//------------------------------//
// Curse of the Sands 
// Story: Curse of the Sands 
// by EquestrianKirin 
//------------------------------//

The skies above Ponyville, all and all, were crystal clear, as Applejack continued trotting through the town, cart behind her full of her freshly baked sweets. Apple fritters, apple pies, apple *insert name here*, etcetera. Thanks to the hardy work of the pegasi, the weather was perfect for a good sale. Alongside her was her younger sister, Applebloom (along with the rest of her friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo), whom agreed to help Applejack out with her sales.

"Hm...alright, this here's a good spot. Ya'll ready?" Applejack asked. The 3 little fillies nodded in agreement. Scootaloo and Applebloom helped set up the stand quick as a flash, as Sweetie Belle and Applejack help bring over the goods to the stand, getting everything prepared. During the preparations for that day, Applejack looked back to the stand, already seeing a customer standing by the stand, awaiting the pony in charge. A bit early for that, isn't it? the orange earth pony trotted over to the pony, whom looked rather average for one: tannish coat, brown mane and tail, cutie mark of a smiley face...and thats it. Applejack, although knowing her effect on ponyville when it came to her cooked goods, didn't expect anypony here so quickly. So, clearing her throat, she went over to her wooden counter.

"howdy, can i help you?" Applejack asked, ready to begin her sales for the pony. The pony, oddly enough, gave a deep smirk to the orange pony, one that made Applejack and her helpers slightly uncomfortable.

"Hm, perhaps a sort of apple pie for the road, my dear Applejack," he said. That voice sounded WAY too familiar for Applejack to simply shove aside.

"Wait...Discord?!"

Upon hearing those words, the "normal pony" suddenly manifest into the draconequus, goat head, bear, falcon, goat and dragon limbs, serpentine body, bird and bat wing, all mixed together to the chaos manifestation that is Discord. Soon after changing back, he quickly gave a hearty shout "Surprise! Ha ha!"

"What're you doing here?" Applejack groaned. Applebloom, Sweetie and Scootaloo just watched as Discord gave another hearty chuckle.

"Oh, just dropping by the neighborhood, and wanted to try your delicious goodies!" Discord said, suddenly having one of Applejack's apple fritters in his front talon, taking a good bite out of it. Applejack wasn't in the mood for Discord's annoying antics, especially before her sales would even start.

"Don't you have somewhere else to be? I'm just about to open shop, and i don't need any tricks."

"Oh, come now, Applejack, i'm just visiting a good friend. But, I'll let you get to your sweet little shop," Discord said, pinching her cheek with his paw. Applejack wasn't in much mood for his antics. With that, he basically disappeared with the snap of his finger. All Applejack could do when she saw the confused look on  the fillies faces was simply shrug. At least Discord left...


(Insert My Little Pony Intro Here)


As the day went on, Twilight Sparkle and Spike were heading on into town through their trot in Ponyville. Since her studies were on hold for a bit (Twilight needed a break), Twilight and Spike decided to head off for a relaxing trot. The ponies among ponyville were passing by with a smile on their faces, which made Twilight feel good.

"what a beautiful day. The pegasi sure had outdone themselves today," Twilight commented, looking up at the clear blue sky above her, as Spike nodded in agreement.

"I know, not a cloud in the sky," added Spike, as they continued. As they were, both unicorn and baby dragon noticed Applejack's stand, where the cutie mark crusaders were still helping out with the abundant number of customers that showed up at her little stand. Thank Celestia, Discord wasn't still looming around the place, otherwise nopony would want to stick around. The duo went off over to her, as Applejack just sold her next batch of apple fritters to her latest customer.

"Hi girls," Twilight said, stopping next to Applejack's stand.

"Mornin, Twilight, care for some apple pie?" Applejack asked, setting one of her apple pies on down on the counter in between her and Twilight. Before Twilight could really answer, Spike, licking his lips with his reptile tongue, reached out for the pie, saying "I'll take it!" Spike snatched the pie up to him, taking a good whiff of the delicious dessert. Twilight simply gave a chuckle.

"I guess we'll take one," Twilight concluded. She levitated the 5 bits payment, and the bits landed on Applejack's counter, which Applejack happily took, and put in her moneybag. Spike, whom was waiting for the cue, began to gobble down the pie, right down to the tin. It only took about 5 or so seconds for Spike to finish up Applejack's pie. While Twilight was kinda grossed out with Spike's ravenous eating, Applejack just chuckled. She enjoyed it when someone enjoyed her homemade food, even if it was rather much.

"So much for sharing, eh Spike?" Twilight sighed, picking up the baby dragon and putting him on her back.

"Sorry, Twilight," Spike sighed. He settled down on Twilight's back, belly full of pie. However, just before the 2 left, a loud belch escaped his lips. But it wasn't exactly just a regular "just-finished-a-meal" burp, no, this one had the signature green flames come out. the green flames danced in the sky for a second before it took shape of a scroll, sun emblem on it. A bit unexpected, to be sure, especially for Twilight, not sending and recent letters. Curious, she walked a few feet away from the stand, and looked over the letter, it being unravelled and levitated in place by Twilight's magic. It took a few seconds, but, Twilight's look of content quickly turned to one of worry.

"What's it say?" Spike asked. However, Twilight quickly rushed off towards home, the letter removed of magic as it landed in front of him. Applejack, finding her customers a chance to give her a breath, walked over to Spike as well as the dragon lifted up the letter, and began monologuing.

"Dear Twilight Sparkle: A friend of mine highly requested some assistance with an old foe in his homeland. I highly advise you, and your friends, to go off to Saddle Arabia as soon as you can. I've already advised the rulers about your arrival, and transportation will be ready for you near Ponyville. Be sure to bring the elements of harmony with you. Signed: Princess Celestia."

The 2 looked over the letter for a bit longer, just to be sure. Looks like the group's going on another big trip.

~~

Sometime later, the group had gotten together on the edge of Ponyville, as per requested by Celestia. the area was right on the edge, on the road leading out, so not many ponies were present there as such. Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash all weren't exactly aware of what the issue was, but Applejack and Twilight both explained the situation to them all soon after they all were present, telling them what they know from Celestia's letter. All they did know was that transportation will be required for them at the edge of ponyville to get to Saddle Arabia...but, where was it?

"This is so exciting! Another road trip to Saddle Arabia!" Pinkie beamed. Rainbow however, wasn't as enthusiastic as her.

"Yeah, yeah, as long as it wasn't like before with Stormtooth," Rainbow sighed. Their last adventure outside Equestria, involving a treasure hunt, and with pirate griffins chasing their tails, Stormtooth being the captain. Sure, it was exciting, but the reward was...for a lack of a better word: not what Rainbow expected. But, regardless, she didn't have much room to argue. Fluttershy flew over to Rainbow Dash, hoof on her shoulder

"Don't worry, Rainbow, this is just some helping out in Saddle Arabia. What's the worst -" Before the Pegasus could finish her sentence, her answer had came down right in front of them...in a bus. The bus looked like one of those one would see in a public city, Manehattan being an example. It was purely silver in colour, perfectly clean and ready to go wherever the destination laid out before it. As the doors slid open, the driver caught everyone by pure surprise. He gave the girls a good hearty smile, wearing some sort of bus driver uniform, and gave the girls a wink. Applejack's hoof met her face in annoyance, as she had to deal with him earlier that day...by her stand.

"Discord?!"

"Good day, everypony!" Discord smiled, sitting comfortably in his seat as his legs held the wheel, as if he was lounging on a couch. Looks like they found their reason to bring the elements of harmony. All of them (excluding Fluttershy) gave discord a bit of discomfort in their faces as Fluttershy began to hover towards the door.

"Discord, why are you here?" Rainbow accused, aiming an angered hoof in his direction. The draconequus stretched out, standing outside of his bus.

"Shouldn't you know? I thought you got the memo already," Discord said.

"What memo?"

"That letter from Celestia, of course! She let me personally bring you all to Saddle Arabia."

The 5 ponies all were simply speechless...Celestia was letting DISCORD take them there?! Discord, the spirit of chaos and disharmony! WHY?! However, Fluttershy gave Discord a kind smile, trusting the draconequus well enough to believe him. But the others...well...

"NO WAY!"

"Rainbow, don't be like that," Fluttershy insisted.

"I'm not riding with him! Let's just take Luna's balloon, that worked well!...that's fixed, right?" Rainbow hoped. Fluttershy nodded no. Yeah, the crash before didn't exactly get it fixed just yet. Rainbow hoped she didn't say that...Discord himself popped up in between them both.

"Oh come on, I'm not that bad anymore. I'm reformed, remember?" Discord reminded, a halo suddenly over his head. However, Rainbow kicked the halo away.

"Yeah right!"

"Do you even know the way to Saddle Arabia?" Rarity asked. Discord popped up next to her, now wearing a sort of vacation outfit (a orange loud shirt, sunglasses and sunhat, like a tourist).

"Of course and, I must say, the place is a LOVELY vacation spot!" Discord handed Rarity a postcard, with him in the picture right next to what appeared to be a large stone statue, him leaning next to it. He continued on saying "I recommend the kingdom's spa, their ice baths are to die for."

"Look, Discord," Twilight interrupted, standing between him and Rarity. "This is a very important mission for an outside country, if you cause any bit of trouble while were gone that could sabotage the whole mission, your next trip will be back in Celestia's garden in a statue, understand?" Twilight explained, right in Discord's face at that point. Discord wasn't too deterred, but, he preferred not being turned to stone...AGAIN...Discord popped up back inside the bus, back in his bus uniform.

"All aboard, everypony! next stop, Saddle Arabia!" Discord said with a smile, the ponies getting in the bus. Twilight joined them, giving a glare to Discord, yet, Fluttershy gave discord a gentle smile, and got to her seat next to Rarity. After everypony was seated, Discord pulled out a small bus speaker, which connected to other speakers on the bus.

"We humbly thank you for choose Discord bus transport, please keep heads and hooves inside the bus at all times until we reach our destination, snack preparation's at nine, and emergency escape hatches are to the back. Okay, everypony, here we go!"

