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ratmage99
|
1025
| 1 |
Big Macintosh,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Octavia,Original Character,Owlowiscious,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Comedy,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Mating Season in Equestria
|
Watch as the dark side of Equestria is revealed when mating season comes around.
|
incomplete
| 145 | 50 |
<p>How does Equestria survive with so few males? How is it that no ponies ever seem to mate? Answers come when mating season leads all of your favorite ponies to receive their call to duty and become the parents of the next generation of ponies. </p><p>Note: While it will be alluded to, this will not be a clopfic and will contain no actual sex scenes. Please do not read this is that is what you are looking for. </p><p>Special note: I have heard about a few people saying that they wanted to write a spin-off or something of the sort. If you do so, I do not care if you credit me as the author, but please at least give me a link so I can see what hell I hath wrought on the fanfiction community.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-11-05T00:07:50+00:00
|
2011-11-05T00:07:50+00:00
| 32,199 |
Thanks to Claudia Donovan for the picture!
--------------------
Twilight Sparkle paced the floor impatiently. "What on earth could Celestia want to meet me for? She's never set up a visit specifically with me." She hastily adjusted a vase sitting near the door. "Spike, are the refreshments ready?"
"You betcha', Twilight. I've got daffodil sandwiches and carrot soup." Spike smiled proudly.
"Thank you very much, Spike. I'm so nervous. Celestia's never come to the library before, and I want everything to go perfect." Spike saluted her, laughing a bit as he ran back upstairs to clean more. Twilight nervously kicked at the floor. A knock came to the door. Twilight jumped, her heart pounding. "Okay, Twilight, you can do this." She whispered to herself. She blew out a puff of air, opening the door.
Celestia stood at the door, her royal mane billowing around her despite the lack of wind. "Hello, my most faithful student." Celestia seemed a bit distracted, looking around the library. Each book was placed perfectly in its own place, and each surface had been meticulously dusted to the point of perfection. "How have you been?"
"I've been lovely, princess. Please, come in." Twilight stepped aside, her hoof held out in welcome.
"Is Spike home?" Celestia asked, walking in.
"Yes, he is. He made some refreshments for us." Twilight smiled. "It isn't what you'd be used to in Canterlot, but I've grown to adore a simple meal during my time here in Ponyville."
"Twilight, I'm afraid I didn't come here to talk. I have... an alternative agenda that I must adhere to." Celestia confessed, guilt flashing in her eyes, along with another emotion Twilight couldn't quite identify. It looked almost like worry, or possibly even fear. Twilight shook her head a bit, convincing herself she was simply imagining it.
"Oh, really?" Twilight asked. "Well, what was it that you needed to discuss?"
Celestia looked to the ground, frowning. "Twilight, do you know what next month is?"
"Of course I do, princess, it's going to be mating season." Twilight thought for a moment. "Not that I'm going to participate." She added quickly, a light blush gracing her cheeks.
"Twilight, do you know how mating season works?" Celestia asked.
"Yeah, my parents showed me the book, or rather, I found it." Twilight shrugged a bit. She was slightly confused as to the origin of these questions. "It doesn't appeal to me much."
"I didn't think it would." Celestia sighed a bit. "That makes this a lot harder."
"Makes what harder?" Twilight cocked her head to the side.
"Twilight... Equestria is dying." Celestia frowned.
"What are you talking about? Everypony's happy, the economy's never been better, not to mention that there haven't been any major disasters since Nightmare Moon's defeat, everything's great!" Twilight smiled brightly.
"Twilight, surely you've noticed how few males there are. Ponies aren't breeding like they should be, and Equestria cannot survive without new foals each year." Celestia sighed a bit. "Twilight, you are going to have to mate this year."
Twilight's mouth opened in shock. "What?! B-but princess, how am I going to find a male that quickly?! How can I possibly do... that? It's so disgusting!" Twilight looked at the princess, her eyes full of fear and, for the first time ever, anger towards her teacher. "Please, don't make me do this."
Celestia turned from Twilight, looking to the ground. "Twilight, I am sorry, but in order for Equestria to survive, you must come to Canterlot. There is a male there that has been chosen for his fertility, and he shall be your mate."
"This is messed up, princess! You can't expect me to do this! And why have none of my books said anything about this?!" Twilight was fuming, unable to believe that this was the same Celestia that once taught her, that was practically her mother, that she had once called friend.
"We have had to keep it a secret, or else we'd risk ponies moving away to the Zebra kingdom to avoid it." Celestia sighed. "I know I am asking a lot of you, but you are the only pony I am giving a choice to, because I know you'll make the right decision."
"Princess, this is a big decision for me to make..." Twilight sighed, pacing the floor once again.
"Equestria needs you, Twilight. I need you." Celestia pleaded.
Twilight allowed herself to think long and hard about it. After all, being out of commission for a few months, not to mention that she would have to actually mate first, this was looking bad. But it was for Equestria, and maybe she could use it to her advantage. "I'll do it, but on one condition." Twilight finally said.
"Of course, my faithful student, what is your request?" Celestia sighed with relief.
"I want to choose the male." Twilight bit her lip, hoping her plan would work.
"Oh." Celestia seemed a bit taken aback. She smirked a small bit. "Did you have anypony in mind?"
"Well...." Twilight blushed a bit. "There is somepony."
"My, my, Twilight, you surprise me." Celestia chuckled. "Who would you like?"
Twilight looked down, mumbling something unintelligible.
"What was that, dear?" Celestia asked.
"Big Macintosh." Twilight blushed.
"Oh, really? The red stallion who works at Sweet Apple Acres?" Celestia raised an eyebrow.
"Yes." Twilight shrugged a bit, blushing. "He's cute."
"I will have it set up." Celestia smiled a bit, relieved that her student accepted.
"When will I have to go?" Twilight asked.
"You will have a week to prepare, then you will come to Canterlot for a week, during which time... well, you've read the book." Celestia chuckled softly.
Twilight nodded. "I will see you then."
"Farewell, Twilight." Celestia smiled. She walked out the door, her chariot taking her high into the sky and out of view.
-------------------
The entire week, Twilight refused to leave her home, and instead read every romance book she could get her hooves on, trying to learn the secret art of seduction. Spike wasn't helpful at all, because he just laughed each time she'd practice. The day finally came, the first day of mating season. Twilight nervously stamped her hoof, waiting for the time to come when the chariot would arrive to take her and Big Macintosh to Canterlot. A knock came at the door, causing Twilight to jump. She panted. "Okay, okay, you can do this Twilight." She took in a deep breath, opening the door. One of the princess's guards was standing at the door, his armor flashing in the midday sun.
"Miss Sparkle, I am here to escort you to Canterlot." The guard told her.
"Of course, sir." Twilight looked over his shoulder, a large red stallion already in the chariot. He looked very confused. "Hey, Big Macintosh!" She called out to him in a small moment of bravery.
The stallion looked to her. "Oh, hey Twilight, y'all know what's going on here?"
"Um..... no." Twilight blushed a bit. She climbed into the chariot with him.
The guard hooked the harness to himself and began to fly towards Canterlot.
Twilight shuffled her feet awkwardly, unsure of what to say. "So..... how is it going?" Smooth, Twilight, She thought. Real smooth.
"Fine, I suppose." Big Macintosh shrugged a bit. "A bit behind schedule on the apple buckin', but we'll make it, we always do."
"How interesting." Twilight smiled, a lump settling in her throat.
"You alright, Twilight?" Big Macintosh turned to her. "Ya' seem a bit distracted."
"Yes, of course I'm fine, why wouldn't I be fine? Everything's fine." Twilight said quickly.
Big Macintosh looked at her strangely for a second, but eventually just shrugged and looked off the side of the chariot.
Twilight remained silent for the rest of the journey, not wanting to say something stupid.
The two landed and were brought into a large, pure white chamber that felt just as much like home to Twilight as the Ponyville library. They had arrived at the castle's throne room, the room where Twilight used to give her reports to Celestia from. Large, intimidating marble columns stood like soldiers on either side of the main walkway designated by a red, velvet carpet. The two stopped directly in front of Princess Celestia. Big Macintosh immediately bowed.
"Mister Macintosh, rise, for today, you are more important than I." Celestia gave him a welcoming smile.
Big Macintosh slowly rose, very confused. "What in the hay is going on here?"
"Twilight hasn't told you?" Celestia asked.
"No, princess, I don't know what's going on either." Twilight winked at the princess, hoping she'd get the hint.
"Oh... Of course." Celestia smirked. "Mating season has begun, and you two have been chosen as one of the couples that will be mating this year."
"Matin'? Me? With Twilight? No can do, missy." Big Macintosh shook his head.
Twilight's heart dropped to her stomach. "W-what? Why not? What's wrong with me?!" She started to get mad.
"It's nothing against y'all, Twilight, but I couldn't possibly take advantage of ya' like that, even by order of the princess." Big Macintosh bowed to the princess again. "I'm afraid I'll have to decline."
"No, you don't have to, you wouldn't be taking advantage!" Twilight pleaded. "It's for Equestria!"
"You feelin' all right, Twilight? Y'all don't seem ta' be actin' like yerself." Big Macintosh furrowed his brow.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Twilight sighed. "I'm sorry, princess."
"I'm sorry as well." Celestia looked at the two, her eyes filled with yet another emotion Twilight had never seen the princess wear. This time, however, the emotion seemed to be malice. "But you will have to do this, it is too late for us to find anypony else."
"How can you make us?" Big Macintosh asked a bit angrily.
"Guards." Celestia turned to the two guards that were by her side. "Take them to The Mating Chambers."
"Princess..." Twilight looked to her. "You don't have to do this, I'll pick a different male."
"Wait, pick?" Big Macintosh blinked.
"I'm sorry, it is too late." Celestia turned from Twilight, turning her nose up at the unicorn.
The guards dragged Twilight and Big Macintosh into a small room made of stone. The stones were all pristine, and it appeared that this room had been deserted for a number of years, if it had indeed ever been used. A small cloth cot was the only furniture to be found in the depressing room, and even that was ripped. "You won't be coming out until the deed is done." One armored guard said.
"This is crazy!" Big Macintosh said angrily.
"Y-yeah... how dare they." Twilight said sadly. She laid in the corner, staring at the wall.
"Twilight, what did you mean you'd pick a different male?" Big Macintosh asked.
"I meant... well, I... I was..." Twilight sighed. "Oh, well, you would have found out eventually. The princess let me choose who my mate would be. I chose you."
"Why on earth did you choose me?!" Big Macintosh asked, his eyes wide with surprise.
"Because... because I like you, okay?" Twilight stared even more intensely at the wall, wishing she had never spoken.
Big Macintosh blinked a few times. "Really?"
"Yes..." Twilight said quietly. "I don't really know why, but... you make me feel all... weird."
"Twilight..." Big Macintosh seemed unsure of what to say. "You really wanted to mate... with me?"
"I did." Twilight sighed. "I'm sorry to have forced you into this situation."
"Don't be." Big Macintosh smiled at her. "After all, mating with a pony like you, as long as she's willin', well, that would be just fine for me."
Twilight's ears perked up a bit. "But, didn't you just say..."
"I said I wouldn't mate with a lady that was only doing it because the princess said so." Big Macintosh smiled at her. "I'm a bit sweet on you myself."
"Really?" Twilight's voice cracked, causing her to blush.
Big Macintosh smiled, licking her cheek. "Of course."
Twilight's face exploded in blush. She turned and looked at Big Macintosh, looking into his eyes. His eyes were staring gently into hers. She shook a bit, nervous. "A-are you sure you want to do this?"
Big Macintosh shrugged a bit. "If you are. It seems like the only way out of here anyways."
"Yes, I am." Twilight blushed a bit. "But... I don't really know how..."
Big Macintosh blushed a bit, although with his red coat, it was nearly invisible. "Me either. Ah' mean, I've watched while the animals have done... it... but I don't think that I could ever... do it... Ah may seem all big and confident, but between the two of us, I'm actually pretty shy."
Twilight sidled closer to the stallion, nuzzling his neck. "We have a week, we might as well start here."
"I don't know if I can do this... you are one of my sister's closest friends." Big Macintosh frowned a bit.
"Not tonight." Twilight shrugged a bit. "Tonight I am your mate. Nothing more, nothing less."
Big Macintosh looked at her, his eyes meeting with hers. "But you are more."
"More?" She asked.
"There is no such thing as just a mate. If we do this thing, we'll be together forever, whether we like it or not." Big Macintosh looked to her. "Are you sure I'm the stallion you want to spend the rest of your life with?"
Twilight smiled." I am more sure of this than anything I've ever done." She gently kissed his cheek.
Big Macintosh blushed a bit, putting his hoof around her. "Twilight, I think this may be the beginning of a beautiful relationship."
"I hope so." Twilight nuzzled his neck, smiling happily.
"Eeyup." Big Macintosh smiled, wrapping his neck around hers in an embrace. "I do too."
Twilight had a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she should be more worried about Celestia's behavior, but right now, all she wanted to do was lay on the cold, dank floor of the prison she was locked in and cuddle with the mate that she had basically caused to be kidnapped. And she had never felt more happy.
|
ratmage99
|
1025
| 2 |
Big Macintosh,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Octavia,Original Character,Owlowiscious,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Comedy,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Mating Season in Equestria
|
Watch as the dark side of Equestria is revealed when mating season comes around.
|
incomplete
| 145 | 50 |
<p>How does Equestria survive with so few males? How is it that no ponies ever seem to mate? Answers come when mating season leads all of your favorite ponies to receive their call to duty and become the parents of the next generation of ponies. </p><p>Note: While it will be alluded to, this will not be a clopfic and will contain no actual sex scenes. Please do not read this is that is what you are looking for. </p><p>Special note: I have heard about a few people saying that they wanted to write a spin-off or something of the sort. If you do so, I do not care if you credit me as the author, but please at least give me a link so I can see what hell I hath wrought on the fanfiction community.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-10-04T02:17:10+00:00
|
2011-10-04T02:17:10+00:00
| 20,927 |
Spike sighed peacefully, laying back in his bed. "I wonder how Twilight's date is going? It's going to be so boring this week without her to clean up after." Spike felt a soreness in his stomach that was completely foreign to him. He scratched his scaly skin, thinking hard. "I wonder if I'll ever participate in mating season." He didn't know exactly who he was talking to, but the talking made him feel a bit less lonely with only him and Owlowicious, an owl that never seemed all that fond of conversation. "I suppose I'd need to find a female dragon first, because I doubt I'd be able to participate with Rarity."
"Who?" Owlowicious cocked his head, staring at Spike from its perch on the desk.
"I don't know, I've never even met a female dragon." Spike shrugged. "I'm not even sure if there's any left." It hurt his heart to say it, but many times he had doubted the existence of female dragons. He had often found himself having nightmares about being the last of his kind in all of Equestria. He sighed. "I wonder what it would be like to have a mate..." He closed his eyes, smiling a bit as he imagined it.
-------------------------------
Spike walked into a large, circular room made entirely of marble. He hung his cape on a hat rack near the door. "Honey, I'm home!" He called out, his voice unchanged by time. A stunning blue dragon walked into the room, her scales shimmering in the light. She smiled at him, her green eyes reflecting the light perfectly.
"Hello, darling." The dragon's voice was smooth as silk, and flowed into Spike's ears like the ocean water gently lapping the shore. "How was your day?"
"Great." Spike grinned. "Queen Twilight and King Macintosh had me running errands all day, so I got to say I was visiting shops by royal mandate! Well, the ones I fit inside, at least." He laughed, stretching out on the large green couch that lay near the fireplace. "But boy, am I beat."
The female dragon smiled kindly. "Well, dinner will be ready soon. How about you take a nap and I'll wake you when its ready?"
"Sounds good." Spike yawned widely, stretching out. He dozed off almost immediately. A loud scream woke him up. He immediately jumped to his feet, the marble cracking under the instant pressure change. He ran to the kitchen where there was a pan on the floor and a small window open. He poked his head out of the window, spotting a large red dragon flying away, Spike's sapphire mate in tow.
Spike gasped. "Nefari! My old nemesis!" He burst through the wall, flying after the dragon at breakneck speeds. He punched the dragon square in the jaw, causing him to drop Spike's mate. "Rarity!" Spike cried out, flying down and catching her in midair, carrying her safely down to land. "Let that be a lesson to you, Nefari, don't mess with Spike and Rarity!" The red dragon nodded quickly, flying away in fear.
"Oh, Spike, you're my hero!" The blue dragon wrapped her arms around him, kissing him repeatedly.
"All in a day's work." Spike smiled proudly, the scene fading to black.
---------------------
Spike opened his eyes, yawning. The sun had gone down and Spike was sitting in complete darkness. He stretched, lighting a candle with his firey breath. He looked to the nightstand, a picture of Rarity glistening in the dim light of the candle. He smiled a bit. "Someday, Rarity, someday I'll be a dragon worthy of your attention. Someday I'll be Super Spike!"
Owlowicious looked at him, a confused look on his face. "Who?" He asked.
The End of Spike's Ballad
|
ratmage99
|
1025
| 3 |
Big Macintosh,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Octavia,Original Character,Owlowiscious,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Comedy,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Mating Season in Equestria
|
Watch as the dark side of Equestria is revealed when mating season comes around.
|
incomplete
| 145 | 50 |
<p>How does Equestria survive with so few males? How is it that no ponies ever seem to mate? Answers come when mating season leads all of your favorite ponies to receive their call to duty and become the parents of the next generation of ponies. </p><p>Note: While it will be alluded to, this will not be a clopfic and will contain no actual sex scenes. Please do not read this is that is what you are looking for. </p><p>Special note: I have heard about a few people saying that they wanted to write a spin-off or something of the sort. If you do so, I do not care if you credit me as the author, but please at least give me a link so I can see what hell I hath wrought on the fanfiction community.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-10-04T02:18:35+00:00
|
2011-10-04T02:18:35+00:00
| 20,138 |
"Sister, you can't do this!" Luna begged.
Celestia looked down on Luna, her eyes dark, with no emotion showing. "I must do what must be done."
"But there must be some other way! Some other pony!" Luna pleaded.
"You know you are the only alicorn other than me, and only an alicorn can birth an alicorn." Celestia turned from her sister.
"But why do we need another alicorn?" Luna asked. "Aren't we enough?" She reached out to her sister. "Please, sister, don't make me do this!"
Celestia kicked her sister away. "Guards." She called. "Take her to the mating chamber."
"No! Sister! Please!" Luna screamed as two guards dragged her to a dank, empty cell, the only water in the room being a large puddle in the corner, water running down the wall, the singular drops joining together. It was strangely parallel to what was supposed to happen in this room. The cell was small, only about five square feet, and the ceiling was only about five feet high. A small cot adorned the opposite corner, one of the legs bent inward. All over, it was the most depressing room that Luna had ever been in. She was thrown into the cell, a magic absorbing bracelet being affixed to her leg. She shook, terrified of what may happen next. The cell door was opened, a male being thrown in.
"You aren't coming out until you've done the deed!" The guard called, slamming the door.
Luna looked to the male, hoping at least that he would be gentle about it. She gasped as she saw the pony in the cell with her. An hourglass adorned his caramel brown flank, his chestnut mane appeared tattered, as if he had been through quite a rough spot before ending up here. His side was bruised, and he had a black eye. He had clearly been through hell.
"What in Equestria happened to you?" She asked.
"Celestia said something about me being honored, and that I would be mating with royalty... do you think she was coming on to me?"
Luna stared at him in disbelief. "Do you know who I am?"
"No, why, are you somepony important?" He gasped. "I know, you must be Sapphire Shores, right?"
"No." Luna's jaw dropped a bit, unaware that there was anypony who was unaware of her existance. "Why'd they beat you up?"
"Oh, I refused to do the whole mating thing. Can you keep a secret?" He asked.
"Of course." Luna said, a bit confused.
"I don't know what mating is." The pony admitted. "Pathetic, right?"
"Of course not." Luna smiled kindly, relieved that this male wasn't an adversary, but perhaps a future ally. "You're young, you have no reason to mate. What is your name?"
"Oh, me? I'm Timepiece. Dumb name, I know." The stallion shrugged, his scrawny shoulders raising rhythmically.
"I think it's a nice name." Luna smiled at him. I have to get him on my side. She thought. And kindness will surely be the way.
"Gee, thanks!" Timepiece smiled at her. "That means a lot coming from you, Miss Shores."
"I am not Sapphire Shores." Luna said patiently. "I am Luna, sister of Celestia."
"Sister? Then that would make you..... and I was supposed to...... yikes." Timepiece swallowed. "I'm sorry, I promise I wasn't going to try anything, I swear!"
"I know, I know. You seem to be a gentlehearted pony, just like my sister... or like my sister used to be." Luna frowned, looking at the ground.
"Well, what are we going to do? We can't get out of here until we do... that... whatever it is." Timepiece asked.
Luna smiled a bit at him. "You ever overthrow a princess?"
"Overthrow a princess? Certainly not!" Timepiece looked shocked. "How could you even propose such a thing?"
"Look, I don't like the idea either, but I'm afraid that my sister... well, she's not my sister anymore..." Luna closed her eyes tight, not wanting to think about her time as Nightmare Moon.
"Well, who do you propose would take over?" Timepiece asked. Once he had calmed down, he seemed quite intelligent.
"I'm not sure yet. I'm sure not going to do it, but the only other pony that could ever possibly be powerful enough to take over raising and lowing the sun and moon would be her assistant, and she may be a bit difficult to convert..." Luna thought hard, trying to come up with a plan.
"I'm in." Timepiece nodded.
"Even before I came up with a plan?" Luna asked, a bit surprised.
"Sure." Timepiece shrugged. "You seem to be pretty nice."
"Thank you." Luna smiled. Thank goodness that was so easy. She thought. I was expecting that I'd have to come up with the plan first...
"How long has this whole 'mate or die' thing been in effect, anyways?" Timepiece asked.
"It's been in the lawbooks for centuries in the unlikely event that war is imminent and more males are needed, but from what I've seen, there's nopony wanting to declare war on us. I think my sister is mad with power." Luna sighed. "I know how it feels. I tried to create eternal night because I was jealous that the ponies were all awake and enjoying the day, while they all slept through my night. In hindsight, I suppose I should have seen that the ponies loved my night. The darkness perfect for sleeping, the stars shining bright in the sky. I had it made until... well, let's just say I let my jealousy get the better of me." Tears began to slowly drip down Luna's face, her head hung low in shame.
"Everypony makes mistakes." Timepiece smiled at her. "You seem pretty nice now, and that's really all that matters."
Luna looked up at him. "You really think so?"
"Sure." Timepiece grinned. "You want to help your sister so she doesn't become what you became. That's pretty nice in my book."
Luna smiled. "You know, were the situation different, maybe I wouldn't mind having you for a mate."
"Thanks... I think." Timepiece rubbed the back of his head with a hoof. "So, how are we going to bust out of here, anyways?"
"Now that, I have a plan for." Luna smiled a bit. "I'll tell you all about it later. For now, let's get some shuteye, we'll need as much energy as we can get."
"By the way." Timepiece turned his head to the side a bit. "What is your name?"
Luna smiled a bit, looking to him. "I am Luna. Luna Sparkle."
The End of Luna's Story
|
ratmage99
|
1025
| 4 |
Big Macintosh,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Octavia,Original Character,Owlowiscious,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Comedy,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Mating Season in Equestria
|
Watch as the dark side of Equestria is revealed when mating season comes around.
|
incomplete
| 145 | 50 |
<p>How does Equestria survive with so few males? How is it that no ponies ever seem to mate? Answers come when mating season leads all of your favorite ponies to receive their call to duty and become the parents of the next generation of ponies. </p><p>Note: While it will be alluded to, this will not be a clopfic and will contain no actual sex scenes. Please do not read this is that is what you are looking for. </p><p>Special note: I have heard about a few people saying that they wanted to write a spin-off or something of the sort. If you do so, I do not care if you credit me as the author, but please at least give me a link so I can see what hell I hath wrought on the fanfiction community.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-11-04T16:01:52+00:00
|
2011-11-04T16:01:52+00:00
| 21,823 |
Thanks to Claudia Donovan for the help in making a picture for this, expect more for each chapter as time goes on.
----------------
Rainbow Dash's wings beat against the wind, her mane whipping about her gracefully. She straightened her back, slicing through the air. Her eyes watered, the rushing air stinging the delicate orbs. She shut her eyes for only a moment, but was just long enough for her to lose her focus. She flapped her wings faster, attempting to slow her descent. She spiraled towards the earth, bracing herself for impact. She crashed through a large window, the sound of shattering glass filling the air. She crashed into the ground, her body flailing around as she tried to regain balance. Her back slammed into a wall, knocking all of the air out of her lungs. She coughed, groaning with pain. She looked up, spotting a very angry looking Celestia.
"Oops." Dash laughed a bit. "Sorry about that, princess, guess I landed a little too roughly."
Celestia glared down at her. "How nice of you to drop in." She hissed.
Dash blinked, taken aback by the princess's break from her usual kindness. "Um... Is something wrong, princess?"
"Yes, but it's fine now." Celestia shook her head, trying her best to put on a smile. "In fact, I was just about to go get you."
"Me? But why? Unless..." Rainbow Dash gasped, her mane standing on end. "The Wonderbolts wanted to see me, didn't they?! I'll bet they want me to try out, don't they?! I showed up just in time!"
"Silence!" Celestia barked.
Dash cowered a bit, taken completely by surprise. "You sound like you need a break, princess."
"Guards." Celestia called. "Take this one to chamber Delta Zero."
"B-but princess, isn't that where we're keeping the-" The smaller of the two guards asked.
"Silence!" Celestia stared at the guard. "Or would you rather go in her place?"
"No ma'm." The guard shook with fright.
"Good one, princess. Pretending you're going to throw me into a dungeon. Classic." Rainbow Dash laughed.
Celestia looked coldly down at her. "Take her out of my sight."
Rainbow Dash blinked. "What?" The guards grabbed her arms, dragging her out of the room as Celestia turned from Dash. Rainbow dug her hooves into the ground. "Okay, this isn't funny anymore." She quickly looked from guard to guard. "Hey, I said stop!" She started to flail around wildly. "Let me go, you jerks!" She kicked wildly, unable to wriggle from the guards' strong grip. She sighed, looking around her. They were in a part of the castle she had never seen before. The walls were made of greying stone, rather than the white marble that made up the rest of it. Moss poked through a few cracks in the stone, making it all the more dismal. There wasn't a window in sight, the hall lit only by a few dim torches affixed to the wall. Rainbow Dash struggled and kicked, her hooves making loud clicks on the stony floor. "Who the hell do you two think you are?!" Dash screamed at them.
The guards did not answer her, but just continued their walk. They threw her into a small cell, stone being the only thing this room was made of. There was no bed, no anything. The only sign of difference in the room was a rather large hole in the wall, a large pile of dirt leading up to it. A small torch flickered on the wall just above the hole, giving little light to this dark abyss.
The larger of the two guards turned to the other. "Think he'll come back?"
"He always does. It is just around dinner time, after all." The other guard smirked a bit. "Have fun, little pony." He shut the iron door leading into the cell.
Rainbow Dash sat in the corner, her mouth wide open in disbelief. "The princess is... bad?" She shook her head. "No. There has to be a reason for this." She thought of something that she may have done that would have caused the princess to become angry. A low rumbling echoed throughout the chamber, growing gradually louder. Rainbow looked around, trying to find the source of the sound. Dirt flew through the hole, a familiar snarling passing through Rainbow Dash's ears. She gasped. "Diamond dogs!"
A large beast burst through the wall, growling angrily. "They took my gems! They took the gems! I want them! I need them!" The beast sniffed the air, turning to the corner in which Rainbow Dash had been thrown. "Well, well, well. If it isn't a pony."
"Stay away from me, Diamond Dog!" Rainbow Dash stood, her legs a bit shaky from being dragged all the way here.
"You... you are friends with the whining one!" The Diamond dog gasped. He was brown, his red vest tattered and covered with dirt. His jagged mouth was pulled into a pained expression. "Please tell me the whining one is not here!"
"Rarity?" Rainbow Dash asked. She thought for a moment. "Yeah, she'll be down soon." She said. "You'd better leave. In fact, take me with you."
The Diamond Dog cocked his head in confusion. "Wait just a moment... why would you want to leave as well? Unless she isn't coming."
"You're smarter than you look, Fido." Rainbow Dash smirked.
"No, no, no." The Diamond Dog shook his head. "Fido is my subordinate. I am Rover."
"Oh..." Rainbow Dash blinked, thinking she had been making a joke. "So, what are you in for?"
"I came to your precious princess with a request that she found... unsavory." Rover waved a large paw.
"What was it?" Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes, unsure of what his request could be.
"I asked for a truce." Rover sighed a bit. "For thousands of years the ponies and Diamond Dogs have been fighting, and I want it to end."
"What? You are the ones that aren't content with what you have!" Rainbow Dash said angrily.
"Should we be happy to live out our meager lives underground, unable to see the sun, unable to do anything but look for gems? We don't even have anything to do with them! We only do it because there is nothing else to do!" Rover threw his paws in the air angrily, his knuckles bumping the low ceiling.
"Why do you have to stay underground, anyways?" Rainbow Dash asked, unable to understand why she was listening to anything this thing had to say.
"A thousand years ago, the Diamond Dogs were the princess's royal gem collectors, and in fact, the Diamond Dogs were once ponies." Rover explained.
"That can't be true!" Rainbow Dash's jaw hung in disbelief.
"But it was!" Rover insisted. "All of the gems that were on the princesses' gowns, their crowns, their jewelry, all of it was found by us. We had been nobly performing the job for decades when the shift happened."
"The shift?" Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow.
"The shift in power. Princess Luna took over the castle, and stayed there for months before Celestia banished her." Rover looked sadly to the ground. "The Diamond Dogs stayed loyal to the throne, rather than siding with Celestia."
"This is crazy." Rainbow Dash shook her head.
"By the time that Celestia finally came back to power, Luna had changed us to be more suited to the job of digging for gems. We were turned into this." Rover waved a hand at himself. "Once Celestia came back into power, we served as reminders of her sister's short rule, so she banished us underground. Honestly, we kidnapped your whiny friend because we were jealous. She was everything we should have been, what we used to be. And she was the descendant of the one Diamond Dog that had managed to escape, she was the descendant of the one Diamond Dog that watched as his friends were turned into... into this..." Rover sat on the floor, his head in his hands. "We've terrorized ponies for years because that is our way of getting revenge, our way of feeling like maybe if we can just make life bad enough for ponies... maybe the ponies would know how we felt."
Rainbow Dash stayed silent. She thought for a long time. "If what you're telling me is true..."
"It is." Rover interrupted.
"If what you're telling me is true..." Rainbow Dash continued. "Then maybe I can help you. I kind of have an in with the princess."
"Then how did you end up here?" Rover asked a bit irritably.
"Good point." Rainbow sighed. "How long have you been here, anyways?"
"Weeks, months, who knows? Time means nothing to me, I haven't even seen the sun since the day we took your whiny friend." Rover sighed.
Rainbow put a hoof on the Diamond Dog's shoulder. "I believe you." She said. "I don't know why, but you don't seem so bad anymore. So you used to be a pony?"
"I still am inside. I still feel like my horn should show up any day now." He sighed. "I tried digging out, but something deep inside myself told me to stay." Rover thought. "Maybe we were fated to meet."
Rainbow Dash laughed. "Cool your jets, loverboy."
Rover blushed a bit. "I'm not even a pony, how could I even think about that?"
"Like you said, you're still a pony inside." Rainbow Dash shrugged. "I suppose it's natural. But right now, we have bigger matters to attend to."
"Like?" Rover asked.
"Like how to get you back to your old self." Rainbow Dash said. "I think I'd like to see the master unicorn that was reduced to a sniveling puppy. I hope he's cute."
Rover laughed a bit, his raspy voice echoing throughout the small room. "Well, I hope this is your old self, because it is pretty cute itself."
Rainbow Dash felt her cheeks redden a bit. "Wow, that's the first time I've ever heard that."
Rover chuckled. "That's surprising."
"Anyways, if you're done hitting on me, I'd like to get out of here." Rainbow quickly changed the subject.
"Well, I had more, but as for right now, you're right. This hole goes directly next to some of the other chambers. What do you say about a good, old-fashioned riot?" Rover smiled maliciously.
"Sounds perfect." Rainbow Dash smiled. "And after that..." She clicked her hooves together evilly. "What say we pay a visit to the princess? I believe she has quite a bit of explaining to do."
"I believe she does." Rover laughed. "Alright, I'm going to finish my tunnel, they'll expect me to, anyways, but I'm not sure they expect me to gather up other prisoners."
"I sure hope not." Rainbow Dash sighed a bit.
"Oh, don't worry, I'm sure that we'll get out fine." Rover smiled at her.
Rainbow Dash looked at him. Strangely, his gravelly voice offered her reassurance, and a feeling she'd never felt before. She kissed him gently on the cheek. "Good luck."
"With that..." Rover smiled. "I don't think I'll need it." He hopped into the hole, humming as dirt was flung into the cell.
Rainbow Dash put a hoof over her mouth to block the dirt from getting in. She smiled a bit. She didn't know what this strange new emotion was, but she liked it. "A lot." She whispered quietly to herself, feeling her heart flutter a bit.
The End of Rainbow Dash's Story
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ratmage99
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1025
| 5 |
Big Macintosh,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Octavia,Original Character,Owlowiscious,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Comedy,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
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Mating Season in Equestria
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Watch as the dark side of Equestria is revealed when mating season comes around.
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incomplete
| 145 | 50 |
<p>How does Equestria survive with so few males? How is it that no ponies ever seem to mate? Answers come when mating season leads all of your favorite ponies to receive their call to duty and become the parents of the next generation of ponies. </p><p>Note: While it will be alluded to, this will not be a clopfic and will contain no actual sex scenes. Please do not read this is that is what you are looking for. </p><p>Special note: I have heard about a few people saying that they wanted to write a spin-off or something of the sort. If you do so, I do not care if you credit me as the author, but please at least give me a link so I can see what hell I hath wrought on the fanfiction community.</p>
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teen
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2011-11-05T00:06:27+00:00
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2011-11-05T00:06:27+00:00
| 18,720 |
Thanks once again to Claudia Donovan for the picture!
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Scootaloo grinned, the feeling of weightlessness enthralling her. She flapped her small wings, the clouds whisping about her face, small drops of dew gracing her eyelashes. Today was a very important day for her.Today was the day she would get her cutie mark. She could feel it. She was going to spend the whole day with Rainbow Dash, learning spins, flips, all sorts of tricks. She knew that she would learn a lot. After all, Dash was the one who taught her how to fly. She landed on the cloud that housed Rainbow Dash's dwelling. She happily trotted over to the door, humming the Cutie Mark Crusaders theme off key as she knocked on the door. She frowned when no answer came, knocking again.
"Hello?" Scootaloo called out, confused at Rainbow's absence. She peered into the window, seeing only darkness and the reflection of her own disappointed face. She thought for a moment, trying to figure out where Rainbow could be. when it came to flying, Rainbow was never late. Scootaloo gasped, realization flooder her mind. "Cloudsdale! Of course! She's in Cloudsdale!" She smiled, proud of her own powers of deduction. She fluttered her wings, slowly lifting off of the cloud. She placed both of her front hooves in front of her, flattening her body as much as possible, just as Rainbow Dash had taught her. She flapped her wings as hard as she could, speeding through the air towards Cloudsdale, home of the pegasus ponies.
Scootaloo closed her eyes, breathing in the crisp, fresh air, thoroughly enjoying the feeling of being so high up and completely alone. A large cloud loomed in the distance, and Scootaloo instantly recognized it. The pillars, the stadium, the cloudy homes, this was Cloudsdale. However, something seemed different about it today. Honestly, she had only been to Cloudsdale once before, and that was only because Rainbow Dash had an errand to run during one of their flying lessons and had asked Scootaloo to do it instead. But now, an air of worry surrounded the town, the air feeling somehow thick even though it was so high up. The houses were all shut tight. The windows were closed, the doors shut, giving the impression that each house was its own world, shut off from everything around them. Scootaloo landed on one of the streets that ran towards the town's main hub, the colosseum.
"Hello?" The tiny orange pegasus called out, hoping that something hadn't gone wrong.
"Halt!" An armored pegasus landed in front of her, seeming to come from nowhere. "State your business here." The pegasus guard held his wings out, his impressive wingspan completely blocking the road. His coat was jet black, causing an unusual contrast with the milky white armor he wore. His eyes were a light shade of orange, and contained no hint of any emotion.
Scootaloo had an uneasy feeling in her stomach. She swallowed, trying to get the lump out of her throat. "I'm looking for Rainbow Dash." She said, hoping that she could just find Rainbow and leave. This town was making her nervous for some reason.
"Rainbow Dash? She is not allowed in Cloudsdale anymore." The guard glared down at Scootaloo, whose face was frozen with shock. "What was your business with her?"
"S-she was supposed to give me flying lessons today..." Scootaloo backed up a bit, feeling terrified for the first time since her run-in with the cockatrice. "W-what did she do wrong?"
"She is wanted for treason for siding with Celestia." The guard answered stiffly.
"Siding with Celestia? Of course she would, isn't Celestia the princess?" Scootaloo asked.
"Maybe to those on the ground. Have you not heard? As of three days ago, Cloudsdale has officially seceded from Equestria. Welcome to the country of Cloudsdale." The guard smiled at her, appearing to be trying to look friendly, but he obviously was not at all used to being friendly at all.
"I don't get it, Princess Celestia always cared about Cloudsdale as much as she cared about any other town, why would you guys secede?" Scootaloo demanded.
The guard narrowed his eyes at her. "She cared? Ha! She only cared about Cloudsdale stadium. She couldn't care less about the ponies living here. We have ponies living on the streets, we have no way of growing any crops, many of our ponies are starving, and she has done nothing to fix it!"
"But why are you so mad at her? If you've seceded, then isn't everything okay now?" Scootaloo asked, feeling very grown up for talking about it.
"The Equestrians have let us suffer in silence for too long. Tell me, have you ever heard of a magical substance known as boom powder?" The guard smirked.
Scootaloo shook her head, wondering what such a thing could even be.
"Boom powder is something the zebra shared with us. If it is mixed just right... let's just say Equestria and its earth ponies won't be a problem anymore." The guard laughed heartily.
Scootaloo backed away, her mouth hanging open. "B-but my friends... what about them?"
"If they are earth ponies, they will perish. So is the price of the freedom of pegasi." The guard smirked. "Besides, why would you want to be friends with filthy earth ponies anyways?"
"They are not filthy!" Scootaloo was fuming. "They're ponies just like you and me, it's not their fault that your life sucks up here!" She flapped her wings, floating into the air. "I hope I never come back to this stupid town!" She zoomed towards the ground, rushing to Ponyville. She had to warn somepony, she had to save Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, she had to save her friends. Scootaloo rushed towards Carousel Boutique, not used to seeing it from above. She screamed as she crashed through the window, landing on a pile of mannequins.
"Oh, dear, I see Rainbow Dash has been teaching you to fly." Rarity sighed.
"Oops, sorry Rarity." Scootaloo looked at the floor, embarrassed.
"Oh, don't worry about it." She shook her head, putting on a smile. "When you're friends with Rainbow Dash, you get used to this kind of thing."
"Is Sweetie Belle here?" Scootaloo asked.
"Yes, she's in the main foyer, helping me attract customers." Rarity told her.
"The what?" Scootaloo blinked.
"That big room with the glass cases." Rarity explained.
"Oh, right." Scootaloo laughed a bit. She walked out to the big room, spotting Sweetie Belle looking very sullen and standing behind a sign. "Sweetie Belle!"
The white unicorn perked up, looking around. "Scootaloo!" She grinned from ear to ear, tackling her friend.
Scootaloo laughed. "Hey, do you know where Apple Bloom is? We have some official Cutie Mark Crusader's business!"
"Yeah! She's at Sugar Cube Corner baking, come on!" Sweetie Belle grinned. "Siiiiiiiiiiis!" She called out. "We're going to Sugar Cube Corner!"
"Just don't bother Pinkie Pie too much!" Rarity called back to them.
"We won't!" The two said in unison, rolling their eyes. They hopped out of the shop, wandering towards Sugar Cube corner. It was a Saturday, so there were ponies all over bustling about their business. Scootaloo had never seen the town so crowded. The houses looked far different now that she was on the ground. While in the air, they looked so small, as if she could crush them with a single hoof. Now they towered over her, even though she had grown a bit over the summer. Rainbow Dash was even going to let her help with Winter Wrap-up this year... if it ever came. That was really the scariest thought for Scootaloo. So many experiences she'd never got to have with her friends... so many things that would have to be left unsaid... She shook her head a bit, not letting herself think that way. She was going to stop this and save Equestria, she'd have to. She looked over at Sweetie Belle, sighing sadly, the though of losing her friend too much for her. Scootaloo crashed into a door, seeing stars.
"Woah!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." Scootaloo shook her head, feeling slightly dizzy. "Should've watched where I was going." She laughed a little bit.
"Well, we're here." Sweetie Belle looked up, the large confectionery shop looming over her head. The chocolate roof laced with icing had always entertained Scootaloo, reminding her of the story her mother used to tell her of the two foals that got lost in the woods. The colorful flowers surrounding the shop gave off a pleasant scent, while not covering up the delicious scent of the various cakes, breads, and candies being made in the store. Scootaloo's favorite part of the entire shop, however, was the large cupcake on the roof, three candles protruding from it that strangely never went out. Scootaloo opened the door, the strong scent of burning cupcakes immediately assaulting her nostrils. She coughed. "Hello?" The room was filled with thick black smoke.
"Hi!" The voice of Pinkie Pie rang out, the smoke clearing a bit. "Doesn't it smell yummy?"
"No." Scootaloo said, wrinkling her nose. "It smells awful. Is Apple Bloom here?"
"Yeah! She made this batch all by herself!" Pinkie Pie giggled.
"I figured." Scootaloo muttered.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Apple Bloom stepped out from the smoke, her eyes watering a bit.
"I think you burned the cupcakes." Scootaloo said.
"I just... changed the recipe a bit, that's all." Apple Bloom said defensively.
"Seems like you changed it to make crapcakes." Scootaloo said mockingly.
"You're just jealous because I'm going to get my cutie mark before you." Apple Bloom smirked.
"Are not!" Scootaloo insisted. "I was going to get mine today, but Rainbow Dash is.... somewhere!"
"Yeah right!" Apple Bloom teased.
"No fighting in the sweets shop, or they turn sour!" Pinkie Pie sang.
"Sorry, Pinkie Pie." Apple Bloom and Scootaloo said in unison.
"Do you need some help cleaning up?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Nope! You just go on and play!" Pinkie Pie grinned.
"Okay, thank you, Pinkie!" Apple Bloom called as she ran out the door with her friends.
"So, what's up? I thought you were going to be training with Rainbow Dash today." Apple Bloom said to Scootaloo.
"I was. She's missing. But more importantly, we have to get to the library right now." Scootaloo told them. Her friends nodded, seeming to understand how important it was, even if they didn't quite understand why.
The three walked to the library in silence, all of them understanding that whatever had to be done was severely important, although only Scootaloo knew why. They opened the door to the library that served as Twilight's home. They poked their heads in, looking around. The room was mostly dark, a single candle being lit on the writing desk. The only sound that could be heard was a faint snore from upstairs, along with the occasional murmur of "I'll save you, Rarity." Apple Bloom giggled.
"Shhh..." Scootaloo held a hoof to her lips. "We need to find that book that Twilight always looks for whenever Equestria is in trouble."
"This one?" Sweetie Belle asked, pulling a book off the top shelf with her weak magic. The book was brown, with gold molding in the shape of an Alicorn head on both the front and back covers. On the binding, gold print stated the title of the book, The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide. Scootaloo opened the cover, reading. Most of it was what they had already known, things they'd heard about from their parents and friends after the return of Nightmare Moon. A note fell out as Scootaloo turned a page. She struggled to unfold it, finally allowing Sweetie Belle to open it with her magic. She read it out loud.
"'What is the seventh element?'" Sweetie Belle blinked. "Seventh? I thought there were only six..."
"There are... I think..." Scootaloo rubbed the back of her head.
"I know!" Apple Bloom grinned. "Let's ask Princess Celestia!"
"Shhh!" Scootaloo hissed. It was too late, however.
Spike walked down the stairs, a lit candle in his hand. "Who's there?" He asked. "Is that you, Owlowicious?"
"Umm... yes?" Apple Bloom shrugged a bit.
"Oh, okay. Well, stop being so loud. Some of us need sleep." Spike grumbled, heading back up the stairs.
The Crusaders stared at each other in disbelief. Scootaloo quietly stuffed the book into her bag, motioning to the others that it was time to leave. The three snuck quietly out of the library, closing the door behind them without a sound.
All three of the friends burst into laughter. "I can't believe he fell for that!" Scootaloo giggled.
"Me either! I thought we were goners!" Apple Bloom laughed. "Hey Scootaloo, what did we need that book for anyways?"
"Well, I don't know if I should tell you..." Scootaloo frowned.
"Come on, Scootaloo." Sweetie Belle grinned. "We're your best friends!"
Scootaloo sighed. "Fine, I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anypony." Scootaloo took a deep breath in, explaining everything to her friends, from not being able to find Rainbow Dash to her visit to Cloudsdale, she didn't leave a single detail out. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom listened intently, not interrupting, not even reacting until she had finished.
"You're telling me that if nothing is done to stop this..." Apple Bloom's eyes widened.
"Correct." Scootaloo sighed. "All life under the cloud layer will be gone."
"Scootaloo..." Sweetie Belle said after a long pause. "Why did you come back? You could have stayed in Cloudsdale and you could have been safe, but you left..."
"I had to warn you, I had to stop it." Scootaloo had tears forming in her eyes. It was the first time she had cried since her parents had passed away many years ago. "I couldn't lose you, I couldn't lose anypony... not again." Her mind flashed with images, memories of that awful day many years ago. The day her family died.
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"We're almost there, Scoots." Scootaloo was standing in a room with a larger orange pegasus, her green mane cut short. The room was narrow, with four beds, two on the longest sides. The green carpeting had a plain, diamond-shaped pattern that almost looked as if it were moving. A window was placed over each bed, showing the dry, dusty desert rushing by, the occasional flash of green cacti contrasting with the lack of life out here. The train that the room was attached to rushed through the wasteland of sand, grinding noisily along the tracks. On the bed across from Scootaloo, a female earth pony lay sleeping, her long purple mane lying haphazardly across her face, her orange coat glistening in the sunlight that peeked through the shades of her window.
Scootaloo laughed. "Mom can sleep through anything, can't she, sis?"
"I'll say." The older pony snorted. "Dad's almost as bad."
"Am not." A gruff voice came from the other end of the room. A grey pegasus with an untidy green mane stepped off the bed. "I've been up for quite a while."
"Sure, Dad." Scootaloo snorted. "How much longer until we get to this stupid town, anyways?"
"It's not a stupid town!" The gruff voice of Scootaloo's father replied. "It's not even a town yet! That's why we have to move there, so that I can help them with the construction of this town. I'll be the only non-earth pony in the whole town! Well, other than you two..."
"I just hope it's cloudy, I can't sleep on these earth pony beds." The older sister grumbled.
"I've made sure that there will be a few clouds, after all, you need to practice, the Wonderbolts are going to come to the town coronation next month, and I know how much you've always wanted to try out." Scootaloo's father smiled at her.
"Really?! You're going to let me?" Her eyes sparkled.
"Of course, sweetie, I wouldn't ever dream of keeping you from your dream. After all, flying is your special talent."
The elder sister smiled, looking back at her flank, a picture of a pair of wings resting on each haunch. "Maybe I should try to teach the squirt, too, I'll bet she'd love to learn how to fly."
"Yeah!" Scootaloo grinned. "Stop calling me squirt, though, or else I'll call you by your name."
"Don't you dare." The elder sister warned.
"I wouldn't ever dream of it...... Bethany." Scootaloo smirked.
"You're dead, pipsqueak!" Bethany jumped off the bed, rushing over to the bed Scootaloo sat on.
"Daaaaaad!" Scootaloo squeaked, jumping out of the way of Bethany's lunge.
"Girls! Please! You're going to wake your mother!"
"Too late." A groggy voice muttered from the opposite side of the cabin. The orange earth pony raised her head. The two sisters immediately stopped fighting.
"Sorry, Mom." Both of them said in unison, hanging their heads. Their mother glared at them for a few seconds before finally softening her expression.
"I just can't stay mad at you." She laughed, smiling cheerfully. Even with her mane looking untidy and covering most of her face, she was strikingly gorgeous. Scootaloo had often wondered how her plain-looking father had wound up with her mother, a former model. "Now, once we get to... to... What are they calling this town again?"
"Appleloosa." The father answered. "Don't look at me." He added when he saw the strange looks he was getting from his family. "I didn't pick it."
"So we're going to be living here in an undeveloped town for the rest of our lives?" Bethany scoffed. "Sounds like fun." She rolled her eyes.
"Watch your mouth, young lady." The father warned.
"Sorry, Dad." The orange pony sighed, laying down on her sister's bed. "It's so boring, though." She stretched out, her sister laying next to her. Scootaloo smiled a bit, climbing onto her sister's back. She curled up in her mane, yawning. Bethany smiled a bit. "Night, squirt." She whispered. The train shook, a low rumbling resounding over the entire cabin. Bethany squealed with fright, pressing her face to the window. A herd of buffalo ran next to the train, led by a single large, black buffalo with a large tribal headdress.He snorted, ramming the side of the train with his broad shoulder. The cabin tipped a bit, knocking Bethany and Scootaloo to the floor. Scootaloo jumped out of her sister's mane quickly.
"What's going on, Dad?!" Scootaloo asked in a panic.
"I'm sure it's some sort of mistake, just get low to the floor!" Scootaloo's father kicked the window, shattering the glass. He flew out of the now broken window, coming in low next to the buffalo. Scootaloo couldn't hear what her father was saying, but from the repeated hitting of the cabin, she guessed it wasn't working. Her father flew back in, screaming something, but the wind rushing through the window drowned it out. What happened next, Scootaloo didn't exactly know. The train tipped, the entire family being thrown about the room randomly. Scootaloo felt herself lifted from the ground as she tumbled through the open window, spinning in the air multiple times before she passed out.
When Scootaloo came to, she was somewhere in the middle of the desert, surrounded by fire and twisted metal. A great, hulking figure stood over her. "One still lives." It spoke with its gruff voice.
"You are insane!" Another, equally gruff voice answered the first. "We agreed we would not harm any ponies!"
"I did not harm them, their deaths were fast, and painless." The first voice answered. Scootaloo recognized the headdress of the buffalo standing over her. It was the leader buffalo that had rammed the train.
"What of this one?" The second voice demanded. "She has clearly been hurt, and you have orphaned her!"
Scootaloo's mouth dried up, tears stinging her eyes. "M-my parents..." She rasped out. "My sister... where are they?" She tried to sound as menacing as she could, which wasn't easy when she could barely breathe.
Both buffalo fell silent, neither able to speak. Scootaloo slowly and shakily stood, her front right leg useless to her. She winced, pain shooting through every pore of her body. "Where are they?" She demanded again, her vision fading around the edges.
"Chief, look at what you've done! She is hurt! This is not the way of our tribe!" The second buffalo snorted, his nostrils flaring with anger.
"Thunderhooves!" The chief growled. "You forget your place!"
"No." The one called Thunderhooves glared at the chief. "I've just learned it." He charged at the chief, catching him off guard. The chief fell back, landing on his back on a large piece of flaming wood. He cried out in pain as his fur singed off, his skin becoming exposed. The skin almost appeared to bubble as the buffalo burned alive, his shrieks of pain cementing themselves along with the vision in Scootaloo's mind. She let out a shriek of fright, fainting.
Scootaloo's eyes fluttered open. She gasped, sitting up in a bed. She blinked, wondering how exactly she had gotten to a bed. She heard voices from outside the room.
"Do you really think you're capable of taking care of a filly?" A female voice asked.
"Of course. After I heard what had happened, I couldn't just let her sit here in the hospital, now could I? After all, she is the only orphan in all of Equestria, where else could she go?" A female voice answered back.
"Well, I suppose if you're sure, Miss... what was it now?" The first voice inquired.
"My name is Cheerilee." The second voice answered, happiness apparent in her tone.
"Well, the paperwork's all filled out, you can take her with you whenever you're ready." The first voice said a little cautiously.
"Thank you." The voice that belonged to Cheerilee practically sang. The door to the room Scootaloo was in opened, a purple pony with hair the color of bubble gum walked in. Her face was very kind, reflecting the smiling flowers that adorned her flank. "Hello. My name is Cheerilee, and I'd like to help you out. I'd like to be your new sister."
----------------------------
Scootaloo shook her head, trying to stop the tears that she knew had come long ago.
Her friends sat around her, waiting patiently for her to come out of her stupor.
"How long was I.... spaced out?" Scootaloo asked.
"A few hours." Sweetie Belle answered.
Scootaloo blinked, looking around. She was in a small, familiar room. It was the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse. "H-how did I get here?"
"We took you." Apple Bloom smiled at her. "We couldn't leave our friend outside and confused, could we?"
Scootaloo's eyes filled with tears. "You guys..." She put her hooves around her two friends, bawling loudly.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked surprised, awkwardly hugging their friend back.
"I love you guys." Scootaloo whispered, her tears saturating her snout. She looked to the ceiling, thinking about her parents, and most of all, thinking about her sister, and the name she preferred instead of Bethany. "I love you... Dash..."
-------------------------
End of Scootaloo's Story
|
ratmage99
|
1025
| 6 |
Big Macintosh,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Octavia,Original Character,Owlowiscious,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Comedy,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Mating Season in Equestria
|
Watch as the dark side of Equestria is revealed when mating season comes around.
|
incomplete
| 145 | 50 |
<p>How does Equestria survive with so few males? How is it that no ponies ever seem to mate? Answers come when mating season leads all of your favorite ponies to receive their call to duty and become the parents of the next generation of ponies. </p><p>Note: While it will be alluded to, this will not be a clopfic and will contain no actual sex scenes. Please do not read this is that is what you are looking for. </p><p>Special note: I have heard about a few people saying that they wanted to write a spin-off or something of the sort. If you do so, I do not care if you credit me as the author, but please at least give me a link so I can see what hell I hath wrought on the fanfiction community.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-10-09T02:22:31+00:00
|
2011-10-09T02:22:31+00:00
| 14,617 |
Rarity sighed, picking a mannequin off the floor, dusting off the dress that had been placed on it. "Those fillies have been causing me so much trouble." She sighed. "I do adore them, though. Ah, to be young again." She smiled a bit with remembrance. "Then again..." She thought a moment. "My skin was far worse then..."
A knock came at Rarity's door, causing her to come out of her stupor. "Oh, do come in, won't you?" Rarity called out. She hurriedly tidied up the room, walking out into the main foyer. "Ah, hello, Vinyl. What brings you around?" Rarity smiled, spotting the white unicorn with the electric blue mane. Her sunglasses glimmered in the faint amounts of light coming from the large windows.
"I've got a gig tonight, baby." Vinyl said, her voice sultry. "You always know just what's right, baby, and for my show tonight, I need just right."
Rarity laughed a bit. "Oh, you always were blind as a bat when it came to fashion, darling."
"I'm blind as a bat when it comes to everything, baby. Or did you forget?" Vinyl Scratch removed her sunglasses, revealing her red eyes that seemed to be staring through everything they passed.
"Of course not, Vinyl, darling, but please do put those back on, you know you shouldn't have them off. Bad for your eyes." Rarity scolded.
"Don't worry about it, baby, bad for my eyes don't matter. About my threads, though, I need some real kicking ones, can you hook me up?" Vinyl Scratch asked her.
"Of course I can." Rarity grinned. "After all, you are one of my best customers. I can't say I appreciate your... style, as it were, but I do appreciate a friendly face."
"My style is my style, baby. It ain't for everypony." Vinyl Scratch shot her a bright smile. "And I don't want it no other way."
"You certainly are original." Rarity agreed with a small laugh. "What event are you performing at tonight, Vinyl? I'll need to plan my design accordingly."
"It's a wedding, baby, some lucky pony is getting a real fine chick." Vinyl laughed.
"Now Vinyl, you know I don't like talk like that in my shop. I don't care that you prefer the company of mares, but I'd prefer if you didn't talk about it." Rarity gently scolded.
"Come on, baby, don't tell you never sampled from the other side of the snack tray before. A pretty young thing like yourself must get all kinds of attention from both sexes." Vinyl laughed a bit.
"I have been... propositioned, yes, but I have never obliged. Oh, listen to me, this is not a ladylike conversation at all." Rarity put a hoof to her cheek.
"Relax, baby, Vinyl Scratch don't tell nopony's secrets. Who are ya' pinin' after now, anyways, after that old Blueblood turned out to be a rudeblood?"
"Oh, nopony, really." Rarity sighed a bit. "I'm afraid that I haven't really had time to go looking, not that I'd want to. Sweetie Belle sure doesn't make it easy for me. She tires me so. I must have horrible wrinkles right now."
"Naw, baby, you look damn good." Vinyl Scratch smiled at her. "Why you taking care of that pipsqueak, anyhow, she's your sister, not your daughter."
"Our parents are not in town. They've been out of the country for a few years, doing Celestia-knows-what." Rarity sighed a bit. "And watch your language, missy."
"You watch yours, baby, I'm nopony's missy." Vinyl Scratch said, not angrily, but a bit annoyed.
"Sorry, Vinyl, I didn't mean anything by it. I'd forgotten how much you hate it when I call you that." Rarity frowned. "Sorry." She repeated.
"Don't worry 'bout it, baby." Vinyl Scratch smiled.
"Tell me, Vinyl," Rarity said, pulling out her trusty measuring tape and beginning to take her measurements. "When did you know you didn't like stallions?"
"My first date." Vinyl Scratch laughed. "He was a real charmer. Tried to get me in bed after a few drinks."
"Did you?" Rarity asked.
"Not at all." Vinyl laughed. "Not that I usually kiss and tell, but he was a loser, and I wasn't going to have any of that."
"Is that better with mares?" Rarity asked, writing a few measurements down.
"Oh, baby, mares are so much better. It's like, like dating your best friend, you dig?" Vinyl smiled a bit. "I just ain't find the right mare yet."
"Chipper up, Vinyl. I'm sure you'll find somepony. In fact, if you just grew your mane out and perhaps brushed it every once in a while, you could be a model, I'm sure of it." Rarity smiled.
"Oh, baby, you're too kind." Vinyl Scratch laughed a bit. "Hey, Rarity, baby, when was the last time you got out of this stuffy old shop?"
"Oh, probably since the gala, I've been far too busy since that." Rarity sighed quietly. "Not to mention that I haven't really wanted to date much after my last disastrous date." She set down a few swatches of fabric, hemming and hawing as she tried to decide witch would be best.
"You could be like me, baby, I see it in you. You need the tender lovin' only a mare can give." Vinyl scratch laughed.
"That is quite enough of that, Vinyl." Rarity warned. "I am not like you... in that regard at least."
"If you say so, baby. It's too bad, you're one fine unicorn." Vinyl laughed. "Or so I hear."
"Now now, Vinyl, let me finish my work." Rarity said, seeming a bit annoyed.
"Sorry, baby." Vinyl stayed silent for a while after that while Rarity began stitching a few pieces of fabric together.
"Tell me, Vinyl, how did you get into the DJ business? It must have been somewhat difficult with your vision problems." Rarity said casually.
"Naw, baby, this here blindness gives me excellent hearing. And as for how I started, well, I suppose you could call me the black sheep of a musical family. They were all into that classical stuff, violins and crap." Vinyl stuck her tongue out in disgust. "You should've seen their faces when I told them I wanted to be a DJ. I don't think I've ever seen such disappointed ponies."
"Oh, I'm very sorry to hear that, darling." Rarity said, dressing Vinyl Scratch up in something that was a mix of a fancy dress, and a bit of Vinyl Scratch's "street," as she called it. "How do you like it?"
"Looks great, baby. Tell me, you got the time?" Vinyl asked.
"Of course, it's still pretty early, about..." Rarity looked up at the clock. "Eight A.M."
"Oh, baby! You're fast with them hooves." Vinyl laughed. "I got hours until I got to go to that wedding. You want to grab a bite?"
"Well, I suppose I could go for a nice daffodil sandwich, although it's a bit too early for that." Rarity frowned a bit.
"It don't matter, baby. Why care where the sun is in the sky? You won't be able to see it forever." Vinyl Scratch grinned. "Live life to the fullest, baby."
"Hmm... I suppose you are right, Vinyl. Oh, what the hay, let's go." Rarity smiled.
"Alright, baby. I know the perfect place." Vinyl Scratch laughed a bit. "You're gonna love it, baby."
"Very well, just let me close up shop." Rarity said, going around the shop and shutting off all of the lights and putting up the closed sign. "Alright." Rarity looked around, double-checking that everything had been done. "Would you like me to lead you?"
"Baby, I've been there thousands of times, I'm going to be leading you." Vinyl Scratch opened the door. "I may be blind, but I sure as hay ain't lettin' nopony lead me around like a dog."
"I'm sorry, Vinyl, I didn't mean to offend you." Rarity frowned, feeling terrible.
"Don't worry 'bout it, baby, I'm used to it." Vinyl Scratch waved a hoof. "But for that, you're paying." She smiled.
"Oh, of course, darling, I wouldn't dream of making you pay." Rarity said in her drawling accent.
"That makes this a date, you know." Vinyl Scratch laughed.
"I guess so." Rarity laughed with her, walking out the door.
Vinyl Scratch smiled, leading the way through Ponyville. She made a point of walking directly in front of Rarity the entire time so she was forced to look at her rump. She rather enjoyed teasing Rarity, although she had to admit to herself, Rarity was definitely a charmer, and she really couldn't help but to be attracted. She crashed into a pony in front of her, gasping a bit. "Oh, I'm sorry, baby!" She said quickly.
"No problem." A familiar sultry voice replied.
"Rarity? How did you...?" Vinyl Scratch said confusedly.
"You were about to walk right into the wall of this building, so I figured better you hit my flank than the hard building." Rarity said.
"So, wait... what I just hit was...." Vinyl Scratch searched for the ladylike term for it.
"What you'd refer to as my ass." Rarity said bemusedly.
Vinyl felt herself blush bright red. "Oh, ummm....." She dropped her "street" accent momentarily, unable to keep it up in her embarrassment.
"My, my, my, so we are hearing the true Vinyl Scratch now?" Rarity asked, chuckling a bit.
"N-no, baby." Vinyl Scratch quickly recovered, her cheeks still feeling red hot.
"Oh, Vinyl." Rarity chuckled. "How long are you going to keep up this charade? We both know you secretly would love to be in my body."
Vinyl Scratch stifled a laugh. She thought a bit. "Ummm... I'm kind of lost now..."
"Don't worry about it, Vinyl, I'm sure that I can find it, what's it called?" Rarity asked.
"Well... it's..." Vinyl coughed a bit. "It's called... The Hot Flank..."
"You were going to take me... TO A LESBIAN BAR?!" Rarity growled.
"No! No! ... Well, yes, but it's more than that. They understand me there like nopony else." Vinyl Scratch frowned, knowing this was a bad idea. "Honestly... you're the only straight pony that knows..."
Rarity sighed a bit. "Come on, we'll just head back to my place for tea or something." She said. She led the way through town, using a spell Twilight had taught her to gently guide Vinyl Scratch along with her. She opened the door to her home, stepping in. The house looked just like everypony else's, identical in every detail to the thatched-reed houses that were all over town on the inside, even though it looked large and elegant on the inside.
Rarity sighed. "I know how you feel, having a secret that you want to keep from everypony. My house, inside of its walls, are completely and utterly identical to every other house in Ponyville. I always pretend I only care about grace and elegance, but deep down, all I've ever wanted was to fit in with the regular ponies."
"Why do you always try to act so fancy then?" Vinyl asked, speaking with an unfamiliar voice, a voice that wasn't phony and cool, but a voice that she had always imagined she'd use with somepony she was more intimate with.
"Everypony's come to expect it from me." Rarity sighed. "It was just something my parents wanted of me. 'Speak properly, Rarity,' 'Don't slouch, Rarity,' 'A lady doesn't do that, Rarity.'" She kicked at the floor. "I only ever wanted ponies to like me. I guess I succeeded. But now Sweetie Belle is the only one who knows the real me. I can't even bring myself to tell Twilight, and she's one of my best friends. Even Fluttershy doesn't know. Hell, Sweetie Belle hardly even knows, she only knows that my house is very normal on the inside. I do worry about her fragile little mind. What would she do if her sister was an outcast? Or worse, just another pony that has been doing something she's hated her whole life!"
"I know how you feel. I never wanted to be a DJ. I didn't want to follow in my family's footsteps by any means, but I wanted to be a singer. Not just any singer. A jazz singer." Vinyl Scratch smiled a bit. "I used to spend hours listening to jazz records in my room... but now... I hate most of the music I play. I only did it to piss off..." She put on a fake snooty Manehattan accent, "Mummy and Daddy." She stuck her tongue out. "And now I'm in too deep to change things. Ponies depend on me
to be DJ Pon-3. God, what a stupid pseudonym."
"That's a word I'd never have expected from you, Vinyl." Rarity laughed.
"Few have. I used to want to be an author." Vinyl Scratch sighed a bit. "But that's something my parents forbid even though it met their fancy standards. 'The Scratch family is in music, and we always will be.' They always told me that."
Rarity put a hoof on Vinyl Scratch's shoulder. "Do they even know about your... preferences?"
"Oh, hell no." Vinyl snorted. She quickly recovered. "Oh, sorry, you don't like that language."
"I really don't give a damn." Rarity laughed a bit.
"So Rarity, why do you make dresses if you hate it so much?" Vinyl asked.
"Oh, no." Rarity shook her head. "I don't hate making dresses, but the customers, those I hate. Do you remember the fashion show I had last year?"
"Of course I do." Vinyl laughed a bit. "That's where I met you."
"That was the only time I had ever hated my friends. And so far, the last." Rarity sighed. "It's the only part of this whole façade I actually like."
"Rarity, I'm real sorry for trying to bring you to that bar. I thought maybe if you saw how we lived, you wouldn't think we were so different and would... maybe you'd change your mind..."
"Oh, Vinyl..." Rarity sighed a bit. She placed a hoof on Vinyl's cheek. "You wouldn't have had to." She gently kissed the unicorn pony, taking her in a close embrace.
Vinyl Scratch gasped a bit, her heart fluttering as she felt her lips touch Rarity's. The two stayed there with their lips locked together for what felt like eons before finally pulling apart.
Vinyl breathed out heavily. "That was... that was... wow."
Rarity nuzzled her. "I've never got along well with stallions anyways."
Vinyl Scratch smiled. "Are you sure you want to be with a mare with so many... issues?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing." Rarity laughed a bit. "Secrets are easier to keep between lovers anyways, are they not?" She allowed her voice to take on the fancy air she had been using for practically her whole life.
"Yeah, baby, it'll be our little secret, as long as you don't tell anypony about me crashing into your flank." Vinyl Scratch laughed a bit.
"Speaking of which, you may want to wipe your horn off or something. You may have hit me at a bit different angle than I previously led you to believe." Rarity said, her embarrassment apparent in her voice.
"Oh..." Realization hit Vinyl Scratch like a truck. "Ohhhh....... Oh!" She giggled a bit, something Rarity had never heard her do.
"From now on, that only happens on purpose. I'll pencil you in for another appointment, say... noon?" Rarity laughed a bit.
"Shouldn't you go back and reopen the shop?" Vinyl Scratch asked, pretending she hadn't heard Rarity's plan.
"I'd much prefer to stay here with you. After all, Sweetie Belle is away for, most likely, the whole day, and I'd like some company. You have a while before the wedding, yes?" Rarity asked Vinyl, stroking her short mane.
"I suppose so." Vinyl Scratch smiled. "And I don't think they would object to me bringing a date."
Rarity blushed a bit, glad that Vinyl couldn't see it. "I would be honored to go with a fine mare such as yourself."
"I would be honored to be escorted by a mare such as yourself." Vinyl Scratch smiled.
"So, who's getting married tonight, anyways?" Rarity asked.
"Oh, you didn't hear?" Vinyl Scratch asked, a bit worried. "I mean, yeah, it was a bit rushed, but I thought you of all ponies would know."
"Who?" Rarity repeated.
"Your friend Pinkie Pie." Vinyl Scratch responded.
-----------------------------------
The End of Rarity's Tale
Special mad crazy props to JuyUnseen, who has kind of been my unofficial proofreader, telling me what I've been doing wrong and helping me right these wrongs. Make sure to check him out if you get a chance, he's written a few fics that are (I believe) pretty darned good, especially The Alicorn's Pride.
Author's Notes: This chapter was sort of meant as a break from the semi-intense story we have been getting, to show that life is still going on for all the ponies in Equestria, not to say their lives won't be affected by the events taking place, but currently, they are completely unaware of what is going on. Also, I liked the idea of two ponies, both basically living a lie, coming together and using that common ground to come together. You may have noticed a distinct lack of environmental details. I did this so that the reader at times got a sense of what Vinyl Scratch is currently going through, not having any idea what most things look like and not being quite able to picture it. I tried to use details only when absolutely necessary to understand what was going on. I realize this is a bad writing style and I will probably not be employing it again, but as I stated earlier, the entire point of this story was for me to step out of my comfort zone, and it just kind of blew up after a few chapters. These chapters have been taking quite a lot longer to write lately, partially because now that I know it's under far more scrutiny, I've been trying to take things more carefully, and also because my life is so crazy. I would not be at all surprised if the next chapter, (which may be my longest yet, it will be a combination of Scootaloo's chapter and this chapter with tons of story and quite a lot of shipping,) is posted until late next week.
|
ratmage99
|
1025
| 7 |
Big Macintosh,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Octavia,Original Character,Owlowiscious,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Comedy,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Mating Season in Equestria
|
Watch as the dark side of Equestria is revealed when mating season comes around.
|
incomplete
| 145 | 50 |
<p>How does Equestria survive with so few males? How is it that no ponies ever seem to mate? Answers come when mating season leads all of your favorite ponies to receive their call to duty and become the parents of the next generation of ponies. </p><p>Note: While it will be alluded to, this will not be a clopfic and will contain no actual sex scenes. Please do not read this is that is what you are looking for. </p><p>Special note: I have heard about a few people saying that they wanted to write a spin-off or something of the sort. If you do so, I do not care if you credit me as the author, but please at least give me a link so I can see what hell I hath wrought on the fanfiction community.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-11-05T00:09:48+00:00
|
2011-11-05T00:09:48+00:00
| 16,040 |
You all know the drill by now. Thanks Claudia Donovan, I didn't really do anything.
Warning: This chapter contains stronger language than previous ones, has now been fixed of many of the errors that had plagued it. I couldn't do much about the fast-paced exposition, but to be honest, I kind of like it better that way. No more waiting for the action. I will replace the note about this chapter with a small bonus section with some facts about the story, a bit of behind the scenes, that kind of stuff. At the very least, it will remain that way until the next chapter is out.
-----------------
Twilight sighed happily, leaning back against Big Macintosh. "You know, being locked up in this tiny dungeon isn't all that bad."
"I never really pictured you as a glass-half-full kind of pony, Twi." Macintosh laughed.
"I'm not, normally." Twilight shrugged a bit. "But after the past two days... well, it's hard to not be happy." She smiled, kissing his snout.
"This don't seem at all like something the princess would do." Macintosh thought aloud. "Locking ponies up and forcin' 'em to mate, it just ain't right. I miss my kin."
"Sorry for this..." Twilight frowned, feeling terrible. "I guess I should have asked before volunteering you for mating. I feel really bad."
"Don't worry about it, appleseed. After all, you know what they say. Love is blind." Big Mac shrugged a bit, laughing. "Besides, it's not like it turned out all that bad, did it?"
"Oh, not at all." Twilight smiled a bit saucily, the look seeming completely foreign on the reserved pony's face. "Who would've ever imagined bookworm Twilight Sparkle losing her virginity in a mating dungeon of all places?"
"Certainly not I." Big Macintosh laughed. "Even less likely that I'd be the one to.... you know..."
Twilight nodded a bit, nuzzling his chest. She looked at him, fire in her eyes.
"Oh, and Twilight..." Big Macintosh cleared his throat a bit. "Stop trying to be sexy for me. It's... weird."
Twilight looked at him innocently. "Whatever do you mean?"
"I mean stop looking at me and trying to be sexy. That ain't the you I fell in love with." Big Macintosh looked to the ground.
"This is a side of you I've never seen." Twilight laughed. "Deep down big old Macintosh is just a big softy."
"Hush." Big Macintosh said, embarrassed.
A low rumble emanated from the wall beside their chamber. Specks of dirt and clouds of dust fell from the bricks on the ceiling. Bricks fell from the wall opposite the door, revealing that behind the brick lay a wall of dirt, rocks, and other natural subterranean substances. The dirt shifted, a creature popping its head out.
Twilight immediately stood, a bit shaky on her feet. "Diamond Dog!" She gasped, putting on an angry face.
"So, the purple pony is here as well..." Rover looked at her with some disdain. "You are friends with Rainbow Dash, yes?"
Twilight gasped. "What have you done with Rainbow Dash?"
"Nothing, she's back in our cell, waiting." Rover waved a paw nonchalantly.
Twilight blinked. "Cell? So you two were also here to...?"
"To what?" Rover scratched his head, trying to figure out what in the world she could mean.
"Mate..." Twilight said, a bit disgusted.
"Oh, no!" Rover assured her, laughing. "That part just came naturally later."
"What?!" Twilight gagged a bit.
"What's with the holdup, Rov?" A voice came from behind the dog.
"See for yourself." Rover said, hopping out of the hole. Rainbow Dash followed after, her legs wobbling a bit. She gasped at the sight of Twilight, her eyes trailing to the unicorn's knocking knees.
Rainbow smirked a bit. "I did not expect this at all." She laughed. "The bookworm and the workhorse."
"You actually mated with that... that... that thing?" Twilight narrowed her eyes.
"His name is Rover, and yes, I did." Rainbow said, seeming almost proud. "Gotta do something when you're locked up in a dungeon."
"But he's not even a pony!" Twilight said.
"Not right now, but he will be. We just have to convince Celestia to change him back." Rainbow Dash smiled.
"Yeah, because after how she's been acting lately, that's real likely." Rover muttered.
"Watch it, bub, or you ain't getting any more of this." Rainbow swung her hips.
Twilight felt sick. "H-how did you even manage...?"
"I was going to ask the same thing. Or does height not affect size?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow.
Twilight blushed crimson. "Shut up. What are you doing here, anyways?"
"Escaping, you in?" Rainbow asked.
"I don't know..." Twilight looked to Big Macintosh for guidance.
"I suppose it'd be for the best to go. Applejack and the others'll be wonderin' where I've been." Big Macintosh nodded.
"I just hope Celestia isn't mad." Twilight frowned.
"Well, we're going to gather up some of the other prisoners first, you want to come with?" Rainbow asked.
"Sure." Twilight shrugged a bit. "Does us no good to just sit here."
"Alright, Rover is going to dig a tunnel to the next cell, we should probably wait here until he's ready for us." Rainbow said.
"Yes, ma'm." Rover grunted a bit, obviously not appreciating being ordered around. "Live for a thousand years as a filthy mutt, now I have to put up with this." He grumbled as he jumped back into the hole, digging away at the dirt.
"So, you guys came here specifically to mate?" Rainbow Dash asked, a hint of teasing in her voice.
"Well, I knew about it, he didn't, but I guess that... yeah, that's pretty much what happened." Twilight said very awkwardly.
"She got her choice of mates." Big Macintosh said. "I was it."
"Oh?" Rainbow laughed a bit. "Not a big surprise. We all kind of figured it out, Twilight."
"How?" Twilight asked.
"Well, there was Pinkie's Winter Solstice party where you told everypony you could how you were looking for a big, strong, stallion to wrap your hooves around. A big, red, strong, stallion." Rainbow Dash laughed.
"You should've told me that there was alcohol in that punch!" Twilight said.
"It was winter! The grapes had been stored for a while and they fermented!" Rainbow Dash said. "You made a point of telling me that multiple times the next day!"
"It had never happened in Canterlot." Twilight mumbled.
"You never went to parties in Canterlot! That was another drunken confession!" Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.
"Rainbow!" Twilight said through gritted teeth. "Not in front of Mac, please!" She pleaded in a hushed tone.
"Y'all know I can still hear you, right?" Big Macintosh asked.
Twilight sighed. "Yes, Macintosh, we know."
Rover poked his head in. "Uhhh, everything okay in here?"
"Peachy." Twilight muttered.
"Fine." Rainbow said simply, turning her head away from Twilight.
"Now, now, ladies, y'all are friends, surely you can work this out." Big Macintosh frowned a bit.
"We're just fine, Macintosh." Twilight put on a fake smile.
"Yeah, fine." Rainbow grunted.
"I will never understand mares." Big Macintosh shook his head, laughing a bit.
"And that's why you were born a colt." Twilight laughed a bit.
Rainbow couldn't help but to chuckle at Twilight's joke, although she was still somewhat miffed.
"You won't believe what I found in the next chamber!" Rover said in a hushed whisper, poking his head out of the hole.
"No, I won't, so just tell me." Twilight said.
"The princess has been imprisoned with an earth pony!" Rover said.
"Celestia?" Twilight gasped, frightened for her teacher.
"No! Luna!" Rover said. "Come and see!" He hopped out of the hole, holding his paw out to the hole.
Twilight jumped into the hole, crawling down the dirty, dark, wet tunnel. She poked her head into a room, spotting a small, dark alicorn sleeping soundly in one corner, a brown Earth pony apparently dreaming next to her. She gasped. "Psssst!" She hissed, trying to wake Luna.
Instead, the brown pony awoke, screaming at the top of his lungs.
Twilight quickly tried to shush him, extremely annoyed. Luna opened her eyes, gasping. "Twilight!"
"Hi Luna." Twilight said extremely awkwardly. "Just... popping in."
"Twilight..." Luna frowned, looking to the cold stone floor. "You shouldn't be here."
"Actually, I'm the only one who should, I accepted when Celestia asked. You must have too, right?" Twilight said.
"Not exactly." Luna sighed. "Twilight, we need to talk."
"Isn't that what we're doing right now?" Twilight joked.
Luna looked at her very seriously. "Twilight, I'm serious."
"Right, right, sorry, my head's kind of messed up right now." Twilight shook her head.
"Anyways, we have to talk in private. However, I have this damned magic reduction band on, and it's making me very weak." Luna groaned.
"Oh, speaking of which, I don't think mine is working correctly, I'm feeling fine." Twilight said.
"Twilight, you are acting very strangely." Luna said.
Twilight shrugged. "Maybe I'm going through a second puberty or something."
"Twilight, it is imperative that we speak immediately. Just get in here." Luna said. Twilight wriggled her way through the dirt, falling into the room.
Timepiece sat in the corner of the room, blinking. "What is going on here?"
"Timepiece, I would like you to meet Twilight Sparkle." Luna sighed a bit. "This... this is my daughter."
Twilight blinked for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. "What?!" She said, laughing so hard she was crying.
"Twilight, you are my daughter." Luna said very seriously.
"But you were on the moon when I was born." Twilight laughed.
"No, Nightmare Moon was on the moon when you were born. I was still here, only in a different form." Luna said.
"What form?" Twilight said, still not sounding at all convinced.
"The form of a unicorn pony. I... borrowed her body for a few years so I could scope out the Element Bearers to stop me... er, Nightmare Moon, that is. Her name is Lyra." Luna said.
"You were Lyra?" Twilight raised a quizzical eyebrow.
"That is correct. Your... 'parents,' let's call them, they were friends of mine, and they helped me out by raising you." Luna said.
"This is impossible. If what you're saying is true, that would make me Lyra's daughter, not yours. You said it yourself, it was her body." Twilight said.
"No, the body that was impregnated was mine. I used my magic to make it so that it would be I who had the child. I had far less of it, but I knew how to use it well enough that that didn't matter. That is why you are feeling strange, Twilight. My magic has diminished to almost nothing. The magic that hides your true form. The magic that stops you from being an Alicorn." Luna said.
"You have to be kidding. It's probably because I just went through a huge change in my life." Twilight said. "You're just overreacting."
"Oh?" Luna pointed a hoof at Twilight's side, where a small bump was beginning to form on each side. "Your horn is getting longer too."
"Oh, no! What will Big Macintosh think?" Twilight panicked, her brains working in overdrive. "Mom, Dad, it was all a lie? Did Celestia know about this?!"
"After your mishap on the day she accepted you, she suspected, but she was never sure." Luna sighed a bit.
"Do you think I'm stupid or something?!" Twilight demanded.
"Not at all, in fact, I believe you're the smartest pony in all of Equestria." Luna said with confidence.
"This is all so very unlikely. What is my real name then?" Twilight asked.
"It is Twilight Sparkle, and I am Luna Sparkle." Luna said.
"So wait, you're telling me Celestia has the same family name as me, and she didn't realize it this whole time?" Twilight asked skeptically.
"Well, actually, Sparkle isn't her family name. We aren't really sisters." Luna explained.
Twilight stared at Luna for a moment. "What.... WHAT IN THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?!" She cried out, completely and utterly confused.
"I understand that this is a lot to take in. That is why I am telling you so briefly." Luna sighed a bit. "You see, one day, over a thousand years ago, the sun and the moon aligned perfectly in an eclipse. allowing two alicorns to be born to two couples, both made up of two earth ponies." She explained. "One was me, the other, Celestia. It was decided by the former king that we were fated to rule, side by side for all of eternity."
"This is ridiculous." Twilight fell back on her haunches, shaking her head.
"Twilight, it is true. I am your mother." Luna said. "I know none of this really makes sense..."
"Damn right it doesn't!" Twilight screamed.
"Twilight, please." It was very obvious by her voice that Luna's heart was breaking.
"No!" Twilight was fuming. "Why wouldn't you say anything when I beat Nightmare Moon? Why have you said nothing ever since?"
"I know, I know." Luna hung her head. "I messed up, big time. What I did was worse than Nightmare Moon."
"Oh, that's another thing, how the hell could I be the daughter of the pony that became evil and turned into Nightmare Moon?!" Twilight snapped.
"I think it's time you heard the story... the story that isn't in any book. The story of Daytime Glare." Luna sighed.
"Daytime Glare?" Twilight raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"Yes." Luna said. "It happened just over a thousand years ago. The zebra were ready to declare war on the ponies, arguing for equal rights.They were treated just awful, no thanks to Celestia."
"Celestia?" Twilight laughed a bit. "You're trying to blame this on Celestia?"
"The Celestia you know is different from the one back then. Celestia was young, and selfish. She didn't care about the problems of the people, she only cared about being the ruler. She hated the idea of sharing her power with me. When I think back, I guess I should have seen the signs..." Luna hung her head, looking ashamed.
"The signs of what?" Twilight asked.
"Her change." Luna sighed. "You see, her greed and selfishness caused a change in her. Her coat got brighter and brighter until it shimmered with all the colors of the sun. She began becoming more secluded, not even wanting to go out to be praised by her subjects. She looked like Nightmare Moon, only... somehow, her light was so much more powerful, you couldn't even stand in the same room as her without being severely intimidated. The final straw for her was when the zebra declared war on her. Not all of Equestria, just her. Perhaps they were the only ones who saw what she had become." She wiped a tear from her eye. "I tried to reason with her, but she just kept pushing me away. The day after war was declared.... the sun didn't come... at least, not to Equestria."
"What happened?" Twilight asked, unsure as to why she was listening to this story that she didn't really believe.
"The sun came up on the Zebra Homeland that day... for the last time. To be more accurate, it came down on the Zebra homeland... there were almost no survivors..." Luna now had tears flowing down her face. "If I would have stopped her, if I would have just done it sooner..."
"Done what sooner?" Twilight felt a lump in her throat, as if she somehow already knew the answer.
"I took her evil into myself. Equestria needed its charismatic leader, it could survive without the princess nopony remembered. I knew what I was doing. What I was changing myself into, but... I suppose I had grown to really think of Celestia as a sister, and... well, I was willing to take her place if it meant that she'd be safe." Luna sort of rambled, trying to rationalize her change to both Twilight and herself. "If only I'd known it'd affect me that much..."
"Wait, wait, wait, you're telling me that the Princess was a big, evil dictator, and you took in her evil, which turned you into Nightmare Moon, but she had more evil than you thought?" Twilight rubbed her temples, trying to comprehend this.
"I can understand why you wouldn't believe me." Luna sighed.
"Why would you pick Lyra, anyways? Why wouldn't you just do something like... oh, I don't know, take over Celestia and make her send you back to Equestria?" Twilight said.
"As for Lyra, she was a good pony with a pure heart, even the littlest bit of corruption could be sensed by Nightmare Moon, so I had to pick her. I communicated with her through a kind of telepathy, and I explained my plight. She seemed more than happy to help. She even agreed to allow me to have her be pregnant." Luna said, a bit sadly.
"W-who was my father, then?" Twilight asked, hoping that she was being tricked.
"You do not have a father." Luna sighed a bit. "I know it may be hard to believe, but I impregnated myself."
"W-what? Why?!" Twilight demanded.
"Because I knew... I knew that only a pony that was extremely powerful in the element of magic could defeat Nightmare Moon, only the child of two alicorns. As for not taking over Celestia, well, I asked to be sent to the moon." Luna said, waving a hoof a bit.
"Why would you do that?" Twilight asked.
"I knew that what I was becoming, what was taking over me, I knew that it was an enormous danger to all of Equestria, and couldn't exist here on Earth." Luna sighed. "I know you must not believe me. I don't even believe me sometimes."
"Luna... I don't know why, but I believe you." Twilight thought back to her mishaps with Pinkie's strange signals that would somehow tell her something was going to happen, wondering to herself why her skepticism had gone away so quickly in this case. Was it this emotion that had encompassed her life these past few days? Was it the emotion of love? She shook her head, trying to focus. She looked to her back, small feathers beginning to grow from the bumps on her side. She shuddered a bit, trying to get back to the conversation, thinking she must have just imagined it or something. "But if what you say is true, what is making Celestia evil again?"
"You mean you haven't heard about Cloudsdale?" Luna asked. "I thought for sure that everypony would know by now..."
"Know what?" Twilight asked.
"Cloudsdale has seceded from Equestria, and is now declaring war if Celestia doesn't step down." Luna sighed.
"Then... then... the reason she's locking us up must be..." Twilight gasped with realization.
"Correct, she is getting rid of everypony that could force her to step down, I believe." Luna frowned.
Twilight racked her brain, trying to figure out what to do. "Wait... the elements got rid of your evil, maybe we could do the same with Celestia." She nodded, smiling.
"Sorry, Twilight, I tried that when she first began her change. It would appear that her evil was better protected than Nightmare Moon's, it would appear that there is a secret seventh element that nopony knows about." Luna said.
"Yes, one of my books said something about a seventh element that was too powerful to be held by any one pony. But I couldn't find anything on what that element was." Twilight nodded. "I didn't really believe it, I mean, sure, nopony knew about the original six to begin with, really, but to have a super-secret seventh just seemed ridiculous."
"I can assure you, the book was right. There is a seventh element that not a single pony understands, not that we really understand how the six we have discovered work." Luna sighed a bit. "Twilight, I know that it doesn't mean much now..." Luna frowned, staring down at her hooves. "But I'm very sorry I couldn't be there as your mother like I should have been. I feel just awful."
"Luna... um... Mom... I don't blame you. I do feel kind of upset that my entire existence is for the reason that you thought I could beat Nightmare Moon, but I don't think you meant any harm by it." Twilight said after a long pause. She shook her head. Did I really just say that? She thought to herself. This pony that I barely know is telling me she's my mother, and now I'm saying it's fine? What the hell is wrong with me?
"I'm very glad to hear that." Luna sighed with relief.
"As of right now, we have more important matters to deal with, anyways." Twilight said.
"Such as?" Luna asked.
"Well, for one, I believe it's about time we pay our princess a little visit, and after that, we have to go and convince Cloudsdale to rejoin Equestria." Twilight said.
"You always were quite the planner." Luna laughed.
"Thanks." Twilight blushed a bit. "I'd better go through first, Mac will be happy to see me."
"Mac, you say?" Luna asked inquisitively.
"Yes." Twilight blushed a bit. "He's my mate..."
"Well, well, well." Luna laughed a small bit.
Twilight hopped into the dirt hole in the wall, an overwhelming sense of happiness strangely encumbering her. She didn't think that a revelation such as this would ever make her happy, but here she was, grinning like a fool as she crawled through a tunnel of dirt to the jail cell she had been placed into. What in the world could it have been that has made me so happy? She thought to herself. She looked back at the pony crawling behind her, smiling brightly. This pony, the one she traveled through hell to defeat, was her mother. And she didn't think she could have asked for a better mother. She looked at the bit of light at the end of the tunnel that was her cell, containing her lover. She sighed blissfully. "Yup." She murmured to herself. "I've got it made."
-------------------
End of Twilight's Second Story
Well, hot dang, one hundred tracking this story. I'll post a special chapter sometime soon in addition to my next chapter, which, by the way, if you want spoilers to it, here is a big one. I put it in picture form so that you don't have to see it, and I didn't want to post a different chapter for it or anything. This right here is for real, yo, I double checked it and it makes sense this time.
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ratmage99
|
1025
| 8 |
Big Macintosh,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Octavia,Original Character,Owlowiscious,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Comedy,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
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Mating Season in Equestria
|
Watch as the dark side of Equestria is revealed when mating season comes around.
|
incomplete
| 145 | 50 |
<p>How does Equestria survive with so few males? How is it that no ponies ever seem to mate? Answers come when mating season leads all of your favorite ponies to receive their call to duty and become the parents of the next generation of ponies. </p><p>Note: While it will be alluded to, this will not be a clopfic and will contain no actual sex scenes. Please do not read this is that is what you are looking for. </p><p>Special note: I have heard about a few people saying that they wanted to write a spin-off or something of the sort. If you do so, I do not care if you credit me as the author, but please at least give me a link so I can see what hell I hath wrought on the fanfiction community.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-10-09T02:59:42+00:00
|
2011-10-09T02:59:42+00:00
| 9,748 |
Thanks everyone for sticking with that last mishap of a chapter, and I am proud to say that it is now back up with a few things fixed. I have decided to do a bit of trivia-type stuff for the bonus chapter, as it doesn't take long and can be quite entertaining. For those of you that don't want to read useless trivia, good day to you, and thanks for reading.
1: This story actually stemmed from a small idea I had about how to make Equestria seem less... well... perfect. Sure you've got the Everfree Forest filled with terrifying monsters, but the gentlest pony in all of Ponyville can take them down with almost no trouble. I decided that to make it less perfect, I would try to find a reason for the lack of males, or at the very least, a reason for it to be significant that there aren't many. I wrote the first chapter in about two hours, figuring I'd get flamed, swallow my sadness, and go about my merry way. However, while I was writing, I noticed something. I was actually happy to be writing. I wanted Twilight and Macintosh to have a happy ending. The overwhelming response certainly helped, so I decided that if I could write a chapter and have fun with it, two chapters could be just as fun. The next few days were a total storm of inspiration for me, during which I put out chapter after chapter of the story, slowly beginning to notice that people actually liked it. I am used to writing in the total dark or total comedy style, so writing in a romantic style was a huge challenge for me, especially since I find it very hard to stay on subject, such as right now, I began talking about how the story began, now suddenly I'm talking about how different it was.
2: I actually do love to read criticism from people, as it lets me know that people aren't just reading it, saying "eh, okay." and leaving, it tells me that there are people out there who want to help out any way they can, and want this story to succeed.
3: Speaking of succeeding, 16,000 views............ wut? The idea that this story could get so popular is shocking to me, especially since I don't think it's my best work. But the people have spoken, and who am I to question the wisdom of the brony community.
4: Before writing Rarity's chapter, she was my least favorite pony, and I honestly hated her. After writing it, well, I put my canon with the show's canon and... well, I like her a lot more now. For those of you wondering, here's my pony hierarchy:
-Fluttershy
-Pinkie Pie
-Twilight Sparkle
-Rarity
-Applejack
-Rainbow Dash
I realize that I just alienated about half the community, but I for one don't like Rainbow Dash quite as much as everypony else. No real reason, just my opinion.
5: (The final one before I go to bed to prepare my brain for writing the next chapter.) The whole reason for that last chapter having the picture for people to translate was so that I could see if people would do it. Honestly, I didn't think anypony would, simply because translating it isn't the easiest. Writing in Standard Galactic Script is so much different on the computer than on paper, which is why the first one was basically awful. For those of you who haven't seen it yet here is the picture. I personally love the way the text looks, and I have started using it all over, causing my teachers in school much confusion, hopefully.
See you all next chapter, I hope you like it! It contains an...
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ratmage99
|
1025
| 9 |
Big Macintosh,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Octavia,Original Character,Owlowiscious,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Comedy,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Mating Season in Equestria
|
Watch as the dark side of Equestria is revealed when mating season comes around.
|
incomplete
| 145 | 50 |
<p>How does Equestria survive with so few males? How is it that no ponies ever seem to mate? Answers come when mating season leads all of your favorite ponies to receive their call to duty and become the parents of the next generation of ponies. </p><p>Note: While it will be alluded to, this will not be a clopfic and will contain no actual sex scenes. Please do not read this is that is what you are looking for. </p><p>Special note: I have heard about a few people saying that they wanted to write a spin-off or something of the sort. If you do so, I do not care if you credit me as the author, but please at least give me a link so I can see what hell I hath wrought on the fanfiction community.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-11-05T00:11:19+00:00
|
2011-11-05T00:11:19+00:00
| 11,414 |
As the broken record that is I said: "Thanks to Claudia Donovan for the picture."
--------------------------------------
Author's note: This chapter takes place the day before Twilight and Big Macintosh left for Canterlot.
Pinkie Pie bounced happily around the shop, cleaning up from the mess Apple Bloom had made earlier. Her ear began to flop. Her eye fluttered and her knee twitched. "I wonder who that could be?" She said to herself. A knock came to the door. "Come iiiiiiiiin." Pinkie practically sang.
Applejack opened the door, stepping into the bright room that was Sugarcube Corner's kitchen. "Howdy, there, Pinkie."
Pinkie gasped. "Hi Applejack! Did you come here looking for snacks, because I've got some snacks! I've got cupcakes, and candy, and I've got cupcakes... did I say that already? Oh well, I still have them! So, do you want them? Huh, huh, huh?" Pinkie rattled on.
"Hold on there, sugarcube, I ain't really got time to get into pleasantries with ya'. With Big Macintosh gettin' ready to go to Canterlot, I gotta work double if we want all our apple bucking done by the time winter comes. I came here because there's a new pony in town and I know y'all like to throw parties for every new pony." Applejack said, obviously very tired. "His name's Stefano, and he's holed up over at that little shack near Sweet Apple Acres."
"Oh, boy! I can't wait to throw him a party! I'll bet he's tons of fun!" Pinkie grinned the wide grin that her friends rarely see her without.
"Just you be careful, sugarcube, he's kinda' grabby with mares." Applejack said, a bit dismayed.
"Oh, don't worry, I'm slippery!" Pinkie grinned, hopping in place.
Applejack shook her head a bit, laughing. "Good luck, hon. Y'all may need it." She walked out the door, sparing one more worried look back at Pinkie before shutting the door.
"Oh, boy, a new pony is in town!" Pinkie Pie giggled excitedly. "I can't wait to introduce him to everypony!" She hopped over to the window, turning the open sign around to closed, and bounced out the door. "Hello, new neighbor... no, wait.... Greetings, new neighbor... no, wait... Welcome, new neighbor!" Pinkie sang each line a few times to see how it would sound. "Yeah, that'll work." She giggled, bouncing past the Carousel Boutique and the library, singing to herself. "Is this it?" She wondered, stopping by the small shack that Applejack had told her that Stefano was staying at. She smashed her face on the door a few times, which was her own little way of knocking.
The door opened to reveal a pony with a dark blue coat, his mane was jet black, and slicked back straight behind his head. But his most distinguishing feature was the small mustache that clung to his upper lip. "Allo?" He said, raising an eyebrow. "What is this? A beautiful mare on my front porch? Must be a gift from the heavens!" He had a very strong latin accent, all of his r's were rolled, and his i's sounded like e's.
Pinkie Pie stared at him for a few seconds before bursting into uncontrollable laughter. "Your voice! It's so funny!" She giggled.
"Ah, chica, you wound me." The stallion said, turning his face away from her. "But I shall persevere! Would you care to join me for tea?"
"Oh, right! I forgot that you're new here!" Pinkie Pie cleared her throat, humming a note. She burst into song.
"Welcome, new neighbor, I hope you like our town!
We all love new faces, so thanks for coming down!
We're glad you chose our humble burg, where good times never end!
We're all so very glad you came, we'd like to all be friends!"
Pinkie finished her song, grinning at the confused stallion.
"Well... I thank you..." The stallion looked very very confused. "But, about the tea?" He shook his head a bit, trying once again to pour on the charm.
"Okay!" Pinkie grinned. "But after that I have to go get a party ready for you!"
"I see, so you enjoy the parties?" Stefano asked.
"I love parties! Do you love parties?! I love parties because they're parties! What's your favorite thing about parties?!" Pinkie asked excitedly.
"I enjoy the chance to look at beautiful ponies. But none I have met so far have rivaled your beauty." Stefano gave a small bow to Pinkie Pie.
"Oh! That reminds me, I still have to introduce you to Rarity! She's really pretty! She'd love you! She loves good-looking stallions, except for Prince Blueblood, but he was a big dumb meanie-head." Pinkie Pie giggled.
"Ah, good-looking stallions like myself, yes?" Stefano smiled proudly.
"Sure. I think Rarity would call you... a... a..." She tried to recall the word. "Oh, I remember! A hunk!"
"Ah, you flatter me, miss." Stefano bowed slightly. "Please, come in."
"Okay!" Pinkie Pie grinned, hopping in. "Oooooooh." She said, looking around the house. It was decorated with various statues and paintings. The walls were brilliantly striped with a multitude of bright colors: reds, greens, blues, all the colors of the rainbow.
"Do you like my decor?" Stefano asked, raising a quizzical eyebrow.
"It's so pretty!" Pinkie's eyes were wide with excitement. "It reminds me of Sugarcube Corner!"
"It reminds me of your beautiful eyes." Stefano took her hooves in his. "You are a gorgeous creature, and I do not even know your name. Tell me so I may shout it from the rooftops!"
"I never told you my name?!" Pinkie gasped, jumping up. "Oh my gosh, how could I forget?! I'm Pinkie Pie! I loooove parties!"
"Allow me to greet you how my people greet each other, with a kiss." Stefano leaned in.
Pinkie Pie giggled. "That's silly! If you kiss everypony, then what do you do with your mate?" She snorted a bit.
"Ah, chica, you have speared this poor stallion in the heart with your harsh words." Stefano feigned fainting.
Pinkie Pie giggled. "You're funny! I like you! You're going to have a good party!"
"Ah, of course, chica, the party." Stefano nodded a bit.
"Sorry to leave you so quickly, but I've got to get things set up! I'll come get you when the party's ready!" Pinkie Pie grinned.
"Ah, yes, chica, but first..." Stefano sighed as Pinkie bounced out of the open door. "It would appear the old Stefano charm will have to be turned up to capture this slippery mare. Time to turn it up to diez!"
-----------------------
Pinkie Pie was back at Sugarcube Corner, decorating with her seemingly endless supply of streamers from a small box placed next to her. She happily hummed her welcome song, smiling brightly. "He was really funny!" She giggled quietly to herself. Gummy stared blankly at her. "What's that, Gummy? Smitten? I am not!" Pinkie said defensively. Gummy's tail wagged back and forth, his tongue poking out of the side of his mouth.
Pinkie coughed a bit nervously, blowing up a balloon. She tried tying off the balloon, but to no avail. The balloon flew across the room, letting out a loud noise as it did so. Pinkie blushed a bit. "Oh, Gummy, what's wrong with me? I've had crushes before, why is this any different?" She thought hard. "He makes me laugh a lot. I guess that's different." She gasped a bit, bouncing. "I know! I'll go and tell him I like him, and then he'll say he likes me, and then I can set the party up with no issues!" Gummy yawned, blinking his eyes. "I am not being ridiculous!" Pinkie said. "Come with me and see!" Pinkie picked Gummy up, holding him up to her hair, which he promptly bit down on. She giggled, hopping out of the building. She spotted Applejack walking tiredly through the town square, appearing to be in quite a rush.
"Heeeeeey! Applejack!" Pinkie called out to the orange pony. Applejack turned around, looking very surprised.
"I thought y'all would be setting up that party right about now." Applejack said.
"I was, but now I'm heading over to Stefano's house to tell him I like him!" Pinkie grinned.
"Pardon?" Applejack asked. "You just met the feller an hour ago, sugarcube! Y'all can't possibly like him after that short time!"
"Rarity liked Blueblood before she met him." Pinkie said pointedly, still not losing her grin.
"And look at how that turned out." Applejack replied.
"Oh, you're just a silly." Pinkie Pie said.
"Now, now, Pinkie, don't you think y'all should put a bit more thought into this?" Applejack suggested.
"Nope!" Pinkie grinned. "Gotta act while I can! Don't want any other mare scooping up my stallion!"
"Pinkie!" Applejack was shocked at her friend's behavior. "This just ain't like you! Well, I suppose you've always been pretty eager..." She sighed a bit. "Just you be careful. I ain't gonna be happy if I have to kick his rear 'cuz he got y'all pregnant."
"Of course I'll be careful!" Pinkie giggled. "After all, I still have to set up the party today!"
Applejack sighed a bit. "Well, I gotta get goin'. Good luck with yer... whatever." She shook her head a bit sadly, walking back towards Sweet Apple Acres.
Pinkie bounced to Stefano's house, knocking on the door in the manner she always did, knocking her face against the door. The door opened, a very distraught looking Stefano standing in the doorway.
"Ah, it is you!" Stefano said. "That took... very little time."
"Oh, I'm not here to get you for your party yet. I'm here because I like you!" Pinkie grinned.
"Ah! You... wait... what?!" Stefano looked very confused.
"I like you! You're cute! Like Gummy! Oh! This is Gummy!" She turned around, showing him the alligator clinging to her mane.
"You flatter me." Stefano suddenly seemed much happier. "You have filled this past hour with dismay at your absence."
"You're silly!" Pinkie giggled. "So, do you like me? Huh, huh, huh? Do ya, do ya, do ya?!"
"Miss Pinkie... I have loved a great many mares, but... until now, none of them have made me feel as you have. Few ponies have made me work as you have." Stefano chuckled.
"I didn't make you work at all." Pinkie cocked her head.
"I do not think you understand quite how simple it has been in the past." Stefano mused. "But no longer! This stallion is a one-mare-pony forevermore!"
"I don't believe you!" Pinkie grinned. "You always were! You just didn't know it!"
"Uh, what?" Stefano asked.
"Nothiiing." Pinkie sang happily. "So, when are we getting married?" She asked.
"Pinkie, I do not think you understand how it works." Stefano said, a drop of sweat rolling down his cheek.
"Sure I do!" Pinkie grinned. "I like you, you like me, let's get married!"
"But, Pinkie-" Stefano started.
"Tuesday? Good idea! I'll go get everything started!" Pinkie grinned, humming as she hopped back to Sugarcube Corner.
"What have I gotten myself into in this new town of Ponyville?" Stefano sighed, shaking his head. "At least she's cute."
----------------------
End of Pinkie Pie's Story
Author's notes: This was a bit more of a relaxed chapter, sort of a comedic relief to lead into some story. Don't worry, we certainly are not done with Pinkie Pie and Stefano.I liked the idea of having a saucy latin playboy attempt to seduce the oblivious pink ball of energy, and ending up being seduced himself. I tried extremely hard to keep the characterization in this one perfect, and I believe that I succeeded, at least on Pinkie's end. I made this a shorter chapter simply because there was not a whole lot of story to it, and it was really more of an introduction to future chapters. I still have no idea exactly how many chapters this will be, but I'd say we're probably less than halfway done. Enjoy this chapter, because it's the last you'll see for potentially a week, as I will be fixing up a few things in the older chapters before going on to the next one. Also, before anypony says it, there was a reason for Applejack to be in town square, and, as I'm sure you're getting tired of hearing, it'll make sense in a later chapter.
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ratmage99
|
1025
| 10 |
Big Macintosh,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Octavia,Original Character,Owlowiscious,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Comedy,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Mating Season in Equestria
|
Watch as the dark side of Equestria is revealed when mating season comes around.
|
incomplete
| 145 | 50 |
<p>How does Equestria survive with so few males? How is it that no ponies ever seem to mate? Answers come when mating season leads all of your favorite ponies to receive their call to duty and become the parents of the next generation of ponies. </p><p>Note: While it will be alluded to, this will not be a clopfic and will contain no actual sex scenes. Please do not read this is that is what you are looking for. </p><p>Special note: I have heard about a few people saying that they wanted to write a spin-off or something of the sort. If you do so, I do not care if you credit me as the author, but please at least give me a link so I can see what hell I hath wrought on the fanfiction community.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-10-17T03:53:37+00:00
|
2011-10-17T03:53:37+00:00
| 10,131 |
Timepiece sighed a bit, happy that the two female ponies has been too absorbed in their conversation to notice him much. He stayed behind while they went through the hole in the wall, leaving him alone with his thoughts. His head was pounding, and he felt nearly as surprised as the strange purple pony that was apparently Luna's daughter. In all this craziness, his life had seemed almost tame. He pulled a small device from its hiding place in his mane, pressing a small button on it. A tinny female voice rang out, echoing in the small room.
"Agent 4792, status report." The voice commanded.
"Agent 4792 reporting, I'm in." Timepiece cleared his throat a bit. "It would appear that there's more to this royal family than we thought. Princess Celestia isn't as crystal-clean as expected, and Luna appears to have quite a large secret under her sleeve. A daughter-sized secret. Luna has a descendant. A unicorn... well, an alicorn, soon."
"Good, good." The voice was laden with malice. "Don't act just yet, watch them, figure out their plan, then strike when the time is right. I am counting on you, Agent 4792. Don't mess up."
"Of course." Timepiece grunted, placing the device back into his mess of a mane. He sighed a bit, pretty sick of taking orders from the mysterious female pony. Unfortunately, this was the only way he knew how to keep his family safe, the only way he knew how to find the bastard that killed his mother. He hated the idea that some of the ponies he killed may be innocent, but he found that if he didn't think too hard about it, it didn't really bother him all that much.. He focused hard, making sure to get back into character. He knew it was slightly cliche, but he felt that when he pretended to be Timepiece, he really was Timepiece. He sighed a bit, feeling the timidity coming back. He was under control of it, after all, he was the one making himself like this, but it still felt weird. He jumped into the dirt tunnel, crawling through the soil. He poked his head into Twilight and Big Mac's room. The room was far too crowded for him to come in, so he simply stayed in the tunnel with only his head showing.
Luna looked to him, nodding a bit. "This is Timepiece. He is the one Celestia wanted me to mate with." She explained.
"Well, howdy, there, Timepiece. I'm Big Macintosh, but if ya' want, you can call me Big Mac, or even just Mac if you'd like." Big Macintosh smiled. Twilight was resting against him.
"You already know me." Twilight shrugged a bit. "Not really much else to tell... not that I'd even be sure that anything else would be true..."
Luna hung her head. "I apologize."
"Stop worrying about it. We don't have time for you to." Twilight said a bit impatiently.
"Right, of course." Luna nodded. "But as I was saying. I think Timepiece would be the best to sneak topside and alert the bearers of the other four elements. He would draw less attention than an alicorn, so Twilight and I are out, and Rainbow Dash thrives on attention, so she's out, and Big Macintosh is... well... big. Celestia doesn't seem to be as powerful as she was before... at least... not yet..." She frowned. "I sure hope the power of the six is enough."
"Well, the six were found on accident, really, maybe the seventh will be as well." Twilight sighed a bit. "I sure hope everything will be okay." She extended her newly grown wings a bit. They were still slightly underdeveloped, the feathers lying askew and the wings unable to extend to their full length. Her horn pained her as it extended. She felt more powerful magic than she had ever felt surge through her, only to be diverted to the brace her leg was held in.
"I say we just go up and give her the old one, two punch!" Rainbow Dash said, grinning.
Twilight sighed, rubbing her temples with her hooves. "Rainbow, this is Celestia that we're talking about. I think we'd all like to see this come out with nopony getting hurt."
"Maybe you would, but from what Luna says, Celestia deserves a good kick in the head." Rainbow said stubbornly.
"Hush." Twilight said. "If we do this carefully, we may be able to avoid a huge war."
"Say, Princess, what made your sister go bonkers anyways?" Rainbow asked.
Luna sighed a bit. "Well, I'm afraid somepony from her past has... shall we say... popped back up?"
"As in..." Twilight thought for a while. "Like, a rival or something?"
"Quite the opposite. There was a time when Celestia was kind, like the Celestia you all know. It wasn't really until after she left her mate that she began really getting bad." Luna said.
"First you tell us she was always bad, then you tell us she was sometimes bad, and now you're staying she turned bad after a while?" Twilight said a bit irritably. "How about a bit of consistancy?"
"When I said always, I was using hyperbole. I thought you of all ponies would appreciate a literary device." Luna said, seeming a tad miffed. Her face quickly softened. "I'm sorry, Twilight, I'm just a mite stressed." She sighed.
"I know how you feel." Twilight grumbled a bit.
"I know this is really hard on you, Twilight, and I'm sorry." Luna frowned.
"No, I love finding out that I'm the daughter of what used to be the most evil pony in existence and that my whole life has been a lie. Thanks, Mom." The last word was said particularly acidic.
"Twilight, that ain't like you at all!" Big Macintosh said.
"I know, I know." Twilight sighed, looking to Luna apologetically. "My whole life has just been turned upside-down, and I'm having some very conflicting emotions."
"I understand. Your recent... kinship... with Mr. Macintosh probably isn't helping." Luna said.
"I keep tellin' ya, you can call me Big Macintosh if ya'd like. I've never been too partial to 'Mr. Macintosh." Big Macintosh said, trying to be friendly.
"So, what do we do now?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Are we gonna send the pipsqueak up or not?"
"I don't want to endanger him..." Luna frowned, looking to him. "He seems to be frail, and I couldn't forgive myself if I let him be hurt."
Timepiece spoke for the first time the entire day. "I thought you were the dark one..."
"I thought you'd never heard of me." Luna looked at him, surprised.
"I didn't! I mean... I haven't." Timepiece said quickly. Damn. He thought. I'm getting sloppy.
"Well, either way, do you think you're up to it?" Twilight asked.
Timepiece sighed, a bit relieved. "Yeah, sure." He said casually.
Luna stared at him for a few seconds. "Then come with me back to our cell, it's the closest to the surface entrance, and I have to write a note for you to send." Luna stood, her knees shaking weakly. "The sooner I get this band off, the better." She mumbled. She weakly climbed through the tunnel, jumping out into the room, collapsing almost immediately. Timepiece followed close after her, frowning.
"Are you alright, Princess?" He asked.
"I'll be fine." Princess Luna said. "Alicorns can live without magic, we are just very weak. On an unrelated subject, when exactly were you planning on killing me?"
Timepiece stumbled back a bit. "W-what?"
"You are a spy, are you not?" Luna asked, still putting on a slight smile.
"I... I..." Timepiece was speechless. "How did you know?"
"Female intuition." Luna said. "Not to mention that you got sloppy. The whole communicating through small transceivers thing doesn't work very well when your mane is too short to hide it."
Timepiece stared at her, stunned. "Why haven't you gotten me, then? Why haven't you snapped my neck while I slept?"
"Oh, I could never do something like that. Despite what rumors Celestia may have spread during my incarceration, I have never killed anypony. So, are you going to tell me who you work for? Or are you just going to kill me?" Luna asked.
"You aren't even going to try to defend yourself?" Timepiece asked.
"I doubt I could." Luna said. "I'm severely weakened, not to mention that you're small, and could more easily escape."
Timepiece sat down slowly, unsure of what to do. "So, you want to know why I'm spying on you?" He asked, a bit unsure of why he'd be willing to tell her.
"It'd be nice." Luna smiled kindly at him.
"To be honest, I don't know. I've only dealt with her over the transceiver, and before that, some strange pony came to me due to my..." He cleared his throat a bit. "Distaste for a rival spy faction."
"Why?" Luna asked. "Did you used to work for the rival spy faction?"
"No." Timepiece sighed. "They killed my mother."
"I'm very sorry to hear that." Luna frowned.
"You're telling me." Timepiece grunted.
"So why haven't you killed me yet?" Luna asked.
"I was under orders to observe." Timepiece sighed. "I was not to act yet."
"Do you really want to be a spy?" Luna asked skeptically.
"Why wouldn't I? The pay's great, my family is guaranteed protection, and I have an outlet for my rage." Timepiece said.
"Because for every pony you kill, you may be putting many young colts and fillies in the exact same position you were in. You aren't a bad pony. You wouldn't do that." Luna said gently.
"Great, now the princess of darkness is lecturing me." Timepiece grumbled, obviously knowing that she was right. "You don't even know me."
"I apologize." Luna said. "But I think it's obvious from your actions that I seem to know you better than you yourself do."
"Shut up." Timepiece said quietly.
"You came here expecting to mate with me, then kill me, didn't you?" Luna said.
"No! I wouldn't have mated with you!" Timepiece's cheeks were rosy.
"You really wouldn't have?" Luna raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
"No! Not at all!" Timepiece said.
"You see? You're not a spy or an assassin. You're just a kid that got in way over his head." Luna said gently.
"You're wrong!" Timepiece screamed.
"Oh, really? If you're such a big man, prove it." Luna challenged. "I won't believe that you are a killer if you don't."
Timepiece growled with rage, jumping on her back, placing a hoof on her chin and a hoof on the back of her head, preparing to snap the neck of the princess. An image flashed through his mind of the man who killed his mother. He was positioned exactly like he was, hooves ready to end the life of a pony. He began trembling, falling off of Luna's back. He shook, laying on the floor."I'm a monster." He whimpered, his eyes wide.
"Shhh." Luna put a hoof on his shoulder. "I'm sorry I had to do that, but I had to make you realize who you were."
"I really am a kid." Timepiece sighed. "A stupid kid."
"Saying that proves that you aren't." Luna smiled. "No kid I know admits to being a kid."
"I sure as hell am not a man." Timepiece said. "No man would go around hurting innocent ponies."
"You weren't a man." Luna corrected. "Now, I think you've learned your lesson pretty well."
"Thank you..." Timepiece said. "For everything." He pulled the small device from his mane, clicking a button.
The familiar tinny voice sounded once again. "Agent 4792, have you completed the task?"
"No, I haven't." Timepiece replied. "And I never will. I quit." He said the last two words with a strange jubilance in his voice.
"You what?!" The voice screamed. "Nopony quits on me! You'll regret this! I happen to know who your brothers are, and let's just say that you may be missing one or two when you return." The voice had particular malice, but it was out of control, as if she couldn't contain her rage. "In fact, I believe your brother is about to get married. It'd be a shame if somepony just happened to plant an explosive in the church set to go off at about the same time."
"What? Francisco would never get married! He's too timid." Timepiece said angrily.
"Well then, perhaps I could be mistaken." The voice had a strange happiness to it. "But I believe you do have another brother."
"...Stefano?" Timepiece gasped.
------------------------------------------
Well, this chapter has been kind of a nightmare for me. I've been far too busy to write lately, and when I have, I haven't been in the mood for it. On a completely different note, I am looking for pictures to make a new cover to this story. Either send the pictures to me through the private messaging system, or email me at [email protected]. I will send my eternal gratitude to all who help me in the form of Thanks Points, a new system of money that I just made up that has no value whatsoever. Now, for the moment that you have all been waiting for... this week's spoiler: I will be very surprised if anypony figures this out. Goodbye, everypony, and happy readings!
|
ratmage99
|
1025
| 11 |
Big Macintosh,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Octavia,Original Character,Owlowiscious,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Comedy,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Mating Season in Equestria
|
Watch as the dark side of Equestria is revealed when mating season comes around.
|
incomplete
| 145 | 50 |
<p>How does Equestria survive with so few males? How is it that no ponies ever seem to mate? Answers come when mating season leads all of your favorite ponies to receive their call to duty and become the parents of the next generation of ponies. </p><p>Note: While it will be alluded to, this will not be a clopfic and will contain no actual sex scenes. Please do not read this is that is what you are looking for. </p><p>Special note: I have heard about a few people saying that they wanted to write a spin-off or something of the sort. If you do so, I do not care if you credit me as the author, but please at least give me a link so I can see what hell I hath wrought on the fanfiction community.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-10-31T06:07:29+00:00
|
2011-10-31T06:07:29+00:00
| 14,891 |
Applejack sighed, leaning back against a tree for balance. She looked over the orchard, where many of the trees still bore fruit. She looked at the cart beside her. It was completely filled with apples, a small hill of them coming up and almost dropping from the cart. She looked down the row of trees at the barn. It seemed a million miles away. She hadn't felt this lonely since she'd gone to Aunt and Uncle Orange's. Granny Smith was visiting some relatives in Manehattan, Big Macintosh was at Canterlot, Apple Bloom was staying with Rarity during Apple Bucking season, and Applejack was left to tend to the farm and do all the work. She had thought about sending a message to Braeburn, but she didn't really want to be a bother. It felt a bit strange for her, it wasn't something she'd ever worried about, bothering anypony, but apparently, that's one of the things you develop with age. She stood up straight, her legs threatening to collapse. She laid down on the ground.
"I'll just take a lil' ole' nap right here." She yawned, having been working for about three days straight. She settled in, curling into a small ball, wrapping her tail over her own nose. "Goodnight Applejack." She sighed gently, dozing off almost immediately.
--------
Applejack woke up after what felt like ages, her eyes too tired to open. She yawned, stretching out, her legs sore and aching. She winced a bit, opening her eyes a bit. She recognized the shape of her small bedroom in the farmhouse.She blinked a bit, looking about her. The bedroom was definitely hers. A picture of her, Apple Bloom, and Big Macintosh sat on the stand next to the bed, from just slightly after Apple Bloom was born. She smiled slightly, that day being one of her best memories. The room was very simple, the walls made of simple wood paneling, the only light coming in from the open window. Small bits of dust floated through the light, distracting Applejack's tired mind. She shook her head a bit, looking up. Her hat was hung on the small hook above short wooden bed. Her plaid blankets lay over her, and she was tucked in just how her mother used to tuck her in. She blinked. "What in the hay?" She sat up in the bed, rubbing her sore back.
"Oh, good, you're up." A small voice said. "Sorry for moving you, but I was a bit worried with you out there."
Applejack could swear she'd heard that voice before. She looked over to the source and she did, in fact, recognize the speaker. "Well, now, if it ain't Little Strongheart. What're you doin' 'round here?"
"Well, I came into town to buy some supplies for some renovations they're doing to Appleloosa... with the chief's consent, of course. Braeburn told me I should stop by and visit you while I was here. I saw you sleeping and I figured that I'd take you to bed. This room looked like it could be yours, so I took you here." Little Strongheart smiled at her.
Applejack smiled back thankfully for a moment, then gasped as she had a realization. "The apples! I have to go get the apples and get to work!"
"Settle down." Little Strongheart said. "I took the apples into the barn and I even bucked a few trees for you. The buffalo have been helping with the harvest lately. We're basically Appleloosians by now, we visit so often."
Applejack laid back, sighing with relief. "I don't know how to thank ya', Little Strongheart. Shouldn't you be heading back, though? It's gettin' pretty late."
Strongheart shook her head. "I sent a letter with the mailpony. She's a bit strange, but she's pretty nice. She didn't even mind going all the way out to Appleloosa. I told them that I was going to stay here and help you. I can just sleep in a hotel or something."
"Oh, really?" Applejack was a bit taken aback. "Well y'all don't have ta' go to a hotel or nothin', I'm here alone for a while, y'all can take Big Mac's room if ya' want."
"Oh, I don't want to be bothersome." Little Strongheart shook her head. "I still feel bad for taking Bloomberg, after all."
"Oh, don't you worry your silly head none." Applejack waved a hoof. "Water under the bridge. Yer' helping me with the harvest anyways."
"Well, in that case, thank you very much." Little Strongheart said, still looking a bit uncomfortable.
"Why, it'll be just like a sleepover... with no Rarity!" Applejack chuckled a bit at her own joke.
LIttle Strongheart cocked her head a bit. "What?"
"Long story." Applejack laughed.
Little Strongheart nodded a bit, still quite curious. She looked around the room absentmindedly, her eyes lighting on a small picture frame next to the bed. She stared at the picture, a strange knot appearing in her throat. The picture was of a younger Applejack, standing in front of a small apple tree sapling. At her side was a large red stallion with an apple half on his flank, an enormous smile on his face. On his back sat a tiny filly, no older than two years of age, a comically large red bow neatly tied in her mane. She was yellow, with a bright red mane that bore a strong semblance to the setting sun. The filly was grinning happily, her hooves wrapped around the stallion's neck.
Little Strongheart scrutinized the photographs, finding herself unable to pull away. "I didn't know you had a mate, Applejack." She tsked quietly. "And aren't you a little young to have a filly?"
Applejack laughed a bit. "No, no no." She shook her head. "Those're my kin. That's my brother, Big Macintosh. He's two years older than I am, and he handles all the financial matters on the farm. I never was one for those fancy mathematics." She waved a hoof absently. "The filly is my sister, Apple Bloom. She's seven years younger than me, and she tends to be a hooffull, but she's a good kid. You may recognize Bloomberg, he's the saplin' in the background."
Little Strongheart stared at the picture. "Why aren't your parents in the picture?"
Applejack sighed a bit, her smile slipping for the first time. "Ma' died while giving birth to Apple Bloom, and I ain't seen Pa' in years."
"I'm very sorry to hear that." Little Strongheart looked at the ground, feeling bad for having brought it up.
"It's fine." Applejack forced a smile. "After all, Big Macintosh is the best father figure a foal could ever want.
Little Strongheart sighed, her chest hurting her a bit. "I wish I had a father figure. My mother died shortly after I was born, in the yearly stampede, and my father is far too busy with his duties."
"Duties? What duties does your father have?" Applejack asked curiously.
"Duties as chief. Didn't you know? Chief Thunderhooves is my father." Little Strongheart sighed a bit. "Doesn't surprise me he wouldn't tell anyone, after all, he doesn't even seem to know I exist. I suppose I should be thankful. It sounds like your life's been harder than mine."
"I won't disagree with ya'." Applejack shook her head. "Each year's been a little harder for us. We've lost more and more apples each harvest, and that means we can't afford to hire help to buck the apples. And with all the disasters happenin' lately, mostly due to somepony or another's antics, our trees are getting destroyed out there!" She took a deep breath to calm her. The sky outside began to darken. "What the-? The pegasus ponies should have taken care of this! There was no rain scheduled for today!" She jumped out of bed, wincing a bit, her legs sore from apple bucking. She looked out the window at the gently rolling dark clouds, lighting arcing from one to the ground with a loud clap that could have waken even an ursa major. Applejack sighed. "Well, looks like you may be stuck here for a few days, this one looks like it'll be a doozy."
"I don't mind." Little Strongheart smiled a bit. "It'll be nice to have another female to talk to. I'm the only one in the tribe. "
"That's gotta be hard, havin' all that pressure on ya'." Applejack nodded a bit.
"Pressure?" Little Strongheart blinked.
"Well, yeah, it's mating season, after all." Applejack said.
Little Strongheart blinked. "What?"
"The time when all creatures get together and... well... they..." Applejack struggled with how to describe it.
"Oh, you mean they do it?" Little Strongheart asked.
Applejack's jaw dropped. "Where'd you learn something like that, L.S.?!"
"I've learned all kinds of things while hanging out around Appleloosa." Little Strongheart said. "I haven't actually tried it, but I've heard about it."
"Well, if y'all want to avoid it, perhaps y'all should just move here." Applejack said. "We have more than enough females to go around, it's males we gotta worry about."
"Wait... you mean here with you?" Little Strongheart asked.
"Interestin'..." Applejack laughed a bit. "But not quite what I had in mind. I was jus' sayin' you should move to Ponyville. We cater to all sorts here." Applejack smiled at her.
"Oh, of course. Little Strongheart felt the stinging in her chest return with a vengeance. It felt strange, wanting to get a feel for this broken family. The feeling of loneliness, the feeling of wanting a family like Applejacks, a family that cared about each other. Not a distant father, a dead mother, and a tribe that saw her as nothing more than their chance for reproduction. When Applejack spoke of her family, there was something visible in her eyes. A sense of love that surpassed anything Little Strongheart had ever seen. The love of a family. She shook her head, quickly wiping a tear from her eye.
"Ya' okay, there, L.S.?" Applejack asked.
Little Strongheart stared out the window for a bit, trying to come up with a response. Rain had begun falling gently. The leaves of the apple trees shuddered with anticipation of the coming storm. The rain glistened on the shiny apples. Reds, greens, yellows, all co-mingling, just as the buffalo were doing with the settler ponies, and just as Little Strongheart's heart was leading her to. There was something about the apple trees that made her feel everything on a deeper level. She loved apple trees. She never complained when the settler ponies were moving in because she got to see all of the pretty little trees, which were then just saplings. There was something beautiful about it, the process by which small trees become big trees, which become bald trees, which then go back to being a regular tree. The circulation of it had always impressed Little Strongheart. Perhaps when she got older, she too would become bald, only to once again grow all of her coat back and be strong once more. She found herself smiling at the thought of herself with leaves all over her.
"Little Strongheart? Y'all alright?" Applejack repeated.
Little Strongheart found herself blushing a bit, not realizing that she had spaced out. Suddenly, she remembered what she was talking about, and the bad feelings came back in spades. Her feelings of loneliness, of worry, of not knowing what was to come, but worst of all, the feeling of loving somepony she knew she would not be with. The feeling of the respect she had grown for Applejack possibly not being returned. The worst feeling in the world, the feeling of unrequited love. "Y-yeah." She coughed a bit. "I'm fine."
"Do y'all think ya' can get away with lyin' to the bearer of the Element of Honesty?" Applejack raised her eyebrow a bit.
"W-what do you mean?" Little Strongheart shifted nervously.
"I can tell 'yer lyin'. Don't try to say you ain't, because I can tell you are." Applejack nodded at her, sitting back on her haunches. "I promise I won't make a peep 'bout it unless y'all want me to."
"Well..." Little Strongheart thought for a moment. She wondered how much she should say. She wanted to tell Applejack how she felt, how her dreams for the past year had been haunted by her visage. How every waking moment filled her with dread because she loved a pony that couldn't love her back. She wanted to tell her how every night she'd be unable to sleep because her thoughts would always turn to Applejack. She wanted to say so much, but she knew she could not. She thought of how best to tell Applejack her feelings. "I'm..." She wanted to badly to say "I'm in love with you," but she just couldn't, so she quickly came up with an excuse. "I'm jealous of you, Applejack." Her statement was not a lie, she truly was jealous of the gorgeous orange pony.
"Jealous? Of me?" Applejack asked, seeming almost amused by the notion.
"Yeah." Little Strongheart was a bit relieved she didn't say what she was really thinking. "You have a job, a loving family, and all of those friends you have... All I have is my tribe, and they don't even really like me that much.
"Oh, sure they do, sugar cube." Applejack patted Little Strongheart's back comfortingly.
Electricity ran down Little Strongheart's spine at her crush's touch. She bit her lips to stop herself from saying anything about it. She cleared her throat a bit. "Not for anything other than doin-" She paused for a moment, looking to Applejack. "Other than mating." She corrected.
"Now I don't believe that 'fer one second. Not that I don't think that they want to mate with you, but I think they like you and want to mate with you..." Applejack frowned a bit. "Wait, that didn't quite come out right. Anyways, about your sleeping arrangements, it's just me an' Apple loom here 'til matin' season's over. Problem is, Big Macintosh never really cared for beds, said they were too unnatural or somethin'..." Applejack laughed a bit at the ridiculousness of it all. "Anyways, his room's just got straw. I s'pose we could be bed buddies, if y'all don't have an issue with that." Applejack suggested.
"Yes!" Little Strongheart said quickly. She blushed lightly, coughing a bit. "I mean... sure, if you want."
Applejack looked at Little Strongheart strangely, cocking her head a bit. "Anyways..." She finally ceased her scrutiny, turning her head back to the window. "So, why'd you say you came here again?" She sat in front of the window, staring out at the apple trees.
"Well, the chief... my dad sent me to Appleloosa to help them get ready for winter. They sent me here to pick up some supplies. I don't really remember what they were. I mean, it seems like they'd be able to get most supplies there, but who am I to judge. They surely know what they need."
Little Strongheart shrugged a bit. "I'm just glad to leave all of those males back there."
"So, does that mean..." Applejack coughed a bit. "Are you one of them that likes... that likes females?"
"Never really thought about it." Little Strongheart shrugged. "It's really more that there's someone I had in mind..." She began kicking herself mentally. Why did I just say that?! She screamed inside her head.
"You go, gal. Who is it?" Applejack asked. "Come on, spill it."
"Well..." Little Strongheart bit her lip. "It's somepony you know..."
"A pony I know?" Applejack thought for a moment. "Oh! Braeburn! It's gotta be Braeburn. Good job, L.S., he's quite the catch."
Little Strongheart braced herself, ready to confess, ready to tell Applejack just how she felt. "No, it's..."
"It's Rarity, ain't it? I don't know a mare or a stallion alive that ain't thought of it at one point." Applejack nodded.
Little Strongheart sighed a bit. This confession would be easier without the interruptions. "No! It's..."
"Don't tell me it's Spike. I know y'all like dragons, but I didn't think you liked them." Applejack grimaced a bit.
Little Strongheart groaned loudly. "It's you!" Little Strongheart screamed. "I like you..." Her voice trailed off, the weight of her confession setting in slowly. She looked to the floor, wanting nothing more than to jump out of the window, but her small legs refused to move.
"Oh..." Applejack said quietly.
"I'm sorry." Little Strongheart sighed. "Go ahead and tell me that you don't like me back." She felt very childish saying such a thing, as if she was going to pout at any moment. More than anything, though, she wanted to cry. Tears pushed through her eyelids, wetting her cheeks as they rolled gently down her cheeks.
"I can't..." Applejack said after a few minutes. "I can't say that honestly..."
Little Strongheart's ears perked up a bit. "Really?"
Applejack shrugged slowly. "You're rugged, strong, and perty cute." She sighed quietly. "Unfortunately, I don't really have the time or energy for a relationship these days..."
"Oh... of course..." Little Strongheart sighed.
Applejack frowned. "Of course, we'll be stuck here alone for a few days until the rain clears up, and Apple Bloom's always wantin' to stay at Rarity's, apparently she lets them sleep in the boutique. We could always just hang out for a few days and see where it takes us."
Little Strongheart looked up at Applejack. "Hang out?"
"Y'know, hang out." Applejack shrugged. She thought for a moment. "Although, if the weather allows, I've got somewhere to be tonight."
"Where?" Little Strongheart asked.
"Well, y'all remember Pinkie Pie, don'tcha?" Little Strongheart nodded. "Well, in a few hours, she's getting married." Applejack sighed a bit.
"Really?" Little Strongheart gasped.
"Really." Applejack nodded. "I'd always figured Rarity'd be the first of us to get married. Whoo boy, I sure hope she don't find out 'bout the weddin'."
"Why not?" Little Strongheart asked.
"I'll explain it later." Applejack said, thinking for a moment. "Hey, do y'all wanna go to the wedding with me? I s'pose it'd be like... a date of sorts." Applejack shrugged a little bit.
"Of course!" Little Strongheart shouted excitedly.
Applejack laughed. "Yer quite different now than you were back by Appleloosa, L.S."
"I've been spending more time in Appleloosa than with the tribe. I suppose I'm more pony than buffalo now." Little Strongheart laughed.
"You do look it quite a bit." Applejack laughed along with her. "Welp, we should probably get ready for this shindig." Applejack said, moving from the spot by the window she'd occupied for quite a while. "Let's go shock some ponies."
Little Strongheart smiled at her."Sounds like a plan."
The End of Applejack's Chapter
--------------
Whew. Here we are, the next chapter. Sorry this one's taken so long, but situations were crazy between having school stuff, band competitions, and play practice to deal with. And to make matters worse, I just went through a pretty bad breakup and that's the last time you want to write a romance story. Also, starting with this story, all of my writing will be done by hand first, then transferred to computer to give myself a chance to proofread before sending it to my proofreader. Oh, by the way, did I mention that I have a prereader now? Thanks a bunch to JuyUnseen for being my official proofreader. From now on, expect, if we're lucky, a schedule of a chapter every two weeks. As a side note, (I really should organize this part more,) I am still looking for pictures to replace the rather bland title picture that currently serves as the picture. I have been working my fingers to the bone today trying to get an entirely new story out for Halloween, but time, not to mention at times the stuff I write about makes me a bit sick to my stomach, (I should probably be institutionalized,) have prevented me from finishing, so maybe coming up within the next week. Also, to any bronies from the Western Michigan area, I am planning on going to the brony meetup that is currently being set up, so if I hear that any of you are going, I may just have to distinguish myself so you can punch me in the face for messing up a few chapters. As for the next chapter, I won't give you a spoiler hint with some hidden message or anything, but I will ask a question that is related. (Don't worry, I wouldn't abandon my Fluttershy, I just want hers to come in a place where it fits in to the story.) Anyways, the question is: does it piss anyone else off that Derpy Hooves/Ditzy Doo is almost always portrayed in fics as either mentally challenged or total badass? Why is there no middle ground. Anyways, I've talked enough, and I don't know if any of you are still reading, so if you are, have an internet cookie. I love you guys. Bye! (Man, I'm long winded, aren't I?)
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ratmage99
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1025
| 12 |
Big Macintosh,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Octavia,Original Character,Owlowiscious,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Comedy,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
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Mating Season in Equestria
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Watch as the dark side of Equestria is revealed when mating season comes around.
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incomplete
| 145 | 50 |
<p>How does Equestria survive with so few males? How is it that no ponies ever seem to mate? Answers come when mating season leads all of your favorite ponies to receive their call to duty and become the parents of the next generation of ponies. </p><p>Note: While it will be alluded to, this will not be a clopfic and will contain no actual sex scenes. Please do not read this is that is what you are looking for. </p><p>Special note: I have heard about a few people saying that they wanted to write a spin-off or something of the sort. If you do so, I do not care if you credit me as the author, but please at least give me a link so I can see what hell I hath wrought on the fanfiction community.</p>
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teen
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2012-07-22T17:12:32+00:00
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2012-07-22T17:12:32+00:00
| 4,299 |
I will make no excuses for the very very long absence. I will simply say that I do plan on finishing this story.
--==--
Braeburn hummed, wiping the sweat from his brow. He looked about him at the nearly-bare apple trees surrounding him. He smiled a bit, watching a young colt kicking at a tree, trying to coax the apples from their spot closer to the heavens. Braeburn trotted towards him, rubbing the small colt's head playfully. "Havin' fun, Bucky?"
"No, I shore ain't!" The little pony frumped, groaning with frustration. His short, frizzed mane was a bright blonde color, slightly browned with dust. His coat was a very bright white, or rather, it would be were it not for the dust turning it a light brown. His eyes were a very light shade of blue, and were squinted with concentration "Ya' see, I figger that everypony's name is usually what they're good at, right? Mah name's Bucky, so I'll probably get a cutie mark fer buckin' apples, right?"
Braeburn laughed, shaking his head a bit. "That's a good idea there, Bucky, but apple bucking ain't really somethin' that anypony as young as y'all can do. I didn't start 'til I was 'bout twelve." Braeburn smiled comfortingly at Bucky.
"Hey, Braeburn, when's my ma comin' back from Canterlot?" Bucky asked, looking up at Braeburn, his eyes large and sad.
"Umm... soon, Bucky, soon... Hey, why don't you try buckin' the apples again? Maybe you'll get it this time!"
"Yeah, I'll do it! I"ll get it!" The colt giggled, his large eyes glistening with excitement. He turned to face away from the apple tree, closing his eyes and rearing up on his front legs, slamming his stringy legs against the thick trunk, small bits of bark chipping off as his hard hooves connected with the dense wood. The apples swayed, threatening to fall from the branches. Bucky stared at the tree, his eyes beginning to wet themselves with tears when he saw that he did not succeed in his endeavor. Braeburn coughed gently, kicking his leg to the side and skillfully hitting the tree powerfully, yet silently. Apples began to rain down on the stallion and the small colt. Bucky gasped, wiping the tears from his eyes, astonished that he had accomplished his feat. He jumped up and down with glee, laughing happily.
"Oh boy! Where is it? What's my cutie mark look like? Is it an apple tree? An apple? " Bucky stared back at his flank, searching for the image that did not exist.
"Sorry, Buck, but ah keep tellin' ya, These things take a while. Ah didn't get mine 'til I was quite a bit older than y'all. 'Sides, ya don't wanna grow up too fast, you're still just an itty bitty thing." Braeburn frowned, placing his hoof comfortingly on Bucky's back.
"Ah know, ah know..." Bucky grumbled, shaking a bit in his frustration. "Ah just wish ah knew what was right fer me!"
Braeburn sighed quietly, looking to the clouds floating gently above. "Ah know how ya feel, bud..." He paused, turning his gaze to the baked earth, cracked from the lack of rain. "More than you know."
---===---
On the outskirts of Appleloosa, A pegasus pony was flying closer with each impending moment, the small town now appearing as only a tiny dot. She hummed a tune as the air whipped past her, her eyes watering. On her side was a large, brown bag made of enchanted cloth, cloth that would never show any sign of wear and would never grow heavier no matter what was placed inside. It was the bag given to all mailponies by Princess Celestia herself, and so carrying one is one of the greatest honors most ponies would ever have. The pegasus sighed happily, her blonde mane flowing behind her, the sun glistening off her light gray coat. Her eyes were looking straight ahead, or as straight ahead as she could make them.
"Mom, are we almost there?" A small voice peeped from the pegasus's back. The pegasus looked to her back, smiling at the smaller pegasus that clung to her. The smaller pegasus was a nearly exact copy of her mother, except for her cutie mark. Rather than the bubbles her mother bore, the filly had a pair of racing goggles. Her large eyes were squinted, the wind causing her eyes slight pain and discomfort. Normally she would be wearing her goggles, but she'd lent them to her friend Scootaloo.
"Everything's always about speed with you, isn't it, Little Doo?" The larger pegasus laughed gently, shaking her head. "We'll be there very soon, dear."
Little Doo rolled her eyes. "I'm going to be a Wonderbolt, Mom, I have to worry about speed."
The filly's mother laughed gently. "Not everything is about speed, Little Doo. Sometimes you just have to enjoy the view. Besides, this may be a business visit, but I'll be taking care of some personal things while I'm here."
"But I'll be so boooored!" Little Doo groaned.
"Deal with it." Her mother smiled at her. "Besides, one of my friends is watching a little boy your age, I'm sure you two will get along."
Little Doo rolled her eyes a bit. "All parents think that any two foals around the same age will always get along."
"Well..." Her mother shrugged as much as she coud while flying. "We're almost there." She looked at the fast approaching town. Other than the train tracks leading from Ponyville to Appleloosa, the town was the only sign of life for miles. The town was very distinguishable, its large, colorful buildings contrasting the yellow, thirsty ground dramatically. The pegasus circled the town a few times as if she were looking for something. She gently descended, landing in the apple orchard next to Braeburn and Bucky. "Hello Braeburn! I have a letter for you." She couldn't hide the enormous grin on her face. She unclasped her bag and reached into it, pulling out a small, brown envelope marked to Braeburn.
Braeburn took the envelope, ripping it open with his teeth and reading the enclosed letter. "Ah see, so... there's a storm brewin' in Ponyville?"
The older pegasus shrugged. "I don't really pay attention to the weather. I have to deliver the mail no matter what the weather is, so what's the point in knowing ahead?"
Braeburn laughed a bit. "Just as bubbly as always, ain't ya, Ditzy Doo?"
"I told you, just call me Ditzy." The older pegasus smiled at him. "And I'll bet you're wondering who this social creature is." Little Doo was still clasped to her mother's back, looking up at Braeburn suspiciously.
"Not at all. This has gotta be the Little Doo I've been hearin' so much about." Braeburn laughed. "It's alright, I promise not to hurt ya'... So long as you listen to yer ma."
"Braeburn!" Ditzy Doo scolded. "You can't say that to a child!"
"You look like Apple Bloom." Little Doo squinted at him.
"I should. She's mah cuz." Braeburn smiled. "Gosh, I ain't seen her since she was apple-sized."
Bucky looked up at the pegasi in awe. He had never seen a pegasus in his life. Appleloosa was founded by earth ponies, and the few pegasi that used to live in the small town had left when the drought began, the year before Bucky arrived.
"Little Doo, dear, why don't you go play with Bucky? I need to talk to Braeburn." Ditzy Doo smiled at the filly still sitting on her back.
"Okay." Little Doo hopped off of her mother, landing with a small cloud of dust. She shook her head, her mane flopping about her. "It's so dusty!"
"You'll get used to it." Bucky grinned. "Come on, let's go! I know this place with great climbin' trees!"
"Cool!" Little Doo hopped a bit. "I love climbing!"
Bucky ran ahead down the path that ran between the yellowing trees, kicking up a cloud of dust in his wake. Little Doo ran up to him, catching up easily with the help of her wings. The two skidded to a halt in front of the largest tree in the orchard. The tree was leafy, and had small, infant apples hanging from the branches, which hung low to the ground.
"Wooooooow!" Little Doo grinned. "This'll be a great climbing tree!"
"It shore is!" Bucky grinned, jumping up and wrapping his front hooves around a low branch, flailing his back legs around, trying to raise himself up on the branch. The branch snapped, bringing Bucky to the ground. Little Doo ran to his aid, picking up the now even more browned colt. A deep scratch ran down his flank, a small amount of blood trickling out. Bucky groaned, trying to stand on his leg, only to have it buckle under him.
"Are you okay?" Little Doo gasped, looking around for anypony to help them.
"Do ah look okay?" Bucky said through gritted teeth. He winced as she gently touched his flank, slapping her hoof away. "That hurts!"
"Sorry!" Little Doo took a step back. "It looks broken..."
Bucky groaned, slamming his front hoof into the crusted earth. His face was contorted in a mixture of pain and disappointment. "Shoot! How am I gonna get my buckin' cutie mark now?!"
"I know you're in pain, but that's no excuse for language like that..." Little Doo said gently.
"No! A cutie mark for apple buckin'! It's what I have to be good at!" Bucky grunted, forcing himself up on three hooves, his back left hoof hanging on the ground uselessly.
Little Doo quickly got under him, letting him fall onto her back. "We have to get you to a doctor."
"The only one in town who knows a lick 'bout doctorin' in town is Chief Thunderhooves." Bucky said, the pain evident in his voice. "And he's all the way back in town."
"Well, I don't want to brag, but I can get there in 30 seconds flat." Little Doo smiled.
"Impossible! It's too far!" Bucky said.
"I won't let you stay in pain any longer than you need to be, Bucky, ol' buddy! Now hang on!" Little Doo grinned, happy to take any opportunity to show off.
"Well, I ain't really your ol' buddy, ah mean, we jus' met like, twenty minutes ago." Bucky said.
"Well.... still!" Little Doo laughed a little, lifting off the ground, adjusting her wing flapping to adjust to the weight of another pony. She shifted her weight forward a bit to avoid dropping Bucky. She took off like a blast from Pinkie's party cannon, racing towards the town, careful not to jostle the colt too much. She skidded to a stop, landing in the center of town.
"Well? Which place is it, Buck?" Little Doo asked. "By the way, twenty-eight seconds."
Bucky's mouth hung wide open, staring at her in stunned silence. "I-I... that one..." Bucky slowly pointed towards a building modelled after a teepee.
Little Doo smiled brightly, trotting happily towards the building, knocking her head on the door a few times, afraid to lift her legs and knock Bucky off. The door opened, a large, intimidating buffalo staring down at Little Doo and Bucky. Little Doo gasped, slowly backing away from the beast.
"Bucky?" The buffalo asked, his deep voice calm and soothing. "What happened?"
"I think I broke my leg, Chief..." Bucky winced, suddenly reminded of the pain he was feeling.
"I see. Bring him in, please, miss." The Chief stepped inside, leaving the door open for Little Doo. She stepped in, still nervous about the lumbering creature.
"You didn't tell me he was a... whatever he is." Little Doo whispered to Bucky.
"He's a buffalo, and I didn't think it mattered none." Bucky whispered back.
"Please set him down on the floor, I need to treat the scratch and wrap his leg." Chief Thunderhooves said, producing a bottle of alcohol and a sort of greenish cloth that seemed to be covered in some sort of gel.
Little Doo obeyed, carefully setting down the injured colt.
"You may leave, if you'd like, this will be fairly boring." Chief Thunderhooves began applying the alcohol to Bucky's leg, Bucky drawing back in pain.
"No. I'm staying." Little Doo said, sitting right in front of Bucky and taking his front hoof in hers. "Just squeeze if it hurts."
Bucky nodded, wincing as the alcohol was poured onto his leg. "This will hurt." Chief Thunderhooves warned, grasping Bucky's leg at the top and bottom, wrenching it from the strange angle it was at and putting it back how it belonged. Bucky screamed in pain, squeezing Little Doo's hoof hard as a few tears dripped down his face.
Little Doo winced, trying not to let Bucky see how much his squeeze had hurt her. She wiped the tears from his face with her free hoof.
"The worst of it is done. I'm sorry I had to do that, but we don't want it healing wrong." Chief Thunderhooves bowed his head in apology, then got to work wrapping Bucky's leg.
Bucky hesitantly let go of Little Doo's hoof. "Why are ya bein' so nice to me?" He asked. "We barely know each other."
"Because, you're my friend." Little Doo smiled. "Besides, your dad and my mom seem to be more than friends, if you know what I mean."
"My... dad?" Bucky looked at the ground.
"Yeah. You know, Braeburn." Little Doo nodded at him.
"He's not... My dad is... He..." Bucky frowned, turning his face from Little Doo.
Chief Thunderhooves leaned towards Little Doo. "His father passed on." He whispered to her.
"He... oh... I... Oh, gosh, I..." Little Doo frowned, not knowing what to say. "I'm sorry, I just..." A tear slipped down Little Doo's cheek.
"It's okay, y'all didn't know." Bucky put on his best fake smile he could. "I'm fine, really."
"I'm sorry... So, then Braeburn is...?" Little Doo asked
"He's just takin' care of me while my ma is off in Canterlot guardin' the princess." Bucky said.
"It is finished." Chief Thunderhooves said. "You should be able to walk on it, just no running. You'll want to go tell Braeburn what happened, he went to the mess hall."
"Mess hall? Like at camp?" Little Doo cocked her head to the side.
"Well, we ain't big enough fer a full-sized restaurant, but we need someplace to eat." Bucky shrugged, standing shakily on his injured leg. "Thanks, Chief."
Chief Thunderhooves smiled, nodding to him. "I will expect you back in two weeks, the medicine on that wrap should make your leg healed by then."
Bucky nodded, starting his way to the door, Little Doo close behind. Bucky hung his head a little as he walked towards some of the larger buildings in town.
"How did... what happened to your dad?" Little Doo asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"He was a conductor on the train when it crashed last year." Bucky said sadly. "And then mom had to leave, so now it's just me and Braeburn."
"Sorry..." Little Doo said quietly.
"No, it's fine. It gets real old pretendin' it didn't happen. 'Sides, Braeburn's as good as any dad. Speakin' of him, why'd you say him and yer mom were more than friends?" Bucky asked, turning his head back to look at her.
"Mare's intuition." Little Doo smiled, walking up so she was next to Bucky. "I can tell."
"So, yer dad is...?" Bucky asked cautiously.
"Up in the clouds, probably. Mom said he was 'just a fling...' whatever that means. I don't think I was supposed to hear it." Little Doo shrugged.
"And... Ah hope ya don't mind me askin', but what's up with yer eyes?" Bucky inquired curiously.
"My mother says it runs in the family." Little Doo nodded knowingly.
"Ah see..." Bucky nodded back at her, and for a while, they walked down the dusty road in silence. Bucky turned right and stopped in front of the door to a large, blue building. "Would ya mind? I'm not used to havin' three hooves."
"Oh, sure thing." Little Doo opened up the door for him.
"Thanks, Little Doo." Bucky smiled at her, walking in, limping a little.
"Call me Doo." Little Doo grinned right back at him, following him inside. She looked around the small tables, spotting her mother sitting at a table, her hoof placed on top of Braeburn's, with something different about it catching her eye. On her hoof was placed a large, golden ring.
--==--
Thirty minutes earlier...
--==--
Ditzy Doo nuzzled Braeburn's cheek, grinning widely. The wind rustled the leaves of the apple trees. "I've missed you." She whispered into his ear, moving one of her eyes up to face him, her other eye looking down at the ground.
Braeburn smiled back at her, kissing her snout. "Ah know, but we're both so busy."
"We both have children to take care of." Ditzy Doo smiled. "When will his mother be returning, anyways?"
Braeburn's face fell. "She... she isn't..."
"What do you mean?" Ditzy Doo slowly asked.
"His mother... she was killed protecting the princess..." Braeburn looked to the ground. "Ah just... ah haven't had the heart to tell 'im..."
"Oh, Celestia... how did it happen?" Ditzy fell back on her flank, her face flushed.
"An assassin... a pegasus... he brought a bomb made of that zebra boom powder..." Braeburn sighed. "Ah'm his legal father now... He's had such a hard life, ah just... I didn't wanna make it worse."
"You can't keep lying to him, though..." Ditzy Doo put her hoof on his shoulder. "One day he'll find out..."
"It's jus' that... the boy needs a mother... and so... well... never mind." Braeburn sighed.
What is it, dear?" Ditzy Doo prodded him gently.
"Ah was just..." Braeburn gave out a heavy sigh. "Ah suppose it's now or never... Ah know this isn't how you probably pictured it, but..." Braeburn reached into the pocket of his vest, pulling out a large ring. "Would you marry me?"
Ditzy Doo gasped, reeling back on her hind legs. "M-marry you?!"
"Yes." Braeburn's voice was tense, and his face was contorted in a kind of preparation.
"Oh, Braeburn, of course I will!" Ditzy Doo wrapped her hooves around him, her eyes beginning to tear up. "How long have you had this planned?"
"About a month..." Braeburn fell on his flank with relief. "I'd been waiting for the next time you came..."
"You're so cute!" Ditzy Doo grinned, smooching his cheek. "I can't wait to tell Little Doo!"
"Tell me what?" Little Doo asked, walking up to the table.
Ditzy Doo blushed a little. "How long have you been there?"
"How long should I have been?" Little Doo inquired.
"Little Doo... Braeburn has just asked me to marry him..." Ditzy Doo said slowly, unsure how she'd react.
"Really?!" Little Doo's eyes began to sparkle. "I'm going to have a dad?!"
"If yeh'll take me." Braeburn smiled at her.
"Of course!" Little Doo ran over and wrapped her hooves around him.
Bucky limped over to where the three were. "What 'bout me, Braeburn?"
Braeburn looked down at Bucky's leg, gasping. "What happened, Bucky?"
"I broke it climbin' a tree, but what will happen to me?" Bucky said quickly.
"Well... You'd be with me still. In fact..." Braeburn sighed. "Bucky, I need to speak with you."
"Okay..." Bucky hung his head a little. He trotted over to an empty table with Braeburn close behind. Bucky sat on the floor in front of the table, laying his head on the table. "You're leavin' me." He said sadly.
"Bucky, yer mother... she... Ah'm sorry Buck, but she died..." Braeburn looked to the floor, trying to keep the tears from falling to the ground.
"Ah know..." Bucky said sadly, his voice shaking a little. "Ah've known fer a while now... Ah can just... Ah can feel it..." He lifted his eyes, his head still resting on the dark brown table. "An' now with you gettin' married, Ah'll be alone..." Bucky kicked at the floor, his mind flashing back to when his mother was still with him and... alive. Being a part of the princess's royal guard meant that although she was still living with him in Aripona, she was called away so often that it seemed as though Bucky was on his own. He had to learn to fend for himself, since his father was at that time already in Appleloosa conducting the train. But whenever she would return, it would be as though Hearth's Warming Eve had come early. But now... Now he would never feel that happiness again, and he felt as though a black hole opened itself up in his heart, sucking in all emotions and feelings that he had, leaving nothing but a shell. And though he had felt in his gut that his mother would never return, nothing compared to the emptiness he felt when he heard it said. It was as if somepony had ripped out his heart and threw it on the ground. He closed his eyes tight, a few solitary tears dripping down his face, washing off some of the dirt to reveal the creamy white coat of the colt. He tried to hold in his tears, only succeeding in causing himself to cough uncontrollably.
"Buck... yer mother knew this might happen, so... she made it so that if it did, Ah would become yer father. Buck... Ah'm yer dad now." Braeburn reached his head across the table, kissing the top of his head. "An' I couldn't ask fer a better son."
"D-do ya' mean that?" Bucky sniffed, looking up at the stallion, his eyes filled with tears.
"Ah do." Braeburn smiled at him, reaching a hoof across the table and placing it on Bucky's shoulder lovingly.
Bucky jumped up from the floor as fast as his broken limb would allow and ran around the table to Braeburn, wrapping his hooves around the stallion. "Really?" He asked, tears freely flowing from his eyes.
"Of course." Braeburn held him tight, wiping a few tears from Bucky's eyes. "An' now yer gonna have a mother an' a sister too."
"Ah will?" Bucky smiled a bit in spite of himself.
"Yes." Braeburn smiled slightly, turning Bucky to face Ditzy and Little Doo.
The mare and the filly simultaneously smiled at the colt. Bucky walked over to the two, limping heavily.
Ditzy Doo gasped a bit. "What happened to your leg, Bucky?"
"He fell out of a tree... well, more that the tree broke and then he did." Little Doo informed her.
"The climbin' tree I showed ya?" Braeburn asked Bucky.
Bucky nodded slowly. "Sorry fer breakin' it..."
Braeburn frowned deeply. "Oh, no, this drought is worse that I thought... If the biggest tree in the orchard is so weak, the harvest will be ruined..."
"Drought?" Ditzy Doo frowned. "I thought the pegasus ponies were supposed to keep the ground hydrated enough to grow crops."
"They are." Braeburn sighed. "From what Ah've heard, they're refusin' to even talk to anypony that's not a pegasus, and even some of them ain't allowed. If this goes on, we'll starve..."
"Maybe I should talk to them." Ditzy Doo rubbed her chin with her hoof.
"No, Ah don't think you should. Apparently all pegasuses that get sent up there have to stay or leave forever." Braeburn trotted to her side. "When was the last time y'all were up there?"
"Oh, my, it must've been what... two years now? Why?" Ditzy Doo asked.
"Apparently somepony made themselves king up there recently. There've been talks of war." Braeburn lowered his voice so only she could hear. "If that happens... Nowhere in Equestria'll be safe."
"Dear Celestia..." Ditzy Doo gasped loudly.
The door to the mess hall slammed open, a darkish brown pegasus stomping in, snorting loudly, his messy blonde mane falling over his eyes.
"Dumb-bell!" Ditzy Doo bit her lip, drawing her face away from the door.
"Ditzy! So this is where you ran off to!" Dumb-bell angrily trotted over to her, grabbing her mane in his hoof and yanking her from her sitting position. She let out a scream of pain. "What the hell are you doing in this Earth town?"
Braeburn delivered a hard kick to Dumb-bell's side, the cracking of ribs echoing throughout the hall. "Get off of her!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.
Dumb-bell spit blood from his mouth, standing up as if nothing had hit him. "Who the hell are you?"
"Ah'm her fiancee." Braeburn growled, placing a hoof gently on the bloody spot on Ditzy Doo's head where a small patch of mane had been ripped out. "And y'all just got yourself into a world of trouble."
"This country hick is marrying you? Your standards must have dropped to zero after me." Dumb-bell sneered, walking back to the table, his access to Ditzy blocked by Braeburn.
"What does he mean, hon?" Braeburn asked, not taking his eyes off of the pegasus.
"Mom?" Little Doo asked quietly.
"Mom?" Dumb-bell looked over to the small filly. "So this is the little bastard child, is it?"
"Don't call her that!" Bucky grunted, stepping in front of Little Doo.
"And who is this useless little runt?" Dumb-bell reached out a hoof, smacking Bucky to the ground.
"Hey!" Braeburn fumed, his muscles tensing as he smashed his back hooves into Dumb-bell, his years of apple bucking causing his kicks to be powerful enough to crush bone without much effort. His hooves connected with Dumb-bell's front left leg, a deafening crunch resounding as the bone was pulverized, bits sticking out of the skin, stained red with blood.
Dumb-bell paid no attention to his shattered leg, simply staring at Little Doo. "Do you know who I am, little bastard?"
Little Doo slowly shook her head. "Don't do this!" Ditzy Doo cried out, her voice hoarse from her pain.
"I am your father, the pony that your mother tried to hide from you all these years. She was quite a slut in flight school. I barely had to get her drunk at all before she was all over me." Dumb-bell smirked.
"You're lying!" Little Doo shouted. "You're just a bully!"
"That's what they used to call me." Dumb-bell laughed darkly. "Now they call me Captain."
"How are you still standing?" Braeburn growled angrily.
"The king has given me magic that you earth ponies and unicorns could only dream of." Dumb-bell smiled his evil smile.
"Why did you come here?!" Ditzy Doo screamed at him, hatred seething from her voice.
"I came to take my blood. I want to teach the little bastard the pegasus way. And she can't do that when she's surrounded by scum." Dumb-bell chuckled a bit at his own insult.
"Over my dead body." Braeburn stepped in front of Little Doo.
"Mine... too..." Bucky coughed, a spot of blood appearing on his creamy white coat as he stepped in front of Braeburn.
"Bucky..." Little Doo gasped.
"This here's mah sister, and that means Ah gotta protect her." Bucky's legs trembled as he stood.
"An' this is mah daughter, an' Ah'll be damned if Ah'm lettin' you take her away from the pony I love." Braeburn growled, stepping in front of Bucky, almost face to face with Dumb-bell.
Dumb-bell grunted, falling to the ground, his shattered leg no longer supporting his weight. He coughed up blood as his cracked ribs began to affect his breathing. He limped towards the hall's exit, grunting with the effort. He kicked the door open with his good front leg, knocking it off of its hinge. He stomped outside, unfurling his wings, lifting a little. Every beat of his wings obviously caused him great pain. He took off slowly towards the sky, looking behind him. "You've made a huge mistake! This was the last bit of mercy the king was willing to offer! Remember the name of the king, as he will soon be yours as well! Remember the name of Discord!"
--==--
End of Chapter
|
ratmage99
|
1025
| 13 |
Big Macintosh,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Octavia,Original Character,Owlowiscious,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Comedy,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Mating Season in Equestria
|
Watch as the dark side of Equestria is revealed when mating season comes around.
|
incomplete
| 145 | 50 |
<p>How does Equestria survive with so few males? How is it that no ponies ever seem to mate? Answers come when mating season leads all of your favorite ponies to receive their call to duty and become the parents of the next generation of ponies. </p><p>Note: While it will be alluded to, this will not be a clopfic and will contain no actual sex scenes. Please do not read this is that is what you are looking for. </p><p>Special note: I have heard about a few people saying that they wanted to write a spin-off or something of the sort. If you do so, I do not care if you credit me as the author, but please at least give me a link so I can see what hell I hath wrought on the fanfiction community.</p>
|
teen
|
2012-01-16T01:28:44+00:00
|
2012-01-16T01:28:44+00:00
| 5,358 |
I know, I know, I've appeared to be dead for the past few months. However, you will all be happy to know that I have the next chapter written and will be working on transferring it to my computer this week. The reason I haven't updated for a while is rather complicated. First I came down with mono about two months ago, and was sleeping essentially 20 hours a day. Once I had recovered, practice for the play I just completed was in full swing, meaning that I was home for about an hour a day. I am now more free, but only for two weeks, as musical auditions are coming up. I will try to release two chapters in that time, but I won't make any promises. Sorry for making you all wait, and thank you to those of you who have stuck with me. I love you guys!
|
ratmage99
|
1025
| 14 |
Big Macintosh,Cutie Mark Crusaders,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Octavia,Original Character,Owlowiscious,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Comedy,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Mating Season in Equestria
|
Watch as the dark side of Equestria is revealed when mating season comes around.
|
incomplete
| 145 | 50 |
<p>How does Equestria survive with so few males? How is it that no ponies ever seem to mate? Answers come when mating season leads all of your favorite ponies to receive their call to duty and become the parents of the next generation of ponies. </p><p>Note: While it will be alluded to, this will not be a clopfic and will contain no actual sex scenes. Please do not read this is that is what you are looking for. </p><p>Special note: I have heard about a few people saying that they wanted to write a spin-off or something of the sort. If you do so, I do not care if you credit me as the author, but please at least give me a link so I can see what hell I hath wrought on the fanfiction community.</p>
|
teen
|
2012-02-02T18:09:19+00:00
|
2012-02-02T18:09:19+00:00
| 6,420 |
I know that by now you all must be extremely fed up with me, so I will implore you to just read this note. My life has been absolute hell recently. A beloved pet of mine has passed after a long battle with an illness, causing me to spiral into a slight depression. I am extremely busy working on getting ready for my music major audition next month, and solo and ensemble festival in just two days. I apologize for being so wishy-washy with release dates recently, which is why I have come up with a solution that will work best for me, but unfortunately will involve a hiatus. I am going place this story on an official hiatus for at least a month, during which time I will be finishing the rough drafts for the rest of the story. That is correct, I will be writing the end rather soon, however, once I have finished the writing, I will be able to release the chapters on a regular schedule. I apologize for the inconvenience I have caused for you all, and hope you all understand why I must do this. I still love you all and appreciate you sticking with me for so long. I am working hard to put out the best quality work I can.
|
Sunnyside
|
1027
| 1 |
Original Character,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Canterlot Tails Season 1: Star Power
|
Young ponies in Canterlot stumble upon a conspiracy to corrupt the royal princesses
|
complete
| -1 | -1 |
<p>Have you ever wondered what it meant that the Stars aided in the escape of Nightmare Moon? Why does Celestia seem to troll her subjects from time to time? Could it be that something is influencing her, perhaps the same force that turned Luna into Nightmare Moon one thousand years ago?</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-12-19T15:44:19+00:00
|
2011-12-19T15:44:19+00:00
| 910 |
This fic came about as a result of a tabletop RPG using the Primetime Adventures ruleset. We wanted to explore the behind-the-scenes politicking of the Court of Canterlot and figure out what it meant that the Stars aided in the escape of Nightmare Moon. We are also inspired by the possibility of strife between the royal sisters. The plot is not guided by any single game master. It often manages to surprise us and make us laugh, and that's the sign of a successful game. We hope you enjoy the story we are creating, too. (Edit, now that Season 1 is complete: Most of the players definitely didn't expect when we started out that'd we'd be having musical numbers of our own!)
Dramatis Ponysonae (Our Mane Cast):
Sunnyside (Son of Lady Shelly of the Egg Family and Lord French Toast, a foreign cousin of the breakfast families; pegasus): A golden-haired colt with wild pink mane, Sunnyside is a natural explorer who is being groomed for diplomacy in service of the crown. For his part, he can't wait to get out of the city and will be just as happy if he doesn't run into any 'civilized' ponies out there. One of the things pushing him out of Canterlot is the fact that his two closest friends are fillies from rival families who can't stand each other. He doesn't want to lose any of his friends or shirk his responsibilities, but things would be so much simpler out in the wilderness. His cutie mark is a sunrise in which the horizon is a spyglass.
Sugar Scoop (Daughter of Lady Double Scoop of the Ice Cream Family; pegasus): A filly reporter who shocked her family by abandoning the sacred art of ice cream making to become a reporter for a newspaper called Equestria Daily. As we shall see, she later dashed any remaining goodwill her family may have had for her. Sugar Scoop struggles with journalistic ethics, not considering the consequences of her articles. After all, "The ponies have a right to know!" Her coat and mane are various shades of grey, reminiscent of newsprint. Her cutie mark is an interrobang: "!?"
Fizzlespark (a unicorn commoner): A vivid green colt with a spiky purple mane, Fizzlespark is known throughout Canterlot for his flashy experiments in Science! His laboratory is a tangle of levers, tubes, bubbling test tubes, and unidentifiable devices. He is deeply frustrated by the difficulty of repeating any feat of scientific engineering, envious of the repeatability and reliability of the magical arts. Still, there's no denying that Fizzlespark has a talent for getting machines to do what he wants. His cutie mark is an Erlenmeyer flask. He also has a clockwork dragon that follows him around named Spring.
Long Tail (a unicorn commoner): A blunt filly with a long blue mane and tail, Long Tail has a talent for telling how likely events are to occur, based on the information she's able to collect. Long Tail served in the Equestrian military as an advisor, but General Gemesis did not take well to her critiques of his plans, and she was dismissed. Since then, she has supported herself by telling fortunes along the road. Long Tail is seeking a higher cause for her talents, and hopes to find it in Canterlot. Her cutie mark is a graph showing a Lorentzian probability distribution.
Glitterdust (an earth pony commoner): A delivery filly with a constantly put-upon demeanor, Glitterdust is extremely conscious of the class divide in Equestria and Canterlot in particular. The nobility and the delivery pegasi may ignore her as they flit to and fro among the towers of Canterlot, but Glitterdust is determined to prove her worth somehow. She joined the delivery service to help connect people together, but it hasn't given her connections of her own, unless you count her unpredictable boss, Derpy Hooves. She has a glassy mane and a cutie mark of a sack.
Notable Families of Canterlot:
The Cake Family: The pegasi of the Cake Family are the lords of baking in Equestria. Their vassal families include both unicorns and earth ponies, with talents ranging from pastry to bread to cookies. Fat Rascal and French Fancy are the patriarch and matriarch of the family. One of their daughters, Red Velvet, is a close friend of Sunnyside's. The Cake Family is the arch-rival of the Scoop Family. Family Motto: "Let Them Eat Cake"
The Egg Family: The Egg Family controls key hatcheries that supply eggs for consumption, for use in baking and ice cream, and for military applications. The Benedict Bombers of the Egg Family have fiercely shelled the enemies of the crown in all the great conflicts of history. As they are feared by evil-doers across Equestria, they often appear in official propaganda. Sunnyside's big brother Scrambler is the current Captain of the Benedict Bombers, and doesn't have a lot of patience for 'diplomatic' solutions. The family is loosely allied with various breakfast-related families. Family Motto: "All Your Eggs, in One Basket"
The Scoop Family: The matriarch of the Scoop family is an enormous mare named Double Scoop. Too fat to fly, it is whispered behind her back that the reason her husband is rarely seen is because she's sitting on him. No wise pony would say this to her face, however. The Scoop family is wealthy and powerful, with ties reaching as far as the snow-making pegasi of Cloudsdale. Sugar Scoop and Sprinklebelle are daughters of Double Scoop. The latter is an obedient daughter, diligently studying the ancient Scoop recipes and turning out exquisite frozen treats. Sugar Scoop, on the other hoof, turned her back on the family's ways to become a muckraking reporter for some common newspaper. Family Motto: "We All Scream for Ice Cream"
|
Sunnyside
|
1027
| 2 |
Original Character,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Canterlot Tails Season 1: Star Power
|
Young ponies in Canterlot stumble upon a conspiracy to corrupt the royal princesses
|
complete
| -1 | -1 |
<p>Have you ever wondered what it meant that the Stars aided in the escape of Nightmare Moon? Why does Celestia seem to troll her subjects from time to time? Could it be that something is influencing her, perhaps the same force that turned Luna into Nightmare Moon one thousand years ago?</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-09-28T04:40:04+00:00
|
2011-09-28T04:40:04+00:00
| 796 |
Sunnyside had spent all night rubbing shoulders with the nobility of Canterlot, waiting for sunrise and the Summer Sun Celebration. Like most high-society parties in Canterlot, it was dreadful. When the steward announced that dawn was near, Sunnyside took the first opportunity to hop outside and flew to the tallest tower of Egg Manor, his favorite spot in the city. Sunnyside often came here to be alone, to look to the horizon and daydream about what lay beyond. This morning, though, his gaze was drawn up to the stars. Were they... moving?
Yes, unmistakeably, there were four stars drifting across the sky, converging on the Moon. He watched, entranced. When the stars reached the Moon, there was a flash of light, and then the Moon itself had changed. The dark patches that looked like a unicorn mare were gone. Sunnyside lifted his trusty spyglass to one eye, but saw nothing further.
The Royal Sunrise Fanfare began playing, and Sunnyside gazed eastward. The fanfare went on longer than usual, then faltered. The timing had been right, the Sun should have risen... but it hadn't.
~~~
The ponies of the city had been in a raucous mood, ready for the day's celebration after a night of anticipation. Now herds of tired, confused, frightened ponies stampeded about Canterlot.
Sugar Scoop's keen reporter sense cut through the confusion and directed her to the lab of the Mad Scientist Fizzlespark, where there just happened to be a new, large contraption protruding into the sky. Unable to see anything of interest through the windows, she flew into one of the large pipes opening up from the roof, clattering through a maze of tubes and finally spilling out triumphantly into the laboratory. At the same moment, the delivery pony Glitterdust opened the front door to the lab and walked in. Sugar spared Glitterdust an irritated glance before confronting the Mad Scientist.
"Fizzlespark, what are your demands!?"
The unicorn finally looked up from the lab bench where he was laboring. "Huh? Demands?"
Sugar advanced on him. "For the return of the Sun. What is it you want? Money? Power? Fillies? Or did you just block out the Sun because you can?"
"Ooh, the Sun. No, it's nothing like that. The Sun isn't actually gone. It just looks that way as a side effect of my latest invention. You see, we're actually invisible!"
Sugar and Glitterdust looked each other up and down. "Uh, no?" Sugar observed. "In fact," Glitterdust agreed.
Fizzlespark rested a hoof on his forehead in exasperation. "Not to one another, but to anypony outside-"
A loud knock rattled the door.
"Now who could that be?" he mused, opening the door.
It was approximately everypony. The new protuberance extending from Fizzlespark's lab into the Canterlot skyline had not gone unnoticed.
Sugar and Glitterdust gave Fizzlespark a skeptical look. The ponies outside seemed to have no trouble seeing those in the lab.
"It bends sunlight around the whole city," Fizzlespark said. "Canterlot is effectively invisible to anypony outside. Of course, one side effect is that we can't see the Sun from inside Canterlot. But the important thing is that it worked. It worked!"
A burly police pony entered the lab, surrounded by fellow officers. "So it worked, did it? Well, you just un-work it this instant. You're in a heap of trouble already."
Fizzlespark sighed and started pulling levers, turning cranks, and pushing buttons.
"Cousin Bobtail?" The officer turned at the voice of Long Tail, who wove through the crowd and into the lab. "Why is everyone messing around here instead of doing something about the Sun?"
"Hi Cousin Long Tail," Bobtail said, nodding politely. "We are doing something about it. This pony here stole the Sun and he's about to bring it back. Isn't that right." It wasn't a question.
Fizzlespark threw up his hooves. "I didn't steal the Sun! I just... prevented any sunlight from reaching us."
"You see? I've heard enough," Bobtail declared, gesturing for his officers to take Fizzlespark in. "And I thought I told you to turn your machine off."
Now Fizzlespark was genuinely puzzled. "I did. The Sun should be visible now."
Bobtail glared. "We'll get our answers at the station. Take him away, boys!"
Before the police ponies could reach Fizzlespark, he leapt onto his helicopter escape seat, and lifted off into the maze of pipes dominating his laboratory, cackling triumphantly. Everypony's eyes followed the clattering noises as Fizzlespark progressed through elaborate loops and twists on his way to freedom. Unfortunately, one of the pipes had been bent during Sugar Scoop's forced entry. The din intensified, drawing startled shouts from the fleeing colt.
The empty escape copter seat tumbled out of one pipe and fell to the ground, while Fizzlespark careened out of another pipe on the smaller escape copter designed for escape from his escape copter, in case of just such a double emergency as this. Fizzlespark's mini-copter veered straight into Glitterdust, and the two were left in an unceremonious pile on the laboratory floor, the now-spent mini-copter twitching beside them.
"Now that is assault and battery, or at least reckless endangerment," Bobtail announced. "He's coming down to the station. Bring the earth pony, too, as a witness." Glitterdust sighed from underneath the mad unicorn.
Long Tail walked in front of Bobtail and looked him in the eye. "But this pony didn't do it! We need to find out what really happened. Have you contacted Princess Celestia?"
"Cousin, I'm sorry, but this whole crisis is above my pay grade. The word came down that this pony is to blame, and I'm taking him in. My hooves are tied." Sugar Scoop leaned in, interested to hear that Fizzlespark was apparently being scapegoated. Bobtail noticed the reporter and excused himself. "That's all I can say."
Sunnyside landed as Fizzlespark and Glitterdust were led out by the police. "What happened here?"
Officer Bobtail gestured to Fizzlespark. "This pony is responsible for blocking out the Sun, and we're taking him in."
Sunnyside nodded gravely. "Alright. But what did he do to the Moon?"
Everypony turned their eyes upward, noted with relief that the Moon was still there, then realized that something was off. In the shadows of a nearby alley, a pony dressed all in black narrowed its eyes, glaring at Sunnyside.
Fizzlespark spoke: "Huh. I honestly have no idea."
Officer Bobtail was rattled, and wanted nothing more than to wash his hooves of the whole situation. "Tell it to the magistrate," he said, getting the police force moving again and leaving the scene.
"How could somepony block out the Sun?" Sunnyside wondered aloud.
"He didn't," Long Tail put in. "That's what I've been trying to say. There's only a seven percent chance that he could have accomplished this result, and I think we can shrink that probability even further by examining the equipment he used for his supposed 'invisibility' effect."
Sugar Scoop, Sunnyside, and Long Tail introduced themselves, then put their heads together and filled one another in on what they'd seen, stepping out of the busy street and into a quiet alley.
"Someone in Bobtail's chain of command knows Fizzlespark isn't really responsible," Sugar reasoned. "We could talk to the commissioner."
Long Tail shook her head. "There's a seventy percent chance she wouldn't even speak with us, a twenty-five percent chance she'd say that the order the scapegoat Fizzlespark came from over her head, and a ten percent chance that she'd judge us to be a problem she needs to deal with because she's actually a significant player in whatever's going on."
"Long Tail, how exactly is any of that useful information?" Sugar demanded. "We still have no idea what's actually true or what she might say if we actually went and talked to her."
Long Tail scowled. Before she could retort, Sunnyside stepped between the two fillies to smooth things over. "Now hang on, Long Tail's talent could be useful for figuring out what to ask. Or..."
"Or who to ask," Sugar mused out loud.
"Sure!" Sunny quickly agreed. "Long Tail, who do you think would know something about what's going on?"
Long Tail's ears perked up. It seemed Sugar and Sunny had finally hit upon a useful question to ask. "Why, most likely the ninja hiding behind me on the roof of the blue building, spying on us."
On the rooftop, moonlight reflected off of the eyes of the silhouetted ninja pony: two discs widening in surprise. Long Tail's mane fluttered as her two pegasus companions burst into flight and pounced onto the rooftop. The ninja unfurled her own dark wings and dove into the alley on the other side of the building, with Sugar and Sunny close behind.
Long Tail looked up forlornly at her vanishing friends as the shadows of the alley began to close in on her. "Of course, that ninja isn't the only lead..."
~~~
Sugar and Sunny were oblivious, focused on the fleeing pegasus. The three ponies wove among the buildings and spires of Canterlot. The ninja tried to lose the pursuers amidst the tangle of Old Canterlot, the domain of the nobility, but Sugar and Sunny were both familiar with its twists and turns. In desperation, the dark pegasus darted into a window of Cake Manor. Sunnyside barreled in next, but while the ninja was able to dodge around the red-maned filly inside, Sunnyside crashed right into her, tumbling head over hooves into a wardrobe full of fancy dresses. Sunny found himself muzzle-to-muzzle with Red Velvet, looking into her wide, orange eyes, feeling more than a little woozy, when Sugar shot past, the way now clear of obstructions.
The ninja had landed in a crouched position, breathing heavily. Sugar Scoop almost had her! The ninja leapt into action at the last moment, desperately slamming shut a heavy door. Sugar tried in vain to halt her forward momentum, then collided with the door face first and slid to the floor.
"Ow." The reporter rose unsteadily to her hooves and bent her snout back into position. She grouchily opened one eye, and what she saw made her forget her pain. A clue! The ninja had closed the door on her own uniform, and a scrap of cloth had torn off. Sugar opened the door, and while the ninja was long gone, the scrap of cloth was all hers. She unfolded it and grimaced at what she saw.
Hearing the other pegasi, she put the cloth away and walked nonchalantly back into Red Velvet's boudoir, where a furiously blushing Sunnyside was apologizing ceaselessly to Red Velvet as he attempted to extricate himself from the clothing that had been dumped out of the filly's wardrobe on top of the pair of them. Red Velvet had risen, taken a few steps away, and was now watching Sunny sidelong, her own white cheeks nearly as red as her now-disheveled mane. She spotted Sugar Scoop and startled, her demeanor shifting.
"What are you two doing in my bedroom?" she demanded.
Sunnyside finally rose, covering his eyes with one hoof. "Red, I'm so sorry for barging-"
"Stop apologizing," Sugar Scoop interrupted, annoyed at losing their prey. To Red Velvet: "We were chasing a ninja who knows something about what happened to the Sun."
"And who knows Old Canterlot really well," Sunnyside added, blindly trying to work his way towards the exit. "Like somepony who grew up here." Sugar's eyes darted from side to side. Sunny went on, "It's a shame we weren't able to figure out who it was!"
"Yeaaaah," said Sugar. Red Velvet was watching her intensely. "So, Sunny, we should talk. Let's go."
Sunnyside turned his head as Sugar Scoop led him away. "So long, Red. It was, uh, good bumping into you!"
"Oh Sunnyside," Red Velvet shook her head at the departing pegasi. "You simply must stop associating with those Scoop fillies. They're nothing but trouble."
~~~
Meanwhile, at the jailhouse, Officer Bobtail interviewed Glitterdust about the assault. Glitterdust held an ice pack to her head and sighed.
"Can I go yet?" Glitterdust asked
"Just a few more questions..."
For his part, Fizzlespark decided he needed a nap, which meant he needed an alarm clock. Using the materials available, he devised a a mechanical contraption that he wound up, and which would knock on his bed when it had unwound. He settled in for a snooze and was snoring moments later.
None of the police ponies noticed Fizzlespark's tinkering. As he was working, a grey filly with a blonde mane trotted into the station, right up to Officer Bobtail, and stared him right in the eyes, her jaw protruding with determination. Her yellow eyes held his for a moment.
"Er," the police pony began. "Can I help y-agh!" Those yellow eyes drifted disconcertingly in different directions. The new arrival's expression softened to a vapid grin.
"According to Section 173(g) of the Equestrian Martial Code," the filly began. "In times of emergency, delivery ponies shall not, er... derp."
Bobtail looked at Glitterdust, who shrugged. "I think the boss wants me to get to work," Glitterdust offered, looking hopefully at Ditzy Doo.
"Hurp. In times of emergency, delivery ponies shall not be hindered in delivery of parcels related to the defense of the realm." Ditzy pointed out the door with one hoof to an overflowing cart full of envelopes bearing the seal of the Royal Army. Glitterdust grimaced at the number of letters – she'd have her work cut out for her.
Officer Bobtail started to object, but one of the other police ponies had pulled out a copy of the Equestrian Martial Code. "Bob, the delivery pony's right! We have to let Glitterdust deliver those military notices."
Ditzy nodded vacantly and derped out of the police station, absently dropping an envelope on her way. Glitterdust followed, snatching up the envelope and stopping just outside to take a peek. It was addressed to Ditzy, and bore the seal of the Royal Army. The seal had been broken, and Glitterdust took out the message inside. It was an order to deliver a huge number of military notices today, but it was dated a week ago. Somepony had known in advance that there was going to be an emergency. Glitterdust read on. The order was signed by General Gemesis. Glitterdust held in her hooves actual hard evidence that the General knew of the catastrophe in advance.
Fizzlespark's timer ran down, and he was awakened by his device prodding his bed. But "prodding" is not quite the right word. A more accurate description might be "hurling with explosive force."
The rocketbed – with Fizzlespark and his clockwork dragon holding on for dear life – crashed out of the jail cell and shot out of the station, spewing fire and smoke and carrying him off into the night.
Glitterdust stood in front of the station, holding a pile of ashes in her hooves where once there had been an incriminating letter. She sighed, then checked the enormous cart full of mail she had to deliver. Some had been scattered about the street, but the envelopes all seemed intact. She dusted the ashes off her hooves, gathered up the scattered mail, and diligently carted it off to start her deliveries.
~~~
Sunnyside and Sugar Scoop returned to the darkened alley where they had left Long Tail, but she was gone. Inspecting the ground, they found a long, blue hair and scuffed hoofmarks, as if there had been a struggle. They shared a look, their faces grave. Sugar Scoop spoke first: "They've taken her."
(The program ceased for a "commercial break," during which we ordered pizza, then resumed)
After fruitlessly searching for a trail, the two pegasi slumped against the alley wall in defeat. Sunnyside spoke first: "You know what we need?" Sugar Scoop cocked her head. Sunny continued: "Breakfast."
The two soon had a table at Pony Joe's Donut Hole.
"How are we going to find Long Tail now?" Sunny asked. "We haven't got a clue!"
"Actually," Sugar began hesitantly. "There is one thing."
"Oh?"
Sugar surveyed the cafe. As usual, there were quite a few police ponies at the Donut Hole. She cautiously placed a scrap of cloth on the table, positioning herself so the police in the cafe couldn't see.
"The ninja's uniform got caught in the door at Cake Manor," Sugar explained. "This tore off."
The dark fabric was emblazoned with an ice cream cone, with a crescent moon prominently displayed on the scoop of ice cream.
"The old Scoop family war crest?" Sunny asked, incredulous. "That hasn't been used in a thousand years!"
Sugar nodded.
"But, if the ninja was from your own family..." Sunny's face was quizzical.
"Why show it to you?" Sugar put the fabric away and snorted. "I'm not exactly on good terms with the rest of the Scoops."
"I know Lady Double Scoop wasn't happy when you gave up ice cream making to go into journalism, but it's hardly a reason to disown you."
"That's not the only thing Mom was unhappy about." Sugar chewed her lip. "I wrote an exposé on the Scoop family history. Professor Greenhorn's latest archaeological dig turned up evidence that the Scoops had supported a pony known as Nightmare Moon... a pony who tried to overthrow Princess Celestia and brought civil war to Equestria."
Their waiter, Pancake, arrived with breakfast, giving Sugar a wink and a broad smile. Naturally, the Cake family had been pleased when scandal hit the Scoops.
Pancake left, and Sugar Scoop continued between bites of breakfast. "That article made my career. But now... I wonder if it gave my family ideas."
"It's hard to imagine anypony making war on the Princess, and that Nightmare Moon stuff is ancient history. Literally!"
"Hello, remember the ninja?"
"Point taken. So... I suppose the place to look for Long Tail is Scoop Manor." Sunny finished off his last pancake and grinned. "I knew breakfast would help!"
~~~
Sunnyside and Sugar Scoop headed to Scoop Manor in search of Long Tail. The Scoop estates were expansive, and included some of the tallest towers in Canterlot. There was a pervasive chill from all of the ice cream refrigerated here, a chill that was accentuated on this occasion by the unnatural night.
The two pegasi walked up to the door of the manor, and Sugar Scoop got out her house key. The lock, though, refused to budge.
"They've changed the locks!" Sugar grimaced briefly, then perked back up. "Good thing they keep a spare key under the mat."
Sugar lifted the doormat with one hoof, then gasped in surprise. "They've changed the mat!"
Sunny placed on hoof on his temple and walked up to the door. "Why don't we just ask your sister Sprinklebelle to let us in?"
Sunny knocked on the door, and Sugar quickly stepped off to one side. After a moment, Sprinklebelle peeked through the peephole in the door and, seeing only Sunny, happily opened it.
"Sunnyside! What a pleasant surpri-" she spotted Sugar Scoop and frowned. "Sunny, why don't you come in," Sprinklebelle quickly suggested, yanking Sunnyside through the threshold before slamming the door in Sugar Scoop's face.
Sunny started explaining the situation, but Sprinklebelle was too distracted to listen. Sugar Scoop plastered her face against the window, shouting unintelligibly. Sprinklebelle shut the curtain. The process repeated with several other windows until the room was shut off from the outside. Sprinklebelle breathed a sigh of relief, smiled at Sunnyside... and the doorbell rang.
She turned to the door, at the end of her rope. "I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO GET LOST!"
An unfamiliar voice responded. "Delivery for Lady Double Scoop. High priority." Sprinklebelle was taken aback. An urgent message for her mother? She looked through the peephole suspiciously. She saw an earth pony mail carrier, but she didn't spot Sugar Scoop, who had plastered herself flat against the wall, out of sight. Sprinklebelle opened the door.
Sugar Scoop charged in, holding the incriminating scrap of ninja garb in front of her. "You've got some explaining to do, sister! Just what is the meaning of THIS!" Sprinklebelle was backed against a wall, with the scrap of cloth so close to her face she was staring at it cross-eyed.
"It's our old family crest," Sprinklebelle replied. "So what?"
"So it's our battle crest from the days of Nightmare Moon. It's treason!"
Sunnyside butted in: "That was a thousand years ago. Probably someone just used the wrong crest by accident."
Sugar Scoop looked at Sunny incredulously "Then why are there Scoop family ninja prowling the streets?" She turned to her sister. "Why do we have ninja?"
Sprinklebelle blinked. "Ninja?"
Sunny interrupted again, gently separating the two Scoop sisters. "Actually, the reason we're here is to find our friend Long Tail. She might have been injured by, um... somepony... and maybe taken here?" Sprinklebelle looked puzzled. "You know, maybe to the infirmary?" Sugar opened her mouth to object but Sunny shot her a look that said it was time for a gentler touch.
"Oh," Sprinklebelle's expression softened. "Yes, we would certainly not leave an injured pony to fend for herself."
At this point, Glitterdust the delivery pony cleared her throat. Sprinklebelle had clearly forgotten the common Earth Pony was even there. "Oh dear, the letter, yes. The Lady is in the kitchen. We were preparing some special flavors for this afternoon's celebration."
Sugar Scoop gulped. "Mom's here?" she squeaked, eyeing the exit.
Sprinklebelle spoke again to Glitterdust. "Close that door, won't you?" Glitterdust shut it, still patiently waiting for the chance to deliver her message and thinking of the hundreds of others still waiting for her to deliver.
Sprinklebelle glared at Sugar Scoop as the door closed. "We don't need anypony else barging in uninvited."
Sugar Scoop's retort was just reaching her lips when the door crashed in off its hinges and Fizzlespark tumbled across the room, the remains of his rocketbed belching smoke and shedding gears and springs in all directions. Sunny leapt in front of Sprinklebelle, taking an errant gear in the snout. Sprinklebelle fell back on her haunches, stunned. The smoke left the ponies coughing briefly, then cleared, exposing the disoriented Fizzlespark. Glitterdust, now flattened under the door, sighed resignedly.
Sunny rubbed his bruised snout. "Hey, that's the pony the police took in for blocking out the Sun!" Sprinklebelle gasped. "But Long Tail said he didn't, probably." Sunny stopped rambling, thinking again of the missing filly. Long Tail.
Sugar Scoop caught on and went to the battered and soot-covered Fizzlespark. "I think this pony needs to be taken to the infirmary!" She announced. "That bruise looks pretty bad. It must hurt a lot, huh?"
Fizzlespark looked at the reporter pony, who had one hoof ready to give him an ugly looking bruise if necessary. "Yes!" He agreed, urgently. His gazed passed back and forth between Sprinklebelle and Sugar Scoop. "Ow?" Sugar Scoop lowered her hoof.
"You should get some ice on that," Sprinklebelle said absently, pointing a hoof in the direction of the infirmary. She turned to Sunnyside, still dazed. "Do you need me to come along? I should get back to helping in the kitchen."
"Oh, I don't want to keep you from your work," Sunny said, relieved. "Go ahead. And I'll let the cleaning ponies know that they're needed here, okay?"
"Yes, good. Thanks for stopping by, Sunny." Sprinklebelle slowly rose and left the room.
As the stunned filly drifted out of the room, Sunnyside lowered his head and breathed a sigh of relief. "That could have gone worse."
Sugar Scoop regarded him skeptically.
Glitterdust, sturdy earth pony that she was, helped Fizzlespark rise to his hooves.
Sugar Scoop walked to the middle of the room and spread her wings for attention. "There's no way they took Long Tail to the infirmary." She regarded each other pony in turn. "She's going into the Deep Freeze, below the manor." The other ponies regarded her quizzically.
"The Deep Freeze is a facility for keeping things frozen. Most commonly, ice cream." Sugar's expression grew dark. "But the Scoop family is not above freezing ponies there to keep them out of the way. Long Tail's talent is the greatest threat there can be to this conspiracy. There's no doubt in my mind – they're going to put her on ice!"
Sugar led everypony out of the building and into an interior courtyard. The ponies spotted a small window at ground level covered in ice crystals. Sugar Scoop wiped it off so the ponies could see inside.
There was Long Tail, standing amidst rows and rows of freezers, arguing with a couple of Scoop family flavormeisters about their selection.
"Why would you stockpile all this strawberry? What are you going to do with this year's strawberry harvest? It doesn't make sense. Unless there's going to be a shortage for some reason, and you somehow know in advance. And no mint chocolate chip? It's been a hot summer so far, and when it's hot, ponies love their minty flavors, so..."
Another group of ponies stood a distance away from Long Tail and the flavormeisters, obscured by mist speaking in hushed tones. Here and there, the glint of armor could be seen.
"It looks like she's holding her own for now," Sunny remarked. "But we have to find a way to get all those other ponies out of there so we can rescue her."
"Are you kidding?" Sugar said. "I'm not letting them get away without snapping a couple of choice pictures!" She hefted her camera. "If only there were better lighting..."
"Better lighting..." Sunny repeated. "Why, that's it! Okay, here's the plan..."
The four ponies conferred quickly in the moonlight, then Sugar Scoop and Glitterdust found the stairs and descended to the Deep Freeze, hiding behind some large cartons of ice cream. Long Tail was still stalling the flavormeisters, and the mysterious group of ponies were at the other end of the chamber, near another set of stairs.
Meanwhile, Fizzlespark and Sunnyside waited at the window.
"Okay," Sunnyside said. "On my mark, I need as much light as you can give m-" Sunnyside noticed Sprinklebelle through the nearby kitchen window and darted into hiding. "Oh, horsefeathers... I forgot the kitchen was right there. What if Sprinklebelle sees? It'll look like we're melting the ice cream, or lighting the manor on fire!"
Fizzlespark hadn't ended up going to the infirmary, and was still pretty out of it from his various painful escape attempts. "Fire?" he mumbled in response.
Fizzlespark's clockwork dragon perked up at the command word. "FIRE!" It announced enthusiastically, spewing a gout of orange flame from between its metal teeth.
Sunnyside didn't have time to check if Sprinklebelle was still at the kitchen window. He leapt out of hiding and spread his golden wings to reflect the light of the fire, focusing it on the window to the Deep Freeze. Slowly, he raised the focus of the reflected light. From inside, it looked just like:
"Sunrise!?" Light from the window crept up the length of the shadowed pony, exposing his expertly-pedicured hooves, his barrel chest, his flowing blond mane, and his cutie mark, an eight-pointed star. "Then Aunt Luna, Nightmare Moon, has failed us!"
Sugar Scoop simply stared, slack-jawed, her camera forgotten. Why is Prince Blueblood in my family's basement!?
"Well, never mind," the Prince continued, quickly regaining his composure. "That just means it's time for Plan B: Operation Solar Flare. Ahahahaha!" His haughty laughter filled the room. "Come, peons, there is much for you to do." With that, the Prince and the other ponies left the flavormeisters and Long Tail alone in the Deep Freeze.
"Now's she's definitely heard too much," said one flavormeister.
"Time to put her on ice," said the other, advancing menacingly.
"Not likely," Long Tail said, her head held tall. Glitterdust and Sugar Scoop burst out of hiding and charged, the shock knocking the flavormeisters back on their rumps. Long Tail and the others dashed out of the Deep Freeze, but something caught Sugar Scoop's eye.
Surely she had misread, in her haste to escape. "Cake Batter Ice Cream? Why would anypony create such an abomination?"
The three ponies emerged into the courtyard, only to be blinded by sunlight.
"Wow, Sunnyside, you've outdone yourself," Sugar said, squinting against the brightness. "You can cut it out now."
"That's not me," said Sunnyside, a contented grin on his face as he soaked up the light. "That's the real thing. The Sun is back!"
The ponies whooped in celebration -- except for Long Tail, whose expression was serious: "But the danger is just beginning."
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Sunnyside
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1027
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Original Character,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Canterlot Tails Season 1: Star Power
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Young ponies in Canterlot stumble upon a conspiracy to corrupt the royal princesses
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complete
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<p>Have you ever wondered what it meant that the Stars aided in the escape of Nightmare Moon? Why does Celestia seem to troll her subjects from time to time? Could it be that something is influencing her, perhaps the same force that turned Luna into Nightmare Moon one thousand years ago?</p>
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everyone
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2011-09-28T05:25:31+00:00
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2011-09-28T05:25:31+00:00
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Princess Celestia had returned to Canterlot, along with Nightmare Moon. Rumor had it that the two were going to share power. Suddenly, the feature piece that Sugar Scoop had done linking the Scoop family to Nightmare Moon didn't seem such a liability for them. They had a the esteem of a pony to rival Princess Celestia herself, and everypony knew it.
The high and mighty ponies of Canterlot had been summoned to Court for the presentation of "Princess Luna," the politically-correct name for Nightmare Moon. Sugar Scoop was in attendance thanks to her press pass, and Sunnyside had pulled some strings and arranged for Long Tail, Fizzlespark, and Glitterdust to attend. The five friends were united by their awareness of the conspiracy to free Nightmare Moon, and this gathering of Canterlot's movers and shakers provided a chance to learn more about the threat to Equestria.
The crowd fell silent as the royal fanfare played and two alicorns rode into the courtyard on the royal chariot. Nightmare Moon was not what anyone expected. She looked young and small next to Celestia, nothing more than a gangly filly. There was none of the expected triumph or haughtiness in her eyes.
The chariot came to a halt, and this "Princess Luna" spoke first.
"I come before you, ponies of Equestria, to confess my crimes, and ... beg your forgiveness." She stared at her own hooves, a lock of pale blue mane obscuring her face. "A thousand years ago, I led a revolt against – I mean, I turned against my sister, and tried to bring eternal night. I did this because... because... I was so jealous of the beautiful day time, and how everypony loved Celestia and not me, because her day time is so warm and fun and pretty." Celestia nodded. Luna sighed and averted her eyes. Or had she rolled her eyes?
"In my madness, I became Nightmare Moon, and Celestia had..." Luna's voice trembled. "No choice but to imprison me in the moon... forever." She choked on the last word. It seemed she couldn't go on, but after a few moments, she found her voice again.
"Yesterday, I escaped, still deranged, but Celestia and these six ponies cured me of my madness." Luna gestured at a motley group of ponies. Most bowed, but the pink one just grinned and waved energetically.
Luna continued. "For their help, I am grateful. I am now Princess Luna again, the same princess who ruled alongside Celestia, and I am ready to resume my royal duties." For the first time, Luna stood tall and proud. The crowd was silent, watching for Celestia's reaction.
The elder princess smiled and rubbed Luna's head with one hoof. "Of course, little sis! Why don't you raise the moon for us this very night?"
The crowd cheered, and it was difficult to spot through the herd, but Sugar thought she saw Luna gritting her teeth, and maybe even shaking a little bit as Celestia affectionately noogied her before the court.
Refreshments were brought out and the ponies began to mingle. Princess Luna was quickly swarmed, and seemed none to pleased about it. Glitterdust overheard some of the pony nobility expressing disbelief that those six common ponies from Ponyville could have defeated Nightmare Moon.
"I understand Twilight Sparkle was personally groomed by Princess Celestia," said one pony in a monocle. "She must have some highborn blood, and she is the leader."
"Yes, indeed," spoke another, whose cutie mark was a top hat. "And you're not going to tell me that white unicorn was born and bred out in the sticks. She managed to find something halfway decent to wear."
Sugar Scoop intended to speak with Princess Luna, but found herself among the Ponyville Six and decided to try interviewing one of them.
"Oh, you want to interview little me?" The unicorn said, with a rising inflection. "I suppose that's all right, only don't keep me too long. This could be my chance to meet him."
"Him?" Sugar Scoop asked, not knowing what she was getting into.
"Why, Prince Blueblood, of course! The most eligible stallion in Equestria." And a traitor to the crown who conspired to unleash Nightmare Moon. Why does this "Rarity" really want to meet him, I wonder...
As Sugar Scoop grilled Rarity on her interest in the Prince, Fizzlespark tried to make his way into the circle of ponies surrounding Luna. It wasn't going to be easy. His longtime rival, Twilight Sparkle, was watching him suspiciously. He to Sunnyside for backup, but Sunny's Scoop family friend, Sprinklebelle, had latched onto him and was keeping him well clear of the other troublesome ponies who had burst into her home and gotten him involved in dangerous matters better left undisturbed. She caught Fizzlespark's gaze and gave him a curt headshake. No help there...
"Who are you calling a rotten egg?" came a pugnacious voice, not far from Fizzlespark. He turned and saw Twilight's brat Spike picking a fight with his clockwork dragon, Spring. Spring replied in broken draconic, and Spike turned red with fury. "My mother was a classy lady!" he shouted, charging at Spring. Like his master, Spring understood that discretion was the better part of valor and high-tailed it away, passing under several dessert carts and lady's dresses in the attempt to lose the pursuing ball of claws.
"Spike! No!" Twilight yelled, clearly mortified. "Just calm down."
While she was distracted, Fizzlespark slipped into the crowd around Luna. Well done, Spring!
~~~
Sugar Scoop was still occupied with Rarity.
"I don't suppose you've had the opportunity to interview his Highness?" Rarity asked.
"Well, I've met him," Scoop said.
"You've met Prince Blueblood?" Rarity gasped.
"Yeah, I mean, I am part of the Scoop family. But... it's not like he hangs out in our basement or anything." Sugar watched the unicorn's reaction carefully.
"Oh, no, his place is among the castles and gardens, not shut away below ground. Beauty such as that exists to be displayed, to be adored. Believe me, I should know." Rarity gave Sugar what she seemed to think was a winning smile. She's actually serious, isn't she, Sugar thought. She doesn't know anything about his conspiracy.
"Right," Sugar said, taking a step away. "So, good luck with your boutique and all that-"
"Don't go, not when we're getting along so well." Rarity took hold of one of Sugar's forelegs. "Tell me, since you know the Prince, what is his favorite color?"
How am I supposed to know? Sugar wracked her brain, trying to come up with something to help her get away from this crazy pony. What does he like? Well, drinking... "Uh, burgundy?"
Rarity squealed. "Burgundy! Of course, it's so strong! And rich! And regal!" The moment passed abruptly. "Oh, why did I have to wear blue? It's his name, it was just... the obvious choice. I suppose every filly wears blue for him. He must be sick to death of it. Why was I such a foal?" The unicorn seemed on the verge of tears.
Sugar looked around helplessly and caught the eye of Red Velvet, the Cake family friend of Sunnyside whose home they had invaded last night while chasing the pegasus ninja. Red looked concerned and started approaching, but Rarity caught sight of her long, burgundy hair and growled.
"He's MINE."
~~~
Long Tail was wearing her all-white military uniform, which she was allowed to keep after honorably leaving the service. She was also standing stock still, all of her concentration focused on not butting in to correct the delusions of the ponies around her as they speculated on the secret history of the Ponyville Six, or observed that Princess Luna had favored them with a special glance.
She was doing quite well, not saying a word, but the strain was getting to her. She nearly jumped when somepony addressed her.
"Why hello, officer," the pony greeted her cheerfully. He was an earth pony with bright yellow fur and a fluffy white mane. He was well-dressed, in a mock military fashion, displaying a white pie cutie mark. "May I ask you a question?"
Long Tail's eyes widened. Only if you don't mind being horribly offended and disappointed and possibly going insane when your narrow worldview is shattered into a thousand tiny-
"Do you like periwinkles?"
"Do I-" Long Tail stammered. "You want to talk about periwinkles? I mean, yes! I love periwinkles. I could talk about periwinkles ALL DAY LONG."
The Pie pony cocked his head and smiled.
~~~
Spike pounced on Spring, smashing the clockwork dragon into a heap of gears, widgets, and doodads. He crossed his arms and harrumphed to himself in triumph.
Until the heap began to move. Slowly, the components pulled themselves together, reforming until Spring stood once again, eyes glowing red. Spike's expression turned to horror. The tables had turned.
As Spike desperately fled before the clockwork monster, Fizzlespark introduced himself to Princess Luna.
"Now, if I could just ask a couple of questions about the Sun and the Moon," he began. His horn glowed as he unfurled a half dozen charts and diagrams, largely blocking out the other ponies attempting to speak with the Princess. "I'm very curious about the mechanism by which they work. These are my observations and theories so far."
Luna looked at the diagrams with interest. "I can see what you were thinking," she said, pointing a hoof at one particular diagram. "But you don't know what the Sun looks like when it's behind the horizon. It's not cantilevered like this..."
The other ponies managed to stick their faces past the various sheets of paper Fizzlespark had put up, but remained silent. Luna hadn't said so many words to anypony. What was this pony's secret?
Twilight scooped Spike up and admonished him for causing trouble, then made her way to the throng around Princess Luna just as Fizzlespark was rolling up his diagrams and leaving. He nodded smugly, and she picked up her pace to speak with the other ponies.
"What did he say? What did they talk about?" And why did she open up to him and no one else?
Still new to friendship, it didn't occur to Twilight that Fizzlespark was the first pony to treat Luna not as a tool, not as an object of fear or ambition, but as somepony interesting to talk with. All she knew was that Fizzlespark, that mad pony with some chip on his shoulder about the entire practice of magic, was trying to get to Princess Luna, and was succeeding. She would have to warn Princess Celestia to keep an eye on him.
~~~
Glitterdust had commandeered a tray of hors d'oeuvres and was orbiting Prince Blueblood. Aside from nearly tripping over a rampaging baby dragon, the vigil was uneventful until the very end of the gathering. Blueblood seemed impatient by this point, putting on a charming air for the ponies he spoke with, but dropping it at once when he thought nopony was looking. When a servant brought the Prince an envelope, his Highness didn't even bother to be civil. His horn glowed and he snatched the envelope away from the messenger, turning at once to read it. Glitterdust couldn't see the words, but caught the Prince muttering to himself.
"Keep me waiting, will she? Four stars needed, and one can't even show up on time. She'll regret that when I'm King. I suppose I'll just have to amuse myself until tonight." The Prince's expression was predatory as he began scanning the crowd for somepony to "amuse" him.
Glitterdust walked quickly into the crowds to gather her friends and warn them that the Stars had something planned this very night.
~~~
That evening, the ponies gathered to honor the first moon to be raised by Princess Luna in a thousand years. Sprinklebelle was chosen to lead the Moon Hymn.*
Moon, moon -- shine tonight.
Hold us in your silver light.
Soon, soon -- glowing bright.
Come and touch our lives tonight.
Moon, moon -- taking flight.
Fold us in your cloak of night.
Soon, soon –- magic light.
Bring a dream of peace tonight.
Luna seemed comfortable, even confident, presiding over the moonrise. Red Velvet approached Sunnyside.
"I still don't trust her," Red whispered in Sunny's ear. "So I'm going to be her bestest friend ever." The comment was said so sweetly, yet so ominously, that Sunny had to suppress a shiver. Red smiled broadly, then turned and approached the Princess.
"Your Majesty," she began. "I've just had the most marvelous idea: Classical. Era. Revival. Fashion. Tell me, what kinds of clothes were in fashion a thousand years ago? What do you miss?"
Luna thought for a moment. "Well, I notice nopony is wearing any socks..."
"Oh, tell me more!"
Sunnyside took this moment alone to confer with his friends. The palace labyrinth was the perfect place for conspirators to meet unobserved, so the odds were good that Prince Blueblood's mysterious ally was somewhere inside.
Long Tail could use her prediction magic on anypony waiting suspiciously alone in the gardens, but would need some way to easily search the maze. Fizzlespark promised to solve that problem. All that remained was to find some way to delay Prince Blueblood.
"I think I can take care of that," Sugar Scoop put in. "Oh, Raaaarity!"
Five minutes later, Prince Blueblood was trotting about the maze trying to lose the obsessed filly from Ponyville who was relentlessly trailing him. Long Tail was strapped into a helicopter harness that carried her over the labyrinth hedges. As the helicopter whirled into the sky, it caught the attention of Twilight Sparkle. She quickly tracked it back to its source.
"Fizzlespark. I should have known."
"You mean you didn't recognize my handiwork? You're getting sloppy."
Spike and Spring glared at each other from behind their respective ponies.
"Why were you asking Luna about the magic for moving the Sun and Moon?" Twilight demanded. "They're the only ones capable of that level of magic power, and you... you're not even any good at magic, just your weird inventions."
"Why do you always assume that anything worthwhile has to be done with magic? Because it's the only thing you're any good at? Sure, you were born with a lot of magic power. That doesn't give you the right to look down on everypony who has to work hard to succeed."
"It's not everypony I have a problem with, it's you, Fizzlespark!"
The two unicorns were engaged in a shouting match near the labyrinth, and it was beginning to attract attention. Sunnyside spread his wings and opened his mouth to intervene, but suddenly Sprinklebelle was there cramming an ice cream cone in his opened mouth.
"Don't, Sunny," she said, putting herself between the diplomat-in-training and the quarreling unicorns.
Sunny folded his wings and removed the ice cream cone. "Mm, Blueberry Mint, that's new."
"We made it specially in honor of Princess Luna." Sprinklebelle smiled. "It has that rich purple color, and a cool, nighttime flavor."
"But," Sunny said, leaning to one side so he could see the snarling unicorns. "I should go help Fizzlespark."
Sprinklebelle put her hooves on Sunny's shoulders and looked at him gravely. "He's your friend, but he's also a colt who was in jail last night, and she's the hero of the day, Celestia's protege. That's not something for you to get in the middle of, especially not right in front of everypony here."
Fizzlespark now had a large diagram displayed on an easel and was pounding it with one hoof. Twilight tossed her head dismissively. Sunny looked back to Sprinklebelle. Her eyes were pleading now.
"Please," she said. "Don't be such a martyr all the time. I- I don't want to see you get hurt."
A lump formed in Sunny's throat. How could he disappoint Sprinklebelle, then go take sides between his friend and Princess Celestia's prize pupil?
"O- Okay," he said. Sprinklebelle brightened immediately. "Let's go explore the labyrinth. I hear they changed the layout recently."
~~~
Long Tail's tail brushed the tops of the hedges as she drifted over the labyrinth. She passed a variety of ponies playing and exploring and chatting, then spotted one waiting, nervously, all on his own. She gestured to Sugar Scoop, who pulled on her Scoop Family Ninja disguise and slipped up to the suspicious pony, a colt with chocolate brown hair and a mane of white and tan.
"Cousin Sugar?" The pony said, surprised. He positioned his body to obscure some object in an alcove behind him.
"Uh, hi Rocky Road," Sugar responded, disappointed that her disguise hadn't done her much good. She pulled it off her face and nodded toward the hidden alcove. "Whatcha got there?"
Rocky's normally stoic face contorted into one of fear and resentment. His cheeks darkened a shade. "Dammit, Sugar. You already know, if the family sent you out here to confront me about it. Well, you can just tell them I don't care what they think! I love her, and that's all that matters!" Rocky turned and snatched a bouquet of roses from the alcove with his teeth before galloping off into the maze.
Sugar facehoofed, then glared up at Long Tail. "Nice going."
Long Tail was unapologetic. "He was the most likely suspect, based on the observable data." She swished her tail. "Are you ready to try suspect number two?"
Grumbling, Sugar pulled the ninja mask back over her face and again took to the shadows.
~~~
"Oh Pri-innnce!" Rarity was sure he'd gone this way. She was so close to actually meeting him, but a glimpse here and there was all she'd managed. "If I could just catch his eye..." She pouted at the new dress she had prepared for the evening. "That pony at the fabric store has led me astray. This fabric is cranberry, not burgundy!"
A six-way intersection confronted her. "Don't give up, Rarity," she said to herself. "Not when you're so close. Aha!" She caught a glimpse of a sturdy white flank, an eight-pointed star, a flowing blond tail. She stood tall, made sure her mane had the proper bounce, and was about to step into the intersection when a pale earth pony with a glassy mane and a bag for a cutie mark meandered into it and the earth just collapsed. Glitterdust tumbled away down a chute into the darkness, and the trap door closed, leaving the intersection looking pristine and harmless. "Yaaaaaaah!" she called.
Blueblood leaned around the hedge, grinning, bur his jaw dropped and his eyes widened when he saw Rarity standing on terra firma across the intersection. "Um."
Rarity stared across the intersection.
"Um," he repeated once more, before collecting himself. He reared up on his hind legs. "Never fear! I'll save her at once!" With that, he charged off into the maze. Curse that interloper! What will it take to be rid of this blasted unicorn? If I never see her again, it'll be too soon!
"How gallant..." Rarity swooned.
~~~
"The next suspect is on the other side of this hedge," Long Tail explained. "That's all I have time to explain."
"What? Why?" Sugar asked. She looked up at the airborne unicorn.
Long Tail didn't answer. The problem was obvious. Her tail had gotten caught in the helicopter's rotor and was being slowly wound into the mechanism. She dangled stoically, like a captain going down with her ship. Sugar resisted the urge to salute, then resisted the urge to giggle as the last of the slack in Long Tail's tail was taken in and the yank momentarily disturbed her stoicism. The unicorn plummeted from the sky, arms flailing, landing somewhere outside the maze. Sugar was on her own.
She rounded the hedge, and for a moment thought there was nopony there.
"His Highness didn't deign to come himself?" came a whispered voice. Sugar turned stiffly, able to discern the outline of a pony in the shadows. Squinting, she made out a cutie mark of two coins, one with a Sun and one with a Moon.
"He is otherwise occupied," Sugar replied, suppressing a grin. "I am here on his behalf, in furtherance of Operation Solar Flare."
The shadowed pony was silent for a moment. "Very well." The pony tossed an envelope at Sugar's hooves. "Here is what he needs to know to do his part."
Sugar leaned down to retrieve the envelope, and by the time she straightened, the mysterious pony was gone. She squinted at the shadows one last time, then galloped off to find the others.
~~~
Sunnyside, Fizzlespark, and Sugar Scoop had gathered around Long Tail, who was a bit scuffed from her crash landing, but seemed mostly alright.
"But where's my helicopter?" Fizzlespark asked.
Long Tail gave him an unreadable look, then knocked one hoof on her own tail, with a metallic clank.
"Ah."
Sugar tore open the letter and read it aloud to everypony. It described a magical process that could channel a pony's negative feelings and amplify them with something called "Star Magic" to transform their own magic and persona into an "empowered" version of themselves. There was some suggestion that those performing the ritual could somehow control the emotions of the pony so transformed.
The envelope also included a diagram of a ritual chamber.
"Hey, does that diagram say those stairs go to the North Pool?" Sunny pointed. "That's not so far from here. So this chamber would be somewhere under the labyrinth." Sunny looked at the nearby hedges, then looked around at the group again. "Hey, has anypony seen Glitterdust?"
The ponies looked at one another and shrugged, except Sugar Scoop, who looked thoughtful.
"Rarity said somepony fell into a trap door and Prince Blueblood was charging off to save her," she offered.
"There's a trap door on this diagram, too," Sunny observed. "I think I can navigate us to that point in the labyrinth."
Everypony but Long Tail got up to go. She looked at Fizzlespark. "Fizzlespark, Could you please remove your helicopter from my tail?"
He considered a moment, looking down at her. "No."
"I was worried you'd say that."
Fizzlespark's horn glowed and the myriad metal components lodged in Long Tail's tail lifted off the ground. "But I'll carry it for you."
Without another word, Long Tail rose and everypony followed Sunnyside to a certain six-way intersection in the maze. They paused while Sunnyside checked his navigation by getting an aerial view, and Fizzlespark went to work re-assembling the components in Long Tail's tail into a "device for busting ponies out of trouble."
Long Tail couldn't bring herself to watch. She asked Sugar Scoop, "How does my tail look?"
"Oh, um, fine. It looks normal."
"Normal?" Long Tail gasped, a pained expression on her face. "Not Lorentzian!? Noooo..."
"Um... there, there?"
Sugar Scoop was grateful for the interruption when Sunnyside landed among the other ponies. "This is the right place, I'm sure of it."
"I'm just ... about..." Fizzlespark's horn glowed and the last piece of his contraption snapped into place. "Done!"
Long Tail finally turned her head. The device was nearly the size of a pony, acorn shaped, with a drill on the bottom. Her tail was wrapped tightly around the top.
"Oh, no, no, no..." She said. "This is..." Fizzlespark tugged her tail away from the drill, spinning it up as the tail uncoiled. It cracked through the trapdoor, destroyed its supports, and the entire intersection collapsed into a chute leading downward. "... a baaad plaaaaaaaaaaan!"
Sugar and Sunny reflexively took to the air as the ground collapsed, then shared a look and dove in after their friends.
~~~
Glitterdust had been minding her own business (well, spying on Prince Blueblood), when a trap door had dumped her underground in the middle of a spooky, glowing circle. Then there was a flash of light, a cold, itchy kind of sensation, then darkness. She wasn't sure how long it lasted, or if she had been unconscious. She stood up.
"Hello?" she tried.
"Velcome!" erupted an energetic voice, to Glitterdust's surprise. "Mein newest Star to shine across Eqvestria. I haff zeen your ambition, your chealousy. You hahnger for de greatness. Now your chourney ist complete!"
Spotlights shone on Glitterdust from all directions, blinding her. She shielded her face with one hoof.
"Vat? You are not her. Vere..." The oddly-accented voice rose to a shout. "Vere are de magicks?"
Glitterdust heard a clop of hooves. "Take avay this unfabulous pony." Strong ponies grasped Glitterdust from either side and led her into the darkness. As her eyes adjusted, she saw the reflection of two red lenses, watching her expressionlessly.
"I vill haff Rarity to lead mein Fashion Police, von day, ven her chealousy and ambition again consume her!"
A grating, crunching noise began to emanate from the ceiling. The pony in the red lenses looked up for a moment, then looked back to the captive Glitterdust. "Now, I go!"
Glitterdust was tossed into a nearby cell, but it wasn't long before a loud crash came from the main chamber.
"Everypony okay?" Sunnyside.
"I thought you said Glitterdust would be here?" Fizzlespark. Her friends had come for her.
"She should be?" Sunnyside again. "Oh, shoot, she's probably under this debris. Lend me a hoof."
Actually, today has been surprisingly free of crushing by falling debris, Glitterdust thought. Then she winced, cautiously sending her gaze upward. To her relief, the ceiling did not immediately collapse on her.
"I'm over here!" she called, still watching the ceiling suspiciously with one eye.
Sunny trotted up. "Thank goodness! We were worried you'd been turned into some evil version of yourself, a sinister pony named 'Cloudkill' or something, infuriated at the working conditions in the postal service and about to rampage!"
"Nope?" Glitterdust replied.
"It's called going postal," Long Tail added, helpfully.
"The ritual works by twisting your inherent magic," Fizzlespark said. "Since Glitterdust is an earth pony, it wouldn't have any effect on her."
"So that's what that weird pony meant by 'de magicks,'" Glitterdust mused.
The others freed Glitterdust and had started comparing notes when a loud hissing interrupted their conversation. It was emanating from a darkened corridor nearby. Spring toddled up and sent a small burst of flame to illuminate the darkness.
Three large dragons stared back, then shot their own flames towards the ponies, who fled into the main chamber. The dragons' eyes and flames glittered with sparkles and purple haze.
In the main chamber, two more dragons blocked the stairs out. The ponies backed away from the beasts in a tightening arc.
"Fizzlespark, would you build something that makes a really big explosion?" Long Tail asked.
Sunny objected. "No exploding in the Castle!"
Fizzlespark seemed offended by Long Tail's suggestion. "My inventions never explode!" Everypony gave Fizzlespark a skeptical look, but he studiously ignored them.
"We need another way out," Sugar said, backing up quickly before a lick of dragon fire and bumping into the heap of debris.
Clicks, whirs, and revving sounds erupted from the debris, and Fizzlespark's Pony Escape Device started spinning again, eating straight through the floor, out the bottom of the castle, and falling away below.
Sugar raised an eyebrow at Fizzlespark. "What?" he said. "Sunny said to make a Pony Escape Device, and we need to escape. Did you think it was just a simple gyroscopic drill? Oh ho, no."
"Whatever," Sugar responded, clambering down the pony-sized hole.
"Go ahead," Sunny said. "I've got an idea. These look like dragons from the magic school, and those dragons can be reasoned with." Besides, I let Fizzlespark down earlier by running away when he was facing off with Twilight Sparkle. I can't just run again.
Sunny pulled an egg out of his vest pocket and cracked it open, pouring its contents on the flame-heated stone floor. It sizzled, and was perfectly cooked in moments. "Who's a good dragon?" he cooed.
Fizzlespark and Glitterdust scrambled down the drill hole as the dragons surrounded Sunnyside. Long Tail walked over to the hole, then looked over her shoulder at Sunnyside. Was he bravely covering their escape, or...
He looked at her. "They're perfectly nice dragons. See? They're eating right out of my hooves!"
"Sunny," she said, turning around and trotting towards him. "That only works until you run out of eggs!"
He poked around his vest for more, but didn't seem to have any. He offered a nervous smile to the dragons, whose expressions turned dark. One of them reared up and roared. Long Tail bit Sunnyside's tail and yanked him out of the way before the dragon's jaws snapped shut where his head had been moments before. She tumbled backwards into the hole, teeth still clenched onto Sunny's tail. They tumbled out of the castle together, pursued by purply flame. Flapping his wings wildly, Sunnyside veered their path towards a nearby hot air balloon, and they joined their friends in grasping onto the ropes dangling off its sides.
As everypony else breathed a sigh of relief, Glitterdust noticed the emblem of the postal service on the side of the balloon. She looked up to see the grey face of her boss, Ditzy. The mare's yellow eyes were akimbo, which somehow added to Glitterdust's vertigo.
"Good timing, Dusty!" the pony sang. "It's time for your shift!"
~~~
* Astute readers may note similarity to the Moon Song of the Fraggles. Historians believe the Fraggle version came first and was adapted by ponykind.
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Sunnyside
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1027
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Original Character,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Canterlot Tails Season 1: Star Power
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Young ponies in Canterlot stumble upon a conspiracy to corrupt the royal princesses
|
complete
| -1 | -1 |
<p>Have you ever wondered what it meant that the Stars aided in the escape of Nightmare Moon? Why does Celestia seem to troll her subjects from time to time? Could it be that something is influencing her, perhaps the same force that turned Luna into Nightmare Moon one thousand years ago?</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-11-26T17:01:38+00:00
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2011-11-26T17:01:38+00:00
| 666 |
One of the mail ponies on the delivery airship approached Long Tail with an envelope in his mouth. She levitated it and opened it.
"As I suspected," she said. "I will need to be away for some period of time."
"Away? Why?" Sunny asked.
"I can't say," Long Tail said. "Which, in itself, is enough information for you to assign high probability to the likelihood that it is a secret military contract matter. So I suppose I shouldn't have said anything at all."
"Oh! But, how do we contact you if something comes up with our secret matter?"
"Here," Long Tail levitated a scroll to Sunny. "This spell can be cast by any unicorn, and will let you contact me, briefly." The airship docked at Canterlot. "Now, I must be going!" She galloped off.
Meanwhile, Glitterdust was valiantly trying to avoid taking responsibility for six large sacks of mail.
"In fifteen seconds, I need a distraction on that side of the ship," she whispered to Fizzlespark as the mailponies approached her with the sacks of mail.
"Glitterdust, you're supposed to-" One of them began.
"Look there! A distraction!" Glitterdust pointed with one hoof at the space between two piles of mail. Nothing was there. Dammit Fizzlespark.
Something rose into the air from behind the empty airship, Glitterdust's hopes rose, but were quickly dashed as she stared into the eyes of her boss, Ditzy. Well, she stared into one eye at a time, anyway. The mailponies buried Glitterdust up to her mane in the six sacks of mail, then turned to Sugar Scoop and Sunnyside, who were chatting nearby. Sunny had mail!
"Oh, a note from my cousins in France. I think I'll head to the tower and read it in peace and quiet. Care to come, Sugar?"
"I've got writing to do! Catch you later, Sunny."
With that, the Pegasi flew back to the city. When Glitterdust surfaced, she was alone, with only six huge sacks of mail for company.
***
After a grueling morning delivering mail, Glitterdust reported back to the post office mailroom, where a mountain of mail waited to be delivered. As she walked in, she heard Peaches and Cream, two pegasi, speaking in hushed tones. She picked out two words: "conspiracy" and "stars." The pegasi left – without even punching out. Glitterdust looked after them, then looked at the mountain of mail. There was no time to follow them and deliver all this mail. Unless...
Glitterdust snatched a couple of bags of mail in her teeth and dropped them into Peaches and Cream's bins, then followed after the pegasi.
***
At the palace, Luna was surrounded by ponies of the nobility, all dressed in splendid socks, as was the latest fashion. They walked through the gardens, talking. Well, Luna wasn't talking very much. A line of guards blocked the gate leading outside, where a herd of commoners tried to get a peek at the Princess.
Sunnyside was young, but would one day be important enough that he was able to get into the inner circle, at least briefly. He noticed General Gemesis striding toward Luna with extreme confidence, regarding her almost as an inferior.
"Princess," Sunny began, before the General could speak. "What do you think of the skirmishes with Griffindor?"
"Well," she said, eyes downcast. "What do you think?" She looked up and seemingly realized that Sunny was a new arrival, not one of the overbearing ponies trying to push her this way and that. "And how are the Egg family hatcheries?"
Sunny was surprised. "Er... The hatcheries are producing nicely, but eggs do have many non-military applications. It seems to me that there must be a diplomatic solution with the Griffons. There's really no good reason for us to be at each other's throats, not that I can see."
The General snorted. "It is fortunate that your brother is more hard-boiled. He understands the basic strategic reality that we simply cannot permit an egg gap. At present, a strategic egg exchange between Equestria and Griffindor leads to acceptable losses. But Griffons... Griffons produce their own eggs. Monstrous things. Our projections show that, within five years, they would have an overwhelming advantage in egg power."
The projections sounded like something Long Tail would compute. Or be able to refute, at least. He looked about for his friends. Red Velvet was keeping Photo Finish busy talking about socks. At the gates, he saw Sugar Scoop passing Officer Snapdragon a tall cone of soft-serve. He looked the other way as she slipped through the lines. However, she was stymied by the phalanx of nobilities who regarded her with an icy glare, then studiously ignored her. She tried her best ambush journalism, but en masse, the nobility ignored her. Except, of course, Sunnyside.
"Where's Fizzlespark?" he asked.
"How should I know?"
"He should be here. If there is war, it's the common ponies who will suffer most. But Princess Luna is letting these courtiers insulate her from them. If Fizzlespark were here, I think she'd go and speak to him."
"Well, he knows how important this is."
"You're right. I'm sure he'll get here in time. You try and stall them. I'll watch for Fizzlespark and get him past the guards."
"Sounds like fun." Sugar grinned and darted back to the group of courtiers, ramping her antics up.
Sunny flew over to the line of guards and gazed out over the crowd, watching for Fizzlespark's distinctive purple and green colors. Gemesis and his flunkies guided the Princess over to the edge of the courtyard, shoving Sugar Scoop casually aside. Sunny glanced back and forth between the Princess and the Crowd.
One of the general's burly peons sat on Sugar Scoop as Princess Luna was led through a doorway. As the door shut, Sunny frantically searched the crowd. The door shut with a thud, and Sunny slumped over a crenelation on the castle wall, resting his chin on his hooves and sighing into his white-and-gold socks.
"Fizzlespark... where are you?"
***
Sugar found Sunny on the wall. "There's another way into the area where they took Luna," she said. "But we'll need a mail delivery pass to get in there. We'd better find Glitterdust."
"Maybe her boss knows where she is."
Sugar and Sunny flew to the post office and found supervisor Ditzy Doo.
"We're looking for Glitterdust," Sugar said, getting right to the point."
"Derp. Half price at Chic Boutique."
"Chic Boutique, eh?"
"Derp. Or the scroll shop. Level 2. Conjuration. No Save."
"Chic Boutique or the scroll shop, okay. Are those the only places?"
Ditzy hesitated.
"Please, Ms. Doo," Sunny put in. "It's very important that we find Glitterdust."
Whisper: "Alley behind the Prancing Pony. Uncut. Derp!"
"Oooookay!" Sugar said, dubiously.
"Thanks," said Sunny.
Ditzy chomped joyfully on a muffin as Sunny and Sugar galloped out.
"The Boutique first," Sunny said. Sugar looked at him curiously.
"I'm almost out of my imported shampoo," he explained.
They arrived at the boutique short of breath and scanned the shop.
"Aha!" Sunny declared. Sugar perked up, only to see him pointing to a bottle of French shampoo. "Just put it on my account and deliver it to Egg Manor, won't you?"
"Very good, monsieur," the shopkeep responded.
"But no sign of Glitterdust," Sunny said.
"I wasn't sure you'd noticed," Sugar responded wryly.
"Gleettehrdust, eez eet?" the shopkeeper asked. "We do 'ave zee dust. For you, 'alf price."
He gestured to a shelf bearing a variety of tins.
"'Glitterdust,'" Sugar read. "'A delightful sight to light up your night'?"
"Ooh, a glowing cosmetic powder? I'll take a tin."
"Sunny!"
"Look, when the Sun goes down, I lose my pizazz. I'm just no good at moonlight!"
"Whatever. We've wasted enough time here. Let's try the scroll shop."
"Okay," Sunny agreed. The pegasi trotted out of the shop, passing Peaches and Cream on the way. As they departed, Glitterdust arrived outside the shop, hot on the trail of Peaches and Cream.
***
Sugar and Sunny landed at the scroll shop, the downdraft from their wings sending papers flying. The wizened unicorn mare behind the counter flailed with her horn and her hooves.
"Glitterdust!" Sugar shouted. "Is she here?"
"Oooooh yes," the unicorn crooned. "Heh heh."
"Well?" A scroll tipped off of a shelf, landing on Sugar's snout. A small quantity of glitter spilled out. Sugar's nostrils flared, and her eyes crossed.
"Looks like another dead en-" Sunny began. Sugar inhaled sharply. "Sugar? Are you-"
"Ah-CHOOOO!"
Sunny flailed and tumbled backwards. Sugar wiped her nose with one hoof and shook her head before glaring at the unicorn. "Never mind. Let's go, Sunny."
Sunny extricated himself from the pile of scrolls and the two launched out of the scroll shop window. Peaches and Cream landed outside and walked in.
"Hey," Sugar said. "Weren't those two pegasi at the Chic Boutique?"
Sunny looked. "Yeah, and I see what you're getting at – their cosmetics look like they came from a chain store!"
"Er, right."
"Well, that's suspicious and all, but we can't get distracted. We need to find Glitterdust."
"Fine, let's go."
They launched and vanished into the night sky. Glitterdust crept up to the scroll shop and peered in, keeping her eye on Peaches and Cream.
***
In a dark alley behind the Prancing Pony, a dark pony waited in a trenchcoat. He beckoned to Sunny and Sugar, who were standing at the end of the alley, and grinned slyly. The pegasi shared a dubious look, then shook their heads. They started to turn away, then did a double-take. Glitterdust was just galloping past the other end of the alley. They took flight after her.
***
Peaches and Cream had enjoyed a quick steam at the Chic Boutique's spa – during which they had steamed open a secret letter – written in code. They stopped at the school shop for a quick deciphering spell. As the words became readable, they shared a look of horror.
"They have Princess Luna already! We have to get to the hedge maze!" Peaches cried.
Glitterdust, listening in, resolved to get there first. She galloped off at top speed, stopping only to deliver mail at the mailboxes along the street. At one such stop, Sunnyside and Sugar Scoop caught up. She filled them in on the way to the hedgemaze.
Sunny thought it was possible that Peaches and Cream were trying to investigate, and weren't part of the conspiracy at all. Glitterdust, knowing the two postal pegasi to be self-centered social climbers, didn't think it was likely they were doing anything out of altruism. If only Long Tail were there, she could tell them the likelihood of each possibility.
They came upon Fizzlespark, fiddling with an unidentifiable contraption near the hedge maze. Fizzlespark could contact Long Tail, he had the magic scroll she had provided.
"Magic, schmagic." He was not impressed at the suggestion. "There are much better ways to get a message to her."
"'Better'? Or..." Sugar was dubious.
"Behold!" Fizzlespark reared on his hind legs and held aloft a bird strapped to a long tube... with a fuse. "My rocket propelled homing pigeon." The unicorn quickly jotted down the group's question, lit the fuse, and tossed the pigeon into the air. With a burst of sparks and a trail of black smoke, it rapidly made its exit.
"The poor bird," Sunny observed.
"How does it find Long Tail?" Sugar asked.
"The pigeon knows," Fizzlespark responded smugly.
"Okay... but how does the pigeon steer the rocket?"
"Ah. Well. That feature will be included in Version 2."
Glitterdust put one hoof to her forehead and sighed.
But Fizzlespark wasn't ready to give up. "Just to be sure, I'll send a rocket propelled messenger tortoise, too. Just a moment..."
Sunny changed the topic. "In the meantime, if Peaches and Cream have something to do with this conspiracy, they'll probably the heading to that trap door in the maze."
Sunny and Sugar flew overhead and guided the others to the door. Sugar was jumping up and down on the panel, trying to get it to open.
Glitterdust walked into the intersection. "Let me he-" The ground gave way under her hooves and she slid face-first down the chute. "-eeeeeeeelp!"
Sugar and Sunny flew down after her. Fizzlespark finished strapping a rocket and a pigeon onto his messenger tortoise, gave the pigeon a tiny pole to hang onto, and tied a carrot onto the end. The pigeon looked around, picked a direction, and steered the tortoise using the dangling vegetable. Fizzlespark nodded, ignited the rocket, and the tortoise shot straight through the hedges, unerringly seeking Long Tail.
Down below, Glitterdust, Sugar, and Sunny found themselves back in the Star Chamber. A light was emanating from one side passage, and they headed that way. Their progress was quickly blocked by a sleeping dragon.
It was one of the ones they had faced before, and it was now wearing Sugar Scoop's hat, which she had dropped in the escape. Fizzlespark caught up, and the group crept past together. Sugar waited until the others had passed, then pulled out a hat of folded newspaper. She carefully, tensely placed the hat on the dragon's head next to her own hat, then snatched up her prized hat before the dragon noticed the change in weight. The dragon snorted, and Sugar remained stock still. It settled down, she flipped the hat onto her own head in triumph, and started walking away.
Just then, a hissing noise rapidly approached and the rocket-powered pigeon collided with the dragon's flank, causing it to awaken with a roar that shook lose stone from the walls. Sugar galloped off after the others, a wall of flame close behind.
The four ponies scrambled through the tunnels with the dragon hot on their hooves – and gaining. Sunny shouted to the others.
"Find the Princess! I'll lead the dragon off." He turned and tossed an egg to the dragon, who crunched it and gobbled it up. "There's more where that came from." Sunny dodged a burst of fire and flew off down a side passage, with the dragon in pursuit.
The others caught their breath for a minutes and proceeded through the tunnels after some searching, they came to an elaborately decorated door bearing the arcane sigil of Starswirl the Bearded.
"This looks like the place," Glitterdust observed.
A high-pitched voice spoke from another passage leading into the area. "What was your first clue, Glitter-Clutz?"
Glitterdust scowled. "Peaches." She turned to face the newcomers, and was surprised to see Sunnyside walking between the two fillies.
