Tremors

by Crimson_Lance

Yeah...

By the time that the Elements had converged at Fluttershy's cottage, the sun had risen and the town had begun to stir. Rainbow Dash had arrived first, as expected of the Aspect of Loyalty. To her credit, she had also roused Applejack and Rarity as well. Pinkie Pie, being the cerise anomaly of all laws of physics, had already appeared next to Rainbow Dash as she touched down at the cottage.

"Wha- How di-"

Before Pinkie could respond, the rest of the band had arrived. Twilight glided in gracefully; at least, until her royal visage paid a unexpected visit to the earth below. Rainbow needed every fiber of restraint to not burst out in raucous laughter, not that she fooled anypony present. Rarity's mask of grace flickered as she tittered for but a second. Applejack rolled her eyes and helped Twilight up. They ushered themselves into the crash site. Twilight distributed the Elements amongst the party.

"Thanks, Applejack. Now, judging from Fluttershy's account, we might be facing yet another monster from the depths of the Everfree."

All ponies present grimaced.

"Ugh, again?"

Loyalty groaned. She had not forgotten her encounter with the harpies from but a few weeks ago; they had managed to ground RD with their weighted nets. If it weren't for Twilight's magical intervention, boosted by her newly imbued alicorn body, she-

"Ooh! Ooh! Is that it?!"

The Mane 6 shifted looks from the absolutely ecstatic Aspect of Laughter to the large reptilian creature in the crater. The gravel-like, yet calm breathing alerted the mares that the monster was asleep. Twilight attempted to perceive just what exactly this thing was.

"Hmm... passing the fact it is reptilian in appearance, it's rather small for a dragon. In fact, it seems more like a turtle. But, those spikes..."

Her thought process ended as the spiked carapace began to uncurl, revealing its owner and occupant...

-----

Zecora was wide awake; normally, such a thing would not trouble her so much if it weren't for the early morning disruption of her sleep schedule. In fact, even then she shouldn't be irked this much over it. Her travels had been with worse hardships. However, there was something about the manner she had been rudely recalled from Luna's realm.

"A quake that seemed laden with no ill intent; just what sorts of things could this portent?"
She took up her staff and satchel again, course charted towards the ancient ruin.

-----

Celestia was bored. From the back-to-back audiences with nobles and foreign dignitaries, each one with their own little scheme or ulterior motive, to the most uncomfortable atmosphere of affluence, social expectation, and, on occasion, long strings of formal/diplomatic titles being announced. One would thing that political intrigue and seeing through plans and motives was never a boring or stale activity. One immortal Princess of the Sun would tell you that it gets old after the first 2 to 4 centuries.

"Oh, 'Tia~ Art thou occupied?"

A genuine smile graced her lips- the whole time, she had been wearing her mask to keep some semblance of dignity. Thankfully, it was tea time. However, it was also mid-day.

"Lu-Lu! Why are you up so early?"

Celestia looked at her little sister with concern. As expected, Luna looked rather exhausted. Bags had formed underneath her normally bright turquoise eyes. Her mane and tail also appeared to be a mess.

"It's about... home."

Celestia winced at the mention of her former palace, but otherwise held her composure. With a calming hoof around her sisters neck, she cooed softly to calm her, just like she did an epoch ago.

"What's wrong? Are you having bad nightmares?"

"No... I saw something strange last night. When I landed, I saw signs of a strange creature, and it had damaged- neigh, razed one of the main walls. It may be a place of painful memories, but it deserves more respect than that."

Celestia's face darkened slightly; indeed, as Luna put it, her former home did deserve better than that. Just who or what would vandalize such a sensitive area of the princesses? Of hers and Luna's?

"Is that so? I'll dispatch- I mean, request that Twilight investigate and look for the being responsible. However..."
Celestia drew Luna in closer for a hug.

"While it is a subject we both wish to forget, let us not forget our tribulations, so we may not repeat the same blunders."

-----

You stir slightly in your sleep, your mental timer going off. You uncurl, eyes squinted shut as you stretch your stiffened limbs and muscles. You then look around; the house is still a crater and your surrounded by ponies. All of them have a look of fear about them. Two of them scream in terror as you instinctively curl back up and bide your time.
While inside of your shell, you take inventory.

1. This isn't my home. The forest nearby seems like it though.

2. I spooked some ponies evidentially. Here, it seems like they can talk.

You pause for a second. You're not quite sure what this overwhelming giddy feeling you're having right now, but it's definitely related to item 2.

"I have a good feeling about this place."