After the announcement, they all heard the motor of the bus start up. and feel the bus's motor rumble. The bus door closed, so, just walking out wasn't much of an option anymore. Discord changed shifts from "neutral" to "Drive", and the bus started to move forward. At first, the ride was a bit bumpy for them to deal with, the bus going pass a lot of trees and going over rocks and rubble. But suddenly, the ride began to calm down, a bit too quickly. Rainbow Dash looked out the window, seeing the trees pass by...going down? Rainbow looked a bit closer, and realized they weren't going down...they're going up!

"We're flying!" Rainbow gasped.

Discord chuckled

"How else are we supposed to go overseas? Hang on tight!"

Discord shifted gears again, from "drive" to "overdrive" (personal add-on), and the bus suddenly began to go much faster, clouds and birds turning into blurs as they began to zoom by like if they were in some sort of jet plan, and they're probably going as fast! The mane 3 watched outside as the land around them were basically going by in blurs. they zoomed by mountains, a ton of clouds, prairies, hills, and eventually, the ocean as well!

"How fast are we going?!" Applejack asked, gripping the back of Twilight's seat. Discord looked at his watch.

"I'd say about Rainbow Dash speed," Discord chuckled, not at all freaked out by the speed. the G forces started to strain on the ponies, Pinkie, Rainbow and Rarity all launched to the back of the bus like metal to a magnet, as the rest were stuck in their seats. They wished it would stop soon...and then Discord switched gears to "sudden stop" (again, personal add-on), and the bus suddenly stopped on a dime. Of course, Discord ducked as Pinkie, Rainbow dash and Rarity practically splat against the front windshield. The 3 stuck there for a good 5 seconds before peeling off the windshield. They made it.

"We have reached our destination, please be careful as you step off the bus. We thank you for riding Discord bus transport, and have a nice day."

...no one replied as they tumbled out of the bus.

As it turned out, they really did make it to the right location...kind of. From where they were just minutes before, they seemed to had entered a lit on oven, one that was left on for 5 hours over 300 degrees. The sun, which was once inviting, now scorched them as they looked around the place. Being near Saddle Arabia, they could easily tell that they were in a desert, huge, tan sand dunes in huge waves all around them. At least the wind was somewhat cooling, all things considered. And once more, the kingdom could actually be seen not too far away...they could see the main palace anyway, which looked like yellow and blue mushrooms or something like that. They could see the flags being blown in the wind as well.

"Wow...we made it, and so quickly," Twilight said, trying to regain herself from the crazy ride. Discord went out as well, leaning next to his van, looking at his watch again.

"5 minutes, that's a company record," Discord said with a smirk. Soon after everypony stepped out of the bus, he lifted it up with one talon finger, and he used his lion paw to make it spin like a basket ball. It quickly shrunk in size until it was the same size as a toy car, and he made a purse pop up into existence, opened it, and dropped the buss inside. Both that, and the purse, vanished from existence as the 6 mane ponies looked onward at the kingdom before them on top of the sand dune which they landed on.

"Well girls...and Discord...looks like we're here. Let's go," Twilight said. The others agreed, and began to head through the sand dunes towards the kingdom set before them.

~~

The walk through the scorching sun and sand dunes did take sometime to go through, but eventually, they did end up at the frontal gates of Saddle Arabia, which the borders were aligned by a huge stone wall. All of the ponies (and draconequus) looked around as they began to head on inside. The town's interior looked rather charming actually, most of the buildings didn't actually have any rooftops, being completely square and made of stone. the buildings did have some banners of white, with different colored stripes and even a flag or two on some of them. The colors for each one vary from green, to yellow, to blue. Some of the shops and bazaars had some various colorful pillows, various native fruits for sale towards whomever's willing. 
The various equine around them looked kinda...different. Instead of small sized, colourful ponies they knew back in equestrian, these ponies main varied colours go along the lines of tan, brown, silver, black, and even a few were orange and rusty red as well. None of them though were blue, green, pink, or any of those erratic colours like they were (you'd probably imagine the many odd looks the other ponies gave them. Also, while the mane six were smaller and built a bit normally, many of the ponies here were rather taller (or at least more slender than the average pony) The ponies all had some drapes and robes on them, mainly as protection of the sun (which could be good by now) The one who got the most looks was Discord. Even if he did venture there before, just a one time visit would probably not give him much remembrance among the locals. The multi-coloured ponies didn't pay them too much mind as they continued onward, they needed to get to the main palace before anything could go wrong...but, the ponies around them seemed just fine, for the most part. The only thing that didn't appear right for the ponies was that they didn't seem very happy, or even remotely positive for that matter... Most likely either the ponies didn't know what was happening, or something deeper was at play here. But, their answers should come around when they get to the leaders involved.

As they continued through the kingdom of Saddle Arabia, they eventually found the palace they saw from the dunes. it looked WAY bigger up close, the huge rounded building made of tan sandstone, with the top rounded and pointed out like a Hershey's kiss, but stripped blue and white. a large sun symbol, blue flag blew in the breeze right on top of the palace. 4 other columns  around it were smaller, taller versions of the main palace, similar colours and shape to the much larger one in the middle. The entrance to the palace was made of a bridge, made of similar sandstone. It was aligned with 6 statues of horses, reared up on their hind legs in a battle pose, all made of grey stone instead of the sandstone, all holding the same coloured flag as the one on the palace rooftop. The group continued forward across the bridge, which, when Applejack and Twilight looked down, noticed that it was supposed to be over a river, but what was left was a dry riverbed, not appearing to be flowing of water on years. It didn't looked cracked in anyway, just simply dried up. The group went off across, passing through the frontal arch (which itself was just as magnificent as the rest of the palace), and were about to go inside the palace when two large guards stopped them., with spears in their hooves, forming an X in their way. Both guards had uniquely shaped armour, different from the ones back in Equestria. instead of full armour down the pony's back, the armour on these horses cover their head, chest and flanks, leaving the back covered in royal saddles instead of armour. The colour of their armour are shaded blue, with purple patterns giving it a mystical look on them. Both horses (yes, horses, not ponies like the locals), glared down at the odd group.

"Halt, state your business," one of the guards demanded. Twilight backed away slightly, but tried to remain firm.

"We've come here to see the ruler. We've been sent by Princess Celestia to help with the issue," Twilight explained, trying to act professional in front of the royal guards. Sure, technically speaking, she's apart of royalty too, yet she still didn't want to cause any sort of trouble here in Saddle Arabia. Both of the guards looked at each other sceptically: The alicorn sent these ponies? Not likely.

"Do you have any sort of indication as proof to your claim?" one of them asked after a bit. Twilight didn't plan that part: they needed proof? She'd thought they'd let them in as soon as she said who sent her, but obviously it took a bit more than that. However, before she could continue, their annoying draconequus stepped in between them (literally), confronting the 2 guards.

"Oh don't be so stubborn about it, I'm sure Celestia would've given your royal king some sort of heads up, no?"

"No," they both said. 

So much for that. The draconequus turned back to the unicorn, whom was glaring at him again, hoping for him to simply back away, but, he ain't giving up yet.

"You sure the king would have time for some of Celestia's highest warriors inside?"

"First of all, the princess herself would've come with you if that was the case," The first guard explained.

"Second, the king didn't want any visitors in at this time, so I bid you good day," the other said. The mane six weren't sure on what else to do at first, talking amongst themselves to form another plan. However, the doors behind the guards suddenly opened up, catching them all (guards included) by surprise. As it opened up, another horse stepped out to confront the mane six. The stallion that stepped out appeared almost as tall as Princess Celestia herself, and regally to match. he wore a sort of saddle on his back, with the colours of orange, blue and bright yellow on it. the saddle had an orange rim, and had it marked with a large shooting star, and a horizontal crescent moon near the bottom. He also had a orange and blue neck brace, attaching to his regal helmet, consisting of similar colours. The orange rim of his helmet wrapped around his muzzle, and circled around his eyes as well. The horses mane and tail were short and light yellow, the rest of him a deep brown. Unlike ponies, his flank held no cutie mark of any sort, indication that horses weren't as deeply in tuned with magic as ponies were back in Equestria. The guards stepped aside as the king (they assume it was), stepped forward in front of Twilight Sparkle, towering over her the same was Celestia would. His eyes, lavender in hue, eyed down the unicorn for a good 20 seconds, studying her it seemed. He looked over to the others with a similar expression, until he got to Discord, which his look changed to one of surprise. However, the surprise was quickly hidden away, and he grew a gentle smile.

"Ah, Twilight Sparkle. It's been a while since I've seen you," he said finally. Twilight immediately looked at him with shock and confusion.

"How'd you know my name, you're highness?" Twilight asked, again, trying to be professional.

"Me and My wife had observed your magical talent once before, when Celestia escorted us to Ponyville, and I must say, you've got a special gift in magic, young one," He explained. Twilight remained quiet as the king turned to his guards at the gate.

"You are free to let them in."

While at first a bit hesitant, the guards did comply, and let them pass. The king escorted them all inside (Discord included), the door closing behind them.

The palace's interior looked even more magnificent than the outside did. As they walked through the main halls, the hieroglyphics on the cyan blue walls gave the place a more native, yet more royal feel as they continued onward. As they were, the columns  that held the ceiling up were also covered in hieroglyphs, and symbols of the crescent moon on top of each one, aiming downward to the floor, a star in the opening. As one could probably guess by then, Rarity was in EXTREME awe over practically everything within the palace, such artwork and beauty all around her overwhelmed her with inspiration and astonishment. If the halls were enough to cause that kind of reaction, the throne room they soon entered was almost unreal! the similar hieroglyphs were edged on the walls, which were still blue, but, not as bright. The room around them was edged with arches, holding a balcony up in between the thrones that stood tall in the sunlight. There were 2 thrones at the end of the large room, one having a sapphire on the top of it, encarved in the back of the throne while the other one had a rounded diamond on it's head. In the diamond throne, another horse was sitting proudly, awaiting for her husband to enter. She appeared slightly shorter than the king was, but still plenty taller than the rest of the ponies present. her fur was a tint of pink, and her long mane and tail a hue of dark blue. She wore a similar royal outfit compared to the king, but instead of orange and blue, hers was blue and purple, and the symbols on her saddle were different as well, showing a large crescent shape on the top, aiming down, and a small set of hieroglyphs lining it as well. The patterns on her chest piece were patterned with purple diamond-like shapes as well, and she didn't have any armour to cover her head with, but still had the same muzzle piece. The queen happily got off her throne to greet her love, and the group that he brought in with him.

