As she saw what awaited her on the other side, she dropped the tray with a clatter, cookies and tea spilling all over the fine white carpet of her bedroom. The blinding pink and white furniture was all in order, posters of princesses and pop stars still lined the walls, only one thing was out of place- that book lay on the coffee table, the book Silver was never meant to see. Diamond’s heart grew tight in her chest, her greatest fear was right in front of her— Silver knew.
The notebook on the coffee table seemed innocent enough at a glance, most of it full of the doodles and poems of a bored school filly, but hidden in the back of it— well that was different. Filled with drawings like the one that lay open on the table, those pages held Diamond’s most secret thoughts, all of them drawings of Silver. In this one Silver’s rump thrust itself towards the viewer, her head turned back towards her rear with a look of longing on her face, the filly’s silvery braid was mussed and coming undone, her glasses askew, her tail was barely covering the junction between her thighs. This two dimensional Silver was not completely naked, as most ponies were. No, that was the most horrible part of it all- Diamond, the dirty filly that she was, had drawn her best friend in all the world clad only in socks, yes, SOCKS.
She stood quietly, filled with dread, not wanting to look up, fearing the judgement that would appear in Silver Spoon's eyes.
As her pink cheeks darkened to an embarrassed red, she could feel the heat rising there before it began spreading into her neck, and soon deep into other places, terrible wonderful places, as she fully recognized that her innermost thoughts had just been revealed to the pony she loved more than anything. Risking everything, she began to raise her eyes, past blue framed lenses to meet the soft lavender eyes of the real Silver in front of her— but only for a moment— as quickly as hope had formed in her own light blue eyes, it was crushed, only fear and disgust met her in the returning gaze; she lowered her head and began to sob, everything she had known was about to be gone.
Silver Spoon fled the room, her mind spinning, tears forming in the corners of her eyes and dripping down her cheeks, she didn’t understand, she felt sick to her stomach. She never looked back at the filly who had been her best friend, who had betrayed her with her disgusting desires. She couldn’t deny what she had discovered, no amount of wishing would make this all go away. Everything she knew seemed false, for the thing that couldn’t have been true was true; Diamond Tiara was a filly-fooler.
Left alone with her embarrassment and shame Diamond Tiara sat next to the coffee table, tracing the drawing with one hoof while her tears began to fall. After a time she looked over to the bookshelf where the offending book had been, where she had left it in the open, the deepest secrets of her heart available to any curious eyes. How could she have been such a foal?
With a scream she stood and knocked the bookshelf to the floor, then grabbing the notebook she tore it in half, her path of destruction went on for a full minute claiming the lives of quills and decorative china— eventually she was spent, and with a final anguished cry she collapsed onto her bed, shaking with the grief of the broken-hearted. She curled up against the wall with a plush toy, the one that special pony had given her, the one who had just fled from the one who loved her, and she clutched it tightly to her chest until she ran out of tears.
“I love you,” she finally said aloud, confessing everything in a breathy whisper— but there was nopony left to hear.
|
Scarlett
|
968
| 2 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Diamond Tiara,Original Character,Silver Spoon,Snails,Snips,Twist,Romance,Sad,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Facets and Flaws
|
Diamond Tiara is spoiled, Silver Spoon is sheltered, both have secrets, will friendship survive?
|
incomplete
| 93 | 2 |
<p>Comments and reviews very welcome.</p><p>A secret revealed tears apart Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.<br/>Can old enemies and rivals learn to forgive?<br/>Will new friends fill the void left behind?<br/>Will the Troublesome Twosome find a way to repair their bond, or will it be some other pony that will fill the holes in their hearts, with friendship, or even love?</p>
|
teen
|
2012-03-20T16:26:04+00:00
|
2014-10-25T10:32:21+00:00
| 4,158 |
WARNING: This story will contain adult subject matter, including homosexuality, gender dysphoria, and other mature themes. I will be avoiding explicit sex, however if you are offended easily, please do not read.
Facets and Flaws
By: Scarlett
Chapter 1- Moving On/Moving In
A knock at the door woke Diamond, who had taken to sleeping until noon, and she groggily stumbled out of the pink canopy bed she had rarely left in the past month or so, nearly tripping on the translucent curtains. She’d not been a complete shut-in, and had still gone to ballet three times a week. Mother would have killed her if she had skipped on practice, but her heart was never in it. The rest of the time she had been in her room, eating junk food while curled up in bed in her most comfy sweater, and feeling sorry for herself. That lasted until the staff had refused to bring her anymore ice cream or donuts or anything else, on her parents orders. She wasn’t surprised that they noticed- maybe that stupid butler had told them. Despite the fact that Father had to travel for business, and Mother had the dance studio, they had always had time for her and tried to stay involved in her life.
She began to cross the room, avoiding a few discarded bags of popcorn, and tugging at the ridiculous fuzzy purple sweater, which had ridden up her body in the night, almost up to her fore-legs. She blinked with sleep crusted eyes and rubbed them gently to clear them, pausing for a bit as she caught her reflection in her vanity mirror along the way. She had not truly realized what she had been doing to herself til that moment; her eyes were puffy and ringed in the purple-black of lost sleep, her mane matted and tangled; normally her coat would have been a glowing rosy pink, but it looked pale, faded, and lifeless. She looked absolutely terrible.
She groaned and stretched tired muscles, as she finished picking her way through discarded comfort food towards the door, slowly easing it open and peeking out to see the dreaded and beloved visage of her mother. The elegant thin figure of Ruby Tiara was as well kempt and alert as Diamond was not. She was dressed in a fabulous tan shawl, made from the finest wool imported from the highlands, gold bangles and bracelets accented her fore-hooves, and subtle diamonds adorned her ears. Ruby was a fine specimen of an eastern ballerina even now, after many years had passed in her life and a child had been carried inside her. Her Stalliongrad accent had dulled slightly over the years since she left, but she had never forgotten where she had come from, and was nearly as fit as she had been during her days in the Moseycow Ballet. “My little dahlink,” She began, fixing her daughter with a loving yet stern smile.
“Yes, Mother?”
“It is ten in the mornink, you vill take shower, you vill eat, and you vill come tell me vat problem is, then you vill go outside and play,” said Ruby in a tone that allowed no arguments, even with the silly grin crossing her face, and her head bobbing from shoulder to shoulder in emphasis with each phrase; with that said she turned on a heel and sauntered away, knowing that her daughter would obey.
Diamond could only sigh in reply, “Yes, Mother.” Diamond knew that her parents both loved her, that they both cared, but she knew not to cross mother. Her father she could usually manipulate and bend to her will, he had always been putty in her hoofs. She was his little princess after all. He had tried to get her to open up days before, but she had convinced him that she just needed time, but now Mother was involved; that meant dad would be no help at all and she knew one way or the other she would end up “tellink her everythink.” Diamond giggled a bit; to her own surprise her mother’s visit had already done some good.
She couldn’t disobey mother many reasons. If she did she would only suffer for it tomorrow at the ballet studio. With as much money as dad made, Diamond Tiara didn’t need to dance, but she enjoyed it immensely, and mother was the best. Diamond’s cutie mark had come at her first performance. She’d only worn a simple silver tiara, so she still didn't quite know why the one in her cutie mark was set with the precious stones. As to the ballet, Mother always said Diamond had more natural talent than she ever did, and Ruby had been one of the world’s finest in her prime. However, she also wanted her daughter to experience the freedom that Equestria offered her and didn’t make her practice everyday.
Ruby on the other hoof, had been raised in the harsh system of Trotsian Ballet, there had been little or no schooling for her after her earliest years, no friends or parties, only ballet. Diamond Tiara had heard the stories over and over again, six days a week, sometimes seven from dusk until dawn, constantly dancing, no freedom, only dancing. Not until she had finally made it big could she reduce her schedule, and even then, there had always been prettier and younger mares behind her, she couldn’t let them catch her. Her mother had finally found her freedom when she met Filthy Rich the Second, a businesspony from a foreign land who had come to find a supplier of exotic goods for his stores in distant Equestria. Taking in one of the famous ballets, he was entranced from the moment she stepped on the stage, and ended up finding something even more precious than he expected, a wife, and the future mother of his foal.
Her parents were still sickeningly sweet on each other, her father often found excuses to come home early from his office at Barnyard Bargains to bring mother flowers, or take them out for dinner or bowling. Diamond wanted that kind of love more than anything, but she had been too afraid to give Silver the slightest hint. She knew the other filly wouldn't feel the same, and so she had hidden her feelings away, hoping her crush would fade. Her dear friend must have been quite startled, maybe that was part of it, the surprise? Maybe, in time, after the shock wore off she could be forgiven; they could at least be friends. . .
. . . Diamond chased away the wishes and longings, showered and groomed, putting in extra effort on her mane and makeup, looking a pony’s best to give herself courage was just a simple psychological trick, but it worked for her. She was the daughter of a famous ballerina, and the heiress to one of the fastest growing retail and grocery chains in Equestria, she was a cut above the common pony, and a little thing like a broken heart wouldn’t be the end of her world. It was false bravado, mostly, but again she allowed herself to fall for it just a little.
Later, in her mothers gentle embrace she began the true cleansing of her soul, “Momma, I’ve always had a crush on somepony. . .”
***
Silver Spoon was bored.
It was not anything new, she had been bored for weeks now. As she sat in the swing on her porch, swaying gently in the breeze, she began to realize just how empty her life was. Like the swing, she was passive, a follower, waiting for some pony, or force of nature to put her into motion. For as long as she could remember that pony had been Dia— no, she didn’t even want to think of her name. That traitor, that freak, with her unnatural feelings that made her run from what had been her best, her only friend ever.
Seen and not heard. That was The Rules for fillies in the Spoon family. She’d had no friends at all, and had rarely said a word to anypony until that first day of school, when a boisterous and rather snooty pink pony had complimented the expensive glasses she wore and the care with which she braided her hair. She had been called “Fabulous.” Back then Silver could not remember the last time she had been complimented, and had followed the other other around like a little lost puppy ever since, but that was over now. Nopony liked her now.
Filly-fooling, it was gross, unnatural, That Is Not How Things Are Done, in the Spoon family. Silver was to wait, quietly, patiently, and Be A Good Little Filly, so that when she was old enough she would have her Mare-butante Ball, and there Daddy would select the most suitable stallions, Only Unicorns Need Apply; they would be watched over the years, their business sense, their social graces- all would be judged, until at the end of it all there would be only one-
“Immortaaal.” Pinkie Pie whispered from the bushes, before bouncing off on her way to do Pinkie things.
-Stallion and he would be given permission to court her, and there would be a big wedding and then a beautiful dress and flowers and Diamond would be her Mare of Honor and— oh, right, never mind.
Silver tried to distract herself with thoughts of what her stallion would be like, the color of his coat, mane, eyes, she felt her heart beat faster as she imagined his smell, the wedding night, her cheeks were growing warmer. She did not quite know what would happen on that night, Fillies Are Not Meant to Know, after all, but it had to be magical. When the heat began to spread to other places, she left the swing and those thoughts behind, feeling a little guilty that she had spent so long dwelling on such things. If her mother knew she was thinking those things she would be locked in her room for certain, and. . .
. . . what if she wasn’t good enough, she was just an earth pony, what if none of them wanted her. Dark thoughts intruded in Silver’s mind, she’d had them before, she had them often.
Silver had begun to walk across the thick grass of the lawn towards the front gate, thinking she might follow Pinkie Pie down to Sugar Cube Corner for a treat, a nice cupcake to ward off those terrible feelings, when she realized yet another consequence to that other pink pony’s betrayal. Silver was not allowed into town unescorted. Having another pony of Diamond’s class and breeding with her hadn’t even been enough to convince her parents initially, (her father still referred to them as "new money" in a disgusted tone.) it had taken weeks of begging in her audiences with Father, and a visit from the other filly’s parents to convince Mr. and Mrs. Spoon that Diamond, (she winced as her name came to mind), would keep their precious foal away from harmful influences and crude ponies.
What was she going to do now?
It was not until a few miserable days had passed that a solution to Silver’s problem appeared; the house next door, which was even larger than her own, which had been vacant for almost as long as she could remember, wasn’t quite so empty any more. She could see servants moving about the place, some carrying things out of an Acme Moving Carriage and into the large house as others cleaned and prepared it for somepony. She did know the house had been the summer home of the Dancer family for five generations, even before Ponyille came to be, though she wasn’t sure which branch of the prestigious unicorn family owned it at the moment. Her mother had told a few tales about the social events in Canterlot, and how Moondancer had simply scandalized her family by staying on through college at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns instead of settling down with a respectable stallion.
“Excuse me?” she called, as she left her front gate, with only one guilty glance back towards her own home, “Excuse me, can somepony tell me who my new neighbors will be?”
A strong young earth stallion, with a brown coat and dark mane set down the recliner he had been carrying across his finely toned flanks, exposing a pair of crossed wrenches, his cutie mark, and trotted over to the young filly. Silver almost instantly developed a bit of a crush, this common pony was far beneath her station, but she could definitely enjoy looking at those muscles. He began with a smile and a rakish bow, and seemed please to see her grin in return, “I’m nopony important myself, just a fixer-pony, but my mistress, Glory Dancer and her umm, her foal-,” he seemed to fumble with his words for a moment, as if he didn’t know what he wanted to say, and Silver Spoon was more than happy to pretend he was simply dumbstruck by her beauty, “-her filly, ummm, I guess the little one is probably about your age, well they’ll be here in three days,” he finally managed.
“My age?” Silver Spoon asked, excitement building, “So she will be attending South Canterlot High this fall?”
“I think so,” he scratched his head, not entirely sure of his mistress’ plans, “Either way I’m sure she’ll be happy to have a friend right next door.”
Silver gave the friendly fixer pony another smile, “Thank you for telling me.”
Another filly, of the right social class, was moving in right when she needed her. She’d be able to go into town with her, and would no longer be cooped up in the yard or the house. Just then, Silver felt like the luckiest pony alive, but her smile faded when she reached the gate, where mother was waiting, “And what do you think you are doing out of the yard young lady? Talking to common laborers in the street? You are lucky your fah-ther wasn’t here to see this!” said Mrs. Spoon, with just a hint of her Canterlot accent creeping in.
Silver had to fight back a sudden urge to respond with sarcasm, she had been too long without the cutting remarks she and- that other pony- would use to belittle those who did not know their place, using it now would have been Unacceptable, so she decided upon a different tactic, “Mother, is it not wonderful? One of the Dancer’s, Glory, I believe, will be moving into their old estate, and she has a filly my age, you are always telling me to form connections with the best of ponies, and now they will be moving right next door!” she exclaimed, sweetness and naivety had served her well before, and her mother’s sternness did soften some.
“Glory, Glory, ahh yes, married one of the Banks, not one of their best though, she is calling herself Dancer again? Sounds like I have some gossip to catch up on, she had a filly and a colt if I remember, hrmmmm,” The possibility of gossip was enough to do the rest, and Silver’s transgressions were completely forgotten as they made their way into the house.
****
Three days of anticipation culminated in the Spoon’s own garden, as Glory Dancer and her filly were invited to Afternoon Tea. A servant had delivered the invitation, and another the reply. Such was The Way Things Were Done, in both high society, and the Spoon household. Mrs. Spoon, was dressed in one of her best day dresses, a frilly soft purple pastel that complemented her pale blue coat, her light pink mane was swept back in loose curls that left her unicorn horn in full view, (it was such a shame that Silver took after her father in that regard, just as she did in coloring.) A maid held a parasol up to shield her from the sun, as she sat waiting at the garden table, her daughter, similarly clad in light blue, was on her right.
She stood up and greeted her visitor with a kiss on each cheek as the purple maned white unicorn was escorted into the garden. “Glory, dahr-ling! you look simply mahr-volous,” she said, in the accent of Canterlot’s high society, “Welcome to Ponyville dear, it has been ages.”
Glory had dressed for simple elegance, a ruffled tan jacket and a single bracelet, allowing all to see her talent for magic written on her flank in a silver and purple shooting star. She had long since given up on the airs other unicorns liked to put on, she knew herself and needed nopony’s approval. “Yes, not since we were school fillies, Glitter,” she smiled. The two ponies had never been truly close, but they had friends in common, and for Scarlett’s sake Glory would put up with the pretentious Mrs. Spoon, “and speaking of fillies, this is my daughter Scarlett. One of my servants tells me your daughter Silver will be in the same year at South Canterlot come fall.”
The young unicorn mentioned had a white coat like her mother, and smiled confidently behind a mane of coppery red hair that shimmered in the afternoon sun, she was dressed much more appropriately in Mrs. Spoon’s opinion, in fact that silk and lace dress outdid her own, she thought with more than a hint of jealousy. “Oh, I’m sure they will be fast friends, now come dear let me get a good look at you, you’re such a. . .” Mrs. Spoon would normally have said the filly was pretty or adorable, but that wasn’t exactly true. Scarlett was a little bit too tall, too strong, perhaps she had been a bit of a tomfilly? Her withers and flank a bit too wide, her face a bit boyish, though she hid it quite well with makeup, the overall effect was, not ugly, just— plain, “. . . an elegant dresser, and how do you get your mane so shiny, and the color, just like Moondancer’s.” She had barely missed a beat in finding a way to compliment the filly, but she saw Glory’s jaw tighten slightly.
“She is my world,” Glory said with a smile as she watched Scarlett simply accept the compliment, however back-hooved, with a quiet "thank you" and a "nice to meet you."
Glitter Spoon was taken aback at the love she saw in that mother’s eyes, something about it made her feel very awkward. As she usually did when topics grew heavy she turned to banter, “Now, Glory dear, I heard the news and its simply dreadful, how could that fool of a Banks ever leave you?” She took Glory by the hoof and guided her to the table, “ Sit, sit everyone sit. Humilidad, the tea?” In the uncomfortable silence, the Coltombian maid served the group, the piping hot tea and miniature cakes filling the air with a sweet honeyed aroma.
Glory had never failed to be surprised at the brashness of the gossip pony (she almost choked on her tea), but Glitter always found out one way or another, and this way she at least had a chance to tell just enough, without getting into the more private details. “We just, we had a disagreement over the foals, and how we wanted to raise them. Its really not all that salacious Glitter Spoon, so you can stop salivating,” she decided to tease a bit, though she knew Glitter hated it, or perhaps she did it because of that fact, “Finances were fine, the romance was still there, but he was so stubborn and set in his ways when it came to the foals. He had their lives all planned out, but this one,” she smiled at her dear little filly, “Is a bit of a dreamer, and rather than let him force her into— well, it doesn’t really matter, she has plans of her own, and I could see that living his way was making her despair.”
Mrs. Spoon again felt an uncomfortable knot forming in her stomach, "I don't think I understand, because my Silver is such a good little filly, obedient, always finishes her homework," Glitter smiled at her daughter with a smile that was more pride than love, "She will make somepony a wonderful wife someday, a jewel of high society."
Glory gave Silver a look of pity, there was nothing wrong with being a somepony's wife, but it seemed like Silver wasn't being given an option to do anything more than what her parents wanted, much like her own little pony had faced under her husband's roof. Without freedom to decide for oneself how could anypony be happy? Glory took another sip of her tea and nibbled at a biscuit. "I'm sure. Glitter, how about we let the girls wander a bit, I'm sure you'd like to hear all the latest from Canterlot?" she shuddered inwardly at having to spend the afternoon in gossip, but this would give Scarlett a chance to get to know Silver, it was worth the sacrifice.
Not quite aware her mother was throwing herself upon the proverbial dagger, Scarlett set down her tea and exclaimed with a grin "Oh, yes! Let's go look at the roses." She stood up and carefully pulled her dress away from the chair, not wanting to ruin it, but still trying to escape before the other adult stopped her, and her soon to be friend. "Silver, please, show me your garden?" she asked in a sweet sing-song. If only they could get away, maybe Silver would actually say a word or two.
Silver looked at her mother, who waved her away with a hoof, and then she happily stood, "Nice to meet you Scarlett, the roses are down the stone path."
The auburn maned filly shook her tresses and laughed, giving Silver a playful tag on the shoulder, "You're it," and took off skipping down the stone path.
Silver stood with her mouth agape, she was much to old for such a game, and yet, looking over at her mother deep in her passion for the latest scandals, at the moment there was no better option, with a shrug she decided to do it right, and began down the path, a foalish skip to her own steps. She looked everywhere along the way, near tiny ponds, and behind the trellises, and didn't even see the other filly when she reached the rose bushes, which were marvelous that day, the pinks and the reds were both in bloom. Silver was a bit miffed, the game would be no fun if she could not find her target. Silver stopped moving, and closed her eyes to listen carefully, there, a rustling in the bushes over by the old oak. A little deception was in order, "Where are you?" she asked the air around her, and sighed loud enough to be heard. Then noisily began to trot back up the stone path.
Once she was out of sight she stepped off the path onto soft grass, and began to walk slowly around to where she had heard the noise, using a picket fence as cover. She carefully crept up to the edge of the fence, there was a hoofprint in the soft wet mud next to the tree. A grin tugged at one corner of her mouth, time for the pounce,' she thought.
She tensed up the muscles in her hind legs and prepared to make the leap- "BOO!" and instead jumped straight up into the air with a scream. Scarlett giggled behind her, " I got you sooooo good."
"You meanie," Silver replied, but a twinkle of good humor was in her eye, "that is not how the game is played."
"So, you do know how to have a bit of fun? I was worried since you didn't seem to do much but sit quietly when we were with our moms. So what do you like to do?" Scarlett was determined to make a friend today, and Silver seemed nice enough out of her mother's clutches.
Silver flicked the corner of her blue glasses, then tugged at her pearls as she thought about it, "I really like to get away from the house, my parents can be super strict, so I used to go into town with a friend, but she- we had a fight so I haven't had anyone to go with and I have been totally bored," she unconsciously dropped into the speaking habits she had picked up from Diamond, if her parents ever heard it they would just die, "but I totally love to pig out on sweets at Sugar Cube Corner, and Rarity's place is so fabulous, she is totally the hottest designer right now, and she is out here in lame-o-ville, can you believe it?"
"Oh, I absolutely love fashion," Scarlett squealed, "I mean, this isn't a Rarity, but I found this little out of the way place in North Canterlot and simply fell in love with the silk," This was going great, she had a friend, she had a friend! She mustn't jump the gun, she had to know more, specifically, "Silver, what do you think about stuffed animals?" she asked with an almost begging look in her eyes, 'please let her like them,' she pleaded to Celestia. Scarlett herself was a bit obsessed, if Silver thought they were for foals, it would put a bit of a damper on things.
Silver's cheeks turned a bit red, she would normally have been embarrassed to tell anypony, but Scarlett seemed so serious, "Well, actually, I like to make them, mother encourages sewing as a good skill to have."
Scarlett was staring at Silver with a manic grin, "We're going to be the BEST FRIENDS EVER!" she shouted, grabbing Silver's fore-hooves and hopping up and down, "Tomorrow you have to come over and see my collection, please please please, they have a whole room just to themselves, and then we can go into town and do anything you want."
Anything Silver wanted? She didn't think anypony had ever said anything quite like that before, Diamond, wonderful as she was- had been- tended to be self absorbed. What did she want? Cupcakes! The ones piled in too much frosting that the Cakes always kept in the center of their display cabinet. She hadn't had one in a month. "Well, like I said before, the cake shop is absolutely wonderful, and then I'll just give you a bit of a tour."
"That sounds great," Scarlett smiled, "Hey, didn't that oak tree have a swing? Want me to push you?"
The swing was wonderful, Silver went higher and higher into the air, it was like flying. They took turns back and forth on the swing, laughing and giggling, Scarlett was careful to hold down her skirts as they floated up around her each time the swing reached its peak. Silver felt a bit like a foal, Diamond was always trying to act so grown up, but with Scarlett it felt okay to be a little ridiculous, to forget the world and just play.
They were still there when Glory came to find them, "Its time girls, and I already worked it out so that Silver can spend the day with us tomorrow."
The two fillies looked at each other and smiled.
"Goodbye Silver, see you then," Scarlett said, giving her a hug.
Glory patted Silver's head gently, "See you tomorrow dear."
Silver waved goodbye as they left her in the garden, there was a warm feeling in her chest. She slept soundly that night, dreaming of cupcakes and stuffed bunnies.
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Scarlett
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968
| 3 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Diamond Tiara,Original Character,Silver Spoon,Snails,Snips,Twist,Romance,Sad,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
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Facets and Flaws
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Diamond Tiara is spoiled, Silver Spoon is sheltered, both have secrets, will friendship survive?
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incomplete
| 93 | 2 |
<p>Comments and reviews very welcome.</p><p>A secret revealed tears apart Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.<br/>Can old enemies and rivals learn to forgive?<br/>Will new friends fill the void left behind?<br/>Will the Troublesome Twosome find a way to repair their bond, or will it be some other pony that will fill the holes in their hearts, with friendship, or even love?</p>
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teen
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2012-03-20T16:52:50+00:00
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2014-10-25T10:34:13+00:00
| 3,348 |
WARNING: This story will contain adult themes including homosexuality, gender dysphoria, and other controversial themes. I will be avoiding explicit sex, however if you are offended easily, please do not read.
Facets and Flaws
By: Scarlett
Chapter 2- Twists and Rumors
For weeks, Scarlett and Silver had been inseparable, some days they played in Scarlet’s room, on others they visited town together. Whatever Silver decided on; it was a new experience for Silver— being the leader. Scarlett wasn’t quite as passive as Silver had been in her friendship with Diamond Tiara, and she occasionally asked to do something else, but for the most part, it was Silver Spoon who chose their games and what they would do.
Today’s plans called for a visit to Sugar Cube Corner.
Snips and Snails sat a corner table splitting a wheat-grass shake into separate glasses, when the two fillies walked in. Snails looked over at the two of them, and his orange brow furrowed in confusion, “Since when is Diamond Tiara a white unicorn?” he asked Snips quietly, and in all seriousness.
Snails looked over at the new arrivals, and then back at his friend; he shook his head sadly. Snails could memorize all the weird recipes from those foreign cookbooks of his, and yet he couldn’t add two plus two to get four unless it involved cups of flour. “You dummy, that's not Diamond Tiara, that’s some new pony,” he said in his scratchy voice, then pausing to consider the implications before asking, “Hey, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Yeah, that day it was raining chocolate milk was pretty awesome,” Snips answered.
Snips face-hoofed, “No, not that— I just realized Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon haven’t bullied us in weeks, and now one is here and the other isn’t, what’s it mean?” Snips was mostly asking himself, even if he got a reply from Snails, he knew it wasn’t likely to make sense.
Snips turned in his seat to get a good look at the new filly in town. She was a bit plain, not really his type, but she was dressed really nice, her red jacket and black skirt looked expensive. Another rich brat, he made his snap judgement, still staring.
Snails spoke up again, loudly, as things finally clicked in his tiny brain at the worst possible moment, “But, why isn’t Diamond Tiara here?”
“Just drink your shake Snails,” Snips groaned, hurriedly turning away as the girls looked over at them, the back of his neck prickled with their stares.
The two fillies whispered to each other, and giggled, “I just loathe a pony who, like, leers at young fillies and noses into other pony’s business, how about you Scarlett?” Silver asked her friend.
“Oh, yes, especially the colts that look you up and down, but lack the courage to say hello.” came the reply.
“Who can blame them for that? Who would want to talk to tall and stupid, and a little fatso?” Silver ramped up the vitriol, giggling at her own awesomeness, she had missed the insults, the gloating, the power over lesser beings.
Silver Spoon had looked over at her friend who had remained quiet, she was expecting her to continue the assault, but instead Scarlett was looking sadly at her in disappointment. Scarlett had felt the two colts had deserved some chastising for their rudeness, but she didn’t realize Silver would be so so cruel. Silver’s smug expression slowly deflated; for minutes an awkward silence hung over the room.
Mrs. Cake arrived to take the girl’s order, breaking the silence, and allowing the two colts to slip out of the store, but not before Snips tossed Silver a venomous glare. Silver fidgeted in her seat. She didn’t quite understand what had just happened, this wasn’t the way it was supposed to work, the boys were supposed to run out in tears while they laughed at them. Her new friend needed to be taught the way the game was played, “Why did you stop me from picking on those losers?” she asked, feeling a bit let down.
“Silver, you are my friend, but that was really mean.” Scarlett began with a sigh, “They were rude, but attacking somepony personally like that, about things that they can’t change really hurts. Has nopony ever called you four-eyes or something, don’t you know how it feels?”
“Well, sure, but they were only losers and blank flanks, so its not like they mattered,” Silver said with full conviction.
Scarlett was amazed, she didn’t think anypony could get over such things so easily. Hurtful words like those had always hit her hard, “Well, it matters to me, I wouldn’t want anyone saying something like that about you, what if someone was saying those things about me? I’m not as strong as you Silver, I’d probably cry, I’ve been teased before and I know how it feels.”
“But I’d never say anything like that to you!”
“No, but someone else might.”
“Well, I’d tell them to stop.” Silver said, smiling as if that solved everything.
“That’s why I made you stop. Those two aren’t my friends or anything, but its the same thing,”
“But, they are such creepy dweebs,” Silver complained, not ready to give in completely.
Scarlett laughed, “Hrmmm, well, he was creepy; I didn’t like those beady little eyes of his staring at me,” Scarlett gave Silver a bright smile, and let the subject go knowing she wouldn’t get any further right then, “Just try to be nice, okay?”
Silver smiled back, she still didn’t understand why her friend was being so uptight, but she did not want to feel her disapproval. The past few weeks had been great- though her friend’s stuffed animal obsession was getting a bit exasperating. She had made her three plush toys already, and after the last one had made Scarlett promise not to ask for another until next summer. Though maybe she would surprise her for Hearth's Warming?
“Its gonna taste so good,” Scarlett cooed as their tarts arrived, ready to focus on lighter topics, her eyes flashed as she suddenly remembered something, “Hey Silver, did you get a new dress for the Summer Sun Celebration? I got mine its so awesome, a Rarity Original.”
***
While the girls lost themselves in their discussion of fashion and gossip, Snips and Snails were spreading gossip of their own. First they ran into Archer, and told him that Silver seemed to have ditched Diamond Tiara for some new girl. Archer in turn told Mirror, who told Peppermint Twist, who immediately galloped over to Sweet Apple Acres and the Crusader’s Clubhouse (They’d dropped the Cutie Mark portion of their name when the the last of the group had finally gained her mark). From there it spread to every filly and colt in Ponyville, and the story grew with each telling.
***
One day, as midsummer neared, Applebloom, a yellow earth filly with long, bright red hair and freckles, had just finished telling the latest rumor to the other Crusaders: Sweetie Belle, a unicorn, and Scootaloo, a pegasus. There was something about pirates and ninjas and a duel to the death; Sweetie really hadn’t been paying much attention. Scootaloo on the other hand had acted out every scene of the story, and as it wrapped up was balancing on the back of one of their chairs, which was in turn balancing on only two of it’s legs. Sweetie Belle marveled at her friend’s agility, it was only to be expected- the orange filly had a scooter on each flank, a sign of her athletic prowess, she had been the first. Applebloom had been the next of the trio to get her cutie mark, the Apple family’s newest barn was replicated in miniature on the flanks of it’s designer. Gaining her mark had taken a lot of hard work, and judicious use of power tools. Sweetie Belle had been the last.
She still didn’t like singing in public much, but the silver bell and purple music notes on her white flank meant she was good at it. She liked writing songs, and she loved singing songs, maybe with practice she would get used to the knots and butterflies that appeared in her stomach every time she so much as thought about doing it in front of anypony.
“So do yah reckon its true Sweetie Belle?” Applebloom asked, bringing Sweetie out of her daze.
Sweetie paused, far longer than most ponies would, “If whats true?”
“The story, with the duel an’ all.” her friend replied patiently.
While she considered the story, softly tapping on her cheek, Sweetie thought that something about the story just couldn’t be right. What was it?
“No, its not true at all,” she finally said, stating matter of factly, “Cause nopony is dead.”
“How do you know?” asked Scootaloo excitedly, “Nopony has seen Diamond Tiara in weeks, I wonder where Silver Spoon hid the body.”
“I have,” said Sweetie, leaving her friends a bit puzzled.
“Have what?” her friends said at nearly the same time.
“I’ve seen Diamond Tiara,” she replied.
“You have?! Where? Did she say what happened? Is she sad? Was she bein’ a jerk? Did she call you names again? Should ah beat her up?” Sweetie Belle lost track of who said what in the flurry of questions.
Sweetie paused, sticking out her tongue a bit as she went over each question in her mind, her friend's faces were brimming with excitement, but as the pause grew longer, they both calmed down, and Applebloom began to get a little suspicious.
Sweetie Belle took a deep breath and began:
“Yesattheplaygroundyesshewasreallysadatfirstnowsheisnotwellmaybealittleandnononamecallingandnodon’thurthersheismyfriendnow.” There, she had said it all, and she knew that an argument was coming.
Applebloom and Scootaloo looked at each other while trying to piece that all together. “So ya’ll are sayin’ you an that snobby varmint are friends naow?” Applebloom asked.
“That is so not cool, you can’t be friends with her,” added Scootaloo.
The two began to recount the many mean things that Diamond had done to them over the years, their protests growing louder as they went on. Sweetie’s new friend was being called horrible things by her two best friends, and Sweetie was getting mad. She began to stamp her hooves in frustration, “Shut up! You don’t know, you were gone at camp, and I was all alone; we played everyday, and she doesn’t call me a foal when I wanna swing on the swings!”
Scootaloo winced as she remembered saying just that, the last time Sweetie had wanted to play on the playground, “About that, umm, it was mean,” Scootaloo shrugged as she tried to swallow her pride, “I’m sor-”
Sweetie cut her off, “No you’re not! You just can’t stand to see me cry, and I always cry when I get mad,” she sniffled and wiped at her cheek, illustrating her point.
“Yeah, you do, and it breaks my heart every time,” Scootaloo sighed sincerely, “By Celestia, its just too cute,” she pinched Sweetie's cheeks between her hooves. Scootaloo quickly resigned herself to Sweetie Belle's determination, and said, “Well just don’t let her tell you what to do, that's my job.”
Applebloom knew she had to give her blessing as well, it seemed to be important to Sweetie Belle after all, but that rich pony sure rubbed her the wrong way. “Well, long as she ain’t bein’ mean to yah— I guess.”
Swiping Scootaloo’s hooves away, Sweetie Belle gave each of her friends a short hug. “She’s been really nice to me,” she said, “But you two will always be my best friends, you know that.”
Scoot and Applebloom felt their hearts warm with the Magic of Friendship, and they both wrapped Sweetie up into a long group hug.
****
Removing the band that held her mane back in a ponytail while she worked, Peppermint Twist let out a deep sigh, her mane poofing out into its usual curly red mess. Work for the day was done, all the taffy and caramel was made, all the pots and thermometers were cleaned and prepped for the next day, and the white earth filly could finally relax. Not that work wasn’t fun, she made candy all day, and its always fun to sample the wares, but it was hard to keep it up day after day. She was very grateful for the work- it let her provide a few extra bits for her family, and she was learning the trade her cutie mark meant she was destined for, but it would have been nice to be able to just be a foal like all her friends at school. At least in the summer, she had the afternoons off, and that extra cash meant more food on the table; Twist loved to eat. She knew she’d have hips like Pinkie Pie's before too long.
Twist was very excited to get off work, she would see Appplebloom and the other Crusaders today. She was a bit jealous of Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle at times, as Applebloom spent far more time with them even though she had known her longer, but she enjoyed her friendship with all of them.
She looked around at the empty shop, adjusting her glasses, it looked like Bon Bon had left early. She would need to lock up again. Her boss had been doing that every night since she and Lyra had made up from their most recent fight. The two were more than friends, and while some ponies had an issue with that sort of thing, Twist tried not to. She didn’t quite understand it, and still felt a bit awkward when she was around the two of them; her only crush had been on Snails, but it all seemed to make sense when she saw Lyra’s eyes and the fascination they held everytime she and Bon Bon were together.
Twist had so many reasons she was thankful to Bon Bon— in fact, the year she first started working for the mare the carrot crop had gotten the blight, and because Twist's dad was a seasonal farm-hoof the family hadn’t been sure they’d make that month’s rent on their tiny apartment above the flower shop. Her employment was technically illegal, what with all the foal labor laws, but Ponyville was a small town, and everypony had turned a blind eye to the situation once they knew the details.
Cleaning up a few last messes, Twist left the shop, locking the door and taking one stair at a time down the short steps in front of the cottage. As she reached the street she looked left, then right, but didn't see anypony. She grumbled, those three were supposed to meet her here after work today, but she didn’t see them anywhere. If those three had forgotten again she was gonna— “Oh No!” Twist groaned, she saw somepony after all- Diamond Tiara was walking her way.
“Hello Twist, I just love what you’ve done with your hair,” Diamond mocked with false sweetness as she approached, the snobby pony's eyes had an edge to them, something even worse than her usual disdain, “Dweeb sweat and powdered sugar is soooo in this year.”
Twist flushed with embarrassment, the other pony had always made her feel small, Twist knew she worked harder and got better grades, she even had more friends than Diamond, but she still managed to make her feel inferior. Diamond was only popular in the way that bullies sometimes are, everyone sucked up to her so they wouldn’t be targeted, nopony really liked her, but still, Twist was always so conscious of the other pony’s fine clothing, her well groomed mane and hooves, even the confident way she acted. Sometimes the other’s taunting made her want to curl into a ball and disappear, even when nopony else was around to hear the insults.
“Oh, whats the matter, are you ashamed of your new look? I would be too,” Diamond sniffed at the air, continuing the barrage, “Eww, what is that, it smells like poor. Haven’t you ever, like, heard of perfume?”
Diamond had backed Twist up onto the stairs and up against the door of the shop, her cruel eyes gleaming as she kept up her assault of words until Twist’s eyes had begun to tear up. She took it even further, and added a forceful hoof to Twist’s shoulder, just enough to cause her to wince and stumble as her flank hit the wood behind her, she was forced onto her hind legs as Diamond tiara pinned her fully against the door. The filly leaned in, she was so imposing just then, something in the way she was moving, or in her glare, made Twist feel frozen, powerless, she couldn't move, she couldn't fight back. Diamond licked her lips as she started to move one of her fore-hooves down Silver's chest— Diamond's eyes went wide in shock, and she jumped back from the pony, causing Twist to fall forward onto the landing at the top of the stairs. Diamond's heart was racing, her breath was shallow— how could she have hit somepony like that? She didn't want to think about what else she would have done, her face flushed as she thought about where exactly her hoof had been headed.
"I'm sorry," said Diamond, those words were ones that Twist had never heard from that pony, and in her voice, was that concern? "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to— what was I doing? How could I have done that, did I hurt you?" Diamond was kneeling down next to Twist and lifting her to her hooves.
Twist couldn't remember anything in her life that had come as a bigger surprise then Diamond Tiara lending a helping hoof, especially after what she had just done— 'and what was it that had happened, exactly? One moment she was being insulted as usual, but then— attacked?— caressed?' Twist swallowed, 'she must have been imagining it right? Wait, no. Why would she imagine that?'
Twist let the other girl help her to her hooves, and she brushed some of the dust from herself. She looked Diamond Tiara up and down- nope. Twist was definitely into colts. Was Diamond into fillies, did she like her? Why would she buck her shoulder then— she'd never seen the other filly get violent with anyone before, except to trip somepony in the aisle at school. Ouch! It still hurt; Twist grabbed at her aching shoulder and gave Diamond a puzzled look.
'Where had that come from?' Diamond wondered. That anger, that sadness- that desire. Somehow Twist had vanished before her eyes, and it had been like Silver was really there, and she had wanted to- hurt her. Diamond Tiara had started to shake, she was afraid, why was she feeling this way? She felt a hoof on her shoulder, it was Twist's.
A long awkward silence was broken by the sound of hoofsteps on cobblestones.
They both turned to see the Crusader's skipping down the street towards them, laughing and playing. Twist quickly let go of Diamond and tried to wave at them- with the wrong leg. Ouch, again.
Scootaloo and Applebloom looked at each other and fidgeted uncomfortably. What had Twist done to her shoulder, and what was that bully doing here?
Sweetie Belle scampered past those two, stopping at the base of the stairs to greet her friends "Hi Twist, Hi Diamond! What are you doin? Are you making up with Twist now too? She is a really sweet pony you know?"
Diamond was panicking, if Twist told Sweetie what had just happened. . . she'd be friendless again. Diamond wasn't used to consequences, she had never really had to think before she acted. Daddy's money solved most problems, and had opened doors most ponies never see. Also, no matter what happened before, she'd always had Silver. This summer had been trying for her. She'd had to make a new friend, and this friendship required something of her, she knew Sweetie wouldn't understand why she had done it, would hate her for it— she wasn't even sure she understood why she had done those things.
She looked up at Twist with pleading in her eyes, now it was Diamond who was powerless.
Twist saw her expression, she felt conflicted, she hated Diamond Tiara, didn't she?
"She was jutht helping me up afther I fell," Twist lisped cheerfully, internally surprised at her own decision, "and when I told her you all were coming, she offered to threet us all for ith cream!"
****
At Sugar Cube Corner, Diamond Tiara had been very careful not to let Twist out of sight with any of the Crusaders, she couldn’t have the little nerd blabbing now, but why hadn't she told? Diamond knew what she had done to each of these ponies over the years. She'd been a total bitch, and today she'd actually bucked another pony. Why was Twist protecting her?
Diamond Tiara made extra effort to be friendly to Twist, maybe she could make up for what she had done? Diamond was on her best behavior all afternoon, the epitome of politeness, and it made Applebloom shudder. Sweetie and Diamond had begun talking about the new school year, and how excited they were to be in high school. It was all so mild, so inane. It was driving her crazy.
"So Twist you're like, totally gonna go to South Canterlot too, right? Maybe we'll be in the same class again," said Diamond.
Twist had begun to fidget, was Diamond coming on to her? "Ummm, Yeth of courth, ith the public thcool afther all," she replied.
Applebloom frowned, Twist's lisp hadn't been that bad in years.
"That would be so cool," Diamond said with a fake smile, (she was adept at those), but inwardly she was laughing, as if, like she really cared if she was in the poor pony's class, she just needed her to not tell Sweetie Belle what she had done.
"Hey remember that time. . ." Scootaloo began, and hours passed in idle conversation.
Diamond was enjoying herself, she realized. She had known how kind Sweetie Belle was, and how foal-like she could be at times even before they became friends, but she had never before really gotten to know any of the others. Twist was a complete nerd like she had thought, but she wasn't afraid to say what was on her mind, and she was actually better at being a part of the conversation than Diamond was. Diamond was used to being in charge, so she kept on interrupting ponies on accident. Scootaloo was excitable, she liked to tell stories, and jumped around from topic to topic at times. Things like school bored her, so she would bring up one of the adventures she had had with her friends. Diamond Tiara had gasped when she had heard about the cockatrice, how come nopony had ever told her about that? Then there was Applebloom, she was the leader of this little group, and Diamond found herself butting heads with her occasionally. She didn't seem to like Diamond much. . . well, none of them did except Sweetie, but most of them were hiding it well. Applebloom was taking every opportunity to pick at what Diamond was saying, but she quickly discovered that the nicer she was the angrier Applebloom was getting, and it became even more interesting after that.
Eventually the fillies began to go their separate ways, Diamond Tiara had tried to insist on escorting Twist home, but Applebloom had tagged along. She had wanted to talk to Twist alone- she was still confused about some things, but that wasn't happening.
The hairs on the back of Diamond’s neck rose as Twist entered the flowershop and headed upstairs, leaving the pink filly alone in the street with the farm girl. Applebloom suddenly looked alot bigger in the dark street at night than she had in the light of the bakery. “Ah don’t know what ya’ll are doin’ tryin’ to be friendly with Sweetie Belle,” the yellow coated filly began, stretching her shoulders, “or what yah did to Twist, but I know yer up to no good, and if ah catch yah at it, I’m goin’ at yer face like its applebuck season,” Applebloom said, her threat delivered in a calm, quiet voice, with a coldness to it that Diamond had never heard before from anypony.
Diamond hadn’t spared Applebloom from teasing before, but like Silver Spoon had discovered weeks before, it isn’t so easy to be a bully when you are all alone. It wasn’t so easy when the pony before you looked like she would follow through on her threats of violence without a second thought. She hadn’t noticed before, just how strong Applebloom’s flanks were, how tight the tendons had become through years of helping out at harvest. Diamond Tiara gulped silently, hiding again behind her false smile. “How crass, and when I’m just trying to be friendly. Didn’t I just pay for a nice afternoon snack?” she asked, unable to resist a little dig at the pony in front of her.
Applebloom snorted, “Ah don’ care what yer daddy paid for,” and stomping a front hoof, she said, “ah don’ get you.” Appleblooom pawed at the dirt in frustration, “Yer daddy pays for fancy stuff, an’ yer mama teaches you ballet, ya’ll got everthin’ but yah still poke fun at everypony— ah don’ even got no parents an ah’m a better pony then yer ever gonna be.”
Diamond forced herself to keep smiling, but Applebloom had struck deep. Her shoulders grew tight and she felt the darkness coming. In her heart she knew Applebloom was right; They were all better than her. There was nothing good about her, she was rich because her father was rich, what was so great about that; She was worthless, and she had to push other ponies down just to feel like she was someone special. She couldn't do anything right, she wasn't good enough- No- Diamond, hide it deep, push it down, keep smiling. Keep smiling. Her mind drifted back to earlier in the summer, when she had asked if she could join Sweetie Belle on the playground. She had treated Sweetie as bad as she treated everyone, but Sweetie had just smiled and nodded. Sweetie Belle was better than her too, Sweetie had lifted her, treated her like any other pony— like a friend.
Diamond lost her composure and her lip began to quiver, she had sunk back into old habits today, if she wasn’t careful she could lose Sweetie as a friend. She didn’t mean to, Twist wasn’t so bad, she was really cool to be honest, she worked hard everyday after school, and still had better grades than Diamond. It was never really about Twist at all, or any other pony she had belittled or insulted; the pony Diamond hated was herself. Diamond's walls were crumbling, the world was going dark, her head was throbbing, her cheeks felt wet, her legs felt weak.
Applebloom had expected a snotty reply, not tears, and now she was flustered and confused. “Horsefeathers! Don’t nothin’ make sense this summer? Stop your snifflin’ filly,” She said, her fore-hoof had moved forward, but she stopped it before doing something silly like patting Diamond Tiara of all ponies on the head. What had gotten into the little bitch? Applebloom’s frustration culminated in the mental swear, as the other filly sat down in the middle of the dusty street and bawled, tears and snot running down her face.
Applebloom was still standing in the street ten minutes after Diamond finally left, pawing at the ground.
|
Scarlett
|
968
| 4 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Diamond Tiara,Original Character,Silver Spoon,Snails,Snips,Twist,Romance,Sad,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Facets and Flaws
|
Diamond Tiara is spoiled, Silver Spoon is sheltered, both have secrets, will friendship survive?
|
incomplete
| 93 | 2 |
<p>Comments and reviews very welcome.</p><p>A secret revealed tears apart Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.<br/>Can old enemies and rivals learn to forgive?<br/>Will new friends fill the void left behind?<br/>Will the Troublesome Twosome find a way to repair their bond, or will it be some other pony that will fill the holes in their hearts, with friendship, or even love?</p>
|
teen
|
2012-05-29T05:34:54+00:00
|
2012-05-29T05:34:54+00:00
| 3,273 |
WARNING: This story will contain adult themes including homosexuality, gender dysphoria, and other controversial themes. I will be avoiding explicit sex, however if you are offended easily, please do not read.
Facets and Flaws
By: Scarlett
Chapter 3- Masks and Mirrors
It was the dawn before the summer solstice, which meant, among other things, that Ponyville’s Summer Sun Celebration would be held that night starting at midnight, and lasting until dawn. This year Ponyville was not the site of the main celebration, so the princesses would not be attending, but the residents of Ponyville would be celebrating, and watching the sunrise nonetheless. Mayor Mare and the town council had decided upon the theme of ‘masquerade’. Preparations had already begun, and everyone in town had an assignment. For example, this year the mayor had sent Pinkie Pie on a “special mission”, one that involved going out of town. The mayor wanted to keep the decorations and party a bit more elegant than in years past- Pinkie was to be back in time for the party, the Mayor wasn’t cruel, but she should be bringing along a giant piñata ordered from Canterlot; the trip should take most of the day by wagon, allowing less— intense ponies to set up the actual party.
Almost everypony in town was looking forward to the event.
Everypony did not include Applebloom. That dawn Applebloom was pretending, as she did every week or so, not to notice as her sister Applejack did her best to sneak into the bedroom that they shared; she smelled of hard cider and imported perfume, and— Applebloom struggled not to laugh— still had Rarity’s lipstick on her neck, but it wasn’t her sister’s secret relationship that had kept her awake most of the night. No, she had been tossing and turning because she was pissed off. Somehow Diamond Tiara had gotten herself invited to tag along with the Crusaders to the masquerade ball.
Ever since the day at Sugar Cube Corner, Diamond Tiara had been nice. It was an act, obviously, a mask that Diamond was wearing, but Applebloom still hadn’t been able to find fault with anything Diamond had done since then. She and Sweetie had been together almost daily and seemed to be enjoying it, Twist had received a package the next day containing a gorgeous dress for the party, and now refused to tell Applebloom what had really happened between the two of them at the candy shop. What had that crying been about?
Applebloom supposed she would just have to grin and bear it, none of the girls had dates after all. Archer was dating Mirror, Snips and Snails were— themselves, and there were no other colts their age in town, and as for fillies, well, unlike some ponies, she didn’t even want to think about that possibility yet, she quietly giggled, remembering her sister's secret shame.
There was another reason Applebloom wasn’t excited about that night. For all the complaining her sister did about frou-frou for herself, she had always had a double-standard when it came to Applebloom, she’d been forced to wear that bow in her mane for years, and now, there was that. Applebloom looked over at the dress on her plain wooden nightstand and whimpered, so many ruffles. She didn’t understand it, why couldn’t a filly wear something simple, like a bow-tie.
****
Scarlett let out a squee, as she held her Celebration dress close to her chest. She was sitting on her bed as the early morning sun came in through the drapes. The dress was so perfect, so pretty, more ruffles and bows than she had ever seen before, and it came with a matching mask. It was a masterpiece. The sapphire blue of the dress was a compliment to her lighter blue eyes, she had ordered it offset by grey accents and ribbons as a tribute to her best friend, it was far and away the greatest thing she had ever owned. She squealed again and hopped from her mattress, laying the dress across her haunches she spun, watching it flutter, careful not to catch it on the edges of any of her furniture.
Tonight was the ball, the masquerade, a night of fairy tales. Scarlett was as her mother said, a dreamer, and a night of make-believe and fantasy appealed to everything within the young filly. Tales of dark wizards and noble knights filled her bookshelves, tales of adventure, exotic zebra’s, heroic young colts and fillies. The fact that these things existed in truth in modern Equestria as well as in it’s ancient history, only made things more appealing to the young pony. Not only were they amazing, but the tales were possible, if only just.
She carefully set her dress onto it’s stand, making sure she hadn’t caused a wrinkle, she couldn’t let her excitement cause her to ruin it. With hours and hours yet to go, and a nap to take before the dance, Scarlett knew it would be a long day of anticipation. She walked over to her mirror, looking at her unclothed body; there were so many flaws to fix, so many imperfections to hide, she frowned at what she saw, she wished she was a bit smaller. She couldn’t do anything about the shoulders, but she’d stopped eating altogether once, trying to get thinner, mom had intervened.
She had to look her best tonight. She couldn’t be the beauty of the ball, however much she wanted to be, but maybe she would at least be called pretty, if only for that one night— she’d wear her tightest corset. There were a few things she could conceal with magic, she’d spent ages looking for just the right spell. Her horn glowed softly as she cast one particular spell which had become a morning ritual, it hid what she considered the worst parts of herself.
It wasn’t about vanity, not really, but she never really felt like herself til the spell was cast.
Maybe the library would have a new book she could read to pass the hours? She smiled at the thought. Yes, she would get presentable enough for that, and go find a book to read, and maybe a scone to nibble on. She wouldn’t be meeting Silver Spoon until an hour before the masquerade, so she had plenty of time to spend on her fantasies.
****
“Crusader Cliff Diving!” Scootaloo shouted as she threw herself off of the twenty foot drop into the deepest part of the river, her wings tightly folded into her sides and bound down so she wouldn’t open them on accident. Sweetie Belle, though not as brave soon followed. They had done this particular crusade a number of times, and enjoyed it alot. It was only mid-morning, but this was summer, and Scootaloo was determined not to waste it, even if the Summer Sun Celebration was that night, they still had a whole day of fun to get to.
The best part of it was she was finally alone with Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo had known from an early age that she was one for the fillies, but she hadn’t realized what her sometimes slow friend really meant to her, until recently. She didn’t know if she could ever say anything, or if Sweetie would understand it if she did, was that even really what it was?
She had to admit to some jealousy, no, a lot of jealousy, at how much time the other girl was spending with Diamond Tiara, but that morning, the rich girl had finally let some of her true colors come through though. The prissy filly had decided to stay home when they had described that mornings activity, “Throwing yourselves off cliffs? On purpose?” The girl had been shocked to learn that they considered it fun.
Applebloom hadn’t joined them either, she had told them she had to help Big Mac with something on the farm; there was always something that needed doing on Sweet Apple Acres, and Applejack was apparently a bit under the weather. So Scootaloo had Sweetie all to herself, someday she’d have the courage, but for now she could be at her friend’s side, letting her know how awesome she was.
Scootaloo paddled in the water just to keep herself afloat and watched a laughing Sweetie Belle eagerly climbing up the cliffside for another jump. Her laughter had that same deep clear sound that her singing voice had. Scootaloo felt her chest warm with what was probably love as she watched her friend plummet into the water.
****
He had tried to convince Snails to ask Twist to the masquerade, as he was pretty sure she had a thing for his lanky friend, but Snips hadn’t had any luck. “But she can’t cook anything but candy,” his dimwitted friend had complained. Snails hadn’t wanted to hear that fillies and cooking didn’t necessarily have to go hand in hand. Snips should have known it was a lost cause sooner, the pin-up calendar on Snails wall was “Lady Chefs of Equestria” after all.
Snips had thought about asking one of the fillies in town himself, because despite the fact that he was a talented mane dresser, Snips was all about the ladies— well, mostly about the ladies, Snips admitted to himself, his barn door might have a little bit of backswing to it.
Anyway, there was really only one pony who he was pining for. He’d only met her once, years ago, but to him T.G.A.P.T. was the cream of marehood. The Great and Powerful Trixie had never returned to Ponyville, but he’d read articles on her rise to fame in Manehattan and Las Pegasus. She had studied hard after what she described in her autobiography as “The Humiliation” and had become an even more accomplished showmare, dropping a little (just a little) of the bravado and replacing it with real skill and power. He’d even saved up to go see her live, just once, but was unable to get close enough for an autograph.
There wasn’t a filly in this town that could measure up to a young colts infatuation, of course, but Snips wasn’t ready to give it up just yet.
Oh well, he and Snails both had tuxedos they could use that night from their magic act, Snips wasn’t talented in real magic, but he had become quite proficient in trickery and slight-of-hoof, all smoke and mirrors, but for a hobby it wasn’t bad, and a birthday party or two earned them a few bits now and again.
They would go to the ball and dance with some unattached fillies, nothing wrong with that.
****
“Twist, can we talk?” Diamond Tiara asked as she stood in front of the counter at Bon Bon’s, Twist had finally come out of the kitchen.
Twist froze, “How thid you get in here? We’re clothhed to make candy for. . .” She saw Bon Bon sitting at a table in the corner, and sighed as her boss gave her a conspiratorial wink. She felt her stomach sink, she never should have told her boss what had happened.
“Twist, I just need a few minutes, please?” Diamond pleaded.
It wasn’t like they hadn’t seen each other since that day, but it had always been with the group, so other than Diamond mouthing, “I’m sorry”, they really hadn’t discussed anything that had happened. Twist wasn’t sure she wanted to. She had been hesitant to accept the dress that Ditzy Doo had dropped off the following day, she’d wanted to return it, but there had been no return address, only a short apology note from Diamond inside:
Dear Twist,
I am sorry, I do not know why
I did those thnigs. I was hurting inside,
and I hurt you.
Please accetp this small gift for your kindness,
Diamond
She was so confused. Somehow Diamond Tiara had become a sort of friend over the past few weeks. She was being nice, kind, funny even. Twist wasn’t sure she wanted to hear what the fillly had to say to her alone though. If she rejected her would things just go back to normal?
“Okay, Leths go in the kithchen,” said Twist, Bon Bon would probably be listening to every word, but they’d at least have the semblance of privacy, and if Diamond tried anything, she gulped, Twist would have a rescuer.
There was nothing boiling in the kitchen, but the counters were covered in cooling candies and toffees, the air was sweet and warm. Twist leaned up against a counter and waited.
“Twist, you made all this?” Diamond asked, her mouth watering, “That is like, really cool”
“Me, cool?” Twist shook her head.
“No, really, you are, I can't wait to try these candies tonight,” Diamond looked at Twist with an intensity that made her blush, “Listen, Its really hard to say this, because I’ve never been a very nice pony, like, I’m totally mean right? But I just need to tell you that-”
“I’m thorry,” Twist interrupted, not really wanting to hear what she thought was coming next, “I like. . .colths, tho I don’t think-”
Diamond was laughing, that wasn’t quite what Twist had expected. “Oh no its not that,” Diamond smiled at her fondly, and the smile even seemed real, “I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry I hurt you, and for making fun of you. . .and everypony. I did like somepony and it didn’t go well, and I was taking it out on you that day. I’m sorry, and I promise that’s the last time I’ll apologize for it, you're probably sick of "I'm sorry" by now?”
Twist breathed a sigh of relief, it looked like she wouldn’t have to defend herself today after all. She was a bit curious about who Diamond liked, but there were more important questions at hand, “That day. . . but you uthed to pick on me all the time. Hanging out lately hath been cool, but, whath changed?”
Biting her lower lip, Diamond debated within herself, “I have some things that I can’t really talk about too much yet, but, alot of it was jealousy Twist.”
“Jealouth, of me?”
“Yes, of you, I’ve never told anypony outside of my family this before but I can’t read very well, I’ve got dyslexia, so school is really hard- it sucks to be honest, and I have to have private tutors just to get C’s, but you don’t even do homework sometimes and just pass all the tests and get A’s, I so wish I could do that,” Diamond’s eyes were watery as she continued, “Sometimes, a lot of the time, I don’t feel like I’m good at much of anything, so I insult people,” Diamond put a hoof to her mouth, that was more than she had meant to say, but it felt good, “I don’t want to do that anymore.”
Twist tapped a hoof on the tile of the kitchen, she wasn’t ready to let everything go yet, she still harbored resentment for years of abuse. “Because of gradthes! Because I did well in thchool you thorthured me like that?” she exclaimed, “Do you know how hard I work after thcool everthay?” Twist had walked over to Diamond and was shaking her by the shoulders.
“I didn’t. . . I do now,” Diamond said as she moved back from the irate filly. She huddled up against one of the counters, she thought for a moment that she may have to flee, but Twist stopped advancing on her. The other filly stood menacingly in front of her, anger flashing in her eyes, but it slowly drained away.
“Tho. . . whath now?” Twist asked, her breathing slowing, her aggressive posture shifting back into uncertainty.
“Now, maybe, we can be friends?” Diamond asked, seeming sincere, but she did that so well, how could Twist know for sure? Twist looked into Diamond's eyes, trying to gauge the truth, she saw more fear in the filly than anything else.
“You're coming with uth to the parthy right? Tho we mutht be friendth alreadthy,” Twist gave Diamond a little smile, she wasn’t ready to give her full trust yet, but she liked the Diamond Tiara she had seen lately, she could give her a chance.
“So. . .do we hug now?” asked Diamond, sounding truly mystified, she hadn't had many friends— just Silver.
Bon Bon, just outside the kitchen, had begun snickering sometime during that last exchange, and now it burst out into full out laughter, “So, do we hug now? HAHAHAHA! That’s a good one, hey, can I use that line? HAHA! You should give her a kiss Twist.”
“I've thold you both, colth only,” Twist grinned, blushing, and they settled for a hoof-shake.
|
Scarlett
|
968
| 5 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Diamond Tiara,Original Character,Silver Spoon,Snails,Snips,Twist,Romance,Sad,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Facets and Flaws
|
Diamond Tiara is spoiled, Silver Spoon is sheltered, both have secrets, will friendship survive?
|
incomplete
| 93 | 2 |
<p>Comments and reviews very welcome.</p><p>A secret revealed tears apart Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.<br/>Can old enemies and rivals learn to forgive?<br/>Will new friends fill the void left behind?<br/>Will the Troublesome Twosome find a way to repair their bond, or will it be some other pony that will fill the holes in their hearts, with friendship, or even love?</p>
|
teen
|
2012-03-20T17:41:24+00:00
|
2012-03-20T17:41:24+00:00
| 3,094 |
WARNING: This story will contain adult themes including homosexuality, gender dysphoria, and other controversial themes. I will be avoiding explicit sex, however if you are offended easily, please do not read.
Facets and Flaws
By: Scarlett
Chapter 4- Preparations and Panic
She was a bit startled when the front door opened as she was attempting to knock, Silver was forced to take a step back as a flurry of bags came rushing through the door-frame, floating through the air wrapped in an azure aura of magic. Glory Dancer had come trotting out after her bags, her white coat glistening from her spa treatment earlier in the day, her purple mane with its light blue streak perfectly coiffed, but she had to come to an awkward and sudden halt to avoid trampling straight over the filly that had appeared on her porch. “Hello dear, Scarlett isn’t here, did you need something?” Glory asked cheerfully after a few stuttering steps to find her balance.
“Oh— no, Ms. Dancer, I was just hoping she was home,” Silver Spoon said, fidgeting. If Scarlett wasn’t there she would have to go home— she glanced back that way with a great big sigh.
Glory groaned inwardly, the little one sure knew how to tug at her heartstrings, but she didn’t have time for this, she had to deliver the decorations for tonight, help Scarlett with her gown— all those ruffles took an extra pair of hooves— Silver wasn’t her daughter, she shouldn’t have to. . .
“. . .Come on in, I’ll make you some lunch,” Glory resigned herself to following her heart.
Silver was a bit of an enigma to Ms. Dancer- the filly seemed to try so hard to be what those around her wanted her to be. Around her mother, the girl was a quiet non-entity in the background; with Diamond she had been a snob and a bully. With Scarlett’s incurable indecisiveness, (Glory had tried everything,) forcing Silver into the leadership role Glory thought she would learn more about the filly, but she still wasn’t sure who Silver was when she was all alone.
Glory asked the girl,“What do you like to eat?” as they entered the extravagant home, but received only a shrug in reply.
Like her own house, it was decorated in only the finest furnishings, but it didn’t feel old, cold, and uninviting— there was a sense of warmth and lived in comfort there. Normally Silver Spoon would head straight up the stairs to Scarlett’s room, but today Glory led her back through a hallway and into an immaculate kitchen with white and blue tile work. Ms. Dancer gathered the ingredients herself and began slicing the bread and cheese, grilled cheese and daisy sandwiches had never gotten a complaint from any filly she had ever known. She heard Silver giggle as she worked, and looked over questioningly.
“I was just imagining my mother trying to fix me lunch like this, she’d probably burn a hoof,” Silver’s smile was shy, but sincere, “Its really cool that you know how to cook.”
Glory snorted, and replied loudly, “Melting cheese isn’t Trans-dimensional Magical Theory, you know?”
Silver shrugged, watching Glory work, “Do you want to help?” the mare asked.
The filly nodded emphatically. Silver Spoon soon learned to butter bread, a knife held awkwardly in her mouth. She would get better with practice, she knew, but sometimes she wished she was a unicorn— like mother had wanted. So many things were easier with a bit of magic. Glory didn’t seem to mind using her mouth to do the job herself though. It made Silver’s heart warm to know the mare was foregoing her own magic to teach her in a way that she could copy.
As they went through the steps, Glory noticed Silver was humming softly to herself while she worked- some top 40 number by Sapphire Shores, and swaying in time with the music. ‘Finally,’ she thought, ‘something real.’
****
Later, Silver had accompanied Ms. Dancer to drop off the decorations, still licking her lips from the wonderful sandwiches. She had even offered to carry a bag herself, even though Glory was easily carrying them all with her magic. Rarity herself was there to claim the decor, already the hall was full of color and light, the night was sure to be magical.
“Wait until Scarlett sees this! Are those tablecloths silk? She will love this, for sure!” Silver squeaked in excitement.
Glory giggled along with the filly as they skipped through the hall, “Try not to spoil it for her, you’re right though, she has always loved elegance and theatricality, this night seems made for her. How about you?”
“I guess. . .” she paused for some time, wrinkling her nose as she considered it, her glasses falling slightly askew,
“. . .I am excited. I have never been to a masquerade but the idea is that you get to wear a mask, and everyone is supposed to pretend not to know who is who, even if they do know, so you can act a little foalish and its okay?”
“Yes, that does just about cover it,” Glory smiled, then whispers conspiratorially, “Did you know that Princess Celestia holds a masquerade for the school every year? She uses it as an excuse to get up on stage and sing— and she isn’t very good, but nopony would dare say such a thing; after all, that couldn’t be the Princess up there making a fool of herself, such is the magic of the masquerade.”
Silver Spoon giggled softly to herself, she closed her eyes and imagined what she might do if there was no judgement, no repercussions. She couldn’t be that brave, could she?
“Oh my, look at the time! Scarlett will be back soon, would you like to get ready at our place? I’m sure your servants can bring your dress and accessories over.”
“Oh yes! Please,” Silver was relieved that she would not have to go home before the masquerade, now she wouldn’t have to listen to mother lecture her about propriety and What A Good Little Filly Should Do, while she dressed.
****
For Scarlett, it had been a wonderful day, and it was barely even started yet; she had a nap to take and then it would be time for makeup and dresses and dancing! Early that morning, she had picked up hot chocolate and a scone, raspberry, of course, from Sugar Cube Corner, carried it carefully through the hustle and bustle of Ponyville’s town square, and over to the outskirts of town. The street that was home to the enormous tree that was the library held a few scattered shops and homes, but unlike the square, it was still quiet, almost silent; Scarlett was the one to break the silence, knocking loudly on the library door. Those first knocks seemed to echo among the branches of the tree that was a home and more, but they hard garnered no response from within the library, the windows remaining dark.
She had knocked again, a bit harder, and winced as she tweaked her hoof slightly. Again she waited, but this time she could hear a rustling within the library. She heard the familiar sound of a stack of books come crashing down, and a voice had shouted, “Spike!”
Scarlett tried to contain her giggles when the door finally opened, and a sleepy-eyed dragon, slightly taller than her, opened the door, scratching absently at his purple scales, “What do you want,” came the sullen demand.
She had argued with the silly little dragon, just because she could, normally she would chide Silver for doing such a thing, but the creature was so obviously upset that his nap had been interrupted that she hadn’t been able to help herself, but she did feel guilty afterwards. “Books,” she said, “this is a library isn’t it?”
“Well, yes, but its more of a private library”
“That’s good, I like privacy, now can you point me to the fantasy section?” As she said this she snuck past the dragon and into the main room, her eyes growing wide at the shelves of books. Her hot cocoa floating behind her. She spotted the cover of one of her favorites, and had begun to trot over.
“B-but, Hey WAIT!” The dragon came scrambling after her, standing in her way with arms spread wide, “You can’t just come in here!”
“I know, that’s why I knocked, thank you for opening the door and showing me in, now would you be a dear and fetch me a comfy chair?” Pushing past Spike, Scarlett reached out and obtained her goal, a story of distant lands and magic, princesses and— she barely held in a fit of giggles, dragons. She clutched the book tightly to her chest and closed her eyes with a small whinny of pleasure. Now to read in earnest, where was that chair? . . .
. . . she had passed hours that way, finishing not one, but two whole novels before she left for the day— all the while sipping her chocolate and nibbling her scone long after they had both gone cold. She had noticed the purple unicorn not long after she started, and had giggled at the mare’s restrained curiosity. The older unicorn had smiled at her, then picked up books of her own, but she kept sneaking peeks at Scarlett, she seemed to be trying to find excuses to walk by and take a peek at what Scarlett was reading. When Scarlett finally decided she had better introduce herself, since the mare was being too polite, despite her curiosity, she quickly found a kindred spirit, at least when it came to books. Twilight Sparkle, as the other introduced herself, was a total bibliophile, and while Scarlett didn’t share her voracious appetite for non-fiction, she could at least appreciate it. After the introduction, Scarlett had felt as if she opened a floodgate, for suddenly the shy mare began to babble on and on, it wasn’t uninteresting, just a bit obsessive— was she this bad about stuffed animals?
One thing in particular caught Scarlett’s interest, the other’s faculty with magic, in fact before the day was through, Twilight had practically force-fed her a spell which was meant to augment her already fast reading speed and memory. Maybe, once she got to now the mare a little better, she could help Scarlett with her, “little problem.” She had been searching so long for a permanent solution without success— the other mare was so powerful and adept that she allowed herself to hope again. She had to make sure though, ponies could be judgmental, best to take it slow, maybe mom could get to know her maybe drop a hint or two?
She had finally been able to escape from the discussion by begging to finish what she was reading, telling a little fib about being at a cliffhanger, even though the plot had come to a bit of a lull in truth. She became enraptured by the book again quickly, looking up to return Twilight’s smile occasionally, but still becoming so engrossed that she ended up staying longer than she had planned— panic! She had to leave now if she was going to have time for that nap, and she had told mother she would be home fifteen minutes ago.
Before she left she did stop to give Spike a quick peck on the cheek, and a "thanks for all your help!"
****
Diamond Tiara had left the candy shop skipping, she felt wonderful, the world seemed fresh and new. The sky was brighter, the birdsong prettier, the air fresher. Was that really all it had ever been, that sadness that had gripped her from her earliest memories, all because she felt she needed to do more, to be the best? She wasn’t sure how it had started, her parents were encouraging rather than demanding, but for some reason her best had never been good enough, for herself. Her need had become consuming, she realized now, she had to be the first to get her cutie mark- she needed to be the richest and most beautiful, and when Silver Spoon had come to public school as well, richer than she was, she had to either make her her friend, and her follower, or destroy her.
She remembered the cold calculation of her thoughts that day, how she had planned to make the other filly look silly and embarrassed if she hadn’t responded to Diamond’s offer of friendship. Even with Silver, Diamond had been using her, that is who she was— had been. NO MORE!
Diamond had come to like Silver, to love her— and even her rejection had led to Diamond being better for having known her. Diamond felt her heart swelling and tears welling, but now wasn’t the time for tears, Diamond was reborn. Maybe she should try a nickname, or cut her hair, something to cut her ties to the past. Her skipping had turned into ballet twirls, and Diamond giggled wildly as she spun across the street. She never saw the girl coming around the corner until she tripped over her hoof. Diamond continued her spin off-balance, it looked as if she would fall, but somehow the agility that was her talent, and her mother’s training allowed her to somehow twist just right to land mostly unharmed. Her left hip hit the ground a little roughly, but with a little luck it wouldn’t even bruise.
“Oh no! Are you okay?” Scarlett Dancer laid a soft touch on Diamond Tiara’s shoulder.
“. . .” Diamond Tiara bit back the venom that would normally have followed, she wasn’t hurt, it was her fault as much as the red-haired girl’s— that admission, even in her own mind, left a bitter taste, an effect of that same corrupting pride that she had just promised to give up, she settled for, “Ow.”
“I wasn’t paying attention, and then I kind of froze when I saw you twirling, it was so cool, but I never realized you were heading right for me, c-can you get up, are you bleeding?” The white furred unicorn kneeled down next to Diamond as she spoke, folding her skirts beneath her, she pulled a white hoofkerchief from somewhere, and offered it to her.
Diamond blinked, and began to pull her limbs together, she looked herself up and down, she was fine, a small scratch on her flank was all, and though dirty it wasn’t really bleeding. She looked up to reassure the other girl, and got her first real look at the other filly— she felt a familiar jolt run through her, it wasn’t love, no match for her feelings for Silver, but it was an attraction, and she didn’t know why. The taller filly wasn’t a beauty, and she couldn’t be called thin exactly, her shoulders were coltish, but something about her made Diamond’s breath catch. Was it those kind blue eyes? Or the way she was nervously biting her lower lip?
Diamond sighed, “I’m fine,” and for once thinking of others for some reason other than just because it would get her something in return, “You’re okay too?”
Scarlett nodded and blushed shyly, again pushing the lacy cotton handkerchief forward. Diamond rolled her eyes and took it, she could at least use it to wipe the dirt off of the abrasion.
“Well, I need to get home, sorry again, I’m Scarlett.” The filly extended a hoof gracefully with the introduction.
“Diamond,” she replied, and the white filly’s eyes grew big— she knew that name. Silver Spoon had let a little bit slip when she wasn’t careful, so Scarlett had some idea that the two had been friends and had a falling out. It had seemed to trouble Silver very deeply, but she wouldn’t speak about it openly still. She was sure it was some silly misunderstanding.
“Oh? Well its good to meet you, I’m a friend of. . .” said Scarlett, changing her words mid-stream, knowing it would be a touchy subject, “. . .a friend of mine has told me a little bit about you, I really have to get going, I’m late, maybe I’ll see you tonight, I’d love to know where you learned that spin.”
As the other filly gathered her skirts about her and flounced off into the distance with a wave, Diamond Tiara narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “A friend?” Who could that have been, no-one would have anything good to say, except maybe Sweetie or Twist or Silv— could Silver miss her too? Diamond tried to tell herself it was just wishful thinking, she didn’t want to be disappointed. Tonight she said? The ball, and Silver will be there? She swallowed nervously, she needed to talk to Sweetie.
****
Scarlett sighed as she hurried home, she didn’t know what had come between the two exactly, but she knew Silver would not be happy if she blabbed about how much she missed Diamond Tiara. They really needed to make up. She felt her need to meddle start rising, and she thought about turning around to talk with Diamond, but Mom wouldn’t be happy if she didn’t get home soon. She couldn’t run, exactly, in her long skirts, but she was doing her best. She scurried up the steps of the front porch her hooves clopping loudly on the wooden planks, and burst through the front door.
“Mom! I’m home!” She shouted as she scurried up the stairs, tossing aside horse-shoes, and her outer skirt as she went, as well as her blouse. By the time she reached her room she was only wearing her socks and a slip, she didn’t hear the giggling until she was halfway through the door— Scarlett shrieked in surprise and shut the door, until she could gather up her skirt at least. Glory and Silver had looked up from where they sat on Scarlett’s bed, and burst out laughing in full throat-ed hysterics, they had been looking at Scarlett’s foal book— Scarlett realized, she hoped it was the one that was safe for company, Mom wouldn’t forget that would she?
“What an interesting habit you’ve developed dear,” Glory smiled at her daughter as she opened the door and looked down at the trail of clothing that began at the bottom of the stairs, “Silver is going to be staying here until its time to get ready, I’ll do your hair and makeup together.”
“But Mom, I can’t, remember?” Scarlett whispered, gesturing wildly at the room the other young filly was occupying.
“You’ll be fine, I’ll hand you a clean slip and a night gown, that will do for now, take a shower and change for your nap, I’ve got it all figured out,” Glory insisted as she stepped into the hall and closed the door.
Scarlett sighed and rolled her eyes, sometimes, Mom and her plans. They almost always worked though, “Okay, we’ll do it your way— what could possibly go wrong,” her sarcasm was biting.
Glory gave her daughter a stern glance, “Don’t be silly, just don’t take off your slip, and make sure to renew the spe—”
“Got it Mom,” she started huffily, but she slowly softened, she knew her mom was right, she almost always was, it was irritating, “Sorry— I was panicking, I love you.”
“Just take your shower, then you two will have a nap and then we get to make you pretty. It’ll be great,” Ms. Dancer wasn’t used to her daughter being quite this willful, not with her, but she knew why she had been so afraid, “I love you too.” She added a hug of confirmation to the last and shooed Scarlett off to the bath.
Glory rubbed her head and neck, relieving some tension, this would be a long night for her. She opened the door with a big smile and sat down next to Silver, whose nose had wrinkled in thought— she had stopped looking through the book.
“Ummm, Ms. Dancer?”
“Yes sweetie?”
“Whats wrong with Scarlett?”
Glory sighed, “You know she is a bit, ummm, bigger than most fillies right? Well, she is very self conscious about it, that’s why she always wears those old fashioned blouses that cover so much, she doesn’t like being seen without clothes.”
“Oh, then do you think I should go get my pajamas too, maybe she would feel more comfortable?”
“Not a bad idea, unless you don’t mind borrowing one of Scarlett’s nighties?”
For some reason that idea appealed to Silver Spoon, as if borrowing her clothes would be some secret pact of friendship, “She won’t mind?”
“No dear. Now let me go find the butler to set up the extra mattress,” she slipped from the bed, fetching a nightgown from a drawer, “You can change while you wait, and I’ll make you all a snack, but don’t stay up too long, I’ll be waking you to get ready before you know it.”
Just before Glory closed the door, she heard Silver speak up softly, “Thank you— for not making me go home, I mean.”
|
Scarlett
|
968
| 6 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Diamond Tiara,Original Character,Silver Spoon,Snails,Snips,Twist,Romance,Sad,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Facets and Flaws
|
Diamond Tiara is spoiled, Silver Spoon is sheltered, both have secrets, will friendship survive?
|
incomplete
| 93 | 2 |
<p>Comments and reviews very welcome.</p><p>A secret revealed tears apart Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.<br/>Can old enemies and rivals learn to forgive?<br/>Will new friends fill the void left behind?<br/>Will the Troublesome Twosome find a way to repair their bond, or will it be some other pony that will fill the holes in their hearts, with friendship, or even love?</p>
|
teen
|
2012-03-21T16:32:59+00:00
|
2012-03-21T16:32:59+00:00
| 2,672 |
WARNING: This story will contain adult themes including homosexuality, gender dysphoria, and other controversial themes. I will be avoiding explicit sex, however if you are offended easily, please do not read.
Facets and Flaws
By: Scarlett
Interlude: A Bit of Polish
Earlier that Summer. . .
Sweetie Belle had spent yet another morning all alone, her two best friends gone at camp. Even sand castles weren’t cheering Sweetie up today, no matter how many parapets she added, not even the little flags she put at the top. So she had just been sitting alone in the sandbox at Ponyville’s schoolhouse when a pink filly who mirrored her mood and worse had slowly walked by.
“Hi!” Sweetie shouted running through her castle over in her haste, “Wanna play!?”
Diamond Tiara had flinched away startled as Sweetie Belle had announced herself, jumping onto the fence surrounding the playground and clinging to it as she peered over. Diamond’s response was the usual, “Oh, it’s the marshmallow, yeah, I’d like totally LOVE to play with you,” her tone dripping in sarcasm, as she looked over to Silver Spoon for confirmation— Silver wasn’t there.
“Great!” Sweetie said, though a flash of pain in her eyes may have indicated she understood more than she let on, “Wanna push me on the swing? Pretty please?”
Diamond felt a lump in her throat as she realized how alone she felt, and she almost said yes right then. “Why would I push you, we aren’t friends, like, you totally hang out with a bunch of nopony dweebs,” she replied haughtily.
Sweetie had asked, “Why arrr-en’t we?” wrinkling her nose as she drew out the contraction, it was similar to ain’t but wasn’t quite the same, did it mean the same thing?
Diamond had opened her mouth to criticize, but instead she bit her tongue and thought for a moment. Sweetie had been one of the blank flanks, and a quick ally of that bumpkin Applebloom, but she was also Rarity’s sister. Surely that counted for something. She had always been nice even when she and Silver had teased her. She missed Silver so badly. “A-alright, we can get on the swings, but I go first,” she demanded.
Puppy dog eyes ended up giving Sweetie first go after all, but Diamond had felt it worth it at the end of the day, and when Sweetie had asked why she had been sad, she had told her everything.
Sweetie had just given her a smile and a big hug, “I’m sorry, Diamond.”
Those simple words of commiseration had for a moment melted through years of self-loathing, was she really worth caring about? Somepony who wasn’t family seemed to think so for once.
****
A few weeks after that. . .
As Silver began spending more and more time with the Dancer girl, Glitter Spoon had noticed a change in her daughter. She was smiling. Even at home, Glitter would catch her daughter thinking of her plans for the next day with a grin upon her face. It wasn’t until then that Glitter realized her daughter hadn’t been happy with the life they had planned for her, not for a long time, and the thought began to haunt her. Why hadn’t she noticed, and what was so different about her time outside the home?
Wasn’t she doing what was best for her little girl?
****
About that same time. . .
Ruby Tiara had noticed right away as her daughter had begun to change. Instead of mean spirited gossip that Ruby had to chastise her for, and the latest fashions in all the magazines, Diamond spent most of their time as mother and daughter talking about some filly named Sweetie Belle and the fun things they had done that day. Ruby hoped Diamond was being a bit more careful this time, and making a true friend— and only a friend. She didn’t need to worry about the other for now, she was still so young. Diamond was probably always going to be a bit of a bitch, Ruby giggled to herself, but whoever this Sweetie was, she was making her a better pony.
****
Approaching Midsummer. . .
Big Macintosh was nervous, he hadn’t asked a mare out in years— but now that Applebloom was nearly grown and he didn’t need to worry about her nearly so much, a particular mare had caught his eye. Simple pony that he was, the Stallion realized she had been right under his nose for years. The very sight of her yellow coat nowadays was enough to make his knees quiver.
She wasn’t the smartest pony around like that Twilight Sparkle, or the coolest like Rainbow Dash. She was glamorous enough, but she wasn’t a Rarity— and a little bit more comfortable with civilization than his dear sister Applejack, yet at the same time didn’t mind being out among farm and forest. She definitely didn’t have. . .
. . .whatever it was Pinkie Pie had.
After getting to know all of his sisters friends a bit over the years, he had learned a little bit of what he wanted in a mare, and this one, well, she just seemed to suit him just right. He could imagine living out his whole life on the farm with her.
Now Big Macintosh stood at her doorstep and he only had one real question, was a bouquet of carrots a good gift for the mare? Big Mac knew he’d love a bucket full of apples if he had been a mare and was receiving the gift and—
Oh no! Did Carrot Top just open her door? What would he say?
****
Not long before Midsummer. . .
The only things that really and truly interested the young colt Snails, were cooking, magic tricks, and Rainbow Dash. Even though Snips was his best friend, he had still thought he might have some interest in that Twist girl— all red and white and normal colored, but she didn’t even have wings, or a rainbow mane, or that beautiful blue flank. . .
. . .the boy drooled a little. In fact the only flaw that Rainbow Dash had was that she wasn’t a chef, but nopony was perfect. He wondered if Rainbow Dash would be at the ball in a few weeks, he knew she sometimes performed in other towns, headlining her own one-pony air show— the Wonderbolts had proved too restricting for her, though they still asked her to appear with them on occasion.
Maybe he could ask her to dance— Snails swallowed loudly, would he have the courage?
****
That same day. . .
Their love triangle had grown so complicated that Rainbow Dash wasn’t even sure which of the other two she was supposed to be dating at the moment, or whose bed she was in. She did know that all three of them had far too much cider the night before, and now she did not want to open her eyes. She could feel the headache waiting to explode to even greater strength as soon as she pulled herself from the covers and opened her eyes to the light.
Maybe she could just lean over and tell by touch. That puffy mane had to be Pinkie Pie right? She seemed to remember Pinkie nibbling on her ear. So she was still upstairs in Sugar Cube Corner—
Then what was that wing doing there? And didn’t she remember somepony yelling, “Yay!” while she licked— where she licked.
This could not end well.
****
A few days prior to the masquerade. . .
Twilight stared at the letter in disbelief— Trixie wanted to see her. She was coming to perform at the masquerade, and she wanted to discuss, “Us.”
Twilight clutched the letter to herself tightly, breathing in the hint of lavender perfume. She could barely believe it, not after the way Trixie had run out the last time. Twilight had been afraid she had lost her forever, after she had suggested that Trixie stop traveling so much, maybe just a few big shows a year— Twilight wanted to raise a foal with her.
Trixie’s response had been to flee immediately, with only her cape, hat and stagecoach. Twilight hadn’t heard from her in months— that wasn’t altogether out of the ordinary when she was traveling, but Twilight Sparkle had been afraid that her sometimes friend, student, teacher and lover had fled for good.
Her thoughts drifted back to all those years ago, when the PI she had hired had finally caught up to Trixie. Twilight had restored her hat and cape to her, and after a long talk had helped her with a new act, and a new stage. She wouldn’t come back to perform in Ponyville, which disappointed Twilight, but she often came secretly just to visit. Twilight wasn’t even sure when they had first kissed. Their trysts had spanned years, with Trixie leaving to perform often.
She knew how important performing was to the mare, but she had hoped they could at least discuss it, compromise. . .
. . .she was coming back!
****
The morning Applejack snuck into bed. . .
Rarity had woken up at 3am, triggered by her magical alarm spell. Soon enough she would need to wake up the pony below her, but for now she could nuzzle into Applejack’s belly and enjoy the warmth, and the smell of apples and sweat. She purred softly and with a quick burst of magic, gave herself another hour to enjoy her love.
****
That evening, a few hours before she was supposed to wake for the masquerade. . .
Silver Spoon rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked around the dark room. Scarlett had kicked her covers off of her bed and they had landed on Silver as she lay on her mattress on the floor. That must have been what had woken her up.
She yawned and stretched, sitting up, and looked over towards her friend, “Scarlett, are you awake?” she softly whipered.
Silver Spoon looked up over the edge of the bed and gasped in surprise, she could see it. Scarlett’s slip had ridden up just enough on one side that she could get a full view. Wow, she couldn’t believe she hadn’t guessed anything like it, not at all.
Scarlett’s cutie mark wasn’t a stuffed animal, or a cupcake, or any of her other guesses. It was a heart with a bandage on it. It was SOOOOO CUUUUTE! Silver wished her friend wasn’t so self-conscious, her cutie mark was the best, so what if her hooves and shoulders were a bit larger than most filly’s and her hips a little too slim. She was adorable- if only she would show her mark off a bit.
Silver giggled softly clasping a hand to her mouth. She smiled down at her friend who fidgeted as she spread the covers back over her.
She kept glancing back at her sleeping friend as she tiptoed to the door— she needed a drink of water, and maybe the restroom, then hopefully back to sleep for an hour or two.
The grin remained plastered on her face, she was so happy she finally knew that secret at last.
|
Scarlett
|
968
| 7 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Diamond Tiara,Original Character,Silver Spoon,Snails,Snips,Twist,Romance,Sad,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Facets and Flaws
|
Diamond Tiara is spoiled, Silver Spoon is sheltered, both have secrets, will friendship survive?
|
incomplete
| 93 | 2 |
<p>Comments and reviews very welcome.</p><p>A secret revealed tears apart Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.<br/>Can old enemies and rivals learn to forgive?<br/>Will new friends fill the void left behind?<br/>Will the Troublesome Twosome find a way to repair their bond, or will it be some other pony that will fill the holes in their hearts, with friendship, or even love?</p>
|
teen
|
2012-03-21T16:31:29+00:00
|
2012-03-21T16:31:29+00:00
| 3,322 |
WARNING: This story will contain adult themes including homosexuality, gender dysphoria, and other controversial themes. I will be avoiding explicit sex, however if you are offended easily, please do not read.
Facets and Flaws
By: Scarlett
Chapter 5- Courage and Conflict
While she was happy that it provided a bit of a distraction from the frou frou nonsense that would otherwise be going on, Applebloom was a bit miffed that Diamond Tiara was taking center stage with her friends at the moment. Not only did she still not trust the filly, she also found her girly whining more than a bit annoying. The girl was starting to sound like Rarity of all people— and one Rarity at a time in Carousel Boutique was more than enough.
A few hours before midnight, just as they had planned, the Crusaders had gathered at the shop for make-overs courtesy of Rarity— so not Applebloom’s idea— only to find Diamond Tiara already there fussing and fretting while wrapped up in a Sweetie Belle hug, and Twist had immediately gone to add a comforting hoof. Applebloom had merely rolled her eyes, always more drama with that pony, but she had noticed Scootaloo tense up, and now she was sitting on one of the divan thingies (Why can't you just call a sofa a sofa?) glaring daggers at the girl. Now as annoyed as Applebloom was, that seemed a bit much, what was that about?
“Silver Spoon is going to be at the ball, how can I face her?” Diamond was complaining, with a look of near despair, (again just like Rarity minus her magical fainting couch.)
“Oh, stop yer fussin filly,” Applebloom had tried, “Whatever you did to her couldn’t be as bad as what you did tah all of us, an’ we done forgave yah. . . mostly,” she added the last after another glance at Scootaloo, who was softly punching one of the cushions on the couch she sat on with restrained anger.
"I-It is worse, she'll never forgive me," the pink pony whined even more, she was on the verge of tears yet again. Sweetie Belle and Twist both began to motion frantically for Applebloom to stop talking where Diamond couldn't see.
'Granny's hips,' cursed Applebloom silently, not tears again! That's not what she wanted at all she was just trying to calm her friend, 'Horsefeathers! Since when is Diamond Tiara a friend?'
"I didn't mean nothin' by it, I just— whats goin' on, exactly?" Applebloom walked closer and tried to look more concerned than irritated, and somehow actually succeeded, she was trying really.
Diamond Tiara was defensive however, "You cretin, you bumpkin! D-don't make me say it out loud," she moaned and began to lightly pummel Applebloom's shoulder.
"I-I-" began Applebloom at a complete loss.
"Everbody THTOP!" Twist interrupted, and to her pleasant surprise everyone did, causing her to blush, but it wasn't time to be shy, "So here is the deal, we are going to get these make-overs, Diamond Thiara everything is going to be fine, and you'll look so pretty, and then we will all be there for you when you try to make up with Silver, so you need to thop crying or your eyeth will get puffy. Applebloom, all she wants is thomepony to listen right now tho relax, okay? I know you were trying to help. Thweetie Belle, go talk to Thcootaloo before thee breakth thomething expenthive."
Twist had appeared more and more nervous as she neared the end of her— tirade? Had Twist just tiraded? Was "tiraded" a word? Applebloom wasn't sure, but she had noticed her friend's lisp disappear in intense concentration, and then reassert itself. And what did Sweetie Belle have to do with anything? Applebloom's head hurt— and come to think of it, so did her shoulder— stupid Diamond.
Diamond Tiara sniffled and wiped her face, letting her hooves fall from Applebloom's shoulder, she slowly composed herself, then gave Twist a smile and a hug.
"Colths only," came a very quiet whisper from the red-maned filly, and it wasn't long before Twist's cheeks started glowing to match her curls. She wasn't in any hurry to let go, Diamond needed her, but it was a bit embarrassing.
Applebloom approached the two. "Sorry, I think, but what did I do?" said Applebloom, still not at all sure what was happening, or had been happening since the moment she had walked in the door— the only reply was a fit of giggles from Diamond and Twist.
Diamond struggled with her pride for a moment, but she was able to apologise as well, "Sorry Applebloom, I shouldn't have said that— its all very personal, and I forgot you all were coming. Sweetie Belle has been, like, Celestia-sent, helping me to sort everything out, and I wasn't ready for everyone to know."
Applebloom scratched her forehead, "I still don't know— whatever I don't know, but Twist is right, we're there for yah, whatever it is, the ol' you wouldn' never have said sorry, so, yer okay by me."
Sweetie Belle had been in her thinking pose since her name was mentioned, but finally came to some sort of epiphany and interrupted.
"Where is Celestia going to send me? I don't wanna go to the moon!," Sweetie Belle's face held a look of abject horror for a moment, but she was quickly calmed, distracted, and steered in the direction of Scootaloo by a giggling Twist, "Huh?! Oh, Hi Scootaloo! Why the frowny face?"
Eventually Scootaloo lightened up, thrilling Sweetie Belle with a story of her awesomeness, but she still wasn't talking to Diamond at all.
Soon the other girls had remembered they had come here for things like make-up and pony-pedis, and Applebloom found herself in a chair facing Rarity and the dreaded make-over. This was it then. The End. She would be subjected to powders and creams, nail files and shampoos, and worst of all, the dress. Was there any way she could make this more bearable? There was one thing she had always wanted to try, but. . .
"Rarity, can you cut my hair short? Kinda Like Scootaloo's, or something?" Applebloom hoped the nervousness didn't show in her voice, Applejack was going to be sooooo mad.
****
Her eyes were lightly shut, and Scarlett was applying yet another layer of eyeshadow to Silver's eyelids to create the "smokey eyes" that were still so in fashion. Even though they would be mostly hidden by her mask most of the night, Scarlett had insisted it was a necessity, but it seemed to be taking forever. 'Regular eyeshadow would have been fine for the night,' Silver thought, but she did her best to resist the temptation to blink until finally Scarlett applied the sealer and said, "Finished."
She relaxed her eyes letting them flutter, adjusting to the light, and looked in the mirror, her rarely used contacts added a bit of sheen to her light purple eyes. They allowed her to see the results of Scarlett's labors; she looked perfect. Her friend had done a wonderful job, every color complimenting her fur-tone, and accentuating her best features. All of it was just right, and the tiny gemstones placed near her eyes were so cute. "Wow, I'm like beautiful, Scarlett thank you so much!"
"You always are," Scarlett giggled, "But I'm glad you like it, you look so pretty."
"It is amazing! I will have to keep myself from touching it all night though," Silver said, teasing "I'm so used to reaching up to adjust my glasses."
Scarlett pouted, "You ruin it and you owe me big-time."
"I'll do my best," Silver promised, and left the chair to give Scarlett a careful hug.
Glory Dancer smiled as she cleaned some powder off the counter, her own makeup was already done, a bit more conservative, but still elegant, it was her daughter's handiwork as well. The joy in her daughter's eyes as she prepared for tonight was threatening to spoil her mascara though. She had been so afraid for her this same time last year, and now she just felt pride and love.
****
Peppermint Twist was staying close to Diamond, who wore a fairly simple white jeweled mask with a sleek white dress of draped silk, her hair was done up in intricate braids behind the silver tiara that was her namesake. Twist was ostensibly there for support, but in actuality she was almost having to drag the other filly towards the evening's event, she could feel the tight nervousness of fear in Diamond even when she wasn't giving her a reassuring pat or nuzzle.
The rest of their little group had seemingly forgotten her distress already, Applebloom was still unmasked, playing with her new spiky hair-do, looking into the glass of each and every window along the way, she would smile for a moment or two, but then looking down at her dress and its ruffles she would grimace before turning away to catch up with the group. Sweetie Belle wore a butterfly mask, and was busy gawking at all of the mares and stallions as they passed through the streets, clad in their finery. Scootaloo's mask was a phoenix of reds, and yellows, and violets, her dress matching. Both dress and mask seemed to blend into her coat as if she was one of the rare beasts herself. She was the only other one paying any attention to Diamond, and the look in her eyes seemed to match the fierceness of her attire.
Twist adjusted her own "mask", she had quickly realized that she couldn't wear the one that Diamond had sent along with the dress, she hadn't been able to see a thing, and her family had never been able to afford contacts. She'd been a bit saddened at the prospect of having to go without, she stood out enough without being the only unmasked filly at the ball, but Diamond Tiara had noticed, even though Twist hadn't said a word. She had gone over to Rarity and whispered in her ear. With a shout of "Idea-a-a-a-ah!!!!" Rarity had gone to work, swiping Twist's glasses, and adding gems and feathers to match her dress.
The end result was something similar to Sweetie's, with green and black feathers forming the butterfly wings, and matching her green silk gown in the same pattern as Diamond's. She hadn't noticed that before, it had to have been a rush job- Diamond couldn't wear green with her coloring, so it couldn't have been intended for her, and then she ordered the same design for herself? That was a bit touching actually. Twist had thought it had been sent merely to buy her off on a whim, something Rarity already had done; but it was seeming more and more like Diamond's reform was something real. Even after their heart to heart in the kitchen, Twist still had doubts, but she was really starting to see a different side of Diamond.
As Diamond Tiara chose that moment to return one of Scootaloo's glares and stick out her tongue, Twist let out a small snort. She was still herself after all, just a bit nicer, more balanced, and likeable. A better Diamond, with a few of her flaws polished out, Twist grinned at her pun, and she gave the filly a friendly bump with her hip as they neared the stage where the night's festivities would begin.
She heard Diamond softly whisper as her gaze dropped to her hooves "Bump, Bump, Sugar lump—
Rump. . ."
"Oh no, I wasn't thinking-" Twist began fretfully, filled with compassion.
"No its okay, its just, like, a reminder of why I'm here tonight," Diamond Tiara interrupted with another smile, and gathered herself up to a regal stature, "I'll have you there for support, so everything will be totally fine."
"Yeah," Twist returned an even broader grin, "I'm here."
****
Gathering in front of the empty stage, the citizens of Ponyville waited in anticipation for the night to begin. Their conversations a dull roar in the night as they marveled at what they could see of the gardens and decorations which surrounded the town hall. Scarlett could see Twilight Sparkle up near the stage, she must have been one of the first ponies there. She didn't seem to have a date but was surrounded by a group of mares, was that Rarity?
She had pointed the librarian out to Silver, and told her about her day, but she seemed distracted, had she spotted Diamond already? Scarlett bit her lip gently, she had hoped Silver wouldn't see her til they were inside, so Scarlett could keep her there, the two needed to talk, but she knew Silver wasn't going to unless she didn't have any way to escape.
"Silver Spoon, are you okay?"
"What? Oh, yes, I am fine, I just like totally saw Twist and she has a nicer dress than I do, can you believe it, she is like, totally poor, how did she afford it? Can we just skip the speech or whatever? I want some punch," Silver Spoon lied, hiding the real reason her heart had just seemed to clench.
"Sure, I guess" Scarlett sighed, she'd been looking forward to the opening ceremony, but maybe they could find a spot she could hear from? "Let's go grab a table, but speaking of dresses, you haven't said a thing about mine yet, did you notice the ribbon?" Scarlett said, hungering for her friend's approval.
"Scarlett Dancer," Silver Spoon began sternly, but was smiling by the end, "You are totally cute, you know, on anyone else I think the dress would border on ridiculous but it really fits you well, that dark shiny blue suits you, and yes I noticed the ribbon matches my coat. Sooooo sappy, but thanks."
"Well you are sooooo my best friend, and what is wrong with a few ribbons and ruffles and bows?" asked Scarlett.
"A few?" Silver said with a roll of her eyes, guiding her friend past a planter full of daisies and other flowers, "Come on, lets go find that table."
****
After losing track of Silver Spoon in the crowd Diamond Tiara had sighed deeply, she wanted to get it all over with before she lost her nerve, or let her pride convince her otherwise. Now she would have to wait. After a glance at Twist and Sweetie for reassurance, she focused her attention on the stage as Mayor Mare approached the podium.
"A fond welcome to the Citizens of Ponyville, and all of our visitors, those who are here to perform, and those here to enjoy this night with us. Remember as you enjoy the dancing and food, the spectacles and illusions, and all the other entertainment, the reason we are here: To celebrate the Summer, and Celestia's grace in raising the sun the whole year round. Tonight we celebrate and show our gratitude before watching the dawn of the longest day of the year," the mayor donned her mask and cleared her throat.
"Tonight is masquerade, and we have many musicians playing throughout the gardens, as well as at both dance floors, One inside and one out, There are tables of food and refreshments all over, but most special of all, hidden throughout the garden are crystals which will trigger an illusion when touched. It might be a scene from history, or a foal's fairy tale. I would like to thank the mare who set up this entertainment at no charge as an apology to all of us in Ponyville. The last time she performed here, she stepped on a few hooves, but tonight we will be graced by the second ever Ponyville performance of The Great and Powerful Trixie. She will take the stage at three a.m. Other performances will appear on this stage throughout the night, everything from jugglers to— am I reading this right? A dancing bear? One moment. . ."
". . .Ah yes, a dancing bear, special thanks to Fluttershy there," the mayor continued earning a squeak from the audience where a certain yellow mare now hid behind Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, "The schedule is posted in many places, as is a map and other details of the nights festivities. If any younger foals become separated from their parents, they should be found in the play area which Berry Punch has been kind enough to run tonight along with a few volunteers. It is on the map. There are many others to thank, too many to name, so many have contributed. All that said; let the night begin! Welcome to the Summer Sun Celebration!"
"Party!" Shouted the pinkest of ponies as the night began.
****
As the crowd dispersed into the garden, heading for refreshments and dance floors, Applebloom noticed Pinkie Pie was still in the area instead of bouncing here and there as would be expected. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow seemed to be arguing, and Futtershy was stuck in the middle of it all, something she said made the other two stop, and all three exchanged awkward glances. Her hooves stopped moving towards the threesome, she wasn't about to interrupt that mess whatever it was, though at first she had meant to at least say hello.
She also noticed Twilight Sparkle, who stood on the edge of the stage, and seemed to be scanning the crowd for somepony. Applebloom sighed, she had her own friends and all, but the older mares were all like family to her, like older siblings, aunts, or cousins, they had always been there. On the other hoof, she was actually somewhat glad she didn't see her true sister or Rarity anywhere, as much as she had hoped for a hug and smile from the rest of them, she wasn't looking forward to Applejack's reaction to her haircut— and when she found out she had left out a few details to get Rarity to do it, things were not going to go well. Still, she felt a grin tugging at the edge of her lips as she again teased her new spiky style with her right hoof.
Not far away, Sweetie Belle was skipping in excited circles, causing the rest of the Crusaders to giggle; they had been talking amongst themselves while Applebloom was in her own little world, but eventually, somepony bumped her shoulder, "Hey bumpkin?" asked Diamond Tiara.
"Yeah?. . . hey! Don' call me that!" Applebloom replied, at first too distracted to notice the insult.
"Only kidding, so what do you want to do first, eat? Dance?" Diamond asked in a friendly tone, "Or should we find a mirror so you can keep admiring yourself?"
Applebloom gave the filly a glare, "I dunno, what you askin' me for?"
"Well, you're the leader aren't you?" asked Diamond with a giggle.
"No way, I'm the leader!" Scootaloo puffed out her chest as she said her first words to Diamond all night,"and I say we go eat."
"Nuh uh, you are not, I wanna dance!" said Sweetie Belle.
"Am too,"
"Nuh uh,"
"Uh huh, I'm at least twenty percent cooler than any of you so that makes it true,"
"Well Ah'm the strongest!"
"I'm the fantasticalist!"
"That isn't a word."
"Is so."
The three original Crusaders quickly devolved into petty bickering, though in their masks and gowns it didn't become as physical a battle as it normally would have. Diamond snickered rolling her eyes at the chaos.
Twist groaned, "Did you have to, really?" she asked Diamond.
"Hey, I was just trying to tease Applebloom a little, they've been doing this for years without my help. Remember the second grade field trip and what we found out afterwords?"
". . .True," Twist admitted with a sigh, "and they'll be at it all night now."
"Oh I don't know, they always seem to get distracted soon enough, in fact—" Diamond paused with an evil smile, "Do you all remember hearing about those crystals?"
The bickering stopped almost instantly, the three girls looked at Diamond Tiara in surprise, then back at each other, and with a nod they shouted, "CRUSADER CRYSTAL FINDERS, YAY!"
****
Silver Spoon and Scarlett had ended up at a small table in the garden, not far from the stage so Scarlett had been able to hear the mayor, but it was hidden back in its own little corner with only a few other tables around it, the whole area surrounded by ivy covered trellises. Two of the tables were completely empty at the moment, and another was a banquet table.
At the table furthest back sat the largest stallion Scarlett had ever seen wearing a black bow tie and a simple black eye mask. Despite his red coat, he somehow managed to blush as he shared a plate of fruit and chocolate with the classy yellow mare across from him. Scarlett had to contain her squeals of delight as she watched the two flirt a bit awkwardly, the mare was having to lead her shy stallion along, it was so cute. Silver Spoon kept hitting her in the arm and hissing, "Don't stare, you are sooo embarrassing."
"But they're adorable."
"They are totally going to notice you," said Silver.
"She will maybe, but that stallion is entranced by her," Scarlett replied.
"I think I'm a bit entranced by him, look at those muscles," Silver Spoon whispered breathily.
"Ummm, yeah?" Scarlett gave a non-committal reply and a sheepish smile, before turning things back on Silver "Now who is staring Spoon?"
". . . Right, we should probably go, leave them alone and all," Silver giggled after one last longing glance at Big Mac, then turned back to her friend, "I saw your eyes light up when they mentioned those crystals, did you want to-"
"-Yes!" Scarlett interrupted with glee.
Silver laughed as her friend started bouncing like a foal, "Well, come on then."
****
Snails had told Snips he would be right back minutes ago, but he was still pacing back and forth gathering his courage, his idol was just across the way with her friends, all he had to do was go over and ask. He had started over once—
—and halfway to his goal he lost courage. He played it off, walking past the three mares, he could hear them arguing about something, the yellow mare and Pinkie Pie both were trying to calm Rainbow Dash, telling her it wasn't her fault, but she wasn't really listening, instead she was busy ranting and there were tears running down her cheeks. Tears? Rainbow Dash, crying?
The thought put steel in the young colt's spine, and he changed his course. Rainbow had calmed slightly as he reached the group of mares, but she was trying to pull away from the other two. Was this the best time to ask? Or the worst?
Now or never Snails, the colt cleared his throat, "M-miss Rainbow Dash, would you do me the honor of a dance?"
The three looked at the intruder incredulously, but after a flash of jealousy in the eyes of the Elements of Kindness and Laughter they both softened. Rainbow herself was standing with mouth agape in surprise. The young but earnest colt was dressed in a tux which had been wonderfully pressed, and as they watched he had pulled a rose out seemingly from nowhere, a wonderful show of slight of hoof; Snails himself was simply relieved he had pulled it off, Snips had shown him the trick so many times before he got it right; He was a bit of a klutz and his part in the routine tended to be more comedy than magic.
The two mares behind Rainbow whispered softly, "That is so cute," and somehow the tension that had existed between all three of them seemed to vanish.
"Jinx!" said Pinkie Pie, snorting, while holding in laughter with both fore-hooves, while Fluttershy blushed and let out a small squeak. Snails head began to droop as the seconds passed without response from his hero.
"Kid," Rainbow Dash finally began, "I'm impressed, that took guts, but I'm not sure—"
"Go ahead Rainbow," said Fluttershy, ending in a whisper, "Omigosh that was so assertive."
With a gasp, Pinkie spoke, "Fluttershy, no fair, you broke the jinx! But, Dashie, she is right, it looks like he's worked really hard," Pinkie said in her usual chipper manner, but then with a blush and an uncharacteristic whisper,"Fluttershy and I should talk anyhow."
Rainbow extended a hoof in the direction of the two, and had opened her mouth to speak, but let it fall in the end in silence. She nodded slightly and turned to Snails, "Well kid, I'm not gonna lie to yah, I'm kind of into mares, specifically. . . those two," She gave both of them a meaningful glance, "but I can give you a dance, maybe its just what I need right now, clear my head and all."
"Th-thats so awesome!" Snails answered excitedly, as his eyes widened in surprise. The colt grinned ear to ear as he extended a fore-leg to escort Rainbow to the dance floor.
****
Snips waited, and waited some more, where was that colt? He took the opportunity to ask a filly or two to dance, but so far he had been turned down every time. It wasn't as if there were many colts his age there, he had to find somepony who would say yes eventually, right? Snips sighed, moving away from the dance-floor, he wandered aimlessly, even Snails had abandoned him tonight.
As he walked, he found himself behind the stage, looking at a remarkably familiar stage-coach, his breath caught in his throat, could it be?
He took a few steps forward, how could he be sure? Light was streaming through the curtain in the window, he had grown some, since their first encounter years ago, but he was still short, and a bit dumpy, he couldn't see.
He heard voices though, from inside, the first was calm and measured, it seemed to be restraining emotion, "Trixie wants to be here with you, she has more than enough money, but she does not do this for the money, she feels a need to perform."
It was her! The mare of his dreams, Trixie. She was really here, she really would perform tonight.
"Trixie, can't we compromise, couldn't you stay here most of the year? I know you love what you do, but you don't need to travel town to town anymore." It was a mare's voice, she was speaking loudly and frantically, what was going on? Snips realized he was spying, but he couldn't make himself leave.
"Trixie would be. . . I want to make this work, but I would be gone at least three months out of the year, to keep my following at the casinos, and I would need to do a few special events like this one throughout the year. Is that enough for you?" The voice was definitely Trixie, who was she talking to?
"Would you really be able to? If we. . . adopt a foal, its a big challenge, they need stability, but if you do your casino show in the summer, it would work, I think."
"Twilight Sparkle, I came back for you, because I love you. I was scared to change, and I was clinging to what I've always known. I've already thought this through and even if I had to give it up I. . ." Snips heard Trixie take a deep breath, and when she spoke next he could her voice was choked with tears, ". . .I would, but please don't ask me to."
Twilight Sparkle— Trixie loved her. Snips felt the first sparks of jealousy begin to smolder in his heart, he finally turned away from the window, he looked out into the darkness of Ponyville in one direction, and the bright lights of the party in the other, and he closed his eyes and began to run.
He wasn't sure which direction his hooves were taking him, until he felt Snail's hoof on his shoulder, "What's wrong?"
****
The girls had all been excited when they had found their first crystal, and all the Crusaders had watched enraptured as the story of "Princess Celestia and the Dragon" played out before their eyes. The illusions were much stronger than they had been during Trixie's first appearance in Ponyville, and the real world had seemed to disappear as the fillies were drawn into the story.
As the story neared its end, and the Princess had defeated the dragon, showing it mercy, Applebloom noticed something which seemed to break the enchantment for her at least; she blinked and looked around, what was that sound?
She began to wander towards the sweet music she was hearing, and found it, just around a small hedge. A grey earth mare was playing some sort of stringed instrument, her eyes closed, she was as lost and enraptured in her own music as the filly's friends were in the magic.
Applebloom was in awe as the mare worked the strings of her instrument, producing the sweetest sounds Applebloom had ever heard, and she was surprised to see that the only thing the black-maned filly wore, was a simple, if pink, bow-tie, and a white collar. "Fillies can do that!?" she exclaimed in shock and wonder.
Her outburst broke the mare's concentration, though she did not miss a beat, her eyes shot open and she smiled at the young girl, not quite sure what she had meant, she played the song to its conclusion.
"Ma'am, can I ask you a question?" Applebloom asked as the last note died.
The elegant mare chuckled, "You just did, dear filly, but go ahead."
"Can a filly, err a mare, really wear a bow-tie like that instead of frilly dresses?"
"Ahhh, let me guess, you have a bossy mother?"
"Sister."
The musician laughed again, clear like a bell, "Well, I think, you should be and dress as you like, I don't let anypony tell me different."
Applebloom smiled and nodded, "Well thanks, yah don't have an extra bow-tie do yah?" She frowned as the musician shook her head no, "Err thanks, Miss. . . ummm" she paused in her progress back around the corner.
"Octavia."
"You sure play purdy," Applebloom waved and passed out of sight leaving a giggling mare behind her.
****
The illusion had ended a short time ago, and as Applebloom came back to the courtyard all her friends appeared to be looking for her, she could see the relief in their eyes as she came into view.
"There you are! Why'd you run off?" asked Scootaloo.
"We were worried!" called Sweetie Belle, a quaver in her voice, and Scootaloo moved close to comfort her.
"Hey, I was alright, jus' a little bored, don't ya'll worry 'bout me none," Applebloom said, a bit embarrassed as a few of the girls came to give her a quick hug, including Diamond, which surprised Applebloom, leaving her really flustered, "Enough of that, let's go find another crystal."
Scootaloo still hadn't forgotten their earlier argument, "I'll lead!" she called out and started for one of the paths out of the clearing, but she didn't get far at all before she was stopped in her tracks by two fillies entering from the opposite direction.
Diamond Tiara gasped as she dug in her hooves, having followed only a few steps behind Scootaloo, and nearly running into Silver Spoon and Scarlett herself. Silver Spoon's eyes had flared in shock and she tried to turn and run, but Scarlett stepped in front of her.
"What are you doing? Let me out!" Silver Spoon shouted at her friend in fear.
"Spoon. . . you miss her, you should. . ." Scarlett whispered softly.
"I have nothing to say to that FILLY-FOOLER!" came the answering shout, and the slur hung heavy in the air.
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Scarlett
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968
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Cutie Mark Crusaders,Diamond Tiara,Original Character,Silver Spoon,Snails,Snips,Twist,Romance,Sad,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
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Facets and Flaws
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Diamond Tiara is spoiled, Silver Spoon is sheltered, both have secrets, will friendship survive?
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incomplete
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<p>Comments and reviews very welcome.</p><p>A secret revealed tears apart Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.<br/>Can old enemies and rivals learn to forgive?<br/>Will new friends fill the void left behind?<br/>Will the Troublesome Twosome find a way to repair their bond, or will it be some other pony that will fill the holes in their hearts, with friendship, or even love?</p>
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teen
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2012-05-29T05:35:23+00:00
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2012-05-29T05:35:23+00:00
| 2,194 |
WARNING: This story will contain adult themes including homosexuality, gender dysphoria, and other controversial themes. I will be avoiding explicit sex.
Facets and Flaws
By: Scarlett
Chapter 6- Hurts and Healing
Glory Dancer was enjoying herself immensely, it had been so long since she had been to any sort of party outside of stuffy Canterlot; the college parties there could get a bit wild, but she was a bit old for that, and she had been married through most of college. Here in Ponyville though she was able to let her hair down, figuratively of course, she wouldn't dare ruin the work Scarlett had done on her mane.
She had sent the two young ones off to find other fillies and colts to dance with or something, reminding Scarlett to send up an emergency flare if she ran into trouble she couldn't handle. The girls were almost in high school, they didn't need a mom hanging around all night, so after a quick glance at one of the maps posted around the Summer Sun Celebration Masquerade, Glory had found a bar and began a nice relaxing evening. The stallion behind the counter had been flirty, but he was almost half her age, she had milked it though, it made her feel young again, even if he was just looking for better tips.
She had enjoyed some quiet conversation with a few others, mostly couples, but they had all quickly moved on to dancing, or other activities. Still, it was adult conversation, and the Manehattan with a pinch of salt didn't hurt.
There had been a single stallion a little later, some cad who called himself the "Doctor," he didn't seem to actually be a doctor, or in a hurry to give his real name whatever it was. While he was at least her own age, she knew his type, he would flit in and out of her life whenever and wherever he would like, and expect her to be there waiting on him, while he was off on his little adventures. He was attempting to wow her with yet another story of his daring, but she had stopped paying attention when he started using words she didn't understand, like "Tardis", until finally she saw an escape.
"Excuse me, I have to go meet a friend. . . Rarity!" she called desperately, as she moved away from the bar. Despite the masks, she had recognized that long purple mane- as always perfectly groomed- even at a distance.
"Oh my!" Rarity had turned, flashing a happy smile, and put a gentle hoof on her companion's shoulder, "Applejack, this is Glory Banks, a friend from Canterlot. . . Glory was one of the first ponies in the city to really give me more than platitudes, she helped me get a fair loan to start the first of my boutiques there, you wouldn't BELIEVE what some of those ponies were trying to charge for interest, and she has been a regular customer ever since, Glory this is Applejack, my. . . friend."
Glory raised her eyebrow at the slight pause, and saw Applejack pale a bit, the earth pony looked to be an athlete, not what she would have expected Rarity to go after, but she cleaned up nicely enough, "I'm using my own family name Dancer now, Rarity, and I'm glad to meet such an important friend of yours," she gave Applejack a reassuring smile, and an insightful wink, "I've been curious as to why Rarity keeps on coming back to Ponyville, when she is always so excited to visit Canterlot."
Rarity shrugged and leaned against Applejack.
"Rare, you know I cain't, for Granny's sake," the troubled orange mare spoke softly, pulling away, she looked so conflicted, and it made Glory feel for her. She knew precisely how judgmental family could be, and how hard it was to resist that pressure.
"Never mind, Apple dear," Rarity fought her disappointment, "Now, Glory darling, you simply must tell me EVERYTHING at some point, but not tonight, how about we all head to the dance floor and I introduce you to a few nice stallions so we can dance and chat?"
Like Glitter, Rarity was a bit of a gossip, but unlike that other mare, Glory somehow knew she could tell Rarity the whole story without her spreading the more delicate bits to all of ponydom, and she was glad the mare considered her a friend as well. The trust Rarity had shown in sharing her feelings for her marefriend, despite it being so obviously a secret was moving. "That sounds lovely. I haven't had much time to socialize since moving to town, I've been arranging things at the house and getting my daughter enrolled in school," Glory said.
"Well, then you'll simply have to join me at the spa this week for a massage, the twins do such a lovely job."
Applejack might normally have been a little jealous, with Rarity focusing so much attention on another mare, but as they walked and talked Rarity was spending most of her time talking about Applejack herself, how strong, how brave, honest, and loyal she was. She felt guilt starting to gather in her stomach; she truly hated hiding her feelings, but she was afraid of what Granny would say, as she was an old-fashioned mare, even if the dear old biddy did often skip to the beat of her own drummer. Lately she had started to mention wanting to meet some of her yet to be great grandfoals, before her time was up. Applejack almost teared up at the very thought, Granny was just a fact of life, always there, like apple trees or a barn that needs fixin'. If Granny really was nearing her time, Applejack didn't want to disappoint her, but she didn't feel that way about any stallion, or anypony at all, except for one.
****
Even with the hired help, Bon-Bon had been a bit overwhelmed when Twist had left to get ready for the masquerade, but the actual mixing and baking had been finished and she knew the girl was looking forward to the night. With the cooling, packing, and delivery left to go, Bon-Bon had been running frazzled between the shop and the event, coordinating everything, making sure the servers knew how to set up the tables- which treats to keep chilled, and which to keep on the warming trays. So when the last tray of fancy goodies finally left for the ball, she had been so tired, and one of the comfier chairs in the shop had looked so inviting, that she had forgotten all about her own plans to attend and had quickly drifted off to sleep.
An hour or two later, she felt a pair of hooves shaking her awake, a pair of soft lips touched her own as she rubbed sleepy eyes, which had opened on her minty green mare, leaning over her from behind the chair, filling her with a soft warmth, "Mmmmm, Lyra? Is it morning? Ten more minutes. . . Oh no! The masquerade! Did I miss everything, did I miss your performance?" she asked, instantly awake.
"No love, but we are going to have to get you into a shower and dressed, I want a dance or two before I have to play the final set just before dawn," the musician said, tickling Bon-Bon behind an ear, and giving her throat a playful nip, making her shiver, "Now hurry and get up so I can kiss you in front of all the stuck up ponies at the celebration."
"Are you sure you can't just ravage me now? That would show them," Bon-bon purred.
"Ooooh I wish, but music to play, bits to earn, remember?" Lyra asked rhetorically, "Hey, Bon?"
"Yeah?"
"The tables look great, I'm proud of you."
****
"FILLYFOOLER!"
That word had brought everything to a sudden halt, a tension filled stillness, it was Scootaloo who finally broke the heavy silence, "I KNEW IT!" she shouted, pointing an accusing hoof at Diamond Tiara, "I knew you were after MY Sweetie Belle! Pretending to be all nice and stuff so you can get close to her!" Her hoof was shaking in fury.
Diamond flinched away, "I'm not, I didn't," she protested, "Its not that," she insisted, turning back to make sure the one she was seeking hadn't escaped her yet, in those few precious seconds, Silver Spoon had tried to push past Scarlett, but thankfully the other pony had clung onto her, and was whispering softly into her ear. Diamond Tiara glanced back at Scootaloo, "I had a crush on my best friend," she spoke firmly, and it was enough to reach Scootaloo, who stopped her threats and bluster and followed Diamond's gaze which had moved onto Silver Spoon, then lowered her head in embarrassment as Diamond Tiara finished loudly and plainly enough for all in the area to hear, "I was in love with Silver."
As her words reached Silver Spoon, she froze in fear in Scarlett's arms. Scarlett tried to comfort her again, "Its okay Spoon, just listen," she squeezed the other filly gently, "She isn't going to hurt you. She cares about you."
Applebloom's jaw dropped, so many things made sense now, Scootaloo obviously hadn't known, but Sweetie and Twist didn't seem surprised at all. Had Diamond opened up to both of them? She herself had been so quick to judge, and now she felt guilty, Diamond had been dealing with alot. All four of the officially sworn in Crusaders moved up alongside Diamond Tiara, filled with concern.
Diamond Tiara looked back at Sweetie and Twist for courage, both girls gave her a smile and a nod, "Silvy, you're my best friend, and I. . . I'm sorry, you were never supposed to know, and-"
"Well, I found out, didn't I?!" Silver screeched at Diamond, her anger and feelings of hurt and betrayal were a boiling sea inside of her, causing her to lose all composure and making her lash out, "What a disgusting pervert, what a liar you are!"
"I didn't do it on purpose," Diamond squeaked, looking down at her hooves, curling in on herself, she began to ramble,"I just couldn't stop thinking about you, how wonderful you are. I knew you wouldn't feel the same way; I couldn't help having these feelings, so I hid them, and I pushed everypony else away-"
"I trusted you!" Silver yelled again, with all the hurt of the past in her words. As she finished, every bit of emotion and energy seemed to drain from her, and she leaned into Scarlett for support.
Diamond winced visibly shaken by Silver's pain, but stood up tall once more as Twist and Sweetie both rubbed her shoulders gently, she looked directly into Silver Spoon's masked eyes, "I was trying not to lose what we already had. . ."
Silver wordlessly turned away, burying her face into Scarlett's shoulder.
". . . I miss complaining about schoolwork, I miss our weekly cupcake at the Corner, I miss our friendship . . ." Diamond choked out, her whole body shaking as she tried to hold back the sadness, ". . . Silver, please forgive me?"
Silver whimpered and turned in Scarlett's arms just enough to catch a glimpse of her oldest friend, she could see the loneliness in her, deep down she ached to comfort her, but she couldn't forget, couldn't forgive, not yet. She again turned away, and spoke through clenched teeth, "Scarlett, I know what you are trying to do, but all I can feel right now is hurt and angry, please, let me go."
Scarlett was blubbering by this point, overwhelmed by the other girls' pain, she clung tighter for a moment, wanting more than anything to hold Silver there until she dealt with her feelings, but she knew it was over for now. Defeated, she let her arms fall from Silver Spoon, letting her hoof trail across the filly's back as she pushed past her on her way out through the ivy covered arch. She felt like a failure, so much for her cutie mark, she couldn't even help her best friend heal the pain in her heart.
Diamond took a deep breath and put one hoof to her chest, her heart felt surprisingly light, though her eyes still shimmered with the watery sheen of not-quite-tears. She smiled as Sweetie leaned in for a hug, and the other three at her side joined in.
When it ended, Diamond approached the filly that was standing a pace away, still frozen in place, trying to reign in her sobs, "Thank you, it meant alot to be able to say I'm sorry."
Scarlett nodded and sniffled, her emerald eyes downcast, and dabbed at them with her linen hoofkerchief, "Everyone, this is Scarlett," Diamond recalled, and gave one of the unicorn's hooves a reassuring squeeze, "Look, you better go find her, she'll be at a table eating too much chocolate and snapping at everypony. I'm sure she needs her new bestie there to lean on, but. . . thank you again," Diamond gave Scarlett a quick peck on the cheek, and stepped back towards her friends amid a few teasing whistles and cat-calls.
"Oh come on! It was, like, on the cheek, you all know it was— like, totally not like that. Let's go find more crystals"
Running a hoof over her cheek, Scarlett blushed, but as she looked up, she saw a pony in the group mirroring her actions, and staring at her with a sharp jealousy in her eyes rather than joining in the teasing. Scarlett bit her lip, and shook her head slightly, gave a small awkward wave, turned and headed off after Silver Spoon.
****
After a chat with his best friend, Snips had felt a bit better, and he couldn't believe his friend had snagged a dance with Rainbow Dash. His crush on Trixie had just been a fantasy anyhow, but just as Trixie's illusions came to a quick and sudden end, so had Snip's dreams- without the billowing smoke and flashing light. The end to coltish fantasy hadn't been so bad, he found himself a little more interested in the fillies around the dance floor, and without the distraction of where Trixie was and what she might be doing, he found himself listening more intently to what they had to say, this time when he had spent some time being honestly charming, and asked one of them to dance, she had said yes.
Snips was in a bit of a daze as they spun around the dance floor, he enjoyed the first dance, and soon found himself talking softly with a second filly, as they waltzed. He was so glad he had remembered how, he and Snails had practiced for hours to learn the right steps. 'Oh no!' he realized, 'Snails never practiced leading. How did he manage with Rainbow Dash?'
He began to giggle at the picture in his head of Rainbow Dash twirling Snails about the dance floor with abandon, he would have to ask around to see how far off the mark that image was.
****
Silver Spoon was content. She still hadn't dealt with all of her emotions, but curled up on a small sofa at the edge of the great hall with a plate of berry tarts, bite sized cakes, and chocolate treats, with Scarlett's warmth beside her, she was doing better. Avoidance wasn't the healthiest way to deal with things, she knew that, but she didn't know what else to do at the time. Now, away from Diamond, she could breathe, and think.
Could she really be friends with Diamond Tiara again? The filly liked mares, and had a crush on her, wouldn't things be awkward?
She wasn't quite so angry now, and she was starting to understand why Diamond had kept it a secret, and deep down she knew what was bothering her more than anything. Hadn't they always told each other everything?
The thought of two mares, kissing, was still. . . gross. Silver's eyes flared in shock, and she put a hoof to her lips, she had just remembered the time she had convinced Diamond that they should practice, Diamond had tried so hard to get out of it. That was supposed to just be pretend, had Diamond liked her then? Had Diamond been hurting inside pretending the kiss meant nothing, when to her it meant everything?
For Silver herself? Well, It hadn't felt bad, but it had just been lips meeting, and she hadn't gotten those butterflies she felt looking at a well muscled stallion. Silver blushed and took a deep breath to chase those thoughts away, she couldn't figure this out, she knew she liked stallions, why would any mare want to kiss another mare for real?
What was love exactly, anyway?
****
Finding someplace to stash her dress had been the biggest complication, but the girls were able to claim a table on the edge of the dance floor eventually, so Applebloom adjusted her new bow-tie while the hated ruffled thing sat unused on her chair. Dancing with Snails nearby, Diamond Tiara was paying part of the price for Applebloom's new attire- Snails' tux now missing a certain piece of neck-wear. A dance with each of them, and Applebloom had already paid her penance, as had Sweetie and Scootaloo, the later had purposely stepped on Snail's hooves a few times, after angrily watching him dance with Sweetie Belle.
Applebloom snickered, it looked like Diamond Tiara wasn't the only one who liked fillies. "MY Sweetie Belle," really Scoots? Sweetie Belle, of course, didn't make the connection, she had come over to Applebloom earlier while the girls were still looking for more crystal illusions, and glancing both ways had whispered conspiratorially, "Did my parents sell me to Scootaloo?"
The last of her friends was nervously waiting her turn at the table, Applebloom knew Twist had had a crush on Snails all through grade school, but Applebloom didn't think she had ever told anyone else, and still wasn't sure what the filly saw in the goofy pony. Just about everything to do with romance had thus far evaded Applebloom's understanding.
As she stood to stretch, she felt the back of her neck prickle, and turned to see her sister gaping at her in shock, her jaw on the floor. Applebloom froze as well, her body going rigid.
"What in Tahr-na-tion, What did you do to yer hair?" Applejack asked, she wasn't yelling like Applebloom had expected, instead her sister seemed more hurt and confused, "And yer dress, yah ain't wearin yer- What are yah wearin?"
"I ummm, I just wanted something different?" Applebloom tried.
"B-but I w-worked so hard. . . so yah don' hafta be a tom-filly like me, and can have purdy things, earnin extra bits, all them side jobs . . ." Applejack seemed crushed, she hadn't realized what Applejack had been doing for her, how did she miss it? Applebloom's guilt was tearing at her now, but she had finally done what she had always wanted, she hadn't meant to disappoint anyone.
"Sis, I love yah, and I think its a good thing I'm- I'm alot like yah. I'm sorry, but I hate dresses, and frilly bows," Applebloom said, hesitantly, she couldn't bring herself to meet her sister's eyes, instead getting a good view of the dirt beneath her hooves, "I didn' know yah'd been workin' extra to pay for the dress, I can put it back on if yah want?"
"Yah can put it back on," Applejack echoed in disbelief, she was starting to worry Rarity who stood nearby, and she began to wave her multicolored pastel fan in the orange mare's face, attempting to give her some air.
It was Snips that came to Applebloom's rescue, stumbling upon the scene, he only had eyes for the short-maned filly in the bow-tie, "Wow! Applebloom your new mane-cut is amazing, and I know manes, and that bowtie really suits you, you look incredible. . .would you like to dance?"
"Yes please!" Squeaked a grateful Applebloom, who hurried away from her still dumbstruck sister with Snips in tow.
"Thank yah for saving me, I'll still have to face her later though," Applebloom said as they began to dance.
"What do you mean?" Snips asked in his gravelly voice, confused.
"Yah mean yah weren't rescuing me from mah sister?"
"Huh, no I, just think you look really pretty tonight," Snips spoke softly and quietly, with just a hint of reddened cheeks.
Applebloom on the other hand was soon shining like a red delicious.
****
The Great and Powerful Trixie looked out on the crowd, it was not by any means the largest she had ever performed for, yet she had been as nervous as she had ever been to start the show, and it had quite a bit to do with a certain purple mare. Her love, Twilight, and her friends had found a spot near the front, and she did her best to fight the distraction, though once or twice she did find herself staring at the pony of her heart's desire. It wasn't nearly enough to stop the show of course, Trixie was far too professional for that, but she normally preferred to make each member of the crowd feel she was looking right at them.
As a flourish to end her grandest illusion, a shimmering dragon of fire that had swept over the audience before being slain by a silver bolt from Trixie's hoof, she completed a magically powered back-flip, appearing to land in midair above the stage, and a burst of fireworks launched into the air before she let the invisibility spell fade on the table on which she stood. Surveying the throngs of clapping ponies, she thought back to her apology at the beginning of the show, and how they had all cheered. She had come full circle and it felt wonderful, Ponyville had been both haunting and driving her for years on her path to success, and now, as she felt their awe and wonder at her abilities, she felt more at peace with her decision.
It took long hours of practice and preparation to get everything just right, even back in her more. . . humble days, such as when she had first visited Ponyville. It felt nice to be appreciated, to be adored on the stage, but this performance truly put things in perspective. The temporary fleeting love of the audience, paled to Twilight's smallest smile.
Floating, she gently landed behind the table, telepathically she cleaned it with a rag, then pulled in a table cloth from offstage, letting it float up and then drift down to settle perfectly in place. She clapped once and a raincloud began to form above the stage, and when the audience looked back to the table it was set with utensils, plates, bowls and cups, a glass pitcher, and a vase with a rose. She clapped again and fruit began to rain from the cloud, including a whole watermelon and a stream of orange juice, all magically guided to their rightful places.
"This was Trixie's last Illusion for the night, and what you see before you now is merely her breakfast," she spoke in her stage voice so all could hear and tapped the watermelon which fell into perfect slices, then bowed to the audience as they began to cheer wildly, "Please enjoy the rest of your night as I enjoy the company of some friends of mine, The gardens are still full of wonderful sights to see, and I believe the musicians have all gathered at the outdoor dance-floor for the final hours of starlight before the dawn, Thank you Ponyville, for your forgiveness and your applause."
She waved to Twilight and her friends, motioning them up on stage, while a few roses and bits fell onto the stage. She giggled at her surprise, she hadn't told Twilight about breakfast, and she looked out at the audience one more time, surprised to find she recognized a few others near the stage. The two colts who had been her fans were unmistakable even masked, one tall with that same bowl cut mane, the other portly with a scratchy voice. They had caused her some trouble all those years ago, but were clapping for her wildly and whistling, along side a group of fillies, she smiled, remembering how at the time she had made herself the hero of her fantastical tales, feeding her ego, and how the two had sought to prove her word.
She walked to the the edge of the stage where they stood, for a smile, a wave, and a bow.
****
Like most of Ponyville, Silver Spoon was on the dance floor as the stars began to fade into not quite blackness as dawn slowly approached. She was taking care to stay far away from Diamond and her new friends as they clustered over close to the bandstand. She danced with Scarlett first, and then a few older colts from the town. She was not in the mood for it really, and she couldn't recall anything they had said the whole time, still dwelling on her friendships and missing Diamond Tiara, the real Diamond that had been only hers, that was starting to open up and reveal herself to all the rest of them.
Diamond had always been afraid to really try, her parents expected so much of her, and those expectations had always seemed to crush her when she couldn't do something just right, just perfect. She had tried to tell Diamond it was only because her parents believed in her, and Diamond had said she knew, but knowing it did not help at all; she still felt like simply giving up some times, because in the end she would just fail anyway. Those feelings had been eating away at her friend since before she had known her, and had become a self destructive cycle, Diamond had seemed to grow colder to those around them every year, until only Silver ever received a smile or a kind word from her.
Now Diamond was confiding those feelings in other ponies, and Silver felt a jealousy so strong that it surprised her. Her best friend couldn't come to her anymore, and she couldn't go to her in return. She couldn't share her own feelings with Diamond anymore, her feelings of uselessness, her parents disregard of her unless she did something that violated their precious Rules and the feeling of loss and despair and emptiness that seemed to fill Silver to the top every time she was chastised for some breach of etiquette. She had told Scarlett some of it, but it was not quite the same yet, and she could tell Scarlett was holding back too. They were growing closer, and Silver Spoon was sure they could be almost as close in time, but it could not ever be quite the same— Diamond had been there from that first day of school til now, and it was supposed to last forever.
She looked across the dance floor seeking the white clad filly with her eyes, trying hard to figure out if she had it in her to forgive, and to accept.
"How can I be her friend when she feels that way?" Silver had asked Scarlett earlier.
"Those feelings will fade when she finds someone else, but she'll never stop caring Silver. Even in the worst of falling outs, even if you want to hurt them or hate them, you never stop caring," Scarlett spoke from experience, Silver could tell, but she had tempered her curiosity.
She was starting to understand, but it still hurt when she looked at Diamond.
Silver looked around for Scarlett, and found her desperately clasping her hooves over her ears while the colts from earlier carried on a conversation about sports at their table. She went over and grabbed her by a hoof and with a grin, pulled her towards the dance floor. Scarlett would help her figure it out, she was sure.
****
On the dance floor beneath the stars, surrounded by the citizens of Ponyville, Bon Bon and Lyra shared a fairly chaste kiss at the end of their final dance of the night, they held hooves for a moment longer, lingering together, but it was time for Lyra to play through the dawn. As the distance between them grew, Bon Bon stifled a sigh, chastising herself for being so clingy. She grinned with pride as the first notes from the lyre drifted into the chill morning air.
****
Not far off, a certain orange Earth pony had still been fretting over her sister's words and actions, when a gasp from Pinkie Pie shook her out of it, she looked around for the source of Pinkie's surprise, and saw Lyra and Bon Bon's muzzles parting. She wondered for a moment if she would ever have such courage- to kiss Rarity in front of everypony. It was then that her sister's words began to haunt her, she had said she wanted to be like her, but Applejack wasn't being very courageous, or honest, with the very ponies who mattered most. What kind of an example was that?
****
Glitter Spoon had been digging up dirt on the Glory Bank's split from her husband, something was off about the whole thing, but she wasn't quite sure what it was yet. Everyone of her friends that had come down from Canterlot for the ball seemed to agree the split was over the children, but the details had been a bit vague. Just as Glitter was about to press for more about the foals, she and her friends bore witnesses to a terrible crime against all of Equestria.
"Disgusting," the gaggle said, almost in unison, as they watched the two mares kissing.
****
Seeing Sweetie Belle dancing with that stupid smelly boy had been enough to convince Scootaloo it had to be tonight, and now, with all the Crusaders watching the romantic scene happening on the dance floor she could. . .
. . .wait a little while longer, yeah that was a good idea, right now there were too many ponies around. She didn't want too many witnesses to see her inevitable soul-crushing rejection after all.
****
"That is so hot," mumbled Snails as he and his buddy turned and saw the source of all the gasps and gawking.
Snips nodded, feeling awkward— the sight did little for him, but it did cause a fleeting thought to cross his mind, one of those uncomfortable thoughts he always pushed to the back of his mind, 'what would Snail's lips taste like?'
While Snails drooled over the two mares, Snips forced those thoughts away, filling his head with the memory of Trixie giving the two of them a personal bow after her performance, and his dance with Applebloom. He had always found the filly enticing, he knew he "like liked" her, so why was he having the same kind of thoughts about the colt next to him?
****
Her shoulders tensed as they kissed, but seeing the two ponies reluctantly parting had brought tears to Silver's eyes. It was still a little weird seeing two mares behave that way, but that look of love and pride in the creme colored mare's eyes as her musically inclined companion took the stage made Silver long for the day when a stallion would look at her that way. . . but would that day ever come?
She thought for a moment of her mother and father, and the cold calculating looks the two gave each other. She had always felt something was missing there, and in her relationship with each of them in turn.
Her life was already set, her father would pick a fine unicorn for her- would his eyes be warm or cold?
Those were The Rules.