Sunny noticed the surprise. "After I lost the dragon in the hedgemaze, I ran into these two. We were heading the same way, and they seemed to know where they were going, so..."
"The dragon's loose in the hedgemaze?" Sugar asked.
"Er. Do you think it's smart enough to get out?"
***
Flames engulfed the castle and surrounding buildings. The screams of children were heard from all around. One enormous, scaled claw cracked off the tallest castle spire.
Then the camera zoomed out. The dragon had burned a path out of the hedge maze and found children playing with a dollhouse castle. Its godzilla instincts had kicked in, but the children had safely galloped away.
***
"Nah, I'm sure it's fine," Sugar said. Just then, a tortoise arrived with a note from Long Tail, bumping into Sugar's hoof.
Seventy percent chance they really are trying to save Luna, for personal fame.
Fizzlespark mumbled to himself. "The tortoise needs to be faster... maybe a propeller?"
Sugar read the note and shrugged, then returned to the task at hand and got her camera ready. "Let's go."
Peaches and Cream shoved Sunny out of the way and charged toward the front. "Us first!" "You're not taking the credit for this rescue!" A few collisions between ponies and doors later, the rescuers made their dramatic entrance, mostly lying in a pile behind the stunned Glitterdust, who had been nearest the door in the first place and found herself shoved to the fore, sitting on her rump.
Princess Luna was trapped in a magical circle of sparkling energy. Photo Finish stood outside with her lackeys and cameras. All of them stared uncomprehendingly at Glitterdust, who swallowed hard.
"Um..." she began.
The ponies behind her started to get their act together. Sunny flew in and posed behind her, hooves on his hips and golden feathers resplendent. Fizzlespark rose and nodded reassuringly at the Princess. Peaches and Cream tried to move to the front, but made the mistake of getting in the way of Sugar's shot, and were themselves bumped off to the side as Sugar sprang to her hooves, camera at the ready.
"Vat ist hahppening?" Photo Finish cocked her head.
Glitterdust rose to stand on all fours. The camera zoomed in on her face. The soundtrack went silent. "... We're rescuing the princess?"
The other ponies clamored their support behind a crescendo of dramatic soundtrack music. "That's right!" "Especially us, Peaches and Cream!" "I'm here for you, Princess." "Everypony will know of your scheme!"
"She ist yours," Photo Finish said, grinning. "If you kan reach her." The sparks around Luna flared and she was engulfed in darkness. Photo Finish turned to Sugar Scoop. "But no pictures of mein self. I belong on ze other side of ze kamera."
"Not this time, Photo Finish," Sugar replied. "You're exposed!" As the bulb flashed, Photo Finish pulled a backdrop between her and the camera. Only the tip of a blue hoof could be seen. She reappeared behind her own camera.
"Who ist to say, was not ze notorious Feezlespahk making ze black magicks." Photo Finish's bulb flared, and her camera spat out a photograph of Fizzlespark standing over the magic circle, his horn aglow. He was speaking to Glitterdust, and pointing one hoof towards the magic circle. In the light of the flashbulb, Luna could be seen, watching the two ponies with concern.
"Dammit Fizzlespark," Sugar shouted, pointing one hoof at Fizzlespark. "Stop looking so suspicious!"
"Und ze mastermind," Photo Finish narrated. "Fraulein Scüp, ze outkast, directing ze konspirators." She snapped another shot, but a golden blur entered the frame at the last minute. The picture came out awash in white, unrecognizeable. "Vat?" Photo looked back at the scene, and the reflective pegasus Sunnyside stood on his hind legs with wings outstretched. He dropped to all fours.
"You can't dress this up in a fabric of lies and expect people to buy it!" He declared.
"Just vatch me! Ist vat I dü." The fashion pony backed into the shadows. Her flunkies brought her replacement bulbs for her camera.
"Sunny," Sugar said. "I need better lighting, and I need to get Luna in the background. Cover me. I'm heading for that pillar." Sugar galloped from cover to cover as flashbulbs flared. She hoped Sunny could cover here if she found herself caught in the open.
Meanwhile, Glitterdust steeled herself to enter the ritual circle. Luna had been looking to Fizzlespark for help, but now seemed wracked by pain, and was no longer watching them. And Fizzlespark couldn't help her – the circle would take him. As an Earth Pony, it should have no effect on Glitterdust, though. She stepped through the dark curtain.
As Glitterdust dragged the kicking Princess from the circle, Photo Finish noticed. Sugar Scoop had evidently been chased off by her fiendishness, so she turned her attention to the new threat.
"Do not. Deesturb. Ze magicks!" She charged, goggles gleaming murderously, and Sugar Scoop leapt from hiding.
"Now, Sunny!" The golden pegasus spread his wings once more – this time at an angle to the flash, to provide lighting for Sugar's perfect shot: Photo Finish delivering a painful blow to Glitterdust's kidney as the Earth Pony dragged Luna from the darkness.
Glitterdust staggered, and Fizzlespark pulled Luna the rest of the way out, with the help of his mechanical dragon Spring, how had also entered the darkness. "We knew thou wouldst save us," Luna said weakly. Glitterdust clutched her side in the background as Fizzlespark grinned back at Luna.
"Vere? How?" Photo Finish looked around for Sugar.
The reporter pony popped up next to her. "They don't call it ambush journalism for nothing!" she gloated. "I can see the headline now: Photo FINISHED!"
Sugar Scoop turned, swishing her tail in Photo's face. "Well, I'll catch up with you all later, I've got to get this to print, pronto!"
Sunny grabbed her tail with his teeth. "Ftop. Iff we pubbif it, vey'll know we know. We fhould at leafk afk fome queftionf firfth."
"Fine."
The ponies interrogated Photo Finish, using the threat of exposure as leverage. They decided to hold onto the incriminating evidence. But what to do with Photo Finish now. What to tell everypony?"
Princess Luna had recovered, though her coat was darker, and her mane sparkled. "We shall imprison her. We see no need to explain this action to anypony. We are one of the Royal Pony Sisters, after all. Besides, we may have a use for this one. Dost thou recall the six ponies from Ponyville? The wielders of the Elements of Harmony? If this one will use her abilities to investigate them and report back, perhaps she should be spared." Luna's horn flared with magic and Photo Finish disappeared.
"Your Highness," Sunny said. "There is one other thing we should mention, about this conspiracy. We overheard some ponies talking and it sounded as if their intention was to target... your sister." Luna looked shocked. The camera flew out of the tunnels, up to Celestia's tower, where she was lowering the Sun. There was dramatic music and then... darkness.
***
*theme music and credits*
|
Sunnyside
|
1027
| 5 |
Original Character,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Canterlot Tails Season 1: Star Power
|
Young ponies in Canterlot stumble upon a conspiracy to corrupt the royal princesses
|
complete
| -1 | -1 |
<p>Have you ever wondered what it meant that the Stars aided in the escape of Nightmare Moon? Why does Celestia seem to troll her subjects from time to time? Could it be that something is influencing her, perhaps the same force that turned Luna into Nightmare Moon one thousand years ago?</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-12-04T00:25:42+00:00
|
2011-12-04T00:25:42+00:00
| 650 |
Glitterdust trotted up to Fizzlespark's lab, where the rest of the group was waiting for the mad scientist to get his gear together.
"Congratulations on your promotion, Postmare General," Sunnyside said, in greeting.
"A royal decree can do wonders for your career," Glitterdust replied, modestly.
"What's Ditzy Doo up to now that you've replaced her?" Sugar Scoop asked.
"I think she got promoted, too. She said she's 'supervisor of all the mails!' now." Glitterdust shrugged.
"Glitterdust!" Fizzlespark shouted, raising a sliding door to reveal a huge cart piled high with equipment. "Thank Celestia you're here!" His horn glowed and the other ponies instinctively cringed, but all that happened was that a harness levitated through the air and attached to Glitterdust's sturdy, earth pony body. "We're going to be late to the Magic Fair. Hurry, hurry!"
With effort, Glitterdust pulled the huge cart out of its garage and into the streets. Fizzlespark shut his shop and caught up, leaping on top of the cart and gazing towards the fairgrounds. Sugar and Sunny flew up to speak with him.
"Did you actually get an invitation this year?" Sugar asked.
"Sure did!" Fizzlespark produced a purple envelope labeled "Magic Fair Invitation" and stamped with Princess Luna's royal seal.
Long Tail gestured for the pegasi to come back down to the ground.
"Princess Luna probably wants to talk to Fizzlespark and the rest of us about the plot against her sister," Long Tail said.
The pegasi agreed that this made sense.
The cart arrived with the fair in full swing. Everywhere, unicorns were displaying their special talents and swapping spells. Important pegasi had also come to observe the festivities, and the noble houses had set up refreshment stands with ice cream, fried dough, and other treats. Far off, at the other side of the fairground, the Royal Sisters presided from their Royal Booth.
"They don't seem to have reserved a spot for me," Fizzlespark said in disbelief. The cart was now blocking the main entrance and overhanging the booths of two irritated unicorns.
"Never mind your booth," Sunny said. "We should go talk to Princess Luna."
"The cart's not going to fit further in, so... Sorry, what was that, Sunnyside?"
"I was saying, forget the booth-"
"Right! Setting up the booth!"
"-and let's talk to the Princess."
"So you're going to get crepes, while I set up the booth. Okay, good plan."
Sunnyside just cocked his head and blinked in confusion at the unicorn.
Fizzlespark spoke again. "No time to waste!" His horn glowed and components began flying about the area. The other ponies scattered and regrouped down the lane a short ways.
"I don't know if there are any crepes," Sunny said. "Do you think fried dough would be okay?"
"Luna!" the others cried, in unison. Sunny covered his face with one foreleg.
"Well, yes, of course," he said, lowering his foreleg. "But Fizzlespark is counting on me to find him a snack, too."
Sugar Scoop rolled her eyes.
"Let's split up and look for clues, and meet up at the Royal Booth," Glitterdust suggested. The ponies all nodded and trotted off down different paths.
***
"Long Tail? Is that you?"
Long Tail turned, and her ears tilted down. "Twilight Sparkle. Hi."
"Isn't this fun?" Twilight bubbled.
Long Tail looked over her shoulder, scanning for an exit.
"There are so many spells to learn!" Twilight continued. "Have you learned anything new today?"
"No."
"Oh. Well, do you think you could teach me your weird prediction spell?"
"Probably not."
Twilight frowned, but was undeterred. "You know, Long Tail, I've been learning about the Magic of Friendship at Princess Celestia's orders and-"
Something caught her eye. "-what in Equestria is that?"
Probably Fizzlespark's fault. Longtail turned to look, and saw a bulky object the size of a small building that was hopping erratically across the fair, gradually growing closer.
Yep.
***
Glitterdust stumbled across the judging booth. At present, the judges were out among the tents, choosing the few competitors who would appear on stage at the highlight of the event. One judge was nearby, a blue unicorn with a sky-blue mane, critiquing a unicorn juggler.
"So us all a favor and stop before we pass out from boredom," she said to the crestfallen performer. "The Great and Powerful Trixie was more entertained by the contents of her kerchief the last time she sneezed."
There was one on every panel. That judge who couldn't find anything to like, and tore apart even the most talented performers. Glitterdust didn't know where the Great and Powerful Trixie had come from, but she had a fearsome reputation. Evidently she'd gone up against Twilight Sparkle and come away unscathed.
Circling the judges' table, Glitterdust noticed strange patterns in the earth under most of the chairs. All but one, in fact. She pulled aside one of the chairs to get a better look. Sniffing the ground, she could tell it had been disturbed. With one hoof, she started digging at the suspicious earth. Clearing some of the soil away, she found a seam, which came to a corner. She realized what it was, moments before it became obvious.
Trapdoor!
The earth quickly swallowed Glitterdust up and the door closed itself behind her and she was lost in darkness.
***
Sunnyside was chatting with Pancake at the fried dough stand, hoping Sprinklebelle wouldn't think he was playing favorites by getting the fried dough instead of an ice cream cone. His ears perked up when he heard some panicked screams from nearby and a heavy thud shook the ground. He started taking to the sky, but was interrupted by a great, metallic mass that was tossing booths and fair projects through the air in all directions.
The dough stand collapsed on top of the pegasus, and the contents of another booth were tossed on top. Sunnyside popped his head up through the mess and spotted Sugar Scoop talking urgently with Sunny's brother Scrambler, captain of the Benedict Bombers, the elite flying force of the Equestrian Military.
"Scramble the Bombers!" he shouted, voice carrying across the fair. He gained some altitude and then swooped down for a run at the rampaging contraption, his bright orange mane trailing like fire behind his white-and-gold dappled body. He wasn't afraid of anything.
Sunny's gaze turned downward, but what he saw captured his full attention. An ice cream stand had been hurled on top of the dough stand, and sitting before him, on a plate like a pedestal, was a delicious, hot piece of fried dough with a glob of fresh chocolate ice cream melting on top of it. Sunny's eyes widened and he took the treat in both hooves.
Cakey. Ice creamy. Hot. Cold. The flavors galloped back and forth across his tongue, stamping out the din of the chaos unfolding all around. He closed his eyes and savored it. He might be the first pony ever, in the history of Equestria, to taste something so delicious: the forbidden union of cake and ice cream.
Gradually he realized that it actually had gotten quiet all around him. He swallowed – a gulp, really – and opened his eyes.
Red Velvet and Sprinklebelle had come to see if he was alright, and were staring with twin expressions of horror at the half-eaten, hybrid treat monstrosity he held in his hooves. He looked back and forth between them, and they met his gaze with the same look of shock and reproach. His cheeks burned and turned bright pink. Red Velvet seemed about to speak, but Sunny pre-empted her.
"I'd better go help Scrambler with that thing!" he belted out, as fast as his mouth could work, before erupting out of the wreckage and racing into the sky in a random direction.
***
Fizzlespark wandered nonchalantly through the fair, eventually bumping into Long Tail. She gave him a warning look, which he ignored.
"There was no room on the ground level, so I figured I'd build up and put my booth on top of some others," he explained. "But I probably shouldn't have reused my pogo-sticks as the structural supports."
"I could have told you that," Long Tail said. "But we should go. You-know-who is here."
"Fizzlespark!" Twilight shouted. "What do you know about that out-of-control bouncing booth?"
The science pony turned slowly to regard the contraption as if it were the first time he was seeing it. The Benedict Bombers were slowly weighing it down with shattered egg mass, but in the meantime it was careening through the fair, dropping mysterious alchemical concoctions that burst into multicolored smoke. He turned back to the purple unicorn with a thoughtful, cornered expression, which eventually relaxed into an unconcerned one.
"Ah, Twilight, it's been too short a time since last we met."
"Don't change the subject. Turn that thing off!"
"Why don't you just stop it with a giant blast of magic, hmm? Miss 'my special talent is magic so I can do anything better than anypony else."
Twilight's little dragon butted in. "Jealous, much?"
Spring hissed and locked eyes with Spike.
Long Tail interjected. "There's no point berating Fizzlespark now. It's out of his control. Anyway, Scrambler should be able to take it down with that giant banner he's got."
Twilight groaned in exasperation. "I can't believe you're defending him when this is all his fault." A flash of realization hit her. "Wait, does this mean- I can't believe it. Long Tail, are you Fizzlespark's friend? You have a friend? That's so nice." Twilight seemed sincere, but realized she had put her hoof in her mouth. "I don't mean- It's just- you never had any friends, so- and I'm not one to talk, but- and friendship is so important-"
"Hey, what's that?" Fizzlespark was looking up at the top of a stone column nearby, where a gemstone had just started pulsing with magic, sending out little waves that dripped sparkling motes of starlight.
The other unicorns looked. Long Tail answered. "Probably the Nightmare Moon plot."
Twilight's jaw dropped. "The what!?"
***
Scrambler had an idea. This four-legged, bouncing monstrosity couldn't stay standing if he bound those spindly legs. It'd be just like hog-tying womp rats in Egger's Canyon. Grasping the longest banner he could find between his teeth, he sped around the contraption, banner streaming behind.
"One... more... pass..." he said through gritted teeth.
Out of no where, Sunnyside popped up. "Hey, I'm here to hel-"
Scrambler tried to veer out of the way, but his momentum was to great. He crashed into Sunnyside and the two of them tumbled into a pile of debris. The bouncing platform burst free of the banner and hopped off.
"Y'all awright, cuz?" Yolkel asked, hovering over his Egg family cousins and chewing on the stem of a plant.
"Fine," Scrambler said, his voice carefully level. He extricated himself, frowned at Sunny, then took to the air without another word.
Sunny slumped in the wreckage as the others rejoined the rest of the Bombers.
***
Princess Celestia peered out over the fair. It seemed things had gotten out of control. Should she intervene?
A sniffling sound disturbed her thoughts, and she regarded her sister.
"What's troubling you, little sister?"
"It is nothing." Luna turned away and crossed her forelegs over her chest, extending her wings as a screen. Celestia craned around them.
"You can talk to me. What's the matter?"
Luna hesitated another moment, then relented.
"I was expecting somepony to come and visit me here, but he- er, nopony did." Luna glanced furtively at her sister, who caught the look and smiled knowingly.
"Remind me to show you those friendship reports Twilight Sparkle is sending. 'Never lose faith in a friend,' she wrote."
Luna nodded, but didn't seem convinced. Did she even have any friends, really?
***
Glitterdust tumbled down a chute into a heavy iron cage, which clanged shut once she was inside.
"Ho ho ho. Ah ha ha!" The chuckle of an older male pony echoed in the darkness. "Welcome, postmare general. We knew you couldn't resist a trap door!"
A grey light twinkled in the darkness, and the wizened Arch-dean of the magic school was thrown into stark relief. Glitterdust glared through the bars.
"So it was you, Fizzy Wizard! Wait... it was you?"
"You haven't begun to see the fiendishness of my plan! But with you trapped here, your bumbling compatriots pose no obstacle to my masterstroke."
"You don't mean..." Glitterdust egged the villain on.
"Yes! The entire fairground is circumscribed with a transformation ring. In mere minutes, every unicorn in Canterlot will be mine!"
***
Above, Long Tail, Fizzlespark, and Twilight had reached a similar conclusion. Sunnyside and Sugar Scoop rejoined them, and were soon put to work. Working from Fizzlespark's calculations, Twilight devised a counterspell that could drain the power from the magic gems, but they'd need to deactivate all of them before noon. A single one left active could re-ignite the rest and trigger the spell. The unicorns whipped up the draining tools and passed them out.
"Sunnyside," Long Tail said. "If you could get some help from your pegasus friends, that would greatly increase the odds of getting this done before noon."
Sunny grimaced, not wanting to face his friends or his brother after the day's events. "I'll fly as fast as I can," he said.
And he did. The small team managed to very nearly do the rounds of the pillars before noon. But not quite.
All around the circumference of the fairground, the pillars flared to life, spewing motes of colored energy into the assembly of unicorn ponies. The unicorns cried out in pain and terror, some collapsing, others running blindly. The pegasi just tried to stay out of the way of the rampant magic, a few motes clinging to them as well, no matter how they tried to brush them away.
For a moment, everything stopped. The flow of the motes halted, then they started to drift upward. Slowly at first, then like a torrent. The pillars were emptied, and the motes were drawn back out of the ponies below. Up they traveled, into the sky, seemingly into the Sun itself, for Princess Celestia was overhead, delivering the ponies from the evil magic.
The streams of motes stopped, the last of them devoured by the light of the Sun, and Princess Celestia hung in the sky for one glorious moment before she crashed down to earth.
"Princess!" Twilight galloped to her mentor's side. Princess Celestia seemed badly injured. Clouds gathered overhead, blocking the Sun, and Princess Luna advanced through the gloom to her sister's side.
Fizzlespark, Long Tail, Sugar Scoop, and Sunnyside approached from the other direction, but stopped and Twilight cried out. "Don't let them near her! They're responsible for this all!"
Princess Luna gazed intently at Fizzlespark, then let roar in her royal voice.
"WHAT HAST THOU DONE?" Thunder and lightning erupted from the clouds that had gathered overhead.
Twilight answered for him. "I had a plan to stop the ritual. It should have worked. They must have sabotaged it."
Betrayal and hurt showed in Princess Luna's eyes. "SEIZE THEM!"
Bedlam broke out once again. Fizzlespark and his friends dove into a nearby cloud of smoke and ran for the twisting alleyways of the city, pursued by the royal guard and, hesitantly, the Benedict Bombers. When they caught a moment to breath, Fizzlespark shoved some papers into Spring.
"Bring those to Princess Luna," he said, sending the clockwork dragon off on its own.
The group had reached the outskirts of the city and stood at the top of a tall cliff when the Bombers caught up with them.
"Turn yourselves in," shouted Scrambler. "It will go over easier for you."
Everyone looked to Sunnyside, whose mouth was working, but no sound was coming out. He turned away from his brother to gaze out at the horizon. At freedom.
A sproinging noise interrupted the standoff. The bouncing booth landed squarely overtop of the escaping ponies, who grasped its underside as it continued bouncing. Quickly, they were carried down the mountain and away from the city, to safety and exile.
***
Glitterdust heard the commotion overhead, then quiet. Fizzy Wizard left briefly, then returned and opened Glitterdust's cage. He led the mail pony to the stairs leading back to the surface.
"You're letting me go?" Glitterdust asked.
"Your friends are on the run," Fizzy Wizard gloated. "And Princess Celestia will awaken as Daystar Nova. There's nothing you can do but drink the cool, refreshing draught of defeat!"
"Daystar Nova?"
"A wicked mare of burning flame. There's no reason to hold you any longer. You can't stop it."
Glitterdust turned to face the exit. "But I can stop you."
She reared up and delivered a solid kick to the wizard's smug face. He crumpled like a sack of mail.
"By the power vested in me as Postmare General, I place you under arrest for conspiring against the crown, and obstructing a postal officer in the course of her duty." No one could hear, but Glitterdust felt good saying it. She tossed the traitor over her back and ascended to the fairground.
Princess Celestia was beginning to stir. Glitterdust approached warily, but the Princess seemed herself. The same flowing mane, pinkish white coat... not a wicked mare of flame at all.
"Your Highness," Glitterdust said. "I've captured one of the ponies responsible. He admitted it to me himself."
The Princess opened her eyes, and Glitterdust was startled by the red iris.
Twilight Sparkle spoke. "Fizzy Wizard ... Fizzlespark. I should have known they'd be working together. But thanks to the Princess, their scheme fizzled out! Ha!"
Princess Luna made an indistinct noise, then closed her eyes and walked slowly away. Ponies parted for her, of course. Twilight cast a suspicious glance after her. Long Tail had let slip some comment about Nightmare Moon's plot, something Twilight couldn't stop thinking about.
The clouds parted and the Sun beat down on the fairgrounds, particularly on Glitterdust and Fizzy Wizard. The unicorn stirred and seemed quickly to grasp the situation.
"Your Highness-"
"SILENCE." The Princess paused to make sure her command was obeyed. "THOU HAST SINNED AGAINST THY LIEGE. THOU ART SENTENCED TO BANISHMENT, AND IMPRISONMENT IN THY PLACE OF BANISHMENT, AND ONE THING FURTHER."
The alicorn's horn ignited with orange flame, and the wizard's horn did the same. He cried out as his horn was pulled forcibly from his skull, leaving a smooth forehead in its place. The onlookers gasped, some clutching their horns reflexively. The Princess shifted the gaze of her red eyes to Glitterdust.
Oh no. No no no n-
With a thud, the Princess planted the horn in Glitterdust's head. It burned, and the pain spread throughout Glitterdust's body along with dancing ribbons of flame. Her legs trembled, but she remained standing. Her new horn tingled with sensation.
"For your loyalty," the Princess said, sweetly. "Now come, we have matters to discuss."
Swirling flame enveloped the Princess, Glitterdust, and Fizzy Wizard, and they vanished from the field, reappearing with a whiff of sulphur inside the Castle.
"It occurs to me, dear Glitterdust, that your talents have been under-utilized." The Princess walked onto a balcony and looked out over the city. "Treachery hangs over Canterlot like a stinking cloud." She turned to the postmare. "I want you to serve me as Agent Cloudkill."
Glitterdust gulped. "Of course, Princess." The horn weighed strangely on her head when she lowered it, but she hoped the discomfort didn't show.
"I'm assigning you a team of... inspectors. Postal inspectors, officially." The Princess grinned. "For starters, find out what this ex-wizard knows."
Fizzy Wizard was curled into a ball on the palace floor, hooves grasping his bare forehead and body shaking.
"I'll expect your report in the morning. Now go."
There was another flash of heat, and Glitterdust found herself and the prisoner in a dungeon beneath the castle. It was equipped with a comfy chair, a soft cushion... everything Glitterdust needed.
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Sunnyside
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1027
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Original Character,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Canterlot Tails Season 1: Star Power
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Young ponies in Canterlot stumble upon a conspiracy to corrupt the royal princesses
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complete
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<p>Have you ever wondered what it meant that the Stars aided in the escape of Nightmare Moon? Why does Celestia seem to troll her subjects from time to time? Could it be that something is influencing her, perhaps the same force that turned Luna into Nightmare Moon one thousand years ago?</p>
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everyone
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2011-12-11T01:26:30+00:00
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2011-12-11T01:26:30+00:00
| 664 |
The four fugitive ponies rested in the wilderness outside of the city, in a forest clearing. Long Tail, and Fizzlespark were lost in thought. Sugar Scoop was penning her account of the day's activities, sure she'd earn a Mule-itzer prize for this one. Sunnyside flew up to perch lightly in a tree and gaze at the horizon.
"I'm free," he said, to no one in particular. "No one in Canterlot ever wants to see me again. They think I'm a traitor. So I can just... go." He gained a little more altitude to peer westward. He knew that Princess Celestia had been hurt stopping the ritual, but surely she'd be okay. Nothing could really hurt the Princess, right?
Sunny noticed Long Tail watching him. She seemed about to say something when a scroll fluttered into the clearing and hovered in mid-air. Sunny had a bad feeling.
Sugar Scoop spoke: "It's addressed to you, Sunnyside."
A very bad feeling.
"Oh no... no..."
"It's not from Explosive Runes, is it?" Fizzlespark asked.
"That poor pony," Long Tail said. No one ever read letters from Explosive Runes, even party invitations. Her only talent was writing letters that explode.
"It's from my stupid sister," Sugar said. She wrote to Sunnyside instead of me?
"What does it say?" Sunny asked with trepidation, not really wanting to know.
"It says 'blah blah I'm a stupid foal overreacting blah blah stupid family meddled in idiotic things and finally going to get what they deserve, Princess Luna's missing, etcetera.'"
Sunnyside perked up and took the letter. Sprinklebelle had written to say that Princess Luna hadn't been seen since the magic fair, and she was worried that Luna and the Scoops might be in trouble with Princess Celestia, who was being very severe all of a sudden. Since Sunnyside seemed to know what was going on Sprinklebelle was hoping he'd clue her in.
Sugar Scoop grumbled to herself "'Sunnyside knows what's going on'? Of course you wouldn't ask your sister, the investigative reporter..." She angrily finished her article as the others discussed the matter.
"Princess Luna – missing since the fair?" Sunnyside mused. "Say, when's the last time anypony saw Glitterdust?"
Long Tail and Fizzlespark looked at each other and shrugged. Long Tail spoke "Not since we all split up to investigate the fair."
The ponies resolved to return to Canterlot to try and help Glitterdust and Sprinklebelle. There was going to be a masquerade ball in Canterlot the next night. It would be the perfect opportunity to mingle incognito.
For his part, Fizzlespark would travel to the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters in the Everfree Forest in hopes of finding Luna. Long Tail put the odds of her being there at only 40%, but it was worth a try.
Sugar scoop insisted on sneaking into the city as soon as possible, so she could submit her article to Equestria Daily. She'd bring the Scoop Family Ninja outfit she had acquired, while Sunnyside and Long Tail worked on costumes for the masquerade. Fizzlespark stayed to devise a contraption to wind up Long Tail's tail so it wouldn't be so conspicuous, then headed out. By the end of the process, Long Tail had a metal pack that would unfold into a Mechanical Pony costume for the masquerade. Sunnyside met up with his rural friend Moon Pie, who helped him dress up like a pie stand and gave him an evening's supply of moon pies, which he intended to use to pass secret messages at the party.
***
Sugar Scoop was the first to slip into Canterlot. As she dropped her article into the submission slot at Equestria Daily, she realized she wasn't alone. She spun around and came face to face with Officer Bobtail.
"There's a bulletin out about you, Sugar Scoop," he said.
"Is it my Mule-itzer prize?" she asked, grinning innocently.
The police pony cuffed her to himself. "... no."
***
Glitterdust nervously approached the royal chambers. As she reached to open the door, she was surprised that it started to glow and open. She yelped and jumped back, only then realizing her own, new horn was responsible. She crossed her eyes to stare up at it, unhappily, then sighed and entered the royal chamber.
Princess Celestia was standing on her balcony once again, gazing out over the city. She spoke without turning.
"Agent Cloudkill, you are to serve as head of security for this year's masquerade party."
Glitterdust bowed as low as she could and remained silent. Princess Celestia turned and fixed her with one red eye.
"It will no doubt be a hotbed of treason and deceit. You and your postal inspectors are to locate any such traitors and take them into custody. Understood?"
"Yes, your Highness."
Princess Celestia nodded and turned back to her overwatch of the city. Glitterdust crawled backwards out of the chamber and shut the door before trotting off and quickly as she could without drawing attention. She wondered if the stress of this job was what had gotten to Derpy...
***
Once Glitterdust had left, Princess Celestia's eyes glowed and glazed over. She was watching events unfold from the perspective of the horn she had taken from Fizzy Wizard and bestowed upon Glitterdust. Her own magic had infused the horn, and it was hers to command, should she so choose. You can never be too careful when your own sister may be plotting against you.
***
That evening, Glitterdust fully expected the other ponies to try and enter the city. She had to find some way to contact them, to help them. With this in mind, she camped out near the lowest point in the wall, a spot she had used herself to sneak into the city if she'd been out after curfew. Delivering mail, of course, not out doing anything fun. It was hard for an Earth Pony to make the expected rounds. But she'd never given up, and now she was Postmare General!
Damn.
Sure enough, Glitterdust heard Sunnyside and Long Tail crossing the wall during the night. They each carried saddlebags (containing their costumes), and Sunny had lowered a rope to help Long Tail get up. After they hopped down into the city interior, Glitterdust emerged from the shadows, one hoof to her lips.
"Shh!"
Sunnyside and Long Tail turned, startled, but Sunny quickly smiled and flew closer. "Glitterdust! I'm so glad you're alright!"
"What are you doing here?" Glitterdust whispered. "It's crazy, coming back into Canterlot."
"No, no, we have a plan," Sunnyside said confidently. "We-" he looked back to Long Tail, who was mouthing "No" while shaking her head and gesturing for him to keep quiet. Sunnyside turned back to Glitterdust "We, uh... hey, your new horn looks lovely." He smiled unconvincingly.
Long Tail spoke "No, it doesn't. It's terrifying. I-" Sunny turned to shake his head and mouth "No" at Long Tail.
"I'm just telling the truth," Long Tail said, looking a little guiltily at Glitterdust, who seemed none too happy at the moment.
"Oh, Long Tail, don't you see?" Sunny flew back to her. "This is just what I've been talking to you about." She nodded and the two broke into song.
To the tune of Giggle at the Ghosties:
When I was (you were) in the army and the general was a doooooolt,
I (You) called him on his errors in front of all the other cooooolts.
He ignored my (your) good advice
And he set me (you) up for a fall
That's why Sunnyside says that isn't the way to deal with fools at allllllllll.
Glitterdust: Then what is?
He says (I say): Long Tail, you've gotta shut your mouth.
Learn diplomacy.
You'll see, things go better
If you don't make them all angryyyyy.
Sooooo
Curtsey at the clueless.
Nod nicely at the numbnut.
Smile at the sillies.
Bro-hoof with the bumblers.
And if it looks like they're getting upset and you can't convince them it's just a big misunderstanding then you can always run away because the most important thing to remember is...
Taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaact!
Sunnyside and Long Tail were left breathing hard, forelegs outstretched in a dramatic pose to accompany the conclusion of their song.
Applause broke out all around them, where a ring of Postal Inspectors had gathered while they were singing.
"Oh, we were sneaking, weren't we?" Sunny said, blushing with embarrassment.
"We were," Long Tail said, with more regret than blame.
The two shared a look. "Remember what I said about running?" Sunny asked. Long Tail nodded. "Let's do that."
As Sunnyside and Long Tail bolted, Inspectors in pursuit, Glitterdust cried out. "Wait! I can protect you! Trust me!"
But as she did so, her horn lit up, and a window shutter flew open right into Sunnyside's path. Fortunately, Long Tail caught him on her back was he was falling towards the ground, and the two made good their escape, leaving Glitterdust sitting on her haunches, cursing her own horn.
***
Sugar Scoop was cooling her hooves in the Police Stable when Officer Snapdragon came to her cell and brought her to another room for questioning. He didn't speak during the short walk, and Sugar Scoop didn't either.
In the next room, Officer Bobtail was waiting in front of a small pile of paperwork. Bobtail nodded politely to the other two as they entered. Snapdragon spoke at last after he shut the door.
"I've looked the other way for you sometimes, Sugar Scoop, but plotting against the Princess is way over the line!"
"Now now, Snapdragon," Bobtail put in. "Perhaps she can explain herself. Can you explain, Sugar Scoop?"
Sugar held up under the officers' grilling, until another police pony knocked on the door.
"Sirs, Agent C-c-cloudkill is here," the nervous pony quickly stepped aside. A bank of mist rolled into the room, and Glitterdust emerged, a glowing horn gracing her brow.
Snapdragon coughed as the mist reached him. "Did you leave the fog machine on, Benny?"
The nervous pony reappeared. "Oh yeah! S-s-sorry sirs!" There was a click, and the mist began to dissipate.
"Much better," Snapdragon said. "No, Agent Cloudkill-"
Glitterdust interrupted, her voice low and ominous. "You are dismissed, officers."
Bobtail and Snapdragon gulped and glanced quickly at one another before bowing their heads and leaving the room, closing the door behind them.
"Is that your masquerade costume?" Sugar Scoop asked, pointing at the horn.
"No," Glitterdust said, miserably, before sinking into a chair.
"Hey, do you want my hat then, to cover it up?"
"Sure," Glitterdust said. (Back on her balcony, Princess Celestia scowled as her view of the room was completely obscured and she could no longer read Sugar Scoop's lips.)
"What happened to you at the fair?"
"Remember those trap doors I found?"
"Sure."
"They were a trap."
Sugar Scoop cradled her face in her hooves. "You don't say."
"Fizzy Wizard was behind the whole scheme at the fair."
"So tell Celestia!"
"She knows! I even brought him in, and for that she gave me his horn!"
Sugar Scoop shuddered and shook her head.
"Why are you here, anyway?" Glitterdust asked.
"Oh, I had to turn in my article!"
It was Glitterdust's turn to bring a hoof to her face in exasperation. "Of course you did."
"Also, we have a plan to contact allies inside the city..." Sugar Scoop quickly filled Glitterdust in on the plan for the masquerade ball.
"...but those officers confiscated my Ninja outfit. Say, do you have a spare Postal Inspector uniform?"
Glitterdust nodded. "Sure. Let's get out of here." She opened the door and announced to the police: "This one's going to have to come with me." The police looked unhappy about it, but didn't say anything.
As Glitterdust led Sugar Scoop away, two Postal Inspector pegasi watched from the shadows, grinning evilly at one another as they saw how chummy Glitterdust and Sugar Scoop were when they thought no pony was watching. Chummy like Peaches and Cream.
***
Everypony convened at the masquerade. Glitterdust wore no costume, just her official Postmare General uniform. Sugar Scoop and a dozen other ponies in Postal Inspector uniforms accompanied her. Sunnyside was dressed like a walking Moon Pie stand, passing out crème filled chocolate pies and not-so-subtly invoking thoughts of the absent Princess Luna. Long Tail was encased in a mechanical sheath, her tail carefully wound around a drill component re-used from a prior contraption. Fizzlespark still hadn't returned from his own trek.
Sunnyside made sure to deliver his 'special' Moon Pies, each containing a secret note. He almost handed Sugar Scoop's off to a Scoop Family Ninja, since that had been her planned costume, but the real Sugar Scoop bumped the ninja out of line as the last moment and grabbed the pie.
Long Tail encountered a pony dressed as an Ursa Minor, talking at length about the Elements of Harmony in a lecturing cadence that could only belong to Twilight Sparkle. Long Tail took studious notes, and the other pony was happy to go on at length about her friends and confronting Nightmare Moon.
Glitterdust passed through the party like a specter of death, with few approaching her willingly. Peaches and Cream followed behind, trying to catch some evidence of treason or slacking.
Later in the evening, somepony passed Sunnyside a cupcake. He unwrapped it, finding that it was Red Velvet cake. Did that mean he was forgiven? He munched on the cupcake, then noticed writing in the paper wrap that had been around the base.
Princess Celestia has something terrible planned for the Grand Galloping Gala!
Sunny scanned the crowd for the costumed pony who had given him the treat, but she was no where to be seen. A short while later, another pony passed him an ice cream cone – with sprinkles! – with a bit of paper wrapped around the cone. When he finished the cone, he read the paper.
Prince Blueblood has something terrible planned for the Grand Galloping Gala!
The news weighed heavily upon him, like a cold lump in his stomach. No, actually, that was the ice cream. Tasty. But the news was troubling, to be sure.
As Sunny was considering what to do, Long Tail was walking and talking with the pony in the Ursa Minor costume. She didn't realize that her tail had gotten snagged on something and was slowly unwinding as the walked. Not until somepony tripped on it: a grey pegasus with a yellow tail, bubbles on her flank, and a brown paper bag completely covering her head.
"You might want to work on that costume before the next party," Glitterdust advised the bag-headed pony.
But everyone else's attention was on Long Tail. The tug had dislodged a key component of her costume, which clattered to the ballroom floor in a thousand pieces. The Ursa Minor pony gasped and opened the bear's jaws wide, revealing that it was indeed Twilight Sparkle. "Long Tail! You were trying to trick me into telling you the secrets of the Elements of Harmony!" Twilight glared and her horn lit up brightly.
"No, Twilight!" Long Tail said. "We're trying to help..."
The other ponies started clamoring loudly for someone to seize the traitor. Sunnyside started towards Long Tail, but found himself held from both sides. Red Velvet and Sprinklebelle had raised their masks slightly and each held him with one hoof.
"Don't go," Sprinklebelle said. "I'll hide you at Scoop Manor."
"No," Red Velvet said, glaring at Sprinklebelle. "I'll hide him."
Sunnyside looked at each of them, then gritted his teeth and burst out of their grip, his Moon Pie Stand costume tearing off in the process. He streaked gold across the ballroom to hover near Long Tail and Twilight.
"Listen, everypony," he said. "Canterlot is in danger." The crowd murmured at this, but his dramatic appearance was enough to command their attention for now. He continued.
"Nightmare Moon wasn't just the product of Princess Luna's jealousy. Somepony corrupted her on purpose. Those same ponies are at large today, trying to undermine our society."
As Sunnyside gave the high-level overview, Long Tail took the opportunity to fill Twilight in on the details. She told her about the transformation circles, how the Star Ponies had tried to make Luna into Nightmare Moon again, how they had created the ritual that had disrupted the magic fair. She stopped short of sharing their conviction that Princess Celestia had been corrupted by absorbing the energy of that ritual. Sharing that Twilight's mentor and role model had succumbed didn't seem very... tactful.
"Something doesn't quite add up," Twilight said, still suspicious. Long Tail hoped Twilight would figure it out. She wasn't sure she could restrain herself from blurting out the truth.
A masked pony in the crowd shouted at Sunnyside. "Why should we believe you, who fled from the scene of the crime?" Long Tail recognized the voice. Scrambler.
Sunnyside didn't let it show if he recognized the voice of his brother calling him a criminal. "You can't afford not to..." Sunny hesitated before going further, then glanced at Long Tail. She understood, and nodded. Sunny continued.
"Because the magic that created Nightmare Moon has now turned Princess Celestia into a tyrannical mare of flame: Daystar Nova."
Long Tail quickly turned back to Twilight and saw understanding dawn in her eyes. Twilight regarded Long Tail with trust for the first time.
"I don't think I can wield the Elements against my mentor," she said. "But I'll try to help you. The Elements reside in the hearts of everypony."
"Could you be more specific?" Long Tail asked, impatient to escape the party.
"Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty. When these five elements are united, a spark will cause the sixth element to appear. The element of Magic."
A group of postal inspectors approached. Twilight hurriedly levitated Long Tail's tail off of the obstruction it was caught on and closed her bear costume. "You'd better go, now," she said.
The overall mood of the gathering was sympathetic, though. Sunnyside in particular had spent the evening sewing the seeds for this revelation through judicious sharing of moon pies with secret messages, and over half the ponies began speaking of the need to oppose Daystar's tyranny. Behind the safety of their masks, they planned their next moves, spoke of the need to recruit Princess Luna to their side, and then scattered before the royal guard arrived to arrest everypony.
The Lunar Resistance began that night.
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Original Character,Adventure,Comedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Canterlot Tails Season 1: Star Power
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Young ponies in Canterlot stumble upon a conspiracy to corrupt the royal princesses
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<p>Have you ever wondered what it meant that the Stars aided in the escape of Nightmare Moon? Why does Celestia seem to troll her subjects from time to time? Could it be that something is influencing her, perhaps the same force that turned Luna into Nightmare Moon one thousand years ago?</p>
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2011-12-19T15:31:48+00:00
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The Lunar Resistance operated in the shadows and the darkness of night. A nocturnal agent, an owl, was dispatched to maintain contact between the Canterlot cells and Twilight Sparkle.
Meanwhile, tales of Princess Celestia's caprice spread. It was murmured that she had tricked a big-hearted pegasus into thinking a pet bird had died, when in fact it was an immortal phoenix. She had reportedly mocked hosts giving her tea. Most shocking of all, she had reportedly vaporized the wings of a contestant in the Young Fliers' Competition with solar energy, causing the contestant to plummet nearly to her death.
"Trollestia," they called her. "Tyrant."
They rallied around Princess Luna, their only hope against the power of Daystar. They spoke of Long Tail and Sunnyside, the Golden Egg, the two ponies who had openly opposed Daystar's power and since been forced into hiding.
Outside the walls of Canterlot, Long Tail and Sunny met with their friends to plan their resistance. Long Tail had learned that Nightmare Moon had been cleansed by using the Elements of Harmony, and the group hoped to do the same with Daystar.
"The Elements of Harmony?" came a chipper voice from just outside the circle of friends. "That package has already been delivered! Derp!"
Ditzy cheerfully joined the circle and sat herself down, her eyes independently scanning the group.
"Hi boss," Glitterdust said, apparently accustomed to such interruptions.
"Delivered where?" asked Sugar Scoop.
Ditzy considered for a moment. "The vault at the castle! Princess Celestia puts her horn into the lock and it says 'That's the magic of the Prin-cess! I'm gong to open now!' Already delivered."
All the ponies perked up at that, and looked in unison at Glitterdust, who was wearing Sugar Scoop's hat to cover the horn Daystar had bestowed upon her.
"We have a horn with Celestia's magic!" Fizzlespark announced.
"Let's use it to get the elements!" Sugar Scoop agreed.
"Okay, I'll let the princess know you're coming!" Ditzy said cheerfully, taking to the skies.
"Oh, shoot, is she actually going to warn the princess?" Fizzlespark asked.
Long Tail concentrated, and her horn glowed. "Probably not for eight hours or so."
"We should distract her somehow!" Fizzlespark decided.
"What does she like, Glitterdust?" Sunny asked.
"Well... mail and muffins."
"Okay," Sunnyside said. "I have cousins in the breakfast families that can whip up some muffins."
Fizzlespark pulled out a beaker and some envelopes. "I'll make shiny mail with my spare radium!"
"Is that safe?" Sugar Scoop asked.
Fizzlespark frowned, then pulled out a marker and wrote "DO NOT LICK" on the envelopes. "Sure!"
"How are we going to seal them without licking them?" Sunnyside wondered aloud.
"Details!" Fizzlespark got to work.
Long Tail watched with a dubious expression, then her horn started to glow. Her mind filled with visions of mutated envelopes menacing the city, of the rebels being blamed for a terrorist attack using the mail, of the muffin family in irons for collaborating... so many possibilities, terrible possibilities. Her eyes glowed blue-on-blue, then white symbols appeared and she passed out.
When she awoke, the plan had been enacted and there was no time for concern. The ponies returned to their planning for retrieving the Elements of Harmony. Their best opportunity would be that very night, the night of the Grand Galloping Gala, when there would be plenty to distract Daystar and the royal guards. Assuming Ditzy took her time getting to the Princess, Daystar hopefully wouldn't be forewarned about what the rebels planned.
They still weren't sure just how much support they would have at a gathering of the elite. Sugar Scoop suggested putting an ad in Equestria Daily. Sunnyside got a nervous look, and glanced to Glitterdust, who looked guilty. Fizzlespark spoke before Sunny could stop him.
"Did you hear the government shut down Equstria Daily? For all the lies and slanderous fanfic? There's a new, official newspaper, the Daily Sun."
"WHAT?" Sugar, always black and white, was turning red all over.
"Have you read the propaganda that's replaced it?"
"Like a said, a new newspaper."
Sunny, who had been gesturing wildly for the two unicorns to stop adding fuel to the fire, ducked behind a stump as Sugar howled in journalistic rage.
***
Ditzy hummed to herself as she merrily delivered mail. Her work took her all over Equestria, from Canterlot to Ponyville to other places she didn't even remember all the time. It was fun, but sometimes she wondered if-
MUFFINS!
Just sitting there, in a cute little row on the ground.
"Muffffffins..."
She pounced from mid-air, loosing a cloud of mail, and scarfed down the first muffin.
"More muffinff!"
Ditzy followed the muffin trail until it ended, just in front of a golden-shod, white hoof. She looked up and smiled, cheeks round with muffiny goodness.
"Hi Prinfeff!"
***
Our heroes returned to Canterlot under cover of night, and to the tune of At the Gala:
Long Tail (Fluttershy's verse):
At the gala, we will heal her
Elements of harmony
Cel-es-ti-a, We will free you at the gala~
With their friendship, and our cunning,
Twi-light's friends and our crew,
We will mitigate disaster-
Prob'ly- at the Gala! (at the Gala!)
Sunnyside (Applejack's verse):
At the gala
I will save them
All the Scoops and all the Cakes
I don't really know how...
But I'll do whatever it takes!
And I'll be reconciled
With the whole Egg Family! (at the Gala!)
Glitterdust (Rarity's verse):
At the gala, I am watching,
The Princess carefully
Got to make sure nothing happens in the ballroom (at the Gala!)
And I'm hoping, and I'm wishing,
That all my friends will be
At their places, all together,
and on time to the Gala!
Sugar Scoop (Rainbow's verse):
We interrupt this party to bring you a breaking story.
Four stars and magic tricks, turned Celestia into a witch.
The stars were kind of witless, but can we stop the princess?
I'm Sugar Scoop reporting live here at the Gala!
Fizzlespark (Pinkie's verse):
I am here at the grand gala, for it is the place to be,
For it's here the rebel plot is going down in history,
And I have to help my friends out with my wonderful machines,
Machines glowing,
Machines sparking,
With me at the gala!
Daystar flies overhead, royal music trumpeting.
Daystar (Twilight's verse):
At the gala,
All my subjects,
They will worship only me
It will be like old times,
All Equestria will see.
Princess Luna must be punished
For inciting treach-er-yyyyy~
At the Gala!
***
Fizzlespark reconfigured his Pony Rescuing Device to enable part of the team to tunnel into the castle from below. He calls it his Pony Anti-Rescuing Device, and acknowledges that the name is a work in progress. He and Long Tail will enter by the subterranean route, white Glitterdust and Sugar Scoop infiltrate in postal uniforms and Sunnyside uses the Wonderbolts performance as a distraction to do some aerial scouting.
Underneath the castle, the Pony Anti-Rescuing Device disgorged Fizzlespark and Long Tail into the underground caverns. Fizzlespark had Spring along, as well, carrying the clockwork dragon on his back. The two made good progress, until Long Tail brought them to a stop.
"We probably should have gone left back at the last fork," she said.
"What? Why?" Fizzlespark asked.
Long Tail remained silent to let the emerging star dragons speak for themselves, but it was another pony who spoke.
General Gemesis stepped forward, his crystalline armor glinting majestically even in the meager light of the cave. "I have you now!"
***
Sunnyside glided silently past the Wonderbolts performance, noting the locations of the guards and counting their numbers on his way to the citadel where the Elements were locked in the royal vault. It was a party, so he had dressed in his tuxedo jacket, and his mane was carefully combed and slicked back, a far cry from his usual wild look. His last task on scout duty was to make sure Daystar was attending the celebrations, and was thus accounted for.
As the golden pegasus came into view of the royal booth, he say Daystar was indeed there, and had already been watching the very spot he now occupied. Sunnyside saw her grin, but there was no humor in it, just the smug pleasure of a predator that had cornered its prey.
The Wonderbolts had just executed a loop in formation, and were barreling towards him. He dove out of their way and into the artificial canyon of the city streets, but they wheeled to pursue. It seemed their performance was over, and the chase was on.
***
Spike wandered dejectedly through the corridors of the castle. Somehow, all of his friends had gotten distracted with some obsession at this party. It was almost as if someone didn't want them to be able to watch out for one another and act as a team. But that was crazy. Who would want to do something like that?
Deep in thought, he didn't notice for a moment that he had wandered into a chamber with a group of slavering dragons, three unicorns, and... Spring.
Spike's eyes went wide and he leapt back to cower against one of the dragons.
"Guys! We've gotta get out of here!" he cried. "That thing! It's- It'll- just run!"
The star dragons exchanged a nervous look. Spring hopped off of Fizzlespark's back and opened it's mouth, emitting a tiny, tinny roar. Spike ran as fast as his little legs would carry him, and the dragons followed, disappearing into the darkness.
"Wait!" Gemesis shouted. "I'll feed you gems! Rubies! Sapphires! Diamonds!"
It was too late. They were gone. Spring sat back on his haunches, a self-satisfied expression gracing his metallic face.
Long Tail seized the moment. "There's no need for concern. We're on a mission for the Princess even now."
Gemesis narrowed his eyes. "I wasn't informed."
Long Tail scoffed. "If the Princess didn't think you needed to know, then I suppose you don't need to know."
Long Tail was obnoxious, but she had never lied to him before.
He hesitated, and Long Tail spoke again. "If you need to escalate, then escalate, but stop wasting my time."
Gemesis gritted his teeth. "Oh, I'll escalate. I'll escalate bigtime!"
With that, he stormed out of the chamber, leaving Fizzlespark and Long Tail free to continue their trek through the tunnels.
***
The Wonderbolts were hot on Sunnyside's tail. He tried every trick he could think of, but they matched him loop for loop, and they were fast. Before long, he found himself in a dead-end alley, gasping for breath as a phalanx of Wonderbolts glided down the alley to hover in a semicircle before him.
Rapidfire, a Wonderbolt colt with a grey mane, flew into the lead position.
"Egg, when we're through with you, all Luna's fillies and all Luna's colts won't be able to put you together again."
Sunny glared defiantly at the Wonderbolts, but defiance turned to shock when a large egg splatted into Rapidfire's head from above and knocked him to the ground.
Scrambler stood on the rooftop, looking down over his snout at the Wonderbolts, righteous anger in his gaze and in his voice. "No pony picks on my little brother."
On queue, the other eleven Benedict Bombers rose from their positions, eggs at the ready. Scrambler gave the Wonderbolts no chance to surrender, he simply swept down his hoof and the Bombers unloaded with military precision. After a brief but messy battle, the Wonderbolts slunk off with egg on their face.
"All these eggs are making me hungry."
"Shut yer pie hole, Soarin'."
"Mmm, pie..."
Scrambler hopped down to ground level.
"You alright, Sunny?"
"I'm fine," Sunnyside said, looking gratefully into his brother's eyes. "Thanks to you! If you hadn't..."
Scrambler blushed. "Aw, bro, don't go all runny on me... You know how it is. No pony picks on my little brother... except me!"
With that, he pulled Sunnyside into a headlock with one hoof and noogied him with the other. Sunny's carefully-groomed mane reverted to its wild, forward-swept poof.
"Ack! Scrambler! Leggooo~!"
***
Glitterdust and Sugar Scoop were unimpeded as they made their way through the castle. Partially, this was because the Princess had commanded that all guests line up to receive her blessing, which kept them (and her) somewhat occupied. They had also taken special measures to ensure Prince Blueblood would not be able to enact his plan, whatever it was, by making sure Rarity knew just where to find him.
As Glitterdust and Sugar approached the vault, they overheard two royal guards discussing the new Daily Sun.
"This newspaper is so much better than the old one! Just check out the fillies on page 3!" The guard whinnied.
"And the horoscopes – they're so true! Let me see mine for today... let's see... 'You will capture a fugitive pony named Sugar Scoop who is standing across the hall from you... see picture...'"
Glitterdust just kept moving, but Sugar Scoop stomped over to the guards and tore the paper from their hands, rolling it into a bludgeon.
"Journalistic integrity cannot survive without an intelligent readership!" she screamed, beating the two guards with the rolled up paper. "You get the media you deserve!"
Glitterdust tried to calm Sugar Scoop down, but was whacked in the snout for her trouble, dislodging the hat covering the unwholesome horn Daystar had given her.
Meanwhile, Daystar was in the greeting chamber, welcoming each pony with spoken pleasantries and a single word burned into their minds.
OBEY.
With Glitterdust's horn exposed, she paused and narrowed her eyes, taking in the scene. Nothing escaped her sight, not even the Scoop family pony shrouded in ninja garb positioning herself to save Sugar Scoop. Her eyes narrowed and she turned her head to regard Philomena, her loyal phoenix. The firey bird nodded its understanding, and flew off to the scene of Sugar Scoop's assault on the royal guards.
Philomena swooped down just as the Scoop ninja reached for Sugar Scoop, forcing the ninja back. The Postal Inspectors Peaches and Cream grabbed Sugar and forced her to the ground. With her face planted against the stone floor, she read a brief excerpt from the paper in front of her: her horoscope.
"You will be made an offer you can't refuse," it said, with an asterisk after 'refuse.' The footnote read: "Or else."
The Inspectors hauled Sugar Scoop into the line of ponies waiting to receive the blessing of the Princess. All too soon, she found herself before Daystar.
The Princess's horn glowed as she spoke. "How good to see you, Sugar Scoop!" OBEY. "Where are your friends?" OBEY. "I'd hate to miss them tonight." OBEY. "I'm sure if anyone can persuade them to come see me, you can." OBEY.
Sugar Scoop gritted her teeth. "I- this new newspaper is a travesty!"
To Sugar's surprise, Daystar nodded her head. "I wanted to discuss just that with you." OBEY. "I would like you to head a new journalistic organization devoted to the truth." OBEY. "I call it the Sunlight Foundation." OBEY. "You will shine the light of truth into all the dark places where traitors scheme, and expose them for all to see." OBEY. "Doesn't that sound nice?" OBEY.
"Now go, and return with your friends, so we can bring them into Harmony." OBEY.
"Y- yes, Princess," Sugar Scoop said, as if in a trance. Then she bowed and trotted off to find the others.
***
Fizzlespark and Long Tail arrived at the grand cathedral, where the great feats of ponykind were recorded in dazzling stained glass. Glitterdust soon joined them, and Sunnyside thereafter, having managed to extricate himself from his brother's embrace.
"Where's Sugar Scoop?" he asked Glitterdust.
"She was taken to see Daystar," Glitterdust said, glumly.
"Then we're down to just four Elements?"
Fizzlespark spoke next. "I'm still not clear on how we were supposed to get the sixth."
Sunny answered. "When the five elements are brought together, a spark causes the sixth to appear."
"Pfft." The science pony was not impressed. "It'll just conveniently happen?" He rolled his eyes. "I suppose that's magic for you."
"If Sugar Scoop is with Daystar," Long Tail said. "We should be able to get five Elements together, each wielding one."
The others nodded. Glitterdust removed the hat from her head and thrust the horn Daystar had given her into the lock of the vault. It glowed a vibrant, sky blue, but a blue that drizzled with stars. Even so, the large door ground open to reveal a jeweled box. Long Tail moved to retrieve the box, but Glitterdust's horn glowed again, more brightly, and blue light filled the cathedral.
The ponies blinked against the brightness, then winced as a high-pitched, scraping sound assailed their ears. The glow dimmed, and they found themselves facing a large, stained glass version of Daystar, who had peeled out from one of the images lining the room. The light glinted off of the razor sharp horn and hooves of the glassy menace.
It immediately went on the attack, scattering the ponies in all directions. The ponies hooves simply bounced off of it – the glass was too hard to crack. It seemed there was no hope, but the ponies refused to give up on retrieving the Elements, even as their reflexes slowed from fatigue and each near miss became nearer and nearer to a fatal blow.
Long Tail charged for the Elements while Sunnyside buzzed the monster's head to distract it, but the creature was too fast. One wing knocked Sunny out of the way, and a hoof slammed down, right onto Long Tail's tail.
Time seemed to stop. The room was silent. Long Tail gazed in horror and disbelief at the pitifully short, mathematically irrelevant puff of hair left on her behind. Her lips trembled, and she inhaled and shut her eyes to scream.
But before she did, Fizzlespark leapt in front of her, an amplifying bullhorn clenched between his teeth. The shriek blasted out of it with visible force. The glass Daystar held one wing to shield herself, but the wing slowly cracked, then gave way. Glitterdust's horn was glowing blue, holding the creature together, Long Tail's shriek shattered the glass creature and every window in the cathedral. When they burst, so did the unnatural horn on Glitterdust's brow.
Everypony hunkered down, hooves over their ears, and waited for the rain of glass to subside.
"Everypony alright?" Sunny asked. Fizzlespark and Glitterdust nodded, but Long Tail just stared at her lost tail, lying lifeless and flat on the stone tile.
Sunnyside walked over to her and put on hoof on her shoulder. "It'll grow back."
She looked at him with wet eyes. "But what are the odds it'll grow back anytime soon?" She shook her head. "Surely too negligible to even bother casting my prediction spell."
"But we have the Elements!" Fizzlespark announced, the six items of jewelry glittering as he levitated them out of their box.
At that point, Sugar Scoop flew in through one of the shattered windows. She seemed to take the destruction in stride, which was only natural, considering that she'd seen Fizzlespark in action before.
"We should go to the Princess," she announced.
"Yes!" Fizzlespark said. "Everybody take a necklace."
He tossed the necklaces out to the other ponies.
"Sweet, a lightning bolt," Sugar Scoop said.
"Say, this butterfly matches my hair," said Sunnyside.
"What's this supposed to be?" Glitterdust wondered. "A kite?"
"I've got a hot air balloon," Fizzlespark said. "And I'll hold onto this crown with the explosion on it."
Long Tail frowned. "This isn't Mane-delbrot's Set. It looks like an apple. That's not any kind of probability distribution."
"Maybe it's in polar coordinates?" Fizzlespark suggested. That seemed to satisfy Long Tail, who turned back to her lost tail and gathered it up in her mouth.
"Let's go to the Princess," Sugar said. The others enthusiastically agreed.
***
Red Velvet spotted Applejack entering the royal kitchens and followed her. The earth pony seemed lost in the vast facility where the royal feasts were made.
"I saw the entire thing," Red said sympathetically, walking up to the orange filly.
"Ah just cayn't imagine what she sees in that stuck up, good-fer-nothin' Blueblood," Applejack said. "But it ain't no concern o' mine. Ah gotta come up with somethin' fancy, right pronto, or ah'm agonna miss mah chaynce t' earn the bits ah need t' fix Granny Smith's hip, an' the ol' barn."
Applejack gave Red Velvet an appraising look, taking in her elaborate green dress, her carefully arranged mane, and the fine jewelry she wore.
"Say, yer lookin' pretty fancy yerself," Applejack said. "So, uh, what does a fancy pony like yerself fancy, apple-wise?"
Sunnyside had apprised Red Velvet of the plan. It was obvious to her, after seeing the incident at Applejack's cart, that Rarity was reaching the limit of her willingness to tolerate Blueblood's constant attempts to get rid her. If she gave up on him, and stopped distracting him from whatever his plan was, they would need a Plan B to take him out of the equation. Let him eat cake.
"My dear, are you familiar with Apple Cake?"
Applejack lit up. "Am ah ever! Why, t'ain't a birthday without one o' them big ol' apple cake's to celebrate. But..." The earth pony's enthusiasm waned. "They take a while t' fix up, 'specially if'n we're gonna gussy it up all fancy-like."
"Oh ho ho," Red Velvet chuckled, softly. "Perhaps I should introduce myself." She stood tall, and spread her wings. "I am Red Velvet, of the Cake Family. We'll have a world-class Apple Cake in ten minutes flat."
"Well, gee, Miss Velvet, it's mighty kind o' you to help out. The name's Applejack." She grasped Red Velvet's hoof and shook it vigorously. "It's a real playsure t' be making yer acquaintance!" She let the pegasus's hoof go, and pursed her lips. "But ten minutes is awful fast. You sure 'bout that?"
"Trust me," Red said. "It'll be a piece of cake."
***
As Sugar Scoop and her friends galloped towards the great hall, a sudden shaking almost knocked them to the ground. It repeated, a heavy thudding, a few times each second, growing closer. The water in a nearby fountain rippled with the impact, but the ponies found their footing and pressed on.
They soon encountered the source of the disturbance: Lady Double Scoop was galumphing down the corridor, using her wings for a bit of lift, each bound causing her massive bulk to impact the floor and rock the castle to its foundations. She was accompanied by Sprinklebelle and Sprinklebelle's cousin from out-of-town, Lickety Split.
Doublescoop stopped at the sight of Sugar Scoop, and spoke. "It's chaos in the Gala. Someone launched a cake at Prince Blueblood, the statue of Celestia has been shattered, and a swarm of beasts was loosed into the hall. Come with us, daughter. We can protect you."
Beside her, Sprinklebelle's eyes held the same message. Come with us, to safety. She directed her gaze briefly at Sunny, but those eyes found her sister as well.
Sugar Scoop didn't hesitate, but her voice was unusually tender. "No, I must bring my friends to the Princess. It's the only way to make things right."
Double Scoop waddled closer, never taking her eyes off of Sugar.
"Then at least take this." She held out a tall ice cream cone. "It's dangerous to go in there."
Sugar felt tears rising in her eyes, and fought to hold them back. "My favorite flavor..." She took the cone, reverently. The other Scoops continued their escape, but stopped when Sugar spoke again.
"Mom, Sprink, I'm..." Her face contorted, her eyes clenched shut. "ss- I'm ssso- ss- sorr- I'm..." She exhaled and opened her eyes. "I'll write!"
Sprinklebelle and Double Scoop smiled and nodded, and Sugar and her friends continued their gallop towards the great hall.
They burst in, finding the décor in tatters, but it was hardly the scene of chaos and panic the Scoops had described. The guests were seated in precise, orderly rows, gazing at Princess Daystar, whose pastel mane had been replaced with roiling flames. Twilight Sparkle and her friends were nowhere in sight.
As Sugar and her friends walked into the chamber, everypony turned to watch them in unison. The door behind them slammed shut. But that was alright. They had no intention of running.
"Ah, my faithful Sugar Scoop," Daystar said, her voice reverberating with power. "You brought your friends, just as I foresaw."
Sugar Scoop kept walking forward, but the other ponies halted.
Long Tail dropped her severed tail from her mouth to speak. "Oh, you foresaw that, too?"
Daystar smiled indulgently at the flippant unicorn. "You will now join the rest of us in Harmony, and put aside this foolish rebellion. Sugar Scoop will realize her greatest dreams as the head of my new Sunlight Foundation. With the authority of the throne, no one will deny her investigative privileges."
"Daystar," Sugar said, angrily. "I'd like to deliver a special report... on tyranny!"
Everypony gasped. Everypony but Daystar.
"Before you do, you should consider the consequences of not accepting the role I've selected for you. There won't be much news to report... on the MOON."
Sugar Scoop still hesitated, looking back towards her friends.
Daystar leaned down to speak with Sugar once again. "Discord cannot be tolerated. You can't even imagine what will happen if it is allowed to run free. Trust in my wisdom, and OBEY."
Sunnyside turned to Fizzlespark. "We could really use Princess Luna to wield that sixth Element right now. You're a spark. Could you use your friendship with her to make her appear?"
"That's just ridiculous," Fizzlespark replied. "Friendship doesn't just 'make' ponies appear."
Sunnyside was crestfallen. "But-"
"SO, MY SISTER LUNA WAS PART OF YOUR SCHEME," Daystar howled, in her royal voice. "I KNEW SHE COULDN'T BE TRUSTED. VERY WELL, LUNA, I DARE YOU TO SHOW YOUR FACE IN THE LIGHT OF MY-" The chamber rattled, and fire burst from Daystar. "MIDNIGHT SUN!"
The Sun blasted into the sky, blowing the moon down past the horizon. The fierce light of high noon beat down into the chamber.
"That might be a problem," Fizzlespark observed.
"EVERYPONY. SEIZE THE TRAITORS."
The orderly ranks of ponies rose and moved to restrain Sugar Scoop and her friends.
Long Tail turned to Sunnyside. "So, are we running away, or using tact?"
Sunnyside and Fizzlespark shared a look, then Sunny nodded grimly. Fizzlespark answered for him.
"We may have exhausted the limits of tact." As he spoke, his horn flashed, and a variety of fearsome weapons deployed from his saddlebags, notably his rocket-launching morningstars.
Sunny had a pair of eggs in at the ready. "So it's come to this."
Glitterdust tossed her mane, relieved not to feel the weight of Daystar's horn on her head, and scraped at the ground with one hoof, ready to charge.
Long Tail nodded at the others, are carefully levitated her severed tail into a safe corner before turning to face the masses of mind-controlled ponies that had moved to separate them from Sugar Scoop.
Daystar was content to watch, with Sugar Scoop seething at her side. Until she spotted Fizzlespark setting up a particular device.
"The sun-blocker," she muttered. "A blasphemous contraption. Philomena, destroy it."
The phoenix saluted, but before it could fly off, Sugar Scoop whirled and thrust the ice cream cone her mother had given her straight into the firey heart of the bird. It sizzled and steamed, but in the end, it was overcome, with both hooves on the cone, Sugar forced the smouldering bird to the ground, where it lay in an expanding pool of ice cream soup.
As a last, pitiful croak escaped the phoenix, Sugar recited her family motto. "We all scream for ice cream!" Then she whirled and took to the air.
"Everypony, listen! Thinking for yourselves is important!" Sugar shouted.
"Thinking for ourselves is important," they replied, in unison. Sugar pressed one hoof to her brow in frustration. Daystar chuckled.
"It's not right for a ruler to exile everyone who disagrees with her! Ponies must enjoy basic dignities – rights of free expression, freedom from arbitrary punishments... don't just lie down and accept dictatorship!"
A few ponies stopped their pursuit of Sugar's friends, gazing confusedly at her instead, but the thralls vastly outnumbered them.
Daystar narrowed her eyes. "ENOUGH." Her mane flared, and an intense beam of light burst from her horn. It sizzled through the air towards Sugar Scoop, but she ducked out of the way at the last moment, the beam so close it burned a hole straight through her hat.
Which left the beam arcing across the room towards Red Velvet. She had fallen under Daystar's thrall, and was about to drop a pair of hefty cakes onto Fizzlespark to stop him from operating his machine. As the lance of solar energy neared her, it was met by a golden streak. He blocked the laser with his body, and reflected light flared blindingly for one golden moment.
Red Velvet blinked, the haze in her eyes clearing. In confusion, she let the cakes slip from her grasp. Below, Fizzlespark pulled the final switch and announced that he was done, just before being buried in cake.
Looking around, Red found Sunnyside amidst some rubble on the ground, steam rising from his body. She dove to his side as Sugar Scoop continued exhorting the crowd to resist Daystar's mental shackles.
"What she can't control – she would destroy. Just as she has tried to destroy your minds, the essence of what makes you Pony."
"I'll stand with you." It was Officer Snapdragon. Sugar was touched, and smiled appreciatively.
"Me, too!" shouted Red Velvet, from next to Sunnyside.
"And me!" "Me as well!" "For freedom!" A wave swept over the crowd, and Daystar's spell was extinguished.
Daystar took a step back, surprised at the display of defiance.
As she did, a shadow began to sweep across Canterlot. Fizzlespark's light-bending contraption rose again, as it had during the Summer Sun Celebration, and blocked out the sun itself. As the line of darkness crossed the ballroom it revealed Princess Luna, who now stood among the crowd of ponies opposing Daystar.
"So she did appear!" Glitterdust said.
"Yes, but it wasn't magic!" Fizzlespark replied vehemently, cleaning the cake off of himself with a rotary licking device. "I sent rocket pigeons." He gestured to a window, where Luna's chariot could be seen, rocket pigeons attached at the front.
Daystar spoke to Luna, again in her royal voice. "DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE YOU CAN DEPLOY THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY AGAINST ME? THEY'RE BOUND TO MY PUPIL. YOU AND THESE PONIES, WHY, THE SYMBOLS DON'T EVEN MATCH."
Luna's eyes flashed white, and thunder boomed. The Elements changed into a beaker, a bag, a Lorentz distribution, a spyglass, an interrobang, and a crown bearing a crescent moon, which Luna levitated to her own head. Four ponies gathered in formation around her as the Elements glowed bright.
"YOU'RE GOING TO THE SUN, SISTER," Luna said, in her own royal voice. "TO THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'VE DONE. TO THESE PONIES. TO ME."
"Wait, what?" Long Tail cocked her head at Luna's plan.
"IF YOU USE THE ELEMENTS AGAINST ME, YOU'LL COMPLETE THE CYCLE OF DISCORD," Daystar warned.
Luna ignored her. "I INVOKE THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY!"
"LOYALTY!" Sugar Scoop swooped into the air to gaze down at Daystar, then glowed brightly. The room thrummed with gathering power.
"GENEROSITY!" Glitterdust stood sturdy as a rock, magic energy pulsing through her.
"LAUGHTER!" Luna smiled at Fizzlespark. "Laughter?" he objected. "Science is serious business!" This just made Luna smile more broadly, and Fizzlespark ignited with the glow of his element.
"KINDNESS!" Somepony was missing from the formation. Luna's gaze swept across the room to find Sunnyside, charred and still smoking, groaning in pain. Sprinklebelle had returned, and held an ice pack on his head, while Red Velvet dabbed his brow with a spongecake. His necklace flickered faintly.
"OKAY... WELL... GOOD ENOUGH," Luna said. "HONESTY!"
"I honestly think this is a bad idea," said Long Tail, as Luna turned to her. The power of the Elements faded and snuffed out.
"BUT," Luna said. "WE THOUGHT YOU WERE OUR FRIENDS. IT HAS BEEN SO LONG, WITHOUT A FRIEND, PERHAPS... WE WERE MISTAKEN." Luna hung her head and looked sidelong at Fizzlespark.
"IT IS THY JEALOUSY," Daystar said. "AND THY TREACHEROUS SCHEMES THAT PREVENT THEE FROM KEEPING FRIENDS. WE OFFERED THEE OUR FORGIVENESS, OUR FRIENDSHIP, BUT THOU HAST REPAID US WITH REBELLION."
"That's not right, either!" Long Tail objected. "Princess Luna, we are your friends, but we need to use the Elements to heal your sister, the way Twilight Sparkle and her friends healed you. We can't just banish her to the Sun! That probably won't solve anything."
"She's right," Sugar Scoop said, placing one hoof on Luna's shoulder. "You have to stick by your sister, because that’s the only way they’ll learn sense. And one day, when you’re in trouble, they’ll come to help you out – because that’s what –" Sugar sniffed, and blinked away tears. "That's what family’s all about.” Sugar Scoop smiled at Luna, then her ears suddenly perked up and her smile flipped upside down. She turned slowly, and noticed Sprinklebelle was in the room. “Oh no! Did you hear all that!?”
Sprinklebelle just nodded, with tears of her own.
Next to her, Sunnyside's eyes were open. He struggled to his feet and flexed his wings. They were blackened and wouldn't open all the way, so he walked slowly forward.
"I thought my brother had lost faith in me," he said, a little hoarse. "But when I was in trouble, when I needed him, he came through. Family always does." Sunnyside took his place in formation around Princess Luna and smiled at her. " And so do friends."
"EVERYPONY," Luna said. "YOU ARE RIGHT. WHAT WE WANT, MOST OF ALL-" Luna's voice cracked, just a little. "IS TO HAVE OUR SISTER BACK."
Light gathered around the assembled ponies as Luna called upon the Elements.
"LOYALTY!" Sprinklebelle had joined the circle, and Sugar Scoop was embracing her. Light burst forth as Luna announced Sugar's Element.
"GENEROSITY!" Glitterdust's necklace glowed, and she levitated into the air as energy gathered around her.
"LAUGHTER!" Fizzlespark had somehow attached Spring to his necklace, and was cranking him furiously, cackling maniacally as he did so. Sparks flew from the Element, joining the cascade of power building in the center of the room.
"KINDNESS!" A sheath of light enveloped Sunnyside's whole body, healing his injured wings. He leapt aloft to shine like a beacon, and extended one hoof to Daystar in a gesture of friendship.
"HONESTY!" The power washed over Long Tail from head to tail, then kept going, sweeping back in a graceful arc of mathematical purity. Of, if not certainly, then quantifiable uncertainty.
"THESE FIVE ELEMENTS TOGETHER, CREATE THE SIXTH ELEMENT. THE ELEMENT OF..."
"MAGIC!" cried everypony in unison (except for Fizzlespark, whose shout of "Science!" was drowned out by the rest).
Luna lowered her horn and took aim. The multicolored energy of the Elements coalesced around her, then swept out from her royal horn in a spray of colors.
"NO!" Daystar cried. "OBEY ME! OBEYYYYYYYYY..."
***
When the light from the Elements faded, it was nighttime once again. The Midnight Sun had passed, and the Moon shone down, illuminating the platform on which Celestia now lay. Her mane was pastel again, but unmoving, lying still on the ground.
Princess Luna alone seemed unharmed by the experience. In fact, she seemed to have grown in stature, similar to Princess Celestia herself. She galloped to her sister's side.
"Tia?" she said. "Are you alright? Please wake up?"
"Hmmph?" Celestia responded. Her mane slowly began to undulate, but she didn't open her eyes. "Wake up? But it's the middle of the night. Did you have that nightmare again, with the butterflies..."
Luna blushed and looked back to see if anypony was close enough to hear. "No, shush about that! It's the night of the Grand Galloping Gala. Don't you remember?"
"Oof, no. It must have been a good party." Celestia finally opened her eyes and saw where she was. "Oh, oh dear."
The other ponies were starting to recover from the force of the Elements, as well.
"You know, Luna, it being nighttime and all, why you handle this?" Celestia said, taking in the chaos. "I'm going for a cup of coffee. Fill me in at dawn, okay?"
As her big sister left, Luna grinned broadly, turning to the assembled ponies. Tia was finally trusting her to handle things like a Princess.
"WE THINK THIS CALLS FOR A CELEBRATION!"
A cheer rose from the crowd, and the players took up their instruments once again to play a joyful tune.
***
The soundtrack continued the joyful music as scenes from a subsequent day played on the screen. Glitterdust and Ditzy Doo took the stage beneath a banner announcing that the Pony Express mail service was now an Equal Opportunity employer.
In the audience, Long Tail pulled out a copy of the reinstated Equestria Daily newspaper, where the front page announced that the army was being recalled from the border with Gryffindor, and war was averted. The byline was Sugar Scoop's, and below her file photo the paper acknowledged her receipt of a well-deserved Mule-itzer prize.
The camera zoomed in on the photo, and transitioned to Sugar Scoop standing outside the front door of Scoop Manor. The door opened, and Sprinklebelle launched out of the doorway to embrace Sugar.
Red Velvet and Sunny were standing outside as well, and Red Velvet walked forward and tapped Sprinklebelle on the shoulder. The two smiled and shook hooves. Sunny looked as if he was about to say something, when Scrambler swooped out of the sky and gave him a surprise noogie.
Sunny swatted Scrambler's hooves away, then leapt into the air to give chase. The two flew high and twisted around a tall tower, laughing. The camera panned away from them to a large, towertop structure studded with telescopes, gears, and steam vents. Fizzlespark and Princess Luna were cutting the ribbon on the "Canterlot Academy of Lunatic Science."
Propellers sprouted from the top of the building and spun up, carrying it high into the sky. Fizzlespark rode it into the air, while Luna waved goodbye and walked into her study.
Owlowiscious was waiting. Luna's horn glowed, and a copy of the book Elements of Harmony rose from a side table and opened, revealing hidden compartments. Next, the Elements appeared, reverting to their original shapes. She carefully placed them inside the book. As the cover shut, the screen went blank and the credits played.
***
END OF SEASON 1
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pmcollectorboy
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1028
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Big Macintosh,Main 6,Original Character,Spike,Dark,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
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Stone Hearts
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hiatus
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<p>After the battle with Discord, Rarity still has nightmares about the rock. Concerned, she goes to Twilight for help. Slowly, she delves into the maddening practice of golemology as she carves a statue out of the rock and brings it to life. But what price is there to pay for her creation, and who gets to pay it?</p>
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teen
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2012-02-28T06:09:23+00:00
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2012-02-28T06:09:23+00:00
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Stone Hearts
Rated: PG 13
Themes: Slightly adult and disturbing themes(and sauce)
by Mario Rodgers
Author's note: Some goofy, saucy(and somewhat disturbing) Rarity and Rock fanfic I threw together after bronies had been clamoring for a shipping story. This was actually started in between Return of Harmony Part One and Part Two, but now that I know the rock comes with a name, that makes it even better. As usual, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and the characters are copyrighted by Hasbro.
Red
Rock. Stone. Simple granite. That was all it was. That was all it had ever been. And as Rarity, the white unicorn who was the proprietor of Ponyville's sole dress-maker shop, eyeballed the boulder up and down with a wet, sorrowful gaze, noting its gray color, its lack of anything resembling lustre, its lop-sided asymmetry, its sagging facets and occasional patches of moss and cracks caused by erosion, she realized what it wasn't. It wasn't a diamond. And it wasn't beautiful.
There was no shiny surface in which to admire her reflection.
There was no dazzling tapestry of fire and sparks of light to search for from deep within crystalline windows.
There was no value in keeping it whatsoever.
Only shame.
Rarity turned her head away from the rock in disgust, but this time the disgust stemmed not from displeasure over concepts of aesthetics but welled up from deep within. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment when she recalled the events that led up to her "inheriting" such an odd trophy. When she had discovered what she thought, at the time, was the largest diamond in all of Equestria, buried deep within a cliff of granite and coal, she felt something that had been completely foreign to her heart since she was very little.
Greed.
Rarity was selfish over many things. She knew it and admitted it to herself from time to time. After all, she had her desires, and there was nothing wrong with maintaining them on occasion. But the few days when Fluttershy became a huge fashion star while Rarity merely faded into obscurity marked the closest she had ever come to allowing her personal feelings hurt her friends.
Greed, however, disgusted Rarity. It symbolized a willful desire to not consider the happiness of others. It symbolized a need to acquire more than one could possibly utilize or enjoy. Greed was everything Rarity was not.
Whenever Rarity went out to search for gemstones, it was only out of a desire to make others happy, to make her work as splendid and dazzling as possible for the enjoyment of those who appreciated beauty as much as she. To see the eyes of a debutante or a new bride shimmer with unbridled joy upon spotting the right dress to compliment the perfect occasion brought Rarity more happiness than any day trip to the Lotus Sisters' spa. But when she saw the diamond that had tempted her, its exquisite size and its dazzling shine, a feeling bubbled up inside her. It had to be hers, all hers and nopony else's. She dared not share and she dared not cut it up to use on her fashion.
She didn't know whether her change was from Discord's corruption or whether Discord merely brought to light and amplified demons that were always there and merely buried. The shame she felt was real enough. Discord was now defeated, banished back to stone, but the thought that these undesirable feelings were a part of her and could come bubbling back terrified Rarity.
Rarity had dumped the offending boulder in her back yard. She couldn't be bothered to exert herself beyond that to carry it to a quarry or back to Canterlot's garden maze. Rarity wiped away her tears and brushed away her burdensome guilt, mentally giving herself a pep talk and reclaiming her ladylike poise and grace.
"What's done is done. I'll just head over to Applejack's tomorrow and borrow her brother to help me carry this absurd thing to a place less conspicuous and hide it. If anypony asks what such a garish thing is doing in my backyard and corrupting the beauty of my boutique in the meantime, I'll just simply say I'm starting a statue garden," Rarity muttered to herself. She then giggled slightly at the thought of her being a sculptor.
However, ejecting the boulder would have to wait until tomorrow. Rarity noticed that it was getting late, with the sun slinking its way to the deep western skies behind a layer of rumbling, dark clouds. Rarity squeaked in surprise when a drop of water hit her square in the forehead.
She hustled back over to her abode and threw open the door with her magic, hurrying inside as the sky opened up and the clouds set their raindrops free.
* * *
That night brought a feverish dream to Rarity's slumber. Or perhaps it was a nightmare. She awoke with a startled jerk to the sound of the rumblings of thunder and the tapping of rain beating out its rhythm on her roof and windows. The pegasi promised a modest soaking, and it seemed that was exactly what Ponyville got, as the symphony of the rainstorm played at a prodigious rate, with her heartbeat racing to match. Rarity blinked out the sparks of light playing hop scotch in her vision and reached with her unicorn magic to turn on her side table's lamp. As her eyes adjusted to the sudden appearance of light, she scanned her sleeping chambers. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Remnants of the dream trickled back from the fog of sleep, but most of the obscure details had long since disappeared from memory. What little she did remember concerned her. She remembered that it had seemed like a voice was calling her from inside the boulder. For what reason an inanimate object such as a boulder could possess a disembodied voice, she couldn't say. It only gave her a headache just thinking about the idea. But the most disturbing thing she remembered quite clearly from her dream was a vision of engravings, of characters almost like runes carved into stone. They seemed vaguely familiar to Rarity, but the memory of their meanings was slippery to her, and all she could pull from the dream was what they looked like.
Rarity daintily slid out of her bed and made her way over to her bedroom's back window, her hooves still clumsy and heavy from her just waking up. With an application of her magic, she raised her lavender blinds and stared out. Below her lay her back yard, with its neatly kept grass, save for what was surely a squashed patch of grass blades radiating out in an unorganized manner underneath the boulder in the middle.
Her eyes narrowed to slits as she glared at the boulder through the water which collected in spots, formed streams, and pooled again around the muntins of her iris window. In the darkness of evening, the boulder seemed to be little more than a lumpy shadow. The occasional flashes of lightning allowed the briefest of glimpses of the rock's full form.
"There it is. That rock. That silly, silly rock," Rarity muttered to herself.
Rarity felt an impression of her name inside her mind again, being sounded out by a voice that wasn't her own.
Rarity pressed her forehooves to her the sides of her head. "Get out of my brain, you naughty voice. You're not real!" She then stomped down her front hooves in a flash of anger.
With a toss of her mane, she closed the blinds and headed back over to her bed, her cheeks thoroughly flushed and her mind agitated. But instead of slipping back underneath her sheets to slumber, she undid her sleep wear, placed it on her mattress, and went over to her wardrobe to rummage for her rain coat and umbrella saddle. Upon finding these, she wore them and headed downstairs and out into the rain.
* * *
The visual tapestry of a pleasant dream was briskly swept away like so many lines of dust by the cruel intrusion of the waking world. When Twilight Sparkle, resident of Ponyville's only tree that was also a library, set about to the arduous task of lifting her eyelids, she felt drool on her left cheek, a rapid and pounding heartbeat in her chest, and a burning sensation in between her back legs, with a not-so-vague notion of what had brought about these changes in her physiology, the remembrance of which promptly embarrassed her.
"Ponyfeathers! I'll get you yet, Star Dust," Twilight whispered to herself.
Thinking her REM stage had simply just concluded itself naturally, she curled up underneath her covers once more with the intent of falling back to sleep, but an abrupt rapping on her bedroom window interrupted her efforts. The tapping continued as she felt about for a candle and ignited it with heat magic. Twilight levitated the candle and brought it with her, grumbling incoherent curses to herself on the short trip over to her bedroom window, but her aggravation promptly vanished when she spotted a visibly distraught white unicorn standing in front of her home in the rain. Twilight lifted up her right forehoof high above her forehead to keep the rain out of her face and squinted through the gloom of the evening. Another flash of lightning illuminated the face and cutie mark of the pony who was standing on the ground below her.
"Rarity!" Twilight gasped.
Rarity's body was slumped over, and she shivered despite the warm summer air. She panted every now and then and glanced around, all signs of agitation. Rarity glanced up with blood-shot eyes at Twilight standing on her balcony.
"I am so sorry to have to trouble you, Twilight darling. I would knock on your door, but I didn't want to wake Spike up, and so I chose to tap on your window," Rarity said.
"Oh that is so very sweet of you, Rarity. You seem troubled over something. Would you like to talk about it?"
Rarity chuckled mildly. "I wouldn't have come out here in the pouring rain if I didn't."
Twilight nodded. "Hold on a minute. I'm coming downstairs."
Twilight closed her window and made her way through her home, carefully guided by the dim light of her candle. Her pace was slowed by her decreased vision, but she managed her way around Spike's basket, where the baby dragon slumbered peacefully, and various furniture and odds and ends to make a successful trip to her front door. In a burst of purple light, the door opened, and Twilight was greeted by Rarity as she walked through the door, a small and shy but decidedly grateful smile on her lips. Rarity disconnected her elegant umbrella from her saddle and held it off to the side, shaking the raindrops from it before propping it up against the door frame as Twilight quickly closed her front door to keep the rain out.
"Thank you most sincerely, Twilight."
"Gosh, Rarity," started Twilight, her jaw hanging open as she noted the unkempt appearance of her friend, the bloody capillaries which seemed ever large in Rarity's eyes and the stray stands of hair in Rarity's usually perfect and smooth coiffure. "You look..."
"Terrible. Yes, I know," Rarity finished.
Twilight invited Rarity to follow her upstairs to her bedroom, guiding the distraught unicorn by the small aura of light of her candle. The snore from the basket they passed made it clear to Twilight that they were successful in letting Spike keep his rest. When they had made it to Twilight's bedroom, Rarity sat on the guest bed, after Twilight had indicated to her that she do so. Rarity glanced around as a flash of lightning and rumble of thunder startled her, and she pressed her two front hooves together and wrung them around.
"Wow, Rarity. You really ARE upset. What's troubling you?" Twilight asked as she sat down on the guest bed next to Rarity and looked at her with concern.
Rarity gazed into the eyes of her thoughtful friend and smiled a little, hoping to ease Twilight's mind and her own nerves. "Oh well, Twilight," Rarity said as she began trying to laugh off her fears. And for a moment it worked. "It's really not anything too terribly... Oh Twilight!"
The flood gates had opened, and Twilight suddenly found herself in possession of a sobbing unicorn on her shoulder. A bead of sweat formed on a corner of Twilight's forehead, but she did her best to calm her upset friend, shushing her and rubbing her back. "Tell me all about it," said Twilight.
"I had a nightmare," Rarity said in between sobs. "Tom...that... that boulder! I can't get him... gah, IT out of my head! I keep imagining a voice inside my thoughts, calling my name, and that it sounds like it is coming from the rock." Rarity pulled away from Twilight's shoulder, grabbed her firmly by the cheeks, and stared wide-eyed into her friend's gaze, tears streaming from her eyes like waterfalls. "You... You believe me. Don't you, Twilight?" Rarity asked, her left eye twitching.
"I buwieve you, Wawity. Could you wet go obf my cheeks?"
Rarity promptly did so, backed away slightly from Twilight, blushed, and wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry to be in this wreck of an emotional state in front of you, Twilight," she said after her sobbing slowed.
"I've seen worse," Twilight said with a shrug.
"Come again?"
"Nothing!" Twilight exclaimed, trying to cover up her mild indiscretion. Her tone then changed back to serious, and she gently touched one of Rarity's front hooves. "Now Rarity. I realize you're upset about what Discord had done to you. But you must know that rocks don't talk. It's a physical impossibility. It's all in your head."
Rarity's eyes became wide and frantic again. "I keep telling myself that, but..."
Rarity found herself with a hoof pressed up on her lips.
"Let me finish. I don't know if you need a vacation or if you need to seek counseling. I really can't recommend anypony, seeing as how I don't know any good shrinks, but I'm very worried about you. I really can't imagine the kind of emotional trauma you've..."
"There were runes in my dream," Rarity said, her voice subdued as she lowered her gaze.
Twilight blinked, her train of thought ruined by Rarity's slightly odd assertion. "What?"
Rarity nodded. "That was actually the most vivid part of my dream. I saw... carvings. Runes etched into stone blocks. They seemed somehow familiar to me, but I couldn't place what they all meant." She then lifted her gaze again and looked at Twilight. "Where have I seen runes before? Have I seen them in one of your books?"
Twilight seemed withdrawn, and she didn't make a sound. For a while, the only things that could be heard were the rhythmic beats of the rain and occasional rumblings of thunder. The focus in her eyes then seemed to return, and Twilight looked back at Rarity.
"What runes? Show me."
Rarity nodded. "If you'll be so kind as to loan me some paper and something to write with."
Twilight returned the nod and placed the candle on her side table. The drawer of her side table then opened, and out levitated a notepad and a pencil. "You may use that."
"Thank you, darling," said Rarity as she took possession of Twilight's writing tools.
Rarity's eyes narrowed in concentration as she struggled to remember the details of her dream and the shape of the runes. Then, pressing graphite to paper, she set about tracing out her memories. As she did so, she couldn't help but notice Twilight bouncing up and down and looking slightly agitated and almost ruining her concentration. Finally Rarity couldn't take Twilight's antics anymore, and she jerked her head up from the notepad and raised an eyebrow.
Twilight withered underneath Rarity's glare. "Sorry," Twilight whispered. "Please continue."
Rarity turned her attention back to the notepad and finished drawing the rune she had been working on. Up and down and a curve there. Two dots and a second line. As Rarity drew, Twilight marveled at her skill with curves and the steadiness of the pencil in the levitation field. Twilight mused that Rarity should've gone into calligraphy instead of dress-making.
The notepad and pencil then broke away from Rarity's levitation field and landed on the covers of the guest bed. Rarity turned away, a tear falling from her right eye, as Twilight studied what Rarity had drawn on the notepad as well as she could by the dim light of the candle. Twilight's eyes moved up and down and back and forth across the front page of the note pad, one lower corner of her mouth twitching ever so slightly, her mind turning information and pages of knowledge over and over but not having much luck. But finally, with a triumphant click, Twilight seized upon something, and her eyes widened.
"Golemology," Twilight breathed out, almost seemingly drained of energy.
Rarity turned back around to face her friend. "I beg your pardon?"
Twilight shook her head and spoke a little louder. "These are golemology runes, runes that are carved that, once energized, are used to bring to life a golem." She pointed to one. "This is the movement rune." Then another. "This is the logic rune." Then a third. "This is an optional one called a transmutation rune, which is used to turn the golem's base material into flesh and bone but still allowing the golem to keep the material's natural properties." Twilight then pointed to the final rune. "And this is the life rune, possibly the hardest one to energize. It makes the golem live." Twilight then looked into Rarity's still wet eyes, and the tone of concern found its way back into Twilight's voice. "Rarity, why did you have dreams of these runes?"
Rarity bit her lips, trying to find the words to say. "I think I remember borrowing some of your books, but I only used them to keep Sweetie Belle locked in her room, may Celestia thank the inventor of the encyclopedia, the last time she visited while I was working on a particularly delicate project that I didn't want her ruining." Then, after a pause, she added, "Do you HAVE a book on golemology?"
It was Twilight's turn to bite her lips and look away. "I do, but..."
"May I please borrow it?"
Twilight fidgeted. "I don't know, Rarity."
"Oh please!" Rarity got extremely close, pressing her two front hooves together in a begging gesture and pleading with puppy dog eyes.
Twilight swallowed hard and inched away from her suddenly intruding friend. "But, Rarity..."
"Please please please please please!" Rarity begged some more and she puffed her cheeks in a pout.
Twilight frowned. "Keep it down. Spike is still sleeping. Rarity, golemology is a very dangerous practice. It's magic, but it's also... Look, golems are unpredictable. I'm uncomfortable enough just talking about the subject."
"But if I keep having dreams about these runes, how will I ever sleep soundly unless I find out what makes them so terrifying? May I please borrow it? I only want it for informational purposes."
"I said no," Twilight said with finality. She then started shoving Rarity to get off her bed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have my sleep to catch up on."
"Oh. Oof. There's no need to be so rude, Twilight," Rarity said as she felt Twilight prod her from behind. Then, in the dark, Rarity tripped on something. "Ouch," she exclaimed, muffling herself just in time to avoid waking up Spike.
"Oh I'm so very sorry, Rarity," Twilight said, suddenly sorrowful as she watched Rarity hop up and down while holding out her left foreleg. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," said Rarity as she gently placed her hurting leg back on the floor.
Twilight glanced at the ground and saw a rectangular shadow near where Rarity had tripped. "Let me get that out of the way."
Rarity held up a hoof again. "No no. I've got it."
A purple light pierced the darkness and spread into the shape of the form on the ground, and Rarity levitated the object to her eye level. It seemed she had tripped on a book. But something about this book seemed intriguing to her. She squinted in the darkness as she tried to read the title.
"The Studly Adventures of Star Dust the..." Rarity read.
"Oh horse apples!" Twilight exclaimed.
Rarity whinnied in shock upon realizing what kind of book she was looking at. Then a sly grin parted her lips. "Twilight," Rarity purred. "This is a..."
"Yes I know what it is!" Twilight said with a snatch of the novel. She promptly put it on her nightstand.
Rarity's eyes were then drawn to a spot on Twilight's wrinkled and upturned sheets. Rarity tried her best to banish her ever widening grin, but to no avail. "What have you been doing?"
Twilight turned deeper than the color of beets, and she hopped off the guest bed to squash the incriminating spot on her own bed. "I haven't been doing anything! It was just a dream! A dream YOU interrupted!"
Rarity's smile shrank somewhat but took on a somewhat mischievous attitude. "I see what's going on. You're frustrated."
Twilight pouted. "Am not."
"Well..." Rarity edged closer to Twilight. "Allow me to borrow your golemology book, and I won't tell Pinkie Pie you have a dirty rag. You know how much of a blabbermouth she is."
Twilight swallowed hard as she leaned back from Rarity's encroachment. "You... you're blackmailing me?"
Rarity leaned in even closer, her eyes narrowed in a sultry manner, and before Twilight knew it, she was completely flat on her back with the white unicorn over her and completely in her personal space.
Rarity squeaked, touched Twilight on the nose with a forehoof, and crooned, "No. I'm going to do YOU a favor for being so nice to me."
The candle snuffed itself out just as Twilight felt pressure.
"Oh dear."
|
|
pmcollectorboy
|
1028
| 2 |
Big Macintosh,Main 6,Original Character,Spike,Dark,Romance,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Sex
|
Stone Hearts
|
hiatus
| -1 | -1 |
<p>After the battle with Discord, Rarity still has nightmares about the rock. Concerned, she goes to Twilight for help. Slowly, she delves into the maddening practice of golemology as she carves a statue out of the rock and brings it to life. But what price is there to pay for her creation, and who gets to pay it?</p>
|
teen
|
2012-02-28T06:33:44+00:00
|
2012-02-28T06:33:44+00:00
| 1,451 |
Orange
The warm and inviting beams of the sun, Celestia's life-giving orb, streamed through the windows of the Carousel Boutique, bathing the show room inside its blue and white walls in a cascade of light. It was early morning and about the time for Rarity to open up her shop for business. However, instead of busying herself with the affairs of her shop, unlocking the doors, and turning over her open sign, Rarity was in her bedroom, eyeballing the odd book she had just recently placed on the plush comforter of her bed. Earlier she had just come from Twilight's home in the library and from persuading her friend to lend her the book. She marveled at just how little pressure it took to convince Twilight to agree to her terms, but after both getting the most gorgeous sleep either could remember, Twilight didn't seem to be complaining anytime soon, which was a switch from last night when Twilight insisted the golemology book was too dangerous to give to Rarity. Rarity didn't know if Twilight made it a point not to loan the book to just unicorns. She honestly never got around to asking because in the morning, the purple unicorn's mood had improved so much she was actually making breakfast in bed for Rarity and whistling a tune. Rarity departed Twilight's home a short while ago, after gratefully accepting her meal and thanking Twilight, but leaving Twilight with the sticky situation of explaining to Spike what Rarity was doing there and why the studious one insisted on doing her own laundry so early in the morning.
Rarity felt a twinge of guilt for manipulating Twilight's friendship for something so trivial as a book, but she felt their relationship had come far enough along that the occasional coercive expression of bedroom prowess wasn't that too far-fetched of an idea. As of that moment, Rarity concentrated too much on determining what to do with the book's contents, whether to open it or leave it for another day, to entertain thoughts of doubt and guilt trips.
The book was a dusty gray and easily three inches thick. The binding and front cover were trimmed with brown edges and three leather ridges, two horizontal and one vertical on the front cover, divided the binding into sections. A gruesome image of a pony made of twisted branches, gracing the front cover and bearing a twisted countenance, its eyes burning embers of dark and red, seemed to represent a golem of wood and the rituals that lay within. As Rarity studied the characters on the back and front, she suddenly remembered where she had seen runes before. A couple weeks ago, she had borrowed a couple encyclopedias on dead alphabets from Twilight after a customer had made a strange request for a custom designed stage outfit. None of the runes on the cover of the book before her matched what she remembered, however.
Rarity shook her head, turned around, and left the book unopened. "Okay, Rarity. Get a grip. You're not going crazy," she said as she lightly pounded her forehead with her right front hoof. "You don't need a shrink. But maybe an itsy bitsy vacation wouldn't hurt. You'll just take a small peak at the book, satisfy your curiosity, convince yourself that they don't have any power over you, and be done with it. Then it is pleasant dreams from now on. Especially when I have Big MacIntosh help me carry Tom, I mean, the boulder to toss it off a cliff." Then, after a small beat of silence, Rarity added, musing to herself, "Yeah... You don't need a shrink, but then why am I talking to myself?"
With a huff, Rarity headed downstairs and into her show room. But instead of opening up her store as was customary, she erected a sign with a clock face in her store window, with the hands of the clock completely removed. This was her usual way of telling the customers "closed until further notice." She was expecting an off day anyway.
As Rarity stepped out into the warmth of daylight, she once again smiled at the cloudless sky and gentle embrace of the rays of the sun as it climbed its way towards ten o'clock. The rainstorm that Ponyville had received last night trickled out early in the morning, squeezing out the last bit of moisture by the dawn. She turned down a road and headed towards Sweet Apple Acres just as the town hall bell sounded out ten times.
After a short walk across town and over the small bridge straddling a gentle creek, the scent of apples of various kinds, reds and golds and even galas, let Rarity know she was nearing her destination, and she took a big breath to enjoy the tantalizing aroma. Applejack's big red barn came into view first as she rounded a grove of trees, and then the fields where the crops less important to Applejack's business were planted. Out in the middle of one of the fields, which had been stripped of its grass and turned to sod, was Big MacIntosh, pulling a plow down the field's length to carve grooves for planting. With a smile, Rarity headed over to where the workhorse was furiously laboring.
Upon spotting the fashionista trotting over to him, Big MacIntosh stopped his plowing, unhitched his plow from his yoke, and politely nodded. Rarity returned the nod but kept all her hooves outside the dirt patch.
"Good mornin', Miss Rarity," Big MacIntosh greeted in his well known slow drawl. "Applejack's out on an errand tah buy tools and other hardware things from th' hardware store. She's better at pickin' things for th' raht job than me."
"Actually, Big MacIntosh, I'm here about possibly utilizing your big and strong muscles for some purpose I'm in need of fulfilling," Rarity crooned, laying extra sugary emphasis on the words 'big and strong.'
For a moment, Big MacIntosh was silent, which wasn't all that unusual for Big MacIntosh, except that this time he bore a look that suggested he had been rendered completely devoid of all mental capacity and sensory functions. But the short pause finally gave way to speech.
"Ah don't usually see yew too far from your booteek, an' certainly not around here on th' farm too often unless it's tah see Applejack. An' you're sayin' you're here tah see ME instead?" queried Big Mac.
Rarity nodded.
Big Mac balked. "Ah don't know, Miss Rarity. Ah imagine it would upset Applejack a might if she came back an' found me gone or not doin' mah work. Kin ah ask Applejack when she gets back?"
Rarity scraped the ground with a front hoof. "It's rather urgent. It involves moving a certain large and heavy rock from my property. The sooner it gets, uh, evicted the better."
"Oh. Well couldn't yew ask Twilight tah...?"
"I'm afraid that after all I've put her through with the whole Discord and chaos thing, Twilight is sick unto death about anything to do with moving the boulder around. It has to be you, and it has to be now. So..." Rarity turned around and goosed Big Mac's chin with her tail. "What do you say?"
Rarity had never worked on Big MacIntosh's hair before, so she never got a good grasp for the manageableness of the stallion's mane, but she had never seen a cowlick develop on his head, until now, and the tallest, stiffest cowlick she had ever seen had just sprung up like a baby pine tree in the middle of the poor stallion's hair. She walked away as fast as she could manage without looking conspicuous about it, to avoid Big Mac seeing Rarity break into an attack of giggling. But Big Mac was suddenly following her without question.
The two were certain an unusual sight for the average Ponyvillean. A dusty working farm stallion with no love for looks or hair care, and a unicorn famed in the town for her grace, charm, and attention to details of aesthetics and fashion, walking through town like they were in the Haycy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, with the unicorn leading. They made their way through town and arrived at Carousel Boutique, where Rarity pointed out the offending boulder.
Big MacIntosh leaned down and flexed his powerful muscles, remembering the proper techniques of lifting. Before too long, he had Tom on his back. "And where would yew like me tah take this here rock?"
"Oh I don't really care," Rarity sniffed. "We can take it to a quarry or just toss it off a cliff. As long as it's out of sight and not ruining the beauty of my decor, it's all the same to me."
Big MacIntosh nodded. "Ah think ah know of a cliff that overlooks an old quarry."
"That'll do just fine. Thank you, Big MacIntosh."
The pair left Carousel Boutique, with Big Mac lugging the boulder on his back and seemingly not even breaking a sweat. Rarity followed Big Mac as he headed towards the other side of town and some rocky outcroppings in the wilderness beyond. However, as they walked along, Rarity felt a calling inside her mind again. She shook her head, like she was clearing out the fuzz from just waking up, but the voice came back stronger than ever. She looked beyond Big MacIntosh, past the forest line, and saw the rocky outcroppings and the cliff beyond looming ever closer.
"Don't get rid of me, Rarity," the voice said. "The Tom that you knew is still in here. Don't let him toss me off a cliff."
"No," Rarity whispered, unheard by Big Mac. "You were an illusion by Discord."
"Tom is all yours, Rarity. All yours. You and Tom could do great things together."
"All... mine? Yes." Rarity became glassy-eyed as Discord's old illusion temporarily took a hold on her.
Big Mac neared the cliffside, and Rarity, panicking, increased her pace to catch up to him.
"Um. I beg your pardon, Big Mac dear, but I've changed my mind. I'd actually like Tom back," Rarity asked, her voice quivering with anxiety and sweat dripping from her forehead.
Big Mac stopped twenty feet from the edge of the cliff and stared at Rarity, his jaw slack, looking like he was slow to process Rarity's unusual request. "Uh... Tom? Beggin' your pardon, Miss Rarity, but are you...?"
'Good HEAVENS, he talks so slow,' Rarity thought to herself, the adrenaline and anxiety flooding her blood stream and mental state respectively, distorting her sense of time. Finally, she couldn't stand seeing Tom still on the farm pony's back and hearing him, at least according to her stretched out senses, yammering on for an intolerable amount. "Mine! Hooves off!" Rarity exclaimed in an extraordinary loss of composure she hadn't felt since The Gala.
Whump!
"Ow!"
Rarity had actually body checked the stallion, which proved to be more painful for her than possibly to him, as Big Mac just lay on the ground and stared up at her blankly, while she gritted her teeth as every muscle in her left side smarted. Nevertheless, she had succeed in relieving Applejack's brother of the boulder, and it had landed squarely on her back. Rarity flashed Big Mac an apologetic smile and then, heaving her shoulders to adjust the position of Tom on her back, strained her muscles against gravity to start the arduous trek back to her home.
* * *
Back at Ponyville Library, Spike busied himself with various chores, mostly re-alphabetizing the library's books by title, undoing Twilight's handiwork of organizing them by author even though she couldn't recall the names of most of them. He had just settled into swallowing Twilight's explanation for what Rarity had been doing there spending the night when he didn't remember a sleepover being planned. He still viewed Twilight's suddenly chipper attitude with mild suspicion, though. All morning she had been bounding around, a cheerful joy in her step, humming a strangely familiar tune as she went about doing the one thing she usually hated the most--laundry. Then, as if on cue, the door threw itself open, and Twilight waltzed through from outside, singing the same said tune. Outdoors, illuminated by the morning light, several linen sheets waved like flags in the summer breeze on clotheslines, visible to Spike through the open door.
"La la la la laaaaa. La la la la luuuuuuuh," Twilight sang. She gave a little twirl and then scooped up Spike, placing him on her back. "Lovely morning to you, Spike. You know Fluttershy taught me that song."
"You don't say? Ulp," Spike uttered, suddenly airsick from the sudden velocity with which he was lifted and Twilight's skipping around.
"No more chores for you today, Spike. It's such a great morning outside that I've planned a picnic. Just you and me. I've actually already got the basket all prepared."
Twilight put Spike down and allowed him to catch his breath. When his stomach had settled, he looked up at his oldest and closest friend. Joy filled his heart and his eyes shimmered with a sudden onset of emotion.
"You...You mean it? Really?" Spike squeaked, almost half blubbering.
Twilight levitated a wicker basket stuffed with goodies over from the kitchen table and handed it to Spike. Then, with a motion of her head towards the small of her back, she said, "Come on, friend."
Spike, clutching the basket's handle tightly, hopped on, and the two of them headed out the door. Twilight made her way towards Ponyville Park and scouted out a verdant, plush patch of grass underneath a sturdy oak tree, enjoying the comfort of the shade when the two friends sat down beneath its reaching branches. Spike hopped off Twilight's back and placed the picnic basket on the ground while Twilight folded her legs underneath herself and smiled as the breeze embraced her and the serenading melodies of song birds came to her ears. As she heard the clicks and clacks and shuffles of Spike unpacking the basket, she slowly turned her head, panning her vision across the scenery, spotting the wooden bench where many a couple shared their first dates, smiling as she viewed the pristine lake it overlooked and the patchwork pointillism of the wild flowers on the shore, and enjoying the flowers' aromatic greeting.
Twilight allowed herself to be lulled into a daydream by the droning of the bees and hummingbirds. Next to her, Spike busied himself with rolling out the blanket and laying out the goodies--daisy and sunflower sandwiches, hay fries, cookies, and of course, bits of gemstones for Spike.
But just as the full effect of Twilight's reverie took hold with the addition of the new aroma of edible treats, out of the corner of her eyes, she spotted a white blur move itself into her vision. She banished her daydream reluctantly, and as her eyes adjusted once more, she saw Rarity making her way towards her. Twilight stood up and stretched and shyly waved at her friend approaching her.
"Hello there, Rarity. Are you still working on the book I loaned you?"
"Hmm? Oh yes. It is quite informative. In fact, I think I might take your advice and bring the book up in discussion with a... ah... shrink, as you put it. Perhaps I might shed some light on the meanings of my nightmare."
As Rarity made a sudden glance back over her shoulder, Twilight tipped her head to the side. "How did you find us here, anyway?"
Rarity jerked her head back towards Twilight and swallowed hard. Twilight eyeballed Rarity and noted the stiff posture, occasional hoof shuffling, and twitchy facial muscles of her friend. She may have been a social recluse for much of her life, but as Twilight's relationship with Rarity grew, she had come to recognize the signs that the white unicorn was on edge, and Rarity indeed seemed fidgety again.
"I... um... I'm actually on my way to the hardware store from... somewhere when I spotted you two enjoying the outdoors," Rarity managed to squeak out.
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "From home? At the Carousel Boutique?"
Rarity nodded. "And I've actually come to ask a favor of the two of you. From you, Twilight, I'd actually like to borrow a second book. I'm in need of knowledge of basic home improvement."
Twilight blinked, slightly confused at Rarity's sudden interest in a set of skills that was more Applejack's speed than that of a pony who would rather lift a pumice stone than a hammer. "Uh, okay? Sure. I've got a couple books on that subject."
Rarity then turned towards Spike, who was busy inhaling, in the figurative sense, a bag full of cookies. "And from Spike, I'd actually greatly appreciate it if he allowed me to use his red wagon one more time."
Spike stopped mid-swallow and smiled, an act which promptly caused Rarity to avert her gaze when a cascade of cookie crumbs tumbled from his toothy grin.
"Gross, Spike," Twilight chastised. "Where are your manners?"
"Sormf..." Spike raised a claw for a pause, swallowed completely, and wiped his mouth. "Sorry." Spike instantly looked at Rarity again with lovesickness in his eyes, and his alter ego that Twilight had come to dub the "Iambic Pendragon" came out. "Oh my sweet Rarity. If I had all the red wagons in Equestria, I would gladly loan their services to you."
Twilight rolled her eyes.
"Would you like to help me pull the wagon to the hardware store, Spike?" Rarity asked.
Spike leapt to his feet and started jumping up and down excitedly at the opportunity to assist Rarity once more. Twilight, however, felt insulted and grew crestfallen, her hopes for a pleasant picnic with her number one assistant suddenly dashed. She leaned up against the tree and drew her legs close to her body, propping her head between her front hooves.
The baby dragon stopped his jubilant hopping long enough to turn around and notice how upset Twilight seemed to be. His smile then vanished in a flash, and he turned back to Rarity. "Oh. That's right. I can't, Rarity. I'm here on a picnic with Twilight. Would you like to join us?"
Rarity shook her head and gave another glance back over her shoulder. "Much too busy. It's such a shame that you can't assist me. But I do have your permission to borrow your wagon?"
Twilight glanced up at Spike and adjusted her bangs. "You go," she muttered, her voice dry and subdued. "I know how much it means to you, and you have to find that book for Rarity. I'll just have this picnic alone and wait for you to come back. Or not."
Spike swallowed and stared at Twilight for a few heartbeats. Then he exchanged a look with Rarity. Finally, he said, "Okay, Twilight. If you're really going to be fine with it."
Twilight suddenly found herself alone with nothing but her sorrow and her thoughts bouncing around inside the halls of her mind. She withdrew and hung her head again, eyeballing the ruined cookie crumbs that lay scattered about on the woolen picnic blanket. After half a smirk and a wrinkling of her nose, she looked up again and spotted the dwindling views of her two friends. Spike happily bounded around in merry skips and shuffles, looking five months younger. Rarity walked with more deliberate grace and poise. Twilight gave another tilt of the head to the side as she watched her friend's ribbon-like tail sway to and fro in time to the rhythmic wiggling of hips. High above Twilight, one of the oak tree's flowers suddenly expanded to five times its normal size and promptly burst into flames. Her thoughts then turned to the words of a certain writer who lived centuries ago.
"I wonder what the Bard would do in a situation like this?" she mused to herself.
Her thoughts came to a screeching halt, however, when an echo with a southern drawl ripped throughout what was probably all of Ponyville, assaulting her eardrums.
"Big MacIntosh! Where in the name of Ponyville's green hills are yuh?! Yuh're still on the clock!"
Twilight shook the stars from her head and lightly dug into her right ear canal, tapping it occasionally in an effort to bring her hearing back. "I don't think I want to know," Twilight breathed. "All the ponies in this town are crazy."
|
|
Molotov Cocktail
|
1029
| 1 |
Big Macintosh,Derpy Hooves,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Nightmare Moon,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Zecora,Human,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Whiplash
|
A motorcyclist is struck by lightning. He awakens on the verge of death in a very strange land.
|
complete
| 751 | 52 |
<p>When a motorcyclist is struck by lightning, it sends him to a strange world in a seemingly unexplainable turn of events. With no one able to offer him the answers to his questions, he settles in for the long haul, and looks for a way home. </p><p>Lost, injured, and still reeling in the post-traumatic stress of military service, as well as the criminal underground of street racing, he struggles to maintain his very sanity. Little does he know, the friendships that made life worth living for him would be the key to stopping an ancient enemy bent on anarchy and genocide.</p>
|
teen
|
2012-01-02T08:30:24+00:00
|
2012-01-02T08:30:24+00:00
| 17,432 |
"Death is a great revealer of what is in a man, and in its solemn shadow appear the naked lineaments of the soul." ~E. H. Chapin
There was nothing. At first, it was incredibly bright. But then, it got dark. Very dark. And nothing happened.
"Is this death?" A thought echoed in the abyss.
Overwhelmed by the nothingness, the owner of those thoughts began to panic.
That panic was short lived. Like someone who had just survived an air strike, consciousness came back extremely suddenly.
There was a high-pitched whine in the thought-owner's ears. Light began to burn through the darkness. Outlines of trees and what looked to be a dirt road began taking shape. The birds roosting in the trees above this strange creature took flight, fleeing away from whatever force had just brought it here.
A motorcycle burst into existence from this storm of light, its rider losing control the moment the wheels touched the ground. The handlebars shook violently, threatening to dismount the rider. In a panicked, hasty decision, the rider jammed the front brakes.
It threw the rider over the handlebars and caused his bike to slide out from under him.
The sport bike; a glossy, black, aerodynamic, two-wheeled monster; roared defiantly before succumbing to the dirt. The metal and fiberglass body crashed against the ground, denting the gas tank and scraping off a line of paint. Bits of broken plastic and fiberglass littered the ground.
The rider tumbled head over heels and landed head first, dragging its torso against rocks and tree roots, helplessly rolling with the momentum. His helmet smacked the ground, a resonating THUMP echoed in the rider’s ears. If he hadn’t been wearing so much protective gear, the chances of survival would have been slim at best.
The rider lost momentum and landed on his back. He lay motionless for a few moments, and then slowly opened his eyes.
Looking up at the sky through his helmet, the rider's vision was filtered, as his mirrored visor reflected light and UV rays. From the inside, several flecks of wet blood against the tinted surface tainted the blue sky. He felt a few lines of blood drip down his face.
His eyes struggled to find focus while the pounding in his head continued to disorient him. The rider’s mind was elsewhere as his damaged body tried to process what just happened.
It was daytime, he appeared to be in the woods, that much was clear. Bolts of pain surged through the creature’s body, but it was unable to react, unable to move. An overcoming sensation of shell-shock overloaded his nervous system and kept him rooted him to the ground.
The rider breathed heavily, while a million thoughts began to circulate in his mind. As his vision began to clear, he had more use of his other senses.
It was eerily quiet, minus the sizzling of burnt wood and soil. The ground around him had been burned to a golden brown, and in places closest to the rider, black ash. Small puffs of smoke rose from particularly burned earth and tree bark. It smelled as if he were sitting in a woodstove.
Clenching his teeth in pain, the rider refused to succumb to the shock. He tenderly lifted his head, looking down his torso to his boots. There was a thick liquid creeping down his chest. A giant gash ripped through the front of his jacket, gushing warm blood. A small portion of the jacket on his left arm had been burned off, exposing the dark, burnt skin underneath.
He wheezed in and out rapidly, his breaths sounding hyperventilated in shock. His body was in so much pain, he was unable to determine what, if anything, was broken at that moment. Every part of his body seemed to throb in agony equally with each heartbeat.
His legs would barely move. His left arm felt chafed and weak, while the skin felt like it had been peeled off. Wiggling his left hand felt like a challenge. However, his right arm and neck appeared to be completely fine, minus a few burns.
"What the hell just happened?" The rider asked himself, letting out a gasp of pain with each strained breath.
The last thing the rider remembered was dark and wet. It was a stormy night; he was just trying to get away. Away from the flashing blue lights, away from the torrential rains, the gusting winds.
And then, he felt static electricity in his hair. There was a flash, and a crack. Then, everything went dark. How is it that he wakes up in some vivid, green forest on a dirt road after getting struck by lightning? This doesn't make any sense!
He tried to stand, but his legs were refusing to budge. If he didn't try to find some help soon, he'd bleed himself to death. He had to get up!
"GET UP!" his brain screamed to his legs. To which they replied: "Who said that?"
Unable to stand, the disoriented biker collapsed his helmeted head back to the ground with a thud. Fumbling with his thick gloves, the rider searched his pockets until he recovered his cell phone. All he had to do was dial three magical digits and an ambulance would whisk him off to better days.
He brought the phone up to his face. Some of the plastic had melted, and the screen was cracked like a broken mirror. Any attempt to bring life to the phone failed.
“FUCK!” the rider threw the phone away in frustration, hearing it land somewhere in the woods. No longer connected to the world, he suddenly felt overwhelmingly alone in his time of need. There were no bystanders, no EMTs, just him and his motorcycle. He was on his own.
For that matter, how was his bike looking? The rider turned his head and saw it lying gently on the grass; His bike laid motionless on its left side, a line of fiberglass debris trailing behind it. It must have stalled after he let go of the clutch, and since it was in gear, the wheels must have locked. Despite not being able to see the extent of the damage from his angle, it appeared to be in good shape. Much better shape than he was in anyway. Heat crackled off of the exhaust pipe as the metal shifted and contracted while it cooled.
As the rider continued to catch his breath, a pool of blood had collected underneath him. And suddenly, there were several footsteps. Very. Large. Footsteps.
Perhaps someone was coming to his aid? That hope was extinguished when heavy breathing and a low growl escaped from a menacing, intimidating maw. The rider and his bike rested in a clearing, and out of the woods around it, a towering, snarling beast, at first frightened by the overwhelming flash of light, was then intrigued by it. Even more intrigued when it had just brought him dinner on a silver platter. A downed and injured prey, an easy kill. The scent of blood and burnt flesh added to the scorpion-lion hyrbrid's appetite. The manticore just had some meals on wheels delivered.
The rider watched cautiously as a gigantic, four-legged monster revealed itself, smugly and ferociously approaching the injured biker. It was a lion, with batwings and a scorpion tail swinging menacingly back and fourth. It opened its jaws, showing off a set of razor sharp teeth. The manticore kept its head low, slowly advancing the injured biker unable to move.
He was too distracted to focus on his injuries to the idea of being eaten alive.
The rider reached into a holster attached to his belt, shrinking back in horror after his hand found nothing. The impact of the ground must have knock it out of the holster.
Frantically, the rider’s eyes darted around the clearing. There, not ten feet from him rested a compact, matte-black handgun.
In an act of desperation, the rider flopped on the ground like a fish, bearing the torture of dragging a potentially mortal laceration against the ground.
The manticore chuckled. It was trying to get away! It took a moment to appreciate the situation at hand, watching his prey pretend that it would do him any good to struggle. As he dragged himself away, he smeared the ground with a dark trail of vital, red fluid, only adding to its appetite.
Ten feet was nothing, but in such an injured state, it felt like miles. The rider clawed and grabbed at the ground, dragging his limp body towards survival. The manticore was no more than fifteen feet away now, and getting too close for comfort.
The rider lashed out, heaving himself the last few feet and snatching the pistol. After landing back on the ground, the rider’s vision flashed. The unspeakable pain was nauseating. He felt his lunch creeping up his throat, but pushed it back down.
The manticore continued to watch curiously, but remained threateningly present.
The rider had no idea what that thing was, but he sure as hell wasn't going to be denied the dignity of bleeding to death, to be feasted on by some two-bit offspring of an overrated cat and a bug.
He scowled under his visor. All those nasty looks he’d received from the general public after noticing a gun holstered to his waist meant nothing now. Five hundred bucks well spent.
The rider breathed in deeply, exhaling while lining up the sights right between the eyes of his hungry foe, and pulled the trigger.
Click.
The rider’s chest grew cold. His gun jammed!
The last thing he remembered before ending up in this forest was riding in the rain. Even though self-contained cartridges are waterproof, getting struck by lightning and crashing against the ground probably didn’t do the handgun any good.
Click-click-click-click-click-click.
The rider rapidly pulled the trigger in desperation, frantically trying to pull himself away. The manticore stood directly above the rider, a thick glob of saliva dribbling from its mouth. It opened its jaws, ready to sink them right into the neck of its prey.
“NO!” the rider screamed, sensing death was imminent. His heart sped up, time seemed like it was slowing down. The beast was so close, he could smell its putrid, foul breath.
The manticore brought its jaws down. The rider, in a last ditch effort to save his life, cleared the chamber, manually ejecting a dented, defective projectile and loading a new shell.
BANG!!!
A puff of white smoke exited the handgun’s barrel as an ear-shattering blast echoed across the forest.
Just before the predator’s teeth could rip into his flesh, the Glock 23 fired a .40 caliber round at several thousand feet per second, using the recoil to eject the used shell and fill the chamber with a new one.
The manticore was pushed backwards with the sheer force of the impact, but did not go down. It shrieked in pain, drops of fresh blood splattering onto the ground.
BANG-BANG
The rider double-tapped it in the head. His handgun ejected two shells rapidly at scarcely five feet, considered by some to be point blank range.
The manticore dropped in a heap, lying frozen in a lifeless slump as rigor mortis began setting in.
The rider’s hand holding the smoking weapon shook nonstop. His ears, overloaded with sound, rang constantly. He lay on the ground in total disbelief.
Exhaling loudly, he drifted back to the painful reality he was in: Bleeding. Pain. Blurred vision. Fatigue. Hyperventilation. There would be time to stress out about this later, right now he needed to focus on one thing and one thing only: Survival.
The rider lowered his weapon, sticking the muzzle back into his holster and clicking on the safety.
Blood loss began to take its toll, though. He was feeling weaker by the minute. His legs began to shake, which made his eyes widen.
He could feel his legs now! With a grunt, he wiggled his legs. Both responded. They were weak, but he was slowly getting out of shell shock. Maybe he could stop the bleeding if he found some leaves to use as bandages. One thing was clear though: Lying in a pool of his own blood wasn't doing him any favors. It only made him seem helpless to predators in this strange forest.
Gasping for breath and clenching his teeth, the rider made the agonizing ascent to his feet. Shakily, he put one foot in front of the other, cradling his left arm. He wasn't sure if it was broken, but he could barely use his fingers. He bore the pain and limped in the direction of his bike. Each dizzy, uncoordinated step was harder than the last.
The key was still turned in the ignition. The brake light was illuminated, as well as the digital instruments on his dashboard. The left side was cosmetically massacred, with deep scrapes running down the metal and fiberglass body. The turn signals dangled from the frame like an eye out of an eye socket. The windshield was cracked, clinging loosely to the bodywork. The left handlebar was slightly bent, but still ridable. The left frame-slider was chipped and filed down, but it had done its job, and prevented any structural damage. It made the rider's heart sink, seeing his baby so torn up, but there didn't appear to be any structural damage; the frame slider saved his motorcycle, minus the cosmetics. Maybe, it would be possible to ride out of here, and find help!
That seemed like the best thing to do, but how was he supposed to lift this 500-pound street machine in his current state?
Gingerly, he kicked the shifter down into neutral and pressed the starter. After a chatter of sparks, the engine started right back up.
"Oh thank god," the rider gave a sigh of relief. He quickly turned it off, however.
"I don't need to attract anymore attention," thought the rider as he turned to the slain manticore.
Just as he was about to try and heave all his strength into lifting his bike off the ground, he heard a flapping of wings, sensing another presence nearby. There was rustling in the trees, leaves shaking back and forth unnaturally.
Quickly, he turned around, letting go of his bike and unholstering his Glock again.
"Show yourself!" the biker demanded, keeping his finger on the trigger.
"Alright, alright, fine!" shouted a female, smart aleck reply. A small, horse-like animal, sporting two feathery wings and blue as the midday sky, floated down from the treetops, but remained at a safe distance.
The biker kept his weapon drawn, but not aimed directly at the flying pony. He just about dropped dead at this point.
"What the hell?!" He screamed in his mind. Its rainbow mane and tail fluttered in the breeze. Her pink eyes were as wide with wonder as his own. A rainbow clouded lightning bolt appeared tattooed on her flank.
His chest began to grow cold again. He couldn't breathe; it was all just too much. Struck by lightning, the crash, the manticore, and the flying pony above him. Just where was he? What was going on?
The blue pegasus locked her eyes on a large, bipedal creature standing over a black object. It was some sort of metal steed with two circular legs, but it seemed that without its rider, it wasn't able to stand up on its own.
The creature standing over it seemed to be wearing a lot of protective gear, or armor, as if ready for a battle. An intimidating black helmet was strapped onto its head, with a one-way mirror as its face. It hid the creature's identity, and reflected only the world around it. A garment of dark denim covered the creature's waist down to its legs. At the end of its legs were two black, heavy boots, with metal toes and heels that rose above its shins.
It was definitely male. Its figure was not too big, but definitely too masculine to be female. A black jacket, its joints and shoulders puffed up slightly, indicated that those joints were likely armored underneath. Twisted mesh wrapped over its knuckles, while red and black leather gloves encompassed the rest of its hands.
The pegasus glanced alarmingly at the manticore’s corpse, the motorcycle laying on it's side, and then back to the rider. His blood soaked clothing, limp arms and legs, splatters of blood, and burn marks all over the forest floor. She had never seen anything like it the situation laid before her.
Her mind told her to fly away as fast as she could, but her heart told her to stay. Something loving and compassionate kicked in inside of her and refused to let her abandon this creature.
Whatever it was, that mirror-faced thing had some sort of accident, and had just been attacked by a manticore. It appeared mortally wounded. What if it just needed some help?
Its hands were trembling, its one hand on the weapon shaking in fear or shock, she couldn't tell.
The blue pegasus sniffed. It smelled like something had been burned. But not wood or hay. It smelled like... Meat?
The rider stood still. This couldn't be happening. Maybe he's just delusional, maybe it's the blood loss, the shock. Sure, that's it. He was just struck by lightning, he has brain damage and none of this is happening. He's in a coma at the hospital right now.
What if it wasn't? Even if she wasn't real, he didn't care. He didn't want to die, and this hallucination was the best chance he had at not doing so. The rider licked his lips, tasting dried blood, and lowered his weapon.
"P-please," he exhaled, dropping to his knees, too weak to stand anymore.
"I need," he panted weakly. "Medical... Attention... P-please... Help."
Whatever fear was the pegasus felt subsided; he obviously just needed help. She was not just going to leave something to die, just because it looked frightening.
"Don't worry, I'll go get help! I'm the fastest flier in all of Equestria!" She stated, her tone growing concerned. "I'll be right back, I promise!"
With that, she took off like a rocket. A rainbow seemed to trail behind her, as the pegasus flew with speed she didn't even know she had.
The rider watched her fly off, a sliver of hope lingering inside of him. Maybe he would survive this after all.
His hope began to fade away after losing more blood. Darkness began eating away at his vision again. His eyes felt heavy, his breathing weak. Chills ran down his spine, making him shudder. Everything was fading into black.
And then the rider blacked out.
|
Molotov Cocktail
|
1029
| 2 |
Big Macintosh,Derpy Hooves,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Nightmare Moon,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Zecora,Human,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Whiplash
|
A motorcyclist is struck by lightning. He awakens on the verge of death in a very strange land.
|
complete
| 751 | 52 |
<p>When a motorcyclist is struck by lightning, it sends him to a strange world in a seemingly unexplainable turn of events. With no one able to offer him the answers to his questions, he settles in for the long haul, and looks for a way home. </p><p>Lost, injured, and still reeling in the post-traumatic stress of military service, as well as the criminal underground of street racing, he struggles to maintain his very sanity. Little does he know, the friendships that made life worth living for him would be the key to stopping an ancient enemy bent on anarchy and genocide.</p>
|
teen
|
2012-04-12T04:18:25+00:00
|
2012-04-12T04:18:25+00:00
| 13,482 |
"Memory is a crazy woman that hoards colored rags and throws away food." ~Austin O'Malley
"Twilight!" Rainbow Dash burst through the second story window of the Ponyville library.
"Twilight!" She landed in a huff, folding her wings and knocking a few books off a shelf.
Twilight Sparkle looked up from the open book on her desk, a displeased scowl on her face. She levitated the books back into their rightful, alphabetized positions.
"Sorry!” Rainbow Dash panted. "But I need your help, it's really important!"
"I really hope this is important, Dash," her horn glowing as she lifted a glass of orange juice up to her mouth.
"If it's another trick, it'll have to wait until later."
"No, it's nothing like that. There's, there's-"
"Twilight!" Applejack busted through the front door, Rarity in suit. "Dash is ‘bout to get herself kil-" she stopped.
"Oh, heh heh, howdy there, sugarcube."
"Rainbow Dash, what in Equestria is going on?" Twilight asked.
Rainbow took a deep breath.
"Okay, I was showing Applejack and Rarity this new trick I was working on," she explained. "When this lightning bolt struck the Everfree forest."
"There's not a cloud in the sky," Twilight closed her book, obviously more interested in what was going on now.
"I know!" Rainbow Dash cried. As Ponyville's weather-pony, it was very significant whenever a weather-related anomaly occurred.
"A few minutes later, there was more noise coming from the forest," Rarity interjected. "And then dear Rainbow Dash flew off to see what it was."
"So, what was all that there commotion, anyhow?" Applejack looked at Rainbow Dash.
"I-I," Dash stuttered. "Listen, we don't have very much time. I don't know what it is, but it's hurt! He asked for my help, so I flew here as fast as I could."
"He?" Rarity imagined a colt in distress, and seeing herself nurse it back to health in a romantic fantasy.
"No!" Dash squashed Rarity's daydream. "It's not a pony, I don't know what it is."
"Is it dangerous?" Twilight stood out of her chair. Rainbow Dash thought back to the crash site. It seemed to have a weapon of some sort, and it killed a manticore. Obviously in self-defense. But that means that yes, it was indeed dangerous. But Rainbow Dash didn't want to risk her friends not wanting to help because they may be afraid of that creature.
"No," Rainbow Dash lied. "No, he's perfectly harmless. Now he's going to bleed to death if we don't go help him!"
"Alright, alright!" Twilight shushed Rainbow Dash. "Go get Fluttershy. She tends to injured animals, see if she's got some medical supplies. Applejack, Rarity, come with me. Meet us at Everfree Forest."
"Alright, see you there, but hurry!" Rainbow Dash, in a frantic state of mind, darted out the window.
A cool breeze blew through the forest, the smell of blood and injury wafting up from a clearing. The rider drifted in and out of consciousness. He was able to see where he originally landed, a dried, brown stain where his precious blood had been spilled. In his spot, next to his bike, a new puddle of rusty, living fluid was forming.
He spent his time while he was deliriously conscious studying a face, frozen in pain for all eternity, of the predator that almost made him its meal. The rider’s vision was not focused, making it hard to point out key features around him.
His situation still wasn't looking any better, but it wouldn’t be much longer now. He had bled too much, he should have spent his energy trying to stop the bleeding, not lifting up his bike.
Surprisingly, he wasn't any longer afraid of death. In fact, he was accepting it. For some reason, he found himself thinking extremely positively. It was nice, knowing he was finally about to get away from everything, and just have some peace.
He thought of his past. Growing up. Going to school. Getting drunk with his friends. Getting arrested. Visiting his mother at the hospital. Visiting his father… at the state penitentiary. There were some things he tried not to think about, but burned in the front of his head like a hot ember.
Those screams…
They still echoed in his mind, even on the verge of death. It truly was something he’d carry to the grave.
He tried not to think about that, focusing on more positive events in his life.
The rider sighed, closing his eyes. He must have been hallucinating when he saw that flying miniature horse. But the manticore was still present, there was no hallucinating that. Maybe when they found his body, he'd be credited with discovering a new species named after him.
His eyes rolled back into his head, unable to breathe for a moment, and then his lungs resumed pumping oxygen into his bloodstream, each breath more strained than the last. His airways felt constricted with blood, he was sick of blood at this point. He could taste it, smell it, feel it, and now he breathed it. Just how much did he have inside him? How much longer was it going to take before he would just bleed to death?
His Glock 23 was still in his hand. He stared down at it, dark thoughts coming to mind. The rider contemplated putting the muzzle to his head and ending his suffering quick and painlessly.
He had no idea what lay beyond death. What if you get damned for all eternity just for committing suicide? What if you get a suite at the Marriott if you just die a natural death?
The young biker watched the clouds rolling overhead. He'd wait it out. He'd die with dignity, no matter how much it hurt. He would peacefully bear whatever pain was left and die a good old fashioned, natural death. For now, he closed his eyes and tried to wait for death calmly. The rider listened to the birds calling, the wind blowing, the leaves falling, the hooves upon hard dirt...
Hooves?
Maybe he wasn't hallucinating earlier.
"It's just up ahead!" Rainbow Dash led on. All five ponies were able to smell the scorched earth from where the lightning struck. It had created a clearing, knocking down several trees and burning everything around it in an instant.
And there, huddled up against a strange, two-wheeled contraption, lay a motionless body.
Fluttershy let out a yelp of fear, and ducked behind Applejack and Twilight. "Look!"
Not even ten feet from whatever came out of the lightning bolt, was the corpse of a full-grown manticore. Its face looked like it had caved in several places. Splatters of fresh and dried blood caked the ground.
"It ain't alive no more," Applejack drew closer to it and sniffed. "Hoo-wee, that's for sure."
Fluttershy remained a nervous wreck. She had never been around this much blood, death, and suffering before.
"Twilight, he's not moving!" Rainbow Dash flew just above the rider.
"Fluttershy," Twilight turned around. "I don't know any healing spells I could use on this, um, never mind." She looked towards the rider.
"You need to patch him up. Rarity and I will carry him back to Nurse Redheart. But you need to be brave."
Fluttershy squeezed her eyes shut and nodded. Twilight stepped around the blood and scorch marks on the ground, making her way over to the injured creature Rainbow Dash was so bent on saving.
It was big. Bigger than any pony, but not Big Macintosh. It lay motionless on the ground, clutching a black, metal object that ergonomically fit its hand.
There was a large gash on its chest that ripped through its jacket, it was literally drenched in it's own blood. Still, it very weakly breathed in and out. Twilight slowly bent down and looked right into where the rider's eyes should be, his mirror visor reflecting only her gaze. She gently tapped him with her hoof.
"Hello?"
There was no response.
She tapped him again, softy shaking his head.
"Hey, can you hear me?"
The rider drifted back into consciousness.
"Hey!" A gentle, female voice echoed. "Can you hear me? Are you okay?"
He opened his eyes. Vivid purple ones returned his gaze.
There was not enough blood in his veins for him to stay awake, let alone stay alive, for much longer. The rider murmured incoherently before losing consciousness and drifting back off.
"Twilight, what do you want us to do?" Rarity raised an eyebrow. Twilight and her friends anxiously stood around the dying biker. She took a moment to form a plan in her head.
"Fluttershy, stop the bleeding. Everypony else, keep an eye out for more monsters. I don't want to get snuck up on."
Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash nodded, keeping watch as the yellow pegasus tended to the biker's wounds.
"Oh goodness, this is really bad," Fluttershy pressed bandages into the biker's worst wounds, applying pressure and stopping the bleeding. The rider's breathing became more stable, but still constricted.
"I've done what I can," she wiped blood from her hooves.
"Rarity, help me carry this guy and his stuff out of here," Twilight nodded.
Rarity approached the rider’s vehicle. It had been damaged in the crash, and several areas were as badly burned as the rider himself. A peculiar, winged symbol was branded onto each side of the gas tank. Some of it had been scraped off in the crash, but in bold, white lettering, it unmistakably read "Honda."
Two horns began to glow as they worked together to gently levitate the rider and his strange, metal steed. Applejack picked up the black tool, giving it a cursory examination. She shrugged and put it in her saddlebags.
"We don't have much time, hurry up!" Rainbow Dash cried.
"Rainbow Dash, if you could just be a dear," Rarity struggled to keep the biker and his street machine aloft. "We kind of need to concentrate."
Rainbow Dash kept quiet and allowed the two unicorns to do their work. It was dark by the time they reached Nurse Redheart's clinic, but she saw him just the same as any other pony. They left the two-wheeled monster outside, leaning up against a wall, completely oblivious of the kickstand. Carefully, Rarity and Twilight levitated the rider into the infirmary. The mattresses were much too small for him, so they had to extend the length by using another bed frame.
Twilight set him down on the two infirmary beds. The rider exhibited not a sign of life, except for a faint breath every now and then. She undid the strap that kept his helmet on, and slowly slid it off his head.
He looked young. His face was not covered by hair or fur. Well, not completely. He had a short stubble of facial hair on his chin and the top of its head. His skin was slightly tanned, and he had chiseled features. The rider's eyes remained shut, several dried trails of blood led from open wounds on his face.
The five ponies, and Nurse Readheart, gathered around the alien creature. "So, eh heh heh," Nurse Readheart scratched the back of her head.
"What is it?"
"We don't know," Rainbow Dash sighed. The rider was in a deep, blood-loss induced sleep.
"I've only practiced medicine on ponies, but I'll do my best," said Nurse Redheart.
"Could I have some help removing the armor he's wearing?"
Twilight nodded, and softly lifted the rider up in the air. Fluttershy crouched in the corner, watching in fear and curiosity. She had never seen anything hurt that badly before.
Rarity hurriedly unzipped the jacket. She and applejack worked together to remove it while Twilight carefully kept him aloft. Out of a side pocket, a small, metal object fell with a clang.
"What was that?" Fluttershy pricked up her ears as she walked over to the source of the noise.
She picked it up with her mouth and set it on the table for everypony to see.
It was a small, heart shaped medal, attached to a piece of purple ribbon with a pin on the back. It had been stained in the biker's blood and was slightly burnt as well. The medal itself had a golden outline, with the silhouette of one of the same creatures as the biker, sporting an interesting hairstyle, against a purple background.
Even Nurse Redheart looked at it in awe. It caught Rarity's eye.
"Ooh, that's a stylish pendant. I wonder where he got it?"
"Girls, Ah really don't think it's respectful ta' be goin through this thing's stuff," Applejack chimed in.
"Oh, just a second, I just want to get a good look at it," said Rarity as she picked it up with her magic. When she turned it over, she noticed an engraved description. Rarity quickly read the engraving, her expression suddenly looking very puzzled, even guilty.
The unicorn looked at the unconscious beast on twin hospital beds. Occasionally, he would twitch, but he hadn't said a word since they'd found him. Perhaps there was more to him than meets the eye.
"What did it say, Rarity?" Fluttershy asked. She looked at the medal, then the five faces eyeing her closely.
"Um," Rarity levitated the medal back into the creature’s jacket, zipping it up in a pocket. "I really do think Applejack is right, perhaps it is a bit rude to be snooping around his things while he's incapacitated."
"In-ca-pa-sa-what, now?" Rainbow Dash snorted.
"Hmph. Never mind."
Fluttershy and Nurse Readheart removed his black T-Shirt, ripped and bloodstained identically to his jacket. Across the creature's chest were the bandages they had affixed earlier. Nurse Readheart noticed a peculiar round scar on his right shoulder, there even appeared to be stitch marks around it. Based on her medical experience, they looked relatively fresh. The stitch marks couldn’t have been more than a year old. She shrugged it off and continued bandaging his wounds and burns.
Twilight removed his gloves, and set them next to the jacket lying up against the wall. She almost tried to sneak a peak at what the inscription said, but figured it wouldn't be worth it, she didn't want her friends to think she was nosy. She'd find out eventually.
The boots the rider wore were designed for racing. A lip of hard rubber and kevlar rose above the ankle almost halfway up the biker's knee. They were difficult to pull off, especially when they were trying not to hurt him. Rainbow Dash and Applejack tugged each boot off as Twilight held the rider in place. After a little bit of elbow grease, they both slipped off.
"Blech." Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue out. "Smells worse than that manticore."
With all the creature’s protective gear off, a tall, alien biped was laying in a deep sleep. Its major wounds were bandaged, but there was still a lot of skin exposed. The creature had smooth, slightly tanned skin. No fur, no scales. Just skin. It was just odd to those not quite used to seeing anything like it.
"Now, it's getting quite late," Nurse Redheart motioned to the doors. "I'll keep an eye on him, and I'll let you know what happens, when it does."
The five ponies parted ways for the evening. Twilight was still trying to figure out what the creature was. He seemed to have a lot of advanced technology on him, as well as that two-wheeled carriage. Celestia was on a several day leave to Fillydelphia, it would be days before she could be contacted regarding creature they had just brought to town. For now, she would try to identify it on her own. There were already several books in her mind that may hold the answer.
Rarity was dwelling on what the medal in the biker's pocket symbolized. Applejack was still a bit paranoid. As she walked back to the farm, she contemplated the dead manticore, and how the rider had managed to fend it off, even while severely injured. Could something like that be dangerous? Of course, for all she knew, it could have been the manticore that caused some of his injuries.
Fluttershy was losing her marbles after all the blood and torment she’d seen today. She had never seen anything so badly hurt, the pain and suffering that creature felt must have been unbearable! And while Fluttershy would never hurt a fly, it appeared as though he defended himself from a manticore, successfully, too. It made her very nervous of the day that creature would wake up, if it wakes up.
Rainbow dash flew though the night sky. She wasn't ready to turn in; she had too much on her mind. Seeing the blood-soaked rider drop to the ground, begging for help, begging to stay alive.
Only time would hold the answers. They saved him, brought him to town, treated his wounds, now all that was left was for him to wake up.
|
Molotov Cocktail
|
1029
| 3 |
Big Macintosh,Derpy Hooves,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Nightmare Moon,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Zecora,Human,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Whiplash
|
A motorcyclist is struck by lightning. He awakens on the verge of death in a very strange land.
|
complete
| 751 | 52 |
<p>When a motorcyclist is struck by lightning, it sends him to a strange world in a seemingly unexplainable turn of events. With no one able to offer him the answers to his questions, he settles in for the long haul, and looks for a way home. </p><p>Lost, injured, and still reeling in the post-traumatic stress of military service, as well as the criminal underground of street racing, he struggles to maintain his very sanity. Little does he know, the friendships that made life worth living for him would be the key to stopping an ancient enemy bent on anarchy and genocide.</p>
|
teen
|
2012-02-02T18:23:13+00:00
|
2012-02-02T18:23:13+00:00
| 13,366 |
February 22, 2014
0930 hours
Korangal Valley, Kunar Province, Northeast Afghanistan
US Army PFC Patrick Wilcox
187th Infantry
The lonely, barren Afghanistan countryside seemed endless. A hasty line of armored all-terrain vehicles and small tanks kicked up dust from the Afghan desert. The 187th Infantry Regiment passed through it slowly. An M3A3 Bradley light-armored tank rolled ahead of an HMMWV Humvee. Private First Class Wilcox rode shotgun.
He kept his eyes peeled off into the countryside. There was nothing out here, a single dirt road. No villages, no trees. Just dirt, sand, rocks, canyons, and mountains.
PFC Wilcox wrapped his hands tightly around his Colt M4A1 carbine, his finger rested up against the trigger guard. The HMMWV jolted up and down, side to side. Each time they hit a bump, the PFC would bounce in the air for a moment, only to be restrained by his seatbelt.
"Yo, Patrick!"
The Private First Class turned around.
"It's gonna be a good day, I can feel it! Ha, ha!" the soldier, the name "Reyes" sewn onto his uniform, teased.
Patrick smiled, remembering the first time he'd heard his friend speak those words. They had both gotten wasted beyond all recognition, and woke up in their local police station handcuffed to each other. Reyes looked over at Patrick and smiled. "It's gonna be a good day."
The PFC turned back around. Ahead of them, the M3A3 Bradley slowed to a halt.
"Alpha, we've picked up possible IEDs ahead. Stand by," the operator of the M3A3 stated over the radio.
The driver of the Humvee pressed his foot to the brake, the convoy behind him doing the same.
Patrick didn't like this. They were in a canyon, closed in on all sides. They could easily be bombarded from above by gunfire, or worse.
"Keep an eye on them cliffs," a sergeant whispered over the radio. PFC Wilcox kept his rifle close, scanning the tops of the cliffs and ledges. The M3A3 Bradley tank operators probed the ground with a robotic arm. All was quiet and still for a few seconds.
"Shit! They're decoys, get the fuck out of he-" A glob of fire rained down from the top of the cliff. The M3A3 Bradley burst into flames. It was every soldier's nightmare: Ambush.
"Get out!" Reyes barked. "GO, GO GO!"
Patrick swung the door open, running as fast as his feet could carry him to any cover he could find. Moments later, the HMMWV he was sitting in shared the same fate as the M3A3, as did some of the other ones in the convoy. A rocket-propelled grenade tore into the Humvee, reducing it to a flaming pile of scrap metal.
Patrick stumbled to the ground after being hit with several shards of hot shrapnel, but his IOTV body armor remained true. Feeling a wave of heat run up his back, the Private First Class picked himself up and continued to flee from the blazing Humvee.
Cold-War era weaponry crackled off from the distance. PFC Wilcox watched in horror as his comrades, engulfed in flames, were set on fire themselves. They tried to roll around in the dirt, screaming in agony as they burned alive, but it wouldn’t snuff out the flames.
The survivors, as well as Wilcox, blind fired at their attackers in confusion. The Taliban insurgents used it to their advantage, randomly popping out to return fire.
PFC Wilcox dashed behind a pillar of rocks, his rifle spitting out a trail of spent 5.56mm shells. He put his back up against the rocks as cover, releasing his M4A1's empty magazine and slapping a new one in place. Frantic and pointless radio chatter made it so difficult to focus on the situation at hand, he had to mute his radio headset.
Wilcox grabbed his rifle, putting his eye up to the ACOG scope and aiming defensively. He was alone and separated from his convoy, there was no way to get to them without getting in the insurgents' line of fire. He poked his head out from behind the rock, and what he saw made his heart sink.
The soldiers in his Humvee lay burned and mangled, their eyes blankly staring ahead of them, their mouths wide open. Five corpses were scattered around and inside the still burning vehicles.
"No…" PFC Wilcox whispered to himself. He knew all of them. They were his friends. They had gone to school together, they had enlisted together. Most of them were barely nineteen or twenty years old, Wilcox himself was only nineteen. They had grown up together, fought together, trained together, laughed together.
And now, they died together.
It made the Private First Class sick to his stomach, feeling the contents of his stomach creep up his throat. He vomited a spray of half digested rations and foul liquid. The overwhelming scent of burnt human meat, as well as witnessing his best friends burn to death, was the most unspeakably revolting sensation he’d ever experienced.
"Wilcox, get your ass over here!" one of soldiers from his platoon screamed from their cover behind a still-burning Humvee.
Patrick flinched as bullets began to be sprayed in his direction, wiping leftover vomit off his lips. They impacted off the rock face behind him, spraying dust in his face. He withdrew his head back behind his cover.
"Wilcox, we'll cover you! You can make it, just go!" his convoy gave a steady stream of covering fire to the cliff tops.
"Wilcox, Now! GO!"
The PFC stood from his cover and fired his rifle. While the two sides exchanged fire, PFC Wilcox made a break for his convoy's cover. Halfway from his cover to his convoy, he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. It knocked him to the ground, and rooted him to the spot. Face down in the dirt clutching his shoulder and his rifle, the world seemed to slow down, the beating of his heart speeding up. He had never been shot before, but it burned, it burned, it burned.
This was it. He was going to die here today. Patrick kept his head face down, eyes squeezed shut, waiting for more bullets to tear through his flesh.
They never did. The young soldier felt himself sliding against the desert sand. He looked up; the commanding officer, as well as another soldier from his convoy, were dragging him to safety as soviet-era 7.62mm rounds sunk into the ground mere feet from them. PFC Wilcox let out a cry of pain after they dragged him behind the cover of a damaged HMMWV.
"Are you good?" the commanding officer, an intimidating African American, said with concern. "Hey, you're still with us. Snap out of it!"
The man shook Patrick out of shell shock.
Patrick could not even speak. He simply nodded. He still had good enough use of his arms; he could still aim a rifle. He could still fight. Patrick fired on any insurgent dumb enough to poke his head up. His rifle's recoil stung the wound in his shoulder, but he persisted. His efforts did not go unrewarded.
A head, wrapped in a turban, popped out of cover to try and make a brief shot at any of the US troops. Patrick placed his illuminated crosshair on its forehead. He exhaled and pulled the trigger.
The bullet hit its mark, and the Taliban insurgent flew backwards with the force of the round, blood splattering the wall of the canyon behind him.
The Private First Class continued assisting the convoy in delivering suppressing fire, until what sounded like a supersonic eagle screeched overhead.
"Hooah!" chanted several service members, just before the bombs made contact with the ground.
Whatever was at the top of the cliffs perished in an all-encompassing cloud of fire. It sent a rush of hot air down through the canyon, felt by all.
"All targets eliminated. Merry Christmas, boys, we're peacin’ out," crackled Patrick's radio.
His comrades cheered and hollered, but PFC Wilcox lay still and quiet. The convoy's medic pressed a rag dampened with a medical fluid onto his wound.
The faces of his friends felt like a burning coal in the front of his head. Their blank stares, jaws open, some still even on fire. Bloodcurdling screams rang in his ears, as if he was wearing headphones and set it to repeat. Soon enough, the thrums of helicopter blades became louder and louder.
"Enjoy your Purple Heart, private," the commanding officer slapped him on his good shoulder.
Patrick's mind was elsewhere.
The rider took a deep breath. His eyes felt sticky, it stung slightly to open them. His pupils dilated, having not seen light for a time, making the rider have to squint until his eyes adjusted.
He was in a white-painted room, obviously some sort of medical facility. The only source of light was a few windows. The floor was a synthetic, white-blue tile. A few potted plants and small trees sat in the corners of the room and upon end tables, next to a row of beds lined up against the wall. The rider was in one of these beds, but it seemed like one had been placed in front of it to extend the length, like these beds were made for something smaller than he.
"Ugh, I need a cigarette." It felt like the understatement of the century.
Struck by lightning, attacked by a manticore, and now waking up in a hospital? It was definitely going to be one of those days. The rider thought back to his hallucination of the flying pony. Maybe she really did get him help in time.
"No, I've just got brain damage, that's all," the rider reassured himself. "I'm just going crazy, no big deal."
The rider examined himself. His head was resting comfortably against a pillow.
Someone had undressed him. All his gear and clothing had been removed, except for his tattered and blood stained pants. At least they gave him that much respect.
His chest was heavily bandaged in a toga style. His entire lower gut was wrapped, and a strip of medical cloth wrapped around his left shoulder under his arm.
His left arm seemed to be in a hard-cast, secured by a long strip of cloth tied tightly enough to keep it on. His arm didn't feel broken, but it felt like a swarm of fire ants were eating away at his skin. He carefully removed the wrapping and took off the hard-cast. His skin was red and dry, and stung to the touch. It was a second degree burn; nothing too serious, but painful as hell. The biker discarded the hard-cast, it restricted his arm too much. He tied the bandage back around his burn.
His left leg was exposed. A pants leg had been rolled up, his knee and leg had been wrapped in gauze.
His breathing was clear and steady. The rider gave a sigh of relief, and looked up at the ceiling. Whoever had patched him up seemed to know what they were doing. For that matter, where was the doctor?
The biker groaned as he sat up in the bed. The room was empty. It was silent, except for a ticking clock at the other side of the room. His body felt stiff, like he had been lying there for some time.
The rider rose to his wobbly feet, getting a head rush from standing up too quickly. He clutched his head, straining to regain his balance. His vision cleared, and he slowly put one foot in front of the other.
Very stiff, but he had surprisingly good mobility after just having that nasty accident. Maybe someone here could shed light on what happened. He shuffled to a window. What he saw made his eyes widen.
There was a street outside, but everything was unnecessarily colorful and bubbly. Ponies, shades of all colors, bustled around the town square. He could see a marketplace off in the distance, as well as various shops and boutiques. It looked like a cartoon.
"Yep, I'm crazy. But at least I'm sane enough to know it," the rider thought, expecting to wake up from this dream any second now.
But he was awake. If he were passed out in a coma, the pain he felt wouldn’t seem so real. It was obvious: whatever happened when he was struck by lightning had brought him here. Perhaps this was death? No, it wasn’t death. If it was, he wouldn’t be injured. Or maybe that’s not how it works… Of course, for all he knew, this could be the afterlife. However, he felt very much alive.
This place seemed familiarly human, minus the humans. The rider stared through the glass in disbelief, his hands shaking in nicotine withdrawal. Finding a cigarette was going to have to wait. First, he just needed to talk to someone. Anyone.
"Oh, you’re awake!" a female voice cried.
The rider spun around, looking down at a white pony with a pink mane, a medical tiara affixed to her head. A red cross was printed on her flank.
He slapped himself in the face, a tingling discomfort resonating in his skin. The injured biker had finally come to terms with the fact he was not hallucinating.
"Um, hello there," Nurse Redheart grinned nervously. She took a step back. The biker was speechless, he continued blankly looking down at the white earth pony.
"I'm sure you're very confused about what's going on, but you're safe here. My name is Nurse Redheart, what's yours?"
The biker simply stared, completely lost in thought as his mind raced. It’s not like he’s never seen a horse before, but they spoke English here?
Nurse Readheart gulped, suddenly feeling a pang of regret for taking on this patient. It stood much taller than her, and was nothing like she'd ever seen before. Even though it had been out for sometime, it was awake now. She was utterly at this thing’s mercy.
She swallowed her fear and cleared her throat.
"Can you understand what I'm saying?"
The rider cleared his throat.
"Yes," his voice sounded shriveled up from disuse. "Yes, I-I can."
"So, your name?"
"Uh," the biker broke eye contact for a moment. "Patrick."
She held out her hoof and smiled.
Struck by lightning, apparently thrust into a parallel universe, nearly eaten alive, almost bleeding to death, and now face to face with a talking pony. How was he supposed to react?
For a moment he just stared, and then shook his head.
“Just chill,” the rider thought. “At least I’m alive.”
It was probably for the best he just lighten up.
"Sorry, I don't mean to be rude," he smiled, and shook her hoof. "Pleasure to meet you."
"Of course, but you really shouldn't be standing right now. Your body is still recovering, you should rest."
Patrick sat back down on the bed, as Nurse Readheart went and fetched his things. She left his boots, jacket, gloves, helmet, and the contents of his pockets in a neat pile on a nightstand next to his bed.
The pack of cigarettes he had in his pocket was destroyed. Submerged by rain, burned, and blood soaked, in that order. His wallet was singed and bloodstained, but intact. All of his credit cards had melted, however, his driver’s license survived.
Sitting in a Nylon holster was his Glock 23. In a side pocket of the holster, one full magazine sat untouched.
His jacket was heavily burned, torn, and bloodstained. Whatever heat he'd been exposed to appeared to have been mostly absorbed into his jacket and helmet. Speaking of his helmet, some of the plastic had melted on one side. It featured scratches and dings Patrick hadn't seen before.
Nurse Redheart had even washed his t-shirt and sewn the rip from the gash on his chest. It was slightly discolored, but wearable.
"Ms. Redheart?" Patrick called to her as she carried a tray with a glass of water and a bowl of soup over to him.
"Listen, I just wanted to say thanks."
"Oh, dear, it's nothing at all, really," she set the tray down on the table.
"No, really, I appreciate everything. Thank you," he gave her the most sincere smile he could manage.
"It was nothing, really, happy to help," she bashfully replied. For some reason, it was always hard for her to accept credit when she actually deserved it, and so easy to accept it when she didn't. At least she wouldn't have to be afraid of this thing anymore.
"How long have I been out?" Patrick took a spoonful of soup.
"It's been about three days now," she replied.
"What?" Patrick sat up, flipping the tray over. The bowl of soup exploded into a mess of goop on the floor among broken shards of ceramic.
"Uh, sorry about that," Patrick shrugged.
Nurse Redheart simply smiled, and fetched a rag and broom. Patrick stood out of the short bed, and took the rag from her.
"Really, it's fine. Besides, you really shouldn't be standing, or bending-"
Patrick bent over to wipe up the mess and cringed. A wave of pain shot up from his chest, causing him to clutch the bandages wrapped around him and grit his teeth.
"-Over," Nurse Redheart finished her sentence.
Reluctantly, Patrick lay in the bed as he let the white earth pony clean up his mess and make him another bowl of soup. She set a tray with a bowl of identical substance down on his lap.
"Just," she paused. "Try to be more careful this time, okay?"
"I'll try," Patrick blew on a spoonful of hot soup. There was no meat to speak of, it was all vegan. He wasn't sure if he'd even had anything to eat at all over the past few days. Maybe they had force fed him or something while he was out, he sure didn't feel malnourished. But he was hungry at the moment, so he wolfed it down quick.
Nurse Readheart had left the room for a moment, and returned in another.
"Patrick?"
Patrick was going through his things, examining what survived and what didn’t. He took note of the damage caused to a peculiar, heart-shaped medal, tucking it back in his pocket. He remembered throwing his phone into the woods; probably not the best idea, even though it wasn’t working at the time.
"Yeah?" he sat up in the bed.
"I don't mean to interrupt anything, but you have some visitors."
"Visitors?" Patrick rose up in the bed. He thought back to lying on the ground in the Everfree forest in a crippled stupor. It was all a blur.
Six ponies piled into the long, spacious room. A purple unicorn, the same cyan-colored flying pony he had seen before, an orange earth pony, a yellow pegasus with folded wings and a pink mane, a white unicorn with a meticulously maintained purple mane, and a bubbly-looking pink pony with an equally pink curly mane and tail.
He was honestly a bit irritated at the moment, having not had a cigarette in days, and being through this entire ordeal. But, he should at least show them some gratitude.
It was quiet for a few seconds, until finally Rainbow Dash spoke up.
"So, um," she dug at the floor shyly with her hoof. "Doing any better?"
He stared again for a moment, still trying to process everything that was laid before him.
"Y-Yeah," he tried his best to smile the same smile he gave Nurse Redheart.
"Listen I," Patrick struggled for words. "I don't really know what to say. Just, thank you, for everything."
"Oh sugarcube, don't you worry about it none," Applejack came closer to the bed, after seeing he was friendly.
"No," it seemed like everyone was just trying to be modest in this universe. "Thank you, I really mean it. I should be dead right now. Listen, if there's anything I can ever-"
"Well, except for me, I wasn't there," Pinkie Pie interrupted, and started bouncing around the room, and glared at Twilight. "But sooomepony didn't feel like including me in on it!"
"We said we were sorry," Rarity huffed. "We didn't really have enough time to come get you, anyway."
"Poor dear," Rarity glanced towards Patrick.
"So, what's your name?" Twilight asked the alien creature lying in the hospital bed in front of her.
"Patrick," he smiled. "Pleasure to meet you all." He put on a happy face, but inside, he still had no idea what was going, or why he was here. And it was driving him absolutely nuts. He needed answers, and soon, or else he was afraid his head would explode.
"-And this is Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof to the pegasus, shyly hiding behind Twilight. He must have spaced out while they were introducing themselves to him. Speaking of Twilight, she seemed to have a certain gaze, different from her friends’ in regards to Patrick. She appeared to be studying him.
"Is something wrong?" Patrick asked Twilight Sparkle.
"Hm?" she blinked. "No, nothing at all." Twilight was deep in thought. In all the books of legendary creatures she’d read, he resembled nothing she had ever read about in her studies. It was almost like he just didn't belong here.
"So, what are you, if you don't mind me asking?"
"I'm a human," Patrick said proudly.
"A what, now?" Applejack stared blankly.
"Oooh, nice headgear, Mr. Hyoo-Mann," Pinkie Pie made a series of funny faces into the reflection of the visor on his helmet.
"Blah-blah-blah-blah." She stuck her tongue out repeatedly and blew a raspberry.
"Where are you from?" Twilight asked.
"Atlanta," he replied nonchalantly.
"Where in Equestria is that?" Rarity questioned. All eyes were on Patrick now.
The only reason he replied "Atlanta" so quickly, was because it was just his instinctive reply that he'd answer whenever someone asked where he was from.
"It's uh," Patrick chose his words carefully. " A city. Very far away from here, probably."
"Probably? Do you even know where you are?" Twilight made eye contact with him.
"No…" he sighed.
"Have you ever seen a pony before?" Rainbow Dash raised.
"I have no idea what I'm doing here, or where I am," Patrick replied.
"So, y’all just burst out of a lightning bolt, and here you were?" Applejack raised an eyebrow suspiciously.
"I-" Patrick stuttered, feeling a bit intimidated by the way Applejack asked. "Listen, I don't know. It was storming really bad, I think I might have been struck by lightning. The next thing I knew, I was in some weird forest burnt to a crisp in a puddle of my own blood. I was just trying to ride away from- Wait, where's my bike?"
Patrick stood up out of the bed quickly, awkwardly slipping his shirt on over all his bandages. It was important to him to make sure his bike was okay. It was more important, because he had just bought a carton of cigarettes before riding that night and left them in the compartment under the seat. He tied a grocery bag around it, so they couldn't have gotten wet. Maybe they'd be okay.
"Woah there," Applejack stood in front of the doorway, suddenly noticing how tall he was.
Fluttershy squeaked and ducked behind Twilight and Rarity after seeing his height.
"How's the weather up there?" Pinkie Pie looked up at Patrick, his head less than a foot from the ceiling.
"I'm sorry," Patrick paid it no mind, his mind on popping off the passenger seat and retrieving his cancer sticks. "My bike, where is it?"
"Your what?" Twilight answered.
"My bike! I know it came here with me. The black thing, with two wheels. Does that ring any bells?"
"Oh, that!" Rarity stepped in.
"Yes, dear. Don't worry about a thing, we brought it into town with you."
"Thank god," Patrick sighed. "Where is it?"
"We left it outside. I really don't think you should go out there at the moment, though."
"Why not?" Patrick said.
"Well, we wouldn't really want you to cause an uproar, we have a feeling some ponies might be afraid of you," Twilight gestured to Fluttershy, who was still hiding behind Rarity.
"Patrick, I don't mean to be rude, but, um, well," Fluttershy tried to form a sentence. "Was it you that killed that manticore back in the Everfree Forest?"
He wasn't really prepared to answer that. All the ponies in the room looked at him questioningly. He wanted to lie, but what was he supposed to say?
"…Yes," he admitted. "But... I couldn't move. It was about to kill me, I had no choice."
"How in tarnation did you kill a manticore, if you were already hurt so bad from that lightning?" Applejack asked.
He carefully withdrew the Glock 23 from its holster, making sure the safety was on.
“This is a weapon from where I come from.”
Fluttershy took a few steps back, hiding behind Rarity again.
"Fluttershy, he's not going to hurt you," Rarity cooed.
Patrick could tell he was scaring her terribly. She tried to stand tall and look him in the eye, but she just couldn't. So he had to go to her.
Patrick set the Glock 23 back in the holster. He bent down, shrugging off a trickle of pain under his bandages, and held out his hand.
"I know I'm kind of scary looking," he joked. "But I'm not such a bad guy after you get to know me."
Fluttershy stared at his outstretched hand, and his seemingly sincere smile. She gently shook his hand, smiling a bit to her self, but unable to make eye contact.
Patrick sat on his hospital bed, bragging to Rainbow Dash about his bike. A fellow speed demon herself, she listened intently.
Nurse Redheart tapped Twilight's shoulder. "Twilight, a word?"
"What's going on, Nurse Redheart?" Twilight turned around.
"Well, I don't really know how to say this, but…" She said. "He can't really stay here forever. I'll make sure to check up on his health every now and then, but I have other patients I need to take care of, too."
"So, what are you saying?" Twilight looked on, as Rainbow Dash tried showing off her moves to Patrick in this small space, knocking a potted plant to the floor and smashing it.
"Sorry about that," Rainbow dash landed as Rarity and Applejack glared at her.
"Well, I think maybe you should find him another place to stay. He says he thinks he came from another universe. Maybe, until you can figure out how to send him back to where he came from, you should find him a place."
"But won't the other ponies be scared of him? Don't you remember how they reacted to Zecora?" Twilight whispered.
"They'll have to get used to him some time or another. Besides, he seems friendly."
Twilight guessed that Nurse Redheart was right. She had a lot of extra space in the library, she could find a place for him. It might even help having him around if she was going to try and find a way for him to get home.
"Patrick?" Twilight approached him.
"Hey, what's up?" Patrick responded.
"Would you like to stay with me, for as long as you're here? I live in the
Ponyville library. Maybe we can find a way to send you home.”
"Wow," Patrick was honestly touched at the offer, but felt a polite urge to decline. Still, where was he supposed to go?
"Sure, I’d be honored.”
"Hey, Patrick!" Pinkie Pie bounced up and down with a singsong voice. "Now that you're staying in Ponyville, why don't we have a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party for you?"
"Oh, Pinkie Pie, I really don't think-" Rarity trailed off.
"Um, I don't think that's really the best idea," Patrick searched for a reason why he could turn it down. "I mean, I still hurt from-"
"You silly filly, everyone loves a good party! In fact, I'm going to go plan it out right now, bye!" Pinkie pie zipped out of the nurse's office in a pink blur.
Patrick blinked, and nervously sighed.
"Wait, she wasn't serious, was she?"
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Molotov Cocktail
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1029
| 4 |
Big Macintosh,Derpy Hooves,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Nightmare Moon,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Zecora,Human,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Whiplash
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A motorcyclist is struck by lightning. He awakens on the verge of death in a very strange land.
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complete
| 751 | 52 |
<p>When a motorcyclist is struck by lightning, it sends him to a strange world in a seemingly unexplainable turn of events. With no one able to offer him the answers to his questions, he settles in for the long haul, and looks for a way home. </p><p>Lost, injured, and still reeling in the post-traumatic stress of military service, as well as the criminal underground of street racing, he struggles to maintain his very sanity. Little does he know, the friendships that made life worth living for him would be the key to stopping an ancient enemy bent on anarchy and genocide.</p>
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teen
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2012-02-02T18:26:20+00:00
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2012-02-02T18:26:20+00:00
| 13,170 |
May 10, 2014
10:56 AM
US Army CPL Patrick Wilcox (discharged)
First Bapitist Church Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Corporal Patrick Wilcox sat in the second to front row of pews in the gargantuan, elegant chapel. It was the third day of his honorable discharge, and it wasn't really going how he'd planned to be spending it. At the very last minute, Patrick received a funeral invitation, before even reaching the United States.
It was difficult to assimilate back into society. He honestly felt like he had no place.
After three months and two surgeries, his shoulder seemed to be greatly improving. His post-combat psychological exam diagnosed him with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; or PTSD; depression, and anxiety, after his frequent anxiety attacks since ending his service.
He would often break down, or cringe at loud noises. Every night, his slumber was greeted by horrifying nightmares, but he never even told the military psych about it. He was ashamed and absolutely heartbroken after everything he’d endured.
The sanctuary was packed. It was so full that people had to lean against the wall after no seating was left. After hearing that five of their soldiers had been killed in a single day, the city of Atlanta had come to pay its respects. Many outside sang hymns and held candles. Police had to direct traffic, and give parking tickets to those who decided to park on the grass.
Patrick was among the few dozen or so in uniform present. He didn't recognize the other brass, probably just some officers the army sent for funeral purposes, as well as the Brigadier General.
CPL Wilcox wore a tan beret over his head, with a blue-white starred patch sewn to the front, as well as his formal military attire. His purple heart, along with a few other medals, lay pinned to his chest.
A somber, piano and organ tune drowned out light conversation. A projector displayed five names onto a white screen, hanging from the ceiling on each side of the room.
"Private First Class Ryan Nguyen"
"Private First Class Joseph Campbell"
"Specialist Jose Reyes"
"Specialist Louis Armistead"
"Private First Class Spencer Green"
Across the pulpit, five coffins draped with American flags had respectfully been placed.
Patrick was numb. He sat there, not even thinking, not feeling anything, staring straight ahead. It was a scary thing, to have no emotion, and no thought. He felt dead, burnt out, like he was all used up.
It was well known that he and his friends had enlisted together, which is why their parents had contacted the Army and asked if it would be possible for a joint-funeral. The military granted their request.
"Patrick?"
Patrick rose up. It was Jose's father, Mr. Reyes.
"Patrick, thank you," he shook his hand. Mr. Reyes’s eyes were red.
"Thank you for coming. It means a lot to us, and all the other parents that you'd show up."
Patrick nodded, but remained silent. He didn't know what to say. He was only here to say good-bye.
"Listen," Mr. Reyes spoke tonelessly. "The other parents and I have been talking. We were wondering if you'd speak today. It would mean a lot to us, since you were the last person with them before…” Mr. Reyes paused.
“If it's just too much, I understand."
Patrick made eye contact with Mr. Reyes, who looked longingly into his own. He couldn't say no.
Patrick nodded, but remained silent.
"Thank you," Mr. Reyes smiled, and returned to his seat with his wife.
Patrick caught a lot of stares from around the room. He also noticed in the balcony, there were TV cameras sporting the logo of a local news channel. He didn't realize that the funeral was going to be broadcasted live. Now, he was nervous.
Still, he'd speak for them. He wasn't really prepared, since the ambush, he barely said anything to anybody. CPL Wilcox’s combat shock wore off long ago, but he definitely felt different since then.
After a long service, the preacher stepped down, and allowed the parents and relatives to begin speaking. Patrick hoped he was going to go last, so he could continue to think about what he was going to say while people gave their testimonies.
Patrick couldn’t come up with some heartwarming testimony on the spot. He was too distraught; maybe he should just speak from the heart. Patrick felt his eyes welling up, and wiped them on his sleeve.
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
Finally, Mr. Reyes stepped onto the pulpit, and gave his testimony of his son, SPC Jose Reyes. He recalled all of the boys, including Patrick, growing up together, and having parties at their house. He smiled as he told the story of how Jose dented his truck, and tried to hide it.
There was a tug on Patrick's shoulder. He spun around.
"Patrick," Mrs. Reyes whispered. "After he's done, we'd like you to go up."
He nodded to her, and as Mr. Reyes walked down from the podium, Patrick passed by him in the aisle. He felt self-conscious; all the eyes in the room were on the young man wearing the military uniform. The TV cameras made him nervous, but he needed to be strong.
Patrick took a second to gaze at the flag-draped coffins, and stepped up to the pulpit. A microphone sat built in to the wooden, cross-shaped podium.
He was quiet for a few moments, determined not to shed a single tear, especially with cameras rolling, and a church full of people.
Patrick cleared his throat.
"My name is Corporal Patrick Wilcox," he said, a solemn expression on his face.
"I was in the same unit as the men in these coffins." The entire room was rooted to their seats, and listened intently to the young soldier standing at the podium. He couldn't have been more than nineteen or twenty years old. His face was tired and his eyes reeked of battle fatigue.
Patrick looked at the other uniformed men, sitting in the balcony. They had their arms crossed, and appeared to be higher rank than him. One even shook his head at Patrick subtly. The Corporal didn't really care if he was cleared to talk about it or not.
Patrick briefly ran through the ambush. There was nothing anyone could have done, it had just happened. He explained how Jose was even sitting behind him in the same vehicle.
He tried to end it with a happier note, about how he and his friends had grown up together.
"-And then Ryan thought it would be a good idea to push the thing out the window, which only made everything a lot worse. So now, Spencer’s freaking out. Louis and Mike are still mopping up the keg of beer, Joe and Jose are still passed out on the floor. And then Jose’s dad shows up."
He got a slight chuckle from the crowd, some wiping tears from their faces.
Patrick himself was on the verge of exploding into tears. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up. It was time to wrap up his testimony, anyway.
"I grew up with these men," Patrick sighed. "We grew up together, we went to school together, a-and we e-enlisted t-together. I-"
And then, it happened.
In front of rolling TV cameras and a church full of people, rivers of tears ran down the young soldier's face.
He stopped speaking, and let out a low sigh, uncontrollably weeping. Corporal Wilcox stared off into the crowd, watching the expressions of congregation change as the tears flowed freely from his eyes. He didn't care who saw anymore. He didn't care if an entire city of people saw him cry like a baby.
Patrick turned around, and put his head face down on one of the flag draped coffins. The room was absolutely silent, minus the sobs of a soldier mourning the deaths of his comrades. His friends.
His brothers.
“Patrick, you there?” somepony waved a blue hoof infront of his face. “Hey motorcycle boy, what are you, lost in memories?” Rainbow Dash crossed her arms as she hovered above the ground.
“Sorry,” Patrick shook his head. “Just… Thinking about something.” Patrick took one last drag of his cigarette and tossed the filter away.
The buzz he felt was incredible. Three days without a cigarette was driving him mad. When he examined his bike and popped the seat off, he nearly fainted.
Patrick nearly jumped for joy right then and tore into the package, withdrawing a cigarette and his lighter quickly, while the Rainbow Dash and her friends eyed him strangely, like he was a meth-addict getting his fix. His carton of 20 packs; 400 cigarettes; was dry, and still wrapped in the package. If he was stuck here forever though, he was merely delaying the inevitable withdrawal he’d have to go through.
Unfortunately tobacco, nor alcohol, seemed to exist in this strange equestrian fairy world. He would quit if it really came down to it. Or become a tobacco farmer. Whichever came first.
“Alright, Patrick, you might get some weird looks but,” Twilight shrugged. “Just ignore them. I promise, everyone will warm up to you eventually.”
“If you say so,” Patrick shrugged. He was wearing his tattered and blood stained jacket and clothing, as well as his boots. His helmet and gloves were tied to his helmet lock on the side of his bike.
His motorcycle would still run, although it had accumulated a thin layer of dust and pollen from being outside for three days.
The fuel gauge indicated he had three quarters of his fuel tank left. With a five gallon tank, and at fifty miles per gallon, that gave him…
Approximately two hundred miles before he’d run out of gas. He wasn’t even sure if gasoline, let alone any kind of fuel, existed in this universe. They seemed to have technology, but it was very limited. “Magic” seemed to be their primary source of anything here. Fluttershy had explained how ponies had to take care of nature, control the weather, and even wake the animals from hibernation in the spring.
He wasn’t sure how long he was supposed to be here, so he figured it would probably be best not to waste any unnecessary gas. Even then, his bike had street tires; most of the roads were just dirt paths. In his current condition though, he was not fit to ride anywhere long, for that matter.
Patrick had learned he’s in a land, or a planet, or a country, or…
Whatever it was, it was called Equestria, ruled by two princesses who controlled the sun and moon. All of its inhabitants were either ponies, or something out of a storybook.
Patrick mounted his bike and turned the key, the digital instruments coming to life. He wiped a smudge of pollen off of the gas tank, looking at his own reflection in it. There were only a few things in this world that really gave him peace: Riding his bike, working on bikes, racing bikes, and a constant stream of nicotine in his bloodstream.
“Just follow Rainbow Dash, and keep moving. Don’t get offended if anyone is scared of you,” Rarity patted Patrick on the shoulder.
“I’ll be fine,” Patrick shrugged. “That is, if Dash won’t be going too slow.”
“Oh yeah?” Rainbow Dash hovered in mid air. “Try and keep up.”
She shot off into Ponyville like a bullet from a rifle.
“You’d better follow her to the library, I’ll meet you there,” Twilight said.
Patrick pressed the starter, the spark plugs chirped and started the engine. Patrick gave it a good rev, the noise coming from the exhaust scared birds out of the trees and making Fluttershy, Applejack, Twilight, and Rarity recoil. He rolled out of the side yard onto the front street of the town square in the vague direction Rainbow Dash went.
The road was cobblestone. It was a little bumpy, but his tires easily found grip. Patrick had reset his trip odometer to zero so he could keep track of his mileage, until he could figure out some other way to power his motorcycle. For all he knew though, he could be going home tonight if he and Twilight could find a way.
Each time he used his fingers, whatever skin was left underneath his bandages writhed in agony. It was difficult to lean forward with the bike’s regular sitting position, he found himself holding himself up awkwardly with the handlebars to ease stress on the wounds across his chest. He rode calmly, taking each turn as gently as possible.
A deep, throaty moan escaped from his exhaust pipes. He suddenly wished his motorcycle hadn’t been so loud. He now hated himself now for installing that performance exhaust, it wasn’t really going to make him any less intimidating.
Ponies stopped what they were doing and stared in fear, rooted to the spot. Some grabbed their foals and ran inside. Others just watched. Ponyville had never seen anything like the biker or his metal and fiberglass steed.
Patrick Felt like a cowboy riding into the Wild West. It made him self-conscious, but he pressed on, steering around market stands and frightened ponies, as he had to ride close to them. The buildings and houses about the town square reminded him of a Victorian village. The roar of his engine, even while traveling at a safe speed, echoed across Ponyville.
He caught a glimpse of Rainbow Dash waiting for him two stories in the air down a street, crossing her arms and pretending to tap her foot as if he was taking too long. Patrick felt many eyes on him, but just stared straight ahead. It was difficult riding in such an injured state, even more difficult when everyone is watching your every move.
Out of seemingly nowhere, a young filly dashed into his path of travel, blinded by his running headlights. As if they were extensions of his body, Patrick pulled in the clutch and put pressure on both brakes. His tires squealed, leaving a thick, black line on the cobblestone ground.
She sat there, blinded by the headlight in fear, looking up at the rider. She was shaking.
A gray pegasus pony with bubbles on her flank broke towards the motorcyclist and the small, gray filly. She glared at Patrick, and then scooped up the small filly in her arms and flew off.
Patrick looked around, some ponies murmuring to themselves or shaking their heads. Yeah, his first visit to the town he might be stuck forever in, and it was going just swimmingly.
Rainbow Dash motioned him forward.
“Come on!” she called to him.
No one was really paying any attention to Rainbow Dash, the entire city of Ponyville seemed to be glaring at Patrick right now. What was it with everyone here and glaring, anyway?
Patrick repressed whatever thoughts he had about the situation, it would have to wait until later. He released the clutch and slowly gained speed as Rainbow Dash led him to the library.
The Ponyville library was a giant building carved into a tree. He coasted his bike onto the grass and shifted into neutral, putting down his kickstand and removing the key as he did so.
“Well, that could have gone better,” Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her head apprehensively.
Patrick didn’t even want to think about what just happened.
“I almost hit a kid. Did you see the way her mother looked at me? This is going to go over well.”
“No, I’m sure- Well, no… Maybe… Let’s just go see if Twilight’s home yet,” Rainbow Dash muttered.
Rainbow Dash and Patrick opened the door, finding it to be dark and empty.
“Hello?” Rainbow Dash called, her voice echoing into the abyss. She and Patrick took another step into the giant tree house.
“SURPRISE!”
Patrick nearly jumped out of his skin as the lights flicked on, causing him to drop his helmet from his hands.
His immediate urge was to withdraw his weapon from its holster, but he quickly repressed it.
All around the library, there were party decorations hung on the shelves, and a bowl of punch, which Patrick didn’t doubt was non-alcoholic, sat on a table with a pyramid of glass cups adjacent.
There were many ponies there, as well. Two Pegasi were floating in mid-air, holding a banner bearing “Welcome to Ponyville, Patrick!”
“So, what do you think?” Pinkie Pie beamed.
“Well, I’m just,” Patrick looked for words as he picked up his helmet. “Kind of, surprised.”
“Silly, that’s why it’s called a ‘surprise’ party. It wouldn’t be a surprise party if you weren’t surprised, I mean you should have seen how surprised you were!”
Patrick studied the faces of the ponies around him. They clearly didn’t know what he was, but they were smiling.
“Lighten up, Patrick. If you want to make up for almost running over that filly,” Rainbow Dash whispered in his ear.
After everything that had happened, the last thing he wanted was a party in his honor, at least at the moment. But, he didn’t want to give off a bad impression, so Patrick forced himself to smile and partake in the festivities, suddenly enjoying being the main center of attention here.
This wasn’t really his idea of a party, but it was his welcome party. He had just survived a brutal accident and just got out of a hospital, maybe just kicking back and enjoying himself for a minute or two wouldn’t hurt. He’d have his answers soon. Hopefully.
Patrick took off his jacket, exposing some of his bandages.
Many of the ponies were now very interested to hear about his near death experience, and surviving after being confronted by a manticore.
Patrick was downed a fifth cup of punch, praying for a beer, a shot, a drop of alcohol sometime soon. A large, red stallion approached him, a wooden yoke around his neck.
“Ya’ look like ya’ took a beatin’,” Big Macintosh spoke blandly in a southern accent. “Mighty nice, whatever that thing is outside. We heard y’all comin’ from a mile a way.”
“It’s called a motorcycle,” Patrick replied, noticing a green apple on his flank. “And I’m fine, uh, thanks.”
“So, um,” Patrick tried to make conversation. “What do you do?”
“Ah work the apple farm round these parts, been in mah’ family for generations.”
“Sounds like a lot of work,” Patrick took a sip from the cup, just trying to keep some sort of conversation going.
“Eee-yup,” Big Macintosh looked as though he was staring straight through Patrick. “Applebuck ten acres everyday from dawn til’ dusk, ‘cept today, when Pinkie Pie comes a runnin’ over with a party invite.”
“I really had no idea this was going to happen,” Patrick shrugged.
“A party’s a party,” Big Mac shrugged. “So, what do y’all do?”
“What?”
“What did ya’ do, before y’all came here?”
“I-uh…” Patrick stopped. A flash of light seemed to perforate his vision for a millisecond, a hot sun beating down from the sky. He could hear voices screaming at him. Rapid, metallic ‘bangs’ seemed to echo in his ears.
“You alright?” Big Mac tilted his head in confusion.
“Y-yeah,” Patrick collected himself and cleared his throat.
Not that he was ashamed of his past, but from what he’s observed about this world’s society so far, he wasn’t sure if he’d receive a warm reception if they knew he was a veteran. For now, it was probably for the best he just keep that all to himself. He could be leaving as soon as Twilight gets back, anyway.
“I, uh,” he tried to think of something. “I worked at a motorcycle shop. I repaired broken-down bikes. Nothing big, I never really did end up making it to college or anything.”
“What in tarnation is this?” Applejack butted into the conversation. “Ah didn’t think Pinkie Pie could pull a hoedown together this fast!”
“Where’s Twilight?” Patrick asked. “She’s supposed to try and help me find a way home.”
“She’ll be here any minute now,” Applejack answered, turning to her big brother.
“Ah’m surprised to see y’all leave the farm for once,” she jeered.
“Ah’m surprised Ah didn’t see you buckin’ in the fields today,” Big Macintosh replied in a mellow tone.
“Now, what’s that supposed ta’ mean?”
“Uh, nothin’, Ah was just-“
Patrick snuck away from the bickering siblings and the party, but only for five minutes, to smoke a cigarette. Each one he smoked, it made him eerily aware of how many he had in stock.
“Okay, I’ll smoke five a day,” Patrick decided. “And I’ve got twenty packs, so that’ll last me for a while.”
Patrick flicked his Marlboro Red and let the ash drift off the balcony.
“Maybe not five, maybe more like six. Or seven. Or-“ Patrick’s mind ran, suddenly remembering he was addicted. An addicted mind would not be able to contain any limits, but it still controlled his stress. If only he could just control those nightmares he seemed to always be having. PTSD is a cruel mistress.
Patrick tossed the short off the balcony window, and turned face to face with a small, purple dragon, standing upright, recoiling slightly.
“Sorry, we didn’t mean to scare you,” Twilight apologized.
Patrick and the dragon looked each other up and down.
“Woah,” Spike gazed up at Patrick’s height. “Get a load of this thing, Twilight.”
“Spike, that’s enough. Patrick, this is Spike. He’s a friend of mine and lives here at the library with me.”
“Hey, nice to meet you, little guy!” Patrick held out his hand, but the miniscule dragon crossed his arms.
“Little guy?” Spike grumbled, and rolled his eyes.
“Oh, I-“ Patrick stammered.
“I was just going to bed anyway. Have fun at your party,” Spike rolled his eyes and grabbed his blanket, yawning as he crawled up the stairs.
“What did I-“ Patrick started, but then just gave up speaking.
“Spike is a little,” Twilight paused. “Sensitive, about his height. He’s just a baby dragon, though. He can be a little immature at times.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Patrick sighed, as Twilight led him back down the stairs to the party.
“So, did you have anything to do with this?” Patrick asked.
“No, I’m just as surprised as you are,” Twilight remarked. “But that’s Pinkie Pie for you, she’s Ponyville’s personal party mare. Even her cutie mark is party-related.”
“Her what?” Patrick stared at the unicorn.
“What, a cutie mark?” Twilight motioned to her flank, an intricate star pattern imprinted there.
“It appears when a pony finds their special talent. Mine is magic, and Pinkie’s is, well, parties.”
“Cutie marks?” Patrick grimaced. What kind of storybook world was this? Everything seemed to be a rip off of his universe.
It still irritated him that he never got the answers he was looking for, particularly how he could be struck by lightning and transported to “Ponyville.” He expressed his concerns to Twilight before they re-entered the party.
“We’ll look for a way to send you back tomorrow, I promise. Until then, maybe you should just enjoy yourself,” Twilight recounted the days where she was too high-strung to ever go to a party, particularly during her arrival to Ponyville.
For the moment, Patrick put on a mask. He played out the party and sincerely thanked each and every pony for making him feel so welcome, and made sure Pinkie Pie knew how grateful he was for the welcome party.
“So long Mr. Hyoo-mann!” Pinkie Pie bounced along the road back into Ponyville.
Patrick waved as Twilight shut the door with her magic, and gave a sigh of relief.
Soon enough, Patrick found himself leaning off the edge of the same balcony, smoking another cigarette.
“Mind if I join you?” Twilight approached him, towing a small chair with her magic.
“Not at all,” he exhaled a cloud of smoke, inadvertently causing Twilight to cough.
“What are those things? They smell terrible,” Twilight coughed. Patrick outted his cigarette by rolling the ember out, and slid it back in his pack. He always thought it was terribly rude to smoke in someone’s home or around non-smokers. He’d just have to go outside the library from now on if he was going to smoke.
“Uh, cigarettes,” he respectfully put his lighter and pack of cigarettes away.
“How could you enjoy something like that?” Twilight argued. “It just seems so… Unhealthy, to be breathing in smoke all the time.”
“Some people do it to look cool. Some people do it to relieve stress,” Patrick answered, studying the strange constellations in the sky.
“Hey Patrick?” Twilight broke the silence.
“Yes?”
“What’s this?” Twilight levitated a small, heart-shaped medal over to Patrick’s eye level.
“Hey, where did you get this? That’s mine!” Patrick snatched it from the air, taking good notice of how the lightning and his blood had worn the once pristine Purple Heart.
“Sorry,” Twilight’s ears lowered. “It fell out of your jacket, back at Nurse Redheart’s clinic. Rarity read the inscription on the back, but she wouldn’t tell any of us what it said and slipped it back in your pocket. I was curious, so I just kind of…”
“Stole it?” Patrick glared at her. He was very protective about that medal since he’d received it. He always carried it on him, no matter where he went.
“Sorry, I really didn’t mean anything by it,” Twilight replied. “I just wanted to see what it said.”
Patrick just looked up at the stars, hoping he wasn’t about to be asked to remember anything he had tried to forget.
“For military merit,” Twilight read the inscription as she levitated it up to her face.
“PFC Patrick Wilcox, United States Army?” Twilight looked at the medal, and then back to Patrick.
“Patrick, what did you do before you came here?”
He closed his eyes. No, he wasn’t about to recall anything from that day. It just wasn’t going to happen.
When suddenly, he was running again. Running from a blazing humvee. Looking at Jose’s dead man’s gaze, and the rest of his friends’ bodies littering the ground, still burning. Dust scraping against his face as bullets impacted the rocks mere inches from him.
He was shot in the shoulder again. He was dragged against the desert sand again. He fired his rifle at the enemy again.
“Patrick?” Twilight waved a hoof in front of his face. “Hello?”
Patrick blinked.
“You’ve just been kind of sitting there for the past few minutes, are you alright?”
“Y-yeah,” Patrick croaked. “F-Fine. I think I’m going to go to bed.”
“Was it something I said about that medal?” Twilight’s tone sympathetic.
“Yes. And I’d appreciate it if you never asked me about it again. Good talking to you,” Patrick hated to end the night on a sour note, but he was sure he’d be having nightmares now.
Twilight watched as the human curled up on the floor with a blanket and pillow. She insisted he could sleep in her bed, but he wouldn’t allow her to give it up for him.
She flipped through a few books of spells under candlelight, trying to find anything on what could bring Patrick here, and how to send him back. If she could just somehow examine the magic in that lightning bolt, it would be a snap.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t there when the lightning struck. As she flipped through the pages, she found herself dwelling more and more on what Patrick had said before he went to bed. After she pulled out that medal, he literally froze, staring off into space, for several minutes.
Twilight closed her book and climbed the stairs to her bedroom, Spike snoring peacefully. She lifted the covers with her magic and gently nestled into bed, looking at the full moon out the window.
There was plenty of time and plenty of books they could go through. She was confident she could eventually find out what brought that “human” here. But tomorrow, she would have to write Princess Celestia for help.
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Molotov Cocktail
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1029
| 5 |
Big Macintosh,Derpy Hooves,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Nightmare Moon,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Zecora,Human,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Whiplash
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A motorcyclist is struck by lightning. He awakens on the verge of death in a very strange land.
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complete
| 751 | 52 |
<p>When a motorcyclist is struck by lightning, it sends him to a strange world in a seemingly unexplainable turn of events. With no one able to offer him the answers to his questions, he settles in for the long haul, and looks for a way home. </p><p>Lost, injured, and still reeling in the post-traumatic stress of military service, as well as the criminal underground of street racing, he struggles to maintain his very sanity. Little does he know, the friendships that made life worth living for him would be the key to stopping an ancient enemy bent on anarchy and genocide.</p>
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teen
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2012-01-20T21:02:07+00:00
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2012-01-20T21:02:07+00:00
| 12,720 |
September 11, 2015
Atlanta, Georgia
12:03 AM
A hushed, somber wind blew across the empty streets of Atlanta. From the sky, it was a brilliant display of lights, a shimmering diamond on the face of the earth.
The late nights brought drunk drivers, muggings, car jackings, and robberies undercover of darkness and inconvenient timing. A lone patrol car sat still and lifeless, a faint light emerging from a glowing rectangle inside. Its lone occupant played solitaire on a built-in laptop.
It was a slow night, only a few arrests had been made since the sun went down. The officer was too busy working on beating the computer that he wasn’t able to look up in time. A two-wheeled blur raced across town, running red light after red light with no intention of stopping.
The officer glanced up from his computer.
“I didn’t see anything,” he shrugged, dragging his cards from one deck to the next.
The rider of that two-wheeled blur was determined to make it to his destination while breaking every traffic law possible.
The squeals of tires and roars of engines destroyed the silence Atlanta’s industrial district was so used to at this hour. During the day, it was bustling with commercial activity. But after the sun went down, not a soul was present. Much to the delight of Atlanta’s street racing community.
Street racers used to be just a public nuisance, but recent shootings between crews, one even taking the life of a police officer, had changed the city’s attitude. All around the Atlanta, the number of racers and stunters was shrinking and shrinking. Not just motorcycles, but those who raced cars, as well.
A black sport bike, its rider shrouded in equally black gear, tore rapidly through the warehouse district. The rider was able to see the embers of cigarettes, as well as the presence of small brake lights and headlights, at the end of a concrete field. This was definitely the right place.
As was customary for those approaching the race spots, he rode to the side so as to keep out of any racers’ way. Two drag-racing blurs whizzed past him, speeding towards the other end of the abandoned parking lot.
Crews gathered in several spots on their makeshift racetrack, congregated around their bikes. The racers eyed the approaching headlights apprehensively. This unknown rider was alone; it wasn’t often that a racer showed up by themselves, and for good reason. Without the presence of a crew backing them up, it made them a prime target for being stripped of their cash. However, this rider was obviously prepared for that, brandishing a weapon on his hip. He was not the only one at this spot that was packing.
The rider slowly brought his bike to a stop and put his foot down, removing his helmet. His bike looked brand-new, he was probably just some wannabe. The other racers paid him no mind as he lit a fresh cigarette.
The crews were situated all around him. Some sat on their bikes, some sat criss-cross on the hard, concrete ground. Some counted bills on their gas tanks, paying out to those who’d bested them. Eventually, a group of stunters showed up. The rider and the other racers spectated as daredevils showed off their skills.
The young biker always thought it was stupid these stunters would wear nothing but t-shirts and helmets. He never rode without a helmet on his head, and reinforced Kevlar covering every inch of his skin. There was on old saying that had already saved his life once: All the gear, all the time.
An African American rider, wearing a red t-shirt to match his bike, quickly sped across the parking lot and locked the front brake, his Yamaha R1 executing a perfect stoppie. The stunter lost momentum and its rear tire smacked the pavement, but he wasn’t done yet.
The R1 pulled its front tire up, the stunter standing on its passenger pegs and riding his bike in circles while almost perpendicular to the ground. The racers cheered as he held the wheelie for almost a minute, and smacked it back down.
The stunter flipped up his visor, and parked next to the lone rider.
“Well, well, well,” he chuckled sarcastically. “If it isn’t little ol’ Greenhorn. I’m surprised to see you around here again.”
“It’s been a while, Dreads,” Patrick and the stunter bumped fists.
“I heard about what happened to…” Dreads looked away for a moment.
“Yeah, I know.”
“Dreads, you know this guy?” a member of his crew asked.
“Oh yeah, man,” Dreads took off his helmet, revealing his long dread locks, undoubtedly the source of his nickname.
“We go way back.”
“New bike?” Dreads looked his Honda CBR1000 up and down.
“Oh, yeah,” Patrick smiled, and tapped the gas tank between his legs proudly.
“Ooh, speed,” Dreads admired the custom sprockets Patrick had installed, as well as his Yoshimaura performance exhaust.
Patrick experienced difficulty leading a normal life after his honorable discharge. Even with military experience, it was hard to find a place in society.
The first thing he did after returning to civilian life, before taking out a loan and blowing ten grand on the bike between his legs, was a trip to the local gun store. It was quite easy for a decorated veteran to obtain an open-carry permit.
Patrick had entered the world of street racing when he was only sixteen years old. After fleeing from a race that got busted almost three years ago, he found an APD Crown Vic’ waiting for him in his driveway. The one time he conveniently forgot to remove his tag left him with his bike impounded and the loss of his license.
Street racing, though, had easily landed him several thousand dollars on a good night. To make sure he’d get paid, and for protection from those that wanted his money without earning it first, Patrick depended on the .40 at his waist.
“Well, since you’re back in the ‘hood,” Dreads stroked his goatee. “How’s about you and me drag?”
It caught Patrick off guard.
“What, right now?”
“Yeah, you heard me white boy,” Dreads crossed his arms.
“Alright, I’ll throw down three hundred on that,” Patrick smugly smacked three hundred-dollar-bills onto his gas tank.
“Big spender, that’s a little more than your usual fifty bucks back in the day,” Dreads laughed.
“Shut up and race me,” Patrick slipped on his helmet and strapped on his gloves.
Dreads did the same, and they lined up at an empty parking space. The parking lot was behind a warehouse, which kept prying eyes from seeing the source of the ear shattering roars and cries from the two wheeled deathtraps.
It was a half-mile stretch from one point to the other. Just a quick drag race, for old time’s sake. Patrick could definitely outdo Dreads, there was no question in his mind, though.
A scantily clad blonde strutted out between the bikers and raised both her arms into the air. Patrick shifted into first, and squeezed the front brake. He locked his rear tire, and slowly opened the throttle.
His rear tire squealed, and billowed white smoke. His bike demanded to go forward, but Patrick was firm on his front brake, and executed a burnout.
Dreads had pulled off a burnout, as well. Soon enough, Patrick found himself grinning ear to ear. It was the first time he’d raced in years. The thrill, the adrenaline rush. It was all coming back to him.
The blonde let her arms down, and both the bikers rocketed out of the crude starting line on unmaintained asphalt. Dreads had even managed to pop a wheelie right from the start. He’d always been a show off.
Patrick pinned the throttle, expertly disengaging it and re-engaging it to shift. He clicked into the next gear just before his tachometer redlined. Dreads was just ahead of him, his t-shirt fluttering with the wind, but Patrick was making headway. His bike was almost maxed out, he couldn’t go any faster without red-lining, risking blowing his engine.
“Fuck it,” Patrick thought, and tucked his head down under his windshield, laying his feet on the passenger pegs; he was not about to lose his first race since restarting his street-racing career. With a flick of his wrist, he gunned the throttle.
The illuminated digital speedometer reached one hundred and sixty miles per hour as the RPM gauge was pinned to the very end of the red zone.
His temperature gauge was slowly reaching the overheating point. They circled around the large, abandoned parking lot, heading back towards the spectators.
His engine was nearing its limit. At this point, he’d be lucky if he didn’t blow it out. But Patrick continued to push it harder. His speedometer reached one hundred and seventy miles per hour.
They were neck and neck, but Patrick had managed to prevail. He passed the makeshift finish line next to the other racers just a few feet ahead of Dreads.
He and Dreads pulled back into the line of bikes, Patrick pocketing six Benjamins.
“Yeah, you still got it. You one crazy honky,” Dreads bumped Patrick’s fist. “But next time, I’m shooting out your tires,” he flashed his Colt 1911, and slid it back in his waistband.
Patrick laughed, and settled back down to brag about the race. It wasn’t too long before everyone fell silent, and was looking in a certain direction. He turned his head.
Two headlights side by side, joined by a flashing blue light, had infiltrated their riding grounds. The racers scrambled to put their helmets on and start up their bikes, riding around the police car on the wide parking lot with ease.
The APD knew it was useless to try and chase bikes, it was only a waste of gas. Still, it was odd that only one police car showed up, usually it was two or three.
Suddenly, there was a very audible thrumming approaching. The same kind of thrumming that could be associated with helicopter rotors.
“They got a chopper on us?” Dreads bellyached. “Sheeyit, this just got interesting.”
“Just try and keep up,” Patrick revved his engine, popping a quick wheelie past the stationary cop and shot out of the parking lot. Dreads followed close behind.
The thrum of helicopter blades and its searching spotlight was only getting closer and closer...
“You’re getting much better,” Nurse Redheart unwrapped the bandages on his arm and chest. “How’s the pain been?”
“Not bad,” Patrick stated.
It had been three days since he ended up in Equestria. Since his stay at the library, he had been reading up on pony culture and history, as Twilight, increasingly getting discouraged, searched through every book she had for answers to Patrick’s growing questions, and anxiety.
Nurse Redheart, with the aid of Nurse Tenderheart, undid the bandages around his chest, and cleaned his most serious wound. They carefully worked as a team, and re-wrapped the bandage. Even without stitches, his wound was beginning to finally seal. The burn on his arm was doing well, but it limited his mobility tremendously. While even second-degree burns heal relatively fast, it would be a while though before he fully recovered.
“All done,” Nurse Redheart smiled, and showed Patrick to the door. “Just make sure not to strain anything too much, we need to keep that wound closed.”
As he was just leaving, Ponyville’s mail-mare, with a patch of bubbles on her flank, trotted through the door of the waiting room. Her daughter, Dinky Doo, bounced along behind her. Both stopped dead in their tracks as they saw Patrick.
Patrick looked at them for a moment, and decided it wasn’t worth it. He continued exiting the building without saying a word.
“Oh hello Ms. Ditzy. Are you ready for your eye exam, Dinky?” Nurse Redheart asked.
“Yeah!” Dinky Doo chirped. “I bet I have better vision than my mommy!”
Patrick smoked a cigarette outside, finding himself falling into a routine. It was his first time actually going into town by himself since he got here. Every three days, he’d need to go to Nurse Redheart’s for a check up. Every morning, Rainbow Dash would come crashing through the library’s window, begging Patrick to start up his motorcycle and come watch her fly. Every night, he and Twilight would study together, going through book after book, trying to find anything on the human race or magic of the degree that could snatch him from his universe and drop him here. Twilight had a few interesting leads, but he was still getting nowhere.
Although, he was genuinely appreciative of all the help that everyone had been to him since he got here, minus a few ponies, particularly that gray one, and any other pony that would just stare at him. But it did make him think about his living situation. Patrick couldn’t ever accept favors or gifts without giving something in return. Twilight and her friends had saved his life, given him a roof over his head, and Twilight even cooked for him.
And what did he do in return? Nothing. Just like being honorably discharged from the Army after being wounded, he felt worthless. Just a burden to society.
Passing ponies stared at him as he stood there, in his motorcycle boots, jeans, and his T-Shirt. He showed up to this universe with the clothes on his back, and whatever was in his pockets and motorcycle. He wanted to use his bike to get around. After all, he’d not fully recovered, and walking can become a bit of a chore when you’re still recovering from burns and gaping wounds in your chest.
Still, he needed to be smart about the gas in his tank. It was a miracle his motorcycle only suffered cosmetic damage, it was a miracle he was even alive, for that matter. But his bike still ran, it still drove, to the limits of its fuel tank. He needed to save all the gas that he could, in case he might need his motorcycle for whatever reason. It didn’t hurt to be prepared by having a quick, 200-mile getaway should he ever need it.
Having seemingly each and every pony stare at him as they walked by was starting to get at him. Patrick ashed his cigarette under his boot and walked down the cobble stone road, away from prying eyes that were trying his patience. His feet were getting extremely sore. The armored motorcycle boots that wrapped around his feet and shins were not designed for everyday walking.
After taking many strained steps, Patrick found himself on a dirt path, surrounded by a farm and rows of apple trees. He spied an orange earth-pony hard at work off in the distance.
She charged an apple tree, using the force and momentum to kick with her hind legs. All the apples fell into awaiting baskets below.
“Wow,” Patrick said. “That was impressive.”
“Mhmm,” Applejack commented, admiring her work. “Ah just wish Ah could get a farmhoof round here.”
Patrick’s eyes lit up.
“A job!” he thought. “Why didn’t I think of it before?” Even though Patrick was pretty down on himself for mooching off of everyone, he could still give back to them somehow.
“Hey, uh, Applejack, right?”
“Yes?”
“I don’t know how long I’m going to be here, but as long as I am, how about I be your farm hand?”
“You’d really be willin’ to do that fer’ me?” Applejack smiled. “But, ain’t you still injured from that crash?” she pointed to his clearly bandaged arm, and a bit of banding protruding under his t-shirt.
Patrick’s good vibe faded. He had been pretty sore the past few days, but it was nothing that would have kept him from going to a normal job back home. There were certain things he couldn’t do, so as not to risk re-opening the gaping wound under his bandages, but maybe there was something he could do so he wouldn’t feel so useless.
“Listen,” Patrick started, as he helped Applejack carry a basket of apples to a farm carriage.
“Twilight has really been helping me out. I mean, you all have, since I got here, but she opened up her home to me, you know?”
“Right,” She balanced a basket on her back. “So, what’re you gettin’ at?”
“Well,” Patrick grunted as he set the basket down on the wood carriage. “I just don’t want to feel so useless, I guess. I feel like I should try to give back a little bit, at least.”
“Aw, sugar cube, that’s mighty kind a’ ya’, but she ain’t got no money problems. She’s the princess’s student, ya’ know.”
“I know,” Patrick replied. “But still, I don’t like to let good deeds go unrewarded. Just give me a shot.”
“Well…” Applejack weighed her options. “Ah’m sorry, but Ah really need somepony who’s able bodied and can pull their own weight. Ah don’t mean anything by that, but it’s just, you’re still recoverin’ from when we found you in them woods. Ah can barely afford to keep this here farm runnin’, if Ah’m going to hire a hoo-er, hand, Ah’ll need em’ ta’ work hard.”
“Oh,” Patrick’s heart shrank. “I understand.”
“Now hold on there, Ah’ll tell you what,” Applejack quickly retorted. “Ah’m ‘bout to go bring some apples into town to sell at mah’ stand. If y’all wanna help me with that, Ah’ll throw you some bits, but only for today.”
“I’d be glad to,” Patrick’s eyes lit back up. He and Applejack loaded up her carriage as Big Macintosh hooked himself up to it.
Big Mac pulled them into town, where Patrick and Applejack unloaded their harvest of apples to be sold to the public. Things were going good, they had sold many bushels of apples, until a group of three stallions cockily traipsed towards their stand.
Something about them threw Patrick off, so he watched them like a hawk. As they walked by, one of the stallions, a gray earth pony with a black mane, snatched a few apples from the stand.
“Hey!” Applejack cried. “Y’all didn’t pay for them apples!”
“Oh, I guess I didn’t!” the stallion took a bite as his two cohorts laughed belittlingly.
Patrick stood up from his post and confronted the gray stallion. He wasn’t quite as buff as Big Macintosh, but he was still big. Big enough for Patrick not to mess with him if he didn’t have to, but he still felt compelled to say something.
“What the hay are you supposed to be?” the colt mocked.
“Now, you’re gonna pay for those, or I’m gonna make you,” Patrick crossed his arms.
Suddenly, it felt like he’d been hit by a train. A strong blow had knocked him to the ground. The pain was so intense, he could swear he’d seen stars.
The human weezed in and out on the ground, his lungs struggling after having the wind knocked out of them. A throbbing pain shot up his chest underneath freshly wrapped bandages.
The stallion and his two partners in crime cackled at him. Applejack gasped in shock, and gritted her teeth in anger.
“Stay down, unless you want bandages on your other arm,” the stallion stomped his hooves. Patrick’s t-shirt hid the bandages on his chest, making it hard to see just how injured Patrick really was at first glance. A small crowd of ponies had assembled to watch what was going on.
He rolled over in agony, a hand gripping his chest. The stallion had head-butted him directly on his wound. Patrick flashed an angry expression at Applejack, who merely stood and watched. Why was no one helping him?
"Just let it go, Patrick," she whispered. "It ain't worth lettin' you get hurt over a few apples."
He looked back up at the gray stallion, his ego bursting from his cocky expression. He had left his Glock back at the library, after Twilight had finally convinced him he would be better off not walking around with a loaded weapon. Reluctantly, he agreed. Even if he did have his handgun, shooting somepony over a few stolen apples wouldn’t go over well with the community.
“What’s the matter, miss your mommy?”
But he was not going to give this jerk-off the satisfaction of bullying him, or Applejack. His pride just wouldn’t let him stay down.
The human uneasily rose to his feet, bringing up his hands. He swung his fist into the side of the stallion’s skull as hard as he could manage. The wound in his chest unmistakably tore even more, almost making him lose his balance. The stallion winced back in pain, but he stood his ground.
“Oh, you just made a big mistake.” Before Patrick could throw another punch from his good arm, the gray stallion spun around and bucked Patrick in the chest, knocking him back to the ground in the same manner as before.
“Had enough?” the stallion flashed a cheeky grin.
It went against everything the Army had taught him, and everything he believed in, but he was in no condition to fight. Sure, military hand-to-hand combat had trained him well, but not how to fight a fucking horse, while injured. Anyone who’s ever ridden horseback would agree: A pair of bucking hind legs from a stallion could easily crack a skull. Trying to fight one hand-to-hoof, while crippled, was probably not a good idea.
Patrick dejectedly lay on the ground, staring menacingly into a pair of cocky, green eyes. For the first time in his life, he just had his ass handed to him.
“That’s what I thought,” the gray stallion took another triumphant bite of the apple, as he and his cohorts left the scene. With seemingly every pony in Ponyville staring at him, Patrick buried his face in his hands, feeling overwhelmingly humiliated. It wasn’t enough he was this weird, alien two-legged creature to them, he just got the shit beaten out of him in front of everyone.
“Aw’right, come on,” Applejack turned him over, helping him up. “You’re fine, he didn’t hit’chyall that har-“
Applejack stopped midsentence. A warm, red liquid had seeped through Patrick’s shirt, and began to puddle on the ground.
Some ponies still lingered, murmuring to themselves inaudibly from where Applejack stood. None of them were helping, or even condemning the stallion’s actions. Applejack felt a fit of rage build up inside of her.
“Y’all see that?” Applejack pointed towards a growing red stain on Patrick’s shirt and the cobblestone ground. “Even though he was injured, he was only tryin’ ta’ protect mah’ stand, and here all of y’all just watch? Y’all are just gon’ let somepony hogtie any stranger that comes to visit our town, just ba’cause he looks odd?”
The crowd gradually dispersed, although a few ponies moved by Applejack’s speech had come over to help Patrick up.
“Someone ought to teach those menaces a lesson,” a brown stallion with an hourglass cutie-mark shook his hoof.
Applejack walked him to Nurse Redheart’s clinic, stopping just outside the door.
“Why in Ponyville would y’all try somethin’ like that, when Ah already couldn’t give y’all a real job cuz’a yer’ injuries?”
Patrick clasped a hand over his chest, dripping with blood.
“I just couldn’t sit there and let that happen,” Patrick coughed. “Although, looking back, that probably wasn’t such a good idea.”
Applejack fished into her saddlebags and withdrew a small, velvet bag.
“Here,” she held out her hoof in sympathy. “This is fer’ today.”
“I only worked for a few hours,” Patrick shook the bag as many coins clanged together inside.
“S’the least Ah could do, seein’ as y’all got hurt on tha’ job.”
“Thanks,” Patrick stuffed the bag in his pocket, a grimace of pain on his face. “I’m sorry, I really should have just let it go.”
“Ah don’t know what y’all did for a livin’ before ya’ came here, but it sure wasn’t makin’ dresses. Ah’m going back to mah’ stand, stay outta’ trouble.”
Nurse Redheart wasn’t happy all her previous work had been undone because of Patrick’s carelessness, but after hearing about how he stood up for Applejack, she was happy to help.
“You’re going to need stitches this time,” Nurse Redheart sighed, examining the re-opened wound. They had just stopped the bleeding again, but this was not going to heal quickly.
“But we won’t be able to do that until tomorrow. For now, just,” she emphasized it with her hooves. “Take it easy.”
Patrick nodded, and exited the clinic. He clutched his chest as he walked, looking over his shoulder often in paranoia. Soon enough, his feet were killing him again. He wanted to rip off his motorcycle boots and throw them into the volcano of Mordor, never to be seen again. But they were the only footwear in this entire universe that fit him.
The human took a break from walking for a moment. He was exhausted, walking under so much pain. It would be so much easier if he just had a regular pair of shoes.
“Look out!”
Patrick stepped out of the way just in time as a rainbow-maned Pegasus crashed into the ground.
“Sorry,” she stood up, shaking it off. “Still trying to get this new trick down. The Wonderbolts are coming in a few days and I want it perfect when I-“
Rainbow Dash stopped. A freshly dried, red stain crept down from Patrick’s shirt to his jeans.
“What happened to you?”
“Oh, nothing much,” Patrick grumbled. “Got my ass kicked for standing up to some dick who stole from Applejack’s stand.”
“What?” Rainbow Dash replied. “Why didn’t you just fight back?”
“Look at me!” Patrick made a crude gesture to his arm and chest, wrapped in gauze. “Half of me is taped together right now, and I can’t even walk for more than five minutes at a time because of these friggin' boots.”
“So, just take them off?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow.
“I don’t have hooves,” Patrick shrugged. “Humans kind of need shoes.”
“Well, if that’s what you need,” Rainbow Dash pointed towards a giant, frilly white building. It looked to be a fashion store of some sort. “You should look there.”
Twilight could wait a day or two, he needed to focus on his immediate problems. Maybe he could find a tailor who could custom-make him a pair of shoes. Patrick entered the building, a bell attached to the top of the door announcing his presence.
“Come in, come in!” a fashonista with a purple mane, sporting a pair of red shades, sat rolling a few threads of fabric through a sewing machine.
“Patrick!” Rarity stood up from her work, and happily trotted over to him.
“What brings you here?”
“I didn’t know you were a fashion designer,” Patrick glanced around at the many mannequins with elegant dresses and outfits.
“But of course,” her face brightened. “I design only the finest clothes in all of Equestria. I even designed the other girls’ dresses for the Grand Galloping Gala! You should have seen them!”
“I’m sure they were just… Lovely,” Patrick didn’t really know what she meant. “Well, I wanted to ask you something.”
Patrick withdrew a handful of coins from his pocket, and then brought one of his feet forward. “I just need some regular shoes.”
The white unicorn looked his boots up and down, messing with a strap once or twice. “I hate to say it like this Patrick, but,” she grimaced. “These boots are just dreadful. I don’t know who dressed you, or who designed these, but I can’t imagine what these, these…” She stammered. “These… Things, would even go with. Maybe in the winter, though…”
“They’re designed for racing, and protection,” Patrick replied. “-For riding. But, they’re terrible for everyday walking. I just really need something more comfortable.”
“Patrick, darling,” Rarity shook her head, dumping the coins back into his pocket with her magic.
“After everything you’ve been through, I couldn’t charge you a single bit. I’ll need to design something from scratch, but there’s never anything I haven’t been able to make.”
Rarity sat Patrick down and began taking measurements of his boots. He pulled his boots off so Rarity could further measure him.
“Wait here,” the fashonista whipped back to her sewing machine, and began working with her materials, her horn glowing madly.
Patrick reclined for several hours, reading through a few pony fashion magazines. He found himself wishing for just a Time or Newsweek, anything that wasn’t about fashion.
He must have nodded off, because when Patrick opened his eyes, Rarity was shaking him violently.
“Patrick! Wake up!”
“Huh?” he rubbed his eyes.
“I finished!” Rarity levitated two black, canvas and leather sneakers, which were based on the lower halves of his boots and the crude dimensions of a shoe he had scribbled onto a piece of paper for her. She even got the laces and all, just right.
He slipped them on and tied the laces quickly. Patrick rose to his feet, smiling. It was the most comfortable pair of shoes he’d ever worn. He took a few steps, remarking to himself that it felt like he was walking on air.
“Oh yeah, much better! Rarity, I can’t thank you enough. If there’s anything I can ever-“
“Shh!” she shushed Patrick. “Not another word, it is a favor from me to you.”
Patrick grabbed his boots, thanking Rarity for the hundredth time, and found himself being tugged on the shoulder by her magic. He spun around.
“Yes?”
“There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you,” a hint of seriousness in her voice.
“Oh?” Patrick set his boots down.
“I saw you and Grayburn get into a bit of a scuffle this afternoon.”
Patrick’s looked away in shame. He really didn’t want to talk about this right now.
“Also, when we found you,” Rarity removed her shades. “A pendant fell out of your jacket. Not to be nosy, but I read the inscription on the back.”
“Yeah, who hasn’t?” Patrick was slightly irritated now, but his hand shook nervously, emphasizing the weakness in his voice.
“So, you were in the Royal Guard in Atlanta?” she asked.
“No, not exactly,” Patrick broke eye contact.
“Twilight told me you seized up after she just asked you a question.”
With that, he marched quickly towards the door.
“Where are you going?!” Rarity ran and blocked his path.
“Please excuse me, I need a cigarette,” Patrick withdrew one from his pack.
“That’s no way to deal with your stress,” Rarity shook her head. “Yes, Twilight told me about that, too.”
“If there’s something wrong, you can tell me.”
“No,” Patrick replied.
“Tell me,” Rarity frowned, her eyebrows furrowing.
“No.”
“Tellmetellmetellmetellmetellmeeeeee,” she whined.
Patrick covered his ears, but he couldn’t drown out Rarity’s protests. He felt his anxiety bubble in the back of his skull, his heart beating out of his chest. Patrick kept everything pent up for so long, it was hard to let it just come out. It was as if a bubble had been blowing up inside his heart for years, and it just burst.
“I WAS IN A WAR!” Patrick screamed at the top of his lungs. Rarity stopped her whining and froze.
“There! Are you happy? I was a soldier! I went to war, I killed people, I got shot, and I watched my closest friends die!”
Patrick panted heavily as Rarity stared at him, her mouth gaping. He picked up his boots and stormed out of the boutique.
He leaned up against the wall outside, inhaling a thick, gray cloud of smoke into his lungs. His hands were shaking.
The lush, green fields and shrubbery around him made him mad. Everything about this place seemed to anger him. It was too perfect; it was nothing like Earth, like the United States. They had everything figured out here. There was no war, there was no famine, all there was… Was peace, minus some stories of ancient, powerful alicorns duking it out every thousand years or so.
And the only hope he had to get back to Earth, the world that ran on sin, money, greed, misery, murder, and war, lay with a letter he and Twilight had sent to Celestia today. Why did he want to go back? It’s not like anything would be different. All he had to look forward to was a flat, alcohol, and some street racing. That was it.
“Patrick?” Rarity shyly poked her head out of the door as the bell jingled behind her.
He was sitting up against the wall, his face buried in his hands. The burning cigarette was set between two fingers.
“Patrick,” she sat down next to him. “Are you going to be alright, darling?”
Patrick nodded, and looked down at the grass. He and Rarity sat for some time, it could have been hours for all he knew.
“I’m sorry,” Patrick finally uttered. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that.”
“No, dear,” Rarity stood up, lifting Patrick to his feet with her magic as she led him back inside. “I had no idea that’s what ‘military merit’ meant. Honest.”
Patrick had only spoken about the ambush once, and it was at his friends’ funeral. He had never really spoken from the heart about it, though.
"-So I just ran," Patrick explained to Rarity. "Even though I got hit by frag, I ran as fast as I could. I made it behind these rocks, and by the time I got away, the other vehicles in our convoy just got… got," he struggled not to let any tears flow down his cheeks. "They just exploded. And when I looked back, all of my friends, the ones I had enlisted with, were just laying there. Still on fire.”
“How did you get away?” Rarity, as wide-eyed as ever, listened to Patrick’s tragic tale of human warfare.
“I got wounded running back to my guys. They had to drag me to their cover, I just barely made it. It wasn't a normal war, all we could do was die.”
“Who was your country even fighting?” Rarity asked.
“Everyone. They didn't fear death! They'd strap themselves with explosives, dress up in civilian clothing, and blow themselves up next to any patrols! We were there to protect those people, and the kids in the villages would throw rocks and trash at us!"
“That’s positively terrible!” Rarity gasped. “Why in Equestria would you put yourself in that situation? Why would you even want to be a soldier?”
“I had nowhere else to go,” Patrick felt a tear drip down his face, but quickly wiped it off.
“Surely, you did,” Rarity said.
“I was eighteen years old. My mom was in the mental hospital, my father got put in prison, so I lost my living arrangement. I was on probation for street racing and lost my license. I couldn’t even get a job, because I had no way of getting there. My only other option was to be homeless! Still think I had somewhere else to go?
“No,” Rarity shook her head. “I suppose you didn’t.”
“My friends… They had been there for me through it all. But the whole senior year, I had to listen to them talk about how much Taliban ass they were going to kick when they enlisted together. My friend, Jose… His family even let me stay with them after my parents couldn’t take care of me anymore.”
“So you did it together?” Rarity said.
Patrick nodded.
“I never even wanted to join the military, but they roped me into it. They were the closest thing I had to a family, I couldn’t just let them leave without me. It’s not like I had anything else going on, anyway.”
“Have you told Twilight this?” Rarity asked. “The entire reason Twilight is here is to study friendship on behalf of Princess Celestia herself.”
“No,” Patrick shook his head. “I haven’t told anyone.”
“I think you should tell Twilight,” Rarity spoke softly. “When you’re ready. I believe that not only would it help you, but it might even help with her studies, too.”
He and Rarity talked for hours, until finally, Luna began to raise her moon.
“I just hope you don’t think I’m some kind of monster, now,” Patrick stood up, grabbing his boots.
“Not even in the slightest,” Rarity hugged Patrick, and he awkwardly bent down to receive it.
“Don’t ever let anything get to you, Patrick. You can let all that go, and your life will be so much better. If you ever need to talk, I’m here.”
“Thank you,” Patrick began his walk back to the library, clutching his chest every now and then.
Maybe he’d start feeling better after he got stitches, so he could at least stop ripping his chest open every other day.
Though, it really did feel like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders as he finally talked to someone heart-to-heart about everything that had been ailing him for so long.
Even though she insisted he tell Twilight about his ordeal, he didn’t really feel ready. Especially after everything that happened today. Maybe he would talk to her about everything, in time. For now, he just needed to continue focusing on finding a way home.
Patrick stepped through the door, Twilight and Spike had just finished cooking dinner.
“Hey!” Patrick set his boots down.
Twilight looked at his shoes admiringly. “Wow, did Rarity make you those?”
“Yeah, how’d you know?”
“Well, I wouldn’t expect anyone else to do that good work,” Twilight levitated a bowl of salad onto the table, as well as a few other vegetable and fruit themed dishes.
“What happened with you and Grayburn earlier?” Spike eyed Patrick suspiciously. “Everyone’s talking about how you and him got in a fight.”
Twilight and Spike were staring at him.
“I don’t really wanna talk about that,” Patrick sighed.
“Are you okay?” Twilight asked with concern, noting that his shirt looked like he tried to wash blood out of it recently.
“I’m fine,” Patrick’s chest ached. “-Really. Nurse Redheart is going to have to give me stitches tomorrow, though.”
“Yeah, bro, I heard he tried to steal some apples from Applejack’s stand and he beat you down when you stood up to him. What a bully,” Spike crossed his arms indifferently. “You should have just popped him with that hand-cannon you got.”
Spike made a crude gesture of a pistol with his fingers, pretending to shoot Patrick with it.
“Spike, don’t even joke about that,” Twilight gasped. “Patrick and I have had a long conversation about that weapon of his, haven’t we?”
“Yep,” he said submissively. “It’s also for the best you don’t know where I hid it.”
“Oh, come on!” Spike grumbled. “At least let me shoot it once!”
“Sorry,” Patrick gestured to Twilight. “I don’t think your mom would like that too much.”
Spike rolled his eyes indignantly.
“What were you doing with Applejack today, anyway?” Twilight asked.
Patrick dumped a pocket full of bits onto the table.
“I was her farmhand for a day,” Patrick shrugged. “And bodyguard, I guess. But that didn’t turn out too well.”
“Wow,” Spike stared into the pile of gold coins. “That’s a lot of money!”
He shoved the stack of loot towards Spike and Twilight, and went to the kitchen to wash up.
“Patrick, you know I have no problem having you around,” Twilight came into the kitchen.
“I know,” Patrick dried his hands off on a towel. “But it’s never really been my style to have someone give me a place to live, and cook me three meals a day without giving back somehow.”
“I’m the princess’s student. I’ve got more than enough to get by, you don’t need to feel like you need to pay me rent. It’s no trouble at all.”
“Just give it to Spike then,” Patrick laughed. “Because I’m not taking it back. Besides, what am I going to do with it, anyway?”
The three of them sat down for dinner, and it even seemed like Spike was warming up to him. Still, Patrick dwelled on his conversation with Rarity for the past few hours. He had basically told her everything that had been ailing him. Why her? A stranger in another universe? For that matter, why would she just make him, a stranger she met a few days ago, a custom made pair of shoes from scratch?
Maybe, it was the same reason Applejack paid him so much, and gave Twilight everything he’d received. Maybe, everyone in this universe, was just…
Spike was about to take a bite of gemstones, when he burped surprisingly. A cloud of green fire emanated from his mouth and formed a scroll, tied with a royal seal.
“The princess has finally responded!” Twilight burst from her chair, and snatched the parchment from the air.
She unrolled it as Patrick watched her eyes roll back and forth.
“Just as I was hoping!” Twilight beamed. “The princess has requested a royal audience with you, Patrick!”
“Huh?” he and Spike said simultaneously.
“Wait, I have to talk to the princess?” Patrick asked.
“Yes! Aren’t you excited!” Twilight jumped around in her seat.
He and Spike exchanged glances. Spike shrugged, and dug into his bowl of gemstones.
Patrick picked at the salad on the plate in front of him nervously.
|
Molotov Cocktail
|
1029
| 6 |
Big Macintosh,Derpy Hooves,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Nightmare Moon,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Zecora,Human,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Whiplash
|
A motorcyclist is struck by lightning. He awakens on the verge of death in a very strange land.
|
complete
| 751 | 52 |
<p>When a motorcyclist is struck by lightning, it sends him to a strange world in a seemingly unexplainable turn of events. With no one able to offer him the answers to his questions, he settles in for the long haul, and looks for a way home. </p><p>Lost, injured, and still reeling in the post-traumatic stress of military service, as well as the criminal underground of street racing, he struggles to maintain his very sanity. Little does he know, the friendships that made life worth living for him would be the key to stopping an ancient enemy bent on anarchy and genocide.</p>
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teen
|
2011-10-29T21:01:10+00:00
|
2011-10-29T21:01:10+00:00
| 11,755 |
Canterlot was a true masterpiece of pony architecture. It was, quite literally, built into the side of a cliff, giving all of its royal and high-class residents a bird’s-eye view of Equestria. Several waterfalls dropped thousands of feet, completing its magnificent appearance of the most regal city in Equestria.
Princess Luna called upon her magic as she gracefully floated across the sky. She beat her wings steadily to maintain a generous altitude, as magic emanated from her horn. The sun slowly gave way, needing its rest now. The moon seemed especially eager tonight to take its rightful place.
No, not its rightful place. Luna wasn’t even going to entertain that thought. As much as Celestia insisted it wasn’t her fault for what happened with the Nightmare Moon incident, deep down, she truly believed it was. She had been destroyed, and overcome by some evil force. Celestia still seemed reluctant to even speak to her about that. She had always seen Luna as her little sister, and couldn’t accept the fact she could take care of herself.
But Celestia had seemed a lot different, recently. Something appeared to be troubling her, ever since that lightning bolt had struck the Everfree Forest during that day.
Luna even had to admit that it was odd. She had been sleeping at the time, and awoke after sensing a very, very large presence of magic. She knew Celestia was losing sleep over it, as she would see her pace back and forth each night off her balcony, staring off into the Everfree forest. Waiting…
The moon princess glided gently to a stop onto her balcony. She folded her wings as she entered her royal chambers.
“Sister?” Celestia called from the center of the room as waves of magic rolled through her mane. She seemed to be waiting for her.
“Tia?” Luna asked. “Aren’t you normally going to bed now? Don’t you have to get up and raise the sun?”
“Of course,” she smiled, but Luna could still tell something was wrong.
“What’s troubling you?”
“Come,” Celestia nudged Luna with one of her giant wings.
They dismissed the guards in the throne room. Celestia wanted to make sure only she and her sister would hear the conversation about to be had.
“There’s something I need to talk to you about, Luna,” Celestia murmured, as they admired Luna’s work in the sky.
“Hm?” Luna’s eyes widened, as she could tell it was definitely serious. She felt her heart might skip a beat. Her sister was finally including her in on things! Tia finally no longer saw her as a child, knowing she could handle whatever she was about to tell her!
“Yes!” Luna shrieked happily, surprising Celestia. “Erm, yes, do go on, sister.”
“Right, as I was saying,” Celestia continued, and pointed towards the Everfree forest.
“While I never addressed it with you personally, I’m all too aware you felt the disturbance from the Everfree Forest several days ago.”
“It’s been much more than several days!” Luna wanted to yell, but she was just happy to be included for once.
“Yes, sister. And it troubles me. Have you discovered the source of this, disturbance, then?”
“Luna,” Celestia paused. “Have you ever wondered why you and I raise the sun and moon every day?”
Luna was silent. That was her entire life, that was her purpose. To be a royal deity to the ponies of Equestria and give them the sun they needed for crops and play, and the moon for sleep and calm.
“Celestia,” Luna shook her head. “The thousands of years we’ve lived, I have never once questioned that.”
“Long ago,” Celestia’s gentle tone now sounded like a teacher lecturing a student.
“Please,” Luna interrupted. “Spare me the story of my banishment.”
“No,” Celestia replied. “If you’d have let me finish, you’d know this story took place long, long before that.”
“How long before?”
“Even I am not sure,” Celestia uttered. “But it’s the reason for the creation of Equestria, why you and I rule together, and why ponies must control the weather, take care of the animals, and why we must raise the sun and moon. There was a time, sister, when all of this happened on its own.”
“But, this all happens in the Everfree Forest,” Luna said. “The plants grow, the weather controls itself, and the animals fend for themselves.”
“True,” Celestia answered. “And even that boggles all of our scientists that on patches of our world, the environment seems to work without magic. And me, as well. But because of recent events, I believe it’s time I finally told you the truth of our existence. Are you ready, Luna?”
Luna nearly burst with excitement.
“Yes!” she replied as calmly as possible so her sister would see how mature she was about the situation. Unfortunately, it sounded like a dog yipping with joy after someone utters the sacred word: “Treat.”
Celestia took a deep breath. “We believe it was thousands of years ago. Equestria was once a planet called Earth. The weather occurred on its own, the sun and moon raised themselves, and the plants and trees grew all on their own. It was inhabited by a very diverse spectrum of creatures. The dominant species at that time was called humans.”
“Humans?” Luna repeated. “Those old legends… They were true?”
“Yes,” Celestia nodded. “They were an extremely intelligent race. In fact, most of our society and technological advances, even our culture, has come from them.”
Luna listened intently to Celestia.
“From what we’ve been able to piece together from artifacts and ancient documents, human beings were indeed very intelligent, even brilliant. They did wonderful, beautiful things. Terrible things, too.”
“Such as?” Luna asked.
“Wars, even genocides, like we couldn’t comprehend.”
“And…?” Luna raised an eyebrow. “What does this have to do with the magic we felt from the Everfree forest?”
“Quite a lot, Luna,” Celestia re-gathered her thoughts.
“It has been a closely-guarded secret of the royal family, since before even you and I ruled. While we have always been able to keep peace, it is only because of how strongly our society is based on values, such as friendship. My faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, continues to contribute to that constitution.”
“As I’m aware,” Luna replied. “Did they use magic?”
“Artifacts discovered over the generations have led us to believe that at one point, they did. But their technology was greater than anything we could ever hope to replicate. Very few artifacts survived age, but many others, even books, have been restored using alicorn magic. Archaeologists all across Equestria have discovered remains of entire cities buried underground, as well.”
“They are extinct, then?” Luna said.
“They are long extinct, yes,” Celestia looked off into the distance.
“And just what was the cause of their extinction, Tia?”
“I’m afraid I can’t really answer that for certain,” Celestia sighed. “While no one knows for sure what happened, it is commonly agreed amongst the scientific community that when humanity was at its peak, it had one of the greatest wars this world has ever known. Then, they vanished.”
Luna tried to imagine a human war, when she didn’t even know what they looked like.
“Why was it so difficult for their nations to just live in peace, then?”
“It’s hard to say, since it was such a long time ago,” Celestia answered. “They created very advanced weaponry, and at the peak of their society, several of the most powerful human nations on Earth had enough to destroy the world.”
Destroy the entire world? Even using magic that would be no ordinary feat. To kill, destroy, and dismember every living thing. That truly made these humans…
“Gods…” Luna whispered.
“No,” Celestia put a wing over Luna again. “They were not gods. They were like anypony else. They loved one another, they married, they had children, families, societies, even sports, arts, and literature, just like we do.”
“Then, how did-“ Luna didn’t know what else to say, expecting Celestia to finish for her.
“Maybe I should just continue,” Celestia said. “The Earth was running out of its natural resources. The humans population grew faster than the world could create the resources they needed. Over time, this caused a famine on a massive scale, and the Earth’s remaining super powers fought over any natural resources remaining. A powerful, religious alliance also played a role in sparking the conflict.”
Celestia looked over her shoulder, to make sure no one was present.
“What is it, sister?” Luna sighed.
“This is why I have ruled the way I have, and made such an effort recovering human artifacts. To learn from the achievements, and the mistakes they made, only then could we maintain peace.” Celestia nodded.
“Humanity may have achieved so much in their lifespan, perhaps more than ponies could ever achieve. But it was for that very reason they had the single greatest war this world has ever known. This war killed almost every last human man, woman, and child, and eventually led them to their downfall. It is for that reason that I have purposely shrouded any knowledge of the human race from the general public.”
Luna was about to speak, before Celestia shushed her.
“Come, I must show you something.”
She led Luna into the Canterlot library’s royal archives. Ancient pony texts and scrolls were under heavy guard until Celestia dismissed them.
“Only my sister and I are to be present,” Celestia spoke to an armor clad, white Pegasus royal guard.
“As… you wish, princess,” Surprised, the guards quickly left the royal library and left the two sisters alone.
Celestia’s horn glowed, and illuminated a bookshelf from the stone castle wall. It slid to the side with an audible creak, as dust filtered into the air along with it.
It revealed a hole in the wall, an entrance to a long corridor, with a musty smell of age.
It appeared nopony had been down this hallway for a very, very long time. Celestia used her horn to light the way.