You think back to all those years ago when you woke up in Plague Jungles of the Kumungu, you were rather scared of having a newly gifted sentience. Over time, you also found few others shared many of the traits you carried. Now you're surrounded by other animals with sentience, but also with what appears to be a flowing speech pattern. After the screaming died down, you uncurl slightly, revealing your face.

"Hi."
-----

Freeze frame. Slow zoom out. Pan to the right. Close up on the draconequus.

"Hi, bronies."

Discord sniggered at the gestures garnered from his work in cinema just now. Little did they know, he was also the mind behind M. Night Shymalan; he thrived on that chaos for months. However, as chaos never stagnates, so must Discord. He tossed away his beret and conjured a lemon. He threw it at the wall of his own dimension- that is, the space in the rift behind Celestia's throne. Said lemon exploded in a cloud of tangy air and echoing, angered reverberations of somepony screaming "prune juice". A plasma screen TV was now floating haphazardly near the wall. He leaned back into his recliner with a salad made from Luna's diary, garnished with peppermints, and watched his latest project unfold.

-----

It was just the most terrifying thing they had seen in ages. The creature was a hellish cross between a turtle and an armadillo. It also had a thorny shell as mentioned before, as well as piercing, glowing red, eyes without pupils. What seemed to be worse is that thing on its chest. The color scheme was all wrong! Wine red and silver trimming doesn't fit with yellow brown and reptilian green. Rarity passed out due to being exposed to the distressing clash of colors that was the monster's crest. Fluttershy fell to her side, bleating like a goat as her legs stiffened with fear.

"Hi."

An uneasy silence permeated in the ruined room- this creature appeared to have basic sentience. Applejack kept her eyes on it, with her lasso on her tail, waiting to deploy. Twilight was scanning the new life form from thorned head to spiked toe, making her initial notes. Pinkie Pie... well...

"Hey, you're really fearsome looking! Do you have a warface? CuzIdon'tbutIbetIcanmakeawarface-"

The creature stepped back, unsure what to make of the hyperactive pink party pony.

"-andthentheymademetheirchiefand- OOH! I SHOULD TOTALLY THROW YOU A PARTY!"

The creature looked pretty scared.

"Not just any party either! A spikycoollookinggiantturtle's welcome to Ponyville party!"

Once more, an uneasy silence filled the room. Twilight had been trying to restrain the Aspect of Laughter during her excited near-soliloquy. The creature had only one response.

Pinkie noted the sad expression on the newcomer's face.

"Hey, what's got you so down?"

The monster didn't speak.

"Are you just being shy? Aww! You're just like Fluttershy-"

She pointed at the paralyzed pegasus. Fluttershy bleated again.

"Oh! Oh! Maybe you're just-"

A zipper appeared over Pinkie's mouth and sealed itself. Twilight walked over to the silenced mare.

"I'm sorry Pinkie, but I think you're... overwhelming it."

The reptilian tank nodded. Twilight smiled just a hint at crater's inhabitant.

"My name is Twi- I mean, Princess... Twilight Sparkle. What's your name?"

"..."

"... Do you have a name?"

It nodded.

"What is it?"

"... Rammus."

"Well, it's a... pleasure to meet you Rammus. What made you land here?"

Rammus seemed hesitant to speak again. He opted to point in the direction of the forest.

"Did something hurt you?"

He shook his head. Instead, he demonstrated his plan from the ruins in the Everfree. He pushed some loose rubble into a small incline, dug a small line in front of it, and selected a small, round river pebble. He rolled it up the incline over line in the dirt. He caught it a held the rock and carried it over a greater trajectory. Twilight scrunched her face in confusion.

"So you're trying to say you rolled up a ramp over a ditch and ended up here?"

"Mhmm."

"And crashed into Fluttershy's house."

"Uh huh."

"And agree to be held for wanton destruction of an innocent pony's home."

"Yeah..."

He nodded. He then stopped and looked Twilight in the face, only for his world to go black, the last sight he saw being the purple alicorn's horn glowing.

Author's Note:

First, I'd like to thank you all who liked and/or faved and read this little story of mine. Y'all are awesome!

I'd also like to warn you all- my classes pick back up the 26th of August, so my updating will be sporadic.

Please leave suggestions, typos, or advice if you can.

And remember, (T)Roll Fast, (T)Roll Fancy!

Comments

[Hunter]

Bad response to that question, big guy... Beware the Purple-Pony-Princess, and her sparkly-ie wrath!

[Dubious]

Suddenly, massive repair bills for the walls of wherever he is going to be held.

[Crimson_Lance]

3068691

[Conqueror777]

Uh-oh. They're gonna get it when rammus escapes.