****
While the rest of Twilight's friends, (her friends now too she supposed) were busy gawking at the two mares, Trixie had become focused on something entirely different. It was a powerful illusion spell, one that had been carefully hidden, inverted on itself so that its thaumic pattern was small enough to blend into the surrounding patterns of the land itself. Were she not looking out for just such a thing, (it wouldn't do to have someone's rogue illusions disrupting her own which still entertained at the edges of the dance floor,) she never would have noticed it. The spell was a convoluted knot of magic, seemingly chosen at random, there were elements of healing and transformation as well as elements of time magic in it's construction. It was tough to decide if it was complex or merely chaotic, and she wasn't even sure what it's purpose was, but it was centered around a pair of fillies out on the dance floor.
"Twi, can you take a look at something for me?"
****
On stage Lyra played at her very best, at times accompanied by other musicians, but for the finale, which she dedicated to "my own summer's day", she played alone. Timed to the rising of the sun and the conclusion of the Celebration, her lyre began to play a melody that was new to those listening, a piece composed specifically for the event. As the dark sky turned grey her music ebbed and flowed, and pulled at her listeners, it wasn't long before all conversation, all dancing stopped. Ponyville was entranced as the pre-dawn grey gave way to pink and orange her music reaching a crescendo of frantic noise and then with near perfect timing stopped entirely. . .
. . . As the first true rays of sunlight crested the mountains, only rustling leaves from a light breeze and birdsong pierced the silence.
Her eyes were wet as she finished.
|
Scarlett
|
968
| 9 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Diamond Tiara,Original Character,Silver Spoon,Snails,Snips,Twist,Romance,Sad,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Facets and Flaws
|
Diamond Tiara is spoiled, Silver Spoon is sheltered, both have secrets, will friendship survive?
|
incomplete
| 93 | 2 |
<p>Comments and reviews very welcome.</p><p>A secret revealed tears apart Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.<br/>Can old enemies and rivals learn to forgive?<br/>Will new friends fill the void left behind?<br/>Will the Troublesome Twosome find a way to repair their bond, or will it be some other pony that will fill the holes in their hearts, with friendship, or even love?</p>
|
teen
|
2012-03-24T16:31:56+00:00
|
2012-03-24T16:31:56+00:00
| 1,919 |
June 24, Anno Imperatrix Geminum 12
Dear Diary,
I so totally fell asleep durnig the last entry, so where was I? Oh right- Lyra Heartstrings was playing in the dawn, and it was like such beuatiful music that I was tearing up, she like so totally dedicated it to the pony she loves (a mare, they were totally kissing!) and then she stopped and the sunrise was just awesome! It was so quiet and so peaceful.
So, like then everypony started drifting off in groups to go home, while the mayor got up on stage to thank everypony who had worked on the celerbation, but nobody was paying attention. Me and my friends (SQUEEE!) totally left without listening and took a bnuch of sweets with us to stash in the clubhouse.
As we walked back I noticed Scootaloo- she is the one who looks like a chicken- was like, totally nervous and snaeking glances at Sweetie Belle and I could tell she was crushing hard, which is sooo awesome, because Sweetie has had like a huge crush on her forever but cuoldn't ever seem to get the words out. I totally understand that, and I am sooo jealous cause they are so in love with each other, but Silver likes colts =(.
So anyway, we were walking down the street to Sweetie Belle's first, when I had like and awesome idea, Scootaloo was in the lead and Sweetie was close behind so I nudged Applebloom and Twist to slow down, and motioned that we should hide in the bushes. They were totally all alone on the porch steps, they looked around for us but we stayed qiuet and we could hear Scootaloo suddenly burst out with it "I LOVE YOU SWEETIE BELLE!" Sweetie was totally dumbstruck and just stood there blnking at Scootaloo. Scoots tunred red and totally ran away leaving Sweetie on the porch! It was so cute. I hope it all works out.
Oh so we were still huddled in the bushes and stuff and Sweetie was just kind of standing there, so Applebloom went over to make sure she was okay, and that was when I realized Twist was totally laening into me, and she smelled totally awesome, like, what is wrong with me? I was totally in love with Silver a few weeks ago, and Twist likes colts just like Silver. Why do I like the fillies who I don't even have a chance with?
So when she totally realized she was cuddlnig with me she pulled away quickly, and her eyes grew big (and way cute) and she whispered, "Colts only," but she was blushing so hard.
Totally mixed signals! She just wants to be friends, probably- Oh its soooo hard! I want to be friends too but I am totally starting to like her. So she took off, and I said goodbye to the other two. I told Sweetie Belle she should let Scoots know how she feels soon, cause she was going to be worrying until she did.
Then I went home and slept for like 12 hours! (I had to pee so bad when I woke up. =D )
So now its late afternoon and there is no way I can sleep til like after midnight, Mom says she tried to wake me up before but I wouldn't budge, maybe the other girls would be up for a slumber party?
Love,
Diamond Tiara
|
geldon
|
969
| 1 |
Main 6,Prince Blueblood,Spike,Adventure,Comedy,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Blueblood Returns
|
Despite her best efforts to the contrary, Prince Blueblood has returned for Rarity!
|
complete
| 68 | 2 |
<p>Despite Rarity's best efforts to the contrary, Prince Blueblood invades Ponyville, looking for her! It's up to all of Rarity's closest friends to bring about a happy ending to this fairy tale gone wrong.</p><p>For the sequel, see <a href="/story/970/Blueblood%27s-Redemption" rel="nofollow">Blueblood's Redemption</a>.</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-09-22T06:22:14+00:00
|
2011-09-22T06:22:14+00:00
| 4,346 |
(The following is a work of fan fiction based on My Little Pony:Friendship Is Magic. I am not affiliated with Hasbro and company. This work is intended to be a work of parody that complies with fair use guidelines.)
Blueblood Returns
By Geldon
Six fillies from Ponyville beat a hasty retreat past Princess Celestia, signaling the end of the Grand Galloping Gala. So much had went wrong so quickly that dozens of attending pony nobility were still in a state of panic, running to and fro, screaming, falling over shattered columns, slipping on cake remnants, and the animals: everywhere. Birds landing in their manes, vermin jumping into their clothes, bunnies under hoof, and all living creatures whether animal or pony were fleeing from a recent memory of a terrible shouting yellow demon. Princess Celestia waded into the chaos, attempting to bring about a sense of reassurance, like the sun peeking through a raging thunderstorm.
Next to a huge stone podium that, not two minutes ago, once contained a graceful alicorn statue (now shattered on the ballroom floor like so many sophisticates' dreams of a delightful evening) lay a fine and princely unicorn stallion of alabaster coat and blonde mane. Humiliated, four legs sprawled in the air, and covered in cake shaken upon him by a ravishing unicorn mare that had done the unthinkable. As he righted himself on four hooves again, the words she spoke to him before storming out echoed through his head, "You, sir, are the most un-charming prince I have ever met! In fact, the only thing royal about you is that you are a royal pain!"
Prince Blueblood, infinitely removed nephew of Princess Celestia herself, most eligible bachelor in Equestria, had just been dumped. What's more, it had been publicly, during the grandest event of the year, and in such a way as to call into question his unmistakably chivalrous nature! Even now, as Celestia's efforts slowly restored the room to order, he was attracting sideways glances from some of the attendees who had returned to their senses. Accusatory glances.
The prince's eyes narrowed and his jaw set with conviction. He stomped a front-most hoof derisively. This simply will not do.
---
Rarity cried out, "This simply will not do!" It had been two weeks since the radiant unicorn with purple styled mane had fled the gala, a happening she had invested considerable effort towards putting completely out of her mind. Now, she was fussing about, horn aglow, as she trotted about the lavish interior of the Carousel Boutique, her home and place of business. Levitating about her were various pony mannequins, scraps of cloth, jewels, measuring tapes, and other familiar trappings of her dressmaking trade. As she worked, she chided herself in her usual grandiose manner, "Too short, too long, too bright, too dark, too colorful, too bland, too shiny, too dull... ah, perfect! PINCUSHION!"
Spike, the purple baby dragon, materialized next to Rarity in a blur, bent over with ornate fashion pins emerging harmlessly out of the thick scales of his back, staring at her in his usual stupor of affection. Rarity hardly noticed him as her magics yanked a couple pins from his spines and deftly affixed a golden cloth in position on a nearby mannequin. She turned and passed Spike on the way to her drawing board, accidentally trampling his tail, causing Spike to wince but otherwise not disturbing his dreamy expression.
Rarity's inner dialogue continued vocalizing itself, "I simply must master this new look! It will surely require a little bit of this", her eyes turned to a design of a fluffy spring dress with elaborate tresses, "and a bit of that", a design involving copious amounts of lace to create a gossamer effect, "and not to mention-", her eyes turned to a dustbin next to her work station. The odor of the contents had become so pronounced it was producing a visible stink cloud.
Everything being levitated clattered to the floor as Rarity had one of her trademark bouts of hysteria, "Eew! dirty! filthy! Why was this allowed to accumulate here in my glorious boutique?!" Throwing her nose up and away from the dustbin in disdain, she shouted commandingly, "GARBAGE!"
Spike dashed in to grab the dustbin, slightly larger than himself, and awkwardly made his way to the main bin just outside of the boutique. Unbalanced by his cumbersome load and not entirely able to see where he was going, he tripped and fell, bouncing upwards off his cargo before falling again, dustbin and all, into the larger container and the already formidable amount of filth within. It looked rather painful.
Rarity was standing in the doorway of the boutique, not wanting to step into the light drizzle falling outside, but wanting reassurance that certain offending materials were not going to assault her senses again unexpectedly. She was now looking with wide eyes and wrinkled nose at the baby dragon as he painstakingly crawled out of the main bin, and shied away from him as he skipped up to her.
Spike, enjoying her attention for once, gave a little salute and said brightly, "Task complete, milady."
Rarity bent close - but not too close - to Spike and said one word, quietly, but unmistakably firmly: "Bath."
Spike snapped another quick salute and fled in the direction of the library he lived.
Rarity was about to turn back to her work when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Just at the edge of Ponyville was an unusual sight for the humble town: a covered wagon pulled by two Equestrian royal guardsmen. It was truly elegant, larger than usual, white, regal, one might even call this wagon princely... and it was moving directly towards her. Slowly dawning horror spread across her face, "Oh no."
---
"Oh no, Spike, not again," chided Twilight Sparkle, a purple unicorn whose straight dark blue mane had a magenta stripe through it - an unmistakable feature of being exceptionally touched in magic.
"I can't help it, Twilight," said Spike from the bubble bath as he worked over his scales with a fine scouring brush, "I just want to be around her, you know?"
Twilight sighed as she levitated a sponge in Spike's direction, "I know, Casanova, but you're supposed to be my number one assistant, remember? Besides, you really don't have a-"
"Yeah, yeah," interrupted Spike, lapsing into his best Twilight Sparkle impression, "'you really don't have a chance with Rarity, Spike, trust me, she's my friend, I know her,'" he resumed his normal mode of speak glibly, "but I still kinda feel like I should at least try."
Twilight turned away and rolled her eyes surreptitiously.
Not quite surreptitiously enough. "Oh," said Spike with an accusatory stare, "and I suppose you're an expert in romance now?"
The unicorn did a little jump and gaped at him, "No! I never - I mean, I might have read a few books, but, erm-" She blushed.
The baby dragon crossed his arms smugly, "Don't be preaching about what you can't practice, sister." He then reached for a back brush.
Twilight Sparkle made a face, "Ugh!" She was often amazed at just how good a baby dragon was at making her feel exasperated. One of these days, she thought to herself, she's would have to work up the nerve to explain to Spike some of the finer differences between dragons and ponies. For now, an alternate approach will do.
"Listen, Spike," she said seriously, "I think you're going about this the wrong way. Don't get me wrong, Rarity's a great friend and very generous, but she has this high opinion of herself. All these favors you're doing for her are going to be completely ignored!"
Spike paused in mid-scrub for a moment. Then he looked up at Twilight Sparkle with big eyes and asked plaintively, "What else am I supposed to do?"
Twilight Sparkle was momentarily taken aback. It was a good question. What was he supposed to do? "Be yourself," was what she wanted to say, but even Spike could see that would be unlikely to work. Well, it would have to do. Twilight Sparkle opened her mouth to speak-
There was a crash from the library. Twilight Sparkle and Spike looked and saw Rarity standing just inside the front door, significantly diminished with her usually elegant mane somehow soaked from the morning sprinkle, shaking visibly from damp and fear. "Twilight!" she shouted, "HIDE ME!"
---
Spike dove beneath the suds of his bubble bath, "Hide me, Twilight!"
Twilight gave him a little look, "Spike? You're always like that."
Spike blinked, "Oh, yeah." He nonchalantly jumped out of the tub and began to dry himself off on a towel.
Twilight cantered over to her shivering friend at the doorway, "Rarity, you look terrified! What's the matter?"
But Rarity was again in hysterics, "Oh no, this is just terrible! Terrible, I say! Do you have a closet I could hide in? Not just any closet, mind you, it should be relatively spacious and not smell of mothballs: a lady has standards, you know. And look at me! I'm drenched! I haven't a thing to wear! I absolutely must look my very best when confronting HIM."
Twilight Sparkle stopped Rarity there, placing a hoof on her shoulders and hoping to pierce her panic by staring into her eyes, "Him? Who's him?"
Rarity sat down on her haunches, eyes fairly vibrating with withheld tears, bit her lip nervously for a moment, and then attempted to speak, "Bubbl! Bubbld! Blubblbl!" She broke down crying, splaying her forelegs out before herself in an entreating fashion, "BLUEBLOOD! Prince Blueblood is back for me!"
A freshly-dried Spike ran up, "Blueblood? You mean that jerk that treated you so badly at the gala?"
Rarity snapped out of her apparent hysterics instantly, sat up demurely, and spoke in her typical ladylike fashion, "Oh, no, no, no, Spike! Don't call Prince Blueblood a," she spoke the word like it didn't belong on her lips, "jerk! He's royalty!" She finished sidelong in a scandalous mutter, "Even if he is the most un-princely prince ever to bear the title."
A familiar white covered wagon pulled up outside the door to the library.
Twilight spoke quickly, gesturing towards the landing above the library where her bedroom was, "Quick, Rarity, run up there! If you stay close to the floor he shouldn't be able to see you. I'll try to send him away." Exhibiting decidedly unladylike haste, Rarity wasted no time in following Twilight's advice.
She was nearly too late. Stepping inside of the library, flanked by two imposing Equestrial guardsmen, was indeed the stately unicorn stallion, Prince Blueblood. Twilight Sparkle and Spike stood there nervously as the procession trotted up to them and stopped.
There was a pregnant silence. Prince Blueblood looked at Twilight Sparkle. Twilight Sparkle smiled sheepishly. Prince Blueblood stared harder. Twilight Sparkle quailed and looked at Spike. Prince Blueblood stared at Spike. Spike glared right back at Prince Blueblood. The two guards felt a bit left out, shrugged, and looked at each other.
At last, Prince Blueblood spoke, "Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's protege, I presume?"
"Yes?" Twilight ventured.
Prince Blueblood haughtily stated a commandment, "I, Prince Blueblood, am here to see Miss Rarity."
Twilight shuffled uncomfortably, "Uh... what makes you think she's here?"
Without a word, Prince Blueblood gestured with his horn to one of his Guardsman, who trotted back to the wagon to retrieve something from it before dropping it in front of Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight nosed the item, looking over it curiously, "A bag of shattered glass?"
Prince Blueblood harrumphed and gestured to the other guard, who spoke, "Miss Sparkle, this was formerly a glass slipper worn by Miss Rarity. It has since been enchanted to lead us back to its owner."
There was an imperceptible, "Eep" from the landing above as Rarity overheard and realized the hopelessness of her predicament.
Spike was done glaring. He raised a claw and demanded threateningly, "What do you want with Rarity?"
The guards pulled up menacingly next to Prince Blueblood and, under the stern eyes of three full-grown stallions, the baby dragon balked with a squeak and quickly ran behind Twilight Sparkle, peering shyly out from behind her ankle.
Feeling quite alone, Twilight Sparkle once again bore her sheepish grin as a poor defense against these three extremely imposing figures. Her eyes darted side to side looking for escape, but there was none.
Prince Blueblood stepped forward. "What I want...", he said breathily, menacingly...
...another step forward, "with Miss Rarity..." His eyes fairly glowed with malice.
Another step, and Prince Blueblood was now looming over the shivering Twilight Sparkle and Spike.
"...is to apologize," finished the prince in demure humility.
---
"Apologize?!" Twilight Sparkle and Spike exclaimed in unison as they released the death grip in which they had been fearfully holding each other.
"Yes," said the prince, dramatically rearing back with a tragic expression. A guard caught him before he hit the floor, supporting the pathetic figure. "I realized after Miss Rarity had left that what she told me was true! The rose, the door, her cloak, her friend's common country fare, and the cake - oh, dear Celestia, the cake! I have been the most un-princely of princes! Little more than", the prince's lip quibbled just a bit, "a royal pain!"
The prince rolled off the guardsman's flank and fell forward facing the door, collapsing into hysterics, covering his tears with his hooves, "If only... if only she could give me another chance!" His two guards comforted him with, "there, there" expressions.
Spike crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, "Oh, brother."
"PSST! Twilight!" Twilight Sparkle heard a sharp whisper being loudly projected to her from the landing above. The prince and his guards either did not hear it or they were doing a good job pretending so.
"Can you excuse me for a moment, sirs?" asked Twilight. The prince waved her away with one hoof, still busy bawling his princely eyes out. Spike stayed where he was, lavishing the visitors with a look of zero sympathy as hard as his little dragon being could.
Climbing the stairs to Rarity's hiding place, Twilight Sparkle had an inkling what was about to happen, and she didn't particularly like it. Sure enough, Rarity was looking wistfully in the direction of the impromptu royal equine waterworks display.
Twilight Sparkle was serious, "Rarity, you don't buy this for a moment, do you?"
"Twilight, darling," said Rarity, gesturing as well as she could for a mare prone on the floor, "I know that it seems unlikely, but... " Rarity's voice was giddy, her eyes had stars in them, "this changes everything, it's like the beginning of the Gala all over again... no, even better! He's turned over a new leaf! A prince, Twilight, a prince! And that would make me," Rarity barely suppressed an excited scream, "a princess! Oh, Twilight, I do want to give Prince Blueblood another chance."
Twilight facehoofed: Rarity was undoubtedly the spirit of generosity. "Listen Rarity, I wouldn't be a good friend if I let you do this alone. I insist you at least bring a chaperone."
"Yes, yes, fine, dear," Rarity was hardly paying attention, "oh, but now is not the right time - Twilight, he can't see me like this! He can't. He Can't. HE CAN'T!" Rarity bit her lip to stop herself from exposing her position and thought for a moment. Suddenly, her face brightened, "Oh, I have just the thing!" Rarity beckoned Twilight closer, cupped a hoof, and started to whisper in the ear of an increasingly shocked purple unicorn.
As Twilight climbed down the stairs to revisit the prince, she felt several years older for having to deliver the message she was asked to: it's one thing to bear bad news, it's quite another to be forced to do what one feels is certain to bring about terrible misfortune. As she rejoined her guests, she noticed that the prince had recovered from his apparent bout of grief and sat misty-eyed with a pensive but regal expression.
Twilight began in her usual lecturing voice, "Prince Blueblood, Miss Rarity has consented to give you another chance-"
Spike was incredulous,"WHAT?!"
The prince ignored Spike, "Oh, excellent! Where is she? I want to see her!"
Twilight Sparkle waved down his enthusiasm, "Rarity" she corrected herself, lapsing into the kind of practiced royal speech Princess Celestia often had her do for official functions, "MISS Rarity proposes meeting her tomorrow morning at her boutique for a full day of a trial courtship. The pegasus ponies promise clear skies over Ponyville, and giving her the rest of today would give her adequate time to prepare for a series of proposed events."
The prince looked intrigued, "Tomorrow sounds marvelous, but what of these events?"
Twilight suppressed an inner groan, what she was about to say sounded like something out of a fairy tale book, which was probably exactly why the idea appealed to Rarity. She droned on in resigned monotone, "She would like to put you through five trials in order to prove your chivalry, each a courtship exercise supervised by one of her friends."
Prince Blueblood hesitated only for a moment before responding eagerly, "Yes, that sounds excellent! Excellent!" He clapped his fore-hooves together like a school colt receiving his favorite present. "Doesn't that sound excellent, guardsmen?" The guards agreed in a manner only paid yesponies could.
Rarity's message delivered, their fate was sealed, and Twilight resigned herself to the inevitable. The reluctant unicorn and her surly dragon not-so-gently showed the elated prince and his two guards out.
As the prince hopped happily back into his wagon and the two guardsmen hitched themselves up to it, Twilight Sparkle looked up at the cloudy sky. It was late morning when Rarity had fled her boutique, and now it was early afternoon. Rarity cautiously peered around the door frame at the retreating wagon and then turned to smile at Twilight Sparkle: they had a lot to do before tomorrow morning. She cantered happily in the direction of her boutique, the rain seemingly unable to touch her through her aura of self-contentment.
Twilight Sparkle watched her go and frowned, "I don't like this, Spike, the prince agreed too easily. I think he's up to something.
Spike expressed sarcastic agreement, "Yeah, either that, or he's a complete fop."
A look passed between them: neither possibility boded well for Rarity.
Meanwhile, Prince Blueblood sat in his royal carriage, glad that they were underway. There would likely be Ponyvillian lodgings tonight - not truly up to snuff of accommodating the royal person, of course, but he was still smiling. Things were going even better than he planned.
---
"Oh, girls, this is going so, so much better than what I planned," enthused Rarity. The faithful morning had come, a beautiful sunny day, but what excited her the most was what she saw outside the window of her boutique. Ponyville, a charmingly humble if rustic town, had quadrupled in population overnight. The streets and skies were swarming with tourists, photographers, and not a few famous faces. Many eyes were fixated on Rarity's humble boutique, and she reveled in it.
Rarity turned to face her friends, luxuriously styled mane and dress flowing about her. She was once again wearing her gala dress, cleaned and pressed, but with a few modifications of lace and coloration. Just because it turned out to be the perfect outfit to attract Prince Blueblood's attention did not mean it was above improvement the eyes of a skilled dressmaker.
Among others, in attendance of Miss Rarity was again a fuming Spike and a concerned Twilight Sparkle who said, "Rarity, it's not natural everypony would have shown up like this, Prince Blueblood must have planned it!"
Rarity marveled in a thought of inner fantasy, "But of course he did, darling! That's what makes it so very wonderful!"
"Iffin ya ask me, sugar cube, I think this here Blueblood feller is a'takin' ya for a ride," drawled a tawny-colored earth pony with blonde mane in a pigtail, wearing her signature brown ten gallon hat.
Rarity gave a demure little laugh, "Oh, please, Applejack, I did promise to give Prince Blueblood a chance."
Applejack was silent, she reckoned she didn't want to be known as a low-down neigh-sayer, and besides she did give her word which she always kept, but nonetheless gave Rarity the same look she used to subdue unruly livestock.
An energetic pegasus with a robin's egg blue coat and wild rainbow mane brashly flew immediately up to Rarity, gesturing widely, "We know, Rarity! We're did agree to do this girly frou frou stuff, but we're your friends, and worried about you!"
Rarity waved her away, "Of all of you, I expected you to be the least susceptible to idle worry, Rainbow Dash. Besides, one of you will be with me at all times."
"Two of us, " said Spike, gesturing to himself, "don't forget that I'll be there!"
Rarity lightly acknowledged him as one would passing charming scenery, "Oh, yes, a lady does need an attendant."
A head improbably stretched down from above and shouted, "Come on, girls, it's a party! This will be fun! Whee!" The bubblegum pink earth pony with the darker pink curly mane was a perpetual font of energy, laughing, bouncing, and cartwheeling about Rarity's boutique with practiced abandon.
Rarity blanched, "Um, Pinkie Pie, do mind the-" CRASH "... shop." Only her generous nature reassured her that it was merely the initial excitement of a major event that was making Pinkie Pie super extra Pinkie Pie.
"...Um..." interjected a voice faintly.
Wearily, Rarity pried her attention away from watching her life's work being destroyed (again) and to a cream yellow pegasus with a pink straight mane who was currently cowering under a table, as far away from the windows as possible. "Yes, Fluttershy?"
"...I... don't like all this attention. It's... scaring the animals."
Rarity walked over to reassure her frequent spa buddy, "Don't worry, Fluttershy dear, I'm sure your little animal friends have been through worse. You yourself bravely withstood several days of being the top model in Equestria. I know you hated it, I'm really sorry about this, but surely you can stand one day in which I'm the one in the spotlight... please? Please? PHA-LEAZZZZE?"
Only Fluttershy could make crawling out from under a table look graceful. She sighed delicately, "Oh, all right." Rarity answered Fluttershy's acquiesce with a sincere look of gratitude... but then, about the only thing in the world that Rarity had not been able to talk Fluttershy into was confronting a full grown dragon. To this day, the chronically shy pegasus was undecided if that was a better or worse experience than her accidental (but fortunately short-lived) modeling career.
Twilight Sparkle watched Rarity and Fluttershy's tender exchange and noted grimly that the last obstacle to Rarity's determined path had been eliminated. The purple unicorn fell back to one of her greater talents: organization.
"Alright, Rarity, girls, lets go over this one more time."
---
"Go over it one more time, Rarity darling," fawned Prince Blueblood. The potential royal couple were flanked by his two royal guardsman as they walked the streets of Ponyville. He was once again looking quite dapper in his tuxedo front. Spike, on the other hand, looked humiliated wearing his a black velvet sailor outfit - Rarity had insisted her attendant be well-dressed. However, he was nonetheless grateful for an opportunity to walk between the two unicorns in order to create some physical distance.
Rarity seemed less interested in the prince and more in the throng of admirers being kept at bay by the stern looks of the guardsman, but not so disinterested as to not notice his question. "Blueblood, darling," she emulated the royal tongue to the best of her ability, "today we will be visiting five of my closest friends. If you treat my friends as kindly as I, I will fully believe your claim that you have turned over a new leaf. And then, " the stars had returned to her eyes, "we can make our courtship official!"
The prince affixed Rarity with a dashing smile and come-hither flex of his eyebrows, "But of course, that sounds absolutely lovely, darling." The mare almost lost her footing in the euphoria of it all. "But first, my dear, let us take a photograph of you in your truly breathtaking splendor."
Rarity was taken aback, "Why, I would love one!" She did not have to wait long.
Out of nowhere and into the middle of the street arrived the foremost fashion photographer of Equestria. An earth pony whose cyan coat and bleach blond hair were as recognizable as her purple-lensed fashion goggles and signature dress. Rarity gasped, "Photo Finish?! It can't be!"
"Yes, it kun!" stated Photo Finish with her usual Germanic accent. Her attendants were not far behind, bringing with them the necessary photography equipment for an impromptu mid-street photo shoot.
Rarity sounded a tad pouty as she retold the painful experience, "But you said that you didn't want to make me shine across Equestria, that I lacked, 'Ze Magicks!'"
"Ach!" shouted Photo Finish, "I dun ever recall zat ve have even met! However, you are wit ze royalty now." Prince Blueblood smiled and wriggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Zat means you vill ahlways have Ze Magicks!"
Rarity's expression was dazed as her head swum with that idea.
The photo shoot was over before you could say, "Unt now, ve go!" As the royal entourage continued towards its next destination, Spike turned over the memento photograph in his claw resentfully. It was indeed an excellent picture of Rarity and Prince Blueblood smiling and looking perfect. Between them, hovering at the bottom of the picture, was a baby dragon's claw.
Spike spoke, "I really would have liked to have been included in that picture."
Rarity and Prince Blueblood were engaged in a polite conversation, ignoring him.
Spike inhaled, prepared to release a gout of flame at the picture, but paused in seeing Rarity's happy expression in it. He exhaled harmlessly and spoke to the inanimate object that had been spared his wrath, "You're lucky you've got Rarity with you."
---
"Y'all'r lucky ya got Rarity with ya," drawled Applejack, "we here at Sweet Apple Acres are plenty accomodatin' with most folk, but you noble types are the kind whut tends to look down on us little folk."
"Charmed, I'm sure," said an unusually amicable Prince Blueblood, "truly, it is a marvelous orchard."
The group of Rarity, Prince Blueblood, two guardsman, and Spike had shed their admiring crowd of onlookers at the Ponyville city limits, and were now deep in Apple family territory.
Applejack was proud, "Reckon you got a good eye on this one, Rarity," she said, "these trees have kept Ponyville fed since the time of my great, great, grandaddies, and they only become greater ev'ry year. The trees that is, not me grandaddies."
Rarity smiled, "But of course, Applejack. Would you be so kind as to explain the nature of the courtship trial here?"
"Why, ah'd be plumb happy to, sugar cube." Applejack leaned against a fence and crossed both sets of legs, relaxed even among royalty, and explained. "Now, if it were just any other pony lookin' to hook up with one of my fine filly friends, I'd probably test em' in applebuckin', hogtyin', n' other farm work." Prince Blueblood blanched subtly. "Yeah, I reckon that'd be a bit much for you hoighty toighty types, so here's wut we're gunna do: just an ol' fashioned tour of the farm, n' I expect you to be on yer best behavior."
Perhaps relieved at avoiding getting his hooves dirty, Prince Blueblood chimed in eagerly, "Oh, absotively, good Lady Applejack. Please, lead the way."
So it was that Applejack showed them the trees, the barn, the farmhouse, the pens, the silos, and all the other trappings of the farm. Prince Blueblood had nothing but complements for everything he saw, much to the delight of Rarity. The last stop was the apple cellar itself.
"Reckon y'all never knew how it was we kept apples fresh through the seasons," boasted Applejack as the procession climbed up the tall steps out of the cellar.
"Quite remarkable, Lady Applejack, truly I've learned a great deal about agriculture firsthand today," complemented Prince Blueblood, "I really must thank you for the fine tour of your facilities, though I must admit I'm glad to get some fresh air after being down in that cellar."
Prince Blueblood was, in fact, the first to leave the cellar, supporting the wooden doors with the magic from his horn as the ponies climbed up out of it.
Rarity was content, "Why thank you, Blueblood darling, it seems you have learned how to hold a door open for a lady."
The prince laughed airily, "But of course, my dear, I always knew. I don't know what I was thinking during the events of that ghastly gala." He closed the cellar doors firmly and the ponies gaily spoke of the favorite parts of their tour on Apple Acres as they made their way on the path out of the farm.
A few minutes later, the cellar doors opened again.
Apple Bloom, a bright yellow filly most recognized by a big red bow in her hair, was happily bounding through the farm when the ghastly creature crawled out of the cellar.
Seeing it, she screamed. A long, piercing scream.
There was a dreadful silence.
Then she spoke again, "Spike, is that you? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," said Spike, bitterly, as he dusted himself off outside the cellar doors. Though he said that, he had clearly seen better days, his outfit had gained a few tears and he was sporting visible bruises. He immediately asked, "Could you point me in the direction where Rarity and Blueblood went?"
Apple Bloom did so, and Spike loped off with barely a limp.
All things considered, he thought, for someone who had just a cellar door slammed in his face before hurtling down a flight of stairs, it could have gone a lot worse.
---
"-it could have gone a lot worse," Rainbow Dash was proclaiming boldly as Spike rejoined the royals, "but just then I punched through into a sonic rainboom! I scooped up Rarity and three of the Wonderbolts like it was nothing and delivered them safely back to Cloudsdale!"
"Oh, wonderful, wonderful!" Prince Blueblood was again clapping his fore-hooves enthusiastically. So also, surprisingly, were his guards, having been taken in by Rainbow Dash's tale. "Oh, Lady Dash, I owe you the life of my beloved Rarity, I cannot express my gratitude enough!"
"Aw, shucks, it was nothing", said Rainbow Dash proudly.
"Really, darling, that drop gets higher every time you tell that story." Rarity was smiling politely as she humored her friend, it wasn't exactly a pleasant memory for her, but her gratefulness was eternal. However, be that as it may, her romantic day with the prince would not last forever. "Perhaps we should move along to the courtship trail?"
"Sure thing!" Rainbow Dash pointed to a small section of road off the main thoroughfare to Ponyville. Immediately above that road were many small but ominous storm clouds, pouring rain. "It's like this, prince, I'm going to give you this umbrella," dash indicated a brightly colored parasol matching the color of her mane, "and you're going to walk down that road and prove you can be a gentleman by stopping Rarity from getting wet."
Prince Blueblood had already picked up the umbrella with his telekinesis and was reflexively opening and closing it, getting the feel for it. Dramatically, he said, "For Miss Rarity, I would bear a thousand thunderclouds!" Rarity blushed in pleasure while fanning herself with her hooves.
"Oh brother," said Rainbow Dash and Spike simultaneously before looking at each other in surprise. "Alright, time's a'wastin', lets get this over with."
"After you, Miss Rarity," said the prince, ushering the mare before him dramatically.
Spike tagged along just behind the couple in the rain, the guards following. He had to admit, the prince had remarkably fine control of his telekinesis for a unicorn who never had to raise a hoof without getting a servant to do it for him. Not a single drop was landing on either Blueblood or Rarity, a fairly impressive feat considering the umbrella looked to have barely more surface area than the both of them.
However, just before the end of the road, there was a twist to the trial. A mud puddle that could not be circumvented, passable if not for being about two feet long.
Spike chided the prince smugly, "How you going to get past this one?"
Rarity had been waiting for this part. She looked at Prince Blueblood expectantly.
Prince Blueblood looked back and smiled his cheesy princely smile, winking at her. Rarity found herself lost in his eyes, which reflected the rain falling about them. For one precious moment, it was just her and the prince in the eye of a hurricane.
"After you, milady," said the prince, suddenly. Rarity looked before her and there was a thin black cloak spread across the length of the mud. While she was distracted, the prince had dashingly produced it and placed it there in the blank of an eye!
Suitably impressed, Rarity tittered as she walked directly down the middle of the cloak, careful to avoid the sides, as the umbrella was carefully held above her by her suitor.
Prince Blueblood happily followed in her footsteps.
Then the heavily armored guards did the same in single file.
"Oh, Blueblood, you really know how to impress a lady!" gushed Rarity, "Look at me, I'm spotless! Not only did you remember to make sure your lady did not get her finely pedicured hooves dirty, but you even sacrificed a precious cloak to the mud! "
"No sacrifice is too great for you, Miss Rarity," crooned Prince Blueblood. She swooned.
The ponies proceeded down the dirt road outside of the reach of the thunderclouds.
Unnoticed behind them, the cloak sat up and spat out some mud.
Spike called over to Rainbow Dash, "Hey, Rainbow, help a brother out?"
"Woah, Spike, what happened to you?!"
"Don't ask. Just give me your patented Rainblow Dry, if you don't mind."
Rainbow Dash obliged, a procedure that involved drenching Spike with water from a thundercloud and then drying him with the power of an artificial tornado.
Spike was glad he didn't have hair to make frizzy. "Thanks sister, you're a lifesaver."
"If you say so," said Rainbow Dash worriedly. Spike's fine outfit was still splotched in places with mud and, as he ran after the royal procession, she noticed quite a few scuffs on his back that were the perfect outlines of horseshoes. She called after him, "Hey, try to be more careful little guy!"
---
"Oh, you really must be more careful, you poor little thing," said Fluttershy as she treated a baby robin's wing from the comfort of her home and impromptu veterinary clinic, "the next time you want to fly, send your mother to fetch me, I'll catch you if anything goes wrong!" The fledgling nodded furiously.
"I wonder when - eep!" Fluttershy's thought was interrupted by some voices outside of her front door.
"Really, Spike, if you're going to be that way, I'm going to have to ask you to wait outside."
"But Rarity, I'm telling you, this guy is no good! Just look at me!"
"I'm sorry, but no. You've distracted me from the prince's attention enough as it is. Just wait here on the doorstep."
"Fine! Be that way! At least I'm safe out here."
There was a knock at the door. "Angel, will you please get that? We're expecting guests."
Angel, Fluttershy's surly bunny butler, gave her a dirty look but still ran over and opened the door.
Rarity pranced in with her eyes closed and head held high, "Honestly, darling prince, I don't know what got into him. Spike is normally a perfect little gentleman."
"I'm sure the lad is just going through a stage, Miss Rarity," said the prince as he followed her into Fluttershy's abode, "why, when I was a lad-"
The guards took one look at Fluttershy and cowered behind the prince, "AAIGH! THE YELLOW DEMON OF THE GALA!"
Fluttershy bit her lip as her eyes filled with tears.
The prince looked irritated at their behavior, "No, you foals, it's simply the Lady Fluttershy! One moment, Miss Rarity, I would like to have words these two that are simply not fit for mixed company!"
The guards left the cottage with a very vexed looking unicorn master in their wake, closing the door behind them. There was some muffled shouting between Blueblood and his guards, and it sounded like even Spike took the opportunity to join in. Rarity and Fluttershy looked at each other with guilty expressions, imagining what kind of punishment must be going on outside.
After a few minutes, the prince reentered the cottage alone, romance once again on his voice, "I am terribly sorry about that, Miss Rarity, one simply must make sure the insubordinate little people are put in their place."
Rarity agreed readily, "Absolutely, darling, I was just saying to Twilight the other day, it's so hard to find good help these days."
Fluttershy was suitably impressed, "My, he's so assertive! I was going to see if he was willing to help innocent creatures, but I see there's no need for that now. Thank you for defending my honor, Prince Blueblood."
The stallion flashed her a smile, "The honor was mine, milady."
After about ten minutes of polite conversation between the two mares and the stallion, Rarity and Blueblood left the cottage as Fluttershy saw them away from her door.
The two sheepish Guardsmen bowed before Fluttershy, "We wish to express our sincerest apologies," said one of them.
Fluttershy smiled brightly after the royal procession as they proceeded in the direction of Ponyville.
Then a rain barrel mysteriously fell off her porch and ruptured, spilling a battered baby dragon.
Fluttershy was beside herself with worry, "Spike! What happened to you?!"
Spike was livid, "The jerk prince and those jerk guards of his stuffed me neck-deep in one of your water barrels, that's what happened! I've got to stop them!"
He turned to run after them and discovered that was quite impossible with Fluttershy's mouth holding his tail. He looked at Fluttershy with big eyes and begged, "Let go, Fluttershy! I've got to protect Rarity!"
Fluttershy spit out his tail. Spike's life was in danger, she had no choice. She applied The Stare.
"NO. You're staying right here, young mister, until I finish treating those injuries."
Spike whimpered, will shattered by the aftereffects of The Stare, just hoping she would be finished quickly so he can be on his way.
---
Rarity desperately hoped that she would be finished quickly so they could be on their way, but Pinkie Pie's parties were as inexhaustible as she was.
"Whee!" Pinkie Pie was dancing amidst the throng of ponies, really enjoying herself, "Is everypony having fun?!"
Sugarcube Corner was her favorite venue, and it showed. With so many more ponies in town than usual, the party was really jumping! Streamers lined the walls, ponies danced the later afternoon away, and tables were laden with a wide range of sugary pastries and drinks.
"Pinkie Pie!" shouted Rarity above the din, "How is this a courtship trial?!"
"Simple!" answered Pinkie Pie, "I need to know if this prince can paaartaay!'
Rarity looked over at Prince Blueblood and winced. He looked like he was about to bolt, and even his guards looked intimidated. The prince was used to quiet but elaborate parties with the upper crust of society. The guards were trained in pitched melee. Neither were prepared for the terrifying ferocity of a Pinkie Pie block party.
Rarity did her best to comfort the prince, "Blueblood, dear, I'm dreadfully sorry about this. This must be horrible for you!"
The prince's voice sounded like his teeth were chattering from terror, "N-n-n-no d-d-danger i-is t-too m-m-much f-f-for m-m-me t-t-to b-b-be w-w-w-with y-y-you M-m-m-iss Ra-ra-rarity!"
Rarity's heart melted with the words. Then, her heart turned back to ice as she saw Pinkie Pie climb up on the stage.
"Heelloooo everypony!" announced Pinkie Pie, "It's time to kick this party into HIGH GEAR!"
The throng before the stage cheered as Pinkie Pie did a few cartwheels about the circumference of the stage.
Stopping in the middle, she said, "Now, lets get our paaar-taay ooowwwwn! STAGE DIVE!"
Time slowed as Pinkie Pie made her elaborate jump from the stage. For just a moment, Rarity and Blueblood both had a flashback to a certain event from the gala. In their minds, Pinkie Pie's airborne body seemed to flash between two planes of reality: now at Sugarcube Corner, and then at the Grand Galloping Gala, flickering between Pinkie Pie wearing her gala outfit and not.
Transfixed in horror, neither of them noticed Spike run in, trailing bandages. Spike reached Rarity's side and opened his mouth to speak, "Miss Ra-"
Pinkie Pie's stave dive landed on the edge of a confectionery table and upended it, sending a huge five layer vanilla and apple crumb cake airborne and directly towards Rarity and Prince Blueblood.
"Not again!" screamed Rarity, closing her eyes tightly. Her horn glowed reflexively, reaching out for the nearest thing to throw between her and that horrible, horrible cake.
Spike usually liked being the nearest thing to Rarity. Not today. Oh, impacting the cake wasn't so bad, that part was delicious. No, the bad part was the heavy metal plate it was resting on. It impacted his baby dragon cranium with the sound of a cast iron frying pan. The dragon vanished from view as plate, dragon, and pounds of cake alike impacted the floor.
The cake's path was successfully diverted from Rarity and Prince Blueblood, but at all cost?
Rarity had no idea, "Did you hear something?"
"No!" exclaimed Prince Blueblood, "Lets get out of here!"
Rarity, the prince, and his two guards fled the scene, lest any more cakes come their way.
Pinkie Pie stood up and rubbed her chin, "Ouchy wouchy, it hurt just as much the last time." She cantered over to the sad remains of the cake on the floor, pushed the plate aside, and began to hungrily devour her way to the bottom of it before flipping a disheveled Spike onto her back.
She craned her neck towards her back and looked him over, "Wow, Spike, you look even worse than Dashie said you did!" Spike had neither comment nor consciousness. "Lets get you to Twilight!", she said brightly, bounding out the door and towards the library.
---
They were bound to arrive at the library door eventually, even though Rarity initially lost her bearings in the confines of Ponyville thanks to being temporarily traumatized by the events at the party, resulting in she, Prince Blueblood, and the two guards being fully an hour behind schedule.
"This is it!" she said excitedly, "If you can pass Twilight Sparkle's trial, our courtship is official!" Her voice fairly sung at the possibility.
The prince's smile was one of practiced debonair charm, "Of course, Miss Rarity, lead on."
But the library was dark as they entered. Rarity cast about the room, confused. "Twilight? Are you here, darling? What's going on?"
"Yes, I'm here," said Twilight. The library abruptly lit and Rarity looked to see her five friends standing top the library landing looking down into the entrance foyer. They all had rather stern looks on their faces - well, except for Pinkie Pie, it was nearly impossible for her not to be in high spirits.
Rarity didn't notice, she was giddy with how close she was to victory, "Oh, good, good! Now, if only we can get this silly last trial out of the way-"
"Rarity-," said Applejack.
But Rarity wasn't listening, "-I can finally end this night and-"
"Rarity!-" yelled Rainbow Dash.
Not good enough, "-begin my fabulous new courtship to-"
"Rarity?" asked Fluttershy plaintively.
Nice try, "-this glorious prince and begin my destiny-"
"Oooh Raaarityy?" queried Pinkie Pie with a giggle.
Rarity's head was full of stars, "-as a genuine princess of Equestri-"
"RARITY!" thundered Twilight Sparkle.
Rarity's stars went out. She had never seen that look on Twilight's face before.
"Yes, dear?"
"Get up here."
With a little whimper, Rarity carried herself up the stairs to Twilight's bedroom landing, the very same place that just yesterday she was cowering, "What?"
"Look," said Twilight Sparkle, gesturing.
Rarity looked and drew a breath in shock. It was a small bed not far from Twilight Sparkle's. The very one that Spike normally slept in. And there was Spike. The outfit she gave him in tatters, he was covered in bruises, scuffs from hoof prints, mud, and frosting - so much frosting.
Rarity was aghast, "What... what happened to him?"
Applejack was the first to speak, "Well, I reckon those bruises was whut happened when that Blueblood feller shut the cellar doors on em' at the end of our tour. None of us noticed at the time, but Apple Bloom was there when he crawled out, and tol' me all about it."
Rainbow Dash was as angry as she was brash, "As for that mud and those horseshoe scuffs, I think I can answer that! That Blueblood creep didn't bring a cloak to the trial, Rarity! He improvised! Using Spike!"
It was all Fluttershy could do not to cry as she related her tale, "I found Spike in a water barrel outside of my house after you left, Rarity. He said Blueblood and his guards stuffed him in there. I used The Stare on him, I bandaged him, but the moment he left my sight..."
Rarity spoke up, "But what about the frosting? I have to know about the frosting." She had bore these sugary scars recently herself, it was important to her to know the answer.
Pinkie Pie piped up, "Actually, silly, that was you! You grabbed Spike and threw him right at that cake without noticing! What a fabulous new idea to end a party! But that big ol' shiner on his head won't do. Next time we catapult a cake, I should probably put the cake on cardboard instead of a heavy metal baking pan!"
The true gravity of Rarity's inadvertent crimes was now weighing heavily on her little pony soul. The cake was too perfect a parallel, an irrefutable proof that she could not deny. In her mind, Spike had transformed. He was not a mere fawning admirer anymore, but a courageous child who had, since nearly after she had first met him, bore happily from her a kind of abuse that was nearly identical in nature to what she herself had received the night she stormed away from Prince Blueblood at the gala.
She chewed her lip as tears filled her eyes, "Twilight, is he going to be okay?"
Twilight sighed, dissipating some of the anger that built up when she saw her number one assistant like this and wanted to give a piece of her mind to Rarity.
"He'll be fine, Rarity. Dragons are made of tougher stuff than that."
Rarity looked grateful as she peered down on Spike with a misty expression.
He stirred uneasily under her gaze and awoke.
Sitting up groggily, he looked at the pony immediately next to him, Twilight Sparkle, and said, "Mommy?"
Twilight Sparkle smiled weakly back at him.
Spike frowned, "You're not my mother."
"Not technically," she said.
Dully, Spike noticed Rarity then, and tried to stand before falling back down into his bed. So instead, he reached into one of the pockets of his shredded uniform and extended a claw with a single piece of paper in it and said, "I'm sorry for ruining your evening, milady."
Rarity's horn glowed as she took the paper from Spike's hand. This was clearly the photograph Photo Finish had taken of them this morning. She noticed that it's funny how the focus of a simple photograph can change with a few modifications. A little mud here. A little frosting there. Where once the focus was on the eyes of a happy royal couple, it was now mostly on a single little baby dragon's claw desperately trying to enter the picture.
Rarity did something spontaneous then. She kissed Spike. Right on the forehead.
Spike had been through enough today. He fainted.
Rarity and her friends let him rest, making their way down the stairs to Prince Blueblood and his guards.
Rarity's eyes narrowed with the same conviction they had in them when she chewed him out at the end of the gala... she grit her teeth and spat fury, "YOU!"
---
"YOU!" said Rarity again, staring at Prince Blueblood.
He had overheard everything, of course. Was he frightened as he stood there between his two burly guards? Not at all. He looked down at the angry white unicorn and her immediate friends with an imperious, haughty expression.
"I really don't see what the trouble is, Miss Rarity, I met the conditions of your challenge perfectly. 'If you treat my friends as kindly as I, we can consider our courtship official,' yes? And I did exactly that."
Rarity and her five friends were arrayed in a semicircle around the prince and his guards now, staring at him, the door out of the library being available for the Prince to leave. But he didn't leave. Instead, he pointed a hoof at them one by one.
"You, Lady Applejack, I tolerated your ugly little dirt farm politely and kept my comments to myself about the ridiculous squalor you earth ponies choose to live in." Applejack fairly snarled.
"You, Lady Rainbow Dash, I humored your boring stories of meager achievement and performed your trivial little game with whatever means I felt were necessary." Rainbow Dash would have tackled him then, but she was too angry even for that.
"You, Lady Fluttershy, I graced with my benevolent company for at least a full ten minutes while ignoring the obviously atrocious state of your vermin-infested hovel." Fluttershy gasped.
"You, Lady Pinkie Pie... you really don't know much about how nobility celebrates occasions, do you? Your feeble attempts were simply horrible!" Pinkie Pie's hair may have wilted for a moment before bouncing back into the usual curls as she blew a gigantic raspberry at him.
"And as for you, Twilight Sparkle, Celestia's faithful student, you should just be glad I didn't have you expelled from this ghastly village for hiding Miss Rarity from me." Twilight Sparkle grit her teeth and set her feet.
Rarity asked him a simple question then, "And what about Spike?"
The prince shrugged, "What about Spike? The silly little creature really has no place in pony society. I tried to hint to him that he should really butt out more times than I can count, but he just kept coming back. I honestly have no idea why you put up with him, Miss Rarity."
Rarity roared.
"I PUT UP WITH HIM BECAUSE HE. IS. MY. FRIEND!"
---
"HE. IS. MY. FRIEND." The prince and his guards may have been blown back a few steps by the sheer force of Rarity's bellow. That's twice in a little over two weeks that mare had sent words echoing through the royal cranium of Prince Blueblood.
The prince's lip curled, "You're friends with a wyrm? Oh, dear, that's it boys," he confided in his guards, "it seems I failed the challenge after all. Oh well, I think this farce has gone on long enough anyway,we got what we wanted, lets go."
The door slammed shut before they could leave. Twilight's Sparkle's horn was glowing. She wanted answers, and she was going to get them. "What do you mean, this farce? What did you get out of this?"
Prince Blueblood puffed himself up and chuckled, "Well, it's obvious, isn't it? All through and around Ponyville today, half of Equestria saw me sashaying around with Miss Rarity, the foal who dared to dump me at the Grand Galloping Gala while calling into question my impeccable integrity in front of so many highly placed names."
His eyes took on a sinister turn as he continued his plot, "But now everypony knows we're back together... only now we're apart. At least, that's what I'll tell them all. That I, Prince Blueblood did the dumping this time around, that this poor common girl turned out to be far too uncouth for my tastes. It was my plan from the start, you know. I really would have preferred to wait until the courtship was official so I could really break it off, but, oh well, close enough."
"Now then, " said the prince, "can I go?"
Twilight Sparkle's grin was vicious.
"Yes, you can go."
The door opened.
On the other side stood the sun itself, immortal, two to three times the size of any living pony, her flowing chromatic mane filling the doorway as it rippled majestically under the flow of unseen cosmic forces.
Princess Celestia smiled sweetly, her voice as lyrical as always.
"Oh, nepheeeeew? We have a date to speak with your mother."
Prince Blueblood's face was priceless, this much was agreed on by almost everypony. After all, a certain prince had assured there would be plenty of photographers on the streets that day. So it was that, for centuries to come, whenever someone was relating the world-famous Equestrian story about the day that Princess Celestia dragged Prince Blueblood out of Ponyville by his ear, they could see for themselves just how priceless that expression was.
---
Spike's expression was priceless, too. His usual stupor when Rarity was around had risen to such heights that it was clear he was in heaven.
Every day for the past week, Rarity stopped by the library to perform his workload while he recovered from Prince Blueblood's visit. His favorite part was when she changed his bandages, using her telekinetic powers to levitate antiseptic-laden cotton swabs to dab the various aches and pains before applying fresh ones.
But all good things must come to an end.
"Well, little gentleman," said Rarity as she put away the gauze, "I think that you're just about healed now. Twilight was right, even baby dragons can take quite a bit of punishment."
"Aw, man!" lamented Spike, "You mean that after everything I've gone through, things are just going to go back to normal again?"
Rarity smiled at him brilliantly, and Spike was in love with her all over again.
"No, Spike, your pains have spared me from the greatest mistake I would have made in my life, and for that, I am forever grateful."
She frowned then and said sharply, "But I'm never going to kiss a dragon again. No offense, but you taste positively terrible!"
Spike was crestfallen. It seems that he would forever be in the friend zone. However, he noticed as Rarity smiled brightly at him, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
When Rarity left for the day, Twilight Sparkle trotted up with a smile of her own, "Hey, Spike, there's something I wanted to know."
"What's that, Twi?"
"How is it that Blueblood ended up getting caught in the end? Though I sensed her there at the last moment, there shouldn't have been enough time for Princess Celestia to arrive from Canterlot when we realized what he was up to."
Spike smirked glibly, "The way I see it, the prince made one fatal mistake."
"Oh?" asked Twilight
Spike nodded and said, "He chose to mess with a dragon who happened to be a direct hotline to Celestia herself."
Twilight facehoofed. It was so obvious, why didn't that occur to her before? The very reason Spike was assigned to her was because of his ability to communicate with the princess.
Spike giggled, "There, there, Twilight, you ponies can't always be as clever as me!"
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geldon
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970
| 1 |
Original Character,Prince Blueblood,Princess Celestia,Trixie,Adventure,Comedy,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Blueblood's Redemption
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In the sequel to Blueblood Returns, the arrogant Prince Blueblood's redemption has only begun.
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complete
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<p>In <a href="http://www.fimfiction.com/story/969/Blueblood-Returns" rel="nofollow">Blueblood Returns</a>, the prince's nefarious scheme was undermined, he was disgraced, and the heroes prevailed. However, has he truly been punished enough? What drives a pony to be such an egotistical villain? Blueblood's Redemption explores events a week later, from Prince Blueblood's perspective, as he finds himself swept up in an adventure involving a certain mare magician.</p><p>For the sequel, see <a href="/story/971/The-Blueblood-Conspiracy" rel="nofollow">The Blueblood Conspiracy</a>.</p>
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everyone
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2011-09-22T17:37:34+00:00
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2011-09-22T17:37:34+00:00
| 12,662 |
(The following is a work of fan fiction based on My Little Pony:Friendship Is Magic. I am not affiliated with Hasbro and company. This work is intended to be a work of parody that complies with fair use guidelines.)
Blueblood's Redemption
By Geldon
Lead Proofreader: Alchemy Gold
---
The little unicorn colt bound playfully about the grounds, his coat white and as pure as his innocence, a fine tuff of blonde hair emerging from his mane. He was enjoying bouncing a golden ball before him with his telekinesis.
Then, across the bridge, he saw a sight that made him very happy. Several brightly colored colts his age - earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns - playing on the lawn with a ball similar to his, albeit not quite as shiny. He beamed and ran to join them.
The steel metal portcullis dropped so quickly that he was not able to stop himself before he hit the back of it, falling backwards, shaking stars from his eyes. The drawbridge rose before it, blocking his view of the other children. Two royal guard stallions, their fine white coats clashing brilliantly with their golden barding, regarded him sternly from either side of the gate. He scrabbled backwards, intimidated by them.
His ear began to smart immediately as a familiar telekinetic grip grabbed it, dragging him up on his hooves and away from the front gate.
This was the courtyard of Castle Canterlot, and the young Prince Blueblood had momentarily forgotten himself.
"Owowow! Stop it, mother!"
A unicorn mare, with a regal gray coat and styled blonde mane, looked vexed yet demure, her horn aglow.
Her voice was firm, royal, "How many times must I tell you? You are not to mingle with them."
The pain from the little colt's ear was the last he remembered from this experience.
---
Prince Blueblood winced. He was now a full grown regal stallion, majestically barrel chested, his mane having long since grown into luxurious blonde curls. Not long ago, he was considered the most eligible bachelor in all of Equestria. If there was any flaw in his physique, it was that his ear was still a tad red and swollen from when his aunt had dragged him, on-hoof, cross-country, all the way from Ponyville to Canterlot. That was a week ago.
That pain was probably what woke him from his dream. Awake or not, he kept his eyes tightly closed, and tried to put this new, living nightmare behind him. He mentally groped around for his bearings and remembered he was in the glorious royal banquet hall of Canterlot castle. The surface underneath his chin was the grand main dining table that extended through it. There were, he recalled, three ponies in attendance: himself, his aunt, and his mother. Oh and, of course, the ever-present guards, but he long ago stopped counting them.
He remembered that his mother, who was perhaps significantly wrinklier than his distant memory but otherwise unchanged, had just returned from a vacation in the country this morning. At his aunt's request, she had been summoned to this meeting with the prince, and was droning on and on about the severity of his wrongdoings. That was what had put him to sleep.
He thought back to the event she was referring to. It had seemed like such a good idea at the time. He had been deeply insulted by a common mare in public at a major public event, tarnishing his good name. So he would go to Ponyville, claim to be repentant and, once taken back, publicly display he was officially courting her. Then, just as publicly, break off the engagement, dumping her, claiming she was the extremely uncouth one. She would be completely discredited, his name would be restored. It seemed foalproof.
Things started to go wrong soon into the plan, he had to get his hooves a little dirty, but it was nothing he could not deal with. The first problem was the counter-proposed "courtship trials" with her friends to make sure his offer was legitimate, but it was easy enough to feign sincerity with them, and the trials themselves would be marvelous for publicity. No, the only hurdle he was not able to jump was a certain persistent baby dragon who kept getting in the way, regardless of how much he brutalized him. Disgraceful little beast.
The injustice of it all stung him. If he had his way, everypony that matters would have been happy, right? It followed that this punishment was completely uncalled for.
Eyes still shut tight, Blueblood closed his mouth then, and realized it was quite certain he had been drooling. He dearly hoped there was no photographers about. After all, photographers had just finished making him a laughingstock of Equestria, having photographed his thoroughly disgraced expression as his aunt dragged him out of Ponyville when his scheme fell through.
All things considered, he was feeling rather miffed at his aunt at the moment.
---
His aunt, of course, was one of the very few ponies who could outrank him: Princess Celestia, de facto ruler of the realm. "Aunt," was a term of endearment, as she was not really his aunt, she was immortal, and had lived countless lives the length of his. She was a most unusual pony, an alicorn, possessing both horn and wings. Only two of these were known to exist. Physically, she was two to three times the size of any living pony, her coat as white as can be, her mane a brilliant chromatic cloud, ever-moving from unseen cosmic winds. She was also extremely powerful: she literally raised the sun every morning.
She was quite possibly the most intimidating pony in all of Equestria.
She could also afford to be very patient.
As Prince Blueblood at last opened his eyes, her gigantic regal visage was a scant two inches from his face.
"Boo!" it said.
"Aaagh!" cried Prince Blueblood, jumping back from the table and landing, four hooves in the air, square on his back.
The finely mannered unicorn stallion climbed to his hooves as ceremoniously as possible (which, it turns out, was not at all) and sat again at his place at the table, resolving to try to stay awake this time, and glaring at his aunt.
"Why hello, nephew," said Princess Celestia, in her usual lyrical voice, unperturbed. (In fact, usually quite amazingly imperturbable.)
"Aunty," acknowledged Blueblood, extremely caustically.
Princess Celestia smiled at him sweetly in the same way she did right before grabbing his ear a week ago.
Prince Blueblood cringed.
His aunt then turned to his mother, who was waiting patiently in attendance, and said to her, "Please do go on, dear."
As his mother droned on about things the prince had learned to tune out years ago, a few small snippets pierced his hearing. "Blight to the Blueblood name... shaming your ancestors irreparably... needing to learn a lesson... cut off from the family coffers until further notice..."
That last one rather bothered him.
"But mother!" he exclaimed, "how am I supposed to perform my task as an Equestrian diplomat if I do not have access to a ready supply of gold bits?"
His mother and Princess Celestia exchanged a look.
Princess Celestia said gently, "I do not believe you will need to worry about that anymore, nephew dear."
Her horn glowed as she levitated today's newspaper and dropped it neatly in front of Blueblood's place at the table.
Ah, yes, he had almost successfully forgotten. His fall from notoriety was less a fall and more a dramatic nosedive. In fact, he did a little mental count and realized that, if you count the emergency evening post of the day it happened, he had made the front page for the eighth day straight now. He had even heard, from quite a reliable source, that the news had already reached the furthest corners of the planet.
Prince Blueblood's heart sank as he realized his tenure as an Equestrian diplomat had just expired, permanently.
---
"Insufferable! INSUFFERABLE!" boomed Prince Blueblood as he rapidly paced the halls of Castle Canterlot. He had been storming up and down the castle all through the afternoon and late into the evening, pausing only for meals.
Flanked on either side of him were his personal guard, the same two guards that had accompanied the prince on his ill-fated trip to Ponyville. Out of curiosity, Blueblood had asked their names once, they had told him Hans and Fritz. They were both pure white earth pony stallions, large and of muscular build, but a look underneath their ever-present golden barding revealed a slight difference: Hans had a mane of pure black while Fritz's mane was a slightly lighter brown. The prince usually preferred to call them, "boys," or, "guards" - no sense getting too friendly with the hired help.
Blueblood continued to fume out loud, "Completely and utterly ruined, doomed to live out the rest of my dreadful days as a Castle Canterlot sideshow," he mimed what he believed a carnival crier would sound like and managed to make it sound extremely insulting, "come one, come all, bring your snot-nosed brats and atrociously ugly spouses out from under your squalor-infested dirt-farms to see the once great Prince Blueblood brood gracefully in repose: only 5 bits per head!"
He stopped suddenly and expelled an angry burst of steam from his snout as his eyes bulged in anger, "Never! NEVER! I'd sooner jump from the highest tower in Canterlot than allow myself to be made the foal of Equestria!"
Hans and Fritz watched Blueblood carefully for any sudden moves. They had been given very specific orders by Princess Celestia to keep Blueblood away from the windows of any particularly tall buildings for awhile.
Fortunately, it seemed to be only his usual theatrics, as the prince was now calmly musing aloud, "But then, I suppose if I did that, the photographers would catch several shots of me on the way down and sell them for 15 bits apiece. The mares throughout Equestria would surely deplete all the celluloid of the kingdom in order to swoon over the heroic prince in his dashing final duel with death itself... no, even so, the indignity of it all doesn't make it particularly worth it."
Marching onward, Blueblood passed the door to his room for the sixteenth time that day, and this time decided to go inside of it. The guards entered with him, standing on either side of the door before closing it behind them, watching the prince fume inside of his quarters. The guards were quickly ignored by the prince as so much furniture.
Speaking of which, the room was lavish. The furniture was all marvelously ornate, chests, wardrobes, even a king-sized bed with golden bed posts and bedding of the finest imported silk. However, the pride of his room was the many cabinets containing the rewards and trophies he had won in attending various high social gatherings.
The prince noted grimly to himself that his trophy collection would not be getting bigger any time soon. It was unlikely he would be invited anywhere now. Even if he was, he would likely regard such an invitation with deep suspicion.
Blueblood then realized that all his stomping around the castle that day was actually very good exercise. He was exhausted. He threw himself onto his bed, wrapped a pillow about his head, around his eyes, and tried to get to sleep.
Hans and Fritz had endured a lot of difficult experiences under their duty to the prince. However, they would later agree, hearing a full grown unicorn stallion cry himself to sleep that night was one of the worst.
----
Blueblood recalled that he had cried himself to sleep a lot during his youth. By the time he was at the cusp of stallion-hood, he simply had no tears left.
His dream self woke from the smaller quarters he had in those days and grimly observed himself in the mirror. Though most ponies his age had received their cutie marks by now, he was still a blank flank, he simply did not have the opportunity to find his special talent. The very second he left his room, the guardsmen would escort him away: it was time for his daily lessons.
He met his speech instructor, a crusty old gray unicorn mare, nearly every day. She was the strictest of his instructors, continually reprimanding him to speak in the royal tongue. When he slipped up, even a little, she would apply a sharp rap of the heavy wicker switch she perpetually kept levitated nearby. If he yelped in pain, he would get another for his breach of protocol. Years later, that terrible instructor glowered at his mode of speaking, and pronounced it, "Perfect."
Royal etiquette was not one instructor but a great procession of them, stretching through his youth. There were a truly staggering number of things to know. Standard table manners would vary heavily depending on where he was eating and who he was eating with. When doing something as simple as walking into a room, there were three to eight things he needed to keep in mind lest he do it incorrectly. If he dared to eat the wrong thing, he was to spit it out immediately - no matter how hungry he was - and declare it unsuited for the royal tongue. He was taught to discipline hired help in such an elaborate display that it was far more taxing on himself. At royal functions, he was never to open a door, always to insist on someone open it for him. Through sheer force of practice, his young mind became quite adept at picking up the subtleties of every exercise, to the point where nearly every new instructor declared they had nothing new to teach him, proclaiming that he was already, "Perfect."
The royal functions were one of the most important things he was taught to do. For example, he had attended rehearsals for the Grand Galloping Gala every year since he was a colt, accompanied by a host of instructors who would tell him how to do every little thing: how to waltz, how to identify the music that was playing, how to drink the beverages, how to engage in polite conversation, and even how to feign romance. Then would come the real thing, the real gala, and he would do his best to imitate what he had been taught while his instructors lurked in the shadows. At the end of the gala, he was sat down and read a list of every little thing he did wrong. That list became shorter and shorter each year. Finally, there came the year that there was only one observation to read from the list, "Perfect."
It had been during a telekinetic fencing lesson that the instructor drew Blueblood's attention to something new. There, in a mirror, was his new cutie mark: an eight-point compass rose of gold on blue. At once, servants were frantically dispatched to fetch his mother and Princess Celestia. When they arrived, they looked elated, but their expression was bittersweet. Perhaps they were thinking that their little boy was growing up? His auntie Celestia told him that his cutie mark represented his special talent as the beacon of Equestria, one that would provide a guiding example for everypony.
Blueblood humored the celebration, projecting an expression carefully picked from one of the hundreds he had been taught for a given occasion. It would be very uncouth for him to say what was on his mind: that he really did not particularly care he had a cutie mark. No, he was far too perfect for it to matter one way or another.
Yet, there was only one thing that bothered him, this perfect stallion. Something that he had been denied all his life and yet had not learned to do without. Amidst the throng of ponies admiring his new cutie mark, he stared with practiced regal detachment out the window of the tower room he was in, past the drawbridge, and on to the lovely green lawn he had been denied as a colt.
Freedom. The thought ignited a fire in his heart. If he dwelled on it too long, that fire would begin to burn painfully. He wanted nothing more in this world than to be free.
---
Prince Blueblood jumped out of bed abruptly and into a fine sunny morning. He was feeling giddy. "Boys," he boomed, "I just had a marvelous idea! Truly marvelous!"
His sudden outburst roused Hans and Fritz, who had fallen asleep at their posts on either side of his door. They exchanged a look: the prince's sudden elation was a very bad sign. As the prince trotted rapidly about the room opening chests and wardrobes, Hans carefully made his way in front of the window.
The prince was chiding himself gleefully, "Where did I place that infernal... ah!" His telekinesis levitated a small black bottle out of a chest.
Poison? As the cap was quickly twisted off, Fritz braced himself to bolt, considering how he should go about tackling the prince and wresting the bottle from him.
But he was too late.
The prince dumped the contents of the bottle, sticky blank writing ink, directly on his precious golden curls.
Hans gaped wide-eyed at the prince in shock. Fritz lost his balance and fell, his armor clattering against the stone floor.
Sure enough, the prince had lost his mind.
Blueblood giggled to himself like a school colt who had been told a naughty joke, looking at himself in the mirror as he levitated a brush with masterful precision through his mane, spreading the blackened disaster he had introduced into the full length of his curls.
This ink was no hair dye, it dried quickly, permanently, converting the once luxuriously styled blonde mane into a pitch black rat's nest that spiked wild and haphazardly.
Seeing the result, Blueblood laughed even harder, tears coming from his eyes as they bulged from maddened, unbridled levity.
Then, he began to repeat the procedure with his glorious tail.
Fritz picked himself up off the floor where he had been dazed and shook his head, shaking a great deal of collected incredulity loose from his brain. He ventured to inquire, "My prince?"
"Yes, Fritz?" replied the prince brightly, as he busily worked a tail that was sometimes compared to an amber field of wheat into a ragged black morass.
Fritz was not sure what bothered him more, that the prince was willingly making himself look uglier, or that he actually called a guard by his name. "Is everything... alright, milord?"
Prince Blueblood immediately stopped was he was doing, a hairy ink-encrusted brush clattering to the floor, and stared at Fritz with a blank expression. He walked up to Fritz slowly, their gazes locked. Out of view, Hans followed the prince carefully, ready to subdue him if needed.
When they were nearly snout to snout, the prince slowly cracked a smile, not a smile he had been taught, but a normal smile, looking completely out of place on his face.
"Oh, everything is absolutely fabulous," he breathed rapturously, "but first, I need you boys to take off your armor. Then, we're going to give the royal painter something very special to paint."
Hans and Fritz were nervous before. Now, they were terrified.
---
Hans and Fritz were soldiers. They had been trained to handle panic in one way and one way only: follow orders. Thus, dearly wishing that they had been trained otherwise, a very naked feeling Hans and Fritz trailed the prince at a brisk military pace as he cantered happily through the halls of Castle Canterlot in the direction of the royal painter's studio.
As Hans passed the first guardsman standing at his post in a hall, he leaned over furtively and hissed a quick message to him under his breath, "The prince has gone mad: inform the princess."
The guardsman watched them as they passed and then bolted, a full gallop, in the opposite direction, that of the throne room.
Arriving at last at the studio, Prince Blueblood's horn glowed, almost knocking the door off its hinges as it opened. Despite being in a wing of the castle, it was a fairly humble studio. Paint, brushes, and other supplies were against one wall. Canvases in various states of completion were on the other. An easel stood in the center of it.
In front of the easel was a small unicorn stallion of cyan coat and straight white mane, his cutie mark an artist's palette. The royal painter cowered in fear as Blueblood loomed over him, bearing that same highly normal smile, grotesquely alien on the face of the royal personage.
Noticing the easel was occupied with a half completed work, Blueblood snatched it with his telekinesis and brought it before him.
He admired it briefly. "Oh, lovely, the humble bowl of fruit, the standard artist's exercise, it seems to be forming nicely. However, this canvas is simply atrocious, of terribly insufficient quality to capture this artist's work, don't you think so, guardsmen?"
Hans and Fritz nodded, very carefully.
The prince's smile barely registered them at all, "Then it's decided!"
His telekinesis projected the canvas hard against the back stone wall, shattering the wooden frame. The painter watched his latest work being destroyed with despair.
The prince loomed even closer, catching the poor artistic stallion's gaze. Blueblood's smile was gone, he was being very serious now, "listen to me very carefully. I need you to paint the most important work of your life. Quickly, but of a quality above the reproach of a casual glance. Then, I need you to copy it exactly. Do you think you can do that for me?"
The smaller stallion nodded fearfully, as if he had a choice.
"Good," said the prince brightly, "and, as for your canvas, it will be this."
He turned, knocking the easel over in the process, and levitated a fallen brush, twirling it around the intended target.
His cutie mark.
"I don't care what you paint, but it needs to look like a commoner's mark. It needs to be convincing and as resistant to the weather as possible."
It was then that Hans and Fritz realized exactly what was going on.
The prince once again had that school colt's giggle. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun!"
---
It was a simple brown wagon wheel, its spokes perfectly covering the points of the compass on the prince's flank, with a metal circle around it. Given the prince's exacting orders, it was the first and best thing that came to the mind of the artist, as he could use the preexisting cutie mark as a base to draw it and assure he was duplicating it successfully on both sides. The prince thought it was serendipitous, as they would surely be doing a lot of traveling soon.
At the moment, the prince was slinking like a naughty colt through the halls of Canterlot castle, utilizing a servant's route he knew to be considerably less guarded than most. Ignored, Hans and Fritz followed, not bothering to hide themselves, as they knew a thing or two about hiding, and the prince was doing it wrong. Finally, he reached a servant's exit and made his way outside the keep and into the courtyard.
From behind a concealing bush, the prince watched the gatehouse containing the drawbridge and only exit from Castle Canterlot carefully. From time to time, a servant pony would trot by unnoticed by Blueblood, casting him and the embarrassed Hans and Fritz a funny look. After awhile, the posted guards trotted inside a door to the adjacent barracks.
The changing of the guard was underway.
The prince shouted, "Quickly! This is our chance!"
Hans and Fritz complied. Even in their off-duty attire (which, for a pony, was usually nothing) they were still sworn guards of Equestria and, until relieved, they had a duty to fulfill. They inwardly reassured themselves that the magistrate would see things their way if they were dragged into court after this was all over.
Breaking into a gallop, Blueblood thundered towards the drawbridge. He had a brief flashback to the time when, as a colt, he had done the same thing in order to try to play with the commoner colts on the other side. As he crossed the threshold of the gatehouse under the heavy steel portcullis and onto the drawbridge, his heart soared: this time, it was going to be different.
They ran further and further away from Blueblood's prison, away from the sprawling green lawn around Castle Canterlot and deep into the city of Canterlot proper. For the first time in his life, Prince Blueblood was running away from home, and nopony could stop him, not even Princess Celestia herself. He mocked her, laughing into the breeze as he went, "Take that, auntie!"
From the balcony, Princess Celestia and his mother watched them go.
The wrinkled unicorn mare was worried, and asked the tall immortal, "Princess, are you sure it's quite alright to just let him go like that?"
Princess Celestia smiled reassuringly, "Quite sure, dear. After all, one who has nothing left to lose has everything to gain."
---
Inside an hour of wandering the streets of Canterlot with his guards in tow, the great inner fire that catapult Prince Blueblood into his life of newfound freedom was threatening to go out.
The problem was mostly a lack of fuel.
In hindsight, the prince realized it would have been ideal to take some gold bits for the journey in order to purchase future meals. For that matter, they probably should have eaten something before escaping the castle.
Fortunately, the prince knew that he was incapable of making mistakes, and so his hunger was only the necessary price of freedom.
It was a bit of a rude surprise when he discovered that, by successfully disguising himself as a nameless commoner, his usual tactic of merely asking a pony to give him what he wanted would only result in a threat to call the guards. The threat made his princely blood boil but, as long as he wished to remain incognito, it worked very effectively.
The thought never crossed his mind to simply steal a nosh, not so much because he cared for whoever he would steal from, but because a prince was far above such debased practices! He could, however, order Hans or Fritz to steal for him. He decided against it: the number of hired help he had available to him had dwindled badly enough without any of them being arrested for a botched crime.
So it was that he realized that he was facing a serious logistics problem that, under normal circumstances, would only thwart the escape attempts of the youngest of foals. The gears lurched slowly to a start in a head that, prior to today, had mostly been used for decoration. It was not long until he realized that perhaps he ought to ask someone who never had the benefit of being a royal beneficiary how they survived. Fortunately, it so happened that he had dragged along two such impromptu advisers.
It took awhile for Hans and Fritz to painstakingly explain to Blueblood that, in exchange for their services as a royal guard, they were paid a royal stipend of gold bits for their service. Performing services in exchange for bits was called a "job," and almost everypony had one. This rather surprised Blueblood: up until now, he thought the guards and servants did what they did or else Princess Celestia would have their heads. He laughed at that, mentioning it. The guards laughed along... it sounded very forced.
Thinking that he had found a solution at last, Blueblood asked Hans and Fritz if currently they had any bits with which they could afford a meal. Two guards immediately responded that they did not. The truth of their statements was something that Blueblood could not accuracy verify, as exactly where a pony kept their bits was something that sometimes mystified even themselves. Fortunately, the prince did not need to press the issue, as another one of his undeniable logical premises was that it was impossible for anyone to lie to him.
Now, Prince Blueblood had two excellent theories on how he could survive. The first would be to return to the castle and try to pretend nothing ever happened, but the taste of freedom was still fresh enough that it overpowered his empty stomach. The second would be to figure out exactly where these "jobs" could be found and get one.
As they proceeded down the city streets, Blueblood began to scan Canterlot carefully, trying to imagine what one of these "job" things would look like. Then he turned a corner of a busy street, and did not so much spot the first example so much as have it completely overwhelm his senses.
---
Fireworks of every color and type burst simultaneously over the central plaza of Canterlot, as noticeable in day as they would be in night due to magical intervention. Below, an amassed throng of colorful ponies was collectively oohing and aahing before a stage. The stage was brightly colored and had magical horns blowing fanfare built into the sides. Back stage, machinery hidden behind violet curtains extended rods containing fireworks, mobiles, and other cheesy but effective stage props.
All eyes were on the stage centerpiece, a blue unicorn mare with a slick silver mane. She was wearing a purple ensemble of stars and planets, a matching wizard hat and cloak affixed with a diamond clasp. On her face, the arrogant expression never left her lips as her bright violet eyes regarded the crowd with contempt, gesturing dramatically as she announced her presence.
"Come one, come all, come and witness the amazing magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie!"
Taking it all in, Blueblood felt an annoying inkling in the back of his skull that subtly told him that he had found someone that held themselves in even higher regard than himself. He grit his teeth to smother that feeling from his mind. He signaled his guards to clear a path to the center of the crowd. They complied, attracting more than a few sour looks from the throng as they were shoved aside, but his guards knew what they were doing. Hans and Fritz now flanked the prince as he sat to observe the act.
"Watch in awe," she was saying, "as the Great and Powerful Trixie performs feats beyond your imagination!"
Blueblood harrumphed. If the plebeian ponies surrounding him were watching her any harder, their eyes were likely to fall out and roll under the stage. Nonetheless, he had to admit, he was able to momentarily forget his hunger as the Great and Powerful Trixie's act continued to play out before him.
The unicorn mare's special talent was clearly stage magic with a hint of the real thing. She conjured forth flowery bouquets with a wave of her arms. She pulled all manner of small animals from her hat. She performed elaborate rope tricks. She created great neon patterns in the sky. Each trick was glitzier than the last. After awhile, Prince Blueblood believed she could do just about anything, and that annoying twinge in the back of his skull flared up again.
As a trained performer himself (albeit his stage was the royal court) the prince recognized an interesting pattern to her performance. She had not come to perform for the crowd at all. No, the crowd had come to perform for her, to marvel at how amazing she was for her personal entertainment. Even the prince felt slightly less like he was the center of the universe in her presence.
This just made the very last trick all the more amazing. It was a trick that interested Blueblood more than all the other tricks put together. Where all of her other tricks were all flash without substance, an illusion wholly focused on self-promotion, this one trick had the most important substance of all.
It was the trick where she had convinced most of the ponies in the crowd to throw gold bits up on the stage.
---
"Guards, I am assigning you your most important mission yet," said Prince Blueblood.
Hans and Fritz stood at attention, glad the prince was being serious for once.
The prince barked his order, "Stand back and stay out of my way." He then turned away from them, trotting towards the middle of the plaza.
The guards facehoofed: looks like it was business as usual after all.
A half an hour ago, the Great and Powerful Trixie's performance had ended. Without a hint of sincerity, the magician congratulated the audience for coming. Then, the stage retracted all its props and folded up neatly into a simple square wagon painted in bright carnival magician decor. Finally, out of the top of the two vertically mounted doors of the back of the wagon, under the sign of her trade, the Great and Powerful Trixie performed a very special bonus performance.
That is to say, she was signing autographs. It would have been a charitable gesture if she was not charging an outrageous sum for the privilege. Perhaps the only reason she did not simply sign a check mark was because she loved to sign her name in huge elegant letters that immortalized her obvious superiority with aplomb.
The last pony in line, a remarkably typical looking earth pony, trotted away with his autograph book in his mouth and a look of uncertainty on his face. Trixie expressed exaggerated relief that she was done dealing with common ponies for the day and retreated into her wagon. Little did she know that she was about to meet a highly uncommon pony.
Prince Blueblood approached the back of the wagon and cleared his throat in a way that bristled with practiced regal hubris.
In response, a sharp voice came from inside the wagon, "The Great and Powerful Trixie is finished for today. Away with you!"
The prince looked at his guards, who had retreated to a safe distance so as to not botch this apparently vital mission. They shrugged.
The prince cleared his throat again, a little more firmly this time.
Trixie's head shot out of the open top door and looked down to glare at whatever intruder would dare to disobey her direct order.
She took in quite a sight. Prince Blueblood was in full romantic ambush, wearing a rakish expression that he just knew would go perfectly with his blackened wild mane. He fixed her a look that had toppled the hearts of a hundred noblemares. He was going all out, his charm turned up to maximum, fully prepared to dominate his way into the ranks of employment at last.
The Great and Powerful Trixie was unmoved.
"Who is so ignorant as to bother The Great and Powerful Trixie?" she demanded.
"Who, indeed? Perhaps just a humbled stallion looking to marvel at your beauty?" replied Prince Blueblood smoothly with a come-hither flex of an eyebrow.
Beneath that perfect veneer, he was panicking: in all this time, he had forgotten to come up with a fake name.
The bottom half of the double door opened and Trixie stepped down from the wagon. She stood in front of Blueblood, shorter than him, but far more intimidating. Her eyes were slanted with contempt as usual, her voice had the edge of a knife, "Why don't you tell the Great and Powerful Trixie what you really came here for?"
Blueblood was reading from a memorized script he had once been taught and only embellished upon over the years, "Why, I am here for the pleasure of your company, of course."
"You don't say?" Trixie's self-satisfied grin become slightly impish as she started to walk slowly around Blueblood, a sultry swagger that sent her cloak sashaying distractingly behind her. The back of Blueblood's skull was aching stronger than ever - she had a real pizzazz, that Trixie, he had to admit. He exercised every ounce of his princely grace to turn and face her as she walked. Finally, she stopped opposite of her starting position, Blueblood between her and the wagon, and sat.
"I don't believe you," she said simply.
A classic gambit, thought the prince. His response was immediate, "But Trixie, my dear-."
The mare's eyes hardened instantly.
The next thing he knew, Prince Blueblood was once again hooves up and flat on his back, having been hogtied by Trixie's rope trick in a blink of an eye. That's the nice thing about being a unicorn wearing a wizard hat: it completely hides when your telekinesis is in use.
The stallion regained his senses to see Trixie looking down on him wearing an expression that would befit a school yard bully gloating about tripping someone smaller than them into a mud puddle.
She spoke with all the condescending authority she had used on stage, "Just who do you think you are addressing?"
Thinking for only a moment, the prince squeaked, "The Great and Powerful Trixie?"
"Yes, what is it?" she replied harshly but receptively.
"Can I be your apprentice?" he begged.
Laughing to herself, Trixie climbed back up into her wagon and slammed the bottom door.
---
Hans and Fritz exchanged a glance. They knew the prince had told them to butt out while he worked his charms, but they were quite positive that the operation had ended in a complete failure. They trotted over and started to help the prince loose from his bindings.
As they did this, the prince's look of defeat was utter, and he began to whine, "That's it, boys, it's over. I tried, I really did, you know that, don't you?" Hans pretended to placate the prince reassuringly, as was long his duty. "Lets just go home," the prince cried dejectedly, "for whatever good that will do me, that is. I will subject myself to exile, the family's dirty little secret, cloistered in my room until the end of days." Fritz sighed in relief, glad that this nightmare was nearly over.
"I really don't know how you two do it," sniveled the prince, "I was the greatest of stallions, the most magnificent in Equestria, and look at me now! Bitless, starving, reputation ruined, a shame on my family name-" Hans and Fritz sat back and let the prince go through a long tirade of hysterics. This was not the first time the prince decided to throw a tantrum, and it would not be the last. It rose steadily in volume as Blueblood expressed everything on his mind, until they could tell from past experience that it had reached its climax and was coming to its dramatic conclusion, "-I even ruined my precious mane, and I owe it all to that meddling Twilight Sparkle and her blasted purple wyrm!"
Trixie's head was out the open top door of her wagon so quickly that it rocked on its foundations. She looked shocked, "What did you say?"
The prince blinked tears from his eyes and rummaged through the last few minutes in his mind and offered, "Greatest of stallions?"
"No, after that."
"Shame on the family name?"
"After that! Long, long after that!"
"Ruined my precious mane?"
"After that! The end!"
"I owe it all to that meddling Twilight Sparkle and her blasted purple wyrm?"
Trixie gaped.
A moment later, her eyes narrowed and her mouth shut. She looked down at the prince's cutie mark, the compass rose currently disguised as a wagon wheel, and asked, "Do you know how to move a wagon?"
Thinking only briefly, the prince replied with hope in his eyes, "Why yes, I do believe I do."
---
Hans and Fritz sweated as they tugged hard on their yokes, pulling the wagon through the gates of Canterlot and slowly down the path through the mountains. It was not exactly the most efficient wagon but, given a bit of extra effort, the accursed thing moved. They could only imagine it would be even worse when they reached level ground.
Thanks to the intervention of the Great and Powerful Trixie, Prince Blueblood and his guards were fed, but that also meant that his selfish scheme to run away from home was actually working.
The interior of Trixie's wagon was cramped, the greater part of it heavily occupied by the elaborate machinery that made her shows work. Fortunately, the last time she had to rebuild it, she had managed to improve the original design and create a little more space. Thus, she was able to sit inside with Blueblood with enough room between them to comfortably converse.
"Let the Great and Powerful Trixie get this straight," she was saying, eyes somewhat cruel even when she did not intend them to be. "You, Prince Blueblood, are running away from home."
The stallion nodded miserably, having just been forced by circumstance (and not a little of Trixie's intimidatory tactics) to reveal his secret. Of course, having just finished pouring his heart out in Canterlot outside of her wagon, the only dots left to connect involved stating his actual name.
"And you want to be my apprentice?"
Another nod.
Trixie looked away from the prince in thought, even more vexed than usual. She really did not need to ask the prince how Twilight Sparkle ruined his reputation, as she did read the occasional newspaper during her travels.
Blueblood's curiosity got the better of him, "I must know, Great and Powerful Trixie" (as proud as he was, he had learned that calling her anything less just brought undue pain) "why ever did the mention of that bothersome protege of my aunt's change your mind?"
Trixie's temperament did not improve upon bringing up the subject, and she looked for a moment like she would not answer, but she found a way to relent, "Let us just say that the Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't like being shown up."
As a stallion who had dedicated a considerable amount of his life towards never being shown up, Blueblood sympathized completely.
Trixie frowned then, and stated haughtily, "The Great and Powerful Trixie does not need an apprentice."
Blueblood looked like he was about to say something, but Trixie waved him away with an idle flick of her hoof and said, "However, the Great and Powerful Trixie may have a vacancy for a beautiful assistant."
"Beautiful assistant?!" Blueblood said incredulously. He knew why she used the word, the "beautiful assistant," was the typical title given to a pony that would accompany the magician on stage and look pretty while they were performing their tricks. However, while he was charming in more ways than he could count, that particular word did a certain injustice to his impeccable masculinity.
"Problem, prince?" asked Trixie primly, mocking him through the corner of her eye with a self-serving, coy smile. That expression made the back of his head hurt again as it informed him that he was trapped and he knew it.
Blueblood snorted contemptuously, "No! No problem at all!"
"Good," said Trixie viciously, "in that case, the Great and Powerful Trixie believes this to be the beginning of a truly terrible relationship."
Blueblood thought that was a tad unnecessary, but he caught what she was suggesting: her wagon, her rules. She was taking a tremendous risk by smuggling the prince out of Canterlot, and she expected him to pay for it every step of the way.
---
A week later, Prince Blueblood had a surprisingly good rapport with Trixie. That is to say, the scathing way they would address each other when going about their daily tasks had lost an imperceptible amount of bite. True, she still treated him like dirt, but beneath that dirt was a fine trace of mutual respect.
Trixie was pleased to discover that her "beautiful assistant" - or a masculine equivalent thereof - was already an accomplished performer, completely immune to stage-fright and capable of feigning for the audience that he knew exactly what he was doing even when he did not. All she needed to do was explain a few pointers during rehearsal in order to keep his mistakes to a minimum, and her performances went flawlessly.
Better than flawlessly, in fact. They had performed at two little-known towns now, and Trixie was pleased to note that her "beautiful assistant" was actually adding to the quality of her performances, reacting naturally and with surprising grace to her actions on the stage in such a way as to enhance her effect on the audience. It was apparently old hat for Blueblood, and the take of gold bits had been considerably better than she anticipated.
But now, they had reached a complication. The wagon had been following a road that would take them to a great many venues on the side of Equestria farther from Canterlot, but first would have to pass directly through Ponyville. Both Prince Blueblood and the Great and Powerful Trixie had several reasons to avoid the town. To be more precise, they had five smaller reasons, one big reason, and her baby dragon assistant.
So it was that they decided to take a somewhat overgrown detour around the town. Trixie had nervously assured the prince and his guards that it would not be a problem. However, they all knew the truth: traveling through the Everfree Forest was always a problem waiting to happen.
The Everfree Forest was a mysterious place. Though in times of yore the ponies may have lived there, the ponies' magical influence had long since receded from the place, and the result seemed unnatural to them: the plants grew, the animals cared for themselves, and the clouds moved all on their own! Such a thought would cause ponies weak-at-heart to faint right on the spot. At times like that, Princess Celestia wondered if perhaps she had spoiled her little ponies.
Because of its reputation, when even the smallest thing went wrong while traveling the ancient roads through the Everfree Forest, it was a major crisis.
---
The wagon lurched suddenly and violently to one side, sending Blueblood sprawling on top of Trixie. Acting significantly more annoyed at him than usual (her greatest feat yet) Trixie shoved him to one side and stepped outside to investigate.
Hans and Fritz had unhitched themselves from the wagon and were now looking at the source of the problem. The wagon had fallen into a small depression of the road that had, just for a moment, caused its entire weight to fall on one wheel at a very bad angle. That wheel was now a splintery mess, completely destroyed.
"Blueblood!" barked Trixie in the same tone one would use to condemn a dog that had just soiled the carpet, "bring out a spare wheel!"
Righteous indignation nearly at bursting levels, Prince Blueblood complied, rummaging through the wagon with his telekinesis until he found the wheel and began to levitate it with his horn.
A deafening roar caused him to drop it again. Shaking so hard he could hardly walk, Blueblood managed to topple out of the back of the wagon and see what caused that sound.
A terrifying sight awaited him. Emerging from the overgrowth was a greenish-colored serpentine beast. On two legs, it supported a base that was as large as the wagon by itself, but the truly terrifying thing is what extended out of it. A tremendously long neck, and three more necks just like it, each one topped with a dragon's head. Three of the heads looked smug, one of them was panting excitably.
"A hydra!" shouted Fritz. "Prince, get behind the wagon!"
Fritz need not have bothered. Blueblood, demonstrating his usual level of unquestionable bravery, was already cowering effectively behind the furthest corner of the wagon.
However, the Great and Powerful Trixie, flanked by Hans and Fritz, bravely stood between the wagon and the hydra. Yet, there was a definite note of fear in her voice as she shouted at the beast, "Stay back! You hear me?! You do not want to mess with the Great and Powerful Trixie!"
Three out of four hydra heads regarded Trixie and the two guards hungrily. The other head laughed at her.
The hydra took a step out of the forest and onto the path towards the wagon. Trixie immediately summoned a storm cloud over its head. Blueblood was momentarily awed at her ability. The cloud shot a single bolt of lightning before dissipating, striking the laughing hydra head right in the snout, leaving behind a small singe mark. It sneezed, and the other heads smirked at it. Blueblood had a feeling the three heads did not like that fourth head very much.
The hydra took another step towards the wagon, and Trixie's telekinesis pulled a rope from her wagon and rapidly tied it about all four of the necks and both legs. The rope snapped under the pressure of the beast's incredible musculature almost instantly.
On its next step, Trixie summoned a great magical firework display, dazzling all the ponies in attendance. The hydra was not impressed.
Trixie quailed slightly backwards as the hydra was now in striking range of her. Her magic may have been able to make her look like she could do anything while she was on stage, but they were of unfortunately no use in the face of a real crisis.
The other heads counterbalancing it, one of the hydra's heads dove directly for the failed magician, ready to gobble her up whole.
Hans tackled her out of the way at the last moment.
The head's momentum passed them and struck the wagon square in the middle, shattering it into hundreds of pieces. "No!" cried Trixie. Tiny splinters fell on Blueblood, who had narrowly avoided being flattened by virtue of having cowered behind a corner instead of a wall.
The hydra head retracted, shaking ruined stage props and personal effects from its eyes.
Hans stood up and exchanged a bitter grin with Franz. It was a soldier's grin, an ironic joke shared between a band of brothers when all seemed lost. Franz returned that grin, and nodded.
Hans shouted directly at the prone Trixie next to him, "Run!"
Trixie's bravery had been used up for the day. She immediately bolted past where Blueblood was cowering and galloped into the forest. Blueblood, not wanting to be alone but not wanting to be with the hydra either, immediately followed her.
Hans and Franz stayed behind, facing the hydra with their hooves braced. The guards were unarmored and unprepared. They hated the prince's guts with nearly every fiber of their being. However, they still had a duty to uphold.
They pawed the ground with their fore-hooves. From far above them, three out of four hydra heads acknowledged their combatants (the remaining one just looked at them stupidly) and the beast readied itself.
They charged.
---
The guards' noble sacrifice bought Trixie and Blueblood the time they needed to gallop deep into the Everfree Forest. Blueblood grieved for his long time companions as he would a favorite bow-tie that fell in his drink. The two unicorns did not know how long they ran through the woods, over logs and under hanging vines, propelled forward by the spooky sounds of unknowable creatures surrounding them.
Finally, they collapsed in a small clearing, panting for breath. About the time they had regained it, Blueblood heard something strange. A strange, wet, feminine noise. He realized that Trixie was crying. That really got under his coat for some reason.
"What is this?" he demanded pompously of her.
A more effective cure for crying there never was. Blinking tears out of her eyes, Trixie faced the prince with the full force of a mare's scorn, "You want to know why the Great and Powerful Trixie is crying?! You, foal, could not possibly understand!"
The prince had allowed this uncouth behavior to go far enough, "Now, see here-" he countered angrily.
"No!" interrupted Trixie, launching into a fury-laden tirade, "You see here. Up until you met the Great and Powerful Trixie, you never had to work a day in your life! When you ran away from home, you didn't have to work the backstreets and alleys performing simple card tricks for bits. Neither did you have to work your way up the ladder of the stage! You could not possibly know how it is like to risk everything by taking it on the road, only to see it destroyed before you, not once, but twice!"
The prince was momentarily taken aback, sputtering for words, but then served her anger back to her, "Oh, so you believe being a prince is easy?! I do not believe the Great and Powerful Trixie," he said the title with all the sarcasm he could muster, "was forced, every day of her young life, to attend thousands of lessons in diction, royal etiquette, and more! Further, our royal person is quite certain a commoner such as you could never understand the pressures of rulership, to have everything decided for one's self in advance, to never be allowed to do one thing on your own, all in the name of preserving your good name. Then, one day, you try doing one little thing on your own, only to lose everything by becoming the laughingstock of all of Equestria!"
Trixie saw a vulnerability and she stabbed it, "The Great and Powerful Trixie believes a snotty little prat like you deserved to become the laughingstock of all Equestria."
The prince parried, "Then our royal person believes a wretched little showpony like you deserved to lose your wagon!"
"What's the matter, prince?" Trixie's voice dipped with venom, "Afraid to admit you're just a bad luck charm to everypony around you?"
Blueblood blanched. Thinking back to recent events, it really did feel like he was the black hole of misfortune, the unluckiest pony in all the universe. (After all, he was the center of it.) Braced by his gigantic ego, he immediately decided not to allow it to depress him. Instead, he would become more angry than he had ever been in his life.
The prince had been taught never let his emotions show on his face. It felt oddly therapeutic to scrunch his face into a ball of fury and project it at Trixie. He stuck his neck out and growled at her, "GRRRRRR!"
Trixie returned the gesture, bringing her nose up only two inches from his face, growling right back, "Grrrrrr!" It was cuter when a mare did it, but he knew she was being deadly serious.
Then, "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAUGGH!" screamed all four heads of the hydra as it stepped into the clearing, drowning the two ponies in noxious breath.
Angry time was over. Blueblood and Trixie ran.
---
Again, the two unicorns did not know how long they were galloping through those terrifying woods. Worse, they did not have any brave ponies to sacrifice themselves in order to buy time. No, the hydra was right on their tails. They could not even split up, whenever one dove off to the side the hydra would extend one of its necks and force them together again. The monster was fully in control of their fate, herding the pair before them, knowing it would be able to enjoy, not one, but two delicious snacks the moment they ended up trapped by the terrain, unable to continue forward.
It was incredibly fortunate, then, that where they ended up running was over a rotting rope bridge extending over a canyon. The hydra stopped abruptly before the bridge: it may have been hungry, but it wasn't stupid (well, one of its heads was stupid, but it did not have the majority vote). It raged on the other side of the rope bridge, watching the ponies escape. Then it noticed the rope bridge was the only way out from the stone island they had crossed to. It retreated into the forest just out of view and sat there, waiting for them to return.
When they felt they were out of the hydra's reach, the two ponies collapsed on the opposite end of the bridge, again panting for breath. The chase had thoroughly scared them off the colliding trains of thought they were on beforehand. Recovering their breath, they stood and took in the scenery around them.
Trixie vocalized the question going through her mind, "What is this place?"
Prince Blueblood knew, as part of his lessons involved being briefed on the royal holdings. With perhaps a little extra pride in his voice, he said, "This is the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters."
Trixie frowned, "It's a dump," she said.
True enough, the castle had long fallen into ruin, its dilapidated walls had crumbled in many places, it was as gray and overgrown as the misty confines around it. However, knowing that going backwards would be a death wish, the wayward prince and thoroughly dispossessed magician had no choice but to press on inside.
The fallen antechamber was thoroughly spooky. Vines climbed pillars near the walls that supported a ceiling that had long since rotted away. The once majestic stain glass windows had managed to lose every last flake of glass, leaving behind incomplete rusting metal frames. In the center of the room was a strange moss-encrusted statue, its purpose unknown, appearing as though it my have once held five round artifacts.
Trixie and Blueblood did not have much opportunity to take in the incredible sight. As they neared the center of the room, a loud rustling spooked them. They realized that they were not alone. Behind them, out from a pillar next to the door crept a strange creature indeed. A many-spiked lizard with the head of a chicken. It did not seem to have noticed them yet.
Trixie's loud shout attracted the attention of the prince, "Don't look at it! That's a cockatrice! Its gaze will petrify you!"
Her loud shout also attracted the attention of the cockatrice. With an aggravated chuck, it hissed at the two ponies who were now carefully looking away from it. They could hear its claws scrabbling closer.
"What should we do?" asked the prince in hushed tones.
"Run!" replied Trixie.
There was no argument as, so far, that plan had served them well. They turned and ran to the end of the antechamber, to what looked like a dead end, but then spotted a hallway hidden behind a pillar. They ran down it, side by side, until the hallway forked. Without time to decide which direction to turn, they split up, Trixie to the left and Blueblood to the right.
The prince registered their separation with increased fear, fear for himself and something even more important than that. (Something more important than himself? A strange impossibility he did not have time to think about.) As he galloped down the hall and turned a corner, he was greeted by a most welcome sight: the walls fell away, revealing an open plain!
Then he heard Trixie scream from within the castle. He realized that this was the perfect opportunity. With Trixie distracting the cockatrice, escape was sure to come. He happily sprinted forward.
And stopped. He wondered to himself, about that. Why did he stop?
Trixie screamed again, and he found himself oddly curious to see what was bothering her.
For a moment, his desires to save his hide and satisfy his curiosity fought. In the front of his mind was his ego, the proud and self-satisfied prince. It was on the defensive, fighting back desperately against that unidentifiable terrible primal throbbing coming from the back of his skull.
Blueblood turned and began to canter in the direction of Trixie, assuring himself that he was just going to take a look.
Then, he began to gallop.
---
As Blueblood turned the last corner of the hallway Trixie had fled down, he found his curiosity satisfied. There, in a ruined (yet still very solid rock) corner of the castle of the royal pony sisters, was a very desperate Trixie. She was panicking, trapped, fore-hooves scrabbling against the wall blindly with her wizard's hat pulled down over her eyes.
The reason was immediately evident: wings outstretched, crowding her as it stepped ever nearer to her, forcing her into that corner, was the cockatrice! Blueblood idly noted that it would only be a matter of time until the creature's potential to physically attack would force Trixie to confront it, and then...
That annoying sensation that had been building in the back of Blueblood's skull, one that had always been a very uniquely Trixie infliction, now ignited, and became an inner fire that suffused the entirety of his being.
With all the pride befitting his aristocratic background, Blueblood strut forward, and stomped a fore-hoof firmly on the cockatrice's tail, just past the spikes. The cockatrice hissed a loud cluck of pain and turned sharply at its new aggressor, its red eyes glowing red with rage... and something worse. Smirking defiantly, Blueblood stared right back into those eyes, and felt the unmistakable sensation of their views locking together with magic.
"I recommend you leave now, oh Great and Powerful Trixie," said Blueblood airily, unwavering as petrification began to overcome his body, beginning at his tail and hooves and slowly working its way upward, a sensation that was at first bitingly cold and then completely numbing. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Trixie recover from her fear long enough to cast him a quick glance before bolting past the cockatrice for the exit. Blueblood felt oddly satisfied knowing that, with the greater part of his body weight firmly down on its tail, there was no way the beast would be able to pursue her even after its grim work was done.
Blueblood had two thoughts, then.
The first thought was a bitterly ironic observation: he had spent nearly his entire life as nobility, but this was the first time he ever felt truly noble. It was an alien feeling, one that did not sit particularly well with him, and yet, somehow it felt extremely right.
The second thought was that he would make an absolutely marvelous statue.
Then, he didn't think anything: rocks don't think.
---
Yet, after an indeterminable amount of time, this rock began to dream.
Blueblood was on the ballroom floor again, suave, turning in practiced elegance with the waltz, a beautiful stranger adoring him as they spun. And then another ballroom, another strange mare. Another, and another.
Blueblood was in the royal reception, meeting foreign dignitaries, their lovely daughters and wives swooning, worshipping him from afar. Blueblood turned on the charm and went to work, providing the necessary grease for the wheels that drove the bureaucracy Equestria, one heart at a time.
Blueblood was on the veranda, under a star-lit sky, alone except for an elegantly dressed strange mare before him, confessing her secret feelings for him. And then in a row boat, another star-lit sky, another mare whispering with blushed cheeks and pursed lips. Regardless of whether it was happening in a secret alcove, incognito in a commoner's cafe, or on a horse drawn carriage, Blueblood always wore the same mask of roguish perfection, a prop he had refined over the years, as these poor girls lined up one by one and scene by scene to tear their hearts out and drop them at his feet.
Blueblood faintly recognized he was reliving his recent life, right up to a certain major disgrace in Ponyville. However, he noticed something new as these experiences blurred together, a thought in common with each experience, a thought that did not repeat itself so much as reinforce itself continually, building in strength until it drowned out all else. Something was wrong, something important that he missed, or that was missing.
Then it came to him.
What was wrong was that he never had feelings for any of them.
Why should he? They were not in love with him at all. Not in love with the little colt who was denied a childhood. Not in love with the prince being lead by his nose through hundreds of lessons intended to improve his finery. Not even in love with the dashing prince that they were marveling at in the present moment.
No, they were in love with the idea of Prince Blueblood, a dashing figure to sweep them off their hooves and into a life of fairy tales. In every romance he had been coaxed into, no matter how intimate the circumstance, when he looked deep into the beautiful sparkling eyes of the mare before him, he saw an unmistakable vacancy that betrayed the truth: she was not seeing the prince before her, but rather watching her own inner fantasies playing through her head.
The first few times, it hurt, it truly did. But he was a trained performer, and he lived by their credo: the show must go on. In time, his heart had grown thick, calloused. Finally, it turned black. He came to relish a broken heart as a fine prize for a job well done. It empowered him, made him feel strong to know he could do that and get away with it.
In the end, all that was left was a faint logical suggestion, a theory he could understand but not subscribe to, that what he was doing was wrong.
It gave him such a headache sometimes.
---
Prince Blueblood's head was killing him. He groggily opened his eyes to see his fore-hooves out before him, and noted with some giddy satisfaction that they weren't made of stone.
He sat up and slowly took in his bearings. He was still in the castle of the royal pony sisters, facing the very same corner where he had met his stony demise. The cockatrice was still there, terrifyingly enough. However, it was now in a strong wicker cage with a blindfold firmly about its eyes, preening somewhat placidly.
As his head cleared, he heard a unfamiliar young mare's voice say, "Welcome back, nephew."
The last few rocks in his brain broke as the gears turned. Doing the math, he was able to deduce where the necessary magic had come to free him from his prison.
"Hello, Auntie Luna," he said.
Turning his gaze from the corner, he saw the night itself, a dark bluish alicorn shrouded with a nearly-invisible aura of eldritch darkness. It was indeed Princess Celestia's sister, Princess Luna. Despite being roughly the same age (perhaps minus the thousand years she spent while entrapped in the moon) Luna was, at most, only half a size larger than the average mare, and she had a definite look of youth about her. Even with the wisdom of centuries behind those eyes, she would, now and forever, always be Celestia's darling younger sister.
Next to Luna stood Trixie. At first glance, Blueblood thought she looked worried but, double-checking, he saw he was quite mistaken. No, she was extremely annoyed, disappointed in him for wasting her time. It seems she had a bit of a stroke of luck in finding Princess Luna in the whereabouts, but Blueblood was not overly surprised: though ruined, this was one of their castles, after all, and perhaps one that Luna was even more familiar with than the one in Canterlot.
With a loud harrumph, Blueblood wearily climbed to his hooves and stretched, dislodging a few pebbles that had settled on him, and stared hard at Trixie with the typical look of contempt painted across his face.
As the two unicorns leveled scathingly disapproving gazes at each other, something flickered between them, their minds united by mutual sentiment. They realized that they could see a bit of themselves in each other... and they hated what they saw. Arrogant, vain, downright mean, they would sooner eat a horseshoe than to give each other the time of day. They were self-centered jerks, nothing less, nothing more, and they preferred it that way.
Yet, if there was any chance under Celestia's sun or Luna's moon that they could possibly see around the colossal egos they held so dear, they would have said one thing to each other, a fundamental fact, an undeniable truth:
They were more in love with each other than they had ever been with any other pony in their lives.
This unvoiced mutual realization came from several things. Before it was drowned out by their personalities, Trixie and Blueblood had enjoyed a brief moment of love at first sight, as both of them were gorgeous and there was a certain something about each other that they liked from the start. In the brief time that they had come to know each other, they had discovered they both excelled at performing and, as performance was their life passion, it served as a bridge in which they could be passionate for each other. In fits of anger, they had accidentally related to each other their life stories, had found they had in common miserable lives, and the self-serving pity they had for themselves had made the transition to sympathy for each other. They had even chosen to risk it all in order to save each other's lives, Trixie from the cockatrice, and Blueblood from wasting away in isolation, and these uncommonly selfless gestures were not completely lost on even these two most selfish of ponies.
Most amazingly of all, the formidable number of positive things these two insufferably vain ponies had discovered about each other were actually slingshot into an even higher realm of love by the negativity that they wore on the surface. This was because looking at each other was like looking into a mirror and seeing an opposite gendered version of themselves, and they loved looking into mirrors.
In other words, as if it was not enough that these two ponies seemed made for each other, they also absolutely deserved each other.
Princess Luna cleared her throat sharply. With uncharacteristic looks of embarrassment, the two hopelessly narcissistic unicorns broke their gaze on one another, narrowly evading the possibility of starving to death enraptured in their reflections.
"Nephew, " said Luna, "I have a wagon waiting to take you back to your quarters in Canterlot." She pointed a fore-hoof through a large crack in the walls and into the distance, and Blueblood could see the wagon on the other side of the rope bridge, a full contingent of guards ready to repel any more hydra visitations.
Blueblood was relieved. While, not long ago, he had stoked a fiery spirit to run away from home, his adventure had put out those flames with all the ferocity of a waterfall. He was now quite certain that the best place for him was behind some very stout, well-guarded castle walls at Canterlot. Without a word, he haughtily set off for the wagon.
Of course, he stopped before leaving the room.
Not bothering to turn around, he stated, "I believe that our royal person would enjoy a bit of company on the way back to Canterlot. In fact, I seem to recall we have a vacancy at the castle for a royal magician, a position that includes lodging and very fair pay."
Head imperiously raised in the air, he craned his neck just enough to fix an eye on Trixie behind him, and saw on her face a smile reeking of the usual utter self-satisfaction as she replied, "In light of the recent destruction of the Great And Powerful Trixie's mode of transportation, home, and place of business, I accept."
As Blueblood ushered Trixie into the wagon with the practiced motions he had gained from hundreds of royal courtship rituals of the past, he decided to take a chance, to say something a little spontaneous.
"Great and Powerful Trixie, I do believe this will be the beginning of a truly terrible relationship."
Trixie paused for a moment with an unreadable expression.
She smiled then, a smug little smile, and said something she never thought she would say in her life.
"You may call me Trixie."
---
Epilogue
From a concealed clearing, Princess Celestia watched the wagon pull away on the path back to Canterlot.
When it was far enough away, she turned back to a terrible reptilian monster bent down into the bush not twenty feet away and pointed in the direction of Froggybottom Bog, its home. The hydra reared up, turned around, and trudged away. In departure, one of the heads blew a raspberry at her. Celestia ignored the sleight: hydras will be hydras.
With her were two very familiar guards, shuffling uneasily.
Princess Celestia turned to them demurely and said, "Hans, Fritz, you have permission to speak freely."
Hans was the first to break the silence between the two, "My liege, you know we do not mean to question your methods, but we must know: why did you go through such elaborate measures to help that insufferable nephew of yours in a simple matter of romance?"
Fritz chimed in angrily, "Begging your pardon, princess, but insufferable is right! Do you have any idea what he made us do to a defenseless baby dragon?!"
Princess Celestia's serenity was unbroken, their comments no more than a leaf gently impacting a calm lake. Of course, it was only natural that the far younger guards would not be able to understand an immortal's machinations. She rarely explained as, for her intervention to work the best, it took an invisible touch, and consequently there was an inherent danger that revealing her intentions may undo her progress. However, among the virtues she insisted on being in every one of her guards, one was the ability to keep a secret, and sometimes she liked to explain the reasons she incited her mad fiascoes. Besides, these two had earned it.
She began with the obvious, "Guards, you should know that my goal is to bring happiness to all my little ponies, especially the problematic ones." Hans and Fritz flinched, already feeling reprimanded, Celestia continued, "As for why we're doing this today, it's because it's all our fault."
The guards looked boggled. Hans asked, "Our fault, Princess?"
Celestia nodded, "As you may recall, Equestria has just escaped from a major crisis: Nightmare Moon's return, dark magics having perverted my sister into an wicked mare of darkness. Fortunately, my faithful student and her friends managed to end that crisis in the best way possible, quickly, before any lasting damage was done, and even returning my precious sister to me. It was my grandest plan yet, a millennium in the making, and it succeeded wonderfully. However, I ask you guards, was justice done for all?"
The guards were lost.
Princess Celestia shook her head softly, "No, I'm afraid not. For you see, there was a possibility my student would fail. Should that have occurred, Nightmare Moon's insane aims to bring everlasting night would bring nothing less than doom to ponydom, and I would not be there to stop her. That could not be allowed. We needed a plan B. Through the sheer poor luck of being born my nephew at the worst possible time, Prince Blueblood's entire life was to be that plan B."
The guards looked at each other dubiously: that ridiculous fop would stand against Nightmare Moon?
Princess Celestia was anticipating this, "Understand that no one pony could hope to stand up against an immortal, but together they may have a chance. My nephew's role was not to make decisions, as it would take the combined efforts of the best minds in all of Equestria to hope to outmaneuver our foe. No, my nephew's role was to be the figurehead, every bit as majestic as the alicorn he would oppose, the banner that all of Equestria would unite under in one last push against the darkness. For this, he was trained to be the representation of a perfect prince, indomitable, and as self-centered as possible so as to have the necessary confidence to inspire everypony even while Equestria crumbled around them."
The guards were gaping as understanding overtook them.
Celesta concluded the first point she had to make, "So it is that, out of our mutual love of Equestria, it truly is all of our fault that Prince Blueblood is what he is today: a figurehead cut loose from its mount, a vain representation of a higher ideal that turned out to be completely unnecessary." There were tears in Celestia's eyes, "Is it really any wonder that my dear, once innocent little nephew grew up to become such an insufferable, arrogant dandy? It was his special talent, we all made sure of that, and he was very good at it. I am extremely proud of him for enduring the terrible role that had been forced upon him by us all."
The guards looked very guilty, not only for the prince, but for making their beloved princess relive a sad memory. Celestia's explanation drifted to how it is they had arrived here today.
"Up until recently, I let Prince Blueblood run wild, to do what he learned to do best, to use his special talent in any way he saw fit. It was the least I could do." Princess Celestia's voice took on a bitter tone, "However, he went too far, his little escapade to Ponyville came too close to threatening something far greater than he knew. I found out far too late, arriving just in time to allow his rash actions to backfire catastrophically, irrevocably destroying his reputation, the very thing through which his special talent operated. Now, not only his destiny as a plan B, but everything he learned since he was a foal, has been completely and utterly denied to him."
But Princess Celestia sounded hopeful, "Yet, not all was lost. You see, guardsman, as long as a pony lives, no matter how dire their circumstances, no matter how terrible they feel, they can learn. Learning is very powerful. With it, one can overcome virtually any circumstance. All a pony needs is a chance, the right stimulation at the right time. I needed to teach my nephew something he could use to escape his cruel fate once and for all."
Her gaze returned to the road, the wagon was long out of sight, "As the cage that confines my nephew was the single-minded self-love we had deliberately instilled in him, I knew that his escape could only come from learning how to love somepony other than himself. When my faithful student informed me of Trixie's visit to Ponyville, I realized that she would be the key, one Prince Blueblood could truly fall in love with by virtue of her similarities to the one thing he held dear: himself. She is Prince Blueblood's best chance at redemption. I also knew that he was hers in the very same way, potentially curing two ponies at once."
Where the guards had been shamed by their association with the damage that had been done to the prince, they were now staggered by the part they played in an immortal's attempt to counteract it. They now understood exactly why Princess Celestia had launched this scheme, from the depths of Castle Canterlot and all the way to the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. She concluded what they now knew, "As was my intent from the start, we have succeeded in teaching my nephew and Trixie how to love somepony other than themselves. Whether or not the curse of their vanity will truly be lifted is still uncertain but, so long as their love preserves, they will have many chances to improve, little by little."
Always one for teaching lessons, Princess Celestia thought it would be best to end this discussion with one, "If there's anything I want you guards to remember when you are enforcing justice throughout Equestria, it is that everypony is just doing the best that they can with what they were given, whether it be dark magics, dire straights, poor upbringing, or something even more complicated. Their wrongdoings are just harmful, clumsy attempts to cope, and our standing against them doing what we must to mitigate the damage. Ultimately, nopony chooses to be the villain, being a villain chooses them."
Sometimes, when Celestia smiled, it was like a sunrise. "And that, my dear guardsmen, is precisely why we did what we did today: because even villains deserve a chance at a happy ending." The guards looked into that sunrise and smiled back, satisfied at having completed a job well done, more confident than ever that they were ready to tackle whatever adventure awaited them next in service to the crown.
That confidence did not last long, as it was then that her royal highness Princess Celestia, incredibly cunning creature that she was, did something that caused both guards to seriously consider resigning on the spot. She sighed and said, "Oh, dear me. My nephew and Trixie under one roof. It will be quite some time until peace and quiet is restored to Castle Canterlot. It seems that I have even outsmarted myself!"
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geldon
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971
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Main 6,Original Character,Prince Blueblood,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Trixie,Adventure,Comedy,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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The Blueblood Conspiracy
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Twilight and friends find themselves entangled in a truly maddening conspiracy!
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complete
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<p>A few weeks after the events in <a href="http://www.fimfiction.com/story/970/Blueblood%27s-Redemption" rel="nofollow">Blueblood's Redemption</a>, Twilight Sparkle receives a royal summons from Princess Celestia, and she and her friends are soon entangled in a maddening conspiracy involving Prince Blueblood and The Great And Powerful Trixie!</p>
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teen
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2012-11-15T04:31:23+00:00
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2012-11-15T04:31:23+00:00
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(The following is a work of fan fiction based on My Little Pony:Friendship Is Magic. I am not affiliated with Hasbro and company. This work is intended to be a work of parody that complies with fair use guidelines.)
The Blueblood Conspiracy
By Geldon (geldonyetich.deviantart.com)
---
The sun's rays from another beautiful morning in Equestria pierced the azure stained glass windows, brightly illuminating the Castle Canterlot throne room. Sitting on the golden throne was the ruler of the realm, a magnificent equine with a horn and wings, pristine coat and chromatic mane, Princess Celestia herself. Sitting next to her, upon that same raised fountain dais, was a smaller alicorn, younger-looking, who wore a beautiful moonlit night upon her coat and mane, Princess Luna.
Today, for various reasons, the two regal sisters had decided to dismiss the court and enjoy a private meal in the throne room. Mint tea (a Moroccolt blend) and a selection of foods fresh from the royal bakery were arranged before them on a low serving table. Though the morning repast was as much the day bringer's breakfast as it was the night bringer's dinner, the two immortal sisters enjoyed it in the same way: their eyes closed as they savored both the taste of the meal and the serenity that radiated from each others' timeless presence.
Rudely interrupting this tranquil scene, Castle Canterlot's foundations bucked from a loud explosion coming from somewhere inside the castle. It was violent enough that it dislodged small clouds from the walls and ceilings. Eyes still closed, Celestia's horn glowed, her telekinesis moving her elaborately-inscribed porcelain teacup out of the way of some the falling particles of debris before it could sully the taste.
The double doors on one side of the throne room flew open! Galloping through those doors were two desperate royal guardsponies, burly white stallions with dark manes, whose normally resplendent golden armor was dented, scratched, and darkened by patches of soot. They stopped with an awkward skid, each of them grabbing a large candelabra stand from either side of the doors, which they then used to brace the doors shut with every ounce of their strength. "Princesses!" shouted one of the guards, "We are under siege!"
Celestia responded by lifting her cup of tea and taking a reflective sip, whereas Luna was currently enjoying nibbling on an oat and walnut scone. Something crashed against the other side of the door, sounding not unlike shattering pottery, followed by the muffled cries of frightened ponies. "Princesses, please!" begged the other guard, "I know we won't live forever, but we still value our lives!"
Another explosion was heard and the throne room once again gave a little jump, spilling Princess Luna's teacup. Now bereft of her tea, she broke her reserved expression, opening her eyes and looking at her sister expectantly. Celestia sighed and put down her own cup. "Very well. Guardsponies, lead the way."
---
After reluctantly reopening the double doors, the guards escorted the two princesses through. The hall leading through the royal quarters wing had been forcibly redecorated with the trappings of war. Dark scorch marks marred the stone surfaces. The floor was littered with wood and ceramic debris. Centuries-old paintings hung at odd angles on the wall beneath disheveled tapestries. Here and there along the hallway were the groaning forms of various royal staffers, the battle having such ferocity that neither dainty housemaid nor brawny royal guardspony had been spared.
"Hans," asked Celestia calmly, "why have these ponies not been moved to the infirmary?"
"They are being aided as quickly as possible, princess," answered the guard with the black mane, "But the royal doctors are simply overloaded!"
"I see."
As they continued at a brisk pace down the hallway, the two alicorns' horns were aglow, silently tending to the minor cuts and bruises on the fallen ponies. The physical injuries were insubstantial but, for peaceful creatures like these, the psychological damage was crippling. A bright green earth pony with a dandelion cutie mark galloped past them, crying, "The horror, the HORROR!" The fate that had befallen Castle Canterlot was several times worse than any bunny stampede.
Just ahead, through the grand archway at the end of the hallway, the air rippled from the shock wave of a fresh explosion. The other guardspony, who would be a twin were it not for his lighter brown mane, betrayed barely contained panic in his voice, "Should we order an evacuation, princess?"
Unperturbed (in fact, usually quite imperturbable) the tall immortal simply responded, "No, Fritz, anypony who remains surely must wish to do their duty." The guardspony swallowed and nodded.
Having reached the end of the hallway, Celestia, Luna, and the two terrified guards stepped through the archway and onto the front lines.
---
The grand royal dining hall was considered by many ponies to be the central meeting place of Castle Canterlot. The walls were adorned with great flowing tapestries and stained glass windows depicting celestial bodies. The centerpiece of the spacious room ran through its length, a grand dining table wrought of intricately embellished white marble, long enough to accommodate over a hundred guests.
At one end of the table stood a barrel-chested unicorn stallion of white coat and luxurious blonde curly mane. That notoriously debonaire visage could only belong to Prince Blueblood. Though publicly disgraced, here he stood defiantly on the field of battle, ignoring the shattered crockery and furniture about him as he cast a practiced look of regal disapproval to the opposite end the table.
There stood his opponent, a unicorn mare of blue coat and slick silver mane. She was standing upon her hind legs, forehooves dramatically miming prestidigitation as only The Great And Powerful Trixie could. Of course, the real magic came from her glowing horn, which was currently levitating countless articles of expensive bric-a-brac above the dining table in a tremendous whirlwind.
Trixie was furious, "The Great And Powerful Trixie cannot believe you! You can't even be punctual!" Literally lending weight to her words, out of the tempest flew an antique clock, directly at Prince Blueblood!
Blueblood's carefully-concealed frustration found escape through his horn's magic, and the clock exploded loudly. The vibrations resounded through the castle as the smoldering debris of the former clock rained around him. His lip curled in imperious indignation as he retorted, "And we suppose you believe this makes your uncouth behavior excusable? As an expert in royal etiquette, our royal person informs you it most certainly does not!"
Trixie shot a wooden breadbox at Blueblood (which he exploded into a splintery mess) and sniped, "Unlike your royal person," she said the title venomously, "at least the Great And Powerful Trixie knows how to take care of herself!"
The prince scoffed as only highly-practiced nobility could. "Is that so?" he asked dryly, "Then why ever did you ask for personal attendants?"
The prince smoothly gestured with his horn to a corner of the hall behind Trixie. There stood two more ponies, spectators of the horrors of war. They both wore the telltale black silk crown and dress of the castle maid corps. One was a unicorn with a dignified vanilla coat, her amber mane styled upwards into a formal bun, slightly Trixie's senior and projecting a neutral expression that seemed oddly unaffected with the conflict before her. Cowering behind her was a little red pegasus filly with a hastily-brushed orange mane, clearly less fierce than her fiery coloration would suggest.
"You could not possibly have forgotten that Primrose and Zinnia were your idea!" seethed Trixie, "You said that the court magician requires attendants!"
Blueblood sniffed haughtily. "Well, I certainly find mine useful." Unnoticed, Hans and Fritz did not know if they should be flattered they were being appreciated or offended the prince was referring to them as so much tools.
The next projectile, a heavy down cushion, exploded in a shower of feathers. "If they're so useful," demanded Trixie, "then where were you today?!"
The prince nonchalantly avoided looking her in the eye, "I do believe our royal personage has already informed you that we were indisposed." He dropped the royal plural and quickly turned it into an accusation, "In any case, you should have waited! After all," he said pointedly, "you are under my employ, royal magician."
Trixie fumed in response, dropping to all fours and stomping her hooves. The mare magician's broken attention weakened her control over some of the projectiles being spun above.
Having entered the hall near the middle of the table, the princesses' entourage was suddenly at risk! Hans dived to the side, avoiding getting hit with a metronome. Luna's telekinesis expertly caught a small decorative chest, placing it neatly against the wall beside her. Flying at Celestia was something the alicorn recognized as an ancient gift: a strange pony figurine looking not unlike some ghastly totem of a foal in a diaper. She elegantly sidestepped, allowing it to smash into the wall behind her, and secretly thanked Trixie's anger for doing something centuries of diplomatic courtesy would not permit her to do herself.
Blueblood noticed his aunts standing off to the side of the table and looked like he was about to say something to them. He should have kept his eyes on his opponent: a thick glass goblet struck him in the cheek with a wet thud! The glass did not shatter, but it was a solid strike that nearly knocked the prince off his hooves. As the makeshift projectile rolled on the floor before him, the stallion looked at Trixie with a pained expression, rubbing his reddening jaw.
The magical tornado was already falling apart, raining its contents harmlessly about the room. Trixie had released her influence on it the moment she realized the prince was struck. She now sat, turned away from him, her face obscured as she radiated self-important detachment through her back.
The fight had come to an abrupt end. The two alicorn princesses passed a look of regret between themselves before splitting up to tend to the two, now thoroughly self-defeated, combatants.
---
Two hours later, Celestia and Luna entered the royal private study. While suitable for light business, it was also a cozy little room often used to entertain close friends when they came to visit. Luna immediately walked over to a small desk and went to work with quill, abacus, and scrolls, most likely tabulating the full cost of the damage to the castle. Celestia lay upon her favorite set of cushions next to the fireplace, relaxing and listening to her sister work.
They were thinking about Trixie and Blueblood who, following today's disaster, had been confined to their rooms with their attendants until further notice. Luna had escorted Trixie and her maids and now recalled that the mare magician, who was normally vocal both on and off the stage, did not say a word. Celestia had seen to Blueblood and his guards, providing the vain prince with a much needed magical ice compress to keep the swelling down, but noticed her nephew was unusually pensive, somehow concerned about something other than his face.
The telltale clacking of beads and scribbling upon parchment stopped.
Luna spoke. "This isn't working, Tia."
Celestia smirked at her sister and spoke in her usual lyrical fashion, "Oh, I don't know about that. The staff has already recovered and cleaned up most of the damage. True, furnishings will be a bit sparse for awhile, but artisans throughout Equestria will be overjoyed at the opportunity to replace them. And look how much fun we're having!"
Luna had to suppress a giggle at the last comment: true enough, it took something quite exceptional to make life about the castle more interesting for an immortal alicorn. Even so... the bringer of night darkened and said, "That's not what I meant and you know it."
The bringer of day broke, sounding somewhat uncharacteristically dejected, "I know, I know! The plan is failing!" She calmed, and was silent for a moment. "Luna, this sort of thing is really more in your realm, so what do you think is happening?"
The younger princess smiled, happy to be recognized as superior to her sister in at least one field. "Oh, Tia," she said playfully, "You were so clever, thinking so many moves ahead, and yet you don't even know what's happening now?"
Celestia rewarded her sister's high spirits with an exaggerated perplexed expression.
"Silly! Why else would this keep happening? The plan succeeded brilliantly! The trouble is what happens next!"
Celestia's astonishment was now genuine; when an immortal learned an important lesson, it was usually a shocking realization of one overlooked. "Oh, dear, I should have known!" exclaimed the almost imperturbable elder princess, "This is terrible, Luna, I've doomed us all to perpetual misery! What must we do?"
Luna shook her head, "It's not that easy. We can't do anything, at least not directly. In matters like this, it's best to wait and see. Unfortunately, the way things are going, I don't think harmony will ever come about."
Deep in thought again, Celestia mused, "There must be a way." Then, after a moment, she broke into a mischievous grin, "Harmony coming about, you say?"
The moon's confidence quickly waned, "Tia, you're not thinking-"
But the sun was set, "Luna, take a note, please."
---
The Ponyville library was dark, only the fleeting evening night illuminating the bookshelves on the ground floor. However, one light was still lit, coming from the door leading to the second floor study. Within, three occupants attempted to make sense of the tragedy.
"How could he?!" cried the white unicorn mare with the luxurious purple curls, arching her forelegs in a dramatic entreating of the heavens, "I simply cannot believe a dashing prince like him could be so foalish!"
"I know, Rarity!" gushed her purple bookish friend whose dark mane had a two-color magenta stripe through it, "And what about the poor entertainer?! Why can't she just tell him the truth?!"
"Twilight, darling, that's not even not the worst part! He doesn't even know that he's been pledged to a loveless diplomatic marriage with a griffin!" Rarity fell backwards in her well-practiced mock faint.
"It's true," enthused Twilight Sparkle, tears sparkling in her eyes, "and she's been secretly trying to raise her social status by flirting with a dragon for his wealth! A dragon!"
Rarity kicked all four legs in the air as she wailed, "And the dragon isn't even a real! It's all an illusion from her wicked stepmare!"
"Really?!" gasped Twilight, "That's terrible! I was feeling sorry for the dragon, but now I don't know what to think anymore!"
"I think I'm going to be sick." deadpanned a purple baby dragon with green spines as he glowered at the two with his arms crossed.
The two unicorns snapped out of their reveries in order to fix him a collective stern look. "Spike," said Twilight Sparkle, "do you want to be in this book club or not?"
Though Spike had come to expect Rarity's usual theatrics - in fact, it was part of why he had a crush on her - his young mind did not understand how a simple romance novel could make his normally logical partner-in-service-to-Celestia act so silly. However, neither did he want Twilight to banish him from Rarity's presence, so he dropped the act and sheepishly suggested, "How 'bout I go make us some snacks?"
"You do that."
When Spike had left the room, Twilight turned to Rarity. "Sorry about that. Spike may be my number one assistant, but you know how he can be."
Rarity sat up on the cushions she had fallen on and smiled at her friend, "Darling, I completely forgive him! After all, if it were not for that little gentleman's efforts, I would be ruined!"
Twilight thought back to the event that had occurred about a month ago now, "I guess you're right. Speaking of which, how are you feeling?"
The fashionista diva crossed her forelegs with a sour expression and said primly, "I'm fine!"
The bookworm was stern as she pried, "Rarity."
Rarity loosened her grip on herself but avoided Twilight's gaze. "Okay, maybe not fine."
Under Twilight's continued stare, Rarity broke down entirely, throwing her forelegs out before her dramatically as she flopped back down on the pillows and bawled, "Oh, Twilight, I've washed my hooves of that most unprincipled of princes, but now I'll never be a princeessss!"
Twilight Sparkle watched her friend's exaggerated theatrics with a hidden eye-roll, but was smiling. It was really better for Rarity to let these feelings out than drag around her boutique wearing a dark cloak and talking of self-imposed exile. After a couple minutes, the crying had died down to sniffling, and Twilight comforted her friend, "Stop worrying about it, Rarity! Take it from me, 'Celestia's Personal Protege,' a stuffy old title is no match for having good friends."
Rarity sat up again and sniffled, "You're quite right, darling. Quite right, indeed!" She begin to smile weakly, her expression genuinely grateful, if a bit puffy.
Spike walked in, carrying a tray stacked as tall as he dared with wheatgrass sandwiches, "I hope you girls are hungr-" he recognized the aftermath of the recent waterworks and carefully put down the tray, looking peeved. "Oh, great, you didn't bring that up again, did you, Twi?"
The unicorn scholar looked ready to start lecturing about her favorite subject, "A good friend-"
"-would stop upsetting Rarity and let her move on with her life!" This was one of those occasions where Spike could turn a lecture back on Twilight, "Look, it's like this: we sent that jerk Blueblood packing from Ponyville, he's an international laughingstock, and we'll never need to worry about him ever again! End of story, yada, yada, yada, happily ever after!"
Twilight Sparkle was graceful enough to let her assistant have an occasional victory, if only to bolster the little guy's confidence. Besides, "I guess you have a point, Spike."
Rarity cheered for him playfully, "Here, here! Spoken like a true little gentleman!"
Her praise caused the baby dragon to blush, and he kicked at the ground bashfully. "Aw, shucks, Rarity it was noth-"
It was something Twilight Sparkle had witnessed so often that her heart jumped in anticipation: Spike was forced to suddenly inhale as though he had a sudden attack of indigestion and then he belched smoke that coalesced into a rolled magical scroll bearing the royal seal. Princess Celestia had sent her a letter! The little dragon caught it handily, but looked a tad crestfallen, "Aw, just when things were getting good."
The fashionista had stars in her eyes, "A letter from the palace itself! Do go on, dear!"
Twilight Sparkle's enthusiasm mirrored Rarity's. "What's it say?"
Spike sighed but complied, already reading the usual introduction from memory before he even unrolled the scroll, "To my faithful student, Twilight Spar-" then his eyes fell on the parchment and he stopped. The usual introduction was not there, after all.
Twilight usually loved it when she received letters from her beloved teacher, but now she was concerned, "Is something wrong, Spike?"
The little dragon was skimming the document rapidly, his eyes getting wider as he read. When he lowered it, his eyes were still wide in shock.
"Why, whatever is the matter, dear?" Rarity's friendly inquiry pulled Spike from his stupor and he looked at her in panic.
Thinking fast, Spike blurted, "You can't hear this, Rarity! It's top secret!"
The two unicorns looked at each other in surprise: that never happened before! Rarity then stuck out her lip and brooded, "Oh, I suppose I am just a mere common mare, after all! I shall retreat to my lowly boutique, then!" She stood and began to gather her things.
Twilight Sparkle jumped to her hooves and stopped her friend, "No, Rarity! You can stay! You're more special than that!"
"I am?" There was genuine hope in her eyes.
Spike was desperate, not thinking straight. "No, she isn't special at all! She has to leave, now!"
Rarity gasped, taken aback. Twilight Sparkle confronted him, "Listen, Spike, I'm in charge and I say she can stay!"
"Please, Twi, this is important!"
"I don't care! She stays!"
"You don't understand!"
"Enough of this, both of you!" cried Rarity. She gave Spike a look of utter condemnation. "A lady knows better than to linger when she isn't wanted! I'm leaving, and nopony dare try to stop me!" With that, she hastily packed her saddlebag and stormed out of the room.
Spike watched her go, gaping, gesturing with upturned claws in attempt to explain himself, but no words came. When the front door of the library slammed, he fell onto his back, moaning, "Oh, milady, milady, what have I done?!"
Twilight looked at her fallen assistant with a mixture of disappointment and pity playing out on her face. "Honestly, Spike." Then her horn glowed as she picked up the curled scroll that had rolled out of his claws and reopened it, beginning to read.
The message was written the bold calligraphy of a royal proclamation.
I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that I am suspending the earlier mission assigned to the unicorn Twilight Sparkle until further notice. Effective immediately, she is no longer assigned to Ponyville to study the magic of friendship. She is to return and take up residence at her new quarters in Castle Canterlot.
"SUSPENDED?!" Twilight Sparkle was frantic, dropping the letter and dancing away from it like it was a snake. "Omigosh! I can't believe she would do this to me - I love Ponyville! Did I do something wrong?! What about my friendship studies?!" Her eyes opened even wider, "What about my friends?!"
"Keep reading." moaned Spike, who had buried his face on the floor.
Furthermore, I am issuing a royal summons to her frequent companions: Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity. They will be similarly quartered at the castle and are ordered to assist Twilight Sparkle in her new mission. In exchange for their cooperation, they may request whatever resources or labor they deem fit in order to allow their endeavors in Ponyville to continue in their absence.
Further details of the mission will be revealed upon arrival.
Twilight looked relieved, "Oh good. I guess that my friends are coming with me." Then the panic was back, "Oh no! My friends are being practically forced to come with me! How am I going to explain that to them?! I don't even know why we're going! Ugh!"
Spike had rolled over onto his back, covering his eyes with one claw and gesturing for her to continue with the other, "There's more."
"More?!" It was then that the unicorn noticed there was something written near the bottom of the proclamation in small, informal letters.
Spike, Twilight, this is Luna.
Celestia asked me to write that down, but she did not tell me I could not add to it! I'm really sorry about this, she can be so thoughtless when she's up to something! But trust me when I say that, for reasons I can't get into, this is very important to her, and it's sort of my fault.
There is something I think you should know: Blueblood and Trixie are here. Yes, the very Blueblood and Trixie you're not on friendly terms with. It's hard to explain, but they're the reason you're coming: they really need the help of you and your friends!
To be honest, I don't think this is going to work. But, if it's even going to have a chance, everypony needs to be present! So, whatever you do, don't tell Rarity!
Though Luna may have intended to soothe Twilight's worries, it had the opposite effect. The unicorn's mind was now racing. Now, the full weight of Spike's little personal tragedy became her fault, but it was hardly noticeable next to the other burdens she bore.
---
The next morning, a pink earth pony with the cotton candy mane sat about a table in the library foyer with her five best friends. Pinkie Pie did not ask any questions when her favorite bookworm asked to throw this party together, she just did what she did best, but found the reaction to be quite unexpected; the eerie silence perplexed and delighted her. "Ooo! This was such a super duper idea, Twilight! I've never seen everypony acting like this before! What's next? Oh!" She began to prance in place. "Let me guess! Ghost stories! I hope it's ghost stories!"
Pinkie Pie had thrown countless parties like this before, with cake, streamers, balloons, and many of the other usual trappings, but this was among the strangest for many reasons. First off, Twilight said the short notice was because it was a surprise party but, if that were true, why did all the attendees receive officious-looking graven invitations? There was nopony left to surprise. Second, why did these invitations state that attendance was mandatory? It was something they humored mostly out of their friendship. Third, why did the banners hung in the library say "I'm very sorry" when nopony knew what was being apologized for? Twilight's friends knew that her social inexperience could lead to colossal faux pas sometimes but, when you put everything together, this occasion was just creepy!
This creepiness was reinforced by her behavior. Twilight Sparkle had been sitting at the table wearing a forced toothy smile for ten minutes now, eyes darting nervously between her friends. The party had seemed like a good idea at the time. It would pad the blow of the bad news she had to deliver. Yet, now that it was actually happening, it backfired, making things ten times worse! The news would seem like the barb at the end of a sick joke! Having thus far failed to think of a way out of his, Twilight had not said a word and, except for the indomitable Pinkie Pie, it was starting to make her friends skittish. To them, it seemed as though Twilight's brain had seized up shortly after welcoming them.
Cautiously, Rarity made an assumption what the party was about. "Twilight, darling, I know what Spike said last night was truly deplorable, but don't you think you're overreacting just a teensy little bit? After all, we are the bestest of friends," in hopes it would improve the mood, she was doing the cutesy little nuzzling routine she sometimes did when trying to coax a favor, "so you have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of!"
In response, Twilight's grin became even more painfully forced. Rarity harrumphed and rested her head on her foreleg, saying flatly, "That's it, I'm out of ideas, anypony else?"
The gentle yellow pegasus with the long pink mane tried next. "Um... Twilight? We've been patient, but now we really need to know what's going on, I mean, if that's okay with you..." Her voice tapered off as it went.