"I see this is our help?" she asked.

"Indeed. I'm sure you remember Twilight from our trip to Ponyville," the king said, reintroducing Twilight Sparkle to her as she walked over. Twilight and the others (Excluding Discord) bowed in their presence. But, the queen just smiled to them.

"I see you're aware of Twilight, but i don't think we exactly, introduced," Applejack said afterwards.

"Oh yes, my apologies. My name is Pharaoh Northsands, and this is my wife, Queen Silverwing," Northsands introduced, as Silverwing nodded to them all.

"An honour to meet you. These are my friends, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash," Twilight introduced, each member of the group just as happy to meet them. However, Northsands and Silverwing looked over to Discord, whom was just standing aside as Twilight was making introduction, looking kind of surprised (Silverwing was, anyway). Fluttershy caught his gaze before the others did.

"Him? That's Discord, your highness, he's a sweet guy once you -"

"We're aware of who he is, Fluttershy. It's just a bit...unexpected, to see Discord with us," Silverwing stated, though keeping her surprise to a minimum. Discord himself wasn't too surprised to hear that, given his past experiences in Saddle Arabia to begin with.

"Well, somepony needed to escort Celestia's loyal group here, you know," Discord said, a talon pointing back to the mane six.

"I could imagine. Speaking of which, where is Celestia anyway?" Northsands asked. Discord suddenly popped up behind Northsands, shrunken down and laying on the horse's saddle.

"That alicorn princess needed to do some sisterly babysitting. (Discord quickly hopped up to Northsands ear, fluttering with his bat and bird wing), See, Luna took quite a beating last time she left, (He hovered over to Silverwing), taking a ride on her fancy airship, (grows back to normal size, standing in front of them), and Celestia needed to keep a close eye in her, as she is recovering. You know how it is when taking care of the ones you're closest to," Discord explained. That is a very reasonable, well, reason, for Celestia to send Twilight and not go herself. Rainbow Dash hovered close to Twilight, whispering to her ear.

"That explains a lot, doesn't it?" RD whispered. Twilight nodded in agreement as Northsands gave a sigh.

"I'm sorry to hear that. But, Discord, I'm not entirely sure if it's safe for you to be here."

Discord's jaw dropped to the floor (literally) upon hearing such words; not safe for him? Unless this threat could turn him into stone like the elements of harmony could, there's nothing that could truly be a real threat to him.

"Excuse me? I so happen to be the spirit of chaos! What could POSSIBLY be an actual Threat to me?" Discord asked, his paw and talon doing the quotations for the word "Threat".

"That's right, what is the issue? All I know is that it's something to do with an old foe," Twilight added after Discord was finished. Northsands sighed, and begun to walk off towards a nearby window. Soon as he was right in front of it, he signaled the others to come over to see. The only one who didn't go over to look was Silverwing and Discord, Silverwing because she already knew the problem, and Discord for not caring too much for it. The mane six all gasped when they looked out of their window At first, all they'd saw was pure desert and blue sky. But, farther down, they all noticed a strange, deep dark purplish object far off in the distance. it looked like it was made from dark magic of sorts. It looked like a giant orb, like some sort of gypsy crystal ball (they could even see the magic swirling around in it!). All the ponies turned to the dismayed Northsands.

"Your highness? Is that the foe you were talking about?" Rainbow asked, a bit more urgently than she should be, as the horse turned back away from the window.

"Not exactly, but, my old foe did cause it to appear upriver. That explains why you didn't see any flowing water by the palace," Northsands said. Rarity looked back to the dark orb in the distance, before talking to the stallion.

"And who is this foe, dare I ask?" Rarity said. There was a silence for a bit, before Northsands glanced back in their direction, giving a rough sigh before answering her curious question.

"He goes by the name of King Apep, lord of the dunes," Northsands sighed. the mention of the name oddly surprised Discord soon after his ears heard the Pharoah's words. His look quickly turned to one of annoyance as the others took notice.

"Let me guess; you met Apep before?" Rainbow asked. Discord groaned, a paw slapping his forehead, sliding down his face.

"He and I hanged around a few thousand years ago, last time I've took my trip here. He and I got along fairly enough, we both enjoy some good old chaos time to time," Discord explained, remembering some of the time he and Apep would go around and have some fun with the locals (Annoyance at their expense). The draconequus's happier expression turned back to a bored one as Fluttershy flew near his head.

"But what happened?"

Discord snorted.

"That pony's simply too demanding for my tastes, always in control over whatever we do. *pfft* Might as well be hanging with the scorpions and snakes," Discord scoffed. The mane six looked to each other; anyone that could actually CONTROL Discord, even for a little bit, has got to be one powerful king. Northsands simply walked back over to Silverwing, whom was taking the words of Discord in with some sort of worry and doubt. At least Discord wasn't with Apep anymore.

"Well, that's not all he's planning to do," Silverwing said after a bit, stepping forward to them. The group around got even more worried, unsure of what else this Apep would've done to their kingdom. Silverwing stopped in the center of the room, the ponies in front of her, ready to listen. The pink horse cleared her throat before she begun explaining.

"Before he blocked the river, he'd made known to us alone that he'll soon wipe us out, with his own dark magic when the next full moon arrives, when he'll release a deadly power upon our kingdom."

The other remained quiet, thinking over what she had said.

"W-when will the full moon be up?" Fluttershy stuttered. The horse looked down to the yellow scared Pegasus.

"It'll come back in just two nights," Silverwing sighed, feeling a bit worried upon reminding herself upon how close the threat will be. Fluttershy could hardly imagine just what this Apep was gonna do to their kingdom, considering that kind of power they're dealing with as it was. Rainbow Dash flew up high, her usual determined mood flaring up.

"Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go kick his -"

"Stop!" Northsands said, Rainbow stopping just before flying out of the window.

"King Apep isn't just some out of nowhere unicorn, he's much more crafty than that. If you just charge in, who knows what'll happen? Besides, do you even know where Apep is?" the Pharaoh asked. Rainbow landed back on the floor, realizing he was right, but she was still determined to figure it out.

"Well, where is he then?" Rainbow Dask asked, ready to go soon as the word was said.

"We're not sure, young one. But, recent reports had concluded a possible location, known solely as the Marera'in Saleh, about a day's worth of travel from here. Just head towards the east along the desert dunes." Silverwing explained. The other ponies took in the information, as Discord gave a rather slight chuckle.

"Well, that was one of his favourite hotspots, nice, ancient, not to mention some fancy hieroglyphs," discord said, suddenly in a sort of excebition uniform, looking over a newly existed slab of ancient writing. The other ponies themselves pondered over the idea, and eventually came to an agreement.

"Thank you both. We'll go and stop apep before the next full moon, I promise you," Twilight Sparkle assured them. Northsands and Silverwing both nodded, both knowing that they can defeat Apep.

"That is good to know from all of you. Thank you," Northsands said.

"But before you go, is there anything you all need before you go?" Silverwing asked. Before the others could say though, Discord already intervened.

"That won't be necessary," Discord said, snapping his talon fingers to spawn up a large saddle bag, it landing on Applejack. That wouldn't be so bad if the bag wasn't as large as she was. Twilight would complain again, but she thought about it, and realized that Discord could have all the supplies they would need, since reality in and of itself doesn't fully apply towards him. Besides, perhaps it'll makes things easier for them to stop Apep if Discord came along anyway.

"I think we do have that covered, thank you. Don't worry, Northsands, Silverwing, we'll be done before you know it. Come on, everypony, let's go!"

And with that, the mane six and Discord all went right on out of the palace, ready to head on out to find the king of the dunes, and take him down. Northsands and Silverwing looked to eachother worryingly; all they could do is hope for the best for their helping hooves.

~~

The day continued onward as the sun shifted towards mid afternoon (Hottest part of the day), and the pony heroes continued on their way through the blistering heat of the desert. When it came to dealing with the heat, these ponies weren't taking it very well, extremely hot and bothered. Discord tried giving them a little help with a large umbrella, but that didn't help them all too much. They got shade, but the heat was still a trouble to handle. By that point, they were a pretty good way from the palace, now about the same size as it was when they first saw it, if not farther. Rainbow Dash found it too hot for her to continue flying, so, she decided to walk for a while alongside the others under the umbrella. The ONLY one who didn't have any trouble was Discord and Pinkie, whom seemed to not really care much for the weather the 2 were in. The others, though, weren't having the best time ever. Applejack was probably having the worst trouble, also having to deal with carrying the bag for the group along with the desert heat, but she tried not to show it.

"Hey, Discord, think ya'll could carry the back for a while? I'm beat," Applejack said in between huffs of tired breath. Discord popped up from behind her back with a grin.

"Oh, Applejack, I thought you'd be the pony to take on any challenge. The most dependable of ponies, right?" Discord said, having the nerve to fluff Applejack's mane before continuing on ahead. All the orange pony could do was snort, and continue on her way with the others.

"Whell, how long did she say before we find this Marera'in place?" Rarity asked, continuing to walk.

"Not sure, but the sooner, the better," Twilight answered, not as tired as Applejack but it's gotta be up there. Applejack turned to Pinkie Pie, whom was happily hopping along the sand next to her. Perhaps she could handle the heavy-lifting for a bit? no, no, that won't be good for her either, it was never a good idea to pass your problems to somepony else. Besides, even if she was happy, Applejack was sure that Pinkie Pie was dealing with the same problems they were, but wasn't showing it like she was...At least she done a much better job at it than herself. The one probably doing the worst, however, was Rarity, sweating like crazy and whining as she went.

