CHAPTER 19
THE CHASE
The town square was still buzzing with the news of the two disasters when Twilight appeared. As soon as she did, she looked around wondering if she'd been spotted by one of the brothers. When she didn't spot any once of them, she galloped out of the square as fast as she could.
She wasn't planning on getting and securing her Element. If she was being tailed, she could end up leading them to it. Still formulating her next plan, she turned at a corner. Ironhead suddenly burst through an alley before her and spotted her. She dug her hooves into the ground and lit up her horn.
"Twilight, wait!" But the unicorn had already teleported away before he could get the chance to talk. She reappeared in the middle of Stirrup Street, startling a few ponies as she did. She galloped away again and dove into an alley. Looking around, she spotted a stack of crates and dove behind them. She stuck her head out for a while before covering herself once more.
Now alone, she had time to think. The brothers were searching for her and the Elements of Harmony. They didn't seem to know that any of her friends had the Elements meaning that they were safe for the moment, but she had to warn them that Solstice and his brothers were after the Elements. Scar and Ironhead had gotten close to Rainbow and Applejack; what that also part of their plan?
She was in Stirrup Street; Carousel Boutique was just on the other corner. Hoping that Rarity and Spike were there, she teleported to the entrance of the dress shop and hurriedly knocked on the door. She turned around and scanned the area for any of the brothers and turned around when, to her relief, the door opened.
"Twilight, what a pleasant surprise. How were things with Sol-"
"Not now Rarity!" Twilight cried out. "Where's Spike?!"
Her panicked tone surprised her. "Why...why he's inside. Spike?" Rarity called to the dragon.
The latter was quick to respond to his crush's voice. Spike was floating towards them, hearts in his eyes, apparently having enjoyed his time with Rarity. "Something wrong Rarity? You you need me to help you polish another-"
"Not now Spike!" Twilight's shout brought him back to earth. Rubbing the spot where he hit the floor, he listened to her. "I need to get a letter to the princess; it's urgent."
"I have a few scrolls over there." Rarity said pointing at a nearby desk. Spike hurried there and fetched a quill and parchment.
"OK. Dear Princess Celestia-"
"Twilight!"
The librarian turned and saw a red shape descend towards her. She quickly turned back to her assistant. "Elements in danger. Ponies after them." she spoke hurriedly as Scar approached.
Rarity cut in. "Twilight, what in Equestria-"
"I'll explain later!" the frantic Twilight cried out. "Spike, send that, lock the door and don't let him in."
Before either of them could question her further, she teleported away. Spike and Rarity got a glimpse of Scar nearing them; they bolted back into the shop, locked and barricaded the door just in case just as Scar landed. He looked in confusion at the store's entrance, wondering why they locked themselves in. Passing it off as nothing, Scar turned to the side.
I just lost her. How're you guys doing? he thought.
Saw her a while ago, but she bolted. Ironhead's voice said in his mind.
Found her! Solstice said getting his brothers' attention. She's on path leading out of Ponyville.
Stay on her. I'm on our way. Scar said taking to the skies once more.
"Twilight!" Solstice called out startling the mare who was just on her way to warn Fluttershy. "You have no reason to panic. Just tell me where the Elements of Harmony are and I-"
"Just what do you want with them?" she asked before the request could be completed.
Solstice drew back a bit to show that he meant no harm. "Forgive me, but I cannot answer that Twilight. I must know where the Elements are; I shall explain myself when this is over. Perhaps over coffee like we discussed-."
Twilight looked at him incredulously. "How could you even think of that at a time like this?!" she exclaimed causing the colt to wince. "I thought you were a nice guy Solstice, but you threatened my friends!"
"I...What?!"
Before he could question her further, he saw her horn glow once more. Anticipating another teleportation spell, he channeled his own magic at the same time. Just as she began to vanish, he fired a thread of teal magic and connected it with her horn. Twilight realized this only half a second before they vanished.
She reappeared somewhere in Ponyville, but, to her shock, Solstice had appeared along with her. She charged up again for another teleportation spell, but her horn was once again connected to Solstice's.
"Forgive my methods Twilight, but they are necessary." Solstice told her. "Now, if you could just tell me-"
A sudden flash from her horn momentarily blinded him. Unable to see, he heard her teleport away and sighed. Blinking spots out of his eyes, he turned to the side. She managed to elude me.