Then came a frightened little squeak. Fluttershy blinked in confusion: the squeak had come not from her, but rather their catatonic host!
"Consarn it!" The tawny earth pony with blond ponytail mane nearly lost her signature brown farmer's hat as she sprang from her place at the table and confronted Twilight directly, staring her in the eye, "Reckon we've had just about enough of this, sugar cube! Now, are y'all a-gonna come clean or am I a-gonna have to take the bull by the horns?"
Applejack's direct approach produced results. Twilight's stupefied expression broke and she fell forward on the table, hiding her face with her forehooves, crying, "I- I just- ooh!" From between her hooves came a wet sound, and a pool of tears began to form on the table.
The cyan pegasus with the wild rainbow mane flew up to the farm girl and confronted her, "Whatcha do that for?!"
Applejack did not back down from Rainbow Dash, instead meeting her snout to snout with grit teeth, "And y'all wanted to sit here a-lookin' at that creepy smile all day?"
The aerial athlete thought a moment, "Well, no." She backed off and muttered sidelong, "But clearly Twilight has one hoof in Crazytown today."
Fluttershy was already at Twilight's side, gently coaxing her to reveal her face, "There, there, you poor thing. Why don't you tell us all about it?"
Slowly, the introverted unicorn peered out from behind her hooves. As she looked up into the reassuring smiles of her friends, she thought that maybe things were going to be alright. Looking down on her were the countenances of the mirthful Pinkie Pie, compassionate Fluttershy, earnest Applejack, faithful Rainbow Dash, self-sacrificing Rari-.
That last thought caused Twilight to cover her face again in an instant.
Of all the ponies here, it was Rarity that shamed her the most. Luna had not exactly issued a command, but Celestia's faithful student treated any word from the royal pony sisters as one. The younger princesses' reasoning was sound: if Rarity was needed in Canterlot, she could not know that the reason why she was going was for Blueblood's sake, or all the stallions in Equestria could not drag her there. While she was a generous soul in many respects, that prince that had wounded her deeply, not once, but twice! The first time was just a severe disappointment punctuated by an insult in the form of a cakey projectile. The second time was much worse: a deliberate deception, a scheme that sought to destroy Rarity's life, and it took the combined efforts of all her friends to save her from that terrible fate.
It short, Twilight Sparkle had been assigned to engineer a severe, mandatory betrayal of a best friend, and it seemed like the worst thing she ever had to do in her life.
To make matters worse, her betrayal of Rarity then extended to the rest of her friends. Twilight reasoned that there was nopony she could share this guilty secret with because she, herself, could only keep it because she had spent most of her young life working closely with royalty. The instilled sense of duty allowed her to hold the success of her mission over a friend's feelings, if only by a painfully thin hair. Even a "Pinkie swear" was out of the question: you cannot swear not to violate a friend's trust over something that violates another friend's trust even worse! The reason for their mission remained her knowledge alone: in the end, had to lie to all of them!
From beneath her hooves, she started to sniffle again.
"Ya know..." said Pinkie Pie carefully, cocking her head 90 degrees to one side as she stared at the miserable purple unicorn, "I think Twilight's problem has something to do with R-"
Twilight was suddenly extremely animated, jumping away from the table and onto her four hooves, causing her friends to balk in surprise. "Okay, girls," she shouted in shaking authority, "it's about time I let you know what this is all about!"
Her friends passed a glance between them for just a moment before Applejack turned to Twilight and said, "Yer darn tootin' it is, missy!"
"Wellll, it's like this..." Then, it was all Twilight could do not to blurt it at once. "I've been given a new mission from Princess Celestia last night and I have to move into Castle Canterlot right away!" She panted briefly, as though it was a terrible exertion to say those words, and watched for her friends' reaction anxiously.
Naturally, they were distraught. Even Pinkie Pie's hair seemed noticeably deflated as she said, "What?! Celestia is making you move to the castle?! I didn't know she could be such a meany mean McMeaner pants!"
Before her friends could offer any sorts of objections, condolences, or assurances to visit, Twilight abruptly shouted, "There's more!" They recoiled and waited with baited breath.
Twilight almost balked again. Her friends were about to discover their lives uprooted and it was because their involvement with her. But at least she could get that off her chest.
"To help with the mission, you've all been summoned to move into the castle with me!"
This was met with even more surprise, but it Rarity who was the first to be coherent. "Dear me! Move to the palace?! Could it be that this is what Spike didn't want me to hear?"
"Yes." The lie felt powerful, sealing Twilight's conviction, dulling her pain.
Spike, usually an excellent assistant, was still rattled from Rarity's scathing disapproval last night, and had actually begged to stay in bed this morning than to help break the news. Twilight imagined he was probably covering his head with his pillow, trying to prevent himself from overhearing the conversation from the landing above.
"But this is a dream come true!" Rarity was dazzled with her inner fantasies again. "What a marvelous vacation it will be! Away on royal business, living like nobility, seeing the latest fashions, meeting the stars, and letting everypony in high places know about my beautiful dresses!"
Twilight listened to this behind a forced smile. She had hoped that her friend would remember Prince Blueblood and that, as Celestia's nephew, of course he would be amongst the castle nobility. Although, even if Rarity did remember, she probably believed she and her friends could simply snub him. From what little Twilight knew of the mission, that would be an impossibility.
"Now hol' on just a second!" drawled Applejack, "Iffin I have to live with those hoighty-toighty types fer a spell, who's a-gonna buck the apples 'round these parts?! Who's a-gonna mind the farm?!"
"It's okay, Applejack." assured Twilight, "Celestia is offering to provide everything everypony needs while they're gone, including apple buckers. You could even have her replace that saggy old plow!"
Applejack thought for a moment. "Naw, I rather earn it fair n' square. But I reckon things'll be alright as long as we've got enough hired hooves..." She still seemed rather uncertain, probably thinking about how her family would take it.
"Um..." came a weak voice.
Twilight was prepared for this. "That offer extends to everypony here, Fluttershy, so I'm sure Celestia will have no problem getting your animal friends the best care possible." The gentle pegasus looked uncertain for a moment, but then gave a little nod before looking coyly to the floor, keeping the rest of her objections to herself.
Rainbow Dash was a carefree pony, and knew plenty of pegasi who were ready to cover for her as Ponyville's main weather mare, but was always quick to jump on an opportunity when she saw one. "Do you think Celestia can put a good word in for me with The Wonderbolts?!" The famous royal flying team was never far from her mind.
"Sorry, Rainbow, it has to be something related to your job here in Ponyville."
Rainbow Dash sat with a pout. "Oh, just great, my one big chance and I get nothing!"
"Y'know, I'm pretty sure winning the Young Flier's Competition counts as putting in a good word."
The brash pegasus thought about it. "Yeah, I guess so. Wait!" She was hovering excitedly again, "Do you think I'll get to hang with the Wonderbolts while we're at the palace?"
"If they're there, it's a strong possibility."
"Woo hoo!" cried Dash, doing a little barrel roll.
Pinkie Pie was bouncing with excitement ever since she heard the news, and could not resist breaking into an anthem she invented on the spot.
Oooh, we're going to live at Canterlot, me and my five friends!
Going see the sights and have all sorts of fun without end!
We'll help Twilight in her mission and together we will be,
the finest force of fillies that Canterlot has ever seen!
The finest force of fillies that Canterlooooot has eveeeer seeeeeeeeen!
With that big finish, everypony's mood was brightened, and they were now chatting gaily about the upcoming trip, enjoying the party at last. Twilight allowed herself a little sigh of relief. Her friends' remarkable solidarity had surprised her once again: they took the news a lot better than she feared they would.
Yet, she felt even worse. Considering what she could not tell them, she did not deserve friends like these.
---
The two wagons carrying the friends and their things had set out from Ponyville the very next morning. The rumors had traveled fast, and it was no secret that nopony knew for certain when they would be returning. Though Canterlot was only a few hours away by wagon, many Ponyvillians bid tearful goodbyes to them as they passed, even the mayor herself.
The departure of the six ponies (plus one dragon) from Ponyville had went relatively smoothly. Perhaps the greatest resistance came from the Cutie Mark Crusaders, three young fillies with close ties. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were both being deprived of their older sisters, and Scootaloo was taking Rainbow Dash's absence at least as hard. However, the older fillies had managed to escape the gravity of those bottomless eyes with promises that the mission would be over soon and that they would be allowed to return home. (It was a promise that they desperately hoped to be able to keep.)
The trip itself was largely uneventful, the only particularly notable thing being Twilight Sparkle's continued strange behavior. Though she had made token efforts to keep up with her friends' antics as they passed the time with conversation and games, it was clear that the unicorn was becoming increasingly reserved. When she could hide it no longer, she was quick to blame it on seeing Princess Celestia, whose exposure to her friends had thus far been limited to special occasions. It was an easy excuse, since she had always demonstrated anxiety whenever making a good impression on her mentor was involved.
Finally, the two wagons pulled up to the verdant lawn before an immense structure of many majestic spires united under a graceful architecture: Castle Canterlot. Upon informing the guard of their arrival, the fillies from Ponyville were told to report to the throne room. While following the winding footpath up to the drawbridge, they passed the royal porter ponies who would be taking their things to their room. Twilight had told her friends that most things they need would be provided, but each of them had a few personal items they wanted along if they were expected to live at the castle for an indeterminable amount of time.
Although Twilight told her repeatedly it was not necessarily, Rarity insisted that she and her friends demonstrate some level of sophistication when entering the royal court today, and so had provided them with some short but elegant dresses. It was a design intended to exemplify Ponyville humility while still attracting notice. Even the tomboyish Applejack and Rainbow Dash did not find these dresses too excessively froufrou.
Spike did not get off so easy. At Rarity's request, he unquestioningly wore a blue velvet sailor suit topped with a fancy black sombrero with white trim. As they passed through the gates and into the castle, he could swear he heard some of the guards stifling snickers, but whenever he looked they were standing at statuesque attention. He felt absolutely humiliated, and planned to ditch the suit at his earliest opportunity.
Twilight's friends were excited. "I simply cannot believe this is really happening!" enthused Rarity as they passed through the antechamber leading into the throne room, "We get to live under the same roof as Princess Celestia herself!" Even Pinkie Pie seemed to be bouncing slightly higher than usual.
Twilight Sparkle stumbled sideways into Applejack, who immediately moved to support her, attracting a concerned look from her friends. "You okay, sugar cube?"
She righted herself and grinned sheepishly. "F-fine... I'm sorry for worrying you, girls, I don't think I slept very well last night."
"Understatement of the year!" came Spike's glib confirmation, "When I got up this morning, you looked like a wreck!"
"Uh huh." Twilight was too weak to protest.
As they were entering the throne room, Rainbow Dash was saying, "Then lets just get this over with so Twilight can get some re-"
"AIGH! IT'S THE YELLOW DEMON FROM THE GALA!"
The royal herald's shout caused every guard, servant, and noblepony in the court to take one look at Fluttershy and cower in place, as though afraid one wrong move would set her off. Some of them may even have started crying.
"Oh, no! Not this again!" squeaked the shy pony, cowering herself as she began to crawl backwards out of the room. Her friends gathered around her protectively, Rainbow Dash and Applejack looking about ready to kick somepony.
"Enough!" From atop her throne, Princess Celestia's usual serenity looked close to breaking. "Everypony, that is Fluttershy, one of my protege's closest friends, and I expect you to treat her kindly!"
The cowering court ponies cast a few quick glances between Fluttershy and Celestia (perhaps trying to decide who they feared more) and then climbed to their hooves, muttering all matter of apologies to the shy little pegasus. Some even bowed before her. If anything, this added attention made her even more nervous, but at least she no longer felt the need to bolt from the room.
"I'm so glad everypony could make it!" Luna cheerfully waved to them from her spot next to her big sister.
The warm welcome restored Celestia to her usual good mood as she signaled the new arrivals to approach the throne. "Come and be welcome, my little ponies. Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student, it is so good to see you again."
"Uh huh." replied Twilight aimlessly.
Celestia paused for a moment, perhaps surprised at her student's lack of enthusiasm, but continued. "I wish to thank you all for answering my summons-"
"Shucks, 'taint nothin'. We're sure as sugar is happy to be helping y'all out, princess!" drawled the tawny earth pony. Some of the nobleponies in the court gaped at her. Applejack noticed this and looked a little embarrassed.
The alicorn did not seem bothered in the slightest in being interrupted. If anything, her smile became even warmer. "And your help is greatly appreciated, Applejack. Please consider Castle Canterlot your home during this important mission."
"Ooo!" marveled Pinkie Pie as she poked her head out from high behind the throne, "I can see everypony from here!"
Nopony saw how or when she got there. A noblemare fainted, probably at the breach of protocol that came from approaching the throne so brazenly.
"I know, right?" Luna was beaming at Pinkie Pie, who withdrew her head behind the throne and popped it out again at the opposite end next to Luna, nodding furiously.
Rainbow Dash flew up to the two and shouted, "Pinkie Pie, stop being so random! She was about to tell us what this is all about!" In response, the pink pony playfully stuck her tongue out at her, causing Luna to giggle.
At this point, the court was no longer surprised at their rude guests' antics, just appalled.
"That's quite alright, Rainbow Dash." Celestia's smile seemed completely unaffected by all that had transpired. "I believe the details of your mission will become clear in time. For now, why don't you girls settle into your new room?"
Rarity was gaping, as shocked as any noblepony at her friends trampling all over court etiquette, but upon hearing Celestia's dismissal she snapped back to her senses and bowed. Fluttershy and Applejack followed Rarity's example, but Twilight just stood there. Noticing this, Rarity shot a subtle kick to her flank in order to get her attention.
To the shocked cries of her friends, Twilight toppled unceremoniously to the floor, and was still.
---
The royal infirmary was as well-equipped as any hospital, albeit limited to six beds. There, a stately gray stallion with a stethoscope cutie mark pronounced his prognosis, "I see nothing wrong with her, so I believe Miss Sparkle is simply exhausted from the trip. All she needs now is some peace and quiet."
Twilight's friends and Princess Luna let out a collective sigh of relief. Although the purple unicorn wore an unhappy expression, she appeared to be resting comfortably.
Celestia sat beside the bed, her unusually large body taking up its entire length. She spoke kindly but firmly. "You heard the doctor, everypony. I think it's best if you let her rest. The steward will show you to your room." The doctor retreated to his private office and shut the door, while the others left through the archway leading to the rest of the castle.
There were two exceptions. "Luna. Spike. Stay a moment, won't you?" They froze. There was something about Celestia's voice that told them they were in trouble. They sheepishly made their way to the opposite side of Twilight's bed.
The monarch was to the point. "Do either of you want to tell me what was in that letter I wrote?" Luna just hung her head, while Spike kicked the ground bashfully.
The dragon spoke first, "Well, there was the proclamation. You were saying that Twilight Sparkle's mission in Ponyville had been suspended, she had to live at the castle, and that her friends were coming with her. She seemed really upset about having to break the news to everypony."
Celestia looked down at her faithful student with an unreadable expression for a moment. "This I know. And...?"
"I'm so sorry!" Luna admitted, "I told her that Blueblood and Trixie were here, that they were the reason that they were coming, and not to tell Rarity. But that's all I wrote, really!"
"Oh, Luna," murmured the older alicorn sadly, "whatever am I going to do with you?"
"You're not going to send her to the moon, are you?" The young dragon was earnest.
"No." replied Celestia immediately. Her voice was sharp, but not harsh, "Never again."
Luna seemed unaffected, already knowing this. "Somepony needed to know, Tia. It was too risky to simply spring it on them."
"I agree." The answer seemed to surprise Luna. "But there was a very good reason why I took that risk."
At her sister's inquiring glance, Celestia spoke, "Twilight Sparkle is the bearer of the Element of Magic."
Luna gasped. "I knew that, but are you saying..?"
There was a pregnant pause. Princess Luna was looking as ashamed now as when she had been carried into Ponyville following the defeat of Nightmare Moon.
Spike sensed a secret, and it worried him, "What are you two talking about?!"
Celestia answered with an abrupt command, "Spike, quickly, retrieve your friends. Tell them it is an emergency."
---
Twilight Sparkle felt like her ribs were being pried open but, instead of an unpleasant sensation, this seemed to be letting in a much-needed breath of fresh air. She felt something she dared not feel since before the day she left Ponyville: loved.
Her eyes gradually came into focus, taking in the royal infirmary and the visage of Princess Celestia, whose horn was aglow. Noticing she was awake, the alicorn stopped whatever magic she was performing and that pleasant inner feeling stopped, being replaced with the usual dread she had been feeling lately.
The unicorn sat up and took in the rest of the infirmary she had been resting in. Sitting on both sides of her bed were the two royal princesses. Her friends surrounded the foot of her bed in a semicircle, all wearing concerned expressions.
Spike jumped up onto the foot of her bed. "Hey Twi, how are you feeling? Do you remember how you got here?"
"Well..." She thought back to recent events. "We were about to enter the throne room and..." She winced. "The rest is a blank!"
"My faithful student." Celestia's familiar voice warmed Twilight like the rays of the sun. "Sometimes, I wish you were not so faithful."
She gaped at her. "Huh?!"
"I'm really sorry." Luna's voice eclipsed her sister's, drawing Twilight's attention to the other side of the bed. "It was wrong of me to ask you to keep anything from your friends."
The unicorn introvert was now doubly flabbergasted. "Huh?!"
At the foot of her bed, the fillies passed a look between each other. "Now, what in tarnation is this all about?" The bearer of the Element of Honesty was always quick to want to get to the truth of things.
Twilight Sparkle required a moment to reorient herself before she could recall the source of her troubles over the past few days. When she did, the pain she had suppressed back at the party came flooding back, and her eyes filled with tears. They felt bittersweet: she realized she had been given a royal pardon, and could now unload the greatest burden she ever had to carry.
She told them everything. About knowing that Prince Blueblood and Trixie would be present at Castle Canterlot. About knowing they had something to do with their mission. About choosing not inform Rarity. About how she had betrayed them all by keeping it to herself. She told them that she would not blame them if they knew how terrible she was and wanted to leave her forever. When she was done, she closed her eyes and braced for the tongue-lashing she was sure to receive.
Then, she felt the embrace of her friends from all sides. She looked and saw that the alicorns had stepped away from the bed and her friends were now piled atop of it. Pinkie Pie had even somehow found some way to replace her pillow with her stomach, hugging her head from above and behind.
But one pony did not join the embrace. Rarity stood some distance away from the bed, with her back facing them all.
"Oh no," worried Fluttershy, "I don't think she's happy."
"No." Rarity's voice smoldered at a low ladylike furor. "I'm not happy."
"Hey!" In a flash, Rainbow Dash had flown up to Rarity and was now confronting her. "I know that Blueblood jerk-"
Rarity shut her down mid-sentence with an elegant dismissal, "I could care less about Blueblood." Rainbow Dash seemed at a loss for words.
The fashionista turned to face Twilight Sparkle, glaring at her. "But what is completely unforgivable," her voice was quivering in barely contained righteous indignation, "is that anypony would dare think that Rarity Unicorn would rather abandon a friend than face a demon of her past!"
Twilight looked as though she was struck, and was about launch into a crying fit, "I'm so sorr-!"
"I forgive you." Rarity said simply.
"Huh?!" Twilight's tears stopped before they had even reformed. She was once again shocked at a sudden turn of events.
Rarity's anger had vanished in the blink of an eye, and she sat there looking at Twilight with a warm little smile. "Unforgivable or not, everypony makes mistakes, and I do believe you have suffered for it more than anypony else would have." She walked up and daintily found a place beside her friends on the overcrowded bed. "I'm proud to have a friend as marvelous as you."
Rainbow Dash rejoining them, the six friends completed their group hug in earnest. From the foot of the bed, Spike silently took the situation into account and decided that, just this time, he could forgo acting nauseated at all this mushy junk.
After some time, Celestia spoke. "Girls, I would guess that none of you have eaten anything since your arrival at Castle Canterlot." The looks she gathered indicated she guessed correctly. "Then please proceed to the grand dining hall, where you will find I have had a banquet prepared. Surely, this reconciliation is grounds for a-"
"Party!" cheered Pinkie Pie, producing confetti out of nopony-knows-where and tossing it into the air.
Laughing, the close friends left the infirmary. It felt empty without them, despite Celestia and Luna lingering behind.
From across the empty bed, Luna called, "I misjudged Rarity, didn't I, Tia?" Her tone was bright, even playful.
Celestia returned her sister's mirth. "We both did, little sister."
"Yep, that's my Rarity for you, she's wonderful." A young voice intervened dreamily. The two regal sisters turned to see Spike was still in the room, having jumped out of hiding and back onto the foot of the bed.
There, the little dragon stood firm, a stare boring into at the tall monarch as though he did not care if he went blind looking at the sun: he had just about enough of its brilliance, and it was going down.
"Alright, sister." This was his ultimatum voice. "I'm giving you two choices. Choice number one: you tell me exactly what just happened. Choice number two: you throw me in the dungeon. You're not leaving until you pick one or the other."
---
It was a ludicrous demand: as if a baby dragon could force an alicorn to do anything. Nevertheless, Princess Celestia confronted Spike with an unreadable expression, their staring contest going on for a full minute, before the alicorn smiled and said, "What an unusual dragon you are, Spike. You truly care about my faithful student, don't you?"
The dragon looked a little taken aback and replied, "Well, yeah. She's Twilight, you know?" That seemed to explain everything.
The tall alicorn looked to her sister, who nodded.
Luna began, "Spike, as you are aware, there are six Elements of Harmony. Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty are the basic elements. They can manifest through each of our actions and radiate throughout Equestria. However, the sixth element is different. When the first five elements combine, they become friendship. Friendship is magic. This is how the Element of Magic comes to be."
Celestia continued, "What my sister learned today is that no pony takes up the mantle of becoming a bearer of an Element of Harmony without being changed. The element transforms the bearer as needed for the magic to flow correctly. Twilight Sparkle is a very special case. Her special talent is magic, and she is the bearer of the Element of Magic. They have fused, becoming one and the same. We ponies breath magic; we require it to survive. Should the Element of Magic ever recede from Twilight Sparkle..."
Luna's voice was heavy, "Twilight Sparkle wasn't being melodramatic, Spike. The Element of Magic has been receding, taking the magic sustaining her life with it. She was suffocating!"
Spike gaped. "Holy guacamole," he said in a reverent tone, "you ponies really play for keeps." Then he was frantic in his concern for Twilight. "So what happened?! Why was the element receding?!"
"It's all my fault." A tear rolled down Luna's nose. "My sister's tasks gave Twilight things that she could get out of the way quickly, restoring the balance, but when I told her to keep Blueblood from Rarity..."
As her sister could not continue, Celestia explained, "A pony's emotions are closely tied to how the flow of their magic works. Twilight Sparkle felt she was betraying, not just Rarity, but all of her friends. To avoid the pain from this, she decided she did not deserve them, closing her heart. As her friends directly represented the five elements, she was now effectively blocking the inward flow of them all. That is why it was important for them to reconcile. Now that she again feels worthy of her friends, the five elements can now flow into her, not just from them but from everypony. The Element of Magic has been restored within her."
"I see," said Spike crossly, "So how do we fix her? How do we get her magic back to normal?"
Luna and Celestia exchanged a glance that told Spike the answer to his question before the older sister spoke. "We know of no magic that can undo what the Elements of Harmony have done."
"Fine!" the dragon spat bitterly. "In that case, there's something I gotta know. What about the other bearers? What happened to them?"
Celestia was reassuring, "Their lives are safe. As other five elements have always stood on their own, they have no danger of receding. Even if they could recede, the current bearers are not so intimately bonded with them, and would suffer no ill effect. Except, perhaps, feeling a bit empty inside."
Spike was visibly relieved, if still a little cross.
Celestia was not finished, and continued in a cautionary tone. "Yet, a transformation did occur in each of them. For most ponies, the elements function as a moral compass. To live contrary to any one element simply results in a less balanced, less harmonious life. However, for the bearers, their element has been given a much greater role, as practically the only element their moral compass draws from. This makes them very vulnerable to losing their balance and falling into discord completely."
The younger alicorn seemed to understand, but the dragon was confused, "Come again?"
Luna turned to Spike and gave him the simple version.
"When they act against their element, it's easy for them to get carried away. They may even go completely insane."
---
The towering walls of the grand dining hall rung with their cries, "AIGH! IT'S THE YELLOW DEMON OF THE GALA!"
"Will you stop that?!" Twilight Sparkle was glad to be back to her old authoritative self again. "Fluttershy is not a demon! She's very nice! Now, clean up this mess!"
In response, the two distinguished looking earth pony waiters stopped shivering in each others' forelegs and scrambled to clean the contents of the trays they spilled. Though the power behind being Celestia's personal protege was only implied, it was nonetheless effective.
Aside from the six friends and the occasional royal staffer, the grand dining room was empty; it was perhaps a little too clean, as though it were missing several minor furnishings. It seemed unnatural to the shy yellow pegasus as she worried quietly from their place at one end the grand dining table. "I don't know about this, Twilight. Everypony's scared of me! Maybe I should just go back to Ponyville?"
"You worry too much, Fluttershy!" Though at times Rainbow Dash seemed callous, she had known the former ex-Cloudsdalian the longest, and comforting her was old hat. "Once we set everypony straight, things will be so awesome around here!"
Across the table from the two pegasi, Pinkie Pie had already gulped countless cakes, and was now entertaining herself by making a remarkably elaborate sculpture out of some mashed potatoes. Sitting next to her, Applejack's hearty country girl appetite was doing justice to the luxurious spread before her. "And I'm atellin' ya," she drawled between mouthfuls, "this fancy-britches palace grub is mighty fine once you get used to it! Though... it could use more apples."
Rarity was sitting at the end of the table, next to the recently-reconciled Twilight, and was aghast at the farm pony's conduct. "Applejack, darling, do mind your manners!"
Applejack thought it over. "Nah. Celestia did say we should make ourselves at home, and I say the soup's on!" To Rarity's dismay, the farm pony resumed piling her plate high with various royal confections.
For some reason, Twilight Sparkle could not be happier at their usual antics than she was today. She was feeling light; alive. As though, no matter what, as long as she was with her friends, everything would be right in the world.
The familiar baby dragon walked in and joined them at the table. Twilight Sparkle greeted him brightly, "Heya Spike, what kept you?"
He grabbed a plate of rubies and replied, "Oh, I was talking to the princesses."
"Really? What about?"
"Just about how hard it's going to be to live under the same roof with all six of you." The fillies took his sour response in good humor, rolling their eyes or poking fun at how silly the young dragon was, but he inwardly congratulated himself at how smoothly he diverted suspicion.
The princesses had sworn Spike to secrecy but, as far as he was concerned, they need not have bothered. Fate (likely with a guiding hoof from Celestia) had cleverly chosen six ponies whose natural behaviors were such that they were almost never in conflict with the Elements of Harmony they bore. Spike preferred everypony thought their little quirks were just that; personality quirks, nothing else. Unlike Twilight, who he planned to keep a close eye on, it was not like he was going to croak from guilt. If anything, a dragon guarded a momentous secret like the finest jewel, something Celestia may have taken into account when she confided in him.
The dragon smiled as he chewed his gems, happy to be sharing a meal with his six favorite fillies in all the world. So maybe they do go nuts once in awhile? That was just part of the reason why he loved them!
---
They had been enjoying the banquet for a solid half hour when the double doors on the opposite end of the hall opened, heralding visitors.
"Shhh!" Pinkie Pie hissed in a low whisper, with all the ferocity of enforcing a Pinkie swear, "Girls, look!" The pink pony pointed far to the opposite side of the grand dining table where, over a hundred empty place settings away, a royal entourage had entered for their supper.
On the left, Prince Blueblood strut in, nose held imperially high, being trailed by his nearly-ever-present personal guards, Hans and Fritz. On the right, a smaller, bluer version of him mirrored his actions. Trixie, of course, was being trailed by her maids, Primrose and Zinnia.
Twilight gasped, seeing for the first time the two ponies they had been brought here to help, and realized that the princesses never did get around to explaining their mission. Applejack muttered what she and her friends were all thinking, "Wut do y'all reckon those two 'r all about?"
Strangely, the two remarkably self-absorbed unicorns were carefully avoiding looking at each other. In fact, so very carefully that it prevented them from looking forward, in the general direction of the six fillies plus dragon. Instead, they mostly looked at the ceiling. It was testimony to how practiced they were at sticking their nose up at other ponies that this did nothing to impede them from navigation. They sat at opposite sides of the far end of the table from the fillies, facing each other in body, if not in spirit. Between them, royal servants delivered fresh dishes of food.
Twilight Sparkle whispered to the pony next to her, "Are you alright, Rarity?"
"I told you, Twilight," she replied primly but covertly enough to escape notice, "I am completely over that ghastly prince!"
Twilight rolled her eyes. If Rarity really felt that way, then how could she explain why she had abandoned her impeccable manners in order to carefully hide behind their end of the table?
"What are those two doing eating together?" Rainbow Dash barely prevented herself from shouting her suspicion. "Do you think they're plotting against us?"
Fluttershy was looking over at the two vain unicorns with wide eyes. "Oh, my." she sighed softly, "I didn't see that coming."
At the far end of the dining hall, Blueblood and Trixie ate their food in silence. It was the prince who eventually spoke, eyes downcast on his plate. "Trixie," he said, "please pass the salt."
It was a strange request, and the oddness was multifaceted. Not only had Blueblood managed to address Trixie without her title and escaped unscathed but, when you're a unicorn, you can very well pass your own salt with your telekinesis. It was as though he was trying to get her attention... with subtle courteously? It seemed like an impossible thing for such a self-entitled prince to do, as the fillies had known him to boldly proclaim demands for anything he wanted.
Odder still, Trixie complied, quipping, "You're not going to let it go to your head, are you?" She was referring to intoxicating effect salt could have on ponies. Her voice may have been slightly sharp, but the words still seemed grossly alien compared to all the snarky replies the fillies were expecting.
"Well," Blueblood could not resist retorting with a slight edge, "that would not be the only thing that had went to my head lately."
Sharply, the tension on that end of the table had risen, to the point where the fillies could feel a certain threat hanging in the air even from where they sat. Trixie shifted uncomfortably in her seat, wrestling with her towering pride. Hans and Fritz, who had been taken up a post on both sides of the double doors they had entered, looked across at each other nervously. Standing next to Trixie, the scarlet filly, Zinnia, took wing and darted behind her fellow maid, the stately Primrose.
"Miss?" It was Primrose who spoke, a noblemare's voice that elegantly expressed a single word. It sounded subtly insistent, encouraging Trixie to a course of action. Unlike the other attendants, she did not seem the least bit nervous. This pony had nerves of steel.
At this prompting, Trixie grit her teeth. Then, carefully, she allowed herself to relax. She took a deep breath. Finally, she looked directly at Blueblood and said something that shocked the six fillies to the core.
"I'm sorry."
Twilight and her friends looked at each other open-mouthed, even the indomitably oblivious Pinkie Pie not believing what she was hearing. The Great And Powerful Trixie had apologized for something. Using a first person pronoun, no less. This, the show pony who relished humiliating them up on stage rather than let them comment on her flamboyance from the audience. This, the very same pony who would rather flee from Ponyville in a dramatic exit than apologize for a simple lie that had set in motion the events that nearly lead to the quaint town's complete destruction! It was nothing short of miraculous. Could it be that Trixie had learned her lesson after all?
Yet, in response to this notably incredible thing, the prince merely harrumphed. It was not a dismissive harrumph, but rather one that seemed to suggest he really had nothing to say about that. The fillies saw that, and thought, "Now there's our inconsiderate prince."
Trixie stood up at once and yelled at him, "THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE HAS SAID SHE IS SORRY!" Her shout echoed off the walls of the great dining hall, increasing tensions further. The ponies that had served their food beat a hasty retreat. If most of the onlookers had not already been sitting in anxious silence, they would have been now. Now that was the Trixie the six fillies knew.
Trixie was glaring at Blueblood, who now regarded her, afraid. He opened and shut his mouth soundlessly. After a moment, his eyes glazed over and he answered her in practiced regal detachment.
"Yes, very good."
That would have been the right thing to say in a relaxed dining environment. However, taking the context of the situation into account, it was so callous that even the brash Rainbow Dash blanched.
"NO, IT WASN'T!" cried Trixie, her horn aglow. Hans and Fritz dove behind some pillars. Primrose gracefully backed into a quarter, carefully shoving Zinnia behind her.
"Ooo!" Pinkie Pie had recovered from her surprise and was getting increasingly excited at watching the couple argue. Suddenly, the hindquarters she was sitting on began to rattle, and she shouted a warning to her friends, "Twitchy tail!"
Twilight and her friends exchanged a look. "Twitchy tail? But that means-"
It was then that they noticed that several articles from about the room had begun to glow, and were slowly being drawn above Trixie, as though attracted by her anger, where they begun to spin into a slow whirlwind.
"TWITCHY TAIL!" shouted Applejack, as she and her friends dove for cover.
What followed was chaos, something so terrible that the fillies and dragon would only remember scattered scenes. Twilight Sparkle and Applejack on the front lines, knocking stray projectiles out of the air with well practiced magic and apple bucking hoof respectively. Rainbow Dash flying between a spinning tempest of floating flatware, trying to avoid being pulverized by the plates. Spike bravely defending a frightened Rarity from a hail of cutlery with an improvised saucepan shield. An annoyed Rarity defending a frightened Spike with that same lid when he balked after the first volley. Fluttershy hiding under a pony-sized serving lid, only to have it levitated off her by Trixie looking for more ammunition. Pinkie Pie was on the offensive, dodging attacks with the honed skills of a professional food fighter, picking up various pies and cakes and throwing them, scoring only a few direct hits on lingering service ponies that she imagined were in league with enemy.
Once again, Castle Canterlot was under siege.
---
Somehow, the six fillies and Spike had managed to escape the grand dining room, galloping into the hall leading through royal quarters. Twilight Sparkle followed her friends to their room, and they quickly barricaded themselves inside by pushing some heavy wardrobes in front of the doors before bracing themselves against it for good measure.
"No explosions this time. The nephew must be restraining himself."
"Yes, sister. You know he's a good colt, deep down. This one should be short."
The voices turned Twilight Sparkle's attention away from the barricade and she found herself dumbstruck... and perhaps a little creeped out.
Though she had been to the castle many times before, this room had been completely renovated since she had last seen it. There were six alcoves, two to each wall other than the one with the double door that lead out into the hallway. Each alcove had bedroom furnishings and could be concealed with curtains decorated with the pattern of their cutie marks. Above each of the six alcoves, hewn into the rock wall, were the six icons of the Elements of Harmony.
There was no doubt about it: Celestia had actually gone so far as to create a room at the castle specifically customized for Twilight and her friends to stay in. Considering it must have been done months before she received the summons, the critical thinking unicorn could not help but feel a bit manipulated.
If Twilight had any complaints, she would not have to look far. The centerpiece of the room was a square table, ornately inlaid with gems, and large enough to accommodate three normal-sized ponies comfortably to each side. On two of those sides, the two princesses sat, drinking tea. The table had been recently decked with a fresh tea set and baked goods, even going so far as to set out places for Twilight and her friends, as if the alicorns were expecting the fillies to appear in a panic in order to join them for a post-banquet tea party. Pinkie Pie already had.
Knowing the craftiness of the creatures before him, the little dragon was not the least bit surprised. He regarded the princesses grouchily. "I hope this isn't going to be another boring, long-winded explanation." The fillies could only assume he was referring to his earlier conversation with the two, whatever it was.
Luna giggled, but Celestia was being her usual imperturbable self. "I'll try to keep it brief, Spike." she assured him kindly. He only sighed and went over to a little bed set outside Twilight's alcove, apparently deciding it was time for a nap.
A shy little sniffle attracted Twilight Sparkle's attention. A little yellow pegasus in a torn, ragged dress crouched near the door with tears streaming from her eyes. Twilight attempted to placate her, "It's alright, Fluttershy, we're safe in here."
"But that's not iiiiiit!" she wailed in response, crying even harder.
"Geeze, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash flew up and sat between them, "Give her some room! That's just Fluttershy being Fluttershy."
But Luna had abandoned her tea, trotting by both of them and nuzzling the distraught pegasus. "There, there, I know." Fluttershy looked up at Luna, her tears slowing noticeably. "But it's going to be okay, I promise."
It was then that everypony noticed Applejack brazenly confronting Celestia herself. "Enough of this tenderfootin' around." she grated, glaring at the monarch of their fair land like she was staring down a cantankerous bear. "Are you a-gonna tell us the honest truth 'bout why we're here, or you are a-plannin' on hurtin' more of my friends first?"
Though the alicorn had her eyes closed, as she often does when trying to savor the taste of her tea, Applejack's accusation caused her to almost lose her telekinetic grip on her cup; the farm pony's words had a definite impact on the almost imperturbable Celestia.
Setting down her teacup curtly, Celestia respected Applejack with an earnest reply. "As my faithful student has already told you, the reason why you are here is because Trixie and Blueblood need your help. As to what kind of help they need, I thought it best if you see it for yourself."
"That's easy. They're just jerks!" Rainbow Dash had a tendency to leap before she looked. "So, do you want us to go kick their tails?" The suggestion brought a new wave of tears from Fluttershy.
There was a hint of amusement in Celestia's reply. "Thank you, Rainbow Dash, but if I wanted to 'kick their tails,' then I'm quite certain I could do so myself."
"Clearly, they have forgotten their manners! Leave it to Rarity Unicorn, I'll teach them the charm and grace they never knew!" The unicorn was currently poking about her wardrobe, shedding herself of a dress that been forced to operate far beyond its intended stress limit.
Still comforting the crying pegasus, Luna said, "That's very generous of you, Rarity, but they already have very good manners, even if it seems they don't know how to use them." The younger alicorn indicated Fluttershy. "But I bet she knows what it is."
Unfortunately, though Fluttershy had calmed considerably, she was still too distraught to speak up.
"Tell me, Applejack," Celestia turned the tables on the earth pony, "what do you think they need?"
Taken back, she thought for a bit, and offered, "Shoot, princess, 'reckon I'd have thrown em' in the hoosegow and thrown away the key fer acting that badly outta line!"
Celestia could not resist a lighthearted laugh. "Well, if it were anypony else destroying my castle, I would certainly be tempted! But I prefer to help problem ponies, not sweep them under the carpet."
"You know what I think?" The pink party pony was spitting scone crumbs as she spoke. "I think those two vainy vain McVainensteins have been performing for everypony so long that they've forgotten how to be themselves!"
"That's very good!" The monarch was impressed. "But do you know why this is causing them so much trouble?"
Pinkie Pie thought it over with a fresh mouthful of teacake. "Noph!" she said brightly.
Finally, Celestia turned to Twilight Sparkle. "What do you think, my student?"
Twilight Sparkle was accustomed to being regularly tested by her teacher. Why would not being themselves be a problem for Blueblood and Trixie? Thinking it over, there was definitely something off about the two vain unicorns, but what?
She looked at Fluttershy. The shy little pegasus knew, at least Luna said so. Thinking back to the party, didn't she say something? Right: she said she didn't see it coming. What didn't she see? What Twilight had seen was the sullen Trixie and Blueblood eating dinner in silence. The weirdly unnecessary passing of the salt and the question it caused Trixie to voice. That incredible apology. The usually flawlessly suave Blueblood responding to it so awkwardly, and how upset it made Trixie.
Twilight pondered that last thought aloud. "Hmmm... a clueless prince... that poor entertainer..." Then she stopped. She stared at Rarity, who had frozen, staring back. They had heard that somewhere before. At the last romance book club meeting, in fact.
"Are they... are Trixie and Blueblood... in love?!"
The question was so outrageous that it hung silently in the room. Even Fluttershy stopped crying.
Rainbow Dash collapsed into a laughing heap with Applejack. "Yeah, right, Twilight thinks Trixie and Blueblood are in love. They practically tried to kill each other! The only pony they could love is themselves!" Twilight blushed from embarrassment.
To the laughing ponies' dismay, Celestia intoned, "Twilight Sparkle, you are absolutely correct."
Faintly, Fluttershy could be heard saying, "That's what I've been trying to say!"
Spike apparently wasn't asleep, after all. "Duh! I figured that out before we even left Ponyville."
---
Everypony had joined Celestia and Luna at the table. They had all shed their ruined dresses and were now wearing a pony's favorite casual everyday wear: nothing at all. The tea and food was delicious, and they hoped it would wash away some of the anxiety of how things had been going since their arrival.
Spike had given up feigning sleep and was now sitting next to Luna. From the adjoining corner, Pinkie Pie reached over and gave him a playful noogie. "How'd you know those two were in love, Spiky?"
The dragon was glad to have an excuse to be out of his sailor suit. Although, as he rubbed the sore spot on his head scales, he regretted not having the hat right now. "Well," he explained, "the way I see it, it's like this: Trixie's a girl pony, and Blueblood's a boy pony."
Twilight inwardly wondered how a dragon who had a crush on a pony would draw any conclusion from that, but instead just pressed the question at hoof, "That's not exactly enough to go on, Spike."
"I'm not finished!" he protested. "The thing is, those two are the most shallow ponies I know! I mean, really shallow. I'm talking, like, I don't know, a desert or something? Zero redeeming value. They're so shallow that if-"
Luna cleared her throat, "That's our nephew you're talking about." (Technically, the term "nephew" was an honorific for a mortal pony some 52 times removed from the immortal.)
"Uh, right!" The dragon quickly moved on. "So what I was thinking is that there's only one thing somepony like Trixie and Blueblood would have a chance at even considering falling in love with. And that would be some pony that reminded them enough of themselves. Either that, or a mirror."
Celestia laughed lightheartedly once again. "You are a dragon of many surprises, Spike. When I first heard about Trixie from Twilight's friendship reports, that's exactly what I thought."
"Now hol' on there just a minute!" drawled Applejack, "Are you a-sayin' y'all fixed those two up?"
The tall alicorn smiled and rolled her eyes upward, the clear picture of somepony up to something. From across the table, her younger sister giggled at her behavior. She was being so obvious that even Rainbow Dash saw it, and exclaimed, "What?! You did?! But why?!"
"Oh brother," grumbled Spike, "this is going to be another lengthy exposition, isn't it?"
Celestia ignored him, suddenly serious, addressing everypony in attendance. "My nephew needed help. He was raised to be a diplomat, it was his special talent, and he was very good at it. However, when his scheme against Rarity backfired, his reputation was ruined, the whole basis of his special talent was gone. There was really nothing left for him in this world. I honestly feared he would take his own life!"
Spike was angry. "Yeah, well that jerk deserved it!" He was entitled to it, as the dragon had been very badly injured by Blueblood in the caper that had so backfired on the prince.
Rarity's face was conflicted; likely she was torn between two things. On one hoof, the gravity of the punishment Blueblood received had gone far beyond what she was aware of. The generous soul would not have wished that even upon her worst enemy! On the other hoof, had the prince succeeded in his plan, that same terrible fate would have been hers!
"Whether or not he deserved it, Spike, he's still our nephew, and now he had a serious problem. Yet, the cause of all his problems was there all along. His vanity: that was what had driven him to ruin. That pride had a certain use when he could be seen as a leader but, now, it only served to hold him back. I decided that I needed to find some way to cure him."
Twilight could see where this was going, "So how was Trixie going to be that cure?"
Luna answered, "A lot of vanity has to do with not loving anypony other than themselves. My sister thought that if the two were in love with one another, then they would slowly be able to overcome their limitations. Even better, it would cure two ponies simultaneously, as Trixie has the same problem."
Spike was acting nauseated, "We sure are throwing the word 'love' around a lot here." Rarity, the true romance novel addict among them, cast him a disapproving look and he clammed up immediately.
"It almost worked," continued Celestia, "you may have noticed some signs of improvement." The friends recalled Trixie's miraculous apology with a new understanding. "Unfortunately, the problem was much worse than I thought. Due to their complete inability to communicate, they are perpetually getting in fights! These fights are so terrible that it causes them to completely fail to learn anything!"
"It's a real mess," Luna interjected, "I can't tell you how much of the royal coffers are going to undoing the damage between Trixie and Blueblood's fights. Suffice to say, it's a lot! If it weren't for my sister's stubborn insistence to see everypony happy, I think I would have called the whole thing off!"
"Luna!" Fluttershy was expressing demure outrage, unusually assertive. "This is love we're talking about! You don't just, 'call the whole thing off!' That's... that's just so mean!" She would not back down, but she did tear up a little.
"Maybe so," replied the younger alicorn, "but look at them: they're miserable! What Tia did to them just brings them into constant conflict!"
Rainbow Dash was amused, "Tia?" Luna covered her mouth in surprise. The six fillies looked at their mighty ruler with little smiles on their faces.
"My darling little sister's pet name for me." replied Celestia with a gruff tone before continuing on smoothly, "Really, Luna, you act like I cast a spell on them or something. All I really did was introduce them to each other."
Luna giggled like her sister had just told a naughty joke, and said, "Throwing two ponies in a life threatening situation is not exactly an introduction, Tia."
"A controlled life-threatening situation." stressed Celestia to reassure the wide-eyed fillies, "I was ready to intervene every step of the way. Besides, it would not have worked if they were not truly compatible. Tell me truthfully, Luna, do you think those two want to break up?"
The younger alicorn's eyes were downcast, "Well, no, I guess not. Frankly, that they are still together after so much has gone wrong is nothing short of amazing! Their love is strong, Tia, but even that will not keep them together if things keep going on like this."
"Then it's decided!" Celestia announced, addressing all in attendance, "Your mission is to help Trixie and Blueblood learn how to open up and communicate, thereby saving their relationship."
"Now, hold your horses!" shouted Applejack, "Sure, it's fer a good cause, but I still don't like this. Reckon this here is some kinda conspiracy!"
"That's right. And now, you six are in it too. I believe that you, as the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, are the only ones who can bring harmony to this relationship. For the good of Equestria, we need you: help us to cure these two of their villainous ways."
Despite the monarch's words, Applejack's sentiment was still strongly in the fillys' minds, instilling doubt. True, Princess Celestia was their widely-beloved ruler and the very alicorn trusted to raise the sun itself each day. She was unquestionably wise, counting her age in centuries, perhaps millennia. Unlike any other pony known, the alicorn had both the authority and experience to make this plan work. Considering she would be forced to live with the consequences more than any mortal pony, she may even be entitled to meddle in their affairs.
Yet, even if Celestia was the most qualified pony on the planet; even when the cause was just; even if her goal was to bring happiness to every single pony Equestria... there was no denying that she was still being an unabashed Machiavellian; the princess was not the least bit repentant about her guile. Were the alicorn any mortal pony, it would be something unquestionably atrocious. It was something an innocent filly would not want to know about, let alone participate in.
Each of the young mares about the table took this differently. Twilight Sparkle was the least conflicted, she had come to trust Celestia... she may have even been taught to trust her mentor. Rainbow Dash had decided to go along the plan simply because her friends needed her. Pinkie Pie's motives were a mystery, as usual, but she simply commented she loved a good prank and left it at that. Fluttershy was conflicted at first, weighing the tragedy of the two lovestruck ponies against the cruelty of deceiving them, but the gravity of the former eventually won out. In the end, it was only Applejack, the farm pony who prided straightforward honesty above all else, who looked like she was about to give Celestia a piece of her mind. She would have, too, were she not surprised by Rarity suddenly standing up from the table and walking towards her alcove.
Twilight called out to her, "Rarity? We're not done yet."
Rarity ignored her friend and began collecting her things. She seemed to be packing. Luna and Celestia exchanged a disappointed look: it was clear the unicorn had decided to return to Ponyville.
Twilight Sparkle's horn glowed, and she teleported herself directly in front of Rarity, blocking her access to the wardrobe. "Rarity?! What are you doing?!"
"Twilight, darling. I simply can't do it. I can't. I Can't. I CAN'T!" Rarity flopped to the ground and began to thrash about in her trademark hysterics. "I know I said I would not abandon a friend but... how could you?! This goes beyond just helping him! This is about finding true love! The very thing I was denied whenever that most un-princely of princes was involved! He deliberately toyed with me, Twilight! I refuse! He doesn't deserve to be loved. But I do! Where's my true love?! Oh, Twilight, I'm so pathaaatheeetiiic!" She was bawling bucket loads of over-dramatic tears as she rolled about on the ground.
During this, Luna whispered to Spike, "See? Act completely opposite to her element, go completely insane."
Much to her surprise, rather than defend his crush, Spike whispered back glibly, "Sister, you ain't seen nothing yet!"
Twilight Sparkle knew that her friend had a point, but also that she needed her help. How could she convince her to stay? She looked frantically to her other friends for answers. Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked as lost as she was, Pinkie Pie had vanished, Fluttershy was more likely to sympathize, Spike would just be a lapdog, and even Luna and Celestia seemed to have nothing to say. The scholarly unicorn knew an unsolvable problem when she saw one and despaired.
"Oh!", she cried, "What do I do? What do I do?!"
Oh, Twilight, don't you see?
Twilight Sparkle froze. She had heard that tone before. "No. You have got to be kidding me."
Applejack spotted Pinkie Pie and gave the honest response. "Sorry, partner, it's so."
The pink earth pony with the cotton candy mane was singing. Between verses, she flit quicker than eyes could follow from alcove to alcove, behind wardrobes, onto the chandelier, even under the table a few times. The song was sung in the same lighthearted tone that had once saved them from Nightmare Moon's trap, but this time the lyrics were... different.
When I was a little filly, my life was pretty baaaaaad.
If I couldn't get the harvest, my dad, he would get maaaaaad.
I'd pant and scrape and quibble, toil endlessly and fall,
but daddy Pie said, that wasn't the way, to break those rocks at all!
He said, "Pinkie, you've gotta stand up tall, grip the pick right here.
Yes dear, it'll hurt at first, but keep whackin' 'til it disappeeeaars!"
Hah Hah Hah!
Pinkie Pie was walleyed. Her usually fluffy cotton candy curls were noticeably less curly: not completely straight, but far cry from the usual volume. As she laughed, it had a bitterly ironic ring to it. This was clearly not a pleasant memory she was recounting, and neither was the lesson it conveyed. Luna was again whispering to the slack jawed dragon.
Soooooooo,
stop cryin' 'bout your issues,
go blow 'em in a tissue!
Life's not all fine dining,
so quit it with your whining!
Just take it with good humor,
or else you'll get a tumor!
So, help that silly prince get hitched so that he'll take a hike and leave you alone and if he thinks he can show his face around Ponyville then you can't be held accountable for what's gonna- hahahah!
Laaaaaaaaaauuugh!
When the song was over, the fillies and the dragon were laughing... sort of. It was a bit forced, like it was being done to boost their pink friend's spirits more than their own, but they were laughing nonetheless. Beneath the din, Celestia was furtively conversing with Luna... something about filly labor regulation.
"Twilight," hissed Rarity in a low whisper, "I think I'll stay, after all."
"Really?!" she was certain the song would have made the situation worse, not better.
"Yes." Rarity's resolve was firm. "Because, as awful as it will be to help that insufferable prince find true love while I am being left in the dirt..." She paused in mid-sentence and glanced at Pinkie Pie. The usual cotton candy mane was still somewhat limp, but it seemed to be steadily inflating back to normal. "...that will be nothing compared to life on that ghastly rock farm!"
---
What followed was the master planning session. Celestia had recommended each of Twilight Sparkle's friends come up with an idea representing their element; she wanted them to suggest ways to reinforce these virtues in the two love-struck unicorns, reasoning that each of these lessons would introduce ways for them to open up to each other.
So the conspirators had reassembled about the table, drinking tea and eating treats while chatting brightly about how they would go about helping Blueblood and Trixie. However, there was one pony who smouldered resentfully, saying nothing, her signature hat pulled down low, hiding most of her face.
Applejack had given her word, but she didn't have to like it. Immediately after Rarity announced she was staying, the earth pony announced that she was going to walk right up to that Blueblood feller and Trixie and tell them what was going on. But Twilight had said that was a bad idea; that if they discovered they were only together because of Celestia's meddling it would blow their one chance at becoming better ponies.
Twilight made Applejack promise not to tell, their friendship alone being the main reason why she agreed, and the farm pony took her promises deadly serious. So here she was, stuck having to go along with Celestia's underhanded schemes. She'd be deliberately lying to everypony. Not even a half or three-quarters truth as she'd usually be able to get away with when she was cornered, but genuine, masterfully-wrought, full-potency lies!
Actually, now that she thought about it, it was not all that bad. She allowed herself a naughty little giggle and was surprised to remember she had not made that sound since she was a young filly trying out being a Manehattenite with her Aunt and Uncle Orange. They did things differently, those city slickers. All those stuffy manners, it was as if they were afraid of saying what was on their mind. So, instead, they said them behind everypony's back, the dirty rumors of high society, like it was a guilty pleasure. The filly could not help but get caught up in the gossip mills - it was so much fun!
The farmpony wondered how much fun she could have in the castle right now. Why, she could learn all sorts of things about the nobleponies by hanging around Celestia's court. She would just have to pretend to be one of them. It would not be hard: all she had to do was dust off that fancy manner of speaking she learned when she was young and borrow one of Rarity's most froufrou dresses. She could even fabricate a few choice rumors on her own.
Then, if she learned something really good about somepony, she would be ready to start blackmailing them. Why, with the bits from that, she could fix that saggy old roof in no time! Maybe it would be even faster to cut out the middlestallion and just snatch whatever they left laying around carelessly. Come to think of it, she could probably even find the royal treasury of all Equestria around the castle somewhere...
"Applejack, are you all right?" While her other friends were too wrapped up in their ideas to notice, Twilight Sparkle did, and was concerned.
The tawny earth pony froze. She had been crouching malevolently, wringing her forehooves in anticipation of all the gold bits they would be handling. She thought about what she would say. She could say she was fine... but this was Twilight. Her friend deserved better than that. She forced it out, "No, Twi, I'm not. I'm a-schemin' like a lowdown, dirty snake. 'Taint right. 'Taint right a'tall."
She shuttered, feeling the oily residue from her insidious plotting ooze off her body like she was escaping quicksand. Oh, it felt so good for her to say that! This guilt was a feeling she had first encountered when she regret her actions in Manehatten as a filly, sense being knocked back into her by the roar of a sonic rainboom. But this was worse, much worse. She could not believe she was considering stealing from somepony! Granny Smith would whoop her good if she knew!
She was roused from her thoughts by Twilight saying something, "I know this is hard for you, Applejack, but I'm really glad to have all my friends here to help." A smile of genuine gratitude before returning to the conversation taking place at the table. Applejack's friend had misunderstood, thinking she was referring to the conspiracy they were all a part of, but the effort of trying to tell the truth made enough of a difference to matter.
The apple bucker began to perspire as much as when she did the last time she went snout-to-snout to hide something from Pinkie Pie. She realized she was on a slippery slope: this conspiracy stuff was a heap more potent than a mere surprise party; it was dangerous! She would have to watch her thoughts carefully every single second. But how long could she do that? Not nearly long enough!
So Applejack did what any honest pony would: she looked for a pony she could confide in. Of course, Twilight Sparkle was her first choice, but she decided against it. Her bookish friend was relying on her, and would be shaken in discovering how weak her normally ever-reliable friend was. Fluttershy would undoubtedly be sympathetic but, other than using "the stare" to keep her perpetually cowed into submission (a terrifying idea) she would be unable to do anything to help. The farm pony reckoned the fashionista would think the problem could be solved by reinventing her with dresses, makeovers, flowery manners, or something even more ridiculously froufrou. Pinkie Pie was not a bad choice, as the other earth pony of their group could come up with surprising solutions and could be trusted to keep a secret, but Applejack was not looking for cheering up: she was looking for someone to tirelessly keep her on the straight and narrow.
This left Rainbow Dash. That idea rung true to the farm pony immediately. The two had come to loggerheads once, getting carried away and sabotaging each other terribly during a heated competition, so the pegasus could understand what the earth pony was going through more than anypony else. More importantly, she was a true blue pony who stuck by her friends no matter what. This was not only because of her impeccable faithfulness, but also because she had more stamina than most ponies could ever dream of!
It was decided. Applejack was sitting next to Rainbow Dash, and now nudged her furtively to get her attention, an expression the in-your-face athlete recognized implicitly. "What is it, AJ?" The pegasus was smiling at her, bright and innocent, not a care in the world. The farm pony felt a tinge of shame that lazy old Rainbow Dash was being far more reliable than her, but rapidly banished it from her mind in case anything bad could come of it.
She was interrupted before she could say anything. "Applejack, Rainbow Dash," intoned Princess Celestia in her usual lyrical voice, "would you two be so kind as to see if the fighting has died down?"
The tawny earth pony glared at the alicorn, who merely regarded her warmly in return. Applejack did not know how, but she was positive that lowdown scheming alicorn already knew what she was going through. Nonetheless, this was exactly what she needed, so she complied with the suggestion without a word, focused on kicking from her mind the guilty pleasure she felt from a deception working in her favor.
After pushing aside their makeshift barricade and carefully and sneaking through the doors, the two fillies made their way carefully through the hallway in the direction of dining hall. The staffers had fled, but the scenery had escaped damage. It was eerie, like a ghost town. Applejack barely payed attention to it, more worried about how she was going to broach her all-important request to Rainbow Dash.
When they finally had reached the dining hall, they noticed that Trixie and Blueblood were gone, along with their respective maids and guards. Though there was a tremendous amount of shattered clutter and debris near the side of the hall they had fought, it seemed probable that the two had worked off their steam and retreated to brood. Not a pony remained, not even a servant; the two friends would seem to be completely alone in the middle of the castle.
Not even the reluctant conspirator could ignore that this was her best opportunity to get Rainbow Dash alone. As the flier turned to leave, the grounder grabbed her tail. Having her attention, she spat out the tail and said, "Hang on there, partner, I've got sumthin' important to say."
The pegasus may have recalled that the farm pony was trying to get her attention earlier, and asked, "What's up?"
Rapidly coalescing in Applejack's mind was a temptation not to tell the pegasus. Not because she was planning on doing any of those horrible things... at least, not yet. But rather because she was deeply ashamed of admitting weakness. She had always felt that being an unreliable pony was the same thing as being a dishonest pony. Because she held this false belief, her fear of admitting her weakness created a true vulnerability, and she felt herself sliding back into the brink. She had to spit it out, now, or she may not get another chance.
"Rainbow Dash," she spoke clearly and earnestly, and it formed a protective bubble in her mind, "this here conspirin' stuff is havin' a real bad effect on me. I dunno whut I'm gonna do. Lie, steal, r' worse-"
"Woah, woah, woah, woah!" Rainbow Dash interrupted, backing off, a little afraid, "Are saying you're going nuts, AJ?!"
It sounded dangerously close to a rejection, and it was threatening the integrity of the shield Applejack had formed in her mind. She acted fast to reinforce it. "Listen, Dash! I'm just a simple country gal, I can't handle all this high falutin' schemin'! It goes against my grain!" She swallowed and said her least favorite phrase in the world. "I NEED your help!"
Rainbow Dash's eyes had become hard. But not out of rejection. In fact, the pegasus walked right up to Applejack and put both forehooves on her shoulders. "AJ, you're one of my best gal pals. I got your back. Just tell me what I need to do." She was not the bearer of the Element of Loyalty for nothing.
Something in the back of the farm pony's mind told her that this would be her last chance to loosen her reins a bit. Let her cheat, just a little. She grit her teeth and mentally kicked it back where it belonged. "I need you to stick to me like apple compote on a dumplin'! Don't let me outta yer sight, not even fer even a second! 'N if I look like I'm doin' somethin' bad, anythin' a'tall, y'all gotta stop me. Got it, partner?"
The pegasus's eyes still had that look of determination in them. "Got it, partner!" She paused. "But shouldn't we tell the others?"
"But the others r' why I'm doin' it this way!" Applejack was feeling a little better now that her external safety buffer was beginning to form. "I don't want to worry anypony else, 'specially Twi. Y'all know how easily upset she can git! Reckon, as long as y'all'r keepin' me from doin' anythin' I'd regret, I ain't lyin' or being unfaithful to em', n' neither are you."
If there was a logical inconsistency in this, Rainbow Dash could not see it, and so her innocence was preserved. "Alright, AJ. Lets shake on it!" She spit on her hoof and extended it to the farm pony.
Applejack returned the gesture. Her foreleg had never felt so much like it was not her own as when she reached out to seal that hoofshake; all the remaining temptation she had to misbehave resisted her. However, as soon as she came in contact with Dash, those guilty thoughts were sealed away, and she was her own pony again. She had signed a mental contract not only with the pegasus, but with herself, and was now committed to staying on the right side of the tracks.
"Whew-ee!" the apple bucker breathed in clear relief, "Thank ya kindly, sugar cube. I can't tell you how much I 'preciate this." She felt a little silly about it now, doubting Rainbow Dash would even need to intervene: all she really had to do is be an ever-present reminder.
"Hey, what are friends for?" the pegasus answered brightly, "Now lets go back and let everypony know the coast is clear."
"Right behind ya, partner!" They happily galloped back to their room like it was a make up race all over again.
---
Though normally ridiculously reserved, Fluttershy had proven unexpectedly assertive in insisting on going through with her plan first. Celestia had complied, stating that a generalized kindness would indeed be an excellent foundation for the other lessons.
The shy yellow pegasus may look like a pushover to most ponies, but her friends knew differently. Somewhere beneath that helpless-looking exterior raged a force of will that could cow a full-grown dragon into submission or stare down a cockatrice in mid-petrification. At least, these had been demonstrated. What is more, to have learned as much as she did about the care of animals was no minor thing: she may not be a scholar like her friend Twilight Sparkle, but she was no airhead.
Even now, she sat on the balcony outside the tallest tower in Castle Canterlot, peering below with a pair of binoculars, a mastermind at work. Next to her sat Twilight Sparkle, the one and only unicorn whose assistance she decided she would need for this task.
Twilight was wearing a strange spiral on her horn, inscribed with runes. It started at a little sconce hooked on the end of the horn. From there, a thin metal band spiraled down the length of it. Wider and further from the horn it went, until it attached on a little dish hooked around the base of the horn.
"I can see them," breathed Fluttershy nervously.
On the plateau far below the castle, a stately wagon pulled to a stop on a country road. Out of it stepped their quarry. They were sporting surprisingly casual dress; Prince Blueblood wore a fine striped blazer vest and Trixie wore an elegantly-styled sundress. They walked up a path beside the road towards what appeared to be a rather picturesque looking park. Even from here, they seemed uncomfortable, as though embarrassed anypony would notice them together. Their usual four attendants were there, but waited next to the wagon, at the entrance to the park.
"Wow!" Twilight was once again impressed at her alicorn mentor. "I can't believe she was able to convince them. So, Fluttershy, how did you want to do this?"
The pegasus put down her binoculars and turned to the unicorn. "Um... okay, so here's what I was thinking (if that's alright with you). I'm, um... going to watch them..." Her voice trailed off.
Twilight waited. Nothing more seemed to be forthcoming from her friend, so she prodded for more information. "Just watch them?"
"Yes." She stated politely. Twilight stared at her. "Um, well, actually, no. You see, I'm trying to see if there's something we can do that makes it look like they were being nice to each other."
"Nice?" prodded Twilight.
"Nice." That seemed to be all the explanation Twilight was expected to need.
"So let me get this straight." The unicorn pointed at the spiral on her horn, "That's the reason why I'm wearing the far caster?" It was an expensive and highly regulated magical artifact on loan from the princesses, but she had been trained in its use as a part of her School For Gifted Unicorns education. "You're going to tell me things to do that give them a chance to be nice?"
"Yes." This time Fluttershy meant it.
The scholar thought about it. If the far caster was used carefully, their quarry would suspect nothing. It was a brute force solution, but a clever one nonetheless. A little push here, a little pull there, and they could cause all sorts of little accidents that would provide the needed segues for the two vain unicorns to show a little kindness. If they were really as lovestruck as the alicorns claimed, it should prove irresistible to them. Of course, direct telekinetic manipulation of another pony without their permission was a very rude faux pas, and most unicorn parents had taught their foals better. However, being on a mission for the beloved monarch of the land would undoubtedly be an exception most parents would approve of.
"Oh!" The pegasus had donned her binoculars again and spotted their first opportunity. Blueblood was standing on the crest of a little hill, perhaps imagining his splendor as being the perfect topping for it. Nearby, Trixie noticed an interesting flower and had decided to sneak a little sniff of it as long as nopony was looking. "Shake that flower!" cried Fluttershy.
Twilight Sparkle's eyesight was not the best in Ponyville, but one of the benefits of the far caster was that it provided magical spacial awareness at any patch of ground she could vaguely see. She knew exactly what flower that Fluttershy was referring to, and gave it a little shake.
The pedals tickled Trixie's nose. She sneezed. Blueblood did not even notice.
"Oh." Fluttershy was mildly disappointed.
Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes. "Really, Fluttershy, you're going to have to make me do something a lot more noticeable than that."
"Like what?"
"Well..." Twilight said the first thing that came to mind. "How about I trip one of them?"
The pegasus was aghast. "I could never!"
"No, really, it's easy! Watch!" To the shy pony's horror, Trixie's forelegs suddenly slipped out from under her, and she pitched forward into the flower she had been sniffing, squashing it. Twilight remembered the mare magician's performance back at Ponyville and wondered how she enjoyed some of her own medicine. Blueblood heard Trixie fall but, by the time he turned to see what happened, she had already scrambled to her hooves, looking peeved.
"Ya see?!" Twilight was a bit too self-satisfied sometimes. "That almost worked. We just need better timing."
"I don't know, Twilight..." sadness was in her eyes.
But the unicorn was firm. "What am I always telling you?"
Fluttershy held her breath for a moment and asked, "Be more assertive?"
"That's right! So do it! Loosen up! Have a little fun with it!"
The pegasus sighed. "Oooh... alright." She donned her binoculars looking a little more determined. After following the path of Blueblood and Trixie through the park for awhile, she issued a quiet shout, "There! Shake those bushes!"
Their quarry had reached a point on the path that had been overgrown on either side by rose bushes. Twilight Sparkle gave the bushes a quick little shake, trying to impersonate a sudden gust, and the vines slapped against the flanks of the vain unicorns, causing them both to vault forward in surprise at the pricking of the thorns. They landed ahead on the path, free of the reach of the plants. The two glanced briefly at each other before continuing, apparently deciding the issue had resolved itself without need for reassurance.
"Horseapples!" The word sounded comical spoken so gently. "I was certain that was going to work."
"Don't worry about it, Fluttershy, we can try again. There's plenty more thorny brambles and such on the path ahead."
"Hmmm, there are, aren't there?" There was a slight edge to her voice as she peered intently through the binoculars. The gentle pegasus had never tried to think of ways to deliberately bring about harm before, but she was finding it surprisingly easy now.
"Glad to see you're getting in the spirit of this! Keep in mind I can do a lot more than just shake things, okay?"
Silence was the only response Twilight received as the mastermind plotted her next move. Of course the pegasus had known the unicorn could do quite a bit more than that: she had felt it firsthand, when she allowed her friend to directly manipulate her in an attempt to throw her natural grace off during a fashion show. Had she forgotten how embarrassing that was? Oh, she could just kick something! Or better yet... a guilty little thought came to her mind.
"Have Trixie kick the prince."
The thought almost made Twilight Sparkle laugh out loud. Oh, this should be fun. Trixie found herself reflexively lashing out one hoof to kick the prince sharply on the rump. The blow was unexpected, but he righted himself before he lost his balance, casting her a confrontational expression. Trixie had turned away from him, pretending to sniff a flower again while hiding a worried face. She quickly recovered her composure and turned to meet the prince's gaze. Seeing his expression, her mouth opened briefly, perhaps to deliver another incredible apology... but she did not. She shut it and continued briskly along the path as though nothing had happened. The prince looked conflicted for a moment, but decided to let it pass. It was, after all, a considerable improvement from having half the grand dining hall thrown at him.
"Yesss," hissed the pegasus beneath her breath, "that was good, Twilight, real good." She had little devilish little grin on her face as she surveyed the exchange through her binoculars. "But we need to do even better!" It was too quiet for her unicorn friend to hear, but she decided not to pry.
Below, the couple had come across a part of the path that went over a plank leading across a miniature gully. It was only a few foot drop, a pony could easily stand up from the dry floor and climb up back onto the surface if they wanted. The plank itself was only about twice the length of a good sized pony. For example, a stallion.
"Shove him off that plank," commanded Fluttershy.
There was no time to argue, so Twilight complied. Her magic kicked the underside of the makeshift bridge sharply, and Blueblood sprawled off the other end! He lay flat on his back in the ditch, the wind knocked of his lungs, four hooves dangling in the air, looking dazed and confused. Seeing this, Fluttershy snickered to herself, absorbing the waves of guilty pleasure emanating from what she had ordered done.
Trixie was some distance ahead of Blueblood; before he had been so rudely ejected, the prince had not quite caught up to her. The mare magician turned to see what that noise was, only to find her companion had vanished from view. She cast about with a sour expression on her face, as though wondering where he had run off to. After awhile, she turned and continued slowly along the path alone. Her head was hung a little low, perhaps inwardly blaming his sudden disappearance on her inexplicably kicking him.
Blueblood recovered his senses and climbed bodily out of the ditch. He just barely caught Trixie's tail vanishing around a corner and galloped to rejoin her. As he did, she noticed him and fixed him an unreadable expression, perhaps deciding whether she was more angry at him for abandoning her than she was sorry for her earlier behavior, but decided to let it pass without comment as they continued down the path. The prince did not mention the footbridge incident, most likely blaming a sudden attack of clumsiness or a rickety plank.
Fluttershy threw down the binoculars and stomped her hooves in frustration, shaking the balcony that she and her friend were on. "Just how stupid are these two?!" she stormed. Twilight Sparkle was surprised: she had never heard her friend call anypony stupid before, and had only seen her this angry once. Yet, she did have to agree that it was remarkable just how oblivious the two vain unicorns had been, so she decided not to call her friend out on it. The pegasus snatched her binoculars back up from the floor and glared at their quarry.
Now the clueless couple had reached the part of path that crossed a wooden bridge over a picturesque little lake, perhaps more of a large fishing pond. They paused near the middle to look over into the pristine waters below.
Fluttershy's smile was sinister, as though they had fallen into a trap. "Shake that bridge, Twilight! Really give them a scare!"
The unicorn thought fast about how she could do so surreptitiously and complied. She decided to vibrate the bridge rapidly as though there was a sudden earthquake. Lending credibility to this, the movement of the bridge caused the lake surface to ripple outward. The prince and mare magician were frightened, and held onto the railing for dear life.
"Lets see them ignore this!" cackled the savage yellow pegasus. Twilight let out a shout of surprise as Fluttershy suddenly kicked her sharply in the flank! The energy about her horn surged, and the bridge that she was shaking suddenly received ten times as much force than intended. It shattered, sending both Trixie and Blueblood plummeting to the bottom of the lake!
"YES!" hissed Fluttershy, pumping a forehoof in the air in victory.
Twilight Sparkle could only look at her friend in shock: they may have just killed two ponies! The unicorn scrambled to the railing of the balcony, desperately scanning the surface of the water, looking for air bubbles, flailing limbs, anything! Then, to her great relief, there was movement at the edge of the lake, and out slogged two wet, miserable looking unicorns.
Perhaps feeling it above them to shake themselves dry, they just sat down upon the ground outside the lake, dripping wet. Trixie and Blueblood's clothes, coats, and manes were covered in algae, leaves, the soft dirt from the bottom of the lake, and several unidentifiable splotches. Yet, they made no effort to clean themselves. Instead, they cast imperiously away from each other, determined to emotionally distance themselves even in this happenstance. It was simply ridiculous, as though they expected anypony to believe they had not just taken a forced swim.
The vain couple may have known how ludicrous they were being, because they could not resist taking a sidelong glance at each other. Slowly, a small grin appeared on each of their faces. Noticing that the other had also peeked, this made the grins even larger. They stood and faced each other, getting a good look at the atrocity that had come of their fine appearance. Unable to stifle their mirth any longer, they began to laugh. The laughing built and built, until their lungs began to fail them, causing them to fall forward and support each other with their forelegs as their shoulders shook with mirth.
"See?!" demanded the pegasus with a savage grin, "They're nice now! We're done here!"
"Wait!" Before Twilight could get another word in edgewise, her friend took wing and flew below the balcony, out of her sight. "Where are you going?!" Fluttershy was already too far gone to hear.
The unicorn levitated the binoculars that her friend had left behind to get a good look at the spectacle she had wrought at the lake below. She frowned. "That looks more like laughter than kindness to me."
Diving towards the royal gardens, a yellow pegasus laughed madly as she flew through the air. She was drunk with power; she could teach anypony anything by simply pushing them hard enough. Right now, she was remembering some reluctant castle fauna that desperately needed to learn to love her.
---
When Twilight Sparkle relayed the news of how Fluttershy's plan had unfolded, Princess Celestia and Luna were concerned, and for two good reasons. First, the shy yellow pegasus had gone completely missing after the event, and the lack of consideration that went into abandoning her friends was worryingly unlike her. Second, they agreed that it would seem the wrong facet of harmony had been taught, laughter instead of kindness, and cautioned the five remaining fillies that they would need to somehow make up for that.
Pinkie Pie cheerfully suggested that she would be happy to take up the burden of teaching kindness. After all, with laughter already done, she needed something else to do. Unsurprisingly, her plan was to throw an extravagant party: as far as she was concerned, that was the answer to everything. She pointed out that none of her parties were ever mean, so naturally they would exemplify kindness. The others realized that this was slightly off target: they were not trying to do something kind for them, they were trying to teach them to be kind. When they explained this to the pink earth pony, she simply replied with a bright, "Okey dokey lokey!"
This left one major problem with Pinkie Pie's plan: she lacked the finesse needed to throw a royal party. While she had thrown countless parties in accordance to her special talent, she could not understand why the stuffy nobility would snub streamers, balloons, cake, pin-the-tail-on-the-pony, and all the other usual trappings of a bright and colorful Pinkie Pie party. She needed to somehow throw a party that conveyed style and grace, but how?
Fortunately, they had an expert on their team. Rarity had made style and grace her life's work, and immediately suggested merging her plan to instil generosity with Pinkie Pie's. The pink earth pony could manage the logistics (the catering, supplies, and the like) while the white unicorn could handle the finer details (choosing the entertainment, decor, and such). Out of the collective minds of the two event-driven ponies, a wonderful celebration was sure to bloom.
As for how a lesson of generosity could be brought about, Rarity suggested the oldest trick in the book. The two lovestruck unicorns would be encouraged to find two extremely precious items from their past and give them to each other. They would not be told these were gifts ahead of time, of course, because that would defeat the purpose of learning anything about generosity. The items would simply need to be present, and the two coordinators would try to sway events in such a way as to encourage the exchange.
The conspirators quickly realized that they could make it a theme: bring your most precious item to the party. While most ponies would be anxious to do such a thing, it was one of the favorite themes of Equestrian nobility. What is the point of having unusually precious possessions if they could not flaunt them once in awhile? What safer place than Castle Canterlot itself?
Now, the unicorn and earth pony stood where they had decided their scheme would unfold. The grand ballroom had just recently finished major renovations after a certain accident involving the six Ponyvillian fillies during the last Grand Galloping Gala. It was obvious to both Pinkie Pie and Rarity that this would surely be the grandest place in the entire castle to hold the fancy party.
However, as Rarity put the final touches on the royal decorations about the ballroom, there was clearly something amiss. She was slightly walleyed, perhaps a little too manic, a look she once held when she had been temporarily granted a beautiful pair of wings and the resulting complements went to her head. The trouble may have had to do with locations, and how they have a tendency to bring back memories. It was this very room, after all, that Rarity had first realized what a cad Prince Blueblood was.
Pinkie Pie was a generally excitable pony, but she was always the most excited when she was either throwing a party or about to. Now, she was bouncing happily about the ballroom, her mouth going a mile a minute.
"Hey-Rarity-do-you-remember-that-time-I-was-like-'stage dive!'-and-then-I-did-it-but-just-then-Applejack-was-wheeling-in-a-cart-and-I-hit-it-and-I-was-like-'ouchy wouchy!' (Well-I-didn't-really-say-that-but-I-was-totally-thinking-that.) I-was-okay-but-what-I-didn't-know-is-what-happened-next-and-Prince-Blueblood-was-like, 'No way!' (Well-he-didn't-really-say-that-but-you-know-what-I-mean.) And-so-he-TOTALLY-"
"YES, darling." grated Rarity, twitching slightly. "Oh, how I do remember."
It really did not help that Pinkie Pie was so excited that she forgot she had reminded Rarity already. In fact, this would be the sixth time the unicorn had heard that story since the two began putting their plan in motion. Every single time she was reminded, Rarity had decided to make slight alterations to the plan of the party. At first, just little things like doing a slightly sloppy job on the decor, deliberately using slightly mismatching colors, or getting lackluster party favors; the kinds of things that would not be noticed by most attendees while making Rarity feel better about herself in a passive aggressive sort of way. But that just paved the way to a grand idea that just became more and more compelling as time went along, one that two of her friends had unknowingly played a very important part in...
"Omigosh-Rarity-do-you-know-what-time-it-is-because-I-do! The-guests-will-be-here-like-any-minute-so-we-should-probably-get-out-of-here-because-Celestia-doesn't-want-the-guests-of-honor-to-know-we're-involved-because-if-they-knew-we-were-involved-then-they'd-know-we-were-up-to-something-and-if-they-knew-we-were-up-to-something-it-would-totally-mess-everything-up-I-mean-DUH! So-do-you-think-we're-ready-I-mean-really-really-really-ready-I-do-but-what-do-you-"
"YES, darling." The normally elegant unicorn seethed. "We are most certainly ready."
As the two friends retreated from the ballroom, the chamber orchestra began to set up their equipment. Rarity insisted that it would be the very same performers that had been at the Grand Galloping Gala.
Pinkie Pie's bouncing came to an abrupt halt immediately before she left the ballroom. She looked hard at one of the performers, an unusually elegant gray earth pony mare who played a tall stringed instrument, perhaps a cello or a double-bass. While the coloration seemed slightly off, Pinkie Pie was reminded of someone she knew back on the rock farm so many years ago.
"Hmm... could be... but, nah! I mean, what are the odds?"
As she happily bounced away and, whether she had opted out of a touching reunion or a completely meaningless exchange, it was a mystery tragically lost forever after.
---
That evening, the ballroom was packed with Equestria's finest and most illustrious. They chatted politely amongst each other about foreign affairs, business, how the family had been since the last time they had seen each other, and a staggering range of completely empty claptrap. The music was perfect, the food was delicious, and the decorations amazing. Many attendees commented that they had never seen such a well-realized event in their lives.
Unseen, Pinkie Pie had been flitting about, desperately trying to correct a few oversights that were visible to her experienced eye alone. She could understand a dish that somehow escaped being seasoned, a conspicuously badly placed decoration, or the occasional concealed scrawling that madly repeated, "Soon soon soon soon soon," but how could they be completely out of napkins?! There was simply no time to investigate: everything seemed to be going wrong!
All Prince Blueblood was noticing was how he was being carefully ignored. Not by Trixie this time as, since the happening at the park, they actually felt like they could look each other in the eyes again. Next to him, she glared at everypony else like they were so much insignificant ants before the magnificence of The Great And Powerful Trixie. It bolstered his spirits; were it not for her towering egotistical presence supporting his own, he might have walked out on the spot.
The couple had not been shuffled off to a dark corner, as he was expecting. No, out of the many tables on the side of the ballroom that had been cordoned off to be the dining area, they had actually been given the one in the very center, with noticeably more distance from all the others. There was even a spotlight shining directly on them!
Under normal circumstances, that hot light would have made these two vain performers of court and stage pleased: it was as if they were rightfully the guests of honor; the stars of any occasion. However, Blueblood knew better, and had decided the arrangement was simply because the other nobleponies wanted clear visibility, so as to be able to better avoid him.
Ever since his aunt had caught him scheming in Ponyville and dragged him all the way back to Canterlot (to the delight of several prominent photographers) his reputation had hit rock bottom throughout known world. Consequently, nopony wanted anything to do with him anymore. He was almost never invited to events like this and, when he was, it would make him suspicious. He doubted he would have come at all if Castle Canterlot were not his home turf or Trixie was not accompanying him.
The couple's attendants were at the event with them. Hans and Fritz had set up a protective perimeter around the unicorns, keeping a close eye on the other guests, just in case one of them decided to try doing something rude to Blueblood. It is not that the guards particularly liked the prince, as he had made them do horrible things in the past, but they had reason to feel a lot more sympathy for him lately. Trixie's head maid, Primrose, was rumored to be a noblepony herself, having chosen to be a maid for reasons only she knew. In events like this, the stately unicorn would be able to demonstrate her linage by mingling flawlessly. Zinnia trailed Primrose fearfully. The fiery-colored little filly was perpetually shy, and was even more nervous with so many other ponies about.
The theme of the party had been about bringing their most precious items. Both of the vain unicorns realized it was likely that the only pony they would be showing theirs to was each other, and had planned accordingly. Amongst their attendants were some very special packages they had been entrusted for the duration of this event: two protective white cardboard boxes, one tucked into a fold in Hans's armor, the other in a custom sleeve artfully concealed in Primrose's dress. Thus far, neither the prince nor the mare magician had found the right time to reveal to each other what they had brought.
Throughout the ballroom, the event had been going so well that it was actually a bit boring; this was yet another high society event of no particular significance. So, when a grim figure wearing a flowing black robe pushed a heavily burdened cart through the service entrance and wheeled it towards the dining area, nopony even took notice. When she decided she was close enough to Prince Blueblood and Trixie, about twelve pony lengths away, she stopped and aligned the cart carefully. Then, inexplicably, she stomped at the ground.
It was an idea that Pinkie Pie had been given by Spike. Though it seemed long ago, it was only about a month now: a special event had been arranged in honor of Prince Blueblood and Rarity: a full fledged Ponyvillain block party! One thing lead to another, and the unfortunate baby dragon had found himself knocked unconscious. As the pink earth pony lay on the floor rubbing her chin, she witnessed the incredible thing as it happened, and found herself enraptured in fascination. She knew that, if only she were to swap out that heavy metal pan for something harmless, it would be a great way to end a party!
Thus, this very cart that had been so painstakingly positioned by the dark cloaked figure was Pinkie Pie's newest invention: Equestria's first fully functional concealed cake catapult! The figure had not merely stomped at the ground, but rather had hit the hidden lever that launched it into action. It worked flawlessly, spiraling the cake majestically through the air at its intended target: Prince Blueblood and Trixie. The prince's guards were caught completely unaware, and the cake smashed directly into the surprised unicorns with a resounding wet smack!
The cake itself was an elaborate many-tiered cake that Rarity had asked Applejack to make, insisting it be very similar to a certain one at the Grand Galloping Gala. Identical, except that this one would be even larger, gooier, and stickier than the original confection. Though the farm pony did not know it, her recipe was being repurposed for one goal: this was to be the cake that could permanently stain the heavens!
Her dastardly deed accomplished, the cloaked figure reared back dramatically, white forelegs escaping concealment as she cackled, "Wha ha ha! The Phantom Mare always gets her revenge!" Before anypony could stop her, her horn glowed and a sudden bright flash blinded everypony. There was the sound of hooves dashing from the room. When everypony could see again, she was gone!
Except for the muffled sound of two unicorns struggling under frosting, the ballroom was dead silent. The nobility was stunned. The chamber orchestra had stopped in mid-chord. Even the trained guardsponies were struggling to make sense of what just happened. The Phantom Mare had stolen the show; everypony wanted to know who that blacked robed figure really was. Later, those who claimed to catch a fleeting glimpse under that cowl stated that she concealed her face with a decidedly feminine-looking Colt Fawkes mask.
Miserably, Blueblood and Trixie labored free of the cake and into the bright spotlight. As they gasped for a much-needed breath of fresh air, they saw countless nobleponies from the highest stations of Equestria all about them: staring at them, unable to pry their eyes away. The faces portrayed a wide range of emotions, shock and pity among them, but by far the most common was barely contained mirth. These two insufferably vain ponies had been given, if not the greatest humiliation ever faced by any pony on the face of Equestria, then certainly a close runner up.
The prince was already an international laughingstock, and he felt that feeling again as strong as ever... but he was no longer alone. A noise from next to him attracted his gaze away from the onlookers. The Great And Powerful Trixie was neither great nor powerful now. Her cake-smeared face was scrunched in sadness, eyes streaming tears, little sobbing hiccups escaping her as they managed to find holes in the shattered shield of her normally indomitable pride.
Prince Blueblood was furious. "HANS!" he commanded. The guardspony never heard the prince sound so authoritative as he did just now, and jumped to his presence immediately. The cake-spattered stallion's horn was instantly aglow, snatching a small box from the guard's possession, savagely tearing it open, and deftly catching a cloth from mid air as it emerged.
As Trixie felt it brush up against her cheeks, she identified it immediately. It was the platinum embroidered handkerchief given to the prince by his father; an irreplaceable memento. To Blueblood, it was more precious than any of his countless trophies, and now it was being stained, probably permanently, in a desperate effort to stop her tears.
It worked: Trixie was so astonished, her sadness and humiliation were overpowered completely. Then she noticed that her maid Primrose, brilliant Primrose, had stepped into her view, dropping a somewhat larger box before her. Without a moment's hesitation, the mare magician's telekinesis pulled from the box a very familiar purple starred cloak.
Though she had first obtained the cloak when she started her performance career, it was not an easy acquisition. She had to work for months in order to cobble together enough bits for it. When she had earned it at last, it was the banner that told her that her luck had turned around at last, and that was the first time she truly felt great or powerful.
Trixie had tore the diamond clasp from her cloak and was now using the cloth to return the prince's gesture, wiping the cake off of him. Blueblood knew all about that cloak's history, of course, and was touched. In that sticky mess they were sitting, the two unicorns stopped what they doing to exchange a tender, reassuring embrace. It was the first time they had ever done such a thing.
Unbeknownst to those in attendance, the hidden agenda of this event had been to get Blueblood and Trixie to demonstrate generosity and kindness. Somehow, despite all that had gone wrong, it had succeeded brilliantly. Seeing it, many of the nobleponies felt ashamed at their earlier behavior. Some of them even resolved to speak well of the prince, to attempt to restore part of the the reputation he had once lost. However, all in attendance agreed, it would be best to see themselves silently out.
Hidden in the shadowed corner behind a far pillar, an earth pony watched them go. The party had lasted barely an hour. She fumed darkly, her eyes glowing, vengeful slits that peered through a crack in the hair that hid most of her face. That hair came from the luxuriously smooth silken mane that hung long from about her head. She now ran a forehoof through it. Its lavish embrace whispered to her. Somepony had ruined her best, most elaborate party ever. Nopony does that to her. NO! PONY! Somepony was going to pay, Pinkamina Diane Pie style!
---
The remaining conspirators were worried. Yes, they had successfully instilled the sentiment of three of the Elements of Harmony in The Great And Powerful Trixie and Prince Blueblood. But at what cost? Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie had gone missing! Princess Celestia had sent her finest guards to find them but, so far, none of them had returned. This boded very poorly.
Nevertheless, they bravely decided to continue with the plan. They reasoned that, by delivering the final two of the basic five elements, they could then focus on finding the missing ponies. So while Princess Celestia attended to statecraft, Princess Luna, Twilight Sparkle, and Spike searched. That would leave Rainbow Dash and Applejack to go about enacting the plan they had come up with to instill loyalty and honesty.
It was no surprise that the flier and the grounder had decided to merge their plans: they had been inseparable, doing absolutely everything together, since they had come to their secret agreement. Twilight Sparkle was immediately suspicious, but Rainbow Dash assured her that Applejack was merely uncomfortable in the castle and so she had offered to be her constant companion to reassure her. It was true, insofar as a failure to disclose all details can be. Princess Celestia said that she thought that what pegasus was doing was inspiring, and had a hammock installed above Applejack's bed so that she could be "reassuring" even as she slept. The earth pony knew why the cunning monarch did it, and was grateful despite the subterfuge involved: thanks to her flying friend's constant vigilance, she had felt none of those terrifying temptations she felt on the first day.
That was then. Now, the apple bucker looked noticeably agitated as she and her friend regarded themselves in the large mirror on one side of the room that the fillies had been assigned to live in during the mission.
"AJ, are you sure you're going to be okay?" Rainbow Dash was wearing a false mustache and a fancy tuxedo, and was now carefully balancing a top hat on her head. Her rainbow mane had been dyed (or, rather, temporarily magicked) black.
"No, partner, I'm not. But I reckon we ain't got a choice!" She had learned that her ever-present cognitive dissonance was briefly staved off whenever she confided in her friend.
Applejack was wearing an elaborate noblewoman's dress with a noticeably plunging neckline (although exactly what that was supposed to reveal was anypony's guess). Though Rarity had gone missing, the two alicorn princesses had stepped up to coordinate the farm pony's outfit and perform a lavish makeover, and their collective centuries of experience nearly matched the fashionista's obsession with grace and style. This was only accentuated with the jewelery they lent her: bright earrings and necklaces, even a diamond-entrusted monocle!
There was no doubt about it: Applejack was dressed to kill.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," said the pegasus as she tried out a few brawny poses in the mirror. "I mean, how else are we going make them realize how faithful they are?" She glanced at the forehoof she bore a expensive stallion's watch on. (No pencil-drawn facsimile necessary!) "Omigosh! I gotta go! Knock em' dead, AJ!"
With that, Rainbow Dash did what she did best, only a blur signaling she had left the room. For the first time in what felt like weeks, Applejack was alone, and that sense of freedom brought all those old temptations back. But she was ready for them, perspiring slightly as she kept a close eye on her mind. Carefully, she tried to justify what she was about to do as being the most honest way to go about it. It made little difference: she knew that this plan would require layers upon layers of highly advanced lies. "Well," reckoned the earth pony, "this wouldn't be the first time I had to get my hooves dirty to get some hard work done."
Applejack practiced in the mirror. Thinking back to her Manehattenite days and the manner of speaking she was taught then, she did a dignified little pose and said, "How do you do?"
The farm pony had to pick herself up off the floor after that, as what she saw in the mirror was so hilarious it put her in stitches. There was nothing wrong with it, per se, but it was just so unlike her! It was surprising just how quickly those old skills came back.
Resetting a few hairs that had strayed from her elegantly styled blonde mane, the tawny earth pony tried again. "I say, it is simply a marvelous day, isn't it?" She laughed again, but it was not quite as pronounced, she was definitely getting it out of her system.
Admiring herself in the mirror in a new light, Applejack suddenly thought up an excellent fake name. "Lady Applebuck," stated the gorgeous mare looking back from the mirror, "I do believe that foalish prat won't know what hit him." She smiled: this might be fun, after all.
---
Prince Blueblood sat upon his bed, mind thinking back to the incredible thing that happened the other day. He and Trixie, the center of everpony's attention, actually being openly affectionate! They had knocked down the wall of not being publicly seen together so resoundingly that he did not know what they would do next! Oh, it made him so excited! He might have been feeling... dare he say it? A little randy.
Steps would need to be taken immediately. Thinking about that, he was simply too nervous to sleep. Knowing this, he had just sent Hans and Fritz out to collect a glass of water from the kitchen and a little something to help him to sleep from the infirmary. He would need to be as well-rested and alert as possible tomorrow.
There was a knock at the door. Ah, that would be the guards now. "Come in."
The door was thrown back as though somepony had kicked it, and his eyes took in a terrifying sight. There, leaning back against the door frame, was a tawny earth pony with a gorgeous blonde mane, stunningly presented, her white freckles accentuating her diamond monocle perfectly. As a stallion who had himself been tasked to romance countless young mares in the name of diplomatic relations, he knew exactly what he was looking at: a smoldering temptress in full assault.
The sight caused him to fall off the opposite side of his bed, not knowing what hit him. Cautiously, he peered over the side of his bedding, verifying he saw what he thought he saw. It did not occur to him that he may be looking at Applejack: that simple farm hick was nothing at all like this!
"I do hope I am not unwelcome," breathed the mare at the door invitingly, "I would so hate to be alone this evening." With that, she dropped to her hooves and strut in the room, swishing her tail behind her distractingly.
"Why, not at all, my dear." answered the prince automatically, sheer muscle memory causing him to climb gracefully to his hooves and meet her in the middle of the room. It should be stressed that Prince Blueblood was remarkably experienced in these matters, having been ambushed by hundreds of mares who dreamed of bagging a dashing prince. Could it be that he still had an admirer even after his complete disgrace? Inwardly, the prince was panicking: none of those mares had the advantage of catching him in the mood he was in tonight.
The coy little smile never left the mare's lips as she surveyed the prince's room. Against the far wall, a cozy little fireplace burned, the light from the flames flickering against the surface of hundreds of old trophies the prince kept in racks along the walls. The illumination somehow made the bed seem particularly inviting. What an idyllic spot for a night of burning passion. The prince was sitting in a trap and Lady Applebuck knew it. But how to spring that trap?
She caught sight of a small stack of papers on a desk next to the prince's bed and slyly asked, "Working late, my prince?"
Blueblood's heart jumped. He loved Trixie, but this noblemare was physical perfection, even smelling like a fresh orchard; it was as if her toned body had been bucking apple trees most her life. At the back of his mind, a naughty, primordial voice told him that if he did not take advantage of this opportunity, he would never get another chance like this again. In his very veins, the old conflagration that was Trixie lost some ground, facing a new fire raging from the back of his skull.
While all this was going on, the dusty old romancing scripts the prince had laying about his head had found their way to his mouth. "I do my very best work at night, my dear," he smoothly transitioned, "would you care to take a look?" He beckoned with his horn to his desk, inviting the mare up next to his bed.
"It would be my pleasure." dripped the mare's voice as she sashayed up to look at the paperwork. Skimming them, she looked intrigued, "Oh, my, I did not expect a big, strong stallion like you would be tasked to do anything like this!" She turned to him and placed a forehoof on his shoulder, pushing him back towards the bed. To the prince, that hoof felt like a red-hot brand, a point of contact that caused the new flame within him to burn even brighter, gaining even more ground on the path to his heart.
Instinctively, he wore a perfect rakish expression; a prop he had refined over the years. "I've never had a complaint yet, my dear." It was a half-truth. The full truth was that the prince had never given in to temptation. With every noblemare he had courted, there was a strong line never to be crossed. Otherwise, there would be embarrassments that the royal crown of Equestria could never live down. He had been drilled to respect that line by every instructor he had faced since he was a colt; he was able to break hearts with military precision whenever it was time to cut a relationship short.
Suddenly, his attacker neatly vaulted that precious line. The mare darted forward and delivered several light kisses, her hot lips lighting new little fires everywhere within him as it danced across one of his cheeks. The prince gasped and his legs became weak. The mare shoved him, causing him to topple backwards onto the bed without her. He stared off into space, rather happily dazed, that primordial voice whispering to him that it would be okay to bend the rules just this once; that there was a first time for everything.
This stupor made him lose track of time but, after an indeterminable pause, the mare joined him on that bed, laying her chest up against his. There was simply no personal space left. She pinned his forelegs down with hers, surprisingly strong. He was face-to-face, his vision blurring in euphoria as it took in that flushed freckled visage. Her snout was so very close that the hot heavy exhalation from her breath was an apple alcohol scented perfume that intoxicated him even as it fanned his inner flames into an inferno that obscured all else.
He knew that he had lost; he was wrapped around this mare's hoof now, and would be little more than her helpless plaything. Yet, some little nagging worry distracted the prince. He tried to put a hoof on it. There was something wrong with what he was looking at, he realized. This gorgeous mare's face, its sparkling eyes like the reflection off dark pools of passion... it was completely, unforgivably off. But how?
Then it hit him. The trouble was that this face wasn't Trixie's. That new flame died instantly, replaced by the one he had all along. He was suddenly revolted.
"Get off me!" he barked, rolling over and kicking the mare off the bed.
From the side of the bed nearest to the door, the temptress climbed gracefully her hooves from where she had sprawled and smirked flawlessly at him. "Your loss, handsome." And, with that, she sashayed through that door and out of his life.
---
The prince felt a strong sense of primordial regret seeing that magnificent rump vanish behind the door frame, but it was overshadowed by the relief from the rest of him. He would never have forgiven himself if he had fallen into the trap of that floozy! He closed the door with his telekinesis and sat on his bed for a few minutes, catching his breath, wondering at what may have been.
There was another knock at the door, and the prince was so grateful that his guards were back that he went to greet them. But on the other side of the door was neither Hans nor Fritz. No, it was no less than The Great And Powerful Trixie herself. She was panting heavily, as though she had galloped to the door of his room. Had she somehow sensed how close he had come to being unfaithful to her?
Apparently not. "Oh, my prince!" she cried, so rattled that she forgot all pretense of third person speaking, "When the maids went on break, a mad mare broke into my room! I think she... she was trying to seduce me! And, to make matters worse, she was so... so very... bad at it! It was terrible!"
Blueblood was once again comforting Trixie in an embrace as she dried her tears against his chest. He was thinking furiously: it was just too much of a coincidence to ignore! Of course, if he were to tell her that he had narrowly escaped being seduced himself, then what would she think of him?
Yet, as he held Trixie out before him and looked down into those quivering eyes and quibbling lip, he realized something even more important: she had just gone through the same mental conflict when she had decided to confide in him. Something in his noble lineage, largely overwritten by the tenants of the arrogant foal he had always been, slipped to the top of his consciousness, and told him that it would be wrong to keep the truth to himself.
"Darling," spoke the prince from his heart - it was the first time he had dared use that label with Trixie, "I have a confession to make." Her breath caught, her eyes fearful. "Immediately before you arrived, a mare was here. She, too, attempted to seduce me. And..." his voice broke, "she very nearly succeeded!"
Trixie recoiled and turned away, hiding her face from the prince. She had smelled a strange mare on that chest, and now she knew why. Blueblood turned into his room, his horn glowing, fumbling for something within. When the mare magician had turned to face the prince again, her breath caught in her throat at what she saw.
Prince Blueblood had bowed before her on one knee, an elaborate engagement ring about his horn, adorned with the very diamond she had torn from her favorite cloak. "Darling," he said again, "tonight I learned that I could never look at another mare the way I do you. May I have your hoof in marriage?" There was no witnesses, so it would be nothing official, but he meant it.
The Great And Powerful Trixie's tears were gone immediately. She lit up and exalted, "Yes!"
The sound of shattering glass to Blueblood's right interrupted the tender moment between the two unicorns. In the hall were Hans and Fritz, standing there slack jawed in amazement. Judging by the shards of glass in the puddle nearby, Hans had apparently dropped the glass of water on the floor. The sound of clapping to Blueblood's left found Primrose and Zinnia standing in the opposite direction in the hall, smiling and applauding (even the normally unmovable Primrose).
It seems they had witnesses, after all, and one of them was even rumored to a noblemare. They would need to inform the princesses in the morning: their engagement was now official. Not known to any of them, opposite of the door leading to Blueblood's room, out that hallway window and in the night air, sat another witness that would likely reach the princesses before them.
Concealed on that ledge was Rainbow Dash.
Trixie had not been impressed with the pegasus's attempts to seduce her. Knowing that this could have potentially messed up the whole scheme to test her loyalty, the flying athlete simply responded by trying to act even more macho and aggressive. The jock approach clashed horribly with her outfit, as it was attempting to pass her off as a gentlecolt, and Trixie had seen her true gender immediately anyway. (Would a lesbian approach have worked better? No matter.)
Once Trixie had fled her room, the Rainbow Dash took wing and flew here in order to check on how things were going with her friend Applejack. She arrived only moments before the mare magician had made her way to Blueblood's door, and (after fuming over how Trixie had bad talked her) the pegasus was pleased to hear that her failed seduction had been rewarded with a tearful confession: an honest and loyal thing to do, if anything was.
Now, having been moved by the tender moment of what followed, Rainbow Dash dried her tears with her forelegs, desperately trying to avoid making noises that would compromise her position. She knew that the plan was an outstanding success. The two conspirators were only planning on being rejected and getting the two unicorns to confess that they had been approached (the farm pony uncharacteristically suggesting forging correspondence to goad the couple into confiding in each other if they did not on their own). Never in their wildest dreams would they have imagined that the couple would have proposed to each other on the spot! Applejack would be thrilled!
Remembering her friend, the pegasus had a sudden thought. Where was Applejack, anyway? Oh no! Instantly, she vanished into the moonlit night, her furious search begun.
---
A building of many rooms such a Castle Canterlot inevitably has a several rooms of no assigned occupants, sometimes repurposed to be store rooms. Now, deep within the castle, one such room had been infiltrated.
A dim light from a freshly-lit candle illuminated what the thief lay out before her. Though Lady Applebuck had been willing to go as far as she needed in order to cover her tracks, she was glad that she did not have to. After all, that revolting oaf did not deserve the honor of being her first! However, a lady of her sophistication has advanced tastes, and concealing the theft of this prize would have been worth it.
She had no idea why the prince had them, and she did not care. But, the instant she recognized what she was looking at, she knew that she had to have them. So she cleverly stunned that fop and pushed him backwards onto his bed. As he lay there writhing in the grasp of her poisonous influence, she snatched up the papers that lay on the desk beside his bed and concealed them in her dress.
On the papers, scrolled in the fine intricate details of expert scribeponies, was no less than the plans to the royal treasury itself! All the entrances, all the exits, all the security measures, all the guard rotation schedules, and more! She could not believe her luck! This was the perfect tool to facilitate the greatest heist in Equestrian history!
The noblewoman had already conceived an elaborate plan, each deception more clever than the last. She knew that this job would need to be executed quickly, before anypony had a chance to realize the plans were missing and take the appropriate measures. In the morning, she would pawn the jewelery she had been lent in order to buy the equipment she needed. Then, the only thing left would be to find a patsy to pin the blame on. By tomorrow evening, she would be making history.
Before it was snuffed out, the flickering flame of the candle revealed a tawny freckled face personifying greed itself. There would be no saggy old things where she was going. Soon, she would be living in a gold-plated palace of her own!
---
Celestia was a fool. To think that she would dare try to capture the majesty of Equestria in one elaborate castle garden?! An example of nearly every flora and fauna had been imported and, through meddling pony magic, slaved to the land within. It was a perversion of the natural order that needed to be rectified!
The savior of the wilds had shown the animals the way. Now, the toucan were can dos. The loons were looney for freedom. The bitterns had reason to be bitter. The hummingbirds hummed only in anger. The buzzards buzzed in frustration. The blue jays, red jays, green jays, pink jays, and pink flamingos had united under one cause despite centuries old prejudices. The animals who were still loyal to the royals would soon find their will broken.
Even now, nature's savior fumed from atop an ivy throne from deep within the castle garden, her eyes' cruel slits reflecting the midnight moon. The pegasus had not bathed in days, her normally cream yellow coat had become matted with filth, her pink mane wild and laced with sticks and brambles. She did not care; she had larger concerns. After all, hers was the iron hoof that would shatter the arrogance of the usurpers of nature!
Amongst her court were a dozen terrified former royal guardsponies. They had been overwhelmed almost instantly by her animal shock troops, and went down in a hail of rodents. She had given them a simple choice, "Join her or perish (if that's alright with you)." Celestia had chosen her guards well; none surrendered willingly. However, rather than follow through with her threat, she had a better idea. She applied "the stare." Even now, the guards staggered unevenly on their hooves, the sheer force of those eyes haunting their every waking moment.
Her domination of the royal gardens was almost complete; nearly all within had fallen under her control. However, there was one prize she still desired, somewhere within the walls of the castle itself. A creature that undoubtedly would be under the sway of nature's usurper: an immortal phoenix, the fiery bird being the royal pet of the sun bringer herself. If Philomena, this most loyal of animals, fell under the savior's influence, then the domination of the Equestrian animal world would be assured, and the new order could begin.
The figure on the ivy throne barked an order to her head assistant, "Prepare the troops!"
"Sounds good to me!" quipped the happy-go-lucky groundskeeper. The wrinkly old brown pony continued tidying the grounds, whistling while he worked.
He offered no resistance, but sometimes she wondered if he really knew he had been subjugated. No matter. "Tomorrow night, we march!"
---
Though it was early morning, it was still dark outside, and well before the opening hours at the Canterlot opera house. So none were there to notice the dark robed figure as she slinked through the empty auditorium seats in the direction of the opera pit.
There, the elaborate pipe organ beckoned to her. Reaching it at last, she sat upon the organist's seat and rose her white hooves majestically from their concealment. Then she brought them down dramatically upon the keyboard before her, channeling her inner torment through it.
It was a rather basic version of Chopsticks. When she was finished, she frowned beneath that Colt Fawkes mask. She really would have to learn how to play the organ better if she was going to properly brood.
A subtle sound from behind her drew her attention. She spun on the organist's seat to see a mare in a skintight gray jumpsuit had dropped from a skylight in the auditorium ceiling with the aid of a hemp rope.
"Who dares interrupt the torment of The Phantom Mare?!" demanded the robed figure, confronting the invader.
The newcomer was wearing a mask that obscured all but her mouth and eyes, the exposed areas' color indistinguishable in the low light. So also was the color of her forehooves that escaped the skintight suit (perhaps to aid in fine manipulation). The only thing that caught enough light to hint at her identity was the long blonde mane that was tied into a ponytail.
"Please," the voice was that of an elegant noblemare, "you may call me Lady Applebuck." She strut up to the phantom as though she was trying to seduce it. As though she was trying to seduce everything everywhere she went, really.
The phantom was not aroused, but rather impressed. "I can tell you are a mare of refinement, but how ever did you find me?"
"I had an inkling." Lady Applebuck was coy. Here was a mare who believed her cunning scheming had accounted for everything. "As for why I am here, I have a proposition for you."
"The Phantom Mare has no need for your propositions! But... seeing how you have found me, I will hear you out."
The earth pony in the skin suit sat, facing that phantom, idly blowing on her polished hooves as she spoke. "How would you like to be rich beyond your wildest dreams?"
"Ha!" The unicorn scoffed. "I have no need for riches, only revenge!" Her voice rose at the end, and she reared back dramatically into a menacing pose.
The earth pony was unmoved. "Very well. Then how would you like to see that Blueblood foal turned into a miserable pauper?"
The phantom recoiled into a dramatic crouch before leaning forward conspiratorially, "Tell me more, darling."
---
As the morning light began to stream into the room, Rainbow Dash was in hysterics. "I can't believe I let her out of my sight! That was so uncool! Gilda was right, I'm so lame! I'm useless! I could never join the Wonderbolts! My life is ruined!" she cried, and then crouched into a little shivering ball of cowardice.
Sitting at the table of the fillies' room with her was Princess Celestia. After removing the enchantment that dyed that rainbow mane, she had been keeping the guilt-ridden pegasus company for a few hours now. "You must not blame yourself dear," she was telling her.
"Who else can I blame?!" raged the flier, "She told me that she needed my help. But they all needed my help! I let all my best gal pals down!" She stood and spread her wings. "I'll run away, that's what I'll do! Don't try to stop me!"
"And you would abandon my faithful student, just like that?"
The pegasus sat. She put her head on the table, covered it on her forehooves, and was silent. This signaled the end of a cycle that had repeated itself several times, with little variations here and there. (The princess had learned quite a bit about this "Gilda," an old griffin friend that the flier had met back in flight school that had since fallen to criminal ways.)
While the immortal alicorn could afford to be infinitely patient, she could see that her efforts were only barely keeping the pegasus's emotional nosedive in check, and so she wished that Twilight Sparkle would return soon. Though Spike was already sleeping in his little bed nearby, his partner-in-service-to-Celestia had been searching for the missing ponies with Princess Luna ever since Fluttershy's disappearance. Whenever another pony went missing, they would only redouble their efforts, and it had proven too exhausting for the baby dragon to continue assisting them.
One of the double-doors to the room opened, and the monarch found her most pressing wish granted. In walked the exhausted purple unicorn, bags noticeably beneath her eyes. Princess Luna followed, closing the door behind her. While sleep is little more than a meditative luxury for an alicorn, mortal ponies are not so lucky, and it was clear that lack of sleep had taken a great toll on Twilight Sparkle.
Rainbow Dash had not noticed their entrance, as she was consumed in her own thoughts and also ravaged with fatigue from all the energy she had burnt trying to find Applejack all through the night. Twilight Sparkle saw that her friend was no longer accompanied by the farm pony, and knew something had happened immediately. Casting a quick glance to their alcove to confirm her worries, she quietly trotted up next to the pegasus and put a foreleg around her shoulders.
The pegasus noticed her then, and began to blubber, "Twilight, I lost her. I hate losing! I just looked the other way for a few minutes and..."
Twilight stared into her normally energetic friend's mournful eyes and told her firmly, "It's not your fault."
The pegasus looked at her wide eyed in response. That was the same thing Celestia had been telling her, but it seemed to have a lot more impact coming from Twilight Sparkle. She sat and pouted, "If you say so, Twilight, but I still think I could have done something."
"Ya think?" Twilight Sparkle's voice was sarcastic, comedically prodding the pegasus, who responded with a little grin. "You beat yourself up enough, Rainbow, go get some rest."
"Okay." said Rainbow Dash, then she brightened, "Oh, hey! Did you hear that Blueblood and Trixie are engaged now? I was there! It was so awesome!"
"That's great news! After we rest up, we can focus on finding the others!"
"Yup!" Then the pegasus yawned. "Well, I'm going to get some shuteye. I'll see you later!" Rather than sleep in the comfortable bed in her own alcove, she flew up into her hammock above Applejack's bed, and promptly began to snore.
Twilight watched her go and rolled her eyes at her choice in bedding, "Oh, Rainbow." Then she turned back to the table and found that Princess Luna had taken up a seat opposite of Celestia; Twilight now had an alicorn on either side of her.
"My faithful student," Celestia's voice was gentle, "you have done a excellent job of reassuring your friend. But do you truly believe that your other friends will return?"
The unicorn looked at her mentor only briefly before replying. "I do, princess. When I left Ponyville, I was worried how they would feel about all of this. But I soon learned that I was wrong to think my friends would ever abandon me. Whether I find them, or they will find me, I know we'll be together again soon."
Ever since she was a filly, Celestia's praise had always made Twilight Sparkle blush in pleasure. "I'm so proud of you for learning to never lose faith in your friends. I am certain you are right."
"Thank you, princess." she said gratefully.
Princess Luna spoke, "Twilight, I think that you should know: your mission here is complete. Just as soon as you rejoin your friends, you're free to return to Ponyville to resume your studies on the magic of friendship."
Having turned to the younger alicorn, the unicorn was overjoyed even through her fatigue, "That is good news! To be honest, when I saw this room, I sort of thought you planned to keep us here forever. Nothing personal, the castle is great and all, but me and my friends are a lot more comfortable in Ponyville!"
The two regal sisters exchanged a little glance. Celestia turned to the unicorn and said, "Your intuition serves you well, my faithful student." Twilight was understandably surprised, so the monarch continued, "Of course, you all would be allowed to visit Ponyville whenever you wished. However, I had thought that having the bearers of the Elements of Harmony here would be useful for quickly assigning you and your friends to addressing discord wherever it may appear. I have since decided that you are all a bit too young yet, and should enjoy that youth, so that you may develop into strong, mature mares. I hope you do not think I am speaking ill of them."
"Not at all." The unicorn was smiling again. "In fact, I look forward to it. To the good times we will have in Ponyville and knowing that we will be together again even after that."
"Of course," amended Celestia, "you may be asked to assist us in emergencies from time to time even from Ponyville."
"We'll be there." came the immediate reply.
Princess Luna changed the subject. "Speaking of which, will you be attending the nephew and Trixie's wedding, Twilight? We've decided it's best if they get married right away in a private ceremony."
"I don't know how they would feel about that, but I'd like to. When is it?"
"This evening." The tone sounded slightly ominous.
"I don't know, princess." she said, before taking a laborious yawn, "If I go to bed right away, I might be able to make it, but it's kinda hard to say."
Celestia smiled and said, "We understand." The alicorns climbed to their hooves.
Twilight Sparkle took the hint and walked over to her alcove. Casting a warm glance at Spike before she pulled the curtains aside, she climbed into her bed.
"Goodnight, my faithful student."
Luna chipped in, "I'll do my best, sister!" It was a running joke that had recently been resumed after a millennia lull.
"You do realize it is actually morning, do you not, sister?"
"Of course, silly!"
As they conversed, the two regal sisters were using their telekinesis to dim the lights and pull the shades before they left the room.
---
Princess Celestia sat on her favorite cushions in the royal study, alone. Though it was noon, the room was dark; the fireplace was out and the lights had been dimmed. She did not seem to be resting or occupying herself with any particular task. She was merely waiting.
A humorless voice emerged from the shadows, "Commissioner."
Celestia smiled, not bothering to look. "I was hoping you would show up." For whatever reason it was used, the title was technically true, as being the High Commissioner of Equestria was just one of many duties Princess Celestia took upon herself.
No answer seemed to be forthcoming, so the commissioner continued, "How goes the investigation?"
"Good. My contacts have been keeping me up to date with their movements."
"What have you learned?"
"Rocky may be a bit rough about the edges, but he has friends all around the castle garden. Your guards are safe, but Ivy Meanie moves tonight to wrest the phoenix from your grasp."
"I thought as much. And Lady Applebuck?"
"Madame LaFlour was undercover in the storeroom she took the plans to, and saw the whole thing. It was dee-spicable, but your ploy worked: she'll be there. But something unexpected happened."
"The Phantom Mare?"
"Do not take my nemesis as lightly as Lady Applebuck has, commissioner. Sir Lints-A-Lot has received a report from a fellow Knight of the Under Table who was posted in the Canterlot opera house. The cat burglar pony has contacted the Phantom Mare, believing she has found the perfect patsy to help her with her plan. But she has only outsmarted herself if she thinks she can dupe the Masquerading Diva of Selfishness."
"They have teamed up? That could be a problem."
"Perhaps, but it gets worse. Mr. Turnip knows everything that happens underground, and he reports that the two criminal masterminds have managed to amass a considerable number of Diamond Dog goons."
"That is indeed an issue." Celestia remembered the Diamond Dogs. They were dog-like creatures that stood upright. They were sentient, but not very good at it. Chaotic? Yes. Evil? More like stupid. But she could see how their lust for jewels and possession of high-pitched hearing would allow the two criminal masterminds to keep a tight leash on them.
It was unknown just how large the Diamond Dog's underground kingdom was, and Celestia needed to know if she would be facing an invasion. "How many?"
"I counted to four in six groups. Four more than twenty, which is as many as two tens."
"I'll take that into consideration." The commissioner ran some mental calculations. "I can make some adjustments, but this will be risky. You know how it goes."
"Oh, I know how it goes, alright."
Something about her tone made Celestia wonder if she had angered her informant. "Can I count on your help to bring these criminals to justice?"
"Yes."
It was a relief: she did not know if she could do it without her. The commissioner confided, "We have come a long way, my friend, but this dark night is about to come to an end."
However, when she had turned to the shadows, she discovered that her visitor had left. The alicorn frowned. "I hate it when she does that."
---
A monarch who raises the sun each day is about as close to divinity as a society of ponies need. So it is that, at the request of anypony, Princess Celestia was only too happy to personally unite couples in her throne room. Indeed, considering that Castle Canterlot had so many stained glass windows and white walls, it was not too far removed to suggest it was a church of sorts. But to call it a house of god? The princesses really preferred to play down that as much as possible: there was hardly a point to a castle that the pony subjects would fear to tread.
Very little was needed to convert the throne room to the wedding occasion. The altar, of course, would be the raised throne dais itself. The aisle, the long court before it. Decorations need only consist of a few white streamers and other floral trappings. Perhaps the greater bulk of the heavy lifting was having the work ponies bring in some portable pews, but even this was significantly reduced: since this would be a private service, there were not many seats required. A few refreshment tables had been set out behind the pews for the inevitable post-service loitering.
Prince Blueblood wore a groom's tuxedo: not far from his usual mode of dress, but the colors were inverted, white on black instead of black on white. Trixie, on the other hand, had decided to wear a long flowing bride's dress that had been specially designed. True, most mares would prefer it be a pristine white, an affirmation of virginal traits. However, the mare magician would dare anyone suggest otherwise, and had her wedding dress customized in the purple starred design of her favorite cape and hat. She even wore her wizard's hat instead of a veil! The ensemble came together making her resemble less a bride and more some sort of great and powerful sorceress... but, for some reason, that just made the prince feel even luckier to have her at his side.
Their ever-present attendants were not completely present. Hans had been designated the best stallion. Secretly, he and Fritz had drawn straws for the honor, and Hans lost. Fritz now stood off to one side of the throne performing security detail while Hans trailed the prince that had brought so much misery to the both of them over the years. Primrose volunteered to be Trixie's bridesmaid. The mare magician had learned that when when her no-nonsense head maid volunteered for something, it was as good as an unbreakable order, but could not complain at the tact and professionalism she did the bridesmaid position. Zinnia, however, was absent. Primrose explained that the shy little filly was too nervous for occasions like this, and (oddly) that this was not at all a ploy intended to keep the her out of harm's way. Both statements were true.
To facilitate the private service, the throne room was closed to the public that evening, and the attendees had already taken their places. In normal circumstances, the blushing bride and aspiring groom would be nervous... but this was no ordinary couple. Though Trixie and Blueblood had learned much about being better ponies lately, even had a significant amount of their pride knocked out of them by an abject humiliation of the highest order, they were still vain performers at heart who relished being the stars of the show. Now, they just wanted to get on with it, and stood about impatiently as their immediate family members (including the wrinkled gray unicorn that was Blueblood's mother) looked on from the pews.
Given that she was the primary reigning monarch, it would only be appropriate if Princess Celestia would be the one to swear the couple in to matrimony. However, while Princess Luna was in attendance, her older sister was not. So the whole procession had come to a rather abrupt halt, waiting for her appearance. While they waited, Blueblood idly joked to Trixie that, while his aunt could not be there, at least her pet bird could.
Sure enough, there was Philomena in a golden cage hanging directly above the throne, the sleek phoenix idly preening its feathers.
---
"Dig faster, dogs!" shouted The Phantom Mare.
"We're digging as fast as we can!" cried Rover, "Stop whining!"
"I am not whining. I am complaining. Do you wish to hear whining?"
"No!" cried Spot, "Anything but that! Dig faster, brothers, faster!"
Then, at the end of the tunnel, two criminal masterminds and two dozen desperately digging Diamond Dogs found that they had struck castle wall.
"Marvelous!" shouted the sly noblepony, "Now stand back, curs, this will only take a moment." Lady Applebuck peeled back the protective layer from a thin stone rune tile she carried and attached to the wall with only a little pressure. She kicked it, and the rune began to flicker. All living creatures in the tunnel ran away from it as quickly as possible.
The magical explosive charge worked as advertised, blowing the wall outwards while simultaneously suppressing all noise such a massive explosion should have made. Cautiously, the intruders approached the newly made hole.
Lady Applebuck was the first through, and cast her gaze about the stone chamber, wringing her hands in barely contained greed. According to the map, this would be a rarely-used chamber directly behind the secret royal treasury, just a floor below the throne room itself! She turned back towards the cave and shouted to to the rest of them.
"What are you waiting for, foals?! The coast is clea-."
And then she vanished, pulled up out of the view by unseen forces.
Even behind a mask that did the job for her, The Phantom Mare was smiling. "She's here! Fan out! Find her!" She bucked the nearest Diamond Dog before her, attracting a hurt look, but they followed her orders knowing that she meant business.
As the remaining mastermind stepped into the chamber, she looked straight up and clucked her tongue. There was Lady Applebuck, stuck to the ceiling and gagged with what looked to be an amazingly gooey looking set of cinnamon buns, struggling but to no avail.
The Phantom Mare marveled madly at what she saw, "Wherever does she get such marvelous confections?"
A humorless voice from the dark directly in front of her spoke. "Give it up, Phantom Mare."
In response, the unicorn's horn began to glow, and suddenly every torch in the chamber was lit.
Crouching at the opposite end of the chamber was her adversary. Like Lady Applebuck, this mare wore a skintight suit, but this one was of radically different design. It was dull green, suitable to conceal her in a dark room, with supple reinforced armor pads clearly visible beneath the fabric in key locations on her body. As the mask this mare wore used some kind of concealing eye-lenses, it obscured all of her face but the mouth, which wore a grim frown against a pink face under the mask's comically jutting serrated lizard upper lip. Hanging out of the back of her mask was long, silken smooth pink hair that flowed over her long green cape. She wore a utility belt about her waist. As she stood up into a prepared martial combat stance, the emblem of that utility belt became clear: a rather cute little baby alligator with missing teeth.
Clearly, this vigilante was no earth pony to mess with. Yet, the unicorn clucked her tongue beneath that Colt Fawkes mask and posed a riddle, "What has four legs, no fur, and no chance?"
The green masked figure did not move or answer, even as the Diamond Dogs moved to surround her. Crime fighting was no laughing matter.
The Phantom Mare answered her own riddle, "Why, a lost little sewer alligator of course!" It was truly a riddle of a sick mind. "Boys," she commanded the Diamond Dogs, "show her the way out!"
As two Diamond Dogs on either side of the green masked figure lunged to grab her, she executed a perfect cartwheel backwards, causing them to grab each other instead. Her hooves were at her utility belt in a flash, and two cinnamon rolls tied together by a surprisingly durable trickle of frosting tied them up as a bola would. They toppled to the ground, helpless.
The Phantom Mare was greatly amused, "Wha ha ha! Not bad, my old adversary, not bad!" Then she looked up at Lady Applebuck. The noblemare's mouth may have been gagged with an incredibly sticky roll, but those eyes could glare daggers down on her former partner in crime just fine. "Sorry, my dear," chided the unicorn, "but I knew you were being had all along. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a wedding to crash!"
"Stop!" commanded the mysterious green-suited earth pony, but the black robed unicorn had already reared back, her horn aglow. A bright flash of light blinded everypony in attendance and once again the sound of hooves were heard as they dashed out of the room. The vigilante knew where she was going: the only way out was up.
As the crime fighter's vision cleared, she realized she had a problem to deal with before she could give pursuit. She still had twenty two diamond dogs to deal with. Two more than twenty, and she had already used up all the cinnamon roll bolas that made up the entirety of what was stored in her utility belt. She would need to subdue the rest in hoof-to-claw combat.
"Give it up, you goons!" she shouted. But there was a hint of worry to it that you would not expect of a peerless crime fighter. She might be able take a dozen if she had the element of surprise, but this would be impossible!
Fido sensed this uncertainty and laughed, "She's finished, brothers! Looks like we have a new workhorse for the mines!" They dove at her from all sides.
Scarlet lightning struck, and the Diamond Dogs flew backwards suddenly! Shaking the stars from their eyes, they discovered they had a new opponent. Standing before the green masked mare was a little filly pegasus of red mane and hastily brushed orange trim. There was no trace of fear in her eyes as she stood, a deadly flame, her wings outstretched to balance her in a perfect horse stance.
Zinnia had shed her maid outfit completely and her cutie mark was clearly visible. It seemed to be a four-point shuriken.
The green masked mare regarded the new arrival coldly. "A sidekick, eh?"
Zinnia just grunted a cute little affirmation.
The crime fighting crusader nodded. "I might be able to get used to that!"
The two leapt into the midst of the astonished Diamond Dogs, and battle was joined anew.
---
The guards she had converted had proven useless to nature's savior. The moment she let them out of their sight, they fled in all directions, shouting, "THE YELLOW DEMON FROM THE GALA IS BACK! EVERYPONY RUN!" She would be sure to punish them for their insubordination when she finished conquering the known world. Perhaps she would make them clean up after her animals? She liked that idea.
She did not need them anyway; she did not need anypony. Her animal shock troops had defeated the guards at the castle gate effortlessly. Apparently, guards had never been trained to fight anything so small, as they seemed helpless against clouds of birds and rodents. She did not even need to bring in the bears!
The happy-go-lucky groundskeeper opened the door to the throne room before her, quipping to the shocked wedding precession, "Howdy, folks! You might wanna git while the gittin's good!" He followed it with a little claim jumper's laugh. They just looked at him like he was crazy. "Don't say I didn't warn ya!" Then he leaned back against a wall on one side of the door and began to whistle.
The savior spotted Philomena above the throne and shouted, "YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE ME!" From its golden cage above the throne, the phoenix just cocked its head to one side and looked at her quizzically. However, that terrifying shout flung the rest of the wedding procession into chaos!
As the savior directed them to attack, her animal companions surged past her in a swarm of angry chattering teeth and pecking beaks. The wedding guests were now running back and forth in a panic, batting wild animals out of their hair. The savior's forces began to trash the room, knocking over pews and confection tables. There was a squirrel in the punch, and nopony could do anything to stop it. The event had been ruined!
Princess Luna seemed to be expecting the attack, and acted quickly to direct the guests out the side exit of the throne room, going so far as to use her magic to scoop several of them off their hooves and project them out the door. The guests were gone in a flash! The princess even joined them, closing the door behind her, barricading the door with her magic. (The alicorn felt that better than obliterating the maddened pegasus by accident.)
This left five brave ponies to face the crazy savior of the forests and her horde of enraged animals. There was the bride, the bridesmaid, the groom, the best stallion, and the guard who was lucky enough to avoid being the best stallion. They had all retreated to the raised throne dais. Though Primrose would probably not appear particularly moved even if half of Equestria exploded, the rest of the entourage had watched the private wedding being destroyed in ever-mounting dismay.
The savior saw this and mocked them, "If you surrender now, maybe I will spare your miserable lives!" At her prompting, the animals stopped trashing the room and surrounded the dais on all sides.
Trixie and Blueblood looked at each other, seeing the shocked expression on their faces melt away. This was replaced with an unvoiced decision that seemed to pass between them. Primrose sensed this said, "Shall we?" Trixie nodded. Everypony turned and faced their attacker, looking stern.
The savior of the forests found that she was suddenly facing three entrenched unicorns whose ground advance was protected by two burly earth ponies near the foot of the dais. Before the animals could lay so much as a paw on them, all three unicorn's horns had began to glow. One-by-one, this glow surrounded all the animals before them. Every single bird, vermin, and bear was effortlessly paralyzed and pushed into a ball. Then, only Primrose's horn was glowing, holding the whole ball together with her magic alone, as it chirped, roared, and squeaked for freedom.
It was only a feat that could be done by some very peeved and able-bodied unicorns. From beside the front door, the groundskeeper gave another little claim jumper's laugh and clapped his forehooves together in appreciation.
The savior of the forests was suddenly very alone... and very afraid. She took a few tentative steps backwards. "Um... well, I better be going." As she tried to take wing, she found that Trixie's telekinesis had snatched some streamers off the wall and was now using them to neatly hogtie her on the spot! Helpless, the pegasus gave a frightened little squeak.
"Darling," the prince was addressing Trixie in his usual elegance, "would you be so kind as to take the guards and escort her to the dungeon while I tidy up?" He was already busily trying to correct the damage the animals had done to the room, at least to the point that a functional service could be performed.
"Of course, my prince," replied Trixie with the usual snarky edge to her voice. She loved to hogtie ponies who opposed her, and the prince knew it. Flanked by the guards, the mare magician left the room through the back door, levitating the wide-eyed pegasus before her.
"I had best go put the animals back in the garden." stated Primrose.
"Lemme help ya with that, m'dear!" said the old groundskeeper brightly, "I got a few tricks to remind em' to behave again."
They left, closing the front door of the throne room behind them.
The prince was alone. As he attempted to clean the room, he permitted himself a masculine little sigh. He hated to admit it, but it seemed unlikely the private ceremony could be salvaged, and he just knew his scheming older aunt's tardiness was responsible for permitting this disaster.
"Well, well, well." A mocking voice grabbed his attention. Standing in the middle of the throne room as if to make a dramatic sudden appearance was a black robed figure wearing a Colt Fawkes mask. "It seems somepony has crashed the wedding already!"
--
Prince Blueblood glared at The Phantom Mare. He had not forgotten that she had launched the cake that humiliated him and Trixie at the party, and was currently staving off some very dark thoughts about what to do about that. Instead, he looked at her coldly and said, "What do you want?"
The black robe figure cackled and said, "Why, I want my revenge, of course!"
Blueblood had recently come to realize that he had done a lot of terrible things in his life. Thinking back to all the mares whose hearts he broke, he really could not figure out what she was referring to. So he simply said, sounding rather bored, "And what for, exactly?"
What that mask concealed from him, nopony could say, but the Phantom Mare took a step back for a moment, as though the question took her by surprise. Then she came back rapidly, "I am here to enact vengeance in the name of a Miss Rarity!"
Although the prince had broken a great many hearts indeed, that name struck a chord. Miss Rarity was the very mare who had ruined his reputation! But lately, he had been seeing things differently. Formerly, he had thought himself blameless, that it was her fault for thwarting him. Yet, now he knew just how selfish he had been to try to disgrace her. He had been living disgraced for quite some time now, he knew firsthand how horrible it was. But he had also learned that the initial insult he received was not so very important so as to justify such a fate.
He hung his head, knowing that he truly deserved to be punished. This phantasm before him was merely the latest in a long line of penance that fate had been gracious enough to deliver.
"Ah haha!" cried the Phantom Mare, rearing back again as she waved her forehooves in the air, "So you do remember! Yes, prince, writhe in the guilt of what you have done! But, take heart, for your judgment is at hand!" She thought about all the clutter in the room she could hit him with. Was there a lead pipe around here somewhere?
The prince looked up at her said, "Very good. But could you tell Miss Rarity that I have been an utter foal, and I am truly sorry for everything I did in Ponyville?"
The Phantom Mare nearly fell over backwards. Of all the things she expected that arrogant fop to say, it had to be that! She felt a tinge of something that she did not like at all: doubt. Then she remembered something and used it to purge that doubt from her mind.
"Don't worry, I will! But what about the Grand Galloping Gala?! Will you confess your crimes against fabulosity in that event?!"
The stallion frowned at her. "No, I won't."
The black cloaked figure was once again cackling in victory, "Ah haha! Unrepentant to the end! When you get to the afterlife, I hope they trip you through the gates!" Her horn was glowing.
The squirrel befouled punch bowl had been broken into two jagged pieces in the earlier chaos. Now, one of those pieces was hurtling directly towards the prince, a knife-sharp edge gleaming in the light!
It stopped abruptly, just a few inches short from its intended target. The prince's horn was glowing. He snatched the improvised murder weapon from his aggressor's telekinetic grasp and tossed it to the side, where it shattered against a wall.
The Phantom Mare was stunned. "How?!" As a part of the ways pony magic is affected by emotion, the strength of a unicorn's magic is amplified by the power of their conviction. If the prince had managed to counteract her so effortlessly, somehow he truly felt what he did was justified. Not only that, but so strongly that it overpowered her burning need for revenge!
"Yes," admitted the prince, "it was wrong of me to not treat her like a lady. Using her to shield myself from that cake was appalling. However," his voice became angry, "what she had done to me was several times worse."
The cloaked figure took a step back. What could possibly be worse than ruining such a fabulous dress? The prince followed, staring down that Colt Fawkes mask like it was being worn by an utter foal. He began to recount something that angered him deeply.
"Nearly all my life," he seethed, "I have been the dashing prince. The dream of noblemares everywhere. The most eligible bachelor in all Equestria. A prince that Miss Rarity" he said the title with contempt, "had attempted to claim for her own. And, like all the other mares, she had forgotten one thing. A vital, very important, thing. Do you know what that thing was?"
The Phantom Mare was on the defensive, taking steps back before his slow advance. Beneath that grinning mask: fear. "Why, surely it must have been what a foal he was?" The barb was weak, delivered on the back of a quivering voice.
"SHE DID NOT KNOW ME!" thundered the prince, causing her to jump. "And neither did she care! To her, I was just a silly idea! A fantasy! A prince intended to whisk her away to a land of fairy tails; to make her a princess. But, I ask you: how?" he was seething again, "How could that have ever been anything but a loveless relationship between a selfish, self-centered witch and her hapless trophy husband?"
The Phantom Mare felt her rump contact something and she knew she had backed up to the far end of the room. She was trapped. Beneath that mask, her lips quivered, thinking of something to say. She found something, grasped it desperately, and used it.
"I SHALL TELL HER!" she shouted, rearing back, horn aglow.
A bright flash of light. The prince was blinded. He heard the sound of rapidly retreating hooves. When his vision cleared, as he expected, he was the only creature in the room again. He returned to tidying up.
After a few minutes, Trixie returned from the dungeon, the prince's personal guard in tow. Seeing the newly shattered half of the punchbowl, she asked, "Did I miss something, my prince?"
Prince Blueblood looked upon her warmly. Of course, he had been questioned about himself by the other mares before, but those questions were empty, making small talk, their eyes vacant: they had made their decision about him before they had even met. However, this mare was different: she loathed him at first! But then they went through some things. They learned about each other. Only then did they come to realize they truly loved what they saw in each other. In all of Equestria, this was the only mare who truly knew him, and he her, and soon they would be married.
"Not at all, my princess. Everything is fine now."
---
The Phantom Mare panted, leaning up against the wall of a dark castle hallway. She did not know how long she had run, but she could run no further. Her mind was racing.
Her revenge did not turn out at all how she expected! The prince actually had a point! Her eyes narrowed. Unacceptable! Point or not, she would make that snotty little prat pay! And, while she was at it, perhaps she would poison that little strumpet he was marrying, too! But how?
She felt a light tap on her shoulder. She turned to face it. She caught a fleeting glimpse of a pink hoof as it pounded through her mask, breaking it neatly in half! Unmasked, Rarity fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes, knocked out cold.
The green masked crime crusader grinned at her unconscious nemesis. It was the first hint of happiness she had in days.
"Now, we're even!" she said brightly.
Nopony deliberately ruins a Pinkie Pie party and gets away with it. Nopony.
---
They had been shed of their outfits and cleaned, looking nothing like the criminals they once were. However, the hallmarks of their transformation still raged behind those bars.
"I did nothing wrong! Let me out!" shouted Lady Applebuck, "I'll sue, you hear?!" She was up against the bars, clamoring for attention.
"There'll be no laws when I'm through," cackled the savior of the forest, "I shall break the back of the system, one pony at a time!" She sat in the center of the cell, twitching madly.
"No laws. Hmm. I like the ring of that." mused the Phantom Mare to herself. She sat against the back of the cell, facing away from the bars.
On the other side of those bars stood three figures.
Princess Celestia regretted the necessity of a dungeon. In fact, rather than incarcerate the Diamond Dogs, she simply sent the battered mongrels home with a warning. However, each time she moved to have these cells dismantled, something always happened that required it be reopened. And now, three of her faithful student's dearest friends were languishing before her. It was terrible.
"Holy guacamole!" cried the dragon next to her, "I've seen them lose control before. But this!"
Princess Luna sighed, "I think you may have gone too far this time, Tia."
"We shall see," replied Celestia, "but I dearly hope you are mistaken, sister."
The sound of two sets of approaching hooves was heard echoing off the dungeon walls. As if recognizing them, the three mad mares in the cell suddenly quieted. For awhile, the only thing anypony heard were those hooves.
Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash turned the last bend. At first, they only saw the alicorns standing with Spike. Then, they saw three of their missing friends in the cell. The two brightened immediately and went over to see them.
"Omigosh!" Rainbow Dash was excited to see the farm pony, having blamed herself for her disappearance all this time, "AJ, you're okay!"
Lady Applebuck looked at her with wide eyes, as though she was not sure what she was looking at.
"Girls!" Twilight Sparkle was at least as happy as her pegasus friend, "Where have you all been! I was worried sick!" her voice took on an ironic spin, "And why are you in that cell?"
Applejack and Fluttershy moved up to the bars closest to Twilight, opening and shutting their mouths, searching for something to say.
Applejack spoke first, "Twi, I ain't gonna beat around the bush. I went plum loco! Saw it comin', but-"
Fluttershy interrupted, "I'm so sorry! I guess I got a little carried away. You must hate me..." her voice trailed off.
"Hate you?!" Twilight was incredulous, "Never! You're the nicest pony I know!"
The yellow pegasus just cringed and looked up at her with wide eyes like a scolded puppy, squeaking something indeterminable.
Celestia's horn glowed and the cell door slid open. Twilight and Rainbow Dash exchanged a hug with the two friends they had dearly missed. It was as though nothing ever happened: they were together again.
However, The Phantom Mare had remained at the back of the cell, still facing the wall.
The dragon scampered over to the unicorn at the back of the cell, looking concerned. "Rarity, are you okay?"
"Get away from me!" The dragon recoiled.
"Twilight." Celestia's voice seemed a little too practiced. "She has been through a lot. Please talk to her."
After looking to her friends for reassurance, the purple unicorn walked up to Rarity and spoke to her. "Rarity? Are you alright?"
The Phantom Mare said nothing, unrepentant.
Twilight Sparkle sounded a bit like she was going to cry, "Rarity?!"
The white unicorn sighed and stood up, facing them at last. Her friends gasped in shock.
The elegant fashionista had a very impressive black eye marring her usual perfection.
Spike could not hold it any longer. The young dragon fell backwards and laughed his little heart out as Rarity simply turned red from embarrassment.
"Wow, Rarity." Twilight Sparkle did a better job of containing her mirth, and was trying to find a way to reassure her. "You look..."
"Save it." The voice was flat, humiliated. "For reasons I don't care to get into right now, I have come to realize that I completely deserve this! So can we just get out of here already?"
"Of course!" came Celestia's warm reply. "I am happy to report that you girls have completed your mission, and may return to Ponyville!"
The fillies cheered (although Rarity's cheering sounded a bit forced).
Princess Luna offered, "If you'll follow me, girls, I'll take you to your room so you can begin packing."