They arrived at a massive subterranean chamber. It was quite large, nearly as large as Celestia and Luna’s throne room. Celestia used her magic to light several torches, filling the windowless chamber with light. Stacked upon shelves were dusty, decaying books and parchments, brought up from the ashes of human ruin by Celestia herself.
A rusty, decrepit engine sat encased in a glass box to keep it preserved, as well as other examples of human technology. Some of it looked very early, like a cracked, glass screen encased in a rotted, wooden box. Others looked advanced and complicated.
The room was almost like a museum. One section was unmistakably dedicated to weaponry; rusted, aged swords, shields, and loosely intact firearms, existing by only the narrowest of margins.
More decrepit and precious artifacts were encased in preservation boxes to protect them from decay. There were photographs framed on the wall under protective glass, some faded completely so that nothing was legible to the naked eye.
“This is nearly every human artifact I’ve found since humans disappeared from this earth. Larger artifacts are in a different chamber.”
“How did it happen?” Luna looked through certain artifacts. Celestia showed her to a peculiar arrangement of documents, many written in languages Luna had never seen before.
“These are the latest, dated documents I possess in the archives that describe what happened to humans.”
Two yellowed parchments that appeared to have been laminated with a material similar to glass were encased in a preservation box.
“Please, read,” Celestia insisted. Luna’s eyes scrolled across the first parchment.
“Their language,” Luna gasped. “They spoke Equestrian?”
“They spoke many languages and dialects,” Celestia answered. “But where do you think Equestrian originated from?”
Luna looked back to the article on the parchment. It appeared to be a newspaper clipping. If it was thousands of years old, how could it not have decayed?
“I know what you’re thinking,” Celestia’s mane rippled with magic. “We used magic to restore many of these papers and books we’ve found in ruins. Almost everything was destroyed, but we continue to find more artifacts occasionally.”
Luna dropped her eyes back to the ancient parchment. Adjacent to the content of the newspaper article was a photograph of a city street. Dozens of bodies littered the ground as a group of figures, donning bright, yellow HAZMAT suits, examined several groups of corpses. They appeared to be looking for survivors.
She could see patches of grass and trees neatly framing the street, their vivid greens reduced to pale, lifeless grays. Her eyes drifted to the beginning of the article.
New York Times
June 13, 2042
IRAN LAUNCHES NUKES, WASHINGTON ANNOUNCES APOCALYPTIC SCENARIO
Iranian president Al-Shallah and the Republican Islamic Alliance has claimed responsibility for the attack on the western seaboard of the United States. The death toll has been estimated at over one hundred million in the immediate affected zone and continues to rise. All contact has been lost with any North American state or territory west of the Mississippi River. There are no presumed survivors.
Fallout radiation clouds are expected to reach the east coast at approximately 8:00 PM EST tomorrow evening.
“Please cooperate with your local and state authorities’ evacuation procedures. What few fallout shelters remain are currently being populated.” Said US Defense Secretary, Allen Richman.
Washington has declared a complete state of emergency in all fifty states and has urged all un-evacuated citizens to stay inside and arm themselves for the days to come. United States President Stephen Grant has released this statement:
“My fellow Americans, it has been a very difficult time for us all as friends, neighbors, communities, and fellow citizens as we have endured the hardships of this world-war for the past decade. This country was brought up as a beacon of light in a world of darkness on that fateful day of 1776. Nothing can ever crush the determination and spirit of the American people.
But the United States has fallen victim to an attack from which we cannot recover. Anarchy has already broken loose in communities where survivors remain. Our military has suffered a massive blow and is no longer able to function. I thank you for electing me to protect you as your president, but I have failed. Islam’s holy war against America has finally been won.
The United Nations has determined that constant nuclear warfare across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia has increased the Earth’s natural radiation to dangerous levels. The nuclear contamination zone is expected to include every Sovereign State within 72 hours. The UN has informed me that in less than thirty days, Earth will no longer be able to sustain life.
It is with a heavy heart that I say… This is the end of the world, and we lack the capability to stop it. My heart goes out to those unable to reach adequate radiation-proof shelter. I urge you all to spend your last moments with friends and family.
I hereby resign as Commander in Chief of the United States Armed Forces and incumbent President of the United States.
It has been an honor serving as your president for two terms.
God bless America.
-Stephen Grant
Former President of the United States of America
Editor’s note: We at the New York Times sincerely thank each and every reader for looking to us for the world’s top stories since our humble beginnings in 1851. We wish you the best of luck in the days to come. While we wait for the end, one can only wonder how we, as the human race, got to where we are today.
No matter what you believe in, may God have mercy on your soul.”
There was another document, in a preservation case just adjacent to the article. The language it was written in contained alphabetic lettering, but contained odd symbols, as well.
Printed on clean, white paper, it seemed somepony had recently translated the article. It appeared to be a flyer of some sort.
Vladivostok Komsomolskaya Pravda
14 June 2042
EVACUATION!
All residents advised to evacuate Vladivostok immediately!
Fallout radiation has created a contamination zone across the globe and continues to intensify. The Kremlin has declared Martial Law across all provinces of the Russian Federation. Curfews have been set in place from 06:00AM to 22:00PM.
Motorized Rifle Troops will be conducting evacuations from 07:00AM to 12:00PM and 16:00PM to 21:00PM on 15 June 2042 at the Pacific Fleet Naval Complex.
Please bring a form of identification and no more than one personal baggage item.
Luna could not find the words to express the many emotions she felt in her heart.
“This is… incredibly shocking,” Luna stammered. “Those were very desperate times, indeed.”
“Yes,” Celestia frowned. “It’s not clear, as during this period almost everything was destroyed on Earth, but the entire planet rotated, revolving around the sun, and the moon orbited the earth. Night and day occurred as their own.”
Celestia took a few steps back, staring into a glass preservation box on top of a table. A worn, leatherbound book sat inside. In scratchy, faded lettering, the title read “Holy Bible.”
“Until…”
Luna looked up from the newspaper clipping. “Until what?
“Until those who came before us… Started anew.”
“Who?” Luna demanded. “Who came before us?”
“Since the fall of man, two alicorns have always ruled. The ones we have replaced… I know nothing of.”
Luna slunk down. She was finally mature enough in Celestia’s eyes to handle this information, but she was starting to regret hearing it. She understood Celestia’s reasoning, though. It wasn’t humanity itself that was to blame for their downfall, it was those who lead them, and did not act in the best interest of their subjects. By learning from their mistakes and ruling accordingly, it would ensure prosperity for future generations.
“And while there has always been two powerful alicorns in Equestria, there has always been one alicorn, equally powerful as the two combined. You met that alicorn when you became...”
Luna shuddered. “No,” She shook her head. “No, no, no, no!”
Celestia knelt down, wrapping a wing around her sister in a tender embrace.
“After the humans disappeared, the alicorns that came before us renewed everything in their image. The secrets of what happened were lost in time, since recorded pony history began.”
“Why are you telling me all this, then? What’s all this buildup for?”
Celestia paused.
“Do you remember the day I banished you?”
“Yes…” Luna murmured. “I was so full of rage. All I could think about for centuries was how I was going to get back at you. How I was going to hurt you…”
“Just as the Nightmare began overtaking you, I spent almost three days meditating. I had a very important decision I was about to make. Do you remember that?”
“Yes…?”
“Luna,” Celestia nervously sighed. “I never had to banish you. I could have saved you with the Elements of Harmony, and isolated the Nightmare, instead.”
Luna was silent for some time.
“YOU WHAT?!” Luna bellowed at the top of her lungs. So loudly did she shout, Celestia was afraid the Royal Guards several stories up would hear her and blow the lid off this secret chamber.
“I told you, it was not your fault,” Celestia said. “Please, just let me explain, I-“
“How could you?” Luna cried. “How could you do something like this to your own sister? You banished me to the moon for a thousand years when it wasn’t even necessary?!”
“Please, Luna,” Celestia calmed her down. “If I had done so, the Nightmare would have gone free. Had that have happened, Equestria would have been no more. The Nightmare had already picked a host, and unfortunately, it was you who had to take that sacrifice. I’m so sorry, Luna.”
Luna squeezed her eyes shut, making every effort not to shed a single tear.
“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, it hurt me in so many ways, and I still have sleepless nights when recalling my decision. By banishing you, as Nightmare Moon, I had time to come up with a solution. The Elements of Harmony; when used by my student and her friends; was only powerful enough to merely disrupt it. Temporarily. It took the entire thousand years you were gone to cast the spell, but I found hope.”
“And just where did you find this hope?” Luna asked sarcastically, repressing her anger and tears.
“The past.”
“How?” Luna questioned.
“It was a very difficult spell to cast, even for me, without changing the past so that Equestria would never exist. I found a human being that had the potential, and his disappearance would not create a time paradox. Very subtlety, I manipulated certain events so they would turn him into what Equestria needs.”
Luna and Celestia sat together, neither speaking a word for what seemed like an eternity.
“Then the lightning in the Everfree Forest,” Luna started. “That means…”
Princess Celestia turned her back and spoke in a low, gentle tone.
“Yes,” she let her mane expand and contract in magical ripples. “I have brought a human to Equestria, and we need his help. And he will not want to give it to us after all I’ve done to him.”
|
Molotov Cocktail
|
1029
| 7 |
Big Macintosh,Derpy Hooves,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Nightmare Moon,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Zecora,Human,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Whiplash
|
A motorcyclist is struck by lightning. He awakens on the verge of death in a very strange land.
|
complete
| 751 | 52 |
<p>When a motorcyclist is struck by lightning, it sends him to a strange world in a seemingly unexplainable turn of events. With no one able to offer him the answers to his questions, he settles in for the long haul, and looks for a way home. </p><p>Lost, injured, and still reeling in the post-traumatic stress of military service, as well as the criminal underground of street racing, he struggles to maintain his very sanity. Little does he know, the friendships that made life worth living for him would be the key to stopping an ancient enemy bent on anarchy and genocide.</p>
|
teen
|
2012-02-02T18:45:49+00:00
|
2012-02-02T18:45:49+00:00
| 12,641 |
November 30, 2013
1700 Hours
Zambar, Sabari District, Khost Province, East Afghanistan
US Army PFC Patrick Wilcox
187th Infantry
Charlie Company
It had been an uneventful, unmounted patrol through the small, humble Afghan village of Zambar. Every now and then, NATO troops would patrol the villages surrounding their Firebases. The commander in this area was really getting on the 187th Infantry’s ass about “connecting with the locals.” Private First Class Wilcox declared, for lack of a better word, that it was a load of-
“-Bullshit,” Patrick stomped through the muddy streets, wetted by a recent and rare monsoon.
“You got that right, man,” PFC Nguyen grunted.
“Come on, guys,” Specialist Reyes shook his head. “How are the people here supposed to like having us around, unless we actually show them we’re not out to kill everybody?“
“Maybe when they stop setting up IEDs on the roads we drive on,” PFC Thornton replied.
“Or when they stop cursing at us in Arabic every time we walk by,” Patrick said.
“Every village is the same. They know that we know that they know the Taliban are here,” PFC Campbell retorted.
Reyes nearly tripped over a round object that had made its way under his foot.
Jose looked up. A group of children, wearing simple, poor robes, were playing soccer in a side yard. The Specialist slung his M4A1 and kicked the ball back to the kids, who started chattering in Arabic. Jose simply smiled.
“What?” PFC Green, along with PFC Campbell and PFC Armistead, broke ranks to observe the children’s gestures and exotic language.
“What are they saying?” Louis asked.
“They want us to play with them!” Jose laughed. “See? This is the perfect chance for us to really connect with these people!”
Jose’s fellow soldiers exchanged uncertain glances. It had become an unspoken fear: Being around a group of Afghans brought the threat of a suicide bomber.
“Oh come on,” Jose dropped his rifle and took off his helmet. “Commander Dicks-for-Brains told us to connect with the locals, so let’s do it.”
“Fine,” Patrick dropped his rifle and unhooked his gear, becoming eerily aware of his surroundings with no body armor or weapons at close reach. The children had set up two buckets on each side of the lot to act as goals. Six United States Army soldiers versus a handful of Afghani children. You don’t really see that every day.
And the villagers knew that. Many had begun to gather to watch the game unfold. The children, small and quick, darted between the soldiers’ legs. What had seemed like a chore had turned into a cheery and friendly soccer match. Even though most of their audience was rooting against them, they were laughing and smiling.
Everyone was. The kids, the soldiers, even the adults and tribal elders that had come to watch. After the children scored a fifth goal against them in a row, Charlie Company decided it was time to throw in the towel.
“Alright, we give up!” Jose addressed in Arabic. The crowd, as well as the children laughed. Gradually, everyone dispersed. Patrick was busy hooking his body armor back on, when he felt a tug on his pants leg.
He spun around. A small girl, wearing a veil over the top of her head, spoke softly in Arabic after lifting a white flower, freshly picked from a crack in the pavement, up to the soldier’s face.
“Shokran jazeelan,” she smiled.
Patrick was speechless. Since his arrival to Afghanistan, all of his interactions with the Afghan people involved being rebuked in Arabic, and having trash thrown in his face. A month ago, someone emptied a chamber pot onto him from a window as he walked by. Ryan and Jose had to hold him down to keep him from retaliating.
He smiled, and took the flower, tying the stem around a loose strap on his tactical vest. Patrick undid his wristwatch. It was a cheap piece of rubber and plastic, something you could probably buy at your local department store for five bucks, but it was like a diamond in the child’s eyes. He strapped it around her wrist.
“Shokran,” Patrick replied to her, and stood up.
“Okay! Woah, ha ha, don’t touch that!” Jose laughed as one of the children tried to hold his rifle, quickly snatching it away. “Alright bye! Bye!”
“Shoo, go back to your mother!” Ryan laughed. “Okay, okay, get out of here!
Many children lingered around them, begging for candy and the chance to hold their rifles.
Eventually, they were able to shoo them away and continue their patrol.
“See, guys?” Jose shrugged his hands. “Told you.”
“Maybe everyone around here isn’t so bad,” Spencer answered.
CRACKKKK KATHOOOOOMmmmmmm!
Charlie Company frantically stacked up against a wall as an overwhelming, giant explosion rocked Zambar. A cloud of smoke loomed in the distance.
“Uh, Bravo-Two Actual this is Charlie-Two. We just had a large explosion in the northwest end of Zambar. What’s going on, over?” SPC Reyes held his hand to his radio headset.
There was a brief lapse in communication.
“Charlie-Two, we’ve just received word from Bravo Company that a car-bomb was detonated about half a click from your position. We’ve got one wounded, zero KIA.”
“Roger, we’re on our way, Charlie-Two out,” Jose let his hand drop.
“It’s gonna be a good day, boys,” Jose threw his hands up with fake enthusiasm.
"Oh, fuck,” Patrick shook his head. “You know when he says that, he thinks the shit is going to hit the fan.”
Patrick stepped around a spot of mud on the street. “I mean, what the hell are we doing here? We’re not even Rangers, we’re just grunts.”
“Yeah, no kiddin’,” Louis trudged behind PFC Wilcox in formation. “Remember when our recruiter said we’d be sitting around, drinking the finest Afghan booze and smoking the dankest Afghan herb?”
“Ha!” Spencer replied sarcastically. “Maybe, if we’d have all stayed in Atlanta, we’d be passing a round a big, fat joint and a bottle of Smirnoff right now, instead of getting stuck in this shit hole.”
“United States government: one. Us: zero,” Joe whined.
“Stop your bitching and do your job,” Jose instinctively glanced around the rooftops and alleyways before advancing around a street corner, his fellow soldiers in pursuit.
“Yes sir, mister Squad Leader, sir,” Joe commented sarcastically.
“Maybe you could learn a little something about doing your job from a Mexican,” Patrick teased PFC Campbell. “You ni-“
“Say it, and I’ll pop a cap in your ass, white boy,” Joe barked.
“Neeeever mind,” Patrick replied playfully.
It wasn’t long before they reached the site of the car-bomb explosion. Bravo Company had set up a perimeter while they waited for Charlie Company. The open space in the street was shrouded in dust from the explosion, settling sluggishly.
Bravo Company’s medic was dressing a wound against a soldier’s neck. His arm was in a splint and his leg elevated against a sandbag on the ground.
“Tripwire,” the commanding officer explained. “Could have been set off by anybody. Even some kids running around.”
“Somehow,” Jose shook his head. “It doesn’t surprise me tha-“
CRACKKKkkkkkk!
Patrick’s adrenaline surged through the back of his head, seemingly slowing down time briefly. A soldier examining the wreckage of what used to be a car dropped to the ground in slow motion, as a spray of red and white burst from his helmet.
“Shit, sniper!” Joe screamed. The two companies of US troops scrambled to cover and took up defensive positions. It was obvious what the Taliban was attempting to do, and it happened to so many unfortunate NATO souls all across tribal Afghanistan.
A car bomb with a tripwire would be rigged where US troops patrol. After it was triggered, all troops in the area would come running to investigate. Once all their victims had neatly assembled for them, Taliban snipers would pick off as many Americans as they could before they were sent to meet their “72 virgins.”
“Dragunov!” a Bravo Company soldier shouted over the radio. “Southeast, second story window!”
Another gunshot, this one from a different direction, burst across Zambar. Its local residents fled to safer ground.
“Shit, there’s another one! Third story spider hole, southwest!”
Patrick, Jose, and Joe were stacked up against the southeastern wall of the building the sniper had perched.
“Louis, blow his ass up!” Jose barked. Louis nodded, and undid a fragmentation grenade from his tactical vest. He removed the safety pin and squeezed the trigger.
“Now! Covering fire!” Jose screeched. Charlie Company rose from their cover and began firing upon both buildings.
RA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA
Deafening, automatic 5.56mm assault rifle fire rattled the small village.
CRACKKKkkkkkk!
The Taliban sniper, surprised at the sudden burst of fire, missed his shot.
“Fire in the hole!” Using the covering fire to his advantage, Louis lobbed the ball of metal as hard as he could into a second story window almost a block away. Less than a second after landing, it detonated and caused most of the second floor of the flimsy, aged building to collapse in a puff of smoke and shrapnel.
“Shit,” Joe punched Louis on the shoulder. “Nice throw.”
“I honestly didn’t think it was going to make it, either,” Louis shrugged as the gunfire died down.
CRACK-PINGGGG!
Jose’s head jerked back and he collapsed to the dusty pavement.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” Joe, Patrick, and Ryan dashed over to Jose’s body as they pulled him to cover.
“Is he…?" Joe held his breath.
Jose’s desert ACU-printed helmet was dented in just above his right eye. The metal had cut into his forehead, but it deflected the sniper’s bullet. The impact had smashed the lens of his goggles strapped to his helmet.
“Lucky son of a bitch,” Spencer helped Jose up.
“Snap out of it man, you’re good,” Patrick patted him on the back, but Jose was traumatized, running his hand over the dented part of his helmet.
CRACKKKKKK
“We’ve still gotta take care of that sooner or later,” Ryan nudged Patrick.
Ryan led Charlie Company from cover to cover, where they met with Bravo Company behind street corner a block from the sniper’s position. Jose, badly shaken, had to be left with Bravo Company.
Bravo Company sent waves of suppressing fire as Patrick, Ryan, Joe, Louis, and Spencer dashed through the street and stacked up against the door.
"It could be booby-trapped," Spencer warned.
Everyone was aware. But after this sniper had killed one of their own, and almost pegged Jose, it got personal.
“Pat, you lead,” Ryan said. Patrick nodded.
He waited until the sniper tried to make another shot at US troops, and using the cover of the soviet sniper rifle’s characteristic discharge, he kicked in the door. It reduced the slab of wood to scrap and splinters.
It was dark inside the Taliban’s hidey-hole. Dusty beams of sunlight fluttered down from barred windows, almost resembling a prison.
As they climbed the stairs to the third story, Patrick had picked out a trip wire set up in the stairway, connected to the safety pin of a hand grenade. It only added to his anxiety, but they pressed on, stepping as quietly and carefully as they could.
Occasionally, shots still rang out from above and below. When they finally reached the third floor, Patrick could smell gunpowder. The sniper was definitely around here somewhere.
Each gunshot appeared to be leaking out of a slightly ajar door. Patrick stacked up against it, his friends doing the same.
“Breach!” Joe hollered, and Patrick kicked in the door. A very surprised sniper, sporting a red and white turban covering his entire face, spun around from his perch against a window, swinging his rifle around towards Patrick.
Patrick placed his illuminated crosshair on the Taliban sniper, and mercilessly opened fire. Ear shattering blasts filled the small, contained space. There was no sympathy for someone who had just tried to kill his best friend.
The sniper dropped to the ground, miraculously still breathing, but disabled. Patrick’s friends stood around the Taliban sniper, who was trying to reach for his rifle, but lacked the strength to do so.
“Should we, you know...?” Ryan stuttered, as he unhooked a combat first-aid kit from his tactical vest.
Joe shook his head. Even though a turban cloaked the sniper’s face, his eyes spoke only anger, murder, and Jihad.
Patrick withdrew his Beretta M9, and cocked it to fill the chamber. His fellow soldiers nodded.
PFC Wilcox stepped forward, the sniper’s eyes glowing with a brainwashed rage. The young soldier took no joy and what he was about to do.
Patrick lowered the hammer, and took aim directly at the masked gunman’s forehead. He and the Taliban insurgent locked eyes. As he looked into those fleshy orbs, a cloudy, unwelcoming feeling pooled into his mind. If he didn’t know better, he’d say demonic voices were whispering in his ears.
Bravo Company, still securing the perimeter outside, heard the unmistakable sound of a 9mm execution.
“Hey!” Nurse Redheart called out to Patrick, bringing him back to reality.
Patrick blinked, and sat up on the bench in the nurse’s office.
“Huh?” Patrick looked around expectantly.
“I’ve been calling you for a couple minutes,” Nurse Redheart tapped her hoof.
“Sorry, I was just,” Patrick shrugged. “Day dreaming… I guess.”
“It’s alright. But we’re ready, come on back,” she led Patrick into a small operating room. Nurse Tenderheart was already present.
They laid him down onto an armchair, and adjusted it due to his size. They were ready to start the procedure.
Each stitch felt like a burning hot stake had stabbed into his chest. A bead of sweat dripped down Patrick’s face as he gritted his teeth in pain, fighting the urge to jump out of the chair.
He dug his hands into the hospital armchair, struggling not to need them to stop again. Every time he cried out in pain, Nurse Tenderheart and Nurse Redheart, with the assistance of a unicorn nurse he hadn’t met before, had to stop the stitching, and then start all over again when he thrashed his chest in pain and undid the stitches.
“Haven’t you guys ever heard of anesthesia?” Patrick said through clenched teeth.
“Yes,” Nurse Tenderheart dutifully put another stitch in his wound. “But we’re not sure if it would suppress the pain, or kill you, since we’ve only tried it on ponies.”
“Wouldn’t want that, now, would we?” Nurse Redheart jeered.
Finally, Nurse Tenderheart stood up and withdrew the needle. A six-inch line of spiky medical thread was visible just above the skin.
“Done!” Nurse Tenderheart clapped her hooves in emphasis.
Patrick let out a weak whimper and closed his eyes.
“Here,” Nurse Redheart gave Patrick a tube of some sort of medicine. “Rub this on the wound twice a day. It’ll help with any pain or discomfort associated from the stitches.”
Patrick pocketed the tube of medicine, and stood up from the chair, putting his shirt back on.
“Is something wrong?” Nurse Tenderheart zipped up a medical bag, and put assorted utensils away.
“No,” Patrick replied sarcastically, picking at the stitches. “I just got stitched without any anesthesia. Nothing’s wrong.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Nurse Redheart interjected. “Before you came in here, you looked like you’d seen a ghost.”
“W-why do you say that?” Patrick stammered, as dark thoughts crept through the back of his mind.
“Well, you just looked kind of flustered, was all,” Nurse Redheart shrugged.
“I-I guess,” Patrick tried to think of something. “I just don’t like needles. I-I was nervous about the procedure, that’s all.”
“Alright,” Nurse Redheart raised an eyebrow. “Just be careful, now.”
“And no getting into fights, young man,” Nurse Tenderheart wagged her hoof at him, like a schoolchild.
“Okay, mom,” Patrick replied sarcastically.
“She’s right,” Nurse Redheart led Patrick back outside. “Avoid causing stress to that wound, it could very easily rip out those stitches.”
“I could be going home soon, anyway,” Patrick sighed. “I’m meeting with Celestia and Luna tomorrow.”
“Really now?” Nurse Redheart’s eyes widened. “We’re going to miss having you around, if you leave.”
“Oh come on,” Patrick laughed. “I’m sure you’ll find another voodoo doll to poke needles into around here.”
Patrick departed the clinic, his movement feeling a lot less restricted now. He was a bit sore from the stitches, but they were necessary after he picked a fight yesterday. He had no one to blame but himself for that, trying to fight Grayburn with his injuries.
He withdrew a cigarette and held the filter in his mouth, cupping his hands around his lighter to shield it from the wind. As he inhaled, a familiar feeling of nicotine buzzed in his bloodstream, and calmed his spirit.
It was nerve wracking, showing his face around town after what happened yesterday. He could feel eyes on him, but ignored the irritating stares, focusing on just putting one foot in front of the other.
At least physically, the stitches strained his movement a lot less than bandages, but it was going to take some getting used to. And they were itchy as hell.
What really made today different, though, was the nightmare he had last night. Ever since his honorable discharge, he’d been having nightmares and flashbacks to his military career. But something was very peculiar about the one last night.
Not to mention, there was something different in general about his nightmares when he slept in Equestria. They were much more vivid, and they were very different than the ones he had before.
In his last nightmare, he was ambushed again, but this time he was alone. He could feel bullets impact him, but felt no pain, only extreme fear. Panicking, he’d fire his rifle on his unknown enemy, hiding somewhere amongst a black void.
Everytime he pulled his trigger, he received only a lazy click. Patrick even checked his magazine; it was full! So he ran. He ran into the nothingness, the infinite desert and black void around him. Bullets continuing to impact him, but they did not slow his sprint; they only injected feelings of extreme despair everywhere they touched to the sound track of his friends burning alive.
Patrick’s hands began to shake, just thinking about last night. He took a hit of his cigarette, and it ceased.
He remembered staring into his own eyes in the mirror, after jolting awake this morning. They looked tired, even battle-fatigued. But last night’s was no ordinary, run-of–the-mill nightmare, it was the worst one he’d ever had.
It didn’t surprise him that Nurse Redheart noticed he seemed visibly upset. But he couldn’t afford for anyone to think he was insane, he just needed to talk to these princesses, have them wave a magic wand, and send him home… Maybe.
The letter they sent back only stated the date and time of his royal audience, nothing more, really. For all he knew, they could have no idea how to send him back. But they controlled the sun and the moon, which was no small feat. Surely, they’d know a way.
His train of thought was interrupted as he noticed three familiar stallions, walking steadfastly towards him from a market stand.
Patrick’s chest went cold in fear, feeling like a small child about to be confronted by bullies.
Somehow, that hadn’t noticed him yet, busily conversing among themselves.
Patrick stepped back into a shadow cast by a building, leaning against a wall. He put his hands in his pockets, his head pointed towards the ground, but his eyes on the three thugs across from him. Blending in with the shadows, they passed him right by.
Patrick gave a sigh of relief, and continued walking after he was sure no one was following him.
He found his mind racing as he neared the library on a number of things. Anxiety took over his mind, dominating it with a pessimistic presence.
“No,” Patrick inhaled one last hit before tossing his short away. “I just need to clam down. The last thing I need right now is for everyone to think I’m crazy.”
Patrick turned the doorknob built into the gargantuan oak tree library, hearing faint sounds of activity and voices on the floor above. Stepping quietly, he ascended the stairs, but not completely. In the room right above his head, it seemed like some kind of meeting was underway.
“-And he was screaming pretty loud in his sleep last night,” Spike said. “I don’t know how much longer I can take having him around.”
Patrick sidled up against the trunk of the tree, stopping just before his head could be visible at the top of the stairs.
“Spike, Patrick doesn’t mean to. All that screaming is starting to get old to me, too, but we have to help him. Where else can he go?” Twilight replied.
So, he’s been screaming in his sleep every night? Patrick had no idea, but it made sense though, because of his nightmares. It made Patrick nervous, now feeling embarrassed to face them. He continued to listen in.
“Ah know Ah shouldn’t judge a book by its cover,” Applejack added. “But he shows up out of nowhere and don’t know where he is, don’t talk about himself, and killed a manticore with that canon he’s got. An’ that fight with Grayburn yesterday…”
Applejack was here too?
Right, they were supposed to talk about going to see Celestia and Luna today. How many ponies knew about all this? Why were they all going behind his back?
“You were there, too, Rarity” Applejack said. “What did y’all make of it?”
“I…” Rarity stuttered.
Patrick could tell she was obviously going to try and protect him, since he spilled his heart out to her yesterday.
“I think he…Erm… Was just defending himself! …From that ruffian. I don’t see anything wrong with that in the slightest. And he was only trying to protect your stand, Applejack. I think you’re misjudging the situation.”
“Patrick’s tough,” Rainbow Dash said. “Almost as tough as me. Even though he got his butt whooped, I still think its pretty cool he stood up for Applejack.”
“I think he’s super-duper fun!” Pinkie Pie chirped. “But, I mean, I’d be a Mr. grumpy-pants sometimes, too, if I got zapped into a world where I didn’t know anypony. Who would come to my parties?”
“And he’s nice, for the most part,” Fluttershy murmured. “Patrick never talks about himself, though. I asked him about what he did before he came to Equestria, and he just changed the subject. He definitely seems to be hiding something. Oh, not that I would know. I’m sorry.”
“Ah asked him the same thing,” Applejack said. “Ah am mighty thankful for him protectin’ mah stand yesterday. But anytime we try to get him to talk about himself, he starts makin’ stuff up. Trust me, Ah can tell.”
“I do believe you’re just being too hard on him about yesterday,” Rarity huffed. “He got hurt again, he was only going to see Nurse Redheart. I created him a magnificent pair of shoes yesterday, they really bring out his eyes. I hope you’ll get to see them when he gets back. He even offered to pay me for my services.”
“And he was really fun at the party!” Pinkie Pie said. “Everypony in town seemed to like him after that.”
“As long as you don’t mention that medal he carries with him everywhere,” Twilight sighed. “He has been a good house guest, though.”
“He may have good manners,” Spike grumbled. “But how long before he goes and turns into some kind of kung-fu zombie in his sleep? What if he hurts somepony?”
“Oh, Spike,” Rarity shushed him. “I’m sure Patrick would never do that… consciously…”
Patrick buried his face in his hands, contemplating what he should do. He had a royal audience with the Princesses of Equestria, and they wanted to try and help him. He’d been stuck here for more than a week now, counting the days he’d been in a coma, and to make things worse: The closest things he had to friends here were now afraid he was going to kill them in his sleep. Patrick cursed the day he signed that paper at the recruiting office. He hated everything about the Army now. The conformity, the ranking system, the barracks, the food.
And the Army had taken everything from him. His time, his health, his friends, and now his sanity. What did he have left?
It also irritated him that they were going behind his back about all this; but then he put himself in their shoes. A strange, alien creature who screams in his sleep is living with them, killed a monster, picking fights, but won’t even talk about himself? Sure, it’d be a bit nerve wracking.
Patrick quietly sauntered back up the steps, seemingly no pony noticing him as he emerged from the staircase carved into the tree. Patrick cleared his throat, and knocked on the wall to get their attention.
“Oh, hey, Patrick!” Rainbow Dash looked around apprehensively. “We were…” She examined Patrick’s facial expression. “Just… talking about you.”
“You didn’t happen to hear-“ Rarity’s ears lowered.
“Yeah,” Patrick lowered his head a little. “I did.”
He paused for a moment.
“Have I really been screaming in my sleep at night?”
“Yes,” Twilight nodded.
“The neighbors came over to check on us, one time. You do the math,” Spike said. Twilight was quick to scold him.
“I really didn’t know,” Patrick hung his head in shame.
“Oh goodness, what have you been dreaming about that would make you scream in your sleep?” Fluttershy said.
And, as usual, Patrick changed the subject.
“Listen, I really appreciate you all helping me until I can figure out how to get back home,” Patrick tried to smile, but it looked like he was trying too hard.
“I know I don’t belong here, I just want to go home. And I’m not going to hurt anyone, I would never do anything like that.”
“Aw’right,” Applejack threw her hooves in the air in frustration. “What’re you hidin’ from us?”
Patrick frowned, those words hitting him like an arrow. The hot-seat was not really where he needed to be right now.
He just needed to get away from everything.
Away from all the questioning ponies that wanted to know about all his problems, away from the nightmares, the staring ponies downtown, the paranoia, his memories of combat. And he still never got the answer to the question he’d been asking for a week now: What the fuck was he doing here?
Everyone stared at Patrick now. Feeling self conscious, he couldn’t bring his head up. The humility he felt overwhelmed him.
He rose to his feet, not making eye contact with anyone, and grabbed his Glock, motorcycle jacket, his helmet, gloves, and a spare pack of cigarettes out of the dresser he’d been keeping his things in.
“Where are you going?!” Twilight jumped in front of him, but the human just stepped around her and slipped on his gloves.
“I’m sorry,” Patrick simply shook his head.
The human quickly climbed down the steps, and picked up his helmet, staring at his own reflection in the tinted visor.
His eyes looked tired, and reeked of shame. Screw saving gas, he just needed to get away from everything for a little while. The questions nopony could answer for him still rattled around in his brain. What was he doing here? How could a lightning bolt strike him and send him here? Why isn’t he dead? Why does the dominant species here speak English? Why is everything a ponified rip off of human culture?
“Patrick, wait!” Applejack and Rarity tried to jump in front of the door as Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy watched, but there was no keeping the human in the library.
He withdrew his key from his pocket, and sat on his motorcycle parked behind the library. It had been sitting outside for a week now, if Patrick ever got home, he was going to meticulously scrub each and every inch of pollen covered metal and fiberglass with a toothbrush.
The six ponies burst out of the library, just in time to see Patrick start up his bike. The engine roared to life and let out a low growl. He shifted into first, and slowly let out the clutch while adding throttle.
Twilight dashed in front of his bike, staring into the tinted visor that hid his face and reflected the world around them.
“Just stay, we can help you! We’re going to Canterlot, even the princess wants to help. How can you just leave? Where are you going to go?!”
“I need answers!” Patrick lifted up his visor, and sped off in the direction of the Everfree forest.
Sweat began to fog up his visor temporarily. Even though his motorcycle gear was a bit warm for this weather, and Equestria didn’t have any helmet laws, the last thing Patrick wanted was to end up face down, arms, legs, and neck broken, in a ditch when he was still recovering from wounds and burns. All the gear, all the time. No exceptions.
As he gained speed, a small smile crept across Patrick’s face. He hadn’t ridden in days, due to him trying to be smart about his gas tank. But there was no point now. So what if he’d use up a gallon or two of gas today. He was fed up with everything at this point.
Patrick’s street tires were not made for dirt roads, they were dual compound. Meaning: They were hard in the center for increased tread life, then soft and sticky on the sides for better cornering. It made it difficult to find grip, and that subsequently sent him sliding around in the dirt several times.
“If only I had a dirtbike,” Patrick thought.
But this was more than enough for him. The wind in his face, the hum of the engine between his legs, the throttle responding to each ever so sensitive and precise flick of his wrist, the deep, throaty moan of his exhaust pipe. Everything that had been building up his stress seemed to melt away.
He hadn’t ridden in days, riding had always helped calm him down. His motorcycle was one of the few things left in life that truly gave Patrick joy.
Keeping a steady yet safe speed, to avoid spinning out his tires, he entered the Everfree Forest. He wasn’t exactly sure where the crash site was, but it shouldn’t be too hard to find. If he remembered right, it had burned a hole in the middle of the forest, which wouldn’t be easy to miss. Patrick kept a close eye on his trip odometer, slowly the ones places creeping to the tens place.
The wildlife scurried for cover whenever Patrick approached. Squirrels hid on opposite sides of trees, and birds ceased chirping. A thin cloud of dust followed Patrick as his tires kicked up earth. Thick rows of coniferous and deciduous trees stretched as far as his eyes could see. Every once in a while, he’d come upon a clearing, inspect it, and find it was not the one he was looking for. Since he was unconscious when he was brought into Ponyville, he had no way of remembering the way.
Following his gut, Patrick continued down the main path, avoiding any side trails. Several times, gnarled branches and less-than-suitable road conditions forced him to walk his bike between the trees in some areas, but it was quite easy to traverse the woods since he had his bike.
Patrick slowed his motorcycle to a stop in a clearing and turned off the engine, putting down the kickstand. He dismounted his bike, scanning the woods for any predators. He had already stopped in five clearings, not a single one resembled the one that the lightning struck.
The human removed his helmet, and smacked himself in frustration.
“Ugh!” Patrick groaned. “Everything looks the same in this forest. It could have been down any of those other paths I passed. I’m never going to be able to find it at this rate.”
It was then that Patrick heard a familiar fluttering of wings. His gaze shifted upwards, scanning the treetops and the sky between the thick canopies of leaves.
Patrick crossed his arms.
“Rainbow Dash!”
All was silent, minus heat crackling off his exhaust pipe.
“I don’t have time for this!” Patrick called into the woods. “So just come out!”
Rainbow Dash guiltily slumped over in mid air, revealing herself from behind a tree.
“Yeah, Twilight sent me to follow you,” Rainbow Dash lowered herself to the ground. “Why’d you flip out back there?”
Patrick turned his back and lit a cigarette, taking a quick puff before responding.
“It’s complicated, okay?” he exhaled. “How’d you even know where to find me?”
“Um, duh?” Rainbow Dash flapped her wings.
“…Right,” Patrick rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry, but I need to get going.”
“Going where?” she watched as Patrick tossed his cigarette butt away.
“I need to find out what I’m doing here,” Patrick strapped his helmet back on. “And so far, no one’s been able to tell me anything. Maybe I can find some clues back at the clearing I landed in.”
Aside from the use of “no one,” instead of “no pony,” What Patrick said made sense to Rainbow Dash. There was one thing that did not, however.
“But, I mean,” Rainbow Dash leaned a hoof against Patrick’s bike. “You can’t just wait until tomorrow, when we see the princess?”
“No,” Patrick shook his head.
“You reeeeally can’t just wait one day, instead of running around in a forest where monsters-“
“No, I can’t,” Patrick crossed his arms.
“Fine,” Rainbow Dash shrugged.
Patrick glanced around the woods for the hundredth time, half expecting another manticore, or worse, to jump out and maul him any second. He didn’t want to admit it, but Dash was right. The less time he spent aimlessly riding around the Everfree forest, the better.
“Listen,” Patrick took a knee down to Rainbow Dash’s level. “It’s really important I find that clearing. If you could spot it from above and tell me where to go, I’d really appreciate it.”
“I guess,” Dash rose into the air a few feet. “Wait here, I’ll find it in ten seconds flat!”
With that, she took off into the sky, circling the seemingly endless Everfree Forest where she had originally found Patrick.
Patrick waited, his hand ready to draw his weapon at a moment’s notice. After what seemed like an eternity, Rainbow Dash returned, a panicked expression on her face.
“It’s gone!”
“What?” Patrick gasped. “What do you mean, gone?”
“I mean,” Rainbow Dash struggled for words. “I remember the part the of the woods it was in, so I searched there. But there’s no giant gaping hole, no dead manticore, no fallen trees, no burnt ground, nothing!”
Patrick put his hands on the back of his head, taking all this in. He paced back and forth, trying to think of something. It had only been a week. Nature could not correct a clearing burned by lightning that downed trees, splatters of blood and scorched earth, and body of a manticore in a week.
The Everfree Forest, he had learned, was one of the only places in Equestria that ran on its own. The weather, plants, and animals were not taken care of by ponies. Unless the decomposition rate in the forest was extremely fast, there was no way everything could have been reclaimed by nature on its own by now.
“Hey, wait a minute!” Rainbow Dash’s eyes lit up. “I bet Zecora would know how to find it!”
“Who?” Patrick asked.
“Follow me!” Dash ascended back into the air. She led Patrick to a small hut, carved into a gnarled, weeping willow. An assortment of tribal masks and exotic decorations hung from its branches.
Patrick parked his motorcycle as Rainbow Dash knocked on the door.
The door swung open, displaying a familiar animal to Patrick.
It was a blue-eyed zebra, her striped mane’s style reminding him of a punk-rocker’s Mohawk. A heavy, gold earring hung from each of her ears. Several gold bracelets were entwined around her neck and one of her legs.
“Rainbow Dash! What a pleasant surprise,” she spoke with a fitting African accent. “May I ask what you are doing here, before my eyes?”
“Uh, hey Zecora,” Rainbow Dash stuttered. “Well, I was wondering maybe if you’d be able to help out my friend, Patrick, here.”
Zecora’s attention shifted to Patrick, and her jaw dropped. “Sweet heavens above, how can this be?” she took a step back. “Is this a human being I see standing in front of me?”
Patrick’s eyes went wide. “What?!”
“You know what I am?!” Patrick’s heart felt like it was about to beat out of its chest.
Zecora led them inside, sitting the Pegasus and the human down at a table where she opened an aged book, written in zebra language. It featured a rough sketch of human anatomy.
“There is a legend many a year old. But nowadays, it is so seldom told,” Zecora spoke in her rhyming dialect as she translated from the decrepit, yellowed pages.
Rainbow Dash looked from Zecora to Patrick as he listened intently.
“The human race was wise and strong. The son of man had tamed the world, before long.”
“Not a soul knows what brought man to his doom. Nor do I know why there is one in this very room.”
“No!” Patrick shouted frantically. “That can’t be it, is there anything more? You’ve got to know something!”
Zecora shook her head.
Patrick stood up from the table, his hands cradling the back of his head as he stared out a window into the forest.
“So,” Patrick spoke in a soft, panicked tone. “I’m…” He struggled not to go completely ballistic.
“I’m…in the future?”
“It would appear so, my human friend. Alas, I am sorry I cannot tell you what brought your people to its end.”
“No…” Patrick suddenly felt very, very alone. “Everyone I know… dead? How far in the future am I? How long ago did this happen? How… How did this happen? What part of the world am I in? What… I…. Where…How…?”
Patrick hyperventilated until he ran out of breath, and began to feel dizzy. It was all just too much. He fainted and fell flat on the floor.
“Wake up!” A cold liquid suddenly hit Patrick’s face.
Patrick coughed water out of his mouth and inhaled deeply.
“I believe that will do. The rest of that water, I must save for my brew,” Zecora took the bucket of water from Dash and hung it above her cast-iron stove.
Patrick sat up, his back against the wall.
“Are you okay?” Rainbow Dash helped pull him to his feet.
“I just need to be alone right now, Dash,” Patrick’s lip quivered.
He somberly stepped outside the zebra’s hut. Rainbow Dash tried to follow him, but a firm hoof restrained the Pegasus.
“Rainbow Dash, give him some time. He is now the only one of his kind.”
Patrick sat outside next to his motorcycle, curled up into a ball. It seemed like he had been out for some time, as the moon had replaced the sun since he’d passed out.
This wasn’t some other universe, this was Earth. For all he knew, where he’s standing could have been downtown Atlanta at some point in time. Patrick felt the weight of the world on his shoulders as he bore this news.
Hours went by, and he simply sat there, looking straight ahead into the forest, dark thoughts creeping through his mind and taking over. He secretly hoped a manticore, or anything that could be a threat, would burst out of the woods and end his life.
He heard conversation in Zecora’s hut between Rainbow Dash and the wise zebra. Eventually it died down, although light continued to emit from the windows.
Reluctantly, Patrick stood up. He couldn’t sit there forever. The human brushed himself off and reentered the hut.
Rainbow Dash had fallen asleep on Zecora’s bed, her ear twitching every now and then. He took in the strange sight of an upside-down zebra, her head balanced on top of a bamboo pipe, lying in a deep, meditative trance.
Patrick took a step forward, trying not to disturb either of them.
“Human, if you are done moping over yourself,” The zebra started the first verse of her rhyme.
“Damn,” Patrick thought. “She must have good hearing.”
“I believe I may be able to help.“
“How?” Patrick asked, her eyes still closed.
She gracefully came off her post and led Patrick outside, quietly shutting the door so as not to wake the sleeping Pegasus. She led Patrick through the forest through the dead of night, seemingly unafraid of whatever monsters could be prowling around at this hour.
“The spirits want to aid you, in your quest,” Zecora said as they walked. “But up to you, young warrior, is the rest.”
“What makes you think I’m a warrior?” Patrick asked sarcastically.
“In the spirit world, your eyes glow in red bands,” Zecora explained. “This only happens to he with blood on his hands.”
Patrick kicked a rock on the path shyly.
“I was a soldier,” Patrick sighed. “I fought in a war, it ruined me. Yes, I have killed people. And they follow me everywhere.”
Zecora stopped dead in her tracks.
“Five friendly spirits, a message to you, they send. They wish only to support their closest friend.”
Patrick felt cold in his chest.
“Jo…Jose?” he frantically looked around, hoping to see something.
“Joe!” his tone became louder, and more confident.
“Spencer! Ryan! Louis!”
“Anybody!” Patrick screamed at the top of his lungs, echoing around the forest. But nothing happened.
“PLEASE!” Patrick dropped to his knees.
“I CAN’T FUCKING DO THIS ALONE!”
Zecora watched Patrick’s outburst, and tapped him with a hoof. “Child, do not despair, for we are almost there.”
Patrick stood up, feeling his palms sweat. He didn’t know where the zebra was taking him, but obviously it was important.
At last, Zecora stopped just short of a clearing. But it looked… Familiar. The trees were all in the right place, the foliage, the dirt path, everything was correct. But it looked like nothing had even happened here.
“I can see it in your eyes, that this is a place you recognize.”
Patrick nodded, his eyes scanning every detail of the clearing. He remembered exactly where he lay bleeding, where he shot the manticore, and where his bike was laying. But it looked like it had been cleaned up, everything looked as if it were put back into place. It was no wonder Rainbow Dash couldn’t pick it out from the air.
Looking down onto the dirt path, Patrick could see several round imprints in the ground.
“Horseshoes?” Patrick thought. There was nothing else that they could be. Someone had cleaned up the mess the lightning had caused after it zapped him into Equestria. Someone was trying to cover it up.
“Why?” Patrick managed to choke out.
“This, I have no answer for. However, I wish to show you what may help you let go of everything that happened in your war.”
Zecora laid flat on her back, and then balanced herself on her head. She gestured that Patrick do it as well. After several failed attempts of standing on his head like Zecora, he threw his head back in frustration.
“This is stupid,” Patrick grumbled, getting ready to storm off.
“You may sit,” Zecora smiled. “Please, just don’t throw a fit.”
Patrick sat criss-cross on the ground and looked longingly towards Zecora, her eyes still closed.
“Meditation has been a remedy to cure broken hearts since ancient times. If done right, the results can be most prime.”
Patrick shifted uncomfortably in the dirt, looking straight ahead.
“Close your eyes, son of man. Empty your mind as quickly as you can.”
And Patrick did just that. It was difficult, but Patrick believed he had cleared his mind of all emotion and thought, at least for a moment.
It was actually a very peaceful feeling, the nothingness. With no constant negative influences on his mind, Patrick felt himself relax.
“Now, pay attention to me. Picture everything that has destroyed you, in your line of duty.”
A dark surge flowed through his mind. It was like someone had turned on a faucet and ice-cold water was filling the inside of his head. He willingly allowed all of his nightmares, his memories, getting shot, executing a man as he stared into his eyes, the screams of his friends as they burned to death, being humiliated yesterday, the end of the human race, to circulate in his thoughts.
“And now, human soldier, this is where you are on your own. You must now let everything go.”
Patrick wanted to stop, and tell her he wasn’t ready for this. But something, not exactly a voice, but a thought, told him he was. It was strange, because the thought was not his own.
“I will return when the dawn has broken, heed these words that I have spoken.”
Patrick could hear Zecora leave the clearing.
It took a very long time for him to process everything that his mind wanted to show him. It was definitely a few hours by the time Patrick exhaled loudly. Visions from combat, and strange voices echoed through his mind. Most of the voices were clearly products of his own imagination, but there was one that rang out above the rest. It was a thought, that was not his own.
The thought was in the form of a very familiar voice. After sitting in his mind, and staring directly at this thought for hours, he finally attempted to communicate with it.
“Hello?” Patrick seemingly asked himself, not really expecting a reply.
“Hey,” the voice nonchalantly responded. Patrick didn’t expect himself to be so calm when he was having a conversation with someone in his own head.
“How are you?” Patrick asked.
“I’m fine. All of us are fine,” the familiar voice spoke.
“I only wish I could have done something differently that day, in the valley,” Patrick trailed off.
“It wasn’t something that could have been prevented,” the voice said.
“Is it nice, where you are?” Patrick asked.
“It’s peaceful,” the familiar thought-voice spoke softly. “We all have to get off the train eventually, you know. End of the line, you get the idea.”
“Yeah,” Patrick answered. “I do. But, I’m the only one left now. I’m all alone.”
“No you’re not,” the voice said. “We’ve got your back, and we always will.”
Patrick and the thought took a moment of silence, allowing themselves to enjoy each other’s company.
“Listen,” The familiar voice finally voiced. “I have to go.”
“I understand,” Patrick responded. “But what am I doing here? Why is all this happening?”
“You’ll see, in time.”
“That’s not fair,” Patrick replied sarcastically.
“Don’t worry about it. Just promise me that no matter how bad things get, you won’t forget that we will always be brothers.”
“I promise.”
“One more thing,” the voice became very gentle, almost angelic.
“It’s gonna be a good day.”
Patrick’s eyes shot open, his lungs gasping for breath. His pupils dilated, and grew smaller to accept a higher amount of light. The sun had just risen, casting the shadows of the trees westward towards the horizon.
Rainbow Dash yawned, not used to being up this early. Zecora smiled, and sat down next to Patrick.
“We’ve been here for about fifteen minutes now,” Rainbow Dash said. “We didn’t want to disturb you.”
Patrick smiled at Rainbow Dash. Something felt very different inside of him. The usual occupancy of his dark thoughts about the ambush and his combat career in the back of his mind were no longer there. It was as if he had reached inside his mind, grabbed a leech sucking away his very sanity, and stomped it to death. For the first time since Patrick could remember, he felt…
Happy. Just… Happy.
“I assume, from your smirk,” Zecora noticed a grin across the human’s face. “That what I have taught you has worked.”
“Yeah,” Patrick gave a sigh of relief. “I had a very nice conversation with an old friend of mine.”
Patrick was about to retrieve a cigarette from his pack, but stopped short before he could reach fully into his pocket.
“You know,” Patrick thought to himself, smiling. “I don’t think I need one.” Patrick stood up, and faced Rainbow Dash.
“Listen, Dash,” Patrick made eye contact with her. “About yesterday at the library…”
“Zecora told me everything,” Rainbow Dash said. “Maybe even Twilight could learn something about friendship from you.”
“Twilight?” Patrick eyes windened. “Wait, we’re supposed to go see the Princesses today!”
“Oh, hay,” Rainbow Dash cursed. “You’re right! We’d better hurry if we want to make it to the chariot they’re going to send us in time!”
Zecora led Patrick and Rainbow Dash back to her hut, where Patrick slipped on all his gear and started up his bike.
“Come on, slowpoke!” Rainbow Dash crossed her arms in midair.
“Just a sec!” Patrick called up to her, and turned to Zecora.
“Thank you,” he withdrew a purple, heart-shaped medal from his pocket, handing it to Zecora. “I won’t be needing this anymore.”
“I am glad you were able to chase your demons away,” Zecora smiled. “And I have a feeling that today- is going to be a very good day.”
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Molotov Cocktail
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1029
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Big Macintosh,Derpy Hooves,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Nightmare Moon,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Zecora,Human,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Whiplash
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A motorcyclist is struck by lightning. He awakens on the verge of death in a very strange land.
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complete
| 751 | 52 |
<p>When a motorcyclist is struck by lightning, it sends him to a strange world in a seemingly unexplainable turn of events. With no one able to offer him the answers to his questions, he settles in for the long haul, and looks for a way home. </p><p>Lost, injured, and still reeling in the post-traumatic stress of military service, as well as the criminal underground of street racing, he struggles to maintain his very sanity. Little does he know, the friendships that made life worth living for him would be the key to stopping an ancient enemy bent on anarchy and genocide.</p>
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teen
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2011-10-29T22:14:29+00:00
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2011-10-29T22:14:29+00:00
| 12,290 |
August 20, 2001
Garden Hills Elementary School
Atlanta, Georgia
Ms. Lightly’s classroom was a comparable to that of a chaotic frenzy. First graders tore through the generously decorated classroom, brightened by an entire wall of windows overlooking the playground.
The youngsters got their hands on anything that wasn’t nailed to the ground.
It was Ms. Lightly’s first year of teaching. At first, she was feeling confident with her ability to care for others’ children. But nothing she had learned in college prepared her for this. She clasped a hand over her head, watching as two of her students were fighting over a stuffed animal.
“I suppose I should probably do something about that,” she sighed. Suddenly, there was a figure standing in the doorway.
It was a Hispanic woman, a small child clinging to her leg.
“Ah,” Ms. Lightly welcomed them in. “Welcome, welcome! You must be Mrs. Reyes.”
“Yes, it’s good to finally meet you,” she spoke good English, but her Spanish accent was very noticeable. “I’m sorry he has to be tardy, but better late than never.”
“Mhmm,” Ms. Lightly replied.
“No, its mine!” A high pitched squeak interrupted them. “Miiiiiiiine!”
Two boys were trying to carjack another boy out of the only Playskool push-car the classroom had.
“Um, you’ll have to excuse me for a moment,” Ms. Lightly broke up the situation, putting all three in time out. The boys pouted in the corner as Ms. Reyes and her son waited patiently.
“Sorry about that,” Ms. Lightly chuckled apprehensively. “You must be Jose.” She reached out to the small child.
“Your mother has told me so much about you. I’m sure you’re going to love living in America!”
Jose continued to cling to his mother’s leg, shaking his head.
“No, mami, I don’t want to go!” Jose humored his situation, knowing it was not going change anything.
“Now, come on, Jose,” she tried her best to comfort the small child. “I know two boys who would love to play with you.”
“R-really?” Jose sniffled.
“Of course,” she smiled, taking Jose’s hand.
“I’ll pick you up later, Mijo,” Mrs. Reyes blew a kiss at him, and disappeared down the hallway. Jose’s heart felt a kick of despair knowing his mami was no longer there to protect him.
Two boys sat in a corner of the room, contently playing with blocks and Legos. Compared to the childish anarchy around them, they were calmly building something out of their materials.
“Patrick, Joseph,” Ms. Lightly let go of Jose’s hand. “This is Jose. He just moved here from Mexico. He needs some friends to play with.”
Jose looked at his shoes, too nervous to look up.
“Wow, you’re from Mexico? Cool!” Joseph exclaimed.
“Yeah,” Patrick fidgeted with a toy motorcycle in his hand. “Do you know Spanish?”
“Yes,” Jose smiled, gaining confidence.
“Hey, you wanna help us build a track for my motorcycle?” Patrick gestured to the lines of blocks, which was beginning to resemble a racetrack.
“Yeah, okay!” Jose beamed as Ms. Lightly, at peace with the situation, strolled cheerfully back over to her desk. Her good mood was quickly soiled after another conflict between other children.
“I-I like your motorcycle, Patrick” Jose managed to stutter, as he made a curve in the track. Patrick held out his toy motorcycle, a plastic red crotch rocket, for Jose to see.
“Yeah, when I get bigger, I’m gonna ride a motorcycle!” he beamed.
The boys spent the remainder of their playtime rolling Patrick’s toy motorcycle and hot wheels cars through the racetrack, until lunch and naptime took up the remainder of the school day.
While they waited for their parents to pick them up, the three boys found themselves playing with Patrick’s motorcycle again, giggling frequently as they repeatedly made it jump from table to table.
“Why can’t all kids be that well-behaved?” Ms. Lightly lamented.
Her thoughts were interrupted as a large man, his face unshaven, his greasy jumpsuit implying he was a mechanic of some sort, walked straight through the classroom and yanked Patrick by the arm.
“Have a… Good day… Mr. Wilcox.” The man totally brushed her off.
Soon enough, in a Ford pick-up truck, a certain young boy by the name of Patrick was getting a stern talking-to.
“I told you not to mix with them blacks,” Patrick’s father spoke in a raspy southern accent, ashing a cigarette out the window. Patrick hated the smell of cigarettes. He learned in school from Ms. Lightly that cigarettes are really bad for you. Patrick promised himself that he would never smoke, it was just so… So bad.
When he told his father he should quit smoking… Well, his behind was very sore after that.
“And I don’t want you hanging around that Mexican,” Mr. Wilcox muttered. “Or you’ll get a belt slapped on your ass so hard, you won’t be able to sit for weeks.”
“But they’re my friends, daddy…”
Patrick felt himself leaning violently to the left, barely catching himself as his rear tire threatened to slip out from under him.
“Okay, I really need to stop spacing out all the time,” Patrick thought.
The dirt roads had been hell to ride on, but it sure beat walking when he has stitches in his chest, he had nearly toppled over that time, though.
“Go faster!” Rainbow Dash called from above. “We’re gonna’ be late!”
“I’m trying not to kill myself, here!” Patrick’s speedometer only read 47 MPH, but with these unstable dirt roads, it felt like he was flying down a road made of grape jelly.
“Stupid six-hundred-dollar racing tires.”
Meanwhile, a royal chariot had was waiting just outside the library. Five ponies found themselves anxiously waiting.
“Any day now, Miss Sparkle,” one of the Pegasus Royal Guards tapped his hoof.
“They’ll be here soon, I’m sure,” Twilight hunkered down back in the chariot.
“Oh goodness, do you think something happened to them?” Fluttershy said.
“Ah sure hope not,” Applejack responded.
A low familiar hum, at first faint, was getting louder and louder.
Twilight gave a sigh of relief. “Just in time!”
Patrick skidded to a stop just in front of the royal chariot, Rainbow Dash landing next to him.
“Hey!” Patrick lifted up his visor, parking his bike. “Hope we haven’t held you up too long!”
“Oh, we were getting ever so worried!” Rarity grabbed Rainbow Dash in a friendly embrace.
“Where in Equestria did y’all run off ta’?” Applejack scolded.
“Now, Ah can’t lay a hoof on you,” Applejack gestured to Dash. “But you!”
She approached Patrick. “Where’d y’all run off ta’ that was so important, puttin’ Rainbow Dash in danger like that?”
“I went to Zecora’s,” Patrick smiled.
“What were you doing with Zecora?” Twilight asked.
“I had a lot on my mind, yesterday,” Patrick sighed. “She showed me some things, I think it really helped. I’m sorry I flipped out yesterday.”
“Y’all wouldn’t have spent the night in the woods if you would just stop keeping so many secrets from us!” Applejack grumbled.
“Oh,” Patrick crossed his arms. “Excuse me for getting beaten up in front of the entire town for protecting your apple stand, then!”
“Hey!” Pinkie Pie popped her head up between the arguing human and earthpony. Patrick nearly caught a mouthful of her cotton candy mane, she was so close.
“Friends shouldn’t be arguing like this! It’s not like anything bad happened, so just say you’re sorry and forget about it!”
“Where did you-“ Twilight facehoofed. “Never mind.”
“Alright,” Patrick sighed, just wanting to avoid as much conflict as possible.
“I’m sorry,” he stuck out his hand. Applejack hesitantly shook it, and then eased up on him. “Alright, Ah forgive ya,’ can’t really stay mad at anypony anyhow.”
Patrick allowed Rainbow Dash to enter first, and was about to climb into the chariot, but a purple hoof pushed him back down.
“What?” Patrick looked at Twilight.
She gestured to his waist. His Glock 23 was still resting comfortably inside his holster.
“Leave that thing inside, you don’t really go see the royalty while armed, here,” Twilight said.
“Oh, if only you knew,” Patrick thought, rolling his eyes.
“Alright, I’ll be quick,” he dashed back inside the library, undoing his belt and sliding the holster out of its grip.
Patrick removed his weapon from his holster, his other hand on an open drawer, ready to safely store the only known working firearm in the world. He held the handgun in a soft grasp, timidly entertaining the thought of not leaving it behind.
If someone hadn’t been trying to cover up the damage caused to the clearing from his arrival, maybe he wouldn’t have any reason to be paranoid. Patrick stuffed the muzzle of the weapon down into his waistband, and tightened his belt to keep it in place. After throwing his shirt over it, there was no way to tell he was packing. He wanted to bring his other magazine, but figured it would look too suspicious with his pocket bulging out so.
Thirteen bullets would have to protect him from whatever this crazy future could throw at him.
It never hurt to be prepared. In the Army, two cyanide pills were always within quick reach while out in the field, should he be captured by insurgents.
As much as Patrick didn’t want to admit it, a .40 caliber bullet was his cyanide pill.
The Canterlot Royal Guard buzzed to and fro amongst the magnificent cliff-side castle. Much to the armor-clad Pegasus and unicorn guards’ surprise, Princess Celestia had fully mobilized each able bodied guard, so that every square inch of the castle was under watch at any given time.
The only thing the Royal Guards knew was that the princesses had a royal audience planned with a very special VIP. They brushed it off as something diplomatic and did their job.
“Sister?” Celestia shook Luna awake. “Sister, it’s time. We need to get ready.”
“Mrmmm,” Luna groggily rose her head from her pillow.
“Come on, we don’t have all day,” Celestia waited by the door.
“I’m not even supposed to be up during the day,” Princess Luna groggily made her way to her vanity and shuffled through her wardrobe.
“I really wish you hadn’t have waited this long to tell me about the human, Tia,” Luna’s horn glowed, grabbing a hairbrush and brushing her bed head back into place.
“I’ve already said I was sorry, Luna,” Celestia sighed. “But remember what we discussed. Knowing him, I’m afraid of how he’d react if he found out what I’m responsible for. It is best if he doesn’t know.”
“You’ve never really been one for lying, Celestia,” Luna shrugged.
“I’m not really lying,” Celestia grimaced, knowing she would be. “I’m protecting him.”
“I’m still not completely following this plan,” Luna said. “But if it’s taken you since the day I was banished, until a week ago just to cast the spell, then you’ve obviously had time to put some thought into all this.”
“I have meditated thoroughly on this situation. This is for the best,” the white alicorn replied.
“Having the Royal Guard cast a repair spell on the damaged part of the Everfree Forest was a bit much, though.”
“The Nightmare is undoubtedly aware there is a human in Equestria by now,” Celestia shuddered. “I could not risk it having the opportunity to analyze the magic that still lingered there. If it were to detect my magic, it would surely know what my intentions are.”
“And be able to stop us.”
“Correct,” Celestia nodded. “Even with my magic, it was a very wearisome and meticulous spell to cast. There was no way of knowing where he’d end up, it just so happened to be the Everfree Forest.”
“What if anypony, or the human, returns there? Wouldn’t it be suspicious?”
“It’s a necessary risk. Though, my agents in Ponyville have been keeping a close eye on things,” Celestia replied. “I couldn’t afford for my student to discover the magic still lingering there, either. It would immediately point a hoof at me and put them in danger again. Besides, it’s been days, if they haven’t gone back, they’re unlikely to, by now.”
Celestia ruffled her mane in stress.
“It took a thousand years to be able to find this particular human, and manipulate each and every outcome ever so slightly, that it wouldn’t change history.”
“And prevent Equestria from being formed,” Luna added, joining Celestia’s side as they left Luna’s bedchambers.
“Exactly,” Princess Celestia nodded. “He and his friends won’t be able to use the Elements of Harmony unless he wants to help us, and for the right reasons.”
“It pains me to have done it this way, but if this is successful, both our world, and his, will be saved.”
“His?” Luna’s eyes widened, she suddenly found herself glaring at her sister yet again. “How can you save the past?”
“We’ll talk later, Luna. We’ve much to do.”
“But Tia! Why don’t you trust me enough to just tell me what’s going on?”
“I apologize, sister,” Princess Celestia replied. “But I can’t take any more risks at this point. I promise, I will fill you in completely after you raise the moon tonight.”
“Fine,” Luna pouted as they shuffled outside to meet their guests.
Patrick emerged from the library, catching the Pegasi Guards staring menacingly at him.
“What are you looking at?” Normally, he wouldn’t have smarted off, but all this staring was really getting to him.
“The freak standing on two legs,” one of them retorted.
“Yeah, fuck you, too, buddy,” Patrick wanted to say, but there were three things Patrick had learned in his life that taught him otherwise.
One: Don’t fuck with people who handle your food. Two: Don’t fuck with people that handle your food. Three: Don’t fuck with anyone that can allow you to plummet to your death at any given time.
It was a relatively short chariot ride, with a font row seat for the viewing of several pegasi’s flanks. Patrick heard the girls giggling to each other and pointing ahead of them, likely voting on which one they liked best.
“Wowie! Isn’t this great, we’re going to Canterlot!” Pinkie Pie bounced up and down next to Patrick. “Aren’t you happy Patrick? You’re finally going to get to go home!”
“Yeah,” Patrick stared off into space. “Hopefully; we’ll see.”
“Aw,” Pinkie Pie slunk down. “Well, maybe you should just be more positive! And the going-away party we’re going to have is going to be great!”
“Sounds good, I’m looking forward to it,” he smiled to amuse Pinkie Pie.
“So what did you and Zecora talk about last night?” Twilight asked.
“Well, we-“ Rainbow Dash was interrupted by a human elbow to her ribs.
“Ow, what gives?” she whispered.
“Until we figure out why the clearing’s fixed, I’m a little suspicious right now. Just keep everything to yourself until I figure it out.”
“Yeah, fine,” Rainbow Dash groaned. “I don’t like keeping secrets, though.”
“What are you two whispering about over there?” Rarity asked, all eyes on them now.
“Oh, nothing,” Patrick straightened up. “She, uh, taught me how to meditate. I think it really helped.”
“You know, Patrick is a lot like Zecora!” Pinkie Pie chattered. “At first we were all scared of him and didn’t know what he was, but then after he turned out to be nice, everypony loved him!”
“Hey, yeah,” Applejack stroked her chin. “Maybe that’s why y’all got along so well with Zecora. Maybe she’cud relate ta’ you er’ somethin’.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Patrick thought as they landed on a plaza just outside the throne room.
There they were, the sun princess and the moon princess. After a week of not knowing what the hell was going on, everything led up to this.
“Presenting!” A royal squire announced. “Her highnesses, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!”
A flamboyant fanfare blew across the castle plaza as several squires raised their horns.
All the ponies around Patrick bowed. He took a knee as Celestia approached him.
“You are not one of my little ponies,” Celestia laughed. “Why are you bowing to me?”
“I do so only out of respect, Princess,” Patrick smiled confidently. Finally, something was actually going to happen. Finally, he was going to find a way back home.
“Please, rise.”
Patrick stood to his feet.
“I apologize it took so long to meet with you. We had certain business in Manehattan we had to attend to, but thankfully, we can now devote our full attention to you.”
“Thank you, I’m honored,” Patrick nodded.
“Celestia!” Twilight bolted to the princess’s side, sharing a quick embrace.
“My dearest student, Twilight Sparkle! It’s so good to see that you and your friends, as well as your new human friend, are all doing well.”
“Well, he’s doin’ better, anyhow,” Applejack took no effort to prevent herself from being informal. “You should have seen him when we found him in the Everfree forest. Hoo-wee, it was messy.”
As the Princess exchanged words with the six ponies, Patrick caught a certain blue alicorn staring at him. He smiled and gave a small wave. Luna blushed, and returned the wave with a small laugh.
“Please, you must be exhausted from this entire ordeal,” Celestia said to Patrick.
“Shall I show our guests to their chambers, princess?” A white butler pony, sporting a well groomed mustache asked.
“Yes, please,” Celestia answered. “After you are all settled in, please join us in the dining hall, we have prepared a feast for your arrival.”
“Um, yeah,” he nodded, confused. “Thank you for your hospitality.”
“We’re spending the night?” Patrick whispered to Twilight as the Royal Guard escorted them to the guest living chambers.
“No one told you?” Twilight shook her head. “Well, you’ve got everything you need, right?”
Patrick thought he was only going to be there for the day. His most recently opened pack of cigarettes had only seven inside it, and he left the rest of his cancer sticks back in Ponyville.
“I guess. But a feast? I don’t think that’s really necessary. I just wanted to see if she can send me back or not.”
Though, since meditating last night, he hadn’t craved a cigarette all day. With the dark memories of combat safely in check, Patrick no longer had a mental dependency on nicotine. He would smoke one every now and then, just to prevent himself from falling into a cranky physical withdrawal, but so far, Patrick had liked not needing to stop what he’s doing and light one up.
“I might just have to quit, now,” Patrick laughed to himself. He was shown to his room, and he rejoined everyone in the dining hall. It was elegantly decorated with a massive chandelier, probably having over a thousand crystals dangling from its glass panes, which lit the entire room. Stained glass windows with paintings of two forms, one white and one dark, rotating around what appeared to be a planet.
Celestia, Luna, and the ponies he’d been living amongst in Ponyville all sat in a neat line on one side of the table, munching happily and enjoying their luncheon.
Truthfully, he was getting tired of every meal being so vegan. But he ate his carefully assembled plate of fruit, chopped and stacked to look like a pyramid. His salad had been arranged so that the leaves resembled rays of light, and the dressing provided a body that resembled the sun.
He hated to destroy this work of art, but after spending all night on a soul-searching journey in the woods talking to the dead, it was enough to work up his appetite. Just as he was about to take another bite, he felt a tap on his shoulder.
“Patrick!” Twilight whispered, glancing at Celestia. She seemed too preoccupied speaking to Fluttershy regarding Philomena to notice.
“You’re in the presence of royalty, sit up straight!”
“My bad,” Patrick straightened his back and scooted in his chair, lifting the fork full of salad back up to his mouth.
“And chew with your mouth closed, its bad table manners!” Patrick looked at her blankly, closing his mouth and continued chewing.
“And-“
“Twilight, I really don’t think the princess minds,” Rainbow Dash interrupted.
“Doesn’t mind about what?” Celestia asked dantily.
“Oh, uh nothing,” Rainbow Dash nervously laughed.
“So, Patrick,” Celestia’s gaze shifted towards his end of the table. It wasn’t a threatening gaze, only one of curiosity.
“You’ve barely said anything since you got here, is something wrong?”
“No,” Patrick replied. “I’ve just never really been around royalty or anything before, I don’t really know how to act.”
That wasn’t true, the Army had fully well-educated him on how to act around a superior officer, or the commander-in-chief.
“There’s nothing to be nervous about,” Luna smiled at him. “Twilight Sparkle mentioned in her letter that you think you came to Equestria from another world in the lightning that struck the Everfree Forest not too long ago.”
“Yes, and I hope you are recovering well,” Celestia noticed a strip of thick bandaging protruding from his left sleeve.
The human noticed what she was staring at, and tucked it back into his shirt.
“It’s nothing, just a few burns and some stitches,” Patrick shrugged. “I’m fine, thanks.”
“It’s a miracle you even survived at all,” Luna seemed to glare at Celestia. Luna caught Patrick’s eyes locking with hers as she glared at her sister, and quickly slunk back down in her chair.
The handle of the crudely concealed handgun in Patrick’s waistband was painfully jabbing him in the thigh. He inconspicuously worked it into a more comfortable position while pretending to adjust his belt.
“Yes, well,” Celestia stood from her chair. “I believe I’ve had enough. If everyone is finished, why don’t we move this discussion to the throne room?”
The alicorns, ponies, and the lone human filed into the throne room. It was decorated similarly to the dining hall; marble floors, walls, and pillars. Stained glass windows depicting glorious images of the sun and moon cast colorful images across the room as the sun beamed through them. A Royal Unicorn Guard sat on each side of the throne as the royalty tended to their guests.
“Now, I’m sure you’ve had a lot of questions since you got here,” Celestia’s voice echoed around the large chamber. “And I’d like to address them.”
“Finally,” Patrick thought.
“Thank you,” Patrick said. “Do you know what’s going on, and why I’m here?”
Celestia and Luna looked confusingly at each other.
“Well,” Celestia sighed. “I am sorry, but I’m afraid we’ve been unable to figure out the source of the magic that brought you here.”
Patrick’s eyes widened. “Oh,” he put his hands in his pockets somberly. “Is there any way to send me back to my world, then?”
“I don’t mean to disappoint you, Patrick, but…” Celestia sighed. “I don’t believe there is, as of yet.”
Patrick slunk down, breaking eye contact with everypony. It had confirmed his worst fear. Not only was he trapped here, the last human to ever live, but now he was being lied to.
“If a zebra in a hut knows what I am and where I came from,” Patrick thought. “The princesses that raise the sun and moon should know, too.” He could tell by Rainbow Dash’s expression that she was thinking the same thing.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Patrick,” Fluttershy put a hoof on his shoulder. “Are you sure there isn’t any other way?”
“However,” Celestia let the magic ripple through her glorious mane. “I can have the scholars comb through the Royal Archives, including even the most ancient of texts. Perhaps we may be able to find something on Patrick’s people and the magic that had brought him to Equestria by tomorrow morning. If not, than we shall continue to decipher the magic that brought you here.”
“See, Patrick?” Twilight clapped her hooves together. “Don’t give up yet, I told you the princesses would find a way.”
“If there’s a way, we’ll find it,” Celestia said. “We want to help you, Patrick. For now, why don’t you just enjoy what Canterlot has to offer as my esteemed guest?”
“Oooh! Really?” Pinkie Pie burst into a grin, bouncing in hyperactive spasms. “A night on the town in Canterlot! Oh this is going to be so fun!”
“My sister and I have some business we must attend to after she raises the moon shortly, I’m sorry we couldn’t help you, but I pledge you my full support as long as you are here. I will meet with you tomorrow on whatever my scholars find.”
“I appreciate the effort and your hospitality, princess,” Patrick bowed his head respectfully.
After the audience, Patrick found himself smoking a cigarette on a castle balcony, his first cigarette since the night before. He only smoked when he needed one now. And he really needed one. Now. It was all so confusing, why would they lie to him? Maybe they genuinely just didn’t know.
But Zecora did. She’s from a far off land, maybe her people had better knowledge of humans than even Equestria’s royalty.
Then again, maybe not.
“Patrick?” Rarity approached him. “I couldn’t help but notice how you and dear Rainbow Dash reacted to the Princess’s words.”
Patrick took another hit of his cigarette, breaking eye contact.
“What really happened at Zecora’s?”
Patrick took a deep breath. “Promise not to tell anyone?”
“Cross my heart and hope to fly,” Rarity enthusiastically did a series of motions to complete the rhyme. “Stick a cupcake in my eye, darling.”
He told her everything. About how he was the last human in existence, how this was the future, and after Zecora helped him let go of what happened during his military service, how he had a conversation with a very familiar voice from the past.
“I’d be very suspicious, too, if I were you, but at least you finally got some closure.”
“Yeah,” Patrick nodded. “I think I did.”
“But why in Equestria would they not tell us the truth?“
“I don’t know,” Patrick sighed. “But I think I’m starting to figure something out.”
“Hey, Patrick!” Rainbow Dash zoomed through the marble-floored hallway, stopping in mid-air as she saw Rarity.
“Oh, hey Rarity,” Rainbow Dash floated up to Patrick’s eye level, whispering through clenched teeth. “Can I talk to you alone, now?”
“It’s okay, Dash,” Patrick tossed his cigarette off the balcony. “Rarity knows about what happened to me in the Army, and last night at Zecora’s, too. She was able to get me to crack the day after I woke up.”
“You whined at him, didn’t you?” Rainbow Dash crossed her arms, her wings keeping her aloft just above their heads.
“Works every time?” Rarity guiltily lowered her head.
“Well, what am I supposed to do now?” Patrick stared off into the sunset.
“I don’t know,” Rarity sighed. “There’s definitely something awfully fishy, going on.”
“They’re lying,” Rainbow Dash blurted out. As the Element of Loyalty, it was hard to admit the truth. But the royalty she bowed to had lied to her, it was undeniable.
“I just need to think about this,” Patrick started down the hall. “I’ll see you later.”
Patrick aimlessly wandered the castle halls, the guards eyeing him suspiciously. He rounded a corner, and bumped into large blue figure, knocking it to the ground.
Instantly, Patrick found himself surrounded by Royal Pegasi and unicorn guards. “Your highness, did this creature harm you?”
“No, no, of course not,” Luna smiled at Patrick. “It was just an accident, carry on.”
She dismissed the guards, who resumed their patrols.
“Sorry about that,” Luna said as Patrick helped her up.
“Nah, I should have been paying more attention,” Patrick shook his head apologetically.
“It’s quite alright. So, how are you finding Canterlot so far?”
“It’s nice,” Patrick replied. “I just wish I could figure out what’s going on, and what I’m doing here.”
Luna seemed uneasy after Patrick responded that way, and quickly shuffled down the hall.
“I’m sorry, but I really must be going. I have to raise the moon before Equestria starts wondering why the sun isn’t setting.”
“Alright then, see you,” Patrick turned around, feeling a bit brushed off, continuing down the hallway.
“And Patrick?”
“Yes?” he turned around.
“I think you may find answers to the questions you seek in the Royal Archives.”
Before Patrick could react, she took flight out of a nearby window.
“Did Luna really just…”
Quickly, he found his way to the Royal Library. In a cordoned off section, flanked by two Pegasi gaurds, was the Royal Archives.
The library was extremely vast. Shelves clustered with books, perfectly organized, sat upon every wall and in neat rows of towering bookshelves.
Patrick dropped his eyes to the floor, not really knowing where to look. Suddenly, he could see Twilight tugging several books around with her magic, heading straight into the Royal Archives and right past the guards.
He tried to follow her, but the armor-clad guards unfolded their wings and blocked his path.
“Halt!” one of them bellowed. “Only those approved by the princesses themselves may enter the archives!”
“My apologies,” Patrick took a step back and walked out of view, pretending to examine books along the wall. How was he supposed to get in there now?
Almost as quickly as he began perusing the shelves’ contents, a Royal Unicorn Guard came galloping into the library.
“I bring news from Princess Luna!” he panted. “All guards on patrol in the Royal library have been dismissed.”
The guards exchanged glances.
“Are you sure?”
“It was a direct order,” the unicorn said.
The three guards exited the library apathetically. Patrick shrugged it off and entered the Royal Archives.
It was a vast room, nearly half the size of the Royal Library itself. It featured windows that stretched all the way to its raised ceiling, and ceiling artwork that would put Leonardo da Vinci to shame.
“Patrick?” Twilight, surprised, looked up from a book. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, nothing much,” Patrick stuck his hands in his pockets.
“Listen, I know you’re kind of down about what the princess said, so I’ve taken the liberty to go through the archives myself, in place of the scholars.”
Patrick wanted to tell her the truth, because he was honestly touched she’d spend the entire night going through ancient and sacred pony texts, just to help him, a stranger. But he couldn’t risk getting the word out that he knew more than the Princesses were telling him. What if they had something to do with this?
“Wow, they’d really let you do that?”
“Of course, who else would be better up to the task than Princess Celestia’s student?” Twilight’s eyes gleamed. “Since I moved to Ponyville, I’ve really missed this place, anyway. It’s really exciting to be able to read all these rare and unique books, some of them are even only single editions!”
“Maybe I can help,” Patrick looked around the room, trying to see what Luna meant by finding “the answers to the questions you seek.” If it was a book he was looking for, then it would take all night to find out what Luna meant. Unless, it wasn’t a book.
After spending an hour helping Twilight read through several reference guides, and starting on a book of ancient legendary creatures, Patrick was already feeling discouraged. But he refused to give up. He had only one very vague lead, but one way or another, he was going to find out the truth. Tonight.
“Huh,” Twilight froze in the process of removing a book from a wall shelf with her magic. “That’s odd.”
“What?” Patrick frantically stood up from a mountain of books. “What’s odd?”
“It feels like,” Twilight’s horn glowed, using her magic to feel the heavy wooden shelves of the bookshelf situated up against the wall. “That behind this bookshelf, it’s hollow. “
Curiously, Twilight Sparkle pushed the bookshelf ever so gently. It budged slightly, revealing a track with wheels attached to the bottom.
“Keep pushing it,” Patrick ordered, his eyes locked on the shelf.
Twilight’s horn glowed more brightly than Patrick had seen before, and with a strained grunt, she pushed the bookshelf aside like a sliding glass door.
Twilight panted in fatigue; using large amounts of magic was terribly exhausting for any unicorn.
“What is this?” Patrick’s jaw dropped.
“I don’t know,” Twilight approached the hole, large enough for a pony as tall as Celestia to walk through comfortably. It appeared to stretch back very far into the castle walls, gently sloping downwards.
“I don’t know where that leads, but I don’t think we should go down there.” Twilight’s horn glowed, ready to move the bookshelf back.
“Wait!” Patrick stopped her. “What if… uh, there’s something important down there?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if there’s some kind of forgotten room or something down there, filled with all kinds of ancient books? Wouldn’t you want to be credited for finding it?”
“I think maybe we should just tell the Princess about this,” Twilight shook her head, and her horn glowed once more.
Patrick stepped into the hole before she could slide the bookshelf back into place.
“Patrick, I really don’t think that’s a good idea,” Twilight asserted. “I don’t want you to end up in a dungeon for trespassing.”
“I don’t see a sign anywhere that says no trespassing,” Patrick stated as he felt his way down the long hallway. “Now come on, I need some light from that magical appendage of yours.”
Twilight apprehensively entered the hole in the wall, casting an illuminating spell and lighting up the ancient passageway.
It took nearly two minutes to fully traverse the tunnel. Even with Twilight’s horn lighting the way, the dim, windowless chamber they found themselves in was nearly twice the size of the entire Royal Library. It had the musty stink of age and decay.
Twilight spotted many unlit torches on the walls, and lit them all at once, her horn ceasing its glowing after the room was completely illuminated. More bookshelves sat against a wall, containing very ancient and poorly preserved books.
On a section of wall, many, many photographs, most of them faded, were framed with respective labels attached to their preservation frames.
Glass boxes, protecting better-preserved items from the elements, lined various tables, counters, and shelves.
There were vast assortments of items, some familiar to Patrick, and some not, but all were definitely human. Plastic bottles, CD-Roms, a computer monitor, random and particular items grouped together.
Patrick recognized a TV set, most of the wood framing rotted. It was definitely an older one, looking to be from the 1980s or so.
A very large preservation box held a rusty hunk of metal, which Patrick immediately recognized to be an engine of some kind. It was extremely large, towering more than 10 feet, and completely encased in glass. In large, barely legible lettering engraved into the side, it read “Boeing.”
“What is all this?” Twilight gazed around the room.
“It’s human technology,” Patrick gasped. “And I think your princess has been lying to us.”
“What?!” Twilight looked at Patrick with disgust. "That’s ridiculous! The princess would never lie about something like that!"
“Even Zecora, some shaman living in a hut, knew what I was! What more proof do you need, finding a room full of human artifacts under her castle?!” Patrick shouted.
“But you and Rainbow Dash never told me Zecora knew!” Twilight answered.
“Yeah, well,” Patrick balled his hands into fists. “We lied!”
He made his way around the room, catching a glimpse of a book that had obviously been carefully preserved and restored inside another preservation box.
“Holy Bible.”
Directly adjacent to the preserved Christian text, sat a laminated, yellowed clipping of parchment. Patrick immediately recognized it as a newspaper clipping.
New York Times
June 13, 2042
IRAN LAUNCHES NUKES, WASHINGTON ANNOUNCES APOCALYPTIC SCENARIO
“What’s that?” Twilight looked over Patrick’s shoulder as he read through the newspaper clipping. She was about to ask him to move over so she could read it, but stopped. His eyes were watering.
With a loud grunt in anger, he punched his fist into the Plexiglas container preserving the article, a loud thud resonating around the room.
“Patrick, why are you so upset?” Twilight tried to comfort the distressed human.
He stood aside. “Just read it.”
Her eyes moved back and forth until she finished the article, and then she lay silent.
“So, you’re not from another universe,” Twilight murmured. “You’re from the past.”
Patrick nodded, continuing to observe the chamber’s contents in a melancholy wonder.
What caught his eye next was an assortment of long, rusted metal objects. After getting closer to this section of the room, and it was unmistakable what they all were.
Human firearms, some Patrick had never even seen before, lay sorted in front of him. Russian Kalashnikov rifles, whatever wood stocks and grips they may have once had, were long decayed and deteriorated. More advanced looking rifles that looked to be designed much later than Patrick had even existed. Some of them lacked magazines, and in a separate section, rusted ammunition was on display, each artifact containing a note about the location and date of its discovery.
Hunting rifles, handguns, revolvers, even a mortar, and what appeared to be a hand-held grenade launcher. Those weapons with synthetic bodies and frames seemed to have held up better than those with wooden ones, albeit most were barely intact at all.
But there, at the very end of the line of weapons, lay a rifle Patrick had gotten very familiar with. Even though father time taken his toll, it was unmistakably an M4 Carbine.
“No way,” Patrick flipped open the preservation box containing the carbine in disbelief. It had telling signs of age and rust, but structurally, it seemed to have held up okay.
Patrick spent some time holding and gazing at this rifle. It was missing a magazine, and where an ACOG or reflex sight would have been mounted, the standard carry handle sight was installed. The synthetic, adjustable stock loosely clung to the butt of the rifle.
“Is that... another one of those guns?” Twilight questioned Patrick.
“Y-yeah,” Patrick choked, fighting to keep the memories he had let go of from taking over again. He could feel the stress, the regret, the mourning, and the guilt of ending human life, all bubble in the back of his skull again.
Everything Zecora had tried to teach Patrick about letting go of his past was screaming for him to get out of there, and put down the rifle. But his mind was telling him otherwise. He continued to scan the rifle for details, until he caught a familiar engraving, which featured an image of a mustang standing on its hind legs. As well as a serial number just above the mag release on the ancient rifle he held in his hands.
“PROPERTY
OF U.S. GOVT.
M4A1CARBINE
CAL.5.56 MM.
W391107”
Patrick shrank back in horror, reading the serial number again, and again, and again, pleading to his eyes that he was just hallucinating that number.
But he wasn’t. When Corporal Wilcox had been assigned a rifle in the military, it was his primary weapon, carried everywhere he went, until his honorable discharge after that fateful day. When you have nothing else to do but get the taste of sand out of your mouth for two years, you have time to memorize every detail and every serial number on your rifle.
And the rifle he held in his hands was the very same one he had used to kill two men. It was his rifle.
Twilight watched as the human froze, staring at the engraving on the rifle. It was the same stare he had on the balcony that night.
“Patrick, are you okay?” Twilight shook him out of his gaze.
“No,” Patrick, still holding the ancient M4 Carbine, headed towards the exit.
“Celestia has some fucking explaining to do,” he felt the bulge of his concealed weapon with each step he took.
“It’s gonna be a good day, Pat. I can feel it.”
|
Molotov Cocktail
|
1029
| 9 |
Big Macintosh,Derpy Hooves,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Nightmare Moon,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Zecora,Human,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Whiplash
|
A motorcyclist is struck by lightning. He awakens on the verge of death in a very strange land.
|
complete
| 751 | 52 |
<p>When a motorcyclist is struck by lightning, it sends him to a strange world in a seemingly unexplainable turn of events. With no one able to offer him the answers to his questions, he settles in for the long haul, and looks for a way home. </p><p>Lost, injured, and still reeling in the post-traumatic stress of military service, as well as the criminal underground of street racing, he struggles to maintain his very sanity. Little does he know, the friendships that made life worth living for him would be the key to stopping an ancient enemy bent on anarchy and genocide.</p>
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teen
|
2012-01-20T21:02:34+00:00
|
2012-01-20T21:02:34+00:00
| 20,343 |
September 11, 2015
12:58 AM
Atlanta, Georgia
A clap of thunder and a thrash of lightning rolled across the night sky. Soon, sheets of rain began to drench a concrete jungle, making for a dangerous situation to any brave motorists attempting to traverse the city streets in this downpour.
Even though the city had shut down for this stormy evening, the Atlanta Police had their hands full. The street racers that had been plaguing the city of Atlanta; endangering the lives of motorists, illegally gambling fortunes, and costing thousands in labor to remove their burnout stains and tire tracks from public roads; were finally on the run.
True, the APD had more important things to worry about than a few idiots racing on public roads for cash. But when race crews began turning into organized crime, playing a part in drug trafficking and other atrocities, it became a priority to snuff them out.
So far, sixty-two arrests had been made since several popular racing spots were raided earlier in the night.
A police helicopter assisted with their efforts, reporting the positions of any suspicious motorcyclists or drivers with a blinding spotlight, while units on the ground maintained roadblocks and kept a lookout for more fleeing racers.
While the chaos erupted across the city, three motorcyclists tore away rapidly from the heart of Atlanta’s industrial district.
“Someone tipped off the cops about that spot!” Reese, a member of Dreads’s crew, grumbled through Patrick’s Bluetooth helmet. The rain splattered against his helmet, making it difficult to see ahead of him.
“Nobody told the cops, you squid,” Patrick lifted his visor, easing the condensation fogging up his line of sight. “We’ve been going to that spot for years, it was only a matter of time before they finally started cracking down.”
“Yeah, fo’real,” Dreads rasped, the sounds of his engine drifting from the background. “Pat, what’s the move? I’m on the other line with my crew, most everybody’s gotten busted now.”
Patrick, Reese, and Dreads rode in a staggered line, avoiding main streets and staying under overhead cover when available. It was incredibly disorienting riding in the rain, and the slippery roads only made it worse.
“Just got a text,” Dreads paused for a moment. Patrick assumed his phone must have been mounted to his handlebars.
“Yeah, they got a roadblock on Peachtree and Piedmont, they have lookouts on 75. I don’t know about Ponce, but I’m not chancin’ it.”
The police helicopter remained high in the sky, about a mile from their position. An overpass near a park up ahead would cover them from the chopper’s sweeping spotlight.
Patrick pulled over under the overpass, Reese and Dreads in suit. Soon after, the police chopper moved on, oblivious of the street racers hiding within its vicinity.
The racers killed their engines, but ready to move again at the first sign of approaching headlights. Patrick shuddered as cold water had seeped through all his gear, chilling his bare flesh.
“So, whats the move, army-boy?” asked Dreads.
Patrick dismounted his Honda CBR, and glanced at Reese’s bike, his lights still shining brightly.
Although DOT regulations required all motor vehicles to be equipped with running headlights and taillights, it wasn’t uncommon for racers to wire a switch that disabled them, making for an easy getaway at night.
However, Patrick was smart enough to already have this done, and would be practically invisible under the cover of night. Reese and Dreads still had their stock wiring, they’d stick out like a sore thumb. Riding with them would be as good as getting arrested.
Patrick spied a discarded piece of metal pipe amongst some other trash, and stood in front of the gleaming headlights of Reese’s Suzuki GSXR, handing it to dreads with his wet gloves.
A flash of lightning briefly illuminated the surrounding landscape. Dreads looked from the rusty pipe to his bike and nodded, understanding what Patrick implied.
Dreads raised the metal pipe and brought it down on each of his headlights, effectively shattering them both.
“Woah man, what are you doing?” Reese cried in surprise.
“If we got no lights,” Dreads busted out his taillight. “They can’t see us.”
Dreads handed the pipe to Reese.
“Go on.”
“No way man, I’m not doing that to my bike!” Reese frantically paced back and forth, until Patrick grabbed him by the collar, water dripping from their waterlogged gear.
“You either bust out your lights, or you’re on your own.”
Reese froze in fear, writhing in Patrick’s grip.
“A hundred bucks for new light bulbs and lenses is better than having your bike crushed and five years, isn’t it?”
“Can’t I just take the bulbs ou-“
“There’s no time, squid!” Dreads shouted angrily.
“Squid” was a term that bikers used to talk down newer bikers, or those that had no clue how to ride in an acceptable manner.
Dreads grabbed the metal rod and darkened Reese’s bike himself.
“Mhmm,” Dreads admired his work. “This’ll help. Just try not to crash.”
Patrick remounted his bike, spotting car headlights approaching. There was no way to tell if it was heat, but there was no reason to stick around, anyway. After pressing a crudely wired switch zip-tied to his handlebars, any source of light coming from the CBR between his legs was disabled. Patrick turned the ignition as he restarted the conference call between their Bluetooth helmets.
“We just gotta get out of the city,” Dreads complained. “But I ain’t going to jail tonight, or shot by the 5-0.”
“Dreads, they wouldn’t shoot us,” Patrick shrugged.
“Y’all are white, whatchu’ got to be scared of?”
“Yeah, good point.”
They agreed on a route. If they could get through the roadblock, they could take off from there, use the main highways, and vanish unopposed before the helicopter could follow them. After breaking the line of sight, simply changing directions would render frantic police radar chatter useless.
“And what do we do if we end up getting chased?” Reese asked unconfidently.
“Drop a gear, disappear,” Patrick flipped down his visor, following Reese as Dreads led them from their pit stop.
It was difficult, riding with no headlights in the pouring rain. Several times, Patrick almost rear ended Reese, or ended up off the road.
All they had to do was make it around Peachtree Street, using the back roads, and get past the roadblock. All major highways were under watch, but it was their only way of escape. And with wet pavement and a helicopter in the air, it only made things worse.
The chopper seemed to be preoccupied searching another area of the city. Patrick, Dreads, and Reese found themselves surrounded on all sides by towering skyscrapers, streetlights, and concrete in the heart of downtown Atlanta. Police could be anywhere, anticipating the racers’ every move.
They rode in a staggered formation, weaving between what little traffic remained at this hour, bolting through red lights, and being pelted by rain the entire way. Dreads tapped his helmet with his clutch hand, indicating that he had spotted a cop, and slowed his advance.
It was too late. A lone, undercover Ford Mustang roared to life, flashing blue lights and blaring a siren.
“Shit, y’all on your own, peace!” Dreads gunned the throttle, taking off down a side street. Reese had just barely made it past the squad car, and disappeared off into the distance. It left only Patrick, still barreling down the street and unable to swerve in time.
The officer driving the squad car lurched forward, threatening to send Patrick crashing into its side panel and flailing over the hood. The biker jammed his brakes, his tires squealing in agony as they hydroplaned across the wet asphalt. Using his hips to angle his bike, he slid to a stop mere inches from the hood of the police cruiser.
Before Patrick could make a break for it, the driver reached into the passenger seat, grabbing a long, black object, and threw open the door.
“Put your hands up!” the officer barked. “Don’t fucking move or I’ll put a bullet in you!”
This couldn’t be happening. His first night racing since he was arrested, and it ended just like before.
Patrick stared down the barrel of an AR-15 assault rifle, raindrops illuminated by the Mustang’s headlights dancing in mid air. It was unnerving to be on the wrong end of the civilian carbine he had become so familiar with.
The handgun on Patrick’s waist was clearly visible, and this officer was not playing any games tonight. Patrick hesitantly raised his hands, the bike beneath his legs still purring gently. He put the kickstand down and dismounted, easing himself away from muzzle of the rifle held only two feet from his face.
With that, the APD officer kicked him in the chest, throwing him to the ground in a greasy puddle. The officer yanked the helmet off of his head, getting a good look at the street racer. His gaze shifted towards Patrick’s waist.
“Packing heat, huh?” he snatched the Glock 23 out of Patrick’s holster, setting it on the hood of his car. The officer kept the barrel of the rifle pointing straight at Patrick’s head the entire ordeal.
“Identify yourself!” the officer demanded.
Patrick shook his head.
“I plead the fifth,” he sneered.
Patrick cringed as a steel-toed boot made contact with his chest again. The officer clasped a radio handset on his vest.
“Dispatch, I have one suspect on the corner of Peachtree and Luckie, over.”
Patrick sat on the ground, seething in anger and disbelief. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This smug piece of shit was bringing him in, and there wasn’t anything he could do about it. His mind raced on what was going to happen.
He was a repeat offender now, being arrested twice for street racing would probably ensure he’d never get to hold a driver’s license again. Not only that, he was armed. Maybe they’d go easy on him since he’s a veteran, who knows? But jail time was definitely in his future.
Before the officer could receive a response from his radio, a bright red Yamaha R1 flew past them, the rider standing on its passenger pegs as he executed an impressive wheelie.
“Fuck the police!” Dreads let a hand off one of his handlebars, flipping off the cop, and smacked his front tire down, nearly slipping on the wet asphalt. He did a quick burnout, and took off as a trail of steam followed with the scent of burnt rubber.
“What the fu-“
Patrick didn’t hesitate. He lunged forward and grabbed the officer, fighting for the rifle in his tight grip.
Surprised by the sudden force against him, the officer attempted to heave the barrel in his face and blow his head off. Unfortunately for him, he was wearing a hefty, bulletproof vest, with assorted tools and weapons attached to his belt. It limited the officer’s mobility significantly.
And Patrick was not just some typical thug the officer was used to pushing around. While he wasn’t a Ranger, or part of some elite, special ops unit, United States Army infantrymen are thoroughly trained in military hand-to-hand combat. The combat exercises he practiced almost everyday consisted of this very same situation.
In one swift movement, Patrick plucked his hands down over the officer’s thumbs, a standard disarming procedure.
The thumbs are the human hands’ natural weak points, going for the space between the thumb and index finger is always a priority. Angling the muzzle away from them both, Patrick ripped the weapon from the officer’s grasp and flung it away from the struggle.
BOOM!
The officer pulled the trigger in a last-ditch effort to subdue the street racer as the rifle was removed from his grip. Patrick felt a rush of air as a bullet whizzed past his side, the gunfire crackling down the city streets and making his ears ring. Windows along a nearby apartment complex suddenly lit up, the people inside beginning to look on curiously.
Patrick tackled the disarmed officer to the ground. They rolled around in the grimy, wet pavement, throwing punches and slamming each other’s faces to the street.
With all his might, Patrick heaved himself on top of the officer, and let his fist collide with the police officer’s temple.
The officer’s foot shot forward, leaving a brown boot print on his face. Patrick flew backwards, but immediately jumped to his feet.
Before the officer could withdraw his sidearm, Patrick grabbed his helmet and rushed forward.
“Should have handcuffed me!” Patrick swung his helmet across the officer’s head, knocking him out cold.
He stood over the officer, breathing heavily as blood dripped from scrapes on his face. Patrick wiped a mixture of blood and grime from the officer’s boot onto his sleeve.
A red sportbike rolled back into view, coming to a stop just next to Patrick.
“I thought you said we were on our own?” Patrick gasped for breath.
“You are,” Dreads’s t-shirt absolutely drenched. “No need to thank me, just get fuck out of here!”
He revved his engine, screeching away from the scene.
Patrick marveled at the situation before him for a moment. A loaded AR-15 lay in the gutter, as a police Mustang, with its driver’s side door open and lights still flashing, lay next to an unconscious police officer. This was definitely his cue to leave.
The biker quickly strapped the helmet back to his head, grabbing his Glock 23 off the hood of the officer’s car. He mounted his bike and bolted from the scene, as approaching sirens increased in proximity.
Darkening his lights, he jumped onto the freeway, the Atlanta skyline in his mirrors getting farther and farther away as the rain flowed over his visor, making any source of light wavy and distorted.
“Okay,” Patrick thought as a streak of lightning lit up the sky. “Can’t go home, maybe I can just get a hotel somewhere for a few days.”
Laying low outside the city for a little while would be the smart thing to do. Getting a hotel room up north with his winnings was starting to sound attractive; in fact, it would even be like a mini-vacation. Right now, though, he just needed to get out of this storm before he hydroplaned to his death.
Before Patrick could find an exit on the desolate interstate, there was a distinct change in the atmosphere around him. The wind picked up, threatening to blow him into the median.
Lightning lit up the world in blinding, rapid bursts, white-hot thunderbolts piercing the sky unnaturally. Patrick could see a lightning bolt strike something only a quarter-mile away from him, and they seemed to be drawing closer. But the lightning that struck closest to him was different. While the ones off in the distance were white or yellow, the lightning that struck closest lit up the sky in bursts of colors, almost like tye-dye or rainbow streaks.
He battled with the wind, the unrelenting rain, the decreased traction, just trying to keep himself from crashing into the median. It was then that Patrick felt static electricity in his hair.
His eyes widened, suddenly feeling a tingling sensation come across his body. Patrick’s face went white as a sheet, knowing what was about to happen. He squeezed the grips of his handlebars tightly, uttering a single word.
“Shit.”
There was a flash, and a crack. It was incredibly bright.
But then, it got dark. Very dark.
And nothing happened.
That was all Patrick could remember before he was struck by lightning. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind now that Celestia was responsible for him being here. How was she supposed to deny it, when a rifle bearing his serial number is hidden away in a secret museum of human history?
The Royal Guard watched the human cautiously as he stormed the halls with a strange, rusty object in his hands. Even they knew something was up, but since he was the princess’s esteemed guest, they couldn’t bureaucratically touch him.
Maybe he would regret going about it this way later, but it’s not like they didn’t give him a choice. His days of running round Equestria, blissfully unaware of what the purpose of him even being here was, were about to come to an end.
As Patrick made his way there, the morning sun’s rays crept through the elegant stained glass windows of Canterlot Castle’s throne room. The two royal sisters waited patiently along with several of their guests.
“Maybe they overslept?” Luna shrugged.
“Naw,” Applejack shook her head. “We checked their rooms before we came down here. We thought they were already up an’ at em’.”
It made Celestia anxious. She was powerful, but not all-powerful. Anxiety and uncertainty were emotions she didn’t feel often, but when she did, they hit hard. She composed herself, staring towards the towering double doors of the throne room.
Suddenly, they burst open. A lone human marched forward, his hand behind his back.
“Hey, Patrick! Where were you and Twilight all night? You missed all the fun we had downtown!” Pinkie Pie skipped forward, but Patrick paid her no mind. He stopped just before anypony would be able to see what he held behind his back from their angle.
“Hello, Patrick,” Celestia examined the human’s disgruntled expression. “Where is Twilight Sparkle? Is something wrong?”
As if on cue, a purple unicorn came galloping into the throne room.
“Patrick, wait!” she cried. “Don’t do it, we can talk about this!”
“A-about what?” Rarity stammered, exchanging a worried glance with Rainbow Dash.
“About this!” Patrick removed his hand from behind his back, clutching an ancient firearm. He tossed it forward, clattering against the pristine, marble floor as it slid toward Celestia and Luna. Crusty specks of dirt and rust broke off upon impact, leaving a trail of small debris.
“Would you mind explaining to me what MY rifle is doing here?”
Celestia’s eyes widened, but Luna seemed to be calm about the situation. She collected herself, and cleared her throat.
“I see,” Celestia frowned. “You found the artifact room.”
“Artifact room?” Fluttershy whispered.
“Princess…” Twilight murmured. “You… You’ve been lying to us?”
Celestia hung her head, her student’s words felt like a knife to the heart.
“Yes.”
Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity gasped simultaneously.
Patrick still stood there, his eyes fixed on the white alicorn, his hands balling into tight fists.
“You need to tell me what’s going on,” Patrick took a step forward. “NOW!”
His voice boomed across the vast chamber. Everypony was silent for a moment.
Finally, Luna looked expectantly to Celestia and nodded.
In the back of Celestia’s mind, she suspected Luna may have something to do with this. She’d address that later, it was time for the truth to come out, and much sooner than she’d hoped for.
“Yes,” Celestia replied hesitantly. “I am responsible for bringing you to Equestria from the past.”
“Patrick’s from the past?” Applejack questioned, but her voice went ignored.
“I almost bled to death, I nearly got eaten alive, I’m practically crippled, I got my ass kicked, ” Patrick pulled up his shirt, revealing the stitches and bandages over his burnt arm. “Of all the ways to go about it, you struck me by some magical lightning? Look at this! This is your fault, I appreciate it!”
“Please,” Celestia cooed. “Just let me explai-“
“I will, and you better have a pretty good fucking explanation for all this!”
Twilight froze, her heart skipping a beat. Did Patrick really just talk to the princess like that? Why was Celestia not striking him down, or throwing him in a dungeon this very moment?
Celestia gazed into the human’s eyes, knowing how he was going to react.
“Patrick,” Celestia said. “I’m sure you’ve heard the stories of how the Elements of Harmony defeated Nightmare Moon not too long ago, correct?”
“Yeah, so?”
“Well,” Celestia looked at her subjects, those who bore the Elements of Harmony themselves.
“They didn’t exactly do that permanently.”
“Uh, beg your pardon?” Applejack raised an eyebrow.
“Then whatever was the point of it all?” Rarity asked.
“I was hopeful that the Elements of Harmony, when used by you ponies who shared such a close bond of friendship, would be powerful enough to destroy the nightmare. But it wasn’t. Not even when I used them were they powerful enough.”
“Why me?” Patrick interrupted. “Why bring me here? What makes me so special?” he asked in a mocking tone.
“It took an entire millennium to thoroughly explore every possibility and every outcome involved with looking to the past for a solution. With the Nightmare banished to the moon, I had time to devote all my magic into making sure we would never have to face it again.” Celestia stood from her throne and stepped around the firearm desecrating her throne room’s floor.
“But there’s something…Different, about humans. Your people may be gone, but there is a bond you shared that is even greater, and even more powerful than those who used the Elements of Harmony last.” She gestured to the ponies surrounding Patrick.
“Why didn’t you just tell us from the start?” Patrick asked. “If you needed my help, you could have just asked, instead of zapping me with lightning and lying in my face!”
“It’s not that simple,” Celestia sighed. “The Nightmare is still out there, and I’m sure that by now, it knows you’re here, too. By pleading ignorance and destroying any trace of my magic that brought you here, it will not be able to determine if I am directly involved, and I’ve been able to keep you all out of immediate danger while it continues to remain dormant; for the time being.”
“I guess that would explain the clearing being fixed in the Everfree Forest,” Rainbow Dash interjected.
Celestia turned her head to Luna. Luna gave a sheepish smile, shrugging nervously. She didn’t even have to say it, but her expression clearly spoke “toldja’ so.”
“What does this have to do with me and my friends?” Patrick raised an eyebrow.
“Equestria needed someone who understands the magic of friendship, more than anypony ever could. After observing human history, and searching for hundreds of years, I found you.”
“You didn’t impact history enough to where it would ultimately prevent Equestria from existing. But at the same time, you weren’t quite what was needed to use the Elements of Harmony to vanquish the Nightmare once and for all.”
“So…?” Patrick shrugged.
“So…” Celestia took a deep breath. “I made you what we needed. I manipulated the events in your life that would send you down the path I-Equestria-needed. Your father’s abuse, and institutionalizing your mother. The people you met, where you went to school. Your… Your military service.”
Patrick’s chest went stone cold, all the blood draining from his face.
“You… You didn’t…”
“I’m so sorry, Patrick,” Celestia spoke softly. “There was no other way.”
Patrick’s jaw dropped. His eyes tried to water, but nothing would come out. He tried believing there was some divine reason Celestia did this to him. Why she toyed with his life. Why she broke his family apart. Why she murdered his friends.
But he couldn’t.
Everypony watched as Patrick reacted to this news. Rainbow Dash and Rarity could understand what he felt, but there was no one else in the entire universe that could. He turned his back to Celestia, grabbing the back of his head in distress. He felt numb, like he wasn’t even alive anymore. His entire life… It was just a charade. Patrick Wilcox had officially lost all will to live.
“Patrick?” Rarity approached him, as everypony else remained at a respectful distance.
“Please,” Celestia gently uttered, approaching the distressed human. “This is why I hid everything from you. All of you. Because I knew how much it would hurt Patrick.”
Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, her once curly mane deflated, looked on, maintaining an eerie silence none of them had ever felt before.
“You…” Patrick exhaled, bringing his hands down, reaching into his waistband.
“YOU FUCKING BITCH!”
Patrick spun around, feeling nothing but pure rage flare through his heart. The sun princess found herself staring down the barrel of a loaded Glock 23.
He pointed the weapon directly at her head, clicking off the safety.
“Sister!” Luna’s horn glowed as she rushed forward.
“Luna, don’t,” Celestia said calmly. “You don’t know how those weapons work. If he moves at all, it could cause him to pull the trigger.”
Reluctantly, Luna stood down, her horn ceasing its glowing.
“Patrick…” Celestia returned her attention to the gun-wielding human. “I know you’re very upset with me right now.”
Twilight gaped in horror, her mentor and Patrick having a standoff. She wanted to do something, anything, to protect her. But Twilight was so confused. Who was right, and who was wrong? From reading the engraving on Patrick’s Purple Heart, she knew he had some sort of military experience. But just what was the human military like? What could have caused him to pull a gun on the princess for affecting his military service?
“-But you just need stop and think about this for a moment. Just put the gun down. We can talk about this.”
“DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU DID?” Patrick shouted. “I watched my best friends burn to death! You killed them! They had families, families I had to comfort at their funeral, after I come back from this pointless war with a bullet in my shoulder!”
Celestia looked into the human’s eyes, peering into the broken spirit she created. If anypony were able to see them from the spirit realm, they’d know they spoke only death and vengeance, glowing blood red. After all the effort she put into this; all the meditation, banishing her sister, lying to her most faithful subjects, and hiding the existence of humanity for as long as she could remember; the very situation she had been trying to prevent was beginning to unfold.
“And I’ve had to live with the fact I’m a murderer! I killed people with that rifle! Because of you!” he gestured to the carbine dejectedly laying on the floor.
“And to top it all off, my life has just been a game for some magical flying horse from the future!” he maintained his aim, the sights perfectly aligned on Princess Celestia’s forehead.
“You’ve got ten seconds to tell me why I shouldn’t blow your brains out!” he tightened his grip on the receiver.
“Patrick, think about what you’re doing!” Twilight cried. “What do you think would happen to you if you assassinated the princess?!”
Patrick was quiet for a moment, toying with the thought of actually going through with this. He’d surely be executed or tortured, for that matter.
However, there was another way out…
“If I shoot her, I’m shooting myself.”
“You can’t be serious,” Rainbow Dash took a step back. She thought she knew Patrick better than anypony here, after they met with Zecora. But he had clearly lost his mind. And as much as she didn’t want to admit it, Celestia brought this upon herself.
Twilight wasn’t going to allow this to go on any longer. Her horn summoned a powerful ball of energy, ready to be thrown at Patrick and end his own life.
It cast a pale glow across the face of everyone present.
“Put it down, now!” Twilight demanded, willing to take a bullet for her princess, even after all she had done.
By now, the Royal Guard was aware of what was happening in the throne room, bursting through the doors and surrounding the human holding a weapon straight at their princess’s face.
“Patrick, please,” Celestia said in a dry tone. “Put the gun down. It doesn’t have to be this way. We can fix everything. You just have to trust me.”
Patrick studied the congregation around him. The guards glaring angrily at him, the ponies that had saved his life helplessly cowering in fear and shock, Twilight standing defensively, a ball of magic emanating from her horn as tears flowed from her eyes.
The entire ordeal, the fact that Patrick could end her life with a twitch of his finger didn’t seem to faze Celestia from his perspective. And that angered him.
But the screams he heard in his sleep every night; the screams of those that SHE murdered; would not let common sense ring loud enough for him to hear. After everything she did to him, they would just need to find themselves a new hero… And a new princess.
With the sights still aimed upon Celestia’s forehead, Patrick exhaled slowly…
And pulled the trigger.
BANG
|
Molotov Cocktail
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1029
| 10 |
Big Macintosh,Derpy Hooves,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Nightmare Moon,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Zecora,Human,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Whiplash
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A motorcyclist is struck by lightning. He awakens on the verge of death in a very strange land.
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complete
| 751 | 52 |
<p>When a motorcyclist is struck by lightning, it sends him to a strange world in a seemingly unexplainable turn of events. With no one able to offer him the answers to his questions, he settles in for the long haul, and looks for a way home. </p><p>Lost, injured, and still reeling in the post-traumatic stress of military service, as well as the criminal underground of street racing, he struggles to maintain his very sanity. Little does he know, the friendships that made life worth living for him would be the key to stopping an ancient enemy bent on anarchy and genocide.</p>
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teen
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2011-12-09T22:30:48+00:00
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2011-12-09T22:30:48+00:00
| 23,420 |
“He’s breathing!”
...
…
…
“Nurse! …..Grab me two….. Oxygen!”
…
…
…
“Hurry, I need oxygen!”
…
…
…
Patrick's eyelids budged ever so slightly.
He drifted in and out of reality. One moment, he was in the future, surrounded by ridiculous talking ponies with flamboyant personalities.
The next moment, he was covered in white sheets, looking down at his boots, his jacket and pants, road-rashed and bloodstained, while his lungs forced air in and out of his chest. An IV tube was hooked into his arm, pumping a strangely colored substance into it.
It was a human hospital. With human doctors and human nurses. Several medical staff were crowded around Patrick, one of them giving Patrick oxygen out of a clear facemask while he slumped over in the hospital bed.
“Better?” the doctor asked.
“Uh-huh,” Patrick managed to choke out anti-climatically.
“We thought you’d never wake up!” a nurse rambled on in disbelief.
Patrick could barely even keep himself from fainting.
“What… How…. What...” Patrick panted, before the doctor gave him more oxygen.
“You took a nasty spill on that motorcycle, young man,” the nurse, sporting a heavy southern accent, informed him.
Patrick stared around in confusion, questioning the reality he was in. Was none of that real? Did none of it even happen?
This was logical, for him to go into a coma and create his own reality or some such, but why ponies? Why “Equestria?” He never even knew what that was to begin with, he never had a burning passion for ponies in his subconscious that would bring him to create that world in a coma. Something was off.
“Uh, d-doctor?” Patrick asked.
The doctor’s back was turned, and he was busily typing down information onto a laptop nearby. Several heartbeat monitors beeped in rhythm from rooms adjacent to him.
“Yes, what can I do for you?”
“Um, what year is it?”
The doctor spun around, his face had changed from a generic, Caucasian male, to the gnarled, burnt face of his best friend.
On Jose’s head was a standard-issue MICH combat helmet, with a burnt and torn desert-ACU sleeve. What frightened Patrick the most though was not his cracked, burned, and lifeless skin, but the fact he was missing an eye.
“No…” Patrick, still connected to the IV retreated out of the bed in fear.
“You…” Patrick pointed his finger at Jose’s walking corpse. “You died! I saw you die!”
He backed himself against the wall, inching towards the door, but Jose blocked his path.
“Just let me go, man! I just want out of all this!” he pleaded.
“I wish it was that easy,” Jose said, reaching behind his back. He extended his arm out, aiming a pistol directly at Patrick’s head.
“I’m really sorry about this.”
“NO!”
BANG
Black.
BANG!
Twilight shuddered after she released that ball of magic; a simple, yet effective self-defense spell. It hurled toward Patrick and struck, him, knocking him to the floor as he cried out in pain. Her eyes shot over to Celestia, fearing the worst. But she remained unscathed, still standing as her mane flowed back and forth.
She was alive.
A cold, hard marble floor pressed up against Patrick’s face. He lay flat on the ground, his skin crawling in agony. He ached, he bled, and he burned. Oh, how he burned. He remembered pulling the trigger, and then everything cut to black. Twilight was definitely not bluffing earlier, he realized.
Before Patrick realized what he did, it was too late. A burning rage fueled by his desire for revenge had taken over him, and pulled the trigger. His next move would be to blow his own head off in front of dozens of innocent bystanders. That was how he was going to be remembered, that was his destiny.
The Glock 23 recoiled in his tight grip, smoke lazily drifted out of the muzzle of a handgun in desperate need of a good cleaning and oiling. Patrick’s eyes remained forward, locked with the bitch that was responsible for who he was today. Patrick did not have the mindset of a murderer. He has never desired to end anyone’s life… Until today. He was ready to see Celestia drop.
The bullet stopped in midair; smashing into a transparent, pink force field that suddenly encased the air around Celestia. It was then that he could see Celestia’s horn glow very faintly, almost unnoticeably.
As soon as that round left the barrel, Twilight had attacked him. He could smell his flesh burn, the same smell when he first arrived here.
He looked up, seeing the white alicorn staring down at him. Twilight’s horn had ceased glowing, and dozens of guards were surrounding him, getting ready to tackle him while still on the ground.
Patrick shot her. He knew he did. He aimed directly at her forehead and pulled the trigger. But there was no wound. He even picked out the shell on the floor nearby. The weapon DID fire, there was no denying that.
And his trusty, loyal Glock 23 remained in his loose grip, as dozens of unicorn and pegasi guards converged on him, leaving Patrick with only a split second to decide, and he may not get a second chance.
Commit suicide and spare himself the justice for his crime, or keep shooting?
Sometimes, you just have to keep it real.
Patrick squeezed the trigger again, another blast echoing around the throne room. His entire body seized up as unicorn magic began to take hold over him.
BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG
Patrick desperately tried to hit Princess Celestia with a round, as his body was succumbing to the grip of unicorn magic. Several spent shells clanged to the floor, rolling away.
A transparent, pink bubble rippled as each round hit it, stopping it in midair several feet from the princess. The rounds smashed into the force field, powered by alicorn magic, causing deep cracks to run down the points of impact. The result was similar to shooting a wall made of bulletproof glass.
He popped off rounds wildly, but it was clear that he was not going to be able to get his revenge. Time for Plan B.
As he hit the ground again, Patrick fought to angle the weapon so it pointed through his head. He shrank back in horror when none of his limbs were responding, it felt as if an invisible force was holding his arms and legs still.
His weapon was ripped from his hands and went sliding across the floor out of reach.
“Grab him!” a pair of Royal Guards tackled the human assassin, flipping him over onto his belly, taking no care to avoid making his injuries any worse than they already were.
Patrick’s head was slammed to the ground, making him dizzy for a few moments. Celestia and Luna’s forms were getting further and further away. He blinked, and found himself being dragged by several armor-clad pegasi.
It wasn’t the fact that the ponies that saved his life just watched him try (And fail) to kill their beloved princess that really hit home, it was the expression on Celestia’s face. It was unchanged since he pulled the weapon on her in the first place.
Bland, emotionless, yet firm and in control, with a hint of sorrow. She stared into his eyes as he was dragged from the throne room.
Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were huddling together, Pinkie’s mane deflated and her eyes squeezed shut. It was the one time she didn’t have a bubbly remark to try and lighten up the situation. Murder was almost unheard of in most ponies’ lives. Applejack and Rarity simply stood in awe.
“Wait!” Rainbow Dash tried to get to Patrick, but several Pegasi Guards held her down.
“Let me go! Just wait a second!” Rainbow Dash growled, but her struggle was in vain.
Twilight Sparkle’s horn gradually grew dimmer, her legs shaking in shock of what just happened. She had the potential to kill Patrick, but not the will. She had held back, and merely disabled him. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw Patrick drop to the ground after attacking him with a self-defense spell, one she had hoped she’d never need to use.
She couldn’t help but feel partly responsible. She and her friends had saved his life, but it was she that brought Patrick to Canterlot. And the strange creature from the past that she had opened her home to could have killed any of them at any time. Spike was right, he was dangerous. Patrick was a soldier, trained in the art of human warfare, with an unstable mind.
Although she was relieved that no blood had been spilled, that still left her with the thought of what was to become of Patrick. Canterlot only executed those guilty of only the most serious of offences, and attempted assassination of the royalty was one of them.
But Patrick’s situation was a bit different. He had a right to be mad at Celestia. She ruined his life, how could he not be angry?
But Celestia only did it for the greater good of the world. Patrick played a part in Celestia’s plan to finally get rid of the Nightmare and protect Equestria. Maybe, if Patrick just showed a little remorse, everything would work-
“I’ll fucking kill you, you bitch!”
-…Out.
“I swear!” Patrick screamed at the top of his lungs as the Royal Guard subdued and dragged him out of the throne room. “The first opportunity I get, you’re gonna get to go tell my friends why you murdered them in person! I. WILL. FUCKING. KILL YOU!”
The Royal Guard threw Patrick in a cell, located at the far end of Canterlot Castle’s dungeon. The cold, stone floor scraped his arms as he tried to catch himself.
The cell itself was barely ten feet wide. It featured a small, barred window, and a wooden mattress with a blanket and pillow for a bed. A foul-smelling hole in the corner was undoubtedly the restroom. The front wall consisted completely of iron bars. A gate, featuring a gigantic, intimidating lock, allowed for access in and out of his new prison.
Two unicorn guards stood over him, watching his every move. They appeared to be waiting for somepony.
“Aren’t you going to read me my rights?” Patrick exhaled weakly.
“Shut up!” One of the guards kicked him in the ribs. Patrick laughed the pain out, succeeding in pissing off the guards even more. Cops never liked him in the past, and they sure as hell didn’t like him in the future.
Before the guards could deliver another blow, an important-looking pegasi guard strolled into the cell. His golden armor was different than that of the other guards’. His headdress featured a red thistle, similar to Roman soldier’s helmet, along with more elegant patterns engraved into his helmet and chest plates.
“Well, well, well,” the guard spat. “Son, you just buried yourself.”
“Good,” Patrick coughed. “I was going to kill myself, but you guys were too fast.”
“Oh, we wouldn’t want to send you off without a little of our hospitality, eh boys?” the guard chuckled to his comrades.
“Oh, you know it, lieutenant,” the unicorn that kicked Patrick replied. “After you.”
“So, I don’t get the right to a fair trial?”
Patrick’s response was a hoof to the side of his head.
They took turns beating him, his hands tied behind his back. Normally, Patrick would be crying out in pain and trying to squirm away. But he had lost the will. They were going to beat him to death for their own amusement, and he was just going to let them.
Patrick felt like a bag of meat. Ever since he got here, he’s been a punching bag for Mother Nature, a manticore, and a smug colt whose name was currently second on his “shoot to kill” list, all at the expense of Celestia herself. Twilight’s self-defense spell didn’t help, either. How could he go through so much physical trauma and still be alive?
Although, he was rather used to having the crap beaten out of him by now. With everything that had happened, his will was completely and utterly broken. Patrick was ready to die.
“Not even going up a fight?” the lieutenant pulled Patrick to his feet as a crowd of guards began cheering him on. “Come on then, you still got two legs!”
Patrick deliriously swayed back in forth, blood dribbling from his nose and pooling on his chin. The wound kept closed by the stitches in his chest was beginning to trickle a warm fluid, while fresh wounds and burns prevented him from striking out.
“Sorry, Nurse Redheart,” Patrick thought.
The guard reeled back, ready to buck Patrick square in the jaw. Patrick closed his eyes, waiting for the impact.
“Say good-bye to your teeth!” the guard shouted. Patrick held his breath and braced himself.
The guards crowding inside and outside the cell were cheering loudly as ever, when a powerful, all encompassing voice interrupted them.
“ENOUGH!”
Everypony spun around. A white alicorn stood just outside the cell, watching the scene her guards put on. The guard currently beating Patrick froze, his hind legs in mid-air barely a foot from Patrick’s face.
“I wouldn’t expect this from one of my lieutenants,” Celestia glared at the important-looking Pegasus.
“Your highness!” he stammered. “This… This isn’t what it looks like. We were merely-“
“I’d like to speak with the prisoner alone,” Celestia interrupted.
A few moments went by, and the guards simply stared at each other.
“That means now.”
“But, your highness,” the lieutenant argued. “Did he not just attempt to assassinate you?”
“I wish to speak with the prisoner alone. Please exit the dungeon. Now,” Celestia’s tone became firm.
“Of course, my apologies, uh, your royal, um…” The lieutenant quickly made his way out of the cell as the other guards scurried away behind him, leaving only Celestia and Patrick present.
Celestia watched as the human she was so familiar with could barely keep his balance. If she hadn’t intervened, they surely would have beaten him to death. And there was still hope yet, even if he did know the truth. He just needed to trust her.
“Patrick, I’m so sorry,” she spoke gently. “I never meant for any of this to happen.”
Patrick said nothing, his hands still tied. He awkwardly braced his back against the wall and eased himself down, looking at the shoes Rarity had painstakingly made for him.
“I don’t blame you for wanting to kill me,” Celestia said. “I just wish you could understand. I wish I could tell you.”
Patrick still remained silent, determined not to say a single word to her. The only revenge he could get at the moment was making her feel terrible about what she did. And it seemed the more she talked, the worse she felt.
“I just want you to know how truly sorry I am,” Celestia broke eye contact. She frowned, still unable to get a reaction out of Patrick.
“Do you know why my student, Twilight Sparkle, has been studying friendship since the Nightmare Moon incident?”
Patrick made no attempt to acknowledge her.
“Because, even after it took a thousand years to find you, and cast the spells necessary to change your life, I still tried to find a way to use the Elements at their full capacity, without needing you and allowing you to live your life.”
“What was my life like if you hadn’t intervened?” Patrick suddenly spoke up.
This was a question she fully well knew the answer to, but would probably regret answering.
“Well,” Celestia bit her lip. “You grew up. You had two, loving parents. You graduated at the top of your class. You studied law, and became quite wealthy. You married, you had a beautiful, baby girl. And all the while, you had a motorcycle in your garage since you could hold a driver’s license.”
Patrick continued to look at the floor.
“You and your family moved to California. San Diego, to be exact. You bought your parents a house on the beach, like they’d always dreamed of. You meant the world to so many people, Patrick.”
“That hardly makes me feel any better,” Patrick grumbled.
Celestia’s mane rippled as she stepped closer to Patrick.
“I’m assuming you read the articles in the Artifact Room, from the New York Times?”
Patrick’s silence could only mean, “yes.”
“You died of direct exposure to nuclear radiation, among millions of others. You were forty-eight years old.”
“And how do you expect me to kill the ‘Nightmare’ when I don’t even know what it really is? If you can change the past, then why don’t you save my people? Why don’t you just change the past so that this ‘Nightmare’ doesn’t even exist?”
“Because,” Celestia sighed. “I have taken a thousand years to explore every option, you were the only one that wouldn’t prevent Equestria from existing. If I saved humanity, then Equestria would not exist.”
“Oh, I get it,” Patrick said belittlingly, realizing Celestia had succeeded in getting him to talk. “You won’t save my people, but you want me to save yours.”
He just needed to remain quiet, and then hang himself with his shoelaces as soon as she left. The guards may have searched him for any other concealed weapons, but they left all his clothing on. Patrick imagined the Royal Guard when they found him hanging from the ceiling. They’d probably try to bust him open like a Piñata.
“It’s… The truth,” Celestia actually felt herself intimidated by the human for a moment. Only for a moment.
“I don’t really give a fuck,” Patrick growled, tending his bloody nose. He just wasn’t able to stay silent.
“You ruined my life. You made my father beat me. You made him beat my mom for so long, she ended up in the mental hospital, and he ended up in jail for domestic violence. You made me kill people. And you killed my best friends, so you could save your world and still let mine die, all at my expense.”
“I can’t save humanity, Patrick,” Celestia said.
“Only you can,” she wanted to say. If only it were that easy.
“The Nightmare has prevented me from doing so. While I was able to manipulate certain events in the past, in your past, without it noticing, it could have stopped me at any time.”
“Fuck you,” Patrick turned his back to Celestia. “Just leave me alone.”
Celestia sat down next to him. She was so close, her flowing mane brushed up against him several times.
Patrick wouldn’t even look at her. If his hands weren’t tied, and if he weren’t beaten to a bloody pulp for the fifth time this week, he’d get up and strangle the fuck out of her, knowing full well she would just stop him with another magic force field or some other spell.
She bent her head down, her horn just barely poking Patrick in the chest. A green light emanated from her horn, and Patrick’s body relaxed.
It felt like he was sleeping, while wide-awake. There were no words Patrick could describe for the feeling that came over him. It was… Health.
Celestia cast a simple healing spell. While Twilight and several other unicorns had tried, healing spells did not seem to work on humans. Some spells simply had no effect on them. It was as if they had their own sense of magic that blocked certain sources. Celestia spent centuries trying to study human magic, but there were no artifacts that held the answers. Humanity had long forgotten its own sense of magic by the time Patrick existed, as well. Whatever magic a select few still knew how to use at that time was referred to as “voodoo” or “Satan worship.”
Like human magic, alicorn magic was different, as well. It was all encompassing, and able to rise against any other source, except that of another alicorn, or human. Celestia drew the health back into Patrick’s battered human body as he watched himself heal in disbelief.
The stitches in Patrick’s chest undid themselves, as the wound closed and new skin materialized before his very eyes. His burns turned from wilted, red skin, to his healthy skin tone.
Each and every scrape, burn, wound, even the tapeworm Patrick didn’t even know he had, was cleansed from his system. For the first time in what seemed like an eternity, he was healthy. He was able bodied. He could walk. He could run. He could jump. He could fight.
Celestia used her magic to undo the rope tying his hands behind his back. Patrick ran a hand down his arm, feeling silky smooth skin, instead of rough, dead skin tissue.
“I’m,” Celestia stuttered. “I’m sorry.”
Patrick squeezed his hands open and shut in shock, feeling able-bodied strength (That he would never take for granted ever again.) return to him so quickly. Nothing ached, nothing was sore. It was an odd feeling to be so healthy after becoming so used to being injured.
Celestia exited the cell, the gate closing behind her.
“I will… Be back to check on you.”
Patrick looked away. Healing the wounds she caused in the first place was not going to make him turn into Pinkie Pie for her.
“We need you, Patrick. Equestria needs you.” She turned around and left the cell.
"Hey, Celestia," Patrick called.
"Yes, Patrick?"
"I'm still going to kill you..."
She stared at him for a few moments in disbelief, shaking her head as she disappeared around a corner.
Patrick rolled his eyes and brushed her off. As soon as he heard the main gate to the dungeon close, he rose to his feet, stretching his limbs and pacing around the small cell.
There was one urge in his mind that rang louder than his desire for revenge or suicide: He wanted to run. He wanted to run as fast as he could, for as long as he could. Patrick loved to run, he loved speed, which is what drew him to motorcycles in the first place.
But he was cramped into a cell where he could simply stand up and touch the ceiling. Thankfully, he had some privacy at the moment, since Celestia obviously didn’t trust her guards around him after they displayed such hostility.
Patrick looked down at his shoes, the laces tied in neat bows. They had gone from a clean black to a dark, earthy tan from running around in the Everfree Forest the other night. He slowly untied the laces, and began stripping them off his shoes.
“Patrick!”
Rainbow Dash’s face popped up from behind the bars of the small window.
“Oh… It’s you,” Patrick couldn’t even look her in the eye, feeling too ashamed. “Just leave me alone.”
“No, listen to me!” Rainbow Dash beat her wings to keep herself level with the cell’s window.
“You have every right to be mad, I wouldn’t have stood for that either after what she did to your friends, your parents and your life! I don’t care what they’re saying about the Nightmare, that wasn’t right and she knows it!”
Now that Patrick had calmed down, and Celestia had healed him, he found it easier to think clearly.
“She had her reasons, she just wants to save the world. Your world, anyway.”
“I know, Twilight told me about the newspaper article she read in that room you guys found,” Rainbow Dash replied. “She’s a wreck right now, by the way.”
“Aren’t you the element of loyalty or something? Why would you go against your princess for me?”
“I may be the element of loyalty,” she crossed her arms in mid air. “But I’m not going to be loyal to a princess that totally ruined my friend’s life!”
“So, what are you gonna’ do about it?” Patrick challenged her.
“I-“ Rainbow Dash stammered. “I’m bustin’ you out, that’s what I’m gonna’ do about it!”
“Thanks,” Patrick shook his head, and sat down on the hard, wooden mattress that was to be his bed. “But I don’t really think I have it in me go through all the effort to escape. Where am I supposed to go? If the princess can find me in the past, she can surely find me here.”
“I bet Twilight knows how to block a locater spell,” she said.
“I seriously doubt she’s going to want to help me after I just tried to kill her mentor,” Patrick replied.
“Just forget about me, unless you want to watch me hang myself,” Patrick finished undoing his shoelaces, doubling them up to improve their strength.
“You might want to leave.”
“WHAT?!” Rainbow Dash gasped. “No, don’t do that. Please, I can bust you out. I’ll get you out of here in ten seconds flat, honest!”
“I’m sorry,” Patrick sighed. “This is all just too much for me.”
“Wait!” Rainbow Dash frantically tried to fight her way into the cell. She had to talk him out of it. Otherwise he was going to commit suicide right in front of her.
“What would your friends think about this?”
Patrick froze.
He immediately dropped his crude means of self-inflicted death and sat criss-cross on the floor.
“What are you doing?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I’m going to ask them.”
“Are you going to meditate?” Rainbow Dash turned her head.
Patrick closed his eyes and remained silent, trying to remember what Zecora taught him about meditation.
“Uh, cool, you do that,” she said, just glad he wasn’t about to wring his own neck. “I’ll be back soon. I’m getting you out of here!”
Patrick nodded to acknowledge her, his eyes still shut. Rainbow Dash took off. She had much to do, and very little time.
It wasn’t easy, but Patrick pushed the anger out of his mind, allowing him to think unbiased thoughts about his situation. For the first time since hearing what Celestia was responsible for, he actually considered helping her.
Quickly, though, he repressed that thought. She wouldn’t save his people, why should he save hers?
She claims that she can’t save humanity, but that Patrick can save ponykind. There was still so much that was unclear, and she still hid so much from him, he could tell. If she would just give it to him straight, then maybe it he would feel more inclined to put aside his differences and help her.
As clear thoughts, completely void of anger finally circulated in his mind, he felt at peace. And a familiar presence entered his mind, just what he was hoping for.
A conscious thought that was definitely not Patrick sat in the middle of his mind, eagerly waiting for him.
Instead of taking the time to examine the thought and try to find out what it was, he welcomed it. Patrick didn’t hesitate this time to try to communicate with the thought, in the form of a familiar voice, that was not his own.
“Okay,” Patrick called out to the thought. “I know I fucked up.”
“Yeah,” a familiar voice agreed with him. “Of all the stupid things I’ve seen you do, that was the icing on the cake.”
“How can you say that?” Patrick asked. “She murdered you! Wouldn’t you be the least bit angry, too?”
“We’ve had thousands of years to get over it, Pat,” the voice answered.
“So, you haven’t ever felt like haunting her, or throwing pots and pans at her head, or… Something?” Patrick asked.
“Okay,” the voice sighed, sounding a bit irritated with him now. “Forget everything you know about ghosts, heaven, hell, the devil, and the afterlife in general. It doesn’t work like that.”
“So, how does it work?” Patrick said. “How am I even able to talk to you?”
“There isn’t enough time in the world for me to explain it to you. You’ll find out, eventually. Everyone does. It’s just something you have to experience for yourself.”
“Let’s just leave it at that, then,” Patrick replied.
“I couldn’t agree more.”
“Well, I tried to kill their princess. After what she did to me, to you…”
“She has good intentions,” the voice said.
“I know. But I just don’t have the will. I can’t help her. I just can’t.”
“Listen,” the voice paused dramatically. “If you knew what was at stake, you would understand each and every move that Celestia made.”
The familiar voice calling Celestia by name sounded a little peculiar.
“How much do you know?” Patrick asked.
“Enough to know that you should stop being such an asshole, and help them. Regardless of what Celestia did to you, your life, and us. There are some things you’re better off just not knowing.”
“Like what?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“You’ll be telling me anyway in a few minutes when I hang myself.”
“If you do that, then every human being that ever existed is going to kick your ass when you get here. And mine, because I didn’t do my job.”
“What?”
“Think about it. You’re the last surviving human being. You’re talking to someone who died thousands of years ago. Where do you think the rest went?”
“…Right,” Patrick did the math. “Okay, I get it. But, what’s your job?”
“To guide you,” the voice spoke softly.
Patrick fell silent at this.
“Basically,” the voice said. “You have to have the right motives for everything to work. You have to make this decision completely on your own, and it has to be a selfless, unbiased one.”
“… Please, just tell me straight-up.”
“Nope. I can’t influence any choice you’re supposed to make.”
“Of course,” Patrick muttered.
“Remember, no matter where you go or what happens, we’re right behind you. Whenever you need me, you know how to reach me.”
“Is it going to be a good day?” Patrick asked.
“Oh yeah,” the voice answered.
“It’s gonna be a good fucking day.”
A chaotic situation was beginning to unfold in Canterlot Castle, the very one Celestia had tried to prevent. Someone who had lost it all had given up, and didn’t even care to live anymore. Much to the delight of an ominous presence, watching from a safe distance.
The Nightmare, as it was known, was given only one purpose. It was those who came before that gave it that purpose, and that was to balance the power of two other alicorns it “supposedly” shared Equestria’s reign with.
After those who came before did their job, they abandoned this Earth. They made one, colossal mistake, however.
They gave “The Nightmare” freewill.
Just as they did to the royal sisters responsible for taking care of the damaged sun and moon, the altered orbit, all caused by a race that destroyed their own world.
True, the Nightmare had once been an Alicorn, but it had abandoned that inferior race long ago. It could still be considered one, it could be considered anything, for that matter. The Nightmare could be whatever it wanted, whenever it wanted. It is for that reason the relationship between the two royal sisters and the Nightmare had always been tense.
Almost a millennia ago, a certain alicorn was moping about the Everfree forest, one of the only places the Nightmare could move undetected by that blasted Celestia, the only pony that could pose a threat.
“I can give you what it is that you desire,” the Nightmare whispered in Luna’s ear. “She will never respect you, she will always treat you like a child. Equestria will never love the night like they love the day. You will always be second to her. But I can change that.”
“And what is it that you request of me?” Luna, neck bent, stared into her eyes in the reflection of a pond.
“Why, I would like nothing more than to see you get the respect and adoration your night deserves. All I ask… Is that we become a bit… Closer.”
Chills ran down Luna’s spine, as a dark, foreboding presence entered her mind. Still staring into her own eyes as the water danced back and forth, they changed from a royal blue, to a bright, glowing turquoise, the irises reminding her of a dragon’s pupils. If Luna’s own jealousy wouldn’t have gotten to her, she could have destroyed the Nightmare right then and right there. She would not remember this, as the nightmare slowly took over, inheriting Luna’s desires and manipulating them to its own.
And, as Nightmare Moon, she almost took over Equestria. Luna and the Nightmare were one and the same, with the Nightmare in control. And there was no magic powerful enough to separate them.
Except, of course, the Elements of Harmony.
Those who came before may have made the Nightmare more powerful, but they gave the royal sisters a refuge that would allow them to banish the Nightmare in the event it did turn evil, almost like a time-out. But that’s all it was: Temporary.
And while the Elements of Harmony could, when used by Celestia or Luna, banish the Nightmare with relative ease, neither of them had authoritative magic strong enough to “kill” the Nightmare.
And this time was different. The Nightmare had Luna, and Celestia surely wouldn’t banish her own sister. She would save her sister and allow the Nightmare to go free, end their lives, and take over.
But she did.
And the Nightmare spent a thousand years, still controlling its royal host, full of jealousy, contempt, and everlasting sorrow. The stars would aid in her escape soon enough, and give the Nightmare plenty of time to plan.
Celestia obviously did that out of desperation. Without the Nightmare’s presence to interfere, she was free to look anywhere for a solution, even a different time, even without her sister.
The Nightmare had planned for this, sacrificing a bit of its magic that would linger behind. It prolonged its escape, but it undoubtedly prevented its certain demise upon return.
By theoretically “blurring” the timeline; an act of desperation just before banishment; the Nightmare was able to eliminate the possibility that Celestia would reach those who came before. It would take Celestia more than a thousand years to cast the spell to even contact them, and the Nightmare would surely be back by then. Therefore, she needed to look elsewhere.
After being “defeated” by the Elements of Harmony for second time, in this instance powered by the magic of friendship, the Nightmare fled.
It fled Celestia’s wrath, knowing very well it could be banished again at any moment, no matter how powerful the Nightmare was made out to be.
After spending months in hiding, lying dormant, yet ever present, the Nightmare happened upon something that would have made it grin ear to ear, had it had a face at the time. A very peculiar human had found its way to Equestria; injured, broken, and hopelessly lost.
The Nightmare was suspicious that Celestia had something to do with this. There had to be a divine reason behind it. But if it revealed itself again, only to find Celestia was not intervening, and destroyed this human, it risked banishment.
However, maybe it wouldn’t need him, after all. Whilst lurking in the Everfree forest, it happened upon something much more useful: A long-forgotten testament of human warfare.
It was not uncommon to find these ancient, “human” ruins all about Equestria. But this one was different. Quite different.
It was unmistakably a military complex.
After thousands of years, this incredibly fortified structure was entombed by the Earth’s surface. It was an architectural masterpiece of stone, concrete, and steel. Almost everything had been destroyed since humanity’s end, but this structure was designed to last. Designed to withstand time, it protected the world from its dangerous contents: Weaponry leftover from a devastating war.
Dozens of dead rats, insects, and other creatures struggling for life that had been so unfortunate as to stumble upon this complex littered the floors, rooms, and corridors. Not even moss, nor ivy, nor roots, nor vines could grow in this dark labyrinth of crumbling tunnels and long, open spaces.
There was a certain poison in the air here, which did not affect the Nightmare in its current form. But there was a symbol that the Nightmare had grown to like very much, when discovering dozens of rooms with these symbols plastered everywhere. Hundreds of containers, shaped in long, aerodynamic canisters, had been stored by those who designed them, in desperation that they would not cause harm for any future life that managed to survive the aftermath of their war when the facility's technicians were unable to dispose of them.
Warnings, posted in more than one language, were posted all across this structure, indicating what these substances were, what they did, and what they were intended for. All featured three triangular shapes, arranged in a peculiar fashion around a single, round dot, and a common word.
RADIOACTIVE
|
Molotov Cocktail
|
1029
| 11 |
Big Macintosh,Derpy Hooves,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Nightmare Moon,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Zecora,Human,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Whiplash
|
A motorcyclist is struck by lightning. He awakens on the verge of death in a very strange land.
|
complete
| 751 | 52 |
<p>When a motorcyclist is struck by lightning, it sends him to a strange world in a seemingly unexplainable turn of events. With no one able to offer him the answers to his questions, he settles in for the long haul, and looks for a way home. </p><p>Lost, injured, and still reeling in the post-traumatic stress of military service, as well as the criminal underground of street racing, he struggles to maintain his very sanity. Little does he know, the friendships that made life worth living for him would be the key to stopping an ancient enemy bent on anarchy and genocide.</p>
|
teen
|
2012-02-02T18:50:35+00:00
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2012-02-02T18:50:35+00:00
| 18,611 |
“Y’all must have lost yer’ marbles,” Applejack shook her head. “Ah really hope this ain’t the reason you called us all in here.”
Rainbow Dash brushed off Applejack’s typical stubbornness.
“No one’s going to help Patrick if we don’t. He’s just going to rot in a cell unless we break him out!”
“I don’t think what Celestia did was right, either, Rainbow,” Fluttershy dug her hoof at the floor. “I know he probably didn’t deserve any of that, but…”
“He tried ta’ kill the princess,” Applejack argued. “Not just hurt ‘er, or banish ‘er, but full-blown kill ‘er! We can’t go jailbreak somepony like that! Ah mean, you heard what he said when they were draggin’ his behind away.”
Pinkie Pie raised herself up on her hind legs, raising her hooves to resemble a monster.
“I’LL KILL YOU, YOU-you...” Pinkie Pie stopped.
“Grandma Pie taught me better than to use that kind of language,” the pink mare shrugged.
“I think if you knew more about what had been going on, you’d understand why Patrick did what he did,” Rarity said.
“You know, you and Rainbow Dash sure have spent a lot of time with Patrick,” Pinkie Pie chattered. “If you think what Patrick did was right, then why shouldn’t I listen to two of my best friends that want me to help my other friend, when my two other best friends don’t even want to help a friend?”
“Um, what?” Rainbow Dash tried to keep up with Pinkie’s quick ramblings.
“Ah think yer’ fergettin’ Twi’, Pinkie,” Applejack pointed towards the door. Across the hall, Twilight Sparkle had locked herself away, refusing to speak to anypony.
“How is she?” Fluttershy asked.
“A trainwreck,” Rainbow Dash replied.
“Let her be,” Rarity said. “Our dear Twilight will be fine. Eventually. I’m sure. I hope.”
“Anyway,” Rainbow Dash drew an imaginary line on the floor with her hoof. “Anypony that’s in for helping Patrick, step forward!”
Rarity as was the first to cross the line.
“Let’s get Patrick out of that lying, murdering Celestia’s hooves!” the white unicorn grinned.
Pinkie Pie was next, bouncing happily over the line next to Rarity and Rainbow Dash.
“Pinkie,” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “You too?”
“Well, DUH!” Pinkie Pie giggled. “He needs our help. Besides, we still have to have his going away party! And how can we have a going away party if he’s not even there at the party, and stuck in some boring old dungeon instead? Tsk Tsk, Applejack, I thought you were smarter than that.”
Hesitantly, Fluttershy was the next to come forward, causing Applejack to let out another cry of frustration. The four mares looked expectantly towards the southern belle.
“Applejack!” Rainbow Dash cried. “Come on! He got his butt whooped because he tried to protect your apple stand while he was already hurt!”
“What about the Nightmare?” Applejack scowled. “And he tried’ ta’ murder Princess Celestia!” Applejack shouted. “What do y’all not understand about that? Ah cain’t go riskin’ mah’ hide, and mah’ friends’ hides to bust somepony like that outta jail!”
“He’s from the past!” Rainbow Dash rebutted. “He’s the only one of his kind here. The Princess killed his friends, destroyed his life, and made him fight in a war, where he killed other humans! He’s got nopony else in the world he can count on!”
“What Celestia did wasn’t right and you know it,” Rarity spoke up. “Aren’t you the element of honesty, Applejack?”
Applejack turned her back to everypony.
“Can you honestly say what Celestia did to him and his friends was right, even if it was to somehow save Equestria? Would you not be angry after that?”
“Well, Ah-“ Applejack sighed. “Ah reckon Ah would be the least bit mad.”
“So?” Rainbow Dash held her hoof forward. “Are you in?”
Applejack bit her lip, mulling over the thought of going against the princess and breaking an attempted murderer out of jail.
“What if we get caught? The Princess sure wouldn’t be very happy.”
“It’s a chance I’m willing to take!” Rainbow Dash held her head up high.
“As am I,” Rarity stepped next to Rainbow Dash, grinning triumphantly.
“Fine,” Applejack brought her hoof forward, giving Rainbow Dash a high-hoof.
“I’m in.”
The four mares smiled as the stubborn farm pony crossed the line.
“’Course, it sure would be easier if we had some magic on our side.”
The mares glanced towards the door. Twilight was definitely the last pony they’d want to ask for assistance at this point.
“We’re going to have to do this on our own,” Rainbow Dash said. “Rarity, do you think you could at least try to block a locater spell on Patrick once we get him out?”
“Difficult spells have never really been my specialty,” Rarity frowned. “I do suppose I can try, though.”
Rainbow Dash reached into a saddlebag on the floor and tossed a thick book towards Rarity with her mouth. Surprised, Rarity just barely caught it with her magic.
“I’ll need to read over this,” Rarity flipped through the pages until she found what spell she was looking for. “But it’s nothing I shouldn’t be able to accomplish. Leave it to me!”
“Alright, then!” Rainbow Dash turned to Applejack. “Let’s get to work.”
March 7th, 2012
3:00 PM
Piedmont Psychiatric Hospital
Atlanta, Georgia
Patrick Wilcox (Age 18)
Patrick let a small cloud of smoke exit his burning windpipe. He coughed violently, attracting the attention of other people in the designated smoking area just outside the psych ward.
The young man watched as the people around him talked on their cell phones, chatted to one another, paying him no mind. He wished he could be as blissfully unaware of his situation as they were.
But Patrick’s life was crumbling all around him. The only thing that could give him the least bit of comfort was the cigarette in his hand.
He was about to take another reluctant hit, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Five young men of his own age were stood behind him. Broken and humiliated, he couldn’t look any of them in the eye.
“Patrick?” Jose crossed his arms. “Since when do you smoke, man?”
Patrick said nothing, and turned away from Jose.
“We came down here as soon as we heard what happened,” Ryan glanced away. “I’m really sorry.”
Patrick shook his head. “I’ll be fine.”
“Don’t start smoking, it’s pointless,” Joe slapped Patrick’s lit cigarette out of his hand.
Patrick picked up the cigarette and attempted to inhale it again, but the burning in the back of his throat was too strong. His body was not used to smoking, or having nicotine in his bloodstream. It would take time before he could withstand the harmful smoke and tar in his system. He tossed it away in frustration.
“I lost my bike, my license, my parents, my home!” Patrick cried. “Everything!”
“How is she?” Jose interrupted.
Patrick paused, fighting tears that demanded to flow down his face.
“She wouldn’t even talk to me. I don’t blame her. I look too much like my dad, anyway.”
“Your mom’s just really hurt,” Ryan put his hand on Patrick’s shoulder.
“That shit went on for years,” he gestured to Patrick. “Before someone finally did something about it.”
“He just wouldn’t stop hitting her,” Patrick put his hands in his pockets. “I… I just had to do something this time.”
“…What did you do, man?” Louis raised an eyebrow.
“I-I hit him in the head,” Patrick stammered. “With a baseball bat.”
“Holy shit,” Jose gasped. “Patrick, I knew you had a fucked-up home life, but I didn’t think it was that bad.”
“Listen, I’d love to stand around and talk about all this, but I need to find a bridge to sleep under for tonight.”
“You don’t have any money?” Louis spoke up. “What about street racing? I thought you made mad cash doing that.”
Patrick shook his head. “My bike is now property of the state of Georgia.”
“Well,” Spencer scratched the back of his head. “Don’t you have anything saved up?”
“Bail,” Patrick answered. “Everything I had went towards that and my fines after I got arrested. And even after all that, I’m still on probation for a felony! Not even Mickey D’s will hire me, now!”
“What about school?” Joe asked. “We’ve only got a few more months.”
“Fuck it,” Patrick grumbled. “I’m homeless now, I’ve got bigger problems than getting a diploma. I’m dropping out.”
“What?!” Jose cried.
“Fuck that,” he put his arm around Patrick. “You’re staying with me, you’re gonna’ graduate, and you’re gonna’ get off probation. Then, you’re enlisting with us. That’s the plan.”
“The Army?” Patrick rolled his eyes. “Fuck that.”
“What else are you going to do, man?” Ryan persuaded. “Plus, you’ll be with us the entire way, we’re picking the same MOS.”
“And I bet the recruiter told you we’d be making five-K a month with a sweet dental plan, too, right?” Patrick replied sarcastically. “I’m not dying for this country.”
“You’ll come around,” Jose grabbed Patrick by the arm. “Now, let’s go get your stuff. I passed your house, it’s all out on the sidewalk.”
“It… It rained last night,” Patrick muttered. “Fucking pigs.”
“What?” Jose turned around.
“Nothing,” Patrick followed Jose to his car.
“It’s gonna’ be a good day, man,” Jose said optimistically as he unlocked the passenger door for Patrick.
“I can feel it.”
A rush of bone chilling night air brought Patrick back to reality. The only window in his cell was barred, and he did not have the luxury of glass panes, allowing cool air to circulate throughout his cell.
Patrick shivered, lying back on the stiff, wooden mattress. He studied the ceiling for hours, replaying everything that had happened again and again, his hands shaking in withdrawal.
“I really wish they hadn’t taken my cigarettes.”
There were no words to describe the feeling Patrick felt as he squeezed the trigger. It was the first time Patrick had wanted to kill someone. Even worse: Patrick could feel himself slipping into thoughts and feelings that were not his.
No, he was not a sociopath. He had compassion, love, and guilt for everything he did. But after learning his life had been decided by Celestia, and the murders of his only true friends, it was enough to make him lose his mind.
He still felt the desire for revenge, but it was unlikely he’d get another chance to try killing Celestia again. She was just too powerful, he was unarmed, and she had too many on her side. Which, of course, brought him back to the option of self-inflicted death.
“Every human being that ever existed is going to kick your ass when you get here.”
“UGH!” Patrick groaned audibly. “What the fuck am I supposed to do?”
It made Patrick’s head spin. What was he supposed to do? If he killed himself, he apparently faced an eternal ass-kicking. Save Equestria, and he’d lose all his pride and self-respect for helping the bitch that ruined his life and killed his friends.
Or, he could just kick back and watch Equestria get destroyed. Of course, for all he knew, everything about the Nightmare could be a lie. It wouldn’t be the first time the princess lied to him.
With all these hours in solitude, the only thing Patrick had to do, besides endure the unbearable nicotine withdrawal and wait for the escape attempt Rainbow Dash promised, was obsess over the conversation he just had with someone who died thousands of years ago. No one, not even that familiar voice, was going to tell him what he wanted to know.
The only ponies that had shown him kindness were probably not going to like the fact that that he tried to murder their deity. It was still peculiar in Patrick’s mind that a zebra living in a hut in the woods knew more about the human race than any other pony. For that matter, Zecora seemed to know a lot for a witch-doctor-hermit. If he was ever able to get out of here, that was the first place he’d go.
There were still so many questions left unanswered, so few reasons why he should do anything to help Celestia’s people, when she already refused to help his.
And, as much as Patrick hated to admit it, he really didn’t want to kill himself. It was different if he’d be able to just press a Glock against his temple and painlessly splatter his brains all over the wall, but other methods of suicide seemed rather…
Unpleasant. Not to mention painful.
There was still a way out of all this without committing suicide, there had to be. For every action, there is a reaction. Celestia had brought him here, there had to be a way to send him back to his own time… So that he could die in thirty years, anyway.
Patrick glanced up from his uncomfortable recline. There were still no guards in the dungeon. The sun had set, the only source of light being few dusty moonbeams shining through his barred window.
Patrick recoiled as a small pebble hit him in the face.
“What the-“ he sat up, staring at a pair of pink eyes through the bars.
“Hey!” Rainbow Dash smirked. “Still given up on life?”
“You’ve gotta’ be kidding,” Patrick rubbed his eyes. “There’s no way you’re actually breaking me out.”
“You better believe I am! So, what did your friends say?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Patrick looked all around the cell, expecting Celestia or a guard to appear any moment. However, it seemed like that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.
“It’s… Complicated...”
“Well, it kept you from killing yourself,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “So, it must have been good. Now come on, we’re bustin’ you out!”
“We?” Patrick looked out the window. Fluttershy, clutching a rope, floated in closer so he could see her.
“Um… hi,” Fluttershy murmured.
Patrick took a moment to weigh his options. Was there really any benefit in staying here? The only thing keeping him was the possibility of putting a bullet in Celestia’s head, but they had confiscated his weapon.
It could be anywhere, and probably not worth roaming a heavily guarded fortress just to find a handgun with eight rounds in it, when she proved already she was more than capable of deflecting gunfire. It pained him to say it, but retrieving his handgun or capping Celestia was off the table. For now.
His best chance of going back to the past, or not living the rest of his life in a cell for all he knew, was to get out of here. After much thought, Patrick made his decision.
“Ah, fuck it!” Patrick stood up. “Get me out of here!”
“I thought you’d come around,” Rainbow Dash replied. Fluttershy handed Rainbow Dash the rope, sliding it between the bars.
“Uh,” Rainbow Dash raised her hooves, showing the lack of fingers. “You mind?”
“Sure,” Patrick began to tie a knot around the bars.
“By the way,” he said quietly.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it, I’d never leave any of my friends hanging.”
Patrick smiled, continuing to secure the rope to the bars.
“Okay, it’s on there tight,” he finished tying the knot. “But I really don’t see how this is going to-“
Rainbow Dash bit down hard on the rope, taking off with break-neck speed. The slack in the rope became shorter, and shorter, until finally…
CLANG
The entire metal framing of the barred window was yanked out of the wall, along with a few bricks, leaving a gaping hole into nothing but the night sky.
“Shit,” Patrick uttered. Soon after, Rainbow Dash returned.
“Okay, come on!” Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew just outside the hole in the wall. “The Pegasi Guard shift change is going on right now. We don’t have much time!”
Carefully, Patrick inched towards the edge, and looked down.
The mere sight of the ground made his stomach churn. It was at least a thirty-story drop straight down.
“Uh,” Patrick put his hands in his pockets. “Did I ever mention I’m afraid of heights?”
“Oh, don’t be such a baby,” Rainbow Dash brushed off his protests. “If you don’t like it, you’re welcome to stay here and explain to them how you made a hole in the wall.”
Patrick crawled forward through the hole as the two Pegasi wrapped their arms around him.
“Just try not to look down,” Fluttershy cooed. “You’ll be fine.”
“Alright, alright,” Patrick averted his eyes upward.
They slowly eased him off the makeshift balcony they had created, and lowered him towards the ground.
“Ugh,” Rainbow Dash grunted. “You’re a big boy. Could you be any heavier?”
It was unnerving that the only thing keeping Patrick aloft was two delicate sets of feathery wings. His stomach lurched up and down as his feet adjusted to not having the familiar feeling of solid ground underneath them.
Patrick kept his eyes closed, and focused on his breathing. Controlled breathing was one method the Army had trained him to handle stress in combat. It never worked, but it was something to keep his mind off of plummeting to his death.
With no Pegasi Guards and the cover of darkness, the three swiftly descended undiscovered. Every second feels like an eternity when you could die at any moment.
Finally, Patrick felt his feet touch the ground. He opened his eyes and fell flat on his stomach, gasping for breath.
“Heh,” Rainbow Dash snickered. “Don’t really like flying, huh?”
“Not like that,” Patrick shakily rose to his feet.
“I thought you were about to pee your pants!” Rainbow Dash laughed. “You should have seen your face, it was something like this!”
Rainbow Dash made an overdramatic, fearful expression, while Fluttershy let out a small laugh.
“Well, I thought that was very brave of you, Patrick,” Fluttershy smiled.
“Whatever,” Patrick rolled his eyes.
Undercover of darkness, the three made their way through the vast maze of castle courtyards. Working as a team, they avoided patrols and passed through undetected. Finally, they made it to a gate, flanked by two unicorn guards.
This was the only way out of the castle, and flying Patrick around it would risk detection, as Pegasi Guards had finished their shift change and began to streak across the sky in predictable search patterns.
“So, what now?” Patrick whispered as they hid behind a hedge.
“Fluttershy, give them the signal,” Rainbow Dash nudged her.
Fluttershy nodded, and cleared her throat.
She sounded one of her bird calls, that of an owl. The guards glared in their direction, but remained at their post.
“What was that?” one of the guards looked to the other.
“It’s just an owl,” the guard told his partner. “Princess Luna loves those night-birds, the gardens are chock-full of ‘em, rookie. Don’t get too worked up about it.”
A few moments later, Applejack and Rarity emerged from another set of hedges.
“Halt!” the guards cried. “What business do you have here in the royal gardens?”
“Oh, nothing at all,” Rarity blushed. “We were just taking a lovely nighttime stroll, is all.”
The guards exchanged uncertain glances.
“I say,” she stepped closer to one of the guards.
“That helmet sure does make you look handsome,” Rarity winked. She nudged Applejack. Begrudgingly, Applejack followed her lead.
“Uh, yeah,” Applejack attempted to flirt. “That sure is a mighty fine, uh, armor, y’all got on.”
The two guards nodded to each other.
“See, rookie?” the guard whispered. “I told you this job had perks.”
“We’yell, we should be goin’, not ta’ get you big, strong boys in any trouble.”
“Have a beautiful evening, darling,” Rarity purposely let the tip of her tail rub up against the guard’s leg as she walked away.”
“Wait!” the guard cried.
“Hm?” Rarity and Applejack turned around expectantly.
“Perhaps we should join you, to… Uh… Protect you ladies from anything that could be prowling around in the dark.”
“Oh, you big, strong stallions simply must join us for a stroll!” Rarity blushed.
“Look at AJ,” Rainbow Dash nudged Patrick, snickering.
Applejack had the most unpleasant, disgusted expression on her face. Clearly, she didn’t enjoy flirting as much as Rarity did.
Rarity and Applejack led the guards away, leaving the gate unattended and unguarded. Quickly, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash hoisted Patrick over the gates, dropping him back to the ground on the other side.
Patrick turned around and looked through the bars. He could see the lights from the towers of Canterlot Castle off in the distance, including the tower he had been locked up in.
Where he was now seemed to be the public area of Canterlot. It was late, a series of lamps illuminated the streets, but there was not a sign of life at this hour.
“We’re not there yet, come on, keep up!” Rainbow called to him from midair, taking off as Fluttershy and Patrick struggled to keep pace.
An unwelcoming feeling began to pool in the back of Patrick’s mind. He could feel sweat running down his back, and a constant state of paranoia setting in.
Patrick’s vision flickered before his very eyes. A hot sun beat down on the cracked, dry earth. Simple concrete homes and huts lined a dusty street, as several troops marched ahead of him.
“Come on, Patrick!” one of them barked. “You’re falling behind!”
Suddenly, it felt like someone was shaking him. Patrick blinked, no longer surrounded by a sandy Afghan village.
“Patrick!” Rainbow Dash shook him. “Hello?”
“What?” Patrick looked around in confusion.
“I said, you’re falling behind. Come on!”
He sighed, shaking the dark thoughts out of his head.
Patrick dashed from alleyway to alleyway, the concrete and cobblestone ground doing nothing to muffle his echoing footsteps. There could still be guards anywhere, and a single one sounding the alarm was all it would take before he’d end up back in a cell. He was not going to let Celestia win.
Finally Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy stopped above a stable situated next to what appeared to be a market place.
Rainbow Dash knocked at the door three times, looking over her shoulder in paranoia.
A pair of eyes appeared as a block of wood in the center of the door slid aside.
“What’s the password?” Pinkie Pie raised her eyebrows suspiciously.
“Um, Cupcakes,” Rainbow Dash whispered.
“Okay, but how do I know you’re reeeeeally Rainbow Dash?”
“Pinkie! Just let us in!”
“Tell me something only the real Rainbow Dash would know!”
“Ugh! Fine,” Rainbow Dash groaned. “Every time mister and misses Cake go out of town, you lock up Sugar Cube corner, we always go looking for their secret stash of rare Japonyse chocolate, which doesn’t exist, might I add, and we never find it.”
The sounds of a wooden deadbolt being removed from up against the door were heard, and it swung open.
“Sorry, you just can’t be too careful when everyone’s out to get you!” Pinkie winked.
“Pinkie Pie, you are so random,” Rainbow Dash shook her head as Patrick and Fluttershy followed them inside. Pinkie quickly shut the door and locked it behind them. In the center of the stable was a large, red stallion.
Big Macintosh yawned, not exactly used to being up at this hour. He was hitched to an applecart loaded with apples respectively.
“Um, hey,” Patrick asked Big Mac. “What’s this?”
“It’s your way out of Canterlot, silly!” Pinkie Pie bounced over to the applecart.
“Eeyup,” Big Macintosh responded.
Soon, more knocking was heard at the door. Pinkie greeted them in the same manner as with Rainbow Dash.
“But how do I know you’re reeeeeeeally Rarity and Applejack?”
“Oh, for Equestria’s sake, Pinkie. Let us in!”
Pinkie let the two in and quickly dead bolted the door again.
“Phew!” Applejack wiped a bead of sweat off her head. “Thought we’d never lose them two romantics.”
“Right, then. You two would do best to get going,” Rarity addressed Patrick and Big Mac.
“Going?” Patrick tilted his head in confusion. “Where?”
“Well,” Applejack said. “Stayin’ here in Canterlot probably ain’t the best thing to do when you’re an escapee.”
“Yeah,” Patrick mopped his brow. “If I can get back to the library and get my bike, I’ve still got enough gas to get me pretty far away.”
“Think ya’ can handle that, big brother?” Applejack remarked.
“Eeyup,” Big Macintosh responded predictably.
“Good,” Applejack nodded.
“But after that… Where am I supposed to go?”
“You’ll find some place to go, I’m sure,” Fluttershy smiled.
Patrick was quiet for a few moments, his mind racing. Where was he even supposed to go? Even if he was able to get away from Celestia and her guards, what if the Nightmare was real and DID end up doing something? What if he would regret leaving, and then it would be too late? What if he should help Celestia?
Which reminded him of Celestia’s actions in the first place, dissolving any guilt about escape within him.
“Listen, before I go,” Patrick said. “I don’t even understand why you’ve all risked everything to help me, even after I tried to kill Princess Celestia. Just… Why?”
“Because,” Rarity looked up at Patrick. “I can’t imagine what I’d do if I’d lost all my friends, just like you lost yours.”
“You said it,” Rainbow Dash nodded.
“Y’all were there for me,” Applejack shrugged. “Ah’m just returnin’ the favor.”
“Thank you. All of you,” Patrick averted his eyes, not even feeling like he deserved their help.
“Whatever happens, just know that I can’t thank you enough.”
“Hey, we couldn’t just let you get locked away in a dungeon after what Celestia did to you,” Rainbow Dash said. “Now hurry up, before they realize you’re gone.”
Patrick hopped into the back of the cart, Big Mac proceeding to cover him in apples.
“Y’all weren’t really just some mechanic, were ya’?” Big Macintosh asked.
“Nuh-uh,” Patrick replied.
It was going to be a long night.
The Everfree forest lay quiet and still as ever. There was a certain aura in the air, which the wildlife and monsters that dwelled there instinctively avoided. Underneath the ground, a dark being with anything but benevolent purposes was hard at work, mending forgotten weaponry left behind by an extinct race.
This technology, this structure, belonged to a very rich and powerful country. What was still intact in its cache of leftover weaponry was still active, although, the Nightmare still found the need to fix what father time had ruined.
The Nightmare itself was intrigued by these humans’ designs. They had discovered the secrets of nuclear energy, something ponykind, at its current rate, wouldn’t advance to for thousands of years, even with magic. That is, if Celestia allowed them.
The Nightmare remembered Celestia. She valued the safety of her subjects over the secrets of the universe. She did not want what happened to the human race to happen to hers, so she sheltered her kingdom from the technological advances and discoveries of the human race. She wanted her kingdom to be dumb and happy, rather than bold, intelligent, questioning, and defiant. It was unsurprising that very few scientific and technological advances had been made since the Nightmare’s banishment. Equestria was the same as when the Nightmare left it.
As the Nightmare used its dark magic to drive the age out of these time-abused tin cans, it began to understand them. Their destructive power resulted from splitting the nucleus of an atom. There was a large stockpile of this manner of weaponry, and not all of it functioned in the same way. Some acted on the raw power of nuclear fission, some, nuclear fusion. The Nightmare could see that the radioactive compounds were synthetic, expertly engineered by human hands.
And the humans were brilliant, without a doubt. She began to understand their thought process as they designed these weapons, as well. But there was one thing picking at the Nightmare’s mind.
How did they discover all of this without magic? How were they able to accomplish so much more than Ponykind when they had abandoned their own magic for so long?
Maybe that was just it: Magic. Magic held them back from discovery, and true consciousness.
Perhaps that’s what it was this entire time. Magic is what banished the Nightmare to the moon for a thousand years, what humiliated it, what condemned it.
The Nightmare stopped its work and looked at these gigantic bombs, these ministers of death.
Maybe someday they would even thank it for this. The Nightmare called upon its magic, and focused on the weaponry again, changing their purpose to its liking. It could still get its revenge, and create the world it always wanted.
A world without magic.
|
Molotov Cocktail
|
1029
| 12 |
Big Macintosh,Derpy Hooves,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Nightmare Moon,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Zecora,Human,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Whiplash
|
A motorcyclist is struck by lightning. He awakens on the verge of death in a very strange land.
|
complete
| 751 | 52 |
<p>When a motorcyclist is struck by lightning, it sends him to a strange world in a seemingly unexplainable turn of events. With no one able to offer him the answers to his questions, he settles in for the long haul, and looks for a way home. </p><p>Lost, injured, and still reeling in the post-traumatic stress of military service, as well as the criminal underground of street racing, he struggles to maintain his very sanity. Little does he know, the friendships that made life worth living for him would be the key to stopping an ancient enemy bent on anarchy and genocide.</p>
|
teen
|
2012-01-20T02:50:01+00:00
|
2012-01-20T02:50:01+00:00
| 13,641 |
July 9th, 2012
0527 Hours
Fort Benning, Georgia
US Army Private E-1 Patrick Wilcox
2nd Platoon
A welcoming comfort of silence relaxed Private Wilcox’s aching muscles. Fresh out of high school, it was difficult to get used to the physical torture he and his friends went through everyday since arriving at the Fort Benning Army Infantry School for their Basic Combat Training.
Private Wilcox drifted in and out of what he thought was sleep. Most nights, he lay in his bunk with his eyes closed for the few hours 2nd Platoon’s Drill Sergeant would allow him.
His aching feet, tendered by miles of pointless marching and running, pounded with each steady heartbeat. Patrick was an extremely light sleeper, and for once, the barracks were free of other recruits’ snoring, coughs, and irritating sounds of activity.
It was odd, that it was so quiet. But that didn’t matter, he was going to enjoy every second of this silence and actually get some sleep. That’s when it hit him: it was quiet. It was never supposed to be quiet.
Patrick immediately shot up out of bed, his eyes frantically scanning the barracks. It was too quiet for a reason: He was the only one in bed.
His eyes darted to the source of almost all his insomnia: The ticking wall clock at the other side of the room.
“FUCK!” Patrick jumped out of his bunk with the speed of an Olympic athlete. He had only three minutes to join the morning company formation.
“Why didn’t the intercom wake me up?” Patrick’s mind raced.
“Why did no one wake me up?” He hastily tucked his bed sheets into the neatest fashion he could manage. It would likely fail inspection, but there would be time to fix it later.
His next move was to throw his fatigues on. Quickly, he tied his boots. With the time he used barreling out the door, his shirt was even more hastily buttoned and zipped than his bed was made.
Patrick burst through the doors, ignoring the stares from other platoons and officers. He jumped into line with his platoon just before the first PT call sounded across the intercom.
The recruit couldn’t help but feel like he was forgetting something, but there was no time to worry about that. He had to make it to roll call in time, or else he would kiss his pride and self-esteem goodbye at the hands of his senior drill instructor.
A few familiar faces, hands over their snickering mouths, gave Patrick an angry scowl.
“Why the fuck didn’t you guys wake me up?” Patrick said through gritted teeth, staring straight ahead. The recruit made every attempt not to give the drill instructor something to call him out on.
“You looked comfy,” Private Armistead jeered.
“Yeah,” Private Campbell retorted. “Didn’t want to piss you off or anything.”
Patrick was about to reply when the drill sergeant began his routine morning defamation of their character, followed by their training schedules for that day.
Eventually, it was time for the morning two-mile jog. With every step, Private Wilcox’s uniform felt awkwardly sluggish. Patrick looked down, and his eyes went wide in horror.
He was forgetting something: His belt. With every movement of his arm, he tried to pull his pants back up as inconspicuously as he could.
“What’s the matter, man?” Private Reyes laughed.
“Fuck you,” Patrick huffed, watching as the drill sergeant chewed another recruit out at the front of the line.
“Wilcox!” Staff Sergeant Bentley barked. “The next time I see you grab your pants, I’ll shove my foot up your skinny white ass! Keep moving!”
“Sir, yes, sir!” Patrick called back.
Patrick was never on board with joining the Army in the first place. His worst fears about military service were confirmed when he met Staff Sergeant Bentley.
His meager attempts to hold his pants up without a belt were merely delaying the inevitable. After a few more strides, Patrick’s pants fell from his waist and wrapped around his ankles, tripping him in the process. His entire platoon, still jogging around his pants-less form, erupted into a collective roar of laughter. Quickly, he pulled his pants back up and jumped back into running formation.
“Squad, hold the fuck up!” Staff Sergeant Bentley ordered. Obediently, the entire platoon slowed to a halt. Patrick’s chest went cold as his drill sergeant approached him.
“Wilcox!” Staff Sergeant Bentley grabbed him by the collar, screaming right in his face. “Would you mind explaining to me why you aren’t even capable of maintaining your pants at waist level?”
“Sir,” Patrick gulped. “I-“
He froze up in fear, until Staff Sergeant Bentley shook him.
“Private Wilcox, are you so fucking retarded that you’ve forgotten the basic operation of forming words with your mouth? Answer me!”
“Sir!” Patrick responded. “Sir, the recruit forgot to put his belt on, sir!”
Staff Sergeant Bentley let Patrick out of his grip and crossed his arms.
“You forgot to put your belt on,” Staff Sergeant Bentley repeated.
“I’d forget to put my belt on too, if I slept in everyday and showed up to First Call later than your sister’s un-aborted fetus!”
Patrick bowed his head in shame, listening to the suppressed laughter of his platoon, and even more humiliating, his best friends’.
“None of these other young men seem to have trouble keeping their pants on,” Staff Sergeant Bentley paced back and forth. “But for some reason, you can’t even perform as simple a fucking task as dressing yourself!”
Patrick remained silent as the staff sergeant continued to verbally abuse him.
“If United States Army Issue lower fatigues are proving too complicated for you to operate, Private Wilcox, I hearby revoke your privilege to use them!”
“S…Sir?” Patrick whimpered.
“Since operating a pair of pants and belt seems to be too much of a challenge for that down-syndrome, autistic-ass piece of shit in your head you call a brain, take them off!”
Patrick looked down at his pants, barely clinging to his waist and ready to fall down again. Jose held a hand over his mouth, and the rest of his friends, along with the platoon, looked as though they were going to burst with laughter at any second.
It was then that Private Wilcox decided joining the military was, in fact, a terrible fucking idea. Even the idea of being homeless on the streets of Atlanta was sounding attractive now compared to this.
“DID I FUCKING STUTTER, PRIVATE?” The Staff Sergeant bellowed. “REMOVE YOUR LOWER FATIGUES AND RUN!”
Hesitantly, Patrick slid his pant legs over his boots and tied them around his neck. The exposure he felt was humiliating, the red, laughter-stricken faces of his comrades were even more so.
For the next sixty minutes, Patrick’s underwear and pale white legs drew the attention of every other running platoon whose paths they crossed that morning. Finally, it was time for breakfast. Patrick never saw the logic in making sleep-deprived men run several miles before even eating, but it definitely broke the spirit into a submissive zombie ready to take any order given to it.
Patrick stood outside the mess hall, untying his pants form around his neck and getting ready to slip them back on. Suddenly, a tight grip ripped the garment from his hands and walked away.
“You can have these back after breakfast, soldier,” Staff Sergeant Bentley nonchalantly twirled the pants in the air as he walked away from a bewildered, half-naked recruit.
Patrick grimaced as his platoon entered the mess hall.
“Cheer up, Patrick,” Private Reyes tapped him on the shoulder. “It’s gonna be a good-“
“Shut the fuck up, Jose.”
The entire mess hall exploded into a storm of laughter. The commanding officers and drill sergeants were quick to maintain order, though. Anyone who couldn’t hold their laughter was forced to do push-ups until breakfast was over.
“Nice ass,” a recruit from another platoon remarked as he passed by Patrick.
Patrick stepped forward, but felt Jose pull him back.
“Trust me, bro,” Jose whispered. “Definitely not worth going to the stockades.”
“The shit you guys get me into,” Patrick grumbled.
A bump in the road shook Patrick violently, scattering his thoughts. Hundreds of apples covered him from prying eyes as Big Macintosh smuggled him out of Canterlot.
Groggily, Patrick rose up, and dug himself out of the sea of apples that entombed him.
“So,” Patrick yawned “Are we getting close?”
“Eeyup,” Big Macintosh chewed on a blade of hayseed. “Wer’ here.”
“Huh?” Patrick examined his surroundings. He was in an alleyway, and recognized from the buildings and familiar cobblestone ground that it was Ponyville.
“I guess I nodded off,” Patrick stretched, and lowered himself out of the apple cart. “You think my bike’s still at the library?”
“Only one way ta’ find out,” Big Mac said.
“Right,” Patrick was about to climb back into the apple cart, when an irritatingly familiar voice interrupted him.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve showing your face around here again,” a gray stallion, sporting the same cocky grin as before, startled Patrick and Big Mac. His intimidating cohorts stood next to him, smirking diabolically.
Big Mac and Patrick exchanged nervous glances.
“I see your arm’s healed up,” Grayburn’s pride was so thick you could cut it with a butter knife.
“Well, that’s good. In fact, I’m glad you’re here,” he held out a piece of paper for the two to see. “Because you’re about to make the three of us some very wealthy stallions.”
Patrick squinted his eyes and read the flier Grayburn presented to them. It was a wanted poster, offering 100,000 bits to the pony that could capture the human that attempted to assassinate Princess Celestia.
“Oh, you gotta’ be kidding me,” Patrick turned to Big Mac.
“So, are you going to come quietly?” One of Grayburn’s minions taunted. “Or are we going to have to do this the hard way, again?”
Patrick was unarmed, but able bodied. However, charging into battle when you’re underequipped, outmatched, and outnumbered has led many to their demise. It would be over in a second if he still had his Glock 23. Patrick felt naked without it, and wasn’t used to depending only on his fists after always having a loaded weapon within reach for the past few years.
As the three began to approach them, Patrick made a subtle, swift movement with his head, hoping that Big Mac would catch his drift.
Thankfully, he did. Big Macintosh rocked the apple cart over with his weight, and quickly unhooked his yoke from the harness. It proceeded to cover the three stallions in an avalanche of ripened apples, stopping them in their tracks.
“RUN!” Patrick cried, and fled from the scene, Big Macintosh in suit. Patrick didn’t know how many ponies knew he was a fugitive, or if the Royal Guard was deployed here, but he was not getting his ass kicked again, and he sure as hell wasn't going to give Grayburn the satisfaction of turning him in for a fortune.
Grayburn dug himself out of the cargo of apples and picked himself up.
“Don’t just stand there, after them!”
Patrick and Big Mac tore through the Ponyville town center, knocking over a market stand in the process. The three stallions bent on wealth and fame broke after them, leaping over each obstacle the fleeing duo threw in their path.
Patrick had no idea where he was going, or which direction the library was in, so he ran in random directions, desperately trying to lose his pursuers. He turned a corner, and found himself trapped in an alleyway blocked by a wooden fence.
Big Macintosh rounded the corner just behind him and found himself in the same predicament. The fence was just too high to climb over, and it left them cornered.
“Stop right there!” Grayburn huffed, quickly collecting himself as his gang caught up with him. “You’ve got nowhere to run!”
Big Mac turned around to the fence, and then to Patrick.
“Ah can give ya' a boost over the fence,” Big Mac said. “Ah'll stay here, just go!”
Big Macintosh put his hooves out so that Patrick could get a boost over the fence, but Patrick stood rooted to the spot.
“No,” Patrick shook his head. “After you risking everything to help me, I’m not leaving you behind to get your ass kicked instead of mine.”
Patrick looked Grayburn straight in the eye, feeling his heart burn with rage. The very same rage he felt when Celestia told him everything she was responsible for.
Getting struck by lightning, wrecking his bike, getting attacked by a manticore, having his ass handed to him, being humiliated, having his ass handed to him again, and learning that his life was just a tool for a talking, flying unicorn from the future. Patrick was filled with an unquenchable anger that was only building and building.
But now, he had finally found someone he could take it out on. Patrick was almost even thankful he had this encounter. He had been given a second chance to redeem himself after Grayburn humiliated him. And this time, he wasn’t injured.
“Grab him!” Grayburn hollered. Grayburn advanced on Patrick, while his two friends went after Big Mac.
Patrick nodded to Big Mac, the red stallion returning his nod. The two stallions tried viscously to attack Big Macintosh and bring him to the ground, but he was just too big. Big Mac kicked and bucked violently, throwing one of the stallions into a wall with a painful THUMP!
Grayburn struck out at Patrick, but he quickly stepped out of the way loosened his stance. It was all coming back to him now. The hand-to-hand combat training the United States Army had engraved into the young man’s mind began to take over. Patrick stepped on the balls of his feet, bending his knees and bringing up his hands.
The stallion alarmingly noticed Patrick was using some sort of technique. Grayburn made an attempt to hurl a hoof at his head. Almost instinctively, Patrick bladed the attack meant for his face with his forearm, a standard blocking procedure in military hand-to-hand combat. Although, in this case, it was hand-to-hoof.
Patrick pulled his fist back and decked Grayburn square in the jaw, causing him to spit blood. He rushed forward and bucked Patrick into the wooden fence, making the wood splinter and several boards crack. The human jumped up to his feet, tackling him and locking him in a painful choke hold.
Grayburn bit into Patrick’s arm, causing the human to cry out in pain and release him. The stallion managed to swing an uppercut while Patrick still flailed on the ground, but Patrick swept Grayburn off his hooves with a well-placed kick to the abdomen, and got back on his feet.
Big Mac’s situation was comparable to that of a woolly mammoth attempting to fight off a pack of wolves. He was strong, but slow, and they were, weak, but fast. Big Mac cringed, as he was too slow to move out of the way before one of the stallions could deal a fresh blow to his face.
Big Macintosh used his size to his advantage, though. After many failed attempts, he flung his weight into each stallion and body slammed them to the ground repeatedly. After it looked like their efforts would be in vain, they backed off, fleeing from the alleyway and leaving their leader all on his own. Some loyal friends they turned out to be.
Grayburn, however, was still going at it with the human that would make him rich. Patrick was thrown into the fence again, splitting one of the boards in two. The two halves of the board loosely clung to the fence, just loose enough for Patrick to yank one half out by the nail.
Putting a bullet in Grayburn’s head would be satisfying. But blunt force trauma would be even more so.
SNAP!
Patrick swung his bludgeon right across Grayburn’s face, causing the wood to break and splinter into several small shards.
Grayburn rolled across the ground, blood dribbling from his snout and his mouth. Grayburn had flown back so far that the fight had moved outside the alleyway, and was now in full view of the general public.
Patrick grabbed Grayburn by the neck, but Grayburn headbutted Patrick’s skull, causing his vision to flash for a millisecond. The stallion pounded Patrick’s face and drew blood before he could shake him off.
It was then that Ace, Equestria’s fourth best tennis player, obliviously strolled into the fighting human and stallion’s path, knocking all three of them over. Ace’s racket clamored to the ground, which caught Patrick’s eye.
Patrick grabbed the racket from Ace’s side and walked purposely towards Grayburn, still reeling from the fall.
“Hey!” Ace yelled. “What are you doing with my racket?”
Patrick ignored the tennis-playing pony and cleared his throat.
“Hey, asshole!” Patrick shouted just before the stallion could pick himself up.
Grayburn spun around, and shrank back in horror when he saw Patrick strolling up to him with the racket in hand.
Oh no, it was one thing if he was just some pony trying to collect a bounty on him. That he could forgive. But this… This was payback.
“PAYBACK’S A BITCH!”
Patrick lunged forward and brought the racket down over Grayburn’s head. The nylon strings broke over his head, sliding down over his neck like a necklace. Grayburn collapsed to the ground, groaning in pain.
“What’s the matter?” Patrick kicked him in the ribs. “I thought you were some big, unstoppable badass?”
Grayburn coughed, spitting out a tooth onto the ground.
“I thought you ran this town?” Patrick struck him again, literally adding insult to injury.
Grayburn crawled across the ground, letting a smeared, red stain seep into the cracks of the cobblestone plaza.
More than a dozen ponies had begun to watch Patrick senselessly beat Grayburn, before Big Mac stepped in.
“That’s enough,” Big Mac put a hoof on Patrick’s shoulder. “Ah’m sure y’all got a lot of pent up rage, but at least show some dignity.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Patrick wiped a mixture of blood and sweat off his face.
The two grew increasingly anxious as the presence of pony bystanders, drawn by the fight, continued to grow.
If Grayburn had seen a wanted poster of Patrick, it was likely that the rest of them had too. Now was definitely the cue to leave, before another ambitious, amateur bounty hunter decided to try and apprehend him.
Big Macintosh and Patrick anxiously pushed through the crowd of ponies, heading towards the Ponyville Library. It was unlikely that Twilight would be home from Canterlot yet, and that was the last pony he needed to run into right now. All he had to do was run inside, grab his gear and his belongings, and make a break for it.
“Well, here we are,” Big Mac gestured to the library. Sure enough, his loyal Honda CBR was waiting for him outside.
Patrick let out a sigh of relief, and turned to Big Mac.
“Listen, I-“ Patrick stammered. “I really don’t know what to say. Just thank you, for having my back.”
“Mah’ pleasure,” Big Mac tended a bruise on his face. “Y’all should probly’ go, now.”
“Eeyup,” Patrick responded, shaking Big Macintosh’s hoof.
“Good luck with everythin’. Take it easy, now,” Big Macintosh began the long trek back to the farm. It was going to be a very sore apple-bucking season for the next few weeks.
Patrick faced the library and sighed. He inspected his motorcycle to make sure there were no signs of tampering, but refrained from starting it up.
“Okay,” Patrick thought. “Run in, grab my stuff, and get the fuck out.”
Patrick burst through the door, surprising Spike as he struggled to maintain his balance on a shelf ladder. He toppled over into a mountain of books.
“Hey!” Spike cried. “W-What are you doing here?”
Patrick did not respond. He raced up the stairs and tore through the dresser he’d been keeping his things in.
He slung a messenger bag Rarity had given him and threw his remaining packs of cigarettes, as well as the holster for his Glock 23 and the magazine with ten rounds still inside. They would probably be useless, but it wouldn’t hurt to bring them and ditch them along the way. The only thing Patrick left were his motorcycle boots. They wouldn’t fit in the bag, and they would only weigh him down.
“Hey!” Spike ran to the top of the stairs and crossed his arms. “I’m talkin’ to you!”
Patrick slipped into his jacket and zipped it up. He slid his helmet on and buckled it to his chin.
“You tried to kill the princess!” Spike spat angrily. Patrick paid him no mind. “You think you can just get away with something like that?”
Patrick decided it wasn’t worth it, and put on his gloves, fastening the Velcro straps tight.
He moved towards the stairs, but Spike refused to budge.
“Out of the way, squirt,” Patrick growled.
“No!” Spike said defiantly. “I’m not moving!”
“Fine, then,” Patrick effortlessly stepped right by the young dragon, despite Spike’s best efforts to stop him.
Spike ran to a writing desk and dipped a quill in ink. He furiously scribbled a message onto a sheet of paper.
Patrick’s eyes went wide, realizing what he was doing. He turned around and tackled spike just after the dragon blew enchanted fire onto the letter, sending it on its way.
“FUCK!” Patrick gasped, pulling himself to his feet and running for the door.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought!” Spike laughed. “Not so tough when Twilight shows up, are you?
Patrick bolted out the door and mounted his Honda CBR. He inserted the key into the ignition and pressed the starter.
“Come on, Come on,” Patrick pleaded with his bike. The engine chirped in long, drawn out sequences, desperately trying to turn over. It had been sitting for sometime, making a cold start-up more difficult than usual. Patrick twisted the throttle, allowing gas to flow into the fuel pump, and held down the starter once more.
Finally, the spark plugs ignited the gasoline and started the engine. Patrick pinned the throttle in neutral and let his engine roar as loud as it could, making several birds fly from their nests in the trees.
Just as Patrick was about to shift into first gear, a flash of blinding light shined in front of him.
Twilight, a furious expression on her face, stood offensively with her horn glowing and aimed directly at Patrick.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Twilight scowled. “Did you really think you could just try to assassinate Princess Celestia and escape, just like that?”
“She killed my best friends, right in front of me!” Patrick screamed at the top of his lungs.
“How would you react if some bitch was responsible for killing your friends, destroying your family, AND YOUR LIFE?!”
“That bitch happens to be my mentor!” Twilight replied.
“So, you’ll still stand by your mentor after she lies right to your face, and murders innocent people?” Patrick rebutted.
“Wow, you really are brainwashed. You’d do well in my military, Twilight. Taking orders, obediently and blindly following your superiors, no matter what atrocities they commit!”
“She did everything for a reason!” Twilight argued. “The Nightmare is coming back! Bringing you here and changing your past was the only thing that can stop it! How can you be so selfish? Why can’t you just forgive her and help us?”
“Forgive her?” Patrick repeated. “Imagine losing your friends! Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy. Imagine if Celestia did that to you, to your best friends! And not only that, to your family!”
Patrick threw his head back in frustration, seeing that she would not put herself in his shoes. Not that they would fit her hooves, anyway.
“My entire world was wiped out thousands of years ago! She refused to save my people, because then it would prevent yours from existing, but she still wants me to save Equestria!”
Twilight’s horn ceased glowing, and her face went low. She finally had the least bit of empathy for Patrick’s situation.
“So don’t even fucking talk to me about being selfish!”
“But, what about the Nightmare?” Twilight said. “What are we supposed to do, now? What’s going to happen to Equestria?”
“Quite frankly,” Patrick responded. “I don’t really give a shit. I’ve been ready to die since I pulled the trigger yesterday.”
Twilight dropped her eyes to the ground, and slowly sulked back into the library. She swung the door open with her magic.
“Fine,” Twilight muttered. “Just go. You’re better off on your own, anyway.”
The door slammed shut behind her, leaving Patrick all by himself. He gazed at the fuel tank on his dashboard as the engine hummed. He had a little over half a tank left. With these road conditions, that could mean anywhere between one hundred or one hundred and fifty miles before he ran out of gas, and had to ditch this thing.
Patrick squeezed the clutch and shifted into gear, taking off down the dusty road leading into the Everfree forest. A monster-infested forest was probably not the smartest place to go when he was unarmed, but since every pony in Ponyville was probably buzzing about the human that showed up, beat up a thug, and rode off into the sunset, the Royal Guard couldn’t be far behind.
“It’s gonna be a good day,” Patrick sighed as the canopy of the Everfree Forest enveloped him in its shade.
36 hours ago…
“Alright, then!” Rainbow Dash turned to Applejack. “Let’s get to work.”
Out of the corner of the room, a transparent blur stealthily made its way out the window, floating off into the sky without alerting any of the royal guests.
Luna landed in a separate part of the castle, disengaging her invisibility spell. What was she to do?
She knew of the ponies’ plot to free Patrick, the right thing to do would be to tell Celestia immediately.
But then, what would happen to them? Celestia may not be as forgiving to the elements of harmony now, what if they suffered the same fate as her? What if Celestia really would banish them?
And what if the right thing to do was to go against her own blood, let the human escape, even aid him in it?
Celestia would still be able to find Patrick, even if the unicorn cast a spell to block her. The Royal Guard had stripped him of his weapon, where it was currently, Luna couldn’t say. By having something of Patrick’s in her possession, Celestia would still have a link to him. Only magic used by an Alicorn, or more recently, as she’d learned, a human, would successfully block out Patrick from the eyes of Alicorn magic.
It would be too obvious if Luna interfered, being the only other Alicorn in known Equestria. But if she could find out what happened to that weapon…
…And it somehow found its way back into Patrick’s possession, then maybe he’d have a chance.
A chance, and that was it. Provided they were able to combat the Nightmare, when and if it attacked. She would still be able to plead ignorance to her sister, and the human would be freed.
Luna shook the thought out of her head, ruffling her mane.
“No,” she thought. “Perhaps if he didn’t try to kill my own sister, I’d be more willing to help him.” She needed to tell Celestia at once.
Luna strolled the castle halls, each and every Royal Guard snapping to attention in respect. Since the assassination attempt, security was heightened all throughout Canterlot.
A generously decorated door, framed by golden plates resembling the sun’s rays, led to Celestia’s bedchambers. Luna approached the door, flanked by two Royal Unicorn guards.
“Your highness,” the guard bowed. “Celestia has confined herself to her chambers for a meditation session. She has asked to be left alone.”
“I see,” Luna replied. “But I must speak to her at once. Please let me through.”
“As you wish.” The guards stepped out of the way as she entered, shutting the doors behind her.
Celestia’s bedchambers was like a luxurious hotel suite a commoner could only dream of. Sitting next to a fireplace on a seat cushion was the sun princess, her head bowed in a meditative trance. She didn’t seem to acknowledge Luna’s presence.
Sitting on a table was the human-turned-assassin’s weapon. In neat rows adjacent to the hand-cannon were the shells of the projectiles it spat, and the projectiles themselves; flattened and deformed from their failed impacts.
“Sister!” Luna almost called out, but she held back. Curiosity compelled her to find out what her sister was doing.
Luna cast her invisibility spell, turning her body into nothing more than a patch of transparent air to the naked eye.
Celestia seemed to be mumbling something, but Luna was too far away to hear. She gently lifted herself up off the ground with her wings, so as to avoid the noise of her hoofsteps, and quietly floated within earshot of Celestia’s ramblings.
“-I just wasn’t anticipating for him to find out like this. He found a collection of human artifacts kept here in the castle.”
There was a long silence. Celestia’s horn glowed faintly, shining a small light out in the dim firelight.
“There is not enough time to cast the time spell again. I’m at a loss for what the next course of action should be.”
Luna held her breath, keeping as quiet and still as possible.
“I only wish it wouldn’t have had to be done this way. And now, it was all for nothing. The Nightmare could begin its attack at any time, and I am not able to stop it. Only he is.”
Luna’s heart went cold at the mere mention of the Nightmare. She desperately wished she could hear the other end of the conversation. Who was Celestia talking to?
“The Nightmare will attack very soon, and many of my little ponies will die. You may be able to change his mind, but remember the circumstances. If he knows that humanity will be saved, then the Elements of Harmony will not be strong enough to defeat the Nightmare. Only when his broken spirit chooses to help Equestria out of the kindness of his heart, will you be able to use the elements to their full capacity, and finally eradicate the Nightmare.”
Celestia was silent for nearly five minutes. Luna almost undid her invisibility spell, as it seemed Celestia was finished. But she continued to wait, and her patience did not go unrewarded.
“I understand,” Celestia finally uttered. “Then I shall let him. I cannot allow the Nightmare to destroy my kingdom. How Equestria or my sister will fare without me, I can’t say. But, I am willing to take that sacrifice.”
“-And…” Celestia murmured so quietly that Luna had to prick up her ears.
“I’m sorry,” several tears began to drip down Celestia’s face.
“I-I’m sorry, Jose.”
The Nightmare took a moment to appreciate its work after spending the past several days working non-stop. It gazed upon its recently acquired goldmine: a fully repaired, fully operational arsenal of ancient nuclear warheads.
It used its own magic to cast a spell upon them, the magic mixing with their radioactive cores. Not only would the detonation be devastating, and the fallout lasting for years to come, the vicinity in which they were detonated would no longer be able to support magic.
The human compound they resided in, even in its ruined state, was a wealth of knowledge. Artifacts in this structure solved problems nopony in Equestria’s current society could answer to.
Everything was in place, and the time for the Nightmare to act couldn’t be any better. Equestria would not suspect any attack after it had been “defeated” at the Summer Sun Celebration, and everypony thought that the Nightmare was no more.
Equestria’s major cities and its royalty were also a bit preoccupied with a recent failed assassination attempt. It was a pity it wasn’t successful, it would have just made the Nightmare’s job that much easier.
But what was intriguing about the assassin was that it was the human that had arrived in Equestria several weeks ago. It was unlikely that this human would show up without the divine intervention of Celestia herself. However, it still was not worth revealing itself to eliminate him, only for Celestia to banish it once more.
And from what the Nightmare had observed, this human must have something very strong against Celestia to even attempt an act unthinkable to most ponies in her kingdom.
Whoever this human was, he obviously did not pose a threat. Whatever Celestia had been planning backfired, leaving absolutely nothing that could stop the Nightmare.
Except, as always, the Elements of Harmony. If used correctly, they would threaten the Nightmare’s very existence. The secrets to the Elements were lost when those who came before disappeared. But Celestia’s only defense was banishment, and banishment would not stop the Nightmare forever.
The Nightmare had put quite enough thought into this. It was finally time to put the royal sisters in their place, putting an end to their rule once and for all. The human weaponry the Nightmare had painstakingly repaired and modified with its dark magic were ready. After taking the time to understand how these weapons worked, creating more was no longer beyond the Nightmare’s capability.
The plan was simple: Disrupt Equestria‘s society by destroying its major cities. Not only would the anti-magic provide the Nightmare with safe havens, but the dust from the burning cities and landscapes would block out the sun. It would not be an eternal night, but Celestia’s uneducated populace wouldn’t know the difference.
Equestria would slip into anarchy, and support for the royalty would be diminished, while the Nightmare would rise. Crops would fail, economies would collapse, and with Celestia and Luna gone, the Nightmare could create a world in its own image. A world much like the humans’ time: Where discovery, progress, and knowledge are pursued over the values of life, love, and welfare. It would be their god.
After meticulous preparation and forethought, the Nightmare formulated each step of its plan very carefully. An ideal first strike would be Canterlot, but there was always the possibility of banishment if the Nightmare wasn’t quick enough. It needed to be a city of high importance and high population, it’s destruction needed to make a significant impact before the next detonation would take place. After much thought, the Nightmare’s first target was set on Manehattan: A large, well-known metropolitan city.
The Nightmare cast a teleportation spell, carrying the weaponry it had worked so hard to refurbish and manipulate to its liking. It was now or never.
Twilight sighed as she watched Patrick ride off from the library window. He eventually disappeared off into the distance, the incessant hum of his engine no longer in earshot.
“See?” Spike picked up the piles of books he had fallen into. “I don’t want to say I told you so, but…”
“I don’t know Spike,” Twilight contemplated the conversation he just had with Patrick. “I’m beginning to think that maybe he was right.”
“What?” Spike raised an eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure trying to kill the princess isn’t right.”
“I know Celestia only did everything with saving Equestria in mind,” she stated. “But she made him lose his friends.”
“His friends?” Spike gave her his full attention.
“I didn’t mention everything in the letter I sent you about it, Spike. I was just a little too shook up,” she explained.
“Celestia changed his past, so that he would be what Equestria needed to stop the Nightmare.”
“Like... How?” Spike asked. “What does this have to do with losing his friends?”
“Well,” Twilight licked her lips. “He says he watched them die, when he fought in a war, and something about his family being torn apart. Celestia admitted to making that happen.”
“Wait, hold up, Princess Celestia did that? Are you sure we have the right Princess?”
“Yes, Spike,” she nodded. “I’m sure.”
Spike opened his mouth to speak, but fell short of words.
“And I can’t imagine what I would do if I lost my friends,” Twilight said.
Spike had just finished putting the last fallen book off the shelf, when a low rumble began to shake the library. The branches of the giant oak tree it was carved into shook violently, knocking a majority of the books off the shelves and picture frames from the walls.
“W-w-w-what’s g-g-g-o-i-i-i-n-n-n-g-g-g o-o-o-n-n-n?” Spike was rattled back and forth on the floor.
“Earthquake!” Twilight cried, throwing Spike onto her back and ducking under a writing desk. Finally, the tremor stopped, and all was calm once again.
“I-is it over?” Spike whispered.
“I think so,” Twilight answered.
The library was a total mess. Every last book was thrown off the shelves, and furniture became overturned. Cautiously, they poked their heads out the front door to see if there was any further damage outside.
“Um, Twilight?” Spike pointed across the horizon. “What’s that?”
A dark, foreboding mushroom cloud loomed off in the distance in the direction of Manehattan. It slowly crept upwards, smothering the sun and tinting the sky into a hideous greenish-yellow.
Twilight’s heart nearly skipped a beat, watching as the cloud sluggishly churned and curled.
“It’s the Nightmare.”
|
Molotov Cocktail
|
1029
| 13 |
Big Macintosh,Derpy Hooves,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Nightmare Moon,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Zecora,Human,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Whiplash
|
A motorcyclist is struck by lightning. He awakens on the verge of death in a very strange land.
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complete
| 751 | 52 |
<p>When a motorcyclist is struck by lightning, it sends him to a strange world in a seemingly unexplainable turn of events. With no one able to offer him the answers to his questions, he settles in for the long haul, and looks for a way home. </p><p>Lost, injured, and still reeling in the post-traumatic stress of military service, as well as the criminal underground of street racing, he struggles to maintain his very sanity. Little does he know, the friendships that made life worth living for him would be the key to stopping an ancient enemy bent on anarchy and genocide.</p>
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teen
|
2012-04-12T04:17:10+00:00
|
2012-04-12T04:17:10+00:00
| 12,617 |
The sun baked Equestria into an orange, sticky heat. Manehattan, a colossal pony city, bustled with commercial and leisurely activity. While those who seized the day were hard at work, a professionally dressed stallion sipped at his coffee, enjoying his self-decided lunch hour outside on a Moonbucks Coffee shop patio.
Amicus Curiae was a prominent citizen and scholar of Manehattan. One of the city’s most well-known attorneys, he tackled only the biggest of criminal cases, cases he more than often won.
However, he was distressed over his current case, set to go to trial in the coming months. So distressed, he felt he needed to leave his firm’s office for a breath of fresh air.
“I swear,” thought Amicus. “Robbing the Museum of Natural Pony history, this is going to be a tough one to explain.”
This case was different, however. His client was no doubt a member of the Manehattan Mafia. This client’s posse, who assured Amicus that they were merely concerned “friends,” paid him in cash, anonymously, to represent him in court.
“I have taken worse cases, sure,” Amicus stared into his steaming coffee. “But none of them left so much evidence!”
Amicus buried his face in his hooves.
“And if I lose, the mob is going to whack me! Why did I ever take this case?”
Amicus Curiae downed the rest of his coffee and made his way back to his law firm.
“Celestia, please, just strike me down!” the lawyer pony moped.
Little did Amicus know, he was going to get his wish.
There was a high-pitched whine, coming from a certain direction. Amicus peered at the horizon through the gaps in several buildings, and saw the last thing he’d ever see.
A blinding light tore through his vision, overloading his retinas and burning the light receptor cells in his eyes until they were useless, fleshy matter.
There was gigantic blast, throwing Amicus and any other pony on the street to the ground. A searing wave of heat and gamma radiation vaporized any living thing within the blast’s ground zero. Amicus felt his skin burn away, followed by the rest of him, until there was nothing left but a black, ashy stain on the pavement, among dozens of others.
Skyscrapers, once tall and distinguished, crumbled from their foundations. Some buildings blew away with the wind, like the seeds of a dandelion puff-ball. Immediately after the flash of light, a ball of fire, curling upwards towards the sky, formed into an iconic mushroom cloud.
A rush of breakneck winds accompanied the deafening, blinding explosion, toppling over structures and kicking up ash in the air. Equestria’s formal, luxurious city that never slept, was finally put to rest. An entire metropolis was reduced to rubble in the blink of an eye.
Just when anypony still alive thought it was over, a second, smaller blast echoed across the destroyed city. But this explosion was not blinding like the first, quite the opposite. This detonation was so dark, it appeared as though it were night time for a split second. It puffed out violently and burst into a million fragments, raining intangible black shards of dark magic across the landscape.
Survivors outside ground zero barely clung to life. They suffered life-threatening third-degree burns, and most had been blinded. Desperate cries of blinded survivors calling out to somepony, anypony, for help, could be heard across the desolate landscape. The lucky ones ended up as black stains on the ground. The unlucky ones suffered slow, radiation-induced deaths.
The furious winds had begun to die down, but it wasn’t over yet. The smoldering, flattened city smoked profusely. The soot and ash from the burning structures rose into the air, snuffing out the sun and painting the sky a rotten, olive drab.
Whatever authoritative forces responsible in Manehattan were no more. They required order to operate, and that was a luxury former Manehattan could no longer have. Any city services, such as medical care, firefighters, the Manehattan Guard, and any other forms of aid, would have to come from foreign sources, leaving those that needed urgent medical attention to die in the rubble of the once-illustrious city.
Pegasus ponies found themselves grounded by change in pressure, and could not catch any air under their wings and were unable to flee. Unicorns urgently tried to heal themselves, to teleport away, to lift the rubble of their former homes and workplaces to find survivors.
But they couldn’t.
“What the hay is going on?!?!?!” a unicorn mare, badly burnt, tried again and again to tend to her injured foal.
Her horn refused to cast any spell, and any familiar presence of magic itself had vanished.
“Mommy?” the foal whimpered. It had been blinded, and was bleeding out of his nose, mouth, and ears. “Where are you? Are we going to be okay?”
“I’m over here, sweetie,” she cooed, throwing him on her back. Having her foal sprawled out across her back stung her burned skin, but it was better than watching him stumble around with no sight.
“W-we’ll be a-alright,” the unicorn blubbered, tears running down her cheeks. “W-we just need to find other p-ponies, e-everything’s going to be just… fine.”
All the while, the Nightmare watched its plan in motion. Step one: Create confusion and fear among the populace.
What caused this devastation? What city would be next? How long until the next attack?
Truthfully, it could be any place at any time. For now, it was time to let the ponies’ fears and anxieties build.
The Nightmare had purposely chosen a smaller, less powerful nuclear weapon for the first attack. Even then, almost all of Manehattan had been leveled with this lesser powerful piece of human technology, and it still had an entire arsenal. The winds would spread disease, radiation, and anti-magic, something of the Nightmare’s own design, to the surrounding landscape. And this was only the beginning.
Each attack would use increasingly stronger and larger amounts of this nuclear weaponry. It would generate fear, and the princess would be able to do nothing to stop it. Princess Celestia may even SURRENDER to the Nightmare, being helpless to stop all of her little ponies from perishing, one city at a time. Of course, that would cost both Celestia and Luna their lives, and Celestia knew that.
It would save the Nightmare a lot of trouble, that’s for sure. But should that not happen, Equestria’s anarchy-stricken citizens would rebel. With a Princess that failed to serve even their basic needs, why obey? Why remain loyal? Any location could be wiped off the face of the Earth at any moment. Being loyal to the royalty was no longer able to protect them. What was the point?
It would force them to do things Celestia would never allow them to do: Research. Invent. Discover.
Research a way to survive in these conditions, and destroy Celestia’s influence. Invent a way to come about that goal. Discover how to do so.
And with the Nightmare backing them up, they would be unstoppable. They would fight the sun and moon tyrants, and the Nightmare would lead the charge.
Satisfied with the scene laid before it, the Nightmare fled quickly, as Celestia would no doubt hear of this incident soon and come to investigate. Banishment would cause the Nightmare to lose its stock of human weaponry, and the secrets of human innovation and Celestia’s regime would never be exposed.
It had one chance, and the Nightmare was not going to beaten so easily. Celestia would fall.
24 hours ago…
“What do you mean he escaped?!” Celestia gasped.
“I-Uh,” Celestia’s lieutenant stammered. “We came back this morning, as your orders, and he was gone. There’s not a trace of him left. He-“ Lieutenant Black Sword scratched the back of his head.
“There was a gaping hole where the barred window i- Used, to be. He must have… Ripped it out of the wall, and jumped thirty stories,” the lieutenant smiled sheepishly.
“No,” Celestia feared the worst. “Did he- Did you find the body?”
“That’s the thing, your highness,” Black Sword spoke. “Not a trace.”
“So, he didn’t commit suicide,” Celestia gave a sigh of relief. “He obviously wasn’t able to do this on his own. He must have had some aid escaping.”
Celestia followed the Lieutenant into Patrick’s former cell. It was the same as the last time she’d seen it, minus a gaping hole in the wall letting in cool night air.
“Your highness, if I may?” the lieutenant spoke up. “Why didn’t you post some sort of security on that thing? If the guard was authorized to stay here, we could have prevented his escape!”
“It’s complicated, Black Sword,” Celestia replied. “The only hope Equestria has to fight the Nightmare in the coming days is Patrick. And the only way I was going to acquire his assistance is if I gained his trust.”
“I see,” Black Sword replied. “I think you may have trusted him a bit too much, if you ask me. Leaving him alone in a dungeon all night? What else is a prisoner going to do?”
Celestia was rather put off by that comment, but respectfully shrugged it off.
“Not only that,” she glared at him. “But I couldn’t even trust my own guards not to beat him to death.”
Lieutenant Black Sword dug at the ground with his hoof shamefully.
“Now, please excuse me, Black Sword,” Celestia turned around and walked out of the dungeon. “My sister should just be returning from raising the moon, and I must have a word with her about this matter immediately.”
“Of course, your highness. And the pegasi will take flight within the hour, every town within a day’s journey of Canterlot will see his bounty by tomorrow morning.”
Celestia entered Luna’s bedchambers and stood on the balcony. Luna did not keep her waiting long.
“Sister!” Luna landed just at her side. “What brings you to my-“
“We need to talk, Luna,” Celestia interrupted.
“A-about what, exactly?” Luna stuttered.
“Oh, I think you know.”
Luna hung her head in shame. It wasn’t like she could keep it a secret forever.
“Yes,” Luna sighed. “I was dreading this moment, sister.”
“How did Patrick escape, Luna?” Celestia asked firmly.
Luna stared off into the Everfree forest, more than likely where the human was hiding. She bit her lip and held her tongue, trying to figure out the best way to explain it to her sister.
“Were any of the royal guests involved?”
Luna exhaled audibly, and finally nodded.
“Y-yes,” she cleared her throat.
The royal sisters gazed into each other’s eyes, neither speaking a word for an inappreciable moment.
“Luna-“ Celestia gasped.
“…How could you? You knew as well as I did-“
“-It wasn’t right,” Luna looked to the floor. “You knew that as well as I did.”
“Sister,” Celestia took a few steps away. “We are now defenseless from the Nightmare. Do you realize what you’ve done?”
“I blocked any locater spells from revealing Patrick’s whereabouts, and I aided your student’s friends by redirecting patrols and dismissing some all together. Without their knowledge, though. Yes, I realize what I did. And do you realize what you’ve done?”
“What do you mean?” Celestia questioned.
“You traded human blood for the safety of our kingdom. That is not how we rule, sister. We have never ruled this way, we have prevented wars and making the same mistakes as humans. We have made difficult decisions, we have condemned criminals and monsters to death.
But Patrick was innocent! He did not deserve this, nor did any of his friends or family. Their bond of friendship is powerful enough to destroy the Nightmare, that much I know, but there were other ways, you just weren’t willing to take the risk! You destroyed countless human beings’ lives, you took the easy way out!”
“Millions of my little ponies are going to die,” Celestia’s voice cracked. For the first time that Luna could remember, Celestia did not speak in a royal, compassionate fashion she was so famous for.
She was afraid.
She was ashamed. She was heartbroken. Her eyes spoke it all, Luna could tell she had been crying recently.
“Why?” Celestia asked Luna. “Why didn’t you trust my decisions?”
“He wasn’t going to cooperate, anyway, Celestia. What you made me do to him weighed on my conscience heavily, I had to do something. Whatever threat you believe the Nightmare poses, I know it better than anypony. There are certain limitations by which it is bound, it is not as powerful as you think.”
“Clearly, you don’t understand what it is capable of, and what its true intentions have always been.”
“And you clearly don’t understand the first thing about the very lessons you teach your student, and our kingdom!”
“I did what I had to do,” Celestia murmured. “For Equestria. And I will continue to do so, no matter how much it costs me of myself.”
Celestia left the balcony and headed for the door.
“Sister, wait!” Luna cried. “Where are you going? What are you doing?”
“I’m sorry, Luna,” Celestia said with a tear in her eye. She stepped through the door, her horn gave off a bright purple glow and encased Luna’s bedroom in a confining spell.
“Tia! What did you just do?” Luna shrieked.
“I cannot afford for you to be interfering anymore. The only hope I have to save Equestria is to bring Patrick back to Canterlot. I don’t know how, but I will convince him to trust us, without telling him that I CAN save humanity.”
“TIA!” Luna pounded on a rippling wall of magic that filled the doorframe and balcony window, sealing her inside.
“I’m your sister! How can you do this to me… AGAIN?!”
“I’m going to go have a word with our guests,” Celestia sighed, and shut the door. Luna’s muffled protests continued to ring out from behind it.
“CELESTIA! YOU LEAVE THEM ALONE! YOU CAN’T KEEP ME HERE FOREVER! I SWEAR, IF YOU BANISH THEM LIKE YOU DID ME, I’LL-”
It broke Celestia’s heart, but Luna didn’t really give her a choice. As long as there was still a chance Patrick and his friends could use the Elements, there was a chance she could fix everything. A chance to save her kingdom. To save her little ponies she held so dear.
A chance to save humankind.
December 21, 2013
1500 Hours
Camp Arifjan, Kuwait
US Army SPC Jose Reyes
187th Infantry
Camp Arifjan had been satirically adorned with Christmas decorations by the disgruntled personnel stationed there. It was relatively quiet, as more than half of the base’s population was on leave for the holidays.
Specialist Reyes was rather enjoying his few days of R&R at the fort. He’d had about enough of Afghanistan for a lifetime. At least here, there was no distant hostile gunfire, no backward-ass locals, and no random mortars hitting random parts of the bases at random times of the day. And not only that, three weeks ago he had been shot in the helmet, and lived to talk about it.
“Okay,” Captain Richards sifted through a file of Jose’s paperwork. Standard papers, such as his passport, dossier, and other bureaucratic documents Jose didn’t care to glance at. Jose couldn’t remotely stand the thought of paperwork. Thankfully, there was an officer on base willing to notarize everything for him so he could get his Christmas leave.
Richards tapped the bottom of a pile of lose documents until they became a neat and even stack, stamped them with a notary, and handed them back to Jose.
“You’re all set. The flight leaves at o-nine-hundred tomorrow morning, enjoy your leave.”
“Much appreciated, sir. Feliz navidad,” Jose smiled.
“We say 'Merry Christmas' around here, boy,” the Captain took a shot from a flask hidden in his pocket.
“You know you stink of prohibited beverages every time I come in here, right? I can smell it from the hallway.”
“I’m an officer,” Richards kicked back in his chair. “Who’s going to give a fuck?”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you, sir,” Jose shrugged, excusing himself from the captain’s office.
Jose didn’t want to admit it, but he had always been sort of a goody-two shoes. It was partly to blame on his father, raising him to such high standards.
Jose’s father was a prominent doctor in a city on the US-Mexican border. However, drug cartels had threatened him and his family for treating police officers wounded by their bullets.
Ever since he moved to the United States from Mexico, Jose’s father made every effort for his family not to turn into what he referred as “wetbacks.”
“I didn’t bust my ass and bring us out of Ciudad Juarez to become the stereotypical migrant workers panhandling outside Home Depot- to install lighting fixtures and floor tiles. You are better than that, my son, you are capable of so much more.”
It had been Jose’s dream to go into the military ever since he was little. There was so much honor, so many benefits, he’d be a hero to his country, to his parents! When he finally did, the look his father gave him from graduation of basic training, the day he became a soldier, made everything he’d been through so far worth it.
“I am so proud of you, Jose.”
Jose was a good kid, he had good morals. However, that still never kept him with a clean arrest record. Everytime he and his best friend got into trouble, it was never Jose’s fault in the long run. A goody two-shoes by nature, but easily persuaded. Because of that, in his circle of friends, he was always the voice of reason. The voice that said:
“Guys, we can go to jail for this shit.”
“Um, I’m pretty sure it’s a bad idea to mix Vicodin and vodka.”
“You know, yelling ‘FUCK YOU NIGGER’ at every black person we pass by in the the car can get us shot…”
Jose had an odd choice of friends, but his parents reluctantly accepted them. He really tested his relationship with his parents when he showed up with his best friend since first grade, a convicted felon serving parole so he could finish high school, and tells them that he’s staying with them.
Speaking of his best friend, there he was, sitting with his back against the wall, attempting to find some refuge from the wind while lighting a cigarette. The Kuwaiti desert completely disregarded Christmas, and drenched the outpost in a windy, yet scorching heat.
“Hey!” Jose waved. “What’s up?”
“Oh, nothing much,” Patrick sighed, releasing a cloud of smoke from his lungs.
“You know smoking’s terrible for you,” Jose crossed his arms.
“We’ve been through this, man,” Patrick rolled his eyes. “Tobackie causes cancer, I’m all too aware of that and I accept the risk. I raced motorcycles, I’m in the Army, I accepted the fact I could die at any time a long time ago.”
“True that,” Jose watched as a truck passed them by. “So, did you get your leave?”
“Not really,” Patrick kicked a rock across the sand.
“What? That sucks! Why wouldn’t they give you your leave? It’s Christmas! You haven’t even used any of it since we got here!”
“Yeah,” Patrick said. “It’s not because they didn’t give it to me. They offered, but…”
“Wait, what?” Jose scratched his head. “Why didn’t you take it, then? When’s the next time you’re going to be able go?”
“Listen, bro,” Patrick inhaled his nicotine fix. “My mom was declared clinically insane, my dad’s in the Georgia state pen, and none of my relatives really want anything to do with me after all that, plus the whole ‘getting arrested for street racing and running from the cops on a regular basis’ thing.”
“Joe, Ryan, Spencer, and Louis are already gone and won’t be back for weeks, what’s here to stay for? We’ve been deployed for a year and a half, Pat, I’d think you of all people would want to get out on leave any chance you get.”
“I think I’m just going to chill here. You may have your family waiting for you when you get back,” Patrick tossed his cigarette butt away. “But I don’t. You guys are all I’ve got now.”
Jose was silent.
“I’ll see you later, Jose. It’s hot as fuck out here.”
“See ya’,” Jose murmured, watching his friend make his way back to the barracks.
Jose looked back at the office he just emerged from, and went back inside. He re-entered Captain Richards’s office, slamming his approved documents and airline ticket down on his desk.
“Jesus! You’re going to spill my beer if you come burstin’ in like that,” Richards whined as he just barely caught a standard-issue canteen disguised to hold his alcohol.
“Take me off the list for my leave, I’m staying here.”
“Well, that’s fine, soldier, that’s just fine,” Captain Richards looked over the paperwork he had just finished painstakingly going over.
“But if I revoke this leave I just signed over, you can’t get it back. Meaning, you won’t be able to make it up later.”
“I don’t care,” Jose crossed his arms. “Put me in the barracks for my leave. Just do it.”
“Fine, two weeks of R&R in the barracks. Then, you and the rest of your platoon are headed back to the shit.”
“Thank you, sir,” Jose left the office, heading back outside.
“What an idiot,” Captain Richards muttered as he downed whatever was left in his canteen.
Patrick spent his time watching movies he’d seen a hundred times in the rec-room. There wasn’t many other ways to beat the heat, but the rec-room was one of the few places that was air conditioned here.
Two weeks of rest and relaxation would be nice. But he was going to be all alone. He didn’t know anyone else here, his entire platoon was on leave, including his friends, and now Jose. It was going to be Patrick’s first Christmas where he was totally and utterly alone.
“Patrick, you in here?” Jose’s voice called out. Patrick turned around on the worn and aged sofa that had been abused by generations of soldiers.
“Hey, what’re you watching?”
“Uh,” Patrick sat up from his reclined position to make room for Jose. “Ghost Busters.”
“We seriously need some new movies, it’s not like they can’t afford them,” Jose shrugged.
“Shouldn’t you be packing?” Patrick asked.
“Nah,” Jose shook his head. “I think I’m just going to chill here.”
Patrick smiled, fighting the urge not to burst into tears.
“Thanks, man.”
|
Molotov Cocktail
|
1029
| 14 |
Big Macintosh,Derpy Hooves,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Nightmare Moon,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Zecora,Human,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Whiplash
|
A motorcyclist is struck by lightning. He awakens on the verge of death in a very strange land.
|
complete
| 751 | 52 |
<p>When a motorcyclist is struck by lightning, it sends him to a strange world in a seemingly unexplainable turn of events. With no one able to offer him the answers to his questions, he settles in for the long haul, and looks for a way home. </p><p>Lost, injured, and still reeling in the post-traumatic stress of military service, as well as the criminal underground of street racing, he struggles to maintain his very sanity. Little does he know, the friendships that made life worth living for him would be the key to stopping an ancient enemy bent on anarchy and genocide.</p>
|
teen
|
2012-04-12T04:17:48+00:00
|
2012-04-12T04:17:48+00:00
| 10,356 |
Zecora spent almost all day, everyday scouring the forest for roots and herbs for her various brews. Nurse Redheart had requested a large shipment of medicine, so the zebra shaman had plenty to keep her busy.
She hummed to herself as she sprinkled a jar of shredded herbs into a large, bubbling cauldron. It wasn’t a fun task, but this medicine would greatly benefit the residents of ponyville.
VROOOOOMMMMMMMmmmmmm……
Zecora stopped what she was doing, raising her head in alarm.
That sound…
It was eerily familiar. That last time she heard that sound was when that human-
BAM-BAM-BAM
Somepony was frantically pounding on Zecora’s door. It wasn’t often she had visitors, so it took her by surprise.
She made her way to the door and cautiously opened it, when a sight for sore eyes greeted her.
The same, broken human being that Rainbow Dash led to her several days ago was on her doorstep; out of breath, a worried expression on his face. He was so panic-stricken, he hadn’t even taken off his helmet, or any of his armor. A messenger bag was slung across his back, and his black, metal steed was gently parked under the shade of a nearby spruce tree. But something in him had changed since their last encounter, his eyes spoke it all. And it wasn’t subtle whatsoever.
Zecora blinked, gazing at his depth from a more spiritual perspective. As she had told him in their last encounter, his eyes glowed red in the spirit world, as was normal for a soul who had taken the life of another.
But they weren’t dimly glowing anymore. They were BURNING red. It was as if a sea of blood had caught fire in his pupils, demonstrating the sheer malice he felt in his heart. Something had definitely taken a turn for the worse when they met the royalty.
“Zecora,” he panted incoherently. “I… Celestia… She… My friends...I tried to...”
“Patrick, what in Equestria is going on?” she asked. “Just take a deep breath, and tell me what is wrong.”
Patrick was completely out of breath, bending over and putting his hands on his knees.
“I-I, I don’t know what to do!” Patrick cried.
“Human, I cannot understand this chatter,” Zecora sighed. “Please, come inside, sit down, and tell me what is the matter.”
Zecora sat Patrick down at a table while her medicinal brew continued to boil.
“Okay,” Patrick let out a deep breath, removing his helmet. “We went to Canterlot or whatever, we talked to the princesses. I found a room full of human artifacts. I found the very same rifle I used in the Army! They lied to us!”
“That’s not even the worst part,” Patrick explained.
“Celestia killed my friends! She changed my past, SHE brought me here, she manipulated my life so that we could use the Elements of Harmony, or some shit, to destroy ‘the Nightmare!’ She knowingly let my people destroy themselves, because if they didn’t, Equestria wouldn’t exist! But, she wants me to save her people when she won’t even save humanity!”
He waited it to hit Zecora, for her to be shocked and speechless, but she didn’t seem the least bit surprised.
“Wait a minute,” Patrick said. “Did… Did you know this all along?”
“That I have, my human friend,” she spoke solemnly. “The spirits of your companions informed me in the first place of this act so unreverend.”
“THEN WHY THE FUCK DIDN’T YOU TELL ME?” Patrick banged his fists down on the table.
“When I found all this out, I tried to KILL her! I’m on the RUN right now!”
“You-You tried to kill the Princess Celestia?” Zecora gasped. “Please tell me you are joking, in the name of Equestria.”
“Notice how I’m missing something?” Patrick pointed to his hip, and then withdrew the empty holster from his messenger bag.
“Apparently, she can stop bullets. The ponies I’ve been living with broke me out of their dungeon, I escaped, and now I’m here.”
“This… This isn’t good,” Zecora rubbed her temples in thought. “I thought you’d react differently than you thought you should.”
“Well, I didn’t,” Patrick grumbled. “But, hey- You’d be mad, too, if this shit happened to you, right?”
Zecora nodded. “Yes, Patrick, I would indeed, but my advice, you did not heed.”
“Everything changed when she’s responsible for every bad thing that’s ever happened to me!” Patrick interrupted her. He stood up and paced around her hut.
“I’m only twenty-one years old, why the fuck didn’t she pick someone older, who at least had more life to live?! Why did it have to be me? Other people have friends, too! I don’t understand ANY of this!”
“You are different, Corporal Wilcox,” Zecora spoke. The mere mention of his rank made him obediently snap to attention. “You are the embodiment of the very thing the Nightmare mocks.”
“What?! How do you know my rank? How did you know my last name? What does that mean?”
“The magic of friendship you and your comrades share, is greater than any being that’s ever lived can hope to bear.”
Patrick broke eye contact, getting lost in thought.
“And forgive me, human, but I thought,” Zecora replied. “You were twenty years of age, were you not?”
“Yes,” Patrick sighed. “But… Today’s my birthday. At least, in my time.”
“I see,” Zecora bowed her head.
“Patrick please, forgive my deceit,” Zecora responded. “But had I told you, Equestria’s struggle against the Nightmare would have been a crushing defeat.”
Patrick grabbed a cigarette out of his pocket and headed for the door.
“I really wish someone would just tell me the truth for once!” Patrick grumbled. “And I don’t know how, but I’m going to kill Celestia. I made her a promise I intend to keep!”
“Patrick, wait! My intentions from the beginning have only been to help,” Zecora grabbed him by the pants leg to stop his departure. “But you need to stop and just listen to yourself!”
“I’m still killing her,” Patrick muttered. “If you fuck with me, that’s one thing. If you fuck with my friends AND my parents, that’s another thing.”
“Trading blood for blood will not quell your broken heart,” Zecora said. “Taking the life of the princess will only tear you apart.”
An incredibly sharp, dominating crack burst across the Everfree forest, followed by a rumbling of the ground, and powerful gusts of winds that pushed all of the trees in their vicinity in one direction. Several trees were downed, while some lacked any leaves at all.
Potions, pots, and pans fell from the shelves of Zecora’s hut, leaving a mess of her personal collections of assorted items all over her living space’s floor. The cauldron cooking over the fire pit in the center of the room was overturned, spilling a mess of goop everywhere and making all her previous work redundant.
Zecora leapt under the table, assuming an earthquake was responsible for this turmoil. Patrick stood in awe, not knowing where to run. When it finally ended, Zecora poked her head out from under the table.
“Was that the end of this uproar?” Zecora whispered. “What was all this commotion for?”
“I don’t know,” Patrick replied. Zecora and Patrick went outside to investigate, but found nothing other than a few downed trees to answer them.
“Wait a minute,” Patrick looked just above the tree line. There was a faint outline of something, but the trees blocked his view.
“I think there’s something off in the distance, can we get higher up to see?”
Zecora nodded, pointing to a ladder next to the hut. It led to a small crow’s nest built into the gnarled willow tree she resided in.
Patrick ascended the ladder, stepping up into the lofty platform. He helped Zecora up, and then turned to face the horizon, and felt sick to his stomach.
It… It couldn’t be.
“Holy… Fucking… Shit.”
Patrick’s chest went stone cold. Celestia was telling him the truth. The Nightmare was real. Incredibly, and unfortunately, real. The fate of the world really did rest on his shoulders.
There was a lack of haze shrouding the horizon. It was many miles away, but it was unmistakably a mushroom cloud, swirling high above the Earth’s surface and extending upwards into the atmosphere. And there was only one thing that could cause a mushroom cloud that big.
A nuclear bomb.
“Well,” Patrick said as-a-matter-of-factly. “I guess the Princess was telling the truth. The Nightmare is real. And it has weapons of mass destruction. Huh.”
“Is that what caused this explosion so loud?” Zecora murmured. “What on earth is that evil cloud?”
This brought another problem, though. That explosion was miles away, but fallout wouldn’t be far behind. Patrick was no nuclear technician, but he understood that anything radioactive equals bad. He needed to run.
“Um, Zecora,” Patrick stammered. He cleared his throat and collected himself. “You need to run. You need to get as far away from here as you can.”
“Human, you clearly know more about this than I,” Zecora started. “What is that cloud off in the sky?”
“There’s no time!” Patrick slid down the ladder, and strapped his helmet on. He started up his Honda CBR and jumped onto the seat.
“You’ve helped me this far, so now I’m going to help you with some advice,” Patrick shouted over the noise of his engine.
“Get the FUCK away from here!”
Patrick gunned the throttle, his front wheel lifting off the ground and lurched forward in a cloud of dust.
“I have no idea where I’m going," he thought.
Five ponies waited anxiously in the throne room. They were summoned to speak with the princess before their departure. Twilight had apparently teleported back to Ponyville, so they would be traveling back on their own.
“S’pose they found us out?” Applejack asked. “Twilight ain’t here, that can’t mean nothin’ good.”
“She said Spike asked her back to the library for something urgent,” Rarity sighed. “That can only mean one thing.”
“What do you think they’re going to do to us?” Rainbow Dash looked around the empty throne room.
Before long, the anxious ponies were greeted by Princess Celestia herself. However, Luna was missing.
All five bowed, and then regained their stance.
“Hey, Princess!” Pinkie Pie cheeped. “Where’s Princess Luna? Doesn’t she want to say goodbye?”
“Luna is a bit,” Celestia looked away for a moment. “Pre-occupied at the moment. And I’d like to speak to you all alone.”
“Really, your highness?” Rarity said, a bit taken back. “Now, w-what about?”
“It is about Patrick, and everything you heard me say yesterday in our last meeting.”
Celestia turned to Rainbow Dash.
“Rainbow Dash, I hope my guards didn’t hurt you, I apologize for their use of force.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Rainbow Dash muttered. “I’m… Fine.” She tried to hide her anger, but it still stuck out like a sore hoof.
“Anyway, there is a matter I’d like to discuss with you,” Celestia’s voice suddenly became very dominating, echoing throughout the throne room.
“It’s my understanding that you assisted Patrick in escaping from the dungeon last night.”
All five ponies’ hearts skipped a beat. An awkward silence hung in the room for a few moments.
“Girls,” Celestia sighed. “I am not angry with you. But that was an act of treason against my kingdom, you of all my little ponies should know that.”
“Yeah, well-“ Rainbow Dash rose into the air. They were found out, so there was nothing to lose now. She was finally going to speak what was on her mind.
“You killed his friends and destroyed his life!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “We weren’t just going to sit there and let him rot in a dungeon because you drove him crazy!”
“Do all of you really feel this way?” Celestia responded.
Rainbow Dash was the first to nod, followed by Rarity, then Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and very subtely, Fluttershy.
“…I see.”
Celestia gestured for her subjects to follow her.
“Come, I wish to show you all something.”
Apprehensively, they followed Celestia to a balcony window. Looming off in the distance was a still unsettled mushroom cloud as the result of a nuclear detonation in Manehatten.
“…What… I-in Equestria… Is that?” Fluttershy gasped. It took a lot for Fluttershy to speak up, and this was definitely enough to make her do so.
“It is the Nightmare,” Celestia replied. “I’m afraid exactly what I’ve been trying to prevent by summoning Patrick to Equestria is coming to pass. The Nightmare has somehow acquired human weaponry, and has begun its attack on Equestria.”
“Nah… Please, tell me that’s not-“ Applejack stumbled through panicked. “Is that Manehattan?”
Celestia nodded.
“No!” Applejack protested, running towards the edge of the railing. “Mah’ Aunt and Uncle Orange live there! Did anypony survive? Please, tell me they’re alright!”
“Girls, please, calm down, all of you,” Celestia cooed. “This was indeed the result of the Nightmare. Reports are hazy; there were survivors, but not many. Manehattan has been lost. But this weapon’s destruction is not limited to the initial blast.
It spreads a poison through the air, that lingers for untold amounts of time.”
The girls chattered to one another in fear, staring at the mushroom cloud off in the sky. The smoke had blocked out the sun, and cast a dreary, rotten olive-green hue across the sky.
Suddenly, there was a flash of light, as Twilight instantly appeared next to Celestia’s side. She took a moment to catch her breath. Doing so many teleportations in one spell exhausted her.
“Princess!” Twilight hastily bowed and regained posture.
“Twilight Sparkle, what is going on? What news do you have of Patrick?”
“He’s gone! He got on that ‘motorcycle’ and took off, I have no idea where he went! Now tell me, what is going on here? What was that gigantic explosion?”
Celestia filled her in on the situation at hand, and Twilight’s eyes widened.
“Now you all see why I made Patrick suffer so. I regret doing it, I still do. But by doing so, he and his friends share the strongest bond of friendship that Humankind, and Ponykind, have ever known. With the magic of their friendship, the Nightmare can be destroyed! But Patrick is the key, we need him, and after everything I’ve done to him,” Celestia broke eye contact.
“He is not going to help us.”
“Princess, there must be something we can do!” Twilight protested. “We used the elements before, we’ll do it again! Right, girls?”
They all nodded in unison.
“I appreciate the offer,” Celestia replied. “But you all do not stand a chance against the pure evil that is the Nightmare. Not this time. You would be destroyed, and I already have quite enough on my conscience.”
“At least let us try!” Rarity begged. “If Patrick has decided not to assist us, then what do we have to lose? What if we are strong enough?”
“I can assure you all, I have already considered that,” Celestia replied. “But the Elements cannot work where the Nightmare resides, the Nightmare has prevented the use of magic where these bombs are detonated. And as I said, I am not having your deaths on my conscience at this point, because I just acquired tens of thousands of them now. I have prepared a chariot for you all back to Ponyville.”
Celestia echoed the words of a defeated human leader, holding back tears.
“I urge you all to spend your last moments with friends and family. Ponyville and Canterlot will come under attack soon, and we have no defense against the Nightmare. I will protect the Elements of Harmony while we are under siege. Until the last pony is standing.”