I got her! Ironhead shouted. Dammit, she got away again.
Successive teleportations are taxing on normal unicorns. Solstice thought as he raced into town. She should eventually tire out.
Hang on...Scar's voice said. I found her, and she's not teleporting.
Where are you? Solstice asked.
Hayseed Avenue.
On it.
Twilight was running for her life from a guy who didn't even want to hurt her. The scarlet pegasus dipped low and flew on the galloping unicorn's right. "C'mon Twilight, don't let it be like this." he begged. "Tell us where the Elements are."
Twilight remained silent and galloped and galloped even faster. "HEEELP!" she cried out as Scar caught up with her. He kept his eyes on her as they rounded a corned. He opened his mouth to shout again, but Twilight did it before him. "Rainbow!"
Hearing that forced Scar to look forwards, seeing the cyan pegasus flying towards them. They both parted and allowed her to dash past them. Rainbow did a quick turn and flew on Twilight's right.
"Rainbow?!" Scar exclaimed.
"Twilight? Scar? What the hey's going on here?" she questioned turning from pony to pony.
"Rainbow...Scar...Trying to get...Elements..." Twilight panted exhausted from the running and teleportations.
"I can explain!" Scar cried out. "OK, maybe I can't, but I have to do this!"
Twilight began to slow down and eventually came to a halt. As she caught her breath, the pegasi looked at each other, Rainbow in disbelief and Scar in shame. "Scar...is she serious?" she asked him.
Guilty for keeping secrets from her and desiring nothing but for all this to go down smoothly, Scar sighed and faced her. "R...Rainbow..."
"Scar!" A great teal flash caught their attention as Solstice appeared in their midst. "Have you done it? Have discovered where the Elements of Harmony are?"
"So you are after them!" Rainbow accused rounding up on her fellow pegasus.
Scar gulped and backed up a little turning from Rainbow to Solstice repeatedly. He was doing this for her, for all of Ponyville, but he couldn't tell her. "R-Rainbow, you don't understand. I have to do this."
"Twilight please, I'm just as tired as yourself about this whole business." Solstice said approaching the unicorn. "Now, please tell us where the Elements are."
"Hold up buster." Solstice halted when Rainbow flew in his path. "You guys chased my one of my friends through town and are trying to get the Elements. Don't think you guys aren't gonna get away with this."
"R-Rainbow-"
"I see. So you are involved with the Elements as well Ms. Rainbow." Solstice said rather calmly to the agitated mare's face. "I take it that if Twilight here refuses to tell me, the same can be said for you?"
Rainbow drew back and scrutinized him a bit. "Ya got that right; you're not getting your hooves on the Elements. Beat it Twi'. I got these guys."
Twilight nodded and bolted as away as fast as she could. Ironhead, she's heading south. Scar and I will be with you shortly. Solstice thought. "Scar?"
The latter sighed and flew off in Twilight's direction. "Hey!" He looked to the side and saw Rainbow flying alongside him. "I-I can't believe this Scar; how could you do something like this?! I thought you were my friend!"
"Look I...I'm sorry OK?" he said pleadingly. "Please, just let me do this. Trust me Rainbow...please..."
To his dismay, she still had that furious look on her face. Solstice, I can't do this! he screamed in his head.
I understand that this is difficult for you, but please bear it Scar. his brother replied. If you truly care for her, then you should put her safety and her life above anything else. I am uncertain if there will be an opportunity to explain yourself in the future, but unless we find our answers, there may not be an opportunity at all!
Scar gritted his teeth realizing that he was right and turned to her. "I'm sorry Rainbow."
His wing suddenly expanded to their massive size startling Rainbow. Scar gave an almighty flap that not only propelled him forward at phenomenal speeds, but also send backwards a gust of wind that blew Rainbow off track. By the time she recovered, Scar was just a small dot heading into the distance. Nevertheless, she pushed on wanting to give Scar a piece of her mind.
Ironhead spotted Twilight quickly after she separated from Rainbow. Upon spotting him, she quickly halted and darted into the street to her right. Ironhead was quick to follow her through the streets of Ponyville. He noticed look ahead and spot something in the distance.