Laughing, the five friends made their way out from in front of that cell, Twilight Sparkle trailing, happy to watch them go before her. Then she caught sight of something hiding in the shadows. She paused, allowing her friends to go on ahead of her, as she squinted into the darkness, trying to identify what she was looking at.
She spoke, "Pinkie Pie?! Where were you all this time?!"
The pink earth pony bounced into the light. She was not wearing any outfit, her mane had inflated into its usual cotton candy shape; she was just her bright and cheery self again. "Oh, you know. Around."
Twilight Sparkle made a face, "Ugh! You are so random! So, are you coming?"
"Sure thing, Twilight! Lets go!" She bounced ahead of the unicorn singing a few notes as she went. Twilight followed, rolling her eyes, but inwardly happier than she had been in quite some time.
Back at the cell, Spike turned to the Celestia and said, "Alright, sister, that was too creepy to ignore. Same deal as before. Except, this time, if you're going to throw me in the dungeon, it's a lot shorter of a toss!"
---
The tall alicorn laughed merrily at the little dragon's cheekiness. She was in the highest spirits she had been in a while. Then she answered his question with a question, "Do you remember what we said about how the elements serve as a moral compass for most ponies, but how Twilight Sparkle's friends only have one such element and so are vulnerable to falling into discord?"
The little dragon thought to the conversation they had back in the infirmary after Twilight Sparkle's arrival and nodded.
Celestia continued, "As Twilight Sparkle is dependent on the other five elements to prevent the Element of Magic from receding, so also the other bearers are dependent on her. However, it is in a much different way. Their friendship with my faithful student forms a conduit between them, providing the supporting elements that they lack."
Spike scratched his head. "Meaning?"
"Apart, her friends are as strong as five ponies, but only in a single element. When they neglect that element, they run the risk of losing everything. But together, combined with the bearer of the Element of Magic, they become as strong as six ponies in every element! Even should they neglect their own element, as long as they are together with my faithful student, their friends will support them, as good friends do!"
"Woah!" The little dragon tried to wrap his head around what it must be like to have a complete moral compass with five redundant backups. "So I guess I just gotta make sure they're not forced to do anything they normally wouldn't do when Twilight's not around to talk them back to their senses?"
The alicorn approved, "You understand correctly." She began to make her way out of the dungeon, the dragon following.
"Oh, brother!" despaired the dragon next to her, "This is going to be a lot of work."
Celestia's laughter faded down the hallway as they went, leaving the cell behind them barren, as she preferred. "I have the utmost confidence in you, Spike."
---
Prince Blueblood and the Great And Powerful Trixie were getting just a bit tired of Princess Celestia's antics. The private ceremony that had been planned last evening had indeed been ruined, and they had been denied that opportunity to marry. They had attempted to track down the alicorn, but she had proven surprisingly elusive. It was all they could do to resist slipping out the back of the castle and eloping.
Finally, at noon of the day after the disaster, they had been contacted to dress again as bride and groom and meet the monarch at the room at top of the tower closest to the front of the gatehouse. It was a fairly spacious little stateroom with comfortable furniture. There was an adjoining patio that would offer an excellent view of the front of the castle, but the young couple simply sat on a couch next to each other, waiting impatiently.
Abruptly, the door leading to the rest of the tower opened and Princess Celestia had arrived at last, trailed by her sister. The couples' hearts rose: could it be they were to be married at last? And then the couples' hearts fell: trailing the two alicorns were six fillies and a dragon from Ponyville they had hoped to never see again.
"What is the meaning of this?!" blustered the prince.
"The Great And Powerful Trixie did not invite them!" cried Trixie.
Disturbingly, these interlopers did not seem the least bit bothered to see them, nor at their reaction to their arrival.
Celestia looked at the couple and said brightly, "Why, whatever is the matter, dears?"
For awhile, the two unicorns fumbled for words to describe exactly why they had been so bothered to see the fillies, but found they simply would not come, much to the amusement of everypony. Then, the couple looked into each other' eyes and had a sudden realization.
"On second thought-" started the prince.
"-it really doesn't matter anymore." finished Trixie.
"Much abliged," drawled Applejack, "n' if you don't mind me sayin' so, we've been a-gunnin' to see you two tie the knot for some time." Though the farm pony did not know it, giving her the opportunity to say this was something Celestia felt was necessary to purge her of any lingering feelings of dishonesty.
"You don't say?" answered the prince.
He and Trixie glared at Princess Celestia: they did not know the true extent in which she had meddled, but the jig was up. She did nothing to deny it, even responding with her silly little expression of having been caught with her hoof in the cookie jar. That always got a giggle out of Luna, and now was no exception.
Pinkie Pie piped up, "Don't you two sillies have something to say to her?"
The two looked at Pinkie Pie with an unreadable expression for a moment, then looked at each other. Trixie smiled.
Blueblood sighed, "Thank you, auntie Celestia." It was the tone of a foal who had been encouraged to thank somepony for a gift.
"You're very welcome, nephew," she replied sweetly. He let out a little harrumph.
"Darlings, don't you think we've kept them waiting enough?" Rarity was wearing a concealing masquerade half-mask on one side of her face. Even not knowing that black eye was underneath it, for some reason that mask bothered Blueblood.
Princess Luna agreed, "Yes, Tia, lets get these two lovey dovey ponies married already!"
"Tia?" asked Trixie shrewdly. She was the only pony in the room who had yet to hear the younger alicorn's pet name for her sister.
Celestia winked at the mare magician. "State secret." Then, she was all business. "Nephew, Trixie, come here." She walked out onto the balcony from the room beckoning them to follow.
They did so, marveling at what they saw. There was the green grass of the front lawn before Castle Canterlot, something that the prince had pined to play on as a foal. Yet, there was something on top of that lawn that they did not expect: the entire pony population of Canterlot and many visitors from regions beyond!
"My little ponies and guests," stated Celestia regally to the mass, "we are gathered here today to unite Prince Blueblood and Trixie in matrimony."
Cheers rose from below, fairly overwhelming the couple and their Ponyvillian visitors.
"Prince Blueblood," asked Celestia solemnly, "do you take the hoof of Trixie, and promise to love her and safeguard her as the mare who is most precious to you?"
"I do." It was stated without hesitation in regal magnificence. The crowd cheered.
"Trixie," asked Celestia with equal voice, "do you take the hoof of Prince Blueblood, and promise to love him and safeguard him as the stallion who is most precious to you?"
"I do!" The mare magician said it as though it was a snide little victory cry. The crowd cheered again.
"Then, with the power vested in me as the ruler of Equestria, I hereby do pronounce you wed. It is my pleasure to introduce you all to Prince Blueblood and Princess Trixie!" Then, sidelong the tall alicorn whispered to Blueblood, "Well, go on: kiss her already!"
To the roaring cheer of the procession below, the couple complied.
As they sealed that kiss, between them, they felt something new.
A spark.
They felt united by something truly magical.
The ceremony was brief, but it was now official: the two were wed. On the balcony, the two vain - but noticeably improved - unicorns enjoyed basking in the attention lavished on them for quite a bit longer than most other ponies would have, but eventually decided that even they had enough for one day, and pulled back into the cozy room inside.
Almost immediately upon leaving public view, Blueblood fixed Princess Celestia a stern look. "Oh nephew," she smiled, "you did not really think I would let you get away with a private wedding, did you?"
The six fillies and the dragon saw themselves quietly out. Although there was one exception to that silence: Rainbow Dash had been bawling her eyes out. This attracted some looks, to which the tomboyish pegasus replied, "What?! I cry at weddings, okay?!" The fillies laughed - more with her than at her - as they proceeded down those stairs towards the ground level of the castle.
---
As the six fillies and the baby dragon passed, the guards at the gatehouse saluted them. The Ponyvillians crossed the drawbridge and proceeded down the path. Surrounding them on both sides, hundreds of brightly-colored ponies were merrily chatting about the ceremony they had just witnessed. Amongst the fillies, even those who were still feeling guilty about how they had behaved recently could not help but feel proud that, in the end, they had played a pivotal (if secret) role in bringing joy to so many.
As the friends continued their march, Pinkie Pie was bouncing beside them, having broke into another song.
Oooh, we had went to Canterlot, me and my five friends!
We saw no sights, we had some fights, and needed to make amends!
We all went a little crazy but in the end we had come clean,
as the finest force of fillies that Canterlot has ever seen!
The finest force of fillies that Canterlooooot has eveeeer seeeeeeeeen!
By that big finish, all the friends had joined in, and the laughter that followed was the perfect balm for the hardship that they had endured since they had arrived.
A welcome sight greeted them at the end of the path: two packed and ready wagons. Finally, they were going home.
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geldon
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971
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Main 6,Original Character,Prince Blueblood,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Trixie,Adventure,Comedy,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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The Blueblood Conspiracy
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Twilight and friends find themselves entangled in a truly maddening conspiracy!
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complete
| 40 | 6 |
<p>A few weeks after the events in <a href="http://www.fimfiction.com/story/970/Blueblood%27s-Redemption" rel="nofollow">Blueblood's Redemption</a>, Twilight Sparkle receives a royal summons from Princess Celestia, and she and her friends are soon entangled in a maddening conspiracy involving Prince Blueblood and The Great And Powerful Trixie!</p>
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teen
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2011-09-22T07:09:45+00:00
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2011-09-22T07:09:45+00:00
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Writer's Notes
This was an unusually organic story for me. Usually, before I start writing, I want to have some kind of cool twist. This time, I started only knowing what I knew from writing the first two Blueblood stories, that I wanted to start off with the two lovestruck ponies trashing the castle, knowing how they would be cured in the end, and that the mane six would be involved. I had also decided to give Trixie a couple maids because there was a certain need for symmetry between her and Blueblood and his guards.
That was all I had, I did not think it would be enough, but I forged ahead anyway. I honestly had no idea when I started that I was going to be writing an thirty-five thousand word epic, but the creative process has an interesting way of surprising you sometimes. (For example, I sure wasn't planning on having Pinkie Pie sing, and look how that turned out!)
The first major surprise was coming up with the idea of Twilight Sparkle's dependency on her friends to survive. It sort of snowballed from the how she was taking breaking the news to them really hard. But now I had a problem: in order to reach the Blueblood and Trixie conflict, Twilight Sparkle's conflict had to be resolved. However, Twilight Sparkle's conflict was life and death, it had significantly more gravity than merely saving a relationship! How could the story move forward from that?
The second surprise came to me when I asked myself if any of the other bearers had underwent a transformation. Of course, the elements had no dependency, but they could become the center of the lives of their bearers. I heard about the "Cutie Mark Failure Insanity Syndrome" idea, but it always had holes in it before. Now, I had found out it could be a consequence of bearing the Elements of Harmony: acting contrary to the element introduced a temptation to get carried away. Because it was just a temptation, what was introduced was a risk and not a guaranteed ticket to Crazytown. The greater the severity of the infraction, the greater the risk.
Thinking back to the show, now everything actually made sense! Applejack and Rainbow Dash's going completely against their elements in Fair Weather Friends. Rarity and Rainbow Dash's behavior in Sonic Rainboom. Applejack sweating bullets as she desperately attempted to avoid lying to Pinkie Pie in Party Of One. Pinkie Pie in Party of One, period. Fluttershy's behavior at the Gala. Those are all supporting examples of this idea of acting contrary to the Element of Harmony introducing a risk of succumbing to insanity!
Suddenly, everything came together. Twilight's ailment and that of her friends could be the key; the structure this story would follow. The Blueblood conspiracy would provide the opportunity for each of Twilight's friends to go full on mental, and this would tie into the conclusion. The solution could be that Twilight's dependance was a two-way street: in addition to her reliance on the other bearers, she was the glue; the one the other bearers would rely on to bring them back from the brink. This became the story.
Because this story developed so organically, it may have been a bit less "tight" than the other two stories. The affected mane cast members' drop into complete, morally bankrupt, madness was just a bit too quick, and I was trying to leverage the severity of their infractions against their elements as the reason why. There's also a fairly large plot hole being that, if Celestia is such a great manipulator, why could she not have prevented this in the first place? Perhaps, even as good at manipulation as the immortal is, she's not absolutely perfect. Wouldn't it be boring if she was? Another plot hole: why not utilize Twilight Sparkle to cure her friends earlier? Perhaps Celestia did not want Twilight to know her friends could be affected this way, as she surely would if she had to confront them before their defeat.
Whereas "Blueblood Returns" tried to feel like a compellingly authentic episode of the show, and "Blueblood's Redemption" had to be more abstract because it dealt with an issue that lay below the surface, I tried to go for a middle ground in "The Blueblood Conspiracy." The result was less a middle ground and more a zigzag back and forth between the two. With any luck, this felt like more of a refreshing variation of pace instead of something that would only alienate readers who would have preferred one or the other.
There's a bit of a tricky balance involved in writing MLP:FIM fanfic. One on hand, we fell in love with a show that is essentially a lighthearted slice-of-life comedy with an occasional adventure segment. On the other hand, we want to go deeper, exploring something even more intellectually satisfying than the already clever show could due to broadcast restrictions. So, while I included madness, that madness is temporary and comedic. While I included violence, that violence is bloodless. I even have sex in here, but it does not actually become pornographic, instead drawing the line at a steamy failed seduction. Hopefully the balance I struck here turned out to be a worthwhile read, although that will likely vary from brony to brony.
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geldon
|
972
| 1 |
Princess Celestia,Rarity,Spike,Romance,Sad,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Centerpiece Of My Collection / The Collection Of My Centerpiece
|
A story about Spike, Rarity, reminiscing, letting go, and preserving that which is most precious.
|
complete
| 405 | 9 |
<p>This story explores a dragon's nature somewhat, and spins a narrative of a middle-aged Spike regaling a visitor about the favorite item in his hoard: a statue of his favorite pony. It is a story about Spike, Rarity, reminiscing, letting go, and preserving that which is most precious to us.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-22T07:23:11+00:00
|
2011-09-22T07:23:11+00:00
| 7,232 |
(This is a work of fanfic based on Hasbro and company's "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic." I am not in any way affiliated with the creators and this document is wholly intended to be a work of parody that complies with fair use. Given mature themes, the intended audience for this piece is adults.)
The Centerpiece Of My Collection
By Geldon
Spike was proud of his hoard, hundreds of years in the making, as well he should be: a dragon's cave is a sight that inspires legends, littered with precious metals, gems, and other artifacts and protected by a ferocious dragon. As the expansion of Ponyville went deeper into the Everfree Forest and encroached upon his current den, he would have to move to one a bit further out. His current cave was once home to a green dragon that he happened across when he was a baby. The green dragon was right to be enraged at his discovery: a dragon is ever covetous, and they never forget.
If Spike had a vice among dragons, it was the ponies of Ponyville. Having spent his youth among them, he came to enjoy their company, even opting to defend his neighbors from a threat every once in awhile. He enjoyed them enough that he would even ignore the occasional missing trinket: though such a thing was a significant wound to a dragon's pride, he was reassured that as the centuries passed his hoard only grew.
Though he fondly remembered his original circle of friends, it is not truly in a dragon's nature to grieve their passing. Celestia had once told him that living for the moment was ever an immortal's credo, and neither he nor the alicorns in Canterlot could survive if they felt any other way. Through this philosophy of living in the moment, he welcomed a never-ending procession of ponies who dared visit his cave, entertaining them with games and riddles, occasionally even pleasantly surprised that such short-lived creatures should utter a turn of phrase that amused even a middle-aged dragon.
Today he was entertaining one such guest, a unicorn of a purple coat and black-striped hair. The coloration alone was not the only way that the unicorn reminded him of Twilight Sparkle: he also had an insatiable thirst for knowledge and scholarly pursuits. His cutie mark was a chess piece. In fact, this visitor had arrived to challenge the dragon to a game of chess, which Spike was enjoying immensely, having especially honed the reflexes of his claws to manipulate the tiny chess pieces before him.
Between moves, Spike would talk about his hoard, hardly hearing his visitor. After all, a dragon was ever a vain creature, and to speak fondly of one's wealth made it even more valuable than physical proximity could on its own. If a pony asked him how much his current hoard was worth, Spike would tell them with pride. When a pony asked about a given artifact in his hoard, it would cue the reciting of the grandiose tale behind it.
A scholar's curiosity was a joy in Spike's presence. Moving a pawn forward, the unicorn asked Spike, "And what of that statue over there? Who was she, and who commissioned it?"
Spike's gigantic eyes rolled to a statue of a unicorn, "Ah," he said, "now that is the centerpiece of my collection! When I first laid eyes on this unicorn, Rarity, I was scarcely a baby dragon. I was truly smitten: that fine alabaster coat, that excellently styled amethyst mane, and blue diamonds as a cutie mark. She was the most beautiful creature I ever saw, and I said so. Such was my adoration of her that I happily bore the abuse of her stylish pride."
Spike chuckled, a reverberation that threatened to topple chess pieces. "My circle of pony friends back then - you may have heard of them as the bearers of elements of harmony who defeated Nightmare Moon," the scholar gasped in mid-move, the years had elevated them to legends, Spike continued, "my friends thought it was but a simple childhood crush, but they really did not understand the mind of a dragon. No, though I was expressing it in my own childish ways, it was not crude physical love I had for her, but rather I coveted her as a dragon would a jewel. That, for a dragon, is the finest of loves."
Spike's chuckling had turned to a longing sigh, releasing a harmless gout of flame from his nostrils, "She was a craftsman, you know, and an entrepreneur. From her humble home, she opened a boutique from which she created the most beautiful of dresses. I was very supportive of her efforts, once to the point of nearly undermining her career in the eyes of one fashion critic by the name of Hoighty Toighty. She could even find jewels with her special talent, a spell of her own invention, and inlaying them upon her work was her hallmark."
Spike drew back a claw to accentuate his shining scales and spines, "And she was not content with merely establishing the dress, not at all. No one could perform a makeover like her, and the public acclaim of her beauty treatments nearly matched that of her attire. Why, she even gave me a few tips! In more than one way, she was a treasure that created more treasure. What more could a dragon ask for?"
"But," said Spike seriously, "I knew that there was only one way for me to make her mine. A dragon lives much longer than a pony, you see, so I needed to immortalize her. When I first suggested this piece be commissioned in order to add it to my hoard, she was taken aback, for the first time in her life flattered beyond means for words. However, she was like a dragon in one key way: extremely vain. She was also exceedingly generous, as suited to the bearer of the Element of Generosity. She warmed up to the idea almost immediately."
Idly moving a knight forward on the chessboard, Spike was now deep in reminiscence, "She spent countless years deciding on just the right dress to be worn by such a piece... and just look at it: exquisite. Words cannot give it adequate justice. She even designed the plaque, 'Look upon me, Equestria, for I. Am. Rarity!' That was so uniquely her. Though she lived a rather peaceful life before succumbing to natural causes, it was an attitude that put her into trouble more than once."
Spike abruptly stopped, the tale seemingly ended. Moving forth a bishop, his visitor sighed in contentment, a small part of the dragon's vast knowledge now his, and said, "Truly, it is a magnificent statue."
Spike nodded and smiled a serpentine smile, "Yes, she is as beautiful a jewel now as the day I first laid eyes on her, a dragon's hoard is the only place great enough to contain her." He moved his queen suddenly, "Oh, and checkmate."
His visitor's shocked face over losing the chess game was only part of the mirth in Spike's smile, the other came from enjoying an old secret. He had spoken the truth to the scholar, but not the whole truth behind this, the most precious jewel in his collection.
There was no subterfuge, Spike respected Rarity too much that, he had explained his intention to her from the very start. It made perfect sense to a dragon that he should regard something he held precious as something to be introduced into his collection, but it was almost unheard of for a common Equestrian citizen to be captured in stone for posterity. Though shocked at first, she was indeed as vain as she was generous, and had eventually agreed.
Rarity was a fairly old pony by then and, though skilled at fighting back the ravages of aging with a wide degree of techniques (to the point that more than one spa had a wing named after her) she was beginning to lose the battle. Some would even say she was becoming addled with age, but Spike had always known her as eccentric, as suited a true visionary. She had lived a full life, had succeeded in fashion in ways other ponies only dreamed of, and even had grandchildren of her own, one of which had talent enough to continue her legacy.
They had come to a consensus, Rarity and Spike: there would be no statue, as nothing could truly beat the original. No, there were other ways. For example, there just happened to be a cockatrice that owed him a favor.
Rarity's disappearance had created quite the stir, especially amongst the fashion world, but ponies are creatures of short memory and, three decades later, when this fine work of art was revealed, not one of the stunned art critics could make the connection. The artist of this work forever went unattributed, but Spike relished the knowledge that, in the end, Rarity was her own finest creation.
When Spike's guest left that night, the dragon reached over tenderly with a claw and wiped a fine layer of dust that had settled on Rarity's head. He looked into her eyes, reminding himself of what he saw in them. Her ashen expression held no sadness: she was performing, the place where she was happiest. Perhaps one day he would undo the spell, when he was close to his own final curtain, in order to tell her how well her performance was received?
Spike smiled back into that face. "Pleasant dreams, milady," he uttered. He rest his head atop a pile of gold beside her then, before closing his eyes to engage in one of a dragon's infamously long naps.
Writer's notes:
The basis of this story actually came from a ponychan thread where we were musing about how exactly Spike and Rarity's relationship would work out. When the conversation came to a dragon's covetous nature, this conclusion jumped right out at me: naturally, he'd want to add her to his hoard, and in a way that preserves her over the centuries. It fit so well I had to write a story about it.
I was originally thinking I'd make a bit of a black comedy with a grimdark twist, a thing where polite conversation is mixed with a dark undertone that does not become clear until the end. But, truth of the matter is, I don't particularly like grimdark, especially as applied to MLP:FIM, so instead I rewrote the ending to be significantly more touching. It's still a little creepy, I suppose, but also it's a bit of a happy ending in that, in the end, everybody gets what they want: Spike, his hoard centerpiece of a pony he always coveted. Rarity, never having to suffer the cosmetic ravages of age while being idolized (literally) for centuries.
Some credit belongs to a board resident by the name of "MintyRest" for mentioning they were expecting a cockatrice. Somehow, that had not occurred to me before, and I liked that idea so much that I had to steal it. I think I rather prefer the idea that Rarity is in suspended animation, perhaps to be reunited with Spike when they've both roughly the same amount of time to live, than the original deliberately morbid idea to have her stuffed and mounted.
As for who it was that fathered the lineage that lead to Rarity's grandchildren, I leave that deliberately unexplored, and any number of fanfics (or perhaps later canon) will be happy to fill in just who it was she was wed to. If it was a mortal pony, my preference, I assume Rarity was a widow, so as to not leave any bereft significant others when she enacted this scheme. However, the aperture here is wide enough that it does not shoot down shipping her with immortals or even Spike himself (which, I was surprised to recall, would be covering old ground of family entertainment already paved by Shrek).
|
geldon
|
972
| 2 |
Princess Celestia,Rarity,Spike,Romance,Sad,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Centerpiece Of My Collection / The Collection Of My Centerpiece
|
A story about Spike, Rarity, reminiscing, letting go, and preserving that which is most precious.
|
complete
| 405 | 9 |
<p>This story explores a dragon's nature somewhat, and spins a narrative of a middle-aged Spike regaling a visitor about the favorite item in his hoard: a statue of his favorite pony. It is a story about Spike, Rarity, reminiscing, letting go, and preserving that which is most precious to us.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-10-06T22:38:52+00:00
|
2011-10-06T22:38:52+00:00
| 7,599 |
(This is a work of fanfic based on Hasbro and company's "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic." I am not in any way affiliated with the creators and this document is wholly intended to be a work of parody that complies with fair use. Given mature themes, the intended audience for this piece is adults.)
The Collection Of My Centerpiece
By Geldon
Spike was once proud of his hoard, millenniums in the making, consisting of great wealth and mysterious artifacts. That was before he began to make a transition from an ancient dragon to a truly decrepit one. He had shrunk to roughly half his largest size. His purple scales had became soft and saggy, and his green spines had curled inward. Something in his instincts told him that defending a great hoard against rival dragons would be beyond his means. So, even as hopelessly covetous as dragons were, he had wisely decided to trust the greater part of his hoard to the care of Princess Celestia herself, the head monarch of the pony race he had spent most of his life in direct or indirect service to.
Now, he kept only a few things about his cave: a pile of pristine diamonds to sleep on, enough gold to purchase what sundries he desired of nearby Ponyville, a few examples of such supplies and, of course, the centerpiece of his collection. The centerpiece in question was a statue of a unicorn, wrought in incredibly lifelike detail, including a truly exquisitely designed dress inlaid with countless jewels. As the plaque on the pedestal proclaimed, her name was Rarity, and she was a love from his childhood... so very long ago from now.
Today, he was performing one of his favorite tasks, the maintenance of the centerpiece. Stone would naturally decay in exposure to the air, but this statue was of a magical nature, requiring only a recharge every now and then. Spike, being a dragon with magical fire breath, could provide this recharge. A very low heat, not enough to melt the stone or jewels, would refresh the magic on the statue, magically repairing any minor decay to the stone, and even burning off offending dust and minor impurities.
Spike examined the statue carefully for any signs of hairline cracks or other flaws and was satisfied to find none since the last time he had maintained it. All that would be required was a minor blast of flame sufficient to lightly envelop the statue.
He inhaled as far as his creaky old dragon lungs would allow and blew hard on the statue.
The flame he expelled would hardly light a candle.
Well, he thought, he would simply try again.
When he was wheezing after the twentieth failed attempt, Spike realized he had a serious problem. A dragon that was unable to belch more than a flicker of flame at his age was more than merely inadequate to refresh the magical wards on their favorite treasures.
Spike sat up and massaged a wrinkly chin in thought with one claw while idly drumming his nails on the cave floor with the other. He looked at the statue of his favorite pony and realized it was time for him to make a decision he had been putting off for centuries.
After a long contemplation, he went to his quills and scrolls (his claws still finely trained to manipulate the tiny things even at his advanced age) and wrote a simple message. Then, once again, he performed a colossal effort to expel a tiny gout of flame which was sufficient to burn the scroll. It evaporated under magical enchantment, its next stop: Princess Celestia herself.
Early the next day, the telltale sounds of a chariot touching down outside his cave told Spike that the alicorn had arrived. The tall slender white pony of horn and wings stepped into his sight, trailing her billowing chromatic mane and two rather plain-looking Equestrial guardsponies. An ancient dragon was one of the few creatures who did not feel the need to express humility in the presence of the immortal who rose the sun each day. Besides, they had been acquaintances for ages. The two greet each other as associates would while passing each other on the street.
"Hello, Celestia."
"Hello, Spike."
Celestia looked at the statue of Rarity and asked, "So, you have made your decision, then?"
Spike nodded, "She won't thank me for it, but I think it only right, all things considered."
Celestia smiled, "Only right to surrender your most precious treasure? What a strange dragon you turned out to be, Spike."
Spike lumbered back on his hindquarters, crossing his arms with a harrumph, expelling a weak gout of smoke from his nostrils, "That's what I get for entertaining the company of ponies for so long."
The princess laughed lightheartedly at his display and responded, "Admit it, Spike, you enjoyed every minute."
Spike let that pass unanswered. Curling up again on his pile of diamonds while facing his visitor and her guards, he asked, "Have you made the necessary preparations?"
In reply, the alicorn made a subtle direction to her guards, who brought a small banquet table and a few boxes of documents before being dismissed.
The dragon was satisfied, "Well, then, let us begin."
Princess Celestia faced the statue, closed her eyes, and began to concentrate. Her horn glowed, and the statue glowed in sync with it. Slowly, the ashen surface of the statue began to soften and gain color. The unicorn's coat turned white, her styled mane a lustrous purple, the bright azure color returning to the diamonds of her cutie mark.
As Rarity fell forward off the pedestal, Celestia's magic caught her and delivered her safely to the floor. Soon, the unicorn began to move, her hooves holding her head while her face scrunched in pain. Survivors of petrification often complained of a headache, and hers was thousands of years in the making.
Eventually, Rarity's head cleared, and she sat up and opened her eyes. Towering before her was a wrinkly scaled beast. She blinked. Then, without a second thought, she bolted towards the exit, only to see Princess Celestia standing there. She reared back in confusion.
"Good morning, milady," rumbled the dragon behind her.
Rarity slowly turned around and asked, "Spike, darling, is that you?"
Spike brought his snout down next to the unicorn so that she could get a better look at it.
She turned around and kicked him square in the nose with both hind hooves: quite an impressive feat for an old mare.
Spike pulled back holding his face in pain as Rarity faced him with her eyes narrowed and voice angry, "You snake! You charlatan! How dare you treat a lady this way?! What do you have to say for yourself?!"
Still rubbing his sore nose, the ancient dragon felt it inappropriate to tell her that her immortality was fleeting, that the very statue she had become would soon crumble without his ability to sustain its magics, that a replacement could not be expected to protect her over the centuries as he had. Instead, he interjected weakly, "Didn't you want to know how well your performance was received?"
"You thought that I would want to know how well my performance was received?! Really?!" Rarity was livid, she stomped her hooves and capered about in a angry circle, casting scathing looks at Spike and even Princess Celestia herself, "You told me that I would be a masterwork for the centuries, that I would not need worry about growing old, that Equestria would never forget Rarity! I agreed to this, I told you that it was my destiny!"
As the unicorn ranted, the dragon and alicorn traded a strange look. It was one thing to be nostalgic about one's dearest memories, but it was quite another to see them come alive in order to chastise them.
"And now, look at me!" cried Rarity in one of her trademark meltdowns. "Flesh and bone once again, doomed to face all that and more, in a world I could not possibly know, where all my friends are gone and even my infinitely great grandchildren could not hope to recognize me." She ended her melodramatic display collapsed in her own tears, sobbing, "Why, Spike, why would you do this to me?"
Spike let her cry for a bit, and then reached over with a claw to comfort her, running it over her elegant curls and under her chin. Rarity did not resist, and looked at up him with hope in her eyes that he could provide the answers she needed.
"I'm sorry, Rarity," was all Spike had to say, "but I never told you it would be forever. This is the end, do you understand? Your performance is over, and you did it better than anypony else could have."
Sniffling, Rarity climbed into a sitting position and looked at the cave floor, allowing her curls to hide her eyes. After some time, she looked up at Spike, revealing dried tears, and asked bravely, "Would you tell me about it?" The dragon smiled in response: he had been hoping that her vanity had survived so that he would be able to provide her the comfort that she wanted.
What followed was an ancient dragon and an immortal alicorn plumbing their collective memories in recounting the history of the time Rarity spent as a statue. This was supported by various photographs and excerpts from the boxes that Celestia's guards had dropped off next to the buffet table. From that same table, the unicorn sustained herself with an occasional drink and bite while listening.
Rarity learned of her initial debut to stunned art critics everywhere. She learned that, from time to time, Spike would even take her on tour. She heard the compliments of every visitor to Spike's hoard. She also learned of the state of modern day Equestria. She had learned how many of her advances in fashion were still used today. She even learned a bit about the lives of her friends, her grandchildren, and descendants some ten generations down the line.
It took a full three days for the recounting to complete, during which Rarity became considerably less upset and actually a bit amiable and grateful to the efforts of Spike. She also became considerably less animated, tiring, even resorting to the occasional nap, though never sleeping long while there were still things to hear about herself.
When the recounting was complete, and Rarity seemed overjoyed. "Marvelous, I have succeeded on all counts, Equestria has known of me for centuries! I do believe that this was the best idea we ever had, Spike! No stuffy old retirement for Rarity! Nopony in the history of Equestria would dare follow in my hoof steps!"
Beaming at Spike, Rarity said, "I said I would never kiss a dragon again, but I do believe I at least owe you a peck on the cheek." She began to walk towards Spike before collapsing on wobbly legs. "Oh, my!" said the embarrassed unicorn, "It seems I have rather overexerted myself."
Spike said tenderly, "Allow me, milady," and reached out to fetch a thick blanket. He deftly placed it in the center of his diamond pile before gently scooping up Rarity and placing her atop it, next to him.
"My, how lavish!" said Rarity, marveling at her diamond bed. She weakly made herself comfortable before resting her head on the dragon's stomach. Dragons are cold-blooded creatures in most regards, but the inner furnace beneath that stomach is an exception. Closing her eyes against that warmth, she murmured, "You always were the perfect little gentleman, Spike. Sometimes, I wish that you had been born a stallion."
The dragon smoothed those curls once more and asked her, "Would you like to stay with me, Rarity, until the end?"
"That sounds like an absolutely marvelous idea," sighed the unicorn, nuzzling him as she drifted away, "Thank you for a wonderful time."
For about an hour, Spike and Celestia kept their silence and looked on warmly until Rarity's breathing, somewhat ragged at her age, had slowed to a state that suggested she was in a deep sleep.
Then the dragon spoke softly to the alicorn, two words with tremendous gravity, "How long?"
Princess Celestia's expression took on a slightly regretful turn as she replied, "Very soon. The petrification does not eliminate aging so much as stretches the hours into years, and the magic sustaining that expansion is about spent. I was impressed: you must have been maintaining those magics well for her to have lasted this long."
"Thank you," said Spike earnestly. "And as for me?"
Celestia's look slightly reproached the dragon for making her recite what he already knew, "Your fire is going out, Spike. There is very little doubt what that means."
"Of course." Spike stared at the midday sunlight spilling from the exit to his cave, illuminating a world he would never see again.
Something emerged from that light, his eyes distracted by its subtle movement, and he allowed himself to lose focus. As they trotted into the cave before standing about Princess Celestia, Spike surveyed countless new visitors, ponies with familiar faces of centuries ago, the names almost forgotten to him. As they filled the cave, five particular ponies stood before the rest, and he felt a distinctly un-dragon-like sense of longing.
The alicorn could see a vacancy in the dragon's eyes and asked, "You can see them, can't you?"
"Yes," answered Spike, "I have been able to for quite some time. Although, I do not know what to make of them. Spirits, perhaps?"
"In a matter of speaking," said Celestia, "they are the reflections of those who have come before. They become visible to those who can recognize their influence never truly leaves the great cycle of life."
Looking up from where she lay beside him, it seemed that Rarity could see them too. She climbed to her hooves and brightly trotted out to greet her friends. Spike watched her go, energetic, happy, and slightly translucent. He did not need to look beside himself to feel that her body had stayed behind and had grown still. His energy began to fail, his inner flame flickering: something very essential had went with her.
"A great cycle of life?" mused Spike weakly. "Oh, Celestia, it's always been your way to regard things in the manner of a sun rising and setting. Do you mean to tell me that all of this will happen again some day?"
"I know it will," replied Celestia immediately, "as the patterns are too obvious to deny. Each time the sun sets, it is merely waiting its turn to rise again. There are only minor differences, each day building upon the last."
Spike laid his head down, his body coiled atop the pile of diamonds in a protective semicircle about his favorite treasure. His eyes closed, and yet, he noticed that he could still see the spectral ponies, smiling at him. Waiting.
"Perhaps," he murmured, "but there is only one way I would like to see this day end. I trust my payment was received?"
Unseen, Celestia shook her head softly, but not in disagreement. "The greater bulk of your hoard is secure in an Equestrian treasury. However, you know that you really did not need to pay me anything, Spike, as your service to ponydom was surely payment enough."
After a long pause, the dragon whispered, "I wonder if even I had learned to value generosity?"
Minutes passed in silence until a small rivet of black smoke emerged from each of Spike's nostrils: the fire had gone out at last; the dragon was no longer breathing.
Princess Celestia readied herself, closed her eyes in concentration, and her horn began to glow.
The diamonds beneath Spike and Rarity lit. At first, merely floating pinpricks, like fireflies inside each gemstone, casting dazzling rays through the pristine facets. However, the glowing built continually, and soon the diamonds resembled stars. Even greater the intensity built, becoming a searing force that enveloped all, filling the cave with a sheet of pure blinding light.
(Throughout Equestria, ponies would later recount an odd darkness in midday, as though the sun had gone behind a cloud, but on a cloudless day.)
After some time, the brightness began to fade, shrinking slowly from the cave walls while maintaining intensity at the center. Smaller it became until one could see that dragon, unicorn, and diamonds had been completely incinerated. Now, there was nothing left on the smoldering cave floor but a compacted sphere of mass about the size of a ball, its heat causing it to resemble a miniature sun.
Celestia opened her eyes and lifted the sphere with her telekinesis, turning it over and over. As she did so, it cooled from white hot to molten red, it smoothed and elongated into an oblong shape. Finally, it had cooled enough to be as hard as the diamonds that formed it, its surface as purple as Spike's scales with round spots the color of Rarity's cutie mark.
It was a dragon's egg: the final product of Spike, Rarity, and riches immeasurable.
Princess Celestia smiled warmly as she marveled at the perfection of the legendary artifact she had helped to create. Before the alicorn left the cave with it, she said to the egg, "When I find the student who can hatch you, then I will know that the part of the great cycle containing you and your friends is upon me again."
Writer's notes:
This story has been challenging to write because it started with a somewhat grimdark premise (Spike has taken Rarity for the purpose of making her a trophy in his hoard for thousands of years) but I decided I would rather it be a tender story. Trying to pull something morbid back into tender territory requires a lot of conditions be established in order to avoid (or at least severely mitigate) the creepiness of the situation.
In the original story, The Centerpiece Of My Collection, the condition I set up was that this petrification arrangement was one of mutual consent and benevolent intentions. Spike is a dragon, and dragons want to collect precious things for their hoard, so he would see nothing wrong with adding Rarity to it. (As someone on the original ponychan thread mentioned, could you imagine him trying to explain that to Twilight Sparkle?) Rarity is a very vain pony, not to mention the bearer of the element of generosity, and she had already lived her life to the fullest. All these factors lent feasibility to the idea that she would happen to find petrification appealing enough to go through with it. The result was a fairly deep thought as to the motivations of the characters and a very bittersweet resolution.
A concluding story was not really needed, but I had some ideas along these lines and I decided to see them through. You could choose to interpret the end as Spike taking advantage of Rarity because he did not tell her how little time she had left nor that she would end up a component to form a dragon's egg. This was because he preferred to let her pass away peacefully, blissfully ignorant of both things. I tried to diminish this final deceit with Rarity's implied consent. The knowledge that they had both recently passed away before forming the egg should have redeemed it further, but in some reader interpretations this might make it seem worse, implying some sort of necrophilia or touting spontaneous regeneration! I do, at least, like to think I buried the idea that Spike had tricked Rarity into giving up the last years of her life through an understanding that Rarity gave them up willingly in thinking she would never be turned back from stone.
Did I succeed in making this story more tender than creepy? That's going to be up to each individual reader's opinion. In fact, it's been my experience that no matter what I write, somebody is going to choose the worst possible interpretation, and I should respect that. Who am I to set myself up as the judge of the one true perspective of anything, anyway?
I like to have a surprise reveal in my stories, and in this one it was that an egg was formed, the physical representation of the idea Celestia puts forward about how life and death are linked in a great cycle. In which case Spike, Rarity, and all their friends will once again walk Equestria some time in the future, their adventures will continue for an eternity (or close to it). This is not implying that they will necessarily have the same physical bodies, names, memories, nor live in the same conditions they had lived before, "Each day is different, building upon the last." However, I am implying that they will share a subconscious bond of eternal friendship. After all, in episode 23, Cutie Mark Chronicles, it actually became canon that, "Everypony everywhere has a special magical connection with her friends, maybe even before she has even met them!"
MintyRest, the same brony who had reminded me of the cockatrice when I wrote the first fanfic, made another interesting observation upon reading this story: how would the immortals, Celestia and Luna, feel about recognizing the reincarnation of their old associates, having to let them go again and again? I think the answer can be found in the immortal's credo from the first story. "Living for the moment," is not something I made up on the fly, but rather a core premise of centuries-old world philosophies (such as Buddhism and Taoism) and has even been supported by scientific study and inducted into the field of cognitive psychology as a remarkable mental panacea. I could not see long-lived sentient creatures such as alicorns and dragons surviving if they could not adopt this practice, and so Celestia and Luna would not dwell on the friends of theirs who are outside the current "cycle of life," but rather savor the ones who are in the here and now.
From this idea of a cycle of life, I would say an even more interesting possibility emerges: what if all fanfic existed on the same continuum, just different iterations of the story retelling itself time and time again? It would mean that no matter how grimdark the fanfic you read, it would balanced out by the contrary in later iterations. All that matters in the end is how well you are enjoying the journey.
|
DJLowrider
|
974
| 1 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Raiders of the Cutie Mark
|
The Cutie Mark Crusaders embark on their biggest adventure yet - and possibly their last!
|
complete
| 173 | 3 |
<p>When the Cutie Mark Crusaders find a book telling of an ancient artifact with the power to grant one's heart's desire, it leads them on their biggest adventure ever - and quite possibly their last!</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-09-23T20:34:24+00:00
|
2011-09-23T20:34:24+00:00
| 11,186 |
Chapter One: The Colts Templar
Scootaloo barely registered the nudge she felt at her side as she adjusted her position slightly while dozing. She was having the most wonderful nap she'd had in recent memory, which was coupled with a dream about flying high in the sky along with Rainbow Dash with both of them as members of the Wonderbolts. Another more insistent poke at her side earned an absent wave of her foreleg as she tried to fend off the invader to her dream world. She settled back into her nap, mumbling and murmuring about her adoration for the rainbow-maned mare only to be abruptly ripped from her dream by the sound and feeling of several heavy books landing on the table right in front of her. She startled and fell over backwards onto the floor from where she'd been sitting. Once she got her bearings, she looked up and met the rather perturbed gaze of the white unicorn filly who'd been trying to wake her up.
"Scoot, we came here to see if we could find a way to earn our cutie marks," Sweetie Belle said in a scolding tone. "Not to turn Twilight's library into a site for a slumber party."
"Hey, it's not my fault I can't keep my eyes open for this stuff," Scootaloo said as she got back to her hooves. "Remind me why we're doing something this boring again."
"'Cuz it was Sweetie Belle's turn to pick," Apple Bloom told her without looking up from the book she was still intently reading. "An' we still need some time to lay low after your last idea."
"It totally would've worked!" Scootaloo told Apple Bloom insistently. "Parkour is so in right now, it's got to be our talent!"
"Then maybe we can try it again somewhere that isn't the middle of Ponyville's town square on market day," Sweetie Belle remarked as she sat back down to her book.
"Ponies in this town have no appreciation for self-expression," Scootaloo grumbled as she sat back down and stared with contempt at the stack of books in front of her. "I still don't get why we're doing this, though. We tried the whole librarian thing before."
"We ain't tryin' to be librarians this time," Apple Bloom reminded her. "We're Cutie Mark Crusader Historical Researchers, remember?"
"Just sounds like another fancy way to say 'librarian' to me," Scootaloo commented as she started looking through the books in front of her.
The three fillies had only been back at their "research" for a couple of minutes when Twilight Sparkle and Spike entered the library, having returned from their day's shopping. Spike carried a bag of groceries off to the pantry while Twilight walked over to the trio, her saddlebags bulging with new books.
"How goes the research, girls?" she asked with a smile. She was happy to see the three fillies doing something that wouldn't lead to either a visit to Nurse Redheart or another session of scolding from the Mayor about property damage.
"Slowly," Sweetie Belle said in disappointment. "We really appreciate your letting us use the library, Twilight, but none of these books is giving us any ideas about something historical we could try and discover more about on our own."
"Not to mention..." Scootaloo said, already yawning again from her utter boredom. "This isn't the most exciting thing in the world to do for a living."
"Well, keep at it girls," Twilight told them encouragingly as she levitated her saddlebags over next to her desk. "Books can be quite amazing if you give them a chance. You never know what kind of adventure they might lead you on. I'll be right back, I'm gonna help Spike put stuff away and I'll bring you all some cookies I brought from Sugar Cube Corner."
"Thanks Twilight," the three fillies called out as she left. No sooner was Twilight out of the room than Scootaloo made her way over to the saddlebags she'd just set down.
"Scootaloo, what in tarnation are you doin'?" Apple Bloom said, shocked at the Pegasus filly as she nudged the bags open.
"Hey, she's got new books in here," Scootaloo told her. "Maybe one of them has something in it."
Apple Bloom frowned at her friend's casually nosy attitude. "You're goin' through somepony else's private property! That ain't right, I tell ya!"
"Bloom, they're books," Scootaloo told her as she continued rifling through the bags. "She's gonna put 'em on the shelves for everypony to read anyway."
Apple Bloom just shook her head and returned to her book, all the while muttering to herself about proper manners and how she, herself, got yelled at extensively for going through Applejack's things once while attempting to see if she could get an investigative reporter cutie mark.
"Hey, dig this guys," Scootaloo said as she fished a book with a red and gold colored cover out of the bag. She set the book down on the table for the other two to see.
"'The Colts Templar: Ponies of the Crusade'," Sweetie Belle said, reading the title. "Hey, that sounds like us!"
"Let's check it out!" Scootaloo said as she eagerly opened the book. Sweetie Belle quickly joined her, and Apple Bloom finally did a few moments later after finally getting over her indignation at Scootaloo's earlier rudeness.
The three fillies quickly scanned through the book's contents, which covered the history of an ancient society known as The Colts Templar. They were a group dedicated to protecting Equestria from ancient evils, though over the years their methods for doing so became more and more questionable and extreme. The society was disbanded hundreds of years ago, but not before one last act they did to ensure Equestria's safety for all time.
Twilight returned to the main study with a plate of cookies levitating just by her head. She was just in time to see the girls close the book. They all looked over at her and immediately rushed up to her. Twilight quickly levitated the cookies higher so they wouldn't knock the plate over.
"What do you know about The Holy Oat Pail?" all three girls asked simultaneously and with eyes practically bugging out of their heads.
"The what now?" Twilight asked in response.
"The Holy Oat Pail!" Sweetie Belle said as she rushed back over to the book and opened it to one of the last pages. "It's the last treasure of The Colts Templar!"
"It's an ancient artifact found during one of their crusades," Scootaloo added. "It's supposed to be the very oat pail Princess Celestia ate her first oats from as a filly!"
"And it's s'posed to be magical!" Apple Bloom said in breathless excitement. "Anypony who eats from it will have their heart's desire granted to 'em!"
"Girls, that thing is just a legend," Twilight told them dismissively. "There's never been any proof that The Holy Oat Pail ever actually existed, let alone that it actually did what it was purported to do."
"Well 'o course there ain't no proof," Apple Bloom told her matter-of-factly. "The Templars hid it away so it wouldn't fall into the wrong hooves. Says so in the book."
"There's got to be more information somewhere," Sweetie Belle said, flipping the book closed. "Don't you have any other books on The Templars?"
"Or any research you've done on them?" Scootaloo asked as well.
"Actually, I don't," Twilight said, setting the plate of cookies down on the table amidst the piles of books. "I just happened to find that book at the book fair that's at the market today. I bought it because it sounded like an amusing story, that's all. I'm really not interested in mythical ancient artifacts."
"Who'd ya get the book from, then?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Who else?" Twilight replied simply. "Booker. He always helps me find the most interesting books."
"Maybe he's got some more stuff, then," Scootaloo said. "We'd better get over there and check it out!"
Twilight was about to remind the girls to eat their cookies, but was interrupted as they quickly wolfed down their treats and yelled their thanks back to her on their way out the door. Twilight just laughed and shook her head as Spike emerged from the pantry and looked grumpily at the mess of books they left behind.
"Would it have killed them to clean up before running off?" he complained as he began collecting books to put away.
Twilight held back from commenting on the girls' departure and instead set to helping Spike clean up the books. She quietly wished the girls luck in their endeavor, wherever it ended up leading them.
Fortune smiled on the girls as they quickly located Booker among the stacks of books he'd brought for the Ponyville book fair. Unfortunately, the book Twilight had bought from him was the only one he'd had on The Colts Templar or The Holy Oat Pail. Feeling defeated, the three fillies sat together near the town well trying to figure out what to do next.
"Maybe we could try going back to the library again?" Sweetie Belle asked, though she knew she was grasping at straws now.
"Ain't no point in that," Apple Bloom told her. "Twilight already said she ain't interested in this sorta thing. I doubt we're gonna find any more help there."
"Maybe we should try asking around town," Scootaloo suggested. "I mean, there's gotta be other ponies around who've heard of it."
"That's not a half-bad idea, Scoot," Sweetie Belle said. "Let's get to asking!"
And so began the Cutie Mark Crusader Crusader Inquiry. They asked Applejack.
"What makes ya think I got the kinda time t'be readin' 'bout some silly ol' oat pail? I got apples to sell!"
They asked Rarity.
"I think I heard once that the pail was a lovely silver color. I think it would make a stunning accessory to this ensemble I've been working on. Oh that reminds me, girls, I need to do another sizing with you for your dresses..."
Half an hour after they finally got away from Rarity, they asked Rainbow Dash.
"They're not the Wonderbolts, so what do I care about 'em?"
They asked Fluttershy, or at least they tried to; however, just from hearing the name of The Colts Templar, Fluttershy locked herself in her home and refused to answer the door for an hour.
They asked Ditzy Doo.
"I dunno anything about a magical oat pail, but I have a fantastic muffin tin at my house. It makes perfect muffins every time! That's pretty magical to me."
They asked Vinyl Scratch.
"Colts Templar? I think I have a couple of their tracks. Aren't they eurobeat? Or was it dubstep? I'm sure I heard a remix recently that had something about an oat pail in the title..."
After an exhausting day of questioning various residents of Ponyville, the Cutie Mark Crusaders finally made their way to Sugar Cube Corner in hopes of at least salvaging the day with some treats of some kind or another.
"Welcome to Sugar Cube Corner!" Pinkie Pie announced from behind the counter as she heard the bell at the door chime when the three fillies entered. Her expression changed to one of curiosity as she saw the glum looks on the girls' face. "Hey girls, why so sad?" she asked.
"Just another day of wasted effort," Scootaloo said as she took a seat at a table along with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.
"Still workin' on those cutie marks, huh?" Pinkie asked as she picked out three cupcakes and placed them on a tray for the girls. The three fillies nodded and said their thanks as Pinkie served the treats to them. "Y'know, life's too short to get all worked up over this kinda stuff. You should really just get out and have some fun while you can. It's not all parties and fun when you're older."
"This coming from a pony who makes her livelihood throwing parties and having fun," Sweetie Belle said under her breath. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom both chuckled at her comment.
"Hey Pinkie," Apple Bloom said, getting the pink pony's attention. "I know ya probably won't even know what I'm talkin' about, but you wouldn't happen to know anythin' 'bout The Colts Templar or The Holy Oat Pail would ya?"
"Hmm...nopey dopey," Pinkie said after a moment of thought. The girls all just nodded as they continued to eat their cupcakes. "But now that you mention it, I do remember hearing somepony talking about something like that recently," she added after another moment.
"You did?" Scootaloo asked, suddenly much more energetic. "Who? When?"
"Zecora was in town again a couple days ago," Pinkie said as she recalled the events of earlier that week. "She stopped by to pick up some sugar cubes since, after all, this is Sugar Cube Corner. It'd be weird if we didn't sell sugar cubes here along with everything else. And as usual I tried to get her to buy some other stuff too since all she ever buys here is sugar cubes which are soooo boooring, but she didn't want any. So then I asked her what if I made sugar cube flavored cupcakes, and she just kinda laughed at that but-"
"Can you maybe just skip to the important part?" Sweetie Belle asked, feeling her head spin a bit from Pinkie's rambling.
"Oh, right!" Pinkie said, remembering the point of the story. "Anyway, she was about to leave when I noticed she'd dropped a small book of some kind. I brought it to her and she thanked me for it. She said it was one of her most important books. I asked her what it was about and she said..."
Pinkie paused to pull her mane up into a mohawk and took on a serious expression. "It is filled with tales from near and far of a society known as The Colts Templar," she said in her best impression of the zebra. Her mane immediately returned to its usual puffiness as soon as she finished her impression.
"Of course!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. "Why didn't I think of it sooner? Zecora's gotta know a bunch 'bout The Colts Templar! We gotta go ask her!"
"Yeah, but it's way too late for heading into the Everfree Forest today," Sweetie Belle noted as she saw the setting sun just outside the window they were sitting near.
"Then we'll go first thing tomorrow morning," Scootaloo said resolutely. "You know the way to Zecora's house, right Apple Bloom?"
"Sure do," Apple Bloom said. "Big sis an' I take apples out to her all the time."
"Then we'll meet up at Sweet Apple Acres tomorrow morning and head out from there," Scootaloo said. The three fillies agreed and, after devouring their cupcakes with their newfound gusto, thanked Pinkie and each headed out for their respective homes for a good night's sleep. Pinkie poked her head out the front door and watched to make sure they were well on their way and then headed back into the shop, stopping by one of the back doors that led to a darkened room.
"Do you think they suspect anything?" a voice asked from the darkness in a whisper.
"Nopey dopey," Pinkie replied with a grin. "They'll head for Zecora's tomorrow for sure. Will the others be ready for them after that?"
"They've all assured me that they are prepared to go through with their parts," the voice replied. "I have full faith in them."
"I'm still not super-duper sure about this plan," Pinkie said, a hint of uncertainty evident in her voice. "Are we sure this is the right thing to do?"
"It'll work," the voice assured her. "And trust me; when all is said and done, they will thank us in the end. Get some rest for now. You have much to prepare for as well, remember? Your part in this is not done just yet."
"You got that right," Pinkie said with a nod. "That goes for you too, though. You need a good night's rest too."
"When this plan comes to fruition, everypony will rest easier," the voice told her.
Pinkie nodded in agreement and began closing the shop down for the night as the voice took its leave of her. Hopes and dreams would either be realized or dashed by this time tomorrow. No matter how it played out, though, it promised to be a day nopony would ever forget.
Zecora was settled into a pleasant bit of meditation when a familiar pattern of knocks came at her front door the next morning. It was the same manner of knocking Apple Bloom always used when she came to visit. Zecora found it funny since she wasn't expecting another delivery of apples for several days, but answered her door anyway. She was quite surprised to see Apple Bloom's Pegasus and unicorn friends standing behind the earth pony filly on the other side.
"Good morning to you, little Apple Bloom," Zecora said in greeting. "Your visit today is not a normal one, I presume."
"Sorry if we're interruptin' your meditations or somethin' Zecora," Apple Bloom said apologetically. "We've got somethin' real important we wanna talk to you 'bout."
"By all means, do come in," Zecora told them. "Then a conversation we may begin."
"Does she always talk like this?" Scootaloo asked Apple Bloom in a whisper as they all entered the strange house.
"I think it's kinda neat, actually," Sweetie Belle added. "It's giving me some lyric ideas."
"I thought you hated singing?" Scootaloo asked her.
"I hate singing in front of lots of ponies," Sweetie Belle said to correct her friend. "But when it's just you guys or my sister, I kinda like it."
"Hush you two," Apple Bloom told them quietly. Once her friends were seated, she turned to look at Zecora again. "We, uh...we were wonderin' if we could ask you about somethin' we've been readin' about lately."
"Your request is interesting and quite rare," Zecora said, unaccustomed to having ponies actually come to her for help. "If I can be of help, my knowledge I will share."
"Well see, Twilight bought this book at the book fair yesterday," Apple Bloom said, recalling the prior day's events as she tried to think of how to pose her question politely. "We all read through it, an' after askin' 'round town we found out you might know somethin' more 'bout this, so...um...we were wonderin'...if it ain't askin' too much..."
"Oh for the love of Celestia!" Scootaloo cried out as she lost her patience with Apple Bloom. She stood up and looked right at Zecora. "We wanna know what you know about The Colts Templar and The Holy Oat Pail!"
Apple Bloom glared angrily at Scootaloo for being so straightforward and rude while Sweetie Belle shifted away from Scootaloo a bit, just in case her two friends got into a shouting match. Zecora looked over the three fillies carefully and silently. She then went to her windows and unrolled the shades so they were covered. She also ensured her front door was securely locked and then walked to her saddlebags, fishing out the small book that Pinkie had mentioned to the girls the previous evening. She placed the book on the table in front of the girls and sat down, a look of dire seriousness on her face.
"Before I begin, one thing I must know," she said, looking over each of the fillies in turn. "How far are you three willing to go? Will you face up to the perils in my story just for the sake of fortune and glory?"
"If the Holy Oat Pail is real, then we absolutely want to find it," Sweetie Belle said. "Something as amazing as an oat pail that can grant your heart's desire is something all ponies everywhere should be able to use."
"Not to mention maybe it can finally help us find our talents so we can get our cutie marks," Scootaloo added. This time both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle glared at her. "What? That's why we're really after this thing, after all," she said defensively.
Zecora laughed a bit and nudged her book open. "Fear not, my young guests. I will now comply with your requests."
The three fillies fell dead silent as they leaned across the table to look into the book as Zecora spoke to them.
"I have sought the Oat Pail for many a year," the wise zebra told them. "But the ability to find it I lack, I fear. Reaching the pail is something no one pony can do. To be successful, of friends you must have two."
"Hey, there's three of us!" Scootaloo pronounced. "We can totally do this! That oat pail is as good as ours!"
"Not so fast my eager young filly," Zecora told her. "If you think it's that easy, you truly are quite silly."
"You don't know the half of it," Sweetie Belle said, earning her a glare from Scootaloo.
"The temple where the pail resides is on the edge of Everfree," Zecora told them, opening the book to a map that seemed to lead to where the temple was located. "But to enter it you must first assemble a key. The pieces of the key have been hidden far and wide. They must be found before an attempt for the pail is tried."
"What do you mean 'attempt'?" Apple Bloom asked. "I mean, once the door's open we can just walk on up an' take the pail, right?"
Zecora simply shook her head at Apple Bloom and turned several pages to another section of the book. "The Templars wished for the pail to never be misused, so they placed several tasks to keep would-be thieves confused," she told them. "Inside the temple you'll face trials numbering three. If you fail even one, the pail you'll never see."
"Are these trials...dangerous?" Sweetie Belle asked, swallowing nervously as she spoke.
"Only to those with greed in their heart," Zecora told her with a smile. "Not to mention those who are not quite so smart."
"So we gotta find the pieces of the key, an' then we can get into the temple an' attempt the trials," Apple Bloom said, going over everything. "I don't s'pose we could borrow that book of yours, Zecora?"
Zecora laughed lightly as she closed the book and slid it across the table to Apple Bloom. "I would only ask that you allow me a glimpse of that which I have longed for years to see."
"We'll bring it back no prob!" Scootaloo told her. "C'mon, Crusaders. Destiny awaits!"
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle quickly thanked the wise zebra and then ran off after Scootaloo. Zecora watched them run off and wished them well before deciding to put on a pot of water for some tea.
"My only hope is that those girls will succeed," she said to herself. "They certainly possess all the skills they will need."
|
DJLowrider
|
974
| 2 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Raiders of the Cutie Mark
|
The Cutie Mark Crusaders embark on their biggest adventure yet - and possibly their last!
|
complete
| 173 | 3 |
<p>When the Cutie Mark Crusaders find a book telling of an ancient artifact with the power to grant one's heart's desire, it leads them on their biggest adventure ever - and quite possibly their last!</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-09-25T21:12:16+00:00
|
2011-09-25T21:12:16+00:00
| 6,473 |
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle pored through Zecora's book in the middle of Ponyville as they waited for Scootaloo to return. Scootaloo had decided to get a few supplies for the day and meet them right where they were absorbing every bit of information the book had to offer. The two fillies looked up as they heard their friend approaching on her scooter. The wagon trailed behind her and contained snacks, refreshments, and three shovels in case they'd need to dig anything up. Scootaloo skidded to a stop and hopped off her ride, a sly smile on her face.
"Are we ready, ladies?" she asked as she sauntered up to her friends.
"Pretty much," Sweetie Belle said, suddenly looking at Scootaloo oddly. "Where'd you get the hat?"
Scootaloo looked up at the beaten-up brown fedora that sat on her head. "Cool, huh? I thought it'd be a nice touch."
"It's, uh…" Sweetie Belle tried to find decently tactful words to describe how ridiculous she thought Scootaloo looked in the hat, but thankfully Apple Bloom stepped between them while putting the book into her saddle bags.
"Daylight's burnin', girls," Bloom told them. "We gotta find the pieces to that key an' get to the temple pronto."
"Right on," Scootaloo said eagerly. "So where do we start?"
"Accordin' to Zecora's book, the pieces of the key were scattered all over Ponyville," Bloom said as she recalled what the book said. "Zecora couldn't figure out exactly where the pieces were, but she did write down a buncha clues she found about 'em."
"What's the first clue?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"There were a buncha drawings of horses an' music notes an' somethin' spinnin' 'round an' round," Bloom told her.
"Sounds like one of the rides at the Annual Ponyville Harvest Fair," Scootaloo said. "But that's not for months! We can't wait that long."
"A ride at the fair…" Sweetie Belle said, pondering the clue. "That goes around and around with music and horses…"
"A merry-go-round!" Apple Bloom exclaimed, putting it together. "But Ponyville doesn't have a merry-go-round."
"Yes it does!" Sweetie Belle said as her eyes shot wide. "Come with me guys!"
"Where are we going?" Scootaloo asked as she and Apple Bloom quickly followed the unicorn filly.
"Back to my house," Sweetie Belle told them, grinning wildly. "Another word for a merry-go-round is a carousel!"
"Carousel Boutique!" both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo said together as they realized what Sweetie meant.
The run from town square to the boutique didn't take long, but just before the trio went bursting inside Sweetie Belle stopped short of the door and got her friends to skid to a halt as well.
"Sweetie Belle, what's with the hold up?" Scootaloo asked impatiently.
"My sister's hard at work inside and I don't wanna disturb her," Sweetie told her. "Plus, do you really want to try and explain to her what we're doing today?"
"She's got a point, Scoot," Apple Bloom added. "The less folks know 'bout this, the better."
"Alright, I get it," Scootaloo said, rolling her eyes. "Let's just get in there and find this piece of the key."
Sweetie Belle nodded and carefully opened the door for her friends. She closed it behind them and ushered her friends through the showroom and up the stairs. They stopped again as they peered into Rarity's room and saw the unicorn fashionista staring intently at a dress that she was hemming on one of her dress stands. Sweetie Belle motioned to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo to continue up the stairs to her room. Once her friends were gone upstairs, Sweetie took one more look at her sister before turning to head upstairs.
"Sweetie Belle, is that you dear?" Rarity called out without looking around. Sweetie cringed as she'd been discovered. Rarity always did have rather good hearing.
"I was just stopping back for a couple of things from my room," Sweetie said as she hesitantly entered Rarity's room. "I didn't want to disturb you, sis."
"Thank you for the thought, Sweetie," Rarity said, abandoning her work for the moment to face her sister. "Most days I do appreciate peace and quiet to work, but this is one of those days that the silence is a bit maddening. Do you suppose you could sing a little something for me?"
"Right now?" Sweetie asked nervously as she quickly cast her eyes to the doorway. "I'm kind of in a hurry, sis…"
"Oh just one song, please?" Rarity pleaded. "Then I promise I'll let you get back to your friends."
Sweetie Belle bit her lip as she considered her choices. Running away in a panic was always an option, but while it was usually an attractive one she nonetheless felt compelled to comply with her sister's request. It wasn't often she was actually asked to sing for anyone, especially Rarity. She made a silent and quick wish that Apple Bloom and Scootaloo weren't trashing her room too badly looking for the key fragment as she searched her memory for a song to sing.
She looked at Rarity who watched her hopefully and then looked around the room at all the fabrics, thread, and other tools of the trade her seamstress sister used. For just a moment it made her think of their parents' and grandparents' homeland. While she and Rarity had been born and raised in Ponyville, their parents and grandparents were originally from an island just north of Equestia called Emerald Isle. The ponies there had a unique culture and a rich tradition of folksongs, many of which Sweetie Belle had learned from one of their grandmothers. Sweetie Belle and Rarity had never actually been there, but through the many stories told and songs sung to them by their grandparents they knew quite a bit about it and were both thoroughly enchanted with it.
All at once she knew which song to sing. It was a song that one of their grandmothers who had long since passed away had sung to them both when they were little. It wasn't a particularly happy song, but it had a special place in their hearts. She set the tempo of the song in her head, took a deep breath, closed her eyes and began to sing a soothing yet bittersweet song of a town in decline.
"At the east end of our town at the foot of the hill, there's a chimney so tall that reads Bridlefast Mill.
But there's no smoke at all coming out of the stack, 'cause the mill has shut down and it's never coming back.
Bridlefast is a city built on factory and mill. Though her heart has been broken, she's a mill town still.
The Lunar, the Celestian, we all could work the flax, and we clothed the world in linen from beneath those old smokestacks.
And the only tune I hear is the sound of the wind as she moans through the town, 'weave and spin, weave and spin.'"
Rarity found herself already tearing up as the song was one of her favorites. She levitated her glasses off of her face and sat down near Sweetie Belle, closing her eyes to let her imagination take her away as the song continued.
"Clonard, Rosses', Greeveses', the great mills are no more. The Pound and the Milewater have shut down and closed their doors. There are no children playing in our wee, dark narrow street. Now the mills have all closed, it's so quiet I can't sleep.
I was a hackler in Campbell's 'twas the only job I know. So what will I do now? Tell me, where can I go?
I'm too old to find new work and I'm too young to die. So we'll just live off our pensions, my dear stallion and I.
And the only tune I hear is the sound of the wind as she moans through the town, 'weave and spin, weave and spin.'"
For her part, Sweetie Belle felt her own emotions stirring as she sang. She missed their grandmother who had taught her not just this song but many others. She kept her composure, though, knowing that she had to finish it to properly pay her tribute.
"Now the doffers are all gone, no weavers at their looms; the singing of the spinners is an echo in a tomb. No more laughing mares going home with their friends. No more we'll hear the doffing mistress cry 'lay up your ends!'
Hacklers, tanters, band-tiers – workers from the past. Warpers, winders, reelers, spreaders, nothing ever lasts. Work is here for a day or two, then the next day it is gone. So you do your job as best you can, and the world goes on and on.
And the only tune I hear is the sound of the wind as she moans through the town, 'weave and spin, weave and spin.'
And the only tune I hear is the sound of the wind as she moans through the town, 'weave and spin, weave and spin.'"
With her song finished, Sweetie Belle opened her eyes again to see one of the rarest sights she'd ever seen. Rarity stood back up and smiled at her, but with obvious tears still running down her face.
"That was one of Grandma Aubrieta's songs…wasn't it?" Rarity asked, her voice quivering lightly. Sweetie Belle just nodded quietly. Grandma Aubrieta had been dear to them both, but especially to Rarity. She not only had taught Sweetie Belle the song, but it was also she who'd inspired Rarity to become a seamstress in the first place with her stories of the finest cloth and textiles in the world that once had come from Emerald Isle. Rarity stepped over to her sister, sat down next to her and nuzzled her affectionately.
"She would have loved to hear you sing that song, Sweetie," Rarity told her. "You have an incredible gift in your voice. Don't be afraid to share it someday. I would hate to think I'm the only one in the world who gets to enjoy your songs."
"I'll, uh, keep it in mind," Sweetie Belle said hesitantly. The very idea of singing in front of anyone other than her sister or her friends scared her to death, but she nonetheless appreciated the praise Rarity had given her.
"Well, I've kept you from your activities for the day for long enough I suppose," Rarity said as she stood back up. "Oh by the way, Sweetie, I found this odd thing as I was going through one of my boxes of gems earlier today. Is it one of your toys?"
Rarity levitated something that looked like a large slice of pie but flat, made of bronze and with part of a symbol on it that Sweetie Belle recognized as being part of the insignia of The Colts Templar. She stifled a gasp and nodded vigorously at her sister.
"Ah, well do try to keep your toys out of my jewels please," Rarity told her as she levitated the piece slowly over to her sister. "That is unless you want one of them to end up as part of somepony ensemble someday. You know how I get when I'm in the zone, after all."
"Yeah, like the time you sewed two of my dolls into that robe you made for Bon Bon," Sweetie commented, recalling the scene that had caused. Lyra had gotten a good laugh out of it, but Bon Bon had been furious at Rarity, which in turn had led to Rarity being furious at Sweetie Belle.
"You had to bring that particular incident up, didn't you?" Rarity said, sounding a bit annoyed. "Anyway, do run along. I imagine Scootaloo and Apple Bloom are simply dying of boredom waiting for you."
Sweetie Belle thanked her sister again quickly before grabbing the floating key fragment in her mouth. She rushed upstairs to find her friends almost ready to begin ripping her pillows apart as they'd already ransacked the rest of it. The state of her room almost didn't matter to her, though. She dropped the key fragment at their feet and smiled brightly as she proudly pronounced,
"One down, two to go!"
Next Chapter Preview: The clues to the first key fragment may have been simply to figure out, but it only gets harder from here. Where will the next piece of the key be found?
Author's Note: I'm quite a fan of an Irish singer names Seamus Kennedy, so when I got to thinking about a song to use for Sweetie Belle I immediately went to my collection of his music. I chose his rendition of "Belfast Mill" as the basis for her song and simply altered a few lyrics to make it pony-appropriate. If you'd like to hear the song yourself, below is a link you can use to listen to it.
Belfast Mill by Seamus Kennedy
|
DJLowrider
|
974
| 3 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Raiders of the Cutie Mark
|
The Cutie Mark Crusaders embark on their biggest adventure yet - and possibly their last!
|
complete
| 173 | 3 |
<p>When the Cutie Mark Crusaders find a book telling of an ancient artifact with the power to grant one's heart's desire, it leads them on their biggest adventure ever - and quite possibly their last!</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-09-28T12:32:58+00:00
|
2011-09-28T12:32:58+00:00
| 5,464 |
Scootaloo was transfixed on the key fragment as she sat between Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle who were busily flipping through Zecora's book for clues to the next fragment. She honestly had a hard time believing what she was seeing.
"This is really for real, isn't it?" she asked nopony in particular. "And once we get the other two pieces, we're totally gonna find The Holy Oat Pail! This is the coolest thing in the history of all cool things!"
"We'd probably find it faster if you'd actually do something other than stare at that thing like Fluttershy stared down that cockatrice," Sweetie Belle commented as she nudged Scootaloo with her horn.
"Books and me don't mix," Scootaloo replied matter-of-factly. "If I look at too many words all clumped up together my head starts hurting."
"Wow, try not to sound so proud of yourself for that," Sweetie told her, narrowing her eyes as she spoke.
"If you two're done I could use some help lookin' at this," Apple Bloom told them as she pointed at the book. The page it was open to looked to be nothing more than a list of foodstuff.
"Flour, butter, sugar, milk, cinnamon…" Sweetie Belle said as she began to read the list.
"Did Zecora accidentally leave her shopping list in the book?" Scootaloo asked.
"I don't think so," Apple Bloom said as she thought about the ingredients. "I think it's meant to be another clue, but it don't make much sense."
"I'll say," Sweetie Belle said as she made a face. "Not to mention there's a line missing here," she added, pointing to a blank space between the words "butter" and "sugar".
"I'm telling you, it's probably just a grocery list," Scootaloo said as she flipped to the previous page. She looked even more curiously at this page. "Okay, what gives? There's a bunch of numbers and stuff on the edge of this page. What kind of weirdo book is this?"
"Lemme see," Apple Bloom said, sliding the book over in front of her. "One and one-half cups, two tablespoons, six, one teaspoon…hey, wait a sec!"
Apple Bloom carefully pulled the page back and folded it a bit. Sure enough, the numbers lined up with the items on the list on the next page. The number "six" lined up with the blank line.
"It ain't a grocery list," Apple Bloom said, her eyes widening. "It's a recipe!"
"A recipe for what, though?" Scootaloo asked.
"Well it calls for flour, so…maybe a cake?" Sweetie Belle said as she tried to figure it out. "Or a pie?"
"Pie…" Apple Bloom repeated as she looked over the recipe again. Then it dawned on her. She'd seen a recipe just like this one before at home. "Not just any pie! Apple pie!" she cried.
"So…Sugar Cube Corner then?" Scootaloo asked, which earned her a scathing look from Apple Bloom. "What? Where else are we gonna go for pie?"
"I think that hat may be cutting off circulation to your brain, Scoot," Sweetie Belle told her. "Apple pie? Apples? The next key fragment is at Sweet Apple Acres."
"Oh," Scootaloo said, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Yeah. Right. Apples. Lead the way, Apple Bloom!"
The trek to Sweet Apple Acres was considerably longer than the one to Carousel Boutique. The farm truly lived up to the "acres" part of its name in order to accommodate its sprawling apple orchard. It had belonged to the Apple family for countless generations, originally being a gift bestowed upon a family ancestor hundreds of years ago by Princess Celestia for his exceptional service to Equestria. To this day it was a point of contention between the Apple family and the descendants of the founders of Ponyville as to which was older: the town or the farm. One thing was certain, and that was that the Apple family took great pride in their home and had always done their level best to take proper care of the land so graciously given to them by the Princess.
It was a sentiment that Apple Bloom most certainly had in common with her siblings, though secretly her attachment to Sweet Apple Acres wasn't tied primarily to the land itself or even the orchard that dominated its landscape. What she valued most were the tools that were used and buildings that dotted the farm's acreage. After all, to her a farm was only as good as the implements that were used to plant and maintain its crops and the structures that protected their harvests and animals from predators, thieves, or even the elements. Big Macintosh and Applejack didn't completely understand their little sister's preoccupation with things over plants, but they weren't about to tell her she was wrong for it. Besides, in their minds there was always the chance that this was merely a phase for Apple Bloom that she would someday grow out of. In the meantime, it did mean that there was at least one pony on the farm working to make sure things stayed in relatively good working order.
As Apple Bloom led her friends along the road towards the farmhouse, she spotted her older brother in a nearby field struggling with his plow once again. She groaned to herself and hopped the fence to go over and check on him.
"You gals wait here a sec," she called back to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. "I'll be right back!"
Apple Bloom heard the two call back to her in acknowledgment and continued running up to Big Macintosh as he strained against the straps connecting his yoke to the plow. His hooves were digging so hard into the ground they were turning up almost as much soil as the plow itself.
"What in tarnation are you doin', Big Macintosh?" she asked as she stopped alongside her massive brother.
"Plowin' th' field, what's it look like?" Big Macintosh replied through gritted teeth.
"Did ya at least sharpen and oil up the plow like I showed you before you started?"
"I've done this job since b'fore y'all were born, Bloom. I don't need no fancy tricks to get it done."
"It's not a trick, it's common sense! A well-kept plow works way better than one that's all dull and crusted with dirt 'n mud."
"My way works, I know that for sure. If it ain't broke, don't fix it I say."
"So you'd rather end up a sweaty, tired mess of sore muscles after a long day's work instead of doin' it in a way that'd be easier and take less time."
"Eeyup."
"I will never understand boys," Apple Bloom said, putting a forehoof to her head. "You go ahead an' finish however you want, but next time you're lettin' me prep the plow for ya, got it?"
"I ain't makin' no promises."
"Got it?" Apple Bloom said it more insistently this time, glaring up at her brother. Big Macintosh had to admit that for being such a small filly, Bloom had at least as much spirit as Applejack did. He cringed to think what she'd be like when she was her sister's age.
"If it'll get ya to leave me alone to finish this, then alright," he told her, which got her to back down enough that he could continue his trudging forward.
"And you make sure you take a good, long bath tonight too," Apple Bloom said as she began making her way back to her friends. "I don't wanna hear Granny Smith goin' on and on 'bout how you smell worse than Winona does after she goes out playin' in the rain."
"By the way," he called out after her, catching her attention before she was out of earshot. "Applejack was lookin' fer ya earlier. Said somethin' 'bout wantin' yer help in the barn."
"I'm a might busy at the moment, ya know," Apple Bloom said, an irritated look on her face now.
Big Macintosh snorted in her direction. "Yeah, well, I don't wanna hear AJ goin' on an' on' 'bout you shirkin' yer duties on the farm again to go runnin' around gallivantin' with yer filly friends."
"Alright, alright, I'll go check with her."
Once reunited with her friends, Apple Bloom continued leading them along towards the farmhouse, which wasn't much further along. Upon arriving, she heard the sounds of her sister cursing up a storm from inside the barn. This didn't bode well, she thought.
"I gotta go check with Applejack here," Apple Bloom said to her friends. "You two can start lookin' around, but try not to make too big a mess 'o things."
"Hey, we're professionals," Scootaloo told her confidently.
"Right," Apple Bloom said skeptically, not entirely believing her Pegasus friend. "And Sweetie Belle? Don't fall down the well again."
"Hey, I resent that!" Sweetie Belle said defensively. "It's not like I fall in there every time I come over!"
"Yeah, only every other time," Scootaloo added with a chuckle. "And you're about due."
Apple Bloom left the two to their bickering and headed to the barn to see what Applejack was having such a fit over. She entered to see her sister struggling to stack numerous bales of hay against one of the walls. So far she had six bales stacked but was clearly already getting winded, not to mention having a difficult time stacking more than three on top of each other.
"There ya are, Apple Bloom," Applejack said, sounding relieved. "I need yer help to get these hay bales stacked up properly so's we've got room for the next harvest."
"I don't mind helpin' sis, but why aren't you usin' the pulley system I rigged up last week?" Apple Bloom asked as she looked up into the barn's rafters. Above them hung a series of ropes and pulleys that Apple Bloom had spent quite some time getting into place and set. She'd intended for them to be used for just such a job as this.
"Shoot, ya know I ain't no good with machines lil' sis," Applejack told her.
"It's not like I'm askin' ya to learn how to use a cash register," Apple Bloom said flatly. "It's a pulley. It's one o' the simplest machines there is. Look, just watch."
Apple Bloom grabbed one end of the rope that was hanging nearby and tied it to a nearby hay bale. She then ran over and grabbed another rope in her teeth, pulling back on it. The heavy bale rose into the air effortlessly. Bloom then secured her current rope to a hook in a nearby post and grabbed another rope. This one moved the bale across the barn and over so it hung above the current stack of bales. Finally, Bloom went back to the rope that was holding the bale in the air and set it free from its hook. The bale dropped squarely on top of the stack without so much as a little wavering from the now four-bale-high tower.
"See?" Apple Bloom said as she walked back over to Applejack, whose jaw was slack in amazement. "There's nothin' to it at all. If I can get a hay bale up there lickety split like that, anypony can."
"I gotta hand it to ya, lil' sis," Applejack said, giving her sister an affectionate nudge on the shoulder. "You got a knack fer figgerin' stuff out like this. Not to mention fixin' stuff up 'round the farm. I reckon we've saved a buncha bits just from you bein' so dang handy."
"It's nothin' special, really," Apple Bloom said, feeling a bit embarrassed by her sister's praise. "Anypony with a lick 'o sense could do this sorta stuff easy."
"Apple Bloom, you've got more sense in one hoof than most ponyfolk got in their whole body," Applejack told her. "You ain't nothin' like me or Big Macintosh. All we know is how things used to get done here on the farm. Down the line, we're gonna need somepony with the smarts and skills to make things better 'round here. I reckon I'd rather it be my own lil' sister than some yahoo we hire from in town."
"Well…maybe…" Apple Bloom said, now even more embarrassed. "I still don't think it's all that big a deal, though."
"Give it some thought at least," Applejack said with a smile as she tussled her sister's mane a bit. "Now lemme take a look at this here pulley thing."
"You want me to show you how to do it one more time?"
"Naw, I reckon I gotta figger it out for mah- now what in the hay is this doin' in the hay?"
Applejack dug into the hay bale in front of her and pulled something out of it. Apple Bloom immediately recognized it as another fragment of the key to the temple of The Colts Templar. She struggled to contain her elation as Applejack set the piece down on the ground between them.
"Looks like one 'o Granny Smith's cast iron trivets," Applejack said, looking curiously at the piece. "Only looks like it's broken."
"Why don'tcha let me take it an' I'll see if I can fix it or somethin'?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Fine by me, just get it on outta the barn," Applejack told her.
"Will do. Do ya need me for anythin' else, big sis?"
"Nah, I reckon I can do this just fine thanks to yer pulley system. Thanks a ton, lil' sis."
Apple Bloom blushed once more from the praise from her sister and rushed back to find her friends with the second piece. She found Scootaloo sitting on the front porch of the house and put the key fragment down next to her.
"That makes two pieces," Apple Bloom said excitedly.
"Oh my gosh this is so cool!" Scootaloo said giddily as she looked at the new key fragment.
"Where's Sweetie Belle? She'll wanna see this too."
"Oh…yeah, about that…" Scootaloo was obviously trying to contain her laughter.
"I'm down here…" the two fillies heard Sweetie Belle call out from the nearby water well.
Apple Bloom rolled her eyes and hung her head as she walked over to the well's crank to heft Sweetie Belle out of the well. Scootaloo proceeded to roll around on the porch laughing raucously at how the unicorn managed to get herself into the same predicament yet again despite Apple Bloom's earlier warning. Some things would never change.
Next Chapter Preview: Two down and only one more key fragment to go! But the last fragment poses a challenge to get it that the Crusaders aren't sure they can overcome...
|
DJLowrider
|
974
| 4 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Raiders of the Cutie Mark
|
The Cutie Mark Crusaders embark on their biggest adventure yet - and possibly their last!
|
complete
| 173 | 3 |
<p>When the Cutie Mark Crusaders find a book telling of an ancient artifact with the power to grant one's heart's desire, it leads them on their biggest adventure ever - and quite possibly their last!</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-10-02T18:00:04+00:00
|
2011-10-02T18:00:04+00:00
| 5,994 |
All the running around that the girls had been doing that day was starting to take its toll on them. Fortunately, the refreshments Scootaloo had brought earlier were hitting the spot as they continued to study Zecora's book. Once again, however, they found themselves at a loss for finding anything that looked like a clue as to the whereabouts of the next – and in this case the last – piece of the key.
"This is gettin' frustratin'," Apple Bloom said as she sipped some apple juice. "I've been back an' forth through this whole book and I ain't seen anythin' that looks like it even refers to the last piece 'o the key or where it might be."
"Maybe we're just missing something really obvious," Sweetie Belle said as she pulled the book back over to her. "Or it could be another one of those page folding puzzles."
"Sweetie, give it a rest," Bloom told her as she closed the book on her. "Maybe we just need a lil' break to sharpen the saw a bit."
"But we're not cutting wood," Sweetie said in confusion.
"It's an expression, Sweetie," Bloom said with a frustrated sigh. "Just cool your jets fer a spell, okay?"
As Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle tried to relax, Scootaloo took a moment to look at the book. She didn't bother flipping through its pages, though. Her friends had already been through it enough as it was. Instead, she just looked at the book's cover and back. It was fairly plain with a pale yellow cover. As she looked it over, her eyes were drawn to something on the back of the book. There were two letters in the upper left corner that read "RO". She then noticed two letters on the book's spine that read "YG". Finally, there were two letters in the upper right corner of the book's front cover that read "BV".
"R – O – Y – G – B – V," Scootaloo repeated to herself, feeling like she knew those letters from somewhere. She slowly looked towards the sky as she thought. It came to her as she happened to see a couple of Pegasus ponies fly overhead.
"I think I've got it!" she exclaimed.
"Is it contagious?" Sweetie Belle asked with a smirk on her face.
"No, seriously guys!" Scootaloo told them, hopping up and down in front of them. "Check out these letters on the cover of the book."
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked at the letters, but then looked back at Scootaloo blankly. Clearly they weren't getting it.
"Guys, c'mon!" Scootaloo said insistently. "ROYGBV? Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet?"
"How're a buncha colors s'posed to be a clue?" Apple Bloom asked.
"They're the colors of a rainbow, duh!" Scootaloo told her. "The last key fragment's gotta be somewhere in or around Rainbow Dash's cloud home!"
"Oh great," Sweetie Belle said disappointedly. "Guess that brings this adventure to an end then."
"Why's that?" Scootaloo asked.
"How exactly are we s'posed to get up into Rainbow Dash's home, Scoot?" Apple Bloom asked her, her voice also laced with disappointment. "We can't fly, an' we sure can't walk on clouds either."
Scootaloo cocked an eyebrow at the two as she spread her wings. "Um, hello? Pegasus pony standing right in front of you both."
"Come on, Scoot, we know you can't fly," Sweetie Belle told her. "At least not yet."
"Guys, I totally can fly," Scootaloo said insistently. "I fly all the time. Watch."
Scootaloo's wings flapped so fast they practically buzzed as they lifted her a few inches off of the ground. She smirked at her friends who, regardless of what they were seeing, were still unconvinced.
"Hoverin' a few inches off the ground ain't flyin', Scoot," Apple Bloom told her. Scootaloo grunted as she let herself drop back to the ground.
"Look, the point is I can fly to a degree," she told them. "And it'll be enough to get me into Rainbow Dash's cloud home. I've done it before."
"That's all well and good, but is it such a good idea to just barge into somepony's home like that?" Sweetie Belle asked. "Especially when you don't even know if they'll be there or not?"
"It's what…one thirty now roughly?" Scootaloo asked. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom nodded to her. "Then yeah, she'll totally be there. She naps every day after lunch for at least an hour."
"How do you know that?" Apple Bloom asked. Just as she prepared to explain, Bloom put her hoof over Scootaloo's mouth to silence her. "On second thought, I don't think I wanna know how you know that."
"We're wasting time, girls!" Scootaloo announced as she hopped onto her scooter after detaching it from the wagon. "Let's get a move on!"
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom traded looks and shrugged at each other as they took off running after Scootaloo. After all, they'd both had a turn leading the way to the previous locations. It was only right that Scootaloo got the opportunity now.
Scootaloo put some distance between her and her friends, but not so much that she'd lose them. The truth of the matter was that this was one of those times when she felt incredibly jealous of both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. They were great friends and she knew they never meant her ill, but they both had something she never would: a family.
She'd been left in the care of Ponyville's orphanage only days after being born. She had no idea who either of her parents was or why she'd been left. She was old enough now that those who ran the orphanage told her she could try to find out about her parents, but she held absolutely no interest in doing that. When asked why, her reasoning was simple: they didn't want her when she was born, so why should she want them now that she was older? Besides, she'd found someone she considered family already anyway.
Scootaloo had looked up to Rainbow Dash ever since she'd heard the rumor that as a filly Dash had performed the most legendary flying stunt known to all Pegasus ponies: the sonic rainboom. It had inspired her to believe that if a stunt that was thought to be impossible could actually be done, then anything could be done. She dedicated herself to learning whatever tricks and stunts of her own that she could. She tried her best to emulate Rainbow Dash's own tricks, though she had to modify most of them since her wings weren't strong enough yet for full flight. Any time she happened to catch Rainbow Dash flying through the sky, she dropped whatever she was doing just to watch her fly and maybe study her moves a bit more. Truth be told, though, it didn't matter if she was just doing her job or if she was actually practicing her tricks; to Scootaloo any time she got to see her flying was as good as going to see The Wonderbolts, if not better.
Scootaloo had only actually begun making Rainbow Dash's acquaintance after befriending both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, since their sisters were close friends of Dash's. In the short time she'd actually spent with her idol, Scootaloo had come to understand that Rainbow Dash wasn't anything like what she'd imagined her to be. She was far cooler than that. Scootaloo didn't know if Dash was just taking pity on her since she was an orphan, but the rainbow-maned mare never let an opportunity pass to give her some form of encouragement. In return, Scootaloo had resolved to do anything Dash asked her to do. No task was beneath her if it meant pleasing the pony that, for all intents and purposes, was the closest thing to a big sister she would ever have.
Recently, Rainbow Dash had made a small modification to her cloud home. She had added a series of staggered clouds that circled her home and led up to it from the ground. Each cloud had been set within Scootaloo's reach for flying, though as time had passed Dash had adjusted the cloud steps to be further and further apart as Scootaloo's wings grew stronger. The Pegasus filly still had a long way to go before she'd be able to just fly up to Dash's front door, but for now at least she had a way to get there. Most importantly, as far as their present endeavor was concerned, she had a way to go search for the final key fragment.
Scootaloo parked her scooter by the first cloud step and turned to face Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, who joined her moments later.
"You guys just chill out here, but don't get too comfy," Scootaloo told them as she took her hat off and hung it on the handlebars of her scooter. "Once I come back with that piece of the key, it'll be time for the real deal."
"Don't you wanna take your hat with you?" Sweetie Belle asked.
Scootaloo shook her head at the unicorn filly. "The wind gets pretty strong up there. It'd just blow off and I'd lose it for sure."
"We'll keep it safe for ya, Scoot," Apple Bloom told her. "Good luck!"
Scootaloo nodded to the two and began her ascent of the cloud stairs, finding it quite easy to make her way up them that day. She reached Dash's cloud home a few minutes later and began wandering around, looking for her idol.
"Maybe she's still napping," Scootaloo said to herself. "I'll just take a look around and try not to disturb her."
"I'm right here, kid," Scootaloo heard Rainbow Dash speak from right above her. Dash was leaning off of a cloud several feet overhead, grinning down at the orange Pegasus filly. "I was wondering when you'd be stopping by."
"How'd you know I'd be coming here?" Scootaloo asked as she watched Dash drift down to her level.
"You're kidding, right?" Dash asked. "You and your friends are anything but subtle about anything you do. I spotted you earlier in the day running to Rarity's and Applejack's homes while I was flying around Ponyville. I figured eventually you guys would come visiting me too for whatever adventure you're on this time."
"You're not annoyed, are you?" Scootaloo asked worriedly. Dash scoffed a bit and tousled the filly's mane a bit with her forehoof.
"Not hardly," Dash assured her. "Hey, I know you wanna probably finish your business here quickly and get back to your friends, but wasn't there something the other day you said you wanted to show me?"
"Huh?" was all Scootaloo could think to respond at first. It took her a moment to switch gears from the day's adventure to her last conversation with Rainbow Dash, but once she did she instantly remembered what Dash was referring to. "Oh, it's nothing," she said in embarrassment. "Just a, uh…well…it's something I came up with recently. It's kind of a routine of sorts, I guess, and I wanted your expert opinion on it."
"You came up with a routine?" Dash asked, genuinely surprised. "You're still grounded though, right?"
"Yeah, it's not a flying routine," Scootaloo admitted as she tried to avoid eye contact with her idol. "It's more of a…" she mumbled the last couple of words.
"I didn't catch that," Dash told her, leaning closer.
Scootaloo sighed and swallowed her pride, knowing Dash wouldn't leave her alone until she fessed up. "It's a dance routine," she said.
"Dance, huh?" Dash said as she sat back on her haunches. "I'm not sure how much advice I'll be able to give, but sure. I'll watch ya."
"O-okay," Scootaloo said, suddenly nervous. "I'll just do a little bit of it, then. You know, so I don't waste your time too much. Plus I've gotta get back to Bloom and Sweetie at some point."
"Whenever you're ready, kid. You need some tunes to work with?"
"I've kinda got a specific song in mind for this, so I'd rather just do it without music for now. I doubt you've got the song anyway."
"Suit yourself."
Scootaloo took a few paces away from where Rainbow Dash sat and closed her eyes to try and focus her thoughts on the music as she remembered it and the moves she'd come up with to go with it. She tapped her right back hoof in time to give herself a beat to work with. After counting out eight beats, she began her dance. She spun around and began moving with quick, deliberate actions using her hind legs for motion while she gestured with her forehooves in various poses and directions. She added partial and full spins as she explored a large area around her in motions so smooth and seemingly effortless it gave the illusion that she was crisscrossing the cloud while hardly moving much at all.
The dance itself was an impressive show, but what made it a real spectacle was the effect it was having on the cloud beneath her feet. Every time she turned it created a spike in the cloud as if it were whipped cream being beaten. Every time one of her hooves stomped with any real force on the cloud it gave a small rumble of thunder. And as she finished the partial routine with a rapid spin, it threatened to create a small tornado around her. She finished the spin and dropped to her knees, bending over backwards to look up at the sky.
Scootaloo let herself catch her breath for a moment and then got back onto her feet. She walked back over towards Rainbow Dash, hoping for her to say anything at all about her performance. What she encountered was an utterly dumbstruck rainbow-maned Pegasus pony whose lower jaw had gone slack.
"It'd be better with the music," Scootaloo told her. She assumed Dash's silence meant she hadn't liked it. "At least then you could just ignore the dancing and-"
"That…was…AWESOME!" Rainbow Dash yelled at the top of her lungs, finally coming to her senses. "How the hay did you make the clouds do all that?"
"I, uh…don't know," Scootaloo said honestly. "I don't get to dance on clouds. I had no idea my moves would mess things up so bad. I can clean it up if you-"
"Whoa hold it right there!" Dash told her as she jumped up to her feet. "What're you talking about? Kid- er, I mean, Scootaloo, your dancing is fantastic. It not only looks cool, you can make clouds do stuff that even some seasoned weather ponies have a hard time doing."
Scootaloo studied the clouds beneath her intently as she avoided eye contact with Dash. "You don't have to say all this just to be nice, Rainbow Dash."
"Man, I really don't get you Scoot," Dash said as she shook her head at the filly. "You're usually bursting with energy and confidence, but you do something really amazing and you do a complete one-eighty in attitude. And for the record, I don't give out empty praise."
Scootaloo felt Rainbow Dash put one forehoof under her chin and lift her head until she was looking her idol in the eyes.
"You've got a gift here, Scootaloo," Dash told her. "You should be embracing it, not trying to hide it or act like it's something bad or wrong."
"I…I just don't know…" Scootaloo said skeptically. Her mind was still full of doubts about her dancing. "But…thanks, Rainbow Dash. I'm glad you liked it."
"Any time you wanna practice on a cloud you just come on by, okay?" Dash told her. "Whether I'm here or not. Though I sure wouldn't mind seeing more of that."
"Maybe another time. I actually came here looking for something, but I'm not sure how to describe it to you…"
"It's a little piece of bronze that looks like a slice of pie, isn't it?" Dash asked. Her knowledge of the key fragment caused Scootaloo no small amount of confusion.
"How'd you know that?" Scootaloo asked.
"Like I said, I saw you and your friends running all over the place earlier. Sweetie Belle had something like that in her mouth when you guys came out of Rarity's earlier, and I remembered I'd found something like it around my house a while back."
"You did?" Scootaloo asked excitedly.
"Yup. Been using it as a plate for nachos, though. Hope you don't mind."
"Mmm, nachos…" both of them said in unison. After a shared laugh, Rainbow Dash headed to her kitchen briefly and returned with the key fragment in her mouth. She flipped it into the air and caught it on one of her outstretched wings, offering it to Scootaloo.
"All yours, kid," Dash told her. "Mind if I ask what it is, though? I'm just curious."
"Uh…it's complicated," Scootaloo said, fibbing as best she could as she took the fragment and tucked it under one of her wings. "Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom understand it way better than me. I'm just along to keep them out of trouble."
"Well maybe I'll ask them later. You'd better get going."
"I will. Thank you so much, Rainbow Dash."
"Hey, it's no big. I've got other plates I can use for nachos."
"I, uh…I wasn't talking about that. I meant…thanks for what you said."
"Oh. You're welcome…Scootaloo. You're a good kid. Don't let anyone ever make you think otherwise for any reason, okay?'
Scootaloo nodded and began hopping down the cloud staircase back to her friends below. Rainbow Dash watched her descend for some time and then, once the three fillies were well on their way, she flew off in the opposite direction, meeting both Applejack and Rarity at a designated rendezvous spot just on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest.
"'Bout time ya showed up," Applejack said as Dash landed nearby.
"Hey, I had to treat this seriously," Dash told her. "Besides, you shoulda seen Scootaloo in action. She's got moves that I wanna figure out now!"
"Whatever moves she had would pale in comparison to the song Sweetie Belle sang for me," Rarity told her, sighing as she recalled the song. "She knows just how to tug at a pony's heartstrings."
"All 'o that don't hold a candle to Apple Bloom's smarts," Applejack said proudly. "She's gonna be a certified genius someday, I can tell y'all that."
"If you're all done boasting about your respective targets' skills," a voice said from the shadows of the forest, "can we please get on with your reports?"
"Shoot, didn't know y'all were there already," Applejack said, turning in the direction of the voice.
"I'm nothing if not prompt," the voice replied. "I've already been to check with Pinkie Pie again, and she is proceeding as planned. Is everything else in order?"
Rarity nodded. "The girls have all three key fragments now. I suspect they'll be headed for the temple tout suite."
"Then the rest is out of our hooves until they complete the trials," the voice said.
"You sure this is gonna work?" Dash asked. "I mean, we all did our best to encourage the Crusaders, but you know how they are. They might try something unexpected."
"There is always a chance for failure," the voice said. "You girls have done your best to make sure they're on the proper path. The rest is up to them. If they fail then that's that. It would be a shame for all of our hard work to be for nothing, but then perhaps there would be a lesson in that for us all."
"And if they succeed?" Applejack asked.
"If they succeed…" the voice said, pausing to chuckle briefly. "Well, let's just say we're in for one wild night."
Next Chapter Preview: With the key fragments gathered, all that remains is for the girls to enter the temple and face their trials. What awaits them inside? And who is the mysterious pony who's coordinated this entire crusade?
Author's Note: This story is going to have two separate endings and epilogues. I'll be posting one story and its epilogue in their entirety first and then the other. It'll be up to you, the reader, to decide which one you prefer. I thought this would be a more fun and interesting way to approach this story's conclusion than simply giving it a cut-and-dry ending. Enjoy!
|
DJLowrider
|
974
| 5 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Raiders of the Cutie Mark
|
The Cutie Mark Crusaders embark on their biggest adventure yet - and possibly their last!
|
complete
| 173 | 3 |
<p>When the Cutie Mark Crusaders find a book telling of an ancient artifact with the power to grant one's heart's desire, it leads them on their biggest adventure ever - and quite possibly their last!</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-10-07T12:58:08+00:00
|
2011-10-07T12:58:08+00:00
| 5,267 |
The Everfree Forest always seemed to be dark, even in the middle of the afternoon. Combined with the usual cacophony of strange sounds that emanated from the forest, it was enough to fill the three fillies who were now making their way through it with more than a bit of trepidation. The fortunate part was that the Temple of The Colts Templar wasn't very deep inside the forest according to Zecora's notes, but having to enter the forest at all was still a daunting ordeal. Before any of them could wonder how far they would have to trek to find their destination, it came into view.
The temple was in ruins and ivy crept over seemingly every stone that still stood. A massive stone door greeted them with a circular indentation in the middle of it.
"I reckon that's where the key's s'posed to go," Apple Bloom said.
"You guys ready?" Scootaloo asked as she grabbed her key fragment from under her wing with her teeth. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom both fished their pieces out of their saddle bags and nodded to their Pegasus friend.
All three of them approached the door and placed their key fragments in the indentation. With all the pieces reunited in their home, the door shuddered and slowly slid to one side. As soon as it was open enough for them, the trio of fillies hurried inside to see what awaited them. A narrow hallway led them to a vast room devoid of anything of interest except for a tall stone statue of a pony that stood atop a pedestal near the opposite wall. As the fillies neared the statue, a stone slab slid over the entrance they'd just come through.
"Well that can't be good," Sweetie Belle said nervously as she began looking around for another way out of the room.
"Welcome, seekers of the Holy Oat Pail," said a deep, masculine voice emanating from the statue. The girls looked up to see the statue's eyes were now glowing. They wanted to run and hide, but with the room lacking anything other than the statue they could only cower before it.
"I mean you no harm, adventurers," the statue told them. "If you wish to leave now you are welcome to do so and I will reopen the passage. However, if you seek the Oat Pail, you may not proceed until you have passed the first trial."
"Is it dangerous?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Is it difficult?" Scootaloo asked.
"Is it delicious?" Sweetie Belle asked. Her two companions looked at her oddly. "What? I'm a little munchy. And I needed a word that began with 'd'."
"My trial is one of grace," the statue told them. "I have guarded this hall for centuries, but once my favorite thing was to watch the most skillful dancers in all Equestria. Perform a suitably graceful dance for me, and I shall allow you passage to the next room."
"Shoot, is that all?" Apple Bloom said as she reared up on her hind legs. "I've got some new kung fu moves that'll knock your socks off!"
"But statues don't wear socks…" Sweetie Belle commented as she watched Apple Bloom start jumping and kicking wildly around the area.
"You really don't do well with figures of speech, do you?" Scootaloo noted, passing a forehoof over her face.
Apple Bloom tumbled and cartwheeled around the room, giving shrill battle cries as she punched, kicked and flailed wildly. Her moves may have been flashy to her, but they had all the grace of a mudslide. She attempted to finish her routine with a flying kick but mis-calculated her jump and ended up colliding with the statue. It toppled from the force of the blow and fell over, destroying the door that had been blocking the way forward.
"Was that supposed to happen?" Sweetie Belle asked after the dust had settled.
"Who cares? The door's open!" Apple Bloom said triumphantly. "Let's go, Crusaders!"
As they left the room, Scootaloo felt a small pang of disappointment that she hadn't gotten a chance to try dancing for the statue; however, they were now one step closer to the Holy Oat Pail, and she knew in her heart that once they got it all their dreams would come true.
After only a couple of minutes walking down the hall from the first trial, the faint sound of sobbing started to become audible from further ahead. Cautiously, the three fillies continued their trek until they came to another actual room. This one wasn't nearly as large as the first one, and it was filled with all manner of tools and construction materials. In the center stood another statue almost identical to the first, and the sobbing was emanating from it. On the floor at the base of the statue's podium sat something that had clearly spent a long time in pieces.
"I, uh…" Sweetie Belle said with trepidation. "I didn't think statues could get emotional."
"Oh goodness," the statue said in surprise, its voice unmistakably feminine. "I do apologize; it has been so long since I've had visitors. I was lamenting the loss of my precious birdhouse once again."
"How long has it been broken?" Scootaloo asked, looking over the pieces of the birdhouse.
"I lost track after the first hundred years," the statue admitted. "It used to hang on the wall just opposite of me so I would have something to enjoy watching. There is a hole in the ceiling just above me that birds would come through and make their nest in that house. One year a particularly large bird tried to settle in it and it was too much for the birdhouse to bear. It fell from the wall and shattered into all those pieces. I have been terribly lonesome ever since."
"How awful!" Sweetie Belle said as she felt for the poor statue. "I wish there was something we could do for you."
"Perhaps there is," the statue replied. "I assume you are here seeking the Holy Oat Pail, correct?"
"That's right," Scootaloo said. "Are you gonna give us the next trial?"
"That is indeed why I was placed here," the statue said. "My trial is one of diligence. Originally I was to only allow those pass who presented a suitably expert craft to me, hence why there are so many tools and supplies in this room. However, I believe we can be of service to each other. Build for me a new birdhouse - one as perfect as my old one – and I shall let you pass on to the final trial."
"Oh, oh!" Sweetie Belle said excitedly. "I've got a great idea! Give me a few minutes, guys. I got this."
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo just shrugged and watched as Sweetie Belle feverishly set to her task. The unicorn filly became a blur of activity as she hammered, sawed, and painted. Not five minutes later, she set down a brownish-gray box with a hole in it in front of the statue.
"What, pray tell, is this?" the statue asked, perplexed.
"Duh, it's a bird house," Sweetie Belle told it.
"It's a box."
"It's spacious so the birds can have big families!"
"It's a box."
"And it's got nice neutral tones so it won't be offensive to look at."
"It's a box."
"And it's a classic design that will go just about anywhere."
"It's. A. Box." The statue said emphatically. "And it is hardly the vision of perfection I asked for."
"Hey, beauty is in the eye of the beholder!" Sweetie Belle protested. "And I think it's plenty perfect. Besides, if you wanted something special you should've given us instructions on how to make it."
"She's got a point, you know," Scootaloo added. "I mean, to somepony out there I'll bet this is high art."
"And it is pretty well functional, I reckon," Apple Bloom added, though inwardly she did feel like she could've done quite a bit better at the task.
"Well I…er, I mean…you're supposed to…oh whatever," the statue said, finally opening the way forward as it was clear it wasn't going to win the argument. The three Crusaders cheered at their success and tore off down the hall towards the final task that stood between them and their dreams.
The girls could tell they were now in a part of the temple few, if any, had ever reached. Dust and cobwebs covered everything and the air was very stale. A series of stairs took them down to the floor of a round room that had several rows of stadium-style seats all facing what looked like a small stage in the center. In the middle of the stage stood yet another statue like the previous two they'd encountered. Its eyes glowed as the trio approached it wondering what trial awaited them this time.
"For you to have come this far, you must possess some remarkable talent," the statue told them in an incredibly melodic voice. "I assure you, however, my trial will not be as simple as what you have faced so far."
"Bring it on!" Scootaloo announced. "We're getting that oat pail no matter what we have to do to get it!"
"Unless it's somethin' dangerous, 'o course," Apple Bloom added.
"Or icky," Sweetie Belle added.
"Guys, you're not helping our case here," Scootaloo told them in frustration.
"My trial is not dire, but it is nonetheless daunting," the statue told them. "Mine is the trial of melody. Before my interment here, I listened to the most beautiful of singers sing the most remarkable songs ever heard by ponykind. Only a suitably amazing song will satisfy me and convince me to allow you passage to the resting place of the Holy Oat Pail."
"A song? That's it?" Scootaloo asked as she cockily began walking up to the stage.
"Did I neglect to mention the spirits of my fellow Crusaders who also wish for a concert?" the statue said. Suddenly the seats in the stadium became occupied with dozens of spectral ponies of all kinds, all eagerly awaiting a performance.
"Heh, no problem," Scootaloo added with a smirk. "I am gonna rock your world!"
Scootaloo belted out with a passionate version of their Cutie Mark Crusader theme song that, as far as Sweetie Belle could tell, was even worse than her performance at the talent show. Not only did it sound horrible, but she was now ad-libbing in extra lines as she went. What was truly amazing was somehow the ghostly audience was also suffering as much as Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were from the performance.
"Enough! Enough!" the statue cried out, halting Scootaloo's singing.
"Aww, but I was just warming up!" Scootaloo complained. "This is gonna be a full-on rock opera! It'll be epic!"
"That was epic alright," the statue commented. "I simply cannot take anymore. Go, for the love of Celestia, just go!"
The next door slid open and once again the three fillies cheered as they ran off while the statue and its audience breathed a sigh of relief that their torment was over with.
Three pony fillies stood side-by-side as they looked across the final room of the Temple of the Colts Templar. As soon as they'd entered, torches lining the walls magically lit up and shone light into the once darkened room. Several suits of pony armor lined a walkway that led towards an altar. Atop the altar sat a golden pail encrusted with gems of all shapes, sizes and colors. Finally, behind the altar sat a cloaked pony who huddled behind the pail continuously muttering to themselves.
"This is it, guys," Scootaloo said, swallowing hard as she tried to control her nerves. "We've come this far. No turning back."
"You're right, Scoot," Sweetie Belle said, also fighting her own nerves as they began slowly approaching the altar. "I just want to say, though, that no matter what happens after this you girls will always be my best friends."
"And how," Apple Bloom added in a wavering voice. "If it weren't fer y'all, I mighta just up an' died of embarrassment way back at Diamond Tiara's cute ceañera. You gals are the best friends a filly could ask for."
"That all goes double for me too, guys," Scootaloo added. "I'll never forget either of you…not ever."
The trio stopped just short of the altar as the cloaked pony rose to their feet and slowly walked around to meet them. None of the girls could see much of the mysterious pony, but they all assumed that they were in the presence of a truly ancient and powerful being. As such, they decided silence was their best option for the moment.
"I've been waiting for ones such as yourselves to arrive," the mystery pony said in a soft, raspy voice. "To have come this far, you must have proven yourselves to the guardians. Step forward, then, and claim your reward. Eat from the pail and your heart's desire will be granted to you."
All three fillies looked at each other and then approached the pail, which was filled with simple looking oats. They all looked at it with great apprehension and then, one by one, they each took a mouthful of oats from it and ate. They were all fairly hungry by now, after all, having skimped on lunch because they'd been so preoccupied with gathering the key fragments.
"This tastes good and all," Scootaloo said with her mouth still full of oats, "but I don't feel any different."
"Me either," Apple Bloom said, though only after swallowing her oats. "I thought I'd have some kinda amazin' realization or somethin'."
"Maybe we ate too fast?" Sweetie Belle said, likewise as confused as her friends. "Excuse me, mysterious figure, but um…how's this supposed to work anyway? Does it even still work, for that matter?"
"Well, um…see, it's a little complicated…" the cloaked pony said, now seeming to stumble over their words a bit.
"Complicated how?" Apple Bloom asked. "This thing's supposed to grant our heart's desire, ain't it?"
"I guess so, but…oh my…this isn't going at all like we thought it would…" the cloaked pony's voice began to change from sounding ancient to sounding rather familiar to the three fillies.
"Something's not right here," Scootaloo said as she walked over towards the cloaked pony.
"Oh my…oh dear…oh my goodness…" said the now totally flustered cloaked pony who pulled back her hood to reveal her magnificent pink mane and sky blue eyes.
"Fluttershy?" all three fillies said in unison.
"What're you doing in the Temple of the Colts Templar?" Scootaloo asked.
"Oh, well it's a bit of a long story girls," Fluttershy told them as she shed the cloak entirely now. "But I'm not terribly good at explaining this sort of thing. Maybe you should ask the one who was behind it all along."
Fluttershy and the three fillies looked across the hall as Twilight Sparkle made her way into the room now, shaking her head as she approached them.
"You played your part admirably, Fluttershy," Twilight told her.
"Oh, it wasn't much of a part," Fluttershy admitted. "But I was certainly happy to be of help."
"I'm still confused," Sweetie Belle said, shaking her head. "What's all this about?"
"Girls, there is no Holy Oat Pail," Twilight told them. "The Colts Templar really did exist, but they never had a secret treasure like this."
"But…where'd all the information come from?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Yeah, and the key fragments!" Scootaloo added.
"Not to mention this whole temple," Sweetie Belle said, looking around the place again.
"Well I did have a lot of help," Twilight said as she figured it was time to explain everything. "I came up with the idea for all of this with Zecora one day over tea. She gladly lent a hoof to me coming up with the whole mythology. Pinkie Pie then agreed to help try and guide you three to Zecora for more information when the book I made with Booker's help didn't give you enough to go on.
"Rarity helped make both the key fragments and the Holy Oat Pail itself, which is really just an ordinary oat pail done up with some gold paint and a few of her gems. Then she, along with Applejack and Rainbow Dash, agreed to help give each of you some encouragement as you sought out the pieces of the key.
"As for the temple, it is actually an old ruin but the Colts Templar never used this place. We had a lot of help from others around Ponyville to make the place up, and between my magic and Vinyl Scratch's, plus some of Scratch's sound equipment, we were able to make it all seem authentic. Scratch even lent her voice to the statues using her voice modulation magic."
"So this was all one big prank y'all played on us, then?" Apple Bloom asked, suddenly feeling very worried.
"Girls, this was no joke," Twilight told them. "We all did this because we wanted to help you."
"Help us?" Scootaloo asked. "With what?"
"Finding your true talents," Twilight said. "We've all known how important it's been to you girls, and we know how hard it is to be patient and wait for your talent to come to light. So we all decided to try and help you out. I guess I just didn't count on you finding other ways past all the trials."
With the full truth of the adventure revealed to them, the Cutie Mark Crusaders couldn't help but hang their heads in disappointment. It wasn't just another failure to them; it was the most elaborate and drawn-out failure of their time so far. Each of the three fillies couldn't help but feel somewhat humiliated by the whole ordeal.
"Girls, I'm so sorry about all this," Twilight told them, desperate to try and cheer them up. "I meddled in something that I now understand I shouldn't have meddled in, and I've hurt all three of you as a result."
"It's okay, Twilight," Sweetie Belle told her. "We don't hold it against you."
"Sweetie Belle's right," Apple Bloom added. "We shoulda known it was too good to be true."
"Yeah, I mean c'mon," Scootaloo said, still sounding dejected. "An oat pail that grants wishes? How silly is that? We must be first-class boneheads to fall for that."
"Oh girls, don't be so hard on yourselves," Fluttershy told them. "I still think it's impressive that you got through all those trials, even if you didn't do things how we wanted you to. You should be proud of yourselves for that much."
"Thanks Fluttershy," the girls said in a unison monotone.
"Why don't we all go to Sugar Cube Corner and have a little party now?" Fluttershy suggested. "Pinkie Pie was getting a party ready for us tonight in case you had succeeded, but she said she could easily change it up if you weren't. I think some cake, punch and dancing will help cheer everyone up. Don't you agree, Twilight?"
"Absolutely, Fluttershy," Twilight agreed with a smile.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders fell in alongside Twilight and Fluttershy as they left the temple. Perhaps a party would help lift their spirits they all thought, but come the next day they would once again be faced with starting from square one for finding their true talents and earning their cutie marks.
Author's Note: The chapter that follows this ending is "Square One". Please proceed to that chapter for the appropriate epilogue.
|
DJLowrider
|
974
| 6 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Raiders of the Cutie Mark
|
The Cutie Mark Crusaders embark on their biggest adventure yet - and possibly their last!
|
complete
| 173 | 3 |
<p>When the Cutie Mark Crusaders find a book telling of an ancient artifact with the power to grant one's heart's desire, it leads them on their biggest adventure ever - and quite possibly their last!</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-10-07T12:58:55+00:00
|
2011-10-07T12:58:55+00:00
| 4,974 |
Three fillies with blank spots on their flanks where their cutie marks would go sat with their heads resting on a table in Sugar Cube Corner while the party went on around them. Despite a number of attempts by Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and several other ponies to cheer them up, the trio remained despondent over their failure to acquire their cutie marks.
"I truly did not ever expect to see a party with fillies as sad as you three," said Zecora as she approached the Crusaders' table. The three girls looked up at her briefly, then back to the table without saying so much as a word. Zecora pursed her lips and then hung her head a little as well.
"In truth I wanted to apologize to you," she told them. "I went along with Twilight's plan, it's true. I did not like her plan at first and I feared things would turn out for the worst."
"It's like we told Twilight, Zecora," Apple Bloom said without picking her head up. "We don't blame any 'o y'all for tryin' to help us."
"Yeah, we're the ones who screwed up," Sweetie Belle added.
"I must ask: why do you feel so bad?" Zecora asked them. "If it were me, I would instead be quite glad."
"What's to be glad about?" Scootaloo shot back, looking up at the zebra somewhat angrily. "We didn't just fail to get our cutie marks this time; we failed with what was like half of Ponyville trying to help us out! If we couldn't figure it out with that kind of help, what hope do we have of ever getting our cutie marks?"
"You must pardon me for this remark, but I have never understood your fascination with your marks," Zecora replied. "In my native land we value them too, but not nearly as much as the friends we hold true. Of years ahead you all have quite a few and you all have much growing up yet to do."
"But…what about all 'o our classmates who keep laughin' at us an' makin' fun 'o us for bein' blank flanks?" Apple Bloom asked worriedly. "Sometimes it gets hard to just keep takin' everythin' they say 'bout us."
"Steel your heart and remember your friends," Zecora told her. "And know that they will always be with you to the end."
With her peace said, Zecora began to leave the table only to stop after a few steps and look back at the fillies with a smirking grin.
"Of course if that thought is not quite enough, tell them old Zecora will hex them with some truly nasty stuff," she told them with a wink before leaving them.
Silence fell back over the table as the fillies continued to stew over their predicament. It was broken just a few moments later as Sweetie Belle began trying to stifle her giggles.
"What's so funny?" Scootaloo asked her.
"I was just thinking of the look on Silver Spoon's face if I told her Zecora was going to hex her because she wouldn't quit bugging me," Sweetie replied while still giggling. "It'd be priceless."
"That would be pretty funny," Apple Bloom added as she started to laugh as well.
"Not to mention how bad Diamond Tiara would freak out," Scootaloo added with a smile. "I'm liking this idea."
"I'm also likin' what else Zecora said," Apple Bloom said while looking at both of her friends. "Friends 'n family are what really matters, an' like I said back at the temple…you two are the best friends I could ever hope for."
"That goes double for me," Scootaloo said with an emphatic nod. "If I didn't have you girls with me I don't know what I'd do."
"No matter what, we'll always be friends," Sweetie Belle said resolutely. "And we'll always have fun together."
"Still, we should keep at the crusading," Scootaloo told them. "But maybe we shouldn't try so hard at it. I do still want my cutie mark, but I want to have fun getting it."
"Agreed!" Sweetie Belle said. Apple Bloom nodded her agreement as well.
"For now, though, let's stop mopin' and get to partyin'," Apple Bloom said. "All this adventurin' has made me somethin' fiercely hungry."
"Betcha I can eat more pie than you, Bloom!" Scootaloo told her with a challenging look in her eyes.
"Oh it is on!" Sweetie Belle added, trying to sound like her sister as she said it.
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS COMPETITIVE EATERS! YAY!" all three fillies cried out as they headed for the buffet. They not only had a renewed zeal for their collective goal, but also a renewed dedication to each other and the friendship they shared and treasured above all else.
The End.
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DJLowrider
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974
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Cutie Mark Crusaders,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Raiders of the Cutie Mark
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The Cutie Mark Crusaders embark on their biggest adventure yet - and possibly their last!
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complete
| 173 | 3 |
<p>When the Cutie Mark Crusaders find a book telling of an ancient artifact with the power to grant one's heart's desire, it leads them on their biggest adventure ever - and quite possibly their last!</p>
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everyone
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2011-10-07T13:09:56+00:00
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2011-10-07T13:09:56+00:00
| 6,157 |
Author's Foreword: There will be links to musical tracks to go with sections of this chapter. You are welcome to listen to them as you read for the full effect here.
The Everfree Forest always seemed to be dark, even in the middle of the afternoon. Combined with the usual cacophony of strange sounds that emanated from the forest, it was enough to fill the three fillies who were now making their way through it with more than a bit of trepidation. The fortunate part was that the Temple of The Colts Templar wasn't very deep inside the forest according to Zecora's notes, but having to enter the forest at all was still a daunting ordeal. Before any of them could wonder how far they would have to trek to find their destination, it came into view.
The temple was in ruins and ivy crept over seemingly every stone that still stood. A massive stone door greeted them with a circular indentation in the middle of it.
"I reckon that's where the key's s'posed to go," Apple Bloom said.
"You guys ready?" Scootaloo asked as she grabbed her key fragment from under her wing with her teeth. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom both fished their pieces out of their saddle bags and nodded to their Pegasus friend.
All three of them approached the door and placed their key fragments in the indentation. With all the pieces reunited in their home, the door shuddered and slowly slid to one side. As soon as it was open enough for them, the trio of fillies hurried inside to see what awaited them. A narrow hallway led them to a vast room devoid of anything of interest except for a tall stone statue of a pony that stood atop a pedestal near the opposite wall. As the fillies neared the statue, a stone slab slid over the entrance they'd just come through.
"Well that can't be good," Sweetie Belle said nervously as she began looking around for another way out of the room.
"Welcome, seekers of the Holy Oat Pail," said a deep voice emanating from the statue. The girls looked up to see the statue's eyes were now glowing. They wanted to run and hide, but with the room lacking anything other than the statue they could only cower before it.
"I mean you no harm, adventurers," the statue told them. "If you wish to leave now you are welcome to do so and I will reopen the passage. However, if you seek the Oat Pail, you may not proceed until you have passed the first trial."
"Is it dangerous?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Is it difficult?" Scootaloo asked.
"Is it delicious?" Sweetie Belle asked. Her two companions looked at her oddly. "What? I'm a little munchy. And I needed a word that began with 'd'."
"My trial is one of grace," the statue told them. "I have guarded this hall for centuries, but once my favorite thing was to watch the most skillful dancers in all Equestria. Perform a suitably graceful dance for me, and I shall allow you passage to the next room."
"I guess I could try my kung fu dancin' again," Apple Bloom said as she considered taking a shot at the trail. "I've figured out some new moves, an' I think I've gotten a lot better! So here goes nothin'!"
"Hold it, Bloom," Scootaloo said just as Apple Bloom was about to get started. "The last time you danced you brought the house down. Literally. I think you'd better sit this one out."
"Well don't look at me, I'm no dancer," Sweetie Belle said.
"I've got this one, guys," Scootaloo told them as she walked slowly out to the center of the room.
"You sure about this, Scoot?" Apple Bloom asked.
"To be honest, no I'm not," Scootaloo told her. "But somepony told me very recently that I have a gift for this kind of thing. And that I should be embracing it, not trying to hide it or act like it's dumb or wrong."
"So what're you gonna do?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"I'm gonna embrace it," Scootaloo said as she looked back at her friends with a smile. Then she looked back up at the statue. "Hey, if I'm gonna dance can you at least gimme some music to work with?"
The statue's eyes glowed a little more brightly and classical music filled the room. Scootaloo sighed and shook her head.
"Something from after I was born, maybe?" she complained.
"Very well then," the statue replied, its eyes flashing once again.
The classical music faded away, replaced with a beat that Scootaloo found all too familiar.
It was the song that went with the dance routine she had shown part of to Rainbow Dash earlier that day. She grinned and licked her lips in anticipation as she waited for the right point in the music, and as soon as it came she sprang into action.
Scootaloo threw herself into her dance routine with total abandon. She spun and flipped, popped and locked, moved and grooved; all as the music thumped in the air. She knew she was being watched by her friends and by the statue, but at that moment in time she didn't care if she was being watched by every pony in Ponyville. She let herself revel in the freedom she felt through her dancing. It was a feeling unlike anything she'd ever felt before; and the further into her routine she progressed the more she realized she liked it.
As she neared the halfway point of the routine, Scootaloo noticed that a fogbank had rolled into the room somehow. She didn't know or care about the particulars of it, though. All she did know was that fog was technically a cloud, and she knew exactly what to do next. One large backflip brought her up from the floor onto the cloud and from that point on Scootaloo's dance went from great to amazing. Just like in Rainbow Dash's cloud home, her moves caused changes in the cloud beneath her. Turns and partial spins whipped up spikes of cloud as if it were dessert topping, while stomps and landings from big jumps sent rumbles of thunder through the room that meshed with the heavy bass line of the music.
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were awestruck by the spectacle of it all, and at the center was Scootaloo who was having the time of her life. As the song neared its finale, she dropped down onto her back and started into a windmill with legs and wings extended. The cloud around her swirled into a vortex around her and lifted her further into the air. She kicked out of the windmill into a final backflip and landed on her hind legs with her fore legs extended into the air, a tremendous clap of thunder erupting from the cloud as she landed. She panted and gasped for air, but the surging adrenaline in her veins had her more exhilarated than she'd ever been in her entire life. One coherent thought made it through her head as she caught her breath: She absolutely loved dancing.
"In all my years, never have I seen such a performance," the statue said in a tone of amazement. "Truly you are worthy to continue. The Trial of Grace has been passed. The way forward shall now open."
Scootaloo let herself sink back through the cloud of fog to the floor and rejoined her friends as they watched the stone door slowly slide open in front of them.
"Alright, we did it!" Scootaloo said in celebration.
"We?" Sweetie Belle said. "More like you! That was unbelievable, Scoot!"
"No foolin'!" Apple Bloom added. "I ain't never seen moves like that before!"
Scootaloo nodded and smiled at her friends. "Thanks guys. It means a lot to hear it from you. And I have to admit, that was fun. Like, really fun."
"Well you can dance some more later," Bloom told her. "Let's get goin'. We still have two more trials to face."
The three fillies quickly took off down the hall, though Scootaloo stopped for a moment to look back into the room where she'd just danced. The fog had all but dissipated and the statue had gone dormant once again. She quietly thanked the statue for letting them pass. She also thanked Rainbow Dash for giving her the confidence she needed earlier. As she turned and headed down the hall after her friends, she never noticed a small, brief flash come from her flanks.
After only a couple of minutes walking down the hall from the first trial, the faint sound of sobbing started to become audible from further ahead. Cautiously, the three fillies continued their trek until they came to another actual room. This one wasn't nearly as large as the first one, and it was filled with all manner of tools and construction materials. In the center stood another statue almost identical to the first, and the sobbing was emanating from it. On the floor at the base of the statue's podium sat something that had clearly spent a long time in pieces.
"I, uh…" Sweetie Belle said with trepidation. "I didn't think statues could get emotional."
"Oh goodness," the statue said in surprise, its voice unmistakably feminine. "I do apologize; it has been so long since I've had visitors. I was lamenting the loss of my precious birdhouse once again."
"How long has it been broken?" Scootaloo asked, looking over the pieces of the birdhouse.
"I lost track after the first hundred years," the statue admitted. "It used to hang on the wall just opposite of me so I would have something to enjoy watching. There is a hole in the ceiling just above me that birds would come through and make their nest in that house. One year a particularly large bird tried to settle in it and it was too much for the birdhouse to bear. It fell from the wall and shattered into all those pieces. I have been terribly lonesome ever since."
"How awful!" Sweetie Belle said as she felt for the poor statue. "I wish there was something we could do for you."
"Perhaps there is," the statue replied. "I assume you are here seeking the Holy Oat Pail, correct?"
"That's right," Scootaloo said. "Are you gonna give us the next trial?"
"That is indeed why I was placed here," the statue said. "My trial is one of diligence. Originally I was to only allow those pass who presented a suitably expert craft to me, hence why there are so many tools and supplies in this room. However, I believe we can be of service to each other. Build for me a new birdhouse - one as perfect as my old one – and I shall let you pass on to the final trial."
"Time to apply my artistic sensibilities again, then," Sweetie Belle said as she began rifling through tools. She felt a tap on her shoulder and looked up to see Apple Bloom shaking her head at her.
"No offense, Sweetie, but I'm still pickin' splinters outta my hair from the last time you tried buildin' somethin'," Apple Bloom told her. "Lemme take a whack at this one."
"Are you sure, Bloom?" Sweetie asked her.
"I put the clubhouse back together, didn't I? You just hang back with Scoot. This might take a bit."
Sweetie Belle hesitantly walked away from the tools and watched as Apple Bloom first walked over to gather up the pieces of the broken birdhouse.
"Is this all the pieces of your old birdhouse, ma'am?" Bloom asked the statue.
"Yes it is, but what do you need them for?" the statue asked.
"Only way I'm gonna make a birdhouse as good as your old one is if I know what the old one looked like first."
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle engaged themselves in a series of games of tic-tac-toe as Apple Bloom threw herself into her work. It didn't take terribly long for her to roughly piece the old birdhouse back together enough that she knew what it had looked like. In the process she also realized what had been the real problem with the birdhouse: the wood on the back had simply rotted around the nail that had been keeping it up on the wall. Any bird's weight would've been enough to send it crashing to the floor. She decided that she needed to ensure her birdhouse wouldn't meet the same fate.
As she began to go about the business of making a new birdhouse, Apple Bloom felt a familiar feeling once again in the back of her head. She'd felt it earlier that day when she took time to explain her new pulley system in the barn to her sister. There was something comforting to her about working with tools and materials. When she was making something, she was left alone. She wasn't mocked, laughed at, or made fun of. There was just her, her tools and her supplies. Some ponies would think it was a lonely hobby, but Bloom took a great deal of comfort in it.
The more she worked on the birdhouse, though, the more she realized that "comfort" didn't really describe how she felt. Certainly it was relaxing to have something to work on that wasn't zip lining or cupcake baking or any of the other interesting, if not inane, activities she'd undertaken trying to acquire her cutie mark. There was something else about it, though. There was certainty in her as she worked. Every swing of a hammer or sweep of a paintbrush felt right. She also had a sense of pride in her work. Everything she either made or fixed had a flair to it that was uniquely hers. Most of all, though, when she was making something or fixing something or improving something, she felt happy.
She couldn't count the number of times Applejack or Big Macintosh or even her fellow Crusaders had come across her working on something and commented on the smile that had been on her face. She'd always just written it off before or played down its importance. After all, what she was doing wasn't anything anypony else couldn't do. But Applejack's words to her earlier that day had stuck in her head. What she did might seem like common sense to her, but maybe common sense wasn't all that common to begin with. Even if building and fixing things was somewhat of an ordinary thing, that didn't mean she had to be ashamed of liking it. And she did like it quite a lot.
Every so often, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle would look up from their games and see Apple Bloom working away on the birdhouse. They kept quiet as they watched her, partly because they didn't want to break her concentration but also because they had never seen her so happy as she was while working. Finally, after over an hour of work, Apple Bloom carried her finished work over in front of the statue to present it.
"I hope it's to your likin'," Bloom said, wiping some sweat from her brow with one of her fore hooves. "I based the design on the old birdhouse, but I sloped the roof more and added a piece of metal on top of it so any rainwater that falls on it won't just sit 'n warp the wood. I also reinforced it at the base so even if it does fall down again, it ain't likely to break. I painted it usin' colors to make it look more like a tree, figurin' that birds would rather nest in somethin' that looks like a tree after all."
"It's…absolutely splendid," the statue said in a quivering voice. The birdhouse slowly levitated over to its spot on the wall and sat securely in its place, awaiting new tenants. "Your skill and dedication are second to none, and I can tell that you put much love into this creation. I have met few who would be more worth of proceeding to the final trial."
Just as before, the way ahead opened slowly on the other side of the room. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo darted down the hall immediately, but Apple Bloom stopped and looked up at the statue again before leaving.
"Do you mind if I ask ya somethin' before I go?" she asked the statue.
"By all means, young one."
"I've had a lotta trouble findin' my true talent, but I was just wonderin'…even if I never find it, is it okay if I just stick to doin' somethin' I like?"
"For most, life is too short to be stuck not doing something you love."
"I reckon that makes a whole lotta sense. Thank ya kindly, ma'am."
Apple Bloom took off down the hall after her friends with a whole new perspective on her knack for building and fixing things. Even if she never did get her cutie mark, she at least had something she knew she would always enjoy doing. No amount of teasing or ridicule could ever take that away from her.
If only she'd seen the brilliant flash that came from her flanks as she raced to rejoin her friends.
The girls could tell they were now in a part of the temple few, if any, had ever reached. Dust and cobwebs covered everything and the air was very stale. A series of stairs took them down to the floor of a round room that had several rows of stadium-style seats all facing what looked like a small stage in the center. In the middle of the stage stood yet another statue like the previous two they'd encountered. Its eyes glowed as the trio approached it wondering what trial awaited them this time.
"For you to have come this far, you must possess some remarkable talent," the statue told them in an incredibly melodic voice. "I assure you, however, my trial will not be as simple as what you have faced so far."
"Bring it on!" Scootaloo announced. "We're getting that oat pail no matter what we have to do to get it!"
"Unless it's somethin' dangerous, 'o course," Apple Bloom added.
"Or icky," Sweetie Belle added.
"Guys, you're not helping our case here," Scootaloo told them in frustration.
"My trial is not dire, but it is nonetheless daunting," the statue told them. "Mine is the trial of melody. Before my interment here, I listened to the most beautiful of singers sing the most remarkable songs ever heard by ponykind. Only a suitably amazing song will satisfy me and convince me to allow you passage to the resting place of the Holy Oat Pail."
"A song? That's it?" Scootaloo asked as she cockily began walking up to the stage.
"Did I neglect to mention the spirits of my fellow Crusaders who also wish for a concert?" the statue said. Suddenly the seats in the stadium became occupied with dozens of spectral ponies of all kinds, all eagerly awaiting a performance.
"Heh, no problem," Scootaloo added with a smirk. "I've sung in front of way more ponies than this before. You all just sit back and-"
Scootaloo stopped mid-boast as she saw Sweetie Belle walk past her up onto the stage. The unicorn filly looked about ready to panic, but nonetheless stood her ground as she looked out at the spectral audience.
"Bloom, what's she doing?" Scootaloo asked as she turned to look back at her earth pony friend. "I thought Sweetie hated singing, not to mention singing in front of crowds?"
"I think she figgers it's her turn is all," Apple Bloom told her. "I, for one, ain't gonna tell her no. Are you?"
"I guess not, but will she be okay?"
"That's what we're here for, right?"
Scootaloo nodded emphatically and joined Apple Bloom just off of the stage to watch their friend. Sweetie Belle stood before the statue fidgeting nervously.
"Do you mean to sing for us, little one?" the statue asked her.
"Y-yeah…I mean, yes. I'll try, at least," Sweetie Belle replied.
"A 'try' will not appease me, child. I require a truly magnificent performance."
"I don't know if I can give a magnificent performance, but I'll do my best. It's just…I'm really not used to singing in front of so many ponies. Even if they are ghosts…well, especially since they're ghosts."
"I suppose I can appreciate your misgivings, but nonetheless this is the trial. Will you rise to the challenge, or leave in defeat?"
Feeling like her heart might explode twice, Sweetie Belle forced herself to look out at the audience again. Each of the ghosts looked down at her patiently, all of them hopeful for a beautiful performance. She then looked down at her friends, who smiled as best they could at her. She sighed and looked back over the crowd, but did a double-take this time. For a fleeting moment she swore she'd seen Rarity sitting among those in attendance. She shook her head, knowing there was no way her sister could actually be there, but that one moment of thought about her sister reminded her of what Rarity had told her that morning.
"You have an incredible gift in your voice," she had said, her words echoing in Sweetie Belle's head. "Don't be afraid to share it someday. I would hate to think I'm the only one in the world who gets to enjoy your songs."
"My sister prides herself on her generosity," Sweetie Belle said to the audience. "She really is one of the nicest ponies you could ever meet. I sing songs for her all the time at home and she tells me that I should share my songs with everypony else as well. I've always been afraid that I would be laughed off stage or something, but I guess the worst that could happen here is my friends and I might go home empty-hooved.
"We want to reach the Holy Oat Pail for our own reasons, that much is true, but we also want to share its wonders with all of Equestria. For that goal…and for the sake of our dreams… I'll do my very best here and sing for all of you."
Sweetie Belle closed her eyes and took several deep breaths as she sought out a song in her memory to go with. It came to her in an instant; another song bestowed upon her by her and Rarity's late Grandma Aubrieta. It was a traditional lament from Emerald Isle, and it was perfect for the moment.
She slowly opened her eyes to meet the audience as her incredibly beautiful voice began to fill the room.
"Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide."
As Sweetie Belle sang, her horn began to glow of its own accord. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo looked on in surprise as they'd never seen their unicorn friend even so much as attempt a spell before. The magic permeated the room and an illusionary landscape came into view, one of rolling hills coated in many shades of green. Atop one hill, underneath a massive tree, stood Sweetie Belle as she continued to sing.
"But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow…"
As soon as she sang of snow, the illusory landscape changed to meet the lyrics, now being a series of rolling hills blanketed in white. The tree Sweetie Belle stood underneath was barren of leaves and coated with snow on all of its branches.
"'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so."
For her part, Sweetie didn't know where the magic was coming from and she almost didn't care. She was lost in the song, which had long been a favorite of hers that she had begged Grandma Aubrieta to teach her. She reveled in the feeling that singing gave her. The audience didn't matter, nor did her friends who were so dear to her. All that mattered was the song and she intended to do it justice.
"And if you come, when all the flowers are dying
And I am dead, as dead I well may be
You'll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an 'Ave' there for me."
The scene had changed to an Autumnal one on the prior verse, the hills now covered with multi-colored leaves and the sky a cold, slate gray. The tree above Sweetie Belle was mostly barren save a few leaves that clung to their branches desperately. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo swore they could feel a chill in the air of the room just from seeing the scene. They were completely entranced by the song, eager to hear more.
"And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me
And all my dreams will warm and sweeter be
If you'll not fail to tell me that you love me
I'll simply sleep in peace… until you come to me."
Sweetie Belle drew out the final notes of the song, letting her voice fade gradually away to silence as her horn's glow dissipated and the illusionary scene vanished. Silently she thanked her grandmother once again for teaching her the song and said a silent prayer that she had at least sung it decently. It was then that a new sound began to fill the room. All around the stage, the spectral pony audience rose to their feet and began stomping their applause. Sweetie suddenly realized she was being given a standing ovation and she quickly and graciously bowed to the audience. She tried to contain her emotions, but the smile on her face showed her utter joy at the whole scene.
"Never have I heard such a stirring rendition of that song," the statue told her, its voice quivering with emotion. "That was simply beautiful, child. I could not be more pleased. You have all earned the right to your ultimate reward. The way to the Holy Oat Pail shall open to you."
"Ohmigoshohmigoshohmigoshohmigoshohmigosh guys!" Scootaloo said ecstatically. "We did it! We totally did it!"
"Thanks to Sweetie Belle an' her crazy awesome singin' voice!" Apple Bloom added.
"Guys, c'mon," Sweetie Belle said bashfully. "You're gonna embarrass me here. But thanks."
"Time's a'wastin' Crusaders!" Apple Bloom said triumphantly. "We got a Holy Oat Pail to claim!"
Sweetie Belle immediately fell in running behind her two friends, though truth be told her excitement over her singing performance easily eclipsed her excitement over their imminent success. She had sung for a crowd and they had liked it. More importantly, she had sung for a crowd and she had liked it. She even found herself daring to hope that she'd have another such opportunity sometime soon as she now began to crave the feeling that singing gave her.
As she raced on behind her two friends, just as had happened twice earlier a brief and bright flash from Sweetie Belle's flanks went completely unnoticed by the trio of Cutie Mark Crusaders who now bore down on their final goal and the end of their crusade.
Three pony fillies stood side-by-side as they looked across the final room of the Temple of the Colts Templar. As soon as they'd entered, torches lining the walls magically lit up and shone light into the once darkened room. Several suits of pony armor lined a walkway that led towards an altar. Atop the altar sat a golden pail encrusted with gems of all shapes, sizes and colors. Finally, behind the altar sat a cloaked pony who huddled behind the pail continuously muttering to themselves.
"This is it, guys," Scootaloo said, swallowing hard as she tried to control her nerves. "We've come this far. No turning back."
"You're right, Scoot," Sweetie Belle said, also fighting her own nerves as they began slowly approaching the altar. "I just want to say, though, that no matter what happens after this you girls will always be my best friends."