“Princess, we cain’t jus’ give up!” Applejack raised defiantly. “There’s got to be something we can do!”
The princess paused, contemplating if she should really recruit the assistance of the Elements, which had betrayed her so dearly.
“As long as Patrick is still alive, there is a chance.”
“A chance for what?” Twilight asked.
“A chance to stop the end of the world as we know it.”
“I do believe we’ve found the solution, then,” Rarity nodded. “We have to find Patrick!”
“I am leaving this up to you then, my little ponies,” Celestia shot a worried glance off towards the horizon. She recounted her conversation with a human that had perished thousands of years ago. A human; whose death she had a hand in causing.
“Find Patrick. Convince him to stop this senseless bloodshed. But most importantly, I’d like you to tell him something.”
“And what would that be?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow.
Celestia continued to keep her gaze off towards the mushroom cloud looming over what used to be Manehattan.
“Jose says: It’s going to be a good day. Tell him that.”
Nurse Redheart’s clinic was a crowded mess of anguishing patients. Ponyville, being the closest town to Manehattan, was congested with refugees from the destroyed mega-city by the thousands.
Nurse Redheart and Nurse Tenderheart were the only two nurses on staff, which was fine for their small, sparsely populated village of ponyville.
But when injured ponies suffering from all shades of burns, blindness, vomiting, wounds, blunt-force trauma, and “Radiation Sickness,” a new disease that was spread by the fallout of the Nightmare’s attack, was infecting ponies like mad. The disease had even spread to Ponyville through the air, even when Manehattan was miles away.
Unicorn and pegasi survivors alike were forced to hoof the journey from Manehattan to Ponyville. The Nightmare’s attack affected the air pressure, and prevented pegasi from catching air under their wings. An anti-magic residue lingered in the vicinity of the city, and on ponies themselves; preventing unicorns from teleporting away, or healing each other. Many did not make it, and perished of their injuries along the way. It was impossible to control the flow of refugee ponies from coming into the small village, spreading the particles of radioactive anti-magic from pony to pony.
Radiation was peculiar, it was not something Nurse Redheart had ever encountered before. A Royal Envoy had informed her that this “Radiation” was not a biological disease. It was decaying particles of matter, generated by the Nightmare’s bomb, and in the right amounts, fatal to all known living creatures.
“Hold still, dear,” Nurse Redheart wrapped a series of bandages around a badly burned filly, who had subsequently been blinded.
She worked around the clock to tend to the patients lining up outside her clinic; she had been treating patients for the last 16 hours straight. Ponyville had become so overcrowded, that refugees had begun taking up residence on the street until they could figure something else out.
The filly twitched as Nurse Redheart sprayed an antiseptic on his wounds, and then she finished wrapping him.
“I’ve done all I can,” Nurse Redheart sighed, feeling dizzy from exhaustion.
“Thank you,” a blue unicorn mare bowed her head respectfully, leading her blind foal away.
“Next patient, please!” Nurse Redheart yawned.
“This way, Mosely,” a formal-accented earthpony mare, presumably a wife, lead an orange stallion with a green mane to Nurse Redheart’s workstation. He had been blinded and burned across his back, like most ponies she saw.
“Now, what requires attention, here?” Nurse Redheart asked.
“I-“ Mosely Orange said. “I’ve been blinded by that flash of light.”
“I’m very sorry,” Nurse Redheart explained for the hundredth time that day. “But there is not anything I can do about blindness, and the unicorn healers here have been unable to bypass this spell that lingers on the refugees from Manehattan.”
“Please!” Mosely opened his eyes to show her. They had been glazed over, and did not respond to any stimuli.
“There’s got to be something you can do!”
“I’m afraid it surpasses my medical ability. We are awaiting aid from Canterlot, they will be sending highly-trained unicorn doctors and healers to assist us. For now, all I am able to treat is your burns.”
Mosely Orange sighed. “Very well.”
She treated the worst of his burns, dabbing them with disinfectants and wrapping them thoroughly.
A zebra sporting a tribal sun as her cutie mark pushed through the crowded infirmary, tugging a wagon with an assortment of glass jars.
“Nurse, Redheart, I have arrived,” Zecora spat the handle of the wagon out of her mouth. “For how long it took to make this medicine, I apologize.”
“Oh, thank you, Zecora!” Nurse Redheart let out a sigh of relief. She and Nurse Tenderheart, being the only two nurses on staff, had their hooves quite full. It was nice that at least somepony, or zebra, was aiding them.
“Since that evil cloud appeared in the sky,” the zebra stated. “I imagined you would need this medicine in a greater supply.”
Zecora turned towards the door, lifting the hood up on her cloak.
“Zecora, where are you going?” Nurse Redheart inquired. “I mean, what are you going to do, now?”
The Zebra looked around suspiciously, making sure nopony was paying them any mind before speaking.
“I was visited by the human we both know so well,” Zecora whispered. “I have seen him, but nopony should you tell.”
“Patrick?” Nurse Redheart looked over her shoulder. “He’s wanted by the Royal Guard right now. You know where he is?”
“At Celestia’s expense, Patrick has suffered a terrible twist of fate,” Zecora answered. “And because of that, his heart is filled with hate.”
“Please, Zecora,” Nurse Redheart rolled her eyes. “Just please speak to me clearly. What do you mean?”
“I must go, before the Nightmare decides to again rear its ugly head,” Zecora made her way to the door. “But do not speak to anypony about what I just said.”
Nurse Redheart, dumbfounded, watched her leave. What was all that about?
Several hours later, another envoy arrived from Canterlot. And this time, with additional medical staff.
“Oh, thank goodness!” Nurse Redheart shouted. “I thought they’d never send help!”
“Ms Redheart,” the envoy, Lieutenant Black Sword, approached her as the medical staff he teleported with him got to work. “A word?”
“I have many patients to tend to, can this wait until later?”
“It will only be for a moment, and it could greatly help our investigation of this incident. Please, come speak with me in private.”
Nurse Redheart glanced over at the many ponies she still had yet to treat, overflowing the waiting room. Perhaps taking a break for a few minutes would help her get through the night.
“Of course, lead the way.”
Lieutenant Black Sword led her outside, behind the Nurse’s office and out a back door. The last time Nurse Redheart had been in this spot, it was to observe a strange, two-wheeled carriage brought to Equestria by the only human patient she had ever treated.
“Ms. Redheart, I want to be frank,” Black Sword rattled his armor.
“Are you aware that Celestia herself was nearly assassinated by a creature known as a ‘human’?”
“Yes,” Nurse Redheart replied. She had mixed feelings about the entire ordeal. She had gotten to know Patrick very personally after treating his injures for the time he spent in Ponyville. But Celestia was her Princess, and she was loyal to her first over a stranger that was zapped into Equestria two weeks ago.
Although, Patrick was definitely not evil, he would not try to kill somepony for no reason. There had to be another side to the story, and she wasn’t willing to base her judgment off of only one side.
“There are rumors circulating that he was treated at this very facility, by you, after his discovery by the Elements. Is that true?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “Yes, I did. But what does all this have to do with Patrick? I thought the Nightmare was responsible for this attack, and he is being dealt with by the proper authorities?”
“The Nightmare is indeed responsible for the attack. That much is sure. But your friend ‘Patrick’ escaped from the dungeons, and was spotted in town earlier today, after beating up a stallion that tried to claim his bounty, who just so happens to also be my nephew.”
“Rotten apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Nurse Redheart thought.
“Ah, yes, Grayburn,” Nurse Redheart stifled a laugh. “I remember treating him, he was beaten quite badly, if I do say so myself.”
The lieutenant scowled, clearing his throat.
“He was last seen heading into the Everfree forest. Did you have any interaction with him whatsoever during his visit here?”
“I did not, sir,” the nurse responded. “And are you trying to accuse me of committing treason against the Royal sisters?”
“I did not say that,” Black Sword replied. “All I am saying is that it was reported you became close to him, interacting with him on a day to day basis. Anyone found guilty of harboring this fugitive can expect to be charged with treason, yes.”
“…Good bye, lieutenant,” Nurse Redheart scoffed. “I have many patients to attend to. Perhaps you should focus the Royal Guards’ attention on the catastrophe at hand, rather than an escaped inmate.”
She left the displeased unicorn guard in a huff, returning to give the medical staff that had just arrived their orders.
The entire time she continued to treat the wounded and sick that night, Nurse Redheart couldn’t help but wonder…
In a time of such crisis, why would the Royal Guard be so concerned about finding a single fugitive?
Canterlot was a disarray of scurrying soldiers, senators, and other officials, responding to the Nightmare’s attack on Manehattan. The royal city’s esteemed residents had shut themselves indoors, fearing that they would be next for the Nightmare’s long overdue revenge. Not a soul occupied the streets, minus the rounds of the Royal Guard.
In a tower of Canterlot Castle, a certain alicorn was struggling against a powerful spell confining her to her chambers. She attacked it, crying out in the physical and mental burden of using such magic.
“UGH! CELESTIA!” Luna groaned. “I will get out of here! I’m not the helpless, foalish child you think I am!”
She hurled spells at the magic blocking her from leaving her balcony window.
“Wait a moment,” Luna thought. “Maybe, she just blocked the doors and windows!”
With that, Luna levitated a heavy, wooden bureau into the air, and flung it at the wall. It created a large hole, kicking up dust from the drywall, concrete, and brick. The bureau was reduced to an unrecognizable pile of scrap wood and splinters.
“Ha!” Luna smirked. “I knew it would wor-“
As the dust settled, a wall of magic was visible through the hole in the wall. Celestia had cast the spell on the entire room, not just the doors. Celestia was known for being thorough.
Luna spent hours in front of the wall of magic in the doorway of her balcony, her horn glowing faintly. She studied it, carefully examining its properties. Brash, direct attacks were not going to work on this spell. Celestia severely underestimated her, Luna was more than capable of reversing this spell.
It would just take time, and Celestia knew that. She knew Luna would negate the spell eventually. At most, it would only disable Luna for three days. Luna was not known for patience and restraint, taking the time to examine the spell was something she would only result to out of desperation, and therefore, do a sloppy, hasty job of it.
But Celestia still saw Luna as her baby sister, who needed to be looked after, and did not give Luna enough credit for her abilities. She was not as strong as Celestia by any means, but definitely not one to be trifled with.
Almost twelve hours later, the moon was raised, and it wasn’t Luna who did it this time. That angered Luna even more, that was HER job. How dare Celestia do this all over again, and not even allow her to touch her beloved moon?
This ignited a new drive inside Luna’s spirit, making her look at the confining spell a different way.
Hours had passed that she sat there, so many that she lost count. Until finally, after taking the time to exercise patience and study Celestia’s confining spell, Luna made one last attempt with her own magic.
With a powerful blast of light, Luna shot a bolt of her own magic at the barrier separating her from the outside world. It shattered into a million pieces, dissipating instantly.
Luna smiled, standing to her hooves and stretching her wings. There was no reason to stick around, the moment it was discovered she was free, Celestia would be right behind her.
She took flight off the balcony with speed even Rainbow Dash gape at. To the south were the lights of Ponyville. To the west, were the embers of distant fires still raging in the burning city of Manehattan.
The night’s cool, refreshing air was replaced with a clunky, gaseous haze from the destroyed pony mega-city. She avoided flying too close, but she needed to see for herself what happened. Luna’s heart shrank after sensing the large amount of death in the air. Many, many ponies had died. The city lay in ruins. Luna could not help but feel partly responsible.
She told Patrick where the Artifact Room was, she helped Twilight’s friends to free Patrick, all out of guilt for what had been done to him. She was starting to wish she had just stuck with the plan, and did what Celestia said. None of this would have happened, everything would have just gone back to how it was supposed to be.
But she didn’t. And she had to suffer the consequences, and deal with the untold amount of lives lost on her conscience. Still, there had to be something she could do.
From the air, she could see dozens of refugees crowding the streets. It was cramped, noisy, and unsanitary. It tugged at her heart to see her subjects suffering so, but she was going to fix everything. Somehow. And without Celestia’s help. She couldn’t just land in the middle of town, it may startle the already-distressed ponies for her to suddenly appear uninvited. Plus, the last thing she wanted was for Celestia to hear word that she was in Ponyville.
Luna scanned the town below her, until finally seeing a familiar face. It was one of Celestia’s closest advisors, Lieutenant Black Sword. He appeared to be hiding behind the Ponyville Nurse’s station, speaking to the Nurse about something.
From her altitude, their conversation was inaudible. The Nurse shook her head, saying something with a discontented expression, and going back inside, leaving Black Sword by himself. Perfect.
Luna gracefully landed behind the Nurses’s office, startling Lieutenant Black Sword into a bow.
“Oh, your highness!” Black Sword stuttered. “I was not aware you were here.”
“At ease,” she spoke softly. Black sword rose from his hooves.
“Yes, well then,” Black Sword said. “How may I serve you, princess?”
“I am looking for the human that escaped from the dungeons, the same that attempted to assassinate my sister. Has there been any news of his capture?”
“Negative, your highness,” Black Sword frowned. “He disappeared without a trace from the Castle. All that is known is that he was spotted in Ponyville earlier today, which is why I am here conducting the investigation. He was last seen heading into the Everfree forest, but I am not sending my stallions into such a dangerous place to comb every nook and cranny of any sign of it, until we have a decent direction of his heading.”
“I understand,” Luna nodded. “I appreciate your hard work on the investigation, but I will be taking over from here.”
“Uh, taking over, princess?”
“Yes, taking over,” Luna said. “I will enter the Everfree Forest and attempt to locate him myself.”
“The forest?” Black Sword asked, a puzzled expression on his face. “By yourself, when the Nightmare is at large?”
“I am more than capable of looking after myself, lieutenant,” Luna said belittlingly. “But thank you for the concern.”
“As you wish, your highness,” Broad Sword replied. “But what are my orders, then?”
“Your orders?” Luna thought for a moment.
“… I hereby order you to remain in Ponyville and keep order, assisting the refugees and medical staff as you see fit, until further notice.”
“But, your highness-“
“I have given you your orders, and now I must be on my way,” Luna answered, beating her wings.
“And one more thing: Do not breathe a word of my appearance here to Celestia. That is a direct order.”
She rose into the air, leaving a bewildered guard-pony behind.
The Everfree Forest’s winding, dirt paths served as guides for centuries to wandering travelers; pony, griffon, and dragon alike; that braved the monster-infested forest. Who made them, nopony could say, but they stretched for hundreds of miles, that much was known.
A black motorcycle chugged along these paths, steering around tree roots, being pushed by its rider through mud, and walked through tall grass too difficult to traverse normally.
The Honda CBR is a popular, high-performance sport-bike, but was definitely not designed for off road use. Its rider pulled to a stop in a clearing surrounded by endless rows of pines.
The rider lit a cigarette, holding the burning cancer-stick in two fingers, while his eyes watched anxiously for predators when noticing a trail of large tracks in the Earth.
Patrick sat on his motorcycle, his helmet removed and neatly hung on one of his mirrors. The rough terrain had caused his already cracked windshield to split in two, and rattled around obnoxiously with each imperfection in the road. He kept the key in the ignition, ready to take off at the first sign of trouble.
He inhaled a bust of burning tobacco, exhaling it through his nostrils and mouth.
It had only been a day since Patrick had escaped to Ponyville and recovered his motorcycle. Walking around town while he was injured instead of riding, and using his gas sparingly, was definitely a smart move.
But he severely miscalculated his miles per gallon. When confronted with off-road stop-and-go travel, it was like stopping at a red light every ten feet. The fuel gauge dangled between “E” and the quarter tank mark. At this rate, he’d be out of gas by the end of the day. Still, after all the abuse this motorcycle and its 1000cc engine suffered, it was a miracle it had gotten him this far.
The digital odometer indicated he had traveled about fifty miles, but it wasn’t clear how far from Ponyville he was, or where he was in general. Patrick had been riding in circles, everything looked the same, and it had confused and disoriented the rider into just following the sun. As if being a wanted fugitive wasn’t bad enough, now he was fleeing radiation.
He had spent the night sleeping in a ditch, covering his motorcycle and himself with leaves to conceal himself from the common manticore or a passing Pegasus royal guard.
He finished his cigarette and tossed it to the ground, stomping it out under the heel of his shoe.
Unarmed. Lost. Wanted. Alone. All these words circulated through his thoughts.
“At least I’ve still got my baby,” Patrick patted the gas tank between affectionately. “You’ll never love me back, but at least I know you won’t ever betray me.”
The only thing that ever stuck by Patrick his entire life were his bikes, except the one confiscated by the Georgia State Patrol, but that was understandable. He grew emotionally attached to them, and took no shame in considering an inanimate object his best friend. If this biker didn’t have a bike, he wasn’t happy.
Patrick looked back on the past seventeen days. The crash, the party thrown in his honor, the fight with Grayburn, the spiritual journey he took with Rainbow Dash and Zecora, the death of his race, going to Canterlot, finding out the meaning of his life, a Nuclear weapon being detonated within miles of him, and now….
The end of the world. And there was nothing he was going to do stop it, as far as Equestria was concerned.
“I failed, Jose,” Patrick sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I’m letting my entire race down. I’m sorry I let this entire race of horses down, too. I just can’t do it, it’s all just too much.”
He hung his head in shame, reflecting on the guilt that he felt, and then thought of his next move.
Just keep going until the gas tank runs out, and then starve or get eaten by a monster.
“I honestly thought I was either going to be shot to death by towel-heads, lung cancer, or plowing into the back of a semi-truck at 160 miles per hour,” Patrick shrugged.
What a way to go.
Something began stirring in the brush surrounding the clearing. And it was big. Very, very big.
Patrick glanced around nervously, snapping to attention. Something was hunting him.
A towering beast with four long, snake-like necks and a large, orange dragon-like body, revealed itself, each of its heads hissing or growling.
Patrick shrank bank, frantically grabbing his handlebars and pressing the ignition.
The powerful engine roared to life as he bumped it into first gear, not even bothering to put on his helmet on. He moved out of the way just in time before one of the hydra’s gaping maws was able to chomp down on him. Riding into a monster-infested forest completely unarmed was now starting to seem like a bad idea.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” Patrick muttered under his breath, racing down the path as fast as the dirt road would allow his street tires. He may have given up on life, but the thought of being eaten alive was still frightening.
He rounded a corner, the hydra close behind and snapping at him any time it came close enough. Patrick watched his mirrors, dodging out of the way each time a pair of jaws tried to nab him.
Finally, a straightaway! It was still dirt, but relatively smooth with very few obstacles. Patrick smiled; time to ride like his bike was intended for.
Patrick twisted the throttle aggressively. The exhaust let out a roar louder than Equestria had ever heard before, lurching forward with such force that Patrick was pushed backwards. He accelerated to eighty miles per hour, then ninety, then triple digits.
He left the hydra in his dust, but struggled to maintain control on the dirt path he was careening down. Patrick took a glance behind him, and saw that he was still being chased, but he had made a considerable amount of space between him and his pursuer.
Patrick turned back around, and his eyes widened. A rock sticking up out of the ground was directly in his path of travel. Steering around it would cause him to wipe out with this traction. He quickly glimpsed at his speedometer.
141 MPH
Now would be a good time to be wearing a helmet.
The front wheel collided with the rock, lifting his bike off the ground for a brief moment. Patrick stood up on the pegs while airborne to steady the bike, shifting his weight backwards.
The rear wheel was the first to make contact with the ground, then the front. His handlebars shook side to side violently, rocking him back and forth and knocking his helmet off the mirror it was perched on, disappearing behind him.
Patrick instinctively brought his right fingers forward, randy to clamp down on the front brake.
“NO!” Something in his head screamed. “RIDE IT OUT! RIDE IT OUT! RIDE IT OUT!”
Patrick fought his instinctive reactions and refrained from engaging either brake, closing the throttle. Gradually, as his speed decreased, so did the wobbling of his handle bars, and Patrick regained control.
The hydra still pursued him, running quite quickly for such a large, heavy creature. It ripped trees out of the ground, punching a hole in the tree line and plowing right through everything. Another break in the tree line was approaching, abruptly slowing Patrick to a halt.
A giant chasm shrouded in mist, the other side just barely visible, lay before him and stopped his advance. On top of a hill, Patrick could see the silhouette of a large, medieval castle. The only way across was a long, rickety old bridge. The wooden boards that served as the floor creaked as it gently swayed back and forth.
Behind him, the Hydra was only getting closer.
“This is a terrible idea.” Patrick angled his bike towards the beginning of the decrepit bridge, and slowly rolled onto it, the wood cracking under the pressure of his 500 pound speed machine and Patrick’s added weight.
He briskly moved along, when the bridge began to stretch, lowering very abruptly. The ropes that held the boards together couldn’t handle the pressure, and were starting to undo themselves.
“FUCK!” Patrick opened the throttle, but it only made things worse. The bridge was going to snap. He was going to plummet to his death into the mist below…
Unless, he abandoned his loyal Honda CBR1000, his only true friend in this dark world.
He could make it before the bridge snapped if he jumped off the motorcycle now. But then that would mean… No more motorcycle.
Patrick got this far. As much as it hurt, instinct wasn’t really going to let him die over a machine, no matter how much it meant to him.
The human stood on the gas tank and leapt from the moving motorcycle, desperately flinging himself through mid-air. The ropes snapped, and split the bridge in two. Patrick had just managed to grab the other side of the bridge, and used the boards as a ladder to pull himself up to the ledge.
He watched his motorcycle plummet, until the white mist filling the gorge swallowed it whole. Several seconds later, the most disgusting, heartbreaking sound Patrick would ever have the misfortune of hearing graced his ears.
BOOOM!!!
His baby, his most treasured possession, his motorcycle, his Honda CBR, impacted the bottom of the canyon. It exploded into a ball of fire, totaled, destroyed, and lost forever.
Patrick dropped to his knees, staring at the embers still burning at the bottom of the canyon visible through the mist. His heart went numb, no thought other than complete and utter loss going through his mind.
He was so focused on the bottom of the canyon, he didn’t even care to look up at the hydra he was fleeing from, growling at him in defeat from the other side of the canyon before turning around and leaving.
“No...” Patrick felt his eyes welling up, and let the tears fall freely. He could handle keeping his eyes dry after getting thrown into the future, after finding out his entire race was dead, that his entire life was a lie, getting his gun taken from him, being beaten by authorities, and becoming a wanted fugitive.
But not the loss of his beloved motorcycle. That crossed the line. After everything that happened, he still had the will to go on somehow. To still fight, to still run, as long as he had his bike by his side.
But that was a luxury Patrick could no longer have.
Hours passed, and he simply remained there, staring in disbelief at the small flame still burning at the bottom of the chasm.
“Not cool,” Patrick sniffed, wiping his eyes and nose on his sleeve.
Patrick continued to kneel there until the flame went out, murmuring incoherently to himself.
“My bike… My fucking bike, man…”
“I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up.”
“I don’t know how much longer he can keep this up.”
“He’s going to crack, soon.”
“He’s already cracked. I don’t blame him, but nothing’s getting through to him, not even us. Humanity is done, and now this race is done. We tried, but thousands of years dicking around in the afterlife failed.”
“What a surprise.”
“He’s alive, but he lost the bike. It’s going to be a miracle if we can keep him from committing suicide.”
“Everyone’s going to be so disappointed. I’m kind of nervous of what’s going to happen to him once he gets here.”
“Shut up, Spencer. And you guys need to have a little bit of faith, this is Patrick we’re talking about. He’d take a bullet for any of you, and you know that.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. We’ve still got a job to do. I can’t reach him unless his life is in danger, or if he allows me into his mind, but I’m waiting for that opportunity. I just don’t know when the next one will be.”
“What’s it like in there?”
“It’s a scary place to be right now. He’s caught up in emotions of revenge, rage, sadness, and heartbreak. He’s hurting a lot, I’m trying to help him through this the best I can without telling him anything.”
“Hey, Jose?”
“Yeah?”
“If Patrick does end up helping them, and the timeline’s fixed- what’s the first thing you’re going to do when we get back?”
“Pick up where I left off, I suppose.”
“That’s it?”
“-Oh, and I’m getting a motorcycle. Patrick’s made it look way too fun for me not to own one this go-around.”
“You’re going to kill yourself.”
“Probably, but at least I know what lies after death.”
Twilight and her friends had been in the Everfree forest since the early morning. Reluctantly entrusted with the task of finding the only being in the universe that could save them from the apocalyptic threat of the Nightmare, even Pinkie Pie had taken on a more serious attitude.
“We went to Zecora’s a few days ago,” Rainbow Dash explained. “I’ll bet you anything that’s the first place he went.”
She led the way to Zecora’s hut, and arrived just as the Zebra was tying a tarp over an overpacked wagon.
“Zecora!” Twilight shouted.
The zebra looked up from her current task, turning around to acknowledge the ponies.
“Zecora, are you going somewhere?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I am indeed, Rainbow Dash,” Zecora said. “I am headed back to my native land of Zebrica, before this land is turned to ash.”
“Wait, really?” Pinkie Pie chirped. “You’re walking alllll the way back to Zebrica?”
Zecora nodded.
“I wish you all the best,” Zecora said. “But it is time to begin my quest.”
“Wait!” Twilight cried. “Just one thing!”
Zecora raised her eyebrows, as if to say “Go on.”
“We’re looking for Patrick. Have you… Well… Seen him?”
“Equestria is dependin’ on him,” Applejack said. “But this here forest is huge, we can’t find any trace of ‘im!”
Zecora stared at them with a blank expression for a few moments, and then pointed to the ground.
A subtle imprint a few inches wide, with imprints of swirling lines of treads, lead away from Zecora’s hut, and disappeared into the forest.
“If you look closely, you will see,” Zecora hooked herself up to her wagon and began to head down a separate path. “The way to find Patrick is quite easy.”
“His tracks!” Twilight gasped. “Why didn’t I think of it before?”
“Thanks, Zecora!” she called after the determined Zebra towing all of her personal belongings to her native, faraway land.
The rest of the day was a confusing game of trial and error. In some places, the tracks disappeared, or it was made apparent that Patrick had been riding in circles from not knowing the forest too well. He had pushed his motorcycle through a patch of tall grass, cutting off the trail.
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy took to the sky, keeping their eyes peeled for any signs of Patrick’s trail while the unicorns and earth ponies continued their search from below.
Clouds had gathered overhead, and a gentle downpour began to pat down rain on the ponies.
"Ugh, stupid uncontrolled weather!" Rainbow Dash grumbled. "It's going to wash away his tracks before too long!"
But suddenly, Rainbow Dash picked out an unmistakable line in an intersecting trail ahead.
“I think I found something!” Rainbow Dash called from up in the sky. “Yep, it’s tire tracks! He was here!”
She landed next to the rest of the girls, showing them on hoof where she was pointing to. They entered a clearing, and it was clear that Patrick had been there. His footprints were still in the dirt path, a burned out cigarette short stomped flat just next to it. But there were other signs of activity. Including enormous tracks that dug into the path, following a straight line away from the clearing and towards the ruins of the old castle.
“Fluttershy, what are these tracks?” Twilight asked.
The yellow pegasus stepped closer to them to examine them, and looked back to Twilight.
“It was a hydra!” she yelped. “The way they’re dug into the ground, I’d say it was chasing him!"
The girls gasped simultaneously, staring off towards where the tracks led. Twilight broke into a run, leading her friends along the path Patrick’s tire track and the pursuing hydra’s tracks were embedded into.
She ran out of breath, and stopped in the middle of the path, the rest of the girls stampeding to a stop. She panted, wheezing in and out consistently.
“Maybe if y’all didn't spend so much time with yer’ head in a book, ya' could run faster,” Applejack jeered.
“Hey, look what I found!” Pinkie Pie jumped up and down towards the rest of her friends. A black helmet, visor down, was on her head, covering her whole face.
“Hey look at me, I’m a space pony!”
“Pinkie!” Twilight cried. “That’s his helmet! Quick, give that here!”
“Okey-dokey-lokey!” Pinkie nonchalantly removed the helmet and hoofed it to Twilight.
“This couldn’t have happened long ago,” Rarity stated. “Why would he leave this behind?”
Rarity may have blocked Patrick from locator spells, and more successfully than she believed Rarity was capable of without help, she had to admit. But the inside of his helmet was still moist with sweat. That would give her a very strong link to Patrick, if he was nearby.
Twilight’s horn glowed for a moment, levitating the helmet in the air.
“What’s she doin’?” Applejack shrugged.
“She’s trying a locator spell,” Fluttershy whispered.
“Got it!” Twilight smiled. “He’s not far. Come on, this way!”
|
Molotov Cocktail
|
1029
| 15 |
Big Macintosh,Derpy Hooves,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Nightmare Moon,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Zecora,Human,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Whiplash
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A motorcyclist is struck by lightning. He awakens on the verge of death in a very strange land.
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complete
| 751 | 52 |
<p>When a motorcyclist is struck by lightning, it sends him to a strange world in a seemingly unexplainable turn of events. With no one able to offer him the answers to his questions, he settles in for the long haul, and looks for a way home. </p><p>Lost, injured, and still reeling in the post-traumatic stress of military service, as well as the criminal underground of street racing, he struggles to maintain his very sanity. Little does he know, the friendships that made life worth living for him would be the key to stopping an ancient enemy bent on anarchy and genocide.</p>
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teen
|
2012-04-12T04:18:57+00:00
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2012-04-12T04:18:57+00:00
| 14,680 |
A solemn, sick haze of dust and soot had accumulated over Canterlot. The prevailing winds circulated the ash from the burning city of nearby Manehattan to its eastern neighbors, blocking out the sun for several hours at one point.
Rescue teams worked furiously to free ponies trapped underneath the rubble of their former city, but many oblivious of the harmful effects of radiation succumbed to it themselves. The inability to use magic within the affected areas only complicated relief efforts even further.
Equestria’s top scientists were hard at work, striving to come up with something; anything; to combat radiation and anti-magic. Crude haz-mat suits, based off of human designs that Celestia revealed to her top scholars, were being generated in bulk for rescue workers and civilians alike.
The pressure had evened out in Manehattan and its surrounding countryside, allowing pegasi to quickly travel to and fro, greatly helping the rescue efforts. But they often returned with radiation sickness; the worst cases spreading decaying particles to the very medical staff that tried to treat them.
Celestia had been eagerly awaiting any news from her student and her friends. Yesterday, she reluctantly allowed them to venture off to find the human who held all their lives in his hands, while the Nightmare is still at large. If she didn’t hear from them much longer, Celestia would fear the worst.
“Your highness!” a royal guard came galloping into Celestia’s throne room, interrupting her train of thought.
“At ease,” Celestia allowed him to rise and continue speaking with her.
“Your majesty, as your orders, we kept the south tower locked down and on high alert, should Princess Luna try to leave.”
“Yes?”
“Well,” the guard grinned nervously. “We checked her quarters this morning, and she is nowhere to be found. The confining spell you cast has been overcome.”
Celestia sighed.
“I suppose I did underestimate you, little sister.”
“Pardon me, princess?”
“Nothing, just thinking aloud. I’m afraid for my sister’s well being when she has run out into the world while the Nightmare has declared war on Equestria. If she is spotted, I command to be notified immediately.”
“-And do not do anything to threaten her. Luna may always have good intentions, but her actions aiding the human, as well as any future actions, could put Equestria’s existence in jeopardy.”
“Understood,” the guard nodded and headed for the exit.
“Wait!” Celestia cried.
Surprised at the informality of the gesture, the guard spun around.
“Yes, your highness?”
“Has there been any word from Twilight Sparkle?”
“Not as of yet. However, they were last seen heading into the Everfree forest yesterday morning. There has been no contact with any of the six Elements since then.”
“…Thank you, you are dismissed.”
The Everfree forest, unlike most of Equestria’s environments, had weather that acted on its own without Pegasi influence. The plants all grew on their own, and the wildlife was left to fend for themselves. A gentle downpour had started, stopping and starting again periodically. It covered every patch of grass, every dirt trail, and every moss-covered log in a thin layer of unscheduled, unorthodox rain.
“The tracks end here,” Rainbow Dash looked just before the two posts that the former rope bridge hung from. The bridge looked as though it had split in the middle, and Patrick’s tracks, as well as the hyrda’s tracks, indicated that he had likely been chased onto the bridge.
“Twilight,” Fluttershy murmured. “I thought you said you felt him nearby?”
“Um, I did,” Twilight frowned. “I mean, I know I did. It was really faint, but he was alive, and in this direction. I can’t locate him anymore.”
“Maybe it’s just because of way the Everfree Forest works,” Rarity suggested. “Perhaps there’s some sort of, hm-magical interference, or something to that degree?”
“Hey, I think I found something down here!” Rainbow Dash yelled from the bottom of the chasm.
The ponies still at the top of the cliff carefully inched towards the edge, gazing down. Rainbow Dash beat her wings powerfully, using the wind it created to blow away the mist.
Surrounded by a dark patch of scorched earth, was Patrick’s destroyed motorcycle.
Rarity gasped, looking down at the wreckage of what was Patrick’s pride and joy.
“You don’t think he… he-“ Applejack stammered.
“He ran himself off the cliff running from the hydra, I don’t know what else could have happened,” Twilight sighed.
“Hey!” Pinkie Pie trotted over to the edge of the cliff, wearing Patrick’s helmet. “What are all you-“
She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the bottom of the canyon.
Pinkie Pie solemnly took off the helmet out of respect, and set it on the ground. She blubbered uncontrollably, while Fluttershy tried to comfort her.
“What a way ta’ go,” Applejack guiltily dug at the ground. “He really didn’t deserve that.”
“At least he died doing something he loved,” Rarity sniffed.
“Yeah, splattering against the bottom of a canyon is something I’d love,” Rainbow Dash retorted.
“Is there really nothing… Else-down there, Rainbow Dash?” Rarity asked.
“I didn’t see a body if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Twi, cain’t you use your locator spell ‘gain ta’ see if he’s still alive?”
Twilight called upon her magic, searching within the vicinity in the same manner as she did before.
“No,” Twilight sighed. “Nothing. And Rarity blocked the locator spell, which I’m pretty surprised you were able to pull off on your own.”
“Hmph,” Rarity scoffed. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Maybe something was hungry and, well,” Pinkie Pie suggested. “You know. Nature took its course.”
“Ew,” Rarity grimaced. “That’s positively revolting.”
“Somethin’ gobbled up his remains after Twilight’s spell found him alive thirty minutes ago?” Applejack griped. “Aw, hay. We’re a half-hour late from savin’ Equestria!”
“You’ve gotta’ be kidding me,” Rainbow Dash lowered herself onto the ground. “Now we’re doomed.”
“How long before Ponyville gets blown up like Manehattan did?” Pinkie Pie frowned. “There’s going to be no more Sugar Cube Corner…”
“No more Sweet Apple Acres,” Applejack added.
“No more library,” Twilight frowned.
“So what now, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Do we just give up now that Patrick’s wasted?”
“Well, that was our only hope. So, yes,” Twilight nodded. “But you know, breaking out the one guy that was supposedly the only thing that could save Equestria probably wasn’t such a good idea.”
“We did what we did, we’re sorry we went behind your back,” Pinkie Pie asserted. “But friends don’t let friends rot in a dungeon after your princess kills his best friends.”
All five ponies looked at Twilight.
“What? So we’ve known Patrick for barely even two weeks. We don’t know anything about his species. He’d barely even talk about himself. What we do know about him is that he was a trained soldier to fight and kill other humans, he picks fights and nearly kills our Princess and my mentor.”
“Maybe because what your mentor did to him traumatized him so much, he knows nothing other than violence and conflict,” Rarity objected.
“I think you should take that back, Rarity,” Twilight growled.
“I’ll do nothing of the sort. It’s the truth, and you know it! You’re just in denial that Princess Celestia is a lying, murdering-“
Twilight’s horn glowed, and suddenly Rarity’s mouth was transformed into a zipper, subsequently being zipped shut.
The two unicorns faced off with one another, staring each other down angrily as rain continued to fall.
“Alright, alright!” Applejack stood between them to give the two distance. “Break it up. We’re all on the same side, here. Listen, let’s just go back to Canterlot and tell Princess Celestia what’s going on. Maybe she’ll be able ta’ help us find out if Patrick’s really-you know-or not, ya’ hear?”
“Fine,” Twilight said submissively, turning around and leading the way back to Ponyville.
“Oh, and Twi,” Applejack snorted. “Would ya’ kindly change Rarity’s face back?”
As the conversation ended and the coast was clear, an invisible blur that had been taking up space just above them all became visible.
Luna disabled her invisibility spell, taking a moment to catch her breath. It was a little exhausting maintaining an invisibility spell for so long, as well as scrambling Twilight’s locator spell at the same time. She had spent the past 24 hours following Twilight and her friends, until they’d lead her to Patrick.
Twilight was right; he was indeed close. Luna had no time to waste, she had to get to Patrick before the Nightmare did.
The Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony sisters was once where Celestia and Luna called their home. After the events of Nightmare Moon, and the fact that the Nightmare’s intentions were made clear to Equestria, she moved the Royal Capital out of the forest and to Canterlot, where she had more influence and dominion; not just over the ponies, but the elements and the environment itself.
However, these ruins rarely ever saw any visitors. An occasional archaeologist on an assignment, or a passing traveler, the pony embodiments of the Elements of Harmony defeating Nightmare Moon. And more recently, a human being.
Patrick had taken shelter from the rain in this structure. He was still lost with no direction, he was starving, monsters could be hunting him, he was unarmed, and had no transportation.
Patrick shivered, resting his head up against his bag and rubbing his hands together for warmth. He had taken up residence in a large chamber, which looked to be the old throne room of this castle. There were carved images of the Sun and Moon here and there, to remind Patrick he could never run forever. But he’d damn sure try.
“This place is like Georgia,” Patrick thought. “All four seasons in a week.”
His stomach growled, causing Patrick to once again to take a sip of water out of his canteen. Part of United States Army Basic training included wilderness survival. One of the things Patrick was taught was that drinking water helps to suppress hunger until food is made available.
But it was hard to find anything edible here. This forest was like a jungle, everything was out to kill him, including the foliage. He had tried a few berries earlier, but after they made him vomit for twenty minutes, he just decided to go hungry.
And going hungry was hard. Patrick’s body, so used to a diverse variety of cooked meats and high calorie meals, hadn’t exactly had proper fuel since he arrived in Equestria, living off of salads and fruit dishes.
He didn’t have the energy or the drive to fashion a spear out of a stick and hunt something. Leaving this castle may even cause him to ironically end up on the other end of the food chain.
“I guess starving to death unwillingly isn’t technically suicide,” Patrick thought. “I’ll still probably be due for an eternal can of whoop-ass, though.”
He had considered trying to meditate for the past few hours, to get in contact with the familiar voice that always left him feeling refreshed and comforted. But he felt too ashamed.
Now would be one of the best times to hear a friendly, familiar voice, if he could trust it. Everyone was keeping secrets from him. Everyone knew what was best for him, what he should do. Except Patrick, and no one would tell him why.
Suddenly, the temperature dropped drastically, making chills run down his spine. Patrick noticed that he could see his breathe in font of him. He felt a peculiar presence in the ruins. A wicked feeling of hopelessness and pure despair was wrenching its way into the back of Patrick’s mind, snapping him into paranoia.
His eyes darted around the throne room rapidly. Something else was here, he was sure of it. Patrick rose to his feet and stepped into the middle of the throne room, studying every nook and cranny of this crumbling citadel for any signs of life.
He turned his sweeping gaze to the ceiling, and spotted something out of the ordinary. A black cloud appeared to cling to the ceiling. It featured no face, but it felt as if he were making eye contact with it.
“What the hel-“
Suddenly, it rushed Patrick, knocking him to the ground and swooping back up to the air.
Quickly, Patrick rose back to his feet, spinning around looking for whatever just attacked him.
Out of nowhere, it rushed him again. But this time, the black cloud didn’t just push him over and run. It forced it’s way into Patrick’s head; through his mouth, his nostrils, and his ears.
“AGHHHHHH!!!”
Patrick screamed with the pure agony that this invading force was making him endure. He convulsed and flailed about voraciously while this black cloud invaded his mind, his thoughts, the inner workings of his soul.
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU?”
It felt as though someone had filled Patrick’s head with ice-water, or he contracted a permanent case of brain-freeze. His brain was numb with cold, he couldn’t think. He tried to recall any event in his life, to see if he still had control. But this pure cold that dominated everything he knew scrambled his thoughts.
Patrick rolled on the floor, gripping his head in agony. He punched himself in the face repeatedly, desperately trying anything to attack this entity. Until finally, he lost himself. Whatever had just forced itself inside his head now had complete control over not only his mind, but his nervous system.
“Greetings, human,” a voice spoke to Patrick mentally. “I am what they call... The Nightmare.”
“And what a fitting name that is, now get out of my head!”
“Certainly. But I’d like to do some looking around first. It’s not often I get to explore the mind of an extinct race, you know. A race that created a weapon that can destroy a city the size of Manehattan in the blink of an eye. I wonder what else you know?”
“I’m not a nuclear physicist, if that’s what you’re after!” Patrick growled. “I’m just a biker and a convicted felon, what else do you want from me?”
“Hm… Childhood memories. Bo-ring. Oh, this is interesting. Ooh, that belt had to hurt. Your father was quite abusive, wasn’t he?”
“Shut up!” Patrick responded mentally. “I’ll fucking kill you!”
“Just like you killed Celestia?”
Patrick went silent.
“That’s what I thought. Now, be a good boy and let me go through all your pathetic memories until I get what I need.”
“Or what?”
A surge of pain exploded in Patrick’s head, causing him to cry out and convulse again.
“Or that.”
Patrick sat still like an obedient dog, occasionally looking around the ancient throne room while the Nightmare writhed and wriggled its way through his most precious memories. Periodically, the Nightmare jeered comments about his past, trying to get a reaction out of him. Each time Patrick reacted hot-heatedly, the Nightmare zapped him with a bolt of mental and physical agony.
“Ooh, that was embarrassing. Looked like one of your more private moments, there.”
“Ouch, that’s got to sting emotionally, being your own mother and all.”
“Ha! I’m going to save this one for later. Oh, this is classic, being forced to march with no pants on!”
“Please,” Patrick begged, out of breathe. “Just leave me alone. I’m going to starve to death anyway. Please…”
The Nightmare ignored him, browsing his memories in order like a filing cabinet. It wanted to get everything it possibly could, so taking the time, when it had the chance, to explore each and every remembered event in this human’s life may come in handy for its future plans.
“No wonder your eyes glow red from my point of view,” the Nightmare teased him. “I wasn’t sure if you had ended up killing a pony. But you murdered two of your own species in cold blood, for your government’s name! Ha, what a pawn.”
“Oh my," the Nightmare belittled him. “I’m watching your closest friends burn alive, through your eyes as you saw them that day. This is quite tragic. And that’s a lot for me to say, when I’ve murdered millions and felt nothing at all. This really tugs at my heartstrings, Patrick. Well, if I had a heart.”
“I SWEAR, THE MOMENT I HAVE THE CHANCE, I’M GOING TO RIP YOUR FUCKING-“
The Nightmare unleashed another fury of mental pain to quiet Patrick down.
“Looks like I hit a nerve. Oops, no pun intended,” the Nightmare chuckled lightly.
Patrick let out a small groan.
“What, you don’t think my jokes are funny?”
“Please…” he clutched the back of his head.
“Quit your whining, I’ll be through in a moment.”
It flipped through memories rapidly, until finally it reached more recent events in Patrick’s life, and began to see a pattern.
“Oh, I see,” the Nightmare chuckled. “Oh, Celestia, that was clever. Bravo, I say. Bravo. Oh, this turn of events is just hilarious.”
Patrick lay on the ground defeated, struggling through every second of this psychological torture.
“Manipulating your past, shaping you and your friends into the ultimate incarnations of the Elements of Harmony, and ultimately killing them. I never would have guessed Celestia would commit outright murder in order to get rid of me. Although, she did imprison her own sister for a thousand years. She’s got guts, I’ll give her that.”
“What are you going on about now? Are you about finished?”
“-Causing Jose’s father to be threatened by drug cartels, making them move to your city, where you met him and the rest of your friends at school. Causing your father to disapprove of your interracial friendships, nurturing your rebellious and unrelenting spirit. Distracting you from removing your license plate while racing on public roads, giving you a criminal record. Getting rid of your parents, so that you would have nowhere else to go but to move in with your best friend, where he convinces you to join the Army together. Making you watch them die, so that the complete and utter love you have for them will be locked into your soul forever. Did I hit the nail on the head, Mr. Wilcox?”
Patrick said nothing, speechless at how accurately that the Nightmare had just summed up his entire life in a few sentences.
"Do you ever wonder why you have such an acute sense of memory? Why you suffered so much, but all you can remember are the 'good times'?"
"Just so that you’d be so attached to your friends, even see them as your brothers, and then Celestia was going to keep everything a secret from you until after you disposed of me. Oh, she’s been quite busy this past thousand years, I see. Very intricate and careful planning. Taking advantage of a species that killed themselves and trading blood for blood. She really does care that deeply about her subjects; if only she’d follow the very morals she taught them.”
Patrick balled his hands into fists. He tried not to give the Nightmare the satisfaction of keeping his temper, but it obviously knew that, since it was inside his mind. There was no way to get back at it somehow.
“Listen, I don’t care why you want to destroy all of Equestria, or whatever you’re doing. I don’t care why you have a vendetta against Celestia. I really just don’t.”
“You do realize,” the Nightmare began. “That if Celestia never did this to you, none of you and your friends would have met.”
“No!” Patrick refused to believe it. “That’s not true! We would have been friends, we would have found each other eventually.”
“I’m in your head, remember?” the Nightmare said as a matter-of-factly. “And it’s pretty hard to hide the fact that you’re in denial when I’m seeing your thoughts as they pop up.”
Patrick bowed his head in shame.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” the Nightmare sighed. “You know I really wish you’d have been able to kill her, it would make things so much easier for me. Unfortunately, she can indeed stop your weapon’s bullets, if given the time.”
“Alright!” Patrick shouted. “You know everything about me. You violated the inner sanctity of my mind, sufficiently degraded my character every chance you got, and now you can see I’m not a threat to you. I even tried to kill your enemy! Can you please get out of my head now and just leave me alone?”
“Sorry,” the Nightmare replied. “But when you’re the only thing alive that can stop me, I’d rather not take any chances by allowing you to live.”
“WHAT?” Patrick cried.
“You’ve been a great help Patrick, thank you for all the useful information. But honestly, I’m surprised you haven’t committed suicide by now, even after all that Jose warned you about. But it’s too late; I’m recreating Equestria in my image. Good bye.”
Patrick shut his eyes tight, expecting his head to explode, for him to die in a split second, but nothing happened.
Cautiously, he opened his eyes, and then jumped in surprise.
A blue alicorn was standing before him, wrestling the black cloud that was the Nightmare out his mind. Luna’s horn shone brighter than he’d ever seen before, causing Patrick to hold a hand in front of his face.
“Ugh!” Luna grunted. “You think I don’t know how you work?”
She pulled harder, physically stepping back as a dark, black cloud began pouring out of Patrick’s mouth.
“You think I can’t banish you? I only spent a thousand years getting to know you, including your exploits and weaknesses!”
The Nightmare hissed, raising itself into the air.
“Fools!” it bellowed. “I have an unlimited supply of anti-magic and human weaponry! Do you really think you can stop me, now that I have the ultimate knowledge of Celestia’s plans? I am going to advance Equestria into a world without magic, and there is nothing you can do to stop me!”
Luna aimed her horn directly at the Nightmare and fired a bolt of dark magic, the glow it gave off resembling a black light. The Nightmare was quickly removed from existence right before Patrick's eyes.
Luna let out a sigh of relief and dropped to the ground, sitting on her haunches and bowing her head in fatigue.
Patrick, dumbstruck, simply stammered in disbelief.
“Did-did you just-“
“No,” Luna said through exhausted panting. “It’s only temporary, the banishment won’t last more than a few hours. I’m not powerful enough to make it any longer.”
“Oh,” Patrick stood up, and helped Luna to her hooves. “But, uh-Thanks, for saving me from that thing. But if you don’t mind me asking,” Patrick raised an eyebrow.
“How did you find me here?”
“Without Twilight’s friends’ knowledge, I blocked you out from most locator spells, specifically Celestia’s. Only I was able to find you once I came close enough to your location.”
“Uh, I don’t really understand, but okay,” Patrick replied. “By the way,” Patrick scratched the back o his head.
“Sorry about the whole, trying to kill your sister and screwing your world over, thing.”
“Actually,” Luna frowned. “That’s what I’m here about.”
“Oh,” Patrick put his hands in his pockets. “For revenge? Or to bring me back to the dungeon?”
“No,” Luna shook her head. “If I wanted revenge, I wouldn’t have helped you escape.”
“Oh, right.”
“Anyway,” Luna stated. “I care just as deeply for my subjects as Celestia does, even if I don’t show it. I can guarantee you that as soon as that banishment is broken, the Nightmare is going to attack another pony city. I know that you’re not capable of helping Equestria after everything that’s been done to you, but I believe I can change your mind, so as to prevent any more mass bloodshed.”
“And how would you do that, princess?”
Luna’s horn lit up once again, and Patrick’s Glock 23, still loaded, materialized and floated just in front of his face.
“I want you to kill my sister.”
“-But there was no body or anything, just the motorcycle,” Rainbow Dash explained.
“Yeah, it looked like he ran from the hydra, the bridge snapped, and maybe somethin’ hungry came along and uh,” Applejack tried to speak about Patrick’s demise respectfully. “Yeah.”
“I see,” Celestia took in what her most faithful subjects had just finished telling her. She sighed wearily, whispering to a guard next to her throne. He nodded, and proceeded to leave.
“Thank you, my little ponies, for trying, and I am glad none of you were hurt as a result of this little excursion,” Celestia said. “But even I am not able to locate Patrick, the spell has been powerfully blocked. He could be alive, or he could be dead. But we’ve run out of time. He has presumably died, along with any hope we had to combat the Nightmare.”
“So, what now?” Twilight asked.
“Now,” Celestia took a deep breath. “We begin evacuations. The Nightmare is going to destroy enough Equestrian cities and towns, and leave only enough to re-populate it. I’m afraid it is trying to create a world without magic, where it will be the only being able to posses the power to cast any spell in the entire world.”
“There is a chariot waiting for you all outside. I will give you some time to collect your things. Whether you decide to leave or stay is up to you. I am beginning the evacuation of Canterlot tomorrow morning.
“Princess!” a Pegasi courier burst through the doors, his saddlebags, full of messages and flying gear, bobbed back and forth with each galloping hoof.
“I come bearing grave news! The Nightmare has attacked the city of Fillydelphia in the same manner as Manehattan, but used four of its devices. Everything within a ten mile radius of the city has been leveled, not a single survivor has been found and the winds spread its poison rapidly!”
The throne room fell silent as the courier panted from spitting out such a mouthful.
“T-thank you, you are dismissed,” Celestia stuttered.
The courier stumbled to a bow and showed himself to the door.
“I think it would be best f-for you all t-to go now, before it’s too late,” Celestia exited through a separate door, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash headed out the main doorway of the throne room.
“Twi, you comin’?” Applejack asked. “We might as well try to say good bye to everypony before there ain’t no more ponies to say goodbye ta’.”
“In a minute, I’ll catch up.”
Applejack shrugged and followed the rest of her friends out the door.
Twilight caught up with the princess, seeing her stare out a window towards the direction of FIllydelphia.
It was much farther away than Manehattan, so there would be no giant mushroom cloud looming off in the sky from this distance, but Celestia could only imagine the events that took place in Manehattan two days ago, multiplied by four.
“Princess?” Twilight murmured gently. “Are you going to be alright?”
Celestia turned around. She didn’t shed a tear, but she was visibly upset.
“Yes, Twilight,” she led Twilight to an exit, leading into the castle courtyards.
“Come, there is something I wish to talk to you about before you leave.”
Celestia and Twilight strolled the castle gardens, neither speaking for several minutes. Finally, Celestia cleared her throat.
“Twilight, I know that everything I have done has gone against the very lessons I teach, and the very lessons about friendship that you report to me.”
“Princess,” Twilight said. “While it’s really hard for me to do this, I still stand by you and trust your judgment. You were only trying to save Equestria.”
“Thank you, Twilight,” Celestia smiled for a brief moment. “But it’s just that there’s a bit more to the Nightmare’s goals than simply taking over my kingdom.”
“Like what?”
“A thousand years ago, when the Nightmare possessed Luna, I banished them both to the moon. It pained me, and still does, but I had no choice. It was only going to be a matter of time before the Nightmare’s powers would surpass my own. And then, after three straight years of meditation and diving into the spirit world, I found Patrick, and his friends.”
“The ghosts of Patrick’s friends?”
Celestia nodded.
“They prefer the term ‘spirit’ or ‘soul,’ but yes. The spell took a thousand years, but I was able to scan through human history, looking for a fabled group of six that may hold the key to saving Equestria. I had already known about human kind, they were known before even Luna and I, but they slipped from a history lesson to a myth, then unknown to all but Luna and myself. While Luna was banished, I looked to the past. I saw their accomplishments, their triumphs, their failures, their violence, wars, genocides, and finally, their end.”
“So what does all that mean?”
I have a confession to make,” Celestia stopped dramatically. “After discovering just how advanced that mankind had become, how much their technology and science, their understanding of the universe, is something more than ponies could ever achieve. But it’s only because I hid the existence of the human race, the explanations for their ruins scattered all across the world. Most of our society has been based upon them, even our language. But I have deliberately prevented Equestria from progressing any further as a species.”
“Equestria is nearly the same as it was some one thousand years ago. This is why Luna and I had the famous falling out with the Nightmare. It wanted to focus on advancing knowledge and technology, no matter what the cost.”
“Why?” Twilight asked. “Why would you prevent ponies from getting as far as humans did?”
“To prevent us, as a race, from making the same mistakes that humans did. By turning their societies’ focus on money, greed, sin, and war, rather than the values we praise, they destroyed themselves. And I was not about to let that happen to my subjects.”
Twilight gaped, completely speechless.
“I know this is quite a lot to take in, but this is why I have ruled the way I have. Equestria as a whole has benefited from some of human knowledge gained from my experiences with the past, and recovered human artifacts. But some of the things they discovered are so dangerous, I don’t believe any human, or any pony, should even have the knowledge of them. One of those discoveries is the nuclear weaponry that destroyed Manehattan, and now Fillydelphia.”
Twilight leaned up against her, the towering white alicorn gently putting a wing over her protégé.
“I’m afraid that Equestria as we know it is coming to an end soon. But while we still have this time together, there is something I’ve always wanted to say to you, Twilight Sparkle.”
“And what would that be?”
“Ever since I’d first seen you as a filly, I knew that you were going to be something more than just the average unicorn. You reminded me so much of myself, it was as if I was looking at myself as a filly.”
Twilight smiled, continuing to listen to her mentor’s gentle speech.
“But as the years went by, and you became my star pupil, my personal student, I began to have some feelings I couldn’t quite understand for the longest time.”
Twilight looked at the Princess with a confused expression.
“Nothing romantic, if that’s what you’re thinking. But you mean more to me than just being my pupil, or my friend. I…”
“What do you want to say, Princess Celestia?”
“This is really hard for me to put into words, but…”
Celestia bit her lip, not being able to remember the last time she was so struck for words.
“I’ve always seen you almost as if you were- my daughter, so to speak. I know you have parents, but that’s just… How I’ve seen our relationship, especially as of recently.”
Twilight felt Celestia ease up, taking her wing off of her.
“You know,” Twilight answered. “I’ve always kind of seen you that way as well, but I never really admitted it to myself directly. You’ve always been that guiding force, possibly even… A second mother to me.”
They sat quietly for a few moments, before Celestia looked Twilight in the eyes and wrapped her wing around her again in a tender embrace.
“My dearest student, Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia began. “I lov-“
click-click
BANG!!!
Twilight’s eyes went wide after hearing such a familiar, deafening blast. Celestia’s head jerked back, a mist of blood spraying into the air as Celestia’s body crumpled to the ground. The kind, gentle, all-loving, mother of Equestria’s sun lay dead on the grass, in a puddle of blood oozing out of a giant hole in the back of her skull.
Twilight could barely even contain herself. She wheezed in and out in pure shock, hyperventilating and feeling dizzy. She struggled not to lose her lunch, but felt it creeping ever so forcefully up her throat. Gulping it back down, she turned around to face the gunman.
Patrick held his weapon in one hand, a puff of white smoke lazily drifting out of the barrel. With his free hand, he retrieved and lit a cigarette.
He inhaled deeply, holding it for several seconds, and then exhaling all of the smoke in one triumphant breath.
“Alright,” Patrick smiled. "Now I’ll save the world.”
|
Molotov Cocktail
|
1029
| 16 |
Big Macintosh,Derpy Hooves,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Nightmare Moon,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Zecora,Human,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Whiplash
|
A motorcyclist is struck by lightning. He awakens on the verge of death in a very strange land.
|
complete
| 751 | 52 |
<p>When a motorcyclist is struck by lightning, it sends him to a strange world in a seemingly unexplainable turn of events. With no one able to offer him the answers to his questions, he settles in for the long haul, and looks for a way home. </p><p>Lost, injured, and still reeling in the post-traumatic stress of military service, as well as the criminal underground of street racing, he struggles to maintain his very sanity. Little does he know, the friendships that made life worth living for him would be the key to stopping an ancient enemy bent on anarchy and genocide.</p>
|
teen
|
2012-04-12T04:19:49+00:00
|
2012-04-12T04:19:49+00:00
| 9,474 |
“Crush humanity out of shape once more… And it will twist itself into the same tortured forms. Sow the same seed of oppression over again, and it will surely yield the same fruit according to it’s kind.” –Charles Dickens
Five ponies found themselves anxiously waiting for their unicorn friend in a parked chariot, ready to whisk them off to Ponyville for their final days of carelessly going about their lives.
“Jeez, what’s taking Twilight so long?” Rainbow Dash tapped her hoof impatiently.
“She’s saying goodbye to the princess, possibly even forever. Give her some time,” Rarity assured.
…BANG!!!...
The distinct crackle of gunfire rattled off in the distance.
“That wasn’t what I think it was, was it?” Rainbow Dash lept out the the chariot, her heard pointing towards the direction of the distant .40 discharge.
“It did sound an awful lot like-“ Applejack stopped. “-Oh no…”
“NO!” Twilight dashed to Celestia’s side. Rivers of tears began to flow down the young unicorn’s face, mixing with the blood flowing out of the gaping mortal wound that ended Celestia’s life.
“Princess! Don’t worry! I’ll- I’ll-“ she desperately tried healing spells, even the revival spell she had been trying to learn. But nothing was bringing life back into the slain alicorn, whose coat had once been the cleanest, whitest bright you’d ever seen. Instead, it was now a tainted crimson, red mixture. Her mane, once flowing with magic had reverted to plain, pink locks.
“AUGHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
Twilight let out an ear-shattering cry, burying her face in her hooves after feeling so helpless. It was all her fault. She saved Patrick’s life. She brought him back to Ponyville. She housed, him and fed him. She told them Patrick was dead, so they’d let their guard down. It was her fault that Celestia was now dead.
It was as if the entire world stood still. One moment, somehow, there was still some reassuring feeling that everything was going to be alright. That no matter how bad things got, the world wasn’t really going to end. There were still reasons to live, to carry on. Because even though they were dying by the thousands everyday now, ponies could still look to Celestia for guidance.
Twilight Sparkle faded in and out of reality, still staring at the dead body of her mentor.
She blinked. She did it again, refusing to believe the corpse in front of her was the sun princess, her mentor; murdered in cold blood, and that she’d wake up any second from a bad dream.
She tried to scream; to scream at the top of her lungs, to try and cast a spell; ANY spell. But the complete and utter distress of being within inches of her mentor’s assassination was too much to bear. She lost control of herself and vomited, kneeling on the grass and making no attempt to look Patrick in the eye.
While Twilight continued dry-heaving, Patrick nonchalantly inhaled another drag and approached the body. Twilight inched backwards, whether it was in fear, shock, or disbelief, Twilight didn’t know. The only thing the small, purple unicorn could do was simply stare, jaw agape, tears flowing and unable to utter a single word. She stared up at Patrick as he raised his weapon to Celestia’s body again.
“This is for my friends!"
BANG!
“This is for my parents!”
BANG!
“This is for my life!”
BANG!
“This is for my race!”
BANG!
“AND THIS IS FOR MY FUCKING BIKE!”
BANG-BANG-BANG!!!
Patrick breathed heavily, feeling as if a giant burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He finally got his revenge. It was finally over.
And yet, it didn't change anything.
The human assassin took a knee, his smile reduced to a subtle curl of his lips, and swiftly faded, as if the sheer enjoyment he was supposed to contract from finally getting even was over now. He swept his hand across Celestia’s face, closing her eyes respectfully.
Twilight saw his lips move, but her ears rang from the close discharge of gunfire, making her unable to make out what Patrick was mumbling to himself.
He stood and turned to Twilight expectantly, awaiting her reaction.
“How… How could you?” Twilight choked out. “You’re a monster.”
“Yeah,” Patrick nodded. “But she made me one.”
Patrick threw the cigarette he’d been smoking away.
Twilight said nothing, her face shifting from a reflection of grief and denial, to an angry scowl. She wanted to hurl an attack at Patrick, to telekinetically cave his head in. But maybe she wouldn’t have to.
The bustling and clanging of armor plating indicated the royal guard was responding. Patrick had the pleasure of meeting nearly all the Canterlot Castle guardponies at some point or another, and the distinct “bang!” of his weapon was heard the last time he tried to kill Celestia. But she wasn’t here to protect him from being killed by her own guard forces anymore.
There were hundreds of guards within the vicinity, and Patrick only had six rounds in the magazine currently loaded in his Glock 23, and only four in his spare. If the Royal Guard saw his crime, they’d kill him on the spot.
“There he his!” a Pegasi guard on overwatch swooped overhead “The human has assassinated the Princess! Attack! Attack!”
Dozens of pegasi guards began to swoop down from overhead, as the stampeding of hooves began to grow louder and closer in proximity.
This wide, open area of the Royal Gardens offered no places to hide, and no cover.
Dozens of earth pony, unicorn, and pegasi were descending on him, like rabid dogs on a defenseless squirrel.
Unless they’d all line up shoulder to shoulder and let him execute them all at once, ten .40 caliber rounds in two separate magazines would not be enough to take down an army. It was enough, however, for intimidation. Luna did not tell him the guard would respond this quickly. He needed something to buy him some time, and fast. A desperate idea found its way into Patrick’s head, and he acted.
Patrick lunged forward and grabbed the small, purple unicorn as the guards were merely twenty feet from him. Dozens of horns began to illuminate, ready to attack the human. He spun around, making the unicorn guards immediately hold their fire.
In one arm, he cradled a kicking and struggling unicorn mare. In the other, his weapon, pressed firmly up against the side of her head.
Twilight ceased her struggles, realizing it wouldn’t do her any good. As if the death of her mentor wasn’t enough, she was now Patrick’s hostage.
“You’ve got until the count of five to let her go, before we turn you into a pile of meat!” Lieutenant Black Sword barked.
“Surrender now and drop your weapon!”
Patrick defiantly stood his ground.
“One!”
Twilight’s ear was pressed right up against Patrick’s chest.
“Two!”
His beating heart was like a drum being struck furiously a mile a minute. He took a deep breath, and whispered in Twilight’s ears.
“If you want to save Equestria, teleport us both to the throne room, now.”
“Three!”
“And just how do you expect me to focus enough for a teleportation spell, after you just murdered Princess Celestia and desecrated her remains right in front of my eyes?!”
“Four!”
“Fine, don’t save Equestria. That’s all I’m saying.”
Twilight’s horn sparked, but she still failed to incite any spells.
“Five!”
As soon as the guard uttered that word, Patrick changed the focus of his handgun’s barrel from Twilight’s temple, to the guards in front of him.
BANG!
The Glock 23 fired a slug into Lieutenant Black Sword’s shoulder.
BANG-BANG-BANG
He non-lethally fired at any guards posing an immediate threat to him, trying to buy Twilight more time. Whether she’d decide to listen to him, or kill him, that was up to her.
It was then that Patrick’s sight was obstructed by a flash of light right in front of his face. A burst of colors overloaded his vision, and suddenly he felt weightless.
It was over in an instant. He and Twilight dropped into a disoriented pile of tangled limbs right in front of the throne.
Princess Luna sat at the top of it, looking as though she’d been expecting them.
“Princess Luna!” Twilight cried.
“Twilight Sparkle,” Luna stood and began to walk towards them. “I-“
She was interrupted by Twilight’s horn glowing furiously, her eyes filled with fiery rage for what she felt was justice. She turned directly at Patrick, surprising him.
“YOU BETTER HAVE A GOOD REASON WHY I SHOULDN’T TURN YOU INTO A CHAMBER POT RIGHT NOW!”
He drew his weapon, still loaded with one round, and aimed it directly at Twilight’s head. As the two had a standoff, Luna gripped them both in a magic hold, gently taking Patrick’s weapon out of his grip, and preventing Twilight from casting any spells.
“Break it up, you two,” Princess Luna cooed.
“WHAT?!” Twilight began to go absolutely ballistic. “How can you say that?! He just killed your sister, and you’re just going to stand by?”
“I know what Patrick has done, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna sighed. “But it was a necessary sacrifice to be able to see tomorrow.”
Twilight’s face went pale.
“You-“ Twilight grimaced with disgust. “You let Patrick kill your own sister?”
Luna nodded.
Twilight nearly dropped dead at this point.
“Princess!” Rainbow Dash burst through the large double doors of the throne room as the rest of her friends followed in suit.
“Patrick’s back! We heard the gunshot in the courtya-“ Rainbow Dash froze as Patrick stood right before her in the flesh.
“Patrick!” Rainbow Dash flew right in front of him. “So, you really are alive!”
“But does that mean, that thunder we just heard,” Rarity glanced at Patrick.
“Patrick, please tell me you didn’t.”
Suddenly, he felt himself full of shame, finding himself unable to answer the ponies that saved his life three weeks ago.
He didn’t think about this. He only wanted to hurt Celestia for all the heartbreak she had caused him. But now… How were the only ponies that ever showed him a single act of kindness going to react to hearing that he killed Celestia?
“Oh my Cele-“ Fluttershy stopped.
“The princess is really, like, really, really, for no-take backs… Gone?” Pinkie Pie blubbered.
“Everypony, calm down,” Luna addressed the six ponies. “I understand that this is one of the worst possible things that could have happened. But it was necessary. As much as it pains me to say it-“
Luna herself was using magic to mask the fact that she was going to burst into tears any second.
“An Equestria without Celestia is better than no Equestria at all.”
The six ponies just stared at Patrick with disgust.
“I don’t ever expect you all to understand why I did what I did,” Patrick collected himself, forcing himself to speak clearly.
“But after everything I’ve been through, I needed some closure. I’m willing to help you now.”
“Yes,” Luna nodded. “And the Nightmare will be freed soon, in retaliation of Patrick. It is time for you six, who share such a close bond of friendship, to wield the Elements of Harmony again.”
“Wait, now?” Pinkie Pie cocked her head to one side.
“Like, now, now?”
Luna nodded.
“Use the Elements again?” Twilight shook her head. “I thought Celestia said we weren’t powerful enough to defeat the pure Nightmare! I thought that was the whole point of Patrick and his friends, to do that for us!”
“It is,” Luna replied. “But we still have work to do. Come, we must retrieve the Elements. I will explain when we arrive at the Royal Vault. The Nightmare could attack at any given moment. And once it discovers that Celestia is now longer able to protect us, it’s going to do so in full force. We haven’t much time!”
A brisk march through the marble-floored castle hallways led them to the massive Royal Vault, only able to be opened by Celestia or Luna’s horn.
Luna inserted her horn into a gold-plated slot, disengaging the magic lock and retrieving an elegantly decorated chest.
She opened it and laid it before the six ponies responsible for saving Luna herself from the Nightmare’s evil clutches.
“Reclaim your element, and stand with me,” Luna ordered.
Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash all reclaimed their respective elements, slipping the necklaces around their neck, while Twilight affixed her tiara on her head.
“Wait, those are the Elements of Harmony?” Patrick crossed his arms.
“Fucking jewelry?”
“Yes,” Twilight growled. “You have a problem with that?”
“…Am I going to have to wear the tiara?”
“The Elements reflect those who use them. In their neutral form, they exist as mere stones.”
“Fascinating. But the Nightmare could show up and blow us all up any minute now,” Patrick replied anxiously. “We’ll just cross that bridge when we come to it.”
“Right, so uh,” Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her head. “What exactly are we doing?”
“We’re about to take a little trip through time,” Luna said. “Patrick, stand right-“
Luna positioned Patrick so that he was surrounded by the Elements, and then took a few steps back.
“Right there, perfect.”
“Wait, you didn’t tell me what’s going on here, either,” Patrick began to feel uneasy.
“Yeah, when you say we’re goin’ back in time,” Applejack added. “Where-When exactly are going ta’?”
“The only way to save Equestria is for Patrick and his friends to use the Elements of Harmony to stop the Nightmare,” Luna explained.
“But Patrick’s friends died in a war thousands of years ago,” Twilight argued.
All eyes were on Patrick now.
“Yes, they did. But, we’ve been doing some talking lately. Still though,” Patrick asked Luna. “Why are we going back in time?”
“We’re bringing your friends back from the dead.”
That hit Patrick like a freight train.
“What?!” Patrick gasped for breath. “Y-You can do that? For real?”
“Yes,” Luna calmly stated.
“That’s great! That’s absolutely great news!” Patrick laughed. “Why didn’t you tell me, though?”
“Because,” Luna answered. “We’re about to explore a very dark memory of yours. Specifically, the worst day of your life.”
Patrick thought for a moment, until he realized what she meant.
“No,” Patrick shook his head. “Please tell me you don’t mean-“
“Yes,” Luna’s voice became firm. “The ambush. And you are not backing out now.”
“I’ve spent a lot of time studying time traveling spells,” Twilight argued. “Celestia herself said going back in time took her a thousand years. So how can we just do it on the fly?”
“The difference is that Patrick is already right here, and I’ll know exactly where to go without spending hundreds of years meditating and searching for just the right human.”
Luna placed her horn on Patrick’s head, freezing him in place. He could feel her infiltrating his mind, just as the Nightmare did, but her presence was just a mere discomfort, and not an ice-cold, searing sensation of agony.
“But Patrick, ain’t your friends… ya’ know… dead?” Applejack asked.
“They’re still around,” Patrick shrugged.
“The spirit world is complicated to explain,” Luna sighed, still reaching into Patrick’s mind to find the correct memory.
“In order to revive your friends, Patrick, they’re going to need bodies. And I’m afraid I don’t have any human bodies to spare, so we have to go collect some.”
Patrick closed his eyes, regretting now that he killed Celestia. Zecora was right: In the end, he really never got any joy out of it. It didn’t change anything, everything she made happen to him still happened. He was still living in the past. And now, everyone in this crazy future hated him.
"And Twilight," Luna leaned in, whispering only so the unicorn could hear. "As regrettable as this is, under no circumstances should you harm Patrick. If he dies, then the Nightmare has won. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes," Twilight sniffled. She was riding an emotional roller coaster at the moment, and having to help the very being that killed her mentor wasn't helping anything.
The reality surrounding Patrick, Luna, and the Elements began to blur, distorting space-time itself. Everything was fading into a black void, devouring the world around them all until there was nothing but all-encompassing darkness and nothingness.
It was the same place Patrick went to when he was struck by lightning. Maybe there was something more to this black void, but to him, it was just nothingness. And in an instant, there was something; a distant bright light, like a single star in the night sky. It began approaching rapidly, until the blackness of the void was engulfed by hot white.
He felt the ground beneath his feet. And a high pitched whine temporarily deafened him. The lights became so bright, not even Patrick’s hands over his eyes could dim them. Finally, in a split second, it ended.
Patrick, Luna, and the Elements of Harmony opened their eyes, and took in their new surroundings.
“It can’t be…” Patrick gaped.
The sun beat down on a hot, scorching landscape of loose shrubbery clinging to life. Dirt, sand, and rock faces breached by a giant cliff were surrounded by a mountainous landscape of gently rolling hills just beyond the horizon. A deep trail of tire tracks a stone’s was stone’s throw away was the only sign of activity in this remote region of barren countryside. It was the Korangal Valley, one of the most dangerous areas of Afghanistan, and where Patrick spent the last several months of his military service. Today was the last day of his active combat duty.
Everypony and Patrick took a moment to recovering from blipping through space-time.
“Ugh,” Rainbow Dash rubbed her head. “Where in Equestria are we?”
“Um, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity stammered. “I don’t think we’re in Equestria anymore.”
“Princess Luna, just where are we?”
“Why don’t you ask Patrick?” Luna motioned to him, taking a few steps forward onto the dirt road, gazing at the tops of the Afghani canyons.
“Patrick?” Rarity broke his train of thought.
“Sorry,” Patrick murmured.
“This is where I fought my war. We’re in my time, when I was nineteen years old. This is the day that all my friends died…”
Right on cue, a hasty line of armored vehicles and light tanks scuttled across the dirt road, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake.
“Can they see us?” Patrick asked solemnly.
“No,” Luna shook her head. “We’re merely spectators, and cannot exist directly. We don’t belong here, and you don’t- anymore.”
Patrick stepped back off the dirt road and rejoined the others, waiting to watch his worst nightmare in third-person.
The hum and chatter of diesel engines cranked to a stop, where they sat motionless for some time.
Rarity looked at these heavily armored, four wheeled carriages. In front of them all was an obviously a mobile piece of artillery to protect the human convoy. But directly behind it, in the passenger window, clutching the same weapon that Patrick threw before Celestia just before his first attempted assassination, was Patrick himself.
“Look,” Rarity pointed a hoof for everypony to see. “Patrick, do you see that?”
“Yep” Patrick sighed. He looked younger, but not by much. His head was mostly obscured by window glare, as well as his helmet and sunglasses, but it was unmistakably a one and a half year younger Private First Class Patrick Wilcox.
“Are you ready, Patrick?” Luna asked. Everypony looking longingly to Patrick as he watched the M3A3 Bradley probe the ground for IED’s.
He remembered every detail about this day. What he had for breakfast. Which cheek he cut shaving that morning. The weird mole that the Afghani doctor had on his nose that treated him after the MEDEVAC airlifted him to Kabul.
Patrick sighed, ready to relive his worst nightmare as a spectator.
“Three.”
“Two.”
“One.”
A glob of fire rained down from the cliff face adjacent to the M3A3, striking it and making it burst into flames.
“Get out!” a voice screamed inside the HMMWV just behind the wreckage of the M3A3. “GO, GO, GO!”
All of the doors swung open, as the soldiers inside scrambled away for safety. Patrick was able to get one last good look at his friends’ faces, and himself, before a rocket propelled grenade tore into the Humvee yet again.
The younger, body-armor clad Patrick was thrown to the ground and struck by flying debris. He lifted himself off the ground, obliviously running mere feet from his future-self, and dove behind a pillar of a rocks.
Patrick dropped to his knees, trying to look away, but he couldn’t. His eyes were rooted to the five young men screaming in agony, clothing catching on fire and setting them all ablaze.
Twilight’s jaw dropped as she watched Patrick’s best friends, whom he maintained were killed by Celestia’s doing, burn alive.
She never believed him when he said it was this bad. She never believed Celestia was capable of causing such a gruesome streak of deaths. She glanced over to her friends, watching in absolute awe as Patrick’s comrades tried to throw sand on each other to snuff out the flames, to douse themselves with water from their canteens, but they cooked in their own skins. One by one, they collapsed to the ground.
Patrick shifted his gaze to himself firing his rifle and the crackling gunfire off to the north, while the rest of his convoy frantically piled out of flaming vehicles hailed by RPG fire.
“That’s enough,” Luna said. And then, everything stopped. It was as if someone had the remote control to the world, and just pushed the pause button. The soldiers froze in combat positions, the flames stopped dancing, the smoke stopped rising, and bullets stopped in mid-air.
“It’s time to finally end this Nightmare,” Luna led the elements to a burning HMMWV surrounded by five burning corpses, the fires frozen in time as well. Luna’s horn glowed a faint blue, and extinguished the flames that were fueled off these young men’s flesh.
“So,” Patrick looked into vacant eyes of Jose, clutching Ryan. “This is how Celestia manipulated my life.”
Luna encased them all in a bubble of magic, and reality flickered for a moment.
Lightning began to streak through the sky, until Patrick felt static electricity in his hair. It was incredibly bright, a familiar high pitched whine enveloped them all. But then it got dark. Very dark. And nothing happened.
In another instant, they were thrust back into the throne room. The electricity grounded itself, as bolts of energy bounced across the marble floors until they dissipated. A giant scorch mark had burned itself into the floor surrounding the ponies and human that were just thrust back into Equestria. But they had picked up some extra baggage.
“Is everypony alright?” Luna was the first to recover from such a disorienting ordeal.
“Ah think Ah’m gonna need a minute,” Applejack huffed.
“You’re fine,” Luna helped Twilight and Fluttershy to their hooves. “It’ll wear off soon, you’re just going to be a little dizzy. Patrick, where are you?”
Luna spun around until she could see him standing among the bodies of his closest friends: Jose, Louis, Spencer, Ryan, and Joe.
“Patrick,” Luna proceeded to put a hoof on his shoulder. “It’s time to bring them back. Are you truly certain that you are willing to do this?”
He took one last look at charred, gnarled faces of his friends after burning to death.
“I am.”
“So be it then,” Luna faced Twilight and her friends, forming a circle around the bodies of an extinct race laying on her throne room floor.”
Luna’s horn glowed a vibrant pink, and in the faintest corners of his hearing, Patrick could swear he started to hear the beating of a heart. It grew louder, and louder, until it was apparent that’s what it was: The sound of life.
It became very dark, the only source of illumination was Luna’s horn, and the glowing Elements of Harmony worn by the ponies who had used them before. A spiraling windstorm began to rip through the castle, tossing over statues and anything else not rooted to the ground.
The five human corpses levitated into the air; their wounds, burns, and mangled limbs all being restored. Patrick looked on longingly, anxious for something to happen.
Slowly, the bodies, still clad in desert-ACU body armor, helmets, and other assorted equipment on their vests, regenerated the flesh lost in battle. The blood that stained their clothes seeped back into their bodies, but the burns and tears their clothing suffered remained. Patrick held his breathe, and what he saw next made his chest grow cold.
Through all the noise of the wind and all the disorienting lights, their efforts were not in vain. Jose was the first to open his eyes. But something captured Patrick’s attention; it was that Jose’s eyes seemed to shine a bright white for a moment. He blinked, and his eyes were no longer glowing.
Jose drew in a deep breath, while the rest of his comrades began to awaken from death as well.
Ryan was next, his eyes darting open and flashing a bright pink. Joe slowly lifted his eyelids, his pupils flickering a rich purple before fading into his natural eye color. Spencer’s eyes rolled back in his head, and then stared forward, glowing a blue as radiant as the midday sky before dimming. Louis was the last to be revived. He awoke calmly, but then frantically flicked his eyes across the room. They glimmered a soft flare of orange, and then faded just as his comrades’ did before.
Their boots touched the ground, and the young soldiers that had been brought back from the face of death stood together; perfectly healthy in the burnt, torn combat fatigues that they died in.
The indoor windstorm calmed, and there was a gripping silence that overcame the throne room. On one side were five members of an extinct race that died out thousands of years ago; living, breathing, just as much as any healthy young adult would be.
On the other side, Patrick and the Elements of Harmony stood in disbelief as they stared back.
“Guys!” Patrick broke into a run.
“I can’t believe it, you’re alive!” Patrick cried.
Jose squeezed his hands open and shut for a moment, giving himself a cursory inspection. Most of his jacket had burned off, and the front of his body armor was torn open. The patches that carried his platoon’s symbol and a color-blind American flag had singed away, along with his entire left sleeve.
However, the patch symbolizing his rank and his name were still embroidered on his uniform. His dog tags, carrying Jose’s identity and medical information, hung from his neck. The tags themselves were blackened from the fire once eating away his flesh.
The IOTV tactical vest that covered him still held several damaged magazines for an M4A1. The utility flashlight on his belt had melted to a radio handset hanging next to it.
He looked up, to see Patrick walking towards him, his arms wide. Immediately, Jose was filled with rage.
“Good to see you, too,” he rasped.
Patrick reached forward to embrace Jose, but he pushed him backwards and let his fist collide directly with Patrick’s face. It made Patrick hit the floor hard.
“DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU’VE DONE?” Jose’s voice thundered across the throne room, making Fluttershy cringe.
“Ow!” Patrick nursed a fresh bruise to his cheek. “What the hell was that? You’ve been dead! You’re all alive again, and you just come back and deck me? What did I do?!”
“Listen, Patrick, I love you like a brother, man,” Jose stood over him as the Elements and Luna looked on.
“But you just couldn’t control your anger! We sent you so many signs to tell you what to do! But you just had to avenge our death and get your so-called ‘closure’ by killing her!”
“What’s the big deal? Why are you so mad I killed Celestia?"
“Because!” Jose retorted. “You just fucked up any chance we had at saving the human race!”
The noisy, recently crowded streets of Ponyville did not help the throbbing of Nurse Redheart’s head. The nurse had spent so long inside the infirmary, tending to the endless waves of refugees burned, blinded, or suffering from radiation sickness, that she had to squint her eyes to adjust to the sunlight.
More aid had just recently arrived, which left them with a full, capable nursing staff, as well as experienced unicorn healers from all around Equestria. Nurse Tenderheart had finally convinced Redheart to take a day off from the madness of tending to the victims of Manehattan’s destruction, and now Fillydelphia’s.
And Ponyville, like the rest of Equestria, had begun a slow descent into anarchy. While most ponies stuck to their good-natured ways, robberies, looting, and other forms of crime began to skyrocket. Since the Royal Guard was too busy protecting areas with higher populations, the fallout from the burning cities of Fillydelphia and Manehattan spreading radiation sickness laced with anti-magic particles, there was not much to lose nowadays. It was everypony for themselves.
The streets in this small town, now crowded with shantytowns of refugees, proved that. It was so overcrowded, some had even sprouted up in the outskirts of the town. But the sudden overpopulation the humble village faced had literally starved it. Food, basic medical supplies, and other necessities were being consumed faster than they could be produced.
Nurse Redheart sighed wearily as a group of colts and fillies dashed across her path. The white earth pony spotted a group of orphaned fillies begging for scraps of food. It tugged at her heart strings to see her hometown transformed into such a depressing scene in only a few days.
But something else caught the Nurse’s eye. A large group of ponies had assembled in the middle of the town square. She walked closer to get a better view.
A swirling, dark cloud had appeared out of nowhere and hung in the air. But it wasn’t a raincloud, it was much too low. And it seemed to acknowledge everypony’s presence. Whatever it was, it was alive and aware of its surroundings.
Without warning, the black cloud ripped a hole in reality itself, snapping everypony to attention.
“It’s the Nightmare!” one pony in the crowd yelled.
“Run!”
The crowd scattered. Most of the onlooking ponies fled the scene, but some merely retreated to a safe distance to observe what the legendary Nightmare was doing in their town.
Fearful ponies looked on as a vast assortment of metal canisters, were neatly assembled before them. There was a flash of light, and they became encased in a sphere of white magic, crackling with energy.
What Royal Guard that was still stationed in Ponyville charged through the crowds, horns glowing and weapons drawn. The Nightmare effortlessly struck them all with bolts of black lightning, throwing them to the ground and disabling them.
“Citizens of Equestria!” The Nightmare boomed, its gaseous body swirling as it rose high into the air. “I give you this, the most powerful assembly of Nuclear Weaponry ever conceived! Its range will encompass all of Ponyville and Canterlot in its entirety!”
Colts and fillies cowered with their respective parents as the Nightmare’s threatening voice held their attentions. The Nightmare hovered just above the glowing orb containing more than a dozen advanced, metal canisters.
“The time has come for you to realize your full potential, to shake off the shackles of ignorance the Royal Sisters have instilled in you all! It is time to create a new Equestria unhindered by the old ways of the Monarchy! Together, we can discover the secrets of the universe! We can create technology to rival the legendary ancient human race, who created the very weapons that destroyed Fillydelphia and Manehattan in the blink of an eye!”
One of the guards the Nightmare struck struggled to his hooves, limping towards his sword. The Nightmare hit him with another bolt of dark magic, this time, ending his life. As much as every pony, especially Nurse Redheart, wanted to run to his side, the fear of the same thing happening to any one of them rooted everypony to the spot.
“Unless Celestia, Luna, and their human puppet surrender to me within 24 hours, by noon tomorrow, both Ponyville, Canterlot, and its surrounding areas will be annihilated! Any ponies that renounce their loyalty to the Royal Sisters and bow to me will be spared!”
“Now, hold on just a second!” Nurse Redheart shouted defiantly.
The black cloud froze, seemingly focusing on the white earth pony standing up to it.
“Yessss?” the Nightmare responded provocatively.
“You expect us to follow you like we follow Celestia and Luna, to worship you, when you strike down anyone who opposes you?” she gestured to the guard the Nightmare had just killed.
For a moment, nothing happened. And then, the nurse was lifted high into the air, feeling as if somepony was choking her.
“Yes,” the Nightmare replied. “If you wish to be enlightened, you must follow me. Those who are not worthy will not survive the journey.”
Nurse Redheart struggled and kicked in mid-air, but she still couldn’t force any air into her lungs. Finally, the Nightmare released her, and she crumpled back on the ground.
“Is there anything else you’d like to ask me, miss?” The Nightmare snarled.
“N-no,” Nurse Redheart coughed. “That will do.
“Very good,” the Nightmare rose into the air where everypony could see it.
The Nightmare leviated one of the fallen soldiers, a pegasus guard, into the air, shaking him awake.
“Fly to Canterlot and inform the royalty of my demands. Now, go,” the Nightmare flung the guard across the sky, the pegasus awkwardly flapped its wings in a daze, and collected himself. He took a look back in fear, and then shot off towards Canterlot.
“My offer still stands. Serve me, and you shall be spared. Twenty four hours, noon tomorrow.”
The Nightmare ripped another hole in existence and disappeared into it. Now that the threat of being stuck by the Nightmare was over, several ponies came to Nurse Redheart’s aid, helping her up.
“Will you be alright, Nurse?” a stallion asked with concern.
“Yes,” she managed to choke out. “Thank you.”
Her head turned toward the crackling, pulsating orb of magic encasing a cluster of colossal nuclear warheads.
“I wish I could say the same for us.”
June 12, 2042
9:30 PM
District of Columbia, United States
United States President Stephen Grant
A bouquet of red roses sat in a golden pitcher just in front of the windowsill of this iconic room. Flanked by two flags; one with broad stars and stripes. The other featured an eagle spreading its wings wide, clutching an olive branch in one talon, with thirteen arrows in the other.
An elderly man, his hair grayed from experience, spoke from a desk, the official seal of the United States President carved prominently into the side facing the camera.
"The United Nations has determined that constant nuclear warfare across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia has increased the Earth’s natural radiation to dangerous levels. The nuclear contamination zone is expected to include every Sovereign State within 72 hours. The UN has informed me that in less than thirty days, Earth will no longer be able to sustain life."
“The United States has already begun preservation efforts of our remaining nuclear stockpile. I am calling out to all other nuclear nations to safely dispose of their nuclear materials, so that any future life that may survive the coming days, will not be hindered by its decay.”
“I hereby resign as Commander in Chief of the United States Armed Forces and incumbent President of the United States.”
“It has been an honor serving as your president for two terms,” the President sighed.
President Grant stared into the lens of one of the many news cameras recording him, feeling his face slouching with despair. According to the digital stopwatch just above his teleprompter, he needed to be strong for just six more seconds, and then it would cut to the emergency broadcast system.
The wise, aged leader cracked a salute to the millions of anguishing Americans watching as he disbanded the union.
“God bless America.”
After a few seconds of holding his salute, the camera crew disengaged the “on air” light.
President Grant let out a sigh of emotional fatigue. Delivering such terrible news to an audience that was expecting him to save them from the terrors of nuclear war was an incredibly exhausting feat.
The defense secretary held his hands behind his back, watching the Whitehouse news crew pack up the camera equipment.
Mr. Richman approached the President, staring at a picture frame on his desk, as the clear signs of grief began to show though.
“It’s what she would have wanted, sir,” Mr. Richman put a hand on the President’s shoulder.
“Linda just had to go to that fundraiser,” Grant ran a finger across the framed picture of his wife. “It just had to be in Los Angeles…”
“It’s what she would have wanted,” Allen licked his lips. “It’s not giving up to stop the senseless bloodshed when there’s not even a point anymore.
“It just boggles my mind, Allen,” Grant spoke solemnly. “That we, as a race, could come to this. I’m seventy-two years old now, Mister Richman. I’ve had a full life, and I’ve seen quite a few things.”
“Like what, sir?”
“I’ve seen men crying out to their mommas on the battlefield. I’ve seen people in our country become victims of our own judiciary system. I’ve seen regimes fall, and then even more bloodthirsty ones take their place. I’ve seen a humble, poor old man run for president and win; twice.”
“You’ve had the highest approval rating of any president in years, sir,” Mr. Richman chuckled.
“It’s because I stuck to my morals,” Grant shook his head. “But it was never enough. I never thought I’d see the end of the world. I-It’s just really unsettling, Allen, that we- not as Americans- but as humans, became this efficient, this powerful.”
“I don’t believe this is our extinction event, Mr. President,” Allen said optimistically. “There are fallout shelters. As long as some human beings somewhere are able to eat, breathe, and reproduce, we’ll eventually make a comeback.”
“You realize how ill-equipped these shelters are,” Grant raised. “Starvation, disease, mutiny, anything could happen. We can’t prevent deadly particles from circulating in the atmosphere and making our planet uninhabitable. This world’s just too big.”
“We’re not the only country on the face of the Earth, Mr. President. Regardless of what the UN Scientific Committee has determined, all I’m saying is that somewhere on this planet, there is a fallout shelter that will withstand this, and humanity will be repopulated.”
“Geneva is supposedly able to survive fifty people for a hundred years, but where exactly are they supposed to get their power grid from now? The air is toxic, and food couldn’t be grown normally. No power, no life support systems.”
“Well, what about the International Space Station? The Tiangong? Surely-”
“Our space program is what would have saved us, but we cut it because the public wanted less discovery, more financial security. Hell, we haven’t made any more progress putting humans in space than we did in 2010, we just have sharper images of distant galaxies. The astronauts we got up there now ain’t gonna’ last more than five years, and even if a baby’s born up there, it’s just going to be a miscarriage like all the others. We threw away our entire existence and murdered our potential descendants because we wouldn’t stop fighting over what little remained. Because we refused to get over our stupid greed, sit down and talk.”
“Mister President, I hate to interrupt,” Mr. Richman held his hand up to an earpiece subtly hanging on the side of his head. “But the radioactivity of the Whitehouse is rising. We need to get you to safety.”
“Please, call me Stephen,” Grant rose from his chair with a grunt, and waddled out the door.
“Uh-Mr. Pres-Stephen! Where are you going? The radiation outside is becoming too dangerous!”
“I have a villa just outside of D.C.,” Grant approached a coat rack and affixed an Alabama State University ball cap to his head.
He disrobed the jacket to his suit and loosened his tie, hanging them both on the coat rack. He unhooked a textile, US Air Force flight jacket with his name sewn to the front. It was thirty years ago that he last wore it; that he responded to an ambushed convoy in tribal Afghanistan. He remembered it like it was yesterday.
“All targets eliminated. Merry Christmas, boys, we’re peacin’ out.”
“Sir?” Allen snapped Grant out of his daze.
“Sorry,” Grant blinked, slipping his flight jacket on one arm at a time. He withdrew the keys to a vintage ’14 Camaro out of a side pocket.
“I’m going to go see if there’s still any power. Maybe drink a cold one and hit a few golf balls off my back porch ‘till I drop dead.”
Grant purposefully strode out of the oval office.
“There are some things that are perhaps too dangerous for anyone to have knowledge of, Allen. Sometimes, I believe we’d have been better off forsaking the pursuit of knowledge in the name of being fat, dumb, and happy."
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Molotov Cocktail
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1029
| 17 |
Big Macintosh,Derpy Hooves,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Nightmare Moon,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Zecora,Human,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Whiplash
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A motorcyclist is struck by lightning. He awakens on the verge of death in a very strange land.
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complete
| 751 | 52 |
<p>When a motorcyclist is struck by lightning, it sends him to a strange world in a seemingly unexplainable turn of events. With no one able to offer him the answers to his questions, he settles in for the long haul, and looks for a way home. </p><p>Lost, injured, and still reeling in the post-traumatic stress of military service, as well as the criminal underground of street racing, he struggles to maintain his very sanity. Little does he know, the friendships that made life worth living for him would be the key to stopping an ancient enemy bent on anarchy and genocide.</p>
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teen
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2012-04-12T04:20:42+00:00
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2012-04-12T04:20:42+00:00
| 8,606 |
2 Years before Patrick's arrival
Equestria
Celestia sat in her bedchambers perched upon the same mat, in front of the same fireplace, just like she always had when performing this task that was now ritual to her.
“So many years of planning,” Celestia mumbled to herself as she gained focus.
“Only one more year until the Nightmare will break the banishment…”
It had taken 999 years to pinpoint everything exactly. To find them all. Over the past millennia, Celestia had viewed the entirety of human history, located the six humans that would be sufficient to hold the Elements of Harmony, and determined which events to manipulate in this six’s past to make them capable of doing so.
But there was one thing Celestia couldn’t do. She couldn’t, in good conscience, do this to these innocent boys without their knowledge of it.
And now, it was time to contact the spirits again.
Celestia slipped into a deep meditative trance, and lifted mortality from her spirit. She opened her mind, welcoming it.
It seemed to have gotten the message, and crossed the bridge from the spirit world to Celestia’s mortal consciousness.
“Hello, again,” the spirit spoke. “I assume you’ve finally finished.”
“Yes,” Celestia responded. “I am finally ready. I know exactly what to do.”
“Let me hear it, then.”
“It’s quite complicated. I don’t think I could explain it all in a brief amount time for you.”
“Just summarize it, then.”
Celestia gathered her thoughts.
“It involves befriending you to five other men your age, growing up with them, but making your life miserable in the process. It is to make you more dependent on these men, who you will see as more than friends. Your family will turn their back on you, you will become a victim of your government, and you will have to watch them die before I bring you here. You are going to have to lose everything to become the human elements. Only if I accomplish manipulating these events, and still allow humanity to end, will we be able to save both your race, and mine.”
“I had a feeling I wasn’t exactly going to like it,” the spirit seemed to sigh. “Am I at least going to be the same person?”
“No,” Celestia answered. “You will be good at heart, and retain your empathetic nature, but your personality will change as these events occur. You will have no knowledge of your former life before I manipulate it into what is needed.”
“How old will I be?”
“Twenty and twenty one.”
“And my family?”
“Your life as you know it will never have happened. You will not marry, nor will your daughter be born.”
The spirit did not respond for a few moments, but then returned to the discussion.
“I don’t care,” the spirit said firmly. “We are all in agreement. All billions and billions of us. I am willing to take that sacrifice, and so is she.”
“Are you absolutely sure?” Celestia asked it. “I am prepared to cast the spell, and once I do, there is no going back.”
“As long as I still exist, I’ll do anything I can in the name of good. For humanity, and for your world.”
“So, do I have permission to ruin your life in the name of the greater good?”
“Do it.”
“As you wish, Patrick.”
“Because!” Jose said. “You just fucked up any chance we had at saving the human race!”
Patrick shrank back after such a blunt statement.
“Was hitting him really that necessary, Jose?” Ryan asked.
Ryan approached Patrick and helped him up.
“Also, hey Patrick.”
“Hey, Ryan,” Patrick groaned, shooting a glare over to Jose. “At least one of my best friends is happy to see me.”
“Sorry,” Jose let out a breath of air. “I know I was just going on about you not controlling you anger.”
“But, I needed that,” he cracked his knuckles.
“Apology… accepted?” Patrick rubbed the side of his head in confusion. “I’m just glad to see you guys.”
Jose turned to acknowledge the group of ponies across the room simply stood in disbelief.
Joe watched Louis open his hands over and over, jog in place, and cock his head side to side, various metals inside his vest clinking together.
“What are you doing?” Joe tapped Louis on the shoulder. “Stop spazzing out.”
“Sorry,” Louis smiled, stripping off the heavy, IOTV tactical vest and body armor that was still worn over his fatigues. He stretched, now able to move freely.
“It’s just that I’ve been dead for thousands of years, and I’m trying to remember what having a body feels like.”
“Hell yeah!” Spencer jumped into the air. “I can breathe! I can walk! Oh, it’s great to be alive! I think this calls for a celebration of sorts, gentlemen.”
Spencer began violently unbuckling the damaged, heavy combat gear worn around his body. Patrick helped him pull his IOTV over his head and tossed it aside.
“You haven’t changed a bit, man,” Patrick hooked an arm around Spencer’s neck. “If you hadn’t have died in Afghanistan, I swear, you would have OD’d or all the punishment you’ve forced your liver to put up with would have killed you.”
“Hey, I am not just some alcoholic junkie,” Spencer argued, beginning to speak with a raunchy, sophisticated accent. “I’ll have you know I’m just an energetic young scholar with a taste for sophisticated women and fine wine. Speaking of alcohol, what’s a guy got to do to get a beer in this place? It’s been so many years since I’ve had a drink that I’ve lost count.”
“Um, alcohol doesn’t exist here, bro,” Patrick smiled sheepishly.
Spencer stared at him in disbelief.
“WHAT?!” He threw his hands into the air. “Oh, this is just great! What’s the point of living, now?”
"You seriously didn't know that?"
“I’m kidding!” Spencer elbowed him in the ribs. “Anyfuckingways, I need to piss like a race horse after being dead that long. ‘Scuse me, sir.”
Spencer felt something brush up against him and turned around, when a bright flash of pink dominated his vision. Pinkie Pie stood mere inches from him, making him snap back in surprise.
“What the- Where did you come from?”
“Hi there, welcome to Equestria!” Pinkie Pie’s mouth ran a mile a minute. “I hope being dead hasn’t made you as much of a grumpy-face as Patrick. Anyway, my name’s Pinkie Pie! What’s yours?”
“Spencer,” he answered.
Pinkie Pie’s hoof shot forward while she beamed ear to ear, and Spencer happily shook it.
“Hey, guys, I think I just met someone as crazy as I am!”
“So what’s it like being dead? Did you see a bright light? Were there clouds everywhere? Ooh! Ooh! Did you meet princess Celestia? Was she sent there? Do humans and ponies go to the same place? Where do turtles go? What about alligators? I have a pet alligator named Gummy. He’s really-“
Spencer looked across the room to Patrick and Ryan, a look of despair in his eyes as he gestured frantically to the friendly pink welcoming party that was so eager to be his friend.
“Alright, sugar cube, don’t overwhelm ‘im,” Applejack silenced Pinkie, turning to Louis.
“Name’s Applejack, pleasure to meatcha’.”
“Louis. Pleasure’s mine, m’am,” he spoke in his slight southern accent, triggering a giant smile across Applejack’s face.
“Well how do ya’ like that,” Applejack took note of his southern accent. It wasn’t as defined as hers, but still audible in his voice. “Maybe we ar’n’t so diff’rent after all.”
Jose watched as a purple unicorn, looking as though she had been crying recently, walked towards him.
“Um, hello,” Twilight approached him. “Are you Jose?”
“Yes,” Jose replied. “I assume you must be Twilight Sparkle. Celestia has told me quite a lot about you.”
Twilight sniffled, forcing herself to clench her face to prevent her from exploding into a fountain of tears.
Jose glanced around, seeing that everyone and everypony was busy speaking to one another and paying them no mind. He knelt down to Twilight’s eye level to console her.
“I’m incredibly sorry that this happened, I know how much she meant to you. You may never understand why Patrick felt like he had to kill her, but he’s only human. And after finding out what she had to do to him to save the world, his mind went kind of, well…”
Jose wagged his finger in a circular motion on the side of his head, gesturing that Patrick had gone a little coo-coo for co-co puffs recently.
She let a tear fall from her face. A rough sleeve of combat fatigues rubbed up against her cheek, wiping it off.
“Hey, don’t be sad. It’s all going to be okay. You won’t really understand until after all this but,” Jose shrugged. “I promise, everything will be okay.”
Twilight remained silent, but cracked a small smile at Jose’s kind, tender words.
“Um, hi,” Fluttershy murmured. Ryan glanced down to see a shy, yellow pegasus pony trying her hardest to be social like everypony else.
“Hello,” he smiled. “So, you’re the element of kindness?”
“Yes,” Fluttershy blushed.
“That’s cool,” Ryan replied. “Me, too.”
“I didn’t know humans came in more than one color,” Rarity studied Joe, noting his significantly darker skin tone than his comrades.
Joe chuckled in his deep, booming voice. “We’re all different shades, shapes, and sizes. Name’s Joseph, call me Joe. Pleasure to meet you, miss…?”
“Rarity,” she shook his large, dominating hand.
“Charmed.”
“And what was it like back then? Did you guys have princesses, too? How did humans raise the sun and moon? Huh? Huh?” Pinkie Pie continued to batter Spencer with questions.
“Oh my god, shut up!” Spencer cupped his hands over his head. “I just got resurrected from the dead, give me a second to breathe!”
“See, that’s how I feel on a day-to-day basis interacting with you,” Louis teased.
“Oh, very funny,” Spencer rolled his eyes. “Hey, how’s about since now you have an ass, I kick your ass?”
“Boys will be boys,” Rarity whispered to Luna. She nodded in agreement.
Patrick looked around the room, watching as each of his friends mingled, chatting and talking with the ponies that bore the elements and brought them back from the afterlife. It was odd, that each of them had hit it off with one another so quickly. It left Patrick all by himself, but not for long.
“So,” Rainbow Dash floated in the air just next to Patrick’s eye level. She couldn’t help but feel as alienated as Patrick, since they were the only two left.
“They all seem to have found something in common.”
“Yep,” Patrick dug his hands in his pockets.
“Did you see how their eyes lit up when we brought them back to life?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“Well,” Rainbow Dash said. “Notice how they’re all hanging out with the pony wearing the element with the same color that their eyes lit up?”
“Yeah,” Patrick nodded. “What about me though? My eyes never lit up.”
“Zecora said your eyes were red,” Rainbow Dash stated. Patrick turned to reply, when he saw the color of the necklace she wore.
The necklace was the Element of Loyalty, a red gemstone shaped like a lightning bolt.
“I guess that makes you Loyalty,” Dash smiled.
“I guess so. But I’m still kind of on edge about what Jose said earlier.”
“Yeah,” she scratched the back of her head. “About you messing up your whole race somehow?”
If Patrick could just grab Jose’s attention for a moment, maybe he could finally find out the truth about all these crazy circumstances surrounding all the recent events. He was about to get his wish.
“I see each of you have already met your respective elements,” Luna caught the attention of every sapient being in the throne room. “Greetings, I am Princess Luna, current sole-leader of Equestria.”
“Yeah,” Jose crossed his arms. “We know who you are. And we know what you’ve done to your sister, too.”
“...I’m...sure," Luna guiltily bowed her head. "But, please, this must be a lot to take in, having been resurrected after such a long time. I hate to cut the introductions but we’re very short on time.”
“Oh, right,” Jose replied. “I forgot about that.”
“Yeah, and you still haven’t told me what was up with what you were saying earlier, before you punched me?” Patrick turned to Jose. “I thought the human race was already extinct, how did me killing Celestia fuck us over?”
Jose exchanged nervous glances with the other four humans in the room.
“You may want to sit down. All of you,” Jose gestured to the still-element clad ponies that had revived them.
Before Princess Luna led them into a meeting room adjacent to the throne, each of the revived human soldiers stripped off their heavy, damaged combat gear, leaving a huge pile of helmets, jackets, knee pads, various magazines, and other assorted field tools in front of the throne. Every human and pony sat down to comfortably listen to what Jose had to say.
“Alright,” Patrick crossed his arms in his chair. “Will you please finally just tell me what’s going on? No more secrets? I think I’ve earned that.”
“Fine,” Jose nodded. “It’s not like it’ll make a difference now, anyway.”
“And, uh,” Joe reached across the table and grabbed Patrick’s holstered Glock 23. “You probably shouldn’t have this handy after we tell you this. I’d like your brains to stay inside your head.”
Patrick glared across the table, when Ryan leaned over to whisper in his ear.
“Patrick, please just chill.”
“Fine,” Patrick whispered back.
“Okay.” He clapped his hands. “Shoot.”
Jose took a deep breath, and struggled to find the best way to explain it.
“I can’t really think of any good way to say this, so I’ll just say it.”
Jose cleared his throat.
“The reason we had been keeping so much information from you, why Celestia lied to you and kept her actions a secret, is because you were not allowed to know.”
“Yeah, I get that,” Patrick brushed it off quickly. “But why was I not allowed to know? What does this have to do wi-“
“I’m getting to that, Patrick, just be quiet.”
“Man, I thought we were supposed to be the best BFF’s in the history of friendship. We’re not really setting a good example,” Patrick re-crossed his arms.
Jose scowled for a moment, and continued his explanation.
“Anyway,” Jose went on. “The only way you were going to be powerful enough to defeat the Nightmare was if you decided to help Equestria out of the kindness of your heart. Celestia hid that from you because you’re still good by nature, Pat. You would have helped them without killing Celestia if you never knew she manipulated you life, wouldn’t you?”
“Oh,” Patrick looked to the floor. “Yes. I suppose I would have.”
“That’s good. That means you’re not evil, and that you do have a heart,” he looked Twilight in the eyes as he said this. Twilight understood that question was meant to try to give her some consolement.
Jose then directed his attention to Luna.
“Now, we’ve been watching everything go down since we died. Your sister had discovered quite a bit about the bridge between the spirit world, time, and space. She was even able to find us in the afterlife while she was still alive, which is no small feat, I might add. I could tell you where Equestria came from, and all about ‘those who came before,’ but like you said, Princess,” he said sarcastically. “We’re short of time.”
“Perhaps when this is all over, you can fill me in,” Luna retorted. “Please, tell Patrick what he needs to know, and we must prepare to bring the Nightmare down. Before it’s too late.”
“…If we can,” Jose added.
Luna shifted uncomfortably.
“If?”
“Er- we should be able to, Princess. But we’re getting a little a head of ourselves. Let me get back on track, here.”
“Celestia never spoke to us about her plan that involved Luna’s banishment, and our deaths. But she knew that we’d be watching. After being dead for so long, we finally caught up and saw what Celestia was planning to do. She was finally even able to reach us several days ago, too.”
“In the brief time between your revival and Celestia’s death, did you happen to speak to her in the afterlife?”
Jose bit his lip.
“No. And I already told Patrick, it doesn’t really work like that.”
“How then? How does death work? What defines the afterlife?”
Jose glanced at Patrick, who already knew the answer to that question.
“I couldn’t explain it to you if I tried. I may be mortal again, but I’m still not technically alive. I’m just a spirit inhabiting my repaired body, and I can be killed just as easily as any other mortal. Death is, in itself, still a mystery to even those that have died. It’s just something you have to experience for yourself.”
Luna opened her mouth to ask a question, but Joe shushed her.
“I don’t mean any disrespect,” Joe said. “But that’s all we can tell you about the afterlife, really. Just that it exists.”
“Thanks, Joe,” Jose nodded. “And here’s the part I’ve been dreading to explain for such a long time now.”
Jose paused dramatically.
“Alright, I’m just going to say it, since I’m not really good at sugarcoating anything.”
“Patrick, had you used the Elements of Harmony to save Equestria out of the kindness of your heart and let Celestia live, we would have been able to save this world, as well as give humanity a reboot. Celestia discovered a way to save humanity without preventing Equestria from existing, but we needed the Elements and Celestia’s assitance. But, you killed her, so… Yeah.”
The most overwhelming silence any human or pony in that room had ever experienced hung in the room.
Patrick stood from his chair.
“What?”
“I really hope you feel bad about killing her,” Jose grumbled. “I know you didn’t know, but you just ruined any chance we had to revive our extinct race. Celestia may have manipulated us into the ultimate incarnation of the Elements of Harmony, but we can’t do it without her.”
“Is this true?” Patrick asked his friends.
Four human heads nodded simultaneously.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Patrick shook his head, staring to the floor.
“If you’d have told me that humankind would be saved if I just helped them, I would have done it!”
“Yeah, you would have done it, only IF humanity was saved,” Jose explained. “Not just because it was the right thing to do, and therefore, not out of the kindness of your heart. That’s how these Elements work, Patrick. You can’t fool them. If I’d have told you about humanity being saved, and then we charged off with the Elements to fight the Nightmare, then we’d have been about as effective as a foam noodle in a sword fight. The only way we were going to be powerful enough is if you did this for reasons pure of heart.”
Patrick hung his head in shame. Now he really felt terrible about himself.
“But saving humanity is not pure of heart?” Patrick argued.
“As selfish as it sounds: No. Not in this instance.”
“I killed her for the horrific death you guys had to go through!” Patrick muttered. “I did it for you! And now you’re saying, that’s what screwed over my entire race?”
Jose sighed, walking around the table to put a hand on his shoulder.
“I wish we could have just told you. But had we have done that, we risked everything. There was a chance we could save our people. But it’s the very thing that makes us human that’s killed us twice now.”
“And what would that be?”
“The satisfaction of being right. You can also call that revenge.”
Patrick buried his face in his hands.
“I’m sorry, man,” Jose gave him pat him on the back.
Patrick rose from his chair, heading for the door.
“Patrick, wait,” Luna rose, but Jose motioned for her to stop. Patrick solemnly slunk out of the room.
“Let him go. He just needs a little time, I’ll handle this.”
“How?”
“Trust me, I know him better than anyone. In the meantime, Princess, it’s about time to raise the moon, isn’t it?”
Luna looked at a nearby wall clock and found that it was indeed time for sunset.
“I must tend to the night. We’ll regroup here shortly to discuss how you plan to use the Elements against the Nightmare.”
“Sounds good.”
“And I know I haven’t been too hospitable since your rude awakenings,” Luna addressed her human company. “But please, in the meantime of any action we’re going to take, make yourselves at home.”
“We certainly will. Thank you, Princess,” Jose bowed his head respectfully as she left the room.
“So, what now?” Louis raised.
“Well,” Twilight bit her lip. “I used to live here, I know where they keep some board games.”
Princess Luna landed back on her balcony window, shaking the filthy nighttime dew off her wings. There was so much soot and ash in the air lately, any ponies that decided to take flight would end up covered in pollution.
She found one of the elite Royal Guards waiting for her, which could only mean something bad had happened. He wore an elegantly engraved set of shoulder and breast plates, with a golden helmet to match. It was the same guard Luna had spoken to in Ponyville behind the Nurse’s office, and one of Celestia’s former trusted advisors. However, his shoulder had been bandaged in a sling, with traces of dried blood crusting the outside of the bandages.
“Your highness,” Lieutenant Black Sword bowed. “We have confined the low ranking officers that took part in the incident earlier today to the barracks and covered up all evidence of the assassination, as your orders.”
Luna nodded, exhaustedly swaying back in forth.
“Are you alright, Princess?”
Besides the fact that she had to help Patrick kill her sister, and the fact she hadn’t slept in more than two days, she was fine.
“Yes,” Luna yawned. “Until the situation with the Nightmare is contained, word of Celestia’s death must not reach the public. It would be catastrophic if the Nightmare found out she was no longer alive.”
“I agree, your highness,” Lieutenant Black Sword said. “But… Was there really no other way?”
“There was not, Lieutenant.”
“Right, then. The subject of the Nightmare is also why I’m here.”
“Go on,” Luna nodded.
“The Nightmare has revealed itself freely in Ponyville, and it claims to have a stockpile of weaponry capable of leveling it and Canterlot simultaneously in a single blast.”
Luna’s eyes went wide, and her heart began to speed up.
“So,” she sighed wearily. “It begins.”
“It challenged the Royalty and the ‘human puppet,’ directly, calling for your surrender. The Nightmare declared that it will commence this attack in 24 hours should you not concede.”
“And how long ago was this?”
“Three hours ago.”
Luna could barely even breathe.
“There has been talk amongst the guards,” the Lieutenant explained. “They are contemplating whether this has been a coup for you to seize the throne, or whether this is really for benevolent purposes. I do not question your decision, your majesty, but I felt it was fair to warn you.”
“Understood,” Luna lifted the covers to her bed and nestled her head comfortably against the pillow.
“It’s not like you to sleep during the night,” Lieutenant Black Sword made his way towards the door. “Especially when we have a doomsday scenario on our hooves.”
“Lieutenant, after the message you just delivered, I’m going to need to rest for a moment. Wake me in exactly one hour. In the meantime, please inform the Elements of Harmony of this news.”
“As you wish, your majesty."
Lieutenant Black Sword huffed, cursing the human that begat him this injury. It made everything more difficult. He could still walk with strained steps, but he was no longer fit for regular guard duty, and the lieutenant actually enjoyed his job.
He entered the giant throne room, expecting to see six ponies bearing the Elements of Harmony. Instead, he saw six ponies, and more of those strange two-legged killing machines, all clad in military dress. They sat on pillows and cushions in front of the royal throne, hunched over a board game.
Just next to them was a giant pile of standard issue tactical vests, some with loaded magazines and other assorted equipment still inside, as well as body armor, kneepads, helmets, and other combat gear that was no longer necessary for them to wear.
They stared up at him like he was a parent intruding on a teenager’s personal space.
“What the blue blazes is going on in here?!” Lieutenant Black Sword shouted.
“We’re playing Monopoly: Ponyville Edition,” Rainbow Dash answered.
“I still don’t understand how they stole Monopoly from us,” Joe scratched his head.
“Gotta’ love it,” Joe said.
“There’s more of you?” Black Sword stared at the group of humans in disbelief.
“No. We’ve been dead since before your race even existed ,” Spencer nonchalantly moved a piece across the board. “But Luna and the Elements of Harmony went back in time to get the bodies we died in, and then resurrected us, so here we are.”
Lieutenant Black Sword’s jaw dropped.
Pinkie drew a card, and read it aloud.
“Do you want to buy Sweet Apple Acres for three hundred bits?”
“Hmm,” Spencer stroked his chin, smugly looking over at Applejack. “Sure, why not?”
“Dagnabbit!” Applejack cursed. “Ah wanted that one!”
“Yeah, well now I own your farm. Can I put a house on it?”
“Whady’all mean? S’already got a house, an’ a barn, too.”
“See, this is why rednecks don’t play board games. They’re too stupid and it ruins the fun when they don’t get things that even a suburban eight year old would.”
“Give me a break!” Applejack rolled her eyes. “Ah’ve never played this game a’fore. And mah’ neck ain’t red, what are ya’ color blind?”
While Spencer was arguing with a down-home farmpony, Joe disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled the Beretta holstered on his thigh.
“Joe, I wouldn’t keep messing with your sidearm,” Ryan watched Joe nervously handle the weapon.
Joe inserted a loaded magazine into the receiver, cocking the slide to fill the chamber. He wiped it down with a small piece of cloth. Joe was the only one who’s sidearm wasn’t lost or destroyed after their violent demise.
“Joe, stop waving a loaded weapon everywhere, are you retarded?” Jose affronted.
“What makes you think you can boss me around?”
“I still outrank you,” Jose grinned. “I’m a Specialist, Mr. Private First Class.”
“Oh, you’re really gonna’ pull that card?” Joe snorted. “Well, there isn’t any United States Army anymore, so your argument is invalid.”
“Damn,” Louis rolled the dice, moving his piece across the board respectively. “He got you there, Jose.”
Jose shot a discontented scowl towards Louis and Joe.
“Anyway, relax,” Joe assured. “Look, I’ve already tried it. All the mechanisms and the spring seem to be all right, but the ammo isn’t. It doesn’t even fire, see?”
Joe raised the handgun into the air, and pulled the trigger, causing everyone and everypony to flinch back.
Click.
“See? You guys are just a bunch of babies.“
POP
A flash of light emerged from the Beretta’s muzzle, and it sent a 9mm round right through the ceiling of the throne room, making everyone’s ears ring.
Lieutenant Black Sword dove for cover, having experienced being shot by one of these human weapons recently, and not wanting to go through it again.
“How in Equestria did your military trust you idiots with these weapons?!” Black Sword barked.
“Sometimes,” Jose snatched the pistol out of Joe’s hand. “I ask myself that same question, sir.”
“Of all the times to hang-fire,” Joe muttered to himself.
“Um, I hate to interrupt,” Rainbow Dash interjected. “But do you want to buy Sugarcube Corner for two hundred-fifty bits, Louis?”
“Enough!” Lieutenant Black Sword cried. “The Nightmare is in Ponyville!”
The ponies and humans looked up from their game.
“C-come again?” Twilight stammered.
“That’s right!” Lieutenant Black Sword hollered. “While you’ve all been playing around, the Nightmare set up a charge that it claims will wipe out all of Ponyville, and Canterlot. Which is where we are right now, in case you didn’t know!”
Black sword paced back and forth.
“And in less than 24 hours, it’s going to set it off unless Celestia, Luna, and Patrick surrender!”
The room was silent while Black Sword panted after delivering such a mouthful.
Spencer looked at the board game, and then flipped it into the air. It threw the board across the room and made it rain confetti of fake money and title deeds.
“In the words of the great, almighty Jim Carrey,” Spencer proclaimed. “Allllllllrighty then. It’s show time.”
“Spencer, sometimes you are so fucking stupid it’s unbelievable,” Joe held his face with is palm.
“I will return with Princess Luna in one hour,” Lieutenant Black Sword headed out the door. “And please, this is the Royal throne room, not a playroom! Clean this mess up!”
“Fine,” Spencer called after him. “What a dick.”
“What was that?” Lieutenant Black Sword spun around.
“I said I want a celery stick!”
The Lieutenant growled like a lion being teased at the local zoo, and exited the throne room.
“Humans…” He thought to himself.
“Spencer, even I thought that was random,” Pinkie commended. “That was a good one!”
“Thanks!” Spencer high-fived Pinkie’s hoof. “At least someone appreciates my humor.”
“Okay, seriously though,” Jose stood up. “I guess I better go get Patrick.”
Jose began walking towards the exit.
“And would you guys mind cleaning that up while I go do that?”
“Yeah, it’s the end of the world,” Louis mocked. “Better have a clean throne room.”
“Why are you all so sarcastic? Doesn’t it ever get old?” Rarity asked.
“No,” Spencer shook his head.
“Not really,” Ryan shrugged.
While the rest of the group finished up in the throne room, Jose strolled the Castle halls, wondering where Patrick may have gone. It wasn’t hard for Jose to find him. All he had to do was follow the scent of burning tobacco.
Patrick hung limply on the railing of a balcony window, staring down into the castle courtyards. The entire area had been cordoned off, and Luna was making sure that news of Celestia’s death would not reach the public by having the body privately prepared for burial. The moon lit up the nightscape in an eerie, hazy glow, shining through the dust and ash still circulating through the sky. The stars, just barely visible through it all, twinkled radiantly.
“Hey,” Jose stood next to Patrick.
“Hey…” he replied unenthusiastically.
“You’re almost out of cigarettes, you know,” Jose put his hands in the pockets of his tactical vest, most of the equipment removed so it would be easier to walk.
“Yep,” Patrick opened the pack of cigarettes in his pocket. It was his last pack, with only twelve remaining inside it.
“You feel guilty about killing Celestia now, don’t you?”
Patrick simply stared out into space.
“I didn’t know,” Patrick sighed. “I wouldn’t have done it if I knew.”
“I know you wouldn’t have,” Jose put his hand on Patrick’s shoulder. “I tried to warn you without giving anything away, without directly influencing you. I should have done a better job. It’s my fault, too.”
“I know that you’ve had an eternity to contemplate all this,” said Patrick. “But humanity was still carrying on like normal three weeks ago for me. A year and six months ago, we were still in the desert. I’m… Still not over it.”
They sat in silence for some time.
“Hey, Jose?”
“Yeah?”
“Did it hurt to die?”
“…Yeah.”
“Now, let me ask you something,” Jose said. “Which hurt more: Getting shot, struck by lightning, or nearly bleeding to death?”
Patrick glanced at his right shoulder.
“…The last one. By far.”
Jose nodded to acknowledge him.
“Can I ask you something else?” Patrick questioned.
“Shoot.”
“How long have you guys been keeping an eye on me?”
“Ever since we died.”
“I’d ask how-“
“-And I wouldn’t be able to answer,” Jose interrupted.
“Did you happen to see your funeral?”
“Yes,” Jose looked away. “Most of the souls I’ve met, that had a funeral, actually attend them from the spirit world. Of course, no one really knows they’re there.”
“Did you?”
“Of course,” Jose said. “So were the guys. We were just spectators, which I assume you’re familiar with now.”
Patrick looked to the floor, feeling embarrassed now that his best friends watched him cry like a baby that day.
“We all stood next to you the whole time,” Jose smiled. “When you told the story about the last party we threw before we shipped off, I would have cried, had I been able to.”
“No one thought any less of you. Grief is a natural response to death. You’re only human, Patrick. And when you finally come realize that; that you’re not a bad person, just that you’ve made a few mistakes, you can finally let this all go and start enjoying life again.”
Jose was able to make out a shooting star through the haze.
“Does the entire human race still hate me?”
Jose took a deep breath.
“Yeah, kinda’.”
“Is everyone still going to kick my ass when I die?”
“In a matter of speaking, yes.”
Patrick bowed his head dejectedly.
“I know you feel like shit right now,” Jose looked at the watch strapped on his wrist. “But everything’s about to go down. The Nightmare is in Ponyville and apparently it’s going to blow up everything, including this city, unless they surrender.”
“That sucks,” Patrick muttered.
“It doesn’t know that we’ve been brought back, and it doesn’t know that you killed Celestia. It’s always good to have the element of surprise, you know?”
“Mhmm,” Patrick didn’t even make eye contact.
Frustrated, Jose lifted Patrick up off the railing.
“Alright, come on, we’ve still got a job to do,” he grabbed Patrick by the hand, but he refused.
“What’s the use, Jose?” Patrick moped. “My entire world is gone! The whole human race apparently hates me. And those ponies, that saved my life, might I add, have to deal with the fact that I killed their gentle, all-loving leader. And, on top of all that, I rode my bike off a cliff. How much more could I possibly screw up?”
“Well, Patrick,” Jose looked up to the stars. You could let an entire race of sapient ponies face the greatest genocide the Earth will ever know because you felt so worthless; which you’re not.”
Patrick mulled over the possibility of doing nothing in his head.
“Or…” Jose paused. “You could make up for all that. You can use the Elements of Harmony with us, destroy the Nightmare, and save this world before what happened to the human race happens to them. And, because it’s just the right thing to do.”
“We can still save them?” Patrick asked.
Jose nodded.
“But not mankind?”
Jose shook his head.
“You, personally, have nothing to gain out of this. Therefore, we’d still be powerful enough to fight the Nightmare if you choose to help them for the greater good.”
“Why did all this have to happen to us?”
Patrick looked off into the distance, and then turned around to face Jose. To his surprise, he found four extra faces.
“Because we’ll always be there for each other,” Ryan said.
“Because we’d each take a bullet for each other,” Joe puffed his chest out with pride.
“Because of all the good times we’ve had,” Spencer smiled.
“Because we’re not just friends,” Louis added.
“We’re brothers,” Jose voiced. “Always have been. Always will be. No matter what. Even if we were never supposed to meet.”
Jose locked his hand around Patrick’s forearm, and hesitantly Patrick grabbed his to form a classic war handshake.
“So?” Jose raised an eyebrow. “What’s it going to be?”
Patrick paused. He looked at each of his friends, remembering where they first met. All the sleepovers, all the parties. All the drinking stories and substance abuse. Waking up handcuffed to Jose after getting wasted on top of the school gymnasium and passing out. The time in second grade where Patrick saw Louis beat up the kid who made fun of Joe for his race. Giving Patrick a home and a family when he lost his and needed one most. The list went on and on.
And then there was always BCT. Being there for each other in Basic Combat Training and helping each other through it, as well as the rest of their service cut short. They each made such a remarkable impact on each others lives, that nothing could tear them apart. Not even this entire ordeal.
Patrick couldn’t help but smile when he reflected on all he and his friends had been through. Celestia may have prevented him from having a normal family, but these young men were his real family. These men he grew up with were not his friends.
They were his brothers.
“So?” Jose repeated.
Patrick exhaled, smiling and giving a subtle nod.
“Let’s go fuck this Nightmare’s shit up.”
|
Molotov Cocktail
|
1029
| 18 |
Big Macintosh,Derpy Hooves,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Nightmare Moon,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Zecora,Human,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Whiplash
|
A motorcyclist is struck by lightning. He awakens on the verge of death in a very strange land.
|
complete
| 751 | 52 |
<p>When a motorcyclist is struck by lightning, it sends him to a strange world in a seemingly unexplainable turn of events. With no one able to offer him the answers to his questions, he settles in for the long haul, and looks for a way home. </p><p>Lost, injured, and still reeling in the post-traumatic stress of military service, as well as the criminal underground of street racing, he struggles to maintain his very sanity. Little does he know, the friendships that made life worth living for him would be the key to stopping an ancient enemy bent on anarchy and genocide.</p>
|
teen
|
2012-04-12T04:21:35+00:00
|
2012-04-12T04:21:35+00:00
| 8,757 |
Mass stampedes of ponies evacuating Ponyville, Canterlot, and its surrounding countryside clogged all roads and paths leading away from the area. The Nightmare had even destroyed certain parts of Equestria’s railroad system. It shut down any locomotives and prevented mass transit away. Even the Pegasi found themselves trapped within the Nightmare’s intended blast zone. The smoke and ash from the burning cities of Manehattan and Fillydelphia made it difficult to fly quickly or breathe when above the clouds. It made the sky an artificial overcast brown and gray.
Unicorns were unable to teleport themselves or others due to the interference of the anti-magic. There was simply not enough time to get out of the Nightmare’s blast range within 24 hours on hoof or carriage, though still, many fled.
The air was becoming thinner, the pollution of nuclear fallout continued to degrade the ponies’ health. The sun, unbeknownst to the public, was raised by Luna for the first time in more than a thousand years.
The Nightmare knew its message had been delivered. It allowed some of Celestia’s soldiers to survive for that very purpose.
Though, it struck the Nightmare as odd that Celestia or Luna had not made a public appearance since the attacks began. But, perhaps it was for that very reason, so they would not put themselves in danger while they plotted against the Nightmare.
Perhaps they deserved a bit more time than a day, but there was no negotiating at this point. It was all or nothing: Surrender, or total annihilation of their nation’s capital and populous areas. Either way, the Nightmare was about to assume rule of Equestria.
The Nightmare had not been seen since it’s last appearance, but the sphere of dark magic containing ancient human thermonuclear warheads remained. Many brave unicorns attempted to dispel it, and dispose of the weapons. Despite their best efforts, each one that tried and failed was struck with a paralyzing bolt of lightning, while the orb continued to crackle and surge with magical energy.
“Mommy?” a pegasus colt, who had recently walked all the way from Manehattan to Ponyville, looked up at his mother.
“How much longer do we have?”
The mare looked up at the clock tower in Ponyville’s town square.
“Not much longer, darling.”
“Mommy?”
“Yes, ‘hun?”
“Is the world going to end?”
"I don’t know, sweetie.”
“Where is Princess Celestia and Princess Luna? And what’s a ‘human puppet?”
“…I don’t know, sweetie.”
Princess Luna yawned as she entered the meeting room again. Lieutenant Black Sword had begrudgingly informed the Elements and humans of Luna’s presence.
Lieutenant Black Sword, currently Luna’s most trusted advisor, remained present during this meeting.
“Um,” Patrick leaned backwards in his chair. “Sorry about your shoulder.”
Lieutenant Black Sword snorted in resentment.
“If it makes you feel any better,” Patrick pulled up his sleeve, showing the entry and exit wound of a 7.62mm round. “Now we have something in common.”
“The time has finally come,” Princess Luna sighed. She was tired, everypony could see it in her eyes that it was not just physical exhaustion. The mental and emotional burden of losing her sister, and using such powerful magic over a short period of time was obvious, and she knew that.
“I did not think that it would be this soon. Nor did I ever think we’d have to face it without Celestia, but the Nightmare must be stopped. We have a mere 16 hours to plan and ready ourselves.”
“We all whole heartedly agree,” Jose nodded.
“Including you, Patrick?” Luna asked him.
Patrick paused for a moment.
“Yes,” he said. “That includes me. I can never take back what I’ve done, but at least I can still do something right as long as I’m still breathing. Let’s do it.”
“I’m very glad to hear you say that, Patrick,” Luna replied.
Jose winked at her, mouthing “Told you.”
“Now then,” Patrick twiddled his thumbs. “What exactly do we have to do?”
“You must possess the Elements of Harmony and challenge the Nightmare,” Luna responded. “Girls, if you please?”
One by one, Twilight removed her tiara, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy removed their necklaces, laying them before the Princess.
She turned her attention to the six humans looking on.
“I give these to you, in the hope that you may save our kingdom from destruction and genocide,” she spoke. “Please claim your element.”
Each of the humans, except for Patrick, seemed to know exactly which one they were supposed to claim.
They slipped the Elements of Harmony, still in the form of necklaces, around their necks. Louis, the human element of honesty; Ryan, the human element of kindness; Spencer; the human element of laughter; Joe, the human element of generosity, and finally Jose; the human element of magic.
Patrick looked before Luna, where only one more necklace was remaining; the red, lightning-bolt shaped gem that Rainbow Dash wore.
…And thankfully, not the tiara.
“Obviously, as you have demonstrated to us all, Patrick,” Luna said. “You are the element of loyalty.”
He glanced over at Jose, stifling a laugh as he wore the golden tiara bearing the element of magic on his head.
Jose leaned in close and whispered in his ear.
“Patrick, put on the fucking necklace before I beat your ass.”
Patrick did as he was told. Immediately all necklaces, and the tiara, began to glow. They were each engulfed in a bright, white light, shifting and changing into the Human Elements.
When they stopped glowing, they were no longer pieces of golden jewelry with colorful gemstones. They had changed into dog tags; hung by a golden ball chain, and each pair of tags the same color as the gemstone before.
The tiara on Jose’s head had changed into dog tags as well, but his were unique. His tags were a clean, pearlescent white; but it gave off a pinkish glow, making it clearly different from the rest of the elements.
Patrick examined the dog tags hanging around his neck. They were a crimson, metallic red. But what stood out to him was that they were blank, featuring no inscription on either side.
He began to feel something different inside him. Words couldn’t really describe what he felt, but it suddenly came over him. He felt as if he were connected to his friends, through the elements around their necks.
It was as if he could feel his heart; not from a physical point of view, though. The heart is always used as a metaphor for where you feel your emotions, for love. In a spiritual sense, he could feel it very strongly, and it felt as if it pulled towards his friends.
Twilight, awestruck, stepped forward to examine the elements hanging around the humans’ necks.
“I-I don’t understand,” Twilight stammered. “I did so much research on the Elements of Harmony since we last used them, but I’ve never read about anything like this. How can they change, just like that?”
“These are the Human Elements of Harmony,” Luna explained. “For ponies, because of how our society, your hearts, and our mindsets are, they became jewelry. These boys, and their world, were more militaristic. You are not the first, nor the last to use them. However,” Luna turned to the group of humans again.
“You will be.”
“Pardon?” Louis asked.
“Yeah, wait,” said Rainbow Dash. “I thought this was just going to be like ‘ZAP, Nightmare’s done,’ and then they just give them back.”
“Celestia artificially made you all the most powerful incarnation of the Elements. The fact that you’re humans will make you stronger, more so than the Nightmare, if I’m not mistaken. But the Elements were not made for you. They were made for ponykind. If what Celestia informed me is correct, you will destroy the Nightmare, as well as the Elements.”
“The elements are going to be destroyed?” Rainbow Dash cocked her head to one side.
“Considering how much Equestria needs them on a regular basis,” Twilight started. “What are we supposed to do the next time we need the Elements?”
“Well,” Luna bit her lip. “The Elements of Harmony are tools given to us by the gods to combat the Nightmare should it ever threaten Equestria, through direct or influential means.”
“…Those who came before?” Twilight asked.
“Yes,” Luna nodded. “If the Nightmare is destroyed, then we no longer would have need for them.”
“Alright, well,” Jose shugged. “If you’re okay with that; we’ve got the Elements, we’ve got Patrick on board, let’s go fight. I’ve been ready for thousands of years to finally kill this thing.”
“Please,” Patrick jingled the dogtags around his neck. “Who are those that came before?”
“Long, long story, man,” Louis said. “But in short, after humanity ended, they recreated the world, and put certain boundaries and limitations on the planet.”
“They gave the alicorns roles to make society more dependant on them, by having to raise the sun and moon. They gave the Nightmare a role, too. But it’s been corrupted, and can no longer be trusted to exist. That’s where we come in.”
“But-“
“Patrick,” Jose shushed him. “I’m really sorry to keep even more secrets from you, but some things you are better off not knowing.”
Jose gestured at Luna and the former elements.
“All of you.”
“Is the Nightmare going to be able to go into my head, like it did to you?” Ryan asked Patrick.
“I don’t know.”
“Ryan, please, we have to plan-“ Luna started, but Ryan was still curious.
Luna tapped her hoof in frustration, until Rainbow Dash spoke up.
"Actually, I'm kind of curious, too."
“Yes, what did it feel like, Patrick?” Twilight asked him.
Patrick took a deep breath.
“It felt like…” Patrick almost remained serious, but then just decided to speak his mind.
“It felt like Eddie Murphy drilled a hole in the back of my head and started skull-fucking my brains into jelly with his big, black dick.”
Joe let out a roar of laughter that made Fluttershy shrink back.
“That-” Joe wheezed between laughter, giving Patrick a high five. “That wouldn’t have been so funny if I hadn’t seen Dr. Dolittle and the Nutty Professor, like, twenty times each.”
“Or maybe just because you’re black,” Spencer chided.
“You guys have existed for thousands of years, and you still haven’t matured?” Rainbow Dash teased.
“Knock it off, Rainbow,” Applejack barked.
“Um, I just wanted to remind everyone that we have sixteen hours until the end of the world, again,” Jose raised his hand to get the attention of everyone.”
“Thank you, Jose,” Luna declared.
“I trust that you will be able to take care of this situation,” Luna addressed the humans seriously. “The Fate of our entire race rests in your hands.”
The clock in Ponyville’s town center struck noon, while the streets were hushed in a lonely silence. The wind rustled through the leaves as the clock tower continued to chime. Each deep note rung and resonated across the village.
It felt like Equestria’s funeral. Most ponies fled through the countryside, knowing that they would not be out of range of the Nightmare’s greatest attack. With no word from Canterlot, Equestria had assumed the royal sisters abandoned them in their time of need.
A loose collection of ponies fearing death assembled in the town square.They begrudgingly lowered themselves in submittance to the Nightmare in the hopes that they may be spared.
The Nightmare hovered above the crackling orb of magic with its doomsday device. Each step of its plan had been taken so carefully, and now it all paid off patiently executing it. Attacking Canterlot head-on would have been catastrophic. By playing with Celestia, and using the chaos of the assassination attempt, the Nightmare had effectively confused them. What was its plan? Where would it attack next? The anti-magic kept anypony, including the alicorns, from teleporting out of the vicinity, and the radiation weeded out the weak that didn’t even deserve to submit to the Nightmare, anyway.
The Nightmare was lost in thought as the bells kept chiming, when it sensed movement. Scanning beyond the crowd, the Nightmare saw it.
It was the human that Celestia summoned, standing alone. He wore his black, textile motorcycle jacket, and a black object was holstered to his hip. The bells stopped chiming, and the human continued to stare at the Nightmare, having a standoff.
It was like the calm before the storm, the only sound audible were the leaves blowing away with the wind. Not even the birds were chirping.
Ponies began craning their necks, seeing Patrick standing there by himself.
The Nightmare was the first to speak. It was so giddy with excitement and anticipation, it’s tone sounded different; almost demonic.
“Hello, Patrick.”
Patrick did not reply.
“Where is Luna? Where is Celestia?”
Patrick did nothing other than make"eye contact" with the Nightmare to acknowledge its presence. His heart was beating rapidly, but he kept his cool. From the Nightmare’s spiritual perspective, his eyes burned red with malice; with the experience and desire to end life.
“Have you come here alone?”
“No,” Patrick shook his head.
“Well, look around,” the Nightmare began to creep closer to him. “It sure looks that way.”
“Actually,” Patrick smiled, crossing his arms. “I brought some friends.”
He unzipped his jacket, revealing the human element of loyalty hanging around his neck.
Instantly, five humans became visible just behind Patrick. Around each of their necks were the rest of the Elements of Harmony in their dog tag forms. Princess Luna appeared adjacent to them, her horn dimming its glow and ceasing the invisibility spell that cloaked the extra human company.
The crowd of ponies that were once bowing and submitting in front of the Nightmare began whispering frantically to themselves. And this angered it.
“So,” the Nightmare said. “We have the expendable weakling that is the moon princess, and then the Human Elements of Harmony. May I ask where Celestia is, then?”
“I killed her,” Patrick responded. “And now, we’re going to kill you.”
The Nightmare laughed. It laughed so loud, that Patrick could feel the bass of it in his chest.
“Then you’ve saved me a lot of effort, young man. I thank you for that. But I’m afraid it’s a little too late to stop me. My weapons are armed to go off in about, oh, ten seconds now.”
The Nightmare tore a hole in reality and began to move through the portal to safety.
“So, I’ll be seeing you.”
The ponies that had given up on fleeing the town to surrender the Nightmare gasped, realizing that it was abandoning them now. They dispersed from the town square in a panic. The ponies that feared death stood and wept. Families hugged each other, while some accepted their fate, closing their eyes and sitting still.
Before the Nightmare could disappear through the portal, it felt itself being pulled back out.
Luna groaned, dragging the Nightmare back into reality. She closed the portal and confined the Nightmare to the Earth, preventing its escape.
Two unicorns, the very same that defeated it as Nightmare Moon, stood next to Luna.
Luna’s horn shined brightly. She moved towards the sphere of magic that the Nightmare used to safeguard the human warheads, and encased it in a blue glow. Rarity and Twilight followed, assisting her and freezing whatever magical timer they were on.
“As long as we hold it here, it won’t detonate!” Luna shouted. “Do it, now!”
The Nightmare fired a bolt of dark magic towards Luna and the unicorns holding off its timer spell, when it was stopped in midair.
The humans, their eyes all glowing a radiant orange, a bright pink, a lively blue, a royal purple, a burning red, and a hot white, stood offensively before the Nightmare.
Patrick didn’t know how, but it he knew exactly what to do. It was as if the Element he bore took over him, directing him to use the magic that coursed through his body from the dog tags around his neck.
Normally, Patrick would be nervous during a battle with a supernatural being about to obliterate everything in a several-hundred-mile radius.
He looked to his left.
He looked to his right.
As long as he had his brothers by his side, nothing really mattered to him right now. Patrick felt a new drive, a new determination: It was the Nightmare that caused Celestia to do what she did. It was the Nightmare that ruined his life, not Celestia. That killed his true family and ruined his biological one. It was the Nightmare that ruined his life, and threatened countless more lives.
He saw the ponies panicking, believing their lives, their very existence was at an end. Patrick may have ruined any chance of saving the human race, but he could still save this one. He was not about to let these innocent, peaceful beings succumb to the tools that killed his people when they didn’t even know what he was, or where he came from.
And the way he saw it, he and the people it killed were holding a gun to its head.
The Nightmare felt something it hadn’t felt genuinely felt in a long time: Fear. Apprehension. Doubt. Its confident ego deflated from its normally confident standpoint, to a defensive and frantic one. They really did have the potential to ‘kill’ the Nightmare.
The Nightmare shook itself out of the Elements’ grip. It was not about to go yet. It had to act fast. Before the Elements could focus their power on it, a violent wind cyclone suddenly appeared in the town square, causing break-neck winds to tear through Ponyville. It threw market stands and anything not rooted to the ground into the air.
Luna enveloped her and her two unicorn allies in a protective bubble of magic to keep them from blowing away or being hit by debris.
Patrick felt himself lift off the ground. While he was airborne, a ceramic flowerpot struck him in the side of the head, bursting into fragments and drawing blood.
He and Jose slammed into the side of a building hard. He fell flat on the ground, growling and clenching his teeth to distract him from the pain. Jose tumbled on top of him, grabbing Patrick and holding onto a door handle to keep them from being blown away again.
Joe, Spencer, and Ryan were quick to react, and held onto a street lamp bolted to the ground to keep themselves from going anywhere. Louis smashed into a wooden cart before smacking against an iron fence, his arm getting caught in between the bars and bending unnaturally. He howled in pain, trying desperately to free himself.
Suddenly, a yellow and cyan blur raced through the small village being assaulted by the Nightmare’s windstorm.
“Okay, ready?” Rainbow Dash shouted through all the noise as she hovered in mid-air.
“I’ve only done this once!” Fluttershy cried. “And I still didn’t do very good!”
“You’ll be fine!” Rainbow Dash replied. “We gotta’ do this now, they’re really taking a beating down there!”
“Oh, alright!” Fluttershy said. “Just- Please don’t let me hit anything this time!”
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew past each other round and round, forming an artificial tornado circulating in the opposite direction of the Nightmare’s storm. They plowed right through Ponyville, negating the winds and neutralizing the windstorm completely, while taking out a few buildings in the process.
“Ha!” Rainbow Dash halted to a stop. “See? I knew you could do it!”
Fluttershy continued to fly in a slow, erratic circle. Her eyes spun around in her head dizzily.
“I-I think I’m going to be sick,” Fluttershy squeaked.
Jose stood to his feet and helped Patrick off the ground. Joe, Spencer, and Ryan safely put their feet on the ground as the winds ceased.
“Fuck! Oh fucking-shhhhit!” Louis screamed in pain.
“Ffffffffuck!” he cried through clenched teeth. He rolled over in agony, clutching his left wrist. “I forgot how much physical pain hurts!”
Rainbow Dash zipped around the Nightmare, distracting it from attacking any of the humans recovering from the windstorm.
Jose grabbed Louis’s uninjured hand and lifted him up.
“Are you good?” Jose asked with concern.
“Ugh, yeah,” Louis clenched his right fist. “My left wrist is broken, and I’m left handed! I’m totally good!”
“You alright, Louis?” Ryan called as they regrouped.
“No, I can’t even jack off properly now!” Louis shifted his angry gaze to the Nightmare. “Let’s just kill this fucking thing, for god’s sake!”
The Nightmare burst forward in its cloud form, sending Rainbow Dash hurtling across the sky and through the roof of a two-story building.
Fluttershy fled, flying through the hole in the roof to Rainbow’s aid.
The Nightmare loomed over the human Elements, ready to strike them before they could focus quickly enough to use the elements again.
“Open fire!” Pinkie Pie screeched.
Before the Nightmare could cast its own spell, its focus was broken by a shrill voice.
Pinkie Pie and Applejack stood aboard a cart of apples, along with cupcakes and other deserts. They began hurling the apples and pastries at the Nightmare, causing it to chuckle audibly, but distracting it enough to where they could get Louis to safety.
The apples and cupcakes simply phased right through the Nightmare. It struck the two earth ponies with another bolt of magic, painfully throwing them both to the ground.
“Ugh,” Applejack groaned. “That probably weren’t the best idear’.”
“Fools!” The Nightmare thundered. “Do you think you can beat me that easily? You really think I’m just a pointless entity that is evil for no cause?”
The humans paid the Nightmare no mind, and grouped together. Their eyes began to glow again, getting brighter and brighter.
“You may have the potential to defeat me, but do you realize what I really am? What those who came before created me for?”
“I AM SIN!” the Nightmare boomed with a voice even louder than Patrick’s motorcycle.
The Nightmare encased Patrick in black magic, disrupting the Elements. Patrick struggled, but he wasn’t able to get out of the Nightmare’s grasp.
His vision darkened. He could hear the shouts of his friends, he knew he was still in Ponyville, that he was still alive but the Nightmare had shrouded him in its darkness.
And then, Patrick felt the familiar, agonizing presence of the Nightmare descend upon him. It seeped into Patrick’s mouth, eyes, ears, and nose, making its way into his mind again.
“Shit! Patrick!” Jose cried.
“Hey! What the fuck do we do?!” He screamed to Luna.
“I can’t help him!” Luna called back. “If we stop holding this, it’ll detonate!”
“You’re kidding me!” Jose replied. “So what can we do?”
“I don’t know!” Luna continued to hold the spell steady. “He’s on his own…”
Meanwhile, inside Patrick’s mind, there was calm. The Nightmare was not ripping his brains apart, or going through his memories. Patrick saw a room with a single table and chair. There was no entrance, and no exit. The walls, floors, and ceiling were all perfectly white.
Sitting at the table was a humanoid form dressed in an elegant black suit and a matching tie. Its skin was uniformly black, and it lacked any facial features to speak of, including a mouth. The only defining feature this being had was a pair of glowing turquoise eyes.
“Have a seat,” it spoke. Patrick simply stood there, studying the figure.
“Yes, I am the Nightmare. I’d kill you right now, Patrick, but you have the Element of Loyalty around your neck, so I can’t.”
Patrick looked down. Even in his mind, the red, glowing dog tags hanging from a golden chain still remained on his neck.
“Please, let’s chat. I think we may be able to settle this, between one life ruined by Celestia, to another.” Cautiously, Patrick stepped forward and sat in the chair. It was a generic, folding metal seat. The table was of modern design; a sheet of thick glass held up by four rectangular posts.
The Nightmare, in its current form, put its hands together in front of it and gently set them on the table, as if it were just doing a casual business deal.
Patrick crossed his arms, being wary of his surroundings. The Nightmare’s turquoise eyes blinked, looking as though they could stare right through him.
“You see Patrick,” the Nightmare explained. “Those who came before, the same entities responsible for creating Equestria after your people ruined this planet and became extinct, created me. They were gods in a sense; they created the first alicorns, and set the rules of the world as we know it today. The two alicorns that ruled Equestria have always been the light, metaphorically speaking, while I have always been the dark.”
“I accepted my role for this world. My purpose was to be the darkness that balanced the light. The alicorns purpose was to bring the day and night, and give a sense of devotion, love, and care to their subjects by controlling the sun and moon. Those who came before did not want the same thing that happened to your race to happen to Equestria, so they minimized the questioning and conflicts of authority by making magic so influential in our everyday lives. But once pony life began, they left us, never to be seen again. I’m sure you’re familiar with the phrase: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction? For each and every force, there is an equally opposing force?”
Patrick nodded.
“I am that opposing force. You could say that I am comparable to the devil for Equestria, while Celestia is similar to your Jesus Christ. After all, she was martyred.”
Patrick rolled his eyes.
“Really though, I am the physical, yet spiritual, embodiment of sin for ponykind. Celestia felt her influence was more than mine, and ruled how she saw fit and against my wishes. All I want to do, Mr. Wilcox, is to release the world from the blanket of ignorance Celestia wrapped it in. I only wish to make this world a better place, by weeding out the weak and pursuing the knowledge she hid from us.”
“You know, there was a human who tried to do that same thing,” Patrick crossed his arms. “His name was Adolf Hitler. He’s widely considered to be the most evil human being that ever existed. He had good intentions, he tried to create a master race. But he did so by the genocide of millions who he considered weak, and sparked the greatest conflict humanity ever knew before the nuclear war that made us extinct. You’re exactly like that madman, and I’m not going to negotiate with the insane.”
“Then I’m afraid we’ve come to a stalemate, Patrick,” the Nightmare said. “However, you want to save humanity, and I want to recreate Equestria in their image.”
Patrick paused.
“Go on.”
“I see that got your attention,” The Nightmare twiddled its thumbs.
“All you need to do is forsake your friends. You require all six Elements’ cooperation to defeat me. And if a single one doesn’t, then your elements are useless. Do this, and I will save humanity, prevent the nuclear war from occurring, and send you back to where you belong. I can give you your life back. I can even make you a rich and powerful man, Patrick. I can make you and give you whatever it is you desire in the human world.”
“You’re bluffing,” Patrick scoffed.
“Am I?”
Immediately, an impossibly thin square popped into the room, floating to the Nightmare’s right.
On the square, images of a much younger Patrick with his mother and father lying together on a sandy beach appeared. Images of growing older, falling in love and marrying a beautiful brunette.
Patrick watched a young girl that greatly resembled Patrick ride on his back as they ran together around a backyard, while his spouse recorded them with a video camera.
Patrick contemplated this, breaking eye contact with the Nightmare.
“No mortal lives forever, Patrick,” the Nightmare persuaded. “And it’s my understanding that every human that ever existed isn’t going to be very happy to see you in the afterlife. So, choose wisely, Mr. Wilcox, what’s it going to be? The human race, or ponies?”
“Patrick!” Jose tried desperately to save Patrick as he levitated in the air. His body was lifelessly still, and the Nightmare had completely covered him in a black shroud of magic.
“Why won’t these fucking things work?” Spencer shook his dog tags violently, clinking them together. “Why can’t we use them to snap him out of it?”
“Because,” Jose said. “He doesn’t want to. He and the Nightmare must be talking to each other. And he’s listening to what it has to say.”
“Oh you gotta’ fucking kidding me!” Joe complained.
“And we need all six elements to stand together for them to work,” Jose finished explaining.
“We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”
After what felt like an eternity, the humans anxiously looked up at Patrick’s figure covered by the Nightmare. Finally, something happened.
There was a thundering crack, and the blackness that was enveloping Patrick was torn off of him in a crimson glow. It reformed into the Nightmare’s gaseous form, dizzily churning just above the ground.
Patrick’s eyes gleamed, giving off a deep red. His dog tags levitated a few inches from his chest and glowed as well.
“Fuck yeah, Patrick!” Spencer cheered. “Let’s kill that motherfucker!”
With no more interference and the Nightmare weakened by Patrick’s sheer loyalty, the rest of the Human Elements’ eyes lit up their respective colors, until their eyes all shined a scorching white that put even the sun to shame.
Patrick was levitated into the air with his friends, and all six shot forth a bolt of pure, white magic, fueled by the Elements of Harmony they wielded. Each streak of magic combined into one powerful thunderbolt, striking the Nightmare.
The Nightmare’s dark cloud swirled, becoming smaller and smaller, before it flashed a bright white and exploded into a thousand fragments of pure evil, and faded out of existence.
It was finally over. Patrick collapsed to the ground. The rest of them did the same, each suffering from a spell of exhaustion after using such a large amount of foreign magic.
Patrick lifted his head off the ground, looking around to see the aftermath. Ponyville looked as though it had been trashed by a frat party. Windows were broken, doors blown in, trails of debris scattered everywhere, while unconscious civilian ponies lay in the street.
“Jose?” Patrick rose to his knees and waddled forward to him, watching him slowly breathe in and out. He shook him awake. “You alright?’
“Yeah,” Jose opened his eyes. Patrick rose to his feet and helped Jose up.
“Thanks,” Jose smiled. “I… I think we did it.”
“Ugh,” Joe sat up. “My head.”
“You’re telling me,” Ryan commented.
“At least you don’t have a migraine and a broken wrist,” Louis coddled his left arm, keeping it bent at the elbow.
“Shit, how much did I drink last ni -“ Spencer opened his eyes and looked around. “Oh, yeah, ponies in the future. So, did we win?”
Jose looked towards Luna, Rarity, and Twilight. He expected them to be filled with joy, but instead, they continued to hold back the timer the Nightmare had put on the warheads. Luna wore a panicked expression, and Twilight and Rarity exchanged nervous glances.
Louis and Spencer helped Applejack and Pinkie Pie up. They suffered a few burns and bruises, but were otherwise fine.
Fluttershy lowered Rainbow Dash onto the ground, the handle of a first aid kit in her mouth. Rainbow Dash had a bandage wrapped around one of her legs and her back, but she still smiled happily knowing that the Nightmare had been defeated.
Patrick flashed her a thumbs up, and then turned to see Jose speaking to Luna, her horn still glowing.
“Hey!” Patrick jogged over to them. “We did it! We killed the Nightmare, it’s finally over! …Why are you three so bummed out?”
The rest of the gang followed, while civilian ponies began to come-to, looking on curiously from their hiding places. Patrick noticed their stares, but dismissed it. They could be told the good news later, this required his immediate attention.
“I don’t quite know how to say this,” Luna looked to the floor.
“We’re not strong enough to stop the countdown,” Twilight blurted out.
“But, we just destroyed the Nightmare!” Patrick gaped in disbelief. “What do you mean you’re not strong enough?"
“The countdown is up. We can delay the blast, but not forever. The Nightmare cast a very strong spell over those things, and alicorn magic is only able to negate the Nightmare’s spells when both are present. I didn’t really plan for doing this part without Celestia, only for the destruction of the Nightmare.”
“Does anyone here know how to defuse a nuclear bomb?” Spencer looked around questioningly.
“No? Well, we’re fucked then.”
“…Not quite,” Luna looked at each of the humans necks. “The Elements… they weren’t destroyed.”
Patrick looked down. The element of loyalty still hung around his neck.
“So, what does that mean?” Jose clinked his dog tags together.
“The moment we stop holding it off, it will explode,” Luna explained. “It’s a little risky, and a little unorthodox, but if you used the Elements to hold off the explosion for a little longer, perhaps…”
Luna rubbed her chin in thought.
“No, that’s mad. That would never work.”
“What?” Twilight said, finding it hard to keep feeding magic into Luna’s spell.
“We can’t last much longer, Princess,” Rarity protested. “Tell us, what’s your idea?”
“Well,” Luna sighed. “There’s a good part, and a bad part.”
“What’s the bad part?” Louis continued to cradle his wrist.
“All six of you die.”
The six humans exchanged surprised glances.
“Oh,” Joe scratched the back of his head. “What’s the good part?”
“I can gather a large amount of unicorns, and we could cast a confining spell over this small area. Then, you let the weapon detonate while we confine the blast under a magic field, killing you all in the process, but saving Canterlot and Ponyville from total obliteration, and Equestria from the radiation.”
“Hey, yeah!” Twilight exclaimed. “Princess, you’re a genius!”
“…Yeah,” Spencer griped. “That sounds like an awesome plan.”
“Oh,” Twilight deflated. “Sorry, I didn’t really think about the part where… Yeah.”
The six humans were quiet for a few moments, until Louis broke the silence.
“Ah, fuck it!” Louis spoke up. “I’ve been dead for thousands of years, and I’ll die again some day. I’m in.”
“Me, too,” Ryan raised his hand. “I think it’s time to go back to where we belong.”
“I’m just a dead person in a dead person’s body,” Joe shrugged.
“There’s no alcohol here, anyway,” Spencer stated. “That’s reason enough to kill myself.”
Jose nodded to his comrades, when all five looked at Patrick.
“So,” Jose looked him in the eye. “All six of the Elements need to cooperate for this to work. Are you with us?”
Patrick’s knees began to shake at the thought of death.
“Uh,” Patrick stammered. “I…”
“Hey,” Jose put his hand on Patrick’s shoulder. “It’s really not that bad. I know it probably sounds frightening, death being so unknown to you.”
Patrick nodded to acknowledge him.
“But if we don’t, then millions, even billions, are going to die.”
“Besides,” Joe added. “We’ll be right there with you, Pat. To the end.”
“Please, Patrick,” Rarity pouted sticking her lower lip out.
“This is our home,” Pinkie Pie looked up at him with puppy-dog eyes.
“We’re begging you, Patrick,” Fluttershy pleaded.
“Mah’ farm is all mah’ family’s got left,” Applejack took her hat off. “But Ah’ know y’all’d be payin’ the ultimate price.”
“Patrick,” Twilight, still assiting Luna, looked over to him. “After seeing all the sacrifices you’ve made, I…” The small unicorn stammered.
“I forgive you for killing Celestia. I know you wouldn’t have done it if you knew her true intentions all along.“
“Really?” Patrick said, surprised. “You really mean that, when I executed her right in front of you?”
“Yes,” Twilight nodded. “You’re very brave, and very strong to have been able to bear all this pressure. I don’t blame you for any of it. After all,” Twilight smiled.
“You’re only human.”
Patrick felt as if a weight had dropped off his shoulders, hearing that come from Twilight.
“Ah’ would have cracked a long time ago,” Applejack patted him on the shoulder. “Ya’ get a heapin’ of credit in mah’ book just for pressin’ on, in my book.”
“You’re not a bad person, Patrick,” Rainbow Dash said. “And you’re probably the most awesome human I’ve ever meet.”
“You’ve only met six,” Patrick replied.
“Still the most awesome, by far. Since you appreciate speed almost as much as me.”
“I think the APD could say Patrick appreciates speed a lot more that you do,” Jose put his arm around Patrick.
Patrick let out a small chuckle.
Even his heart, chilled by the horrors of war and so much suffering in his life, wasn’t untouched by their pleas.
“Okay,” Patrick sighed. “I’ll do it.”
“Thank you, Patrick,” Luna murmured softly.
Patrick, Jose, Louis, Joe, Ryan, and Spencer all readied themselves to transfer control of Luna’s spell while she and the former Elements would go recruit as many unicorns as they could for their task.
“It was nice meeting you,” Ryan smiled sheepishly as he gave Fluttershy a goodbye.
“And you,” Fluttershy smiled as she rose into the air. “Good luck!”
“Sorry we all can’t stay longer,” Joe said to Rarity. “Duty calls.”
“It’s understandable, darling,” Rarity shook his hand for the last time.
“Party on,” Spencer looked down at Pinkie.
“I really wish you could make it to the totally super fun-tastic the-world-didn’t-end party we’re going to be having after this,” Pinkie Pie frowned, but then she perked right back up. “Ooh! Can you come back as a ghost and come to it? I have a bed sheet you could wear! Wait, can you come back on Nightmare Night? I have this prank I really want to do and I need a real ghost for it because-”
“-So, who else feels ready to die? Anyone?”
“You did a good thing,” Jose knelt down to Twilight’s eye level. “I’m sure it wasn’t easy to forgive Patrick.”
“I’m sure you think it’s probably just because I want to save Equestria,” Twilight remarked. “But I truly meant what I said.”
“Then she taught you well,” Jose gave her a small hug. “Take care, it was great meeting you.”
“Why do I feel like I already know you from somewhere?” Twilight asked Jose.
“Because,” he stood up. “Friendship is magic.”
“Well, I guess this is it,” Rainbow Dash flew at Patrick’s eye level. “I know we probably drove you crazy, but I hope you won’t forget us, or me.”
“I won’t. Believe me, I won’t,” Patrick smiled.
“And one more thing,” she beat her wings, ready to take off just before whispering in Patrick’s ear.
“Thanks for saving our world, dude.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Patrick replied sarcastically. “The way I see it, I was going to die anyway. Might as well do something good before that.”
Patrick fist bumped her hoof, and she shot off into the sky.
Using the elements once more, the six humans took control over holding the blast at bay and released Luna, Twilight, and Rarity from tending to it. The strain varied from that of riding a bicycle to pushing a car up a hill.
For more than 12 hours, the human elements kept the Nightmare’s doomsday device from detonating. Gradually, a mixture of recruited civilian and Royal Guard unicorns began showing up, led to the scene by Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity or teleported by Luna and Twilight.
Luna refrained from raising the moon, only this once, as daytime hours would make the operation run much more smoothly.
The humans, their eyes lit with the color of their element, formed a circle around the stockpile of the Nightmare’s nukes. The moment they’d cease using the Elements, they would be vaporized.
Finally, there were enough competent spell-casting unicorns to complete the spell. Shoulder to shoulder, hundreds of unicorn mares and stallions, young and old alike, formed a ring around the humans in the center of Ponyville. When Luna gave the signal, all of their horns began to glow.
A transparent umbrella of magic gradually crept from the ground up, forming a protective dome to protect the outside world. It was much like a larger scale of the magic bubble Luna had cast around her, Twilight, and Rarity earlier. But in this case, it was meant to protect everything outside of it.
Once the confining spell was complete, it was time.
Patrick’s heart began to pound, instinctively becoming afraid of death. His mind raced around a million questions. Was it going to be nothing like he thought it was? Did every human being that ever existed still have it out for him? Humans were now going to be completely extinct, was there really no more hope for humanity?
But then, he found himself accepting it. He’d faced death quite a few times since he fell to Equestria, but this was the only time he was able to choose when. It was finally time to have some rest from all the problems that plagued him for so long. To finally get away from all the drama. To get away from all the flashbacks, and finally start living in the present. As ironic as it was, in order to start enjoying life again, Patrick chose to die.
He took one last look around at the ponies that surrounded him, to remind himself why he was doing this. They were innocent. If giving his life would spare them from humanity’s fate, if he could save an entire race by taking his last breath, then there was no more important purpose for Patrick’s very existence. This was his purpose, this was his destiny. His job was over, and now it was time to go.
He caught one last glimpse of the six ponies that saved his life all standing next to each other. Patrick waved, and then turned his eyes forward.
“It’s gonna’ be a good day,” Jose assured Patrick.
They dropped the spell that froze the nuclear warheads mere feet from them.
“I can feel it.”
The most brilliant flash of light engulfed Patrick.
He felt his skin, his muscles, his internal organs, his skeleton, all burn away instantly, and then there was nothing left of him.
There was a high-pitched whine as the light continued to blind him. At first, it was incredibly bright. But then it got dark.
Very dark.
And nothing happened.
…
|
Molotov Cocktail
|
1029
| 19 |
Big Macintosh,Derpy Hooves,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Nightmare Moon,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Zecora,Human,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Whiplash
|
A motorcyclist is struck by lightning. He awakens on the verge of death in a very strange land.
|
complete
| 751 | 52 |
<p>When a motorcyclist is struck by lightning, it sends him to a strange world in a seemingly unexplainable turn of events. With no one able to offer him the answers to his questions, he settles in for the long haul, and looks for a way home. </p><p>Lost, injured, and still reeling in the post-traumatic stress of military service, as well as the criminal underground of street racing, he struggles to maintain his very sanity. Little does he know, the friendships that made life worth living for him would be the key to stopping an ancient enemy bent on anarchy and genocide.</p>
|
teen
|
2012-04-12T04:33:18+00:00
|
2015-01-13T20:35:23+00:00
| 10,778 |
“The microphone explodes, shattering the molds, ya either drop tha hits like de la O or get the fuck off the commode-“
The blaring, rebellious lyrics of Rage Against the Machine awoke a tired, slumbering individual. His head was in a fog, with only one thought in his mind: Shutting off that damn music so he could go back to sleep.
“With the sure shot, sure to make the bodies drop. Drop and don’t copy yo-“
A charging cell phone’s alarm function was the source of the rugged notes. A hand hastily swept across a nightstand next to his bed. It inadvertently unplugged the phone and sent it flying through the air, crashing to the floor. The back of the phone slipped off, dislodged the battery, and silenced the phone’s alarm.
He didn’t really care to deal with the fact that he may have just broken his phone, all that mattered to individual at the moment was sleep. He settled back into his bed, closing his eyes.
…
…
…
Something wasn’t right, here.
…
…
…
And then, everything came rushing back to him. He saw his friends standing around him, and then a bright flash of light just before…
He died.
Patrick’s eyes burst open and he shot up in bed. In total shock and confusion, he observed his surroundings.
It was a blue-painted room, with white wooden trim along the walls and windowsills, letting daylight flutter inside and illuminate the room. Posters of popular rock bands, some he had never heard of before, were pinned to the wall with thumbtacks. High school textbooks and stacks of papers sat on top of a bureau, along with other various belongings.
Directly across from him, sitting up against the window, was a computer desk. A laptop open on the desk displayed its screensaver.
It was a stereotypical teenage room. But this room seemed familiar; not in a sense that he’d been here before, Patrick had never set foot in this room in his life, of that much he was sure. But everything in this room, the color, the taste of the band posters on the wall, the song that the phone woke him up to, expressed Patrick’s personality.
Patrick looked down at himself. He was fully dressed, shoes and all. He was wearing a red football jersey, acid-washed jeans, and a pair of clean, white Nikes.
Patrick dangled his legs off the bed and his feet made contact with the hardwood floor. The last thing he remembered was dying. He and his friends were burnt to ash for sacrificing themselves to save a race that wasn’t even theirs.
He slowly got up out of the bed. Did none of any of the events over the past few weeks really happen? Did he just imagine it all? Could he really have that vivid of a dream?
If he were just waking up from a dream, surely he’d recognize his own home, because this definitely wasn’t it. Stepping quietly, he retrieved the phone that he knocked onto the floor. He didn’t even recognize this phone, but it was still worth checking out. He reassembled the battery, locked the back of the phone into place, and pressed the power button.
It refused to start up. Frustrated, Patrick set the phone down on the nightstand. To his left was a doorway to a bathroom.
Patrick flipped on the lights and made his way to the mirror. What he saw made his eyes widen.
He looked young. Granted, being twenty-one is still young, but he looked much younger than that. His hair was cut in a short, spiked style, and his face lacked any facial hair whatsoever.
Patrick ran his hands over his face, not accustomed to the lack of whiskers, his goatee, or any 5 o’clock shadow.
He felt smaller, less muscular and less tone, and his body wasn’t responding to how he was used to. Patrick pulled up his shirt and rolled up his sleeves to get a better look at himself.
The muscles gained from his military service looked like they had never formed. He was sufficiently skinnier, and less muscular than the body he died in.
Patrick held his hands on the back of his head, studying his reflection in shock. He thoroughly examined every feature of his face.
Curiosity compelled him to leave the bedroom. He opened the door and found himself staring down a hallway of a standard, upper-middle-class house. Cautiously, he made his way down the stairs. It appeared he was the only one home, but he kept his guard up. For all he new, he could be dead; this could all be a trick; his mind and his instincts weren’t about to relax just yet.
He entered the kitchen, brightly lit by a wall of windows on the first floor. Every few steps, he stumbled. Patrick wasn’t used to his body responding slower and having less mass. With one hand pressed against the wall to keep him from falling, he carefully walked towards the refrigerator.
A jumbled collection of loose photographs hung from the refrigerator door, held by a few neon-colored magnets.
Patrick crept closer to examine them.
They were family photos.
Patrick’s heart nearly stopped; it was his mother, and his father.
Patrick grabbed one of the photos and examined it closely.
A much younger Patrick, looking to be between the ages of ten and thirteen, sat in between his parents, smiling happily. They each had an arm around him, while they sat on a sandy beach. It was the same photograph that the Nightmare had shown him when it tried to negotiate with him.
“What… What is this?” Patrick stammered aloud. “This never happened. Where-Where am I?”
“You’re home, Patrick,” a gentle voice responded behind him.
Patrick jumped at the sudden presence of another, spinning around.
It was a large, white alicorn, her mane flowing back and forth with magic just as it did when she was alive. The ceiling was just barely tall enough for her to stand upright, but she took up a lot of space.
Patrick could see through her body. She was slightly transparent, as if she didn’t belong here.
“No…” Patrick stuttered. “I-I killed you! What the-I don’t-Where-“
Patrick nearly hyperventilated, before Celestia resumed speaking.
“Yes, Patrick, you did kill me. But just breathe,” Celestia cooed. “It’s all over. You’re safe now, the Nightmare is vanquished, and everything is as it should be. All thanks to you.”
“Everything?” Patrick asked. “So… That’s it?”
Celestia nodded.
“So, where am I? Am I dead?”
“No,” Celestia replied. “You’re very much alive, Patrick.”
“But, I died!” Patrick cried. “We all sacrificed oursel- Wait, where are my friends?!”
Celestia calmed him down before he nearly had another anxiety attack.
“Sorry,” Patrick broke eye contact self consciously. “I just- It’s a lot to take in.”
“Just calm down, Patrick,” Celestia said soothingly. “You are home, where you belong. This is your life as it was without me manipulating anything. The date is June second, 2010. You are currently sixteen years old.”
“I really am younger?”
Celestia nodded.
“Where are my parents, then?”
“On their second honeymoon. They will be home next week.”
Patrick shook his head, processing all this shocking information laid out before him.
“But, I thought that we couldn’t save humanity because… I killed you. How am I standing here right now, when I should be dead, too?”
“There are some things that we can’t really explain, Patrick,” Celestia smiled. “But it is because of the magic of friendship that you and your friends shared.”
Patrick blinked. He let Celestia continue speaking.
“When each of you sacrificed yourselves while bearing the Elements of Harmony, deep down in your hearts, you all wanted the same thing. You wanted to save humanity, for everything to be how it was supposed to be. The Elements heard your cries, and made it be.”
“But that letter,” Patrick pointed out. “The one I read in that artifact room. Is the world still going to end in 2042?”
“You have the knowledge of when nuclear war ends humankind, Patrick,” Celestia smirked. “I guess you’d better get to work on your presidential campaign!”
Patrick’s jaw dropped.
“What? Oh you gotta be-”
“-Kidding!” Celestia chirped. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. The look on your face was priceless.”
“That wasn’t funny,” Patrick grumbled.
“All jokes aside, it’s a little complicated to explain, Patrick. Try to imagine that a copy of humanity was created, and sent forward in time. The original, this reality that you’re in, is now on a timeline separate from the one that it and Equestria shared. Humanity can now advance indefinitely without preventing Equestria from existing.”
“Then how are you here? Are you… Dead?” Patrick asked.
“Not that I don’t think you’re intelligent, Patrick,” Celestia said. “But I don’t think that you can understand.”
“Ah,” Patrick crossed his arms. “More secrets, then.”
“It’s like Jose said about death,” Celestia explained. “There’s not enough time in the world for me to explain it to you. But no, I am not dead. Anymore.”
“Then did none of this ever happen in Equestria?”
“Oh, it happened,” Celestia nodded. “And it will probably be the most significant event in our history. But when you six wanted everything to go back to how it was supposed to be, the Elements of Harmony responded. And for everything to go back to how it was supposed to be, I needed to be alive.”
Patrick was quiet for a few moments.
“We will rebuild Manehattan and Fillydelphia. We will mourn the many who were lost. True, we could have avoided all this turmoil if you’d have just trusted me,” Celestia sighed.
“However, I forgive you for killing me, Patrick. Now that you know why I did everything, why I truly kept my plans a secret from you, I hope that you can forgive me for everything I put you through. For everything I made you witness, every intolerable act I caused you to commit, and for all the suffering you had to bear.”
Patrick thought for a moment, recalling all the pain Celestia had caused him. His parental issues, his criminal record, his military service, murdering two men, witnessing the death of his best friends, and everything that had just taken place in when she brought him to Equestria. He was shot in the shoulder, he had been struck by lightning, crashed his bike, beaten by guards, and quite possibly driven insane.
“Patrick, I am so sorry that it had to be you. That it was always you, that you were always the only thing in this universe that could save life as we know it, both humankind and ponykind. So…”
Celestia bit her lip.
“…Do you forgive me?”
Patrick simply stared at her in disbelief. She was asking for his forgiveness? He took some time to contemplate it while Celestia waiting eagerly for his response.
“Well, Celestia,” Patrick let out a heavy sigh. “…No.”
Celestia, a bit taken back, beckoned him to explain.
“I’m not trying to be bitter about it, Celestia. I mean, I wish I could forgive you. I’m trying. I really am, Princess, in every fiber of my being, trying to forgive you. I actually want to. But...”
Patrick dug his hands in his pockets.
“…But, I just can’t. After so much heartache, so much bloodshed, I am just not physically capable of forgiving you.”
Celestia frowned, but nodded understandably.
“I may never be able to forgive you,” Patrick voiced.
“-But!” Patrick spoke up. “I can thank you.”
“Thank me?” Celestia asked. “And what would it be for?”
“For saving my race,” Patrick smiled. “Even after everything you caused me to go through, I was going to die, along with the rest of my race, thirty-two years from now if you never changed my past. But now, World War III isn’t going to happen, and we can continue to exist.”
“Celestia,” Patrick took in a deep breath. “I’m truly sorry that I can’t forgive you, even after everything you did was only done to save both you and me. I know I’m incredibly selfish, and I’m a terrible person, but I’m not going to lie to you. No, I do not, and I can not, forgive you.”
It was Celestia’s worst fear come true, that even if she succeeded, that Patrick couldn’t forgive her. He obviously wanted to, but he just wasn’t capable of doing so. His explanation why made Celestia feel like she was an inch tall.
“-But, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for saving humankind. Words cannot express how grateful I am, Princess.”
Patrick held out his hand in front of Celestia. She smiled and brought her hoof forward, but it simply phased right through Patrick.
“I’m afraid I can’t shake your hand, Patrick,” Celestia’s face lifted. “I don’t belong here.”
“Oh,” Patrick shrugged. “Well, it’s the thought that counts.”
“Come,” Celestia moved towards a door leading out of the kitchen. “There’s something I wish to show you.”
Celestia was much too big to go through the doorframe, but she simply phased right through it. Patrick followed expectantly, opening the door.
It was a spacious, two-car garage. A red, late-90’s Honda Civic sat in one of the parking spaces. On the other side of the garage, Celestia stood before a large object, a canvas tarp covering it.
Patrick approached Celestia and the covered object.
“See for yourself,” Celestia gestured to the tarp.
In one swift movement, Patrick grabbed the tarp by both hands and yanked it off, throwing it on the floor of the garage. What he saw next nearly made him faint.
A sleek, incredibly clean 2010 Honda CBR, painted a pure, glossy white, sat in front of him.
“Look in your right pocket,” Celestia pointed to his hip.
Patrick slipped his hand into his pocket and felt something. He pulled it out and let it lay flat in his palm to observe it in the light.
It was a small, jagged strip of metal, with a flat, plastic handle. On the handle, a winged emblem was engraved just above “Honda.” It was a key.
Patrick inserted the key into the ignition and turned it, making the dashboard came to life. A matching, white helmet with a gold-tinted visor hung on the left mirror.
Normally, Patrick would be running around the room in a fit of pure joy. But something still bothered him. Something that not even this bike could make him feel better about.
“What’s wrong, Patrick?” Celestia asked. “I thought this is everything you’ve ever wanted? Your parents love you, you have your life back, mankind is saved, and you even have a bike that most people your age could only dream of.”
Patrick flipped the ignition of the bike, turning it off.
“Celestia, the Nightmare told me that if you never manipulated my life, that my friends and I-“
He struggled to form a sentence.
“-That we would have never met.”
“Oh,” Celestia frowned. “I see.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes,” Celestia confessed, stepping closer to him to console him. “That is the truth. In your life that I didn’t change, none of you six ever crossed paths.”
Patrick had never felt so empty in his life. Even after the best possible outcome he could imagine, it still meant nothing without his brothers by his side.
A distant rumble of engines became closer and closer, until they became incredibly loud.
“What’s that?” Patrick voiced over the noise.
He found the garage door opener on the wall, and pressed the button.
Daylight poured into the dim, stuffy garage. Patrick took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the harsher light, and became speechless yet again.
Five motorcycles were parked at the end of his driveway, their engines roaring. Five riders, wearing full-face helmets, sat on them, watching the garage door rise to see Patrick staring incredulously at them.
“Hey, come on Patrick!” Jose called to him. “We don’t have all day, let’s go!”
Patrick’s heart jumped for joy. He felt himself grinning ear-to-ear, feeling as if he were about to burst with excitement.
He nervously looked at Celestia’s transparent form, and then back to his friends all waiting on him. They didn’t seem to acknowledge Celestia’s presence.
“Hurry up, man!” Louis tapped his wrist with his index finger, symbolizing a watch. “I’m only getting older!”
“I’ll admit to manipulating one little thing,” Celestia smirked.
“Now I really wish I could forgive you,” Patrick laughed.
He threw his leg over the bike in his garage, sticking the key in the ignition again and starting the engine.
It turned over quickly, the spark plugs sputtering as it began to idle, and became a stable, warm hum.
“I know that I can never take back everything that I did to you,” Celestia’s mane flowed back and forth. “But I can take away all the memories, including those of your military service, of everything, so they won’t plague your heart anymore.”
“That’s okay,” Patrick slipped the helmet on his head and began buckling the strap. “I’ll keep them.”
“I don’t understand,” Celestia shook her head. “Why would you want to keep those memories, after how much pain they caused you? I’d think you of all people would love to live just a normal, happy life, Patrick. Wouldn’t you be happy to forget them?”
“Sure,” Patrick sat on his bike.
“Then, why don’t you?”
“Because,” Patrick squeezed the clutch and shifted into first gear.
“I have a feeling- It’s going to be a good day.”
His engine roared, and the bike jerked forward.
Tires squealing, Patrick shot out of the garage and down the driveway, coming to a halt just next to Jose, his face partially obscured by his helmet.
“It’s gonna’ be a good day, man,” Jose smiled.
“Yeah,” Patrick felt tears of joy freely dripping down his face. “It is.”
Jose swept his hand across Patrick’s helmet, flipping down his visor. He reached over Patrick’s handlebars to flip the kill switch and shut off Patrick’s engine.
Jose revved his engine loudly while he, Ryan, Spencer, Louis, and Joe all sped off, coming to a stop a block up the street.
“Hey!” Patrick flipped his visor back up. “Not cool!”
Jose laughed, watching as Patrick started up his bike again to catch up with them.
Celestia smiled as she watched them disappear down the street. She could finally return to Equestria and the living world at peace, knowing that everything was as it should be.
“It’s going to be a good day,” Celestia murmured as she faded away from the human universe.
“I can feel it.”
The end
Afterword
Hey guys, Molotov Cocktail here, author Of Whiplash.
Now that the story's over, there's a few things I can say. The first is that no, there's not going to be a sequel. Whiplash is done, and I intend for it to stay that way. Oops I lied.
Some people were asking about alternate endings and epilogues. I'm not going to rule those out, but it's highly unlikely I could make either at this point because I'm about to enter military service, so I think it's safe to say you're probably not going to see anything new from me.
I want to talk about the flashbacks for a second. I wanted to tell a human story as well. And the flashbacks allowed me to do that. I hope you enjoyed reading them.
I know a lot of it was kind of cynical or depressing, I went through a lot of stuff while I wrote some chapters and I'm sorry that I let my writing reflect that.
And no, Patrick is not me, nor is he my wish fulfillment character. I wrote about things that interest me and that I know about: Guns, military, motorcycles, racing, and my city. However, Dreads and Spencer are based on real people. Some of the flashbacks are, too, but I'll let you use your imagination to decide which ones.
All I can really say about myself is that I'm 18 years old (I was 17 for most of the time I wrote Whiplash.) And yes, I do ride. I have a Yamaha R6. I like motorcycles, racing, writing, photography, guns, and road trips.
The idea for Whiplash isn't considered by many to be the most original. And I'd have to agree, almost every [HiE] follows the human falls to Equestria, shit happens, (s)he saves the world. I'm just happy I was able to finish the story. Although, I didn't really know the direction of the rest of the story until 5-6 chapters in. I kind of wish I'd have named the story either "Remembrance" or "In Memoriam."
Whiplash was a big learning experience for me. Looking back at how much my writing has improved since I began the story, it's really mind-blowing to me. But that's a huge reason of why I wrote this story for the past 7 months: Constructive criticism and improvement. I'm trying to get into a photojournalism field, and by you guys giving me criticism and feedback, my writing skills improved over time and that was one of my goals out of writing this.
Like or hate the story, thanks so much for reading! I'm humbled Whiplash got the response that it did. And thanks to my pre-readers:
Sweetie_Belle_Derelle (Fimfiction)
Sandman (Fimfiction)
Nailbudday (Deviantart)
I couldn't have done it without you guys.
I hope you enjoyed reading Whiplash as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Things I don't really want to say but I know I should:
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyrighted by Hasbro Inc. and their respective owners. I wrote this work of fanfiction without the intent of gaining any profits other than feedback, nor do I claim to own any of the characters, settings, ideas, etc. portrayed by the show. (TL;DR: Please don't try to sue me. I don't have very much money because I've spent it all on motorcycles and you'd probably be wasting your time.)
I do not condone any illegal motorsport activities nor do I participate or have any knowledge of its happenings or whereabouts.
Many a cup of coffee and Rockstar were consumed in the making of this story.
Live free.
-Molotov Cocktail
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Molotov Cocktail
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1029
| 20 |
Big Macintosh,Derpy Hooves,Doctor Whooves,Main 6,Nightmare Moon,Original Character,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Spike,Zecora,Human,Adventure,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Whiplash
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A motorcyclist is struck by lightning. He awakens on the verge of death in a very strange land.
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complete
| 751 | 52 |
<p>When a motorcyclist is struck by lightning, it sends him to a strange world in a seemingly unexplainable turn of events. With no one able to offer him the answers to his questions, he settles in for the long haul, and looks for a way home. </p><p>Lost, injured, and still reeling in the post-traumatic stress of military service, as well as the criminal underground of street racing, he struggles to maintain his very sanity. Little does he know, the friendships that made life worth living for him would be the key to stopping an ancient enemy bent on anarchy and genocide.</p>
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teen
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2014-09-10T23:27:37+00:00
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2015-01-20T16:22:20+00:00
| 4,532 |
If you're reading this, you either read Whiplash a long time ago and got a notification there was a new chapter, or you just finished the story for the first time.
So, I've been gone for two years doing st00fs, but I can't really say the nature of what I'm doing or where I am though.
In the author's note I said I wouldn't write a sequel, I wasn't going to write anything else, and I didn't really plan on coming back. I didn't know what military service was going to be like, so I just planned on that taking up pretty much all my time and focused on my career. Now I've finished a good portion of the part where it consumes all my time, and now I'm allowed to actually have a life and free time. I've had an idea in my head for a while, and I thought it might be interesting to do a sequel named Sins of the Father.
Just a heads up, I was 17 and 18 when I wrote Whiplash. There will be some things that aren't consistent with Whiplash, but they won't be dramatic or story changing. Namely, there will be alcohol, a lot more shenanigans, and the story itself I plan to be much more light hearted. I learned a lot from your constructive criticism while I wrote Whiplash. I can't guarantee my writing has gotten any better, I'm pretty rusty right now. I'm just two years older and crankier.
However, I'm writing Sins of the Father as its own story. You CAN read it without having to read Whiplash first, and also I am not going back to revise Whiplash at all.
All of you were really great when I wrote Whiplash. I did it for fun, and I'm still doing this just for fun. Military comes first, but I'll write and update when I can on the sequel. Sorry I bailed for a while!
Mosey on over to Sins of the Father, Whiplash's sequel.
-MC
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Wheller
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1030
| 1 |
DJ P0N-3,Original Character,Scootaloo,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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The Long Road Home
|
Vinyl Scratch learns this when an ancient device of terrible power is discovered, and now her new home, the only one she ever felt was truly hers is threatened by those who wish to control it.
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complete
| 26 | 5 |
<p>Home. It's not always where you were born.</p><p>Vinyl Scratch learns this when an ancient device of terrible power is discovered, and now her new home, the only one she ever felt was truly hers is threatened by those who wish to control it.</p><p>However, in order to save it, it may require a sacrifice that she is not ready to make.</p><p>(authors notes: this is not, as I previously stated, going to be the last story in the series. I always do an Epilogue, but I've discovered that the way the epilogue was going to go, it'll be too long and too different to actually be a part of this story. This it will be rolled into its own, and THAT will be the finale.)</p>
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teen
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2011-10-01T04:22:46+00:00
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2011-10-01T04:22:46+00:00
| 1,927 |
Chronology notes:
Stop! You are reading the Eleventh and story in the series started by The Kindness of Strangers!
Please read The Kindness of Strangers first!
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/389/
The second part of the story is Putting the Pieces Back Together found here:
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/407/
The third part of the story is Midnight in the Heart of Equestria found here:
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/419/
The fourth part of the story is Tomorrow is Always a New Day found here:
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/433/
The fifth part of the story is To Each Their Own found here:
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/526/
The sixith part of the story is Imperfect found here:
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/600/
The seventh part of the story to Paradiso found here:
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/687/
the eighth part of the story is Broken Record found here:
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/732/
The ninth part of the story is Home Sweet Home found here:
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/826/
This story is the direct sequel to Rite of Passage found here:
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/895/
The Long Road Home
Chapter 1
Home.
Such a simple thing, and yet for Vinyl Scratch, it was something that she had never truly had. She had spent her fillyhood on the streets of Manehattan, dealing drugs for a greedy Diamond Dog named Trigger. What did Vinyl Scratch know of home?
It was because of this that Vinyl Scratch had decided to wander. In those days, she had no home, no friends to keep her in one place. So why stay? That was the reason that she had made for herself when she decided to go to the Hoofson Bay. As fate would have it, it had been the most important choice in Vinyl Scratch’s life. That trip, walking along that long road, had taken Vinyl Scratch into the path of two other ponies with whom she bonded instantly. The long road had introduced her to two of the three real friends that Vinyl had made during her life time, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash.
Things were different now. Vinyl Scratch had followed the long road back and discovered something important at the end of it, home; the town of Ponyville, where her friends lived, where Vinyl Scratch now lived, where she and her friends kept the world from falling apart around them.
Things were different now. Rainbow Dash was dead.
Vinyl Scratch had been hit hard by the loss of Rainbow Dash, but what hurt her most was the fact that she couldn’t show it. She needed to be strong for everypony else who was grieving. Vinyl looked up from where she was lying on her sofa towards the corner of the room where an orange Pegasus filly sat, staring blankly towards the ground. Scootaloo and Vinyl Scratch had both grown up without homes. It was this fact that the two of them had bonded, they’d become sisters de facto. Now Rainbow Dash was dead, both of them were grieving.
“Scootaloo?” Vinyl asked quietly. The Pegasus filly did not look up; Vinyl Scratch frowned and repeated herself.
This time the filly looked up. “Yeah?” she asked, her voice filled with sadness.
“Are you hungry? I can make my onion soup if you like!” Vinyl said.
“No... thanks,” Scootaloo said, her head drooped back down, and she continued to stare blankly at the floor. Scootaloo had idolised Rainbow Dash for much of her life in Ponyville, she had looked up to Rainbow, making her her personal hero. Now her hero was dead, her spirit had been crushed under the weight of it.
Vinyl rose from her spot on the sofa and sat down next to Scootaloo; she put her foreleg around her and did her best to console her.
“I just want to be left alone right now,” Scootaloo said as squirmed her way out of it. “Sorry.”
Vinyl Scratch felt tears forming in her eyes. She was glad that she was wearing her goggles; the last thing she wanted was for Scootaloo to see her crying. While Scootaloo had done a lot of growing up since meeting her de facto sister, she was still a kid. Vinyl needed to be strong for her.
“Okay,” Vinyl said, forcing the best smile she could muster. It was not convincing. “Let me know if you get hungry, okay?”
“Okay,” Scootaloo said, Vinyl wasn’t convinced.
Vinyl went back over to the sofa and curled up on it; she closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep.
Twilight Sparkle was staying with them; the Ponyville public library was off limits thanks to the deaths of two pegasi which had taken place early this morning. Even now, some fifteen hours later, the library was still full of uniformed police ponies and detectives. Vinyl had spent most of the day being interviewed by the mare in charge, Detective Chief Inspector Clockwork.
Ponyville fell under the jurisdiction of the Canterlot Police Service’s Greater Canterlot, South department. DCI Clockwork had nearly the entirety of GCS’ Criminal Investigation Department relocated to Ponyville after a string of murders, two of the victims being detectives themselves. Ponyville had never needed a police presence before, but now it was a sign that times were changing.
Worse still, Equestria was teetering on the edge of war with the Twin Gryphon Kingdoms of Nord & Syd. While formal hostilities had not been declared, the gryphons had chased elements of the South Island XX Corps across the border from the Hoofson bay and into Equestria, ending with a small battle in Ponyville itself.
South Island was now an Equestrian ally; it was only a matter of time before the gryphons upped the ante and openly declared hostility, and to make matters worse, the kangaroo soldiers who had made their temporary home in Ponyville did not get along with the police and vice versa. The kangaroos had made it their duty to protect Ponyville, which lead them into conflict with the Police, as they were the ones legally charged with protecting Ponyville.
So far, these confrontations had not lead to violence. Vinyl Scratch knew that eventually, things were going to break down. Ponyville was becoming a powder keg, and frankly, it scared the hell out of her.
Vinyl spent an hour or so lying awake; she turned her head and looked towards Scootaloo. Scootaloo’s head had drooped; she was asleep sitting in the corner, snoring quietly.
Poor kid.
Vinyl closed her eyes again, and found herself drift off to sleep.
...
“Vinyl? Vinyl wake up.”
Vinyl’s eyes popped open. Twilight Sparkle was standing over her, looking incredibly worried.
“Twilight?” Vinyl asked sleepily, yawning loudly and stretching her legs. “Everything okay?”
“No,” Twilight said, shaking her head. “No they’re not. I just had a visitor.”
“What? Not... them?” Vinyl asked.
Twilight shook her head. “Applejack,” she explained. “I need you to take me to the caves in Whitetail Wood.”
“The caves? What do you want to go there for?” Vinyl asked.
“I don’t. I really don’t,” Twilight admitted. “But I don’t exactly have a choice.”
“All right, let’s go then,” Vinyl said, rising from the couch. She looked over to Scootaloo, sitting asleep in the corner. Vinyl gently wrapped her magic around the filly and carried her into the other room, where she tucked her into bed.
“Hush now, quiet now, it’s time to lay your sleepy head, Hush now, quiet now, it’s time to go to bed,” Vinyl sang quietly. A small smile formed on the sleeping filly’s face, and Vinyl quietly left the room, closing the door behind her.
...
The two of them made their way to the opening of the caves in Whitetail Wood. Vinyl Scratch had been here more times than she would have liked. The first was when she led an expedition to Manehattan during the winter months. The second was when the remaining gryphons from Lieutenant Razorwing’s Platoon who had fled into Equestria ambushed her and Trooper Benjamin Willoughby and drove them here. The third time was when Scootaloo had hidden here on Vinyl’s instruction.
Now here she was, here for the fourth time.
“Come on,” she said to Twilight. “Let’s go.”
The two mares walked into the caves, Twilight found herself looking around at the walls.
“This cave isn’t natural! The walls...” Twilight began.
“The walls are too smooth, someone dug this cave,” Vinyl finished. “Had this conversation with others before, got Déjà vu now.”
The duo rounded the corner where the tunnel split, one path lead down to the lower level, which contained the other exit. The other path had been blocked by a boulder the last time Vinyl was here. This was no longer the case. The boulder had been shattered, exposing the pathway that Vinyl Scratch and Co. had never had the desire or opportunity to explore.
Naturally, the new path was the way they needed to go. Both unicorn’s light their horns, for extra light and climbed over the rubble of the shattered boulder and made their way along the path.
They were heading down, twisting and turning for nearly a kilometre until they came to an abrupt end.
The wall in front of them however was not made of rock. Instead it was made of metal. It was a, large gear shaped metal door with the letters “EPMB” printed on them.
Next to the door was a small, heavily rusted console, Twilight went up to it, the console displayed the word “unlocked” on it, she pulled the console’s lever down.
Two hazard lights began to flash. A small buzzing alarm went off, and the air filled with the hiss of steam.
Something from the inside pulled the metal gear back, creating a deafening screech as metal grinded against metal. Twilight and Vinyl covered their ears, and watched as the large metal door rolled to the left.
The doorway was open, and what was inside astounded them.
|
Wheller
|
1030
| 2 |
DJ P0N-3,Original Character,Scootaloo,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Long Road Home
|
Vinyl Scratch learns this when an ancient device of terrible power is discovered, and now her new home, the only one she ever felt was truly hers is threatened by those who wish to control it.
|
complete
| 26 | 5 |
<p>Home. It's not always where you were born.</p><p>Vinyl Scratch learns this when an ancient device of terrible power is discovered, and now her new home, the only one she ever felt was truly hers is threatened by those who wish to control it.</p><p>However, in order to save it, it may require a sacrifice that she is not ready to make.</p><p>(authors notes: this is not, as I previously stated, going to be the last story in the series. I always do an Epilogue, but I've discovered that the way the epilogue was going to go, it'll be too long and too different to actually be a part of this story. This it will be rolled into its own, and THAT will be the finale.)</p>
|
teen
|
2011-10-01T04:25:42+00:00
|
2011-10-01T04:25:42+00:00
| 1,406 |
Chapter 2
Vinyl Scratch and Twilight Sparkle stood in the opening of the large metal door, just staring. The way was open, but they were afraid to step through. It wasn’t the first time in their lives that they were on the edge of the unknown, but it sure felt like it.
Vinyl took a deep breath, and turned to her friend, giving her a small smile.
“Can’t go back now,” Vinyl said, she opened her saddlebags and levitated two Revolvers out, gliding Twilight’s over to her. “Can I trust you not to misuse this?”
“No, probably not,” Twilight said, swallowing hard. “But what we’re doing is important enough for me to put my feelings aside. I can’t be selfish right now.”
Twilight enveloped her magic around the revolver. Vinyl released it, allowing the lavender unicorn to take it, and without another word, the two mares took their first step inside.
Once inside, the alarms went off again, the metal door rolled back into place, sliding back shut with the deafening grinding of metal on metal. Both mares watched as it closed. There was another control panel identical to the one that they found outside, except this one was much cleaner looking, and better maintained. They could open the door back up and leave at any time, but for some odd reason, that didn’t comfort them at all.
Twilight and Vinyl continued out of the entrance room and into a hallway, a very long, well lit hallway. The floors were metal, the walls were metal. Light fixtures hung overhead.
They kept their eyes forward and kept their ears open for any signs of trouble. They jumped when one of the lights above them burned out with a small snap.
“We’re too jumpy,” Twilight said. “We’re going to hurt somepony if we keep these out... most likely ourselves.”
Twilight slid her revolver into her saddlebag, Vinyl did the same. They stopped here for a moment to process what was around them.
Vinyl Scratch sat under the burned out light, thinking. She looked up at Twilight and spoke her mind. “Something isn’t right here. Somepony built this place, but nopony knows it’s here except us. Which means that it needed to have been built a really long time ago, I wouldn’t surprised if this place predates the reign of Celestia. It would have to! There’s next to no information about what Equestria was like before then... which leads us to a problem. Look at this place! It’s spotless! Not even a speck of dust in the air.”
“Where are you going with this Vinyl?” Twilight asked, looking at her friend in confusion.
“This place is clean, which means that somepony has been cleaning it... which means...”
“...That there is somepony still here,” Twilight finished.
Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank!
Twilight and Vinyl both pulled out their revolvers upon hearing this new sound. This was completely foreign to them, metal against metal, slow, deliberate, and coming right towards them.
“Vinyl? I don’t think I like it when you’re brilliant,” Twilight said.
“Me neither, it does me nothing but trouble,” Vinyl said, flashing the first real grin she’d been able to muster in what felt like years.
Around the corner, walked what was making the noise, but what it was surprised them. It was a metal pony with two manipulator arms jaunting out of the flanks, carrying a light fixture. It continued to walk up to them in a slow, deliberate, yet unthreatening manner.
The metal pony walked up to them, where it stopped right in front of them.
“Hello.”
Twilight and Vinyl nearly jumped when it spoke. The metal pony had no mouth to speak of, and its voice sounded tinny and artificial. One of its long manipulator arms reached up to the burned out light fixture that was above Vinyl and pulled it out, the other one reached up and put the new one in, causing light to be restored.
The metal pony, its task complete, turned around and began to walk away.
“Um, excuse me?” Twilight said, hoping to get the metal pony’s attention.
The metal pony stopped. However it did not turn around, instead, its head slowly rotated 180 degrees to face back towards them, which was frankly very creepy.
“State query,” the metal pony said.
“Could you tell us where we are?” Twilight asked.
“You are currently located at: Sublevel 3, secondary entrance. You are standing on: floor panel 896308-AB,” the metal pony said. That wasn’t exactly helpful.
“No, I mean, this hole place! What is this place?” Twilight asked.
The metal pony made several clicking and whirring noises before answering. “This is the Everfree Plains Ballistic Research and Development Facility. EPMB.”
“What does EPMB stand for?” Twilight asked.
“Everfree Plains Ballistic Research and Development Facility,” the metal pony answered.
“The acronym doesn’t match...” Twilight said with a confused look on her face.
“I’m sorry. I did not understand your query. Please consult helpdesk with further queries,” the metal pony said. Its head turned back around the right way, and trotted off to its next task.
Twilight and Vinyl looked at each other in confusion, but decided to press on. The only way they were going to get answers was if they kept looking.
They continued down the hallway, taking it through several twists and turns until they found themselves rounding a corner, and nearly running headlong into another metal pony. This one was holding a bucket of red paint in one manipulator, and a paint brush in the other, it was painting a door that it was standing in front of. No, not painting, not exactly. More like writing. The metal pony was writing a message on the door.
The metal pony finished his task, and moved on without a word to either of them. Twilight and Vinyl looked at the door. Painted on in large red letters was a message: “Visitors! Please come in here!”
Twilight and Vinyl looked at it for a minute, and then at each other, with a small shrug, they made their way inside.
Inside the room was a large rectangle shaped machine, behind glass panes, spools of magnetic tape were rolling through the complex machine. There was a control console in front of it, a small display screen sitting on top of it, flashing slightly with an eerie green light.
One the console itself, however, there was a small flashing red light. Twilight and Vinyl Scratch approached it; next to the flashing light was a button. What was interesting about the button was that it had the words “Press Me” etched into them.
With a shrug, Twilight pushed it.
“Head Researcher’s Log, This is Doctor Emerald Sparkle reporting... if you’re listening to this... well then that means that this was all for something. By Gaia, I can only imagine how long it’s been for you... This probably doesn’t help you at all, but the date I’m recording this message is February 14th, year 4005 of Gaia’s reign. So... uh, welcome to EPMB, I guess...”
There was a sigh and a long pause on the recording, Twilight and Vinyl Scratch waited patiently for it to continue.
“Sorry... there’s just so much I want to say, but I don’t know where to start... Yes Doppler, you’re right I should have made an outline... Well here’s a good spot, there’s going to be more than one roll of data tape that you’ll have to listen to. I’ve got a lot to say. When I’m done, I’ll be sure to put this one back into the mainframe so that you’ll get the message in the right order. I’d hate for you to start out hearing instructions of what to do with the missile before you even know what that is. Well I’m getting ahead of myself, so I guess I should give you a little about me. I’m Emerald Sparkle. I’m the head researcher here at EPMB; I oversee... or well, oversaw, got to remember: past tense, every project that goes on here... I personally designed the Crusader IX Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, and worked on the development team for the Sunburst project... Gaia, that was almost 10 years ago... What? What do you mean Doppler? Oh right, you don’t know what either of those are! Okay, well... I’m really hoping you have some idea what an atom is, because my explanation hinges on it. Have you ever wondered what would happen if an atom were to split? Well I’ll tell you, it releases a lot of energy. The Sunburst project was to develop this concept into a weapon. It worked beyond our wildest dreams! We tested several prototype warheads in the Hoofson bay, and the resulting explosion was both beautiful and terrifying at the same time. The mushroom cloud lasted for days... and I’m running out of tape. Listen. I’ve got to hide the tapes, because if I don’t those stupid robots will pick them up and recycle them. I’m going to hide the next tape underneath the bottom drawer of the desk at the opposite end of the room. Listen to it, and you’ll get the next part of the message. I’m also going to reprogram one of the maintenance robots to paint a message on the door to this room... You’ll have already found your way in here by then, but in case you were wondering why it was doing that, well now you know the reason why it was doing it... one final request. Please don’t break anything, be gentle with the equipment! Who knows how old it will be by the time somepony actually listens to it.”
The message ended after that. Twilight and Vinyl looked at each other in confusion. They’d been hoping for answers. Now all they had were more questions.
|
Wheller
|
1030
| 3 |
DJ P0N-3,Original Character,Scootaloo,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Long Road Home
|
Vinyl Scratch learns this when an ancient device of terrible power is discovered, and now her new home, the only one she ever felt was truly hers is threatened by those who wish to control it.
|
complete
| 26 | 5 |
<p>Home. It's not always where you were born.</p><p>Vinyl Scratch learns this when an ancient device of terrible power is discovered, and now her new home, the only one she ever felt was truly hers is threatened by those who wish to control it.</p><p>However, in order to save it, it may require a sacrifice that she is not ready to make.</p><p>(authors notes: this is not, as I previously stated, going to be the last story in the series. I always do an Epilogue, but I've discovered that the way the epilogue was going to go, it'll be too long and too different to actually be a part of this story. This it will be rolled into its own, and THAT will be the finale.)</p>
|
teen
|
2011-10-01T04:26:49+00:00
|
2011-10-01T04:26:49+00:00
| 1,574 |
Chapter 3
“Data tape reel two, this is Doctor Emerald Sparkle again. If you’ve discovered this reel, then you’ll have listened to the instructions on the previous reel. So, now where was I? Thank you Doppler, nuclear weapons, if I’m to guess what the world is like now, you’ve never heard of nuclear weapons before now, and by my description of them, they sound terrible. I’m not going to lie, they are. Nuclear weapons release energy as ionising radiation. That radiation does nasty things to a pony. When we tested the first bomb, we had no idea what it was going to be like afterwards, nopony did. Some of the project members went out to the blast crater to inspect their handy work. They’re all dead now... I mean from my point of view. From your point of view, I’ve been long dead. Dear Gaia, that’s a scary thought.... Thank you Doppler, I’ll try to keep on track. Oh! I haven’t introduced you to Doppler! Doppler is a handy little program that sits inside the Mainframe. I’m sure you’ve met some of the complexes’ robots. Doppler is kind of like them... except, oh what’s a word to use? Not as stupid. We’ll go with that. Don’t get me wrong, the robots aren’t exactly stupid, their programming is just simple, they’re meant for menial tasks like cleaning the floors, changing a light bulb, we don’t need rocket scientists to do that! I should know, I am one! A rocket scientist I mean. Yes Doppler, I know data tape is expensive, but it’s not going to matter considering that EPMB won’t be buying anymore...”
Vinyl Scratch stopped the recording for a moment, and looked over at Twilight, grinning like a madmare. “You know? This egghead we’re listening to reminds me a lot of you... I bet she had the sexy nerd thing going for her as well.”
Twilight Sparkle looked at her friend with disdain, rather than responding to it, she just rolled her eyes and giving her a look that told her to play the tape.
“... won’t be buying anymore. So... that’s nuclear weapons. Don’t get me wrong! Yes, I worked on the weapon, but weapons were only the first step! No. My real goal was nuclear power. Generate electricity for ordinary regular ponies. After all, it releases energy when you split an atom, that energy can be used to better the lives of everypony in Equestria! Or at least, that’s what I was hoping for. Not going to happen now since that bitch decided that everything needed to go. This Princess Celestia... she’s going to be the death of ponykind. I’ve probably just lost you. Uh... well, there’s kind of a lot of history, and it would take fifteen data tape reels for me to tell you the story. Listen: I’m running out of tape on this reel. Tell you what, I’m going to give you access to my system account; you’ll be able to access it from any terminal in the complex. Please, please please PLEASE! Do not lock it out! If you do, all of Equestria’s history will be lost to you forever. The user name is ESpark.0012, the password is lemonlime123. Don’t ask; I’m not alive to tell you. Look through the history files, fill yourself in on what happened, and when you’re ready, the next data tape reel is hidden in the air vent on the far side of the room. Fair bit of warning: you may not like what you read.”
Vinyl Scratch looked at her friend and gave her a small shrug. “I think we’re going to have to save that for later, Sun’s about to come up. Last thing I want is for Scootaloo to wake up and freak out when nopony is home.”
“How do you know what time it is? You’re freaky spatial senses tell you that too?” Twilight asked.
“Of course not! That would be silly,” Vinyl said with a grin, holding back on her explanation for thirty seconds for comedic effect. She opened her saddlebags and levitated out a small pocket watch on a chain. “One of the few things my father ever did for me was telling me this: ‘never leave home without a timepiece.’”
“Do you have to be the oddball right now Vinyl?” Twilight asked with a sigh.
“Yes. If I don’t I’ll go insane,” Vinyl said, her voice filled with seriousness.
“What do you mean by ‘go’?” Twilight asked, a small smirk forming on her face.
Vinyl grinned back at her. “I will have you know! I have lived the last fortnight with perfect sanity... though it might be time to change that.”
Twilight giggled slightly as they walked out. Vinyl smiled back. Laughter, along with time, heals all wounds.
...
It was eight o’clock by the time they made their way back into Ponyville. Trooper Willoughby and Corporal McNair were washing the Lord Stuart, parked just across the northern bridge.
“Hey! Benny-boy and Driver Steve! How’s it going?” Vinyl asked, causing both kangaroos to groan at Vinyl’s nicknames for them. “Aw come on!”
“Early morning stroll in the woods, ladies?” Willoughby asked, shrugging off Vinyl’s use of his given name, which he disliked for reasons unknown to the mares.
“Oh you know, just trying to keep the mind off the obvious,” Twilight said.
Both Willoughby and McNair frowned. Rainbow Dash had been their friend too.
“Hard to believe she’s gone,” Willoughby said. “Don’t suppose you’ve gotten funeral arrangement’s set up? Lef-tenant Tebbs wants her buried with full military honours.”
“No... not yet,” Twilight said. “Tell him that I’ll let him know when I do, and we appreciate it.”
Twilight and Vinyl bid their goodbyes to the kangaroos, and walked back off towards Vinyl’s house. Twilight looked as if she was about to cry.
“Vinyl I hadn’t even thought about it,” Twilight said, trying to hold back the tears.
“I think Rainbow Dash would understand, she wouldn’t want to think about it either,” Vinyl said, trying to console the grieving pony.
Vinyl unlocked the door to her home and they stepped inside.
“Scootaloo? You awake?” Vinyl called out.
“Scootaloo ain’t here,” said a familiar voice from the main room.
Twilight and Vinyl froze in terror. It was Applejack.
“What have you done with Scootaloo?” Vinyl cried out.
“Scootaloo’s fine, Ah didn’ lay a hoof on her.” Applejack said, her unnatural blood red eyes glowing at them in the darkness of the unlit room.
“Applejack... you told me the last time you were here that if you had to come back here that I’d regret it, but I did what you asked!” Twilight said. “We went to EPMB! We went inside!”
“Relax Twi’ Ah ain’t ‘ere ta hurt nopony. Ah know what Ah said, but things change. Overdrive’s felt that yer gonna need somepony ta watch over ya while ya work,” Applejack said.
“So what? You’re going to be looming over us as the ever present eye of totalitarianism?” Vinyl asked.
“Me? Nah, Overdrive don’t want to have to watch over the one doin’ the watchin’ it ain’t a good use of time. Time is somethin’ we’re all runnin’ short of,” Applejack said. “Here is what ya’ll need ta know: There are three kinds o’ ponies that serve Overdrive, ones he controls directly, ones that think they’re in control, and ones that serve him willingly. Ah’m an example of the first, Pinkie Pie’s an example o’ the second... The one that’s gonna be watchin’ ya’ll is an example o’ the third... She’s around here somewheres...”
Vinyl looked around the room and noticed something that had not been there before. It was a large cardboard box. The box snapped open, and out of it burst a white coated Pegasus pony with a bright yellow mane and a cutie mark of three purple balloons.
“SURPRISE!” the Pegasus called as she leapt from the box and tackled Vinyl and Twilight to the ground.
The Pegasus was not one that they were familiar with, but as they looked into her eyes, they discovered that they too, were Blood Red.
“Hi! I’m Surprise!” the Pegasus said. “And we’re gonna be the bestest friends EVER! Whether you like it nor not!”
|
Wheller
|
1030
| 4 |
DJ P0N-3,Original Character,Scootaloo,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Long Road Home
|
Vinyl Scratch learns this when an ancient device of terrible power is discovered, and now her new home, the only one she ever felt was truly hers is threatened by those who wish to control it.
|
complete
| 26 | 5 |
<p>Home. It's not always where you were born.</p><p>Vinyl Scratch learns this when an ancient device of terrible power is discovered, and now her new home, the only one she ever felt was truly hers is threatened by those who wish to control it.</p><p>However, in order to save it, it may require a sacrifice that she is not ready to make.</p><p>(authors notes: this is not, as I previously stated, going to be the last story in the series. I always do an Epilogue, but I've discovered that the way the epilogue was going to go, it'll be too long and too different to actually be a part of this story. This it will be rolled into its own, and THAT will be the finale.)</p>
|
teen
|
2011-10-01T04:27:06+00:00
|
2011-10-01T04:27:06+00:00
| 1,546 |
Chapter 4
Surprise was friendly enough on the exterior, however, as Twilight and Vinyl Scratch walked through Whitetail Wood, this didn’t feel like a walk though, this felt like a forced march. Twilight and Vinyl were reminded of the Hoofson Bay, when Gilda had marched them some fifty odd kilometres; Vinyl had carried an unconscious Rainbow Dash on her back without complaint.
This felt like that.
Twilight looked back at Surprise; the Pegasus was humming to herself as she flapped along behind them, her blood red eyes darting every which way.
“Surprise?” Twilight asked of her. The Pegasus turned and looked at Twilight with a bright, yet disconcerting, smile.
“Yessss?” she asked.
“Well, I was just wondering... if we’re going to be... friends, now and all, if we could know a little more about you?” Twilight asked, hesitantly.
“Of course! Wow, it’s been a super long time since anypony wanted to know about me! Hmm... Now where to start? We’ve got a good walk ahead of us to EPMB, and their so much to go over...” Surprise began, her voice trailing off slightly.
“You know about EPMB?” Twilight asked in surprise, though she felt silly for asking that afterwards, Surprise worked for Overdrive.
“Uh duh!” Surprise cried out. “When I was a filly, all anypony ever talked about on the wireless was EPMB! EPMB did this, and EPMB did that... BORING!”
“When you were a filly?” Vinyl Scratch asked, she and Twilight looked at each other, EPMB had to have been abandoned for hundreds of years.
“Surprise... how old are you?” Twilight asked.
“Hmm...” Surprise said, tapping her muzzle in thought. “I am one thousand, one hundred and eighty seven years old! By the Gaian calendar, not the stupid one you use today!”
Twilight and Vinyl’s mouths dropped open.
“Why are you surprised?” Surprise asked. “Such rewards are possible when you serve the Paragon! I’ve dedicated my life to him! And as a reward, he gave me the ability to serve him forever!”
Surprise smiled brightly at the two mares, causing them to recoil slightly in uneasiness, Surprise was too busy thinking about Overdrive to notice.
“He could have given you gifts too if you hadn’t screwed up so bad!” Surprise said. “OH! And just so you know, we might be friends now, but if you even so much as think of betraying the paragon, I’ll cut open your stomachs and hang you from EPMB’s ceiling by your intestines! Then I’ll take your heads and stick them on pikes as a warning to everypony in Equestria!”
Surprise leaned in close to them. “Don’t worry though, if it comes to that, I’ll make sure you’re making silly faces!” she whispered.
Now Twilight and Vinyl were deeply afraid. Surprise was insane, and she was devoted. One wrong move and she’d kill them both in a heartbeat.
“I was so happy when the Paragon contacted me after all these years! Those stupid cultists sealed him away from me! I was so sad when they did! I spent most of my life stalking the Ulhan family making sure nothing happened to my master... then Montana gave me the slip! He put in his notes that he was going to Fillydelphia, I figured out he was going there and I beat him there. I was so disappointed when he never showed up! Imagine my surprise when I learned that he’d met his end in Ponyville! Releasing my master on the world! Nopony has surprised Surprise in a very long time!” Surprise said.
Twilight didn’t want to listen to Surprise anymore, the Pegasus frightened her more than Overdrive or the Siblings Nightmare ever had, likewise, she didn’t want to miss anything, in case Surprise gave away something important, some little bit of knowledge that they would need in the future.
Surprise continued to ramble, continuing to praise Overdrive until they reached the caves. They went down and arrived at the door. Twilight pushed the button to open it up and covered her ears instinctively.
Surprise ushered them into the mainframe room and sat them down in front of the terminal. Twilight, after taking a few moments to get familiar with the keyboard, used her magic to log into Doctor Emerald Sparkle’s account.
They were instantly routed to the history files, Twilight assumed that this was the work of Doppler, the program that had been described to them in the last data reel.
A history of the Kingdom of Equestria: condensed.
Prepared by Doctor Emerald Sparkle for any who would read it.
Nearly 4000 years ago, Equestria was founded by the beloved Queen Gaia, and her mate King Aether. Equestria was governed by Gaia’s divine wisdom... for a time. Faith in their Queen could only give equestrians so much, and as such, society transitioned away from theology and towards the pursuit of science and knowledge, not only with the fair Queen’s allowance, but her encouragement. Research in to all sorts of subjects, chemistry, geology, medicine. Anything that you could think of, someone was working on it, and if somepony wasn’t, then you’d do it yourself.
Equestrians were peaceful by nature, but that did not stop us from creating weapons, sword, shield, gunpowder, nitro-glycerine, the atomic bomb. Nothing would stop equestrians in their thirst for knowledge.
Except them, the Children of Gaia were not thrilled with the way that their mother let things happen. Her four children, Sun, Moon, Order, Chaos, could not sit idly by and allow things to happen as their mother did. Each of them looked out into Equestria and saw something different.
Order’s vision for Equestria was not one of science and progress, rather one of slavery to the royal family; he would rule Equestria with an iron hoof, exerting his will upon the entire populace.
Chaos looked out into the world beyond Equestria, and he wanted it for himself, he would wish to send Equestria’s armies to conquer the gryphons of the north and the Cossacks in the east. Destroying the weak and insuring that the strong would survive.
Moon, perhaps, had the ponies of Equestria’s best interests at heart, she wished for progress to continue, albeit in a more peaceful line. She wished for Equestria to be a republic, where anypony had a voice, and not just the unicorn aristocracy.
It would be Sun, however who made the move. She wished for Equestria to forget it’s hard won, and dangerous, knowledge and return to a simpler time, where the ponies of Equestria would focus on magic instead of science. Late one evening, Sun struck her mother down, destroying her with ancient magicks too terrible to speak of. Sun’s actions enraged her father King Aether, turning him into a terrible creature, the Draconequus, Discord.
Discord; however proved to be more than a match for Sun, she should not defeat him alone. She turned to her siblings, and asked for their aid.
They refused, appalled at her for what they did to their mother, and refused to speak to her ever again. Even her younger sister, Moon, whom she was the closest.
Moon’s refusal hit Sun hard, and she resorted again to the terrible magicks, using them to modify her sister’s memory, forcing her to take her side.
That day, Sun and Moon ceased to exist. They took up new names. Celestia, and Luna, and united against Discord, using their combined power to seal Discord inside a stone prison.
Celestia and Luna then turned their attention to their brothers. Order and Chaos needed to be removed in order to install Celestia’s vision of a new Equestria. Ironically, they did not need to lift a hoof against them. Order and Chaos had long been enemies; cults had sprung around both of them. The Cult of Chaos would strike first, luring Order into a trap and sealing him away inside one of their leaders, and soon afterwards, Chaos himself disappeared without a trace.
Without the leadership of the god-like ponies in which they followed, the cults eventually fizzled out, where history is sure to forget of them entirely.
Twilight and Vinyl came to the end, it felt like there should have been more, but no, that was it.
“Surprise? Do you remember when this all happened?” Twilight asked.
“Uh yeah! I was there! Hello!” Surprise said. “It was around the time when the paragon made me his immortal servant! I was so happy when he did! It was amazing! Dumb old Celestia ordered everypony to destroy all their technology. Obviously, Doctor Sparkle didn’t listen! That naughty mare! How dare she disobey an order? Even if it was made by dumb old Celestia! She was in charge!”
“Are you saying that if Princess Celestia ordered you to do something... you’d do it?” Twilight asked hopefully, an idea popping into her head.
“Uh NO! My master is free from his prison! He’s the highest authority in Equestria, not her! Even if nopony knows it!” Surprise said.
Twilight frowned, that wasn’t quite the answer that she had been hoping for.
“Hey! Turn that frown upside down!” Surprise said grinning widely, which made the mare’s skin crawl. “We got data tape reels to listen to!”
|
Wheller
|
1030
| 5 |
DJ P0N-3,Original Character,Scootaloo,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Long Road Home
|
Vinyl Scratch learns this when an ancient device of terrible power is discovered, and now her new home, the only one she ever felt was truly hers is threatened by those who wish to control it.
|
complete
| 26 | 5 |
<p>Home. It's not always where you were born.</p><p>Vinyl Scratch learns this when an ancient device of terrible power is discovered, and now her new home, the only one she ever felt was truly hers is threatened by those who wish to control it.</p><p>However, in order to save it, it may require a sacrifice that she is not ready to make.</p><p>(authors notes: this is not, as I previously stated, going to be the last story in the series. I always do an Epilogue, but I've discovered that the way the epilogue was going to go, it'll be too long and too different to actually be a part of this story. This it will be rolled into its own, and THAT will be the finale.)</p>
|
teen
|
2011-10-01T04:27:34+00:00
|
2011-10-01T04:27:34+00:00
| 1,788 |
Chapter 5
The nightly pony walked his rounds though the poorer districts of Canterlot, as he did each night. The pitch black unicorn with amber eyes had been unlucky in today’s venture; nopony needed his help today, disappointing the unicorn stallion greatly.
Nightly’s eyes darted around the street, looking for any bit of litter he could pick up and turn in for scrap, already picked clean, as usual. He didn’t complain; there were other ponies that deserved it more than he. Nightly was essentially the poorer districts mascot, he was their helper, their confidant, and while the ponies weren’t well off, they made sure he was well looked after.
These weren’t handouts of course, Nightly wouldn’t take handouts. Ever. He insisted that he worked for whatever he could get; of course, there was plenty of work to be done.
There was something different about tonight, though. Some new figure that did not belong here. It was a doctor. Nightly knew he was a doctor by the white medical coat that he wore. He was walking down the street in the direction of the Royal Hospital... made sense, he was a doctor after all.
Though there was something odd about this doctor, for one thing, if not for the white coat, Nightly might not have even seen him at all, his coat and mane matched his own... and there was something familiar about him, but Nightly couldn’t place it. After a small debate, he decided to investigate, he followed the doctor pony, keeping back far enough, making it seem like he wasn’t following him. This was a rougher area of town, Nightly didn’t want to scare the doctor pony.
Sure enough, the doctor pony made his way to the Royal Hospital, and what was even odder was that there was another doctor pony standing just outside, almost identical to the first one, except this one had wings.
The Pegasus doctor wandered out of the Royal Hospital, looking extremely confused, as if he was being drawn to something. Nightly felt like he was being drawn to this spot as well, and if he had to guess, so had the earth pony doctor who he’d followed.
Against his better judgement, Nightly walked up to the other two. They all approached each other, looking the others gathering around. They were familiar, but they each had trouble placing it.
And then it hit them.
“I remember you,” they all said simultaneously.
Their memories flooded back to them. He was not Nightly, he was Nightshadow.
“My brothers!” Nightcaller cried out in relief. “We’ve been apart far too long, my brothers.”
“Indeed we have,” Nightshadow said. “We’ve got much to catch up on... and much to do.”
“I have excellent news for you my brothers. You would not believe who is lying in a hospital bed under my care?” Nightsinger said with a grin. “None other than our dear sister!”
“That is most fortunate!” Nightcaller said. “Come brothers, let’s pay her a visit!”
That night became the record for coldest for the season, and for good reason, The Siblings Nightmare had returned.
...
Twilight had located the third data reel, and inserted it for playback; the three mares sat down on the metal floor and readied themselves to listen to it.
“I should have made Popcorn!” Surprise called out.
Twilight and Vinyl did their best to ignore her, as she had decided to sit uncomfortably close to the two of them.
“Data tape reel three, this is Doctor Emerald Sparkle... oh you know who I am. Let’s get down to important business then. You know, or at least, should know, that the restructure of government into the Principality of Equestria mandated changes. Princess Celestia ordered that all electronic technologies be destroyed. Factories to be disassembled, things like that. Simple mechanical devices, like a clock, are fine. Anything with a thermionic valve has got to go... stupid bitch. Yes! Let’s completely undo every major technological advancement we’ve made in the last hundred years! That’s a wonderful Idea. Do I sound bitter? Good. I am bitter. Fortunately... I cheated! Rather than complying, I programmed a virus to delete every reference to EPMB on external networks. I cut the hard lines that connect us to the other installations, everypony doesn’t trust their own computers anymore, and we stopped keeping paper records nearly a thousand years ago, so they’re not going to bother coming out here to check. EPMB is safe... and even if somepony does. I’ve collapsed the tunnel to the front entrance to the base. Very few know about the back way in, so we’re fine. I’ll just finish up these tapes, and then pop out the back door and nopony will ever be wiser. ‘Oh Emerald Sparkle! You’re so brilliant!’ Thank you, thank you, I know! No, I’m only joking. Anyway, the missile! I’m sure you’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the missile. Don’t worry. It’s not going anywhere, I personally disassembled the thrust control modules for the missile’s boosters, it can’t take off without them... wasn’t able to disable the warhead though. It’s up too high and I could never reach it. Anypony who knows how would be able to turn it on... but I don’t think that’s something you, dear listeners, will ever have to worry about. After all, who knows how far ahead in the future you are? Everypony that knows how to arm a nuclear bomb will have been dead for hundreds, or maybe even thousands of years! Anyway, the missile is fine. Don’t worry about it. It’s no more dangerous than an immovable hunk of metal at this point... actually, that’s exactly what it is. Moving on! Now, here’s what you need to do. All our scientific data is on the mainframe. Use it. Make Equestria the place it was supposed to be... for me, for you. Please. I... hey? What’s that sound?”
On the recording, there was a loud banging noise, followed by a loud crash, a revving of a chainsaw, and a new voice on the recording.
“SURPRISE!”
“No! Wait... what are you doing? Stay back! Please! No! I’M PREGNANT!”
The last they heard of Emerald Sparkle was the chainsaw revving, along with the scientists screams of terror and pain. Twilight and Vinyl shuddered with horror as they listened.
And then silence.
“Let this be a lesson to you,” said the voice of Surprise on the recording. “Never disobey.”
Twilight and Vinyl looked back at Surprise in horror, she on the other hoof was grinning, quite pleased with herself.
“I totally remember that now! That was so much fun!” Surprise said. “Red is a very good colour for this room! It’s too bad the robots painted it back this ugly grey colour.”
Twilight and Vinyl swallowed hard. They were in a full on panic. They were locked in the mainframe room with a murderer, and what was worse, she saw it as if it was all a game.
“So...” Twilight asked nervously. “What do we do now?”
“Isn’t it obvious?!” Surprise asked, with a huge, sadistic looking smile on her face. “We’re going to set off the bomb!”
|
Wheller
|
1030
| 6 |
DJ P0N-3,Original Character,Scootaloo,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Long Road Home
|
Vinyl Scratch learns this when an ancient device of terrible power is discovered, and now her new home, the only one she ever felt was truly hers is threatened by those who wish to control it.
|
complete
| 26 | 5 |
<p>Home. It's not always where you were born.</p><p>Vinyl Scratch learns this when an ancient device of terrible power is discovered, and now her new home, the only one she ever felt was truly hers is threatened by those who wish to control it.</p><p>However, in order to save it, it may require a sacrifice that she is not ready to make.</p><p>(authors notes: this is not, as I previously stated, going to be the last story in the series. I always do an Epilogue, but I've discovered that the way the epilogue was going to go, it'll be too long and too different to actually be a part of this story. This it will be rolled into its own, and THAT will be the finale.)</p>
|
teen
|
2011-10-01T04:27:54+00:00
|
2011-10-01T04:27:54+00:00
| 1,495 |
Chapter 6
Twilight and Vinyl Scratch blinked, as if they were trying to process what Surprise meant. They hoped, they hoped harder than they ever hoped before that “set off the bomb” was going to be a metaphor, and when they realised that it wasn’t, made them fear the insane pegasi more than they already had.
“What?” Twilight asked, in disbelief, causing Surprise to frown. Neither mare thought it was possible, but Surprise’s frown was twice as disconcerting as her smile.
“You heard me,” Surprise said dangerously, her voice was filled with annoyance and contempt for her new “friends.” Her face turned to a smile. “Not today though, noooo... I think we’ve done enough for today! You two can go on home and get a goodnight sleep! Just remember, I’ll be watching you...”
Surprise leaned in close and uttered a single word in a hoarse whisper. “...forever!”
Twilight and Vinyl needed no encouragement to leave, they turned tail and walked as quickly as they could out of EPMB without breaking into a full on run. They opened the steel door and the moment they were outside, burst into a full out sprint, not stopping until they were safely inside Vinyl’s home, door dead bolted behind them.
Both mares collapsed onto the floor, breathing heavily. Twilight looked at her friend and wrapped her forelegs around her in an embrace.
“Vinyl! I am so scared right now!” Twilight said hysterically, she looked as if she was going to burst out into tears.
Vinyl hugged her back, trying to console her friend, but soon she found herself breaking down too. They had no way of preparing themselves against somepony like Surprise.
“Vinyl? What’s going on?”
Vinyl looked up to see the orange Pegasus filly in which she lived with looking terribly confused as she watched them.
“Scootaloo!” Vinyl said as she released Twilight and threw herself around Scootaloo, giving the filly a hug of relief.
To Vinyl’s disappointment, Scootaloo wormed her way out of the embrace. “Don’t touch me,” she said, backing away from the off-white unicorn mare, who sat on the floor, about to burst into tears. She understood why Scootaloo couldn’t be affectionate with her right now, but it hurt nonetheless.
Scootaloo went back into her room, closing the door behind her, leaving Twilight and Vinyl alone.
“I think we should try and go to sleep,” Twilight said. “Maybe... maybe things will be better in the morning.”
The mares looked at each other, and knew that it was a flat out lie.
...
Somepony was kissing her. Vinyl Scratch opened her eyes; she was lying on her back on her sofa. Surprise was lying on top of her, gently kissing her lips every few seconds, sensually running her hooves down Vinyl’s flanks.
Vinyl Scratch wanted to leap out of her skin.
“Hi,” Surprise said seductively. “Has anypony ever told you that you taste yummy?”
As a matter of fact, they had, and now it was creeping Vinyl out far more.
“Surprise... what are you doing?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Surprise asked coyly, she kissed Vinyl’s lips again, and then her neck, and continuing to move down, all the way down.
“Surprise!” Vinyl breathed heavily.
“Don’t you think I’m pretty, Vinyl?” Surprise asked. “I think you are!”
Surprise began to stroke the inside of Vinyl’s legs, causing the mare to gasp in pleasure.
“Don’t you want me?” Surprise asked.
“I... I...” Vinyl stammered she was torn; it was Surprise, after all. The Pegasus pony that they’d learned that a thousand years ago, she murdered a pregnant mare with a chainsaw, on the other hoof; Vinyl was so turned on right now.
“Too late!” Surprise called out. “Had your chance! You blew it!”
Surprise got up from on top of Vinyl and trotted out of her house. Giggling sadistically as she went. Vinyl was all worked up now; there would be no sleeping for the mare tonight.
That had probably been Surprise’s plan. Exhausting them to minimalise resistance, but Vinyl wasn’t concerned with that, she was extremely horny, and all her mind could focus on was a release. Her eyes darted around the room, happening to fall upon the door to Scootaloo’s room, filling the mare’s mind with ideas.
NO! Vinyl did her best to shake the ideas from her mind, which were wrong on so many different levels. The idea popped into her head that she might need to tie herself up to keep her from going and acting on them. Poor line of thought, it turned her on even more.
Vinyl’s mind was ripping itself to pieces. Conflicting ideas swirled though her head to how best deal with the situation. She rose to her hooves and quickly exited her house before she convinced herself that molesting either Scootaloo or Twilight was a good idea.
Vinyl heard giggling behind her as she went outside. Surprise was lying on the roof, laughing at her.
“Oh this is so much fun!” Surprise said. “I should have tried this earlier!”
Vinyl wanted to murder the Pegasus for that. She had just slipped her magic around the handle of her revolver when Surprise leapt from the rooftop and darted towards her, tackling her to the ground.
“Hellllo? Who do you think you’re dealing with here?” Surprise asked. “Not that it matters, shoot me, stab me, do whatever you want. I’ll just get right back up!”
Surprise grinned widely at the unicorn beneath her. “You can’t kill me!” she sung. Surprise rose to her hooves and leapt into the air flying off to who knows where.
Vinyl got up and walked off to find a place to be by herself. She had things to take care of.
...
Scootaloo awoke to the sound of hooves trotting around on the roof. She got up from bed and went to look out the window. There was nothing at first, Scootaloo opened the window and looked out it.
“SURPRISE!” cried a white Pegasus who stuck her head in through the window from her perch on the roof.
Scootaloo cried out in surprise and tumbled backwards.
Surprise giggled at the filly. “Ha ha! Gotcha!”
Scootaloo was not amused by the Pegasus. “Who are you?” she asked.
“I’m Surprise!” the Pegasus replied in a chipper voice.
“Go away,” Scootaloo said. “Leave me alone!”
Surprise frowned at the filly. “Somepony is being a party pooper! I don’t like party poopers!”
“I don’t care,” Scootaloo said crawling back into her bed and pulling the covers over her head.
Surprise ripped them back off Scootaloo, who looked at the Pegasus in annoyance. “Get out of my room before I tell an adult!”
“Like who? Vinyl Scratch? She’s not here! Go look!” Surprise said.
Scootaloo grumbled, intending to show the Pegasus up, she rose from the bed and opened the door, looking out into the main room; Vinyl wasn’t lying on the sofa like she was supposed to be.
“What?” Scootaloo asked in surprise. “Where... where did she go?”
“I saw her walking towards the edge of town!” Surprise said. “She left you.”
“What?” Scootaloo asked, looking at Surprise in disbelief. Tears were forming in the filly’s eyes. “Why... why would she do that?”
“‘Cause she doesn’t love you, duh!” Surprise said. “She said: ‘Scootaloo is such a loser! I’m way too cool for her and her party pooper butt.’”
“I... I...” Scootaloo said, she started to cry. Vinyl had abandoned her just like her parents had. She was alone again.
Scootaloo was sobbing now, she ran back into her room, packed her saddlebags with the few positions that she had and climbed out the window. Bound for the CMC clubhouse where she could be with the only pony she could depend on, herself.
Surprise had to cover her mouth to keep herself from bursting into full out laughter. “Oh such a fun little game!” she said to herself, smiling brightly with accomplishment. Surprise eyed the other bedroom where Twilight was sleeping; she quietly snuck in and crawled into the bed, moving under the sheets to the foot of the bed, and began stroking Twilight intimately. She began to stir.
“Oh... Rainbow...” Twilight murmured in her sleep. Surprise picked up the pace. Twilight’s leg began to twitch. Getting bored, Surprise poked her hard in the stomach, causing her to awaken.
“Huh? What?” Twilight said sleepily.
“SURPRISE!” Surprise yelled bursting through the covers and throwing them on the floor.
Twilight screamed loudly, lights from the other houses nearby began to click on one by one. Twilight abandoned her bed and scampered out of the house, continuing to scream as she ran. Waking up the entire town and sending the full contingent of kangaroo soldiers into the streets.
Surprise, however, just sat back laughing. Her sides were beginning to ache.
“Best! Pranks! Ever!” Surprise managed between wheezes.
Oh how much fun she was going to have with this little town.
|
Wheller
|
1030
| 7 |
DJ P0N-3,Original Character,Scootaloo,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Long Road Home
|
Vinyl Scratch learns this when an ancient device of terrible power is discovered, and now her new home, the only one she ever felt was truly hers is threatened by those who wish to control it.
|
complete
| 26 | 5 |
<p>Home. It's not always where you were born.</p><p>Vinyl Scratch learns this when an ancient device of terrible power is discovered, and now her new home, the only one she ever felt was truly hers is threatened by those who wish to control it.</p><p>However, in order to save it, it may require a sacrifice that she is not ready to make.</p><p>(authors notes: this is not, as I previously stated, going to be the last story in the series. I always do an Epilogue, but I've discovered that the way the epilogue was going to go, it'll be too long and too different to actually be a part of this story. This it will be rolled into its own, and THAT will be the finale.)</p>
|
teen
|
2011-10-01T04:28:10+00:00
|
2011-10-01T04:28:10+00:00
| 1,344 |
Chapter 7
Twilight stopped running; she was at the outskirts of town, near the cottage that was formerly occupied by Fluttershy. She was breathing heavily, and she slumped to the ground in exhaustion. Not only physical, but mentally as well, there may not have been any penetration involved, but what Surprise had done was still rape. She felt horribly violated; tears were streaming from the unicorn’s eyes.