"Oh, this heat is UNBEARABLE! How much longer until we get to -"

"We don't know, you've asked that question twenty times by now!" Applejack snapped. Pinkie popped in, saying "Twenty-three, actually," before hopping along. Applejack didn't mean to snap, but the heat was getting to her by quite a bit. Sure, she worked outside a lot, but not in this kind of weather, nor in this kind of place.

"I beg your pardon, Applejack, but some of us aren't used to such working conditions," Rarity said.

"Just put a sock in it, and let's go."

"Well, excuse me for not being around dirt and sun all day!"

"HEY, there's nothing wrong with that! You would know that if you weren't cooped up in that stupid boutique of yours!"

"WHAT?! My boutique is the finest in ponyville, I don't NEED to deal with dirt and dust on a daily basis, unlike you and your rundown barnyard!"

"What'd you say, you overly pampered Mutt?!"

"I said -"

Before their argument could go any further, Discord spawned up a large bucket in his paw and talon, fluttered over them both, and soaked them head to hoof in ice water! The screech from them both got everypony else to stop in their tracks, looking back to a shivering Applejack and Rarity. Both ponies were more shocked than relieved, such a sudden switch in temperature from the ice water on their scorched bodies made the shock much more effective, and their skin much more sensitive to the contact of chilling water. The two ponies stood for a second, shivering from the sudden splash of cold, before turning to Discord with the same shocked expression.

"You'll thank me later, ladies," Discord said, as he hovered along the way. Upon seeing that though, Rainbow and Pinkie needed some of that too.

"Hey, don't leave us out!" Rainbow yelled

"Yeah, I want to get all wet too!" added Pinkie. Discord didn't expect that kind of reaction, but, he complied anyway. he refilled the large bucket with water, and proceeded to soak the pegasus and pink pony as well. Rainbow had such a whiplash from the cold water, she practically bolted into the air, her wings beating like a hummingbird as she did as she shrieked. Pinkie loved it herself, now feeling much better with the water. Twilight and Fluttershy, though, didn't decide to take it as they continued. At least the arguing stopped among their friends...thanks to discord...A bit odd to think for Twilight, but Fluttershy found it just fine. Oddly though, Discord suddenly felt...well, a bit odd. His body suddenly began to shake and shiver like some sort of spazzed out worm for a good 5 seconds before it stopped, Discord landing in the sand rather roughly. The mane six looked at him kinda funny, while Fluttershy trotted to his side as he got back up on his goat and dragon feet.

"What's the matter, what happened?" Fluttershy asked, worried over her head for Discord. Discord looked around them, apparently seeing nothing but sand dunes around them...But for the draconequus, something just didn't feel right around them, although it seemed like nothing was wrong for them. Discord looked a bit more closely to the shift in the dunes, the very top of it, and noticed something odd...looking extremely closely, he noticed a pair of black, dog-like ears poking upward...hearing in on them...

"We're not alone."

Not a split second later after Discord said that, the dunes came alive with tall, black-furred figure that leaped out of the sands! All of the ponies quickly bolted back as the group of figures suddenly surrounded them, spears at the ready. The figures looked sapient, fully upright on their long back legs, but, it's head appeared to belong to that of a jackal, or a coyote. Their eyes were purely golden in coloration, as they glared down on the pony group, spears all aimed directly at them. The dog humanoids all growled angrily at them, towering over them (about as tall as Discord in comparison to the other ponies).

"Ready girls, looks like we got ourselves a dogfight!" Rainbow Dash announced, ready to duke it out with the dog freaks. The various warriors quickly started to advance upon them, spears fully aimed! Quickly, Discord quickly spun around them like a shield, knocking a good amount of them back, but those who remained charged full long into battle, Discord getting himself into some armour and sword just before fighting it out with some of them. The ponies all were stuck in a whirling fury of canine attackers, spears slashing every which way in order to hit them! Each unicorn, pegasus and earth pony done their best to fight them off in their own way, Applejack and Rainbow fighting the hardest out of all of them. Rainbow continued to fight them off with a "Hit n' Run" tactique, bolting down, whacking one in the head, and bolting back upward before getting hit by any spears. As for Applejack, all she did was charge in full force, hooves flaring around, kicking the fighters good and hard. Amongst the chaos, the only pony not fighting hid off away from the frey, jumping behind a dune so the yellow Pegasus wouldn't get hurt. However, the thought of just ditching her friends made her remain there, watching it all from afar. The warriors continued fighting it out for a while longer, each not giving into the ponies whom entered their turf. At one point during the Frey, Rarity was dealing with the enemies with some impressive karate moves, giving powerful kicks to their legs as she did. As she was though, one of the canine attackers suddenly appeared behind her, blade ready to strike! The white unicorn suddenly bent back, as the scene seemed to play out in slow motion. The blade was inches away from her face, narrowly missing her horn as she nearly cracked her back just to dodged the passing blade. However, it did cut a good portion of her frontal mane, the deep purple hair landing on the sand in front of her as she tumbled down in her back...Only then did she realize what the warrior did. Her face turned into a killer glare, as yet another warrior charged for her. Before he could get close, Rarity used her magic to grip the dog's neck, not turning her gaze away from her previous opponent.

"OH. IT. IS. ON!" Rarity glared, a bit dramatic, but enough to get the point across. That's when Rarity went all out on them, using the guy she captured as a weapon against the other opponent, slamming the warrior hound into 3 other warriors that were fighting Pinkie and Twilight nearby. She turned around, and threw that dog into 2 more that were running up behind her! that's 6 down in just under 20 seconds. While the fighting continued, Discord was starting to get a bit annoyed with the doggy fighters, seeing it like a pony would do to some clingy bugs, buzzing around.

"Okay, playtime's over," Discord decided. After that decision was made out, the draconequus quickly started to rush off towards the others, which by the time he had decided, were all together (excluding Fluttershy). Having enough with the trouble of these dog warriors. Wrapping around them, Discord suddenly began to fly in circles at high speed, creating a small twister around the mane six! the sudden burst of sand that followed made the warriors impossible to see what was going on...then, as soon as it began, it stopped...but the group had disappeared! no trace of them even remotely remained. Fluttershy was also extremely shocked, wondering where the heck did they go? That was something she wanted to know. The dogs were just about to scope the perimeter, when suddenly, something in the sky had caught the dogs eye...behind fluttershy, as it turned out. Fluttershy didn't notice yet, but, a large, circular beam was launched into the air a long ways away from their position. It was too late when Fluttershy noticed it, otherwise she would've avoided the incoming warriors! at first, they jumped past her, but one of them caught sight of her, reached down, and grabbed her over her mouth. The whack was so brutal, it was enough to knock her out! And just like that, they were gone...all gone...Soon after sensing they'd left, Discord popped his head out of the sand, checking to see if they're safe. After that, he leaped out of the ground, picked up a huge amount of sand from the ground he popped out of. He spawned out a box, with a net at the bottom of it, placed the sand inside, and proceeded to shake it. Soon, the sand was removed, revealing 5 dizzy ponies inside the box.

"A warning next time would be nice," Twilight groaned, tumbling out of the box. Then, Discord noticed something wrong here. He began to pull each pony out, as if looking for something. When all ponies were pulled out, he couldn't seem to find who he was looking for. Worried, he turned back to the others.

"Had any of you ponies seen where Fluttershy went?"

The group started to look around for a bit, only now realizing the pony's absence. Rainbow Dash flew upward to look around, not seeing her anywhere!

"Yeah, what happened to Fluttershy?" Rainbow asked. Suddenly, an angered Rarity came to a quick conclusion, especially when she found where Fluttershy was standing before being yanked off the sand, her hoofprints still evident in the dunes.

"Those mutts! They must've took her!" Rarity concluded, the others seeing what was left of the poor pony. Pinkie, upon seeing, skidded on her knees forward in a sort of dramatic fashion, just before...

"NNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

...................

~~

Dark...pure dark...that's what Fluttershy could only make out as she could barely move. The Pegasus simply laid down there for a while longer, before her eyes begun to make out where she was. The room she was laying in looked like a dim-lit crypt, the walls made of pure stone, and blue fire on torches around her. The room itself seemed rather medium in size, about the same size to just fit her cottage in it. Fluttershy could feel herself, laying down on some sort of square stone platform, just big enough for her body to fit in quite nicely, her mane and tail dangling off of it, touching the stone floor, which had some small bits of sand around. The pegasus could feel a pool near her head, which she could only guess was a small pool of her own blood. The oddest thing was that the place was surprisingly cool, much cooler than the desert she was just in. Was she dead? Did she end up in some sort of prison cell? No, there was an open hallway right in front of her, yet, 2 huge warrior dog guards stood alongside it. Fluttershy was scared at first, but the guards didn't seem to acknowledge her in anyway...they were just, well, staring off into space, their heads aimed to the other end of the room. Instead of spears, these guards had 2 golden hook-like objects, held in an X shape, and they wore some sort of striped yellow and blue crown, draping down to their shoulders. Fluttershy laid on her stomach, unsure if she should fly out or just wait in her "room". The Pegasus just stared at the tall guards, until she begun to hear some sort of footsteps coming from the hall in front of her.

After just a minute of hearing the steps, a figure appeared in the room with her, the guards, again, not noticing. The figure looked like a pony, unicorn to be precise, although he appeared different from a regular unicorn. For starters, the unicorn looked a bit tall for a regular pony, about the same height as Princess Luna, and his fur was a tannish colour. The unicorn also had some sort of black eyeliner, stretching behind his ears in the tip. What he woe, however, was a bit odd for any pony; he wore a sort of frontal coat of long feathers, colours changing from red, to yellow. the "wings" down his chest, were coloured in a hue of red, covering his chest, while the feathers connect them to the neck brace were yellow. He also has feathers connected to his small headpiece, where his mane stuck out, shaded blue at the tip while the rest remained yellow as well. The mane resembled that of a zebra, but pure black instead of striped like a normal zebra, and his tail ended in some sort of stud. He wore black shoes, his hind legs much longer while the frontal shoes were opened to the front. His cutie mark appeared to be drawn on on both sides of his flank, rather then actually gained through experience, drawn in the shape of a hourglass and Egyptian eye of sorts by black paint. His brownish eyes looked right into Fluttershy's own, as he walked forward. Oddly enough, he had a bowl with him, full of cool water, as he placed it down in front of her.