"And how," Apple Bloom added in a wavering voice. "If it weren't fer y'all, I mighta just up an' died of embarrassment way back at Diamond Tiara's cute ceañera. You gals are the best friends a filly could ask for."
"That all goes double for me too, guys," Scootaloo added. "I'll never forget either of you…not ever."
The trio stopped just short of the altar as the cloaked pony rose to their feet and slowly walked around to meet them. None of the girls could see much of the mysterious pony, but they all assumed that they were in the presence of a truly ancient and powerful being. As such, they decided silence was their best option for the moment.
"I've been waiting for ones such as yourselves to arrive," the mystery pony said in a soft, raspy voice. "To have come this far, you must have proven yourselves to the guardians. Step forward, then, and claim your reward. Eat from the pail and your heart's desire will be granted to you."
All three fillies looked at each other and then approached the pail, which was filled with simple looking oats. They all looked at it with great apprehension and then, one by one, they each took a mouthful of oats from it and ate. They were all fairly hungry by now, after all, having skimped on lunch because they'd been so preoccupied with gathering the key fragments.
"This tastes good and all," Scootaloo said with her mouth still full of oats, "but I don't feel any different."
"Me either," Apple Bloom said, though only after swallowing her oats. "I thought I'd have some kinda amazin' realization or somethin'."
"Maybe we ate too fast?" Sweetie Belle said, likewise as confused as her friends. "Excuse me, mysterious figure, but um…how's this supposed to work anyway? Does it even still work, for that matter?"
"Oh girls…" the pony said in a much clearer yet still soft tone. "I don't know about magical oat pails, but I think you all found your heart's desires all the same."
"Wait, I know that voice…" Apple Bloom said, suddenly recognizing the voice. The pony reached a pale yellow hoof up and pulled her hood back, revealing a magnificent pink mane and sky blue eyes.
"Fluttershy?" all three fillies said in unison.
"What're you doing in the Temple of the Colts Templar?" Scootaloo asked.
"Oh, well it's a bit of a long story girls," Fluttershy told them as she shed the cloak entirely now. "But I'm not terribly good at explaining this sort of thing. Maybe you should ask the one who was behind it all along."
Fluttershy and the three fillies looked across the hall as Twilight Sparkle made her way into the room now, a proud smile on her face as she looked at them.
"You played your part perfectly, Fluttershy," Twilight told her.
"Oh, it wasn't much of a part," Fluttershy admitted. "But I was certainly happy to be of help."
"I'm still confused," Sweetie Belle said, shaking her head. "What's all this about?"
"Girls, there is no Holy Oat Pail," Twilight told them. "The Colts Templar really did exist, but they never had a secret treasure like this."
"But…where'd all the information come from?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Yeah, and the key fragments!" Scootaloo added.
"Not to mention this whole temple," Sweetie Belle said, looking around the place again.
"Well I did have a lot of help," Twilight said as she figured it was time to explain everything. "I came up with the idea for all of this with Zecora one day over tea. She gladly lent a hoof to me coming up with the whole mythology. Pinkie Pie then agreed to help try and guide you three to Zecora for more information when the book I made with Booker's help didn't give you enough to go on.
"Rarity helped make both the key fragments and the Holy Oat Pail itself, which is really just an ordinary oat pail done up with some gold paint and a few of her gems. Then she, along with Applejack and Rainbow Dash, agreed to help give each of you some encouragement as you sought out the pieces of the key.
"As for the temple, it is actually an old ruin but the Colts Templar never used this place. We had a lot of help from others around Ponyville to make the place up, and between my magic and Vinyl Scratch's, plus some of Scratch's sound equipment, we were able to make it all seem authentic. Scratch even lent her voice to the statues using her voice modulation magic."
"So this was all one big prank y'all played on us, then?" Apple Bloom asked, suddenly feeling very worried.
"Girls, this was no joke," Twilight told them. "We all did this because we wanted to help you."
"Help us?" Scootaloo asked. "With what?"
"Finding your true talents," Twilight said. "We've all known how important it's been to you girls, and we know how hard it is to be patient and wait for your talent to come to light. So we all decided to try and help you out. And if I may be so bold, it looks like it paid off."
"How? We still don't have our cutie marks!" Sweetie Belle said in frustration.
"Girls, take another look," Fluttershy told them gently.
All three fillies looked over and were suddenly shocked. Scootaloo's flank was adorned with a pair of winged dancing shoes sitting atop a cloud. Apple Bloom had a picture of an unrolled blueprint with a heart-shaped design on it on her flank. As for Sweetie Belle, a spotlight shining on a heart-shaped musical note decorated her flank.
"We…we did it…" Apple Bloom said in disbelief.
"We found our talents…" Scootaloo added similarly.
"And we…we got our…our…" Sweetie Belle said, tears welling in her eyes.
The emotion of the moment overcame the trio and all three of them embraced each other as they began crying tears of joy. After all their failures and all the ridicule they'd endured, they finally had accomplished their goal. Fluttershy found herself weeping slightly for them as well, though she kept her composure and smiled warmly at the trio who continued their joyous sobbing for some time before finally calming down.
"Thank you, Twilight," Sweetie Belle said, rubbing her eyes to try and wipe away her tears. "This means more to us than we can tell you."
"Don't just thank me, Sweetie," Twilight told her. "Rarity will be delighted to see you and your cutie mark at the party."
"What party?" Scootaloo asked after she sniffled a little.
"That would be the cute ceañera Pinkie Pie has been working on for most of the day," Fluttershy told her. "We wanted to give you girls a real reward after all was said and done, and Pinkie insisted on throwing you all a party."
"A cute ceañera?" Apple Bloom repeated. "For…for us?"
"Rainbow Dash and Applejack will be there waiting to see you as well," Twilight told them. "As will most of Ponyville, I think. Pinkie was pretty indiscriminate about who she invited."
The three fillies now bore wide smiles on their faces. They looked between each other, nodded to one another, and inhaled a deep breath. Twilight and Fluttershy just managed to cover their ears as the trio cried out,
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS CUTE CEAÑERA! YAAAAAAAAAY!"
With a speed that could possibly have set off a sonic rainboom, the three fillies sped out of the room and back through the ruins towards the exit. Twilight and Fluttershy couldn't help but laugh as they gave the girls chase en route to a party no pony in Ponyville was likely to ever forget.
Author's Note: The chapter that follows this ending is "Pay It Forward". Please proceed to that chapter for the appropriate epilogue.
|
DJLowrider
|
974
| 8 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Raiders of the Cutie Mark
|
The Cutie Mark Crusaders embark on their biggest adventure yet - and possibly their last!
|
complete
| 173 | 3 |
<p>When the Cutie Mark Crusaders find a book telling of an ancient artifact with the power to grant one's heart's desire, it leads them on their biggest adventure ever - and quite possibly their last!</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-10-07T20:21:15+00:00
|
2011-10-07T20:21:15+00:00
| 5,977 |
Though she'd made the trip to the clubhouse countless times before, there was something truly special about Scootaloo's journey there that day. She no longer felt like she was merely riding her scooter. Usually she'd just been worried or hopeful about her activities for the day with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, but now she simply felt exhilarated. She always had added a few tricks here and there along her ride, but that day the whole trip was one long series of intricate maneuvers and tricks. To her it was like she was dancing all the way there, just at high speed.
She hadn't seen either of her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders for quite some time. It had been a week since the adventure Twilight Sparkle had concocted for them that had ended with all three of them earning their cutie marks. The ensuing cute ceañera had been attended by dozens of ponies and had lasted deep into the night. After taking time to recover from it all, Scootaloo had found herself accompanying Rainbow Dash for something that had gone from exciting to downright momentous for her. She was now speeding to the clubhouse to tell her friends about it. As the clubhouse came into view, she slowed down and parked her scooter easily at the base of the tree before heading up the ramp and inside. As usual, she found Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle already inside and both also looking particularly excited as well.
"Guys, I've got something amazing I gotta tell you about!" Scootaloo said excitedly.
"So do I!" Sweetie Belle added, grinning like mad.
"Me too!" Apple Bloom also added, bouncing up and down in place. "Who should go first?"
"You go first, Bloom," Scootaloo told her. "The Cutie Mark Crusaders was the name you came up with for us after all."
"Scoot's right, it's only fitting," Sweetie said in agreement.
"Alright, well…" Apple Bloom said, taking a deep breath to calm herself before sharing her news. "Y'all know Ty Quillington, right?"
"Of course we do, he's that celebrity home renovator right?" Sweetie Belle said with Scootaloo nodding as well.
"Apparently he's an old buddy of Big Macintosh's, an' the two of 'em got to talkin' during and after the cute ceañera," Bloom told them giddily. "He said he'd take me on as his apprentice! I'm gonna learn all 'bout fixin' and buildin' stuff from a real expert!"
"Wow, Bloom! That's awesome!" Scootaloo told her. "Okay, you next Sweetie!"
"Okay," Sweetie said, fidgeting a bit as her turn now came. "Well, my big sis brought me along to meet Sapphire Shores since she was filling an order for her yesterday. She told Sapphire about my singing and I ended up singing something for her. She wants me to sing with her as a backup singer, and she said she'd even introduce me to a vocal coach!"
"Holy moly, that's incredible Sweetie!" Bloom said in surprise. "Guess that leaves you, Scoot. What's yer news?"
"Oh nothing," Scootaloo said, trying to play cool. "Just that Rainbow Dash took me to get signed up for Flight School and we happened to meet Spitfire of the Wonderbolts there. Oh, and Rainbow Dash let it slide to Spitfire about my dancing and they're gonna let me take some extra lessons from their own choreographer. So yeah, nothing major there."
"Are you kidding?" Sweetie Belle said with eyes wide. "That's incredible, Scoot!"
"How cool is this?" Apple Bloom said as she and her two best friends gathered close. "We all got our cutie marks on the same day, and now we're all gonna get to chase our dreams like we never imagined!"
"I know!" Scootaloo added. "It's gonna be off the hook!"
"Our futures are so bright, we're all going to need shades," Sweetie also added slyly.
The three girls took a moment to come down off of their excitement, their gazes slowly falling to the floor of their beloved clubhouse.
"I leave for Flight School in two days," Scootaloo said. "And I won't be back in Ponyville for a while. Plus, I'm gonna be practicing dance pretty much every day that I'm not in school from now on."
"Rarity's got another order for Sapphire she's working on now," Sweetie Belle said. "As soon as she's done with it, I'm going with her to deliver it. I probably won't be around for a couple of months, and even when I'm back all my free time is going to be spent in singing lessons."
"My apprenticeship starts tomorrow," Apple Bloom said. "And there's a lot of stuff around the farm that needs fixin' up too. I'm gonna be a might busy for quite a while."
"Looks like we're all going to be busy from now on, then," Sweetie said darkly.
"But hey, I'm sure we won't always be so busy," Scootaloo said hopefully. "We're bound to have days off here or there. We'll get together on those days and we'll totally go crusading and-"
"Scootaloo, we don't need to crusade anymore," Apple Bloom told her. "We all have our cutie marks now. The whole point of bein' the Cutie Mark Crusaders was so we'd find our true talents and earn our cutie marks. We did just that. So what'd we be crusading for?"
"Apple Bloom is right," Sweetie Belle added. "We had a good, long run, but…it's over now. We aren't Cutie Mark Crusaders anymore."
"I guess you guys are right," Scootaloo said, both sounding and feeling defeated. "I just…I don't wanna lose you guys is all. I don't have a family of my own, and…well…you two…"
It was a rare sight to see Scootaloo showing an emotion that wasn't excitement or sarcasm, so Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were surprised to see tears beginning to form in their Pegasus friend's eyes.
"You're not just friends to me…" she said, her voice quivering. "We've all been through so much together. All the adventures, the hardships, the teasing...you guys are like sisters to me. I just…I love you both so much and…and I don't want to lose you…"
"Oh Scoot…" Sweetie Belle said as she nuzzled her friend. Apple Bloom immediately joined them, poking her head up between them both.
"Just 'cause we can't be together all the time doesn't mean we'll stop bein' friends," Apple Bloom said. "I meant what I said that day we were walkin' up to the Holy Oat Pail. You gals will always be my best friends. Nothin's gonna ever change that."
"Best friends forever," Sweetie Belle added. "I'll always care about you both."
"Ditto for me," Scootaloo also added. "And then some."
After a good, long session of nuzzles and hugs, the three fillies then turned their attention to taking down many of the various things they'd set up in the treehouse for their time as crusaders.
"Still, it is a shame to see all this stuff go to waste," Apple Bloom said as she looked around. "I did a lotta work on this place to get it this nice."
"Yeah, not to mention the awesome cloaks you made for us Sweetie Belle," Scootaloo told her. "As well as the theme song. It's too bad there's no use for this stuff anymore."
Sweetie Belle nodded as she continued cleaning up, but as she did a thought occurred to her. As the thought stuck in her head and grew, so too did a smile on her face.
"Maybe," she said thoughtfully, "just maybe it doesn't have to go to waste after all."
"What're you on about, Sweetie?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Hear me out here, girls," Sweetie told them as they huddled up. "I just had a crazy but kind of neat idea…"
Many years later…
School was out once again that day and colts and fillies alike poured out of Cheerilee's schoolhouse as usual. A fair number of them already had their cutie marks, but two fillies in particular – one unicorn and one earth pony - who were still without their cutie marks were taking some extra time that afternoon to prepare before they headed out.
"Moonshine! Summer Breeze!" a young earth pony filly called out to the two. She was dark brown in color with a two-tone green mane and tail. "You guys wanna come to Sugar Cube Corner? A bunch of us are going to try out Twist's latest candy canes."
"Thanks, Gardenia," said Moonshine, who was a dark blue earth pony filly with a light blue mane and tail. "But we've got something else to go do today."
"Moonie's right," added Summer Breeze, who was a light orange unicorn filly with a strawberry blonde mane and tail. "We've got somewhere to go to sign up for some summertime activities."
"Oh," Gardenia said, a bit disappointed. "Well, I'll be sure to pick up some candy canes for you then. I'll give 'em to you at school tomorrow."
The two fillies thanked Gardenia again and set off on a trail away from the school and out of Ponyville. It was a well-worn path that led through some light forested area into a secluded section of the renown Sweet Apple Acres farm. They crested one last hill and saw their destination: a magnificent treehouse that stood above a field that had several cabins, a barn and a flagpole. Atop the flagpole flew a maroon-colored pennant that bore a gold and blue crest.
"You nervous, Summer?" Moonshine asked her friend.
"Uh huh," Summer Breeze said with a gulp. "How about you, Moonie?"
"You think? I mean, we're gonna be meeting three superstar ponies for crying out loud."
"I'm sure they're all really nice once you get to know them."
"And how're we gonna do that? We can't just walk right up to them and say 'hi' or something lame like that."
"Actually, it's pretty refreshing to not have ponies gushing when they meet us," a more mature-sounding voice said from behind the two fillies. They both froze as they turned and looked up behind them to see an adult white unicorn with a lavishly styled pink and lavender mane and tail smiling warmly at them. The two fillies both froze as they came face-to-face with one of the singers from their favorite musical group, Celtic Mare.
"Y-y-y-y-you're…" Summer Breeze stammered, dumbstruck at who she and her friend were now meeting.
"Welcome to Crusader's Base Camp," the unicorn mare told them pleasantly. "I'm Sweetie Belle. Are you both here to join the Cutie Mark Crusaders?"
"…yes…" both fillies said weakly.
"Well come on and let's get you signed up," Sweetie Belle told them as she walked ahead to lead them onwards. The two fillies looked at each other nervously but quickly fell in behind her and followed as she walked up the ramp to the clubhouse.
"Hey Bloom," Sweetie Belle said as she poked her head inside. "It looks like we've got two more to sign up for this summer here."
"Hot dang," Apple Bloom said, looking up from her desk. Like Sweetie Belle she was now a full-grown mare as well and had long since traded her pink hair bow for a pink bandana that sat atop her head to keep her unruly red mane out of her eyes. "This is gonna be the biggest troop we've had yet!"
"No doubt," Sweetie replied. "Can you get these girls all signed up? I need to check on the cabin amenities again to make sure we've got enough supplies. I wasn't counting on as big of a turnout as we've had and if we need more stuff I'll need to make arrangements soon."
"Will do," Bloom told her. "Oh and if'n ya see Scoot, remind her that I don't rightly appreciate it when she decides to buzz the clubhouse. This place ain't gettin' any younger after all. While I may be plannin' to rebuild it eventually, I'd still like to get a year or two's more use outta it."
"I'll do my best, but you know how she is," Sweetie said with a giggle as she left the fillies in Bloom's care.
"Yes, unfortunately I do," Bloom said with a sigh. She rose from behind her desk and approached the two fillies. "Hey, don't I know you girls from around town?"
"Yes, ma'am," Moonshine said, still feeling uneasy but not as nervous as before. "We're in Miss Cheerilee's class."
Apple Bloom nodded as she recalled them both now. "Ah, that's right. I thought I recognized y'all from the last time I was out fixin' the windows there. School goin' okay for you both?"
"Yeah, Miss Cheerilee is a fun teacher," Summer Breeze told her. "A lot of our classmates have gotten their cutie marks, but those of us who don't have ours yet don't get teased about it. Well…at least not much."
"Believe me, girls, I know exactly how you feel," Apple Bloom told them. "But you've come to the right place, and I think you're gonna have a blast with us over the summer. So let's get you girls all signed up and get you fitted for Crusader capes."
Signing Moonshine and Summer Breeze up for the Crusaders took only a few moments and afterwards Apple Bloom set to taking a few measurements of them to make sure their capes would fit them properly.
"Miss Bloom?" Summer Breeze said uneasily. "Can I ask you something?"
"You sure can," Apple Bloom told her as she continued her measuring. "And please, just call me Apple Bloom."
"I was just wondering…why do you three do this?" Summer Breeze asked. "I mean, you're three of the most famous and successful ponies to ever come from Ponyville. Why come back here just to help a bunch of blank flanks?"
"First off, don't you ever call yourself that again," Bloom told her emphatically. "It's not somethin' y'all should ever be okay with bein' called. You're all wonderful fillies and colts filled with potential and with futures brighter than any 'o you can even imagine. As for why we do this-"
"Call it 'continuing a tradition'." A new voice said from the doorway, cutting Apple Bloom off mid-sentence. Apple Bloom and the two fillies looked over to see an orange Pegasus with a reddish-purple mane and tail leaning against the door frame. She had a cocky smile on her face as she nodded at Apple Bloom.
"What the hay have you been up to, Scoot?" Bloom asked, looking mildly annoyed.
"Had to check in with the forecasters on upcoming weather conditions," Scootaloo told her. "There's some rain scheduled a few days from now but it'll be in the evening so it won't interfere with things too much."
"All well 'n good, but did ya need to cut so close to the clubhouse when ya left? Ya shook the windows so hard I thought they were gonna shatter."
"Oh, heh, sorry about that. I've been working on my takeoffs lately. Gotta keep my performances fresh, after all. Rainbow Dash keeps bugging me to try out for the Wonderbolts so we can perform together, but I still like doing my own thing. You know how it goes, right Bloom?"
"Boy do I ever. I got another offer to work for an architectural firm in Manehattan, ya know."
"Are they ever gonna leave you alone?"
"One 'o these days I'm gonna have to actually take 'em up on it, but there's just too much still to do around Ponyville, not to mention Sweet Apple Acres. I ain't 'bout to leave my family an' the people here high and dry."
"I hear you there. So, who're the new recruits?"
"Oh geez, where are my manners? This here's Moonshine an' Summer Breeze. Girls, I'd like you to meet…"
"Scootaloo?" Moonshine said in awe. "THE Scootaloo who opens for the Wonderbolts whenever they perform?"
"Yeah, that's me," Scootaloo said a bit bashfully. Despite having had her present gig for a couple of years now, she still wasn't totally used to the attention she received from it. "But when I'm here I'm just Scootaloo, and what happens here isn't about me or Sweetie Belle or Apple Bloom. This place is all about you guys and helping you find your true talents."
"Thank you Miss Scootaloo," both fillies said in unison.
"I think we're about done for today, girls," Apple Bloom told them. "We'll get your capes ordered from Rarity an' bring 'em to the school once they're in. Summer camp starts in two weeks, but once y'all got your capes you're welcome to participate in any Crusader activities."
"You girls need an escort back to Ponyville?" Scootaloo asked, stretching her wings a bit.
"No thank you, ma'am, we'll be fine," Moonshine told her with Summer Breeze nodding in agreement.
The two fillies took off running back towards town, yelling back their thanks again as they passed Sweetie Belle who was just coming back to the clubhouse.
"Such a cute pair those two are," Sweetie Belle said to her friends as she joined them.
"This is gonna be one full summer," Scootaloo added. "I gotta hand it to you, Sweetie, this has turned out to be one awesome idea you came up with."
"After what everypony did to help us get our cutie marks, I figured it'd be a way we could try and do the same for other fillies and colts who had similar problems as we did," Sweetie replied. "Plus it has the side effect of giving us all a chance to get back together for at least one season out of the year for the summer camp. I just didn't expect things to get this big is all."
"It's gettin' bigger than you think," Apple Bloom told her. "My cousin Braeburn's tryin' to get me to come out to Appleloosa to set up a troop of Crusaders out on the frontier."
"And I've had more than a few high profile Pegasi asking me to make a specialized troop just for Pegasus colts and fillies in Cloudsdale," Scootaloo added.
"I guess I'll just hope Canterlot doesn't come calling for a unicorn troop then," Sweetie Belle said, rolling her eyes.
"Let's worry about that if and when we have to," Scootaloo said, playfully bumping her unicorn friend as she passed her. "Right now I think I wanna hit Sugar Cube Corner for some treats with my sisters here."
"Last one there buys?" Sweetie asked, smiling slyly at Scootaloo.
"You're challenging me to a race?" Scootaloo asked in disbelief.
"What's the matter?" Sweetie Belle replied somewhat mockingly. "You gonna chicken out on me, dodo?"
Before either of them could continue with their tit-for-tat exchange, Apple Bloom shot past them and out the door, laughing madly as she left the two in the dust. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo immediately took off after her, both of them laughing as they caught up to her and ran alongside her towards Ponyville. Though many years had passed since their time adventuring together, the bonds between the former Cutie Mark Crusaders were as strong as they had ever been; and each of them was determined to make sure their friendship persisted for the rest of their days.
The End.
|
Midnightshadow
|
975
| 1 |
Applejack,Twilight Sparkle,Adventure,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Midnight Run
|
Some say Earth ponies have no magic... but that isn't true. They are the secret custodians of nature
|
complete
| 292 | 17 |
<p>Twilight is approached by Applejack with a strange request - to join her that night for a run, but all is not as it seems. Why is Applejack so nervous? What could this be about?</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-09-22T14:27:24+00:00
|
2015-03-19T19:31:08+00:00
| 5,825 |
“So,” asked Twilight, chewing thoughtfully on the clover leaves and swallowing before speaking again, "this lunch was nice and all, but what did you really want to talk to me about?”
“Weee-eelll sugar, we... kinda have this thing we do.”
“A ‘thing’?” asked Twilight, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah. At night.”
Twilight grinned suddenly, “I didn’t think you were in to that sort of thing...”
Applejack blinked, opened her mouth, closed it again, and then laughed, “That’s not what I mean, Twi, and you durn well know it!”
“Well, explain ‘thing’ then.” Twilight laughed too, sipping a drink of water to hide her mirth.
“It’s not really something we should discuss in public like this, I wrote it all down in a letter, here,” Applejack hoofed over a sealed envelope, glancing surreptitiously side to side as she did.
“Why all the secrecy?”
“It’s kind of... kind of the sort of thing you don’t talk about,” mumbled Applejack, almost under her breath.
“This is nothing illegal, is it?” Twilight’s eyes went wide and her ears pricked forwards - what in Equestria was her friend talking about?
“Oh no, no, nothing like that... it’s just... kinda special. Kinda private.”
“But it’s not...?” Twilight did her best to mime with hoof-gestures certain lewd activities.
“No! Oh gosh no. You were... remember you were talkin’ ‘bout the magic of friendship? And wantin’ ta know more? Special ways we has here of being friends?”
“You’re sounding more suspicious with every word, AJ, spit it out, can’t you?”
“We go for a run, okay?” blurted the orange earth-pony, like it was a confession.
“A what?” Twilight’s blunt retort was full of sarcasm.
“A run. We run. Together,” explained Applejack, flustered, almost pained to be opening her muzzle.
“We? We who?”
“No, no, you don’t ask names. You know me, that’s enough. It’s always one who invites - but it’s the herd that decides.”
“The herd?”
“The herd. I can’t explain it, Twi, not really. You just... you just follow them instructions in that there letter, be where it says, when it says, how it says, and we’ll see what happens. I can’t promise nothin’, but let me say this - if you open yer heart to the herd, if you git yerself in touch with your inner earth-pony, the herd will accept you.”
“You make it sound like a cult.”
“T’ain’t no cult, Twi. T’ain’t nothin’ like that - but you gotta follow the rules.”
“The rules?”
“They’re all in that there letter, but the biggest is no magic. T’ain’t like tradition and Winter Wrap-Up, this is serious.”
“And you were fuming with me for weeks after Winter Wrap-Up,” said Twilight, with a little worried smile.
“Uh, just one thing tho' sugar - you aren’t...?”
“Aren’t what?”
“Uh... how do I put this? Aren’t having that time of the year no more?”
“AJ! What in Equestria...”
“Jes askin’, Twi, t’ain’t about that, but things has been known to get a little... intense at times.”
Twilight looked down at the sealed envelope, what had she got herself in to?
***
Later that evening, Twilight was reading the letter. She’d almost left it too late - by the instructions in the letter she had to be at the pond near Fluttershy’s cottage, on the East side, before midnight. It said not to tell anypony - and that included non-ponies like Spike and Owlysious - and to come au naturelle. Ponies don’t wear much clothing, but Twilight couldn’t see the harm in wearing a neck-strap bag. It was an old one, quite worn, but she loaded it up with the letter and the map.
“Better safe than sorry,” she said to herself, as she trotted out the door.
The journey to the allotted place was uneventful. As she passed through the darkened, empty streets, she realized that this night was the vernal equinox. High up above was a bright full moon hanging in the clear skies. As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, it occured to her how strange and alien the perfectly safe and sane Ponyville looked at night. Somehow primal and primitive.
It was still warm, at the back-end of summer, but soon winter would be approaching once more and in a few short months the ground would be frozen and white. There was a certain bite in the air and she realized her breath was steaming, as were her flanks.
She snapped out of her reverie as she neared the pond. In the monochrome fuzzy semi-darkness, she could see indistinct shapes dotted across the clearing. They were ponies.
“Hello, everypon-” she began, but there was a terrifying whinny from one of the locals that made her stop.
“I...”
Another whinny, this time with an accompanying snort and shake of a head.
This is strange, thought Twilight to herself, o-kay... no talking.
Twilight resolved to play this strange little game. She would apply her intellect - if they wanted to play some strange mute game, she would play along. She trotted into the group, looking around her. The ponies mostly ignored her. She realized she didn't recognize any of them - there was a white unicorn with what looked like a black mane, but it was very, very hard to tell in the darkness. It couldn't have been purple, because Rarity would never get herself that filthy. There was a large stallion - he too looked black in the half-light. He was huge, a hulking monster, and he stamped and snorted, tossing his head to and fro as she passed. He didn't seem to like her, she wondered where he came from. Were all these ponies from out of town? Which town?
A - she looked lime-green but colours were deceptive if not elusive - a lime-green unicorn bent her head and cropped the grass, she too was dusty and dirty, sweaty, and marked with grime. A cream-coloured earth-pony idly chewed the unicorn’s mane in a friendly grooming session. They snorted and bucked as she approached, angrily pawing the ground with a forehoof. Stay away, said the silent command. Twilight obliged.
What is this? This is... this doesn't make any sense, she wailed to herself, these ponies are all crazy!
Suddenly there was a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. An orange earth-pony, long blonde mane and tail, stood proudly under an apple tree, gazing up at the stars.
Applejack! thought Twilight to herself, and she raced up the hill to her friend. At least it had looked like her friend; Applejack usually had her hair done up in braids, this whirling fierce creature - this alpha mare - had a wild unkempt mane and tail that whipped around freely in the cool night air as she spun and kicked, snorting and neighing aggressively.
Twilight backed up, but felt her rump hit the tree. The not-Applejack tore into her and snapped teeth... not around her neck nor to tear into her flesh, but at the bag-strap. With a fierce intensity and mad, rolling eyes, the specter of equine power and drive ripped the offending article off of Twilight and threw it to the ground, where she attacked it like it was a wild animal. After dealing with the bag, the enraged pony turned on Twilight and reared up, kicking her legs, splaying her ears back and neighing in a guttural roar that sent Twilight packing. As she ran, terrified, through the herd she found herself harried and kicked and bitten until she finally plunged almost headfirst into the lake where she sank beneath the surface, tripping - head, hooves and flank dug into the fetid bottom.
When she pulled herself up, spluttering and breathing hard, the herd had quietened down and the assorted ponies were once again chewing grass, grooming or just standing. She staggered out of the pond, stinking of mud and covered in algae, to collapse on the bank. She lay there for several minutes, just breathing, getting herself back together and trying to work out what was going on. None of this made any sense!
Hot breath on her neck.
She raised her head fearfully, but the gesture was friendly. A young mare, several years her junior, had taken an interest. She lifted her head and looked at the pony inquisitively. The pony mirrored the move, and they stopped there for a few seconds, breathing each other’s breath before the younger squealed and snorted, tossing her head up and down. Come. said the command.
Twilight got up.
Again the pony squealed and whickered, tossing her head. Come, this way, with me.
Twilight followed. She trotted through the group, her tail held high and ready for aggressive behaviour, eyes rolling slightly as she sought to keep everypony in view. Her escort stopped. She stopped. Her escort turned around and faced her. Twilight watched, befuddled, as the young mare bent to crop grass. She came up with a few blades of grass in her muzzle, and chewed methodically. Twilight watched, as the earth-pony repeated the gesture. The pony dropped her head, snorted and muttered in a low-derisory tone that said why don’t you eat and cropped some more. Twilight did as she was bid. She didn't normally eat grass straight off the root, it wasn't really done in Canterlot... but for some reason tonight, the grass tasted heavenly, like fine wine. It was slick with dew, it had been trampled on by hoof, splashed with mud... and yet it tasted divine.
What did it mean?
She was still half-off in reverie when she felt a few tentative bites at her mane and neck. The mare was grooming her! She’d read about this - in olden times, before magic, before the devices they now had, ponies would groom each other with their mouths. She snorted and whinnied slightly at the shock, but soon sank into a kind of blissful slumber as the strange pony - her new friend perhaps? No, herd-mate, that was the feeling - saw to the tangles and mess. Instinctively she reached out her own muzzle and took a bite of the pony. She chewed, much like she would chew grass, and felt the knots and detritus. She filtered it out with her lips and teeth, and bit again and again, nipping and grinding and working at the mane and the neck of the pony in that strange, sensual, close kind of massage that only a pony could give and mutually enjoy.
Finally she stopped. She was surrounded by ponies on all sides. The herd was complete as the last few members arrived and took their positions loosely situated in the group. She could almost feel it, they accepted her. This must be what Applejack meant, Twilight thought to herself, the herd had to accept me. And it had. The herd was a strange eclectic group of ponies - young and old, male and female. There were unicorns, she noticed, but no pegasi. She wondered idly whether there was anything deliberate about that, but reasoned it was probably because not using magic was the usual state of affairs even for unicorns, but not using wings for a pegasus was rather more abnormal.
There was a commotion - at once the herd was alert and ready. A hundred heads came up, a hundred pairs of ears and ears searched for the intrusion or the predator. There didn’t seem to be anything, but whatever it had been, it was enough. With a rumble of thunder and the distinct sound of hooves hitting the ground, the herd moved off, taking Twilight with it.
The run was wild, the run was free. The herd surged over hills and swarmed down into valleys, moving as one. This was like the running of the leaves, she realized, that they’d had a few short weeks ago, but this time there was no competition. There was only the herd.
She’d been talking to Applejack before the running of the leaves, and Applejack had waxed philosophical on what it meant to be an earth pony.
“T’ain’t right none that some o’ you unicorns go ’round sayin’ we ain’t got no magic, Twi. T’ain’t like that at all.” AJ had said.
“Oh, I know,” Twilight had said, “I read all about it in the libraries of Canterlot. Unicorns like myself, we can channel and use raw magic for all sorts of uses, but we’re far from being the only magical beings in Equestria.”
“You say that, but I don’t quite think you understand it.’
“I understand it quite well, thank you!” she’d said, huffing, but AJ had motioned her to calm down.
“T’ain’t like that neither, Twi - it’s that you’re a unicorn. You spend all yer time in yer own head. Take Rainbow Dash - she’s a mite bigger’n a bird, but she can fly right nice.”
“Pegasus ponies can also make other things in their vicinity light enough to fly.”
“That right there is pegasus magic, Twilight,” Applejack had said around a sarsaparilla, “they have the magic o’the air in their bones. We earth ponies, we’ve got the magic o’the earth.”
“What’s that mean?” Twilight had asked.
“I may get to show you, one day soon.” the earth-pony had said.
Twilight closed her eyes, remembering, as she felt oft-unused muscles strain under her hide with the exertion. After the running of the leaves, Applejack had come back to her, and tried to explain.
“it’s like... we’re a part of the earth, Twilight,” Applejack had said, “we can feel the movement of the seasons beneath our hooves. It’s earth ponies that made those leaves fall, with earth-pony magic. We pull the world along as much as those pegasi kick clouds about the sky. Y’all got it too, we all do, but it’s easier for an earth-pony to feel it.”
Twilight hadn’t known what to say, “What do you mean? You cast a spell? With your body?”
Applejack had shook her head, “Oh no, we ARE the spell. With every beat of our hooves, we move the earth. With every breath of our bodies, we fuel the wind... and when we die, we go back to the earth, to grow the plants to feed the animals.”
Twilight had sipped her sarsaparilla in silence and Applejack had moved on, leaving a confused unicorn behind her. But now... Twilight stilled her mind as she galloped. Around her thundered the herd. She could reach out with her magic, if she chose, but she remembered AJ’s strict, stern admonishment. No magic!
Instead she turned her attention first inwards, and then outwards. She felt the earth beneath her hooves, she felt her herd-mates all around her, their every muscle twitch, their every direction change, every tail-flick. She could almost... the herd was larger than she was. She was a pony, but she was a part of the herd, one among many, a part of a greater... whole...
Her mind exploded outwards in a flurry of light and sound. Suddenly she wasn’t a part of the herd, she was the herd. Hundreds of hooves, tails, legs, manes - the herd moved as one. Fierce, joyful, proud - it ate up the miles beneath it as it moved on it’s own course towards its own destination for its own reasons.
She could feel it now, Twilight could feel the whole of the earth beneath her hooves, like pinpricks of light bouncing from each touch and expanding in concentric circles. The interplay of staccato impacts lit the topology of her mind in a fiery blaze of majesty as she felt the herd become one with the cosmos. It wasn’t the herd that moved, but the earth itself. She felt the world turn beneath her, dragging a billion-year being through space with the most gentle of touches, easing it in a familiar passage from summer to autumn to winter, and finally to spring again. The world turned, and she turned with it.
With the wind in her mane and the stars in her eyes, she exulted in the freedom of just being a pony. Her mind calmed, expanded, as she gave up her sense of self to the herd without a second thought. They thundered onwards through the night, moving the land in an ancient dance that was as old as time itself and would continue until there were no more hooves to strike the ground, until there were no more herds and world grew silent.
***
When the herd stopped, it was at the lake again. The unicorn stampeded through her herd-mates to the water, where she dropped her head and drank. The water was muddy and tasted of sweat and pony, but it was the best drink she’d ever had. When she’d had her fill, she turned back to the bank and trotted through the massed bodies until she found a comfortable spot. There were ponies all around her. Her herd. She felt safe.
The feeling was going now, that strange feeling of belonging, as more and more of the herd left. Finally it was just her and a few stragglers. Her original, first herd-mate trotted up and sniffed her hind-quarters and flank, seemingly checking and apparently finding satisfaction. She squealed and about-turned, galloping off.
Twilight watched her go in silence, and then headed home herself. She would need a bath, some clothes - to brush her hair... to do the normal sorts of things that civilized ponies did. But maybe, just maybe, she would come out on further nights, under the moon, to run wild and free.
***
Twilight stared at the letter as the sun came up. She’d spent all night on it.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I learned tonight that friendship is something deep inside of us all. We need friends, good friends, in a way more intimate and primal than I could ever have suspected. The midnight run, as my friends called it, has shown me something that is the closest thing to “sacred” that I have ever found - it’s not friendship in the current meaning of the word, but something much stronger. A bond. I can’t let them down. That’s why you’ll never read this.
Your favourite pupil,
Twilight Sparkle.
She rolled the letter neatly up into a bundle and then held it with her magic over the candle, watching it in silence as the flames devoured it.
***
|
Habanc
|
976
| 1 |
DJ P0N-3,Octavia,Romance,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Adagio For Hope
|
For Vinyl Scratch, it only takes one step.
|
complete
| 78 | 4 |
<div class="bbcode-center" style="text-align:center"><p><span style="font-weight:bold;text-decoration:underline">Old-ass Story Warning</span><br/><b>Advance at your own risk</b></p></div><p>For Vinyl Scratch, it only takes one step.</p><p>-~-</p><p>The Cover Image was made by myself, although credit goes to <a href="http://yikomega.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d47d1yg" rel="nofollow">YiKOmega</a> for the original picture.</p><p>Really old stuff, yo.</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-09-24T02:04:41+00:00
|
2011-09-24T02:04:41+00:00
| 4,820 |
Vinyl Scratch smiled as she lifted a small photograph in front of her eyes; its maple frame had weathered over the years, but the picture inside was still intact. Waves of nostalgia flooded over the unicorn mare, who wasn’t used to such strong emotion.
On tour, real deep feelings weren't a part of her daily life. Usually, she started off her routine by waking up at midday, greeted by the rumbling of her tour chariot. Its padded interior was soft, but it didn't help dampen the bumps and skips the large passenger cart experienced.
Only stopping to have breakfast--a Manticore energy drink--she would instantly immerse herself in her ongoing projects on her galloptop, juggling anywhere from one to twelve different tracks-in-development. For as much of a mess she looked like at times, her mind was intricate; always working, always thinking.
Hours later, she would notice the absence of the jolting inside the tour cart. Downing another caffeine saturated beverage, she would enter the arena, stage, tent; wherever she happened to be playing that evening. She'd flip through a few pages of information as she entered her private room, forcing herself to remember where she was performing at.
An hour or two after that, it was show time. Walking out towards her array of turntables, mixers, studio speakers, and other types of musical equipment, she'd briefly scan the crowd of thousands of ponies who were watching her every move. The strobe lights were already moving, reflecting off her trademark amethyst glasses as she put on her headphones.
She'd shout out to the crowd, most of the time remembering where she was. A few regretful instances, she'd forget where she was playing at; or, worse yet, call it by a different name. If all went smoothly, however, she'd start the first song and watch in triumph as thousands of ponies danced and cheered.
As her signature stop-and-go beats roared through the massive, amperage-fed active speakers, Vinyl would crack open another Manticore energy drink. The harsh lemon-lime taste had grown on her, pumping artificial vigor through her veins. Head bobbing with the song as thousands of neon lights lit up the crowd, she began working on beat matching the next track. The night would carry on as she set up song after song, occasionally tweaking knobs and sliders on her mixer to help her music transition seamlessly from one song to the next.
Afterwards, when the show had ended, the mare known by millions as “DJ P0n-3” would most likely go back to the tour chariot. Sometimes, she might end up wasted at a nearby bar, barely making it back to the cart on her hooves. Falling asleep in the early morning, after either working on her new music or an intoxicated episode, she'd repeat the process all over again.
-~-
Finally finding enough free time to return home, looking at this photograph unleashed a surge of memories through her head. It almost hurt, trying to sort through the flurry of them all. It was all because this picture showed the genesis of her passion for music.
Sitting next to a pine tree, it was Vinyl as a filly on the morning of Christmare day. Her face was beaming with delight, her ruby red eyes almost shining. She hugged a single present, wrapping around it barely with two small forelegs. In her arms was a record; the first one she'd ever gotten.
She had been pestering her parents about it for months, insisting on getting the item she was named after. It didn't matter what songs it contained, as long as she could get her hooves on one.
Along with the record, her parents bought her a turntable that played into a speaker. The days of the old phonographs were long past even her parents, so they paid the extra bits to buy their daughter a way to play her gift.
For days on end, Vinyl would play the record, admiring the sounds flowing from the speaker. It was Vivalneigh's Four Seasons, a classical work that had a part for each of the four periods in the year. Hardly a match for the music she'd later be famous for, but at the time, she fell in love with it. She loved how the violins played so elegantly, the notes almost drifting on the air.
For the next few months, she spent every bit she had towards buying more music. She became a familiar face at her neighborhood musical shop, the store's owner, Mr. Clef, knowing her by name.
Mostly what she bought was classical, but pieces of jazz and blues found their way into her auditory library. She would listen as she did homework after school, before going to bed, or anytime she had nothing else to do. It had become an integral part of her life.
However, as much as Vinyl loved to listen and admire the music, seldom did the thought of seriously playing an instrument cross her mind. To her, it felt limiting; listening to how a song came together was always more interesting than how well a single instrument played.
-~-
Vinyl set the photo down, her horn glowing as she rummaged through a small cabinet, where she found the picture to begin with. Old drawings, birthday cards and small toys were tossed out, her horn glowing fiercer as she desperately hoped she could find what she was looking for.
“Aha!”
A wrinkled and slightly-smudged stack of papers floated out, held together by a single staple. Messy, large hoofwriting was scribbled down the paper, sometimes nearly incomprehensible. The paper crinkled slightly as it rose up to her face.
Her eyes read a single line in large letters, written across the top:
“What I Want my Life to be Like.”
It was Vinyl's final assignment she had to do in order to graduate school. It was nearing the end of their last year, and the same paper had been assigned to graduating colts and fillies for as long as anypony could remember. It wasn't even graded, but it served as a way to get their students to think about what to do once they were out of school.
Surprisingly, for her upbeat and enthusiastic nature, Vinyl was the last pony to receive her cutie mark. She always assumed it had something to do with music, but that was as vague as knowing you were going to be special with food, or nature.
Sure, the anxiety and sadness about not finding her special talent would dishearten her as a filly, but she would always go back to listening to her happier songs. It was as if the music was like pulling a plug on the drain of a bathtub, which was filled with darker emotion.
“That’s a big question.” Her paper read, “Asking what I want my life to be like is awfully hard when I haven’t even got my cutie mark yet. Its like baking a pie without the recipe.” Vinyl smirked, remembering how she never quite cared for spelling. “I have always known that I would like to do something in music, but I haven’t figured exactly what it is yet.” The writing was almost down the whole page now, her hoofwriting infamous for it's sloppy and large format.
“I just wish I could know soon because...” Vinyl flipped the page, “...my parents are sending me to a big school next year to learn more about music like they did. It would be weird going to a school about music and not knowing what sort of music I should be learning. My parents learned how to make and compose songs, but I don’t know if that’s what I want to do.”
Vinyl flipped to the last page, grinning as she begun to realize how she had yet to answer the initial question. “All I do know is that when I find something I am supposed to do I want other ponies to enjoy it to.”
The white mare sniffed, blinking back tears. She realized that she probably had done what she set out to become. Although some considered her compositions, her work to be uncultured and rebellious, the sight of thousands of ponies enjoying her performances trumped it all in an instant.
Oddly enough, her cutie mark had appeared later in the night after she wrote her final paper. Although she was quite impulsive, she was no stranger to reflecting and getting lost in her own thoughts. Some nights she would spend hours staring at the ceiling from her bed, losing track of time as she explored the unfathomable depths of what her mind could conjure.
That night was one such night, arguing with herself over what her special talent could be. She mentally read over her writing, a single line standing out among the rest, “My parents learned how to make and compos songs, but I don’t know if that what I want to do.”
'Perhaps that is what I want to do.' She had thought. 'I've never really wanted to learn an instrument before... But I've always wanted to make music.'
She yawned, rubbing her eyes as the night had worn on. 'Yeah...' She had told herself after pondering the idea. 'Maybe I do want to be a composer.'
The last thought barely escaped her mind before it was shut off in the confines of sleep. Her eyes closed, breaths peacefully going in and out her nose as her chest rose with her breathing.
For barely a second, one could see a quick flash emanating from her bedroom. She wouldn't notice her cutie mark had appeared until the next morning. Although she was young, it took no Einequine to figure out that she had found her special calling in Equestria.
-~-
Back in the present, an older Vinyl Scratch was opening drawers and cabinets in a mad fury. The nearby oak-crafted desk was getting on its years, and was creaking with strain. Its drawers squeaked with age as the famous pony nearly ripped them out of place.
“No! *Wham* No! *Wham* No! *Wham*” Vinyl vented as her stress level spiked. There was NO WAY she could have lost it! One of the few physical objects she truly cared for, more than her new album, more than her signature glasses, more than all the bits in the world, and she couldn't find it.
Sighing with defeat, Vinyl's hind legs buckled in and she landed none too softly on the floor. Sitting back, she let her eyes wander across the walls and ceiling. She felt bluer than ever before, her mind slouching along at a snail's pace.
She scanned the wall above the desk, zoning out lazily with despair as she let herself act solely on her wave of melancholy, which was threatening to crush her spirits.
Then something caught her eye, her body snapping back to attention as her head took a double-take. It took her a few seconds to realize what she was seeing, but when she did, the sound of a facehoof could be heard.
Chuckling to herself, Vinyl walked up the desk and grabbed the item off the wall above it with her telekinesis. “Wow, Vinyl, that was a realllllyyyy bad.” She scolded herself nonchalantly.
Before her was a vinyl record, a generic version that one could find at any music store across Equestria. But, on the inside, this disc was more special to her than anything she had ever made. For it was her very first set of songs.
-~-
Old, mahogany doors creaked open as Vinyl peered inside the room. It was elegant and large, the floor cut from white marble, desks made to accommodate up to a hundred ponies at once. The desks were lined up and down a terraced platform, all directed towards one spot, a single podium with a chalkboard behind it.
This was the Conservatoire de Canterlot, the Royal City's very own school for higher learning of the arts. Her parents had saved money for years to be able to send her here, among using their contacts as alumni themselves to get her through the arduous acceptance queues.
One of the oldest and most prestigious higher learning centers in Equestria, Vinyl felt out of place as she saw the other students inside. They all carried themselves with an air of superiority, and talked in esteemed voices as if they had won Manebel Peace Prizes or made millions of bits each year. Her stomach sunk at the thought of studying for three years with people like them.
Vinyl opened the door and slowly crept into the room. She felt the burns of various eyes touch upon her skin, the talking dying for a second before slowly gaining back to its current level. Sighing, she carried her small study bag behind her, wrapped tightly in her magic as her nerves ran high.
She winced as she climbed the stairs, her hooves clopping noisily and echoing throughout the large room, attracting more attention to herself. Could the day get any worse?
The reason she came to this lecture hall was to study Advanced Music Theory, not to be ridiculed by the top echelons of Equestrian society.
Her head drooped as she took a step up another stair, unprepared for what was about to happen. A giant hoof slammed the step in front of her, booming across the room. Vinyl squeaked in shock, her magic field around her bag weakening.
Looking up, she saw a big orange stallion, about the same age as her. His horn glowed brightly as he ripped the bag from her grasp, chucking it down the stairs. It clattered and clanked as it fell, pens and books falling out.
“The sight of you common ponies in this place of grandeur disgusts me!” He said in a heavy accent, probably coming from the distant city of Maris. “Leave your ugly belongings outside, mule!”
Vinyl's face was a mixture of shock and hurt. She knew the ponies here were arrogant, but she wasn't expected to be hit with such a rude confrontation. It felt as if her body had tightened up; she was hardly able to breathe under the sting of his harsh words. It was all too much for her to bear. Her legs buckled slightly, her lower lip trembling as she tried to fight off tears.
“Go on, cry, you foal!” The stallion laughed. Some others chuckled, but those with even a shred of sympathy kept quiet.
Unable to hold in her emotions any longer, she began to cry. Not knowing what to do, she ran up the stairs instead of down, slamming her eyes shut as she sniffed and sobbed. Her hooves clapped loudly, but she didn’t care; she just had to get away.
In her mind was a flurry of questions; what had she done to deserve to be treated like that? How could some ponies be so mean? Where was the teacher? Why didn't anypony do anything to help? She had come into contact with bullies before, but this was different. No one had picked on her before.
As much as she wanted to keep galloping until she reached the top of the stairs, her body eventually ran out of gas and she was forced to walk, each hoof plopping along the smooth marble. Her head drooped even further than before, as she turned to a vacant seat.
“Psssttt! Hey!” A voice called out behind her. Vinyl lifted her head wearily, curious but afraid she'd have to endure more heckling and verbal attacks. “Yeah, you! Come over here!” The voice was quiet, almost as if somepony was trying to not be heard by anypony else.
Vinyl turned around, still sniffling and taking labored breaths. A cream-colored pony was sitting down at a desk, before moving aside to the next desk, so as to give Vinyl a spot to sit down. Her orange hair flowed down her side, her deep blue eyes complementing her mane. A microphone adorned her flanks, the cutie mark the same color as her tail.
Vinyl Scratch shrugged, quickly deeming this pony better than the rest. Still, she cautiously made her way over, sitting at the desk. The desks were actually a single pole holding up a slate of wood, silk pillows serving as seats.
“Don't worry,” The flame-haired pony whispered, leaning over to her, “Lyon does that to everyone who isn't like him... The brute is also a complete failure at music.” She reached beside her into her bag, which undoubtedly looked hastily reorganized, pens and paper quickly stuffed in. She fished out a tissue, giving it to the tear-ridden pony.
Vinyl smiled, sniffles still wracking her attempt. She took the tissue and wiped away her tears, although their trails still glistened on her face.
“I'm Trobairitz, but every just calls me Ritz...” She smiled at Vinyl, “You can sit next to me, if you'd like.”
“Thanks,” Vinyl's voiced cracked slightly, the last of her tears drying on her cheeks. This new pony was fairly nice, so maybe there was hope for her in this school... Maybe not all ponies were so stuck-up and arrogant. “My name's Vinyl.”
She stuck out her hoof politely, shaking hooves with her new acquaintance. “Say, you must be a Freshmare, right? What kind of music do you like to write? I assume you're taking this class to learn to compose, since you're taking it in your first year.” Ritz asked inquisitively.
“Well...” Vinyl scratched her mane. She had never really put much thought into what she actually wanted to compose. She had always like her parent's own works of classical music, and both jazz and blues never escaped her as a filly. “To be honest, I don't quite know, exactly. Nothing has really stood out to me.”
“Have you ever heard of techno before? It's a new type of music coming out of Detrot.” Ritz's expression brightened a little at the remark. Her blue eyes glimmered with rising excitement.
“Umm... No, I haven't” Vinyl's ears drooped slightly with her confession, hoping she wouldn't destroy Ritz's rising mood.
“No?” A grin rose on the orange-maned pony's face, before breaking out in a gush of emotion, “Well then I'll just have to show you!” A glowing smile spread like wildfire across her expression. “Meet me at my dorm after dinner. I'm sure you'll love it!”
She passed Vinyl a slip of paper, a number scribbled hastily across it. Vinyl looked up from it, trying her best to match her new friend's smile. “Great!” The fact that at least one pony here wanted to be nice, not trying to look down upon her, felt like a weight was lifted off her back.
An elderly stallion entered the room, his brown mane graying. The sound of his hooves on the marble floors echoed throughout the lecture hall, the attention of almost all ponies turning to him. All except Vinyl, who was almost too busy daydreaming until a soft nudge from Ritz brought her back to attention.
“Yeah, too bad we have to sit through lectures first.” Ritz said, as if reading her mind. But she couldn't help but smile, the anticipation threatening to pop her like a balloon.
Later that day, Vinyl could be found moving her head back and forth to the beat of new, awe-inspiring, borderline-ecstasy music that surrounded her ears. It provided everything she had looked for in music: commanding bass lines, melodies that worked in harmony, with transitions and breakdowns that flowed seamlessly from one part to the next, and of course, a sense of eclectic eccentricity to it that could basically be compounded to her personality and soul...
Up-beat, quick, loud, energetic and blood-pumping, Vinyl wanted more of it. Not just to listen, but to make, produce, for others to enjoy. It hit her at once, not like a boulder, but more like a cloud of mist. It conformed to her, surrounded her, and provided a layer of security... A realization of what's one’s destiny was, what fate determined them to be.
If one looked deeper into the parallels of both Vinyl and her new-found music, analyzed the sheer amount of work and effort, saw through the relentless guise of energy... One would find what truly remained. It was something that was artistic, intelligent, and thoughtful; something bound in determination and passion...
Something that was beautiful, something that cared, something that loved.
-~-
Vinyl sighed. Her hooves were trembling as she sat down at a lonely desk, parchment and quill in front of her. Nearby, those same three items she had collected were set as sources of inspiration and determination.
The picture told her to always follow what felt right, even if you didn't know exactly why. The essay told her to always believe that your dreams will come true, even if you don't know exactly what they are. The record told her that if you really wanted that dream, you had to take the first step.
Her telekinesis sputtered as she tried to pick up the quill. Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply, her mind being cleared of all thoughts as she let the air out again. Her mind flashed through a display of memories, as had happened many times before.
A concert, one that would appall many of her fans if she was seen there. Soft notes floated on the thick air of a thousand ponies' breaths. The crowd was dressed properly, dresses and tuxedos being the only attire. Even Vinyl was wearing a sea-colored saddle, much to her displeasure; but it was worth it.
A meeting, a congregation of some of the leading artists and performers in their own genres, coming together for a fund-raiser performance. The topic was how to raise money to help the victims of Chernappyl, but Vinyl's concentration was somewhere else. Something else caught her eye, and for all she cared, the convention's organizer could be talking about ponies in space.
At a recording studio, Vinyl was producing her newest album, and several musicians were asked by her agent to be featured in it. She was right there, separated by only a few inches of sound-proof glass. A quick smile escaped her lips as she looked up at Vinyl, before looking back down as the music escaped the chord of her instrument.
A large headline, spelling out disaster for Vinyl's career. Her album had been a resounding failure, people angry over how she slowed down her music, her fans annoyed because her usual dips, twists and dives were not present. But Vinyl couldn't care, she thought it was beautiful. Her music was a part of it.
-~-
Vinyl looked down at the parchment, noticing that it was still blank. She frowned, almost expecting something to be written. She looked over at the vinyl record nearby, the frown disappearing. A small step was all she needed, and now she had the ability to take it.
Dear Octavia,
I'm wondering if you, perhaps, have any open time to come back to the studio for a day or two. Like you may or may not have heard, many ponies didn't like the last album I produced, which included your previous recording. I, however, really enjoyed working with you and the music you created.
Therefore, I am asking you personally and sincerely if you would join me again. I want to show everypony that all types of music can be graceful, and in all seriousness, you do create some of the best music I've heard. It would be a privilege to use some of your work in a song or two.
It would mean more to me than you think.
Vinyl
|
SparkRattle
|
978
| 1 |
Original Character,Trixie,Alternate Universe,Adventure,Comedy,Romance,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
My Little Pony: Friendship is Adventure
|
It's been once said that Equestria was the center of the world... But what lies beyond...?
|
incomplete
| -1 | -1 |
<p>Equestria is a peaceful land ruled by two sisters who justly care for their loyal subjects with love and harmony. But what lies beyond the reaches of Equestria? Past the seas? And that mysterious wall of light? Why are there only two alicorns known to have been left? </p><p>These questions will soon be answered as a brave and courageous mare goes on an adventure beyond what many ponies thought was the edge of the world!</p><br/><p>Collab fan-fic wth hlissner.</p><br/><p>My Little Pony Friendship is Magic © </p><p>Property of Hasbro. Produced by Lauren Faust.</p><p>Trixie vector by blindcavesalamander.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-22T15:35:57+00:00
|
2011-09-22T15:35:57+00:00
| 1,145 |
My Little Pony: Friendship is Adventure
Prologue: Storm
“Are you certain of this, Sol?” A horn glowed through the dark, lifting the moon into its place, “Is sheltering the citizens better than permitting their desires?”
An alicorn mare gazed hopefully at her life partner, patches of her blue coat shone beneath a glow converging over her. Her sky blue mane was draped over one side, riding the gentle wind, now bathed in a moon, starting to rise, filling the room in soft light and illuminating them both.
Before her stood a proud stallion, a mane like flame coursing over his snow white coat, surveying all his kingdom. The hall drew out around him, soaking in the wistful night lights and glow of distant lanterns. The Hall of the Sun offered the same view, but he’d always preferred it from here. To him, this place had no rival when graced by night’s gentle watch.
However, his look wasn’t so peaceful, “After what nightmares they’ve brought us, it is best they live only for their future.” He turned to reassure her, “But this won’t mean a slothful life. All shall have their appointed tasks; the pegasi will tend to our skies, the earth ponies to their farms, and unicorns shall aid in all efforts.”
“...And what of us? We are the last of our kind, do we have a place?”
“Nocta...” He brought a loving hoof to her mane, “We do as we must. We help our people forget the war, and to guide them with the light of my sun and your moon. Is there more noble a purpose?”
Her reassured gaze followed his to the kingdom below, content that her job for this night was finished. She lacked his confidence and composure, but he was enough of that for the both of them. She knew that so long as she was with Sol, things would turn out fine, and she accepted this with a gentle smile that he wouldn’t see, only feel.
“Sol...”
“Yes, Nocta?”
“Our children, what would they think of us? Of all this?”
“What any innocent child will: that what we’ve done is foalish, hard and cowardly.” He smiled, “But they will grow up, and when they do, they’ll be better than we were. And I don’t doubt that theirs will be even greater.”
Nocta sighed into the night sky, hiding a reassured smile, and watched the approach of storm clouds in the distance.
---===~~~~~===---
Wind hissed through cracking branches and leaves danced across the Everfree floor. The storm overhead drowned the world in its whimsical flashes, pouring rain from its wild clouds. In the middle of its chaos, was a lone blue equine, equipped with only a horn and a broken heart, trudging through the thick downpour, through and through.
As the curtain of rain folded around her, draping a soaked mane through slicked grass, she stumbled into a muddy puddle and found no strength to rise back to her hooves. She gazed up through the downpour in resignation, a gloomy world loomed over her, and with it the ghosts that haunted her.
They were memories. Memories of the great and powerful showmare she’d been. Memories of stardom, fame and recognition -- or were those dreams? It didn’t matter. She’d lost herself to the fantasy of success and fortune, mistaking the chatter of rain for the cheering of fans. To her, the stars all shined for her, up there in that endless sky. But it all came crashing down with the image of that lavendar mare, trudging over it all. The cold sorely reminded her she was alone, hungry and exhausted. Survival, at this point, was nothing more than an afterthought in the darkness that swept at her, and finally, it came. A last tear fled her eyes, and once it found the puddle beneath her, she graced the world with her parting breath, and off to sleep she went.
The great and powerful Trixie was gone.
But was she truly alone? From behind the overgrowth that danced in the wind, a creature watched. It leapt at her, bearing a glowing horn and its wings spread to shelter her from the wet and cold. Her body lifted in his embrace, as he set off with her under wing, and off into the depths of the Everfree they disappeared.
Suddenly, she fought for a breath, to the creature’s delight and he quickened his pace. A smile graced his face as he muttered silent assurances like a parent to their child. His deep voice accompanied by a slight smile.
“You’ll be fine, young one.”
You’ll be fine.
|
SparkRattle
|
978
| 2 |
Original Character,Trixie,Alternate Universe,Adventure,Comedy,Romance,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
My Little Pony: Friendship is Adventure
|
It's been once said that Equestria was the center of the world... But what lies beyond...?
|
incomplete
| -1 | -1 |
<p>Equestria is a peaceful land ruled by two sisters who justly care for their loyal subjects with love and harmony. But what lies beyond the reaches of Equestria? Past the seas? And that mysterious wall of light? Why are there only two alicorns known to have been left? </p><p>These questions will soon be answered as a brave and courageous mare goes on an adventure beyond what many ponies thought was the edge of the world!</p><br/><p>Collab fan-fic wth hlissner.</p><br/><p>My Little Pony Friendship is Magic © </p><p>Property of Hasbro. Produced by Lauren Faust.</p><p>Trixie vector by blindcavesalamander.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-26T08:49:25+00:00
|
2011-09-26T08:49:25+00:00
| 1,165 |
Friendship is Adventure
A fan-fic by houka-hearts-kinzoku and hlissner.
- I -
Rain
He got used to the rain.
Getting wet was never his idea of a good time, but on that day -- the day he met that peculiar unicorn sulking beneath the storm, he learnt the rain wasn’t always so bad. It always meant that she’d be looking for shelter, always meant she’d stumble across his little hut, and always meant he’d be waiting there to welcome her in.
And she might’ve appeared demanding, always condescending, demanding to be dried and fed before the sun came out. Then, when it did, she’d announce that her great and powerful self needed to continue her search for fame and she’d be gone before he could even have a say.
But after nightfall, she’d always come back, just as tired, lonely and--sometimes---soaked as she’d been the day they met. None of that mattered to him, however. He was happy so long as she returned to offer him the company that was scarcely found in the Everfree.
Like any other day, today’s rain brushed against the trees outside, while the fireplace crackled warmly within. There, the lonely blue unicorn sat gazing into the flames, while the stallion stood by the window. He adjusted his square glasses again, stealing a shy glance at her, contours outlined by the fire’s gentle glow. More than that, he wanted to do something about that solemn look on her face, and cleared his throat to address her.
“So.” He said, forcing an awkward smile, “Where do you come from?”
He cleared his expression, knowing it probably wasn’t anything like he’d practiced, discouraged by the unicorn’s silence.
“I-I live in the east.” He added.
Suddenly, hope! She stirred, just slightly, her eyes rose to meet his, “East.” she echoed blankly, trying to place his lack of accent.
“Y-yes.”
“How far east?”
“Far east.”
“Stalliongrad? Detrot?” She looked irritated, “You don’t sound like a Tramplevanian.”
He enjoyed stringing her along, “Further.”
“F-Foal Chi Min?” She blinked as she thought, What is this? A geography test?
“More.” He wondered if he was overdoing it.
“Neighpon?”
He gestured to keep going.
“Agh! Do you live in the sea?” She wondered what his cape was hiding and shot him her own nervous glance, “You’re... not a seapony, are you?”
“Good heavens, no!” He sighed, “I suppose not many know what’s beyond that sea.” He wondered if he could show it to her, “Would you like to see?”
The prospect of travel brought stars to her eyes, “You’ll take me there?”
He blinked, “I mean, I have a map.”
She was a little disappointed, but not discouraged, dashing to his side with a hearty nod. “Show me!”
The stallion beamed at the opportunity to impress her, and floated a parchment from his junk-heap at his saddle’s side.
Was that a saddlebag? Trixie thought, ignoring the fact he used magic and grabbing the map out of the air with her own magic to roll it out before her.
She was baffled by the map’s detail; it offering her an overhead view of Equestria, the lands to its east and then, a white border cutting through the sea. She squinted at the small writing to read out names.
“Fi-... Fillyppines... Mareysia.... Coltstralia... I’ve never heard--” She muttered, realizing her words, “--I mean, I’m surprised there are places I’ve yet to grace with my presence!”
But her excitement trailed off as she studied further, observing islands and archipelagos, continents and countries, places she’d never known until now.
Suddenly, a spur of inspiration and a second chance at stardom. Thought buzzed through her head -- an adventure to where no pony would interfere. To a place without lavender unicorns or ursa minors, a place where she might be able to start anew. But...
“You’re not showing this to great-and-powerful-Trixie...” She eyed him suspiciously, “...just to make a name for yourself, are you?”
The stallion stared blankly at her, trying his hardest not to chuckle. Trixie couldn’t tell, taking it for puzzlement, wonder, or maybe he was just gawking at her beauty. She couldn’t have been closer to the truth if it hit her in the face, and little did either of them know what they shared: conviction.
“I don’t find amusement in impressing anyponies.” He smiled proudly, “Adventure is my calling, and I find no greater enjoyment than that.”
Disappointed, Trixie looked away, at least that leaves all the fame for me.
After all, she was the story teller, the inspiring, oh-too-wonderful, great and powerful Trixie. Of course I was, she thought, I’ll go on adventures and return with proof! That’s it. I don’t need to make stories up, it’s so easy. Why didn’t I think of it sooner?
But the map was the ticket. Would he notice if she took it?
She considered it, glancing at the map then at him to ensure he was preoccupied. Sure enough, he was tampering with his rustbags, but before she made her move, doubt shot through her mind. Would it be that easy to just up and go? No, I need a guide.
“Stallion, I have decided!” She announced, “The Great and Powerful Trixie wishes to travel there, past the Imperial seas, to... to...” She paused stifling a blush, as he approached with his rustbags.
“To the east.”
“Uh, yes. A-and you will be my guide! We should get going immediately.”
He stifled a laugh, “One does not simply walk to my homeland.”
The stallion floated a roll of parchment from his bag, thickly binding several pages. On it were diagrams of what Trixie thought looked like an elongated egg with two holes behind it. On a second page was another diagram of the same, but this time with triangular planks attached to its sides. Over each diagram the title, “Gulliver” was written out in tasteful cursive.
“Y-you don’t seriously expect me to ride such a ridiculous contraption, do you?” She asked, boring down her unconvinced gaze at diagrams that could very well have been gibberish to her.
“It is a necessity, I’m afraid. There’s no other way to cross the ley line.”
“Hey rind?”
“Ley line.”
“That is what I said! ...H-hey line?” She pouted, “What’s a l-ley line?”
He scratched his mane and explained, “A magical barrier of sorts. Impossible to cross by conventional means. Too high to bound, too deep to sneak underneath, too powerful for even the mightiest of unicorns to penetrate.”
“Surely, it would be a piece of cake for me!” She didn’t notice him hide his smile, shooting him her unconvinced look, “Although, assuming it is that... difficult to cross, how did you cross it?”
After all, he isn’t great and powerful, she thought, ...right? He smirked, one hoof on his diagram.
“With this.”
---===~~~~~===---
“SPIIIIIIKE!!” yelled the lavender unicorn, “I’m already behind by a month!”
She rushed her search for a particular book, which should’ve been easy in a library. Should’ve.
“Where’d you last see it?” Spike replied dryly.
“I... I don’t remember!” She whined, “Confound those ponies, how do you lose a book in a library!?” The purple unicorn changed course, maybe another book, any book -- a back issue or old revision would do, but nope. Not even that.
“Uhm... Twili-“
“What!?” She snapped.
“I-I found the book...”
She beamed, her eyes darting across the room. “W-where!?”
“It’s uhm...” Spike tried to repress a laugh, pointing at a sticky pink goo plastered across her back, and on it, the elusive book.
She screamed, “H-how!? Bubblegum!? AUGH! EW!“
“HI Twilight!” A filly’s voice went unheard.
“It will take me FOREVER to conjure the right kind or magic to peel this off properly!!” Twilight whined, “Spike, can you go get my-“ As her eyes settled on the little white filly looking up at her, she stifled a blush, brought out a nervous smile and cleared her throat, “Y-yes Sweetie Belle?”
“Are you ok, Twi?” her voice filled with concern.
“Ha. Ha, yes. O-of course! I’m fine!” Twilight replied with an awkward smile. “What can I do for you?”
“Twilight... I’ve been wondering...” She’d already forgotten Twilight’s predicament. “How was Equestria made?”
“What do you mean...?” replied the almost puzzled purple unicorn.
“Like, how was Equestria made? How was it founded? Who actually called it Equestria?”
Twilight Sparkle found herself silenced for a while. Of all the fillies that might have asked her, this question was obviously out of Sweetie Belle’s character. Well, she was usually curious, yes. But what would drive her to ask something like this. This didn’t exactly sound so random nor did it fit in any of the Cutie Mark Crusader’s ideals of finding their cutie marks. Twilight was now more concerned with why rather than the question itself.
“Why do you ask?”
“It just popped into my head and it’s been bugging me all day.”
Twilight shrugged it off, turning to search for another book to aid the explanation of Equestria’s history. The book, bathed in purple light, floated from a shelf and towards them. The dragon knew what a book session meant, so he escaped upstairs and slipped into his bed to sneak a quick nap.
Twilight turned to the first page and read, “Three thousand years ago...”
---===~~~~~===---
“So you’re saying...” said Trixie as she adjusted her weighty saddlebags, “...That the Princess didn’t create Equestria? And that it’s not flat?”
The stallion looked back with a brief nod, walking comfortably despite his larger, rusty saddlebags.
“The world has many mysteries.” He said confidently, carefully removing a rock from Trixie’s path, “Some mysteries are fabrications by the royal family. Though I sincerely doubt Celestia or her sister are aware of it -- many have become secrets to generations past.”
Meanwhile, Trixie was considering how willing he was to help her.
They maneuvered through the Everfree’s narrow paths and thick foliage, three days behind them. They eventually emerged into open fields when Trixie realized she’d gone further than she ever had. She tried to imagine what she might find in Glascow, let alone the lost continent of...
“What was it called again?” The colt shot her a curious look, he’d already explained it to her, over and over. “T-the Great and Powerful Trixie demands to know!”
The stallion chuckled. Seeing her that way reminded him of a certain pagasus from home.
“The Republic Continent of Asura.”
“Thank you,” she replied, staying behind him. She imagined how hot it must’ve been in that cloak of his. Why did he always wear it? But with other thoughts contending for her attention, she shrugged it off. “But why to Glascow. Aren’t we supposed to be going east?”
The stallion turned with a sigh, “Were you not listening to a word I had said before we left?”
She cocked her head, “T-the Great and Powerful Trixie was busy packing.”
The stallion sank his head, preparing to explain again.
“We need parts to repair the Gulliver. I have an... acquaintance in Glascow who may be abe to help us. Assuming all goes well, we ought to be off to Ovisica soon after.”
Trixie paused, the words had gone over her a second time, but she kept her usual tone. “Then the Great and Powerful Trixie shall not accept anymore delays! Off to Glascow we go, and then to Ovisica!” She suddenly rushed forward disregarding the weight on her back.
The stallion pursued, keeping his cloak tucked close to his body. He was hiding himself from the sunlight, or so he’d like Trixie to think. His horn began to glow a light blue as the weight lifted off his back. Meanwhile, Trixie continued her rush until--
She screamed. A misplaced hoof broke her concentration and her load toppled from side to side. Before she knew it, she’d lost her balance and she fell to the ground--no, a cliffside. And now she was sliding down it endlessly toward a much steeper lip.
The stallion lept, “Trixie!” as he released his heavy saddlebags and jumped over and after her. As she fell she shouted, desperately clawing at dirt and reaching out with her magic without success. Her panic and weight pulled her further, foiling any desperate attempt to stop as she finally slipped of a steeper lip further below. The stallion followed, grabbing hold of her mid-air as they plummeted.
“W-what are you doing!?” She cried, “You’ll get both of us killed!“
In a dashing display, his cloak flew open, revealing a pair of wings, granting them lift and carried them to safety. The saddlebags followed, enveloped in his magic, as he observed the unconscious unicorn in his hooves. She’d only fainted from the shock, to his relief -- at least she was alright. But now he had something new to carry.
---===~~~~~===---
“Fine mare ya carryin’ ‘round there, bud.” jested one of the bulls. The hotel still had that vibe, just like how he had last seen it so long ago. “Lemme guess. Two for a nigh’, gone in the morning, mare goes down them stairs, and ya’d never be back.”
The bull sported large horns with silver engravings. Beneath them were huge brown eyes that complemented his fur although with a deeper hue. His low voice came with a thick accent, uniquely complimented by his height, but what the stallion couldn’t forget was the history between them. The two were friends from a more tragic times.
“If you’re still bitter ‘bout me and Agape, I’ve apologized all I can, Chic.” He sighed. By now, he could tell when Chic was sarcastic. “I didn’t mean to leave her like that. Something just... Came up.”
“Whatever i’ was, ya broke her heart there. And I ain’t lettin that just slide me by. So you ‘n me’s got some unfinished bus’ness ta settle.”
“Later, please?” He pleaded, “Let me get her a bed first.”
“Right. She got nuthin’ ta do with us. Get ‘er to two sev’nteen.” The bull tossed a key to the stallion, who proceeded to collect the saddlebags in his mouth. His back was already taken by a certain unconscious unicorn.
“Meet me at the ol’ place.” The bull added as the stallion disappeared up the stairs.
The door clicked open, revealing a familiar room; reminding him of old times.
“Home again...” he muttered, taking great care to lay Trixie on the bed before tucking her in.
The amber hue of the sunlight suggested nightfall was approaching, and it made him feel uneasy. The nagging memory of a home far away slept in the light of dusk, and he yearned for it, but as a knock snapped him back to reality, it all sank into the back of his mind.
He turned to the door, peered through the looking glass and was greeted by ghost of his past. Not so sure to believe his eyes, he studied her. A deep blue unicorn, a golden headband fixed her blue bangs in place, as a bun rose up behind her mane. Her horn was broken, half of it shattered, and likely for long enough to have had healed a fair bit. At least, it didn’t look so painful now, he thought. But despite all that there was sadness in those blue eyes, if the pouting lips weren’t a dead giveaway.
Opening the door, he muttered her name in shock, “Serena.” He took another breath, “Serenata Agape...”
There was no mistaking it, that bubbles on heart cutie mark was one of a kind and so was her voice..
“It’s been a long time...” A smile. “A very long time....”
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Friendship is Adventure: A fan-fic by houka-hearts-kinzoku and hlissner.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic© - Property of Hasbro - Produced by Lauren Faust
|
CouchCrusader
|
979
| 1 |
Main 6,Original Character,Princess Luna,Adventure,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
A Fire on the East
|
When fires invade the dreams of an unlikely pegasus, she ventures forth to figure out why.
|
cancelled
| 52 | 2 |
<p>As fires from the dragon lands threaten the Everfree Forest, the Elements of Harmony must find a way to stop them. In particular, one pegasus uncovers a talent she never thought possible, and must reconcile it with her life's calling.</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-09-22T22:07:44+00:00
|
2011-09-22T22:07:44+00:00
| 1,990 |
"Mama?" Beneath the glowing, ash-strewn sky, the butter-colored filly's voice did not carry far over the armored pegasi galloping past her, their hoofbeats pounding in her ears. "Mama? Where are you?"
"Fluttershy!" An ochre mare in golden armor spotted the filly beneath the confusion and raced over, tearing up bits of cloud as she went. No sooner did the mare reach her did she scoop her up and take off, pumping her wings for altitude.
"What are you doing out here?" the mare demanded. Though her peppermint mane fell into Fluttershy's face, the filly could see the fatigue hanging beneath those orange eyes. "Why aren't you with the other foals?"
"I—I couldn't keep up with them." Fluttershy's head drooped to her chest. "I w-wanted to, but I was scared, Mama. My wings won't carry me like everypony else's." She unfurled one of them as far as she could manage, and even for a foal her wings were tiny. Most of her primaries had yet to molt into pinions. Looking at them, how insignificant and weak they were, made her tear up. "I went to look for you," she whispered. "I'm sorry."
Summer Sky nuzzled her daughter's pink forelock. "Don't fret, my child. You're still growing, and Papa and I both know that one day you'll be a very strong flyer, just like the rest of us. For now, let's find Rivermay and get you safe with the rest of your friends, okay?"
Fluttershy's stomach did a funny loop. All of the other foals her age could fly, and even some of the younger ones hovered better than she did. Not all of them were kind to her about it. "Why can't I stay with you?"
"We've been over this, Fluttershy. Mama and Papa can't keep you safe while we work." Since Summer Sky kicked off from the outpost's central cloud, the homes and buildings were thinning out beneath them as they flew out west. "It's up to the ponies of Flamewithers to make sure the town holds to its name, no matter what comes over from the dragon lands."
Fluttershy looked east. Several miles out from the edge of Flamewithers, a wall of fire raced across swaths of rolling, barren land, the conflagration sustained by unknown forces. It lashed out in angry gouts of red, orange, and gold, casting ashes from its highest reaches. A formation of pegasi in gray armor flew between the outpost and the fire, their bodies like midges against the blazing landscape.
As she watched the fire spiral ever closer to her home, a chill began to pool behind Fluttershy's heart. She pressed her muzzle against her mother's collarpiece. "Will you be okay?"
"As long as you are ours to treasure, my love—I promise you that Papa and I will be just fine. We'll fly straight to Cloudsdale to pick you up as soon as we finish."
A tailwind lifted mother and daughter several stories into the sky. Up ahead, a team of five pegasi pulled a raft of foals behind them toward the main pegasus city. Fluttershy threw her hooves around her mother's neck.
Summer Sky chuckled. "Be brave for Mama, all right?"
"I—I'll try."
"How about, 'I will?'"
Fluttershy only tightened her hug.
Summer Sky pulled in next to a navy-colored mare, exchanged a few words, came to an agreement, and lowered her daughter to the raft. "Be brave, Fluttershy," she repeated. "I'll see you soon." She backwinged into the air with long strokes.
"Be safe," Fluttershy implored. By then, however, her mother had flown too far away to hear her. The filly followed Summer Sky with her eyes as the mare winged her way back to Flamewithers.
Fluttershy had never been this far out from her hometown before, so this was the first time she had a complete picture of it. The main settlement formed three descending cloud terraces facing out toward the blasted expanses of Drakkvarna, the dragon lands. Weather factories lined the rim of the upper terrace, each of them on their own little cloud. Yard after yard of inky thunderhead cloud churned forth from their slender stacks. At the far end of the high terrace, a tapered lighthouse flashed sequences of green and blue from its apex. Pennants emblazoned with Princess Celestia's solar insignia flew defiantly from the spires of watchtowers.
Home to no less than five hundred ponies, Flamewithers was still little more than a period against the burning page behind it. All Fluttershy could do was watch as the storm twisted closer and closer to her home—the formations had long since disappeared to her naked eye.
"Double time, ponies!" Rivermay barked from the front of the raft. "That fire's less than a mile out from the town."
Between the sudden acceleration of the other pegasi and the inherent curiosity of foals, Fluttershy disappeared underneath a pile of ponies as they kicked and squeaked for a spot on the back edge.
"Move, cirrushead. I wanna see the fire."
"Can anypony see my dad from here?"
"Hey! Whirlyloo kicked me."
"That's only because you have such a big head."
"Somepony... help..." Somepony's flank pinned her wing at a painful angle, and she couldn't break free no matter how much she tried to twist or roll away. There were too many foals on top of her, and a small, dancing triangle of light taunted her just beyond her muzzle. She pushed her way toward it as her vision blurred with tears—she couldn't hang on—
And then the mass of foals above her grew silent.
Fluttershy finally worked her head out into the open air and sputtered for breath, weeping. Then she too became silent. There was only the sound of pegasus wings beating the air.
In the distance, the front edge of the firestorm swept over Flamewithers. Houses evaporated into puffs of steam. Watchtowers buckled and fell, one by one, throwing up banks of mist as they toppled. The thunderheads clashed with the flaming wall but for a brief moment before, outsized and outmatched, they too dissolved into vapor. The lighthouse went dark.
All of this, in complete silence.
"Mom? Dad?" A colt near the top of the pile stared at the burning town with huge, disbelieving eyes. Others piped up under his lead just as the lowermost terrace began to sink away from the rest.
"My house..."
"Miss Rivermay? Are my mommy and daddy okay?"
"They told me they'd protect us..."
The voices of the other foals grew remote in Fluttershy's ears. Her eyes scanned the horizon for any signs of her parents as the blaze advanced toward the edge of the Everfree Forest. They were nowhere in sight.
"You said you'd be just fine," she whispered. "You promised."
She expected to see them, still—she held out for dots in the distance, even as the last house curled and withered into the flames.
"You promised you'd pick me up from Cloudsdale when you were finished."
It was not fair. She had had that moment of clarity. She had seen the smile on her mother's face. She knew her parents were going to do their jobs and keep everypony safe.
"Mama? Papa? I'm still here." Drops of anger like molten iron began to seep into Fluttershy's voice. "As long as I was yours to treasure, right?"
The weight crushing down on her decreased as a few foals clambered of her—if she had been listening, she would have heard them muttering in low voices. The front edge of the firestorm reached Everfree's eastern border and hurdled the first line of trees.
"I'm still here." The air around her shimmered as more foals rolled off of her back. Her eyes turned hard as she stared into the firestorm. "That means you're still there, too. Please. Come out."
The first embers of the Everfree blaze danced into the sky. The muttering escalated into something louder. Somepony cried out with something about how hot it was getting.
"Come out!"
The air shimmered and pulsed more intensely around her. The last pony hopped off of her back screaming—and now all of the other foals were watching as her hooves lifted a couple of inches off of the raft. Flecks of light sparked across her coat. Behind the firestorm, the remaining fragments of Flamewithers, charred, twisted, and vaporized, fell one by one from the sky.
"Summer Sky! Sundown!" she yelled. "Come out of there this instant! You promised you would be fine! You promised me!"
Something popped like a firecracker the instant she finished speaking. Then she heard the other foals scream—they dashed to the end of the raft as far away from her as possible. The escort pegasi gawked at her and burst into obscenities. Then a navy mare rushed in front of her—Rivermay's golden eyes glared into Fluttershy's.
"Stay still." Those were the only words the mare spoke.
But Fluttershy was not a soldier. She was a filly, and only had the discipline of one. She looked down.
Golden flames raced up her torso and over her wings. Her hooves flared as she flailed them about. Her mane threw sparks left and right. The air was hot and bright and she was burning, burning, burning.
"Miss Rivermay, help me!" she pleaded.
Two strong hooves drove into her abdomen, and she plunged back toward the cloud raft. Everything went white.
Wood and glass crashed on tile the instant Fluttershy snapped awake. For a moment, she could not remember where she was—the padded surface she lay on was not her bed, nor were the violet, filigreed walls those of her cottage. Her heart pounded against her ribs—how did she get here?
"Fluttershy!"
The pegasus jerked her head around at the call and regretted it when her neck spasmed in protest. She suddenly had a hard time seeing. But she knew that voice. "Rarity?"
"Good heavens, darling," said the unicorn, shaking slices of cucumber from her eyes. "That gasp of yours gave us quite the shock. Are you okay?"
"I—" It occured to Fluttershy that her friend was also lying belly-down on a padded table close by, with the hooves of a pink-coated, blue-maned mare pressed into her opposite flank. Both of them were wide eyed, their irises diminished to the size of buttons.
"Oh, Rarity, Miss Aloe—" Fluttershy's ears flattened in shame. "I'm so sorry to have scared you all." She turned to her other side, where the spa pony's sister stood against a nearby pillar, her chest heaving from recent exertion. "Miss Lotus—I'm so sorry. I—"
Yes, that was it. That was why she was here. She was at the Ponyville spa for her weekly get-together with Rarity.
She noticed an upended pedestal on the floor, the jars and vials it once held lying in jagged pieces as their former contents mixed into iridescent puddles of oils and scents. She smacked herself on the head. "I'm such a loudmouth." She turned to Lotus. "I promise I'll pay for all of this."
"Don't even worry about it," said Rarity. "It's on me this time."
Fluttershy's ears perked up in surprise. "But it was all my fault. I wouldn't feel right making you cover for me."
"'Fluttershy, you cut that out at once. You are here to relax and I will not have it any other way."
"But—"
"Ah! Zip it." This the unicorn said in a low voice she rarely used, and it won her the pegasus's compliance. Faint violet auras surrounded the glass fragments scattered over the tiles and lifted them over to a receptacle along the wall, while Aloe and Lotus mopped up the rest of the mess. It did not take them long. Lotus turned Fluttershy on her back, placed her hooves under her eyes, and began rubbing the area in gentle circles.
Strangely, the look the spa pony gave her was not one of irritation, but of worry. "Mees Fluttershy," said the spa pony, "if I may be honest? Eet does not appear that you have been sleeping well lately. Your eyes feel so tired."
"I-i-i-is i-it th-that d-d-d-dream ag-g-g-ain?" Rarity's voice vibrated under the tattoo of Aloe's hooves.
"I'm afraid so," Fluttershy corrected. A wave of woozy pleasure slithered down her spine as the spa pony slid her hooves up and around to just in front of her temples. Little by little, tensions she had not even been aware of melted away from her face and neck. The same thing was happening for her thoughts. "And yes, Lotus. Lately, my dreams have been—well." Her voice grew quieter with each word. "They haven't been very, um. Nice."
Lotus clicked her tongue. "I am sorry to hear that. Here—remember to breathe, yes?"
"Oh, sorry."
Rarity rolled onto her back like Fluttershy. "I don't understand what's going on with you, darling," she said. "Your parents are still happy and in good health the last time you told me about them, and you went to visit them just last month, did you not?"
"I did." The pegasus frowned. "They even asked about you, and how the boutique was doing."
"Then why do those dreadful nightmares keep coming back?" Rarity lifted a hoof into the air and let it drop a few moments later. "I can't even begin to imagine what I'd do if I had to see my business torched like that. I'm sorry I can't help you anymore with this. I feel so unhelpful here."
"It's okay, Rarity." Fluttershy dug deep into her mind, pushing the troublesome embers of her dreams aside, and came back up with a small smile. "I didn't think they would have come back, either. For now—I'm just happy to be here with you. We're here to relax, right?"
"That is the idea." Lotus's hooves moved to the base of her skull, where she gently lifted her head a few seconds at a time.
"You're absolutely right," said Rarity. "Let's put this dreadful business aside. In fact, I have a story that might cheer you up. Would you like to hear it?
"That would be lovely."
"Very well, then. Just the other day, I finished making a new summer dress when somepony walks into the boutique, and you'll never guess who it was. It was Applejack. Applejack, of all ponies. Wahahaha!"
The unicorn had given Fluttershy no time to guess at all, but that was the way Rarity spoke when she got rolling. The pegasus often got lost beneath all the words. At the moment, however, she was grateful to have someone fill the silence. She continued listening, inserting nods and affirmative noises at the appropriate times. Applejack had lost a bet with her brother—a bet that had apparently involved a fancy dress and a makeover...
***
Fluttershy stepped into her cottage just as the sun set below the horizon. Though Rarity had offered to put her up for the night after the get-together, the pegasus had declined. The unicorn was one of the most generous ponies she knew, and that generosity could push her too far for the sake of making others happy. She remembered asking her for a hat made out of bird's eggs, by Celestia. Rarity must have felt her career going to pieces while making that thing.
At any rate, the pegasus thought the last thing she needed was to stay up all night telling Rarity everything about her dreams, and why she thought they kept coming back. She shuffled through the living room into her kitchen, where a white rabbit with beady black eyes read a newspaper at the table. At the sound of her entrance, he set the paper down and waved.
Fluttershy smiled. The dishes were stacked in their shelves and the countertops gleamed. "Thanks for tidying up the kitchen while I was gone, Angel."
The rabbit stood on his seat and bowed low. It had been his pleasure.
The two of them then spent some time discussing some of Fluttershy's patients. "Mr. Mousey's still staying off his leg? Good... Cottontail's running a fever again, so you know the regimen... Well, I wouldn't be happy wearing a brace, either, but we need to make sure Bluebeak keeps his on until his wing gets better." Being Ponyville's resident veterinarian meant she shuttled between the different areas in and around her cottage most every day. Though many ponies did not realize this about her, Fluttershy rose just as early as Applejack on most days—many of her patients disliked daylight. She even cared for a manticore kit she had found on the edge of the Everfree Forest. It came for a bowl of milk twice a week and always waited for her beneath that one fallen tree. Celestia, had her work with that creature paid off that one time!
Angel poked a paw at a place setting on the other side of the table, asking if she had eaten already.
"Oh." Fluttershy cringed. "I had dinner with Rarity earlier. Sorry." The pegasus broke into a sudden yawn, and her wings flared out from beneath her saddlebags' straps. "Goodness, I didn't realize how tired I'd be coming back from the spa. I think I'm going to call it an early night. We've got lots of work to do tomorrow."
Angel saluted and made to put away the dishes on the table.
Fluttershy sighed as she left the kitchen. She could not be like Rarity and run her ad hoc clinic by herself—Angel took care of all the little details she overlooked, and he earned every letter of his name for it.
She reached her room at the top of the stairs. Birdhouses hung from the rafters around her her bed—much easier to clean that way. Earthen pots of medicine and aromatic herbs clustered in the corner near her bathroom, and several windows looked out into the purpling night sky. The floorboards squeaked as she made her way to her nightstand, where she pulled a pale green candle out from her saddlebags and lit it.
It smelled of cut honeydew and summer lavender, and the flame burned merrily in the dimness. The spa sisters had given it to her as a gift, despite her insistence on paying for it—oh, they did not have any of that. They told her it would help ease her dreams at night, and that it was the least they could do for a loyal customer. She fanned the candle flame with her wings to get the scents into the far corners of the room. If the candle did what the sisters said it would do, she would ask them for Rarity's "usual" the next time she visited them.
Just as she was about to climb into bed, a flash of bright red caught the corner of her eye from the cobblestone fireplace on the far wall. Perhaps it was because she was tired that she was prone to whimsical notions, but she shuffled on over anyway. A ledge above the fireplace held a variety of small items: an acorn cap, three mottled seashells, a pair of crossed porcupine quills, an ivory-veined obsidian, and countless others.
Rarity had come up with the idea of collecting mementos of her former patients. She had even made the first contribution to the collection with one of Opalescence's gem-encrusted collars, saying that just because Fluttershy's hard work sometimes escaped the other ponies did not mean it had to escape her.
But even though the fashionista was her best friend, Fluttershy's foremost keepsake rested upright in a glass case above the ledge. Its donor had been the only patient the pegasus had ever failed—but then again, nothing could have helped that patient but time. The memento was a pinion, one of the largest and most important feathers for flying, and it changed from a vivid orange at the base to a bold red at its pointed tip. It glowed from within, casting a warm tint over the gray stones behind it.
Very few ponies could say they had seen a phoenix—fewer still could say they possessed one of their feathers. As far as Fluttershy knew, she was the only pony in Ponyville to have one. It had not been easy to get. Philomena, after all, had been none other than Princess Celestia's personal pet—and, like her owner, she had a trickster side to her. Fluttershy could hardly believe a month had passed since their visit.
Thinking back, she wondered how she could have once lived on the borders of Drakkvarna, where fire was just another kind of weather, without recognizing what Philomena was sooner. The adults sometimes talked about firebirds who left trails of flame whereever they flew, and a few came to roost at Flamewithers during the winters. When the nights grew cold, having a firebird in the house was a blessing worth several midnight patrols. Then again, Fluttershy had never seen one close to death, much less how they burned when they died.
An uneasy feeling pooled in her stomach. Though Philomena's feather was hooves down one of the most beautiful things anypony was liable to own, she suspected its arrival had something to do with her recent dreams. They always happened at Flamewithers. They always had her parents. And they always ended the same way—an immense firestorm would rip through her dreamscape and she would jerk awake, sweating and huffing.
Being set ablaze, though—that was new.
She suddenly wished she had somepony else to talk to about those dreams. Rarity had listened to her long enough and did not need to be bothered about it. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie talked about their dreams from time to time, but all the prismatic pegasus ever dreamed about were the Wonderbolts, and most ponies turned their brains off for safety reasons whenever Pinkie broached the subject. She was the reason why no restaurant in Ponyville served oatmeal anymore.
Who did that leave? Applejack always treated Fluttershy kindly, but the farmer pony put as much stock into nighttime dreams as she did in the fashion industry. She would probably try and convince her to ignore them. That left her with only one option—and this one seemed the least suitable at all. She had come from the most prestigious unicorn academy in Canterlot, always carried a book or two with her whereever she went—and she had a stubborn skepticism against anything which could not be proven through scientific, methodical study. True, having Pinkie Pie as a friend taught her how accepting the unexplainable from time to time did not make her less happy or intelligent. But would she approach a dream with the same kind of openness?
She did live in the Ponyville library, however. And Flutteshy had no doubt that she had plumbed the depths of Canterlot's extensive archives during her studies. Even if she went about her days free from the concerns of dreams, she had to have a book or two on them somewhere. And even if they didn't answer all of her questions right away, at least they could point her toward an answer.
She was also a very close friend—one she had confided in during her brief foray into modelling, and one who enabled her to overcome her fear of fully-grown dragons. Yes. There was that.
That was it, Fluttershy decided as she slipped into bed. Come the next day, when she finished checking on her morning patients, she would head to the Ponyville library and speak with Twilight Sparkle.
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CouchCrusader
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979
| 2 |
Main 6,Original Character,Princess Luna,Adventure,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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A Fire on the East
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When fires invade the dreams of an unlikely pegasus, she ventures forth to figure out why.
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cancelled
| 52 | 2 |
<p>As fires from the dragon lands threaten the Everfree Forest, the Elements of Harmony must find a way to stop them. In particular, one pegasus uncovers a talent she never thought possible, and must reconcile it with her life's calling.</p>
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everyone
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2011-09-23T03:32:40+00:00
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2011-09-23T03:32:40+00:00
| 1,748 |
The candle helped. She spent the night loafing in a field of sunny, summer grass as a lavender breeze drifted over her.
***
The next morning, Angel helped Fluttershy ready medicines for the early patients before they ate a quick breakfast of field greens and vinaigrette topped with watercress and cilantro. When the pegasus journeyed outdoors, the sky glowed with the warm purple of an early morning. She heard low thuds rumbling over from Sweet Apple Acres—probably Applejack, she thought, bucking her spring crop while most other ponies slept. Fluttershy's morning patients kept her too busy to visit the farmpony in the mornings, which was fine. Even though they had lived close to each other for years, she hardly knew what to talk about without feeling like a nuisance to the hard-working mare.
The pegasus began her rounds with a chipmunk resting beneath the eaves of her cottage. The gash on his paw was healing nicely and only needed a fresh bandage. A little paw tapped her back hoof as she finished wrapping the wound—when she turned around, one of Cottontail's kits looked up at her with huge, quivering eyes. She smiled, telling the little one not to worry about her mother before sending her off with a packet of herbs. Behind her, a horned owl with aged, milky eyes alighted on a nearby willow, just as Angel arrived with a bottle of eyedrops in his mouth.
Pegasus and rabbit made a slow tour around Fluttershy's cottage as they worked— they checked on the ferrets by the creek and left insects and nectar for the hummingbird nests. The number of patients Fluttershy tended to kept her on the tips of her hooves—after a couple of hours, her coat had picked up a good sweat. She saved the chicken coop for last, refilling the feed trough with a smooth pass from the feed bag while Angel scampered inside for eggs.
As soon as she re-entered her cottage, Fluttershy retreated upstairs for a well-deserved soak and brush. She scattered a cup of rose heads on the water and lowered herself in, drawing wisps of fragrant steam through her nostrils. Her mane meandered just beneath the water like roads, threading between the blossoms as they turned on the surface. She turned them into a game of sorts by pushing them around—every blossom she displaced drew two more in its wake. She continued playing with the flowers so long that only after she drained the tub did she remember—
"I was going to see Twilight today!" she gasped. She had nearly gone the entire morning without thinking about her dreams—but they were the entire point behind her visit, after all. She had no doubt her friend had the perfect book to put this terrible business behind her for good.
"Oh, I hope she's still there," said Fluttershy as she galloped through her front door. However, she did not get very far before looking up—and she ground to a halt so violently that she felt her teeth rattle in her skull.
"Wha—no, no. I—I must be seeing things. This can't be." The way between her cottage and the buildings of Ponyville opened before her—but the sky remained just as dark as when she first stepped out to make rounds. She glanced out at the clock tower at the edge of town wondering if she had finished ahead of schedule, as she sometimes did. However, both hands pointed straight at the sky studded with the pre-dawn stars.
This had happened before. Fluttershy's thoughts shuttled back to when she first met Twilight Sparkle, the Princess' personal protégée. In the course of one tumultuous night, she had ventured forth with five other brave ponies to confront an ancient, forgotten menace—one who would not rest until Equestria fell under eternal night. Even though they eventually triumphed, Fluttershy could never forget how small she felt under Nightmare Moon’s vendetta. If the events of that night were beginning to repeat themselves here?
She did what she felt any sensible pony would have done in her horseshoes. She screamed, sprinted back into her cottage, bolted the door behind her, and dove beneath her couch.
"Angel," she whispered as the rabbit joined her. "What do I do? I can't fight whatever's out there. I can't."
Clop! Clop! Clop! Clop!
"Ahhhhh!" Her head knocked against the underside of the couch.
"Fluttershy?"
Though the heavy wood muffled the voice on the other side of the door, Fluttershy recognized that country twang. "A—A—Applejack?" She rushed over and opened it. "Applejack? What are you doing here?"
The farm pony gasped for breath as the brim of her hat fell over her eyes. "We need to get to Twilight's place," she said, knocking her hat back into place. "Something ain't goin' right with the sun today, and I'm sure she's already tryin' to figure out why. She'll want us all there with her, I reckon."
Fluttershy's ears pinned back. "But—but it's dark out there," she whimpered.
"You were out there earlier this morning," said Applejack, frowning. "I heard you singing to a bunch of critters."
"Well, yes. But that was when it was supposed to be dark. It's not supposed to be dark now." Fluttershy sank to the floor. "I'm sorry. Tell Twilight I won't be able to make it out there. I'll only hold you all up, anyway, just like last time."
"C'mon, Fluttershy." Applejack let herself into the foyer and nudged her friend to her hooves. "I'll be right by you the whole way there. Ain't no other pony you can rely on better than ol' Applejack. 'Sides, there ain't no dragons out there this time—even though you sure gave that last one a good talkin' to, heh heh." The earth pony held out her hoof. "There ain't nothin' to be afraid of."
Flutterhy took it. "But—"
"I mean it. Get along, little pony! Yee-hah!" Applejack galloped out of the cottage, her hat bouncing on her mane.
"Applejack, wait!" The pegasus took off after her. "I'm taller than you," she muttered.
***
Ponyville was not boiling over in chaos—there were no singing duck heads bursting from the flowers, or buildings uprooting themselves for a stroll. But it was confused. Ponies milled outside with their heads fixed on the stars—to preventable, yet concussive results. A trio of silhouettes on the Carousel Boutique rooftop cried, "Cutie Mark Crusaders: Sun Saviors! Yay!" before a white hoof snatched them back indoors.
North of the main square, flashes of violet light erupted from various windows along the Books and Branches Library. Books flitted across the windowpanes like hummingbirds, only to be sent back seconds later by the outline of a unicorn rifling through the library's collection.
Despite making good time from the cottage to the library, Fluttershy and Applejack were not the first ponies at the front door.
"Pinkie! Rainbow! Rarity!" The pegasus pounced on the three ponies, wrapping them in her forelegs. "I'm so glad to see you girls here. Did Twilight call you over?"
"She didn't have to," said Pinkie Pie.
"We had a feeling she'd want us here," Rarity added.
"That's right," said Rainbow Dash. "I knew something was wrong the moment I woke up and it was still dark outside, and I knew Twilight would want my help to investigate." The colorful pegasus put on an ear-to-ear grin.
"You could've just risen early for once, Rainbow," said Applejack.
Rainbow gasped. "Are you kidding? I'd like to see you try that someday."
Applejack—the hard-working, hardly-tiring farm pony—let those words sink into her friend's brain. When it did was easy to tell—her eyes bulged wide, her mane went frazzly, and her ears peaked like mountains.
"You think you're so smart," Rainbow Dash growled as her features fell back into place.
Applejack knocked on the door. The top part swung open to reveal an out-of-breath lavender unicorn, her mane and tail ruffled like wrinkled saddles. The shock of seeing her five best friends on her doorstep canceled the shimmering glow around her horn, and everypony heard the thunder of hundreds of books hit the floor soon after.
"Girls!" The relief radiating from Twilight Sparkle's eyes alone could have wrapped up a small ice age. "Thank goodness you're all here. Get inside, quick."
The Books and Branches library resembled an evacuation site. More books lay scattered off the shelves than on them, papers and scrolls spilled from overextended drawers, ladders and tables lay on their sides. Candles contained within glass bowls burned everywhere, casting conflicting shadows on the ceiling and shelves.
"Sorry about the mess, girls," Twilight continued, levitating a book to flip through its contents. "I've been searching the library all morning about why the sun hasn't come up yet." Finding nothing, she tossed he book aside.
"We figured you'd be up to something like this," said Rarity, levitating a mane brush. "Be a dear and hold still, I'll get your mane sorted out in no time."
The unicorn smiled. “Thanks, Rarity. At the rate I’m going now, that’s probably the only thing I’ll get straight today.” She looked to her friends, her expression somber again. “Does anypony have an idea on what’s going on?
Nightmare Moon’s laughter echoed in Fluttershy’s mind. Some of the others provided their thoughts, but none of them sounded convinced. Her pulse quickening, the pegasus steeled herself to speak her mind.
"You don't think Princess Luna's turned into Nightmare Moon again, do you?" asked Rainbow. "We haven't seen her in a year. What if she spent that time coming up with a plan to take revenge on Princess Celestia?"
"I don't think that's the case." Twilight Sparkle summoned The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide from a nearby pedestal. "The book doesn't say anything about Nightmare Moon after she escapes from her prison."
"The book also didn't say anythin' 'bout us beating her, either," Applejack pointed out.
The unicorn had to admit she had a point, but her tight frown showed she was far from persuaded. "Princess Celestia has mentioned her sister in some of the letters she sent me, and Princess Luna was always doing fine. But before you go questioning my mentor’s perceptive capacity, do remember that she's ruled Equestria for millenia. She’s seen her share of conspiracy in her time, I’m sure. And, she has used the Elements of Harmony before, including the Element of Honesty. If Princess Luna was planning something, I've no doubt that her sister would have taken notice and asked us for help."
"Have you sent her a letter yet?" Finished with Twilight’s mane Rarity, moved down to straighten her tail.
"Spike sent it a couple of minutes before you all got here—oh, ouch, that’s a tangle."
“Sorry.”
"That means the Princess should have responded by now," said Pinkie Pie. Seeing the looks everypony gave her, she added, "What? She got back to you pretty quickly when she first sent you from Canterlot last year, right?"
Twilight suddenly looked like she wanted to strangle a bird—or else she was dying to ask her friend a question. Then she clamped her jaw shut and shook her head. With Pinkie Pie, it was sometimes better not to ask how she knew what she did.
"Pinkie's right," Twilight conceded. "The Princess doesn't take this long to answer, normally."
"So it is Nightmare Moon, then," said Rainbow Dash. "We gotta get outta here and beat her before she throws Equestria into eternal night. Again.” She primed her wings for flight.
"Whoa there, partner!" Applejack chomped on the tip of the pegasus's tail. "We can't rush to conclusions, Rainbow. What if the Princess is only sick? Happens to everypony." She let go of Rainbow. "Even if she's in charge of raisin' the sun every mornin', maybe a cold's keeping her in bed."
"Applejack's right as well," said Twilight. "I know the Princess has a good reason to keep the sun down. But until we get that letter back from her, we're going to have to get our hooves dirty."
"What? Count me out of this."
"Rarity, it's a figure of speech."
"But why that figure of speech?" the unicorn whined.
"Because—augh." Twilight rolled her eyes as she stepped away from her friend. "I appreciate the brush, Rarity, but there's too much going on for us to argue. Pinkie Pie, go find the book that'll give us the answer to this. You're the best out of all of us for that."
The pink pony gave her a blank stare. "Twilight, it doesn't work that way," she said, shaking her head. "You told me exactly what to look for the first time, and Dashie came zooming in and knocked everything over the second."
"So we need something really fast to hit the library again?" Rainbow Dash fired off a salute. "I'm on it."
"Nooo!"
The pegasus disappeared under a pile of ponies before she could fly out the window.
Having refrained from the ambush, Fluttershy took the chance to slip away to the upper floor. Was would her staying there accomplish? She had no hope of making herself heard above the others once they got arguing. She could, however, start sifting through the books for the answer to the darkness, her original fixation on her dreams forgotten.
The titles on the shelf before her were as random as they were obscure—How to Carpet your Walls, Volume 2; The Various Shapes and Styles of Confetti; Sea Ponies: Only a Conspiracy Theory? What the Princess Doesn't Want You to Know! No wonder Twilight had Spike organize the library most of the time. Then again, she suspected he did not do much organizing at all—he was a baby dragon, after all, and babies were not known for their work ethic.
She sighed as she moved onto the next shelf. The titles here were just as useless as those on the first. Just as she looked away, however, something flashed outside the window
Fluttershy almost shattered the glass knocking it open—she certainly got the attention of the other ponies downstairs.
"What's going on up there?" Twilight called.
The pegasus ignored her as she searched the sky—the sky? She was certain that, if what she had seen had even been there, it had been flying at the time. She found nothing out to the west, and the southern skies were just as empty.
"Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy shot a chilly glare over her shoulder. "Quiet, Twilight!" Her brain caught up with her a moment too late. "Oh my goodness," she said, ears flattened. "I'm so sorry about that. I don't know what came over me—"
"Arohhhh!"
That cry! Fluttershy almost toppled out the window. She managed to catch herself against the window ledge at the last moment, though the heaving ground beneath reminded her of how close a call she had.
But that cry! She had heard it before. Certainty rushed through her as she looked out to the east—even at a distance there was no mistaking it. The intense red and gold plumage, the whip-thin tail lashing in the air, the curls of flame trailing behind its wings.
"Philomena!" Fluttershy launched herself from the window and flew. What in Equestria was Princess Celestia's phoenix doing in Ponyville?
"Aroh?" At the sound of her name, the phoenix broke out of her loop, disoriented, before she spotted the yellow pegasus dashing right at her. "Ar-rr-aai!"
Pegasus and phoenix met midway, with the latter dropping into the former's outstretched hooves. Though Philomena did not burst into flames this time, she was in bad condition. The better part of her wing feathers showed cuts, frayed edges, and soot—in fact, many of her primaries and secondaries were outright gone. Scab lines covered her talons, and patches of feathers were missing from her chest.
Her breathing was slow, her pulse raced. Fluttershy could see her pupils. A charred stench fluttered across the pegasus's nostrils.
A horrible thought flooded over her. Was it possible for phoenixes to get burned?
"Fluttershy, would you mind sharing what the hay you're doing up h—ohmigosh." Rainbow Dash had rushed to her friend’s side bent on giving her a lecture, but she fell silent as soon as she saw the phoenix cradled in her hooves. She reached out to take Philomena, but Fluttershy drew the bird closer to her chest.
"She needs medical attention immediately," she declared, turning toward her cottage.
"Anooo..." The phoenix lifted a trembling wing in protest.
Fluttershy silenced the bird with a furious stare. "Philomena, this time, I will not take 'no' for an answer. This time, I am going to treat you right."
"No, hold it, Fluttershy—"
When Fluttershy leveled her stare on Rainbow Dash, the cyan pegasus's wings snapped against her sides.
"She's here to tell us somethiiing," Rainbow yelled as she plunged to the earth.
"Then it can wait until she's better," Fluttershy yelled back. Just before she could race off, however, a lasso snapped around her back hoof.
"I get the feelin' it's something she means to tell us now?" Applejack's voice called from below.
Fluttershy was not a very athletic pegasus. The farm pony's rope work made short work of her, grounding her in a matter of seconds. The rest of her friends gathered around and walled her off in the middle.
"What are you all doing?" she demanded, throwing her stare around. "The longer we wait, the worse she gets. Do you see how hurt she is? The others flinched as if they were being pelted by boulders, but they somehow stood firm against her onslaught.
"Fluttershy, please listen," Twilight Sparkle pleaded, stepping in front of the pegasus. "We know that it's odd Philomena came here, but she trusts you the most out of all of us—"
"She does,” Fluttershy snarled. “So step aside and let me—”
"Rohhh." Philomena jabbed her wing behind Fluttershy. Everypony followed its track east.
"The Everfree Forest?" Rainbow asked.
Philomena shook her head and jabbed twice more in the same direction.
"Beyond the Everfree Forest?" Rarity ventured.
Philomena nodded.
"Is that where you just came from?" asked Twilight.
“Raa.” Philomena nodded again, just before her head went limp and her eyes closed. Fluttershy determined the phoenix still had a pulse and was still breathing on her own—for the moment.
"Now may I take her?" Fluttershy’s eyes narrowed to slits.
"Hold on," said Twilight. She traced a gentle hoof across the phoenix's head. "We should figure out where she just came from. It's likely the Princess will be there, too. But I can't think of any places in Equestria beyond the forest—"
"Flamewithers."
"Huh?"
"The Princess will be at Flamewithers," the pegasus continued, rising into the air. "My hometown, Twilight." She kicked Applejack's lasso off of her hoof and flew off beneath the darkened sky.
***
Flutteshy dropped into her couch, utterly exhausted. She buried her muzzle into the velvety fabric while trying to hold back tears—Philomena had taken hours to stabilize, but she had finally dozed off, pain-free, in the little bed by the stove. Fluttershy was grateful the burn ointments she had on hoof worked just as well for magical creatures as it did normal ones—and that they had not given the phoenix hives this time.
Just before she could fall asleep herself, though, somepony knocked on her door. She stumbled over to it, almost tripping over a washbasin on the way.
"Twilight?”
"Hey, Fluttershy." The unicorn had her saddlebags on. Fluttershy wonder what they were for.
The two of them walked over to the pegasus’s newest patient. "She looks better,” said Twilight. “Did she put up any fights this time?"
"None at all." Fluttershy adjusted the phoenix's pillow. "I don't understand what happened to her. How does a phoenix get burned?"
Twilight frowned. "Is that what happened to her? My gosh. Your guess is as good as mine."
"It's not only the burns, either." Fluttershy rolled the covers back a little, just enough to reveal braces wrapped around both of Philomena's wings. "She tore a few muscles on her way over here, as well—and I had to set a broken talon. And if she came from Flamewithers..." The pegasus trailed off as her eyes looked far off in the distance. She trudged over to her couch and sat down.
"What is it, Fluttershy?" Twilight settled in next to her. She swept her friend's mane to the other side of her head. "You mentioned Flamewithers was your hometown, if I recall correctly. I thought you used to live in Cloudsdale with Rainbow Dash."
"That was only for summer flight camp," said Fluttershy. "I couldn’t fly very well, you see. My parents made me go there every year, and I hated it. The year I met Rainbow Dash, I was the oldest filly there, and they wouldn't take me for another year no matter how many bits Papa tried to pay them. So when I wasn’t in Cloudsdale, I lived in Flamewithers. Do you know what ponies out there do for a living?"
"You've got me."
"Flamewithers isn't supposed to be public knowledge." Fluttershy continued nonetheless, telling Twilight about its proximity to Drakvarna, and how her parents kept the fires of that land in check.
"Pegasi can manipulate fire?" Twilight exclaimed. "Fire's nothing but the immaterial product of an oxidation reaction."
"We can manipulate heat," Fluttershy corrected. "I can roll an updraft beneath my wings when I fly, and Rainbow can do it in her sleep. Fire patrols fly low to the ground, where fires burn the hottest, and channel their heat to shoot themselves extremely high into the air, killing the flames as they went. It was a lot like pulling weeds, if you want to think of it that way."
Twilight nodded. "That makes sense. So are the dragons are responsible for these firestorms, then?"
"Yes."
"And..." The unicorn sat up straight as it dawned on her. "You think Philomena got into a fight with a dragon."
Though it should not have been possible, Fluttershy sank even further into her couch. Her voice barely escaped past the cushioning. "Yes."
"This is all very strange." Twilight hopped onto the floor and paced back and forth. "First the sun doesn't rise. Then the Princess is out east instead of in Canterlot. And now we have a dragon-injured phoenix—and the dragon’s still out there, possibly hurting other ponies.” The unicorn rubbed her head and cringed. “None of this is making any sense—and the Princess still hasn't replied to my letter."
"Why haven't you and the others gone to Flamewithers yet?" asked Fluttershy.
"Why haven't you?" asked Twilight.
"Because Philomena is hurt too badly," said the pegasus, sitting up, "She is going to require my care for the next month or so, until she recovers I can't leave a patient like that. That's even worse than refusing to take her in in the first place."
"Don't worry about it," a boyish voice said from the front door.
"Wahhhhh!"
"Fluttershy, let go—I can't—breathe—! Ack!" Twilight's eyes rolled in opposite directions as Fluttershy released her from her inadvertent chokehold. Once her senses returned to her, the unicorn continued, "I asked Spike if he was willing to team up with Angel and take care of your patients for you, and he agreed."
"That's right." The baby dragon emerged from his hiding place and tried to calm the jittery pegasus with a few pats on her shoulder. "Don't you want to go back home again? It sounds like everypony could really use you out there."
"Oh.” Fluttershy lowered her ears. “Even if they could, Spike, my home is a full day's flight from here.” She paced across the room. "I can't just up and leave here like this."
"Sure you can, darling."
Fluttershy turned. Rarity and the rest of her friends stood by the doorway, all of them with saddlebags draped across their backs—and all of them with encouraging smiles on their faces. Even Rainbow Dash gave her a brief nod.
"Rarity?” She looked from one friend to the next unable to believe they were all standing there. “What's going on—why does everypony have their bags?"
"We're gonna have to be prepared if we're gonna help the Princess out," said Rainbow, striding over. "We don't know how long it's gonna take to get through the Everfree Forest, so we tried to cover all our bases. We even brought stuff for you so you can come along with us right away. Check it out."
The pegasus pointed out each pony as she listed their contribution—each in turn produced with a flourish. "Applejack's gotcha covered on food. Rarity brought her grooming supplies. Twilight got you a field journal in case you wanted to write anything down while we were out there. Pinkie has—well, I dunno what it's for, but it's funny, so we're keeping it. And I—"
Rainbow Dash unlatched one of her bags and drew something out with the speed of an Appleloosan triggerpony. It came down over Fluttershy's head—a leather strap circled around the back of her skull, and two heavy, round things settled on her forehead, just above her eyes.
"I got you my very own Wonderbolt goggles, from the first air show my parents took me to," the pegasus beamed. "Every time I wore them, I felt like I could do anything. Now that I can do anything—thank you," she said, bowing to absent applause, "thank you—it's time I passed 'em on to some other pony who needed them more."
"I—I—" Fluttershy removed Rainbow's goggles and turned them over in her hooves. They were surprisingly sturdy for a souvenir—the lenses were dense, and crack-free despite their owner’s best efforts—all enclosed within honest brass rims. Engravings along the top of each rim read, "THE WONDERBOLTS" in angular letters, with their motto, "FLY WITH YOUR DREAMS" inscribed along the bottoms.
"We've got a lot of ground to cover, sugarcube," said Applejack. "You're comin' with us."
It was not a question. Fluttershy looked to each of her friends, unable to believe the prodigious faith they put in her presence. She read the inscription on Rainbow's goggles a second time: "FLY WITH YOUR DREAMS".
She looked over her shoulder at Philomena, who continued to rest in peaceful slumber.
She was afraid of the journey. She was afraid of what the darkness meant. She was afraid she had no idea what was going on.
But more importantly, she was afraid of what would happen if she did not go with her friends. Philomena had come to her on the brink of consciousness. Though she wished she could stay behind and tend to the phoenix for however long her recovery took, she wanted to know the reasons behind why harm had come to the Princess's pet.
She wanted to know what she could do to prevent what happened to Philomena from happening to anybody else.
Her eyes flashed like newly-polished iron. "Give me a moment, girls," she declared, marching toward the staircase. "I'm packing my bags."
Soon afterward, Fluttershy returned with a curious amount of clinking coming from within her saddlebags.
"What did you pack in there?" asked Twilight.
"Medicine," the pegasus replied, "as much as I can carry. I don't know what lies ahead, so I thought I’d better be ready for anything."
"You said it, sister," said Pinkie, firing off a celebratory party popper.
The pegasus collected the other things her friends had brought her as well. "Ooof. Heavy."
"I can take some of your things if you like," Applejack offered.
"No. I mean, no thank you." Galloping for long stretches would be difficult, but Fluttershy thought she could maintain a trot without too much trouble. "I'll be fine. Spike?"
The purple dragon hopped on top of Twilight's head. "Yes, Fluttershy?"
"Please do your best to look after all the animals. Especially Philomena." Fluttershy had to resist the urge to look over—leaving the phoenix behind, and out of her care, was unbearable as it was. "I know you'll do a good job."
"No need to worry, sister," said Spike, jabbing his thumb into his chest—a little too forcefully. "I—Ow. Ow. Ohhh." He flopped over Twilight's head.
"Spike, you've got to be careful with your claws," the unicorn admonished. "Your scales are still developing, after all."
"Do y'all think Spike looks all right?" Applejack asked, walking over. "His eyes are goin' a little funny."
The farmpony was right. Spike's eyes floated in opposite directions, and then his spines stood up on end. His whole body tensed as a familiar bulging filled his cheeks.
Rainbow Dash was the first to figure it out. "Incoming!" she yelled.
Six ponies hit the floor as the dragon unleashed an almighty blast of green fire. When it dissipated, a heavy scroll wrapped in a crimson ribbon dropped on the floor.
"The Princess!" Twilight cried, unfurling the ending. The paper glowed violet as the unicorn's eyes darted over the lines, her expression growing darker and less certain the further she went on.
"What is it?" asked Applejack, leaning in. "What's it say?"
Twilight hesitated. Her ears pinned back as her lips mouthed words her lungs would not supply. "It's—It's not from Princess Celestia." She turned the scroll around for everypony to read.
"It's from Princess Luna."
Everypony crowded in to read the letter—the lunar royal's handwriting scrolled across the page in compact, orthogonal lines. Every letter possessed precise strokes and proportions, every word stood separated by perfect pacing. Rarity let out a squeak of admiration.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
I regret to contact you under these circumstances, and under short such notice. I am Princess Luna, writing on behalf of your treasured mentor and my beloved sister. She is indisposed, but otherwise fine. However, we are certain her condition will not remain stable for long.
We have relocated to Flamewithers Outpost, on the border between Everfree and Drakkvarna, the land of the dragons. Whether you know of it is irrelevant. We require your immediate assistance, as well as the assistance of the rest of the Elements of Harmony, and have enchanted this sending with a teleportation spell to spare you an unpleasant journey through the forest.
Please make haste. Recent events along the east have us fearing for Equestria, but I fear even more for Tia.
Princess Luna
"How convenient," said Twilight, turning the scroll over. A circular lattice of arcane filigree glowed blue on the reverse side. "Is everypony ready?"
"We're ready," the Elements of Harmony chimed in unison. Fluttershy was surprised at the conviction in her voice.
"To Flamewithers, then," Twilight cried, her horn glowing with mystical energy. "Let’s go!"
A blinding flash of light engulfed Fluttershy's living room as Princess Celestia's protégée triggered the spell.
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CouchCrusader
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979
| 3 |
Main 6,Original Character,Princess Luna,Adventure,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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A Fire on the East
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When fires invade the dreams of an unlikely pegasus, she ventures forth to figure out why.
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cancelled
| 52 | 2 |
<p>As fires from the dragon lands threaten the Everfree Forest, the Elements of Harmony must find a way to stop them. In particular, one pegasus uncovers a talent she never thought possible, and must reconcile it with her life's calling.</p>
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everyone
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2012-03-17T21:43:27+00:00
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2012-03-17T21:43:27+00:00
| 1,820 |
An instant of darkness, a universe of pressure, cold and unremitting against her coat. Immobilized in a drop of cosmic amber. Then the infinite dark pulled back like the snatching of a stage curtain, Fluttershy registered the supple give of a cloud beneath her hooves—and then the eastern breeze swirled across her face.
The breeze was hot like the blast of an opened oven: dry, and impatient.
“Ugh. Twilight?” Rainbow Dash was rubbing her mane back in place some ways off. “I wish you’d told us to expect that before you popped us up here.”
Applejack’s eyes had yet to stop rolling in opposite directions, but they were getting there. ““I’m with Rainbow on this one, sugarcube. A warnin’ would’ve been appreciated.”
“Pffft. Beginners,” Pinkie Pie sang to herself as she cartwheeled around, looking for all the world as if she had not suffered anything worse than a trip to the park.
Twilight, reaching behind her head with a hesitant laugh. “Sorry about that. I guess I’ve done this before, so I didn’t think I’d needed to say anything. But look! We’re here, everypony.” The unicorn extended a hoof behind the other ponies. “Look up there.”
She was gesturing to the Lighthouse, the immense, white tower that dominated the silhouette of Flamewithers from afar. A pair of square flags, one emblazoned with the golden sun on an orange field, and the other bearing a crescent moon on royal purple, flapped like the wings of great birds from their spires at the tower’s apex. Below the flags, a great glass globe pulsed with the light cast forth from the tower’s main lantern.
Twilight's brows went flat enough to support a drink. "You'd think Princess Luna would have saved us the climb," she deadpanned. "C’mon, girls. Let’s not keep them waiting.”
Fluttershy followed her friends toward the tower with a growing lump in her throat. For having lived in Flamewithers all of her life, she had never been this close to the Lighthouse before, much less inside of it. That privilege was reserved for members of the fire patrols only.
The rest of the tower was as featureless as it was smooth down to its base, where a pair of pegasi stood watch on either side of a modest double door. The one on the left wore the golden armor typical of a Royal Guardspony over a white coat. The other one...
Thank goodness Twilight had the sense to approach the first guard. Putting on her best smile, she presented her letter for him to read. “The Princesses sent for us.”
Fluttershy dove for cover as the other guard strolled over to read the letter as well. Her other friends did not react as dramatically to his presence, but even Applejack had taken a step back—and the farmpony was among the bravest ponies the pegasus knew.
The other guard, put simply, was a monster.
He was a pegasus as well, somehow—he had a shadowy gray coat accented by a set of lavender and purple armor. But his wings were those of a bat’s, and his golden eyes reminded Fluttershy more of a dragon than a pony. The same kind of eye, except light blue, anchored the midpoint of his chestpiece just above his sternum.
Those shoes, too—they were lavender versions of the kind normal guards wore. Fluttershy was almost certain they would have revealed claws instead of hooves if they were removed.
After exchanging a few whispered words, the guards nodded to each other and separated. It was the monstrous one, however, who addressed them. “That is indeed the Princess’s writing.”
Before Fluttershy (or the rest of her friends) recovered from the unexpected quality of the guard’s voice—cold, but softly spoken and smooth and not at all like the guttering she had anticipated—both of the stallions stamped a hoof into the cloud as one, creating a booming sound like staves hammered on a hardwood floor.
The doors they guarded opened behind them—except that they were not the same doors Fluttershy had expected would open. They were merely decorations on a much larger set of doors: paired, ivory monoliths as tall as Ponyville’s town hall, indistinguishable from the rest of the tower’s external surface, and the cloud trembled as they traced their long, lethargic arcs inward.
The echoes reverberated through the tower’s interior long after the doors came to rest. It was around that time when Fluttershy realized her organs had not decomposed, but were still whole and functioning. She gasped for the breath she had forgotten to take.
“New visitors,” quipped the grey-coated guard. “Always the same.” He bared double rows of pointed teeth at Fluttershy and her friends. Only for a moment, however—his demeanor dropped swiftly back into stern authority. “The Princesses will see you now. Do not keep them waiting.”
“Thank you, uh, sirs,” stammered Twilight, gesturing everypony inside. Her swizzled brows all but asked whether it was more apropos to be fascinated by the shadowy guardspony she had just met, or revolted by him. In the end, she posed no questions to the stallion and entered the Lighthouse last.
The interior occupied about the same amount of space as Ponyville’s main square, yet the sound of every hooffall bounced several times between opposite walls before dissipating into the air. A central staircase turned in smooth coils up the middle of the tower, sending out spokes to the many walkways ringing the inner walls at intervals. More flags bearing suns and moons in alternation hung on the walls beneath great arcs of swooping fabric, all of it illuminated by the lamps posted along the terrace rails.
But the most prominent feature within the Lighthouse was the pegasus statue rising in the middle of the staircase’s turns. Rearing on one hind leg, the mare immortalized on her elevated pedestal looked ready to leap into the very cosmos itself. On her head rested a helmet styled after a dragon’s head, all aggressive spines and barbs, and her chestpiece and shoes adopted those draconic motifs as well. Her mane appeared frozen in an unending gale, and her wings flared out wide from her sides, her pinions spread like honed blades.
The plaque on the statue’s base told Rarity who she stood before. "'The Grand Marshal'.” She gazed upward, her eyes narrowed in inspection. "I must say, she looks to be quite the impressive pony."
Rainbow Dash chose to examine the statue from the many angles the air provided her. “Look at this armor. I wouldn’t care what the pay was if my job let me wear something as awesome as this. And, I’d get to call myself ‘Grand Marshal Rainbow Dash.’ Oh boy, that’s tough. That sounds just as good as ‘Wonderbolt Captain Rainbow Dash.’” The pegasus brought a hoof to her mouth and pursed her lips in thought.
“I think grand marshals would outrank captains,” Twilight quipped, leading the way up the staircase. “But I think you’d better figure out what their responsibilities are before you ask for the job.” The unicorn turned to Fluttershy. “You said you used to live here. I’m sure you’ve met the Grand Marshal before. What does she do?”
Fluttershy beat her wings once. How was she going to explain this? “Well... it’s a difficult job,” she began. “It keeps you away from your family a lot. But you have to live with that. Flamewithers is but one of several outposts protecting the Everfree Forest from dragon-made fires, and it’s the Grand Marshal’s job to organize all of the fire patrols so that the forest remains safe.” The pegasus paused. Yes, that was a good start. “She’s also responsible for writing to Canterlot every week to report on the conditions out here.”
“You mean there’s paperwork involved?” Twilight shot a smug grin at the other pegasus, who had been listening to the conversation with one hoof braced behind her ear. “Rainbow Dash, you barely complete your monthly weather records for the Mayor on time. I dunno if you’re cut out for weekly reports.”
“Who said I couldn’t have assistants? Leave me to do all the firefighting while you take care of all the updates to the Princess.” Rainbow fired off a pair of quick jabs into the air in front of her. “Everypony wins.”
Even Fluttershy joined in on the subsequent chuckling. As long as her friends walked by her side, bantering and playing off of each other, she could pretend that they had only left Ponyville for some overdue leisure time. It had not been long ago that she had visited Cloudsdale to cheer Rainbow in her competition, where she witnessed a friend fall almost to her death. Or when that buffalo-pony skirmish broke out in Appleloosa. Or when she had frightened all of the poor animals at the Grand Galloping Gala in Canterlot...
Beads of sweat emerged on the pegasus’ brow. Surely she had gone somewhere with her friends where everything had not gone to hay in a hurricane?
Lost in thought, she tripped on a step and fell flat on her face.
“Cider apples! You okay, hon?” asked Applejack, helping Fluttershy to her hooves again.
“W-why, of course,” the pegasus mumbled. “I’m just... thinking.”
Twilight nodded from the head of the group. “Thinking’s good. Oh, excellent, we’re at the top. Pardon me, sirs?”
The unicorn fetched Princess Luna’s letter from her saddlebags and floated it over to a similar pair of guards to those stationed at the Lighthouse’s base. These guards stood before a thick glass double door that looked as if it had been installed recently: the motif frosted onto its surface described the sun and moon from the flags outside super-imposed upon each other. Beyond these doors, a final staircase turned a quarter circle up to a raised platform.
This meeting proceeded quicker than the first, owing to the guards’ silence as they verified the letter’s contents and sender. Instead of stomping their hooves when they finished, the both of them simply pushed the doors inward and pointed their wings through the threshold.
Fluttershy moved with the others to catch up with Twilight. However, nopony seemed to notice the unicorn remained where she stood until Pinkie Pie crashed into her rump. Unable to avert their own tragedies, the other four collided with the first two soon afterward. A cymbal escaped Pinkie’s saddlebag and clattered across the floor.
“Hey, Twilight, what gives?” Rainbow craned her neck around the pony pile. “We’re tryin’ to move here!”
“Huh?” Being the only pony among her friends to remain on her hooves, Twilight spun around. “Oh, sorry. Here, let me help you girls up.”
Fluttershy squeaked as a magenta aura tingled across her coat. Quick as blinking, she was untangled from the other ponies, set on her hooves—and dusted off, too? The aura dissipated before she could be sure. However, she did catch Twilight stealing another look at Princess Luna’s letter while her other friends reacquainted themselves with their senses of balance.
“Twilight?” Rarity sounded like she had noticed the letter as well. “Is something wrong?”
“Wha? Oh, uh. It’s nothing.” Twilight rolled up the letter and stuffed it back into her saddlebag with a little more force than was necessary—at least to Fluttershy. The pegasus had no trouble spotting the tight, horizontal line the unicorn’s mouth had become.
“We’d best not waste any more time, then.” Applejack reminded everypony. “Y’all remember who’s waiting for us up there, right?”
With the farmpony taking the initiative to climb the stairs, Fluttershy followed after her. The pegasus passed Twilight, who still stood in the threshold, her eyes now locked on a spot on the ceiling.
No, not on the ceiling. Behind it. Above the floor on its other side. Up there, the Princesses awaited their arrival. Princess Celestia would receive them in her usual warm manner, and—
Princess Celestia. The words of the letter returned to Fluttershy’s mind. She is indisposed, but otherwise alive. However, we are not certain for how long her condition will remain stable.
Oh, dear. “You’re worried about the Princess, aren’t you?” she asked.
Because the others had gone up ahead, they had avoided having to look at Twilight’s face at that moment. Fluttershy had put that look on herself enough to recognize where it came from—the thin mouth, the huge, unblinking eyes, the folded-back ears—all the result of anticipating the worst of a new situation. Snatches of her brief stint as a fashion model, of Photo Finish forcing her upon crowds of unfamiliar ponies and their flashing cameras, crossed her mind.
“She... She’s going to want to see you, you know,” said Fluttershy, her sympathy bolstering her words with an assurance she had no right to possess. She put her hoof over Twilight’s shoulder. “Let’s head up.”
The unicorn said nothing, but the small smile dawning on her face conveyed her gratitude for her friend’s kindness well enough. Together, they climbed the stairs and joined their friends at the top, just along the western edge of the Lighthouse’s upper sanctum.
A huge brass lantern as large as a house occupied the center of the room, swathed in a swirling array of floating lenses and mirrors all at least the size of a pony, if not more, while formations of smaller lanterns circulated along the curve of the glass globe containing the room. Every pulse of the central lantern released a hum that settled against Fluttershy’s keel from the inside. An orange glow vaulted into the eastern night sky behind the lantern, but morning was still hours off yet.
“Somepony’s over there,” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, levelling a hoof toward a pacing silhouette against the orange glow. She shot off toward the pony before anypony could stop her. “Hello, somepony! My name is Pinkie Pie and I am super excited to meet you here because I always love meeting new friends—” and on she babbled as she galloped, her words per yard figure almost dense enough to condense her rambling into a literal contrail in her wake.
“—and I’m glad I brought all of these instruments with me because I totally came up with a song for you just no—” Her hooves suddenly squealed across the floor like the brakes of a racecar. “—wwwowit’snightmaremoon.”
The lantern pulsed once more, throwing the other pony’s features into sharp relief long enough for Fluttershy to recognize the essentials: the tall, elegant frame, the midnight-blue coat, the swirling mane of space and stars. Her horn tapered to a lengthy point, and her unfurled wings spread from her flanks like the terrible arc of the sky. Obsidian accents crowned her head, shoed her hooves, and encircled her collar, but it was her eyes that unsettled Fluttershy most—huge, teal-colored rounds able to track her and her other five friends all at once.
“I knew it!” cried Rainbow Dash. “You hurt the Princess, you monster!”
A thin lasso, quick and precise as a striking snake as it cinched around Rainbow’s mid-section, was the only thing that prevented the pegasus from charging the dark pony alone—though Applejack’s contracted pupils betrayed her desire to release her friend from her ropework. Somehow, some way, Nightmare Moon had risen from her defeat, had regained her powers, and was without a doubt looking for revenge.
Fluttershy fled screaming.
She had barely reached the bottom of the stairs when she jerked to a stop—only long enough to recognize the tingling on her coat—before the steps slipped out from under her as she was pulled back to the lantern room.
“Fluttershy!” Twilight’s face materialized before the pegasus’ muzzle, frowning in the magenta glow of her horn. “Girls! Hold your horses. You were all there at the old castle last year. Nightmare Moon is gone. That’s Princess Luna.”
“Miss Sparkle speaks the truth. The monster you speak of is no more. ‘Tis I, and I alone, addressing you today.”
Twilight’s head turned to the voice, apparently forgetting about the pony she was holding captive before her. The aura ceased, and Fluttershy dropped to the floor in a pile of limbs and swirling eyes.
“You’re Princess Luna?” Rainbow Dash slipped out of Applejack’s lasso with a challenging snarl.
The reclaimed royal had marched over from the other side of the room, a bouncing Pinkie Pie in tow. Every contour of her body towered over everypony with aggressive precision. “Verily, Miss Dash.” Princess Luna stopped, frowning. The gaze she swept over them was as chilly as a downdraft descending from a snowy mountain peak. “Have you all no manners? Why do you not bow before a Princess?”
Fluttershy had never gotten to her hooves so quickly, and the bow that followed came naturally—the position was not that different from cowering, really. Out of the corner of her eye, she spied the rest of her friends with their chins to the floor, though Rainbow Dash and Applejack were snorting a little louder than they needed to. A slight nod from the royal, and they were all standing again.
“Where’s my teach—” Twilight checked herself in time, biting her lip. “I mean, where is the Princess?”
Princess Luna frowned. “Here one stands.” The tone of her voice said the rest: Is my title forgotten so easily?
Twilight’s mouth contracted to the size of a sesame seed.
The younger Princess surveyed the ponies before her again, her expression like forged steel freshly quenched and hardened. Suddenly, something shifted within her posture: nothing so dramatic as a bended leg or a lowered head—not even a flick of the ear. But something shifted nonetheless, something like a castle settling too heavily on its foundation. Princess Luna sighed.
“So little has changed in the past thousand years,” she muttered. She turned to walk away, her precision replaced with a resignation so fluid that it took everypony a moment to realize they needed to follow after her.
Rainbow Dash touched down next to Twilight as they walked, cocking one of her brows and poking a hoof at the Princess as if to ask, Is that pony all right in the head? The unicorn’s ears peaked in response, and the glare she threw back got the prismatic pegasus to drop the issue like a glob of lava.
Princess Luna disappeared behind the curve of the main lantern, only to reappear as the group caught up with her. She knelt at the side of a tasseled cushion the size of three fully-grown buffalo against the lantern’s base. “Tia,” she whispered. “Tia. The Bearers have arrived.”
Perhaps the evolution of Princess Luna’s mane from its delicate newborn blue to its current shimmering state had proceeded exactly for this moment, when she could step aside with her mane trailing behind her like a theater curtain. But nopony’s thoughts sprang to plays or musicals when all was revealed. As for Fluttershy...
She remembered it had been a late summer’s day, the year before she was allowed to go to flight camp in Cloudsdale. She remembered the hem of her father’s white coat brushing her wing as they walked through the halls of Flamewithers’ hospital in the early morning hours, the warmth of his body against the sterile air and the tiny clip-clop of her gait echoing his, when the rescue team crashed into the emergency room with the patient. She remembered she had not reacted at first, not knowing what was happening. She did not remember much of what happened in those next few minutes other than her father shouting orders and nurses running back and forth with linens and ointments. It was only the day after, after her mother returned from the funeral, did she learn the stallion’s coat had been a golden hue, not mottled over with black and crimson.
Princess Celestia’s magic made her a stronger pony than Golden Gale, certainly—but Fluttershy could not recall a time when the prognosis of a dragonfire burn had ever worked in the patient’s favor. Whoever had bandaged the Princess commanded the pegasus’ respect as a fellow adherent of medicine, but the wrappings over the solar royal’s flanks, limbs, and neck betrayed the extent of the wounds their white yards concealed. Strange black shards circled around her body, while her mane and tail, once resplendent with the airy spectrum of a spring morning, now lay pink and sodden over her velvet bed.
“Princess?”
A whisper had never been so devastating. Applejack pressed her hat to her chest, Fluttershy lowered her head. She felt a wing drape across her back—there was Rainbow Dash, standing by her side with smoldering eyes.
It was Twilight who had whispered, and it was Twilight who broke away from them, all but tripping over herself in her haste to be at Princess Celestia’s side. For the moment, her eyes were dry, her voice quiet—just as Fluttershy had been while her father worked to save Golden Gale. The memory of that long-gone stallion coupled with the smallness of Twilight’s curling body against the Princess’ cushion, and though age hardly ever came up in conversation between everypony, it was hard not to dwell on the fact that the unicorn before them carried the fewest summers of them all upon her withers.
Nopony made the mistake of saying the Princess would be all right.
Nopony had anticipated the sound of shifting bandages, either—but then the Princess stirred, as if merely waking from a very deep slumber. Her front hooves tucked themselves beneath her barrel, and she propped herself up by degrees. A pulse of light from the lantern revealed the thick dressing laid over both of her eyes. Nevertheless, her head turned to face everypony—and, beyond expectation, she spoke.
“I hope you’ll all find it in your hearts to forgive the folly of an old mare. I haven’t had a day off in eons.” The line of her mouth turned upward at the corners in a small smile.
She might as well have raised the sun after a terrible nighttime blizzard—going on Princess Celestia’s voice alone, Fluttershy could not even tell the alicorn had suffered anything worse than a moment’s brush with a hot stove.
“Twilight Sparkle.” The Princess turned to gaze at her protégée despite her blindness. “I could not be happier to hear your voice again. And to the rest of your friends,” raising her head, “I am grateful to have you all here today.”