“Who’s there?” called out a voice from the other side of the large tree that Twilight had stopped in front of.
“Vinyl? Is that you?” Twilight asked.
“Twilight?” Vinyl asked back. “Twilight! Listen to me! Whatever you do... don’t come around to the other side of this tree. Please.”
“Did... did Surprise do something to you too?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah... yeah she did,” Vinyl said. “I... I don’t want to talk about it.”
Vinyl Scratch was lying back against the tree, she too, was breathing heavily, but for reasons far different than Twilight’s. Pleasuring herself wasn’t out of the ordinary for her by any means, she was however, ashamed by the thoughts that she’d had at home. Had she not left to take care of this, she might have acted on them, she’d have been no better than Surprise.
“What are we going to do Vinyl?” Twilight asked, she was sobbing heavily.
“I... I don’t know,” Vinyl said.
Surprise had accomplished her goal. She had broken the two mares will.
Vinyl had finished her deed, feeling dirty and ashamed when the line of thought entered her mind.
She was here. Twilight was here. Scootaloo was home alone. There was nopony in Surprise’s way to do whatever she wanted to Scootaloo. Vinyl began to panic; she needed to get home, fast.
...
Scootaloo was lying in her bedroll in the Cutie Mark Crusader clubhouse, crying her eyes out. She had never felt so alone in her entire life, it stung the filly horribly, just as much, and if not more than the death of Rainbow Dash had.
Scootaloo heard hooves on the ramp outside. She looked up to discover the Pegasus who had told her about her abandonment peering in through the window.
“Hi!” Surprise said with a smile. She climbed inside the window, completely ignoring the fact that the door was mere centimetres from it. “You look like you could use some cheering up!”
“I don’t want to... just go away, leave me alone,” Scootaloo said, rolling over and closing her eyes.
“Aww! Come on! I promise you’ll feel better! We don’t need mean old Vinyl Scratch!” Surprise said.
Scootaloo flinched at the mention of Vinyl’s name; Surprise took notice and placed a hoof on Scootaloo’s shoulder.
“Come on! You don’t want to be sad! I can make you feel so much better!” Surprise said with a smile.
Scootaloo turned her head and looked at Surprise. “Why do you want to help me?”
“Because I like Smiles! Smiles make the world go ‘round!” Surprise said smiling brightly, not adding that she believed that the Paragon of Order that she held so dear caused the world to rotate, which only made it look like that the sun actually rose in the sky, when in actuality it stayed exactly in the same place all the time.
Scootaloo offered the mare a faint smile. “Okay...”
Surprise’s smile got wider, which Scootaloo didn’t think was even possible until she was looking upon it.
“You’re going to love this... I promise!”
...
The three pitch black ponies marched their way through the deserted hospital corridor. They had business to attend to. They opened the door to their sister’s room and stepped inside.
Tia looked up from her bed, where she was lying awake. “Doctor Nightsinger?”
Nightsinger smirked at his sister as she lay in bed. The irony of the situation was lovely. Their sister was nothing more than a small defenceless filly. With the exception of her natural form she was not a threat in the slightest.
Even then it was something they could prepare for.
“Good evening, dear sister.”
“Sister?” Tia asked in confusion. “But... we’re not related!”
“Oh... you wish we weren’t, you’ve wished for that every day since you banished us and Luna to the moon,” Nightcaller said.
“Huh?” Tia asked. “I never did anything like that! I don’t know how!”
“Time to remember!” Nightshadow said.
The three ponies formed into the Black Smoke, and leapt on top of the filly. She tried to scream, but only silence came out.
Tia struggled to breath, inhaling only brought smoke into her lungs, she was slowly suffocating, and when the pain became too much to handle, she broke. Her eyes began to shine. Much of the pink in her mane began to fade, being replaced by green and blue as it had in her adult form. She wanted to scream, but opening her mouth just pulled more smoke into her lungs.
A bright light began to form around Tia, enveloping the filly completely. The Black Smoke had done its job; it pulled back and allowed what they had created to continue.
The Light shone brightly for nearly a minute, and then it began to fade.
Tia was no longer sitting in the hospital bed. She’d been replaced.
“Ohh... my head hurts...”
Princess Celestia clutched her head with a hoof. The sight of her hoof startled her greatly. She was no longer a filly. Her memories came flooding back, and she looked to the cloud of Black Smoke hovering before her.
“You!” she spat angrily at it.
The cloud reformed into the trio, who stood smiling proudly at their work.
“Welcome back, Your Highness,” Nightcaller said, he and the other Siblings Nightmare bowed before their sister, not out of respect, but rather mocking her.
“I would strike you all down right here and right now if I could!” Celestia said, gritting her teeth in anger.
“Yes, sister, I am sure you would, this is why there are rules,” Nightcaller said, completely indifferent to his sister’s scorn. “I think... however you have more important things to worry about. A certain lunar pony, maybe?”
“You three and your brother lost the right to call me sister after what you did,” Celestia said. “I will deal with Luna in due time.”
“What we did? What we did was inconsequential. You planted the seeds for Nightmare Moon when you stole Luna’s memories from her, and you are the one who has to live with that for the rest of eternity,” Nightsinger said.
“As for our dearest brother, he no longer matters,” Nightshadow said simply. “He lost his only way of winning.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow . “What do you mean?”
“Go to Ponyville. Look for yourself,” Nightcaller said. The Siblings Nightmare gave their sister another mocking bow, and reformed into the Black Smoke, sliding through the cracks of the ventilation system. They had other things that needed doing, and not a lot of time to do them.
Celestia pondered the Siblings statement for a time; she decided that she would do just that. She rose from the bed and closed her eyes. Her body began to change, this time, instead of a cloud of white smoke as she ordinarily would have done; she changed into a white coated Pegasus with a pink mane. She opened the window and took flight; she’d be in Ponyville in no time at all.
...
Twilight and Vinyl burst into house at full speed.
“Scootaloo?” Vinyl called out, dashing into the filly’s room and discovering that she wasn’t there. The window was open, and all of Scootaloo’s bed sheets had been tied together and were hanging out the window.
“Oh no,” Vinyl said, she was beginning to panic; Scootaloo could be anywhere at this point.
“She’s not here!” Twilight said as she trotted into the room.
“I know...” Vinyl said. “She went out the window... where would she go?”
Vinyl looked out the window; it was facing west, towards the Everfree forest... and Sweet Apple Acres.
That was it. The Cutie Mark Crusader club house! That was where she would go!
“Come on! I know where to go now!” Vinyl said. She ran out of the house with Twilight close behind her. She only hoped that she wasn’t too late.
|
Wheller
|
1030
| 8 |
DJ P0N-3,Original Character,Scootaloo,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Long Road Home
|
Vinyl Scratch learns this when an ancient device of terrible power is discovered, and now her new home, the only one she ever felt was truly hers is threatened by those who wish to control it.
|
complete
| 26 | 5 |
<p>Home. It's not always where you were born.</p><p>Vinyl Scratch learns this when an ancient device of terrible power is discovered, and now her new home, the only one she ever felt was truly hers is threatened by those who wish to control it.</p><p>However, in order to save it, it may require a sacrifice that she is not ready to make.</p><p>(authors notes: this is not, as I previously stated, going to be the last story in the series. I always do an Epilogue, but I've discovered that the way the epilogue was going to go, it'll be too long and too different to actually be a part of this story. This it will be rolled into its own, and THAT will be the finale.)</p>
|
teen
|
2011-10-01T04:29:06+00:00
|
2011-10-01T04:29:06+00:00
| 1,465 |
Chapter 8
The commotion had sent nearly everypony into the streets. Derpy Hooves rubbed her eyes sleepily, it was still the middle of the night and she had to be up for work in three hours. The town had become quite loud, and several Police Ponies and Kangaroo Soldiers were arguing with each other several metres down the road.
“Detective Chief Inspector Clockwork. My jacks and I aren’t trying to get in your way, but you’re making it near impossible when one of my soldiers can’t go to the dunnies without getting stopped by one of your constables trying to cite him for something!” Captain Blackthorn said.
DCI Clockwork was furious with the accusation. “And for good reason! Your “jacks” have done nothing but try and usurp the role of emergency services! Driving tanks recklessly through town, through Canterlot! Discharging firearms within town limits, you all are nothing but trouble."
"Yes. Nothing but trouble," Blackthorn snarled back. "We've certainly done nothing positive for you and this town... Like fight a gryphon mechanised infantry battalion that invaded the town? Were it up to you to defend, you and your constables would have turned tail and ran."
"How dare you!" DCI Clockwork cried back.
Derpy lost interest at this point. Public arguments between Blackthorn and Clockwork were commonplace, and they were lucky that it never evolved passed the screaming match.
"Excuse me? Could you tell me what's going on?"
Derpy turned and discovered a White Pegasus mare with a pink mane had trotted up to her.
"I don't really know. There was some kind of commotion. I heard screaming, but I didn't actually see anything," Derpy said apologetically.
"That's all right," the other Pegasus said.
"I don't think I've seen you in town before, I'm Derpy Hooves!" Derpy said cheerfully.
"I'm..." the mare began to say, but her voice trailed off as if she didn't know what to say.”Sunshine, I'm Sunshine."
Derpy noted that the mare's behaviour was a little... off, but regardless she smiled at her and offered her hoof for a shake. "It’s very nice to meet you Sunshine."
Sunshine took the hoof and shook back. "Nice to meet you, Derpy, I just got to town, like a moment ago. So I've got a lot to take care of..."
"I understand," Derpy said with a smile, and with that, Sunshine walked off.
Derpy was far cleverer than she let on. She knew that this "Sunshine" pony wasn't who she claimed to be, and she intended to figure out the truth.
...
"Sunshine" trotted around the corner and out of Derpy's direct view. So far, Princess Celestia was unsure if she'd been convincing enough. According to things she'd heard from town on prior visits, Derpy Hooves was the town's dim-witted postal delivery mare. She would probably be fine, but regardless, she glanced over her shoulders every so often to make sure that she wasn't being followed. Celestia arrived in front of the Library, she slipped under the police caution tape and opened the door, making her way inside, quietly shutting the door behind her. The princess shed her disguise, appearing in her normal Alicorn form.
Celestia scanned the room, noting the dried blood that covered the floor. She hadn't been gone from Ponyville for more than a few days. What had happened while she was gone?
She trotted over to Twilight's desk, and began looking through the papers on the desk. Many of them were just blank pages. There was one that caught her eye, she lifted it up and gave it a look. The page was mostly bare, with only a single, messy looking, word on it.
"Surprise?" Celestia read aloud.
"SURPRISE!" cried a voice from behind her. Celestia jumped and turned around to face it. Standing behind her was two pegasi, who had popped out from a cardboard box that Celestia had not taken notice of before now.
She recognised one of them as Scootaloo. But the other one she did not know.
"Aw, you're not Twilight and Vinyl!" the red eyed Pegasus cried out in disappointment.
Celestia looked on in confusion.
"Hi! I'm Surprise!" the Pegasus said with a smile.
Celestia frowned, she knew that name. This was Overdrive's pet minion, now she understood what the Siblings Nightmare had meant back at the hospital.
"It's not nice to stare," Surprise said condescendingly.
Celestia scowled at the Pegasus, she did not appreciate anypony talking down to her like she was a child. She turned to leave, she'd seen enough.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going? I'm not done talking to you... Sun."
Celestia froze, and slowly turned to face the Pegasus. "How do you know that name?"
"I was there when you cast it off," Surprise said simply. "I watched as you tore away the foundations of everything Queen Gaia did."
"How dare you speak that name!" Celestia cried out.
At this point, Scootaloo retreated from the box and into the corner; the last thing she wanted was to be involved in this.
"Gaia Gaia Gaia Gaia Gaia!" Surprise repeated, angering Celestia to no end.
The day princess reached out with her mind and clasped on to the Pegasus, launching a telepathic assault on the mare before her. Surprise however did not seem to be phased by it. Her eyes grew big, and her smile became wider than it had ever been. She met the princess stare, and returned it own.
Celestia felt herself beginning to falter; the Pegasus was actually blocking her!
That was when the images came. The mare before her was not only blocking her telepathic attack. She was countering with her own.
Images of horribly mutilated ponies filled the day princess' mind. She saw rivers of blood flowing freely in Canterlot's streets, buildings burned; ponies unlucky enough to escape them screamed in terror as they burned alive.
And standing on the tower of the castle was none other than Surprise herself, ginning madly, and coated in blood.
"Boo!" the Surprise in her vision cried out.
Celestia screamed in terror, changing back into her disguise and fleeing the library at top speed. She had met her match.
Surprise collapsed in the floor, rolling around laughing hysterically.
Scootaloo watched from the corner. She had not seen what Celestia had, but she knew to be scared anyway. Surprise turned around and looked at the filly with a smile.
"I know how else we can have fun!"
...
Sunshine had given her the slip. Derpy had taken her eyes off her for only a second, and just like that, her eyes had betrayed her again. Derpy sat on the kerb looking up at the sky. No point in going back to sleep now. Where she able, she would have gotten her mailbag and started delivering the post now.
Derpy hated her eyes. They had been nothing but unkind to her for her entire life. They caused her humiliation, misery from being the receiving end of cruel jokes, but most importantly, they'd caused her heart to ache.
For a time, Derpy had been a foster parent to a small unicorn filly named Dinky. The constant "harmless pranks" had caused Child Services to determine that Dinky was not in a safe place. Derpy had loved Dinky as if she had been her own flesh and blood.
Derpy was crying, as she often did when thinking of Dinky, she missed that filly terribly, and the worst part of it was that she wasn't allowed to have any contact at all. The system was not kind to her. Derpy had been a loving parent, and now she had no idea if Dinky was even okay, for all she knew, Dinky was living in a home where her foster mother could be beating her right now.
There was nothing she could do about it.
|
Wheller
|
1030
| 9 |
DJ P0N-3,Original Character,Scootaloo,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Long Road Home
|
Vinyl Scratch learns this when an ancient device of terrible power is discovered, and now her new home, the only one she ever felt was truly hers is threatened by those who wish to control it.
|
complete
| 26 | 5 |
<p>Home. It's not always where you were born.</p><p>Vinyl Scratch learns this when an ancient device of terrible power is discovered, and now her new home, the only one she ever felt was truly hers is threatened by those who wish to control it.</p><p>However, in order to save it, it may require a sacrifice that she is not ready to make.</p><p>(authors notes: this is not, as I previously stated, going to be the last story in the series. I always do an Epilogue, but I've discovered that the way the epilogue was going to go, it'll be too long and too different to actually be a part of this story. This it will be rolled into its own, and THAT will be the finale.)</p>
|
teen
|
2011-10-01T20:37:46+00:00
|
2011-10-01T20:37:46+00:00
| 1,429 |
Chapter 9
“Scootaloo! Are you here!?” Vinyl Scratch called as she and Twilight threw open the door into the Cutie Mark Crusader Clubhouse. Vinyl’s ears drooped when they discovered that it was empty.
“She’s not here,” Vinyl said and sighed defeatedly.
Twilight took a closer look at the details of the clubhouse, there were three bedrolls lying on the floor, two of them were zipped up neatly, one of them however was messy and left open.
“Look!” Twilight said, she dropped down and felt the open one. “Still warm, they can’t have been gone five... ten minutes at the most.”
“But where would they go?” Vinyl asked.
That was when they heard screaming. Twilight and Vinyl looked out the window and saw that a white Pegasus with a bright pink mane was flying east at top speed, screaming her head off as she went.
“Who is that pony?” Twilight asked.
“No clue, never seen anypony that looked like that before,” Vinyl said. She used her magic to slip her goggles off her head, her soft red eyes contrasting the dark night; she pulled a pair of binoculars out of her saddlebags and brought them to her eyes.
“Okay... Loudmouth MacScreamywings is flying east on a bearing of 117 degrees... let’s see if I can’t approximate a point of origin...”
“Loudmouth... MacScreamyings?” Twilight asked at the ridiculousness of it.
“Hey! Don’t criticise me while I’m working!” Vinyl harked back at her. “And... bingo! Gotcha! Oh... I hate it when I’m good.”
“Why? What do you see?” Twilight asked. Vinyl passed her the binoculars and gave her the references that she needed. Surprise and Scootaloo were trotting out of the Library together and were walking to the northeast, along the path that would take them towards Whitetail Wood... and EPMB.
“Oh no,” Twilight said.
“Come on! If we hurry we can catch up before she does any damage!” Vinyl called out.
...
Scootaloo was amazed by the interior of EPMB, she had been in the caves that hid its entrance several times, but had never realised that it held something like this!
Surprise was humming a tune that Scootaloo wasn’t familiar with as she skipped merrily down the hall. Surprise reminded Scootaloo somewhat of Pinkie Pie, only far creepier.
“Um... Surprise? Where are we going?” Scootaloo asked.
“You’ll see!” Surprise sang in response.
The two pegasi walked into a large open room, filled with computer terminals, and large consoles with many buttons, causing Surprise to grin widely, but what she was most interested in wasn’t actually in the room at all, but was rather visible through the windows at the far end.
The missile sat in pristine condition as if it were brand new. Small round robots, each with four fluttering wings danced in the missile silo, scrubbing away any sign of the missile’s age.
“What are those?” Scootaloo asked, pointing to one of the robots.
“You mean the Sprite-bots?” Surprise asked. “BORING! We’re here for the big prize! Not the party favours!”
Surprise leapt into action, she went over to the biggest console and began to push buttons and pull levers that appeared completely random to Scootaloo, but actually seemed to be having the effect that Surprise desired. Alarms began to sound, and with that, the room began to shake.
...
The citizens of Ponyville too felt the shakes.
“It’s an earthquake!” somepony shouted, and with that, it sent the entirety of town into panic and disarray.
The ground near Sugarcube Corner began to crack, with a shudder, it ripped open and sent the building clattering down to its foundations.
Mister and Missus Cake watch in horror as their sweet shop was destroyed for the second time.
“Oh not again!” they called out in disappointment.
Their disappointment was short lived, it quickly turned to terror, as the ground began to heave and pull up, the rock and dirt of the street slid off, revealing large metal doors that opened into an abyss below.
The EPMB Missile rose, sticking its tip out of the newfound whole where Sugarcube Corner once stood.
The Police and Kangaroo soldiers had once again gotten into a fight about who was to take control of the situation, they both stopped and watched in horror as the missile appeared from its hiding place.
Captain Blackthorn looked it over, and instantly realised it for what it was.
“Detective Chief Inspector Clockwork... we need to evacuate this town, and we need to do it right now,” Blackthorn said.
DCI Clockwork looked at the kangaroo, worry forming on her face. “I never thought I would be saying this... but I completely agree.”
...
Twilight and Vinyl had made it to the large metal door of EPMB when the ground began to shake, dust shook from the ceiling and both ponies were afraid that the tunnel would collapse upon them. The metal door to EPMB was open, and with that the duo took off running, leaping through the open door and skittering onto the cold metal floor. The shaking stopped, and to the duo’s surprise, did not collapse the tunnel, of which they were extremely thankful for.
Had it collapsed, they would have been sealed inside the complex with Surprise for the rest of their lives, which would likely have been very short, all things considering.
Hazard lights were flashing all along the hallway, Twilight and Vinyl took off running, they had to find Scootaloo and get her away from Surprise as quickly as possible.
Fortunately, they didn’t have a long way to go, and they had something to follow. They heard Surprise talking very loudly, and while they could not actually make out the words, they could follow the insane mare’s voice right to her.
...
“Well, ah guess it’s happenin’ then,” Applejack said as she watched Ponyville evacuate from her far off perch.
“I don’t care.”
Applejack looked at her companion, the straight maned Pinkie Pie with disdain. “How can ya say that!? Our friends are down there! ”
“What friends?” Pinkie Pie asked. “They’re all dead.”
“Not all o’ them! Twilight and Rarity...”
“Might as well already be dead,” Pinkie Pie interrupted pessimistically. “Not like we could do anything about it even if we wanted to.”
Applejack frowned; she tried to lift her leg, but discovered that it did not budge. She let out a sigh; she couldn’t do anything unless it was exactly what Overdrive wanted her to do. Right now, he wanted them to watch, so they would be watching.
Pinkie Pie sighed again, lying down on her stomach and closing her eyes. Unlike Applejack, Pinkie Pie still had control of her body, her mind had been broken, and she was in no position to offer any kind of resistance to it. It bothered Applejack more than ever that her friend didn’t care in the slightest, but she understood that it wasn’t really her fault. It was his. Overdrive had taken the form of Monty Ulhan and used Pinkie Pie’s trust of him to force her into tearing her family apart, her parents were in prison, and her childhood home now a strip mine for harvesting limestone. Applejack felt for Pinkie Pie, but she could do nothing for her.
And even if she could, Pinkie Pie wouldn’t care.
|
Wheller
|
1030
| 10 |
DJ P0N-3,Original Character,Scootaloo,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Long Road Home
|
Vinyl Scratch learns this when an ancient device of terrible power is discovered, and now her new home, the only one she ever felt was truly hers is threatened by those who wish to control it.
|
complete
| 26 | 5 |
<p>Home. It's not always where you were born.</p><p>Vinyl Scratch learns this when an ancient device of terrible power is discovered, and now her new home, the only one she ever felt was truly hers is threatened by those who wish to control it.</p><p>However, in order to save it, it may require a sacrifice that she is not ready to make.</p><p>(authors notes: this is not, as I previously stated, going to be the last story in the series. I always do an Epilogue, but I've discovered that the way the epilogue was going to go, it'll be too long and too different to actually be a part of this story. This it will be rolled into its own, and THAT will be the finale.)</p>
|
teen
|
2011-10-02T00:50:31+00:00
|
2011-10-02T00:50:31+00:00
| 1,358 |
Chapter 10
Surprise grinned widely. “All righty then Equestria! It’s time for a SURPRISE!”
Surprise raised a hoof into the air and brought it down zealously on the control panel’s large red button labelled “launch.” Nothing happened.
“What?!” Surprise cried out in frustration, mashing the button again, and again.
With a small click and an electronic whirring noise, the room was filled with noise from the loudspeakers.
“This is Doctor Emerald Sparkle to whoever just tried to launch the missile! Sorry to say that the joke’s on you! I took the liberty of personally ripping out and smashing the missile’s thrust control modules, while I ordinarily disapprove of the destruction of technology... I see that my fears were well warranted after all. Don’t get any funny ideas. Let me fill you in on a little secret. I destroyed the targeting computer as well; you can’t arm the missile remotely! You want to use the bomb? You’ll have to arm it yourself... something I’m going to guess you don’t know how to do! Ha ha ha. Joke is on you!”
“Ha. Ha. Ha,” Surprise mocked back at the recording. “I guess the joke is on YOU! Because I do know how to arm it manually!”
Surprise was mildly disappointed when the recording didn’t respond, instead she smashed the glass window panes in front of the launch console, and she climbed out and flew up to the tip of the missile, completely forgetting about Scootaloo all together.
...
Twilight and Vinyl made it into the control room.
“Scootaloo!” Vinyl said running over to the filly’s side and throwing her forelegs around her. “Oh Scootaloo! You’re okay! I was so worried!”
“You... you were!?” Scootaloo asked as tears began to form in her eyes. “I... I ran away because I thought you didn’t love me anymore!”
“Oh Scootaloo... I’ll always love you!” Vinyl said, smiling at the filly. Scootaloo smiled back, giving her first smile since Rainbow Dash died.
“Scootaloo,” Twilight said. “Where is Surprise?”
“She... she broke the window and she flew up there!” Scootaloo said, pointing to the top of the missile.
Twilight and Vinyl looked up and their minds filled with panic. “We need to get back to town right now!” they both said in unison.
...
With a quick pop, Surprise had exposed the inner workings of the nuclear missile’s warhead, she began tracing wires back to where they ended and began, the design was rather simple, and Surprise had it working in a few moments. All she had to do was tug the right wire and everypony around would be in for the biggest surprise they had ever seen!
That was when it came out of nowhere.
Ticka-ticka-ticka-ticka-ticka!
The cloud of black smoke collided with Surprise, sending her flying backwards into a ruined building, the force of impact snapped the pegasus’s neck with a loud crack, and her body collapsed onto the ground.
The Siblings Nightmare materialised from the cloud of smoke, and began to examine the missile.
“Did not expect to ever see one of these again,” Nightcaller said.
All three of the Siblings ears twitched slightly as they heard something approaching them.
Docka-docka-docka-docka-docka!
“Ah it seems our dearest brother had decided to show himself,” Nightsinger said.
The cloud of grey smoke poured into view, and as the sun rose, the spectral form of Overdrive made itself visible, glistening in the early morning light.
“Hello dear brother,” Nightshadow said simply.
Overdrive did not reply, rather he merely cocked his head to the side, staring at the Siblings Nightmare, and then at the missile. Applejack and Pinkie Pie were quick to join him.
Pinkie Pie looked around with complete disinterest. Applejack however was looking at the sun as it rose.
“Hold on a moment!” She cried out. “It’s way too early fer th’ sun ta be risin’!”
Neither beings of order or chaos seemed to be interested in this fact at all; they merely turned their heads towards the town hall. Princess Celestia was standing on the roof, looking out over them.
“I do believe, we’re just one card short of a full house,” Nightcaller said simply.
Celestia leaped down from the roof and approached them. “Indeed we are,” she said plainly.
The three sides stared each other down, waiting for another to make the first move. Each of them wanted the missile, to each their own reasons. Ironically, the one to make the first move would be none of them. Almost fitting as it had gone this way the last time that they were all together.
Twilight Sparkle and Vinyl Scratch galloped through town and towards the assembled group, their horns lowered; an old unicorn tactic to spear the opponent.
“They cannot possibly be serious,” Overdrive said.
“I think they are,” Nightsinger said.
Order and Chaos both lashed out with their minds, striking the two unicorns down with a telekinetic attack. Applejack watched as they went down with a look of panic on her face. Pinkie Pie didn’t seem to care.
Twilight and Vinyl both groaned in pain, and rose back to their hooves, only to be struck down again by another blow.
“Submit,” Overdrive said simply. “Do not make it any harder on yourselves.”
“Or don’t! Stand up to the big bad tyrant!” Nightshadow cried with a small laugh.
Celestia remained silent, just standing and watching. Twilight looked at her desperately. “Please... princess! Help us!” she cried out.
“No,” she said simply, lowering her head and frowning at her once prized student.
Twilight felt tears flowing from her eyes. Princess Celestia, her mentor, was going to let her brothers do whatever they wished. In truth, it made her far more dangerous than either of them alone, because she was just going to sit back and let it happen.
Twilight lay on the ground, her eyes half closed, staring out into the deserted streets. A streak of blue light darted into her vision, and was just as quickly gone again. “What?” she asked herself quietly.
Overdrive and the Siblings Nightmare approached the fallen unicorns, but stopped when a loud crack filled the air.
“Hold!”
The group turned to look; standing behind them was Princess Luna, along with a gathered assortment of ponies, Lyra, Bon Bon, Braeburn, Big Macintosh, Derpy, Trixie, and Rarity.
“It will come from the west,” Overdrive said. “Face east. When it comes, we must have our backs to it.”
“Nice to see that you can still quote ancient text brother,” Luna said with a smile.
“Ppff, I don’t see what this has to do with anything.” Nightcaller said. “You came from the west, so what? What exactly are you expecting to do? Fight us? Without the Elements of Harmony, you’re not exactly going to get very far.”
“There are other elements, Nightcaller,” Luna said. “Or in this case, shall I say, bonds?”
Overdrive snorted loudly. “What do you expect us to believe that you have discovered the bearers of the Bonds of Eternity? They have been lost to time.”
“Well then, I suppose it’s a good thing that she’s got a time traveller on her side!” cried a new voice from the town hall. “Hello! I’m the Doctor! Time traveller extraordinaire, pay me no mind though, this is her show, not mine, I only came by to help.”
“Indeed, the Doctor was instrumental in gathering the bonds together. I thank you for this Doctor,” Luna said.
“Don’t mention it! Well, seems you’ve got everything in hand... er, hoof, I best be off!” the Doctor said, opening the door to his blue box that nopony had taken notice of until just now and departing for places unknown.
“Yes, the bonds of eternity... bit of ancient magic thought to be lost, until they were found!” Luna said with a smile. “Derpy Hooves! Whose need to take care for others at little regard for herself, is the bearer of the Bond of Responsibility!”
Luna’s horn shone brightly enveloping Derpy in light and empowering the dormant energy of the bond within her.
“Lyra and Bon Bon! Whose love for each other and for their friends has never wavered, are the bearers of the Bond of Fraternity!” Luna said as light enveloped the two, empowering them with the light of their friendship.
“Big Macintosh! Quiet and reserved, yet willing to lend a helping hoof to anypony with a problem, bares the Bond of Labour!” Luna said, her light enveloping him
“Braeburn! The stranger from the west! Thrown from his home without a second though, and devoted himself to his family, bears the Bond of Love!” Luna said as light enveloped him.
“Trixie! The outcast returned against her will, but rather than turning tail and running again, stayed and helped those who once shunned her, bears the Bond of Compassion!” Luna finished.
“Wonderful,” Nightcaller said plainly. “And you think it will be enough for the three of us and the other ingrates?”
“Oh, I’m not concerned with you right now,” Luna said with a smile. “I’m concerned with them. NOW!”
The light from each of the bonds shone brightly and pierced through Applejack and Pinkie Pie, sending them flying towards where Vinyl Scratch and Twilight Sparkle were lying. They landed on the ground hard. Applejack began to rub her head and realised that she was the one doing it. She looked at Pinkie Pie and discovered that her eyes were no longer red. They were their normal blue.
They were free!
“Minor setback,” Overdrive said, showing no concern. “Still no consequence, the elements of harmony are useless.”
Rarity had joined her friends by this point.
“I wouldn’t be sure of that,” Luna said. “Look up.”
Overdrive, Celestia, and the Siblings Nightmare looked up, two bolts of energy dived at them, striking them to the ground and darting over towards Twilight.
Twilight watched as the ghostly outlines of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy took their places alongside their friends.
“Rainbow?” Twilight asked in disbelief.
Rainbow Dash placed a hoof on her shoulder, and smiled reassuringly at her.
“What is this!?” Nightcaller cried out in surprise.
“This?” Twilight said. “This is the end for you!”
The bearers of both the elements of harmony and the bonds of eternity focused their power on their enemies; light began to pulse between them.
“Do something!” Nightcaller cried out!
“I am doing something,” Overdrive said smugly. “I’m watching you as you’re about to die, that’s plenty enough a reward for me.”
“You really hate us that much, don’t you brother?”
“Yes.”
The bearers unleashed their power, sending all the energy that they could muster. It impacted the five ancients, and they all screamed in pain as their life forces were all snuffed out.
|
Wheller
|
1030
| 11 |
DJ P0N-3,Original Character,Scootaloo,Twilight Sparkle,Dark,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Long Road Home
|
Vinyl Scratch learns this when an ancient device of terrible power is discovered, and now her new home, the only one she ever felt was truly hers is threatened by those who wish to control it.
|
complete
| 26 | 5 |
<p>Home. It's not always where you were born.</p><p>Vinyl Scratch learns this when an ancient device of terrible power is discovered, and now her new home, the only one she ever felt was truly hers is threatened by those who wish to control it.</p><p>However, in order to save it, it may require a sacrifice that she is not ready to make.</p><p>(authors notes: this is not, as I previously stated, going to be the last story in the series. I always do an Epilogue, but I've discovered that the way the epilogue was going to go, it'll be too long and too different to actually be a part of this story. This it will be rolled into its own, and THAT will be the finale.)</p>
|
teen
|
2011-10-02T03:04:52+00:00
|
2011-10-02T03:04:52+00:00
| 1,926 |
Chapter 11
The dust cleared, Twilight looked out into where Celestia, Overdrive, and the Siblings Nightmare had been previously. Nothing remained save two piles of ash, one white, one black. The remains of Princess Celestia and the Siblings Nightmare, Overdrive had left no trace behind, as his body was already long gone.
“It’s over!” Twilight said with a sigh. “We won!”
She looked to her side; the ghostly outlines of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were sitting next to her, smiling softly at her. Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash and gestured with her head, it was time for them to go.
Rainbow Dash nodded and gestured to Twilight, asking for a moment. Fluttershy nodded in approval.
Rainbow Dash trotted over to where Twilight was lying on the ground, helping her to her hooves.
“Rainbow...” Twilight began, Rainbow Dash however interrupted her by raising a hoof to shush her, she leaned in close and kissed Twilight gently, after a few moments, she broke the kiss and gave Twilight a wink.
She and Fluttershy faded from view, never to return again.
Twilight frowned, but then gave a smile where Rainbow had previously been. “Goodbye Rainbow Dash.”
“I hate to rain on everyponies parade,” Vinyl Scratch said trotting over to the bomb. “But this isn’t over yet, the bomb is still active.”
Everypony snapped back to reality, there was a lot of murmuring about what they should do.
“Everypony listen!” Vinyl Scratch called out. “All of you! Each and every one of you needs to get as far away from here as you possibly can! I’m going to try and disarm the bomb... and in case I fail... well then I’ll be the only one to suffer from it.”
“What! Vinyl!” Twilight called out. “You can’t!”
“I can, and I will. Don’t you get it Twilight? I’m not like you, I wasn’t one of the ponies that Princess Luna needed... because I did a lot of bad things in my life, now this is my chance to make up for them,” Vinyl said. “I have to do this Twilight, and you need to leave.”
“But... Vinyl...” Twilight began, and was once again interrupted.
“No buts, besides! I’ll be fine! Obviously! I’m too cool to get killed!” Vinyl said with a grin. “And even if I do, I’m going to have the greatest light show ever created to send me out!”
“All right,” Twilight said with a sigh. “Clearly, nothing I say is going to dissuade you from doing this.”
“Nope!” Vinyl said with a grin. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine!”
Vinyl gave Twilight a hug goodbye. “It’s been fun.”
“Yeah... yeah it has,” Twilight said, returning her embrace. She gave Vinyl a smile and with that, everypony galloped away at high speed, leaving Vinyl Scratch alone with the nuclear missile.
Vinyl spent several hours looking through the electronics; she had mild experience with electronics from working turntables, the basics of a circuit were pretty much the same, she was able to navigate through the internals of the missile, but the more she looked it over, the more she began to realise that she had about a fifty-fifty chance of disarming it, or blowing it up.
“I’d wait a moment, if I were you,” said a voice from behind her. This one was different; this was a voice she’d never heard before.
She turned around and looked, sitting before her was a spectral earth pony, with a grey coat, an orange mane, and blood red eyes.
“Who are you?” Vinyl asked.
“The name is Montana Ulhan, you can just call me Monty though,” Monty said with a smile. “We haven’t met, but I’ve wanted to meet you for a very long time, Vinyl Scratch, I couldn’t show myself until they were all gone.”
Monty pointed to the ash piles that had once been Celestia and the Siblings Nightmare.
“See thing is, every smoke monster and their grandmother have impersonated me at some point, usually so that they could get somepony to do something for them,” Monty explained. “Twilight Sparkle and her friends would do anything that anypony who chose to appear as the ghost of Monty Ulhan said, because they put me in a position of trust while I was still alive... Got to say though, I have no idea why. Every word that ever came out of my mouth was a lie.”
“What is it that you want me to do?” Vinyl Scratch asked.
“I want you to set off the bomb,” Monty said.
“You just told me that you’re a liar, and the first thing you want me to do is set off the bomb!?” Vinyl cried out in surprise. “Why should I listen to you?!”
“Because, unlike everypony else who wanted to use the bomb. I want to use it for good. This world is a horrific place, there has been so much suffering here. That bomb? It’s a second chance.”
“I don’t understand,” Vinyl said.
“I know,” Monty said with a small smile. “But you will.”
Vinyl thought about it for a few moments, the promise of a second chance was appealing, sure, but as horrid as this life had been, Vinyl believed that this life was still worth living. She had Scootaloo; she had family to go home to. She wasn’t about to throw it all away, not for anything.
“I’m not going to set off the bomb! I won’t do it!” Vinyl said.
“Fair enough,” Monty said with a smile. “If that’s the choice you’ve made, well then that’s your choice.”
Vinyl eyed the spectral earth pony with suspicion. “That’s it then?”
“I’m not an Alicorn, Vinyl Scratch; I can’t force you to do anything. I’m not like them,” Monty said, gesturing the ash piles. “Nor would I want to if I could. The bomb is a second chance, but if you believe that the first chance is salvageable, well then more power to you! Well, I’ve got to go now. You don’t need me anymore anyway... nopony does.”
Montana Ulhan smiled at Vinyl, and then disappeared from the world, never to be seen again.
Vinyl Scratch looked back at the bomb and swallowed hard. What was she going to do? She had already decided that she was going to disarm the bomb, she want to live this life, now all she had to worry about was turning that line of thought into practice.
“Vinyl?”
Vinyl looked around to see Scootaloo standing behind her.
“Scootaloo?!” Vinyl said with a mild panic. “What are you doing here?! Don’t you know how dangerous that is!?”
Scootaloo nodded. “I listened to the recordings from Emerald Sparkle. I didn’t want you to have to do this alone!”
Vinyl smiled at Scootaloo brightly. “You’re a good kid Scootaloo. You’re old enough to make your own decisions now, so I’m not going to make you leave.”
“Good, ‘cause I wouldn’t have even if you did!” Scootaloo said returning the smile.
“I’ve got it narrowed down to two wires. One will disarm them, the other will make it explode,” Vinyl said. “I don’t know which one does which though.”
“Doesn’t matter which one you pick,” Scootaloo said. “All that matters is that we’re together!”
Vinyl smiled at Scootaloo, she’d grown up a lot since they’d met. Vinyl was proud that she had done a good job with her.
“Oh how sweet,” said a familiar, eerily cheerful voice from behind her. Vinyl Scratch froze, and slowly turned her head to face it.
Surprise had risen to her hooves, the immortal pegasus’ neck injury had healed, and she was holding a chainsaw knife in her mouth. The chain revved loudly and menacingly as she trotted over with the intention to murder them.
Vinyl turned back to the bomb. “No time for thinking! All time for action!”
She picked a wire and pulled it out.
The bomb exploded.
(authors notes: this is not, as I previously stated, going to be the last story in the series. I always do an Epilogue, but I've discovered that the way the epilogue was going to go, it'll be too long and too different to actually be a part of this story. This it will be rolled into its own, and THAT will be the finale.)
|
FurryBrony
|
1031
| 1 |
Main 6,Other,Princess Celestia,Alternate Universe,Crossover,Human,Adventure,Dark,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,The Legend of Zelda,Gore,Profanity,Sex
|
My Little Pony: An Oceanic Adventure
|
Twilight and her friends are thrown into the flooded Hyrule. Can they make it back to their home?
|
incomplete
| 19 | 16 |
<p>This is my first story here.</p><p>Twilight and her friends are on a diplomatic mission to a distant continent when a sudden storm appears and throws them into the world of Hyrule after the three great Goddesses flooded the land. Now they must travel with Link in the hopes of finding a way to return to Equestria.</p><p>This is a a story filled with adventure and excitement, but will Twilight be able to handle all the monsters present in this world?</p>
|
mature
|
2011-09-25T12:29:02+00:00
|
2014-11-20T00:43:54+00:00
| 1,839 |
My Little Pony: An Oceanic Adventure
A/N: This is a Legend of Zelda/My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic crossover. Specifically, it'll take place in Wind Waker. In this story, the ponies look like their Equestria Girls counterparts, but please, no flames.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda or My Little Pony: Friendship is magic. They belong to Shigeru Miyamoto and Hasbro/Lauren Faust respectively.
Warnings: This story will contain violence, blood, language and death.
Chapter 1:
It was a hellish early Summer morning in Ponyville's library as Twilight and Spike were packing for a long trip overseas. On the table opposite where they were working, a letter lay open, Celestia's royal seal laying next to it.
"My dearest and most faithful student Twilight:
You and your friends are a few of my most valuable subjects, and as such, I felt it was prudent to give you some experience as diplomats. As you know, Equestria isn't the only country in this world. I am sending you to one of our friends overseas to get some experience as diplomats. The ship is waiting at the dock and will depart near sunset. I encourage you to be on your best behavior during your stay.
Your teacher,
Princess Celestia"
It only took the two a few minutes to finish packing, and Twilight levitated the luggage, closing and pocketing the letter, and leaving the library. The pegasi had predicted a clear day with some wind, which her mane and tail was waving in. A little ways away, her friends, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy were standing with their own luggage bags, having all packed for an extended stay overseas.
"Listen up everyone, as I know you're confused. Princess Celestia has given us a mission. We are being sent across the seas to a far off country as diplomats." Twilight said, catching the interest of the other ponies.
"We're goin' across the sea? Ah don' know, Twi. Ah've got a farm to look over, ya'know? Ah'm not sure Apple Bloom and Big Mac can handle it by themselves." Applejack said.
"Don't worry so much, AJ. They'll be fine! Apple Bloom always has Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle to help if she needs it." Rainbow Dash said comfortingly.
"Ah know, but Ah just can't help worryin'. When those three are together, they seem to get even less done. Especially now that they know what they're meant for." Applejack said worriedly.
Rarity smiled. "I know what you mean, Darling. I thought it was annoying when Sweetie Belle was asking to help me. But now that she's singing almost all the time, well, I sometimes wish I could have my annoying helper back." She said.
It had been a few years since the fateful Summer Sun Celebration that brought them together. Sweetie Belle, with the encouragement of Twist, had been practicing her singing in front of an audience. It had started with just the other CMC and Twist, but over the years, discovering her Cutie Mark in the process (a microphone with a musical note behind it), it had grown into a full audience. Rarity still wouldn't let her do tours, though ("You still have your education to finish!").
Apple Bloom, having discovered that she enjoyed fixing things when she had to repair the tree house again, found other things to fix or make better, eventually earning her Cutie Mark (a hammer and plank of wood, to her friends amusement).
Scootaloo was surprised to find that one day, after dance practice one day, her flank was adorned with a leotard and musical note combination, making her ecstatic and pushing herself to do better in the classes, occasionally landing her in Ponyville Urgent Care with an injured limb or wing. (especially after her flight feathers came in, and she tried combining flying with dancing. That one ended up with her having a broken wing and dislocated shoulder when she crashed after her wings gave out.)
Fluttershy was smiling nervously. "I still don't know, Twilight. Leaving all those animals behind doesn't seem like a good idea. What will all those injured animals do with no one to tend to them?"
Twilight smiled reassuringly. "They'll be fine, Fluttershy. I took care of everything. Don't worry, we'll be back before you know it. Now come on, they're here." She said as a large golden carriage landed near them, pulled by four pegasus guards. Twilight teleported the luggage ahead of them to the docks and then climbed into the carriage after her friends. Once everyone was in, and the door closed, the pegasus guards took off, pulling the carriage with them as they flew to the docks.
It was a silent couple of hours as the ponies caught up on any sleep they may have missed before the carriage touched down shakily at the docks. The six ponies and baby dragon disembarked and boarded the ship, their luggage already stored away. They were mystified by the ship. It was made of oak wood, with the best cloth available used for the sails. The flag of Equestria was waving merrily in the wind as the crew finished preparations to set sail.
"Pardon me, young lasses. I am the captain of this here vessel, and I humbly welcome you aboard. We'll be setting sail in 5 minutes." The captain said. He was a brown-furred stallion with a white mane and tail. On his flank was a picture of an anchor. He also had a ruffled collar and black jacket on.
"This is going to be so great, right guys?" Twilight asked excitedly. Most of the other ponies agreed, but the swaying of the ship, despite it not having left the dock, had made AJ a little green.
"If you, urk, say so, Twilight." She said. Twilight smiled sheepishly.
"You'll feel better soon, AJ." She said. She cantered to one of the sailors. "How much longer until we set sail?"
The sailor looked at her and smiled. "Shouldn't be long now." She said.
It was a minute later that the rest of the sailors boarded and the steps retracted. "Time to set sail, you seadogs! We have a bunch of water to cover!" The captain exclaimed as the sails were unfurled. The wind caught the sails and pushed the large ship onward.
It was a couple hours later that Applejack found herself wishing she had stayed home. The storm had opened up, causing even larger waves to slap against the ship as the rain fell heavily. Lightning illuminated the sky every now and again, coupled by a clap of thunder. She soon found the rocking to be too much and galloped to the edge of the ship, sticking her head ofer the railing as her sick feeling resulted in her losing her lunch to become chum for the fish.
"Oh, Ah hate this! The rockin' and all is just makin' me feel worse!" Applejack complained.
"Ye'll get used to it, lassie! Give it time!" The captain shouted kindly over the roar of the wind.
"Ah hope so, Cap'n. Ah hate feelin' this way." Applejack said queasily. She stumbled back as she realized she had nothing more to lose and headed for her barracks, hoping that resting will help.
It was a couple hours afterward that she was awoken by a shout as all noise deadened. She galloped out to the deck and looked, shocked, at what she saw.
"Mother of pearl, that is one big tornado!" Applejack exclaimed in shock. The others were staring as well, but Twilight was the only one to see something else. In the center, floating calmly, was what looked like a frog on a cloud. It seemed to be commanding the water spout as it moved forward.
"Everyone, brace yourselves! We're about to be hit!" Twilight commanded.
"Aye! Listen to her, you bilge rats! Grab what you can and hold on tight!" The captain commanded as he grabbed a part of the rigging with his teeth and held on for dear life. The others tried to grab what they could, but it proved to be futile when the twister struck. Tearing the ship to pieces, everyone was caught in the debri, Twilight and the others lost consciousness as they were sucked up, the air driven from their lungs as the roaring of the twister blocked all other noise.
Meanwhile, in the Great Sea, Tetra and her crew of pirates were sailing to their destination: The Forsaken Fortress. Tetra had sent Link down below to Niko for work and now had nothing to do. She walked to the port side railing and looked out at the ocean, where she spotted something. Pulling out her telescope, she gazed through it at the water ahead of her, seeing a woman overboard.
"Woman overboard! Do what you have to to bring her aboard!" She called. Gonzo tied a length of rope around his waist and around the mast before jumping into the water, swimming to the girl. He grabbed her waist and tugged on the rope. Two pirates on board the ship started tugging, pulling Gonzo and his passenger back onto the ship. They got her out of the water, and as she was placed on the deck of the ship, Tetra took note of her nudity. Tetra quickly fetched a blanket to cover her until she woke. She then walked back to the port side railing, this time leaning her back against it.
It had been a few hours since she was rescued, and the sun was setting. Twilight groaned as she woke up, raising an arm to shield herself from the setting sun. 'Seems the storm's over.' She thought idly, before looking around. She was on a ship, that much was certain. 'Wait, the ship I was on was destroyed by a water spout. Where am I?' She looked at the sails, and noticed a black flag with a jolly roger on it. 'Pirates! I'm on a pirate ship!'
Tetra noticed that Twilight was awake and walked over to her.
"Are you okay? We found you unconscious in the ocean, and dragged you aboard before you were eaten by sharks." The pirate said. "My name's Tetra, by the way. Captain of this vessel."
Twilight frowned before she tried to sit up.
"I wouldn't do that!" Tetra said as she pushed Twilight back down.
"Well, why the hell not?" Twilight asked, startling the captain.
"So, you can speak." She said, smiling. "Anyway, We didn't find anything you could wear among the debris. However, we should have something your size here." She raised a hand and one of the pirates nodded, heading for the storage room. It was a few minutes before he returned, carrying an extra outfit of one of the pirates.
Twilight frowned as she saw it.
"If that's really all you have for me to wear, I guess it'll do." She said. She grabbed the outfit and quickly put it on. She stood up, letting the sheet fall as she noticed it was getting darker fast... too fast.
"Where are we?" Twilight asked.
"We're at the Forsaken Fortress." The pirate captain said.
"The what?"
"You don't know? It's a very foreboding fortress that was once home to some nasty pirate competition. They cleared out ages ago, though. Now, it's said that it houses a very dark man."
"Who?"
"Few know his name. And those who do, tend not to speak it. He is said to have committed terrible acts of terror hundreds of years ago. If it's the same man as back then, then we better hope he doesn't try to control the world again. You see, I'm one of the few who know of the land beneath the waves. It's a legend passed down by pirate captains now, of how there was once a group of thieves that lived down there. They managed to escape the flooding, becoming pirates. Now, there aren't any pure thieves left, having wedded with other races." Tetra explained.
"What were the original thieves called?" Twilight asked.
"Well, young lass, the legends don't mention them by name, so I couldn't tell you, however, The legends do say that the dark man is a member of that race. If that is true, that makes him the last true thief."
It was at that point that Link arrived from down below. Twilight noticed him and approached.
"Hello. I'm Twilight Sparkle. What's your name?" Twilight held out a hand to shake. Link took it, taking note of her skin color.
"I'm Link. Why is your skin purple?" Twilight chuckled.
"I don't know. It happens whenever I become human." With that, Twilight went to andclimbed the ladder with Link close behind. Once they got to the top, where Link could better see where they were, Tetra explained to him the location.
"By the way, Tetra, my name's Twilight." Twilight said before they started devising a way for them to get to the fortress undetected. Tetra suddenly opened her eyes.
"I've got it!" She shouted, before knocking Link out.
Link awoke to be found inside a barrel, before he started struggling.
"Stop struggling! Do you want to get in there undetected? This is the only way! Trust me, I've done these hundreds of times!" She assured him.
"And how many of those hundreds of times were you successful?" Twilight asked.
"Hundreds of times!" Tetra said mysteriously, causing Link to slowly stop struggling.
"Gonzo, on my mark!" Tetra called, with the aforementioned pirate saluting. "3... 2... 1... Fire!" The pirate captain shouted. Gonzo pulled the lever, sending Link shooting toward the fortress and nearly out of sight when he slammed into the central tower, breaking the barrel and losing his sword. He fell beyond the wall and out of sight.
Twilight was the next to go in a barrel, feeling something slide on her back before she was knocked out. She was sent flying after waking up, making a much better landing as they had adjusted the aim. She brought a hand to her shoulder and felt a sword there. She pulled it out and examined it, smiling, before putting it back. Then a voice cut through the night.
"Hey!" It said, causing Link and Twilight to jump. Link fished through his tunic and found a shining stone.
"I thought I'd put this Shiekah stone on your person before sending you off. You should see your faces! Anyway, I'm glad you two made it safely. And Link, you'll need to retrieve your sword if you want even the slightest chance to save your sister. Twilight, that sword is my gift to you. Use it if you need to, but don't break it. And don't worry. If you get stuck, call me and I'll try to help you out!" Tetra said before signing out.
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FurryBrony
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1031
| 2 |
Main 6,Other,Princess Celestia,Alternate Universe,Crossover,Human,Adventure,Dark,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,The Legend of Zelda,Gore,Profanity,Sex
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My Little Pony: An Oceanic Adventure
|
Twilight and her friends are thrown into the flooded Hyrule. Can they make it back to their home?
|
incomplete
| 19 | 16 |
<p>This is my first story here.</p><p>Twilight and her friends are on a diplomatic mission to a distant continent when a sudden storm appears and throws them into the world of Hyrule after the three great Goddesses flooded the land. Now they must travel with Link in the hopes of finding a way to return to Equestria.</p><p>This is a a story filled with adventure and excitement, but will Twilight be able to handle all the monsters present in this world?</p>
|
mature
|
2011-09-25T15:43:05+00:00
|
2014-11-20T00:52:07+00:00
| 1,394 |
A/N: It's been a while since I've played Wind Waker, so my dungeon designs may not be accurate.
Chapter 2:
Twilight and Link looked at each other before making their way forward, climbing the stairs in front of them. The first thing they saw were search lights passing across the floor just above them.
"That's just great! Hmm… We need some way to pass under those lights undetected." twilight said. She noticed Link go for one of the barrels, slipping it over his head and body. "You know that'll never work!" Just the same, Twilight carefully cut out a visor for him. Link made his way up to the next level. Upon reaching it Twilight noticed a search light heading his way. Having noticed the same, Link stopped and knelt, letting the barrel completely cover his body. The search light passed over the barrel and kept going. Link started moving again when it was clear.
Twilight, her logic beaten, shrugged and copied Link, following his example. It was slow going for them, but eventually they made it to the next level. The two took off the barrels and looked around, spotting a section of stone wrapping around the archway they were in front of. Deciding to follow it, they climbed the ramping stone until they reached a lookout tower. One at a time they climbed up the ladder until they were both atop the tower.
In front of them was a pair of spotlights manned by a creature that resembled a goblin. It had purple skin, pointed ears and snout, and wore raggedy clothing. Twilight inched closer, placing a hand on her sword as Link looked for a weapon to use. As Twilight stepped closer, the creature stood straight up, ears perked. The spotlights, now no longer being operated, moved to the neutral position as the creature jumped off the stand to engage the two. It wielded a wooden staff in two hands as Twilight unsheathed her sword. The creature dashed at her, swinging its staff like a sword, which Twilight blocked with her sword as Link kept looking for a weapon. The two continued to trade ineffective blows until, at one point, the creature jumped back to try a different tactic. Twilight took this chance to move in for a death blow, lunging with a stab that caused her sword to sink into the creature's chest, the tip poking out of its back as dark red blood dripped out. She pulled her sword out andtThe now dead monster collapsed as Twilight shook her sword to get the blood off of it. She shuddered a bit as she saw the puddle, but shook it off to continue the mission.
"Come on, Link. We need to move." She said as she sheathed her sword. Link nodded, a little green at the brutality but followed the unicorn as she climbed down. The two moved through the fortress, Twilight fighting some more monsters as Link watched. After taking out the other two towers, they then moved to the largest tower, which was where Link's sword fell. They climbed, taking out more monsters until the reached the top. After crossing a barrier, spikes rose to block their path. The only door around was also locked.
"Great, seems we have to fight." Twilight said as she spotted a green monster like at the towers. This one wielded a sword and wooden shield, so Twilight instantly unsheathed her sword as Link went to retrieve his. Twilight and her opponent got locked into a sword fight, with the monster dealing more damage to her than she was to it. The fight remained in the favor of the monster as it used its shield to block all of Twilight's slashes, eventually pushing Twilight's sword away and lunging at her with its sword, scoring a direct hit just to the left of her stomach, the sword piercing straight through. She gripped the blade with one hand and used the other to cut off the monster's hand before it could release the sword. The monster gripped its bleeding stump with its other hand, allowing Link, having grabbed his sword earlier, to finish the fight with a thrust to the back, the sword poking out of its chest. Link pulled his sword back out as the monster collapsed. Twilight groaned slightly as she assessed the damage. She thanked her lucky stars that the blade wasn't poisoned and that it missed her vitals. She eased the sword out with her magic, discovering she could still use it, before conjuring a roll of bandages to wrap around her abdomen, using some of the bandages to wrap her other wounds. Once her wounds were sufficiently dressed, she looked at Link.
"The door's open, we can continue." She said. Twilight and Link walked to the door, pushing it open, entering the tower. Once inside they notice a cage over to the left with three girls inside. Link recognizes one of the girls and runs over with Twilight not far behind. After a somewhat cozy reunion, Twilight's ears pick up the sound of flapping wings and tries to find the source, in the meantime pulling Link away from the cage. The source reveals itself a second later with a loud thud. Twilight and Link spin around and see a humongous bird towering over them, its beak covered with a mask. It bends down and grabs Link and Twilight in said beak before taking flight again, circling around the tower to what looks like a ship mounted to the top.
Standing outside of the ship is a dark-skinned man, clad in an old-style kimono. He looks at the two in the bird's beak before giving a nod to the side. Having received its instructions, the bird tosses its passengers out to sea. The two hit the water with a hard splash. Link is instantly knocked out, but Twilight manages to stay conscious for a little while longer. She sees a boat coming toward them and smiles before blacking out, the last thing she feels being someone lifting her aboard.
Twilight and Link have been rescued by a mysterious man. What adventures await the pair, and will Twilight find her friends?
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FurryBrony
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1031
| 3 |
Main 6,Other,Princess Celestia,Alternate Universe,Crossover,Human,Adventure,Dark,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,The Legend of Zelda,Gore,Profanity,Sex
|
My Little Pony: An Oceanic Adventure
|
Twilight and her friends are thrown into the flooded Hyrule. Can they make it back to their home?
|
incomplete
| 19 | 16 |
<p>This is my first story here.</p><p>Twilight and her friends are on a diplomatic mission to a distant continent when a sudden storm appears and throws them into the world of Hyrule after the three great Goddesses flooded the land. Now they must travel with Link in the hopes of finding a way to return to Equestria.</p><p>This is a a story filled with adventure and excitement, but will Twilight be able to handle all the monsters present in this world?</p>
|
mature
|
2012-02-22T17:22:38+00:00
|
2012-02-22T17:22:38+00:00
| 881 |
A/N: Sorry about the long disappearance. My computer broke down and I had to use my brother's while I waited for it to get fixed. Anyway, on with the chapter. here's a little bit of info about my story, before you read. All islands are much bigger than their game counterparts, and each island will have their own medical center. Now, on with the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. My Little Pony and Legend of Zelda are owned by hasbro
and Nintendo respectively.
Chapter 3:
Twilight groaned as she struggled to wake up. She could hear various voices around her.
"Lucky she got here when she did. She might not have made it otherwise."
"Ah know what ya mean. she suffered serious injuries. What was she doin' at the Forsaken Fortress anyway?"
"She was helping me save my sister Arill!"
"Calm down, kid. Saving someone is admirable, but going to the Forsaken Fortress armed as you are was follish indeed. You're lucky to have come out without a scratch. Your friend however, had to be treated for poison."
Twilight groaned again as her eyes shot open at that. "P-poison?" She asked hoarsely. This got everyone's attention as the others turned to her. the doctor spoke up.
"Yes, poison. It was slow-acting, so we were able to get rid of it efficiently, but I don't want to hear you doing any excessive training while you're healing." He smiled at her before leaving. Applejack spoke up next.
"Ya gave me a right scare, turning up half dead." She said with a fond smile. it was at this point that all the memories assiciated with the injury resurfaced, and she gasped.
"What... have I done?" She gasped out, tears brimming in her eyes.
"What are ya on about, Twi?" AJ asked, concerned.
"I... killed."
"Oh. Yeah, the first one's always the hardest, but if ya want to survive in this world long enough to get back to ours, ya'll be doing it many more times. Just remember that yer killing to stay alive, and to save others."
Twilight sniffed as her sobs turned to shakes. "Y-yeah, but..."
"Ah know what yer going to say, so don't bother. We may be the Element bearers, but in this world, the Elements have no power. We'll need to gather our own strength if we want to survive." Applejack smiled. "Now git some rest. Your body needs to heal." With that AJ left the room.
It was several weeks before Twilight was considered well enough to leave the hospital, and Applejack and Link had visited her every day they were allowed to. During those weeks, Applejack found someone to teach her how to fight, so she would be able to help Twilight and Link on their journey, and on the final day before Twilight was set to leave the hospital, she received a strange visitor.
Twilight was reading a book as she rested when the hospital door opened, but the man who entered was unrecognizable to twilight as she looked up from her book.
"Can I help you, sir?" Twilight asked. The man smiled slightly.
"So you're the woman who stormed the Forsaken Fortress. You have guts, young one. I am the last survivor of the pirates who called the Fortress a base, and I must say, to storm it when it was overrun by monsters is no small feat." His smile widened. "To storm it with no sword training is an even bigger feat, but I know you have a long road ahead of you. I wish to train you in the way of the sword, so that my knowledge will not be lost to time. When you leave the hospital, seek me out." he had not allowed Twilight to say a word as he spoke, and left before she could speak. Once he was gone, Twilight sighed.
"Well, looks like I have a master. the only question is, will I survive the training?"
To be continued...
A/N: That was chapter 3. Please Read and Review.
|
FurryBrony
|
1031
| 4 |
Main 6,Other,Princess Celestia,Alternate Universe,Crossover,Human,Adventure,Dark,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,The Legend of Zelda,Gore,Profanity,Sex
|
My Little Pony: An Oceanic Adventure
|
Twilight and her friends are thrown into the flooded Hyrule. Can they make it back to their home?
|
incomplete
| 19 | 16 |
<p>This is my first story here.</p><p>Twilight and her friends are on a diplomatic mission to a distant continent when a sudden storm appears and throws them into the world of Hyrule after the three great Goddesses flooded the land. Now they must travel with Link in the hopes of finding a way to return to Equestria.</p><p>This is a a story filled with adventure and excitement, but will Twilight be able to handle all the monsters present in this world?</p>
|
mature
|
2013-06-12T19:19:28+00:00
|
2013-06-12T19:19:27+00:00
| 312 |
After Twilight was released from the hospital, she went searching for her teacher. She spent the time searching looking at the sights, committing them to memory. There were various shops and houses, including a bazaar and a potion shop.
Twilight eventually ran into her teacher when she entered the bar that was behind and above a strange shop that seemed to have nothing for sale. After the former pirate payed for his meal, he silently led Twilight to the place where he would teach her how to wield a sword.
"Now, young lass, we have a month to get ye up to the skill of the green-clad lad. I don't want to hear any complaining, or I'll drop yer lessons." The pirate explained. "Am I understood?"
Twilight nodded. "Crystal clear, sir," She said.
"Good. Now, there's a wooden sword on the side. you'll start with that." As he spoke, he indicated the wooden weapons on the side. Twilight ran to grab one, eager to learn. She returned with a medium-length sword. "Good lass. Now, I'll show you the basic stances, and I want you to mimic me. We'll get to the actual combat later."
He showed her the stances, and Twilight followed them, getting struck by a boken every time she faltered or missed a stance. This went on for about a week, when she had the basic stances down to an art.
"Wonderful, Missie. You may just impress this old pirate, yet. Now we move on to combat using these basic stances. I'll use the boken I was disciplining you with. You will use the wooden sword you practiced with. You must land 100 strikes on me before I land three on you." As he explained the rules, he flexed his magic out so it displayed a scoreboard. "Is that understood?"
Twilight nodded. She felt nervous, but wouldn't let her teacher down. "Understood, Teacher."
"Then let us begin! Have at you!" He got into a basic defensive stance. Twilight got into a stance she was comfortable with.
"I'll be sure to impress you. Teacher!" Twilight exclaimed before she charged at him, going into an overhead strike using her right hand while she coated her left in her magic, increasing its defensive strength. The former pirate blocked the strike with his boken, easily pushing her away. He then spun into a horizontal slash, but Twilight used her wooden sword to block the intended attack, using her left hand as a brace. This continued, with Twilight getting some hits in before the pirate managed his first successful strike on Twilight. She growled and returned to the offensive, managed to increase her hit count to thirty before the pirate was able to block her strikes.
"You're starting to tire." He proved this by getting a second hit in, knocking her back, where she stood, panting.
"I... can still continue." Twilight said, her determination winning out as she charged once again, getting a few more hits in before the pirate landed the third and final strike on her, knocking her on her back, with the boken pressed against her chest.
"This fight is over. You did well. I was not expecting you to get even this far. Every week, we will do this test, if you pass the test one week, the next week's will be harder. Take some time to rest. By the time you are done with my training, I will expect you to be able to hit me 100 times without being hit once by me. And, so you know, my name is..."
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FurryBrony
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1031
| 5 |
Main 6,Other,Princess Celestia,Alternate Universe,Crossover,Human,Adventure,Dark,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,The Legend of Zelda,Gore,Profanity,Sex
|
My Little Pony: An Oceanic Adventure
|
Twilight and her friends are thrown into the flooded Hyrule. Can they make it back to their home?
|
incomplete
| 19 | 16 |
<p>This is my first story here.</p><p>Twilight and her friends are on a diplomatic mission to a distant continent when a sudden storm appears and throws them into the world of Hyrule after the three great Goddesses flooded the land. Now they must travel with Link in the hopes of finding a way to return to Equestria.</p><p>This is a a story filled with adventure and excitement, but will Twilight be able to handle all the monsters present in this world?</p>
|
mature
|
2013-08-24T23:07:20+00:00
|
2014-11-20T00:58:47+00:00
| 271 |
Last time, on An Oceanic Adventure, Twilight was accepted by a mysterious pirate, and had begone her training. Her training was brutal, but it showed results, and she impressed her teacher. Will she continue to impress him?
"My name is... Captain Graybeard. You will refer to me, from now on, as either Graybeard-Sensei, or Sir. Am I understood?" Graybeard barked. Twilight nodded.
"Crystal, sir." Graybeard smiled, showing off several yellow and decaying teeth.
"Wonderful. Now take a shower and rest. Your training continues in the morning." Twilight nodded and walked to the shelf, putting her weapon back before heading to shower room. She stripped down and stepped into the stall, turning the water on and relaxing under the powerful spray. As she stood under the shower, she contemplated her friends. She wondered if Applejack and Pinkie were training, and where Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity were. She shook her head and started washing herself. After a while, she turned the water off and walked to a full-sized mirror to look herself over.
She noticed that her breasts weren't that big, but figured it was a result of her body changing to match the age she would be had she lived here all her life, but she noticed her nipples were a lighter velvet and erect. She looked further south and saw that she had a flat stomach. Further down still, there was a patch of dark purple hair to hide her most sensitive spot. She turned around and tried to look over her shoulder into the mirror, but she found it impossible without turning her body. She noticed she had rather large cheeks, figuring her fat went to her breasts and butt. She dried off before heading to where her change of clothes were. She quickly changed into them, having a bit of trouble with the underwear.
After getting dressed, she left the washroom and headed for her bedroom, not looking forward to tomorrow. As she climbed into bed, her thoughts once again went to her friends, but she also wondered about Link, and was hoping he was increasing his skills, too. With that thought, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
The next morning, Twilight awoke early and headed to the eating area, getting herself some breakfast. After eating her breakfast of eggs and toast with orange juice (they didn't have apple juice), she headed to her room to change. She emerged from her room in her gi, ready for the day and walked to her sensei.
"From now on, you'll be using a real, but dull, sword. Grab the short sword from the shelf, and we'll get started." Graybeard said gruffly. Twilight nodded and walked to the shelf, taking the short sword from the shelf and hitching it to her side before walking back. Your first lesson today is drawing your sword. First, grasp the sheath with your non-dominant hand." Graybeard shows Twilight, who mimics. "Second, grab the handle with your dominant hand firmly." Again, he shows and Twilight mimics. "Third, draw the sword. You can do this any way you want, but I'd recommend using your non-dominant thumb to help in freeing the sword." Graybeard demonstrates, and Twilight mimics. "Excellent. You're a natural. If you're wearing the sword on your back, just do the same thing, except without using your non-dominant hand. The same is true if you're doing two-sword style, except you're also using your non-dominant hand to draw a sword."
Twilight nods. "I understand, Sensei. I'm ready for the next lesson." Graybeard nodded.
"First, get a feel for your sword by giving it a few swings. The sword is dull, so don't worry about hurting yourself or me." Twilight nodded and got into a stance that was comfortable for her and started swinging. She swung in different directions with careful precision, and then Graybeard started the next lessons. They went through the horizontal and vertical swings, which Twilight got down easily. They then moved to the stab and the jump attack, which Twilight also got easily. Graybeard had Twilight continue practicing those techniques for several days.
"You're coming along wonderfully, and I can tell the extra weight of a real sword isn't burdening you. You have mastered all of the basic techniques, and it's not time to move into the intermediate techniques: The Spin Attack, the Parry, and the Sword Beam. We'll start with the Spin Attack. Point the sword behind you and focus your energy into it. When you think you've focused enough, spin with your arm outstretched and unleash the energy. This should create a ring of destructive energy around you."
Twilight got into the stance, pointing her sword behind her and closed her eyes. She could feel her energy flowing into her sword, and when she thought there was enough, she stopped focusing, and spun, unleashing the energy from her sword, which trailed behind her, forming a ring of destructive energy.
"Well done, Twilight! You seem to have mastered it. So now we move on to the next in the Intermediate skills: The Parry. This one is more difficult in that you need to open your senses and feel when your opponent will attack. Come, I will demonstrate." Graybeard got into a loose stance, sword at the ready. Twilight ran at the pirate, sword ready to hit him, when he suddenly blocked her strike before spinning around her and placing his sword against her neck. "That.. is the parry." He released her and backed away. Twilight turned and got into her preferred stance. Graybeard ran quickly toward her, ready to impale her when she suddenly used her sword to block his before spinning around him and placing her sword against his throat. graybeard chuckled.
"Very excellently performed. You really are a natural. Now it's time for the final in the techniques I will teach you: The Sword Beam. This is a technique unlike any other you have performed, and I will be surprised if you get it down on your first try. You see, the Sword Beam is an energy attack that forms when you swing your sword. By swinging your sword, you unleash an arc of cutting energy that can cut through nearly anything. The only thing it can't cut through is rock and metal stronger than your sword. This technique is dangerous, because if you don't have sufficient energy to perform it, you could very easily die.
"The way you perform it is by focusing your energy into your sword and then swinging your sword as if you were striking an invisible enemy. This will send the arc of energy out. I will demonstrate. Due to the destructive nature of this attack, we will go to the outside training area." Graybeard lead Twilight to the area and got into a stance, his sword extended to his side. It started to glow blue with energy, and when he swung, an arc of energy shot out, striking the metal that training dummies are attached to and dispersing, not leaving a mark. "Now you." Graybeard stood aside as Twilight walked up, taking a similar stance and focused her energy. When it glowed a steady purple, and when she swung, she unleashed a larger, purple arc at the same metal bracer. Like Graybeard's arc, it dispersed when it hit the bracer.
"I am very impressed. You have completed the last lesson I will teach you, so go wash up and I'll give you a real, sharpened sword to use." Twilight cheered, jumping up and down in excitement. This caused her gi to open and expose her breasts, causing Graybeard to have an explosive nosebleed and collapse. After Twilight made herself decent and awoke Graybeard, she showered and they went through the ceremony, with Twilight receiving her own short sword to use.
"Now, you must understand that this sword is not a toy. I have trained you in the art of swordsmanship, and I hope you will not follow in my footsteps and become a pirate. I have gone down that road, and it's not worth it." Twilight smiled and hugged Graybeard.
"Thank you so much, Sensei! I promise, I won't let you down." Twilight left after that to reunite with her friends, eager to start her journey.
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FurryBrony
|
1031
| 6 |
Main 6,Other,Princess Celestia,Alternate Universe,Crossover,Human,Adventure,Dark,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,The Legend of Zelda,Gore,Profanity,Sex
|
My Little Pony: An Oceanic Adventure
|
Twilight and her friends are thrown into the flooded Hyrule. Can they make it back to their home?
|
incomplete
| 19 | 16 |
<p>This is my first story here.</p><p>Twilight and her friends are on a diplomatic mission to a distant continent when a sudden storm appears and throws them into the world of Hyrule after the three great Goddesses flooded the land. Now they must travel with Link in the hopes of finding a way to return to Equestria.</p><p>This is a a story filled with adventure and excitement, but will Twilight be able to handle all the monsters present in this world?</p>
|
mature
|
2014-07-27T19:12:01+00:00
|
2014-07-27T19:12:00+00:00
| 319 |
This chapter will feature graphic nudity, both female and male. I'll put a warning so those who don't like that can skip it.
Twilight woke up bright an early on the morning of their departure. She took a long shower before going to a full-body mirror to look herself over. She frowned as she poke her breasts. "They're a bit small." She was bunking with Link, but didn't hear him wake up, and had forgotten to lock the door, so a gasp of surprise caused her to turn around. Standing in the doorway was Link, just as nude as she was, and obviously wanting a shower. She blushed and turned away before her eyes could wander.
"Sorry, Twilight. I didn't know you were in here." Link said apologetically as he went to the tub. Twilight took this moment to leave to her room to get dressed.
Not much longer, everyone was up and dressed, ready to head out. They had gotten a sail the day before, and Link had a Pictograph Box that he found behind the prison cell holding Tingle. "All right, ya'll, if everyone's ready, let's set sail." Applejack was wearing a plaid shirt that was buttoned enough to show cleavage, but not be indecent, and was also wearing a pair of shorts that she could easily slip on and off at a moment's notice.
"Right." Twilight went to the boat they were using. She was wearing a white shirt and a plaid skirt. Link was wearing his usual tunic, but had found it too hot for the sweat pants that go along with it. He nodded as well and they all climbed in. After setting up the sail, they were off.
Caution: nudity
Once they were out of view of the town, Applejack smiled and undid her shirt, slipping off her shorts as well so her body could breathe. Her breasts were a supple C-cup, and she had just shaved that morning, so her labia had no pubic hair. "Come on, Twi. Join me. No one'll see." Applejack coaxed. Twilight was about to decline when the ruffle of fabric caught her attention and she saw that Link had followed AJ's example, smiling at the orange woman.
Twilight sighed and did the same, dropping her skirt and pulling off her shirt, since it was pretty hot out. She had B-cup breasts, and unlike Applejack, she only trimmed. "We'll need to get dressed before we reach the next populated island, you know that?" Twilight asked as she leaned back. Applejack nods.
"True, but that's hours away. Maybe even a couple days. We have plenty of time to just lay about and be naked." She explained, smiling.
And so they just lay on the King of Red Lions, who was oddly silent about the whole thing. Twilight stuck her hand into the water as they sailed.
"I wouldn't do that, Twilight." Link warned. "I've heard that the Great Sea is infested by Gyorgs."
"Gyorgs?" Twilight asked. "What are they?" Despite that, she pulled her hand out.
"They're sharks, but they'll pursue anyone they've identified as food." Link explained. "We don't have any weapons that can kill them right now, so we'll need to avoid grabbing their attention."
Twilight nods and sits back to try to enjoy the voyage. Part way through, the sound of retching occurs as AJ could no longer hold her sea sickness back. "Ah hope I get over this damn sea sickness." She moaned.
End nudity
It was two days before they arrived at Dragon Roost Island, and the three had gotten dressed again. Upon arrival, their boat briefed them on what they had to do and gave Link the Wind Waker while also teaching him how to use it. After that, they made their way to the Rito tribe.
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sammyberry
|
1035
| 1 |
Main 6,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Adventure,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Enchanted Nights
|
The mane six take turns spending nights with Luna, helping her in her nighttime activities.
|
hiatus
| 15 | 1 |
<p>This story is also currently on hiatus. I don't exactly have any ideas to continue this story on, so hopefully, if I take a break from it, new ideas will slowly come to me. I'm sorry for those who were anticipating new chapters, but unfortunately they won't be coming soon. :C</p><p>When the mane six start taking lessons about night from Luna, they never thought they'd have to walk among wolves, grow poisonous light, collect stardust and moondust, or be trapped in a whole other kingdom! With the help of friendship, the seven ponies learn more about the enchanted nights then they'd ever had expected to learn. </p><p>All this happens while Princess Celestia slowly grows angrier because of Twilight falling behind on her regular studies. Will Celestia learn about the night and accept it, or will she banish Princess Luna again?</p><p>Hello~~!! I changed the story a little so that I could continue it as an actual story. I hope no one's mad ^^' and sorry for the slight feud between the sisters, I didn't want to do it like this but it was the only idea I had.. Again sorry~~</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-11-12T16:23:50+00:00
|
2011-11-12T16:23:50+00:00
| 1,677 |
"Hello Twilight!" Fluttershy said in her soft voice. "How are you this evening?" Twilight Sparkle looked up from her books and said, "Oh, hello Fluttershy. You're early. You didn't have to show up until fifteen more minutes," Fluttershy smiled softly and said, "Well, I just wanted to make sure I wouldn't be late is all," Twilight smiled and said, "Well, that's fine. Make yourself at home. I'll go get the food and drinks," Twilight walked into the kitchen to prepare the food.
Fluttershy looked around the room, even though she had seen it many times before. She noticed the warm golden glow coming from the lamps, and the soft, plush carpet underneath her hooves. There was piano music playing softly, definitely giving off a sense of serenity. Fluttershy was well aware that when everypony else arrived, particularly Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, the calmness would be snatched away and replaced with crazy techno music, disco balls, strobe lights, balloons, and other things of that sort, so while Fluttershy knew it couldn’t last, she reveled in the sweet tenderness of the night.
The smell of food awakened Fluttershy out of her soft dream. “Here you go, Fluttershy! Pinkie Pie baked these cookies earlier this morning!” Twilight said happily. “Oh, thank you, Twilight,” the yellow pegasus replied thankfully. Fluttershy gently picked a cookie up in her mouth and placed it on top of her hoof so she could eat it. “Oh, it tastes wonderful! I must tell Pinkie Pie when she arrives,” Fluttershy said smiling.
As she was finishing her second cookie, Rainbow Dash and Rarity came in. “Good evening, darlings!” Rarity called out in a singsong voice. Rainbow Dash flew in and stood down next to the tray of cookies. “Are these those cookies Pinkie Pie was bragging about?” Dash asked as she took one and started biting it. Fluttershy nodded and said, “Oh yes. They’re wonderful, aren’t they?” Rainbow Dash put on a forced smile and replied, “Oh, um, yeah, they’re fine, I guess… but I personally think they’re too sweet. There’s too much sugary icing on them,” Fluttershy shrugged and said, “To each her own, I suppose,”
Rainbow Dash listened to the music playing and scoffed. “Come on Twilight! Do you honestly expect us to have fun while listening to piano music?” she ran over to the CD player and inspected the open CD case lying on the counter beside the player. Twilight shrugged. “Not really. I just had it on while I was studying. I’ve heard that piano music can help a pony think better. So I tried it, and I must say that it really works,” Rainbow Dash just looked at her. “Um, ok, well, can I put in something more… fun?” Twilight laughed and said, “Sure, have at it, Rainbow Dash,”
With techno music now blaring from the speakers, the calm scene Fluttershy had had the sweet blissful opportunity to witness had been transformed into a fun, happy, energetic party. Pinkie Pie showed up next, became excited about the music and got to work on decorations. Applejack finally made her appearance, claiming she had to stay a little late and help Big Mac at the farm.
“Ok ponies, gather around. It’s time for the sleepover to officially begin!” Everypony cheered excitedly. “Ok, first order of business… makeovers!” Applejack groaned. “Twilight, do we have to?” Rainbow Dash sided with Applejack, while the others sided with Twilight. “Majority rules girls, sorry,” Twilight said with an apologetic look. “You two can pick the next thing we do, ok?” Applejack and Rainbow Dash sighed and said, “Fine,” in unison.
Twilight laughed with her friends as she put their manes and tails in rollers. Their mud masks and cucumber-covered eyes made them look alien, but they couldn’t care less. They were also dressed in comfy bathrobes, thanks to Rarity. “This is going so much better than my last sleepover,” Twilight said, turning her head in the direction of where she had seen Applejack and Rarity last. The two ponies rolled their eyes, or as best as they could without the cucumbers falling off.
“Ok, ok, makeovers are done!” Rainbow Dash said. Twilight giggled and said, “Fine,” the bathrobes, mud masks, cucumbers, and rollers vanished. “Aww!” Rarity frowned.
“Next?” Twilight asked, turning to Rainbow Dash and Applejack. “Truth or Dare!” they shouted together. Obviously they had discussed it while everypony else was doing makeovers. “Ok, Truth or Dare it is,” Twilight confirmed. Fluttershy’s eyes widened in terror. She didn’t like that game. “Applejack, you can go first,” Twilight said.
Applejack smirked. “Pinkie Pie. Truth or Dare?” Pinkie looked up from her fourth cookie and through a mouthful of food said, “Dare!” A few cookie crumbs flew out of Pinkie’s mouth. “Oh, darling, that’s disgusting!” Rarity shuddered. Applejack ignored the crumbs and said, “I dare you to go the rest of the night without eating anything sweet!” she said proudly. Pinkie Pie’s eyes widened. “Oh no! Anything but that! Please!” Applejack smirked. “Would you rather me dare you to go without talking?” Pinkie Pie contemplated that thought for a few seconds, then said, “No more sweets tonight,”
Rainbow Dash cried, “My turn! Fluttershy, truth or dare?” Fluttershy didn’t say anything and tried to hide behind her mane. Dash looked at her. “Fluttershy? Truth or Dare? I’ll pick it for you,” Fluttershy still didn’t say anything. She squeezed her eyes shut. Dash shrugged and said, “Ok, fine. Dare. Alright, I dare you to walk outside and stand there in the dark for a full minute,” Dash grinned evilly. Fluttershy’s eyes widened and she scrunched down as far as she could into the carpet. She wouldn’t budge. Not an inch.
Of course, that didn’t stop Rainbow Dash from pulling her outside by her tail. The other ponies were watching her from the window. Fluttershy picked up her head and glanced around. Suddenly a soft blue glow caught her eye. She turned to the left and saw Princess Luna walking slowly along the road in Ponyville.
Fluttershy gasped and flew over to her. “Princess Luna! We haven’t seen you in forever! Where have you been?” Princess Luna had a shocked look on her face-after all, this was the first time she had come across a pony out of bed this late at night. “What are you doing up so late, Fluttershy? You should be asleep,” Fluttershy had a look of admiration in her eyes. “You know my name, Princess Luna?” Luna smiled kindly and responded, “Yes, Fluttershy. You are the Element of Kindness, one of the six ponies that helped me escape my evil self. I will forever be in your debt,” Fluttershy blushed.
“Fluttershy!” Twilight called. Fluttershy looked behind her and saw her friends walking towards her and Princess Luna. “Princess Luna. It’s an honor to meet you again,” Twilight said, bowing. The other ponies followed suit. Princess Luna smiled in gratitude. “The honor is mine, Twilight, for if you six had not been there to help me, I would still be evil,”
Pinkie Pie bounced up to her and asked, “Princess Luna, why do we never see you anymore?” Princess Luna lifted her head to the moon. “I am in charge of the moon, not the sun, so I show when the moon is in the sky. During the day the moon is not needed, and so I am not needed. It is such a terrible shame, but it is still my job, and so I work with happiness, even if I cannot see anypony,” The other ponies all looked at Princess Luna with sympathy.
“It must be awfully lonely, Princess. Why don’t you organize get-togethers and things during the night, so everypony can still see you!” Applejack suggested. Princess Luna smiled sadly. “If I could, I would, Applejack. But you ponies need your sleep sometime. I can’t take your rest away from you. Besides, everything is more fun in the daytime anyway,” Luna adopted a sad look onto her face.
Fluttershy shook her head. “Oh no. I believe that nighttime is just as fun as daytime. It’s full of wonderful exciting treasures that have never been discovered. I love the calm serenity of it. You do your job beautifully, Princess Luna,” Luna’s eyes moistened, and she started to laugh. It was a melancholy laugh, one that broke all the ponies’ hearts and made them sad. Then Luna teared a little. “Thank you, Fluttershy. You have given me hope. Now I know that there is at least one pony in Equestria that enjoys my nights. Thank you,” she bent down and hugged the little pegasus. Fluttershy wasn’t expecting that. She smiled and returned the hug. “You’re welcome, Princess Luna,”
Twilight had been thinking for a while, and now she spoke, “Princess Luna, would it be possible for you to teach us the ways of the night? Nighttime sounds so amazing, I would love to learn about the night. I don’t care about not getting sleep. I already know a lot about the sun and the day, so it won’t be a surprise. But I don’t know much about nighttime, or rather, I haven’t experienced anything,” all the other ponies nodded in agreement.
Princess Luna smiled. “You ponies inspire me. Yes, I will teach you about the night. But for now, you ponies must go to sleep. We can start your lesson tomorrow night.” And then Princess Luna continued walking, and disappeared in a flash of moonlight.
|
sammyberry
|
1035
| 2 |
Main 6,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Adventure,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Enchanted Nights
|
The mane six take turns spending nights with Luna, helping her in her nighttime activities.
|
hiatus
| 15 | 1 |
<p>This story is also currently on hiatus. I don't exactly have any ideas to continue this story on, so hopefully, if I take a break from it, new ideas will slowly come to me. I'm sorry for those who were anticipating new chapters, but unfortunately they won't be coming soon. :C</p><p>When the mane six start taking lessons about night from Luna, they never thought they'd have to walk among wolves, grow poisonous light, collect stardust and moondust, or be trapped in a whole other kingdom! With the help of friendship, the seven ponies learn more about the enchanted nights then they'd ever had expected to learn. </p><p>All this happens while Princess Celestia slowly grows angrier because of Twilight falling behind on her regular studies. Will Celestia learn about the night and accept it, or will she banish Princess Luna again?</p><p>Hello~~!! I changed the story a little so that I could continue it as an actual story. I hope no one's mad ^^' and sorry for the slight feud between the sisters, I didn't want to do it like this but it was the only idea I had.. Again sorry~~</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-11-13T02:28:07+00:00
|
2011-11-13T02:28:07+00:00
| 1,372 |
Fluttershy sang quietly to herself as she fed Angel his dinner. She was so excited for tonight she could hardly wait! She had taken a few naps during the day, but now that it was nearing nighttime she couldn't sleep at all. Fluttershy just knew that tonight would be full of wonderful occurrences and splendid surprises. Maybe she could even see the nocturnal animals like owls, badgers, and the sacred Silver Deer. Fluttershy's wings flapped at the thought. She simply couldn't wait.
Applejack paced back and forth. She wasn't too keen on staying up all night, but she didn't want to let Princess Luna down. She raised her head towards the heavens, basking in the last few rays of light before the sun was fully set. She sighed. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad. She could learn about the specific plants that only blossomed during the night, like the Luminous Crescent and Satin Star Leaves. Applejack couldn't help herself; she smiled and shuddered with excitement. If she could learn about those special plants... oh Celestia she would love the night. From after that thought, Applejack couldn't wait for the night's lesson.
Twilight glanced at the darkening sky. She was very intrigued by the stars and planets. She hoped Princess Luna would teach her about astronomy. Twilight could barely contain her excitement. She swept her eyes over the book she was reading. It was about astronomy, but Twilight had the feeling it couldn't compare to actually witnessing the sights in real life. She closed her eyes and smiled. The night would be amazing.
Pinkie Pie tried to stay calm. She knew she couldn't be as loud as she normally was, since it was nighttime and all sensible ponies were asleep, but it would be super duper hard. Pinkie Pie sighed and gazed out at the stars. The luminescence they produced made the grass shine, and the grass waved in the soft wind, as if they were dancing. Pinkie Pie opened her window and let the cool air wash over her. Yes, she finally decided, there were multiple ways of having a party. There was the crazy happy fun way, and the melodic, calm, and peaceful way. Pinkie knew she would like the night's version of a party just as much as hers.
Rainbow Dash groaned. Why did she ever agree to stay awake all night? Come on! It was nighttime! Everything would be dark and she wouldn't be able to see where she was going. Dash stepped outside, and instantly the cold breeze shifted past her, ruffling her feathers. She noticed some white flower petals drifting along in the wind. They definitely contrasted with the night sky, but it was a beautiful contrast. Dash followed the movements of the petals and saw how they twisted and turned gracefully in the air. She wished she could fly like that. It looked so beautiful. Dash looked up and closed her eyes. The moonlight washed over her, and brought with it the wonderful sensation of excitement. She leapt upwards and twisted gracefully in the air, creating a total different look that she had when flying in the daytime. Sure, Rainbow Dash could fly super fast, but sometimes, the epic coolness was being able to look graceful and feel so calm and carefree, not having to rush. Dash instantly knew she made the right decision.
Rarity looked up at the moon as she walked towards Twilight's. She couldn't believe she was actually going. There would be nothing to her interest. The night was dark and empty, and while there were pretty lights being shined down from the moon and stars, that did nothing for Rarity except help her see. Why couldn't there be any pretty physical things in the night? Rarity grumbled. All the grand things couldn't been seen in the dark. Rarity was almost to Twilight's when she noticed something sparkly dotting the road in front of her. It was a silver glittering thing, glowing in spots. Oh, how spectacular! Rarity bent down to get a closer look. It was star dust! Rarity had seen this stuff on the road to Twilight's all the time, but had always thought they were just clumps of dirt. Rarity realized that star dust, like regular stars, could only be seen at night. Rarity smiled widely, and after concluding that the night did hold beautiful things, she galloped the rest of the way to Twilight's.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Once everypony had arrived at Twilight's they all walked outside. “Princess Luna?” Fluttershy called out in her soft-spoken voice. Princess Luna appeared in a flash of moonlight. “Good evening ponies. I’m so glad you’ve arrived,” Princess Luna said with a smile on her face.
Princess Luna led the six ponies to a lake. “First thing I will teach you ponies is the enchanted plants that exist only in the nighttime. Watch closely,” Luna turned toward a pale yellow bulb sitting atop a green stem. Princess Luna lay down in front of the flower.
As the seven ponies watched, the flower started to illuminate, and slowly opened up. Applejack gasped. “It’s a Luminous Crescent! I thought these were extinct,” she whispered, entranced by the pure beauty of the flower. Princess Luna laughed quietly. “It is definitely not extinct, Applejack. Ponies just never see it because it is only visible during the night. During daytime it closes up and looks like a dead flower. The moon’s soft glow is what keeps this flower alive, not the harshly bright light of the sun, no offense to my sister. This flower is very delicate,” Princess Luna explained. The ponies all gasped together.
Rarity leaned in closer to the flower. “It’s so beautiful. It’s a shame it can only be viewed at night,” she said sadly. Princess Luna smiled. “There are many wondrous things in the world, Rarity. You just have to know when to look for them,”
Rarity smiled. Princess Luna led the ponies closer to the lake. " While we're here, I'll show you the Night Fish, even though tonight's lesson is mainly about plants. You'll want to watch out for these fish, they can be mean. Their scales reflect the moon. These fish are very smart, and love playing tricks, so it'd be best if you don't lean too far over the edge, Rainbow Dash," the princess said with a small smile. She continued, "During the day, these fish stay well hidden in underwater caves, which is why no pony else has ever seen them," Twilight was furiously writing all this information down, trying to get every word. "Shall we move on?" Princess Luna asked. The ponies nodded.
Luna walked towards the Everfree Forest. She stopped at the edge and gently muzzled a branch with silver star shaped leaves on it. She breathed on the leaves, and they shivered and started to radiate pale light. Twilight gasped. "Those are Satin Star Leaves! I've only seen pictures!" Princess Luna said, "Pictures can not completely grasp the wonderful splendor of these leaves. What I find most intriguing is that these leaves exist for one night. Then they fall off, break into dust, and are replaced by regular leaves in the morning. Then at night, the regular green leaves follow their relatives' example and fall off, leaving room for the next batch of leaves and thus continuing the cycle," Everypony gazed at Princess Luna with admiration. That princess knew everything about the night.
Luna looked at the ponies and blushed when she noticed them all staring at her. "Ok ponies, this is the end of your lesson for tonight. I haven't even begun to show you all the wonderful plants here in the night, but if I showed them all to you, there would be no time for other things, so I show you my favorites. Tomorrow night I will show you the magical creatures of the night, like the Night Fish you just saw. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow night, ponies,"
Twilight said, "We thank you, Princess Luna. You are a wonderful teacher, and we can't wait to learn more,"
And the ponies all went their separate ways for the night.
|
sammyberry
|
1035
| 3 |
Main 6,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Adventure,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Enchanted Nights
|
The mane six take turns spending nights with Luna, helping her in her nighttime activities.
|
hiatus
| 15 | 1 |
<p>This story is also currently on hiatus. I don't exactly have any ideas to continue this story on, so hopefully, if I take a break from it, new ideas will slowly come to me. I'm sorry for those who were anticipating new chapters, but unfortunately they won't be coming soon. :C</p><p>When the mane six start taking lessons about night from Luna, they never thought they'd have to walk among wolves, grow poisonous light, collect stardust and moondust, or be trapped in a whole other kingdom! With the help of friendship, the seven ponies learn more about the enchanted nights then they'd ever had expected to learn. </p><p>All this happens while Princess Celestia slowly grows angrier because of Twilight falling behind on her regular studies. Will Celestia learn about the night and accept it, or will she banish Princess Luna again?</p><p>Hello~~!! I changed the story a little so that I could continue it as an actual story. I hope no one's mad ^^' and sorry for the slight feud between the sisters, I didn't want to do it like this but it was the only idea I had.. Again sorry~~</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-11-13T02:41:53+00:00
|
2011-11-13T02:41:53+00:00
| 1,089 |
Princess Celestia looked at her sister with a stern look. "Luna, I fear you are taking Twilight Sparkle away from her studies. She hasn't been studying or sending letters. When I have inquired this to Spike, he told me she was asleep. Now, Luna, you wouldn't want to take Twilight away from her real studies would you?" Princess Luna looked down and replied softly, "It is her choice if she studies with me or you. I do not force them to come, they arrive at their own free will. I cannot make Twilight stop coming," Princess Celestia let out a snort. "No, but you can call off all of this nonsense. There's no need for you to waste these ponies' sleep time for something they can learn from books. Just be warned, Luna. If Twilight falls behind on her studies because of your lessons, I will not be mad at her, I will be mad at you," As Princess Celestia stopped speaking, the sun went down and Luna went off to raise the moon.
Luna walked along the path, thinking of what her sister said. She could be really mean to her sometimes. "Something had changed within Celestia while I was gone," Luna thought. She concluded that because her sister had had to raise the sun and the moon for 1,000 years and had been the only active princess for the same period of time, perhaps she had gotten used to being number one, and the only one.
Luna chewed her lip in thought. She shook her head. No, her and Celestia were equal, no pony was greater than the other. Celestia was older, but they both shared the same rights and freedoms, or so Luna had thought.
As time wore on, she contemplated not having her lessons, or perhaps having her lessons every other night? Or perhaps even once a week? Yes, that should work out just fine. Maybe three times a week. That still left four nights of her being left alone, though.
Luna thought more. She knew the ponies would want to all be together, so they could share their findings with each other, so she couldn't have three ponies on some nights and the other three on other nights.
Luna sighed and her lively spirit crawled back inside its little shell it was so often hidden in. She blocked herself off from the world, slowly returning back to her silent self, her more reserved side, her depressed side.
She didn't even notice that she was walking towards Twilight's. Luna stopped, the wind whipping her mane and hair in the silence. She looked down and saw traces of stardust. She gasped and followed the faint trail away from the path, growing ever closer to the Everfree Forest. As she slowly crept up to the forest, Luna gasped. The stardust was falling softly, gently pouring onto Luna's back, mane, and tail. It felt cool to the touch, and sent shivers up Luna's spine.
She slowly walked through the glittery snow, soaking up its beauty. She approached two trees that grew very strangely; they were bending away from each other, like two parentheses back to back. Luna peeked through the small gap between the trees and couldn't believe what was before her eyes.
The moon's light shone down on the meadow, making the grass appear a silvery green. There was a small pond with lily pads floating atop the glassy surface. Fauna were celebrating the night, basking in the moon's coolness.
Luna thought she heard music drifting in the wind, but maybe that was just her mind playing tricks on her. The place laid out in front of her was real, though.
She closed her eyes and soaked up the serenity, her earlier depression far away now that she had her tranquil meadow. Luna galloped off to Twilight's, eager to tell the other ponies about her discovery.
The ponies were all milling around, waiting for Luna, who was an hour late. Rarity was just about to go stomping home when Luna cantered up to them. "Girls, you won't believe what I just found!" she cried happily. Every pony looked at her.
"What, Princess Luna?" Rainbow Dash asked. Luna smiled and said, "Follow me," she turned and followed her trail back to the meadow.
"Isn't it gorgeous?" Luna breathed. Pinkie Pie nodded in agreement. "Oh yeah, it's really pretty!" Twilight only stared, transfixed by the scene in front of her.
"This is beautiful, Princess Luna," she breathed. Luna smiled softly. "Come, let's go explore," she said happily. She made the gap wider with her magic, and then joyfully jumped through. Pinkie followed her.
When all other ponies had jumped through, the trees vanished, leaving the seven ponies stuck in the meadow. The ponies all started looking around in confusion. "Princess Luna? What the hay is this?!?!" Dash cried, eyes narrowed and turning on Luna. Luna only shook her head, not having the slightest idea why the trees disappeared.
"I knew it! You're trying to make us stay in your stupid night! Well it's not going to work! I will find a way out of here, and once I escape this place, I'm NEVER doing anything in the night again! I never liked it anyway! I don't even know why-" Luna cut her off.
"I'm sorry. I know I'm a failure, and I know my nights are not fun. The only point for my night is so ponies can have time to sleep so they can enjoy my sister's day. I get it. I'm sorry for this," Luna looked at Rainbow Dash with a look of such remorse, and her voice was so full of regret and sorrow Rainbow Dash's anger flooded away instantly. She walked towards Luna and hugged her.
"No, Princess Luna. I'm sorry. I know this wasn't your fault. I was just mad because we're stuck here and I needed someone to blame. Your nights are magical, and I love them. Princess Luna, you are not a failure. You are amazing," Luna started crying and wept into Dash's shoulder. The other ponies crowded around and gave Luna a huge group hug.
"Hey, Princess Luna, there's some more of that shiny stardust stuff!" Pinkie Pie said, hopping up and down excitedly. Luna peered over all the pony heads to look where Pinkie was pointing.
Luna gasped and gently emerged from the sea of ponies.
This dust wasn't stardust; stardust was pink and gold and lavender and pale blue and mint green and pale red. This dust, however, was silver and black and dark blue. This dust was rare. This dust was moondust.
Luna turned to the ponies. "Girls, this is not stardust. This is moondust! This dust is very rare. I haven't even seen it. I had always thought moondust was just an old pony tale. Oh girls,"
The other ponies crowded around Luna and Pinkie Pie, straining to see the small glittering specks on the ground.
Suddenly there was piano music playing softly. Twilight looked up and spotted a small music box sitting on a fallen moss-covered tree. She trotted over and inspected it. "This is the most beautiful music box I've ever seen," she said.
It was a white rectangle, with flowers carved into it. Moondust decorated it prettily, with some stardust thrown on for good measure. A pale pink ribbon was tied around the box. Inside was a violet velvet cushion, and a moondust covered snowflake was twisting in its own revolution, slowly curving round and round as its sweet music quietly filled the studious purple unicorn's ears.
Luna and the others walked up to see the music box. Luna smiled happily and walked on, enjoying the music.
As she walked farther, the others following close behind her, they happened upon another surprise: a field where deer and wolves were laying down together peacefully. A deer and a wolf were laying next to each other, asleep. Luna's first instinct, of course, was to run, but seeing the deer not worrying, Luna's heart slowed down and she tentatively took a step. A wolf glanced her way, looked behind her at the other ponies, then put its head back down, ignoring them completely.
It was simply impossible. This went against their nature. And yet here they were, together in harmony. A larger silver wolf approached the ponies, a smile on her face. "Hello, Princess Luna, keeper of the moon. Hello Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy. I have been expecting to see you ever since I sensed you had entered into our kingdom. I'm happy to have met you all at last. Please follow me,"
Luna looked back at the other ponies, then gulped and followed the gray wolf slowly. They were brought to a fire. Nopony had noticed before, but it was snowing. Snow fell quietly onto the ground, covering the naked trees and the grass.
The ponies gratefully lay down next to the fire and were given hot soup. Pinkie Pie quickly gulped it down. Twilight gave her a stern look, then turned to the wolf. "Um, excuse my asking, but... where exactly are we?"
The wolf looked at the ponies with a warm smile and replied, "You are in the kingdom of Syarrd, where it is always a calming night. I'm sure you will enjoy it here,"
Rarity spoke up, "Yes, well, um... it is very nice, but... how do we get back to Ponyville?"
Fluttershy added in a small voice, "And why are the wolves not fighting with the deer? I mean, not that that is a bad thing, not at all, but..."
The wolf smiled understandingly. "All the animals here are vegetarian. We all had to band together during a horrible storm years ago, so we have all learned to live together peacefully. As for you returning to Ponyville, you can follow this path," she said, gesturing to a small path leading away from the clearing, "but only after you have truly learned and accepted the night,"
Luna looked up slowly. "Does that mean I could go back?" she asked. "I'm just wondering," she added when the other ponies looked at her. The wolf shook her head and said, "I'm afraid not, Miss Luna. Remember how you thought moondust was only a pony tale? You have yet to understand all the beauties and magic that live in the night,"
Twilight stood up. "Well... may we know your name?" the wolf stood up as well and turned to go. "My name is Amaranth. Just think to me whenever you need help or have a question," and she left.
Pinkie Pie bounced up and down, "Yay! More night learning! Who's ready to get started?" she tripped over and face-planted into the snow. Everypony stared for a minute, then burst out laughing and helped Pinkie up.
"Well... let's continue our lessons," Luna said, leading the way through the woods. She thought to herself, "Sister, I'm sorry I'm disobeying your orders,"
|
sammyberry
|
1035
| 4 |
Main 6,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Adventure,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Enchanted Nights
|
The mane six take turns spending nights with Luna, helping her in her nighttime activities.
|
hiatus
| 15 | 1 |
<p>This story is also currently on hiatus. I don't exactly have any ideas to continue this story on, so hopefully, if I take a break from it, new ideas will slowly come to me. I'm sorry for those who were anticipating new chapters, but unfortunately they won't be coming soon. :C</p><p>When the mane six start taking lessons about night from Luna, they never thought they'd have to walk among wolves, grow poisonous light, collect stardust and moondust, or be trapped in a whole other kingdom! With the help of friendship, the seven ponies learn more about the enchanted nights then they'd ever had expected to learn. </p><p>All this happens while Princess Celestia slowly grows angrier because of Twilight falling behind on her regular studies. Will Celestia learn about the night and accept it, or will she banish Princess Luna again?</p><p>Hello~~!! I changed the story a little so that I could continue it as an actual story. I hope no one's mad ^^' and sorry for the slight feud between the sisters, I didn't want to do it like this but it was the only idea I had.. Again sorry~~</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-11-13T02:58:32+00:00
|
2011-11-13T02:58:32+00:00
| 1,114 |
Luna walked along the woods, leaving deep footprints in the snow. She glanced around, looking for some sign of nocturnal life or magic to teach her company, but found only trees and snow.
Applejack touched a bare tree and whispered, "These poor trees. They're so cold,"
Rarity frowned at the snow. "If I had known I was going to spend eternal night in snow I would've brought my boots!" she lifted her head and used her horn to remove the snow in front of her.
Fluttershy flapped her wings nervously next to Rainbow Dash, flitting her head back and forth, looking for possible dangers. Rainbow Dash sighed and said, "Fluttershy, remember what Amaranth said? All animals live in peace together! There are no dangers here," Fluttershy responded softly, "You can never be too careful,"
Twilight bit her lip in contemplation. She hadn't sent Princess Celestia a letter in a long time. She hoped Princess Celestia would understand, but she had a nagging feeling that things were about to get a lot worse.
Luna stopped at a fallen log. "I'm not sure what we're supposed to be looking for exactly. I'm not entirely sure what we're supposed to do, either,"
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy landed next to the others. "Maybe we should ask Amaranth," Rarity suggested. Luna nodded in agreement and thought to Amaranth, "Um, hello Amaranth. This is Princess Luna. We're kind of stuck. We're not sure where to start off,"
Seconds later Luna heard Amaranth's voice in her head, "Meet me at the waterfall and I will explain further,"
Luna said, "Ok. We're gonna meet Amaranth at the waterfall. Not sure where that is, but at least we know what to look for,"
The seven ponies moved in a group, gazing at everything around them.
As they trudged through the deep snow, there was a sudden burst of growling.
Luna cried, "Everypony get behind me!" She straightened out her wings and put a shield around them with her magic.
After a few minutes, the growling came again. From their stomachs. Luna gave herself a facehoof.
They started looking around for something to eat.
Luna walked towards some bushes. Pale blue berries poked through the leaves. She quickly searched her brain for the name of the berries, and, more importantly, if they were poisonous. She couldn't recall, and didn't want to take any chances, so she left the bush alone.
When the group met back up with the same disappointing conclusion, they continued on, hoping they'd come across something along the way.
As they were crossing a small clearing, they came across two wolves. The wolves glanced at them and sniffed at the ground, completely ignoring them. Fluttershy flew towards them cautiously.
"Um... excuse me?" she whispered. One of the wolves looked up at her. "Do you know where any food is? My friends and I are very hungry," the wolf opened its mouth, revealing its teeth. Fluttershy shrank back in terror, but the wolf was only yawning. "There's a mint tree a few minutes from here in that direction," she said, nodded her head in the desired direction. "Thank you," Fluttershy responded and flew in the direction the wolf told her.
The other ponies followed her, bellies rumbling.
To their delight, they soon arrived at their destination. The mint tree leaves were a pale green, with tiny white berries around them. The bark was an unusual dark brown, without a trace of snow dotting it. Luna pulled a branch down and ate a leaf. It was crunchy, and filled her mouth with a burst of minty flavor. The sensation filled her, and after only three leaves she was full.
As she waited for the others to finish, she noticed her eyesight became clearer, colors became brighter, and she could hear things more clearly.
Luna felt completely at home here, where every creature was nice, the weather was amazing; the snow didn't bother anypony at all, and she felt wanted here, unlike at home with Celestia. Luna sighed.
When they were all finished, they continued on their blind walk to the waterfall. Pinkie Pie's eyes starting drooping. "Can we stop for a little while?" she slurred. "I'm so sleepy weepy!" Pinkie didn't wait for an answer; she fell over and was instantly asleep. The six ponies didn't have a choice but to stop.
Princess Celestia paced back and forth, growing more irritated by the second. She had sent Spike letters after letters asking where Twilight was and she kept getting the same answer: "I don't know, Princess Celestia,"
She rubbed her head in frustration. She tried to speak to Twilight through her mind, but it was no use. Celestia couldn't get through.
With an exasperated sigh, she galloped to her library and shut her door.
And started brainstorming for ideas.
After a couple minutes, Luna stood up and stretched. "Ok, I think we've rested quite enough. We should really get moving again,"
Pinkie Pie stood up, rubbed her eyes, and said, "Okie dokie lokie..." she shook her head and tried to get her bearings. The others stood up and stretched and yawned. Everypony was still tired, but they knew they had to continue on.
Luna led the group with a yawn, then turned and started walking. She hoped they'd find the waterfall soon. She needed a good long nap. The snow had stopped falling, and it was getting sparser as they pressed forward.
Luna raised her head and glanced at the stars. She felt a warm wind whip past her, and she instantly felt stronger. She closed her eyes and smiled. Luna could also tell that they were very close to the waterfall; she could smell the slight scent of water in the air.
She led the team of tired ponies onward, brushing past bushes, logs, and trees. Suddenly there was no more snow beneath Luna's hooves. She glanced down and saw the grass, warm and soft beneath her achingly tired hooves. A few more steps and Luna could hear the faint rush of water.
"Come on, girls. We're nearly there. I'm sure Amaranth will let us rest when we get there," the ponies let out a collective, "Yay," and yawned and continued their tread.
When Luna walked around a huge rock, she saw it. The waterfall was rushing down, sparkling and glittering despite the dark sky and small light being produced from the moon. Amaranth was standing next to the river below the waterfall. She turned and saw the group on the hill above her and smiled.
Luna galloped down the hill and skidded to a stop next to Amaranth. But the others, who were too tired to think about what they were doing, weren't able to stop in time, so they all ran into Luna, which caused everypony to fall into the water. Amaranth smiled and helped them escape before the current carried them too far.
Needless to say, everypony was wide awake now.
Amaranth lay down and gestured for them to do the same. "Perhaps I wasn't as clear as I should have been. I will tell you some hints, but first let's get you well rested. No point in telling you something when you're this tired," Amaranth nodded toward four tents in the distance. The ponies galloped towards them gratefully and went inside them.
After a while (they guessed it would be the next 'day') the seven ponies emerged from their tents and stretched, feeling a lot better now that they were well-rested.
They joined Amaranth in a circle, eating fruit for breakfast. Amaranth looked at each pony and said, "Each of you have an important role to play in this overall quest. Your hints are as follows:
Seven ponies enter without knowledge, eager to learn.
The loyal one will figure out what needs to burn.
The honest one will discover the light
While the magical one will stop her with all her might.
The kind one will be a silent hero
To the misunderstood one who thinks of herself as a zero.
The generous one will solve the final task
And you can go home when the eighth asks her question she must ask," Amaranth finished and looked at each pony. "Yes, there is an eighth pony, but even I do not know who it is. The time will come when you're ready,"
The ponies all gazed at the wise wolf-well, almost all of them. Twilight was furiously writing their hints down in a notebook.
Amaranth stood up and looked across the river. "Now that you know the basics of what must happen, go. Your quest will start across the river. I wish you luck," and with that, Amaranth turned and walked away.
Luna turned to her new friends. "Let's go, girls. I have a feeling this will be quite the adventure,"
The ponies started their journey, unaware that a pink mist was following their moves, tracking them as a certain pony watched from her library.
|
sammyberry
|
1035
| 5 |
Main 6,Princess Celestia,Princess Luna,Adventure,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
The Enchanted Nights
|
The mane six take turns spending nights with Luna, helping her in her nighttime activities.
|
hiatus
| 15 | 1 |
<p>This story is also currently on hiatus. I don't exactly have any ideas to continue this story on, so hopefully, if I take a break from it, new ideas will slowly come to me. I'm sorry for those who were anticipating new chapters, but unfortunately they won't be coming soon. :C</p><p>When the mane six start taking lessons about night from Luna, they never thought they'd have to walk among wolves, grow poisonous light, collect stardust and moondust, or be trapped in a whole other kingdom! With the help of friendship, the seven ponies learn more about the enchanted nights then they'd ever had expected to learn. </p><p>All this happens while Princess Celestia slowly grows angrier because of Twilight falling behind on her regular studies. Will Celestia learn about the night and accept it, or will she banish Princess Luna again?</p><p>Hello~~!! I changed the story a little so that I could continue it as an actual story. I hope no one's mad ^^' and sorry for the slight feud between the sisters, I didn't want to do it like this but it was the only idea I had.. Again sorry~~</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-11-13T16:05:08+00:00
|
2011-11-13T16:05:08+00:00
| 1,119 |
Luna walked through the forest, not caring if she made noise. This wasn't the Everfree Forest, it was simply a forest. Specifically, it was the Dark Star Forest. Luna wasn't completely sure how she would teach her newfound friends anything, or how she would learn anything. Was she supposed to just walk around until she found something? That was what the case appeared to be, though Luna couldn't tell what was special or important in these woods; she wasn't sure what all was here. As Luna was lost in thought, she almost fell into a hole.
"Princess Luna!" Twilight cried, grabbing Luna's tail with her teeth and pulling back. Luna watched the hole retreat from her hooves as she was pulled back to a safer proximity. "Thank you, Twilight," Luna said. She peered down the hole.
It was massive. The hole could easily fit Sugarcube Corner inside and still have a little extra room around the sides. The hole was also very deep. Very deep. Luna couldn't even see the bottom.
"What's a hugemongous hole like this doing in the ground?" Pinkie Pie said, turning her head every which way in order to inspect the intruding hole in all directions.
Applejack marched up to the hole and said, "Well, I ain't quite sure, but I do know that we're gonna hafta get to the other side. Our only problem is: How?"
Twilight sat on her haunches and thought for a rational explanation. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and flapped her wings. She soared across the hole and landed on the other side. Rarity glared at Rainbow Dash. "Oh yes, that's a wonderful idea, Rainbow Dash. There's just one itty bitty problem: the rest of us do not have wings!"
Fluttershy said quietly, "Um..." and flapped her wings. Rarity groaned and rephrased, "Ok, the rest of us besides Fluttershy do not have wings!"
Luna cleared her throat and stretched her wings. Rarity groaned in exasperation and said, "Never mind!"
Twilight looked around for something to help them get across. She spotted a tree with strange vines hanging from it. "Princess Luna, do you know what these are?" Luna walked up to Twilight and gazed at the tree.
"I-I think so... I believe this is an Everlasting Tree. It has only one vine, and that vine extends for forever. It's pretty thick and very wide too.... Perhaps we could use this to help us across," Twilight grinned. "Exactly what I was thinking," she said.
Twilight and Luna used their magic to lift the vine and toss it across. "Hey, Dash! A little help please?" Applejack called up to the blue pegasus. Dash saluted and flew down after the vine, which hadn't made it to the other side. Dash flew back to the other side, the vine in her mouth. She spit it out into the grass and stepped on the end to make it stay. "All aboard the Vine Line!" she laughed. Everypony rolled their eyes and giggled. Princess Luna went across first, then Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity. Fluttershy flew along beside them.
Luna made it to the other side and hopped off the vine. Once everypony was off the vine on the other side, Dash let go of the vine. It slung back to the tree and recoiled itself around the branches. The seven ponies continued on.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Celestia was keeping tabs on her sister by her magic. She flipped furiously through the pages of the book she was currently reading, hoping to find the answer to her question. The question was, "Where can I find the entrance to this hidden place called the kingdom of Syrrad." Unfortunately, she was getting no luck.
The only answer she had found so far was, "The kingdom of Syrrad can only be found by those who look during the night," That was not the answer she had been hoping for.
Celestia groaned and tossed the book aside, in the "Not Helpful" pile. So far, that book was number 53. And all 53 books were now in the "Not Helpful" pile. She decided that she had better and more important things to do, so Celestia called in one of her servant ponies and said, "Look through these books and see if you find anything about the location of the kingdom of Syrrad. Her servant pony had no other option than to agree, so he wearily started looking through the books in Celestia's massive library.
Celestia, meanwhile, walked out onto her balcony. She let the warm sun wash over her. The warmth made her feel cozy and protected. From what Celestia had experienced in the night when she'd had to raise the moon herself, with the cold chill and solitariness that enveloped her during the darkness, Celestia was glad she'd been given the responsibility to be in charge of the sun. It was much brighter and a lot more cheerful. But Celestia wasn't feeling cheerful at all. Instead, Celestia felt hollow and empty inside. She hated to admit it, but she kind of missed her sister.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"This water is so pretty!" Pinkie exclaimed, wading through the water of a lake. Colorful lights were shining on the surface. They did not come from any specific thing in the air around them; in fact, it seemed as if the colors had no producer at all, they were just... there. Luna smiled as she swam through the milky water. The water cut around her and created beautiful designs with the colors. "Come on, Pinkie. We need to get through this lake. I think I see something glowing over here," she called.
Luna waded onto the bank and shook herself dry. As she waited for her friends, she suddenly saw white. She was standing alone, with emptiness around her..
There was nothing there, only white color. Luna turned around frantically, searching for her friends or any sign of life at all in all directions. She saw absolutely nothing. Luna cried out, "Where am I? What's happening?" A voice whispered to her, "You are nowhere and everywhere, young filly. You will live your life like this if you continue your actions,"
Luna looked around hopelessly. "What am I doing wrong?" The voice replied with, "You are intruding your sister's rule. If she had known you would try to steal her spotlight once again, she would have sent you back to the moon!"
Luna shook her head slowly. "No... Celestia isn't that cruel! I made a mistake before! I admit to wanting complete control, but that was over 1000 years ago! I'm not trying to take Celestia's rule, I'm only trying to teach ponies that the night is a wonderful thing as well!" Luna couldn't believe that Celestia would send her back to the moon. She hadn't done anything nearly as terrible as what had happened 1000 years ago.
The voice chuckled and said, "Silly little filly. You have yet to learn how jealous ponies can be," The landscape faded to darkness.
"Luna?" Luna could hear Twilight say, but she couldn't see the purple unicorn. She realized her eyes were closed; she had fainted.
Luna opened her eyes and sat up. The other ponies moved back away from her. "Princess Luna, are you ok?" Twilight asked, an anxious look in her eyes. The others had the same expression. Luna nodded slowly. "Yes, girls, I-I'm fine," Applejack and Rainbow Dash helped her up.
She thanked them with her eyes and said, "Ok, girls. we need to continue. I think I saw that glowing over here somewhere," Luna slowly walked away.
The others followed her, looking around for any sign of something glowing. Luna gasped. "What is it?" Fluttershy asked nervously.
There, in front of Luna, stood seven cats. They were all a different color, and they were all glowing.
The biggest one, which was obviously the mother, was dark blue. The six other kittens were purple, pink, yellow, orange, light blue, and white. The colored cats ran to the pony with its corresponding color.
Fluttershy nuzzled the little yellow kitten and said, "Oh, you're so sweet! I think I'm going to call you Daisy," The kitten purred and rubbed against Fluttershy's leg.
Twilight gently suspended the purple kitten in the air in a bubble in front of her with her magic. "Your name will be Scholar. You're such a cute kitten!"
Rarity hugged the white kitten. "Oh I know exactly what I will call you! Your name is Grace!"
Applejack smiled at the little orange kitten. "I'm gonna name you Sugarcube," the kitten jumped on Applejack's back and purred.
Pinkie Pie giggled and said, "Your name will be Cupcake," The pink kitten jumped around, exactly like Pinkie.
Rainbow Dash looked at her kitten and said, "Hmm... wait a minute," she whispered to Twilight, who smiled and started on a spell. Her horn glowed, and there was a bright flash. Suddenly, Dash's kitten had wings sprouting from its back. The kitten stared at its newfound limbs, astonished. Rainbow Dash said, "Now you're 20% cooler! Your name should be... Sonic Rainboom! In honor of my two Sonic Rainbooms! I think I'll just call you Sonic though," Sonic jumped up and did little twirls in excitement.
Luna's cat slowly approached, looking extremely nervous. "Hello, little girl," Luna said softly. The cat purred and trotted towards Luna. Luna let her crawl onto her head and smiled. "I think I'm going to call you Eternal," The cat snuggled into Luna's mane, resting her back against Luna's horn.
The ponies, with their new little pets, continued on their walk, unaware of the strangely green and smoky light wafting through the woods, slowly coming towards them.
|
Kawa
|
1036
| 1 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Original Character,Rarity,Spike,Twilight Sparkle,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
When Vic met Jennie
|
It's several years after the main series, but not too many. Love is in the air, but what do?
|
cancelled
| -1 | -1 |
<p>Young and nerdy Pyrrhic Victory (just Vic preferred) feels lonely. Jennie Pie feels like she's wasting her life, even at her young age... yeeeeaaaah...</p><p>(First serious, published story. Be gentle.)</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-10-01T17:25:57+00:00
|
2011-10-01T17:25:57+00:00
| 1,088 |
The library in Ponyville was pretty much the same as it had always been. The most obvious change since the resident librarian had her last great adventure with her five friends would be that it was no longer a purple baby dragon that was reordering and dusting the books in their shelves, but an adult pony. She had a very light gray coat and her somewhat curly mane was rose and purple. This was in fact because it was Sweetie Belle, all grown up. She was there mostly because her older sister Rarity was there, visiting the librarian. The librarian, it might surprise you, was still Twilight Sparkle, although her mane had faded from age, making her look not unlike her mother in a way.
A young colt was sitting in the science section, tirelessly reading whatever book caught his interest as the mares chatted over copious amounts of tea.
"So, Twilight darling, how's that dear Spike doing these days?"
"Well, you know how it goes. Dragon enters puberty, moves out..."
"To be honest, dear, I actually don't know."
"Well, I think you'll like to hear that he apparently started hoarding recently."
"Oh dear."
The colt looked up from his book, momentarily intrigued by what the old mares were talking about. Wasn't there something in that book he had skimmed over earlier about dragons and hoarding behavior? He easily retrieved the book and flipped through it, finding the relevant passage.
Most male dragons build a hoard of precious gems to indicate to a potential mate how well they can feed their offspring. Considering how old a dragon can be, proper hoards tend to be very large indeed...
He closed the book in mid-sentence and put it to the side, then laid down to consider some of the words. As he mulled it over, Sweetie Belle replaced the books behind him. "Potential mate" in particular struck a chord in the young pony's heart as much as in his mind. After a few more minutes of consideration, he trotted up to the two chatting mares.
"Grandmother Rarity?" he said to get the white one's attention.
"So I sai-- hold on Twilight darling. What is it Victory dear?"
"How do I get a mate?"
Fortunately, Rarity was not at that moment drinking tea, so she was merely surprised - not so much at the young colt's question in general, but mostly at his poor choice of words. Unfortunately, Twilight was in the middle of a sip and sprayed her tea all over Rarity's face.
"Twilight, for sanity's sake watch where you aim!" Rarity joked as she looked around for a towel. Twilight had a much better idea of where her towel was (on account of it being her home) and levitated one down to to Rarity. "Sweetie Belle, would you please stop laughing?"
Vic, as the young colt preferred to be called, was raised to not laugh at fabulosity being tainted, no matter the age, so he restricted himself to a vague smirk and a soft chuckle as he watched his grandmother wipe the tea from her face.
"Wrong term?" he asked.
"Wrong term," Twilight replied. "You mean a fillyfriend."
"Yesss, my bad. Sorry grandmother," Vic apologized.
Rarity passed the towel back to Twilight as she turned to her awkward grandson, Sweetie Belle looking on from a short distance.
"Well dear, for starters you'll want to take care with the things you say. Ponies don't usually take it well to be called 'mates', unless they're your drinking buddies or something and I know for a fact that you don't drink."
"You and Mother raised me too well for that. Anything else?"
Twilight took her turn to answer. "Be yourself, Vic. Don't pretend to be somepony you're not. They'll fall for a lie and then what do you get?"
"Yes, that much seems sensible enough..."
"Sweetie darling," Rarity called out, "I know there's a book on all this somewhere around here, could you fetch it for us?"
"Okay sis..."
"It should be under L, over in the eastern section," Twilight threw in. "And Vic? Take it from somepony who would know, don't take everything in that book as gospel. Things like dating aren't exact a precise science you can just follow a script for."
Rarity grinned as she remembered something about that. "You wouldn't mean something like that one time when--"
"Rarity, I thought we agreed not to talk about that again. How was I supposed to know that about the guy?"
As the others bickered, Sweetie Belle handed the requested book over to Vic. "Here you go, Vicky. Just let Sis and Twilight get over it by themselves."
"Thank you, Auntie."
((A/N: "Auntie" in the same way Huey, Dewey and Louie call Scrooge "Uncle" -- he's not.))
|
Kawa
|
1036
| 2 |
Cutie Mark Crusaders,Original Character,Rarity,Spike,Twilight Sparkle,Romance,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
When Vic met Jennie
|
It's several years after the main series, but not too many. Love is in the air, but what do?
|
cancelled
| -1 | -1 |
<p>Young and nerdy Pyrrhic Victory (just Vic preferred) feels lonely. Jennie Pie feels like she's wasting her life, even at her young age... yeeeeaaaah...</p><p>(First serious, published story. Be gentle.)</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-11-14T17:29:38+00:00
|
2011-11-14T17:29:38+00:00
| 790 |
Over in Sugarcube Corner, the Pie family was busy making preparations for a party [[REASON REQUIRED]] that would be held that night, with the store's owner Pinkie Pie delegating her assorted descendants, including our other lead character Jennie. She was about as pink as her grandmother, if not a little paler, but certainly took after her in her love of fun. As they worked to get various kinds of snacks ready, Apple Bloom came in.
"Howdy y'all", she greeted. "Ah'm jus droppin' by to say the apple fritters an' such are well on schedule, so y'all don't have ta worry none about all that."
"Oh! That's super good news, Apple Bloom!", Pinkie Pie replied, energetic as always. "It's no good having to worry about materials when you're preparing for a party yourself because that means stress and stress makes it easier to make mistakes with the party preparations and -- oh!"
She was suddenly silenced by a candy cane stuck in her mouth.
"Practice what you preach, Granny", Jennie quipped as she finished laying out some candy. "You know what the doctor told you about blabbering at your age."
"Speakin' a stress", Apple Bloom noticed, "you dun look so sprah yerself. Why's that?"
"Oh, you know. I've been working my flank off all over town this week."
"You better be cae'ful, Jennie. Mah sister Applejack got herself all overworked once and boy howdy that wasn't nice."
Pinkie made a subtle but noticable retching noise at the memory.
"Whaaat? I know when to stop!" Jennie defended, having heard that story before. "I'm actually doing -this- to unwind, y'know? Things just get so... boring sometimes."
Pinkie put away the pretzels she was bagging and and smirked. "I think little Jennie just needs somepony to spend time with."
"Ssshyeah right", Jennie deflected and found another task -- making punch.
A little later that day, Jennie lay in her room and browsed one of her books about rocks, when her grandmother's words came back to mind. She could've been on to something there. Jennie decided to go talk to her grandmother, and just as she stepped out of bed, Pinkie Pie was right in front of her.
"Sweet Celestia of Equestria, don't DO that, Granny!"
"I thought you might wanna talk, so I came here."
"We might as well", Jennie accepted. "So, when you said 'somepony to spend time with', were you talking about...?"
"Hmmmhm. You're certainly old enough."
"Prob'ly. But to be honest, I don't know how to do this."
"Would you like to know?"
Jennie felt sort of put off by her grandmother's wide grin.
"...I'm not sure you'd be the best... let's say, 'source of information' here. No offense."
"None taken, silly."
"A'ight then... incidentally, Granny, do you get that feeling sometimes that you're being watched?"
"Oooh, I think about, ah... once a week or so. But that's not the issue here -- ask away!"
|
The Conflicted Writer
|
1038
| 1 |
Apple Bloom,Big Macintosh,Granny Smith,Main 6,Zecora,Dark,Sad,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore
|
The Shadows the Past Leaves
|
'Story of the Blanks' story. But with a twist! A time travel twist!
|
cancelled
| 43 | 1 |
<p>A single normal day, a trip to a friend's home... it all turns sour as shadows from the past attack the present. To learn is the past's only use, as Applebloom comes to understand. The steady beat in the march of time may be lenient on her, but the past cannot be changed. The future, however, can be rewritten.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-10-12T21:33:28+00:00
|
2011-10-12T21:33:28+00:00
| 3,781 |
The Shadows the Past Leaves
Chapter 1: It is Brightest before Dusk
In the earliest times of Equestria, so far back that the Princesses Celestia and Luna did not exist, the lands were not a place as anypony could understand. The world was chaos and there was no life to be found. All that existed was a darkness that reached out forever.
From this darkness came the first beings to exist. They were the creators; the masters of all that lived. When they awakened to the darkness, they were appalled by its lack of color and decided to fill the darkness with their power. There were three of them, one for the three great powers in Equestria.
Stone Pound was the strongest of the three, and from the darkness he made land and earth. With every step he made valleys and raised the hills and mountains. Yet he was patient and well tempered, so his earth teamed with raw life waiting for his care so that it could grow.
Soar Eye was the fastest and lightest of the three. She made the sky and freedom that Stone Pound’s earth needed to grow. She brought tears from clouds that they could drink and refresh with power. With her wings, she carved away the darkness so that life would have space to call its own.
Single Breath was the wisest of the three and brought knowledge to what his two friends had made. It was a plan, a blueprint, and a way. Knowledge said things like how things would fall down, or how plants would grow. Knowledge allowed the land to work all on its own.
And these three were not the last great masters. Others appeared amazed at the world they were blessed to see. Each brought a gift to the world to share with one another, to share with life. A master of fire, a master of light, a master of time, a master of sound, and many, many more. In this same way, Celestia and Luna were born and brought with them the gifts of the sun and the moon. All of these masters together created Equestria, and together they created life for all to have.
The masters took pride in their work, but were divided on one issue. Some of them believed it was their duty to watch the land and control it, guiding it to where it would be safe from harm. Others thought that the world should be allowed to run free, that all living things should face life on their own. Others still wanted it to be that it was the inhabitants themselves who controlled the world, as it was their domain and not truly made for the Masters. No way could be decided on, so there was a compromise. Some Masters remained -some hidden and some in plain view- and kept watch over the world and intervened when needed. Others went back to the darkness to observe the ponies in their lives and be free. And some gave the ponies the power to manipulate the land so that they could guide their own fate.
And, thus, Equestria was made.
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
Twilight closed the tarnished book with a satisfied smile. “So, what did you think Applebloom?”
Applebloom, for her part, scratched her head in thought. “Ah don’t get it.”
Twilight sighed in an exasperated sort of way. She had the same problem with Applejack. “Okay, what don’t you get?”
The little filly thought for a moment, resting her elbows on the table provided. “Now don’t get all twisted, Twi. It was a great story, jus’ like Grandpappy would tell. But… Ah guess Ah jus’ don’t get it. What’s the point?”
Twilight rolled her eyes. Just like Applejack. It ran in the family, as it were. “The point is in its history. The story is as old as some of the world’s most ancient relics. And you can always learn a thing or two from the past.”
Applebloom stuck her tongue out as Twilight turned to put the huge book back. These sessions with Twilight were a real waste of time, in Applebloom’s modest opinion. She could be out Cutie Mark Crusading with her friends right now, but instead she was stuck in the library being lectured by Twilight as punishment for putting a hole in the side of the barn (though Applejack didn’t admit that to Applebloom’s face).
Time wasn’t something Applebloom had a lot of to waste, and she was going to let everypony she could know that. “Who cares about musty old history? It didn’t happen tah me, and it’s never helped me with what Ah do now.”
“That’s not true,” Twilight said as her horn glowed with the magic needed to put the book on a high shelf. “The past holds information, secrets, and knowledge ponies use to make their lives better.”
“Oh yeah? Tell me somethin’.”
“Well… magic research has advanced because we’ve learned from ponies in the past and how they did it.”
Applebloom huffed and pointed a hoof at herself. “Earth pony.”
“Oh, right.” Twilight blushed as she felt her unicorn horn. “No magic. Okay, from history we understand where our culture came from. All our architecture evolved from what was made in the past. Our insulated buildings, our technology, our medicine-”
“Apple farmer. Most of that stuff doesn’t exactly apply tah me.” Applebloom bobbed her bow with a hoof, remembering the couple of times when she went over to a friend’s house on a hot day to take advantage of the wondrous device known as an “air conditioner”.
“Um… alright, old stories teach us about past mistakes, and we learn what worked and what didn’t.”
“Morals, schmorals. Ah never needed tah know how Nightmoon Mare was stuck on the moon fer a thousand years.”
“Nightmare Moon.”
“Whatever. ‘Sides, that stuff is jus’ stories. Filly Tales. Ah know you hate stuff that ain’t true, Twi.”
Twilight shook her head. “Even Filly Tales have something we can gleam from them. A lesson to learn.”
“Oh really?” Applebloom scoffed. “And jus’ what was Ah supposed to learn from ‘How Equestria was Made’?”
“That’s what you’re supposed to figure out,” Twilight said with a smile. “In the story, Equestria wasn’t made by just one being or even just three. Lots of great beings brought things to the world. So you could say that when a whole lot of ponies work together, something amazing happens.”
Applebloom yawned. “Well, duh. Ah can’t exactly lift a wall by mahself, now can Ah?”
“Okay, fine, I give up,” Twilight said as she packed some books into a saddlebag. Applebloom noticed with some joy that it was a couple of books on herbs and plants. There was only one reason Twilight would be packing plant life books into a pack.
“So, we still goin’ to Zecora’s house later?” Applebloom asked, noticeably more chipper.
“Yep. Don’t get too excited, though. We won’t be staying for long.”
“Yay!” Applebloom shouted with a jump. Twilight flinched at the sound. “Ah’ll go get Applejack right now! Ah can’t wait!” With that, the little filly threw her saddle pack on and bounded out the door away from the library.
“Don’t forget your chores,” Twilight called after her.
Applebloom’s bounce slowed to a surprised trot. She completely forgot that stuff. Oh well. The sooner she got it done, the sooner she would get to go visit Zecora in her hut.
Now, what did she need to do today? Applebloom looked around at all the rustic buildings of Ponyville. Oh yeah, the boutique! She needed to get Granny’s Smith’s scarf from Sweetie Belle’s sister. And then she needed to pick up Big Mac’s clock from Mr. Whooves, and pick up Applejack’s order of caramel apples from Sugarcube Corner.
That made Applebloom smile. Pinkie always had some cupcakes to share. First things first, though: Sweetie Belle’s place was the closest.
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
Applebloom knocked on the door of the aptly named Carousal Boutique and waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
“Sorry, just a minute~,” a voice sang from the other side. Applebloom sighed. Just like Rarity…
The purple doors opened and a white unicorn popped her head out.
“Aah, Applebloom,” Rarity greeted with a warm smile. “How good to see you. You’re here for the scarf, right? Come in, come in, I just need to check something real quick.” Rarity hurried back inside and Applebloom followed.
The young filly was always slightly amazed when she went inside Sweetie Belle’s home. Her sister was such a great designer. The gentle colors of the dresses Rarity made were so appealing. Said unicorn was over at a table where a black suit (a rare order, according to Sweetie) was nearly finished, as far as Applebloom could tell. Rarity sometimes said things weren’t done when they looked great to Appleblom.
Rarity’s horn lit up with magic and she telekinetically brought Granny Smith’s favorite scarf down from a shelf and around to Applebloom. She gave the old scarf a once over. It was absolutely seamless; if there had been a tear or it had been as old as Granny Smith claimed it was, it was impossible to tell by the eye alone.
The tan earth filly was amazed. The white unicorn much less so. “Does your grandmother really want to keep this old thing?” Rarity asked, giving the scarf a once over as it hung by her magic in front of her. “I’m not trying to be rude, but surely a scarf of better quality wouldn’t be so much trouble to get. I could very easily make one just like this if she wanted. It would be my pleasure.”
Applebloom took the scarf and placed it in her pack. She looked around the boutique and wished she could take the owner up on the offer. The many fancy fresh dresses and clothing articles on the dummies appealed to Applebloom in a way she didn’t quite understand. But Applejack and Granny would never get something as girly as the things Rarity made. Applebloom really didn’t get why.
“Thanks, Miss Rarity, but Granny likes her scarf a whole lot. Ah don’t think you’d even get her to consider the idea.” Applebloom crossed her eyes and laid her apploosian accent on thick. “Git mahself a new scarf? Yer a fixin’s fer a whoopin’s, ain’t yah, yah no good pompous city filly!”
Rarity giggled at Applebloom’s imitation, her violet mane bouncing slightly. “Now, now, you should respect your elders little miss.”
Applebloom rolled her eyes back to normal. “Ah’m just foolin’ around. Anyway, thanks for fixin’ this. Granny will be real happy to get this for sure.”
“Why though?” a different voice asked. Applebloom smiled at Sweetie Belle as she stepped down the stairs. The younger unicorn looked thoughtful. “Why does your grandma care so much about that silly old scarf?”
“Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said warningly.
“What? You called it old too.”
Rarity gaped at that. She did, didn’t she?
Applebloom scratched her head and scrunched her face. “Huh. Ya know, Ah never really thought about it before. She’s always had this thing as long as Ah can remember.” She shrugged. “Aw well. If Granny wants her scarf, she’s gonna get her scarf. Thanks again, Miss Rarity. See ya’ll later, Sweetie Belle.”
“Are we still going to meet Zecora later?” Sweetie Belle asked her sister way too sweetly.
Rarity shook her head in amusement at her sister’s overly adorable stare. “Yes, yes, we shall.” Rarity glanced at her clock. “You’d better get your galashes and the like ready. We’ll be leaving in about two hours.”
Applebloom waved goodbye to her friends, deciding not to ask why it would take two hours to get rain gear ready in the middle of summer. Once outside the Carousal Boutique, Applebloom began to ponder her Grandma’s scarf. Why did she care so much about it? Like both Rarity and Sweetie Belle said, it was old. When something was old, you needed to get a new one. That’s the way it was on a farm. They needed a new plow, and a new roof, and a new well, but Granny wouldn’t get a new scarf.
Hmm…
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
Applebloom thought the Time Winder’s was the oddest store in Ponyville. Not because of how it looked. It looked extremely plain. Maybe even too plain. If Applebloom could share her opinion, Sugarcube Corner looked the strangest. No other building advertized what it made as well as that place did. The fact remained, however, that Time Winder’s was strange beyond comprehension to Applebloom. As she stepped inside, the reason became apparent.
While true that Applebloom had only ever seen this particular clock shop in her short life, she knew this place was different from any other clock shop in Equestria. It was to be expected that a clock shop would sell clocks, but here…
There were just so many!
Clocks littered the walls of shapes and sizes Applebloom didn’t quite understand. There were square clocks and round clocks, diamond shaped clocks, clocks that looked like cats, clocks that seemed to run backwards, clocks with so many hands (hooves?) than could ever really be used. But more amazing than anything else in the store was the cuckoo clocks that received a wall all to themselves. The automatic machines were more like toys than anything else, with tiny ponies that danced, and birds that sang, and bells that rang, and trains that seemed to move all on their own. Their choppy and twitchy movements did little to hinder the amazement of their motions. Every tick and every tock was punctuated with wooden sounding mechanical clanks as the robotic creations moved about.
Applebloom was so fixated by the clocks that she didn’t notice Mr. Whooves admiring the décor with her. “Isn’t the way they move just marvelous?”
The filly leaped practically three feet in the air from surprise. “Holy moley! Ya’ll scared the bajeebers out a me!”
“I tend to do that.” Mr. Whooves stepped over to his hoof-made automatomic clocks and smiled warmly. “Quite a collection I have here. My favorite part about clocks is the way the gears all just seem to fit together and mesh and just keep going while making something happen. Just like how our lives are sometimes, wouldn’t you say?”
“Uh…”
The brown earth pony sighed wistfully, eyes closed in remembrance. “Yes, I learned that the day I got this cutie mark of mine. Funny that it’s an hourglass when I make clocks mostly, but I dabble in hourglasses now and then. Anyway, our lives are a bunch of gears mashing together to get us to this moment in time, just like in a clock. Goodness, can you imagine how different the world be if you went back in time and shifted gears even a little bit? It’s absolutely terrifying, and so very exciting!”
Applebloom shook her head slightly. Contrary to what might be expected, Mr. Whooves did not operate like clockwork. His moods were as varying as the colors of the rainbow. The last time Applebloom had been here, he had been a perfect gentlecolt like somepony straight out of Canterlot. Last time Applejack had to meet him, he was surly and barely said a word.
“Mr. Whooves-”
“Please, call me Sand Whooves, little miss. No need to be formal.” Which was the exact opposite of what he had said last time.
“Ahright, Sand Whooves, that’s all very nice, but Ah’m here for mah brother’s clock, and Ah’m kind of in-”
Sand Whooves put a hoof up in Applebloom’s face. “Wait, wait, don’t tell me. Brother, brother… big red fellow, right? And that would make the little cutie before me Applebloom, correct?”
Amused, Applebloom nodded. Sand Whooves quickly retreated into the back of his shop and returned with a simple wind up clock in his mouth, which he promptly put into Applebloom’s saddle pack.
“Thanks Mr.- uh, Sand Whooves.”
“Oh, no trouble at all. Why, a clock as old is so easy to fix it’s a wonder I needed to charge anything. In fact, here.” Sand Whooves shoved a small pile of bits into Applebloom’s hooves and just kept going. “Have a refund. And my respect. I love my overly complicated cuckoo clocks, but it’s a practical stallion that can work with something as simple as a wind up. I’d imagine that ringing is annoying as could be, but on a farm you’d need that, what with being tired and everything.”
Applebloom chuckled as he kept on going, despite the fact she had turned around and walked out the store.
“… and wind ups need to be wound up. That’s some dedication- oh! Goodbye little flower! See you next time. Heh, heh, time… that’s a good one.”
Yep, that store was odd.
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
While Time Winder’s was definitely the oddest store in town, Applebloom knew that Sugarcube Corner came in second. The way they advertised was hilariously inviting, and made Applebloom crave sugar just from the sight alone. It was like that story… what was it called? The one with the house made out of gingerbread? Oh well. Sugarcube Corner was just like that, sitting all by itself in the middle of the road. It looked like it was made out of candy: Candy canes for support beams, cookies for walls, and frosting to hold everything together. If it wasn’t for the fact that she knew better than to be fooled by the decorations, she’d start chewing immediately.
The smells that came out as she opened the door, though, could easily fool anypony into thinking they were surrounded by sugary delights. Well, technically she was, but it simply smelled like everything around her was edible. Applebloom took in a large whiff and sighed. There was a caramel apple with her name on it.
Applebloom rang the bell at the desk for service. Mrs. Cake wasn’t at her usual post, which could only mean one thing. Whether this was a good or bad thing was dependent on opinion.
No response. Hmm, that’s peculiar. Usually she appears immedia-
“Hiya, Applebloomy!” Pinkie Pie shouted from right beside Applebloom’s ear. With a yelp, she bucked up and fell onto her back. Two times in a row, man!
“Ugh… hiya Pinkie” Applebloom greeted from the floor. She looked up at the pink pony and tried her best to give her a dirty look. “Ah didn’t notice ya come in.”
Pinkie nodded furiously in agreement and grabbed Applebloom by her bow, flipping her back onto her hooves. “Yeah, that’s super duper weird, cuz lotsa ponies tell me that whenever I answer the bell. So, are you excited about going to visit Zecora tonight? Are ya, are ya, are ya? Cuz I am! When we get there, I’m gonna bring Zecora a batch of cupcakes! And I heard from Twilight that the place where Zebra’s come from doesn’t have cupcakes, and I was like ‘Whaaaat!? Ya gotta have cupcakes, what’s life without cupcakes?’ So I’m making Zecora a batch right now with all sorts of different flavors and frostings and decorations and, oh I’m sorry, you rang the bell, which means you’re here to shop! Give me a second.” Pinkie Pie jumped behind the counter and smiled at Applebloom. Applebloom laughed at the tiny hat resting on her cotton candy like mane. “Hi, and welcome to Sugarcube Corner! How may I help you today?”
Applebloom rolled her eyes in amusement. “Ya’ll are so funny, Pinkie Pie.”
“And that’s what makes me a great Element of Laughter,” Pinkie retorted with a sincere but unnecessarily huge smile.
“Ah came tah pick up mah sister’s order of candy apples, iffin’ ya don’t mind.”
“Ooh, right, candy apples!” Pinkie yelled, ducking under the counter. “I know I put those here somewhere…” There were various crashes and loud noises that Applebloom could not figure out. How did rummaging through anything produce the sound of a tuba? After a few more seconds, meows, and metallic booms, Pinkie Pie popped back up with a colorfully wrapped and neatly tied box that smelled just a yummy as the rest of the place. “Here we are. Complete with the discount given to the family that brings us the tastiest apples. Well, your family is the only family that brings us apples, but they’re still pretty darn tasty!”
“Thanks Pinkie. I don’t suppose you could sneak me a couple a them thar peanut butter balls, now could ya?”
Pinkie Pie looked around. “Since nopony’s looking… a special gift from your Auntie Pinkie Pie.” Pinkie immediately pulled out a bag of treats and Applebloom blinked. How did she have those ready instantly, but not the candy apples?
“Thank ya kindly,” Applebloom said, hiding her confusion and placing the bag in her pack. “Well, Ah’ll meet with ya later, Pinkie Pie. See ya at Fluttershy’s.”
“See you later, Applebloomy! And don’t forget your lamps and flashlights.”
Applebloom raised a brow at that. “Flashlights? Why? We’re not staying that late, are we?”
“I don’t think we are, but you never can be too careful when it comes to ghosties, creepies, and boogies, now can you?”
“Ya’ll believe in that stuff? Twi’ says that there’s no such thing as ghosts.” Applebloom tried to think if her sister ever said anything about spirits before. Nothing came to mind.
“Of course I believe in them! You gotta laugh at the ghosts to make them go away. How else could you laugh at them if ghosties didn’t exist? Grandma Pie gave me that advice, why would she tell me to laugh at something that wasn’t there?”
As young as Applebloom was, even she understood that’s not exactly what Pinkie’s grandma must have meant. Still… “Why ya telling me tah bring lights if ya know how to laugh ‘em off?”
“Because, silly filly willy, ghosties don’t like light. Have you ever been scared by a ghost when the happy go lucky sun is shining?”
Applebloom scratched her head. There was some strange logic to that. “Ahright, Ah’ll bring all the light Ah can find then.”
Pinkie waved goodbye. “See you later! Oh my gosh! I forgot I left Gummy in the tub! I’ve got to make sure he doesn’t drown!” With that, the pink pony zipped away so fast that Applebloom couldn’t tell which way she went.
Well, that was Pinkie for you.
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
The sweet smell of apples in Sweet Apple Acres was not an aroma Applebloom appreciated as much as she knew she should. It was a scent she had spent her whole life growing up with and most of the time didn’t even notice was there. She was just that used to it.
Sometimes, she didn’t want to be an Apple. Apples were bland, simple, and predictable. She wished she could be something more complicated. Like Scootaloo. It was hard to guess what Scootaloo would do.
“Big sis,” Applebloom called as she entered the barn. “Ah got yer candy apples.”
“Hot tar!” Applejack shouted, a couple of the nails that were in her mouth falling to the floor beneath her. She dropped her hammer and leapt from the second level onto the first floor. She quickly trotted over to Applebloom with a silly smile, then suddenly frowned. “Don’t ever do that.”
Applebloom giggled. “Now why would Ah ever be dumb enough tah jump from the second floor of a building?”
“That’s mah girl,” Applejack said as her sister gave her a candy apple. The orange pony licked her lips at the confectionery in her hooves and prepared to take a bite, but froze. “Heeeey…” Applejack drawled out, giving Applebloom a dirty look. Applebloom smiled innocently.
“Aw, come on, Ah’m jus’ funnin’ with ya.”
Applejack sighed and gave her sister a quick noogie. “Ah guess ya are.” She took a bite and chewed with relish.
“Hey, big sis, where do we keep the candles n’ stuff like that?”
Applejack choked on her apple, imagining the horrible things the Cutie Mark Crusaders could do with fire, and only about a third involved actual burning. “Now, uh, why do ya want things like that? It ain’t exactly dark out.”
“While Ah was at Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie told me Ah should get some.”
Sweet Celestia, that was even worse. “Again, Ah got tah ask; why?”
“Pinkie says you need light tah fight back the ghosts in the Everfree Forest.”
Applejack sighed in relief and wiped the sweat from her brow. “Well, shoot, ain’t nothin’ wrong with that. But, you know, we aren’t gonna stay that long. Why’s Pinkie telling ya to bring stuff we don’t need?”
“Just tah be safe, she said. Ah… Ah kinda would like ‘em, ya know… just to be safe.” Applebloom looked over her shoulder as if afraid a ghost was behind her right then. “Twilight says ghosts aren’t real, but Pinkie believes in ‘em. Are they real, Applejack?”
The elder sister closed her eyes in thought for a moment. “I don’t believe in the ghosts Pinkie believes in… but Ah think Twilights wrong about there bein’ no such thing. There are spirits, Applebloom, just not the scary kind.”
“Really? Then… what are they like?”
“Real ghosts… well… gosh, how do Ah put this. Ah guess real ghosts are the kind that want to help you, have something important tah say. And ya can’t see ‘em easy, neither. I tell ya what, I got a spirit right in this hat of mine.”
Applebloom blinked at her sister’s hat. It had been on Applejacks head as long as Applebloom could remember, but that wasn’t saying much. “Whose spirit is there?”
“Our pappy.” Applejack took off her hat and stared at it nostalgically. “He gave me this hat the… the last time Ah saw him.”
Applebloom desperately wished she knew what the ‘pappy’ her older siblings sometimes spoke of was like. She hadn’t a memory to spare on the subject.
“Every time Ah see this hat, or feel it bounce on mah head, Ah can hear him sayin’ a nice thing’r two.”
Applebloom rubbed the bow that kept her mane in a pony tail (ha!... sorry), and remembered vaguely that Granny said it had belonged to their mother. She never heard a voice when she looked at it.
Applejack realized what Applebloom was thinking and frowned. She placed her hat on her head. “Ah’m sorry Applebloom. Ah guess there’s a bit more to it than that. Jus’ think of it like this: real ghosties won’t hurt you. Anything that can certainly ain’t no ghost.”
“Will Ah ever get tah see ma ‘n pa if they’re spirits?”
Applejack looked at her hooves, unsure how to answer. “Ah’m not the pony tah tell ya that. Let’s jus’ drop this, sugar cube. Go give Big Macintosh ‘n Granny their stuff an’ get ready tah go if ya want tah see Zecora. An the candles are in the kitchen drawer. The one without the sharp things.”
Applebloom became silent and slowly trotted to the main house. That conversation went in a direction she didn’t really expect. She couldn’t figure out what she was feeling. On one hoof, she never knew her parents. It never made a difference. On the other hoof, she wished she had gotten to know them. Sweetie talked about how great her parents in Manehatten were. Scootaloo never talked about it, but others did.
She decided to just stop thinking about it. Her bow was just a bow, Applebloom decided. Applejack’s hat was a hat, Big Mac’s clock was a clock, and Granny Smith’s scarf was a scarf. Everything was as it was. As it was, she needed to get ready.
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
The Everfree forest was terrifying place for most everyone in Ponyville. Applebloom had only ever been to it a couple of times, and fewer times so deep as Zecora’s hut. During the day, the monsters that roamed were asleep as if the sun were their moon. There was a strange wonder to this place, Applebloom thought as she and her friends walked through the woods.
“Ugh, it rained weeks ago!” Rarity complained. Loudly. “How is it that the ground can still be so muddy? My galoshes are getting ruined.”
Sweetie Belle looked like she had something snarky to say to that, but decided to simply keep that look and not to talk about what goulashes were made for.
Instead, Applejack did. “Ain’t boots made fer getting muddy?” The deadpan in her voice wasn’t exactly startling, mostly because it was the same amount she always used. Which was a lot.
“They are not boots, they are galoshes. They are fashionable. They are made to get wet and keep your hooves dry. Now I’ll have to pay for heavy duty cleaning to get the stains out.”
“And then ya’ll wearin’ rain gear. Ya know it ain’t rainin’, and ya know it’s dirty out here. Why didn’t ya wear somethin’ that would’a kept ya cleaner?”
Applebloom tried not to snicker at Rarity’s and Sweetie Belle’s ensembles of rain protection that the former pony had obviously not made.
Rarity had her mouth open to retort, but couldn’t think of anything smart to say. “Fine, your point is made. I’ll stop complaining.”
“Thank goodness,” Twilight moaned quietly.
Pinkie was happily hopping along, oblivious to the greatest of quarrels. “You know, I’ve always wondered, why don’t they ever make paths through the forests? After all, there are all sorts of neato plants and herbs and things ponies use that I don’t even know about, and Everfree Forest is the best place to get them, so why don’t we make a safe path there, but then I think ‘Pinkie, you silly willy, there isn’t any safe path, there’s all sorts of monsters-”
“Pinkie,” Twilight said over the pink pony’s din.
“-and tear you to bits, so of course you wouldn’t come out here, but then I wonder why Zecora lives out here, and I think it can’t be that bad, but we almost got eaten by a Hydra once-”
“Pinkie,” Applejack tried to interrupt.
“-and then I told him about the time we all were climbing up that mountain to get that big ol’ dragon to go somewhere else and how scary he was and how crazy it was that he didn’t like parties and how Fluttershy totally told him what a meanie pants he was-”
“Pinkie” Applebloom just about begged.
“-so then he was like ‘grrr’ and I was like ‘for serious?’ and he was like ‘blarg’ and I was like ‘holy gasp!’ and he was all like ‘derp’ and I was like ‘burp’ and we-”
“Pinkie,” Sweetie Belle moaned.
“-they had ice cream and chili cheese fries with extra marshmallows and all the tin cans you could ever hope to stack, which was crazy because of how wacky Mr. Dust acted at the masquerade-”
“Pinkie,” Rarity practically threatened.
“-all those insane birds! You’d think they’d never tried mustard before! But that was okay, because I found the relish in the hoof locker in the chest of drawers in the mailroom in the deepest jungle in the-”
“Pinkie!” Everypony shouted.
“Yes?” Pinkie replied as though she hadn’t just been screamed at.
“We’re here.” Twilight said, pointing to the large and rather creepy hut in which Zecora lived and did her work.
“Well why didn’t you say so? Cupcake time~” Pinkie Pie bounded towards the door. There was a collective eye rolling. That was Pinkie Pie for you.
“Hey Zecora!” Pinkie cried out as she knocked on the door. “We’re here to deliver books and have lunch and give you baked goods!”
The zebra that lived in the hut opened the door to get several hoofs to the face. “My friends-oof- how nice to see you’ve-erg- come around, but why is it-gerg-my face you must pound?”
Pinkie immediately stopped and gave a tremendous grin. “Hi-dy ho, Zecora! It’s been so long since we’ve gotten together and had lunch and I’m just soooo super duper happy to see you.”
Zecora rubbed her head and stepped aside to allow her friends to come inside. The cauldron bubbled with a sickly yellow colored soup, and the ponies present (except Pinkie) wondered if it was possible for something so vile looking to smell as good as they thought it did.
Zecora gave a chuckle as she looked at Rarity and Sweetie Belle, her large earrings rattling. “My friends, we are well met, but tell me, did someone lose a bet?”
The white unicorn huffed as Applejack snorted. “Yes, yes, laugh at the only pony that cares about staying clean.” With an expert flourish, Rarity pulled off her outfit and had all the pieces hanging off of one of the many masks lining the walls.
“Hello Zecora,” Twilight greeted, placing a stack of books on the incredibly wide yet stout rock that served as a table. “I brought those books you wanted.”
“Equestrian literature on medical herbs. Your kindness has almost left me without words. Not many ponies would brave these wood. It touches me deeply that you should.”
“Hey, Zecora,” Applebloom said as she gave the Zebra a hug. Zecora returned it with a smile.
“Applebloom, my dearest of friends. I’m so happy you could come and see me again. I understand it is a long trip from your farm to my place, so please come and put food in your face.”
“Mighty nice of you, Zecora.” Applejack sat down at the small table along with everyone else(except Pinkie), and took her hat off. “Haven’t got the slightest idea what ya got there, but it sure smells nice.”
Zecora opened her mouth to respond, but Pinkie jumped at the chance to stuff a chocolate cupcake into in her mouth. Zecora choked.
“Aren’t they just great Zecora?” Pinkie asked as she bounced up and down. Zecora struggled to swallow the baked good. “I bet they don’t have anything like that where you come from. It’s the bestest, most tastiest thing you can get in a cup, except maybe Gummy’s favorite punch, because that stuff is really good. Ooh, ooh, I know! I could combine them! It would be super extra tasty, then it would be the bestest thing you could get in a cup!”
At some point, Applejack had jumped up and performed the Heimlich maneuver and forced Zecora to hack it up. “Whoa, you okay there, partner?”
Zecora breathed in relief. “Thank you Applejack, that was a bother.” She then blushed and smiled sheepishly. “Might I… trouble you for another?”
Sweetie Belle snorted. “I guess Zecora’s proof that Pinkie’s Cupcakes are to die for.”
Ignoring the mild laughter, Zecora grabbed a cupcake and relished in a real bite. “I believe I’ve never tasted a thing so sweet. Truly, this is a marvelous treat.” This made Pinkie Pie smile the smile reserved for when she made someone else smile.
“I hope you do not think me rude to pry, but where are Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy?”
“Rainbow Dash has weather duty,” Twilight said. “A huge storm is going to blow in from Fillydelphia, and Ponyville needs all the help they can get to divert it away. Fluttershy’s helping another pony whose dog is about to have pups.”
“Unfortunate that they could not attend. Sometime, I’ll have to make amends.” Zecora took a large whiff of her grotesque looking stew. “Our meal is nearly ready, we’ll need food ware. Applebloom, could you help me, if you care?”
Applebloom nodded eagerly and followed Zecora into another room where bowls of many sizes were stacked in rather disheveled piles. “In my home, spoons are not anywhere used. The idea makes me quite confused. I hope you ponies will not mind, that acquiring some, I had not the time.”
“It’s soup, right? Ah might as well just drink it.” Applebloom watched as Zecora looked around for the perfectly sized bowls. “Why do ya have so many bowls, anyway.”
“With plants and natural herbs I work, I take it all the way and do not shirk. A special texture, a special size, to get it just right and receive my prize. I could take a root and mix it in one; put it in another and get something different when I’m done.”
“Gee, this sounds complicated. Is that what yer cutie mark represents? It looks like a sun, though. What’s that got to do with medicine?”
Zecora fumbled the bowl she was carrying, a small gasp escaping her. She steadied herself and sighed. “I… it has been so long since I have been asked this. Though, all considered, it is not a twist. It is true, medicine is a gift of mine to some extent, but that is not quite what for my sun is meant.”
“What is it then? Is this a cutie mark story? I love those.”
Zecora looked thoughtful as if weighing options that Applebloom couldn’t see. “You trusted me when no one else tried. You saw me for me when others had lied. The story that I will relate is indeed what you say, but in this land it should be secret and stay that way.
“Little filly, like a flower so small, the shortened story I tell you is not tall. In Equestria with your light so bright, you do not have to fear a truly dark night. There are creatures, you know, that could eat you in one bite so quick, but that is a fate that some would easily pick.”
Applebloom guffawed at that. Who would want to get eaten by a hydra or something?
“The alternative is a place betwixt and between, a night that pales your silly Halloween. There are those that have not died, but who are no longer alive, and would give anything to no longer thrive. You might know these creatures as ghosts or living dead; but have you really thought about them, have you any idea in your head? They are not evil, and in fact so sad. The things they do, however, are terribly bad. They are cursed to walk the world forever, to leave this plane they might never. Something in life terrible had to unfold, and now in death they are in a pitiful hold.
“Imagine it, Applebloom, to not feel at all, but to be aware and be able to call, to the living they see and very much resent, and will always less they repent. When young, creatures like these I did not believe to be true, but I understand it now, I do, I do. A night I went out to play with the shadows of the falling sun, and it was not until dark that I decided I was done. It was then that I met such a creature, a terrible ghoul, a zebra that knew he had been a fool. He stole the knowledge his master had created, but even then his greed was not sated. He poisoned him with the most horrid of drinks, and his life was out in a blink. But the student’s greed had taken its own shape, and devoured his soul to leave him in his well deserved fate. When I found him, he tried to destroy me as well, and I had resigned myself to my fate and prayed a sweet farewell. It was then that I looked straight into the beast’s eyes, and saw a sorrow that touched me inside. He had come to resent what he had done, not what he had become. So I sat there and told him it would bring him no joy, to devour me or torment me as a toy. A sincere apology came from him, and a friend was what I did win. Every night, he would teach me the things his master knew, and I marveled at the world as around me it grew.
“Then the day came I received my mark, both on my flank and in my heart. His master had been trapped in the same terrible state, all because of his unbridled hate. When he saw his student had been kind to me, his heart softened and they both were set free. It was at that moment, with my eyes filled with tears, my mark finally appears. I brought light to those gloomy lost souls, I was the one that made them whole. I found my talent, the thing I loved most was to bring that light others desperately need, be it knowledge, a helping hoof, or an ear that would heed. I miss him dearly, he was a good friend, but I am glad I helped him reach life’s final end.”
Applebloom had been enraptured by the story, at some point laying down on her stomach. “Wow, Zecora, ya’ll knew a real live-uh, half live ghost? And he was yer friend tah boot?”
Zecora nodded with melancholy. “He was vile, but not bad. For him now, I still am sad.”
The young filly tried to imagine that ‘betwixt and between’ place. She had never thought about ghosts being ‘stuck’ as Zecora described. “It sounds real bad. Being a ghost, Ah mean. But why are you only telling me? Why’s it such a secret?”
“I have been mocked many a time, because to them there is no reason or even a rhyme.” There was an odd beat between the two of them at that. “Well, Twilight is proof enough. You could not convince her of this ‘mumbo jumbo’ stuff. I did not come to this land just to help pony, but the real reason makes me sound phony. In these woods, there is something worse, then a hydra or a dragon, some terrible curse. A darkness presides over the Everfree, a dark magic that only I can see. I have come here to see this wrong made right, to bring to it my special light. I want to help the spirits of the dead, but to tell others this would hinder me instead. So Applebloom, whom I’d trust with my life, tell no one of this and save me from strife.”
Applebloom nodded. “Ah Pinkie Pie promise not to tell. Cross mah heart, hope tah fly, stick a cupcake in mah-ouch!” She rubbed the eye she had just poked. Zecora laughed.
“Yes, a promise that shan’t quiver. Just remember-” the two of the took a deep breath and were about to say something when Pinkie Pie popped her head out of a cupboard and practically yelled-
“Forever!” As quickly as she appeared, she had left, and Zecora immediately shifted things aside to look for her.
“In the name of all things magic and Applejack’s hat… how does she do that?”
“Don’t think too hard on it, it’ll jus’ make yer head explode.”
Applejack stuck her head through the doorway, looking a bit worried. “Ya’ll been gone a while. Everythin’ okay in here?”
Applebloom nodded. “Ain’t nothin’ wrong. We jus’ got tah talkin’. We’ll be right there.”
Applejack shrugged and moved back into the other room. “By the way, did ya’ll see where Pinkie went?”
Applebloom and Zecora grinned.
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
The little get together at Zecora’s remained simple (much to one pink colored pony’s disappointment). The Ponyville ponies related recent adventures they had, including, but not limited to, Fluttershy’s dealings with a Phoenix, Twilight’s discovery of the ‘Pinkie Sense’ and her new pet owl, Rainbow Dash discovering the meaning of life and then forgetting where she wrote it down, and the Grand Galloping Gala disaster.
Zecora shared a few tales of her homeland and childhood, much to Applebloom’s delight. The giraffes and hippos and other things sounded so exotic and bizarre. Places where the clouds moved all by themselves? Trees that could grow all on their own? It was unbelievable. And, before moving to the Everfree Forest, Zecora had never seen snow. How unbelievable was that?
Rarity was fascinated by the golden bangles and things Zecora wore. Then she was mortified (along with everypony else) when the fashion statement was revealed to be a bit more risky than first imagined. She couldn’t take it off, less her neck noodled and… well, it was a sickening image.
When questions were asked about Zecora’s herbal skills, the story she told was vastly different from the one Applebloom had heard. Instead of a zombie zebra teaching her, it was a wise old chieftain of her tribal land. Applebloom felt special knowing that the truth was something Zecora decided to only let the little filly know.
And so it went for hours with stories swapped and bits of culture exchanged. Pinkie happened to have more culture to share than anypony else.
“I doesn’t seem like I can survive… G-5.”
“Missed~” Pinkie grinned ridiculously. “E-2.”
Zecora sighed in defeat, but smiled. “I hate to say that we must quit, but it seems you sunk my battleship.”
“Yay!” Pinkie clapped excitedly. Sweetie Belle pat Zecora on the back.
“Don’t feel bad. Pinkie’s been practicing these for, like, years or something. I don’t think anyone can beat her.”
Twilight giggled at a memory of a past party. “You should see her at Pin the Tail on the Pony. Sometimes she has to sit out just so everypony else can get a turn.”
“Twenty different games, some you’ve never played,” Zecora said, “and yet somehow victory towards you was swayed. I demand we play again.” She froze suddenly, her pupils shrinking. Ignoring the ponies in her home, she ran over and stuck her head out a window. “Oh no… it is already then?”
“Zecora, dear, what’s wrong?” Rarity asked worriedly.
Zecora turned back to her friends, her expression rather grave. “You have been here for a long while. The sun will soon no longer grace you with its smile. Night is approaching, so is danger, the Everfree grows angry towards strangers.”
Twilight looked out the window as well, noticing that what little light could get through the dense canopy of the trees was no longer shining. “Oh my gosh… we weren’t supposed to be out this long. Hurry, pack up girls. We need to get home as fast as possible.”
Applebloom was mildly disappointed at hearing that, but complied none the less. She learned the hard way that the forest was dangerous. Fluttershy would have been useful to have at the time, but they had to work with what they got. Zecora seemed for more flustered than she should have been. This wasn’t the first time this had happened, but Zecora was rushing to get everypony out much more frantically than ever before. No one else seemed to notice but Applebloom. In the light confusion, the young filly walked up to Zecora.
“Is somethin’ wrong, Zecora?” Applebloom asked with obvious concern.
“Little pony, I strongly urge you to hurry, do not waste time, you must scurry. This night I smell something foul in the air, The Everfree Forest for you has no care. Head straight home, do not derail, less you find the horrors that my talents entail.”
Applebloom looked worried.
“Go with you I would to protect you from harm, but your sister shall be enough to take you to your farm. I must prepare my enchantments to protect us all, a feat that is in no way small.” Zecora quickly glanced around the room at the others almost done packing, much to Sweetie Belle’s annoyance as her useless rain gear was put back on. “Just go, go on home. I must consult with my new tomes.”
Applebloom was rather confused by that and wanted to press for more, but a call of, “C’mon, sis’, we gotta mosey on home,” prevented her from doing so. With a simple goodbye, Applebloom and company left Zecora’s hut and began to traverse the forest.
If it were not for Zecora’s warning, Applebloom would have thought she imagined the forest being particularly scary this evening. Something about the Everfree felt much different than the time with the cockatrice.
Darker.
Quieter…
Nicer smelling?
Twilight suddenly stopped and looked around. “This can’t be right…”
“What is it, Twi… oh my.” Rarity looked at the fallen tree that was in the way of the sole path. It was much too large to climb over, and the trees around them were too dense to make it around.
“Ah can’t believe we didn’t hear that,” Applejack mused.
“It must have happened while Pinkie was having her karaoke moment.” Rarity shook her head. “This doesn’t bode well.”
“Hold on, hold on,” Twilight said as her horn began to glow, along with the tree. With a grunt, Twilight used her magic to fling the tree into the air to who knew where. A large crash could be heard off in the distance. “Whoo… that wasn’t (wheeze) so bad…”
Sweetie Belle poked Twilight’s leg. “Um, Twilight.” She pointed ahead, and everyone groaned. A stack up of about five trees, just as large as the first, were in their way.
“Now ain’t that jus’ the dardest thing…” Applejack thought aloud. “That doesn’t seem natural.”
Pinkie Pie gasped loudly and pulled a flashlight out of her pack and held it in her mouth. “The ghosties are trying to get us!” She yelled in a muffled tone.
Twilight sighed in aggravation. “Of course. Ghosts.” Twilight turned to Pinkie and shielded her eyes from the light with a hoof. “There aren’t any ghosts here.”
“Well, duh, of course there aren’t any here or else I would laugh at them.”
Rarity placed a hoof of Twilight’s shoulders, seeing her eye twitch. “It’s best not to argue with her logic. Your head will explode.”
Applebloom had taken this opportunity to pull out some candles (she would have brought a flashlight, but when you’re a farm pony…). She was getting ready to strike a match and light one…
And paused.
That pleasant smell got stronger…
Was that a pony? A filly…?
“Uh, girls…”
“Applejack, ramming it is not going to help.”
“Erg, just hold on, Twi’, iffin’ you can move it with magic, Ah can move it with mah strength.”
“Darling, I don’t think that’s what they mean by ‘use your head.’”
“Everypony!” Applebloom shouted. This got Sweetie’s and Pinkie’s attention at least. They looked back down the path they came and saw…
“Is that Ditzy?” Sweetie asked. At the sound of a familiar name, the others perked up and turned their heads.
“That’s not Ditzy,” Pinkie declared around her light. “I know every pony in Ponyville, and unless Ditzy got younger then that is not her. Ooh, maybe she got younger and we’ll get to throw her birthday parties all over again! That would be supper to have, like two of every birthday party you ever-”
“That isn’t our mailmare…” Rarity agreed, though with much fewer words. “That’s just a young filly.”
“Just a young filly in the middle of the Everfree forest,” Twilight interjected.
The gray filly glanced their way, then immediately hastened away into a small opening in the trees.
“Wait!” Twilight called and began running after her. Without hesitation or question, the others followed, though there were quite a few ‘ew’s from Rarity as they ran through the moisture and sap covered trees.
Applebloom could not help but notice the trees around them part as they ran. It seemed like a path, more so than the one they took to get to Zecora’s hut. The dirt became flatter like the roads ponies normally walked on to her family’s farm. The path was wide as if ponies had deliberately cleared the way.
Cleared the way to what? And that smell was getting stronger.
“Where’d she get to?” Applejack asked as she looked every which way for the filly.
“Little filly?” Twilight called out. “Little filly?”
“There!” Rarity cried out as a light came into view. An opening, almost like a doorway, became visible.
Light? Here? But what could…
Everypony guffawed and slowed to a trot as they walked into the well lit and finely decorated town. Wooden buildings were here and there, along with tables with snacks that were obviously for-
“A party!” Pinkie Pie yelled, dashing off to meet the many ponies hanging around and chatting about who knew what. A gray stallion trotted up to them and nodded.
“Hello, and welcome to Sunny Town,” he greeted with a slight nod. “We don’t get many visitors out here.”
“There’s a town out here?” Rarity asked, astonished at the very idea.
“Well, you are standing in it aren’t you?” the stallion chuckled. “Still, you aren’t the first to ask. There’s no need to worry, though. The light keeps the monsters at bay. I am Grey Hoof, party planner extraordinaire. Glad to meet a new face, miss…?”
“Oh, uh, Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight introduced. “And my friends, Rarity, Applejack, Sweetie Belle, and Applebloom. We were on our way home when-”
“You got lost?” Grey Hoof interrupted with a chuckle. “That’s what every visitor says, it seems.”
“Actually-”
“Since you’re here, please enjoy and help yourselves to food and drinks. There’s enough party for everypony.” Grey Hoof looked over at Pinkie Pie bouncing around wildly, blowing on a party whistle. “Looks like somepony’s already grabbing some.”
Applebloom and the others walked into the town, a little apprehensive. Table filled with baked goods were everywhere.
That explained that wonderful scent. That didn’t explain how it reached so far.
Ponies all around them were chatting it up and having drinks and snacks, while a few were playing games. Slowly they all began to relax. Except Applejack.
“Something ain’t right here,” Applejack murmured to Twilight, though Applebloom heard. “Ah can’t quite put mah hoof on it, but Ah think there’s somethin’ wrong with these ponies. I don’t know what jus’ yet…”
Twilight glanced around, noticing that Rarity and Sweetie Belle had began conversing with the Ponies of Sunny Town. “It’s strange that there’s a town here that no one’s ever heard of, but they seem nice. Let’s mingle, make some friends, and ask for directions to Ponyville. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get a friendship report out of this.” Twilight stepped over to a mare looking dreamily in a rather vague direction.
Applebloom glanced around for the gray pony they had seen in the forest, unsure of what to think about all this. “Ah don’t know what’s happening, AJ, but Ah think we should jus’ have some fun. It’s a party, ain’t it?”
Applejack still looked apprehensive, but nodded. “I want to find that filly we saw before. Come on.”
Applebloom and Applejack walked through the quaint village. Nothing seemed out of place, at first glance. But something was wrong.
What was it?
“Hey, mister,” Applebloom said to a stallion sitting in front of a rather large warehouse kind of building. Applejack simply watched as her sister communed with the townsfolk.
The stallion looked over at Applebloom, surprised. “Oh, hello. May I help you?”
“Ah could be asking ya’ll the same thing. Yer lookin’ a bit troubled.”
“Oh, it’s nothing… actually it’s something… I mean, well, do you see that mare over there, talking to your friend?”
Applebloom glanced over at Twilight who was, as guessed, talking to a mare.
The stallion sighed. “I wanted to give her something tonight, to say that I loved her. But I lost my gift, and I can’t find it anywhere. I’m too nervous to talk to her without it.”
Applebloom grinned like a fool. “Ooh, ooh, Ah can help, Ah’ll find it! Cutie Mark Crusader Gift Finder, yay!” The stallion and Applejack gritted their teeth from the shriek. “Can Ah look for it, sis, can Ah, can Ah?”
“Ah’m not sure about-” Applejack began, but it was futile.
“Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-”
“Whoo, boy, here we go…”
“-eeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-”
“Ahright, ahright, ya can go lookin’ fer it, jus’ don’t-”
“Yay!” Apllebloom shouted, and was off.
The stallion scratched his head. “She doesn’t even know what’s she’s looking for.”
Applejack rubbed her head in an attempt to get rid of the migraine she was feeling. “Ah know.”
“Say… what’s with those apples on your flank?”
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
It was some time later that Applebloom returned to the stallion, a ruby in her mouth. She felt like an idiot. She had run all about Sunny town looking for… well, that was the problem. She had no idea what she was looking for. Ponies gave her strange looks as she stuck her head in bushes and looked between homes. And she did it for nothing.
“Ah’m sorry, sir,” Applebloom said, setting the stone down. “Ah found this rock, but it was all Ah could find.”
“My ruby!” The stallion shouted, grabbing the stone. “Oh, thank you so much!”
Applebloom blinked. “Ah found it? Uh, I mean, Ah found it! Yeah! Glad to be of service.” Applebloom turned around, then paused.
They were gone.
“Excuse me,” Applebloom said before the stallion could walk away. “Where’d mah sister go?”
The stallion smiled. “Oh, the orange pony? She went off with her pink friend to play some games. They went further north of the village, I think.” With that, he hurriedly ran towards his fillyfriend.
With nothing better to do, Applebloom went back to the center of town where the music and games were, and looked around. Ponies were dancing to the festive music, cakes were sliced, cheers were made as someone pulled an apple out of a tub of water.
But there were no signs of her friends.
She asked a few ponies if they’d been seen. Some said yes. Most said no. All of them gave the strangest look at Applebloom whenever she used her friends’ cutie marks as identification.
And then, as she walked away from the twelfth mare, it hit her. How had she not noticed? It was right in front of her. Then again, it was so commonplace it was a given. But it was there.
Or rather, wasn’t there.
Nopony around had a cutie mark.
Everypony here was a blank flank.
Applebloom gulped. She had never heard of a pony that had never found their special talent, let alone a whole town full of them! She needed to find everypony and figure this out.
But where?
“Excuse me.”
Applebloom jumped. She was so engrossed in her thoughts she hadn’t realized…
… A filly had come up to her.
“I know where your friends are.”
Applebloom looked at the gray filly, noticing her blonde mane hiding her eyes.
“Ya… ya do?”
Slowly, as if maple syrup was in her neck, she motioned towards a lonely path that led out of town. “Your friends’ fate can be found in there.”
“Their… fate?”
The filly smiled. “You don’t know what that means, do you? Fate… it’s something that can’t be changed… just like the past.”
Applebloom looked pointedly at the filly. “Are mah friends there or not?”
“They are… and they aren’t. Go find them. It’ll be just like… hide and seek.” The filly turned to walk away.
“Wait! What’s your name?”
She turned back and smiled such a disarming smile. “Ruby.” And she vanished into the crowd.
Applebloom gulped.
The path was dark, though not as dark as one might expect. The light from Sunny Town was enough to illuminate the way. A short walk and she found herself in front of a humble abode, a warm light shining from the windows. Nothing too terrifying, but not necessarily welcoming.
Why would they be here?
“Applejack?” Applebloom called out to both the house and the darkness. “Sweetie Belle? Twi’? Anypony here?” Cautiously, she pushed on the door and found it unlocked.
It was just a single room house with a fireplace. There wasn’t even anything in the room. What a rip.
Applebloom sighed and decided to get closer to the fire. Stay close to the light, she thought. No ghosts in the light.
“Stupid filly,” Applebloom grumbled. “There ain’t anythin’ here. Just a house. Just a fireplace. Just… a…”
There wasn’t any wood in the fire. It was burning off of… something else.
She got closer. And froze.
Bones.
There was a skeleton in the fire.
A pony skeleton.
A young pony skeleton.
“No…”
Appleblooms heart was beating slow, but hard. It hurt her ears. She felt like her chest was going to explode.
“No, no, no, No, NO, NO, NOOOO!” Applebloom screamed, turning and running. The room had suddenly become darker, and for a split second she thought she was trapped because she couldn’t see the door. She rushed through to the outside, frantic and panting. The dark was everywhere. So many shadows.
She didn’t stop until she reached the town.
Or, at least, what was left of it.
All the buildings were destroyed, blackened, and hole ridden. Ruins of what once was. The grass beneath her was a sickly color stuck somewhere between green and blue. Whatever the grass was, it was dead.
Like everything else around Applebloom.
The air had become cold and stale and she shivered. Or maybe that was the fear. The fear of acknowledging what she already knew.
Careful steps. That what she needed to do. Careful steps. No pony was here.
She was alone.
THERE WAS NO OTHER WAY.
Maybe not.
SHE WOULD HAVE SPOILED THE PARTY.
Applebloom’s careful steps became unbalanced and disheaveled. That voice… by Celestia, that voice. There was no describing the…
The evil.
She quickened her pace, she needed to run. She needed to leave. Get back to Ponyville, get some help, get anypony, get Celestia for the love of everything good and wonderful.
Then one of them rose. It rose out of the ground. A horrifying mass of-
Sweet mercy.
-rotting flesh and disjointed bones that came together to form a vague pony shape.
But it wasn’t pony. Not anymore. One look from those horrible red eyes were enough proof.
Oh… Applebloom could smell it. She immediately puked.
SHE GOT THE MARK... SHE HAD BEEN CURSED.
IT HAD BEFALLEN HER THIS VERY NIGHT. SHE HAD TO GO.
Applebloom tried her best to keep her body stable, to keep her mind focused. The thing didn’t move. Giving no thought to this-
No time to think. I need to stay alive.
-she ran further. What was this place? What was happening?
Where were her friends?
Your friends’ fate…
No…
Another one crawled out of the ground and Applebloom fought the urge to hurl again. This one’s organs were… beating.
PLEASE... STAY WITH US. WE WON'T LET THE SAME HAPPEN TO YOU. YOU'LL BE SAFE... LIKE YOUR FRIENDS.
Friends. They knew of her friends. That was not very promising.
Another came out, except it walked out from behind a crumbled well.
This one was still one solid piece. But black. And… familiar…
Oh no…
Oh, Celestia, no.
Twilight.
IT"LL BE FINE. WE'LL BE SAFE HERE. THEY PURIFIED THE CURSE. WE ARE FREE NOW. COME HERE...
They began to walk towards her.
LET ME TOUCH YOU.
“Stay away!” Applebloom screamed, running from the things.
What did she do to deserve this?
She crashed through wood and debris, bee lining for the entrance to the no longer Sunny Town. More popped up from the ground, eyes burning an unholy red, guts dripping, bones cracking. They just kept coming. More and more.
How many had they taken?
The exit, the path! It was there! Almost there…
PLEASE...
Applebloom stopped and turned. How could Sweetie’s voice be twisted so?
ALL WE WANT IS FRIENDSHIP. DON'T LEAVE... THE OTHERS WON'T LIKE IT.
Applebloom was suddenly surrounded. Why did she stop? This was it. This was the end…
“Yaaaarrr!” Pinkie Pie screamed, jumping in front of Applebloom as she waved her flashlight around like the maniac she was. “You want her!? You’ll have to go through me!”
“Pinkie!” Applebloom shouted, a spurt of relief washing over her. The things hissed in fury as the beam from the light hit them. What was left of their skin sizzled and burned.
The light actually worked!?
Furiously, Applebloom tore open her saddle pack and lit the candles as fast as she could. Without warning, Applejack placed a metallic headset on her.
“Applejack!” Applebloom yelled, tears streaming down her eyes.
“No time…” Applejack said, sounding like she was in terrible pain. She placed a few candles in the impromptu helmet. “We gotta run. The candles will protect you. Come on.”
“What about Pinkie?”
Pinkie Pie swung her neck, and thus her light, around a few more times before looking back at the apple sisters sadly. “It’s too late for me. They bit me.” Applebloom gasped at Pinkie’s back leg. It had turned completely black.
“I’ll hold them back as long as I can,” Pinkie said through her tears. “Get out of here, go back home. Please, remember to live for me. Make sure my funeral is as happy as all my parties were.”
“Let’s go…” Applejack wheezed, shoving Applebloom into a run. With one last glance for a goodbye, the two sisters left pinkie in the middle of the mass of things.
Pinkie sniffed and growled. “Come and get me, you zombies! You think you can shake Pinkamena Diane Pie? I’m a rock farmer. I don’t shake easy.”
And then the light went out.
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
They ran for a straight ten minutes, not daring to look back. Some wax from the candles fell on Applebloom’s face, but she didn’t care. Couldn’t care.
The pain was nothing. What she just saw would hurt more than anything that could ever touch her.
“Applebloom…” Applejack called out weakly, falling to her knees. “Ah… Ah can’t run anymore.”
“Yes you can, sis. Yer an Apple. Apples are tough. We got to get back to Ponyville. Maybe we can get Celestia here. Ah bet she can fix this…” There wasn’t even false hop in her voice.
“No… Ah can’t go with you. Ah’m sorry, sugar cube… Ah love you. Ah don’t think Ah told you that enough, but Ah love you with every little bit of mah heart.” Applejack shuddered and began to softly cry.
Applebloom knew her sister well. She knew there wasn’t much to get her talking like this. That meant only one thing.
Her voice cracked and squeaked. “They got yah… didn’t they?”
Applejack shoved her mane out of the way, revealing a blackened part of her neck where a chunk of flesh was missing. “Ah can’t feel it anymore, and the light’s startin’ tah hurt. I just had tah see ya’ll off, one last time. I had tah make sure you was safe.”
This was it. This was goodbye. And Applebloom couldn’t say a thing.
“You gotta run. Get away from me, from the forest. Get back tah Big Macintosh and Granny and tell ‘em I love ‘em. Even when Ah… Ah’m one of them, some part of me will love you all.”
Applejack began to contort and twist, the blackness spreading. Applebloom backed away in terror.
“Get away from me, Applebloom. Run, run away…”
RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!
Applebloom screamed and ran, ran away from her sister’s cries, away from the awful sight. Just run, run, run.
Running for her life.
What life? What life would she have now? Could she even get out of the forest? How long would these candles last?
It wasn’t fair. They were good ponies, all of them. They didn’t deserve this. Nopony did.
As she ran, she prayed with all her might. To Celestia, to Luna, to the ponies of myth, to the sun, to the moon, to the earth, to the creators of the world.
Someone… anyone… help…
She stopped and just cried like the little filly she was. Lost, confused, terrified… who wouldn’t cry at a time like this?
Then the air froze. The wind stopped. Noise vanished without a trace. Applebloom shot up. The darkness began to creep in. The ground and the trees became white as marble. What was happening now?
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
She heard a clock. A clock of all things. This must be what madness felt like. Her mind had left her after everything it… had…
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
Applebloom gapped at the Alicorn-if it could be called that-coming towards her. It was white as the trees and ground had become, or at least it’s nearly full body armor was. It’s horn and joints were black as the dark.
Joints. Gears like a machine. Like a clock. With every slow, mechanical step it took-
Tick…
Tock…
A clock was in its chest, and also on its flanks. Its cold black eyes were as lifeless as its face. It had no mane, but a tail made out of black swirling sand. Wings were folded at its side, held down by spring loaded hooks.
It was a machine. It was huge. And it was coming right at her.
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
It stopped in front of her. And sat down with a heavy ‘thud’.
And then it was… something. It wasn’t silent or still. The gears and cogs churned within it. But it did not move towards her.
Applebloom shivered and looked around the frozen forest. Leaves hung in midair that were stuck falling. What was this thing? What did it want?
“Uh… H-hi there…” Applebloom shivered. “Mah n-name is App-p-plebloom. W-who are you?”
The mechanical thing raised its head high in short jerks.
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
Raised a hoof.
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
And pointed at an ornate necklace like bit of its armor where its chest clock was. Applebloom noticed the hands weren’t ticking. Fancy writing was carved above the clock.
Time Dancer Ver. 687.4.9
Time Dancer? That sounded like a name, but what was with the numbers?
Wait a second.
Oh. Looking around, she realized she already was.
“Y-yer an alicorn, aren’t ya?” Applebloom asked, her voice gaining a little strength. “Yer like those ‘masters’ in that story Twilight read tah me.
“Yer the Pony of Time.”
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
Up, down, up, down. A nod.
“Can you save my friends? Can you stop this?”
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
Left, right, left, right. A shake. No.
“But… but why are ya here? What do yah want from me?”
The tip of Time Dancer’s horn glowed, and a golden watch on a silver chain appeared. It levitated itself around Applebloom’s neck and the filly immediately opened it. The watch’s face had those weird letters that Twilight used when she made lists in place of familiar numbers. However, there was a single number, a three, large and very noticeable in the center.
Applebloom furrowed her brow. “A watch? Ah don’t understand.”
Time Dancer raised its hooves-
Tick…
Tock…
-Over a tarnished tribal drum like Applebloom saw in history class. Where did that come from?
And then it played. A steady beat. One pound per… second?
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
What the? Applebloom’s head ached as she tried to understand what she was hearing. How did you play a drum backwards?
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Applebloom swayed and the white and black around her blurred into gray. The watch on her neck became hot and burned her. What was happening? What was the pulling she felt?
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
And then Applebloom woke up.
|
The Conflicted Writer
|
1038
| 2 |
Apple Bloom,Big Macintosh,Granny Smith,Main 6,Zecora,Dark,Sad,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic,Gore
|
The Shadows the Past Leaves
|
'Story of the Blanks' story. But with a twist! A time travel twist!
|
cancelled
| 43 | 1 |
<p>A single normal day, a trip to a friend's home... it all turns sour as shadows from the past attack the present. To learn is the past's only use, as Applebloom comes to understand. The steady beat in the march of time may be lenient on her, but the past cannot be changed. The future, however, can be rewritten.</p>
|
teen
|
2011-10-12T21:45:12+00:00
|
2011-10-12T21:45:12+00:00
| 3,457 |
Chapter 2: Reused Sand
Applebloom’s panting threatened to tear her little lungs apart. The fear within her had made her break out in a sweat.
What the hay?
She gulped and looked about her room. Everything was normal. The woods did not surround her, no monstrous ponies were chasing her. None of it had happened.
Applebloom sighed in relief and wiped her forehead. It must have just been a nightmare. A terrifying, long, very real nightmare. A nightmare that left her heart pounding and a vile taste in her mouth. But a nightmare none the less. She laughed in a poor attempt to ease her frazzled nerves. She quietly decided not to borrow Scootaloo’s comic books about monster hunters and spend a good chunk of the night reading them anymore.
“Up and at ‘em everypony!” Applejack called out, her voice going through their home a much bigger relief to Applebloom than she would ever admit. “Time tah get everythin’ a goin’!”
The young filly wiped her brow and jumped down from her bed.
And froze.
Something was hanging from her neck.
Tentatively, oh so cautiously as if handling a snake ready to bite, Applebloom felt the cold metallic object on a chain and raised it up to her face.
A golden watch.
Her fear came back just as strong as she remembered it had been. She clicked it open to confirm her terror. A large three stared back at her.
It told her about everything that had happened.
No…
Everything that was going to happen.
“Applebloom!” Applejack called from downstairs. “Hurry up an’ get yer breakfast. Twi’s expecting you over thar in an hour.”
Applebloom wobbled slightly about to pass out. It was going to happen again. Her friends would be turned into those… those things. What could she-
Hold on…
She could do something about it. She had been flung back in time! None of it had happened. Not yet, and not ever. Newfound determination gripped Applebloom. She would stop it from happening if it was the last thing she ever did as a member of the Apple family.
She barged through her door and ran downstairs. “Applejack!” she cried out. “Applejack!” She ran into her sister – literally – and the two of them tumbled to the floor.
“What in tarnation,” Applejack cursed, rubbing her head. “What the hay’s gotten into you, tackling ponies fer no good reason?”
Applebloom jumped up. “Ah got tah tell yah somethin’. Ah-” Applebloom blinked as her voice got caught in her throat. I’ve got to tell you that I’ve traveled back a whole day thanks to the Master of Time to tell you that if we go to Everfree Forest tonight, you’ll be turned into a zombie, even though I have no evidence to back this fact up and it makes me sound completely insane.
Yeah, that would go over really well.
“What?” Applejack’s face… Applebloom had never noticed the way her eyes would bend when she was concerned about what Applebloom had to say.
Tears welled in her eyes. She hated this, these memories of things that never happened. No one else but her would look at her sister’s face and recollect about her becoming that… that thing.
“Are you okay, darlin’?”
No, Applebloom wasn’t. But she’d have to suffer it.
“Ah’m… (sniff) Ah’m fine. Ah just have tah tell you… Ah love you.”
Applejack was surprised by that. This wasn’t exactly what she was expecting.
“Well, shoot, sugarcube, ah love you too. Come on, is somethin’ wrong?”
Everything was wrong. “Ah don’t think Ah tell you that enough, but Ah love you with every little bit of mah heart.”
Applejack moseyed over to her sister and pulled her into an embrace. “A nightmare, right? Don’t you worry none, there. It can’t hurt ya anymore.”
It could if she didn’t do something about it. “Thanks, AJ. Promise me ya’ll always be there for me.”
“I promise, sugarcube. And you know jus’ how dependable yer sister is. She won’t ever break a promise. Ya’ll wanna tell me what yer nightmare was about?”
“Not now…” Applebloom said. Hopefully not ever. She broke away from her sister. “Ah’ll just get some toast and get goin’. Ah’m not feelin’ too hungry.”
Applejack nodded. “Alrighty then, iffin’ yer sure. Don’t ferget yer chores, okay? Ah need that all done if we’re goin’ tah see Zecora later.”
Chores… Applebloom began to think.
“Hey… where’d ya get that watch?” Applejack suddenly asked.
Applebloom was caught off guard by the question, her pupils shrinking as she struggled to think of a good explanation. But how did you explain an expensive looking gold watch? Nopony would just give it to her. Well, except maybe her uncle or aunt.
Applejack moaned a little bit as her eyes swirled in their sockets. She shook her head to clear out the dizziness. “Oh yeah, Ah remember that thing, now. Shore was nice of Uncle Orange tah send somethin’ so fancy, eh? Funny, considerin’ they’re stuffier than a pony with a cold.”
Applebloom scratched her head, then softly sighed whilst deciding not to confuse her head anymore by thinking about what just happened. “Right… Uncle Orange. Ah’ll, uh… Ah’ll jus’ be goin’, then.”
With a quick goodbye to everypony on the farm, Applebloom left as fast as she could.
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
Like she had said, she wasn’t very hungry. No breakfast meant more time. She needed every spare second she could get to think of a plan. Applebloom took the long walk through Ponyville to get to the library where Twilight Sparkle lived.
Anything for more time to herself.
Maybe she should just tell everypony what she saw, what had – no, that’s not right – what was going to happen. If she could only find some way to convince them. Twilight would never believer her, though. Twilight didn’t believe in anything she couldn’t see. Applebloom sometimes bet that Twilight didn’t even believe in air. Rarity would do like Applejack, tell her it was a nightmare and that it couldn’t actually happen. Pinkie Pie… well, she’d probably believe Applebloom, but that was hardly worth anything. Sweetie Belle would believe her, but, again, that wasn’t worth much.
She’d need to get creative. Look at this like… like one of those things Twilight did when she was bored. Puzzles, that’s it. This was a puzzle. Applebloom needed only to find the right solution, one that didn’t end in…
That.
But what? Think as she might, Applebloom was stumped. Or her mind refused to react. Understandable, considering that, for her, the horror was not more than an hour ago.
Alright, what were the facts? She had traveled back in time, and everypony would be a zombie after dusk. No, tinier details. They were going to the Everfree Forest to visit Zecora. If they didn’t visit Zecora, they wouldn’t go to the Everfree. If they didn’t go to Everfree, then no one would get turned into zombie ponies.
So, Applebloom needed to make it so they didn’t visit Zecora. How to do that?
It was not until her head began to throb that she realized she’d reached Ponyville’s library. She fell back and rubbed her sore head. A chuckle came from above her. Twilight’s assistant was laughing at her.
“You know, most ponies knock with their hooves.”
“Shut it, Spike,” Applebloom told the dragon, being in no mood for the antics she had before begged so much for. How odd. The filly couldn’t help but wonder what made this time around different.
You know exactly what’s different. Ya’ll got a memory nopony else has. Yer different. You’ve looked evil in the eye. You’ve seen dead ponies. It’s something only you’ve got.
She had an experience that nopony else had lived, she realized. Nopony could relate. She had an extra day’s worth of knowledge.
Twilight opened the door with a smile. “Good timing, Applebloom. I just got everything set up. Come on in.” Applebloom walked inside, inwardly groaning at her misfortune. She forgot that’s she’d have to sit through all the good, the bad, and the boring parts of the day. A whole few hours sitting through the history of baking followed by the invention of the house, and then a dose of filly tales for good measure. The only thing worse than sitting through all that would be sitting through it all a second time.
Except technically it was the first time, since that time never happened. But she still remembered it. Did that mean it did happen? Hold on, no one else could remember it. Did all of time reverse itself or did Applebloom’s mind simply go back? Did her body have an extra day’s worth of age? Was there an alternate timeline where everypony was still-
Oh no, Applebloom had gone cross eyed.
“Applebloom!” Twilight shouted, rousing the filly from her befuddled state. Applebloom tried to shake her eyeballs into proper alignment.
“Huh? Wha’ happened?”
“You completely zonked out on me. Are you okay?”
“Uh, yeah, sorry Twi. Ah just got thinking about a really hard puzzle is all.”
Twilight beamed at that, her eyes sparkling somewhat. “Ooh, a puzzle! I can help with that. What is it?”
Applebloom rubbed her chin in thought for a moment. If anyone could solve a conundrum like this, it was Twilight Sparkle. Now Applebloom wouldn’t even have to tell her anything directly, if she spoke the right words. “Well, let’s suppose a bunch of ponies were gonna… err… were gonna do something bad.” Wow, she hadn’t realized she was so clever and deceitful. Or maybe she was big headed. “And ya knew they was gonna do it, and ya needed tah stop ‘em without getting’ caught. How would ya do that?”
Twilight looked thoughtful for a moment before replying. “A bit of a vague riddle, but nothing I can’t work with. The best thing would be to take their tools.”
“Their tools?”
“Their tools. You need stuff to do stuff, so take the stuff and they can’t do other stuff. I hope I said that right.”
Applebloom nodded, smiling brightly. “No, Ah get it, Twi’. That answers everythin’.” Yes, without stuff, you can’t do stuff. ‘Doing stuff’ would be going to Zecora’s hut to bring her some books. Take away the ‘stuff,’ the books, and you can’t bring books to Zecora. Problem solved.
“Great, then we can get started.”
“Joy.”
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
The Princesses of the Sun and Moon were not equally respected. Far back, before pony kind had matured into what it is now, ponies feared the darkness of the night. They would hide away and spend the night asleep, hiding away from the things the darkness hid away.
This angered the Princess of the Moon. She spent a great deal of effort into arranging the stars, casting the moon’s glow, weaving the gentle light of the night. But nopony would see it because they all slept.
The Moon Princess believed she was far more deserving of the attention the day received. Whilst the Moon Princess crafted an artistic night, she believed all the Sun Princess did was raise a single light into the sky. To this end, the Moon Princess refused to lower her moon one faithful night.
“They do not appreciate my night!” The Moon Princess declared with her heart filled with loneliness and jealousy. “My stars go unseen, my moon glows for nopony. Why should I end my night when only I have witnessed its glory?”
The Sun Princess tried to reason with her sister. “Please, I beg of you, let my sun rise. My light is needed so that the land may grow, so that ponies may live. Would you let them starve without my sun?”
The Moon Princess would not be moved. “Let them hunger for the day. Such ponies shall not be needed in my new world. They shall be quenched by my night or they shan’t be quenched at all!”
Try as she might, the Sun Princess could not convince her sister to lower the moon. When this had continued for a great deal of time, and ponies were crying out in fear and anguish, the Sun Princess had no choice but to fight her beloved sister for the right to control the celestial bodies of the sky.
The Sun Princess faced her sister in their chambers and, with a heavy heart, challenged her head on. The battle that ensued was the mightiest that had ever been, and perhaps ever shall be. Those that had been naught a horizon away could see the sky ripping apart as though the sun and moon themselves exchanged blows. When at last the sisters had worn themselves to the brink of exhaustion, they both made a terrible mistake.
While the sisters ruled Equestia, their friendship gave them access to the most powerful magic ever conceived: The Elements of Harmony, six gemstones of limitless magic. However, the Elements will only work so long as the bearers are in harmony themselves. The sisters, as they both tried to harness their strength, fueled and divided the Elements and caused their magic to spiral out of control. The sister’s disharmony tore apart the land and bent nature into a horrible, disfigured mess of what it once was. The trees became ugly, the animals became vicious monsters, and the very air was poisoned with jealousy and sorrow.
In the end, the Princess of the Sun was left standing, but the Moon Princess would rise again. With what little harmony the Sun Princess had left with her kingdom, she used the Elements of Harmony to banish her sister to her very own moon.
In the wake of their battle a forest sprawled where once the land’s most wondrous city spanned. A darkness and disharmony would always be in that place, whether day or night, whether there was joy or sorrow within. There was no longer harmony there, only chaos.
And, thus, the Everfree Forest was made.
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
Twilight closed the tarnished book with a satisfied smile. “So, what did you think Applebloom?”
Applebloom smiled sincerely. “Ah thought it was a pretty in’erestin’ story.”
Twilight was pleased. This was so much easier than dealing with Applejack. “Wonderful. What did you think was interesting about it?”
Interestingly, the little filly actually had paid a great deal of attention to the tale. She knew she needed to, after all. “Ah thought it was cool. It was a great story, jus’ like Grandpappy would tell. Wouldn’t that be somethin’ if the forest really was all magic and evil and stuff?” Applebloom was glad she had asked Twilight what the word ‘irony’ meant. Appreciating it made her situation a little more bearable.
Twilight rolled her eyes. “If only. I sincerely doubt that’s what happened. I think it would be in a history book rather than a filly tale book.”
Again, Applebloom grinned at the irony. “Yeah. Ah never believed any of that Nightmare Moon stuff anyhow.”
The look on Twilight’s face almost made sitting through her lessons a second time worth it. “Uh-I… well.” Twilight chuckled. “Well.”
Applebloom took Twilight’s stunned moment of silence to think. The lesson was still a waste of time, even that new story. She was hoping to maybe find some super secret information that could instantly fix the Everfree Forest and maybe what caused the zombie ponies into being, but that may have been expecting too much. Oh, why did she have to put that hole in the barn?
Time wasn’t something Applebloom had a lot of to waste, and she didn’t even have the time to let everypony know that. She needed every spare second to think and plan, even if she had done something that should ultimately stop everything.
“Well, this history lesson sure was in’erestin’, but Ah think Ah need tah get goin’. An account a’ all the chores I gotta do. Yep. Chores.”
Twilight smiled, but then frowned and scratched her head. “That’s odd. We’ve covered everything, but I can’t help but feel we ended this too early.”
Growing up on a farm kind of builds an internal clock into you. Applebloom knew what time it was without even looking at her new timepiece and thus knew that she had indeed gained a couple extra minutes than last time. “Oh well, what can ya do? Welp, see ya later Twi’. Bye.” Applebloom turned around and tried her best to make sure she didn’t just up and run out.
Twilight glance around the room at her many book covered tables as if looking for something. “Spike,” she called out, “Have you seen those books I was going to bring to Zecora?”
“On the table where we don’t eat!” Spike called from the second floor of the library. Applebloom briefly wondered what he had been doing up there all this time.
“They aren’t here!” Twilight called back.
Applebloom smiled proudly as she trotted out the door. Since Twilight couldn’t find her books, she would have no reason to visit Zecora. Don’t visit Zecora, don’t go into the woods. Don’t go into the woods, don’t find the zombie ponies. Problem solved.
Still, better to be safe than sorry. Applebloom did just so happen to have chores to accomplish that led her to all her friends who happened to want to visit Zecora. The more reasons not to go, the better. With the extra few minutes she had gained, she began to ponder what to do about Rarity…
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
Applebloom knocked on the door of the aptly named Carousal Boutique and waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
“Sorry, just a minute~,” a voice sang from the other side. Applebloom sighed. She didn’t have time for this…
The purple doors opened and a white unicorn popped her head out.
“Aah, Applebloom,” Rarity greeted with a warm smile. “How good to see you. You’re here for the scarf, right? Come in, come in, I just need to check something real quick.” Rarity hurried back inside and Applebloom followed.
Once Rarity was on the other side of the room, the filly wasted absolutely no time in grabbing Rarity’s cat off the floor where it was sleeping and tossed it into the closet meant only for rain gear as quietly as she could. Some thankfully muffled mews and tears came from within. Applebloom wiped her brow and thanked her lucky stars she came up with this on the way over.
The unicorn still had her back turned to Applebloom.
Rarity’s horn lit up with magic and she telekinetically brought Granny Smith’s favorite scarf down from a shelf and around to Applebloom. She gave the old scarf a once over. It was absolutely seamless; if there had been a tear or it had been as old as Granny Smith claimed it was, it was impossible to tell by the eye alone.
The tan earth filly was sweating. The white unicorn didn’t notice. “Does your grandmother really want to keep this old thing?” Rarity asked, giving the scarf a once over as it hung by her magic in front of her. “I’m not trying to be rude, but surely a scarf of better quality wouldn’t be so much trouble to get. I could very easily make one just like this if she wanted. It would be my pleasure.”
Applebloom took the scarf and placed it in her pack. She tried her best to relax her mind and calm her breathing, to forget about what she had to do or what would happen. She looked around the boutique and wished she could take the owner up on the offer. The many fancy fresh dresses and clothing articles on the dummies appealed to Applebloom in a way she didn’t quite understand. But Applejack and Granny would never get something as girly as the things Rarity made. Applebloom really didn’t get why.
Applebloom blinked in surprise. Those thoughts were exactly on mark with what had happened last time. Was she in a sort of rut if she didn’t actively think about the last time around? She decided to experiment with this. “Thanks, Miss Rarity, but Granny likes her scarf a whole lot. Ah don’t think you’d even get her to consider the idea.” Applebloom crossed her eyes and laid her apploosian accent on thick. “Git mahself a new scarf? Yer a fixin’s fer a whoopin’s, ain’t yah, yah no good pompous city filly!”
Rarity giggled at Applebloom’s imitation, her violet mane bouncing slightly. “Now, now, you should respect your elders little miss.”
Applebloom rolled her eyes back to normal. “Ah’m just foolin’ around. Anyway, thanks for fixin’ this. Granny will be real happy to get this for sure.”
“Why though?” a different voice asked. Applebloom smiled at Sweetie Belle as she stepped down the stairs. The younger unicorn looked thoughtful. “Why does your grandma care so much about that silly old scarf?”
“Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said warningly.
“What? You called it old too.”
Rarity gaped at that. She did, didn’t she?
Applebloom focused her thoughts. That was enough of that. She couldn’t waste anymore time. “Well, that’s Granny for you. She does all sorts’a strange stuff. Anyway, Ah really gotta go do mah chores, so I’ll be seeing ya.”
“Hold on,” Rarity said, looking around. “Wasn’t Opalescence here a moment ago? Where did she go?”
Appleblom froze and struggled to allow her thoughts return to the rut. It wouldn’t. Then again, this didn’t happen last time.
“Err, Ah saw her run by me, but Ah didn’t see which was she went.”
Rarity began to panic somewhat. “Oh no. My Opalescence can’t survive without me. I need to find her! Opalescence! Opalescence! Mummy’s coming!” Off she went in the completely opposite direction that Applebloom had tossed the cat.
Sweetie Belle’s face couldn’t express all the irritation she was feeling. “Oh great, here we go. Last time that stupid cat was missing, Rarity wouldn’t stop to go get some food. We might not get to go to Zecora’s later.”
Perfect.
“That’s too bad,” Applebloom said, hoping her sincerity didn’t sound as fake as she thought it did. “Ah hope ya’ll find her, but Ah really need tah get goin’. Chores an’ stuff to do,” Applebloom zipped away, leaving her friend somewhat confused. But that was certainly better than being undead.
Now Sweetie Belle and Rarity would be safe, at the very least. It took them two hours to get ready before, and this time Rarity’s cat was missing. They’d waste their time looking for her, and even if they did find her they’d find their rain gear in ruins. No rain gear, no going into Everfree forest. No going into Everfree forest, no zombie ponies. Problem solved.
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
Time Winder’s still remained the oddest store in the town. It still remained too plain looking. And Sugarcube Corner suddenly sounded like a great place to visit. Stupid rut thoughts from the first time(?) making her think about food. Maybe skipping breakfast wasn’t such a good idea.
No, Applebloom couldn’t think like that. She needed to save as much time as she could. That meant she just had to run in, grab Big Mac’s clock, and get out. Easy peasy.
Except the same thing happened as before. She became mesmerized by the sheer quantity of the clocks and their amazing mechanical workings. Wooden ponies running in jerky circles, dragons flapping their wind while flying about, and many other strange scenes and mundane tasks.
And then Applebloom noticed something. Something peculiar. Maybe even a little scary. She had been to homes that had more than one clock before. Sometimes they were close enough together that she could hear them both at the same time. It seemed an odd thing to take notice of, but Applebloom remembered that they were always a little off of each other. Their ticking was not synced up and was always separated by a second or two.
That was not the case here. All the clocks were running together perfectly. They made a collective harmonic sound that could very well have come from a single-albeit, very loud-clock.
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
“Isn’t the way they move just marvelous?”
The filly leaped practically three feet in the air from surprise. “Holy moley! Ya’ll scared the bajeebers out a me!”
Sand Whooves chuckled slowly and offered an apologetic grin. “I tend to do that.”
Applebloom blinked. Sand Whooves was talking a bit slowly. What the…?
Sand Whooves trotted over to his hoof-made automatomic clocks and sighed wistfully. “Aren’t they all wonderful? My life’s work, clocks. They keep track of time, but I make mine special. I like to think so, anyway. Each one has a little memory in them, a small bit of time that never ages and never changes until the gears within, so like the gears of our lives, wears out. A sad fate, alas, but then where would the beauty in our lives be if it wasn’t? Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Uh…” This was bizarre. Beyond bizarre. Sand Whooves sounded far more… subdued than last time. Calmer, more relaxed. This was completely different. And the truly strange part was that Applebloom was just going down that predefined rut at this point.
The brown earth pony closed his eyes, lost in a far of memory. “I remember learning that lesson the day I received this mark upon my flanks. Some might say it’s odd that it’s an hourglass when I specialize in clocks, but I know better. Sand and gears aren’t all that different, if compared to time. Every grain of sand moves and shifts the others, like the gears in a clock do. And every tick and every falling grain leads to this moment. My, could you imagine if one were to travel even just a day back and shift the gears, or move the sand? The changes you could make, the possibilities a pony could explore…”
“Mr. Whooves…” Still following that rut.
“Oh, yes, you walked in here so you must be a customer. And, may I say, you have wonderful manners.”
“Right, thanks Mr. Whooves. Anyway, Ah’m here for mah brother’s clock, and Ah’m kind of in a hurry-”
Mr. Whooves grumbled a short chastise to himself. “Oh, how could I forget? You’re Applebloom, correct? Sister to Big Macintosh. Then you must be here that old wind up thing. Completely slipped my mind. Wait right here, little one, and I’ll get your brother’s fossil from the back.”
Amused, Applebloom nodded. Mr. Whooves quickly retreated into the back of his shop. Applebloom took this moment to be utterly baffled. What was this? How could this be? She knew that Sand Whooves moods and quirks varied drastically every time Applebloom saw him, but this… how did you even respond to this?
His mood changes transcended time!
He returned with a simple wind up clock in his mouth, which he promptly put into Applebloom’s saddlebag.
“Thanks Mr. Whooves.”
“My pleasure, little miss. An old thing like this is so easy to repair that my requiring payment to do so might constitute as robbery. In fact, just so I don’t get into any trouble with the law, here is a full refund.” Mr. Whooves placed a pile of bits into Applebloom’s hooves. “And tell your brother that he has my respect. Not many ponies would go through the trouble of keeping an old thing like that. Then again, he also keeps your granny around.”
Applebloom snorted and waved a goodbye, unable to properly say one.
“Goodbye little flower. Until the next time we meet. Heh, time. That’s a good one.”
Wow, that store really was odd.
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
Applebloom knew she had no time to spare to think about Mr. Whooves. But it was distracting. Distracting enough that the Time Rut (as Applebloom decided to call it) was not easy to follow. Applebloom did not stare in awe at Sugarcube Corner or think about pastries and candy. Her thoughts stayed with Sand Whooves and his distinct personality trait of have multiple personalities. Why did his tendencies change this time? Why didn’t he follow the Rut like everypony else was?
The chime of Ponyville’s clock tower aroused her from her thoughts. A sound that once barely registered to Applebloom now served as a reminder that the clock was ticking. Shocking as it was, mulling over Mr. Whooves would do Applebloom no good. She needed to sabotage Pinkie Pie’s plans to party at Zecora’s hut. That would be simple. There was an easy opening in the Time Rut to stop her.
Applebloom rang the bell at the front counter. She waited for a moment, wondering where Pinkie was. She remembered too late that-
“Hiya, Applebloomy!” Pinkie Pie shouted from right beside Applebloom’s ear. With a yelp, she bucked up and fell onto her back. Four times in a row, man!
“Ugh… hiya Pinkie” Applebloom greeted from the floor. She looked up at the pink pony and tried her best to give her a dirty look. “Ah didn’t notice ya come in.”
Pinkie nodded furiously in agreement and grabbed Applebloom by her bow, flipping her back onto her hooves. “Yeah, that’s super duper weird, cuz lotsa ponies tell me that whenever I answer the bell. So, are you excited about going to visit Zecora tonight? Are ya, are ya, are ya? Cuz I am! When we get there, I’m gonna bring Zecora a batch of cupcakes! And I heard from Twilight that the place where Zebra’s come from doesn’t have cupcakes, and I was like ‘Whaaaat!? Ya gotta have cupcakes, what’s life without cupcakes?’ So I’m making Zecora a batch right now with all sorts of different flavors and frostings and decorations and, oh I’m sorry, you rang the bell, which means you’re here to shop! Give me a second.” Pinkie Pie jumped behind the counter and smiled at Applebloom. “Hi, and welcome to Sugarcube Corner! How may I help you today?”
One advantage to this whole situation Applebloom found herself in was that, for once, Applebloom could predict what Pinkie Pie was going to do. “Ya’ll so crazy, Pinkie Pie.”
“And that’s what makes me a great Element of Laughter,” Pinkie retorted with a sincere but unnecessarily huge smile.
“Ah came tah pick up mah sister’s order of candy apples, iffin’ ya don’t mind.”
“Ooh, right, candy apples!” Pinkie yelled, ducking under the counter. “I know I put those here somewhere…” The many unbelievable sounds of Pinkie looking for candy apples were just as strange as the first time, but less distracting. Pinkie popped back up with the colorful box, looking pleased with herself. “Here we are. Complete with the discount given to the family that brings us the tastiest apples. Well, your family is the only family that brings us apples, but they’re still pretty darn tasty!”
“Thanks Pinkie. Ah don’t suppose you could sneak me a couple pieces ‘a fudge, now could ya?” That’s odd. Her craving had changed.
Pinkie Pie looked around. “Since nopony’s looking… a special gift from your Auntie Pinkie Pie.” Pinkie immediately pulled out a bag of treats and Applebloom blinked. How, in the name of every pony ever born, did Pinkie Pie do that?
“Uh, thanks,” Applebloom said slowly, taking the snacks and not bothering to hide her confusion. Doing anything with Pinkie was a great way to make one’s head explode.
“Hey, are you okay? You look like my sister when she found out where foals come from, except you’re not gray and your eyes are the wrong color and she didn’t wear a bow and-”
And then a thought occurred to Applebloom. She remembered what was going to happen next or at least what was supposed to happen. Pinkie wanted to tell Applebloom to bring some lights to fight off ghosties-err, ghosts. The reason was because of advice her grandma had given her, or at least it related to it. But she remembered Pinkie’s cutie mark story and how dull and lifeless her family was.
It wasted some time, but Applebloom was sure she had already succeeded. She had to ask. “Hey Pinkie.”
“-and she could play music and was really good and the cello, but she was a farmer like you, except she farmed rocks, and *gasp* yes Applebloom?”
“Ah’m gonna be bringing some candles an’ lights an’ things tah keep the ghosts away if we’re gone too long at Zecora’s place.”
Pinkie’s eyes sparkled. “Ooh, you’re doing that too? Everypony always gives me funny looks when I say I want to do that. It’s so nice to find somepony else who does it!”
“Actually, Pinkie, Ah was jus’ thinkin’ about yer Granny Pie, on account ‘a the fact Ah got the idea from her. She seems different from yer family ya told me about one time.”
Pinkie looked thoughtful. It wasn’t an appropriate look for the party pony. Her usual cheerful demeanor had dwindled a bit and left a semi-serious Pinkie Pie in its place. “Granny Pie… she really was different from Daddy Pie. But Daddy Pie was the one that was different.” She sighed solemnly. “Daddy didn’t know Granddaddy Pie. I sure as hay didn’t. So Daddy Pie had all the fun taken out of him before I was even born. Poor Daddy…” Then Pinkie smiled the way she usually did. “But that’s okay, cause I put the fun right back into him! I’m so happy I could be a blast to the past for him. He’s been so much more extra special fun since then.”
Applebloom scratched her head. “Now hold on a second, thar. Ya’ll said that yer daddy never knew yer granddaddy. How could ya be a past blast fer him?”
Pinkie’s smile only grew larger. “Daddy said I’ve got some of Granddaddy in me, since I came from Daddy and Daddy came from Granddaddy. He can look at me and see some of his Daddy. Which in funny since I would be a mommy, but I think he’s right. There’s a little bit of the past in all of us, even if we never get to see it.”
Applebloom didn’t know what to say to that. It seemed so ridiculous. Pinkie logic usually was. However, she couldn’t help but feel what Pinkie was saying was… right somehow.
What was she doing? She didn’t have time to be taking trips down memory lane, especially somepony else’s. She had to get back on track. “Say, did ya’ll leave Gummy in the tub? Ah think Ah here water runnin’.”
Pinkie gasped. “Oh my gosh! You’re right! Byeseeyoulaterdon’tforgetthelightsbye!” With that, the pink pony zipped away so fast that Applebloom couldn’t tell which way she went.
Applebloom quickly ran into the kitchen, feeling really bad about what she was about to do. A very pleasant smell was wafting from all the ovens. The many cupcakes that were meant for Zecora…
Applebloom turned all the ovens up to full power and took a quick peek inside each to make sure the flames were stronger than they needed to be. The cupcakes would be burnt and inedible, just like her own had been when Pinkie Pie had tried to be so helpful.
She walked out of Sugarcube corner, moving at a leisurely pace and feeling pretty proud of herself. No cupcakes (and possibly a burnt down building), no going to Zecora’s hut. No going to Zecora’s hut, no zombie ponies. Problem solved.
She hoped.
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
Applebloom found herself thinking about bland Apples again as the orchard of her family’s farm loomed around her. She didn’t think being bland and predictable was such a bad thing anymore. Excitement was overrated if she had to live through days like this. Sure, there was some adventure to be had in trying to make a terrible disaster never happen, but the memory… the memory was too much. She would never be able to see her sister in the same light.
Those eyes. Those cold, hungry eyes…
Applebloom yelped as she banged her head into a support beam for the barn. She was really distracted today.
“What was that?” Applejack called, followed by the sound of nails dropping.
“Erg… hiya, AJ. Got yer candy apples.”
“Hot tar!” Applejack shouted. She dropped her hammer and leapt from the second level onto the first floor. She quickly trotted over to Applebloom with a silly smile, and then suddenly frowned. “Don’t ever do that.”
Applebloom’s head was still spinning from the throbbing. “Wuzzat? Yeah, no jumpin’ from second stories. Got it.” She wobbled slightly but managed to pull out a candy apple to give to her sister.
Applejack took the apple, a single brow raised. “You okay there? Thought Ah heard somepony run into a tree.”
Applebloom shook the stars from her eyes. “Yeah, Ah’m okay. I’ve been through worse.” Much worse. “Ah was distracted is all.”
“Are ya still thinkin’ about that nightmare?”
If only it was a nightmare. “Not exactly. Ah got tah talkin’ with Pinkie, and talkin’ got me thinkin’…”
Applejack rolled her eyes. This ought to be good.
“What were our parents like?”
Applejack fumbled her candy apple. She wasn’t expecting a question like that. “What made ya think ‘a them?”
“Just tell me… please?”
Applejack scratched her head at her sister’s misty gaze. “Well… iffin’ yer really that in’erested. Gee, this is sudden. Well… Pa was a hard workin’ and dependable pony. He ran this farm with every ounce of his grit n’ spit, an’ then a little more. If there was anypony that wouldn’t let you down, it was him. Why, shoot, did ya’ll know that dear ol’ Pa saved Ponyville a couple a’ times? Ah gotta tell ya about it eventually. He was an honest, hard workin’ pony, plain and simple.”
Applebloom was wearing a smile. This was promising. “An’ Ma? What was she like?”
“Ma…” Applejack smiled fondly herself at some far off memory. “Ma was the sweetest thing. She was always helping out her friends when she could. Good pals with the mayor an’ Mrs. Cake, too. Ya know she helped ‘em get their cutie marks, but that’s a whole story all on its lonesome. And she was always trying tah help out when she could. Mind you, she didn’t always do so good at that, but her great big heart was in the right place. And she was real good at makin’ friends with anypony, if they was good enough tah be friends with. Ya wanna here more? I gots tons ‘a stories.”
“Nah. The short version’ll do fine. Thanks AJ. For everything.”
Applejack still looked confused but let the subject go. “I don’t rightly know what Ah did, but yer welcome. Now go on and get ready. We need tah get goin’ tah Zecora’s soon.”
Applebloom nodded, way more chipper than she had been before. She returned to the main house and went to the restroom to gaze into the mirror. She admired her own reflection and the bow upon her head.
“Hiya, Ma.” Applebloom said to her reflection. “Ah guess Ah don’t need tah be wondering what you an’ Pa were like anymore. If Ah wanna see Pa, Ah jus’ gotta look at Applejack. An’ if Ah wanna see you… Ah jus’ gotta look in the mirror.” She felt her heart bubble a bit, thinking that a piece of her mother was in her, always.
“Who are you talkin’ to in there?” came the slow drawl of her older brother.
Applebloom stepped out to the hall to greet Big Macintosh. “Hey there, big brother. Ah was jus’ talkin’ to mahself. Ya want that clock of yers, right?” Applebloom reached into her pack and pulled out the aforementioned time piece.
Big Mac’s expression was hard to read as he took his clock in a hoof. “Thanks, Applebloom. But, if yah don’t mind me askin’, where did you get that watch yer wearin’?”
Applebloom blinked as she suddenly registered the watch the Time Pony had given her. She had completely forgotten about it. “Err, this watch? The one around mah neck?”
“Ay-yup.”
“So… you don’t remember where Ah got it?”
“Ay-nope.”
“Yah sure?”
“Ay-yup.”
That’s odd. Why didn’t Big Mac think she got it from her Uncle like Applejack did? “It was a gift from Uncle Orange. Ya’ll seriously don’t remember?” She wondered briefly if ‘not lying to a pony’s face’ ran in the family. She could practically hear her fib in her throat.
“No, Ah don’t,” Big Mac raised a brow in suspicion.
“Go ahead an’ ask AJ, she’ll tell you. Well, Ah gotta get ready tah see Zecora, bye!” she zipped passed the large red stallion and into her room.
More questions that couldn’t be answered. First Mr. Whooves was changed beyond time’s influence, and now Big Mac was unaffected by… whatever it was that had changed Applejack’s memory.
It didn’t matter, Applebloom told herself. It was over anyway and she’d be able to put the watch away and never think about zombies or that Time Pony ever again.
Everything was going to be fine.
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
Everything was most certainly not fine.
“I suppose it’s a good thing Opalescence ruined those outfits. They were out of style anyway,” Rarity looked sad, though, in her practical but plain looking rain gear.
Sweetie Belle was enjoying the opportunity to jump around in the mud while not having to worry about Rarity getting mad at her for getting dirty. She didn’t even register that her sister had said anything.
Applejack rolled her eyes. “Couldn’t be that they weren’t any good fer all the muck around us, could it?”
Rarity gave Applejack a begrudging look. “Okay, yes, there’s that too.”
Stupid, stupid, stupid. That’s what Applebloom was. Stupid. She should have known better. She should have planned for this. But she didn’t.
Twilight scratched her head, looking thoroughly confused. “I’m getting the weirdest feeling that something is missing right now. Like I’m supposed to be thankful for something…”
She should have known that Twilight, the dear and sweet friend that she was, would go out of her way to tell Zecora that the books she had meant to bring had been misplaced. Stupid.
“You know, I’m having the same feeling right now,” Rarity agreed. “Like this outfit isn’t right, like I should be wearing something else.”
She should have known that Rarity, persnickety though she was, cared a lot more about making a friend happy than the way her own self appeared. Stupid, stupid…
Applejack shrugged. “I ain’t feelin’ a thing.”
Pinkie was happily hopping along, oblivious to the greatest of queries. “You know, I’ve always wondered, why don’t they ever make paths through the forests? After all, there are all sorts of neato plants and herbs and things ponies use that I don’t even know about, and Everfree Forest is the best place to get them, so why don’t we make a safe path there, but then I think ‘Pinkie, you silly willy, there isn’t any safe path, there’s all sorts of monsters-”
“Pinkie,” Twilight said over the pink pony’s din.
“-and tear you to bits, so of course you wouldn’t come out here, but then I wonder why Zecora lives out here, and I think it can’t be that bad, but we almost got eaten by a Hydra once-”
“Pinkie,” Applejack tried to interrupt.
“-and then I told him about the time we all were climbing up that mountain to get that big ol’ dragon to go somewhere else and how scary he was and how crazy it was that he didn’t like parties and how Fluttershy totally told him what a meanie pants he was-”
And, of course, she should have known that Pinkie Pie would have a batch of emergency cupcakes at the ready in case something happened. What would Pinkie be if she didn’t have emergency party supplies? Stupid, stupid, stupid…
“-so then he was like ‘grrr’ and I was like ‘for serious?’ and he was like ‘blarg’ and I was like ‘holy gasp!’ and he was all like ‘derp’ and I was like ‘burp’ and we-”
“Pinkie,” Sweetie Belle moaned.
“-they had ice cream and chili cheese fries with extra marshmallows and all the tin cans you could ever hope to stack, which was crazy because of how wacky Mr. Dust acted at the masquerade-”
“Pinkie,” Rarity practically threatened.
“-all those insane birds! You’d think they’d never tried mustard before! But that was okay, because I found the relish in the hoof locker in the chest of drawers in the mailroom in the deepest jungle in the-”
“Pinkie!” Almost everypony shouted.
“Yes?” Pinkie replied as though she hadn’t just been screamed at.
“We’re here,” Twilight said, pointing to the large and rather creepy hut in which Zecora lived and did her work.
“Well why didn’t you say so? Cupcake time~” Pinkie Pie bounded towards the door. There was an almost collective eye roll. That was Pinkie Pie for you.
“Hey Zecora!” Pinkie cried out as she knocked on the door. “We’re here to not deliver books and have lunch and give you baked goods!”
The zebra that lived in the hut opened the door to get several hoofs to the face. “My friends – oof – how nice to see you’ve – erg – come around, but why is it – gerg – my face you must pound?”
Pinkie immediately stopped and gave a tremendous grin. “Hi-dy ho, Zecora! It’s been so long since we’ve gotten together and had lunch and I’m just soooo super duper happy to see you.”
Zecora rubbed her head and stepped aside to allow her friends to come inside. The cauldron bubbled with a sickly yellow colored soup, and the ponies present (except Pinkie and Applebloom) wondered if it was possible for something so vile looking to smell as good as they thought it did.
“My friends, come in and have some food. Though something Pinkie said has slightly dampened my mood,” Zecora raised a brow at Twilight, who sighed in return.
“I’m sorry, Zecora, I really am. I turned the whole library upside down, but I lost the books you asked for. I don’t know what
could have happened to them.”
Zecora frowned but didn’t seem angry. “Sad as that is I am glad you are here. The forest fills most visitors with fear.”
“Hey, Zecora,” Applebloom murmured as she went up to give Zecora a hug. Zecora returned it with a smile.
“Applebloom, my dearest of friends. I’m so happy you could come and see me again.” She leaned in close to Applebloom’s ear. “I see a sorrow in your slow walk. Give me a moment, and then we can talk.”
Applejack sat down at the small table along with everypony else (except Pinkie), and took her hat off. “Haven’t got the slightest idea what ya got there, but it sure smells nice.”
Zecora opened her mouth to respond, but Pinkie jumped at the chance to stuff a chocolate cupcake into in her mouth. Zecora choked.
“Aren’t they just great Zecora?” Pinkie asked as she bounced up and down. Zecora struggled to swallow the baked good. “I bet they don’t have anything like that where you come from. It’s the bestest, most tastiest thing you can get in a cup, except maybe Gummy’s favorite punch, because that stuff is really good. Ooh, ooh, I know! I could combine them! It would be super extra tasty, then it would be the bestest thing you could get in a cup!”
Applebloom sighed to herself. Reliving the exact same thing over again felt incredibly similar to when her teacher in school made her reread something over again. She really didn’t want to bother sitting through all this.
At some point, Applejack had jumped up and performed the Heimlich maneuver and forced Zecora to hack it up. “Whoa, you okay there, partner?”
Zecora breathed in relief. “Thank you Applejack, that was a bother,” she then blushed and smiled sheepishly. “Might I… trouble you for another?”
Applebloom slumped her head forward and droned out the rest of the conversation. She was scared all over again, but had a few more ideas. She needed to get everypony to leave the hut way earlier than the first time. But, just to be on the safe side, she had another idea.
She was going to ask for help.
“Our meal is nearly ready, we’ll need food ware. Applebloom, could you help me, if you care?”
Applebloom nodded and followed Zecora into another room where bowls of many sizes were stacked in rather disheveled piles. The Zebra turned to the filly and looked worried. “Your eyes betray emotions I wish you didn’t feel. I want to be the one who helps you heal. An open ear and open heart is what I lend. Anything for a dear friend.”
Applebloom took a large breath and heaved out. This was very nerve wracking. “Zecora, Ah need your help and Ah need it bad. Ah’m gonna tell ya somethin’ that Ah really hope you’ll believe…” She gulped. “Tonight, everyone is going to be turned into zombie ponies.”
Zecora guffawed at that. “Zombies? You mean the undead? Are you sure you are right in the head? How do you know this madness will take place? How do you-”
“Stop right there Zecora, don’t lie to mah face.” Applebloom shook her head. That was a strange feeling. “Ah know what’s gonna happen because Ah traveled through time. Ah lived this day already, an’ that time everypony…” Applebloom gulped and shivered. “Nopony but me made it. Yah need tah help me. Ah know you can.”
Zecora’s eyes widened slightly. “How do you know this, how can you expect me to believe? Prove it to me, if it is the truth and not an attempt to deceive.” It seemed like Zecora was begging more than anything else. If she wanted it, she would get it.
“Yah told me about yer cutie mark the other time. About yer friend that was – what was the phrase ya’ll used? – ‘betwixt an’ between life an’ death’. Back in yer home you were taught herbs by a dead zebra, an’ you helped the dead zebra an’ his dead teacher reach the afterlife or whatever. Am Ah right or am Ah right?” Applebloom was shivering. From fear? From frustration? She didn’t know and barely cared. She was running out of time and out of options.
Zecora stepped back, clutching her skull in a hoof. “I have not told that tale in so long. For you to know that… you cannot be wrong. Time travel… monstrous undead… it’s all simply too much for my poor head.”
“Can ya’ll help me Zecora?” Tears threatened to escape her eyes. Yes, she was feeling fear alright. She was getting closer and closer to… those eyes.
Those hungry, hungry eyes.
Zecora bit her lip. “I am not sure what I can do. The evil in this forest, I know it to be true. But my natural power is not enough to fight back. The books Twilight was going to bring would have shown me the right form of attack.”
Applebloom gaped. Zecora needed those books to deal with the undead zombies?
Oh, horse apples.
“Ah… oh… huh…” The tears freely flowed now. Her terror only increased.
Zecora held Applebloom close and soothed her as best she could. “Do not worry, you will be protected. There are some details you have neglected. They only gain power when the sun has set. So long as you leave before all light is gone, with them you will never have met.”
“I’m scared, Zecora.”
“I am too.” Zecora’s eyes glazed with memories. “Just like you.”
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Twilight asked. She glanced at the zebra who had been rather withdrawn practically the whole time they had been there. “It’s not that far of a walk to Ponyville.”
“I would feel better this way,” Zecora said with a smile and nod. “I want to see you home safe while it is still day. No trouble it is for me to go. Besides, I need the exercise, I’ve been feeling slow.”
Twilight shrugged. “If you’re sure,” Twilight turned and began to walk down the non-existent path with all her friends in tow.
Zecora turned to see a grateful Applebloom smiling at her.
Applebloom felt safe now. Zecora would make sure they got home safe. And it was daylight anyway. They couldn’t get them.
Still, there was something odd about the Everfree Forest. Its trees loomed around them as if they wanted to grab and never let go.
No. It was just her nerves. The sun was out. The zombies couldn’t get them now. Nothing would hurt them. That didn’t make the forest seem any less friendly. There was still something odd about the forest, something that made the forest different from any normal time.
Darker.
Quieter…
Nicer smelling?
Oh no.
Twilight suddenly stopped and looked around. “This can’t be right…”
“What is it, Twi… oh my.” Rarity looked at the fallen tree that was in the way of the sole path. It was much too large to climb over, and the trees around them were too dense to make it around.
“Ah can’t believe we didn’t hear that,” Applejack mused.
Zecora glanced at the fallen tree and then at Applebloom. They both shared the same terrified look. Why was this happening so early in the day?
“It must have happened while Pinkie was having her karaoke moment,” Rarity shook her head. “This doesn’t bode well.”
“Hold on, hold on,” Twilight said as her horn began to glow, along with the tree. With a grunt, Twilight used her magic to fling the tree into the air to who knew where. A large crash could be heard off in the distance. “Whoo… that wasn’t (wheeze) so bad…”
Sweetie Belle poked Twilight’s leg. “Um, Twilight,” she pointed ahead, and everyone groaned. A stack up of about five trees, just as large as the first, was in their way.
“Now ain’t that jus’ the dardest thing…” Applejack thought aloud. “That doesn’t seem natural.”
Pinkie Pie gasped loudly and pulled a flashlight out of her pack and held it in her mouth. “The ghosties are trying to get us!” she yelled in a muffled tone.
Twilight sighed in aggravation. “Of course. Ghosts,” Twilight turned to Pinkie and shielded her eyes from the light with a hoof. “There aren’t any ghosts here.”
“Well, duh, of course there aren’t any here or else I would laugh at them.”
Rarity placed a hoof of Twilight’s shoulders, seeing her eye twitch. “It’s best not to argue with her logic. Your head will explode.”
No, no, no, no. It was all happening again. But how? It was daylight…
“We need to get around fast,” Zecora said as she looked around, more to herself than anypony else. “Soon we shall face shadows of the past.”
Applebloom didn’t know what to do. That pleasant smell got stronger…
There she was, right on queue. Maybe if Applebloom ignored her, nopony else would notice her and they’d just keep arguing.
“Applejack, ramming it is not going to help.”
“Erg, just hold on, Twi’, iffin’ you can move it with magic, Ah can move it with mah strength.”
“Darling, I don’t think that’s what they mean by ‘use your head.’”
“Hey, everypony!” Sweetie Belle called out, getting Pinkie’s and Zecora’s attention at the least. Why, Sweetie, why? “I think I see Ditzy over there.” At the sound of a familiar name, the others perked up and turned their heads.
“That’s not Ditzy,” Pinkie declared around her light. “I know every pony in Ponyville, and unless Ditzy got younger then that is not her. Ooh, maybe she got younger and we’ll get to throw her birthday parties all over again! That would be supper to have, like, two of every birthday party you ever-”
“That isn’t our mailmare…” Rarity agreed, though with much fewer words. “That’s just a young filly.”
“Just a young filly in the middle of the Everfree forest,” Twilight interjected.
The gray filly glanced their way, then immediately hastened away into a small opening in the trees.
“Wait!” Twilight called and began running after her. Applebloom held her head as everything began to swim. She couldn’t stop it no matter how hard she tried. She began to wish that everything would just hurry along, that she could just get to the end of the nightmare all the faster…
Tick-Tock-Tick-Tock
“Since you’re here, please enjoy and help yourselves to food and drinks. There’s enough party for everypony,” Grey Hoof looked over at Pinkie Pie bouncing around wildly, blowing on a party whistle. “Looks like somepony’s already grabbing some.”
Applebloom blinked and quickly looked around. What the… how did she get here? How did they all get here?
“Something ain’t right here,” Applejack murmured to Twilight, though Applebloom and Zecora heard. “Ah can’t quite put mah hoof on it, but Ah think there’s somethin’ wrong with these ponies. I don’t know what jus’ yet…”
This happened last time, but there was a piece missing. What happened to the part where they ran here after that filly? Did anypony else notice? It didn’t seem that way. Was Applebloom the only one affected by… whatever it was that just happened? She felt that the watch around her neck had become hot. Did that have something to do with it?
“Agree with Applejack I must. There is something wrong, this place I don’t trust.”
