//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: The race begins and the kings orders // Story: Toby's Wish // by darkmage1997 //------------------------------// The next morning, the children of harmony all jumped out of the water tower, and made their way to an old shed, while singing another song. And as soon as they finished their song, they noticed that the little musical number woke up all of Ponyville, who were all gathering around them to find out what was going on, singing their own song. "Heh, what a bunch of losers!" Baron Nixel said. Just then, he and Constables Guman and Mephestio felt their cart coming to an abrupt stop. "Minions, why are you stopping?!" Mephestio angrily asked. "Guman, guman!" a guman soldier said, which Constable Guman knew meant, "We have company!" "What?" they all asked, stepping out of the cart to see what was blocking the road. "Nix, nix!" the Nixel said, which the Baron knew meant, "All the kings soldiers have set up a road block!" The leaders saw, and recognized the uniforms, and quickly jumped at the surprise. "Uh, hi fellas, are we some sort of trouble officer?" the baron asked, before the soldiers all pointed their spears at the three. Looking on from the distance, the children of harmony saw what was happening to the deadly alliance, "Look who got pinched for speeding!" Heaven said. "Couldn't have happened to any nicer tax collectors!" Cory commented. Back in Ponyville, Snips and Snails were standing around a workshop, going over some schematics for a flying machine, "But Snips, how will we ever get to the wishing star before everyone else?" Snails asked his friend. "Simple, with the help of the great Leonardo DE Vinci!" Snips replied. "He's going to give us ride there in his fanny pack?" Snails asked. "No Snails, De Vinci is dead," Snips deadpanned. "Oh, how sad, whens the funeral?" Snails asked. "He died a long time ago," Snips simply said. "*GASP* And I forgot to send flowers?! STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!" Snails snapped, hitting himself on the head. "Oh please, allow me, STUPID!" Snips said, whacking Snails on the head with a rolled up newspaper, "Now zip it!" Snips ordered, which Snails complied, making a zipping noise, "Leonardo De Vinci, not only a great human artist, but an ingenious inventor as well," Snips said, before noticing Snails was making motorboat sounds, "I'm going to have to hurt you!" Snips warned, which Snails just re-zipped his mouth again, "He designed the humans first flying machine, the air screw, and with a few clever modifications to the De Vinci plans, this baby will fly!" Snips said with strong determination in his voice. "Egad brilliant Snips! Oh, wait, no, if land dwelling ponies were meant to fly, we would've been born with little bags of nuts!" Snails said, only to be whacked again in response. "Snails, you are a little bag of nuts," Snips pointed out, which Snails responded by re-zipping his mouth, again, "Now come! We have an airship to build!" Snips said, looking at the plans. Back with the racers, the Doctor and his family were all making good progress in making their way to the wishing star, with the children of harmony tailing them, while they were singing another song, "Sailing through the slush, in our wagon sled, down the road we mush, Heavens still in bed!" they sang. "I'm getting really bored, I've read these magazines, if we don't get there soon, I think I'm gonna scream!" Heaven said with a pout. "Oh wishing star, from afar, Heavens getting worse! Be a sport and grant our wish, or we'll sing another verse!" they all sang as they continued to the wishing star as they passed Wills ranch. In a patch of the snow, some of the newborn Pokemon were playing in the snow, while all the adult Pokemon watched them to make sure they didn't get hurt, "Cindy!" Will called to his sister. "Yeah Will?" Cindy asked her brother. "Hi mister man!" the baby Eevee said to the trainer. "I'm Will, call me Will," Will deadpanned to the baby pokemon. "Ok Mr. Man," Eevee said. "*Groans* Now Cindy, I need you take this fresh Pecha Berry Pie to the seniors in the retirement village, if they don't get their sweets by four, they start doing wheelies on the shuffleboard court, and Houndoom and Luxray, you two go along with her," Will said, giving them instructions. "Can we eat first?" Luxray asked. "You can eat when you get back," Will replied, which incited growls from his two Pokemon, "Don't you sass me!" Will warned. "Luxray and Houndoom go grr!" Eevee said with a giggle. "Just make sure Cindy gets home safely," Will told his Pokemon, "I'd go myself, but I'm too busy keeping Seviper and Zangoose from killing each other," Will said with an annoyed sigh. "Hi Mr. Man!" Eevee said. "Call me Will, busy, busy Will," Will said the evolution Pokemon. "Ok bumblebee Man, I love you bye-bye!" Eevee said, waving to the trainer as he went back into the house. "We'll be back