//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: The Five Ponies // Story: A New Era // by Shadowmane PX-41 //------------------------------// The Main Six, Starlight Glimmer, and Spike followed after Lemon Zest as they all walked through the stone corridors of the castle, passing by multiple windows and doors on their way. They all walked on regal red carpets lined with gold around the edges, with suits of armour accompanied with the portraits of the ponies that wore them behind each one. "So, girls. If I can be a bit professional for a second." Lemon Zest stopped and turned her head around, raising one of her eyebrows at Twilight and her friends. "What exactly are you all here for?" She stepped around the girls and pushed her bulging eyes into their furs. "Because you don't really seem like the normal kind of tourist ponies we get." "Lemon Zest. We came to White Wings looking to create an alliance with the country. That's all." Twilight nodded her head and looked back at her friends, who all nodded with her. "I'm sure that you and your people could use some new friends, just as we could use some of our own." "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get that. You've had a bad time with some evil monster rulers." Lemon Zest shook her hooves and stepped back in front of the group. "But there's gotta be more to it than that, right? No-one just decides to come to White Wings to try and form an alliance with the country these days. Besides, we've got a lot of problems of our own on our hooves right now." "Problems?" Fluttershy stepped forward and almost brushed Lemon's side with how close to her fur she was. "I don't think we've seen any problems yet here in White Wings. The ponies in your kingdom are all so lovely and caring." "Yeah? You've only just scratched the surface of the matter, Fluttershy." Lemon Zest then heard the muted sounds of conflict and pricked up her ears. Wasting no more time, she darted over to the window and looked out. "See that out there? That's one of the problems we've got." The ponies all gathered around and gazed out the window towards the streets of White Wings. Their eyes were immediately met with a sight that made their faces curl up and revile as they watched was was unfurling. A group of ponies carrying picket signs marched through the streets, chanting slogans as they stomped in a lockstep formation. As they brandished the signs that were either pictures of a pony with a cross through her body, or whether it were giant words that had been hoof-painted on, there was no joy in any of their faces. The ponies around them could only watch and scoff at them, as some even moved their children out of the way. "Yeah. Apparently, some of the ponies here don't really like Queen Cinch that much." Lemon Zest slid up to the Main Six's heads and looked out the window herself. "They've formed some kind of revolutionary group to try and take her down or something. They'll never get in, though. Too stupid and not enough numbers to try and storm the castle." "Plus, even if they tried to get in, we would dispatch them all without any problem or hesitation." The ponies all turned their heads to see a pony with a grey coat walked up to them. It was a unicorn mare with her mane tied up into two pigtails and a bun at the back. Her Cutie Mark depicted a blue and yellow firecracker that seemed to be detonating.A pair of red glasses were draped around her eyes and hung on the edge of her snout. She walked up to the ponies and caused the book that she was holding in her telekinetic aura to disappear. "Sugarcoat!" Lemon Zest jumped and brushed herself down as she stood in awe of the newcomer's presence. "How's it hangin', girl? Y'know, we barely even see you outside of your study these days. What's the big occasion?" "Don't try to play innocent with me, Lemon Zest." Sugarcoat picked the pink mare up and lifted her to the end of the corridor, clearing the obstruction between her and the Main Six. "What are you doing here? White Wings is off-limits to tourists until further notice due to the rebellion. I asked Sunny Flare to have the ships moved away, but it turns out that she's just as incompetent doing that as she is at re-organising my spell books." She grunted and pushed her glasses to her face. "Wow. Rude, eh, Twilight?" Spike took one look at the mare as she gruffly stood in the way of the group. "Forgive us for intruding, miss Sugarcoat. My name is Twilight Sparkle; Princess of Friendship." She bowed before the pony, spreading her wings out wide as she looked up at her. "These are my colleagues and fellow disciples. We were hoping to form an allegiance with your country in the wake of Queen Chrysalis's last attack." "The answer is no." Sugarcoat immediately shook her head and turned away. "I informed Queen Cinch about your arrival, and let me just say that I am appalled that she let trash like you wander into our city as we are on the verge of chaos." She lit up her horn and plucked the Cutie Marks off of all seven of the ponies with little effort. She swirled them all around her and examined each of them very closely, examining each and every little detail. "But, since our almighty queen has to maintain her duty as a pony of power as set by her mother and father did when she was a filly, we still need to stay true to her word and check each of you. But trust me when I say that I have low expectations from commoners like yourselves." She just ripped off our Cutie Marks without even giving it any