"Applejack, help!"
Startled, he looked ahead seeing said earth pony watch her friend rush past her. When she turned to look behind her, Applejack locked eyes with Ironhead for a split second during which she managed to piece together what was going on. As Ironhead sped past her, she fixed up her hat and raced after them.
After rounding a corner, Applejack pulled out her trusty lasso with her teeth and began twirling it above her head. With a mighty swing, she launched it at him and managed to get it around his neck. Smiling, she pulled back to reel him in, but to her surprise, her hooves left the ground and she began bouncing up and down.
Ironhead seemed to be unaware that he was dragging her along. Getting her front hooves on the rope, AJ pulled and dug her hind legs into the ground. All she did however was slowly him down slightly and leave a trail of drag marks in her wake.
The colt had noticed the decrease in speed and looked back. His jaw dropped, and he quickly dug his hooves into the ground. He stopped quickly, but Applejack still had plenty of momentum which launched her forward and made her let go of her lasso. She flew through the air for a moment and crashed into Twilight. The two mares tumbled around before slamming into the side of a building.
After getting rid of the lasso around his neck, Ironhead rushed to the two fallen ponies. "Oh crap; are you guys alright?" he asked worriedly.
"Y-yeah..." Applejack said getting up and checking on Twilight. "Now...what the hay is goin' on here?"
"Ironhead...after Elements..." Twilight panted still lying on the ground.
"Say what now?!" Applejack cried out turning to the colt with shock on her face. "Ironhead, is this true?"
The latter wondered if he could somehow lie his way out of this. This is Applejack; I can't lie to her... He took a deep breath. "Y...You see AJ-"
"Ironhead!" Applejack jumped back as Solstice teleported himself to their location. "Oh dear; Twilight are you alright?" he asked worried approaching the fallen unicorn. "Let me help you up."
He surrounded her body with a teal magical aura and propped her up on all fours. After doing so, his attention turned to the other mare in the group. "Another one of your friends I take it? Is she also involved with the Elements of Harmony?"
Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Whaddya want with the Elements?"
"Where they are to be exact." Solstice answered. "They could hold the answers we seek."
"'We'? Does that include him?" She gestured towards Ironhead who backed up a bit.
"Why yes." Solstice replied calmly. "You see-"
A brown hoof stopped him mid-sentence. "I...I wanna tell her bro."
Solstice nodded and stepped back allowing his brother to approach her. Those green eyes that he loved now showed just how upset he was. He sighed and looked at her pleadingly. "I...I'm sorry Applejack. I...I lied to you...a lot..."
He bowed his head in shame as he awaited her answer. "Everythin'...Was it all a lie?" she asked wanting to know the truth of all this. Ironhead slowly nodded. "All of it...comin' from Manehatten...lookin' fer a job here...yer life...who ya are...that all ain't true...?" He nodded again. "You've been lyin' ta me since the day we met?"
"I'm sorry. I'm...so sorry...I didn't want to lie to you really. But I had to." he raised his head. "I-I just-I had to...I didn't want you know...not like this..."
He sighed as she turned away from him. He could already imagine the disappointment and disbelief she felt about being lied to. "I...I can't believe this...I-I trusted you!"
"I knew it was wrong to lie, but I had to do it." Ironhead replied.
"Ya got close ta me...to my fam'ly...just to get yer hooves on the Elements?"
"I didn't even know the Elements were involved until a while ago." he told her.
"How do I know that ain't a lie right there?"
"I-It's not!" he argued. "Look, I'm sorry OK? I'll make it up to you sometime, but now, I need to know where the Elements are."
"Hmph. You ain't gettin' the elements, not on my watch." Applejack said standing her ground.
Ironhead pouted while Solstice turned to the side. Scar, where are you?
Ah! R-Ow! Rainbow-Gah! Ack! Almost-Oof! There!
A sudden crash nearby caught the group's attention. The ponies looked to the side and saw a pair of massive red wings covering something on the ground. The wings then began to shrink to their average size revealing Scar underneath them. He got up and shook some dust off himself.
"Sorry about that." He approached them wincing a little. "Something came up."
"Hey! I'm more than just something!" The group looked up and saw Rainbow land in front of Twilight with Applejack. "Anyway, I still can't believe you Scar!"