"I'm glad to see that you're awake. I thought that the anubis were too brutal with you," he said, taking a step back as Fluttershy instinctively began to drink. Her throat was very parched from the desert walk, and she needed this, but she suddenly felt how sore her jaw became after the capture. It felt like it was gonna break at any moment, it was so stiff. However, Fluttershy somehow managed to work out pass the pain, barely moving her lower jaw as she started to speak.

"Anubis? W-was that those dogs?" Fluttershy asked, after a drink. The unicorn nodded, looking to one of the guards at the door.

"That's right, but they're not as aggressive as you think. They're just merely protective of their ancient lands. I'm Apep, by the way," He said. The name quickly reminded Fluttershy why they were out in the first place, immediately making her cower away from the unicorn. Apep looked rather confused as to the pegasus's reaction.

"What's the matter?" Apep asked.

"Y-you're the evil unicorn from S-saddle Arabia! Northsands told me about you!" Fluttershy managed to say, though her voice clearly told Apep that she was afraid. As mentioned before, he was strong enough to keep Discord on a leash, so, what could he be truly capable of? However, Apep gave a sigh towards her.

"So he told you about me?" Apep started, walking away from her, as Fluttershy got up to her hooves. Apep didn't look at her, but continued saying "I don't think you fully understand..."

"Understand?"

"Look...I know what I've done was a bit...wrong, to most ponies but, It's what he deserved...after what he refused to do..." Apep explained. Fluttershy wasn't sure how to react to this sudden information: What Northsands deserved? What did he do to Apep? Slowly, Fluttershy started to get up, but found her back legs extremely sore, as in "hard to stand" sore. She groaned as such, and even nearly fell. Before she collapsed though, she was caught and held up by her side...by Apep. Apep?

"Don't do that, the Anubis had damaged you rather harshly after they got to you," Apep advised, helping Fluttershy on her hooves, making sure her hindquarters didn't have as much pressure put onto them. The Pegasus didn't understand: this is the evil king Apep, right? The one who wanted to get rid of the empire from Northsands and Silverwing?

"W-why are you helping me?' Fluttershy asked. Apep simply sighed.

"Because, young flyer, although my main mission seems rather harsh, I don't like hurting others for pleasure. That's the last thing I would want," Apep explained, as the tan unicorn helped Fluttershy back up onto the platform, making sure she didn't hurt herself. Fluttershy still wasn't too sure as to why Apep, the supposed ruler of the dunes, would be helping and sympathetic to her in such a way.

"B-but, t-the anubis -"

"They're becoming harder and harder to keep in check, I didn't intend for them to harm you that deeply. I expected them to use force, sure, but not in the state you're in," Apep explained, looking to one of the Anubis guards at the gate. The Pegasus found it rather brave (or blunt) to say that right in front of them, but Apep seemed secure around these 2.

"Um...mr. Apep?" Fluttershy asked again, just before the unicorn got to go. But, before she could continue, Apep's horn glowed a midnight blue hue, the magic aimed towards Fluttershy. The pegasus thought that he'll blast her, but, the magic didn't appear anywhere near hostile. After a few seconds, the magic faded away, and Apep looked to her.

"Yes, Fluttershy, I did attend for the drought to occur, but, as mainly punishment to see if they'll sympathize with me. But, obviously, they're more stubborn than I'd thought."

Fluttershy became spooked again.

"H-how'd you know my name?!" She gasped.

"A unique night spell I've learned. It's kind of like a mind-reading spell," Apep explained, before he begun to walk away again, leaving the pegasus alone...

~~

Back outside, unaware to Fluttershy, the nighttime had already come around, as the rest of the mane 5 and Discord continued to go through the desert, now having yet another reason. The desert, even at night, was unforgiving. As the daytime resulted in brutal heat, the nighttime delivered freezing cold to match the winter in the crystal empire. it was BY FAR freezing (a bit ironic, considering they're in a desert to begin with). On the bright side, the night sky was absolutely beautiful! the stars above them twinkled and shined in ultimate glory, no cloud to deter the view above them. Eventually, the group just had to rest, so (with a bit of Discord logic and magic), he set up a campfire for them, along with some seats. It wasn't much for Discord, but, it was pretty good for them anyway.

"Sure traveled quite a bit, didn't we?" Applejack stated, resting by the fire.

"Yeah, but those fighter mutts better not come back our way," Rainbow Dash said, her front hooves clapping together in anger.

"I agree, look what they did to my hair! such ruffians!" Rarity cried, holding the part of her hair cut off. As they were talking, Twilight looked back up in the sky at the moon, seeing it was almost full. They don't have much time left... As she was looking off into space, Applejack walked over, and sat down next to her, looking up to the same moon.

"Still thinkin' 'bout Flutters?" Applejack asked. Twilight nodded, not turning to her.

"I hope she's okay. She's so fragile," Twilight sighed.

"Don't 'chu worry 'bout that, Sugarcube, we'll find her. For right now, you need your rest, we've got a lot of walkin tomorrow," Applejack advised, before laying down next to the fire. Twilight took one more glance at the moon, before turning in herself. Applejack was right, she did need her rest, and who knew how far away this Marera'in Saleh was from their current position. With that in mind, Twilight laid down by the fire, and went to sleep...

~~

The next following day, they were off and out again. The sun starting to heat up the scorching desert again, turning from freezing cold back to burning warmth. That day, though, it was a bit more windy than they'd like, the sands of the age-old desert blowing past them. Discord, not enjoying sandblasting in his face, had made himself up some gear (mainly goggles and thick robes). It wasn't enough for a sandstorm, but was enough that it couldn't be ignored. As before, Rarity was taking it the worst, her head fully bent down, eyes tightly shut. Twilight tried to handle it her best with a shield spell to protect the others, but it wasn't as easy as it sounded. Applejack had to grip her hat in her mouth so it wouldn't blow away. The draconequus wasn't having much struggle with his gear on him, and didn't really bother much to help the others with their struggle. Without his only "friend", Fluttershy, the draconequus mightn't easily considered himself restrained. The only reason why he was still there, however, was because Fluttershy could be in danger by those Anubis, and he would at least want to know what happened to her, all things considered. Eventually, the pony caravan ended up climbing up a taller sand dune, Twilight taking the lead. Soon as they got to the top of the dune...that's when they saw it.

Just some ways ahead of them, they all saw a GIGANTIC mountain wall, stretching out far across them. While the rock wouldn't be too special, the thing that got their attention was the ancient, and old ruins that were carved out inside, looking similar to ancient tombs or castles in overall appearance, made entirely of the sandstone. The ground was appearing of white sand, as if the sand became bleached from the sun, as the rock wall stood up tall. The walls themselves were far too steep for anypony to climb upward without any sort of climbing gear (if you're lucky). 

"Is this...?" Twilight asked.

"Yep. The Marera'in Saleh," Discord said. The group could see two more Anubis standing guard in front of the main entrance, each having a large spear in their hands, eyes directly ahead.

"Oh great, what're we gonna do?" Rarity asked.

"That's easy," Rainbow said, about to fly down. Before she could though, Applejack grabbed her by the tail, holding her back.

"Rainbow, you can't just rush in, you'll give us away," Applejack pointed out.

"Then what are we gonna do? We can't just stand here, Fluttershy could be just inside!" Rainbow snapped, Applejack covering her mouth. Lucky, the guards didn't hear her outburst, so she let go of Rainbow's mouth.

"Way ahead of you," Discord suddenly said. The others turned around, just to hear a loud splash. They saw Discord, covered from head to tail in black, sticky tar, which he poured on himself from a randomly spawned bucket. Soon after setting the thing down, he snapped his tar-soaked paw fingers, and his body suddenly resembled that of the anubis guards! He even got the same outfit on him and weapons used by the royal guards. It got especially confusing once discord snapped his fingers again, and suddenly had the mane five in chains!

"What're you doing?!" Twilight yelled (quieter than rainbow did)

"Just act it out for me eh? If it all works, you'll be in in no time," Discord said with a wink. The only thing separating the disguise from the original was that his eyes remained the same. Twilight was the first to catch on to the idea, as Discord began to pull them along, right into view! The disguised draconequus remained purely straight-faced, as he begun to approach the guards at the entrance. Since Discord had a 99% accuracy to look like a Anubis, the guards let them all through. The group could feel the sudden cool air go through, giving them all goosebumps. At least it felt better than the scorching heat outside. The hall they went down, looking about as ancient as the outside, became darker and cooler, torches lighting the way. The group didn't exactly stop until they went down about 2 long halls, making sure they weren't followed by any more guards...But, as soon as they thought they were in the clear...

"Got more ponies, I see?"

The group quickly looked down the hall, suddenly seeing another unicorn, King Apep, standing there, his horn glowing a faint dark blue magenta, his eyes looking up to the "guard", whom remained firm and looking down at him. He knew who this pony was, but the rest were a bit oblivious to who the unicorn was. he simply looked up at their guard, whom kept his composure...That's when he smirked

"Come on, Discord, I know it's you," he said. Discord didn't believe him, so he kept quiet. Apep, however, just sighed, and suddenly blasted the guard with his night magic! The jig was up, and the disguise was stripped away, as Discord fell to the ground. He was normal now, and completely dizzy from the hit, as Apep held his head in place with his hoof. The ponies were shocked that he figured out at all, let alone changing him back to his normal form (normal by Discord's standards, anyway). The chains, unfortunately, stayed in place, so they were still technically captured by Apep.

"Oh, poo," Discord groaned, not thinking of what else to say. Apep looked to the other colourful ponies with a judgemental look.

"A bit interesting, you brought friends...I'd thought that somepony like you didn't even have friends," Apep stated, not exactly amused by the mane 5 being there.