Will!" Cindy called to her brother. "Bye sis," Will said. "You think the seniors would like some fresh fruit as well?" Cindy asked her bodyguard Pokemon. "Maybe," the two said to the young girl. "Ok, I'll go and pick some Mago Berries!" Cindy said, rushing off to the berry orchard. Eevee looked into the basket to see the pie, and saw that Luxray and Houndoom were looking depressed, "LOOK! Pie for Luxray and Houndoom! Good puppies!" Eevee said, petting the two adults on their heads. They looked at the pie, bamboozled at what had just happened, "Thank you!" the two said thankful for the pie, and began devouring it. Eevee went back to playing in the snow, when she heard the Flexers, who were stretching from tree to tree, making their way to the wishing star a lot faster than the others, "C'mon guys!" Balk called to his team mates, as he swung to another tree. "Yeah, yeah, just wait a minute," Kraw called back, as he and Tenetro swung to the tree that Balk was waiting at. "At this rate, we'll be at the wishing star in no time!" Tenetro happily commented. "Yeah, its just like I said guys," Kraw said, going into mini musical number mode, "We take the high road, and they take the low road, and we'll reach the wishing star before them!" "But sad is me heart until we meet again by the bonny-bonny ville of Pony!" Balk sang, which made his friends look at each other curiously. "We definitely need to get you some singing lessons Balk," Kraw said. "Oh, and look who's talking!" Balk said, swinging to another tree. "Hey, watch it, I'm out of practice!" Kraw said. "Oh yeah, like you could sing back in the rubber lands," Tenetro pointed out. "Hey, watch it Tenetro!" Kraw warned, as they continued to swing from tree to tree. "Funny stretchy wetchies!" Eevee said, proceeding to climbing the tree. Houndoom and Luxray had finished the pie, when Cindy came back, "WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PIE?!" she asked hysterically, looking at the two adult pokemon, who looked down guiltily, "Hey, don't worry guys, I'm sure the workers at the retirement village can use these Mago Berries to make another pie," Cindy reassured the two, who smiled slightly as the evolutions of Eevee came walking towards them. "Hey guys, have you seen Eevee?" Glaceon asked her friends. Looking around, Luxray, Houndoom, nor Cindy could see the small pokemon, before they heard giggles coming from the trees. They all looked up, and gasped in horror when they saw the baby Eevee jumping from tree to tree, and they all raced to try and save the baby, "Ha-ha, silly adults, puppies cant climb trees!" Eevee pointed out just as the adults and Cindy reached Eevee. Looking down, they could see that they weren't on a secure branch, and plummeted to the ground, "Ok I love you, bye-bye!" Eevee said, waving goodbye to her friends as they hit the ground with a loud and painful thud. They all sighed in annoyance. Back to Snips and Snails, they had finished construction on their airship, and began to make their way to the wishing star, "Peddle Snails, peddle as if our very lives depend on it!" Snips instructed, looking out from the basket he was in, "Which, may well be the case," he said uneasily. "AYE-AYE Captain Snips!" Snails said, as he continued to peddle the part of the airship he was on. "YES, just picture our future, cute fillies always kissing up to us, other foals helping us with our homework, and school that is better for all! Are you picturing that?" Snips asked. "Actually, I'm picturing the snails' slime," Snails replied. "Ugh, you've left the lens cap of you mind on again Snails, with the wind at our backs, all we have to do is maintain this velocity, we'll be the first ones to touch the wishing star, do you know what that means?" Snips asked his friend. "Yes I do!" Snails cheerfully replied. "What?" Snips asked. "What?" Snails asked, immediately forgetting the conversation he and Snips were having. "What does it mean?" Snips asked. "What does what mean?" Snails asked. "Never mind, it means we get our wish!" Snips replied. "What means we get our wish?" Snails asked. "Skip it," Snips simply said. "Skip what?" Snails asked. This made Snips' temper boil past its limits, "JUST STOP!" Snips ordered. "Ok," Snails said, stopping his peddling, which in turn made the airship drop like a rock. "AHHH! NO, KEEP PEDDLING! KEEP PEDDLING SNAILS!" Snips cried in terror, which Snails complied, "*Pant* You almost killed us Snails, what were you thinking?!" Snips said, grasping his chest. "You said 'stop' Snips, you really did," Snails replied. "IGNORE WHAT I SAY!" Snips snapped at the orange colt. "Really?" Snails asked. "Yes, just keep peddling," Snips replied. "Ok," Snails replied, as he stopped peddling. Snips realized what he meant, and they dropped like a rock, once again. "What are you doing?!" Snips asked hysterically. "Ignoring what you say," Snips replied. "Not about that!" Snips yelled. "Not about