"Rainbow, I know this looks bad, but we need to know where the Elements are." Scar replied.
"An' jus' whaddya want with 'em? Y'all don't know the hell we went through last time we lost 'em." Applejack told them.
"We just wanna know where they are." Ironhead reasoned. "C'mon guys, just tell us already."
The four of them had erupted into a large argument. Ironhead and Applejack seemed to be the most fervent ones arguing followed by Rainbow and then Scar. Accusations were flung around, excuses and apologies were mentioned, some shouting occurred, all in all, things were not so great among the four of them.
...1...
...2...
...3...
...4...
...5...
The whole time, Solstice appeared to be perfectly calm. Twilight, now feeling much more energized, saw him eyes tightly closed. She was surprised by how at ease he looked despite the huge fight going involving his brothers and her friends.
In his mind, Solstice was slowly counting to ten. It was a simple, common technique, but it worked when it came to calming him down. The whole situation, being so close to his answer and not getting it, the arguing occurring at the moment, seeing his brothers troubled and pleading, it was all too stressful to him; he just had to start counting.
...6...
...7...
...8...
...9...
...10...
Eventually, he opened his eyes which still had that calm look in them. He approached the quarreling ponies and cleared his throat. "That is enough all of you." he said loudly but softer than a shout. He managed to get their attention.
"Hey, you OK Solstice?" Ironhead asked worriedly as his brother bit his lip and closed his eyes tightly.
Scar looked at him with worry too. Solstice sighed and adjusted his glasses. "Let's end this quickly please."
He startled the group by firing another displacement link at Twilight's horn. The mare struggle to break the link, but Solstice managed to hold on. "Hey, let her go!" Rainbow cried out leaping at him. Instead of crashing into hi, he crashed into a massive scarlet wing whose owned used to shield his brother's body.
Applejack reared up, but was intercepted by Ironhead. Still very much upset for being lied to, she glared at him before quickly turning around. Ironhead instantly knew what was coming. "N-No! Applejack, wait!"
Too late. Applejack went and gave him a solid buck right to his jaw. The second she made contact, a massive jolt of pain coursed through her body starting from her hind legs. Worried that she'd hurt herself and feeling guilty for being the cause of it, Ironhead watched her stumble back and fall clutching her hind leg.
"What're ya made of rock or somethin'?!" she cried out, her legs still stinging.
Ironhead tried to apologize, but Solstice cut him off. "Scar, I need a distraction."
The later nodded reluctantly and took to the sky where proceeded to flap his massive wings several times generation harsh winds that blew dust everywhere. Applejack was blown aside easily while Rainbow beat her own wings just to stay in place. Twilight would've been blow away as well if she weren't attached to Solstice who held on to Ironhead who strangle wasn't affected by the powerful wind.
With the other two mares occupied, Solstice's horn began to glow. A powerful flash erupted from it, momentarily blinding Applejack and Rainbow. The winds suddenly stopped leaving Rainbow to fall to the ground. She got up and noticed Applejack trying to get up from being blown over. Twilight and the brothers were nowhere in sight.
They reappeared along the outskirts of Ponyville. Once there, Solstice released his link with Twilight who was a little dizzy from the sudden teleportation. He approached her still looking rather calm. "I assure you Twilight, if there was any other way, I would not be doing this." His horn began to glow. "Please forgive me."
He touched his forehead to her sending a massive surge through Twilight who saw images flash in her mind. She saw herself standing before the broken display case where the Elements stood. Using her magic, she took each of the five necklaces and turned around to where her five friends stood looking sure of themselves. She passed each Element to its respective owner before placing her own Element in her hooves. Hoping that this was much better off, she turned to her friends.
"Make sure they're safe."
With a mighty cry, Twilight wrenched herself out of the memory and landed on her back right back in reality. She looked up seeing Solstice shaking his head from the sudden ejection from her mind. He eventually recovered and looked at her. "I see...The Elements of Harmony are here in Ponyville." he said.
His brothers looked at each other. Twilight got up and directed her words at them. "You're not going to find them." she said defiantly.