"Well, Apep, I've gone through some bit of changes since you and I last tangled," The draconequus said, wrapping around the unicorn like some sort of odd snake. Apep, got himself free rather quickly, jumping out of Discord's bind.

"Enough with the literal puns, Discord, why are you here?" Before anypony could answer, Rainbow Dash was right in Apep's face, ticked off and ready for anything.

"We're onto you, Apep! Hand over Fluttershy, and stand down!" Rainbow ordered. Apep could already tell where they heard about him, judging on Rainbow Dash's reaction upon them hearing who he was, thanks to Discord. It was disappointing, yet, not something he wouldn't expect from the nearby empire. Apep simply used his magic to push the angry Pegasus away from him.

"I assume Northsands put you up to this?"

"Yeah, so what?" Rainbow snapped.

Apep simply groaned, a hoof over his eyes.

"Then, I think you all should just go away, that dumb pharaoh doesn't know what he's talking about," Apep groaned. 

"We're not leavin' 'til we get our friend back!" Applejack protested.

"So is this about getting your friend back, or stopping me?" Apep asked, again not really amused. Discord snapped his talon fingers, suddenly having Apep in chains, and the mane 5 out of theres. However, Apep wasn't in any mood for any games, so he removed the cuffs rather fast with his own night magic.

"Will you quit it? Look, if you won't leave, then how about we make a wager?"

"What kind of wager?" Twilight asked. Apep cleared his throat, and then suddenly hot his front hoof into the left wall. As he begun to explain, the wall started to fall into the earth.

"Listen, You want your friend, right? And you also want to stop me from annihilating Saddle Arabia, right? So, how does this sound?"

After Apep recapped, the walls had finished sinking in the ground, revealing yet another hallway, himself starting to walk down it, the others behind, as he continued.

"I don't usually take kindly towards many of Saddle Arabia's residents, but you 5 seem to be not from here. So I'll make you all a deal: I have a challenge, custom made by myself, for many ponies and horses who tried to handle my powers in the past. If you all can complete it without any cheating, or any uses of wings or magic, then I'll back down. But if you fail, then I expect you all to leave Saddle Arabia, and let me handle my plan. Is it a deal?"

The group looked at each other, thinking it all over. It seemed like a rather fair deal: if they could complete whatever challenge Apep had in mind, not only will he back down, but, Saddle Arabia would be safe. On the other hoof, Saddle Arabia would be totally reliant on this challenge, for if they fail, it'll be history. Rarity walked along his side.

"And as for Fluttershy? It wouldn't be right for you to keep her hostage," Rarity glared. That got Apep rather insulted, pinning her to the wall his both front hooves, making his own devilish glare.

"How dare you?! My ideals may not match up to many others, but I for one am no coward! I would never keep anypony hostage, even if my life depended on it, you understand?!" Apep bellowed. One thing he hated was being called a coward, and Rarity could easily tell that. The white unicorn gave a nod, and the tan unicorn let her drop, as he trotted down the hall. The rest of the group didn't expected that to come out of his mouth, and they simply followed without saying another word until the hall suddenly widened.

"We're here."

The group of ponies all looked into the next room, where Apep was trotting towards the center. The room was simply HUGE, about as large as a stadium, and having a Rome-like Colosseum look to it. There were various statues of Arabian warrior ponies along the rim of what they assume were the bleachers, and the main throne towards the front of them, on the other side of the Colosseum. The ground under hoof felt more like sand again, though slightly flattened out due to no mind inside. Apep turned around when he got to the centre of the room, his horn glowing that midnight magenta again. Discord was the first to notice, giving Apep a confused look...but he didn't have enough time to react, as the unicorn blasted at him! The ground of ponies quickly scattered, as Discord was quickly covered in midnight blue magic...and suddenly -

*BOOM*

A loud explosion rocked the very walls of the area, Discord's many animal parts scattering in all directions! It wasn't really gory, or even anywhere bloody for that matter, Discord breaking apart more like a standee or manikin would rather than an actual animal. Discord's head, bounced on the ground for a bit until it landed right in front of Twilight Sparkle, whom gasped in shock for what just happened. However, Discord didn't seem to be hurt, if not flat out dizzy.

"Oh Fudge," Discord groaned, as Twilight lifted Discord's head from the sand, trying to think of how Apep was able to do that. Sure, Discord had his moments when he can pretty much split himself in two, but, this wasn't done by Discord, nor intended to in anyway. The ponies all turned to Apep in complete shock, some jaw dropped, others simply wide eyed.

"What? How else can Discord stop using his magic? Can't snap his fingers without any arms or legs, you know," Apep said, as he used his magic to lift up the rest of Discord's limbs, placing them by the large throne, each leg, arm, and body part separated from each other around it. Apep then zapped the group as well, removing whatever magical horn or wings the ground had on them (a severe case of Deja vu) Soon afterwards, the tan unicorn teleported onto the throne, leaving the group down there in the colosseum battlegrounds. However, soon after that sounded out, anotherpony quickly showed up.

"What was that?!"

The ground turned around, and suddenly noticed a worried, and wounded Fluttershy. She looked overall the same, as the night stay helped her heal, but she was bandaged up on the left side of her face, covering her left eye. There was still a small stain of blood on her bandaged side, but not very much. Her back legs were also no longer sore, and were good enough for her to move around. However, the second she saw Discord's head, she immediately panicked.

"Discord! What - but, what happened to you?" Fluttershy gasped, rushing over to Discord's head.

"Fluttershy, what about you?!" Rainbow added. Before she could answer, Apep spoke up.

"Fluttershy! I told you to rest up, you're not fully healed yet!"

"What's going on?! What happened to Discord?!"

Apep groaned, teleporting back to the rest of the group, where he was immediately confronted by Applejack.

"What'd you do to flutters, you -"

"First thing; I didn't do anything. The Anubis were just too rough with her, as all. And yes, those WERE the "ruffian canines" you guys met up with. (he turned to Fluttershy) Second thing; Discord's fine, I just split him up so he can't use his reality-bending magic. I'm trying to keep this fair," Apep explained, as Fluttershy hoovered in mid air, holding Discord's decapitated head.

"Fair for what? Discord, what's he talking about?"

"He's just playing a game with your friends, dear, So they can put me back together. If they do it, Saddle Arabia's saved!" Discord said. Not as detailed from Apep's idea, but, enough to get the point across, anyway. Fluttershy looked down to Apep, as the others turned to him.

"How'd you guess on those dogs?" Applejack asked.

"Just some night magic mind-reading spell," Apep said flatly. That kinda got Pinkie's attention (whom been oddly quiet the whole trip).


"Oh, OH! Read my mind, read my mind!" Pinkie said, her usually cheerful manor. Rolling his eyes, Apep did so...and kinda cringed and looked at pinkie with a VERY ODD look.

"Um...you're thinking of...Bunnies...Balloons and...Chocolate volcanoes?"

"YOU'RE RIGHT! You're good," Pinkie said.

"yeeeaaa... Anyway, let's get this challenge started," Apep sighed, trying to get the odd images out of his brain.

"What do we have to do?" Fluttershy asked. Again, Apep gave her a confused look.

"What're you talking about, you're not doing this."

"What? Why not?"

"Fluttershy, look at yourself! You're in no condition to take the challenge, I can't allow you to do this! This challenge had crippled ponies for life in the past!" The yellow pegasus would normally agree, but, her friends (not to mention an entire empire) need them all to do the challenge, and she couldn't back down this time...

"...That's a risk I'll have to take..."

Everyone just stared at Fluttershy in surprise. Was this Fluttershy whom entered the Colosseum, Or somepony else? Apep could tell she had a powerful determination... The unicorn could only sigh in defeat, he knew that feeling all too well, and he knew Fluttershy wasn't going to just leave...

"You are a brave pony...Very well, I'll allow it. But please, be careful," Apep advised. Even if the challenge was dangerous, and he knew the risks, he didn't want anypony to die just for the challenge he himself established. He teleported back to the throne, the various draconequus body parts around him, as the group was ready to begin. Apep looked to the Draconic and goat feet next to him, and hovered them down in front of them, across the arena. The floor suddenly gave way, splitting apart by magical forces, to reveal a deep, spiked floor, small platforms remaining, made of fragile sandstone. The group was stuck on one side, the legs on the other side on a rounded platform, floating in place by a magic orb.

"Rainbow Dash, you're first," Apep announced. Rainbow gave a smirk on seeing the challenge before her.

"HA! This is easy! Stand back, everypony," Rainbow then began to rush off ahead, hooves digging into the dirt, as she begun the challenge. Of course, her speed made jumping rather easy at first, but, as she made each jump, the platform behind her quickly collapsed into just a pile of sand. It was no problem at first, but as the jumps became longer and longer, Rainbow's speed begun to run out, as the towers start to fall quicker under her weight. The final jump was a VERY close call, as she barely made it to the end. A bit of a tumble, but she made it none-the-less. She looked to the legs in front of her in triumph, and grinned right up to Apep.

"You call that a challenge?!" Rainbow mocked. Apep gave a smirk down to her.

"Okay then, try to go back," Apep said. Rainbow's smile quickly erased itself as she turned back to the others, now with a huge spike floor without anyway of platforms. Rainbow grabbed the legs, and tried to think it over...although thinking wasn't Rainbow's strong suit, so, legs in her mouth, she gunned for it, making a gigantic leap!...Rainbow could only make it half-way, before she fell right into the floor! The rest turned away, waiting to hear something like an impale...but, a second look showed that Rainbow was fine! She laid on her stomach, on the floor, where some of the spikes actually disappeared! Rainbow looked around the area, trying to figure it out. She was down about 5 feet deep, walls purely made of unclimbable sandstone, spikes jutting up around her, 2 draconequus legs in front of her. Rainbow then noticed something: one of the draconic legs was half way through a spike, but the spike itself was half-way vanished! Rainbow then figured it out. Gripping both legs, she begun to charge through, the spikes disappearing in their presence, giving her a clean path right to the otherside. Apep was rather impressed that Rainbow had figured it out so quickly, and so efficiently, as Rainbow jumped up back to the others, legs unharmed. The spiked floor was removed, and the main floor of sand returned to replace it.