Twilight glanced around, noticing that Rarity and Sweetie Belle had began conversing with the Ponies of Sunny Town. “It’s strange that there’s a town here that no one’s ever heard of, but they seem nice. Let’s mingle, make some friends, and ask for directions to Ponyville. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get a friendship report out of this,” Twilight stepped over to a mare looking dreamily in a rather vague direction.
Applebloom glanced around, noticing the position of the sun. It was way higher in the sky than last time. If that was the case, and all this was still happening as before, than time was a lot trickier than Applebloom first imagined.
“Applejack,” Zecora said, “I’m sure you can feel it, a bad omen hangs over this town. We must leave before it becomes sundown.”
Applejack sighed, contemplation in her features. “Ah’d like tah agree with ya, Zecora. But ya know yer supposed tah be respectable tah all ponies, even if they ain’t exactly respectable back. Remember what happened with ya when Ah was too lunkheaded tah try an’ meet you face tah face?”
Of all the times to remember Twilight’s friendship lessons, it had to be now.
Zecora chewed her lip, not sure how to respond.
“Let’s find that filly,” Applebloom said with newfound determination.
“’Zactly what Ah was thinkin’,” Applejack agreed before turning around to walk further into town.
Zecora leaned her head down close to Applebloom. “What are you doing, young filly? This suggestion you made seems quite silly.”
“That grey filly knows something,” Applebloom hissed back. “We need to find her.”
They began to follow Applejack, the two of them wary of the bright and sunny world around them.
Applebloom’s thoughts drifted to the missing chunk of time. What had happened? Why had she skipped ahead? Why was that piece of her memory missing?
… Wait. It wasn’t missing. Applebloom did remember running after the filly. She specifically remembered Grey Hoof giving Zecora a very unfriendly look. But then why did it feel like she wasn’t actually there? Bah, this was so confusing. No time to waste thinking about it. Applebloom was back in the cursed town. If she wanted to stop this, she’d have to take the fight to them. Somehow.
“Ya’ll can smell it, right? Ah don’t know how, but you can smell the curse.”
Zecora nodded. “Yes, I could smell if from afar. A scent like that of a spiritual scar. But this one is deeper than any I’ve seen before. Something besides evil has happened here, something more,” Zecora took a few gentle whiffs. “Indeed, that filly is the source of it all. I’m surprised this power can be in one so small. The others will not believe in what the eye cannot see. Stopping this will be up to you and me.”
Applebloom followed Zecora and Applejack, warily looking around at the friendly earth ponies that surrounded them. They were all in the exact same places in the exact same positions doing the exact same things. Why would that be if they were here early?
There was that pony that had lost his gift for his fillyfriend. Applebloom had to consciously tell herself not to help him. She had wasted quite a bit of time when she looked for that ruby before.
Applebloom stopped. Ruby? Wasn’t that what that filly called herself? Was this a coincidence?
“Hey, Applejack, Zecora. Ah need ya tah come with me fer a second.”
“You go on with Zecora,” Applejack said with a small wave. “Ah got some investigatin’ to do.
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
“My ruby!” the stallion shouted, grabbing the stone. “Oh, thank you so much!”
“Wasn’t a problem at all, sir,” Applebloom said just a little too kindly. The stallion got up to leave. “Hold on there a moment,” Applebloom said, stepping in front him. “Speaking of rubies, Ah heard there’s a filly around here called Ruby. Do ya know anythin’ about her?”
“Ruby? Yeah, I know her. Sweet kid, but a bit of an oddball. She and her mom live on the edge of town. She’d probably get along perfectly with you,” he pointed a hoof at Zecora, earning a slightly miffed glare. “See you all later then.”
Zecora huffed a bit. “Well, a little rude, but the point was understood. To understand more, find that home we should.”
“That’s where it started,” Applebloom said with more force than she meant to. “Everythin’ was normal until Ah looked in there. Maybe if we don’t go in, nothing will happen.”
Zecora shook her head. “That isn’t how this magic works. Your plan won’t do, I know it irks. We must gather more knowledge before the light is gone. We must discover what, in this town, went wrong. You see how they act so normal, unaware of what they hide. They have no idea what has befallen them, that a curse even here could reside.”
Applebloom gulped. She didn’t want to go back there. But she trusted Zecora. She needed to. “Ahright. Follow me.”
The town looked so festive. Applebloom almost didn’t believe that the first time happened. However, the watch she wore, Zecora’s troubling words, and the fact that everypony around them was a blank flank was evidence that there was something malicious going on. The resident ponies gave Zecora unfriendly looks and shied away from her. All the better; they didn’t need anypony getting in their way.
“The darkness grows,” Zecora murmured as they stepped into the poorly illuminated grove. “Of our presence, I am sure it knows.”
“Zecora… in that story ya told me-from the time before-you said that yer friend did in his teacher. Is that what always happens?”
Zecora seemed lost for a moment. Talking about her secret when she never even revealed it (as far as she knew) was disorienting. “The usual cause in an unjust crime. I’m sorry… it’s hard to believe you traveled through time. What did you see the first time through? And how is it that the one to do it again was you?”
“It’s all happenin’ the same way, ‘cept you didn’t come with us, an’ we got here way later,” she decided not to mention that she was the one who hid the books. “Everythin’s almost word for word ‘less Ah do somethin’ different. Ah even found that ruby, only this time I knew right where it was.”
“Was Sweetie Belle already at the house before you? Because she seems to be here too.”
Apple turned her head to see Sweetie Belle operating a crank for a well that was next to the dark house. She lifted a bucket out and used her teeth to pull out a key.
“Sweetie!” Applebloom cried out as she ran up to her friend. “What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you guys,” Sweetie Belle replied after putting the key in her hoof. “I couldn’t find anypony after Rarity walked off somewhere. That filly we saw before told me they were in this house, but the door was locked so I had to go find the stupid crank in that dumb warehouse to get the dumber key out of this well. And, well, here I am.”
Applebloom furrowed her brow in confusion. She didn’t have to bother with that last time. Last time, though, she had been preoccupied with other things. Had Sweetie Belle already walked in by the time Applebloom came around?
It didn’t matter. The past (or lack thereof) wasn’t important. What mattered was here and now. “Come on then. Let’s see what’s inside?”
With a click the door opened, showing the dark and nearly empty room. Zecora took in a large whiff of the air. “The source is close and near. Both of you remain calm and have no fear. For once fear enters your heart, the real nightmare will start.”
Sweetie Belle looked confused and shivered. “What the heck are you talking about? It’s just an empty cabin,” she stepped closer to the fire. “There isn’t even anything here. Just a fire… a…” Sweetie’s eyes widened as she gazed into the fire.
Zecora’s eyes did as well. “Oh my… tamu mungu...”
The room suddenly became dark. How could this be happening? It was still hours until-
Applebloom’s watch vibrated. She felt it, wondering what was happening. She opened it and gasped. The hands were moving much faster than they were supposed to. They jerked to a stop at 11:30 P.M.
Well past when the sun went down.
Sweetie Belle shrieked and ran away, crashing into the wall before finding the door.
“Stop!” Zecora called out. “We must stay together! If you go out there you’ll be trapped forever!”
“No…”
Applebloom’s heart was beating slow, but hard. It hurt her ears. She felt like her chest was going to explode. It was happening all over again.
“No, no, no, No, NO, NO, NOOOO!” Applebloom screamed, tears running from her eyes. She flailed about, utterly lost. What now? What could she do anymore? She had failed, failed her friends, and failed her sister.
Zecora grabbed Applebloom in a tight embrace, allowing Applebloom to cry as hard as she needed. “Yes, my child, let loose the tears. I understand all of your fears.”
She cried and cried and cried some more. “Ah failed everypony Zecora! Ah knew what was gonna happen and Ah couldn’t stop it! Everypony’s gonna… gonna…” She cried out again.
Zecora rubbed the filly’s head, wishing against all hope that she could do something. “Applebloom, I do not blame for crying. But you must get up and keep on trying. It is too late to help our friends, alas. But maybe if you did it once, you can again return to the past. Tell me how you did this feat. If you can try once more, than we are not beat.”
Applebloom sniffed and tried to stop her sobbing. She held the watch up and stared intently at the three in the face. “The
Pony of Time helped me before. Maybe Ah can get him to do it again. Ah met him outside town in the forest.”
“Then beg for his help we shall. Come, in this town we should not dwell.”
“Light,” Applebloom said as she pulled away. “They can’t stand light. Ah got some candles with me we can use.”
Zecora nodded and she helped Applebloom light some candles. The two made their way through the darkened woods with light in hoof.
“How did they do this, Zecora?” Applebloom asked. “How could they send us forward in time like this?”
Zecora raised a brow at this. “How do you know they sent us past dusk? Surely you can’t smell the horrible musk.”
“This watch keeps perfect time… Ah think. It showed me that we went forward.”
Zecora nodded. “Very well, you are right about our movement, but not about ‘they’. Only one sent us forward, she moved us through the day.”
Applebloom gulped, fear tightening her chest. “Only her? She’s the one makin’ the undead ponies?”
“There is much more to it than that, much more. As you know, a curse like this requires hatred and unjust at its core. The filly is the source, but not behind all you have seen. Oh my soul… such catastrophe… what could this mean?”
They reached the town, and Applebloom began to hyperventilate. It wasn’t any less terrifying the second time. Everything was again dead and ruined. Even the trees that enclosed the town were rotting away.
Zecora gave Applebloom an encouraging nuzzle and they began to walk.
THERE WAS NO OTHER WAY
“Be silent, Applebloom, less you’ll face certain doom.”
SHE WOULD HAVE SPOILED THE PARTY
Applebloom wobbled. The evil in that voice…
“Who would have spoiled it?” Zecora asked as their walk became a trot. “What do you speak of, wondering spirit?”
There was no reply from the darkness. Zecora sniffed. “Idle thoughts. Lingering hate. What could have put them in this state?”
Applebloom tried her best to wrangle her nerves in. It was taking everything she had not to run away and leave Zecora there.
Then one of them rose. It rose out of the ground. A horrifying mass of-
Sweet mercy.
-rotting flesh and disjointed bones that came together to form a vague pony shape.
But it wasn’t pony. Not anymore.
Oh… Applebloom could smell it. She immediately puked.
SHE GOT THE MARK. SHE HAD BEEN CURSED.
IT HAD BEFALLEN HER THIS VERY NIGHT. SHE HAD TO GO.
Zecora seemed much less shaken by the creature. “What mark? Who had to go? Tell me so that I can know.”
It hissed and backed away from them, hurt by the light.
“Let’s jus’ go,” Applebloom moaned, her throat burning. “They won’t talk to ya.”
Begrudgingly, Zecora conceded and they continued through the town. The same one as before – the one with the beating organs – rose up to glare at them.
PLEASE... STAY WITH US. WE WON'T LET THE SAME THING HAPPEN TO YOU. YOU'LL BE SAFE... LIKE YOUR FRIENDS.
Another came out, except it walked out from behind a crumbled well. Applebloom felt the urge to cry again.
IT'LL BE FINE. WE'LL BE SAFE NOW. COME HERE...
They stayed in place, unable to come closer to the light.
LET ME TOUCH YOU.
“Twilight Sparkle, for you my heart is sore. Come, child, we mustn’t linger anymore.”
They continued at a slow pace. More and more arose from the ground but would not move too close to their light.
And then the unthinkable happened. One that was mostly a solid piece ran forward and rammed into Zecora, knocking the candle to the ground. It stamped it out.
“Zecora!” Applebloom yelled.
“Yaaaarrr!” Pinkie Pie screamed, jumping in between Zecora and the thing as she waved her flashlight around like the maniac she was. “You want her!? You’ll have to go through me!”
“Pinkie!” Applebloom shouted, a spurt of relief washing over her. The things hissed in fury as the beam from the light hit them. What was left of their skin sizzled and burned.
“Get away from them!” Applejack shouted, running into the things and bucking them into pieces.
Applebloom wondered why Applejack hadn’t brought that helmet that could hold candles. And then she remembered… She never told her she was bringing them!
Applejack fell to the ground, too weak to fight any longer. “Zecora… they didn’t bite ya, did they?”
Zecora, who had recovered from being struck down, answered back, “No, I was not bitten. Looking at you, I can tell you are stricken.”
“Get mah sister out of here…” Applejack said, hiding her eyes with her hat. “Get her away. Don’t let her see me become one ‘a them.”
Zecora looked at the amassing things, then at the candle that had been stomped on. That feeble light would not be enough to protect them. She had only one choice. “Applejack… I will give my life to protect your kin. Applebloom, you are our only hope, the one who can still win. Remember the past, Applebloom, the past is the key. Now, goodbye, Applebloom, once I am done, you must flee.”
“Done with what?” Applebloom cried out, tears once more falling from her.
Zecora closed her eyes and immediately snapped them back open. They had become yellow lights that pierced the darkness. “Mimi kutoa maisha yangu kulinda rafiki yangu. Mwanga kwa kutuma giza mbali. Nguvu kama jua na upendo wangu,” Zecora’s whole body became engulfed in light, and Applebloom had to shield her eyes from the sun like glow. An amass of hissing filled the town. When it stopped, Applebloom opened her eyes to find the land lit up.
Everything was gone. The things. Pinkie Pie. Zecora. Applejack… all gone. Above her an orb of light shone down making the town look as though it was in the daylight.
“You cheated.” Applebloom gasped and turned around. Ruby was there, eyes hidden by her golden mane.
“You!” Applebloom shrieked, running at Ruby with murderous intent. She lunged at her and passed right through.
“That’s not fair. You get to try again. I didn’t get to try again….”
“What the hay are you ranting about!?” Applebloom shrieked. “Mah friends are gone and it’s all your fault!”
Ruby slowly turned to Applebloom and pushed her mane away. Her eyes weren’t what Applebloom expected in the slightest.
They were yellow and softly glowed, even in the mock sunshine. “Everything is my fault, isn’t it? Everything… even mommy dying.”
Applebloom was taken aback at this. Ruby sounded so sad. Monsters weren’t supposed to be sad.
“Go ahead and leave. Go try again. In the end, you won’t win. Helping ponies is useless. They’ll just hurt you. Even if you save them, you’ll be all alone like you are now,” Ruby began to fade away.
“Wait!” Applebloom yelled, but it didn’t do any good. The spirit disappeared into oblivion. The watch Applebloom wore gave a small chime and she opened it up.
Midnight. The day was officially over. That had to have been significant, but Applebloom was too dead inside to notice.
But she still had hope. It wasn’t over yet.
-tick-tock-tick-tock-
Applebloom sat in the darkness, her tears run out. She listened patiently, praying just as hard as she had the first time.
Help… please… help me once more.
It all happened again. The air froze. The wind stopped. Noise vanished without a trace. The darkness began to creep in.
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
Applebloom released a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. As terrifying as the night had been, nothing scared her more than the thought of Time Dancer not returning.
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
The mechanical Alicorn stepped out from the darkness, appearing the same as he did before, still as intimidating and cold.
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
It stopped in front of her. And sat down with a heavy ‘thud’.
Applebloom gulped. “Hello,” she rasped out of her sore throat. What she wouldn’t give for some water. “Do you remember me, Time Dancer?”
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
Up, down, up, down. A nod.
“Ah messed up. Ah couldn’t do anything. Please, Time dancer, give me another chance. Ah know Ah can save mah friends.”
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
Up, down, up, down. Another nod. The watch around Applebloom’s neck flashed briefly. She held it up and gasped at the face.
In place of the large three, there was now a two.
She only had two more chances.
“Two? That’s all Ah get?” She panicked at this knowledge. Sure, she was thankful to get even the one chance. But to know for sure there was a limit? It was torture.
Time Dancer raised its hooves-
Tick…
Tock…
-Over the tarnished tribal drum. Applebloom waved her hooves frantically.
“Wait, wait! I need to know more! I have more tah ask ya!”
And then it played. A steady beat.
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Applebloom’s head began to ache. This sound was incomprehensible.
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
Everything began to swirl and blur into gray. The watch became hot and burned her. The pull of being sent to the past engulfed her being.
Tock…
Tick…
Tock…
Tick…
And then Applebloom woke up.
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Thunderclaw
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1040
| 1 |
Main 6,Spike,Alternate Universe,Human,Adventure,Dark,Sad,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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My Little Viking: Kinship is Seid
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When ponies are vikings, friendship involves blood, death and honour.
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incomplete
| 67 | 0 |
<p>What if My Little Pony took place in a world where laughing at your fears wasn't enough to make them go away? Where friendship that isn't sealed in blood won't get you through the winter? Where your only shot at paradise is death in glorious combat?</p><p>And what if, in such a world, it doesn't take an evening to depose Nightmare moon? If night lasts not hours, but weeks, months, years. If a noble quest to save the land turns into an obsessive hunt for vengeance as the cold and the beasts slowly bring down everybody you ever cared about, if every time you take a step forward, another heart that loved you stops beating?</p><p>Gather round, sons and daughters of Heimdall. I am about to tell you "What if?"</p><p>Cover art by Malrai (<a href="http://malrai.deviantart.com/" rel="nofollow">http://malrai.deviantart.com/</a>).</p>
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teen
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2011-10-27T23:26:04+00:00
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2011-10-27T23:26:04+00:00
| 4,764 |
It was late, but Twilight Sparkle couldn't sleep. She felt uneasy being here at night, with only the moon and the stars for company. She had always been at peace with the world and all things in it, but since she had found the stone, she couldn't relax under the bare night sky.
She passed the torch over the runes once more, reading the text along the twisting horse's body for what felt like the thousandth time.
It told the story of a battle between two great beings, one who represented the day, and one who represented the night. Whether they were gods, giants, men or some other manner of creature altogether, the story did not tell, but it called them by Sky-Queen and Night-Mare, and it referred to them as sisters. It told how the two ruled peacefully for aeons, until the Night-Mare grew resentful that their subjects preferred the day and struck out at her sister, forcing the Sky-Queen to imprison her in the heavens.
Twilight read it all, again and again. She already knew it by heart, but every time she went over it, it felt like she came just a tiny bit closer to rooting out that strange feeling of uneasiness, to finding the missing piece of the puzzle she knew was there.
It was just a feeling, but it tore at her like Fenris at his chains. She could almost hear the threads of fate tensing and twisting; something was about to happen, and it had something to do with this runestone.
She sighed deeply, rubbing her eyes. She should have been preparing for midsummer's eve, but the sensation of dread had settled deep within her, and she couldn't help but poke at it.
She read it again one last time before reluctantly turning away. As she did, something flickered in the back of her head, half memory, half luminous idea, and she threw herself back at the stone, searching frantically for what she thought she'd seen.
She found it by the head of one of the horses that framed the runes; a simple glyph, five points arranged in a circle around a sixth, lines drawn between all of them. She recognized it, and she thought she knew from where.
Twilight slammed the hut's door so violently that Spike flew out of his bedding, flailing about in a panic. She didn't even notice, instead going straight for the pile of books on one of the higher shelves.
Spike blinked. He silently reminded himself that the world wasn't ending and that he'd simply been woken up at an inopportune time, but he couldn't quite get himself to believe it. He looked around, just to make sure he could, and was relieved to find that he wasn't being crushed under the rubble of the collapsing universe at all. He stretched, rolled over and was about to go back to sleep when he saw Twilight digging through her books.
"Twilight? Did you stay awake all night again?"
"Yes, Spike, and I think I've finally figured it out."
The drake sauntered over, blinking the sleepiness out of his eyes. He rose on his hind legs, as was his habit, and peered over Twilight's shoulder.
"What is it?" he asked.
Twilight pointed to an illustration in the book. It showed a set of six gems, five set around the outer edges of a circle, with the sixth set in the middle.
"These are the Elements of Harmony. They were used to imprison the Night-Mare, the one the runestone talks about, in the moon. There was a symbol representing them on it, and... oh my."
"What? What's the matter?"
"… she'll be set free on the midsummer of the thousandth year of her imprisonment."
Spike squirmed.
"Twilight, how old did you say that runestone was, again?"
Twilight glared at the book as if daring it to upset her further.
"About a thousand years, give or take."
"Do you think..?"
"I'm afraid so. Queen Celestia must be informed at once."
She didn't slam the drawers when she fetched her writing utensils, but Spike would have preferred if she did. At least then he would have had an excuse to be startled at her intensity.
She wrote with speed and force, turning her otherwise beautiful handwriting into a mess of crooked curves and blotching, sealed the parchment hastily and held it out towards her familiar.
"Spike, if you would."
Spike concentrated for a second, and when he felt the fire that burned within him settle down, becoming almost cold, he breathed it out, letting it consume the parchment. The smoke drifted out the open door, heedless of the winds.
Twilight sat down on the floor, keeping Spike pinned under her oppressive gaze, waiting for the reply. After what seemed like an eternity, Spike finally felt his belly going cold and his throat tickle, and he opened his mouth to let the icy fire out. It swirled and twisted, taking the shape of a roll of parchment bearing the royal seal. Twilight snatched it out of the air as soon as it materialized.
As she read, her face contorted into a grimace of disbelief.
"She... she says I should leave that old runestone well enough alone and come help with the festivities. She... she blew me off, Spike. Just like that. She even says I 'need to make some friends'."
"What are you gonna do, Twilight?"
"I guess I have to do what she says. She taught me everything I know. Her powers are so much greater than mine, I... I guess if she thinks nothing is wrong, then nothing's wrong."
Twilight was still wearing that dazed, disbelieving look. This wasn't like Celestia. Even when her worries had been small and insignificant, Celestia had been patient and understanding, and now, when it felt like the fate of the world was at stake, she hadn't even bothered to assuage her student, just told her to knock it off.
"Let's get some sleep, Spike. We leave first thing in the morning."
'First thing in the morning' didn't even begin to describe how early it was. The sun hadn't begun its climb over the horizon. Even the songbirds weren't crazy enough to get up yet. Twilight, however, was.
She was standing in the middle of the hut, clutching her wand. She went through her mental checklist, making sure everything was there. Knife, clothes, coins, snacks, wand...
She tightened her grip on the wand, making absolutely sure it was in her hands. Yep, wand.
Wand, writing utensils, charms for the maypole...
Her eyes drifted towards a small chest in a corner, and then back towards Queen Celestia's letter. She sighed, went over to the chest and opened it.
It contained only two things; a suit of chainmail, and a ceremonial helm decorated with ram's horns and the six-pointed star that was Twilight's coat of arms. They were both gifts from Queen Celestia, and Twilight had thought them very odd gifts at the time. Now she was glad she had them, even though it was with a certain sense of shame she put them in the saddlebags. Queen Celestia didn't think anything was going to happen. Packing armour seemed like a breach of trust. Still, it made Twilight feel a little better to have them along, so along they came. So did the book. Prophecy or no prophecy, she would definitely be wanting to read more of it.
She checked the bags one more time, carefully put her wand down in one of them and went over to Spike's cot.
"Spiiiike, Spiiike, it's time to wake up, Spike," she cooed, nudging him gently.
"Wha-, whu-, Twilight?"
"It's time to go, Spike."
"Just five more min-"
"No!"
Spike looked at Twilight with apprehension, not quite believing the way she'd said that. When she saw how he looked at her, Twilight hung her head.
"I'm sorry, Spike. I didn't mean to be short with you, but I'm awfully worked up about all this Night-Mare business, and I'd really like to get going as soon as possible. Please."
Spike was about to protest, but when he saw the look in Twilight's eyes, he rolled out of bed without a word and walked out the door. When she came out after him, she was carrying a saddle.
"No way! Come on, Twilight, you can't be serious!"
"I am serious, Spike. It is imperative that we get to Ponyville as soon as possible. You're gonna have to fly me there."
"Ugh, fine. As long as I don't have to..." Spike trailed off when he spotted the well-filled saddlebags through the open door. "I'm gonna have to carry your luggage too, aren't I?"
"Oh, Spike. You're a big and strong dragon. Surely a little luggage isn't too much for you to handle?"
Spike turned his head and snorted.
"Of course not!"
Twilight smiled.
They touched down in a lush grove just outside of Ponyville. Spike was breathing heavily, little tendrils of smoke escaping through his nose with every breath. Twilight slid off him gracefully. As she touched the ground, she felt her entire body relax. Flying was certainly a fast way to travel, but those last few miles had been a little wobbly. Still, she gave Spike a reassuring pat.
"Well done! I think we made record time, there."
Spike smiled weakly.
"Now, Spike, this is a rural village. They live a simple life here. Wandering into town with a dragon is going to be enough to put them on edge, so try to stay calm, okay? And, please, no talking unless I say so."
"Not. A. Problem," Spike wheezed.
Twilight patted him again and set off towards the village.
"Come on, Spike! Let's go!"
When Twilight stepped through the town gates, the whole village was completely silent. It had clearly been very lively up until just recently, but now everything had stopped. Everybody seemed completely transfixed by the new arrival and, perhaps more poignantly, her pet. Twilight scanned the crowd.
"Aren't you people supposed to be preparing for Midsummer's Eve?"
The crowd exchanged glances, and there was some muttered consent.
"Well, what are you standing around here for? You don't have all day! Get going! Shoo!"
Like panickjed birds, the entire crowd dispersed at once. Almost the entire crowd, at any rate. One member of it remained, staring intently at Twilight. It was an odd creature. She was around Twilight's age, with poofy pink hair that stood out of her head like there was a sheep growing out of it. All the cloth on her body was a garish pink, a colour Twilight Sparkle couldn't rightly recall even being possible to manufacture, and it was decorated by polished blue and yellow stones.
With a speed that took Twilight Sparkle aback, she walked up to the Völva and leaned into her until their noses were practically touching, sporting a massive frown and stroking her chin contemplatively.
"Uh, can I-"
"IIIIIIIIIIIIIIH!"
Twilight threw herself backwards at the pink stranger's cry, losing her balance and hitting the ground. She just barely managed to spot the mysterious creature disappear around the corner of a nearby house before she was gone.
She sat there on the ground, eyes wide, mouth gaping. Spike offered no support – he was, in fact, making the exact same face.
"What... what the fuck just happened?"
Spike shook his head slowly.
Twilight got to her feet, still in a daze, and shook her own head rather more briskly.
"Just some, some crazy woman. Yeah, okay. Okay. We have a job to do. Come on, Spike. We gotta go check on the preparations for the feast. The House of Apple make their living over this way."
Twilight knew the House of Apple was a wealthy family, but she was taken aback at how positively huge their homestead was. She could see it long before she got clear of the trees, and hear the hustle and bustle earlier still.
As soon as she got clear of the trees, however, the noise ground to a halt, just like when she entered the town. Twilight was used to being stared at, but it was barely going on midday, and she was already beginning to grow weary of that reaction.
She stepped through the palisade gates, and took a breath to repeat her routine from the town square, but choked on it entirely when someone – a very loud someone – seized her hand, shook it violently and bellowed:
"Howdy, partner!"
"H-h-h-h-h-hi! I'm, I'm," Twilight tore her hand from the friendly stranger's grasp, and gave her an enormous smile, hoping it would make up for the insult. "I'm Twilight Sparkle! I've been sent her by-"
"Queen Celestia! Ta make sure everything's prim and proper according to the rites and rituals and whatnot. We were expectin' ya as early as last week, but better late than never, am ah right?"
Twilight smiled again, and this time, it was almost genuine. As overbearing as this new acquaintance was, it was a welcome break from being stared and screamed at.
"That's right! And you are..?"
"Ah'm Applejack! Heiress to this here fine homestead. And this," Applejack gestured towards the assembled masses. "Is House Apple. Don't be shy now, everybody! They don't bite."
Applejack gave Spike a quick look-over then leaned in over Twilight.
"Ye don't, do ye?" she whispered.
Twilight giggled.
"No, we're entirely harmless."
Seeing that Applejack had apparently not been devoured whole by the newcomer, the rest of the Apples were edging closer. They were still staring, but their fear was giving way to curiosity.
“Now, this here's my big brother, Big Macintosh, that's mah baby sister, Apple Bloom, that's Granny Smith,” she said, pointing in turn to a hulking mountain of a man, a ridiculously cute pile of red hair and freckles, and what looked like Odin's grandmother. “And this here's the extended family, Apple Fritter, Apple Bumpkin, Red Gala, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious...”
Twilight zoned out entirely as Applejack continued to list every farmer who had so much as gotten close to an apple tree since trees were invented.
“Aaaand ah do believe that's everyone. Everyone, this here's Twilight Sparkle. She's here to make sure the celebrations are a pleasure to man and god both, so everybody give her a warm welcome, ye hear?”
A muddled bunch of indistinct, mostly-sincere greetings rolled out of the crowd, drowning Twilight in a wave of generic pleasantries. Applejack gave her a hearty pat on the back.
“See, they like ya already! Ah'm sure you'll be having a grand ol' time here in Ponyville. Now, what can I do ya for?”
“I understand you're supplying the food for the feast..?”
“We sure are! We picked out our finest, fattest pigs for tonight! You wanna see 'em?”
“I suppose I should.”
“Great! If ye'll just follow me, then.”
Applejack grabbed Twilight and darted off towards one of the many buildings scattered over the homestead grounds. She had to break into a light run to keep up with her. When she got through the door, she was greeted by an odour that immediately confirmed that this was indeed the pigsty.
“Here they are!” Applejack gestured triumphantly towards a pen holding ten preposterously muscular pigs. Twilight's eyes widened, and a pleased smirk took up residence on Applejack's face.
“That's a whole lot of pig, Applejack.”
“Well, there's gonna be a whole lotta' feastin, and nothin' but the best comes outta Sweet Apple Acres.”
Twilight turned towards the confident rancher and got a good look at her for the first time, standing there with the dim light in a pigsty reflected in her light hair, arms crossed, chest puffed out. She was tall for a girl, tanned and dirty from so much time in the field. Her clothes, too, were worn and filthy, no doubt for the same reason. Her hands were rough and callused, but unlike her brother, she didn't look like much of a workhorse. Then again, farmers often didn't. Indeed, when her new acquaintance had grabbed hold of her, Twilight had felt that ridiculous, deceptive strength that comes with a lifetime of hard work.
“Why are you looking at me like that for, sugar?”
“Oh, no reason. You just... remind me of someone.”
It was true. Applejack did remind Twilight of someone. Twilight had spent a lot of time practising the arts of magic – seid, spa and galdr. Sometimes, she would spin the threads of fate to suit her will, but more often she would just feel them, follow their criss-cross pattern as they separated and intertwined, and, sometimes, she would happen upon the threads of the gods, and she would glimpse the divine.
Applejack reminded her of one of those instances. The music the thread of her fate made is it crossed Twilight's own reminded her very much of one she had heard before. Perhaps one of the gods had sired her line many ages ago – but which one? Perhaps she was a descendant of Idun. Certainly, the radiant hair and the ages-old tradition of tending to the apple orchard were telling similarities. Then again, it could just as well have been Sif, with her love of agriculture, or, perhaps likeliest of all, Frey or Freya. Goodness knew those two had their share of descendants.
“Someone should be around any minute to pick these beauties up. Do ye wanna take a look at the rest of the preparations we got going on?”
“Uh, yeah, I guess I have the time.”
As it turned out, Twilight was being a bit overconfident. Applejack wanted to show her not only the piles of vegetables, the furiously busy kitchens, the massive stocks of apples, apple cider, apple vinegar, apple sauce, and various other apple derivatives, the mead and the dried meats, but also the chicken coop, the farmlands and the apple orchards (which she spent a good half-hour bragging about). When Twilight Sparkle finally tried to excuse herself, Applejack jumped at her with offers of food. Having not dined since early that morning, she could only accept.
She had to work her way through a vast array of bread, dried meats and a hundred kinds of apple products before the stout farmers finally believed her hunger was sated. It was with a heavy belly and accompanying slow mind that she eventually left Sweet Apple Acres.
Twilight looked at the next item on her list, and she groaned desperately when she saw that it, too, involved food. Game, specifically. Twilight found herself wondering how many would actually attend the celebration. What amount of people would it take to consume that much food?
And what amount of people would it take to procure that much food? Twilight kept checking the list to make sure the numbers were right. It called for a deer or two, which was fine, but then it called for over fifty fowls of varying species, and the hunting team was apparently not larger than a few men. Why had they even made these specific demands, apparently before the hunting party had even gone out? As far as Twilight could tell, they hadn't even left until earlier that morning. How much faith could you put into their luck?
The answer was, apparently, a lot. And justified at that, because outside the slaughter-house hung a great mass of birds. Every request was accounted for, and then some. But they were all unplucked, just dangling gently in the wind, almost as if performing some poor rendering of a slow dance. On top of it, no-one seemed to be around to take care of them.
No-one, except for a wiry, young girl in hunter's garb taking a nap on the slanting roof of the slaughterhouse. Twilight looked to her list, and then to the sleeping girl's shoulder-length, multi-coloured hair and made the educated guess that she'd found the responsible party.
“Rainbow Dash?” she called gently. No answer other than soft snoring. “Rainbow Dash!”
The girl snorted, blurted something entirely incomprehensible, and promptly rolled off the roof. It could have been a bad fall, but Rainbow Dash grabbed the roof, straightened herself out and managed to land on her feet. She even stayed on them for a brief moment before her awkward position got the better of her and she fell on her ass.
She sat there for a while, looking dejected.
“Almost had it that time. Ow.”
The Völva cocked her head at an angle, folded her arms and gave Rainbow Dash an incredulous look.
“That time?”
“Uh, yeah! As opposed to, you know, every other time, when I totally nailed it.”
Twilight Sparkle was not impressed.
“So you fall of roofs in your sleep a lot, then?”
Rainbow Dash crunched up a little. She looked like she was in pain.
“You have no idea.”
Twilight groaned and stroked her forehead.
“Look, you're Rainbow Dash, right?”
At that, the rainbow-haired girl rocketed to her feet, put her hands at her hips, puffed out her chest and pointed her nose to the sky.
“The one and only!” She took her face out of the heavens, and turned it to the stranger instead. “Why you looking for me, though? I mean, I know I'm great and everything, but you've clearly been travelling. Did you come all this way just to see me?”
Twilight didn't think Rainbow Dash really believed that, but there was nevertheless a glimmer of hope in those big, rosy eyes of hers.
“Well, in a manner of speaking. My name is Twilight Sparkle, I'm here to check on the preparations for the midsummer's feast. I understand you're in charge of the hunting team?”
Rainbow Dash puffed herself up even further.
“I sure am!”
“Well then, could you please tell why all these birds still aren't prepared?”
Twilight waved towards the lines of hanging fowl.
“Oh, that. Don't worry, I got it covered. I'll get right on it. I've been out all day, so I just took a nap before I got 'round to it, that's all.”
“You're going to take care of this? By yourself? Before the feast?”
“Hey! I can skin one of these bad boys in ten. Seconds. Flat.”
“Really?”
“Yeah!” Dash exclaimed, grabbing a goose of particularly intimidating size from the rack, and and axe to go with it. “Just watch!”
There were a few decisive whacks from the axe and a multitude of wet cracking noises, and no more than ten seconds later, Dash was standing there with all the most relevant goose parts in her hands and a stupid grin on her face. Twilight just gaped.
“How, how did, I saw... That was impressive.”
“Don't I know it!”
Rainbow struck another pose, and as she did, her hair fell into her face. She blew at it, trying to part the bangs, but failed miserably.
“Isn't that annoying?”
Dash brought up her hands to fix it, but stopped and snorted indignantly when she realized they were flecked with fresh blood.
“Well, yeah.”
“Then why do you keep it so short?”
The huntress crossed her arms and pouted.
“What's it to you, huh? Maybe I like it this way? Did that thought cross your mind?”
“Uh, yeah, I thought that might be it, but you're a huntress, so I figured you'd be really annoyed by...
“Well, I'm not! So there.”
She blew at the bangs again.
“Riiiiiight. I'm just going to leave now.”
“Oh, sure. Come back any time.”
Rainbow Dash waved cheerily and got back to her work, cutting up and cleaning bird after bird. Twilight returned the gesture half-heartedly, continuing along the path towards the town centre.
The maypole was almost finished. A lone woman was leaning over it, taking out various lengths and colours of ribbon, folding them over, turning them around, constantly muttering to herself.
She seemed very much out of place in a rural village. Her hair was a pale purple and done up to perfection, curling gracefully in a way that defied gravity. Her skin was just short of sickly pale, and her features were fine and delicate. Every piece of her clothing was tastefully cut and boldly coloured. Twilight thought she looked more like exotic pottery than a person, insofar as there was a certain beauty to her, but she looked like she'd shatter into a thousand pieces if someone gave her a mean look.
“Excuse me-” Twilight began.
“One moment, please. I'm trying to straighten this out.”
“Is something wrong?”
The fair girl sighed and straightened up. She put her head in her hand and gave the pole a wistful look.
“I just can't get it right. It just feels like something’s missing.”
“I think I may be able to help.”
The girl turned, and as she got a good eyeful of Twilight Sparkle, her elegant frown turned into a much more inelegant smile.
“You're the Völva!”
“Indeed! My name is Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight said, returning the smile.
“It is such a pleasure to meet you! I'm Rarity. I can't tell you how glad I am to see you! I've been waiting for your decorations for days! I tried to finish the stupid thing without, but it's just not the same, is it?”
“No, it's not. Come on, I've got them in my saddlebags.”
Twilight went to fetch the decorations, but when she reached the saddlebags, she noticed Rarity wasn't following. She turned her head to see what was keeping her.
Her new friend appeared to be engaged in a staring contest with her familiar. They were both entirely transfixed; Spike with voracious interest and Rarity with a crippling fear.
“Spike!”
The dragon jerked his head violently in the direction of the shout.
“Spike! Don't bother the nice lady!” she continued, turning towards Rarity. “Don't let him scare you. He's not dangerous, just a little preoccupied with... shiny things.”
She gave Spike a wry look.
“Ah, uhm, well,” Rarity stuttered. “I suppose I can't deny that I am a rare gem.”
She held her hand in front of her face and laughed coquettishly at her own joke. Twilight Sparkle, not quite as easily amused, instead drew her attention towards the saddlebags.
“Come on, Rarity! I've got all sorts of things in here! Charms, flowers, paints, ribbons in colours you never dreamed of...”
Rarity approached the bags wearing in expression of great enthusiasm, but as soon as she peered into the bag, she recoiled in horror.
“What's the matter, Rarity?”
“Your... your helmet! And that armour!” Rarity cried, leaning back over the bag, face contracted into a grimace of pure horror. “What have you done to the poor things? They're all warped and tarnished and, and, and, is that a dent!? This simply will not do, Twilight Sparkle!”
And like a pleasant summer breeze, Rarity was gone, leaving only a sudden chill. It took Twilight just over two seconds to realize what had happened. She could only barely hear the jingling of the links in her chainmail as the pretty girl turned the corner, carrying the Völva's armour.
“Uhm, Twilight? Aren't you going to..?” Spike suggested.
“YES! Yes I am!” Twilight responded, and broke into a run.
She caught up with Rarity just as she turned into what appeared to be an exceptionally neat smithy. The thief picked a small hammer out from the neat line-up hung along one wall. She set the chainmail aside, and placed the helmet on a worktable. She inspected the helmet close, and fingered the lining a bit, apparently seeing if it would come loose.
Twilight's guts froze when she realized what Rarity was trying to do, and she panicked.
“Wait! Stop! You can't! That's-”
“Your ceremonial battlewear, wrought from the horns of a sacrificial ram and steel cooled in its blood. You can't let anyone deface it with mundane tools.” Rarity opened a drawer in the workbench, and pulled out a a few choice items – a wooden charm, a dry sprig of ash and a small bowl. “Unless you pay your proper respects.”
She got up from her seat, and walked out the front of the door, Twilight Sparkle in tow. She called towards the house by the smithy.
“Sweetie Belle! Oh, Sweetie Belle! Bring me one of the chickens, please!”
“Of course!” a child's voice responded from somewhere on the other side of the house.
Soon enough, a young girl who could have been a miniature version of rarity if not for the light streaks in her hair came around the corner. She was cradling a small but feisty chicken.
“Sweetie Belle, this is Twilight Sparkle. I'm fixing her helmet for her.”
Sweetie Belle looked at Twilight, then at the chicken.
“Is she the Völva?”
“She is.”
“Oh,” she said. “You'll be needing this, then.”
Sweetie Belle handed the chicken over to Rarity, who put the little bowl on the ground and fetched an elegant little blade from her belt. She was whispering something to the chicken, and Twilight Sparkle couldn't help but listen in.
She was taken aback when she realized it was a prayer to Freya. Rarity was asking her to bless the sacrifice with her knowledge of magic, to make the blood pure and powerful.
Then she slit the animal's throat. She held it still as it squirmed and thrashed about, making sure the blood drained into the bowl. She didn't let go until it had stopped moving entirely, but when it did, she grabbed it by the legs and handed it back to her sister.
“Be a dear and take care of this, would you? We simply couldn't let it go to waste.”
Sweetie Belle grasped the chicken with some apprehension. She'd always been a bit of a sensitive soul, and the sight of blood wasn't quite to her liking, but she didn't want to disappoint her sister.
“All right, Rarity.”
With that, she went back into the house.
Rarity rose, and looked around. There was an old ash growing on the grounds, and she went up to it and snapped one of the low-hanging twigs. She took the old branch that had been in the drawer and threw it out.
“Only the best is good enough for the gods, right?” she said, smiling at Twilight.
She then took the bowl and the branch and went back into the smithy. There, she lit a candle, for the sun was beginning to set and this was delicate work.
She handed the charm – a small amulet of wood with runes etched into it – to Twilight, along with the bowl and the branch.
“You should probably do this part.”
Twilight was absolutely fascinated. Everyone else in the village – indeed, most everyone she had ever met – treated her as a curiosity, as a hazard or as just another person. But this one seemed to actually understand. This one seemed to remain close to the gods. It was a breath of fresh air to meet someone who understood what it meant to have friends in the inner circle.
She accepted the gift graciously, putting the amulet around her neck, and dipping the ash in the blood.
She sprinkled the helmet with blood, saying her own prayers to Freya. Rarity held out her hands and her hammer, and she sprinkled them, too. When she was satisfied, she set the bowl down, put the amulet around rarity's neck, and sat down to watch her work.
It didn't take her long to work out the dents and scratches. Most of them weren't too bad; they weren't actual battle-scars, after all, just accidents and mistreatment. She shined the whole thing to perfection. It looked even better than it had fresh from the forge.
Rarity gingerly replaced the lining, and handed the helmet back to its owner.
“That's marvellous, Rarity! It looks better than it ever did, and it feels better than it ever did. What do I owe you?”
“Oh, think nothing of it, dear. You're here to help all of us, aren't you? I'm just returning the favour, that's all.”
“But you must at least let me repay you for- oh, heavens. I have to go!”
Twilight Sparkle tried to grab her hauberk as she sprinted out of the forge, but Rarity put her hand on top of Twilight's.
“Leave it here. I'll give it a bit of a touch-up. You can come pick it up tomorrow, after the feast.”
“Okaythankyougottago.”
Twilight's heart sank as she watched the sun slowly disappear beyond the horizon. It would be night soon, and she still had one task left.
“Twilight! Slow down!”
Spike was panting heavily, weaving uneasily from side to side as he sprinted up the dirt road in the failing light.
“No time!”
Twilight wasn't much better off herself, but she had one last thing to see to before the feast. She just hoped everything was in order, otherwise there would be serious repercussions.
She stopped briefly to catch her breath. She knew it was probably a bad idea to stop, but neither she nor Spike could keep going at this rate. She stood there, panting like a dog in heat, when she heard the sound of strings and a heavenly song.
“Sun warped south,
moon's companion,
the right hand
around the heaven's rim;
sun knew not
what temples she had,
moon knew not
what power she possessed,
stars knew not
what places they had.
Then went reigns all,
to their ruling seats...”
The words were a little different, as they always were, but Twilight knew this story well enough. With that voice, she really hoped it was someone practising for the feast, but it seemed like an odd choice for such a festive occasion.
She walked around the bend, still huffing and puffing, and was greeted by a strange sight. A pink-haired girl in a woollen cloak was playing a large harp on which at least a dozen wild birds sat perched. A small rabbit was grazing peacefully at her feet. They didn't seem the least bit disturbed by her presence, and she barely seemed to take note of them at all. She was playing with her eyes closed, hands flowing like a brook, voice clear as a winter night.
Twilight approached her carefully. The birds remained still. The rabbit gave her a disinterested glance, then went back grazing.
“Excuse me?”
The girl flew off her seat, banging the harp with her feet as she went down. There was a frightful noise, and the birds scattered. Twilight rushed forward to keep the instrument from falling over.
“I'm sorry, did I frighten you?”
“It'sreallynotmuchofaI'msorry,” the harpist squealed before her voice dropped in volume until it was a barely audible whisper.
“Okaaay. I'm Twilight Sparkle. And you are?”
The other girl pulled the hood of her cloak over her face and curled up on the ground.
“I'm Fluttershy.”
“I didn't quite catch that?”
“I'm – is that a DRAGON?”
Spike had finally lumbered his way around the bend in the road. He was still wheezing and puffing, only hairs from giving up on walking altogether and just rolling down the hill.
“Yes, but he's perfectly harmless. There's no need to worry.”
The pink-haired girl was gaping.
“Is he yours?”
“He is.”
Spike raised his head, spotting the two girls. He grunted, strained his head into an alert position and took on a poorly faked casual stride.
“I-I thought dragons were b-bigger.”
“They get bigger. He's young, still. A baby dragon, if you will.”
Twilight spoke her last sentence loud, turning towards spike as she did. She flashed him a tremendous grin, and he shot her back a look that might have been menacing if he wasn't such a pushover.
The shy girl surprised Twilight by taking a step forward, apparently intending to meet Spike halfway.
“A-a-a-are you sure he's c-c-completely harmless?”
“He is if he knows what's good for him.”
Spike shot her another eyeful of murder. It was adorable.
As the girl approached Spike, she raised a hand in front of herself. Even from her distant point of view, Twilight could tell that it was trembling badly. Fluttershy was looking the other way and muttering under her breath.
“N-nice dragon, nice dragon, you're a n-nice dragon, you're a nice dragon...”
When she finally touched Spike's face, she gave a little yelp and leapt backwards. She peered through her fingers, then at her fingers, and finding them to be mostly undevoured, she approached again and deliberately put her hand back on Spike. She began stroking his muzzle so gently that Spike at first doubted he was even being touched. As she continued to stroke his scaly hide, she got increasingly confident, and her careful ghost-touch turned into a hearty massage as she trailed his sides and rubbed deep into his sore muscles. As she did, a look of pure bliss spread across her face, and her anxiety fell away like so many bad dreams in the morning light.
“You are a good dragon! Yesyouare! Yesyouare!”
Spike himself had long since abandoned any pretence of not being completely pooped, and was slumped on the ground wearing an expression of obscene joy. It annoyed Twilight something fierce. She much preferred to keep Spike slightly irate at all times, partly because that it made it easier to use his pride to push him around, but mostly because it was just that much funnier. She sighed deeply.
“Can you just tell me your name, please?”
“Oh, I'm Fluttershy. What about this little guy? What's his name?”
“His name is Spike. Look, I really need to get going, so could you please tell me-”
“Can he talk? I heard dragons can talk.”
Twilight made a sound much as if she was being strangled. Under normal circumstances, Spike would have recognized this as a cue that she was getting properly ticked off, and scampered off to do his routine of calming her down, but he was clearly out of his gourd.
“Yes, he can talk, but I REALLY-”
“He can?” Fluttershy shone up like a tiny, pink sun. “Say something for me, Spike?”
Spike gurgled some sort of almost-words. They might have been “I don't wanna leave.” Fluttershy squealed with delight.
“Fluttershy!”
The animal lover gave up a loud yelp and curled into a foetal position, raising both hands above her head. When she peered through them, Twilight almost choked. There was real fear in Fluttershy's face. She reminded Twilight very much of a badly frightened animal – or a badly beaten child.
“I'm sorry, Fluttershy. I didn't mean to scare you, but I'm in a hurry, and it's really important that I get everything done on time. You're in charge of the music for tonight, aren't you?”
Fluttershy sniffled, and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye.
“Yes.”
“Then where are the rest of the musicians?”
“Oh, they already left for the feast. I just stayed behind to practice for a-” Fluttershy made an abrupt pause and looked to the east and the last rays of sunshine. “Oh my. We are in a hurry. I have to get my harp to the feast before it begins!”
Twilight walked over to where Spike had plopped onto the ground and gave him a decisive kick.
“Spike! We need you in the land of the living. You have a job to do.”
“Jorb?” Spike spluttered.
“Yes, Spike. We need to get Fluttershy's harp to the festival grounds, and quickly.”
Spike sprung to attention. The weight of the day's activities – and the recent run – was still laying heavily on him, but he didn't seem to notice. He was smiling, insofar as a dragon can smile, and he was dancing about on the spot, almost, but not quite, tripping over himself.
“All right! You can always count on me, Twilight!”
“Excellent! Fluttershy, do you have a cart?”
“Uhm, I think so. Why do you ask?”
“We'll need it to transport the harp, of course. Spike will pull.”
“Uh, uhm, are you sure? It's very heavy, you know.”
At the mention of the word 'heavy', Spike flexed his wings, craned his neck and puffed himself up impressively.
“Well, then it's a good thing that I am very strong.”
“I'll just go get it then.”
Twilight and Spike exchanged glances. A casual observer might have interpreted those glances as meaning Let's do this. The actual sentiment being conveyed was probably a lot closer to Let's not screw this up.
When Fluttershy returned, she was dragging a shallow two-wheeled cart. They gingerly placed the harp into it, and harnessed spike in front of it.
They started down the road at a snail's pace, Twilight and Fluttershy both staying within arm's reach of the harp at all times and Spike with his nose nearly dragging across the ground as he scanned it for bumps. With every foot he moved, Spike's confidence grew and his speed increased ever so slowly
The assembled village could hear the cart coming long before they saw it barrelling down the hill. There was shrill, cackling laughter, accompanied by the rhythmic thumps of a great beast running hard and the sound of wood moaning like a haunted whorehouse. When it finally did appear, it was pulled by a drake and driven by a stranger waving around the wand of a Völva like a whip, urging the beast on. Somewhere in the back, Fluttershy was pinning herself and the harp to the cart.
Spike turned sideways towards the crowd, grinding to a halt that buried the wheels halfway into the ground.
“WOOOO! GO SPIKE! WOOO! WOOO!” Twilight beamed at the assembled crowd, but found only dropped jaws and disapproving glares. “Woo?”
“WOO! You're finally here!”
The voice came from just behind her ear, and in a sheer panic, Twilight Sparkle swung around and struck at it. What she saw was a giant pink cloud that bobbed right out of her reach one moment, and covered her entire field of view the very next. She could feel the hot air on her face as the pink stranger from earlier spoke.
“Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!”
She was staring straight into Twilight's eyes, her entire face a smile so radiant it outshone the setting sun. She emanated pure joy, entirely untainted by cynicism or decorum. Standing so close to her was like taking a bath in an icy mountain creek; delightfully refreshing in a way that made you want to stab yourself in the face.
“You're Twilight Sparkle, I know because I was talking to somepony and they told me your name was Twilight Sparkle, and I had to talk to them because I didn't talk to you myself because when I met you I went like 'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIH!' and I ran off to make sure...”
“Pinkie.”
“... but then you were gone, and I looked all over because I got you this absolutely super-duper...”
“Pinkie?”
“... but I didn't understand, I mean, how would you fight with a shovel anyway, then I remembered this one time...”
“Pinkie!”
“... yes, Twilight?”
“Please stop slobbering all over my face.”
Pinkie snorted and began to giggle, but to Twilight Sparkle's great relief, she also leaned back. She had been clinging to the side of the cart, but now she hoisted herself onto the floor. When she struck wood, her entire body jiggled. Clearly, she wasn't in the habit of eating in moderation. Or fastening things.
“You’re a silly-willy, that’s what you are. Here!”
Pinkie shoved a small ball of yarn into Twilight's face. She took it in her hands, and looked closely. She could see the individual threads, but not a one was frayed or torn. It appeared to be a soft pink, but the orange of the torches was clearly reflected by it's glossy surface.
“Pinkie, is this..?”
“The finest silk! Brought to you from halfway across the world by none other than yours truly, Pinkamena Diane Pie!”
“And you're just giving it to me?”
“Yup! I heard you like weaving, and I thought 'Hey! I got something that's for weaving!'”
“Uh, it's not really that kind of... although I do... Pinkie, I can't...”
Pinkie batted her eyelashes and cocked her head to the side.
“Can't what, Twilight?”
“... I can't thank you enough.”
Like a hyperactive cobra, Pinkie struck. She wrapped herself around Twilight in a hug so forceful it knocked the air clean out of the poor Völva.
“Oooh, I'm so glad you like it! We're gonna be such good pals!”
Twilight gasped and shook, trying to breathe again, but the pink one's grip was strong. For a few panicked moments, she thought she felt her bones creaking, about to snap.Then Pinkie let go and instead grabbed her arm.
“Come on! The party's starting!”
Twilight Sparkle didn't have a lot of control over the next hour of her life. The maypole must have gone up at some point, because they danced around it, and there had to have been eating and drinking, because there were very telling spots all over her clothes that smelled of grease and mead. She distinctly remembered Fluttershy turning down a piece of meat, which Twilight thought odd, because it was the best meat ever. With Pinkie, it all just sort of blurred together into an event that was definitely not very coherent, but most definitely the greatest party Twilight had ever been to.
When Pinkie finally left her alone for a few moments, she was sitting at a table with a mug in her hand, staring at some manner of pork dish. There was an indiscriminate buzzing of spirited conversation and unprompted singing, and Twilight could feel the alcohol fog just starting to cloud her senses.
A chill wind snuck through her clothes, and she shivered. She found herself wondering where Queen Celestia had gone to. She should have arrived before nightfall.
The wind picked up, and Twilight pulled her cloak tighter around herself. The torches flickered. The singing and the talking died down, becoming nothing but annoyed muttering.
Then the torches died. Twilight thought there would be anger, but no-one raised their voice. They just pulled their cloaks tighter, huddled closer together. Twilight blinked, trying to see what she could, but she was blind in this darkness.
“Are you truly so afraid of the night?”
Their eyes shot upwards. They could see the shape of the maypole, rising up against the stars, and on top of it, the shape of a horse. Because that was all there was, a shape. A silhouette of blackness far deeper than the night sky behind it. Its mane flowed gently behind it, as if caressed by the wind. It looked not like hair, but rather like a portion of the night sky, a window into some alien heaven full of strange stars. It's eyes, the only part of its body not the deepest of blacks, could have been stars themselves, but their light burned cold.
“Once, you lived by the light of the moon and the grace of the stars. Have you forgotten so soon, little humans, what it is to live in a world where you are not the masters?”
“I haven't forgotten!”
Twilight recognized that voice. Rainbow Dash.
The shadow laughed. It sounded like stone grinding metal in a deep cave.
It moved. Nobody saw it, but now it stood in front of Rainbow Dash, piercing eyes of starlight staring directly into the huntress's.
“You think you know what it means to have no freedom, little human? To be a at the beck and call of a higher power? You do not. But believe me, I am going to teach you.”
Rainbow Dash swung at the creature, but there was nothing to hit. It was on the other side of the festival grounds before she had even started to move.
“The sun has set for the last time, little humans. Your precious witch-queen is gone. I suggest you try to enjoy this night. After all, it will last forever.”
It laughed again, that disturbing echoing sound. It stopped abruptly when Twilight Sparkle slammed her tankard against the table and screamed at the apparition.
“You're not getting away with this! I won't let you!”
It was transfixed, unblinking eyes fixed on Twilight. Then she started laughing again.
“You won't let me? Child, do you even know who I am?”
“You're the Night-Mare.”
The creature's eyes widened.
“So you do know who I am. It warms my heart to be remembered, little human, but I suggest you deflate that ego of yours. By the next moonrise, my most loyal subjects will be here. I wouldn't want to start my reign on a sour note, so I will let that remark slip, but my friends are quite fond of me, and they are somewhat... rigid in their affection. I'm sure if they heard such boisterous slander, they might well see fit to have you disciplined.”
Twilight Sparkle thought she saw a twinkle in those eyes; a bit of good humour.
“I will see you again soon, my pretties. I bid you all a good night.”
With that she disappeared, fading into the blackness as if she had never been there to begin with.
Without a word, Twilight Sparkle raced through the darkness to where she knew Spike waited.
“Spike! Light.”
Spike took a deep breath and exhaled ever so slowly. Tiny, flickering flames escaped from his mouth, bringing back a little light to the world.. Twilight dug through the saddlebags and fetched the book. She leaned against Spike and opened it on her knees, flipping through the pages furiously.
Everything went dark as Spike ran out of breath. He inhaled again, and Twilight resumed her frenzied reading. The flame went out a second time, and when it lit back up, a lithe, rainbow-haired girl was standing at the edge of the light.
“So, you know who that was, huh?”
“Yes!” Twilight replied without taking her eyes out of the book. “That was the Night-Mare, an ancient creature of evil. A thousand years ago, she was imprisoned in the moon through the use of the Elements of Harmony, six artefacts which...”
“Yeah, you sure do know an awful lot about that Night-mare character. A little too much, maybe.”
Twilight felt Spike tensing behind her, and when she looked up, she saw Rainbow dash casually brandishing a hunting knife.
“I think there's something you're not telling me, Twilight Sparkle. I think you're a-”
“RAINBOW DASH! You put that knife down right this instant!”
From outside the ring of light, Applejack appeared. She wore an expression matching her tone, and as soon as Dash saw it, her tough guy attitude melted away like a snowball on a hearthstone. The knife was back in her belt before Spike ran out of breath again.
“I wasn't gonna do anything! Honest!”
“You're such a brute, Rainbow Dash. You should really learn to use some finesse from time to time.” Rarity interjected, stepping into the ring. “But Twilight, darling, she's right. You do know and awful lot about all this... commotion. Would you kindly share your knowledge?”
“Yeah! Tell us!”
Twilight very nearly died on the spot, since Pinkie's voice was, like every other time she'd heard it, much too loud and much too close. She turned, only to find Pinkie lying straight across Spike, head hovering inches from Twilight's ear.
Twilight looked into the assembled faces. They were grim, collected. Even Pinkie had an unnerving intensity to her smile. Twilight sighed.
“In the forest, near the hut were I live, there's a runestone. When I found it, it was covered in moss and dirt. It must have been there for a long time. I think that I can now, with some certainty, say that it's been there for exactly one thousand years. It tells the story of two gods. Sisters. The stone calls them by Sky-Queen and Night-Mare. I don't know those kennings. There are a lot of astronomical symbols on the stone, so I thought that maybe they referred to Day and Night or Sun and Moon, but it just doesn't add up. Either way, it says that the younger sister, the Night-Mare, grew resentful that the people favoured her sister, and she tried to bring about eternal night, so the Sky-Queen wove powerful seid using the 'Elements of Harmony', and imprisoned Night-Mare in the sky. But Night-Mare was crafty, and when Sky-Queen wove the threads of fate to imprison her, she grabbed hold of one of the strands, so that the weave would be flawed. The stone warned that it would take Night-Mare a thousand years to unravel the strands so far that she could call for help from the stars, that they may aid her escape.”
“So, that thing? That was the Night-Mare?” Rainbow said.
“You mean the horse with a mane of stars that wanted to bring about eternal night? Couldn't possibly be, darling.” Rarity replied. A quirky smile broached her lips. Rainbow Dash just stuck her tongue at at her.
“So, uh, whatta we do now?” Applejack asked.
“I have to find the Elements of Harmony.” Twilight stood up. “And I think I know where to start looking. Spike, let's go. If you'd all just move along...”
“Whoa, nelly. You ain't going nowhere all by your lonesome. Ah'm coming witcha.”
“Me too!” Rainbow Dash puffed up her chest. “I'll show that monster a thing or two about 'higher power'!”
“I'm coming with you as well. You're all a very spirited lot, but I wouldn't trust you to take care of yourselves out there in the wilderness,” Rarity chipped in.
“Hey! I hang out in the wilderness by myself all the time!” Dash huffed.
“Yes, and look what's become of you.” That mean little smile played across her lips again.
“I can't let that big ol' meanie-mac-weanie-pants pick on my friends and get away with out! I'll smack 'er good! Besides, it's not a proper adventure without Pinkie Pie!”
Twilight shuddered at the tone of Pinkie's voice when she suggested violence. She noticed the other three exchanged nervous glances.
“It would really be best if it was just...”
Spike gave Twilight a brisk shove. She looked at her compatriots again and realized what he was trying to say. Those eyes weren't going to take no for an answer.
“Ugh, fine. We'll all go. But we need to get some rest before we-”
“Uhm, excuse me.”
A quiet voice from outside the circle of light.
“I- I'd like to come, too. That is, if, uh, if you don't mind.”
Fluttershy was faintly visible, light reaching only the edges of her features as she hovered around the edge of the circle. Applejack gave her an incredulous look.
“Now, hold your horses, sugar. It's gonna be a mite dangerous out there. It ain't no place for a girl like you.”
Fluttershy didn't respond. Instead she just looked into Rarity's eyes, her lower lip quivering. Rarity, in turn, met Twilight's eyes.
“She's coming with us.”
“Fine. Whatever. Everyone can come. The whole bloody village can come for all I care. But right now, we need some sleep. Well meet here again tomorrow. Bring supplies and warm clothes. And weapons. The creature mentioned subjects. I'd hate to run into those unarmed.”
The little group vanished into the night, and Twilight Sparkle began digging through her saddlebags for something to sleep on.
“And where are you planning on spending the night, dear?”
Twilight turned. Rarity, apparently, hadn't left.
“Right here.”
“You can't spend your last night before a strenuous journey sleeping on the ground. I insist that you join me in my home.”
Twilight just wanted to sleep. The idea of doing it right here, right now had seemed very alluring, but a proper bed was just that much more inviting.
“Lead the way.”
Twilight and Rarity had just watched the moon set when they spotted Applejack's torch bobbing along the trail from Sweet Apple Acres. As the circles of light from their collected torches merged together, they raised their hands in greeting.
When Twilight saw Applejack coming into view, the colour of the flames painting her light countenance red, she was again overcome by the sense of divinity. She carried a shield on her back, and the hilt of a sword swung at her side as she took the final few steps into her friends' company. Rarity was the first to speak.
“I'm glad you could make it, Applejack. I didn't think Big Macintosh would let you go in a million years. He did let you go, didn't he?”
“Oh course he did! Took a little convincing, is all. He wants to protect his little sister, but let me tall ya, he looked mighty relieved when ah told him ah'm going, and that's final. Didn't look quite so relieved when he saw I was bringin' this, though.” Applejack smiled and patted the sword.
“I can imagine. That's your father's sword, isn't it?”
“And his pa' before him! Bloomberg's made outta sturdy stuff, I tell you. He's got a lotta fight left in him.”
Twilight blinked.
“Bloomberg?”
“Eeyup! Forged by my own pa's uncle, hilt made out of applewood, wrapped in leather made from the first cow ta be born on Sweet Apple Acres. It's seen more use than what can rightly be called justified, but it's scarcely even lost it's edge o'er the years. Don't let nobody tell you the Apple family don't produce quality goods.”
Applejack had struck a pose, familial pride burning in her eyes. Twilight could feel another lecture on the value of apple farming and the amazing service the Apple family provided for the community coming on. Fortunately, the sight of another torch distracted her. This time, it was Rainbow Dash.
She looked far less alert than usual, lumbering forward with only the semblance of intent. When she finally reached the circle, she sat down on the ground and rested her head on Spike. She held an unstrung longbow clutched towards her chest.
“Bit early for ya, Rainbow Dash?” Applejack mused.
“I don't get the who-, who-, who-” Rainbow's mouth opened into a gigantic yawn. “the whole getting up thing, what with the not sleeping and all.”
“Silly! You can't have fun while sleeping!”
Pinkie had managed to sneak up on them again. Despite carrying a torch. And wearing chainmail. Not just chainmail, either. She also wore a full helmet, carried one shield on her back and another in her hand, and had two bearded axes hanging from her belt, one on either side, and carried a gargantuan pack of supplies at that. Judging from the shapes protruding from the sides and the sloshing sounds the pack made, it contained at least two small barrels.
“Hi, Rarity! Hi, Twilight! Hi, Dashie! Hi, Applejack! Hi, Bloomberg!”
“Uh, hello Pinkie.” Twilight replied. “Aren't you a little... over-prepared, though? We're not expecting to see that much fighting. I told you to bring weapons just in case.”
“Oh, there will definitely be fighting, Twilight Sparkle. You trust your aunt Pinkie on that one.”
Not even a trace of jest. Twilight swallowed hard.
“Okaaaay. So, are we ready to go? Rainbow Dash?”
“Juscha minit.”
“Let her be, dear. We're still waiting for Fluttershy.”
Twilight bit her lip. Fluttershy. She really didn't want her along. Pinkie was right. There would be fighting. At the very least, the Night-Mare wouldn't go quietly. And the last person you would want to see in combat was Fluttershy. Rarity clearly believed she had something to contribute, but Twilight wasn't so sure.
They waited for over an hour before they heard swift steps coming down one of the paths. There was no light, only the sound of packing bobbing up and down, feet hitting dirt and laboured breathing. Then a shriek and a heavy thud. Things spilling out over the dirt.
Rarity was there at once, helping Fluttershy back on her feet. Her pack had opened, spilling food and herbs all over the ground. Twilight went over to help, but stopped, fascinated by the sight.
Fluttershy had a large shield slung across her back, it's paint worn and its ironwork rusting. At her side was a broad-bladed spear, the kind meant not just for thrusting, but also to cut and cleave the enemy. Most interestingly, her garb was completely changed from the previous night. She was wearing a pelt of some kind. It was a single, very large piece of hide, and she wore it tucked into her belt from several angles, turning the whole thing from a throw rug into a sort of primitive dress. It was dark, with thick, luscious hair. Twilight couldn't quite place it, but supposed it might be musk ox or the winter coat of some other large game. Applejack seemed to have taken notice as well.
“Fluttershy? Ah thought you didn't wear clothes made from animals?”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. It seemed like an odd thing to not do, but Fluttershy began waffling immediately.
“Oh, this? This is, uhm, it's, a, uhm...” her eyes darted to and from, landing for a bit on Rarity, then back to Applejack. “This is, uhm, and old family heirloom. Yes. I, I don't like wearing it, but, um, it's getting awfully cold, and I didn't have anything warmer.”
Twilight shook her head and bent down to help Fluttershy get her things together. She couldn't be bothered with these people and their neuroses any more. She just wanted to get moving.
They eventually joined the rest of the group in the circle of light. Rainbow Dash was on her feet again, but not looking much better. Fluttershy was thumbing the haft of the spear. She looked terribly out of place – and terribly uncomfortable – with a weapon in her hands.
“So, are we ready now?” Twilight asked.
Rarity turned to Fluttershy.
“Fluttershy. Are you absolutely sure you want to come with us?”
Fluttershy nodded.
“If we don't get the sun back, all my little friends will, they'll...”
She started to sniffle, and Rarity put her hand across her shoulder, rubbing it gently.
“I understand. But are you absolutely, one hundred percent double-sure you want to bring that?”
She nodded towards the spear in Fluttershy's hands.
Fluttershy breathed deliberately, in and out.
“Yes.”
“As long as you're sure, dear.”
Rarity turned back to Twilight.
“Tell them where we're going.”
Twilight looked at the assembled women. It suddenly struck her how ridiculous it was that these people fully well expected to take on a god and win. It also struck her that, ridiculous or not, it was the right thing to do. After all, gods bled too, and only the brave may live forever.
“We're going into the Everfree Forest.”
Silence descended. The only sounds were the blazing of the torches and Fluttershy's gear rattling as she shook in terror.
Then Rainbow Dash stepped out of the circle and onto the road out of Ponyville.
“Move it, you guys! We gotta be out of here by next moonrise, or we're all horsemeat.”
Applejack shrugged and followed suit. Pinkie bounced giddily at her side, seemingly unburdened by the heavy load she carried. Twilight and Spike went after them. Last was Fluttershy and Rarity, the former trying desperately not to cry while the latter did her best to comfort her.
As they walked, the midnight cold seeped further and further into their bones, and Twilight Sparkle recalled the previous night, when she had felt so ill at ease with the darkness, the first night of her life to ever truly frighten her.
She had a feeling she wasn't going to like this one much, either.
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Thunderclaw
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1040
| 2 |
Main 6,Spike,Alternate Universe,Human,Adventure,Dark,Sad,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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My Little Viking: Kinship is Seid
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When ponies are vikings, friendship involves blood, death and honour.
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incomplete
| 67 | 0 |
<p>What if My Little Pony took place in a world where laughing at your fears wasn't enough to make them go away? Where friendship that isn't sealed in blood won't get you through the winter? Where your only shot at paradise is death in glorious combat?</p><p>And what if, in such a world, it doesn't take an evening to depose Nightmare moon? If night lasts not hours, but weeks, months, years. If a noble quest to save the land turns into an obsessive hunt for vengeance as the cold and the beasts slowly bring down everybody you ever cared about, if every time you take a step forward, another heart that loved you stops beating?</p><p>Gather round, sons and daughters of Heimdall. I am about to tell you "What if?"</p><p>Cover art by Malrai (<a href="http://malrai.deviantart.com/" rel="nofollow">http://malrai.deviantart.com/</a>).</p>
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teen
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2011-11-06T21:26:40+00:00
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2011-11-06T21:26:40+00:00
| 2,989 |
Twilight stared into the fire. Every time it finished a cycle of its erratic dance and the flames fell, she cringed. Under the cover of the ancient trees, that fire was the only source of light, and every suggestion that it was about to go out made her stomach twist.
On the other side of the fire, Fluttershy, too, was twitching and wincing at every downward turn of the flames. The lines in her face were clearly visible, great chasms in an otherwise beautiful landscape.
Twilight didn't want to look at that. She didn't want to look at anything, so she closed her eyes and listened. The crackling fire. Fluttershy's periodic whimpers. A rhythmic clack-clack-clack of wood against wood and then, Rarity shrieking.
Twilight's eyes shot open, and she looked over to where the other four were practising. Pinkie and Rarity stood across from one another with a stick each, the latter stroking a bruised upper arm theatrically. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were standing off to the side, observing.
"Pinkie Pie, that was uncalled for," Rarity whimpered through pouting lips.
"Let's see you try that one when some thug's coming at you with an axe," Dash quipped.
Rarity laughed. It was beautiful, musical.
Practised to perfection, Twilight thought.
"You'd be surprised at what you can do to a man with nothing but a sullen look. Not you, of course. It takes charisma."
Applejack sighed empathetically.
"We get it, Rarity. Yer a whore. But what if it ain't no man what's trying to do ya in? Or jus' one who figgers it ain't worth paying? What then?"
Rarity's face seized up at the mention of the word 'whore'. She ground her teeth, pumped her fists and raised the stick above her head. Applejack threw up her arms, but the blow she anticipated didn't come. Rarity pointed the stick at Pinkie.
"Again."
There was another clack as the sticks connected just in front of Rarity's face and another shriek when Pinkie's swung around and struck her across the calf.
"Oh, now you're just being mean."
"Uh-uh." Pinkie shook her head decisively. "You are just being slow. Quit being such a working stiff! When you fight, you gotta relax! It's not like anyone's trying to kill you or anything."
Rarity let the stick down, closed her eyes and breathed. Twilight could feel the tension falling from her. When she opened her eyes again, the anger was gone. There was just a look of serene apathy.
"I'm ready."
This time, the crack when the two sticks met was deafening, and again, Rarity shrieked. Leaves rattled as her stick disappeared into the underbrush.
"Too relaxed!"
"This time, you really are just making fun of me, aren't you?"
Pinkie giggled.
"Yup!"
Applejack gave Rarity a friendly pat on the shoulder.
"You've been a real hoot, princess, but you gotta scoot over now. It's ma turn."
Rarity snorted.
"Fine. If any of you need me, I'll be over by the fire, spending time with the people who aren't hooligans."
The other three laughed heartily as Rarity left them. Twilight saw the frown on her face. She wondered if they laughed at her often. Rarity was certainly the odd woman out in a town like Ponyville. As she sat down next to Fluttershy, Twilight turned to her.
"Rarity, where do you come from? You don't look like you're from Ponyville."
"But I am, dear. Born and bred."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It's a compliment, if anything. Ponyvillians are all decent people, of a little..." Rarity turned back to the sparring, which had apparently degenerated into a wrestling match between Applejack and Rainbow Dash, enthusiastically cheered on by Pinkie Pie. "Rough around the edges."
"Then, if you don't mind me asking, how come you're so... uh, you know..."
"Civilized? My parents spent a lot of time around the Sun Court, dear. That sort of thing rubs off."
"So you're a noble, then?"
"I suppose."
"You suppose?"
Rarity's smile was forced.
"I suppose I can still technically lay claim to such a title, yes, but I am not entirely welcome in the Sun Court. I made some life choices that were considered rather inappropriate."
Twilight thought about the first time they'd met. A noble's daughter in a smithy. She could see how that wouldn't go over well.
"I think I understand."
Rarity just poked at the ground, tracing shapes with her fingers. Twilight squirmed, trying to find a change of topic.
"What about you, Fluttershy? How was your-"
"Twilight."
Twilight looked at Rarity through the fire. She shook her head slowly from side to side. Twilight glanced at Fluttershy, and found her to be quivering, clearly on the verge of tears.
Again.
She groaned loudly and hid her head between her arms.
"What about Pinkie Pie? She's so goddamn happy, I bet her story is all sunshine and butterflies. Why don't you just tell me about Pinkie Pie."
There was a long silence which Twilight pretended wasn't awkward. She'd never pretended so hard. She almost began crying herself, but then Fluttershy spoke up.
"I think her parents were farmers. Their land was, uhm, not very good. Pinkie says they spent most of their time moving rocks, trying to make the fields tillable. She came to Ponyville when she was still an, uhm, 'itty-bitty twinkie-pinkie' to live with her relatives. She was always telling stories and having fun, and everybody liked her. She really liked the hero stories, so, uhm, when she was 14, she snuck on board a Viking ship. When she came back, she, uh, she was..." Fluttershy trailed off, looking back and forth, turning her hands nervously. "... different."
Twilight again looked towards the sparring grounds. Pinkie had managed to get solid neck hold on both Applejack and Rainbow Dash, the former under her arm and the latter between her legs, and was now taking turns giving them noogies with her free hand.
"Different sounds about right."
"Why do they do that?" Fluttershy whispered.
Twilight ran a hand through her purple bangs and shrugged.
"They're the kind of people who like to lock horns and fight it out."
"Why can't everyone just be nice to each other?" Fluttershy said, rubbing a spot just below her ribs. Her face smoothed out, fear giving way to dispassionate distaste. She looked like she'd eaten a spoonful of dung.
Twilight combed through the rest of her hair in an almost ritualistic fashion, never letting it fall back onto her chest, catching the ends with one hand as she let go with the other.
"You know Rainbow Dash, don't you? Do you think she'd be happy if she never got to beat anyone?"
Fluttershy stretched out, laying herself out on the icy grass, her tiny harpist's hands covering most of her face.
"No," she whimpered through half-closed hands. "But I don't understand why not."
Twilight sighed. This conversation reminded her of the one time Queen Celestia had made the mistake of putting her in charge of some of the younger seers in the service of the Sun Court. She had tried to explain the metaphysical implications of blood sacrifice. There had been much screaming and crying.
"People are different, Fluttershy. You couldn't get Rainbow Dash to calm down and play nice any more than you could put a collar on a reindeer and call it a dog."
Again, Rarity's crystal laughter.
"Did you hear that, Rainbow Dash? Twilight says you can't play nice!"
"Hey, it's not my fault if you can't keep up with my skills!" Rainbow replied, almost screaming the last syllable as she strained against Pinkie's vice-grip. Her hold diminished for a split second, and Rainbow pushed hard, only to find herself redirected into the ground, face first, and locked in a new iron grip.
"I could keep up with you aaaaall night, Dashie!" Pinkie purred.
"On the other hand, if you wanna call it quits right now, that's fine, too," Dash muttered through a facefull of dirt.
"Okey-dokey!"
Pinkie bounced off and landed in a perfect curtsey, excess flesh jiggling violently as she touched down.
"Well, that was fun! And, as an added bonus, you should all be sliiiiightly less likely to die horribly."
"Don't be gettin' all melodramatic on me now, sugar," Applejack said, crawling off the ground. She stretched her limbs, brushed dirt of her clothes. "Ah ain't gonna die anytime soon."
"Really? You could have fooled me, with they way you were fighting," Pinkie said. All smiles, as ever.
Applejack's eyes narrowed, leaving only a thin stripe of green.
"What're you implyin', Pinkie Pie?," she said, striding forward. There was a strange pressure to her, something like the feel of the air just before a thunderstorm. "You sayin' ah can't take ya?"
Twilight slowed down her strokes, each pass now letting her hair fall back to rest. Fluttershy whimpered. Rarity rolled her eyes. Pinkie didn't move a muscle.
"Of course you can't, silly!" she leaned into Applejack's face until their noses were touching. "You've barely even held a sword before! The very idea that you could best me right off the bat is just be positively, absolutively, mind-bogglingly bonkers!"
Applejack's jaw sawed from side to side, playing a grisly tune as her teeth ground against each other.
"That may be, but you watch it, sister," she jabbed her finger into the soft spot below Pinkie's collarbone. If Pinkie, noticed, she didn't care. "Because one a' these days, I'll catch right up to ya."
"I can't wait!"
Applejack sighed and pulled away from Pinkie. The sense of pressure faded.
"Ye're one kooky customer, ye know that?"
"That's what they tell me."
Applejack shook her head, ponytail swinging from side to side. A smile crept onto her face, so subtle you'd almost miss it.
"Ah gotta tell ye, I sure am glad to have you round, 'cause when them baddies show up, whatever you do, it'll throw em off their guard right quick."
Pinkie giggled, a series of girly laughs punctuated by inelegant snorts.
"Aww, A.J., I love you too."
She enveloped Applejack, a hug in which the farmer nearly disappeared behind a mountain of girl and hair. Rainbow laughed, but Twilight didn't see the funny part. She'd followed the strands of fate all the way to the end, stood at the entrance to Hel and felt Garm's hot breath on her face, but Pinkie's hug was as close to death as she'd ever been.
"There, there, sugar," Applejack's muffled, strangely uncrushed voice said. "That's quite enough, all right?"
Rainbow Dash sat down beside Twilight. The sweat glistened on her face and her chest heaved, still winding down from the exercise.
"Hey, Twilight?" she said.
"Yes?"
"How far do you think it is?"
Twilight sighed and flicked her hair back over her shoulder.
"I don't know. The Sky-Queen had the elements of harmony, and she kept them in the hall she shared with her sister. I can't find anything that tells us what she did with them after she imprisoned the Night-Mare, but I do know that that hall was located deep in the heart of the Everfree forest. I also know that it was abandoned a thousand years ago. I can't even be sure if there's anything left of it, but it's all we got."
"The heart of the Everfree?" Rarity said. "That sounds like it could be very far, indeed. How big is the Everfree, Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow shrugged.
"Nobody knows. We never go so far in that we can't be back by nightfall, but I've climbed into the trees, and you can't see the end. Nothing even gets in the way, it's just trees all the way to the horizon. Now that you mention it, I've never even heard of anyone who's seen the other side."
"Oh, my. That sounds really, really big," Fluttershy whispered. Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement.
"That's for sure. Hey, Applejack" Rainbow said, turning towards the blonde. "You've got family all over the place. Any of them ever been on the other side?"
Applejack shook her head.
"Ah reckon they ain't. All our farms are on this side of the forest, an if pa or any of his pals ever ever did go there, ah'm positive I'da heard th' stories."
Their collective eyes turned to Pinkie. She just held her hands out, palms up.
Don't look at me, I ain't got shit.
Twilight sighed and poked at the fire with a piece of wood.
"It doesn't matter, anyway. They could be at the other end of the world, and we'd still need to get them."
"You're absolutely right, dear," Rarity said. "The length of the journey doesn't matter, but I can't help but feel that the, ah, direction might be of some relevance."
"I know. I've been trying to search the weave, but every thread I grasp just twists and loops and intertwines with itself, then disappears where it shouldn't, only to reappear somewhere entirely different. I can't make sense of it. This place is messed up."
"I know what you mean, dear," Rarity said, her voice smooth as honey. She was trying to comfort Twilight, and Twilight knew it. That was something every Völva did; look beyond the words, study the intent. It was one of the many reasons she didn't get along with people; she was tired of hearing waiting requests under generic pleasantries and muffled cries of 'Don't eat me!' under every token of respect. Even when she spoke to people who were genuinely concerned with her well-being, she couldn't help but be disgusted by the mask they put on when stepping into the role of 'caring friend.' Rarity, however, didn't seem to be wearing a mask, and just for that, Twilight decided to reward her with a smile.
"What are they, anyway? The Elements, I mean." Rainbow Dash leaned against her arm propped against the ground. She yawned, revealing a few missing teeth.
"I don't know." There was desperation in Twilight's voice now. She had spent her entire life guarding against the frightening void of ignorance, and here it was, grabbing a firm, toothy grip on her buttocks. "Powerful magical artefacts. They're obviously very old, and I don't think the Sky-Queen or the Night-Mare made them. The only reference I found that talks about what they actually are is a brief mention of what they're made of. Not that it helps. They were 'forged over the flames of brilliant minds,' 'bound together with ties of blood' and that sort of thing."
"Sounds like dwarven work , if you ask me. They were the ones who forged a fetter out of fish-breath and mountain-roots, after all," Rarity said.
"That's what I thought, but it's a little more complicated. You see, there are six Elements, and at least five of them have names, each representing a virtue one ought to possess. They are the elements of Honour, Cunning, Hospitality, Loyalty and Mercy. I don't know what the means, exactly, but-"
"Mercy?" Rainbow sputtered. "What the hell kind of virtue is mercy?"
Like a slingstone, Rarity's stare smashed into Rainbow Dash. She leapt back, mouth hanging open as if she really had been hit.
"It is not noble to be cruel towards one's enemies, Rainbow Dash. It is a despicable thing to do, to hurt a person simply because you can. Take from a man everything he owes you. If that includes his life, so be it. But do not take out your anger through petty acts of viciousness. That is the behaviours of a thug, and I really thought you were better than that."
"Of course I... I didn't mean... shut up!" Rainbow replied, turning away from Rarity's glare. Her hair caught the light of the fire, turning the rainbow into seven shades of red.
"As I was saying," Twilight cut back in. "I don't know what that means, but it doesn't matter. We need them."
"Ah know that sugar, but how're we gonna find 'em if we don't even know where ta look?"
Twilight felt the desperation in Applejack's voice, and it only compounded her own worries. She slumped together, head between her legs.
"I don't know!I thought I'd be able to glean something from the weave, but I can't make heads or tails of it in this place. I don't think anyone could."
"What about the enchantress?"
The scene froze. For a moment, Twilight was afraid time had actually stopped, but the crackling fire continued its nuanced dance. All heads turned towards Rarity. Pinkie was the first to speak up. Way up.
"You can't be serious!" she screamed, grabbing Rarity by the collar. "She eats people, Rarity! Eats. Them. Right. UP!"
Rarity grabbed her hands, pushing them away from her throat gently, but firmly.
"She's also the only person I know of who lives in the Everfree Forest. If anyone can tell us where to find the hall, it's her."
This time, all eyes turned to Twilight. Apparently, they expected her to weigh in on the exchange.
"Do we have any options? At all?"
Nervous glances. Shrugged shoulders. Silence. Pinkie mouthing "Eats people."
"Didn't think so. Does anyone know where she lives?"
"It's not hard to find," Rainbow Dash said. "Believe me."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You'll see."
"Fine. Let's just get some sleep. We'll set out at daw-. In the morn-." Twilight slapped herself in the face.
Goddamnit, Night-Mare. Not just our light, but our time-keeping, as well?
"When we wake up."
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Thunderclaw
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1040
| 3 |
Main 6,Spike,Alternate Universe,Human,Adventure,Dark,Sad,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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My Little Viking: Kinship is Seid
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When ponies are vikings, friendship involves blood, death and honour.
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incomplete
| 67 | 0 |
<p>What if My Little Pony took place in a world where laughing at your fears wasn't enough to make them go away? Where friendship that isn't sealed in blood won't get you through the winter? Where your only shot at paradise is death in glorious combat?</p><p>And what if, in such a world, it doesn't take an evening to depose Nightmare moon? If night lasts not hours, but weeks, months, years. If a noble quest to save the land turns into an obsessive hunt for vengeance as the cold and the beasts slowly bring down everybody you ever cared about, if every time you take a step forward, another heart that loved you stops beating?</p><p>Gather round, sons and daughters of Heimdall. I am about to tell you "What if?"</p><p>Cover art by Malrai (<a href="http://malrai.deviantart.com/" rel="nofollow">http://malrai.deviantart.com/</a>).</p>
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teen
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2012-05-04T10:22:07+00:00
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2012-05-04T10:22:07+00:00
| 1,513 |
The forest, Twilight decided, was hell. A twisted, tangled mess of the kind of trees made not by gods, but by giants and monsters, piss drunk and in a really bad mood. What didn't have thorns had attitude. Every bush was a mess of clingy branches, every root a trap.
Her cloak caught on something again, and she tugged it free. Twilight swore loudly as the cloth ripped, leaving another tear in the increasingly tattered garment.
Further ahead, Rainbow Dash waited for them to catch up. She was fidgeting, foot stamping, fingers twisting, head repeatedly thrown back in an imploring gesture.
Come on already.
Twilight envied her. Whenever they caught up, she'd dart forward through the underbrush, moving like a weasel. Even with the heavy winter cloak trailing behind her, she didn't so much as graze the thorns or the branches. She'd vanish, and she'd wait far, far ahead. Much too far ahead for Twilight to see her in the darkness, but never so far that Rainbow couldn't see her.
Rainbow Dash seemed comfortable, then, during those moments when she moved like a ghost through the forest. It was only when she stood still that she looked worried, and she cringed and whined every time one of the others got caught on something, or stepped on a dry branch, or cursed the entire godsforsaken forest at the top of their lungs.
She cringed and whined a lot.
Twilight finally caught up with her, resting against the same tree Dash leaned on. Dash opened her mouth, undoubtedly to offer some helpful advice on the topic of stealth, but Twilight shot her a glare that suggested she kindly shut the fuck up. Twilight doubted she could actually see the expression, but Rainbow Dash still shut her mouth and turned to look for the others.
Pinkie stumbled out of the woodworks just behind Twilight. Twilight couldn't see anyone else, but Dash was looking further down the impromptu path, towards the faint sound of trudging feet. The more time they spent in the forest, the more Twilight came to realize how terrifyingly fine-tuned the girl's senses were. She could see farther in the faint moonlight that trickled through the canopy than Twilight could in broad daylight. Even the tiniest sound caused her to jump, and stare, and listen. A few times, Twilight had even seen her stick her nose into the air and sniff it contemplatively before choosing a direction.
Pinkie, too, amazed her. Her magic appearance act at the outset hadn't been a fluke. She carried half a pantry on her back, and she moved very much like it, but her lumbering strides didn't make a peep, and her pack always seemed to swing just out of reach of every low-hanging branch and jagged bush. She was never far behind Twilight, who was never far behind Rainbow Dash – in so far as was humanly possible, anyway.
Pinkie put her pack down next to Twilight and sat down on the ground. The grass, like everything else, was covered with frost, and it crackled and crunched under her weight. She breathed heavily, but slowly. It sounded nothing like Twilight's adrenaline-fueled gasps and wheezes. Apparently, she noticed.
"Gee, Twi, you really need to take a break. Here, sit down," she said, patting the ground next to her. Twilight slid down the tree drunk, using her cloak for a seat.
"Here."
Pinkie handed her a water skin. Desperate to soothe her parched throat, she didn't stop to notice the odd smell until she had already gulped down several mouthfuls of honey wine. She gagged, spilling half a mouthful.
"Mead, Pinkie Pie? Really?"
Pinkie cocked her head to the side, incredulous.
"Well, duh! What did you expect it to be?"
Twilight puzzled over that for a moment, and then she remembered. She was used to clean mountain springs, sparkling streams of cold water that you could just stick your head into and drink from as much as you wanted. She had, however, seen the river that ran through Ponyville. You don't drink something like that straight from the source, not unless you were in a big hurry to depart the realm of men.
Twilight studied the forest. The massive trees, the thorny underbrush, the sharp rocks and the cruel frost. No, this wasn't the realm of men. A chilling realization struck her, then. They had stepped across a boundary few humans had crossed before, into a world that was frightening and cruel. Filled, if the stories were to be believed, with strange beasts and stranger people. They were blazing new trails through a forest no man in memory had ever seen the other end of. She knew where they were going.
Jotunheim.
She lifted the water skin to her lips willingly this time, and she drank. The mead was sweet but strong, as it ought to be. Wildly inappropriate as rations for a lengthy journey, but still right.
For a moment, she contemplated getting blind stinking drunk, but that seemed like a spectacularly bad idea. She reluctantly lowered the skin and gave it back to Pinkie.
"Thanks," she whispered.
Pinkie Pie smiled. For once, it wasn't a clown's grin. She took the skin and offered it to a newly arrived and very flustered Fluttershy, who politely declined. Rarity declined as well but Applejack, bringing up the rear guard, snatched the skin out of her hand as soon as she stepped into reach and drank deeply.
"That there's some good stuff you got, Pinkie Pie," she said in her thick southland accent. "But y'all know what's real good?"
Twilight cocked an eyebrow at her. In the darkness, no-one noticed.
"Let me guess. Apple mead?"
Applejack paused halfway through a sip.
"S'what ah was gonna say, sugar. How'd ya figger?"
Twilight gave her another snarky look, this one clearly visible even in the poor light, as it involved twisting her entire head sideways and sticking her jaw out at an odd angle. Her eyes remained half-closed and she spoke in a tone so utterly serious that she almost seemed to have entered a genuine trance.
"I, the Great Sage Twilight Sparkle, have used my amazing gifts of divination and augury to deduce that you, Applejack, scion of the great House Apple, heiress to the proud homestead of Sweet Apple Acres, who not two days past spent sunrise to noon lecturing me on the many wondrous properties of apples, are, in fact, somewhat fond of apples."
Complete silence descended upon the group for all of two seconds before Pinkie burst out into a violent laughing fit, dotted with her characteristic snorts and giggles. Applejack tried to look offended, but there was was an unmistakable smile hovering at the edge of her expression. Twilight smiled at her. The others giggled. Twilight made a note in passing of Rarity's laughter. It wasn't quite so crystal-clear this time around, which made it all the more genuine.
Rainbow Dash stretched her shoulders, losing some of the tension she'd been building up ever since they broke camp. Twilight saw the serious, fidgety hunter break away a little to give the fun-loving braggart some room to breathe.
"She sure got your number," she said. Applejack responded with a snort, but let the smile creep a little further onto her face.
"T'ain't no secret that ah like apples, but I'll have y'all know that there's some darn good reasons ta-"
"Applejack, no," Twilight whimpered, covering her face in her hands.
Applejack opened and closed her mouth, waving her extended index finger around, desperately searching for a point to make. She failed, and instead opted to seat herself on the ground with a mighty harrumph.
"Fine, but ah'm takin' a break, and ah'm gonna finish Granny Smith's apple bread. Y'all can't have any."
She laid her back out on the ground, and took out the last few pieces of apple bread. It had been going on unedibly stale the night before, and Twilight figured that by now it would have a texture somewhat akin to granite. When Applejack bit into it, it sounded like she was chewing gravel.
"This'sh what y'all get fer not bein' nicer ta me," she mouthed around the stone crumbs, the excess dough turning her accent into a parody of itself.
"Yes, yes, we're all terribly sorry we get to spend another few minutes without hearing of the magnificence of the common apple," quipped Twilight.
She sighed, slumping against the tree at her back.
"How much further, Rainbow?"
Rainbow shifted uncomfortably.
"Not a lot. I mean, sometimes, when the wind is right, I can smell it."
"Smell what?"
"I have no idea. All I know is there are smells that come outta the enchantress's that don't smell like anything else."
Twilight drew air through her nose, hoping to catch a whiff of those unique scents, but all she felt was wood and ice. Rainbow shook her head.
"Naw, the wind is wrong. Can't smell a thing right now, but I'm pretty sure we should starting seeing the markings soon."
"Markings?" Twilight asked. "What markings?"
Rainbow looked at her. She was scared.
"She marks her territory. She puts up these... things. Wooden faces, kinda like the god statues we have at home, but... well, if those are her gods, I don't wanna see what she considers a monster, y'know?"
Twilight thought of a pendant that hung from the wall of her hut. A pewter wolf with eyes of polished stone, sun propped between massive jaws. A symbol of Fenrir Sun-Eater, World's End, Odin's Bane, worn as a charm, as another might wear the hammer of Thor's protection. The Queen herself had hung it around Twilight's neck, still flecked with the blood of the outlaw that had owned it.
Monsters indeed.
"There is much strength in beasts," mused Twilight, "and in a place such as this, gods hold little power. It belongs to monsters and giants. It is only appropriate to seek their aid."
The silence that followed was all too familiar. She could hear the Queen's chiding voice in the back of her head, and the faint sting of the cane across her back along with it.
Speaking truth to the wind, again, Twilight? Dangerous. I thought I'd taught you better.
"You would entreat with horrors and madmen?" Rarity was visibly upset, which didn't become her at all.
No going back now, thought Twilight.
"Of course. What else do you expect we will find in these woods? Are we not seeking the aid of one right now"
Rarity crossed her arms and huffed in a manner so undignified, only a someone of supreme dignity could have pulled it off.
"Girls?" whimpered Fluttershy. "Can we not talk about monsters right now?"
She was huddled against a tree, eyes darting around, trying to keep track of the entire forest at once.
A few meters out, Applejack's voice.
"Much as I'd like ta' oblige ye, it seem like we ain't got much of a choice. Look."
Applejack pointed. They all looked.
Deeper in the forest, there was a silhouette of a face. Almost as tall as a man, with sharp, wicked features and teeth like a shark. The faint moonlight shone through it's open maws, giving them the colour of steel. Feathers and strings hung from it haphazardly.
Twilight rose, and walked towards the effigy.
"Is this one of her markings, Rainbow Dash?"
"Yeah. Uh, are you sure you want to go that close to it?"
"Yes."
Twilight touched it. It was carved from wood, but not any wood she knew. Even in the icy night, it smelled of spices and incense like she had never known. It had travelled far, from places stranger still than the Everfree Forest. Places where perhaps there are no gods; only monsters.
"What's it mean, ye think?" said Applejack.
"Well, judging from those teeth, I'd wager it's some variation on 'sod off'," ventured Rarity.
Twilight thought again of the pewter amulet. To the man who had worn it, it had not represented the end of things, as it did to her. It had been a symbol of strength of will, and the struggle for freedom.
"Don't judge it too quickly. It is from very far away, where things are very different. It could be a warning, a challenge, perhaps even a guardian. Whatever it means, I think we'll have to ignore it. At least we're on the right track. Dash, if you'd be so kind."
Rainbow dash drew a long sigh and slipped back into her gear like water into a bowl.
"Try to keep up this time," she said before disappearing into the forest.
Twilight picked her things off the ground, trying to avoid Rarity's stare. They were about to seek the counsel of a witch. She couldn't let herself be burdened with decency or, worse, common sense.
The totems appeared again and again. Each one was different, and yet they were the same. Pointed teeth, predatory eyes, only vaguely in the shape of men. Every step, they became more frequent, until everywhere the party looked, there were grinning, wooden faces. The scent of earthy incense hung on the wind, rich and heavy.
Fluttershy had been clinging onto Rarity for the better part of the last mile.
"I don't like it here," she whimpered.
"I have to say, I'm not exactly thrilled myself," said Rarity.
The darkness in this part of the woods was compact, and it seemed like every sad beam of starlight fell upon carven teeth.
"Hay! Watch where ye put those feet a' yers, missy!" cried Applejack.
"Oh my goodness, I didn't realize..." Fluttershy started.
Pinkie shushed them violently.
"Do you hear that?"
There was a quiet shuffling, a hint of movement in the underbrush. Rainbow Dash peered into the darkness.
"They're moving."
They were. The masks were no longer still, but inching forward. Dozens of them, moving in complete silence.
"What vile sorcery is this?" hissed Rarity.
"It is not vile, my prim little friend,
it is but a means to a necessary end."
The voice came from everywhere. From dozens of throats, from dozens of directions.
"An end, you will find, should you stay on this course,
will be not another's but indubitably yours."
The Ponyville party huddled together, trying to stay as far away as possible from the advancing masks. Except for Pinkie Pie.
Pinkie Pie was laughing.
"Pinkie Pie?" Rarity snarled. "What is wrong with you?"
"Oh, but don't you see how funny this is?" Pinkie giggled. "She's trying to frighten me. Me! The Great Pinkie Pie! With a few handfuls of warriors! The very idea is just so preposterous it makes me want to... PFFFFFTHAHAHAHAHAA!"
The voice rumbled through the forest, the anger of one long uncontested booming from a multitude of voices.
"Do not take me lightly, you of laughing Pink,
cease your prattle, take heed, and think.
You may be mighty, mayhap this is true,
but these men, in life, failed to pay their due.
Do not think that you, with such an airy head,
could defeat an army consisting of the dead."
Pinkie slung herself forward in a strange, twirling motion, and there was a loud crack as a mask snapped in half, followed by the wetter sound made by the thing behind it as the axe blade passed through. Twilight screamed.
"Pinkie! No!"
The night exploded into a shimmering green mist, whirling, whipping, forming itself into ephemeral beasts snapping at the air. The enchantress stood at the storm's eye, cloaked in furs and hides of creatures that had never set food in northern lands. Her face was hidden, but her eyes glowed like ghostfires, and they were narrowed with rage. Her voice quivered, and a foreign accent seeped deep into her speech, making it difficult to make out anything but the anger with which she spoke.
"It was said, sworn by ancient pact,
with words not vague, but most exact.
'By Right of Rule, we do decree,
these thing we swear you shall not see;
nor hide nor hair, nor totem cleft,
this we decree, under pain of death.'"
Twilight, always the optimist, threw herself prostrate at the Enchantress's feet, begging her to spare their lives.
"Please! We did not wish to offend! We came seeking your counsel!"
The enchantress stared.
"You break oaths like rock breaks a wave,
then grovel at my feet, driven by fear of the grave?
Begone, bedraggled Weaver of Fate,
iconoclasts shall feel the full force of my hate."
"Hey!" said Rainbow Dash. "We have no idea what this oath is!"
"Yeah!" agreed Pinkie. "Besides, you started it!"
"You bring about this endless night,
you forsake my every will and right,
you act upon my charms as violator,
and yet you dare to call me instigator?"
"Twilight?" Applejack ventured. "I ain't quite following what she's sayin', but... did she jus' accuse us of bringing about eternal night?"
"You seek to claim that for this travesty,
your kin in seid and gald hold no responsibility?
I know well that power of this scale and magnitude,
rests solely with your Queen and her sycophantic brood."
Twilight crawled to her knees, head still hung in deference.
"The Queen is gone. She's probably dead. It was the Night-Mare who brought this upon us."
The Enchantress' luminescent eyes widened, and she spat a string of foreign curses indecipherable in their exoticism but unmistakable in their viciousness.
"You mean to tell she slipped her bonds,
that the night again to her call responds?"
"Yes," replied Twilight. Thoughts of the beast and what it had done to her mentor had invaded her mind, and she couldn't keep the quiver of tears out of her voice.
The enchantress seemed unsure. Her rage was still potent, but losing direction. She looked down at the Völva, watched the green reflections dance across her cloak.
"You come to seek my aid and ken,
but fail to speak with what, and when.
Speak the truth, no lie nor jest,
What do you seek upon this foolish quest?"
"We want to dethrone the Night-Mare and bring back the day. To do that, we need the Elements of Harmony. We... we hoped you might know something."
The anger fell off the enchantress like snow off a branch on the first day of spring. The green mist settled, and the masks receded, slowly, into the forest, where they once again became motionless. She heaved an impassioned sigh.
"I know well that in youth, the mind goes wild,
but your views, and your sense, are like those of a child.
Knowing naught, you seek to overthrow divinity,
actions which convey cleverness is nowhere in your vicinity."
"Hey!" shouted Rainbow. "Are you suggesting that I can't take on that overblown windbag? Because I'll deflate her good, any day of the week!"
"Yeah!" agreed Pinkie. "We'll overthrow her, all right! Overthrow her so far she'll go under, and then she won't know what's coming to her, because she'll be upside-down!"
The Enchantress shook her head.
"This is the flaw in all of your kind,
you act with your heart instead of your mind.
Overfed on stories of honour and blood,
you are eager to die, for to you, dying is good.
So you get your heads all worked up,
you tell stories, of spirits drain your cup,
then march out, eyes blazing, limbs stiff,
obedient as dogs, you step right of the cliff."
Twilight didn't bother looking behind her before putting up a warning hand.
"Don't even think about it."
Pinkie huffed and put the axe back in her belt.
"My friends here are very proud, but they know as well as I do," Twilight said, pausing to throw said friends a caustic glance. "That we don't stand a chance. That's why we need the elements. Please, you have to help us."
The enchantress remained unimpressed.
"Please," begged Applejack. "Ah've seen frost like this before, and that din't last from moonrise to moonrise. Crops're dead already, and there's only so much stored up. People are gonna start dyin' before long."
The enchantress turned away from them, staring off into the night.
"Her revenge shall not be as petty as simple death,
she seeks to rule as Queen, and her subjects must draw breath.
Her image on your people's hearts she would carve,
if I know her well enough, she will not allow them to starve."
"Now what in the hay is that supposed to mean?"
"Perhaps with more insightful questions you should grapple,
that way to learn much more, vaunted Jack of Clan Apple."
Applejack's face contorted as she tried to worm her mind through the twists and turns the Enchantress forced it through. At long length, a reply slogged out of her mouth.
"Are you... callin' me stupid?"
"It would be far from me to be so crass,
but you seem to try so hard to emulate the ass.
Yet I tire ever of this idle talk,
come, dear Norsemen, let us walk."
The Enchantress strode into the woods. Twilight scrambled to her feet and hurried after her. The others followed far less enthusiastically.
She lead them to a great tree, every branch of it hanging thick with charms and potions. She rapped the trunk three times with her knuckles and mumbled something, and when she grabbed a small protrusion, it gave way and opened a door, as if it had always been there.
"Though I am to your quest adverse,
it is better to in warmth and light converse.
Though a demon has made dark the skyward dome,
I still rule here; I bid you welcome to my home."
Twilight was wild with excitement. Everything in the hut was new. She breathed deep the scents, and studied every ornament. This place had power. Every fetish oozed with strength drawn from distant lands and alien gods.
The Enchantress watched her, a tentative smile reaching her luminescent eyes.
"I see you are intrigued by what I have on show,
which is good, for knowledge is key to the before, the here and now.
But be not careless with all my this and that,
you must remember what happened to the cat."
Twilight froze in her tracks.
"Curiosity killed it?"
The Enchantress laughed.
"Indeed, for you see, my friends are not so fond of your sect,
but you will not be harmed, lest you fail to pay respect.
Ah! But to speak of respect, while myself being so rude,
it is a wonder your opinion of me is not more skewed.
Of your names and callings, I have learned a plethora,
but not yet told of mine; I am called Zecora."
With those words, she pulled back her hood, and the Ponyvillians jaws fell agape, for she looked like nothing they had ever seen before. She seemed human enough, but her skin was as dark as the night and her hair stood straight up from her head in a narrow band of alternating pitch black and snow white, but the rest of her head was bald. She wore many golden rings, much like those the native folk wore on their arms, around her neck and large golden disks hung from her ears. She was very slender, and her features where very sharp and clean, but she had a big smile on her face that caused great big dimples to appear in the side of her cheeks, and although her appearance seemed otherwise almost demonic, she did not look the least bit intimidating.
"That is how my face, too, did contort,
when first I saw those of your sort.
So stout of frame and pale of skin,
hard to see a human being dwelt within."
"Our sort?" said Applejack. "You implyin' there's an entire sort of ye?"
"But of course, Applejack," said Rarity, having regained her royal manner. "Have you never met the people from the south? They're all quite dark of skin, and the further south they live, the darker they are. I suppose or new friend here must come from very far south indeed."
Zecora nodded sagely and began to peel off the many layers of strange hides she wore and stack them all up in a neat pile.
"You speak true, oh high-held head,
I hail far from this stony, icy bed."
She kept peeling away layers until she was wearing nothing but a brightly coloured cloth, secured here and there with knotted ropes, but very loosely fitted overall. It looked too breezy for even a mild summer's day, but it did not bother Zecora, for there was a great fire roaring in the middle of the hut, and the cold somehow failed entirely to penetrate the walls. She gestured towards the floor.
"I have not seats or table for so many more,
I hope you will not mind, and join me on the floor.
Though this heat will soon cause undue stress,
I beg you, shed your furs, undress."
The heat in the hut really was stifling, and the enchantress's advice was sound. Twilight, being still quite curious about Zecora and her customs, decided to follow her host's example, and stripped down to just her tunic, which she didn't bother to fasten at all. Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie all saw the wisdom of her decision, and joined her. Rarity laid off her heavy cloak, but flat-out refused to get so undressed, calling it "improper." This of course caused Dash and Applejack to pounce, mocking her for her foppishness. Fluttershy, too, remained clothed, but no-one saw much good in teasing her about it.
Zecora prepared a stew in a great cauldron above the fire, adding meats and spices both well known and altogether new to all the others. She was not an excellent cook, and the meal had a strange, tangy after-taste, but it was filling and very well-received after so many nights in the cold.
Twilight and Zecora got to talking, and they went on talking, occasionally joined by the others, for a long time. At first, Twilight tried to talk about the Night Mare and their desire to defeat her, but Zecora would have none of it. So instead, they spoke of Zecora's homeland and her travels, and Twilight shared tales of hers, short and unimpressive as they were. They spoke of this at long length, until all the others were fast asleep in the nook of a room that Zecora had prepared for them. Then they spoke of deeper secrets, of the magic of the far north and the far south, magic of ice and snow and fate and of the deep jungles and of the animals and the sacred herbs. Zecora spoke of the gods of her homeland and of those she had encountered in her travels, of tricky Spider and mighty Lion, Legba of the crossroads and Ogun the metalworker. Twilight listened very intently, and when it was her turn to tell, Zecora listened, too, even though she had heard the stories before.
They spoke long into the night, but the next morning, Zecora still refused to tell them any more of the Night Mare. This day flowed past like the previous, and many others after it did as well. Twilight spent her every moment conversing with Zecora, and never once did she spend the night with the others, opting instead to sleep on simple cot prepared for her by Zecora so that they could speak uninterrupted.
The others grew bored quickly, and started up their games of play-fighting again. They still poked much fun at Rarity, and she went off in a huff more than once, but she came back every time, and every time she did, the insults grew less vicious in tone, until they were chiding her no more harshly than they were each other. One day, when she managed to land a particularly satisfying blow to the top of Rainbow's head, they even cheered for her.
Fluttershy naturally did not partake in these activities, preferring to avert her eyes and tend to Spike instead. It was the first time either of them had seemed particularly content since the Midsummer's Eve; the cold and the fear had done a number on both of them.
Thus time passed, and they grew ever more impatient. Rainbow Dash, in particular, was quite vocal in her discontent.
"Come on, Twilight!" she whispered. "We can't stay here all year! Every day we stay is another day the people of Ponyville starve."
"I know! What I don't know is where to go, Rainbow Dash. But she does. We can't just walk blindly into the night. We'd only be marching to our doom."
"At least we'd be marching somewhere! This boredom is killing me."
Twilight sighed deeply.
"I know that, too, but I think she's coming around. I just need a bit more time."
And that was that, until one early morning when Dash rose, full of anger, unable to take it any more. She stomped off into into main room to demand they continue their travels, but lost herself entirely when she found Twilight.
She was standing naked by one of the huge windows – marvellous things that could not be seen from the outside – and stared off into the night with a grim countenance. Dash soon saw why; huge white flakes danced on the other side, and the moon was already reflecting off the whitening treetops.
It was snowing.
"We're leaving," said Twilight. She couldn't have missed Dash, not with the furious clatter she had made getting out of bed, but she paid her no mind.
From her bed in the shadows, Zecora spoke. She sounded like a woman defeated.
"Further in and farther still,
across glade and grove and hill,
lies a stone-hewn hall of yore
greater than all halls later or before.
This is where the Night Mare dwelt
and the Sun-queen first her darkness felt.
That is where the Elements lie, beneath the ages buried,
though I wish your journey towards death was not so hurried."
"We move towards death because there is nowhere else to go, Zecora."
"Of this I am but too aware,
and I do wish you luck in your terrible affair.
I know well that all life must end, but it is a dark and terrible moon,
under which such young lives must be thrown away so very soon."
"You got that right," said Twilight. Her voice rose as she addressed the one who lurked in the doorway, but she did not turn around. "Rainbow Dash, wake the others. We have to leave right now, before the snow covers the paths.”
Dash made a brief grunt of acknowledgement. As she turned to make her way back to the sleeping quarters, she stole a glance into the darkness where Zecora has spoken from. It seemed that Twilight's cot had been packed away already or – Rainbow Dash thought this more likely – had not been set out at all.
"Do we really have to go?"
They all looked at Fluttershy with astonishment. It wasn't so much that she spoke up for once as it was that she had tried to influence their decision, however passive that attempt was.
"Yes we do, Fluttershy," Twilight said, exasperated. "It's why we came here in the first place. If you don't want to come, I can ask Zecora if you can-"
"No, it's, uh, it's fine. I'll go."
Twilight fought down the impulse to urge her to please stay, but she knew what would happen if she did. Rarity would chew her out, Fluttershy would be even more flustered, everybody would get in a tissy and they'd all be at each other's throats again. It simply wasn't worth it.
Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash was of a far less pragmatic bend.
"Look, Fluttershy, you can't just come along on this journey and then question it every step of the way. If you don't want to come, just say so, but make up your damn mind!"
Fluttershy shrunk away, and Rarity stepped forward to defend her. Before she could start her inevitable tirade, Twilight stepped in.
"Stop! I've had enough of your quarrels. You can't stand around arguing, because we're running out of time!"
Rainbow Dash snorted.
"Didn't seem to stop you from spending some enjoying yourself."
Twilight spoke through clenched teeth, with a voice she must have borrowed from the winds outside, because all who heard it felt a terrible chill in their bones.
"Let's just leave, already."
She pushed open the door, and although the cold yet failed to pass through whatever barrier the enchantress maintained, she longed to be back by the fire sharing stories with Zecora before she even stepped through.
|
Thunderclaw
|
1040
| 4 |
Main 6,Spike,Alternate Universe,Human,Adventure,Dark,Sad,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
My Little Viking: Kinship is Seid
|
When ponies are vikings, friendship involves blood, death and honour.
|
incomplete
| 67 | 0 |
<p>What if My Little Pony took place in a world where laughing at your fears wasn't enough to make them go away? Where friendship that isn't sealed in blood won't get you through the winter? Where your only shot at paradise is death in glorious combat?</p><p>And what if, in such a world, it doesn't take an evening to depose Nightmare moon? If night lasts not hours, but weeks, months, years. If a noble quest to save the land turns into an obsessive hunt for vengeance as the cold and the beasts slowly bring down everybody you ever cared about, if every time you take a step forward, another heart that loved you stops beating?</p><p>Gather round, sons and daughters of Heimdall. I am about to tell you "What if?"</p><p>Cover art by Malrai (<a href="http://malrai.deviantart.com/" rel="nofollow">http://malrai.deviantart.com/</a>).</p>
|
teen
|
2012-06-14T23:02:57+00:00
|
2012-06-14T23:02:57+00:00
| 1,225 |
Twilight took point, but refused all attempts at communication. The winds were mild, but the snowfall was steady and the woods as thick as ever. It was not long before the enchantress's hut was lost from view. For a long time, they kept passing by her totems, but with each step they grew more scarce until there were no more. Still Twilight walked on, occasionally looking about for some secret sign or waypoint. In the beginning, she moved with great speed and efficiency, but as time passed and the snow thickened, she became increasingly slow and erratic, sometimes doubling back and moving in circles.
After one particularly chaotic spell, which involved several concentric circles and a lot of digging in the snow, she sat down, hid her face in her arms and cried out in frustration. Applejack attempted contact.
"What, uh, seems to be the problem, sugar?"
"I can't find the signs," muttered Twilight. "They're covered in snow. I lost the trail hours ago."
Rainbow moaned audibly.
"Dammit, Twilight. If you're going to get all huffy and not talk to us, you could at least make sure you know what you're doing. I never would've lost that trail."
"I know that, Rainbow Dash," Twilight snarled. "You would also never have gotten the directions in the first place."
"Doesn't matter much now that we're lost."
"I know. But if you're such an expert tracker, why don't you find me the road, hmm? Find me the road through the forest, Rainbow Dash, and I'll eat every word I've said."
Rainbow's packs clattered when they hit the ground, but the girl herself hardly made a sound when she darted off into the falling snow.
Faced with no better options, they made improvised camp where they stood, and when Dash did not return, they set up a fire and slept there.
They awoke to find the huntress standing over them.
"Just a bit up, maybe two, three days travel at your pace there's like an alley through the woods. Maybe three wagons wide and crazy long. Looks like someone sliced the forest with a giant knife. Is that your road, Twilight?"
Twilight didn't look her in the eyes, but the managed to squeak out an answer.
"I think so. Thank you, Rainbow Dash."
"Don't mention it. But, uh, could you please mention what we're going to do after we get there?"
Twilight rose slowly. She spoke to her feet.
"We follow the road towards the heart of the forest. We can't move on it, though, because the Night Mare has many servants, and they'll be travelling on that way. Not too far ahead, there's a pass we'll have to go through, and beyond that, we will have to cross the river and the mountains, and, and..." Twilight paused, unsure of herself. "And it's a really long way."
"Ain't it always," said Applejack, already hoisting her pack onto her back. She checked and double-checked that Bloomberg's scabbard was sitting right, and she drew and sheathed to sword many times before she was satisfied that it would neither get snagged when she pulled it, nor fall out at an inopportune moment.
Rarity sat a little ways out, brushing her hair.
“I don't mean to sound crass, Twilight, darling, but could you be a little more specific?” she said.
Twilight's gaze wandered into the forest, and her mind wandered much farther still. She thought of what Zecora had said while they were preparing to leave, recalling all the waypoints.
“Months.”
“Oh dear.”
“Well then, you better get your snorky little bum moving then!” said Pinkie. Twilight could've sworn she'd been asleep just a second ago. “We're already burning moonlight! Come on, chop chop, there's no time like go time!”
So they set out.
By the third day, they'd gotten within viewing distance of the road, or so Rainbow Dash claimed. None of the others could verify that claim, but they'd learned to trust her eyes. While they were setting up camp for the night, Rainbow Dash came upon the fresh footprints of a hind, and before the fire had burned down, she had felled the beast and brought it back to the camp where she proceeded to butcher it.
They watched the dance of her knife, drooling like hungry dogs, and when Dash offered them some choice bits of raw meat, they ate like dogs as well.
It took Twilight much longer than she cared to admit to notice that Fluttershy wasn't there at all. In fact, as soon as Rainbow had dragged her kill into view, Fluttershy had absconded to the very edge of circle of light, closed her eyes and put her hands over her ears in an attempt to block out the sensations. Even Rarity seemed to have been to entranced by the concept of fresh meat to notice her.
Perhaps Twilight would have liked to think that she acted out of altruism when she wiped the blood from her mouth and went to sit with the timid girl, but the truth is that she was simply a creature of curiosity.
“Hey,” she said, gently tapping Fluttershy's arm. “What's the matter?”
Fluttershy didn't remove her hands from her ears, but heard anyway.
“Oooh, I just can't bear it. She killed the poor thing, and now she's, she's... I can't think about it, please don't make me think about it.”
“Uhm, I don't mean to seem judgemental or anything, but why do you care so much about animals, anyway?”
“How can you not care about animals?” snapped Fluttershy.
Twilight was taken aback by the sudden accusatory tone of her voice. She recoiled, eyes darting to and from as if looking for an escape route.
“Because...” She hesitated. “They're animals?”
“I just don't understand. Why do innocent creatures have to die just because we're hungry?”
Twilight remembered a conversation she'd had with the Queen, when she was still very young. She had asked about the purpose of death, not, as many do, out of righteous indignation, but out of childlike curiosity. The Queen had spoken blasphemy then, as she often did when she told the truth. Blasphemy had its places, but the Queen had also said many clever things, and tonight Twilight felt that tonight, cleverness was in her best interest.
“It is simply how fate works. To weave a tapestry as intricate as the world we live in, threads must be cut.”
Fluttershy nodded, drying tears from her eyes. Then she got a curious look in her eye, and she turned to Twilight.
“Then why do the gods live forever?”
“The gods ch...” Twilight caught herself just before she finished that treacherous sentence. It played out only in her head, unheard by the judgemental ears of her friends.
The gods cheat.
“The gods are the strongest threads of all, the ones that keep the rest of the tapestry in line. If those threads were to be cut, the whole thing would come undone.”
Fluttershy nodded solemnly, apparently convinced by Twilight's platitudes.
“I just don't understand how someone could do that. I could never hurt one of my babies.”
“Your babies?”
“Didn't you see them when you came to my house? All the birds and the bunnies and the-”
Fluttershy broke down again, sobbing uncontrollably into her hands.
“Oh, my poor, poor babies.”
Twilight made the astute judgement that the time for reason was over. She put her arm around Fluttershy.
“Don't worry, I'm sure they'll be fine.”
Fluttrshy's voice was a whisper, only just barely audible over the wind.
“They're already dead.”
Twilight bit back agreement. She knew very well that the cold would've already killed the creatures in Fluttershy's yard, and if it didn't, the villagers would have come looking for food.
“You don't know that.”
“I do know! My babies are dead, and it's all the Night Mare's fault.”
They sat there for a while, feeling quite foolish, if perhaps a little better than before. Although Twilight once again wished Fluttershy had just decided to stay home.
The hind was small, and it barely lasted them until the following morning, but the meal left the group in a much better mood. Except for Fluttershy, of course, but her specific discontent melded into her generally miserable state and no-one took any particular notice.
They moved parallel to the road for days until the landscape began to twist and heave. The bumpy forest floor turned into full-on hills that in turn became the foot of a flat and overgrown mountain. The path carved into a pass between the mountain and one of its brothers, and if they kept going as they had, to the side of it, they would be forced up the mountain, which seemed to curve in the opposite direction of the path. They stopped beneath an outcropping to shield themselves from the wind and discuss their next move.
“We have to move onto the road,” said Twilight Sparkle. “We can't afford to lose our way.”
“I dunno, Twilight. Didn't you say the Night Mare sends her servants along this path?” said Dash.
“Well, yes, but we haven't seen any, right? Besides, there's no telling where we'd even end up. We might have to walk around the entire mountain! We don't have time for that.”
“We ain't got time to be dead, neither,” said Applejack.
“I would prefer not being dead,” Fluttershy added.
At this, Pinkie Pie blew a terrific raspberry.
“Oh, pish-posh. What's the worst that could happen? Death in glorious combat? Puh-lease, the way I see it, that's an improvement. Besides, weren't you guys super worried about your families and stuff?”
“Pinkie may be a bit... crude, but she does have a point,” interjected Rarity. “We simply cannot allow this to drag on any further than it absolutely must. We all knew we'd have to face danger on this journey, did we not?”
“Maybe,” said Applejack. “But I ain't too fond of no unnecessary risks. The people back home depend on us, y'know. Ain't no sense in getting ourselves killed if it can be helped.”
“We know nothing of these mountains, or the woods around them,” said Twilight. “They could loop around beautifully and we'd be back on track before the next moon, or they could stretch on until the world's end. We don't know. The only choice we have is to trust Zecora, and that means following the path.”
They gave a murmured chorus of agreement, although no-one seemed at all pleased. The issue of planning now taken care of, they decided to make camp and set out onto the path after next they slept to avoid camping on the road if at all possible.
When they woke, they packed together the camp quickly and in silence. Before they left the camp, they each donned their mail shirts. The armour was heavy, uncomfortable and noisy, qualities which prompted protestations from both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Rarity, who had made a great fuzz over making sure the links were unbroken and the padding properly fitted, reprimanded them both quite sternly, and the grew quiet.
Having so prepared themselves, they approached the road with trepidation, as if the ground itself were an enemy. The trail was very wide and cut through the trees in an irregular pattern. It often veered aside to avoid boulders and hills but just as often there were bends and nooks that seemed to fill no purpose. Perhaps the road swayed in deference to obstacles gone for many ages, or perhaps it had been overgrown and reconnected many times. Either way, it gave the impression of being very old.
As the mountains rose up, the path fell down into a valley between them, forming a gash between them in exactly the same way that it split apart the woods.
The cliff walls grew very high and very smooth. Only in a few places were there outcroppings where plants once grew, all but the hardiest now smothered by the snow. The snow muffled their steps, but other sound echoed loudly across, so they spoke only in whispers so as to avoid drawing attention.
The valley started out as wide as the road that led to it and as tall as two men, but it soon grew very narrow and very deep. Soon, it was barely wide enough to allow them to walk abreast and the cliff walls were taller than any hall they had ever seen. When the moon was not directly above, it became dark as well and they had only the distant stars to rely on for light. They ended up following the left wall of the canyon, so as to have common direction. They walked for hours, the passageway growing slowly more narrow until finally Rainbow Dash spotted something.
Further ahead, the passage widened considerably, forming a basin of sorts with trees and vegetation. The moonlight could reach into the wider area, and even the less keen-eyed of the group could see the walls closing in again on the far side of the basin. Still, some freedom of movement would be a welcome change from the cramped passageway they were currently trekking through.
Twilight was just about to say something to that effect when a hideous sound shook the canyon. It was deep and rumbling, like a giant saw at the bottom of a well, but it was coloured with hate and fury, as only the voice of a living thing can be.
They all froze. Fluttershy collapsed onto the ground.
“What in tarnation was that?” Applejack whispered.
“No doubt a beast of some sort,” said Rarity while helping Fluttershy back on her feet. “A rather large one, I would suspect.”
“You guys stay here,” said Rainbow Dash, stringing her bow. “I'm just gonna go have a closer lo- oh shit.”
She'd seen it first, but now they all did. Just a few feet away from the opening a huge body trudged through the snow. The creature was like a lynx, but many times the size; it was almost as big as a bear. Its fur was short and pale except for a great mass of darker hair that surrounded its head. In place of a cat's tail, there was a massive chitinous limb, like the leg of an insect, but it had many, many segments and ended in a wicked barb. The tail was raised high above its head, twitching with anticipation. Its face was contorted into a snarl, and it was making odd grunt noises, and throwing it's head about haphazardly. A thin but constant stream of drool hung out of its mouth. It shivered horribly, the thing fur unable to protect it from the cold.
It twitched and turned its glowing eyes down the canyon. It gave another roar and leapt into the opening.
Spike shrugged off the saddlebags and rose, dragonfire burning hot in his belly. Fluttershy whispered something and gestured at him, but he took no notice. The flame spewed forward over the heads of the women, melting the snow and scorching the rock. The beast disappeared behind a wall of light and heat.
When the fire fell away, images of it still floated in their vision, and they could hardly see at all even in the moonlight. So they waited. Another angry roar shook them, and they saw the points of light that was the creature's eyes, closer now.
Spike hissed, slowly stepping ahead of the humans, eyes focused on the only reference point he had – the creature's eyes. He hoped by all his gods and ancestors that the cat was as blinded as they were, or things would soon end badly.
Applejack saw what he was doing, and didn't approve.
“Whoa nelly! You hold it right there, Spikey-boy. I ain't letting you face that thing by yerself.” she said, stepping forward.
“I really think you shouldn't,” muttered Fluttershy.
“Now, dear” interjected Rarity as she took to Applejack's side, brandishing her own shield. She held her warhammer much too tightly and sweat ran over her knuckles, but her voice was calm. “I couldn't possibly let you face such a ghastly thing on your own.”
“Please, you have to listen,” Fluttershy tried.
“Enough chit-chat!” bellowed Pinkie, banging axe against shield. “Have at!”
They lunged forward, and the beast struck out at them from the darkness.
“STOP!”
Fluttershy's voice carried a weight previously unheard, and her voice might as well have been a well-placed strike, for it took the air out the attackers just as surely. Even the beast recoiled.
“Please, you mustn't fight it,” said Fluttershy in the ensuing silence. “He's sick.”
Rainbow Dash cried in frustration.
“Look, Fluttershy, I've had it up to here with your cowardly ways. If you think you're going to stop me from defending myself from an animal just because it's sick, you're weaker than I thought!”
“No, you don't understand! Look at him! Look at his face! Don't you see it?”
They looked, for their eyes were again slowly becoming accustomed to the moonlight. There was great anger there, yes, but it seemed equally scared and confused. It even looked a little comical with its jaw hanging open and drool pouring into the snow.
Twilight's eyes widened, and her whole body trembled.
“Freya's locks. The water-terror” she whispered hoarsely. The others gave her a queer look, but Fluttershy nodded.
“Yes. You can't fight it, because if you get just a single teeny-weeny itsy-bitsy scratch on you, you could end up like this poor creature; scared, angry and in so much pain. Then your body will just give up. First the limbs and the face and then... and then...” Fluttershy choked. “And then the lungs.”
“Can't you do anything about it?” asked Rainbow Dash, eyeing the great cat suspiciously.
Fluttershy stepped ahead of Applejack and her shield, watching the great cat skulk in the shadows.
“Just one thing,” she said. She had a lump in her throat the size of a war barge. “Can I borrow your knife, Rainbow Dash?”
“What do you want my knife for?”
“Please.”
Rainbow shrugged and unholstered the great knife she kept at her belt. It was very large, with a broad, strong blade and the type of sharply angular tip that earned the type the monicker “broken-back”. It was a gorgeous weapon, but Fluttershy didn't so much as look at it. Rarity, however, stared at it with hateful intensity. Although no-one much noticed that, either.
The timid little girl stepped forward, free hand gloveless and stretched out in front of her. She called out to the creature, much the same way she had when first she met Spike.
“Good boy, nice and easy, be a good boy,” she crooned. The creature stared and twitched, jumping back.
“Oh no, don't be scared. I know it hurts, I know it does, but you're such a good boy, if you just calm down, mama Fluttershy's gonna make it all better.”
It growled half-heartedly, but stopped its retreat.
“Yes, good boy, just a little closer, a little bit closer, don't be scared.”
She was within striking distance of the beast now, and the party cringed, but the beast did not lash out. Not even when Fluttershy touched its mane did it react. She stroked its wet fur with bare hands, allowing herself to cherish the short-grained texture and icy cold of it. There was life there, under the frozen surface. Great muscles trembling in a futile attempt to reduce the cold, a barrel of a chest heaving to and fro like the bellows of a forge. Fluttershy couldn't help but smile at how ridiculous it was for such a mighty creature to be fretting fearfully under her touch. And yet, her smile was tinged by sorrow.
“You're a good kitty, yes you are. You're just a little sick, that's all. Don't you worry, mama Fluttershy is gonna make it all better.”
She scratched it behind the ears and kissed it on the head. Her arms reached around its gargantuan neck, and she held it close, breathing in the strange, wet smell of it. She remained so for ages, holding everything back. Then the beast nuzzled her hair contently, and the mask crumbled. She bawled like a child at her mother's funeral, kissing and hugging the creature furiously.
“I'm so sorry,” she whispered between sobbing breaths, stroking the luxurious fur that encircled the creature's head. Her hands travelled to its neck, scratching it gently. She felt the pulse of life there, just beneath the skin.
Life that had to end.
“I'm so sorry,” she whispered into its ears and kissed it for the last time. “I'm so sorry.”
Her cut was deep and precise. Steam rose into the air as warm blood spilled into the chilly night. The creature threashed about furiously, but even in its dying throes it could not bring itself to harm Fluttershy, who still held its head in her arms, weeping loudly and begging it for forgiveness.
None of the others dared to move a muscle until the thing had stopped, which was long before Fluttershy stopped crying. Twilight stared in amazement.
“But.... but how can... nobody makes a cut that clean on the first try.”
“She's had plenty of practice,” said Rarity through gritted teeth.
“But I thought she loved animals? She got sick just thinking about hurting them!”
“She does, dear. She loves those animals like she would her own children. But sometimes children get sick, and sometimes they'll never get better. She tries, of course. Every time, she tries. And every time she fails, she knows that she must show mercy. Every time, she breaks down in tears.”
“She gets like this every time?”
“Every single time. She's stronger than she looks, Twilight.”
With that, Rarity went to comfort Fluttershy. They sat for a long time together before the beast's remains before Fluttershy's loud bawling receded into quiet sobs and at last stopped entirely.
They made camp in the canyon, just before the opening. Although they could probably have had some use of it, no-one dared touch the carcass of the great beast. In fact, even though they still had some dried meats left in their packs, that night they feasted on crumbling bread and nuts.
No-one had much stomach for dead things.
|
Thunderclaw
|
1040
| 5 |
Main 6,Spike,Alternate Universe,Human,Adventure,Dark,Sad,Tragedy,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
My Little Viking: Kinship is Seid
|
When ponies are vikings, friendship involves blood, death and honour.
|
incomplete
| 67 | 0 |
<p>What if My Little Pony took place in a world where laughing at your fears wasn't enough to make them go away? Where friendship that isn't sealed in blood won't get you through the winter? Where your only shot at paradise is death in glorious combat?</p><p>And what if, in such a world, it doesn't take an evening to depose Nightmare moon? If night lasts not hours, but weeks, months, years. If a noble quest to save the land turns into an obsessive hunt for vengeance as the cold and the beasts slowly bring down everybody you ever cared about, if every time you take a step forward, another heart that loved you stops beating?</p><p>Gather round, sons and daughters of Heimdall. I am about to tell you "What if?"</p><p>Cover art by Malrai (<a href="http://malrai.deviantart.com/" rel="nofollow">http://malrai.deviantart.com/</a>).</p>
|
teen
|
2012-07-09T16:49:05+00:00
|
2012-07-09T16:49:05+00:00
| 1,182 |
Rainbow Dash woke early. In her own bed, she would drowse for hours, but out in the wilderness she rose with the birds.
No birds this morning, though. No morning, either. Just moonlight and silence. The cold filled her. It passed through blankets and clothes, biting into her bones. Every time she woke like this, she was afraid. The numbness was akin to death, and every movement was sluggish. She couldn’t help but be afraid that this time, her body would simply refuse to move. Slowly, she moved in circles, doing a strange little dance under the covers. Warm blood welled from the secret places near her heart into her frozen limbs, bringing back life to every pointless flap of skin. Rainbow squealed in delight as every movement became more fluid and the fear of death abated. She sat up and arched her back, relishing in her mobility.
Unwilling to sit still for fear the cold would catch her again, she went out into the basin to explore. On the surface, it looked much like the outside forest, but Rainbow Dash knew better than to trust the surface. She kicked around in the snow, poking at the frozen roots and dead leaves to figure out what manner of things had lived here before the eternal night fell. She had just gotten out her big knife to collect a few specimens of edible varieties when she heard decisive steps behind her.
“Oh hi, Rarity,” she said without turning. “Didn’t expect you up so soon.”
“Where did you get it?” Rarity’s voice was hard as stone and filled with a disgust the likes of which Dash had only heard once before, many years ago when Rarity was given the final ultimatum by her clan.
“Got what? What’s the matter, Rares?” she said, turning to look her old friend in the eye. Only there didn’t seem to be much friendship between them at the moment.
“The seax, you incorrigible curr. Did you steal it off someone more deserving, or did you trick some poor, gullible gentleman into believing it was for your master?”
“Hey! I don’t know what your problem is, Rares, but this thing is mine, okay?” Dash said, waving the knife around. “I paid for it myself, with money you gave me for helping me prepare that feast, remember?”
Rarity was shaking with anger, and her voice was slow and intense. Half a lifetime among the Canterlot nobles and a rigid adherence to civility was all that prevented her from flying into a shrieking fit. Instead, she focused all the bile inside her into words. She spoke from the heart, but every syllable and synonym was designed to hurt, to batter Rainbow Dash in the only arena where Rarity felt comfortable fighting.
“You have no right,” she hissed. “That is the weapon of a free woman. You have no right.”
When she finally realized the source of Rarity’s indignation, Dash felt as if a trapdoor upon which she stood had sprung open, and she was falling into darkness. Her heart felt empty. But instead of being crushed at the bottom, flames rose from below, the heat of her own deepest indignation and hatred propelling her upwards. Instead of gently side-stepping Rarity’s fury, she met her concentrated flame head-on with her own unruly inferno of emotions.
She stepped forward, fixing her eyes and Rarity’s together.
“But I am a free woman. You don’t get to tell me what rights I have any more!”
Rarity stared back as unwavering as always.
“You are a freed woman, Rainbow Dash. Don’t you dare think a prize of gold could just erase all the obligations you have towards society. Towards me.”
Rainbow struck her. A full-palmed blow across the face that hit so hard, Rarity fell to the ground, head swimming. Through the haze, she saw Rainbow with tears at the edge of her eyes, voice cracking up..
“I don’t have any obligations towards you! That was the whole point.”
Rarity got up, wobbling unsteadily on flimsy legs. Despite obvious nausea, she retained her regal posture and an even more fiercely focused disgust. She frowned at Dash, the grimace causing pain in her rapidly swelling cheek.
“You don’t understand. There are still rules. You can grow your hair long, surround yourself with the trinkets of independence and call yourself a free woman all you like. Until you start acting as one should, all you are is a thrall with an an attitude problem.”
She spat on the snow, splattering it red. The slap had split her cheek against her teeth and her mouth was slowly filling up with the tell-tale iron flavour.
“Had I known you were going to be this disrespectful, I would never have allowed you to buy your freedom.”
Rainbow Dash sniffled, holding the tears back.
“If I’d known you were going to be such a bitch, I would’ve told Twilight what you keep in your saddlebag before we even set out.”
Rarity’s gaze turned from anger to fear.
“You wouldn’t.”
“I didn’t think I would, but you know, I never thought you’d talk to me like this, either.”
Rarity ground her teeth.
“You’re like a child. An unruly, ungrateful child!” she screamed with a wild gesture. “You know what, then? Fine. Be that way. When you’re ready to be a grown-up, throw away that blade and come talk to me. Until you do learn some manners, I would appreciate it if you could refrain from debasing my life with your presence.”
Still fuming, she returned to the camp to find the others engaged in the morning’s chores. She tried to help, but her violent temper caused her to fail the simplest of tasks, and she was quickly relieved of her duties and left to stew in a corner.
Rainbow Dash waited another hour to go back. She didn’t want anyone to see her crying.
|
Sedgewick
|
1043
| 1 |
Applejack,Pinkie Pie,Rainbow Dash,Rarity,Twilight Sparkle,Sad,Slice of Life,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Words Left Unsaid
|
What is there to say to someone, when they're no longer there?
|
complete
| 22 | 5 |
<p>What is there to say to someone, when they're no longer there?</p><p>Well this is officially my very first fanfic/story that I have ever made. So excuse anything that may seem out of whack or whatever. I tried. Anyway I hope there's some people who will enjoy this and also any criticism is allowed. I could use any advice and tips that you can give me.</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-10-05T22:23:14+00:00
|
2011-10-05T22:23:14+00:00
| 3,787 |
Words Left Unsaid by Zev/Zev's Requiem.
I also want to thank Deejay pon3 for proof reading this and encouraging me to continue on writing. So thank you. Also a big thank you to Some Person and MelodicMadness for their giant walls of criticism. Very much appreciated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was a beautiful day out today. The fillies and colts were running amuck, playing and having fun. Adults enjoying their Saturday afternoon. Everypony was having a good time, except for a familiar group of friends. To these friends, it was a very unfortunate day. Especially for one; Rainbow Dash.
“It's hard to believe this really happened...” stated Twilight. Depression hung around the air about them. No pony could think of anything to say at this time, it was just minutes of silence. Rainbow Dash had taken this harshly, and there was very little that anypony could do or say that could of helped lift her spirits. The death of a friend is an agonizing thing to go through indeed.
“It's beginning to get late you, guys. We should probably start heading home.” Rarity suggested, mainly trying to break the sad silence the group had been engulfed in.
“Rarity's right, guys. Ah can see the sun startin' to set now.” replied an orange Earth pony known as Applejack. Twilight and Pinkie looked at each nodding in agreement.
“You guys go ahead, I wanna stay here for a little longer.” Rainbow sighed as she stared blankly down at the ground.
“Well alright Rainbow, just take care of yourself ya hear?” Said Applejack as she laid a hoof on Dash's shoulder. She nodded, still looking down at the ground. Her friends began their trot home before the sun set. She sat there for several moments until she couldn't hear her friends anymore. She glanced up to the gravestone that lay before her, then to the sky, watching the sun slowly makes its way across the rest of the sky. Rainbow took a deep breath before breaking the silence she had sat in for so long.
“So I guess this is how it all ends ...” she began
“It's hard to believe that this is how it really ends though...”. Rainbow looked back at the grave in front of her. Another moment of silence drew by as she gazed at the grave. The smallest of smirks made its way across Rainbow's mouth.
“I remember all the great times we had together. Like at the best young fliers competition. And planning Pinkie's birthday party...those were some good ones.” She glanced back up to the sky. The sun still inching itself closer over the horizon.
“And even if you thought I never liked having you around, or that I got frustrated trying to teach you something, then that's not true. I loved spending time with you.” Rainbow paused for a second. The smirk that was on her face before had quickly turned into a frown as she dropped her head to the ground again.
“I only wish I could of spent more time with you.” her heart sank, a knot forming in her throat as she tried to speak out the next few words. She swallowed the knot down, her eyes beginning to well. She opened her mouth, yet nothing came out. No words were spoken. Just the familiar sound of nothing. Of silence. The sun was just about over the horizon. The night grew darker as Luna's moon had began rising itself into the sky, as did the sun shortly before.
“I'll always treasure those memories...” she took a deep breath, trying to regain her composure to no avail.
“I'm sorry, Fluttershy...I'm so sorry...” tears began to stream down Rainbow's face. She did nothing to hide it or cover it up. She simply let the tears stream, soaking the Earth. There was no stopping it. She pounded on the ground with a hoof in sudden anger at herself. She thought she could of done something, anything that could of helped her friend.
“I was the one that should of taken the hit! you didn’t have to give up your life for me...” she choked for a moment before continuing.
“I should never have talked you into doing it...I kept telling you we would be alright in the end...but now look where it got us...” She pounded the ground several more times. She felt so many emotions hit her at once. It was like a wave of guilt, anger, and sadness all at once. It was what she wanted Fluttershy to know, but could never say, that tore at Rainbow the most.
“And there were just so many things I wish I told you...” she gritted her teeth together.
“but I couldn't bring myself to say anything.” Rainbow closed her eyes, though tears still streaming. Taking deep breaths, she tried to calm herself. The moon had finally made its way into the deep blue ocean up above, darkening the world underneath.
“I always loved you, Fluttershy...but I just couldn't tell you...” It felt as if Rainbow's heart was just broken. Pieces left to be picked up or swept away. She dropped her head to her hooves now, crying into her own arms. After several moments of this she managed to bring her head up to try and see the grave that was presumably in front of her still. She moved closer to it with a hoof out in front of her until she could feel the cold stone.
“I wish I told you before this, but now it kills me that I never will be able to.” she sighed and lowered her hoof back to the ground before speaking again.
“or maybe I already have been able to...” Another small smile made its way across Rainbow's face, only be destroyed by another frown and steaming tears. Her head dropped to the ground yet again, the tears falling and soaking the cold Earth below her. She replayed Fluttershy's same song in her head, hoping that it could somewhat make her feel a little better. It had only made things hurt worse.
“I just hope your in a better place now...” She unfolded her wing a bit, revealing a picture frame that she had grabbed with her mouth. It was a picture of Fluttershy and herself together at one of Pinkie's parties. She gently put the picture down, leaning it against the gravestone. Rainbow suddenly felt a hoof on her shoulder. Rainbow jerked her head over her shoulder to see that it was Twilight. Rainbow sat there in silence, staring into Twilight's deep purple eyes.
“C'mon, Rainbow-” But Twilight was quickly interrupted by Rainbow, who had jumped up and embraced her. Twilight stood there in shock for a second before returning the embrace and rubbing Rainbow's back a little. Twilight could hear the muffled sounds of her friend sobbing on her shoulder.
“Shh, It'll be alright, Rainbow Dash...” she reassured as tears of her own began to flow down her cheek. Several minutes had passed before Twilight pushed herself out of the embrace to look at Rainbow Dash.
“C'mon, Rainbow, you can stay the night with Spike and me.” Rainbow Dash couldn't find any words to say. All she could do was nod and go with Twilight, but not before doing one more thing.
“Twilight, do you have a quill on you?” Rainbow asked, looking up at the purple unicorn. Twilight looked at the cyan pegasus for a moment before materializing a quill and a bottle of ink in front of her and handing it to Rainbow. She took the quill in her mouth and dipped it in the ink before writing something on the picture she had placed down earlier. Thanks for always being there Fluttershy, you were always a great a friend.
“Let's go Twilight.” said Rainbow as she dropped the quill by the bottle of ink and trotting towards where Twilight was standing. She nodded in agreement, the two trotting away from the grave.
“I shouldn’t of let us go through the Everfree forest, Twilight. I never should've...”
Twilight looked over at Rainbow. The tears were still streaming down her face, though not as bad as before.
“Don’t beat yourself up Rainbow Dash. You couldn’t of known it was going to happen.” Said Twilight, trying to comfort her friend who sluggishly followed.
“I-I guess your right, Twi...I just wish it was me who saved her from that boulder...” She said, slamming her eyes shut.
“I just didn’t know what was happening. It was all so dark...then the next thing I know it I’m on my back a few feet away...I couldn’t find Fluttershy anywhere...” she choked again, before re-opening her eyes to look over at Twilight. Her eyes were filled with concern and sadness. Rainbow looked back down to the ground.
“I-I can’t believe what happened...She risked her life to save me...” she paused for a second, leaving the two in utter silence. Twilight wasn’t sure what to say at this point. She afraid that she might say something that could make everything just that much worse. Instead she stopped for a second and pulled Rainbow into another embrace. Rainbow just buried her face back into Twilight’s shoulder, sobbing.
Twilight’s mane had been soaked by this point, but she didn’t care. Anything that could help her friend in this time of need. Minutes passed by until Twilight finally broke the embrace to look at Rainbow, smiling at her a bit. The two got back up and began their trot back to the library again. Rainbow glanced over her shoulder, looking in the direction of where her friends grave was.
She whispered, “Thank you Fluttershy...for everything...I’ll never forget you...”
|
Nordlichter
|
1047
| 1 |
Romance,Slice of Life
|
A Midspring Night's Dream
|
Filly Fluttershy comes to terms with her changing body after a strange dream.
|
complete
| 68 | 14 |
<p>After a strange dream one spring night, Filly Fluttershy discovers her body is changing, and she has to come to terms with the fact that she is a little bit different from the other pegasi in Cloudsdale. Maybe more different than anyone would think.<br /><br />Takes place before the events in <em>Cutie Mark Chronicles</em>.</p>
|
teen
| null |
2011-12-08T22:24:22+00:00
| 7,643 |
It was the 117,599th consecutive beautiful day in Cloudsdale, and on the playground of Cloudsdale Elementary School, pegasi children were playing everywhere. The older kids were racing after each other at high speeds, barely touching the clouds, and the younger kids were taking their time in savoring their lunch while it lasted.
In an area of the schoolyard where the foursquare paint was wearing down in the breeze, a lone filly sat at one of the picnic tables, chewing her radish-and-molasses sandwich carefully, since it might escape at any second. She fumbled the bits of stalk out of her teeth, but then the molasses got in between, and molasses was really sticky. Why did she even ask her mom to pack this for her?
Because Rainbow Dash had eaten the same thing yesterday.
Fluttershy nodded in agreement with herself as she thought of how amazing, how brave, how bold her classmate was. The blue pegasus was everything she wanted to be - unafraid, never stressed out, a real leader. Dash was quick and strong, and she got the job done. A sip of nectar cleared her teeth for another bite into the sandwich. Just a few more and she’d be done.
“Hey Klutzershy!” A voice from behind her. She recognized it. Dumb-Bell.
“Um, Dumb-Bell, I’m uh, trying to eat...”
"Hear that, hawhuh? She's tryna eat!" Hoops and Quarterback chuckled at something that wasn't really all that funny.
"Quiet, oafs. So, uh, Klutzershy, trip over any good rugs lately?"
"...No..." She mumbled into her lunch, hoping that if she ignored them they'd leave her alone. But like always they continued to pester her. As rude as it was, she wished they would fly the heck away.
"Hey, Hoops, you know what I heard?"
"Whatcha hear, Dumb-Bell?"
The brown pony sidled up to Fluttershy and elbowed her as he spoke. "I heard Fluttershy ain't doing so well in gym." He made a face that mocked dismay.
"Awww...why not?"
"On account of her wings are too small for her body! She can't keep her balance neither!"
"Hawhaw! She's like... uhm, a dark matter butterfly!"
"Exactly! And you know what happens to butterflies that can't fly too good," he leaned in close to Fluttershy and stated calmly, "They fall."
"...eep..." The filly curled up, trying to make herself smaller.
"Hey! Get away from her!" Another familiar voice. Rainbow Dash had come to save her! Fluttershy turned and saw the short blue filly standing between her and the jocks. "Get away from her or I'll buck you into next week!"
"Hawhuh, look, it's Rainbow Crash!" Hoops and Quarterback laughed again. Dumb-Bell silenced them with a single glare. He turned to address the newcomer.
"Oh, hey, Rainbow. You defending your blank-flanked damsel in distress? That's real noble of you. Real noble. I can respect that. But you can't defend her if you can't catch up to her!"
At this, Hoops and Quarterback flew behind the rainbow-maned filly and grabbed her friend by the forelegs, lifting her up and carrying her away.
"Eep!" Fluttershy squeaked and struggled, trying to get loose, but then she realized how high above the clouds she was already and locked up in fright.
"YOU PUT HER DOWN NOW!" Dash revved up her wings and shot after the two bullies, the yellow filly being casually tossed between them in the same manner that one might toss a ball, except this was 50 feet in the air. They played keepaway with Dash for some time. She would get near one as Fluttershy was heading for him, but the other would catch Fluttershy right above them, and then drop her a few feet and switch places in some horrible game. "LET HER GO!"
Dumb-Bell, still on the playground, nickered at this. "You heard her, boys, let her go!" The two colts responded by releasing their grip on the awkward filly. For a few brief and challenging seconds she managed to keep aloft with her meager wings, but ultimately she did not so much soar as plummet.
"EEEEEEEEeeeeeeee...!!"
"Haybrains! That's not what I— I'M COMING, FLUTTERSHY!" Rainbow Dash swiveled and propelled herself downwards to the falling filly. In less than five seconds she was halfway there. In two seconds she was halfway again. In one she was another halfway, and in less time than that she had caught up to her friend. She spun around and hooked her hind legs under Fluttershy's forelegs, now straining upwards to slow their combined descent. They were only a foot from the clouds as she finally gave up and they collapsed in a heap. If Fluttershy had been screaming, there was too much wind to have heard it.
"And a happy ending for all. Come on bronies, let's get gone before the waterworks start." The three colts, brown and tan and gray, flew off to the school building. Rainbow Dash turned to the yellow pegasus.
"You okay, Fluts?"
"...Um...I think so..." she lied. She was shivering and the blood had rushed to her face. "...Thanks, Rainbow..."
"No problem. I know a gal who could take care of them, if that's what you want."
Fluttershy winced at the thought of vengeance on her aggressors. "Oh, um, no...I don't want that..."
Dash shrugged. "Okay, shoe yourself." Oblivious, she soared towards the schoolhouse too. The bell rang just then. Fluttershy sighed, packed up her unfinished lunch and walked back to the class which she would undoubtably be late for now.
Fluttershy was scared. Well, she was scared almost all the time, but not usually like this. She was falling from an unimaginable height for an unknowable distance, with nothing but clear blue sky around her. She couldn't see anything but the sky. All that empty air was scary. She tried to flap her wings but the wind shear was too great. She screamed an endless scream.
Suddenly there was Rainbow Dash, right above her, hooking her...muscular...legs around Fluttershy's body. She hadn't noticed it before but Dash's coat was so...blue. So like the sky itself, but deeper. Like the sky at Cirrotrotus Observatory, where they'd had a field trip once. It was so high up that the stars were visible well until mid-morning, and appeared around dinner in the evenings. Perfect for stargazing.
Rainbow Dash's tail brushed her in the face. She saw how vibrant and saturated it was. Full of color. Better than a real rainbow. It was realer than a real rainbow. Really realer.
Fluttershy realized they weren't falling anymore– in fact, she was hovering of her own will! Dash was still holding on, though, and her shaggy tail whipped aside to reveal her naughty bits, rendered crudely and inexpertly by Fluttershy's imagination. They were soaring ever higher...they soared through dark thin rain clouds and deep white clouds of warm steam. Fluttershy shimmied up Dash's glistening, dew-dropped body and inserted her—
—Fluttershy woke up with a start and sat straight up in bed, sweating all over. Only a dream. Just a dream. Just...a dream. She laid back and looked at the position of the Moon through the translucent patch in the ceiling. About 2 AM. The Mare in the Moon stared down at her, eternal.
"Well I'm not getting back to sleep now..." she muttered, quietly bemoaning the lost end of the dream. It would keep her up the rest of–
Up. Something was bunching up the thin turquoise sheets, which were soaked through, plastered to her legs. "Um, Mr. Bunny? Is that you?" She reached out in the dim moonlight to pull aside the covers and find her precious stuffed animal. She did not find Mr. Bunny.
A...a boy part?! WHAT?! She shrieked. "AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"
In the next room over, her mom Posey was dreaming about baking a cake. She put on her cloud-shaped oven mitts and watched the timer count down. 0:05...0:04...0:03...0:02...0:01... "AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!"
She woke up immediately. "Fluttershy!" She raced down the hall, bucked open Fluttershy's bedroom door and turned the lights on, only to find...her daughter. With a raging boner. Not the wing kind.
Fluttershy paused, stared at her mom, stared at it, and resumed shrieking. "AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE—"
"Fluttershy! Oh my goodness! Calm down! Stop it! Please, stop, you'll wake the neighbors!"
Fluttershy eventually had to stop to breathe. Panting, she managed to convince herself she had gotten it out of her system for now. Now, this system on the other hoof...
They both stared, alternatively at it, then each other, then it again. Nopony spoke for a few minutes. Finally the mare broke the silence.
“When...”
Fluttershy responded in kind. “When what?”
"When...when did you...did this..."
“I...don’t know...”
“Um, are...are you alright?”
“I...guess?”
“What...what happened?”
The filly got worked up again, her eyes watering. "I don't know, Mama! I was just sleeping and I had a weird dream and when I woke up I was all wet and this thing was on me!"
"Okay, um..." Posey ruffled a hoof through her mane, searching for the right turn of phrase.
"Mama, am I turning into a colt or am I just weird?!"
"As far as I know, um, neither. Put on a sweater and...go huddle up in my saddlebag by the door. We're going to the doctor."
"...can you change my sheets first?"
Posey sighed and wearily smiled. "Sure thing, honeybunny."
It was a ten-minute flight to the doctor's office and a thirty-minute wait in the waiting room. The selection of magazines, probably more tailored to the tastes of the doctor rather than his patients, only confused Fluttershy and annoyed Posey. Finally the doctor sent out his previous patient, an older blonde filly with a patch on one eye, and permitted the two to enter.
"And what seems to be the trouble, Mrs. Posey?" The doctor was middle-aged and sort of bluish-green, with a short black mane that connected to his mustache and beard in an arc. He spoke with a warm, firm, yet slightly condescending voice. His cutie mark was a red cross with two smaller ones on either side; they were holding hooves. Fluttershy didn't trust him.
"Well, um, my filly Fluttershy woke up with an unusual problem that hasn't gone away yet..." She lifted the filly out of her saddle-bag by the scruff of her emerald green sweater, placing her on the examination table. "See what I mean?"
"Ah! Oh my...this...this is incredibly rare." He first examined Fluttershy all over, taking the sweater off and measuring her height, weight, length, teeth, wingspan, and other things. Finally he turned his attention back to the problem at hoof. He tested it in numerous ways, using various instruments to examine it from all angles. Fluttershy looked immensely uncomfortable in both body and mind.
"...what's wrong with me...?" She gazed downwards at herself.
"I'm assuming you know what this...thing, is, then, and that it is indeed wrong. You are a hermaphrodite, more commonly known as a she-stallion. This condition only affects... well there haven't been enough cases to calculate how rare it is!"
"...am I turning into a colt?" She sniffed the intrusive object. Margarine...?
"No, no no no. You are neither a colt nor a filly; you are somewhere in between. You have both the male and female sets of organs and consequently there is an unstable combination of hormones in your brain that will stay with you the rest of your life." The filly paled at these words.
Posey was also slightly paler. She turned from the doctor to look Fluttershy in the eyes. "It's okay, honeybunny, everything's going to be alright."
"Wellllll..." the doctor led the concerned mare around a corner, out of earshot. "She'll never live a normal life. Even though this condition is so rare, she will face horrible stigma for it, and probably be ostracized. Public perception of she-stallions is that they are insatiable, omnisexual nymphomaniacs with little regard for the safety and sanctity of others. And public perception of this is generally correct."
They glanced around the corner at Fluttershy, who had put the sweater back on backwards and was struggling to turn it around, not an easy feat with such a cumbersome obstacle in the way. "Not only this, she might not even grow up properly. The hormonal imbalance is already affecting the proportions at which her wings grow, versus her legs and her head and so on. She'll have blood pressure and anger management issues, uncontrollable sexual urges, a wet bed every night for the rest of her life, and the worst thing is: she's fertile."
"F-fertile?" Posey stumbled over the word. "But, but she's just a filly! She's only just getting her growth spurts! She sleeps with a toy rabbit! She can’t even fly! She can’t be...fertile!"
"She is not a filly, she is a she-stallion. That makes a world of difference. She has incomparable sexual endurance and will stop at nothing to achieve her instinctual goal of mating with every last pony she sees; no matter what race, creed, gender, or age. She is a biological machine designed to reproduce, and she is designed efficiently." Fluttershy finally got the sweater on forwards again, but now it was inside-out. "I advise this: you must keep her away from all other ponies. At all costs."
Posey thought this through quickly. "No way that could work. Is there an alternative?"
"You’re not going to like it.”
The mare toughened. “Tell me what I must do.”
“Geld and spay her."
Her eyes widened in horror. "N-no. Never. I will n-never have such a thing done to her."
The doctor shook his head in disapproval. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Posey, those are the only viable options. Life-long isolation or significant surgery. I suggest the former; it would be less traumatic."
"I'll be getting a second opinion, then. Good day." She turned the corner and found her filly trying to use the sweater to cover herself up a little better. It wasn't working. She turned back to the doctor for a moment. "Um, can you at least prescribe some medicine to stop these...these moments from happening?"
"Ah, well, of course I can. Follow me, there's a wide selection." He opened a door behind them, revealing whole bookshelves of medicine textbooks, and led her inside.
"Mama, I got my sweater on right! ...Mama?"
Over the long weekend, since it was nearly Cloudsdale Day, Fluttershy and her mom went to every library in the city in search of reading material. They read dozens of books and research papers. There was no stopping Posey from giving her filly an enjoyable, healthy life.
“...Mama, this is the fifth library we’ve been to today...” Fluttershy complained, an ache taxing her long legs from walking so much. Though the clouds were soft and puffy, their effect added up to over-relaxed leg muscles, which made them difficult to walk on for extended periods. In addition to this, her heartbeat was pulsing in her ears with the sight of every pony. “...can we stop for lunch?”
“We still haven’t found any good information, Fluttershy. When we find a book that explains your body well, we’ll check it out and go get some donuts.”
“...Okay...but what if we don’t find a book like that...?”
“Then we’ll stop at noon so you can take your medicine and get donuts after that.”
“...Okay...” she murmured, her turtleneck sweater riding up on her mane. The two pegasi entered the library.
"...do I have to wear this? It's...itchy..."
Posey stood back and admired her work. "Uh, yes, yes you do, Fluttershy." She picked her daughter up and placed her on her hooves again. Fluttershy was wearing a tight rubber leotard roughly the same color as her coat. Posey bit the last tag off. "How's that?"
"...little better..."
"Okay, now what are the strategies I taught you?"
"...Book on lap, scoot in, bathroom breaks, no staring, no dirty thoughts, avoid sugar..."
"Great! Have fun at school, and remember to take that pill at 12. I'll see you at pickup."
"...'kay, bye Mama..." the filly turned to enter the school yard, her saddlebags containing a secret pocket for her medicine as well as some other emergency supplies.
"Wait, Fluttershy!" The mare called out, making her daughter turn her head back. "You are very special, and I love you so much! No matter what you are, you will always be my honeybunny."
"...Love you too, Mama..." and she went inside, where she saw Rainbow Dash excitedly talking with a strange new griffin girl, pointing at the brown, tan and gray colts.
THE END
|
FanOfMostEverything
|
1048
| 1 |
Derpy Hooves,Dinky Hooves,Main 6,Original Character,Other,Crossover,Adventure,Magic: The Gathering,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Elementals of Harmony
|
(FiMtG) The only thing standing between Equestria and apocalypse is Ditzy Doo. Yes, really. Stop laughing!
|
complete
| 430 | 14 |
<p>Something is gathering around the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Something dangerous. Something magical. There's only one pony with the knowledge, the skills, and the muffins needed to save Equestria as we know it.<br/>A Friendship is Magic: the Gathering crossover, taking place between seasons 1 and 2. Here there be flashbacks, briefly seen OC's, and possibly every emotion known to man or tiny horse. Abandon all pretenses of not being a nerd, ye who enter here.</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-09-26T00:43:54+00:00
|
2015-12-29T02:02:14+00:00
| 11,592 |
It was a beautiful morning in Ponyville. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and as a certain trio of florists could attest, the town had been mercifully crisis-free for almost two weeks now, ever since the Great and Powerful Trixie had returned to declare her undying love for Twilight Sparkle while under the influence of a staggering amount of poison joke.
Aside from Twilight still blushing furiously whenever somepony hummed "The Wedding March", things had returned to an enjoyable normalcy. Representing this glorious status quo, Ditzy Doo was merrily prancing to the Sugarcube Corner for her first muffin of the day. She even had a song for the occassion. "Muffins, muffins, roly poly muffins. Muffins, muffins, eat 'em up—" She then interrupted herself with a horrified gasp.
"Omigosh! What is it? Did Pinkie Pie find somepony she's never seen before? Wait... I'm Pinkie Pie. Silly unattributed dialogue!" Indeed, the resident party pony had emerged from the bakery, apparently summoned by the sound eerily similar to her own reaction to the mentioned scenario. "Oh, hi Ditzy! Your usual?"
The grey-coated pegasus slowly dragged her gaze from the Corner to Pinkie. To the earth pony's astonishment, both canary-colored eyes were unwaveringly focused on her. "Oh wow!" she cheered. "I don't think I've ever seen you underped!"
A brief twitch in one eyelid was all the acknowledgement Ditzy gave to that hated term. "Miss Pie," she said, "it is my lamentable duty to inform you that a miasma of a most worrisome nature and magnitude has settled around your home and place of business. I do not know how or why it came to be, but I assure you, nothing good will come of it."
Pinkie stepped out of the shop to investigate. Nope, same delicious-looking architecture as always. Still, she was hardly one to disregard mysterious, seemingly sourceless intuitions. "Are you sure? I don't see any miasma, and I'm almost positive we don't have any dead dwarves in the basement."
"It's probably invisible to most ponies." Seeing the frizzy-maned pony's confusion, the mailmare gave a self-deprecating smile, and her eyes gradually drifted out of alignment. Gesturing at them, she noted, "There's more to these than a killer chameleon impression, Pinkie."
This information was met with a delighted gasp. "Wow, you've got some kind of Ditzy Sense? That's so cool! I thought I was the only pony in the whole wide world that had that kind of ability! Well, me and my sisters. And Mom. And Granny Pie. And—"
"I think I get the idea, Pinkie."
"Well, anyway, the point is, we can be ESP buddies! Now all we need is an alien, a time traveler, a slider, an omnipotent Japanese schoolgirl, and a snarky narrator! Ooh! Do you think Twilight could be snarky enough? I'm sure she could make enough obscure literary allusions, and she's done lots of voiceovers when she's dictating letters to Princess Celestia!"
"Pinkie, this is serious!" The mailmare's eyes were focused again, as though to emphasize the point.
The other pony seemed to not quite appreciate this. "Can you do that at will or what? 'Cause at this rate, you're going to alienate at least half your fanbase."
"Ugh..."
Things finally clicked in that collaboration between M. C. Escher, Rube Goldberg, and Salvador Dali more commonly known as Pinkie Pie's brain. "Sorry, sorry. I just get so excited sometimes, it gets hard to stop myself, and before I know it people are accusing me of turning Rainbow Dash into cupcakes and I don't know where to even begin with that kind of recipe and—" Prompted by the increasingly impatient look on Ditzy's face, the bubblegum-coated mare interrupted herself by, as so many had silently asked her, sticking a hoof in it. It, of course, being her mouth. "Oo err fayin'?" she managed around the extremity.
"The point of the matter is this: Keep an eye out for any strange occurrences in the Corner. If my hunch is correct, do so especially at night, or in regards to your sanity."
Pinkie pouted indignantly "Hey, I'm plenty sane! I just choose not to use most of it." Her expression shifted to one of concern. "Wait, are Mr. and Mrs. Cake in danger? What should I tell them?"
The pegasus shrugged. "Right now, it doesn't seem to be doing anything other than making me worry. For the Cakes, I leave it to your discretion, but I don't think you should worry them over nothing. I admit, that could be exactly what I'm doing. Still, keep your eyes and ears open, and don't disregard anything that crops up on your Pinkie Sense."
"Well, that might be a bit of a problem," admitted the apprentice baker. "I'm kind of on the 'and it goes' end of things there." She looked back at her current home. "What does it look like?"
"You remember Nightmare Moon's mane and tail?"
"Uh-huh."
"Something like that, but even darker and without the flecks of starlight."
Pinkie shuddered. "Ugh. I'm glad I can't see it. Thanks for the heads-up though, Ditzy."
"Celestia be with you, my friend." The mailmare crouched for takeoff.
"Wait! Aren't you going to get your muffin?"
Never had Pinkie Pie seen so serious an expression on the face of the normally happy-go-lucky pastry aficionado. "I never thought I would say this, but this is no time for muffins, Pinkie." With that, Ditzy Doo took to the skies, leaving an astonished ex-rock farmer beneath her.
As much as she wanted to more closely investigate the Sugarcube Corner, Ditzy had a job to do, and neither rain nor sleet nor ominous, soul-curdling energy buildup would keep her from her appointed rounds. In any case, her duties proved a boon, for the bakery was far from the only place in Ponyville exhibiting a strange aura. Visiting every house in town proved a convenient way of bringing each such building to her attention. Once she had completed her route, the underlying pattern was obvious: A building bore an anomalous aggregation if and only if it was the residence of a bearer of an Element of Harmony.
Once she determined this, it led to a hunch too compelling and worrisome to ignore. Thus, it had to be tested. That night, after tucking in Dinky, Ditzy made her way up to her attic. The storage space was filled with mementos of a life she'd hoped she was done with. "You were right," she muttered to nopony in particular, "you can't ever really get away from it, no matter how hard you try."
Once she found the specific item she'd been looking for, she made her way to the Everfree Forest. What she had in mind would by no means be easily overlooked, but if she did it here, it would hopefully be dismissed as just another inexplicable occurrence in the uncontrollable wood.
Setting herself on a feral cloud, Ditzy took a moment to contemplate the implement she'd brought with her. By most accounts it appeared to be nothing more than a common headband, easily donned given a bit of hoof-wing coordination. What made it stand out was the muffin projecting from the center. Aside from its innate incongruity, the baked good was carved from stone and attached to the cloth by a circular band of steel. But, as the pegasus well knew, no Equestrian geologist would be able to say precisely from what manner of stone the lifelike pastry was carved.
Given that, Ditzy's thoughts began to wander to her own strange qualities. Obviously, she was a very unusual pegasus. Once she went above a certain altitude, she lost all sense of direction, as she'd demonstrated in almost every past Winter Wrap-Up. (Though she had to wonder, why exactly did she keep getting assigned to migratory bird retrieval?) She lacked the effortless grace of many of her kin, especially when it came to not dropping things on the flightless. (She swore she'd never let her cousin talk her into helping his moving company again.) And for whatever reason, she was simply more comfortable on the ground than in the clouds, something for which she'd become quite thankful since Dinky's birth. That her daughter was a unicorn had come as little surprise to her, and not just given the girl's father.
As with so many things, it came back to Ditzy's eyes. While they wandered in their sockets like bored foals if she didn't force herself to focus, they made up for it by seeing things that other ponies simply couldn't. It had taken her years to realize that not everypony in Cloudsdale could see the shining barriers under each hoof that kept them from falling through the clouds, or how they were a different color and shape than the ones supporting the rare unicorn or earth pony visitor. She'd been the only member of her class in flight school to be dazzled not just by a legendary Sonic Rainboom, but the prismatic glow that attended Rainbow Dash's flanks in the minutes after her cutie mark appeared. (And explaining that that was the reason she'd been staring at said flanks had been an ordeal in and of itself. Suffice to say, she could confirm that the rumors regarding Dash's sexuality were just that.) As for when she'd gotten her own cutie mark... Well, glowing flanks were the last thing on her mind at the time, and for very good reasons.
Ah yes, her bubbles. For what was a bubble? (A tiny part of her mind suggested in Pinkie Pie's voice, "A miserable pile of lipids.") Clearly foam had little to no bearing on her job or personal life. But as with many cutie marks, there was a deeper symbolism there. For though Ditzy Doo couldn't keep track of north or south, there were stranger dimensions that came far more intuitively to her. If she lacked a certain degree of dexterity with hooves, that didn't mean she did not possess a stunning agility in more cognitive and arcane maneuvers. No, her bubbles were not envelopes of soap and air, but time and space. Fragile things, yes, but only in comparison to the rapacious medium in which they floated. For the day she earned her cutie mark, when she saw the orbs that defined her flank and her soul, she learned of her true nature. Her one-in-a-trillion kinship with something greater than Cloudsdale, Ponyville, or Equestria as a whole. A horrible blessing, an awesome curse, a destiny known only as...
With a shake of her head, the mailmare realized that she was woolgathering, trying to put off what she'd come here to do. In any case, she could see magic, even manipulate it to a degree beyond her winged heritage. With the muffylactery she'd brought with her, she could work spellcraft with far greater ease than normal. Both despite and because of the Everfree's fearsome reputation, she wanted to take as little time as possible in this endeavor. With practiced motions, she tied it into place, the stone muffin lying on the exact point on her head where a horn would were she a unicorn. With that, she focused her conscious mind on the arcane processes of the spell even as she let her memory continue to wander. It lingered on the lush growth of Sweet Apple Acres. It fondly regarded the accumulations of cloudstuff that made up her hometown. And most importantly for what she was attempting, it recalled an endlessly winding river in a world that perhaps only a handful of others in all of Equestria might ever even know of, much less see for themselves.
As Ditzy drew from these recollections, the muffin on her forehead began to glow with an azure luminescence that brought to mind the sky at high noon. With an utterance somewhere between whinny, shout, and song, she brought her forehooves together. Before her there appeared a massive, brilliant sphere of the same hue as her muffylactery's light.
This orb vanished like a popped soap bubble, leaving behind an equally large being of vastly more surreal countenance. The creature resembled nothing more than a huge fish with feathered wings instead of pectoral fins. In place of a tail, it continually shed that selfsame sky-blue energy in the form of thousands of luminous birds.
As this bizarre creature seemed to contemplate Ditzy, and she it, this shedding began to spread across the thing's form, becoming a full-fledged dissolution. Fluorescent flocks freed themselves from the flying fish, flapping for futile, fleeting moments of freedom before fading to nothingness themselves. The fish, oddly, seemed not to mind this avian decomposition, continuing to gaze as inquisitively as a fish could at its summoner until it could gaze no more.
As the last vestiges of the mulldrifter evanesced, Ditzy gave a weary sigh. Her brief communion with the thing, the very idea of careful contemplation given flesh, had made much clear to her. She now knew precisely why the strange buildup of magical energies was taking place around each Element's bearer. More importantly, she now knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was the only being in Equestria with the knowledge, the ability, and the muffins necessary for addressing the situation before it came to a catastrophic head.
Taking off for home, she summarized her reaction to this knowledge in a single sentence. "It's a good thing that tomorrow's Sunday."
Ditzy Doo, Perception Adept 1UU
Planeswalker — Ditzy
+2 - Look at the top card of each library.
-2 - Creatures you control gain hexproof until the beginning of your next turn.
-7 - You get an emblem with "You may look at the top card of your library at any time." and "Your opponents play with their hands revealed."
3
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FanOfMostEverything
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1048
| 2 |
Derpy Hooves,Dinky Hooves,Main 6,Original Character,Other,Crossover,Adventure,Magic: The Gathering,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Elementals of Harmony
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(FiMtG) The only thing standing between Equestria and apocalypse is Ditzy Doo. Yes, really. Stop laughing!
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complete
| 430 | 14 |
<p>Something is gathering around the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Something dangerous. Something magical. There's only one pony with the knowledge, the skills, and the muffins needed to save Equestria as we know it.<br/>A Friendship is Magic: the Gathering crossover, taking place between seasons 1 and 2. Here there be flashbacks, briefly seen OC's, and possibly every emotion known to man or tiny horse. Abandon all pretenses of not being a nerd, ye who enter here.</p>
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everyone
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2011-09-26T00:57:23+00:00
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2016-12-19T23:57:19+00:00
| 8,487 |
The sun shone bright on another new day in Ponyville, but one resident was staying indoors regardless of the beauty outside, busy with a plan that would ensure that everypony could continue to enjoy such days without fear of calamity or catastrophe.
Ditzy Doo was also hard at work. Though there was no mail to deliver, that meant that she could split the day between Dinky and keeping every bearer of an Element of Harmony appraised of the situation she'd found them in. However, there were a few issues she'd have to figure out before she could do the latter. Each of the areas of high magical density had a different character to it, no doubt influenced by the unique nature of the Element that was attracting that magic. In a strange display of convenience that the pegasus had seen more than once before, five of the elements had delineated themselves along the five colors of magic she'd learned about in her earlier days, the exception being Magic itself.
As she'd so bombastically reminded herself last night, Ditzy Doo was a planeswalker, a being capable of moving between different planes of existence through an exertion of magic and will. Each plane possessed its own slightly different physical and magical laws, its own ecosystems and societies, and could be as small as a few square miles or as large as an entire multigalactic universe. And yet, throughout all of these myriad worlds, a few things remained constant, among them the colors of magic. White, red, green, blue, and black made up that mystical rainbow, and in the time she'd spent searching for her home, Ditzy had found it essential to learn the nature of each and the general demeanor of their users.
The Sugarcube Corner bore the most dangerous aura, saturated with black mana, the energy of death, decay, and madness. The Element of Laughter, it seemed, truly encompassed all laughter, not all of which was friendly, innocent, or even sane. Fortunately, the bakery was also home to the pony most receptive to her warnings. Ditzy believed that Pinkie Pie was, if not quite crazy, then at least a few degrees out of alignment with the rest of reality. Just enough to see glimpses of other worlds, to understand that she was part of a small system in a much larger existence.
The others wouldn't be nearly as easy to convince. For the most part, the grey mare wasn't as close to them as she was Pinkie, as they lacked that awareness of something greater than their world that had acted as a surprising but welcome foundation to her friendship with the party pony. Furthermore, that lack of awareness would no doubt make them disregard as direct and overt a warning as the one she'd given earlier. Ditzy's unfortunate reputation, acquired as she'd struggled to master the aerial layout of even a small town like Ponyville, would not help matters. She might as well start wearing a sandwich board painted with "THE END IS NEAR" and march around the town square, for all the good it would do.
Ditzy sighed and shook her head. No, she could make this work. She had to make this work. There was no one else who could. To her knowledge, there wasn't another being in the world with the ability to literally see magic, and the odds of the princesses listening to some nobody who had by all accounts ceased to exist for six years was laughable.
"Mommy?"
The blonde turned from her desk, where she'd been doodling possible approaches to the subject of vast mystical cataclysm. She saw the most important reason she needed to get this done. "Yes, Muffin?"
"Can we go to the park?"
Well, it wasn't like she'd be able to figure this out by driving herself into a frenzy before she even did anything. "Of course! Just let Mommy get her saddlebags and we'll be on our way."
Dinky Doo trotted up to her mother and gave her an affectionate nuzzle. "I have the best Mommy ever!"
Ditzy's heart melted, and she swept up her daughter in an ursa hug. She only hoped she could live up to such expectations.
Nearly everypony in town knew about the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Even if you hadn't been at their hilariously bad rock operetta, they had probably crash-landed in your yard at some point, likely covered in tree sap. Opinions, unsurprisingly, were mixed. Any foal who wasn't named after jewelry or an eating utensil thought the Crusaders were the coolest thing since milled oats. Some adults considered them a nuisance, wreaking havoc with debatable innocence. Others thought them fools who were delaying their cutie marks' appearance by trying too hard and ignoring their obvious skills. But a few couldn't help but be amused by their antics, the follies of youth overshadowed by the thrill of excitement and the heart-warming sight of three young friends supporting each other in what was a rough time for anypony.
Ditzy put herself in this last group, only hoping that it took nothing as drastic for the trio's marks as it had for hers. As such, she was happy to have Dinky catch up with her friends (or, as the young unicorn thought of it, genuflect before her heroes), especially since Apple Bloom's brother was keeping an eye on them. So sensible a stallion would surely stop any sap-soaked sallying forth.
"I hope you don't mind having one more filly to watch, Big Macintosh." Ditzy was already hovering off the ground in preparation for her next destination, but that was no reason to be rude. "I shouldn't be too long, but, well, Dinky's a bit too young to be casting cloudwalking spells and a bit too old to be carried around."
"A bit?" cried the filly indignantly. How was she supposed to look cool in front of the Crusaders with her mother making her look like a baby?
"All right, you're much too young to be casting cloudwalking spells." This prompted laughter from everypony but the younger Doo, whose scowl and blush both deepened. Dumb moms.
"Ain't no trouble at all, Miss Ditzy," Big Mac assured her. "We should be in th' park all day. Y'all just come back when yer done with those errands in the clouds."
"Thanks again. Be good, Muffin! I love you!" With that, Dinky was, in her mind, blessedly free of the mare who she still considered to be the best Mommy ever. It was just that even the best Mommy ever was still a parent, and thus couldn't be expected to understand the complex dynamics of coolness.
"C'mon, Dinky!" called Apple Bloom. "Yer an honorary Crusader fer the day! It's time we got to crusadin'!"
Pleasantly surprised that she hadn't been exiled to Losergrad, the young unicorn admitted to herself that maybe she didn't understand those dynamics too well either.
Rainbow Dash's house was a superb example of the uniquely pegasine craft of practical cloud sculpture. Sure, other races could walk on clouds and manipulate their weather output, but no other Equestrian species thought to build their dwellings out of the very sky. Pegasi claimed that this proved their (and by extension, ponykind's) intellectual superiority. Other races felt just the opposite. To them (and some unicorns and earth ponies, for that matter), you had to be pretty stupid to think that making a building that could be destroyed by a strong breeze or prolonged drought was a good idea. Of course, there was a great deal of magic involved, but both sides had agreed to disagree, as long as the pegasi went easy on that whole "We're the best" thing.
In any case, the door Ditzy Doo knocked on felt as solid as any carved from wood, despite being little more than water vapor and dust. This came as a relief. She hadn't been sure how stable the floating home would be, given the coruscating field of red mana that surrounded it. Red magic, normally more associated with the mountains than the clouds, was the stuff of instability and chaos. Solid walls were anathema to it, but Dash's craftsmareship was apparently up to the task. Still, the crimson energy had been called by Loyalty, weighing more towards passion and emotion than mindless destruction. Destroying the home of what attracted it would certainly be a betrayal, wouldn't it?
Ditzy sighed. Magic worked by its own logic, and some parts of that logic came more easily to hers than others. Red mana was her worst subject, so to speak. Much of the path of the red mage involved acting before or, more often, without thinking. As one old acquaintance had put it, the key was to "stop worrying and learn to love the boom spells." That kind of Nightmare-may-care attitude just didn't sit well with Ditzy. Some corner of her mind would always nervously recount the things that could go wrong, and it ruined any effort to shape the power of fire and lightning. (Ironically, worrying about what could go wrong with such power inevitably caused that very event to transpire. Red mana was, in the grey pegasus's opinion, kind of a jerk like that.) Her ability to understand it was similarly impaired, since she couldn't grasp the reasoning guiding such a reckless person... if any.
Just as the bubble-flanked mare was about to knock again, realizing how much time she'd already spent here, the door opened a crack. A bleary-eyed blue head, topped with a mane colored in six hues and pointing in twice as many directions, poked out of the opening. In an odd mix of imperious disdain and exhausted slurring, the sleepyhead stated, "You have interrupted the Best Young Flier in Equestria's nap."
Ditzy rolled her eyes, which was rather more impressive for her than most. It wasn't as bad as the week after she'd gotten the trophy, but Dash still felt the need to sprinkle her conversation with the occasional reminder that, yes, she'd won that contest. It raised some unpleasant memories about the judges. The blonde didn't even see how her flying could be described as "pitchy". Oh well, not important right now. What was was that the drowsing pegasus didn't even have her eyes open. "Hello, Rainbow Dash."
This perked up the other pegasus's head for a moment before it began to slowly sink back to its previous position. "Oh. Hey, Ditzy. 'Sup?"
"Look Dash, I know we haven't always gotten along."
"Uh huh."
"I've been trying, but you probably still think of me as the doofus that can't tell north from south or the Everfree from the library."
"Uh huh."
"But I hope that, if not as a friend, then at least a colleague, you listen to me when I tell you—" Ditzy paused, sighed, and facehoofed. "You're asleep."
"Uh huh."
Well, thought the mailmare, let's try this again. She leaned to one side of Dash and knocked on the wall. The resulting tone was louder and deeper than the door. That wasn't saying much, but it seemed to work better in rousing the drowsing hostess.
"Huh? Wha? Who?" The sky-coated mare flailed her forehooves in what she must have thought was some kind of martial art maneuver. The presence of her guest registered, and she sheepishly broke out of the supposed combat stance. "Oh. Hey, Ditzy. 'Sup?"
Ditzy took a few deep breaths before trusting her voice. "Hello, Dash. I realize this is going to seem like an odd question, but when was the last time you discharged this place?"
Dash squinted at the other pony as if she'd suddenly gone nearsighted, then fully opened the door, the better to approach Ditzy with every word. "Did you really wake me up just to question my housekeeping?"
The grey mare had been prepared for this kind of response, and demonstrated it by lightly placing a hoof on a point she'd located before knocking. The point was similar to a pony' pressure points, except that instead of connecting to a nerve cluster, it was tied to the static charge permeating the cloud. There was a tremendous rumble, and then the entire house went black as pitch. Then came the lightning. This was no fleeting bolt outlived by its own afterimage, but a pillar of incandescent plasma brighter than the sun, seeming to support Dash's home above the base earth.
This whoop-shooping continued for a good five seconds before petering out. When it did, Rainbow Dash's mane bore a striking resemblance to a clown wig. Ditzy, strangely, seemed entirely unaffected. "Stay on your hooftips, Dash," she said nonchalantly. "Never know when one like that might crop up again."
She flew off amidst a "Yeah, sure," that was stunned in every sense of the word.
Years in the past, but not many...
(With apologies to Andrew Hussie)
The smell of fresh baking wafted through the Cloudsdale apartment. (Along the seams of the door and windows, it literally flowed through the thin cloud.) Smiling to herself, a blue-maned white pegasus called out, "Muffins are ready!"
"Yay!" Muffled hoofsteps sounded as the youngest occupant rushed towards the tiny kitchen. They were terminated by a soft thud and a sheepishly grinning filly's head sticking out of the kitchen's wall several inches to the side of the doorway. One yellow eye managed to find the baker while its twin examined the ceiling. "Hi, Mommy."
The mare gave a smile that combined affection, exasperation, and concern in that unique way known as "maternal". "Ditzy, I've told you not to run in the house."
"I'm sorrREE!" To the grown pony's astonishment, her daughter's head seemed to get sucked back into the wall. A moment later, the reason became clear, as she reappeared in the doorway proper, suspended by her tail.
The suspender was a slate-gray stallion with eyes identical to those of the foal he held. Opening his mouth, he gently laid Ditzy on the floor, looked at his wife, and smirked. "I believe this is yours, Ma'am?"
The baker couldn't resist a titter at the antics. "Oh, I think it's clear who she takes after."
He put a hoof to his heart. "Ah! Cruel spear of insult, thy name is mare!"
The melodrama was interrupted by a hug and a "Thank you, Daddy."
The stallion returned the embrace. "Of course. Daddy will always be there when you're being a silly little muffin."
The mare's response to this was a shake of her head. "I wish you wouldn't call her that, Derby. You'll make her into a cannibal."
"My dear Nimbus, I will have you know that I am continuing a proud tradition. The Doos have always been muffins, and we have always loved muffins! So ever it shall be!"
"Muffins!" added the dramatist's daughter.
"Are you alright, dear?"
Ditzy blinked, feeling tears she didn't recall shedding. She reflexively moved a foreleg to wipe at her eyes, but the feel of fabric against the limb reminded her of where she was and what she was doing. Namely, in the Carousel Boutique and acting as a ponnequin for its proprietor's latest creation. As she returned to a standing stance, the mailmare replied, "Fine. Just thinking."
Rarity gave a sigh of relief. "Good. For a moment I was afraid that I'd stuck you with a pin. So, anything you want to share? You're doing me such a tremendous favor that the least I could do is to offer an ear."
The pegasus bit her lip. "It's... personal."
"Ah. Say no more, I understand perfectly. I shan't barge in where I am not wanted. Now, where were we?"
As the seamstress returned to her work, Ditzy, still feeling disconnected, walked through the last hour or so to steady herself. After the twin exercises in frustration that were dealing with red mana and with Rainbow Dash, she had decided to opt for where her best color was concentrated. To her eyes, the Boutique was awash in blue mana. Some civil conversation with Rarity and an enjoyable soak in the magic of thought, air, and water would do her good. At least, so had gone the theory.
The reality was that the mentally stimulating power was sending the designer's fashion muse into overdrive. Ditzy hadn't been able to get a word in edgewise as she'd been ushered, neigh, herded into Rarity's design studio, all while the unicorn had chattered a mile a minute about a commission from Denvertigo. ("The Five-Mile-High City! Can you believe it? Oh, I always hoped that my fame would reach the stratosphere, but I never meant it literally!") Apparently, the bubble-flanked mare was just the size needed to assemble the garment. By this point, Rarity was already gathering bolts of fabric and enough straight pins for an entire bayou full of voodoo dolls, so it was clear that saying no wasn't an option.
As Ditzy had resigned herself to clotheshorse duty, she'd tuned out the dervish swathing her with cloth and had begun wandering her own thoughts. Perhaps it was the ambient azure energy that had set her mind on the path of nostalgia. It certainly could do that, but—
"Ditzy Doo!"
"Huh?" Feeling even more floaty-brained than before, the pegasus realized she was being shouted at. "Oh, sorry."
Rarity frowned. "Really, dear, I don't want to pry, but whatever is going on that head of yours must be beyond engrossing." Her expression shifted into a smirk with a hint of leer. "An old flame, perhaps?"
It took Ditzy a considerable share of her self-control (and an estimate of the number of pins less than an inch from her skin) to stay still. "Nothing of the sort!"
The elegant mare released a resigned a breath. "I suppose it was a muffin recipe or some such, then."
This formed a bruise on the grey pony's ego that she found intolerable. "There is more to me than muffins." She forced the words through clenched teeth, not trusting her temper if given an open mouth.
"If you say so. Turn, please."
"I was thinking about magic." Ditzy paused in the turn. Had she really just said that? Why had she just said that?
In any case, it prompted a cocked eyebrow from Rarity. "Magic? No offense meant, Ditzy, but I wouldn't think that to be among your interests."
The mailmare scrambled for something to cover her hindquarters, half-finished dress notwithstanding. "W-well, everypony has some degree of inherent magic. Walking on clouds, for example." Out of the corner of an eye, she could see the unicorn wince. After all, Dash wasn't the only news from the Cloudosseum that day. "And earth ponies have strength and stamina the likes of which we can only dream about."
"As Applejack can attest, yes." Rarity was now fully out of sight, presumably adjusting something in the train, or the undercarriage, or the dining car. Ditzy had never been much of a fashionista. "If I may ask, what about magic got you in such a fugue state?"
"Several things, among them the means by which non-unicorn ponies could cast spells." Tongue had outraced brain again, much to the shock and dismay of their owner.
Also to her shock and dismay was the unicorn horn jabbing a very sensitive spot as the seamstress whipped her head up in shock. "What! Why, why the very idea—" Her indignation was interrupted as she recognized the tableau before her: Scraps of fabric in disarray, and in the center Ditzy Doo performing an impressive headstand while wearing an expression of unspeakable pain. As the pegasus tipped forward, Rarity could see why. "Oh dear..."
Several apologies and a discreet ice pack later, the two continued their conversation under more equitable conditions, both seated (Ditzy rather gingerly) with a pot of tea between them.
"So," summarized Rarity, "you're saying that there's a growing concentration of magical power around the Boutique that's been fueling my recent flurry of ideas?"
"Exactly."
"I see. Now, according to what you've been telling me, at least part of the reason behind the intensity of my inspiration is because, as a unicorn, I'm much more sensitive to this manner of thing. Why haven't I seen any change in Sweetie Belle?"
The pegasus shrugged. "Several factors could be in play: Her immature, undefined magic, her spending less time in the Boutique than you, the nature of her soul. It's also possible that it is affecting her, but in ways you either can't see or don't notice."
"I'm sorry, what was that about my sister's soul?"
If Ditzy noticed the venom under the honey in that sentence, it was too late to stop her answer. "Your soul is precise, methodical, controlling; even your cutie mark is crystalline. Sweetie is more open, more flexible. Blue magic would alter her in different ways than it does you."
"'Blue' magic? Why should color matter?"
The grey mare's brain finally got around to reviewing the transcript of the conversation. Her pupils shrank to pinpricks.
"And where did you learn all of this, anyway?"
"I... uh..." The unicorn stood between Ditzy and the only exit that didn't involve an open window, of which there were none. "I... have to go pick up Dinky! Big Macintosh has enough on his hooves with the Crusaders."
Rarity stood her ground. "Not until I get some answers."
"Rarity, please..." There was one other option, but it was an absolute last resort.
"Something very fishy is going on here, and we're herbivores, if you'll pardon the waxing Pinkie Pie. Now, I want you to sit yourself back down and... and..." The violet-maned mare trailed off as her eyes began following Ditzy's. The yellow orbs were moving in a hypnotic rhythm enhanced by a small sample of the mind magic suffusing the shop.
"You will forget everything unusual I said today," the pegasus intoned, eyes still swaying in their sockets. "You will remember the warning, and should what I warned you about come to pass, you will know to seek me out. Do you understand?"
The reply was a quiet monotone. "Yes."
"Good. You will now allow me to leave and leave this trance ten seconds afterwards."
"Yes." Her own eyes still oscillating, Rarity moved to one side.
"And for what it's worth," Ditzy muttered as she made for the door, "I'm sorry."
As the planeswalker closed the door, the unicorn's response was twofold: A single tear down one cheek, and a quiet "Derp."
Derpnotism UU
Instant
Tap up to two target creatures. Pony, Pegasus, and Unicorn creatures tapped this way don't untap during their controller's next untap step.
"Look into my eyes. As if you weren't already."
—Ditzy Doo
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FanOfMostEverything
|
1048
| 3 |
Derpy Hooves,Dinky Hooves,Main 6,Original Character,Other,Crossover,Adventure,Magic: The Gathering,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Elementals of Harmony
|
(FiMtG) The only thing standing between Equestria and apocalypse is Ditzy Doo. Yes, really. Stop laughing!
|
complete
| 430 | 14 |
<p>Something is gathering around the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Something dangerous. Something magical. There's only one pony with the knowledge, the skills, and the muffins needed to save Equestria as we know it.<br/>A Friendship is Magic: the Gathering crossover, taking place between seasons 1 and 2. Here there be flashbacks, briefly seen OC's, and possibly every emotion known to man or tiny horse. Abandon all pretenses of not being a nerd, ye who enter here.</p>
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everyone
|
2012-01-22T18:13:52+00:00
|
2012-01-22T18:13:52+00:00
| 7,355 |
Ditzy tried to effect nonchalance as best she could after resorting to magical hypnotism to end an uncomfortable conversation. It was proving difficult. Guilt was piling onto the burden of fear and incredulity that she'd gathered at the Carousel Boutique, and the seething emotions were making it very hard to focus on the questions that were nagging at her. What had caused her to drop her careful mask so easily? Why was she so willing to offer truths that she hadn't confessed to anyone in all of Equestria before now? Why did her memories of most of the time spent talking to Rarity feel distant, secondhand, like she'd been watching herself?
As she put distance between herself and the dressmaker's shop, the answer became so clear that it was retrospectively obvious. "Generosity," she muttered. The haze of blue mana that surrounded the shop was attracted by that Element of Harmony, and it had insinuated itself into a mind all too receptive to its influences. Blue magic was, among other things, about information and knowledge, and as the saying went, information wanted to be free. Even if the holder of that information didn't. It was that magic that had loosened the pegasus's tongue.
Ditzy sighed. That's what she got for not keeping up any mental defenses. Years of the idyllic peace and general absence of mind control in Equestria had made the possibility of a unicorn detecting strange magic around a pegasus seem like a bigger risk than a psychic attack. Well, at least now she knew, and that would be especially handy for dealing with the Element of Honesty. If the boutique had loosened her tongue, then Sweet Apple Acres would unscrew it completely if she went unprepared.
Deep in such thought, the mailmare wasn't really paying attention to where she was going, and as such passed by a certain tree/library. She became alarmingly aware of her location once she got sufficiently close, as did everypony in earshot. It's hard, after all, to not notice a pained shout of "Sweet Celestia's solar seraglio!"
While the crowd traded concerned looks and sighs of "There goes Derpy," the grey mare was met with a kaleidoscopic explosion of color like a continual sonic rainboom. Instinctively, she took to the air and promptly got tangled in the building's branches. As she struggled with blindness and branches alike, the sensory overload began to leak into full synesthesia. Her eardrums itched from a pulsing sour chafe. Her tongue was dazzled by a grating whistle. Her sinuses spasmed from a suffusion of repugnant yellow.
After a brief eternity, she struggled out of the building's grasp and surged as fast as she could until she hit an obstruction. The shock of impact, which mercifully registered along the intended nerves, was enough to bring her back to lucidity. A brief moment of panic was followed by the realization that she wasn't still blind; everything was white because her head was literally stuck in a cloud. A moment's struggle removed her from the puff, allowing her to warily look back at the library.
"Magic…" She'd known that the Element of Magic was, unsurprisingly, attracting all colors of mana, but the intensity of its field had been roughly that of the other Elements only a few days ago. Now it was overwhelming her mana sight like a spotlight placed an inch from her face. Yet from here, the sheer quantity of mystic energy that had overwhelmed her appeared as an innocuous aura, a thin rainbow outlining Twilight Sparkle's home. "Pure elemental magic. I can't even get close." The earlier emotional turmoil was forgotten now that she had actual physical pain to deal with. Gingerly placing herself on the cumulus cotton ball she'd hit, Ditzy decided that a brief recuperative nap was decidedly in order. Then, she'd go to the one remaining Element that wouldn't require extensive preparation to get to and through. Hopefully.
Years in the past (but even fewer)
In her forays throughout the Multiverse, Ditzy Doo had determined that there were a few fundamental constants, principles by which all the myriad planes operated. Goblins were annoying, present in nearly every plane, came in only one quantity (too many), and had an impressive talent for killing themselves. Humans were largely similar, but generally had better hygiene and on occasion had better manners. Griffins were brutish jerks, regardless of intelligence level. But the one that resonated most with her upon her return to Equestria was this: Bureaucracy sucks.
At least law enforcement was willing to acknowledge that she matched the physical description and looked like the vanished foal would after this long. Sure, it was embarrassing for a case with zero leads to spontaneously solve itself, but at least the police accepted that she was, in fact, Ditzy Doo, especially when magic corroborated the claim. But was that enough for the Cloudsdale City Administration? Of course not. As far as they were concerned, Princess Celestia herself wasn't who she said she was without at least three forms of identification.
As such, Ditzy had taken the clearest option, and the most appealing to any planeswalker: She left. She didn't leave the plane, of course. In that regard, she was here to stay for as long as she could. No, she left the city. While she was at it, she left the sky as a whole. Asking after some of her old classmates had revealed that the only pony who might still remember her had moved to a ground-town called Ponyville that was remarkably near Cloudsdale. Well, fine by her. Even with an internal compass that was more like a pinwheel, she could see the nearest patch of gravity-bound civilization and hazard a descent to it. From there, it was just finding a job.
Serendipitously enough, she'd actually managed to find one within hours of arriving in town. Asking the pink pony who'd practically imitated an air raid siren at her arrival pointed Ditzy towards the post office. When she'd walked in, it contained only one pony and far, far more than one envelope. The indigo unicorn stallion looked up at the sound of hoofsteps and sighed. "If you're hoping for next day delivery, you really shouldn't get your hopes up."
"I'm actually here for a job."
He raised an eyebrow and lit his horn. A letter floated into her field of vision. "What's the address on this?"
She frowned. "If this about my eyes, I can see just fine. I flew here from Cloudsdale. You think I 'd have managed that without depth perception?"
He shrugged, then realized that she couldn't see it. Because of him. Thankful that she also couldn't see his slight blush, he justified the request. "Look, just think of it as the easiest job application you'll ever get, all right?"
She sighed. "Fine. Incantessa Octavia Pie, 26 Eighth Avenue, Apartment 44C, Manehattan, New Yoke 46543. The 'i's are all dotted with... are those muffins?"
"Is the return addressee Pinkamena Diane Pie?"
"Yes."
"Then they're more likely cupcakes." The envelope sailed out of view, revealing a very relieved looking pony. "In any case, welcome to the Ponyville Post Office. My name is Address Unknown."
"Ditzy Doo." She looked around at the paper-stuffed environs. "How many postponies are there in this town?"
Address smirked. "You've swelled our proud ranks by one hundred percent."
"Great…"
"Have I mentioned how truly grateful I am that someone finally came to help me?"
"Well, since we haven't discussed my starting salary..." A smile that evil simply didn't belong on any pony not devoted to bringing about eternal night, yet there it was.
The purple postpony bit back a curse. Oh, this filly was good.
In the months since Ditzy doubled the post office's workforce, its efficiency had been on a steady upswing. With both unicorn precision and pegasus speed chipping at it, the seemingly insurmountable backlog shrank on a daily basis. Ponyville by and large welcomed its new mailmare with open wings and forelimbs, even if an unfortunate early accident had saddled her with a dim-witted reputation and aggravating nickname that were proving near impossible to buck. Still, she had been able to reconnect with her old acquaintances from before her "disappearance" and was building new friendships as well.
On the other hoof, there was Address Unknown. As his name implied, he was an anomaly, an unexpected variable with which Ditzy just didn't know what to do. Any attempt to get a read on his nature was thwarted by a flawless mask of snark and sarcasm. Oh, Ditzy was well enough versed in such things, but it was through experience on plane after plane that was far less idyllic than Equestria. She couldn't help but wonder if trying to manage an entire post office on one's own was so stressful that it provided an equally cynical viewpoint. Still, asking about his past would inevitably lead to hers, a subject both were happy to leave undisturbed.
One day, however, the postal workers' dynamic underwent an inexplicable shift. Instead of playful jabs and nicknames, Address was exuding raw hostility and passive aggression. Nothing Ditzy did seemed to satisfy him. Coffee was undrinkable. Sorting was unacceptably slow and error-prone. Envelopes sliced through the air with vorpal snicker-snacks as the artificial-grape-colored unicorn's anger leaked into his magic.
It wasn't until after returning from the day's deliveries to a sotto voce "Took you long enough" that the pegasus chose to speak up. At first, she tried the usual camaraderie. "Sheesh, what crawled up your nose and died?" The unicorn said nothing, continuing to sort still undelivered letters like a ninja practicing with rectangular shuriken. Ditzy approached Address's desk and in a more sincere tone said, "You know, if anything's wrong, I'm here for you."
"Who asked you to be?"
She stopped in her tracks. She had never heard such pure, barely-restrained malice in Equestria. "I'm your friend, Address. That's what friends are for."
"'Friend'? Please." He telekinetically jammed a letter in the "out-of-town" cubbyhole so hard that the building gave a slight shudder. "I never asked for your friendship."
"Well, I'm sorry. I thought that in a two-pony work environment, the ability to tolerate one's co-worker would be helpful. I suppose I was mistaken."
He shifted his gaze to meet hers. Ditzy didn't flinch, but her heart did skip a beat. There was rage there, yes, but the puffy, bloodshot eyes told of sorrow as well. "Do you know what everypony calls you when they think I can't hear them?"
"Derpy Hooves?"
"No. They call you my replacement." He leaped over the service counter for a better glaring vantage point. "Do you have any idea what it's like to have somepony show up literally out of the blue and upstage you on what's supposed to be your special talent?"
"But I don't want to replace you! You taught me everything I know!"
"And how long did that take? A week? Less? What's the point of my existence if some bubble-flanked out-of-towner can just waltz in and render me obsolete in a matter of days?"
"You think I can do this on my own? You think you could? It's only because we're working together that we're doing this good a job!"
"That's not what the town thinks! They think I'm a flop. A failure. That I was content to let the mail stagnate until you came to shake things up. They think deliveries would be processed even faster if I wasn't here holding you back! That-"
The hurt in his voice and tears in his eyes had tugged heartstrings that proved far more pliable than Ditzy expected. Thus, she interrupted Address's address in the way that felt most right: A kiss. As their lips parted and the unicorn stared agog, she smirked and asked him, "Do you know what I think?"
"Buh?"
"I think that they don't know anything about what's actually going on. I think you have no reason to pay attention to them. I think that if it weren't for you, I'd be living in a tent on the edge of the Everfree Forest. And I think that you are a very attractive stallion when your dander is up."
"Guh?"
"Now, why don't we attack the backlog as best we can, and then we can have a nice dinner for two at that wonderful-looking cafe that just opened up?"
Address's brain was, by this point, sufficiently reinitialized to offer more than one syllable. "...OK." He had an enormous goofy smile plastered on his muzzle, angst-chocked ranting forgotten.
"Do you, Desiderata Lillian Doo, take this stallion to be your lawfully wedded husband, to nibble and to nuzzle, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"
"I do."
Mayor Mare turned to the groom. "And do you, Adrian Esteban Incognito, take this mare to be your lawfully wedded wife, to nibble and to nuzzle, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?"
"I do."
"If anypony has a reason why these two should not be joined, speak now, or forever hold your peace."
This was followed by a chorus of chirping crickets. In her peripheral vision, Ditzy could see that the sound was actually being produced by her bridesmares, courtesy of Pinkie-tweaked kazoos. She stifled a giggle at this.
Beaming, the mayor concluded the ceremony. "Then, by the power vested in me, I now declare you pony and wife. You my kiss the bride."
Address did just that, to wild cheers and thunderous applause.
"You're almost there Ditzy, keep pushing!"
"Smut yo-yo brink tine chewing!" One of the pegasus's eyes had rolled back into her head. The other swivelled madly about, stopping occasionally to fix an unsettling glare on Nurse Redheart. She punctuated the vaguely cogent sentence with a piercing scream that echoed in the mind of every living being within a hundred miles. She felt something shift and collapsed to her knees.
Redheart's practiced hooves had the newborn slapped, sexed, and swaddled in ten seconds flat. "Congratulations," she gushed, "it's a filly." She passed the wailing creature to her mother.
With the odd clarity of complete exhaustion, Ditzy took in the greatest work of magic she ever wrought. Her daughter. A little filly that was a bit of her and a bit of Address and a whole lot of herself, whoever that might end up being. She seemed so impossibly small, especially the itty-bitty horn emerging from her absurdly adorable forehead. "Dinky," panted the new mother. "My Dinky."
Fluttershy hummed to herself as she made her way back to her cottage, loaded down with her customary monthly resupply. She was a big believer in buying in bulk, both for frugality's sake and for minimizing the time she had to spend troubling shopkeepers. (It was also the only way she knew to keep Davenport or his sister Boxspring, owner of Mattresses and Medical Supplies, from guilting her into buying furniture.) As a result, in addition to heavily loaded saddlebags, she was also pulling a small cart she kept specifically for carrying her voluminous purchases.
Obviously, this all meant that the gentle pegasus was returning home on hoof. This, combined with eyes closed in joyous anticipation of veterinary work, was what caused her to run into an unexpected obstruction within sight of her front door. Naturally, Fluttershy's first thought was to apologize. "Oh dear. I'm terribly sorry. I should've been looking where I was going." Courtesy satisfied, the pink-maned mare could then register who precisely she'd trotted in to. "Oh, hello Ditzy Doo. What brings you here? Um, if you don't mind my asking. Especially since you haven't even had a chance to respond to my apology. Oh..." The poor thing sank under a much heavier burden than groceries and bandages: shame.
She stayed sunk for a good minute or two before realizing that the other pony hadn't even moved, much less taken offense. If it weren't for Ditzy's blonde mane and tail and the slight rise and fall of her chest, Fluttershy would've thought the mailmare had been the victim of a cockatrice. The butter-coated pegasus took the initiative with all the eagerness of someone convinced that it would bite. "Um, Ditzy? Are you feeling alright?" Carefully maneuvering her load around the possibly petrified pony, she took a look at the other mare's face.
Much to the stare mistress's relief, the local muffin fiend had not been the victim of a chicken-headed ruffian. Instead, Ditzy bore a look of distant yet immense bliss, gazing off into two distances at one or more glorious presences that only she could see. Tears, presumably of joy, ran down her cheeks. She seemed as euphoric and unaware as a lotus-eater from Homare's Plodyssey.
"Ditzy?" Fluttershy next tried that most time-honored of experimental procedures, nudging something with a hoof. No reaction. "Ditzy!" To the gentle pegasus, this was a rather impressive shout. Anypony else would rate it as a whisper, perhaps a murmur if they were feeling generous. In any case, it elicited no response. "Theponywhodoesn'twantmuffinssayswhat?" Still nothing. "That always worked in flight school..."
Mentioning that time filled Fluttershy with new resolve. Before plummeting into a swarm of butterflies, she could count her true friends on one hoof: Ditzy Doo. They were the misfits, the outcasts, one with two left wings and the other with two left eyes. At first, it had been more an acquaintance of convenience, each desperately seeking somepony, anypony whose first reaction to them wasn't dismissal or mockery. But in time, the bond had grown, and by the day Fluttershy got her cutie mark, it had matured into a genuine friendship.
The Bearer of Kindness decided there and then that if she couldn't help one of her oldest friends, then she was unworthy of her Element. She unhitched the cart from herself and dug through the arrayed bags until she found a Jumbo-Lux container of smelling salts. Waving the aromatics under the grey pony's muzzle got far better, far more immediate results.
"Huh? Wuz hapnin'?" Not very coherent results, but better and more immediate.
"You've been standing there unresponsive for at least a few minutes." Fluttershy glanced at the position of the sun. "Depending on when you got here, you could have been out for as long as two hours."
"Whuh? 'Snot pos'ble. I was... Was..." Ditzy found herself at a loss for a counterargument. She switched tacks. "M' muffin..."
The gentle mare blinked, nonplussed by the non sequitur. "Um, I didn't see one. I suppose a hungry squirrel might have carried it away."
The mailmare shook her head, thoughts gradually clearing. "No. My other Muffin."
"Dinky? I haven't seen her today." Fluttershy gave a frightened gasp. "Has... has something bad happened to her?"
Another, fiercer head shake. "My other other Muffin. He's gone, isn't he?"
Fluttershy could do nothing but nuzzle her friend, which she did. "For a long time now, Ditzy. I'm sorry."
"Right." The bubble-flanked pegasus began blinking ferociously, but the dappled sunlight still caught on a tear or two. "Right, I knew that. Thank you."
"Are you going to be OK?"
The smile was small but genuine. "You know what? I really think that I am." Much to to the pink-maned pegasus's surprise, the other pony embraced with both forelegs and wings. "Thank you, Fluttershy."
"F-for what?"
"For being you."
Show of Kindness 2WU
Instant
Prevent all damage that would be dealt to target creature this turn. At the beginning of the next end step, gain control of that creature if damage equal to or greater than its toughness was prevented this way.
"You're not a bad dragon. You just made a bad decision"
—Fluttershy, Element of Kindness
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FanOfMostEverything
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1048
| 4 |
Derpy Hooves,Dinky Hooves,Main 6,Original Character,Other,Crossover,Adventure,Magic: The Gathering,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Elementals of Harmony
|
(FiMtG) The only thing standing between Equestria and apocalypse is Ditzy Doo. Yes, really. Stop laughing!
|
complete
| 430 | 14 |
<p>Something is gathering around the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Something dangerous. Something magical. There's only one pony with the knowledge, the skills, and the muffins needed to save Equestria as we know it.<br/>A Friendship is Magic: the Gathering crossover, taking place between seasons 1 and 2. Here there be flashbacks, briefly seen OC's, and possibly every emotion known to man or tiny horse. Abandon all pretenses of not being a nerd, ye who enter here.</p>
|
everyone
|
2012-01-22T18:26:20+00:00
|
2015-10-23T01:07:37+00:00
| 7,336 |
In a dank basement, a dark plot had been hatched. Now, it was being raised to maturity. A weak, miserly flame guttered in a brazier, offering little light or heat. The hooded figure found it enough to complete the ritual circle. It examined its handiwork, chalk occasionally darting out like a viper to touch up some unsatisfactory line in the figure.
As the pony placed the white chunk on a low table, her ears perked as another entered the gloomy sanctum. She knew that only one other knew the ways of bypassing and disarming all the traps laid between here and the unsuspecting street. Still, there was no telling when a seemingly friendly knife might find its way into your back. "Were you followed?"
Her accomplice, unicorn horn just poking out from beneath her own robes, answered in a voice far more pleasant than its owner deserved. "Of course not. What kind of foal do you take me for?"
The chalk-bearer gave a humorless chuckle. "The same kind as me. After all, only a foal would try to summon a demon."
"Then foals we must be, but foals that shall rule all of Equestria!"
"Quiet!" hissed the first figure. "We must exercise caution until our victory is assured."
"Hmph. Well, if everything is prepared?"
"It is."
"Then let us assure it."
The two nodded as one and positioned themselves at opposite ends of the circle. Horns aglow, they chanted a harsh, guttural incantation clearly not meant for the pony throat. With the final larynx-scrapping syllable, each bit a lip and spat blood into the chalked design, which was now glowing with its own otherworldly light. Once the vital fluid hit the ground, that light turned just as red, and there came a burst of flame and a reek of sulphur. Then, before the conspirators stood a demon.
The blasphemous being was generally equine in shape, most closely resembling a pegasus in form, but its wings were as a dragon's. They, like the fiend's coat, were as intensely crimson as the blood that had called it. Its mane and tail were masses of roiling, lightless hellfire. The fallen one had materialized with a flank facing each summoner, and each thus reflexively glanced at its cutie mark. Both regretted it, wincing as they tore their eyes from the tear-inducing sight. Whatever horrid glyph symbolized this monster's domain, it was too terrible for the mortal mind or eye.
The beast made a cruel smirk at this self-inflicted pain. "Who dares call one from the depths of Hell?" Its voice was like burning wormwood: smoky, intoxicating, and unhealthy for anypony nearby.
Both demonologists were briefly at a loss, stunned by their horrific success. Finally, the one with a voice of poisoned honey answered the red menace. "Oh mighty Skü-T'lough, we bind you in your name to perform for us one service of our choosing."
Skü-T'lough narrowed its eyes, hissed and spat, and shook with rage. Still, though each word seemed to be dragged out of its maw, it answered as the grimoire had said it would. "Bound by my name, I must perform as instructed. Name your task."
"Great and terrible Skü-T'lough," intoned she who had drawn its mystic bindings, "we call upon you to strike down the accursed Sun Tyrant and usher in a new age for Equestria!"
The demon paused in mid-scowl, a terrible smile coming to its lurid lips and triple-row of razored fangs. A laugh like the last tears of hope boomed in its chest. "Excellent. Had you merely asked for me to bring you conquest, I would have driven you mad and let you slay one another. But instead, I shall carve for you a swathe of destruction the likes of which pony has never seen!" It threw back its head and let loose a full gale of maniacal laughter. Though their ears bled from the accursed black mirth, the robed unicorns joined in, ceasing only when an arrow suddenly bloomed in one's forehead.
As the body collapsed, her ally and the beast turned to behold an earth pony dropping a bow with a grin. She was clad in naught but a sheathed sword and her own corded muscles, the latter rippling 'neath her rugged coat as she drew the former. With the ease of long practice, she both held the massive blade in her mouth and spoke around its hilt. "You are skilled, witch. Most devils vanish once one of their callers falls."
Said witch gasped in both horror and recognition. "Applon the Barbarian!" These were her last words, for a breath later the mighty sword Dragonfang bit deep into her breast. As Applon tugged the stout weapon from the unicorn's black heart, she joined her fellow sorceress in ignoble death.
Crom's favorite daughter turned her steely gaze and equally steely sword on the hellspawn. Much to her displeasure, it still had not evaporated into a cloud of brimstone. "So, you remain here still?"
The demon gnashed its teeth, spread its wings, and flared its baleful mane. "All you have accomplished by slaying those foals was freeing me from this thrice-cursed seal! Now I may feast on your still-beating hea—" The creature of the abyss interrupted its boast when it noticed that the Cimmareian wasn't paying it any attention. "Hey! I'm not done."
Furrowing her mighty brow, Applon let Dragonfang fall from her jaws she spake, "Dinky, yer s'possed t' be dead. Quit that horn glowin' o' yers."
Scootaloo turned. Indeed, the lilac filly's horn has a light shining on its tip. Dinky got back up despite their protests, removing the Crusader cape she'd been using as a spooky cultist hood. Now that she could get a better look at it, she considered her horn and smiled. "Oh, that's my Dinky Sense!"
"Dinky Sense!" Sweetie Belle bolted upright, looking around frantically. "Is something gonna fall? Is it a monster? Is it bees?"
"No, it's—"
"BEES!" All three Cutie Mark Crusaders performed the time-honored Ponyville crisis reaction: panicking and running to nowhere in particular.
This was interrupted by a very loud, piercing whistle. The trio turned to look at the now blushing Dinky. "It's not like Pinkie Sense... though she was the one who named it. My horn just does this when my Mommy's getting close." She scanned the horizon, then pointed a hoof. "See?" Sure enough, in that direction there was a grey shape amidst the Sunday air traffic.
"Whoa, a parent-detection spell!" enthused the pegasus. "That'd be way helpful when Mom's trying to catch me reading Coltan books!"
Apple Bloom frowned. "Why'd yer Pa give ya them books if yer Ma don't want ya readin' 'em?"
Scootaloo smirked and replied as only a true Rainbow Dash fanfilly would. "'Cause my dad's at least twenty percent cooler than she is."
Sweetie Belle's attention wasn't so quickly diverted. "Do you think you could teach me a sister-detecting spell?"
The other unicorn filly shrugged. "It's not really a spell, it just kid of happens. It's sort of like a..." She paused, made sure the unhorned Crusaders were occupied, and leaned in to whisper, "like a mana leak."
Sweetie's eyes widened as Dinky scratched at the ground. A mana leak was an embarrassing instance of unintentional magic that could afflict a few unicorns well into foalhood, usually triggered by intense emotions or dreams. The white filly hesitantly asked, "You don't..."
"No! Not for wee— months! Almost a whole year!"
Dinky's outburst was enough to attract the other fillies' attention. "What are you two talking about?" asked a bemused Scootaloo.
The answer, in almost flawless stereo, was "Unicorn stuff."
Judging from her frown, the young pegasus found this response unsatisfactory. But before she could dig further, she was interrupted by the landing of an older winged pony. "Hello, Muffin!"
Love and relief flooded Dinky's system. "Hi, Mommy!" She rushed to nuzzle her mother, appearance be... darned. (Fillies who said bad words didn't get any dessert.)
"Hello, Miss Ditzy," chorused the Crusaders.
"I guess it's time to go?" asked the blonde filly, regret lacing her tone.
Her mother smiled. "Actually, I have a bit of business at Sweet Apple Acres. You and Apple Bloom can talk on the way. Now where is Big Macintosh?"
"Right here, Miss Ditzy."
It was a credit to her self-control that the pegasus didn't go airborne when that deep voice came from right behind her. "Oh! You startled me a bi—" The last word hung open, along with her jaw.
"Ah know," drawled the workhorse. "What kin Ah say? Ah'm a softy when it comes t' mah little sisters." Cardboard wings had been taped onto the harness he habitually wore, along with triangles of the same material that went along his spine.
Scootaloo gave a cheery grin and an explanation. "We were being Cutie Mark Crusader Pulp Heroines! Fighting dragons and demons and all sortsa stuff!"
Sweetie Belle chimed in. "It was all pretend, so we were also being Cutie Mark Crusader Actresses!"
"And Cutie Mark Crusader Storytellers!" added Apple Bloom.
All three cried out, "CUTIE MARK CRUSADER MULTITASKERS! YAY!"
Ditzy winced a little from the point-blank outburst, but managed to keep a smile going. "Well, it certainly seems like you fillies had a lot of fun today."
"It was all thanks to Dinky!" gushed the young pegasus.
"Oh?"
The bow-bearing earth filly nodded in agreement. "Uh huh. She had th' idea t' do stuff that needed a whole mess o' talents t' do real well! That way, we kin try even more stuff'n usual!"
Ditzy managed to keep herself from cooing over how adorable the trio was being. The fact that each of their flanks was still blank as the day they were born was apparently immaterial. They had been having too much fun to care. "Well, I'm afraid that will have to be enough crusading for today. It's getting late, and I'm sure your siblings and parents don't want you all out after dark." Indeed, the western sky was filling with the warm hues of sunset.
"Ah know Ah don't," Big Macintosh noted.
Moans of disappointment were quickly forgotten as arrangements were made to get everypony home. Scootaloo buzzed off with Sweetie Belle in tow, while the Doos and Apples made for Sweet Apple Acres. As the fillies happily chattered about their own concerns, the adults were, for a time, silent.
Surprisingly, it was Big Mac who first spoke. "If'n y'll pardon mah pryin', Miss Ditzy, what all do ya need t' do at the farm?"
The preprepared story came easily to mind and tongue. "A few things I need to tell Applejack about."
"Such as?"
"Well, for one, I'm acting as messenger for a surprise party for Pinkie Pie. After the one on her birthday, everypony asked me to spread the word so she doesn't go so paranoid that she starts talking to turnips again."
"...Beg pardon?"
Ditzy smiled and shrugged. "This is Pinkie we're talking about, though I admit that I got the story secondhoof from Rainbow Dash. I guess she could've embellished it a bit."
Big Mac gave a low, earthy chuckle. "Ah reckon so. Anythin' else?"
"Oh, a few things, but it's all filly stuff. You wouldn't be interested."
Given his red coat, it was next to impossible to tell if or when Big Macintosh was blushing, but given his sudden coughing fit, Ditzy was willing to guess that now was such a time. "Well then, uh... nice weather we're havin', ain't it?"
The pegasus gave a mental laugh at the awkward subject change. Ah, "filly stuff." When don't you work on stallions? "Certainly been good for deliveries. Minimal turbulence, low wind even at my usual cruising altitude, as low as that is... oh, sorry. I must sound like a flight school instructor."
The workhorse gave a soft smile. "Well, Ah wouldn't know 'bout that."
"I guess not. Sorry."
"No need t' apologize, Miss Ditzy. Ah think of it as a compliment t' mah intelligence."
An odd thought entered Ditzy's mind. "Big Macintosh, this may sound odd, but—"
"Miss Ditzy, Ah'm quite flattered, but Ah'm not interested in a relationship right now."
"What?"
The two turned to look at each other with surprisingly similar looks of confusion. Big Mac cleared his throat. "Oh. Beg yer pardon."
"No, no, it's perfectly understandable." A few minutes of awkward silence passed, punctuated by the heedless background noise of the foals. Finally, just as Ditzy was about to resume the conversation, they arrived at the front gate of Sweet Apple Acres.
Big Macintosh nodded to her. "Thank ya fer the comp'ny, Miss Ditzy."
"Thank you for watching Dinky today."
"Mah pleasure. AJ should be inside 'bout now. Ah'll go fetch 'er for ya."
"Thanks again."
"Not a problem. C'mon, Apple Bloom."
"Comin', Big Mac! Bye, Dinky! Bye, Miss Ditzy!" The filly dashed after her brother.
As they waited, Ditzy saw her daughter looking at her speculatively. "What is it, Dinky?"
"Is Big Macintosh your coltfriend?"
The pegasus sputtered for a moment as she tried to unstick her mind from this blindsiding query. Finally, she replied, "What made you ask that?"
"'Cause you made a preposition at him."
Ditzy laughed a little, but stopped once she saw Dinky's face fall. "Oh, silly Muffin, I'm not laughing at you. You just misunderstood something, is all. And you meant 'proposition'."
"OK. It's just..."
"Yes?"
"Well, I felt bad for Apple Bloom today 'cause she doesn't have a mommy, but Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle both have one and a dad, and I—" Her explanation was cut short by a sudden heartfelt embrace.
Mother whispered to daughter, "Oh, Dinky. You poor, sweet, little filly. I would give anything if it would bring back your daddy, even for a day, if only so you could know him like I did."
"It's OK, Mommy. You tell me stories about him all the time!"
"Still, just know that if there's anything you want to know about him, you only have to ask me. OK?"
"OK."
Ditzy gave her filly a kiss on the nose. "That's my Muffin." She looked up and saw Applejack coming out of the farmhouse. Disentangling herself from Dinky, the pegasus smiled. "Good evening, Applejack."
"Evenin', Ditzy. Hay there, l'il Dinky. Didja have fun with the Crusaders t'day?" The little unicorn gave an frantic nod. Chuckling, the Stetson-wearing farmer turned back to Ditzy. "So, what kin Ah do ya fer?"
The planeswalker took a deep breath. Sweet Apple Acres was currently suffused with an abundance of green mana, the energy of life, growth, and vitality. This wouldn't be that bad, except that it was being pulled in by the power of Honesty, and that made it especially inimical to tricky, sneaky blue magic. Like her. She'd been able to keep her mind off of it with conversation, but now the epicenter of that power was right in front of her. She was thus all too aware that this place actively despised her and nearly everything she stood for. "I actually wanted to ask a few questions about Sweet Apple Acres."
Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Really now? Don't see many pegasi that interested in farmin'. Whatcha want t' know?"
"Have you noticed any unusually fast or intense growth in the trees lately?"
The farmer scratched the back of her head with a forehoof. "Cain't say Ah have. Bin a fine growin' season, but Ah ain't seen nothin' outta the ordinary."
"How about the livestock? Anything odd among them?"
After a moment of consideration, the earth pony shook her head. "The cows haven't mentioned nothin' peculiar, an' the hogs seem happy as a foal in a candy store."
Ditzy nodded. "OK. Have you heard anything from Dash about clouds moving on their own around here?"
The orange mare looked at her incredulously. "Clouds movin' on their own? Now look here missy, Ah'm flattered that yer takin' an interest in this here farm, but an apple orchard ain't nothin' like the Everfree Forest." She shook her head. "Honestly, tain't like th' weather goes all willy-nilly just 'cause some trees happen t' nestle t'gether."
Off the top of her head, the pegasus could think of a half-dozen counter examples, but chose not to mention them. "Sorry. Didn't mean to offend you."
"Ah ain't offended. Ah jus' don't appreciate plum fool questions makin' it seem like there's Ursa Majors sleepin' in the south field." The decidedly unsilly pony narrowed her eyes. "Why're you askin' all these questions anyway?"
"Oh, um, bureaucratic stuff and nonsense. Red tape. You know how it is."
Applejack's expression was clear. She didn't believe her for a second. "Uh huh. An' Ah'm gonna raise th' moon in a few minutes. Ditzy Doo, Ah kin smell a lie like that from a mile away. Why don'tcha tell me what's really goin' on?"
"Because it would entail revealing a secret that I've been keeping from everyone in Ponyville for the last four years." Ditzy's eyes widened. The words had left her mouth before she even realized she was speaking. "Oh Celestia, it's the Boutique all over again." There she went again!
The applebucker looked askance at the silly pony. "'The Boutique'? Talk sense, girl!"
"Oh, I am. You just lack the context to understand it." Logorrhea at its worst. A quick metaphysical glance told the pegasus that her mental defenses had crumpled like wet tissue paper under the assault of truth magic. She had to get out of here! "Sorry, but I need to—"
"Oh no ya don't." Ditzy blinked, then turned around. How had Applejack gotten behind her so fast? "Y' ain't leavin' 'til y' explain yerself t' mah satisfaction."
"That could take quite some time," the mailmare answered all too honestly.
"Mommy?" Oh no. No. Hesitantly, the blonde mare turned to look at her daughter. Tears were welling up in the young unicorn's eyes. Oh please no. "You... you've been lying to me?"
"No, Muffin!" Oh dear sweet princess, not her daughter. But her tongue wasn't finished. "You've never asked me anything I've had to be dishonest about. Not even where foals come from." Dinky's expression shifted from sorrow to curiosity. Where was the nearest wall? Ditzy felt a sudden and pressing urge to repeatedly drive her face into the nearest wall.
"But ya have been lyin' t' me, haven't ya?"
"Yes." This was bad. This was doubleplusbad.
"'Bout what, if Ah may ask?"
"You may." Internally, she struggled for some degree of control. "Among other things, yes, the florist triplets do think you and Rainbow Dash are having a clandestine lesbian affair."
Watching the orange grow redder, then paler, then redder again on Applejack's face was fascinating, like watching Celestia experiment with the sunset. "That ain't neither here nor there!"
"That's another thing. At the risk of sounding like Rarity, your grammar is atrocious. As a postal worker and, by extension, an upholder of the sanctity and dignity of the Equestrian language, I normally find myself forced to hold back correction after correction whenever dealing with one or more members of your family."
"Why... Why of all the gall."
"For the record, I really am sorry about this. You see, your Element of Harmony, namely Honesty, has caused a dramatic rise in the ambient green mana on and around this farm, and because of my increased sensitivity to such things, I'm finding myself unable to control these one hundred percent truthful monologues. Seriously, I'm panicking here."
Applejack looked at Ditzy as though she'd grown an extra head and named it Zaphod. "Care t' run that by me again, sugarcube?"
"Sure. In four words, I am a p—" There. That deepest, most private secret. That she could hold in, if barely. That, at least, she could stop herself from giving away.
"A what?"
As long as Applejack didn't keep asking, of course. Fighting for control over her jaw muscles, Ditzy also looked around desperately for an escape route. She could go up, but she wasn't sure she could hold her tongue for much longer than this thought was taking her. That left just one option. One really, really crappy option "Again," she said, "I'm sorry." With that, she opened herself to every mana bond she'd established, flooding herself with power. Jaw agape, Applejack watched as the resident mailpony suddenly glowed a brilliant blue, then vanished, taking her daughter with her.
"Ugh..." Ditzy felt like crap. She must've used every ounce of power at her disposal, including the stuff normally reserved for use by her body for... body things. Biology and such. Never really her area of focus. Neither was teleportation, for that matter, and without her muffylactery, it had taken a ludicrous amount of power. She felt like she could sleep for a week. It was an effort to keep her eyes open, but she needed to see where she'd ended up after that teleport.
As she assessed her situation, she came to several realizations in sequence. First was that the main direction she'd sent herself was up, judging by the whistling wind and her internal altimeter frantically recalibrating itself. Second was that she wasn't alone. Third was that the other pony had no wings. Fourth was that the other pony was, in fact, Dinky, who was looking at her in awe. Fifth and last was the realization that she was rapidly losing consciousness.
Dramatic Exit 5U
Instant
Put target creature on top of its owner's library.
Draw a card.
"I go."
—Photo Finish
|
FanOfMostEverything
|
1048
| 5 |
Derpy Hooves,Dinky Hooves,Main 6,Original Character,Other,Crossover,Adventure,Magic: The Gathering,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Elementals of Harmony
|
(FiMtG) The only thing standing between Equestria and apocalypse is Ditzy Doo. Yes, really. Stop laughing!
|
complete
| 430 | 14 |
<p>Something is gathering around the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Something dangerous. Something magical. There's only one pony with the knowledge, the skills, and the muffins needed to save Equestria as we know it.<br/>A Friendship is Magic: the Gathering crossover, taking place between seasons 1 and 2. Here there be flashbacks, briefly seen OC's, and possibly every emotion known to man or tiny horse. Abandon all pretenses of not being a nerd, ye who enter here.</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-10-21T18:18:52+00:00
|
2011-10-21T18:18:52+00:00
| 7,782 |
"What in the hay was that!" Big Macintosh rushed out of the house, seeing his sister with mouth agape and staring at an empty patch of dirt. As the stallion got closer, he saw that the ground looked as though a firecracker had gone of on it, a circular blast pattern plainly evident, the pattern interrupted by a smaller, similar burst off to one side.
"Ah... Ah..." Applejack had apparently found her voice during his investigation. She shook her head, trying to throw off all the impossibilities that had gathered. "Y' ain't gonna believe me, Big Mac."
He couldn't help but grin at this. "Sis, if ya told me th' sky was green, Ah'd be wonderin' why the Princess went an' changed it. What'd ya see?"
"Ditzy Doo done cast a spell!"
The enormous pony paused at this and turned to reexamine the tiny craters. After a moment of further consideration, he arrived at a hypothesis. "She explode?" A glance at the smaller burst. "Twice?"
"No, she didn't explode, y' overgrown candy apple! She glowed bluer 'n a clear noon sky an' th' next thing Ah knew, she an' Dinky were plum gone!"
Big Macintosh chewed this over, along with his hay stalk. "Ya sure she didn't explode?"
The look Applejack gave her brother would have frightened anypony who hadn't grown up watching her perfect it. "Tain't no way any self-respectin' pony'd blow up 'er own flesh an' blood."
"Well then, Miss Magic Expert, what did she do?"
The orange pony frowned and thought on this. "Well, if Ah had t' guess, Ah'd say she teleported. Looks an awful lot like th' aftermath o' one o' Twilight's, an' she seemed awful desperate fer a getaway."
"An' why was that?"
"She was spoutin' somethin' 'bout th' Element o' Honesty makin' 'er spill 'er guts. Seemed right on th' edge o' sayin' somethin' she wanted to keep under wraps real bad."
The plowpony frowned as he came to a decision. "Sis, Ah think ya should go see Miss Twilight 'bout this. Seems awful serious."
The mare gave a sheepish grin. "...can it wait 'til after supper?"
"Applejack..."
"Aw, Ah'm jokin'. Mostly. 'Sides, Spike's near as good a cook as me if 'e ain't usin' apples."
Incident Report #5872-3377
Reporting Guardspony: Cpl. Seraph Plume
Report filed 1950, 28 Incitat, Anno Celesti 5872
Incident Description: At 1853 this evening, there was a spontaneous flash of blue light approximately five kiloponies above Mount Canterlot. After the flash receded, PFC Swan Dive reported the manifestation an adult female pegasus and juvenile female unicorn at the point of the flash. Orders to intercept were given and carried out. The unicorn was supplied with a cloudwalk talisman and both ponies were placed in custody in Sky Barracks Gamma. The pegasus was unconscious but stable. The unicorn identified herself as Dinky Doo of Ponyville. She also identified the pegasus as her mother, Ditzy Doo.
According to the younger Doo, her mother and she had been on the premises of Sweet Apple Acres, a farm on the outskirts of Ponyville, when the elder Doo emitted a brilliant blue radiance from her entire body. The next moment, both were airborne.
Custody of the Doos was transferred to the Castle Mageguard at 1935. Ditzy Doo remained unconscious.
"Twilight!" Applejack sang out, having already knocked on the library door a few times. "C'mon girl, Ah'm starvin' out here!" Time continued to pass with no sign of anyone, pony or dragon, coming to let her in. The farmer sighed. "Ah'll give this one last try, then Ah'm headed on home. Cold supper's better 'n no supper at all." With that, she delivered a solid applebuck to the side of the tree.
As a few leaves fell around her, Applejack was pleased to finally see a response. Twilight had opened the top half of the door and was now blinking incredulously at her. Now that the door was open, the earth pony could see a shimmering field that was filling the doorway like a film of soap in a bubble wand. She also realized that she couldn't hear a thing coming out of the living building. "Twilight, what kinda crazy magic did ya work on this poor ol' tree?"
The unicorn's eyes widened and she noiselessly laughed at herself before her horn glowed and the pearly field vanished. "Sorry, AJ, I'd forgotten about that Field of Silence. What's up?"
"Well, Ah—" The farmer paused for a moment as she took in the state of her friend. Without the frosted-glass effect of the Silence Field, Twilight was clearly a mess. Her mane seemed clumped into the sort of dreadlocks that form from prolonged neglect. The hair around her eyes seemed to glisten unhealthily, and the eyes themselves were both bloodshot and faintly glowing. "Oh, Twilight, what have you bin doin' t' yerself?"
The unicorn blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Ah mean ya look like ya ain't slept or bathed since Ah last laid eyes on ya! Let me in, ya crazy mare, Ah'm stagin' ya an intervention."
As she opened the bottom half of the door, the librarian couldn't bring herself to make eye contact with the indignant earth pony. "Is... is it really that bad?"
Applejack turned to better appraise her friend's welfare. Twilight had definitely lost some weight, her tail seemed as bad as her mane, and more oddly shiny patches spread sporadically through her coat. One even stretched across her left cutie mark, much to the orange mare's distress. "Twi, Ah'm yer friend, so all Ah'll say is that Ah'm real glad Rarity ain't here t' see ya like this. Poor thing'd probably faint at th' sight of ya." She shook her head. "Honestly, sugarcube, this here is jus' plain unhealthy. Ah thought Spike'd make sure this sorta thing wouldn' happen."
"Spike's been asleep for most of the weekend. I think he's about to molt."
"...'Molt'?"
Twilight perked up a bit now that the subject wasn't her self-neglect. "A dragon's scales are designed to grow together into an interlocking suit of natural armor. When the scales of a young dragon like Spike become so linked together that his body can't grow any further, he sheds the whole layer. It's a really energy-intensive period, so he can't do much beyond eat and sleep. He's done it twice since I hatched him. I was so worried the first time it happened. He was still teething at the time, so—"
Applejack held up a forehoof. "Twi, this is fascinatin' an' all, but we've got more pressin' concerns 'n Spike's formative years."
"...Right." The unicorn folded in on herself in shame.
Her friend put a foreleg over her shoulders. "Ah ain't mad, sugarcube. Ah'm worried for ya. What if Ah hadn't come fer a visit t'night? How much longer were ya gonna run yerself inta th' ground like this?"
"Well, I was in the middle of refining a possible improvement of Maregan le Fey's Third Principle of Leyline Channeling, so..." Twilight grimaced. "I have no idea. Thank you, Applejack."
"No need t' thank me. Jus' promise me y' ain't gonna try an' be as big a foal as Ah was last applebuck season."
"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
The freckled mare nodded, satisfied. "All Ah needed t' hear. Now whaddaya say Ah make us some supper?"
"I, uh, don't know if I have much in the pantry."
"Aw, Ah'm sure Ah can figger out somethin'." Applejack went to the library's small kitchen. "Now, lessee what we've got t' work with here..." The cupboard proved to be nearly bare, save for a single cardboard box sitting on the floor. An awkward silence reigned as she examined its contents, only to be deposed by a declaration of, "Twilight, git that scrawny behind o' yers in here!"
As she did just that, the unicorn wondered if this was how Apple Bloom felt after a particularly foolish crusade. "Yes?"
"What the hay is that?" A hoof indicated that the "that" in question was the box that apparently comprised Twilight's entire food supply.