While the momentum of her awakening persisted, Princess Celestia launched into an array of pleasantries for each pony, asking after their daily lives, exchanging tidbits and tidings as the proper times arose. Yes, bearing the Elements of Harmony probably raised Fluttershy and her friends a little more in the Princess’s awareness over other ponies, but the intimacy of that awareness always took her by surprise. Even if she defied all prior experience, Princess Celestia’s words were quickly altering her own prognosis toward the positive in the space of a few minutes’ chat.
“Fluttershy? Are you there, my child? You’ve been very quiet tonight.”
The pegasus started, having let her mind wander away. The Princess was looking right at her. “I— I’m sorry, your Highness.”
“There’s no need to worry,” said Princess Celestia. “I’ve just been waiting for the right time to ask you this. Did Philomena find you all right?”
Fluttershy gulped as if she had just swallowed a very sharp icicle. She suddenly realized where this would lead. “Oh my goodness. I should never have come out here at all,” she fretted, pacing back and forth. “Yes, Your Majesty—I found her flying outside the library, and I took her to my cottage and put her to bed and did my best to make her healthy again, but then I left. Spike and Angel are dear friends, but I shouldn’t have troubled them with taking care of Philomena because it was my responsibility in the first place—why else would she have come to me if you hadn’t told her to? Ah, and she even had dragonfire burns from the fight. She could be getting worse, and it’d be all because of me. Oh, I really did it this time!”
Fluttershy spied Princess Luna standing off to the side with a puzzled look on her face. The idea struck instantly. “Your Highness!” she cried, dashing over to the younger Princess. “You’ve got to send me back to Ponyville to make sure Philomena’s okay.”
Princess Luna’s brow arched so high that it practically flew. She turned to her sister for counsel.
“Come now, my little pony,” said Princess Celestia, chuckling. “If Philomena were truly in trouble, I’d think Spike would send me a letter right away, wouldn’t he?”
“Oh, I don’t really keep parchment in the cottage...”
“This is my assistant you’re talking about.” Twilight smiled. “He always takes parchment and quills with him wherever he goes.”
A thunderclap boomed throughout the sanctum as the main lantern sputtered, only to recover and resume its pulsing a few moments later. Fluttershy’s gaze flew around the room, but the source of the interruption was not hard to spot. Princess Luna had driven her hoof into the floor so hard that cracks shot out from under it.
“Sister! Shall we cease these diversions and turn to the matters that weigh upon us all?” she demanded.
Fluttershy turned back to Princess Celestia, receiving a small nod from the elder alicorn. She and Twilight were right. Aside from herself, Fluttershy could not think of any other ponies (or dragons or bunnies, for that matter) she would rather have taking care of Philomena.
“You mentioned a fight earlier,” said the elder Princess. She paused to draw a slow breath through her nostrils. “You’re absolutely right about that.”
Everypony gathered around her cushion and lowered themselves onto their haunches.
“I first received word from the Grand Marshal one week ago,” the Princess continued. “Now, there’s always some kind of fire coming over from Drakvarna, but it grows stronger and harder to control as we approach the Summer Sun Celebration.”
Twilight smacked her hoof on the floor. “But the fires this year are especially bad, aren’t they?”
The Princess nodded. “Exactly. I promised the Grand Marshal I would speak with my old friend Raznavog to see what he could do to help.”
“What a weird name.” Rainbow Dash scratched her head. When her friends turned on her with scandalized looks branded on their faces, she scrambled to save her own. “I-I-I mean-n-n—oh, my,” she said airily. “That’s really cool of you to do.”
A cold shiver rushed over Fluttershy’s coat. She recognized that name. “Y-you know the king of the dragons, Your Majesty?”
Bad as the wide-eyed shock her friends shot in her direction was, the realization that she had cut Princess Celestia off skewered her so hard that she doubled over. She had done it, now! Banishment and imprisonment would be too good for her! The Princess would probably go and—
“Ah ha ha ha! Very good, Fluttershy.”
Laugh?
“You are absolutely correct,” the Princess continued. “We grew up together, actually: him, Luna, and me. How I still remember the nights we spent camping in the forest, telling stories and roasting marshmallows...” And, just as the light of fond recollection had brightened Princess Celestia’s features, a solemn resignation now fell over them like a veil. “He’s changed. I once knew him as a focused and understanding creature, but his demeanor the day we met was confused, and accusatory. When I asked him for help, he refused me.”
“That brute!” Rarity exclaimed. “How could he say no to you?”
“He told me the fires in his lands were beyond his control—and that we were responsible for them.”
Applejack stomped on the floor. “What? How in tarnation does he get to figurin’ like that?”
“If only I knew,” said the Princess, shaking her head. “What he said next, however, troubles me the most.” She sucked in a breath that refused to come voluntarily. “He was glad to see Equestria on the brink of burning.”
Silence settled over the room like snow on a house without a roof. The lantern continued to pulse with light, almost in time with everypony’s breathing—or, perhaps it was the other way around. A muted rumble sounded somewhere outside the glass.
“That was when I pressed him for answers,” said Princess Celestia. Her voice had dropped to a softness matched only by a mother’s love. “And that—that was when he attacked.”
It came to Fluttershy as if she had seen it with her own eyes: confined beneath the soaring dome of a massive throne room, the dragon unleashed blast after blast of fire at the alicorn pleading for reason as she flitted back and forth in the air. No nooks, no shelter—only cruelly smooth stone pockmarked by burns the size of trees. A swirling lance of flame caromed off a shield barely summoned in time, the second lance shattered it, and down the Princess fell...
“That’s why we’re here, isn’t it?” asked Twilight, turning to Princess Luna. “Your Highness, you called us the Elements of Harmony in your letter.” The unicorn rubbed her hoof on the floor as if she could not believe what she was about to say next. “Am I correct in understanding... that you want us to go to the dragon king, and sort this all out?”
The Princess of the Night nodded solemnly. “It seems my sister does not exaggerate the measure of your brain, Twilight Sparkle. We have the Elements of Harmony here with us so that you may repossess them, and discharge your duty to Equestria directly.” She sighed. “Ah, that the fate of our country—nay, the very world—lies in such young hooves...”
“Now hold on, there! Don’t you go cardin’ your cotton before you’re sure there ain’t ants in it,” said Applejack, snorting. “My friends and I may be young, and we may not be the most civilized of ponies—”
“Begging your pardon?”
“Shoosh, Rarity. As I was about ta say, there ain’t none among us who’s a shiver-liver scaredy-pony.”
Fluttershy wanted nothing more at that moment than to clamp her hooves over Applejack’s muzzle—but that would have been extremely rude of her to do.
“That’s right!” Rainbow Dash chimed in, flapping into the air so she hovered above the Princess. “We’ve saved each other and the world a couple of times already. I even bucked a dragon in the face once—and I’m still here, right? We’ll figure it out!”
“And I think I can speak for everypony else when I say we’re ready to do whatever it takes out there, for Equestria!”
Fluttershy’s lips had somehow welded themselves shut. She was with the rest of her friends in spirit as they repeated Twilight’s shout, and there were animals in the Everfree Forest who were on the verge of losing everything— but to confront the king of the dragons himself? Did nopony else have any idea of what they were getting themselves into?
“‘Tis well that your ardor evinces itself so,” said Princess Luna—but instead of smiling, her mouth only hardened along with her eyes. “But the task before you is not one you can attack on the wings of bravado alone. Let us observe the path ahead. Come!”
The alicorn’s mane rippled like the breath of the void as she made toward the eastern limit of the room. On the other side of the glass, the orange glow from earlier clawed higher into the sky.
Indeed, nopony knew what they were getting into. Even Fluttershy had to admit what she saw next exceeded the limit of her fears.
Below her hooves, the three tiers of Flamewithers curved around each other like the rows of an amphitheater. The stage, however, lay miles below the town in severe want of repair: its blasted and barren surface erupted in abrupt plateaus and crevasses.
Anchored on the horizon at both ends, a wall of roaring fire advanced westward over the jagged waste. The colors dancing within its edges were just as colorful as Rainbow Dash in places, maintaining their hue even as they linked together and flew apart. It was almost like looking into a dream—a terrible, terrifying dream, at that. Embers had already taken to the air in parabolic arcs, devouring circles of Everfree foliage wherever they crashed down.
“On the morn,” Princess Luna continued, never taking her eyes off the fires below, “I will send you beyond the reach of those fey illuminations to our embassy for counsel—I do not expect Raznavog to stand down peacefully in his own court. If some small comfort is to be gleaned from the journey ahead, it is that little remains behind the firewall to form a blaze. The worst of it whirls in Drakvarna’s western miles.”
“I... I see. We... we certainly have a lot to think about tonight. Thank you, Your Highness.” Having stood at Fluttershy’s side while Princess Luna spoke, Twilight gave the flames a final glance before turning back toward her mentor.
“Those flames are quite large,” Fluttershy overheard Rarity saying.
“Do you think I could bake cupcakes with ‘em?” Pinkie Pie had a hoof to her mouth in deep contemplation. “I’ve never baked with rainbow-colored fire before.”
“Twilight.” Princess Celestia’s voice beckoned the unicorn back over by the lantern. “There’s something else I need to let you know before you go out there.”
“Yes, Princess?”
The alicorn tilted her head up at the shards orbiting around her. “Do you recognize what those are?”
“Aren’t they...?” Twilight shut her eyes for a moment, tensing her body. She opened them a few moments later. “I couldn’t bring one closer for a look,” she explained, “but that meant that magic doesn’t work in their immediate vicinity...” Her ears peaked on the height of an epiphany. “Nullstones...”
The Princess nodded. “The very same material that keeps Everfree feral, no matter how we try to affect it. And—” She intercepted one of the stones with the tip of her horn, and it fell onto the cushion just before her. “The only reason why I am still here with you today. I haven’t figured out what else Razzie struck me with, but until Luna thought to bring me these stones, the pain I’ve felt in my dreams ever since has come close to overwhelming me. If something similar should happen to you or your friends when you meet him—” offering the stone, “you’ll have this.”
Twilight took it in her teeth and stashed it in her bag. “I’ve always wanted to play around with one of those,” she confessed with a sheepish smile. “But—did I just hear you call him ‘Razzie’?”
“You heard correctly, my faithful student,” said the Princess, “because I still believe King Raznavog is still my friend. I am merely sad for him,” pausing as her head drooped by a degree, “because I also believe he has lost his way. Redeem him, my little ponies. Prove to the world that the kind and intelligent dragon I grew to love as my own brother is not the monster I met out there, before it’s too late.”
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CouchCrusader
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979
| 4 |
Main 6,Original Character,Princess Luna,Adventure,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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A Fire on the East
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When fires invade the dreams of an unlikely pegasus, she ventures forth to figure out why.
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cancelled
| 52 | 2 |
<p>As fires from the dragon lands threaten the Everfree Forest, the Elements of Harmony must find a way to stop them. In particular, one pegasus uncovers a talent she never thought possible, and must reconcile it with her life's calling.</p>
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everyone
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2012-03-17T21:41:54+00:00
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2012-03-17T21:41:54+00:00
| 1,480 |
Fluttershy and her friends stepped out of Princesses’ tower just as the last of Flamewithers’ shops closed for the night. With Twilight’s cloud-walking spell active on the non-pegasi of the group, Pinkie Pie wasted no time testing the springiness of the cloud beneath her hooves.
“Hey, Rainbow Dash!” she squeaked, flailing her hooves. “Look at me! I’m flying just as high as you are!”
The pegasus cackled. “Oh, yeah? How high can you go?” With three potent flaps of her wings, she ascended to a height halfway up the Princesses’ tower.
“Hey!”
While the others watched Rainbow and Pinkie play catch-me-if-you-can, Fluttershy found herself at the forefront of the group. The cloud beneath her hooves rumbled with the sound of distant explosions, and a persistent breeze warmed her wings as it blew in from the east.
She turned to the others. “Um, girls?”
A wild bounce sent Pinkie Pie tumbling end over end, releasing a shower of party props and musical instruments from her saddlebags. Only a quick sweep of Twilight’s magic kept them from crashing onto the cloud.
She had not been able to do the same for Pinkie. Always one to find the bright side to things, however, the earth pony seized the opportunity to show everypony her best impression of an ostrich upon landing.
Fluttershy had to admit it was a good impression. But her heart could not shore up the same easy laughter rippling from the rest of her friends.
She turned away, setting off along a route as familiar to her as a bedtime story. It took her past the weather factories and their spiraling cloudstacks, the lantern shop on the corner, past the old kitemaker’s store, past a row of east-facing benches. After a while, it brought her to a gated, two-story house. Columns rose along its front in geometric intervals, and statues of armored pegasi lined the path to the front door. When she looked back, her friends were still talking amongst themselves, but they were following in her hoofsteps.
Their chatter ceased as Fluttershy unlatched the gate to the house. She heard something rustle behind her soon afterward—Rainbow Dash was poking a well-groomed topiary.
“This place is weird,” she said, gawking around the front yard. “Whose house is this?”
Fluttershy squeaked as if struck. “M-my parents’,” she said. After seeing Rainbow’s ears peak, she continued. “We moved in here a few years after I was born.”
Applejack whistled as she glanced up at the house. “Hoo-ee, girl. I know you like visiting the spa with Rarity an all, but I never took you for growin’ up fancy.” The farmpony hitched a hoof at one of the statues.
“Come now, Applejack,” Rarity protested, looking up from an inscription on one of the statues. “It’s usually not all that expensive as you make it out to be. You should join us sometime; you are truly missing out on some world-class service.”
“I ain’t never steppin’ hoof in a place that calls mud a beauty product. Honestly, Rarity, I still don’t see the difference between my mud and yours.”
Fluttershy paused before the front doors, which were situated between a pair of unlit windows. She had not put much thought into where her friends were going to stay the night. Now that she had brought them along, though, she began to see little tells pass between her friends. The sidelong glances, the arching eyebrows, the underslung pointing of hooves--they were impressed.
She was not a pony used to impressing others.
“We could stay the night somewhere else,” she blurted. “My parents aren’t home right now, so we could go to the Fairfeather Inn instead. It’s a very nice place.” She tapped a hoof on the porch. “Has... beds.”
“What?” Pinkie Pie planted her hoof on Fluttershy’s scalp, and started rubbing at it as if it were a stubborn patch of dried frosting. “He-llo-o-o! Don’t be silly, you filly! Why do we need to stay at an inn when you have this super-ginormous house all to yourself? With your parents out, it’ll be just like a sleepover, you see!”
“Ouch. Ow.” Fluttershy ducked her head, but the hoof continued its violent crusade undeterred. “Pinkie, please stop that—Pinkie, that hurts—”
Twilight peeled the earth pony away before the latter turned Fluttershy’s head soft. The unicorn’s brows furrowed with concern. “Is something the matter, Fluttershy? I mean--yes, this is your house, and you have every right to ask us to go someplace else if you’re not comfortable with us staying here. Right, girls?”
“Ah--!” Fluttershy wiped a wing beneath her eyes. “No, it’s--I--oh, nevermind. I’m sorry. Please, come in.” She fished a key from her saddlebags and slotted it in the lock; the doors swung inward.
“Oooooh.”
The ponies had entered into a spacious atrium. Fluttershy nudged the chandelier hanging high above the center of the room, where crystals flared to life with soft white light. Wild Everfree blossoms reached for the air from a glass vase on a table toward the rear of the foyer. A pair of wide staircases ascended in arcs around the table to a mezzanine that wrapped around the foyer’s circumference. Open thresholds on the first floor split off to a sitting room to the left, and a kitchen and dining room to the right. The rooms of the second floor remained behind closed doors.
Along the walls hung portraits of various pegasi with groomed manes and lustrous coats. Rarity trotted over to a large painting of a stallion with dark eyes hidden behind thin-rimmed glasses and purred. “Oh my. You wouldn’t be my type normally, but...” The socialite clapped her hooves against her chest. “Say, Fluttershy. Do your parents entertain guests often?”
“Not really,” said the pegasus as she made for the kitchen. “It’s what you said earlier: they work very hard.”
“Are they on the fire patrols?” asked Rainbow Dash. “That’d probably explain why they aren’t here right now.”
“I dunno.” Twilight followed Fluttershy up the stairs. “This place looks a little expensive for a calling like that. I’ll bet they’re in administration.”
Fluttershy nodded. “You’re both kind of right.”
“We are?”
“Oh, yes.” Fluttershy gave the first two doors a pass. “As it turns out, Mother is a high-ranking officer with the patrols here, and Father is a senior doctor at the hospital.”
“Augh!” Rainbow Dash stamped her hoof on the floor as an open-mouthed smile stretched between her ears. “I remember you telling me about your dad at flight camp, but you never said anything about your mom! I had no idea that kind of awesome ran in your family! What about your relatives? Got any aunts or uncles out there fighting the fires?” She tapped a hoof on her chin. “Would any of them happen to know any of the Wonderbolts, by any chance?”
Fluttershy chuckled. “Sorry, Rainbow Dash. It’s only Mother, Father, and me.” She stopped before a door at the corner and pushed it open.. “Here we are. We have a couple of guest bedrooms on this side of the house, so everypony make yourselves at home.”
“Whoo-hoo!” A pink blur shot past the pegasus into the first bedroom. Before anypony could stop her, Pinkie Pie was improvising an acrobatic routine on the bed closest to the door. As the bed was little more than a block of cloud given some framework, it bowed in the middle like an overacting thespian with every bounce.
“Pegasus beds are the best!” cheered the pink party pony in the middle of a double backflip. “I’m totally getting one of these when we get back to Ponyville.”
“What’s in this room?” Twilight Sparkle had continued past the bedrooms, stopping in front of a pair of double doors. A pair of pegasi sculptures about to take flight rested on pedestals on either side.
“Oh.” Fluttershy left the other girls to settle in while she joined the unicorn. “This is Father’s library.”
Twilight’s eyes swelled until they were round as moons. “Can-- can we go in?”
No sooner did Fluttershy push the doors in did a lavender blur shoot past her. What was getting into everypony? It was only a house...
“For a private collection, your father’s doing really well!” Lighting her way with her horn, Twilight trotted back and forth in a lowered section of floor in the center of the room. A pair of high-backed chairs rested on either side of the reading table in the center of the floor, facing out toward a large, curtained window on the far side of the room. A glass and iron lantern sat on the table unlit.
Twilight skimmed row after row of low shelves, talking to herself in hushed excitement. Suddenly, she stopped, backtracked a little, and squealed. “Oh my gosh--Principia Arcana: A Brief History of Magic?” She levitated a well-worn tome from its shelf for Fluttershy to see--the book was easily half the unicorn’s height.
“My dad would always read this to me when I was a filly. Well, I made him read it to me.” A guilty smile seeped across her face as she flipped through the pages. “Even though Neighton focused on unicorn magic, he also looked into pegasus and earth pony magic, too. You can see his observations in the appendices here.” She turned the book around for Fluttershy to read. “Pretty cool, huh?”
“Um...” The pegasus’ eyes scanned the text in front of her. The way the unicorn philosopher described terms like “drag coefficient” and “meteorological potential” made it all sound like it was written in Canternese. “Well, it was very nice of him to think about the other ponies.”
“Very true.” Twilight closed the book. “Do you think your dad would mind if I borrowed it for the night? I always sleep better after some light reading.”
Light reading? The book had to be as heavy as a two-year-old filly. What did Twilight do when she got down and studied?
“I think he would be okay with that,” said the pegasus. “Father tries to keep his collection open to everypony. I bet he’d even be okay with letting you take a couple books on the road, as well.”
“You really think so?” Twilight’s lip twitched at the corner.
“Yes.”
“Ah-hahahaha!”
Fluttershy’s wings sprang free from her sides, but they had no chance to carry her away before Twilight’s hooves swept her up in a huge embrace.
“Thank you thank you thank you thank you!” Twilight repeated. “Oh, this is so exciting! Where should I even begin? Ponyville’s a little lacking in pegasus material, and there’s so much of it here!” She scurried off to pick more titles off the shelves. “A Narrative Overview of Weather Control? Guess I’ll take that one—ooh! Flora of the Everfree Forest, yes, yes!” Books thumped on the floor by Twilight’s hooves. “And oh my—eleven volumes of The Complete Compendium of Pegasi Lore—wow!” By the time Fluttershy left the library, Twilight’s reading list had piled up past her cutie mark.
The pegasus took a few moments to turn off the chandelier before checking up on the rest of her friends. She bid goodnight to Rarity, who had claimed a bedroom for herself, just as the unicorn inserted one last roller into her mane. Rainbow Dash was also alone in the next room, fast asleep. One of her hooves draped over the side of her bed. Applejack had decided to room with Pinkie, and when Fluttershy came by, the two earth ponies were sharing horror stories of catering gigs gone wrong.
“So the mayor wasn’t as happy as I thought she’d be when Gummy burst out of the cake.”
“Well, I reckon she expected somethin’ a lil’ more classy for her party than ‘Happy Birthday on the Bayou’. But that’s just ol’ Applejack speakin’. That was a good party in my eyes.”
“She didn’t even stick around to watch Gummy play the banjo for her! I mean, it’s okay to be a little mad, but to walk out on your own party like that?”
“I hear you, sugarcube. That was awkward for everypony.”
Fluttershy crossed over to the other side of the house. Her eyelids grew heavier with each step, it seemed--was this really the same day she had started by tending to the animals back in Ponyville? The library, the letter, the tower and the princesses--they all felt so long ago.
She laid a hoof on her bedroom door. Her eyes floated through her house, taking in familiar details one by one--the smooth hoofrail running along the edge of the mezzanine, the chandelier and its crystals turning slightly on their threads, filigree sprouting from the bases of the unlit sconces along the walls.
Nothing had changed.
“Fluttershy?”
Twilight emerged from the library trailing a cloud of books large enough to fill a good-sized wagon. Even at this distance, her voice telegraphed her concern quite clearly. “Is everything all right?”
The pegasus snapped out of her trance, shaking her head. “Everything’s fine,” she said, letting her hoof fall from the door. Yawning, she made her way over to her friend in the guest wing. “Pinkie’s right,” she continued upon arriving. “This is a sleepover, and it wouldn’t be very thoughtful of me if I didn’t join you all over here. Right?”
Twilight smiled. “Glad to have you on board, Fluttershy.”
Bidding the unicorn good night, Fluttershy tiptoed past Rainbow Dash to the other bed in the room. As she nestled beneath the covers in the darkness, she listened to the other pegasus’ breath come and go in gentle waves.
***
“Aaaaah!”
Bits of leaf and dirt clung to her fetlocks as she galloped, and the gnarled trees surrounding her creaked in the stiff wind. Roiling clouds obscured what little sky peeked through the vine-choked canopy. Every time the path turned, a thorny tendril raked her legs, or a spider’s thread fell across her eyes.
Her lungs burned. Every time she heard something scamper through the undergrowth around her, she lost what little wind she still had to screaming. The Everfree Forest was ominous enough living on its fringes. How did she ever get herself this far inside?
“Hello?” she cried. “Hello? Anypony there? Can you hear me? Helllp!”
Suddenly, the trees pulled back from Fluttershy, and she skittered to a halt at the edge of a large clearing.
“Hello?” The pegasus crept around the open space, her ears flitting this way and that. “Where am I?” she asked of nopony. She looked over her shoulder on a hunch, expecting one of her friends to trot into view. But then her hoof collided with a rock, and she tumbled over it like an apple cart.
No, it was not a rock. It was too soft to be one, and it shifted beneath her barrel.
Fluttershy scrambled back on her hooves--she’d stumbled over a mare. A red mane spilled over her neck like filamentary flame, and her cream-colored coat showed no signs of dirt or distress. Both of her wings rested along her flanks, rising and falling with her breath. Fluttershy wanted to say she was napping, but she could not understand why anypony would want to do so in the middle of the Everfree Forest.
She fidgeted in place as a gust of wind rustled the leaves around her. What did she want to do? The greater part of her, including the part governing common sense, told her she did not want to wake the sleeping mare before her. The issue went beyond something rude—something about this pegasus nagged at her. Had they met sometime in the past? Those colors reminded her of something from long ago, for sure, but she was almost sure they had never met in person. And waking up a stranger was a dangerous business, indeed.
On the other hoof, so was staying in the middle of the Everfree Forest alone, in the middle of the night.
“Um. Excuse me?” she mumbled, poking the mare’s wing. Much as she hated to disturb the resting pegasus, she wanted to have some company, at least until she could figure out how to return to Ponyville. “Miss? Hello?”
The other pegasus stirred, and uneasy regret crashed into Fluttershy’s gut the next instant. There was something familiar about the mare, suddenly--and when things happened suddenly, those things rarely turned out for the better.
She took a step back as the pegasus rose to her hooves. The other mare was not quite as tall as Princess Celestia, but she was certainly taller than Princess Luna, and with her wings unfurled, she looked to be twice as large again. Despite returning to wakefulness, the red-maned pegasus kept her eyes closed, and her mouth traced a flat line across her face.
“I, uh...” Her ears flattened against her head as she took another step back, and another. Her heart was beating like the wings of a hummingbird. Yes, she was now certain she knew this mare from somewhere, but she could not remember where they met. “I--I’m sorry to bother you,” she stuttered. “Y-you can go back to sleep. Don’t even worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
The mare took a step forward, her face impassive.
“No! No, no.” A twig snapped beneath Fluttershy’s hoof. “Eeyahh! I mean, you don’t have to go anywhere. Please, feel free to stay where you are.”
The mare took another step forward. Her head came down to Fluttershy’s level.
“Ah!” The butter-yellow pegasus screamed as she backed into a tree trunk. Still the other mare approached.
Fluttershy sank to the ground and covered her face. “Um, okay. I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry for waking you. I’ll go back into the forest, and it’ll be like we’ve never even met.” A cream-colored hoof stepped into the space between her hooves. “How does that sound?”
The other pegasus halted just as the wind picked up. She looked toward the sky--no, how could she look with her eyes closed? She raised her head, prompting Fluttershy to do the same.
A hole spiraled into being among the clouds as they churned overhead, exposing the silhouette of a pegasus town against the starry sky. A dull orange glow tinted the town’s underbelly, while trails of light streaked behind some of its taller buildings. The tallest one caught Fluttershy’s eye in particular--even from several miles out, she thought she spotted something flapping at its apex. A flag, perhaps?
Her mind sprang back to when she first arrived outside the Princesses’ tower in Flamewithers. The flag flying from its spire had to be at least two or three stories tall.
A knot formed in the yellow pegasus’ throat as her pulse calmed a little. “That’s where I live.” She turned to the other mare. “So, you just wanted to show me how to get back? That’s what you wanted to do for me all along, right?”
The red-maned pegasus kept her head pointed toward Flamewithers. This was not the response Fluttershy expected--but what could she expect in the first place? She tapped her front hooves together and looked away.
“I was wrong about you. For a moment there, I was, well--I didn’t know what was going to happen. I got scared. So, I’m sorry.” She unfurled her wings and ascended above the canopy. “Thank you,” she called down, “whoever you are. My friends are waiting for me there, and I don’t want to keep them waiting.”
The other pegasus took a step toward her.
“Oh. Did you want to come with me? I wouldn't mind flying with someone else for n—”
A blast of air swatted her upward before she knew what was happening. The earth and sky convolved, a dizzy mess of green and gray—she stopped and reversed direction. The sky retreated behind a canopy of leaves as several branches broke beneath her back. One refused her; she tumbled.
Her left wing became trapped beneath her flank, and it drilled into the ground.
"Aaaaah!"
Fluttershy rolled over, her lungs unable to catch the breath surging through them. Her wing lay bent at freakish angles along the ground, like a marionette with severed strings. She screamed not because she was in pain—on the contrary, she felt no pain at all—but because she expected it would come at any moment.
"Please," she pleaded, turning to the other pegasus. "Help."
The other pegasus towered over her in silence. Deliberately, she lifted one of her hooves into the air. It touched the ground on Fluttershy's other side, and the pegasus stepped over her as one would step over a small puddle.
"Wait," Fluttershy called. "Where are you going?"
Little by little, the pegasus glided into the shadows of the Everfree Forest. There were no other words to describe the smoothness of her gait.
"Are you going to get someone?" A crawling feeling seeped into Fluttershy's heart. "That's a good idea. More help's always a good idea."
The last inches of the pegasus' tail melded with the darkness.
"That's right, Fluttershy. She's just going to get help. She's getting help." She forced her gaze skyward as her wing let off a dull throb. "Everything will be okay. She'll be right back with help."
She craned her neck to get a better view of Flamewithers through the hole in the clouds and gasped. Had it grown closer? It was bigger than before. She could make out the little houses on the terraces. They traded shadows with one another as the streaking lights from before descended upon the town, where little plumes of cloud jumped into the air from where they landed. One collided into the pillars holding up the roof of a market pavillion, and the roof tumbled amid a burst of glowing sparks.
Fluttershy fell silent. The ground quivered beneath her back with every new light descending upon Flamewithers.
What about her parents’ house? Her eyes darted over the town, and she found her parents' house standing alone and exposed on the third terrace—intact.
Before she could sigh in relief, however, she caught a glimpse of another light coming in from the corner of the hole in the clouds, and she was just in time to watch it drift closer and closer to the house...
The detonation hurled her from her bed against the wall in a tangle of legs and mane, but the twins of terror and adrenaline dragged her up on her hooves in the span of a cough. The two beds had scattered to the corners of the room in the blast, and sticking out from beneath one of the mattresses was a rainbow-streaked tail.
"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy rushed over to her friend and hurled the mattress against the wall. Then she knelt and ran a hoof over the blue pegasus’s coat for injuries. To her relief, Rainbow was unhurt and woke quickly, but not without a little disorientation.
"Ugh... Fluttershy?" Rainbow rubbed her head and winced. Her rose eyes swept through the room. "Did somepony just drive a train through your house?"
"I have no idea.” Fluttershy looked over her shoulder. "I'll go check on Pinkie and Applejack. Can you go see Twilight and—"
"Gyaaaaaaah!"
Both pegasi jumped to their hooves. “Rarity!"
If ever anything existed to launch a pony from dreaming to flying in nothing flat, Rarity's brain-piercing scream would do just that. Rainbow Dash rushed through the doorway fast enough to suck the other bed straight from the room. “Hang in there, Rarity!” she cried.
While Rainbow Dash took care of the fashionista, Fluttershy scrambled over to the earth ponies' room. She caught flashes of little fires sprouting on the first floor--dancing on the paintings, creeping over the flower vase... “Pinkie! Applejack! You’ve got to wake up--”
Only an exceptionally athletic pegasus could hope to contest an earth pony in territorial disputes. Against two earth ponies, even the strongest pegasus would have more success rolling a boulder along a tightline. Because the scattered fires held her attention, Fluttershy had no chance of seeing her two friends in the doorway until she crashed into them, where they dismissed her into the far railing.
“Whoa, nelly!” Applejack ran over and helped the pegasus back upright. “You okay, hon?”
“I--I’ll be fine,” said Fluttershy.
“Where’re the others?”
“Kyaaaaagh!”
Applejack winced. “Hoo-ee. I guess that answers that for Rarity. Get along, now, girls!” The farmpony galloped off in the direction of the unicorn’s screaming.
Fluttershy tried to suppress the chill rising up her spine, but she may well have tried . “You don’t think she’s hurt, do you?”
“I sure hope not.”
Pinkie Pie lurched ahead of the other two ponies with a tremendous bound. The door to Rarity’s room was closed, but not for long--Pinkie seized the edge of the door in her jaw and yanked. “Never fear, Rarity! Auntie Pinkie Pie’s here!”
On the other side of the door, the only description Fluttershy could come up with was that somepony had blown up a beauty supply store. Curlers and mane products littered the floor, while a set of scissors embedded in the wall described the curve of a fan. Bathrobes and towels were scattered everywhere. Rarity sat upright in bed with her mane in wavy distress, flailing her hooves and wailing—but the unicorn lacked any sort of mark or wound on her body whatsoever.
“Hey!” Pinkie bounced over by the unicorn’s side. “What’s with the saddy-waddy? We thought something serious had happened to you.”
“Oh, I’ll be all right,” the unicorn gasped, falling back into her pillow. “You should be worrying about Twilight instead!”
Pinkie furrowed her brow. “Twilight?”
“Yes!” Rarity sat back up and clamped her hooves on the earth pony’s cheeks. “She came in here with books just before I fell asleep, but she told me she would be going back to the library for more!”
Applejack shook her head sighed. “That’s Twilight for you,” she said. “Girl can’t stop studyin’ even when she’s about to go savin’ Equestria.”
“You don’t understand, Applejack,” said Rarity, rounding on the farmpony.
“Why do you reckon?”
If the unicorn flapped her forelegs any harder, she would have floated off of her bed. “Whatever caused that huge explosion just now passed through the library first!” she roared. “That’s why!”
“Hellllp! Somepony, come quick!”
Fluttershy’s legs reacted faster than her brain, and she found herself back out on the mezzanine just as Rainbow Dash finished yelling. The chromatic pegasus pressed her back up against the wall just to the side of what used to be the library. In its place was a jagged, roaring hole, behind which lay the glowing maw of some infernal beast.
“Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy grabbed her friend by the shoulders and snatched her further away from the library. “Are you okay? Where’s Twilight? Is she all right?”
“She’s in there, and she’s knocked out,” her friend snarled, throwing her friend’s hooves off. “I can’t get to her alone, but now that you’re here, we might have a chance to get her outta there.”
Fluttershy shook her head. “What are you talking about? We can’t go in there!”
“Hello-o-o?” Dash flared her wings as wide as they would spread. Fluttershy could not ignore the soot tipping her friend’s primaries. “Pegasi? If we treat the fire like a really big updraft, we might be able to drive off the heat long enough to get to Twilight.” She scrambled back to the mouth of the beast. Come on!”
Fluttershy’s hooves dug into the floor. “B-but—”
“I said come on—aaagh!” A gout of scorching air showered Rainbow with embers. She shook them off and threw a hoof in front of her face. “I need you here now, Fluttershy!”
The yellow pegasus skittered back. “I-I can’t.”
“Come on, ‘Shy!” Applejack’s muzzle pushed into her back. “Rainbow’ll never let anypony get hurt while she’s around. You know that’s the truth, so help her!”
“Raaah!” Rainbow Dash slammed her hooves on the floor, rowing forward with one long, powerful stroke of her wings. Fluttershy’s jaw dropped—in a single motion, her friend had kicked the blaze half a wingspan back into the library.
A sharp impact from behind jolted the pegasus to her friend’s side, and only adrenaline-spiked reflexes kept her on her hooves. She pulled a hoof to her face as purple swaths burned across her vision--she could not look into the library for more than a moment at a time.
“Do it, filly!” Pinkie Pie screamed. “Don’t be scared, now! You can do this!”
“Flap those wings!” Rainbow pushed her wings forward again. “They were built for this kind of thing!”
The explosion, the yelling, Twilight in peril, more yelling, fire, fire, fire--it was all too much. She fled somewhere deep beneath her thoughts where she was not about to go walking into an inferno--she was not about to be anywhere, really. Nowhere was better than anywhere, and she retreated as far down as she could go.
An agitated prod in her side opened her wings. Another prod got them flapping, though the wind they put forth would not have upset a house of cards, much less push away a fire. Still she advanced at Rainbow Dash’s side, the latter contributing the most to their progress.
Something crunched into flakes beneath her hoof, and a strange tingle chased up her fetlock shortly after.
“Hey, space cadet! You’re stepping on a flaming book!”
She lifted her hoof. A few slaps from her friend’s wing smothered any embers that may have stuck to it.
“Don’t go numb on me just yet—Hey! Hey!” The cyan pegasus poked Fluttershy’s head. “Look, Twilight’s right there. Could you stay with me a little longer?”
Fluttershy followed her friend’s pointed hoof. Either Twilight had extremely quick reflexes when the explosion happened, or else was very, very lucky. An armchair lay upended over her, forming an emergency shelter from burning debris. The only obstacles between the rescue party and the victim were the remnants of the other chair and table—the reading lantern lay shattered in the bottom shelf of a distant bookcase.
Rainbow Dash punched her friend in the leg. “Come on, Fluttershy! We’re here! Let’s grab Twilight and get the hay outta he—“
A sound like the popping of a cracked glass bottle from within sent a violet aura tearing through the room. The shock dragged trails of sparks over both the pegasi, and Fluttershy suddenly found herself back in the front of her head once more—her wings in pain, the air burning her nostrils.
“W-w-what was that?” she stammered.
“It sounded like it came from over there!” Rainbow Dash pointed to the broken lantern--or, rather, where the broken lantern had been. In its place was a circlet of violet-studded char, having blown through two of the bookshelves above it. With its lower supports gutted, the bookcase and its flaming contents began to tip into the center of the room.
Rainbow Dash’s wings shot up. “No!”
Fluttershy seized Rainbow’s tail in her mouth without thinking--one requirement of being friends with the Wonderbolt-wannabe was that one had to not only anticipate disaster, but what role Rainbow Dash would play in it. Had she not held her friend back at the last instant, a shower of flaming shelves and literature would have descended on her with remarkable force. When the collection crashed to the floor, no pegasus lay pinned beneath it.
The same could not be said for Twilight Sparkle. The flaming books piled all around the openings the armchair provided, and the fragments of the bookcase made the seal perfect.
“Twilight!” Her fire discipline forgotten, Rainbow Dash pulled herself free from Fluttershy’s jaws and thrust her hooves into the burning pile--only to draw them out just as quickly. “Hot! Hot! Hot!” She whirled on the pink-maned pegasus. “Don’t just stand there, Fluttershy! Do something!”
But all Fluttershy could do was stand there, her mind hazy—a million voices cried out at once with no consensus; another million demanded retreat. Meanwhile, Rainbow tried to fling more of the debris aside, ignoring the smoke rising from the tips of her wings.
“Hang on, Twilight Sparkle! We’re coming for you!” The cyan pegasus blew on her hooves and rubbed them over her coat, but her pace did not improve. “Fluttershy! Come on!”
She looks better. Did she put up any fights this time?
Twilight’s words from earlier that evening leaped into Fluttershy’s mind. She remembered, not hours before, how she had been relatively safe in her own home--free of fire and pain, surrounded by all of her best friends.
Pegasi can manipulate fire? But... fire’s nothing but a product of an oxidation reaction.
She had not thought much of it back then, the way Twilight listened to her words. She thought the unicorn was scratching an intellectual itch from the way she listened so politely. However, they had talked with each other plenty of times before that—she had even confided in her during her short time as a fashion model. No—when they talked, they talked about much more than just the academic.
To Flamewithers, then! Let’s go!
When Fluttershy thought about it, Twilight was usually the one encouraging her to go places. From defeating Nightmare Moon at the ruins of Castle Everfree to enjoying brunch with Princess Celestia at Sugarcube Corner--had the Princess’ star pupil not been there to let her in past the guards, she would have never met Philomena.
"Twiiilight!" Rainbow Dash kicked a piece of flaming shelf from the pile. "Wake up! You've got to get out of there! Do the teleporty thing, or whatever it was, just—gah!" With a snort, the pegasus leaped back from the blaze. "Just come out already!"
Something twisted the bottom of Fluttershy’s heart seeing her friend this way—the scalds on her hooves as she rubbed them down, the soot smeared all over her coat, the glare of unbreakable loyalty dismissed by impossibility.
Rainbow Dash did not believe in impossibility. If anything, to use her words, she made the impossible happen.
The haze in Fluttershy’s mind disintegrated, leaving one voice as inevitable as the changing of the tides. It told her, simply, that Rainbow Dash would try again, with her or without.
She concentrated on the fire before her and spread her wings wide, cupping the heat beneath her feathers. She tried to fix Rainbow’s technique in her mind--long rowing motions, Fluttershy, she told herself.
Her friends were depending on her. Knowing that gave her eyes a hard, iron-like sheen, and her brows slanted downwards. She leaned in with her body as she thrust her wings forward in the longest arcs she could manage, as hard as she could manage, ignoring how they wobbled and flexed in transit.
The flames covering Twilight’s shelter wavered, but did not shift.
“Again, Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash let loose a push of her own, and still the flames remained where they burned.
They did not take long to fall into the same rhythm. Backwinging, Fluttershy imagined her wings scraping the fire away, imagined how she would crawl beneath the arm chair and rescue the unicorn who had done so much for her. She pushed forward together with Rainbow, and the fire conceded a couple of inches.
Still, doubt crawled down the back of her mind like drops of water from a basement drainpipe. Updraft manipulation was one matter, but bending an inferno to her will? No flight school in Equestria taught ponies how to do that. What if, instead of blowing the flames away, she was only fanning them higher? The inches she and Rainbow Dash had pried away shrank before the roaring fire behind them.
“Don’t give up!” Rainbow had risen to her back legs. “Get closer!”
Even where she was, the heat felt like it was trying to scrape off her coat from under her skin. Still, Fluttershy put a hoof forward. The air around her began to shimmer, and a trail of light flickered around her leg.
We’re going to beat this fire, she told herself.
She reared up, spreading her wings until the air slipped between their feathers, and rammed them forward.
We’re going to pull Twilight out and get her to safety, no matter what it takes.
The fire retreated only a couple more inches, still well short of its apex. Fluttershy advanced upon its borders even as its heat turned into a wall—more trails of light spiraled around her barrel. The beating of her wings caught up with the beating of her heart, and their rhythm poured iron into her voice, even as the air seared through her nostrils. “Get— away— from my friend!”
Rainbow cheered at her side. “That’s it, Fluttershy! Don’t let up! You’re on f—”
A loud pop cut through the pegasus’ words. Fluttershy felt the concussion just behind her sternum, as if somepony had burst a balloon inside of her. The chill that followed it snap-froze her heart in a vortex of ice, and drove frigid tendrils down her limbs.
“Rainbow Dash!” she gasped. When she turned on her friend, the other pegasus reared precariously on one hoof, with her pupils collapsed to pinpoints.
“Fluttershy, get offa there! You’re on fire! You’re on fire!”
A wall of adrenaline slammed into her frozen midsection, and instants dilated and became large. Fluttershy became aware of a glow coming off of her hooves as they floated into her vision. When they shifted into focus, bright wisps swirled around them and up her legs like streamers, diaphanous and fluid. More of them danced around her barrel, weaving, flowing, and separating to the slow melody of an unheard air.
The flames magnified about her; she grew colder and colder. The sound of Rainbow yelling her name faded from her ears, the burning contours of her father’s library stretched into the distance, and the world lowered her onto her back.
She saw the sky. It held so many stars.
|
CouchCrusader
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979
| 5 |
Main 6,Original Character,Princess Luna,Adventure,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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A Fire on the East
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When fires invade the dreams of an unlikely pegasus, she ventures forth to figure out why.
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cancelled
| 52 | 2 |
<p>As fires from the dragon lands threaten the Everfree Forest, the Elements of Harmony must find a way to stop them. In particular, one pegasus uncovers a talent she never thought possible, and must reconcile it with her life's calling.</p>
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everyone
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2012-10-18T08:32:01+00:00
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2012-10-18T08:32:01+00:00
| 1,579 |
What did you do when one of your best friends caught fire? The question was as ludicrous to Rainbow Dash’s mind as the actual situation. Flames rushed over Fluttershy’s coat as if she were doused in kerosene, and yet she did not budge.
“Fluttershy!” Even as she called the pegasus’ name, Rainbow suspected she might as well have tried to yell up to her friend in space. Her own voice sounded remote to her, like it was trying to cross a vacuum to reach her ears. But, short of burning herself as well, yelling was the only thing Rainbow could do. “Fluttershy!”
The other pegasus failed to respond, at least out loud. What took only a few moments seemed like hours before Fluttershy’s back left leg buckled. Like the toppling of dominoes, her other legs failed one after the next so that her body twisted toward the ceiling. Her eyes, wide enough to see into another world, did not blink.
Rainbow Dash could do nothing but stand by as her friend collapsed, the flames leaping to replace the space she had previously filled.
A flash, one as intense as the birth of a star, lit the air outside of the house. The thunderclap, just as savage, hurled everything that wasn’t bolted down backwards—books and loosed pages, shelf fragments, the table and chairs, flames, and a rainbow-maned pegasus, whose world screamed from a lurching blur to a sharp impact against the far wall. Her head rattled off the baseboard on its way to the floor.
Her thoughts only caught up to her after she tottered back on her hooves, drops of water christening her muzzle. At least she was not hurt badly—her ears sang like a gull with broken wings, but she would recover soon enoug—
Wait. Why was her muzzle wet?
Rainbow Dash craned her head up. Several banks of thunderheads wove dark patterns across the sky, and threads of lightning crackled between the clouds like the lash of a coxswain’s whip. This would have been fine by her were all this taking place, well, outside. It took her a few moments to determine that yes, she was still within a library. Well, what was left of it, now.
Where’d the ceiling go?
The incoming deluge made short work of the remaining flames scattered around the floor amid the gobs of soggy carbonized paper. Rainbow Dash scraped her wingtips through these gobs knowing full well how much trouble cleaning the gunk off of her pinions would bring, but better her wings were soaked through than burned away.
She froze up. Burned away—? Fluttershy!
Rainbow half-galloped, half-tumbled to where her friend lay, and her momentum took her where her balance could not follow. A confusion of hooves and heavy feathers later, her chin connected with the floor. She sprung back up, bracing herself for what was left of her first friend of summer flight camp. What she saw—
What she saw, with her ears still ringing...
Nothing short of the Princess’ intervention could explain the whole and unharmed pegasus lying before her. No patch of her coat bore any sign of charring, and no lock of her pink, flowing mane had disappeared to the fire’s appetite. She looked for all the world as if she had fallen asleep after a shower, having neglecting to dry herself off beforehoof.
Rainbow Dash’s reaction was automatic: her hooves wrapped around Fluttershy’s shoulders, and a blue ear, questioning, pressed itself against her chest. The rain falling on the two pegasi drowned out all other noise, and bits of water-weighted mane flopped across Rainbow Dash’s eyes. Her heart rose horribly against the base of her throat.
And just like that, it sank back into her breast—Fluttershy’s heart answered her with a strong, steady pulse. She slumped against her dozing friend and closed her eyes, the warmth of her coat oddly soothing on her cheek after what just happened...
“Does she yet live?”
Rainbow Dash’s ears perked at the remote voice, one she’d heard for the first time only the previous night. She sat up, coming face to face with a pair of solemn teal eyes. “I—uh.”
In the ongoing downpour, Princess Luna’s celestial mane undulated as if caught in nothing more than a small breeze. She disguised it well with her even tone, but the swell and ebb of her torso betrayed some manner of fatigue.
Stupid filly! Bow! Lowering her muzzle to the floor, Rainbow sputtered, “I-I think she’s fine.”
The Princess stepped past her, unaware of her tail brushing against the tip of Rainbow’s hoof. The pegasus flinched. Holy haystacks—whatever that stuff was, it was cold!
Her mind spun with questions, the foremost of them being, “Why are you here?” Of course, that hardly covered what she wanted to ask at all. She wanted to know why the Princess had come—what made her come, rather, to Fluttershy’s house, of all places, but that wasn’t a hard question to answer if Princess Luna had been the one to ask the Elements of Harmony to aid her sister. A small slice of her knew her arrival had something to do with the sudden rainstorm, even though the rest of her demanded proof that such a connection existed. Had she known Fluttershy was in trouble? If fireballs were landing everywhere in Flamewithers, did the Princess try to help the ponies there, too?
What did she need to ask?
“And what of your friend, Fluttershy?”
Rainbow twitched at the strangeness of the question. “I said she was fine, didn’t I? Who else would I be talking about?” she snapped, turning around.
The Princess was not even looking at the unconscious pegasus at her hooves. The corners of Rainbow’s mouth drew into a taut snarl. Was she blind? Who walks past the brightest colored thing in the room to look at a pile of burned, dripping books?
The pegasus blinked. Her eyes were faster than her thoughts—they knew to slide over to the middle of the room before she knew not to—for that was when Princess Luna dragged a silver-shoed hoof through the cinders before her. It encountered no resistance, and no pony cried in alarm at its touch. All that followed after it was a trail of silent char.
“Princess Luna?” Applejack was the first to trot through the threshold, with Rarity and Pinkie Pie bringing up the rear. She remembered to bow, of course, but she subsequent shiver told Rainbow she was having just as hard a time as the pegasus had figuring out how to ask after the reasons behind the royal’s appearance. Then Applejack’s eyes glanced over to the ashes, and Rainbow braced herself for the terrible question.
“Where’s Twilight?”
“Is she not behind you, fair Applejack?”
All heads followed the Princess’ gaze out to the mezzanine, where a familiar, straight-maned unicorn emerged into the doorway. The mild confusion lifting her brows as she looked from pony to pony turned to wide-eyed epiphany an instant later.
“Oh. Hi, girls.” She put a hoof behind her head. “Looks like I missed something.”
“Missed something?” Rainbow dashed over to the newcomer with enough speed to leave scuff marks on the floor. Jabbing a hoof into the unicorn’s chest, she said, “Yeah, you missed something. You missed all of us thinking you were a goner!”
Twilight frowned. It was an impressive frown, even for Rainbow Dash, and she’d gotten some serious frowns from the instructors at flight camp in her day. But before she could dwell once more on Amber Swift’s great ugly jaw poking out at her, swift hooves circled around her back and pulled her into a firm embrace. Nopony spoke as Pinkie Pie was the next to join the hug, followed shortly by Applejack and Rarity. A collective sigh of relief rose into the air the next moment, and the ponies separated as Twilight geared up for an explanation.
“I found this excellent compendium of pegasus mythology in here,” she began, approaching Princess Luna and bowing before her. “While I was reading, I noticed the light outside turning orange, which I thought was strange—morning was still several hours off. When I looked outside the window, I saw all of these fireballs raining down on Flamewithers, so I put the book I was reading away and teleported outside to get a better look at things. I thought I might have been able to help. And that’s when I ran into these two.”
At Twilight’s gesture, all eyes in the room turned to the doorway for a second time. Those closest to the door drew aside as a pair of ruffled pegasus ponies entered: one mare, one stallion. The mare was immediately recognizable as the model for the armored statue in the Lighthouse, except now she had color: dull ashed smudged parts of her light orange coat, while her mane and tail were streaked like strawberry creme candies. Her eyes were the color of sienna clay, and her cutie mark was a whirling hurricane of flame.
Unlike his companion, the stallion dressed himself in a tie and physician’s coat, and the sooty cast on the white fabric hinted at several flights through banks of smoke. His natural coat bore the color of rust, and his mane and tail ran with a warm shade of grey like the color of wildfire remnants. His eyes, however, were a shade of teal-green Rainbow knew she’d seen before, and confirmation arrived but moments later.
“Our daughter,” said the stallion, his eyes somber and his voice even—too even. “Where is she?”
“Be at ease, Sundown,” Princess Luna replied, standing aside to let him pass. “She is at peace.”
The stare the physician skewered the Princess with could have started a blizzard over the Mild West Desert. The alicorn actually backed away, her ears folded in contrition. “Have I spoken wrongly? Do ponies not wish each other to be “at peace” in this day?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Grand Marshal Summer Sky answered, escorting her husband by. “Unfortunately, the language—”
“—has changed since my return oh stars how many times must I hear that?” Princess Luna gouged the floor with her hoof as a bolt of lightning crashed through the clouds above. It did not take her long to recognize that the eyes of everypony on her were not where they needed to be, and she grimaced. “I suppose I shall have enough time to catch up eventually,” she concluded, retreating to the perimeter of the library to give the newcomers their space.
“As it turns out, Mother is a high-ranking officer with the patrols here, and Father is a senior doctor at the hospital.” What a difference there was between hearing about Fluttershy’s parents and seeing them in person. They were standing in the rain with a full wing of their house demolished while their daughter lay sprawled on the floor just yards away—and they walked over to her with such, well... Rainbow was not sure of what word she was looking for, so she settled instead for standing up and bowing out of the way as quietly as she could manage.
Sundown knelt by his daughter’s side, the hem of his coat sliding over a puddle as he held the back of his hoof over her mouth. He nodded at his wife as she took her place on Fluttershy’s opposite side. Raising a wing above his daughter’s body, he glanced over the rest of her for injuries and found none. This Rainbow knew beforehand, of course, but she wasn’t the pony in the room with a medical license.
Satisfied with his daughter’s physical condition, Sundown tapped her shoulder twice, brought his muzzle to her ear, and whispered. “Fluttershy?”
“Ahhhh!”
The physician pulled back just in time to avoid his daughter’s head as it shot up like a broken harp string. Rainbow had fallen over backward, Twilight, Princess Luna, and Applejack were staring, and Rarity had fainted on Pinkie Pie, who stood on her hind hooves with her front ones knifed against Celestia-knew-what.
Well, let all doubts fall with the rain, so the saying went. Fluttershy’s eyes thrashed side to side as she tried to figure out where she was. She started as she noticed the armored mare kneeling at her left side. “Mother?” She looked to her right and found her father there too, calling him by that name as well.
And then she surprised everypony when she was the one to reach out with her hooves and hug them. Fluttershy enjoyed songs, often to Rainbow Dash’s chagrin, but she was never one to initiate an embrace. Mountains would sooner flip on their heads singing showtunes before Fluttershy ever worked up the courage to ask, “Can I get a hug?”
“You’re safe,” she whispered.
“Because you’re still ours to treasure,” answered Summer Sky, nuzzling her daughter’s mane.
“It was all a dream, then.” Fluttershy let go of her parents and hunched over. “Thank goodness.”
Rainbow Dash’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “‘Thank goodness?’ What are you talking about? Half your house just got blown away by a bunch of freaky fireballs.”
Fluttershy spun around to look at her with startling speed. “That’s not what I’m talking about, Dash.”
“Huh? Then what are you talking about?”
“Eep...” And as quickly as it had come, Fluttershy’s assertiveness left her behind with nothing but reddened cheeks. “I mean, I dreamed about something else that was kind of related to all this, but—.”
“Darling...!” Heads turned as Rarity sallied forth to Fluttershy’s side. “Everything’s going to be fine. Just try to concentrate on relaxing for now.” Her true motive for approaching became clear as a brush floated into the open from behind her back, though its wielder frowned at the sky a moment later. “Rainbow? Would you kindly pop into the sky and do something about this horrid rain? How am I supposed to tidy up our Fluttershy with this nonsense going on?”
“For cryin’ out loud, missy,” Applejack butted in, sticking her hat on Fluttershy’s head. “We’ve got bigger things to worry about than messin’ with the weather and brushin’ each other. The sooner we get out there and reason with this Razzie fella about all these darn fires, the better.”
“And you’re certainly one to talk,” the unicorn fired back. “Your older brother got a week off after hurting himself wearing your grandmother’s girdles, but there’s hardly a minute to tend to a pony coming out of a firetrap you sent her into in the first place? How can you be so insensitive?”
A violet ring of sparks swirled between the two ponies before their noses collided in argument, producing a very stern-looking Twilight with her hooves held out to both sides. “Girls, the slumber party was months ago,” she groaned. “You both have very good points, and you both have some very short-sighted ones, too. How about this, then? Rarity, you and Pinkie take Fluttershy downstairs and help her parents make breakfast. I think the kitchen’s still in one piece. Applejack, you and Rainbow can join the Princess and me while we discuss our plans for departure. Does that sound fair to everypony?”
Not a few quizzical glances wound their way toward the unicorn. Princess Luna’s eyebrow arched like a falcon preparing to dive; Summer Sky, on the other hoof, could not hide a small smile. A sudden rush of blood filled Twilight Sparkle’s cheeks.
“Iiii mean—far be it from me to tell you what to do in your house,” she said, nodding toward Fluttershy’s parents. More deliberately, “And your kingdom,” to the Princess.
“Actually...”
Everypony turned in time to see Fluttershy climb to her hooves. Her voice was quiet, but clear.
“Applejack’s right,” said the pegasus. “We can’t afford to stay here just because I’m weak. We need to leave for the dragon lands, and we need to do so today.”
She spotted the question forming on Rainbow’s lips and answered it. “The dragons aren’t the only ones to blame for these fires. Last night, I met the red-maned mare.”
Met the red-maned mare? Rainbow Dash glanced at her friends to make sure she’d heard that right. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity were exchanging confused looks, which wasn’t a surprise. On the other hoof, Twilight’s ears had perked up. The look she shot Rainbow, the kind that asked “you heard that too, right?” told the pegasus everything.
“Fluttershy?” Rainbow knew she had to phrase this delicately. Then again—delicate speech was far from one of her many amazing talents, so she grunted and forged on her own way. “You realize the red-maned mare is only something pegasus parents tell their foals about so they’ll stay in bed at night, right?”
Fluttershy looked as if she were being impaled. “Rainbow, please—”
“She’s right,” Twilight cut in. “Fluttershy, the red-maned mare I read about last night snatches up naughty foals and breaks their wings— ah...”
The unicorn took a moment to collect herself, as if she were trying to force unpleasant images out of her head. Rainbow could hardly blame her—the pegasi Bearers of the Elements drew their wings tighter against their flanks on reflex.
“Maybe I could’ve done without saying that,” said Twilight, apologizing. “But the fact remains that the red-maned mare is never once said or foretold to burn down all of Equestria. Unless you saw all of this happening in your dream, you’re better off leaving it at that—aaand the way you’re nodding your head right now’s telling me that’s exactly what happened?”
If it bounced any faster than that, Fluttershy’s head was gonna fly off into the clouds.
“Rrrright.” The tone of Twilight’s voice fell short of accepting her friend’s pleas for belief, but if Rainbow knew anything about the biggest egghead in unicorn history, that unicorn would be turning it over in the back of her head for the next several days. “I guess we’ll have more time to talk about this later. Are you sure you’re feeling well enough to leave home?”
“Yes.”
Rainbow wasn’t sure her friend from flight camp was all there in the head. Being on fire tended to do strange things to ponies! But she wasn’t sure she could argue with the results, either—anything that got Fluttershy to confront her problems, much less for her to do so on her own, couldn’t be all that bad.
“All right, girls.” Stepping up in front of the others, she spoke with authority while Fluttershy’s parents and Princess Luna stood out of the way. “Let’s be ready to leave for the dragon lands in one hour.”
Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash saluted in unison. Applejack stomped the floor with gritted teeth, and Rarity let off a stiff nod. As for Fluttershy, she looked over her shoulder at her parents as they watched her from the demolished eastern half of the library.
Twilight began leading her friends back toward the bedrooms. “We’ve got a dragon to talk to.”
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Cold in Gardez
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980
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Applejack,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Rainbow Dash,Rarity,Twilight Sparkle,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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The Cutie Mark Conspiracy
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The Cutie Mark Crusaders have finally gone too far.
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complete
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<p>[Comedy] The Cutie Mark Crusaders have finally gone too far, and Twilight Sparkle & Friends decide it's time to teach them a lesson. But when their prank starts to take on a life of its own, they may end up being too clever for their own good.</p>
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everyone
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2011-09-22T23:05:50+00:00
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2011-09-22T23:05:50+00:00
| 13,123 |
It was early afternoon in Ponyville, and the Lotus Luxury Spa was already doing brisk business when Twilight Sparkle arrived.
She wasn’t a frequent spa-goer, but once every month or so she made a point of tearing herself away from her books for a few hours of pampering, massage and styling. She didn’t yet have a personally monogrammed bathrobe, but she had been there often enough that the attendants greeted her by name and ushered her straight back to the baths.
The hot water inside filled the air with steam, turning every surface slick with condensation. Twilight had already shrugged out of her robe and slipped into the waters before she realized she wasn’t alone in the massive tub.
“Rarity!” she cried, delighted. “I didn’t see you there. How are… er, are you alright?”
The white unicorn looked frazzled. Her mane was rumpled where it wasn’t waterlogged, and her squinting eyes had dark, puffy circles beneath them.
“Twilight, darling,” she said. “How good to see you. No, I’m afraid I’m not alright.” She tossed her head back and let out a dramatic sigh.
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” the lavender pony said. “Is something wrong?”
“Wrong? Why yes, you could say that.” She smacked the water with her hoof, sending a small splash across the bath. “Horribly, dreadfully wrong!”
Twilight knew from prior experience that Rarity’s sense of proportion was sometimes poorly calibrated. She had once refused to leave her home for a week after chipping a hoof.
“Well, maybe I can help?” she offered, sliding over to sit next to the other pony. “What happened?”
Rarity ground her teeth. “It was those girls, Twilight. And my sister, my dear little sister, was leading them!”
It took a moment for Twilight to figure out who she meant. When she did she winced.
“Oh no.”
“Oh yes! Those ruffians, they have no sense of shame! No sense of decency!” Rarity turned, folded her forelegs on the edge of the bath, and sulked.
Twilight let her be for several minutes, but curiosity finally prevailed. “So… what happened?”
“Do you remember that new dress I showed you? The one I made for the Summer Sun Celebration?”
“I do!” she exclaimed. It was a beautiful dress – powder blue silk, trimmed with shimmering gold lace and frilly white cotton shoulders. It looked like a summer day magically turned into cloth. “It’s your best outfit yet Rarity. You’ll look wonderful at the celeb—"
“They turned it into a kite, Twilight.”
There was a long pause.
“What?”
Rarity sighed, burying her head in her hooves. “They cut it into a square, stapled it to some muddy branches they found outside, and were trying to fly it like a kite.”
Part of being a friend, Twilight had learned, was knowing the right thing to say at times like this. Should she sympathize, or try to offer a solution? Perhaps change the subject?
“So did they get their… you know?”
“No, Twilight, they did not get their cutie marks,” Rarity said, flatly.
The bath burbled and steamed around the silent ponies.
“Well,” Twilight finally said, “I’m sure it’s a beautiful kite.”
“I didn’t want a KITE!” Rarity screamed, standing and banging a hoof on the bath rim with a loud clang. “I wanted a DRESS! A beautiful dress! I spent days measuring and cutting and folding and sewing, and when I finally finished my most delicate, most exquisite creation ever, what happens?” her voice was rapidly approaching the point where only dogs would be able to hear it. “It gets turned. INTO. A. KITE!”
Spent, the white unicorn slumped back into the bath. “Besides,” she added, “it’s stuck in a tree now.”
“Rarity, they’re just fillies,” Twilight said soothingly. “Once they get their cutie marks they’ll stop all this silliness.”
She sighed. “I suppose you’re right. It’s just so frustrating…” she trailed off as the sound of two familiar voices intruded from the hallway.
“…ah’m just sayin’, if you treated her more like a sister, things like this might not a-happen,” drawled one.
“And I told you, she’s not my sister!” responded a voice scratchy from constant yelling. “Besides, Apple Bloom was the one who started… oh, hey, I think it’s this one.” The door swung open, and a pair of heads cautiously poked in.
“Applejack? Rainbow Dash?” Twilight said, surprised. The Lotus Luxury Spa was literally the last place in Ponyville she ever expected to see them visit voluntarily.
“Oh thank goodness,” Applejack said, trotting over to the side of the bath. “Rarity, we got a problem. I just got a visit from Snips and Snails’ parents. They caught the girls playing with their colts.”
“Well, obviously our sisters should be spending their time with a higher class of pony,” Rarity replied. “But that doesn’t sound like too much of a prob—"
“They were trying to get their ‘Doctor’ cutie mark, Sugar.”
There was another long pause. Twilight sank as far into the water as she could and still breathe. Rarity rested her forehead on the edge of the tub again.
Finally Rainbow Dash broke the silence. “I don’t see why we have to put up with this. Every week they do something crazy and we have to pick up the pieces.”
“Now Dash,” Twilight said, “they’re just young and adventurous. They don’t mean any harm.”
“Really? What about when they tried to get their Librarian cutie marks?”
Twilight’s ear twitched as she relieved the destruction they had wrought on her books. Spike still woke up screaming sometimes.
“Or when they tried to get their Hay Baling cutie marks,” Applejack said, her face growing pale.
“No one was permanently injured…” Twilight ventured.
“Let us not forget the Monster Taming,” Rarity quipped.
“Or Tornado Spotting,” Dash added.
“Or Fire Walking,” said Applejack.
“Or Explosives Disposal,” Rarity offered, shuddering.
“Okay! I get it, they’re annoying,” Twilight said. “But there’s nothing we can do about it.”
Yet another long pause. The girls exchanged glances.
“…or is there?” Rainbow Dash said softly, almost to herself.
Twilight shot her a sharp look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
She waved a hoof dismissively. “I’m just saying, maybe it’s time they got a taste of their own medicine.”
“How delightfully devious of you, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said, smiling for the first time that day. “What did you have in mind?”
“Whoa, stop,” Twilight interrupted. “Applejack, help me out here?”
“Ah dunno Sugarcube,” she said. “Those three have caused so much trouble on the farm…”
Rainbow Dash flew over to the bath, perching on the rim next to the others. “Look, you know how Pinkie Pie and I like playing pranks, right?” The others nodded. “Well, she came up with a great one for those three. It’s just so elaborate we haven’t been able to do it yet.”
“No.” Twilight put her hoof down. “This is wrong. We’re grown mares, we should be acting responsible and mentoring them, not playing ‘pranks’.”
“Tell me, Twilight,” Rarity said. “Did they ever apologize for ransacking your library?”
“Well, no…”
“Or attempting to breed Owlowiscious with Fluttershy’s chickens?”
“…no.”
“Or turning your telescope into a centipede farm?”
Twilight huffed. “No, they didn’t! They didn’t even empty it out before putting it back! Have you ever had a centipede in your eye? It’s not fun!”
The others looked at her expectantly. She sighed.
“Fine. What did you have in mind, Dash?”
***
“This is the BEST SLEEPOVER EVER!” Sweetie Belle screamed at the top of her lungs.
“YEAH!” Scootaloo agreed, buzzing around Twilight’s library on her scooter with a casual disregard for furniture and other ponies.
“Maybe we’ll get our sleepover cutie marks!” Apple Bloom added to the cacophony.
“Cutie Mark Crusaders,” they shouted together, “YAY!”
The main room of the library had been cleared of books and other office supplies. In their place were balloons and streamers, tables with snacks and cakes, party games and sleeping bags. Spike had been locked in his room to keep from going insane.
“Thank you so much for letting us come, sis!” Sweetie Belle said to Rarity as she grabbed yet another piece of cake from the snack table.
“Oh, think nothing of it, dear,” Rarity replied, a suspiciously large smile on her face. “When Twilight Sparkle told me she was having a sleepover, I knew I had to invite you!”
“Yeah, these parties are 100 percent awesome,” said Rainbow Dash, who was resting on top of a nearby bookcase. “When I heard about it, I just had to bring the coolest pony I know.” She gave Scootaloo a wink and a nod.
Scootaloo gazed up at her hero with a look of sheer adoration.
“An’ I had so much fun during our last sleepover, I had to take my favorite lil’ sister!” Applejack said, ruffling Apple Bloom’s mane with her hoof.
“Who wants to play another game?” Twilight called with a sing-song voice. She levitated the Cockatrices and Ladders box over to the crowd.
“YEAH!” the Cutie Mark Crusaders screamed, and fell on the box in a whirl of white, purple and red manes.
***
Four hours and twenty-three minutes later…
“Whew, I thought they’d never go out,” Applejack whispered, looking down at the sleeping fillies.
Rarity waved a hoof. “Foals are all the same. Stuff them with enough food and put them in a warm room and they’ll go down for the count.”
“Gosh, they look so peaceful now,” Twilight said. “So innocent. Do we really need to do this?”
“Duh!” hissed Dash. “The moment they wake up they’ll be back to trashing things. It’s now or never.”
Twilight sighed. “Alright. Rarity?”
“On it!” she sang, darting into the kitchen. She returned a moment later carrying a massive latched case, which she carefully set down next to the sleeping girls. She popped open the latches and swung the top up, revealing an impressive array of dyes, paints, concealers, brushes and make-up.
“You know, Dash,” Twilight said, “this really is devious. How did you come up with it?”
“It was Pinkie’s idea, actually. We gave up on it when you mentioned that you can’t use magic to make fake cutie marks.”
Rarity chuckled. “Maybe not unicorn magic, darling.” She carefully selected a series of pastes and brushes, laying them out in front of her. “Let me show you true magic.”
The others crowded around as Rarity went to work, ooh-ing and aah-ing at her skill. The end result really was like magic, they agreed.
***
Twilight Sparkle woke with the sun. The room around her was still quiet, filled with the soft sounds of sleeping ponies.
She glanced over at Applejack, who was lying awake on her sleeping bag. She gave the earth pony a grin, and turned to see Rarity also awake, almost vibrating with excitement.
Rainbow Dash was, of course, still asleep.
After a few minutes the fillies began to stir, rolling over and opening their bleary eyes. This was the moment of truth. She started counting down from 10 in her head, wondering how far she would get before the chaos started.
Apple Bloom was the first up. She stretched and yawned, and gave the others a nudge with her nose. They opened their eyes and looked around in confusion for a moment, then looked at each other. Then looked again.
She had just reached 2 when the screams began.
Where just seconds before had stood three young fillies was now a blur of spinning flanks and wildly waving arms. They bounced into each other, the furniture, the walls, and finally came crashing back together for a group hug, all while screaming loud enough to wake ponies across town. Rainbow Dash woke and added her own brief scream before realizing what was happening.
Twilight gave them a few moments, then tried to interrupt. “My little ponies, what’s wrong?”
“TWILIGHT!” Apple Bloom shouted, shaking so hard she could barely stand. “WE! WE! WE! WE! WE! WE—"
“Breathe, girl,” Applejack said to her sister, putting a calming hoof on her shoulder.
Apple Bloom tried again. “WE! WE GOT! WE GOT OUR—" she almost finished before she was tackled by Scootaloo.
“WE GOT OUR CUTIE MARKS!” The orange pegasus filly screamed. The three resumed galloping around the library. Even Rainbow Dash was impressed with the speeds they reached.
Several minutes later they had calmed enough to stand in one general spot, though they kept spinning around to see their own and the others’ cutie marks.
“That’s amazing!” Twilight said, somehow keeping a straight face. The other mares all crowded around, congratulating the three on finally getting their marks.
“Those are beautiful,” Rarity said, trying to keep the quaver out of her voice. “I’ve never… never seen anything like them!”
“They certainly are unique!” Applejack added, covering her mouth with a hoof.
The fillies barely heard them, so absorbed were they with admiring their new marks. Slowly their expressions relaxed, elation being replaced by confusion. They finally turned back to the mares, puzzled looks on their faces.
“Ah don’ know what this means!” Apple Bloom said, looking up at Twilight with huge eyes.
“Me either!” Scootaloo said, spinning around again to see if the mark on her other flank made any more sense.
“Or me!” Sweetie Belle added, rubbing at her mark with a hoof.
“Well,” Twilight said, slipping instantly into her librarian mode. “Not all cutie marks are obvious in there meaning. Fortunately I have a book that explains them!” She levitated a large tome off a nearby shelf toward the group. If anyone noticed that the book was curiously new looking, they didn’t say anything.
“Let’s start with you, Scootaloo,” she said, opening the book. “Show me your cutie mark?”
Scootaloo turned obligingly. “It’s some kind of squiggly cloud, I think!”
Twilight opened the book to a page that was already marked with a piece of ribbon. Again, if anyone noticed anything odd about that, they didn’t say so.
“Here we are. Is that it?” Reproduced on the page was an exact replica of the mark on Scootaloo’s flank, a series of blue lines curved like waves approaching the shore.
“That’s it! What’s it mean?” Before she could get a closer look at the page Twilight pulled it away from her, reading from the description below the image.
“Oh, this is very special,” the lavender pony said. “These lines represent the motion of waves on water, and indicate that a filly’s special talent is swimming!”
“Awesome!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash, hovering above the crowd. “I always knew you’d be a great swimmer, champ!”
Scootaloo stared at them, mouth open in shock. “But… I’m a pegasus pony!” She flapped her wings for emphasis and stared at them, as if pleading her case.
“Sorry Scoots, that’s what you’re best at,” Twilight said. “I’m sure you’ll be a great swimmer! Apple Bloom, you’re next.”
The yellow filly bumped Scootaloo out of the way and hopped in place. “I’ve got an apple!” she cheered.
“Hm, not quite,” Twilight said, flipping the pages to another curiously convenient bookmark and rotating it to face the filly. “This is what you have.”
On the page was a four-pointed star inside a circle. Just outside the circle, above the top point of the star, was a block letter N.
Twilight pulled the book back and read. “The Compass Rose is a very rare and special mark, reserved for ponies whose special skill is cartography!”
Apple Bloom gasped. “Ah knew it! Sis, ah knew it!” She paused, and asked “So what’s cart… cartogaffy?”
“Cartography,” Twilight gently corrected, “is the act of making maps. Some ponies think it’s a very tedious and boring skill, but I’m sure you’ll find it exciting!”
“Oh Apple Bloom, this is wonderful!” Applejack added, hugging her sister. “We’ve always needed someone to survey our orchards, and now you can do it for us! Granny Smith will be so proud!”
Apple Bloom just stared at them, as shocked as Scootaloo.
“My turn!” Sweetie Belle forced her way to the front. “What’s mine, Twilight?”
“Hm, that’s very complex,” the unicorn said, rubbing her chin with her hoof. “I’m not sure it’s even in this—oh! Here it is!” She stopped on the final bookmark, turning the tome around to show to the filly.
“It’s… some kind of blue cow?” She looked back and forth between her flank and the page, to make sure. The marks were identical.
“Almost!” Twilight sang. “It’s actually a blue ox, and it’s an ancient and mystical symbol for lumberjacking!”
“That’s unusual,” Rarity interjected, coming to stand next to her stunned and speechless sister. “Really, a lumberjacking unicorn? Well, if it’s your cutie mark then it must be your special talent.”
“This is certainly a special day!” Twilight said, closing the book and levitating it back to the shelf before anypony could inspect it more closely. “You’ve all got your marks, and now you know the only things you’ll ever be good at!” That last part was a little different from what the fillies had learned in school about cutie marks, but they were too stunned to notice.
The three fillies looked at each other numbly. Finally, they raised their hooves and ‘cheered’ in unison.
“Cutie mark crusaders…” they choked out, “yay.”
***
“Ah dunno, I feel kinda bad now,” Applejack whispered. “Did you see how sad they looked?” The Cutie Mark Crusaders were eating breakfast together in the kitchen in startling silence.
“I know! It was awesome!” Rainbow Dash said. Her capacity for remorse was significantly lower than the earth pony’s.
“It’s just for one day, darling,” Rarity added. “Like all punishments, it hurts us more than it hurts them.” She glanced into the kitchen and stifled a giggle.
“We’re just trying to teach them that cutie marks will come in their own good time,” Twilight Sparkle said. “Maybe after they recover from this incident they’ll realize how silly this whole ‘Cutie Mark Crusader’ thing is.”
Applejack sighed. “Fine, fine. Jus’ for one day, though.”
Twilight nodded. “Good. Now then, I’ll stay here and clean up. You three take your sisters to practice their new ‘special skills’.”
“I told you, she’s not my sister!” Dash grumbled. The others just rolled their eyes.
“Ahem,” Twilight continued, “we only get one shot at this. Try to make their practice as, uh, ‘educational’ as possible. Questions?”
Nopony had any. The four trotted into the kitchen with smiles on their faces, ready to take on the day.
***
“Here we are, sugar!” Applejack said to her sister. They were in the far, far northwest point of Sweet Apple Acres, where the corner of a barley field butted up against the road to Ponyville and a pastoral forest.
Apple Bloom was already sweating. Although the day wasn’t very hot, she’d been in charge of pushing the cartography cart all the way from the barn to their present location. The cartography cart looked much like the regular carts her family used to transport produce, but instead of apples it had sheaves of paper, ink, rulers and other tools of the trade.
“Now then, git your paper ready.” She helped her sister place a single sheet of parchment on the flat surface of the cart, and handed her a quill with her mouth. “Now, the job of the surveyor,” she paused to read from the tiny manual Twilight had given her, “is to accurately record the top… topography, terrain, landmarks, and borders of a parcel of land.” She put the book on the cart. “Got it?”
Apple Bloom stared up at her. “Ah don’ wanna!”
“Ahm sorry sis, but this is what yer cutie mark says yer best at. Now, put a mark on the map for the corner here, and we’ll start walkin’.”
They moved forward a few wagon lengths. “See anything?” Applejack asked.
“No.”
They moved forward again. “How ‘bout now?”
“Ah see a weed.”
“Well, that’s sumpthin’. Go ahead an’ mark it.” She waited while Apple Bloom drew a tiny weed on the map.
“Should ah pick the weed?” the filly asked.
“Nope. Yer a cartographer, not a weed picker. ‘sides, then yer map would be wrong.”
Apple Bloom seethed and pushed the cart again. By the time they reached the end of the row she had a tiny but startlingly accurate map of all the weeds, twigs, gopher holes and stones they had run across.
“Are we done yet?” she begged her sister.
“What? Course not! That’s just one row!” Applejack swept a hoof across the rest of the field. “An’ this is just one field! We haven’t even started on the Orchards!”
Apple Bloom’s scream of frustration could be heard all the way back at the barn.
***
“Are you sure this is safe, Dash?” Scootaloo asked. She stood at the edge of a scum-covered pond just outside Ponyville. The cyan pegasus lounged on a cloud overhead.
“Of course it’s safe! You’ve got your wings, and your other wings!” Dash barely held in a laugh.
Scootaloo frowned at the inflatable plastic ‘water wings’ Twilight had insisted she wear around her forelegs. They felt… demeaning.
“Can’t you teach me to fly instead?”
“Sorry champ! Cutie mark says you’re a swimmer!”
The orange filly stared at the traitorous cutie mark, then stomped her hoof in frustration. It sank into the squishy mud, releasing a noxious odor that sent her reeling.
“Can’t I swim in a real lake?” she tried.
“Gotta start small, Scoots. Maybe some day. Now, get in there!”
Scootaloo sighed and stepped into the water. It was uncomfortably warm, and she could feel her hooves sliding into deep muck as she moved. The pond was also surprisingly shallow – even at the center it barely came to her shoulders.
“I don’t think I can swim in this,” she called up to Dash.
“Not with that attitude! Come on, be the cutie mark!”
Scootaloo waded around the pool, her thoughts growing as dark as the water beneath the surface scum. Overhead Dash laughed to herself, and settled into the cloud for a long-overdue nap.
***
“Now then, I know this may seem unusual, but when presented with difficulties a true mare always rises to the occasion.”
“Mrph g’lrfm rgknady!”
“Oh, sorry, let me hold that.” Rarity levitated the hatchet out of Sweetie Belle’s mouth.
“I don’t want to be a lumberjack!” the tiny unicorn spat.
“Now, Sweetie, I know it may seem that way now, but cutie marks are never wrong. I’m sure you’ll eventually find that this is indeed your special skill, the one thing you are destined to be great at.”
“No!”
Rarity tsked. “It’s no use arguing with destiny, dear. Some ponies are fated to be glamorous artists,” she paused and preened, “while others perform… manual labor.” She said the last two words slowly, as though they tasted bad in her mouth.
Sweetie Belle stuck her snout in the air, ignoring her sister.
They continued walking along the edge of town in silence, until finally Rarity stopped them at a stand of small saplings that had sprung up along the forest behind her boutique.
“Now, let’s see how you do. Give one of those trees a swing.”
Sweetie Belle muttered something Rarity couldn’t make out, and then grabbed the hatchet out of the air with her mouth and swung it at one of the saplings. The tiny tree shook from the blow, but when it came to rest the only sign of her attack was a slight scratch on the thin green bark.
“Ooh, that’s very good,” Rarity said, doing her best not to giggle. Sweetie Belle glared daggers at her.
She cleared her throat. “Well, I can see you need a bit of practice.” Glancing up at the rising sun, she fanned herself with a hoof. “And it’s getting dreadfully hot out. The heat does terrible things to my complexion! If you don’t mind I’ll go inside while you work on these weeds.”
Sweetie Belle glared at her again, and went back to whacking futilely at the saplings, pretending they were a certain older sister.
***
Three hours later Apple Bloom had a precise map of the barley field and an intense, burning hatred of cartography. Applejack had long since returned to her other duties, not wanting to antagonize the filly any further.
This wasn’t how she had envisioned life after her cutie mark. Other ponies seemed so happy with their marks, like some long-hidden piece of their soul had finally surfaced on their skin. Cartography felt… wrong. Stupid and wrong.
She trounced around in the dirt for a while, occasionally stopping to try and buck the cartography cart over. It didn’t budge. She tossed her pencils and rulers all over the field, then went and picked them up when she realized she’d have to add them to the map. She stomped on the freshly plowed rows, to make the soil feel her pain. Finally, with all her other options exhausted, she stopped to think.
Maybe, just possibly, cartography wasn’t the problem. After all, it was her cutie mark, and cutie marks never lied.
The problem was the boring barley field. Her map, although exquisitely detailed, was just a square if you didn’t look very closely. What was needed, she realized, was something more fun.
She hopped up onto the cart and grabbed a few sheets of paper and a spare quill. Tucking them into her saddlebags, she paused long enough to dash off a quick note for her sister, then jumped to the ground and began trotting toward the woodline. It was time to really earn her cutie mark.
***
By the time she completed her fifteenth lap around the scummy pond, Scootaloo had made up her mind: Twilight Sparkle was wrong.
For the first fourteen laps she had resisted the idea. After all, Twilight was the book-smartest pony in all of Equestria. In all the time Scootaloo had known her, Twilight had never been wrong about something found in a book.
But during the fifteenth lap something snapped. She had cleared a path in the scum, forming a dark circle around the entire pond. Her wings were coated with stringy bits of algae and dead leaves, and the water that occasionally splashed in her mouth was foul, gritty and rotten. All this and more she might have tolerated, for Rainbow Dash if no pony else, but during the fifteenth lap a flight of pegasus ponies happened to soar gracefully overhead, sliding around the clouds, dancing with the wind. Their laughter fell from the sky to land to land in her mucky, scummy pond, and she finally snapped.
Twilight Sparkle was wrong about her cutie mark.
Scootaloo suffered the epiphany calmly. Everypony makes mistakes sometimes – this just happened to be Twilight’s time.
She waded to the edge of the pool and climbed out, water, mud and other filth dripping from her coat in streams. Her wings took a while longer to clean, but she found that rolling around in the grass got most of the scum off.
“Dash!” she cried up at the cloud overhead. There was no response from the napping pony.
What would Rainbow Dash do? she asked herself. Rainbow Dash was the awesomest pony in all of Equestria; somehow, she would find an awesome way to swim.
She flopped down on the grass with a sigh, letting the sun dry her while she tried to think of an awesome way to swim. None came to mind.
But then, if Twilight Sparkle was wrong, then maybe swimming wasn’t the answer. Maybe something else was her special talent. Something having to do with the waves on her cutie mark. Something awesome.
The answer came in a flash. She hopped to her feet with an excited gasp and took off for town.
There wasn’t enough water in the pond for what she was planning.
***
Sweetie Belle’s teeth were starting to hurt.
For three hours she had been whacking at the same sapling, holding the hatchet between her teeth and swinging her head around with all the speed and force she could muster. There were tiny indentations on the handle that neatly matched her bite pattern.
Worst of all, the sapling refused to fall. With every blow it flexed, then sprang back like nothing had happened. Aside from a few scratches on its waxy bark, she might as well have never struck it at all. She was pretty sure she could have chewed it down faster.
She gave the tree a final (and still useless) whack, spat the hatchet out, and sank to the ground in a mighty sulk.
“I don’t want to be a lumberjack!” she shouted at Rarity’s boutique, just a few dozen feet away. If Rarity heard her inside, she didn’t bother to respond.
Sweetie Belle was Rarity’s sister in every sense of the word. In addition to sharing coats and manes and horns, they shared the same attitude toward glamour and exertion: they loved the former, and despised the latter. And right now lumberjacking seemed to involve a lot of exertion and not much glamour.
This wasn’t what unicorns were supposed to do, she fumed. Earth ponies loved hard work and manual labor. Unicorns were supposed to be like her sister – elegant, refined artists! Craftsponies! Magicians!
She gave the hatchet a mighty kick. It slid an inch across the wet leaves. She stomped on it, to no visible effect. Finally, frustrated beyond relief, she used her weak magical powers to lift the hatchet up and fling it as far away as possible.
It flew several feet before coming to an abrupt halt, its blade buried halfway through a thick sapling. The tree shuddered, leaned, and collapsed with a surprisingly loud crash.
Sweetie Belle stared at the felled tree, mouth open in shock. She looked back and forth between the hatchet and the tree several times.
Maybe Lumberjacking wasn’t so bad after all.
***
“Well howdy, Twilight! You finish cleaning up that mess the girls left?”
“Good afternoon, Applejack,” the purple unicorn answered, walking into the barn where Applejack was sorting apples. “And I did! Well, technically Spike did most of the work, but I provided oversight and management.”
“You mean you bossed him around?”
Twilight let that slide, largely because it was true. “Anyway,” she started, “I came out to see how Apple Bloom is doing. Where is she?”
“She’s out in the northwest barley field.” The earth pony guffawed. “Oh Twi, you shoulda seen it. Ah don’ think I’ve ever seen her so angry!”
“Well, shall we go check on her?”
“Shore, maybe you can give her some tips on map makin’.”
The two went on a leisurely walk through the acres, pausing occasionally while Applejack inspected trees or spoke with family members working in the fields. Eventually they came to the most distant point on the farm, the northwest barley field.
“I don’t see her.” Twilight said.
“Aw, she’s probably just restin’ in the cart.” The two cut across the rows to the cartography cart, which was abandoned and alone in the center of the field. They reached it and stopped.
“Uh, AJ? She’s not in here.”
Applejack scowled at the empty cart, and then turned in place, scanning the nearby fields for her sister. “Ah dunno Sugar, ah told her to stay here.”
“Hey, there’s a note.” Twilight grabbed the paper with her magic and levitated it in front of her.
Dear Applejack
I am making a real map. I am in the Everfree Forest. Please save me some dinner.
-XOXOXOXOXO Apple Bloom
PS Please take the cartogaffy cart back to the barn
They stared at the note for a while, much longer than it took to read. Finally, with a sigh, Twilight folded it and dropped it back in the cart.
“You know,” she said, “I think those three have spent more time in the Everfree forest than the rest of us combined.”
Applejack groaned. “Don’t ah know it. You’d think they’d have learned by now not ta go in there.”
“Well, at least I came prepared!” Twilight opened her saddlebag with her mouth and levitated out her pith helmet.
“Why do you always carry that thing, anyway?” Applejack asked as Twilight scrunched the helmet down onto her mane.
“Research of course! Now, let’s go find your sister before it gets dark.” The two started down the road to the Everfree Forest at a trot.
***
The front desk of the Lotus Luxury Spa was empty when Scootaloo arrived. A delicate sign on the counter announced that all staff members were busy with customers, and would you please have a seat.
Scootaloo did not require the aid of the staff. She trotted past the counter and sign without noticing either, straight down the hallway to the large communal baths.
As luck would have it the baths were not in use. She was prepared to explain her plan to anypony who asked, confident they would agree with its wisdom, but the opportunity never arose. As far as asking for permission to use the spa in such an unconventional manner, the thought simply never occurred to her.
The communal baths were located in a separate room from the rest of the spa, to keep the excess steam and humidity from leaking into other parts of the structure. Thick, waterproof doors helped keep the warm air inside where it belonged, and prevented water on the floors from leaking out.
The spa had a tremendous amount of water, fed by a cistern on the roof. More than enough to fill the baths several times over. Enough to flood the entire room, if one were so inclined.
Scootaloo was counting on it.
The doors swung outward, and could be secured from the inside with a tiny latch. It took all of her weight and strength to pull them shut, but eventually they closed with the soft *whump* of an airtight seal engaging. Satisfied that they would hold, she opened every faucet in the room as far as they would go, and waited.
This was going to be so awesome.
***
Sweetie Belle surveyed the carnage before her, and was pleased.
The stand of saplings had been deforested. Not a single baby tree survived her onslaught. They fell to her hatchet like wheat before the scythe. She was unstoppable.
When the last sapling toppled she felt a brief jolt of satisfaction, followed by a craving for more. These little trees were nothing – she was ready to graduate to the big leagues.
Fortunately for her there was an entire forest literally steps away. She hopped toward the taller trees, dragging the hatchet along the ground behind her with her magic.
What she needed, she realized, was a trophy tree. Something she could mount and hang on the wall over Rarity’s fireplace. The fact that any of the trees around her were several times the size of Rarity’s boutique failed to dampen her excitement.
Only a few feet inside the forest she found a suitable specimen. A mature Jackdaw Pine, it soared at least a hundred feet into the air, straight as an arrow, crowned with a house-sized canopy of needles and branches.
She planted her hooves and raised the hatchet with her magic. This was going to be a long fight.
*Whack*
*Whack*
*Whack*
***
“Any sign?”
“Hmm….” Applejack inspected the soft earth around them, looking for tiny pony tracks. “Nope.”
Twilight Sparkle kicked away a thorny vine that was trying to wrap itself around her leg. The Everfree Forest, as usual, was doing its best to trap, strangle, drown and consume them (sometimes all at once). Only Twilight’s magic and Applejack’s powerful kicks had kept them alive so far. How Apple Bloom or the other fillies managed to survive their regular excursions into the forest was a source of constant mystery to the mares.
“Are you sure this is the right way?” Twilight asked. They had left the main path a ways back, heading down a narrow game trail after Applejack thought she saw a hoofprint. The trees crowded ominously close around them, turning the trail into a dark and leafy tunnel which had no light at its end.
“Course I’m sure. I bet she’s right up ahead, waitin’ for us to find her an’ bring her back to the farm.”
Twilight sighed. “This is my fault, I should’ve known map making would be a bad idea for her.”
“No, it’s mah fault. I was supposed ta be watchin’ her.” Applejack pushed her way through a thick curtain of vines blocking the trail.
Twilight squeezed in after her. The trail came to an end in a small clearing, barely large enough for a pony to turn around in. More trails led off in several directions, each vanishing into the perpetual fog of the Everfree Forest after a few feet.
“So… ideas?” Twilight peered down one of the paths, jerking back when her snout tangled in an unseen spiderweb.
“Well, your guess is as good as mine.” Applejack said. Faint creases of worry were starting to appear between her eyes.
They stood in the clearing for a while, slowly realizing that Apple Bloom might not be the one who needed a rescue. Something moved through the trees overhead with a quiet rustling sound.
“I don’t think we should stay here,” Twilight whispered, turning her head to look over her shoulder nervously.
Applejack nodded and started down one of the paths, picking it apparently at random. Twilight followed close on her heels, trying not to shudder as they squeezed through a thicket of wriggling spiderbrambles standing in their way.
The trees shook as something large moved in the direction of the clearing they had just departed. A low, mournful hooting sound filled the air, startling unseen flocks of birds into flight.
“Move faster,” she whispered to Applejack. The orange pony didn’t need to be told twice.
They bolted down the path, galloping heedlessly around fallen trees and grasping branches, crashing through bushes of shivering starnettles and venomous brineberries (which fortunately are only poisonous if ingested). Eventually they came to an exhausted halt in another clearing, one much wider than before.
“I think… I think… we’re safe…” Twilight gasped. The new clearing was less foreboding than the rest of the forest. Polite, normal looking trees surrounded them. Actual sunlight broke through the canopy to cast dappled shadows on the forest floor. Birdsong echoed through the dark woods.
“Well, this ain’t so bad,” Applejack said, turning to inspect the clearing. It looked more like the woods around Ponyville than the Everfree Forest.
Twilight wanted to agree, but something about the clearing seemed off. It was impossible that such a clean, safe space could exist so deep inside the Everfree Forest.
The more she looked, the more unnatural the area seemed. A dozen oaks stood in a circle around them, all the same size, all equally spaced. No other plants grew within the clearing. In fact, there was nothing else at all within the clearing – the ground was bare dirt, uncluttered by twigs or leaves or other forest detritus.
She had seen this before in one of her books, she thought. The perfectly clear ground was mentioned several times, an important identifying feature. Scowling, she tried to remember something, anything about the book. It had been a field manual of some sort, filled with dire warnings and cautions. Her eyes grew wide as the book’s cover appeared in her mind:
The Field Pony’s Guide to Monstrous Carnivores, Fifth Edition.
“RUN!” she cried at Applejack, turning and bolting toward the nearest gap between the trees. She almost made it to the edge of the clearing when something caught her hoof, tripping her into the dirt.
“Twi!” Applejack shouted. She started to run toward the unicorn when the dirt around her exploded, revealing dozens of thin whipping tendrils that wrapped around her legs and dragged her to the ground.
Twilight yanked her hoof free of the thin roots that had snagged her, snapping them easily. Before she could stand, though, a dozen more erupted from the bare dirt to tangle in her mane. She bashed at them with her hooves, breaking enough to tear free with most of her mane intact. “Get out of the circle!” she yelled at Applejack, who was stomping and biting at the roots trying to grab her.
“What the HAY is this?!” Applejack yelled back, spitting out a still-squirming root. She slowly made her way to the ring of trees, tearing her hooves away from the roots with each step.
Twilight’s horn glowed as shed blasted away at the roots, trying to clear a path to the edge of the clearing. The roots were no longer tiny tendrils, she noticed, but longer and thicker, and much, much stronger. All around the circle the oak trees began to open, their roots unfolding to reveal cavernous dark hollows at their bases. The larger roots began to reach out to the ponies.
“It’s an Arbormaw! Get out of the clearing!”
Applejack took her advice. With a powerful buck she split the roots clawing at her and leapt clean out of the circle.
The larger roots were harder for Twilight to break. She lashed out with her hooves and teeth, managing to snap a particularly thick one tangled around her foreleg. Momentarily freed, she dove toward Applejack, making it to the edge of the circle before a vine as thick as her horn wrapped itself around her tail and yanked her to a halt.
So close! she thought. Her hooves scrabbled at the bare dirt, trying to get enough traction to drag her to safety. She slowly started to slide back into the clearing as the vine overpowered her.
Suddenly there was a loud *chomp* as Applejack leaned past her and bit the vine clean in half. Together they scrambled the rest of the way out of the clearing, collapsing in a heaving, exhausted heap.
Eventually Applejack found her voice. “Did… those trees just try ta eat us?”
Twilight took her time answering, trying instead to stop her body from shaking. “They’re not trees,” she finally managed, “It’s an Arbormaw. The whole thing is one creature. The clearing is its mouth.”
Applejack stared at the clearing, her eyes wide. “Then those trees were…” she trailed off.
“Its teeth,” she gulped, trying not to think about how close they had come to being pony snacks. “I didn’t know they were found in this part of the world – for a while everypony thought they were extinct, until a few specimens were found in the wild forests up north. It’s really amazing to see one this close to civilization.” She stopped as she realized she was babbling.
“So, what now?”
Twilight sighed, resting her head on her forelegs. “I don’t know AJ. I’ve never been this far in the Everfree Forest. I’m completely lost.”
They huddled together, shivering, thinking dire thoughts about their situation. Finally Applejack pushed herself away, and stared up at the forest canopy with an anguished expression.
“Twi,” she said, “this is all my fault. If we don’ get outta this, I just want you to know how sorry I—"
“Hiya Sis! Hiya Twilight!” Apple Bloom interrupted, standing right beside them.
The two mares stared at the filly, shocked into silence. Apple Bloom bounced in place, a wide smile on her face.
“Apple… Apple Bloom?” Applejack stammered. She rushed toward the filly and swept her into an exuberant hug. “Oh thank Celestia! How did you find us?!”
The filly squirmed out of her sister’s grasp. “Well, ah thought ah heard some ponies runnin’, so I followed that sound. Then ah heard ponies screamin’. Finally ah thought ah heard ponies cryin’, and here you are!” She beamed at them, then gave them a more concerned look. “Are you alright?”
Applejack and Twilight looked each other over. Both were filthy, covered in dirt and scratches, and part of Twilight’s mane was missing.
“Uh, we’re fine,” Twilight finally said.
“No, we’re not.” Applejack said. “We’re still lost, remember?”
Apple Bloom laughed. “Oh big sis, you can follow me home!” She opened her saddlebag and pulled out a scroll of parchment. “I got a map!”
***
An hour later the three finally made it back to Ponyville, just as the afternoon sun was beginning its descent into evening. Apple Bloom bounced excitedly the whole way, regaling the two with her map making prowess. Twilight Sparkle and Applejack limped.
“Now remember Apple Bloom,” Twilight said, “When we get back, there’s no need to mention the screaming or crying.”
“Or that we were lost,” Applejack added.
“In fact, we don’t need to talk about this to anypony, do we?” She gave the filly a hopeful smile.
Apple Bloom stared at them, squinting. She was about to ask some uncomfortable questions when a rainbow colored mane suddenly appeared between them, followed by the rest of a panicking pegasus pony.
“AJ! Twilight! I can’t find Scootaloo!” Rainbow Dash said, her scratchy voice an octave higher than normal. “I was watching her at the pond when suddenly she… what happened to you two?”
“Happened? Nothing happened!” Twilight gave a nervous laugh.
“Yeah, uh, we’re just fine!” Applejack agreed, giving Dash a strained smile.
Dash stared at them, then at Apple Bloom, who shrugged.
“Scootaloo?” Twilight asked.
“Oh, right!” Dash pressed a hoof against her forehead. “I can’t find her anywhere!”
“Maybe she just got tired a swimmin’?”
The pegasus scowled at her, then leapt into the air, resuming her patrol over the town for the missing filly. The three earthbound ponies watched her in bemusement, and then resumed their walk through the town.
“Ah wonder how Rarity’s doin’,” Applejack said.
“Well, we could go check,” Twilight said. “She’s probably with Sweetie Belle.”
She was not. Rarity was in her boutique when the three arrived, and trotted out to meet them.
“Hello girls! How has your day… oh my, what happened to you?”
“I’m not allowed to say!” Apple Bloom spouted before her sister could shush her.
“A ha ha. Hello Rarity,” Twilight said. “Just a little exploration! Nothing at all untoward.”
“Nothin’ at all!” Applejack added. “Where’s Sweetie?”
Rarity giggled. “Oh, she’s right over—" she turned toward the downed saplings, her words tumbling to a halt when she realized her sister was not in the picture.
“Hm, that’s odd,” she said. “She was right there.”
“Hey!” Apple Bloom said, bouncing and pointing. “There’s Scootaloo!”
The mares turned to follow her hoof to the Lotus Luxury Spa. Visible in a window high off the ground was Scootaloo. She was waving frantically, apparently trying to get their attention.
“Mystery solved!” Twilight said. “She probably just needed a bath after that pond water.” The unicorn flagged Rainbow Dash down and pointed to the spa. The blue pegasus landed and stormed into the building with an angry look on her face.
“Ah hope she’s not too upset,” Applejack said.
They never found out. A few moments after Rainbow Dash entered the spa, the entire structure shook ominously. A crashing rumble filled the air, and the front doors exploded outward, followed by a tremendous wave of water that washed across the street. Atop the crest was a tiny orange pegasus, riding a massage table like a surfboard.
The wave eventually petered out just a few yards from the stunned mares, depositing an ecstatic Scootaloo, a shell-shocked Rainbow Dash, and the entire contents of the Lotus Luxury Spa at their feet.
Scootaloo hopped off her makeshift board and ran to the group, vibrating with excitement. “Did you see me!” she shouted. “You were wrong, Twilight! It’s a surfing cutie mark!” She and Apple Bloom shrieked and hugged each other, bouncing around the street in joy.
“Wha…what?” Rainbow Dash finally managed. Her sodden mane hung like limp, colorful noodles.
“The spa!” Rarity cried, horrified. “The SPA!”
There was a long moment of relative silence, broken only by the babbling fillies and the shouts of concerned ponies, running to see what was happening.
“Well,” Twilight finally said, “at least this can’t get any worse.”
“TIMBER!” a high-pitched voice called from the woods near Rarity’s boutique, followed by a shrieking groan. Seconds later a tall Jackdaw Pine began to teeter and fall toward the ground.
And it would have hit the ground, had Rarity’s Boutique not been in its path. The tree struck the building a glancing blow, crashing through the edge of the roof and knocking away most of an entire wall. The pine came to a stop leaning on the structure, its trunk resting just above Rarity’s fireplace.
Sweetie Belle trotted out of the forest, dragging the tiny hatchet behind her. Ignoring the other ponies she ran to the fallen tree and jumped into the canopy. She emerged a moment later, pulling something with her mouth -- it was gold, square shaped, and seemed to have been stapled to a pair of muddy sticks.
“Girls!” she yelled to Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. “I got our kite back!”
The three fillies cheered and slapped their hooves together. “Cutie Mark Crusaders!” they cried. “YAY!”
The silence the followed was broken by a thud, as Rarity fainted dead away.
***
Two days later…
The mood in Twilight’s library was somber. Rarity was staying with her until the boutique could be fixed. Spike, at least, was happy with the arrangement.
“So what do we tell ‘em when their ‘cutie marks’ start to fade?” Applejack asked? The four mares were gathered in the main room for the evening, sipping on after-dinner ciders.
“I don’t know, Element of Honesty, what do you think?” Dash shot back.
“Girls, relax. We’ll think of something.” Twilight said. She turned to Rarity and asked, “How do you feel?”
“Miserable,” the white unicorn replied. “It will be weeks before the spa reopens. Don’t even ask about the boutique.”
“I don’t get it,” Rainbow Dash complained. “It should’ve worked! It was a perfect prank!”
Twilight sighed. “Sometimes things don’t work out like you expect,” she said. “Maybe cutie marks are more about attitude than destiny.”
The four sat in silence, sipping on their ciders. Finally Twilight spoke again.
“You know, that would make a good letter to Princess Celestia,” she said. The others looked alarmed as she levitated over a parchment and quill.
“Uh, Sugar, ah agree an all,” Applejack said, “but uh, Princess Celestia’s an awful busy pony.”
“And really dear, you write to her so very often,” Rarity added.
“And she’ll totally banish us if we tell her what we did!” Rainbow Dash said. The others stared at her. “What? She might!”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “I doubt that, Dash.” She paused, staring at the blank parchment. “...but maybe this can wait.”
Her friends relaxed. Outside the sun began to set, and life in Ponyville went on.
***
“...but explorers must take special care when travelling in the forested places of the world, for therein may be found that most vile of creatures, Locosylva gigadenta, more commonly called the ‘Arbormaw’ or ‘tree trap.’ They are identifiable to knowledgeable field ponies by the perfectly circular clearing and bare dirt floor that is its mouth.
“The full size of these creatures is not known to science, but it is believed their bodies extend many dozens of feet beneath the soil. The tree-shaped structures above ground are only a small part of this organism, and serve no purpose other than to trap prey that wanders into its mouth.
“Young Locosylva typically start with three to six ‘trees’, with mouths less than 10 feet wide. As they age they sprout more ‘trees,’ always an even number, and can grow to be nearly 500 feet across. Larger specimens feed upon larger prey, up to and including juvenile dragons.
“Fortunately for ponykind, Locosylva are largely extirpated in the civilized world. As their habitat shrinks, it is likely that they will join other monsters in extinction. For tips on identifying and avoiding Locosylvas, see Table 2 located in....”
Excerpt from “Arbormaws”
-The Field Pony’s Guide to Monstrous Carnivores, Fifth Edition
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Adventure
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Where the World Ends
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A snarky little mare sets out into a world she thought was gone, to find everything she lost.
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<p>Fable, a snarky little mare, has a penchant for finding trouble. When she finds a secret too big to keep, the truth will force her on a journey across a world she was convinced was gone, and with only one word to guide her way: Equestria.</p>
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2012-02-05T22:20:53+00:00
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Prologue
~
“Everything has a story, Fable...”
Once upon a time there were a bunch of idiots. They followed a certain little pony who’d buck you in the gut for calling her little, and she was the biggest idiot of them all. She led them a million miles from anyplace they could call home, right to the end of the world, and one by one they fell like the snow into the snow; battered, beaten, and waiting for their lights to go out, but they wouldn’t wipe those bloody grins off their faces. Like there wasn’t anywhere else they’d rather be.
You were one of them.
All of you knew this was going to be a one way trip, but that wouldn’t stop you – not much could when you set your minds to something – and now we’re here. Standing on the proverbial bridge. Would you jump if I asked you to?
“…Stories are more than just tales about heroes and villains; they’re entire histories, lives and dreams – they’re ponies…”
Alright, maybe it wasn’t their fault. They didn’t just wake up one day and decide ‘hmm, I feel like dying,’ no, there’s a story behind it. There always is. I even remember Faith’s smile when she told me everything had a story, like it was something I was supposed to know or understand, but paying attention was never one of my strong suits. Besides, I hated stories. Sure, I might’ve liked them when I was a filly, but did I mention I was an idiot? They were always about their do-goody heroes with their evil-be-gone gimmicks tucked away in some magical pony princess’ closet, and their equally half-assed villains wanting nothing else but to destroy the world (woooooh!).
The kind of crap that made you believe the world really was meant to end this way. The kind of crap that could make anypony cynical and a smartass, and growing up in Dust didn’t help that.
If its name can’t prove to you how charming it was, nothing would, but there, we all learnt to accept a simple truth: we don’t live in some fantasy world where ponies fly and magic exists. No. We lived in a funny place called ‘reality’ – and as the story goes: in reality the bad guys can win.
“…And there are too many out there to even dream of knowing them all. We wouldn’t live long enough to…”
And that’s why we’re here, why I can’t change what’s going to happen, and why the bad guys actually won. I know this will be hard for you but... agh, I was never any good at this mushy stuff, but who knows how different the world will be when you wake up. Heck, maybe the world will have forgotten us by then.
I can’t let that happen. So when you read–or hear–or see this, whatever, I need you to do me a favor. I know I don’t deserve it, but it’s not for me.
It’s for them.
“…Fable, one day yours will find you, and when it does don’t expect ponytale endings. Don’t expect to be its hero. Sometimes, it’s all we can do to play a part or relay the tale…”
I need you to remember. I need you to know the truth about how they got here and what price they paid for a responsibility that wasn’t theirs to fulfill. I want you to kick some heads in for me, bust some bones and make the world remember who they were. They were the real heroes of this story. They were our friends.
“...As a storyteller, it’s our role not to forget these stories. Never forget them, because the past will always come back to haunt you and only the future can save you from it...”
Everything has a story, kid...
“…And all of them deserve to be heard.”
---
((Thanks to my editors and prereaders for kicking my glorious behind into gear: ArtemusD, Asgardian (aka Valkyrion11), MONSTERheart (aka IronTiger63), Scoopicus (aka Scoopicus), and Pupuchaku))
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Pencil Sketch
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Original Character,Trixie,Crossover,Dark,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore
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Amnesia: Equestria
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Don't. Stop. Moving.
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hiatus
| -1 | -1 |
<p>How far will a stallion go to forget his darkest nightmares?</p><p>Starbuck, an archeologist unicorn from Manehatten, is one such stallion that knows the answer, as he must delve into the deep abyss of fear and suffering, and put an end to terrors he can never wake from.</p><p>What is there to be discovered in the ruins of the past? Great wealth of knowledge, or unsettling truths...</p><p>Discover what you forgot, and never wish to remember.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-24T06:13:38+00:00
|
2011-09-24T06:13:38+00:00
| 1,046 |
March 16th, 984nd year,
I arrived at the Baron's estate earlier this oddly dry, autumn day. The old stallion greeted me at the rusted gates to the grounds. I felt relieved when I saw him, the pony that offered me a chance to be saved.
I questioned him whilst he gave me a brief tour of the grounds, such as why he chose to live in a crumbling manor that seemed to date so far back as to when Equestria was ruled by two princesses, judging from all the engravings on the stone! He told me that he was something of an archeologist like myself, having chosen the crumbling manor to simply explore the vast catacombs that tunneled far below the surface of the land.
In fact, that's why he hired me in the first place, to date and value these artifacts for history. He only considered me more when I told him of my unfortunate find that I made not too long ago.
What's best, is that he said that we would be going down into them to rid me of my curse! Truly two birds with a single stone. I can indulge myself in learning from our ancestors, AND I can sleep easy once again!
He introduced me to his daughter too. I'll admit, she did have an air of cuteness about her, for an insufferable little foal. She portrayed her nasty little habits in several ways, from sifting through my bags, reading this journal, and going on and on about how great and powerful of a unicorn she was. Sure, great and wonderful at being such a pest, perhaps. I swear she's waiting outside my door right now, waiting for me to sleep so she can get her grubby hooves on some relics I brought to show to the Baron. She really needs to get that deep breathing checked up on, it's all raspy and parched. Definitely not healthy for a little filly.
Tomorrow, the Baron and I will be going though the library, looking through books and testing what sort of curse I was afflicted with back over in the land of Zebras.
|
Pencil Sketch
|
986
| 2 |
Original Character,Trixie,Crossover,Dark,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore
|
Amnesia: Equestria
|
Don't. Stop. Moving.
|
hiatus
| -1 | -1 |
<p>How far will a stallion go to forget his darkest nightmares?</p><p>Starbuck, an archeologist unicorn from Manehatten, is one such stallion that knows the answer, as he must delve into the deep abyss of fear and suffering, and put an end to terrors he can never wake from.</p><p>What is there to be discovered in the ruins of the past? Great wealth of knowledge, or unsettling truths...</p><p>Discover what you forgot, and never wish to remember.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-10-11T00:10:50+00:00
|
2011-10-11T00:10:50+00:00
| 1,504 |
Amnesia: Equestria,
by Pencil Sketch
This work of fiction was based off the television/internet phenomenon, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Amnesia: the Dark Descent, and is in no way associated with either professionally. NO MONEY is to be made off this work of fiction. Also, don’t pirate the game, please support your indie developers.
Themes
[Grimdark][Psychological/Monster horror]
Thum-Thump… Thum-thump… Thum-thump… thum… thump… thum…
Grrrrraaaaahhhhhh!!!
A deafening screech filled the ears of the young stallion. The first thing that was even recognizable as a sound was the beating of his heart. He brought his hoof scraping along the floor to his face, wiping his crusted eyes. He must have been out for some time if his lids were hard to open.
“What am I… doing on the floor?” He asked himself, feeling along the ground, feeling rough stone flooring. His legs were weak, straining each sore muscle under his weight as he slowly lifted himself on all fours.
The pony took a few deep breaths then pried his eyes open. His vision was hazy, filled with blotchy grays, blacks, and spots of red. His sight cleared, making out his surroundings.
The room had a high ceiling, and could easily accommodate fair company on it’s own. Windows lined one wall, and a single door could be found down the far end of the room. The windows were lined with tattered, red drapes, shredded by time and neglect.
He took a single step, feeling something wet under his hoof. A quick glance downwards told the stallion that he was standing in a puddle of watery, rusty red liquid. He brought his hoof up to examine the fluid. He could tell, even before a sniff, that there was alcohol in it, judging from the hairs in his nostrils burning. He dared himself to smell, greeted by a harsh, acrid stench that stung all the way down to his lungs and lightened his head. It was a strange sensation… familiar… and unwanted. He lowered his hoof, wiping the liquid against the floor.
He took a few steps to the windows, noticing that night had fallen shortly before he had awoken.
Flash… KER-KRAACK!!
And a thunderstorm was raging in the heavens, just in time for the ringing in the stallion’s ears to fade to clarity.
One last final glance about the room proved that the door was the only way in or out, and the rusty red lacquer seemed to trail underneath the door.
The few steps were hard, wobbling back and forth as if he was spun about before. By the time he came to the door, laying a hoof upon the knob, thoughts rushed the pony.
“Where am I?”
“Why am I here?”
“Who am I?”
The pony must have held that doorknob for several minutes, scouring his mind before the door was opened to a darkened hallway. His footing improved and degraded sporadically, walking tall for a moment, only to stumble about with muscle spasms.
He stopped, just for a moment, panting and gasping for every inch of air as his vision wavered and blurred as he traversed deeper into the unknown dark before his vision adjusted to what little lighting there was.
Another breath before another step. A door was coming to his right, a passage out of the dark. He took two steps closer, reaching with a hoof to open at the door before it suddenly and violently swung open, shooting a gust of dusty wind into the stallion’s eyes.
The door made the pony jump back and rub at his eyes to see well. Though the means was unnecessary, the result seemed very welcome. And amber glow illuminated a portion of the door, and a crackle of flames from within.
He was slow and cautious to duck his head into the room. It was a small, almost circular space with two bookshelves lined with various tomes. It appeared to be somepony’s private little study, with a mound of inviting pillows and a beckoning hearth to warm the otherwise chilling draft that bit in the dark.
The fire was freshly started, as the pony entered to inspect to find the logs have barely even started breaking down to blackened ash. The stallion took a few steps in reverse, accidently bumping and overturning a small side table with a crash of glass. It spooked him, making his heart race for the moment before he recognized it as his own doing.
He put the table upright once more and checked the mess. Broken green shards had scattered everywhere, but there was no hint of moisture, meaning what the glass had held was empty to start. A piece of paper lay just nearby, with words hastily scrawled into it with jet-black ink.
July 13th, 984th year,
To whom this may concern; I bid you a good day, if you’re only waking up to headaches. I sincerely hope that’s all you’ve encountered in this nightmare. Please, think hard for a moment of what you can remember of this place. Please remember your goal here.
Nothing? I assumed as much. You’re name is Starbuck. You’re a unicorn from Manehatten. You came to this castle on the promise of a cure and employment by a stallion that only referred to himself as The Baron. This foal is a liar, and not to be trusted. He has done many dreadful things, and now you’re but a pawn in an insane game of chess.
He’s also cast a spell like none I’ve ever seen. It hunts you with the ferocity of a mad Ursa Major. I’ve seen it, and I can’t describe it in any letters in the Equestrian language.
The Baron must fall. I don’t care how, but he must. You’ve drunk a tonic to forget his horrors, to confront him without distraction. Please, end him for me, for the innocent he’s tortured, and for yourself. Stay safe, Starbuck, and we can leave here a new unicorn.
Your past life,
Starbuck
The pony took a few deep breaths, trying hard to remember the things the note suggested. It was true, nothing but a black hole where he expected memories.
Though the name and place in the note seemed oddly familiar. Whether or not it told the truth, it was the only thing the stallion had to go on, which made his stomach wrench into a painful knot.
Another boom of raging thunder rattled the ceiling, stirring up a choking cloud of dust from the rafters. He didn’t want to be in this room anymore, no matter how comforting it felt for the moment. He knew that the fire would eventually die; leaving him to the mercy of the lingering shadows that seemed to contest with the light.
Starbuck took a few steps to leave, turning back for a moment to gaze at the inviting fire. It seemed weaker now, as the last of its fuel broke down into ashes. It seemed to fit as a metaphor for his situation. How the last rays of hope succumbed to darkness and dread.
With a sigh, he shut the door behind him with a kick of his back hooves, having the slam of the door resonate down the halls.
“Where to now?” Starbuck asked himself, looking down the dank and dreary hallway. Two options, either return to the first room, or move onward into the castle. The answer was clear.
The next few rooms seemed rather devoid of anything useful, nothing but cupboards filled with parchment and rags, and the trail of lacquer.
A violent gust slammed against the unicorn’s back, sending a harsh chill creeping up his spine. Candle flames blew out suddenly, leaving the pony to the mercy of the dark hallway.
The earth began to rumble without warning, as if the land itself roared ferociously. The unlit chandeliers swayed with their chains, one even coming loose and crashing mere feet before Starbuck.
And as quickly as it all began, it stopped, the beast returning to its slumber until next it wakes.
Starbuck stood in place, weak on his hooves, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down and move onward, trying to follow his path as best as his could.
The flapping of paper sounded ahead, what could be books falling from their shelves, and the rattling of windows in their hinges. The stallion picked up his pace, turning a corner into another room. It was a relatively small chamber compared to the study some ways back. There was a lone table against a wall, and a candle on its last lengths lighting it up to display its splendor.
A journal that flipped through its own pages, a saddlebag, and a lantern. Starbuck couldn’t help but sigh in relief at his good fortune. This was, without a doubt, left behind by his alter ego.
He hopped his hooves up onto the table, studying the pages of the journal. Most of the pages seemed to have been torn from the binding, empty, or detailing happier times back in Manehatten, writing about some trip he was going to go on without too much detail. He shoved the journal into the bag, regardless of its usefulness. At best, it would serve as something to keep memos on the many blank pages that remained.
The stallion checked the other contents of the bag that was to accompany the journal. A few tinderboxes to light fires with, a jar of oil for the lantern, a half-empty bottle of water, and food rations that would last only a little more than a day.
With concentration, focusing his will upon the lantern to have a magical glow envelope it, lifting it from the table. He had it hover just off to his side, adding an extra spark of magic to light it, having warmth and light fill the room and lighten the pony’s mind.
The elation was short lived, before he realized he could be wasting oil in an otherwise already lit room. He turned it off, leaving himself to the mercy of the dying candle.
A quick glance about the room proved the trail of lacquer continued beyond a door on the far wall. It was ajar, free to swing inside the room at anypony’s whim.
He approached it with a little caution, opening it with the divided magic from his horn. It was long and dark, as if it oblivion existed and fed on the hopelessness the lone chamber emanated.
He gulped, taking a few steps in before he lost track of where the floor and ceiling were. He used his magic to reignite the flame of his lantern. It helped brighten the broad hallway to a degree, but failed to give too much detail to the silhouettes on the far side of the room.
The vague shapes remained still in the choking dark, oblivious to the light set off by Starbuck’s lanterns.
“H-hello?” The unicorn called, trying to get their attention, “are you alright?”
No answer.
The stallion decided to move a little closer, assuming they were just a little hard of hearing. The light of the lantern shone brighter upon the figures.
They stared back at him, with cold, empty, marble eye sockets, remaining motionless and standing watch over the dark hall. Starbuck almost dropped his lantern, momentarily startled by the blank, stone guardians, only to plant his face in his hoof for being fooled and frightened by a pair of statues.
The whole place didn’t seem so bad. It was just dark. And cold. And eerily silent, aside from the occasional gusts of vicious wind.
Though, Starbuck couldn’t shake the feeling he was being watched, chased even. Something in the back of his head demanded that he ran as fast as his hooves could take him. He would look around every so often, finding the odd urge somewhat misplaced, though certainly appropriate, if any sort of horror novel the stallion read was any judge.
A few more doors, greeted each time with the odd candle, the baying of canines, and some sort of… moaning. He chalked the latter to the manor, creaking on its foundations. A loud rumble would erupt from somewhere on the other side of the estate, a telltale sign that the building was on its final breaths.
One more door at a time, until the encounter foretold in the note. He just needed to keep moving, manage his way through the dark halls with his trusted lantern.
“Just keep moving.”
|
RayneTheSkunk
|
987
| 1 |
Berry Punch,Braeburn,Cheerilee,Derpy Hooves,Minuette,Original Character,Other,Prince Blueblood,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Scootaloo,Trixie,Adventure,Comedy,Random,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
A Fetch Quest for My Drink
|
Berry goes on an J-RPG adventure for the ultimate wine.
|
incomplete
| 22 | 2 |
<p> Berry wakes up from another one of her drinking parties in a daze, but this time there is something floating around in her head. It's important, possibly life changing. What is it? It's the recipe for the best wine in the world. There's a problem though. These ingredients are weird as hell! You can't find any of it in Ponyville that's for sure. It looks like Berry, Ruby, and some of their friends are in for a wild RPG adventure.</p><p>FOR WINE!</p><p>(I've taken the liberty of adding background music to the story to add to the RPG-ness. Feel free to ignore it.)<br/>Picture by Swaetshrit</p>
|
teen
|
2012-08-02T00:46:09+00:00
|
2012-08-02T00:46:09+00:00
| 1,979 |
A Fetch Quest for My Drink
-> New Game
Continue
“Wake up, Mom,” called the disdainful voice of a young filly. Berry Punch forced her groggy eyes open. “You fell asleep on the floor again.” Her daughter Ruby, a small unicorn with a light red coat, stood over her.
“Honey, just a few more seconds, I’m tired.” Berry’s eyes eased themselves back into their relaxed, sealed state. That seal was abruptly broken apart by a hard buck to the side. “Fine damnit. I’ll get up.” Ruby slid her horn under the tired mare’s belly and lifted her up like a caravan jack. “Thanks hun,” the mare said as she did some exaggerated stretches. Berry Punch was Ponyville’s official alcoholic and second-best partier. This was just another average morning of waking up with a bad headache. “Hey Ruby, do you remember anything about last night’s party? I think there is something I need to remember, but it won’t come up.”
The filly made an unimpressed sigh and shrugged. “Same old, same old. You made a fool of yourself and everyone got wasted. I kicked them out at three in the morning and played Dodo society, the usual.” She rapped at the floor with her hoof as she searched her memory for anything out of the usual. “Well there was one really fancy looking guy, a big unicorn stallion. You were talking to him a lot I think. I don’t really know. I just clean.”
“A unicorn stallion huh? Come on, hang-over, clear up for just one second. I think he told me something… interesting. Something I just can’t get it to come up." Berry growled as she dug her hooves deep into her skull "Damnit! I hate this stupid memory stuff!” Berry bumped her head into the nearest wall over and over, but that wasn’t going force the memories out any sooner.
“Just wash yourself up before you go outside," Ruby dismissed her mother with a bored, almost condescending tone, "I’ll be on the computer.” Berry took slow stumbling steps to the upstairs bathroom where she let herself soak in the comfort of steamy, bubbling bath water. The soothing scent of strawberry bubble-bath flowed through her nostrils. The memories from last night made gentle waves back into her mind. Amongst those memories was one of a white unicorn with a lustrous, red mane.
The memory started with her lying on the couch with the regal looking unicorn. He whispered into her ears with his sweet, seductive voice. “You want to know the recipe to the ultimate wine? Wine so good even Celestia doesn’t get to drink it. The recipe goes like this. First you need to ferment oranges with cooled magma, holy grapes mixed with purified magic, singing cherries, and a sea pony’s ‘Shoo Bee Doo’. Then you need to mix it all with dragon’s love.” The Berry of the memory giggled after that ingredient. “and as for the yeast, you need yeast that’s been treated by a hippogryph. Then the yeast needs to be sprinkled in stardust. Mix all of that together and you’ll have a batch of the best wine in the world.”
Berry’s tongue dribbled with drool as the recipe repeated over and over through her head. The ingredients made no sense, but it didn't matter. Something magical about them made her desire it. It was as if she had to drink it right then and she’d let neither hell nor heaven get in her way. Rushed with energy, Berry bounced downstairs. “Ruby! I’m going on a pilgrimage!"
Ruby’s hoof slid down her face as she belted a disdained groan. “Mom, what religion do you even believe in that has you going on a pilgrimage?”
“Uhhh, the religion of wine.” Berry snickered.
“Give me a second. I have type a message before I can even dignify that with a response.” The filly turned her back to her mom and faced the radiant computer screen. Ruby typed into the text box of her chatroom on Dodo Society.
Little Drinker- Guys I think my mom has finally went full blown retarded. She’s shouting about a pilgrimage for alcohol.
Mini-RAINb0w- Seriosly? whats a pilgrim thingy?
Muffinfilly- I think its a tyop of adveture. I herd of it in last dreamX. Shes gonna go to churchs n stuff.
Little Drinker- I doubt that. She’s probably just horribly misusing the word.
Mini-RAINb0w- Ask what shes going 4 I wanna knwo!
Little Drinker- Fine just give me a second.
Ruby spun her office chair around to face her mom again. “So, what the hay are you talking about? I know you don’t believe in anything so it’s not a pilgrimage.”
Berry bounced uncontrollably like a schoolgirl. “I remembered what that unicorn said to me. It was a recipe to the world’s best wine! Dragon love, Shoo Bee Doo, singing cherries, hippogryph-treated yeast, holy grapes, stardust, cooled magma, and purified magic! Doesn’t it sound like the best damn drink in the world?”
Ruby's voice fell flat. “Honestly. That sounds ridic-”the recipe’s magical tune echoed through Ruby’s young head. Her mouth watered and her eyes dilated, “-ously delicious! Mom can I please have some? I know I’m not supposed to drink, but I think I need this one! If I don’t get it I’ll explode or something. Then child services will finally come for you.”
“You really think I wouldn’t let my own little girl have the best wine in the world? Of course you can! Now come on let’s go!” The impatient Berry rushed for the door only to get a painful bump when Ruby shut it with her magic.
“I have to say bye to my friends first. Just lie there for a minute.”
Little Drinker- Guys me and my mom are going to go adventure for the best wine in the world. Also guess which filly gets to drink under-aged. Me!
Mini-Rainb0w- Id go with u but sweati bell would be to much of a wimpy marchmallow!
Muffinfilly- Awww I’m at my daddy’s right now. I’m sure mama wood let me go wit yo guys. And cant yo u drink at those parys anyway? yOUr mom woud never care.
Little Drinker- Yeah I just choose not to. I’m sort of scared, but this sounds to good to miss out on. Bye girls!
Little Drinker logged off.
Ruby jacked her mom back up like before. “Mom we should go see aunt Cheerilee first. I’m going to have to leave school for a while.”
Berry groaned, “But I haaatee Cheerilee. Do we really have to? Can’t you just ditch? Please do it this once for mommy.”
“Not happening, I got stars to keep! There is no way I’m letting Sweetie Belle become the new sun filly. Now come on!” Ruby bucked her mom through the door. The walk to Cheerilee’s house was filled with whining and fake crying.
The house was an incredibly happy shade of orange. It sat high on top of the rolling hills near the schoolhouse. Ruby opened the the door with the key under the mat. “Hi Auntie Cheerilee. I brought mom with me.” The rich maroon colored teacher was in the middle of popping a bottle of white wine when they came in.
Cheerilee blushed, “Oh you caught me in the middle of my Sunday drink. What brings you and-,” Cheerilee’s tone turned more dull, “my sister here?” She took a sip of her drink in front of Ruby knowing the filly wouldn't mind.
“We’re going on an adventure for the ultimate wine. She’ll be out of school for a while. We’re just here because she cares about some sun filly crap.” Berry was rewarded with a swift painful buck for the “crap” part.
Cheerilee’s drink sprayed from her mouth, soaking Ruby in nasty wine-spit. Berry on the other hoof opened her mouth for the drops that went her way. “Ultimate wine? Adventure? What the hay do you think you’re doing taking a little girl on a journey in Equestria! This place is covered in manticores, dragons, and giraffes!”
“But you haven't heard what’s in it yet,” Berry rhythmically listing the ingredients.
“Sister, Dragon’s love doesn't even sound,” that ingredient repeated in Cheerilee’s head, dragon’s love, “Dragon’s love sounds like the best thing I’ve heard in my whole life. You know what?” Cheerilee bolted upstairs and in minutes returned with a three saddlebags of supplies, “Since I'm such a good, cheery sibling I’ll be happy to help you two. I wouldn’t want to see my sister’s funeral too soon would I?”
Berry snorted as she put on her saddle bag. “Yes you would. You just want my booze. That’s the only reason we ever talk.”
Cheerilee hummed as she rummaged through her living room dressers. “We’ll need weapons if we want to survive the Equestrian untamed-lands. Aha! Here it is.” Cheerilee pulled a protractor out of the dresser. The curved edge had been modified with a lethal blade while the straight edge was turned into a mouth grip. The best thing about it was that she could still measure angles! “I’ve been saving this confiscated protractor knife for years. You two will need something to use as well.”
“Oh, oh, I play tennis! I can beat monsters with a racket! And I was practicing healing magic too because of all the injuries that happen during mom’s parties.” Ruby brandished a racket Cheerilee had lying around and swung it like a sword.
Cheerilee pat the little unicorn’s head.“Good idea Ruby. You’re already more useful than your mother. The funny thing is, I just confiscated some metal spiked balls from Scootaloo yesterday. She said something about a ‘being uncannily convenient’ cutie mark.”
Berry stared at the beige bag Cheerilee had pulled out from her confiscation closet. “You have some weird kids.” She searched through her memory banks for anything that could be her own weapon. “Hmm, Twilight had something cool I can use to kill stuff with. Lets go.” Berry made sure to shut the door on Cheerilee's face as they left.
The three trotted it to the library. Cheerilee made a short stop at the mayor’s to fill her in on the early vacation. As they trudged up the hill they could see Twilight getting her mail from the town mail mare, Derpy. “Hey Twilight where’s the fancy gourd with the chain you had?”
“Of course you would swing a gourd around.” Cheerilee scoffed.
“Hi there Berry. Did you say gourd?” Twilight’s mumbled, trying to figure out whatever Berry was talking about. "Oh right that huge drinking gourd Celestia gave me. I really have no idea why she would send me something like that. Do you need it?”
“Yeah we’re going to kill monsters. We’re going on an adventure.” Ruby said. Berry struck a heroic warrior’s pose. Going on an adventure was starting to sound pretty kick ass even without the wine.
Derpy’s ears perked. “Killing monsters? Dinky does that all that time on her fantasy game. I miss my muffin when she’s with her daddy. Can I come too?”
“The more the merrier, Derpy!. Maybe Raindrops can cover for you.” Cheerilee said.
“Well it seems you’re forming quite the party, so I'll try not to hold you up. Spike, toss the gourd out the window! Berry needs a weapon!” Twilight called to her loyal dragon. After a few seconds a cheap wooden spear fell to the ground, almost skewering Cheerilee.
“So close.” Berry mumbled.
“Spike!” Twilight shouted.
Spike's popped out of the second floor window. “Sorry Twilight! We gave the gourd to Applejack, remember? So I thought a spear would be good. Actually… why do we have a spear anyway?”
“I thought it would come in handy one day,” Twilight mumbled, “You guys can keep the spear. Tell Applejack I said you may have the gourd. She'll understand.”
Derpy picked up the spear. “I know how to use one of these! Dinky uses this drag spoon character all the time.” She spun the spear in her hooves.
“Wow, Blondy’s pretty good at that.” Berry remarked.
“Why thank you. I practice a lot you know. As a mail mare I have to know twenty ways to kill a pony. I’m an expeeeeeerrrt!” Derpy’s spinning propelled her through the air, hurtling in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.
“Follow her!” Berry yelled.
The others found Derpy crashed through one of applejack’s trees... rump first. “You okay, Blondy?” Berry asked as she tugged and pulled the pegasus’ head.
“Yeah I crash into things all the time. All part of being a mail mare.” Derpy popped out of the tree and landed with a stumbling three point dismount.
“What in tarnation is goin’ on over here?” Applejack and her cousin Braeburn were about ten trees away.
“Sorry Applejack. Derpy had a little trouble. Also, we’re here for a gourd Twilight gave you.” Cheerilee said.
“I’ve been using that thing for my personal cider. Y’all sure ya want it?” Applejack replied. The party nodded. “Fine then. Hey Braeburn! Help your cousin out and get that thing from the barn cellar.”
“Sure thing.” Braeburn saluted before cantering off to the the barn. Applejack tipped her hat to Berry and company before going back to farm work. About ten minutes later, Braebern dropped a large reddish-green gourd full of hard cider next to Berry. “Hope ya don’t mind the drink ma’am. What ya need this thing for anyways?”
Berry submerged her head in cider as Ruby handled the talking. “My mom needs it to kill monsters. We’re all going on a quest for the ultimate wine.”
“Ultimate wine? Then y’all should buys some of my sister’s apples. Ain’t no way y’all can make the best wine in the world without apples. Here let me get y’all folks a bushel.” Braeburn bucked the tree behind him. All the tree’s apples fell perfectly into crates underneath. “Here, y’all can have ‘em at a discount. Applejack’ll never know, two percent off!”
Cheerilee politely declined. “No thanks Mr. Braeburn. The recipe doesn’t call for any apples. See we’re looking for a particular set of ingredients." Cheerilee proceeded to list of the ingredients in song to the rhythm of the ABC's.
Braeburn laughed. “That’s just plain silly. What the hay is Shoo Bee Doo anyways?” His eyes dilated. That strange list of ingredients suddenly filled his every thought. Now nothing was more important than drinking this godly nectar. “Did you say ‘oranges’? Ya know, we have some orange farming relatives. How about I help? I can get free oranges from ‘em.”
Berry fell inside the now empty gourd. “Hell no! I’m already sharing this between my daughter, Blondy, and my sister who refuses to just die already. So why the hell should I share any with you,” she shouted, her voice echoing against the clay walls.
“I have a shotgun,” Braeburn said bluntly.
“That’s a good reason.” Berry wiggled her way out of the gourd like a worm. “Fine, get your gun and we’ll go. If I stick around any longer I’ll be taking the whole town with me.”
Breaburn called Apple Bloom from a distance. “Hey Apple Bloom, can you have my gun ready at the gate? Tell Applejack I’m cutting this visit short.”
"Whatever you want Braeburn,” Apple Bloom replied from the next acre over. After a few minutes of preparation the party lined up at the town exit. The whole group was eager and ready to rush out into the world.
Berry packed the gourd into her inventory. “Okay let’s get our asses in gear! For wine!”
“For wine!” the rest echoed. Berry took one step beyond the Ponyville limits.
“Waaaaaiiiiiiiiit!” Fluttershy landed in front of the party. The party looked at each other confused. “Um sorry, you really don’t have to wait. It’s just, it’s really dangerous out there. You should really use the save crystals Celestia placed all around Equestria. I can’t make you, but you really should. If something,” she gulped, “horrible were to happen the crystals would bring you back to the past. Twilight says these crystals really mess up the timestream so you shouldn’t use them too much. Except if you don’t use them, you’ll die, so you should use them a lot. Wait...sorry. I confused myself. The crystal is over there. Oh, and if you run into a lagobo could you please bring it back? I’d love to see one.” Fluttershy disappeared as suddenly as she appeared.
Berry walked over to the crystal.
Do you want to save your life?
Yes ->No
Berry laughed. “Saving is for wimps.” Berry obtained her third Ruby buck of the day. “Damn it, I’m going to start punishing you for that.”
“Mom, if Dinky taught me anything, it’s the cardinal rule. Save early, save often.” Ruby said.
“Yeah, Muffin always saves when she gets to a save point. She gets really upset when she forgets,” Derpy added.
“I’d really prefer not to die today, Sister.” Cheerilee said.
Braeburn scratched his chin. “I reckon it’s probably a good idea to save here. Starting over from three days ago would be mighty irritatin’ for me.”
“Shut up! Damn I hate the Berry-is-wrong game.” Berry tapped the crystal again.
Would you like to save your life?
->Yes No
Which file would you like to save in?
-> 1- Empty
Saving your life. Please don’t open your eyes during this process.
….... ….. ….
Save Successful!
|
RayneTheSkunk
|
987
| 2 |
Berry Punch,Braeburn,Cheerilee,Derpy Hooves,Minuette,Original Character,Other,Prince Blueblood,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Scootaloo,Trixie,Adventure,Comedy,Random,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
A Fetch Quest for My Drink
|
Berry goes on an J-RPG adventure for the ultimate wine.
|
incomplete
| 22 | 2 |
<p> Berry wakes up from another one of her drinking parties in a daze, but this time there is something floating around in her head. It's important, possibly life changing. What is it? It's the recipe for the best wine in the world. There's a problem though. These ingredients are weird as hell! You can't find any of it in Ponyville that's for sure. It looks like Berry, Ruby, and some of their friends are in for a wild RPG adventure.</p><p>FOR WINE!</p><p>(I've taken the liberty of adding background music to the story to add to the RPG-ness. Feel free to ignore it.)<br/>Picture by Swaetshrit</p>
|
teen
|
2012-05-13T21:09:12+00:00
|
2019-08-23T19:33:01+00:00
| 1,775 |
A Fetch Quest for My Drink
New Game
-> Continue
Choose a save file.
-> 1 Berry Punch LV1
Loading life. Please don’t open your eyes during this process.
…... ….. …... …...
Load Successful
The party of inexperienced adventurers stood before the gateway of their new campaign, the road out of Ponyville. Ahead of them was an endless world covered in rolling plains, beautiful forests, and so much more. There were new towns to see, wilderness to explore, and some big opportunities to die if you’re unprepared. Only then did Braeburn realize, “...We don’t have a single clue where we’re goin’, do we?”
“Well, this whole thing was my sister's idea,” Cheerilee turned to her sister. “Berry, where are we going?”
“Pfft, shit I dunno. My first instinct after I remembered the recipe was to go on an adventure to get the junk I need to make it. I never got any clue on where to look. I figure we’ll just have to wander and hit some kind of hint eventually. This stuff can’t be too hard to find.” Berry said before trotting ahead of the rest.
Ruby tugged her mother back by the tail. “That’s just going to get us all killed! We should go back to Twilight’s and get a map. Maybe we could get some research done on the ingredients too. I don’t even know what half the stuff on the list actually is or how we’d ever even find it.”
Berry stomped a frustrated hoof into the dirt. “Hell no! Spending too much time in this place is why I have to share with ... “ Berry looked at the others she was traveling with,“... two ponies I hardly even know and Cheerilee. We’re winging it! Blondy, go up there and find us someplace to go.”
With a salute, the bubbly pegasus ascended into the skies. Her eyes darted in every direction. “Searching, locating, targeting, zoom and enhance!” Her eyes locked in place, targeting the perfect place to start. “Destination locked! There, Manehattan over yonder hill! They have muffins.”
The grounded ponies turned their heads to the city; the large industrialist metropolis peaked from beyond the northern horizon. “Huh, can’t believe we didn’t notice that,” Cheerilee chuckled,“Well you heard Derpy. Let’s go!” With a bounce in their step, the party started its march to the wealthy city. One step, two steps, three steps, Random encounter! The world twisted and contorted and then it was just a blur. Suddenly the world came back into focus, and Berry found herself in the middle of the grassy plains with her weapon drawn. Three oozing, smiling, blue slime balls bounced in front of her. Somehow they looked violent.
“The hell was that? Is everyone okay?” Berry shouted as she realized she was already circling the Gourd above her head. “And when did I learn this fighting style?” she mumbled.