"Impressive. Trial two," Apep announced, as he then placed Discord's wings up far above them. the room suddenly then filled with a sort of tan dust clouds, floating around underneath the bird and dragon wings far above them.

"Applejack, you're up next. See if you can make it all the way up," Apep announced again. Now, it was getting a bit confusing: everypony knew earth ponies can't walk on clouds, nor could fly up onto them. That's for only pegesi to accomplish. And Twilight couldn't use her magic, so that cloud -walking spell was out of the equation. Applejack walked forward, looking up at the clouds above her, seeing the wings floating in place far above her.

"Oh ponyfeathers! Ya'll ain't playin fair! Earth ponies can't go onto clouds!" Applejack yelled, having no clue how the heck to get up there without breaking her neck.

"I'm not being unfair, I'm setting up the stage as all! You just have to figure it out," Apep bellowed back. The orange earth pony tried her best to think it over, looking around the area to see what sort of clues she could pick up in order to help her. Over to the right of her, he noticed one of the horse statues actually appeared a bit loose from it's standpoint. Applejack had one idea, but, it wasn't one she was fully thrilled about. She galloped over to the loose statue and, with one powerful kick, knocked the statue off it's post. the huge reared up horse statue swayed a bit before it begun to fall, right onto one of the dust clouds...and it stayed on! What luck! Taking the opportunity, Applejack leaped onto the statues back, steadying herself as the cloud began to lift her upward, high above the group below. Soon, the wings were close to her grasp.

"C'mon, closer, closer...that's it..." Applejack was getting so close to the wings by that point. Eventually, she couldn't wait, and leaped up to them, grabbing both wings within her jaws...but she forgot about the drop, and suddenly found herself plummeting!

"Applejack!" Pinkie yelled, bolting out, ready to catch the falling pony. Applejack looked down to the hard floor under her, and needed to think of something, and fast! Looking to the wings, an idea shot through her head, as she gripped the end of the wings, the wings extended out. As she hoped, the wings quickly caught the air around her, causing her to float safely down, like a parachute had just went off...But Pinkie was still waiting for Applejack to land.

"Uh...Pinkie?"

The pink pony turned back to the others, seeing Applejack with the wings. Apep removed the clouds, and floating statue as well, and turned down to them.

"That wasn't entirely what I'd expected, but, creative. Half way there, ponies," Apep said, as he, once again, begun to alter the Colosseum around them. Since Pinkie was already out in the field, he decided to use her next. Suddenly, walls shot up around the pink pony, the walls spinning around and spiked again.

"Pinkie Pie, you're next. See if you can retrieve the next piece in -"

"Got it!"

The walls quickly were removed...and Pinkie had Discord's tail locked in her teeth...O...K...?

"What the hay? How'd you do that so quickly?!"

Pinkie shrugged, and hopped back to the others, discords tail placed with the rest of his body parts. Apep was simply blank faced, unsure how to react to Pinkie handling such a challenge in literally two seconds. Without another word, he decided to place the arms and torso up at the same time, both parts floating high above them. The ground started to shake once again, the sand around them beginning to swirl in one spot, and take shape into something else...and it was alive! The thing that manifested looked like a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex, made completely out of sand grain and stone for the head, legs, teeth, and tail. The beast eyed them all down, and gave a bone-chilling roar!

"Try to reach the piece, all of you!" Apep announced, as the monster tried to rush in at them, but it's legs were fully chained down at the legs. The group were aware what they had to do, but how were they going to do that without being crushed? The 5 ponies gathered together (without Fluttershy) trying to think over what to do...But Fluttershy had her own ideas with the beast. Even if made by sand and stone, it still had the wild spirit of a living creature, and she should know, having lived around animals since she was a filly. Also, the Pegasus wasn't effected by the spell Apep casted at the beginning, so, she was still able to fly. The Tyrannosaurus Rex roared right at her, inches away from Fluttershy's face. Fluttershy tried to remain firm, her mane and tail whipping behind her from the wind of the roar. The yellow Pegasus remained there when the rest of the ponies noticed Fluttershy there in front of the angry beast!

"Fluttershy, get away from there!" Twilight yelled...but, Fluttershy didn't move, the beast eyeing her down. The Pegasus could only see the animal with her one eye, but, started to hover in place, trying to match up with the beast in front of her. Apep could see she was flying in her spot, but was more wondering over what she was trying to do instead of the cheating taking place right in front of him. Oddly enough, he looked...worried...The pegasus stood boldly in front of the enraged elemental monster, as it eyed her down with it's stone eyes. The chains holding the beast down rattled and stretched as the monster tried to reach the pony, inches away from it's gaping jaws. Fluttershy was scared, but didn't move away.

"Forgive me," Fluttershy whispered, as she began to stare daggers into the creature's face, eyeing it down with her ultimate dominant stare. THE stare, if you will. The beast was still enraged for a while, but, after a few more roared, the beast started to succumb to Fluttershy's stare, keeping itself still as it's eyes locked onto hers. The rest of the group were unsure why she was doing her stare on it, until Fluttershy (without removing her gaze) used her tail to signal the others to move. First one to catch on: Rainbow Dash, whom immediately began to run past, and start galloping up it's back from the tail upward. However, half-way there, the beast's breath began to irritate Fluttershy's good eye, causing the pegasus to blink...one blink was all it took to snap the beast out of it. The animal shook it's head, now un-fazed by the power of "the stare", began to go berserk, realizing that a pony was on it's back! Rainbow Dash tried to steady herself, but the wild shaking proved too much for the wingless pony, falling off the side of it, but not before being whacked by the creature's tail! Next it went for the pegasus in front of it, pulling as hard as it could...then it happened...

*SNAP*

One mighty pull, full force, was enough to completely break the chains! The group tried to run to her aid, but the beast was already on top of her, knocking her to the wall, and pushing down on her with it's massive clawed foot. Fluttershy looked up from in between the beast's claws, feeling her body being crushed under it's weight. The pegasus knew her fate was about to come to her, as the beast roared and leaned in. Fluttershy closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable...But just before the beast could swallow her up, another pony jumped in between the monster and the Pegasus, making sure the sand T-Rex noticed it. Fluttershy opened her eye, and could see Apep standing there!

"Apep?"

Apep began to stare deeply into the creature eyes himself, his own stare taking a much stronger effect. The T-rex tried to resist, but Apep's magical stare was too powerful for the animal, as it suddenly became emotionless, a blank stare and expression edged on it's face. The tan unicorn didn't remove his stare just yet until the beast laid back down on the same platform, it going back underground, and the platform closed...Apep sighed, as the others rushed to Fluttershy's aid.

"Fluttershy, are you alright?" Rarity gasped. The yellow pegasus slowly got to her feet, feeling like the weight of the world was pulled off of her. But, the damage had been done, feeling the sharp pain in her torso from the animal's crushing. Apep didn't turn to her, his back to her.

"You...you saved me, again..."

"What did I tell you, Fluttershy?" Apep said, in a low growl. While unexpected with the monster's sudden escape, he knew Fluttershy would be more injured due to his tasks. The issue now was just how bad did the beast do to her? Fluttershy herself, didn't answer, knowing what he'd meant. However, Apep looked up to the rest of Discord's missing pieces, and began to lend them back to the rest of Discord. Having all the pieces back, Discord's body parts swirled in mid air, and suddenly attached themselves in place, Discord back to normal!

"I...I need sometime to think. You go back to Saddle Arabia. I'll answer you there..."

With that, he left...

When the group got outside, they all were still thinking over what had happened back there inside the crypt with Apep. The sun was deeply down now, merely a slither over the desert sands of Marera'in Saleh. Of course, with Discord's help, the group got their wings and horns back on them (one dilemma solved), yet Apep didn't exactly say he would stop this "big danger", nor remove his magic bind on the kingdom's river, so that was still a bit of an issue they needed to handle. Yet, their problems were more focused on Fluttershy, who Discord helped back outside in his own stretcher (again, Discord made from nowhere, as with everything else he's got). Fluttershy just laid on her side, her back legs now bandaged up, along with her stomach. When they all got outside, Discord snapped his paw finger, the bus reappearing again. Normally, some of the ponies would complain that Discord didn't use it in the first place to get to Marera'in Saleh, but, that wasn't the issue at that moment. Soon, Fluttershy was brought inside the bus (more open that time to accommodate the stretcher), and Discord began driving through the desert to get back to Saddle Arabia. Discord made sure to add in some AC, so the group wouldn't cook inside, nor would get hot (but mostly it's for Fluttershy). As Discord continued to drive, Fluttershy tried to get up, but her friends didn't let her.

"Don't move, dear," Rarity insisted.

"W-where's Apep?"

"He's not here right now, but he's going to meet us back at Saddle Arabia," Twilight explained. Fluttershy looked down to her bandages, thinking over what she had just heard. She rested her head back on the stretcher, and closed her eyes as Rainbow Dash flew over to the driver.

"How much longer before we get back?" Rainbow asked, urgent. Discord looked back at his pocket watch.

"I'd say...2 to 3 hours, give or take," Discord concluded, looking back on the dunes ahead of them.

"What?! 3 hours?!"

"It's much faster than on hoof, and i said 2 TO 3 hours. So, just get comfy and we'll arrive shortly," Discord said, not fazed by the sudden snap by Rainbow. Realizing that he was right, the blue pegasus landed next to Fluttershy, hoof rubbing her mane as they continued onward through the large expanse of desert...

~~

Meanwhile, back in Saddle Arabia, Northsands and Silverwing were looking outside from their balcony, seeing both the moon and the magical force field upriver. The moon was full now, and rising higher and higher in the sky. The sight of the full moon was normally a calming, and nice sight to behold. But that night, both rulers looked onward in worry. They knew what was coming for the kingdom, and the word from the mane six still hadn't gone through to them. Speaking of which, the horses both suddenly heard  horn being blasted out not too far away. Both turned around, and, through a made portal, the group finally arrived in their bus...in the throne room. Northsands and Silverwing both looked confused, until the doors opened to see Discord in the driver's seat. Discord stepped out, and snapped his talon fingers, the bus disappearing, with the mane six fine and well (except for Fluttershy, whom still injured.