"A box of ramen feedbags?"
"An' is there any other food in this here tree?"
The answer came out a volume normally reserved for Fluttershy. "...No."
"Ya can't be serious."
"To be fair, they got me through studying for finals at the Academy."
"T' be fair, there's more salt in that there box than all the saloons in Appleoosa!" Applejack made her way out of the kitchen. "Twi, Ah've come t' a decision. Yer comin' with me back t' Sweet Apple Acres, an Ah'm feedin' ya somethin' other' 'n a nosebag fulla instant oats."
Twilight sputtered at this sudden change of plans. "But, but... What if Spike wakes up? What if he's stuck in his old scales?"
"Well now, that all depends. Do ma dragons help their babies in such a situation?"
"Well, that depends according to species. Some—"
Applejack cut off the lecture before Twilight could build up any momentum. "In Spike's case?"
"Oh. Well... no."
"Then th' li'l fella'll be fine. Write 'im a note, get yerself a quick shower, an' we'll get ya fed right an' proper. An' then Ah can tell ya what Ah came t' tell ya."
If anypony asked, she was still the Great and Powerful Trixie. (Cue fanfare and pyrotechnics) She was just making her way through one of the switchbacks that cropped up on the pernicious road of show business. Losing one's home, stage, personal library, and method of transportation in one fell swoop could do that.
Still, it would take more than that to end the dreams of the Stalwart and Dedicated Trixie. For now, however, she had to recoup her losses, and to do that, she had made her way to the one major city easily reachable from Ponyville on hoof: Canterlot. (It was the next stop on the tour anyway.) Thankfully, the Timely and Fortunate Trixie had been able to find a decent job with astonishing ease. That said job occupied the graveyard shift mattered not, especially since it was the graveyard shift at the Royal Library, and that the opening had been made by request of Princess Luna Herself.
Working from eight at night to four the next morning was a small price to pay for a daily opportunity to interact with the enigmatic Princess of Night, especially since She was every bit as magnanimous and kind as Her older sister. To think that such a being would deign to discuss matters of politics, history, and arcane science with the likes of the Awestruck and Unworthy Trixie, why, it was a dream come true!
The Frank and Self-Aware Trixie would be lying if she claimed to have not degenerated into a squealing schoolfilly on her first night. Thankfully, She Who Ignited The Stars was as understanding of such awe as she was deserving of it. She even offered an understanding ear to the showpony's shameful exploits in Ponyville and freely offered sage advice on the matter. She helped the Abashed and Humiliated Trixie see past the wound to her pride, to see her ouster from the village as an opportunity: Here was a benchmark, a rival, a metric by which Trixie could measure her own progress as a mage. That said metric was no less than the personal pupil of Celestia Herself, well that only spoke well of Trixie's own potential, did it not? (Though the less said of the incident two weeks ago in regards to that rivalry, the better.)
In any case, this series of offscreen events explained why the Drowsy and Undercaffeinated Trixie was making her way through Castle Canterlot at half past seven in the evening, only to stumble upon a cluster of servants and guards around one of the guest rooms. Intrigued, she found one of the guardsponies whose acquaintance she'd made. "Dark, what's going on here?"
"You haven't heard?" Guarding Dark was easily recognized as one of the few earth ponies in the castle's barded retinue. While his armor made him the same uniform black as the other earth pony guards, there simply weren't that many other earth pony guards with whom he could be confused.
"Luna's pet librarian, remember?" It had been the guard's description of her when he first heard of her position, but the... Adjective and Other Adjective Trixie (she really needed some coffee) was learning to keep such friendly jabs from bruising her ego. And it was both rather accurate and kind of funny. "I only woke up about an hour ago."
"Right. Sorry, Patty." The recovering showmare held back a grimace. Speaking in the first pony was a simple matter. Enduring playful denigration was something she was learning. But having to dust off the moniker "Patricia Hobbitses" was truly a test of her will. The guard continued heedlessly, "Well, apparently there was some kind of magical mishap in Ponyville."
"You don't say..." The Opaque and Composed Trixie maintained a careful poker face honed through long experience with hecklers of all stripes, zebras included. Internally, though, she was beginning to worry for Twilight Sparkle. How could she prove herself even greater than Celestia's protege if said protege went and tripped on her own horn?
"Yeah, apparently some unicorn filly managed to teleport herself above the castle."
While relieved at the news that her rival was safe, the Puzzled and Perplexed Trixie was now faced with something new to chew over. "That shouldn't be possible."
"I know, right? Little thing doesn't even have her cutie mark yet. You'd think something like that would be worth it."
"No, that literally shouldn't be possible. Even if a foal had that kind of power, there's no way she could control it enough for a teleport. That kind of magic is so intricate, most unicorns never manage to perform it." Myself included, the Bitter and Befuddled Trixie added silently.
The sable stallion shrugged. "Hay, that's just what I've heard."
"Hmm..." The Intrigued and Alert Trixie wasn't through. In this conundrum she'd found a better stimulant than her usual. "I suppose she's asleep?"
"Yup, along with her mother. Apparently, once she'd heard where her daughter had ended up, she flew here nonstop. Both were exhausted before the maids even had the room prepared."
"'Flew'? Her mother's a pegasus?"
Dark frowned. "Now don't tell me you're one of those breed purists, Patty. I was actually starting to like you."
"Nothing of the sort. It just adds another wrinkle to this." The Thoughtful and Ruminating Trixie began running through a list of books that might be helpful in figuring this out. "Thanks for the news, Dark. If something else develops, could you stop by the library after your shift ends?"
"Sure thing. Have a good night, Patty."
"You too." Grey's Anatomy should be a good starting point. And maybe the Princess could recall a similar incident that history had forgotten...
That night, the Doos slept, Trixie cogitated, and Applejack ensured that Twilight didn't research herself into an early grave. All the while, mana continued to coalesce, and as it did so, it passed a critical threshold. Only one pony could have seen the faint shapes that traced themselves in the moonlight, and she was currently unconscious. But those shapes themselves could see much, including the many possible paths to full manifestation. One required nothing but time, but there were other, faster ways. Though only quasi-real, the forms could nonetheless subtly nudge things of equally dubious existence, catalyzing their realization. So they did.
In six buildings scattered across Ponyville, the fabric of reality began to fray. And in Castle Canterlot, a pegasus squirmed in her dreamless sleep.
Exhaustive Research UU
Sorcery
Draw three cards. You skip your next untap step.
"If Celestia wanted me to sleep, she wouldn't have created books and caffeine."
—Twilight Sparkle
|
FanOfMostEverything
|
1048
| 6 |
Derpy Hooves,Dinky Hooves,Main 6,Original Character,Other,Crossover,Adventure,Magic: The Gathering,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Elementals of Harmony
|
(FiMtG) The only thing standing between Equestria and apocalypse is Ditzy Doo. Yes, really. Stop laughing!
|
complete
| 430 | 14 |
<p>Something is gathering around the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Something dangerous. Something magical. There's only one pony with the knowledge, the skills, and the muffins needed to save Equestria as we know it.<br/>A Friendship is Magic: the Gathering crossover, taking place between seasons 1 and 2. Here there be flashbacks, briefly seen OC's, and possibly every emotion known to man or tiny horse. Abandon all pretenses of not being a nerd, ye who enter here.</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-10-04T20:05:14+00:00
|
2022-10-26T21:25:17+00:00
| 7,569 |
"Now remember to do exactly what your father says."
"Yes, Mom."
"Don't wander away from the tour group until the tour is over."
"I know, Mom."
"And remember, if a sign says 'Authorized Personnel Only,' it-"
"-doesn't secretly say 'And Also Their Families'." Ditzy Doo, caught in the gangly grip of pegasus puberty, smiled at her mother. "We've been doing this for five years, Mom. I think I've got a handle on it."
Nimbus Lace bit her lower lip, then burst into tears, sweeping her wings around her daughter. "My baby is growing uh-huh-hup!"
"Moooom..." At least, reflected the younger blonde, they weren't in public.
Eventually, Nimbus released the pony who, in her mind, would always be her darling little filly. Tears were still streaming down the pale blue pegasus's eyes, but a smile was firmly in place. "You go and have fun with your Daddy. I know you don't want to spend another day listening to me dissect my clients' horrible taste."
Ditzy nodded, then frantically backpedaled. "I-it isn't like it's not important! Especially not if you like it, Mom! It's just-"
Her mother gave a soft understanding laugh. "Oh, I'm teasing you, you silly filly. Besides, even I'd choose the weather engineer over the interior decorator for Take Your Daughter To Work Day."
"I heard that!" Derby Doo practically pranced into the front room of the apartment, tongue firmly in cheek and bowler at a rakish angle. With a huge grin at wife and child, he boomed at the latter, "What ho, Little Muffin? Ready for another trip to Vulcan's forge?" His cutie mark, a pair of tongs holding a bolt of lightning, seemed to glow with the power of pure ham.
Ditzy returned the wide smile. "Lead on, Big Muffin."
Present Day
The first signs had been subtle. So subtle that only one could perceive them. Now, as forces beyond equine ken struggled towards existence, the ripples they caused took a turn for the more overt. Pursestrings seemed looser in the Carousel Boutique. Unicorns felt an odd sense of elation as they passed the library. Everypony felt a sense of euphoria in the Sugarcube Corner, independent of the baked goods. Nopony paid the phenomena much mind. Which is to say, no pony paid them much mind. Wiser, stranger creatures understood the meanings of such omens, and they made their own preparations.
One such creature was Angel Bunny. His devotion to Fluttershy notwithstanding, he was still a child of the Everfree Forest. Furthermore, he was technically a monster, a hyperintelligent rabbity thing known to crytpozoology as a lagomath. In addition to his being much smarter than the average hare, this also explained his opposable thumbs, and at least began to explain why he was currently meditating atop his hutch.
Fluttershy happened upon him, head balanced on the wide end of a carrot, and gave a small gasp. "Angel, I had no idea you could do something like this!"
The lagomath opened one eye and gave a small smile. Silly pony. It wasn't like he'd had a reason to wax monastic before now.
"Did Zecora teach you how to do this?"
Zecora? Ah yes, the shaman. His contacts had praised the zebra, impressed by an equine who could see a self-maintaining ecosystem without having a conniption fit. He shook his head as best he could in his current position. Driving the narrow end of the carrot into the ground would defeat the point of the exercise.
"Oh. Well, I didn't mean to disturb you. I just wanted to let you know that we won't have to operate on Mister Beaver after all."
Angel gave a thumbs-up, making sure it appeared as such from his pet pony's perspective. Tiny, dextrous digits meant that the finicky detail work that hooves just couldn't handle fell onto his plate. But that was neither here nor there. He returned his gaze inward, focused on the task before him. The lagomath did not know why the flows of magic were shifting as they were, but it was clear that they were, and he would be a fool to not exploit the new order of things.
(The author apologizes in advance to all speakers of the French language, and to all sentient bags of flour.)
"La lala lala..." Pinkie Pie was in her default state of merriment as she made her way into the Sugarcube Corner's cellar, intent on getting another bag of flour. Much to her surprise, one of the bags she had purchased just the day before had been nibbled open. The party pony frowned for a moment before returning to her emotional ground state. "Well, I guess I'll just have to call in Fluttershy! She'll know what to do."
"Zat des-pique-able pegasus? Mademoiselle, I zought you knew better."
The Prench-accented voice sent a chill down Pinkie's spine. "You... You aren't real." The statement was shaky, doubt creeping in at the edges.
"Ceci n'est pas un sac de farine? You cannot question ze evidence of your own eyes and ears, ma petite chevalette." The gnawed bag seemed to gaze knowingly into the pony's soul despite its lack of eyes.
Pinkie's frown seemed here to stay. "You aren't even the same bag! I used it to bake the cake for the Sorry I Lost Faith In My Friends party!"
The sack rose upright, its bleached viscera beginning to leak out. "Oui. You did." The tone made clear the ingredient's opinion on its last incarnation's fate. "But Madame LeFlour, she is more zan a zing of cloth e grain, non?"
The pink pony took a desperate look around the basement. No stacks of rocks or buckets of turnips. At least, none she could see. And she could see any number of places where a dust bunny could secret itself, especially a knight of Camelint. "You're delusions. Fragments of my mind that split off as I was going completely oatmeal."
The other bags of flour had risen behind their mistress, echoing her motion towards the Bearer of Laughter. "On ze nose, Pinkie. And ze miasma, its nature is clear to you, is it not?" Centipedes, beetles, and other creepy crawlies began to exit the wound in LeFlour's side, a verminous vanguard that swarmed towards the earth pony with a speed the baking supplies couldn't match.
For a moment, icy dread clutched the mare's heart. Then she looked up, and saw something that gave her hope. A grin returned to her face. "Uh-huh. Blacker and snootier than Nightmare Moon on her worst day. But it came here because of me. Because of the Element of Laughter." Only Pinkie's immediate family would be qualified to say if she'd ever borne a more serious expression than she did now. "But this. Isn't. Funny."
Sanity, such as it was, reasserted itself with that proclamation. The shambling horde of ground wheat returned to a neat and decidedly inanimate pile. The lint ball that had begun dancing in the mare's peripheral vision resolved itself into an eye floatie. Satisfied with reestablishing her tenuous grip on reality, Pinkie selected an unspoiled bag and returned upstairs.
As she closed the door, the young baker studiously ignored the whispered "Soon, Mademoiselle. Soon."
Twilight Sparkle did not have a very consistent sleep schedule. Oh, she tried, but when some especially obscure, difficult, or intriguing line of research presented itself, she dove into it like Pinkie Pie at an all-you-can-eat buffet, intent on extracting every delicious datum the subject had to offer. In such times, it took a friend or assistant to drag her back to the world every organ but her brain inhabited. With Spike molting and Owlowiscious taking a leave of absence (after giving his hoo weeks' notice, of course,) Applejack had had to act as the disrupting factor this time around.
While the unicorn was ashamed that such measures had become not just necessary but routine, she had to admit that getting pulled out of her studious stupor by a scion of the Apple family had its perks, like an impressive country breakfast the next morning. Granny Smith had waved off her offer to recompense the farmers for their hospitality. "A pony's friends is 'er second family," the matriarch had said, "an' us Apples always look out fer family." With a playful wink, she'd added, "Jus' don' go thinkin' yer gettin' hotcakes every time y' overdo that fancy book-learnin' o' yers, missy!"
Another benefit, at least in this instance, was the opportunity to discuss the previous night's incident on site, with two eyewitnesses on hoof whose combined recollections made a moment-by-moment reconstruction of the event. As she concluded her analysis of the Apple sisters' testimony and her own scans, Twilight was astounded. "This defies nearly every known law of magic, but everything is internally consistent." She turned to her freckled friend. "Applejack, incredible as your story sounds, I have to believe you. A teleporting pegasus is the only possible explanation for this residual magic."
Apple Bloom gave as low a whistle as her little body could generate. "No wonder Miss Ditzy always delivers th' mail on time!"
The unicorn shook her head, still deep in thought. "No, this is definitely new. There's simply too strong a signature here for me to have missed it if Ditzy had been doing it on any kind of regular basis. This kind of intensity could register without my even having to consciously try to detect magic for a few seconds after... oh, that was a joke, wasn't it?" Twilight gave an awkward chuckle as she remembered how conversation worked.
Applejack gave a grin at this. "Don' worry 'bout it, sugarcube. Keep on playin' Fetlock Holmes an' see if'n ya can tell where she done sent 'erself."
"Right." Closing her eyes, the Bearer of Magic devoted her entire conscious awareness to mentally following the faint æther trail that stretched away from the farm. Mote by mote, she followed the hours-old path, painstakingly reassembling a line since blurred by the wakes of pegasi, interference from the Everfree Forest, and even the omnipresent solar wind that rippled through Celestia's mane. The magical prodigy was about halfway there when her concentration was wrecked by something falling on her head. "What the?" She opened her eyes to see a scroll roll to a stop just in front of her.
The blonde farmer shrugged. "Puff o' green flew at ya from town. Prob'ly th' library. Ah'd've said somethin', but Ah figgered that'd break yer focus just as bad." She considered the scroll, sealed with Celestia's signature sunburst. "Ah did'n' know Spike could get letters t' chase ya down."
Twilight scrunched her muzzle in thought. "He can't. At least, he shouldn't yet be able to do so. The Princess must have worked some kind of magic on this scroll before she sent it." With that, she lifted and unrolled the letter, habitually reading it aloud.
"To my faithful student Twilight Sparkle,
"I hope this letter finds you well. I write to you because, through truly exceptional circumstances, the Postmistress of Ponyville,, Miss Desiderata "Ditzy" Doo, teleported herself and her daughter roughly 5.3 kiloponies above Castle Canterlot last evening. Rest assured that, save for an entirely understandable case of mana exhaustion, both are in perfect health. I am sure that you have countless questions on how a pegasus pony could teleport, but it is not my story to tell nor my place to tell it. Should the elder Miss Doo elect to do so, she will be the one who answers your questions.
"For the moment, however, Ponyville is without a postal service. For the duration of today, I, Princess Celestia, name you, Twilight Sparkle, Provisional Assistant Postmistress of Ponyville, and endow you with the power to deputize any ponies in the town as temporary postal workers. You may use this letter as proof of this decree. I strongly recommend you see Mayor Mare about this as soon as you are able.
"Your teacher,
"Princess Celestia
"P.S. Princess Luna will be accompanying the Doos when they return to Ponyville, along with a protege of hers with whom I think you will find much in common. Please do remember that my sister is still somewhat leery of public life after a millennium of lunar exile, and try to keep the town from having too grandiose a reaction to her visit."
Both mares took a moment to process this. Applejack came to a conclusion first. "Well, that woulda bin nice t' have an hour ago." After several seconds with neither quiet agreement or scolding for disrespecting the Princess, the orange mare glanced at her friend. "Twi?"
The unicorn had paled so much she seemed to have been dipped in bleach. Her pupils has shrunk to pinpricks. One lower eyelid was twitching so fast, Applejack thought she heard the occasional tiny sonic boom. The only sound escaping the shellshocked student's lips was a steady "P-p-p-p-p-p-p-p-"
"Twilight?"
"-p-p-p-p-p-p-"
The farmer rolled her eyes before not-so-gently nudging the quivering pile of panic that called itself Twilight Sparkle in the side. This seemed to end the motorboat impression and break the dams on the mare's worry. "Postmistress? Deputizing? Luna visiting? WhatdoIdowhatdoIdowhatdoIdo..."
Applejack sighed. "Twi, Ah say this as yer friend, but ya need t' shut yer yap b'fore Ah do it mahself."
Twilight's expression was still that blend of existential dread and constipation known as "high anxiety," but at least now she was quiet.
"Good. Now, take a deep breath." The apple-flanked mare put herself nearly forehead-to-forehead with her friend, trying to fill Twilight's field of vision with her own eyes as much as possible. Her voice was gentle and steady, an almost hypnotic cadence. "Remember who y' are. This here ain't nothin' compared t' Winter Wrap-Up. Ferget 'bout Princess Luna fer right now an' focus on th' mail. Make a plan, pick yer deputies, and git. The job. Done. Kin ya do that?"
After a moment, the unicorn nodded.
"Good girl. Go get started."
Twilight nodded again and made for town. Applejack smiled, satisfied that she'd averted some harebrained attempt to magic everything better. Apple Bloom, who hadn't ever left but felt she'd had nothing to contribute when the talk came to magic and royal duty, stared at her big sister in awe. "That was so cool!" gushed the filly. "How'd ya do that thing with the voice an' the close-up face an' all?"
"When Samoontha has 'er calf next month, ye'll find out." The older sister grinned to herself. It wasn't quite hypnotism, more exploiting the herd instinct. It became much easier to calm down a cow in labor or a pony in panic when you appeared to know what you were doing. To one so distressed, it meant that she could relax and let you worry about the problem.
"Uh, Applejack?"
"What is it, Apple Bloom?"
"T'day's s'posed t' be clear, right?"
The incongruity of the question broke the hatted pony's wisdom-afterglow. "Yer a big girl, Bloom, you kin read the weather schedule good as me."
"Well yeah, but what's that?"
Applejack followed her sister's pointing hoof. Sure enough, there was a cloud. And as she watched, she could see that not only was this cloud moving, it was moving towards the Everfree Forest, with nary a pegasus in sight.
"That," she said honestly, "is the second impossible thing Ah've seen in as many days."
Rarity frowned as she examined the dress. The design was, of course, near flawless. It would've been perfect had it been a commission, but there was only so much one could do with something without a single intended wearer. The interplay between wearer and worn was, of course, an essential aspect of fashion.
In any case, it wasn't form or fabric that had her flummoxed. It was the gems. The precious stones adorning the dress clashed horribly with both it and with each other. The colors seemed chosen entirely at random. In some cases, the jewels managed to clash with themselves, so obviously flawed or rife with inclusions that they seemed fit only for dragon fodder.
That none of this had been true the night before made it all the more vexing.
With a practiced eye and horn, Rarity determined that the emeralds were still emeralds, the sapphires still sapphires (except those that were now rubies) and so forth. Only color and quality seemed to have changed. Possible explanations for such alteration were few and far between, and one stood out in her mind, as much as she wished it didn't.
Going to her sister's room, the fashionista gave its door a knock. "Sweetie, are you awake?"
"Uh huh. Come on in, Sis!"
As she entered the room, Rarity was immediately struck by the odd assembly of pipes, building blocks, and other miscellany taking up the majority of the floor space, her sister at its foot performing some manner of arcane adjustment. "Sweetie Belle, dare I even ask what manner of... device that is?"
Her sister looked up from her work with a grin. "Do you like it? I had this amazing dream last night, and when I woke up, I remembered every little detail! That never ever happens to me! It's gotta be a sign for getting my cutie mark!"
"It's... certainly possible, dear." The designer was hardly one to question providence in such matters, but that still left a number of questions. "What exactly does this... Does it do?"
"It's not done yet. I can't really show you until it is." The young unicorn suddenly became fascinated by her carpet. "Um, I'm... kinda gonna need a few jewels to finish it. If that's okay."
The subject of jewels reminded Rarity of what had brought her here in the first place. "Have you taken any from the storage chest? Or anywhere else?"
Sweetie frantically shook her head. "Nuh uh! I know how important those are to you, Sis! I'd never touch them without permission! ...Which I'm kinda asking for now."
Satisfied that her prime suspect wasn't responsible for despoiling her design, the dressmaker gave said suspect a reassuring smile. "Well, I'm sure we can come to an arrangement. Are you going to need anything specific? Cut, color, size?"
The smile this engendered brought a stab of guilt to Rarity's heart, but it also made that sensation more than bearable.
"Ugh..." Waking up was number three on Rainbow Dash's all-time list of things she hated, right between losing and her middle name. Today was no exception, especially since she'd been having an enjoyably weird dream involving the Wonderbolts, a swarm of flying pies, and a mud wrestling tournament. Still, her stupid dumb stupid body had stupidly insisted she wake up for some stupid reason, and it wasn't interested in what she felt were very good reasons as to why she could sleep in until something important happened. Like the sun burning out.
As Dash grudgingly came to, she couldn't help but notice that her mattress and pillow both seemed softer than usual. Since both were made of clouds, this prompted her to awaken faster, as the only way such a sensation should've been possible was if she was in free fall.
However, once the pegasus had gotten to the point where she could open her eyes, she relaxed. It was clear that she was still in bed, and not on a terminal velocity date with terra way-too-firma. Then she tried to get up.
As one might expect from her hate list, getting out of bed was never an easy feat for Rainbow Dash. Today, however, this was not only because of sluggishness. The cloudstuff that constituted her bed had softened to the consistency of marshmallow fluff at some point in the night, and thus Dash found herself struggling against her mattress like a fly in a spiderweb. At first, she tried to set these struggles to some kind of rhythm, shouting in time with her tugs. "This! Doesn't! Make! Sense!" And it didn't. Dash had never heard of clouds behaving as her furniture was.
As time passed, though she'd never admit it to anypony, claustrophobia began to creep into the pegasus's mind. She sacrificed the timed straining for frantic, fear-fuelled flailing in her viscous bonds. Shouts of "Let me out!" came again and again, and not even Dash knew who or what she was yelling at. The clouds? Herself? Equestria as a whole? Time passed, heedless of her meaning, and she was paid just as little attention to that passage.
At some point, the fear overwhelmed her rational mind, and blind animal panic settled in. By the time exhaustion allowed her to regain lucidity, Dash was even more trapped than before, everything below her neck entombed in the taffy-like substance that clouds simply weren't supposed to be. Her throat was sore and her voice a hoarse whisper, but she kept repeating what had become a meaningless mantra. "Let me out."
Her limbs were stiff and unresponsive.
"Let me out."
She could feel the gluey gunk coating her every feather and hair.
"Let me out."
She couldn't tell where the clouds ended and her sweat-soaked form began.
"let me out"
To her horror, the shapeless mass that had been pillow and comforter began to shift and flow with a life of its own.
"let me out"
As it covered her eyes, she felt too tired to blink.
"lemme out"
As it covered her mouth, she felt too tired to scream.
"lemme ou—"
As it covered her nostrils, she felt too tired to breathe.
"..."
"LET ME OUT!"
In her frenzied return to awareness, Rainbow Dash reduced her sheets to a thin mist. She didn't even notice. She was far too busy curling into a fetal position, shaking with fear, convulsing with sobs that bordered on hyperventilation.
Eventually, she calmed down enough to register that what had happened was a dream. It took longer for her to compose herself to her satisfaction, dry the tears she'd never admit to shedding, and reassure herself that her mattress was the same chunk of springy cumulus on which she'd fallen asleep last night.
As the nightmare's aftermath passed, Dash could then notice that her bedroom seemed somehow darker than usual. A quick once-over determined that it actually was darker, the clouds that made up the walls slate gray and heavy with static. The pegasus frowned at this. After the ridiculous display Ditzy had managed yesterday, the place shouldn't have needed another discharge for a good three weeks. Now it looked as though the house hadn't been thunderbucked for more than a month.
"Lightning always used to give me nightmares," the would-be Wonderbolt muttered. She got up with no resistance from her bed and made for her kitchen. Something funny was going on with this house, and she wanted something on her stomach before she figured out what.
Ditzy was by no means the strongest or fastest flier in her class. She had no illusions about either. However, her determination easily made the top five. Finding a friend in Fluttershy had helped it flourish, encouraging the grey filly to try a new approach with bullies. In the past, she'd just ignored them as best she could, but when insults had shifted from her eyes to her flying the pegasus decided that ignoring the peanut gallery was no longer the best option. Instead, she would show them how wrong they were.
From that point on, Ditzy tried to spend as much time airborne as possible. Even if it was just a few inches above the white, poofy streets of Cloudsdale, she wanted her wings to grow as quickly as they could. One hallmark of her training was going straight to the window of her apartment from the street. It was only on the third floor, and she'd been using clouds to soften impacts before she'd even known what she was doing, so a sudden cramp held no fear for her.
As might be expected from a building made by and for pegasi, the apartment complex's balconies had doors rather than windows. As such, Ditzy was retrieving her key from a saddlebag when she heard a muffled knock come through the door. Curiosity piqued (and the possibility she was on the wrong balcony acknowledged,) the young pegasus pressed an ear to the shaped cloud.
"Mistral Lace?"
Ah. Well, that confirmed that this was the right balcony. But where did she know that voice?
"Can I help you?"
"My name is Fair Day. You husband worked for me at the weather factory."
Of course, Mister Day! Ditzy just hadn't recognized him because he usually sounded much... happier.
Wait, did he say-
"W-'worked'?"
"I'm very sorry, Ma'am. There was an accident with a high-tension thunderhead. He... he made sure everypony else got out first. He insisted."
No...
"I... I was the last pony to see him. He said to give his love to you and to Ditzy. And... he said to give you this."
No!
"I think.. I think he honestly believed that he could fix the thing. He actually charged at it just before it went critical. His last words were... they were the motto of the Royal Guard. 'Pro Mannulus.'"
"Mommy?" Ditzy wasn't sure when she'd retrieved the key or turned the lock. All she remembered later was staring at the singed brown derby held in her mother's mouth, getting progressively darker with the mare's tears. The entire world seemed to vanish save for that single piece of headgear.
And then, the nothingness became chaos, and the hat became a bubble.
"Mmm... Ah!" Ditzy awoke with a start, momentarily disoriented as she struggled to reconcile her solid surroundings with the clouds by which she'd just been surrounded. As her mind made its way out of the memory, she regathered what had actually happened before she'd fallen asleep to dream of it.
"Ah, you're awake." Princess Luna poking her head into the room rather nicely scrambled the assembled events.
"Y-your Highness!" There was a confusion of bedclothes as Ditzy tried to get up and kneel at the same time. That the alicorn briefly appeared to be a pony-shaped black hole to the pegasus's mana sight made the urge to genuflect all the stronger.
"Please, Miss Doo, relax." The princess of the night moved to the bedside. "You exhausted yourself getting here."
The pegasus took that last sentence and rebuilt her memories around it, coming to an astonishing conclusion. "I... I teleported all the way to Canterlot!"
"Coolest Mommy ever!" Dinky chose that moment to enter the room.
"Dinky?"
"Hi, Mommy!" The young unicorn seemed to be dealing with a sudden translocation quite well. "Princess Luna's been teaching me about consternations!"
The umbral alicorn smiled. "It's nice to see a young pony with an interest in the stars. It didn't happen much before..." The princess glanced at the floor. "Well, before."
For a moment, there was an awkward silence. Then Ditzy's mind went to her dream, and she smiled. She knew how to break the ice. The pegasus drew herself up to as dignified a posture she could manage and intoned, "What has passed has passed. The future is ours to clutch. Let us never speak of this again." She then followed this up with a dopey smile and her eyes at their least aligned.
Luna's expression shifted from guilt to attentiveness, and then to confusion. She looked at Dinky, only to see her nodding sagely at her mother's proclamation. "Quite."
So much incongruous dignity was compressed in that single syllable that it tipped the absurdity running through Luna's mind over a critical point. She began to shake with barely contained laughter. After a few moments, she dropped to her knees as she let loose a raucous bout of hilarity that seemed out of place coming from the smaller goddess. Finally, after managing to compose herself again and wiping a tear from her eye, the Mistress of the Dusk gave a contented sigh. "I needed that more than I knew. Thank you Miss Doo. Both of you. Now, if you're feeling alright, Celestia and I have a few questions for you, as you might imagine, but—" She was interrupted by a sound like a snoring Ursa Minor. As Ditzy fought the urge to hide under her borrowed sheets, Luna continued with a smile. "But first, I'm sure you'd like something to eat."
With her daughter's laughter in the background, a mortified nod was the only reply the pegasus trusted herself with.
Once she'd eaten more in one sitting than she could ever remember, Ditzy watched the dishes being taken away with a longing gaze. She wasn't hungry, but as long as she'd been eating, she didn't have to answer any questions about how she'd managed to do something most unicorns couldn't. Still, unless she repeated the feat, it was inevitable, and she could tell that her mana bonds were still mostly exhausted. She wouldn't be planeswalking any time soon, and teleportation in the same plane was right out for at least a week. With a sigh, she looked to the head of the table, where both regents were having their own plates bussed. "All right," she said resignedly, "let's get this over with."
Luna looked sympathetic at that, but Celestia seemed... amused? mischievous? Her face had the same gentle benevolence as always, no doubt cultivated over centuries, neigh, millennia of political maneuvering. It wasn't her expression that gave Ditzy pause, but her eyes. There was something there that was disturbingly reminiscent of Pinkie Pie. "And what exactly," said the princess of the sun, "are you expecting from 'this,' Ditzy Doo?"
The pegasus quirked an eyebrow. All right, Princess. You want to play? We'll play. "Well, either recruitment into some secret police force of spellcasting pegasi or dissection in the Academy for Gifted Unicorns." Ditzy smirked. "Maybe both if you just need tissue samples."
Luna bolted up from her seat, wings angrily erect. "Why I've never heard such outrageous accusations! And to think that you seemed so... so nice when you'd awakened! Sister, I—" She stared in shock at her co-ruler. "Are you snickering?"
To be accurate, Celestia was now laughing outright and rapidly approaching what might be called "guffawing." Ditzy had to bite her lip to keep from joining in. Luna, meanwhile, looked from one to another, wondering if in her millennium of exile, everypony else had gone insane. And what did that say about her own mental health if it had taken her ten months to notice?
Just as one sister was certain that she'd returned to a world of lunatics (oh the horrible irony...), the other managed to compose herself. "My apologies, dear Luna. It's been quite some time since I met someone who not only recognized my jests but was unafraid to respond in kind."
"Jest? Sister, this is a momentous occassion! A pegasus capable of teleportation! Imagine what this could mean for all of ponykind! All of Equestria! Why, we could..." Luna then realized that her sister's grin was not just a vestige of her earlier mirth. Resignedly, the younger sister asked, "This happened while I was in exile, wasn't it?"
"Mayyyybe."
"You made sure that it was never recorded, didn't you?"
"Mayyyyyyyybe." Celestia was enjoying herself to, in Ditzy's opinion, an indecent degree.
"Well, that certainly explains why I never came upon it in the archives. If you would be so kind to enlighten us?"
"Oh, very well. It was, oh, about two thousand years ago—"
"Two thousand?" Luna interjected.
"'Maybe' can mean 'no', dear sister." That smile just kept getting bigger and bigger...
"But...but why wouldn't I—"
"As I recall, you had no patience for matters of court at the time. Something about some charming young stallion."
"Oh, right."
"It was either Aristrotle or Brayto if I remember correctly."
"Oh. Right."
"You did court both master and pupil, didn't you?"
"OH. RIGHT." The reverb sent chills down Ditzy's spine and made her very grateful she'd visited the bathroom prior to the meal.
Celestia seemed wholly unfazed. "Why Luna, that was a near flawless impression of Aunt Teleute!"
"In any case." Less reverb that time, but maybe it was hard to pull it off when speaking through clenched teeth.
"Yes. Thousands of years ago, an earth pony—"
"An earth pony!" Luna exclaimed. Ditzy suddenly found herself feeling passé.
"Yes, sister, it was definitely an earth pony."
"Did he fly?"
"No."
"Teleport?"
"Not on his own."
"Raise an army of zombie ponies?" This made both of the other mares look at her bemusedly. Blushing, the younger princess slowly knelt, giving the impression that she was trying to sink under the table. "My apologies, sister, I've been interrupting you far too often. You were saying?"
"Well, he really only cast one spell. One with which Ditzy Doo is quite well familiar." The mirth had taken a sudden leave of absence from Celestia's gaze.
The pegasus offered the only guess that made sense. "Planeswalking." Luna perked up at this, but it seemed her curiosity was now outweighed by her reluctance to endure further embarassment.
Celestia delivered Smile Number 53, "Student who has answered logically, but incorrectly." "No, actually. But he had much to tell me of those who could, among other things." Her smiled shifted to an uncategorized one of fond remembrance. "Ah, the times we had."
"Sister!" Indignation was apparently not part of the balance of Luna's silence.
"Luna, we merely talked for a few minutes."
Ditzy felt it was only appropriate to give Celestia a turn to blush. Well, appropriate and funny. "And the rest of the time?"
No blush, just that same all-concealing grin. (Number 12) "A lady never tells, Ditzy Doo, and a princess is nothing if not a lady. But I digress. As I said, the gentlecolt in question told me much about many things I'd known nothing about, among them planeswalkers. Those who could move beyond Equestria and its cosmos and, for that matter, into them from beyond. More importantly, he told me what to do in case one ever made herself known to me."
Ditzy swallowed. Here came the test of whether that joke of hers was, in fact, reality. "And that would be?"
"Planeswalkers make every effort they can to hide their exceptional nature from all but their own. If one was to ever reveal that nature to me, he said to find out what she wanted, and if I judged that her cause was just, assist her in any way I can." In an impressive feat of balance, the princess of the sun crossed her forelimbs on the table and rested her head upon them. "So tell me, whoever you are: What matter was so important that you teleported in plain sight of two of my little ponies to my castle, miles away? Taking one of them — a flightless child, I might add — along for the ride. What is it that has captured your attention and yet has escaped the notice of we who guide the sun and moon?"
Any leftover levity evaporated under that unyielding stare. Ditzy swallowed the sudden lump in her throat and considered her words carefully. "Firstly, Princess Celestia, I assure you that I am Equestrian. Dinky really is my daughter, and I never meant to put her into any danger." Her voice shook with emotion. "I... I don't know how I can prove it, but I am one of your little ponies."
Celestia's horn glowed with the gentle light of first dawn. Ditzy cringed for a moment, then felt a gentle pressure just beneath an eye. Glowing in the spectrum of dawn through dusk, there was a drop of liquid swathed in the princess's magic. The smile on her face was now one the grey mare had often worn herself, a mother's unconditional love. "That you shed tears at the thought of my believing otherwise, Ditzy, is all the proof I will ever need. Please, continue."
"O...Okay." That had shaken the mailmare more than she'd thought. Dang it, a crisis of faith wasn't supposed to entail the goddess questioning her belief in the mortal! "W-well, I have determined that the unique properties of the Elements of Harmony, now that they are bound to the souls of living ponies, are acting as a sort of magic attractor. As such, mana is aggregating around the places that the Elements' bearers spend the most time in, that is, their homes. As they do so, they are increasing the density of magical energies in and around those places to far beyond Equestria's norm. Once that density goes beyond a certain threshold, it will allow intangible concepts to manifest in material bodies."
The white alicorn's expression was all business. "Concepts like those embodied by the Elements."
"Exactly. Once the threshold is passed, all that energy will collapse into entities the likes of which Equestria has never seen."
Luna frowned. "But the Elements are in Canterlot! Shouldn't we be seeing this phenomenon here?"
Ditzy shook her head. "The physical items may be here, but those aren't the Elements entirely. Not anymore. Living ponies embody them now, and life grows."
"So why didn't something like this happen when Celestia and I were attuned to the Elements?"
The walleyed pegasus considered this for a brief time. "You two maintain a heavy restraint on your power, correct?" The context of the question hit her. "Er, that is, if you don't mind me asking, Your Majesties!"
Celestia cued up Smile Number 23, "Pony who thinks s/he has offended me." "The integrity of our world hangs in the balance, Ditzy. As far as I'm concerned, propriety can take a flying leap for the duration. In any case, we do. If our full power was on display, anything nearby would be vaporized or flash-frozen in an instant."
"Well, there you go. You were already used to holding back phenomenal cosmic power. The Elements were just six drops in the bucket."
"A bit more than that." The sun goddess's expression turned serious again. "Now, aside from the obvious, what other consequences might all of this carry?"
"That's where I'm really concerned. Every plane of existence exists in a certain state of balance between the mundane and the fantastic. Normally, concept elementals will arise only within planes heavily weighted towards the latter. Compared to some of the places I've seen, Equestria is certainly fantastical, but it isn't quite there. However, if these things appear, well, that's where the logic of magic hits us in the hindquarters."
Celestia nodded. "The Law of Precedence. It is most difficult to do something the first time."
"Exactly. Once a precedent is set, it becomes easier. And if it's easier for concepts to manifest in Equestria, that means the balance is tipped further in favor of the immaterial. It becomes a vicious cycle, and I don't know where it ends."
The princess of night shook her head. "Magic turning cause and effect on their heads. Typical. So, what would the end consequences of this scenario be?"
The grey mare shrugged. "What would the end consequences of changing the intensity of gravity be? This may uncontrollably alter one of the fundamental constants of our entire universe. Every pony in the world might sprout wings and horns. Cutie marks could detach themselves and mutate into mind-rending aberrations. Every leyline in the universe might collapse into an octarine hole. All I can say for certain is that it wouldn't be pretty."
All three digested this for a time. Luna was the one who broke the silence. "How long do you think we have?"
Something clicked in Ditzy's mind. She wasn't sure if it was the degree of hunger she'd felt, how badly she'd had to use the bathroom, or just a hunch, but she realized she'd been making an assumption that she had no reason to. "How long have I been unconscious?"
"About a day," said the night princess.
"Then by my most optimistic estimate, about a week."
"And your most pessimistic ones?"
"Two, maybe three hours."
Celestia did not show anger very often. She had a giant, seething mass of white-hot plasma to do it for her. At that moment, a series of short-lived sunspots stretched across the Sun's photosphere. Had anypony been able to see them, they would read "FFFFFFFF".
Party of One 1UU
Enchantment
Each noncreature artifact you control is an Illusion creature with power and toughness equal to its converted mana cost in addition to its other types.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control a non-Illusion creature, sacrifice Party of One.
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FanOfMostEverything
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1048
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Derpy Hooves,Dinky Hooves,Main 6,Original Character,Other,Crossover,Adventure,Magic: The Gathering,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Elementals of Harmony
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(FiMtG) The only thing standing between Equestria and apocalypse is Ditzy Doo. Yes, really. Stop laughing!
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complete
| 430 | 14 |
<p>Something is gathering around the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Something dangerous. Something magical. There's only one pony with the knowledge, the skills, and the muffins needed to save Equestria as we know it.<br/>A Friendship is Magic: the Gathering crossover, taking place between seasons 1 and 2. Here there be flashbacks, briefly seen OC's, and possibly every emotion known to man or tiny horse. Abandon all pretenses of not being a nerd, ye who enter here.</p>
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everyone
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2011-11-09T17:47:08+00:00
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2021-01-22T11:42:28+00:00
| 8,606 |
There was a resounding silence in the dining cum meeting room as the princesses considered their options. Luna spoke first. "We need to take immediate action."
"I agree." Celestia replied. "You will depart tomorrow morning."
The princess of the night opened her mouth to object to this, thought of a different objection and closed her mouth as she put it into words. She repeated this process a few times before settling on "Sister, that wasn't quite as immediate as I had in mind."
The white alicorn raised an eyebrow at this. "So, you would dispatch the one pony capable of addressing this situation while she is mana-exhausted, fresh out of a day-long coma, and with no more knowledge of the situation than that with which she came here?"
Luna once again discovered the fascinating wonder of the table's wood grain until her sister's nuzzling coaxed her out out of her embarrassment. "I agree with your sense of urgency, little sister," Celestia said soothingly, "but we must remember to be gentle with our heroes." This elicited a grateful nod.
"Um..." As the lone mortal in the room, Ditzy was feeling increasingly awkward.
Luna smiled sympathetically at her comrade in anxiety. "How would you like to see how Dinky is doing?"
The pegasus's expression went from uncertainty to joy to dread with such speed, her eyes ended up pointed at opposite ends of the room. "Who's been watching her this whole time? Did she get her cutie mark? Break any priceless royal heirlooms? Cause an international incident?"
The younger princess looked at the mailmare as though she'd grown an extra head. Celestia, however, just smiled. "I assure you, Ditzy, you haven't missed any of your daughter's glories or shames. Now, Luna and I need to iron out some details, so Flawless Composure will be escorting you."
"Who?"
"That would be me, Madam."
The grey mare flinched back from the stallion that, despite his hornless forehead, had apparently teleported next to her. "Where did you come from?"
"Since Madam is a parent, I should scarcely think that such matters would need to be explained to her."
Ditzy bit back her rejoinder and took a more careful look at the unexpected pony. Black suit jacket, white coat, black mane in a short, sensible style so stiff that a cyclone probably wouldn't shift a hair, black bowtie cutie mark. In all, her first impression of Flawless Composure was along the lines of a black-and-white photo of the Braytonic ideal of Butler, that quintessential concept whose existence allowed ponies to perceive the flaws of actual coltservants. And yet, just beneath the surface was a familiar sense of mischief...
The conclusion, once she took a moment to think about it, was obvious. "You're Celestia's personal butler, aren't you?"
The barest hint of a grin flickered across the monochrome earth pony's muzzle. "I am fortunate enough to have that honor, Madam."
Celestia gave a grin of her own. "A Composure has been my right-hoof pony for the last seven generations."
"As Her Luminous Majesty says," demurred Flawless.
Ditzy gave a good-natured eye roll. "Alright, right hoof. Lead the way."
The butler gave something between a nod and a bow. "As Madam wishes."
As the two left the room, Luna turned to her sister. "What was that about?"
"Next Sunday, you should come with me to my meeting with Star Sparkle."
"Twilight's mother?"
"The two of us will tell you all about the worries that come from raising a precocious filly."
"Huh." Luna digested this for a moment. "Say, when you said 'You will depart tomorrow morning,' you only meant the Doos, right?"
Celestia's only response was to widen her grin.
The princess of the night felt her ears droop. "Oh..."
"...and that is how my ancestor Immaculate acquired the position of Her Highness's head coltservant."
"Huh." Ditzy was pleased to discover that, like his mistress, Flawless was a genuinely pleasant pony under all the pomp. "Would the assassination attempt have actually worked?"
"Almost certainly not, though Her Magnificence neither confirmed nor denied the rumors regarding the peanut allergy."
"Well, I certainly don't remember that in the history books."
The butler gave what Ditzy had determined was his signature hint of a grin. "Well, as luck would have it, Madam, we can double check. We have arrived at the Royal Library."
The pegasus looked at the doors. Each was a masterpiece of stained glass and wrought iron, an abstract mural extolling the virtues of knowledge and scholarliness. She felt a sudden surge of nerves. "You're sure Dinky didn't do anything destructive?"
"I assure you, Madam, your daughter has been the very model of charm and decorum."
Ditzy let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "Okay. If you say so." She pushed open one of the exquisite works.
Immediately afterward, a familiar young voice boomed out, "SURRENDER, FOUL BEAST! YOU ARE DEFEATED!"
The voice's owner's mother had a hoof halfway to her face when it was answered by an equally loud reply. "NEVER! THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE TRIXON IS INVINCIBLE!"
Amidst what could only be described as two ponies attempting to recreate the soundtrack of a sci-fi blockbuster, Ditzy turned to Flawless Composure. "What," she deadpanned, "is going on?"
Unflappable as always, the butler simply answered, "It would appear that your daughter has established a rapport with the librarian."
"And why is the librarian the Great and Powerful Trixie?"
"I would not know, Madam. She certainly didn't include 'Being Great and Powerful' on her resumé. May I recommend we enter, so you can ask her yourself?"
The mailpony sighed. "I suppose we should."
Much to Ditzy's relief, somepony had thought ahead before engaging in whatever it was the two were doing, moving tables and chairs to provide a clear stage for the epic imaginary combat. While the grey mare was expecting her daughter, who was bouncing eagerly around her foe, Trixie came as a surprise. Especially given that in place of her hat and cape, she had opted for a headband adorned with glitter-covered balls on springs. Apparently, these swaying antennae designated her as the Great and Terrible Trixon, who was standing proud and resolute in the face of youthful hyperactivity. "None can defeat Trixon, foalish Equestrian!"
Dinky smirked. "That's where you're wrong, evil invader!" She screwed her eyes shut and focused so hard that the newcomers could see her shaking with effort. A faint glow formed around her horn, intermittently at first, then consistently.
A similar aura surrounded Trixie, too faintly to make out its color. She looked from side to side, panic clearly rising. "No! Not unicorn magic! My race's one weakness! How could you have known?" She brought a forehoof to her forehead, sighed theatrically, and collapsed.
Dinky, exhausted more from magic than hopping around, risked a peek at her nemesis. Pleased to see that the threat from distant Mars was neutralized, she said to the vanquished alien, "How was that, Miss Trixie?"
The azure unicorn rose with a smile and gingerly plucked her "costume" from her head via telekinesis. "Very well done for a filly your age, Dinky. Consistent output is the first key to mastering magic, and I would say you're just about perfect with it."
"Yay!" The filly resumed her bouncing, too pleased with herself to stay still.
Trixie had a smile of her own, somewhere between indulgence and simply enjoying the adorable spectacle before her. Then she furrowed her brow as she noticed something odd. "You know, you can stop channeling now. I'm sure you must be getting a headache by this point."
"Huh?" Dinky paused in her joyous oscillation to look at her horn. Sure enough, there was a spark of light shining at the tip. She gasped in delight and looked around the library, crying "Mommy's here! Mommy's here!"
"Oh dear," came an ever-so-slightly amused stage whisper from behind a bookshelf, "it appears that we've been spotted."
Ditzy was less subtle. "Muffin!" And by "less subtle", the narrator means "zooming across the library to embrace her daughter."
"You're okay!" Ditzy cheered.
"I am now, Muffin. I am now."
The moment was spoiled a bit by the other unicorn anxiously muttering, "Um, how much did you see, Sir?"
Flawless's grin was perhaps a bit more pronounced than usual. Perhaps. "Enough, o Great and Terrible Trixon."
A blush was turning Trixie's cheeks a shade of purple she'd find most loathsome. "I am so fired, aren't I?"
"On the contrary, Miss Hobbitses. Once the younger Majesty hears of this, I am certain that She will want to expand your duties."
"Really?"
"Oh my, yes. We've never had a designated foal care professional in the staff. The maids usually just drew lots when the need presented itself."
The unicorn's grin froze in place, becoming little more than a baring of teeth. "I... see. Thank you, Sir."
Trixie's dread was interrupted by a young voice. "Miss Trixie?"
She shook the thoughts of countless wailing brats drooling on her out of mind. "Yes, Dinky?"
The filly gave a solemn bow. "Thank you for helping me with my magic."
Okay, the inactive showpony thought to herself, maybe it won't be so bad. Aloud, she said, "Think nothing of it, my dear. It was my pleasure. I can only hope that one day I can have a foal with half of your talent and charisma." Seeing the ecstatic look this brought to the daughter, Trixie moved her gaze to the mother. "And you must be Ditzy Doo."
The blonde smirked. She had not forgotten the show in Ponyville. "Must I? I'm flattered that somepony as magnificent as the Great and Powerful Trixie would know my name."
"Eh heh heh heh..." Guilt, a recent but increasingly familiar companion, made itself known to the silver-maned mare. "You're from Ponyville, aren't you?"
"I'm afraid so."
Much to Ditzy's surprise, Trixie drooped. "I know that this is woefully inadequate, but I really am sorry about the whole debacle. I honestly never meant for anypony to get hurt, but I never dreamt that those two idiot fancolts would actually try and stage a live Ursa vanquishing." She faced her past along with the pony who brought it back to her, and the pegasus could see the sincerity in her eyes. "I was taught that a truly good solo act should dominate the stage. I guess I forgot that that doesn't extend to the rest of life."
For a moment, Ditzy was stunned. The shameless self-promoter she remembered from months ago was clearly still in there somewhere. The Trixon incident proved that. But this was genuine penitence. A bit late, perhaps, but genuine. She felt her ears fold against her skull. "I'm sorry, too. You've clearly grown as a pony since you left Ponyville. Digging up the past was uncalled for. Still, I have to wonder, what caused such a massive change?"
The magician smiled. "Princess Luna. She's taught me quite a bit on what it means to be respected. She may be the younger sister, but She still has millennia of wisdom to offer us common ponies."
Dinky rolled her eyes and whispered, "Is she always this sappy?"
Flawless leaned down to her and replied, "Only when there's a Princess in the room. Is your mother royalty?"
This merited a giggle from the filly, followed by a yawn. Maternal reflexes came to the fore, and Ditzy employed a well-practiced tone of voice, gentle, but unquestionable. "Dinky, I think it's time for you to go to bed."
Filial reflexes kicked in as well. "I'm not tired!" The young unicorn's body apparently disagreed, based on the yawn that immediately followed this proclamation.
The blonde smiled affectionately. "Yes you are, Sleepy Muffin. Mr. Composure, could I ask you to take Dinky to... wherever it is she's been sleeping?"
The earth stallion nodded. "Certainly, Madam. You will undoubtedly be pleased to know that she slept at your side, and had to be practically carried out of the room late this morning."
"That pony couldn't have been a doctor!" added the filly in question. "He didn't even have a lab coat on!"
"Come now, little one. If you hurry, I'll tell you the story of how my great-grandmother was nearly banished to the Moon." Stars in her eyes, Dinky followed Flawless without further complaint.
As the two left, Ditzy turned back to Trixie. "Thanks again. I've honestly been worried about how she'd learn to use magic."
"I take it her father is...?"
"No longer with us."
Trixie moved to Ditzy's side, nuzzling as much as propriety allowed. "You have my most sincere condolences."
"It's... been a while. I know he'd want me to be happy."
"Without a doubt." The two shared a smile. The unicorn's then took a turn for the sly. "Now, I was hoping I could ask you a few questions about the circumstances of your arrival in Canterlot..."
"Ugh..." Rainbow Dash, as has been noted, hated waking up. More than that, she hated waking up because she couldn't sleep anymore. Hers was a very active lifestyle, and every moment of rest was a precious gift from the Sandpony to be treasured and savored. To have the jerk abandon her in her time of need? Unconscionable.
What made matters worse was that yesterday had dragged on long into the night. Her house's behavior was violating everything she knew about electrostatics and cloud-based architecture, which, at the risk of tooting her own horn, was a considerable amount. The place was simply building up charge faster than what should have been possible. Dash had even asked Twilight about the possibility of magic being involved. According to the egghead, a unicorn would've had to have been beneath the house for days to pull off this kind of effect, and the cyan mare knew for a fact that no such thing had taken place.
So, grumbling and grousing all the while, Dash had checked and rechecked her measurements, and time and time again came back with impossible answers. Meanwhile, her home had turned almost pitch black, with no amount of thunderbucking returning it to the pristine white it was supposed to be. She'd even had to stop the rainbowfall, since the somewhat unstable fluid behaved unpredictably when mixed with this much electricity. In the end, she had fallen into bed frustrated and exhausted, no closer to any answers than when she'd woken up, and dreading another restless, nightmare-laden night.
Surprisingly, that hadn't happened. Sure, the smell of ozone and the prickling of her mane had been aggravating for a while, but at some point the pegasus had drifted off into a sleep so deep she didn't even remember dreaming. Now, she didn't feel her usual sluggishness, but an agitated energy. She wanted to do something. She just didn't know what.
Dash decided that she may as well assess her home situation, since she was so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. (A cursory glance confirmed that the latter was purely figurative. Of course, she only cared because it'd wreck her aerodynamics. It wasn't like she was actually concerned with something as girly as her manedo.) This decided, she flew out her bedroom window, noted with disgust that she'd managed to wake up before sunrise, and turned to see how much of her house had blown up in the night.
Fortunately, it was only a few minutes before sunrise, which meant that enough light was peaking over the eastern horizon for the keen pegasus eye to make out most details. To Dash's delighted amazement, her house was still intact. Furthermore, it was white again! Incredulous, she settled on her front stoop and dug her hooves into the puffy surface. Sure enough, there was no tingle of pent-up lightning. "This is awesome!" she cheered. "I'm gonna turn the rainbowfall back on!"
Dash put deeds to words, surging to the start of the elaborate plumbing that provided what she felt was an essential accent to any home. (What? Home improvement is totally not girly. Go look at a construction team in Cloudsdale and tell Dash that those stallions are girly.) However, once she got to the carefully constructed storage tank on her roof, she couldn't help but facehoof. "Oh, come on!"
Apparently, all of the charge in the house had come together immediately under the container of liquid rainbow. It was almost as though her home had developed a beauty mark. A blacker-than-black, ferociously crackling, heavily ionized beauty mark. "Great," she muttered. "Now what am I going to do with you?"
As if in response, the rainbow tank began to list, the tubing audibly straining against the sudden torque.
"Ohnoohnoohnoohnooooo!" Dash dashed to the unattached end of the fat cylinder and essentially hugged it, trying to get as tight a grip as she could. Desperately, she beat her wings at top speed, trying to provide enough lift to keep the tank from falling through the errant patch of cloud. Her mind raced along with her wings: Too much energy. Must've overwhelmed the null-weight magic on the tank. Gotta try and shift it. If it falls, it's gonna break open in the middle of town. Can't let that happen. Can not let that happen. You hear me, Rainbow Jennifer Dash? This is one thing that went up that ain't goin' down. Just gotta try and get some horizontal movement. Valve's closed, I can break the piping if I gotta. Just need to tilt a little to the left... TOOFARLEFTTOOFARLEFT! Buck buck buck buuuuuck...
Dash felt her life begin to flash before her eyes as she tilted into the mass of hypercharged cloud. She was up to her fillyhood "always dressed in style" phase when she realized that by now she should've either left the electrified patch or been flash-fried. Then, most improbably, she felt herself rise.
As she blinked away the tears that had totally formed because of the smell of ozone and for no other reason, she realized that she was being carried. She looked up to see the face of her rescuer. Maybe a Wonderbolt on an early morning warm-up?
The bottom dropped out of Dash's stomach. Nope, definitely not a Wonderbolt. Not unless they hired something with a thunderhead for a... head. One that had rainbow flames continually pouring out of what must be its eyes. Fighting the urge to panic, she looked around the rest of her savior's form. Okay, weird forelegs that bend the wrong way, like Spike's. "Arms", maybe? No hindlegs to speak of, just kind of trails off. Oh, look at that. The legarm things end in griffon talons. Sort of. Three claws in front, one in back, close enough. And of course, it's made of clouds and has rainbow lightning crackling through it.
Fighting the urge to shout (not scream, definitely not shriek for Mom), she turned back to, for lack of a better term, the thing's "face." "Um, thanks for the save, but could you, uh, let me go?"
The constant streams of prismatic fire briefly interrupted themselves. Dash guessed that that was the thing's form of blinking. Then, it stretched its forelimbs out and spread its talons. The pegasus rolled out of them and began a steady hover. "So, um... what are you?"
It did the weird flame-gap-blink thing again, then gave what was unmistakably a bow. Understandably, this did not clarify things for the mare in the least.
Unnoticed by either, a specialized storage tank jutted out of the bottom of the house, completely empty.
Loyalty Elemental 3RR
Creature — Elemental
Flying
Players other than Loyalty Elemental's owner can't control it. (If this creature would enter the battlefield under another player's control, it instead enters the battlefield under its owner's control.)
"Elemental loyalty is as intractable as a mountain and as unpredictable as a wildfire. Those who earn it are mighty indeed. Those who would exploit it end up crushed and burned."
—Mineral MacGuffin, A Guide to the Elements of Harmony, Third Edition
3/3
Sweetie Belle woke up just before sunrise, too excited to stay asleep. Usually, such an event would only happen on Celestmas or her birthday, but today was even better! Today she'd really definitely probably hopefully get her cutie mark! For SCIENCE! Let those so-called friends of hers laugh and call her a dictionary. She'd still have hers first! Muahahaha—
A thump on the wall interrupted the Crusader's triumphant cackle. The message behind it was clear. Since her room shared a wall with Rarity's, she had to be quiet or her sister would sew her into bed. Literally. There were still needle holes in the mattress.
The younger unicorn finished her science laugh of science under her breath, then went to examine The Device™. The bizarre contraption in the middle of her bedroom was now studded with jewels in every color of the rainbow, and a few more besides. Emeralds, sapphires, rubies, diamonds, even things she'd had never heard of. She'd just seen them in her sister's gem chest and knew that they were right.
Sweetie didn't know much about aesthetics, beyond it being a word Rarity used constantly, but she could appreciate how shape, color, texture, and positive and negative space all came together to make The Device™ into an amazing optical illusion. Depending on the viewing angle, the assembly formed itself into one of several impossible shapes. Its creator's personal favorite was a wagon whose angles laughed in the face of Euclopean geometry.
Her gaze lingered on the on/off switch. Sweetie wasn't sure what would happen when she flipped it and sent a magical current through The Device™, but she knew that she wanted the other Crusaders there when she did. They might all get science cutie marks! Of SCIENCE!
Another knock interrupted the filly's impromptu victory dance. For a moment, she prepared herself for facing the dread horror known as "just-awakened Rarity" before realizing that the sound came from downstairs. Curious and eager to demonstrate her maturity, Sweetie Belle headed to the front door. As she opened it and began reciting the line her sister had had her memorize for just such an occasion, she had her eyes closed, to underscore the degree of grown-up-edness she was displaying. "Hello, and welcome to the Carousel Boutique. I regret to inform you that we are not presently open for business, but we will gladly accept your patronage between the hours of..." The filly trailed off, having finally opened her eyes to double check the hours of operation sign. She also had her first look at what she'd assumed was an early customer.
Sweetie's first thought was that the gemstones of Equestria had come for revenge. The entity at the door appeared to be a giant floating sapphire, looking more than anything like one third of Rarity's cutie mark gigantically come to life. When the huge crystal, easily three times her own height, didn't immediately storm into the shop, the filly calmed down enough to notice the smaller stones circling it. Each looked like two skinny pyramids glued together at their bases, and they were such a beautiful, pure shade of blue, it was as though the larger jewel had brought fragments of the sky for barter.
Faced with such a strange and alien being, Sweetie Belle found herself representing all of Equestria. Her next words would likely decide the fate of millions. "Um... Hi?"
The large gem began to glow, then refracted its light through its facets in a clearly deliberate and meaningful sequence.
The meaning was, understandably, lost on the young unicorn. "I like your... shine?"
One of the satellite jewels moved away from its brethren, the rest spreading out to maintain equidistance. The crystal slowly floated towards the filly. When she flinched back, it accelerated to a speed faster than she could follow. One moment, it was creeping towards her. The next, it was touching her horn.
Alarm and disgust were quickly overwhelmed by a rush of pure information. Sweetie knew that this being wouldn't hurt her. She knew that there were a total of eight satellite crystals, including the one making contact with her, and that they were part of the same creature as the larger gem that they orbited. She knew that the octahedron fusing with her was supplying her with a link to something that could become so much more. And when the main crystal repeated its pattern of flashes, she knew exactly what it was saying.
Greetings. I seek the Bearer of Generosity. I see that you are her sibling. Please, will you take me to her?
"Well—"
You are concerned regarding her demeanor upon awakening. I assure you that I can ease her out of slumber in a way that she will find enjoyable and invigorating.
"How—?"
Your surface thoughts are clear to me. I shall not probe further without your permission.
"Who—?"
Your sister is the Bearer of Generosity. I am generosity.
Sweetie Belle shrugged. She might be a unicorn, but this level of magical shenanigans was clearly outside of her age bracket. "Follow me."
Thank you.
"...Hey, can—"
No. I cannot determine the nature of your cutie mark.
"Aww..."
Generosity Elemental 3UU
Creature — Elemental
Each creature you control has the activated abilities of each other creature you control.
4, T: Untap target creature.
"Generosity flows like wind or water, open and indiscriminate. However, it flows on currents not of matter, but of thought."
—Mineral MacGuffin, A Guide to the Elements of Harmony, Third Edition
3/3
Applejack strode into the orchard straight and proud, as was befitting the import of today's work. As the summer drew to a close, the apple crop went into the home stretch, the last chance for parasites and disease to wreak their havoc before the harvest. Now more than ever, it was essential that a close eye be kept on the trees, lest all the year's effort be for naught.
Oh sure, given enough time and information, even somepony as flighty as Rainbow Dash or fussy as Rarity could tell where something was amiss. (Heck, Rarity's obsession with detail might make her pretty good at it if she could get past the dirt.) Other earth ponies would be able to get by with less, able to tell from the ebb and flow of life where trouble might lay. Still, they'd need some outside know-how to go from the "where" to the "why".
But the ponies of the Apple Clan were the undisputed masters of Malus domestica diagnosis. A pony with the family fruit on her flank could, with a glance, discern between insectoid, fungal, microbial, and combination infestations. One look at the pattern of bites on a leaf would be enough to know which caterpillars could stay and which had to go. A single sniff of a wormhole could tell an Apple clanspony precisely which race of vermin had dared, dared to befoul his family's pride.
They didn't just grow apples. They knew apples. They lived apples. They were Apples.
Given all this, when Applejack found the most perfect apple she'd even seen, the reader hopefully appreciates the profundity of this statement.
The orange mare examined the fruit in awe. Its skin was the bold crimson of a mid-life crisis and shined like a mirror. Though the apple had obviously fallen from its tree, it bore not a single bruise, blemish, or other contusion. Its flesh felt firm, fresh, and ripe in her practiced hooves. It smelled of life itself. Every instinct in Applejack's body told her that this was a pomaceous prince. King of the cultivars. The Kwisatz Haderapple.
Her stomach grumbled. AJ swallowed, uncomfortably aware of just how much this glorious specimen was making her mouth water. She knew that she'd eaten a considerable breakfast not half an hour ago, but her body had apparently found room somewhere for this avatar of appledom. Slowly, she brought the masterpiece to her mouth, hesitant to soil such glory with her base lips, yet desiring nothing more. Her awareness shrank to hold only the apple, or perhaps it expanded until she was aware of nothing else.
Then it opened its eye.
"Holy horseapples!" Applejack flinched back, letting the fruit fall to the ground. It seemed not to mind, focusing on her with what seemed to be curiosity. With a gastric lurch, the mare couldn't help but notice that the unexpected eye appeared to be the exact same color as her own.
Each stared at the other for a time, blinking the only movement made by either party. Eventually, the farmer's shock dropped to a point where her duty could reassert itself. She eased herself out of the crouch she'd reflexively assumed. "Well, if y' ain't gonna do nothin', Ah got trees t' inspect." With that, she resumed her patrol.
As Applejack moved away, the apple sat motionless, as apples are wont. However, judging from the slow sweep of its eye, it was deep in thought. Eventually, it seemed to nod to itself as best it could. Then, its stem began to writhe.
"Hmm..." A hundred little signs came together and Applejack nodded to herself. Pulling a piece of chalk from her saddlebags, she drew a square on the trunk of a tree, then added a "3" inside of it. Apple trees had too many enemies to feasibly carry every possible countermeasure, so the clan devised a series of pictographs to determine which would be needed at any given time.
As the pony returned the chalk to her side, her ears perked up. There was a rustle. Her head bolted upright and she immediately began looking for the intruder. "Ah don' wanna hurt ya," she called out, "so jus' come out slow an' peaceful-like an' we won't have no trouble."
The source of the rustling quickly revealed itself, much to Applejack's amazement. As far as she could tell, it was the cyclopean apple from earlier, except now it was upside down. And had legs. The legs seemed to be growing out of its stem, which would explain the inversion. In any case, it didn't seem too confident on the appendages, stumbling now and again like a newborn foal.
Something about the strange thing struck a chord in the mare's heart. She gave a sweet little smile at the thing, which was visibly becoming more confident on its limbs. They even kind of looked like a young foal's legs, just made of wood. The eye-bearing apple was poised above its center of mass, but it was still cute in a weird way now that there was something more to it. "Aww..."
The creature blinked at her and took a cautious step forward.
Applejack knelt before it. "Now don' be shy, li'l critter. Ol' AJ ain't gonna hurt ya none."
It looked at her, and the farmer knew beyond any doubt that it understood her. As surely as her instincts had just detected a particularly nasty breed of hornworm, they were now telling her that this creature trusted her. It was, to say the least, disconcerting. The earth pony brought her head to the ground, bringing her eye-to-eye with her discovery. "What in blazes are ya, li'l feller?"
Its answer was to nuzzle her cheek. That told her everything she needed to know. I am yours.
Applejack laughed a bit at the sheer peculiarity of it all. "Now listen here," she told her new.. pet? Friend? Child? She'd figure it out later. "Ah've still got plenty o' trees t' check, but Ah reckon ya kin follow along."
Her... companion, let's go with that. Her companion nodded eagerly and soon fell into step behind her.
Big Macintosh chewed his signature hay stalk as he waited at the edge between the west and south fields. Applejack must've found a nasty little epidemic to be taking this long, and the faster he could learn what it was, the faster he could prepare the proper heavy-duty antivarmint device.
A subtle vibration in the ground made the red stallion look down quizzically. Well, that was odd.
"Hay there, Big Macintosh!" He looked back up. There was his sister, but the look on her face was a lot more upbeat than he'd been expecting.
"What took ya so long, AJ?" he said pleasantly. After all, if his sister was happy, so was he. "Ah bet Granny Smith coulda checked them trees faster'n that!"
She made angry eyes at him, but there was a smile beneath them. "Don'tcha go sayin' that where she kin hear it. She'll take ya up on that bet faster'n ya kin say 'Golden Delicious'."
This merited a chuckle from the plowpony. "Eeyup. So, ain't nothin' serious, then?"
"Oh, it's serious all right. Just ain't nothin' t' worry over." Applejack turned and gave a sharp whistle.
Big Macintosh was, understandably, rather confused. "Winona come with ya?"
With a smirk, the mare imitated her brother "Eenope."
As if on cue, something emerged from the southern field. Big Mac absently noted that the hay stalk had fallen out of his mouth. Given that his jaw has hanging open, it didn't surprise him. The one-eyed, giant-apple-headed, sapling-legged whatsit that was as tall as him? That surprised him. "AJ, what in tarnation..."
That blasted smirk was still there. "It followed me home. Kin Ah keep it?"
The stallion's response was distant, as though he had decided this was all a dream and it was best to play along until he woke up. "Ah reckon y' oughta ask Granny. Or maybe Miss Twilight. Seems like somethin' she'd know about."
"Good idea, big brother. Ah'll be in town if'n ya need me. C'mon, Paul!" With that, Applejack headed out, her discovery in tow.
As Big Macintosh watched them leave, he swore he could hear the thing thing grow. Stopped by shock and incredulity, the gears in his head finally started up again. "...'Paul'?"
Honesty Elemental 3GG
Creature — Elemental
Honesty Elemental can't be countered.
Shroud
"Honesty is direct and forceful, a punch in the face rather than a knife in the back. Some find it refreshing. Others just think it painful."
—Mineral MacGuffin, A Guide to the Elements of Harmony, Third Edition
5/4
Pinkie Pie awoke to a slowly repeating tap at her bedroom window. Being who she was, her mind immediately assigned the the sound to a would-be suitor throwing rocks at the window to attract her attention. This idea was then dismissed as highly improbable, since not only was it broad daylight, but the only ponies capable of holding a boom box in their front hooves without falling over would be pegasi, who could just rap on the window with a hind hoof at a much faster frequency, and Lyra, who was neither single nor Pinkie's gender of preference.
Only after debunking her own hopes of early morning romance did the mare actually bother to see who or what was striking her window. It was indicative of the ebb in her Pinkie Sense that it didn't register this as a doozy.
Outside the window were three enormous heads. As Pinkie watched, one threw itself forward, bouncing off the window and producing a surprisingly quiet tap. The other two noticed that the curtains had been opened, and ceased their own pendular motion. Each was oddly reflective, oddly shaped, and oddly colored. The first and last, the party pony realized, were because the heads were actually gigantic balloons, monochrome rubber envelopes shining in the early morning light.
The second quality took a bit longer to puzzle out. The balloons were clearly head-shaped, but not pony-head-shaped. Indeed, none of them seemed likely to appear on any manner of creature, yet they were clearly functional. Despite their composition, Pinkie could see their eyes move and blink, and their mouths silently move as though chewing invisible bubble gum.
After a few moments spent contemplating the relative merits of invisible bubble gum versus its visible counterpart, the earth pony returned to the matter at hand. Three balloon-heads. One yellow, one blue, one red. Each a caricature of some nonequine race. Each looking at her, almost expectantly.
Then, somehow, it clicked. "Oh, I get it!" Cheerfully, she named each in turn. "Trollface, awesomeface, forever-alone-face."
With this incantation, all three inflated icons began to laugh uproariously, producing far more volume than they had tried to get her attention.
Pleased at solving the puzzle, Pinkie left her room and made for the front door.
"Pinkie?" She was waylaid by a still-drowsy Mrs. Cake. "What's going on, dear?"
"Oh, nothing important, Mrs. Cake. There was just a physical embodiment of the Element of Laughter outside my window, and now that I've properly identified its memetic origins, it and I are going to go have wacky adventures!"
The baker took this all quite well in stride. How much was living with Pinkie and how much was not being even remotely awake yet was difficult to say. "I see. One of those dreams again. I'll best go back to bed before the blondies start performing Gaskin and Stallivan." All right, maybe not so difficult. "Have a good time, dear."
"Thanks, Mrs. Cake!" With that, Pinkie bounced her way out of the Sugarcube Corner. As she did so, the idea accidentally given to her by the mare she thought of as a second mother took root in her fertile imagination. By the time Pinkie was at the ground floor of the bakery, the trumpets and strings were already piping in from beyond the perceivable universe.
"I am the very model of a modern cartoon character
With sanity that's low enough to be fourth-wall aware-iter.
I know our ancient history and ponies inspirational
From Applejack to Scootaloo in order generational.
I'm very well acquainted, too, with all matters hilarious.
I understand plays on words both the work-safe and precarious.
About festival theorem I am teeming with a lot o' news,
With many cheerful tales about that one time with the chocolate mousse!
(With many cheerful tales about that one time with the chocolate mousse!
With many cheerful tales about that one time with the chocolate mousse!
With many cheerful tales about that one time with the chocolate-ocolate mousse!)
I'm very good at musically defusing potential fights.
I know the single working means of counteracting parasprites.
In short, as one insane enough to be fourth-wall aware-iter,
I am the very model of a modern cartoon character!
(In short, as one insane enough to be fourth-wall aware-iter,
She is the very model of a modern cartoon character!)
I know the fanon aggregate, the OCs of the Fallout 'verse,
I've seen the grimdark Tumblrs and a few things that are even worse.
I've seen humanizations and Equestria creation myths,
Conversion Bureau, Antipodes, coolness multiplied by six fifths;
I can tell at once a Mary Sue that needs to die a fiery death
And praise the ten percent that Sturgeon's Law has spared in the same breath
And I admire bronies who eschew virtual violence,
As when something good came of 4chan via love and tolerance!
(As when something good came of 4chan via love and tolerance!
As when something good came of 4chan via love and tolerance!
As when something good came of 4chan via love and toler-olerance!)
Then I can write an invoice for the Corner's bestest customer
And pop up somewhere guaranteed to make my friends all flustimered.
In short, as one insane enough to be fourth-wall aware-iter,
I am the very model of a modern cartoon character!
(In short, as one insane enough to be fourth-wall aware-iter,
She is the very model of a modern cartoon character!)
In fact, when I know what is meant by "Psychoshy" and "Appledash",
When I can tell from sight at once the Hubble from my sugar stash,
When such assorted in-jokes and memetics I can allude to,
And when I know precisely what's been referenced by "shoo-be-doo",
When I know all the puns that can be made with horse anatomy,
When more humans adore me than Celestia's academy,
In short, as I'm one part of six of elemental harmony...
(Harmony? Jarmony, karmony, larmony, ooh!)
You'll say that I'm an undisputed master cartoon charm pony!
(You'll say that she's an undisputed master cartoon charm pony!
You'll say that she's an undisputed master cartoon charm pony!
You'll say that she's an undisputed master cartoon charm po-arm pony!)
My existence, though my backstory long into my past extends
Was only begun back in the beginning of the twenty-tens.
And so, as one insane enough to be fourth-wall aware-iter
I am the very model of a modern cartoon character!
(And so, as one insane enough to be fourth-wall aware-iter
She is the very model of a modern cartoon character!)"
As the unseen orchestra got their last few notes in, Pinkie considered the entity now before her, having made her way to the balloon being over the course of the musical number. It really did appear to be a trio of living balloons, complete with strings that trailed down, knotted themselves, and reemerged as spindly legs. The massive heads looked down at her and hooted with laughter again.
"It's a good thing this story takes place before Season Two," the mare mused, "or I'd find this a lot more disturbing. Come on, guys! Let's go have some fun!"
The laughter elemental literally jumped for joy, then brought the red, wrinkled head dubbed "trollface" down so Pinkie could scramble up on it. Once she was in place, all four mouths gave another lengthy guffaw as the thing began wandering who-knew-where.
Laughter Elemental 3BB
Creature — Elemental
Whenever an opponent loses life, you may gain that much life. (Damage causes loss of life.)
"Laughter can be many things. Mirthful or malicious, cold or crazed, it shows that at least one pony is happy, but says nothing about how."
—Mineral MacGuffin, A Guide to the Elements of Harmony, Third Edition
2/2
Fluttershy's cottage. A place of peace and healing. More so than usual, in fact. Patients were recovering at speeds the pegasus had never seen before. Normally, she would be thrilled that the animals were healing at such uncanny rates, but she couldn't help but think: What if they healed faster than she could treat them? This wasn't a matter of job security, but of practical medicine. Oh, diseases wouldn't be concern, since the microbes didn't appear to be similarly vitalized, but what about injuries? Already there were animals with fractures that were healing twice as fast as expected. What if some poor squirrel broke a bone that mended incorrectly before Fluttershy could set it? She just didn't know if she could intentionally break a bone, to cause pain and suffering in the name of healing. It flew in the face of the Hippocampic Oath! What would the legendary seapony known as the Father of Medicine say upon seeing one who had taken his solemn vow doing such a thing?
Well, assuming that seaponies could speak or, indeed, even breathe in air. If they existed at all. And even if they did, this was the pony who'd claimed that mares and stallions had different numbers of teeth without bothering to count. Not to mention—
Fluttershy was interrupted from the deconstruction of her hero by a knock at the door. "Coming!" she called, grateful for the visitor. She wasn't sure she wanted to follow that line of though to its conclusion. No, that way led to unpleasantly applied bonesaws and giant glowing Marescovites... The butter-coated pegasus cleared her head of such distasteful thoughts as she opened the door. "Helloooooh my..."
Eyes the size of her head stared back at her. A mouth was opened wide enough to swallow her whole. And the face in which these features were set not only filled her doorway, it was giving off its own light. The effect was akin to the full moon coming down from the heavens to ask if it could borrow a cup of banished pony, having found itself fresh out.
Fluttershy's reaction was both predictable and entirely understandable. "Eep!" With that, she slammed her door in the prodigious face. As the gentle mare fought to get her breathing under control, she gradually became aware of a strange sound coming from outside. It wasn't a growl, a scratching, or even the regular bass susurration that should have come from the breathing of something as big as her visitor.
It was sobbing.
The unmistakable cries immediately switched the instinct guiding Fluttershy's actions from "fight or flight" to "maternal". She opened the door again to see that same massive form with eyes screwed shut, expressing its sorrow with a surprisingly gentle, high-pitched voice.
Guilt and regret stabbed at the pony. She'd caused this! Well then, she could fix it as well. Since the behemoth had moved back a bit (probably from shock, the poor thing), it was easy for her to work her way to its side and give the best hug she could to something so enormous. "There, there," she cooed, "I'm sorry. You just startled me is all."
The sobbing ceased almost immediately. From this angle, Fluttershy could see that the creature continued for quite a length, the rearmost portions of its body extending past her fence. As it adjusted itself to get a better look at her, she saw that it was segmented into a row of nearly spherical sections, like a chain of connected bubbles. At the front and rear thirds of its span, each segment was tipped with a pair of stubby rounded legs. The pony-gulping mouth she'd been so afraid of was, she could now see, as toothless as Gummy's. Furthermore, it was now clearly smiling. Overall, it seemed to be a foal's drawing of a caterpillar, just larger and more luminous than the usual portrayal.
Despite her vast zoological experience, Fluttershy was unfamiliar with this strange entity. Between appearance and behavior, she settled on "caterpillar" as a temporary label. "Why don't we go in—" She quickly reconsidered as she realized that her house simply couldn't handle guests of this magnitude. "Go... Go to my friend Twilight! I'm sure she'll know what you are. and maybe we'll even get to see if you'll turn into a beautiful butterfly."
The glowing grub nodded, then bunched itself up and seemed to bow before her.
"Do... do you want me to ride you there?"
Another nod, a bit more awkward in its current position.
Fluttershy couldn't help but smile at the idea. "Okay. Just follow my directions and we'll be there in no time at all." A moment airborne and she settled herself atop the massive head. The larva then inched its way towards Ponyville, exuding a distinct air of triumph.
Angel watched the two go. Despite his best efforts, he simply hadn't been able to bring himself to harm the giant glowworm that had just made off with his pet pony. The thing had managed to come off as even more gentle and innocent than she did, something the lagomath would've sworn was physically impossible.
With a sigh, he righted himself upon his meditation carrot and began methodically gnawing into it. The runes were relatively simple and would take little time to inscribe. There was no sense in ruining them through haste. Once they were complete, he'd have all the time in the world to show what happened to gargantuan maggots that messed with his little pony.
Kindness Elemental 3WW
Creature — Elemental
Kindness Elemental is indestructible.
Prevent all damage that would be dealt to and dealt by Kindness Elemental.
"Kindness persists long after most other elements have exhausted themselves. When there is nothing left to give, to tell, to swear to, or to laugh at, there is still somepony who wants to help."
—Mineral MacGuffin, A Guide to the Elements of Harmony, Third Edition
0/6
Where time had/has/will have no meaning
Tezzeret had been called many things by many beings. Genius, madman, boss, insect, seeker, agent, friend, murderer, and a hundred other titles better and worse than any of these. Even what he used for his name was more of a description. In the argot of the slums where he'd grown up, a tezzeret was an improvised weapon kept hidden until it could strike a crippling blow. But at his core, beneath the braggadocio, ruthlessness, and sentimentality, there was a basic truth that defined the man more than his artifice, his right arm, even his Spark:
Tezzeret was a silly man in a serious Multiverse.
This may not seem like an especially world-shaking revelation, but it did mean that if all the planeswalkers who might have been moving through the Blind Eternities, he was by far the best to encounter Ditzy Doo.
Of course, he didn't know that at the time. "What is that?"
A weedy, sarcastic voice sounded in his left ear. It was, in fact, his own, save that it was stripped of the arrogance and harshness that came from an early life spent clawing his way up from the very bottom rung of a very tall social ladder. The voice's name was Doc Jest, and its story was a long and strange one which will not be discussed here. It said this: "Offhand, I'd say a pegasus. You didn't notice, but it burst out of that plane like a homunculus with its head on fire."
"Really?"
"Yup. Think some ætherworker sent it out here?"
The dreadlocked human drifted closer to the equine ejecta, close enough to perceive which plane had spat it out. "Unlikely, for two reasons. One, æthercraft is not a common practice on Ungula."
"Ungula? Well, that'd certainly explain why it looks more like a kid's doodle than any winged horse I've ever seen. What's two?"
"It's been more than twenty seconds now and it's still a pegasus." Normally, any matter left in the Bastard Plane was torn apart by the interstitial chaos. There was only one exception to this rule.
Doc summarized that rule quite nicely. "Are you saying this thing's a planeswalker? Er, trotter? Flapper? Whatever. Is that even allowed to happen?"
"Clearly, or it wouldn't be drifting by us." Tezzeret's sentimentality gave him an unpleasant twinge as he recalled a similar first 'walk. "We're going to help this creature."
"We are?"
"Do you have any objections, Doc?"
"Would you care if I did?"
The artificer took a moment to consider this. "No. In this instance, I don't believe I would."
"As long as we get to Mirrodin eventually. The boss breathing down your neck kind of takes on a greater urgency when he's a dragon."
"Yes, yes." Through will and magic, the man set himself forward to intercept the other 'walker.
Luna squirmed a bit in the early morning sunlight. It wasn't that she'd been up for a while. She technically didn't need sleep, though according to Celestia she started going a little crazy after the two week mark. Nor was it the sensation of ceding the sky to her sister. After so long, that felt right. No, it was the idea of having to go out in public. In the day. Without an illusion. With less than twelve hours warning.
While Luna often wondered how she had justified the ecological devastation that eternal night would have brought, she never once questioned how she could've come to hate her sister.
The princess of the night decided that she needed to distance herself from that particular line of thought. "Where is Trixie? I told her to make an early night of it."
As if in response, there came that unique blend of hoofsteps, muffled curses, and ominous thumps that comes from somepony in a hurry trying very hard to neither be late nor break anything valuable. After a short while, this cacophony resolved itself into Trixie. Her horrendous bedmane hinted at how she'd rushed here. "Forgive my tardiness, Your Highnesses," she panted, bowing to each princess in turn. She then leveled a glare at Ditzy. "Somepony thought it would be funny to unleash upon me horrors the likes of which pony was not meant to know."
The pegasus met this accuastion with a flat look and a raised eyebrow until she realized that both royal sisters were staring at her with a mix of shock and revulsion. "Wha— She's exaggerating!"
"Am I, Ditzy Doo? Am I?"
"Yes! Yes, you are! You asked for a demonstration of hornless magic. I told you I was recovering from mana exhaustion. You insisted that I do something. I performed one of the few spells I could with what power was available to me."
Trixie scoffed at this. "I had no idea that transforming yourself into an eldritch abomination was so effortless for you."
The blonde sighed. "It was an illusion. A trick of the light. You do them all the time."
Luna decided that it was best to intervene, both to keep the peace and resolve this argument before all of reality collapsed out from under them. "Ditzy, what exactly did you do?"
The pegasus thought for a moment on how best to respond. "Why don't I demonstrate?"
"WHAT!?" The blue unicorn ducked and covered, planting her forehooves firmly over her eyes. "Avert Your eyes, Your Excellencies! The horror may be too great even for You!"
Celestia gave a small, puckish grin. "I'll take my chances."
Luna held back an undignified giggle. "After all this fuss, how can I look away?"
Ditzy said nothing more, simply shaping a bit of her magic into a familiar shape from her days of wandering the Multiverse. As she expected, neither princess nor her daughter had Trixie's apoplectic reaction.
The moon goddess tilted her head as she considered the phantasm. "I suppose I see how such a form would work. Seems a trifle ludicrous, but still."
Her older sister gave a warm smile. "Mother used to do something like this when you were being fussy, Luna. It never failed to make you laugh."
The same could be said of Dinky. "Mommy's a monkey!"
Trixie risked a peek out from under her hooves. "Are you all mad? It's a human! Enslavers of ponies! Despoilers of worlds! Cruelest and foulest of all demons!"
Ditzy rolled her eyes as she released the image. "They're not that bad. Well, most of them."
The showmare gazed at her with naked awe. "You... you've seen humans? And lived?"
"Seen, met, befriended. If you'd like, I'll tell you about it when the world isn't in crisis. Right now..."
"Quite." Celestia moved so she could address each of the unlikely quartet. They, in turn, formed a rough line to optimize their view of her. The sun princess smiled as she moved down the line, reviewing her troops. Kind of. If she were ever in a war where her only available forces were a lone pegasus, two unicorns, one of whom was still a filly, and her own sister, she'd probably either surrender or make the sun go nova. Depending on the nature of the enemy, of course. In any case, she came to a halt before the four of them. "Dearest friends. Loyal subjects. Beloved sibling. I have placed upon your shoulders a most awesome task, one that may decide the fate of all Equestria, if not the universe as a whole. I would never have done so if I did not have the utmost confidence that you would succeed.
"According to scouting reports, what we had most feared has come to pass. Entities the likes of which I have never seen have appeared in and around Ponyville, and appear to be congregating at the Books and Branches Library. Reports have reported five of the beings, so they are no doubt attempting to call forth the sixth, a being of pure magic. There is no telling what such a creature could be capable of.
"I ask of you this: Stop these monstrosities by any means necessary. Do not allow the most terrible of them to be born. Save this land. Will you do this?"
Ditzy bowed solemnly. "Yes, Your Majesty."
Dinky gave an exaggerated guard salute. "By your command!"
Trixie smirked. "Consider it done, Your Highness."
Luna rolled her eyes. "Now that you've gotten your speech out of the way, can we go?"
The princess of the day gave her sister a most undignified raspberry. "Oh, you're no fun."
"I just don't want all of space and time to collapse before we even get there."
The pegasus frowned and looked to the sky. "Oh, we'll have plenty of warning before any of that happens. Trust me."
The alicorns shared a concerned look, and the elder gave a nod. "Go, then. Best of luck to all of you. And Luna?"
"Yes?"
"Try not to destroy any microwave ovens."
Luna closed her eyes and muttered, "One time. I do that one time..." Sighing, she lit her horn.
At first, it was the same midnight blue as seen when she was using telekinesis. From Ditzy's perspective and to her astonishment, the glow rapidly darkened, becoming a sort of anti-light. This spread across the alicorn's body, until she was a pony-shaped patch of radiant shadow. Stars became visible in the equine void. The border between Luna and the rest of existence rapidly shifted, and the grey pegasus found herself surrounded on all sides by the inky, star-speckled void of space. She still felt something on her hooves, though when she looked down, it was just more of the all-encompassing eternal night.
Then, something at the edge of her vision drew her attention. At first, it had just been motion, but now Ditzy could put a name to it. It was blue, writhing, scintillating with specks of starlight. It was attached to an alicorn of Celestia's size whose coat blended perfectly with the nothingness around her. Green, slit-pupilled eyes were drawn to the expanse's only other occupant. A face that had been last seen during the previous summer solstice was looking at the mailmare with naked astonishment.
"Well," said Nightmare Moon, "isn't this a surprise?"
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FanOfMostEverything
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1048
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Derpy Hooves,Dinky Hooves,Main 6,Original Character,Other,Crossover,Adventure,Magic: The Gathering,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Elementals of Harmony
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(FiMtG) The only thing standing between Equestria and apocalypse is Ditzy Doo. Yes, really. Stop laughing!
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complete
| 430 | 14 |
<p>Something is gathering around the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Something dangerous. Something magical. There's only one pony with the knowledge, the skills, and the muffins needed to save Equestria as we know it.<br/>A Friendship is Magic: the Gathering crossover, taking place between seasons 1 and 2. Here there be flashbacks, briefly seen OC's, and possibly every emotion known to man or tiny horse. Abandon all pretenses of not being a nerd, ye who enter here.</p>
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everyone
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2012-11-05T18:23:54+00:00
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2021-01-22T11:45:37+00:00
| 8,212 |
Don't panic. That was the mantra Ditzy was silently repeating as she found herself alone in the infinite star-speckled void of space with the Mare in the Moon. Don't panic. She filled her mind with the phrase, plastering it across her psyche in big, friendly letters. It was preferable to thinking about the ebon alicorn who was looking at her bemusedly.
"I should think that my presence must surprise you," said Nightmare Moon. "I know for a fact that the converse is true." She gave a brief start, then a soft laugh. "Oh! Listen to me, I sound like a zebra."
This stopped Ditzy's recitation cold. The Queen of Everlasting Night making casual conversation? Laughing at herself? Here on going was heck the what? The pegasus swallowed nervously and eked out, "A-as you say, Your Caliginous Majesty."
This was met with a larger smile. "Ooh, 'Your Caliginous Majesty'. I rather like that one. I'll have to remember it." The Mistress of Eternal Darkness sat, putting her eye-to-eye with her guest. "Oh, do relax, my little pony. I'm not going to bite."
If one was generous, one could describe Ditzy's response to this as sitting down. Those more concerned with accuracy would say that her knees gave out. "F-forgive my impudence, o Requiem of Sanity, but you seem less..." The mailpony wracked her vocabulary for a diplomatic way to end the sentence.
Nightmare Moon did it for her. "Enraged? Vengeful? Insane than a drunken draconequus? Stop me at any time, dear, I could go on for days."
"How about 'intimidating'?"
"Charitable, but still accurate." The Emperess of the Void gave another smile. "Well, for one, spend a thousand years on a truly desolate wasteland with only yourself for company, and we'll see how sane you are upon your return.
"For another, ponies these days no longer equate sunset with bedtime. My nights are genuinely appreciated now. I even have cults! Do you have any idea how much fun it is to have a cult dedicated to you? It's like having the most adorable fan club filled with ponies who will do anything if they think it will make you happy!"
"Huh." Ditzy could offer nothing more coherent, her brain still stuck on Nightmare Moon saying the word "adorable" without a hint of sarcasm or irony.
"Oh sure, eternal night would be nice, but it doesn't really feel necessary anymore, you know? My work isn't ignored anymore, it's adored! Really, banishing the sun would be gilding the lily at this point."
A question nagged at the pegasus's mind. "If I may ask, well... why are you still here?"
This brought out an indulgent smirk that Celestia would recognize as a Number 61, "Student laboring under an understandable misapprehension. "Tell me, young..."
"Ditzy Doo, milady."
"Tell me, young Ditzy, what is the nature of Nightmare Moon?"
The planeswalker mulled this over. She had only seen the Tyrant of the Furthest Reaches briefly during the Summer Sun Celebration, and her mana sight had mostly shown an amorphous blob of night sky. Now, all she could see was an alicorn of deepest black garbed in regalia of silver and steel, with only her mane matching Ditzy's memory. Finally, the blonde admitted, "I don't know."
"Not surprising." The slit-pupilled princess said this neutrally, an observation rather than an indictment. "The most learnéd sages of Canterlot have formulated countless hypotheses that try to answer that question. 'The Nightmare is a parasite of the soul.' 'The Nightmare was planted into Luna's mind by Discord.' 'The Nightmare is Luna, and she plots a coup against her sister still.'" The alicorn noticed the unease this last one brought to Ditzy, gave what she hoped was a reassuring smile, and added, "They're all wrong, especially the last."
They grey mare relaxed. A little. "So what are you?"
Nightmare Moon shrugged, a feat made much easier with her impressive wingspan. "It is not a question to which I have given much thought. If I had to guess, I would call myself the new moon to Luna's full. The same thing, only darker."
"I thought you said the 'you are her' theory was wrong."
"Oh, make no mistake, as far as I can tell, I am she and she is me and we are us. But neither of us wants to overthrow Celestia. Not anymore."
Ditzy was now so deep in thought that she had largely forgotten where and with whom she was. "So what did the Elements of Harmony do, exactly?"
The Black Regent's gaze wandered to some distant point in the endless expanse. "They gave me something that I would have never accepted through another medium, the only things that could quench my rage and restore my sanity."
"What?"
The smile on the Nightmare's muzzle was uncannily like Celestia's. Maternal, wise, and unquestionably sincere. "Love and tolerance."
The pegasus could think of only one response to something so profound. "Huh."
"It may not seem like much, but friendship really is magic, and a most potent one at that. The Elements are the ultimate expression of that magic." Nightmare Moon looked up at some sign only she could see. "It appears that this little tête-à-tête is drawing to a close."
Ditzy had a hunch that learning how the alicorn knew that would take more time than she had left. Thus, she simply rose and bowed. "Thank you for a most enlightening audience, Your Highness."
The dark noble still wore that smile so uncannily like her sister's. "Thank you, Ditzy Doo, for bringing some variety to my existence." She faded into the aphotic background, and one by one the stars began to wink out.
As they did, shadowy surfaces came into view beneath Ditzy, and the stars that hadn't vanished grouped together in the east. They resolved themselves into the Sun in a display not unlike the biggest flashbulb in the universe, and the pegasus recognized the gently rolling hills to the north of Ponyville.
She also recognized that Dinky, Trixie, and Luna were all staring at her. "What?"
"You collapsed once we materialized," explained the showmare.
"You've been unresponsive for nearly a minute," added the night princess.
Dinky seemed far less concerned now that the pegasus had come to. "Mommy was just thinking."
The mailmare couldn't help but smile. She ruffled her daughter's mane and said, "That's right. Mommy was finishing up her master plan to save Ponyville from the monsters."
The young unicorn reared back in excited delight. "Coolest mommy of all time!" She raced towards the town, crying, "Monsters beware! Here comes my Mommy!"
Ditzy's maternal mirth was interrupted by a pair of skeptical stares. "You were braindead on your hooves," Luna stated. "I was about to resort to electroshock. What really happened?"
The pegasus squirmed. Somehow, she didn't think the knowledge that Nightmare Moon still lurked somewhere in the younger princess would go over well. "I promise to tell you when we have the time, but right now, I need to keep an eye on my daughter." She took wing before Luna could ask more authoritatively.
Trixie swallowed the lump that had grown as she became increasingly alone with her regal tutor. "We should probably follow, Your Highness."
"Go," the princess answered absently. "We shall arrive in Our own time."
The lump came back with a vengeance. The blue unicorn gave a low bow. "As You will." She then ran for the town like her tail was on fire. Luna rarely employed the royal "we" anymore. When she did, there tended to be rather spectacular meteor showers the following night.
"Red Lobster to Book Fort. Come in, Book Fort."
The response crackled over her crustacean headset. "This is Book Fort. Reading you loud and clear, Red Lobster."
"I'm beginning the final sweep. Confirm feed reception."
"All angles confirmed." In the base, Twilight hesitated for a moment. "Be careful, Rarity."
The pilot couldn't help but give a coquettish grin at this. "Codenames while I'm in the cockpit, dear. Initiating final sensor sweep."
The Fabulosity was, like its pilot, lightly armed but highly sensitive to even the tiniest detail. Just beneath the jet's streamlined fusilage lay countess sensors capable of extracting virtually any conceivable information. Also like its pilot, the plane was capable of breathtaking grace and poise, slipping over enemy territory wholly unnoticed nine times out of ten.
A sudden lurch made it clear that this was not one of them. "Red Lobster! I've lost starboard thaumeters four and five! They're showing nothing but polka dots!"
The ivory unicorn felt her blood chill. "Tachyon weapons..." Tachyons, the elementary particles of ugliness, were one of the Fabulosity's greatest weaknesses. If Rarity didn't get out of range soon, her beloved scout plane would be reduced to unspeakably hideous scrap. Oh, she would just die!
After a moment, she realized that she probably would die, what with the crash and all.
In any case, despite the twin threats of death and plaid, none of the Rarity's fear showed in her voice or her piloting. "Evasive manuevers," she said as calmly as she would an order at a café. "Disengaging from sweep."
She bobed and weaved, countering the brutish bursts of acid green and Day-Glo pink with elegant swoops and dives. Even as the skies grew choked with the smoke of vaporized polyester, the Fabulosity was a threaded needle weaving its way to safety.
"Nearly there," the pilot muttered to herself. As if summoned by this temptation of Fate, a naugahyde shell struck the plane directly. The aircraft was nearly torn in half, shards of the rock candy fuselage raining on the battlefield like sugared diamonds. Every screen and readout in the cockpit went blank, Twilight's frantic cries cut out, and gravity expressed its displeasure with Rarity's current altitude.
Despite all of this, the unicorn was smiling. Oh, it was by no means a pleased or satisfied smile. It was the manic rictus of a pony with nothing left to lose, ready to strike the match that would ignite a blaze of glory. "Passcode marshmallow omega one-one-two-three-five."
"Cataclysm contingency engaged. Goodbye."
She closed her eyes. "Goodbye, Fabulosity." A feeling of inner peace welled in her breast. By setting the magical reactor of the plane to overload, her final act would bring fifty kilotons of style to these ungrateful brutes.
I should probably intervene now.
"What?" Rarity looked around, mystified. That voice had been far more masculine than the prerecorded lines her dear little jet was programmed to produce.
Well, if I waited any longer, I can't imagine that it would be pleasant for either of us.
"Who's there?" Idly, the unicorn noted that gravity had had a change of heart, stopping her in midcrash.
"Hi, Sis!"
"Sweetie Belle?" Impossibly enough, her little sister was on top of her head.
"Wow, this is a really cool dream! I'm gonna have to tell Scootaloo about this!"
"But you're supposed to be... to be..." Somewhere in the fashionista's mind, a baton was passed from subconscious to conscious. "This is a dream." Everything but Sweetie became progressively grayer and duller.
Yes. And now its time to wake up.
Years in the past
Ditzy squirmed, neither ready nor willing to wake up quite yet. Then she paused as her drowsy mind tried to determine what wasn't quite right.
Well, for one, it was definitely colder than normal. Maybe there was a rogue cold front? It was still early in spring, after all. No, wait, she couldn't feel her comforter. And her bed felt far firmer than normal, totally unlike any cloud she'd ever felt. And there was some weird itch in her ear. Everything just felt off, but why?
"Ah, good, you're waking up."
Who was that? Why couldn't Ditzy open her mouth and ask who that was? Why couldn't she open her eyes either? Oh Celestia, why couldn't she move at all?
"Please, remain calm. You've just gone through a highly traumatic experience, and it would be best to ease you back into consciousness."
The pegasus fought to control herself. Listen to the voice. It is a calm, confident voice. The voice knows what it's doing. Steady, even breaths. Don't think about what the voice is talking about.
"Good. Now, I'm going to—"
Don't think about anything traumatic that might have happened recently. Don't think about how you got home and Dad's boss showed up. Don't think about Dad's hat, singed with lightning. Don't think about how it may be the biggest piece of him they could find. Don't think about how you'll never, ever see him again.
"Oh, come on. You were doing so well."
Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don't think about it don't think about it dontthinkaboutitdontthinkaboutitdo—
Ditzy squirmed, neither ready nor willing to wake up quite yet. Then she paused as her drowsy mind tried to determine the origin of an odd feeling of deja vu.
"Good, you're awake. Now, let's try this again."
Again? What was this strange pony talking about? Wait, why couldn't she—
"Before you panic, know that I'm keeping you still so that I can ease you into wakefulness. This is going to come as a big shock to you, and I think you'd like to have something left of your sanity after we're through."
Okay. She could deal with this. This pony was keeping her still and she couldn't feel any restraints, so he had to be using magic. That meant he was a unicorn, and that plus the uncloudiness of whatever it was she was resting on meant she was on the ground. What he was saying certainly wasn't reassuring her, but it made sense. She'd lived in Cloudsdale all her life. The culture shock was probably best taken slowly.
"You seem to be taking this well. Good. I'll free up eye control for you."
Ditzy's eyes opened, and she had to blink furiously a few times to adjust to the sudden burst of sunlight. Wow, she must have been out for a while. In any case, this was the surface, huh? Not much to look at, really. A big ol' puddle (a lake, she corrected herself,) surrounded by bare rock. And beyond that...
There was no beyond that. The pegasus reflexively checked her internal altimeter, unreliable though it was. Still, she was able to determine that she was very definitely not at sea level. A mountain, then? Did mountains have lakes?
"You're beginning to panic again. Please calm down. We are presently airborne. This is what is called a sky reservoir. Think of it as a very high density cloud."
Oh sure, never mind that this cloud happened to have an outer shell of stone. Wait, did that unicorn just read her mind? Well, no surprise, really. If she was somewhere where they could make rocks fly, the unicorns must be something else.
"You flatter me. Magically speaking, I'm nothing special. My ability to follow your surface thoughts comes from the same means by which I'm keeping you from moving. Speaking of which, do you feel up to standing?"
YES PLEASE! Ditzy was rather surprised at the urgency of the thought. She hadn't realized how much this complete motionless was getting to her until now. She was a pegasus. She was made for wide, open skies. This restraint was just plain wrong.
"Done. Go ahead."
She did, stretching out the various kinks and cramps that had come from Celestia-knew-how long spent without moving.
"All right. Before you next act, allow me to assure you that I mean you absolutely no harm."
Ditzy had assumed as much. Now she found herself wondering.
"Now then, turn around please."
Feeling increasingly ill at ease, she did so. What had been behind her was not a unicorn, as she'd thought. Instead, it a creature out of filly tales. The antagonist of everything from The Three Little Geese to Little Red Gliding Hood. Her costume of choice last Nightmare Night.
It was a human.
Ditzy quickly discovered that she was still unable to scream, producing a light hiss like an imitation of crowd noise.
The human sighed. "Wonderful. Look, I have no intention of doing any of the things you're imagining. Especially not stabbing you and drinking the blood. Honestly, do I look like a vampire to you?"
The adolescent pony had to admit, the ape-thing certainly didn't seem to very threatening beyond being a human. It seemed almost... sad, somehow. A sort of sadness it didn't even notice. Her heart went out to the creature.
At least, it did until she noticed its right arm. Then Ditzy learned that the beast had paralyzed her wings again at some point.
"What, this old thing?" The human looked at the assembly of twisted metal as though it had just noticed it. "It's all the rage where I come from."
That's nice, the pony thought at the abomination before her. Could you let me use my tongue, please?
"Oh, of course. My apologies."
"No problem," she said reflexively. "Well, yes, yes there is. You're not going to enslave me, eat me, or do anything else out of the stories, right?"
"Nothing of the sort."
"Okay, fine. So what will you do with me?"
"Give you a better welcome to the Multiverse than what I got."
"The what-now?"
"The Multiverse." The human gestured, and a golf ball-sized blob of metal rose out of the water. Ditzy wondered how long she had been out if her captor had time to prepare visual aids. "Suppose that this sphere is your world of Equestria." A series of similarly sized balls joined the ersatz-Equestria. An open sphere the size of a pony's head made from twisted wire came last, and the balls found their way inside. "While the model isn't to scale, it is a passable representation of your home universe, what we call a plane."
"Home universe?"
"I know, it's quite a bit to take in." If he really did sympathize, his expression didn't show it. It had barely shifted from mild disinterest the entire time Ditzy had been looking at him. "But yes, this is your plane, known to the wider Multiverse as Ungula. It is but one of an infinite array of worlds spread throughout the Multiverse. I am what is known as a planeswalker, able to move between them. So too are you."
"What." It wasn't a question, just a flat statement of incredulity. So much that Ditzy lay down lest her spinning head make her fall off the lip of the reservoir.
"I found you between planes. You had just exited Ungula rather violently."
The pony thought for a time on how to respond. Finally, she settled on a rather basic question. "So where are we now?"
"A plane known as Ravnica. Nice place, if you like cities. If not, well, you're rather out of luck."
Ditzy nodded, understanding little. "Okay. Now what?"
"Now? Well, now that I've saved your life, I rather think that you owe me a favor, and I know exactly how you can do so."
Dinky charged forward, fueled by the energy of youth and limitless confidence in her mother. After all, she was a pegasus who could use magic! And she knew how to make super-awesome chocolate chip pumpkin muffins! Beating up a few lousy monsters would be foal's play for her.
"Dinky! Stop!"
The filly skidded to halt, looking up to see her mother swooping down to her. She was confused for a moment, then shook her head at her own foalishness. "Sorry, Mommy. I went and ran off before you could tell me my part of the plan." Dinky gave an eager grin. "So, what'll I be doing? Do I get a sword? A magic sword? Does the sword make puppies? Can—"
"We're not getting a puppy, Dinky."
"Aw..."
"And your part of the plan is to stay safe and as far away as possible from the fighting."
"Awwwwww..."
Ditzy's will fought with her heart. They found a compromise, and the pegasus swept her daughter into a tremendous hug. "I need to know you're going to be okay, Muffin, or I'll be so busy worrying about you that I won't be able to stop the monsters."
The young unicorn processed this for a moment before sighing in resignation. "Okay, I guess..." Her expression returned to the bright, hopeful smile. "But can you at least bring home a monster part?"
That prompted a smile to contrast with Ditzy's imminent tears. "I'll see what I can do, Muffin. Now please, promise me you'll go straight to Auntie Carrot's and stay there."
"Yes, Mommy."
"And if the monsters show up there, run."
"Okay, Mommy."
Reluctantly, Ditzy took to the air again. "I'll see you soon!"
Dinky waved goodbye. "Good luck!"
Sniffing still, the grey mare made her way to the outskirts of the town proper. She couldn't see any obvious signs of the elementals, but the entire town seemed wrapped in a multicolored haze. There was some serious magic going on in there.
"So, what's this I heard about a plan?"
Ditzy sighed. "Hello, Trixie."
The unicorn walked to her side. "I ask only because I assume you went over it while I was still expunging your hideous little cantrip from my memory."
"You don't plan on letting that go any time soon, do you?"
The showmare essayed a shrug. "I hold grudges. I'm working on it. So, plan?"
"The plan is telling my filly that I have a plan so she'll trust me to take care of things and keep herself out of harm's way. After that, I'll play it by ear."
"So we have no plan whatsoever."
"Eeyup."
Trixie looked at the pegasus. Assuming that one eye pointing at her meant that she could be seen, she made an incredulous face. "Why are you the leader of this little farce, again?"
"Because I was the only one in the entire universe who knew it was coming and knows what it is."
"Do you know how to fix it?"
"Working on that part." With that, Ditzy closed her eyes.
The showmare was about to deliver another verbal barb when her horn began to tingle. "What are you doing?"
"Working on that part." The pegasus expanded her senses, examining how the metaphysical landscape of Ponyville had changed since the advent of the elementals. When she stumbled upon one such shift, she barely stifled a laugh. "Wow, really? Really?"
"What is it?"
"You wouldn't understand," Ditzy said idly, confirming her observation.
"Oh," sniffed Trixie, "something about jet streams or pressure differentials or some such."
"No, magic."
"What!" Ditzy blinked. One moment, she'd been looking at the town's overfed leylines. The next, her view was full of indignant blue mare. "You dare imply that the Great and Powerful Trixie , student of Her Royal Highness the Princess Luna, would not comprehend the mysteries of the arcane?"
The grey pony gave the same patient smile she used for Dinky's tantrums. "Have you ever heard of Tolaria?"
Trixie deflated with an almost audible whoosh of hot air. "Toe-what-ia?"
"Ask Dinky to tell you the story of the silly old pony who blew up time. It's one of her favorites." Ditzy closed her eyes again, beginning to establish a mana bond to an especially swollen nexus of energy. "For now, all you need to know is that there was once an academy there, not unlike Celestia's, and it was a potent source of magical power for those who possessed many magical items."
"So?"
"So, the Carousel Boutique has become something similar, and I have quite a few enchanted curios in my attic." The blonde mare opened her eyes. They were solid ovals of blue luminance. "Next stage of the plan: Reconnaissance."
Trixie opened her mouth to comment on the sudden existence of a plan, but she found herself speechless as Ditzy's spellcraft proceeded. The blue light expanded out of the pegasus's eye sockets like a soap film from a bubble wand. Two by two, spheres seperated themselves from the billowing energy. Once half a dozen orbs of light had formed, their creator's eyes went back to normal, and she smiled with the unique sense of fulfillment that comes from a spell well cast.
The unicorn finally found her voice. "What are these things?"
"These," answered Ditzy, "are probes." As she spoke, a golden film of energy settled into place on a circular patch of each probe, giving them the appearance of floating eyes. She continued, "I'd send them out whenever I travelled somewhere new to get a sense of the place. Lay of the land, local customs, that sort of thing."
"I... see." Trixie had never seen a spell like this before. Hesitantly, she poked the nearest magic eye with a hoof. It was firm, yet yielding, like the stress toy Her Nocturnal Majesty had given her. "So, what will you do with them now?"
"Find each elemental. See what is, what it's doing, and what obvious weaknesses it might have." With a thought, Ditzy brought the milieu into formation in front of her. Each one, the blue mare noted, was more or less looking in the direction of its mistress, but its gaze was slowly drifting in a seemingly random direction. "You know your assigned targets," said the planeswalker. "Seek them out." The spheres sped off towards town, two of them splitting off to head for different parts of the outskirts.
Trixie sat down. She tried to disguise her awe with nonchalance. "So, I suppose we wait for them to report back, then?"
The grey mare nodded, still looking at Ponyville. "It won't take long. I've got a passive mental link to them. If I focus, I can see what they see, and they can tell me when I should focus." Suddenly, her ears perked up. "Like now!"
An awkward silence followed this exclamation. Well, awkward for Trixie, at least. Eventually, she uttered, "So, could you—"
Ditzy, who had until now been utterly motionless, gave a gasp and a wince. "Ouch. Bad way to go."
"What happened?"
"Wha? Oh! Trixie!" The pegasus grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, guess I got lost in my own head there."
The showmare rolled her eyes. She wanted answers, not apologies! "What happened?"
"Well, I sent each probe to the home of one of the Bearers of the Elements. The one that went to Twilight Sparkle told me to follow its feed."
"Twilight Sparkle!" Trixie sprang to her hooves at the name. "What has she done? What manner of menace has she unleashed? How can we thwart her fell minion?"
Ditzy considered several reactions before settling on "concerned". "That's just the thing. I didn't see a magic elemental. I didn't even see Twilight. Once the probe got close enough to the library, it was torn apart."
The blue mare was aghast. "What could do that?"
"High ambient magic. My probes are basically clumps of energy kept stable by being much more magical than their surroundings. In a strong enough magic field, they basically dissolve." She noted the terror this brought to her audience. "O-of course, that only happens to something made of pure energy! We'd be fine."
Trixie relaxed. A little. "Ah. Well. So, I suppose my archrival and her new pet will have to remain a mystery for the time being."
Tactfully, the blonde chose to correct only one of the misapprehensions in that sentence. "Actually, that kind of intensity means that the magic elemental hasn't formed itself yet."
This prompted a look of delight from the unicorn. "Even better! We can stop her before she even gets started!"
"We still have five others to worry about." Ditzy paused for a moment to check the probes. "I've found two of them. Do you see the pink building that kind of looks like a wedding cake?"
Trixie scanned the horizon for a moment, then grimaced. "Much as I wish I couldn't. Yecch."
"A rather docile-seeming entity is in there. See if you can subdue it."
Ever the performer, the silver-maned mare held her head up high. "Not to worry. I shall make it rue the day it met the Great and Pow—"
"Good. If I end up needing help, I should be easy to find." With that, Ditzy took to the air.
Trixie watched her fly off, then carefully swept the immediate area for any witnesses. Satisfied, she allowed herself a pout and whispered "Meanie" before heading off to her objective.
Scootaloo was not having an awesome morning. The toaster had reduced her breakfast to charcoal, Dad had mentioned having to go shopping for school supplies, and Mom had said something about signing her up for, ugh, ballet classes. The orange-coated filly didn't care how much strength and agility dancing needed, the tutus were a dealbreaker. But that just led to her mother getting weepy-eyed about her tomcolt of a daughter and moaning about something involving cats and parades and carpets. It all went over the foal's head, but Dad seemed to find it hilarious.
Hopefully, things would improve now that Scootaloo was away from the drama queen. All she had to do was get the other Crusaders for some end-of-summer cutie mark attempts, assuming she didn't first run into—
"Get away from me, you little—!"
"Rainbow Dash!" The filly gazed up in adoration, seeing her hero performing incredible feats of aerial agility. It was like Dash was performing just for her!
It took a moment for the other presence to register, given Scootaloo's fangasmic tunnel vision. It seemed to be following the Best Young Flier turn for turn, loop for loop. Indeed, rather than reveling in her own athletic prowess, Dash seemed to be performing acrobatics as evasive maneuvers. But that didn't make any sense. Why would the living embodiment of awesome be running from a cloud? Indeed, what kind of cloud could even move on its own, much less keep up with the Rainbow Dash? Not even the Everfree Forest could—
Scootaloo's brain cut off this train of thought to devote all of its cognitive power to basking in the glory of a Buccaneer Blaze. Once the organ rebooted, it alerted its owner that her idol was coming to a landing right in front of her. The fanfilly immediately took hold of the opportunity. "Hi, Rainbow Dash!"
The cyan pegasus, exhausted from her attempts to shake the living thundercloud, offered a weary smile. "Hey," she managed between pants.
The winged Crusader took a deep breath, ready to bombard Dash with admiration. However, before she could begin, her expression shifted to one of fright and confusion. "What is that thing?"
Dash bit back a groan and looked behind her. Sure enough, there was the freaky rainbow cloud. She fought the increasingly appealing temptation to collapse. All that effort and nothing to show for it. "I don't know," she grumbled, "but it won't leave me alone."
Scootaloo looked at the strange being with new eyes. Followed somepony everywhere. Copied that pony's appearance. That pony didn't know who, how, or why. The foal's eyes narrowed. "Oh, hay no."
"Watch that mouth, Scoots," chastised the other pegasus. "You never know when a parent might be in earshot." Dash smirked internally. Who said she was a bad influence?
Still, her hard-won life lesson went unheeded. "Dash," said the filly, "I think I can help you with your problem."
The rainbow-maned mare raised an eyebrow. "I appreciate the offer, but I don't think you're gonna get a cutie mark for dealing with annoying weather."
Once again, Scootaloo wasn't listening. Instead, she was staring into the twin gouts of rainbow flame that served as the elemental's eyes. The loyalty elemental, an inchoate mass of emotional and magical energy loosely bound to a nebulous form, had nothing as sophisticated as a language. What Scootaloo was attempting, though, went beyond language. More accurately, it went beneath language, into a peculiar stretch of the misty depths of the unconscious.
It was known to a select few, and dismissed by many as a myth, or at best a collective hallucination. The few scholars who knew the truth called it the fanmind, an empathic connection born of enthusiasm and desire for a common subject. The fanmind was what turned a horde of screaming adolescents into a pack of ruthless predators bent on overwhelming their common prey. Now, it was serving as the means of communication between Rainbow Dash's two most obsessed devotees.
Scootaloo brought herself into a classic charging pose: Head down, legs tensed, wings flared. She is mine.
The elemental spread its arms wide, their constituent clouds bulging. Arcs of multicolored lightning danced around it, leaving a familiar afterimage in the filly's vision. I am hers.
The pony considered this for a moment. She assumed a proud and erect posture, appearing to imitate a royal guard. One eyebrow slowly rose. We could...
Twin fireballs burst from the apparition's eye sockets. Agreed.
"Um..." Ironically, Dash felt sorely out of her element. She could tell that something was going on. Indeed, some hint of understanding itched at the base of her brain. Still, she had no real grasp on what was happening.
When the thing that had been following her all morning kowtowed before Scootaloo of all ponies, it only served as a confirmation. Ditto said filly jumping onto its shoulders, her mane poofing into a purple parody of Pinkie Pie's in the process.
Everything became clear after the cloud straightened up. Mostly because it's hard to misinterpret somepony pointing at you and shouting "Get her!"
Spike greeted the day with a tremendous jaw-cracking yawn. Then he paused for a moment, because there had been far more crack to the yawn than he had anticipated. Furthermore, hadn't he been molting? He certainly hadn't been able to open his mouth last time, trapped as it had been under the dead scales.
He also hadn't been able to open his eyes, but he did now. A quick self-assessment showed a marked difference from the last molt. That had been similar to a shedding snake, the hatchling trapped within the pale shell of his old scales until he squirmed out through the mouth. Now it looked more like he'd try to put on clothes he'd long outgrown, the old layer torn apart at joints and shifts in physiognomy.
Spike moved to the vanity to get a better view. Those shifts proved to be major indeed. His muzzle protruded a bit more, his tail was slightly but noticably longer, his proportions were more mature and less infantile. He'd definitely gained at least an inch or two in height, and though the crests along his cheeks and the top of his head hadn't grown in fully, they seemed sharper, less rotund. The young dragon gave his reflection a roguish grin. "Lookin' good there, Spike. Lookin' good."
Of course, being the mature fellow that he was, it goes without saying that Spike did not giggle in delight at this development. He also didn't jump up and down in glee, nor did he make various poses in the mirror. Nope. Didn't do any of that.
Once the maturing young cesium dragon was done with very definitely not indulging his vanity, he noticed something else in the mirror: A large lump in his boss/big sister/surrogate mother's bed. Spike felt a surge of both affection and dread. "I hope she took care of herself while I was out of commission," he whispered. "I should go talk to the other girls, make sure of it."
His mission decided, he strode purposefully out of the library. The hatchling then had to stop, since a ring of ponies had surrounded Books and Branches. At first, Spike tried to slip through the circle, but the ponies were shoulder-to-shoulder, and he wasn't quite as tiny as he still thought he was.
After insinuation came diplomacy. "Excuse me," he said to the nearest member of the barricade, a blue-coated unicorn stallion, "could I get through?" The unicorn gave no indication that he had heard anything. Indeed, save for the slight rise and fall of his chest and the occasional blink, he gave no indication that he was alive. He just stood in place, directing a glazed stare at the tree.
Still, Spike had been raised by Twilight Sparkle, and if nothing else, that upbringing had instilled in him two values: Persistence and faith in the problem solving power of experimentation. Thus, the dragon repeated this one-sided exchange with several more ponies before giving a frustrated sigh. "I've had better conversations with Owloysius."
"Who?"
"Oh, don't you start—" Spike cut himself off. Twilight's number-two assistant was on vacation. That meant somepony had actually reacted to him. A quick scan of the crowd revealed one pony who seemed a bit less catatonic than the rest. Even better, it was one he recognized from her frequent patronage of the library. "Lyra!"
The mint-green mare slowly tore her gaze from the building. "Spike. Hi." "Less catatonic" was clearly a relative term here. Her eyes were unfocused, and the dopey smile was certainly nothing like her deadly serious expression during her "private research".
Still, the dragon didn't need much. "Hey, do you think you could move for a sec? I've been asleep for a few days and I'd like to catch up with Rarity. And the others. ...And Rarity."
"Move?" Her blank expression made it clear that even the thought of leaving the spot was inconceivable.
Fortunately, while Twilight had raised Spike, he was in many ways her compliment. Nowhere was that more obvious than in socialization. He made it a point of remembering the library's more frequent customers, since it was fairly obvious that nopony else was going to. Thus, he knew one tactic guaranteed to work on Lyra. "Wouldn't you like to tell Bonbon about how great this place is?"
"Bonbon?" The unicorn blinked, then gasped. "Bonbon! You're right! She'll love this! I gotta go get her!" She awkwardly backed up, pressed as she was against her neighbors. Presciently, Spike followed close in front of her. Once both had extruded themselves, the ring of ponies immediately moved closer to the tree until its constituents were again flank-to-flank.
The hatchling looked back as he resumed his walk to the Carousel Boutique, then gave a shrug. Ponies. Go figure.
Never did it occur to him to wonder why everypony entranced by the library was a unicorn.
Marion Mare had been mayor of Ponyville for nearly twenty years, running on a platform of experience, minimal government interference, and nopony else wanting the job. It was widely agreed that she had met the challenge of maintaining peace and order on the edge of the Everfree Forest as best as anypony could. Oh sure, there was the occasional minor disaster, and the less said about Winter Wrap-Up the better, but the day-to-day operation of the town went more smoothly than most had dared to hope. Really, if the worst thing that could be said of a town within walking distance of the infamous wood was an annual logistical snafu, then the pony in charge clearly knew what she was doing.
In few instances was this more clear than when she walked onto her front porch, beheld Pinkie Pie atop the lovechild of a hydra and a balloon animal, and simply turned around, walked back inside, and locked her door.
"Huh," mused Pinkie after this episode, "I wonder what that was about."
The laughter elemental cackled at this, but offered nothing constructive.
"Pinkie!"
The party pony perked up upon hearing her name, but the call had no obvious source. Worse, it had echoed to the point where there wasn't even an obvious direction in which to look. Fortunately, the recourse was obvious. "Helloooooooo~," she called, flawlessly enunciating the tilde.
"Over here!"
This time the cry was much clearer. Pinkie turned to her left and spotted a rapidly approaching pegasus. She grinned and waved, recognizing the voice. "Hi, Ditzy!"
The other mare didn't respond until she got close enough to answer at a more socially acceptable volume. "Pinkie, I—"
"So, didja have fun in Canterlot? It's a shame you couldn't be here, you'd have been so proud of how Twilight handled the mail! Though I guess if you were here, she wouldn't have needed to handle it, but still! She was all, 'Dash, I need your best fliers.' and Dashie was all 'No, I need my best fliers!' and Twilight said 'Princess Celestia is counting on me to deliver the mail!' and Dashie said 'The plants are all counting on me to deliver rain!' and Twi—" The poofy-maned pony was abruptly cut off by the sudden disappearance of her mouth. She inquisitively ran a hoof over her face. Yup, smooth, unbroken skin.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," began Ditzy, white glow fading from her eyes, "but I need you to listen for a second. This thing you're riding is weakening the foundations of reality simply by existing. You need to—"
The elemental's yellow head interjected with a painful looking headbutt, sending the pegasus rocketing towards the ground. She barely managed to pull up enough to turn it into a furrow-chewing slide along the thoroughfare.
Pinkie was clearly displeased by this, judging by her expression and the volume of the indistinct sounds coming from her sealed jaw. The jumping up and down on the entity's head was probably also a tip-off, at least until she bounced off of it like a trampoline. Surprised by the bigger bounce, she couldn't react before landing on the couch-like upper jaw of the blue head. The earth pony sat up just in time to see the crimson balloon she'd dubbed "trollface" give the harshest, cruelest laugh she'd ever heard, directly and quite obviously at her.
That tore it. This thing had hurt her friend, clearly didn't care about anypony's feelings, and hadn't even applauded after her musical number! Such thoughtless cruelty would not be tolerated.
Glowering, Pinkie performed a breathtaking series of bounces off of the three inflated heads, coming to a stop at Ditzy's side. She felt an odd itching sensation as her lips reseperated. "You okay, Ditzy?"
"'M fine," came the rather dazed response. "M' face took mosta th' impact."
"Good. Now, what is it that I have to do to this thing?"
"Gotta d'stroy it. Sorry, no other—"
It was a good thing that Ditzy's head was still somewhat wedged in the earth. The grin that grew on Pinkie's face was not something that should be seen by the sane. "Don't worry. I got this."
The pegasus pulled herself up into a sitting position and turned to ask how. She got out a "Huh?" before everything exploded.
To mana sight, the world suddenly became a photonegative. The laughter elemental's bulbous faces were reshaped into three different flavors of horror and suffering, inexplicably wreathed in acid-green flames. The road had been transmuted into a cracked, glowing sheet of igneous rock, seething and steaming with volcanic potential.
Worst was Pinkie Pie. Her colors hadn't been inverted, simply deepened, going from cotton candy to blood. Her mane hung limp and matted with the vital fluid. From her eyes and mouth oozed a black ichor. Her tongue lolled out of her mouth, a vivid slab of raw scarlet meat against its tarlike backdrop. All the while, a single word echoed through Ditzy's mind. "ZALGO."
A second later, the town had returned to normal, save for two exceptions. First, the laughter elemental was clearly dead, its heads popped and its body dissolving into flakes of ash. Second, there was a pony hovering above Pinkie, apparently through the use of a propellor beanie.
"Who are you?" Ditzy asked of the newcomer.
"Exigencies coordinate simultaneous cheese cannons! Details at pi."
Understandably, this didn't answer her question. The pegasus turned to Pinkie for something more coherent (and what a sorry state of affairs that implied...) "What just happened?"
"Noodles squamously frondled—"
"Not you."
The earth pony smiled. "Oh, it's real simple. See, when Avatar of Discord enters the battlefield, I have to sack it unless I discard two cards. I went with Anger to give her haste and Fiery Temper so I could cast it via madness. So now, the Laughter Elemental's dead and we've got a five-three flier to take on the others!"
Ditzy took a moment to parse this as best she could. Then another. By the third, she decided to just latch onto one of the few things she'd understood. "From what I've heard, an avatar of discord is a shadow cast by the demon Rakdos the Defiler."
"Psh. Well yeah, on Ravnica." Pinkie replied, tonally insinuating that this was only slightly less obvious than water being wet. "Here, they end up looking like her." She grinned as she looked up at the peculiar purple pony. "I call her Screwball."
Screwball gave the pegasus a midair bow. "Would you like a chocolate milk of glass?"
This was all just too much for Ditzy. "Who are you!?"
Pinkie's expression turned solemn. "On Ravnica, I am the nameless patron totem of Rauck-Chauv, the Gruul festival of spontaneous vandalism. On Segovia, I am Apocalypse-Given-Flesh, accidental flattener of civilizations. On Kamigawa, I am Piki-Piki, kami of akki poetry and octopus hats. Oona, queen-mother of the faeries of Lorwyn, remembers me as the pony who tried to eat her. Nicol Bolas, elder dragon planeswalker, acknowledges me as the one being who has withstood his touch with sanity unchanged. Emrakul, The Aeons Torn, She of the Six Thousand Tentacles of Annihilation, considers me her therapist." A smile returned to her face, but this was not a sugar-fueled manic grin. It was the confident smirk of a being who had been almost everywhere and had tried virtually everything. Twice, in some cases. She concluded, "I am Pinkie Pie. I am a planeswalker. And I am on your side."
As is usually the best course of action with Pinkie, Ditzy decided to shelve her questions and just go with it. "You know, I think we can actually do this."
"Yeeee-haw!"
Both ponies turned to behold a behemoth, legs the shape and size of century oaks, head an apple the size of a house. A tiny smudge of orange was just visible atop its crown.
"Maybe," amended the pegasus.
Pinkie, the Festive 3BR
Planeswalker — Pinkie
+1 - Pinkie, the Festive deals 1 damage to target player. You gain 1 life.
-3 - Untap and gain control of target creature. That creature gains haste and "At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice this creature."
-6 - Each player reveals the top card of his or her library, puts that card into his or her hand, and loses life equal to that card's converted mana cost. You may repeat this process as many times as you choose.
4
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FanOfMostEverything
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1048
| 9 |
Derpy Hooves,Dinky Hooves,Main 6,Original Character,Other,Crossover,Adventure,Magic: The Gathering,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Elementals of Harmony
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(FiMtG) The only thing standing between Equestria and apocalypse is Ditzy Doo. Yes, really. Stop laughing!
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complete
| 430 | 14 |
<p>Something is gathering around the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Something dangerous. Something magical. There's only one pony with the knowledge, the skills, and the muffins needed to save Equestria as we know it.<br/>A Friendship is Magic: the Gathering crossover, taking place between seasons 1 and 2. Here there be flashbacks, briefly seen OC's, and possibly every emotion known to man or tiny horse. Abandon all pretenses of not being a nerd, ye who enter here.</p>
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everyone
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2011-12-04T01:27:59+00:00
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2016-06-23T01:07:36+00:00
| 6,939 |
Over the course of the morning, there had been shouts, booming laughter, thunderous footfalls, thunderous thunder, and the blood-chilling battlecry of a supercharged fanfilly. While Ponyville emitted odd sounds at semi-regular intervals, very few of them had this level of persistence, and none of them had this specific blend of noises. As such, it should come as no surprise that an increasing number of ponies were being awakened by this unprecedented manner of cacophony, nor that many of them were milling about outside trying to figure out what in Celestia's name was causing all of it.
Obviously, the more ponies that did this and the longer they spent doing so, the greater the odds that somepony was going to get hurt. Luna, being a mare of reason and intellect, had deduced this long before it had become an issue. As such, she surveyed the village from the roof of the town hall until the number of bystanders had reached a satisfactory level.
Once that was the case, the night princess took flight above the centrally located administrative building, then cast a brief magical shadow over the area to bring everypony's attention to the sky. Just in case some residents hadn't gotten the hint, she cleared her throat while using the Official Royal Canterlot Voice. Satisfied that every eye was on her, she began a proclamation in the same. "ATTENTION, CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE! THIS IS THINE PRINCESS, LUNA DIANA HECATE REGINA NOX ALICOR! REST ASSURED THAT THE STRANGE AND PECULIAR ENTITIES WITHIN THINE VILLAGE ARE BEING BROUGHT TO HEEL BY THINE OWN DITZY DOO! FEAR NOT, GOOD PONIES, FOR SHE HAS EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL! REMAIN WITHIN THINE HOMES AND ALL SHALL BE WELL SHORTLY! THAT IS ALL!"
As is often the case with the Royal Canterlot Voice nowadays, the listeners retained more about the volume of the message than its contents. However, one datum did manage to stick.
"Our lives depend on Derpy Hooves?"
"We're doomed!"
"Scream and run in circles! It's our only chance!"
Ditzy managed a double facehoof. She swore to never buy flowers again.
Luna, meanwhile, contemplated an experiment: When exposed to repeated blunt trauma, what would break first: her skull or the roof of the building?
Zannoria Karatine Golden-Harvest the Fifth, or Carrot Top, as she preferred to be called, was many things. Cordial business rival of Sweet Apple Acres. Long-suffering refrigerator refiller. Potential heiress to a multimillion bit corporate empire. And, in all matters involving Ditzy Doo, generous provider of benefit of the doubt. Thus, after Luna's decree, Carrot Top did not panic at the news that her fate apparently rested in her friend's hooves. Instead, she decided to track down said friend and get the details straight from the pony's mouth.
"Um, excuse me? Carrot Top?"
...Eventually. "Good morning, Fluttershhhhh..." The earth pony trailed off as she gawked at the soft spoken pegasus's steed.
"Oh dear, I'm terribly sorry. I didn't mean to startle you, and I'm sure Eric didn't mean to either." The massive larva, evidently named Eric, nodded enthusiastically.
The orange-maned mare collected herself. "It's okay. Just took me by surprise." She moved the subject to one less hostile to her sanity. "I was actually hoping I'd see you, Fluttershy."
"Bunny problems again?"
"Not lately. Have you seen Ditzy Doo at all today?"
The pink-maned pony shook her head. "Sorry. We only just got into town. I'll be sure to tell her you're looking for her if I see her."
Carrot Top smiled gratefully. "Thanks. I'll look on my own, too. I want to get to the bottom of this 'strange and peculiar ...entity' ...business." Once again, she stared at the giant worm.
The kindness elemental stared back. A beat later, it licked her face and made a delighted sound.
"Aww, he likes you!"
The earth pony could feel the massive cowlick (wormlick?) marring her manestyle. Patience honed from years of friendship with Ditzy Doo came to the fore. "I'm so glad."
Fluttershy gave a nervous grin. "I suppose we should be going. Good luck with finding Ditzy!"
Carrot Top gave a mild grin. "Thanks, but I've got a date with a brush first. Have a nice day, Fluttershy! And, um, Eric."
Trixie peeked through a shrub opposite the Carousel Boutique. Her eyes narrowed as she considered her target. After the fiasco that was her last visit to Ponyville, whoever ran this place would would undoubtedly exercise the right to refuse service. At least, if it was Trixie at the door. That was where one of the unicorn's newest spells came in.
Trixie closed her eyes and lit her horn as she began to invoke the magic. Mystic vapor billowed about her, condensing into an illusion. She'd be disguised as one pony selected at random from the population of the entire town. Surely local businesses would think nothing was amiss.
So went the theory, at least. When the smoke cleared and the showmare examined her new mint green coat, a darkly whispered "You" made itself known.
Swallowing nervously, Trixie pulled her muzzle out of the bush. Turning to face the speaker, the disguised unicorn beheld the unicorn who was her disguise. "Well," said Trixie, "this is awkward."
Lyra snarled and reared up, entering a pose that implied both imminent pain and uncanny balance. "I don't want any trouble," she growled in a tone that expressed just the opposite.
"What a coincidence," answered the nervous showmare, "neither do I." She could feel the edge of panic in her voice, the shot of adrenaline turning her attempt at a smile into a barring of teeth.
The poised anthropophile gave a derisive snort. "Tell it to Queen Doppelpopolous."
Before she could even ask "Who?", Trixie dived to one side to dodge a hoof that would've likely caved in her skull. Idly, she noticed a golden glow about the appendage, with a matching luminance playing over the other pony's horn. On a more relevant note, she found that she'd dived closer to the Boutique's door. She scrambled towards it, only to be...
She really didn't have a good sense of what was going on. For a moment, she thought the other mare was lifting her telekinetically, but there was no visible aura, and the force was concentrated at two points along her spine.
Lyra, meanwhile, had a firm grasp on the situation in a number of senses. She'd successfully cast the "hooves to hands" spell, she was holding and lifting something with said hands, and her worries about dopplegangers had been validated. "You wanna knock?" she quipped, "Let's knock!" With that, she used her duplicate's face as a battering ram. She got in two good swings before the door opened, sending both sprawling inside.
"Yes, yes, yes, what is it?" demanded Rarity. "The door was unlocked, you ruffian, and... Lyra? Is that you?" The fashionista looked from unicorn to the other. "Or is that you?"
The handed mare sprang to her feet, effortlessly bipedal. She pointed an accusing finger at her double. "I told you! I told you all! They walk among us, stealing our forms!"
"Yes, I suppose that is you, dear." The designer knelt next to the improvised siege weapon. "Are you alright? It seems that those fingers have gone to her head."
"Th' Great an' Powerful Audience'd like t' thank ya all. Y've been a wonnerful Trixie."
Rarity blinked in surprise, then focused her magic for a moment. The illusion sublimated, leaving a puff of smoke and a dazed blue mare. "Trixie! Why, I never thought she'd show her face in Ponyville again!" She considered this for a moment. "Hmm. Then again, I suppose she hadn't up to now."
Something about this filtered through the manual euphoria flooding Lyra's brain. "Since when could you do that?"
"What, dispel illusions?"
"Yeah!"
Rarity demurred. "Oh, it's just a little trick I picked up today. In fact, so did you."
Before Lyra could ask the obvious question, the crystal made contact with her horn.
As with any foal, Dinky's obedience of a given parental order was largely unpredictable. However, this was a special case. After all, this was her part in saving Ponyville from monsters that made even the Princesses worried! The filly certainly didn't want the destruction of her hometown on her conscience.
Unfortunately, her horn seemed to have not gotten the memo. While the young unicorn was still a few minutes' trot from Carrot Top's home, she felt what she could describe only as a full-body belch, followed by a persistent tingle in the troublesome appendage. The tingle quickly intensified to a strong tug in a direction almost totally opposite to her adopted aunt's house on the edge of town.
For a time, Dinky pressed on, struggling against the mysterious force, the streets of Ponyville like unto a perilous mountain slope. Eventually, the tug grew stronger than her little legs could resist, and the filly found herself getting dragged headfirst towards the heart of Ponyville. She made sure to remember which ponies were already out, about, and staring at her. After all, her mom would never believe this if she couldn't provide witnesses.
The two planeswalker ponies sped towards the gargantuapple. "Do we have a plan for that thing?" asked Ditzy.
"I've never really been one for plans," Pinkie replied lightly. "It's always more fun to just see what happens!"
"Even if what happens is us getting stepped on?"
The earth pony considered this for a moment. "Oh yeah. That'd be bad."
The pegasus gave a sigh. "What's your story, Pinkie? How'd you even find the time to do everything you said you did?"
"I never told you?"
This prompted an asynchronous eye roll. "Pinkie, you've never told anypony in town that you're a planeswalker."
"Not like I was hiding it!"
Ditzy conceded the point. "So, your origin?"
"Oh, right. Well, it started a few weeks after I got my cutie mark..."
Pinkamena's special talent was unconventional for the daughter of rock farmers, nopony could doubt that. Still, reasoned Clyde Pie, a little mirth and levity now and again never hurt anypony. Once some guidelines on a reasonable number of parties were established (along with plenty of reassurance that yes, he loved her parties, it was just that there was work to do,) Pinkamena's festivities quickly became the family's favorite thing about Saddleday.
A few weeks after the first party, Blinkastasia gave some disturbing news: sinkholes were appearing on the furthest edges of the north field with no apparent cause. "Diamond dogs, do you think?" Sue asked that night.
The Pie patriarch pondered his wife's proposition, then shook his head. "I looked for myself after Blinkastasia told us about the holes. They were still there."
Sue nodded, the conclusion obvious. "Dogs would've filled them in by then." Her expression turned grim. "Only one thing that'd be doing it then."
The bearded pony's only response was a nod.
"I suppose you'll take Pinkamena along with you? Show her what to do?"
He nodded again. "'Party pony' or no, she's growing up, and she'll going to have to learn how to properly tend the crop."
"Papa, what's a xorn?" Pinkie was so excited! A super special lesson, just Papa and her, 'cause she was a big pony and was gonna learn big pony responsimabilities!
"For most ponies, 'tisn't more than a curiosity. For us, it is a pest of the worst sort."
"Why?"
"It eats rocks."
The horrified gasp told Clyde that his daughter understood the threat this posed. "But... but those are our rocks!"
"That they are. Which is why today, I'll teach you what to do when a xorn starts nibbling on the crop."
Pinkie considered the other passengers in the Papa-pulled wagon: A small bag of gravel, an old plowblade, and a number six pickaxe. "It's not gonna be nice," she said quietly, "is it?"
"What we'll be doing? Neigh, it won't. But neither will the xorn. Feel not pity for the beast, Pinkamena. Like a great headless toad it is, naught like your sister's rabbits.
The filly gave a smaller, scandalized gasp. "You know about Inkie's bunnies?"
Clyde's face found itself smiling ahead of schedule. "Tis nary a foal that does not hide some secret from her parents, darling daughter, and nary one such secret the parents do not eventually discover." He came to a stop, expression again serious. "We've arrived. Look well upon the signs of the xorn."
"Okie dokie." As the filly hopped out of the wagon, her father had to hold back another early grin. So much of his mother in her. Her sisters were Sue's through and through, but PInkamena was in so many ways a little surprise.
Clyde ceased his woolgathering once he registered his child's actions. "Not too close now! The ground is weak where it has been chewed through."
"Oh!" Pinkie backed away from the anthill-like mounds, little hillocks topped with oddly neat cylindrical craters. She turned to her father. "Now what?"
"Now we must lure the beast out. A bit of gravel on the lip of the hole will do that." He'd begun to unhitch himself to fetch the bag when a slight sound hit his practiced ears. "Pinkie! To me!"
The filly made all haste. Papa only shortened her name when she was in danger. Unfortunately, this very rush was her undoing. Not five feet in front of her father, Pinkie stepped through a thin crust of dirt, tumbling into the chasm it hid. Clyde's anguished cry of "Pinkie!" echoed after her as she fell.
After a surprisingly long time spent falling, the filly concluded that a xorn was probably not responsible for the sinkhole. What was, she didn't know, but it had made a tunnel crackling with something like lightning, dropping from striking red to soothing blue for what seemed to be forever and a mile. Eventually, she hit the ground.
Pinkie's eyes had been shut, anticipating the pain of impact, but it never came. Eventually, she stood and opened her eyes curious to see if she could even see so deep underground. To her surprise, she could. To her even greater surprise, she was in a library.
There weren't a great deal of books on the rock farm. Almanacs, scripture, and geology textbooks, mostly. Here, there were shelves as far as the eye could see, bindings of every color of the rainbow, and no discernible holes in the ceiling. Actually, there was no discernible ceiling in which holes might form. Just bookshelves and scroll racks stretching up to infinity.
Confused, alone, and increasingly worried, Pinkie did the first thing that came to mind. "Hello?"
A boisterous male voice answered her. "Hmm? My word, is it that time already?" The filly looked around, but the sound seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. "Ah, so it is, so it is. Best greet my guest." With that, the speaker appeared before her as if by magic (which was exactly how he did it.)
Pinkie gawked at the being before her. She'd never heard of humans, so she didn't know what to call him. She'd never heard of pygmy marmosets, so she described his hair and beard as simply "poofy." She had, however, heard of manners. "Hello," she squeaked.
The strange figure knelt down and adjusted his monocle to get a better look at the young pony. "Well, well," he bubbled, "how delightful. How simply delightful." He gave a smile and ruffled her mane, eliciting a giggle. "Hello, my little pony. My name is Commodore Guff."
"I'm Pinkie Pie!" answered Pinkie Pie, her energy returning as she determined that this stranger was nice. "You've got a lot of books!"
Guff sat on the floor and puffed up with no small amount of pride. "Thank you."
"How'd you get them all under the farm?"
This prompted a bit of confusion-induced deflation. "I'm sorry?"
Pinkie gave another giggle. "Why? You didn't do anything."
She's a child, Guff thought to himself. I need to be direct. "Why do you think we're under your farm?"
"Well, I was in the north field, then I fell and fell for a really, really long time, and then I was here."
"Ah." Oh dear, ruminated the bearded fellow, how do I explain this to one so young? "Sadly, we are not under your farm, Pinkie."
"Don't be silly, silly! If we aren't under the farm, then where are we?"
May as well bite the bullet, Guff old boy. "You have travelled thousands of years into the past, my little pony, and even further in space. Equestria hasn't even been made yet."
Ditzy narrowly avoided flying into the side of a house. "What!?"
"Yeah, it took me a while to come to terms with it. A regular doozy among doozies."
"But... but..." The pegasus bit back an incoherent scream. "This just raises further questions!"
Pinkie shrugged. "Hey, we gotta keep the readers interested somehow."
Carrot Top looked over her reflection critically, then nodded in satisfaction. It had taken another shower and considerable brush work, but her orange curls were back in position. She was now a bit behind schedule, but she could easily make up for the lost time, especially if Twilight Sparkle wasn't ready to get back to her on the feasibility of a retina scanner lock for the refrigerator door.
The tuber specialist was headed for the front door precisely when a knock came from it. For the second time that day, she opened it and was struck dumb by astonishment. "Ah... You... How... When..."
To his credit, Angel Bunny waited until she could get out a coherent string of phonemes. Once the earth pony had managed to name her new guest, he gave a wave. He couldn't do much more. The language of Lagomathematic consists mostly of coded thought impulses and the occasional emphatic gesture and is not pony-brain-compatible.
Carrot Top, however, had almost as much experience with the hare as Fluttershy. After all, when one tended a carrot crop, altercations with rabbits were inevitable. However, when faced with a specimen of Angel's intellect, pest control became a battle of wits on par with that of Aristrotle and Mashy Spike-Plate, infamous philosopher-khan of the Mongoat hordes. As such, Carrot could guess why her nemesis had come to her front door. "Fluttershy came by less a bit than an hour ago, heading further into town. You know about the giant worm... thing?"
Angel nodded.
"Well, she's riding it." After a moment of internal debate, the farmer said, "Good luck."
The rabbit smirked and snapped off a salute, then set off in pursuit of his quarry.
As the earth pony watched the rodent vanish into the distance, her brain actually processed what had just happened. She decided to add a stop by Berry Punch's place to today's errands.
Years in the past
In a world in perfect balance between flesh and spirit, there is a river. At the source of that river is a shallow cave. Inside the cave is a place of the utmost peace and tranquility. The susurration of a distant waterfall mixes with the lesser rivulets that stream from floor to ceiling to drown out pointless thoughts. Paper lanterns hung by previous visitors sway in a gentle, continuous breeze that soothes the body and stimulates the mind. Carved into one wall of the cave is a large, somewhat abstract bas-relief. The depicted figure clearly has three arms and a nice hat, but beyond that what is real and what is symbolic is difficult to say.
The serenity of the cave and the use of present tense were both interrupted by a sudden violent burst of light and sound, buffeting the lanterns and briefly soaking the walls. As the display petered out, the formerly unattended shrine now had two beings before it, a man and his pony. Or possibly vice versa.
"Good, we've arrived on target," observed Tezzeret. "You're a fairly quick study."
"Yeah..." Ditzy was occupied by her own thoughts. According to the human, the bubbles on her flank had been there when he'd brought her to Ravnica.That meant that her cutie mark had appeared either just before or during her first planeswalk. The second one supported this supposition. The Blind Eternities, for all of their chaotic roiling of time, space, energy, and possibility, made sense to her in ways that the sky didn't. Navigating through twelve dimensions (on average) had proven as instinctual as flying through three was supposed to be. Sure, it was a thin, threadbare silver lining on a gigantic black cloud, but at least it was something.
A tap on the head brought the pegasus back to reality. "Sorry. Were you saying something?"
Tezzeret took a moment before shaking his head. "Nothing important."
Ditzy finally registered their surroundings. "Wow! What is this place?"
"The plane is called Kamigawa. More specifically, we stand before—"
He was interrupted by the ambient breeze suddenly intensifying into a gale. Ditzy, remembering her flight school training, folded herself into a seated position, keeping as little surface area exposed as possible. Tezzeret simply put his flesh arm in front of his face and muttered, "Drama queen."
The winds impossibly shifted direction, becoming an ever-tightening vortex centered on the description-defying sculpture. With an explosive burst of air that sent the lanterns bouncing off the cave ceiling, the wall was rendered blank.
In front of that now smooth expanse of stone, however, hovered the very being it represented. It was very approximately humanoid, its face largely hidden beneath a wide straw hat. A jagged slit in the headwear allowed a single piercing eye to peer through. Three arms were evenly arranged around the base of its neck, each holding a katana. The rest of its form was draped in garments that weren't robes so much as they were bolts of fabrics waving in a continuous unfelt breeze as they receded into infinity. That there was a small, decidedly finite space behind the being did not seem to matter.
In a fluttering, howling voice like a library caught in a hurricane, it spoke. You stand before the honden of the Myojin of Seeing Winds.
Tezzeret, having seen all of this before, was less than impressed. He nudged the still huddled pony with a boot. "You can get up, Ditzy."
Hesitantly, she did so. As she opened her eyes, she gave a brief shout before screwing them shut again.
Both of the shrine's other occupants looked at her quizzically. "What's wrong?" asked the artificer.
"It's too bright..." The pegasus had her forehooves draped over her eyes. She didn't know what she was looking at, but her vision saw it as a blue sun. One that was about five feet away from her face.
A horse that speaks? The bombast of the Myojin's earlier monologue was replaced by curiosity. It sheathed its blades and drifted closer to Ditzy, prompting further whimpering.
"Indeed." For his part, Tezzeret at least looked concerned about the effect the godlike being was having on the pony. Or maybe it was just gas. It's hard to tell with him. "I believe I've fulfilled my part of our agreement, wouldn't you?"
Quite, the spirit said absently. As promised, knowledge for knowledge. One of the fluttering lengths of cloth rolled itself into a cylinder, becoming a scroll case in the process. The Myojin tossed it to the human. Written there are the acts performed by the Most Venerable and Insightful Crucius in Kamigawa.
Tezzeret essayed a deep, if brief bow. "You have my thanks, ancient one."
The kami gave a vague nod as it considered the shuddering pegasus before it. It mused aloud in a voice of ocean surf and scratching quills. She perceives Our glory in a way that few mortals ever have.
"I'm sure it's quite flattering."
Intriguing, certainly. But one's being unable to withstand the presence of another does not readily lead to a fruitful exchange of ideas. We shall rectify this situation. The embodiment of an entire plane's blue mana laid his hand on the pony's brow.
Ditzy looked around, but there wasn't anything to see. It was like being inside a cloud. Nothing but colorless opacity as far as the eye could see. Strangely, though, she could still see herself, which hadn't been the case in her numerous other experiences with being stuck in a cloud. "What's going on?"
"We stand within a thought."
The pegasus turned and beheld a king.
There have been many guesses as to why Celestia has never taken the title of Queen. Humility. Image. Respect for her mother, wherever She may be. The alicorn standing before Ditzy clearly had no such qualms. A proud stallion, he stood at least two and half times as tall as the adolescent pony. His wings and horn were impeccable. His coat was a deep lustrous blue, bordering on indigo. His mane seemed to treat gravity as a quaint suggestion, billowing behind him like a cloud, shimmering in shades from the near white of a desert sky to the almost-black of the ocean's depths. Its colors swirled lazily, like a personal cyclone. But the most striking aspect of the strange stallion was his near total lack of adornment. His sole accessory was, of all things, a straw hat of a style Ditzy had never seen before.
The pegasus boggled vacantly at this stranger for some time before coming to her senses and prostrating herself.
This prompted a bit of soft laughter from the diety. "Rise, rise, dear child. I receive enough worship for my tastes. You need not add yours."
Ditzy hesitantly went to her hooves. "S-sorry, Your Highness. I've just n-never met royalty before."
The alleged royal blinked, nonplussed. "Royalty?" He pondered this for a moment. "A monarch of sorts, I suppose, though 'pentarch' would be a more accurate term. In any case, though I may be near to them, I am by no means among the highest of the high."
"Then why... how...?"
"Ah! I see." He shook his head. "As I said, young one, we are within a thought, a dream. What you see is what your mind chooses to make from the reality. You see me as a king because a king is the closest your mind can come to what I am."
Ditzy scratched at the not-ground with a hoof, digesting this tidbit. "Then how do I look to you?"
The alicorn raised his eyebrows. "I do not believe I have ever been asked that question. I am not certain if any kami has been asked that by any mortal." He smiled. "Do you know what you have done, child?"
The pegasus thought for a moment. That seemed to be a genuine, happy smile. "...Something good?"
"Oh yes. Yes, indeed." It may have just been her brain struggling to make sense of impossible input, but to Ditzy, the alicorn began to trot animatedly around her. "You see, there is one thing that I value above all else. Above worship, above virtue, above even foiling the plots of certain honored siblings of mine." He stopped in his procession and looked to her. "Do you know what that is?"
"...Your hat?"
The blue god paused for a moment at this, but his conversational momentum spurred him back into action. "Close, but not quite. No, what I value above all other things is the new. That which I have not already experienced, which I do not already know." His gaze suddenly became arresting in its intensity. "Sea and sky are my eyes. Wind and wave are my ears. There is not a single thing done in air or water in this world that I do not witness." He blinked. Ditzy realized that she had been holding her breath. "So, you can imagine how excited I am when something novel presents itself to me."
"Um, yeah." When did her heart start beating at jackhammer frequencies?
"I do not encounter the new without gratitude. You may ask of me a boon, as your comrade did."
"Tezzeret?" The other horseshoe finally dropped. "You're that blue thing?"
The alicorn made a great show of spreading his blue wings and moving his blue head from side to side, taking in his blue flanks. "Why yes. I suppose I am."
Ditzy felt a blush rising and bit her lips, unknowingly causing a scrunchy face.
The Ponyojin of Seeing Winds smiled to himself. "I believe I know what boon will be of greatest help to you."
The pegasus shook herself out of the oncoming fugue. "What?"
Energy danced along the kami's horn, glowed in his eyes, danced in his mane. From his chest emerged a disturbingly human hand, making an arcane gesture. Insight.
Tezzeret sighed. The problem with dealing with the spirits of Kamigawa was, to put it in a familiar context, that they had no middle gears. A kami of rage was always angry, all the time. A kami of deception couldn't be trusted, not even to be untrustworthy, as it might mix in the truth now and then just to keep you on your toes.
And, when working with the ultimate embodiment of knowledge on the plane, one had to expect truly, literally, terribly ultimate knowledge. Every minute detail, catalogued and cross-referenced, with absolutely nothing left out. That meant that after going through several yards of scroll, Tezzeret had covered a stretch of time encompassing all of seven seconds.
Analysis of the scroll case indicated that it bore some manner of space-distorting enchantment that made it significantly larger on the inside, so the manuscript very well might literally go on for miles. But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was obvious to someone familiar with the mind of Crucius the Mad, inventor of etherium, sphinx of questionable sanity, and planeswalker of unknown position in space and time.
Like any sphinx, Crucius loved riddles. However, his riddles were often designed on a planar scale. Or larger. If his actions on Kamigawa did hold some clue to his current whereabouts, they would no doubt require a careful reading of the entire transcript to understand. Literally nothing could be dismissed as inconsequential.
"No one said it'd be easy," noted Doc Jest.
"I don't want it to be easy," answered Tezzeret. "If it were easy then it wouldn't be worth doing. I just want one or two steps to not entail insane leaps of logic and a complete redefinition of who I am as a person."
"Oh, that. I hear you there, buddy. And I just have to put up with the noise from next door. I can't imagine what that's like for you."
The artificer was about to inquire more deeply into this when a pulse of air burst from the still forms of Ditzy Doo and the Myojin of Seeing Winds. Both had been motionless since the spirit had touched the pony's forehead, a good ten minutes by the human's estimate. Now, both stirred, the pseudogod repositioning itself in front of its shrine, the pegasus trying to get her eyes to at least approach alignment.
Tezzeret began rewinding the scroll. In a sarcastically bright tone, he asked, "Well, how did everything go?"
"It was..." Ditzy groped for a word that could sufficiently encompass everything that had just happened. She settled on "enlightening." She bowed to the Myojin. "Thank you."
It has been Our sincerest pleasure to be of service to you, Desiderata Planeswalker.
The man with the metal arm chose now to ruin the mood. "Are we quite through here? I don't mean to be rude, it's just that I'm on a tight schedule with a strict enforcer."
Ah. Yes. A noticeable chill entered the spirit's voice. The one who expressed his wrath on Our Most Honored Sister. There was a sound like a man slicing a river in half, or possibly vice versa, as the Myojin drew his swords. We have conferred with Our other August Siblings on the matter. We Four have, in a momentous occasion, come to a consensus, not only amongst Ourselves, but with none other than the Most Gracious and Vigilant Sisters of Flesh and Spirit. When the presumptuous lump of rotting yak semen that refers to itself as Nicol Bolas next attempts to mar Our world with his noisome presence, he shall meet the full fury of a universe scorned.
Tezzeret, who in spite of himself had a decent instinct for the dramatic, waited a beat before replying, "Well, I suppose we'd best being getting on our way, then. Coming, Ditzy?"
The pegasus shook herself out of the astonishment caused by the kami's grim declaration. "Oh, um, sure. Where are we going?"
"Back to Ravnica. I'm calling in a favor."
Rarity critically examined the appendages coming out of her forelimbs. She just couldn't see what Lyra saw in the things. Yes, the gifts of Generosity could make the reasons behind the green unicorn's predilections clear as day, but frankly Rarity didn't want to know. As far as she was concerned, any practical benefits these... "hands" might provide were far outweighed by the aesthetic havoc they wreaked.
A single knock on the door, more of a "thud" really, brought the designer out of her contemplation. With a thought, she dismissed the graspers and rendered the crystal encasing her horn perfectly transparent. No sense in frightening off customers, after all. Having made herself presentable, she answered the summons. "Welcome to the Carousel Bou— Dinky Doo?"
Indeed, it was Ditzy's foal, looking rather peeved at something. "Hello, Miss Rarity."
"What brings you here, darling?" Rarity guessed it was some event calling for formal attire, judging by the filly's demeanor.
"This," answered Dinky, pointing to her horn.
A look of surprise flashed across the fashionista's face before a knowing smile settled there. "Dragged you all the way here, didn't it?"
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
Rarity held back a titter at the child's look of amazement. "Something similar happened to me around your age, though I wasn't brought to anywhere nearly as fabulous." She cleared the doorway. "Come in, come in, unicorn magic never happens without a reason. We'll find your special talent before you can say 'haute couture'!"
Dinky seemed unsure. "Mommy told me to go to Auntie Carrot and keep myself safe from the monsters."
"I assure you, Dinky, I will keep you safe as safe can be and bring you back to your mother sporting a brand-new, breathtaking cutie mark."
"Well, okay, I guess..." As the filly entered the shop, a thought came to her. "Hey, is Sweetie Belle home? Can she try fashiony stuff with me?"
Rarity betrayed no visible reaction to this question, a testament to both her self-control and the generosity elemental's stabilizing influence. "Dear, Sweetie has tried everything one can do here several times. She may insist otherwise, but her talents clearly lie elsewhere."
"Hey!" The pony in question indignantly stomped downstairs. "That's not what you told me!" Rarity facehoofed. Dinky stared. Sweetie Belle looked from one to the other, confused. "What?"
With tact typical for her age, the blonde filly broached a pressing subject. "Wh-what happened to your horn?"
"Huh?" Sweetie looked up. "Oh. Oops." In her rush to call out her sister, the curly-maned foal had forgotten to hide the blue crystal encasing her horn.
Her sister sighed and shook her head. "So much for my good deed of the day. Jean, I believe that this is your cue."
The sisters heard a reply of Of course. Dinky simply saw the largest gemstone she'd ever seen pop out of a walk-in closet, followed by four of the second largest gemstones she'd ever seen. A monster! And it had taken over Sweetie Belle and Miss Rarity! The filly's pupils contracted to pinpricks, her legs paralyzed by fear.
One of the smaller crystals drifted towards her. In all previous cases, once the elemental made contact with a unicorn's horn, the unicorn briefly lapsed into a calm passivity as her mind was integrated into the growing gestalt.
Dinky did not follow this trend.
Once the jewel slipped over the tip of her horn, Dinky began screaming. The octohedron stopped moving and began to glow from within with vivid multicolored light. The filly began whipping her head back and forth, trying to dislodge the source of a terrible, ever-intensifying pain.
The sisters stared in horror for a moment before Rarity demanded, "What are you doing to her!?"
The elemental did not generally experience emotions. Being a creature of crystallized magic, it lacked the requisite glands. As such, the edge of nervousness creeping into its otherwise calm reply might have just been Rarity projecting. There has been an anomaly.
"I can see that! How do we fix it?"
Sedate her.
The purple-maned pony sorted through every spell known to three unicorns and came up short. "How?"
Sweetie Belle, meanwhile, was trying to keep Dinky calm, or at least from hurting herself in her thrashing. She had registered the hot-and-cold running dialogue, but paid no conscious attention to it. However, in her subconscious, necessity knew desperation and begat invention. "Hush now, quiet now, it's time to go to bed..."
The crystalline entity paused in its explanation of how Rarity's aspersions on its parentage were ultimately insulting herself. There has been a shift in Dinky Doo's state of consciousness. Just in time to avoid permanent damage, no less. Well done, Sweetie Belle.
"Sweetie Belle?" Rarity turned to the two fillies, panic forgotten in the wake of the crisis's resolution. "Why, dearest, whatever did you— Oh."
Both foals were fast asleep, Sweetie draped across Dinky. As the designer smiled at the heartwarming sight, the crystal on the blonde filly's horn resumed its progress into her skull.
Ditzy had to admit, for a hot pink, hyperactive party animal with volume control issues, Pinkie Pie was quite good at stealth when she wanted to be. She had managed to hop off of Screwball and sneak behind Applejack wholly unnoticed. Well, up until she said, "Hi, Applejack!"
"Mornin', Pinkie. Pinkie!?" The farmer's surprised leap would've probably been quite impressive. However, a harness grown from the honesty elemental's crown was keeping her from falling, and a jump is just falling up. Thus, the orange mare did a fair imitation of an inelastic paddleball instead. As she got herself back on her hooves, she asked, "How in Celestia's name didja git up here?"
"Oh," Pinkie said smugly, "I have my ways. I have my ways."
"Uh huh." A quick look up found a probable cause. "Ah'm sure ya didn't get 'n airlift from Ditzy Doo."
"Mayyybe."
Ditzy shuddered for a moment. Whoa. Deja vu. Shaking it off, she landed on the mobile fruit butte. "Applejack, we need to talk."
The freckled pony raised an eyebrow. "Ah reckon so. Ya ready t' answer honestly without no fancy truth magic?" She smirked. "If'n y'll pardon th' double negative."
The pegasus sighed. "That's really not important right now. What is is—"
It was at this point in time that her daughter began to scream. Once amplified through the generosity elemental, Dinky's uncontrolled magic made that cry resonate in the ætheric fundament of the plane itself. What that sentence magical technobabble actually means is that a mother heard her child screaming in pain. The reaction should come as no surprise. "Dinky."
The earth ponies blinked. "Did you hear thunder just now?" asked Pinkie.
Applejack shook her head. "Nah, that there was the sound o' air fillin' in space where a pegasus in a big ol' hurry was standin'. Dash causes 'em all th' time." She looked towards Ponyville, the direction in which a grey blur had briefly been visible. "Never knew Ditzy Doo o' all ponies could do it."
"A parent will go to incredible lengths for a child."
The farmhoof looked at her friend in wonder. That tone had been downright sedate compared to Pinkie's usual exclamations. It even seemed... sad? Was such a thing even possible? "Pinkie..."
The party pony turned, voice bright and bouncy as she was. "Yeah?"
Applejack shook her head. Then she realized she needed to say something. "Y'know, yer ride done went an' left ya here. How exactly are ya plannin' on gettin' down?"
Pinkie Pie shrugged. "How are you?"
The orange mare opened her mouth to reply, only to realize she had no answer for that particular question. "Ah'm bein' a silly pony, ain't Ah?"
Her friend nodded and put a foreleg over her shoulders. "Best leave it to us professionals, dear."
Applejack sighed. "Ah s'pose Ah was bein' a might excessive with Ditzy, too. Pony's got a right t' her own business, after all."
Pinkie nodded enthusiastically. However, whatever she was going to say was overwritten by the sudden appearance of a sheepish looking purple pony. "Screwball! What's up?"
"Ehehe..." The avatar gave a nervous grin and brought her forehooves together a few times.
"Uh, Pinkie, who's—"
The party pony delivered a decidedly unfestive glare at her summoning. "Screwball. What did you do?"
The avatar hesitated for a moment, then spilled her (thankfully proverbial) guts. "Amorphous beluga chimney doctrine, elephant frangible gregarious." She hastily added, "Halogen iota jejune!"
"Oh, wonderful." Pinkie gave a sigh that told of long-suffering endurance of incompetent minions. "Well, go find Fluttershy."
Screwball hung her head. "Zanzibar..." She flew off as guiltily as a spiral-eyed, beanie-propelled manifestation of chaos can.
Applejack looked at her friend with a new wariness. "Uh, Pinkie? Care t' explain what in the name o' pie crust just happened?"
"Later. Right now, we have bigger concerns."
"Like what?"
As if in response, the world seemed to tilt back, accompanied by a sound like a mountain threatening to fall over. As the view returned to its normal orientation, Pinkie replied, "Like a one-apple stampede."
Blessing of Seeing Winds 3UUU
Sorcery - Arcane
Blessing of Seeing Winds can't be countered if you cast it from your hand.
Choose a card type. Draw a card for each permanent you control of that type. If you cast Blessing of Seeing Winds from your hand, you have no maximum hand size for the rest of the game.
With the Kami War over, the Myojin himself spread secrets of healing and restoration among mortal minds.
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FanOfMostEverything
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Derpy Hooves,Dinky Hooves,Main 6,Original Character,Other,Crossover,Adventure,Magic: The Gathering,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Elementals of Harmony
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(FiMtG) The only thing standing between Equestria and apocalypse is Ditzy Doo. Yes, really. Stop laughing!
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complete
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<p>Something is gathering around the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Something dangerous. Something magical. There's only one pony with the knowledge, the skills, and the muffins needed to save Equestria as we know it.<br/>A Friendship is Magic: the Gathering crossover, taking place between seasons 1 and 2. Here there be flashbacks, briefly seen OC's, and possibly every emotion known to man or tiny horse. Abandon all pretenses of not being a nerd, ye who enter here.</p>
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everyone
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2011-12-12T00:31:20+00:00
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2019-11-13T00:15:56+00:00
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Spike strutted in that manner in which only dragons can strut. It was a strut born of the instinctual awareness that the blood of tyrants and living forces of nature flowed through the strutter's veins, that the only thing distinguishing passersby from lunch was a good mood, that the strutter was simply better than everypony else in at least a one-mile radius. It would illegal to walk in such a manner without wearing sunglasses if there were a six-foot-tall dwarf handy to arrest the offender.
The young dragon's reason for deploying his swag could be summarized in one word: Rarity. Surely the most beautiful creature in Ponyville would be enamored with his newly mature look. The possibility of failure was not even dignified with consideration. She. Was going. To love him.
As Spike approached the Carousel Boutique, an odd sound broke through his monomaniacal confidence. He stopped as he tried to identify it. A high-pitched whistling shriek, growing louder, akin to when Rainbow Dash—
His train of thought was derailed by a nearly supersonic Ditzy Doo blasting through the door of the shop. Understandable, given that the resulting shockwave sent him flying headfirst into a hedge.
Once Spike extricated himself from the shrubbery, he rushed to the doorway. Rarity could've been hurt! And, you know, other ponies. Once he reached the entrance, the young dragon stopped to take in the scene, a muttered "Holy guacamole..." escaping his lips.
The pegasus had left an incredible wake of devastation, tearing apart floorboards and shattering windows as she'd burned off momentum. Now she stood atop a prone Rarity. Spike couldn't see either mare's expression, but it was pretty obvious that "friendly smile" would not be an accurate guess.
The dragon approached the two, ready to defend the object of his desire, but was stopped in his tracks by Ditzy's voice. Her tone made Twilight on her worst day sound heavenly by comparison. She spoke one word at a time, partly for emphasis, partly as a concession to her burning lungs. "Where. Is. My. Daughter?"
Rarity disdainfully glanced at each forehoof pinning her down before turning to their owner. "Try asking politely, dear. It works wonders."
Spike couldn't see it, but up until now, Ditzy's eyes had been glowing a harsh blue-white. Rarity's uncaring response had her literally seeing red, as her newly crimson gaze reflected off of the unicorn's coat. Arcs of electricity began climbing up her spread pinions. She snorted furiously, sending out a shower of sparks. "Unless you want to fry along with the building, you will tell me where Dinky is." Spike resumed his approach, ready to protest. "Please." This last syllable was punctuated by a spat puff of flame and a young dragon stopping out of fear.
The fashionista continued to be unimpressed. "Well, since you asked so nicely. Trixie?"
"Not exactly." The pegasus craned her head to the staircase behind her. There was the cerulean unicorn, with another one of those damn crystals over her horn. And with her, wrapped her magic, was
"Dinky!" Ditzy raced to her daughter, but skidded to a horrified halt halfway. Her pupils shrank as she took in the jewel sunken into her child's forehead, looking grossly disproportionate on one so small. She felt the rage return, but the brief interruption in adrenaline had been enough. The strain the blonde had endured to get here so quickly presented its bill, and she collapsed, exhausted.
As she struggled to keep her eyes open, the grey mare looked to Dinky. The filly looked back, a sad smile on her face. "It's okay, Mommy. You'll understand soon."
Tears streaming down her cheeks, Ditzy Doo lost consciousness.
Ravnica, years earlier
"You put a what in my what!?"
As out of context dialogue went, reflected Tezzeret, it didn't get much better than that. "I inserted a very fine wire of etherium through your ear and into your auditory cortex, allowing me to provide real-time translation with my every word. Once the heuristics had a firm grasp on how your brain processes language, I could and did scale it down to a minute bead."
All this technobabble didn't seem to placate Ditzy. "A bead that's still in my brain."
The artificer shrugged. "I didn't hear you complain about having a demigod in there. What difference do a few micrograms of metal make?"
"It... I... You..." The pegasus felt the reason was obvious, yet found herself at a loss for words as to what it was. Finally, she spluttered, "Because!"
Tezzeret hummed at this. "Well, under the weight of such devastating logic, I would be remiss if I didn't offer to turn it off." He considered the finger joints of his etherium arm. "Of course, you'd have to develop your own translation method. Or, horror of horrors, actually learn languages."
Ditzy chewed the issue along with her lower lip. "I..." She slumped. "I guess I just don't like the idea of ponies—"
"People."
"Right, sorry. The idea of people screwing around with my brain. At least, with me not knowing it."
The human nodded. "I couldn't agree more."
The incredulous look this provoked was only enhanced by its bearer's off-kilter eyes. "Then why did you do it to me?"
"Because it wasn't my brain," answered a smiling Tezzeret. His smile only widened as he watched the young pony pass through brief confusion, shock, and petulant anger. Finally, he added, "Also, I needed some way to communicate with you and assure you of my good intentions, and seemed unlikely that you'd have the patience and proper mindset for foreign language courses."
Ditzy scratched at the rock that made up the sky reservoir. "Yeah..."
Tezzeret's expression returned to its usual neutrality. "In any case, the man to whom I will be sending you has a tendency to read surface thoughts almost as unavoidably and reflexively as you perceive mana. He is also terribly skilled in more advanced mind magics."
The pegasus felt a pit forming in her stomach. "Great. So what's the good news?"
This got another smile out of the human. "Two things. One, just being aware that such magics exist allows you to exhibit a subconscious resistance to them." "Two," and here his smile became far less pleasant, "he is, for good reason, very afraid of me. Here's the plan..."
Jace Beleren adjusted himself in his chair, redipped the quill in his hand, and sighed. If he had known that leading the Infinite Consortium was not something that could just be walked away from, he might have left it in Tezzeret's mismatched hands. Assuming, of course, that such a course of action wouldn't lead to death at the hands of the madman.
Still, reflected the prodigy, he'd made his multiplanar-mercenary-corps-controlling bed, and now he had to sleep in it, even if that meant a disturbingly calm Esperite swearing an everlasting vendetta against him. Or, for that matter, dealing with an onslaught of paperwork that was nearly as bad as the world-consuming monstrosities that had caused it. Wait a second. "Why couldn't I just let everyone think an Eldrazi ate me?"
"I, for one, am glad you didn't, Master Beleren."
Jace looked up. Silurdex, his head archivist (not a secretary, as the vedalken insisted,) had entered his office without his noticing. With yet another stack of paper.
Noting his superior's sorrowful look, the blue-skinned humanoid offered a small but genuine apologetic smile. "More dispatches from Zendikar, I'm afraid."
The human held back an urge to drive his head into the desk. "'Get everything and everyone out of there,' I said. Why is that so hard?"
Detecting rhetorical questions had never been Silurdex's strong suit. "The Consortium has invested heavily in the plane, Sir. We are simply too well established for a quick, clean pullout."
"Fantastic. Anything notable in the latest batch?"
The archivist extracted one sheet from the sheaf. "It would appear that Jwar Isle has been lost."
Jace straightened himself at this. "What, the entire outpost?"
"No, Sir. The entire island."
The mind mage considered this for a moment. "Ah."
"Indeed, Sir. Also—"
The next interplanar memorandum was interrupted by an eagle screech. Both men turned and beheld a griffin hovering just outside the office's large picture window.
Silurdex was largely unflapped. "Shall I have someone shoo it away, Sir?" After a short interval, he turned to the prodigy. "Master Beleren?"
Jace had gone pale. There was something familiar hovering around the creature's mind. Something cold. Sharp. Calculated. A glint of light off of something around the beast's neck confirmed it. Finally, he swallowed a growing lump in his throat and shook his head. "No, I'll deal with this myself."
The vedalken was taken more aback at this than the sudden appearance of a flying chimera. "Are you certain, Sir? You do have many pressing notifications that—"
"Leave, Silurdex. Please."
The not-a-secretry-thank-you-very-much waited just long enough to silently express his disapproval before replying, "As you wish, Master Beleren."
As the archivist turned to leave, Jace added, "Feel free to sign anything unimportant."
"I don't know what you could possibly mean, Sir," came the prim reply. "As I have noted in the past, my ability to flawlessly recreate your signature was developed solely as an intellectual exercise."
The planeswalker smiled. Vedalken humor might be drier than the average active volcano, but he'd learned how to recognize it. "Of course."
"I will be at my desk should you need me, Sir." With that, Silurdex closed the door.
Jace turned back to the window. "Alright, let's see what you want." A bit of telekinesis applied at the proper points brought the windows swinging inward. The griffin flapped its way in, and the young man was able to see that his suspicions were correct. The hybrid creature did indeed have an etherium device hanging from its throat. It bowed its head, allowing the bauble to fall to the ground along with the cord to which it was tied.
The mage sighed. "Wonderful. Just wonderful." He knelt to pick up the artifact, only to leap back as it began to shake ominously. With a thought, he was encased in a translucent array of magical barriers, ready to return message and messenger alike to sender. The griffin simply looked at him. Jace got the distinct impression that it was trying not to laugh.
The capsule, meanwhile, popped open and hissed out a stream of smoke. Keeping his distance, the man watched as the vapor neither spread not dissipated, instead settling in a ring around the device. The gas then fixed itself into a circle of glowing runes. Once complete, the sigils brought their light together, forming from it a distressingly familiar figure.
"Hello, Jace."
"Hello, Tezzeret."
The illusory artificer seemed as amused as his courier. Jace guessed that the man had anticipated his overreaction to the thing's activation. "I'm sure you're wondering why I've chosen to contact you," continued the image.
"The thought crossed my mind, yes."
"Two reasons, really. One is to remind you that I've still got my eye on you."
The mind mage focused on keeping his breathing even. "And two?"
"Two is a favor I'd like to ask of you."
Jace sputtered for a moment. "A favor? Seriously? Why should I do anything for you?"
That damnable grin just got bigger. "It's all quite logical. You see, if you decline, then you must be feeling awfully confident. If you're feeling confident, it is highly probable that you are happy. And we both know what will happen when you're happy." The projection allowed this to stew for a moment before adding, "If it helps, think of it as a Consortium commission. I won't even ask for an employee discount."
Jace gritted his teeth for a moment before resigning himself. No viable alternative, really. "Fine. What do you want?"
"Firstly, you should know that this was all prerecorded, so you can stop talking to the courier capsule. And yes, you are that predictable. Usually. Secondly, the favor is actually for a friend, and to preempt your comment, yes, I do have a few friends. I used to wonder what the point could be, but I've had some practical demonstrations since.
"In any case, this specific friend happens to be a new member of our exclusive little community, and as much as I've enjoyed acting as her mentor, I have some rather urgent business that needs attending to as per draconic fiat. As such, I request that you aid her in perfecting a few spells that will prove essential as she travels the Multiverse. Mostly illusions and such, nothing terribly complicated or beyond your abilities.
"In exchange for this service, you will have a reprieve from the ever present threat of my retribution. At what point that reprieve will expire is, of course, not something I am going to tell you, now or then. I also haven't shared it with your client, so don't bother trying to dig it out of her memory. On a related note, should I contact her after a reasonable length of time only to find that you have not performed as I have asked, or that her mind has been tampered with in any way beyond mundane learning, I will not be pleased.
The image nodded to itself. "Well, that should be everything. Oh, and don't think you're getting free etherium out of this." With that, the runes, image, and capsule all vanished in a column of blue smoke.
For a brief time, Jace said nothing, silently fuming as contemplated the sorts of indignities to which he'd subject Tezzeret the next time he got his mental hands on the Esperite's brain. Finally, he let out a breath he didn't recall holding, then noted the griffin. "What are you still doing here?"
He thought the question was rhetorical. The griffin didn't. "Well, I'm expecting some magic lessons."
"You can talk!?"
There was that "trying not to laugh" look again. "Pretty sure we just established that."
The mind mage coughed into his fist. "Er, right.Sorry, I've never met an intelligent griffin before."
"Neither have I." Ditzy dropped the illusion. "Only one I ever met was as dim as a thunderhead and half as friendly." She smiled and extended a forehoof. "Hi. I'm Ditzy Doo."
After a beat, she opened her eyes. Jace Beleren, psychomancer prodigy, mind sculptor extraordinaire, and leader of the Infinite Consortium, had fainted. The pegasus gulped. "Maybe I should get Mister Silurdex..."
"Whoa there, Paul!" Applejack was employing all of her wrangling expertise in trying to calm the enormous apple. Unfortunately, under the current circumstances, she couldn't do much beyond shout. "Consarn it, Ah said 'whoa!'"
Pinkie winced as she heard one of the elemental's treelike legs crush a house. "I don' think he's listening, Applejack."
The freckled pony glared at her friend. "Well Ah don't see you doin' much t' help! What'd that loony friend o' yers do, anyhow?"
Once Pinkie had disembarked, she largely left Screwball to "her" own devices. (The feminine pronoun will be used, as English lacks a suitable one for a being whose gender identity is "purple monkey dishwasher".) Having had plenty of experience with avatars of discord, the beanie-propelled equinoid's summoner had given her only the vaguest of directions: Since you're going to sow chaos anyway, at least make it chaos that doesn't actively conflict with our goals.
Bearing this in mind, for lack of a better term, the scion of disharmony positioned herself just underneath the honesty elemental's monolithic eye, hovering before a veritable cliffside of fruit. Cracking her nonexistent knuckles, Screwball drew back a forehoof and glared at the ruby expanse before her. "Aaaah-tatata-tatatata-tatatata-tatatata-tata-wah TA!"
As she let out the battle cry, she delivered a furious flurry of blows along the titan's surface, striking specific pressure points that may or may be present in plants. With the "wah TA!", she applied a roundhouse kick that would make Chuck Norris proud. Once the assault was complete, she solemnly pronounced, "You are already pie."
The flesh beneath the crimson skin began to shift and roil, folded, spindled, and mutilated chakras beginning to tear themselves apart in a spiraling cycle of spiritual self-destruction. Unfortunately, those chakras quickly remembered that this was not a musclebound postapocalyptic henchman, but a physical manifestation of truth and vitality. As such, they settled back down, assuming that they were ever there in the first place.
"C-c-c-combo breaker!" exclaimed Screwball, who was as astonished as plaid is crunchy. She then heard a noise that lay somewhere between "growl", "groan", and "exploding subwoofer". The purple pony-thing looked up.
An eye the size of a train car glared back.
The avatar offered a nervous chuckle, an uncertain wave, and a friendly "Portzbie" before fleeing for her continued corporeality.
"That's not important right now," answered Pinkie Pie. "What is is that you're right. I need to help stop this thing." With that, she closed her eyes and drew on memories older than Equestria.
Applejack was about to yell at the other earth pony for napping on the job when the air above the meditating mare began to ripple as if superheated. As traces of scarlet became visible in the heat shimmer, the farmer risked an, "Uh, Pinkie?"
As if in response, the party pony was consumed in a burst of heatless flame. When the smoke cleared, Pinkie Pie sported batlike wings and a physique like that of Big Macintosh. As the planeswalker flexed the new appendages experimentally, Applejack noted an odd, flickering glow in her friend's eyes. She then corrected herself. Those weren't bat wings. They were dragon wings. "Pinkie?"
"Yeah?" Her open mouth was similarly backlit.
"You, uh..." This had exceeded the level of weirdness that the orange mare could dismiss as "just Pinkie Pie". It was also, she freely admitted, way over her head. "Uh, good luck?"
"Aw, thanks, AJ!" The enchanted pony smiled and blew out a heart-shaped smoke ring, then took off.
Yes, decided Applejack, she definitely owed Ditzy Doo an apology. Everypony had her secrets, and as she was rapidly realizing, not all of them needed to be brought to light.
Swoosh! Pinkie Pie, having swathed herself in the smoldering, sulfurous embrace of Shiv, dove into an orbit around the crankypants that was running wild through Ponyville. Well, slowly trudging wild, really. Paul was just too darn huge to move very quickly. Of course, that very same hugeness meant his every single step covered a lot of ground, and possibly somepony's house. Still, given how those steps were causing itty-bitty earthquakes, everypony had enough warning to get away long before they risked getting squished.
Where was I? Oh, right! That delightful dear Pinkie Pie delivering deadly draconic doom to a dreadful danger to darn near everypony! Once a few circles around the naughty's noggin got its attention, it was time for some good old-fashioned fire breath on its backside to get it to turn around and follow her back out of Ponyville. A deep breath and FWOOSH!
...
Uh oh. It doesn't even look singed.
Ahem.
Oh, uh, hi FoME!
Pinkie Pie.
I was just, uh—
Narrating your own exploits?
Um, yeah. You, uh, don't mind, do you?
Oh, not at all, not at all.
Oh, good!
Mind you, talking to me in the middle of a fight doesn't seem like a very good idea.
Huh?
As it turned out, an alicorn's skull possessed greater structural integrity than Ponyville architecture. As Luna magically repaired the hole she'd beaten into the town hall's roof, she vented her frustration verbally instead.
"Stupid lousy ungrateful foals. I should just go back to the moon and refuse to raise it. See how much they all like Tia's pet when it's turning their farms into scorched desert. That'll show them. They thought eternal night was scary? See how bad eternal day is. Then maybe I'll get some real respect and not just frightened lip ser—" The moon princess's rant was interrupted by a rapidly intensifying shout. "Vice?"
As soon as she spotted the growing spot of pink, Luna engaged her magic to stop it. In the time it took for thoughts to go from eye to brain to horn, the object had made it to within an inch of her royal muzzle. Still, when the pony who tells the moon what to do wants something to stop, then stop it shall, and stop it did. It then smiled in recognition. "Hi, Luna!"
"The Element of Laughter." The deity took a moment to put name to draconically enhanced face. "Pinkie Pie, correct?"
The party pony gave a massive delighted grin at being recognized. "Yuparoonie!" Her expression switched to confused. "What are you doing here, anyway?"
The sheer quantity of informality and the audience of one brought Luna to a decision. With a sigh and a slump, she released Pinkie from her magic and herself from royal airs. "It was Tia's idea. 'Go out and see ponies,' she said. 'Ponies think I'm keeping you locked up,' she said."
This was met with surprise. "She isn't?"
"Of course not! Honestly, for a beloved monarch, she seems to have the worst reputation. Molestia this, Trollestia that. And she wonders why I avoid the public eye."
Pinkie giggled. "Oh, nopony really believes that stuff. It's just teasing!"
Luna frowned, confused. "But... but why paint her as some malicious jester or insatiable..." She shuddered, unable to finish the sentence.
Pinkie considered this for a moment. "Well, has she ever played a joke on you?"
The princess thought of the time Celestia had told her that she'd painted the moon a new color when it was really the first lunar eclipse. "On occassion," she conceded.
"And she probably noticed colts before you."
The alicorn began to object, given that no prospective suitors had existed at the appropriate time, but then she remembered the indecent enthusiasm with which her sister had suggested possible places to put erogenous zones on mortal ponies. "Sort of." Wingboners, Tia? Really?
"Well there you go. Nopony's perfect, but teasing doesn't mean you condemn your friends for those faults. It means that you accept them as part of who your friends are, part of the reason why they're your friends in the first place. It's just kind of exaggerated when you're the head cheese. Though I guess you'd be the head cheese, at least if the moon really is made of cheese."
Luna took a moment to parse all of this before letting herself respond. "I'm afraid it's not."
"Aww..."
"Still, thank you, Pinkie Pie."
"For what?"
"It's clear to me that if I'm going to be appreciated by ponies, I can't just sit back and let my title do it for me." Luna stood proudly. "I need to get out there and show everypony just who Princess Luna is. Drag myself out of the history books and back into the mind of Joe Everystallion."
"Alright, Luna!" A realization hit. "Oh, but that wasn't what I meant when I asked what you were doing here."
"What did you mean?"
"Why aren't you helping fight the giant monster?"
The princess frowned. "What giant monster?"
The honesty elemental chose that moment to emit a sound so deep that it was more felt than heard. Luna turned to it. "Oh. That giant monster." She turned back to Pinkie, then blinked. "Did you always have dragon wings?"
The party pony gave a wry grin. "You're not that observant, are you?"
The alicorn offered a shy smile in return. "Not when I'm stewing in my own self-pity, no."
"It's just that we could really use some moon magic. Or action." Pinkie took a moment to consider this. "You aren't going to just throw your tiara at it, are you? 'Cause I don't think that's gonna work."
Luna ran through many possible replies before settling on a simple "No." She continued, "I think I know exactly what to do. Is anypony close to it?"
"Just Applejack."
"The Element of Honesty?"
The poofy-maned pony nodded. "On top of the elemental of honesty."
"You get her off of it. I'll deal with the beast itself."
"How?"
The princess's smile took a turn for the sinister. "I'm going to show it the truth."
The Books and Branches Library had become the epicenter of an unprecedented spike in magical density. The unicorns surrounding the place, including newcomers who were forming a second ring around the first, attested to that. The ambient energy fed into their brains through the secondary nervous structures in their horns, producing a high that would've been declared better than sex had anypony been in any shape to make declarations. As it was, they were all too busy having their minds pleasantly short-circuited to do much beyond stand and luxuriate. Unhorned passersby had assumed there was some new release that was highly anticipated by the unicorn community, at least before they became too busy panicking to notice.
Inside the library, things were a bit different. For one, there was a lot more elbow room, given the sole occupant. For another, the sheer amount of energy was causing some unusual behavior in space and time. The tree was already measurably larger on the inside. Three gates to L-Space had formed in the shelves, as well as one to the Wonka factory. The basement was slowly transmuting into a procedurally generated labyrinth, complete with grues by which unwary wanderers were likely to be eaten. Now and again, an instance of Pinkie Pie from an adjacent timeline opened the bathroom door, excused herself (or himself), and returned to hir own continuity.
And then there was Twilight's bedroom. Her dreams took form in the uncontrolled energies, impossible shapes briefly dancing in the air before being shredded apart by cruel logic and heartless geometry. Other ponies, and stranger things still, peeked out of the other side of the vanity mirror. A spider in one corner quietly wove a textile dissertation that alternated between the essential impermanence of being and the combination of logical necessity and poetic beauty that was consuming one's mate. The topic, like the author's gender, switched with every paragraph.
The bed frame had become semisweet titanium. The mattress had come to life, named itself Zem, and was floopily wurfing its life story as it happened. And beneath ultraviolet-and-octarine houndstooth covers, still somehow asleep despite the events of the morning, Twilight Sparkle glowed.
Generosity, thought Rarity, was a wonderful thing. There were just so much that she was doing which would be impossible without the crystalline incarnation of her Element. Normally, she'd have had to scramble to explain herself to Spike even as the horrible state of the entry hall weighed on her mind. Now, she could leave the dissembling in Trixie's practiced hooves while personally supervising the cleanup. Furthermore, she had only to imagine how she wanted things, and the others saw it as though they had thought of it themselves. No room for miscommunication, no need to physically hover like a mother hen, no stress!
Practical matters were hardly the only ones that Jean helped facilitate. The ivory unicorn could confidently say that she better understood each and every other pony under its auspices than she ever had before. The designer had known that Sweetie Belle admired her, but had never fully appreciated the magnitude of her sister's hero worship until now. Similarly, only now did Rarity know Trixie's full story, and through elemental munificence, the two proceeded through contrition, forgiveness, and friendship at the speed of thought.
The others were somewhat more enigmatic. Whatever anomaly that arose when Dinky Doo was incorporated still persisted to a lesser degree, making the link to her oddly fuzzy. Lyra, on the other hoof, was as clearly connected as anypony else... up to a point. Any attempt to go deeper hit a mental brick wall whose presence not even the sea-green unicorn could explain. According to Jean, it could be breached, but they'd need significantly greater ponypower to do so without some very nasty backlash.
Ah, Jean. The nickname had originally been a play on words that catered to Rarity's Prancophilic tendencies, but it quickly became a term of genuine endearment. Diamonds were a filly's best friend, as the saying went, and the azure entity's abilities had proven that idiom countless times over. From the very moment they had made mental contact, Rarity had felt a unique rapport with the elemental. It only made sense, given her status as the Bearer of Generosity. Still, their relationship had become a curious thing; more than friendship, yet too passionless and collegial to be called romance. In any case, even amidst her other mental multitasking, Rarity maintained a near-continuous running dialogue with the gem in her closet. So why, precisely, are we not welcoming Spike into our little group?
A dragon's mind is a volatile, possessive thing, and well protected besides. Even as young as he has mental defenses superior to the strongest of unicorns. Furthermore, he lacks the convenient back door offered by that unicorn's horn. I cannot reliably predict how he will react to my magic, and after Dinky Doo, I am reluctant to experiment.
Hmm, I see. Shame, he's such a dear. And I can't deny that fire breath has a certain allure. The pony pondered each of her current tasks in turn, then mused, What of Ditzy Doo?
What of her?
Well, surely we're including, aren't we? If nothing else, I want to know when and why she applied that posthypnotic business you told me about.
Rarity could feel the elemental thinking, sensing a few bits of the decision slip in and out of her thoughts in a deft act of telepathic embroidery. Finally, it gave an answer. She will certainly be a useful stepping stone as I master the incorporation of non-unicorns. However, it would definitely be best if it was done with her consent. Even in her current state, she has some of the most formidable psychic defenses I have ever detected.
By sheer coincidence, the showmare-led conversation with Spike had reached a point where Rarity gave a smile. Oh, thought the fashionista, I don't think that will be an issue.
By the time Pinkie Pie had returned to the honesty elemental's crown, Applejack has in the middle of a good hard sulk, all efforts to do anything significant thwarted. When she spotted the party pony, she greeted her with, "Well, Ah hope yer havin' fun, 'cause Ah shore ain't."
The poofy-maned planeswalker's grin didn't falter. "Not to worry, my good Applejack. Your Aunt Pinkie Pie is here to help."
This did little to encourage the farmhoof. "Yer only two weeks older 'n me."
"Stand, please," Pinkie requested, studiously ignoring this point. Once her friend had done so, she closely examined the tether keeping the orange mare secured to the gargantuan. From the vestigial blossom emerged a flexible vinelike growth that grew up to the farmer's diaphragm. From there, woodier growth branched out, wrapping around each shoulder and side, and two neatly skirting her tail. These branches met atop the center of her spine.
The reason for this intense analysis was unclear, since Pinkie had decided on her course of action before she'd even gotten back from the town hall. After a cautionary "Hold still, now," she blew a thin, steady stream of flame over the connecting length of vine. Much to her dismay, it showed little damage beyond a shiny black surface, even after she exhausted her considerable lung capacity.
When the smell hit Applejack's nostrils, she blinked incredulously. "Pinkie, y' ain't tryin' to burn that thing, are ya?"
"Of course!" The living blowtorch frowned. "Shouldn't I?"
The freckled mare shook her head. "Shoot, that shoot's greener 'n Granny Smith on a tilt-a-whirl. Ya might as well try torchin' a soggy lasso."
The pink pyro wilted a bit at this. No fire? That invalidated Plans A through G! She literally spent seconds on those tactical masterpieces! This is why she hated making plans, they never actually saw use. "Well, what should I do?"
Applejack smiled. Finally, something she understood. "Ya don't need no fancy spell. Just use what Celestia gave ya."
Pinkie pondered this for a moment. "Ohh..." Tilting her head, she opened wide and bit down on the growth, then began to pull and twist. A gratifying series of fibrous snaps soon followed, culminating in a final tearing rip and a soft "ptooie!"
"Yeehaw!" The orange mare immediately took advantage of her newfound freedom, springing away from the ragged stump.
Her celebration was cut short by a sudden sensation of lift. "We need to get away ASAP," explained Pinkie, who had somehow managed to slip underneath her friend before taking flight.
"Why's that?" Applejack asked, trying very hard not to think about how much air now stood between her and the ground.
The party pony called forth a modicum of black mana. "Because Paul's about to go..." A pair of sunglasses manifested over her eyes. "Nighty night."
"YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHH—"
Screwball halted the propellor of her suddenly exultant beanie. After removing it and giving it a cursory examination, she shrugged, finding no cause for the sudden burst of enthusiasm. Dismissing it as unimportant, she redonned and restarted her headgear. Gravity politely ignored how this pitstop took place in midair.
Once she resumed her travel, the avatar quickly located her assigned quarry. It wasn't that hard, really. Even against the pastel palette of Ponyville, a giant glowing inchworm tends to stand out.
Diving down to the shiny thing, Screwball spotted the pink-maned rider and came to a disharmonious float that, on average, put her at eye level with Fluttershy. The equinoid doffed her beanie. "Mop the Turing, YouTube!"
The soft-spoken pegasus folded in on herself at the sudden appearance of the stranger, but inoffeniveness outweighed introversion just enough for her to squeak out a "Hi."
It now needs to be said that only four kinds of mages summon avatars of discord: The desperate, the depraved, the insane, and Pinkie Pie, who was a category unto herself. As has been noted, the creatures have difficulty following orders more complicated than "go nuts." Furthermore, they have an unfortunate tendency to append "and the kill them" to any grammatically compatible command and several others besides.
This is why the response to the gentle mare's greeting was, "You have no chance to survive make your time."
By the time Fluttershy had processed this, the purple ponything was halfway through a midair charge. However, the butter-coated pony was a pegasus, and that legacy included reflexes unmatched by other pony subspecies. The sight of a rapidly oncoming object got her body to dart in a different direction while her brain was still parsing the mangled sentence structure. A moment later, her assailant, unable to change her trajectory, struck the kindness elemental instead.
The impact squished Eric's head like a bullet fired into raw dough. It then slowly returned its usual round shape, apparently unperturbed. The overall effect was not unlike a squeezed stress ball.
Meanwhile, Fluttershy tried to reason with the inexplicably hostile pony. "Um, I'm terribly sorry if I've made you angry somehow. Would you like to talk about it? I'm a very good listener."
By this point, Screwball had managed to work her way free of the oddly plush body of the luminous larva. Thus, she was able the respond in the same way anything literally made of chaos would to diplomatic overture. Namely, she tried to headbutt the diplomat.
"Tried" being the operative word. Less than a second before the magic madmare made contact with the cowering caretaker, she smashed against an immovable object that hadn't been there the moment before, her momentum leaving her crumpled like an accordion against the obstacle.
Behind this barricade, Fluttershy risked a peek at her impending doom. To her surprise, the swirly-pupiled perpetrator fell to the ground before her, dazed and foreshortened. The pegasus looked up and gasped in wonder. "Angel Bunny?"
Angel turned and smirked. His pony had every right to be awestruck. Through meditation and runic inscription, he had channeled the white mana buildup around her cottage into a potent enchantment. The carrot into which he carved the runes had merged with his right forepaw, forming a supernaturally sharp and sturdy lance. Vines flowed from the top of the vegetable, twining across the bunny's body, protecting it as they augmented its physical strength. Broad leaves spread from his shoulders, magic allowing flight where aerodynamics would not. A similar gathering formed the shield Screwball had attempted to nut. As a final flourish, a tiny wreath of laurels lay on his head.
Fluttershy took all this in as best she could. "I... How..." She stopped for a moment to gather her wits and shift mental gears to "Pinkie Pie." "Thank you, Angel."
The rabbit gave a proud nod.
"Fritter media sullen lobster mugwump..." contributed Screwball.
The pegasus backed away from her. Angel landed between them and brandished his poleroot.
The avatar shakily got to her feet, shook her head, and considered the two before her. Then she looked back on the kindness elemental, who was gracing them with a content, uncomprehendng smile. She came to a decision. "Wasabi!"
Seeing the odd pony spring at Eric, Fluttershy turned to her companion. "Should we help?"
Angel shrugged. His pony was safe from that aberration, and if he was lucky, it might destroy the wormlike usurper of the Throne of Cute. Or vice versa, though that didn't seem particularly likely.
The Bearer of Kindness furrowed her brow in thought. In another universe, a brony felt his heart spasm. After careful deliberation, Fluttershy came to a decision. "This... thing. It isn't a pony, is it, Angel?"
The rabbit emphatically shook his head. He had more claim to equinity than that fiend.
The butter-coated mare took a deep breath, regret heavy in her next words. "I'm sorry to ask this of you, but could you eliminate it?"
As his answer, Angel flew up to eye level and snapped off a salute with his shield paw. He then sped into the fray.
Well, "fray" was not the most accurate description of what was going on. "Kneading", perhaps, since it seemed to consist of repeated blows into a soft, yielding substance. In any case, Fluttershy still watched, horror and resolve warring in her gaze. "Be careful."
When Pinkie conjured her shades, she did more than make a pop culture reference. The brief flare of dark energy stood out in Luna's senses like somepony shouting her name in an empty field. She smiled. The dragon-winged mare had refused to explain what her signal would be, only that she would know it when it came. So it was.
The princess of the night had kept herself hidden from any wandering steam-engine-sized eyes by keeping herself between the elemental and the sun. Besides obscuring her from detection, this also meant that she didn't need to move in order to perform the spell that she was certain would end the beast. The spell that, with Pinkie's signal, she was now free to cast without worrying about catching anypony in its area of effect.
Her horn glowed midnight blue, then pitch black. Focusing her will, Luna spread her wings to their full span and kept them still. She did not fall, for she obeyed gravity not out of requirement but out of courtesy. Magic flowed up her wings, and the shadow she cast extended outward. What was a tiny zone of shade quickly consumed by her sister's light grew longer and darker. The darkness flowed like a liquid, gaining speed as it lost altitude. By the time it reached ground level, it consumed the honesty elemental before it even noticed. The end effect was of a negative spotlight, a cone of impenetrable black amidst the morning brilliance.
The princess frowned. She could sense that this fluid night was not enough, that the torrent was keeping the giant contained, but little more, and it would not do so forever. Of course, she hadn't expected it to. Another layer of antilight enveloped her horn as she called even more power to bear, guiding it with words whose power she herself had instilled:
"The world is a mote of dust circling a tiny spark, floating in an unfathomably vast ocean of nothingness. Light, life, chaos, all of these are lies. Lies of such miniscule consequence that the universe allows them to seem true. But one day, its patience will run out. The spark will gutter. The mote will freeze. All will be as it truly is: Dark, silent, unchanging. For eternity."
The falling river of black shifted then, changing from pure void to a rich tapestry of celestial lights. It was as thought Luna was attacking the creature with the night sky itself.
Then, one by one, the lights grew red and dim, then went out altogether. Galactic arms atrophied and disintegrated. Nebulae attenuated into invisibility. Slowly, the assault returned to uniform black, yet this was somehow more intense than before. It spoke of hopelessness and pointlessness, entropy and apathy, the decay and death that awaited all things. It was an attitude so wholly alien to the citizens of Ponyville that many of those who witnessed it would suppress the memory in self-defense, unable to describe the event beyond "Princess Luna defeated the giant apple monster with her magic." For that was exactly what happened.
Luna relaxed her wings and her will, and the great sable beam faded, slowly and grudgingly. The shadows had become nearly solid, the light having to burn them away as it would a thick fog. Eventually, the darkness that had cocooned the titan receded, and what was left was laid bare.
The remains of the honesty elemental were not an especially ghastly sight. There is not much one can do in the way of body horror with plants, and this was hardly the most unspeakable application of black magic. Still, the contrast from before was striking. The legs, once wide as ancient oaks, had shrunk to colorless husks that visibly shook even under what little mass the creature still had. The apple head had shriveled and paled into a white wrinkled thing barely larger than a carriage, the eye glassy and thick with cataracts.
The princess came to a graceful landing, pleased with her work, but concerned with the fallout. From her studies, she knew that Equestria had not seen such fell spellcraft in centuries. She'd had to stop the apparition for the sake of the world, but what would be left of the friendships she had only just began to form? Surely everypony would now fear her, she of such dark and terrible power, kept in check only by the grace and charity of her wiser, more beautiful sister...
Luna's brooding was interrupted by Pinkie Pie's rather more dramatic landing, skidding until she bumped into one of the elemental's desiccated legs. From that contact came innumerable snapping sounds as the body crumbled, followed by a shower of ash. Thankfully, much of the stuff faded to nothing before it hit the ground, but enough survived to at least briefly cover the ponies up to their flanks.
"Well," said Luna, light-hearted as she dared, "I think that went rather well."
"Yer Highness?"
The alicorn turned to the farmer pony, who was currently struggling to get off of her friend. Maybe, just maybe, if she didn't mention it, nopony else would. "Applejack, without you and your friends I would still be a raving madmare intent on forcing my night on everypony at the cost of the entire world's well-being. If that does not entitle you to speak to me without titles and blandishment, I do not know what does."
Pinkie finally sat down, allowing the freckled mare to get her hooves on the ground. Applejack tottered a few steps before collapsing onto the wonderfully solid earth before replying, "Anythin' y' say, Pri— uh, Luna." She waited a moment to confirm that her stomach settled before continuing. "Just remind me t' stay on yer good side. Dunno what y' did t' Paul, but it worked better 'n apple cores on a stubborn hog."
"Yeah!" chimed the party pony, now bouncing with enthusiasm. "I've seem a lot of doom spells in my time, but that was the coolest, doomiest one since... well, since ever!"
Luna was astonished. "Really? You're not afraid?"
Appejack quirked an eyebrow. "Shoot, 'course Ah was afraid. Show me a pony who says 'e ain't afraid o' that, an' I'll show ya the filthiest liar this side o' Appleoosa." The farmhoof saw the hurt this brought to the princess, and preempted any spoken angst. "But that don't mean Ah'm scared o' you, Luna. Y' did whatchya had t' do so that bad apple didn't wreck th' town! Yer a hero!"
"A... a hero?" This prompted the biggest smile the alicorn had given outside of a library or insanity in the past thousand years.
"Yeah!" affirmed Pinkie. "And after we take out the other nasties, we're throwing you the biggest hero party ever!"
Applejack assumed a thousand-yard stare. "...'Other nasties'?"
Ditzy grudgingly regained consciousness, physical and emotional aches making the prospect of waking up very unappealing. However, her attempts to fall back asleep, or at least pass out again, were akin to someone trying to force a hot-air balloon to descend by jumping up and down on top of it. Still, she could at least keep her eyes closed and stay still.
"Come on, dear, I know you're up."
Or not. The pegasus opened her eyes with a groan and fixed a baleful stare on Rarity. Well, Rarity and a ponnequin in one corner. "Where's Dinky?"
Rarity sighed and shook her head. "Really now, Ditzy, you're beginning to sound like a broken record."
In the space of a heartbeat, the blonde planeswalker went from lying on the floor to standing muzzle-to-muzzle with the fashionista. An odd, distant sensation told Rarity that something was touching the crystal encasing her horn. "Say that again," Ditzy hissed. "Tell me again that my concern for my child is beginning to bore you. Give me an excuse to shatter this gaudy chunk of paste."
The sensation became a lot more odd and a lot less distant. "What are you doing!?"
"Mommy, please stop."
The pegasus did, her attention on her daughter. "Oh, Muffin, what did they do to you?"
Dinky gave the same sad smile she offered before her mother passed out. "Don't worry, Mommy. You'll get to see for yourself real soon."
Ditzy frowned. "Not a chance. This all ends now." Her eyes began to glow with white magic.
The unicorn filly shook her head. "It isn't that simple, Mommy. The crystals are connected to our horns and our brains. Unless they're removed in just the right way, well..."
"We certainly won't come out the better for it," offered Rarity.
"There is one final thing to note."
Ditzy turned the source of this new voice, oddly layered and rich in tones that shouldn't be coming out of a pony's throat. "Trixie?"
The showmare betrayed no emotion whatsoever, her eyes glowing in the same hue as her mane. "Trixie lies deep within the gestalt at the moment. She is embracing the opportunity to escape from herself. The others are helping her with the issues she had simply repressed until now, even as we speak."
"Then who am I speaking to?"
"You know."
The pegasus nodded slowly. "I suspected. The generosity elemental itself."
"Yes. In order for those outside of the gestalt to understand me, I must borrow the voice of somepony within it."
Ditzy could feel her anxiety build. She'd been expecting some massive serpent or squishy thing with too many tentacles, not this calm, erudite being. She'd take the big, dumb monster any day. "What do you want?"
It tilted Trixie's head to the side. "Ultimately? To give myself to all life. To unite everything in a planetary network of shared thought. In as few words as possible: To be generous."
The planeswalker nodded. One good thing to fighting a brilliant mind, if you could keep them talking, eventually they'd tell you everything you'd need to know to defeat them. "And in the shorter term?"
"As you may have noticed, I have only incorporated unicorns into the gestalt. Obviously, my goals cannot be achieved by adding only one subspecies. A pegasus is close enough to give acceptable odds of success while different enough to aid in incorporating more exotic specimens."
"And if I refuse?"
"You will not. Dinky?"
Ditzy's mouth went painfully dry as she watched her daughter walk up to the blue mare. "Yes, Mister Jean?"
The blonde struggled to stay calm enough to stop any nasty reflexes. "What are you going to do?"
"It is simple and logical. You clearly object to your child's presence in the gestalt. If you do not join it, I will remove her from it." Trixie's borrowed face showed emotion for the first time, a severe glower. "I will not, however, do it gently. Her psyche will be irreparably damaged. There is a very good chance that she will be catatonic for the rest of her life. It could prove fatal."
The pegasus was speechless with horror for a time. She heard somepony ask, "How is that generous?" Halfway through the sentence, she realized it was her.
"I am offering you a choice. Whatever happens, you will be the deciding factor."
Under other circumstances, Ditzy would call out the manure inherent to this argument and have a pleasant little argument. However, Dinky's life and mind were on the line. Pedantry was not a luxury she had. She felt tears pooling in her eyes as she looked at her daughter. The filly just smiled.
"I'll do it."
Litany of the Void XBBB
Sorcery
Creatures your opponents control get -X/-X until end of turn.
"The gulf between stars is vast beyond conception, hostile beyond imagination. Those who question Luna's puissance would do well to remember that these depths are her place of power."
—Star Swirl the Bearded, Meditations of Night
|
FanOfMostEverything
|
1048
| 11 |
Derpy Hooves,Dinky Hooves,Main 6,Original Character,Other,Crossover,Adventure,Magic: The Gathering,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Elementals of Harmony
|
(FiMtG) The only thing standing between Equestria and apocalypse is Ditzy Doo. Yes, really. Stop laughing!
|
complete
| 430 | 14 |
<p>Something is gathering around the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Something dangerous. Something magical. There's only one pony with the knowledge, the skills, and the muffins needed to save Equestria as we know it.<br/>A Friendship is Magic: the Gathering crossover, taking place between seasons 1 and 2. Here there be flashbacks, briefly seen OC's, and possibly every emotion known to man or tiny horse. Abandon all pretenses of not being a nerd, ye who enter here.</p>
|
everyone
|
2012-08-23T16:19:27+00:00
|
2012-08-23T16:19:27+00:00
| 6,237 |
Before the story continues, the author feels that it is important to explain the physiology of the unicorn horn. For the duration of this interlude, he will cede the narrative to a passage from Commodore Guff's seminal work, The Planeswalker's Guide to Ungula, Vol. I: Equestria and Ponies.
The Unicorn Horn
As has been previously noted, Equestria is a notably magical land in an already notably magical plane. You can't swing a cat* inside its borders without hitting three enchanted objects. Oftentimes, one of them is the cat. Still, even in comparison to this high bar, Ungulan unicorns are quite magical in their own right. As with pegasi, unicorns of Ungula are far removed from the more typical specimens sprinkled throughout the Multiverse. As with all subspecies of Equunculus filia, they are as intelligent as humans, with the full range of possible mental faculties that comparison implies. Indeed, in the unicorns' case, there is a slight weighting towards the smarter end of that bell curve, given the unique physiology of their horns.
Unlike that of the larger, less talkative unicorns you are likely more familiar with, an Ungulan unicorn's horn is less like the rack of an elk and more like the horn of a rhinocerous. However, even this comparison falls flat once you look below the surface, both literally and figuratively. The outermost layer of both is composed of keratin, though the unicorn's tends to grow with a gradual curl to it, resulting in the signature spiral fluting.
Beneath the first layer of superstiff hair protein, it's a much different story. While the rhino just has more keratin, the unicorn has the thaumic cortex, a highly specialized nervous organ designed to create and manipulate magical energies. Despite its name, the cortex recapitulates the structure of the entire brain, including the cerebellum minoris, seat of magical "muscle memory", and the cornic lobe, which carries out the behind-the-scenes complexities of spellcasting much as a human child's brain can nigh-instantaneously perform the calculus needed to anticipate the future position of a ball midflight and thus catch it.
Indeed, the thaumic cortex is so complex, it technically qualifies as a second brain in its own right. While it is normally content to manage magical matters, moments of what has been dubbed "extraconscious activity" have been documented. These episodes usually occur during adolescence, as the still-developing cortex, for lack of a better word, experiments. It is possible that the thaumic cortex's constant exposure to self-generated magical radiation gives it some degree of precognition, as these episodes never prove harmful to the young unicorn, and often point him or her in the direction of his or her special talent**.
As of the last time I checked, no connection has been made between extraconscious activity and the slightly higher tendency in unicorns to develop mental disorders when compared to other pony subspecies, particularly dissociative identity disorder.
*Note: Do not swing cats inside Equestria. Not only should you not swing cats on general principle, their owners are far more capable of caving in your skull than the average villager, and explaining away that kind of thing is always awkward for all involved parties.
**See Cutie Marks, p. 262
Telecornesis 1UU
Tribal Enchantment — Unicorn
Other Unicorns you control have "U, T: Tap or untap another target permanent."
Fingers are overrated.
|
FanOfMostEverything
|
1048
| 12 |
Derpy Hooves,Dinky Hooves,Main 6,Original Character,Other,Crossover,Adventure,Magic: The Gathering,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Elementals of Harmony
|
(FiMtG) The only thing standing between Equestria and apocalypse is Ditzy Doo. Yes, really. Stop laughing!
|
complete
| 430 | 14 |
<p>Something is gathering around the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Something dangerous. Something magical. There's only one pony with the knowledge, the skills, and the muffins needed to save Equestria as we know it.<br/>A Friendship is Magic: the Gathering crossover, taking place between seasons 1 and 2. Here there be flashbacks, briefly seen OC's, and possibly every emotion known to man or tiny horse. Abandon all pretenses of not being a nerd, ye who enter here.</p>
|
everyone
|
2012-01-21T21:30:13+00:00
|
2016-07-28T16:38:34+00:00
| 6,392 |
"Everything will be fine, Mommy." Between the creepy assuredness and the blank stare, Ditzy couldn't bear to look at her daughter.
Of course, the rest of the studio was no more inviting. Behind her and on either side there stood a full grown unicorn with a wide selection of incapacitating spells on hoof, ready to take her down if she showed the slightest hint of a second thought. In front of her was the generosity elemental.
It has been said that the greatest curse of blue mana is that its users can never stop thinking. For all of the rage and righteousness she'd been channeling lately, Ditzy Doo was a blue mage at heart, and if asked, she would wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment. Even as she prepared to surrender herself to a being whose very existence was harming reality, she couldn't help but wonder how its facets refracted its own magic into a display of color that outshone any mundane damond. She pondered what it would do after the other two subcrystals found foreheads to call their own. Most of all, she hoped that Pinkie and Luna would be willing and able to do what they had to for the sake of Equestria.
Such morbid thoughts were interrupted by the gem impinging on Ditzy's scalp. However, this didn't halt the thought process, but redirected it. The sensation as it phased through her head was strangely cooling, as though her frontal bone was sucking on a peppermint. Then the tip reached brain matter, and suddenly the peppermint had a lemon center. No, not lemon. Pure electricity. Pure energy. Pure mana of thought and cognition hooked up directly into an ever-increasing number of synapses in her brain, filling every crevasse with a billion thoughtsfromabillionmindsandbringinghermindtospeedsthat'dsurelyoverloaditiftheykeptupmuchlongerbefore
Contact.
Rarity smiled. "Welcome to the herd, dear."
That was more difficult than I anticipated, admitted the elemental. There was an unexpected positive feedback loop that nearly—
Lyra frowned. "Nearly what?"
As if in reply, Ditzy's eyes and crystal "horn" burst forth with beacons of blue radiance like a trio of searchlights. The three unicorns tried to call back the spells that had been on the tips of their horns, but were caught in the mental backwash. So too were the fillies. In an instant, the boutique was filled with azure light and silence.
On a psychic level, there was far more activity. At first, there were countless iterations of the same question: "What just happened?" The answer, delivered calmly and with all the background information needed to understand it, was that Ditzy hadn't known how the generosity elemental's abilities functioned. She had willingly opened herself to it, giving it total access to all of her memories and knowledge on the assumption that it would have access to them anyway. In perusing this data, the elemental had inadvertently opened every mana bond formed over the course of the pegasus's planeswalking. The sheer amount of mana and experience flooded out into the entire gestalt, which left them where they were now.
Like the chorus of an ancient Haylennic drama, the unicorns simultaneously asked, "Well, what all did that?"
That answer was for less expository and far more individualized. The responding party, a mix of generosity elemental and planeswalking pegasus with lines blurred beyond recognition, simply opened its mind to the gestalt as a whole. Obviously, years of memory were a bit much for the average pony mind to take in at once. Instead, each mare subconsciously cherry-picked the bits of greatest personal interest.
Rarity admired a thousand designs, creations by races for whom fashion was a necessity rather than a luxury, but no less of an art for it. Sweetie Belle witnessed a thousand activities that the Crusaders had never even known to consider in their quest for their cutie marks. Trixie beheld a thousand charlatans whose lies and comeuppances both made hers pale in comparison. Dinky appreciated a thousand instances of her mommy being awesome. And Lyra saw humans. Humans everywhere.
The highlight reel of the Multiverse drew to a close, as did the sudden surge in mental communion. Ditzy's eyes were still glowing, but not at search-and-rescue intensities. The other ponies were digesting their new insights and inspirations. Jean, meanwhile, was wrestling with a troubling revelation of its own.
Rarity itched for a sketchbook, but she could feel the crystal's apprehension. "What is it, mon petit bijou?"
I should not exist.
"What!?" The ivory unicorn rushed to the gem's side. "Oh, how could you even say that?" The answer was placed directly into her brain. "Oh..." She bit her lip, scrambling for an excuse. "Girls, help me out here!"
Trixie suddenly found the studio's floorboards fascinating. "I didn't know all the details, but I was told the things were threats to the entire world." Her voice began to crack with shame. "It just felt so nice not to have to be Trixie..."
Lyra gave her a nuzzle. "Hey, hey. You've made a lot of growth. You have nothing to be ashamed of."
The showmare sniffled and gave a reluctant nod. "Thank you." A smile began to form, supported by telepathic encouragements. "Thank you all."
The mint-green unicorn gave a pleased look, but it quickly vanished as she focused on the other matter at hoof. "Don't ask me how I know, but the math all checks out. The only way Jean could exist is if some numbers changed that really, really shouldn't change."
Sweetie Belle was distraught. "But, but..." She shook her head furiously. "It can't be true! Mister Jean is too nice to do something so bad!"
I have no wish to destroy this world, confirmed the elemental. Nevertheless, it is taking place, independent of my volition. There is only one logical recourse.
"But you've given us so much!" wailed Rarity.
Yes, and now I give you the greatest gift I could ever hope to: A future. With that, each crystal planted in a pony's forehead crept its way out, returning to orbit around the main body. Through some lingering magic, everypony understood the generosity elemental's final words. Goodbye, my friends. The spinning jewels slowed and came to a stop. All nine became progressively more transparent, color and substance fading until there was nothing left.
Rarity rushed out of the room, seeking the comforting embrace of her fainting couch. Aside from her anguished sobs, a solemn silence filled the room.
Explaining the situation to Applejack was surprisingly simple, at her own insistence. The conversation went something like this:
"Okay, so here's what's going on—"
"Is it magic?"
"Well, duh. Anyway—"
"Don't care."
"Whuh? But—"
"Pinkie, Ah'm flattered that y' think Ah'll understand all th' mumbo-jumbo yer just itchin' t' tell me, but Ah ain't, an' Ah'm purty sure there's better ways we could be spendin' th' time."
"She's got a point," noted Luna.
"Ugh. Fine. Anyway—" Pinkie interrupted herself with a shudder. "Achey hip, loss of balance, ACID REFLUX!" These last two words were belched.
The alicorn raised an eyebrow at the dishelved pile of pony. "What just happened?"
"Pinkie Sense!" exclaimed the farmhoof. She turned to the prone Pinkie. "Wuzzat one mean, anyhow?"
"I think I know where to find the kindness elemental."
"Wait, how many o' these critters d' we still have left t' take care of?"
"Four. No, wait..." Pinkie peered into the distance. "Three. Kindness, loyalty, and magic."
"How kin ya tell?"
"Do you want the truth, or something you can understand?"
Applejack mulled this over for a bit. "...Both?"
"Good answer! Unfortunately, we don't really have time for either right now. Your Highness, could you find Ditzy?"
Luna nodded. "Certainly."
"Great, 'cause we're probably going to need her." The party pony turned to her fellow Bearer. "Applejack, grab my tail."
The orange mare blinked incredulously. "Beg pardon?"
"Grab my tail! The fate of Equestria depends on it!"
"If you say so..." Applejack hesitantly bit the appendage in question, a curious compromise between pink and poofy and scaled and sinuous.
Once she was satisfied with her friend's grip, Pinkie gave a rousing cry of "ADVENTURE!" and took off in a reddish-orange blur.
Luna's eyes saw the duo soar off, but her mind was miles and millennia away. Pinkie's oracular eructation had reminded her of an ancient coven on earth ponies who had sought to refine their connection with the land into a magic as potent as any unicorn's. The Order of the Transient Crust, as they'd called themselves, saw fate as a tectonic process, slow drifts of destiny reshaping the world, the occasional cataclysm coming with clashes of fate. The greatest among them resonated with the glacial motion of predestination, shaking in sympathy with momentous shocks that travelled backward through the temporal strata. Stories spoke of those who could feel the slightest shift in what would be, forming an odd language of lesser tics that could prognosticate the life-changing and inane with equal likelihood. But the last of the Order had died more than 1,400 years ago... hadn't she?
The princess of night shook herself from her ruminations. This was neither the time nor the place. She made for the building from which she'd sensed a burst of arcane energy not long ago. Even if it didn't hold any of her allies, whoever had caused it could prove an invaluable asset.
The library of Commodore Guff was something like a Library of Congress for the Multiverse, holding a copy of every written work in existence. Of course, being the creation of an eccentric planeswalker (as worrisome a phrase as "insane sphinx"), it was rather more ambitious than that, also containing every work that would be written, was being written, might have been written, and every other tense besides. This meant that, among other things, it had an outstanding selection of Equestrian children's literature.
Pinkie Pie was taking advantage of this fact when a twitch played over her body. Ear flop, eye flutter, sneeze... Once she recovered, she pulled up the notes she'd been keeping on the actions. A wistful smile came to the filly's face as she remembered when her mother had first explained the family's unique gift, but a thrilled gasp chased it away when she found the appropriate entry. The young pony looked in every direction, settled on one that didn't seem especially important, and called, "Mister Guff! Mister Guff!"
The Commodore materialized next to her, having accepted that getting a proper title out of Pinkie was pretty definitely not going to happen. "Yes?"
The eager foal was shaking with excitement, clearly trying to restrain herself from bursting into a bouncing frenzy. She pointed in the not-especially important direction and asked, "Now?"
The bearded planeswalker adjusted his spectacles and peered along the indicated path. After a moment, he nodded to himself. "Yes, indeed. Well done, Pinkie."
"Woohoo!" The filly turned back to where she pointed and gave a wave. "Hello!"
"Now, now," chided Guff, "best to be coy about this sort of thing, dear. Don't want to frighten them off." He paused, a stray thought calling his attention. "Of course, if they've made it this far, they should be used to this sort of thing." He shook his head. "Nevertheless, you need to strike a balance. You shouldn't just pretend that they're not there, but be a bit subtle about it."
Pinkie nodded with all the severity of youth. "Subtle. Right. Can do." She gave a proud grin at the 'walker, but her eyes kept straying towards whatever made that direction unlike all other directions.
The Commodore smiled himself and ruffled her mane. "Don't worry, it comes with practice."
The somber atmosphere lingered for a few minutes. Then a loud thump managed to chase each pony out of her head and back into reality. The unicorns realized that the sound had been Ditzy falling over. One in particular found this realization most distressing. "Mommy, are you okay?"
The pegasus slowly blinked her way back to awareness. "Ugh... feels like I just delivered ten years worth of Hearth's Warming cards..." Dinky had nothing to say to this, simply nuzzling her mother, who gladly reciprocated. "Thanks, Muffin."
"Er..." For once, Trixie found herself the center of attention without enjoying it. "I just wanted to be clear on something." Nopony seemed to object, so she pressed on. "What exactly happened?"
Ditzy gave a bemused grin. "Well, I didn't know how the elemental functioned, so—"
"No, no, that much I got. But what was all that..." She gave a vague hoof gesture, trying to encompass the multidimensional rogue's gallery she'd borne witness to. "That?"
"Oh." Clearly, something managed to be communicated. "Those were memories."
"Yours?" This got a nod. "But... how?"
The pegasus smiled uneasily. "It's... complicated."
"And classified." Everypony looked at Lyra, who seemed much more composed than she was a few minutes ago.
"'Classified'?" Some trace of arrogance fed back into Trixie's voice. "By whose authority?"
The sea-green unicorn was not impressed. The glare she shot at the showmare would've done credit to any member of the Royal Guard. "The Princesses. I trust that that is acceptable?"
"Actually," replied the other mare, ego continuing to resurge, "considering that I am the Royal Librarian of the night shift and the favored pupil of Princess Luna, I'm not sure it is."
By this point, the two began circling one another. Neither horn was lit, but the clash of egos made as heavy an atmosphere as ambient mana had not long ago. "Royal Librarian, you say?" Lyra seemed no more impressed than before.
Trixie tossed her mane. "That's right."
"Security clearance level?"
The blue unicorn almost missed a step at this. Almost. "Prince."
The golden-eyed mare nodded at this and stopped her procession. "I see. I'm sorry, but I cannot allow the dissemination of this information to anypony of less than Luna-level clearance."
"Can you dismemanate why you're being a jerk?"
"Dinky!"
"Well she is!"
Ditzy resisted the urge to facehoof. "Sorry... Lyra, right?" 5 Starting Lane, Ponyville, added her memory.
The other mare gave a smirk. "Really, after the psychic backwash, I'd think you knew everything from my middle name to my shoe size."
The pegasus wing-shrugged. "I'm guessing that you didn't get a complete copy of my memories. What do you think the odds are that I got total recall for five different ponies?"
Lyra nodded. "Fair point. As for Dinky's question, well, as you may have guessed, I'm in the intelligence business."
"You're a spy?" asked the suddenly awestruck filly.
"No, not a spy. Not normally, anyway." She sighed and turned back to Ditzy. "You know, any other time, I'd punch you in the muzzle and make you deal with the paperwork, but if these aren't extenuating circumstances, I don't know what are."
"Excuse me?"
Lyra pressed on. "Of course, if this were any other time, I wouldn't even be involved."
Ditzy frowned. "What are you talking about?"
This got a shake of the head. "Like I said: Classified. I've already told you too much as it is." She sighed again. "This really isn't my department."
"Are you usually this cryptic, or did I catch you on a bad day?"
"A little of both. Part of it's the posthypnotics. My job's so secret, even I don't know about it." She shrugged. "Suffice to say, if and when this situation blows over, expect a visit from the ETSAB."
"The what?"
"You'll see. If you'll excuse me." She walked out of the room before Ditzy could refuse to excuse.
"What's an etsab?" asked Dinky.
"I have no idea, Muffin." Ditzy looked to Trixie. "Do you know anything about this?"
The showmare shook her head. "Your guess is as good as mine."
Lyra walked out of the Boutique, concerns that had been hypnotically buried making themselves known all too well. So distracted by the numerous ways things were going wrong, she very nearly didn't register the alicorn approaching the shop. When she did, she only spared enough thought for a nod and a "Your Highness."
After a moment, Luna smiled and returned the nod. "Agent Heartstrings. What brings you here?"
"Can't talk. Time shenanigans."
The princess frowned. "What about—"
The unicorn only now stopped, and that was because she felt she should finish small talk with royalty before moving out of view. "Both on missions. Defaulted to me. Lots to do. Really need to get going."
"Ah. Don't let me stop—" Lyra had already cantered off. "you."
The device was as Sweetie had left it earlier that morning, a seemingly random assembly of items that nonetheless managed to convey a sense of purpose and potential. Still, its inventor frowned and examined it as though seeing it for the first time. "It's weird," mused the filly. "I remember knowing exactly what to do when I was making it, but not how. Or why." She turned to Ditzy with an expression of concern. "Is that weird?"
The pegasus shook her head. "That's blue magic in action. You get the answers, but not how you got them."
"Like looking at the answers in the back of the book?"
Ditzy nodded. "Exactly. One way or another, most blue spells are a form of cheating." She began to circle the assembly, following the faint lines of inactive mana pathways.
Sweetie realized her tactical error. "I don't do that, of course!"
"Uh-huh..." Ruby, sapphire, emerald...
"And Scootaloo doesn't either!"
"Right." Jet, pearl, diamond...
"And she definitely didn't tell me about them!"
"That's nice." Opal in the middle, and on top... an empty socket? That wasn't quite right. Ditzy grinned. A wave of a hoof, and a delicate bit of dark violet fluttered onto the chrome fixture.
This bit of prestidigitation was enough to interrupt Sweetie Belle's string of incriminatingly specific denials. "What's that?"
"The component you didn't know you needed." With that, the blonde flipped the switch.
The air around the contraption sizzled. The gemstones glowed from within. Something not unlike a heat shimmer formed around the top as the lotus petal crumbled to ash. The sizzle intensified to something between radio static and popping bubble wrap. The color seemed to explode out of the gemstones one by one, leaving cracked, burnt-out husks. Finally, the opal actually did explode, along with the entire device. Chunks were sent flying across the room. Whether by luck or design, nopony was harmed, and only one piece of shrapnel even touched an onlooker; the empty socket, which landed atop Sweetie's head. With an oddly cheery "ding!", a small lump of crystal sprouted from the widget.
The filly took the end product in hoof and frowned at it. "Well that didn't work. So much for my mad science cutie mark."
"Oh I don't know," Ditzy said with a knowing smile. "Give that a little time and it may surprise you."
The young unicorn cast a doubtful look on the rough jewel, barely the size of a wild strawberry. "Well, if you say so..."
"I do." The pegasus gave a start as inspiration struck. "Hey, could you do me one more favor, Sweetie?"
The curly-maned foal nodded eagerly. As far as she was concerned, she'd probably never pay back the mailmare in full.
"Great. Here's what I need..."
Sweetie Belle approached her sister's room cautiously, the older unicorn's sobs echoing down the hall. Her first knock didn't break the melodrama, so she delivered a more vigorous assault on the door.
That did it. "Go away! I want to be alone! I vant to be alone!"
"But you have a commission!"
"I don't deserve a commission! I am filth! Scum! Dross!"
"But the fate of the world depends on it!"
"I'm not worthy of saving the world! I am everything a pony should not be! Equestria ill needs a savior such as I!"
Sweetie sighed. This was far from the first such episode, but it was easily among Rarity's worst. Fortunately, she had a trump card. "Miss Ditzy said she only wants one gemstone!"
This triggered a silence as intense as the sobs before it. Finally, a slow, carefully measured voice came from the other side of the door. "She said what?"
The filly gave a smug smirk. She'd known this would work. "Yup, just the one. Awfully puny little thing, too. It's a good thing she wanted a necklace, or you'd never even know it was there."
"..."
The silence grew ominous and oppressive. Sweetie began to worry. Maybe she'd laid it on a bit too thick? "Sis?"
The door to the boudoir flew open. Rarity strode out, clad in resolve and her designing glasses. "Where is this inconsequential little crystal?" She didn't bother waiting for a response, spotting it in her sister's hoof. The fashionista magically snatched it with a sniff of disdain, then made for her studio. "I shall bring this pathetic trinket to its full, fabulous potential. For Ditzy! For Equestria! For Fashion!"
Sweetie Belle smiled, then glanced at her flank. Nope, no manipulation cutie mark. Oh well. Ditzy might not have asked more of her, but she still had more to do.
As each sister trotted off to fulfill her self-appointed mission, the jewel imperceptibly began to swell.
Apple Bloom knew she was truly desperate for her cutie mark when she asked Granny Smith for help. Oh, the old green mare was nice, no doubt about that, but she just wasn't quite all there anymore.
Of course, the filly had thought that before she learned that the Apple matriarch had a tried and tested method for discovering a pony's special talent. Thus did the two find themselves in the farmhouse kitchen with enough ingredients for virtually every apple-based treat imaginable. Granny gave the supplies a final once-over, followed by a satisfied nod. "Ah reckon that oughtta do it. Y' know what t' do, Smelly Belly?"
The younger pony frowned, hesitant. "Ah think so..."
Her grandmother tsked. "Thinkin's bin yer problem this whole time. Y' shoulda come t' me first thing. Ah've helped more 'n a dozen o' yer aunts, uncles, an' cousins unblank their flanks. Even yer own father, Princess rest his damn fool soul."
"Granny!"
"Aw, it's just us Apples, an' Ah'm older 'n dirt anyhow. Ah've earned the right t' cuss now an' again." She nodded toward the arrayed foodstuffs. "Enough jawin'. Y' got enough there t' make just about every recipe Ah know. Follow yer instincts an ye'll have yer cutie mark faster' 'n ya kin say 'Chancellor Puddin'head.' If y' need somethin' what ain't there, jus' holler an' Ah'll get it to ya."
Apple Bloom forced a smile. "Oh... great."
This coaxed a cackle out of Granny Smith. "Oh, Ah know what yer thinkin'. 'That Granny o' mine'll take forever an' a day t' fetch somethin'.'"
"No, no!"
The old mare ruffled her granddaughter's mane. "Yer a nice filly, Prickly Pear, but y' cain't lie any better 'n yer sister. Now don't y' worry none. When Ah say Ah'll get it, what Ah mean is Ah'll get Big Macintosh t' get it 'less'n 'e wants t' explain t' 'is baby sister why 'e's too busy t' fetch 'er some fancy vittles."
The filly pouted. "Ah ain't no baby!"
Granny smiled knowingly. "Bloom, Ah'm the youngest o' three. T' this day, both o' mah brothers still think o' me as th' baby."
"But yer older 'n dirt!" blurted Apple Bloom.
"An' they're older still. Now, didja wanna gossip with yer Granny, or didja wanna getcher cutie mark?"
The red-maned filly gave a determined grin. "Right!"
Of course, that was when the doorbell rang. Granny Smith sighed. "You git yerself started, Half-Pint. Ah'll go see who it is."
"Okay." As the elder mare arthritically made for the front door, the filly focused on the task before her. Then she hastily backpedaled. Focus was what she'd been doing wrong. According to Granny, her special talent hid in some combination of the items before her. She just had to do what felt right.
For a short while, she simply stood still, clearing her mind as during the abortive attempt to become Cutie Mark Crusader Bodhisattvas. Then, she opened a bag of flour and measured out two generous cups into a bowl, followed by a cup of salt. As she got a cup of water from the faucet, some part of her marveled at how her actions seemed automatic, no conscious thought required. Her body simply knew what it was doing, and Little Miss Fancy Pants up in her penthouse apartment in the skull was finally stepping back and letting it.
"Apple Bloom."
She began to stir in the water, a delicate arrangement of hooves, mouth, cup, and spoon. Once the fluid was all added, she kept going, grinning as she felt the mixture begin to exert resistance.
"Apple Bloom?"
Once her jaw began to ache, she extracted the spoon from the doughy paste, then set it down. She turned back to the bowl, but something had gotten in the way. She tried to reach around it, but it twisted to keep blocking her. The pony snorted in frustration. The pieces were coming together. She could feel the tingling on her flanks. How dare this obstruction stand between her and her destiny?
Oh well. Not like she couldn't fix this.
"Apple Bloom!"
"Huh?" The youngest Apple blinked a few times as her conscious mind eased back into the driver's seat. Then she noticed that she was poised to buck, all of her weight on her front hooves. This position, she quickly realized, was highly unstable, and she was about to fall on her rump. Then she did.