what?" Snails asked. "JUST. KEEP. PEDDLING!" Snips yelled, which Snails complied. "You are so confused sometimes Snips," Snails commented, which was met with a bop on the head, as they flew above the once beautiful Canterlot castle. Inside the castle, the deadly alliance was being forcibly brought in by the guards, "Hey, not so rough!" Constable Guman complained, as he and his friends, and their minions were pushed to the ground. "WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS?! I DEMMAND TO KNOW..." Baron Nixel demanded, before realizing they were in the presence of the king and queen, "*GASP* King Zanzibar and Queen Jewely!" Baron Nixel said with a bow. "Baron von Nixel, what a pleasant surprise," Zanzibar said, as he and his wife were in a hot tub and clapped his hooves for robes.. Zanzibar was a brown Alicorn stallion with a goldenrod mane and blue eyes. Queen Jewely was a ruby red alicorn mare with the same mane and tail color as her husband, and she had sapphire blue eyes. "Oh no sire, the honor is ours," Baron Nixel insisted, with his friends nodding in agreement. They then blocked their faces as the two alicorns got out of the hot tub. "We hear of a star brighter than the continence of our family," Queen Jewely said, as she and her husband walked to the alliance. "Oh, that's hard to believe my lady," the baron replied, trying to lead the two off of the subject. "You seem to believe it Nixel! Our guards found the three of you and your minions racing towards it!" King Zanzibar yelled. "We were?" Constable Guman asked incredulously. "Don't play dumb with us constable!" Zanzibar yelled at the guman. "Ok, what do you want to play then?" the Guman commander asked, holding a fanned out deck of cards. "NOTHING!" Zanzibar yelled, swatting away the cards. "Just tell us about the star!" Queen Jewely demanded, as she and Zanzibar went behind their own changing screens. Baron Nixel placed his hand up to his mouth to let Mephestio and Guman know that he'll do the talking, "Well, its big and shiny," the Baron replied. "And big too," Guman added on. "And kind of shiny," Mephestio added on as well. "Uh, and big?" Guman added(?) on. Zanzibar clapped his hooves, which in two seconds flat, the deadly alliance was surrounded by the guards, "And the first one to touch the star gets one wish!" Baron Nixel quickly replied, holding onto his minions and his friends, who were also holding onto their minions. "One wish? Who could ask for anything more?" a voice asked. The alliance jumped when they heard the voice, and turned to see prince Taxer. Taxer was a royal blue alicorn stallion with the same mane and tail color as his mom and dad, and he inherited his mothers eyes. "Ah, Taxer, good to see you again my son," Zanzibar said, as he and Jewely came out from behind their changing screens, "Now then, Nixel, what would you and your bumbling cohorts wish for beyond the joys of serving the royal family?" Zanzibar asked the Nixel. "Oh uh, you know, regular stuff, nice things like a weekend in Lansing Missouri," the baron replied. "Oh! Andy Wormses has a place there!" Constable guman pointed out. "Oh yes, I like him!" Mephestio said as he and the others of the alliance smiled. "Or perhaps you were simply rushing off to secure the star for my family," Zanzibar said in a warning tone. "That's right, secure the star for your family, that's exactly what we were doing, yep!" Baron Nixel said, trying to stay on the Kings good side. "Good, we see eye to eye, now come and let me show you the fly of the ointment," Zanzibar said, leading the alliance out to the balcony, where a telescope stood. "Uh, that's not a fly sir," Mephestio said. "Its a telescope," Baron Nixel said, backing up the Rageling. "Look into it!" Zanzibar ordered. "OH!" the alliance said, which gained an eye roll from the king, as the baron looked into it, and saw the children of harmony. "Oh, its those kids from the village," Baron Nixel said. "Yes, the children of harmony," Zanzibar said with a sneer, "They're going to go and touch the wishing star! Those kids are going to be rich but about my family?!" Zanzibar sang. "I don't know!" Baron Nixel replied, also singing. "You better bet that we'll be getting there first, and if we don't your lives will be cursed, the wish of the wishing star will wind up belonging to us!" Queen Jewely sang. "I wish!" Constable Guman sang. "We want it so much, we have to go and touch that star," Taxer sang. "OK, OK!" Baron Nixel sang. "They're getting ahead, they're getting it instead of us," Zanzibar sang. "Uh," the alliance said in unison. "You got to be quick, you got to be fast, to beat out the rest of the cast, and capture that wish for we!" Taxer sang. "We're on our way to find the wishing star!" the girls of harmony sang. "Got to get there first!" the boys sang. "We're on our way to find our dreams come true!" Heaven sang. "Got to find it!" the titans sang. "We're poor and