“We’re fine, just caught in the reason ponies don’t travel much.” Braeburn stood on his hind legs with his shotgun ready. “I’m not sure if ya ever left Ponyville before, but the thing is, the outside is a dangerous place. You take a few steps and bam! Monsters all over. T’aint fair, ya can’t even see the things until they attack ya.” Braeburn took aim and fired at the center slime. Thirteen damage flashed in white text above its head. “Darn slimy, bullet-absorbin’ varmints.”
“Get ready mom. it’s your turn!” Ruby was ready on Berry’s right, bouncing one of her spiked balls on a racket.
“What?! Does everypony know how this works except me?” Without any other options, Berry aimlessly swung the gourd at the slimes. Miss. “Oh what the hell!”
As if from nowhere, Fluttershy descended onto the center of the battlefield with her own heavenly spotlight. “I’d like to explain what’s happening … if you don’t mind. Umm, you see . . . Equestria is a very strange land. The untamed wilds are - terrorized - by - monsters! It's really frustrating and scary because you can't see them, and, umm, whenever you're walking around you could be ,eep, thrown into a random encounter at any moment!”
“I figured out that part already. Explain the shit that’s going on now!" Berry shouted.
Fluttershy recoiled. “S-sorry, of course. Well, umm, once you're in a," she gulped, "r-random encounter you fight by taking turns. The turn order is determined pretty randomly - most of the time that is, I think. The worst part is if you're traveling in a party of well more than three . . . your partners won't be able to help you unless you switch out! Braeburn, could you please be a nice pony and give an example?”
“Sure as sunshine Fluttershy.” Braeburn ran into the horizon until he faded away. Cheerilee rushed onto the battlefield from the same endless expanse.
“Roger!” Cheerilee said as she assumed battle position, “Ready for anything!”
“The other thing is if all three active members happen to …. um die, then it’s game over for everyone. So remember to heal please. It would be terrible for you to have to hurt time. And before I go, sometimes the way encounters work changes. I’ll come back if that ever happens. Good luck.” Fluttershy ascended back into the sky, like an angel disappearing in the Sun’s holy light.
“Well none of that made any sense. Why do we have turns? Why don’t we just fig-" One of the enemy slime launched itself at Berry's face. The gelatinous body wrapped around her head. "The slimy shit is on me! Get it off!” Berry wrestled the disgusting blob of off her face and tossed it back to the other side of the field. Ruby and Cheerille snickered. “You two suck.”
Ruby tossed a ball from her sack and slapped it directly into the center slime. Eight damage and the slime dissolved into a small puddle of sad, blue ooze. “It’s easy. Just hit them when it’s your turn.” The two living slimes lunged themselves at Cheerilee. With a graceful twirl, the thief-class pony dodged both attacks. She returned fire with critically-hitting cut, killing the left slime.
“And why is she so lucky! That’s not fair at all,” Berry whined.
“Because I have a good luck stat,” Cheerilee boasted with a flip and a catch of her knife. “Stop whining and take your turn
Berry growled beneath her breath as she took all her frustration and turned it into a hammering swing. The gourd crashed down on the slime with all the force of a level one warrior, ending its sad, pathetic life. “Let’s try not to do this crap again.”
Berry Leveled up “Great, that just means I’ll have to fight more doesn’t it.”
Ruby Leveled up “Yes, just a bit more and I can beat up the bullies.”
Cheerilee Leveled up “Another lesson taught”
Braeburn Leveled up “Aaaaaaaaapppllleeelllooooooosssa”
The world spun back to to normal and the party was back on road like before. If three steps meant one battle and they had to go all the way to Manehattan and further “...This going to be a bitch,” Berry grumbled as they took long cautious steps.
______________________________________________________________________________
Coltstantinople, one of Equestria’s four noble cities. Windsor castle was home to Dionysus, the city's duke.Prince Blueblood walked through the decorated halls with a scroll describing tax issues he wished to discuss. As he split open the doors to the duke’s throne room, his jaw dropped. The white-marbled room was covered in fallen nobles, most of weary or surprised expression, all with a spilled goblet of red wine laying next to them. The duke laid sideways on his throne. Like most of the royal family, he was a unicorn with a purely white coat. His glistening, grape-red mane matching his eyes. With his magic, he swiveled his own wine glass above his belly. Blueblood took terrified steps through the room of corpses, stopping a few feet away from his cousin’s throne. “Dionysus, wha-what the hell is this?”
“Nothing, we just had a party.” Dionysus poured viscous fluid over himself, staining his coat with red. “You missed the punch.”
Blueblood took a step back. “Do you mean to tell me you poisoned all of them?”
“Perhaps I did, or maybe one of my waiters is a traitor to the nation and that’s why I killed him. Yes, that sounds like an excellent lie to me,” Dionysus said before licking the tainted wine off of his own fur. “Oh how fun it is to be immune to poison. Thank our alicorn blood.”
“This-this is horrible. It’s deceit and betrayal to the country! I demand to know why you would go against your homeland!” Blueblood’s horn glowed as he grasped sword hung from the wall with his magic.
“Oh you’re threatening me with a decoration. You’re always such a laugh.” Dionysus chuckled. He floated the empty wine glass above him as he hummed a little tune.
The Prince growled, “Answer the damned question! I swear I won’t hesitate to cut you through.” His legs buckled. He struggled to even stand straight. His eyes kept darting back towards the door. He could run at anytime, and everything in his body told him the best time was now.
“Well if you really want to know why I killed them …,” the duke turned to his cousin. His crimson eyes were larger than a pony’s irises should ever be, “it’s because none of it means anything anymore,” he shouted. “I’ll let you know something. Alcohol holds tremendous power over ponies. It elicits all sorts of emotions. It pulls others to success, it crushes lives, it brings ponies together, but it can also call forth our true blood.”
Blueblood lowered his sword. “What about our blood?”
“Remember, we’re descendants of Celestia! We have her blood flowing through us! Despite a thousand years of non-alicorn parents Celestia's blood still gives us strength. That’s why we don’t get sick: that’s why we are immune to poisons. For years I’ve researched of a wine so powerful in its magical properties that it can make any member of the royal family an alicorn five times more powerful than the princesses. The best part is, I finally found a pony whose drive for booze is powerful enough to make it for me, Berry Punch.” Dionysus used his magic to make a window in the floor. On the other side was Berry and her companions battling monsters in an open field. “Isn’t she wonderful? Foulmouthed, sexy, and a desire for alcohol that overpowers fate itself. She will bring me the intoxicating nectar that will make me the most powerful being on this planet!””
The prince’s eyes fixated on the mare. “A simple mare is the key of your scheme? You’ve no backup plan at all?”
Dionysus dismissed the magic window “I don’t need one. She’ll accomplish everything. Even if I did have one I wouldn't tell someone too stupid to understand it.”
Blueblood turned his back. “I’m making my leave. You know I can’t let you get away with this. I’ll tell Celestia and Luna. If they don’t stop you, then I’ll stop you myself.”
“Oh you will? Even if it means killing the mare and her little girl?” the duke taunted.
“Yes. Even if it means killing civilians. Good day cousin.”
“Great. You’ll be a wonderful source of … experience for them,” The wine duke chuckled as he magically summoned another glass full of red wine. “I wish you the best of game overs.”
____________________________________________________________________________
Manehattan, a bustling city of business and wealth with a bit of muffins on the side. The roads were made of expertly placed cobblestone. The brick buildings stood several floors tall, much larger than any wooden creation in Ponyville. Berry pulled herself over the ground. She crawled into the city, beaten, battered, and bruised. Her hooves finally touched the glorious cobblestone. "Yes! No more damn encounters,” she let her muscles give out and simply lay sprawled in the street.
The others walked in just behind her. Ruby's horn sprinkled a healing light over her mother. “Mom please. We only fought level two monsters the whole way here.”
Berry grumbled and rolled over onto her side. The dark bruises on her side faded away was they were exposed to the pink light of Ruby's spell.
Derpy hovered above the other ponies. Her wings flapped like a hummingbird. “We can’t stop here. We still need to head to where the muffins are,” Derpy whined, “Come on let’s go!”
Cheerilee and Braeburn heaved Berry onto her hooves.“Derpy dear, my sister’s tired.” Cheerilee said with the motherly tone she usually saves for children. “As much as I’d love to leave her behind we have to wait just a bit. She’s sort of the lead. The muffins will still be there.”
Derpy flitted back and forth. Her hooves wrestled through her mane.“Noooo ,we have to go now. They’ll be all gone soon. I can tell!” The flustered pegasus turned coat and dashed into the alleyways on her own.
Derpy has left the party
Berry smacked hoof against her forehead. “Gah, stupid addicted pegasus. I don’t even know why we let her come with us. I say we can leave her wherever she ends up. Blondy will be fine”
Braeburn pat Berry on the head. “Now that ain’t no way to talk about anypony. Y’all just handle yourselves. I’ll go after Derpy. You should try to find my Aunt and Uncle Orange. Tell ‘em you’re with me and they’ll give ya as many oranges as ya need.” Braeburn tossed the girls his bit pouch before giving chase the cross-eyed pegasus.
“I’ll hold on to the money.” Ruby said as she tucked the bits into her bag. “Its probably best with me. So where should we start looking for the Oranges?”
“Pfft, I don’t know. Let’s ask that guy.” Berry pulled up to a grey, well-clothed unicorn. “Hey you, have any idea where we can find the Orange family? We need some stuff from them.”
“The Oranges? Why they live in the east side, up in the deluxe apartments on the highest floor. Here, I’ll give you a very special map." The unicorn passed Berry the tan leather scroll from underneath his top hat. "It was made by some serious explorers. It charts all of the planet and even locks on to whatever city or building you’re in. I've been told it will also point out areas of interest. It’s amazing, but I’ve no need for it. Good luck.” The gentlecolt trotted away into one of the many back alleys.
“Well that was lucky,” Cheerilee said with an almost worried inflection to her voice. “So we just follow this map anywhere and we’ll know where to go next?”
“Seems like it." Ruby tapped her horn on the map. "See, the apartments over here have a little white glove pointing to them.”
Cheerilee chuckled.“Magic enchantments will never cease to amaze me. Are we heading there first? I’d like to get some water to be honest.”
“Screw water!” Berry snorted. “I need a shot or two; let’s go to this bar," she jabbed her hoof against the parchment, "I like its name, The Knockout Shot. That promises some strong liquor.”
“Mom, no. Auntie, later. We should just get the oranges out of way while we can get them for free.” Ruby took the map from her mom with her telekinesis. Another key item Berry couldn't be trusted with. The two mares groaned as a child led them through the city. The apartment that the map led them to was much more like a hotel in appearance, both inside and out. It had swanky seats, a shiny mahogany desk, and a desk-colt. The sisters sat on the couch and glared at each other while Ruby handled the business. “Excuse me, sir. We’re looking for the Orange family. They live here, don’t they?”
“Yeah, and I'm glad they're gone,” The blue desk worker replied.
“Excuse me?” Ruby said.
The colt pounded on the desk.“Those two would constantly order meals that I’d have to carry up to the top floor! I have to carry all their food. Do you know how much I get tipped?” The filly shook her head in response. “None! Freaking zero bits from those cheap orange peels. Everypony else here gives a pretty nice tip, but not those two. I’d take their food up fifty times a day and for nothing! If the- Aughghugh!” his rant was cut short by a flower pot to the face, followed with pain, and succeeded by bleeding, lots of bleeding.
Berry leapt over over the desk and pressed her hooves into the poor colt’s chest.“I don’t give a flying shit about how much you lift! Are the Oranges here or not? Because if they aren't I have a bar to be going too!”
Negative Karma Increased
“And I still want some water, please.” Cheerilee added.
“I’m sorry,” the pony coughed as blood from his face ran into his mouth. “The Oranges left for the Coltstantinople a week ago. Just get off me, please!”
“Fine, let’s go ladies.” Berry removed her hooves from the colt, leaving with her family. He lied on the ground, his face in excruciating pain.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
“Nice work mom. You got kicked out of The Knockout Shot for knocking a pony out in one shot. I’m a bit proud to be honest. You usually take two swings to knock out somepony,” Ruby said as she lifted her mother up from the street.
“Whatever. their drinks weren’t that strong anyway,” said the ever staggering Berry Punch, “and those two bimbos were asking for it!”
“The first girl was a lamp. That’s why you were able to snap her in half without her screaming,” Ruby said with a small chuckle.
Cheerilee walked out of the bar with a purposeful wiggle in her rear. “Bye bye ladies. Hope to see you all again sometime. I’d love to stay, but I’ve got a sister to take care of, “ she turned to her sister with a smug grin. "Nice to see you’re living up to the family name, sis.” Cheerilee said with a half drunken snicker. Crackle! Boom! The girls’ attention was stolen by the night sky. Fireworks decorated Luna’s night with bright colourful sparks and flowers of fire.
Ruby’s eyes were fixated on the display. “Wow, what’s all this is for? The last time we saw fireworks like this Trixie was in town.” Distracted, Ruby found herself on the ground from her mom’s weight.
The blond mailmare touched down in front of her. "See, I told you we’d find them getting kicked out of a bar! My eyes know everything. Oh, and sorry for knocking Berry on you, oopsie.”
Braeburn trotted onto the scene with a plate of muffins on his back. “Okay you were right for the third time today, but I still ain’t bakin’ you any cupcakes to go with these." The cowpony switched his attention over to Cheerilee. "So did y'all find my aunt and uncle?”
“No luck. They’re in Coltstantinople. We’re going to have to get oranges somewhere else,” Cheerilee said before breaking back into snickering.
Ruby shoved Berry off her back. “Hey Derpy. Can you find where the fireworks are coming from?”
“Sure.” Derpy hovered above the ground. She started spinning, going faster and faster till she was a rotating blur. “Scanning, scanning, scanning, scanning, fireworks source located!”
“Yes!” The excited filly clopped her hooves together. “Mom, can we go please? I really want to see the fireworks show!”
“Sure, why the hell not. They’ll probably have better booze anyway,” Berry said from the ground. With the help of her questionably loyal companions, Berry was lifted all the way to the three story high, blue tent the light show was coming from. A sign as large as an grown dragon boasted ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie, most powerful unicorn mage of all time!’
“Oooh it is Trixie? She still performs?” Cheerilee said as the ursa major incident flashed through her mind like a nightmare. “Well, nothing like that should happen again. Whats the harm in watchign? Let’s get seats … in the back” Berry and Ruby sat a row ahead of the rest while Braeburn sat between Derpy and Cheerilee. The Great and Powerful Trixie was just finishing a trick where she fused two stallions together. The weird set of four legs and no heads wrestled with each other to get off stage. Falling to the ground with a crash.
“Thank you, thank you! Trixie has two more tricks left tonight. The first will be great and the second will be as powerful as you could ever imagine. Who among you are ready to experience such incredible magiks first hand? You over there in the corner! Come over and be the mighty assistant of the Great and Powerful Trixie!” Each time her name was uttered, a burst of flares erupted from the stage floor. Her mighty assistant was a bouncy, pink earth pony.
Trixie draped the mare with a golden scarf as she summoned her to the stage. “Now dear, all you need to do is open your mouth nice and wide for the Great and Powerful Trixie to work her magiks.” Obediently, the mighty, pink assistant opened her mouth as wide as possible with an audible ‘ahhhhh’. Without hesitation, Trixie forced the her into a great and powerful lip lock!
The crowd, reeled in surprise. “This show is hotter than I thought it would be. We should get backstage tickets next time.” Berry chuckled.
“Her last show definitely wasn’t this romantic,” Cheerilee said, her cheeks blaring with red.
Something started to change in the assistant. The pink pony swelled like a balloon. She grew larger and larger as the kiss went on. Once she was about the size of a caravan, Trixie's lips broke away from the romantic spell. “Behold the helium kiss!” The cloud roared with applause and whistles. Roses and violets were thrown to the stage along plenty of papers with addresses and numbers. “Oh don’t give the great Trixie everything yet. You haven’t seen the powerful part!” As a punctuation to her boast, the Mighty assistant exploded. Gasps filled the tent. “Yes my audience, she is dead, but like a phoenix she will arise back to our mortal realm!” Trixie tossed her hat. Her horn was burning with light like a wild fire.The scarf the used-to-be-mighty assistant wore floated in the air. It spiraled as Trixie manipulated it with her magicks. The scarf stretched and contorted far beyond its limits. Then the scarf gave in to her will and combusted into burst of golden fire. The ashes fell to the stage, where they collected together into a bright sphere that shattered into a reborn pony!
“Twilight is going to love the story about what it was like in Asgard!” The Pink assistant shouted.
“Holy muffin apocalypse,” Derpy said nearly entranced. “It doesn’t matter if my eyes ever work normally. I just saw best show ever! …. and Dinky wasn’t here for it.” Derpy’s eyes sprinkled crooked tears as she rested her head on Braeburn’s shoulder.
“Hey sist, are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Cheerilee asked.
“We should find Trixie backstage, knock her out with chloroform, and kidnap her?” Berry replied flatly.
Her sister groaned. “No. I think we should try to convince her to join us. Magic like that would turn the giraffes outside into dust.”
“We should probably save in case the recruitment plan doesn’t work,” Ruby suggested as she started writing down a diagrams of a kidnapping plan in crayons. “Mom there’s a save crystal back outside.”
Would you like to save your life?
->Yes No
Which file would you like to save in?
->1- Berry Punch LV1
Are you sure you want to overwrite that file?
->Yes No
Saving your life. Please don’t blink during this process.
…. …. … …. ….
Save Successful!
|
RayneTheSkunk
|
987
| 3 |
Berry Punch,Braeburn,Cheerilee,Derpy Hooves,Minuette,Original Character,Other,Prince Blueblood,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Scootaloo,Trixie,Adventure,Comedy,Random,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
A Fetch Quest for My Drink
|
Berry goes on an J-RPG adventure for the ultimate wine.
|
incomplete
| 22 | 2 |
<p> Berry wakes up from another one of her drinking parties in a daze, but this time there is something floating around in her head. It's important, possibly life changing. What is it? It's the recipe for the best wine in the world. There's a problem though. These ingredients are weird as hell! You can't find any of it in Ponyville that's for sure. It looks like Berry, Ruby, and some of their friends are in for a wild RPG adventure.</p><p>FOR WINE!</p><p>(I've taken the liberty of adding background music to the story to add to the RPG-ness. Feel free to ignore it.)<br/>Picture by Swaetshrit</p>
|
teen
|
2012-05-13T21:12:11+00:00
|
2019-08-23T20:49:14+00:00
| 1,410 |
A Fetch Quest for My Drink
New Game
-> Continue
Choose a save file.
-> 1 Berry Punch LV5
Loading life. Please don’t open your eyes during this process.
…... ….. …... …...
Load Successful
Berry and Derpy roosted on the roof of a building overlooking Trixie’s tent and caravan. Two guards had been rotating shifts around the caravan for about an hour. Trixie was already inside; they just needed to sneak in, tie her or something, and jack the caravan. “Hey Berry, does your head still hurt from getting smashed with that hammer?” Derpy asked as she tapped the earth pony’s skull.
Berry pushed the pony’s hooves away. “It does now that you made me think of it again.” She massaged her now aching head. “How did it feel to get shot in the plot with arrows a lot?”
Derpy checked her rump. “It really hurt at the time, but once everything went black I only felt cold and then I saw Dinky.” A tear rolled down the pegasus’ face, but she didn't stop smiling. “But I’m all fine now and Dinky’s fine too! So everything's okay. Now remind me, why are we on this roof again?”
Berry opened a small piece of folded paper illustrated with intricate doodles. “When we tried to just take her and run the police killed us. Remember?” Derpy responded with a nod. “Well, Ruby drew up a better plan... one that shouldn’t end with us dying. We’re supposed to watch the guards around Trixie’s caravan so we can let the others know when it’s clear. Braeburn is supposed to snatch her while Cheerilee keeps the guards distracted.”
“What does Ruby do?”
Berry looked for the doodle of Ruby on the paper. “She’s supposed to steal the keys from the guards so we can jack the caravan and drive away.”
“You can drive a caravan? Ruby can drive a caravan?!”
“Duh, it is called a car-a-van. Ruby plays her driving simulator stuff on the computer all the time. I’m sure she can handle it.”
“Wow, Ruby’s a pretty smart girl. My Dinky is a bit like me; she’s pretty smart , but her head isn’t always in the right place.” Derpy presented a small wallet photo of her foal. Her hair was curled for that picture.
“Your eyes aren't even in the right place Blondy,” Berry said as she derped her own eyes for a moment, “but yeah I’ve seen your kid. She’s fine, not as much of a smart ass. I know Ruby cares about me-or at least I think she does, but I never get that mother daughter connection with her. She always treats me as if she were an adult too. Hell, sometimes I’m the damn kid.”
“Ruby seems like a grown up to me. She doesn't seem to act like a kid much when she plays with Dinky. She cooks, always stays on top of her grades, and keeps the other foals out of trouble. At least that’s what Dinky tells me about her. When I see Ruby in town it actually makes me sad. She’s the only kid not acting like a kid. I see her play games with the others but her smile isn't like the other kids. She really seems to love fireworks though.” Derpy pointed to the extra fireworks that still burst and sparkled from Trixie’s previous show. “So there's that..”
Berry laughed as she relaxed over the roof’s edge. “Jeez Blondy, when’d you become a child psychiatrist? How does Dinky treat you?”
“My muffin always looks up to me. She asks me to kiss her when she gets hurt, she always comes to me when she’s curious, she watches everything I do and tries to imitate me. I’m like the world to her and she’s the world to me. We care for each other.” She hugged the little photo as close to her body as she could. “I think that's what it means to be family.”
“Hmmm, how much does she care for me?” Berry mumbled to herself.
“Umm, Berry? I think the guards are leaving,” Derpy said, leaning halfway of the edge of the roof. The two guard ponies went inside a nearby tavern. “What do we do now?”
“We discreetly let the others know it’s time for them to get rolling.” Berry walked to the other side of the roof. Braeburn , Cheerilee, and Ruby rested on bench down below. “Hey sis! They’re taking a break in the tavern! Move your asses!”
“Kay, we’re on it! And ya should really talk nicer to your sister ya know!” Braeburn replied from the streets.
“I’ll talk nicer to her when I’m dead,” Berry snapped. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I was having a conversation with Blondy!” She flicked her tail and trotted off, kicking some pebbles at her sister's head.
“You’re just jealous that I have a job,” Cheerilee retorted. “Now let’s go, team!”
Cheerilee, Breaburn and Ruby snuck through the alley on the building's side. They had the perfect strategic position behind Trixie’s caravan. The back window was wide open and it had plenty of room for Braeburn to squeeze through. All Cheerilee and Ruby had to do was walk into the tavern and work their skills while the stallion contained Trixie by any means. “Okay big guy,” Cheerilee nudged Braeburn’s side, “go up there and see what she’s doing.”
“I’m really starting to have second thoughts about this,” Braeburn said as he made tiny little baby steps toward the window. “Why are we kidnapping a pony? It’s wrong, isn’t it? A unicorn made me explode for it a couple hours ago.”
“Pfft, try being frozen and then shattering to a thousand sparkling pieces. It hurts a lot more! Now go on, we promise we won’t let you die again. My plan is perfect!” Ruby boasted.
“It was drawn in doodles!” Braeburn displayed his own wrinkled copy of the plan. “Doodles!”
“And those doodles are perfect!” Ruby turned to her aunt. “Auntie Cheerilee says so.”
“Yep, I’m going to put it on the fridge at home. Now just play your role, Braeburn. You’ll do great. I’ll give you a gold star.” Cheerilee said with a sticker sheet of golden stars in her mouth, each reading “good job” or some variation thereof.
“Gold... oh, never mind. Fine, I’ll do it; just hold you horses.” The reluctant stallion crept over to the window. He approached the caravan on the tips of his hooves. His eyes just reached over the window. The inside was was decorated like the night sky. Breaking through the blue were various bursts of colour resembling the sparks of fireworks.Trixie had her back turned to him, admiring herself in a vanity.
“Oh, Trixie! You dazzled the audience yet again. Tonight’s mare was very familiar, but where was she from? Oh right, Trixie remembers now; she was standing next to those hecklers in Ponyville. Hmmph, she was a pretty filly though. Of course there’s no mare prettier than you, Trixie.” The unicorn winked at herself in the mirror. Four pictures were wedged into the top of the vanity’s frame. The largest was of Trixie herself, one was of a purple unicorn, and other two were a pair of blue unicorns. “One day you will defeat an ursa major. You’ll go back to that town and show them all and she will respect you. Then I can become a star in the sky happily. Hell, I already make a beautiful star. Kiss me!” Trixie threw her face at the mirror, engaging in an extreme make out session … with herself. Braeburn shuddered and shielded his innocent eyes.
He trotted back over to the girls. “So, what’s she doing?” asked Cheerilee.
“She’s uhhhh, doin’ stuff. I reckon she’ll be a while.” Braeburn said with an expression somewhere between fear and disgust. “So, how exactly do you want me to get her?”
“You just need to restrain her. You can phase out a unicorn’s magic by tapping their horn.” Ruby pointed to the tip of her own horn.
Braburn’s head tilted. “Does it really work like that? It seems sorta... stupid.”
“Just try it. Force her down and tap her horn real hard. Trust me, I do it to Sweetie Belle all the time when she’s practicing telekinesis. We’re going to go get the keys. We should be only be five minutes. When you get Trixie just open this bottle.” Ruby pulled a small black bottle from her bag then levitated it over to Braeburn. “That’s going to signal mom and Derpy.”
“Good luck. Don’t hurt her too much,” Cheerilee said as she took Ruby with her to the tavern.
“Good luck? This is all the help I get, some advice and good luck? Can’t I at least have some rope or something?” The stallion mumbled to himself. Braeburn looked through the window again. Trixie’s mind was still immersed in making out with herself. He scanned the room for anything that could be of use. He’d need something to tie her with and something to keep her mouth shut. “Let’s see. There’s a case of pinecones and some capes. I’m gonna have to work some ingenuity here.” Braeburn climbed through the window like a squirrel. He took one of the pinecones from the case and crept behind the distracted unicorn. “Ah darn it I’m too nice to do this,” he muttered to himself with his muffled mouth. He spit the pinecone out his mouth, straightened his hat, and stood straight. “Howdy there.”
Trixie shrieked, pulling an immediate one-eighty degree turn. “You didn’t see Trixie kissing herself! She was merely trying to clean her mirror!”
“You were moaning, heck your slobber’s all over the dang thing.”
“Cleaning is a very difficult process.” The unicorn folded her forelegs defensively “Now why are you in Trixie’s caravan?”
“I uh, wanted your autograph personally,” Braeburn said thinking off the top of his head. He held out his hat towards Trixie. “Please sign it, please! Your show was the most amazing thing I bet I’ll ever see!”
“Oh, of course, Trixie thought you were going to kidnap her or something.” Trixie signed her name and title in exaggerated cursive. “Anything else the wonderful Trixie can do for you?”
“Uh well I was wondering, maybe you could do a show in Appleloosa! I can tell ya all about it. There’s hardly any unicorns there. Everypony would love to watch you.”
“Appleloosa? Trixie doesn’t know about this place. She’ll listen and consider the possibilities.”
Meanwhile, Ruby and Cheerilee looked for the guards in the tavern. The Bird’s Nest Tavern was as average as average could be. Normal wooden tables, normal stained glasses, and normal half burned candles. It was completely unremarkable in every way possible. “Hey, I found them over there.” Ruby pointed to the two red coated guards who had been throwing darts on the other side of the room. One had a blue mane while the other guard’s was green.
“Actually Ruby, I was thinking.” Cheerilee scratched her chin with her hoof as she tried to piece the idea together. “If I’m the thief class why is the white mage doing the stealing?”
“Because they need to be distracted and I just thought a beautiful grown mare like you will get their attention better than an itty bitty little girl” the filly said wearing the biggest pair of puppydog eyes imaginable.
“Darn it, I should have never taught you how to do that. Fine, go over there. I’ll try … something.” Cheerilee waltzed towards the two guards with a certain sway in her hips. “Hello there. I’m new to this town. The place I’m from isn’t so big.”
“A small town girl, huh? We’re from Canterlot, but big cities are our specialty. What sort of help do you need, miss?” said the green maned guard
“Not much I just need a place to have some fun.” She winked.
The green haired pony winked back. “You’re in luck, me and my friend here know plenty of fun places in Manehatten. There’s a lot for a mare like you to do in this town... if you catch my drift.”
“Oh, really. What is your drift?” The mare said, stroking the blue maned guard’s side.
Both guards jumped. “The arcade, the comic book store, the giant Internet cafe with free world of arts and crafts. And there’s even a huge costume shop!” The two said in unison.
“Dude, they have cosplay outfits for Ragna the Bloodpony there. I so need to get one!” the blue maned guard exclaimed. “Oh, hey! I bet you’d look great in a Hsien-po costume. You should go there with us.” He gripped her hoof. “Miss Trixie is letting us off soon.”
“Well if you really think I’d look good in it.” Cheerilee’s eyes darted across the room looking for her small unicorn. “I mean I’ve definitely heard of the character before, but I don’t play games much.” Ruby snuck up behind the guards unnoticed. The keys to Trixie’s caravan dangled from the waist of the blue maned pony. She started levitating the keys off of him with her magic. She made sure not to accidentally jingle them as evil jingly keys always tempted her to. Click. They were off now; she just needed to get them into her pouch nice and safe.
“Hi little Ruby! What are you doing in Manehatten? Is Berry here?” said the familiar voice of a mare. The surprise snapped Ruby’s concentration in half. The keys fell straight to the floor, making a jingle loud enough to alert everyone in the building. Ruby spun herself around to see the exact mare she thought it was: Minuette.
The guard ponies turned around immediately. “Ladies, why are our keys on the ground?”
“I think these two were trying to steal our keys. Jump ‘em!” The guards threw themselves at the thieves.
“Slow!” Minuette shouted as her horn shot out a spell. A blue image of a slowed down clock formed in front of the guards like a magic seal; the two were stuck in a state of slow motion.
“Romana, snatch the keys and follow me!” Cheerilee bit the skin on Ruby’s back and ran off with her; Minuette ran behind her with the keys around her horn. The three mares forced their way through the caravan window. “Braeburn signal Berry! we-”
“Shhhh. She’s asleep,” Brabeurn said as he tucked the loud and snoring Trixie into her bed. “I was telling her all about Appeloosa and she just darn fell asleep on me.” Braeburn popped open the black bottle from earlier. “Wow this stuff is strong. I can’t believe you carry it on you.”
“It’s the best way to get mom to actually come when you need her. She gave these bottles to me years ago and said ‘If you ever need me open up one of these and I’ll come running’. She didn’t lie. It always works. Even when-” Bang bang bang! Ruby was cut off by the sound of something slamming against the vehicle. “Crap, are they back to normal speed already?”
Loud bangs came from the door followed by a well known angry voice. “Let me in, damn it! I can smell the Vodka!”
“Oh thank goodness it’s just her.” Cheerilee pulled Berry and Derpy inside. “Be quiet. We have to go, now! Trixie’s asleep and her guards will be after us any moment.”
“Okay just- “ Berry’s eye’s landed on Minuette. “Wait a sec. Why is she here?”
“I had to handle a special appointment and-”
“No time!” Cheerilee interrupted.“Ruby, drive!” The filly plopped herself in the driver’s seat at the front of the caravan. She jammed the keys into the ignition and slammed down the pedal as hard as telekinesis would let her.
Minuette helped herself to a seat at the vanity. "Well we’re on the road now. There’s no way those two are catching up to us. So Berry, what’s going on? I mean jacking a caravan is a pretty big deal. And who’s the pretty boy with the hat?”
“Well I’m Braeburn. I’m not from Ponyville, just sorta along for the ride.” He gave the new unicorn a powerful hoofshake. “Glad to meet ya, miss.”
“Nice to meet you too.” she said giving him an even stronger hoofshake. “ I’m Romana Minuette: expert dentist. Here’s my card.” The card read ‘Romana Minuette: expert dentist.’
“And I’m Ditzy Doo,” Derpy boasted. “But you probably remember me as Derpy, Dinky’s momma,” the wall-eyed pegasus yawned. “And if you excuse me I’m gonna take a nap. Night.” She snuggled up next to Trixie under the covers and rested her head on the unicorn’s belly.
Colgate stared at them for a bit. “That’s sorta adorable.” She remembered the warm feeling from the last time she slept with Berry like that. The warmth covered her fur like a blanket. “Berry, I’ll snuggle up with you tonight if you tell me why you’re in trouble.”
“I’m not in trouble,” Berry pouted. “I swear none of you have any faith in me.”
“Sis, it’s been twenty-three years and you still haven’t given me a single reason to have faith in you. Anyway, Romana, we’re on a big adventure. We’ve found the recipe for the greatest wine in the world. We just got sorta sidetracked and decided to kidnap Trixie,” Cheerilee said, pointing to the sleeping unicorn. "Wait a second."Her smile crumbled as a rush of shame and confusion came over her.
Colgate’s eyes twitched in disbelief. “Wha- why? You? That’s something I’d expect Berry to do when she’s unsupervised.” Berry flicked her tail at Colgate’s comment, which was pretty much the most obscene gesture any earth pony could do.
“Well uh, because … umm,” Cheerilee’s head hung sheepishly as she looked for a lie. “ uhh, because we needed help killing monsters. Mentioning monsters, Ruby if you see any giraffes run them over!”
“We’re in the city, auntie.” the filly replied.
“Then keep an eye out, they’re crafty! So do you want us to drop you off anywhere, Romana?”
“Nah, I wanna hear more about this Recipe.” Colgate stretched her muscles and reclined. “So how exactly do you brew up the world’s best wine?” She munched on one of Trixie’s pinecones as the sisters listed off all the ingredients on cue. “Wait, wait, wait-” Before she could object to the idea the recipe’s spell worked its ways on her submissive little brain. The image of the drink was so fantastic she almost choked on her pine cone. “You guys didn’t call me about this! I can’t believe you would try to keep me from knowing.” She folded her forelegs and spat a half-eaten pinecone at Berry's head.
“Hey!” Berry barely ducked under the projectile. “I wasn’t trying to keep you from knowing! I just was a bit too ahead of myself. I’d much rather have you here than,” Berry growled, “Cheerilee. Please, I wouldn’t want to have the best wine in the world without the best mare in the world. Come on Minnie.”
“Wait, best mare in the, actually never mind. None of my business. I’m a pretend I ain’t hear anything.” Braeburn tiptoed to the front with Ruby. “Just go ahead and do whatever.”
“You’re adorable when you’re sorry, you know that Punchy?” Minuette whispered as she kissed Berry on the nose. “Sure I’ll help out. It finally gives me a chance to use my PSI.”
“PSI,” Cheerile inquired “I’ve never heard of that before. Is it a unicorn ability?”
“Not really. It’s a psychic ability. Any kind of pony could do it, ya know, if they’re psychic. My mom was psychic but she only taught me PSI, Psychically Stolen Incantations. I can steal the spells right out of something else’s brain. Certain spells anyway.”
Cheerilee winced. “Sounds painful for the victim.” She massaged her own head just thinking about how that would hurt.
“It’s better not to think of it.” Minuette turned to Berry. “So where are we going next, Punchy?”
“I have no idea,” said the ever blunt ‘Punchy’, "We don’t really know where anything is. All we got is a map that can point out things once we already know what we’re looking for.”
“Well I think I know where we can get singing cherries. There’s a big city called Gallopolis that has a monster hunting contest each year. It’s got three prizes. The trophy, singing cherries, and the third is whatever you want. Within reason of course.”
“Minnie, you really are the best mare in the world!” Berry tackled the unicorn into a surprise snuggle. “Ruby, mark Gallopolis on the map! We’re competing in a hunting festival!”
“On it!”
_________________________________________________________________________
“Prince, I honestly have no reason to believe your cousin would have been the one to poison all those ponies. He even showed me the evidence that his waiter was the conspirator. He came to it about me earlier. “ Celestia looked down upon the prince from her throne. “Blueblood, you must be tired. I understand what you saw must have been awful. Please take a rest, that should clear your head.”
Blueblood bowed his head “But, Celestia, grandest mother please. He’s lying; he told me! He’s out to overthrow your rule.” He looked up, staring desperately into Celestia’s unbelieving eyes. “Why can’t you see it? He has a mare going on a journ-”
“You’ve told me, Blueblood!” Celestia interrupted him with scarcely used royal Canterlot voice. “I'm sorry but your story is ridiculous. First, how could a wine of all things possibly turn him into an alicorn? Second, if there ever was such a thing like that I would know about it. Third, you haven't the slightest bit of evidence it was him. Blueblood please rest, I'm growing very concerned for your health."
“Yes, you're right. I should rest,” the prince hung his head, hair draping his eyes. “I’m sorry for wasting your time.” He trudged down the hallway to his personal bedchamber when he was stopped by two black guards with bat wings. These ponies were known as ‘Luna’s Children’. Each one was treated as a member of the royal family and Luna herself treated them as her own offspring. Celestia said they were the result of a relationship Luna had shortly before the Nightmare Moon incident. They were sent to another country while she was trapped in the moon to keep the public from questioning where these mutant ponies came from. “Aether, Moros, why are you blocking my path to my own bedchamber? I grow tired of your pranks.”
“Oh there’s no prank here, cousin. Our mother just wants to have a word with you about your meeting with Celestia,” Aether, the shorter and sleeker of the two brothers, said.
“You see. she doesn’t exactly buy into Dionysus’ pathetic excuse of a lie like Celestia does.” Moros waved his hoof in front of the wall. A dark door manifested behind him. Even without horns the Luna’s children had their own form of mostly dark magic. “Please step inside. Mom is waiting to see her grand nephew.”
Blueblood was hesitant to even touch the door considering it was practically flaming with darkness and had not existed for less than two seconds ago. Shaking, he pushed the door open. Black winds quickly swallowed the the prince into the ghastly green depths of the door’s dimension. Blueblood found himself on a green,but incredibly fluffy, throw pillow. It was as soft as a sheep. Before him was Luna sitting on her throne that seemed to be made of what Blueblood could only guess was space itself. Aside from the pillow and the throne nothing else seemed to exist. The two were dead in the middle of space. Stars decorated every direction and comets whooshed by every few minutes, but the most beautiful thing was the elegant shining moon that floated behind Luna’s head like a halo.
“Prince, I believe you have to something to tell me about Dionysus.” Luna clopped her hoof against her throne. On command all twenty one of her children appeared in a circle around Blueblood. Each in their own personally designed throne.
“Grandest aunt, where exactly are we?” His body quaked in fear and shock. Drops of the Prince’s nervous sweat fell into the abyss of space.
“We’re in my own personal dimension. It’s something I crafted up with an old invention Star Swirl made. Anypony can make their own dimensional room. I was planning to sell them to the public soon. They’re excellent for reducing stress.” Luna crackled her bones and stretched. “Now tell me what your cousin is up to, child. Out of every family member Celestia has shown me, the moon trusts him the least.”
Blueblood went over the duke’s plan in full detail or at least all the details he had. “You see, that’s why he has to be stopped. If he’s already killing off nobles before he’s in control you can only imagine the incredible chaos he’ll unleash when he’s an alicorn.”
Luna closed her eyes for a few moments. “I've heard rumors of such a wine but never believed it existed.. Celestia was never interested much in alcohol, but I always kept my eye out. I don't know if magic like that is real but I'm not willing to take risks. I can think of a few solutions. First, we could dissuade his pony from seaking out the ingrediants. Second, we could kill his errand lady. I’d hate to have to kill a subject, but that’s likely the easiest method. Lastly we could execute the duke. However killing him would not be easy he's likely suspcious of all of us. Besides one of us would have to be punished for it. I can put Thanatos in charge of contemplating a murder method just in the event that we have to use that option.” Thanatos, the tallest stallion who sat atop a throne of coffins, manifested a sketch pad and started marking up plans. One of the batponies hovers over to Blueblood holding a shimmering blade in their hooves. “That sword is named Selena. It’s made of pure solid moon rock and enchanted with the power of Ice. You have all of my children at your disposal. I trust you to handle this problem, grand nephew. I’ll do my best to work from the sidelines.”
Blueblood bowed, levitating his new sword high. “Grandest Aunt Luna. You have my word that I will remedy this stain of a royal.”
“I trust you. Now go rest.” Luna assaulted the Prince with the same black winds that had forced the Prince into her dimension. The wind blasted Blueblood into the emptiness of space. The prince woke up on the floor of his bedchamber with his new sword next to him. A new black save crystal floated in the center of the chamber.
Do you want to save your life?
->Yes No
Which file would you like to save in?
-> 2- Empty
Saving your life. Please don’t open your eyes during this process.
….... ….. ….
Save Successful!
|
RayneTheSkunk
|
987
| 4 |
Berry Punch,Braeburn,Cheerilee,Derpy Hooves,Minuette,Original Character,Other,Prince Blueblood,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Scootaloo,Trixie,Adventure,Comedy,Random,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
A Fetch Quest for My Drink
|
Berry goes on an J-RPG adventure for the ultimate wine.
|
incomplete
| 22 | 2 |
<p> Berry wakes up from another one of her drinking parties in a daze, but this time there is something floating around in her head. It's important, possibly life changing. What is it? It's the recipe for the best wine in the world. There's a problem though. These ingredients are weird as hell! You can't find any of it in Ponyville that's for sure. It looks like Berry, Ruby, and some of their friends are in for a wild RPG adventure.</p><p>FOR WINE!</p><p>(I've taken the liberty of adding background music to the story to add to the RPG-ness. Feel free to ignore it.)<br/>Picture by Swaetshrit</p>
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teen
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2012-11-26T03:59:22+00:00
|
2019-08-24T01:37:40+00:00
| 907 |
New Game
-> Continue
Choose a save file.
-> 1 Berry Punch LV5
Loading life. Please don’t open your eyes during this process.
…... ….. …... …...
Load Successful
The save crystal’s glow covered Berry’s form then faded as if she had absorbed its light. The wind blew through her mane in the open grasslands. They had parked in an open field on the side of the road. Like most of the wild-lands that they’ve passed through on foot, it seemed to just be hills, grass and trees that went on forever.There were the mountains that blocked off Gallopolis from eastern Equestria over to the west. Berry glanced over at their periwinkle colored caravan. Ruby was still busy pouring fuel into the tank , Braeburn and Cheerilee were having their own conversation on the nearby hills, and Derpy was still sleeping with Trixie. “Why do I feel so strange right now?” Berry held her hoof against the brilliant red crystal and stared into her own crimson reflection. “You just need a drink. You deserve one right now anyway.””
“Or you could just, ya know, talk to me.” Berry felt Minuette’s soft mane brush by as she walked up beside her. Minuette’s lips pecked at the earth pony’s cheek.“So have you told Ruby about our engagement yet? She really ought to know what we’re doing.”
“She’ll figure it out on her own.” Berry looked into her fiancée’s eyes through the crystal’s red tinted reflection. “She’s a little smart ass like that. Deductional what-ever is one of her things.”
“Deductive reasoning,” Minuette corrected. She nuzzled her face into Berry’s scruffy neck. “Come on Ber, this is something you really have to tell her. A new parent is a real big deal for a child her age. We can’t just keep it a secret from her until the wedding day and then go ‘oh by the way we’re getting married’. Just go over and ease her into the idea, kay.”
Berry giggled a bit as ’s fur tickled at her sensitive spot. “If you think it’s such a big deal, you go tell her. You’re the one that’s gonna be the new parent.You’re better with children anyway. Make her say ‘aaahh’ or some shit.”
The unicorn gave a desperate look into the crimson reflection of Berry’s eyes. “She’s your daughter, no one should be able to talk to her better than you. I mean I’ve been with you for a while now and I’ve always been pretty amazed at how you two always talk to each other as equals. It’s like two best friends.”
“So that’s how it looks from the outside?” The earth pony's mumbling was barely audible. “I feel like that sometimes, but I’m not really too sure if it’s exactly like that. Ugh listen, my head’s just a bit cloudy. Just uh, give some time to think and I’ll probably get to it later.” She dropped onto the grass, raising a small cloud of dust and green blades. She glanced at Minuette’s reflection as the unicorn walked towards the caravan. “We’re not equals.”
Braeburn and Cheerilee sat at the top of a hill a few steps away from the vehicle. The rising sun was hanging high over the horizon. It made a glorious orange tint against the rolling grass in the distance. “I used to live on a different farm before we settled Appleloosa. I got to see something a bit like this every mornin’ from my bedroom window,” Braeburn closed his eyes as he reminisced on his childhood, “Just replace the grass with a couple thousand apple trees. I loved watching the apples all shine up right at once. It was real pretty sight back then even if it did blind my eyes a mite bit.”
Cheerilee had rolled onto her back while the stallion talked. She closed her eyes as well and tried to imagine how inspiring it would be for a young filly to wake up to such a magnificent sight each morning. Something about its calmness gave birth to a warmth in her heart. “That sounds really romantic, in the artistic sense I mean. I guess you really liked your home town, huh?”
A smile grew across Braeburn’s face as he opened his eyes and adjusted his hat. “Yep. Harilson was a old, small town, but that’s what gave it that quaint homey feelin’ ya know? That feeling that just makes a pony feel like they belong. Full of friendly folk, hard work, and delicious apples. I don’t think a single pony was unhappy. That’s where Applejack’s papa grew up. Sweet Apple Acres was her mama’s. I’m about her brother’s age. I remember them having their wedding up in the big barn. AJ’s mom was pregnant with her at the time.”
“I never knew that about Applejack. It sounds like you’ve got hundreds of fond memories back there. Maybe you could write me an essay on it. I’d love to read it.” Cheerilee rolled onto her stomach, bumping into the stallion. She giggled a bit and looked into his eyes with a smile. “Would you do that for me?”
Braeburn smirked down at her as he tipped his hat. “Sorry Miss Cheerilee, I’m more of a story teller than a writin’ type, but I love tellin’ stories to other ponies. I can tell ya as much as you’d ever want to hear if that makes ya happy.”
“Very well then, let’s see.” The maroon pony scratched at her chin. It took her just a moment to come up with the next question she really wanted to ask. “So about Applejack’s parents. I’ve never really seen them before. Whatever happened to them? I’m a bit curious because I’m Apple Bloom’s teacher and I’m always a bit concerned that her parents aren't there.”
“Oh”, Braeburn’s tone dulled drastically. He stared at the horizon a bit longer before finding his voice. “They’re rebuilding Harilson.”
“Huh,” Cheerilee’s shifted onto her haunches and shot Braeburn a completely perplexed look. “But, you were just talking about how great Harilson was.”
“Yep. It was great, but few farm towns are very well protected from a tornado. One day I woke up and my sunrise wasn’t there! Instead I just saw this giant swirling wind thingy rippin’ trees straight out the ground! I screamed of course, woke up darn near everypony in town! We all got out just dandy, but there wasn’t really a town anymore. Applejack’s papa was a darn stubborn stallion and decided to rally ponies to rebuild. They’ve been working on it for years, but tornados just keep rollin’ on in. Me and the other folk just decided to find a new town, and that’s how the great Appleloosa came to be.”
“Oh dear,” the mare took Braeburn’s hoof into her own. She rubbed it gently and spoke to him in a soothing voice. “I am so sorry for making you have to look back on that. I’ve had relatives in similar situations before. I understand what a pony goes through when they lose their home.”
“Oh don’t fret about nothin’. I’ve been well over for years now. Now I get to tell you about,” The stallion reared up and looked to the sky,“ Aaaaaappplllelooooosaa!”
Back at the caravan Ruby could hear Breaburn ramble about the desert settlement. She tossed the gas canister aside, having just finished filling the tank.“Stupid hybrid caravans. If you’re going to make caravans fueled by flare crystals they shouldn’t need fuel!” The filly turned to buck the motorized heap when she saw Minuette had been sitting behind her. Her cheeks blushed just a bit as she lowered her hind legs. “Oh, hi Ms.Romana. We should be ready to hop on the road again now. Did you want something?”
“I’ve been dating your mom for five years and you’re still calling me Ms. Romana?” Ruby nodded in response. “Well, you could just call me Romana, or Minuette. You can even use Minnie if you want, I’m sure your Ber’s not very protective of that pet name.” She crouched down to Ruby’s eye level. “You could at least drop the miss.”
“Okay then. I’ll just call you Romana if that’s really all you want.”
Romana raised a brow. “You sure you don’t want to call be by some sort of nickname or something?”
“I’m sure. What’s with the sudden concern over what I call you? You’ve never cared before and you still just call me Ruby.”
“Well, do you have any nicknames you like?”
“Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara started calling me Bucks.” Ruby looked to back at her hind legs. They were much more firm and strong than other the other fillies in school, especially for a unicorn. If it weren’t for Applebloom’s farm work she’d probably have the strongest legs in class. “I bucked them for it, hard. I just like being Ruby, dad chose that name.”
Minuette’s ears perked. “You know Berry never told me much about your dad; it pisses her off more than anything and Cheerilee goes all mute whenever I bring him up. You mind filling me in?”
Ruby’s eyes turned to the ground. She tapped her hoof into the dirt a few times before talking again. “I … don’t really remember much. I just remember I really liked him. He was nice to me, but mom didn’t talk to him much. And then one day, he was gone.”
Minuette took a step back. “Uh, sorry. I guess I don’t really have any business delving into anypony’s past anyway. I’ll uh, just get in the caravan.”
“Watch your step there’s a-” Ruby cringed as she heard the sound of glass crashing against the floor. “Are you ok-” a shriek pierced her ears, followed by a thud on the caravan’s side. “Oh crap, she woke up!”
“Who are you ponies?! Why are you in my caravan?! Guards!” Trixie huddled herself in a corner with a bag of firecrackers and other small pyrotechnics. The interior of the caravan was trashed. The floor was marred with broken glass, pine cones, and the burn marks of fire crackers. A pegasus shaped dent was imprinted into the side, and just about everything was out of place. The others were all grouped into the caravan’s opposite end. Braeburn took a cautious baby step towards the angry mare. Snap, crackle, pop! “Don’t get any closer to Trixie! She should have known better than to trust you! Trixie is never going to entertain your stupid Appleloosa!” She threw another batch of little explosives at the group of kidnappers. “Stay Back! Back I say!”
“Hey now, don’t insult Appleloosa. Wasn’t my idea to snatch ya up, everypony else made me do it.” Braeburn’s comment was met with the glares of his peers. “Y’all know it’s true.”
“Shut up!” Trixie shouted. She flung another barrage of fire crackers her kidnappers. “Just get out of Trixie’s caravan and she’ll drive away peacefully. Got it!”
“Calm the fuck down! You’re going to burn down your own damn caravan.” Berry stomped her hoof only to get burnt by crushing a lit cracker. “ow,ow,ow owww!””
“Please stop throwing those, they’re loud and hurt my ears. We’re friendly ponies; I even brought muffins. Have one.” The pegasus presented a warm, fluffy muffin that smelled of banana.
“Like hell you’ve brought muffins; you’re trying to poison Trixie!” The paranoid unicorn shot Derpy’s muffin with a blue cracker. Gory, burnt muffin guts splattered across the pegasus’ face. “Now leave before Trixie hurts something more than your muffins.” Her horn glowed icy blue, tiny snowflakes swirling around the base. Everypony took careful steps backwards. Ruby jumped back the farthest, having already suffered the cold pain of an ice spell.
The filly’s clever brain went to work once she was safe behind a motherly figure: Derpy Hooves. Her horn sparked .“Mom, I have an idea,” she whispered, “Did you ever notice how we all decided to join you after you told us the recipe?”
“Yeah, it was starting to piss me off. What about it?”, Berry tried not make any sounds or movements that may set off the hostile unicorn.
“Well maybe the recipe is hypnotic. It worked on me, Auntie, Braeburn, and Ms. Romana. Just try and list it off to her or something. The filly gave her mother a telekinetic push. “Go on, do it!”
The unicorn's glare intensified as Berry got closer. Her horn’s glow flared and snowflakes frenzied around the tip. Berry gulped, “We, were um trying to recruit you for uh ….” she stammered, then in a panic she blurted out each ingredient as loud as she she could. Berry ducked, covering her head with her hooves. “Don’t hurt me!”
The glow and flakes around Trixie’s great and powerful horn dissipated. Her eyes widened curiously. “Wait a sec,” Her voice was more hushed and calm, “What exactly does all of that mean? You’ve piqued Trixie’s curiosity.”
Cheerilee took up job of explaining.. “Well it’s all the ingredients to the greatest wine in the universe or something like that. We really wanted you, the Great and Powerful Trixie to help. After all, your magic must be more than enough to handle the monsters.”
“Oh, of course you would want Trixie on a journey like that.” she levitated her hat and cloak onto herself. “But, Trixie’s services must have a price. She wants her own portion of this ‘greatest wine in the universe’. Are we clear?”
Berry complained under her breath about another pony getting some of her precious wine. “Yeah, sure you can. The more the merrier,” she grumbled.
After short introductions and and an explanation of where they were heading next, Trixie was perfectly ready to join their quest. It turned out Trixie’s weapon of choice really was fireworks. With Ruby as the designated driver, the group only took a few hours to make it to Gallopolis gate. There were plenty of gates like this in Equestria that was supposedly to help protect ponies, but everypony knew it was just way to get bits. Gallopolis gate in particular was in the small gap between two huge mountain ranges.
A skinny freckled blue stallion answered at the gate booth.“Welcome to Gallopolis gate... wait. Are you a child driving?”
Ruby’s eyes darted back and forth, until her eyes caught onto a fake mustache. “Um, no.” She said with her newly found mustache covering her lips. “Just having facial hair issues.”
“Folliculestis Malfunctionate. My uncle used to have the problem too. Sorry to be all suspicious about you a second ago.”
“It happens a lot.” The unicorn’s facial hair fell to the floor. “Ah there it goes again.”
“Yeah, it’s a terrible disease. I really hope you beat it. Anyway I’d love to help you, but Gallopolis Gate is actually under lock-down right now. My dumb brother forgot to treat the bars and now they’re rusted in the ground. A lot of ponies are going to miss the festival without an airship.””
Minuette rushed to the window “Wait, what do you mean we can’t get in?! We need to get to that festival, we have important dentistry business.” She flashed her dentistry badge. “Romana Minuette, Officially Licenced Expert Dentist. You can’t keep me out buddy!”
“Oh gosh!” The booth pony broke into a nervous sweat. “Okay, okay ,there is one detour that’s close by, but it’s pretty dangerous.There’s a cave on the eastern mountain not too far from here, but it’s packed with monsters. It’s a pretty short cave though. After you go through, it’s just a short walk to Gallopolis.”
“Thanks” the unicorns responded.
The booth pony raised his hoof.“One little thing, you’re going to have to ditch your caravan.”
__________________________________________________________________
Choose a save file.
-> 2 Blue Blood LV10
Loading life. Please don’t open your eyes during this process.
…... ….. …... …...
Load Successful
“Great Aunt! Great Aunt Luna!” Blue Blood called from one of the highest roofs of Canterlot castle. The morning’s rising sun had the white castle town washed in orange. The roof’s domed surface was hard to walk with hooves; each step almost caused him to fall off the castle entirely. Blue Blood sat his haunches at the dome’s highest point, trying his best to remain still. His helmsmare was taking far to long bringing his airship up. “I’d think a Princess would be a bit more punctual,” he grumbled.
Whining screeches echoed in the streets below. Blue Blood listened intently as they got closer and more piercing. The prince only barely flinched as a swarm of bats passed him on both sides. The swarm huddled together before him like a living, flapping cloud. They belted a powerful unified screech before bursting into black flame. The fire molded into the form of Luna and three of her bat-winged children. Blue Blood’s expression was far from impressed.
The alicorn pouted, “What, no reaction? Are you truly that used to my entrances already?” Luna and her children kept themselves lifted just above the roof. Blue Blood recognized her followers as Nemesis, Momus and Philotes. Nemesis was easily recognized by the heavy armor she always wore. Unlike most Equestrian armor her black suit covered the whole body with the exception of her cold expression. Momus’ defining trait was his masks. He never really shown his face. A different mask always blocked it from view. The one he was wearing now was painted in red and had a sly smile that crept across it’s face. The third skinnier pony was Philotes who wore a simple black dress. Her purple main was long enough to reach the bottom of her hooves.
Blue Blood curled his mouth into a grin. “You can only explode from a horde of flying heathens so many times before ponies expect it great aunt. So are these three going to be my assistance for this”, he coughed,“mission?”
“Yes, I trust them to be your companions. You seek out the mare, correct? If, so you’ll have to go through the many dangerous lands of Equestria. Thanotos and Apate will watch Duke Dionysus. I’ve also taken the liberty of having your air ship upgraded over night. You’ll be running on flare crystal power from now on. It should be here any moment now.”
Blue Blood bowed his head, directing his horn at the princess. “I am very appreciative great aunt. I’ve desired one of these crystals for quite a while, but there were very few available for airships. And may I ask one favour.” He rose his head to look straight into his elder’s eyes. “That dreadfully pointless battle system Celestia made. Do you think it’s possible to change it.”
“That? Of course, we told her a thousand years ago that turn based combat was a silly idea but she didn’t listen. We made that with control crystal she keeps hidden in the basement. Changing that will be simple for us.”
The armor clad pony gave Luna’s shoulder a light tap. “Mother, I’d just like to warn you that you’re lapsing into ‘royal we’ again.”
The alicorn’s face flushed with red, “Thank you, Nemesis.” She leaned towards Blue Blood’s ears. Her lips whispered him a soft warning “One last thing nephew. The save crystals have their danger. Though they help you return back to living, the time travel they use is based on memories. I assume you’ll be leading the group so they will use your memories to go back in time. That means you’ll be reliving pieces of your past whenever you come back. Most ponies don’t come out of that in the same condition as before.”
The prince raised his head towards the sky and beat his royal hoof upon his chest. “Don’t you worry in the slightest. There’s no chance of failure while I lead this mission.” Propellers chopped through the air below. Blue Blood’s airship spiraled up around the tower. The ship docked itself on the roof directly behind the prince. The balloons that held the body afloat were covered with a rich violet die and were covered in elegant curving designs. The ship itself was a small, sturdy personal cruiser made from durable every free forest wood. “The Aurelia is my own beloved vessel and has never let me or anypony down. She’s a mother of good luck. I bid you farewell great aunt.”
Luna gave a hopeful nod, “Then may she truly be a vessel of good fortune. Farewell nephew. Children, follow your cousin’s orders, I fully trust him to lead this operation. My faith is with you.” The princess burned away in the same dark blue flames she used to make her appearance.
“You may now honor yourselves by boarding the magnificent Aurelia.” Blue Blood turned his back to his new companions and strutted aboard the airship.
The mask wearing pegasus flew circles around the balloons .“Whatever, your ‘magnificent ship,” Momus said mockingly, “seems pretty crappy to me. All this pointless effort to make it look all pretty and you don’t have a single stinking weapon installed. The bow isn’t even suited for ramming and the frame makes for a poor defense against any proper weapon. I don’t want to ride in a fancy looking model. I want a ship!”
“Wha- what did you just say about my Aurelia?! Do not compare her to some average, military vessel. This is my personal vessel; her job is to transport us, not to engage in combat. We’re after a mare, not a country!”
Momus descended onto the deck. He had switched masks to one that displayed a condescending laugh. “Aww, seems like our leader is too stupid to prepare for the unexpected. Let me teach you something then.” He rushed the prince, leaning close against his face. “You always mount cannons on a ship, moron.”
“Momus stop antagonizing him!” Nemesis trotted beside Blue Blood. Her armor made loud thuds and clanks as she walked on the wooden deck. “This is not a military mission. Celestia is supposed to remain unaware to our actions so we must take a smaller form of transport.”
“Whatever, pet.” Momus switched masks again. His hooves were to fast for anypony to see his face between exchanges. The new mask was blank. He turned his back and gave a flick of his tail.
She turned to the prince. “I apologize. My brother is naturally critical. Would you like me to act as second in command, sir? I am mother’s personal guardian and adviser.”
“I shouldn’t need one. Momus should be my only problem. After all,I’m only leading four ponies. Which reminds me, I need to check on Trade Wind. Make your self at home in the spare quarters. There should be bunks for the three of you.” Blue Blood trotted towards the ships helm located at the bow.
“Waaiit prince,” Blue Blood stopped in place as the call rung against his eardrums. The thinner dress wearing pony rushed towards him.“Prince I am really happy to be working with you and really honored that momma decided to let me be your partner on this mission, hug!” Philotes flung her fore-hooves around Blue Blood. She practically had hearts for eyes. “We are going to have just the awesome-est time together! I can tell.” Her voice cracked as she squealed.
“Uh, Sure. I’m real happy to be working with you as well.” The prince’s voice was strained as he struggled to break free of the mare’s death-hug. “Alright, release me already!”
“Aye aye captain!” The two forelegs that had Blue Blood locked released, letting him fall right onto his haunches. Philotes saluted with a fangirl like squeal. “Anything else you want captain? I can make tea, or coffee. Do you think you’d like coffee and tea together? I always wanted to try that!”
The royal unicorn stretched his legs as he returned to his hooves, “If you insist.” he groaned. “And while you’er at it try to learn how to hug a pony without crushing their bones. The kitchen is right next to the guest quarters. Just promise me you can actually cook. I don’t want my royal tongue touching some horrible swamp water. Now if you excuse me I have to discuss some things with my helmsmare.”
“Roger Dodger! I hope you like lots of cream in your tea-coffee.”
A blue haired yellow earth pony lied in front of the helm. The pony flipped through the pages of a thin book with colorful panels. Blue Blood crept behind the pony without distracting it’s attention. “Psst, Tradewinds,” the unicorn whispered, “What are you looking at?”
“Nothing much, just this awesome comic about a sky-pirate with an eye-patch-goggle-thing. Wish I could have become a pirate.”
“Oh, that’s nice. Now tell my why are you doing this when you’re on the job!” Blue Blood hollered in the helmsmare’s ears. The earth stallion snapped up and saluted to his superior. “Tradewinds how many times have I told you it’s very improper for you to read comics while on the job?
“A lot sir, but were docked ri-”
“No buts!’ The prince snapped. He raised his nose to the air and and beat a fore-hoof against his chest “Need I remind you who’s the prince and who has a zero point one millionth chance of becoming the leader of Equestria one day.”
“No sir,” Tradewinds replied with a droning tone. “So what exactly did you request the ship for so early in the morning? Are you making another visit to Coltsantinople? You were really uppity about something when we left last time. “
“Actually, it is about that, but I’m afraid your childlike mind would get a little too excited if I told you what we’re doing.”
“Oh, come on sir. I wouldn't get excited, tell me.” Trade winds leaned against the the wheel “I am the one at the helm after all. I have to know where we’re going. It’s my job.”
“You’re positive you won’t get too exited? Very well then, what’s your little ruffian eye patch hero doing now?
A star twinkled in the earthpony’s eyes and his mouth grew into a brilliant child-like grin.“Well if you really care sir, right now his sister was just kidnapped and that made him really upset. I mean if my sister was kidnapped I’d be mad to. So he assumed his rival did it but his rival’s actually a pretty nice guy and after the fight they decide to help each other! So the build this humongous new super shi-”
“You can stop now.” The prince backed away from his now sweaty helmsmare. “Right, I believe it’s still probably a bad idea to tell you right now.”
“Come on” Tradewinds moaned. “I didn’t get that excited, sire. My nose only bled a little bit this time see.” He wiped his nose with his fore-leg, smearing a streak of blood against his fur. “ I usually have to take a bath after this.”
“Do you have any idea how unsanitary that is? Go wash your-”
“Prince-y!” The enthusiastic dress mare pranced onto the scene with a document behind her folded wing.
Blue Blood murmured a light curse under his breath. “I was to believe you were making coffee. What do you require now? I am very preoccupied with this fool right now.”
“I wasn’t making coffee, I was making coffeetea!” Philotes corrected with a warm smile. “Nemesis just reminded me that I had something real important to give you.” She took the paper from her hooves, which Blue Blood promptly took with his levitation. “That there is a list of all the ingredients to the ambrosial wine so we can have an idea of where to look. She said whatever you do to never ever, ever read all the ingredients at once. I don’t really get it, so I’m going go back to making coffeetea. Bye Princey, bye Mr.Helmsmare!” With a kiss blown each stallions’ direction, Philotes spread her wings and took off to the other side of the ship.
“Well,she sure was pretty.” Tradewinds wiped his nose, marring his leg with more blood than before. “So uh, what’s her name?”
“Philotes, and don’t even bother getting any puny little hopes, she’s a noble.” The prince read over the document. He would read a word turn his head for a second, then read the next. “The hay am I reading? Stardust, cooled magma? I swear this is the most preposterous list of...” a note on the paper caught the prince’s attention.
“Yes I know these ingredients are very silly, but Star Swirl knew what he was talking about before the bell jingling made him mad. Now, Prince my best suggestion of where to start is Gallopolis. You said the mare is from Ponyville didn’t you? Well,Gallopolis isn’t all too far from that town. Every year they have a monster hunting festival were the prize is whatever you ask for(within reason, don’t go asking for their castle you already have your own). It’s worth examining as the event is coming in the next three days. Good luck.”
“Tradewinds, clean yourself up. I just got a hint on where to go first. We depart for the city of Korin!”
“Roger dodger! Wait a sec, did she say she was making coffeetea? I love that stuff!”
_________________________________________________________________________
The Caravan had been driving on the side of the Korin mountain range for about an hour. The the rolling view of the mountain side outside the window slowed down until it reached a stop. Ruby hopped out of her driver’s seat and untied the little pegs she had on her hooves. The other mares sat on the bed while having idle chitchat while a hat-less Braeburn moved around in the back. “The map says we’re at the cave. Does anypony want to pack anything before we leave?”
“I still need to raid the fridge; I call packing the food!” The wall eyed mare fluttered to the refrigerator and immediately started relieving it of it’s contents. “Oooh, there’s a cake in here! Taking that.”
“Hey that’s Trixie’s food. You better not eat all of it. Especially the pine cones, leave those alone.” Trixie jumped to her hooves with a flare in her horn. A purple aura wrapped around Derpy and whisked her away too the other side of the caravan. “Just let Trixie handle her refrigerator.”
“I’m lookin’ for my hat over here it shouldn't take too long.” Braeburn tossed outfits and props as he searched. “Don’t mind me! I’ll handle it myself.”
“Make sure to take any booze you find in there with you.” Berry stretched out each of her legs. “Me and Pearly are gonna wait outside. Just don’t take too long we don’t have all day. Come on.” Berry and Minuette hopped out their seats and trotted out the door. Minuette gave a short wave to the others before stepping off.
Cheerilee closed the book she had been writing in and slid it into her saddle bag.“I’m ready too. I’d don’t want to postpone anything.”
“Okay Auntie. I just need to check something.” Ruby cantered over to Trixie. The show mare was meticulously arranging her assorted pine cone based delicacies into her bags. “Ms. Trixie, would you happen to have a laptop here? If it has gem-fi I’d like to use it for some online games?” The filly used her puppy face skill against Trixie.
“Trixie doesn’t usually let kids use it, not that she usually deals with children,” she mumbled, “but you’re a child who can drive so Trixie guesses she can trust you. Just don’t get any viruses on it, okay. It should be under the bed.” The mare went back to gathering her pine cone cakes and pine cone shakes. Ruby stared at her for a moment before fetching the laptop from under the bed.
“Okay, Derpy found my hat, I’m ready!” Braeburn tapped the dust off his trusted cap and flipped it onto his head
The cave’s walls were all a smooth emerald green. The ground made a path that branched out into separate caverns.Wind whistled through the the holes in the walls and pathways. Chilling water dripped on their heads from the stalactites above. “I bet the rest of y’all wish ya had hats now, huh?” Braeburn snickered. “Hey Derpy you sure you don’t wanna use it? I’m fine taking it off for a bit.”
“No thankies. I like the rain. The way it pats on my head reminds me of when I tried to be a weather mare. Drip drip drop.” Derpy went on humming as she flew against the wind above the rest of the party.
“Trixie’s hat provides superior rain protection than your western patchwork. Trixie’s hat comes with a exponential boost to magical power and rejects rain.”
Cheerilee walked beside her sister. Her eyes darted across the cave looking for any signs of life. “Her sister. Didn’t that guy at the gate say that there's be a lot of monsters inside this cave? I haven't seen a single one. I’m telling you that doesn't feel right.”
“Oh please. Don’t get your shit all worked up. Just keep on walking, if no monsters come up it’s fine.” Berry’s hooves stopped their trot. A transparent ice wall obstructed their path. On the other side of the wall was a huge circular platform with the exit directly on the other side. To their left was another brilliant crimson save crystal.
“Mom, my common sense is tingling. I think we need to save, now!” Ruby tapped at the crystal. “Come on just do it real quick.”
“I swear your Cheeriliee’s child somehow. Both of you calm down. Hey Trixie get over here, I’ve got something for ya.” The show mare raised her nose and trotted towards the front. “Ya, see this ice shit? Handle it!”
“Well you’re just a master of words aren't you? Hasn’t anyone taught you how to ask nicely? First you kidnap Trixie and then you give her orders.” Trixie levitated her hat above her horn. “No matter, melting this ‘ice shit’ is but mere child’s play for The Great and Powerful Trixie!” Trixie’s magic burned with a red aura. The grooves in her horn ignited in bright flame. “Behold, Fire!” The horn blasted a blazing fireball at the center of the icewall.The spell burned straight through it’s target and exploded against a wall on the other side. The ice melted almost in an instant and formed a warm puddle beneath the ponies’ hooves.
“Tadaaa!” Trixie hummed her own fanfare as she gave a bow to her small audience. “The Great and Powerful Trixie’s fire magicks has allowed us to continue.” The party walked through the puddle and continued their trek forward. “Black magicks isn’t a skill most unicorns are capable of, few even dare to attempt learning it, but Trixie was bold enough to master the art of strong destructive magicks. Trixie’s power knows no limits for she-” Trixie felt something familiar, very, very familiar. A precision targeted hoof strike collided with her talking device. The mouth took a full critical strike. The head unit was on a direct crash course to the ground: she was down.
Danger
“Just shut up already!” Berry bit showmare by the back of her neck and yanked her up. “Sorry, I can put up with bragging, but I can’t deal with the freaking third person shit!” the ground cracked under force of her stomping hoof. Snaps and ripples spread like an infection through the rock beneath their hooves.
“I’d start flying if I were you. I’m hearing something rumbly and it’s not my belly,” Derpy shivered in flight above the other ponies. The earth bound ponies looked down to see the rocks separating and shifting. The mountain groaned and grumbled as rocks fell from the ceiling.
Minuette tapped at the cracks, “It’s just some rumbling Derps, don’t worry about i-, huh?” The cracks beneath her grumbled as they widened into notable crevices.“Uh-oh.” The rock snapped apart, dropping Minuette into dark, hole, her screams reverberated around the cavern walls.
“Minu- whoa!” Berry fell to her haunches as the ground turned into a crumbling slope. The floor crumbled outwards from a the hole like a burning piece of parchment. Their screams bounced off each other as the plummet down into a seemingly endless abyss.
Sploosh! Cheerilee pushed her head above the murky water. She gagged on the thick fluid in her throat. “ Is everypony else okay? Hello?” four other heads emerged from the water “Okay, Berry, Ruby, Minuette, Trixie.... where’s Derpy and Braeburn?!”
“Ya’ll don’t worry we’re up here!” Braebern waved his hat to the others. Derpy had him wrapped tight in her forelegs. “You can bring us down now Derpy.” Derpy and Braeburn landed perfectly dry and unharmed while the rest climbed out the pool of still cave water.
“Sorry I could only grab one of you.” Derpy said as she fiddled with Trixie’s wet mane. “It’s so shiny when it’s wet... hey, uh you hear that?” Everypony’s ear twitched just a bit. Chirps echoed through the holes scattered about the walls. The chirps evolved into screeches and frantic flapping.
Ruby shook out the water trapped her ears. “Are those bats?” Their attention went to the holes that dotted the cave. Red gelatinous bubbles spouted from the openings. They wiggled and twitched with the screeches. The slime bubbles popped out of the holes with squishy sounding schlop. The goo-like bat wings protruded from the balls of slime, and each had a pair of shiny yellow eyes. The party huddle together backside to backside. “What are these things?”
Battle (Fenrir)
Braeburn drew his gun “These varmints.... are jelly bats.” The cave flashed with the blaring light of battle. Braubern, Trixie, Berry, and Derpy stood together, weapons drawn. At least a two dozen jelly bats surrounded them. They dove at the party headfirst. The bats swished past and around them as the ponies dodged about
“What the hell! Aren't we supposed to be taking turns or something?!” Berry blindly whipped her gourd at the swarm. The the gourd cut through the air like a sword; the bat squealed as it spattered against the force of the clay weapon. “Braeburn what the hell is going on?!”
Bang! Red Jelly splattered against the cave walls, “I don’t know just kill the darn things.” Braeburn cocked his trusty shot gun. “I hope really hope this works.” The stallion raised his gun towards the sky, beams of radiant energy spiraled into the metal barrel. “Spiral shot!” Braeburn redirected his aim towards the the swarm of jelly bats. Three shells of light burst from the gun; they twisted around each other and tore through a cluster of the flapping menaces.
Derpy weaved and dodged through the foes with her spear ready in her mouth. Her blade sliced through the gelatinous bodies like her wings cut through the air. On the ground, Trixie charged her spells as Berry covered her with wild swings. Flaring fire balls erupted from Trixie’s horn. The spells burst on impact with the bats causing them to scatter and screech. The bat’s numbers were reduced to just a remaining five, non-threatening monsters. The last of the swarm huddled together above the earth bound ponies.
“I’ve got them!” Derpy gripped her spear between her fore hooves. Her eyes rolled sarcastically till they both acquired their target. She spread her wings wide as she channeled her energy into the next attack. The spear became alight in a transient blue aura. “Gungir!” Derpy shot her spear at the bats with full force. The jelly bats made their final screech as the spear ripped through their clustered mass. “Woo Hoo! I did it!”
Derpy leveled up “Am I doing it right?”
Braeburn leveled up “Ride on!”
Trixie leveled up “Still Great, Still Powerful”
Berry Punch leveled up “Why don’t I get any powers?”
Berry licked a bit of the jelly off the ground “This stuff is pretty good. I guess the fight was sorta worth it.” The goo that now coated the cave walls began to squirm. “Eww, what hell is it doing?” Derpy yanked Berry away from the pulsating, jelly puddle. Slime from the walls launched into the mass on the ground. It warped and contorted within itself. The blob rose high above the ponies. Two beady yellow eyes popped out of the ooze and tentacles extended from it’s sides. “... you know what, I take it back. Not worth it.”
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RayneTheSkunk
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987
| 5 |
Berry Punch,Braeburn,Cheerilee,Derpy Hooves,Minuette,Original Character,Other,Prince Blueblood,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Scootaloo,Trixie,Adventure,Comedy,Random,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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A Fetch Quest for My Drink
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Berry goes on an J-RPG adventure for the ultimate wine.
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incomplete
| 22 | 2 |
<p> Berry wakes up from another one of her drinking parties in a daze, but this time there is something floating around in her head. It's important, possibly life changing. What is it? It's the recipe for the best wine in the world. There's a problem though. These ingredients are weird as hell! You can't find any of it in Ponyville that's for sure. It looks like Berry, Ruby, and some of their friends are in for a wild RPG adventure.</p><p>FOR WINE!</p><p>(I've taken the liberty of adding background music to the story to add to the RPG-ness. Feel free to ignore it.)<br/>Picture by Swaetshrit</p>
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teen
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2019-08-24T01:41:22+00:00
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2019-08-24T02:03:45+00:00
| 243 |
Fetch Quest
New Game
-> Continue
Loading life. Please don’t open your eyes during this process.
…... ….. …... …...
Load Successful
A gooey, red tentacle lashed at Berry. The tentacle connected to an oversized round mass of angry slime. A translucent roaring mouth ripped open from its center. Its solid yellow eyes reflected the group of ponies that huddled against the wall. “What in the world is that?” Minuette screamed, cowering behind Berry Punch. Her hooves latched onto her fiance’s shoulders.
“The darn things messed themselves into one big jelly!” Braeburn shouted as he raised his gun towards the gelatinous behemoth. “This one’s gonna be a hassle to take down! Y’all ready?”
A red flare blazed from Trixie’s horn. “Trixie is always ready to get a new trophy!”
“I’m in!” A fainter pink light lit up. Ruby stepped forward with an eager grin, bouncing a spike-ball on her racket. “Somepony has to keep you guys healed up.” She gave a quick glance to Berry, “You in mom?”
Berry belted a deep, frustrated moan as she pushed Minuette aside. “Minnie, get behind Cheerilee.” She trudged ahead, her gourd slung over her shoulder. “Fine, let’s get this over with.” A blinding flash of light sent them into the battlefield. Berry and Braeburn took point, leaping towards the beast while the mages jumped back readying their spells. “What’s the plan, Braeburn?” Berry said as she swung the gourd into the jelly beast’s center mass. The gourd lost all momentum. The jelly latched onto the foreign object, locking it firmly within.
Braeburn stared at the gourd for a moment his mouth slightly hanging, “Uhh” He pointed his gun towards the two yellow, yolk-like eyes. “Yeah... we sorta need to aim for the eyes. They’re the only part of this thing that’s solid. Anywhere else and that’ll happen.”
“You couldn’t have said that before I swung?” Berry shouted. She pulled and tugged on the chain, but slime’s body wasn’t letting go. It raised its two tentacles high above the earth ponies, swinging them back down at the peak of their arc. Braeburn clamped his teeth down on Berry’s tail and dove, pulling her on top of him. As they hit the ground Braeburn fired directly into the monster’s bright eyes for a hot twentyfive damage. A piercing shriek shook the cave as cold yellow fluid sprinkled their fur. Another tentacle came sweeping across the floor from ahead. Berry and Braeburn prepared to guard as the appendage rushed at them.
"Fire!" Trixie shouted, her voice full of strength as she swung her head, her horn slicing through the air like a sword. A wave of fire erupted from its glowing red tip, ripping through the ground before it and into the tentacle's path. The slimy appendage's blasted apart by the rippling flame cutting off its advance. The traveling fire burst into an explosion upon collision, melting the tentacle into a splattered mess over the ground. Hot jelly rained down on Berry’s fur and burned like hot coals.
“Auuuugh, get this burning shit off of me!” Her screams could’ve shattered a city of glass “Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! It burns!” Her hooves wiped over her face, over and over but it only served to spread hur burn condition. Damage numbers flaked off Berry’s burning fur.. She turned to Trixie, her nose flaring “Trixie! What is wrong with you!?”
“Be grateful The Great and Powerful Trixie even decided to help! She could have just as easily let you be crushed for what you did!”
A pink shower of sparkling light sunk into Berry’s fur. Thewarm aura washed away the burn.“I’ve got you covered!” Ruby shouted as she leapt into the air. “Hail Volley!” A rain of iron balls flew overhead, flying at the monster’s face. A few of them only just barely missing the eyes. Numbers in the tens’s fly dance out of its eyes. The monster was going crazy! It’s tentacles thrashed against everything, the floor, the walls, the ceiling. Boom! Rocks on the ground shook as shards fell from the ceiling. Crushing debris hailed from all over.
“Ruun!” Berry ran for the back of the cave stumbling and weaving as she ran, with Braeburn beside her. Rock’s nearly nailing them every time their hooves touched the ground.
“We need a plan fast.” Braeburn fell onto his haunches, panting. “If it keeps this up, we’ll be mashed into paste.” He said, firing off a shot in the scramble. Rocks battered his hp as fired blindly.
Ruby desperately scanned her surroundings. rocks, more rocks, a giant gooey tentacle beast,.... a splattered tentacle. “I’ve got it!” She leapt onto Trixie’s back, causing the show mare's horn to ignite.
“What's the meaning of this,” Trixie shrieked, “This is no time for a ride!”
“Your fire melted it before! That must be its weakness!” she lunged forward grabbing Trixie’s ears like the controls to a turret. Trixie’s horn lined up perfectly with with her target. Ruby’s hoof rose over Trixie’s head and BWAP! Fire erupted from Trixie’s horn, spiraling through the air and whizzing through the storm of falling stone. Light, bright and raging, brightened the cave with an explosion of fire and melting jelly. A brilliant golden Hundred damage hanging over the melted tentacle.
“Ow,” Trixie groaned, rubbing her head as the monster raged over it’s other tentacle, “You couldn't have simply said, fire? Little runt!” She grumbled.
Ruby cast a healing spell over Trixie’s head “It would’ve taken too long.” BWAP!
“I can do it myself you know! Trixie is not to be abuse-” Trixie snarled, before her head was smacked again. Another brilliant bolt of fire burst in the jelly boss’ face. The heat burning like Trixie’s frustration.
The monster squealed, left as nothing but a blob. Sweat dropped from the ponies as drips of jelly melted off the monster. Bubbles popped on its surface while smaller air pockets expanded in its body.
“Your days are over.” Ruby raised her hoof high above the growing bump on Trixie’s head. BWAP!... “What?” Bwap!.... “Come on!”
“Ow! Cease! Stop!” Trixie cried, “Trixie’s out of mp you foal!”
“Well now what? I’m out of ideas.”
Berry eyed up the monster and smirked. She bumped Trixie aside. “I’ve got this.” Berry strut up to her weak, melting foe. It looked down her with pleading eyes. It had melted so small it was now only a head taller. Her gourd still slid around inside its body. “This was mine.” She said smugly, yanking it with a twitch of her neck. The gourd flew to her side bursting out of it’s living prison. Her smirk twisted into something sinister as a purple aura overtook her weapon. “Now close your eyes.” She whispered, biting the chain. A murderous grin on her face as it was painted with yellow.
Berry Punch Leveled up “Handled.”
Braeburn leveled up “Wooo! Hoooo!”
Trixie leveled up “Trixie has a headache.”
Ruby leveled up “...sorry”
The jelly puddled around Berry’s hooves, lifeless. She slurped it off her hooves with a grin. “This stuff is good! Worth it.” She took a jar from her saddlebag and scraped in as much as she could. “I think we can make something out of this!” She said, giggling.
The others gingerly walked over. They trotted around the puddle careful not to touch it. It lay flat, and motionless on the ground. “Ber...” Minuette whispered “are you sure that's a good idea, what if it pops back up again?”
Berry eyed the corpse she stood in. She leaned close letting it’s sent tickle her nose as she stared it down. “Hmmmm. Seems pretty dead to me, Minnie.”
Braeburn shrugged, “I don’t reckon those fellas come back twice. Never seen it happen before anyhow.”
“Yeah, you heard the stallion! It’s safe” Berry threw Minuette a jar, “Now get off your asses and help me get this stuff up! I’ve got plans for it.”
__________________________________________________________________________
Choose a save file.
-> 2 Blueblood LV10
Loading life. Please don’t open your eyes during this process.
…... ….. …... …...
Load Successful
The Prince smiled at the small black save crystal on his desk. His reflection looking back with dreamy eyes and a bride winning smile. “And what a handsome captain you are. You’ll save the kingdom in no time. The mares will be at your feet drooling over your heroics.” A blue aura took over the quill beside the crystal. “And I should write about these times for my coming autobiography they’ll all be buying.”
Captain’s log entry 1
I have embarked on my currently top secret mission. My aunt as noble and wonderful as she is for trusting me to follow this through has made terrible judgement in choosing my subordinates. Nemis is a fine example of a well trained perfect soldier, but then there’s Momus. What is he hiding behind those masks anyway? Where do they come from? How does he have so many? I bet he wouldn’t dare talk to his superiors the way he does if his cowardly face wasn’t always hidden. Judging my ship, like he knows anything about what it’s been through. I suppose as long as he does his job I have to tolerate him though if something unfortunate were to happen to him. To put it simply I wouldn’t mourn too long.
Philotes on the other hand is dreadfully annoying. I just don’t see how she’s at all qualified for a mission that potentially involves us having to kill. Heck I don’t even think she could fight. She’s too friendly and clingy. Her voice is gratingly cheerful. I thought Luna’s lot were supposed to be aloof and moody, but this pony has been singing for the last five hours! I’m not in the slightest convinced she has any meaningful skills to put to the table besides putting food on the table. That said, not a bad cook. So that’s one tolerable thing about her. I suspect my sword training and Nemesis military experience will be the only things doing any work.
We’ll be making a stop for supplies in gallopolis. Perhaps I’ll take the time to participate in the hunt. Show off my heroics to the common folk. Let them partake in a brief preview of the future savior of equestria. If anypony ever gets to know saved them.
The current plan is to simply impede this Berry Punch from being able to get the ingredients. If we can find each ingredient and find some way to prevent her from ever getting to it we could stop Dionysus with no bloodshed, but it's hardly a heroic tale to stop a mare from getting groceries. Killing her is no more nobel unless she makes a villain out of herself. I’d rather take on Dionysus directly. Greatest Aunt Luna’s sake I must be practical, but I swear I’ll prove Dionysus was behind the tragedy. I just need to find a way to reveal him.
“Oh prince-y!” Sang Philotes’ high gleeful voice. The door swung open as she danced into the room. Here hooves floated just above the floor, her bat wings constantly fluttering. “I finished dinner! I made a cake to celebrate our first day together! Come on, it's a nice warm and flavored with veryberries!”
“Very well. I’ll go over my foolproof plan over a meal.” He said with a grin full across his face.
________________________________________________________________________
The party fought their way through the rest of the mountain. Every few fights they’d swap places in combat. It took hours to finally come out the cave on the other side. Once the blinding light of the outside stopped singing their eyes they could see the portrait of nature on the side The sun was setting on A serene cliffside view that overlooked the hills. Gallant yellow flowers cover the mountainside and lead the trail down the mountain. The valley below even from so high up is dotted with the wild brightness of colourful flowers.
“Ugh finally. That was like eighty battles!” Berry said before falling to the dirt.
“Only because your the brat insists on checking everysingle chest derpy sees,” trixie moans before falling atop of Berry.
“I just like to be thorough. We found found protective charms for each of us, antipoison, and a new spear for Derpy. I think it was perfectly worth our time. Now each of you put on these bangles. They’re colour coated based on what element they protect from” Ruby said as she wrapped a bangle around each of the adult’s hooves.
The sound of flapping echoed above as Fluttershy descended before them with all the grace of an angel. “Oh thank goodness I found you. I’ve been meaning to tell you the battle rules have changed”
“You’re a bit late fluttershy but you get a B for the effort” Cheerilee says trying her best to not sound tired.
“Oh my. I am very late aren’t I. Well I should let you know that the active combat could switch back any time. Luna and Celestia are having disagreements about how the system should protect ponies. You’re getting awfully far from ponyville so I won’t be able to keep flying to you like this”
Ruby wrapped an anti-fire bangle on herself, “That’s okay Miss fluttersh-”
“But you can check my blog!” Fluttershy cheered. “I’m always posting updates and tutorials so if there's anything you don’t know just log onto flutter-torial dot com.”
“Trixie has a question right now. How does Trixie get her caravan back!” She whined
“Oh that's simple.” Fluttershy said with a smile, “With the save crystals it can be teleported to you. They retrieve your memory of a vehicle's last known location and bring it straight to you if it's suitable”
“And where's the next one pray tell!” Trixie pressed.
“Down the bottom of the mountain trail” Fluttershy said pointing at the winding path down several miles of mountain side.
“UGHHH” A moan of despair belted from every member of the party.
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GearheartHound
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988
| 1 |
Derpy Hooves,Main 6,Princess Luna,Adventure,Dark,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore
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Darkness Descends
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An ancient evil is waking. Can the Elements of Harmony find their courage before darkness descends?
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complete
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<p>An ancient evil has awoken after millennium of slumber. A dark shadow from the very beginnings of Equestria itself threatens to blanket the lands in a darkness the likes of which no living pony has seen before. It falls to Twilight Sparkle and her stalwart friends to hold the line, to stand tall least their world is torn down around them.</p>
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teen
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2011-09-23T06:44:29+00:00
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2011-09-23T06:44:29+00:00
| 1,582 |
Darkness Descends
Part One
by:GearheartHound
i promised i would dedicate this first story to a certain someone
i wouldn't have had the courage to post anything without you.
Love as Always, Sugarcube.
Urgent.... Urgent... gotta go faster... the grey mail pegasus repeated over and over in her head, not wasting the breath to repeat herself out loud. Faster... faster... oh Celestia, must go faster. Her mind raced and her heart pounded as the nighttime landscape peeled away below her. The crack of thunder overhead took her back and slowly she circled to a place she could land. It was the Everfree Forest, not a place for the faint of heart but Ditzy had a mission and nothing was going to stop her.
"Neither rain, nor snow, nor hundred headed hydras will stay this messenger from her appointed rounds!" she called up at the storm with a little grin and flick of her tail before continuing at a trot. She could pace herself, go all night if she had to. Celestia was counting on her, it had to be fast and it had to be secret. Keep low, don't fly in a straight line, keep to the trees, stay away from homes and farms. She repeated the princess' orders over and over again to drill them into her head. Sure she got lost often but not going in a straight line was her specialty. As she walked her mind wandered, hooves moving on their own while her eyes did their little drifting thing.
The day had been interesting. Waking up early to tuck into a fresh muffin before her usual rounds when that little purple dragon had come running up with a scroll for one 'Ditzy Doo, Pegasus', a scroll with the royal seal.
To Ms. Ditzy Doo,
I, Princess Celestia, request your immediate presence at the palace of Canterlot for a matter of great importance. Please don't delay, the fate of all Equestria rests on your hooves.
Your princess,
Celestia
Naturally she had coated the surface of the cafe's table with choked on muffin crumbs, as soon as her breath was back she quickly dropped her coins and left. No sense in keeping a princess waiting.
In Canterlot, the princess had a lot to say. Celestia knew a thing or two about what was going on in Equestria but the information she gave the young pegasus was frightening to say the least. The princess penned a note and explained that her student, Twilight Sparkle, must be told about the oncoming evil and given an old book which would help her unravel this problem before it was too late. Celestia explained that it was too old and fragile to be sent via Spike the dragon and that the magic way might not be safe, it could only be delivered by hoof. It puffed Ditzy up with pride that the princess had chosen her. She never considered herself anything special but the princess pointed out that she had placed fourth in the 'Best Young Fliers' competition, she never lost a package and always managed to deliver on time. With that kind of ego boost, who wouldn't shoot for the stars.
Ditzy's trot picked up just thinking about the importance of this particular mission. She could see the headlines. 'Dependable Mail Pony Saves Equestria' or 'Ditzy Doo Honored For Service To The Crown' i may never have to pay for a muffin again! She thought with excitement.
She let out a giddy giggle and bounced on her hooves more than she had before but a long and drawn out and very evil chuckle made her freeze in her tracks. "I-interfering with the mail... i-is an arrestable offense..." she gulped as the laughter seemed to come from every side. A quick glance upwards and she could see the outline of a net in the trees. "Oh Muffins..." she managed to mumble before the net fell and the shadows closed in around her.
--
Twilight Sparkle had paced back and forth in her study for hours now, it was beginning to worry her assistant. "Come on Twilight... take a break... I’m sure the princess-" Spike began but was sharply cut off by the purple unicorn.
"I’m sure the princess didn't mean to send a letter with three lines about an ancient evil and the rest be a blot of spilled ink..." Twilight let out a long sigh. "I’m sorry Spike but I’m getting really worried... this isn't like the princess at all... should we tell the others?"
Spike rolled his eyes. "I told you to do that right from the start..." A glare from Twilight sent the young dragon out the door with a grumble to collect everyone who might be able to figure this out.
It was hours later and the conversations had turned into an argument as to whether or not it would be prudent to charge headlong into the problem. The argument mounted in pitch before the usually reserved Fluttershy gasped loud enough to catch everyone's attention.
An all too familiar dark cloud swirled in beneath the door, starlight glinting in the inky blackness before it solidified and took shape.
"P-princess Luna?" Twilight stood with her mouth open as everypony quickly bowed as best they could.
"No! No please... don't bow!" She looked distraught, her crown on lopsided and her mane all in tangles. It was the most the moon princess had said to the group of ponies since her transformation from Nightmare Moon. "I need ponies I can trust... I’m just lost without Celestia..."
it was Applejack who mustered her courage first. "somethin' happened to the princess?" She got to her hooves and grit her teeth in determination.
"It was terrible...” Luna sniffed, tears brimming in her eyes.
"What happened to the princess?" Twilight stepped forward and touched a hoof softly to Luna’s side.
“They took her, little monsters! Celestia called them goblins. A cloud circled around the castle, the guards were thrown around like butterflies in the wind! These creatures jumped up from everywhere and grabbed her. There was a puff of smoke and they were gone... the castle is in an uproar... all Canterlot is close to rioting." She babbled between tears, the other ponies slowly looking to each other. "I don't know what to do... none of our messages are leaving the city now... Celestia dispatched a friend of yours with a package... but... she said it never arrived..."
Rainbow Dash piped up, "Yeah... Ditzy asked Cloudkicker to take over her mail route today, something about it being urgent... she... hasn't checked into work since..." Dash looked at her friends and shrugged, “I only know because I’ve had to pick up Cloudkicker's shift on weather duty to make up for it.”
Luna gave another nod and slumped back onto her haunches. "She had a book... sister said it was important it get to you, Twilight... but now it's lost... and... and we can see the smoke rising all over..." the princess shuddered and her gaze fell to the floor. "Equestria is burning..."
Each pony raised her voice in support. From the meek Fluttershy to the uncontrollable ball of fury that was Rainbow Dash, who had to be held in place to stop her from surging off to battle overwhelming odds all on her own. The show of friendship made Luna smile little by little.
"Oh thank you, thank you ponies..." The princess spoke warmly, relief flooding her still young face. “But what could we do?”
"Sounds to me like y’all better raise the banner..." all eyes, even those of the princess turned to Applejack. "Granny Smith is always talkin about her Grandpappy and how he rode out with the old regiments to push the ogres back past our borders."
"You mean fight? Equestria has been at peace for so long i doubt anypony could fight if they wanted to. how do you expect us to stop this invasion?" Rarity glanced between the princess and Applejack, her nervousness radiating all the more.
"Everypony has to do their part!" Pinkie Pie gave a nod and crossed her hooves over her chest. "I don't like fighting, it's the total opposite of partying but if there's no Equestria then there won't be anypony left to party and that's not fun at all."
"I agree!" came a firm reply before Fluttershy squeaked and tried to make herself look small. "These goblins don't sound friendly at all. If they could kidnap someone like Celestia, they could do all sorts of terrible things..."
Twilight Sparkle looked to the princess and carefully offered her a hoof to help her stand again. "You can count on us, Princess Luna!"
"Then i name you, Applejack, my top general here in Ponyville." Luna smiled more.
Applejack looked down and blushed nervously. “Well that's mighty kind of ya Princess but I’m not what you would call an 'idea pony' I think Twilight here would be a better choice.”
"Then it's settled, Twilight Sparkle I give you the rank of General. You are my sister's prized pupil, that has to count for something. Feel free to name your captains and do what you feel is necessary... Celestia has faith in you and your friends so I do too..."
Twilight gulped and looked at her friends, the responsibility already starting to weigh on her shoulders but she took a breath and nodded. “Lets win this one for Celestia.”
--
The next few days were hard, Twilight admired Rarity's work in the mirror it doesn't say anywhere that an officer must look shabby she had said, working all night to craft uniforms for everypony. Stunning emerald piped in gold with Celestia's crest upon one flank and her own cutie mark upon the other. But now it was all falling into place. She opened the door to her simple library and began the slow walk ahead of her.
Nopony spoke as she walked down the street to the square. Every face was stern and worried. Twilight tried her best not to show that she was even more concerned. The princess had slipped back to the capitol to assemble her own guards and to muster what force could be managed after the hundred and fifty year long peace.
"Yer lookin mighty regal there, sugarcube." Applejack came into step beside Twilight and winked, Twilight smiled just a little and spoke without turning her head, all eyes were still on her.
"You're not too bad yourself... Captain." she added and Applejack puffed out her chest a little more. Her uniform shone out the same deep green though along her sides was an older crest in place of her cutie mark, it was a pair of swords crossed surrounded by small apples of every color, for my Grandpappy, she had explained. "Have any recruits yet?" Twilight prompted.
"More than we can suit up, Twi... everypony wants to do this, for the princess..." the cowgirl pony couldn't help but beam with pride "Big Mac is drillin the troops with a bunch a kickin' dummies we set up out by the farm. Even Pinkie Pie baked up a few batches of these things she calls 'throwin' cupcakes' hard as a rock and just as heavy. I tells ya, when Equestria gets riled up, no pony is a coward... Rarity and her girls are gonna be sewing vests fer days."
Twilight too let a little hope into her heart as overhead a flight of pegasus ponies practiced formation flying under the supervision of Captain Dash, each a streak of royal blue in the sky. "Pinkie baking food or weapons apparently, Rarity making uniforms, everypony pitching in in their own way... we just might be able to make a difference..."
Twilight turned the final stretch towards the townhall when a strange pony stopped her in her path. He wore a long cloak and looked like he had been traveling. "General..." he gave a stiff bow before a soft orange glow circled the edge of his cloak and the unicorn revealed himself. A short cropped brown mane and deep rust orange hide crossed with a few old scars. He looked like the old etchings in Twilight's books of fighting ponies or knights of olden times. Applejack took a step forward, ready to get between Twi and the mysterious pony. "I am Lancer, ranger of the crown... at your humble service, Lady Twilight... and now I must ask you when you have last heard anything from your messenger."
--
deep in the Everfree Forest a pony was waking, but for the first time in her life she wished she wasn't. Every part of her body ached and stung where the whips or rods of her captors had left their mark. Her eyes were dry and her throat worse. It had been two days since her last mouthful of stagnant water and the muffin she barely finished in Ponyville had long ago been thrown up. When she mentioned hunger to her captors she had received a mouthful of half cooked animal flesh with force. No pony could keep their breakfast down after the smell of that in their face.
"Awake Pony?" Her captor spat the word and grabbed her cheeks, squeezing and splitting her bruised lip all the more. "Good we begin again..." It hissed at her and left Ditzy to tremble, and blink at her surroundings. Storm clouds blotted out the sun, it was so dark she didn't know if it was nighttime or somehow magical.
"Why you have book pony!?" Her head snapped sharply to the side as she was struck, it was so hard to tell where pain came from now, she barely reacted. She had long ago sobbed her tears but nothing it could do would make her speak.
"I’m just a mail pony..." she breathed, relaxing and letting her eyes drift again, hopefully the spiteful creature would just stop asking.
"Book is magic! Book is special!" It spat at her and struck again, Ditzy felt it this time, the creatures were definitely getting angry. "Why no writings in book!?"
the first time she had heard that the book was blank, it nearly broke her heart, had she been trusted as a decoy while the real book was given to an even better pegasus? She put her trust in Celestia and from where she was tied, it looked like she'd been betrayed.
"I told you... I’m just a mail pony... I don't read the mail... I deliver..." she mumbled and the creature grit it's yellow teeth, it pulled back and struck, it's little claws digging against her cheek and drawing fresh blood.
This time Ditzy let out a shriek and shut her eyes tight, her whole body trembled as the creature shook the life back into his clawed hand. "I come back later, pony, and pony talks or pony looses pretty feathers... one by one." it gave her a sick grin and shambled off towards the sound of their camp.
Ditzy didn't know where she found the tears to start crying but it was nice to know she still felt something even if it was heart wrenching fear. Celestia, please let me live through this...
Lancer picked his way carefully through the woods. He was a master of being quiet and unseen. Last in a long line of rangers, living on the edge of pony society and just watching the borders and dark places. It was he who first discovered the stirrings of Nightmare Moon at the ruined temple. This time however he missed all the signs, it had come so quickly. Now the woods seemed to harbor a goblin in every shadow, they crawled up from the cracks in the earth in limitless waves.
The goblins must have had help, someone to direct them, someone to lead the charge. His eyes glanced at the thick clouds, obscuring even the stars. Earlier today the sun had sunk back into night before it had even become midday. It was so dim beneath the trees he almost missed the first goblin who stood guard, a short creature with warty black skin and darting red eyes. It's appearance was one of evil in two legged form, a twisted perversion of life itself.
Lancer concentrated, holding back his disgust as he slowly lifted a sizable stone and with force let it fly at the goblin. It was practiced skill that let his blow land silently but brutally on his target. Leaving the effect of his work behind, he slipped past the perimeter and into the camp. They were busy at their crackling fire, the smell of roasting flesh made the stealthy pony sick to his stomach but he pressed on, slipping between trees and tents he made his way to the largest tent. He made sure that he wasn't followed before ducking within to retrieve what he came for.
Celestia's tome rested on a broad stump along with the courier's saddlebag and both were snapped up quickly. It took a shriek of pain to draw the ranger's attention. Behind the tent someone was being subjected to intense suffering. He cringed and looked at the book he clutched, it was what he came for. The book and nothing else. A second scream pierced the night, accompanied by the goblins' perverse laughter. He whispered a soft apology to Celestia before he circled behind the tent and readied himself.
Ditzy screamed as another flight feather was pulled from her wing. She was sure that by now she had proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that she wasn't talking but it didn't matter anymore, they weren't even asking any questions. She was surprised that she was even still conscious but her eyes fluttered open gradually to see a figure creeping up behind her torturers. His eyes flashed with crackling magic and his horn began to glow. All Ditzy could do was smile broadly, "thank Celestia..." she croaked hoarsely and again slumped in her bindings.
Everything was growing too dark to see but Ditzy flicked her tail in appreciation every time she heard hoofs meet flesh. She knew she was grinning and it wasn't right to feel this much enjoyment from the suffering of others but these things had it coming. "keep still as i cut the ropes... we have been silent, we should still be able to flee."
the voice in her ear was dark and deep, his breath hot against her ear and it sent a shiver of new feeling down her spine. She never thought she'd live out the day let alone have a stallion whispering in her ear. Today is going to be a good day after all... she mused to herself before the last rope supporting her gave and she slumped onto her shaking hooves. "C-can't... walk..." She squeaked but it didn't matter, already a warm magical glow was swirling around her and she was lifted up atop his shoulders.
"Hold best you can... I will not let you fall." His voice made her tremble again and she gripped him around the neck carefully, holding on before the stallion burst from the clearing. His hooves pounding the earth as trees whipped by on all sides. They were past the edge of the darkest part of the forest by the time a call was raised and it made Ditzy's smile broader, she had cheated the spectre of death and even got to press herself against a handsome stallion. She let her red rimmed eyes open again and smiled as they slowly drifted, mirroring the slow drifting of her thoughts to anyplace but the monster's camp.
--
"She will not let it go, no matter who asks..." Lancer walked in step beside Twilight as the pair approached the now much expanded hospital. Nurses were preparing for the worst, lecturing ponies on how to tie bandages and set broken bones. The town would have a lot more doctors when this day was over. "as soon as she regained consciousness she grabbed the book... and she will not relinquish it."
Lancer bowed and swept the tent's flap aside to reveal the makeshift bed with a sad sight upon it. "Oh Ditzy..." Twilight dropped the mantle of general and rushed to her friend's side. The mail pony looked up and smiled her usual little smile.
"Special delivery... Rush package from Canterlot for Twilight Sparkle..." Twilight chuckled and carefully accepted the book. "Neither storms, nor blackest night... nor torture, nor spectre of death... shall keep me from my rounds..." She spoke soft and Twilight nudged her cheek with tears in her eyes. “But... looks like the book is blank... they were really mad they couldn't read it.”
Twilight blinked some and looked at Lancer who seemed just as puzzled. The ranger carefully removed the princess' note from Ditzy's saddlebag which rested at her bedside. Carefully he unrolled it and stared puzzled at the scroll.
“Blank as well... This is unlike the Princess... Why send this courier on a foal's errand?” Lancer looked down at the pegasus before Ditzy's eyes shot open wider.
“The Princess! She said that the letter and book were for Twilight and no other pony and that I would know what that meant! Maybe... Maybe only she can read the note!” Ditzy looked expectantly as the blank parchment was carefully handed over to Twilight. The warm glow of Celestia's magic spread over the page and her writing floated into view.
“My dear student, Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight cleared her throat and read on. “If you have possession of this letter and the accompanying book then we all owe a debt of gratitude to Ditzy Doo for her bravery. Please ensure her dedication to duty does not go unrewarded.” Twilight smiled at the grey pegasus who's eyes overflowed in tears. “The book is penned for the eyes of ponykind alone and will reveal its secrets to you Twilight. Make haste and use this knowledge to its fullest. We are all counting on you. Princess Celestia.”
“It seems we all owe you thanks,” Lancer spoke with a little smile.
"Thank you... Now rest, please... You've been through more than anypony should have to face..." Twilight smiled and carefully moved a pillow closer so Ditzy could rest her head, the mail pony finally letting go and slipping into a peaceful slumber.
"She would not give in... Duty to one's friends... to one's homeland..." Lancer began as he stood at Twilight's side. "It is one thing to love your world and it's values... but it takes a true heart, a pure heart... to be willing to die for them... our dear courier, i believe, would have taken the book's secret to the grave had I not arrived."
Twilight looked at the heavy bound tome and then back to the mysterious ranger. "Lancer... assemble my friends... This book nearly cost a pony's life for it to reach me and i have a lot of questions for you..."
--
The library had become a safe spot to organize away from prying eyes and the ponies assembled didn't want what went on in this room to be seen by anypony.
"What in tarnation does a ranger do?" Applejack let herself rest for the first time since she pulled together the regiment. "Beside watch stuff like y’all said earlier."
Lancer looked at the assembled ponies, "The princess has need for information. Many dark things and dark places she can not see... What Celestia desires most is peace and so she has spread the borders of Equestria from the northern mountains to the southern plains... From the roaring coast in the west to the ancient forests in the east. Borders that broad need a special guard. A pony who is trained from birth to watch for the signs and do the little secret things which must be done in the name of peace. We are few and far between, I have not seen my brethren in many summers." Nopony dared ask what the secret things he did were. His hooves were shod in thick iron and he looked like he'd seen his fair share of fights.
Twilight turned the heavy book towards her and used her magic to flip the cover open. Slowly like ivy crawling over a stone the words on the pages reappeared, bright and livid along the parchment. "Within this tome are tales for nopony who is faint of heart, the pages enchanted for the eyes of ponyfolk alone for it was ponyfolk who turned the tide and banished the evil back from whence it came." Twilight read aloud and her friends huddled in closer. She flipped to the first page and more images began to creep over the pages.
"Long ago, before the coming of the sisters of sun and moon, before there was a land called Equestria. The world was ruled by darkness. A great powerful force which bred countless monsters. goblins and nameless horrors from the darkest places crawled under a cloud filled sky through which no sunlight shone. Earth ponies toiled under the lash, living and dying as beasts of burden." the group shuddered as Twilight read on. "Earth ponies grew strong for only those who were hardy, survived. Into the world of darkness was born a white foal who was brighter than her fellows though not as strong. She found she was able to see the ebb and flow of energies of the natural world. In secret, this pony worked to harness the magic of the world with her closest of friends. The goblins could neither see nor use the magic themselves so the pair was left alone. As she learned she discovered a horn had grown mighty from her forehead. She became the first unicorn and using her new found power freed the earth ponies who toiled unending in the dark." Everypony sat awestruck, this was a tale that nopony had heard before.
"The first unicorn helped others discover their own magic, the power they held within but it was not enough to defeat the monsters that fought their way across the world. For years she crusaded to free ponies from their slavery always with her brash companion at her side. It was chance one day that their battle took them to the edge of the lands and there on the coast of the southern sea, as if sent by the heavens themselves, a single ray of golden sun shone through the mire in the clouds and the goblins they fought were rendered to dust."
"That explains the clouds... and the capture of the princess... whoever controls these beasts seeks utter darkness..." Lancer spoke slowly before urging Twilight to read further.
"Beings of shadow as they were, the pure light of the sun would destroy them. The unicorn used her power, every ounce of strength and blessed her best of friends with wings. She became the first pegasus, mistress of the sky with the ability to push back the clouds. Slowly from coast to coast the sunlight was restored to the world below. In a final confrontation over the cracked earth which would become the Everfree Forest, the last of the goblins were pushed back into the shadows of the earth to be sealed in darkness for all time. The land was freed and the two friends worked tirelessly to bring life where there was only death." Twilight's cheeks turned a little red as she stumbled over the next words in the old book. "The love between pegasus and unicorn was overshadowed only by the love of their land and the ponies they had fought to save. Realizing that the power they heald was too great for any two ponies to hold, they summoned the last of their power and gave themselves to the world, forming the tribes of pegasus and unicorn. From their love and sacrifice the stars blessed the world with a pair of foals, the culmination of all ponies, blessed with the horn of magic, the wings of the pegasus and the endurance of soul of the earth pony they had descended from. They would one day surpass the accomplishments of their parents and become the princesses of sun and moon, ensuring peace and tranquility for all the lands below them."
it was Dash who broke the silence, "So... they were both girls?...." she trailed off, completely missing the point as usual, "Cool." she finally grinned. As the rest of the party rolled their eyes.
"Dash, stop daydreaming... you and the rest of the air regiment need to clear the skies!" Rarity piped up, looking about at the still stunned ponies. "well what are you all waiting for?"
"Let's do it!" Pinkie bounced in the air, all her enthusiasm focused on their victory.
The reserved ranger cracked a smile and gave a slow nod. "Upon your order, General... It shall be done."
Twilight looked at all her friends, despite the spectre of looming war and the possibility that they would not see each other again, each was smiling. Everypony was ready to do what had to be done, in the name of Equestria... in the name of peace... in the name of friendship and even of love... "I don't deserve to have friends like you..." She began softly. "I’m so scared, the responsibility is so heavy."
"I’d be lyin if I told ya I wasn't scared senseless, Twi..." Applejack chuckled. "But this is about more than six ponies and a young dragon being scared of fightin'... the whole world is at stake..." All eyes turned to the cowgirl pony as she placed a hoof on the table. "I have a little sister who is gonna grow up to be a pretty filly one day and I’d rather be dead than see her grow up in a world as terrible as it says in that there book..."
"I’d sooner chop off my name than see Sweetie Belle subjected to those horrors..." Rarity chimed in as well. Which earned a nod from each pony.
Twilight gave a nod and took a breath. "Get everypony you can to the square, it's about time I addressed the troops..." She gave a weak smile and everypony slipped out to prepare.
The speech would become the stuff of legend. Nopony forgot where they were on the day that Twilight Sparkle addressed the crowd gathered in the center of Ponyville.
"We have a great task laid at our hooves, the fate of our homes and our very lives hangs in the balance. The goblins from ancient times have returned as vengeful as ever and seek nothing but to cover the lands in darkness forever and make every living pony their slave. Everypony has worked their hardest to prepare but now it's time. Tomorrow we march into the Everfree Forest to drive the menace back. The earth ponies and unicorns on the ground and the pegasus ponies pushing back the clouds and battling the magic storms which guard the monsters from above. Even the dragon who Fluttershy sent packing will be with us! We must win! We must stop this evil from covering our whole world!" a cheer came up from the braver ponies and it spurred Twilight onward. "For our Families! For our Friends! For Equestria! And for our FREEDOM!" she reared on her hind legs and the cheer rose again, nopony held their voices back and for a moment Twilight thought that perhaps she had overdone it but seeing the brave and determined faces of her friends and everypony from Ponyville, she realized that she had given them the spark they needed.
|
GearheartHound
|
988
| 2 |
Derpy Hooves,Main 6,Princess Luna,Adventure,Dark,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore
|
Darkness Descends
|
An ancient evil is waking. Can the Elements of Harmony find their courage before darkness descends?
|
complete
| -1 | -1 |
<p>An ancient evil has awoken after millennium of slumber. A dark shadow from the very beginnings of Equestria itself threatens to blanket the lands in a darkness the likes of which no living pony has seen before. It falls to Twilight Sparkle and her stalwart friends to hold the line, to stand tall least their world is torn down around them.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-23T06:49:07+00:00
|
2011-09-23T06:49:07+00:00
| 1,102 |
Darkness Descends
Part Two
by:GearheartHound
Moon's Vengeance
Princess Luna stood before her long mirror and tried to hide the trembling in her body. Her moon hung heavy in the sky, unmoving in night eternal so long as her sister was spirited away.
"I beg you to reconsider, princess... your power is too precious to be wasted on the front." The captain of the royal guard stepped carefully to her side. "I have sworn an oath to Princess Celestia that no harm shall come to you as long as I draw breath as have the other Praetorian guard."
"Captain I appreciate your loyalty..." Luna began as slowly she levitated and buckled the various pieces of her bright silver armour into place. "But the moment they touched my sister, this became personal... I will not sit idle while Equestria is razed around me! Word has been dispatched on swift wings to every city in Equestria! The armies shall be raised and we shall crush this menace in the Everfree once and for all!”
"Do you fight for this world or for your own redemption..." The captain didn't manage to speak for long before Luna turned her shining emerald eyes on him.
"Watch your tongue! I am still the princess and I shall have you in the stocks for speaking to me in such a way!" Her cheeks flushed at her sudden rage and she looked away. "My apologies, Captain... You have only my safety at heart... but I will fight... for my sister... and I can think of nopony I would rather have at my side, than yourself."
"I should indeed have held my tongue, my apologies... You do me great honour, princess." Carefully he moved closer and adjusted her helm to sit more square, earning a chuckle from the princess. "The Praetorian Guard stand ready... as do the Stewards of the Citadel... less than one hundred of our staff but no mere recruits. We are all that remains of the Equestrian Army, the only still alive trained in the arts of warfare."
"I remember the days when our armies were ten thousand strong... Our knights brave and bold..." Luna's voice trailed off in memory as she began the long walk towards the main courtyard.
"Nopony who now lives can not trace their line back to a knight of the crown, bravery and loyalty run deep in them all..." The captain nudged the door open and the princess strode through to look upon the assembled host.
Sister... give me strength... "Free Citizens of Equestria!" Princess Luna began, all eyes turning towards her. The most influential ponies in Canterlot waited with bated breath for the princess to continue. "Today we strike a blow at the very heart of our ancient enemies! Our brave knights stand outside the city walls awaiting my orders!"
The crowd milled with uncertainty. Many in Canterlot were scholars and teachers, those used to the soft and easy life. Luna felt her heart sink at the unexpected reluctance, her voice softened but lost none of the impressive volume. “I ask no pony to follow me where I must go save those who have pledged themselves to my service, I will lead no reluctant souls to war... though know this... I go myself. I will fight on the front lines, to defend the honour of all ponykind... I will fight for the honour of my dear sister who has blessed me with a second chance even after I have caused ruin to us all. I know you are reluctant to follow the words of one who brought doom in her wake not long ago.”
Her eyes looked to her captain beside her and then back to the assembled ponies. She slowly lifted her crown and let it float to it's place on the small throne beside Celestia's dais. “I do not address you as your princess today... just... Luna... I beg you all to stay in your homes... guard your foals and your loved ones as best you can... for if we fail it will be your magic alone that will hold back this evil...”
Voices raised in protest now, many ponies speaking about their concerns but slowly Luna walked from the castle, her guards assembled in their best armor, each looked ready. “Have I done the right thing Captain? I have so few ponies who could be called my friends... will Twilight succeed?”
The captain looked back at the ranks now following the armored princess. “may I speak freely, Princess?”
She nodded to him and the captain turned back to look upon her, he had the faintest of smiles on his lips. “Between Twilight and Moonlight I doubt the enemy will hold... we will win this day... have faith, Luna...” His cheeks reddened slightly and the young princess smiled.
“I will certainly tell my sister of your devotion... now... let us be ready...” Her eyes looked down the long road from the city to the dark of the Everfree Forest, to the swirling storm clouds growing stronger by the moment. The air crackled with dark and uneasy magic. Luna's sharp eyes gazed out over the horizon as far as she could see and she gave a little grin when a purple star shot up high into the cloudy sky like a firework. Twilight was ready.
This is for you Celestia... The moon princess picked up her pace and finally broke into a gallop, behind her the thunder of hooves followed close as the guardians of the palace rode to war.
--
Skies of Knives
Captain Dash darted through the formations, each pegasus kept his or her eyes forward and stayed ready. The long flights, all the drills and duels were leading to this point. The goblin storm clouds loomed all the larger.
"Look at the size of that storm..." Dash heard one pony gasp with wide eyes.
"Cut the Chatter, Firefly. Group one! Get a vortex started to blow this storm up!" Dash called above the sound of the wind and half her squadron peeled away to begin moving the air currents.
"Group two! Watch them! Make sure nothing breaks their concentration!" A second smaller group of ponies banked hard and broke formation to follow them leaving Dash with the remainder. The fastest fliers hand picked by Rainbow herself. Each wore a patch with her own cutie mark upon their chest. "just like Twilight planned... LETS DO THIS!" she called and the fliers pulled close and everypony went barreling into the storm itself.
The wind currents were powerful and nearly random but the dark laughing shapes in the mist were what got to the fliers first. Something was alive about this storm. "Hit the cloud banks from the inside!" Dash set an example, kicking and plowing through as many groups of clouds as she could manage. But that's when the worst began.
A sickening bolt of green lightning coursed towards the formation and Dash cringed as a pony to her left, a colt she had barely talked to except on winter wrap up, took the brunt of the blast. The formation watched helplessly as he shrieked pitifully and fell smoking from the sky. Some ponies were beginning to falter.
"Hold together! Hold together!" Dash yelled above the mounting wind before a blast of lightning coursed past her, singing her tail. "Don't stop! The ponies on the ground are depending on us!" She set an example and spun in a tight spiral, moving upwards fast her form punched through the clouds and sent pale starlight streaming down into the clouds, illuminating it within and nearly reaching the ground below.
Redoubling their efforts the rest of Dash's squadron began following suit, their vortexes beginning to destroy the storm from within. Dash grinned wide, it was pure speed and agility. Weaving through storms and jagged knives of lightning, dodging air currents and rolling under fierce gusts. Soon she knew she was on her own, her personal bodyguard made up of the fastest amongst the pegasus, but she was leaving them in the dust. There were flashes below, dark radiant purple light streaming through the clouds beneath her. The moment was enough distraction. Her eyes went wide as saucers and a bolt of lighting arced towards her.
“oh manure....”
--
The Sound of Thunder
Captain Applejack looked left and right, the strongest and bravest ponies held the front. Her own brother was at her side and winked to her beneath the visor of his helmet. It was hasty and made from bits of old stove but all the biggest stallions or strongest mares carried the armor. They might not have looked all that impressive but they were knights none the less.
"Now... don't let the title get to ya, big bro... 'First knight of Equestria' ain’t nothin‘ to sneeze at." Applejack chuckled and nudged the big red coated stallion.
"E'yuup...so, all those stories Granny told us... ‘bout honour and duty... feels ‘bout right don't it?" He looked back at the earth ponies and the unicorns who were assembled. "Always wanted to see a hundred pony charge..."
"Ain't nopony seen one of those in a long time..." Applejack took a breath to steady her nerves, "Dash will be overhead any minute now... I reckon it's about time..." She stepped forward and turned to face the ranks under her command. "Everypony! Eyes forward! Now... I ain't gonna lie to y’all... this will be the hardest thing anypony has done in their lifetime... y’all are gonna see friends hurt, family... lovers... some ponies might not be comin‘ home... but if we don't stop this here and now... then we're lookin‘ at the end of everythin‘... the end of family... the end of tha world as we know it!" She shouted and the ponies reared in a great cheer.
Big Mac stepped forward and mustering all the courage he had at his command he yelled out what he had heard over and over since he was a foal. His chest filling and his voice booming for everypony to here from here to Canterlot. "Ride Now! Ride fer Wrath! Ride fer Ruin! And the World's Ending!" The usually soft spoken pony's call to battle raised an ever bigger cheer from the troops and before any could try to stop him, he tore off towards the twisted trees of the Everfree Forest and the crawling shapes of evil within.
Applejack shook her head with a grin and followed her brother as the rest of the regiment broke into a run after her. The earth shook more than in the running of the leaves, this wasn't a race with a dozen ponies, this was the charge of warhorses. The thunder rose and drowned out the sounds of storms or individual hooves hitting earth. It was a solid wall of noise the more they charged the faster it became. At the head of the line Applejack saw shapes scurrying away into the shadows and behind stones to escape the charge and she just grinned. Great Grandpappy would be proud...
--
Within the Longest Night
Clover was dead tired and he knew that he'd fallen behind the charge. The sound of beating hooves echoed into the woods. It was raining, but he expected that. So many pegasus ponies tearing the sky open, it was bound to let out a lot of water. Over the uneven earth he limped slowly hoping his ankle was just twisted and not broken. Here and there he came across a pony who had fallen to the goblin's claws. They groaned and twitched though some he knew were already gone. He had been one of the lucky ones relatively speaking.
He had tripped headlong over the dead. Once he came to all he could do was wander the Everfree Forest and look for any of his friends. A particularity bad groan from his left caught his attention and the earth pony carefully nudged a bush aside. What greeted him wasn't the least bit pleasant. A pegasus pony lay in a tangle of limbs and branches. Clover didn't know this slightly effeminate looking pegasus' name but he looked relatively intact.
"B-buddy... you alive?" He spoke gently, blushing at the soft whistling through the gap in his newly lost tooth. The pegasus carefully flickered his eyes open and groaned.
"L-lightning... ooooh..." he managed to choke before reaching up to the earth pony. "Help..."
Clover winced and looked at his scorched coat. "I’m not doing so well myself..." Clover began before the pegasus chimed in.
"Please... I... have a filly waiting..." He pleaded and gulped gently. "I gotta see her again..."
Clover leaned down and carefully nudged the burnt pegasus. "hang on... I’ll walk us back..." The pegasus strained and with a little effort managed to get himself onto Clover's back, hanging on by his saddlebags. "Name‘s Clover by the way..."
"Raindrops..." the stricken pony responded, "You from Ponyville?"
Clover gave a little nod and plodded best he could on a swollen ankle, "Just outside of town, have a little cottage near the farm I work on. Can't wait to get back there." He continued, thinking of the warmth of his bed and the comfort of the little hearth. He paused when he felt the pegasus slump a little.
"Raindrops! Hey don't fall asleep..." He jostled the pegasus and he let out a groan. "Tell me about this filly of yours... she's gotta be special if you're willing to walk back from the dead for her."
"My filly..." Raindrops began and shook his aching head to try and get some feeling back, concentrating on her face in his mind. "Wish she was my filly... I work with her... at Pete's Moving Company in the afternoons. In the morning she delivers the mail."
Clover thought for a moment. "Ditzy? She's the mailpony around here I think, right?"
"Yeah, that's her..." There was a sound of a smile in Raindrop's voice. "Everypony thinks she's simple... even dumb... but she just... floats away sometimes... like the bubbles she has for her cutie mark. She's always willing to smile and lend a hoof... she likes to laugh and you should see how she lights up when you give her a muffin... I think I love her but, it's hard you know... telling somepony how you really feel."
Clover thought about his life, so far devoid of romance. "Don't wait too long... Never wait too long. You survived a war... that's gotta be something, right?" Clover's thoughts turned again to his little cottage and the hearth, thinking about perhaps inviting somepony to share it with him one day.
"Yeah... yeah... if I make it through this I gotta ask her..." The pegasus slumped a little and kept talking, Clover only half-listened as the yellow pegasus related in detail how he would ask her and how their first real date would be wonderful. Clover laughed a little and kept carrying the pegasus back towards the town and the safety of the field hospitals.
The night never ended, nobody could tell what time it really was anymore but that didn't matter so much, spirits were getting lower all the time as the wounded and the dead were gradually coming back to town. Ditzy limped silently through the lantern lit streets, her wounds weren't so severe now and after the promise of as many muffins as she could eat, she was feeling more like herself again.
"Ditzy!" A voice called her, a young filly wearing a red and gold cape ran up fast as her legs could carry her. "Cutie Mark Crusader Courier, Applebloom reporting!" she snapped off a perfect salute and Ditzy smiled.
"At ease... what do you have to report?" The small pony reached into the pouch she carried and produced a note.
"Nurse Tenderheart told me to give you this, there's a pony in the tent outside the boutique who wants to see you." She expertly handed over the folded note and saluted again before running off. Ditzy watched her go and smiled to herself. Everypony doing their part for Equestria.
The note was simple and she started off towards the medical tents as she read. Pegasus injured, Tent 4b, requested your presence, name of Raindrops. She read the last part over and over, biting her lip. She worked with Raindrops, he was one of her closest friends. That and she was fairly sure that he had a crush on her. Ditzy had often thought of asking him out to dinner but she'd never been a pony to make the first move. Expertly tucking the note between the feathers of her wing she trotted off fast as her legs could carry her.
The medical tents were something that nopony would ever want to see on a full stomach. The creatures in the woods were vicious, as Ditzy herself knew all too well. There were groans of ponies with more than one hoof in the grave mixed in with the crying of those who had already had a loved one slip away. She lowered her head out of respect and kept her eyes on her hooves as she weaved through the tents.
Tent 4b loomed before her, carefully she eased the flap open and trotted within. A single lamp illuminated the row of cots just enough to see a young filly and a much older stallion easing a white sheet over the form of a mare who had given her all for Equestria. Trying not to cry, Ditzy closed her eyes and made her way to the back of the tent and the blue coated nurse pony.
"Mr. Drops... she's here..." She whispered to the pegasus and looked to Ditzy with a frazzled smile before departing for her endless stream of duties.
"H-hey Rain..." Ditzy eased herself down beside his cot, looking at the bandages along his body and the unfortunate smell of burnt hair.
For a moment he didn't respond, his eyes looking away into space before a soft touch to the cheek made him turn. Ditzy would always remember his smile, for years to come she would think back on it, back to the look in his eyes and the relief plastered over his face. "Ditzy... thought I’d never see you again..." He managed to speak softly.
"SHH shh... it's ok... I’m here now.." She whispered to him and watched as he silently began to cry. "You're safe now... a-away from those... things..." Her voice cracked as she carefully dabbed the tears away from the edges of her eyes.
"Never flown so hard... been so scared..." He began to speak again, slowly letting his eyes close. "But I had to... it was important... had to... m-make..." He trembled and shook his head best he could when he felt the black tendrils of sleep crawl up around him. "N-no... I had to make you... proud of me... had to make sure I saw you again..."
"Why did you need to see me? I'm nothing special, I just deliver the mail and move furniture..." She sniffed a little as Raindrops turned his head to her, opening his eyes again, those eyes she felt like she could fall into.
"You're the most... important pony in the world..." He breathed out as he began to smile again. Maybe it was what the nurse gave him to numb the pain or his recent ordeal that gave him the courage now but he reached out a bandaged hoof and touched it to Ditzy's damp cheek. "You're the filly I love..."
Ditzy closed her eyes and enjoyed the soft touch and the words that she heard from him, no pony ever showed her this kind of dedication. Nopony ever made a confession this deep to her it was another moment she would remember for the rest of her life. Carefully she kissed the pegasus who spoke his love to her and whispered. "Now you swear... swear to me you will recover... because you've made me the happiest filly in this town... and neither rain... nor monsters... nor death... is going to keep me from doing the same for you..."
She would remember this night fondly, the endless night at Raindrop's bedside. It was, after all, the moment she found the stallion who would become her husband.
|
GearheartHound
|
988
| 3 |
Derpy Hooves,Main 6,Princess Luna,Adventure,Dark,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore
|
Darkness Descends
|
An ancient evil is waking. Can the Elements of Harmony find their courage before darkness descends?
|
complete
| -1 | -1 |
<p>An ancient evil has awoken after millennium of slumber. A dark shadow from the very beginnings of Equestria itself threatens to blanket the lands in a darkness the likes of which no living pony has seen before. It falls to Twilight Sparkle and her stalwart friends to hold the line, to stand tall least their world is torn down around them.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-23T06:56:30+00:00
|
2011-09-23T06:56:30+00:00
| 1,099 |
Darkness Descends
Part Three
by:GearheartHound
Twilight's Choice
Twilight Sparkle slipped out as fast as she could. The deep purple of her uniform did well to hide her from the prying eyes of everypony. She felt guilty for picking off the shining thread but if she was seen, there would be no chance of her mission working. She would apologize to Rarity later when she had the chance. [iIf I have the chance...] she thought to herself trembling.
Each pony had to do their part, a mission that they alone could accomplish. Applejack and the earth ponies would clear the woods of monsters so she could pass unharmed. Rainbow Dash and the pegasus ponies would sweep the sky and make ready. Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie roused their old acquaintance, the dragon, and convinced him to help clear the dark hollows with fire. That left the most important mission, Twilight would find the Princess and bring back the sunlight.
Carefully she picked her way through the forest, she needed a place with an extreme level of background magic to pull off what she had planned. The old castle where she defeated Nightmare Moon was the best place she could think of. No monsters were forthcoming this time, the pounding hooves of her warponies and the bellows of an enraged dragon at its center kept everything hidden away, goblins included.
There was no way to tell how much time had passed, the silver light of Luna’s moon unchanging in the now cloudless sky. When the stones of the old castle loomed, Twilight was unprepared for the feelings welling up inside her. This was too much, the spell was dangerous and hard to accomplish. Twilight Sparkle set her packs down and with care extracted an oiled scroll case, slowly she pulled the blank parchment and set her pen to work.
To whoever finds this letter,
My name is Twilight Sparkle, I came from Canterlot to Ponyville only a short time ago. It seems like so much longer. On the day I write this letter I’m not sure if I will be coming home to my friends. I miss my friends dearly already and I hope they will make it through this chaos if I can't. Please take this letter to Ponyville and find them. They need to know how I really feel.
Rainbow Dash, you've stood by me through all our trials without backing down. You're strong willed and at times I'm envious of your ability to rush towards any problem with the faith that it'll work out in the end.
Fluttershy, I can't think of anypony more kind or caring than you. I enjoy all the time we've spent together. Our long walks or quiet conversation over tea and cookies.
Applejack, I would never have gotten very far in Ponyville without the help of you and your family. You always tell me the truth, even if it's hard to swallow sometimes.
Rarity, without your generosity and helpful attitude, Ponyville just wouldn't be the same. I think every Piece of clothing I own you've had a hoof in making and that always makes me smile.
Pinkie Pie, I will never be able to look at a cupcake again without thinking of your smile, that or a bottle of hot sauce. You've shown me that you can always find time to laugh even when things are bleakest.
Spike, oh spike I never take the time to tell you how much I appreciate your help, it hurts me to think I hardly show it. Spike you're not really like my assistant, you're more like the little brother I never had.
When I first came to Ponyville I didn't want friends but now I can't dream of a day without each of you. I love each of you like the sisters I never had, except you spike, you're a little brother obviously. No turning back now, what I have to do, I do for Equestria and for all of you.
Always and forever, your friend
Twilight Sparkle
With tears in her eyes, she carefully set the letter in its case and wedged it into a space between two crumbling stones, using the rest of her ink to make a large circle around where the letter rested.
Satisfied with her work, Twilight crept into the temple and approached the smashed altar at the heart of the complex. Glittering balls of purple light danced two and fro between toppled walls and cracked pillars. Taking a long breath, she set her hooves and concentrated. Slowly her horn began to glow, it's piercing purple light casting long shadows in all directions. The motes of magic began to gradually swirl around her, her energy pulling power from the old stones.
The ground began to tremble as a beam erupted from her horn, the power centered on the empty ruins before her. With a great roar of raw magical power she tore a hole in the world. Without thinking she let her eyes fly open and in she charged, ducking through the glowing edges of reality and into the darkness beyond.
"Twilight... Twilight Sparkle..." a voice called out to her and her eyes tried to focus, she was floating in what felt like clouds but it was so dark she couldn't see a thing. "Why have you come Twilight Sparkle?" The voice was soft and gentle, flowing from all around her.
"W-who are you?" Twilight blinked and looked through the haze, the deep shadows punctuated by nothing but her own light, it was if she were the only bright object floating through endless shadow.
"I am ancient and forever... I was here before the world was formed and I shall be here long after the name of 'Equestria' has faded from every memory." The voice still soft as silk slipped around her, coming from every side at once. "No soul has come to my world of their own free will before... consider yourself honoured, Twilight Sparkle..."
"W-what do I call you?" she asked, her resolve beginning to slip at each mention of her name, the words like caresses between lovers.
"I have had many names since the beginning of time but... you may call me, Gloom." slowly a creature floated into view. Her coat was pale as bleached bone with thin lines like purple ivy winding themselves over her body, her eyes Pierced the deep indigo of a starless night sky and her dusky mane hung in long flowing curls over her shoulders. Twilight blinked and her heart pumped in her chest. This was not the darkness she was expecting.
"You're a pony? A pony did all this?" Half filled with anger the other with sadness, Twilight shook at Gloom's appearance. All thought drained from her however as the beautiful filly shook her long tresses and giggled high and pure like the twinkling of the first flakes of winter snow.
"Oh no, dear Twilight... I chose this form for you... a form you shall be comfortable with... a form from your own deepest dreams... a form you would find... beautiful..." Gloom stepped closer to Twilight and carefully nuzzled along Twilight's cheek.
"M-my dreams... but I'm not interested in... " Twilight stiffened as the dark pony drew back to give a soft nod, her eyes twinkling from the light of Twilight's own form. "I’ve never seen you before..." Twilight's heart beat faster and Gloom brought her lips closer to those of the trembling purple unicorn. Her breath was cool against the unicorn's growing blush.
"You can not remember but that does not mean you have not seen me... Twilight... even your name speaks volumes... Twilight Sparkle... you walk between night and day... between my world and the world of your dear teacher," The Gloomy pony gave a soft grin and carefully rested cool lips against Twilight's hot blush. The caress made Twilight shiver, but something was wrong, something didn't fit. "You have dreamed dreams of me, the creeping shadow beneath your little bed... you have feared me... you have sought me out, running from a party you never wanted to attend..."
Twilight's eyes shot open wide as the memories came back in a nauseating rush. "please don't..." she squeaked but Gloom simply nuzzled her cheek softly once more and talked as if she were the only pony in the swirling void.
"Your little hooves taking you away from those who laughed... who laughed at the awkward filly in the awkward glasses... the filly who kissed her friend... the filly who confessed her feelings and was pushed away... they all laughed at Twilight Sparkle..." Gloom spoke with her silken voice and ran a hoof reassuringly down Twilight's mane while the purple unicorn began to cry, the memories tearing a fresh wound in her heart. "But I didn't laugh... I was there when you needed me... I held you in my arms while you slept... I kept you safe..."
Twilight found herself leaning into the gentle affection and the soft words from this strange pony, her embrace was cold but it brought a little shred of comfort, like a breeze on her coat while she laid out beneath the stars with her telescope. Twilight found her head turning and her lips found those of her dark seductress, Twilight's nerves were strung tighter than they had ever been, tighter even that the ill fated party with friends where a little game of truth or dare had turned so very wrong for her. She trembled and quaked in the swirling shadows as her lips parted and Gloom's eyes twinkled. Something was nagging at the back of Twilight's mind, plucking at her thoughts like a kitten with a loose thread.
"You could be here with me forever, Twilight... there is so much I could show you, teach you... more than Celestia ever could..." Gloom whispered softly and soothingly.
"C-Celestia? Celestia!" Twilight's eyes shot open and Gloom retreated some distance. "I have to save the princess... I have to save my friends!"
The dark pony's eyes took on a murderous shade as dark clouds boiled up around her. "No! Forget the princess and forget about your friends! I have supported you long before they ever entered your little mortal existence!" Gloom's mane flared and fluttered as if being teased by invisible winds. The edges of her form beginning to blur and mix with the smoky clouds around her.
"I refuse!" Twilight puffed up before a clap of thunder rocked around her and shimmering ghostly images began to play along the clouds.
"I can kill each of them! Every one!" Gloom shouted, the silken softness of her voice tinged with fury as an image appeared before Twilight.
Rainbow Dash was surrounded, the rest of her squadron tried to reach her but the spears of lightning held them back, her left wing smoked slightly as she clung to the top of a turbulent cloud. The storms growing stronger than ever before.
The image flickered again and now it showed Applejack and big Macintosh. The huge pony lay with his back against a tree, blood seeping through his boiler-plate armor, while Applejack kept the monsters at bay, goblins closing about them from everywhere.
It flickered again and this time it showed Rarity, her flanks streaked with soot and blood she pulled the makeshift stretcher, Pinkie Pie lay unconscious while Fluttershy limped beside. This time they didn't notice the goblins creeping back into the world, crawling out of shadows around them. Spike desperately tried to get their attention but nopony dared look at the fate that might await them.
"I can call them off Twilight Sparkle... it is not too late to save your friend's lives... let go of your quest, let go of the idea of saving your beloved princess and they shall be spared." Gloom's voice was serious but the gentle tones had begun to creep back.
Twilight looked at each image as it played side by side this time, at all her friends fighting bravely or simply holding on to the hope that rested in Twilight and her mission. "N-no..." She breathed as a tear rolled down her cheek.
"What do you mean, no?" The spectre pony began to loose more of her form, her hooves disappearing into the smoke. "How could you let your friends die? Don't you love them!? Don't you care!?"
"Because this isn't about us, it's about the entire land of Equestria!" Twilight blushed brighter and advanced on Gloom. Her horn beginning to glow, making the clouds shy away. "They knew what the risks were, they knew how important it was for us to succeed... and every one of them is counting on me to do what I have to do... they might die... but if they do it won't be in vain!" the glow intensified, encircling the boiling clouds of Gloom's form until Gloom's form finally broke, only her bottomless eyes remaining, gazing at Twilight from within a cloud of darkness. "I will find Celestia and return her to Equestria even if it kills me!" Her voice raised to a shout and Twilight saw a point of light advancing from behind the wall of smoke that Gloom had become.