concentration... Starlight could only watch with her jaw hanging open as Sugarcoat looked at the marks and peered in closer with every new one she came across. It took me ages to pull that spell off back when I was evil, and yet she's doing it like she's been learning magic ever since she was born! Sugarcoat put the marks back onto the ponies and took in a deep breath before looking back at them. "So, according to these marks, we have an apple farmer, a balloon handler, a gem miner, a butterfly hoarder, a lightning bolt bursting out of a rainbow, and two stargazers. Pathetic. Given that we have the revolution and Umbra waiting in the wings to make another attack, we don't need you—nor can you be of any use to us at all. At any point in the future. Ever." "Hey! Don't you call us that!" Rainbow Dash flew up into Sugarcoat's face and forced her neck to recoil backwards. "We've saved Equestria dozens of times from horrible monsters beyond what you could think of, so don't you dare say that we're weak!" Sugarcoat fired a spell at Rainbow Dash that struck her in the chest and began encasing her in ice from the hooves up. Within seconds, her body became cold, her wings turned frigid, and her mane and tail were completely encased in the cold slab. Once Rainbow Dash was fully frozen, she was dropped onto the ground on her side and levitated back to the other ponies. "Like I said. Weak." Sugarcoat turned up her nose as she watched the other ponies gather around Rainbow Dash and begin to thaw her out. "I'm not going to warn you again. Leave White Wings IMMEDIATELY, or you WILL get hurt. Either from Umbra, or from me." And with that, she turned away and walked down the corridors that she had came from. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my studies. Try not to die on your way to the docks." Twilight glared daggers at Sugarcoat before she lit up her horn. Firing the beam down on the ice, she watched the cold block turn warm and evaporate into water. Once it all melted away, Rainbow Dash burst out of her icy prison, shaking and shivering all over as she tried to stand back on her hooves again. "Sorry about that, girls." Lemon Zest came back up to the Main Six and Spike. "I don't know what's going through Sugarcoat's mind today, but somepony obviously pooped in her cornflakes at breakfast..." "Rainbow Dash? Are you alright?" Starlight Glimmer lit up her own horn as she tended to Rainbow Dash's cold temperature. She laid her hoof on the pony's forehead, feeling absolutely no trace of body heat whatsoever. "What the hay? Sugarcoat's magic was so cold that you're not hot at all. It's like you've just gone through a blizzard and had to have been rescued by someone!" "Yeah. She's not really that aggressive to visitors, but White Wings is in a pretty bad shape right now." Lemon Zest scratched the back of her mane as she watched the rest of the ponies help Rainbow Dash recover her body heat. "I'm sure she'll get better once we save the world again. You know how it is with these bookworm ponies." "Being a fellow book enthusiast myself, I'm not at all pleased with her actions just then." Twilight frowned and shook her head as she watched Sugarcoat disappear down the corner. "If she's trying to frighten us because White Wings has problems, she's not going to stop us. In fact, it's all the more reason we should be here." "Yeah. We should just go right up to Queen Cinch's throne room right now if there's trouble." Applejack nodded and took her hat off. "There ain't no need for a pony to behave that rudely—even if there city's not all perfect." "Absolutely. For such a refined and gorgeous city, Sugarcoat displayed all of the actions of a bully with more brains than normal." Rarity nodded and brushed her mane back. "Turning Rainbow Dash into ice is definitely not what a White Wings pony would do—even if they were part of the castle's staff!" "Pay Sugarcoat no mind. She is walking down a dark path with how deep she engrosses herself in her studies." Another pony stepped up to the Main Six and pulled down the robe that obscured her mane. Standing before them all was a new pony with a bright lavender bowl-cut mane and light blue skin. She wore a hairclip in her mane that depicted a golden sun, shining out in all directions. Her Cutie Mark showed a sun with some rain spilling out from the cloud next to it. "Who are you?" Rainbow Dash shivered as she looked at the new pony. "You're not gonna be mean to us like Sugarcoat was, are you?" Fluttershy took a few steps back and let some of her mane fall over her face. "No. She sees her knowledge, but all that I see from her is imperfection," said the mare. "My name is Sunny Flare. I am the castle's soothsayer, and Queen Abacus Cinch's watchful eye." "A soothsayer?" Spike jumped off of Twilight's back and stepped up to Sunny Flare. "Now there's something you don't see in Equestria. A pony who has the power to, um..." He tapped the ground with his curled toes as he tried to think of the answer. "What is it that you do?" "Ah. A baby dragon? How curious..." Sunny Flare squatted down and looked the dragon in the eyes. "You don't usually see a dragon intermixing with ponies. All dragons are meant to live in the Dragon Kingdoms, not with the livestock that they prey on. You're a long way from your home, aren't you?" "You could say that again." Spike grinned and nodded, putting his claws behind his head. "Well, it is very nice to meet you, little one." Sunny Flare picked Spike up and handed him back to Twilight