"Oh my, What happened?" Silverwing asked.

"Did you stop Apep?" Northsands asked, more worried over that.
than the condition of Fluttershy.

"Well, we're not entirely sure, Northsands, he said he's coming here tonight to answer," Twilight said, with a bit of uncertainty.

"What?! That's terrible!" Northsands gasped. However, the mane six,after seeing him rescue Fluttershy, weren't exactly sure if that was such a terrible thing, as he claimed it to. Silverwing went over to Fluttershy.

"What happened to her?" she asked again. The mane six looked to each other for a second before Applejack answered.

"She was attacked while we're gone, Apep's guards found us and stole her from us. When we found her, she was nearly killed by one of Apep's trials, but she was saved before she could be finished off," Applejack explained, as best as she could. It was hard to word it out correctly when they didn't know exactly what happened, and to tell them that their old enemy saved her would probably not go too well for them...

Before they could go any further, suddenly, their front palace doors swung open, revealing the pony in question, Apep, along with 2 royal Anubis guards right behind him! they knew he would come, but so quickly?! Apep glared at Northsands almost immediately, as he trotted forward.

"You! How dare you enter my palace after what you did!" Northsands demanded, standing up tall as Apep stood 2 feet away. his guards growled, but Apep signaled for them to keep quiet.

"I believe I had a right of passage for a while, Northsands," Apep said. Silverwing ushered the group aside as Northsands stepped forward.

"You never had a right of passage! I command you to leave my home, immediately!"

"This was my home too, until you drove me away! What kind of king drives his own subjects away?!"

"You tried to murder me and my wife -"

"Because YOU refused to help me in my hour of need!"

"It doesn't matter! You broken my laws, Apep, you deserved to be removed, especially after all the chaos you caused!" Northsands pointed out, a hoof in accusation right towards the unicorn. Angered, Apep swatted the hoof away.

"Like you even bother with your own laws! One of those is that all ponies are as important as the rulers! My loved ones had their lives on a thread, and YOU REFUSED TO DO ANYTHING! If you done something, they'd still be alive!" Apep yelled back. The tempers were beginning to boil over by that point.

"They caught the devil's virus, THAT WAS NOT MY FAULT!" Northsands bellowed, slamming his hoof in the floor

"NOT. YOUR. FAULT? Who's in charge to keep his subjects safe and alive, eh? WHO?!"

As they argued, Twilight nudged Silverwing.

"What's the devil's virus?"

"It's a fatal, yet extinct disease known in Saddle Arabia. It affected his family centuries ago, yet the previous rulers, Northsands parents, refused to help," Silverwing explained.

"It didn't matter if I was in charge or not, the devil's virus is incurable, there was nothing that could be done! Besides, it was my parents whom failed to do anything!"

"LIAR! You knew there was a cure, AND YOU DIDN'T BOTHER TO EVEN TRY TO REASON! What kind of ruler let's their people die and doesn't even lend a hoof to help?!" Apep protested, giving him a sort of death stare in his gaze.

"I've heard enough of these accusations! I'm giving you to 3 to leave my kingdom or else -"

"Or else what?! Your family sealed me away before, it won't do you any good, Northsands!" Apep got in a sort of battle stance, eyeing Northsands down with that magical stare again. However, Northsands wasn't as easily affected, standing tall in front of the unicorn.

"That choice was made by my father, not myself!"

"SO WHAT?! You had the option to help, I even pleaded with you, and what did you do?! NOTHING!"

"IT WAS NEVER MY DECISION TO MAKE!"

"How can you say that?!"

"How can you accuse me for a command I didn't call for?! You're acting so stubborn over facts you yourself only take. No wonder your family died those many years ago."

That did it. Fuelled by anger and blind rage, Apep quickly tackled Northsands, hard, his frontal hooves slamming deep into Northsands neck! The king quickly kicked Apep off, a powerful hit to the stomach that sent Apep flying into the wall. The counter came lightning fast when the unicorn blasted at him with night magic lightning, missing and hitting the wall, almost hitting the other ponies nearby! Apep blasted 3 more dark blue lightning bolts, fuelled up by the moon outside, but Northsands managed to dodge each one, and rammed Apep to the wall! The mane six (excluding Flutters) tried to go over and help, but Apep, in his rage, blasted them all back, sending them all to the wall! Fluttershy, Discord and Silverwing (carrying Fluttershy), got out of the way just as they landed, badly hurt, but not out. Apep got himself free, nearly scratching out Northsands eyes out with the front of his horseshoes. It was enough to draw blood, but not a fatal wound. Fluttershy watched all of this in pure horror; after hearing everything from that argument, she could no longer tell who was in the right here. On one side, the pony wanted revenge for the rulers refusal to help him in his time of need, but the decision wasn't entirely his fault. On the other side, he kept to the rules as stated by the rulers before, but he didn't do anything to help share perspectives when he needed to, nor even tried to lend a hoof...She had to stop this violence, and fast, but her injured state made her slow. But she tried her wings, and found they were still fine: her only chance.

Back in the fight, Apep and Northsands kept at it for a good while, hooves and lighting blasts going like crazy, wounds deepening as the fight went on. Apep and Northsands were covered in deep gashes, mostly Northsands due to Apep's horn being used. They both charged at eachother again, full force, but then...

"STOP!"

Both sides skidded to a halt, suddenly finding a yellow, injured, and angered pegasus blocking both of their paths. They would continue, but Fluttershy took her words out at Apep first, glaring down at him like an angered god.

"How dare you! You think your actions were fully justified, but it wasn't his decision to leave your parents for dead, and banish you out of the kingdom! Killing the ruler for revenge will not bring them back, and your once proud home will be gone forever without him! That horse was just doing his best to make sure the kingdom remained on his feet, and not torn apart by a grudgeful unicorn who can't learn to let go of the past, and go on with his life! (She turned her dominant glare to Northsands, equally angry) And AS FOR YOU! You should be ashamed of yourself, leaving a pony's family to die like that! He tried his best to reason, to the point of begging for a saviour, and his only hope REFUSED just because his own father couldn't handle it! How would you feel if your only hope was too stubborn to even buck around with it?! You have the GALL to banish such a troubled soul after YOU failed to even try to handle the issue, and block it out of your life!!"

...silence...Every single living animal within the room who witnessed her stopped cold, the only sound was Fluttershy's angered heavy breathing. Her dominant stare had done it's job, both sides scared of the angered creature that was the pegasus. But, although freaked out, it did open them up to prespective. Northsands to Apep's struggle, and Apep to Northsands responsibility and reason. For Apep especially, Fluttershy was right; even if he killed the rulers, how would that bring his own loved ones back from the crypt? It wouldn't. As for Northsands, that little speech got him some extra point-of-view towards Apep, and how much trouble he was actually going through. And the fact that he didn't do anything only because of what someone else did made him feel worse...

The king of Saddle Arabia looked to the tan unicorn, now with a more calmer expression.

"Apep...I...I'm sorry...For not helping you so long ago...All I was trying to do was follow my father's example...and it blinded me to your suffering..."

Apep looked down to his front hooves, shame and guilt filling him up.

"No. I'm the one who should be sorry. I've caused so much more trouble for your home, going as far as to nearly killing you to feel like I got revenge...but Fluttershy's right...even if I'd kill you, it wouldn't truly help me..."

Both sides remained quiet, not truly sure on what else to really say. But, however, the king smile to Apep.

"I guess we both need to learn something new, don't we?"

"...Yeah, we do..."

Apep looked over to the others, who he attacked during his dangerous anger filled rampage earlier, bowing to them.

"I'm sorry for attacking all of you," Apep said. Applejack placed her hat on her chest in a calm gesture.

"It's alright," Applejack said, the others agreeing. Apep glanced outside through the shattered window, and noticed the glowing orb still present there. He knew that he had to handle it so, without being told, walked over to the window. His horn glowed a midnight hue once more, and after a full focus, blasted a beam of midnight light right towards it. Everyone else watched him perform the act, and saw it go towards the forcefield. They weren't sure what Apep did, but, next thing they knew, the forcefield began to dissipate, and they all could see the sparkling shine of the moon in the flowing, crystal clear water, as it surged forward down it's respected pathway at good speed. Apep stepped back as the group all saw the river reappearing in front of them all. Northsands and Silverwing were especially pleased, though Northsands still felt a bit guilty over the past.

"Thank you dear -" When Northsands turned around, suddenly, Apep himself was gone, including his Anubis guards...No trace of him anywhere...

~~

The next morning, the full group was about ready to go back home, the crisis averted. The mane six, Discord as well, were standing in front of the palace, with Silverwing and Northsands standing nearby. The injured were healed enough to at least walk out, which was a fully good thing to go with. Discord conjured the bus back outside their home, all revved up and ready to go. They all said their goodbyes, and all went back in the bus, Fluttershy taking her time due to her sore limbs. Soon as everypony went inside, Discord waved his goodbye, as the bus doors closed, and flew off and away.

During the ride home, The group was talking over about what they'd just went through, having a better time at that point. The only one quiet though was Fluttershy, whom looked out the window of the smooth ride bus, watching the clouds go by them. She felt happy that they helped save Saddle Arabia, but that sudden disappearance Apep did made her feel a bit questionable. It couldn't be any teleportation, that made some sort of noise like it did before the trials began. He couldn't of walked out either, again, noise would've been heard...He just vanished, along with the Anubis with them. As she was looking out of the window through her bandaged face, she felt something suddenly land on her lap, it didn't hurt, but, it was enough for her to notice. She looked down, and saw a single letter, one piece of paper. None of the others seemed to noticed, talking to each other, so, silently, Fluttershy read the letter...and smiled...


Dear Fluttershy:

I thought over what you said, and, you're right. Keeping your mind trapped in the past will not help you in your future. I feel better, in a way. I just hope that I'm able to work out my life from here. I hope you have the best of luck in your life, as I will try for mine.

Apep