"You fool... you stupid little fool... I could have offered you so much power... so many experiences..." the voice rumbled from every direction as the point of light grew steadily brighter, Twilight's lip curled in a smile as she recognized the glow of a unicorn horn through the veil.
"Except love..." Twilight took a breath and leveled her horn between Gloom's eyes. "thank you for looking after me... over the years... but I think it's time to finish this..." Twilight's horn was glowing white now, twinkling brilliantly before her as the white light intensified and Celestia leapt through the wall of cloud to land at her student's side.
The cloud that was Gloom shrank back as both the goddess and the purple unicorn summoned all the light they could muster. "Back into the shadows!" Celestia spoke sternly and the world around them both shuddered and cracked open.
Sunlight shot like lances of fire through the dark clouds, wisps of dark being coalesced and collapsed upon themselves. Twilight grimaced as a scream pierced the dark world. She wasn't sure if Celestia heard it as well or saw the face swirling in the shadows. Dark eyes filled to overflowing with tears and gut wrenching terror. “I’m sorry, Gloom...” She breathed and she shut her eyes as tightly as she was able until it was over.
--
The Aftermath
Ponyville was quiet, much quieter than it should have been on any other day. The sun shone again down upon the tired and war torn ponies but nopony was in the mood for celebration. Pinkie Pie was glad things had worked out so well but all the sadness was hard for the pink pony to fathom. Sure even she had days where she felt like there was a grumpy raincloud over her head but this was everypony all at once.
She tried not to look at the tents where the wounded were being tended or at the ponies who walked with a black sash around their forelegs. So many ponies had lost so many friends or family members. Rarity walked slowly up on her other side, bandages tied neatly over her scratches and cuts.
"Pinkie, darling!" she smiled broadly, "I’m so pleased you're alright!"
Pinkie laughed and tried to smile herself. "It'll take a lot more than a bump on the head to get the best of Pinkie Pie!" She put on her best bubbly voice. "did... you really pull me the entire way?" Pinkie's voice hinted a little sadness as Rarity nodded.
"I simply couldn't leave you out there and poor Fluttershy injured her leg, it was up to me to save my good friend." Rarity gave Pinkie a little nuzzle on the cheek and Pinkie giggled, beginning to feel better.
"Have you seen anypony else?" Pinkie asked and Rarity gave a soft shake of her head.
"Twilight hasn't been seen since last night but dear Spike received a message from Canterlot explaining that she is at the palace and safe. Everypony who can walk or fly is searching the forest for survivors..." Rarity spoke carefully, she knew that there wasn't a pony in Ponyville who hadn’t lost someone they had known. "I... I’m just certain that Applejack and Rainbow Dash will be just fine... just fine..." Her voice took on a brittle edge and the edge of her smile twitched just a little.
Pinkie touched her friend on the shoulder and did her best to smile. The pair parted without words and Pinkie slowly resumed her walk through town. Steeling herself with a broad smile, she approached the edge of the Everfree Forest and waited, slowly one pony after another from the charge crept back into town.
Blues and Caramel, two hard working farmponies, worked hard to support an armored shape, Big Macintosh was wobbling but he looked happy at least to see the town. Carefully peering past him Pinkie saw an approaching shape. Applejack looked like she'd been through a war, well she has been through a war Pinkie thought to herself and galloped up to her friend.
"Applejack I was so worried!" Pinkie gave the sore warhorse a huge hug until Applejack waved her away.
"Pinkie Pie! What in tarnation?! Git offa me fer a minute!" Applejack extracted herself from the tearful embrace and smiled, giving the pink pony a nuzzle on her cheek. "What's been happenin around here? D-did anypony else make it out?"
"O-only Rainbow Dash is still missing..." Pinkie began before helping support the cowgirl pony, Applejack about to grumble about not needing any help, but her aching body reminded her that walking on her own was a little on the difficult side.
"Aw I’m sorry, sugarcube..." Applejack spoke softly and leaned against Pinkie's support, nudging her cheek softly. "I know you two were real close..."
"Are..." Pinkie breathed
Applejack blushed brightly and looked away. "I’m sorry... are real close..."
"Rainbow is my bestest best friend ever..." She spoke gently and Applejack gave a soft nod, thinking about how life would be boring without the Rainbow maned pegasus and her constant pranks or stunts.
"I’m so sorry, darlin‘..." Applejack began and stopped Pinkie in her tracks, "I don't know how to tell ya but I wouldn't be the spirit of honesty unless I told my friends the honest truth...." Applejack looked down and wobbled as Pinkie backed away. "Mac and me were the last ponies still walkin‘... we were helpin‘ the nurses get ponies on their hooves... I... I’m sorry... I’m so sorry, sugarcube, but the only ponies left in there ain't movin‘ no more..."
Pinkie backed away and for the first time in Applejack's memory, Pinkie looked terrified. "No way... no way Applejack... Rainbow isn't gone..." Applejack took a couple wobbly steps towards the pink pony before she turned and charged off into the woods. Applejack didn't have the heart to follow.
Pinkie's eyes were stinging as she ran, it wasn't right. It just wasn't right for the world to take someone like Rainbow away from her. She was Pinkie Pie, she never asked for anything from anypony. She never yelled, never got into a fight. All she ever wanted was to make ponies happy and have fun. War wasn't fun, war was the opposite of fun. And now Pinkie shook with anger.
"Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash get out here right now!" Her gallop slowed to a trot and she looked at the faces of the nurses and volunteers, each working to shift the fallen ponies onto carts and sleds so they could be brought home.
Pinkie slumped down and looked at the dirt. "It's not fair... it's not fair at all... how come all this had to happen at all, but... Rainbow Dash never gives up on anything," A pair of dark emerald eyes watched the whole scene with great sadness. Pinkie was crying without pause now before a gentle touch on the back of her head caught her attention. She looked up and there was the soft smile of princess Luna.
"I'm sorry but I couldn't help but watch... you're Pinkie Pie right?" the princess settled down beside the pink pony who tried to stumble up to her hooves and bow. "Don't bow or anything... I... I’m never going to ask that of anypony again after today."
"We won, right princess?" Pinkie spoke softly and returned her gaze to the soft earth at her hooves. Luna nodded an affirmative and Pinkie trembled. "Then why does it feel like we lost? Why am I crying so much... I’m usually such a perky Pinkie but now I don't feel so good at all..."
Luna looked out over the forest, the sunlight beaming down and banishing the shadow and then back over her shoulder at the way she'd come. "We've all lost friends... tell me... what would you say to your friend if she could hear you right now?"
Pinkie trembled and smiled little by little. "I’d tell her I was so glad to see her... and tell her that she made me so very happy..." Pinkie sniffed as her energy began to return. "I’d tell her that I did mean what I said all those times, she always said I was joking... I’d tell her... tell her how I feel inside when she's around... and when she'd see I was being a super serious, serious pants... we'd have a party! And there'd be cake... and streamers... and balloons... and... and all her favorite food... cause I’d make sure I got everything just right..."
Luna nodded softly but her gaze looked still the way she'd come, and at the figure slowly approaching. "And what would you say... if you and that friend were alone..."
Pinkie's voice became a whisper. "I’d tell her I loved her... for real..."
"Who's this friend of yours, Pinkie Pie?" came the soft voice from behind the princess and the seated earth pony.
Pinkie's eyes opened wide and her whole body trembled before she jumped up and spun about. Standing with an unusual shy smile, mane and tail a mess, coat smudged with dirt, one wing singed and hanging at her side while the other unfurled to it's fullest extent, was Rainbow Dash. Pinkie blinked softly and looked at Luna who smiled innocently and looked away, getting back on her hooves.
Pinkie's words became a blur of everything she could think of to say, repeating over and over how happy she was that Dash was alright. Her tears going unnoticed as she nuzzled up tightly to the blue pegasus' cheek. She tried to hold onto Dash and bounce with joy but succeeded only in jostling her injured friend and making her laugh. "Pinkie.... Pinkie!" she finally called loudly and the pink pony giggled to a halt. "Pinkie..." Dash looked back to Luna who began to walk slowly towards Ponyville then carefully back and forth to make sure no other pony was within earshot. "what would you do if your friend said she loved you too?"
--
It took many days to organize and to mourn the loss of so many brave ponies. But Ponyville had stood at the center of the maelstrom and come out stronger than it had begun. The six ponies had mounted the greatest of defenses, fought the most valiantly and given their all to save the land they loved and had learned that friendship is a bond which can never be broken. There had been a speech by Celestia who related the story of how she came into being and the tale of the brave ponies who had done so much for the land. Each had been given an official title, though some protested.
"Sir Rainbow Dash..." she grinned, and relaxed back into the huge tub at the spa, the others rolling their eyes. "I like the sound of it..."
"It's just a title Dash..." Lady Twilight smiled and flipped to the next page in her book
"Well isn't it obvious? Rainbow Dash is simply not a lady..." Lady Rarity raised the mask covering her eyes while lotus did her best to mend a chipped hoof for her.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Dash tried to get up in anger while her friends chuckled before a pink hoof pressed down on her shoulder and a smiling face appeared and nosed her cheek, carefully depositing a chocolate covered cherry in Rainbow's still pouting mouth. "I just don't like to be called a lady is all..." She said between chews.
Pinkie smiled as everypony around her relaxed. Applejack nursing a bottle she liberated from Granny's secret stash, her cheeks warm and sunny as she basked in the steam room. Rarity being pampered and letting the power of her title help lift her spirits. Twilight with her head in a book from the royal library at Canterlot. Spike was entranced at Rarity's side as always and Fluttershy was sound asleep in a lounging chair. Pinkie looked over all her friends and the horrible events seemed to just fade away, it was back to normal.
"These quiet spa parties are really kinda nice..." She began, dropping another cherry for Rainbow Dash who couldn't help but blush still. "But... maybe just a few streamers?"
"Same old Pinkie Pie..." Dash laughed and everypony joined her. It was back to normal for sure.
–
Epilogue
The moonlight shone down onto the silvery grass beside the cool clear lake. A form lay sprawled there. Her dark tresses matted and her pearly coat blackened with grime. She had run, and run hard. Heart pounding in her chest and limbs quaking from exhaustion. She heard the ripple of water and crawled closer, looking down into her reflection upon the glassy surface. She was frightened, this wasn't supposed to happen this way at all. Real emotions burned in her chest before she lowered her face to the surface and drank her fill, her own tears dripping into the cool clear spring.
“There you are...” A voice called from behind her and a soft orange glow filtered through the trees. “You have a quite a talent at remaining unseen.”
“l-leave me alone!” The distraught pony wailed as she backed away and fell rump first into the cold water. “have you not tormented me enough!”
“My dear... this is not torment... this is benevolence...” The pony threw his hood back and knelt, offering her a hoof. “Celestia has dispatched me to find you, milady... and to return you home...”
“I won't go! You can not make me! Please... leave me to wither in peace...” The dark eyed pony trembled and shied further away.
“There are many mysteries surrounding you, Twilight's Gloom... and I would not be a true ranger if I did not pursue them fullest of my abilities. We rest here tonight and make for Canterlot come morning... I would prefer not place you in an... unladylike situation...” Lancer sat back on the grass himself and turned his gaze to the sky. Gloom trembled and sighed in defeat.
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GearheartHound
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988
| 4 |
Derpy Hooves,Main 6,Princess Luna,Adventure,Dark,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore
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Darkness Descends
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An ancient evil is waking. Can the Elements of Harmony find their courage before darkness descends?
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complete
| -1 | -1 |
<p>An ancient evil has awoken after millennium of slumber. A dark shadow from the very beginnings of Equestria itself threatens to blanket the lands in a darkness the likes of which no living pony has seen before. It falls to Twilight Sparkle and her stalwart friends to hold the line, to stand tall least their world is torn down around them.</p>
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teen
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2011-09-23T06:34:47+00:00
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2011-09-23T06:34:47+00:00
| 1,473 |
Twilight's Gloom
The thrilling conclusion to Darkness Descends
By: GearheartHound
“Shut Up! Shut Up! Shut Up!” The moon princess screamed over and over, the stones of the tower beginning to tremble from the force of her mounting anger.
“Why should I? It's the truth... you and I are nearly one and the same, Nightmare Moon... dark soul cast adrift in this sea of putrid sunlight. Or have you lost your nerve? Did precious Celly put you in your place?” In the darkness a smile glimmered.
Luna shook with tears of anger rolling down her cheeks. “Don't you dare call her by that name!”
“Why shouldn't I?!” the sweet voice boomed in the shadows before coughing softly. “do you know how I tortured her in the dark? You would have been proud, dear Nightmare. I looked into her thoughts and I became you... I stole your face and your voice from her memories and I let Celestia know how you really felt about the banishment... oh how she wept...”
Luna trembled and her wings spread wide on their own, she pawed at the marble floor. She tried and failed to hold the thoughts and feelings back as the mare whispered in the darkness again. “did she cry when she saw you again? Did she fear your words? Has dear Celly been avoiding you?”
Luna screamed, her rage knocking stones from the tower and letting in silvery tendrils of moonlight as she charged forward. All her frustration boiled forth as the dark pony was flung into book cases and tables, kicked viciously and made to suffer. Punishing blows of hoof on bone but all the while the dark mare made no noise save for the sound of breath being knocked free with an accompanying gurgle of blood.
Luna reared onto her rear hooves and loomed over the prone mare before a titanic jolt of force pulled her back against Celestia's side. The glow of murder faded from Luna’s eyes, her coat slick with her sweat and spattered with blood as the sad eyes of her sister gazed down into her own. Neither alicorn said anything, it took a cough from the floor to draw their eyes.
Slowly the pale creature lifted her head and grinned, her voice rasping as blood ran from over her chin. “what's the matter, Mooney? Don't have the stomach for this? Or has the master come to put the dog in her place?”
it took nearly all Celestia's telekinetic force to hold Luna back this time. The moon princess was frothing mad, spouting curses and death threats while the elder alicorn only cried.
The royal palaces of Canterlot shone glimmering gold in the sunshine, perched on the mountainside. Tall spires of pure white marble with gardens and observatories and all that it needed to be the center of enlightenment and learning for an entire civilization. At its center rose the castle itself. Grander still than all the buildings that surrounded it but today a dark cloud swirls around an outlying tower. There were always dark clouds where she was staying.
The tower was a prison only because the occupant had tried to escape so many times. The freedom she had been given had been abused and so the door had been barred. It had been weeks but Celestia steeled herself and took flight, passing through the bank of shadowy clouds to touch her golden shod hooves down on the marble of the balcony. Even with the dark clouds swirling and blocking most of her sun's rays, the curtains were drawn. Slowly the solar Princess parted them and slipped into the room. It was dark as a crypt within.
“Come to see me finally... I was beginning to think you had forgotten...” a voice touched the silence of the room and a pair of dark eyes opened to shine up at Celestia in all her muted radiance.
“I assure you I have not forgotten... our last meeting was somewhat less than pleasant... it has taken some time for me to calm Luna down.” Celestia spoke and used her magic to pull the curtains open, and dispel the clouds, letting in the sun, which was more of a comfort to her than anything. She heard the dark pony hiss as her precious darkness was expelled by the daylight.
Celestia let her eyes wander over the room and gave a small shudder. It was once a guest room, a rather nice guest room but now it was in shambles. The bed had been upturned and the mattress rested in a corner. The walls were splattered with uneaten food and the the tapestries had been torn from their mountings to lay sprawled in a heap in the center of the room. Every book on the shelves had been relocated to the heap. Much to Celestia's displeasure, she noted the signs of Luna's rage here and there.
“I redecorated... do you like it?” she whispered up to Celestia and grinned, drawing the Princess' attention. She was sickly, more so than when she had arrived. Her mane and tail were matted from lack of attention and she was gaunt from self-imposed starvation. Dark bags hung under her eyes and around her nose was old blood caked into her coat.
“Oh look at you...” Celestia spoke softly, not thinking first, shocked at seeing a pony in such horrific condition.
“Yes! Yes look! Look at poor sickly Gloom... look at how pathetic she is.” the dusky mare coughed violently from her outburst and spat at Celestia's hooves, what now marred the goddess' pearlescent coat was clearly blood. Slowly she got up to a shaky standing position and took a calming breath. “Pity poor Gloom who does not sleep... who does not eat... who coughs and bleeds and cries and waits for her body to expire.”
“You know how much it troubles me to see a pony in pain...” Celestia spoke slowly and the dark mare snorted in indignation.
“I am not one of your puppet foals... I was not born of your little world... I was a passing thought given form and now I am trapped within its fleshy prison... don't for a moment confuse me for one of your subjects, Celly.” Gloom grinned her usual heartless smirk.
Celestia's cheeks burned red and she stamped her hoof onto the marble, sending creaping cracks through the stone. “Do not call me by that name! That name is reserved for those I love!” she took several breaths to steady herself before she continued. “You may be able to provoke Luna to violence... but I have had more practice at reining my emotions than she has.”
“That reminds me... do tell Mooney the rib and my dainty nose has healed nicely... no need to worry about little Gloom drowning in her own blood.” Gloom grinned still and Celestia felt her anger rise once more.
“Gloom you are infuriating... were I less reserved you would have been banished beyond our borders weeks ago... but I would not loose you upon this world for anything, not even my own satisfaction. No you are an enigma that must be unraveled.” Celestia paced a little around the room. “I sought to banish you... I felt Twilight lending her own power... why were you locked to a mortal form when you should have simply ceased to exist?”
“I... I blame Twilight...” Gloom mumbled gently, looking down at the mention of the purple unicorn.
Celestia raised an eyebrow and looked at the dark pony; her body language betrayed her feelings. At the very mention of her prized student, Gloom had lost all her rage and seemed simply sad. Celestia gave a little grin. “You feel do you not? You said yourself that you cry... what do you cry about?”
“I... I won't talk to you about it...” Gloom stuttered but Celestia just grinned more, she had found a gap in the dark mare's armor, it was time to press her advantage.
“I believe I know...” Celestia trotted closer and Gloom looked up with true fear in her eyes, backing up slowly. “You cry over Twilight Sparkle...” Celestia was about to grin in satisfaction but instead let the words fall away as Gloom's deep indigo eyes overflowed and she began to tremble.
“Yes...” she let out in a squeak, her tears turning into sobs, which shook her gaunt frame.
Celestia closed her eyes and nodded slowly. So Gloom really does have a heart in there somewhere. She looked back to Gloom who was curled in a ball on the floor. “Gloom... would you like me to tell Twilight you are alive?” she asked, now becoming more concerned at the dark mare's behaviour as she cradled her head in her chipped and mistreated hooves.
“No... No you can't!” the dark pony jumped up in shock and looked pleadingly into Celestia's eyes. “You mustn’t tell Twilight... it couldn't... it won't...” Gloom looked down and slumped, her shoulders sagging.
“you could see her again, Gloom...” Celestia stepped closer to the dark creature who was trembling with every breath she took.
“I... ask, Celestia... I ask politely and humbly... that I be forgotten... that Twilight go on believing that I am dead and gone... and to show my sincerity... I will tell you why...”
Slowly Gloom spoke and Celestia could only listen as the dark mare told her everything, everything that had tormented her and burdened her from the moment of her creation at the hooves of the purple unicorn with so very much potential. She talked until the sun was low in the sky and until there were no words left to say.
Twilight sparkle was trying hard to sleep, her cup of soothing herbal tea was already cold beside the bed, every book on insomnia she could find laid out neatly on her desk and she had long ago run out of milk to warm up and drink. She tossed and turned but could not shake the feeling that had plagued her since the end of the war.
She felt alone. Not just lonely, she felt truly alone. Even in a room full of her closest friends, she felt like she was the only pony there. Many of her friends had lost ponies they knew to the fighting. Nopony alive didn't carry a feeling of loss in their hearts for all those who hadn't made it, but what Twilight had felt was different. It just felt wrong.
Finally, with a grunt she lifted herself from the bed and trotted to her bathroom. The face that greeted her in the mirror looked terrible. “Good evening to you too...” she mumbled to herself and set to work combing the tangles out of her mane. “If I can't sleep I might as well get some work done.”
when she looked something like her old self, she trotted down to the library and lifted the nearest stack of books with her magic, neatly setting them back where they belonged or as close to it as she could with Spike's unique book filing system. “You’d think he never heard of the dewdrop decimal system... “She grumbled before there was a resounding burp from upstairs and a sleepy Spike stumbled his way down the stairs rubbing his eyes with one clawed hand while the other clutched a scroll.
“You’ve got mail...” he managed as he reached the bottom of the stairs.
“Leave it on the desk Spike... I’ll deal with it in the morning.” Twilight didn't even look up from her sorting efforts.
“You sure? It’s marked urgent...,” he asked, examining the scroll in detail.
“Yes Spike!” she snapped and Spike took a step back. “I’m in no mood to be reading a letter right now even if it came from the Princess herself! Leave it on the desk and I’ll get to it in the morning...” Twilight watched as Spike grumbled his way to the desk and set the scroll down. She instantly felt bad for yelling at him, he was only doing his job but she was too tired and grumpy herself to get into another argument tonight. She made a mental note to make it up to him tomorrow and got herself back to work.
The first rays of golden sunlight were creeping up the floor of the library towards a sleeping unicorn. She didn't even wake at the sound of hooves clopping along the wooden floor towards her or even when a soft pearly white wing touched her side.
“Twilight?” Celestia spoke as gently as she could to her student and tried to stifle a giggle as the young unicorn rolled over onto her back and mumbled.
“Just five more minutes mom...”
“Well that's certainly new. I don't remember you ever calling me 'mom' before.” Celestia chuckled and Twilight let her eyes open.
“P-Princess!” the purple unicorn bolted upright from her makeshift bed of books and papers upon the library floor, struggling to make her mane a little neater, failing to notice the parchment stuck to her cheek by a generous amount of nighttime drool.
“You have a little something...” Celestia did her best not to burst out laughing as she indicated to the page and Twilight quickly ripped it off, blushing brighter and brighter.
“W-what are you doing here so early? Not that you can't show up whenever you want anyway but if I would have known I... I could have cleaned... or made tea at least.” Twilight stammered.
Celestia gave a little grin and took a seat before her student. “It’s quite alright... though I am a little concerned. I sent a letter ahead, it was marked urgent.”
Twilight's eyes went wide and she looked over to the note, still unopened where Spike left it and then back to Celestia. “Ooh right... the letter...”
Celestia sighed and shook her head before motioning for Twilight make herself comfortable. “It’s probably for the best actually... I was not in a very good frame of mind when I wrote it.” Celestia waved her horn, which glowed briefly like pure sunlight, and the note dissolved in pale golden flames, “There is something I must tell you, but please know that I am going against the wishes of another pony.” Twilight nodded slowly and sat in fascination as Celestia continued. “This may come as a shock to you, Twilight, but... Gloom lives.”
Twilight gasped, “Oh no! What is she planning? Can we stop her in time? Wait, how is that even possible... she was never real!” she was beginning o panic but the touch of one regal wing helped to calm her.
“Twilight... that night when we did battle with Gloom... she appeared as a pony to you... and did her best to seduce you.” Twilight looked back and forth nervously before gulping and giving a gentle nod.
“Don’t tell anypony please... I mean I like stallions just fine! I'm not attracted to mares at all...” Twilight squeaked with a little mania creaping into her voice. Celestia just shook her head with a smile.
“You don't have to worry about me gossiping, Twilight. Though I think it may be a lesson for another day. Right now our concern is Gloom... you locked her mind into a mortal body. How you did this isn't clear to myself or even to Gloom who remembers us facing her down and then waking up on the edge of the Everfree forest.” Celestia spoke and Twilight's eyes were filled with shock. “Twilight... Gloom has told me that she misses you.”
“M-misses me?” Twilight stammered a little. Her half-awake mind was reeling at the implication that the instigator of Equestria's darkest days still lived only to be told that the enemy of all ponykind 'missed' her, not to mention finding out that she brought her into being.
“I had hoped Luna could talk to her but she... Provoked my sister to terrible violence. Gloom begged and pleaded with me to leave her locked in a tower to starve... to simply die... because...” Celestia began but the look in her student's eyes was becoming worrying. “Lets just say she feels incomplete without your presence...”
“Princess, I...” the purple unicorn was beginning to tremble, her words trailing off. Thinking back to the empty feeling that has consumed her for so long.
“Is there something you need to tell me, Twilight?” Celestia nudged her student's cheek softly and Twilight turned her head down towards the floor.
“It’s... n-nothing... I... what should we do about Gloom?” Twilight pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind, the feeling of loneliness and pain which had become her constant companion, and evidently, Gloom's as well.
Celestia looked to Twilight and sighed inwardly at her student's reluctance to open up to her but let it pass for now. “Gloom is a difficult and infuriating pony, she provokes Luna and I at every turn and it is becoming evident she does not wish to be helped. I had hoped perhaps you could speak to her... you and your friends have done an excellent job in making Luna feel more at home. Perhaps you could convince her that we mean her well.”
Twilight felt her heart sink. She wanted to yell at Celestia and tell her over and over that there was no way she was letting Gloom anywhere near any of her friends. She felt anger welling up inside but she quickly put a cap on it. “I... if you... think so... Princess.” She managed to get the words out and Celestia closed her eyes slowly.
Twilight sparkle and her friends had been her final hope in reforming the dark mare or at the very least making her time in Equestria a less evil one. Despite all the rumors about secret dungeons and banishing ponies for the slightest infraction against her Celestia was, and always had been, a kind ruler. It pained her on an almost physical level when her beloved ponies suffered.
The war had taken much of her spirit, the loss of so many and the pain of those who remained. It tormented her to think that the final casualty of those dark and terrible days would be a pony who would die friendless and alone in the dark from a broken heart. “I do think so, Twilight...” Celestia spoke again and tried to smile for her student. “All the arrangements can be made as soon as I get back to canterlot and the carriage should arrive by tomorrow afternoon. There are always affairs of state to deal with but it should thankfully give you ample time to warn... I mean inform your friends of her visit.”
Twilight gave a little nod in reply and did a very poor job of hiding her feelings on the matter, Celestia excused herself and Twilight watched her leave with a new and heavy feeling in her heart.
“She's what!” Rainbow Dash was hovering in the library, bristling with rage. “If she shows her face around here she's gonna have a lot more to worry about than not eating or being in the dark! My wing still hurts! Still! It's been a month!”
“Dashie... try and calm down...” An unusually reserved Pinkie Pie was tugging at Dash's tail in an effort to make the pegasus land.
“I’m not about to let the most evil pony who ever lived anywhere near my friends!” Dash spouted still in anger while Pinkie still attempted to get her girlfriend to land and be reasonable.
“Like it or not I gotta agree with Dash.” Applejack took off her hat and set it on the table. “There’s no tellin' what kinda evil powers that mare has at her disposal. I seen stuff in those nights that made goblins look tame... me and Mac got the scars ta prove it.”
“You simply can not allow this... creature... to come to Ponyville!” Rarity had been holding herself back as much as she could but the thought of her friends and family being placed in possibly mortal danger propelled her to speak.
“I don't like this either!” Twilight snapped and rested her face in her hooves, sighing loudly. “But this is an order from the Princess... not a request... she showed up and told me face to face... Gloom comes to Ponyville tomorrow...”
The room descended into chaos at that point. Almost every pony trying to talk at once, about how the situation should be handled. Everything from leaving town for a few days to outright violence. At the back of the group, Fluttershy huddled with wide eyes and hooves over her ears, trying to drown the anger out. “STOP IT ALL OF YOU!”
The outburst drew every eye in the room; Fluttershy let out a little eep but took a breath and continued. “I... I am very disappointed in all of you. A pony is hurting and suffering inside and you all want to hurt her more...” Fluttershy felt a strange determination roll over her, she had come this far, it was time to finish what she started. “All of you have an element of harmony inside you... you're all supposed to be the best ponies that Equestria has to offer... and you are all my friends... but after what I heard... I don't know if... if I want to be your friend anymore...” Fluttershy finished with a few tears and by then the eyes of everypony were looking down at the floor.
“You’re right... you're really right, Fluttershy.” the sadness in Pinkie's voice seemed to take some of the curl out of her mane. “I’m supposed to make ponies laugh not be mean to them... but this is a challenge right!” she bounced back to her usual perky self and grinned wide. “We’re the elements of harmony! Super duper ponies! If we can't make somepony happy then who can?”
“A challenge...” Rainbow Dash spoke softly. The blue pegasus never backed down from a challenge, never shied away from danger. She nodded, setting her resolve.
“I reckon Pinkie has a point...” Applejack looked at her hat with its new nicks in the brim. The hat that had been passed down to her from her father while the stallion was on his deathbed accompanied by his final words. You be a damn good pony now, sugarcube, and you better believe I'll be watchin'. Y'all got the whole Apple name ridin' on yer shoulders now... be better than I ever was... “i gotta be a better pony than this...”
Rarity huffed a little but sighed. “I suppose... we can try...” Rarity felt shame beginning to well up within, imagining what Sweetie Belle would say if she had seen the way she acted. She had always told her sister to help those in need before thinking about her own desires. With a gentle sigh the pearly unicorn looked at the rest of her friends before her eyes fell on Twilight who was still staring down at the floor.
Twilight was seething. How could her friends just turn around so quickly and be prepared to forgive a pony who had brought ruin in her wake. “Promise me all of you... watch her...” Twilight began, not able to keep the anger out of her words. “If she slips up... if she does anything even a little evil... we stop her... for good... I don't care what it takes and I don't care what the Princess says...”
The other ponies didn't answer, they didn't need to. It wasn't a polite request from their friend.
Twilight shook a little as she watched the horizon and the golden carriage being towed slowly across the afternoon skies. Each of her friends was at her side before her library home, but it didn't help her mood at all. Twilight Sparkle was beyond angry.
“Here we go...” Rainbow spoke gently on Twilight's right and pawed at the ground, ready for anything. The carriage landed and when the door opened, the grand form of the solar Princess stepped out. Everypony bowed low except Twilight who was breathing fast and deep in an effort to hide her discomfort.
“Rise ponies...” Celestia spoke and her friends obeyed, but Celestia's eyes never left those of the purple unicorn. What Twilight couldn't see was the tear rolling down her teacher's cheek, heartache weighing heavy on the Princess. “Allow me to present Twilight's Gloom...” there was a long silence that caused many ponies to blink and look between themselves.
Celestia cleared her throat. “Gloom...?” she asked politely as she could manage.
“I am not coming out!” Came the sweetly voiced but nonetheless childish response. “You can stand there until you sprout roots and grow into a tree!”
Celestia sighed and rubbed her forehead with a delicate hoof, trying to ignore the snorts of laughter barely held at bay coming from the Rainbow-maned pegasus. “Gloom... Twilight is waiting...” she spoke softly and as gently, as she was able.
Twilight noticed the tone and softened a little as a gaunt skeleton of a pony slowly stumbled from the coach. The memories of the dark and seductive mare of her deepest and darkest dreams flashed before her and for a moment, she couldn't believe it was the same pony. She was sure her mouth was open but couldn't bring herself to close it, or to care.
Gloom didn't speak but her eyes were rimmed with tears as she looked upon Twilight and her friends. She looked vulnerable, pained and so very sad.
“She doesn't look that tough.” Rainbow Dash, almost on cue, broke the silence and grinned in a bit of satisfaction.
Gloom twitched and looked over at the blue pegasus, the slight smile that was creeping into her lips faded away into a scowl. “Oh dear... were you expecting somepony who was stronger so you could engage in some pointless contest of brawn to prove yourself? How insecure you must be... oh that reminds me... how is your wing? I apologize... my aim was a little off... I was trying to sever it!” she snapped before coughing hard. Celestia covered her face to hide her shamefully pained expression as Rainbow Dash sputtered and stammered in indignation.
“Hey! You don't talk to my Dashie like that.” Pinkie stepped up and Gloom snorted. Celestia slumped to her haunches and looked down at the earth; this wasn't going according to plan.
“Oh please... she was begging to be knocked down a few pegs...” Gloom sneered and Pinkie fell silent, looking at Celestia and then to Fluttershy, the ponies two who looked heartbroken rather than furious.
“Look at all of you!” Gloom trotted past all of the assembled ponies. “It’s nothing but dumb luck you all survived... certainly not skill... frilly, prissy, laughing excuses for ponies. Pale shadows of what real ponies should be...” Gloom stopped before Fluttershy and was taken aback at the expression in the yellow pegasus' eyes. “W-what do you want?!” she snapped before descending into a coughing fit.
Everypony cringed when she spat blood down to the cobblestones, everypony except Fluttershy. “I’m sorry...” Fluttershy whispered, just loud enough that the assembled friends could hear. “I’m very very sorry... I wish... there was something... anything I could do...” Fluttershy began to cry softly and Gloom's dark mantle fell. Her anger draining away at the sight of Fluttershy's heartfelt tears.
Gloom leaned close and whispered in Fluttershy's ear, the yellow Pegasus giving a nod in return and a small smile.
“Inside... now everypony...” Twilight finally spoke and Gloom shut her eyes cringing, there was venom in every syllable spoken by the purple unicorn. “Princess...” Twilight gave a stiff bow and turned to walk back into the library.
The other ponies filed back into the library following Gloom all except Pinkie who turned to Celestia and mouthed the words 'I’m sorry'.
The afternoon fell from discussion to anger to violent outbursts. Gloom's snide remarks and biting retorts made talking to her a very hard thing indeed. Twilight was honestly glad when Rainbow and Applejack stormed out, followed by Rarity who would always claim she 'made a ladylike exit' trailing Spike who was more red than purple from his building anger. Pinkie stayed a little longer, offering for Gloom to come by the bakery in the morning for something good to eat. The last to leave was Fluttershy, her and Gloom sharing a glance that made Twilight wonder what the pair had whispered.
The library was silent, Twilight finishing off her tenth cup of coffee since she had skipped a great deal of sleep the night previous. With more than a little frustration, She cast her gaze to Gloom whose eyes wandered the shelves, reading titles. “You love your library...” The dark mare finally spoke, Twilight didn't answer. “I know... I could feel it... books bring you comfort.”
“So do my friends...” Twilight spoke with finality and went to pour herself another cup of coffee.
“That much caffeine isn't good for you...” Gloom spoke with what passed for a smirk.
“Neither is that much starvation.” Twilight shot back
“Touché...” Gloom was smiling gently, Twilight only scowled in return. “Celestia told you that I missed you... did she not?” Twilight didn't answer, diving into a book about old combat magic. “I felt emptied out... as if there were a great hole in my being...” Gloom Continued, looking around the library with misty eyes.
“Good...” Twilight mumbled between turning pages.
Gloom turned to Twilight and began to tremble, “You do know it stings whenever you insult me... you are aware that I have feelings of my own?” Gloom placed a hoof against the book to draw Twilight's gaze.
“Again... all I can say is good... you've caused a lot of pain to a lot of ponies... it's honestly nice to know you're hurting, Gloom...” Twilight slammed the book closed, making Gloom jerk her hoof back.
Twilight felt a flash of guilt for a moment as genuine heartache registered in Gloom's face. “Well excellent!” the dark pony snapped and turned her gaze away. “Marvelous, Twilight Sparkle... your hatred will make everything so much easier. I believe I know where your spare bedroom is. Please don't bother me.”
The dark pony trotted towards the door to the disused guest room with a few muted coughs and Twilight bit her lip. “Gloom... I’m sorry... I didn't mean-” she was cut off sharply as Gloom spun on her, crossing the distance quickly and jamming both hooves against the unicorn's shoulders.
“I do not need your pity! I do not want it! You did bloody well mean every word you have said! Did you even see Celestia crying at the 'welcome' you and your companions gave me?! Damn you! Damn you Twilight Sparkle!” Gloom shouted in her face before her eyes slammed closed and she began to cough again. She clung tightly to Twilight as she choked and shook with each merciless gasp and sob.
Twilight looked down at what she could see, feeling the hot wetness against her chest. Part of her felt disgusted but she kept still and silent as Gloom regained her composure. “I’m sorry... I appear to have bled on you...” She spoke with a hint of dark humor and even managed a bit of a giggle. Twilight gasped gently at the sound of that voice, it had been a long tine since she had heard Gloom laugh but it was still almost beautiful.
“I... I’ll go clean up...” Twilight mumbled before prying herself from Gloom's grasp and stumbling to the stairs. She looked back only once at the dark pony where she had slumped, gazing forlornly at the floor. She felt her heart calling out to her, begging her to ask Gloom if she wanted to clean up as well, maybe share a light meal. She nearly killed your friends... her rational mind reminded her and Twilight pushed the warm thoughts as far away as she could. Gloom was evil at heart and tomorrow she would prove it.
The morning had begun as Gloom had expected, with an argument. She had lost her temper once more and Twilight had done nothing to soften the jagged feelings she had towards the dark mare. The pair had parted with curses that would have made sailors blush and Gloom trotted out into Ponyville, grinning at the dark cloud hovering over the library.
She went unnoticed, as much as she could in a small town, and soon she reached the edge of the Everfree forest and the cemetery there. Standing tall and proud was a gleaming, white marble statue of no-pony in particular though the mare wore a shield slung over her back and a look of determination over her face. It was brand new down to the gilded plaque at the base, which read. For those who gave their lives, lost in shadows and darkness, never to return home. Rest here in peace for all time, remembered of the heavens and the world below. Immortal saviors of the lands and the ponies of Equestria.
Gloom looked upon the grand statue and the grass, which grew healthy over the graves of the many ponies laid to rest here. Rows upon rows of new and rather expensive looking gravestones, each with an accompaniment of beautiful flowers, no grave going forgotten. She stood still in the drifting breeze as insects buzzed in the nearby forests, now so full of life with the darkness driven from them.
“Come to pay your respects, milady?” A familiar voice spoke behind her and Gloom spun to face the unicorn stallion. He was dressed plainly and practical, as always though he wore no smile on his lips.
“It’s you... that ranger?” Gloom looked him over and tried to straighten up. “What could you want from me?”
“Lancer, ranger of the crown... and I am here to ensure you do not run... again.” he spoke slow and took a step towards the grand statue. Gloom winced, her plan to escape the maddening ponies having been swept away. He touched a hoof gently to the statue's pedestal and spoke once more. “And to ask you how you fare, milady.”
“How I fare? Ask me how I fare?” Gloom laughed with derision and sat back on her haunches. “Poorly, sir ranger... very poorly... my life is meaningless... oh how I wish it would simply end...”
Lancer took a seat and regarded the statue, not once turning back to look upon Gloom. “Do you know how many ponies were lost in all of Equestria during the war?” He didn't wait for her to answer. “A great many... nearly a thousand all told. The confirmed dead and those poor souls who went missing in the long dark. Do you think any of them would care for their life back... even a half life...?”
Gloom looked down slowly, the words biting deeply. “Are you seeking an apology?”
Lancer turned slowly and shook his head. “I am merely... hoping... you are not so quick to dismiss this rare gift you have been given.”
The ranger turned back to the statue and hung his head with eyes closed. “You have lost loved ones?” she spoke gently and he only nodded.
“Yes... two sisters, in service as I am, they have not reappeared since the war began...” There was great sadness in his voice though he did a very good job of restraining it.
“You have my condolences... truthfully.” She added as she looked over the rows upon rows of brand new stones. “And I will take your words to heart, Sir Lancer...” She turned back towards the town.
“What will you do?” he called back to her and she only smiled.
“I believe I have an engagement for breakfast with a certain pink filly.” there was more bounce in her step as Gloom trotted down the winding path back towards Ponyville.
Pinkimina Dianne Pie worked diligently in the kitchen of the bakery. Today was not starting out as a good day. She hadn't gotten in until very late. Taking a long time to calm and soothe Rainbow Dash's bruised ego. Dash always acted like the most confident and headstrong pony in town, it was troubling watching her blubber about her insecurities, but Pinkie accepted it as just another part of being with somepony this intimately. She was a shoulder to cry on as much as she was somepony to roll in the hay with. That didn't mean it was an easy night, Pinkie had to put her usually unruly mane in curlers the night before or everypony would know how she was really feeling today.
Some of her sadness leaked through though, the Cakes were giving her a lot more patience than usual especially about her 'sample' cupcakes that she seemed to be digging into from each and every batch. She was in the middle of icing a cake when she felt a pinchy sensation run up her ankle and her right ear flopped over on its own. “Hmm...” she thought before setting the piping bag down and trotting her way to the front of the shop to put on her best smile.
The little bell rang and the most troubled of ponies trotted into the sweet shop. She looked just as bad as she had the day before though maybe a little more nervous. Pinkie didn't need to know about medicine or to even be a very observant pony; all she did need to do was hear well, hear very well. Gloom was very much more than just a sick pony; Gloom was a pony with a hoof in the grave.
“Gloomy! Welcome to Sugarcube Corner!” She bounced forward and the dark mare recoiled slightly. “I’m so super duper glad you showed up! Now Pinkie can work her magic and get you looking more like a pony and less like a Hallow's Eve decoration.”
“Simple food will suffice...” Gloom managed to get out, her eyes trying to focus on the array of sticky sweets and over frosted cakes that lined the shelves. Never before had so much colour been displayed before her eyes, it was as if she had stepped from Equestria into another world. A world where the dentists must make a fortune.
“Ooh no no no no!” Pinkie smiled and motioned for Gloom to walk further into the bakery. “Simple just isn't going to cut it. I baked something super special just for you! Just let your Auntie Pinkie Pie get everything sorted out.”
Gloom found herself herded to a small table near the back of the shop and to a soft cushion. She stumbled into a sitting position and blinked. “Auntie? I am immeasurably older than you!” She called out but the pink pony was already gone.
“If you want to get all Twilighty technical... you're probably less than two months old.” Pinkie smiled and called back before she reappeared with a tray. The silver cover obscured the contents but the smell that seeped from within assaulted Gloom's senses with something new.
“What... in the name of the deepest darkness... is under that?” The dark pony stared as the tray was deposited and Pinkie giggled, waiting a little longer before pulling the lid away to reveal the humble spread.
Gloom let her eyes drift closed as her nose drank in the scents. Everything in perfect balance. Warm and sweet, sticky and spicy, old fashioned for certain, but very welcome. She found her mouth watering; all pretenses about her self-imposed starvation began to dissolve. She wanted to dive into that tray, to bathe in the sticky sweetness and let the flowing warmth consume her.
“You like it?” Pinkie said with half lidded eyes, watching Gloom like a lover would. Her smile wide at the expressions plastered over the face of the normally dour pony.
“U-uh huh...” All her usual articulation failed her in that instant and she wiped the drool from her own chin. “H-how? Why does this smell so... marvelous?” Gloom was wide eyed and Pinkie giggled.
“That is a Pinkie Pie secret... but I think I can let you in on it. Now eat up, I have a whole other one waiting if you finish that one.” Pinkie took a seat across from Gloom and the dark pony's eyes lit up with warmth, an inner fire sparked by her half buried emotions. She only nodded before beginning to unceremoniously stuff her face with food. “I had to dig really super deep to find that recipe... usually you only cook it for the winter solstice but I thought it had everything you needed... fruit and nuts and sticky sugar... and home... and family...” Pinkie trailed off and Gloom slowed her chewing, starting to savor each bite.
“H-home and family? Whatever do you mean?” the dark eyes mare managed between mouthfuls.
“Uh-Huh! Home and family, silly!” Pinkie giggled happily and used a cloth to dab a little sugar off Gloom's chin. “You cook solstice pudding for your friends and family to finish up the big midwinter feast. You make it to share with ponies you love. I feel a little silly cooking it now, in the summertime, but it had everything you needed...”
Gloom looked at the plate and closed her eyes for a moment; tears began to run down her cheeks. “Love... such a strange word...” Gloom trailed off and Pinkie only watched. “You know... don't you... you look at me and you feel like crying... how do you know?”
“Pinkie has very good hearing...” The pink party pony answered with a little sigh. “I have to make you better, Gloomy... it's a mission... a quest... even if it's just-” Gloom cut her off with a wave of the hoof.
“Don’t breathe a word of that to Twilight... and... thank you.” Gloom managed a little smile and Pinkie grinned her usual huge grin.
The dark mare finished off the rest of her solstice pudding and dug into the second one as well, savoring each and every bite though her eyes were clouded with tears. Pinkie left her special customer to dine in peace, busying herself with the rest of her little plan.
In the dark of her bedroom, with the blinds drawn tight, Twilight Sparkle cried. The tears had just come, unbidden and unwanted but they came and wouldn't stop. She felt a lightness in her heart that had been absent for a long time but none the less she buried her face in the pillow and bawled.
“I don't want her! I don't miss her! This isn't fair!” she screamed into her pillow while hooves pounded her headboard in frustration. She rolled onto her side and stared at the bookshelf closest to her bed, the shelves painted a cheerful pink and written in neat curly script atop the very highest shelf stood the word 'Romance'.
Twilight felt the anger beginning to build. She had assembled the books in her small collection over several years and she recalled the titles. A Tale of Two Mares... The Petals of Love... Of Love and Friendship. “I’m not a lesbian!” she screamed, bolting upright as the books were torn from their shelves and cast around her room with abandon. “It's a lie! A trick! It's just a backfired spell gone wrong!” Twilight swirled the torn pages around her flinging some books into the air to be blasted with bolts of lightning. “I like stallions just fine... nothing wrong with a big... strapping...” Twilight trailed off and looked at the books fluttering down before she threw her head back in a titanic curse, pulling more objects in her room from their shelves in her mounting frustration.
Unknown to Twilight, Spike watched from the stairs, unable to ignore her rantings any longer. The little dragon watched and wept as she stomped and bucked books from the shelves in a screaming rage.
Twilight lifted a wooden case over her bed and was preparing to throw it through a window when it opened and a bottle dropped out onto the matress. She looked down at it and let the wooden case drop. It was a bottle of blackberry wine that her mother and father had given her just before her reassignment to ponyville. Just incase you meet a nice stallion and need to celebrate... you know... getting engaged or maybe for your wedding night. Twilight could almost hear her mother's hopeful words in her ears and her purple cheeks turned the same shade of crimson as they had back then.
“nice stallion...” twilight began to mumble, picking up the bottle. “Engaged... wedding night... BAH!” she bit the cork and pulled, sloshing some of the sticky sweet wine against her coat before she put the bottle to her lips and drank a mouthful. “so much for that huh, mom...?” Twilight slumped to the floor and the tears returned silently this time. Twilight Sparkle imagined living her life in the shadow of the dark mare who had stolen her heart away and bitterly drowned the thought in more wine.
“Certainly not, Pinkie Pie!” Rarity spoke up without taking her eyes off her designs. “I will not waste my time and energy on a pony who thinks of me as...” She cleared her throat, “‘A tired old nag who bedazzles dish rags'. Whatever that could mean.”
Pinkie pouted and shuffled her hooves; again, her day was not shaping up well. “But Rarity... she needs you... she needs your super special talent. She's messy and tense and... and she needs generosity...”
Rarity sighed and lifted the glasses off the end of her nose, looking back to the slightly mopey pink pony. That little pout, the sparkle of tears in her eyes. How could Rarity possibly resist. “Oh fine... but if she insists on being so... abrasive... then I will have to take steps.” Rarity blinked as she went from sitting comfortably one minute to being smothered in a hug the second.
“Oooh thank you Rarity! It'll mean so much to Gloomy, I’m sure of it. I'll go get her, she should be finished her food by now!” without further ceremony, Pinkie was out the door and away.
Rarity let the pencil drop and closed her eyes with a sigh. She rose from her simple desk and trotted out into the floor of the boutique. Calm thoughts, Rarity. This will go swimmingly. She thought over and over to herself before the little bell rang above the door and she slipped into her best smile.
“Welcome to Carrousel Boutique where every garment is chic unique and magnifique.” She let her eyes open; it took everything in her not to gasp at the appearance of the pony before her. The day before she hadn't been truly concentrating her skill upon the dark mysterious mare but now that she was standing beneath the warm lights of the boutique; Rarity nearly felt like bursting into tears.
“Miss Pie suggested I come for... 'A super duper special spa experience'. Though I am skeptical at best...” the dark mare spoke, the tone was so different from the scathing remarks of the previous evening. It was clear to Rarity that this mare with the strange coat and ancient eyes was making an effort to be polite. Rarity traced the lines of her form in her mind, very nearly regal. She peeled back the neglect with her mind's eye and saw a beauty that would rival any in her countless copies of Clotheshorse magazine that she had in her bedroom closet. She was a rare gem, a unique work of art... at least that was what Rarity's mind saw. In her eyes, plainly, was a mare who had been abandoned by everypony in the world, including herself.
“Oh my dear we simply must!” Rarity couldn't hold it back any longer. “Your mane and tail are in tangles! And your coat... your hooves...” Rarity felt her heart beating faster and faster as she looked at every single abnormality or hair out of place. It triggered something deep inside, her OCD was screaming at her. “This way! Not a moment to loose!”
Gloom blinked in true confusion as the pearly unicorn pushed and guided her out of the shop and down towards a building marked ‘Spa’. “A spa? Are you certain this is necessary? Surely a bath would suffice!” Gloom began to protest, trying to squirm away from Rarity as she was pushed through the spa doors.
“Nonsense! You will look beautiful once more if it takes all day! The usual, girls!” Rarity called out and the spa sisters stepped into action.
“A-all day?” Gloom managed before gentle hooves guided her down the halls. Gloom was about to open her mouth and scream, to unleash another barrage of pure burning rage at the ponies. Instead she felt, deep inside, the warmth of her meal, she imagined the smile of the pink pony who prepared it. The promises to look and feel happy again, and for just a moment a thought snuck into her mind. Maybe Twilight will think you are beautiful again. Gloom closed her eyes and took a breath to steady herself before submitting to the attention.
Applejack's hooves thudded with impressive force into the trunk of an apple tree. She winced a little, her hooves still bruised from all the punishment they received in the name of Equestria. The Rainbow maned pegasus swooped through the tree, grabbing the few apples that had not tumbled down before landing beside the cart and depositing her harvest. If the scene were played out a year ago, nopony would have believed it. The two most competitive ponies in Equestria working together, but today they had somepony else to complain about.
“The nerve of that pony...” Dash grumbled for the hundredth time that day.
“I know Dash... she's what my pappy would call a manure-disturber.” Applejack wiped her brow and flopped down into the shade beside the wagon where Dash joined her. “Plain and simple attitude problem... makes yer ol' friend Gilda look tame.”
“Tell me about it...” Dash sighed, “I can't wait for her to slip up... she's begging for a blast from the elements of harmony.” Dash reached up and touched her neck as if she could still feel the weight of the necklace hanging there.
“She’s beggin' for a blast from these here hooves iffin' she makes one more crack 'bout the way ah talk...” AJ slipped off her dad's hat and looked down at the worn material. “What do ya suppose Fluttershy and her whispered about? It's been buggin' me fer a while now.”
“Who knows...?” Dash grabbed an apple from the basket and took a bite. “I haven't seen Flutters that down since last winter though...”
Applejack went quiet and actually dropped her hat. The memories of that winter coming flooding back, the cold was much more than many ponies had expected. It hit the forest animals hardest of all, many hadn't survived. “Could it be that easy?” she mumbled and Dash raised an eyebrow.
“What are you getting at AJ?” Dash reached over and nudged her friend's shoulder. The farm girl pony looked up at Dash with haunted eyes.
“I... I think I know what's eatin' her but... I better go ask ta be sure.” AJ spoke softly and almost cradled her precious hat closer to her chest.
“What you mean actually be nice to that pony... darkness... thing?!” Rainbow Dash stood up and looked at her friend in disgust.
Applejack glared daggers at the blue pegasus and rose to her hooves. “If my hunch is right... we got no right ta treat her with anythin' but kindness.”
Spike arranged the daisy sandwich neatly on the tray along with the glass of water. He wasn't the best cook going but he could still put a sandwich together. I don't care who twilight wants to take to bed. He thought as he slowly carried the tray up the stairs towards the now silent room. I just want her to stop wrecking the place...
He paused at the top of the stairs and looked upon the pony who was, for all intents and purposes, the only family he had. She was sitting with several empty bottles surrounding her now. Carefully the dragon picked his way over the glass strewn floor and deposited the tray on Twilight's small writing desk. He fought back the growing tears as he collected the empty bottles and tried to get them out of Twilight's line of fire.
“Hey Twilight... I ummm... I brought you some dinner... it's not much but umm...” Spike began, feeling his resolve slipping as twilight sat stock still with her eyes glued to a photograph of the six friends (plus Spike) in its delicate frame. “I'm... real sorry for what happened... and I... I just... it's ok if you like mares... I-” Spike never got the rest of his sentence out, Twilight's eyes shot up to meet his gaze with a look of pure anger in them. Spike had never seen Twilight this angry for this long and he stumbled over his tail as he backed towards the stairs.
Twilight yelled at the top of her lungs and shut her eyes tight as she could, bolts of bright white lightning arcing through the air and burning black holes in the woodwork and very nearly in Spike's hide. Spike scrambled down the steps, just dodging the thrown picture frame, as the sound of complicated and extensive destruction rattled the upstairs of the tree. The purple and green dragon, for his part, simply cried.
Gloom trotted from the spa feeling like a new pony. Everything was relaxed and cared for. Her unique coat shone in the soft sunlight and her long curls had been restored to their former glory. She even had the luxurious and no doubt expensive pony-pedi to brighten her hooves. Her eyes opened and she let out a gasp, regarding the scene before her. Pinkie Pie stood with several balloons tied into her mane and tail and a large cardboard sign that read 'Cheer up Gloomy Pony’. Beside her stood both Rainbow Dash and Applejack as well as a bashful Fluttershy. They all had expressions on their faces, which spoke volumes.
“You... you all know...” Gloom's eyes went wide and Fluttershy immediately came forward.
“Oh... Pinkie knew... and I did... but Applejack and Rainbow worked it out all on their own, I’m sorry... but... Twilight still doesn't know.” Fluttershy mumbled a little and looked away.
“a-and you... all want to cheer me up? Like... f-f-friends?” Gloom let the last word fall from her lips as if it was unfamiliar to speak it, the corners of her lips twitching up a little. She turned back to Rarity who was a little confused by the display but smiled nonetheless. “F-friends? I... I have... friends...” the assembled ponies came closer and each nodded a little to Gloom. Her heart just soared; it was all far too good to be true.
Before she could react more, a pink blur of a pony began to herd her towards the sweet shop, the late afternoon sun making the building glow with the invitation of delectable food. With her newfound companions at her side, for the first time since her mortal life began, Gloom felt happy and a sound that had not been heard in Equestria before filled the air in the street. It was laughter, high and pure though so very warm and inviting. Everypony who heard couldn't help but smile as the dark clouds that had frequented their town over the last two days began to fade away into nothingness.
It was much later in the evening but Twilight kept the blinds drawn, looking through her tears at the bright pink envelope that had been slipped beneath her door during her little episode. An invitation to a Pinkie Pie party, a party for the one pony in Equestria that she hated with a passion.
“T-Twilight...” Spike whispered from the stairs, afraid to get too close. “d-don't zap at me again... ummm please... but... they're asking where you are... again...”
Twilight twitched and her horn sparked in the darkness of the room. “Tell them... tell them I’m not coming out! I mean going... going out! I don't want to see her again! Do you understand?!”
Spike ducked out of view and slowly slipped back down the stairs, sighing gently before he spied the pink pony waiting downstairs. “No luck... she still won't come...” the little dragon watched as Pinkie's mane let out a little frizz.
“you can come, Spike. There's still plenty of party left.” Pinkie smiled gently to the young dragon but spike only shook his head.
“nah... Twilight might need me.” Spike looked back at the stairs.
She took a breath and sighed before setting down a slice of cake with swirled purple and ivory icing. “Tell Twilight that I’m sorry I bothered her... enjoy your cake Spike...”
Spike looked from the cake slice to the stairs, the darkness at the top seeming even more saddening that usual. Spike sighed again and cringed as the sound of breaking glass filled the upstairs of the library. “Oh great... she snapped again...” Spike muttered to himself and sniffled a little. “this isn't fair...” he sighed digging into his cake in silence while the pony who he considered his big sister was upstairs tearing her room to shreds in frustration.
Pinkie slipped back into the party, all eyes turning to her as she shook her head. There was a round of disappointment from everypony save Gloom who only looked down in concern.
“Perhaps I should go see her myself.” Gloom offered, chewing her lower lip gently. “Not that I’m eager to leave this wonderful party but... it does feel empty still without Twilight.”
“You might wanna be extra super careful... Spike said that Twilight almost zapped him with lightning when he tried to bring her some supper.” Pinkie offered before dropping another hot sauce covered cupcake into her mouth. Gloom blinked a little at how easily she could unhinge her jaw.
“Twilight ain't the type ta hold a grudge this bad, why's she so upset with ya?” Applejack trotted over to Gloom and nudged her softly.
Gloom took a slow breath and looked at her new friends. “I will try and tell you... then I think I should face Twilight... and settle our differences.”
The five elements of harmony sat around as Gloom spoke. Explaining the best she could about why their good friend was acting so out of sorts. Each pony let out a gasp as the tale ended, Fluttershy and Pinkie descending to tears, each bid Gloom to talk to Twilight and bring their good friend back.
Twilight looked around at the ruin of her room, broken picture frames and books, which would now need a great deal of tender mending spells. Twilight had spent her heartache and rage; she had emptied herself out of all her pain and was left staring at the darkness, basking in the feeling of being alone. She didn't notice the library door open or the sound of a pony climbing the stairs.
Gloom looked upon Twilight Sparkle and her heart sank once more. The rage of her actions was clear in the littered devastation. The purple unicorn looked like she had been through hell in the course of the day. “Twilight?” Gloom finally whispered and the deep purple eyes slowly turned to where she stood.
“I give up...” Twilight let the words fall from her lips. “I don't care anymore... I like mares... maybe I like them a lot... probably even more than stallions... you're living proof...” she stood slowly and stumbled in the dark to her little desk and the bottle of wine that had remained un-emptied and miraculously unbroken. “Living, Celestia damned proof!” Twilight popped the cork and lifted the bottle using her magic, taking a long swig.
“Twilight... your friends are worried...” Gloom spoke slowly, as if to a child. It was clear that the purple unicorn had been drinking but it wasn't clear how much she had consumed already. Gloom had to be kind, had to remain calm but inside she wanted nothing more than to beat the unicorn silly for doing this to herself.
“My friends! HA!” She pulled the bottle from her lips and staggered over to Gloom. “Turned on me the moment Fluttershy started crying! Why couldn't they just hate you like me! Why can't they just see that you're some kinda evil firecracker waiting to explode?”
Gloom began to tremble, looking into Twilight's eyes. “They’re worried that you're hurting yourself...” The dark mare stuttered gently, trying to hold her mounting anger in check and hold back the tears that were coming.
“Too bad!” Twilight slurred and took another drink from the bottle. “You’re evil! Dark hearted and bad! They just need to see it... just for a minute then they'll see that I’m right! And we can blast ya like we blasted Nightmare Moon!” Gloom was shaking now as Twilight continued like a runaway train. “Why do you have to get angry at them all the time and shout and yell... and nearly kill us... and... and Why did you kiss me!? I don't want to love you!” Twilight smashed the half-empty bottle against a wall, the deep crimson of the wine running down the empty shelves and onto the floor like blood. With her horn glowing she advanced on the object of her all consuming rage.
Gloom finally snapped, her eye twitching as all her pain boiled forth. “Twilight Sparkle! Sit down and shut up!” she commanded, her voice resonating with an echo of her former power, the time for gentle patience was over. Twilight stopped her advance and blinked. “You kissed me! You created me from images in your own mind! I am the embodiment of all you could desire in a companion! Romantic! Intelligent! Seductive and so very in love with you! I love you with everything I have in my rotten black heart! How do you think I feel seeing you like this?! Or seeing you try to turn your friends on me like a pack of wolves!”
Twilight’s eye twitched, “If you're so 'in love' with me then why have you been insulting me and my friends!? Even Celestia is fed up with you! I heard that you brought Luna to blows. What's wrong with you?!” the purple unicorn moved foreword and pressed her nose against Gloom's, trying to push the dark mare back.
Gloom wound her hoof back and struck Twilight solidly in the cheek, sending her stumbling a few steps before she bellowed at the top of her lungs. “Because I’m DYING you twit! How would you feel if you knew you only had a few months to live? You would rage at the world just like ME!” Gloom winced and let out a high yelp of pain before choking hard and descending into a pained coughing fit. Finally, she drew a breath before spitting a glob of near black blood against the library floor, her eyes red and overflowing with tears of near agony.
Twilight blinked as a new feeling crashed into her, sobering her in an instant far better than the blackest coffee or the coldest shower. All her anger evaporated in an instant to be replaced by deep black fear. “D-dying...... why?” She breathed, feeling like her whole world was pulled out from beneath her.
Gloom sighed and slumped back onto her haunches. “You bound immortal evil to the body of an earth pony... I am capable of such horrible things... the goblins were nowhere near the worst things I could have loosed on the world.” Gloom trailed off with her dark eyes gazing downwards. “The ancient degradations, the hoard of travesties... the nightmare child... the nameless horrors that would drive ponies insane by their very mention... Twilight, these things were never meant to be inside the mind of a pony. The evil is poisoning me... it has been killing me since the day I was given this mortal shell...”
Twilight choked back her tears and stumbled closer. “You... can't die... you said you were ancient... and forever... you said you were forever.” Twilight stammered and mumbled as she sat before Gloom.
“I was... now I will end... I... I wanted so badly to be forgotten, Twilight... I begged Celestia to lock me away until I died but she insisted that I spend my final days with... with you...” Gloom looked up to Twilight just as her own tears began to fall. “To try and be happy before the end...”
“Why didn't you tell me...? Why would you want to be forgotten?” Twilight whispered and reached a hoof out to touch Gloom against her chest. The dark pony didn't recoil from the touch.
“Twilight... I feel your sadness... I know it... I can feel it in you now.” Gloom looked deeply into Twilight's eyes and let out a shivering sigh. “It would be cruel of me to give you my affection only to have me fall over dead within a year. I risk having my heart explode in my chest every time I loose my temper. I can't bear the thought of hurting you... oh Twilight...” Gloom broke down into tears, shuddering all over. “I missed you... I have missed you so very much... tell me... tell me do you feel the same?”
Twilight’s eyes overflowed as well and she squeaked, nodding to Gloom and mumbling almost incoherently. “yes... yes I felt so alone... like a part of me was gone... it was you... the missing piece.” Twilight took a breath and pulled Gloom close, for the first time noting how clean her coat looked and how radiant her long locks looked. She was restored, just as she had been in the world of darkness when they first met. “What do we do Gloom? Where can we go from here...?”
Gloom clung tightly to Twilight as if she expected the unicorn to be swept away in an instant. “I don't know Twilight... we... we could just handle each day as it comes... as long as I last...”
Their eyes locked and slowly they shared their second kiss. This one given freely by both, a kiss to dispel their pain and regret and sorrow. Locked in the embrace they let the rest of the world fall away.
Epilogue
Twilight sparkle sat in the grass calmly; eyes half closed as she gently laid a flower before the pearly white gravestone. She was sniffling a little before a gentle hoof was laid upon her shoulder. “How long have you been there Fluttershy?” Twilight smiled and looked up at her friend, the pale yellow Pegasus smiling shyly as always.
“Only a few minutes... I was worried you would catch cold... it is nearly winter you know.” Fluttershy took a seat beside Twilight and the purple unicorn chuckled, shaking her head.
“I know... but I had to come visit... today is the day after all...” Twilight turned her eyes back to the stone and smiled a sad little smile.
“It’s been a year since she passed Twilight... t-tell me... umm if you want to that is... but... was it worth it?” Fluttershy carefully laid a wing over Twilight's back to keep the chill breeze off her coat.
Twilight nodded gently and her smile spread wide. “It was wonderful, Fluttershy. One hundred and three days. I... lived more in those months than my whole life... remember the party?” Twilight laughed and curled a little upon herself. “My 'coming out' party... everypony was so supportive... so kind... and they treated Gloom like family... and the picnics at Sweet Apple Acres... or... or the time we went stargazing... or when I... took her to Canterlot to see my mom and dad...” Twilight was crying unashamedly now, trembling. “Oh, Fluttershy it was so wonderful... even knowing it would end didn't matter... I learned to treasure each moment... even the little moments. But she hung on so long...”
“We all miss her... we may have been scared at first but seeing how happy she made you was all the reassurance we needed.” Fluttershy gently dabbed her eyes dry, smiling a little herself. “We are a little worried though...”
Twilight looked up at Fluttershy who blushed meekly once more. “Why would everypony be worried? Well I mean I’ve been a little depressed but... not enough to worry anypony. Have I?”
“well... ummm... you see... we're all worried that it's been a year and you're not... well... everypony is getting older and settling down.” Fluttershy blushed and scuffed her hoof in the grass shyly and looked over her shoulder to where Big Macintosh stood patiently at the edge of the cemetery.
Knowing spread over Twilight's face and she blushed. “I... had noticed, yeah... I just think I need a little more time... Gloom left some awfully specific shoes to fill...” Twilight stood slowly and helped Fluttershy to stand as well.
Fluttershy gave a gentle nod as always and started to walk back down the path out of the little cemetery towards the waiting embrace of her soon to be husband. Twilight went to follow, smirking to herself at Fluttershy. She and Mac had danced around their relationship for ages. Pinkie and Dash were so obviously together and there were whispers of rarity and Applejack spending long nights in eachother's company. Twilight still smiled while she turned back to the grave. “Life goes on here... but I promise you won't ever be forgotten... not ever, Gloom...” Twilight whispered softly before her tear-filled eyes read over the inscription that she had written carefully for the dark mare of her dreams. The the purple unicorn made her way back to the glowing lights of Ponyville and her friends, knowing that tomorrow would bring more laughter and more fun and maybe, just maybe, the chance to find somepony who could fill that little empty space in her heart.
The sun slowly set over the Ponyville cemetery. The last golden rays touching each pearly marble marker while the air carried the silence of the cool fall breeze. For the briefest moment, the sunlight set words ablaze across a familiar polished stone...
Born Of Shadows Given Breath
She Learned Love and Laughter
Now Forever She Sleeps
With Sunlight in Her Soul
THE END
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StreakTheFox
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989
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Spike,Twilight Sparkle,Zecora,Adventure,Comedy,Random,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
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Pony Scales
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Spike loves Twilight like a big sister. But when she becomes a dragon... well, do the math.
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complete
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<p>Twilight is granted the opportunity to show off some of her smarts by giving a presentation at the Canterlot School of Magic about life in and around Equestria. However, while she practices one of the transformation spells she got in a book from Zecora, she finds out a lot about the spell, but much, much more about her little dragon assistant.</p>
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teen
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2011-09-27T22:40:05+00:00
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2011-09-27T22:40:05+00:00
| 24,872 |
Pony Scales
By: StreakTheFox
Spike is a dragon, a species of the reptilian family. He is currently the assistant of the unicorn pony named Twilight Sparkle, who is a member of the mammalian family. Therefore, by the regulated laws of nature, a pony and a dragon cannot and will not love each other in any sort of non-platonic way. Although life and nature have rules and fail-safes that not even the strongest magic can break, sometimes these rules can be bent.
-I-
“Spike, I'm back!” Twilight announced as she trotted through the door of her library home. The sun was still high in the sky, perched up around noon time when Twilight returned to her home.
“Didjya get what you needed from Zecora's?” Spike asked, looking over his shoulder as he balanced himself atop a ladder, trying to place a book back in its original spot.
“I most certainly did!” Twilight replied happily, levitating a slightly worn out, hardcover book from her saddlebag. She gently set the book on the desk in the center of the library and proceeded to flip through its pages, scanning her eyes over each page.
“So what are you looking for anyways?” Spike questioned as he slid down the ladder and walked towards Twilight. “It's not really often that you have to travel to Zecora's for something, especially when it's a book.”
“Remember that letter I got yesterday? It was a request from the Canterlot School of Magic, they wanted me to come in and give a presentation on some of the vast types of life out there throughout and beyond Equestria. Even though I do have a few books that tap into that sort of subject, they only gave brief descriptions, and some of them didn't even have any sort of illustrations! So, I went to Zecora's to see if she had kept any sort of books about some of the exotic life from her homeland.”
“Hmm, now that you mention it, I never really thought of how different the town she came from could be from ours. What do you think they have over there?”
“Oh where do I start?” Twilight asked herself, her mind washing over the many types of creatures she's heard about. “There's herbivores like us such as Gazelles, Giraffes, Elephants, as well as some carnivorous creatures such as Lions, Hyenas, Leopards, Cheetahs, and Jackals.”
“Woah... uuhhh...” Spike paused for a few moments as his mind tried to make images of all the things he just heard. “Umm, what are those...?”
“That's exactly what we're gonna find out!” Twilight answered happily as she stopped on a page. “But don't think their world is completely different from ours all together. They have some animals that we do over there like Foxes, Wolves, Cats, Dogs, Badgers, and even...” Twilight leaned her head back in surprise after reading through a certain entry on a list. “Oh! They even have Dragons as well!”
“Woah, never knew that.” Spike said in almost equal surprise. “What kind of dragons do they have over there?”
“Well,” Twilight began, switching her tone back into lecture mode. “As you probably know, there's many types of dragons out there in the world. The two main types are Magical and Non-magical dragons. Magical dragons are usually born with the ability to control or manipulate a type of Natural element such as water, fire, wind, and so on. However, they are very rare, and are now considered an endangered species.”
“Yeah yeah, I know all that stuff already. What about the Non-magical dragons, like me?”
“Well, the most common type of dragon is the Auborary dragon, like the one that we had to drive out of ponyville a while back. However, over from where Zecora is from, the two most common types of dragons are Scarcinous Dragons – or dragons of the desert – and Terrilord Dragons – or dragons of the ground. There really isn't much about them from the books I've found, but this book seems to be filled with all sorts of information about them and all the other species! As well as even... oh, this is interesting...!”
“What, what is it?” Spike said as he peeked over to the book.
“There seems to be a collections of Spells and Potions that are associated with the types of life native to there. Oh this is wonderful! Such a collection of this type of material will be great for my presentation at the academy!”
“Well, you go and categorize your spells or whatever it is you do with them,” Spike said as he started walking towards the kitchen, the subject of magic not one of his interest areas. “I'm gonna go finish up my chores for the day.
As Spike left, Twilight perched herself in front of the book and began to read through the descriptions of all the different types of animals that were mentioned in the book. This is going to be absolutely wonderful! Twilight thought. I can't wait to see some of the types of spells they have at Zecora's homeland!
~Some Time Later~
Spiiike!” Twilight called out.
“Yes Twilight?” Spike asked as he poked his head out of the kitchen, having just started on making Twilight some tea.
“I'm going back to Zecora's real fast, I'll be back soon. I just need a few items that she may have which will benefit my studies, and then I'll hurry right back.”
“Alright Twilight, but be careful. It's usually not a good idea for somepony to keep walking back and forth through the Everfree Forest...”
“Oh don't worry Spike, I'm quite confident I can make it there and back without any sort of trouble!” Twilight smiled to her assistant as eh put on her saddlebag and proceeded out the door.
Spike sighed deeply as he looked back into the kitchen, knowing Twilight wouldn't get back before the tea was ready. Out of curiosity, Spike walked over to the book Twilight had been reading before she left. As he skimmed through the page the book was opened to, he took note of the title of the section she was currently on.
Transformation Spells and Potions
~Some More Time Later~
“Spike, I'm back! ...Again!” Twilight announced as she once more trotted into her library home. As she set her saddlebag next to her desk, she noticed Spike coming out of the kitchen.
“It's about time you came back, you've been gone for at least a couple hours!”
“Sorry spike, but it's quite a walk to Zecora's place, you know.” She magically opened her bag and started pulling out a few colorful boxes and little pots that she had inside. “But, I was able to get a lot of materials from Zecora for the spells I found in the book.”
“You mean you're actually going to try out some of the spells in there!?”
“Of course! What better way to learn about the spells than doing them? I'm sure we're going to have a lot of fun!”
“Uhh... we?”
“Of course!” Twilight giggled. “I want my number one assistant to help me with testing my spells, as always!”
“Okay but, I dunno Twi'...” Spike looked over at the book with a concerned look. “Some of the stuff in there may not be all that safe to do...”
“Oh come on Spike, don't worry. I'm sure if there was anything I needed to know, Zecora would tell me, so what's the worse that could happen?”
“Alright alright, fine... but what kinda spell did you want to do first?” Spike asked, the answer almost obvious to him after having seen the page Twilight left the book on.
“This!” Twilight proclaimed as she levitated the book in front of Spike's face, confirming his suspicions.
“Not this again Twilight...” Spike sighed. “Remember the last time you tried transformation spells? I got turned into a chicken for two days, and everypony kept calling me Scootaloo!” Spike crossed his arms in disgust, remembering those couple days.
“Yes I remember, which is why I decided to try these spells on myself instead of you.”
“If you say so Twi'... just be careful, these are spells from a whole other continent remember!”
“You're worrying too much Spike,” Twilight joked as she flipped past a couple pages. “But I got an idea to help get you excited about these spells!”
“Oh really? And what exactly did you have in mind?”
“This!” Twilight proclaimed as she once again levitated the book in front of Spike's face, allowing him to read the title of the spell on the top of the page.
“...You're gonna transform yourself into a dragon!?” He asked loudly.
“Yup! Actually, consider it strange, but I've often wondered what it would be like to live life in your hooves. Um, I mean, claws.” Twilight pulled the book back with her magic as she also began gather a few more items from her bag. “All I need are a few items – which I got from Zecora – and a little bit of the type of dragon I want to transform into.”
“Wait, a little bit of... does that mean you're gonna want to take my...” Spike gulped. “B-blood...!?”
“Not to worry, I just need a little bit of your scales DNA, so I'll just shave of a teensy little bit of your scales. It shouldn't hurt at all.” With this, Twilight levitated a metal file out of her bag and started walking towards spike, who proceed to back up.
“W-w-wait a minute, that thing looks painful!”
“Trust me Spike, this won't hurt a bit, I promise,” Twilight assured with a warm smile.
Though Spike still had his doubts, he sighed again and dipped his head, pointing his upper most spine towards Twilight as he braced himself. Levitating over a small wooden bowl, Twilight carefully used to file to shave off a very small portion of Spike's scale, forming only a soft layer of scale dust in the bowl.
“There, that should be it!” Twilight announced happily as she tucked the file back into her bag.
“Shew, finally...” Spike said in relief. “So what's next?”
“Well, according to the book, the spell itself is very simple, it just requires some specific items for it.” Twilight was bringing out some other powders and bits of what looked like old plants, guiding each of them into a separate bowl. “It won't take long, in fact I'm almost done!”
After adding a light blue liquid to the second bowl and a small bit of water, the content gently began to sizzle, which Twilight recognized from the book to be the indication that the potion was ready. She then began to channel magic into her horn, focusing on the spell and putting it together quickly. Then she released the spell, sending a soft light shooting at the potion and making it boil.
“Stand back, Spike,” Twilight said as she levitated the first bowl with Spike's scale dust in it over the second bowl. “This is going to effect anything near it, so you should stay back just in case.”
“You don't have to tell me twice!” Spike said, already looking out from behind the kitchen door.
After one last deep breath, Twilight turned over the first bowl and let the dust fall into the boiling concoction. Almost immediately, a large puff of green smoke erupted from the bowl, enveloping Twilight and the surrounding furniture. The smoke sizzled for a while, coughing being heard from inside the cloud as Spike watched closely. After a few seconds, the smoke began to clear, and Spike could begin to make out a figure in the smoke.
“Hey Spike?” Twilight called out from inside the mass of smoke. “I... I think it worked! I feel... woah!”
“Ooh, let me see!” Spike said, a smile coming to his face as he realized Twilight was fine. “I bet you like like-...” Spike stopped dead in his tracks as he saw Twilight before him, the new Twilight.
Twilight's spell had worked, and she had become a dragon. Her primary outer scales were the same color as her coat while the scales running from her chin, down across her belly, and to the tip of the underside of her tail were pink like her one highlight in her mane and tail. She was noticeably larger than spike, though only a few feet taller, just a bit higher than she would be as a pony standing on all four legs. Her tail was longer and curled a bit at the end which also had the same triangle point that Spike had. She also had Spike's scales that ran down from above her forehead, down the center of her back, and all the way to the tip of her tail. These scales were a very dark mix of blue and purple, resembling the main color of her mane and tail. Lastly, she had the scales that were present around Spike's cheeks, only they were longer, drooped down at the ends a bit, and were the darker purple that made up the second highlight in her mane and tail.
“Wow.. this is... this is amazing!” Twilight beamed as she stood up straight, wiggling around her fingers that she inspected closely. “I-I got hands! And Fingers! Oh, Lyra is going to be so jealous!” Twilight then looked behind her and wagged her tail a little. “Oh my, I even have a tail too! This is so amazing!” Twilight inspected her tail closely, raising it up as she looked down towards the lower base of her tail. “Isn't this cool Spike!? ...Um, Spike?” Twilight looked up at Spike standing behind her, noticing him staring at her closely.
Spike was standing very still, his eyes fixated on the lower base of Twilight's tail that she had just been examining. Spike was also blushing heavily, his upper teeth biting down on his bottom lip as he lightly twiddled his fingers together.
“Spike? Hellooo” Twilight let go of her tail and waved her arms at him. After a few seconds, Spike snapped back to attention.
“HUH!? Uh, what, I mean... woah...” Spike said, putting a hand on his head.
“I guess the spell worked really well, huh?” Twilight said with a smile as she walked over to a mirror. “Wow... I look just like you, Spike! Just a bit older, obviously.” She turned her body around some as she examined herself further in the mirror. “Wow... life as a dragon, this is so going to go into my my presentation! I hope this spell lasts longer than just a few hours!”
Spike didn't respond, he only kept staring at Twilight as she moved her figure around in front of the mirror, showing off all the curves and movements of her body. Spike bit his lip harder as he felt most of his blood rushing to his head, his blush increasing dramatically.
“I wonder how long it does last anyways,” Twilight thought aloud as she returned to the book After skimming through the workings of the spell, she read out a line put in bold text. “For spell length, see 'Transformations using Potions with Magic' on page 85. Hm alright...” Twilight used her fingers to flip through the pages to number 85 and then began to read through it. “It says here... oh, it says that 'spells using a combination of magic and potions must be reverted using another potion. Form changes are permanent unless the proper potion is supplied.' ...Maybe I should have read that part before trying out the spell,” Twilight said to herself in a moderately worried tone. “Well, I should have what I need in my bag! If not, I can certainly get it from Zecora again if I need to.”
Twilight bent over and looked through her saddlebags, her rump now fully displayed once again to Spike. Spike's whole face blushed now as he felt himself getting close to fainting, his pupils the size of little beads with his eyes as wide as dinner plates as he looked down at Twilight's rear. While Twilight was shifting from one side of her saddlebag to the other, she unintentionally wiggled her behind at spike, making his eyes roll back to the top of his head and finally fall back, knocked out cold.
“Spike?” Twilight called out as she heard a thud from behind her. Turning around, she saw the dragon passed out on his back while mumbling softly. “Umm... Spike?” Concerned, Twilight quickly rushed over to Spike to see if he was okay, figuring that he simply passed out from the shock of her being a dragon. However, listening closely, she was able to hear a bit of his unconscious mumbling.
“...That... …ass...”
|
StreakTheFox
|
989
| 2 |
Spike,Twilight Sparkle,Zecora,Adventure,Comedy,Random,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Pony Scales
|
Spike loves Twilight like a big sister. But when she becomes a dragon... well, do the math.
|
complete
| 514 | 38 |
<p>Twilight is granted the opportunity to show off some of her smarts by giving a presentation at the Canterlot School of Magic about life in and around Equestria. However, while she practices one of the transformation spells she got in a book from Zecora, she finds out a lot about the spell, but much, much more about her little dragon assistant.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-24T14:10:17+00:00
|
2011-09-24T14:10:17+00:00
| 19,453 |
-II-
“T-Twilight!?” Spike gasped as he saw dragon Twilight laying on her bed, staring at him with an alluring gaze.
“Oh Spike, you know it's past your bedtime...” Twilight cooed in a seductive time. “You should come to bed with me... I get so cold being all alone in this bed.”
“T-Twilight... I...” Spike gulped loudly, staring at Twilight as she trailed her claws slowly up her chest and began to lick her fingers.
After a few bats of her tongue, she proceeded to slide her fingers back down her chest, across her stomach, and straight towards her inner thighs, all while staring at Spike with the same alluring gaze. Spike didn't know what came over him as he began to walk towards the bed, his heart beating fast with each step. As he approached, he continued to look at her legs and hand as she slowly began to stroke her own figure. Her fingers moves slowly and delicately over her own scales while passing over some very suggestive areas.
“Ooh, Spike, are you staring at me?” Twilight said with a giggle as she turned over on the bed, her back side now facing spike. “You're so naughty...” She cooed once more after turning her head to face him while wiggling her rear at him.
“So... much... w-want...” Spike could hardly process any sort of mental function anymore as he drew closer, soon coming to the edge of the bed. He reached out with his hands, opened fully and ready to grasp Twilight's tight, round, plush-
SPLASH!
“Spike!” Twilight cried, pulling the bucket away as it still dripped with water. “Please wake up! Are you okay!?”
“W-woah!” Spike yelled out after being unceremoniously woken up. With the last actions from his dream still clear in his mind, his arms immediately reacted by lunging forward and grabbing onto whatever was right in front of him – Twilight's chest.
“Uhh... Spike...?” Twilight looked down at Spike's claws as they gripped onto her chest, noticing two bulges in that area.
“Twilight! I-” Spike gasped loudly as he realized where he was grabbing, his body frozen still from shock. After a another moment, he quickly retracted his arms to his own body and rolled over. With Twilight no longer in his view, his mind finally began to process his thoughts regularly as he attempted to realize exactly what was going on. That was a dream... all a dream... right? Spike thought to himself. I'm still in the library, and Twilight is still a dragon, so...
“Well, this is certainly new!” Twilight announced. “I forgot that the anatomy of female dragons had their breasts up in this area. Interesting...” As Spike turned over once more to look, Twilight began to move her hands over and around her chest, closely inspecting the feel and dynamics of her chest mounds.
“T-t-t-twilight... you're... and your...” Spike's nose began to drip with blood as his whole body began to heat up and sweat profusely. His limbs were now all shaking as he watched Twilight Sparkle rub herself firmly on her chest, and apparently enjoy doing it as well. “Gah! Can you please just... just stop!?” Spike cried as he shut his eyes tight and drove his face into the floor, clasping his hands onto the top of his head.
“Huh? What's wrong Spike?” Twilight asked as she looked down at her trembling assistant. “Why are you shaking like that? What's...” It was then that Twilight noticed a little bit of blood dripping off of the front of Spike's face. “S-SPIKE! You're bleeding!” Quickly, Twilight got down on her knees and cradled Spike in her arms as she pulled him close to her. “Oh my gosh, are you hurt!? Did you hit your head on the floor?”
“Twilight... it's you...” Spike choked out as best as he could as he raised his face up, now looking into Twilight's eyes.
“M-me!? But what did I... I mean, what happened? How did your nose start bleeding, and why did you faint earlier?”
“You're... just...” Spike finally let his head flop down, not even caring that his head was now rest on Twilight's breasts as his mind reached utter mental exhaustion. “So hot...”
“I'm... hot?” Twilight questioned as she reared her head back, her face clear with confusion. “But I don't feel hot. What does...” Then Twilight noticed Spike's head give a soft nuzzle into her chest, and everything hit her like a ton of bricks.
In a loud gasp, Twilight realized everything. She was now a dragon, the same species as spike. Spike had never been around another female dragon, and the only beings around were ponies. Though he did have a crush on Rarity, it was obvious that things between the two couldn't go too far – even if Rarity complied, which was highly unlikely. Thinking back to when she first turned into a dragon to now, she then recalled all the times where she had... exposed herself. First with the tail... Twilight thought, passing through all the points that she could think of. Then the mirror, and... oh no, my chest!
Twilight then remembered that she had just inspected her own dragon breasts in front of spike, the equivalent to fondling her own pony breasts in front of a colt! This whole time Spike had been watching her as she showed off her body, and Spike has been mentally tortured by it, without her even knowing! Twilight's mind reeled at such a scandalous act, and only then had she finally realized what Spike had been going through.
“B-by Celestia...!” Twilight stammered, her face flushing red as she looked down at Spike still. “Oh Spike, I'm so sorry! I, I had no idea! I just, oh... what do I do!?” Again Twilight's mind worked, checking for the best possible solution, which came quickly. I have to change back to normal, Twilight thought. That's the only way to fix this, and to stop torturing Spike! Oh the poor guy... I just feel so... dirty!
Twilight looked at her assistant one more time before setting him back on the ground. “Alright Spike..” she began, “I'm going to go through the book and see what we need to reverse the spell, okay?” The only response she got was a soft nod with Spike laying face down on the floor, but that was all she needed.
Quickly she moved over to the book and flipped through the pages, searching for the correct counter-spell. To her relief the way to reverse the spell was not by another spell, but instead by a potion, so she didn't need to go recruit another unicorn to help her out with it. All she needed were a few ingredients and a bit of her original DNA and they could complete the potion. Moving swiftly, Twilight searched through her bag once more for the desired ingredients.
“Tumbleroot... Gauss grass... Neem leaf powder... White sage... and then there's... oh no...” Twilight rummaged through her bag more, yet couldn't find the last ingredient she needed. She checked the table, and it was none of the few items she already had out. “Uuuhh, Spike, I think we have a bit of a problem here.”
“What is it?” Spike asked aloud, still not raising his head up.
“I think I'm missing one of the ingredients that's listed here, so I'm going to have to go back to Zecora's place to get it.” Twilight sighed at the realization that she would have to walk all the way through the Everfree forest again for the third time today. Also, the book gave a bit more information as to the specifics of the ingredient needed. “...And I may need you to come with me.”
“Huh? Why's that?” Spike questioned, finally lifting his head but being careful to not look to low.
“The book says I need something called 'Essence of Dragon' as the main ingredient for any potion to turn a transformed dragon back into their original form. Also, it says that it's needed fresh, within two minutes of being extracted from a dragon before it must be used, or the essence is wasted.”
“What's 'Essence of Dragon?' I've never heard of that before.” Spike asked with a raised eyebrow.
“I'm not sure, but I know Zecora should know, it is her book after all,” Twilight said as she finished packing up the needed supplies and her book into her saddlebags. “Whatever the case, I'm now certain that I'll need you with me, so we should really get going Spike. The sooner we can get this fixed, the better.”
“Right... fixed...” Spike said softly with a sigh.
Twilight then walked upstairs and into her room, quickly snagging her hairbrush that still had a few strands of hair on it. Instead of picking a few pieces off, she decided it would be best to bring the whole thing instead of searching for a few strands of hair in a saddlebag. With the last item she needed in her bag, Twilight went back downstairs with Spike who had gotten back up to his feet.
“You ready to go Spike?”
“Yeah, let's just get this over with I guess...”
“Alright, let's get going then.” With that, Twilight sat her saddlebag over her shoulder and started towards the door with Spike close behind. Going to Zecora's should be easy, Twilight thought. I always take the same route, so I know where I'm going. What could go wrong?
|
StreakTheFox
|
989
| 3 |
Spike,Twilight Sparkle,Zecora,Adventure,Comedy,Random,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Pony Scales
|
Spike loves Twilight like a big sister. But when she becomes a dragon... well, do the math.
|
complete
| 514 | 38 |
<p>Twilight is granted the opportunity to show off some of her smarts by giving a presentation at the Canterlot School of Magic about life in and around Equestria. However, while she practices one of the transformation spells she got in a book from Zecora, she finds out a lot about the spell, but much, much more about her little dragon assistant.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-26T03:26:43+00:00
|
2011-09-26T03:26:43+00:00
| 17,748 |
-III-
“THINGS ARE GOING VERY WRONG!” Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs as she and spike raced as fast as they could through the Everfree forest. Behind them was a juvenile hydra with only two heads, yet still as large as a regular sized Ponyville home, chasing them while roaring out in excitement.
“How the heck did that hydra know we were coming!?” Spike yelled to Twilight in a mixed tone of confusion and fear.
“I dunno!” Twilight screamed in a reply, trying to think of a reason as to how a hydra could have ambushed them. “It must have been waiting for us on the path I usually take! I guess it's because I kept using it over and over today!”
SNAP
“Watch it Twi'!” Spike yelled as Twilight narrowly avoided one of the hydra's snapping jaws. “Stop thinking and keep running!”
But I gotta think, Twilight said in her mind as she sped through and over bushes next to spike, trying not to lose him in the dense forest. I gotta figure out a way to escape this hydra! Twilight's mind reeled as she tried to come up with an escape plan, tried to remember any sort of trick to getting a hydra off of you. She thought of running under it like she did last time at Froggy Bottom Bog, but this hydra was not nearly big enough for that, and she wouldn't make it under.
SNAP
“What are we gonna do Twilight!?” Spike yelled again in desperation as he looked over to her. “What are we-” Spike was only a few feat ahead of Twilight in the direction they were going, and the angle at which he saw her allowed him to catch a very alluring view of Twilight's chest. Every time Twilight made a footstep, jumped over a bush or a fallen branch, or ducked under one of the hydra's heads, her breasts bounced and jiggled freely. Spike couldn't help but stare at her, not even paying attention to what was in front of him, and more importantly what was behind him. His legs passively carried him further and further, yet his eyes would not veer away from Twilight's direction.
Spike's cheeks turned a deep crimson as he bit his lower lip, his mind momentarily drifting away from the deadly scenario they were currently in. Twilight began moving ahead, and Spike caught the perfect side angle as her breasts continued to bounce around before him. Soon Twilight was pulling ahead more, allowing him to catch a tantalizing and almost teasing angle of her breasts, making him move his head over in a vain attempt to see more. However, it was then that Spike realized that if Twilight was now pulling ahead of him, that meant that-
SNAP
“WOAH!” Spike yelled as the latest snap of the hydra's jaw came just centimeters from his tail which had somehow began to become erect.
Snapped out of his trance, Spike quickly picked up his pace again and caught up to Twilight, who was still trying to figure a way out of this mess. However, before she could come up with anything, the two were suddenly met with an abrupt clearing in the forest, followed by flying through the air over a river. Within only a split second, the two had ran out over a large river in the forest and were in mid-air over it. For a moment, it seemed like Spike and Twilight would make it, but their hopes quickly dropped at an equal rate to their descent, straight into the middle of the river.
“SPIKE!” Twilight cried out as she tried to keep her head above the fast flowing water.
“TWILIGHT! I CAN'T -gurgle- I CAN'T SWIM WELL!” Spike cried back as he too fought against the water.
As Twilight attempted to make her way towards Spike, she heard a large splash behind them. Looking back, the hydra had jumped into the water as well and was then right behind them once more.
SNAP
Twilight barely managed to duck under the hydra's latest grab at it and continued to desperately try to reach Spike. Though naturally adept in the water, the hydra was still a juvenile, and water of these speeds were throwing it off left and right, beginning to make it tumble over at times. As the hydra continued to try to regain its balance, Twilight wasted no energy in making her way towards Spike and finally grabbing a hold of him with one of her claws. Giving a tight jerk, she pulled him closer and wrapped both arms around him, holding him tight in her arms as the two floated down the river.
“TWI', DO YOU HEAR THAT!?” Spike yelled in order to keep his voice heard over the raging water.
“YOU MEAN THE HYDRA!?” Twilight replied, looking back briefly while kicking her feet, trying to keep the two afloat. “YES, I'M WELL AWARE OF IT!”
“NO, NOT HIM! THAT!” Pointing down the river, Spike stared straight at a sudden ending to the river, the trees, and the earth around them.
As they drew closer, Twilight could then begin to hear a low rumble and the sound of crashing water. Though in a highly stressful situation, it wasn't hard for her to figure out what those clues meant. And as they reached the point where the river cut off, her suspicions were swiftly confirmed.
“WATERFAAAAAALL!” They both cried out in unison as they both turned over the side and began to free-fall down the cliff.
The waterfall was about 50 feet or so in height, and Spike and Twilight only used this time to hold each other closer. In a brief moment, they exchanged glances as they knew their lives may be nearing their end points. But as they exchanged glances, Spike's face blushed as he realized hone of his claws was latched onto one of Twilight's breasts, giving it a soft squeeze before the two hit the water.
SPLASH
~Another undefined period of time later~
Twilight's eyes strained to open as she had finally found herself coming out of her unconscious state. Her head was spinning and pulsing with a strong pain as she tried to lean up,but eventually managed to gather up the strength and coordination to do so. As she looked up, she could tell that it was now night time, the moon now half way up in the sky with the stars clearly visible. Looking around her, Twilight found that she was just up against the edge of a river, her still dragonified feet lightly dipped into it. She rubbed her eyes gently with a hand before looking around more, able to make out some bushes, a large quantity of trees, as well as-
“Spike!” She suddenly cried out as she saw her dragon assistant curled up several feet away, not moving. “Oh no, SPIKE!” Twilight cried again as she clumsily crawled over to him, her body still not fully woken up.
As she drew closer, the little dragon would still not move, and to her didn't even seem to be breathing. Twilight's eyes watered as she came upon him and scooped him up in her arms gently, bringing him into a deep hug.
“Oh Spike...” Twilight whimpered as a tear began to drip down from her eye. “No... this can't... this can't be happening...” Twilight spoke in a soft voice as tears continued to flow.
Twilight proceeded to cry freely as she held her limp dragon assistant in her arms, all of her sorrow pouring out of her all at once. She thought it might be a dream, she wanted this to be a dream, but the aching in the back of her head constantly reminded that this was real. Twilight embraced her assistant fully just then, crying out as loud as she could while holding her arms around him tightly.
“Spike no! Please don't leave me, I'm sorry! Spike! SPIIIIKE!” Though no matter how loud Twilight yelled, no matter how hard she cried, nothing seemed to bring Spike back. Not now, and maybe not ever... until-
“T-twi... light...?” Came a soft whisper from from Spike, his eyes still closed with his body still limp.
“S-Spike!?” Twilight gasped as she reared her head back and looked at Spike's face. “Y-you're alive...!?”
“T-twilight... your...” Spike groaned softly, his head swaying from side to side slightly as he seemed to be beginning to regain consciousness.
“Spike!” Twilight exclaimed as more tears, those of joy began to flow from her eyes. “You're okay! You're... you're going to be okay!” Again Twilight embraced Spike fully, her tears running down her face and to Spike's back. “Oh Spike, I was so worried that-...” Twilight paused as she felt a claw gripping on one of her rear cheeks.
“Mmmm... your scales are so soft...” Spike mumbled as if he was sleep-talking while his other claw slid over one of Twilight's breasts, giving a squeeze there as well. “And you're so warm...” Spike's head leaned up lightly as he stuck his tongue out, licking at whatever was there, which happened to be straight onto Twilight's lips.
“S-s-spike!?” Twilight gasped as her face flushed red. “Are you... hey, wake up!” At this, Twilight began to shake her assistant a bit, trying not to shake him to hard, but every squeeze she got from his claws seemed to urge her to shake harder.
“W-wah... huh? Where am I.. what's-” As Spike came to, he suddenly realized the placement of both his claws, and where his lips were dangerously close to. As he looked up at Twilight, he was also able to make out the bright blush on her face, which was then only matched by the one that began to grow on his.
Both Twilight and spike turned their heads away, as spike rearranged the positions of his claws, holding them both now on Twilight's hips. They both continued to blush, eyes looking around while trying to find something else to talk about.
“W-where are we...?” Spike finally choked out as he observed his surroundings.
“I... I dunno,” Twilight replied, looking around a bit more herself. Looking up the river, there was no waterfall anywhere in sight. “We seemed to have drifted a long ways since the waterfall... and it's night time, so we could be anywhere by now.”
“The waterfall... oh no, is that hydra still around!?” Spike gulped.
“No, I don't think so... I think it got hit by the waterfall too, and it lost us.” Twilight looked around more, hoping not to be proven wrong. “I think we're safe now. I just hope we can find a way out of this forest.”
As Twilight looked around, she got a strange feeling that something was missing. She looked down at Spike, who was also surveying their surroundings, and then back at the water. Then, it hit her...
“Oh no, my saddlebags!” Twilight yelled out suddenly. “I lost my saddlebags, with the book and all the ingredients inside!”
Twilight got off the ground and released Spike from her arms as she ran towards the water's edge, scanning the immediate area for any sign of her bags. Unfortunately, they were nowhere to be seen. Twilight fell to her knees, feeling helpless now without any supplies and without her magic to help her. What are we going to do now? She thought to herself as she gave a deep sigh.
“Twilight...?” Spike asked as he came up beside her. “How are we going to get out of the forest? It's really creepy at night... well, even more creepy.”
“I dunno Spike, but I don't think it would be wise to wander around the forest at night,” Twilight said as she began to look around once more. “We should try to find some shelter to stay in until morning.”
“You mean like that?” Spike said as he pointed off towards the forest. Turning around, Twilight saw him pointing towards a barely visible opening in the side of a steep hill protruding from above the treetops, looking to be a cave.
“That should work,” Twilight said. “I just hope there isn't anything currently occupying that cave...” she gulped at the possibility of things that could be holding up in that cave, and how angry they would be to have two dragons suddenly crash in there with it for the night.
However, the two currently had no other option, and proceeded to walk through the forest after one last check of the river for Twilight's saddlebags. After only a few minutes, and without interruption, the two made it to the cave's entrance. Once inside, they were relieved to find out that the inside was not occupied, and also had patches of very small mushrooms on the ground and lining parts of the walls. Feeling the mushroom patches, Twilight determined that these might be good areas to rest for the night, and proceeded to lay down on one of them. Spike quickly followed suit, curling up on a nearby patch of mushrooms and wrapping his tail around himself.
“Hey Spike...” Twilight whispered softly, her body shifting around some.
“Yeah Twi'?” Spike asked, able to hear Twilight shifting around and then suddenly feel her arms wrap around him.
“I'm sorry I brought you into all of this...” She said with a tear building up in her eye. “It's all my fault... just, everything.”
“It's okay Twi', really. It's just... been a really weird day.” Spike said, accepting Twilight's embrace and sliding his own arms around her. “I think it's gonna be pretty hard to sleep outside though... even if we are in a cave.”
“Don't worry Spike,” Twilight assured. “Just try to drift off to some sort of happy place... a dream land where all your wonders and fears just whisk away, and you can simply lay back and enjoy- uh, not that kind of happy place...” Twilight said with a bit of a blush on her cheeks as she pulled one of Spike's hands off of her rear.
“Oh, sorry...”
|
StreakTheFox
|
989
| 4 |
Spike,Twilight Sparkle,Zecora,Adventure,Comedy,Random,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Pony Scales
|
Spike loves Twilight like a big sister. But when she becomes a dragon... well, do the math.
|
complete
| 514 | 38 |
<p>Twilight is granted the opportunity to show off some of her smarts by giving a presentation at the Canterlot School of Magic about life in and around Equestria. However, while she practices one of the transformation spells she got in a book from Zecora, she finds out a lot about the spell, but much, much more about her little dragon assistant.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-26T23:36:55+00:00
|
2011-09-26T23:36:55+00:00
| 17,509 |
-IV-
Twilight awoke early in the morning, the sun having just risen with light barely managing to shine into the cave. It was very quiet outside, the plants and grass still covered with morning dew. However, the light was not what woke Twilight up, for her and Spike were too far back into the cave to be able to feel the sun's direct rays. Twilight was woken up by Spike's constant mumbling, as well as his body moving around in her arms.
He seems to be having quite an active dream, Twilight thought to herself as her mind recovered from her previously sleeping state. What in Equestria would make him squirm around this much? Is he having a nightmare? With her eyes still closed, Twilight moved her arms around Spike in order bring him into a close embrace to calm him down. Twilight gently began pulling him against her when she abruptly stopped, feeling something else against her.
What is... that? Twilight one again spoke to herself as she felt something fleshy against her thigh. Feeling around, Spike's arms were both curled up just under her chest with his head nestled into her arms. Twilight imagined it would be his tail curled up between his legs – as that's what a dragon, and most animals normally do when scared – but quickly found that to be protruded out in the opposite direction. Twilight then felt his legs, confirming to her that they both were held up against her legs as well, as was intended from the embrace. Still, Twilight could find no explanation for this new object poking her. She then slowly placed her hand on it, gently feeling it around to hopefully find out what it is. She then felt that it continued on, and as she felt her hand around to where it leads, she heard spike let out a hearty moan.
In an instant, Twilight's eyes shot open as she realized what, or who this piece of fleshy mass was connected to. It all suddenly clicked into place, the squirming, the poking, the moan... and just as she had released her hand, Spike's hips gently began to gyrate, poking her thigh over and over. Twilight was about to look down and see, but then closed her eyes once more as she blushed intensely, slowly pulling Spike off of her. I don't believe it... she gasped inwardly as she gently laid Spike on his back beside her, not even daring to glance over. I... I didn't even know he was old enough for that yet! It, it can't be... maybe it's not, maybe it was something else... maybe I should take a look to see if... no! I can't, I just... oh Celestia, what do I do!?
~Another expenditure of this thing called “time” later~
Spike groaned loudly as he eventually came out of his own slumber, bringing up one of his hands and rubbing his eyes. He then leaned up and looked around, gradually pulling his eyes open more and more as he continued to fully wake up. It didn't take him long to notice that he was still in the cave, as well as the pile of leaves on his lap that resembled a teepee.
“Uuuhhhh...” Spike groaned, his mind not yet fully functional. “That was a long night... ...why is there a pile of leaves on my-” Spike then gasped as he remembered that he had been in Twilight's arms last night, and then of the dream he had last night as well. He then shifted his legs slightly, and felt himself rubbing against the leaves, a very private section of himself.
Oh man, did I do it again? Spike asked to himself as he stared at the little leaf pile. That... thing that I get when I wake up from some of those really weird dreams... I had one again. And with... His eyes then shot open as he looked around the cave, closely examining his surroundings.
“Twilight!” He said as he looked for her.
He hesitated to get up and risk revealing himself, but he already felt himself retracting as he grew more concerned over Twilight's whereabouts. With his shame finally tugged in fully, he got up and brushed the leaves off of himself and then started to run towards the exit. It didn't take him long to see Twilight sitting out a small ways beyond the opening looking out through a break in the trees. Spike slowed down as he approached, nervous of how Twilight might react to what she found when she woke up. It was obvious that she saw it, and he knew it. And yet, he knew he had to confront her, and he hoped dearly that she wouldn't mention anything.
“T-twilight...?” Spike spoke in a soft voice as he came up behind her.
“Oh Spike, you're awake,” Twilight said in a moderately upbeat tone of voice. “Come and sit, I've been thinking a lot this morning.”
“Okay...” Spike said, taking a seat beside her after a bit of hesitation. “What have you been thinking about?”
“Well... First I was thinking of how we're going to get out of this forest. The water flows down from the mountains deeper in the Everfree forest and then out towards the edges and beyond the forest. There's even one specific river that even ends up flowing right beside Ponyville. So, even if we don't catch that one river, we're bound to find out way out and get to some sort of road somewhere, and then we can begin to head back.”
“Wow, I never thought of that... you think it'll work?”
“I'm almost certain. I was mainly waiting for you to wake up so we could get going. I'm really hungry, and I bet you are too, so I didn't want to waste much time.”
“W-well, then we should get going then!” Spike said as he practically jumped to his feet, ready to move out. “Let's go!”
“Hold on,” Twilight spoke up, making Spike stop immediately. “There's something else I want to talk about...”
Oh no, I hope she isn't going to bring up this morning...! Spike thought.
“I wanted to talk to you about, well... what happened this morning...”
Dang it! “Uh, w-what about this morning? Heh...” Spike peered side to side nervously as he rubbed his claw on the back of his head.
“Spike, come sit back down please.” She said in a more monotone voice, pushing Spike's nervous meter higher. As Spike sat back down, twilight began again, “Spike, what I want to know first is... what do you think of Rarity?”
“Rarity?” Spike asked with a confused face. “What do you mean? She's the most beautiful, amazing, generous pony there is! She IS the element of generosity you know.”
“Yes I know, Spike. Now, what do you think of me?”
“Well... you're Twilight! You're almost like a Sister, but not exactly like that... I mean, I know we're not related technically, but...” Spike looked over at Twilight, and then down to her chest, biting his lip slightly. “Uhh... It's just... ummm...”
“It's alright Spike,” Twilight smiled lightly with a small blush. “You don't have to be ashamed... in fact, I'm surprised that I never really expected this sort of outcome when turning into a dragon”
“You... didn't?” Spike asked, confused.
“Well, not really. But I can sort of guess a few things... First,you like rarity in a very platonic way, don't you?”
“Plato... plat... huh?”
“It means that when you think of her, you don't end with what you had this morning...”
“O-oh...” Spike gulped loudly as his face flushed red. “Right...”
“But when I turned into a dragon like you, and with me being the opposite gender, you don't exactly think of me like you do rarity, but as something else... something more, don't you?”
Spike didn't reply, but he bit his lip with a slow nod. Twilight sighed in response.
“Actually Twilight, I sort of have a confession to make...”
“Hm? What's that Spike?”
“Well... “ Spike fiddled his fingers together as he gathered up the strength to bring out one of his deepest secrets. “I sorta, this isn't the first time this has happened...”
“Huh?” Twilight raised an eyebrow.
“Well... I mean, this morning. It's happened a couple times, and it's usually after I wake up.” Spike gulped again as he was about to continue. “You see, I came across one of your anatomy books one day while you were gone, and sorta found a section on dragons... female dragons...”
“Oh, o-oh my...” Twilight blushed lightly as she recalled her own discovery of the reproduction system, which was also by a book.
“And well, after that, that's when I sometimes had these weird dreams with some of the dragons from that book! They were doing like... I can't explain it, but a lot of stuff... to me! It's all really weird...”
“I know this must be really hard for you,” Twilight started as she looked at Spike with a warm smile. “You're just too young to fully understand all of the things you're feeling. And to suddenly have this situation put on me, and you, well... I can't even imagine the frustration you must be going through. And I'm sorry for not realizing this earlier Spike... it would have saved you, and probably me, a lot of trouble...”
“It's alright Twilight, I should be the one apologizing. After all, with that, um, well, ya know...”
“Don't worry, there's nothing to apologize for,” Twilight replied with a giggle. “You're just reaching a certain age is all. You're probably going to start changing a lot soon, and I'll be there to help you out every step of the way.”
“What kind of changes?”
“Like, you know, growing up changes. Your scales will get longer, tougher, your limbs will grow, you'll eat more, that sort of thing.”
“Okay, I think I get it... hey, wait a second.” Spike seemed to have encountered an epiphany. “If I feel this way when I see you, then do you... ya know...?”
“Hm? Oh, oh! Oh my, um, no... I believe I've still got my regular pony instincts with me! Hehe... wow...” Twilight blushed lightly at the levels of awkwardness this conversation had already reached.
The next minute was filled with silence as the two sat there, Spike sometimes taking a quick peek at Twilight, and then looking away as Twilight took a quick peek towards Spike. Neither of the two knew any good way to continue this conversation, so Twilight decided to make the first move.
“So, should we get started?” Twilight asked as she looked at Spike.
“Started...?” Spike looked back, having just snapped out of a daydream he was in, and somehow managed to connect it with reality. “Y-you mean... oh gosh Twilight, I dunno, I mean this is just... I don't know if my body's ready for that...”
“Uh, Spike, I was talking about starting down the river.”
“Oh! Right. Um,” Spike looked away momentarily, trying to hide the bright blush on his face. “Yeah, let's get going!” Spike shot up to his feet and proceeded to march in a direction parallel to the river, keeping his face turned while his blush slowly faded.
“Spike, down-river is the other way,” Twilight corrected.
“Oh! I, I knew that!” Spike replied quickly as he turned around and began marching the correct direction. Twilight quickly joined him and soon they were both walking at a steady pace with the river in view beside them.
“Well,” Twilight started, “All we have to do is follow the river, get out of the Everfree forest, find a road, and make our way to Ponyville! Sounds easy enough, what could go wr-” one of Spike's hands reached up and blocked Twilight's mouth before she could finish.
“Please don't jinx us again...”
|
StreakTheFox
|
989
| 5 |
Spike,Twilight Sparkle,Zecora,Adventure,Comedy,Random,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Pony Scales
|
Spike loves Twilight like a big sister. But when she becomes a dragon... well, do the math.
|
complete
| 514 | 38 |
<p>Twilight is granted the opportunity to show off some of her smarts by giving a presentation at the Canterlot School of Magic about life in and around Equestria. However, while she practices one of the transformation spells she got in a book from Zecora, she finds out a lot about the spell, but much, much more about her little dragon assistant.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-10-03T01:36:54+00:00
|
2011-10-03T01:36:54+00:00
| 17,308 |
-V-
The sun was high in the sky over the Everfree forest as Spike and Twilight continued their journey. Though the foliage was usually too thick to see above the canopy, the rive they were next to allowed them both to be able to see the sky above them.
“Are we there yet?” Spike groaned as he lazily flopped his legs across the ground.
“Not yet Spike,” Twilight replied, walking right beside Spike “I still haven't seen any sign of the forest's end. It's probably going to take a few more hours.”
“Oh come on...” Spike complained, eager to get home. “I'm starving!”
“I know Spike, I am too. Just please hang in there, I know we'll be able to go home soon.”
The pair continued down the riverside, Twilight diligently watching her surroundings as Spike seemed to be barely able to keep up with her, dragging his legs along lazily while holding his stomach. Up ahead, however, Twilight noticed a strangely familiar patch of flowers. Getting closer, she realized exactly what the blue patch of plants were. Uh oh, Poison Joke, Twilight thought to herself. We'd better move around it. Watching her step, Twilight carefully maneuvered around the separate patches of poison joke ahead of her, making sure that she didn't even so much as cause a single petal to touch any of her scales. Soon, she was out of the patches and back on track at the river's edge, with Spike coming right up beside her.
There, hope we don't run into that again, Twilight thought to herself. She looked over at Spike briefly as she continued walking, seeing him still slouching as he walked. With a simple shrug, she looked forward again and continued examining her surroundings for any other abnormalities. What she didn't see, however, was the blatant trail through the poison joke patches that Spike had made as he walked through them.
~Uh, yeah, more time later. You get the drill~
Twilight's stomach growled hungrily as her and Spike continued on. She didn't know for sure, but this may have been the longest period of time she's spent without food. She was also slouched over, groaning softly every now and then as her stomach continued to rage. Spike wasn't doing well either, his claws were clenched onto his stomach while he groaned out loudly. Twilight knew it was obnoxious, but she didn't blame him. They hadn't eaten since yesterday!
Suddenly, a bright coloration ahead caught Twilight's eye. As she peered over, she noticed they were...
“Berries!” Twilight exclaimed excitedly, Spike's head perking up to attention in response. “Look Spike, there's some wild berries up ahead!”
“Oh boy, I'm starving!” Spike said as he rushed over to the random pile of plump red berries on the forest floor.
Upon further inspection, the berries seemed to be just right. They were relatively large, seemed swollen with tasty juices, and – according to what Twilight read in a book once – seemed to be an edible species. Her and Spike quickly gathered around the pile as she looked at them, they looked so delicious and freshly picked and-
“Wait a second....” Twilight said aloud as she was about to pick up a berry. “Spike, I don't think we should touch these berries.”
“Why not Twi'?” Spike said as he picked up a whole handful.
“Spike no! It might be-” Suddenly, a mesh of rope sprung up from below their feet and hoisted them into the air, held together by four ropes tied to a higher branch. Spike and Twilight were squeezed together with the berries as they bounced lightly from the force of the ropes closing around them.
“Gah! It's a trap!” Twilight yelled in frustration as she tried to move around. “I can't believe we fell for it!”
“Merh erff murhff!” Spike yelled out, his voice muffled somehow.
“What Spike? I couldn't understand you,” Twilight replied as she looked around her, her face stuck looking outward and unable to turn to see Spike's exact positioning.
“Mih Canph Breaff!” Spike yelled louder, squirming around.
“You, you can't breath?” Twilight asked. “Where's your head stuck?”
“I dunph noeh! Mih heaph if stuckph!”
“Your head's stuck?” Twilight tried to feel her limbs around to get a better idea of Spike's positioning, but was unable to figure it out. Without being able to see, she wasn't sure which part was what! Thinking for a moment, she got an idea, but knew she would probably pay dearly for suggesting this to spike. However, if she wanted to get them both in a more coordinated position, and maybe even get out, she needed to know how Spike was trapped against her.
“T-try using your mouth or something Spike. I think I should be able to feel exactly where if you give the spot a little lick.”
It did not take long for Twilight to wholeheartedly regret deciding to use that idea. Only a few moments after suggesting it, she felt something wet and slithery creep between the inner most area between her thighs, tickling her in a way she had never been tickled before.
“S-SPIKE!” She gasped out loudly as a vibrant blush lit up on her face. “D-don't lick again, please! I... I know where head is stuck, just, you can't see anything, can you!?”
“Noeh, I canf onphee shee burphies” Spike replied.
“Okay...” Twilight sighed in relief as she felt her heart beating at her chest. “Just, just close your eyes for a minute, I'm going to try to move us around some.”
Like a klutzy ballerina dancer, Twilight shifted and moved her body around as best she could, accidentally hitting spike in the stomach a few times with her foot. While she shifted, multiple berries got caught between them and burst, spilling their juices over the two. By the time Twilight had stopped, both of them were covered in slimy berry juice. Twilight had succeeded – partially, at least – and had managed to get them both out of that incredibly uncomfortable position. However, the position they were then in resembled something similar to a pose two lovers be in while facing one another.
“Uhh... Twilight?” Spike asked nervously with a slight blush.
“I-I did my best Spike...” Twilight replied as she looked away, a blush appearing on her face as well. “It's really hard to move around in this rope trap ya know...”
“I know, but, that's not what I was gonna say...” Spike's blushed intensified.
“Then what is it, Spike?” Twilight asked, curious.
“I... all this juicy stuff, and your moving against me, and now, I... I'm sorry!”
“S-sorry for what?” Twilight asked nervously, afraid of what Spike might be implying.
“Please don't be mad, I can't help it! I just don't know what came over me, and I can't stop it! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!”
“Woah Spike, slow down! Just, what exactly are you sorry for?”
“For... uhm...” Spike blushed more as he took a deep breath. “It's cuz... I think I'm about to, um, t-to poke you...”
“Poke me?” Twilight asked, oblivious to what he meant. “Why would you be sorry for poking me? I mean, I can understand if you did it over and over to be annoying, but I don't-” Twilight stopped in mid sentence, her eyes suddenly widening to the size of dinner plates as she felt something poking her inner thighs. It pressed lightly against her at first, but it gradually began to push more. The feeling seemed to creep in between her thighs and press against her middle-body scale arrangement, at which point Spike let out a very faint moan.
“NO, NO NO NONONO NO!!” Twilight screamed out as she frantically shook her body around, trying desperately to keep the 'poker' away from her. “K-KEEP IT AWAY! PLEASE! SPIKE, FOR THE LOVE OF CELESTIA, C-CONTROL YOURSELF!”
“I CAN'T!” Spike cried out, struggling as well. “I'm sorry! I don't know how to make it stop, this doesn't happen very often!”
“I know! Just, oh my, just don't let it get in me!” Twilgiht pleaded as she tried to cover herself up, the juices making their bodies slip and slide together, making Spike even more excited.
Twilight and Spike continued to struggle, the situation becoming more and more compromising. Neither of them could seem to find a solution amidst their struggling, and at one point Twilight almost got poked in the mouth. Their struggling coupled with constant shouting and pleading continued for several minutes before a familiar voice suddenly spoke up from behind a line of trees.
“A dragon couple caught in my snare?” The voice said, Twilight and Spike freezing as they heard the new voice. “This particular outcome, I was unaware!”
“Z... Zecora...?” Twilight said hesitantly as she looked around, able to see the zebra walking about from beside a tree from the corner of her eye. “Zecora! It's you!”
“The voice of Twilight Sparkle, you seem to possess,” Zecora said as she approached the two captured dragons. “But instead, you have the body of a dragoness!”
“It is me!” Twilight pleaded. “I tried out one of the spells from your book and turned myself into a dragon, and then tried to come and see you to get an ingredient I was missing. But on my way to your hut, me and Spike got ambushed by a Hydra and got lost in the forest. We've been trying to find our way out all day!”
“So Spike is the name of this other dragon, who you are currently trapped with in my bind.” Zecora continued, a coy smile appearing on her face. “Why miss Sparkle, I never took you for one to like the action from behind!”
“What do-... ugh, no!” Twilight groaned, Zecora having pointed out the compromising position they were currently stuck in. “It's not like that! He's just my little assistant, we just got caught in this trap is all! Now can you please let us down?”
“Not a problem my hilarious friend, I will help put your problems to an end.” Zecora giggled slightly as she walked to the a hidden rope by a tree and pulled it, releasing the two from the trap.
And by releasing the two from the trap, it of course means letting them free fall about six feet to the ground and land with a thud.
“Ah! Ouch...” Twilight said, landing flat on her stomach in a mushy pile of squished berries. “T-thanks Zecora... can you please lead us to your home now?”
“Why of course Twilight, for you it shall be done,” Again Zecora's coy smile appeared on her face with another light blush. “But please, don't let me interject on you and your lover's fun~” She giggled as she saw Twilight's blush from noticing Spike on her back, his hips positions almost perfectly against her rear.
“W-we're not lovers!” Twilight exclaimed “He's my assistant, t-that's all! It's just been really awkward having us both be dragons, so please...”
“It's alright Twilight, I was just having a bit of fun. Now come, let's go get your ingredient list done.”
Zecora turned and began to walk off as Twilight got to her feet, Spike falling back gently behind her, his 'poker' still exposed. Spike hurriedly covered it up with his claws as he ran over to a pile of bushes, snatching a few leaves off of it to help. After gathering a bit of a pile, he rushed up beside Twilight, ready to follow her to Zecora's place.
“Jeez...” Twilight sighed as she began walking to follow Zecora, Spike right beside her. “This better end up being one good friendship report when we're done...”
|
StreakTheFox
|
989
| 6 |
Spike,Twilight Sparkle,Zecora,Adventure,Comedy,Random,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Pony Scales
|
Spike loves Twilight like a big sister. But when she becomes a dragon... well, do the math.
|
complete
| 514 | 38 |
<p>Twilight is granted the opportunity to show off some of her smarts by giving a presentation at the Canterlot School of Magic about life in and around Equestria. However, while she practices one of the transformation spells she got in a book from Zecora, she finds out a lot about the spell, but much, much more about her little dragon assistant.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-10-03T01:37:19+00:00
|
2011-10-03T01:37:19+00:00
| 19,460 |
-VI-
“Thank you again so much for this Zecora,” Twilight said as she walked through the door of Zecora's home, the sun now only a couple hours away from setting.
“It is not a problem Twilight, I am happy to help any way I can. And this problem involving ingredients is one I can fully understand.” Zecora circled around her large cauldron and grabbed a large pitcher of water from a shelf, carefully pouring the water into the cauldron. “You said you had not eaten since early yesterday. I will make you some soup then to enjoy during your stay.”
“Oh thank you Zecora, but you really don't have to...” As if on cue, Twilight's stomach grumbled loudly in apparent protest. Zecora simply looked over to her and smiled with a soft giggle. “Of course... It would be really nice. Hehe...”
“Oh, and one more thing, before I forget...” Zecora said as she reached into a wicker basket, pulling out a near dry saddlebag. “A bag floating in the water, one I felt compelled to protect.”
“M-my saddlebag!” Twilight beamed cheerfully as she raced over. “Oh thank you so much Zecora! I don't know what I would have done without this! It has all the ingredients, the book, just... everything! Thank you so much!”
“It is not a problem my very literate friend, for I feel it my duty, to have a friendly hoof to lend.”
With Twilight's spirit lifted from re-acquiring her book, and both her's and Spike's stomachs filled with soup, Twilight felt ready to talk to Zecora about the last ingredient. After searching her back, Twilight was relieved to find that almost all of her ingredients were kept safe in their containers with minimal water damage, and that the book itself was still in one piece. Though drenched, she figured that it would be easily and safely dried with magic once she turned back to normal. Now to actually get back to normal... Twilight though as she carried the book over to Zecora.
“Zecora,” Twilight began as she set the book already opened to the desired page next to Zecora, who was sitting at the table. “This is the last ingredient we need. Everything else is still in my saddlebag, but this... 'Essence of Dragon' is the only thing we're missing.”
“Hmmm...” Zecora studied the book closely, searching her thoughts for more details on the Essence of Dragon. “Ah, Essence of Dragon, I remember it now! Also to extract it, I remember how.”
“Great! So, where do we get it from? Is it sort of like a plant or perhaps just a bit more of Spike's scales?”
“Hey!” Spike shouted in protest.
“hehe, it appears the identity of this ingredient is one you have yet to guess. It is often very difficult to extract this essence, without making a mess.” A slight blush lit up on Zecora's face.
“The identity of the ingredient?” Twilight what Zecora said for a moment. “You mean... it's not a plant? Or just more of Spike's scales?”
“It's not... b-blood, is it...!?” Spike asked, his eyes darting left and right in worry.
“I have sometimes wondered Twilight Sparkle, with your knack for reading and cramming so much knowledge in your head, if you have ever spent one night with another stallion in your bed.”
“Another... w-wait, hold on a second!” Twilight stammered as her cheeks lit up with a bright blush. “What does anything like... like that have to do with the Essence of Dragon?”
“My question is relevent, as you will seen see. For the identity of this ingredient, not pleasant it will be.”
“Well...” Twilight quickly walked over and covered Spike's ears with her claws, holding him in place even with his apparent protest. “...No. I have never done anything sexual with anypony... of either gender at that! B-but really I still don't see what this has to do with the final ingredient!”
“The final ingredient miss Sparkle...” Zecora began as she leaned her muzzle in close to Twilight's ear. “Is the ingredient meant to breed. The essence of dragon is indeed the dragon seed.”
“Dragon... seed?” Twilight stopped, looking up for a moment to think, before an idea popped into her mind. “Oh! So it's not a plant, but the seed of a plant, right?” Zecora merely shook her head with a light frown, and then looked down at Spike who had his arms crossed, not at all happy with not being able to hear. “Well, if it's not a seed, then...”
Twilight also looked down at Spike, and then searched her thoughts some more for a solution. Final ingredient is the dragon seed... Twilight though. But the ingredient is also meant to breed... b-but, that means...! Like a ton of bricks suddenly slapping her in the face, Twilight raised her hands to her mouth as she shot backwards, pressing her back against the far wall with a deep, loud gasp. She stared at Zecora with wide eyes, who only returned Twilight's extremely surprised look with a coy smile.
“N-NO! You can't... you can't be serious Zecora..!”
“What? What is it?” Spike asked, his head turning back between Zecora and Twilight in confusion.
“It cannot be helped Twilight, what I have said is true. Now you know what it is you must do...”
“A-and I have to... to get it, f-f-from... S-s-spike...?”
“He is the only dragon around and the ingredient must be served fresh, within a minute or less. But do not worry, for I shall give you a tip to get it without too much of a mess!”
“T-That's not the point! Spike is like... he's, he's practically family to me! I mean, it's just.... oh my gosh, no, no no nonono no... this is all so very wrong...”
“I know this is very troubling, and causes much distress in your head...” Zecora said as she approached Twilight. “So if it is something you really cannot do, I shall do it instead.”
Twilight grasped her claws against her head as she took a seat on one of the home's sitting logs beside her. Now, not only did she realize the horrible truth behind the identity of this final ingredient, she was now faced with an offer by Zecora, of all ponies, er, Zebras, to extract it herself! This can't be happening... Twilight though as she neared a fetal position. This must be some sort of prank. Some sort of sick joke set up by somepony... somewhere... just.... oh Celestia, what do I do? I don't think I can stand getting that from Spike myself, but Zecora.... no, no I can't, it would probably scar Spike for life. It has to be me, it has to be who he cares about most.... oh Celestia, why does it have to be me?
“I...” Twilight began, closing her eyes slowly as she lifted her head. “I... I'll do it. I'll extract the essence from Spike... if somepony has to do it, it... it should be me...”
“A very abnormal task indeed, but it is best to get it out of the way. I will go prepare the other ingredients, for you must swallow it all anyways...”
“Right...” Twilight gulped as she opened her eyes slightly and looked at Spike, his face still showing his obvious confusion. Forgive me Celestia... I have to do it...
“Can someone please tell me what the hay is going on?” Spike asked, almost fed up with this secrecy involving him.
“O-oh, right...” Twilight began as she stood up and began walking towards the home's back room. “Um, I'll tell you about it in a bit Spike, but first...” The fake smile plastered on Twilight's face was so painful for her to keep up, but a look from Zecora reassured her that she had to do what had to be done. “C-come back here with me. There's a, um, a gift I got you for being such a wonderful assistant...”
“A gift? For me!?” Spike smiled widely as he followed Twilight into the back room. “Oh boy, what could it be!?”
~Later that night... and yes, I know I'm evil for now showing you that scene~
Twilight sat down at her bedroom desk, Spike sound asleep in his bed. Her horn lit up as she lifted up a paper and a scroll, thinking of what to write to the princess. Her mind searched for some sort of real lesson that she had learned, but at the moment only one though kept popping into her mind. Of everything that happened the past couple days, out of all the things she had experienced, only one significant detail really struck her the most. And, without thinking, she seemed to passively write down what had most often popped into her head since only a few hours ago.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Dragons are a mouthful.
-<The End>-
|
StreakTheFox
|
989
| 7 |
Spike,Twilight Sparkle,Zecora,Adventure,Comedy,Random,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Pony Scales
|
Spike loves Twilight like a big sister. But when she becomes a dragon... well, do the math.
|
complete
| 514 | 38 |
<p>Twilight is granted the opportunity to show off some of her smarts by giving a presentation at the Canterlot School of Magic about life in and around Equestria. However, while she practices one of the transformation spells she got in a book from Zecora, she finds out a lot about the spell, but much, much more about her little dragon assistant.</p>
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teen
|
2012-10-06T10:18:59+00:00
|
2012-10-06T10:18:59+00:00
| 24,359 |
-Epilogue-
Twilight awoke from her slumber, disturbed by a loud commotion coming from downstairs. She leaned up and lazily wiped her eyes as she began to survey the room, realizing that it was already well into the morning. Spike's bed was empty, which was normal for the dragon as he usually gets up before Twilight to do his morning chores. However, the commotion downstairs continued, the sound of hoofsteps rapidly clopping against the hardwood floor overcoming every other noise. As Twilight got up, she also heard Spike's voice downstairs, and he sounded... worried. Though muffled through the walls, Twilight could clearly hear the dragon frantically talking aloud, his voice clearly distraught.
Is there some other pony in the library? Twilight thought to herself. What could they be doing that would cause so much of a ruckus? Finally, Twilight quickly brushed her mane with her comb and headed towards the door, using her magic to open it for her. She only took a few steps out before she was able to see exactly what was going on. There was a pony in the middle of the library frantically running from bookshelf to bookshelf as if searching for something. This pony had a purple fur with a green mane and green tail. Also, there were a pair of wings on the newly discovered pegasus, but at the moment their cutie mark was out of sight from Twilight's angle.
Continuing down the stairs, Twilight soon reached the bottom. However, by the time she reached the last step, she noticed that not only was Spike not in the room, but the sound of his voice was coming from the one pony in the room. Twilight stared at the strange pony for a moment, yet before she could speak up herself, the other pony saw her and rushed right over to her.
“TWILIGHT!” The pony cried desperately. “Ya gotta help me! I... I dunno how it happened!”
“W-who are... who are you? You sound just like-”
“Spike! I know, it's me, Spike! I don't know what happened, I just woke up and then all of a sudden I was like this!”
“What? But, I didn't cast anything... do you think that perhaps, wait... what's that?” Twilight looked over Spike's side, getting a view of his flank.
Plastered right in the center of Spike's flank was an all too familiar blue flower. Oh no, the poison joke field from the other day! Spike must have walked straight through it!
“S-spike! I think you accidentally walked through that poison joke patch from yesterday, and it did... this to you!”
“Poison joke!?” Spike asked, looking back at his flank. “So that's what that flower was... oh!” An idea popped in his mind as he remembered the last time poison joke affected Twilight. “I know just what to do!” Spike turned flank and walked straight to a nearby bookshelf, quickly scanning over it and then pulling out a book with his hooves. “Super Naturals! This should have what we need!” Spike set the book on the floor and opened it, scanning through the pages diligently. “Hey Twi', do you still remember some of the ingredients we need?” Spike listened for answer, but got non. “Um, Twilight?”
Behind him, Twilight's body was frozen still as she stared at her assistant, more accurately at his finely toned flank. She bit her lip as Spike turned around, the motion causing his rear to wiggle slightly. A blush appeared on her face as she watched, entranced as she let her eyes fall against the rest of Spike's ponified body before staring right back at his behind.
“That... flank...”
Author Extra: For those of you interested in what went down in the back room of Zecora's home with dragonified Twilight and Spike, you will now have the chance to find out.
I am going to do a Ponibooru clop-write, hosted by me at 9:30 p.m. EST. (eastern US coast time)
The picture will be explicit and you will most likely need a Ponibooru account to see it. Hope you all enjoy! And thanks for reading Pony Scales! :D
Now to work on Lunaughty!
-The picture is up! Clop-Write in this link!
|
bendelsohn
|
990
| 1 |
Applejack,Fluttershy,Princess Celestia,Rarity,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Random,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore
|
Friendship is ninjas
|
When an ancient enemy decends on Equestria, will Applejack and Twilight be apple to fight it off?
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complete
| 11 | 4 |
<p>Twilight and Applejack must work together to defeat an ancient foe! But more importantly, can they survive each other? With only two of them and lots of adversaries, how long can they last? (if you are not able to guess, this is a trollfic.Hoping I don't get eaten, but it seems as though the trollfic ban has passed.)</p>
|
teen
|
2011-09-23T05:20:19+00:00
|
2011-09-23T05:20:19+00:00
| 1,580 |
Friendship is ninjas
By Bendelsohn
Chapter 1: eetchi
It was anice day.
Twilight was very tired. She had been training all day in the yard because she had a black belt in 19 martal arts and super-blck belts in 12 more. She was so tired that she almost stopped training because she wanted to but if she did celesta would be all mad so she didn’t. She was just finishing her pony-justsu technices when rainbowDash appeared.
“Come with me Twilight I have something important to tell you.”
So she went with rainbow das and Twilight used her magix to grew wings and flew away with her.
When They got there celeshtia was angry like >:(. She said “Twilight my moist faithful student there are ninjas in enqurestria and I need you to stop them and stuff because you are the best at fighting ninjas”
“but I don’t want to im scared!” said Twiliht because she did not like to fight,
yo have no choice” said celestoa “and don’t be scares because you will have appljack to help you.
So Twiligt and applekaj went to fight the ninjas. It was a long road to find the ninjas that was very dangerous but it was ok because they were the best at fihting and beat up all the danger. Whem they gots to the end they didt see the ninjas.
“wher are ninjas!” said applejack.
“twilight was quiet but then she siad they are everywhere but we cant see them becuase they are ninja”
Suddenly a million ninjas appeered in front of them.
Twlight said they were hiding in the trees the whole time I knew it!
And so there was fighting and applejack used her apple kung-fu to kick the ninjas with apples and twilightused magic laser beams to shoot the ninjas dead.
“THARS TO MANY OF THEN!” saiid applejack “USE YER SPECIL TEQNIQUE!”
ANd twilight said ok and began ther move. Magical energy went up to her horn as she charged her laser. Thwere was energy everywhare and it was super bright! there was so much energby that if twilight had been waring a shirt it would have exploded but she wasn’t because she is a pony who doesn’t usually wear clothes!
Everypony stopped fighting to see the amaazing magic beeing made by twilight! A big ball made itself on her horn thta looked like a ball of yarn or a beach ball only made of magic!
She said an incantation ”shiani, shitanomigi, migini, AH!”
and then she either said shoop da woop or kamahameha but I can’t decide which and then she fired the biggest lazer applejAck had ever seen . And then She killed all the ninjs. But applejack got hit by the really big laser beam too because she was fighing the ninjas and couldnt get out of the way. Twolight was sad and felt really bad and rushed over to see if she was ok.
“go on without mee” said Applejack as she died from laser burns.
But then twilight used a revive spell and applejack was alive again and this made her very happy so she thanked twiliht and they left to see selectia again.
Chapter 2: nih
“Why didnt you tell us how many nijas therewere?” asked twilight angeredly.
“I didn’t know! all I knew was that there was ninjas I did not knoe how many!”
“That’s not a good excuse said Twilight. We deservd to know and applejack almost died and it would have been really bad because of you.”
And Celestia knew she was right. She sighed and said “I’m very sorry twilight but thwre are more ninjas to kill. I’m proud of yu for fighting all those ninjas before so you can have something to help you as a gift.” And she gave her a swornd. The sword looked very very old and smelled like magic.
“This as an old magic ssword. It will help you fight ninjas now go and do it! For Equestria!”
So she took the sword and put it in her saddle bag. The she went off with apple jack to fight more ninjas.
Chapter 3 san
Twilight and applejack fought a lot of ninjas together and they becam very good friends. But applejack never really trusted twilighjt because she killed her and she was still mad. So one dya she told twilight because she is an honest pony and deosn’t like to keep secrets.
“Twataght, I’m still mad at you for killing me even though you brought me back to life. It hurt a lot and yo could have waited for me to stop fighting but you didn’t and you should apologize please.”
This maed twilight very angry, almost ads much as celestia was like >:(.
“Applejack you are all selfish and stuff for wanting me to apologize for killing you and im not sure you are my friend anymore.”
And applejack knew she was right so she said sorry and continued. But then more ninjas came and they had to fight. It was a long fight that made them very tired after it but it was better than last time because nopony died. Twilight got tu use her sword and it was very good at killing things with its ancient magicnaess.
Just as they thought the battle was over, the ninja boss came and said “I am ninja boss man! Prepare to diee!”
Chapter 4: yon shi or something
Te ninja boss man was really really stong. He had lots of aror and it hurt when applejack kicked him so she couldn’t. And twilight tried to use he massive laser attack. But the ninja boss had to much armor and it didn’t hurt huim so they didn’t know what to do. Then Twilihgt saw an opening in his armor under his neck and she said “I kno what to do!” So shetook out the magic sword and ran at him. But he was really really fast and he got out of the way and broke the sword by punching it really hard.
“Haha! I have break your sword of ancient magicness! now I am unstoable!”
but Twilight had another the hole time so it was ok. Then he punched applejack in the face so hard it broked her neck and applejack was die.
“NOOOOOOO APPLJEACK :O!” cried Twilight as applejack died in front of her.
That made Twilight more angry than she had ever been like D:<! She said “I WILL KILL YIU A MILLION TIMES IN YOUR FACE YOU BASTERD!” And then she got really powerful and there was magic all around her! She ran into the ninja boss at speed of light and stabed him 500000 times in the neck where the hole was and he died.
Then Twilight ran over to Applejack. She tried to do a revive spell but she coudln’t becaue She was out of mana.s
“I’m so sory I ever doubted that you were my friend and this is my fault!” So twilight cried for 2 days but then got beter. And by then aplejack body had rotted so she couldn’t bring her back and even though twilight stopped crying she was still really sad.
Chapter 5: goe
Applejack’s funeral was very sad because it was raining and Twilight’s friend applejack wasn’t there because she was dead, Twilight was trying not to cry again very hard. Fluttershy was crying in corner and spoike was getting high from drug to cope wih his sadness. Everpone was very :(.
Just as they were about to burry Applejack somepony saw her move
“oh my celestia applejack is a zombie!”
And then twilight took out her sword and was about to kill zombiejack what suddenly it looked like the zombie ripped off its skins and everyone would have been all grossed out except there was no blood! It was just applejack in a costum that looked lik she hadrotted?
“Ah got yall gud these tahm didn’t ah!”
And this made everyone very happy because she was never actually dead, and they laughed and laughed and lauhed.
chaper 6: epiloge
One day twilight and applejack were very old and good friends. Spike was die because he did to much drugs and fluttershy was twilight’s student in being ninja. Owliscious wanted to be her studnt but coulnt because he is an owl. Flutrshy is doing very well because twilight is old now and that make her good teacher. Rainbow dah is now a meeseger for Celestia and is doing very well. She had tried to be a ninja too but was too loud. She always tryed to fly into danger insted of being stealthy and she got fired but Celestia gave her second shance. Pinkyy pie and the other who were never mentioned but still get in the epilouge are doing some stuff.
“So I’v been thinking applejack...”
“What is it?”
“I relly liek gingers.”
“yes, they are god-like indeed”
And then big mac came over and twilight made bedroom eyes but nothing happene unitl big mac kissed her even though she waz old and ugy. And then appleack kicked her and they all laughed because it was funny.
Pinky pie came and said “Twiligt I have something important to tell you!”
So she went and pinky said “There are more ninja! We must pull yu out of retirement to figt them!”
And twiliht said “nope. My studnt flutershi will taek care of it :) ! Fluttershy! come here!”
And flutterhy came down
“You must take the ancient magic sword and fight the ninjas until you are old liek me! For equestria!”
Sand fluttershy said ok I will do it for equestria!
Just as she was walking away applejack walked up to Twilight.
“Twi, there’s something I’ve been meanin to tell yah’...”
“What is it Applejack?”
Then Applejack bit twilight’s face off and she died in pain and confusion.
Applejack stood over twilight’s body, laughing quietly.
“hahaha... I was... A ZOMBIE NINJA THE WHOLE TIME!”
And applejack went off to begin her reign of terror once more.
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