needy, never greedy, so we're going to sing it again now, we're on our way to find the wishing star, its all for one, and one for all times we!" the children all sang. "We're taking a stand, we're making a vow, this the place, the moment is now, this is our golden opportunity! The wishing star belongs to three!" the alliance and the family sang. "Me, my wife, and kids!" Zanzibar sang, glaring at the alliance, who cowered at the glare, "Your job baron, is to stop those villagers from getting to the wishing star, by any means necessary!" Zanzibar said, giving the alliance their instructions. "Yes sir!" the three rang, as they began to leave. "Oh, and those kids I showed you, the group with the humans and that dragon?" Zanzibar said. "Yes sir?" Baron Nixel asked. "I don't want them showing up at the wishing star," Zanzibar said. "We'll slow them down!" Baron Nixel said. "You're not catching my husbands drift," Queen Jewely said with a shake of her head. "Well, we can try to steer them off coarse?" Mephestio offered. "We don't want to see them again, ALIVE!" Taxer said, clearing up what his parents were saying. "But they're just kids, how much trouble can they be?" Baron Nixel asked, feeling scared of what might happen to the kids. "You have no idea, so don't think of them as kids Baron, think of them as the dearly departed, or you'll be likewise, understood?" Zanzibar snapped at the alliance. "Clear as crystal sir!" Baron Nixel replied. "THEN GO!" the three ponies yelled. "Ahh, we're gone!" the alliance said, running out of the castle, making their way back to their cart, and taking of again. "Bring me an inkwell and quill, and some parchment, I need to write a letter to Cleo," Zanzibar instructed his guard captain, as he and his wife and son were seated down to some cannoli. "Yes sir!" Flash Sentry replied. "And prepare our train for travel," Queen Jewely instructed. "Yes ma'am, anything else?" Flash asked. "Yes, along with what I asked you bring, I also wish to see the overgrown rats," King Zanzibar instructed. "Yes sir," Flash said, leaving the room, and then coming back in with a cage holding the Diamond Dogs, who were all squabbling like little kids, and with some parchment and the inkwell and quill that the king had asked for. "Cheese it, its the boss!" Fido whispered to his friends, who stopped fighting and turned to family. "YOU MAJESTIES!" the three said with a bow. "Shush, you bizarre, chattering rodents!" Taxer snapped. "Uh, technically your highness, we're dogs," Spot simply said. "You are disgusting overgrown rat, and you will do as we say, or we'll feed you to OUR puppies!" Zanzibar yelled, pointing to a corner, where monster sized Dobermans and rotwilers were chained to the wall, trying to break free. The Diamond Dogs all grimaced at the possible fate that might befall them, "Uh, nice puppies," Spot said, hiding behind Fido. "At your service boss," Rover said. "Whatever you say," Spot said. "SCILENCE!" Zanzibar shouted, which made the trio stumble in their cage, "And listen, I want you to follow Baron von Nixel and make sure he does his job, I don't trust that trio one little bit," Zanzibar instructed, letting the Diamond Dogs out of their cage. "Sure thing boss!" Spot said. "We'll do," Rover said. "Consider it done!" Fido said. "But before we go, can we have a little taste of those cannoli?" Spot asked, as he and the others stuffed their faces with the royals cannoli. "NO! Go now, or you're puppy chow!" Zanzibar shouted, pointing at his dogs, who broke free from their restraints, and went to devour the Diamond Dogs. "AHHHHHH!" the trio screamed, running out of the castle, rambling incomprehensible dialogue, before digging hysterically into the ground. "That king really crossed my hairs, 'overgrown rats', he insulted us right to our faces! Are you insulted Fido?!" Rover asked. "A little bit, maybe just a little bit," Fido replied. "They treat us like we're nothing," Spot simply said. "And that's on a good day!" Rover snapped. "I pray for a day like that, its like that 'Christmas' holiday those humans celebrate, you know what I'm saying?" Fido asked. "Absolutely! I mean, how does a dog get a little respect around here?" Spot raged. Stopping, Rover realized something, "Maybe we can wish for it," Rover said, thinking hard about what was happening. "What do you mean?" Spot asked. "We can wish for respect, at the wishing star," Rover explained. Fido laughed, "But Rover, the king wants us to...," he said, before being cut off. "Forget what the king wants! I say we get what we want!" Rover said, which his cohorts soon caught onto what their leader was getting at. "You mean?" the two asked. "You got it," Rover said with a nod. "We're taking a stand, we're making a vow, this is the place, the moment is now, this is our golden opportunity! The wishing star belongs to three! Us, ourselves, and we!" the three said, as they made their way to wishing star.