Solstice wasn't fazed at all. "Twilight, I need to know where they. If you could just cooperate-"
A sudden bolt of magical energy surged from her horn only stopped when it collided with a teal barrier around Solstice. "Please don't make this difficult for yourself." he said lowering his shield.
Twilight responded by summoning up her magic once again. Sensing trouble, Ironhead and Scar stepped forward to protect their brother. As Solstice charged up his own magic, Twilight looked at the three of them; she didn't know if she could take all of them on. How would she get out of something link this?
"Twilight!"
That was when they heard a high-pitched voice coming from a hill behind them. The four of them watched as a shape appeared at the peak and began rolling down towards them. The brothers scattered as it barreled past them and stopped next to Twilight revealing it to be a pony riding on top of a cannon with wheels.
"Pinkie?!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Pinkie?!" Ironhead cried out.
"She has a cannon?!" Scar yelled startled by the weapon.
"Oh don't be silly Scar; it's a party cannon!" Pinkie said hopping off it.
Twilight was still trying to put this all together. "P-Pinkie...what are you doing here?"
"Well, my head got real itchy and I sneezed." the party pony answered simply. The three brothers silently looked at each other as if they were waiting for the punch line.
"I...beg your pardon?" Solstice asked.
"When my head itches and get all sneezy, that mean sompony's being chased, so I was like *Gasp!* 'Somepony's playing tag without me?!', so I ran around looking for who was getting chased and who was it, but I got really really tired, so I thought 'Hey, why don't I look from the sky?', but then I remembered my flying machine was still all broken, so I thought 'I need something with wheels.' and then I remembered this thing, so I rode around it and it wall fun and I went like 'Wheee! Why haven't I tried this before?' and then I saw Twilight, Scar and Ironhead with a new pony so I went 'A new pony? I should say hi', so...HI!"
Pinkie was up in his face when she finished. Solstice blinked and looked from Ironhead to Scar and saw his own surprise reflected on them. "Er...Hello as well Ms. Pinkie, yes? My name is-"
"Pinkie, they're trying to get the Elements!" Twilight cried out.
"Ah yes, you held one of them at some point." Solstice said remembering the pink mare from Twilight's memory.
"Yup, but I'm not telling!" She made a zipping motion with her mouth with her hoof and bounced on over to Twilight. "Twilight and I Pinkie Promised not to tell anypony about the elements."
"I see." Solstice nodded. "Then rest assured, you will not be exactly telling me where they are." He approached the two of them, his horn aglow.
"Don't worry Twilight; I got this!" Pinkie said jumping behind her party cannon. Solstice stopped his advance and looked at it curiously.
"I cannot help but ask, what exactly is a party cannon?"
"Well it's a cannon that shoots party stuff. Like this!"
She aimed the cannon at Ironhead and pressed a button at the back. There was a loud boom and a flash of brown followed by the smell of something sweet. Scar stared wide-eyed at his brother underneath a massive chocolate complete with vanilla frosting and a pair of candles on top.
"Oh my." Solstice said amazed by the contraption. "Is this an invention of yours?"
"Nope. I bought from a party cannon store." Pinkie replied pointing the cannon at Scar.
The pegasus could only freeze up as Pinkie fired. He was knocked back a bit and felt several long, thin things wrap around his body and legs. To his surprise, he began floating off the ground. He looked up and saw to his surprise several pink, blue and yellow helium balloons pulling him into the sky.
"I must study this machine!" Solstice cried out excitedly. That excitement however vanished upon seeing the cannon pointed right at him. "No-wait!"
Pinkie pressed them button. Solstice's eyes shrunk as a massive jet of water shot from out of the cannon hitting him square in the face. The stream was strong enough to knock him off his hooves and carry him several feet away until he collided with the back of the hill Pinkie came from.
The whole time, Twilight stared at the display with her jaw hanging. Making a mental note to never get on the receiving end of the party cannon, she turned to her friend in awe and a little fear. "Wh-what was that last one?"
"Well if ever we wanted a pool party, I brought the pool." True enough, the water jet slowly came to a stop, and out of the cannon came a pink inflatable pool along with a beach ball. "Huh, maybe I shoulda fired the pool before the water..."