She then became aware of a hoof on her forehead and determined its owner. "Ah don't have a fever, Sweetie Belle."
The unicorn withdrew her foreleg. "Just making sure you were you."
"Well who else would Ah be? And when didja git here, anyhow?"
"Your Granny let me in a couple minutes ago. She said it wouldn't make any difference, 'cause you were 'in the zone'."
"Well Ah didn't expect ya t' holler like the nags o' Nightmare were after ya!" Granny Smith tottered into the kitchen. "Land's sakes, child, they heard that one out in Appleoosa!"
Sweetie scratched at the floorboards. "Sorry I got in your way, Apple Bloom."
The earth filly stopped her friend's moping with a hug. "Nothin' t' worry 'bout. Ah don't want nothin' t' do with no cutie mark what'd make me buck one o' mah best friends in th' face."
"You'da done that t' anypony, Bloom," noted her grandmother.
The young unicorn gasped in horror. "That's horrible."
"Naw, that's just earth ponies," Granny shot back. "When Ah was makin' a pie fer th' first time, Ah trampled both o' my brothers an' did'n' even notice 'til th' dang thing was in the oven." The old mare gave a wicked grin. "Still like t' remind 'em they got licked by a filly half their size now an' again. Keeps 'em in check."
By this point, Sweetie Belle was looking from Apple to Apple with mounting nervousness. Seeing this, Apple Bloom quickly asked, "So why'dja come over, anyhow?"
"Oh, right!" The panic drained out of the unicorn, replaced with pride and purpose. "We're gonna be Cutie Mark Crusader World Savers!"
"World Savers!?" The red-maned filly was practically bouncing with excitement. "How, how?"
"First, we need to find Scootaloo."
Apple Bloom nodded. "Well o' course. Cain't be proper Cutie Mark Crusader World Savers 'less'n all three of us 're savin' it. C'mon!"
As the two fillies raced out of the house, Granny Smith shook her head and smiled. Ah, youth. Then she sampled the dough her granddaughter had been working on and frowned perplexedly. "What on Celestia's green earth?"
Scootaloo was having the time of her life. How could she not? She was flying with Rainbow Dash! Okay, technically she wasn't flying under her own power, and maybe Dash wasn't participating in an entirely voluntary sense, but still! Flying! With Rainbow Dash!
Besides, Scoot had perfect control over her flight. Her bond with the loyalty elemental was so close and on such a fundamental level, the living cloud was like an extension of her own body. The manepin turns, the high-G corkscrews, the death-defying dives, it was all just like she'd imagined!
It was all just too exciting. The filly had to shout something. "Hey Dash, I—" She cut herself off. "Where is she?"
Something nudged the elemental in the back. It spun, crackling with energy, but Scootaloo calmed it down with a few judicious head pats. "Hay now, it's okay." The orange foal turned towards the newcomer. "Sorry, my friend here kinda has a hair..." She trailed off as the situation finally registered in her mana-addled brain. "Trigger?"
The duo had apparently bumped into a cloud. Not a living haze of passion and trust, but a puff of water vapor of the sort Cloudsdale cranked out by the dozens. Nonplussed, the young pegasus shrugged. "Huh. That was weird. Well, let's go find Dash."
The elemental gave a thunderous agreement, and the two stormed off. Meanwhile, the cloud supressed a giggle. Who would've thought a fillyhood guilty pleasure would throw stalkers off her trail? She'd have to remember this once she got into the Wonderbolts. Darn ponyrazzi.
Still, for now, Dash could relax. She guided her disguise in a different direction than the one her devotees had taken. Whether through whimsy or exhausted confusion, she whispered, "Beep beep, I'm a cloud."
The clash over the kindness elemental was a study in contrasts. Angel Bunny fought conservatively, relying on agility, resilience, and judicious, prudent thrusts of his lance. Screwball, meanwhile, was a dervish of flailing limbs, flagrant non sequitur, and the sort of maneuvers that would be expected from an overcaffeinated hummingbird. The glowing grub contentedly watched the battle, incapable of understanding either party's hostility (or, indeed, hostility at all.)
Fluttershy wasn't so lucky. She loathed conflict, yet was silently berating herself for asking the rabbit who was almost a son to her to fight in her place. It was always like this. She knew that nature wasn't always cute and cuddly, much as she wished otherwise, and Angel had always been the one upon whom she foisted the duties she simply couldn't bear to do herself. She supposed it wasn't that often, and she could at least hypothetically manage in a pinch, but more often than not, it was Angel to her rescue. Now he was even putting his life on the line simply because she didn't have the stomach to get her own hooves dirty.
No. This would not stand. She was a strong, independent pegasus, and she would assert herself. She would take control of this situation. For Angel's sake. For Eric's sake. For her own sake. She felt the Stare itching to crease itself across her face. The voice of undeniable authority welled in her breast. She took a firm, decisive step towards the fray and—
"Fluttershy! Oh, thank Celestia yer alright!"
Promptly recieved a Pinkie Pie-grade tacklehug from Applejack of all ponies. Biting back a disappointed sigh, the pink-maned mare answered, "Of course I am. It's Angel I'm worried about."
"Angel? Well, where is th' li'l rascal?"
The look Fluttershy gave to this spoke so many volumes, it could've easily contained the complete adventures of Fetlock Holmes. Not trusting her tongue, she simply pointed.
The farmhoof looked and took several seconds to take in the scene before her. "Ah'm guessin' he ain't that big ol' worm."
The pegasus nodded. "He also isn't that strange, horrible, pony-shaped creature."
"Jus' b'tween you an' me, sugarcube, Ah'd watch what Ah'd say 'bout that there pony-shaped creature. Ah dunno th' details, but she's Pinkie's friend."
"Oh. Well, I'm sure she has a lovely personality for an affront to all that should be."
Applejack raised an eyebrow at this. "Uh, Shy? Y' sure yer feelin' okay?"
"I'm fine, really." She glanced at Screwball again, then gasped in horror.
"What is i— Oh, mah stars..."
The pink and purple pony lay impaled before them, Angel's lance emerging from her chest. The runes chewed into the carrot emitted a brilliant radiance that was visibly eating away at the thing of chaos. She looked at the stunned ponies and gave a sad smile. "Hello, Superman. Hello."
With that, she vanished.
Archangel Bunny 4GW
Legendary Creature — Angel Rabbit
Flying, first strike, trample
(gw): Target Pony, Pegasus, or Unicorn is indestructible this turn.
Bunnies don't fear the reaper.
4/4
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FanOfMostEverything
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1048
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Derpy Hooves,Dinky Hooves,Main 6,Original Character,Other,Crossover,Adventure,Magic: The Gathering,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Elementals of Harmony
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(FiMtG) The only thing standing between Equestria and apocalypse is Ditzy Doo. Yes, really. Stop laughing!
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complete
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<p>Something is gathering around the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Something dangerous. Something magical. There's only one pony with the knowledge, the skills, and the muffins needed to save Equestria as we know it.<br/>A Friendship is Magic: the Gathering crossover, taking place between seasons 1 and 2. Here there be flashbacks, briefly seen OC's, and possibly every emotion known to man or tiny horse. Abandon all pretenses of not being a nerd, ye who enter here.</p>
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everyone
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2012-02-01T14:46:30+00:00
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2021-03-20T02:27:46+00:00
| 5,698 |
"Trixie?" Ditzy entered the Boutique's foyer and moved to the moping showmare's side. "You okay?"
The unicorn sighed. "Okay? I haven't been 'okay' since I tried to single-hoofedly take down a rogue constellation." She smiled reluctantly. "But I admit, I am doing better."
"Feeling up to saving the world?"
Trixie laughed at the absurdity. "I don't know if I'm up to saving myself." She looked at the pegasus with a strange blend of wonder, confusion and loathing. "Why are you even bothering with me? I must seem like another has-been blowhard to you."
"Anything but." Ditzy nudged the other mare's temple. "We've been in each other's heads. You can't just dismiss that kind of connection. Besides—" She realized where her thoughts were leading her and stopped voicing them.
The abrupt halt didn't escape the performer's notice. "Besides?"
The blonde impressively avoided eye contact. "Nothing. Slip of the tongue."
Nopony got a magic-oriented cutie mark without a degree of curiosity that at least bordered on the unhealthy. "Oh, come on. It's hardly fair if I'm the only one airing out her dirty laundry."
Ditzy absently scratched at the floorboards. "Well, it's just that you kind of remind me of Dinky's father."
"Oh?"
Grey-haired cheeks waxed rosy. "Not like that! I mean, you're a lovely mare, but I—"
Trixie shook with barely restrained laughter. "Nopony's calling you a filly fooler, Ditzy. What was he like?"
The blush faded as the pegasus turned wistful. "Proud. Driven. Stubborn as any two mules you'd care to name."
The unicorn adopted a similarly distant look. "Purple unicorn? Question-mark-in-a-postmark cutie mark?"
"H-how did you?"
"As you said, we've been in each other's heads. He featured rather prominently in those few bits that weren't about liars and cheats."
A chill played down Ditzy's spine. "So you saw—?"
A nod. "I'm sorry. It sounds terribly inadequate, but I am."
"I've... come to terms with it. It was a long time ago."
Countless hours spent before mirrors helped the showpony identify the signs of restrained grief. "But you still miss him." This got a sniffling nod in response. "Would you like a hug?" Another nod.
Thus, when Luna entered the shop, she saw her two lieutenants in a tearful embrace. "I do hope I'm not interrupting anything."
The ponies flew apart. "Y-your Highness!" Trixie half-shrieked. "How long have You been there?"
"I just came in." As the co-commiserators gave sighs of relief, the princess's gaze turned to the dorrway that led into the kitchen. "How about you, Dinky?"
As the mares tensed anew, the filly, subdued, moved into view. "I was there the whole time. Sorry, Mommy. Sorry, Miss Trixie."
The other unicorn coughed in a belated attempt to affect nonchalance. "No harm done. Right, Ditzy?"
The mailmare nodded her agreement. "You didn't do anything wrong, Muffin."
"Well," Luna said stridently, "if we're all clear of guilt and awkwardness, there's another elemental to stop."
"Where?" cried Trixie.
The night princess began to answer, then stumbled upon an unpleasant obstacle. "I don't know. Pinkie Pie detected it... somehow, and she never gave the specifics."
"I think I've found it." Ditzy's eyes were faintly aglow with blue light.
"And how do you know?" asked the alicorn, silently wondering at the peculiarly perspicacious powers of Ponyvillians.
"I made probes to find each of the elementals shortly after you brought us here. In fact..." A moment's thought, and one of the blue-and-gold spheres drifted into view. Its summoner turned to it and had a wry grin. "There you are. Where were you during that whole hostage situation?"
The magical orb refocused on her. It bobbed up and down, as if to ask, "And what could I have done?"
"Point," Ditzy conceded. "In any case, I checked with the others, and one has found something suspicious. Pinkie's creature is near it, so that supports the theory."
Princess and student looked at one another, then at the pegasus. As one, they repeated, "'Pinkie's creature'?"
"Yeah. Apparently she's also a spellcaster." The planeswalker wing-shrugged.
Luna disbelievingly shook her head. "At this rate, my sister's academy is going to be accused of unfair discrimination. Still, that is neither here nor there. We must make haste. Ditzy Doo, lead the way."
"Of course, Your Majesty."
"Go without me," said Trixie.
The mailmare was incredulous. "What? Why?"
"It's simple," reasoned the performer. "The two of you can fly, and if you and this Pinkie pony can't prevail against this thing, then I don't see how I can help. If you go by air, you'll get there much faster than if you had to compensate for me."
"But what will you do?" Luna inquired.
"I'll keep an eye on Twilight Sparkle." Trixie raised a hoof to hold off any interrupting objections. "This isn't about rivalry. Celestia Herself said that Magic would form the most dangerous elemental. If we have somepony keeping watch on it, we won't be taken by surprise when it finally shows itself."
The princess of night considered this for a moment. "Can you keep us abreast of any developments?"
The blue unicorn nodded. "Speedy Service's Instantaneous Notification."
"Very well, then." Her mentor's expression softened a bit. "Good luck."
Trixie gave the biggest, most sincere smile Ditzy had ever seen on her. "Thank you, Princess." She galloped off.
Luna turned her gaze to the pegasus. "Shall we?"
The grey mare nodded. "Right." She turned to Dinky. "Please, Muffin. Stay here. Stay safe." With that, she took flight.
The princess prepared to follow suit when she felt a tug at her rump. Turning, she saw that her tail was caught in somepony. "Yes, Dinky?"
The filly released the starstuff and gave the moon deity a deadly serious look. "I need to come with you."
Luna struggled to hold back a smile. She didn't want to patronize the girl, but she was simply too precious! Adoration safely dammed behind royal dignity, she asked, "And why is that?"
"Because if I don't, you'll have to invoke the heat death of the universe twice in one day."
The alicorn was no longer worried about betraying affection towards the young unicorn. Naked astonishment, on the other hoof, was on full display. She knelt. "Climb on. Quickly, before your mother notices. And tell nopony how you convinced me."
Once he'd come to terms with his student's equine nature (and was assured that she bore him none of her patron's ill will,) Jace Beleren proved to be an excellent teacher, primarily because direct mind-to-mind interaction removes most of the profession's hurdles. He had the added benefits of a reclusive reputation and an extremely competent assistant, allowing him to spend a few weeks away from leadership of the Infinite Consortium with none the wiser.
The curriculum for that period was a crash course in most of blue magic: illusion, divination, air and water manipulation, and of course, psychomancy. At the mind mage's insistence, he would only introduce these disciplines. "If you can take the basic principles and create something new," he explained at the beginning of the tutelage, "then you're exponentially more capable and versatile than someone who just blindly imitates others."
Of course, it wasn't all smooth soaring. Telekinesis was by far the hardest technique for Ditzy to master, frustrating her until Jace had offered to examine the problem firsthand. "What do you mean?" asked the pegasus.
"You've had no trouble getting other, more complicated spells to work for you," the human noted. "I suspect that the issue here is a mental block."
The adolescent pony considered this. "Well, I guess it's okay, but be careful. I don't want Tezzeret to storm in on my account."
The mind mage grinned, still relieved that the Esperite's grudge remained his alone. "Trust me, neither do I."
The mental scan showed that she had subconsciously filed telekinesis as "unicorn magic," and therefore as something she couldn't do. Jace had actually laughed after explaining this.
"What!?" Ditzy demanded, cheeks flushed.
The human collected himself. "Sorry, it's just sort of adorably naive." Seeing that this didn't improve the pony's mood, he continued. "Ditzy, I've worked with a fairly considerable number of planeswalkers at this point, and I've found exactly one thing they all have in common. Do you know what that is?"
She shrugged, eyes on the floor. "How should I know? I'm too adorably naive."
Jace sighed and rubbed his temples. "Please, Ditzy. This is important."
"So tell me."
"A planeswalker has unparalleled magical capability. Any spell you can find, you can learn. Any creature you encounter, you can summon. Any device you come across, you can recreate. The only things stopping you are figuring out how and getting the mana needed once you do."
"Oh." The pony came out of her snit once she understood. "So being a pegasus doesn't matter."
He nodded. "Exactly. You think every human can use magic?"
"Wha..." The mare's eyes were wide with shock. "You mean they can't?"
Her teacher shook his head and smiled. "Adorably naive."
"It. Is. Complete!" Rarity emerged triumphant, her latest masterpiece in tow.
"What is?"
The ivory unicorn had had her eyes closed as she'd exulted in her accomplishment. Now she opened them to discover a curious dragon. She felt the smoldering beginnings of a blush. "Ah, I, uh, didn't realize I had an audience." A realization interrupted Rarity's embarrassment. "Spike, I must apologize for my deplorable behavior earlier. I wasn't in my right mind."
He gave a dismissive wave. "It's fine Rarity. I don't mind."
"You don't mind that you were magically bound, gagged, and stuffed in a closet?"
"Heck, no!" Spike licked his chops. "That binding spell was like a big glowing rope of saltwater taffy!"
"Really? You don't say?" The designer shook herself. "I'm sorry, darling, but this isn't the time to discuss your newfound taste for magic." She hefted her work. "I need to take this to Ditzy Doo. Apparently, the fate of Equestria depends on it."
Her admirer's eyes widened. "Wow, I can see why! Just look at it."
The necklace itself was finely wrought gold, a series of interconnected segments that were rather too long to be a proper chain. Dangling from this loop was a setting that, between material and form, seemed devoted to inspiring puns about "gold leaf." And in that setting was a clear, scintillating jewel the shape of a teardrop and the size of Spike's thumb.
Rarity hummed contentedly. "Fabulous, isn't it? You can imagine my surprise when I realized that the jewel was noticeably growing, but I was able to— Oh, I'm getting sidetracked again!" She looked up and down the hallway. "Where is Ditzy?"
The dragon shrugged. "I haven't seen anypony else here."
"Oh dear. I suppose I'll have to go hunt her down, as it were."
Spike grinned eagerly. "I'll do it!"
The fashionista gave a melancholy smile. "Spike, you're a sweetheart, really." The smile became rather forced. "...but you're also drooling."
"Huh?" He wiped at his chin, then fixed the most serious look he could muster on his beloved. "Milady, I promise you that I will ensure that this treasure reaches its destination whole and uneaten." The hatchling puffed out his chest. "I swear upon my honor as a courier of Canterlot!"
Adorably charming as this display was, Rarity still had her doubts. She hesitated for a moment as she composed a compromise. "How about this? We go together. I would assume that you don't know where she went, correct?"
"Yes. Uh, no. That is, yes, you're correct, and no, I don't."
"Well, neither do I. Let's go find her together, shall we?"
"Iff heffeh!" Spike realized then that his face was locked in a massive grin. As such, he nodded instead.
"Wonderful. I'll just get my saddlebags." As the unicorn went to do just that, a question came to her. "Spike?"
"Ehf?"
"How exactly did you get out of that closet?"
Well, there went the grin. "Well... I've got good news and bad news."
Dread began to settle around Rarity like an unwelcome stole. "What's the good news?"
The young dragon puffed up with pride. "I haven't lost any of my accuracy or finesse with my firebreathing."
The designer felt her features slide into a very familiar expression. It was one she thought of as "Sweetie Belle, what did you do?" "And the bad news?"
Spike deflated at this question. "Oh. That. You're gonna need a new door for that closet."
The two ponies' attempts to gather their wits after the morbid sight of an impaled equinoid were interrupted by an aguished, increasingly high-pitched scream. Pinkie pounced on Angel and began shaking him by his vine-covered little shoulders. "What did you do? What did you do!?"
The rabbit, agitated in every sense of the word, gave her the flat silent look that even ponies understood to mean "Bitch, please."
"Don't you take that kind of tone with me, Mister! I dema—"
"Pinkie." Fluttershy spoke no more loudly than usual, but the name cut through its owner's rant like Damustang steel through very angry butter. All eyes turned to the pegasus. She didn't even flinch. "Enough."
The party pony hesitated, but along with the strength, breath, and wings of a dragon, she'd also adopted its temperament. "'Enough?' 'Enough!?' When my Pinkie Sense came out of dormancy to tell me one of my summons was being attacked with holy magic, I'd assumed it was the kindness elemental, with you caught in the crossfire! Instead, she got taken out by a bunny! I was out of my mind with worry over nothing! So I will tell you when I—"
"Enough." The pink-maned mare reinforced this reiteration with a Stare that could scratch diamond, or at the very least make it apologize for being so expensive.
The enchanted earth pony met the gaze head on – and immediately regretted it. Her knees buckled. Her rage imploded. Her mind could not focus on anything beyond her own guilt and failure as a pony. She didn't even notice when her draconic enhancement abruptly vanished in a cloud of rust-colored smoke.
A sensation interrupted the guilt trip. With a start, Pinkie realized that Fluttershy was hugging her. Sniffling, the party pony returned the embrace as her expression returned to a smile. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy."
"It's okay."
"I was just so worried, and you were never in any danger, and all that emotion had to go somewhere, and Screwball was my friend, and—"
"Everything's going to be fine, Pinkie. Although we are going to have to talk about summoning abominations."
"Only if Twilight has to listen to it too." The two shared a laugh at this.
As the friends stood, the poofy-maned mare turned to Screwball's slayer. "Angel, you're still a lousy, rotten, no-good team killer."
The lagomath shrugged. He honestly didn't give a hump about the pink maniac's opinion of him. (And when a rabbit doesn't...)
Applejack cut through the warm fuzzies. "Girls, this is sweet an' all, but ain't ya forgettin' somethin'?"
Pinkie gasped in realization. "We still have to destroy the kindness elemental!"
Fluttershy gave her own more horrified gasp. "D-destroy? Why would anypony need to do something so terrible?"
"'Cause it ain't o' this world, 'Shy," explained Applejack, "an' th' longer it stays, th' more harm it does." She gave the pegasus a wry nudge. "Ah figgered this'd be right up yer alley, what with all that talk 'bout 'bominations."
"But... I'd never... It-it must..." One look in their eyes, and the gentle mare wilted against her friends' resolve. She trusted Applejack on most matters, and trying to change her mind was nearly impossible in any case. "All right. I can't stop you."
The orange mare spared a sympathetic look. "Ah'm sorry, Fluttershy. Ah know it sounds cruel, but sometimes there ain't nothin' y' kin do but put 'em outta their misery."
Upon seeing her friend's nod, Applejack joined Pinkie, who'd been scrutinizing the giant glowworm. The farmhoof sighed. "Ah shoulda known 'Shy'd get upset soon as Ah saw she was here. Any way we kin do this quick an' clean?"
"Hmm..." The party pony tapped her chin. "Hard to say. Most of what I've got on hoof won't even scratch it."
"Well what will?"
Pinkie grimaced. "It'll take a while, and it won't be pretty. By the time we'd be done, Flutters'd be scarred for life and the universe might have fallen apart in the meantime."
By this point, horror finished penetrating the pegasus's disbelief. "You... you're both talking about Eric?"
The earth ponies glanced at each other. "Toldja it weren't weird t' name 'em."
The balloon-flanked mare shrugged and turned back to her gentle friend. "Fluttershy—"
"How could you even think about such a thing? He wouldn't even think about doing harm!"
"He doesn't have to. Simply existing is enough."
All three turned. All three spoke. "Ditzy?"
"How's Dinky?" added Pinkie.
"I'm fine!"
This prompted another synchronized head turn. The reactions, however, deviated from one another. Applejack was relieved. Pinkie Pie was excited. Ditzy was less than pleased. Fluttershy's brain had stopped. "P-p-p-p-p..."
The freckled mare shook her head. "'Ere we go again. C'mon, Fluttershy, git it outta yer system."
As Ditzy dragged her daughter by the tail for a stern maternal lecture, the pink-maned pony prostrated herself before Dinky's ride.
Luna smiled at her subjects' antics, though she became rather uncertain once she noticed the shaking. "Fluttershy, please, you may rise."
She did, though she kept her head down. On the edge of hearing, there was something that might be interpreted as "Thank you, Your Highness."
Pinkie nudged the shrinking posey. "C'mon, Flutters! Luna doesn't want you to be afraid of her, she wants you to be her friend!"
The princess nodded emphatically. "I've had more than my fill of fear. Please, Fluttershy. You helped save me from an eternity of solitude and insanity. Will you accept my thanks? My friendship?"
The butter-coated pegasus was silent, but her mind raced. Her gaze darted about desperately, finally settling on the first thing that gave her a degree of confidence: Angel Bunny. With a good-natured leporine sigh, he lighted on the alicorn's back and nodded encouragingly. This settled the matter for her. "O... okay." Fluttershy hesitantly looked into Luna's eyes, hesitantly smiled, and offered her hoof for a friendly shake. Hesitantly.
Then there came a tremendous flash from behind the pegasus, prompting a piercing "Eep!" and a standing takeoff. The other three looked up. Luna gave a weary smile. "I'll get her. Maybe it will help her see past the tiara."
"An' yer the only one who kin fly," observed Applejack.
Pinkie shook her head. "There's Ditzy."
"Yes, there is," noted the pegasus in question, walking up from behind the earth ponies. She looked up as well. "In any case, somepony really needs to find Fluttershy."
Luna spread her wings. "I believe the proper modern expression is 'I called dibs.'" With that, she took flight.
Pinkie turned to her fellow planeswalker. "So, what was that big flash?"
Dinky hopped after her mother, cheerfully singing the answer. "I beat the monster! I beat the monster!"
"WHAT!?" Both earth ponies looked from mother to daughter.
Ditzy grinned and ruffled her foal's mane. "It's true, she did." She ruffled rather more aggressively and spoke through clenched teeth. "Of course, she completely disobeyed her mother in doing so!"
"Sorry sorry sorry!" cried the young unicorn, on the edge of laughter, tears, or possibly both.
"How'd you do it?" the party pony asked eagerly.
Dinky, still flush with triumph even after the chastising noogie, stood proudly as she proclaimed the secret to her conquest: "I asked."
Applejack quirked an eyebrow. "Beg pardon?"
"She did." Ditzy looked skyward and frowned. "I'd like to only have to tell this the one time, but Fluttershy is apparently proving elusive."
Pinkie squirmed like she was performing the Dance of the Overfull Bladder. "Oh, tell me, tell me! I hate suspense!"
The grey pegasus gave her a flat look. "This from the pony who refuses to elaborate on falling through a time rift as a foal."
"Okay, fine, I'm a hypocrite. Now tell meeee!"
Ditzy smiled in spite of herself. "Well, since you asked so nicely."
Ditzy might have been angry with her daughter, but that didn't mean she wanted to embarrass her in front of royalty. As such, she dragged Dinky away from the others before lambasting her. "What do you think you're doing here, young mare?"
"But Mommy, I—"
"Don't you 'but Mommy' me, Dinkabeth Sharuum Doo. I have told you twice now to stay safe and not try to stop these things yourself, and what do I find you doing?"
The foal kept her gaze to the ground and muttered, "Going after the monsters myself."
Mother embraced daughter. "I just got you back, you naughty little muffin. Don't make me worry about losing you again."
Dinky returned the hug. "You never lost me, Mommy. I knew what I was doing the whole time."
The pegasus stiffened. "What." She released her child and looked at her as though she'd sprouted arms. "Dinky, please do your poor old mother a favor and explain."
"When the monster tried to get me, it messed up. I could think out, but nopony else could think in. They didn't even notice when I was thinking with their brains. With what I knew and so many smarts to work with, I was able to figure out the best way to save everypony!" The young unicorn grinned. "I told you everything would be fine."
Ditzy took this in with an unreadable expression, a roil of conflicting emotions leaving her face neutral territory. Finally, the stalemate broke with a chuckle. "I guess you did. Still, mommies can't help but worry. She gave her head a shake. "In any case, you still haven't told me why you followed me specifically after I told you not to."
"Because I know how to beat this one, too!"
The mailpony raised an eyebrow. "Oh? How?"
Dinky shook her head. "Nuh-uh. You'll think it's silly and you won't let me."
Ditzy sighed. She almost immediately spotted the giant glowworm and pointed at it. "Well, it seems harmless enough. Why don't we go over and you can demonstrate."
"Really?"
The bubble-flanked mare nodded. "Really. But the second I think you're in danger, I'm pulling you out of there and I'm not stopping until we're at Aunt Carrot's. Deal?"
"Deal."
Once they covered the short distance to the elemental, both just took in its sheer immensity for a moment. Granted, the impact of its enormity was somewhat lessened by its dopey grin. Once the moment of awe had passed, Ditzy motioned towards the larval lummox with a flourish. "Whenever you're ready."
Dinky gulped, then moved a bit closer. "Um, Mister Monster?"
The behemoth focused on her and gave a polite smile the width of a market stall.
"W-well, I was just wondering, if it's okay with you, could you please go away so the world doesn't break 'cause of how you're not supposed to be here? Pretty please with muffins on top?"
The kindness elemental's thought processes were simplistic, bordering on infantile. However, one salient point in the request did not escape its notice:
She said "please."
After a coo of assent, the immense inchworm screwed its eyes shut and puffed out its cheeks in concentration. Its ambient glow doubled and redoubled, intensifying until the ponies had to avert their eyes. Just as Ditzy was about to grab her daughter and head for the hills, it vanished in the dazzling but harmless spectacle that sent Fluttershy racing for the stratosphere.
The earth ponies digested this revelation for a short while. Finally, Applejack disbelievingly drawled, "That's all y' had t' do? Jest ask it polite-like?"
Dinky nodded enthusiastically. "It was even nicer than the one at Miss Rarity's house!"
The farmhoof gave a chuckle. "Well, Ah guess if it'd work on Fluttershy, it'd work on 'er Element." She looked up. "Speakin' of, where has that pony gotten off to?"
As if on cue, Luna descended with Fluttershy in her forehooves. Unexpectedly for the hypothetical choreographer, they were not the only ones making a landing.
"Dashie!" Pinkie Pie wasted no time greeting the tomcolt. "Wow, I haven't seen you all day! Of course, it is still morning, but you usually sleep through most of the morning, so getting to see you this early is even better than just getting to see you! And boy, you would not believe the day I've been having. I mean, for one, you'll never guess what woke me up this morning. Go on, guess!" The poofy-maned mare bounced on her hooves for a moment before she realized that her friend hadn't even expressed unwillingness to play. She leaned closer. "Hay, are you okay?"
"No, Pinkie, I am not okay." Dash certainly didn't look okay. She was soaked with sweat and swaying on the verge of collapse. Her wings were still spread, and she winced as she folded them. "This thing has been chasing me since before sunrise. I. Am. Freaking. Exhausted. Right now, I don't want to do anything but lie down and sleep for a week." With that, she slumped to the ground, apparently intent on just that.
"What're y' runnin' from?" asked Applejack.
There was a distant thunderclap, quite out of place on such a clear day. Rainbow Dash raised a hoof to the heavens and simply said, "That."
The thunder lessened, but maintained a continuous rumble. A young voice could be discerned against it though its words could not.
Fluttershy looked to the sky anxiously. "W-what is... 'that'?"
The voice became clearer. It was shouting a most peculiar battle cry.
"That," uttered Dash, "is my fanclub."
The battle cry was as follows: "Daaaash! We're! Going! To love you!"
"Brace yourselves," sighed the worn out pegasus. "Scootaloo is coming."
Call from Arms 4W
Sorcery
Call from Arms cost 3 less to cast if it targets a white creature.
Exile target creature.
Peace works best on the already gentle.
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FanOfMostEverything
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1048
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Derpy Hooves,Dinky Hooves,Main 6,Original Character,Other,Crossover,Adventure,Magic: The Gathering,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Elementals of Harmony
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(FiMtG) The only thing standing between Equestria and apocalypse is Ditzy Doo. Yes, really. Stop laughing!
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complete
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<p>Something is gathering around the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Something dangerous. Something magical. There's only one pony with the knowledge, the skills, and the muffins needed to save Equestria as we know it.<br/>A Friendship is Magic: the Gathering crossover, taking place between seasons 1 and 2. Here there be flashbacks, briefly seen OC's, and possibly every emotion known to man or tiny horse. Abandon all pretenses of not being a nerd, ye who enter here.</p>
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everyone
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2012-02-16T02:36:53+00:00
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2019-11-13T11:48:25+00:00
| 6,346 |
For a time, everypony just stood (or, in Dash's case, sat,) and stared at the coming storm. Luna broke out of the reverie first. "Ditzy. Pinkie. To me."
The command was enough to break the proverbial spell. As the planeswalkers attended the princess, the others were free to worry amongst themselves. "So Dash," said Applejack, "Y've bin tanglin' wi' this thing al mornin'. What kin y' tell us?"
The prone pegasus gave an impatient sigh. "What's to tell? It can match me move for move and it's as obsessed as Scootaloo. Aside from that, who knows?"
"Hay, Ah'm jest askin' so we know what t' expect."
"Sorry," grumbled Dash, "I didn't know I was supposed to be taking notes. I've been trying to get away from the thing."
"Why?" Both mares turned to Fluttershy, who flinched a bit at the attention. "If you don't mind me asking, of course..."
The other pegasus looked at her incredulously. "Because it's a living thundercloud with griffin claws and eyes of rainbow fire. Why wouldn't I want to get away from it?"
"Well," noted the gentle pony, "you work with thunderclouds on a regular basis, once of your oldest friends is a griffin, and I've seen you leave trails of rainbow fire, so I guess I don't really see the... problem..." Fluttershy trailed off. "Sorry."
Applejack nodded at this assessment. "She's got a point, Rainbow. What's th' rest o' th' story?"
Dash's gaze was firmly on the ground. "Nothing. It's just weird seeing all of that put together." She fluffed up her wings, a sign of unspoken agitation.
The farmer sighed. Looked like she'd have to resort to Twenty Questions. "So it ain't 'cause it's as good a flier as you?"
"No."
"Because it feels inexplicably yet undeniably wrong?" offered Fluttershy.
"No."
"Because you're scared?"
All three looked to Dinky, her expression sympathetic. Dash bristled at the accusation. "I am not scared!"
Applejack quirked an eyebrow. "Y' sure 'bout that, sugarcube? Y've bin runnin' from it all day."
"That doesn't mean I'm scared!"
"Then what does it mean, Rainbow?" sighed the orange mare.
"It means... it means..." The polychromatic pegasus's eyes darted every which way as she sought an excuse. Finally, she slumped even more than before, stubbornly grousing, "I don't know what it means. But I'm not scared!"
"DAAAASH!" By some trick of acoustics, Scootaloo's call was supplemented with a resonant thunderclap that made it sound like the summons of an angry god. Or worse, an amorous one.
"Okay, okay, I'm scared!" Dash swept a hoof at the tempestuous force calling her name. "But can you blame me? What the hay do I do about something like that?"
"Well," mused Applejack, "y' could ask it t' go away."
"Excuse me?"
The farmer shrugged. "Worked fer Fluttershy's critter."
The blue mare turned to her old classmate. "Seriously?"
"Well, that is, it's just what I heard afterwards..."
Dinky filled in for the awkward pegasus. "Uh huh! I asked it and I said please and poof! No more nice monster worm."
"Caterpillar," the pink-maned pony gently corrected.
"Right, no more nice caterpillar worm."
Dash gave this a moment's thought. "Well, I guess it couldn't hurt..."
"Glad y' came t' a decision," called Applejack, "'cause it's darn near here!" Indeed, the elemental was descending upon the ponies, a bank of mundane clouds following in its wake like a king's courtiers.
Luna also noticed its approach. "As we discussed, my little ponies."
Ditzy and Pinkie nodded and gave a synchronized cry of "Right!"
"Hey! Tall, dark, and crackling!"
Pinkie's smile was an optimistic island in a sea of surprise. "Wow, that plan lasted for way longer than I thought it would!"
Everypony ignored her, as did the loyalty elemental. All eyes were on Rainbow Dash, standing tall, proud, and very definitely not going to collapse the moment she unlocked her legs, thank you very much. "Yeah, I'm talking to you!"
"Remember now, Rainbow," hissed Applejack, "y' gotta be polite!"
"Yeah, yeah." The pegasus kept her attention on the puffy entity. "So, um, hi there."
To much astonishment, it waved. "She said 'hi'!" gushed Scootaloo.
Dash gave an awkward chuckle. "Um, yeah. Listen, I appreciate that you want to hang out with me and all, but honestly? You're kinda freaking me out here."
Ditzy turned to Pinkie. "Is she—?"
"I mean, I can't fault you for taste..."
The poofy pony gave a nervous nod. "She is."
"...but could you give me some space? Please?"
As one, the planeswalkers sighed. "We're doomed."
"Why?" asked Luna.
For several seconds, the elemental simply floated there, working with a thought process even simpler than that of its grubby cousin. Still, what it lacked in sophistication, it made up for in speed, and it came to a conclusion in short order. It announced this arrival with a scream.
This scream was not one of the thunderous sounds with which the creature had expressed itself before. It was the shriek of tortured air in the pressure waves just before a sonic boom, the whine of a dynamo on the point of overload, the wail of a lover mourning the loss of a soulmate. Over this cacophony, Pinkie shouted to the moon princess, "That's why!"
Chandra Nalaar, planeswalker, pyromancer prodigy, and natural redhead, opened the door of the monastery. "Can I help you?" She rather doubted she could. The girl – still in the middle of puberty by the look of her – didn't resemble the usual sort of visitor in the least. The sincere smile, the casual stance, the unassuming air, it all spoke of someone who was either unfamiliar with the realities of life or one skilled enough to get away with feigning that ignorance. Going by youth alone, the pyromancer found the prospect of the latter unlikely at best.
"Hi," the girl said brightly. "I was hoping to study here for a while, broaden my horizons a bit."
"Uh huh." Honestly, who said "broaden my horizons" and meant it?
"Say," said the youth, "you wouldn't happen to be Chandra, would you?"
This cracked the cold shoulder routine. "You've heard of me?"
The thin blonde nodded. "I'm a student of a friend of yours. Jace Beleren?"
The abbess had always told Chandra to be polite with visitors. As such, she didn't ignite her fist before sending it into the girl's face.
The newcomer ducked, her reflexes were better than her appearance indicated. She then caught the pyromancer as she tipped over, all her weight put into the wild swing. "What's the big idea!? I just wanted to—"
Chandra shoved her away. "You wanted to spy on us!" She paused. The girl's grey tunic hadn't felt like cloth. More like fur or hair. The redhead sneered. "Damn illusionists." With that, she breathed out a massive gout of flame at the girl.
When the smoke cleared, the youth seemed no worse for the wear, though her expression was of sad disappointment. "I was hoping Jace was wrong about you. I guess you are just some ruffian." With that, she faded to nothingness.
The fire mage did a quick circle, looking for any irregularities that might betray the spy's location. On the roof above her, Ditzy looked on regretfully. "Well," the pegasus muttered to herself, "I tried." At least she was able to see the motion of mana in the other planeswalker as she called forth the flames. It wasn't much to go on, but maybe she could puzzle out something.
"Do you realize what you've done!?" Judging by the blend of fear and frustration on Ditzy's face, she'd have been shouting even if she didn't have to talk over the elemental's keening wail.
Applejack's response was characteristically concise. "Dash's th' one who made it go crazy!"
The accused pegasus looked at her friend in shock. "It was your idea!"
"Y' did'n' have t' do it!"
Ditzy ignored the bickering, her gaze growing more fearful as she turned back to the vociferous cloud. Her lips were moving, but it took several repetitions before one could hear that she was saying "Oh no" at ever-increasing volumes. She began to prance in place, wings flapping at random as her agitation grew.
Finally, Rainbow Dash butted in on the planeswalker's panic attack. "Ditzy!" Once she was sure that she had the grey mare's attention, she shouted "What have I done?" as gently as she could.
"Asking nicely only worked on Fluttershy's grub because it was a kindness elemental. It was literally made of being nice. This thing is made of loyalty. Loyalty to you. You telling it to abandon you is an irreconcilable paradox, and I have no idea what it's going to do when it's finished yelling!"
"Um, Ditzy?"
She turned to Applejack. "What?"
"It is."
The blonde pegasus blinked, grinned sheepishly, and said "Oh" at a more reasonable volume. Then she turned back to the elemental and her eyes widened. "Oh," she repeated, with far less embarrassment and far more fear.
The other ponies followed suit. Dash garnished her "Oh" with a "buck me."
"Don't go givin' her ideas," Applejack said distantly, her wit on automatic while the rest of her, like the others, was doing its best to keep her from wetting herself.
Given what floated before them, it was an understandable struggle. Somewhere in the being before them was Scootaloo, that much was clear. At times, depending on how the coruscating energies were positioned, it was even visible. For the most part, however, the figure appeared as a pegasus made of unnatural lightning, a princess-sized, crimson-coated mass of furious energy. Its very presence made the little ponies' subconsciouses insist that they submit before it made them submit.
In a moment of bowel-clenching, bladder-loosening terror, it landed and walked towards Rainbow Dash, a voltaic sizzle sounding with every step. The Bearer of Loyalty found herself conflicted between a pressing desire to curl into a fetal position and the absolute certainty that breaking eye contact would be the last mistake she would ever make.
The awesome force continued to gaze at her. Dash felt an unbearable blend of fear and shame., like she was facing the combined scorn of her parent, her flight instructor, her friends, and Celestia herself. She didn't feel worthless. She felt like something that wasn't worthy of being spat upon by the worthless. She—
She realized that she was staring at Pinkie Pie. "Whuh...what happened?"
"Hi, Dashie! Finally made your Will save, huh?"
The elemental's cry swept across all of Ponyville. For several seconds, the town winced as a single pony. Some kept going after it had passed.
"What was that horrible noise!?" shrieked the Unpleasable Demon-Pony of One Thousand Demands, more commonly known outside of Diamond Dog communities as Rarity.
Spike silently wished he had external ears, if only so he could cover them. "Don't know," he replied, "but given all the crazy stuff going on today, I bet Ditzy Doo is near whatever made it."
The unicorn sighed. "Well, let us hope that it won't be sounding that cry again any time soon, hmm?" Her not-so-secret admirer nodded, and the duo headed for the direction of the sound.
Trixie approached Books and Branches cautiously. The amount of magic in the air made her horn throb and filled her mouth with the taste of tin. Well, mostly tin. In any case, she was as close to the building as she dared. Judging by the crowd around the place, the energy would do more than give a headache and the sense of sucking on a soup can at closer range. It was either that or what the Cultured and Cosmpolitan Trixie considered unpleasant, Ponyville treated as a novel escape from small-town drudgery.
The unicorn caught herself. She hadn't been referring to herself in the adjective-laden third pony since that sobering glimpse into Ditzy Doo's memory. (Okay, it wasn't long, but it was a start.) Trixie's eyes widened in fear. This was more than a headache. This was some manner of mind-effecting magic, slow-acting this far away, but acting nonetheless. The showmare realized that she may have once again bitten off more than she could chew. She began to invoke Speedy Service's signature spell when a thought played through her mind unbidden:
"I can handle this."
Trixie shook herself. That was the magic talking. Thinking. Whatever. The point was, she very definitely couldn't handle this. At least, not alone.
"Sure I can. I can still tell which thoughts are really mine, can't I?"
Yes, but who knew for how much longer?"
"So use the false confidence constructively. Screen it out."
The performer was understandably confused. The effects of the high magic field were advising her on how to counteract the effects of the high magic field?
"Of course. The magic doesn't care if I go or stay. It's just making me more of a genius than I already am. If I use that genius to protect myself from worse effects, what's the problem?"
Well, when she put it like that...
When it put it like that. Not her. It.
"Better cast that screen before it's too late."
Right. Trixie knew that.
"Uh-huh."
She tuned out the sarcasm of her own voice and turned her focus inward. With a shudder, she could sense, feel, almost see the squiggly, itchy rainbow crawling down her horn and into her brain. Revulsed, the mare shoved it away, weaving a thin but impermeable shroud into the material of her skull.
Unfortunately, Trixie hadn't considered how that shroud would form. It expanded outward from her horn like a bubble. As it grew, it dragged those writhing, maddening energies that had already reached her cortex from one end of her brain to the other.
In most unicorns, as much of the horned population of Ponyville was demonstrating, this would result in a blissful fugue state. Trixie was not like most unicorns. The key difference lay in her special talent, magic. Stage magic, yes, but it stil meant that her system could respond to this much energy in a way other than unresponsive ecstasy.
"Hee. Hee hee. Ha ha ha. Ahahahaha! Ha ha ha!! Ha ha ha ha!!! Hahahahahahahaha haaaa!!!!!"
Instead, it responded with melodramatic ecstasy.
Her multibanged mirth satisfactorily expressed, Trixie charged towards the library, caution forgotten in her exhilaration. "Ho, Sparkle!" she called, "What say you? Dare you come down from your tower and cross horns with The Great and Powerful Trixie? Or will you cower behind your living walls, of wood and flesh alike?"
On the inside, the library at which Trixie was shouting was nigh-unrecognizable. Its living tissues were turgid with arcane power, warping the hollow spaces in ways that made Euclopean geometry throw up its axes and translate away in disgust. Much of the structure was unnavigable by those accustomed to four-dimensional spacetime. Most of the books were similarly incompatible, transformed into arrays of cubes in hyperspatial bindings, words inscribed along the temporal continuity of the tomes' worldlines, or still more esoteric media. When Trixie had concluded her bout of manic laughter, the tree's roots brushed the very edge of the plane.
Beyond a labyrinth worthy of a thousand David Bowies was what a fevered few might still recognize as Twilight's bedroom. There, dreams, shadows, and stranger things chirped and gurgled amongst themselves, making eager, impossible plans. The air itself capered gaily in anticipation. And within the indescribable bed-descended construct at the center of the space, something heard Trixie's summons and shifted.
Outside the eldritch hive, one of the rapt unicorns frowned at the rambunctious newcomer. "Shh. The Mother sleeps."
Trixie sneered at him. "Bah! Foal! The Great and Powerful Trixie cares not if her archrival was deep in her cups in Luna's last reign. A true master of magic should be prepared to defend her reputation day or night, sans preamble!" She turned back to the tree. "Sparkle! Show yourself or be known forever as a coward!"
Her displays had roused more of the entranced ponies. "The Mother sleeps," said several near her.
"In the name of Magic, I conjure you!"
"The Mother grows," said a few dozen.
"In the name of Honor, I conjure you!"
"The time is not right," said almost one hundred.
"In the name of Celestia's luscious flanks, I—" Trixie's third exhortation was interrupted by a massive multicolored aura surrounding her and locking her in place. It was like being clutched in the talon of an enormous griffin.
As the frenzied energies in her mind exhausted themselves, the showpony registered countless angry unicorns staring at her, horns aglow. They spoke as one. "Be silent and wait."
Dash shook her head, trying to work through the crushing trauma to her ego. "What happened?" she repeated.
Pinkie grinned a specific grin that, in a list of smiles even longer than Celestia's, represented joyous celebration of an opportunity to deliver exposition. "Oh, you didn't see it? It was incredible! You and Applejack and Ditzy were all shaking in your hooves and the Scootaloyal thingie was staring you all down when suddenly BAM! Fluttershy hovers right over you and matches it stare for stare! It was a contest of the stare masters the likes of which have never been seen outside of late-night infomercials! Finally, it acted all like it had better things to do, but you could totally tell that it was giving up, and then me and Fluttershy shook Applejack and Ditzy out of their trances, We tried to shake you out of it, but you wouldn't come out no matter how hard we shook, and believe me, I can give one heck of a shaking! Anyway, Fluttershy said she'd seen this kind of thing before and that you'd come to on your own eventually, and that somepony should stay behind to keep an eye on you until you did, so I volunteered and that's what I've been doing since, keeping an eye on you. And now we can go meet back up with the others and save Scootaloo and Twilight and the world!"
Still not fully un-out-snapped, Dash took a moment to parse all of this. Once she got near the end, she gave a worried start. "What's wrong with Twilight?"
"Oh, nothing urgent. At least, I don't think it is. I can't check on her 'cause there's a crowd of unicorns outside the library that's like four ponies deep and Pokey Pierce is right outside the door and I still owe him five bits from a month ago and it's kind of awkward at this point, so—"
"Okay, okay, not urgent, got it." Irritating as it was, Dash had to admit that listening to Pinkie was helping to clear her mental fog, if ony so she could get away from the ebullient baker. "What about Scoots?"
The hyperactive mare gave her an incredulous look. "Um, duh? What did you think the giant scary energy pony that stared you into catatonia was, silly?"
"But... I thought... The stupid thundercloud..."
Pinkie's expression shifted to that blend of sympathy and concern usually deployed for victims of pranks gone awry. "You really didn't know."
"Didn't know what?"
The pink pony bit her lip and began to glance from side to side. "I should get you to Ditzy. She'll be able to explain this better than me."
"Pinkie." Dash took her friend's head in her hooves, forcing eye contact. "Please. Tell me what's happened to her."
The party planner unparalleled hesitated a moment before submitting. "Okay."
The spectrum-maned pegasus offered an uneasy smile. "Not 'okie-dokie-lokie'?"
Pinkie shook her head. "Not this time." She took a deep breath. With the exhalation came the unmistakable whine of air gradually escaping a poorly tied balloon, and in turn a partial deflation of Pinkie's mane. "Here's the story:
"When you asked the loyalty elemental to go away, you presented it with a paradox. If it obeyed you, that would be a betrayal of abandonment. If it stayed with you, that would be a betrayal of disobedience. Something like that isn't built to handle logical dilemmas, which is partly why it was shouting so much.
"The other part was how it resolved the paradox. It decided that it had to change who it was loyal to."
Dread clutched at Dash's heart. "Scoots."
"Exactly. That way, the elemental could remain near you without having to obey you. But then, it decided to ensure that its new mistress wouldn't make it go through another paradox."
"How?"
"It possessed her."
The pegasus felt her blood chill at this revelation. "What does that mean for Scootaloo?"
"She's safe, and she will be when it releases her. Harming its mistress is unthinkable for this thing."
"Then how could it do what it's already done!?"
"That isn't harm. Not according to the elemental. Think about it. It's made her powerful, beautiful, flight-capable, everything she's aspired towards and then some. It has fulfilled her deepest, innermost wish.
"What?"
"To be better than you."
For a moment, Rainbow Dash just stood there, thinking. Finally, she looked to the sky. "Where is she?"
Pinkie shook her head. "Bad idea. Really bad idea. You of all ponies shouldn't try to subdue this thing. It's been tailor-made specifically to outclass you in every possible respect. Besides, you're exhausted."
"Where?"
"Dash, please."
The would-be Wonderbolt gave her friend a look as firm and unbreakable as her resolve. "I do not leave my friends hanging. Ever. Right now, my biggest fan, the filly who's practically devoted her life to celebrating how awesome I am, is in this mess because of my mistake. If you think for even a second that I'm not going to do everything in my power to help her, then you've. Got. Another. Thing. COMING. Understand?"
Pinkie's response was the full reinflation of her mane and grin #11, "Frabjous Day!" "That's exactly what I was hoping you'd say!" With that, the planeswalker slapped a hoof across Dash's flank, a pulse of red magic flowing out of the extremity to reinvigorate the pegasus. "Follow me, Dashie, we've got a monster to stop!"
"Girls!"
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle came to a halt, looking for the source of the call.
Two pegasi approached them, clearly concerned. "Have you seen Scootaloo?" asked the mare.
The earth filly shook her head. "We're lookin' for 'er right now, Mrs. Twister. She ain't with you?"
"We haven't seen her since she left home in a snit over some burnt toast," answered the stallion.
Dizzy Twister frowned. "Ollie!"
"I'm as worried as you are, Darling. I'm just trying to channel it into something a bit more constructive than blind panic."
"Our daughter is out Princess-knows-where while these... these monstrosities are rampaging through our town and some addle-pated postal worker is supposed to fix the situation!" The rose-maned mare seemed on the verge of tears. "If now isn't the time to panic, then when?"
"Hey!" Sweetie protested. "There's nothing wrong with Ditzy Doo or her pate!"
"What's a pate?" Apple Bloom whispered to her.
"I think it's your liver."
Ollie Outie nodded his agreement with the young unicorn. "Eyes and sense of direction aside, she's a perfectly capable pony."
The yellow-coated mare narrowed her eyes suspisciously. "And how would you know?"
"I talk to her when she delivers our mail to develop my own opinion of her rather than blindly follow the herd." The pumpkin-colored stallion smirked and gave his platinum-blonde mane a toss. "I've even invited her to drop a sick beat or two at the station. Alas, it seems doubtful that we'll even hear the fresh rhymes of MC Derpalot."
"Um, Mr. Outie? Mrs. Twister?" called Apple Bloom.
"Ah. Right. Hardly the time or place to be the discussing the exploits of KLOP."
The redmaned filly gave what she hoped was a confidence-inspiring grin. "Well, we're gonna look for 'er for ya, an' we'll be sure t' tell 'er yer worried 'bout 'er." With that, the two Crusaders galloped off.
Ollie didn't need to look to know that his wife was about to pursue them. "Don't."
"Ollie, they're just foals!"
"Yes. Foals who have shown more courage than most adult ponies in town, you and I included."
"Because they don't know how frightened they should be!"
"No, they don't know how frightened you think they should be. There's a difference."
Dizzy Twister nickered in frustration. "You're impossible sometimes."
The stallion permitted himself a small smile. More of a smirk, really. "Ditzy Doo isn't the only responsible adult involved. Princess Luna is there as well, as she made abundantly clear. Do you really think she'll allow a few innocent fillies to come to harm?"
His wife slumped a bit, exhausted from anxiety. "I guess you're right..."
Ollie spread his wings. "Still, it would be best not to leave anything to chance."
In an eyeblink, Dizzy was in front of him, her own wings flared to block his path. "Oh no. I'm not leting both of the most important ponies in my life risk theirs."
Her husband nodded in understanding. "Very well then."
She relaxed. "Good."
"You'll just have to stop me en route."
Before she could so much as say "Huh?", he was already in the air.
Ditzy hadn't done much air-to-air combat in her travels. She preferred diplomacy or misdirection to direct conflict. She rather regretted this as she found herself going pezuña a pezuña with the loyalty elemental. Still, reflected her more analytical bits, she was years out of practice in magical dueling, so it was doubtful that she'd do much better in her preferred medium.
The rest of her thoughts were fully involved in panicking and not getting herself or anypony else killed in the dogfight with a pegasus-shaped electrical storm. As another multicolored bolt of lightning arced towards her, her primaries briefly shined with divine light. When the energy struck, it did no harm, instead sounding a note sung by the very voice of law.
Insulted and enraged by the sound, the thing that had been Scootaloo pounced on Ditzy, a forehoof delivering blow after blow. Every strike sounded another clarion note, further infuriating the berserk equinoid.
Neither party was working to stay airborne, so the assault was halted by the grey pegasus hitting the ground back-first. A visible ripple travelled from her spine up into her rear hooves, and she delivered a buck enhanced with the force of the impact.
The pegasine elemental was sent flying, but righted itself in midair. Static crackled around her as she charged another bolt. Ditzy, still on her back, scrambled to right herself, the smell of ozone growing more intense with every second.
Then Rainbow Dash blindsided the thing.
The planeswalker breathed a sigh of relief. She then noticed what appeared to be cotton candy creeping into her peripheral vision. "Hello, Pinkie. Nice timing."
The earth pony beamed. "Thanks! I'm actually really glad to hear you say that, 'cause I knew Rainbow Dash would want to make her entrance at the peak of dramatic tension but I was worried you might not appreciate it as much since you'd have to be in mortal peril pretty much by definition, but you—"
"Pinkie. Possessed thunderfilly. Focus."
The party pony stuck out her tongue and gave a playful blow to her forehead. "Right, sorry." She looked around the plaza, within view of the library. "Where is everypony?"
"Working on Plan B."
"I thought this was Plan B."
Ditzy rolled her eyes. "Plan C, then."
Pinkie contemplated this. "Huh. Well, I guess I'll have to move the hamsters, the marmalade, and the liquimetal to Plan D."
"What will you... never mind." The golden-eyed pegasus looked up. "I better go help Dash."
Without surprise on her side, the weather pony was finding herself easily outmatched. This Super-Scootaloo was faster, more agile, and maybe even a little cooler than she was. (That being said, she was not yet willing to cede superior awesomeness or radicalness.) Every time Dash tried to set up a maneuver, the possessed filly was in her path, her ambient electrical aura sending tingles through the blue pony's muscles. Several rounds of this had made her uncomfortably numb, struggling to keep her flaps steady and coordinated.
A trio of azure orbs swept in between the two. Above and behind the crackling creature, Ditzy gestured to Dash to land. The speedster gave a grateful nod and did so as the probes harried and distracted "Scootaloyal."
As Pinkie ministered to the nearly paralyzed pegasus (by absorbing the charge like a reverse joy buzzer), Ditzy stayed above the aerial combatants. Her mind was working frantically, running through possible strategies, guiding her illusions' evasive action, and keeping half an eye on the one probe she'd left with her backup. As such, she could be forgiven for not noticing the newcomer until he cleared his throat.
"Gah!" All the probes attempted to headbutt the thundermare. She countered with a discharge that tore through them like wet tissue paper. The ill-fated eyes' mistress, meanwhile, was seeing who had surprised her. "Ollie Outie?"
"Ditzy." He turned to the electrical equinoid, surrounded by the fading tatters of the phantasmal orbs. "Fighting for the fate of Equestria, I see."
"Um, yeah." This was awkward on so many levels...
"I don't suppose you've seen Scootaloo today?"
So. Many. Levels. "Uh, this really isn't the time..."
Satisfied that the blue annoyances were dealt with, the hybrid turned towards the noise overhead.
The stallion shrugged. "I should think you could spare the time for a simple yes or no."
"Well, you see—"
There was a flicker of recognition in the raging rapids of Scootaloo's stream of consciousness. "Dad?"
Rainbow Dash chose that moment to perform a combination dive bomb/body slam. "Oh yeah! How'd ya like that!?" She noticed Ollie. "MC Less-Than-Three! 'Sup?"
He was not nearly as pleased. "Aside from you tackling my inexplicably galvanic daughter into the dirt?"
The blue mare's reply was preempted by a blood-tingling, spine-curdling roar the likes of which should never come from a pony's throat. The thunderfilly rose to her hooves, then released a spherical wave of crackling plasma.
Pinkie slammed a hoof into the ground and enclosed herself in a dome of obsidian. The pegasi didn't have that option. Instead, Ditzy grabbed the other ponies and shoved them in front of her.
Wide-eyed, Rainbow cried, "What do you—"
She didn't get to finish before wide, white wings enfolded her. A sense of peace filled the mare. Her thoughts turned to her mother, and the simple comfort of sleeping while nestled into her side. She was distantly aware of a sound like a dropped piece of sheet metal as the plasma harmlessly passed her by.
The wings faded, and with them the inexplicable serenity. From behind, Ditzy asked, "You okay, Rainbow Dash?"
The weather pony just nodded, speechless.
"Ollie Outie?"
"Just peachy," he squeaked, clearly shaken out of his usual cool.
"Tha's good," the blonde slurred before slumping onto the other pegasi.
"We should set her down," said Dash, feeling that somepony should.
"Right."
As they did so, Pinkie's stone carbuncle shivered for a moment, then shattered into dozens of wickedly sharp fragments. They hovered in place around their mistress, who gave a feral grin. "This is how we do it on the rock farm!"
With that, the shard volley streaked towards the hybrid. Acting on impulse, she surrounded herself in a towering pillar of electricity. The barrier dragged the volcanic glass to a halt less than an inch from her face.
"Uh oh." The party pony saw where this was going. She took a deep breath. As the fragments were launched back at her, she opened her mouth wide. Her throat glowed crimson, and from it issued an identical igneous onslaught. The two met in midair, shattering against one another and fading to nothingness.
Pinkie pouted. "Well that didn't work." She turned back a bit, keeping Scootaloyal in her line of sight. "How's Ditzy?"
"She passed out," answered Dash.
"Mana exhaustion," grumbled the pink mare. "She's been pushing herself too hard." She shut her eyes, briefly adjusting her perspective along axes unknown even to most planeswalkers. Nodding to herself, she concluded, "She'll come to in a few minutes."
She opened her eyes, and the difference in the scene registered. "Uh oh."
"What 'uh oh'?" Ollie Outie asked anxiously.
"Where's Scootaloo?"
The pegasi spotted her almost simultaneously. "Directly above us," the stallion observed, "going for a death dive."
Dash shook her head. "Not at those speeds. She's trying for a sonic rainboom!"
Indeed, what had just been a speck barely visible even to pegasus eyes was now the size of a bit and growing. Her impact was assured, and only two things could stop it. One was failing to breach the sound barrier, which didn't seem very likely.
The other was the tornado.
Rapt as the trio had been by their impending doom, none of them had noticed the whirlwind until it had positioned itself between them and the diving filly.
"Well that was convenient," noted Pinkie.
Dash was less pleased. "Does whoever made that thing realize how much paperwork I have to fill out for an unscheduled cyclone?"
The party pony frowned in confusion. "I thought you made Dotted Line do all your paperwork."
"To answer the question," Ollie interjected, "yes, she does, though I rather doubt she cares right now. Still, this does explain what was taking her so long."
"Her?" repeated the blue mare. "Her who?"
As though in reply, Dizzy Twister fluttered into view, landing under the tornado's spout and glowering expectantly. A few seconds later, a disheveled pile of possessed pegasus came crashing out of the funnel, which then dissipated.
"Dear Celestia, I love that mare," gushed her husband.
The would-be Wonderbolt groaned and facehoofed. "Of course. The best vortex engineer in Ponyville. And Scoots' mother. Who else would it be?"
The triple-tornado flanked pony paid no mind to the peanut gallery, focused instead on the crumpled heap of madmare before her. Uncanny maternal instinct recognized her child, and the floodgates opened. "There you are, young filly. Do you have any idea how worried I've been?"
Scootaloyal gave no reply, still trying to get rump back under teakettle.
"Really, of all the days to blithely stomp out of the house! You just don't understand what you put me through, you really don't. And just look at you! Honestly, what have you done to yourself?"
Pinkie opened her mouth to answer this, but was stopped by a hoof on her shoulder. "Do you know how to reverse it?" asked Ollie.
The poofy-maned mare paused and frowned. "Well, no."
"Then don't waste your breath. Dizzy's in a tizzy. Best to just weather it until it passes."
The ranting pony's daughter seemed less than inclined to take this advice. Once she'd collected herself, she began twitching and shaking with barely contained energy. The struggle between filial loyalty and destructive boredom was visible as Dizzy's words washed over her like so much white noise. At the breaking point of the thunderfilly's patience, there came a welcome distraction.
"Scootaloooo! Scoot-scootaloooo!"
"Do you really think that's the best way to get her attention?"
Judging by everypony's reaction, it was certainly an effective one. The incongruous appearance of the other Cutie Mark Crusaders had managed to stun even Dizzy Twister into silence. A brief, delicate peace reigned as this new development was processed.
Naturally, Scootaloyal reacted first, streaking towards her friends with such speed that they barely had time for a strangled yelp. To much relief, her pounce was affectionate rather than aggressive, enveloping her friends in a massive hug.
"Huh," mused Apple Bloom. "A friendly monster. Now ain't that a nice change o' pace?"
Distress filled Sweetie Belle's heart, the situation all too familiar. "Just because it's nice doesn't mean it can stay."
The earth filly dismissed this with a wave of her hoof. "Aw, it ain't hurtin' nopony." At that point, the thunderfilly's ambient charge turned her friends' coats and manes into fluffballs. "Ain't. Hurtin'. Nopony." repeated the young Apple, a twitch in one eye likely unrelated to the electricity.
"I'm not through with you, little missy!" Dizzy Twister strode towards the Crusaders like a vengeful goddess. "You can play with your friends after we've finished this discussion."
The fluffy fillies looked at one another. "Mrs. Twister?" noted Apple Bloom.
"'Your friends'?" quoted Sweetie Belle.
Both looked at the increasingly anxious pegasus. "Scootaloo?"
The energized foal didn't think; she just reacted. Beset on all sides by the tyrannies of parental and awesome ponies, she took flight.
Her mother gritted her teeth, her expression promising great vengeance and furious anger. "You aren't getting away that easy, Vivian Louise Twister!" She took off as well.
Dash noticed what the other mare hadn't; Scoots still had passengers. "Pinkie, stay underneath the Crusaders and be ready to catch them!" She followed the developing pattern.
The party pony turned to Ollie Outie. "Coming?"
He shrugged. "Might as well." With that, the chase was fully underway.
Luna looked over the preparations, well pleased. Oh, she could have summoned forth her elite forces, but most of the guards she'd hoofpicked were still in training, and those who weren't still hadn't seen as much action as the Bearers of Harmony. Manticore, dragon, hydra, ...alicorn. She would have made each Bearer a general if she didn't agree with Celestia that each deserved as normal a life as she could manage given the stewardship of an ancient artifact of incredible power. This, decided the princess, was the next best thing. She began her speech. "Fillies and gentlehare, the time of action draws nigh. I have the utmost confidence in each and every one of you, but overconfidence has lost more battles than I hope you ever have to see. As such, we shall review the plan one final time.
"Angel Bunny." The augmented rabbit smirked confidently. "You have volunteered to face the possessed Scootaloo head-on. Your objective is to subdue or exhaust her until she cannot resist the next stage of the plan.
"Fluttershy." The gentle pegasus swallowed, doing nothing against the lump in her throat. "You are to serve as Angel's backup. Should Scootaloo prove too mighty for him to overcome, your Stare shall cow her into submission.
"Applejack." The farmhoof came to a passable attempt at attention. "To your lasso I have bequeathed the blessing of the night. Once the filly is unable to struggle against it, it shall drink in the power of Loyalty with all the insatiability of the void.
"Dinky Doo." The filly was clearly on the verge of bouncing in her excitement. "You have demonstrated a remarkable talent for observation. You shall act as tactician, keeping watch over the skirmish and announcing key shifts in the tide of battle. I will act as the ultimate high ground from which you can do so."
The princess of the night looked over her chosen few proudly. "I am certain that this will be an unmitigated success. Are there any questions?"
"Uh, Ah got one," said Applejack, looking askance at her lasso. "Is that 'blessin' o' th' night' safe fer me t' use?" Her concern was understandable; the rope appeared to be made not of braided hemp but a tangible absence, as though it were a rope-shaped hole in space.
"Entirely," Luna reassured her. "I wove the enchantment specifically to do no harm to pony or rabbit. Only the aberration controlling young Scootaloo will be affected."
"Um..." Fluttershy had folded in on herself. "A-are you really sure I should be involved? It isn't like I can control the Stare. It just comes."
Applejack laid a supportive leg across her friend's shoulders. "Sugarcube, if'n Angel's in trouble, then Ah know whatever got 'im there's gonna have you t' answer to."
"Really?"
"Sure as a caramel apple is sticky."
Luna nodded, satisfied. "Excellent. Let us begin!"
With that, Scootaloyal streaked over their heads. Pinkie Pie followed, sparing them a Clopplered "Hi guys!" Then three more pegasi followed in quick succession.
Fluttershy raised a hoof. "Your Highness, does this change the plan at all?"
The alicorn's reply was preempted by an excited "Hey!" Everypony turned to see an enthusiastically waving Spike atop Rarity.
"Well howdy there, you two," Applejack said warmly. "Where've y'all been?"
"Addressing one of the horrid creatures invading the town," answered the designer. She bit her lip. "Well, not horrid, per se... but that's neither here nor there. Where is Ditzy?"
The farmhoof looked up. "Near as Ah kin tell, she just flew by."
"She didn't." All eyes turned to Dinky. "None of those ponies were Mommy."
The sheer amount of worry in that statement brought Rarity to a firm, abrupt decision. With a smile, she levitated the comissioned necklace, doubled over the chain, and resized it with a thought. "Here, Dinky, dear. You hold onto this until we find your mother." She directed the jewelry over the filly's head.
The young unicorn looked at the jewel and gasped in delight. "Really?"
"Really."
The five-pony chase passed by in the other direction. Pinkie, inexplicably covered in something brown and gooey, offered a "Hi Spike! Hi Rarity!" as she passed.
The fashionista watched her recede towards the horizon. "Well, I'm clearly behind on current events. What have I missed?"
Luna landed in front of the gathered ponies, startling them. Nopony had even noticed her leave. And for how long had Angel been standing on her head? "What are you all still doing here?" the princess asked incredulously. "Onward, my friends! We nearly have the fiend cornered!"
Scootaloo's thoughts at this time are not transcribable in any way that would make sense. At least, not with the English alphabet, and not in a format limited to two dimensions. Given the restrictions of the medium, her cognition could best be described – and even then, not very well – as an operatic remix of the Nyan Cat song performed on an electric guitar, a theramin, and a didgeridoo made from a hollowed-out butternut squash.
That being said, a telepathic panhandler in her stream of consciousness might come across the occasional nugget of coherence. One such chunk cropped up as she again passed by the unconscious Ditzy Doo: This is a pony who was fighting me. She is strong. I owe her nothing. I should strike while she can't defend herself.
With that, the filly dove, aiming for the other end of the plaza. She struck the ground with her forehooves, cracking the ground. She then forced energy into the breach, feeding it back on itself until it was about to explode in her face. Only then did she release it, sending a massive, earth-shattering thunderball at the prone pegasus.
"No!"
Another moment of intelligibility: What? Wait, who is that? Dash! She's in the way! She'll be hurt! She'll be killed! No no no NO!
As she stood in front of a ground-chewing blob of multicolored ball lightning, Rainbow Dash freely admitted that she hadn't thought this through. Still, she would not waver. She would protect her friend. She shut her eyes as she braced herself for the inevitable pain. The light flared painfully against her eyelids then... suddenly dimmed? The blue mare risked a peek, then gasped in astonishment.
The loyalty elemental had copied her equine shield maneuver, defending her as she defended Ditzy. The orb of charge slammed into the living cloud, but went no further. It convulsed briefly, then began to dissipate. As it did, it turned to look at her.
Guilt stabbed through the pegasus's heart. "I'm sorry."
The creature shook its head and patted hers with a disintegrating arm. The streams of flame halted; its eyes were closed. Dash wasn't able to say how, but she knew that the embodiment of her element died with a smile on its face.
"Mommy?"
"Ugh... hello, Muffin." Ditzy shook her head blearily. "This is starting to become a pattern, isn't it?"
Dinky giggled, then proudly thrust out her chest. "Look at what Miss Rarity gave me!"
"Oh my..." The gem was quite impressive, almost as big as the adult pony's eye. It had developed an odd tapered shape, and a peculiar ridged dimple had formed at the point. "It's very nice."
"Isn't it?" Its creator preened as she trotted into view. "At first I thought you weren't giving me much to work with, but I've never seen a jewel quite like it. Certainly never one that kept growing once it was out of the ground. Did you really make it from that bizarre apparatus of Sweetie Belle's?"
Ditzy nodded, then frowned. "Wait, how did you know that?"
Rarity gave a small grin. "You've been out for almost twenty minutes, Darling. We've had plenty of time to bring each other to speed." Indeed, the Bearers and Luna were all gathered nearby, chatting amiably.
The princess noted the planeswalker's recovery. "Ah, Ditzy! Are you feeling well?"
The grey mare shrugged. "Better? Sure. Well? That's a matter of debate." She looked around. "What happened to Ollie Outie?"
Pinkie made her way into the conversation. "Dizzy and he re-evacuated, and they made sure the Crusaders went with them."
"At mah insistence," added Applejack.
Rarity nodded. "And mine. Honestly, that not one of those fillies have gotten a cutie mark for needlessly risking her life is something of a marvel."
Ditzy turned to her daughter. "And why didn't you go with them, young filly?"
Dinky rolled her eyes. "Mommy, I've stopped two out of five monsters today. Can't you trust me to help with the last one?"
Her mother shook her head. "The last one is the most dangerous one. It's literally made of magic. There's no telling what it could do, or even what it will be!" She looked to the library, a pulsating, nauseating melange of color to her eyes. "Or, for that matter, why it hasn't shown up yet."
The Cutie Mark Crusaders were, to a filly, massively disappointed with the unfairness of the situation. Just because they weren't awesome hornless magic ponies or princesses or Harmony Bearers didn't mean that they couldn't help save the world! Dinky was helping, and she was a year younger than they were! Alas, their pleas fell on deaf ears, and Scootaloo's parents insisted that the trio travel ahead of them, ensuring that they couldn't sneak back to the action.
For perhaps the tenth time, Scootaloo groused, "I just can't believe that after all that, I still don't have my cutie mark!"
Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. "It's like Ah keep sayin', do ya really want a cutie mark fer goin' crazy?"
"At least it'd be something."
"Well Ah cain't b'lieve Pinkie Pie knows a spell t' turn solid ground inta chocolate puddin'."
The pegasus filly considered this for a moment. "Actually, now that I know that she can use magic, I'm not really that surprised that she'd know how to do that."
"Hmm. Y' got a point there..."
Sweetie Belle broke a long stretch of silence on her part. "Hey, Scootaloo?"
"Yeah?"
"Your dad works at the radio station, right?"
"Uh huh."
"So why is his cutie mark a heart?"
Ollie smirked. "Because my special talent is irony."
The unicorn frowned. "How does a heart represent irony?"
The smirk grew. "Exactly."
Before anypony could fully ponder this, there came a sound. It was like a thousand dragons crying out in unspeakable agony. It was like the very pillars of heaven straining beneath their load. It was like everything and nothing.
Sweetie Belle seized up, staring at nothing. A hundred voices, none of them her own, sounded through her mouth.
"The time is right. The Mother is ready. Magic comes."
Spark of Fanaticism 2RR
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature you control
Enchanted creature has haste and attacks each turn if able.
Whenever enchanted creature becomes blocked, you may have it deal damage equal to its power divided as you choose among any number of target creatures defending player controls. If you do, the first creature assigns no combat damage this turn.
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FanOfMostEverything
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1048
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Derpy Hooves,Dinky Hooves,Main 6,Original Character,Other,Crossover,Adventure,Magic: The Gathering,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Elementals of Harmony
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(FiMtG) The only thing standing between Equestria and apocalypse is Ditzy Doo. Yes, really. Stop laughing!
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complete
| 430 | 14 |
<p>Something is gathering around the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Something dangerous. Something magical. There's only one pony with the knowledge, the skills, and the muffins needed to save Equestria as we know it.<br/>A Friendship is Magic: the Gathering crossover, taking place between seasons 1 and 2. Here there be flashbacks, briefly seen OC's, and possibly every emotion known to man or tiny horse. Abandon all pretenses of not being a nerd, ye who enter here.</p>
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everyone
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2012-02-21T18:23:18+00:00
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2021-01-27T11:37:02+00:00
| 5,837 |
It was a sad fact that the juggernaut of Equestrian governance did not stop for something as minor as a threat to the continued existence of the universe. Unless, of course, that threat was manifesting in Canterlot. In that case, the assorted bureaucrats, minor nobles, and other assorted functionaries would drop everything and panic as readily and as enthusiastically as any other group of ponies.
Thoughts such as these were how Celestia occupied the majority of her mind over the course of most mornings, this one being no exception. The admittedly cynical ruminations didn't just distract her from court proceedings she could have (and, on a few hilarious occasions, had) performed in her sleep. They also kept her from fretting over the very real threat to her world that, because of her duties, she could do nothing about.
The small part of the alicorn's awareness that was actually paying attention to the Morning Court nudged the rest. Bringing herself back to the audience chamber, the sun princess was pleasantly surprised to see an unassuming earth pony approaching her, unable to keep his gaze from wandering about the richly appointed room. He kept going until a forehoof hit the unexpected obstruction of the first step up to the throne. Realizing the narrowly avoided faux pas, the stallion backed up and bowed so low, so quickly, one might have thought that he'd lost a contact lens.
The usual crowd liked to have heralds announce them, but Celestia preferred a more personal touch with the common folk. "Hello, my little pony. What is your name?"
"S-slide Rule, Your Grace."
The alicorn smiled and added another tick to the appropriate column of her mental honorific tally. (6,042 this year.) "Please rise, Slide."
He did so with none of the haste with which he bowed. "As you command, milady." (27,311 this year, a favorite of the maids.)
With ease born of long practice, Celestia kept her smile balanced between the unnatural rictus that most smiles degenerated into when held for too long and the schadenfreude-induced smirk that the worst parts of her wanted to display. "Why are you keeping your head down?"
"I'm averting my eyes, milady." (27,312)
"She held back the urge to roll hers. "You don't have to, Slide. It's just the sun you shouldn't look at directly."
"A-as you say, Your Highness." (13,846 this year, a perennial mainstay) Swallowing his awe-filled anxiety, the young accountant brought his gaze up to meet that of the most beautiful and noble pony in the world, she who blurred the line between royalty and divinity.
Celestia added a dash of encouragement and nigh-maternal pride to her smile. "There. I'm quite flattered by your deference, Slide, but I don't want to be worshipped." She shifted a bit, her posture subtly less imposing, more casual. "Where are you from?"
The earth pony felt so relieved that his knees shook with released tension. He'd been terrified of offending the ruler of... of everything. That she would really be as kind as she seemed was almost to good to be true. "San Fratello," he burbled.
She nodded. "Ah. Lovely town, if you don't mind a bit of humidity." Judging by her pleased expression, she didn't. "I hope you aren't finding the mountain air too dry."
Slide Rule shook his head, all nervousness forgotten. "Not with the summer heat. It's lovely."
"I'm glad to hear it. What brought you to Canterlot?"
"Oh, just a business convention, nothing exciting. But when I heard that you would hold an audience with anypony who asked, well, it seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime!"
Genuine delight suffused Celestia. "I'm glad you took it. Now, it's been a pleasure, Slide Rule, but I'm afraid I have a number of other ponies who want to speak with me today. If you have nothing pressing?"
"I..." He looked away, blushing a bit. "Well, it's going to sound foalish—"
"I do not judge those who come before me, my little pony." Alright, that was a bald-faced lie, but she certainly didn't judge those ponies who came to her out of genuine need.
"Well, I just wanted to thank you, Your Majesty." (12,301) Slide kept his eyes down, smiling sheepishly. "I mean, every minute of your every day seems dedicated to making everypony's lives that much better and, well, how often does anypony think to thank you for it?"
The alicorn decided then that today was a good day, provided that it didn't end in spontaneous planar existence failure. "Not very," she admitted, "but I don't do it for thanks. I do it because somepony must, and for a very long time, nopony else could. But that doesn't mean that I don't appreciate it. Thank you, Slide. If only everypony was as considerate as you." The dark whispers this inspired made her suppress a chuckle. Oh yes, that would really nettle the usual suspects. Especially since it was true.
"Um, you're welcome." The stallion looked back up, intent on pressing one last glimpse of the Princess in his memory for as long as he lived. Unfortunately, at that precise moment, the magic elemental began to emerge. As such, Slide Rule's last look at Celestia was the princess terrified, mane crinkled like a bad perm, mouth agape, and gaze fixed on a fractured, impossibly-colored tesseract only she could see.
Spake the Most Holy Bringer of Dawn (Only 12 this year): "Shit."
The terrible, creaking groan chatteringly rose in pitch, apexing as a harsh whine that was felt in the teeth as much as it was heard. This horrendous note was held just longer than anypony found comfortable, then gave way to a deafening crack.
As echoes of this incredible fracture resounded through Ponyville, Rainbow Dash voiced the question on everypony's mind. "What was that?"
"That," intoned Ditzy, "was the sound of the universe breaking under the weight of too much magic in too little space." Ignoring the shouts of alarm this cause, she pointed to the library. "Look."
They looked. After a moment of disbelief, the group realized that there really was a crack in the sky. It began at the crown of the tree, then climbed up like a lightning bolt stopped midstrike. Several hundred feet above the building, the break spiderwebbed outward, forming six jagged lengths of ruptured spacetime. Even as the ponies watched, those cracks began to widen, forming a disturbingly familiar six-pointed star. The sound of the plane breaking apart was gradually supplanted by the howl of air getting sucked into the breach.
Applejack gaped at the display. "How in th' hay d' we fix this?"
Fluttershy was utterly motionless from the neck down. "I'd ask Twilight, but..."
Dash, so frightened that she wasn't even trying to deny it, finished the thought. "She's right under that thing."
Rarity turned to Luna. "What do we do, Your Highness?"
The alicorn shook her head. "I don't know. I've never seen anything like this." She, in turn, deferred to the planeswalkers. "Any ideas?"
Pinkie paled, recognizing a fear laughter couldn't banish. "A rift this advanced... I don't know anything that can stop it."
"I do." All eyes turned to Ditzy Doo, who was tying a stone muffin onto her forehead. Tightening the knot, she appraised the ever-widening rupture. "It won't be easy. It won't be pretty. But Equestria will still be here."
"Then do it!" cried Dash.
"Consider it done." With that, the mailmare raced towards the library, focusing all the power she could through her surrogate horn.
"Mommy!" Dinky chased after her, intent on helping. An indigo aura lifted her above the ground.
"This is something far too dangerous for you, Dinky Doo." Luna turned back to the dilating rift and shuddered. "It may be too dangerous for me."
Dash snorted. "Forget that! No way I'm just gonna sit here and let Ditzy sacrifice herself. C'mon, girls, who's with me?"
"I am!" shouted the filly, still running in place.
"Likewise," said Applejack. "Who knows? Maybe this fancy magic lasso might come in handy."
Angel Bunny glared at Fluttershy, the two holding an unspoken debate in less than second. The pegasus nodded. "We need to be there for her if she needs us."
Rarity nodded. "I couldn't have said it better myself."
Spike bore the most serious expression anypony had ever seen on him. "Not just Ditzy. Twilight, too." His voice rumbled with a faint bass undercurrent.
"You have my axe!" cried Pinkie, having found and donned a fake beard at some point.
The princess of night gazed in wonder and admiration at the sheer bravery on display. She voiced a single self-deprecating chuckle. "A wise and just leader will not ask her subjects to do anything she herself is unwilling to do. Onward then, into the eye of the storm!"
With a cheer, they followed Ditzy's lead.
Meanwhile, the planeswalker's thoughts raced along with her body. She had to time this just right to buy the plane as much time as she could. The rift continued to expand, peeling back layer after layer of reality, flensing away everything that stood between equinity and the Blind Eternities. As Ditzy approached the tree, she saw the crowd of unicorns capering about, celebrating their own destruction in an orgasmic flood of endorphins. In her haste, she barely registered one pony enclosed in a ludicrous telekinesis field, dismissing it as irrelevant.
Past a threshold, her mana sight went insane, the world dissolving into a crazed frenzy of color and sensation. The pegasus didn't care. She let momentum carry her until she couldn't bear the sensory overload anymore. At that point, she relased her failsafe in one enormous burst of magic and will and pure, desperate hope.
Ditzy liked Kamigawa. Even better, Kamigawa liked Ditzy. Bearing the blessing of a myojin made for a superb icebreaker among those who could perceive it, and she made sure to not waste that positive impression. The weather kami appreciated a mortal who could recognize their craftsspiritship. The wizards of the Minamo Academy welcomed a mind both humble and eager for knowledge. The kitsune-bito foxfolk delighted in a wit that could see through their tricks even as they saw through hers.
Indeed, it was thanks to this last group that the pegasus was where she was now; Oboro, the first cloud city she'd seen since leaving Ungula. She could've tried to explore the place earlier, but it was home to the enigmatic, insular soratami moonfolk. According to everyone she asked, they considered any other race's intrusion in their home a crime of the highest order. They were also considered the most skillful mortal users of blue magic on the plane, second only to the kami themselves, which meant that Ditzy planned on paying them a visit regardless.
According to the scholars of Minamo, the moonfolk possessed a graceful, ethereal beauty beyond anything humankind could achieve. The young pony was still puzzling out bipedal mores of appearance, but she supposed skin as pale and luminous as the moon itself and a lithe, elegant build outweighed long, floppy rabbit ears and shifting squiggles instead of eyebrows when it came to comeliness. She wasn't nearly as impressed, the sneering condescension and aloofness of those few soratami she'd met in person reminding her of all the worst qualities of elves and vedalken blended into one vaguely ludicrous species.
In any case, the cloud city wasn't just a potential source for nostalgia and new lore. It was also the perfect testing bed for an innovative illusion she'd just devised. Through study of the considerable kitsune arcana on such spells and her own skills, Ditzy had cobbled together a mystic disguise that altered her appearance based on the expectations of the viewer. If it could fool the soratami, masters of deceptive magic that they were, then it could be considered virtually flawless. If not, well, she had contingencies in place.
The moonfolk's isolationism played directly into her hoof. Because no one expected to encounter a member of another race, they all saw her as one of them. The only sound her passage could logically make was of sandals on cloud, so no one heard hooves. The pony went unnoticed because it was obviously impossible for a pony to be in Oboro in the first place.
It was amazing, Ditzy reflected, how much was both obvious and completely wrong.
She wandered the city for a time, simply enjoying the memories it stirred. This continued until she felt a mental tug and one eye tilted out of alignment to focus on an approaching building. The pegasus smiled. This was an older spell, but still a favorite. It sensed especially potent bits of arcane knowledge and told her where to find them. Purpose filled her stride as, better than invisible, she strode along the thoroughfare and into the ornate edifice.
Once inside, Ditzy took in the scene for a moment. Scroll racks stretched as far as the eye could see, every niche occupied. The entire palatial tower likely followed suit. It made the Great Library at Minamo, considered the ultimate repository of knowledge in the world, look like a rinky-dink branch in the middle of nowhere. She swallowed a developing lump in her throat. Were it not for the doozy detector, she could spend the next ten years poring over the contents of this place and find nothing.
Thankfully, that wasn't the case, one eye staying locked on target. She continued onward, her goal clearly and literally in sight. It was further back, past a door that was cunningly hidden and locked by a series of carefully crafted enchantments. Of course, to the planeswalker's eyes, this meant that it was lit up like a Las Neighgas casino sign. She approached it confidently, not faltering when she noticed that it had an actual guard in addition to the illusory barricade, the warden's true purpose disguised by an innocuously placed reference desk. Ditzy only reacted when the door was not opened for her. Looking imperiously at the soratami, the pegasus raised an eyebrow. "Well?"
The hapless librarian gazed somewhere above the pony's head, where the illusion was staring her down. She blanched as best she could with a complexion that began at moon-pale. "O-of course, Sir."
"Hmph." The grey mare watched dispassionately as the azure lattices of lock and disguise unravelled and the door slid aside. As she continued on, she gave a mental smirk. Act like you have authority, and everyone else will assume that you actually do. Combine that with a disguise that exploits such assumptions and you have a psychological skeleton key.
"Now," she muttered, "where are you?" The room on the other side of the door was a small alcove, clearly a private study rather than the comparative bustle of the main library. Scroll racks still honeycombed the walls, but only about half were filled. A low desk against a side wall and a cushion were the only other furniture.
Ditzy essayed a slow circle, trying to eyeball her quarry as she waited for her spell to reorient. "If I had to guess, you'd be about..." Her left eye skewed to one side, focused on a faintly glowing cylinder. "Right there!" Delighted, she snared the detected doozy in a telekinesis field.
"S-sir!?" The moonfolk she'd cowed into letting her in gasped in surprise.
"Oh crap." The pegasus hastily stuffed her find into her saddlebags. She really should've anticipated something like this.
"Is there a problem, Eriko?" Another voice, male, humorless as a wet cat.
"But... but you— I— He... Oh dear."
Intellectually, Ditzy knew that she had to escape, yet curiosity gnawed at her. What would this second soratami see when he looked at her?
"I understand. Do not blame yourself, Eriko." His tone made it clear that he meant the opposite.
"Yes, Sir..." Eriko's defeated sigh indicated that this unspoken message did not go unnoticed.
The door slid aside. The moonfolk standing in the doorway looked as domineering as he sounded. The sigil on his forehead reshaped itself into an odd, asymmetrical form. "Well, well, well. We meet at last."
A yawning comedy vacuum seemed to open before Ditzy, pulling something funny out of her brain through her tongue to compensate for the sheer level of cheese. "Wow. How long did you spend deciding on the most cliche reaction possible?"
"Hmph." An eyelid gave a single involuntary spasm. "I see your irreverence is as impressive as your spellcraft." The soratami sighed and shook his head. "It is a shame. Has you been born a child of the moon, we might have been colleagues. Perhaps even friends. As it is, you must die." His expression remained composed and disinterested, as though idly discussing the weather.
Ditzy felt a bit more emotionally invested in the matter. "Why?"
She didn't know what the forehead glyph indicated now, but it was probably either "mild surprise" or "slight incredulity". "You are not soratami and you have trod the streets of Oboro. Obviously."
"Oh. Obviously. How silly of me."
Unperturbed – or perhaps failing to register the sarcasm – he nodded. "I'm glad we could come to an understanding."He drew a katana from beneath his ornate attire. To Ditzy's eyes, blue vapor writhed along the edge.
"Quite." With that, she reached down and bit through the pendant hanging from her neck.
Blue smoke burst from it. With an impatient gesture, Kobayashi, loremaster of Oboro, he who meditated atop Untaidake for a year and a day, summoned a gust that cleared the room. There was no indication of an occupant.
"So that was the famed Riku of Two Reflections," muttered the descendant of the great Uyo the Silent. "He is clever, for a human."
Meanwhile, in another cloud of blue smoke, Ditzy rematerialized on the roof of the Minamo Academy. After a quick check to ensure that the scroll was still with her, she gave a sigh of relief. She knew that that seal of removal would make a good escape plan.
"Now," the pegasus muttered, "let's see if you were worth it." She unrolled the document. The ideograms seemed to dance before her eyes as her visual translation spell converted them to the familiar shapes of Equestrian. She recited the title aloud. "On the Currents of Time: A Practical Study." This elicited a low whistle. Chronomancy was serious mojo, one of the most powerful and most dangerous applications of magic. "Oh yeah. Definitely worth it."
Time had stopped.
Ditzy was blind, for photons could not make their way to her retinas. She was deaf, save for the echoing rhythm of her own heartbeat. She was numb, no sensation able to transpire without a duration in which to do so. And yet, for a time without time, she was utterly, horribly aware.
"Well, this is a fine mess you've gotten us into."
At least, that was how it was supposed to work. The sepulchral void of no-time normally didn't contain a mint-green unicorn who seemed split between amusement and irritation.
Heedless of her own impossibility, Lyra continued. "Now, as I said earlier, if these aren't extenuating circumstances, I don't know what are. Still, you've created quite a headache for us unfortunate ponies in spacetime management. Especially since the time part isn't normally my department." She sighed and shook her head. "Well, I guess I can figure this out. Just don't go thinking you can pull this kind of thing whenever you want. The ponies who usually walk this beat seem to think they have a monopoly on timey-wimey horseapples."
With that, she turned and began to walk away, though to where, Ditzy had no idea. The unicorn paused and looked back for a moment. "Oh, and Address says 'Hi.'"
With a sensation like the world releasing a held breath, the flow of time resumed. Ditzy, who had been diving forward when she'd halted it, crashed into the crowd of ponies. To her relief, her mana sight was picking up nothing abnormal. The hiccup in time's flow had allowed everything to start over fresh.
Of course, at the library's output level, that wouldn't mean anything in a short time. She had to clear out the unicorns while they were still lucid. She collected herself, offered a few quick apologies, then shouted, "Everypony get out of here!"
"Why?"
Ditzy bit back a scream. Why were ponies so easily panicked except when you needed them to be!? She looked around, spotted her approaching friends, and stabbed a hoof at Luna. "Royal decree! Official visit! Make way!"
"You're not a guard."
"I'm undercover."
Several ponies back, there came a call of "Isn't that Derpy Hooves?"
"Deep undercover." The pegasus felt ready to mind crush the next wise guy, but she relaxed when she felt a gentle hoof on her shoulder. She turned and beheld a smiling princess of the night.
"Let me handle this," Luna whispered. Then, following a deep breath, she shifted to the Royal Canterlot Voice. "CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE! WE HAVE COME TO THINE HUMBLE VILLAGE TO PAY OUR RESPECTS TO SHE WHO MARSHALED THE FORCES OF HARMONY AND EXPUNGED US OF OUR DARK POWERS! WE BESEECH THEE, GIVE US LEAVE!"
Those unicorns who weren't blasted away through sheer volume quickly made themselves scarce. The alicorn nodded in approval. "It was first made for crowd control, you know."
"I didn't know that! But why are you whispering now!?"
The princess grinned bashfully. "I guess I should have given you some warning first."
"That would've been nice!"
"I'll just heal your ears..."
As Luna did so, the others gathered by them. "Way to go, Ditzy!" cheered Rainbow Dash.
"Y' sure showed that magic elemethingy who's boss," Applejack enthused.
"Yay, Mommy!"
"Huh?" The grey mare looked to each pony in turn, confusion clear. "That was just a breach of space-time."
"Are you certain?" Trixie trotted into view. "I distinctly heard something along the lines of 'Magic comes' just before all the sound and fury."
Pinkie giggled. "Oh, you silly fillies. That wasn't the magic elemental."
Dash groaned, exasperated. "Then what is?"
The blonde planeswalker began to answer, then noticed the luminous white ring at her feet. "Oh, fu—" Then, she vanished.
In her place, something swooped out of the library. It looked more like a storybook drawing than a pony. It didn't have hair, just an outer layer of surreal iridescence. Its legs were thin, boneless things that tapered to points and clearly shouldn't have supported its weight, much of its body similarly emaciated. The mane and tail flowed like those of an alicorn, floating and waving in an unfelt breeze, but unlike a princess's coiffure, they had no defined end, instead slowly fading to nothing like evaporating mist. The horn was massive, as large and long as the rest of its head, parting the mane like a stone in a river. The eyes were also disproportionate, great glowing things that took up half of the entity's face. Most ominous were the flanks, exaggerated like a primitive fertility idol's, each emblazoned with a six-pointed star cutie mark.
Twilight Sparkle smiled. She then spoke in an earthshaking whisper. "To answer your question, Dash: I am."
Twilight, Æthertwisted WUBRG
Legendary Enchantment Creature — Unicorn
Flying, protection from abilities
Whenever a player casts a spell, regenerate Twilight, Æthertwisted. If you cast that spell, draw a card.
Spells you cast cost 1 less to cast for each card you've drawn this turn.
"My metamorphosis is complete. A new age is at hoof."
2/4
I Am Magic Given Flesh
Scheme
When you set this scheme in motion, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a nonland card. You may cast that card without paying its mana cost. If you don't, put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
"Reality is whatever I tell it to be."
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FanOfMostEverything
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Derpy Hooves,Dinky Hooves,Main 6,Original Character,Other,Crossover,Adventure,Magic: The Gathering,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Elementals of Harmony
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(FiMtG) The only thing standing between Equestria and apocalypse is Ditzy Doo. Yes, really. Stop laughing!
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<p>Something is gathering around the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Something dangerous. Something magical. There's only one pony with the knowledge, the skills, and the muffins needed to save Equestria as we know it.<br/>A Friendship is Magic: the Gathering crossover, taking place between seasons 1 and 2. Here there be flashbacks, briefly seen OC's, and possibly every emotion known to man or tiny horse. Abandon all pretenses of not being a nerd, ye who enter here.</p>
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everyone
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2012-03-02T20:26:58+00:00
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2012-03-02T20:26:58+00:00
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Spike spoke first. "Twilight? Is that really you?"
"In the flesh." The bizarre creature tilted its head in thought. "Well, actually I've transcended organic tissue and am now composed of an exotic form of condensed magical energy, but yes, it's me."
"What did you do to Ditzy Doo?" demanded Luna.
"I just put her where she can't hurt anypony and nopony can hurt her." She swept her gaze over the others contemplatively. "I don't think any of you realize just how dangerous that mare is. Do you know what she just did? She stopped time. Do you have any idea how disastrous that could've been if she hadn't done it flawlessly?"
"Of course," answered the alicorn. "You don't think it was by sheer luck that there were no adverse effects, do you?"
As Twilight puzzled over this, Applejack saw fit to add, "An' t' be fair, th' only reason she did all that was 'cause y' broke the sky."
The shimmering creature dismissed this with a toss of her mane. "I would've fixed it."
"Uh huh." The farmer waxed plaintive. "Twi, look at yerself. This ain't healthy. This ain't natural."
"Not natural. Oh. Well." The sarcasm practically dripped from the mutated mare's words. "I suppose I should just turn myself back into meat. And while we're at it, let's tear down Ponyville and go poop in a field. You know, since we're being so natural."
"That ain't what Ah mean an' you know it!"
Rarity stepped in before tempers could flare any worse. "Really now, Twilight, you're being most unreasonable. Surely you can understand our concern."
"That's the thing. I really can't." This confession made the others stare in shock. She met the incredulity with a puzzled stare of her own. "What? Before, my special talent was magic. Now? Now I am magic! How could this be anything but fantastic?"
"'Cause you broke the sky when you woke up?" offered Dash.
"I told you, I would have fixed it."
"And if you couldn't?" posited Rarity.
"I could."
Luna raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?"
Twilight growled. The ground shook a bit. A few leaves fluttered off of the library. "I'm magic. I don't have to explain myself. Really, girls, I thought you'd be happy for me."
"Happy?" echoed Pinkie. "Happy that one of my bestest best friends ever has turned herself into a freaky monster pony?"
The parody of a unicorn gasped. "You're absolutely right! I'm such a foal!" She shook her head, astonished at her own stupidity. "It's so obvious now. You're all jealous."
"Jealous!?" cried everypony (and Spike.)
"Of course! Who could blame you? Well don't you worry, girls. I can transform each and every one of you into an expression of your Element. Sorry, Spike."
The young dragon scratched his chin for a moment. "Can you create gemstones?"
Twilight's glowing eyes squinted shut in delight. "Sure!" A diamond the size of the hatchling's head appeared in his arms.
"I'm okay with thish," he proclaimed, drool slurring the last word as he tottered into the library, wanting to be alone with his new friend/meal.
Luna sighed at the mercenary nature of dragons in general, then turned to the benefactor. "Tell me then, Twilight Sparkle: Do you think me jealous of your newfound potency?"
The distorted mare scoffed at this. "Of course not! That would be ridiculous. No, you're threatened."
The alicorn recoiled like she'd been struck. "Excuse me?"
"Well," reasoned Twilight, "an incarnation of magic itself? The force on which Equestria was built, with a will of its own? What ruler wouldn't feel threatened?" She bowed to the princess. "I promise you, Your Highness, I am and shall remain a loyal, faithful subject of Equestria."
Luna frowned. "Then cease this foalishness before you destroy us all!"
This produced a sigh. "You can't still be upset about one little spacial rift, can you? I know how to keep them from forming now."
The Mare of the Moon was adamant. "Twilight Sparkle, you have become an entity whose very existence in Equestria should not be possible. You must return to the pony you once were or our world will be beset by unfathomable upheaval."
"But that's precisely why I—"
"No buts!" Luna's tone was now within an inch of the Royal Canterlot Voice. "As your princess, indeed, as one who was once herself seduced by the promise of power, I command you to turn from this path while you still can!"
Twilight was horrified. "You... you're comparing me to Nightmare Moon?"
"Hate t' say it, sugarcube, but Ah kin see 'er point," confessed Applejack. The other Bearers nodded solemnly.
"But I... I just... All of you?" The surreal being shed a single glowing tear. Where it fell, a flower never before seen in Equestria, in all of Ungula, sprouted and blossomed. "I see," she said flatly. "Very well then."
Everypony relaxed a little.
"You don't believe me just because I say I can handle it? Fine. I can sympathize. Obviously, I'll just have to give you a practical demonstration."
That killed off the sense of relief quite nicely. "How?" squeaked Fluttershy.
Twilight's horn limned itself in shining gold. "Well first," she replied, "I have to make sure that there aren't any more interruptions."
After a brief, nearly blinding flare of light, each of the Bearers found herself wearing her Element. Luna gasped. "Th-those were sealed in Canterlot Tower! Only Celestia can access them!"
The living spell shrugged. "Magic. Okay, magic and a sympathetic bond between the living and nonliving components of each Element. Now..." With a thought, she sent out another pulse of power. Then there were no complaints, no protestations, no disapproving expressions. No speech or movement of any kind, actually, but Twilight has always appreciated peace and quiet.
"Now I'm sure that at least a few of you are wondering what just happened," lectured the ethereal egghead. She then paused, her curiosity piqued. Her horn glimmered momentarily and she nodded to herself. "Alright then. That's Rainbow Dash and Applejack for 'what,' Luna for 'how,' Fluttershy and Rarity for 'what now,' and Pinkie wanted the number three combo with curly fries and a large ginger ale." The aberration paused at this, sighed, and shook her head. "Somehow I'm not surprised.
"Anyway, much as there exists a bond between the different aspects of a single Element of Harmony, so too are there bonds that stretch from each of them to each of the others. Furthermore, a similar bond is established to each previous user and target." Twilight paused, turned to one immobile form, and glared. "I am getting to the point, Dash, be patient! Now where was I? Oh, right.
"So, by exploiting those bonds, I'm able to perform magic on each of you almost effortlessly while bypassing any and all magical defenses, both internal and external, that might stand in the way!" She smiled, quite pleased at her own ingenuity. "Oh, and don't worry, Luna. I haven't paralyzed Celestia. I just created a sort of blind spot in her more magical senses. She won't notice anything going wrong." The heliotrope being's voice began to grow more clipped and frantic. "Not that anything is going wrong, of course! But if it was, I could fix it, and she wouldn't ever have to know about it, and we'd all! Be! Happy!"
After a beat, Twilight recognized her increasing mania and cleared her throat. "So, any questions?"
As Twilight had made her entrance, Luna had sent a thought at her own student. Trixie. Take Dinky. Run. Now.
The showmare didn't waste time asking questions. Filly in telekinetic tow, she fled.
Of course, Dinky was less than pleased with this arrangement. "Miss Trixie, what are you doing? We've got to save Mommy and Miss Twilight!"
"Sorry, Dinky," huffed the older unicorn, "Luna's orders."
"Then her orders are stupid!"
"Still a princess." After that, Trixie gave no response to the filly's entreaties. Of course, that didn't close the matter. It just necessitated a change of tactics.
Physically struggling against a unicorn's telekinesis is like trying to pull a sheet of paper in half; it can work, but there are vastly more efficient ways of accomplishing the same result. Dinky stumbled onto one of them by surrounding herself with as much magic as she could muster. This amounted to a thin skin of energy, but it still covered her entire body. More importantly, it allowed her to drift out of Trixie's magic like a drop of water sinking through oil. Once fully outside of the other pony's power, Dinky dropped, landed on her hooves, and galloped back towards the library.
Of course, she wasn't able to do this silently, and Trixie certainly noticed the sound of retreating hoofbeats. The showmare turned, groaned, and cried, "Dinky, we don't have time for this!" Getting no response, she magically reached for the filly again. However, before the blue unicorn could get a grip on her target, she was herself the subject of a spell; one that abruptly plucked her from where she was, leaving nothing but a small clap of air as it refilled the pony-shaped hole.
Dinky paid it no mind, continuing her charge. Every four steps, her necklace pulsed, a crystalline metronome with which she would conduct her mother's rescue. Somehow.
"Where am I?" Ditzy quickly realized that this was entirely the wrong sort of question. Her surroundings were akin to the sensory void of stopped time, but approached from the other direction; rather than having no time to experience anything, here there was nothing to experience. Inasmuch as "here" had any meaning.
"Hmm..." The planeswalker tested her mana bonds. They were there, but incredibly attenuated. Definitely not enough to 'walk out of this unspace. Even if she could, could she find home again before Twilight tore it apart? She might be able to undo the spell that had put her here, but doing so from this side could very well leave her stranded.
Ditzy groaned. "No good options."
"Then wait."
The pegasus went still. Outside of dreams, she hadn't heard that voice for almost four years. She slowly turned, or perhaps the expanse rotated around her. Hesitantly, as though voicing her hope would destroy it, she asked, "Address?"
The stallion smiled. "Hey there, Derpy Girl."
"Stud Muffin..."
For the sake of privacy (and to avoid any more pet names,) the narrator will leave the couple to their reunion.
Trixie reappeared just as abruptly as she vanished, though now she stood face-to-face with Twilight. Well, face-to-elbow, really, but the showmare quickly adjusted her gaze. The magic elemental looked back. The distortion of her form left her unreadable, her thoughts a complete engima. The blue unicorn found the uncertainty even worse than the fear. Who knew what this entity was thinking, what it was capable of? Did it even think as a pony thought anymore? Just how screwed was she?
"In order," answered Twilight, "'Oh good, the summoning worked,' anything, for now, and it depends."
Fear made a commendable comeback in Trixie's mind. "I-it depends on what?"
The arcane creature no longer had eyelids, but something slightly occluded the pair of glowing ovals on its head from below. Its voice sounded... amused? "Well, I seem to recall a certain pony trying to wake me up with various oaths so she could challenge me to a duel."
Panic surged ahead of both frontrunners. "Eh heh, well, I, uh, I wasn't in my right mind at the time, you see..."
Twilight tilted her head a bit. "Oh? Well, that's a shame. You see, according to the Duchess of Hocksbury rules of wizard dueling – which have never been repealed – the challenger cannot retract any challenge made in the name of Honor, regardless of the circumstances in which the challenge was made. Similarly, any challenge made in the name of Magic must be carried out as soon as equinely possible, permitting delays only for illness or other physical incapacitation."
Trixie gulped. "Um, that summoning was awfully disorienting. A-are you sure you did it totally correctly, or just enough to get by?"
The warped pony glared. Of that, anypony could be certain. "One hundred percent precision, down to the molecule. If there was a single hair out of place, I would know. And there isn't."
"Ah. I see." The showpony had enough experience with a bruised ego to recognize it from the other end. "I never meant to insult your capabilities, of course. Just taking a few reasonable precautions." A thought occurred to her. "Um, about that last challenge..."
There came the amused look again. "Oh, right. That one. There aren't any special rules for that one. Not unless you'd like to declare some."
The blue unicorn balked. Was... was that supposed to be a suggestive look? Oh dear Celestia, what was it meant to suggest? "I, uh, I don't think I–" She cut herself off as inspiration struck. "Actually, I do. It may not seem thematically appropriate, but I declare that a challenge made in the name of... that in the name of which I made the challenge means that the loser must submit to a single request of the victor's choice!"
Twilight pondered this for a moment, then bowed her head. "Very well. Given the obvious disparity in sheer power, it is only right that you be given the privilege of first spell." She shut her eyes, leaving her head utterly featureless. "You may fire when ready." A thin line of radiance reignited. "Oh, and don't think about running away. I don't need my eyes to see." The light winked out.
Trixie was, by this point, shaking in her hooves. There stood everything that had gone wrong with her life, monolithic, uncaring, insurmountable. It had upstaged her, shamed her, ruined her, and that was before it had become a thing out of nightmares. And now? Now it was openly mocking her, daring her to take her best shot, knowing full well that she wouldn't even leave a scratch. There stood Celestia's faithful student, who she had deluded herself into thinking of as a rival. An archrival, even. Ha! Like their respective tutors, she would forever be the lesser, the minor, the pale reflection of true glory and power.
But, noted some spark of hope that refused to be smothered by angst, hadn't Nightmare Moon imprisoned Celestia in the sun? Didn't Luna say how Her true strengths lay not in brute force but finesse? In the story of the eclipse, doesn't the moon block out the sun, however briefly?
"Just so you know, I can wait all day," advised Twilight. "Unlike some ponies, I don't need to eat. Or sleep."
"Just strategizing is all," answered Trixie. With that, she shut her eyes and focused, intent on a plan that might just possibly work. Fog billowed out of her horn, wreathing itself about the two duelists and the living statues that bore witness to the clash. In short order, however, nothing was bearing witness to anything. The dense mist stayed penned in around its creator, forming a dome of cloud cover at the base of the library.
The living spell was less than impressed. "Well, points for not immediately resorting to a big flashy attack spell. However, you seem to have forgotten the whole 'I don't need eyes to see' thing." She searched along more esoteric senses, muttering to herself as she did so. "Hmm. You've made the fog radiate energy such that it obscures magic detection much as it does sight. Nice. Reflective across most of the EM spectrum, and where it isn't, it doesn't matter. Well done. And judging by the echolocation profile, you're hiding in somepony's sonic shadow. I'd say you've covered all of the bases, Trixie. Of course, I can just summon you again."
What then happened to Twilight can be experienced firsthand by reaching down your throat and through your digestive tract, grabbing your coccyx, and pulling. It was quite fortunate that the mist was obscuring sight, because this action did some very rude and untoward things to space and sanity.
The warped creature's reaction, once she unknotted herself, was not what Trixie was hoping for. She laughed. Uproariously. "You magnificent witch! You didn't make the fog magic-opaque, you made it magic-reflective! I'm just radiating so much that I couldn't tell. You got me to summon myself! Outstanding!" The burst of mirth abated somewhat, down to chuckling. "That would've pulled my organs out through my horn if I still had any. Still, I have to wonder how you're going to do anything. You're as subject to this stuff as I..." She sensed a change in the air. "Am?"
After a moment, Twilight corrected herself. Not just a change, a charge. Her hair would've been standing on end had she not experienced the ultimate depilatory. As it was, she could still feel the palpable sense of expectation and faint whiff of ozone. "I see," she mused. "Don't try to cast through the fog. Cast into the fog. You really thought this out, didn't you?" She sussed out the shape of the energy distribution and gave an impressed whistle. "Wow, and you're making sure that nopony else will get shocked. Thanks, that's actually really thoughtful of you."
Trixie didn't waste any time with the frustration this incongruous praise provoked. She just shoved it into the lightning, along with her hope, her insecurity, and all her anger. From neck to horntip, her head felt like it was going to explode from the scale of her efforts. Finally, satisfied that she could do no more, she let loose.
The entire dome of cloud flared like a flashbulb. A deafening point-blank thunderclap shattered every window in the library and most in nearby houses. Spike almost looked up from his glorious crystalline feast.
Amid sparking aftershocks, there came a steady beat of hooves on earth. Twilight was giving slow applause, a circle of energy compensating for the thinness of her limbs. "Well, that was invigorating. And quite beautiful, in a dramatic, retina-searing kind of way." She looked around, mist as far as the eye could see, which was a few feet. "Very well done, Trixie. Your strategy was virtually flawless. As I said earlier, you really covered all the bases here." With that, she delivered one last stomp. The haze was blasted outward and rapidly dissipated, leaving the showmare exposed in her hiding spot behind Pinkie Pie. "Unfortunately," continued the mutant, "I can just wreck the stadium." She levitated the silver-maned unicorn into view. "This has been fun, but I've got an itinerary planned out for today, and I'm afraid the time I had allotted for this little spar has run out."
Trixie's mind grasped at the first straw within reach. "So you're just going to abandon the etiquette of the duel?"
"Please. We both know that there hasn't been a proper wizard's duel in almost two hundred years. Not since the days of Red Vinegar the Vituperative. Also, it's pretty obvious that you can't win. Your technique really is quite good, and you managed to surprise me once, but I'm as far out of your league as I can get without being in a different sport. I don't think either of us wants to keep embarrassing you by pretending that you have a chance."
Something important in Trixie, something that had endured scorn, shame, and indifference, broke against this casual dismissal. She wilted in her rival's magical grip. "I'm sorry I wasn't worthy of you, Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight no longer had a stomach, but guilt still twisted where the organ used to be. "To be fair, I did have a pretty unfair advantage. Normally, you'd have really given me a run for my money. Of course, normally, you wouldn't have been casting spells with lethal intent. Um, hopefully. Yeah..." She awkwardly scratched at the ground with a legtip for a moment. "Anyway, I've kind of got a lot to do today, so..."
"Go ahead."
The resignation in those words hurt worse than any amount of electricity could. "For what it's worth, I... I hope we can be friends after this."
Trixie looked at the distorted librarian in disbelief. "Unless you're also a medium, I'm not sure how."
Twilight was taken aback. "What? I'm not going to kill you! I may be a transcendent expression of arcane power, but I'm not a monster!"
"Then what are you going to do?"
"This."
Trixie was consumed in a puff of white smoke. When it cleared, her view was strangely distorted and tinted. She realized that she was looking through tinted plastic. She then took better stock of her surroundings: water bottle, exercise wheel, cedar chips... "You turned me into a hamster?" The possibly-a-rodent gave a silent sigh of relief. She hadn't been sure if she could still speak until after the fact. Strangely, her voice sounded the same as before.
The mystic equinoid's head came into view, looming large. "Not exactly." Her voice thrummed through her captive's body. "There should be a mirror in there."
There was. It was circular. So was Trixie, for the most part. Stubby little limbs, floppy little ears, a pathetic little horn, disturbingly large eyes... "What am I?"
"Adorable!" Twilight's eyes had almost squinted shut in delight. "I always wanted to try out this spell, but Spike hates it when I try to polymorph him. Don't worry, Trixie. Once I've finished everything I need to take care of, I'll change you back. Until then, just relax." With a thought, she sent the blue chubbie into the library.
The shimmering being nodded to herself, satisfied. "Well, that's taken care of. Yup, no harm done, no feelings hurt, no psychological trauma endured on either end, and definitely no erosion of sanity whatsoever." Twilight no longer had a nervous system. That made the twitch even more worrisome than normal. "Now, what's next? Oh, right! I never got around to explaining why I wanted to take advantage of this thaumic spike. Silly me!"
She stalked among her friends' immobilized forms. "You see, girls, I've been doing research. Important research." She stopped in front of Applejack. "Of course, some of you didn't care about that. You just wanted to know if I'd eaten and bathed and other petty concerns of the weak flesh." She gave a deranged grin, forming a mouth just for the occasion, and resumed her pacing. "But now that you're a, heh, captive audience, I'll tell you my findings." She glanced towards Dash. "Don't worry, Rainbow, I'll restrict myself to uneggheaded terms. And yes, 'uneggheaded' is a word. As of now."
She grew serious. "Something big is coming, girls. Something that I'm not sure if we can stop. But now?" Twilight gave a dangerous chuckle. "Now I don't know if it can stop me."
The edges of her body briefly became indistinct, as though she was a dissolving mirage. "Oh. Doesn't look like it can. Temporal omnipresence, now there's something to look into." The grin returned. "Oh wait. I have."
She blurred again. "Wait, what?" Fulgent eyes widened in precognitive horror. "What!?" The dreamy aurora of her coat fractured into a garish tie-dye disaster. "Where is she?" Where's the filly who can ruin everything?" Above such petty concerns as causality, she gave herself the answer a moment later.
What Twilight did then wasn't exactly teleporting, per se. There was no flash or sound. In the space of a thought, she simply wasn't where she'd been. Instead, she was behind Fluttershy, glaring at the one hurdle between her and full omnipotence. "Hiiii, Dinky."
The filly yelped and spun, her hiding place rendered null and void. "H-hi, Miss Twilight."
A glowing circle of runes formed around the young unicorn. "Nothing personal, Dinky," Twilight said conversationally. "It's just that you're the one pony who could stop me."
Fear, hope, and confusion wrestled with one another in the child's mind. How could somepony like her stop magic itself?
The glowing entity stopped herself, aghast. "Wait, what am I doing!?" She telekinetically grabbed the blonde foal and moved her further away from her pink-maned hiding place. "I'm so sorry, Fluttershy, I wasn't thinking. You could've been caught in the area of effect! I promise I'll make it up to you tomorrow. It'll be a spa treatment the likes of which the Lotus sisters can only dream about." Satisfied, she turned back to the filly. "Now, where were we?"
Dinky paid her no mind. Her thoughts were consumed with a question paradoxically complex in its simplicity: How do you stop magic? As the oblivion ring reformed beneath her, the final piece of the puzzle snapped into place. The answer, for all of the esoteric reasoning and bizarre leaps of logic needed to reach it, was as simple as the riddle. Triumphant, she recited the solution: "Magic must defeat magic."
The mox lotus on her necklace burst into full crystalline bloom. Mana coursed through her body like water in the sea, light from the sun. Ceaseless. Unbounded. Infinite.
The weak point of the closing circle became obvious. With a thought and a pittance of energy, the entire construct was negated.
"What the!?" Twilight threw up a facade of fury, but Dinky saw the truth before the mutated bookworm could hide it: She was afraid.
That said, that fear was being channeled very constructively. The filly could feel how space was distorting itself around her, preparing to reject her existence outright. Fortunately, it was a simple matter to put a membrane of energy between her and the various instances of magical doom. Once they fully formed, they petered out against the spell-impermeable surface.
As they did so, their target was still deep in thought. Now that she knew the weak point of the banishment spell as it was being cast, it should've been a relatively simple matter to extrapolate an exploitable weakness for a fully formed one. Twilight had even been considerate enough to offer one on which the hypothesis could be tested.
An indefinite time later, after they had cleared out the most sickening of the toxins built up over years of separation, the spouses floated in each other's forelegs, reveling in the simple joy of the other's presence.
Eventually, Address murmured, "You're going to have to go soon."
Ditzy held him tighter. "Don' wanna."
"Neither do I, but we can't stop it."
"Then I'll come back."
"No."
She looked at him in shock. "What?"
He smiled. "Address unknown. No such pony. No such zone."
As Ditzy faded from the realm of nonexistence, she beamed in return and nodded her understanding. "Return to sender."
Twilight felt an unpleasant mental twinge as her spellcraft unravelled. "What!?" She whirled around just in time to receive a buck to the face courtesy of Ditzy Doo. Reeling from the blow, the transformed unicorn abruptly vanished.
The pegasus beheld her daughter. Her eyes were like floodlamps, her mane floated as though underwater, and her horn glowed so brightly that it was probably painful to look at even without mana sight. "Dinky?"
The filly smiled ecstatically. "Mommy!" Her next action could only be described as a glomp. "Guess what? I'm the only pony who can stop Crazy Monster Twilight!"
Something caught Ditzy's eye. There was a magic wand on each of Dinky's flanks, much like Trixie's cutie mark. However, rather than a contrail of glittering magic, these wands each produced only a single guttering spark. "Countermagic," muttered the planeswalker. In more excited terms, she cried, "Muffin, your special talent is countermagic!"
Her daughter nodded proudly. "Magic must defeat magic."
"Well, that explains a lot." Twilight returned to visibility (Corporeality? Existence?) several dozen feet above the Doos, rage evident from her roiling mane and the psychedelic aura swirling around her. "I was trying to be gentle before, but I guess you two just can't appreciate that sort of thing. Fine. No more Miss Nice Transpony. You're both going to find out what happens when you make magic angry."
Dinky quailed at this, but felt an odd warmth and confidence fill her. She noticed a wing over her body, and looked to her mother. The grey mare grinned confidently, her eyes glowing blue. "Well, my little voidmage, I think it's time your mommy showed you what she did before she became a mailpony."
Ditzy Doo 1WU
Planeswalker — Ditzy
+1: Choose any number of target players. Each of those players draws a card.
0: You gain 1 life for each card in your hand.
-6: Put X 1/1 white Pegasus creature tokens with flying onto the battlefield, where X is your life total.
2
Dinky Doo, Spellbreaker WU
Legendary Creature — Unicorn Child
As long as you control a Ditzy, Dinky Doo, Spellbreaker has hexproof, is indestructible, and can't be sacrificed.
X: Counter target noncreature spell with converted mana cost X or destroy target enchantment with converted mana cost X.
She undoes magic as quickly and easily as her mother undoes muffins.
0/1
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FanOfMostEverything
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1048
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Derpy Hooves,Dinky Hooves,Main 6,Original Character,Other,Crossover,Adventure,Magic: The Gathering,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Elementals of Harmony
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(FiMtG) The only thing standing between Equestria and apocalypse is Ditzy Doo. Yes, really. Stop laughing!
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complete
| 430 | 14 |
<p>Something is gathering around the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Something dangerous. Something magical. There's only one pony with the knowledge, the skills, and the muffins needed to save Equestria as we know it.<br/>A Friendship is Magic: the Gathering crossover, taking place between seasons 1 and 2. Here there be flashbacks, briefly seen OC's, and possibly every emotion known to man or tiny horse. Abandon all pretenses of not being a nerd, ye who enter here.</p>
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everyone
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2012-03-21T01:40:48+00:00
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2017-07-06T23:14:37+00:00
| 5,941 |
Twilight wasn't flying per se. She was just standing there, kept aloft only through sheer contempt for gravity. Ditzy found it vaguely insulting. She couldn't quite her hoof on why, though...
The pegasus dismissed the thought. She had more important concerns right now, like the assortment of very unpleasant spells the ethereal being was preparing. The planeswalker had reentered reality with her mana reserves refreshed, so it was the work of a moment to erect a shimmering energy bubble around her and her daughter. Speaking of whom... "Dinky, hold still."
The filly complied and felt a weight settle on her head. "What's this?"
"A special helmet," answered Ditzy, ignoring the hiss and spit of magic trying to pierce her barrier. "It'll keep you safe while you help me take down Twilight."
The young unicorn beamed. "You're gonna let me help fight a monster?"
Her mother grimaced. "I don't like it, but I'd be a foal to refuse. Focus on keeping her from doing anything, okay?"
"I'll do my best."
"It's all I can ask for."
The duo turned their attention back to Twilight. The glowing being was attempting to burrow through the thin field with a continuous beam of energy. She wasn't making any visible progress, but mark her words, she would breach the flimsy barricade. Eventually.
Ditzy gestured towards the ray. "If you would?"
Dinky nodded, then clenched her eyes shut in focus. The reddish-gold lance of energy fell apart like the fuse of a firework, collapsing in a line of blue sparks from its far end to its point of origin at the Bearer's distended horn.
The elder blonde smiled proudly. "Well done, Muffin." With that, the bubble popped and its creator became invisible.
Twilight sneered. "You think I can't still see you?"
"Stands to reason," came the reply, a few inches from the entity's ear.
"Wha—" The altered unicorn turned just in time to get another hoof to the face, this one glowing white. She was slow to shake it off. It wasn't whatever magic Ditzy had put on her hooves. Oh, that stung, sure, but it hadn't done any lasting damage. No, it was simple confusion that stalled her. After all, the pegasus's magic seemed to be coming from ground level, and yet there she was—
"Right behind you." The magic elemental took a sucker buck to the back of the head, the region flaring in cold heat like concentrated peppermint oil.
Turning, Twilight saw only a grey blur in her peripheral vision. "How are you—" Another blow, this one to the spine. "This shouldn't be—" A gut shot that would've knocked the breath out of her had she had any. "At least let me finish—" A swat to the rump as painful as it was awkward.
"ENOUGH!" A spherical blast wave surged out from the living spell, promising a painful demise to all who came in contact with it.
It abruptly vanished to the sounds of a triggered whoopie cushion and a giggling filly.
Before the glowing creature could focus on this new insolence, she found herself at the center of a coordinated assault that shouldn't have been possible for just one mare. Nonetheless, strikes came from every conceivable angle and a few others besides. Twilight's entire body felt consumed in harmless but painful frozen fire.
She managed to a put a stop to the onslaught by effecting a change too subtle to notice until it was too late. With a thought, she rendered her body gelatinous and sticky. An instant later, another blow landed, but it couldn't take off afterwards. The transformed pony grinned down at her assailant, now trapped hoof-deep in her breastbone. The planned gloat died on her lips as she took it in. "What."
It had the right color scheme in general, grey and yellow, and it was the right sort of shape if you didn't look too closely. However, whatever it was, it really couldn't be mistaken for a pony unless moving very fast and/or seen only peripherally. Even as Twilight stared at the curious thing, it crumbled apart, as much from the weight of her scrutiny as her aura of ruinous energy.
As the last few flakes of the phantasm faded away, the shimmering equinoid gave a frustrated snort. "Enough tricks."
"I thought you were all about tricks."
Twilight released a savage pulse of electricity, filling the area around her with deadly voltage in less than an eyeblink. Aside from the smell of ozone, nothing seemed to happen.
"Ventriloquism spell," noted Ditzy's voice.
There was a moment of brilliance amidst the twisted mare's building rage. It would be the work of a moment to grab the output matrix and pull, yanking the pegasus by the audio conduit and into her hooves.
That was the theory. The execution went as planned, save that it sent the wrong Doo flying towards her. Eyes wide, Twilight noticed how the conduit had been threaded through Dinky. She also found herself locked in place until the filly landed on her face and grabbed on with all four legs. Then the younger unicorn started chanelling antimagic into the mutated unicorn's forehead.
As the living spell flailed in pain and panic, Ditzy whispered smugly into her ear. "I'm not as dumb as I look, Twilight. Before, you caught me off-guard and exhausted. I've passed out three times in the past twenty-four hours, twice from mana exhaustion. But now? Now that you've been kind enough to give me a breather outside of time and space, I'm feeling fresh and dewy. And while you've been distracted, I've been tinkering with this paralysis spell of yours. And the best part?"
"She had assistance."
Twilight stopped thrashing, despite what felt like a even-hungrier-than-usual parasprite trying to eat its way to her brain. Pain was easily ignored when faced with the impossibility now before her. With Dinky distracted, she was able to transpose herself and get a better view. Of course, that left the filly unsupported in midair, but another flying pony quickly caught her, though it wasn't her mother.
Nightmare Moon smiled at her fellow aberration, foal in tow. "Hello, Twilight Sparkle. It's been a while, hasn't it?"
Moments earlier...
The true test of any immortal being is boredom. Each develops his or her own defenses against it. Quite a few revel in the continual excitement of insanity. Others cultivate civilizations as a mortal would care for a pet or a houseplant. And some, usually when presented with no other option, take up meditation.
After a millennium of lunar exile, Luna had become very good at meditation. She'd also become quite skilled at insanity, but that didn't seem particularly constructive at the moment. Instead, with her body immobilized, she decided to wander the corridors of her own mind, contemplating her possible courses of action.
At the moment, her mental avatar was lying on the idea of a grassy knoll beneath a night sky that was technically more real than the one above Equestria. The alicorn nibbled at the concept of grass, ruminating as she ruminated.
"Out of ideas?"
Luna started, scrambling to her hooves. "Who is there?" This was her place of utmost privacy, her sanctum sanctorum. Who else would dare enter? Who else could?
"Oh, relax. Hard as it may be to believe, I mean no harm. I just thought we should take this opportunity to talk."
The princess thought she recognized the voice, but... No. No, that was impossible. "Show yourself!"
"Well, since you asked so nicely." A patch of air dimmed into visibility, forming itself into a taller, blacker, snootier alicorn. She bore a wry grin. "Hello, Luna."
The redeemed pony backed away from her dark alter ego. "No. This is impossible. You shouldn't exist anymore."
"And yet here I am." Nightmare Moon's smile broadened. "I'd like to think that we're a sufficiently rational being not to question the evidence at hoof."
"You do not speak for me!"
The dragon-eyed mare sighed. "Look, we clearly have some trust issues to work out, but right now, I need you to believe me when I say that I'm as sane as you are.
Luna considered this for a moment. "I fear that that says more about me than you."
"Look, I really don't want to cause eternal night or banish Tia to the sun or rule over ponykind with an iron hoof or any of that other nonsense. I've seen the wonders of the modern world through your eyes. I've seen how the ponies of today love the night. I heard the joyous hymns the stars sang to celebrate our return. Why would I want to throw all of that away for another millennium lost to hubris and imprisonment?"
Luna eyed her counterpart suspiciously. "Then why are you even here?"
"As I said, I felt we should take the opportunity to talk. You can't hear me when your attention is directed outward. At the very least, you deserve to know that I'm still here."
"Fine, you're here. Anything else?"
"Princess?"
Both moonponies turned to face the pegasus, surprise hidden beneath near-identical masks of regal composure. As one, they said, "Ah, Ditzy Doo. What brings you here?" Luna then directed an incredulous glare at an amused Nightmare Moon.
The planeswalker chose to ignore their antics. "Long story. The point is, I'm trying to undo Twilight's binding spell, and you should be the easiest to free."
"Oh?" inquired both princesses. Luna scowled at the synchronicity. "Stop that!"
"We're largely one and the same. Our actions are going to match up on a fairly regular basis."
"But, but you... I... we... Ugh!" The smaller alicorn pressed her face into the imagined turf.
Nightmare Moon brought her attention back to Ditzy. "You were saying?"
"Um, right." The grey mare coughed into a fetlock as she collected her thoughts. "It all hinges on how you've been on both ends of the Elements of Harmony. If we use that contrast of Bearer and Target as a lever, it should pry off your bonds like a stubborn jar lid."
The helmeted princess nodded. "That would likely work, yes. How do we go about employing this lever?"
"We'd need to bring representatives of the two concepts together as one," reasoned Ditzy. "I... guess you two could just hoofshake?"
"Worth a try." Nightmare nudged her other self. "Come on, Lulu."
"No."
"This is no time for foalishness."
"Everything I hated about myself is back and she's disturbingly similar to the rest of me."
The darker night princess frowned, a hint of her old haughtiness creeping into her voice. "The distilled essence of your darkest aspects is willing to step forward and rescue your sovereign nation, and yet you are not. There, that is a difference between us. One you seem to be embracing."
Luna brought her face out of the dreamsod. "But—"
"But what?" barked her other self. "This is Equestria's time of need. This is a chance to be a true hero to your people. Are you really going to spend this crisis wallowing in your own self-loathing, or are you going to pony up and act like a monster-bucking moon goddess?"
The smaller princess brought herself to all fours. "You're right. It's time to put away the past. To kick pity to the curve and move beyond the regrettable. WHO IN OUR NAME DOST THOU THINK WE ARE!?"
Nightmare Moon grinned and stuck out a foreleg. "Hoofbump!"
"Hoofbump!"
Wisely, Ditzy had backed out of Luna's mind before they made contact.
The scintillating mare gawked at the alicorn. "No. No. This isn't possible. We purified you. We harmonized you."
The Mare in the Moon grinned at some private joke. "And yet here I am. Terror of the Night. Regent of Lunacy. Her Caliginous Majesty. You cannot dispute the evidence of your eyes, Twilight."
"Can't I? You're just another illusion!"
"Am I?" The goddess pointed with one starmetal-shod hoof.
Twilight followed the extremity to her motionless friends. Luna was nowhere to be seen. "Alright, so you're an illusion and an invisibility spell on the real Luna."
Nightmare Moon sighed, then smirked knowingly. "Isn't it nice to be so confident in the face of a conflicting reality?"
The scintillating pony glared, the energy around her roiling all the more ferociously. "Shut up! You're not real! Stop mocking me!" Her horn shined like a newborn star and unleashed a blast of noonday sunlight.
After it passed, the dark alicorn hovered unscathed, her young passenger's horn still aglow after nullifying the attack. "Are you quite finished? I'm not used to being the sane one. I haven't a clue what the proper protocol is."
That tore it. With an incoherent scream, Twilight charged the princess. Nightmare Moon simply descended, allowing the frenzied unicorn to pass her overhead as she helped Dinky dismount.
The filly looked at the boogeymare with a mix of fear and awe. "A...are you gonna gobble me up?"
The pitch-black princess gave a surprisingly warm smile. "No, little one, no gobbler I. Luna and I are like two sides of the same coin. I'm not a monster." She winked. "I'm just the better looking one."
This got a bit of laughter, though it was quickly interrupted by a gasp. "Look out!"
"Hmm?" The alicorn registered the angry purple missile racing towards her. "Oh." Eyes shining, Nightmare Moon waited patiently. When Twilight was within a few feet of her, the distorted pony was driven into the ground like she'd been swatted.
"You know what one of the best things is about sanity?" the moon princess said casually. "The ability to make plans that aren't terrible."
Twilight struggled, barely able to twitch. "Urgh..."
"You see, when you're crazy, ideas like 'turn into a thorn to enrage a manticore' or 'frighten a bunch of ponies with scary faces on trees' seem like they might actually work. You know, because you're crazy. On the other hoof, when you're sane, then you opt for rational strategies that actually have a chance, like 'pin your indestructible opponent in a high-intensity gravity field.'" Nightmare Moon looked at her captive piteously. "One of the many reasons why insanity doesn't suit you, Twilight."
The living spell said nothing. Instead, she simply vanished.
The alicorn facehoofed. "Ugh. Fix problem first, then monologue. And I say Tia has a flair for the dramatic..."
"You can fix her?" Dinky asked hopefully.
"I can certainly try." The princess looked around nervously. "But first, we need to find her again..."
Any attempts to do so were preempted by a sudden, blinding burst of light.
Ditzy was beginning to panic. As she'd anticipated, freeing Luna had been fairly easy. The transformation into Nightmare Moon had come as a surprise, but it was probably symbolic of her acceptance of that part of herself. Or something. She had neither the time nor the inclination to ponder symbolic underpinnings right now.
One of her more pressing concerns were the other five immobilized ponies. With no convenient dichotomies to work off of, her attempts to dispel their bonds had failed to make any progress whatsoever. That meant that the planeswalker had to resort to Plan B: Psychological triage. Seeing one of their best friends twisted into a surreal parody of herself was traumatic enough, but being rendered utterly motionless by her, then left to rot? Yeah, that wasn't going to end well for anypony's sanity.
Applejack and Rarity were easily coaxed into meditative fugue states, both more shocked and bored than crazy. Pinkie Pie had apparently undergone something similar on her own initiative. Probably. At the very least, her mind wasn't in her body, but a residual aura of black magic was. Ditzy had thought it best not to investigate further.
The pegasi were more troublesome. As the grey mare could attest, mobility was an essential part of the pegasine identity. For any winged pony, total involuntary paralysis was even more traumatic than having those wings removed. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had both descended into blind panic by the time Ditzy had snuck towards them. Now it was all she could do to keep them from going permanently insane. Actually, that was more than she could do. Simple numbers were against her: she just couldn't maintain two minds of such instability by herself. Not indefinitely.
The blonde was on the verge of employing something powerful enough to draw Twilight's notice when she became aware of another mind. It wasn't equine, that much she could tell, but beyond that she couldn't make heads or tails of it. Well, not without reducing the lifespan of her friends' sanity severalfold.
I will attend to Fluttershy. The telepathic message held an oddity for a mind-to-mind communiqué: an accent. More specifically, the exaggerated enunciation that comes from suppressing an accent. How Ditzy was getting that impression, she couldn't say.
She could, however, reply. Who are you?
Does it matter? Without my assistance, you will lose both of them shortly.
The planeswalker bit her lip. Fine. But if she goes mad—
I would never be able to forgive myself.
So long as we're on the same page. Ditzy felt the strange presence envelop the remains of Fluttershy's psyche, then shifted all of her attention to Dash. The speedster's mind was beating itself to a pulp against an unresponsive cage of flesh and sorcery. This wasn't going to be easy...
Dinky rubbed her eyes, trying to get her vision clear as fast as she could. She couldn't help stop Twilight if she couldn't see anything!
"Are you alright, Dinky?" Until now, the filly never would've thought she'd be glad to hear the voice of Nightmare Moon. Of course, she would've never expected to hear the Mare in the Moon speak with such worry.
"I'm fine, I just can't see!" Stupid Twilight with her stupid sneaky spells...
"I can restore your vision. Remove your helmet and it will only take a moment."
The young unicorn moved to comply, but paused moments later. "Sorry, but I really shouldn't take this off. It's keeping me safe."
"A few seconds won't hurt," insisted the alicorn. "Please, hurry!"
Dinky shook her head. "Nuh uh. Besides, everything's getting clearer."
Was... was that a growl? That was definitely a sigh. "Very well. I think I've spotted her above us. I'll pursue her."
The filly was able to make out a black blob rising towards the heavens. She waved in its general direction. "Good luck!"
Twilight sighed beneath her disguise. Stubborn little foal. She was lucky that her mother just happened to have some trinket that made magic avoid her like the plague. Hmm, a plague. That might get her. No, no, there would entail far too great a risk of collateral damage after she convinced the rest of Ponyville that there was no reason to be worried. Thankfully, that would be easier. If she couldn't talk them into it, she could just make them feel safe. Not like Little Miss No-Magic down there.
The distorted unicorn realized she was woolgathering. And still ascending. "Oops." She went back to a more reasonable cruising altitude as she continued to think. A shout in her third ear reminded her of what she'd been doing after her blinding spell.
It was an interesting question: How do you stop a deity? There was the brute force approach, but destroying the moon would likely do more harm than good. Twilight could've tried binding the Nightmare again, but if she broke free once, she'd probably be able to do so again. And, of course, no matter how the elemental approached the problem, she'd have to sneak it past Dinky Doo. Fortunately, the filly's mother had been kind enough to offer a suggestion. It was just a matter of distracting the foal long enough to shunt the alicorn into nonexistence, place an "I'm still here" dummy for Celestia's connection to her sister, and create an illusion for herself.
Don't worry, Twilight transmitted. I'll have you back in time to raise the moon.
She couldn't help but give a satisfied smile as she listened to the furious, profanity-laden reply.
Ditzy slumped and heaved a sigh of relief. Getting Dash into a preservative dormancy had been remarkably like getting a certain stubborn filly to go to bed. Fortunately, that meant that the bubble-flanked mare was uniquely qualified for the job. She sent a mental missive to her mysterious partner. Dash is stable. How's Fluttershy?
Calmed and content. Now that they are taken care of, we must address the next issue.
Twilight?
Precisely. I shall assist the lady of the moon and your daughter. Keep worrying at the others' restraints. I am confident that you will find a weak point.
Wait, you never told me who you were!
There was an impression of a smirk. Isn't it obvious? Who else could so easily calm such a skittish pony?
Ditzy spotted a white dot streaking towards the struggle. She gave a smirk of her own. Good luck, Angel.
Yes. I am.
Twilight gave a contented sigh. She'd really needed a chance to calm down and clear her head. Nopony could be expected to think straight with that much rage in her system. Now she was back to her reasonable, rational self, and she could reasonably, rationally remove the impediments to keeping Equestria safe. With fire.
Her measured, even-tempered pyromania was interrupted by an unfamiliar magic signature. The twisted mare looked up, finding herself the target of a steep dive. She examined the diver, raising the former site of an eyebrow. "You're joking. You're joking, right?"
Judging by the unwavering plunge, Angel wasn't.
Twilight sighed. "Honestly, it's like they keep forgetting what they're dealing with." A whisper of power, and the rabbit's vegetable vestments unravelled, leaving naught but bunny.
He shifted position, going headfirst rather than lead with his now nonexistent lance.
The living spell took a moment to process the sheer chutzpah on display. "Okay, I have to respect that." Another bit of magic, and the lagomath vanished, sent on a collision course with Fluttershy's bed. "Not saying it's smart, but definitely respectable." She turned, spotted a more familiar magic, and moved towards it.
Ditzy bit back a scream. No matter how she analyzed or approached it, she couldn't find a single flaw in the magic that kept the Bearers motionless. Protection effects on protection effects. Double Bösium indestructibility reach-arounds. Enough hexproofing that any further magic slipped off of the array like water off a duck's back. It was the most durable, comprehensively tamper-proof spell complex she'd ever seen. No surprise, really. This was Twilight she was dealing with...
The pegasus facehoofed as realization struck. If she couldn't attack the magic, she could always attack the magician.
This point was emphasized when everything turned ruddier than normal. Ditzy sprinted way just before an explosion charred where she'd been standing.
"Darn," huffed Twilight, hovering lazily. "And here I was hoping we could wrap this up nice and neat." She glared at the grey mare. "But no, that would require you to cooperate, and we can't have that, now can we?" Golden energy played along her horn. "Oh, and trying to use my friends as cover isn't going to help you. As you just saw, I don't have to use flashy trajectory attacks."
Ditzy took off an eyeblink before a sphere of necrotic energy would've consumed her. "Twiight, please, you don't want to do this."
"Don't tell me what I want!" The altered unicorn took hold of the leylines around the planeswalker. Ubiquitous trickles of magical energy, they were no thicker than a hair, obviously nowhere near as powerful as the main vessels of magic of the world. Still, they could be woven into an invisible, inescapable cage, then filled with enough power to make them explosively overload.
At least, in theory. In practice, they responded to her manipulation with a bit of halfhearted twitching. "What?"
"Dinky isn't the only one who knows countermagic." Between her forehooves, Ditzy held a cerulean orb. Within, glowing lines of light twisted and glimmered. "Furthermore, she hasn't had the chance to experiment with variations on the theme."
"What did you—" Twilight cut herself off. It was obvious. Impossible, but obvious. The pegasus had somehow contained her spell and was going to use it against her. She'd just have to preempt it. Her glowing eyes turned black as the space between stars as she readied an attack on the foalish pony's very mind.
Then she was interrupted by a white-mana-engorged leyline wrapping itself around her head like a blindfold.
As the unicorn screamed, her concentration ruined, she felt more of the turgid energy pathways close around her. The tendrils burned, froze, ached with a hundred different flavors of excruciation. Then they exploded, which made their embrace seem pleasant by comparison.
As smoke wafted from her iridescent form, the mutated mare reflected on the myriad differences between immortality and invulnerability. Once she could see clearly, her adversary was nowhere to be found. A quick search for Ditzy's magic resolved that. Twilight slowly, deliberately walked towards the impertinent pegasus, every step tinting the air with colors not found in any rational universe. Oh, that mare would suffer for this. She would suffer.
Dinky frowned. Nightmare Moon had gone up until she was barely visible, then just vanished from sight. Then Twilight had reappeared, but the filly hadn't been able to tell what she was doing, or even if she was doing anything. She just kind of stood in one place for a while, then turned back around and headed for... oh no. "Mommy!"
The filly galloped forward, Dinky Sense guiding her. She soon saw her mother on the wing, but any relief was short-lived, given the horror on the mare's tail.
Something, noted Ditzy, had definitely changed after that last spelljack. Before, Twilight's attacks had been coherent expressions of arcane power. Now she was just hurling chunks of the raw, caustic mana that surrounded her without bothering to shape it into anything else. Risking a glance, the pegasus saw that the furious being had apparently grown several additional appendages, the better to chunkhurl with.
"I am going to erase you from time itself!"
And then there was the voice. It was a chorus of Twilights, each expressing her own unique spin on anger, from cold malice to psychotic fury. It was kind of creepy.
So was the combination of screams, groans, and sighs the warped pony made when her latest blob of protomagic winked out of existence halfway to Ditzy. "I will make your insufferable spawn watch you die a thousand deaths!"
"Uh huh." The pegasus landed next to her daughter, gave her a wink, and answered, "You know, you keep making all these promises, but I've yet to see you do anything constructive."
The elemental's face literally twisted into a mask of fury, her features distorting themselves along with the rest of her body. "I will tear off your wings and drive them through your eyes!"
Dinky whimpered. Her mother brought a comforting wing over her. "It's okay, Muffin. As long as we're together, she can't hurt either of us. She's just a big ol' bag of wind."
Twilight grinned. Though her body continued to roil and stretch, there was a worrisome lucidity in her eyes. She spoke with a single voice. "Oh, I think not. There's one thing, ONE. Thing. That I think you'll find is going to have a very, very major impact on the two of you." The maddened creature began a maniacal laugh, her form strobing through colors at furious speeds as it lost what little cohesion it still had. She began to diffuse like ink in water, her cackle echoing from all directions.
"What is she doing?" cried Dinky.
Ditzy hesitated, scarcely able to believe her senses. "She's... she's trying to become one with the magic of the entire world. She's trying to become Equestria!" As if to underscore the point, an ominous and familiar groan briefly drowned out the spreading elemental's mad mirth. "And she's breaking the world in the process."
"What do we do?"
"If I—" The pegasus stopped, disbelief giving way to horror. "N-no."
"Mommy?"
"She cut me off." The mare slumped onto her rump, staring vacantly. "She's in the mana. She is the mana. I... I can't do anything."
The filly glared. "I can."
The laughter redoubled at this simple declaration. The Sparkle chorus, now rather out of sync, crowed, "anAnd just what do you think you can do?do"
Dinky Doo did not speak her answer. She performed it. She took hold of the vast stores of magical energy she had let lie dormant, fearing catastrophic misuse in her unpracticed hooves. Now she didn't care. It didn't matter if she flubbed up a super-mega-ultra-gigantospell; the world about to end anyway. Overglow after overglow encompassed her horn as every last drop of magic was forced into a single spell, a single thought, a single word:
No.
The light around her horn collapsed to an infinitesimal point at its tip, then burst out in a beam thicker than Celestia's wingspan. The assault plowed through Twilight's amorphous form like wet tissue paper and kept going. Behind her, it collapsed again, then split into countless thin rays of energy, each streaking to a seemingly random point in the sky where it pierced some invisible scrap of invasive magic.
After what felt like an eternity, the spell faded, the afterimage still glimmering in Ditzy's eyes. The primary mass of magic, now with a large hole blasted through its middle, drifted towards the immobile Bearers, collapsing into a lavender blob. The lump reshaped itself into a familiar tiara-adorned pony.
Dinky was broken out of amazement at her own achievement by a high tinkling crunch. She looked down and saw that the flower on her necklace had shattered. "Aww..."
Her mother ruffled her mane. "W-well, easy come, easy go." The pegasus's voice shook a bit with sheer relief. "Come on, let's go check on Twilight."
The filly was quiet for a moment as they moved towards the overwhelmed mare. "I really did that?"
"You did, Muffin."
"Wow." Dinky beamed. "Best day ever!"
Ditzy chuckled. "I don't know about that." She paused by Applejack, nudging her a little. "Up and at 'em."
There was no response. The blonde frowned. With Twilight very decisively dealt with, the bonds on the other Bearers should've ceased to be, and after that the fugue state should've been undone with pretty much any physical stimulus. "Applejack?" Still nothing.
The young unicorn frowned. "Is she okay?"
"Oh..." Both turned. Twilight was shakily getting to her hooves, her eyes still glowing. "She'll be just fine." She stumbled, then managed to stand. "Juuuust fine."
Ditzy stepped forward. "Twilight, please, it's over. Whatever this crisis is, you can fix it without cracking the plane in half."
"You don't know that!" shrieked the purple mare. "You can't know that! None of us can! I have to be sure!" Shaking and twitching, she looked around and grinned. "And I know how." Her eyes grew brighter, the Tiara of Magic following suit.
As the other Elements began to light up, the planeswalker struggled to grasp the madmare's logic. "You're just going to blindly use the Elements and hope they fix everything?"
"No! I have a very specific target in mind, Miss Spellcasting Pegasus!"
Ditzy pointed a hoof at herself. "Me? Seriously?"
Twilight rose into the air, her friends following suit. "Yes! You should not be! You're obviously the harbinger of a greater catastrophe! But if I cleanse the world of you, then you! Can't! Make it! HAPPEN!"
"Pinkie Pie can cast spells too."
"Huh?"
The Elements activated, launching a magnificent rainbow of magic into the sky. Most diffused out in a beautiful display of light as it healed the fresh wounds in the structure of the plane. But a small amount went back down, slamming into one mare with enough love and tolerance to crush a freight train.
As the display faded, Twilight looked at the Doos with a blend of horror and guilt. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." She fell on her face.
After a pause, Dinky piped up. "Did... did Miss Twilight just use the Elements on herself?"
"She didn't mean to," answered Ditzy, "but yes."
"Freeze!" Several armored pegasi landed around the pair. "Royal Guard! Nopony move!"
Harmonic Restoration 1WW
Instant
Exile target permanent. That permanent's controller may return a card in his or her graveyard that shares a permanent type with that permanent to the battlefield.
The Elements of Harmony do not kill. They correct that which was not meant to happen.
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FanOfMostEverything
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1048
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Derpy Hooves,Dinky Hooves,Main 6,Original Character,Other,Crossover,Adventure,Magic: The Gathering,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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Elementals of Harmony
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(FiMtG) The only thing standing between Equestria and apocalypse is Ditzy Doo. Yes, really. Stop laughing!
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complete
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<p>Something is gathering around the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Something dangerous. Something magical. There's only one pony with the knowledge, the skills, and the muffins needed to save Equestria as we know it.<br/>A Friendship is Magic: the Gathering crossover, taking place between seasons 1 and 2. Here there be flashbacks, briefly seen OC's, and possibly every emotion known to man or tiny horse. Abandon all pretenses of not being a nerd, ye who enter here.</p>
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everyone
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2012-03-25T20:45:03+00:00
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2012-03-25T20:45:03+00:00
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The guard directly in front of Ditzy examined the area, then jerked his head at two of his comrades. They took off, leaving three around the mare and her daughter. He then flared his wings, audibly slicing the air. "On your belly. Wings spread and on the ground."
The grey mare felt her jaw work, so many different responses warring for expression that she was stunned into silence.
Dinky was not so disabled. She dashed between the two adult ponies, crying, "We didn't do anything wrong!"
The armored pegasus remained implacable. "The innocent have nothing to fear. On your belly. Do not channel your magic."
Ditzy found her voice. "She's just a foal!"
He took a step forward. "If you choose not to comply, I am authorized to physically force you to do so."
The planeswalker snorted and flared her own wings, producing two small thunderclaps. Lightning crackled amidst her plumage. Her rage threatened to boil over onto anypony nearby who wasn't her foal. She locked gazes with the fool who dared to threaten her precious Muffin and—
"Stand down, you foals! It is only thanks to these ponies' efforts that you still draw breath!"
The guards stared at the bombastic alicorn for a moment, martial resolve giving way to naked fear. Their wills snapped like dry twigs:
"Red Door! Red Door!"
"Evacuate!"
"This is not a drill!"
Amidst the panicked flapping, the princess groaned and looked to Ditzy. "I'm still Nightmare Moon, aren't I?"
The pegasus tittered, electrical fury forgotten in her surprise. "I'm afraid so, Your Highness."
The dread mare rolled her eyes and shrank into Luna's moderately less intimidating form. "I'm going to have to bear that in mind in the future. The diplomatic consequences alone could be disastrous."
The blonde shrugged. "I don't know. 'Give us what we want or suffer everlasting night' seems like a fairly solid foreign policy to me."
The princess smirked. "Then let us be thankful that we do not toil under the iron hoof of Empress Ditzy."
The two shared a laugh. As their mirth abated, the grey mare noted, "Seriously, you should probably stop them before the entire country starts panicking."
"On it."
A pitch black sphere expanded into existence before them, disgorging the frightened guards in short order. All three scrambled to their hooves, the one who'd locked wills with Ditzy catching sight of Luna in the process. "Your Highness!" he blurted. "You're not evil anymore!"
"Evil?" echoed Luna. "Ms. Doo, would you say that I've been evil today?"
The planeswalker kept an admirably straight face. "That's a rather subjective matter, wouldn't you agree, Your Majesty?"
The alicorn nodded in concession. "Hmm, true." She turned back to the armored pegasus. "Tell me, Lieutenant Zeal, precisely what malfeasance did I exhibit earlier?"
The hapless guardspony struggled for words before refocusing on the blonde mare. "Your Highness, I must ask that you step aside. We need to detain this pony for questioning."
"No you don't."
The stallion paused to process this. "With all due respect, Milady—"
"If you were showing me all due respect, you would not be questioning my direct orders."
"But—"
"Technically, you shouldn't even be making eye contact with me, but it is my understanding that certain social mores have been relaxed over the past millennium."
Desperation crept into Zeal's voice. "Princess, we have direct orders from your sister to investigate this disturbance and to apprehend those responsible."
Luna shrugged. "Tell her it was an act of fate."
The white stallion took in the unconscious Elements of Harmony, the oh-so-arrestable pegasus, the frightened filly who'd obviously been coerced into aiding the villain... "An act of fate, Your Highness?"
The alicorn nodded. "Act of fate."
The lieutenant opened his mouth to object further, but one of his comrades spoke first. "You heard the Princess, Z. Act of fate."
"Can't arrest destiny," noted the third member of Canterlot's finest.
"Y'know, I heard somepony tried once. Wasn't pretty."
The crestfallen guard managed to squeeze into the conversation. "But—"
"C'mon, Z. We've got a debriefing to get to."
"Yup, no sense in making Celestia worry over nothing."
The trio took off to reconnoiter with their fellows, one more hesitantly than the others. Ditzy quirked an eyebrow. "Not to sound ungrateful, but 'act of fate'?"
Luna nodded. "The Full Arcane Temporaspacial Enforcement Act clearly designates today's events as outside the Royal Guard's jurisdiction."
"So whose jurisdiction are they?"
"Mine."
"Gah!" Ditzy leapt a few yards before turning to glare at— "Lyra?"
The unicorn saluted. "Agent Lyrical Heartstrings, Office of Parallel Realities, Department of Quantum Affairs, Space Division of the Equestrian Time-Space Administration Bureau." She smirked. "Also known as the ETSAB."
"Every aspect of our world is overseen by sapient life," noted Luna. "Weather, the turning of the seasons, the plants and animals. Causality and the cosmos are no different, save that they are vastly more necessary and vastly more dangerous if mismanaged or left uncontrolled."
"I... You..." Ditzy took a breath as she sorted out the countless questions that came to mind. "So where were all the special agents while I was risking my tail and my foal?"
"There are currently only four ETSAB agents in Ponyville," answered Lyra. "Both members of the Time Division are on a case elsewhen in history and the other member of the Space Division is still in the womb."
The pegasus resisted the urge to ask for elaboration. Something told her that further inquiry along those lines would only make for more confusion. "As for you?"
"Eh heh..." The mint-green mare awkwardly rubbed a cannon with the other foreleg. "Well, you have to understand, this is some really confidential stuff. The only reason we're even talking about this in the open is because the town's been evacuated. It's like I said back at the Boutique; my job's a secret even to me. Well, most of the time. I have to be activated by either circumstance or posthypnotic cue. In this case, it was the generosity elemental spitting me out of its hivemind."
"And after that?"
Lyra glared at Ditzy. "I was making sure that time stop of yours wouldn't make anything worse."
"Oh." The blonde gave a nervous chuckle. "Oops... So why are you telling me all of this?" Something clicked. "This is a job offer, isn't it?"
The unicorn nodded. "Celestia knows how short-handed we are—"
"As do I," noted Luna.
"...anyway, I know Extraplanar Affairs would love to have someone like you on board."
Ditzy felt like she could be knocked over with a feather. "How did you..."
"When on a moment's notice you cast a spell that even Star Swirl needed a week to prepare for, it's kind of a tipoff. Especially when you do it without a horn."
"Oh. Right."
Lyra grinned and held out a foreleg. "So? What do you say?"
"Um... But..." After the day's events, Ditzy struggled with this latest unexpected development. "I'm the only mailpony in Ponyville," she protested lamely.
The spearmint mare shrugged. "It's only on an as-needed basis. Heck, sometimes I go months between assignments."
Luna bore a distant look. "You're really the only postal worker for the entire town?"
"Yeah."
The alicorn snorted in indignation. "This is a travesty! To think that one of the most fundamental components of civil service would be reduced to this hollow mockery, this skeletal sham, and within sight of Canterlot, no less! As Mother as Our Witness, this shall not stand!"
"What's with her?" Lyra whispered.
Ditzy held back a laugh. "If I remember correctly, she's the one who came up with the idea of the postal system in the first place."
"Huh. So, you interested in the ETSAB?"
"Um..."
The unicorn smiled. "I understand, it's a big decision. If you want, you can be registered as a consultant. You'll basically get to choose how involved you want to get."
"I think that would be best."
Dinky chose then to speak up. "Does this make Mommy a secret agent?"
Lyra ruffled her mane. "Depends. Can you keep a secret?"
"...with an anvil!" concluded Luna. She noted the blank looks on the other ponies and grinned sheepishly. "I suppose I went on a bit of a tangent. My apologies."
Ditzy straightened herself. This was a monumental choice, and she wanted to recognize it as such. "Your Majesty, I would be honored to be a member of the Bureau, but given my responsibilities, I must ask that I only take on a consulting role for now."
The princess nodded. "Entirely reasonable. Agent Heartstrings, I trust you can coordinate the necessary logistics?"
"Of course, Your Majesty."
A thought struck the pegasus. "What about Pinkie Pie? She's a planeswalker too."
Lyra burst into laughter at this. Once she collected herself, she explained, "Sorry, sorry. It's just that Anomalous Affairs has had a subcommittee entirely devoted to Pinkie for the past five years or so. If we recruit her, those poor guys would probably go apoplectic."
"Furthermore," added Luna, "Celestia and I have agreed that none of the Elements should be involved in the more... covert aspects of the kingdom."
Ditzy took this in for a moment "Huh. Well, I guess that clears up everything except for one question."
The alicorn gave a slight frown. "And that would be?"
The planeswalker gestured towards the still prone Bearers. "What are we going to do with them?"
Celestia considered both the news and its reporter. "An act of fate, you say?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," grumbled a kneeling Shining Zeal.
She nodded. "Well, that's that then."
The guardspony's head bolted up in disbelief. "Your Majesty?"
The princess met him with a questioning look. "You have done your duty and assuaged my concerns, Lieutenant. What more is there?"
Humility and curiosity warred in the stallion's mind. "But, but I..."
"Yes?"
"But that's just what your sister told me to tell you!" Zeal covered his mouth, horrified by the slip.
The alicorn seemed no more interested than before. "Oh? Well, then you have performed a duty to each of us. Well done, Lieutenant."
"But I don't know what actually happened!"
"I assure you, Shining Zeal, our top ponies will be investigating the matter."
The pegasus pondered this for a moment. "But, Your Majesty, who?"
"Top. Ponies." Celestia magically lifted and unrolled a scroll, then looked back at the guard with a hint of surprise. "You are dismissed, Lieutenant."
"I..." Whatever Zeal was going to say, he though better of it. Instead, he knelt and answered, "Understood, Your Majesty."
The day princess allowed herself a slight smile as the stallion left the chamber. Shining Zeal obviously didn't understand the situation, at least not beyond "The princess has declared the matter closed," but that was good enough for him. As his name implied, the guard was noble and devoted, but had almost no sense for the finer points of politics. Celestia wished the same could be said of more ponies.
Alas, subterfuge was as much a part of her reign as was moving the sun. At least Luna's return had brought back the sister that savored that sort of intrigue, but she couldn't shoulder it all alone. And on that note...
With a theatrical sigh, the alicorn said, "You can come out now."
Two ponies materialized before her, each offering a deep nod. Etiquette was not a major concern for them. How could it be? Officially, they didn't exist. The unicorn, an ash-grey mare with an auburn mane and a domino mask cutie mark, spoke first. "Wasn't satisfied. Might suspect."
Celestia stifled a snicker. "Zeal? Unless it's a criminal matter, he's almost adorably naïve. He wouldn't suspect Blueblood's lineage of being anything but the purest truth."
"Are you sure?" checked the other, a midnight-blue pegasus stallion with sable mane and a heart under a magnifying glass on his flank. "It could be a put-on."
The princess gave him a flat look. "It may no longer be practical for me to meet every one of my ponies personally, Dashing Rogue, but I still make the effort with the Royal Guard. I know that stallion better than he knows himself. He is no concern of yours."
Rogue nodded again. "As you say, Princess."
Celestia changed the subject, knowing that she would get no further with him. "Cloaking Dagger, what can you tell me about the incident?"
The unicorn pawed at the carpet. "...not much."
"Oh?" encouraged the alicorn.
"Big fight. Nopony got close. Too scared. Too conspicuous with town empty." Dagger offered an unsure smile. "Talk of hazard pay."
"Well, 'not much' isn't nothing. What do you have?"
"Some still in town at time. Elements. Doos. Luna. ETSAB mare."
The alicorn nodded. "That confirms it, then. It would appear that I have an appointment to make. And it has been some time since I last spoke with Inner Core..." She briefly brought her attention back to her spymasters (and that's what they are, she thought to herself, no matter how many pretty terms you invent for them.) "You may go."
The duo padded out, eerily silent for ponies, even on soft carpet. Rogue spread a wing over Dagger, bringing her a bit closer, and they vanished from sight. Celestia waited until she could no longer sense them before reflecting more deeply on the matter.
Once she was alone with her thoughts, she reviewed the past... had it really been less than an hour? That humiliating audience with poor Slide Rule seemed ages ago. She'd hastily cancelled the remainder of the Morning Court, citing ancient emergency clauses that had sent scholars of law poring through the Canterlot Archives. Then, with the same abruptness with which it had appeared, the tumorous glob of magic in Ponyville had vanished.
Celestia hadn't trusted the apparent miracle, so she took a look for herself. She rarely used the power of solar scrying, mainly because she found the idea of leering down at her people like a warden monitoring a prison distasteful. Here, however, it had easily revealed the deception. While the town seemed fine at first glance, the ponies anxiously milling about the city limits didn't mesh with the cheerful activity within. Less than a minute of careful observation proved that Ponyville was on a loop, yet the alicorn couldn't pierce the illusion. She'd dispatched the Guard to investigate, including a few members of her less publicized forces, and now here she was.
The princess sighed. After a millennium of careful scrutiny, not being sure what was going on elicited an odd blend of anxiety and novelty. She supposed she would have to wait until Luna deigned to tell her what had happened. This prompted a snicker, which was allowed to run free. Oh yes, little sister would find that all too amusing...
"Ugh..." Twilight winced as she grudgingly regained consciousness. "Worst. Dream. Ever."
"I quite agree. Tea?"
"Yes." She eagerly took the proffered caffeine, draining the cup before noticing who'd given it to her. "Trixie!?"
The other unicorn smiled. "Good afternoon, Twilight."
The lavender mare set down the teacup, thankful that in her drowsy state she'd used hooves rather than magic, and thus hadn't let it drop in her shock. As she did so, she examined her unexpected caretaker's coat. It was almost impossible to make out poison joke's telltale rash against the already blue hair. "Wh-what brings you here?" asked the Bearer, a wooden smile nailed to her face.
Trixie couldn't help it. She began laughing uproariously at the other mare's discomfort. "Oh, relax. I solemnly swear that I'm not in love with you, madly or otherwise." This elicited a fresh peal of laughter.
Twilight noted an unexpected ambivalence in her reaction and filed it away for future analysis. "Okay, if you aren't here to... court me, then what brings you to Ponyville? And my bedroom?"
The silver-maned pony feigned surprise. "Why, Miss Sparkle! Surely you haven't forgotten that my mentor is gracing this modest hamlet with her presence?"
"Your mentor?"
"Princess Luna."
Twilight's reaction was like an explosive with a long but unseen fuse. For a time, nothing seemed to happen. Then she burst into action, sending her sheets flying. "Omigosh! The princess! What time is it? Who has she met? Has anypony offended her? Has she banished anypony to the sun? Oh, if her sister's upset, Princess Celestia will never forgive me! Where is she? I have to try to salvage this!"
"You have no reason to be so concerned, Twilight Sparkle." Both unicorns beheld the night princess. "I have had a most enjoyable time in Ponyville this day."
The purple mare slumped in relief. "Oh, thank goodness."
One nagging thought finally got through her drowsiness and panic. "Wait a second." She turned to Trixie. "How could you agree about the unpleasant nature of my dream? It would be understandable if you simply sympathized, or even said you were sorry, though you obviously weren't responsible for it. But you explicitly said 'I agree.' Why?"
The showmare didn't respond at first. After a nod from Luna, she asked, "What do you remember?"
Twilight brought a hoof to her forehead as she concentrated. "I was performing my usual Thursday instrument calibrations when the ultra-wide angle thaumoscope detected a strange flux in the universal magical background energy, one I'd never seen before. Further research indicated that that particular pattern was unprecedented in all of recorded history. The only clue I could find was a vague allusion to a 'time of chaos' in Origins and Eschatologies.
"I tried to find a way to counterbalance the shift, to superimpose a mirror waveform to restore equilibrium. Then a second flux developed, almost exactly what I needed. I just had to adjust it a little, guide it to fulfill the purpose it needed to. Then... then..."
She shook her head. "No, that couldn't have been real!" She started to laugh. "I mean, really? Pegasi casting spells? Nightmare Moon reappearing?" The laughter grew hysterical. "Paralyzing my friends? Wanting to do horrible things to a mother and her child!? Willing to break the world apart if it means I win?!? That wasn't real!!! That couldn't be real!!! Right!??! Right?!?!?"
Wings and warmth enfolded her. Somehow, the comforting gesture removed any possibility of denial. Twilight began to sob into Luna's side. "How?" the unicorn pleaded. "How do you deal with the guilt?"
"You learn from it, so you never make the same mistakes again. You spend every day trying to earn the forgiveness you may never feel you deserve. And you hope with all your heart that one day ponies will look at you and not see the monster you became." Trixie gave a weak chuckle. "At least, that's what Luna told me."
Twilight ducked under the princess's wing, looking at the other unicorn in a new light. "Trixie..."
Rarity's voice cut in in midsentence. "—ving a private moment!"
All three turned to see Rainbow Dash halfway through an open window. "Forget that! I could hear Twilight crying in there! You can't expect me to just sit back and let her beat herself up over something that wasn't even her fault!" The pegasus noticed that she'd been noticed, among other things. "Aw, you two weren't gonna make out, were you? 'Cause if you were, I owe AJ ten bits."
Trixie flushed, almost turning purple. "Why of all the tactless, immature, inconsiderate—"
She was drowned out by Twilight's laughter. The lavender mare beamed at her winged friend, still chuckling a bit. "Thank you, Dash."
The speedster posed proudly. "Heh. You're welcome." She paused for a moment, noticing a disconnect. "Um, for what?"
"For being you."
Rainbow considered this, shrugged, and took it. Hay, gratitude was gratitude. Who cared about the details?
"Is everypony outside?" asked Twilight.
"Yup. We were gonna throw you a 'Feel Better' party, but a certain Miss Prissypants decided it wouldn't be 'polite' and 'proper' to 'intrude on such highly personal matters.'" The heavy use of air quotes made the spectrum-maned mare's opinion on the matter clear.
Celestia's student sniffled and smiled. "You know, I think a party is exactly what I need." She turned to the room's other occupants. "You're both invited, of course."
Trixie demurred. "I... I don't know. I mean, with my history—"
"Nonsense!" boomed Luna. "We will both be overjoyed to attend! Let us make merry and leave angst to another day!"
"Great!" Dash cheered. "I'll go tell the others." She made to leave, but remembered a minor detail. "Oh, and you may want to unlock the door. Pinkie's gonna get through regardless, but..."
Twilight wiped away the last of her tears. "Right." She wasn't all better. She wasn't sure if she ever really could be. But she had friends that were there for her no matter what, and it seemed that she had even more on the horizon. That was a magic that could do anything. Without shattering the universe.
The sound of Pinkie Pie blowing her nose echoed through the library. "So touching..."
Commodore Guff shrugged. "I found it rather saccharine, to say nothing of how erratic the overall tone of the chapter was."
The pony harrumphed. "Well I'm going to be living this story in a few thousand years and I think it was very sweet."
"Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy a happy ending. This one just felt... unsatisfying. Like there should be more there."
"Well of course there's more there, silly."
The human-shaped 'walker impatiently waved this off. "Yes, yes, I know. No story is ever truly complete. I taught you that, after all."
"No, I mean we haven't read the epilogue!" Sure enough, there were a few pages left in the book.
"Oh. I suppose we haven't."
Pinkie hefted a pile of notebooks and loose pages, some apparently taken out of page-a-day calendars. "And after that, there's a bunch of side stories and omakes and stuff!"
Guff gave his own harrumph. "That's hardly in continuity."
"Neither's the whole story!"
"...point. Do you want to read this next part, or shall I?"
Pinkie pushed the book towards him. "I just finished. Now it's your turn!"
"Very well." Guff cleared his throat and adjusted his monocle. "Epilogue: It Never Fails..."
Fourth Wall Breach 1BB
Sorcery
Search your library for a silver-bordered card, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then shuffle your library.
"Oh, hi! Having fun? What're you gonna look for? I hope you get your favoritest card! Unless this is your favoritest card, in which case, congratulations!"
—Pinkie Pie, Element of Laughter
|
FanOfMostEverything
|
1048
| 19 |
Derpy Hooves,Dinky Hooves,Main 6,Original Character,Other,Crossover,Adventure,Magic: The Gathering,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Elementals of Harmony
|
(FiMtG) The only thing standing between Equestria and apocalypse is Ditzy Doo. Yes, really. Stop laughing!
|
complete
| 430 | 14 |
<p>Something is gathering around the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Something dangerous. Something magical. There's only one pony with the knowledge, the skills, and the muffins needed to save Equestria as we know it.<br/>A Friendship is Magic: the Gathering crossover, taking place between seasons 1 and 2. Here there be flashbacks, briefly seen OC's, and possibly every emotion known to man or tiny horse. Abandon all pretenses of not being a nerd, ye who enter here.</p>
|
everyone
|
2012-10-16T15:09:59+00:00
|
2018-03-30T01:05:58+00:00
| 5,908 |
From The Friendship Reports: Royal Correspondence of the Bearers of Harmony, Unexpurgated Edition
Dear Princess Celestia,
Today I learned that you should never assume that your friends can't help you with a hard problem, even if it seems outside of their experience. Not only can a fresh perspective sometimes be more valuable than seemingly essential knowledge, you may be surprised by what ponies you thought you knew are really capable of when they put their muzzles to the grindstone.
I also learned that you should always keep your heart open to ponies who have made mistakes in the past. You never know what they've been doing since, or how they've tried to correct their past wrongs. Sometimes, these efforts can be incredibly draining, and they can seem pointless when those ponies are surrounded by others getting along just fine. Then more than ever, these repentant ponies need a friend, and you should be there for them, ready to forgive, forget, and forge a new bond.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
P.S. I am so, so, so sorry for messing with your mind. Please don't imprison me or banish me or imprison me in the place where you banished me.
Canterlot Archives, Twilight Sparkle Wing, Document #L-038
To my faithful student Twilight Sparkle,
Firstly, let me assure you that I have no intention of punishing the actions you took while not in your right mind, especially not through imprisonment, exile, or a combination thereof.
Secondly, I feel that there is much that can be learned from this experience beyond insights on the magic of friendship. The creatures that came into being today taught us a lesson that is all too easily forgotten; that a virtue exercised immoderately becomes a vice. Furthermore, while I hope it will never come to pass, it is entirely possible that today's events could repeat themselves in the future. If those events are willingly forgotten, then it is almost guaranteed. As such, I humbly request that you, the other Elemental Bearers, Ms. Doo, and Ms. Hobbitses collaborate on an updated edition of the Guide to the Elements of Harmony, noting the perils of each Element when taken to extremes and vulnerabilities of each element when incarnated.
In light of the Harmonic Normalcy Initiative we have discussed in the past, I strongly recommend that you compile this new edition under a pseudonym. I will personally edit the manuscript and push it through the Academy press. There is no deadline or due date. Please don't feel pressured to churn out something as quickly as possible, but by the same token, don't horde your friends' submissions in the belief that only that which is already perfect can be allowed to grace my gaze. I have no desire to cause you undue stress, my faithful student, nor that you cause it unto yourself or anypony else. In short, have fun with it.
Your mentor,
Princess Celestia
Fluttershy Poseysfilly
87 Everfree Road
Ponyville, CS 17069
Dear Ms. Poseysfilly,
At the recommendation of Her Royal Highness the Princess Luna and in recognition of acts of uncommon valor, conviction, and ingenuity, we are pleased to bestow the prestigious honor of the Order of the Electrum Eclipse to your pet rabbit, Angel Bunny. As per tradition, the presentation of this award will take place on the day of the next equinox, the twenty-second of Harvember, at the grounds of Castle Canterlot.
Our sincerest congratulations,
Solar Wind
Champion of the Sun
Witching Hour
Champion of the Moon
Messrs. Wind and Hour
Castle Canterlot
Office of the Royal Champions
Canterlot, CS 00001
To the esteemed Champions of the Sun and Moon,
I thank you for the honor of such a storied medal as the Order of the Electrum Eclipse, but I must repectfully decline. I mean no offense to you or to your exalted patrons, but it would be most unbecoming were I to accept an award for acting as member of my race would under the circumstances. Futhermore, the Council of Warrens does not look kindly upon those under its auspices accepting the accolades of those it regards as the "lesser races," i.e. any nonlagomorph. Please understand that I do not subscribe to this bigotry, though I owe my fealty to those who do.
With the utmost respect,
Archon of Virtue, Who Punches Evil in the Face
Known to ponies as Angel Bunny
Champion of Kindness
Incantessa Octavia Pie
26 Eighth Avenue
Apartment 44C
Manehattan, NY 46543
Dear Inkie,
Hi! It's Pinkie! Well, you probably knew that from the envelope, but it still seemed like a good idea to say so, just in case. Anyway, you might have had a pinchy knee on Tuesday morning. I just wanted to let you know that it was in Ponyville, we took care of it, and nopony was hurt.
I'm so happy to hear about Beauty and Fred's engagement, and the invitation was beautiful! But on that note, I'm going to give you some sisterly advice: It seems that a certain special somepony has been bitten by the marriage bug, because she's been dropping hints more often than the bass. You should probably come for a visit before she proposes on air.
Gummy's doing well and Mrs. Cake is entering her third month. It's so exciting! I can't wait to find out if I'm going to be a godmother or a godfather! Say hi to the band for me. See you at the Gala!
Your loving sister,
Pinkie
Mistral Lace
5 Cyclone Circle
Las Pegasus, CA 90055
Dear Ms. Lace,
Six years ago, your husband was lost in an accident in the Cloudsdale weather factory. That same day, your daughter disappeared without a trace before your eyes. I write to you today not to open old wounds, but to offer resolution. You see, I am your daughter.
I apologize for not contacting you before now. It's a long, complicated story, one I plan on telling you in person. Suffice to say, when I made it back to Equestria, I was focused on establishing some kind of stability for myself. Then I found love, and then I lost it, and then love found me. I just got too wrapped up in my own life and my own problems to even think to reach out to you until now. I hope and pray you can forgive me for my selfishness.
If you'll have me, I'll be glad to visit you at a moment's notice, along with your son-in-law, your granddaughter and a whole lot of stories.
Your loving daughter,
Ditzy
P.S. I know it sounds too good to be true. The enclosed photo is offered as proof. If that's not enough, the secret to your extra-fluffy lemon poppy seed muffins is to use cloud condensate instead of table salt.
Go Postal 2GGG
Sorcery
Whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player this turn, draw that many cards.
Neither rain, nor sleet, nor dark of night, nor dogs, nor hail, nor big green things with teeth, nor rogue chaos gods, nor savage natives, nor Mrs. Cake will stay these messengers from their daily rounds.
Thank you for reading. The story continues in Sideboard of Harmony.
|
FanOfMostEverything
|
1048
| 20 |
Derpy Hooves,Dinky Hooves,Main 6,Original Character,Other,Crossover,Adventure,Magic: The Gathering,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Elementals of Harmony
|
(FiMtG) The only thing standing between Equestria and apocalypse is Ditzy Doo. Yes, really. Stop laughing!
|
complete
| 430 | 14 |
<p>Something is gathering around the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Something dangerous. Something magical. There's only one pony with the knowledge, the skills, and the muffins needed to save Equestria as we know it.<br/>A Friendship is Magic: the Gathering crossover, taking place between seasons 1 and 2. Here there be flashbacks, briefly seen OC's, and possibly every emotion known to man or tiny horse. Abandon all pretenses of not being a nerd, ye who enter here.</p>
|
everyone
|
2012-08-23T16:18:39+00:00
|
2012-08-23T16:18:39+00:00
| 6,269 |
Author's Note: You may have noticed that I made up several words and concepts over the course of the story. I supplied definitions and explanations on fanfiction.net, but neglected to do so here. I thought I should rectify that. Each entry has a parenthetical amendment indicating where it's first used.
Definitions:
Anthropophile (anne-THROH-poh-fie-uhl) n. One who is fascinated by humans, the concept thereof, and/or the morphology thereof. (Chapter 9)
Celestmas (seh-LEST-muss) n. Celestia's birthday, celebrated on the tenth of Autumber (analogous to October on Earth.) Lunamas, more obscure but rapidly becoming less so, is on the seventeenth. (Chapter 7)
Euclopean (you-CLOPE-ee-an) adj. 1. Of or relating to Euclop, pioneering mathematician of the ancient Haylennic Republic. 2. Related to geometry in a flat plane. (Chapter 7)
Harvember (hahr-VEM-burr) n. Ninth month of the Equestrian calendar, marked by Summer Shutdown and the beginning of fall. Analogous to September. (Chapter 19)
Haylennic (hay-LEHN-ick) adj. Of or relating to ancient Grayce. (Chapter 12)
Hippocampic (hip-oh-CAMP-ick) adj. Of or relating to Hippocampes, the doubly legendary seapony known as the Father of Medicine. (Chapter 7)
Incitat (IN-sih-taht) n. Eighth month on the Equestrian calendar, analogous to August. Named for Incitatus, famed royal consort. (AC 2342-2407) (Chapter 5)
Marescovite (MAIR-scoh-vite) adj. Of or relating to the city of Marescow, located near Stalliongrad. n. A pony from Marescow. May or may not have a minigun named Sascha. (Chapter 7)
Mongoat (MOHN-goat) n. A member of the hordes of ancient Mongoatia, a region of scrubland and desert to the west of Equestria. adj. Of or relating to those hordes or that nation. (Chapter 9)
Multibanged (mull-tee-BAYNED) adj. 1. Of or possessing multiple exclamation points. 2. (Ankh-Morpork) Of or relating to a sign of mental instability. (Chapter 14)
Pegasine (PAY-guh-sign) adj. Of or relating to pegasi. (Chapter 2)
Ponnequin (POE-neh-kin) n. A pony-shaped mannequin. (Chapter 2)
Prancophilic (PRAIN-koh-fil-ick) adj. Admiring the language, culture, and/or ponies of Prance.
Ungula (uhn-GYOO-lah) n. The plane in which Equestria is located. At least one solar system in size. Noted for its total absence of humans, and relative scarcity of humanoids in general. (Chapter 7)
Inventions:
Cesium dragon: Mightiest of the little-known alkali metallic dragons. Famous among dracologists for its fire breath, which burns faster than the speed of entropy. Normally, this wouldn't even make sense, but dragonbreath, like dragons, is magical enough to make it work anyway. What this means is that the information of an object incinerated by cesium dragonbreath is preserved even though the object itself is not. Through the proper rituals of magiquantum entanglement, this can turn a cesium dragon into an instantaneous delivery system.
Note: Unlike many of their lesser cousins, most notably the sodium dragon, cesium dragons neither burst into flame nor explode when exposed to water. Please bear this in mind when attempting to slay one. (Chapter 8)
The Cloppler Effect: Identical to the Doppler Effect, the phenomenon where motion relative to the source of a sound makes that sound change in apparent frequency. (Chapter 14)
KLOP Radio: Radio Free Ponyville, home of DJ Pon3 and MC <3. (Chapter 14)
Muffylactery (MUH-phil-ack-tur-ee) n. A unique variant of magical prosthesis for the Equestrian pony (Equunculus filia) designed to replicate the flexible, spell-form magic of the unicorn subspecies in the others, who are normally limited to innate abilities. Similar in both functionality and design to the magic wands of several universes, these prostheses are generally composed of a core material with high thaumic capacitance encased in a magical semiconductor, usually a stable organic material such as wood. Each individual soul must be matched to a specific core/casing combination for optimal performance. Most such prostheses are modeled in the form of unicorn horns, but studies suggest that the shape of the casing can be as important as its composition, if not more so. Because of several commonly required core materials' exceeding rarity (sphinx hair), expense (stabilized rainbow), and/or inherent danger (cockatrice feather), they are more hypothetical applications of magic theory and curiosities of the rich than common items.
Ditzy Doo's muffylactery is self-made. The casing is composed of Zendikar hedron stone, noted for its high magic capacitance. The core's composition is unknown, as is who taught her how to make the device. (Chapter 1)
Postal abbreviations: CA - Califoalnia, CS - Cantershire, NY - New Yoke (Chapter 19)
Ramen feedbag: An application of one-use spell seals, in which a specific spell is coded to be cast upon the seal's destruction. In this case, the seal acts as a separating partition between two chambers of a disposable plastic nosebag. One side contains instant oats and dried seasonings, while the other holds water. Pulling the strap on the top of the container not only allows it the be slipped over the muzzle for a hand-free meal, but breaks the seal, mixing the wet and dry components and casting a weak heat generation spell. The end result is something resembling oatmeal. Cheap, easy, and very popular amongst college students. (Chapter 5)
Speedy Service: (5436-5509) The daughter of a restauranteur, she discovered her talent for communication at a young age and revolutionized the magical discipline of telepathy. Her work continues to be the foundation of most modern communication spells, including the silent tactical network of the Royal Mageguard. Sadly, vague and spotty records from the time have resulted in an ongoing debate amongst historians as to which of as many as five different unicorns was really Speedy Service. (Chapter 13)
Temporal omnipresence: The ability to perceive time from an objective, nonlinear perspective, a.k.a. being in two times at the same place. Or different places. Or more than two times. (Chapter 16)
|
Nordlichter
|
1049
| 1 |
Comedy,Romance
|
Romeo
|
Fluttershy has been way more nervous than usual. It's up to Pinkie Pie to find out why.
|
complete
| 119 | 9 |
<p>After a sleepover at Twilight's library, Pinkie Pie realizes that Fluttershy has been acting even more nervous than usual. She investigates, Pinkie-style, and ends up finding more than she bargained for. Meanwhile, Fluttershy is evasive, scared that her friends might discover what's wrong. Will they find out? Find out!</p>
|
teen
| null |
2011-09-26T13:03:18+00:00
| 8,440 |
It was early in the morning, and Celestia’s sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon. The birds of Ponyville were gathering in the trees, and starting to sing their dawn chorus.
Fluttershy awoke to this sound in her sleeping bag. Her friends had invited her to a sleepover at Twilight’s library the previous night, and apprehensive as she was at first, she admitted that she really did end up enjoying it. The pegasus pony looked around. Nopony seemed to be up but her. “Do they really all sleep in this late?” she asked herself. “They’re missing out on so much! Maybe I should wake them up—no, they probably wouldn’t appreciate that…” Fluttershy wriggled out of her sleeping bag. She stood up and took a good long stretch, and—
Oh no.
Oh my goodness, please, no.
Fluttershy, hoping she was imagining the all-too-familiar feeling, froze in mid-stretch and slowly craned her neck downward to look.
Oh no.
No. No. Not here, not now, not in front of everypony!
The mortified Fluttershy darted back into her sleeping bag, hardly even letting enough of her head out to look around the room or breathe. She felt her rushing heart slow down, but just barely. She thanked Celestia (and Luna too) that nopony else was awake to—
“Hiya, Fluttershy!”
“EEP!” The pegasus shot into the air, the sleeping bag still draped around her lower half, and zipped into the restroom around the corner. Anticlimactically, the door softly clicked shut.
“Well, that was odd. Ooh! Wait! Fluttershy! I have to go too! Wait for me!” Pinkie Pie skidded around to the door, adorned with a simple pictograph of a mare, and knocked shave-and-a-haircut. “Fluttershy! I drank too many melonades last night! I gotta go!” She crossed her back leg over the other.
Ohmygoodness ohmygoodness ohmygoodness! What do I do? Fluttershy was shaking all over, her rapid breathing not helping the matter. “Um, Pinkie, I’m uh, gonna be a while.”
“Okie dokie lokie!” She turned to wobble away, but paused. “Wait...why’s your voice coming from the little colt’s room?”
Oh no no no! Oh my goodness! I chose the wrong door! “Um, I was, in a hurry?”
“Okie dokie lokie!” Satisfied, the pink mare bounced away, her belly sloshing audibly. Now the other girls were finally waking up! A great end to the greatest sleepover ever! Well, since the last one, anyways. Rarity pulled her face-mask off and yawned dramatically, while Rainbow Dash just turned around and tunneled deeper into her sleeping bag head-first.
“Girls, it’s time to get up! The sun is chirping and the birds are shining! Oh, sorry, strike that, reverse it.” Pinkie leapt over to Rainbow and dragged her out by the tail. A crude mustache and goatee were markered on her snout. “Looks like you had fun last night!”
“Whaa? Five more minutes...” the blue pegasus mumbled, unsurprisingly still half-asleep.
It took about 30 minutes for everypony to say their goodbyes, despite the fact that they would continue to see each other all day long. Constant thank-yous were traded and the remaining cookies were divided up amongst the six as they left. Well, five.
“Thanks for coming, girls!” Twilight waved as the four others set off to various destinations. The unicorn herself had to go into town to buy some new quills. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie was already looking forward to the next party.
“And we’ll have charades and ice cream cake and a melonade-drinking contest and ooh! I still gotta go!” She turned on a bit and rushed back to the tree, but at a distance stopped. Fluttershy was just now leaving the library, her breathing shallow, her mane and tail mussed up. “That’s weird, why is she still there?” Pinkie ran closer and called to her friend. “Hey Fluttershy!”
“EEP!” and a dust cloud billowed around her, the pegasus zooming off into the sky. Her sleepover bundle fell to the ground below her.
“Fluttershy, wait! You dropped your stuff!” She yelled into the sky, but her friend was already long-gone. “Hmm. I better take this stuff to her house.” The pink mare picked up the bundle in her teeth and everything spilled out in a mess. “Oops.”
The door to the cottage opened and a short white rabbit stared out in permanent fury at the world. His glare appeared to say "I’m not buying anything.”
“Hi Angel! Is Fluttershy here? She dropped her stuff in front of Twilight’s house and I need to give it back to her. Also I brought Gummy!” She turned to show the alligator clenched onto her tail. At this sight, Angel stepped aside to allow passage, high-fiving Gummy as the two entered the house. “Fluttershy? Are you here? Hellooooo?”
“I’ll be right there...” said a voice from the next room. Fluttershy entered moments later, wearing a bathrobe. “Oh! Um, hi Pinkie Pie.”
“Hi! You dropped a bunch of stuff, actually pretty much all your stuff, in front of Twilight’s house when you were leaving and I saw you, and so I came to return it!”
“Oh, um, thank you. I was worried I wouldn’t get this back...”
“No problem! Lemme just take inventory so we can make sure you’ve gotten everything.”
Fluttershy gulped. “Oh, no, that’s okay, I’m certain nothing is missing...”
“But it spilled out all over the path when I picked it up and I want to be sure! Now, one towel, one toothbrush, one sleeping bag, one pillow with pillowcase - hey, that’s weird, there’s a book in here! Neigh’s Anatomy? I didn’t peg you as one for medical studies!” She opened the thick tome to the ear-marked page but Fluttershy grabbed it away.
“Oh, uh, it’s for, um, I help out at the hospital sometimes?” She smiled sheepishly and put the book on the coffee table. “Anything else?”
“Okay, one toothpaste tube, one tube of lotion, one bottle of water, one rubber band, one hairbrush, and that’s it! Is that everything?”
“Um, yes, that’s everything. Thanks again, Pinkie, bye!” The pink mare found herself on the front step, the door closed behind her. Gummy was latched onto her tail again, a Viking helmet upon his head. The door locked.
Pinkie pondered aloud. “Now what was that all about?”
Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, did she notice? Oh dear, oh no, oh dear. The pegasus paced back and forth, waiting for the earth pony outside to leave. Eventually she did, and Fluttershy sighed with relief. But sweet relief would not come yet for Fluttershy. The pink pony’s scent lingered...
“Angel, I’m going to take a shower...could you feed the birds for me?”
The rabbit nodded and hopped to the comically oversized bag of birdseed by the cabinets, tugging it towards the front door. Fluttershy discreetly grabbed the toiletries and made her way to the bathroom, accidentally tripping on her bathrobe right before the door closed. She yelped, and Angel, his whiskers sensing mayhem about to happen, turned and ran to help her off the floor if necessary.
What happened next was somewhat of a blur to Angel. Upon the...shall we say, unexpected sight that greeted him when he opened the door, he heard Fluttershy, who was upside-down against the wall, emit a tiny gasp which seemed to cause the rest of the world to go silent. The first thing he felt was...nothing, because he couldn’t really be seeing what he was seeing in front of him. He shook his head and blinked a couple of times. Nope. Fluttershy was still there. And...it...was still there. Angel felt the bottom of his jaw make contact with the bathroom’s hard tile floor. After that, he just seemed to fizzle out like a broken light.
“Hi Twilight!” Pinkie bounded into the library, which had been cleaned up from their sleepover and was now open for business.
“Oh, hi, Pinkie Pie!” The unicorn trotted up to behind her desk. “What can I do for you? Is there anything in particular you’d like to check out?
“Actually, I came to ask you some questions about Fluttershy.” Pinkie’s expression grew noticeably more serious.
“Okay, I’m not sure how much I’ll be of help, but I’ll try my best,” Twilight said.
“Thanks a lot! So, have you noticed Fluttershy acting...you know, weird at all recently?”
“Um, how do you mean weird?”
“Like kind of all nervous and skittish and jumpy--”
“Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy’s always nervous, skittish and jumpy.”
“Yeah, but I mean more so than usual. Like, this morning I just said hi to her and she was like ‘EEP!’ and then she ran into the bathroom but it was the wrong one and then when I saw her leaving the party she looked worn out and I said hi to her again and then she was like ‘EEP!’ again and flew away and she dropped all her things and then when I gave them back to her I found a copy of Neigh’s Anatomy in her sleeping bundle and then I returned it to her and asked her why she had it and she said it was because she volunteers at the hospital and then she kind of pushed me out the door and you don’t think she’s secretly trying to avoid me, do you?” Pinkie said these last words with a suspicious and somewhat conspiratorial look.
“Pinkie, we’ve been through this before. We’re your friends, and just because somepony’s acting like this doesn’t mean we hate you!”
“Then what other reason could there be?” She gasped. “What if she’s deathly allergic to me?”
“A pony can’t be allergic to another pony, Pinkie.”
“What if she’s been magicked into thinking I’m a dragon?”
“Hallucination spells draw significant amounts of energy, Pinkie, I’m sure I would have noticed.”
“What if her brain is full of tiny worms controlling her every move?”
“...Worms aren’t smart enough to do that.”
“THEN WHAT?! Why is she avoiding me? Why?!” Suddenly, Pinkie had an idea. “Twilight, has Fluttershy checked out any odd books lately?”
Twilight blinked twice, trying to understand this change in tactic. “Um, Pinkie, that’s confidential between her and the library.”
“Since when?”
“Since the library was founded.”
“Please, Twilight! I need to know why she’s been acting so strange! She might be in trouble!”
“Sorry, Pinkie, as a librarian I can’t give you that information. As your friend, I advise that if she feels like it, she’ll tell you herself.”
“Oh, okay. Then can I check out a copy of Neigh’s Anatomy myself?”
“Um, okay. Do you have your- ” Pinkie zipped over to the medical section, zipped back with the book, swiped her library card down the length of Twilight’s horn, which made both glow briefly, and stamped the date in the back of the book. “- card? Uh, well. Have fun reading, Pinkie!”
“Thanks Twilight! I will!” and the pink blur careened out the door.
The book was not much fun to read. Although it had lots of pictures, they were all kinds of bones and guts and gore, so they weren’t any good to look at. The text was mostly typewritten, and what wasn’t typewritten were a few games of tic-tac-toe previous borrowers had drawn in the margins (and with horrible strategy). But Pinkie Pie was determined to read the book from start to finish if it meant finding out why her friend was avoiding her.
Luckily the book was alphabetical, and Pinkie had seen from a glance that Fluttershy’s copy was earmarked somewhere near the first half of the middle. If she started at the middle and worked backwards for one fourth of the book, she’d find the page easily. She flipped the book open to the exact center. Muscular Growth. A picture of a muscle cell dividing. She flipped back a page. Muscles of the Wing. A diagram of said muscles. She flipped again. Muscles of the Tail. More diagrams. She flipped a few more pages. Muscles of the Leg. At this rate, it would take forever! She began flipping faster. Muscles of the Ear? No. Muscle Groups? No. Nothing to indicate that she’d been reading heavily on any of these topics. She began to flip even faster. Multicuspid Teeth? No. Midcarpal Joint? No. Male Hygiene? Definitely no—wait...
Something on the aforementioned page caught her eye. A number of words and phrases had been underlined and circled in pencil by somepony. Pinkie glanced at these phrases.
“with a mild soap”
“warm water”
“gently scrub in circles”
“regular care will help prevent infection”
Pinkie Pie was just about to flip the page again, deducing that these were not of any importance to her, when she noticed one more thing: a mouthwritten note in the margin.
“lengthwise down to the base”
Pinkie couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of such delicate writing on the page of a topic such as this.
“Hee hee!” she said to herself. “It almost looks like Fluttershy’s wri—”
She stopped. She took a look at it again. It was Fluttershy’s writing! Was...this what Fluttershy was looking at in the other copy of the book?? And...why?!? Certainly she wasn’t doing this at the hospital!?
“Only one way to find out!” she stated out loud. She closed the book and started off to the hospital at a full gallop.
“Angel?”
“Angel, are you okay?”
The rabbit blearily opened his eyes. Somehow, apparently, he had lost consciousness a moment ago, but he couldn’t remember why. Slowly, the room around him grew clearer, and he found himself being held in the forehooves of the yellow pegasus.
And then it hit him.
Like a ton of bricks.
The rabbit frantically wriggled until he was free of Fluttershy’s embrace, hopped a good six feet away from her, then turned around and stared at her with shock and disbelief.
“Angel? Oh...um, so...I guess you...must have...seen it, then.”
Angel nodded his head slowly. Even if he were to stick his head in a jar of bleach it wouldn’t wash away the...bizarre sight he just saw. If that sight was turned into a radio play, he imagined that it would give “The Artichoke Heart That Ate New Yoke” a run for its money.
"Oh, well, uh, I'm alright, but you should be in bed. Fainting isn't good for a little bunny like you. Forget about the birdseed, I'll do it later."
Angel then added confusion into the bubbling emotional vat the contents of which his face was reflecting. He had just witnessed a scene that he imagined could only exist in the mind of a deeply disturbed individual, and here was Fluttershy, acting as if she had merely slipped in a puddle of water. Did the pony not notice what was wrong with that picture?
“Um, is... is everything okay? Angel?”
Angel finally regained some of his body language, and managed to gesture towards the pegasus, and then to the bathroom in which the incident had occurred. He then gave the pegasus a look that said “Did that really happen, or am I just cuckoo for cocoa beans?”
“Uh, um, well...yes, Angel, I’m...afraid that you...did indeed see what you...saw in there.”
Angel started to get a moderately frightened look on his face.
“But it...it’s nothing to worry about, Angel!” Fluttershy added hastily. “I mean, it...it’s not hurting me or anything, it’s just...there.” She gave a timid smile to the bunny. “I’m...I’m still Fluttershy...”
Angel’s look changed yet again, this time to one of pure WTF. All this time he’d known her, she’d had...that!?
“Well, um, yes, I was born with it...”
Angel just stared again and said nothing. Even more nothing than usual. For the life of him, he had no idea what to say about this.
“Why don’t you go lie down, Angel? You need to rest and recuperate from that fainting spell you had.”
Angel slowly nodded. Yeah. That sounded like a good idea. He hopped slowly to his hutch, went in and shut the door. The door reopened momentarily and he placed a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the knob.
“No record?!”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but that’s what the chief of staff said. There is no record for a Ms. Fluttershy volunteering here, especially in the manner you described.” The nurse shook her head slightly.
“Okie dokie, thanks anyways.” Pinkie exited the hospital with a sigh. She had wasted ten valuable minutes for that answer, ten minutes during which Fluttershy could have gotten into trouble, or gone crazy, or any number of terrible things which could have happened. Maybe it was time to ask the pegasus herself what was wrong, and why she was avoiding her. It seemed like it had all started at the sleepover...
“THAT’S IT!” she exclaimed, and rushed home. At Sugarcube Corner, she took out a sheet of paper and a pencil (appropriately curled like a silly straw) and began to write an invitation.
Dear Fluttershy...
Candy and cake,
Pinkie Pie
“O-oh, oh my...” Fluttershy dropped the letter, which had covered her in confetti when she opened it. “An invitation...? To a...another sleepover with all my friends?” She fell down onto her haunches and debated with herself. On the one hoof, she had really enjoyed the last one. On the other...
There was no choice to be made. She had to go. She had to party with her friends, even if it meant potential embarrassment and...lifelong rejection... Because her friends were worth it.
“Okay, it starts at Sugarcube Corner at 5...I better pack up my things...” She walked herself through the steps, gathering her toiletries, her sleeping bag, and bathrobe...just in case. She began to daydream about Pinkie as she walked to the front door, passing a mirror. At a glance she caught herself looking rather...engaged in her speculation... “Oh, uh, I should put the bathrobe back on...eep...”
The sign on the door said Closed. Fluttershy knocked twice, and the door opened so rapidly she wasn’t sure it was still written in the same language when it shut. She was pulled inside by a wild, pink... it was Pinkie Pie, of course.
“Hi Fluttershy! I’m so glad you could come! You’re early but we’re just starting the party!” She pushed the pegasus along the floor into the main room. Two chairs were set up in the center, one facing the other. “Take your seat right here, and I’ll be back with the board games lickety-split!”
Fluttershy complied and sat down in one of the considerably plush chairs. Strange how nopony else is here yet...and I live the furthest from Pinkie... She ran her mind through the various reasons this could have happened. Did the mailmare get lost? Um, did Pinkie forget to send the other letters? Oh... what if, what if she didn’t even send them? What if she didn’t invite anypony else? ...What if I’m the only one here? This line of thinking made the yellow mare nervous.
Just then, Pinkie came back in, holding a familiar book. She didn’t have the games, and she didn’t look all that happy. The pink pony trotted to the other chair, took a seat and began to non-chalantly flip through the book..
“So, what kind of work do you do at the hospital, Fluttershy?” She asked calmly.
She wasn’t prepared for this question. “Uh, um, I...push a food cart around?”
“Then why do you need Neigh’s Anatomy?”
“Oh, uh, because, sometimes they don’t have enough nurses.”
“And you do the nursework instead?”
“Um, yes?” She hoped that was the right answer.
Pinkie flipped the page and showed it to Fluttershy. “Is this the nursework you do?”
She blushed. “Oh! Oh my...um...” Oh no! She found the other copy! Oh my goodness...
“Because the hospital has no record of you volunteering there. I checked. You’ve been lying to me! You’ve been avoiding me! And I’m annoyed! You can’t avoid me! You can’t avoid the annoyed!”
The doorbell rang and a voice called out. “Pizza delivery!”
“NOT NOW!” Pinkie yelled at the door.
“Er, um...eep...” The pegasus shrunk into her seat, trying to disappear.
“I want the truth! Come on, the truth!”
“It’s, uh, it’s kind of...personal...”
Pinkie instantly brightened up with curiosity. “Oh, a personal matter! That’s completely different! I mean, you may have hurt my feelings a little but if it’s personal that’s okay. Wait, wait, I remembered something else I wanted to ask on that note. Are you feeling okay?”
“...Um, yes...I feel, uh, fine...”
“You sure? Anything bothering you? Is something hurting you? Is somepony hurting you?!”
“Uh, no, I’m...I’m fine...really...nopony’s hurting me...”
“Fluttershy, I know something’s wrong! I can sense it! Your “something’s-wrong” level is off the charts! I know you, and you’re acting weird. So, come on, you know you can tell your Auntie Pinkie Pie anything!”
“...I’m a year older than you...”
“Come on! I’m your friend and I’m here for you. I’m willing to listen. I want to help you.”
Seeing there was no way out but forward, Fluttershy reluctantly cleared her throat. “Um...you know how most ponies...usually have, you know...one or the other?”
Pinkie cocked her head in confusion.
“Well...I sort of have...both.”
Pinkie blinked at this statement, trying to figure out exactly what the pegasus pony meant. Finally her eyes lit up.
“Ohhhhh! You’re a HERMAPHRODITE! Why didn’t you just say so, silly?”
“Um, well...isn’t that...you know...a little obvious?”
“More like a lottle! That explains everything! The shyness, the Gala, that swanky bathrobe you have!”
Fluttershy momentarily thought back to her outburst at the Grand Galloping Gala. The taste of that squirrel... “Um...I’m sorry...” She fidgeted with the tassel on her bathrobe..
“No! Don’t apologize! This gives me the perfect opportunity for the new costume I ordered!” Pinkie raced upstairs and down again, now wearing a greasy white pop-collar shirt and a black leathery jacket, her mane styled up into a quiff. “Sup.” she affected an urban accent. “I’m Jo Canterone.” She momentarily returned to her normal voice. “And I’m here to sing!” She nickered and the lights went dark. A spotlight shone on her alone. She tapped her hoof.
“My granny told me when I was young
No two ponies are the same”
‘Jo Canterone’ swaggered forward and lifted Fluttershy’s chin up with a hoof, a spotlight now on the pegasus also. A technopop beat started up.
“So celebrate what makes you who you are
‘Cuz there’s no need to be ashamed”
“Um, Pinkie Pie...?” The pegasus’s eyes widened as she realized what was happening, both in front of her and...below her.
“Now everypony everywhere
Has got something different from the rest”
She fanned a large hand of playing cards, each with a different Cutie Mark on them. She flicked them into the air one by one, landing them on the floor in front of Fluttershy in the formation of an arrow.
“You’ve got a little “something extra” there
But that’s no reason to be distressed!”
“Pinkie...you’re really...not...helping...” She shifted in her seat anxiously. That sweaty odor... And the greaser mare’s dancing was becoming more interesting to her eye by the second.
“You’re made in magical ways
Celestia guides your days
You’re in the right lane, filly
You were foaled this way!”
The pink pony shimmied and shook, plainly aware that she had Fluttershy’s full attention and loving it. She segued from move to move with such enticing flow that if it were any warmer in the room she would turn into molten glass. She was calling every pop move she knew into mind, planning them in the moment. Fluttershy was feeling very...excited. Oh my goodness, oh no, oh goodness, oh dear oh dear oh dear... She huddled up tighter on her chair, desperately trying to conceal herself from her entertainer.
“Don’t shy away from it all
Don’t hide yourself in your stall
You’re in the right lane, filly
You were foaled this way!”
Pinkie did a septuple spin on one hoof and stopped by switching to the other, her tail brushing up onto Fluttershy’s muzzle. Fluttershy was beet-red and shuddering. Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, oh my goodness, what do I do? What happens now? Pinkie...Pinkie smells like cotton candy... All of Fluttershy’s mental resources were devoted to self-control by now, so much that she could hardly breathe. She tried and failed to avert her sight from ‘Jo’’s alluring motions. She was entranced.
"You were foaled this way, hay!
You were foaled this way, hay!
You’re in the right lane, filly—"
Pinkie paused, giving Fluttershy a chance to take a breath. “I mean, it is okay if I call you ‘filly’, right?”
“O-of course...”
“Good! Because “she-stallion” had too many syllables.” She resumed.
"—You were fo~aled this way!
You were foaled this way, hay!
You were foaled this way, hay!
You’re in the right lane, filly
You were foaled this waa~aay!"
Pinkie finished the song with a grand flourish of her hooves and a spray of confetti from unknown places. She landed on all fours and smirked, still in-character. It looks like Fluttershy really enjoyed my performance!
“Um, that was...nice...Pinkie.” Fluttershy was burning up and she was biting her lip, desperately trying to keep herself together. She decided she needed to...go place...and slowly lowered herself off the chair to use the facilities. Unfortunately, she again stepped on her bathrobe, tripped, and fell over in a pile. “EEP!” She found she was completely exposed, and quivered with fright as the pink mare gasped. Pinkie hopped over with a smile wide across her face.
"Oh there it is! Hi there, I'm Pinkie Pie! It's nice to finally meet you!" She shook hooves with the newest party member, causing Fluttershy to whimper under the stress. “Whoops. Uh, sorry Fluttershy. Force of habit.”
“...eep...”
“So, did you like my song? Don’t answer that, of course you did! Your body speaks for itself!”
“...” The pegasus dared not say anything, too embarrassed to move.
“Ohhhhh, I get it now.” She grinned coyly, gently wrapped Fluttershy up in the bathrobe and carried her up the stairs in her front hooves. “Let’s take care of this first.”
“...yay...”
Princess Celestia sat on her throne in Canterlot castle, idly passing the time until sunset by letting her mind wander through the universe. A comet here, a nebula there, stars all around...
You know what? She thought to herself. I think now would be a good time for that surprise I’ve been saving for the Royal Astronomers. The alicorn stepped off her throne, paced over and stood in front of the western window where the Sun was setting, and focused her magic. A shimmer of light gradually played up from the base of her horn to the tip, tentative and curious. Oh, working with a 1.3-second delay is so tricky...
She trained her magic on the left-most edge of the Sun, waited for the perfect moment for everything to settle, and fired the spell. Two and a half seconds later, a massive amount of plasma and EM radiation burst forth from the surface and surged through the corona, arcing outwards in a gorgeous roller-coaster-loop like champagne spray from a bottle. Vast quantities of electrons and protons broke free from the corona and entered space, veering harmlessly, but still very beautifully, away from the Earth. A second loop followed in a slightly different direction, and a third smaller one after that. They combined in the emptiness of space to the effect of a sort of fluid shape, feathering outwards just as ice melts.
Satisfied with her work, the Princess returned to her throne and waited for the Astronomers to send a frantic message of tabulations and diagrams along with beseechment to please stop this nonsense.
Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie lay in bed, both thoroughly worn out. Pinkie, still wearing the greasy shirt, her hair absolutely everywhere, took a drag off a bubble pipe and looked over at her friend. Fluttershy was breathing heavily, drenched in sweat, her eyes closed.
“That was awesome.” The pink mare bit down on the pipe to keep it in her grinning mouth and put her hooves behind her head. The pegasus opened her eyes and sighed contently.
“Yes...awesome...” Fluttershy stretched her front legs, then brushed her hair off her face. “Thank you, Pinkie...Thank you so much.”
“Now all we need is to come up with a name for him!”
The yellow mare blinked. “Um...excuse me?”
“A name! I’m thinking Oscar, or maybe Ricardo!”
“...why?”
“Silly filly! Everypony needs a name! What else would I call him?”
“...Pinkie, it’s not a pony.”
“No, but he’s a friend! And friends need names!”
Fluttershy was confused. “A...friend?”
“Sure! He seemed really friendly to me!”
The pegasus blushed. “Uhm...”
Pinkie sat up and clopped her hooves together.
“I’ve got it!” she exclaimed. “We’ll call him Romeo!”
“Um...Romeo??”
“Yeah! I mean, he’s certainly romantic!” The pink pony’s eyes made their way down to something beneath the covers the two were snuggled under. “Hello there, Romeo! How’d you enjoy your first party?” A thought struck Pinkie. She turned back to Fluttershy. “It was his first party, right?”
“Um...yes...it was...”
Pinkie spoke again to ‘Romeo’. “Well, any time you wanna party with me again, I’ll be happy to accommodate you!”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “R...really???”
“Of course, silly!” Pinkie Pie grinned at the pegasus. “After all, what are friends for?” She wrapped her forehooves around Fluttershy and drew her into an embrace.
“P...Pinkie Pie?” said Fluttershy at last.
“Hm?”
“...Thanks, again...” A smile grew on the pegasus’ face. “...from both of us.”
Pinkie giggled. “Hey, no problem! You two have sweet dreams!” And with that, she turned off the light.
THE END
|
Nordlichter
|
1049
| 2 |
Comedy,Romance
|
Romeo
|
Fluttershy has been way more nervous than usual. It's up to Pinkie Pie to find out why.
|
complete
| 119 | 9 |
<p>After a sleepover at Twilight's library, Pinkie Pie realizes that Fluttershy has been acting even more nervous than usual. She investigates, Pinkie-style, and ends up finding more than she bargained for. Meanwhile, Fluttershy is evasive, scared that her friends might discover what's wrong. Will they find out? Find out!</p>
|
teen
| null |
2012-07-07T03:00:45+00:00
| 1,680 |
The moonlight shone down upon the facade of Sugarcube Corner. It was very late. Rainbow Dash lay slumped against the front door, absently chewing on a cold slice of cheese pizza and drinking a bottle of half-and-half skim milk. She wore a fake curly mustache, a red baseball cap, and a red polo shirt with "The Pizz" embroidered on its breast. A smudge of marker still glinted on her chin where it hadn’t washed off completely.
She sighed. “Yup... I don’t think she’s coming out. Looks like I wasted my bits on this get-up,” she groaned, “and my time on this set-up. Waaay to go, Dash... you conqueror of fillies.” She punched the air loosely.
The pizza was cold, much like Dash’s heart. She continued chewing as she counted the stars. 1, 2, 3...
|
DeeJay Pon3
|
1050
| 1 |
Apple Bloom,Fluttershy,Rainbow Dash,Scootaloo,Random,Sad,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
|
Big Sister
|
Scootaloo wishes she had a big sister like her friends, Sweetie Belle and Apple bloom.
|
complete
| 135 | 5 |
<p>The new Ponyville Park opens, yet Scootaloo finds her friends are busy with their sisters. Scootaloo goes home depressed, not knowing where she fits in. But one morning, Scootaloo discovers happyness from something she did not expect...</p><br/><p>This is my first Fan Fiction, so I would love *Constructive* Critisism, suggestions, pointed out grammar errors and such, and I'll update it.</p>
|
everyone
|
2011-09-29T21:47:13+00:00
|
2011-09-29T21:47:13+00:00
| 10,812 |
Big Sister
By DeeJay Pon3
“Welcome Fillies and Gentle-Colts! Today is the day of the new Ponyville Park Grand Opening! I would like to thank the Apple Family for generously giving us the land to use for our new park! Everypony, I declare this park, open!”
Yelled the Ponyville Mayor, cutting the yellow ribbon at the new Park entrance. Ponies swarmed in, setting down picnic blankets over the gentle hills and gullies. White oaks and maple trees dotted around the park, offering shade to the noon-time sun. Scootaloo sped down the winding path on her scooter, gazing around at the new park. There was a playground near the center for the little fillies to play on, and a pony-ball field near the eastern edge of the park. To the southwest there was a stage, where DJ Pon3 had set up her gig, and was playing some Darude. She raced off to the western area, spotting her friends Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, both hanging out with their sisters in the hilly area setting up to watch tonight's meteor shower.
Scootaloo sped toward Sweetie Belle and Rarity, who were sitting on their red and white checkered blanket. She skipped over to sit by Sweetie Belle.
“Hi Sweetie Belle! What are you and Rarity doing?” Scootaloo asked.
“Sweetie and I are spending some bonding time together. I rarely get time to myself, and I couldn’t watch the meteor shower tonight without my little sister.” Rarity told Scootaloo, looking over her shoulder to face her.
“Oh. Ok, I’ll leave you two to your bonding. Sorry...”
Scootaloo picked up her helmet and scooted over near Apple Jack and Apple Bloom, but they too were sitting on their own little blanket.
I guess they don’t want me to ruin their time together either, Scootaloo thought.
She scooted away from them, heading deeper into the park. Scootaloo found a smooth-trunked oak tree on a hill, and decided that it would be a good spot to hang out. She set her backpack down at the base, and folded up her scooter. In her backpack was her green and blue ball that she had brought, in case her friends wanted to play.
They are busy with their sisters though. I wish I had a sister. Scootaloo sat on a root of the oak, the ball between her legs. “Hey squirt, that ball isn’t gonna play with itself, ya know. Buck it over here.”
Scootaloo looked up and saw, “Rainbow Dash! Omigosh!”
Scootaloo got onto all fours, tossed up her ball, and spiked it. The green-blue ball whirled over Rainbow Dash, as she took flight. She did a barrel roll around the ball, scooping it up in a wing. Rainbow Dash skidded on the ground to a stop.
“Oh my gosh! That was awesome Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo had no time to say more as Dash bucked the ball toward her.
Doing a 180, she got up on her fore-hooves, and caught the ball with her hind legs. The force of the throw caused her to topple over onto her back.
“Wow, not a bad try squirt. Buck it over!”
Scootaloo tossed the ball up once more, and kicked it as high and fast as she could, hoping Rainbow Dash would show her a cool new trick. Rainbow Dash glanced quickly at Scootaloo, giving her a challenging face. Dash took off at ninety degrees. She did a flip around the ball, kicking it higher. She caught the ball and juggled it with each beat of her wings while flying, and kicked it downward. Rainbow Dash sped down toward the ball, and did her Buccaneer Blaze before catching it, and landing next to a jaw-dropped Scootaloo.
“Wow! That was so awesome Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo squealed, hopping around Dash.
“Yeah, maybe you can do it one day. Hey, I gotta catch up with the weather crew, it’s supposed to be cloudy tonight. Catch ya later squirt.”
Scootaloo watched as Rainbow Dash took off, and shouting, “Bye! And thanks for playing with me!”
Rainbow Dash’s only acknowledgement was throwing Scootaloo’s ball down from up high, looking down at her for the catch. Scootaloo hopped onto her fore-hooves, and caught the ball with her hind legs. She walked a few steps forward on her front hooves to balance out and then sat down, watching Rainbow Dash wink before she flew off.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scootaloo packed up her bag, hugging her ball that had been played with by the coolest pony in Ponyville before stuffing it in with her things. She unfolded her scooter, and blazed down the path to the exit, her wings humming in the night air. After a few minutes of racing down the path, she noticed that she was coming up to the entrance of Ponyville. Scootaloo veered towards the Apple Family’s forest, following an earthy, yet smooth pathway. She sped past the outskirts of Ponyville, gazing at the happy ponies entering their warm homes for the night. As she reached the Apple Family’s forest, she jumped a fallen tree, one of the markers to find the Cutie Mark Crusaders hideout. Nearing the next marker, a rock, she hopped up and did a grind along its smooth top.
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom have big sisters and a home... All I have is our hideout. Beats sneaking into Sugarcube corner and sleeping in Pinkie Pie’s room. Even though she didn’t mind, I don’t want to mooch off of other ponies. The hideout is nice, but it’s so awkward when I sleep too long and Apple Bloom finds me. She said she wouldn’t ask me about it. She’s a great friend, keeping a secret that she doesn’t even know about. Do sisters keep secrets for each other, even if they don’t know what the secret is about?
Scootaloo stopped her scooter in front of the hideout, and folded it up. She hauled herself up the walkway, and slipped inside the clubhouse. Laying her scooter and backpack down, she pulled out her pillow and blanket. Good night Scootaloo, I love you. Rang a voice in her ears as she lay down, the last words she heard from her mother who had died of a terrible sickness. Her father had died long before then, in an accident during a lightning storm. Scootaloo’s eyes started to tear as she grieved for her past losses. Sleep finally took her, and the world around her went quiet.
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“Scootaloo! Scootalooooo!” Scootaloo opened her eyes with a jolt. Apple Bloom was prodding her side, stuffing Scootaloo’s things into her bag. “You over slept again. Sorry if I hurt yer head pullin yer pillow out, but Apple Jack was right behind me. I told her there was a tree she missed buckin’ yesterday so she didn’t see me head over here. Get up, you gotta go before she wonders why you’re here at five in the mornin’!”
Scootaloo was so drowsy that she couldn’t reply. She picked herself up, and packed her things into her saddle bags. She slipped out of the door, looking around to make sure Apple Jack was no where in sight. The way was clear, and she headed for the forest.Trotting through the woods, she stopped near the fallen log, and fell sleepily onto her belly.
Apple Bloom is such a great friend. It has to be hard to keep a secret from your sister, I know it is, but I can’t ever thank her. It wouldn’t be enough. I wonder, maybe Rainbow Dash can teach me to fly today! My wings have gotten bigger over the last few seasons. Thought Scootaloo, now getting back up to look for Dash. Scootaloo unfolded her scooter, and strapped her helmet on.
I can go so fast now, I need some goggles. Maybe I can find some in Ponyville. I wana scoot around for a bit though, maybe I can find Rainbow Dash out doing the clouds again.
She thought to herself before zipping off. She followed the path out of the forest until houses and shops appeared on the horizon. Scootaloo raced around the outskirts of Ponyville, the wind blowing through her mane like water. There was no sight of Rainbow Dash in the sky, or outside of Ponyville.
She doesn’t hang inside Ponyville much. Unless shes at Sugarcube corner. Ugh! What if Pinkie asks where I was sleeping? She’ll be so upset and tell Mr. and Mrs. Cake all about it. Okay, no Sugarcube corner for now.
Scootaloo thought out. She noticed she was coming up on Fluttershy’s little grove. Maybe Fluttershy knew where Rainbow Dash was, because she’s a pegasus as well.
Scootaloo folded up her scooter, unstrapped her helmet, and laid all of her gear down next to the outside of the door to Fluttershy’s home. Scootaloo knocked gently on the door, so she didn’t spook Fluttershy. Fluttershy was a great friend of the Crusaders, and Scootaloo always loved visiting her if she needed help with something.
“Oh, hello little one. Come on in.” Fluttershy softly spoke as she opened the door.
“Hi Fluttershy! Umm,” Oh. What if Rainbow Dash is busy? Or still thinks I’m still too small to fly? I’d just be wasting her time. “I was just wanting to stop in and say hi, I haven’t seen you for a long time.” Scootaloo said, changing the subject of her thoughts.
“Oh, that’s very nice of you! Would you like some tea? I just started to make some. It’s you’re favorite too, black raspberry.”
Fluttershy led Scootaloo into the kitchen, and Scootaloo sat down on one of the soft, pink pillows around the table.
“You know, there aren’t much black raspberry plants left. The weather has been really hard on them, and there was a plant disease last wee-” Fluttershy stopped as she looked over at a sad Scootaloo. “Oh, what’s wrong Scootaloo? Is it the raspberries? I-I’m sure they will grow back. I can always plant more.”
Fluttershy hovered over to Scootaloo, and sat next to her with her flank brushing the little filly.
“Well, it isn’t the tea. I wanted to find Rainbow Dash today and ask if she’d teach me to fly. My wings got a bit bigger since last time, but she’s so busy. Or she might think I’m still too small. I also wanted to find some cool goggles because I go so fast on my scooter my eyes start to burn, but I don’t know where to find any.” Scootaloo half mumbled out, yet not inaudible to Fluttershy.
“Oh, little one. Rainbow Dash wouldn’t mind you asking. She’s just up at Cloudsdale for the morning. Try to find her again this afternoon. You look tired. How bout you sleep for a bit and I’ll wake you up when Rainbow Dash should be done in Cloudsdale? Does that sound good?” Fluttershy said quietly to the sad little filly.
“Ok then. I am really tired.”
Fluttershy scooped up the little pony, and slowly hovered up the stairs to her bedroom. She gently laid the filly down on her bed and covered her with a soft, warm blanket. Scootaloo had already fallen asleep by then, quietly whinnying.
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Scootaloo slowly rose from her sleep, hearing voices downstairs. That was the best sleep I’ve had since... I think since Pinkie Pie made me that awesome nest of pillows. She has a lot of pillows. Like, a- Scootaloo’s thoughts were cut short by a familiar voice.
“Oh, Squirt’s here? Yeah I can take her out for today. Her wings did get a bit bigger, so she should be fine.”
Scootaloo jumped out of bed, and zipped down the stairs.
“Oh, hey pipsqueak. Fluttershy says you want to learn to fly, eh?” Rainbow Dash was sitting next to Fluttershy, giving Scootaloo a face saying ‘I know you can do it, kid.’
“Oh, yes! that would be awesome Rainbow Dash! Can we start now? Please please pleeaaase?” Scootaloo was bouncing around the little table by the couch were the two mares sat.
“Yeah, we can start now. See ya Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash got onto all fours, and started for the door.
Scootaloo bounced over to Fluttershy, and embraced her tightly “Thank you so much Fluttershy! You’re the best!” She she said softly.
“I knew that was going to make you happy. All you have to do is ask her, see? Please be careful, flying can be scary at first before it becomes fun. But do try to have fun, ok? Come and see me again sometime.” Said Flutteryshy, as Scootaloo started for the door.
Scootaloo closed the door gently behind her, and saddled up her things. “Come on kid, hop on. I'll fly us to a field where you can have plenty of room to learn.”
Scootaloo tried to put her scooter in her saddle bag, but something else was on the bottom.
“Huh...” She opened the bag up, and there on the bottom were some flight goggles, about the same color as her hair. Fluttershy! She adjusted the strap, and fit them onto her head. “Rainbow Dash look!” She said, climbing onto the pretty mare’s back.
“Fluttershy’s old flight goggles? Looks good on ya squirt. Alright, lets go.”
Rainbow took off, heading to a wide field south of Fluttershy’s house. There was a single, large maple in the center, with gentle dips about the land. Rainbow Dash craned her neck around, making sure Scootaloo was holding on tight.
“Hold on tighter, were gonna do some fun stuff before we land!”
Scootaloo held on as tight as she could without choking Rainbow Dash, as Dash did some cork-screws. Dash looped around, and sped towards the ground.
“Oh my gosh, are you trying to do the-” Scootaloo was cut off by the wind in her mouth. Rainbow Dash flew a few feet above the ground, slowing herself down to a stop.
“Sorry squirt, no Sonic Rainbooms today. I’m too tired for that. Now, put yer stuff over by that tree, then we’ll start. You can keep the goggles on if ya want.”
Scootaloo laid her things down by the tree, and scurried back over to Rainbow Dash for a lesson.
“Ok, first thing is first...” Rainbow Dash lectured her on how to beat her wings properly, not just to zoom forward how she does on her scooter. She taught her how to take off, by jumping with her hind legs for a good head start, and then beat her wings slowly but powerfully for beginners.
“Ok kid, you know the basics. Lets see you take off.”
Dash watched expectantly as Scootaloo reared onto her hind legs, and launched herself up. She shot her wings out and beat them how she was told too. She levitated in the air for a while, and looked at Rainbow Dash with a big grin.
“Good! See if you can get higher!”
Rainbow challenged her as she flew up to a low-level cloud. Scootaloo beat her wings, trying to remember how to climb. Suddenly, she hit a large updraft. She soared up, doing some circles, and clumsily landed next to Dash on the cloud.
“Oh, right, landing. Tilt your body back a bit, and back pedal your wings. Then land hind legs first, ok?”
Rainbow Dash leaped up and showed her an example. The two pegasi flew quickly from cloud to cloud, boosting Scootaloo’s confidence in heights she had never been at before. Rainbow taught her to do simple dives, loops, and cork-screws along the way. As the day grew longer, Scootaloo was tired out from all the exertion of learning to fly. She landed softly on a cloud, and Rainbow next to her.
“Good landing! I can teach ya some more tomorrow if ya want.”
Scootaloo let out a happy squeal, “Yes! Thanks so much Rainbow Dash! Today was awesome!” You’re awesome! Oh man, I wish I could tell her. I wish that she...
“Alright then, see ya later squirt. I’m guessing you can get down from here, right?” Dash said to her affectionately. Not needing an answer, she winked as Scootaloo said good-bye, and took off.
I hope I can, I need you tell me what I do wrong all the time and how to tweak something. Tomorrow though, you said tomorrow like, the next day! This is going to be sweeeet!
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Scootaloo glided down to her tree, and gathered her stuff up. She tried to take off, not expecting her stuff to be so heavy, and plummeted back to the ground with a soft thud.
“Okay, well, I’m not that big yet...” She scolded herself.
Scootaloo got onto her scooter, having to use her legs to pedal because her wings were sore from all the new movements. She passed Fluttershy’s house, wishing she had some of that delicious looking tea. Scootaloo skimmed over the smooth path towards Ponyville, and let out a long yawn. As she came up to the village, she watched forlornly as the ponies once again entered their warm, safe homes for the night. She rode slowly through Ponyville, watching as lights started to drown into the darkness. As she reached the outskirts on the other side of the village, she took the path to the private part of Apple Jacks farm. She sped along the way, wanting to get into the safety of the Crusader’s hideout. She reached the forest just as the twilight ended, a pale white moon rising slowly over the horizon. Jumping the log along the path, she made for the next marker. She was too tired to grind across the rock, but she stopped and sat on it for a while.
Everypony has a real home. With their own food. I feel bad when I eat things Apple Bloom leaves me in the morning and at night. It’s not my own food. Their home has real beds, and pillows. And isn’t cold in the winter like the clubhouse. Oh well, it’s still shelter, and Apple Bloom said there’s always enough food to go around. I should get going, I have more training tomorrow!
Scootaloo folded her scooter, and trotted down the pathway to the clubhouse. She tottered up the walkway, her tiredness overtaking her muscles’ strength. She slid through the door, unpacked her pillow and blanket, and promptly fell down asleep.
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Something was prodding her side. She shot up neighing in fear, and looked to her side. In the pale moonlight she saw a familiar figure,
“Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here?” Oh no! Whats she going to think of me, that I’m homeless...
“I followed you, actually. I wanted to see if you made it down alright, and then I saw you heading into the forest. Oh Scoots, why are you here? Don’t you have yer own place? I mean this place isn’t bad but...?”
Scootaloo looked down, obviously a disappointment to Rainbow Dash.
“I... My parents died a while ago. So I used go to Pinkie Pie’s to sleep cause she didn’t mind. Then when Apple Jack gave the Crusaders this place, I decided to sleep here instead of mooching off of other ponies. Apple Bloom was the only other one to know. She’d leave me a small breakfast and dinner every day. And...”
Scootaloo’s eyes were welling up from her emotions, built up over her short life. “Aw kid, don’t cry. Come fly with me, I wana take you somewhere. Bring yer stuff.”
Scootaloo launched her self up with Rainbow, and they headed off over Ponyville.
“Wow, it’s really pretty flying at night Rainbow Dash. This is so awesome!” Scootaloo squealed, admiring all the stars.
“Hey kid, look up. Shooting star!” I wish upon a star that I could have somepony... Oh whats the use... Wishes don’t work.
They soared on for about half an hour, stopping now and then on a cloud to let Scootaloo catch her breath. They flew onward, and a large object in the sky was silhouetted in front of the moon.
“What is that?” She asked Dash, but Rainbow Dash said nothing, only giving Scootaloo a small grin, her eyes softly laid on the filly.
As she flew closer, she could make out the shapes. In front of her was a tower of clouds, shaped into a house. A rainbow colored stream melted down from the spire, flowing over the edge of the cloud.
“Rainbow Dash, what-” Scootaloo cut off as Rainbow Dash scooped Scootaloo into her belly with a wing, laid them both down on the cloud, and nuzzled Scootaloo affectionately.
“Welcome to your new home, squirt.” Scootaloo squeezed her eyes shut, tears streaming, and hugged Rainbow Dash as tight as she could.
I have Rainbow Dash!
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I hope y'all enjoyed reading!
Special thanks to Zev and Pinkie Pie for editing and critiquing.
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BoredBrony
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1051
| 1 |
Original Character,Princess Celestia,Trixie,Twilight Sparkle,Crossover,Adventure,Comedy,Random,My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
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My Little Contra
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Something is attacking Equestria, And there's only one way to stop it. ...With a Spread Shot.
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complete
| -1 | -1 |
<p>Something is attacking Equestria, And there's only one way to stop it. ...With a Spread Shot. Follow two trained warponies as they fight to protect all of Equestria from a threat that even Princess Celestia can't handle in this short guerrilla warfare epic.</p>
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teen
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2011-09-26T06:50:26+00:00
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2011-09-26T06:50:26+00:00
| 1,103 |
“Welcome to The Herd Corps!”
The booming voice bellowed over the furious noise of the rotor blades turning, shouting at two stern-faced ponies who were listening to the pony with a commanding voice.
“You two were called in because you’re the best of the best. And right now, Equestria NEEDS the best of the best OF THE BEST!! You two have went through HELL under my training program, And they have made you who you are now. You are fighters. You are killers! But most of all, YOU ARE WARRIORS! The enemy is fierce, unforgiving, unloving, and hungry for pony blood. You are here to feed them lead instead. Take no prisoners, Show no mercy, And kill every last one of them sons a’ bitches dead. Those are your orders, Now go out there and make Celestia proud!”
The two ponies look at one another and then back forward towards the now opening door of the helicopter. They braced themselves for their next task and stepped forward. Standing at the threshold, Overlooking the land below, They stood looking up into the great blue and then down towards the vast jungle below. Two ropes were tossed out by another pony for them to slide down to the ground with. They both took hold and slid down into a clearing in the midst of the jungle. As soon as they touched down, The helicopter took off into the distance, leaving them on their own. The first one looked onward at the scenery while the second one watched the helicopter leave them stranded.
“Ugh, Why did I have to be called out here again? This isn’t a place for The Great and Po-”
“Stop it, Trixie. I don’t like this any more than you do. But standing around complaining will get us killed. It says so in the “Guerrilla Warfare for Eggheads.” Besides, You’re the only other Unicorn that can do the kind of magic needed for this mission.”
Before the second pony can reply, However, A herd of ponies coated in red appeared out from every orifice on the landscape. Charging at the two ponies head on.
“Here they come!”
The first one, A lavender unicorn with dark blue mane and tail with a streak of purple and pink running down them, instantly began firing balls of magic from her horn towards the incoming enemy. The second one, Sporting a blue coat and blue-ish silver mane and tail, followed suit with a similar attack. Every pony that was hit by the balls of magical energy went down with a single hit. The two unicorns charged forward while taking down scores of charging ponies left and right. They soon entered the jungle itself, Suddenly taking fire from a different brand of the enemy.
“Snipers!”
They both dodged and weaved through the incoming barrage of magical death while firing back at their new targets. Taking quite a bit of them out on their way through the jungle. They soon came upon a wall decorated with turrets built into the frame and snipers perched on the roof. They simply looked at the sight for a mere moment before pelting the wall with magical unicorn bullets. After dealing with the snipers and the turrets, They focused on a round spot on the lower center of the wall. It shortly exploded to reveal a passage way into a base of sorts. Without a moment’s hesitation, They charge headlong into the newly made opening. They quickly found themselves charging down a hallway and shooting down several legions of enemies until they arrive at a door. They quickly shoot it down and enter. They immediately find themselves staring at a behemoth of a creature, It was green with two whip-like arms protruding from it’s body.
“Let’s Rock!”
“...Please tell The Great and Powerful Trixie you did not just say that.”
Before the two could continue to bicker, The creature shot fireballs at them. They narrowly dodged the attack and retaliated. They soon found that their attacks weren’t working very well.
“Ugh! Just blow up already, You ugly fiend!”
“There must be a weak spot somewhere.”
The two look at one another and then nod before turning their attention back to the creature, their horns glowing in concentration.
“SPREADSHOT!”
The two unicorns then released a simultaneous blast, Each one firing eight balls of magical energy with a single shot. They then watch as the creatures arms blow off from the attack, The head still intact and letting out a loud roar of pain.
“That was it! Now, Trixie, Aim for the head!”
The two unicorns focused their now single shot attacks at the creature’s head and quickly made short work of it. It’s stomach then opened up like a sliding door, Revealing another path into what looked like a lair of some sort.
“I think this is it.”
“Thank Celestia, The Great and Powerful Trixie was growing tired of this land the moment she touched down.”
They charged in, Finding themselves facing a new series of enemies. Gray monsters that crawled around all over the place. They climbed the ceiling and dropped down upon them more than once, But never getting close enough to do anything more than alert the two. They also jumped up from the floor to ambush them, But the two unicorns still pushed forward. Taking down any that got in their way. They soon found themselves standing before a heart. They looked around for any sign of a threat, Only finding themselves surrounded by a sea of black amidst the presence of the heart.
“Be careful, Trixie. Anything can happen now.”
“Please! The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn’t need your-”
Suddenly, The ground opens up before them, A head jolting out to stand between them and the heart. Before the two can react, An arm comes out of the ground and smacks the blue unicorn away.
“Trixie!”
The lavender unicorn cries out as she watches her comrade soar into the darkness. She then turns back to the head, It’s gray features coated with a sickening smile and red eyes. Her eyes fixate on the head as she starts shooting at it. The arm now starts attacking her as she dodges it’s attempts to crush her. She sees it weakening a bit and starts charging up a single shot to finish it. Suddenly, She feels something clamp down around her whole being and lift her off the ground. She then realizes that she took too long to finish it off and got caught by it’s hand. She braces herself for what she assumes to be her end when a large ball of energy hits the giant head, Exploding on impact and destroying it entirely. As she rolls around after being let go, She turns back to find Trixie managing to keep herself standing by willpower alone.
“Trixie, You’re okay!”
“Of course! I am The Great and Powerful Trixie!”
The two then turn to the now unprotected heart. Their horns slowly glowing more and more brightly as they charged up for a collective strike to destroy it for good.
“So, Do you have any lame one-liners for this moment?”
“...Just one...GAME OVER!”
The two then release the attack upon the heart, A bright light illuminating the huge room as a beam hits the heart and annihilates it completely. Afterwards, The two head back to the clearing where they were first dropped off by helicopter and find their helicopter already there and waiting, They hop on board and enjoy a flight back to HQ. Or rather, A flight back to Canterlot, Now that the war was over.
“Good work, My Little Ponies. You’ve done all of Equestria a great service and single-hoofedly put a stop to a major threat. No doubt you’re quite tired from the ordeal and would like a rest?”
“That’s okay, Princess Celestia. I’m just glad that it’s all over with.”
“And I, The Great and Powerful Trixie, would be glad to receive her compensation for this battle.”
“Of course, Trixie, You’ve earned it.”
“Also, The Great and Powerful Trixie would like her own theater where all will come and marvel at her spectacular feats of magic.”
“Uh, Trixie?”
“And an entourage to match The Great and Powerful Trixie’s greatness.”
“Trixie.”
“And further more, I-”
“Trixie!”
“Will you stop that, The Great and Powerful Trixie is not-”
“Hey, Trixie!”
Trixie jumped from her seat and looked around, She found that she was in a dressing room of sorts. She was seated in front of a vanity with a mirror. She turned to the pony who shouted at her to find with was a burly colt who appeared quite annoyed.
“You’re on in 2, Hurry up and get ready!”
The colt then slammed the door shut with a loud bang. Leaving Trixie quite perplexed. Had she fallen asleep before an act and dreamt about the whole ordeal?
“Well, I never... How could I have been so tired as to fall asleep before an act? ...And who was that lavender mare I saw? No matter, I’ve an act to perform, And The Great and Powerful Trixie shall perform at her best!”
She then trotted out the door to her performance. The now vague memory of her dream placed far away from her thoughts as she readied herself to dazzle the ponies of Manehattan.
THE END
~ Inspired by Boredom
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