Sparkle and her friends. "But let's get back to the matter at hand. As a soothsayer, Abacus Cinch instructs me to look at the future; to see all of the outcomes for our kingdom if we make any decisions. She never makes any final decisions until I've had a look at the matter with my own eyes." "That makes sense to me." Starlight Glimmer walked closer to Sunny Flare. "It's not a perfect kingdom unless the future's the way that you want it." "Exactly." Sunny Flare nodded and pointed her hoof at Starlight's belly. "Without a discernible future, the kingdom's fate lies on gambles and uncertainty. Ponies start to get worried unless the way is marked for them. That is my destiny, and one that I have upheld ever since the queen took me under her wings." "Speaking of the queen, can we see her now?" Twilight asked, lifting a brow as she stepped next to Starlight and watched her friends follow her. "This is a matter of importance not just for our country, but for all of yours as well. We would like to seek audience with Queen Abacus Cinch and hear her opinions on the matter." "Do you think that we can do that?" Starlight tilted her head at Sunny Flare. "Or is our presence going to bring ruin to the kingdom if we speak with her?" "Fortunately for you, your futures seem to be clean to me." Sunny Flare smiled and nodded at the group as she began to walk away and beckon the ponies to join her with a wave of her hoof. "Come with me. I will lead you to the throne room at once." "Now that seems more like it." Applejack smiled as she followed after Twilight, Starlight, and Sunny, with the other ponies following behind her. "Come on, ya'll. Let's meet with the queen of this here kingdom." The other ponies began to talk among each other as they left the corridor behind her and followed Sunny Flare down another path. The echoes of their hoof steps began to diminish with every step that they took as the hallway fell into silence once again. The group of ponies soon came to a massive set of golden doors with giant knockers attached to each one. There was a lion on both doors that held the ring up, with a series of archaic markings placed around it. There was a gilded golden frame around the doors with platinum in the middle of the arch as it sprung up around the door and slammed back down on the other side. "Here we are. The throne room of White Wings' castle." Sunny Flare walked up to the door and approached the two ponies that stood guard by it. They were Indigo Zap and Sour Sweet, who were now draped in steel armour and stood so still that they could have been passed off for statues. "Move aside. I shall meet the queen with these ponies as our guests." "Sunny Flare, I keep telling you that we do not need these ponies!" Sour Sweet gritted her teeth as she leaned into Sunny's ears. "They're just gonna make things worse for us!" "Hey. Chill, Sour Sweet." Indigo flew over and massaged Sour's shoulders. "They're the ponies that I've had my eyes on ever since my last patrol. I'm kinda interested to see how this plays out, to be honest." She looked over at the seven ponies for a brief instance before turning back to Sour. "Just let them through this time, K?" "Thank you." Sunny Flare bent her knees and bowed before them, spreading her wings out to the sides as she did so. She watched as the two others did theirs—albeit with Sour Sweet hesitating a little—before she turned to the door and opened it inwards with her magic. The girls walked into a massive throne room with candles that stood tall around the carpet leading up to the throne itself. Paintings of previous kings and queens could be seen hanging from the walls with desks, tables, and other units stacked with knick-knacks and treasures. Just behind the doors were a globe on the right and a map of White Wings and the neighbouring territories on the left. Above them all was a massive crystal chandelier that sparkled in the light that streaked through the stained glass behind the throne. The ponies all walked into the room, feeling their hooves touching with the purple carpet. For all of them, it felt like they were all walking on feathers that had been finely plucked from the rarest birds and arranged in such a way that they formed a rectangular shape. They had never felt anything so soft on their bodies in years. Not even the carpets in Princess Celestia's throne room could compare to the ones they were on now. "Well, this is as far as I can go." Sunny Flare stopped at the edge of the carpet and looked up towards the throne itself. There was a pony sitting proudly on the giant golden chair with jewels welded into the back. "I shall take my leave now, but I do wish you and your entourage the best of luck in the future." She walked out of the room and closed the door behind her, causing a massive slam to echo throughout the room. The pony standing on the throne stepped down and walked towards the ponies, raising an eyebrow at them all as she came into the light and reavealed herself. Her skin was a pale shade of light blue with the mark of an abacus on her flanks. Her dark and bright purple mane and tail were styled in a curl-like fashion with her forehead being completely covered by the hair. She unfurled her wings and brandished her horn proudly as she looked down at the newcomers, who immediately bowed down as she cast her glare upon them. "State your names and your business in my kingdom, travellers," she boomed, devoid of emotion as she watched the ponies stand back up and look her in the eyes.