Twilight looked from the giant cake on top of Ironhead to the shrinking red dot that was Scar and to soggy trail of Solstice. "Well at least they'll be out for a while." she said composing herself. "Now then, the Princess sould be responding to my letter any minute now. Pinkie, round up the others and-"
A flash of teal light stopped her mid-sentence. Twilight gasped as Solstice reappeared in front of them and cast a spell to dry himself off. There was then a loud cry as the cake exploded, revealing an unharmed Ironhead licking some frosting on his hoof. To make things worse, Scar landed near his brothers now balloon-free.
"Now then, where were we?" Solstice approached them, his horn aglow.
"Pinkie, do something!"
Pinkie aimed her cannon, but Solstice cast a magical barrier around himself and his brothers. The party cannon shot out a piñata, but it crashed harmlessly against the barrier, spilling its contents everywhere. "Dibs." Scar said pointing at the candy scattered around.
Twilight gulped and stepped back along with Pinkie. Solstice, calm as ever, got closer and closer. Thinking fast, she charged up one last teleportation spell hoping that they would get out of there and call for help.
She didn't need it. Before she could finish her spell, the ground began to shudder. The glow from her horn vanishing, she stared at the ground as it began to shudder under her hooves. She got low and stabilized herself, but it wasn't that powerful, just a minor quake.
"H-Hey, m-my v-voice s-sounds f-funny." Pinkies said as her teeth chattered against the tremors.
Twilight was about to tell her to take this seriously when she noticed the brothers. All three of them had frozen in place, their faces wide and still as if they'd just seen something frightening.
They were blind and deaf to everything else. The shuddering of the ground was all to familiar to them. They could still picture that day despite the years that had gone by. The ground lurching...buildings coming down...screams of panic...pain more intense and agonizing than anything else they'd felt...
And light...Light was everywhere.
In the middle of the tremor, Scar spread his wings and took off flying far away as fast as he could. Ironhead was trembling like crazy, even more than the ground did. Solstice looked forward and, for a split second, met Twilight's eyes. Those amethysts were the last thing he saw before his visioned darkened.
Twilight gasped when Solstice suddenly collapsed. The tremors continued for about a minute more before finally stopping. Ironhead, the only one among his brothers present and conscious, quickly scooped his unconscious brother onto his back and galloped away as fast as he could.
Panting a little, Twilight sat on her hunches and thought about everything from Solstice arrival to his pursuit of the Elements. With any luck, the Princess would have a reply already. "Pinkie, are you alright?" he asked.
"Yup. And my party cannon's OK too." Pinkie replied. "So why were those guys playing tag with you Twilight?"
"They-they weren't playing tag." She took a deep calming breath. "Look, can you gather the others and tell them to meet me at the library."
"Okie dokie lokie Twilight. See ya later." Pinkie replied jumping on her party cannon and rolling away with it. Now alone, Twilight sighed and looked over at the hill where Ironhead passed carrying Solstice.
Who are these ponies? Why do they want the Elements? And just what was with that tremor?
Ponyvillians had much to talk about that day. The fire at Sweet Apple Acres, the storm cloud nearly destroying the town, the two brothers with strange powers chasing the local librarian around and now, the strange tremor that passed and luckily didn't hurt anypony.
A lone earth pony stallion sat at a booth in a coffee shop sipping a latte. All around him, he could hear the other patrons talk about everything that had happened that day. He had no interest in minor chit-chat; he was waiting for somepony.
"Rather nice weather yes?" The earth pony look up and saw a pegasus mare grinning slyly at him. "I for one, think the weather here is excellent. Where do you think had the best weather?"
"Baltimare, but I heard weather's good in Dodge Junction today." the stallion replied. The mare grinned and sat down with him in the booth.
"So?" she asked raising an eyebrow.
The stallion smiled. "Everything's going well so far. As you can hear, the town won't stop talking about it." he said gesturing around the room.
"Yes." She nodded. "Those colts, what's the deal with them?"
"No idea. We weren't informed of them."
"You want me to tail them? You can keep tailing the girls." the mare suggested.
"Sounds like a plan. Be sure to report this to the superiors."
The mare nodded and stood up. She trotted passed him and stopped beside him for a while. "That tremor...it's starting isn't it?"
For a while, the stallion was silent. "Indeed." He then smiled and took a sip of his drink before laughing a bit.
"It has begun..."